{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_77103/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_77103","id":"gutenberg_77103","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/77103","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Dissenters, Religious -- England","Sermons, English -- 18th century","Theology -- Early works to 1800","Theology -- History -- 18th century"],"text":"The works of the Rev. Isaac Watts, D. D., Vol. 1 of 9\n\n\n\n\n[Frontispiece: Isaac Watts, D.D.]\n\n\n\n\n THE WORKS OF THE REV. ISAAC WATTS, D. D. IN _NINE VOLUMES_.\n\n VOL. I.\n\n CONTAINING\n\n SERMONS.\n\n LONDON:\n\n PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME AND BROWN, PATERNOSTER-ROW;\n BAINES, ROBINSON AND SON, HARDCASTLE, AND HEATON, LEEDS,\n By Edward Baines, Leeds.\n\n 1812.\n\n\n\n\n CONTENTS OF VOLUME I.\n\n\nMemoirs of Dr. Watts ... iii\n\nDedication ... xxv\n\nPreface ... xxix\n\nFORTY-THREE SERMONS ON VARIOUS OCCASIONS.\n\nSERM. 1, 2, 3. The Inward Witness to Christianity, 1 John v. 10. ... 1,\n13, 25\n\nSERM. 4. Flesh and Spirit; or, the Principles of Sin and Holiness, Rom.\nviii. 1. ... 45\n\nSERM. 5, 6. The Soul Drawing near to God in Prayer; Sins and Sorrows\nspread before God, Job xxxiii. 3, 4. ... 64, 78\n\nSERM. 7, 8. A Hopeful Youth falling Short of Heaven, Mark x. 21. ... 92,\n107\n\nSERM. 9, 10. The Hidden Life of a Christian, Col. iii. 3. ... 123, 141\n\nSERM. 11. Nearness to God, the Felicity of Creatures, Ps. lxv. 4. ...\n160\n\nSERM. 12. The Scale of Blessedness: or, Blessed Saints, Blessed Saviour,\n& Blessed Trinity, Ps. lxv. 4. ... 172\n\nSERM. 13, 14. Appearance before God here and hereafter, Ps. xlii. 2. ...\n187, 199\n\nSERM. 15, 16, 17. A Rational Defence of the Gospel; Or, Courage in\nProfessing Christianity, Rom. i. 16. ... 211, 226, 238\n\nSERM. 18, 19. Faith the Way to Salvation, and none excluded from Hope,\nRom. i. 16. ... 251, 263\n\nSERM. 20, 21, 22. Christian Morality, _viz._ Truth, Sincerity, &c. Phil.\niv. 8. ... 276, 291, 303\n\nSERM. 23. Christian Morality, _viz._ Gravity, Decency, &c. Phil. iv. 8.\n... 318\n\nSERM. 24, 25. Christian Morality, _viz._ Justice, Equity, and Truth,\nPhil. iv. 8. ... 331, 344\n\nSERM. 26, 27. Christian Morality, _viz._ Justice, Purity, Temperance,\nChastity, and Modesty, Phil. iv. 8. ... 357, 373\n\nSERM. 28. Christian Morality, _viz._ a Lovely Carriage, &c. Phil. iv. 8.\n... 382\n\nSERM. 29. Christian Morality, _viz._ Things of Good Report, &c. Phil.\niv. 8. ... 399\n\nSERM. 30. Christian Morality, _viz._ Courage and Honour, Virtue and\nPraise, Phil. iv. 8. ... 413\n\nSERM. 31, 32. Holy Fortitude, or Remedies against Fear, 1 Cor. xvi. 13.\n... 425, 439\n\nSERM. 33. The Universal Rule of Equity, Mat. vii. 12. ... 457\n\nSERM. 34, 35, 36. The Atonement of Christ, Rom. iii. 25. ... 472, 486,\n503\n\nSERM. 37, 38. The Christian\u2019s Treasure, 1 Cor. iii. 21. ... 518, 532\n\nSERM. 39 The Right Improvement of Life, 1 Cor. iii. 22. ... 547\n\nSERM. 40. The Privilege of the Living above the Dead, 1 Cor. iii. 22.\n... 563\n\nSERM. 41. Death improved to our Advantage, 1 Cor. iii. 22. ... 582\n\nSERM. 42. The Death of Kindred improved, 1 Cor. iii. 22. ... 599\n\nSERM. 43. Death a Blessing to the Saints, 1 Cor. iii. 22. ... 609\n\n\n\n\n MEMOIRS OF _DOCTOR WATTS_.\n\n\nIt was a custom among the ancient Romans, to preserve in wax, the\nfigures of those among their ancestors, who were of noble birth; or had\nbeen _more_ nobly advanced to the chair of honour by their personal\nmerits. Sallust relates that Scipio and other great men, by beholding\nthese likenesses, found enkindled in _their_ breasts, so ardent a thirst\nafter virtue, as could not be extinguished, till, by the glory of their\n_own actions_, they had equalled the illustrious objects of their\nemulation. But it is the happiness of _Christians_ to possess truer\nnotions of virtue, and to be governed by infinitely higher views. We\nmay, however, hence observe the force of example, which is peculiarly\noperative in those who sincerely love God. They no sooner reflect on the\naccounts given of such as have been eminent for their piety and zeal,\nthan they become desirous of imbibing the same spirit[1].\n\nThe advantages to be derived from theological biography, are too various\nto be enumerated; and of such obvious importance, as to supersede all\nstudied encomiums. The sacred scriptures abound with relations of\nextraordinary occurrences in the lives of men, who were distinguished in\ntheir day by their virtues or their crimes: And, as if the Holy Spirit\ndesigned to provide for our entertainment, and to gratify our curiosity;\nthere is not a beauty in this species of historical writing, of which we\nhave not some interesting example, in the inspired volume.\n\nEach character is drawn by the hand of impartiality and faithfulness; so\nthat we are in no danger of being deceived by the influence of any of\nthose passions, which so often degrade other relations of the same kind.\nWhile compassion tempers the hatred of sin, the love of truth corrects\nthe ardor of _private_ gratitude, the usual partiality of friendship,\nand the zeal of opinion. Here no excellence, which evidences them to be\nthe Sons of God, is exalted above its intrinsic value; nor is any\nfailing, common to them as the children of Adam, concealed or\nextenuated.\n\nNext to these divine records, our esteem is claimed by the many valuable\nliterary monuments which have been raised in all succeeding ages, by the\nlabours of piety and veneration, to the remembrance of those eminent\nnames, whom the unerring Judge of _true_ excellence _has delighted to\nhonour_.\n\nThe lives of men who have made themselves famous in the cabinet, or in\nthe field, may instruct and animate survivors of the same profession:\nthe intrigues of courts, the elevation and the fall of a statesman, the\nman\u0153uvres of generalship, the decision of a battle, are attended to with\na lively avidity by the sanguine politician: But if characters and\nevents in themselves little (if at all) adapted to the great purposes of\nintellectual and moral improvement, can create such an interest in the\nworldly mind, with what superior delight and advantage may the subjects\nof the wisdom that is from above review the lives of those who (whatever\ninauspicious circumstances may have attached to their origin, or to\ntheir condition in life) have exemplified the beauties of unaffected\ndevotion, and shewn the way to true, to substantial happiness, and\nimmortal honour! \u201cSuch a man, although the meanest mechanic, who employs\nhis best affections upon the Author of his life and salvation, who loves\nthe good, compassionates the distressed, and breathes peace and\ngood-will to all; who abhors vice, and pities the vicious, who subdues\nand triumphs over the unruly passions of his fallen nature; such a man\n(however low his outward condition) is the best patriot, and has more\njust pretensions to heroism, than he who makes the most glaring figure\nin the eye of an injudicious world. He is like one of the fixed stars,\nwhich through the _remoteness_ of its situation, may be thought very\ninconsiderable and obscure by unskilful beholders, yet is as truly great\nand glorious in itself, as those luminaries which, by being placed more\ncommodiously for our view, shine with more distinguished lustre[2].\u201d\n\nThe christian will here see the excellence of genuine religion, in its\ninfluence upon the mind and conduct through every department of life. In\nthe most afflicted state of the Saviour\u2019s empire, he will find some\nbright examples of decision, unshaken confidence, and undaunted zeal.\nHis faith in the doctrines of the gospel will be confirmed by observing\nthe god-like tempers, and the various lineaments of the divine character\nproduced by the sovereign virtues of those doctrines. In such memoirs,\nhe will learn more perfectly to distinguish between the realities and\nthe shadows of devotion; and to decide more satisfactorily on the state\nof religion in his own mind; and while tracing the mysterious operations\nof providence, in advancing the servants of God to prosperity and\nhappiness, by trivial and improbable means, new sources of admiration\nand pleasure will continually open to his view. Here in the time of\ndifficulty, he may obtain well adapted directions for his conduct; he\nmay meet with salutary caution amidst the allurements of worldly\nenjoyment; and in the prospect of suffering or dying, he may so far\nenter into the spirit of the characters he contemplates, as more\neffectually to secure the dignity of his own.\n\nFrom the memorials of distinguished men, the student, who is seriously\nengaged in the pursuit of knowledge, will renew his strength, to\nsurmount the hinderances incident to his labours, while he follows them,\nwhose admired _natural_ abilities have been cultivated to the highest\nattainable state of perfection, or whose persevering application to the\nmeans of improvement has brought to light hidden powers of genius; who\nwere insensible to the baits of pleasure, the contagious example of\nindolence and vice, and the most discouraging difficulties; who were\nsuperior to the obstinate prejudices which often persecute a low origin,\nthe disadvantages of indigence, a sickly constitution, natural\nimpediments, and whatever a supine and grovelling mind would pronounce\ninsuperable. While he keeps such a character in sight, he will assume\nfresh courage in struggling to useful eminence; and every day his\nsuccess will be less dubious. The plans they adopted, the various helps\nof which they availed themselves in their progress, their uniform\nperseverance, their acquisitions and the application they made of them\nto the service of the church and of civil society, cannot fail to\nadminister instruction. Every candidate for the work of the sanctuary,\nwho feels as he ought the importance of his designation, and who, having\nfinished his preparatory obligations, will owe much of his best\nassistance to the light reflected upon him from these luminaries.\n\nSome, if not all, of these advantages, will be obtained from the life of\nDr. Watts; if perused with such dispositions, as gave that life all its\nlustre. What is said of another eminent man, will with equal truth apply\nto him: As anatomy discovers all the curious contexture of our bodily\nfabric, so here are vivid representations of faith, love, and an\nheavenly mind; of humility, meekness, self-denial, entire resignation to\nthe will of God, in their first and continued motions; with whatever\nparts and principles besides, compose the whole frame of the new\ncreature. Here it is as if we could perceive with our eyes, how the\nblood circulates in an human body through all the veins and arteries;\nhow the heart beats, the animal spirits fly to and fro, and how each\nnerve, tendon, fibre, and muscle, performs its several operations. Here\nit may be seen, how an heart touched from above, works and tends\nthitherward: how it depresses itself in humiliation, dilates itself in\nlove, exalts itself in praise, submits itself under chastisement, and\nhow it draws in its refreshments and succours as there is need. To many\nwho have seen so amiable a course of life, how grateful will it be to\nbehold the secret motions of those inward latent principles, from whence\nall proceed! Though others would look no further than the advantages (in\nexternal respects) that accrue from it. So some content themselves, to\nknow by a clock the hour of the day, or partake the beneficial use of\nsome rarer engine; the more curious, especially any that design\nimitation, and to compose something of the same kind, would be much more\ngratified, if through some pellucid enclosure, they could behold all the\ninward work, and observe how every wheel, spring, or movement, perform\ntheir several parts and offices, towards that common use[3].\n\nBut to him whose _only_ object is entertainment, the subsequent Memoirs\nwill afford but little gratification. Extraordinary incidents, and\ncurious anecdotes, are not to be expected in the life of a man, whose\nexcursions were bounded by a few miles in the neighbourhood of the\nmetropolis; who had formed no domestic relations; whose bodily\nafflictions, often and for long seasons, incapacitated him for every\nduty, and for every pleasure, but such as were purely intellectual and\nspiritual; and who, when in health, perhaps rather shunned social\nintercourse, as incompatible with his literary pursuits and his\nministerial obligations. But whoever is capable of appreciating the\nimportance of learning and philosophy, when sanctified by an ardent zeal\nfor the glory of God, by gentleness, humility, and unremitted exertions\nfor the best interests of the world; or whoever possesses the noble\nambition of attaining such eminence in wisdom, piety, and usefulness,\nand of imbibing any degree of that elevation of mind, so conspicuous in\nthis great man, may anticipate more substantial rarities, the zest of\nwhich he will never lose, while he fields the aid of instruction, or the\nanimating influence of an example so full of grace and beauty.\n\nISAAC WATTS, the eldest of nine children, was born July 17, 1674, at\nSouthampton. If his family connections did not possess the advantages of\naffluence, they were such as might have secured him against the\nprejudice usually attached to a low origin, by the pride of fashionable\nlife. But had he descended (as was reported) from a poor mechanic, had\nhis parents lived in the utmost meanness, his name would be pronounced\nwith reverence; his character and writings would be held in the same\nesteem and admiration by all who are capable of making a just estimate\nof what is truly valuable in the existence of man. As princely grandeur\ncan never dignify ignorance and vice, so talents, learning, and piety,\nare not to be degraded by any reverse. His father presided over a\nboarding-school, at Southampton; of good reputation. He was a man of\nlively devotion, and a decided non-conformist. But living under a reign,\nthe profligacy of which, gave the stamp of fashion to almost every vice;\na reign, the bigotry of which, fixed the odium of fanaticism, hypocrisy,\nand sedition, upon every avowal of attachment to the pure religion of\nthe cross, he became a considerable sufferer, driven by the persecuting\nemissaries of the prince of darkness, from the comforts of domestic\nlife, and the enjoyment of his religious privileges, he was doomed to\nthe degradation and hardships of a jail. During his confinement, his\nwife would often sit on a stone at the door of the prison, with this\nchild of promise at her breast, revolving in deep affliction of mind,\nthe horrors of that tyranny by which they were deprived of their chief\nearthly protection, and left alone to contend with the buffetings of\nadversity.\n\nIn the morning of life, he gave the most promising indications of a\nbright and useful day: Before he had well learned to speak, a book was\nhis greatest pleasure, and every little present of money, received\nadditional value in his esteem, as it applied to the gratification of\nthis early propensity. When a child he began to act the part of maturer\nyears, in attention to mental improvement, and in preparation for the\nservice and enjoyment of God. The true principles of wisdom and\nspiritual understanding, which thus early began to bud, yielded, through\nevery succeeding period of his earthly pilgrimage, a rich variety of\nfruit, pleasant to the sight, and good for food. Although naturally of a\ntemper remarkable for vivacity, he was a singular exception to the\nvanity of childhood and youth. The hours devoted by other children to\nplay, he employed in reading, or in composing little poems to gratify\nthe fond expectations of his mother.\n\nIn his _fourteenth_ year, he entered upon the studies of the learned\nlanguages, under the tuition of Mr. Pinhorn, a minister of the\nestablished church, and master of the free grammar-school at\nSouthampton; a man of considerable reputation for learning and\nrespectability of character. Here our young student discovered such\navidity of application, and extent of capacity, and so distinguished\nhimself by the ease and celerity of his progress, that all who knew him,\nanticipated with delight, the perfection he afterwards attained. His\nwhole deportment in this critical period of age, formed a happy contrast\nwith the prevailing spirit of some modern fashionable seminaries, where\nthe seeds of vice find a congenial soil, and often before the age of\nmanhood, produce a copious harvest of personal and relative evils. To\nprepare himself for usefulness in the world, to secure the approbation\nof heaven, realize the hopes of his friends, and to reward the labours\nof his preceptor, by his continual diligence in improving the advantages\nhe enjoyed; in these points was all his ambition concentrated. In the\ntwentieth year of his age, he inscribed a latin ode to Mr. Pinhorn,\nwhich is not more honourable, as a tribute of gratitude to the merit of\nthe master, than as a proof of uncommon proficiency in the scholar.\n\nHis unremitted diligence, and rapid progress at the grammar school, were\nso conspicuous as to draw upon him the attention of some considerable\ncharacters in the town and neighbourhood, engaged by the promising\nappearances which he made of future celebrity in learning and religion:\nAnd with a view to his adoption into the established church, they\nproposed to support him at one of our English universities. But having\nstudied the principles of non-conformity, on which the sufferings of his\nfather had probably given him some useful lessons; and being satisfied\nthat these principles were most congenial with a kingdom not of this\nworld, he respectfully declined the flattering proposal, and declared\nhis resolution to take his lot with the dissenters.\n\nThus when youthful vanity and ambition are generally most alive to the\nallurements of emolument and elevation, he sacrificed the fairest\nprospects of earthly possessions in order to unite himself with a\npeople, branded with every opprobrious epithet; a people with whom, in\nplace of the ease, riches, and honours of clerical preferment, he must\nsubstitute labour for the salvation of souls, and estimate his gains\nonly by his success.\n\nThe date of his spiritual life cannot be ascertained, but the fact was\nindubitable from a very early period: Surely the consideration, that\nsuch a christian as DR. WATTS, could make no reference to the particular\ncircumstances of time, place, or means, connected with his first\nspiritual affections, ought to check the presumption of those, who would\nlimit the operations of grace, to the contracted sphere of their own\npre-conceptions. He who condescended to lay aside the scholar and the\nphilosopher, to direct the hosannas of our children, and to provide\nsystems of instruction adapted to their wants and capacities, was\nhimself discriminated in his early childhood, by hatred of evil and love\nto the ways of God.\n\nWhen only seven or eight years old, he composed some verses to gratify\nthe wishes of his mother; which, for clear views of scriptural truth,\nand fervour of devotion, would have done honour to far more advanced\nage. The natural vivacity of his youth was corrected and improved by a\ndeep sense of religion; convinced that no life can be pleasing to God,\nthat is not useful to man, he sanctified his best days, by a lively and\nwell-tempered zeal to do good. He sought and enjoyed communion with God,\nin retirement from the world; and displayed, in his uniform deportment,\nthe inseparable connexion subsisting between strict religion and\nsubstantial pleasure. In the depth of his humility, in the elevation of\nhis affection, he was superior to most of his cotemporaries. Before he\nattained his twenty-second year, he had composed the greater part of his\nhymns; in comparison with which, most compositions of the same kind are\nfrigid and lifeless. They may indeed in some instances, be thought too\nappropriating and extatic for our mixed assemblies, and for the general\nstate of our religious joys: but such objections only confess the\nsublimity of his devotion; and faithfully applied to the disparity of\nour resemblance, will excite every sentiment of humility. As he advanced\nfrom his childhood in his intimacy with heaven, and in his rapid\nattainments of that knowledge, which too commonly inflates the mind with\npride, he was still further removed from the consciousness of his\nsuperiority; and in proportion as he grew in favour with God, his meek\nand lowly temper rendered him daily a greater favourite with man.\n\nDecided in his views and experience of the doctrines of the gospel, the\ndiscipline of the church, and in the choice of his religious connexions,\nhe repaired to an academy in London, in the year 1690, where he\nprosecuted his studies under Mr. Thomas Rowe, at that time pastor of the\nindependent church-meeting, at Haberdasher\u2019s-Hall. Three years afterward\nthis church had the honour of receiving him as a member. At the academy\nMr. Hughes, the poet, Dr. Hort, afterwards archbishop of Tuam, and Mr.\nSay (the successor of Mr. Ed. Calamy) were his fellow-students; and, as\nappears by their subsequent correspondence, they entertained a warm\nfriendship for him. Here he appears to have laboured with incessant\nperseverance; not merely to pass with credit through the routine of\nacademical obligations, but to attain to eminent distinction in the\nsoundest qualifications for future usefulness. Very few, by a much\nlonger course of study, make any near approach to the extent of his\nacquirements. In diligence he had no equal; in his attainments, he had\nno competitor; and as his progress in the paths of learning was not\ndishonoured by an ostentatious vanity, he won the esteem and admiration\nof all who were connected with him in preparatory studies.\n\nFrom the first general incorporation of the dissenting interest, by the\nrigid persecutions of the hierarchy after the restoration of Charles II.\nthe body of non-conformists have always deemed it an important object,\nto provide a succession of ministers competently qualified with divine\nand human knowledge. Deprived of the splendid advantages of Oxford and\nCambridge, they have endeavoured, and with no inconsiderable success, to\nsupply the necessities of their churches, by seminaries of a more\nprivate and humble kind. In every dissenting academy, founded on\nevangelical principles, satisfactory evidence is always required, that\nthe candidates for admission have experienced the power of religion upon\ntheir hearts, that they have suitable dispositions for the reception of\nknowledge, and that they are possessed of qualifications adapted to the\nservice of the church. During their academical residence, vigilant\nattention is paid to maintaining inviolate the honours of practical\ngodliness; and that residence would, in any instance, be terminated by\nan act of immoral or scandalous conduct. In the whole course of study,\nsupreme homage is paid to the WORD OF GOD; and languages and sciences\nare pursued with a constant reference to the increase of divine wisdom,\nand general usefulness. When these advantages are duly considered,\ndissenters have good reason to be thankfully reconciled to their\nexclusion from the noble endowments, the magnificent libraries, and the\nsplendid honours of those universities. One of the best scholars and\nablest writers Oxford has produced, has made the following candid\nremarks on this subject:\n\n\u201cI believe it to have been a very happy circumstance for Mr. Secker[4],\nthat he was educated in a dissenting academy, and under so good a tutor.\nI attribute much of his future eminence to this circumstance, as well as\nto the connection he fortunately formed there, that purity, that\ndignity, that decency of character, which enabled him to fill the great\noffices of the church with singular weight and efficacy. Educated in a\ndissenting persuasion, and under dissenting tutors, he had paid less\nattention to polite letters, and more to divinity, than is usually\nbestowed by students in the universities. Young men in Oxford and\nCambridge, frequently arrive at an age for orders, and become successful\ncandidates for them, who have studied scarcely any other divinity, than\nsuch as is to be found in Ovid\u2019s Metamorphosis, and Tooke\u2019s Pantheon.\nFew regularly-bred divines, as they are termed, apply themselves to\ndivinity at so early an age; and, indeed, through the defect of a\nknowledge, and of a taste for it, in youth, many, after obtaining\norders, still continue to study, if they study at all, the theology of\nAthens and Rome. But the dissenters study divinity at an early age, and\nif they had united the study of the belles lettres with it in due\nproportion, I believe their divines would have made a still more\nhonourable appearance than they have done, though they are, and ever\nhave been, highly respectable[5].\u201d\n\nWhat Mr. Watts was as a _student_, the testimony of his tutor\nsufficiently evinces: He never, Mr. Rowe declared, gave him any occasion\nfor reproof; but was so exemplary, that he often proposed him as a\npattern for the imitation of other pupils. The great ends of his studies\nwere fixed, and the subjects of them were substantial, he well knew the\nvalue of his opportunities, nor was he at any loss as to the best means\nof improving them. No time was given to vain amusements, or to\nunnecessary indulgencies. The seasons of rest and exercise (so essential\nto health) were curtailed, and so passionately was he devoted to the\nincrease of his knowledge, that he either laid the foundation of\ndisorders, which imbittered his future life, or, if latent, armed them\nwith the power which resisted all medical skill. The operations of his\nown mind, his reading, his observation, and his social intercourse were\nall made subservient to the great designs of his station. With the hands\nof a Midas, he had the art of turning whatever he touched into gold: the\ntreasures of knowledge, both philosophical and theological, opened to\nthe world, so early after he left the academy, shew the intenseness of\nhis application, and the capaciousness of his mind during his residence\nthere. The most important works in every science engaged his attention;\nand as he had no tedious hours to amuse, nor any fugitive curiosity to\ngratify, his reading uniformly promoted the increase of his mental\nriches. He did not rove about in the fields of science to gather\nwithering flowers, but the precious fruits _wherewith the mower filleth\nhis hand, and he that bindeth sheaves his bosom_. To impress upon his\nmemory the most important and interesting parts of the books he read, it\nwas his custom, to make judicious abridgements; and that he might\ncompose and digest the sentiments and arguments of his authors, in order\nto render each in succession instrumental to the confirmation and\nenlargement of his views, his principal books were interleaved.\n\nThe long silence of this excellent and accomplished youth, after he left\nthe academy, as to the primary object of all his studies, the preaching\nof the gospel, affords considerable scope for conjecture: He was twenty\nyears old when he returned from London to Southampton; there he remained\ntwo years; after which he went to reside in the family of Sir John\nHortopp, as tutor to his son, where he continued two years longer.\n\nIt is true he was but still a youth diffident of himself and deeply\naffected with the importance of the ministry, under a sense of his\ninsufficiency and trembling lest he should go to the altar of God\nuncalled. But after sixteen years spent in classical studies, after\nuncommon proficiency in other parts of learning connected with the work\nof the ministry, with every qualification for the sacred office, living\nat a time when his public services were peculiarly needed and when he\nwas known and spoken of as promising celebrity in whatever profession he\nmight chuse, that with all these advantages he should continue in\nretirement; is a fact difficult to account for, and for which only his\nextreme diffidence can afford any apology.\n\nBut whatever were his reasons for so long a silence, his time was wisely\nunproved; he gave himself up to reading, meditation, and prayer; and in\nthe family of his patron, besides discharging the duties of a tutor, he\nwas employed in several of his most useful and popular works,\nparticularly his Logic, Astronomy and Geography.\n\nIn the family of Sir John, he appears to have enjoyed, whatever was most\ncongenial with his views in friendship and devotion: his testimony in\nhis sermon on the death of Sir John is highly honourable to his virtue\nand to the mingled respect, sorrow and gratitude of the preacher.\n\nWhile he was increasing his mental treasures by study, and familiarising\nthe importance of these treasures to his pupil, he enjoyed opportunities\nof conversing with the wise, the learned, and the devout, here his\nthirst after knowledge increased daily and his ambition for usefulness.\nThe advantages of his situation, like the beams of light, fell upon an\nobject capable of reflecting them; and to this part of his life, may be\nascribed much of that superiority, by which he was afterwards\ndistinguished in the church; which still animates us in his writings,\nand which amidst all the caprice of taste, or the revolutions of\nopinions, will endear and perpetuate his remembrance.\n\nOn his birth-day 1698, he preached his first sermon; \u201cProbably\nconsidering _that_ as the day of a _second_ nativity, by which he\nentered into a new period of existence.\u201d Sometime in the course of this\nyear he was chosen assistant to Dr. Isaac Chauncy, pastor of the\nIndependant church then meeting in Mark-lane, and such was his\nacceptance and success, that in January 1701-2, he succeeded Dr. Chauncy\nin the pastoral office. The day on which he accepted his invitation to\nthis charge was distinguished by an event peculiarly interesting to the\nfriends of religious liberty. The death of King William III. brought a\ncloud over the prospects of the dissenters; which in the close of the\nsucceeding reign, was ready to burst in showers of calamity, and which\nwas only dispelled, by the critical interposition of divine providence\nin the death of queen Anne.\n\nMr. Watts, who had not entered upon the service of God without duly\ncounting the cost, was not to be discouraged by difficulties, nor\ndeterred by opposition. He had \u201cengaged in a sacred work, where the\nharvest is great, and the labourers are but few; while he had left the\nfield of ambition, where the labourers are many, and the harvest not\nworth carrying away.\u201d[6] His views were directed to right objects, his\nprinciples invigorated his exertions, and the power with which he was\nendowed from on high, enabled him to speak with irresistible wisdom. The\nsame month in which he assented to the unanimous call of the church, he\nwas solemnly set apart to the important relationship; and never did any\nyoung man assume the pastoral office with higher qualifications, with\ndeeper humility, or with more ardent desires for the eternal welfare of\nmen. His public declaration of acquiescence in the choice of the church\n(of which some abstracts are here subjoined) while it illustrates the\ntruth of these observations, will gratify every reader of spiritual\ndiscernment.\n\n\u201cBrethren,\n\n\u201cYou know the constant aversion I have had to any proposals of a\npastoral office for these three years. You know also, that since you\nhave given me an unanimous call thereto, I have proposed several methods\nfor your settlement without me, but your choice and your affections\nseemed to be still unmoved. I have objected my own indisposition of\nbody, and I have pointed to three divines, members of this church, whose\ngifts might render them more proper for instruction, and their age for\ngovernment. These things I have urged till I have provoked you to sorrow\nand tears, and till I myself have been almost ashamed. But your\nperseverance in your choice, your constant profession of edification by\nmy ministry, the great probability you shew me of building up this\nfamous and decayed church of Christ, and your prevailing fears of its\ndissolution, if I refuse, have given me ground to believe, that the\nvoice of this church is the voice of Christ; and to answer this call, I\nhave not consulted with flesh and blood: I have laid aside the thoughts\nof myself to serve the interest of our Lord. I give up my own ease for\nyour spiritual profit and your increase. I submit my inclinations to my\nduty, and in hopes of being made an instrument to build up this ancient\nchurch, I return this solemn answer to your call, that, with a great\nsense of my own inability in mind and body to discharge the duties of so\nsacred an office, I do, in the strength of Christ, venture upon it, and\nin his name I accept your call, promising in the presence of God and his\nsaints, my utmost diligence in all the duties of a pastor, so far as God\nshall enlighten and strengthen me; and I leave this promise in the bands\nof Christ our Mediator, to see it performed by me unto you, through the\nassistance of his grace and Spirit.\u201d\n\nThese professions and promises were followed by corresponding diligence\nand holy zeal. The number and variety of his writings, the frequency and\nexcellence of his preaching, his exact attention to the spiritual\naffairs of his flock by domestic visits, when not confined by illness,\nshew the intenseness of his industry, and a laborious piety, as uncommon\nto others as they were honourable to himself. The younger members of his\nchurch were peculiarly interested in his affection and zeal. For them he\nwas always forming plans of religious improvement, and when he could no\nlonger be useful to them in the pulpit, he was solicitous for them in\nhis afflicting confinement. To promote their prosperity and happiness in\nthe momentous concerns of a future world, he formed a society from this\nclass of his charge, for prayer and spiritual conference. In this\nsociety the substance of his Guide to Prayer was originally delivered.\n\nIn visiting the families of his congregation, he was always careful to\nleave a savour of divine truth upon their minds; and as his own piety\nwas chearful, he endeavoured to diffuse its benign influences wherever\nhe went: Walking or riding, in company or in retirement, he was either\nimproving himself or others. He was never so much at home as in his\nstudy, nor ever more in his element than when engaged in performing the\nworks of mercy and the labours of love.\n\nHis tempers were such as became his character, and secured to him the\nveneration and esteem of those who most materially differed from him in\npoints of faith. To say he had his imperfections is only to assert, that\nhe was a man and not an angel. If his natural tempers were hasty, and he\noccasionally expressed himself with a keenness bordering on resentment,\nhe was habitually meek and lowly.\n\nWith a mind eminently susceptible of the emotions of friendship and\ngratitude, he was superior to the contracted views, and the untempered\nzeal of the bigot. \u201cIt was not only in his book but in his mind that\northodoxy was united with charity.\u201d He knew how to sustain injurious\ntreatment without retaliating. His meekness of opposition was\nremarkable, and the good he performed was unclouded by pharisaical\nostentation. His popularity was duly tempered by his low opinion of\nhimself, and his afflictions were sanctified by patient submission to\nthe unerring will of heaven. The love of money in a minister of Christ,\nhe looked on with contempt and detestation. A third part of his income\nhe devoted to the purposes of charity, and when he was incapable of his\npublic labours he refused to receive his salary. Happy will be that\nreader whose mind is disposed, by his writings, to copy his benevolence\nto man and his reverence to God.\n\nIn company he assumed no superiority, nor could any wise and good man\nfeel his superiority with other sentiments than such as were mutually\nhonourable. His conversation betrayed none of the weakness of egotism,\nnor the malevolence of detraction. He could be entertaining without\nlevity, and serious without austerity. With a natural easy flow of\nthought he combined aptness, purity, and elegance of expression; so\naffable and engaging was his deportment wherever he went, that the\nenquiring virtuous mind was always gratified, while the gay and\nthoughtless were fixed in attentive veneration, and so conspicuously\nwere the beauties of sincerity delineated in his social character that\nhe was not more admired as a man of talents and learning, than he was\nsought, loved and trusted as a faithful friend.\n\nAs a preacher, Dr. Watts ranks with the most eminent: His published\nsermons afford a happy specimen of the spirit which pervaded his pulpit\nexercises. Here is no trimming, no disguise of sentiment, all is\ntransparent and clear as crystal. He thought with the humility that\nbecomes a fallible man, but he spoke with all the perspicuity, decision,\nand boldness, of an honest man. What is said of Mr. Philip Henry is not\nless applicable to him. He was admired and loved, because, though so\nexcellent a scholar and so polite an orator, he became so profitable and\npowerful a preacher, and so readily laid aside the enticing words of\nman\u2019s wisdom, which were so easy to him. While he avoided whatsoever\ncould disgust the learned and polite he was equally cautious not to soar\nabove the illiterate. In his sermons dignity and simplicity are so\nconspicuous that every one sees he only wished to gain access to the\npassions through the medium of the understanding. Sometimes he thought\nhe descended too low in accommodating his style to ignorance and dulness\nof apprehension. In his discourse on Humility, represented in the\ncharacter of St. Paul, he makes this apology for descending to familiar\nand low scenes of life. I almost reprove myself here, and suspect my\nfriends will reprove me too for introducing such low scenes of life, and\nsuch trivial occurrences into a grave discourse. I have put the matter\ninto the balances as well as I can, and weighed the case, and the result\nis this: General and distant declamations seldom strike the conscience\nwith such conviction as particular representations do; and since this\niniquity often betrays itself in these trivial instances, it is better\nperhaps to set them forth in their full and proper light, than that the\nguilty should never feel a reproof, who, by the very nature of their\ndistemper, are unwilling to see or learn their own folly, unless it is\nset in a glaring view[7].\n\nBut as his great aim was to be understood, and to supply his hearers\nwith suitable matter for holy meditation in private; as he watched for\nsouls like one that was to give an account, a divine solemnity\naccompanied all he said. The frivolous, jocular disposition of some\nmodern pulpit orators, never degraded his character, never insulted the\ndecency of public worship, or mocked the expectations of the devout\nmind. Where is the expression that could raise the faintest blush upon\nthe cheek of modesty, or irritate the risibility of the most puerile?\n\nIn his personal appearance there was little that could interest the\nadmirers of external comeliness. He was low of stature, and his bodily\npresence was weak; yet there was a certain dignity in his countenance,\nand such piercing expression in his eyes, as commanded attention and\nawe. His manner was animated; but not boisterous; the self-possession he\nenjoyed was inspired by confidence in God; and therefore, discovered\nnothing but respect and affection for his hearers. When Dr. Gibbons\nasked him, if he did not find himself sometimes too much awed by his\nauditory, he replied, That when such a gentleman, of eminent abilities\nand learning, has come into the assembly, and taken his eye, he felt\nsomething like a momentary tremor, but that he recovered himself by\nremembering what God said to the Prophet Jeremiah, \u201cBe not dismayed at\ntheir faces, lest I confound thee before them.\u201d In preparation for his\nministry, he wrote and committed to memory, the leading features of his\ncursory sermons; the rest he trusted to his extemporary powers, and the\npromised assistance of the Holy Spirit; and he never failed to acquit\nhimself with credit. \u201cHis reading had made him a full man, conference a\nready man, writing an exact man[8],\u201d and his free access to the fulness\nof Christ made him an essentially profitable man. At the conclusion of\nweighty sentences it was his custom to pause, that he might quicken the\nattention and more solemnly impress the realities of the gospel upon the\nmind. He had cultivated with care and singular success the graces of\nlanguage. The correctness of his pronunciation, the elegance of his\ndiction, and the grandeur of his sentiments, obtained him an uncommon\nshare of popularity. I once mentioned, says Dr. Johnson, the reputation\nwhich Mr. Foster had gained by his proper delivery to my friend Mr.\nHawkesworth, who told me, that in the art of pronunciation he was far\ninferior to Dr. Watts.\n\nHis ambition of usefulness was confined to no time or place; such was\nhis love to the Head of the church, and his compassion for the fallen\nchildren of men, that he was eager to seize every opportunity of\nglorifying him, and administering the word of salvation to them, as the\nsubsequent anecdote, communicated by Mr. Kingsbury, of Southampton, to\nDr. Gibbons, will testify:\u2014\u201cMr. Richard Ellcock was a servant in old Mr.\nWatts\u2019s family. Dr. Watts going to London after the last time of his\nvisiting his father at Southampton, Richard Ellcock was ordered to go\nwith him a day\u2019s journey. The Doctor entered into serious discourse with\nhim, which made a deep and lasting impression on his heart and was the\nmeans of his sound and saving conversion. After the Doctor came to\nLondon, he wrote to his father, recommending the servant to his\nparticular regard, for that he doubted not he would make an eminent\nchristian, and so he lived and died, leaving an honourable character for\npiety and uprightness behind him.\u201d\n\nSoon after he had entered upon his pastoral labours, he was visited with\nillness, which threatened all the sanguine hopes of his people with an\nearly period to his usefulness. His confinement was long, his recovery\nslow, and his constitution considerably impaired. Under these\ncircumstances, the Rev. Samuel Price was chosen to assist him in the\nduties of his office. However, his exertions were renewed with his\nstrength, and his sufferings enabled him to preach more than ever to the\ninstruction and delight of his hearers. In the prosecution of his\nvarious plans of usefulness, he met with no material interruption till\nSeptember, 1712, when he was seized with a fever of such violence, that\nit brought a debility upon his nerves, for which time afforded no\nremedy, and which entirely laid him aside from the exercise of his\nministry more than four years. How inscrutable are the dispensations of\nprovidence, when men who, for disseminating the doctrines of the cross,\npossess the first qualifications, are laid aside or cut off in the\nflower of their age, while others, far below mediocrity, live till they\nbecome useless and burdensome!\n\nOf the affectionate solicitude of his people for the restoration of his\nhealth he was honoured with the best evidence by their unceasing prayers\nto God for him in this season of trouble. Particular days were set apart\nfor this purpose, in which many of his brethren in the ministry united\nas men deeply impressed with the importance of his life; and their\nprayers were answered. Mr. Price, his assistant, was now, at Mr. Watts\u2019s\nown desire, elected to be joint pastor with him; and he was accordingly\nordained to this office, March 3, 1713. Between these two\nfellow-labourers there subsisted, till death, an inviolable friendship.\nThe amiable subject of our memoirs speaks of Mr. Price as his faithful\nfriend and companion in the ministry; and mentions a legacy that he\nleaves him, \u201cas only a small testimony of his great affection for him,\non account of his services of love during the many harmonious years of\ntheir fellowship in the work of the gospel.\u201d When the preachers of\nreligion, whether they sustain such immediate relationship or not, thus\nlive superior to the meanness and guilt of depreciating and envying each\nothers reputation, talents, and services in the church; when the\ndespicable spirit of competition, and variance, of cold civility, and\njealousy is absorbed in brotherly love, and in generous exertions for\nthe just honour of each other, then they will furnish an effectual\nconfutation to the ignorant clamours of infidelity against priest-craft,\nand as was the case with these two excellent men, the friendship they\nexercise will return seven-fold into their own bosoms.\n\nThe afflicting state to which Mr. Watts was reduced by this sickness,\ninspired his friends with a tender and becoming sympathy, and\nparticularly engaged the benevolent attention of Sir Thos. Abney, at\nthat time an alderman of London, and afterwards one of its\nrepresentatives in parliament: A man of eminent piety and zeal, a\nblessing to his country and the church of God. He died in the year 1722,\ndeeply regretted by all the friends who were contemporary with him and\nacquainted with his worth, and no less respectfully remembered wherever\nthe works of Dr. Watts are read, by the monuments of his friendship for\nthe author; a friendship pure and uniform, without the usual pride of\npatronage, or the obsequiousness of timid submission. In this family he\nfound an asylum from the anxieties of dependance, and that still more\nendeared by the perception of reciprocal benefits. Here he experienced\nall the tenderness and care that the languishing state of his health\nrequired.\n\nWhatever riches and munificence could supply, or respect and affection\nsuggest to alleviate these painful vicissitudes, he enjoyed to the full\nextent of his wishes, and to the happy event of his introduction into\nthis benevolent family may be ascribed the prolongation of a life the\nvalue of which may be estimated by the many excellent works which he\npublished, during his long residence with them. The same respect and\nfriendship shewn him by Sir Thomas Abney were perpetuated by his lady\nand their daughter till his days were numbered and finished. Lady Abney\ndied about a year after him. She was endowed with every virtue essential\nto an illustrious example.\n\nThe following anecdote, communicated to the late Mr. Toplady by the\nCountess of Huntingdon, will serve to confirm what is said of the happy\nterms upon which he lived with this house. The Countess being on a visit\nto Dr. Watts at Stoke-Newington, was thus accosted by him: Your ladyship\nis come to see me, on a very remarkable day. \u201cWhy is this day so\nremarkable?\u201d answered the Countess. \u201cThis very day thirty years,\u201d\nreplied the Doctor, \u201cI came to the house of my good friend Sir Thomas\nAbney, intending to spend but a single week under his friendly roof: and\nI have extended my visit to the length of thirty years:\u201d Lady Abney who\nwas present, immediately said, Sir what you term a long thirty years\nvisit I consider as the shortest visit my family ever received. His\ngratitude, in the review of his obligations during a thirty-six years\nresidence with her ladyship, is strongly marked in a passage of his\nwill, where he speaks of the generous and tender care shewn him by her\nladyship and her family in his long illness, many years ago when he was\ncapable of no service, and also her eminent friendship and goodness\nduring his continuance in the family ever since.\n\nThe various stories circulated of his strange nervous affections, or\nfather it should be said, of his intellectual derangement, appear to\nhave been the fabrications of the designing, and only to have obtained\nbelief with the credulous. \u201cI take upon me, and feel myself happy,\u201d says\nhis biographer and friend, Dr. Gibbons, \u201cto aver, that these reports\nwere utterly false, and I do this from my own knowledge of him for\nseveral years, and some of them the years of his decay; from the express\ndeclaration of his amanuensis, who was ever with him, and above all from\nthat of Mrs. Elizabeth Abney, who lived in the same family with him\nthirty-six years.\u201d\n\nBut his constitution was broken, and his nervous system considerably\ndisordered and debilitated, by the frequent and heavy strokes of\nillness, and his intense exertions of mind, especially in his youth[9].\nHe was for several years together greatly distressed with insomnia, or\ncontinued wakefulness. Very often he could obtain no sleep for several\nnights successively except such as was forced by medical preparations;\nand not unfrequently even opiates lost their virtue, and only served to\naggravate his malady. It is wonderful how, with such a weak frame and so\nmany shocks rapidly succeeding each other, he was able to maintain such\nequanimity of temper, and vigour of intellect: The state of his mind\nthrough all the decays of nature, his humble confidence and his joy gave\nthe decisive stamp of reality to his hopes and exemplified the sublime\nattainments of which we are capable in this vale of imperfection and\nsorrow. His superiority to the pressures of sickness, and his triumphant\nassurance of the love of God are beautifully expressed in his own devout\nsoliloquy which he entitles Thoughts and Meditations in a long sickness,\n1712-1713.\n\n Yet, gracious God, amidst these storms of nature,\n Thine eyes behold a sweet and sacred calm\n Reign through the realms of conscience. All within\n Lies peaceful, all compos\u2019d. \u2019Tis wondrous grace\n Keeps off thy terrors from this humble bosom.\n Though stain\u2019d with sins and follies, yet serene\n In penitential peace, and chearful hope,\n Sprinkled and guarded with atoning blood.\n Thy vital smiles, amidst this desolation,\n Like heav\u2019nly sun-beams hid behind the clouds,\n Break out in happy moments, with bright radiance\n Cleaving the gloom, the fair celestial light\n Softens and gilds the horrors of the storm,\n And richest cordials to the heart conveys.\n\n O glorious solace of immense distress,\n A conscience and a God! A friend at home,\n And better friend on high! This is my rock\n Of firm support, my shield of sure defence\n Against infernal arrows. Rise, my soul,\n Put on thy courage. Here\u2019s the living spring,\n Of joys divinely sweet and ever new.\n A peaceful conscience, and a smiling heav\u2019n.\n\nThe two universities of Edinburgh and Aberdeen in the year 1728\nseverally conferred on him unsolicited and without his knowledge, the\ndegree of doctor in divinity. This academical honour was never better\nbestowed or received with less vanity; and happy would it have been for\nsuch seminaries had titles of this sort never been disgraced by any\nthing mercenary in their source or by ignorance or superciliousness in\ntheir subjects. In this case the honour was reciprocal, so far as a\ndiploma may be allowed to bear any proportion to poignancy of genius,\nhighly cultivated understanding, the richest talents of the head, added\nto the most amiable virtues of the heart.\n\nAlthough a non-conformist from principles and uniformly such in\npractice, he held a friendly correspondence with some of the first\ncharacters in the established church. Among these were Seeker,\narchbishop of Canterbury, Gibson, bishop of London; Hort, archbishop of\nTuam, and many others of elevated rank and eminent literary reputation.\nTheir letters[10] to him are written in an uncommon strain of\nreiteration and esteem, and although many expressions occur which bear\ntoo near an affinity to the language of flattery, those who knew the man\nand were benefited by his writings may be allowed some latitude beyond\nwhat is common in such cases.\n\nIf, while the deadly night shade of infidelity is diffusing its poison\nthrough our country, churchmen and dissenters, especially the clergy and\nthose who entertain the same views of the faith that was once delivered\nto the saints, could agree thus to differ, and lay aside all intemperate\nzeal for and against the modes and forms of religion; would they\nmutually cherish brotherly love and unite as far as possible to aid each\nothers exertions in the common cause; what a mighty change would soon be\nproduced in the state of religion, and what sources of pleasure they\nwould daily open to the advocates of the truth?\n\nMental light has no immediate or necessary dependance upon exterior\ncircumstances, nor can it be confined within the bounds of any\ndenomination, so like that glorious element its progress is\nirresistible, and must be unbounded in its dominion. Here superstition\nhas no influence, bigotry has no power; and although we cannot\naccurately pronounce the Shibboleth and Sibboleth of different parties,\nwe may yet unite our prayers and our zeal where, as the candidates for\neternal life, we are all one. As we often perceive in chemical\nexperiments that two things the most hostile by nature, and most averse\nto unite, by the addition of a third become perfectly miscible, so by a\nspirit of true piety and candour poured out upon both, we should see\nconformists and non-conformists extend to each other the right hand of\nfellowship and unite in every office of friendship and in all the\nobligations of their religious characters. May the auspicious period\nsoon dawn when Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and when Judah shall not\nvex Ephraim.\n\n Let us no more contend, nor blame\n Each other, blamed enough elsewhere, but strive,\n In offices of love, how we may lighten\n Each other\u2019s burden in our share of woe[11].\n\n\u201cSuch characters as Dr. Watts still live and flourish in our churches:\n(I adopt the words of a late acute writer). It would be easy to give a\nlong list of names from the dawn of the reformation to this day: but I\nsacrifice the pleasure of doing so to the modesty of my friends. This\nhowever, I will venture to say, and _no man shall stop me of this\nboasting_, we have in our churches now exact copies of our ancient\nmodels. _The prophets, do they live for ever?_ Yes they do. _The\nspirit of Elijah rests upon Elisha!_ The grave solidity of Cartwright\nand Jacob seemed to reside in our Owens and Goodwins and Gills. The\nvivacity of Watts and Bradbury and Earle lives in others, whom I dare\nnot name. The patient laborious Fox, the silver Bates, the melting\nBaxter, the piercing Mead, the generous Williams, the instructive\nHenry, the soft and candid Doddridge, Ridgley, and Gale, and Banyan\nand Burgess, in all their variegated beauties yet flourish in our\npulpits exercising their different talents for mutual edification. We\nhave Barnabas the son of consolation, and Boanerges the thunderer,\nstill.\u2014Ye servants of the Most High God, who shew unto us the way of\nsalvation! _Peace be within the walls of_ your churches, _and\nprosperity within your_ dwelling-houses[12].\u201d\n\nOne great man after celebrating the just praises of Dr. Watts\u2019s talents,\nafter acknowledging he was such as every christian church would rejoice\nto adopt, descends to the miserable littleness of cautioning the world\nagainst his non-conformity, as if that were a diminution of his\nliterary, or a blot upon his theological reputation. A melancholy proof\nhow far a philosophic mind may sometimes be debased by a churlish\nbigotry; the very spirit that gave birth to all the persecutions which\nharassed and oppressed the present established church when she dissented\nfrom the church of Rome, and to which we may ascribe all the animosities\nwhich divide and degrade those who only deviate in questions of a\ncircumstantial discipline since that period. In Dr. Watts were combined\nall the excellencies which form a complete reverse of a party zealot,\nand if a meek and lowly mind could shield the memory of any man from the\nenvenomed influence of this passion, his non-conformity had never been\nmentioned but with a view of recommending the virtues by which he so\ngreatly adorned it.\n\nAs an author no man\u2019s posthumous claim upon the gratitude of the church\nand of his country, can be urged with a more imperative tone: The\nnatural strength of his genius, which he cultivated and improved by a\nvery considerable acquaintance with the most celebrated writers, both\nancient and modern, had enriched his mind with a large and uncommon\nstore of just sentiments, and useful knowledge of various kinds. His\nsoul was too noble and large, to be confined within narrow limits, he\ncould not be content to leave any path of learning untried, nor rest in\na total ignorance of any science, the knowledge of which might be for\nhis own improvement, or might in any way tend to enlarge his capacity of\nbeing useful to others.\n\nThough that which gave him the most remarkable pre-eminence was the\nextent and sublimity of his imagination: how few have excelled, or even\nequalled him in quickness of apprehension, and solidity of judgment: and\nhaving also a faithful memory to retain what he collected from the\nlabours of others, he was able to pay it back again into the common\ntreasury of learning with a large increase. It is a question whether any\nauthor before him ever appeared with reputation on such a variety of\nsubjects, as he has done, both as a prose-writer, and a poet. However\nthis we may venture to say, that there is no man now living of whose\nworks so many have been dispersed, both at home and abroad, that are in\nsuch constant use, and translated into such a variety of languages; many\nof which will remain more durable monuments of his great talents, than\nany representation we can take of them, though it were to be graven on\npillars of brass[13].\n\nHis excellent friend, Dr. Doddridge, in his dedication of his Rise and\nProgress of Religion in the Soul, congratulates him, \u201cthat while\ncondescending to the humble work of forming infant minds to the first\nrudiments of religious knowledge by his _various Catechisms_ and _Divine\nSongs_, he was also daily reading lectures of logic and other useful\nbranches of philosophy to studious youth, and this not only in private\nacademies but in the most celebrated seats of learning, not merely in\nScotland, and in our American colonies, where for some peculiar\nconsiderations it might be most naturally expected, but, through the\namiable candour of some excellent men and accomplished tutors, in our\nEnglish universities too. And that he was also teaching hundreds of\nministers and private christians by his sermons, and other theological\ntracts, so happily calculated to diffuse through their minds that light\nof knowledge, and through their hearts that fervour of piety, which God\nhad been pleased to enkindle in his own. And as to my certain knowledge\nyour compositions have been the singular comfort of many excellent\nchristians on their dying beds, for I have heard stanzas of them\nrepeated from the lips of several, who were doubtless in a few hours to\nbegin the song of Moses and the Lamb, so I hope and trust, that, when\nGod shall call you to that salvation for which your faith and patience\nhave so long been waiting, he will shed around you the choicest beams of\nhis favour, and gladden your heart with consolations like those which\nyou have been the happy instrument of administering to others.\u201d\n\nDr. Johnson, whom no one here will suspect of partiality, and whose\ndecisions in such case no one will dispute, acknowledges that few books\nhad been perused by him with greater pleasure, than Watts\u2019s Improvement\nof the Mind, of which he says, \u201cthe radical principles may indeed be\nfound in Locke\u2019s Conduct of the Understanding, but they are so expanded\nand ramified by Watts, as to confer upon him the merit of a work in the\nhighest degree useful and pleasing. Whoever has the care of instructing\nothers may be charged with deficience in his duty if this book be not\nrecommended.\u201d\n\nOf his Logic, which soon obtained considerable celebrity at home and\nabroad, Lord Barrington speaks in the following terms of high encomium:\n\n\u201cI returned you my thanks for the kind present of your Logic soon after\nI received it. I can now do it on much better grounds, for since I have\nread it, I do not barely thank you for the civility, or the satisfaction\nI have received on reading a book finely written on a noble and useful\nsubject, or for the profit I have reaped by it, but for a book, by\nwhich, I expect, not only the youth of England, but all, who are not too\nlazy, or too wise to learn, will be taught to think and write better\nthan they do, and thereby become better subjects, better neighbours,\nbetter relatives, and better christians; for as wrong reasoning helps to\nspoil each of these, so far will putting us in a right way of thinking,\nhelp to mend us. I think your book so good an help to us in this way,\nthat I shall not only recommend it to others, but use it as a manual of\nits kind myself, and intend, as some have done Erasmus or a piece of\nCicero, for another purpose\u2014to read it over once a year.\u201d\n\nThe author of the Meditations among the Tombs, and the Dialogues between\nTheron and Aspasio, in a letter of acknowledgment for the present of his\ndiscourses on the glory of Christ, says\u2014\u201cTo say your works have long\nbeen my delight and study, the favourite pattern by which I would form\nmy conduct and model my style, would only be to echo back in the\nfaintest accents what sounds in the general voice of the nation. Among\nothers of your edifying compositions, I have reason to thank you for\nyour sacred songs, which I have introduced into the service of my\nchurch; so that, in the solemnities of the sabbath, and in a lecture on\nthe week day, your muse lights up the incense of our praise, and\nfurnishes our devotion with harmony.\u201d\n\nThe Countess of Hertford, afterwards Duchess of Somerset, writes to him\nin a strain of peculiar admiration and thankfulness, on reading his\nTheological Works. \u201cAlmost all the hours I passed alone, I have employed\nin reading your works, which for ever represent to my imagination the\nidea of a ladder or flight of steps, since every volume seems to rise a\nstep nearer to the language of heaven, and there is a visible\nprogression toward that better country through every page, so that,\nthough all breathe piety and just reason, the last seems to crown the\nwhole, till you shall again publish something to enlighten a dark and\nobstinate age, for I must believe that the manner in which you treat\ndivine subjects, is more likely to reform and work upon the affections\nof your readers, than that of any other writer now living. I hope God\nwill, in mercy to many thousands, myself in particular, prolong your\nlife many years. I own this does not seem a kind wish to you, but I\nthink you will be content to bear the infirmities of the flesh some\nyears longer, to be an instrument in the hands of God, toward the\nsalvation of your weak and distressed brethren.\u201d\n\nDr. Vicesimus Knox, in his Christian Philosophy, after a long citation\nfrom the Inward Witness to Christianity, concludes thus:\u2014\u201cFor my own\npart, I cannot but think this good man approached as nearly to christian\nperfection as any mortal ever did in this sublunary state; and therefore\nI consider him as a better interpreter of the christian doctrines than\nthe most learned critics, who, proud of their reason and their learning,\ndespised or neglected the very life and soul of christianity, the\nliving, everlasting gospel, the supernatural operation of divine grace;\nand be it ever remembered, that Dr. Watts was a man who cultivated his\nreason with particular care, who studied the abstrusest sciences, and\nwas as well qualified to become a verbal critic, or a logical disputant\non the scriptures, as the most learned among the doctors of Sorbonne, or\nthe greatest proficients in polemical divinity. I mentioned this\ncircumstance for the consideration of those who insinuate that the\ndoctrines of grace cannot be entertained but by ignorant as well as\nfanatical persons; by persons uninitiated in the mysteries of\nphilosophy.\u201d\n\nHis Theological Works are numerous, and none of them appear to have been\nhurried into the world under the impulse of a thoughtless vanity. The\nperspicuity and elegance of his expression and the richness of his\nimagination, enliven the most common subjects, and add lustre to the\nmost interesting. The multiplicity and diversity of his native and\nacquired talents are every where conspicuous; and the application of\nthese talents uniformly discovers an accurate knowledge of human nature,\na high veneration of the gospel, an unshaken attachment to the cause of\nchristian liberty, and an habitual readiness for any sacrifice to the\nvirtue and happiness of the world. While exploring the most abstruse\nsubjects of corporeal and spiritual nature, he became a teacher of\nbabes; and that wayfaring men, though almost ideots, might not err in\nthe path of life, he laid aside the metaphysician and the philosopher,\nto explain the doctrines and familiarise the history of the bible.\n\u201cWhatever he took in hand was, by incessant solicitude for souls,\nconverted to theology; it is difficult to read a page without learning,\nor at least wishing, to be better. The attention is caught by indirect\ninstruction, and he that sat down only to reason, is on a sudden\ncompelled to pray.\u201d\n\nThe Psalms and Hymns of Dr. Watts, which have given his name a kind of\nimmortality in our worshipping assemblies, deserve to be mentioned,\nindependent of their intrinsic merit, for the circumstance in which they\noriginated. The Hymns which were sung at the dissenting-meeting in\nSouthampton, were so little to his judgment and taste, that he could not\nforbear complaining of them to his father. His father, who, perhaps,\nfondly attached to his old guides in this service, and impatient of\ninnovations, was not very well pleased, bid him try what he could do to\nmend the matter. He immediately set to work, and so successful was he in\nhis first essay, that a second was earnestly desired, and then a third,\nand a fourth, till there was such a number as to make up a volume, which\nwas afterwards considerably enlarged. The first edition of his Hymns was\npublished in 1707, and his Psalms, 1719. The happy manner in which he\nhas rendered these composures intelligible to the ignorant, yet\ninstructive and delightful to the more intelligent, shew at once, how\nwarm a desire of extensive usefulness animated his heart, and how\nskilful an hand directed his pen; while the strong images, the bold\nflights, the lively painting, the sublimity of thought, and majesty of\nexpression, which occur in some other of his poetical writings, proclaim\nwhat a master he was in that art, and how much self-denial he practised,\nin condescending to a lower strain, when the genius for which he wrote\nrequired it.\n\nThe two volumes published as the Dr.\u2019s Posthumous Works, must be\nascribed to the avarice of a bookseller, or to the urgent calls of\nhunger, expecting success from the celebrity of his character, and the\ngeneral avidity with which his productions were received. These volumes\nare said, in the title-page, to be compiled from papers in possession of\nhis immediate successors, and to be adjusted and published by a\ngentleman of the University of Cambridge. Many of the hymns in the first\nvolume were published before, and, with only one exception, they are\nunmercifully mutilated. The rest bear no more resemblance to the poetic\nardor and sublimity of Dr. Watts\u2019s muse, than the grasshopper does to\nthe eagle. It would be easy to select various proofs of imposition in\nthis work, were it necessary; but none, who have read the poet, can\nhesitate to pronounce it a malicious attempt to hold him up to ridicule\nand contempt; or, which is most probable, a design to make his name the\nmedium of pecuniary advantage. Such a farrago should not have been\nmentioned, but as a reason for their exclusion from the genuine works.\n\nSuch authors as the subject of these memorials are the glory of nations.\nThe man whose writings expose the doctrines and ordinances of\nchristianity to contempt, who artfully endeavours to destroy the cause\nof virtue, while he affects to celebrate its praise, by taking away all\nits animating principle, throws open the flood gates of licentiousness,\ndestroys all public spirit, social order, domestic fidelity, and\npersonal happiness, takes the subject from under the restraint of the\ncivil law, saps the foundation of honour and confidence in commerce,\ninvolves his wretched proselytes in the guilt of inveterate rebellion\nagainst the Prince of Life, and subjects them to inconceivable woes in\nthe future world. When authors, whose writings have thus subverted the\nfaith, poisoned the morals, and destroyed the souls of their deluded\nreaders, are forgotten, or only remembered as objects of execration, the\nWorks of Dr. Watts justly claim the gratitude of his country, will be\nperpetuated as blessings in the church, and be honoured with the final\nplaudit of the Supreme Judge.\n\nThe dissolution of Dr. Watts fully corresponded with his holy and useful\nlife. For near three years prior to this period, his lamp had given such\na tremulous and uncertain light, that his friends daily expected its\nutter extinction. But his prospects were bright and his confidence was\nfirm. If his intellectual faculties were not vigorous, they yet\ncontinued to perform their office to the last. When in full possession\nof himself he committed his soul into the hands of his Redeemer,\ntriumphing over all the terrors of death. Thus glorifying his profession\nand the ministry of the gospel, administering the consolations of hope\nto his sorrowing friends, and displaying the faith, fortitude, and joy,\nwhich form the noblest conclusion of a life devoted to God.\n\nSoon after, Mr. Henry Grove, who contracted an intimate friendship with\nDr. Watts, had published a funeral sermon on the fear of death; the\nsubject was treated in so masterly a manner that a person of\nconsiderable rank in the learned world declared, that after reading it\nhe could have laid down and died, with as much readiness and\nsatisfaction as he had ever done any thing in his life. Some similar\neffects may, it is hoped, be produced by reviewing the circumstances of\nan event, where theory was most unusually realized in experimental fact.\nIt is not from books however finely written, but from the lips of the\ndying disciple of Jesus, that we shall learn the exercise of patience\nand courage in the anticipation of that state where we shall flourish in\neverlasting health and vigour.\n\nLet us mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, and see how\npeacefully he reposes on his dying pillow, with what chearfulness he\nbids adieu to his friends, and how he descends to the grave in a full\nage, like as a shock of corn cometh in his season. The day of this great\nman\u2019s life was not more useful in its progress, than serene and glorious\nin its close. Without perturbation he read his summons to appear before\nthe Judge of all, and without reluctance he obeyed. After a long and\nrough voyage he came with a propitious gale within sight of the peaceful\nharbour; and how fully he enjoyed the prospect, his own language in that\nhappy period will abundantly testify.\n\nWith application to himself he often repeated the words of Paul to the\nHebrews, \u201cYe have need of patience that after ye have done the will of\nGod, ye may receive the promise.\u201d Not that he was exercised with bodily\npain, but, retaining his desire to do good in undiminished force, he was\nnot at times so resigned to his providential disability as he should\nhave been. In such a frame of mind perhaps, he once said, \u201cI wonder why\nthe great God should continue me in life, when I am incapable of\nperforming him any further service.\u201d But now he had finished the work\ngiven him to do, he must quietly wait till the Lord of the vineyard\nshall bestow the promised, the desired reward. With these considerations\nhe would check the encroachments of impatience, \u201cThe business of a\nchristian,\u201d said he, \u201cis to bear the will of God, as well as to do it.\nIf I were in health I could only be doing that, and that I may do now.\nThe best thing in obedience is a regard to the will of God, and the way\nto that is to get our inclinations and aversions as much mortified as we\ncan.\u201d He discoursed much of his dependance upon the atoning sacrifice of\nChrist; and his trust in God through the Mediator remained unshaken to\nthe last. \u201cI should be glad,\u201d he said, \u201cto read more, yet not in order\nto be confirmed more in the truth of the christian religion, or in the\ntruth of its promises, for I believe them enough to venture an eternity\non them.\u201d How his soul was absorbed in the faith of these promises, and\nthe certainty of their accomplishment, all who visited him during the\nillness which terminated in his dissolution, could bear testimony.\n\nOn retiring to rest, he has been heard to declare, that if his Master\nhad no more work for him to do, he should be glad to be dismissed that\nnight, \u201cI bless God,\u201d he would say, at other times, \u201cI can lie down with\ncomfort at night, not being solicitous whether I awake in this world or\nanother.\u201d When he was almost worn out by his infirmities, he observed in\nconversation with a friend, that he remembered an aged minister used to\nsay, that the most learned and knowing christians, when they came to\ndie, have only the same plain promises of the gospel for their support,\nas the common and unlearned: \u201cand so,\u201d said he, \u201cI find it. It is the\nplain promises of the gospel that are my support, and I bless God they\nare plain promises, that do not require much labour and pains to\nunderstand them; for I can do nothing now but look into my bible for\nsome promise to support me, and live upon that.\u201d In this way the\npromises became a present inheritance of support and consolation both as\nthe security and prelibations of his future exaltation before the throne\nof God; and \u201cAs the setting sun appears of greater magnitude, and his\nbeams of richer gold than when in his meridian, so this dying believer\nwas richer in experience, stronger in grace, and brighter in his\nevidences for heaven than was usual in any period of his life.\u201d With\nsome view, no doubt to this happy state of mind, Dr. Grovesnor, being at\nthe funeral of Dr. Watts, a friend said to him, \u201cWell Dr. Grovesnor, you\nhave seen the end of Dr. Watts; and you will soon follow him: what think\nyou of death?\u201d \u201cThink of it.\u201d\u2014he replied, \u201cwhy when death comes I shall\nsmile upon him, if God will smile upon me.\u201d\n\nHis freedom from corporeal pain, and his uninterrupted assurance that\nall was well, excited the strongest sentiments and expressions of\ngratitude in his last moments, when without a struggle or a groan,\nNovember 25, 1748, in the 75th year of his age, he departed this life,\neminently beloved of God, and lamented by all wise and good men. Such\nare the joys and honours derived from the doctrines of Christianity.\nSuch are the joys and honours by which the true believer shall be\nfaithfully attended through the valley of the shadow of death, and which\nwill be consummated in the fruition of an eternal weight of glory. Let\nthose who doubt and despise our faith consider of what importance\nreligion is to the sick and dying, and till they possess the power of\nhealing, and of restoration from the borders of the grave, let them not\ntake away the only support of our hopes, the only solace of our\nafflictions: Let them not interpose between us and the bright prospects\nof life and immortality.\n\nThe remains of this great man were deposited in Bunhill-fields\nburial-ground, London; and to give a final testimony to his affection\nand liberality, his pall was supported by six ministers, two of the\npresbyterian, two of the congregational, and two of the\nantipoedo-baptist denomination, Dr. Samuel Chandler delivered an oration\nat the grave, and Dr. Jennings preached his funeral sermon to the church\nof which Dr. Watts had been pastor, from Hebrews xi. 4. \u201cBy it he being\ndead yet speaketh.\u201d Several other eminent men gave similar testimonies\nof respect to his memory. But while his various excellencies procured\nhim these honours, he in his life time, was concerned to prevent\nwhatever might be considered as inconsistent with the humility of his\ncharacter. He gave directions to have only a stone erected over the\nplace of his interment, with this humble inscription:\n\n \u201cISAAC WATTS, D. D. Pastor of a Church of Christ, in London,\n successor to the Rev. Mr. Joseph Caryl, Dr. John Owen, Mr. David\n Clarkson, and Dr. Isaac Chauncy; after fifty years of feeble labours\n in the gospel, interrupted by four years of tiresome sickness, was\n at last dismissed to his rest.\n\n \u201cIn uno Jesu omnia.\n\n \u201c2 Cor. v. 8.\u2014Absent from the body, and present with the Lord.\n\n \u201cCol. iii. 4.\u2014When Christ who is my life shall appear, then shall I\n also appear with him in glory.\u201d\n\nA handsome tomb, bearing this inscription, with the time of his death,\nwas accordingly erected at the joint expence of Sir John Hartopp, once\nhis pupil, and Lady Abney, in whose house he so long and so happily\nresided.\n\nFootnote 1:\n\n Reynolds.\n\nFootnote 2:\n\n Seed.\n\nFootnote 3:\n\n Howe.\n\nFootnote 4:\n\n Afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury.\n\nFootnote 5:\n\n Knox.\n\nFootnote 6:\n\n Goldsmith.\n\nFootnote 7:\n\n Discourses on Humility.\n\nFootnote 8:\n\n Bacon.\n\nFootnote 9:\n\n What he says in one of his sermons shews to what the corporeal\n afflictions of his later days may be ascribed: Midnight studies are\n prejudicial to nature, and painful experience calls me to repent of\n the faults of my younger years, and there are many before me have had\n the same call to repentance. Wearing out the lightsome hours in sleep\n is an unnatural waste of sun-beams. There is no light so friendly to\n animal nature as that of the sun. Serm. xx.\n\nFootnote 10:\n\n Letters published by Dr. Gibbons.\n\nFootnote 11:\n\n Milton.\n\nFootnote 12:\n\n Robinson.\n\nFootnote 13:\n\n Jennings.\n\n\n\n\n DEDICATION TO THE FIRST VOLUME OF SERMONS.\n _To the Church of Christ assembling in Berry-street, London._\n\n\nChristian Friends, dearly beloved in our Lord;\n\nIt is in the service of your souls that I have spent the best period of\nmy life ministering the gospel among you. Two and twenty years are now\nexpired since you first called me to this delightful work; from that\ntime my cares and labours, my studies and prayers, have been employed in\nyour behalf. I trust they have been accepted with God, and, through his\nalmighty blessing, have obtained some success. As to their acceptance\nwith you, I have too many and plain evidences to admit a doubt of it;\nwhich I have often thankfully acknowledged to God and you. Your forward\nkindness hath always forbid my request, nor do I remember that you ever\ngave me leave to ask any thing for myself at your hands, by your\nconstant anticipation of all that I could reasonably desire.\n\nWhile I was thus walking among you in the fellowship of the gospel with\nmutual delight, God was pleased to weaken my strength in the way, and\nthereby has given you a fairer opportunity to shew the vigour of your\naffection under my long weakness and confinement. Your diligence and\nzeal in maintaining public worship in the church, under the pastoral\ncare of my dear brother and colleague[14], in your special days and\nhours of prayer for my recovery, your constant and fervent addresses to\nthe throne of grace on my account in your weekly solemn assemblies, and\nyour chearful supply of my necessities under so tedious an affliction,\nhave made me your debtor in a high degree, and have strengthened the\nbands of my duty, by adding to them the bands of your love.\n\nAs soon as I was capable of the smallest attempt of service, you\nreceived me with all joy in the Lord: And though we were rivals in this\npleasure, yet you will allow that my joy was, at least equal to yours;\nfor I think I can pronounce it with great sincerity, that \u201cthere is no\nplace, nor company, nor employment, on this side heaven, that can give\nme such a relish of delight, as when I stand ministering holy things in\nthe midst of you.\u201d\n\nAs fast as my health increases, you may assure yourselves it is devoted\nto your edification. It often grieves me to think how poor, feeble, and\nshort, are my present labours among you; and yet what days of faintness\nI generally feel after every such attempt: So that I am continually\nprevented in my design of successive visits to you, by the want of\nactive spirits while I tarry in the city; and if I attempt to stay but a\nweek or ten days there, I find a sensible return of weakness; so that I\nam constrained to retire to the country-air, in order to recruit and\nmaintain this little capacity of service.\n\nI bless God heartily, and you are my witnesses, that in my better\nseasons of health heretofore, and in the intervals of my studies, I was\nnot a stranger of your private families, nor thoughtless of your soul\u2019s\nimprovement.\n\nWhat shall I do now to make up these defects? What can I do more\npleasing and profitable to you, than to seize the advantages of my\nretirement, to review some of those discourses which have assisted your\nfaith and joy in my former ministry, and to put them into your hands?\nThus something of me shall abide with you in your several houses, while\nI am so incapable of much public labour, and of personal visits.\n\nThis, my friends, is the true design of sending this volume to the\npress: And though many of my brethren may compose far better sermons\nthan I, whose persons I love and honour, and their labours I read with\nreverence and improvement, yet I am persuaded, that share which I have\nin your affections, will render these discourses at least as agreeable\nto your taste, as those of superior excellency from other hands. If any\nother christians shall think fit to peruse them, and find any spiritual\nbenefit, they must make their acknowledgments to God and you.\n\nI cannot invite the loose and fashionable part of mankind, the vain\ncensors of the age, and the deriders of the ministry, to become my\nreaders: Too many of them grow weary of christianity, and look back upon\nheathenism with a wishful eye, as the Jews did of old upon the leeks and\nonions of Egypt, when they grew angry with Moses, and began to loathe\nthe bread of heaven. These persons will find but little here that suits\ntheir taste; for I have not entertained you with lectures of philosophy,\ninstead of the gospel of Christ; nor have I affected that easy indolence\nof style which is the dry delight of some modish writers, the cold and\ninsipid pleasure of men who pretend to politeness. You know it has\nalways been the business of my ministry to convince and persuade your\nsouls into practical godliness, by the clearest and strongest reasons\nderived from the gospel, and by all the most moving methods of speech,\nof which I was capable; but still in a humble subserviency to the\npromised influences of the Holy Spirit, I ever thought it my duty to\npress the conviction with force on the conscience, when light was first\nlet into the mind. A statue hung round with moral sentences, or a marble\npillar with divine truths inscribed upon it, may preach coldly to the\nunderstanding, while devotion freezes at the heart: But the prophets and\napostles were _burning and shining lights_; they were all taught by\ninspiration to make the words of truth glitter like sun-beams, and to\noperate like _a hammer_, and _a fire_, and _a two-edged sword_[15]. The\nmovements of sacred passion may be the ridicule of an age which pretends\nto nothing but calm reasoning. Life and zeal in the ministry of the\nword, may be despised by men of luke-warm and dying religion: _Fervency\nof spirit is the service of the Lord_[16], may become the scoff and jest\nof the critic and the profane: But this very life and zeal, this sacred\nfervency, shall still remain one bright character of a christian\npreacher, till the names of Paul and Apollos perish from the church; and\nthat is till this bible and these heavens are no more.\n\nIn some of these discourses indeed I have not had the opportunity of so\nwarm and affectionate an address to the hearers. A true and just\nexplication of scripture and a convincing proof of the doctrine\nproposed, have been the chief things necessary; yet I have endeavoured,\neven there, to give a practical and pathetic turn, as far as the design\nof the text would bear it: But in the other sermons I blame myself more\nfor the want of zeal and devout passion, than for the excess of it.\n\nI will readily confess, there are here and there some periods where the\nlanguage appears a little too elevated, though not too warm; I know it\nis not the proper style of the pulpit: but there is some difference\nbetween speaking and writing. In one the ear must take in the sense at\nonce; in the other, the eye may review what the first glance did not\nfully receive. Besides, my friendly readers will now and then indulge a\nmetaphor, to one who from his youngest years, has dealt a little in\nsacred poesy.\n\nYou are my witnesses, that in the common course of my ministry, I often\npress the duties of sobriety and temperance, justice and charity, as\nwell as the inward and spiritual parts of godliness. But since treatises\non the latter subjects are seldom published now-a-days, I have permitted\nthe matters of secret converse between God and the holy soul, to take up\na larger share in these discourses; and it has been my aim to rescue\nthese arguments from the charge of enthusiasm, and to put them in such a\nlight, as might shew their perfect consistence with common sense and\nreason. Hereby I have done my part to defend them against the daily\ncavils of those low pretenders to christianity, who banish most of these\nthings from their religion, and yet arrogate and confine all reason to\nthemselves.\n\nIt is necessary that a christian preacher should teach the laws of\nsobriety, the rules of charity and justice, our duty to our neighbour,\nand our practice of public religion; but it is my opinion that\ndiscourses of experimental piety, and the work of the closet, should\nalso sometimes entertain the church and the world. Our fathers talked\nmuch of pious experience, and have left their writings of the same\nstrain behind them: They were surrounded with converts, and helped to\nfill heaven apace; for God was with them. But I mourn to think that some\nare grown so degenerate in our days, as to join their names and their\nworks together in a common jest, and to ridicule the sacred matter of\ntheir sermons, because the manner had now and then something in it too\nmystical and obscure, and there is something in their style\nunfashionable and unpolished.\n\nIt must be acknowledged indeed, to the honour of the present age, that\nwe have some pretences above our predecessors to freedom and justness of\nthought, to strength of reasoning, to clear ideas, to the generous\nprinciples of christian charity; and I wish we had the practice of it\ntoo. But as to the savour of piety and inward religion, as to\nspiritual-mindedness, and zeal for God, and the good of souls; as to the\nspirit and power of evangelical ministrations, we may all complain, the\nglory is much departed from our Israel. Happy the men who are so far\nassisted and favoured of God, as to unite all these excellencies, and to\njoin the honours of the past and present age together! How far it has\nbeen attempted amongst you, I have a witness in your consciences: and\nthough I keep a sincere and painful sense within me of my great defects\non either side, yet I must still pursue the same attempt; and with\nreverence and zeal I beg leave to trace the footsteps of my brethren,\nwho come nearest to this shining character.\n\nIn all these things I rejoice, and cannot conceal my joy, that my kind\nand faithful companion in the service of your souls, practises his\nministry with the same views and designs; and he hath been sensibly\nowned and assisted of God, to support and to build up the church, during\nmy long confinement. His labours of love both for you and for me, shall\never endear him both to me and you. May the divine blessing gloriously\nattend his double services in the seasons of my absence and painful\nrestraint! May your united prayers prevail for my restoration to the\nfull exercise of my ministry among you! And may you all receive such\nlasting benefit by our associated labours, that you may stand up, and\nappear as our crown and our joy in the great day of the Lord! This is\nthe continual and hearty prayer of,\n\n My dear Friends,\n\n Your affectionate and afflicted\n\n Servant in the gospel,\n\n I. WATTS.\n\n Theobalds in Hertfordshire,\n February, 21, 1720-21.\n\nFootnote 14:\n\n Mr. Samuel Price.\n\nFootnote 15:\n\n 2 Cor. iv. 4, 6. John v. 35. Jer. xxiii. 29. Heb. iv. 12.\n\nFootnote 16:\n\n Acts xviii. 25. Rom. xii. 11.\n\n\n\n\n PREFACE[17].\n\n\nI am bound to give thanks to God always, for the acceptance that my\nsermons have found among the more pious and religious part of mankind.\nAs it hath been the chief design of my ministry to explain the common\nand most important things of our religion, to the understanding of every\nchristian, and to impress the most necessary duties of it on the spirit\nand conscience, so when I am solicited to make my labours yet more\npublic, I would repeat the same work; I would fain give my readers the\nclearest conceptions of some of the great articles of christianity, and\ndraw out the plain principles of truth which are in the head, to a\npowerful and holy influence over the heart and life.\n\nThese discourses have but little hope to gratify those curious minds,\nwho turn over the leaves superficially to search if there be any new\ndiscoveries in them, and being disappointed, lay down the book with\ndisdain: My chief intent was to entertain and assist those humble\nchristians, who converse in secret with God and their own souls.\n\nAnd since it is the custom of many persons to read a sermon in the\nevening of the Lord\u2019s-day, as part of their family-worship, I was\ndesirous also to suit the sermons which I publish to such a pious\nservice. Now when the discourses, which are rehearsed in families have\nmuch of criticism and speculation in them, or long and difficult trains\nof reasoning, every one may observe, what a negligent air sits upon the\nfaces of the hearers, what a drowsy attention is given to this religious\nexercise, and the greatest part of the household find very little\nimprovement.\n\nI grant, it is sometimes necessary to preach, and print such discourses\nwhich are more critical and laborious in exposition of difficult texts,\nand which by artificial trains of argument, may penetrate deep into the\nhidden things of God, and _bring forth things new as well as old_. But I\nam content to wave the honour of such performances in the more general\ncourse of my labours, whether of the pulpit or the press, and chiefly to\npursue those methods which more directly tend to the edification of the\nbulk of mankind, in the knowledge of Christ and in practical godliness.\n\nWe are too often ready to judge that to be the best sermon, which has\nmany strange thoughts in it, many fine hints, and some grand and polite\nsentiments. But a christian in his best temper of mind will say, \u201cThat\nis a good sermon which brings my heart nearer to God, which makes the\ngrace of Christ sweet to my soul, and the commands of Christ easy and\ndelightful: That is an excellent discourse indeed, which enables me to\nmortify some unruly sin, to vanquish a strong temptation, and bears me\nfrom all the enticements of this lower world; that which bears me up\nabove all the disquietudes of life, which fits me for the hour of death,\nand makes me ready and desirous to appear before Christ Jesus my Lord.\u201d\nIf the publication of these discourses shall be so happy, as through the\ninfluence of the Blessed Spirit to attain these ends, I have obtained my\nbest aim and hope, and will ascribe the glory to God my Saviour.\n\nThe first sermons which I published[18] were taken up chiefly in the\nmore spiritual parts of our religion, and such as relate more\nimmediately to the secret transactions of the soul with God, and with\nhis Son Jesus Christ. In several following discourses, I have attempted\nto explain many duties of the christian life which refer to our\nfellow-creatures. I hope no man who loves the gospel of Christ, will\nknit his brow and throw disgrace upon the book, with a contempt of dull\nmorality: If such a person would give himself leave to peruse these\nsermons, perhaps he would meet with so much of Christ and the gospel in\nthem, that he might learn to love his Saviour better than ever he did,\nand find how necessary moral duties are to make his own religion either\nsafe or honourable: While _we are saved by faith_ in the blood and\nrighteousness of the Son of God, we must remember also, that it is such\na _faith as worketh by love_, for _faith without works is dead_, and\nuseless to all purposes of hope and salvation.\n\nMy design in these sermons is to represent vice and virtue in their\nproper colours, I foresee that many readers will quickly spy out their\nneighbours\u2019 names amongst the vicious or unlovely characters; but it\nwould turn perhaps to their better account, if they can find their own:\nfor there is many a description here that a hundred persons may lay a\nrighteous claim to. It was my business to set a faithful glass before\nthe face of conscience, by which we may examine ourselves, and learn\n_what manner of persons we are_; and I pray God to keep it daily before\nmy own eyes. I acknowledge my defects, and stand corrected in many of my\nown sermons. Blessed be God for a Mediator who is _exalted to give\nrepentance and forgiveness of sins_.\n\nYet it may not be an improper or unsuccessful method of reproof to fold\ndown a useful leaf now and then for a friend, and give him notice in\nsuch an inoffensive manner of any blemishes that may belong to his\ncharacter. Thus the silent page shall bestow upon him the richest\nbenefit of friendship; it may whisper in his ear a secret word of\nadmonition, and convey it to his conscience without offence. Such a\ngentle monitor may awaken him to inward shame and penitence; may rouse\nhis virtue to shine brighter than ever, and scatter the clouds that hung\ndark upon the evidence of his graces.\n\nSince I first published these discourses[19], the world has been\nfurnished with a more complete account of most of these subjects, in\nthat excellent treatise called the \u201cChristian Temper,\u201d which my worthy\nfriend Doctor Evans hath sent abroad, and which is, perhaps, the most\ncomplete summary of those duties which make up the christian life, that\nhath been published in our age.\n\nThe next three sermons are employed on that divine subject, which I am\nready to call the chief wonder and glory of the christian religion, that\nis, the great atonement for sin made by the death of Christ, and the\npractical uses derived thence[20]. This is the blessed foundation of our\nhope, which I have endeavoured to set in a clear light, and to support\nby reasoning drawn from the types and predictions of the Old Testament\nand the clearer language of the New. This is that grace and that\nrighteousness which was witnessed by the law and the prophets, as St.\nPaul expresses it; Rom. iii. 24. This is that important work of the\nblessed Saviour, who was promised to the guilty world ever since the\nfall, and whose various glories have been well represented, according to\nancient prophecy, in a happy correspondence with the doctrine of the New\nTestament, by a volume of \u201cDiscourses on the Messiah,\u201d lately published\nby Dr. William Harris. I wonder how any man can read all these\ncorrespondencies of the type, prophecy and history, and not be convinced\nthat Jesus was the appointed Saviour of the world.\n\nThe several sermons that follow next, are all formed upon some of the\nmost momentous concerns of a christian, _viz._ How to improve every\nthing for the advantage of our own souls; how to look on all things as\nworking for our good; how to employ the time of life to noble purposes,\nand such as the saints above can never be employed in; and to improve\nthe death of others to valuable ends in the christian life, and\nespecially to a preparation for our own departure. The death of that\nworthy gentleman and excellent christian, Sir Thomas Abney, gave the\nfirst occasion to some of these meditations, for the use of the mourning\nfamily, which were much amplified afterwards in my public ministry. Here\nI have endeavoured to awaken myself and my friends to an immediate and\nconstant readiness for a dismission from this sinful, and sorrowful, and\ntempting world: And God grant when that awful hour approaches, I may be\nso far honoured by divine grace, as to become an example as well as a\nteacher.\n\nThe last discourse of all, exhibits the \u201cmost plain and obvious\nrepresentation of the doctrine of the blessed Trinity, as it lies in the\nbible, and the great and necessary use that is to be made of it in our\nreligion.\u201d It is a doctrine that runs through the whole of our serious\ntransactions with God, and therefore it is necessary to be known by men.\nWithout the mediation of the Son, and the influences of the Spirit, we\ncan find no way of access to the Father, nor is there any other hope of\nhis favour proposed in the gospel.\n\nI thought it proper also, to publish it at this season, to let the world\nknow, that though I have entered into some further enquiries on this\ndivine subject, and made humble attempts to gain clearer ideas of it, in\norder to vindicate the truth and glory of this sacred article; yet I\nhave never changed my belief and profession of any necessary and\nimportant part of it, as will here appear with abundant evidence.\n\nIn this sermon I have followed the track of no particular scheme\nwhatsoever; but have represented the sacred Three, the Father, the Son,\nand the Holy Spirit, in that light in which they seem to lie most open\nto the common view of mankind in the word of God: And I am glad to find\nwhat I have drawn out in this manner in seventeen propositions, appears\nso agreeable to the general sense of our fathers in this article, that I\ndo not think any one of these propositions would be denied or disputed\nby our divines of the last or present age, who have had the greatest\nname and reputation of strict orthodoxy[21].\n\nIf I may express the substance of it in a few words, it is this: It\nseems to me to be plainly and evidently revealed in scripture, \u201cThat\nboth the Son and the Holy Ghost have such a communion in the true and\neternal God-head, as to have the same names, titles, attributes and\noperations ascribed to them, which are elsewhere ascribed to the Father,\nand which belong only to the true God: And yet that there is such a\nplain distinction between them, as is sufficient to support their\ndistinct personal characters and offices in the great work of our\nsalvation.\u201d And this is what has been generally called the Trinitarian\nDoctrine, or the doctrine of Three Persons and one God.\n\nAt the end of the latter sermons I have endeavoured to assist christians\nin the devout collection of what they hear or read in a way of pious\nconverse with their own hearts, and with God. In most of those\nmeditations, the reader will find the principal heads of the foregoing\nsermons rehearsed.\n\nWhere the sermons are too long to be read in a family at once, I have\nmarked out proper pauses, that the religious service may not be made\ntedious. May the great God vouchsafe to send his own Almighty Spirit,\nwheresoever his providence shall disperse these weak labours of mine in\nthe world, and attend them with his sovereign power and blessing for the\nwelfare of immortal souls! _Amen._\n\nFootnote 17:\n\n In the fifth edition the three volumes in 12mo were reduced into two\n in octavo, and the prefaces abridged and united by the author.\n\nFootnote 18:\n\n 21st February, 1720-21.\n\nFootnote 19:\n\n 25th March, 1723.\n\nFootnote 20:\n\n They were first published 25th March, 1727.\n\nFootnote 21:\n\n In this complete collection of the author\u2019s works there are large\n additions, as well as many alterations inserted in this sermon \u2018On the\n Doctrine of the Trinity,\u2019 from the author\u2019s manuscripts. 1734.\n\n\n\n\n SERMONS.\n\n SERMON I.\n _The Inward Witness to Christianity._\n 1 JOHN v. 10.\u2014He that believeth on the Son of God, hath the Witness in\n himself.\n THE FIRST PART.\n\n\nThere are two points of great and solemn importance, which it becomes\nevery man to enquire into: _First_, Whether the religion he professes be\ntrue and divine; and _then_, Whether he has so far complied with the\nrules of this religion, as to stand entitled to the blessings thereof.\n\nThe christians of our age and nation, have been nursed up amongst the\nforms of christianity from their childhood; they take it for granted\ntheir religion is divine and true, and therefore seldom enter into the\n_first_ enquiry: but when they come to think in good earnest about\nreligious affairs, their great concern is with the _second_, _viz._ to\nknow whether they have so far complied with the rules of the gospel of\nChrist, as to obtain an interest in the promised blessings of it. And\nwhen they hear such a text as this, _He that believeth, hath the witness\nin himself_, they immediately expect that the meaning and design of it\nshould be to _witness_ the truth of their own faith, and consequently to\nprove their own title to salvation.\n\nBut in the first christian age the case was far otherwise. The gospel\nitself was not then universally established, and the disciples of this\nnew religion might have frequent doubts in their own minds concerning\nthe truth of it, while they saw it disallowed and opposed by the world\nround about them. It was evidently necessary therefore for them to\nenquire, whether it came from God or no? And it is with this view the\napostle John writes these words, _He that believeth on the Son of God\nhath the witness in himself_; _viz._ _he_ hath a proof within himself\nthat _eternal life is in the Son_, ver. 11. and is to be obtained by our\nbelieving in him. It is to the truth of this doctrine that the _three\nbear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost; and the\nthree on earth, the spirit, and the water, and the blood_. And though\nthe proof of the sincerity and truth of our faith now may be derived\nfrom hence by a farther consequence, yet the first and direct design of\nthe apostle is to shew, that the truth and divinity of our religion has\nan inward witness to it in the heart of every believer.\n\nHere give me leave to put you in mind, that it is necessary for you, as\nit was for the primitive christians, to settle your profession of\nchristianity upon solid grounds; otherwise you are christians but for\nthe same reason that makes a Turk a disciple of Mahomet, or a heathen a\nworshipper of the Gods of his country; that is, because you were born in\nsuch a climate, and under such a meridian. And can you be contented with\nso poor a pretence to the noblest religion? and lay so sandy a\nfoundation for your eternal hopes? Besides, the day in which we live,\nthreatens you with bold temptations; and how will you stand if you have\nno surer grounds? Infidelity is a growing weed; the contempt and\nridicule of revealed religion, flourish and become fashionable among the\ngay part of the world; and if you are not furnished with some solid\nproofs of the gospel of Christ, you may be in great danger of losing\nyour faith; you may be tempted to yield up your religion to a witty\njest, and become a heathen for company.\n\nI might say another thing to awaken you to acquaint yourselves with some\narguments that will justify and support your belief of the gospel.\nSuppose you think you have complied with the rules of your religion, and\nhave raised your hopes of heaven to a high degree; should Satan the\ntempter spread his darkness round your souls, and in a melancholy and\ngloomy hour assault your faith with such bold questions as these, _How\ndo you know that christianity is the true religion? What tokens have you\nto shew that it came from God?_ If you have no other answer to make, but\nthat _it is the religion of your country_, that _you are born and bred\nup in it_, think with yourselves how your spirits will be surprized,\nyour comforts languish, and all your high built hopes totter to the\nground; unless the Spirit of God, by his uncommon and sovereign grace,\nshould give in an answer to the temptation, and by some immediate and\nconvincing argument support your faith: but if you are negligent to lay\na good foundation at first, you have no reason to expect such a divine\nfavour.\n\nLet the importance of this concern therefore keep your attention awake,\nwhile I briefly run over some of the proofs of christianity, and thus\nlead you down to the surest and best of them, which is contained in my\ntext.\n\nMany are the outward testimonies which God hath given to the gospel of\nhis Son; many witnesses have confirmed it from the time that Christ\nappeared in the flesh, to the day when St. John wrote this epistle. If\nwe trace his life from the cradle in the manger to his cross and the\ngrave, we shall find the rays of divinity still shining round his\ndoctrine and his works, still pointing to his person, and proving his\ncommission with a convincing and resistless light. At his birth the\nwitnessing angels appeared in much brightness, and while the Son of God\nlay an infant below, his record was on high; for there appeared a\nstrange new star, and was his witness in heaven. The wise men of the\nEast were his witnesses, when they came from afar, and paid tributes and\nofferings, gold and incense to the God, the king of Israel. Simeon and\nAnna in the temple, by the Spirit of prophecy witnessed to the holy\nchild Jesus. And the doctors with whom he disputed at twelve years old,\nwere his witnesses that there was something in him more than man. At his\nbaptism the Father and the Spirit witnessed to the Son of God; they told\nthe world that this was He, the Messiah: The Father by a voice from\nheaven, saying, _This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased_; and\nthe Spirit descending upon him like a dove. His life was a life of\nwonders, and each of them witnessed to the truth of his commission, and\nto the divinity of his doctrine. Every blind eye that he opened, saw and\nwitnessed Jesus, and declared his divine power. Every one of the dead\nthat he raised were his witnesses. They came from the land of silence to\nspeak his glory, and to give a loud testimony to his mission from\nheaven. The devils themselves, when he drove them out of their\npossessions, confessed that he was Christ, _The holy one of God_; but he\nhad no mind to accept their witness, and therefore forbade them to\nspeak. Miracles attended him to the cross and the grave, and opened the\ngrave again for him, and made a passage for him to his Father\u2019s right\nhand. Nor did the witnesses of his person and of his doctrine then\ncease; for _that salvation which began to be spoken by Jesus the Lord_,\nwas afterwards published _by those that heard him, God himself bearing\nthem witness with signs and wonders_; as in Heb. ii. 3, 4.\n\nBut all these still were outward witnesses to convince an unbelieving\nworld. There is an inward witness that my text speaks of, that belongs\nto every true christian: _He that believeth on the Son of God hath the\nwitness in himself._ And let us prepare now to examine whether our\nreligion be true, and whether we are believers on the Son of God in\ntruth, by searching after this inward witness; which we shall endeavour\nto explain, by considering these three things:\n\nI. What believing on the Son of God means.\u2014II. What this inward witness\nis, that faith gives to christianity.\u2014III. What sort of witness it is,\nand how it exceeds other testimonies in several respects. And, _Lastly_,\nWe shall make some inferences.\n\nI. What is meant in my text by _believing on the Son of God_? I answer\nbriefly under these two heads. It is,\u20141. A believing Jesus Christ to be\nthe Saviour of the world.\u20142. A trust in Christ Jesus as our Saviour.\n\n1. It is a _believing_ Jesus Christ _to be the Saviour of the world_;\nand in this manner it is often expressed by our apostle in these\nepistles: a belief that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, who was foretold by\nall the prophets, and represented by all the types and shadows of the\nOld Testament. This usually includes a belief of the most important\nthings that are related in the gospel concerning his person; such as\nthese, that he is true God and true man, _i. e._ that God and man are\nunited in him; that he was the Son of God before all ages, and the son\nof man born in time. _That he was the seed of David after the flesh, but\ndeclared to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the\ndead_; Rom. i. 3, 4. That he is that eternal Word, who _in the beginning\nwas with God, and was God_, and who was in due time _made flesh and\ntabernacled among us_, as in John i. 14. This is that _mystery of\ngodliness_ which we must believe, _God manifest in the flesh_; 1 Tim.\niii. 16.\n\nIt implies also our belief of his doctrine, as well as of the divinity\nand humanity united in his person; _viz._ That we are all sinners\ncondemned by the law of God; enemies to God in our minds, transgressors\nin our lives, and exposed to eternal death: That the divine law is so\nstrict, so perfect, so holy, and so just that no mere man since the fall\ncan fulfil it, nor yet can excuse or free himself from the condemnation\nof it: That Christ himself came _to fulfil this law_, as he tells us in\nMat. v. 17, 18. That he came not only to perform the duties of it by an\nactive obedience, but to put himself under the curse and condemnation\nfor our sakes. Which the apostle to the Galatians expresses in this\nlanguage, that _in the fulness of time he was made under the law_ to\nbecome _a curse for us_, that we who are under the law _might be\nredeemed from the curse, and receive a blessing_; Gal. iii. 13. and iv.\n5. That _he died for our offences_, that _he rose again for our\njustification_; and that he has received the spirit of holiness, which\nhe sends into our sinful natures, to form us fit for that heavenly\ninheritance which he hath purchased for us by his death. That without\nthis purification of our natures, we can have no hope of heaven, for\n_without_ repentance and _holiness no man shall see God_. That Jesus\nChrist our Lord shall raise the dead, shall come in the last day to\njudge the world, and pass a decisive sentence, and shall then _reward\nevery one according to their works_. Though all these things were not so\nplainly taught by our Saviour himself in his public ministry in the\nworld, yet these were the doctrines which his apostles preached\ncontinually, and they received them from him by private instructions, or\nthe inspiration of his Spirit, so that they may be properly called the\ndoctrines of Christ.\n\nBut this is not all that is required of believers; for so much\nknowledge, and so much faith as this is, the devils may have, and Simon\nMagus the sorcerer might have as much as this when he believed. The\nfaith that is expressed in this epistle, and in other places of\nscripture, is more than a bare assent to the great truths of the gospel;\nfor it is such a faith as _overcomes the world_, such a faith as _gains\na victory_ over things sensual, and over Satan; such a faith as\nevidences a man _to be born of God_. And therefore something more must\nbe implied in it than a mere belief of the nature and person of Christ,\nand the truth of his doctrine.\n\n2. It therefore implies a _betrusting the soul into the hands of Christ,\nthat he may be our Saviour_. And I have sometimes thought that those\nwords in the Greek, which we render _faith_ and _believing_ are\ncontinually used in the New Testament, to signify _faith_, a _saving\nfaith_; because they not only signify, in their natural sense, the\n_believing of a truth_, but the _trusting in a person_. They signify\nbelieving the doctrine of Christ, and committing the soul into his hands\nas a Saviour, as it is expressed by St. Paul; 2 Tim. i. 12. _I know whom\nI have believed, and I am persuaded he is able to keep what I have\ncommitted to him._ To _believe on the Son of God_ therefore, is when a\nperson, from a sense of sin and danger of eternal death, and his\ninability to escape any other way, applies himself unto Christ Jesus, as\nthe Son of God, the Saviour of the world. When the soul commits itself\ninto his hands, as one All-sufficient in himself to save, and one\nappointed by the Father for this glorious purpose. When the soul is made\nwilling to be justified by the merits and righteousness of another,\nseeing itself unable, by all its own works, to attain to a justifying\nrighteousness. When the soul is desirous to be sanctified by the grace\nthat is from above, because it sees the necessity of holiness, and yet\nfeels itself utterly incapable to renew its own nature, to mortify its\nown sins, or to form itself fit for the enjoyment of God and heaven.\nWhen the soul for these ends, puts itself under the care of Christ\nJesus, who is authorised and commissioned by the Father to take care of\nsinful and guilty souls, to remove and cancel their guilt by his\nsacrifice, and invest them with a perfect righteousness, to begin the\nwork of grace in them, to fill them with principles of holiness, and by\ndegrees to fit them for his glory: such a soul is a believer on the Son\nof God, and such a soul has the witness in himself, that our religion is\ndivine, and that christianity is from above.\n\nII. The second thing I proposed to consider, is, _What is the inward\nwitness that faith gives to the truth of christianity?_\n\nAt the first promulgation of the gospel, there were some souls\noverpowered with present miracles, attended with a divine light shining\ninto them. This was such as they could not resist, such as carried\nglorious evidence with it, and effectually wrought upon them to believe\nthat our religion was from heaven, that Christ was the Son of God, and\nthat his name was the only ground of hope for salvation. This was\nmiraculous and extraordinary, and not to be expected every day now; such\nwas the conversion of St. Paul to christianity, and many such instances\nof miracles appeared in the first seasons of the gospel.\n\nBut the witness that the apostle John speaks of in my text, is such as\nbelongs to every believer. It is an universal proposition, _He that\nbelieves, has the witness in himself_.\n\nIn order therefore to enquire into the nature of this testimony, I shall\nnot lead you, nor myself into the land of blind enthusiasm, that region\nof clouds and darkness, that pretends to divine light. The apostle does\nnot mean here a strong impulse, an irrational and ungrounded assurance\nthat our religion is true. Many times these vehement impulses are but\nthe foolish fires of fancy, that give the enquiring traveller no steady\nlight or conduct, but lead him far astray from truth. Christianity has a\nbetter witness than this; being such as belongs to every believer, it\nmust approve itself to the reason of men. And I will endeavour to\nexplain it thus according to scripture.\n\nLet it first be noted here, that the word _witness_ is used frequently,\nby our translators, to signify _testimony_, or _evidence_. Nor will it\ncreate any confusion to use these words promiscuously in this discourse,\nwhile we distinguish them from the _thing witnessed_, (which in the\noriginal, is also \u03bc\u03b1\u03c1\u03c4\u03c5\u03c1\u03b9\u03b1) and is translated the _record_, ver. 10, 11.\n\nNow if we enquire what is that _testimony_ to christianity, or that\n_inward witness_ that every believer has in himself, let us consider\nwhat that record is which God has testified concerning his Son Christ\nJesus. That you will find in the context, ver. 11, 12. _This is the\nrecord_ or thing witnessed, _that God hath given to us eternal life, and\nthis life is in his Son; he that hath the Son of God hath life, and he\nthat hath not the Son hath not life_. He then that _believes on the Son\nof God hath the witness_, or testimony to christianity, in himself, for\nhe hath within him the _thing testified_. He hath eternal life in\nhimself, he hath this eternal life already begun, and it shall be\ncarried on and fulfilled in the days of eternity. By believing in\nChrist, we have a glorious testimony, or witness, within ourselves, that\nChrist is the Son of God, the Saviour of the world, and the author of\neternal life; that his person is divine, that his doctrine is true, for\neternal life is begun in us.\n\nWe shall make this more fully appear, by considering what is _eternal\nlife_, and shewing how far it is found in every believer, and how it\nbecomes a witness of christianity in his heart.\n\nEternal life consists in _happiness_ and _holiness_; it is made up of\nthese two, and there is such a necessary connection between them, that\nthey run into one another; but for order-sake, I shall distinguish them\nthus:\n\nThe happiness of eternal life consists in the pardon of sin, in the\nspecial favour of God, and in the pleasure that arises from the regular\noperation of all our powers and passions. Now these three things are, in\nsome measure, found with every soul that believes in Christ.\n\nThe happiness of eternal life consists,\u2014\u2014I. _In the pardon of sin_;\nthence arises _peace of conscience_. This is a part of heaven; the\nperfection of this peace belongs to the heavenly state. Our pardon is\ncomplete on earth, but the sense of this pardon is not complete and free\nfrom all doubts, or at least from all danger of doubting, till we arrive\nat full glory. When a soul is made sensible, that all its iniquities are\nfor ever cancelled, that God will never avenge any of his crimes upon\nhim, when he knows that this God, who has a right to punish with\neverlasting revenge, is at peace, and will demand no more satisfaction\nfor his sins; this soul then has the beginning of heaven. This is a part\nof final blessedness, and of complete eternal life.\n\nNow this is, in some measure, found in believers here: They that have\ntrusted in the Son of God, begin to find peace in their own consciences,\nthey can hope God is reconciled to them through the blood of Christ,\nthat their iniquities are atoned for, and that peace is made betwixt God\nand them. This belongs only to the doctrine of Christ, and witnesses it\nto be divine: For there is no religion that ever pretended to lay such a\nfoundation of pardon and peace, as the religion of the Son of God does;\nfor he has made himself a propitiation; Jesus the righteous is become\nour reconciler by becoming a sacrifice: Rom. iii. 25. _Him hath God set\nforth for a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his\nrighteousness for the remission of sins that are past, that he might be\njust, and the justifier of him that believes in Jesus: Therefore being\njustified by faith, we have peace with God_, Rom. v. 1. _Behold the Lamb\nof God, that takes away the sins of the world!_ was the language of\nJohn, who was but the forerunner of our religion, and took a prospect of\nit at a little distance: And much more of the particular glories and\nblessings of this atonement is displayed by the blessed apostles the\nfollowers of the Lamb.\n\nOther religions, that have been drawn from the remains of the light of\nnature, or that have been invented by the superstitious fears and\nfancies of men, and obtruded on mankind by the craft of their\nfellow-creatures, are all at a loss in this instance, and can never\nspeak solid peace and pardon.\n\n1. The religion of the _Heathens_, and the best of philosophers, could\nnever assure us, _Whether God would pardon sin at all, or no_. The light\nof nature indeed would dictate thus much, that God is, in his own\nnature, gracious, and compassionate, and kind; but whether God would be\ngracious to you or me, compassionate to such ill-deserving sinners, as\nwe are, the light of nature could never determine. It is only the Son of\nGod, that came down from the bosom of the Father, could so well inform\nus how the Father\u2019s heart worked towards such sinners, in the designs of\npardon and reconciliation.\n\n2. Again, the light of nature could never tell us, _how often God would\npardon sinners_. Suppose it could be found out by reason that God is so\ncompassionate, that he could forgive offences, yet it could never be\ninferred how often we would be forgiven; and if he had pardoned us once,\nwe might for ever despair if we had committed new iniquities: For who\nbut a divine messenger can tell us, that he will often repeat his\npardons?\n\n3. The light of nature could never inform us _how great the offences\nwere that could be forgiven_; reason could never tell us, that\nrebellions of the biggest size, and treasons of the blackest\naggravation, should be all cancelled; the light of nature could never\nsay, _All manner of sin, and blasphemy, shall be forgiven to men_. This\nthe Son of God hath only taught us, who came from the bosom of the\nFather, and who laid a foundation for the brightest displays of\npardoning grace.\n\n4. Reason, with all the principles of natural religion, could never\nteach us _what we must do to obtain pardon_, and on what terms God would\nforgive. Reason indeed might require us to repent of sin, but it could\nnever assure us, that _he that confesseth, and forsaketh his sins, shall\nfind mercy_. Nor could it shew us any mediator or reconciler between God\nand man, nor how, or in what manner, we must address ourselves to him,\nor to an offended God by him; reason could never start a thought of this\nstrange way of salvation, that we must believe, or trust in another\u2019s\nsufferings in order to the pardon of our own sins; that we must depend\non the merits and righteousness of one that died, in order to obtain\nforgiveness and life; that _by faith, in the blood of Christ, God will\njustify them that believe in Jesus_? What could the light of mere nature\nteach us concerning this Jesus? And yet _there is no other name under\nheaven whereby we can be saved_; Acts iv. 12.\n\n5. The light of nature, or any religion invented by men, could never\nacquaint us _with the foundation of divine forgiveness_, nor shew _us\nany merit sufficient to procure it_; and in this sense we are left at a\nloss in all other religions, _upon what ground we could expect pardon\nfrom God_: For they knew nothing of an atonement equal to our guilt,\nnothing of a satisfaction great as our offences, and that could answer\nthe high demands of infinite and offended justice. Mankind found out by\nreason, and by the stings and disquietudes of a guilty conscience, that\nthere was an offended God in heaven; and in several countries they\nfollowed the dictates of a wild and uneasy imagination, inventing an\nendless variety of methods to appease the angry Deity. What multitudes\nof rams, and goats, and thousands of larger cattle, were cut to pieces,\nand burnt, to atone for the sins of men? What deluges of blood have\noverflowed their altars? What fanciful sprinklings, and vast effusions\nof wine and oil? The first-born son for the transgression of the father,\nand the fruit of the body for the sin of the soul? What cruel practices\non their own flesh? What cuttings and burnings to procure pardon? And\nyet, after all, no true peace, nor reasonable hope.\n\nThe Jewish religion indeed was invented by God himself, and it contained\nin it the way of obtaining pardon, but it was veiled and darkened by\nmany types and shadows; though it was not defective as to real pardon,\nyet it was very defective as to solid peace; therefore the apostle tells\nus, Heb. x. 1, 2, &c. _The law having a shadow of good things to come,\nand not the very image of the things, can never, with those sacrifices\nwhich they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto\nperfect, &c._ The sense of which, compared with the following verses, is\nplainly this, _Those sacrifices, that were so often repeated, could\nnever perfectly take away the conscience of guilt_: there still remained\nsome trembling fears, some uneasy doubts, some painful concern of mind,\nwhether their iniquities should be entirely cancelled or no: because\nthey were convinced that the blood of bulls and goats could not do it,\nand they could not fully and plainly see the blood of Jesus, the Son of\nGod, the Saviour. Dark hints, and obscure notices of such a Messiah, and\nsuch a sacrifice, they had; but such a one as could not generally free\ntheir consciences from all sense of defilement and guilt, and fears,\nthough it cleansed their souls in the sight of God.\n\nThe Socinians, in our age, can have but very little solid comfort, if\nthey are truly awakened to a spiritual sight of the law of God; for when\nthey have nothing to plead with God, and nothing to trust in but his\nmere absolute mercy, while they deny the proper satisfaction of Christ\nJesus, how weak must their hope be, how feeble is the foundation of it!\nbut when a poor, convinced, awakened soul, that now believes the\ndoctrine of Christ, has been long before tormented in his conscience\nabout atonement for sin, and found no hope; the christian religion, the\ngospel, with its pardoning grace, and the satisfaction that Christ has\nmade, gives the soul peace, and leads the troubled conscience to rest\nand quiet; he trusts this gospel, he receives this salvation, and hath\nthe witness in himself that it is divine.\n\nII. The happiness of eternal life consists also in the _special favour_\nof God, which is distinct from the _pardon of sin_; for it is very\npossible for a criminal to be pardoned, and not to be made a favourite\nof the king. The favour of God, and a sense of this favour, is a great\npart of heaven. This is called seeing of God, often in scripture. When\nsouls are fully possessed of the love of God, when they have it shed\nabroad in their hearts in perfection; when they know that the infinite\nand eternal Maker and Governor of all things loves them, and will for\never love them, this is eternal life; and this is enjoyed in some\nmeasure here on earth by true believers, this is a part of eternal life\nbegun in the heart of every christian; for when God pardons, he receives\ninto his peculiar favour.\n\nThis the christian religion teaches us, but the light of nature could\nnever tell us so: for if the light of nature and reason could have\nproceeded so far as to acquaint us with pardoning grace in all the\nextent of it, yet it could never have presumed to assure us _that he\nshould make the rebels he had pardoned his favourites for ever_. We\nmight have been forgiven, and then annihilated. But the scripture\nteaches us, whom God forgives he makes favourites too. And Christ Jesus\nhas laid the foundation of this double blessing; for he has not only\nmade an _end of sin_, but _brought in an everlasting righteousness_;\nDan. ix. 24. He has fulfilled the law in all the commands of it, as well\nas borne the penalty; he has purchased all the blessings of divine love,\nas well as bought a freedom from divine vengeance. _If when we were\nenemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son; much more\nbeing reconciled we shall be saved by his life_, Rom. v. 10. And in ver.\n1, and 2, he saith, _Being justified by faith, we have peace with God,\nthrough our Lord Jesus Christ, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God_.\nThus you see there is not only _reconciliation_ but _full salvation_;\nnot only _peace with God_, but the _hope of glory_ to be obtained by\nbelieving on the Son of God. Many are the instances of saints here\ndwelling in flesh in a day of grace, that have been raised to a good\ndegree of eternal life in this respect, that have had a joyful sense of\nthe love of God shed abroad in their souls, and upon solid grounds have\nhoped for glory, such as no other religion could pretend to furnish them\nwith; and this is a witness to the truth of christianity.\n\nNo mere human religion can pretend to tell how this special love of God\nmay be attained, no human religion can ever tell us how long this love\nof God shall continue; but the word of God gives us full evidence and\nassurance that the worst of sinners who apply to Jesus Christ the\nSaviour, in the way of humble faith and hearty repentance, shall not\nonly be forgiven and released from the guilt of sin and punishment, but\nalso shall be beloved of God for the sake of Christ, and that this\ndivine love is everlasting. Read Acts iii. 19. _Repent and be converted,\nthat your sins may be blotted out._ Acts xvi. 31. _Believe on the Lord\nJesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved._ And when persons are interested\nin these promises, who shall lay any thing to their charge? Who shall\ncondemn them when God justifies? Who shall separate them from the love\nof Christ? Shall tribulation or distress, famine or sword? No, by no\nmeans; _for in all these things we are more than conquerors through him\nthat has loved us_; and we are _persuaded, that neither death, nor life,\nnor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor\nthings to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be\nable to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our\nLord_; Rom. viii. 38, &c.\n\nWhen a rational mind is awakened to see the emptiness of all creatures,\nand their insufficiency to make him happy, and finds nothing but the\neternal love of God capable to make a creature truly blessed; how\nmiserably must that soul be tormented, that knows not whether God will\nlove him or no, nor how this love may be attained; nor, when once\nattained, how long this love will continue? But he finds an answer to\nall these painful questions in the gospel of Christ: For the Father\nloves the Son infinitely, and loves all those that believe on him for\nhis sake; they are for ever accepted; in him who is first and for ever\naccepted: and they are beloved in him who is first and for ever beloved;\nEph. i. 6.\n\nIII. The happiness of eternal life consists in the pleasure that arises\nfrom the regular operation of all our powers and passions. This was a\ngreat part of the happiness of the innocent man; his reason was the\nguide to all the meaner faculties, and his appetites, and his affections\nin a sweet harmony followed the conduct of his reason: And as his\nunderstanding and judgment put forth their regular dictates, so the\nmeaner powers paid a constant obedience, and pursued their proper\nobjects. There was no irregular anger to set his blood on fire; no\nintemperate and corrupt wishes to vitiate his nature, to pollute his\npleasures, and disturb his peace; none of those tumults and hurricanes\nin his soul, which we so often feel in our fallen state, and lament them\nmuch oftener than we can suppress them. And as the fancy and appetites\nof innocent Adam submitted to his reason, so, doubtless, if his Maker\nwere pleased to reveal any sublimer truth to him, which his reason could\nnot comprehend, then reason itself submitted to that revelation,\nbelieved the word of a speaking God, and resigned the throne to faith.\nHis natural powers had no uneasy contest, there was no civil war nor\nrebellion amongst them to interrupt his happiness.\n\nAnd thus shall it be again, but in a more glorious manner, when we are\nraised from all the ruins of our fallen state, and eternal life is made\ncomplete in heaven.\n\nBut before we arrive at that final glory, the same sort of happiness is\nbegun in every believer in a state of grace. These are the beginnings of\neternal life, the earnests and the pledges of the perfect blessedness\nwhich we hope for; and this arises from our faith in the Son of God. For\nwhen we have attained a good hope of forgiving grace through the blood\nof Christ, and believe that we are beloved of God our Maker, what have\nwe then to do but to abide in his love? We learn to despise those\ntempting objects that would awaken our intemperate passions, and walk\nonward in peace and pleasure towards our complete felicity. For since\nGod is become our God through the mediation of his Son, we have no need\nto seek the meaner delights of sense and appetite, because we possess\nthe supreme. We have the Son of God himself for our leader and example,\nand he that believes on the Son of God, walks as he also walked.\n\nBesides these moral or persuasive helps that belong to the christian\nlife, we have also the Spirit of God given to reform our natures, to put\nall our misplaced and disjointed powers into their proper order again,\nand to maintain this divine harmony and peace. It is the blessed Spirit\nthat inclines reason to submit to faith, and makes the lower faculties\nsubmit to reason, and obey the will of our Maker, and then gives us the\npleasure of it. And if at any time, through the power of temptation, the\nviolence of appetite, and the imperfection of grace, this blessed\nharmony and order be disturbed, and this pleasure interrupted; the soul\nof the christian is never easy till it rise again by repentance, and\nrecur to the Son of God, to fetch new and vigorous supplies of the\nSpirit, and of this eternal life from him, and thereby it regains its\npeace and pleasure.\n\nBut these thoughts naturally lead me on to the second part of this\nsubject, _viz._ holiness.\n\nThus much shall suffice therefore concerning the first part of eternal\nlife, which consists in happiness, _viz._ pardon of sin, peace of\nconscience, the favour of God, the sense of his love, and the\npleasurable harmony of our natural powers. These are found in true\nbelievers, and this is a noble witness to christianity to prove it\ndivine.\n\n\n\n\n SERMON II.\n _The Inward Witness to Christianity._\n 1 JOHN v. 10.\u2014He that believeth on the Son of God, hath the Witness in\n himself.\n THE SECOND PART.\n\n\nWhen such a text as this is named for the foundation of discourse, some\nnicer hearers begin to grow jealous, that the preacher is entering into\nmystery and inward light, and they expect to hear no clear and solid\nreasoning, nor any justness of thought. Thus blinded by their own\nprejudices, they prevent their improvement by the ministry of the word;\nand because they have heard the experiences of christians wittily\nridiculed, they resolve to believe that nothing of experimental religion\ncan be justified to strict reason, or have any thing to do with\nargument.\n\nBut how impious, and how unreasonable a fancy this is, will sufficiently\nappear, if it can be proved that every true christian has a most\nrational and incontestable evidence of the truth of his religion, drawn\nfrom the change that is hereby made in his own heart. If it can once be\nmade evident, that eternal life is begun in every soul that believes in\nJesus Christ, this will confirm christianity with a high hand, and\nconfute the wicked scandal for ever.\n\nI have begun this attempt in the first discourse, and have shewn that\neternal life is composed of two parts, _viz._ holiness and happiness.\n\nThe happiness of it consists in a just and comfortable sense of the\nforgiveness of sin, and a lively hope and persuasion of the special love\nof God, and the delightful harmony of all the natural powers, _viz._\nreason, conscience, the will and the passions. Where these are found,\nheaven is begun; eternal life has taken possession of the soul; and this\nevidently proves the doctrine that effected it to be divine.\n\nNow, if an atheist, a heathen, or a Jew, should cavil and say, \u201cAre not\nall your hopes mere presumption? Are not your sense and persuasion of\nthe love of God mere delusions of fancy, and raptures of warm\nimagination, without any ground, or solid foundation of reason?\u201d The\nchristian may boldly refute such suspicions. These are no vain\ntransports, no foolish visions of hope and joy, because as high and\nglorious as my comforts and my expectations are, they are built on a due\napprehension of the justice of God, as well as his mercy; I have no\nhopes of pardon by Jesus Christ, but what are supposed by the\nrighteousness and truth of God, as well as his goodness; for in this way\nof salvation, offended justice is satisfied to the full, and mercy can\nexert itself in full glory, without the least dishonour or reflection on\nthe strict righteousness of God. God is just in the justification of a\nsinner this way; _He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to\ncleanse us from all unrighteousness_; 1 John i. 9.\n\nBesides, says the christian, the change wrought in me is real, and not\nimaginary; I am quite another creature than once I was: the several\npowers of my nature, that were wont to be in perpetual war, now enjoy a\npeaceful harmony, and my soul feels the pleasure, and the divine peace.\nMy strictest and severest reason approves the change, and owns it to be\ndivine.\n\nAnd thus I am led onward to speak of the other part of eternal life, and\nthat is holiness. This also is found in believing souls, and becomes an\nevidence of the truth of the gospel.\n\nHoliness may be described by these five necessary ingredients of it.\n\n1. An aversion to and hatred of all sin.\u20142. A contempt of the present\nworld, in comparison of the future.\u20143. A delight in the worship and\nsociety of God.\u20144. Zeal and activity in his service.\u20145. A hearty love to\nfellow-creatures, and more especially to fellow-saints.\n\nI shall discourse of each of these particularly, and shew that eternal\nlife consists in them, and this eternal life is found in believers.\n\nHoliness consists in an aversion to, and hatred of all sin. This is\ncomplete in heaven, and without this, heaven cannot be complete. Into\nheaven _there entereth nothing that defileth_; Rev. xxi. 27. Every\ninhabitant there is completely averse to all iniquity, and hates every\nthing that displeases God; for nothing but perfect obedience is found\nthere; the spirits of the just are there made perfect; Heb. xii. 23. Now\nthis in a measure and degree is found in believers here, for _he that\nabideth in Christ sinneth not_; 1 John iii. 6. He cannot sin with a full\npurpose of heart; _he that is born of God cannot sin with constancy_ and\ngreediness, as others do that are only born of flesh and blood; he\ncannot sin without an inward sincere reluctancy, without the combat of\nthe spirit against the flesh; he doth not make a trade of sin, sinning\nis not his business, his delight and pleasure.\u2014This is a blessed\ntestimony of the truth of the gospel, that faith in the Son of God\npurifies the heart; Acts xv. 9.\n\nEvery christian has an aversion to all sin: If he chuses some sins, to\ncontinue in them, and hates other iniquities, he can never be said to be\na true believer in Christ, and to have the work of faith in sincerity\nwrought in his heart.\n\nOther religions have professed an aversion to some sins, but indulged\nothers. Some make cruelty a part of their duty, and require the\nsacrificing of mankind to appease the anger of their gods; a bloody and\nimpious practice, as well as a vain and fruitless one! Some forbid\nmurder, but allow and encourage variety of uncleanness, and make that a\npart of their worship. Other professions have forbid wanton practices,\nand commended chastity; but they indulge resentment and revenge, as a\nnecessary part of the character of a warrior, or a great man. Carnal and\nsensual lusts have been opposed and hated by some of the old\nphilosophers, but spiritual iniquities have hereby been promoted. Pride\nhas hereby been wonderfully increased, and none of them can excuse\nthemselves from those sins which make men very like Satan, although they\nare freed from the brutality of sensual lusts. But the business of the\ngospel of Christ is to keep men from committing any kind of sins\nwhatsoever.\n\nOther religions have changed one lust for another; but the religion of\nChrist forbids all manner of iniquity, and changes the whole nature into\nholiness. Christianity refines the soul in all the powers of it, and\ninclines us to the duties both of the first and second table; it writes\nthe law of God in the heart, and brings the soul to a sweet compliance\ntherewith. All the affections are renewed; all old things are done away,\nand all things are become new; he that is in Christ is a new creature;\nhe has crucified the flesh, with its affections and lusts; 2 Cor. v. 17.\nGal. v. 24.\n\nSurely there is a spirit and power that accompanies the religion of our\nLord Jesus, such as other religions know not; and this was manifest\nabundantly in the primitive christians, when those wretches were\nconverted, whose names were once written in that black catalogue that\nthe apostle speaks of; 1 Cor. vi. 9. when they by the light of the\ngospel, were purified, were purged from their defilements, and were made\nnew creatures. The apostle could appeal to the Corinthian church, and\nsay, so vile and filthy were some of you, but ye are washed, but ye are\nsanctified, but ye are justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by\nthe Spirit of our God; 1 Cor. vi. 11. Not in the names of other Gods,\nand other religions, but in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the\nSpirit of our God. Philosophy was raised to a great height in the city\nof Corinth; it was almost enough for a man to be accounted learned, to\nhave been in that city, and to have known a little of the customs of it;\nyet all their learning was not sufficient to reform them, for they were\na profligate and lewd people still. But the religion of our Lord Jesus\nChrist breaking in upon their souls, purified, refined them, and made\nsuch an alteration in them, that the world beheld, and were amazed at\nthe surprising change. They thought it strange that the christians would\nnot run to the same excess of riot; 1 Pet. iv. 4. They were astonished\nto see a drunkard at once turn sober and temperate; a lewd unclean\nwretch, by hearing the gospel, become a professor and an example of\nchastity; a cruel and passionate temper made calm, and kind, and\nforgiving; a swine forsake the mire, and put on the nature of a cleanly\nanimal; a dog or a lion changed into a lamb. This wrought conviction\nwith power: This was miracle and demonstration; this witnessed the truth\nand divinity of the gospel of Christ beyond all contradictions or\ndoubts.\n\nII. A contempt of this world, is another part of holiness, and of\nheaven; a sacred disregard of temporal things raised by the sight of\nthings eternal.\n\nIf we look upwards to heaven, we shall behold there all the inhabitants\nlooking down with a sacred contempt upon the trifles, amusements,\nbusinesses, and cares of this present life, that engross our affections,\nawaken our desires, fill our hearts with pleasure or pain, and our flesh\nwith constant labour. With what holy scorn do you think those souls, who\nare dismissed from flesh, look down upon the hurries and bustles of this\npresent state, in which we are engaged? They dwell in the full sight of\nthose glories which they hoped for here on earth, and their intimate\nacquaintance with the pleasures of that upper world, and the divine\nsensations that are raised in them there, make them condemn all the\npleasures of this state, and every thing below heaven. This is a part of\neternal life, this belongs in some degree to every believer; for he is\nnot a believer that is not got above this world in a good measure; he is\nnot a christian, who is not weaned, in some degree, from this world: For\nthis is our victory, whereby we overcome the world, even our faith. He\nthat is born of God overcomes the world; he that believes in Jesus, is\nborn of God; 1 John v. 1, 4. Whence the argument is plain, he that\nbelieves in Jesus the Son of God, overcomes this present world. And\nwhere christianity is raised to a good degree of life and power in the\nsoul, there we see the christian got near to heaven: he is, as it were,\na fellow for angels, a fit companion for the spirits of the just made\nperfect. The affairs of this life are beneath his best desires and his\nhopes; he engages his hand in them so far, as God his Father appoints\nhis duty; but he longs for the upper world, where his hopes are gone\nbefore: \u201cWhen shall I be entirely dismissed from this labour and toil?\nThe gaudy pleasures this world entertains me with, are no entertainments\nto me; I am weaned from them, I am born from above.\u201d This is the\nlanguage of that faith that overcomes the world: And faith, where it is\nwrought in truth in the soul, hath, in some measure, this effect; and\nwhere it shines in its brightness, it hath, in a great degree, this\nsublime grace accompanying it; or rather, (shall I say?) this piece of\nheavenly glory.\n\nPain and sickness, poverty and reproach, sorrow and death itself, have\nbeen contemned by those that have believed in Christ Jesus, with much\nmore honour to christianity, than ever was brought to other religions by\nthe same profession, and the same practice.\n\nOther religions have in some degree, promised a contempt of the world, a\ncontempt of sickness, and pain, and death; but then it hath been only\nhere and there a person of a hardier mould of body; here and there one\nin an age, or one in a nation, who by a firmness of natural spirits, an\nobstinate resolution, attained by much labour of meditation, and toil of\nthought, hath got above the world, and above death. But our religion\nboasts of its hundreds and thousands, and that not only those who had\nfirmer natural spirits, or have been skilled in thought and meditation,\nand absent from sensual things by philosophy, and intellectual\nexercises; but the feeblest of mankind, the weak things of this world,\nthe foolish and the young, the infant (as it were) in years, and the\nfeeble sex, have been made to contemn this world, and the pleasures of\nit, the hopes, and the sorrows, pain and death. They have learnt to live\nabove all the enticing joys and affrighting terrors of this present\nstate, that is, to live near to heaven: So that whatsoever religion\npretends to a competition with ours, it falls vastly short in this\nrespect, in raising the affections above the world, above the joys and\nfears of the present life.\n\nAgain if we consider what motives have argued the minds of men to the\ncontempt of the world, we shall find the religion of Christ Jesus is far\nsuperior to all in this respect.\n\nOther religions have taught men to despise the good things of this world\nand to be unconcerned about the evils of it, in a mere romantic way:\nSuch was the Stoical doctrine, denying health and wealth, sleep and\nsafety, to have any goodness in them; and professing that pain, poverty,\nsickness, want, hunger, and shame, were no evils; and upon this account\nthey taught their disciples to be unsolicitous about the one or the\nother, because they were neither good nor evil. Thus, while they change\nthe use of words they would make stocks and stones of us, rather than\nintelligent and holy despisers of sensible things; but the christian\ndoctrine teaches us to contemn both the good and evil things of sense\nand time, by the expectation and prospect of the invisible and eternal\nworld, where both the good and evil things are of infinitely greater\nimportance: So our Saviour preaches, Mat. vi. 19, 20. _Lay not up for\nyourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and\nwhere thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves\ntreasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where\nthieves do not break through nor steal._ Pluck out a right eye, cut off\na right hand on earth, lest sparing these thy whole body be cast into\nhell, where the gnawing worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched:\nMat. v. 29, 30. Mark ix. 43, &c. And the afflictions, as well as the\ncomforts of life, are contemned and surmounted by the spirit of a\nchristian, upon the same noble principles; Rom. viii. 18. He reckons\nthat the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared\nwith the glory which shall be revealed in us; and therefore he endures\nthe cross, and despises the shame, following the divine example of\nChrist.\n\nOther doctrines have endeavoured to raise the minds of men above the\nsolicitudes or cares of this life upon mean and base principles,\nunworthy of human nature, denying the immortality of the soul, and the\nlife to come. Thus the Epicureans would raise the professors of their\nreligion above the fears of death, by assuring them, that after death\nthere was nothing; that the soul and body died together, were blended in\nthe dust, and were for ever lost in one grave: but, on the other hand,\nthe religion of Christ gives us a view of things beyond the grave,\ninsures a resurrection to us, brings life and immortality to light by\nthe gospel, by Christ Jesus, who together with the Father, is originally\npossessed of eternal life, and thus leads us on to a glorious contempt\nof this present world of vanity: _For our light affliction, which is but\nfor a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of\nglory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things\nwhich are not seen; for the things which are seen, are temporal; but the\nthings which are not seen, are eternal. For we know, that if our earthly\nhouse of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an\nhouse not made with hands, eternal in the heavens_; 2 Cor. iv. 17, 18.\nand v. 1.\n\nOther professions taught their followers not so much to contemn riches\nand pleasures, as to exchange them for fame and glory, and public\napplause; and this they looked upon as their chief good. Most of the\nphilosophers may be charged with this just accusation; and Cicero, that\ngreat philosopher, in a notorious degree; but the christian both labours\nand suffers reproach, because he trusts in the living God, and has the\npromise of the life to come; 1 Tim. iv. 8, 10. he goes through the trial\nof cruel mockings, as well as scourgings and torture, that he may obtain\na better resurrection; Heb. xi. 35, 36. He neglects his ease and his\nhonours together, and despises fame as well as pleasure and riches, and\nall mortal desirables, when they stand in competition with his immortal\nhopes.\n\nOthers have despised the grandeur and pomp of life, and thrown their\nmoney into the sea; but instead of exalting themselves above men, they\nhave neglected all the necessary duties and decencies of life; they have\nlived as it were, in common with their fellow animals of the earth, and\ndegraded themselves to the rank and level of brute-beasts; such were the\nCynic philosophers: But the christian is diligent and active in all\nservices to God and man, and fulfils the duties of his present state\nwith honour, while he lives upon the hopes of futures and invisibles.\n\nThus if we consider either the degree of this part of holiness, _viz._\nthe contempt of the world, if we consider the reasons upon which it is\nfounded, or how far this contempt of the world has prevailed among the\ngenerality of christians; we shall find the gospel hath infinitely the\nadvantage of all other doctrines of all other religions.\n\nTo see a man raised above this world, and yet exercised in all the\nduties of life; to see him live with a holy superiority to all things\nbelow heaven, and yet fulfilling all his relative duties among men with\ndiligence; to see a man ready every moment to be gone from this world,\nand yet content to stay here as long as his Heavenly Father pleases,\nunder the troubles, and burdens, and agonies of this life too; this\nshews the religion to be divine, and from heaven: _he that believes, has\nthis witness in himself_; and where faith rises high, this witness\nappears evident and glorious.\n\nIII. Another part of the holiness of eternal life, consists in a delight\nin the worship and enjoyment of God. This is perfect in heaven, this is\neternal life; Rev. vii. 15. They are before the throne of God night and\nday, that is, perpetually, and serve him there in his temple. Now the\nchristian religion attains this end in a good measure; it brings the\nsoul to delight in divine worship and converse with God, which no mere\nhuman religion could ever do: For since no human religion could ever\nteach an awakened sinner, how he might appear in the presence of a holy\nGod, with assurance and comfort, no other religion could make a soul\ndelight in the worship of God. We can never delight in drawing near to\nGod, that hath infinite vengeance in him, while we know not but he will\npour that vengeance out upon us; we fly far from him, unless we have\nsome good ground of hope, that he will forgive us our iniquities and\nreceive us into his favour. Now since there is no other doctrine that\nshews us how our sins may be forgiven, or how the favour of God may be\nattained; there is no other religion can allure or draw us into the\npresence of God with pleasure; Heb. x. 19, 20. Let us draw near and\nworship the Father, in full assurance and confidence, that he will\naccept our persons and our worship, since we have such an high-priest to\nintroduce us with acceptance; since by his flesh and incarnation, he has\nmade a way for us to come into the presence of God with satisfaction and\npleasure, therefore let us draw near and worship him. The influence of\nthis argument has been found by christians, by every christian; for\nthere is not one that hath believed in Christ, but has had this witness\nin himself. There is a sweet serenity and calmness of spirit belongs to\nthe souls of those in whom faith is lively and strong, even when they\nstand before God, though he be a God of terror and vengeance to sinners:\nfor they know Jesus is their atonement, their introducer, their peace;\nand therefore they love to draw near to him as a God reconciled, they\nrejoice in him as their highest happiness.\n\nOther professions of men, when they abandoned sensual pleasures, and the\nvanities of this world, yet taught them that their happiness must flow\nfrom themselves, and made their own virtues their heaven, without any\nregard to God. These philosophers were self-sufficient, full of\nthemselves, and they were so far from making their rivers of pleasure to\nflow from the right-hand of God, that they even denied their dependance\nupon him in this respect; and they supposed their wise men to be equal\nwith God, deriving all their blessedness from within themselves. But\nchristianity leads the soul out of itself to God, as it gives a clearer\nand larger knowledge of God himself, in his felicitating perfections,\nthan the heathens could ever attain; it assures us, that being near to\nGod, is our heaven, and the sight of him is our happiness, as well as\nprovides a new and living way of access to him, through the death and\nresurrection of Jesus Christ: therefore the believer rejoices in all\nopportunities of drawing near to God, for it is the beginning of his\nheaven, and his delight in it is an inward and powerful witness to the\ntruth of his religion.\n\nIV. Zeal and activity for the service of God, is another part of heaven,\nanother part of eternal life, and the holiness of it. We have abundant\nreason to believe that heaven is not a state of mere enjoyment, unactive\nand idle; but a state of service and activity for that God whose we are,\nand from whom we have received infinite favours. The angels in heaven\nare swift messengers to perform the will of their God; Ps. ciii. 20, 21.\nThe spirits of just men made perfect are like angels. They do the will\nof God as a pattern for us on earth; for we are taught to pray, that his\nwill may be done on earth as it is in heaven. What particular services\nthey are employed in of God, we know not; but that they are for ever\nzealous in those services which God employs them in, we doubt not, we\ncannot disbelieve. And this active zeal in the service of God, and\npursuit of his glory, is the very temper and practice of the true\nchristian; and that not only in some more important enterprizes, but in\nthe common actions of life: Whether he eat or drink, or whatsoever he\ndoes, he makes it his rule of life, to do all to the glory of God; 1\nCor. x. 31.\n\nNow this sublime zeal, this noble activity for the service of God and\nhis glory, was not found among the professors of other religions. To\nglorify God, was not their aim and end; those that rose highest among\nthe old philosophers had not set their aim and end right: They that knew\nGod, glorified him not as God; Rom. i. 21. They did not make the glory\nof God the great design of their actions: It was not zeal for God that\nanimated them to pursue virtue, but merely their own ends, their own\nsatisfaction or ease, or the vanity of their own minds, pride and\nattempt of superiority above other men; or at best, their motives of\naction were the reasonableness of virtue, and the benefit of it to\nthemselves and their fellow-citizens. But the glory of God is the aim of\nchristians, and the end of every true believer: he has some degree of\nzeal for the honour of God, and therefore is active in those duties\nwhich God proposes to him.\n\nWhen we see a person regardless of all his self-interests in the world,\nand at the same time pursuing the honour of an invisible God, following\nhard after the glory of that God that his fleshly eyes have not seen; we\nmay say he has something above what mere corrupt nature leads him to, or\nimpresses upon him. The believer has this witness in himself, zeal and\nactivity for the glory of God in the world.\n\nV. The last thing that goes to make up holiness, is a hearty love to all\nmen, and especially to the saints. This is a noble ingredient of eternal\nlife; this is a divine and heavenly temper; this is a beautiful part of\nthe image of God communicated to the soul of man. That God who is the\noriginal and foundation of eternal life, is a glorious pattern of this\nlove; he makes his sun to rise, and his rain to fall on the just and on\nthe unjust, and leaves not himself without witness of his divinity, by\nfilling the hearts of men with food and gladness: See Mat. v. 45. Acts\nxiv. 17. He shews his love to enemies and rebels, in forgiving millions\nof offences, and pardoning crimes of the largest size and deepest\naggravations, and he loves his saints with peculiar tenderness. Our Lord\nJesus Christ, who also is the true God and eternal life, came down from\nheaven to exemplify his divine love. It was his love to mankind that\npersuaded him to put on flesh and blood, and prevailed with him to\nsuffer pains, agonies, and death, that his enemies might obtain\nsalvation and life. O glorious example of love! Now this is in some\nmeasure wrought into the make of every true christian, and imitated in\nthe practice of every true believer: He is obliged, by one of the chief\nrules of his religion to love his neighbour as himself: that is, to do\nthat to others, which he thinks just and reasonable that they should do\nto him; Mat. xxii. 39. Luke vi. 31. He is bound to forgive freely those\nthat offend him, as he hopes for forgiveness of his offences against\nGod; Mat. vi. 14, 15. He rejoices in the welfare of his\nfellow-creatures, without repining: He loves his enemies, does good to\nthem that hate him, blesses those that curse him, and prays for his\npersecutors and spiteful foes; Luke vi. 27. He pities all that are\nmiserable, but takes a peculiar delight in his fellow-christians; (the\nchristians must be known by this, that they love one another.) _He does\ngood to all but especially to the household of faith_; Gal. vi. 10.\n\nOther religions know nothing of so generous and diffusive a love; the\nmen of heathenism were _hateful, and hating one another, and spent their\nlives in malice and envy_; Tit. iii. 3. They did not so much as aspire\nto so divine a virtue as the love of enemies; this is the noble\nsingularity of our gospel. The heathen professions encouraged revenge,\nand made it one ingredient of a hero: But envy and malice, wrath and\nrevenge, must be banished from the heart and practice of a christian, to\nwhom the kindness and love of God our Saviour has appeared; these vices\nmust stand aloof from the saint, and thus bear a testimony to the truth\nand divinity of the doctrine of Christ.\n\nI grant that every one of these instances, and all these parts of\neternal life which I have now described, are not to be found equally in\nall believers; nor are they in every believer in a very eminent and\nevident degree. But if we take all of them together, pardon of sin,\npeace of conscience, the favour of God, and a sense of his love, a\npleasurable harmony of all our powers, an aversion to all sin, and\nhatred of every iniquity, a holy contempt of this world, in the\npleasures, as well as in the pains and sorrows of it; delight in the\nworship of God, and desire after his enjoyment; zeal and activity in\nservice for God, with a sincere aim for his glory, and a hearty love to\nfellow-creatures and fellow-christians: I say, if we join all these\ntogether, we shall find that the christian religion has a witness far\nsuperior to all other doctrines that ever pretended to divinity. We\nshall find that every believer has something of all these qualities\nwrought in his heart, and it is exemplified in his life. Truly, where\nnone of these are found, that person cannot profess himself a christian\nwith any just ground of hope: Where there is not such a witness as this\nto the truth of christianity, where there is not this eternal life begun\nin some sensible measure and manner, that person\u2019s profession of\nchristianity is but vain; and his practice and his course contradict the\nwords of his lips, when he pronounces himself a believer in the Son of\nGod.\n\nI might here take notice, that the three that bear witness on earth to\nthe truth of the gospel, _viz._ the spirit, the water, and the blood,\nmay be expounded agreeably to the foregoing discourse. The blood may\nsignify the pacification of a guilty conscience by the atoning blood of\nChrist. The water, may intend the sanctification and purifying of our\nnatures from sinful appetites and practices, as by the washing of water:\nAnd the spirit may imply that efficacious influence which a believer\nreceives from the Holy Spirit, both toward the pacification of his\nconscience, and the purification of his soul. All these witness to the\ntruth of christianity; though others are of opinion, that the Spirit in\nhis miraculous operations, the water, or purity of the nature and life\nof Christ, and the blood, or his violent death, and the attendants on\nit, are the three witnesses on earth which the apostle designs; nor can\nI absolutely determine which is the right.\n\nBefore I conclude, I would lay down one caution and one reflection.\n\nThe caution is this: That though I exclude all human religions from the\nhonour, power, and glorious effects of christianity, as being utterly\nincapable of them, yet the Jewish religion, and that of the ancient\npatriarchs, which were divine, are not hereby totally excluded from this\nhonour, and these characters, but only in part: For there were many\nsouls in whom these beginnings of eternal life were wrought under those\ndispensations, but not with that glory and evidence as under the\nchristian. And indeed Judaism was but a sort of infant christianity, a\nveiled gospel. The christian religion is Judaism fulfilled, or the\ngospel standing in open light. All that holiness and happiness which was\nfound among the Jews or patriarchs, is entirely owing to Christ and his\ngospel, to the sacrifice, and the spirit, and grace of Jesus, which were\ntypified by the legal atonements, and blood, sprinklings and washings;\nand which wrought powerfully this divine life in their souls, through\nall those types, but with feebler conviction, and in a fainter light.\n\nBesides, it should be observed here also, that since the christian\nreligion has received its full authority and divine establishment, the\nJewish dispensation ceases, and is no longer owned, or aided by the\nSpirit of God, to produce these wonderful effects. The types and shadows\nof that state have now no power to speak peace and pardon to the guilty\nsoul, or to purify our sinful natures, and begin eternal life in them.\nThese are abolished by divine appointment, and God will bear witness to\nthem no more. They who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the\nflesh, are deceivers; 2 John 7. _He that hath not the Son of God hath\nnot life_; 1 John v. 12. So that the doctrine of Christ is the only\nreligion which we know of, that is practised in the world, that has had\nthe stamp of divine authority above sixteen hundred years; and as there\nhave been multitudes of witnesses to the truth of it, multitudes of\nsouls in the first, and all the succeeding ages, who have felt eternal\nlife wrought in them by the power of the gospel, so there is no other\nreligion ever since can produce and shew such divine testimony; for\nthere _is salvation in no other name_; Acts iv. 12.\n\nThe only reflection I shall make, is this: We may derive hence a solid\nand infallible rule for self-examination, whether we are christians or\nno. Have we in ourselves this divine witness of our christianity? Have\nwe eternal life wrought in our own hearts? Have we desired peace of\nconscience and any hope of pardoning grace by trusting in the Son of\nGod? Have we found any satisfaction of soul in drawing near to God by\nJesus the Mediator? Do we find a sincere love to God kindled in our\nsouls by the hope of his special favour? Is there any thing of the\nholiness or happiness of the heavenly state begun within us? Have we an\naversion to all sin in some degree answerable to what the saints and\nangels have in heaven? Have we a holy contempt of this world? Have we\novercome the world as those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God,\nand have put their trust in him? Do we live above it, as those that are\nwithin sight of eternal blessedness? Are we come to mount Sion, the city\nof the living God, to the innumerable company of angels, and the church\nof the first-born, &c. in this respect? Do we look down upon the\ntempting vanities of this life with a sacred disdain, something like\nthose that dwell on high in the full possession of life eternal? Is\nthere any similitude between our life and theirs, between our hearts and\ntheirs? Do we delight in the worship of God? Is his presence our joy? Is\nhis enjoyment the object of our desires? Are we zealous for his service?\nAre our aims set for his glory? Are we active in the discharge of the\nduties that he hath appointed to us, and the several provinces of\nservice that he has ordained us to be engaged in, in this world? Do we\ndo the will of our heavenly Father on earth, in some measure as it is\ndone in heaven? How stand our hearts affected toward our\nfellow-creatures? Do we love our neighbour, by dealing with him as we\ndesire he should deal with us? Can we forgive enemies? Do we rejoice in\nthe welfare of others without envy, and take delight in the holiness and\npeace of our fellow-creatures, and give the poor and mean followers of\nChrist, a large share in our hearts and kindest affections? If this be\nthe character and temper of our spirits, and this the conduct of our\nlives, then eternal life is begun in us; then we may say to our own\nsouls, This is the record that God hath given concerning his Son, that\nthere is eternal life in him; 1 John v. 11. and we are sure we build our\nhopes on a solid foundation, for this life is already begun in our\nhearts, and the Spirit of God, who has begun this work, will carry it\non, and make it perfect in the days of eternity. _Amen._\n\n\n\n\n SERMON III.\n _The Inward Witness to Christianity._\n 1 JOHN v. 10\u2014He that believeth on the Son of God, hath the witness in\n himself.\n THE THIRD PART.\n\n\nMany and glorious are the outward testimonies that God has given to our\nreligion, both in the days when his Son Jesus dwelt on earth, and in the\ntime of the ministration of the apostles who followed their blessed\nLord. The miracles wrought, the prophecies fulfilled, and the various\nglories attending the ministration of the gospel, conspire to confirm\nour faith; each of them are evidences of the truth and divinity of this\ndoctrine; and all of them joined together, bear such a testimony as\ncannot be resisted. We live now in these later days at a long distance\nfrom those seasons wherein these miracles were wrought, and wherein God\nappeared in so immediate a manner from heaven, to witness to the truth\nof the gospel of his Son; but God has taken care to furnish every true\nbeliever with a sufficient witness of christianity; we are not left void\nof evidence at this day. He that believeth, hath the witness in himself.\nThere is an internal testimony given to the gospel of Christ in the\nheart of every one that receives it in truth. There are the beginnings\nof that eternal life wrought in the soul, which the Son of God bestows\non all believers; he that hath the Son hath life. The spiritual life of\na christian runs into eternity; it is the same divine temper, the same\npeaceful and holy qualities of mind communicated to the believer here in\nthe days of grace, which shall be fulfilled and perfected in the world\nof glory; and this is a blessed witness to the truth of christianity; it\nproves with abundant evidence, that it is a religion sufficient to save\nsouls, for the salvation is begun in every man that receives it.\n\nI shall repeat no more of the foregoing discourses, but proceed\nimmediately to answer the last question there proposed, _viz._ What sort\nof witness this is, which true faith gives to the gospel of Christ, and\nwhat are the remarkable properties of this testimony.\n\nI answer, I. It is a witness that dwells more in the heart than in the\nhead. It is a testimony known by being felt and practised, and not by\nmere reasoning; the greatest reasoners may miss of it, for it is a\ntestimony written in the heart; and upon this account it has some\nprerogatives above all the external arguments for the truth of\nchristianity. This inward argument is always at hand, when a believer is\nin the exercise of his graces, and acting according to his new nature\nand life: It is an argument that is not lost through the weakness of the\nbrain, the defect of the memory, and long absence from books and study,\nto which other arguments are liable; it is an argument that cannot be\nforgotten, while true religion remains in the heart, for it is graven\nthere in lasting characters.\n\nThose words of St. Paul to the Corinthians, in his second epistle, chap.\niii. ver. 2, 3. have a reference to our present case: _Ye are manifestly\ndeclared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with\nink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but\nin fleshly tables of the heart._ We have a glory in our religion, that\ndistinguishes it from, and advances it above the Jewish dispensation;\ntheir law was written in tables of stone, and afterwards Moses wrote it\nout at large in a book: But ye have something (says the apostle) written\nin your hearts, that proves the truth of your religion, and of my divine\ncommission, ye who are converted by my gospel; ye Corinthians, who were\nonce vile as the vilest, and upon whose souls the devil, by his\ntemptations and by his power, had inscribed many dark characters, and\nseemed to seal you over, and mark you to damnation, ye are now the\nepistle of Christ, ye have those dismal characters rased out, and ye\nhave golden and bright ones inscribed. The image of our Lord Jesus\nChrist, who is eternal life, appears fairly written on your souls: Ye\nare the epistle of Christ, and eternal life is begun in you, and thus\nthe gospel witnesses its own truth and divinity by an internal evidence.\n\nThe gospel of Christ is like a seal or signet, of such inimitable and\ndivine graving, that no created power can counterfeit it; and when the\nSpirit of God has stamped this gospel on the soul, there are so many\nholy and happy lines drawn or impressed thereby; so many sacred\nsignatures and divine features stamped on the mind, that gives certain\nevidence both of a heavenly signet, and a heavenly operator.\n\nA christian, who has well studied the doctrines and proofs of\nchristianity, can give sufficient reasons for the truth of them, and for\nhis believing them. He finds what is sufficiently satisfactory, to\nconfirm his belief in the outward testimonies, in the miracles wrought\nin the world, and the prophecies fulfilled: I have (says he) in my\nunderstanding many arguments and evidences of the truth of the gospel,\nand my reason is convinced that it is a divine religion. But there is a\nmiracle wrought in my heart that is of more efficacy than this, and is\nto me a more convincing proof of the gospel of Christ; eternal life is\nbegun in me. I find my conscience, that was disturbed with the guilt of\nsin, established in peace, upon solid hopes of pardon. I have an\ninterest in the love of God, and lively sensations of that love; I have\na hatred of all sin, I live above the world, and have a holy contempt of\nthe trifles, businesses, and cares of this life: I delight in the\ncompany of him that dwells in heaven: I find in my soul that I love him,\nand love those who are like him; I walk, as seeing him, who is\ninvisible; I have a zeal for his glory, and with active diligence I am\nemployed for the honour of his name in the world. These things I find\nwrought in me by the gospel of Christ: The discoveries of the nature and\nworks of God, by his gospel, have filled my soul with holy wonder, and\nbowed my spirit down to adore him. The revelations of his amazing\ncondescension and love, have raised and fired my heart to love him; the\nexamples of superlative piety I meet with in this gospel, have excited\nmy holy imitation; and the motives proposed here, are so awful and so\nalluring, that all my powers of hope and fear are joined and engaged to\nconstrain my obedience to the excellent and divine precepts of this\nreligion. I feel that I am quite altered from what once I was, I am a\nnew creature, and the change is divine and heavenly.\u2014There is something\nwithin me, that bears witness, that my religion is from God.\n\nII. It is a witness that will, in some measure, appear in the life,\nwheresoever it is written in the heart: For eternal life is an active\nprinciple, it will be discovering and exercising itself. Is it possible,\nthat a man should have the pardon of his sins, and sweet peace of\nconscience, a sense of the love of God, who is an infinite good, a\njoyful satisfaction in his heavenly favour, and manifest nothing of this\nin his aspect and behaviour? That he should shew no serenity of\ncountenance, no sweetness of temper, no inward joy; Is it possible that\nhe should have an utter aversion to sin, a hatred of all iniquity in his\nheart, and not make it appear in his life? That he should maintain a\nholy contempt of this world, and scorn of it, in comparison of the\nfuture glories that his eye is fixed upon, so warm a zeal for God, and\nso hearty a love to men, and not manifest it to the world? Surely his\nlife will be above, where his heart is; and his heart will be in heaven,\nwhere his treasures are. _Our conversation is in heaven, says the\nblessed Paul, under the influence of this religion and these hopes_;\nPhil. iii. 20, 21.\n\nIt is true indeed, this is a testimony that cannot be communicated to\nothers, in the same measure and manner that it is felt by the persons\nthat believe. In this respect it is like the hidden manna, which none\nknows but that they taste of it; yet those that feed upon it daily, will\ndiscover it in some outward appearances; as you read of Jonathan, in the\nday when he was faint in pursuing his enemies, he tasted of the honey,\nand his eyes were enlightened; 1 Sam. xiv. 27. Just so will it be with\nthe soul that hath tasted of the gospel of Christ, this food of eternal\nlife; he will discover it in his language, in his behaviour; and it is a\nshame to those that profess to be believers, that in all things they\nlook so much like the men of this world, and do not discover it in their\nlives, and witness what they have in their hearts, even the beginning of\neternal life: If we are the epistle of Christ, we shall be, in some\nmeasure, known and read of all men; 2 Cor. iii. 2, 3. Christianity in\nthe soul, eternal life begun in the heart, will be like the sweet\nointment of the right-hand, that bewrays itself, and cannot be hid;\nProv. xxvii. 16. Ye christians, ye are the light of the earth, ye\nbelievers are the salt of the world; ye must not appear like others if\nyou would be like yourselves; the honour of God your Saviour demands\nsome sensible and important difference. Ye must not be too much like the\nworld, if ye mean to give glory or evidence to the religion of Christ;\nJohn xv. 19. Rom. xii. 2.\n\nIII. Though this inward evidence of the truth of christianity be of a\nspiritual nature, and spring from pious experience, yet it is a very\nrational evidence also, and may be made out and justified to the\nstrictest reason. It is no vain, fanciful, and enthusiastic business;\nfor while every believer feels the argument working strong in his heart\nand soul, he finds also the convincing force of it upon his\nunderstanding: While he feels his inward powers sweetly inclined to\nvirtue and holiness, which by nature had strong inclination to\nsensuality and sin, and knows that this was wrought in him purely by the\ngospel of Christ; he cannot but infer, that must be a divine principle\nwhich has such divine effects. He knows that he was once blind and dead\nin trespasses and sins, but now he is awake, and alive to God and to\nrighteousness: he is born again, he dwells, as it were, in a new world,\nthere is a mighty and surprizing change past upon him, even from death\nto life; and thence he concludes, by the justest rules of reasoning,\nthat it must be a doctrine of divine wisdom and power, that gave him\nthis blessed resurrection: It is above and beyond nature, it is a\nmiracle of grace, and none but God could work it.\n\nAnd this is what I call the inward witness of the Spirit of God to the\ntruth of the gospel, at least in these latter ages of christianity. The\noutward and more visible testimony of the spirit consists in those\nsensible miracles that were wrought, and those wondrous gifts of\nhealing; of tongues, &c. that were bestowed on the first christians;\nHeb. ii. 4. Rom. xv. 19. But the Spirit\u2019s inward testimony is the\nconstant miracle of regeneration and converting grace. This witness, in\nmy opinion, has been dishonoured by too many protestants, when they have\nexplained it merely by inward impulses, and vehement impressions upon\nthe mind, without the conduct of reason. This has tempted the profane\nworld to call our devout efforts of christian piety mere enthusiasm and\nwild imagination, the flashes of a kindled blood and vapours, that are\npuffed about with every wind: But when the testimony of the spirit is\nexplained in the manner I have described, it must approve itself to all\nthe sober and reasonable part of mankind.\n\nHere let us stand still and consider, how great and divine a power was\nnecessary to make this mighty change on the heart of a poor, ignorant,\nguilty, sinful creature, and establish him a saint in peace and purity.\nIt is not every one that hears this same gospel, that obtains the same\nsalvation, and that feels the same glorious change; and many a true\nchristian must confess, how long they sat under the same ministry and\ninstructions before their hearts were brought to love God, or renewed to\nan heavenly life; Thus their experience teaches them, there was an\nAlmighty virtue and efficacy at last attended this gospel, which made it\nmore powerful in one day, or week, or month, than it had been in whole\nyears before. There was a quickening spirit, that accompanied the voice\nof the word, and gave them life, while the word called them to arise\nfrom the dead. And this is yet more gloriously evident, when such\nchanges have been wrought on sinners in an hour or two: They went to\nhear the gospel, poor, lame, blind, senseless and thoughtless of God and\neternity; and they were awakened, convinced of sin and of righteousness;\nthey learnt their ruin and their recovery at once, through the atonement\nand grace of Christ: The poor came home enriched with various graces:\nthe blind see wonders, and the lame return leaping and rejoicing in the\nhope of glory. This gives plain proof of a divine doctrine, and a divine\nattending spirit and power.\n\nIt is the blessed Spirit of God, who dictated these divine truths of the\ngospel, that accompanies them with his own power to the minds and\nconsciences of those who hear the gospel preached, and by his own power\nworks this glorious change in the hearts and lives of sinners: It is\nthrough the sanctification of the spirit, and the belief of the truth,\nthat sinners are called by the gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of\nour Lord Jesus Christ; 2 Thess. ii. 13, 14. It is by the preaching of\nthis gospel, attended with this spirit, that the fornicators and\nadulterers become chaste, the thieves and extortioners are made honest\nand just, the covetous earth-worms become heavenly-minded, the drunkards\nare turned sober, and these heirs of hell are made fit to inherit the\nkingdom of God. The unclean are washed, the unholy are sanctified, and\nthe guilty justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of\nour God: 1 Cor. vi. 9, 10, 11. It is the blessed Spirit the Comforter,\nthat speaks peace to the conscience of believers, through the atoning\nblood of Christ; it is he sheds abroad the love of God in their hearts,\nby believing the gospel; Rom. v. 5. and it is he that fills them with\nlove to God and to their neighbour; for this love is the fruit of the\nSpirit; Gal. v. 22, and when the Spirit of God shines upon his own work\nin the soul of man, and makes this glorious change appear to the\nself-examining christian, it is a noble testimony that it gives to the\ntruth and divinity of the gospel of Christ.\n\nIV. This witness to the truth of christianity is certain and infallible,\nin the nature and reason of things; and where this divine life arises to\na considerable height, it gives a full assurance to the christian, that\nhis religion is true. Eternal life begun in the soul, according to the\ndescription of it, cannot rise from a _false_ doctrine; it must proceed\nfrom the God of truth, who himself is _eternal life_; 1 John v. 20. and\nthe original and spring of it to all his happy creatures. If it were\npossible that any other doctrine or religion could work such an inward\nwitness in the hearts of sinners; if it were possible that any mere\nhuman gospel could give such a life and happiness as I have described,\nGod would never have appointed his own divine gospel such a doubtful\nwitness. But I may say, God will never suffer so divine a testimony to\nbelong to any religion, but that which himself hath revealed; and in our\nday it can belong to none but the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. If\nfalse religions could have this witness, could work this eternal life in\nsinners, we could hardly ever have sufficient rules to judge of the true\nreligion by. Rejoice then ye that have found this witness in your souls,\nthat have eternal life begun in you; seek after no other way to heaven.\nBe not drawn aside from the truth, but be stedfast. Ye cannot find such\nanother doctrine among men; ye cannot find another religion that can\noffer such testimonies as this. It is then a convincing, an infallible\nwitness; such a new and heavenly life wrought in the heart, is a sure\nproof that the doctrine comes from God.\n\nV. It is a strong and powerful witness, and ever ready at hand to baffle\nthe most learned sophisms, and the boldest temptations. It lies so near,\nand is always at hand, that it is a present shield against every flying\narrow from the camp of infidelity. It is an argument drawn from sense\nand vital experience, and it effectually answers all the subtle cavils\nof false reasoning. Suppose a crafty philosopher should pretend to\nprove, that bread is not wholesome, that water is useless to allay\nthirst, or wine is mere poison; I may boldly maintain the wholesomeness,\nand the happy use of bread, water, and wine; for I am daily nourished by\nthis bread, my thirst has been perpetually quenched by water, and I have\noften found and felt this wine refresh me. The quibbles of logic,\nagainst the sense and experience of a true christian, are but as darts\nof straw and stubble against the scales of a leviathan.\n\nWhen _the Greeks, who seek after learning_, say to a christian, \u201cHow can\nthis gospel be true and divine, which is so plain and simple in itself,\nwhich was preached by a parcel of fishermen, and invented by a\ncarpenter, and his followers that published it had no more learning than\nhe? How is it possible such a religion should be from God, that hath so\nmuch of unlearned simplicity in it?\u201d But the christian can tell them,\nthat all the wisdom and learning of the philosopher could never do such\nmiracles as this gospel has done, could never work such a divine life\nand temper in my heart.\n\nWhen the Jews shall say, \u201cHow can this be the Messiah? For the Messiah,\nthe Son of God, must be a great King, the Governor of the earth, must\ndeliver the Jews from their slavery, must have power over all the\nnations; how could this be the Messiah, that was crucified among his\ncountrymen, and we, with our fellow-citizens, joined together to put him\nto death, and he lay like a mere mortal in his grave? How can this be\nthe Saviour, or can his religion be true?\u201d The christian, that is called\nof God, and has found the witness in himself, makes answer, _he that was\nfoolishness to the Greeks, and a scandal to the Jews, is the wisdom of\nGod, and the power of God to me._ I have seen my _sins nailed to the\ncross_ of this Redeemer; I have found a way for the pardon of all my\niniquities, and the satisfaction of my conscience (which was before full\nof anguish) in and from the cross of this Messiah; I have found holiness\nwrought in my soul by the belief of this gospel; I have felt such virtue\nproceeding from this Saviour, that I, who was before all over unclean\nand defiled, am in some degree made holy: This gospel therefore must be\nfrom God, and this is the Messiah, his Son.\n\nWhen the deists of our age shall object and say, \u201cHow can ye believe\nsuch a religion to be divine, that is delivered in so poor and mean a\nway, as the story of Christ, and all the strange doctrines of your\ngospel? How can the bible be the word of God? Not only because there are\nso many obscurities and mystical speeches in it, that a learned man in\nour day would be ashamed to write it? How can this gospel be the\nrevelation of God, that wants so much of the beauty of oratory and\nstrong reasoning, which the wisdom of man pretends to, and daily\nperforms?\u201d But the christian answers; \u201cThe gospel, that is contained\nhere, must be from God: For although it has so much human weakness in\nour eyes, I have felt a divine power attending it, it hath been to me\nthe power of God unto salvation. Let it want therefore what human\nornaments it will, if it has a divine efficacy in it, I am sure it is\nfrom above.\u201d Thus whatsoever temptations are proposed to baffle his\nfaith, and to stagger his belief of the doctrine of Christ, this one\ninstance of its divinity, keeps the believer steady: \u201cI have found it of\nefficacy to begin eternal life in me, therefore I know it is from God.\u201d\n\nBut as to this sort of objections, against the truth and divinity of our\nreligion, arising from the doubtful or difficult evidence of the books\nof scripture, we may fetch a noble answer from the experimental\ntestimony of which I am now speaking: And this shall be the sixth\nproperty of this inward witness.\n\nVI. It is such a witness to the truth of the christian religion, as does\nnot depend on the exact truth of letters and syllables, nor on the\ncritical knowledge of the copies of the bible, nor on this old\nmanuscript, or on the other new translation: For how great soever the\ndifference may be between the various ancient copies of the books of\nscripture, or the elder or later translations of it, either in\nprotestant or popish countries; yet the substance of christianity is so\nscattered through all the New Testament, and especially among the\nepistles, that every manuscript and every translation has enough of the\ngospel to save souls by it, and make a man a christian indeed. How full\nof noise and controversy has the christian world been, especially in the\nlearned ages of it, in order to adjust and settle the true books of\nscripture, the true verses, and the true reading? How many doubtful\nwords have crept into some of the written copies by the mistakes of\ntranscribers? And how exceeding hard, if not impossible, is it in many\ncases to judge which was the true and authentic word or sentence? But\nthe humble and sincere christian has learned so much of the same gospel,\nin which all copies agree, as has renewed his sinful nature, and wrought\na divine life in him, and therefore he is sure the substance of this\ngospel must be from God. Nay, if this property of the inward witness be\nduly considered a little further in the nature and attendants of it, we\nshall find that every true christian has a sufficient argument and\nevidence to support his faith, without being able to prove the authority\nof any of the canonical writings. He may hold fast his religion, and be\nassured that it is divine, though he cannot bring any learned proof that\nthe book that contains it is divine too; nay, though the book itself\nshould ever happen to be lost or destroyed: And this will appear with\nopen and easy conviction, by asking a few such questions as these:\n\nWas not this same gospel preached with glorious success before the new\ntestament was written? Were not these same doctrines of salvation by\nJesus Christ published to the world by the ministry of the apostles, and\nmade effectual to convert thousands, before they set themselves to\ncommit these doctrines to writing? And had not every sincere believer,\nevery true convert, this blessed witness in himself, that christianity\nwas from God? Eight or ten years had past away, after the ascension of\nChrist, before any part of the New Testament was written, (as learned\nmen conceive) and what unknown multitudes of christian converts were\nborn again by the preaching of the word, and raised to a divine and\nheavenly life, long ere this book was half finished or known, and that\namong heathens as well as Jews? And though the scriptures of the Old\nTestament might prepare the minds of some of these to receive the\ngospel; yet we have reason to believe, that great numbers, especially of\nthe Gentile world, were convinced by miracles and tongues, and some,\nperhaps by mere narratives and exhortations, and became holy believers;\neach of them _the epistle of Christ written in the heart_, and bearing\nabout within them a noble and convincing proof that this religion was\ndivine, and that without a written gospel, without epistles, and without\na bible.\n\nAgain, in the first ages of Christianity, for several hundred years\ntogether, how few among the common people were able to read? How few\ncould get the possession of the use of a bible, when all sacred as well\nas profane books must be copied by writing? How few of the populace, in\na large town or city, could obtain or could use any small part of\nscripture, before the art of printing made the word of God so common?\nAnd yet millions of them were regenerated, sanctified, and saved by the\nministration of this gospel. The sum, and sense, and substance of this\ndivine doctrine, communicated to the nations in various forms of speech,\nand in different phrases, made a divine impression on their minds, being\nattended by the power of the blessed Spirit; and while it stamped its\nown sacred image on their souls, it transformed their natures into holy\nand heavenly, and created so many new witnesses to the truth of the\ngospel, for it begun eternal life in them.\n\nConsider then, christians, and be convinced, that the gospel has a more\nnoble inward witness belonging to it, than is derived from _ink and\npaper_, from precise letters and syllables: And though God, in his great\nwisdom and goodness, saw it necessary that the New Testament should be\nwritten, to preserve these holy doctrines uncorrupted through all ages;\nand though he was pleased to appoint the written word to be the\ninvariable and authentic rule of our faith and practice, and make it a\nglorious instrument of instructing ministers and people to salvation in\nall these later times: Yet christianity has a secret witness in the\nhearts of believers, that does not depend on their knowledge and proof\nof the authority of the scriptures, nor of any of the controversies that\nin late ages have attended the several manuscript copies, and different\nreadings and translations of the bible.\n\nNow this is of admirable use and importance in the christian life, upon\nseveral accounts: As,\n\n1. If we consider how few poor unlearned christians there are, who are\ncapable of taking in the arguments which are necessary to prove the\ndivine authority of the sacred writings; and few, even among the\nlearned, can well adjust and determine many of the different readings,\nor different translations of particular scriptures. Now a wise christian\ndoes not build his faith and hope merely upon any one or two single\ntexts, but upon the general scope, sum, and substance of the gospel, the\ngreat doctrines of the satisfaction for sin, by the blood of Christ, and\nthe renewal of our corrupt natures by the Holy Spirit, the necessity of\nfaith in Christ, repentance of sin, and sincere holiness, in order to\nsalvation and heavenly glory; and by these he feels a spiritual life of\npeace and piety begun in him: And here lies his evidence that\nchristianity is divine, and that these doctrines are from heaven, though\na text or two may be written false, or wrong translated, or though a\nwhole book or two may be hard to be proved authentic.\n\nThe learned well know what need there is of turning over the histories\nof ancient times, of the traditions and writings of the fathers, and\nauthors, pious and profane; what need of critical skill in the holy\nlanguages, and in ancient manuscripts; what a wide survey of various\ncircumstances of fact, time, place, style, language, &c. is necessary to\nconfirm one or another book or verse of the New Testament, and to answer\nthe doubts of the scrupulous, and the bold objections of the infidel;\nwhat laborious reasonings are requisite to found our faith on this\nbottom. Now how few of the common rank of christians, whose hearts are\ninlaid with true faith in the Son of God, and real holiness, have\nleisure, books, instructions, advantages, and judgment to make a\nthorough search into these matters, and to determine, upon a just view\nof argument, that these books were written by the sacred authors whose\nnames they bear, and that these authors were under an immediate\ninspiration in writing them? What a glorious advantage is it then to\nhave such an infallible testimony to the truth of the gospel wrought and\nwritten in the heart by renewing grace, as does not depend on this\nlaborious, learned, and argumentative evidence of the divine authority\nof the bible, or of any particular book or verse of it?\n\n2. If we consider what bold assaults are sometimes made upon the faith\nof the unlearned christian, by the deists and unbelievers of our age, by\ndisputing against the authority of the scripture, by ridiculing the\nstrange narratives and sublime doctrines of the bible, by setting the\nseeming contradictions in a blasphemous light, and then demanding, \u201cHow\ncan you prove, or how can you believe, that this book is the word of\nGod, or that the religion it teaches is divine?\u201d In such an hour of\ncontest, how happy is the christian that can say, \u201cThough I am not able\nto solve all the difficulties in the bible, nor maintain the sacred\nauthority of it against the cavils of wit and learning; yet I am well\nassured that the doctrines of this book are sacred, and the authority of\nthem divine: For when I heard and received them, they changed my nature,\nthey subdued my sinful appetites, they made a new creature of me, and\nraised me from death to life; they made me love God above all things,\nand gave me the lively and well-grounded hope of his love: Therefore I\ncannot doubt but that the chief principles of this book are heavenly and\ndivine, though I cannot so well prove that the very words and syllables\nof it are so too; for it is the sense of scripture, and not the mere\nletters of it, on which I build my hope.\u201d I might say yet further,\n\n3. This inward witness gives great support in hours of darkness and\ntemptations of the devil, when such sudden thoughts shall be thrown into\nthe mind even of a learned christian: \u201cWhat if the scripture should not\nbe divine? What if this gospel and the other epistle should not be\nwritten by inspiration? What if these should be merely the words of men,\nand not the very word of God?\u201d The believer, who feels a renewed nature,\nand a divine life working within him, can boldly repel these fiery darts\nof Satan, with such a reply as this: \u201cThough I cannot at present\nrecollect all the arguments that prove Matthew, Mark, and Luke, to be\ndivine historians, or Peter and Paul to be inspired writers; yet the\nsubstance and chief sense of their gospels, and their epistles must\nneeds be divine, and God is the author of it, for it has begun the\nspiritual and eternal life in my soul; and this is my witness (or rather\nthe witness of the Spirit of God within me) that Christ _is the Son of\nGod, the Saviour of sinners_, and the religion that I profess and\npractice is safe and divine.\u201d\n\nAnd though there are many and sufficient arguments drawn from criticism,\nhistory, and human learning, to prove the sacred authority of the bible,\nand such as may give abundant evidence to an honest enquirer, and full\nsatisfaction that it is the word of God; yet this is the chief evidence\nthat the greatest part of christians can ever attain of the divine\noriginal of the holy scripture itself, as well as the truth of the\ndoctrines contained in it, _viz._ That they have found such a holy and\nheavenly change passed upon them by reading or hearing the propositions,\nthe histories, the promises, the precepts, and the threatenings of this\nbook: And thence they are wont to infer, that the God of truth would not\nattend a book, which was not agreeable to his mind, with such glorious\ninstances of his own power and grace. Though it must be still confessed,\nthat this argument is much stronger, and the evidence brighter for the\ngeneral truth of christianity, than it can possibly be for the sacred\nauthority of any one verse or chapter of the New Testament.\n\nI have dwelt the longer on this sixth property of the inward witness,\nbecause I think it of great importance in our age, which has taken so\nmany steps towards heathenism and infidelity: for this argument or\nevidence will defend a christian in the profession of the true religion,\nthough he may not have skill enough to defend his bible.\n\n[This sermon may be divided here, if it be too long.]\n\nVII. This is an universal witness to the truth of the gospel; for it\nbelongs to every true christian. The weak, as well as the strong, enjoy\nthis inward evidence in some measure and degree. This is an argument of\nsome force and conviction to him, who is but young in grace and\nknowledge, as well as to him that has made high advances in the faith,\nand is grown up to the stature of man in _Christ_. Though it must be\nacknowledged that where faith and love, holiness and peace are weak, the\nevidence of this testimony is weak also; yet it may sometimes stand firm\nand strong, and shine bright in those christians, whose intellectual\npowers are but mean and low. Some persons of great holiness, may have\nbut little natural parts, poor understandings, a mean education, and can\nscarce give any clear rational account of the things of this world, or\nof that which is to come; and these enjoy a great degree of this inward\nwitness to the truth of christianity, that a divine life is begun in\nthem, and that the gospel has effectually wrought in them _a new nature;\nthose great and precious promises of the gospel having made them\npartakers of the divine nature_, they are sure those promises must be\ndivine, 2 Pet. i. 4. and 1 Cor. i. 22, 23. _Not many wise, not many\nmighty, not many noble are called; but God hath chosen the poor, and the\nweak, and foolish things of this world, to confound the wise and the\nmighty_: Nor yet hath he chosen, or called one of them, without giving\nthem a sufficient witness to the truth of that gospel, by and to which\nthey are called. Though they cannot argue for the doctrine of _Christ_,\nyet they find _Christ dwelling within them the hope of glory_; Col. i.\n27. They find the characters of _Christ_ copied out in their hearts, and\nthe life of _Christ_ in some measure, transcribed in their lives. They\nfind something of sacred influence from the gospel of Christ, which no\nother doctrines can pretend to; therefore though they cannot give a\nrational account, which shall answer all the cavils of men; why they\nbelieve christianity, through the weakness of their knowledge, yet their\nfaith in Christ is strong; for they are sure the doctrine is divine,\nbecause of the sweet and sanctifying influence it has upon them. How\ncondescending is God to poor sinners, to give such a religion to be\nsaved by, that everyone who receives it shall have an infallible witness\nin himself of the truth of it, without the learning of the schools, and\nthe knowledge of tongues! Their chief argument for it is, they have\ndivine holiness, and divine peace.\n\nVIII. This inward witness of the truth of christianity, is, or should\nbe, always growing and improving. The testimony increases as the divine\nlove increases; the greater the degree of holiness we arrive at, the\nmore are we confirmed in the truth of christianity the testimony grows\nstronger, 2 Cor. iii. 18. You find that text approves of what I have now\nargued. When the apostle had been distinguishing between the religion of\nthe law, and that of the gospel; that the one was covered with a veil,\nbut under the other this veil was taken away: We, says he, under the\ngospel, _with open face beholding, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord,\nare changed into the same image from glory to glory. We who behold the\nface of Christ Jesus_ in his gospel, we who here see a God reconciled in\nand by the death of his Son, we who see the holiness of Christ here\ndescribed, copied, and exemplified, _we are changed into the same\nimage_. The image of Christ is transcribed upon our natures, we go on\nfrom one degree of it to another; we are changed _from glory to glory_,\nfrom one degree of glorious holiness to another: thereby the gospel\nappears to have a fairer, a brighter, and a stronger evidence.\n\nThence it comes to pass, that when christians have grown to a good\ndegree of strength in faith, and great measures of holiness in this\nworld, all the temptations that they meet with to turn them aside from\nthe doctrines of Christ, _are esteemed but as straw and stubble_; they\ncannot move nor stir them from the faith that is in Jesus, because the\nevidence hath grown strong with years: and as they have attended long\nupon the ministration of this gospel, they have found more and more of\nthis eternal life wrought in their hearts; they have got nearer to\nheaven, they have pressed on continually towards perfection, they have\nfound sweet assurance of the pardon of sin in their conscience, and\ndiviner sensations of the love of God communicated to them, and their\nown love both to God and man increasing; they have found their hearts\nmore averse to all iniquity, they have felt themselves rising higher and\nhigher above this world, as they have come nearer to the end of their\ndays; and a holy contempt of this world has grown bolder: They take\ngreater delight in God, and more gustful satisfaction in his worship,\nand in his company: Their zeal for his honour is warmer and stronger;\nthey are perpetually employing themselves in contrivances for the glory\nof God among men. Thus in every part of this spiritual life the\ntestimony increases, the evidence grows brighter, as eternal life\nadvances in them.\n\nIn the last place: As it is a growing witness, so it is such an one as\nnever can be utterly lost; and that character of it is derived from the\nvery name, for it is _eternal life_. Where it is once wrought in the\nsoul, it shall be everlasting, it shall never die. _The seed of God\nabides in those that are born of God_; 1 John iii. 9. _for they are born\nnot of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, even the word of God,\nwhich lives and abides forever_; 1 Pet. i. 23. His gospel, which is an\n_everlasting gospel_, continues that heavenly work in the soul, which\nthat gospel did first begin. It may be darkened indeed, it may be hidden\nfor a season; sometimes the violent temptations of the evil one, may, as\nit were stop the mouth of this divine witness; and sometimes, defiling\nlusts rising upon the face of the soul, may darken these evidences, but\ncan never entirely blot them out. Eternal life must abide for ever,\naccording to the name and nature of it. Though the evidence for a season\nmay be obscure, and may seem to be silent through the power of iniquity,\nand the strength of temptation; yet this life will resume its activity,\nand discover itself, because its nature is eternal. It is Christ Jesus\nliving in the soul by the power of his own Spirit; Christ Jesus, who is\nthe eternal principle of life, and his Spirit, which is the eternal\nSpirit: and where he hath begun to dwell, he shall forever inhabit. This\nevidence shall continue to all eternity, and shall give many a sweet\nreflection to the saints in heaven. \u201cI feel now (says every saint there)\nthat this was a true gospel I trusted in, in the days of my flesh; and\nthis religion was divine, for it hath raised me to these mansions of\nblessedness. I feel now it was a doctrine came down from heaven, and\nthat Christ Jesus was not an imposter, but _the Son of God_ indeed, for\nhe has brought me to his Father\u2019s house by this doctrine; he has seated\nme upon his own throne, even as he is seated upon the throne of his\nFather: he hath made me an overcomer by believing this doctrine, even as\nhe himself has overcome.\u201d Eternal life itself, in the perfection of it\nin the future world, shall be a standing and everlasting evidence of the\ntruth of the gospel.\n\nI will now endeavour to draw some few inferences or remarks from the\ndiscourse, and then conclude.\n\n1. The first remark is very obvious, how glorious is the gospel of our\nLord! How preferable to all other religions! Those which men have\ninvented, are not to come into competition with it; let none of them be\nnamed. Even that religion which God himself invented, the religion of\nthe Jews, had not such honourable characters belonging to it, as this of\nour Saviour hath. Many expressions that are used in the epistles of St.\nPaul, to shew the superiority of the gospel above the law, are such as\ngive it an infinite advantage and preference: As in point of glory, so\nin point of evidence too. One was _the letter_; the other is _the\nspirit_; one was _the ministration of condemnation_, the other of\nsalvation; one _the ministration of death_, the other of life: and as\nlife, spiritual or eternal life, is represented as the peculiar effect\nand prerogative of the gospel, so it carries more light of evidence with\nit to confirm its heavenly original; it brings the believing soul much\nnearer to heaven.\n\nThe Jewish religion instituted by Moses, although, by the accompanying\npower of the Spirit of God, _it wrought effectually_, in the hearts of\nthose that sincerely received it, and changed their natures in a saving\nmanner; yet the brightness and glory of this sort of evidence, that\nbelonged to that religion was derived from the gospel, which was hidden\nunder the types of it: Nor could it be supposed to have equal brightness\nor force with the gospel itself, when unveiled, and shining in open\nlight; as I have shewn in the second discourse.\n\nThe Jews, when they had offered all their sacrifices for the hope of\npardon of their sins, and looked as far as they could look through the\nsmoke and shadows, to see the Messiah at a distance, could never have\ntheir consciences so sweetly released from fears, and the sense of\nguilt, as christians under the gospel, may enjoy through the blood of\nChrist: never had they so much communion with God in love, as since it\nis manifested by Christ Jesus, the Son of his love, that came _from his\nbosom_. Never were they raised so high above the world, nor could any of\nthe Jews be so high refined in their hopes and joys, and exult in the\nview of heavenly glories, as a christian may be, and do, since the veil\nis withdrawn, and _life and immortality are brought to light by the\ngospel_: 2 Tim. i. 10. Never could they triumph overall the terrors of\ndeath, and the horror and darkness of the grave, as St. Paul the\nchristian often does, and teaches his fellow-saints the same triumphal\nsong; 1 Cor. xv. 54, &c. I grant that a single person or two like David,\nmight now and then, by the spirit of rapture and prophecy, be borne far\nabove that dispensation itself, and might have noble views and joys; but\nthe whole church, under that state had but dark apprehensions of things\nabove this life, and beyond death; their spiritual things were so much\nmingled and interwoven with a worldly dispensation, and their sanctuary\nitself called _a worldly sanctuary_. So much carnality entered into the\nscheme of their constitution, that they could not be raised so high\nabove this world, and the things of this life, as christians under the\ngospel: they could never have such a sense of forgiving grace, nor so\nsweet a satisfaction in drawing near to God, as christians now have; nor\nwere they so expressly commanded, nor could, nor did they so gloriously\npractise the duties of love and forgiveness to men, as the christian\nreligion requires, and works in the hearts of sincere believers.\n\n2d remark. You learn here an excellent rule for self-examination,\nwhether you have true faith or no. If you have, it will be accompanied\nwith this evidence: for this eternal life begun in the soul, does not\nmerely prove that christianity is a true doctrine, but it proves also\nthat the faith of that person is true, where this eternal life is begun.\nThis is mentioned in the foregoing sermon, therefore I shall pass it\nover briefly. The apostle asserts this sufficiently, ver. 13. _These\nthings have I written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God,\nthat ye may know that ye have eternal life._ The duties of morality,\nboth of the first and second table, will be written upon the heart, and\nwill, in some degree, be practised in the life, where the gospel is\nwritten in the heart, and where christianity is wrought in its power in\nthe soul. But, on the other hand, those who neglect the duties of the\nfirst table, or indulge themselves in a very careless performance of\nthem; those who pass by the duties of the second table, and those\nrelative engagements which they lie under to their neighbour by the law\nof God, can never have the evidence within themselves, neither of the\ntruth of christianity, nor of the truth of their own faith: They may be\nheathens, they may be heroes, they may be philosophers, they may be any\nthing but christians.\n\n3d remark. Learn the true method of confirming your souls in the\nchristian faith: seek daily greater degrees of this divine life wrought\nin you. This advice is also hinted by the apostle John, in the 13th\nverse, _I have written these things to you_ concerning the witness of\nchristianity, that consists in having _eternal life_ begun in you, not\nonly that ye may know ye have it, but that ye may go on to _believe on\nthe name of the Son of God_. We have need in our day to be well seasoned\nwith arguments against the dangers of the times, and the temptations of\nthe age in which, we dwell. Christianity begins to be a stumbling-block,\nand the doctrine of the gospel is called folly; it is reproached to a\nvery great and shameful degree, in a nation, which in public professes\nchristianity. When we therefore shall be attacked with arguments to\nbaffle our faith, and when the _wind of false doctrine_ shall grow\nstrong, and shall carry away many; how shall we be able to stand our\nground, and hold fast our faith in Christ, if we have not this inward\nwitness, the beginnings of eternal life? Therefore it is that so many\nchristians waver and are led away, sometimes to this new doctrine,\nsometimes to another, because they feel so little of the efficacy and\npower of the gospel in their hearts, so very little of holiness and\neternal life within them.\n\nIf you cannot argue for the gospel with learning, nor from experience,\nwhat will ye do in an hour of temptation? For the most part, christians\nare too little bred up to those methods of knowledge, whereby they might\nbe capable of giving large, and rational, and satisfactory answers to\nthose that may set themselves to oppose the truth and progress of the\ngospel. What will you do in the darkness of such a temptation, when\nthose that are learned and ingenious shall attack your faith, and say,\n\u201cWhy do you believe in Jesus?\u201d If you have this answer ready at hand, \u201cI\nhave found the efficacy and power of the gospel on my heart;\u201d this will\nbe sufficient to answer all their cavils. It was one way whereby\nchristianity was confirmed in the hearts of the martyrs of old, and\nwhereby they were enabled to bear up against all oppositions, because\nthey found such a divine efficacy attending the gospel, such a new and\nheavenly life wrought in them, as enabled them to go through great\nhardships for the sake of Christ. But this leads me to,\n\n4. The fourth remark, _viz._ If there be this inward evidence belonging\nto the gospel, and those that truly believe, then you have a strong\nencouragement to profess christianity under the greatest persecutions.\nIt will bear you out, it carries its own evidence with it; christianity\nin the heart will give courage against temptation. _Think it not strange\nconcerning the fiery trial_, says the apostle Peter, for in such a fiery\ntrial the gospel hath secured thousands; therefore, says St. Paul,\nthough I meet with reproaches wheresoever I go, _though bonds and\nimprisonments await me_, and death itself; Acts xx. 23. _yet I am not\nashamed of the gospel of Christ_; Rom. i. 16. _for it is the power of\nGod to salvation, to every one that believeth_. Which is but the sense\nof my text in other words. Every one that believes it in truth, hath\nthis evidence in _himself, even eternal life: Therefore I count not my\nlife dear to me, &c._ for the gospel will bear me out in my profession\nof it, in my publication of it, and in my suffering for it. This is the\nway we shall learn _to resist unto blood_, and seal the truth of this\ngospel with our mortal lives, if we have the seal of this truth abiding\nin our souls.\n\n5th remark. As from this doctrine you have strong encouragement to\nprofess christianity, so you are here taught the best way to honour the\ngospel, and to propagate the christian religion in the world. Make this\ninward divine testimony appear to the world; let the eternal life that\nis wrought in your souls by this gospel, express itself in all your\noutward behaviour amongst men. Thus the primitive christians did, and it\nwas their work to propagate the faith of Christ this way. The gentiles\nand unbelievers were _won by their conversation_; 1 Pet. iii. 1. Thus\nthe apostles did, who were as so many captains and officers in the army\nof christians, going before the camp, and making war against all the\nidolatry of the heathens. They made that eternal life which was wrought\nin their souls, appear publicly, and discover itself unto men, and\nhereby the gospel gained victory and triumph wheresoever it went. When\nthose who were ignorant of faith and its power, came into the assemblies\nof christians, and found the gospel to be a doctrine of such divine\nattendants, it convinced their consciences, and changed many of them\ninto new creatures; they fell down, and confessed that _there is a God\namong the christians of a truth_. When they see _your conversation_,\nwhen they behold your faith, and holy fear, your zeal for God, your\ndelight in his worship, your _gentleness_, your _meekness_, _kindness_,\nand _goodness_ toward your fellow-creatures, your desire of the\nsalvation of men, and readiness to deny yourselves for their good; when\nthe heathens know and behold this, they shall be won, says the apostle,\nby such a conversation as this is, to the belief of the same doctrine,\nand practice of the same duties.\n\nO what unknown millions of arguments would support and adorn the\ndoctrine of Christ, if every professor of it had this inward testimony\nworking powerfully in the soul, and breaking forth in the life! How\neffectually would it silence the most impudent objectors! When they\nshall put that question to you, \u201c_What do you more than others?_\u201d You\nwould make it appear in your lives, that the gospel is true and divine,\nby challenging all the philosophers, and all the priests and devotees of\nother religions, to shew such men and women as christians are; such\nhusbands and wives, such parents and children, such masters and\nservants, such lovers of God and man. O how happy would it be for the\nchristian name and interest in the world, if those who profess the\ngospel of Christ, could make a bold and universal challenge upon this\nhead! Or when the deists shall insult and say to a believer, What is\nJesus of Nazareth _more than another_ man, that you love and adore him\nso? Or in the language of the carnal Jews, _What is thy beloved more\nthan another beloved_, that thou makest so much ado about him? The\ndiscovery of Christ reigning in the soul by his renewing grace, will be\na sufficient evidence that he is the Son of God, that his character and\nhis person are divine, and his mission is from above; that he is the\n_chiefest of ten thousand_, and _altogether lovely_.\n\nIt is worth while for us now to take a survey of ourselves, to look back\nupon our lives, and ask, \u201cWhat testimonies have we given to the glory of\nthis gospel, and to the truth of the religion of Christ? Have we not\nsometimes rather been scandals to christianity? Have not our practices\nbeen blots instead of evidences, and discouragements to the unbeliever,\ninstead of allurements? Have we not sometimes laid _stumbling-blocks_ in\nthe way of those that have had the look of an eye, and some tendency of\nheart towards it?\u201d This will be an awakening thought, and painful to\nconscience in the review.\n\nHave we not much reason to mourn that there are some among us _who walk\nas enemies of the cross of Christ_? Phil. iii. 17. I would have you,\nsays the apostle, _be followers of me_, walk as I walk, _as you have me\nfor an example_. I would have you walk as those who have eternal life\nbegun in them, that you may be honours to the gospel. _But there are\nmany who walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even\nweeping, they are enemies of the cross_, and dishonours to the gospel,\ninstead of evidences of the truth of it; their _end is destruction,\ntheir god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame_; whereas\n_our conversation is in heaven, whence we expect Jesus the Saviour_; 18,\n19, 20. We who are here upon earth, and have believed the gospel of\nChrist, we should live as though we had part of ourselves in heaven\nalready, our conversation should be so holy and divine. Eternal life\nbegun in our hearts, should break out, and disclose itself, and shine\nbright among the persons we converse with. O! how much is the\npropagation of the gospel obstructed, how much the honour of our Lord\nJesus Christ obscured, and how much the good of souls prevented and\nhindered by those that discover not this eternal life, this sacred\nwitness, in the holiness of heart and practice! _But, beloved, we hope\nbetter things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we\nthus speak_; Heb. vi. 9. and yet we must speak thus, with a sacred\njealousy for the glory and evidence of this gospel, with a warm concern\nfor the peace and welfare of your souls, and with holy zeal for the\nconversion of the unbelieving world to the faith of God our Saviour.\n\n\n DIVINE HYMNS FOR SERMONS I, II, AND III.\n _The Inward Witness to Christianity._\n\n\n _Long Metre._\n\n Questions and doubts be heard no more:\n Let Christ and joy be all our theme;\n His Spirit seals his gospel sure\n To every soul that trusts his name.\n\n Jesus, thy witness speaks within;\n The mercy which thy words reveal,\n Refines the heart from sense and sin,\n And stamps its own celestial seal.\n\n \u2019Tis God\u2019s inimitable hand\n That moulds and forms the heart anew;\n Blasphemers can no more withstand,\n But bow and own thy doctrine true.\n\n The guilty wretch that trusts thy blood\n Finds peace and pardon at the cross;\n The sinful soul averse to God,\n Believes and loves his Maker\u2019s laws.\n\n Learning and wit may cease their strife\n When miracles with glory shine;\n The voice that calls the dead to life,\n Must be almighty and divine.\n\n\n _Common Metre._\n\n Witness, ye saints, that Christ is true;\n Tell how his name imparts\n The life of grace and glory too:\n Ye have it in your hearts.\n\n The heav\u2019nly building is begun\n When ye receive the Lord;\n His hands shall lay the crowning stone,\n And well perform his word.\n\n Your souls are form\u2019d by wisdom\u2019s rules,\n Your joys and graces shine;\n You need no learning of the schools,\n To prove your faith divine.\n\n Let heathens scoff, and Jews oppose,\n Let Satan\u2019s bolts be hurl\u2019d;\n There\u2019s something wrought within you shews\n That Jesus saves the world.\n\n\n\n\n SERMON IV.\n _Flesh and Spirit; or, the Principles of Sin and Holiness._\n Rom. viii. 1.\u2014Who walk not after the Flesh, but after the Spirit.\n\n\nWhen we use the words flesh and spirit, in their literal and proper\nsense, all men know what we mean by them: Flesh generally signifies the\nanimal nature; that is, the body and blood, &c. and spirit means an\nintelligent nature that has understanding and will. When these are\nattributed to man, they are but other names to express those two\ndistinct beings, the body and soul, that make up human nature. But these\nwords are often in scripture used metaphorically, and that in various\nsenses; yet the metaphor, as it stands in my text, hath such justness\nand propriety in it, that the sense of it is not very difficult to be\ntraced, being happily and nearly derived from the proper and literal\nmeaning. It is plain that St. Paul uses this expression of _walking\nafter the flesh_, to signify a course of sin; and by _walking after the\nspirit_, he describes a course of holiness. This is the character of\nsuch as believe in Christ, and to whom belongs no condemnation, _that\nthey walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit_; they live not in a\ncourse of sin, nor according to sinful principles, but follow the\nprinciples of holiness that are wrought in them.\n\nThus the word flesh signifies, and includes all the principles and\nsprings of sin that are found in man, whether they have their immediate\nand distinct residence in the body or in the soul. The word spirit\nsignifies and includes all the principles of holiness that are wrought\nin any person, whether immediately residing in soul or body. And among\nthe many places of scripture where they are so used, those words of our\nLord himself to Nicodemus, John iii. 6. seem to make this most evident:\n_What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the spirit is\nspirit_; by which he means to assert, that what comes by natural\ngeneration tends towards sin, and what is derived from the operation of\nthe Spirit of God leads to holiness. Or, more plainly thus: all the\nprinciples of sin spring from mere human nature, as derived from our\nparents, and are called flesh; and, on the contrary, all the principles\nof holiness spring from the Spirit of God, and are called spirit; and\nthence his argument derives the necessity of being _born again_, or born\nfrom above. In the first part of these two sentences, flesh and spirit\nare taken literally for the flesh of man, and the Spirit of God. In the\nlatter end of the sentences, flesh and spirit must be taken\nfiguratively, for the principles of sin, and the principles of holiness.\n\nNow since the apostle frequently uses the terms flesh and spirit in the\nsame sense which his Lord and Master put upon them, and talks often on\nthis subject: I shall spend this discourse in shewing the grounds of\nthis figure of speech in my text, and in giving a full explication and\nimprovement of it in the following manner:\n\nI. I shall offer some reasons why sin, and the principles of it, are\nrepresented by the flesh.\u2014II. I shall likewise propose the reasons why\nthe principles of holiness are expressed by the term spirit. And,\u2014III.\nDraw some useful remarks from the whole.\n\n_First_, Let me shew why sin is represented by flesh, so often in\nscripture; and I give these reasons for it:\n\nI. Because fleshly or sensible objects, are the chief delight and aim of\nsinners. They pursue them, and they rejoice in them; and these lead away\nthe soul from God to sin. It is the great business of sinners to _fulfil\nthe lusts of the flesh, and make provision for it_. This is their\ncharacter in St. Paul\u2019s writings; to gratify the appetites of the body,\nto provide for the desires of their animal natures, eating and drinking,\nand luxury, and lusts of the flesh, are the cares of most unregenerate\nmen. _The lust of the eye_, and the gaities of life, gold and silver,\npomp and equipage, a fine house, a gay appearance in the world, gaudy\ncloathing and glittering ornaments of the body, great splendor in the\neyes of men; these are the idols, the gods of sinners; and they are the\ntemptations of the saints too. The things that relate to the flesh, and\nthe enjoyments of this sensible and present life, are the objects of\nsinful appetites, or of lawful appetite in a sinful degree; and\ntherefore sin is called flesh.\n\nII. Sin is also called flesh, because it is communicated and propagated\nto us by the parents of our flesh. It is by our flesh that we are a-kin\nto Adam, the first great sinner, and derive a corrupted nature from him;\nfrom this original taint we derive iniquity, as a polluted stream from\nan unclean fountain; he is the father of a sinful posterity.\n\nOur spirits indeed are formed immediately by God, and being united to\nthese bodies that come from Adam by the laws of creation, we become the\nchildren of Adam, and so are partakers of his sinful nature. How this is\ndone, we may learn from other discourses: it is enough here to say, that\nirregular humours, and motions, and ferments are transferred and\npropagated from the first man, even from the same blood of which are\nformed all the nations of men that dwell upon the face of the earth;\nActs xvii. 26. These are transmitted down to us the wretched posterity.\nIn some instances this is so evident, that all men see and believe it.\nHow often does the haughty, the peevish, or the choleric temper of the\nparent appear in the son or the daughter beyond all contradiction? And\noften, when we see a drunken or a wanton sinner, we cry, \u201cHe is the\nexpress copy of his father, he borrows his vices as well as his\nfeatures, and seems to be his perfect image.\u201d And though it is not so\nevident in all men, that they borrow the seeds of iniquity from their\npredecessors, yet there is proof enough from the word of God, that we\nare _conceived in sin, and shapen in iniquity_ that _man who is born of\na woman_ is neither clean nor righteous. _Who can bring a clean thing\nout of an unclean?_ It is impossible; for _that which is born of the\nflesh is flesh_; Psalm li. 5. Job xv. 14. John iii. 6. Irregular\ntendencies towards lawful delights, and strong propensities towards\nunlawful ones, a neglect of God, and aversion to all that is holy or\nheavenly, with an inclination towards fleshly and sinful objects, are\nconveyed to us all, even from our first parents. Sinful Adam begat his\nsons _in his own likeness_; Gen. v. 3. and therefore sin is described by\nflesh, because it came from the father of our flesh.\n\nIII. Another reason why sin is called flesh, is because the chief\nsprings of sin lie most in our fleshly natures; all the while we\ncontinue here in this world, the occasions of sin lie much in our body,\nin our blood, in our natural constitution, in this mortal frame and\ncontexture; fancy and passion, in all their wild irregularities, are\nmuch influenced by the flesh and blood. Our bodily senses, our natural\nappetites, are continually tempting us away from our duty, and leading\nor enticing us to the commission of sin; or, at least, immediately\nfalling in with temptation: insomuch that _sin_ is said _to work in our\nmembers_; Rom. vii. 5. _to reign in our mortal body_; vi. 12. Sinful\nactions are called _the deeds of the body_; viii. 13. Our sins are\ncalled our members, Col. iii. 5. _Mortify by the spirit the deeds of the\nbody_, saith the apostle in one place; _mortify your members which are\nupon the earth_, saith he in the other place; in both which he means the\nmortification of sin. He borrows words from the human body to describe\nsin.\n\nHere let it be noted, that we do not suppose that mere flesh and blood,\ndistinct from the soul, are capable of sin, properly speaking, or can\nbecome guilty in a proper sense; for these are but mere matter, and,\nseparate from the mind, cannot be under a moral law, any more than brute\ncreatures: Therefore we say, sin is not formally in the body of man, but\nit is occasionally there; because the senses and appetites, the parts\nand powers of the body become very often an unhappy occasion of sin to\nthe soul; and upon this account the apostle often describes sin by the\nword flesh.\n\nI proceed now to the second thing proposed, and that is, to shew the\ngrounds of this metaphorical use of the word spirit: And there are the\nsame sorts of reasons to be given why this word is used to represent the\nprinciples of holiness, as there are why flesh should signify the\nprinciples of sin.\n\nI. Because the objects and aim of holy souls are chiefly spiritual,\n_viz._ God and heaven, invisible and eternal things. Spiritual objects\nare chief in their esteem, most in their thoughts, and in their desires,\nand have the first place in their designs and pursuits: As _they that\nare after the flesh, mind the things of the flesh_; so _they that are\nafter the spirit_, mind _the things of the spirit_; Rom. viii. 5. A\nsaint, who is _spiritually-minded_, aims at those things that are more\na-kin to the nature of a spirit; he seeks the knowledge of the favour of\nGod, who is the supreme of Spirits, the infinite and self-sufficient\nSpirit, in whose knowledge, and in whose love, all intelligent creatures\nfind a full sufficiency of blessedness. He knows that all created\nspirits who are holy and happy, are made so by derivations from God\u2019s\nall-sufficient holiness and happiness; and therefore he applies himself\nwith zeal and vigour to all those spiritual exercises of meditation,\nfaith and prayer, wherein God reveals himself and his mercy. The\nknowledge of God and his worship, of Christ and his gospel, of the Holy\nSpirit and his grace, is the chief desire of a holy soul. These are the\nobjects of the pursuit of a spiritual man; he has devoted himself to God\nand things divine; upon account of which, a man is denominated holy, and\ntherefore holiness is called spirit.\n\nThe holy man seeks the welfare of his own soul or spirit before that of\nhis flesh; and while sinful men lay out their whole care and contrivance\nabout the body, which must die, and grasp at the things of this life to\nmake _provision for the flesh_, the saint is most concerned about his\nsoul, which is an immortal spirit; he endeavours to rectify those\ndisorders of it, which sin and the flesh have introduced, and is ever\ndiligent to make provision for this soul of his in the spiritual and\nunseen world, because it must have a being there for ever. The holy man\nis most solicitous that his soul may be happy in an unknown hereafter,\nwhile the sinner seeks all his happiness here.\n\nAs the natural man neglects the two chief Spirits he has any concern\nwith, that is, God and his own soul; so fleshly objects are his chief\ndesire: But the spiritual man despises them all, in comparison of the\nunseen desirables of the spiritual world. The men of this world take\npains to gratify their senses, and indulge every fleshly appetite among\nthe entertainments of this present world; but those who are holy,\nmortify their sinful passions, and set their affections on things above;\n_Col._ iii. 1, &c. They look and aim at things that are unseen, that are\neternal, while the men of this world look only at the things that are\nvisible and temporal; 2 Cor. iv. 18. The sinful many, or multitude of\nsinners, say, Who will shew us any good? But they seek it only among\ncorn, wine, and oil, &c. The saint prays to his God, _Lord, lift upon me\nthe light of thy countenance; and_ this shall _put gladness into my\nheart more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased_;\nPs. iv. 6, 7. This is the first reason holiness is described by the word\nspirit.\n\nII. Holiness is represented by the spirit, because it is communicated to\nus by God the Father of our spirits, even as sin is conveyed down to us\nby the parents of our flesh. It is wrought in us by his blessed Spirit,\nwhose character it is to be holy. In Rom. viii. 13, 14. you see holiness\ndescribed as receiving its very nature and operation in us from the\nSpirit of God. As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the\nsons of God; and it is by the spirit we mortify the deeds of the flesh,\nor body, that so we may live. As they that are born of the flesh are\nflesh, so they that are born of the spirit are spirit: John. iii. 6.\nThis is the language of our Lord Jesus Christ. They who have past\nthrough no renewing and reforming change of heart since their natural\nbirth, they are still in a natural sinful state, and the principles of\nsin are prevalent in them: but they who have been thus changed and\nrenewed by the blessed Spirit of God, have a new and spiritual natural\nprinciple and temper given to them, and are made holy. As by being born\nof man, we become the children of Adam, and gain a sinful nature; so by\nbeing born of God we become the sons of God, and gain a divine, a holy\nnature. We are born of God unto holiness, as we are born of flesh unto\nsin; 1 John iii. 9. _He that is born of God sinneth not_; that is, sin\nis not his nature and delight, nor his common and allowed practice. We\nare regenerated and new-created by the Spirit of God; Titus iii. 5. _Not\nby works of righteousness which we have done, but of his own mercy hath\nhe saved us by regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Spirit._\n\nIII. Another reason why the principle of holiness is called spirit, is\nbecause the chief springs of holiness, and of opposition to sin, are\nfound in the soul or spiritual part, as the springs and occasions of sin\nare chiefly seated in the flesh.\n\nThis is true both in saints and sinners, for even in sinners that have\nno renewing grace, there is the light of nature, as well as the\nknowledge of scripture in our nation; there are the powers of reason and\nconscience; and these judge concerning _vice_ and _virtue_, that one is\nto be avoided, and the other practised; these inward and intellectual\nprinciples tell us, that sin is offensive to God our Maker; that it\nexposes us to his anger, and deserves terrible punishment; and by the\nexercise and influence of natural reason, added to the knowledge of\nscripture, and by the inward stings, and sharp reproofs of natural\nconscience, many an evil motion of the flesh is suppressed, many an\ninordinate appetite and passion subdued, and many a grosser sin\nprevented. Now though all this is not properly called holiness, till the\nnature itself be renewed, the love of sin broken, and the love of God\nwrought in the heart; yet it is evident that those principles which\nresist sin, and have any distant tendencies toward holiness, lie chiefly\nin the mind or spirit.\n\nThis is yet more evident in a saint, a man that is regenerated and\nsanctified by grace: For though in such a person, the body as well as\nthe spirit, may be in part sanctified; that is some of its irregular\nappetites may be much weakened and subdued; yet still I cannot help\nsupposing that the spirit, or soul, has a greater share of\nsanctification than the flesh in this life. It is in the soul that the\nlove of God is wrought by the Holy Spirit; it is the soul that repents\nof past sins, and watches against temptation; it is the soul that\nbelieves the gospel, and trusts in our Lord Jesus Christ; it is the soul\nthat by faith takes a distant prospect of heaven and hell, and converses\nwith invisible things beyond the reach and power of flesh and sense: It\nis by the powers of the soul enlightened and renewed, that we come to\nsee the value and excellency of religion, and spiritual things above\ntemporal; and are inclined to chuse God for our only happiness, and\nJesus Christ _as the way to the Father_. The understanding and will are\nfaculties of the soul, and the flesh has no part in their operations.\nThe soul of a believer seems to be the more proper, immediate, and\nreceptive subject of the sanctifying influences of the Spirit of God and\nthis will appear by consulting the word of God, or the experiences of\nmen.\n\nThe word of God leads us very naturally into this sentiment by its\nconstant language. The apostle speaks indeed in one place of being\n_sanctified wholly_, and our _whole spirit, soul and body_, being\npreserved _blameless, &c._ 1 Thess. v. 23. But he much oftner expresses\nsanctification by the _renewing of the mind_; Rom. xii. 2. Renewing of\nthe spirit of the mind; Eph. iv. 23. _Though the outward man_, or body,\nperish, _yet the inward man_, or spirit, _is renewed day by day_; 2 Cor.\niv. 16. And the constant language of the scripture calling sin flesh,\nand holiness spirit, in the saint, intimates that there is more sin in\nthe flesh, and more holiness in the spirit of one that is sanctified.\nThus we read in St. Paul\u2019s discourse from the 16th ver. of Romans vii.\nto the 25th, where you find him all along distinguishing the flesh and\nthe mind. By one of them he complains in a variety of expressions, that\nhe is led away to sin, while the other of them approves and pursues\nafter holiness; and though the words flesh and spirit are often used for\nthe principles of sin and holiness, yet it may be remarked, that he does\nnot confine himself here to these terms, but uses also the words body\nand members, to represent sin; inward man and mind, when he points to\nthe springs of holiness; which would lead one very naturally to believe\nthat there is more sanctification in the mind or soul of a believer, and\nmore of the occasions of sin remaining in his body or flesh.\n\nWe may find this also in a great measure from our own experience: We are\ntempted to many more sins by our various carnal appetites and senses,\nthan by the mere inclinations that belong to the mind, which are purely\nintellectual. There are indeed the lusts or sinful desires of the mind,\nas well as _the lusts of the flesh_; Eph. ii. 2. There is a sinful\ncuriosity of the mind; such was part of the temptation of Eve, a desire\nto know evil as well as good; there is a spiritual malice and envy\nagainst God and his saints: there is a spiritual pride of intellectual\nendowments, &c. and some of these are found too much in true christians,\nas well as in unbelievers; yet it must be acknowledged from constant\nobservation, that the lusts of the flesh are much more frequent, more\nnumerous, and more powerful in the greatest part of men; and it is\nmanifest that acts of religion and holiness, and exercises of grace,\nbegin more frequently in the inward inclination of the spirit,\ndistinguished from the flesh, as sin more frequently begins in, and from\nthe flesh itself, either in the outward or inward parts and powers of\nit.\n\nSurely if our souls were sanctified by divine grace, but so much as many\nare in this world, and had no flesh about them, they would not sin so\nmuch as they do. When we are engaged in the exercise of grace, or\nperformance of spiritual duties, such as meditation, prayer, delighting\nin God, rejoicing in Christ Jesus, we should not be so soon weary of it,\nnor so immediately called away from it by the mere vanity or wandering\nof our minds, if we had no fleshly objects about us, no outward senses,\nno inward treasures of fancy, no appetites of the body to start up and\nmingle with our religion, to clog us in our sacred work, to make us grow\nweary under it, and draw us from it. How often must a saint say, \u201cMy\nsoul is sincerely set against every sin, and I fear to offend him whom\nmy soul loveth; _with my mind I serve the law of God_, and I watch\nagainst every rising iniquity: But my outward senses, or the inward\nferments of fleshly appetite or passion, surprize me before I am aware\nand defile my soul. Sometimes my spirit wrestles hard _with flesh and\nblood_; I summon all the powers of reason and scripture, conscience and\nchristianity; I make a firm stand for a season, and maintain a brave and\npainful resistance; but the restless and perpetual assaults of fancy or\npassion, at last over-power the feeble spirit, and I sinfully submit and\nyield to the fretful or the luxurious humours of the body; and thus the\nbrutal powers overcome the mind, and _I am led away captive to sin_. If\nI had not an eye, I had not been drawn away to the commission of this\nfolly; if I had not an ear, I had not been tempted from God at such a\nseason; if I had not such appetites or senses in exercise, I had been\nsecured from many a snare; if I did not wear this flesh about me, which\nis so fond and tender of itself, and so impetuous and active in the\npursuit of its own ease and satisfaction, I had not shrunk away at such\na time from a dangerous duty; I had not been so fearful and cowardly at\nsuch a place in the profession of my faith, nor so often polluted my\nsoul with sensualities, and made work for bitter repentance.\u201d\n\nThus the experience of christians, and the language of scripture concur\nin this point, That the occasions of sin evidently lie most in the\nflesh: and a contradiction or opposition to sin, proceeds more from the\nspirit.\n\nIt is true indeed, and must be confessed, that the soul being but in\npart sanctified, too often complies with these _motions of sin which\nwork in our members_; and the affections of the soul itself, being not\nperfectly holy, are too easily induced to indulge the desires and\npassions of the flesh; and thereby sin is committed and guilt\ncontracted. _The law_ or principle, _of sin in the members_, leads the\nmind, too often, captive; Rom. vii. 23. Thus the soul is very culpable\nfor want of perpetual resistance, and becomes guilty before God, by\nevery such inordinate passion breaking forth, and by the satisfaction of\nevery such sinful raging appetite; yet I must believe that the soul of a\nchristian would not be guilty half so often, if the lusts of the body\nwere not more active than the mere abstracted lusts of the mind are.\n_The spirit lusteth against the flesh, and the flesh against the\nspirit_; Gal. v. 17. That part which is chiefly sanctified, and that\nwhich is chiefly unsanctified, strike against each other; and it is true\nin a literal sense, as well as a figurative one, that a saint _with his\nmind serves the law of God_, but too often _with his flesh the law of\nsin_.\n\nThus I have given the chief reasons why the principles of sin are\nrepresented in scripture by flesh, and the springs of holiness by\nspirit.\n\n[This sermon may be divided here.]\n\nFrom this consideration of flesh and spirit, of holiness and sin, which\nare set forth in the word of God, and thus explained in the most free\nand intelligible method that I am capable of, I would derive some\nremarks for our information and practice.\n\nRemark I. We may hence derive a rule of judgment concerning our own\nstate, and find whether we have any principle of holiness in our hearts\nor no, or whether we are yet in the flesh, and in a state of sin. We may\ndraw an easy answer to these questions, by making an inward enquiry into\nourselves, according to the three descriptions of flesh and spirit.\n\n_First_, What are our chief aims and desires? Are they bent to gratify\nthe appetites of the flesh, and set upon sensual enjoyments? Or do we\nseek and pursue spiritual and eternal things, as our most valuable and\nlovely portion? What is our chief treasure? Where are our hearts and our\nhopes? Are they wandering amongst heaps of gold and silver, roving over\nfair and large estates, entertaining themselves with gay cloathing,\nhonours, and vanities? Or are they pointing upwards, and directed\ntowards God, the first and best of beings; and fixed on the blessedness\nof the spiritual world? Is our chief concern _to make provision for the\nflesh_ and this life, or to secure an inheritance for our souls among\nthe incorruptible glories of the upper world? What is it that sits\nhighest in our esteem, and awakens our warmest affections and brightest\njoys? Is it God or the creature, heaven or earth, things fleshly or\ninvisible? Let conscience be faithful, and answer to such inquiries.\n\nAgain, let us ask ourselves, have we nothing within us but what was\nderived from nature and the flesh? or do we find ourselves enriched with\ndivine graces by the influence of the Holy Spirit? Are we the same sort\nof creatures that we were born? or have we had a mighty change wrought\nin us, so that we can find in ourselves that we _are born again_, born\nof the spirit? Have we new love and new hatred, new designs and\npursuits, new joys and sorrows? or are the affections of our souls the\nsame that we brought into the world with us, and engaged chiefly about\nthe affairs of this body, and this temporal life?\n\nLet us enquire, in the third place, whether there be any opposition made\nby our spirits against fleshly passions and appetites? Let every one of\nus ask our souls, What inward conflict do I find in myself? Do I comply\nwith all the sinful tendencies of fleshly nature, or do I maintain a\ncontinual resistance? Is there a combat, and, as it were, a duel within\nme, when temptations present themselves? or am I easily led away, and\nyield to sin naturally, without any reluctance? Do I find my flesh and\nspirit at war within me, when any sensual allurements appear? or do I\nyield up all my powers as _servants to sin_, and comply with the lusts\nof the flesh, with a hearty delight? Am I like a dead fish carried down\nwith the stream of my appetites and passions, and make no pretences to\noppose the vicious current? If, upon this enquiry, I find that the flesh\nis sovereign, and the spirit never opposes it, I may pronounce myself\nthen to be in the flesh, in the most significant and complete manner:\nthen I have nothing but flesh in me, and my soul is, as it were,\ncarnalized, and deep immersed in the fleshly life.\n\nI confess there may be some sort of opposition made to fleshly lusts,\nwhere there is no renewed nature, no saving grace, no true principle of\nholiness, such as is described by the spirit in my text. Many a youth\nresists his inclination to a drinking hour, or unclean iniquities, by\nthe mere force of his education, by the awful regard he has to his\nparents, by a fear of injury to his health, or of public shame or\nscandal. Many a wicked man refuses to comply with his corrupt appetites,\nbecause he cannot bear the anguish of his own conscience, and the sharp\nreproaches of his reason and better judgment. And many a guilty passion\nis restrained, and suppressed, from a natural fear of the justice of\nGod, and an everlasting hell, without any inward principle of real\npiety.\n\nIt is not every resistance therefore that we make and maintain against\nsin, can be a sufficient evidence that we are _new creatures_, unless we\ncan say with St. Paul; Rom. vii. 22. _I delight in the law of God after\nthe inward man_; that my soul not only approves, but takes pleasure in\nholiness; that sin is the object of my utter hatred, as well as my\npresent resistance; and that not only as it promotes my own ruin, but as\nit brings dishonour to God: that my very heart and soul are set for God\nand religion, and it is a grief and daily burden to me, that there\nshould be any such thing as _a law in my members warring against the law\nof my mind_; which makes the true christian cry out often, with\nbitterness of soul, _O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from\nthe body of this death?_ Rom. vii. 24. Yet still it remains an\nincontestible truth, That where there is no resistance to the flesh, and\nthe lusts thereof, there persons are not only in a state of sin, but in\nthe strongest bonds of iniquity; they have brutified their human\nnatures, and have made themselves _like the beasts that perish_; such\nwas the character of the Ephesian Gentiles when the gospel came first\namong them; they were _alienated from the life of God_, and being past\nfeeling, gave themselves up to work all uncleanness with greediness;\nEph. iv. 18, 19.\n\nRemark II. There may be some spirit in a person where there is much\nflesh; some holiness where there is much sin. For as none but saints in\nheaven are all spirit, and as the unregenerate are all flesh; so the\nsaints here upon earth, are some flesh and some spirit, because they are\nsanctified but in part; they are in their way towards perfection, but\nthey are not perfect: The spirit and the flesh conflict in them, _so\nthat they cannot do the things which they would_. As they cannot serve\nGod and practise holiness, with such constancy and zeal as they desire,\nbecause of the lusting of the flesh; so neither can they sink so far\ninto sin, nor indulge evil courses so far as the flesh would lead them,\nif they had no strivings of the spirit to resist it, no principles of\nregeneration or holiness. They are led away indeed many times by sensual\nand fleshly allurements, but the chief objects of their pursuit are\nspiritual and heavenly; they have too many of the same vain affections\nand sinful desires, that were born of the flesh, remaining in them; but\nthey have also new thoughts and hopes, new inclinations and appetites\ntowards divine things, which could not be derived but from heaven, and\nprove them to be born of the spirit.\n\nAs unreasonable as it is therefore for any sincere christians to say,\nthey are complete in holiness, or pretend to perfection in this life,\nbecause they find a work of grace in them: so it is equally unreasonable\nfor them to charge themselves with being altogether carnal and\nunregenerate, because they find some of the lusts of the flesh warring\nin them. I would say, therefore, with compassion to such humble and\ndoubting souls, while you are inhabitants in flesh, and your\nsanctification is imperfect, you will not have perfect peace, there will\never be some enemies within, for you to conflict with; and this inward\nwar, this battle with flesh and blood, with self and sin, will by no\nmeans prove that ye are utterly unsanctified: No, it will rather give\nyou some reasons to hope, that there may be a principle of holiness\nwrought in you, because you find a resistance against the flesh;\nespecially if you experience also a zeal and hatred against every rising\niniquity. The most holy soul in this life, can never prevent all the\nmotions of irregular appetite: and the best of christians have much ado\nto curb and suppress some sinful affections which spring from this\nmortal body. The chiefest of saints had reason to complain that he was\ntoo often _led captive by the law of sin in his members_; Rom. vii. 23.\n\nIt is true indeed, if we were completely sanctified, if our spirits were\nentirely holy, they would constantly and effectually resist all evil\nmotions and appetites of the flesh, so that they should not bring forth\nthe fruits of iniquity and guilt: But where this resistance is not\nalways effectual, yet if it be constant and sincere, and flow from a\nreal hatred of sin, there the heart is renewed, and the spiritual life\nbegun. Let trembling christians therefore be encouraged, though they may\nfind many vexing ferments of the flesh, and disquieting passions\nsometimes stirring within them; let them not cast away their hope, but\nlet them rather rejoice in the promises of the covenant, and go on daily\nto cleanse themselves, by the aids of divine grace, _from all filthiness\nof flesh and spirit, and to perfect holiness in the fear of God_; 2 Cor.\nvii. 1.\n\nRemark III. What bold and impious folly are those guilty of, who give a\nloose to all the appetites and lusts of the flesh, under a pretence that\nit is their temper and constitution leads them to it; that it is their\nnature inclines them to riot in all luxury and wantonness: and that they\ndo but follow the leadings of nature? I would reason a little with\npersons of such a profligate character, if they have not renounced\nreason as well as religion.\n\n1. Consider, sinners, whether you are not under a great mistake, while\nyou say, that you obey all the dictates of nature when you rush on to\nfleshly iniquities. Have you no natural conscience within you that\nforbids these vile practices? Has it not given you many a check already,\nand many an inward reproach? Have you no reason that tells you there is\na God, and a judgment, and a terrible account one day to be given of the\nguilt and madness which you now indulge? It is but one part of your\nnature then, and that the meanest and the vilest too, whose dictates you\nobey, when you give yourselves up to all intemperance. The very heathens\nhave such a conscience in them, such _a law written in their hearts_, to\nforbid, and to condemn the grosser iniquities; Rom. ii. 15. And such an\ninward monitor belongs to your nature too, unless you have entirely\nsubdued and enslaved your spirits, which are the best part of your\nnatures, to the tyranny of your flesh; unless you have buried your\nreason in brutal appetite, and _seared_ your _conscience as with a hot\niron_, that they may neither feel nor speak.\n\n2. You say, it is nature you obey, while you follow after fleshly lusts;\nbut is it not nature depraved and spoiled? Can you think it is the pure,\nthe original and uncorrupted nature of man to follow all the appetites\nof flesh and blood, and live upon a level with _the brutes that perish_?\nCan you imagine that your spirit and reason, and all the glorious powers\nof your intellectual nature in their first perfection, were made to be\nthus employed as lackeys to the body, and mere purveyors to the flesh?\nIs it not a sign your nature is fallen from its original state, while\nthese meaner powers of sense and passion have so mighty and sovereign an\ninfluence; and is it not rather the dictate of reason, and nature; and\ntrue self-love, that you should seek the recovery of your original\nexcellencies, that you should use all methods to stop and heal the\ndiseases of your nature, and to repair these ruins of humanity.\n\nBut 3. Suppose it were the inclination of animal nature in its original\nframe, to be intemperate, proud, angry, impatient and luxurious; and\nsuppose all the present evil appetites and passions of the flesh, were\nthe attendants of man in his first estate; yet has not God your Creator\nand Governor, a right to place you in a state of trial, in order to\nfuture rewards and punishments? And may he not forbid your spirit to\ncomply with these inclinations of nature and the flesh, as a test of\nyour obedience to God your Maker? Is it not proper there should be some\ndifficulties to conquer in such a probationary state? And if the God who\nmade you, has actually appointed the matter of your probation or trial,\nto be a conflict of the spirit with flesh and blood, has he not a right\nto make this appointment? And does not your own reason and conscience\ntell you, that you deserve his anger and severe punishment, if you\nabandon yourself to all the wild motions and extravagances of bodily\nappetite, which he requires you to resist and subdue?\n\nBethink yourselves, O sinners, how you will answer it to God another\nday; that when he has given you a soul, a spirit, a conscience to fight\nagainst fleshly lusts, you should nourish and indulge them hourly? When\nhe has offered his grace to change your corrupt natures, and has sent\nhis only Son, and his eternal Spirit to purchase pardon for past sins,\nand to make new creatures of you; when he has taught you your duty, and\noffers divine aids to fulfil it; when he both entreats you as a friend,\nand commands you as a God, to resist these lusts of the flesh\neffectually, and be for ever holy and happy; that you should neglect the\nlaws and mercies of a great and condescending God, and still run riot in\nthe pursuit of forbidden passions and pleasure? _Can your hearts endure,\nor your hands be strong_ in the day that the God of vengeance _shall\nappear in flaming fire_, to make enquiry into such rebellion? Can you be\nso stupid as to hope, that the poor pretences of flesh and nature, will\nscreen you from just and almighty indignation? Awake, awake, O mistaken\ncreatures, and let the man within you resume its place, and reason and\nconscience do their office. Awake from this vain and dangerous dream,\nthis fatal security, and wilful blindness. Rouse the powers of your\nsouls to arm, and fight in opposition to the sinful flesh; arise and\nbestir yourselves ere the time of trial be ended, and the decisive\nsentence of an offended God, doom you to miseries that have no end.\n\nRemark IV. In this description of the principles of sin and holiness, as\nseated in our flesh, or in our spirit, we may see the nature of the\nchristian warfare; that much of it consists in a fight of the spirit\nwith flesh and blood. Little do some christians consider how much of\nreligion lies in watching over their appetites and senses, and setting a\nguard upon the sinful tendencies of the flesh; little do they think how\nmuch of their piety and their holy peace depends on keeping down this\nflesh, and subduing it to the best service of the soul.\n\nThere may be some persons, who under pretence of serving God in the\nspirit, and the more exalted and refined notions and practices of\nchristianity, give a loose to the flesh, in eating, and, drinking, and\ndressing, and all the luxuries of life. But can these christians\nimagine, that when they pamper and indulge that wherein sin is chiefly\nseated, their spirits should long maintain their purity and\nheavenly-mindedness? St. Paul was of another mind; 1 Cor. ix. 27. _I\nkeep under my body_, says he; I fight with my flesh which is my great\nenemy, \u03c5\u03c0\u03c9\u03c0\u03b9\u03b1\u03b6\u03c9 \u03ba\u03b1\u03b9 \u03b4\u03bf\u03c5\u03bb\u03b1\u03b3\u03c9\u03b3\u03c9, I subdue it, and bear it down, as with\nheavy blows, I keep it under as a slave, lest _when I have preached to\nothers, I myself should become a cast-away_; lest, when I have preached\nto others the doctrines of mortifying the flesh, and of walking\naccording to the spirit, I should indulge such fleshly sins as would\nprove my eternal ruin.\n\nLet not any man imagine, that I am here teaching the Romish penances,\nand monkish severities; there is no necessity of sack-cloth and beggary,\nscourging and starving, in order to keep the body fit for the duties of\nreligion. Surely there is a medium between the self-indulgence of some\nlazy and carnal christians, and the superstitious forms of mortifying\nthe flesh, practised in the popish church; and if, under a pretence of\nsublime spirituality, we let the fleshly appetites get the mastery of\nus, the prosperity, and even the safety of the soul, will be in extreme\nhazard; for St. Peter and St. Paul agree well in this doctrine, that\n_fleshly lusts war against the soul_; 1 Pet. ii. 11.\n\nI confess the apostle tells the Ephesians, chap vi. ver. 12. _We wrestle\nnot against flesh and blood, &c._ But it is plain he means no more, than\nthat flesh and blood are not our only enemies, but that we wrestle also\n_with principalities and powers, and spiritual wickedness_, _i. e._ with\nSatan and the powers of darkness. Yet we must remember that the powers\nof darkness chiefly attack our spirits by means of our flesh. I cannot\nbelieve they would have so much advantage over our souls as they have,\nif our souls were released from flesh and blood. Satan has a chamber in\nthe imagination, fancy is his shop wherein to forge sinful thoughts; and\nhe is very busy at this mischievous work, especially when the powers of\nnature labour under any disease, and such as affects the head and the\nnerves: He seizes the unhappy opportunity, and gives greater\ndisturbances to the mind, by awakening the images of the brain in an\nirregular manner, and stimulating and urging onwards the too unruly\npassions. This crafty adversary is very ready to fish, as we say, in\ntroubled waters; where the humours of the body are out of order. Thus he\nis wise to make his advantage of all our weaknesses, and to gain some\ninterest in them, to execute his hellish designs thereby; 2 Cor. xii. 7.\n_A messenger of Satan and a thorn in the flesh_, were both together\ntroublesome to St. Paul; whether they became two distinct enemies, or\none strengthened by the influence of the other, is hard to determine;\nbut thus much seems to be intimated, that some troublesome disorder in\nthe flesh, gave a great occasion to Satan to buffet St. Paul more\nseverely, and do him more mischief.\n\nIt is hard wrestling for a poor sanctified soul, with so violent and\nstrong a yoke-fellow as our flesh. The powers of the flesh twine about\nour feeble spirit, and often pull it to the ground, and get the mastery\nof it. _The just man may fall down seven times, and rise again; but the\nwicked fall into mischief_, and attempt not to rise; Prov. xxiv. 16. We\nare tied to the flesh while we are here, and it is the biggest, and the\nhardest part of our state of trial, to be constantly tied to such flesh\nas ours is. All the adversaries we have besides, are not equal to the\nadversary that dwells with us, nor is all their power equal to the power\nof our flesh and blood, with its restless urgencies, leading us away\nfrom God to sin. There is so close a union between flesh and spirit, in\nthis state, that we carry our prison about us, even the flesh in which\nwe inhabit; we drag our chains about with us; we are tied down to our\nsenses; we are too nearly allied to the passions and appetites of this\nanimal in which the soul dwells, and these the soul cannot master and\nsubdue entirely; however, let us wrestle _with flesh and blood_, as well\nas with the tempting world, and the malice of Satan; let us bestir\nourselves, and _fight the good fight of faith_, for the crown is worth\nthe labour of the conquest.\n\nYet there is another difficulty attends this pact of our spiritual\nwarfare, _viz._ This is a combat to which the _Captain of our Salvation_\ndid not lead us on in person, and in which Christ never went before us.\nIt is a labour of piety in which our blessed Saviour was not our\npattern; nor could he be, for he had no principle of sin in his soul,\nnor any sinful motion in all his sensitive powers. His flesh itself, in\na literal sense, was born of the spirit, and he was all spirit, all\nholy. _The Holy Ghost_ over-shadowed the blessed virgin; _and that holy\nthing that was born of Mary_, was sanctified in its original, and united\nto the eternal Son of God; Luke i. 35. Never had he one disorderly\npassion; never one vicious appetite, no criminal wish, no guilty\ninclination; he knew no excessive tendencies towards a lawful object,\nnor did he feel any inward propensity toward an unlawful one. _He took\npart_ of flesh and blood, indeed because _the children were partakers of\nit: In all things was he made like to his brethren, but without sin_,\nand tempted in all points, as we are, except this inward and native\ntemptation; Heb. ii. 14, 17. and iv. 15. This part of our warfare,\ntherefore, we have no perfect pattern for; the leader of the holy army\nnever went through these special and sore conflicts, in which our\nspirits are daily engaged, even the war with corrupt nature and sinful\nflesh: yet he pities and sympathizes with us; for, as God, he knows our\nwhole frame perfectly; and he knows, as man, what our flesh is, and what\nits sinful appetites are, so far as his holy nature will admit of this\nsympathy. In such a case as this, which he never experienced, yet he\nsupplies us with such grace as is effectually suited to relieve these\nagonies; and the kind angel of the covenant will be at our right-hand,\nto strengthen the sincere combatants, that they be not overcome.\n\nRemark V. How much do our fellow-christians deserve our pity, that\nlabour under great difficulties, and great darkness, through the\nperverse humours of their flesh? through the untoward constitutions of\ntheir nature, through the peevish, or proud, or malicious, or passionate\ntempers of their mortal body?\n\nSome have a more wrathful, some a more wanton mixture of blood and\nnatural spirits; others again more melancholy in their constitution, are\nready to overwhelm themselves with despair and unbelieving sorrows; they\ngo on fighting and mourning all the day long, with many a violent\ncontest, many a groan and struggle, many a sharp combat, and perhaps\nwith many a wound too. They are often upon their knees for strength to\nsubdue this ever present enemy the flesh, and can gain but little\nadvantage; they are fighting from day to day, and their sins are so\npowerful still, that they think they never get nearer to the conquest:\nthey labour and toil, pray and endeavour to obtain divine assistance,\nand yet are too often overcome. This is the case of many a christian who\nhath some strong corruption mingled with his constitution. Let us pity\nsuch and pray for them too, and not be hasty in censuring their\ncharacter and their state: Bless God if your constitution be of a\nhappier mould, and if your trials are not so great, and your temptations\nso heavy as theirs.\n\nBut you will say, \u201cThey sin often, and fall very foully, and dishonour\nreligion more than you.\u201d It may be so; but it may be they fight harder\nthan you do, and labour with more assiduity, and exercise more grace\nthan ever you did, and yet are more frequently overcome by sin; so\nstrong is the constitutional iniquity in some natures, more than it is\nin others. Therefore while you condemn the sin, let not the poor\nstriving mourning sinner be censured heavily as to his character, or as\nto his estate. It was said of a very great man of God heretofore, that\nhe had grace enough for ten men, but not half enough for himself,\nbecause his natural constitution was so very violent and passionate.\n\nWhen thou seest therefore a christian often in sorrow, confessing his\nfollies, and continually humbled under a sense of the levity of his\nspirit, or the vanity of his natural temper; when he grieves, that in\nsuch and such a season, he has indulged unlawful airs, and complied too\nfar with the vices of company, when thou observest his spirit vexed and\npained inwardly, that he has indulged any criminal appetite or passion\nbeyond what has been visible in thy own conduct; do not pride thyself in\nthy own purity, or disdain thy mourning brother, but say within thyself,\n\u201cPerhaps he has watched and laboured more than I have done, and yet his\nown iniquity was too strong for him.\u201d Think with thyself that he was\nwrestling with a giant, and fought hard, and was overcome; but thy own\ncombat was but as it were with a dwarf or child, with some feebler vice\nthat had less root in thy constitution; and therefore though thou hast\nlaboured less, yet thou hast gained the victory. And to encourage such\nmourning christians, let me add, that in the future state, it is\nprobable, the saints shall be rewarded not so much according to their\nactual success and victory, as according to the toil and labour of the\ncombat.\n\nYet take this caution by the way too: Such persons should not think\nthemselves innocent, because they fight harder against sin than others\ndo; let them not think all warnings useless, nor be angry with the\ngentle admonitions of their friends, as though they were hard censures:\nfor such christians have more need of warning than others, because they\nare more in danger. They ought to be crying out on themselves\ncontinually, _O wretched creature! who shall deliver me?_ They should\nbeg reproofs, and say, _Let the righteous mite me, it shall be kindness;\nand let him reprove me, it shall be an excellent oil that shall not\nbreak my head_: Rom. vii. 24. Psal. cxli. 5. Let my brethren watch over\nme, for I find I am not sufficient to be my own keeper; and let them\nhave compassion on me, _plucking me out of the fire_, for I hate, as\nwell as they, _the garment spotted with the flesh_; Jude, ver. 23. Thus\nthe flesh must be brought under by constant watchfulness, prayer, and\nresistance, else we cannot maintain holiness and peace. Take heed\ntherefore, O feeble and tempted christian, while thou art by prayer\nengaging the heavenly alliance on thy side, that thou let not thy own\nweapons drop, but maintain the war. The fight is to last but threescore\nyears and ten; if thou overcome, there is the crown of life ready for\nthee, which Jesus the Judge shall bestow, on all the conquerors.\n\nRemark VI. How should we rejoice in hope of that hour that shall release\nus from this sinful flesh; when we shall serve God in spirit without a\nclog, without a tempter! O with what a relish of sacred pleasure should\na saint read those words in 2 Cor. v. 8. _Absent from the body, and\npresent with the Lord_; Absent from this traitor, this vexing enemy,\nthat we constantly carry about with us! Absent from the clog and chain\nof this sinful flesh, the prison wherein we are kept in darkness, and\nare confined from God! Absent from these eyes that have drawn our souls\nafar from God by various temptations? and absent from these ears by\nwhich we have been allured to transgression and defiling iniquities!\nAbsent from those lusts and passions, from that fear and that hope, that\npleasure and that pain, that love, that desire, and that anger, which\nare all carnal, and seated in the fleshly nature, and become the spring\nand occasion of so much sin to our souls in this state. _Absent from the\nbody, and present with the Lord_: Methinks there is a heaven contained\nin the first part of these words, _absent from the body_; and a double\nhappiness in the last, _present with the Lord_: present with him who\nhath saved our spirits through all the days of our christian conflict,\nand _hath given us the_ final _victory_: Present with that God, who\nshall eternally influence us to all holiness, who shall forever shine\nupon us with his own beams, and make us conformable to his own holy\nimage: Present with that Lord and Saviour, from whom it shall not be in\nthe power of all creatures to divert or draw us aside.\n\nIt is by our flesh in this world that we are a-kin to so many\ntemptations, a-kin to all the objects that stand around us, to tempt us\nfrom our God; and we are ready to cry out, \u201cO the blessed angels that\nwere never a-kin to the flesh! O those blessed spirits, who move swift\nas flames to execute the will of their God, without the incumberance of\nflesh, without being allured by that most powerful and successful\ntempter! Happy beings! they know not our toils; they feel them not; they\nare all spirit; they are all holy! O the blessed saints in glory, that\nare released from their flesh, which once they had so many, and so sore\ncombats with! Their flesh, which heretofore prisoned them, and pained\nthem, and drew them often away from God, contrary to that heavenly bias\nthat was put upon their souls by God the Sanctifier!\u201d\n\nBut we rejoice in hope that our turn shall come too. There is a day of\ndeliverance from this sinful flesh provided for us. All our times are in\nthe hand of God; and the best time, is the time of release from this\nsinful companion. Let our faith say, \u201cI read in the promises that this\nsame happiness belongs to me, which the saints above are now possessed\nof: It is coming, it is coming as fast as time and the heavens can move,\nas fast as days and hours can remove out of the way.\u201d Then we shall have\nno flesh for the world to lodge one temptation in, nor for Satan to make\nuse of as an engine of his malice, to batter the constancy and duty of\nour souls; then we shall be freed from all those methods of injury to\nour spirits, which we receive now by means of the flesh.\n\nThus at the day of our death is derived a glorious liberty, and thence\nwe date our joys; but our joys rise high indeed, if our faith can but\nlook a little farther, and take a prospect of that day, when our flesh\nshall be raised in perfect holiness, and our spirits completely holy,\nshall be rejoined to it; then it shall be no more, true, that flesh and\nspirit lust against each other, and these two are contrary; for flesh\nand spirit shall both draw one way, both lead us towards our divine\noriginal, and the first Father of our minds, shall concur together to\ninfluence us to perfect holiness; then, when our spirits shall be like\nGod, the first and best of Spirits; and when our flesh shall be like the\nflesh of the Son of God, that great pattern of a glorified body.\n\nAnd this day will surely come, for our Redeemer with his body is\nglorified in heaven, and he sits there as a pattern of our bodies to be\nglorified, and a pledge to assure us of it too. O come the day when he\nshall change these bodies of our vileness into the form of the body of\nhis glory! and he can easily do it, by that power whereby he can subdue\nall things to himself; Phil. iii. 21. Then shall our flesh and our\nspirit join sweetly together and each of them fulfil and enjoy their\npart, in the business and blessedness provided for them in regions of\nunknown pleasure. _Amen._\n\n\n HYMN FOR SERMON IV.\n _Flesh and Spirit; or, the Principles of Sin and Holiness._\n\n\n What vain desires, and passions vain,\n Attend this mortal clay!\n Oft have they pierc\u2019d my soul with pain,\n And drawn my heart astray.\n\n How have I wander\u2019d from my God,\n And following sin and shame,\n In this vile world of flesh and blood\n Defil\u2019d my nobler frame!\n\n For ever blessed be thy grace\n That form\u2019d my spirit new,\n And made it of an heaven-born race,\n Thy glory to pursue.\n\n My spirit holds perpetual war,\n And wrestles and complains,\n And views the happy moment near,\n That shall dissolve its chains.\n\n Cheerful in death I close my eyes,\n To part with ev\u2019ry lust,\n And charge my flesh whene\u2019er it rise,\n To leave them in the dust.\n\n How would my purer spirit fear\n To put this body on,\n If its old tempting powers were there,\n Nor lusts, nor passions gone!\n\n\n\n\n SERMON V.\n _The Soul drawing near to God in prayer._\nJOB xxiii. 3, 4.\u2014O that I knew where I might find him: that I might come\n even to his seat; I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth\n with arguments.\n THE FIRST PART.\n\n\nThis book of Job might, perhaps, be the first and earliest part of all\nthe written word of God; for learned men, upon good ground, suppose that\nthis history was elder than the days of Moses, and yet it hath many a\nsweet lessen of experimental religion in it, to teach the disciples of\nChrist; we may learn many duties and comforts from it in our day, _upon\nwhom the ends of the world are come_. The style of it in some parts is\nso magnificent and solemn, in others so tender and affectionate, that we\nmust feel something of devout passion when we read this history, if our\nhearts are but in a serious frame, and if our temper or circumstances of\nmind or body have any thing a-kin to the grief or piety of this good\nman.\n\nJob had now heard long stories of accusation from his friends while he\nwas bowed down, and groaning under the heavy providences of God; they\n_persecuted him whom God had smitten_, and poured in fresh sorrows upon\nall his wounds. I will turn aside, saith he, from man, for _miserable\ncomforters are ye all_; and I will address myself to God, even to the\nGod that smites me. _O that knew where I might find him!_ The stroke of\nthe father doth not make the child fly from him, but come nearer, and\nbow himself before his best friend: this is the filial temper of the\nchildren of God. \u201c_My complaint is bitter_, (saith Job, ver. 2.) because\nof my sorrows from the hand of God, and from the accusations and\nreproaches of my friends; you may think I am too lavish in my\ncomplainings and my continual cries, but I feel more than I complain\nof.\u201d And therefore Job is set up as a pattern of patience; for he could\nsay, my stroke is heavier than my groaning.\n\nThere are some of the children of God who give themselves up to a\nperpetual habit of complaints and groans, though no trial hath befallen\nthem but what is common to men; they make all around them sensible of\nevery lesser pain they feel, and being always uneasy in themselves, they\ntake the kindest and gentlest admonition for an accusation; and while\nthey imagine themselves in the case of Job, they resent highly every\nreal or suspected injury: in short, they make a great part of their own\nsorrows themselves, and then they cry out and complain; and among their\ndismal complainings, they often, without reason, assume the words of Job\nas their own, and say, _my stroke is heavier than my groaning_. In some\npersons this is the temper of their natures, and in others a mere\ndistemper of the body; but both ought to watch against it, and resist\nit, because it appears so much like sinful impatience and fretfulness,\nthat it cannot be indulged without sin.\n\nThere are others, whose real afflictions are dreadful indeed, and\nuncommon, who seem to tire all their friends with their complaints too;\nbut, it may be, if we knew all their variety of sorrows, and could take\nan intimate view of every outward and inward wound, we should\nacknowledge their stroke was heavier than their groaning; and especially\nwhen God is in such a measure absent from them too, that they are at a\nloss, as Job was, how they should come at him or converse with the\nheavenly Father: then their souls break out into vehement desires, _O\nthat I knew where I might find him!_\n\nA child of God who is wont to maintain a constant and humble\ncorrespondence with heaven, does often receive such sensible influences\nof instruction and comfort from the throne of grace, that he is led on\nsweetly in the path of daily duty, by the guiding providences of God,\nand by the secret directions of his Holy Spirit. He finds divine\npleasure in his morning addresses to the mercy-seat, and returns to the\nthrone in the evening with joy in his heart, and praise upon his tongue.\nHe has something to do with the great God, in a way of humble devotion,\nin all his important concerns; but if God retire and withdraw from him,\nhe feels and bemoans the divine absence, and his heart meditates grief\nand complaints; and when at the same time he is pressed with other\nburdens too, he breathes after God with a sacred impatience, and longs\nto know where he may find him: then says the soul, \u201c_O if I could but\ncome near to the seat of God, in my addresses to him, I would order my\ncause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments._\u201d This brings me to\nthe doctrine, which shall be the subject of my discourse.\n\nObservation. When a christian gets near the seat of God in prayer, he\ntells him all his sorrows, and pleads with him for relief.\n\nIn discoursing on this doctrine I shall consider four things.\u2014I. How may\nwe know when a soul gets near to God in prayer; or what is to get near\nthe seat of God.\u2014II. What are the particular subjects of holy converse\nbetween God and the soul.\u2014III. Why such a soul tells God all his\nsorrows.\u2014IV. How he pleads with God for relief.\n\n_First_, How may we know when a soul gets near the seat of God in\nprayer?\n\nI answer, there will be some or all these attendants of nearness to God.\n\nI. There will be an inward sense of the several glories of God, and\nsuitable exercises of grace in the soul. For when we get near to God, we\nsee him, we are in his presence; he is then, as it were, before the eyes\nof the soul, even as the soul is at all times before the eyes of God.\nThere will be something of such a spiritual sense of the presence of\nGod, as we shall have when our souls are dismissed from the prison of\nthis flesh, and see him face to face, though in a far less degree: It is\nsomething that resembles the future vision of God in the blessed world\nof spirits; and those souls who have had much intimacy with God in\nprayer, will tell you that they know, in some measure, what heaven is.\nThe soul, when it gets near to God, even to his seat beholds several of\nhis glories displayed there; for it is a seat of majesty, a seat of\njudgment, and a seat of mercy. Under these three characters is the seat\nof God distinguished in scripture; and because this word is part of my\ntext, I shall therefore a little enlarge upon these heads.\n\nWhen the soul gets near to God, it sees him,\n\n1. As upon a seat of majesty. There he appears to the soul in the first\nnotion of his divinity or godhead, as self-sufficient, and the first of\nbeings: He appears there as the infinite ocean, the unmeasurable\nfountain of being, and perfection, and blessedness; and the soul, in a\ndue exercise of grace, shrinks, as it were, into nothing before him, as\na drop, or a dust, a mere atom of being. The soul is in its own eyes at\nthat time, what it is always in the eyes of God, as nothing, and less\nthan nothing and vanity. He appears then in the glory of his\nall-sufficience, as an almighty Creator, giving birth, and life, and\nbeing to all things; and the soul, in a due exercise of grace, stands\nbefore him as a dependant creature, receiving all its powers and being\nfrom him, supported every moment by him, and ready to sink into utter\nnothing, if God withdraw that support. Such is God, and such is the\nsoul, when the soul draws near to God in worship.\n\nHe appears again upon his seat of majesty as a sovereign, in the glory\nof his infinite supremacy, and the soul sees him as the supreme of\nbeings, owns his just sovereignty, and subjects itself afresh, and for\never to his high dominion. O with what deep humility and self-abasement\ndoth the saint, considered merely as a creature, cast himself down at\nthe foot of God, when he comes near to the seat of his majesty!\n_Behold_, saith Abraham, _I now have taken upon me to speak unto thee, I\nwho am but dust and ashes_; Gen. xviii. 27. This is the language of a\nsaint when got near to the seat of the majesty of God, \u201cBefore I had\nseen thee as such a sovereign, I was restive and stubborn: in times past\nI quarrelled with God because of difficult duties imposed upon me, and\nbecause of the difficult dispensations I was made to pass through; but\nnow I behold God so infinitely my superior, that I can quarrel no more\nwith any duty, or any difficulty; I submit to all his will: whatsoever\nhe will have me be, that I am; whatsoever he bids me do, that I do; for\nit is fit he should be a sovereign, and I should be a subject. I give\nmyself to him afresh, and for ever, that he may dispose of me according\nto his own will and for his own glory: I would be more regardless of\nmyself, and more regardful of my God; it is fit he should be the\nultimate end of all that I can be, and all that I can do, for he is my\nsovereign.\u201d\n\nAgain, when a soul is near to God, God appears in the glory of his\nholiness; for the seat of his majesty is called the throne of his\nholiness; Ps. xlvii. 8. And then the heavens are not clean in his sight:\nand the soul cries out with those worshipping seraphims, _Holy, holy,\nholy, is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory_: and\njoins with Isaiah, the worshipping saint, in that humble language, _who\nis me, for I am a man of unclean lips, &c._ You see the character of a\nsaint getting near to God, and standing before the seat of his majesty;\nIs. vi. 3, 4. where the angels and the prophet worship together with the\ndeepest humility. \u201cI have heard of thy holiness before, says the soul,\nand I have heard before of thy glory afar off; but now _mine eyes see\nit, and I abhor myself in dust and ashes_\u201d; Job xliii. 6.\n\n2. His seat is to be considered as a seat of judgment; for God is not\nonly a king, but a judge: and Job has, without doubt, a reference to\nthis in my text, because the language which he uses, seems suited to a\nthrone of judicature, a throne of justice. \u201cIf I could get near his\nseat, I would order my cause before him, I would plead with him.\u201d The\nsoul that gets near to God, sees him sitting upon a seat of judgment, as\nan omniscient God: he looks like the judge of all the earth, and his\neyes are like a flame of fire to search our souls to the centre, and to\nknow our most hidden thoughts: the soul then attempts no more to conceal\nitself, no more to hide its guilt or its wretchedness; for it beholds\nthose eyes of God that see through all things, that search into the\ndeepest hypocrisy, and it is impossible that any thing should be\nconcealed from him. \u201cBehold I am before that God, says the soul, before\nwhom nothing can be hid; before whom all things are naked and open; and\nit is with him that I have to do; therefore I open my heart before him,\nand I spread open all my inward powers, for he sees and knows them all,\nshould I attempt to conceal them.\u201d \u201cI behold him in his infinite and\ninflexible justice, as well as in his all-seeing knowledge; and I cry\nout, _If thou, O Lord, shouldest mark iniquity, O Lord who should\nstand?_\u201d Ps. cxxx. 4. This is the language of the holiest saint getting\nnear to God here on earth, as seated upon a seat of judgment.\n\nThe soul beholds him also as girt with resistless power to execute his\nown laws; and the thunder of his power, says Job who can understand?\nxxvi. 14. He has armies of angels, ministers of fire, attendants on his\ntribunal, and swift to execute the sentence of his mouth. The saint sees\nhim thus invested, thus surrounded, and adores and fears before him. The\nsoul beholds him with rewards in one hand, and punishments in the other;\ninfinite rewards, and infinite punishments; distributing to the unseen\nworld perpetual blessedness, and perpetual pains. \u201cI behold him arrayed\nin this glory, saith the saint, I expect my sentence from his lips, from\nwhence eternal blessings, and eternal curses, are dispensed to all the\nregions of heaven and hell; but he will not plead against me with his\ngreat power; the sentence that comes forth from his mouth, I trust,\nshall be on my side.\u201d\n\n3. He appears as sitting upon a throne of grace. The majesty and\njudgment that belong to his seat, do not forbid mercy to attend him; he\nsits upon a seat of mercy, and _there_, says Job, _the righteous might\nsurety dispute with him_; xxiii. 7. and there I should be delivered from\nhis terrors as an avenging God; there, though he judge me, yet he will\nplead my cause; for the same Judge that sits upon a throne of glory, has\ntaken upon him to become my Advocate. \u201cThere I behold him, says the\nsoul, with millions of pardons for vile transgressors, and with abundant\nfavour for rebels; such a rebel am I, and such a transgressor, and yet\nthere is pardon and grace for me. I behold there riches and raiment for\nthe poor, the needy, and the naked, and help for the weak believer.\u201d\nThere goodness appears in the face of God, in all the sweet variety of\nits divine forms. There appears long-suffering for old sinners, and\npatience for repeated guilt, and pity for the miserable, and free grace\nfor those that deserve nothing but vengeance. All this discovers itself\nin the face of God, to a soul that gets near him, even to his\nmercy-seat; and the soul bows, and wonders, and worships, and makes\nstill nearer approaches, and receives the grace, and rejoices in the\nsalvation.\n\nThe soul puts in for a share in this mercy with faith and hope, and will\nnot be denied, will not be excluded; then he uses that holy boldness,\nthat \u03c0\u03b1\u03c1\u03c1\u03b7\u03c3\u03b9\u03b1, or liberty of speech; Heb. iv. 16. And this is the\nlanguage of faith, when the soul gets near to God: \u201cSince there are so\nmany millions of pardons with thee for sinners, I will not go away\nwithout one; since there is such a righteousness as that of thine own\nSon to clothe the naked, I will not go away without being clothed with\nthis righteousness; since there are such supplies of strength for the\nweak, I will not leave thy seat till I get some strength.\u201d The soul then\nwrestles and pleads, and makes supplication as Jacob did when he came\nnear to God; Gen. xxxii. 22. _I will not let thee go, except thou bless\nme._ The soul beholds in God mercy enough for the largest multitude of\nsinners, and pardons large enough for the blackest offences; it sees\nPaul the persecutor and blasphemer so near to the right-hand of God in\nglory, that it cries out with a joyful faith, \u201cAll the aggravations of\nmy guilt shall no more divide me from the mercy-seat, shall no more\nprevent my hope and help in God; for there sits Paul the persecutor and\nblasphemer; and he was set forth as an example how full God is of\nmercy!\u201d 1 Tim. i. 16. _I obtained mercy, that in me first Christ Jesus\nmight shew all long-suffering, for a pattern to believers._ This is the\ntemper, this is the voice, and this is the language of a soul that gets\nnear to God, even to his seat, considered as a seat of majesty, of\njudgment, and of grace.\n\nI proceed now to the second sign or attendant of holy nearness to God in\nprayer.\n\nII. When a soul comes near to God in prayer, there will generally be\nsome sweet taste of the special love of God, and warm returns of love\nagain to God from the soul. The soul that comes near to God is not\nsatisfied merely with low degrees of faith and hope, with some feeble\ndependance, and some faint expectations of mercy; it can hardly leave\nGod till it has an assurance. Faith and hope in the mercy of God, are\ndifferent from that joy that arises from the immediate sensations of\ndivine love. The Psalmist in the lxiii. _Psalm_, ver. 1, 2, &c. seems to\nhave a reference to both these particulars together, which I have\nalready mentioned. _My soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for\nthee\u2014to see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the\nsanctuary._ \u201cI have seen thee in the sanctuary as sitting upon a throne\nof majesty, on a seat of judgment and of grace; I have seen thy power\nand thy glory there, and I have seen something more than this, I have\ntasted some special-loving-kindness, and that loving-kindness is better\nthan life, therefore my lips shall praise thee. I have had a sense of\nthe special love of God shed abroad in my soul, I have known his love is\nexercised toward me, therefore my soul is full of praise.\u201d God will\nseldom let a soul that is got so near him by holy labour and fervency of\nspirit, go away merely with hope and dependance, without some sacred\ndelight and joy.\n\nA saint that has drawn near to God in worship, will tell you his own\nrich experience, and say, \u201cWhen I found him whom my soul loveth, I was\nconstrained to break forth into these sweet expressions, I am my\nbeloved\u2019s and my beloved is mine: for I love him above all things, and\nmy love is but the effect of his. In that blessed hour I felt, and I was\nassured of that mutual relation between God and me: I found so much of\nhis image stamped on me, that I knew I was the Lord\u2019s: whence I rejoice\nin the full persuasion of his love. I know he loves me, for his\nsanctifying Spirit hath witnessed with my spirit, that I am one of his\nchildren; and I know that I love him, for my spirit witnesseth also as\nan echo to his Spirit, that I have chosen him for my Father, my Ruler,\nand my God, and have surrendered myself to him on his own terms; and I\naddress him as my Father, with words of the choicest affection, and of\nmost endeared sentiments of soul.\u201d\n\nWhen a person in whom grace is wrought, gets so near to God, and sees\nthis God in his own loveliness, and in his kindest perfections, there\nare some new divine passions kindled in the soul towards this God,\ntowards this first beauty, towards this original of all perfection and\ngoodness; and God will seldom let one come so near him, without shewing\nhim the love of his heart; and the name of the devout worshipper graven,\nas it were, on the palms of his hands, or in the book of his mercy. He\nspeaks to the soul in his own divine language, \u201cSon, or daughter, be of\ngood cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee. O man, thou art greatly beloved.\nI am your God, and you are my people. I have bought thee dear, and thou\nart mine. I have created thee, O Jacob; I have formed thee, O Israel; I\nhave redeemed thee, O believer, and thou art for ever mine.\u201d And such\ndiscoveries of the love of God to the soul, draw out still more love\nfrom the soul towards God, and raise more sacred exercises of divine\nlove in one hour, than a whole year of common devotions can do; and the\nsaint learns more of this sacred sensation of the love of God, than\nyears of cold and common devotions would teach him.\n\nIII. When the soul gets near to God in prayer, there will be a hatred of\nsin at the very thoughts of it, and holy meltings and mournings under\nthe remembrance of its own sins. \u201cHow hateful does sin appear, will the\nsoul say, now I am come so near to the seat of a Holy God! Never did I\nsee sin in so dark and so odious colours, as this hour reveals and\ndiscovers to me; never did I so sensibly behold the abomination that is\nin all sin, as now I do; I never saw it so contrary to all that is in\nGod, to his holiness, to his glory, to his justice, and to his grace. O\nwretch that I am, that I should ever have indulged iniquity! that I\nshould ever have borne with such an infinite evil in my heart? that I\nshould ever take delight in such mischief against God! Now I hate and\nabhor myself because of sin. O that my head were waters, and my eyes a\nfountain of tears, that I might weep day and night, because I have been\nsuch a sinner so long, and because I am so much a sinner still!\u201d The\nheart of a saint that comes near to God, is pained at the memory of old\nsins; and together with a present sweetness of divine love, there is a\nsort of anguish at the thoughts of past iniquities. A present God will\nmake past sins look dreadful and heinous; therefore it is that sin looks\nso little to us, and appears so light a thing, because we seldom get\nnear to the seat of God, and bring our iniquities to that divine light.\n\nIt is a very common instance, and you all know it, that a blot or spot\non a paper or garment, looks so much deeper, when the place you view it\nin is lighter; at noon-day, and in the eye of the sun, those smaller\nblemishes appear, which at other times are utterly unseen, and every\ngreater spot, every fouler stain, looks most odious and disagreeable.\nJust thus it is with the soul, when it is displayed under the eye of the\nSun of Righteousness; every blemish, every defilement appears, and the\nsoul hates itself so far as it is sinful, while sin itself looks\ninfinitely more odious. Therefore Job says, ix. 30. _Should I wash\nmyself in snow-water, and make myself never so clean, thou wouldest\nplunge me in the ditch, and my own clothes would abhor me_; that is,\n\u201cshould I use all the methods of cleansing that are possible, and then\nenter into thy immediate presence, that light of thy presence would\ndiscover so many spots and defilements upon me, as if I had just plunged\nmyself in a ditch, and my garments had been all over defiled.\u201d\n\n[This sermon, if too long, maybe divided here.]\n\nIV. At such a time there is a power and virtue enters into the soul,\ncoming from a present God, to resist sin, and to oppose great\ntemptation. \u201c_I can do all things, if Christ be near to strengthen me_\u201d,\nsays the apostle; Phil. iv. 13. When I was afflicted with the buffeting\nof Satan, says the same apostle; 2 Cor. xii. 8, 9. for this I applied\nmyself to the mercy-seat, and I got near to the throne of grace; there I\npleaded with my God, and I received this answer from him; _My grace is\nsufficient for thee_; then, says he, I could glory in infirmities, and\nin persecutions for Christ\u2019s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong;\nwhen I feel my own weakness, and see Almighty strength near me, and\nengaged on my side, then I grow strong in courage, and with success\nencounter my most powerful adversaries. I will not fear, says David,\nthough thousands have set themselves together against me, if thou art\nwith me, my strength and my rock: I will walk through the valley of the\nshadow of death, and fear no evil; Psal. xxiii. 4. for thou art with me.\nDivine courage and fortitude are increased abundantly by coming so near\nto the throne of God.\n\nThere is a zeal for God enters into the soul at such a season, and the\nsoul is more desirous to lay out itself for the glory of God at such a\ntime. Moses had drawn near to God in the mount, and had been with him\nforty days; when he came down from the mount, he beheld the people\nfilled with idolatry, and he brake the tables of stone in an impatience\nof zeal; his zeal for God was so great, he hardly knew what he did, his\nzeal for God was kindled high, because he had been so near to God, and\njust conversing with him. So, Isaiah vi. 8. when that great saint had\nbeen near to God, and had seen him in the glories of his holiness, and\nhad some courage and confidence in his love, \u201cNow I will go, says he,\nupon any difficult message; Here am I, send me, though it be to fulfil\nthe hardest service.\u201d There will be generally all these attendants of\ngreat nearness to God, _viz._ power against temptation, strength against\nsin, zeal for the glory of God in the world; and ability to perform\ndifficult duties.\n\nV. There will be a spiritual frame introduced into the heart and a\ndistance from all carnal things. \u201cStand by, saith the soul to all this\nworld, whilst I go to seek my God; but when I have found him, then the\nworld of itself, as to all the temporal concerns of it, vanishes and\ngoes out of sight. When I get so near to heaven, this earth is so small\na point, that it cannot be seen, and those comforts among the creatures,\nthat were fair as the moon, or bright as the larger stars, are vanished\nand lost, and disappear under the brighter light of this Sun.\u201d Created\nbeauties, with all their little glimmerings, tempt the soul toward them,\nwhen God is absent; as a twinkling candle entices the silly fly at\nmidnight to hover about the rays of it; but the candle faints under the\nbroad beams of rising day-light; it has no power to attract those little\nbuzzing animals in the morning, and it is quite invisible at noon. So\nthe very approach of God makes creatures appear more contemptible and\nworthless in the esteem of a devout christian; a God near at hand will\ndrive the creatures afar off; and a present God will command the world\nto utter absence. None of the tempting vanities of life come in sight,\nand sometimes not the most important concerns of it remain before the\neye of the saint, when God appears and fills the view and prospect of\nhis spirit. The soul is taken up with spiritual things, therefore carnal\nones vanish; it is entertained and filled with the majesty of God, the\nriches of grace, redeeming grace; with the glory of Christ Jesus, the\nbeauty of his person, the honour of his characters, his various\nexcellencies, and the super-eminence of his offices, both in the\nconstitution and discharge of them; the soul is then warmed with a\nzealous concern for the church of Christ, and big with the designs of\nthe honour of God, while it forgets the world.\n\nOr at such a season as this, when we get near to God in prayer, if we\nthink of any of the creatures, it is all in order to the honour of God.\nIf I think of a brother, or father, or child, \u201cO may they all be\ninstruments in thine hand, for thy honour here among men, and for ever\namong blessed angels!\u201d The soul does not ask for riches and glories on\nearth for them: but, \u201cMay they live in thy sight, O Lord!\u201d If it thinks\nof the comforts of life, or the blessings of prosperity, \u201cO let holiness\nto the Lord be written upon them all; for I would not have one of them,\nbut what may subserve thine honour in the world.\u201d If the soul thinks of\nits pains, and sorrows, and reproaches, it longs for the sanctification\nof them at present, and the removal of them in due season, that it may\nserve its God the better. Thus the soul is, as it were, taken out of\nself, when it gets near to God.\n\n\u201cLet me have the conveniences of life, (says the christian,) not so much\nfor my ease, as that I may better advance thine honour.\u201d The soul grows\nweaned from self at such a time; it breaks out of the narrow circle of\nself, when it gets nigh to God. If it thinks of the ministry or of\nordinances, \u201cLord, let that ministry be for the advancement of thy name!\nLord, let these ordinances be for the increase of thy glory in the\nworld, for the advancement of grace in my heart, and bring me nearer to\nheaven! If it thinks of the kingdom, or the parliament, powers or\nprinces in this world, it is with this design, that God may be glorified\nin the courts of princes, and in parliaments, and honoured in armies and\nnations known and unknown.\u201d Thus the soul always keeps within sight of\nGod: it still keeps all its designs within the circle of God, and aims\nstill at the glories of its Heavenly Father. If it thinks of life or of\ndeath, \u201cI would not ask life, says the saint, but to glorify thee; nor\ndeath, but to glorify thee better, and to enjoy more of thee.\u201d Thus when\nthe soul is near to God, it is in a divine light that it sees all\nthings, it is still with a design for God; and when it indulges the\nthoughts toward any creature, it is without turning aside a moment from\nits God. Thus carnal things are taken into the mind, and spritualized by\nthe presence of God, the infinite Spirit, when the soul approaches so\nnear to his seat.\n\nVI. There will then be a fixedness of heart in duty without wandering,\nand liveliness without tiring. At other times of common and usual\nworship, when the saint is in too formal and in too cold a frame, the\nheart roves perpetually, and is soon weary; but when we get near to God,\nthen we have a little emblem of heaven within us, where they worship God\nday and night without interruption, and without weariness. When we wait\nupon God at this rate, we are still mounting up higher and higher, as\nwith eagles\u2019 wings; we walk first without fainting, and then run without\nwearying, at last, we fly as an eagle, and make haste to the fuller\npossession of our God; Is. xl. 31. The soul is then detained in the\npresence of God with overpowering delight, and it cannot be taken away\nfrom the object of its dearest satisfaction. This is a joy above all\nother joys, above all the joys of sense, above all the joys of the\nintellectual world that are not divine and holy. There are some\npleasures that arise from philosophical and intellectual notions, that\nare superior to the pleasures of sense; but the pleasure of being near\nto God in devotion, far transcends all these. Animal nature, at such a\nseason, may be worn out, and faint and die under it; but the mind is not\nweary. It is possible for divine transports to rise so high as to break\nthis feeble frame of flesh, and dissolve it; and there have been\ninstances of persons that have been near to a dissolution of mortality\nunder the power of divine ecstacies: but the soul has not been faint,\nhas felt no weariness.\n\nThere are at such a season most pleasurable thoughts of heaven; there\nare some bright glimpses of that blessed state when a christian attains\nthis nearness to God; for heaven is a state of nearness to God\neverlasting and uninterrupted: nor are the blessed inhabitants of that\nworld ever weary of their company or their business; and thus, when\nthere is any thing akin to heaven brought down to the saints in this\nmortal state, they know it cannot be uninterrupted and perpetual; and\ntherefore there is a desire of frequent returns of such seasons as these\nare, while they are here on earth. And as Christ, the bridegroom, speaks\nto his saints in the language of Solomon, _Let me see thy face_ often,\n_my spouse, my beloved, let me hear thy voice_; Song ii. 44. and viii.\n13. So the saint says to his God at such a season, \u201cO may I often see\nthy face in this manner, may I often hear such a voice as this is from\nthee, for I know not how to live without it. Flee, my beloved Saviour,\nand make haste to a speedy return, and let there be an uninterrupted and\neverlasting converse between God and my soul.\u201d\n\nLastly, There is at such a season oftentimes a pouring out of the soul\nbefore God with some freedom in the gift, as well as the grace of\nprayer. Mere sighs and groans are for persons at a distance; but when we\nget near to God, we speak to him even in his ear; and the heart is full,\nand the tongue overflows. I grant there may be the spirit of prayer\nassisting a poor soul that cannot get near to God, but still cries after\nhim when he is hidden, and expresses itself only in sighs and in groans\nunutterable; so the apostle tells us; Rom. viii. 26. _The spirit itself\nmaketh intercession in us with groanings that cannot be uttered._ And\nthus it may be, while God hides himself, while there is a veil\nconcealing God from our eyes, while there is any special temptation like\na mountain that separates between God and our souls, he may send his\nSpirit to work us up to earnest desires and longings after him.\n\nBut when this SPIRIT OF PRAYER has brought the soul near, when God has\nbeen pleased to turn aside the veil, to remove the mountain, and to\ndiscover himself in all his glory, beauty, and love, then there will be\ngenerally the gift of prayer also in exercise by the assistance of the\npromised Spirit; and such persons many times are able to address\nthemselves to God with much freedom, and to pour out the soul before God\nin proper words, notwithstanding at other times they appear to have but\nweak capacities. When they have such affecting sights of their own sin\nand guilt, and such surprizing views of the mercy of God manifested to\nthem in particular, and at the same time when they look upon all things\nround them with a design for the glory of God; they are both naturally\nand divinely taught to pour out their souls before God, and represent\ntheir cares and circumstances to him in affecting language.\n\nI will not say indeed, it is always so when any soul gets near to God;\nthere must be some allowance made for the different tempers and\nconstitutions, as I shall shew immediately. There have also been some\ninstances of holy men, whose voice has, at such a time, been overpowered\nwith divine pleasure, all their powers have been transported and\noverwhelmed with rapturous silence; but for the most part holy souls\nhave found an uncommon liberty of language at the throne of grace at\nsuch seasons. And this is one reason, I am persuaded, why the gift of\nprayer is not so common a thing as might be wished, because there is so\nlittle nearness to God among the professors of our day. The gift of\nprayer abounds not among christians in our churches; O that I could say\nit was found more gloriously among ministers, while in your name we\nspeak to the great God! But if there were a constant laborious diligence\nin the soul to get nearer to God, in all our secret as well as public\naddresses to him, we should find more abundance of the gift of prayer\npoured down upon us by the Spirit, as well as brighter evidences of\nevery praying grace.\n\nI must conclude this discourse before I proceed to the other heads which\nwere proposed; but I would not willingly leave it without a caution or\ntwo, and one reflection. The first caution is this: Let not the humble\nmourning christian, who walks carefully with God, under much darkness\nand fear, charge himself with utter distance and estrangement from the\nthrone of grace, because he does not feel all these sacred passions and\npowers of nature in lively exercise, while he bows his knees before the\nLord: for I have described this blessed privilege in the sublime glory\nand beauty of it, so as it has been often attained and enjoyed by\npersons eminent in grace and religion, and especially such as have had\nlively affections, and the powers of animal nature in a good degree\nsanctified, and subservient to the devotions of the soul. But where the\nnatural spirits are low and sinking, and where temptations and darkness\nhang heavy upon the mind, the christian may truly draw near to God, so\nfar as to find a gracious acceptance with him, and may fetch secret\ndivine communications from the mercy-seat to maintain his spiritual\nlife; though he feels but little of these sensations of heavenly\npleasure, these more vigorous efforts of devotions and joy. Yet let him\nneither deny nor despise those more elevated enjoyments of soul, those\nnear and blessed approaches to the seat of God, with which others have\nbeen favoured.\n\nThe second caution shall be addressed to those, who feel much of rapture\nand transport in their hours of secret piety. I entreat that they would\nnot imagine themselves so often to enjoy this unspeakable privilege of\nholy nearness to God in worship, if they do not sensibly find such an\nincrease of holiness, as may prove effectually that they have been with\nGod. If they have been conversing with their Maker, like Moses on the\nmount, there will be a shine of holiness upon the face of their souls.\nTo pretend therefore to have enjoyed much of God in the closet, and to\ncome down amongst men peevish and fretful, or immediately to betray a\ncarnal and covetous, or a haughty and untractable spirit; these are\nthings of so inconsistent a nature, that the succeeding iniquity spoils\nthe devotion, and almost destroys the pretence to any sublime degrees of\nit. Such persons had need look well to themselves and make a narrow\nsearch within, whether their hearts be sincere with God or no, lest they\nbuild all their hopes upon the flashy efforts of animal nature, coupled\nwith the thoughts of some sacred objects, and tacked on to a divine\nmeditation.\n\nReflection.\u2014What a wretched hindrance is this world to our christian\nprofit and pleasure! How often does it keep the soul at a sad distance\nfrom God! With what difficulty and uneasy reluctance, are we sometimes\ndrawn, or rather dragged into retirement, that the soul may seek after\nGod there? How many excuses doth the flesh borrow from the cares and\nnecessities of this life, to delay, or to divert the duty of prayer? Our\nmemory, our imagination, and our senses, are faithful purveyors and\ntreasurers for the world; they are representing to us the things of this\npresent state, the trifles or the businesses, the cares or amusements of\nit, the labours or delights which relate to this life; and thereby we\nare diverted and separated from God, and called away from him often, as\nsoon as we begin to approach his presence.\n\nWhat a pernicious enemy is this flesh to the soul, both in the pleasures\nand the pains of it! and this world, both in the flatteries and the\nfrowns of it, and even in its necessary cares! When we would give our\nGod the upper-room in our hearts, how is this world ready to get the\nascendant! How often does it break in upon our most sacred retirements,\nand thrust itself, with all its impertinencies, into our holy\nmeditations? How often does it spread a carnal scene all over our\nthoughts at once, and spoil our devoutest hours? \u201cI cannot dwell so long\nin my closet as I would, says a christian, the world has such\nimportunate demands upon me.\u201d The world follows us, into our places of\nretirement; the exchange, or the shop, presses into the temple, and robs\nGod even to his face.\n\nLet us then have a care of the flesh: let us have a care of this world;\nwe must be watchful over them as our most subtle and dangerous enemies,\nif we would keep our souls near to God, or often enjoy this divine\nprivilege. Blessed Enoch! who could walk with God in the midst of all\nthe busy and vicious scenes of the old world! and he was translated to\nheaven, without calling at the gates of death, that he might give a\nglorious testimony to men how well God was pleased with him. Happy soul!\nthat could keep near to God, and maintain a holy and humble converse\nwith him, when all flesh had corrupted its way and the earth was full of\niniquity and violence! Blessed man, who knew not what it was to die, but\nhe knew what it was to be near to God; and his faith and his devotion\nwere changed the shortest way into sight and enjoyment! Happy spirit!\nwho without being absent at all from the body, was brought near to the\nseat of divine Majesty, and in the fullest manner present with the Lord!\n\n\n HYMN FOR SERMON V.\n _The Soul drawing near to God in prayer._\n\n\n My God, I bow before thy feet,\n When shall my soul get near thy seat?\n When shall I see thy glorious face,\n With mingled majesty and grace?\n\n How shall I love thee and adore,\n With hopes and joys unknown before!\n And bid this trifling world begone,\n Nor teaze my heart so near thy throne!\n\n Creatures with all their charms should fly,\n The presence of a God so nigh:\n My darling sins should lose their name,\n And grow my hatred and my shame.\n\n My soul shall pour out all her cares,\n In flowing words, or flowing tears!\n Thy smiles would ease my sharpest pain\n Nor should I seek my God in vain.\n\n\n\n\n SERMON VI.\n _Sins and Sorrows spread before God._\nJob xxiii. 3, 4.\u2014O that I knew where I might find him: that I might come\n even to his seat; I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth\n with arguments.\n THE SECOND PART.\n\n\nThere is such a thing as converse with God in prayer, and it is the life\nand pleasure of a pious soul; without it we are no christians: and he\nthat practises it most, is the best follower of Christ: for our Lord\nspent much time in converse with his heavenly Father. This is balm that\neases the most raging pains of the mind, when the wounded conscience\ncomes to the mercy-seat, and finds pardon and peace there. This is the\ncordial that revives and exalts our natures, when the spirit, broken\nwith sorrows, and almost fainting to death, draws near to the Almighty\nPhysician, and is healed and refreshed. The mercy-seat in heaven is our\nsurest and sweetest refuge in every hour of distress and darkness on\nearth: This is our daily support and relief, while we are passing\nthrough a world of temptations and hardships in the way to the promised\nland. _It is good for us to draw near to God_: Ps. lxxiii. 28. And yet\nso much is human nature sunk down and fallen from God, that even his own\nchildren are ready to indulge a neglect of converse with him, if their\nsouls are not always upon the watch. But let it be remembered here, that\nso much as we abate of this divine entertainment among the vanities or\namusements of the world, the business or burdens of life; so much we\nlose of the glory and joy of religion, and deprive our souls of the\ncomfort that God invites us to receive. Job was encompassed with sorrows\nall around, and his friends had censured him as a vile hypocrite, and a\ngreat sinner, because he was so terribly afflicted by the hand of God;\nwhither should he run now but to his heavenly Father, and tell him of\nall his sufferings.\n\nFrom the practice of this holy man, I thought we might have sufficient\nwarrant to draw this inference, _viz._ That when a saint gets near to\nGod in prayer, he tells him all his circumstances, and pleads for help.\nAnd that is the doctrine which I am endeavouring now to improve. \u201cO if I\ncould but come near him, even to his seat, I would order my cause before\nhim: I would spread all my concerns before his eye, and I would plead\nwith him for relief: I would fill my mouth with arguments.\u201d\n\nFour things I proposed in the prosecution of this doctrine.\u2014I. To\nconsider what it is for a soul to get near to God in prayer.\u2014II. What\nparticular subjects doth a soul, thus brought near to the mercy-seat,\nconverse with God about.\u2014III. Why he chuses to tell all his\ncircumstances and his sorrows to God, when he is thus near him.\u2014IV. How\nhe pleads for relief.\n\nI. We have already considered, what it is for a soul to get near to the\nseat of God, and what are the usual attendants of such a privilege. At\nsuch a season the holy soul will have an awful and adoring sense of the\nmajesty of God, a becoming fear of his terrors, and some sweeter taste\nof his love. There will be a divine hatred of every sin, and a sensible\nvirtue and influence proceeding from a present God, to resist every\ntemptation; there will be a spiritual and heavenly temper diffusing\nitself through the whole soul, and all the powers of it; a fixedness of\nheart without wandering, and a liveliness without tiring: no weariness\nis felt in the spirit at such a season, even though the flesh may be\nready to faint under the overpowering sweetness: then the soul with\nfreedom opens itself before the eye of God, and melts and flows in\ndivine language, whether it complain or rejoice. But I have finished\nthis head, and repeat no more.\n\nII. What are some of the particular circumstances, or subjects of\ncomplaint, that a saint brings to God when he comes near him.\n\nIn general, a saint, when he is near to God, has all the fulness of his\nheart breaking out into holy language; he pours out his whole self\nbefore his God and his Father! All the infinite affairs that relate to\nthe flesh and spirit, to this life, and that which is to come: all\nthings in heaven, and all things in earth, created or uncreated, may, at\none time or other, be the subjects of converse between God and a holy\nsoul. When the question is asked by a carnal man, what can a christian\ntalk with God so long and so often about? The christian in a divine\nframe, answers, \u201che hath matter enough for converse with God, to wear\nout time, and to fill up eternity.\u201d It may be as well asked on the other\nside, what has he not to say? what is there that relates to God, or to\nhimself, to the upper, or the lower world, that he may not at some time\nsay to his God?\n\nBut I must confine myself from wandering in so large a field, that I may\ncomport with the design of my text. Though a good man, in devout prayer,\noften spreads his hopes and his joys before the Lord, as well as his\nsorrows, fears, and distresses; yet I shall at present endeavour to set\nforth only the mournful and complaining representations of his\ncircumstances that he makes before the throne of God.\n\n1. If I could but come near the mercy-seat, I would confess how great my\nsins are, and I would pray for pardoning grace. I would say, \u201cHow vile I\nam by nature;\u201d I would count my original descent from Adam the great\ntransgressor, and humble myself at the foot of a holy God, because I am\nthe descendant of such a sinner.\u2014I would tell him how much viler I have\nmade myself by practice; \u201cI have been an enemy in my mind by nature, and\nguilty of many wicked works, whereby I have farther estranged myself\nfrom him.\u201d I would tell my God how multiplied my transgressions have\nbeen before I knew him, and how aggravated they have been since I have\nbeen acquainted with him. I would acquaint him with the frequency of my\nreturning guilt, how I have sinned against mercies, against reproofs,\nagainst warnings received often from his word, and often from his\nprovidence.\n\nI may appeal to the souls of many present, whether they have not had the\ngreatest freedom of confession of their sins, when they have been\nnearest to God, even though he be a God of holiness. At other times,\nthey have not only been averse to confess to any friend, but even\nunwilling to talk over to themselves the aggravation of their\niniquities, or to mention them in prayer: but when they are brought thus\nnear the throne of God, they unbosom themselves before him, they pour\nout their sins and their tears together, with a sweet and mournful\nsatisfaction. \u201cI behold,\u201d says the saint, \u201cthe great atonement, the\nblood of Jesus, and therefore I may venture to confess my great\niniquities, for the satisfaction is equal to them all. When I behold God\nupon his seat, I behold the _Lamb in the midst of the throne as it had\nbeen slain_, and he is my Peace-maker. I see his all-sufficient\nsacrifice, his atoning-blood, his perfect, his justifying\nrighteousness.\u201d The soul then answers the call of God with great\nreadiness, when God says in Is. i. 18. _Come let us reason together:\nthough your sins have been as scarlet, they shall be as wool._ \u201cI am\nready,\u201d says the soul, \u201cto enter into such reasonings; I am ready to\nconfess before thee, that my sins are all crimson and scarlet, but there\nis cleansing blood with thy Son: Blood that has washed the garments of a\nthousand sinners, and made them white as snow; and it has the same\nvirtue still to wash mine too: I trust in it, and rejoice when I behold\nthat blood sprinkled upon the mercy-seat, and therefore I grow confident\nin hope, and draw yet nearer to God, a reconciled God, since his throne\nhas the memorials of a bleeding sacrifice upon it.\u201d\n\n2. If I could get near the seat of God, I would tell him how many my\nenemies are, and how strong; how malicious, and how full of rage.\u2014\u2014And I\nwould beg strength against them, and victory over them.\u2014\u2014I would say as\nDavid: _Many there be that hate me, many there be that rise up against\nme; and many there be that say of my soul, there is no help for him in\nGod; but thou, O God, art my glory, my shield, and the lifter up of\nhead_: Ps. iii. 1, 2, 3. Then says the soul, I would complain to God of\nall my in-dwelling corruption, of the body of death that dwells in me,\nor in which I dwell; and say, \u201cO wretched man that I am, who shall\ndeliver me!\u201d I would tell him then of the secret working of pride in my\nheart, though I long to be humble; of the rising of ambition in my soul,\nthough I would willingly maintain a middle state amongst men, and not\naim and aspire to be great.\u2014I would acquaint him of the vanity of my own\nmind, though I am perpetually endeavouring to subdue it. I would tell\nhim, with tears, of my sinful passions, of my anger and impatience, and\nthe workings of envy and revenge in me; of the perpetual stirrings of\ndisorderly appetites, whereby I am led away from my God: I would tell\nhim of the hardness of my heart, and the obstinacy of my temper. I would\nopen before his eye, all the vices of my constitution; all those secret\nseeds of iniquity that are ever budding and blossoming to bring forth\nfruit to death. These things are fit to mourn before the Lord, when the\nsoul is come near to his seat.\n\nI would complain of this sore enemy, the world, that is perpetually\nbesetting me, that strikes upon all my senses, that by the ears, and the\neyes, and all the outward faculties, draws my heart away from God my\nbest friend. I would tell him of the rage of Satan, that watchful and\nmalicious adversary; that I cannot engage in any duty of worship, but he\nis ready to throw in some foolish or vain suggestion to divert me; and I\nwould look forward, and point to my last enemy death, and beg the\npresence of my God with me, when I walk through that dark valley:\u2014\u201cLord,\nwhen I enter into that conflict, assist me, that I may fear no evil, but\nbe made more than a conqueror through him that has loved me.\u201d\n\n3. I would tell him what darkness I labour under, either in respect of\nfaith or practice. If I am perplexed in my mind, and entangled about any\nof the doctrines of the gospel, I would then tell my God what my\nentanglements are, where the difficulty lies; and I would beg, that by\nhis Spirit and his word, he would solve the controversy, and set his own\ntruth before me in his own divine light. And then in point of practice,\nwhat darkness lies upon the spirit at such a time, is revealed before\nGod: \u201cMy way is hedged up, I know not what path to chuse; it is very\nhard for me to find out my duty; shew me, O Lord, the way wherein I\nshould walk, and mark out my path plain for me.\u201d\n\n4. I would mourn, and tell him, how little converse I have with himself,\nhow much he is hidden from me: I would complain to him, how far off I am\nfrom him the most part of my life, how few are the hours of my communion\nwith him, how short is the visit, how much his face is concealed from\nme, and how far my heart is divided from him. A soul then says, \u201cSurely\nthere is too great a distance between me and my God, my heavenly\nFather!\u201d and cries out with bitterness, _Why is God so far from me, and\nwhy is my heart so far from God?_ How often do I wait upon him in his\nown sanctuary, and among his saints, but I am not favoured with the\nsight _of his power and glory_ there! And how often do I seek him in my\nsecret retirements, but I find him not? I would tell him how often I\nread his promises in the gospel, and taste no sweetness; I go frequently\nto those wells of consolation, and they seem to be dry; then _I turn my\nface and go away ashamed_.\n\n5. I would tell him too of my temporal troubles, if I got near to God,\nbecause they unfit me for his service, they make me incapable of\nhonouring him in the world, and render me unfit for enjoying him in his\nordinances: I would tell him how they damp my zeal, how they bow my\nspirit down, and _make me go mourning all the day long_, to the\ndishonour of christianity, which is a dispensation of grace and joy.\nThus I might complain before God of pains, of weakness, of sickness, of\nthe disorders of my flesh; I might complain there too of the weakness of\nall my powers, the want of memory, the scatterings and confusions that\nare upon my thoughts, the wanderings of my fancy, and the unhappy\ninfluence that a feeble and diseased body has upon the mind: \u201cO my God,\nhow am I divided from thee, by dwelling in such a tabernacle! still\npatching up a tottering cottage, and wasting my best hours in a painful\nattendance on the infirmities of the flesh!\u201d\n\nI might then take the liberty of spreading before my God, all the\nsorrows and vexations of life, that unhinge my soul from its centre, and\nthrow it off from my guard, and hurry and expose me to daily\ntemptations. I might complain of my reproaches from friends and enemies;\nbecause these, many times, wear out the spirit, and unfit it for acts of\nlively worship. These are my weekly sorrows and groans, these are my\ndaily fears and troubles; and these shall be spread before the eyes of\nmy God, in the happy hour when I get near him.\n\n_Lastly_, I would not go away without a word of pity and complaint\nconcerning my relations, my friends, and acquaintance, that are afar off\nfrom God. I would put in one word of petition for them that are careless\nand unconcerned for themselves: I would weep a little at the seat of God\nfor them: I would leave a tear or two at the throne of mercy, for my\ndearest relatives in the flesh, for children, brothers or sisters, that\nthey might be brought near to God, in the bonds of the spirit. Then\nwould I remember my friends in Christ, my brethren and kindred in the\ngospel; such as labour under heavy burdens, languish under various\ninfirmities of life, or groan under the power of strong temptations.\nWhen God indulges me the favour of his ear, I would spread their wants\nand sorrows before him, together with my own, and make supplication for\nall the saints. I would leave a petition at the mercy-seat for my native\ncountry, that knowledge and holiness may overspread the nation: that our\nking may be a nursing father to the church, and our princes may be\nblessings to the land. And while I send up my request for the British\nislands, I would breathe out many a sigh for Zion, that she may be the\njoy of the whole earth. I proceed now to,\n\nIII. The third head of enquiry, which is this: why does a saint, when he\ngets near to God, delight to tell him all his circumstances, and all his\nsorrows?\n\nIn general I might say this, because it is so seldom, at least in our\nday, that a saint gets very near to God; therefore, when he finds that\nhappy minute, he says to his God all that he wants to say: he tells him\nall his heart, he pours out all his wants before him; because these\nseasons are very few. It is but here and there an extraordinary\nchristian, who maintains constant nearness to God: The best complain of\ntoo much distance and estrangement. But to descend to particulars:\n\n1. He is our chief friend, and it is an ease to the soul to vent itself\nin the bosom of a friend, when we are in his company.\u2014More especially as\nit was in the case of Job, when other friends failed him when he had\nbegun to tell them some of his sorrows, and withal maintained his own\nintegrity; they would not believe him, but became his troublers instead\nof his comforters: _My friends scorn me_, says Job, _chap._ xvi. 20.\n_but mine eye poureth out tears unto God_. I go to my best friend, my\nfriend in heaven, when my friends here on earth neglect me.\n\nMan is a sociable creature, and our joys and our sorrow are made to be\ncommunicated, that thereby we may double the one, and alleviate the\nother. There is scarce any piece of human nature, be it never so stupid,\nbut feels some satisfaction in the pleasure of a friend, in\ncommunicating the troubles and the pleasures that it feels; but those\nthat have God for their highest and best friend, they love to be often\nexercising such acts of friendship with him; and rather with him than\nwith any friend besides, rather with him than with all besides him. This\nis the noblest and highest friendship; all condescension and compassion\non the one side, and all infirmity and dependence on the other, and yet\nboth joined in mutual satisfaction. Amazing grace of God to man! The\nchristian rejoices in this admirable divine indulgence, and delights in\nall opportunities to employ and improve it.\n\nBesides, this is the way to maintain the vigour of piety, and keep all\nthe springs of divine love ever opening and flowing in his own;\ntherefore he makes many a visit to the mercy-seat, and takes occasion\nfrom every troublesome occurrence in life, to betake himself to his\nknees, and improves every sorrow he meets on earth, to increase his\nacquaintance with heaven. He delights to talk all his grievances over\nwith his God. Hannah, the mother of Samuel, is a blessed example of this\npractice; 1 Sam. i. 10. When she was in bitterness of soul, by reason of\na sore affliction, and the teazing humour of her rival, she prayed to\nthe Lord, and wept sore: and when she had left her sorrows at the\nmercy-seat, she went away, and did eat, and her countenance was no more\nsad; ver. 18. So saith the christian, \u201cI commit my sorrows to my God; he\nis my best friend, and I go away, and am no more sad: I have poured out\nmy cares into his ear, and cast my burdens upon him, and leave them\nthere in peace.\u201d\n\n2. The saint knows God will understand him right, and will judge right\nconcerning his case and his meaning. Though the expressions, it may be,\nare very imperfect, below the common language of men, and propriety of\nspeech, yet God knows the meaning of the soul; for it is his own spirit\nthat breathes in that soul, and he _knows the mind of his Spirit_; Rom.\nviii. 27. The friends of Job perverted his sense: Therefore he turns\naside to God, for he knows God would understand him. It is a very great\nadvantage, when we spread our concerns before another person, to be well\nassured that person will take us right, will take in our meaning fully,\nand judge aright concerning our cause. Now we may be assured of this,\nwhen we speak to our God: he _knows our thoughts afar off_, and all\ncircumstances, better infinitely than we can tell him. These our poor\nimperfect expressions of our wants, shall be no hinderances to his full\nsupplies, nor any bar to his exercise of friendship towards us.\n\n3. A saint pours out his soul before God, because he is sure of secrecy\nthere. How many things are there transacted between God and a holy soul,\nthat relate to guilt and inward workings of iniquity, that he could\nnever publish to the world! and many things also that concern his\nconduct in life, his embarrassments of spirit, his difficulties, his\nfollies, or the obstinacy, guilt, or follies of his friends or\nrelatives, which prudence and shame forbid him to tell his\nfellow-creatures; and yet he wants to spread them all before God his\nbest friend, God his dearest relative, the friend nearest to his heart.\nThere may be many circumstances and cases in life, especially in the\nspiritual life, which one christian could hardly communicate to another,\nthough under the strictest bonds and ties of natural, and civil, and\nsacred relation: But we may communicate these very affairs, these secret\nconcerns with our God, and unburden our souls of every care without the\nleast public notice.\n\nWe cannot be perfectly secure of this with regard to any creature; for\nwhen we have experienced the faithfulness of a friend many years, he may\npossibly be at last unfaithful: Unfaithfulness is mingled with our\nnature since the fall, and it is impossible any person can be infallibly\nsecure from it: Ps. lxii. 9. _Men of low degree are vanity, and great\nmen are a lie_: but we may leave our case with our God, as secure as\nthough we had communicated it to none: Nay, we may be easily secure and\nfree in speaking, because God knows all before-hand. Our complaint adds\nnothing to his knowledge, although it eases our souls, and gives us\nsweet satisfaction in having such a friend to speak to.\n\n4. A saint believes the equity, faithfulness, and the love of God;\ntherefore he spreads his case before him. His equity, that _the judge of\nall the earth will do right; the righteous may plead with him_. His\nfaithfulness, that he will fulfil all his promises: and his love, that\nhe will take compassion on those who are afflicted; he will be tender to\nthose who are miserable. David takes occasion from this, to address God\nunder his sufferings and sorrows; Ps. lxii. 1, 2. _He is my rock, and my\nsalvation, and my defence, I shall not be moved; therefore mu soul waits\nupon God; my refuge is in him._ lxv. 1, 2. _He is a God that hears\nprayer, therefore unto him shall all flesh come._ God will not account\nour complaints troublesome, though they be never so often repeated;\nwhereas men are quickly wearied with the importunities of those who are\npoor and needy. Great men are ready to shut their doors against those\nwho come too often for relief; but God delights to hear often from his\npeople, and to have them ask continually at his door for mercy. Though\nhe has Almighty power with him, saith Job, _yet he will not plead\nagainst me with his great power: No, but he would put strength in me_;\nhe would teach me how I should answer him; how I should answer his\njustice, by appeals to his mercy; and how I should speak prevailingly\nbefore him.\n\n5. _Lastly_, A saint tells God all his circumstances and sorrows at such\na season, because he hopes for relief from him, and from him only; for\nit is impossible creatures can give relief under any trouble, unless God\nmakes them instruments of relief. And there are some troubles in which\ncreatures cannot be our helpers, but our help must come only from God,\nand that in a more immediate way. Whatsoever be our distress, whether it\narise from past guilt, and the torments of an anxious and troubled\nconscience; or whether it arise from the working of in-dwelling sin, the\nstrength of temptation, or the violence of temporal afflictions, still\nGod is able and willing to give relief, _Call upon me_, saith the Lord,\n_In the day of trouble, I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me_;\nPs. l. 15. _And he hath never said to the seed of Jacob, seek ye my face\nin vain_; Is. xlv. 19.\n\nIV. The fourth general head of discourse which I proposed, is to shew,\nHow a saint, near the mercy-seat, pleads with God for relief.\n\nHoly Job tells us in this text, that if he was got near to the seat of\nGod, _he would fill his mouth with arguments_. Not as though he would\ninform God of the necessity, or the justice of his cause beyond what he\nknew before; no, this is impossible: _He that teacheth man all things,\nshall he not know?_ Ps. xciv. 9. 10. He who orders all the circumstances\nof our lives, and every stroke of his own rod, can he be unacquainted\nwith any thing that relates to our sorrows? Nor can we use arguments\nwith God to awaken his ear, or move his compassion, as though he had\nneglected us, or forgotten our distress; for _all things are_ for ever\n_naked and open_ before _the eyes of him, with whom we have to do_; Heb.\niv. 13. The Shepherd of Israel cannot slumber nor does his mercy want\nour awakenings.\n\nBut in this sort of expressions, the great God condescends to talk, and\nto transact affairs with us, and permits us to treat him in a way suited\nto our weakness: He would have us plead and argue with him, that we may\nshew how deep a sense we have of our own wants, and how entirely we\ndepend on his mercy. Since we cannot converse with him in a way equal to\nhis own majesty and godhead, he stoops to talk with us in such a way as\nis most agreeable to our state, and most easy to our apprehension: He\nspeaks such language as we can understand, and invites us to humble\nconference with him in the same way. _Come_, says God to his people, by\nIsaiah his prophet, _Come now, and let us reason together_; Is. i. 18.\nAnd he often, in holy scripture, represents himself as moved and\ninfluenced by the prayers and pleadings of his afflicted saints; and he\nhas ordained, before-hand, that the day _when he prepares their hearts\nto pray_, shall be the day when his _ear shall hear the desire of the\nhumble_, and shall be the season of their deliverance; Ps. x. 17.\n\nIf you enquire, how a christian pleads with his God, and whence does he\nborrow his arguments? I answer, that according to the various sorrows\nand difficulties which attend him, so various may his pleadings be for\nthe removal of them. There is not a circumstance which belongs to his\naffliction, but he may draw some argument from it to plead for mercy;\nthere is not one attribute of the divine nature, but he may use it with\nholy skill, and thereby plead for grace; there is not one relation in\nwhich God stands to his people, nor one promise of his covenant, but may\nat some time or other, afford an argument in prayer. But the strongest\nand sweetest argument that a christian knows, is the name and mediation\nof Jesus Christ his Lord. It is for the sake of Christ, who has\npurchased all the blessings of the covenant, that a saint hopes to\nreceive them; and for the sake of Christ, he pleads that God would\nbestow them.\n\nBut having treated largely on this subject, in my discourse, intitled,\n_A Guide to Prayer_, I shall not repeat the same things here, but refer\nthe reader to the first chapter of that book, sect. 5.\u2014It remains that I\nmake a few useful reflections on the whole foregoing discourse.\n\nReflection I. What a dull and uncomfortable thing is religion, without\ndrawing near to God! for this is the very business for which religion is\ndesigned; the end and aim of religion is getting nigh to God; if it\nattain not this end, it is nothing.\n\nO the madness of hypocrites, who satisfy themselves to toil in long\nforms of worship, and appear perpetually in the shape of religion, but\nunconcerned whether they ever get near to God by it or no! They lose the\nend and design for which religion was made. What if we know all the\ndoctrines of the gospel; what if we can talk rationally about natural\nreligion; what if we can deduce one truth from another, so as to spread\na whole scheme of godliness before the eyes or ears of those we converse\nwith; what if we can prove all the points of christianity, and give\nincontestible arguments for the belief of them; yet we have no religion,\nif our souls never get near to God by them. A saint thinks it a very\nmelancholy thing when he is at a distance from God, and cannot tell God\nhis wants and sorrows. Though he be never so much studied in divinity,\nand the deep things of God, yet if God be not with him, if he does not\ncome near to his mercy-seat, so as to converse with him as his friend,\nthe soul is concerned, and grieved, and never rests till this distance\nbe removed. It is to little purpose that we get into churches, join in\nthe fellowship of the gospel, and attend many seasons of prayer: It is\nto very little purpose to read chapters, and to hear sermons, one day\nafter another: It is to little purpose all these forms are maintained,\nif we have not the substance and power of godliness? if our God be not\n_near us_, if we never _get near to God_.\n\nReflection II. How happy are we under the gospel, above all ages and\nnations besides us, and before us! For we have advantages of getting\nnear to God, beyond what any other religion has; above what the heathen\nworld ever enjoyed; for their light of nature could never shew them the\nthrone of grace: above what the ancient patriarchs had, though God came\ndown in visible shapes, and revealed and discovered himself to them as a\nman or an angel: above what the Jews had, though God dwelt among them in\nvisible glory, in the holy of holies. The people were kept at a\ndistance, and the high-priests were to come thither but once a year; and\ntheir veil, and smokes, and shadows, did, as it were, conceal God from\nthem, although they were types of a future Messiah; and even their\n_shekinah_ itself, or cloud of glory, gave them no spiritual idea or\nnotion of godhead, though it was a shining emblem of God dwelling among\nthem.\n\nWe have better ordinances, and brighter mediums of converse with God; we\nhave more powerful assistances to raise us heaven-ward; we have the\nMessiah, the Emmanuel; that is, _God in flesh_, God come near us, that\nwe may get near to him; we have the _promise of the Spirit_, which is\none of the glorious privileges of the gospel; Eph. ii. 13, 18. _Ye who\nsometimes were afar off, are made nigh through the blood of Christ: and\nthrough him\u2014have we access by one Spirit to the Father._ Through Christ\nJesus, and the purchase of his blood, and the working of his Spirit, we\napproach to the Father, we are brought near to God.\n\nAnd this very method, _viz._ the atonement of the blood of Christ, and\nthe working of the Spirit by which we are brought near to God in our\nfirst conversion, are the ways by which we must draw near him in duty\never afterward: it is by the same atonement, and by the same Spirit. We\nare continually contracting fresh guilt, and were it not for the\nperpetuity of the virtue of that sacrifice, our guilt would be an\nirremovable bar against our coming near to God daily and hourly; and\nafter every new sin, were it not for that Spirit, we could never get\nnear to God again: but that Spirit is promised _to abide with us_; John\nxiv. 16. and in Heb. iv. 14, 16. _Christ is passed into the heavens_, is\nvery near to God, and hath shewn us the way thither; Heb. x. 19, 20.\n_Having therefore boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of\nJesus, let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith._\n\nO how should we value our acquaintance with Christ, and pray earnestly\nfor his Spirit! one makes a way for our coming near to God, and the\nother actually brings us near. How glorious would churches be, if there\nwere more of this Spirit poured down upon us! When an assembly of\nsaints, all joining together in one act of worship, shall at once rise\nby the same Spirit, and approach to the mercy-seat, and order their\ncause before God; what might not such a worshipping assembly obtain at\nthe hands of God? What beauty would appear in the worship of christians\nthen? What glory would be found in a society of saints, if this Spirit\nwere but there? Christianity has had these ornaments, and these honours:\nlet us pray that God would restore them again.\n\nReflection III. This doctrine will not suffer us to confine ourselves or\nothers, merely to a set prescribed form of words in prayer. For as the\ncases and concerns of soul or body, which we spread before God, are\nalmost infinitely various, so must we express those cases and concerns\nbefore God in proper words, and plead for relief with a variety of\narguments, as the Spirit of God shall assist us: _I would order my own\ncause before him_, says Job, _and my mouth shall be filled with\narguments_. It is not possible that a Prayer Book should be drawn up\nwith forms particularly suited to every complaint, and every sorrow,\nthat a holy soul wants to pour out, and spread before the mercy-seat.\nAnd the christian, that knows the pleasure of getting near to God in\nprayer, cannot content himself to wrap up all his special and dearest\nconcernments in a few general sentences.\n\n\u201cWhat! when I am brought so nigh to my God, my Almighty and\ncompassionate friend; when I am taken, as it were, by the hand, and led\ninto his secret place; when I have the ear of God so near me, shall I\nnot tell him my secret and particular grievances? When I feel such a\nsweet freedom of soul in his presence, shall I not unbosom my whole self\nto him? Shall I check the devout appetites and affections of my heart,\nbecause I do not find words in my Prayer Book fit to express them? Shall\nI quench the blessed Spirit thus, and limit my converse with God?\u201d\n\nI allow forms of prayer well composed, to be useful helps for younger or\nmeaner christians; or, indeed, for all persons, when the spirits are low\nand languishing, and the heart in a heavy or cold temper: But at such a\nglorious season to confine a holy soul to a few good expressions,\nwritten down before, how great an injury would it be to its divine\npleasure and profit?\n\nReflection IV. How comfortable a consideration may be drawn from my\ndiscourse, by those that have never a friend upon earth, that there is a\nfriend in heaven, to whom they may tell all their circumstances, and all\ntheir sorrows! There are some persons, in this world, so mean and so\nwretched, that they are ready to think, at least, that they have never a\nfriend, and are apt to complain that they are altogether friendless. But\nthere is a God, one that they may be sure is their everlasting friend,\nwhen they are willing to enter into a state of friendship with him: when\nthey have commenced friendship with him by the blood of Jesus the great\nReconciler, and by the working of the reconciling Spirit; then let them\nimprove this consideration with sweet joy. They have a friend in heaven,\nbefore whom they can spread all their sorrows, though they be friendless\non earth; though they are forced to say of their souls, \u201cThere is no\nrefuge for them in the world,\u201d yet they can say, _God is their refuge_:\nThey can express to him their various sufferings, and their several\ndifficulties, and they can be sure of a helper in heaven.\n\nReflection V. _Lastly_, That future state of glory must be blessed\nindeed, where we shall be ever near to God, even to his seat, and have\nno sorrows to tell him of. If it be so delightful a thing to come near\nthe seat of God here upon earth, to mourn before him, and to tell him\nall our circumstances, and all our sorrows; how pleasurable a\nblessedness must that of heaven be, where we shall be ever rejoicing\nbefore him; as Christ Jesus was before the world was made, _rejoicing\ndaily before him_; and our _delight_ shall be with that God who created\n_the sons of men_: Where we shall be for ever telling him our joys, and\nour pleasures, with humble adoration of his grace, and everlasting\ngratitude. It will be a sweet redoubling of all the delights and\nenjoyments of heaven, to tell him, in the language of that world, what\ninfinite satisfaction we feel in his society; what enjoyments and\ndelights we derive from his immediate influences; how full our hearts\nare of love to him, and how full they are of the sense of his love:\nThere his love communicated to us, shall be, as it were, reflected back\nagain from our souls to God; and in the perpetual communications and\nreflections of knowledge, joy, and love shall our heaven consist.\n\nO that I could raise your souls, and mine, to blessed breathings after\nthis felicity, by such representations. But how infinitely short must\nthe brightest description fall of this state and place: May you and I,\nwho speak and hear this, may every soul of us be made thus happy one\nday, and learn the extent and glory of this blessedness, by sweet and\neverlasting experience. _Amen._\n\n\n HYMN FOR SERMON VI.\n _Sins and Sorrows spread before God._\n\n\n O that I knew the secret place,\n Where I might find my God!\n I\u2019d spread my wants before his face,\n And pour my woes abroad.\n\n I\u2019d tell him how my sins arise,\n What sorrows I sustain;\n How grace decays, and comfort dies,\n And leaves my heart in pain.\n\n I\u2019d say, \u201cHow flesh and sense rebel!\n What inward foes combine\n With the vain world, and powers of hell,\n To vex this soul of mine!\u201d\n\n He knows what arguments I\u2019d take,\n To wrestle with my God;\n I\u2019d plead for his own mercy\u2019s sake,\n And for my Saviour\u2019s blood.\n\n My God will pity my complaints,\n And heal my broken bones:\n He takes the meaning of his saints,\n The language of their groans.\n\n Arise, my soul, from deep distress,\n And banish every fear;\n He calls thee to his throne of grace,\n To spread thy sorrows there.\n\n\n\n\n SERMON VII.\n _A Hopeful Youth falling Short of Heaven._\n MARK x. 21.\u2014Then Jesus beholding him, loved him.\n THE FIRST PART.\n\n\nIf we would know the person who was favoured with the love of Jesus, and\nbe acquainted with his character, it is necessary to read the whole\nnarrative, as we find it delivered in this chapter, from the 17th to the\n23d verse.\n\n_And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and\nkneeled to him, and asked him, good Master, what shall I do that I may\ninherit eternal life?_ 18. _And Jesus said unto him, why callest thou me\ngood, there is none good save one, that is God._ 19. _Thou knowest the\ncommandments; do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not\nbear false witness, defraud not, honour thy father and mother._ 20. _And\nhe answered, and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from\nmy youth._ 21. _Then Jesus beholding him, loved him, and said unto him,\none thing thou lackest, go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give\nto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come take up\nthe cross, and follow me._ 22. _And he was sad at that saying, and went\naway grieved; for he had great possessions._ 23. _And Jesus looked round\nabout, and saith unto his disciples, how hardly shall they that have\nriches enter into the kingdom of God?_\n\nNow if we consult and compare the account which the other evangelists\ngive us of this transaction, we shall find that the person was a _young\nman_; Mat. xix. 20. and a _ruler among the Jews_; Luke xviii. 18. He had\nsome concern upon his mind about his future state, and came to Christ,\nas to a divine prophet, to enquire the way to heaven: But it is evident\nhe had a vain conceit of his own righteousness, and at the same time he\nhad an excessive love to money; he would fain have been an heir of\nheaven, but he valued his inheritance on earth much more: He wished for\nthe love of God, but would enjoy and love this world too; and rather\nthan renounce the pleasant things of this life, he would quit his\npretences to a life to come; for he went away grieved and full of\nsadness, at the direction which our Saviour gave him, and would not\nventure the experiment. He forsook Christ and heaven, having great\npossessions on earth.\n\nIt is necessary to our purpose, to know whether, in the following years\nof his life, he was brought to repentance and salvation, though it is\nmost likely that he never was; for if he loved his estate and his money,\nso well in his younger years, that vice probably increased with his age.\nBesides, he stands in the history of the gospel, as an example of those\nmen, who lose heaven for the love of money. But howsoever it might be\nafterward, this is certain, that at that time he was in the state of sin\nand death; which is sufficient to my present design.\n\nFrom the words of my text, set in this light, and compared with the\nissue of the whole conversation, between Christ and this young man, we\nmay derive this doctrine:\n\nDoct. Our Saviour had some love for a person that preferred this world\nto heaven, and neglected his salvation.\n\nIn order to improve this thought, we shall consider.\n\nI. What is meant by the love of our Saviour to this young man, and to\npersons of his character.\u2014II. What was there in him that might attract\nour Saviour\u2019s love.\u2014III. What remarks may be made upon the sin and folly\nof a person so lovely, and so beloved of Christ.\u2014IV. Make an address to\nthree sorts of persons, taking the occasion from the character of the\nperson in my text.\n\n_First_, What is meant by the love of our Saviour to this young man, and\nhow far may he be said to love a person who is void of true grace, and\nneglects salvation.\n\nHere, I conceive, we are not to look upon our Lord Jesus Christ as\nacting according to his divinity, but only in his human nature; for it\nis evident that Christ considered as God, loved him not in that sense in\nwhich the love of God is usually taken; for he had plain evidences of a\nworldly covetous mind, and so could not be the object of special divine\ncomplacency: Nor do we find that Christ loved him so well, as to\ncommunicate divine grace and salvation to him.\n\nI confess there may be some sort of love attributed to God, with\nrelation to creatures of any kind, which have any thing valuable in\nthem: So God loves all the works of his hands; so he loves the heavens\nand the earth, and all the pieces of inanimate nature: that is, he\napproves his own workmanship, the effects of his own wisdom and power.\nGod is also sometimes said to love those to whom he communicates\ntemporal blessings, or makes the offer of eternal ones. So he loved the\nwhole nation of the Jews, though he did not give all of them his saving\ngrace. But still it is much more natural to expound the words of my text\nconcerning Christ as man; for there were some peculiar qualities in this\nyouth, which were suited to attract the love of human nature; such\nqualities as a wise and perfect man could not but love: It was some such\nsort of love as our Lord expressed toward the apostle John, in a way of\ndistinction from the rest; upon which account, probably, he was called,\n_the disciple whom Jesus loved_; John xiii. 23. Therefore I conceive\nChrist is here represented as exerting the innocent and kind affections\nof human nature towards a youth so agreeable and hopeful.\n\nNow this love implies in it these five things:\n\n1. A hearty approbation of those good qualities which Christ beheld in\nhim: For he being perfect and wise, cannot but approve that which is\nexcellent. He had a sharp eye, and great sagacity of nature: With a\nready penetration he could discern what was valuable; and must\nnecessarily have a just esteem for every thing wherein his Father\u2019s\nwisdom and power did eminently appear. Whatsoever God created at first,\nwas good; Gen. i. 31. And whatsoever remains of that good workmanship of\nGod, Christ, the Son of God, approved still, so far as it was untainted\nwith sin, and considered in itself, abstracted from the criminal\nqualities that might attend it.\n\n2. This love of Christ to the young man, implies a complacency in his\nperson; a sort of human delight in a fellow-creature that had several\nexcellent properties; though the love of God, and powerful religion,\nwere wanting. If I read a book that has much good sense in it, and where\nthe reasonings are well connected, I cannot but have a delight in\nreading, though the subject itself may be trifling, or the theme\ndisagreeable. If I hear an oration well composed, with many ingenious\nturns of thought and pathetic expressions; and all these pronounced with\nthe various decencies of speech and gesture, I take pleasure in the\nperformance, and may love the orator, though he insist upon sentiments\nquite contrary to my own. So I may be pleased with the learned\nconversation of a knowing and well-tempered man, and love him so far,\nthough he may be my enemy, and perhaps, in his heart, an enemy to God\ntoo; for such was this young man, an idolater of gold, and therefore an\nenemy to God; _Jam._ iv. 4. concerning whom it is written, that _Jesus\nloved him_.\n\n3. Some natural good-wishes for his welfare are implied in this love.\nThere is in every wise and good man, a hearty desire of the happiness of\nhis fellow-creatures, he loves them all in this sense, even the foolish\nand the wicked. Human nature that has any goodness in it, is ready to\nwish well to any person, though he be an utter stranger, and unknown;\nespecially if he has some agreeable qualities. There may be an innocent\ninclination to see all men happy, though we know this shall not be\nbrought to pass; for the word of God declares that most part of men walk\nin the broad-way, and shall go down to hell. You know how passionately\nSt. Paul longed for the salvation of all his country-men the Jews. This\nis called a love of benevolence; and it is evident by the following\nparticulars, that the Lord expressed this good-will towards the young\nman in my text.\n\n4. A conferring of actual benefit or kindness, is implied in the love of\nChrist towards this youth; for he stood still and entertained him with\nfriendly discourse: He endeavoured by proper methods to convince him of\nsin; he gave him directions what he should do to obtain treasure in\nheaven; he called him to be his disciple and follower; and gave him a\npromise of everlasting riches, if he would have complied with his\nproposal. This is called a love of beneficence: And this our Lord Jesus\npractised abundantly, even to those whom he did not savingly enlighten\nand convert by his gospel; for it was his character, that he went about\ndoing good; Acts x. 38.\n\n5. This love of Christ includes in it compassion for the young man, and\nsome degree of sorrow to think that he should miss of heaven; that he\nshould be so hardened in self-confidence, so puft up with a conceit of\nhis own righteousness, and so hard to be convinced of his weakness and\nguilt, as to stand to it boldly, that he had kept all the commandments\nof God: and at last, that he should be so entangled with a love to\nmoney, as to despise the treasures of heaven, and to let Christ and\nsalvation go. Such a mournful pity did our Lord express to Jerusalem, in\nthe days of his flesh; O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, _which killest the\nprophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee: How often would I\nhave gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood\nunder her wings, and ye would not!_ Luke xiii. 34. And he mingled the\ntears of love and sorrow when he came near the gates: for the same\nevangelist tells us, that _he beheld the city and wept over it_, with\nthis melting language, _If thou hadst know, even thou, in this thy day,\nthe things that belong to thy peace; but now they are hid from thine\neyes_; Luke xix. 41, 42.\n\nWhen we behold a noble palace, a well-contrived garden, a piece of\npainting of uncommon art: \u201cIt is pity, we cry, that such a building\nshould be reduced to ashes, such a garden over-spread with desolation\nand disorder, or such a picture be all defaced.\u201d We have a sort of pity\nfor these inanimate beauties, and we are ready to mourn their danger or\nruin. And the passion is innocent and becoming: But the grief and the\nlove rise higher still, when we see a living soul, a fellow-creature of\nour own rank, a man or woman dressed in agreeable accomplishments, and\nyet making haste to wilful destruction. Such love and such grief are\ncomely for a wise and good man, and they became our Saviour well.\nBlessed Saviour! that ever thy love should lay itself out on such\nobjects, as would awaken thy grief, and give thee so painful a\ncompassion! But this was only in the days of his flesh: He pities\nmankind now under their various wretchedness and folly, yet we cannot\nsuppose his present exaltation and blessedness does indulge real sorrow,\nor admit any smarting affliction; though in his humble state on earth,\nhis human love expressed itself agreeably in such mournful compassion\nand tenderness.\n\nII. We come to consider, what there was in this person that might\nattract our Saviour\u2019s love.\n\n1. He had probably some natural qualifications which were agreeable and\npleasing. His youth is expressed; Mat. xix. 20. A young man, in the\nprime of his days, in the force and flower of his age, the beauty and\nvigour of his nature: And it is very likely, that he might be of a\ncomely figure and ingenuous countenance; for it is said, our Saviour\nbeholding him, loved him. He fixed his eyes, and probably saw something\nin him delightful in his very aspect and appearance, which might partly\ninduce him to those various expressions of love before-mentioned, and to\npity so lovely a youth, who was enslaved to riches, and bound to\ndestruction in fetters of gold.\n\n2. He had a courteous and obliging carriage, which appears in several\ninstances; _viz._ he kneeled before our Lord, and paid him great respect\nwith the gesture of his body; he saluted him, good Master! which our\nLord did not reprove, when he said, there is none good but God; but put\nhim to the trial, whether he would own him to be God or no. He\nacknowledged Christ as his superior, though he was so much a stranger to\nhim, and so much a poorer man than himself. By his whole deportment we\nfind him a person of great civility; he knew how to pay the honours of\nhis country well, to give titles to whom titles are due, and to do these\nthings gracefully. A courteous, humble, and decent behaviour, without\naffectation or flattery, is so far from being reproved by Christ, that\nnot only, in this place, our Lord seems to be pleased with it, but in\nmany places of the New Testament, it is recommended to make christianity\namiable: It is pleasing to human nature, and cannot but gain love and\nesteem with all wise and virtuous persons.\n\n3. He was religiously educated even from his childhood, and had grown up\nin sobriety, perhaps, from his very cradle; for he was but a young man\nwhen he came to our Lord, and yet he says, concerning the commandments\nof moral duty, I have kept them all from my youth. He sprung surely from\ngood parents; he had such instructions from them, and they such a\njealous and watchful eye over him, that he was kept from gross sins, and\nwas brought up in all the forms of godliness, and in the observance of\nthe moral law. Now Christ, considered merely as a man, loved the law of\nGod so well, that he could not but take pleasure in a person that\nperformed it, so far as that obedience reached. Virtue, in the mere\noutward part of it, will command respect even from the vile and the\nwicked: much more will the good and pious man pay honour to the practice\nof it. There is something amiable in sobriety, temperance, charity,\njustice, truth, and sincerity, though they may not proceed from the\ndivinest principle of love to God rooted in the heart.\n\n4. He had given some diligence in seeking after eternal life, and had a\ngreat concern about his soul. He came running to ask a question of the\nbiggest importance, _What shall I do to inherit eternal life?_ He was\nconvinced there was a heaven and a hell, and he was willing to do\nsomething here to obtain happiness hereafter. He did not come with a\ndesign to put curious and ensnaring questions, as the Sadducees did;\nMat. xxii. 23. but he seems to have an honest design to know the way to\nheaven and happiness, for he went away sorrowful when he could not\ncomply with the demands of Christ. Though he thought he had practised a\ngreat deal of religion, yet he was willing to receive further\ninstructions; _What lack I yet?_ Is there any other precept to be\nperformed, in order to entitle me to life eternal? Now our Saviour loves\nto see conscience awakened, to see the springs of religion opened and\nbeginning to flow: A divine teacher conceives some hope of a man that is\nwilling to be taught, and ready to learn, and therefore he loves him.\nThis youth thought himself righteous, yet he did not think himself\nall-wise; and therefore submits to farther instructions. Now it is a\npleasure to communicate knowledge to those that long to receive it; and\nwe pity them heartily when they do not comply with the necessary duties\nthat are revealed to them, through the charms of some strong temptation.\n\n5. Add to all this, that he had many civil advantages by reason of his\nriches, his authority, and his power. He was wealthy, and he was a ruler\namong the people; which things, though they cannot in themselves make\nany person amiable, yet when they are added to the former good\nqualities, they render them all more lovely and more valuable; and that\nbecause they are so seldom joined together. Dr. Goodman remarks very\ningeniously here, \u201cthat his concern about his soul, was not a sick-bed\nmeditation, for he was in health; nor a melancholy qualm of old age, for\nhe was young: nor was it the effect of his being discontented and out of\nhumour with the world, for he was rich and prosperous.\u201d It is seldom\nthat we see a man in the prime of his days, possessing large treasures\nand dominions in this world, that will seek after the things of another;\nor that will shew due respect to his fellow-creatures, or practise so\nmuch as the form of godliness: that when all these meet together, as\nthey did in this young man, they conspire to make him lovely in the eyes\nof every beholder. But alas! this unhappy youth, furnished, as he was\nwith all these virtues, and these advantages, which our Lord beheld in\nhim, and for which he loved him, yet he lost heaven for the love of this\nworld. He refused to accept the proposals of Christ; he went away\nsorrowful, for he had large possessions. And this naturally leads me to\nthe third head.\n\n[If this sermon be too long, it may be divided here.]\n\nIII. Some remarks upon this mixed character; upon the folly, the guilt,\nand misery of a man so lovely, and so beloved of Christ.\n\n1st Remark. How much good and evil may be mingled in the same person?\nwhat lovely qualities were found in this young man! and yet there was\nfound in him a carnal mind in love with this world, and in a state of\nsecret enmity to God. Our nature at first was a glorious composition of\nall that was good. How has sin ruined human nature from its primitive\nglory, and mingled a large measure of evil in its very frame! and yet\nhow has restraining grace kept our nature from losing every thing that\nis good and valuable, and from becoming universally monstrous and\nloathsome!\n\nLet us take a survey of the world, and see what a mixture there is of\namiable and hateful qualities amongst the children of men. There is\nbeauty and comeliness; there is vigour and vivacity; there is\ngood-humour and compassion; there is wit and judgment, and industry,\neven amongst those that are profligate and abandoned to many vices.\nThere is sobriety, and love, and honesty, and justice, and decency\namongst men that know not God, and believe not the gospel of our Lord\nJesus. There are very few of the sons and daughters of Adam, but are\npossessed of something good and agreeable, either by nature or\nacquirement; therefore, when there is a necessary occasion to mention\nthe vices of any man, I should not speak evil of him in the gross, nor\nheap reproaches on him by wholesale. It is very disingenuous to talk\nscandal in superlatives, as though every man who was a sinner, was a\nperfect villain, the very worst of men, all over hateful and abominable.\n\nHow sharply should our own thoughts reprove us, when we give our pride\nand malice a loose, to ravage over all the character of our neighbours,\nand deny all that is good concerning them, because they have something\nin them that is criminal and worthy of blame! Thus our judgment is\nabused by our passions; and sometimes this folly reigns in us to such a\ndegree that we can hardly allow a man to be wise or ingenious, to have a\ngrain of good sense, or good humour, that is not of our profession, or\nour party, in matters of church or state. Let us look back upon our\nconduct, and blush to think that we should indulge such prejudices, such\na sinful partiality.\n\n2d Remark. A man that has not true grace, nor holiness, may be the just\nobject of our love: for we find several instances and several degrees of\nlove were paid by Christ, the wisest and best of men, to a youth of a\ncovetous and carnal temper! one who preferred earth to heaven, and\nvalued his present possessions above those eternal treasures that Christ\nhad promised him.\n\nI confess, under the Old Testament, in the cxxxix. Psalm, ver. 21, 22.\nDavid appeals to God, _do not I hate them, that hate thee?_ and adds, _I\nhate them with a perfect hatred_. But this need not be construed to\nsignify any malice in his heart against them, as a private person; but\nhis design to fight against them, and suppress them, as a soldier, and a\nking, because they appeared publicly against God; for he adds, I am\ngrieved at those that rise up against thee, I count them mine enemies.\nBesides, these persons were of so abandoned a character, that they seem\nto have had nothing good in them; and he might justly hate them,\nconsidered merely as sinners, in the same sense that we must hate\nourselves, so far as we are sinful. I might add to all this, that they\nwere cruel and bloody with regard to men, and they spoke wickedly\nagainst God, and were God\u2019s professed enemies, ver. 19. and 20. After\nall, it was much more allowable in David the Jew in the heat of his\nzeal, to talk thus, than it can be for us, christians; while we read the\nwords of our Saviour, Mat. v. 43, 44, 45. We _have heard that it hath\nbeen said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy: But I\nsay unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to\nthem that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and\npersecute you: that ye may be the children of your Father which is in\nheaven; for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and\nsendeth rain on the just and on the unjust_: While we consider also in\nwhat a divine manner our Lord Jesus has exemplified his own precept, and\nhas loved many of his enemies, so as to die for them; and manifested so\nmuch natural affection, even for the young sinner in my text, because\nthere were some good qualities found in him.\n\nI will not say therefore within myself concerning any man, \u201cI hate him\nutterly, and abhor him in all respects, because he has not true\nholiness:\u201d but I will look upon him, and consider whether there may not\nbe some accomplishment in him, some moral virtue, some valuable talent,\nsome natural or acquired excellency; and I will not neglect to pay due\nesteem to every deserving quality, wheresoever I find it. It is a piece\nof honour due to God our Creator, to observe the various signatures of\nhis wisdom, that he has impressed upon his creatures, and the\noverflowing treasures of his goodness, which he has distributed among\nthe works of his hands.\n\nThus I may very justly love a man, for whom, in the vulgar sense, I have\nno charity; that is, such a one as I believe to be in a state of sin and\ndeath, and have no present hope of his salvation. How could holy parents\nfulfil their duties of affection to their wicked children? or pious\nchildren pay due respect to sinful parents? How could a believer fulfil\nthe law of love to an unbelieving brother, or a dearer relative, if we\nought to admit of no love to persons that are in a state of enmity to\nGod? How can we be followers of God as dear children, if we are not kind\nto the unthankful, and to the evil; Luke vi. 37. To those who have\nnothing of serious religion in them; Gal. vi. 10. \u201cAs we have\nopportunity, let us do good to all men, especially to them who are of\nthe household of faith.\u201d\n\nAs God has a peculiar love for his own children, for those who are\nrenewed, and sanctified, and formed into his likeness; so ought we to\nlove all the saints with a peculiar kind of affection, and take special\ndelight in them, we should express a love of intimate fellowship unto\nthem; a love of divine friendship, of spiritual pleasure, and hearty\ncommunion; rejoicing together with them in God our common Father, in\nChrist Jesus our common Head, and in the hope of our common Salvation;\nand we should ever be ready, in the first place, to assist and support\nthem, and supply their wants according to the calls of providence. But\nsinners also must have some share in our love.\n\n3d Remark. How different is the special love of God, from the natural\nlove of man! God seeth not as man seeth; he appoints not persons to\neternal life, because of some agreeable accomplishments which they\npossess in this life. Jesus Christ himself, considered as God, did not\nbestow his special and saving love upon that young Israelite, whom, as\nman, he could not help loving. So Samuel was sent to chuse a king for\nthe Jews, among the sons of Jesse; 1 Sam. xvi. 6. When he saw Eliab\nappear, he looked on him, and said, \u201cSurely the Lord\u2019s anointed is\nbefore him; but the Lord said to Samuel, ver. 7. Look not on his\ncountenance, or on the height of his stature, because I have refused\nhim.\u201d Old Jesse, it may be, was ready to look upon his eldest son too,\nbeing pleased with his tall and comely figure, and to say within\nhimself, \u201cIt is a pity that Eliab was not made a king.\u201d But David was\nGod\u2019s beloved.\n\nIf the question were put to us, Who are the persons that are fit to\nstand in the court of God above, to be the inhabitants and ornaments of\nheaven? We should be ready to say, the beautiful and the ingenious, the\nsouls of a sweet disposition, and the persons of graceful behaviour. We\nare tempted to think that the well-born, the wise, the affable, and the\nwell-accomplished, should all be made saints, and the favourites of God;\nbut he sees with other eyes, he determines his special love by other\nprinciples, and makes another sort of distinction by his sovereign\nsaving grace, unguided and unallured by the merit of man. 1 Cor. i. 26,\n27, 28, 29. \u201cYe see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men\nafter the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God\nhath chosen the foolish things of the world, to confound the wise; and\nGod hath chosen the weak things of the world, to confound the things\nwhich are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are\ndespised, hath God chosen: yea, and things which are not, to bring to\nnought things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence.\u201d\n\nWhat would become of the morose, the rough natural tempers, if God loved\nnone but such as were lovely in our eyes? What would become of all the\ndeformed and the most uncomely pieces of human nature; the clownish, and\nthe weak, and base things of this world, if God should chuse none but\nthe fair, and the well-bred, the well-figured, and the honourable? If\nthis were the rule of his conduct, what dismal distinction would light\nupon thousands, and some good men too, who must wear in their faces, in\nthis world, the dreadful sentence of their damnation in the next? But\nthe great and sovereign God acts by other measures; he lays down to\nhimself divine rules, that are to us unknown, and must be for ever\nunsearchable.\n\nSome, who are endowed with native excellencies, he adorns with heavenly\ngraces, and they shine as jewels set in rings of gold: Others, who have\nscarce any thing in them amiable by nature, are the objects of divine\nlove, and made vessels of grace; though these do never make so charming\nan appearance among men. Moses the meek and obliging, Jonah the rough\nand the peevish, were both beloved of God; for he made saints and\nprophets of them. Abraham the rich, and Sarah the beautiful; Peter the\npoor fisherman, and Paul the man of mean aspect, and contemptible\nfigure; were all beloved of God, and made heirs of eternal Life. The\nconduct of the great God, in this matter, is so various, and his reasons\nso sublime and impenetrable, that it is in vain for us to attempt to\ntrace out his rules of action.\n\nSometimes he chuses a man of great intellectual powers, and sets an\ninvisible mark of divine love upon him: At another time he takes\npleasure to pour contempt on all the pride of human reason, by chusing a\nfoolish man, and making him an humble believer. Sometimes he exalts the\nman of natural virtue into a saint; and again, he spreads shame and\nconfusion over all our own pretended righteousnesses and vain\nconfidence, by culling out, here and there, a profane wretch, and\nconverting him to faith and holiness, and in the mean time he leaves\nsome that are sober, and have many human virtues, and good appearances,\nto perish with the Pharisee and the hypocrite for ever, in their pride\nand self-righteousness. Jesus, the Man, looked upon this pretty youth\nthat was well-born, sober, and virtuous, and he loved him; but the\neternal God chose him not for a saint, for he suffered him to run\nmadding after his many possessions, and to despise heaven. Here it\nbecomes us to be silent and adore. O the depths of divine counsel! O the\nawful and glorious sovereignty of the grace of God, that could pass by\nso desirable a person, whom the man Jesus could not look upon without\npity and love! _How unsearchable are his ways, and his judgments past\nfinding out_; Rom. xi. 33.\n\nNow though this be a very painful and tremendous meditation, yet there\nis an excellent use to be made of it. No man should despair of\nsalvation, and the love of God, how mean and despicable soever his\nappearance be among men, or how remote soever from all that we call\nlovely. Let him forsake all sin and be happy for ever. Nor should the\nmost amiable of creatures, in the natural or civil world, flatter\nthemselves that they are upon that account beloved of God, and shall\ncertainly be partakers of eternal blessings in the world of glory. Let\nthem follow Christ, and be saved.\n\nBut I would dwell upon this last thought a little, and therefore I shall\npropose my fourth remark in this manner.\n\n4th Remark. Many lovely accomplishments, joined together, will not carry\na natural man to heaven. The finest composition of beauty and youth,\nstrength and riches, and all this embellished with many forms of\ngodliness, and some shining outward virtues, will not obtain eternal\nlife. The man that is thus qualified and adorned, if he prefers earth to\nheaven, and loves the possessions of this world, above spiritual\ntreasures, abides in a state of condemnation and death. Grace is not a\nflower that grows in the field of nature, nor is it made by the heart of\nman: it is a divine seed; it is planted in our hearts by the Spirit of\nGod; John i. 13. The saints _are born not of blood_; that is, by natural\ngeneration; _nor of the will of the flesh_, that is, by our own powers\nof nature; _nor of the will of man_; that is, by the influence that\nothers have over us; _but of God_.\n\nA man may set himself to work awhile for the good of his soul, and yet\nmay miss of salvation: _Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way that\nleads to life, and few there be that find it_; Mat. vii. 14. And _many\nwhich seek to enter in, shall not be able_; Luke xiii. 24, They seek,\nbut not with all their might: they are not willing to forsake all for\nheaven, and therefore they obtain it not: they seek, perhaps, with\ndiligence for a season, and give out before they have attained; they\ntire, and grow weary, and lose the prize: they seek, but not in God\u2019s\nappointed way, and according to the rules of the gospel; and no wonder\nif their labour be vain; for _he that striveth is not crowned, except he\nstrive lawfully_; 2 Tim. ii. 5. And this was the case of the rich young\nman; he sought eternal life, but not with all his soul, for he could not\ntake up his cross and follow Christ; he sought the kingdom of God for a\nseason; but when he came to the hard work of self-denial, he would not\nventure into that thorny path, but turned back, and _went away\nsorrowful_. He sought justification and peace with God, but not in a\nright way; for being _ignorant of God\u2019s righteousness, and going about\nto establish his own, he fell short of the righteousness of God_, and\nattained it not; Rom. x. 3. He loved heaven well, but he loved this\nearth better: he chose his portion and happiness in this world, and lost\nhis soul.\n\nThe eye of God, our Judge, is sharp and severe; he sees the hidden vices\nof the mind, through all the fairest veils of nature, and the brightest\ndress of outward virtue. We may cheat others with the disguises of\nreligion, and allure the love of the best of christians: we may cheat\nourselves by these fair appearances, and entertain a fond opinion of our\nown saintship; but the great God can never be imposed upon at this rate.\nHe knows well what is lovely and excellent in his creatures; but when he\nseats himself upon his throne of judgment, all their shining ornaments\nof body and mind are blemished, are darkened, are lost in his eyes, if\nhe discovers a secret love to sin in the heart. Where the love of this\nworld prevails, it over-balances all other good qualities, though ever\nso valuable in themselves, and though they may create love in every\nbeholder, yet the love of God is not to be purchased, nor persuaded,\ncontrary to his own settled and eternal rules of judgment. _If any man\nlove this world, the love of the Father is not in him_; 1 John ii. 15.\nnor does the Father love him. The prince of devils has many noble\nendowments, and intellectual glories; the natural powers of an angel\nremained still with him; but his inward enmity to God, confines him for\never to hell: and in the sense of the apostle James, _Whosoever will be\na friend to the world, is the enemy of God_; James iv. 4, though in many\nother excellencies he might be a fellow for angels.\n\nWise and happy is that soul who fears to build his hopes of heaven upon\nthe sand, upon a shining but feeble foundation. Wise and happy is he who\ndoes not mistake the glories of nature for divine grace; who does not\nsatisfy himself to seek a little after heaven, but resolves to find it,\nand parts with all for the knowledge and the love of Christ. While\nothers, who pretend to much wisdom, raise their vain expectations of\nhappiness, upon a few natural accomplishments, and devout wishes, this\nman pursues the work upon diviner principles, and brings it to\nperfection: and when others, at the great day of decision, meet with\nshame and terrible disappointment, he shall be applauded, in the face of\nangels, as the only wise man, and shall find himself for ever happy.\n\nThe 5th, and last remark, is this; how dangerous a snare is great\nriches! They become a sore temptation (even to persons well-inclined) to\ntie their souls fast to this world, and persuade them to neglect God,\nand Christ, and heaven. This was the case of the young man in my text;\n_he went away_ from our Lord melancholy and grieved, that he could not\njoin Christ and the world together: he _had great possessions_, and\ntherefore he refused to be a follower of Christ, under the poor and mean\ncircumstances of his appearance among men; see verses 22, 23. And our\nLord himself makes this same remark, _How hardly shall they that have\nriches enter into the kingdom of God?_ that is, as he explains it in the\nfollowing verse, because it is so hard, for those who possess great\nriches, not to love them too well, and to trust in them as their chief\ngood.\n\nHow many lovely qualities are here spoiled at once, by the love of this\nworld! and a man that was not far from the kingdom of God, divided from\nChrist, and driven to a fatal distance from heaven, by this dangerous\ninterposing snare! A wretched chain, though it was a golden one, that\nwithheld his soul from the embraces of his Saviour. He was young, he was\nmodest and humble, he had a desire to be saved, and he went far in the\noutward forms of godliness; _all these commands_, said he, _have I kept\nfrom my youth_, or childhood; and he had a mind to follow Christ too:\nBut Jesus was poor, and his followers must take up their cross, and\nshare in his poverty. This was the parting point; this was the bar to\nhis salvation; he was _almost a christian_, but his riches prevented him\nfrom being _altogether so_. O fatal wealth, and foolish possessor!\n\nIt became our blessed Lord, the heir of all things to divest himself of\nwealth and grandeur, and to renounce all the pomp and glittering\nequipage of this world, when he came to introduce a religion so\nspiritual and so refined, as the gospel was: and it became him to put\nsuch a test as this to such as pretended to be his disciples; whether\nthey durst venture to exchange the present world, and the visible\nenjoyments of it, for glories future and invisible? It was proper he\nshould try whether they could deny themselves, and become poor for his\nsake, who made himself poor for their sakes, and promised them unknown\ntreasures in heaven. But the test proved too severe, and the gate too\nstrait for this young man, with all the bulk of his estate to enter in\nat it.\n\nWell might the apostle teach Timothy, the young preacher, to _charge\nthem that are rich in this world, not to trust in uncertain riches, but\nto do good_ to the poor, to _distribute_, to the needy, that they _might\nlay up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to\ncome_; 1 Tim. vi. 17, &c. because men are so ready to think that a store\nof gold is a good foundation to trust in for happiness here, and forget\nhereafter. Well might he admonish them _to lay hold on eternal life_,\nbecause they are so ready to hold their money fast, though they let\neternal life go. They that have much, are often greedy of more, and\nthereby _fall into temptations and snares, into many foolish and hurtful\nlusts, that drown men in perdition: for the love of money is the root of\nall evil; which, while some coveted after, they have erred from the\nfaith_, have forsaken Christ, _and pierced themselves through with many\nsorrows_; ver. 9, 10.\n\nShall I take occasion here to put the rich in mind of their danger, and\nintreat them to watch against the shining allurement that besets them\naround? Have a care lest your eyes be dazzled with this glittering\nworld, and blinded to the gospel of Christ: and shall I comfort the\npoor, by telling them their privilege, how much more free they are from\nthis golden snare? You have been used to meanness and poverty, therefore\nwe may hope that the plainness and simplicity of the gospel will not\noffend you: that the doctrine of the cross, and the poverty of the Man\nof Nazareth, who hung upon it for your sakes, will not be a scandal to\nyour thoughts, nor a bar to your faith. In the days of Christ, the _poor\nreceived the gospel; and not many rich, and not many mighty_, have in\nany age been the followers of a despised Jesus.\n\nO may the rich in this assembly be led by divine grace to break through\nall their temptations, and attend their Saviour, though his name, and\nhis disciples here on earth be surrounded with all the forms of contempt\nand poverty! And may the meaner hearers improve their advantage, and\ntake up their cross, and follow their Lord, till they are all joined to\nthe glorious assembly above, and made possessors of everlasting riches!\n_Amen._\n\n\n HYMN FOR SERMON VII.\n _A Hopeful Youth falling short of Heaven._\n\n\n Must all the charms of nature then,\n So hopeless to salvation prove?\n Can hell demand, can heaven condemn\n The man whom Jesus deigns to love?\n\n The man, who sought the ways of truth,\n Paid friends and neighbours all their due\n A modest, sober, lovely youth,\n And thought he wanted nothing now?\n\n But mark the change: thus spake the Lord\n Come part with earth for heaven to-day:\n The youth astonished at the word,\n In silent sadness went his way.\n\n Poor virtues, that be boasted so,\n This test unable to endure,\n Let Christ, and grace, and glory go,\n To make his land and money sure!\n\n Ah foolish choice of treasurer here!\n Ah fatal love of tempting gold!\n Must this base world be bought so dear!\n And life and heaven so cheaply sold?\n\n In vain the charms of nature shine,\n If this vile passion governs me:\n Transform my soul, O love divine!\n And make me part with all for thee.\n\n\n\n\n SERMON VIII.\n _A Hopeful Youth falling Short of Heaven._\n MARK x. 21.\u2014Then Jesus beholding him, loved him.\n THE SECOND PART.\n\n\nWhen our Saviour dwelt upon earth, he found a young man in the coasts of\nJudea, that preferred the riches of this world to all the treasures of\nheaven; and yet Jesus cast an eye of love upon him.\n\nIn the foregoing discourse upon these words, it has been considered what\nsort of love Christ could shew to a man, whose soul was so vain and\ncarnal; and what good qualities appeared in this youth, that could\nengage the love of our Saviour, notwithstanding the guilt of his\ncovetousness; and some remarks were made upon a man so lovely, and so\nbeloved of Christ.\n\n_First_, The love which our Saviour manifested to this person, was not\nproperly a divine love, for that would have changed his nature, and\nrefined his carnal desires, and conferred grace and salvation upon him:\nWe must understand it therefore only in this sense, that the affections\nof his human nature were drawn out towards something that was valuable\nand excellent in this young Israelite: He approved of those\naccomplishments which he beheld in him, and felt a sort of complacency\nin his person and character. He had an innocent and human desire of his\nwelfare, he gave him divine instructions for this end, and pitied him\nheartily that he was so far gone in the love of the world, as to neglect\nthe offer of heaven.\n\n_Secondly_, The qualities which might attract our Saviour\u2019s love, were\nsuch as these: He was young and sprightly, and it was probable that he\nhad something very agreeable in his aspect: His carriage was courteous\nand obliging for he kneeled before our Lord, and saluted him with much\ncivility: He had a religious education, much outward sobriety and\nvirtue, so that he was ready to think himself a complete saint. _All\nthese commands_, says he, _have I kept from my youth_; yet he was\nwilling to receive further instructions, if any thing else were\nnecessary, in order to eternal life. Add to all this, that he was rich\nand powerful, he was a ruler among the Jews, and had large possessions,\nwhich made his humility and other virtues appear the more amiable,\nbecause they so seldom are found in persons of an exalted station.\n\n_Thirdly_, The remarks that were made upon a person that had so many\ngood qualities, and yet missed of heaven, might instruct us not to\ndisclaim any thing that is worthy and excellent, though it is mingled\nwith much iniquity; but to pay respect and love, as our Lord Jesus did,\nto persons that have any thing valuable in them, though their virtues\nare imperfect, and fall short of saving grace. We may learn also, that\nGod chuses not as man would chuse, nor saves all those that a wise and\ngood man may well bestow his love upon. We are taught further, that many\nlovely accomplishments, joined together, are not sufficient to attain\neternal life, unless we renounce this world, and follow Christ: and we\nare divinely warned of the danger of riches, how great a snare they\nsometimes prove to persons of a hopeful character.\n\n_Fourthly_, We proceed now to the last thing proposed, and that is, to\nmake an address to three sorts of persons, taking the occasion from the\ncharacter in my text.\n\nI. Those who have any thing lovely or excellent in them, but through the\npower of a carnal mind, are kept at a distance from God, and have no\ntitle to heaven; such are beloved of men, but not beloved of God.\u2014II.\nThose who are weaned in some good measure from this world, and have\ntreasures in heaven, but are defective in those qualities that might\nrender them amiable on earth; such are beloved of God, but not of\nmen.\u2014III. Those that are furnished with every good quality, and every\ngrace, that are the objects of the special love of God, and almost every\nman loves them too.\n\nI. Let me address myself to those who have any thing lovely or excellent\nin them, but, through the power of a carnal mind, are kept at a distance\nfrom God, and have no title to heaven. Such was the young man in the\ngospel; and according to the several good qualities that he possessed, I\nshall divide my exhortation to several persons.\n\n1. To such as are endowed with any natural excellencies of body or mind.\nYouth and beauty, strength and health, wit and reason, judgment, memory,\nor sweet disposition; all these are the gifts of God in the world of\nnature, and render persons so far amiable as they are possessed of them.\nYou that flourish in the vigour and glory of youth, and yet have no\nsaving acquaintance with God in Christ, no right to eternal life; while\nI behold you, I mourn over you with much compassion. What pity it is\nthat the flower of your age should be employed only to sooth your\nvanity! to adorn your guilty passions, and to dress up the scenes of\nsin! That flower will wither in old age, and it leaves no perfume\nbehind, but what arises from virtue and goodness: or, perhaps, you will\ngive it up to untimely decay: by indulgence of irregular pleasures, you\ndevote it to be blasted by the breath of Satan, and in the smoke of\nhell. But is it not a pity, that a strong and healthy constitution\nshould be wasted in slavery to your appetites, and in making provision\nfor the flesh, to fulfil the lusts of it? Why should not the powers of\nnature, in their first bloom and glory, adorn the kingdom of grace? Why\nshould not our sprightly days, and the warmest hours of life, be\nemployed in some useful activity for the interest of God! What a decency\nand honour is added to religion, by its fairest and youngest votaries!\nWith what peculiar praises does the word of God recommend the character\nof youthful piety? How is the young king Josiah celebrated in the sacred\nrecords? that _while he was yet young he began to seek after the God of\nDavid his Father, &c._ 2 Chron. xxiv. 3. How is Timothy commended, _who\nhad known the holy scriptures from his very childhood_: 2 Tim. iii. 15.\nAnd there are some young in years, to whom the apostle John might\naddress himself with the same pleasure as he does to the christian\nconverts, whom he calls young men, strong in grace, who had the love of\nGod abiding in them, and had overcome the wicked one; 1 John ii. 14. And\nhe gives them in the next verse a most needful and friendly caution\nagainst the _love of the world, and the things of it_, lest they shut\nthe love of the Father out of their hearts. What an abuse and waste of\nlife are ye guilty of, when ye lay out the brightest moments of it upon\nthe works of darkness? and treasure up to yourselves everlasting\ndarkness and fire!\n\nI pity the young, the vigorous, the comely figures of human nature, that\nneglect to seek after divine grace, that are ruined and made wretched to\nall eternity, by their excessive love of the pleasures, or the pomp, or\nthe riches of this vain world. A thousand such sinners that were once\nthe hope of their families, and the lovely ornaments of the place they\nlived in, are now cursing the day of their birth, and raging with\ndespair in the midst of the wrath of God.\n\nLet me speak a word to those also that have rich endowments of mind.\nWhere we behold a sprightly genius, solid reason, and deep judgment, we\ncannot forbear loving the possessors of them: We cannot forbear to say,\n\u201cIt is a pity that so much wit should be abused to ridicule religion,\nand do honour to foul iniquity; that it should be enslaved to all the\narts of lewdness, and dress up the shame of nature in the charms of\nlanguage.\u201d Or if it be not debased to so exceeding vile purposes, yet at\nbest, it is a pity it should be all employed in jesting and trifling, in\nmirth and raillery, and vain amusement. Might it not have been laid out\ninfinitely better, to allure sinners to the love of God, to adorn the\ntruths of our holy profession, and give credit to the gospel of Christ,\neven in the eyes of the witty and profane?\n\nI pity the man of lively imagination without sanctifying grace. What a\nlovely wilderness of blooming weeds! fair indeed in various colours, but\nuseless and unsavoury, and it must be burnt up with unquenchable fire.\nYou are the persons whose happy talents give a relish to the common\ncomforts of life; you diffuse joy and pleasure through all the company,\nand enliven the dullest hours; your presence is coveted by all men, and\nyou are beloved of all: But how dismal is your state, if you neglect\nholiness and are not beloved of God! Can you imagine that your gay fancy\nwill brighten the gloom of hell? or give airs to yourselves or your\ncompanions, in those hideous regions of sorrow? It is a most melancholy\nreflection to consider, that persons of your accomplishments should\nincrease the number of the damned; and there is no sport or amusement\nadmitted there, to divert the anguish of the tortured mind, or to\nrelieve that heavy and everlasting heart-ache.\n\nI pity the man of strong reason and great sagacity of judgment, that\nhath traced nature in her most secret recesses; that has sounded the\ndepths of the sea, and measured the heavens; but has spent no time in\nsearching the deep things of God, and lets the mysteries of religion lie\nunregarded as obscure and useless things. He has never sounded the depth\nof his own misery and guilt, as he is a son of Adam: Nor is he\nacquainted with the way of climbing to heaven by the cross of the Son of\nGod. Reason is a faculty of supreme excellence among the gifts of\nnature, and it is dreadful to think that it should ever be engaged in\nopposition to divine grace. How great and wretched are the men of\nreason, who strain the nerves of their soul to overturn the doctrine of\nChrist! who labour with all their intellectual powers to shake the\nfoundations of the gospel, to diminish the authority of the scriptures,\nand to unsettle the hope of feeble christians!\n\nThere are others who employ the best powers of the soul in pursuing the\ninterests of this life; they are wise in contriving to gratify their\nappetites, to fill their coffers, and to heap up to themselves wealth\nand honours; and wise to secure all these to their posterity after\ndeath: _They call their lands by their own names_, and perpetuate their\nmemory to the latest generation, but make no provision for their own\nsouls: they are wise to set in order their houses in the day of their\nhealth, and all things prepared for their dying hour, besides the\nconcerns of their own eternity; these are delayed from day to day, and\nleft at the utmost hazard; and still they think the next month, or the\nnext year, it is time enough to prepare for heaven, when perhaps a\nsummons is sent suddenly from on high; _Thou fool this night is thy soul\nrequired of thee_; Luke xii. 20. What confusion and fear, what hurry and\ndistress of spirit will seize you in that hour? You that have laid out\nall your wisdom upon the little businesses of this life, and trifled\nwith affairs of everlasting importance; you must go down to the chambers\nof death in surprize and anguish; you must leave all the fruits of your\nwisdom behind you, and be branded for eternal fools.\n\nI pity those who are blest with a large memory, and would plead with you\nthis day for the sake of your souls. The memory, it is a noble\nrepository of the mind, it is made to receive divine truths, to be\nstored with the ideas of God and his grace, with the glories of Christ\nand heaven; it is given us to furnish and supply the heart and tongue\nupon all occasions, for worship, for conference, and for holy joy. What\npity it is so wondrous a capacity should be crowded with vile images,\nwith wanton scenes, with profane jests, and idle stories! Or, at best,\nit is filled with gold and silver, and merchandize; with lands and\nhouses, ships and insurances; it is all inscribed with stocks,\nannuities, and purchases, and turned into a mere book of accounts, a\ntrading shop, or an everlasting exchange: Night and day, the buyers and\nsellers are passing through this temple, which should be consecrated to\nGod; and there is no room left for the thoughts of heaven there. Shall\nthese busy swarms of cares and vanities for ever fill up so large a\nchamber of the soul? Shall impertinencies be for ever thrust into this\ntreasury? such as will stand you in no stead, when you are dismissed\nfrom the body, but shall vanish all at once in that hour, and shall\nleave your spirits poor and naked; or if they follow you to the world of\nspirits, it will be but as so much fuel gathered for your future\nburning.\n\nThink a little with yourselves, ye possessors of these rich endowments\nof the mind when you have been honoured here on earth, can you bear to\nbe doomed to eternal shame and punishment in hell? Shall this wit and\nthis reason be there employed to express your hatred against God, and to\nforge perpetual blasphemies against the Majesty of heaven? are you\nwilling to be joined to the society of devils, and be engaged in their\nabominable work? Shall this sprightly fancy, this subtle reason, this\nlarge memory, serve for no purpose, but to aggravate your guilt, and\nyour damnation? Shall these fine talents sharpen your misery, and give\nedge to the keenest reflections of conscience: conscience, that inward\nsting of the mind; conscience, that immortal tormentor? Yet this must be\nthe certain portion of those who spend their life, and lie down in\ndeath, with these talents unsanctified: for the anguish and torture of\nsinful souls, must rise, and grow for ever, in proportion to the glory\nof their abused endowments.\n\nThough, perhaps I have been tedious already under this head, yet before\nI part with it, I must address myself to those who are born with a sweet\ndisposition, that seem to be cast in a softer mould than the rest of\nmen. I love and pity those of my acquaintance who are blessed with so\ndivine a temper; who have tenderness and good-will in their very form\nand aspect, and I mourn to think that any of these should perish for\never. You are the favourites of all men, and beloved by all who enjoy\nthe pleasure of your acquaintance; do ye not long to be the favourites\nof God too! You seem to be made for the delight and comfort of mankind:\nbut shall this be all your portion? Good-humour is the composition of\nyour nature, _and the law of kindness is on your lips! when the ear\nhears_ you, _then it blesses you; and when the eye sees_ you, _it gives\nwitness to you_. But is this enough to depend upon for eternal life?\nPerhaps you have borrowed part of the valuable qualities of that good\nman Job, _you have delivered the poor that cry, and the fatherless that\nhad none to help him_; you _have caused the widow\u2019s heart to sing for\njoy, and the blessing of him that was ready to perish, has come often\nupon you_; Job xxix. 11, 12, 13. There is so much natural goodness in\nyour constitution, that leads you on, by a sweet instinct, to the\npractice of many charities: but this is not saving grace. If Jesus\nChrist himself were upon earth in this humbled state, he would look upon\nyou as man, and love you; but the Holy God looks down from heaven, and\nbeholds you as the object of his just and divine hatred, while you live\nin a state of vanity and sin, drunken with sensual pleasures, and at\nenmity with God.\n\nThis sweetness of temper, that springs from your blood, and the happy\nmixture of humours; or, at best, from the mere natural frame of your\nspirits, will never pass, upon the great tribunal, for holiness and\ninward religion. With all this charming appearance of virtues, these\ncolours that look like heaven, you will be doomed to hell and perpetual\nmisery, unless there be found in you some nobler qualities, such as love\nto God, mortification to this world, the knowledge and faith of Jesus\nChrist. If these be not the springs of your charity and love to men, you\nwill not be secured from the condemning sentence of the Judge, nor from\nthe company of devils in the future world.\n\nBut, oh! how will your soft and gentle natures bear the insult and rage\nof those malicious spirits? How will your temper, that had something so\nlovely in it, sustain to be banished for ever from the world of love? to\nbe for ever excluded from all the regions of peace and concord? How will\nyour souls endure the madness and contention, the envy and spite of\nwicked angels? You that delighted on earth in the works of peace, what\nwill ye do when your tender dispositions shall be hourly ruffled by the\nuproar and confusion of those dark regions? and instead of the society\nof God and blessed spirits, ye shall be eternally vexed with the\nperverse tempers of your fellow sinners, the sons of darkness? O that I\ncould speak in melting language, or in the language of effectual terror,\nthat I might by any means awaken your souls to jealousy and timely fear!\nThat so many natural excellencies, as God has distributed amongst you,\nmight not be wasted in sin, abused to dishonour, and aggravate your\neverlasting misery.\n\n[This sermon may be divided here.]\n\n2. My next exhortation shall be addressed to those youths who have been\ntrained up in all the arts of civility, and have acquired a courteous\nand becoming carriage. There is something lovely in such an appearance,\nand it commands the love even of the rude and uncivil. It so nearly\nresembles the sweetness of natural temper, and imitates good humour so\nmuch to the life, that it often passes upon company instead of nature,\nand attains many valuable ends in human society. But where both these\nare happily joined, how shining is that character, and universally\nbeloved? We are pleased and charmed with your conversation, whose\nmanners are polished, and whose language is refined from the rude and\nvulgar ways of speech. You know how to speak civil things, without\nflattery, upon all occasions; to instruct, without assuming a superior\nair, and to reprove without a frown, or forbidding countenance. You have\nlearned when to speak and when to be silent, and to perform every act of\nlife with its proper graces; and can ye be content with all this good\nbreeding to be thrust down to hell? Is it not pity that you should be\ntaught to pay all your honours to men, and practise none to the living\nGod? Have you not read those duties in connexion; 1 Pet. ii. 17. _Honour\nall men, love the brotherhood, fear God, and honour the king._ And why\nwill you divide what God has joined, and give every one their due,\nbesides God your Maker? how dare you treat the creatures with decency\nand ceremony, and treat God the Creator with neglect; salute all men\nwith their proper titles of distinction, and not learn how to address\nGod in prayer? pay due visits to all your acquaintance, and yet scarce\never make a visit to the mercy-seat, or bow your knees before the\nMajesty of Heaven.\n\nI pity those who have all the arts of complaisance in perfection, and\npractise civility in every form; but are very little acquainted with the\nforms of godliness, and never yet felt any thing of the life of\nreligion, or the powers of the world to come. How mournful a sight is it\nto behold a well-accomplished gentleman, yet a vile sinner! A pretty\nobliging youth among men, but deaf and obstinate to all the calls of\nGod, and the intreaties of a dying Saviour! A person of a free and\ningenuous deportment, yet in chains of slavery to corruption and death!\nand how unspeakably sorrowful will it be at the last day, to see such as\nthese, the gay, the affable, the fair-spoken, and the well-bred sinner,\nin the utmost agonies of horror and despair, mourning a lost God, a lost\nsoul, and a lost heaven!\n\nLet me speak once more and try to provoke you to jealousy. Shall the\nrugged and clownish part of mankind press forward into that kingdom\nwhich ye despise? Will ye be patient to see some of the unbred and\nunpolished set at the right hand of the Judge, and yourselves with\nshame, be divided to the left? How will ye endure to see the honours of\nheaven put upon those whom you have so often despised in your hearts\nupon earth? Can you imagine that that tribunal will be bribed with fair\nspeeches? or that any thing will be accepted in that court, besides\nsolid and hearty religion? Suffer this exhortation then, and then\nreceive this advice, you that are not used to deny any thing to your\nfriends, you that love to oblige those who ask any reasonable favour at\nyour hands; nor let me plead this day in vain.\n\n3. To those that have enjoyed the blessing of religious parents, and a\npious education; that have been bred up in the nurture and admonition of\nthe Lord, in the knowledge and practice of the moral law, and in the\noutward performance of religion, according to the appointments of the\ngospel. Children, we love you for your fathers\u2019 sakes: we love to look\nupon you, for you are the little living images of our dearest friends:\nwe have loved to ask you the younger questions that your parents have\ntaught you, and to see the first-fruits of their instruction and holy\ncare; but we pity you, from our very souls, when we behold you break the\nbars of your education, and making haste to ruin: or when, at best, ye\ngo on and tread the circle of outward duties; as ye are led by custom\nand form, with a neglect of inward christianity, and hearty godliness.\n\nDid your parents love God above all earthly things, and will ye prefer\nthe love of this world above all things heavenly and divine? Have ye had\nsuch shining examples of holiness brought so near you to no purpose? Do\nthey pray for you daily? Do they daily mourn over you, and hope, and\nwish, and exhort you to take care of your souls? And are you resolved\nthat their counsels, their prayers, and their tears, shall be laid out\nupon you in vain? Is this the return you make for all their care and\ncompassion? They tell you daily that they can have _no greater joy than\nto see their children walking in the truth_, and will you cruelly\ndisappoint their pleasures, and bring down their grey hairs with sorrow\nto the grave? Perhaps there are some of you, who already have parted\nwith your parents, and their spirits are at rest; and has neither their\nlife, nor their death, made serious and lasting impressions upon you;\nhave they entreated you in their last dying moments, by all that is dear\nand sacred, to make sure of heaven? And will you abandon these\nentreaties, and sell your souls to the world, and to death, for a few\nperishing temptations? Have they laid a solemn charge upon you at their\nlast farewell, to travel in the paths of piety, and meet them on mount\nSion in the great day? and have you wandered already from this high road\nof holiness, and forgot the solemnity and the charge? Shall your parents\ndwell for ever with their God, and shall their children for ever dwell\nin fire prepared for the devil and his angels?\n\nYou cannot sin at so easy and so cheap a rate as others. You must break\nthrough stronger bonds, and do bolder violence to your consciences,\nbefore you can indulge iniquity, and pursue wickedness. Your temptations\nto sin have been less than others, and your advantages for salvation\nhave been much greater. Our hearts bleed within us, to think of your\ndouble guilt, and your aggravated damnation: to think that you should\nnot only be separated from your parents, and their God, for ever, but\nthat your place of torment shall be the hottest also, amongst all your\ncompanions in misery.\n\nWhat anguish and inward vexation will seize you, when ye shall reflect\nhow nigh ye were raised in outward privileges, and how near ye were\nbrought to heaven? and how you quitted your interest, and your hopes\nthere, for the trifles of this life, for a base lust, or a foolish\nvanity: What will ye say, when ye shall see _many coming from the east,\nand from the west_, from families of wickedness, from the ends of the\nearth, and from the borders of hell, and sit down with your fathers in\nthe kingdom of heaven; while you _the children of the kingdom, are cast\nout into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth_;\nMat. viii. 11, 12. I presume thus far with freedom to address you, _if\nby any methods I might provoke to emulation them which are of the flesh\nof Israel, of the kindred of the saints, and might save some of them_;\nRom. xi. 14.\n\n4. To those who have taken some pains in seeking after eternal life, and\nare still enquiring the way thither. Have a care of resting in the mere\npractice of moral duties, or in the outward profession of christianity:\nnever content yourselves with the righteousness of the Pharisee. Were\nyour virtues more glorious than they are, and your righteousnesses more\nperfect, they could never answer for your former guilt, before the\nthrone of a just and holy God. It is only the atonement of Christ, and\nhis all-sufficient sacrifice, which can stand you in stead there; and it\nis pity that a youth, of so much virtue, should fall short of heaven,\nand be but almost a christian. It is pity that you should have gained so\nlarge a share of knowledge, and so honourable a character of sobriety,\nand, after all, want _the one thing needful_, an universal change, and\nrenovation of your hearts, by receiving the gospel. Have you proceeded\nthus far, and will you not go on to perfection? _Take heed that ye lose\nnot the things that ye have wrought, but that ye receive a full reward_;\n2 John 8.\n\nIt is pity you should enquire the way to heaven, and not walk in it,\nwhen it is marked out before your feet with so much plainness: It is\npity you should indulge the love of this world so far, as to suffer it\nto forbid you the pursuit of a better; or at best, when ye receive\ninstructions about your souls, you let the affairs of this life\noverwhelm and bury that good seed, and it never grows up to practice.\nWhat would you say to the folly of a man, who has a long and hazardous\njourney to make, to take possession of a large estate, and once a week\nhe comes to enquire the way, and hears a fair description of all the\nroad, perhaps he mourns his long neglect, and resolves upon the journey;\nbut the next six days are filled up with a thousand impertinences; and\nwhen the seventh returns, he has not taken one step forward in the way?\n\nBelieve me, sirs, it is not an easy thing to be saved: laziness, and\nmere enquiries, will never effect your happiness, nor secure your souls\nfrom perdition; and all the pains you have already taken will be lost,\nif you give over the pursuit. Let me call some of you this day to\nremember your former labours, the prayers and tears that you have poured\nout in secret before God; remember your days of darkness, and your\nnights of terror, the groans of conscience, and the inward agonies you\nfelt, when you were first awakened to behold your guilt and danger;\nremember these hours, and these sorrows; and love and pity your own\nsouls so far, as to pursue the work, and let not your pains be lost:\n_Have ye suffered so many things in vain, if it be yet in vain_; Gal.\niii. 4. Ye have wrestled with some sins, and have in part got the\nmastery over them; and shall a darling lust overcome you at last, and\nslay your souls with eternal death? Ye have resisted the tempter in some\nof his assaults and put the powers of hell to flight; will you give up\nyourselves at last to be led in triumph by Satan, and become his\neverlasting slave? Methinks you look so amiable in those victories ye\nhave already obtained, that I would fain have you press onward through\nthe field of battle, fulfil the warfare, and receive the crown.\n\nThe ministers of the gospel look upon you with concern and pity: We love\nyou because you have proceeded thus far in religion; but ye shall not be\nthe beloved of God, if ye stop here, or go back again to sin and folly.\nWe had a hopeful prospect of you once, and said to our Lord in prayer,\n\u201cSurely these shall be one day the inhabitants, and the supports of\nthine house; these young plants shall one day be fruitful trees in thy\nvineyard; they shall be pillars in thy holy temple.\u201d But alas! there is\na death upon our hopes, there is a darkness and a lethargy upon your\nsouls: We look upon you in all these your endowments, we mourn over you\nwith compassion, and with zeal we express our grief and our love:\n\u201cAwake, ye young sinners, who have deserved our love; awake, that ye\nsleep not to everlasting death.\u201d\n\n5. To those that are rich in this world, and are furnished with the\nformer good qualities too. I am well assured, while I address myself to\nthis assembly, I speak to many persons of this character[22]. Ye are\nwealthy and condescending, like the young man in my text: ye are often\nuncovered, and ye pay reverence to the ministers of the gospel, as he\ndid; ye give us honours and civilities beyond our merit or wish; ye come\nand ask of us the same question, \u201cWhat shall we do to inherit eternal\nlife?\u201d And we tell you from the word of God, \u201cLove not the world, nor\nthe things of the world; for where the love of the world is, the love of\nthe Father is not. If riches increase, set not your heart upon them.\nMortify your affections that are upon the earth, and deny yourselves,\ntake up your cross, and follow Christ.\u201d Become his disciples, without\nreserve, in faith, and love, and universal holiness. While we propose\nthese paths to eternal happiness, shall it be said concerning you, they\nwent away sorrowful, having great possessions?\n\nYour condescending and affable deportment, looks brighter by all the\nrich lustre of your habits; and the bigger your circumstances are, the\nmore lovely is your humble attention to the ministers of Christ, and\nyour readiness to hear our words is the more commendable: But will ye be\nhearers only, and never practice? The time is coming, and the hour makes\nhaste upon you, when ye shall stand upon the borders of the grave, and\nlook into that world of spirits, where all the honours and distinctions\nof this world are known no more. Ye shall be stripped of those vanities\nwhich ye loved above God and heaven. Think how mean and despicable a\nfigure your souls will make amongst fallen angels, if the love of this\nworld, and neglect of God should bring you into that dreadful company.\nWhat gay and swelling figures soever you have made on earth, you will\nmake but a poor and wretched one in that world, if ye are found\ndestitute of the riches of grace; and it will be a mournful inscription\nwritten on your tomb, \u201c_This rich man died,\u2014\u2014and he lift up his eyes in\nhell_;\u201d Luke xvi. 23. _But, beloved, we hope better things of you,\nthough we thus speak, and things that accompany salvation_; Heb. vi. 9.\nThus I have finished the first general exhortation, to those who have\nany valuable qualities attending them, but through the love of this\nworld are tempted to neglect heaven.\n\nThe second exhortation is addressed to those who are weaned, in some\ngood degree, from this world, and have treasures in heaven, but are\ndefective in those good qualities which might render them amiable upon\nearth. I confess I have no direct commission from my text to address you\nhere: But I am unwilling and ashamed that a rich young man should go to\nhell with some more lovely appearances upon him than you have, who are\nin the way to heaven.\n\nYou have chosen God for your eternal portion, and your highest hope; you\nhave chosen his Son Jesus for your only Mediator, and your way to the\nFather: you have chosen the worship and the ordinances of God as your\ndearest delight; ye are the chosen objects of the love of God, and his\ngrace has inclined you to love him above all things. Methinks I would\nnot have any blot cast upon so many excellencies. Be ye advised\ntherefore to seek after that agreeable temper and conduct which may make\nyou beloved of men too; that the wisest and best of men may chuse you\nfor an honour to their acquaintance and company. This will render your\nprofession more honourable, and make religion itself look more lovely in\nthe sight of the world.\n\nWhat a foul blemish it is to our christianity, when we shall hear it\nsaid, \u201cHere is a man who professes the gospel of grace, but he does not\npractise the decencies that the light of nature would teach him! He\ntells us, that he belongs to heaven; but he has so little of humanity in\nhis deportment, that he is hardly fit company for any upon earth.\u201d Shall\nit be said of any of you, \u201cHere is a man that pretends to the love of\nGod, but he is morose in his disposition, rude in his behaviour, and\nmakes a very unlovely figure amongst men? Let him fill what station he\nwill in the church, he bears but a disagreeable character in the house,\nand disgraces the family or the city where he dwells. What his secret\nvirtues or graces are, we know not, for they shine all inward; he keeps\nall his goodness to himself, and never suffers his light to shine out\namongst his neighbours.\u201d\n\nCan I bear that it should be said concerning me, \u201cHe seems indeed to\nhave something of the love of God in him, but he is so rough in his\nnatural temper, and so uncorrected in his manners, that scarce any man\nloves him? He may bend his knees to God in prayer, but he has not common\ncivility towards men. His morality and honesty appear not upon him with\nhonour: His virtue does not seem to sit well about him, and his religion\nis dressed in a very unpleasing form.\u201d Is this the way to give\nreputation to the gospel? Is this to _adorn the doctrine of God our\nSaviour in all things_; Tit. ii. 10. When we become christians, we _put\naway bitterness, and wrath, and clamour, and evil-speaking, and\nfilthiness, and scurrilous jests_; Eph. iv. 31. and v. 4. We are\ncommanded to _speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers_; but to be\n_gentle, and shew meekness to all_; Tit. iii. 2. _to prefer one another\nin honour; to bless, and curse not; to rejoice with them that rejoice,\nand to weep with them that weep; to condescend to men of low estate;\nand, if possible, to live peaceably with all men_; Rom. xii. 14, 15,\n16-18.\n\nAre there any souls here of this unpleasing character and carriage! Did\nyou ever read these words in your bibles? Do ye think these are the\ncommands of Christ, or no? You profess to love him above all, but what\ncare have you taken to obey these precepts of his? or do you think the\nsublime practices of faith and adoration will make those lower duties\nneedless? Have ye found the sweetness of being at peace with God, and\ntasted of the pleasures of his love; and can ye disregard all the\npractices and pleasures of love and peace among men?\n\nWe are not required indeed to sell truth for peace, nor strict godliness\nfor the forms of civility. There is no need that we should conform\nourselves to any of the sinful practices of this world, in order to\nfulfil the law of love. But wheresoever the customs of the place where\nwe dwell are consistent with the strict and holy rules of Christ, we\nshould practise them so far, as to render ourselves agreeable to those\nwith whom we converse, that we may shine in the world as the honours of\nChrist, and that unbelievers may be won by our conversation, to come and\nhear our gospel, to learn the same faith, and embrace the same hope: Not\nonly the things that are true, and honest, and just, and pure, but the\nthings that are lovely in the sight of men, and things that are of good\nreport, must be the subjects of our meditation, our learning, and\npractice; Phil. iv. 8. St. Paul, that great apostle, did not think these\nthings unworthy of his care; he enjoins them upon the primitive\nchristians from his own example, and promises them the presence of the\nGod of peace. These are the things which I have taught you, saith he,\nthese ye have heard and seen in me; conform your manners to these rules,\nand the God of peace shall be with you; ver. 9.\n\nBelieve me, friends, the natural habit of christianity is all decency\nand loveliness: We put the religion of our Saviour into a disguise, and\nmake it look unlike itself, if our temper be sour and fretful, if our\ncarriage be coarse and rude, and our speech savour of roughness and\nwrath. A Jew might make a better apology, for a harsh and severe\ndeportment, than a christian could do; he might put on a morose air with\nbetter countenance, and plead the dispensation he was under, the bondage\nof the law, and the terrors of mount Sinai. But we under the gospel, are\nfree-born; Gal. iv. 26-31. and our carriage should be ingenuous in all\nrespects. John the baptist, in his garment of hair, may be indulged in a\nroughness of speech; he was but a forerunner of the gospel, and can\nhardly be called a christian: but the followers of the Lamb should have\na mild aspect, a pleasing manner, that every one who beholds us may love\nus too; that the Son of God, if he were here upon earth, might look upon\nus and love us in both his natures, with a divine and human love.\n\nThirdly, The last address I would make to those who are furnished with\nevery good quality, and every divine grace, who are beloved by God and\nmen. Such a one was our Lord Jesus Christ in the days of his flesh: He,\nfrom his very childhood, grew in wisdom, and in stature, and in favour\nwith God and man; Luke ii. 52. He had further discoveries of divine love\nmade to him daily: and as his acquaintance increased in his younger\nyears, so did his friends too, till his divine commission made it\nnecessary for him to oppose the corruptions of his country, and reform a\nwicked age, and thus expose himself to the anger of a nation that would\nnot be reformed. There was something lovely in his human nature, beyond\nthe common appearance of mankind; for his body was a temple, in which\nthe godhead dwelt in a peculiar and transcendent manner, and his soul\nwas intimately united to divinity. I cannot but think, that, in a\nliteral sense, he was _fairer than the children of men_, and that there\nwas _grace in his lips_, and a natural sweetness in his language: Psal.\nxlv. 2. If the Jews beheld _no comeliness in him, if his visage was\nmarred more than the sons of men_, it was because he _was a man of_\nuncommon _sorrows, and acquainted with grief_; which might cast\nsomething of heaviness or gloom upon his countenance, or wear out the\nfeatures of youth too soon. But surely our Lord, in the whole\ncomposition of his nature, in the mildness of his deportment, and in all\nthe graces of conversation, was _the chiefest of ten thousands, and\naltogether lovely_. How amiable are those who are made like him?\n\nSuch was John the beloved disciple; you may read the temper of his soul\nin his epistles: What a spirit of love breathes in every line? What\ncompassion and tenderness to the babes in Christ? What condescending\naffection to the young men, and hearty good-will to the fathers, who\nwere then his equals in age? With what obliging language does he treat\nthe beloved Gaius, in his third letter; and with how much civility, and\nhearty kindness, does he address the elect lady and her children, in the\nsecond? In his younger years, indeed, he seems to have something more of\nfire and vehemence, for which he was surnamed _A son of thunder_; Mark\niii. 17. But our Lord saw so much good temper in him, mixed with that\nsprightliness and zeal, that he expressed much pleasure in his company,\nand favoured him with peculiar honours and endearments above the rest.\nThis is the disciple who was taken into the holy mount with James and\nPeter, and saw our Lord glorified before the time; this is the disciple\nwho leaned on his bosom at the holy supper, and was indulged the utmost\nfreedom of conversation with his Lord; John xiii. 23, 24, 25. This is\nthe man who obtained this glorious title, _The disciple whom Jesus\nloved_; that is, with a distinguishing and particular love. As God, and\nas a Saviour, he loved them all like saints; but as man, he loved St.\nJohn like a friend; John xxi. 20. and when hanging upon the cross and\njust expiring, he committed his mother to his care; a most precious and\nconvincing pledge of special friendship.\n\nO how happy are the persons who most nearly resemble this apostle, who\nare thus privileged, thus divinely blessed! How infinitely are ye\nindebted to God your Benefactor, and your Father, who has endowed you\nwith so many valuable accomplishments on earth, and assures you of the\nhappiness of heaven? It is he who has made you fair, or wise; it is he\nwho has given you ingenuity, or riches, or, perhaps, has favoured you\nwith all these; and yet has weaned your hearts from the love of this\nworld, and led you to the pursuit of eternal life: It is he that has\ncast you in so refined a mould, and given you so sweet a disposition,\nthat has inclined you to sobriety and every virtue, has raised you to\nhonour and esteem, has made you possessors of all that is desirable in\nthis life, and appointed you a nobler inheritance in that which is to\ncome. What thankfulness does every power of your natures owe to your\nGod? that heaven looks down upon you, and loves you, and the world\naround you fix their eyes upon you, and love you: That God has formed\nyou in so bright a resemblance of his own Son, his first-beloved, and\nhas ordained you joint-heirs of heaven with him; Rom. viii. 17.\n\nWatch hourly against the temptations of pride; remember the fallen\nangels, and their once exalted station; and have a care lest ye also _be\npuffed up, and fall into the condemnation of the devil_. Walk before God\nwith exactest care, and in deepest humility. Let that divine veil be\nspread over all your honours, that as you are the fairest images of\nChrist, ye may be dressed like him too; for he who is the highest Son of\nGod, is also the holiest of the sons of men; he who is personally united\nto the godhead, and is one with his Creator, is the humblest of every\ncreature.\n\n\n HYMN FOR SERMON VIII.\n _A Hopeful Youth falling Short of Heaven._\n\n\n Thus far \u2019tis well: You read, you pray,\n You hear God\u2019s holy word,\n You hearken what your parents say,\n And learn to serve the Lord.\n\n Your friends are pleas\u2019d to see your ways,\n Your practice they approve:\n Jesus himself would give you praise,\n And look with eyes of love.\n\n But if you quit the paths of truth,\n To follow foolish fires,\n And give a loose to giddy youth,\n With all its wild desires.\n\n If you will let your Saviour go,\n To hold your riches fast;\n Or hunt for empty joys below,\n You\u2019ll lose your heaven at last.\n\n The rich young man whom Jesus lov\u2019d\n Should warn you to forbear!\n His love of earthly treasures prov\u2019d\n A fatal golden snare.\n\n See, gracious God, dear Saviour, see\n How youth is prone to fall:\n Teach them to part with all for thee,\n And love thee more than all.\n\nFootnote 22:\n\n This discourse was delivered at Tunbridge-wells.\n\n\n\n\n SERMON IX.\n _The Hidden Life of a Christian._\n COL. iii. 3.\u2014For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.\n THE FIRST PART.\n\n\nDeath and life are two words of a solemn and important sound. They carry\nso much of force and moment in them, as must awaken mankind to\nattention; and therefore the Spirit of God often uses them as metaphors,\nto express things unseen and spiritual, and to describe the state both\nof saints and sinners: So that all who are alive on the face of the\nearth, in the language of scripture, are said to be dead too, but in\ndifferent senses. Those who are in a state of nature, and under the\npower of sin, unpardoned and unsanctified, are dead in trespasses and\nsins; yet they live the life of brutes in the lusts of the flesh, or the\nlife of devils in the lusts of the mind; Eph. ii. 1, 2. Those who are\nrecovered from the fall, and brought into a state of grace by the gospel\nof Christ, are said to be dead also; that is, they are dead to sin; Rom.\nvi. 11. and they are crucified, and so dead to the world; Gal. vi. 14.\nThe delights of sin are hateful to them, so that they allure them not to\nforsake their God; and the lawful enjoyments of life are so far\ntasteless to the saints, in comparison of the things of heaven, that\nthey have much less influence, than once they had, to tempt them away\nfrom God, and from the practice of holiness.\n\nIt is in this sense the christian Colossians are said to be dead in my\ntext. But they have another, a new life, and that of a different kind;\nsuch as is mentioned in this verse, and which is hid with Christ in God;\nand it is this hidden life shall be the chief subject of my discourse.\n\nThese latter words of the text afford two plain and easy propositions or\ndoctrines.\n\nI. That the life of a christian is a hidden life.\u2014II. That it is hid\nwith Christ in God. Let us meditate on them in order.\n\nDoctrine I. A christian\u2019s life is a hidden life.\u2014Here we shall, _First_,\nConsider what is this life, which is said to be hidden. And, _Secondly_,\nIn what respects it is so.\n\n_First_, What is this life of a christian which is said to be hidden?\n\nNot the animal life, whereby he eats, drinks, sleeps, moves and walks;\nthis is visible enough to all about him. Not the civil life, as he\nstands in relation to other men in the world, whether as a son, as a\nfather, a master, or a servant, a trader, a labourer, or an officer in\nthe state: For all these are public, and seen of men.\n\nBut the hidden life is that whereby he is a christian indeed; his\nspiritual life, wherein he is devoted to God, and lives to the purposes\nof heaven and eternity. And this is the same life, which, in other parts\nof scripture, is called eternal; for the life of grace survives the\ngrave, and is prolonged into glory. The same life of piety and inward\npleasure, which begins on earth, is fulfilled in heaven; and it may be\ncalled the spiritual, or the eternal life, according to different\nrespects; for it is the same continued life acting in different stations\nor places, and running through time and eternity; 1 John v. 11, 12.\nEternal life is in the Son, and he that hath the Son, hath this life; it\nis begun in him, he is already possessed of it in some degree.\n\nAs the life of the child is the same with that of the full-grown man; as\nthe same vital principles and powers run through the several successive\nstages of infancy, youth and manhood; so the divine life of a saint,\nbegun on earth, runs through this world, through death, and the separate\nstate of souls; it appears in full-grown perfection, in the final\nheaven, when the whole saint shall stand complete in glory. Thus the\nspiritual life of a christian is eternal life begun; and eternal life is\nthe spiritual life made perfect.\n\nIf we would describe this life in short, it may be represented thus: It\nis a life of faith, holiness and peace; a life of faith, or dependance\nupon God for all that we want; a life of holiness, rendering back again\nto God, in a way of honour and service, whatsoever we receive from him\nin a way of mercy; and a life of peace in the comfortable sense of the\nfavour of God, and our acceptance with him through Jesus Christ. All\nthese begin on earth, and in this sense faith itself, as well as peace\nand holiness, shall abide in heaven: we shall for ever be dependants,\nfor ever happy and for ever holy.\n\nIn a state of nature the man lived such a sinful and carnal life, that\nwas more properly called death; but when he becomes a believer, a true\nchristian, he is new created; 2 Cor. v. 17. hew-born; John iii. 3,\nraised from the dead, and quickened to a new life; Eph. ii. 1, 5. which\nis called being risen with Christ, in the verses before my text; Col.\niii. 1. And this very spiritual life, as the effect of our symbolical\nresurrection with Christ, is the subject of several verses of the 6th\nchapter to the Romans, whence I cannot but infer the same to be designed\nhere, _viz._ that the christian who is dead to sin, is risen with\nChrist, and alive to God; as Rom. vi. 11. All the life that he lived\nbefore, with all the shew and bravery of it, with all the bustle and\nbusiness, the entertainments and delights of it, was but a mere dream, a\nfancy, the picture of life, a shadow and emptiness, and but little above\nthe brutes that perish. Now he lives a real, a substantial, a divine\nlife, a-kin to God and angels, and quite of a different nature from what\nthe men of this world live.\n\nThere is this difference indeed which the scripture makes between the\nspiritual life and the eternal. The first chiefly respects the\noperations of the soul, for the life of the body is not immortal here:\nthe second includes soul and body too, for both shall possess\nimmortality hereafter. The first is attended with many difficulties and\nsorrows; the second is all ease and pleasure. The first is represented\nas the labour and service: the last, as the great, though unmerited,\nreward; Gal. vi. 8. He that soweth to the Spirit, and fulfils the duties\nof the spiritual life, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. The\none is the life of holiness and inward peace, though mingled with many\ndefects, and surrounded with a thousand disadvantages and trials: the\nother, is the same life of holiness and peace, having surmounted every\ndifficulty, shining and exulting in full joy and glory.\n\n_Secondly_, We come to consider, in what respect this life may be called\na hidden life.\n\nAnd here I shall distinguish that part of it, which is more usually\ncalled the spiritual life, and is exercised in this world, from that\nwhich is more frequently called life eternal, and belongs rather to the\nworld to come: and then I shall make distinct inferences from the\nconsideration of each.\n\nNow let us consider wherein the spiritual life is said to be hidden.\n\nI. The acts and exercises of it are secret and unknown to the public\nworld. The saint is much engaged in the important and hidden concerns of\nhis divine life; and his converse is with God and Christ, who dwell in\nthe world of invisibles.\n\nWho knows the secret transactions between God and the soul of a\nchristian, when he first entered into covenant with God, through Christ\nthe Mediator, and began this happy life? Who can tell the inward\nworkings of his spirit towards Jesus Christ his Lord in the first\nefforts of his faith, and embraces of our Saviour? Who was acquainted\nwith the secret sorrows of his soul, when he was first set a mourning\nfor his past sins, and humbled himself in bitterness before God; Or who\ncan express the surprizing delight, and secret satisfaction he felt at\nheart, when God communicated to him the first lively hope of forgiveness\nand divine salvation? O the unknown joys of such an hour which some\nchristians have experienced, when a divine beam of light shone into\ntheir souls, and revealed Jesus Christ within them, as St. Paul speaks:\nwhen they saw his all-sufficiency of righteousness and grace, to answer\ntheir infinite necessities; and when they durst believe in him as their\nSaviour!\n\nAnd as the beginnings of this life are hidden from the world, so the\nexercises and progress of it are a secret too. While the world is\nfollowing after idols and vanity, the christian, in his retired chamber,\nbreathes after his God and his Redeemer, and gives a loose to his\nwarmest affections, in the pursuit of his Almighty Friend, and his best\nbeloved. While the men of this world are vexing their spirits, and\nfretting under present disappointments, he dwells in a lonesome corner,\nmourning for his sins and follies. And at another time, while the\nchildren of vanity grow proud in public, and boast of their large\npossessions, and inheritances, he rejoices in secret, in the hope of\nglory, and takes divine delight in the fore-thought of his better\ninheritance among the saints: his conversation is in heaven; _Phil._\niii. 20.\n\nI might run through all the exercises of the sanctified affections, and\nthe various parts of the divine worship, and of the conduct of a saint\namong the children of men. With what humble fear does he entertain the\nmention of the name of God? With what deep self-abasement, and inward\nadoration? At the presence of sin how is his anger stirred? and his holy\nwatchfulness when temptations appear? how does he labour and wrestle,\nfight and strive, lest he be overcome by the secret enemies of his soul?\nAnd as his bitterness of heart is unknown to the world, so _a stranger\nintermeddles not with his joy_; Prov. xiv. 10. He feeds on the same\nprovision which his Lord Jesus did on earth, for it his meat and his\ndrink to do the will of his Father which is in heaven; This is a feast\nto the christian, which the world knows not of; John iv. 32, 34.\n\nII. The springs and principles of this life are hidden and unknown to\nthe world; and therefore the world esteems many of the actions of a true\nchristian very strange and unaccountable things, as we shall shew\nafterward, because they see not the springs of them.\n\nThe word of God, or the gospel, with all the hidden treasures of it, is\nthe chief instrument, or means, whereby this divine life is wrought and\nsupported in the soul. The true christian beholds the purity of God in\nthe precepts; he reads grace, heaven, and glory, in the promises; he\nsees the words of the bible in a divine light, and feeds sweetly on the\nhidden blessings of scripture, deriving life, and nourishment, and joy\nfrom it; whereas the carnal world go not far beyond the letters and\nsyllables. The gospel, which is all light and glory to a saint, is\nhidden to them that are lost; 2 Cor. iv. 3. This same gospel is written\nin the heart of a christian, and is the principle of his life there.\nThis is immortal and incorruptible, the seed of the word abiding in the\nheart; the image of the eternal God, drawn out in such characters as our\nnature can bear: For the written word is a transcript of God\u2019s holiness;\nand when it is inwrought into all the powers of a believing soul, it\nbecomes a vital principle within him for ever. A believer is, as it\nwere, cast in the very mould of the gospel; so the word signifies; Rom.\nvi. 17. This is the word hidden in the heart, that secures the saint\nfrom sin; Ps. cxix. 11.\n\nThe motives and springs that awaken a christian to keep up, and maintain\nthis spiritual life, are things hidden from the eyes of the world;\nthings eternal and invisible, 2 Cor. iv. 18. _While we look not at the\nthings that are seen, that are temporal; but at the things that are\nunseen, and eternal_; we then count the joys or sorrows of this world,\nthings of little importance; then we live like christians, and the life\nof our Lord Jesus is manifested, or copied out, in our lives; as ver.\n10, 11.\n\nThe habits of grace and holiness in the hearts of believers, whence all\nthe actions of the spiritual life proceed, are secret and hidden. Who\nknows how they were wrought at first? how this heavenly breath, this\ndivine life was infused, which changed a dead sinner into a living\nsaint? Our Saviour himself compares this work of the Spirit to the wind;\nJohn iii. 8. _We hear the sound_, we feel and see the effects of it,\n_but we know not whence it comes, nor whither it goes; so is every one\nthat is born of the Spirit_. Who can describe those secret and almighty\ninfluences of the blessed Spirit on the mind and will of man, which work\nwith such a sovereign, and yet such a gentle, and con-natural agency,\nthat the believer himself hardly knows it, but by the gracious effects\nof it, and the blessed alterations wrought in his soul.\n\nIt is this glorious Agent, this Creator, this blessed Spirit, who is the\nuncreated principle of this life. The Spirit, as proceeding from our\nLord Jesus Christ, begun this life at first in the soul: and the same\nglorious unseen power carries it on through all difficulties and\noppositions, and will fulfil it in glory.\n\nI must add also, that Christ himself, who is said to be our life in the\nverse following my text, is at present hidden from us; he dwells in the\nunseen world, and the heavens must receive him till the restitution of\nall things; Acts iii. 21. Christ Jesus is the bread from heaven; John\nvi. 32, 33. by which the believer is nourished; he is the hidden manna,\nthe divine food of souls: It is upon him the christian lives daily and\nhourly; it is upon the blood of the Lamb, which is carried up to the\nmercy-seat, that the believer lives for pardon and peace with God: It is\nupon the righteousness of his Lord and Head, that he lives for his\neverlasting acceptance before the throne; it is upon the grace and\nstrength of Christ, that he rests and depends all the day, when he is\ncalled forth to encounter the boldest temptations, to fulfil the most\ndifficult duties, or to sustain the heaviest strokes of a painful\nprovidence. \u201c_Surely_, saith the saint, _in the Lord alone have I\nrighteousness and strength_; Is. xlv. 24. In the Lord my Saviour, whom\nthe world sees not; but I see him by the eye of faith.\u201d\n\nI shall enlarge farther on this subject under the second doctrine.\n\nThus, whether we consider the spiritual acts and exercises of this\nchristian life, or the springs and principles of it, still we shall find\nit has just reason to be called a secret, or a hidden life.\n\nBefore I proceed, I shall lay down these two cautions:\n\n1st Caution. Though it is a hidden life, yet I entreat my christian\nfriends, that they would not suffer it to be such a secret, as to be\nunknown to themselves. God has ordained it to be hidden, not that it\nmight always be unknown to you, but that you might search after it with\ndiligence; and that when you find yourselves possessed of it, you might\nrejoice in the evidences of your life and his love. Be not satisfied\nthen, O ye professors of the gospel! until you have searched and found\nthis divine life within you. What a poor life must that christian live,\nwho goes from day to day, and from year to year, and still complains, I\nknow not whether I am alive or no!\n\nLabour, therefore, after self-acquaintance, since God has been pleased\nin his word, to furnish us with sufficient means to find out our estate;\n1 John v. 17. These things I write unto you, says the apostle, that ye\nmay believe on the name of the Son of God, and that ye may know that ye\nbelieve. It is a dishonour to the gospel of Christ, to abide always in\ndarkness and doubtings, and to rest contented in so uncomfortable a\nframe. We are told in Rev. ii. 17. that those whose life is supported by\nthis hidden manna, have also a white stone given them, with a new name\nin it, which no man knows, save he that receives it: that is, they have\ndivine absolution and pardon of their sins, which was represented\nheretofore, in some courts of judicature, by the gift of a white stone;\nbut surely, if my own name were written in it, I would use my utmost\nendeavours to read the inscription myself, though it may be a secret to\nthe rest of mankind; then my God and Saviour shall have the honour of\nhis pardoning love, and then my soul shall enjoy the consolation.\n\n2d Caution. Though it be a hidden life in the sacred operations and the\nsprings of it, yet the world ought to see the blessed effects of it. We\nmust _hold forth_ to men _the word of life_; Phil. ii. 16. Let the world\nsee that we live to God, and that by the secret power of his word in the\ngospel.\n\nThe christian life is no fantastic and visionary matter, that consists\nin warm imaginations, and pretences to inward light and rapture; it is a\nreal change of heart and practice, from sin to holiness, and a turn of\nsoul from earth toward heaven. It has been dressed up, indeed, like\nenthusiastic foolery, by the impious wits of men, and painted for a\nsubject of ridicule and reproach. Thus the saints and holy martyrs have\nbeen clad in a fool\u2019s-coat, or a bear\u2019s-skin, but they are still men,\nand wise men too; they have been dressed up like devils, but they are\nstill the sons of God. So secret piety has solid reason and scripture\nstill on its side, whatever silly scandals have been cast upon it; there\nis no cause, therefore, to be ashamed of professing it. There is nothing\nin all the christian life, that a man needs to blush at. _We have\nrenounced the hidden things of dishonesty_, knavery, and uncleanness,\nwhen we began to be christians; 2 Cor. iv. 2. It is our glory that we\nare alive to God, and we should be ashamed of nothing that either\nexercises or maintains this life. None of the duties of worship, none of\nthe practices of godliness, that render religion honourable among men,\nand make God our Saviour appear glorious in the world, should be\nneglected by us, whenever we are called to practise or profess them.\n\nThe effects of this hidden life should not all be secret, though the\nsprings of it are so; for christians are commanded to make their _light\nshine before men, that others may glorify their Father which is in\nheaven_; Mat. v. 14, 15, 16. The lights of the world must not place\nthemselves under a bushel, and be contented to shine there useless and\nalone; we must give honour to God in public. And though we are commanded\nto practise such secrecy and self-denial in our deeds of charity, as may\nsecure us from all ostentation and pride, yet we must sometimes make it\nappear too, that we do good to men, that christianity may have the glory\nof it. We must feed the hungry, we must clothe the naked, we must love\nall men, even our enemies, and discover to the world that we are\nchristians, by noble and sublime practices of every virtue and every\nduty, as far as it is possible, even by the best works, to discover\ninward religion.\n\n[This sermon may be divided here.]\n\nI proceed now to draw some inferences from the hidden nature of the\nspiritual life.\n\nI. And my first inference would teach you not to rest satisfied with any\nexternals: for they who put forth no other acts of life, but what the\nworld sees, are no true christians.\n\nWe eat, we drink, and sleep; that is the life of nature; we buy and\nsell, we labour and converse; that is the civil life; we trifle, visit,\ntattle, flutter, and rove among a hundred impertinencies, without any\nformed, or settled design what we live for; that is the idle life; and\nit is the kindest name that I can bestow upon it. We learn our creed, we\ngo to church, we say our prayers, and read chapters or sermons; these\nare the outward forms of the religious life. And is this all? Have we no\ndaily secret exercises of the soul in retirement and converse with God?\nNo time spent with our own hearts? Are we never busied, in some hidden\ncorner, about the affairs of eternity; Are there no seasons allotted for\nprayer, for meditation, for reading in secret, and self-enquiries?\nNothing to do with God alone in a whole day together? Surely this can\nnever be the life of a christian?\n\nRemember, O man, there is nothing of all the labours or services, the\nacts of zeal or devotion, that thou canst practise in public, but a\nsubtle hypocrite may so nearly imitate the same, that it will be hard to\ndiscover the difference. There is nothing of all these outward forms,\ntherefore, that can safely and infallibly distinguish thee from a\nhypocrite and false professor; for the same actions may proceed from\ninward motions and principles widely different. If you would obtain any\nevidence that you are a christian indeed, you must make it appear to\nyour own conscience by the exercises of the hidden life, and the secret\ntransactions between God and your soul. He was not a Jew of old, who was\none outwardly in the letter only; nor is he a christian, who has mere\noutward forms; but a Jew or a christian, in the sight of God, is such a\none as hath the religion in his heart, and in spirit, _whose praise is\nnot of men, but of God_? Rom. ii. 28, 29.\n\nII. Inference. The life of a saint is a matter of wonder to the sinful\nworld; for they know not what he lives upon. The sons of ambition follow\nafter grandeur and power; the animals of pleasure pursue all the\nluxuries of sense; the miser hunts after money, and is ever digging for\ngold. It is visible enough what these wise men live upon. But the\nchristian, who lives in the power and glory of the divine life, seeks\nafter none of these, any farther than as duty leads him, and the\nsupports and conveniencies of life are needful, in the present state of\nhis habitation in the flesh. The sinner wonders what it is the saint\naims at, while he neglects the tempting idols that himself adores, and\ndespises the gilded vanities of a court, and abhors the guilty scenes of\na voluptuous life. Christ and his children are, and will be, signs and\nwonders to the age they live in; Is. viii. 18. compared with Heb. ii.\n13.\n\nThe men of this world wonder what a christian can have to say to God in\nso many retiring hours as he appoints for that end; what strange\nbusiness he can employ himself in; how he can lay out so much time in\naffairs, which the carnal mind has no notion of. On the other hand, the\nsaint, when he is in a lively frame, thinks that all the intervals of\nhis civil life, and all the vacant seasons that he can find between the\nnecessary duties of his worldly station, are all little enough to\ntransact affairs of such awful importance as he has to do with God, and\nlittle enough to enjoy those secret pleasures, which the stranger is\nunacquainted with. The children of God pray to their heavenly Father in\nsecret, and they feel unknown refreshment and delight in it; and they\nare well assured, that _their Father who seeth in secret will hereafter\nreward them openly_; Mat. vi. 6.\n\nIt is no wonder, that the profane world reproaches true christians as\ndull, lifeless creatures, animals that have neither soul nor spirit in\nthem, because they do not see them run to the same excess in things of\nthe lower life. Alas! they know not that the life of a christian is on\nhigh; they see it not, for it is hidden; and therefore they wonder we\nare not busily engaged in the same practices and pursuits as they are; 1\nPet. iv. 4. _They think it strange that we run not to the same excess of\nriot._ The world sees nothing of our inward labour and strife against\nflesh and self, our sacred contest for the prize of glory; they know\nnothing of our earnest enquiries after an absent God, and a hidden\nSaviour; and least of all do they know the holy joys, and retired\npleasures of a christian, because these are things which are seldom\ncommunicated to others; and therefore the world grows bold to call\nreligion a melancholy thing, and the christian a mere mope. But the soul\nwho lives above, who lives within sight of the world of invisibles, can\ndespise the reproach of sinners.\n\nIII. Inference. See the reason why christians have not their passions so\nmuch engaged in things of this life as other men have, because their\nchief concern is about their better life, which is hidden and unseen.\nThey can look upon fine equipages, gay clothes, and rich appearances in\nthe world, without envy; they can survey large estates, and see many\nthousands gotten in haste by those that resolve to be rich, and yet not\nlet loose one covetous wish upon them; they have a God whom they worship\nin secret, and trust his blessing to make them sufficiently rich in the\nway of diligence in their stations: they hope they shall have blessings\nmingled with their mean estate, and no sorrows added to their wealth.\n\nThey can find themselves exalted by providence to high stations in the\nworld, and not to be puffed up in countenance, nor swell at heart. If\nthey are but watchful to keep their divine life vigorous they will\ndistinguish themselves as christians, even in scarlet and gold, and that\nby a glorious humility. They know that all their advancements on earth\nare but mean and despicable things, in comparison of their highest\nhopes, and their promised crown in heaven. They can meet threatening\ndanger, diseases, and deaths, without those terrors that overwhelm the\ncarnal sinner; for their better life shall never die. They can sustain\nlosses, and sink in the world, when it comes by the mere providence of\nGod, without their own culpable folly, and bear it with a humble\nresignation of spirit, and with much inward serenity and peace; for the\nthings which they have lost, were not their life; all these were\nvisible, but their life is hidden; Phil. iv. 12. I know how to be\nabased, and how to be exalted; I know how to abound, and to suffer want;\nI can do all these things through Christ strengthening me: Christ, who\nis the principle of my inward life. O! that the christians of our day\nhad more of this sublime conduct, more of these noble evidences of the\nlife of christianity.\n\nIV. Inference. How vain and needless a thing is it for a christian to\naffect popularity and to set up for a shew in this world. How vain is it\nfor him to be impatient to appear and shine among men, for he has\nhonours and treasures, joys and glories, that are incomparably greater,\nand yet a secret to the world. A christian\u2019s true life is hidden, and he\nshould not be too fond of public and gay appearances. The apostle Peter\ngives advice how the christian women should behave themselves not as the\nrest of the world do, who set themselves forth to public shew, with many\nornaments of gold and pearl; but the believer should adorn herself with\nmodesty, and with every grace, in _the hidden man of the heart_; 1 Pet.\niii. 4.\n\nHow unreasonable is it for us who profess the christian life to be cast\ndown, if we are confined to an obscure station in the world! Was not the\nLord of glory, when he came down on earth to give us a pattern of the\nspiritual life, content to be obscure for thirty years together! Was he\nnot unknown to men, but as a common carpenter, or a poor carpenter\u2019s\nson! And in those four years of appearance which he made as a preacher,\nhow mean, how contemptible were the circumstances of life which he\nchose? And shall we be impatient and fretful under the same humbled\nestate? Do we dislike so divine a precedent? Must we, like mushrooms of\nthe earth, be exalted, and grow fond of making a public figure, when the\nKing of heaven was so poor and lowly? We lose public honour and applause\nindeed, but perhaps our hidden life thrives the better for it, when we\nresist the charms of grandeur.\n\nBesides, this is not a christian\u2019s time for appearing, whilst Christ\nhimself is absent and unseen. The believer\u2019s shining-time is not yet\ncome; but the marriage-day of the Lamb is hastening, and the bride is\nmaking herself ready. The general resurrection is our great shining-day:\n_When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall we also appear\nwith him in glory_: Col. iii. 4. and the christian is content to stay\nfor his robes of light, and his public honours, till the dawn of that\nglorious morning. Nor shall we dare to be censorious of those who make a\npoor figure, and but mean appearance in the world; perhaps they are some\nof Christ\u2019s hidden ones; they promise but little, and shew but little,\neither wit or parts, prudence or power, skill or influence; and perhaps\nthey have but little too; but they know God, they trust in Christ, they\nlive a divine life, and have glorious communications from heaven in\nsecret daily, they make daily visits to the court of glory, and are\nvisited by condescending grace. You see in all these instances, that\npopularity and shew are not at all necessary for a christian.\n\nV. Inference. How exceeding difficult is it for those who are exalted to\ngreat and public stations in the world to maintain lively christianity!\nThey have need of great and uncommon degrees of grace to maintain this\nhidden life. _How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the\nkingdom of God!_ These are our Saviour\u2019s own words; Mark x. 23. and he\ngave this reason for it, ver. 24. because it is so hard for those that\nhave riches, not to trust in them, not to live entirely upon them, and\nmake them their very life.\n\nHow hard is it for men in high posts of honour, to take due care that\ntheir graces thrive, while they are all day engaged, either in the\nfatigues of office, in state and pomp of their own, or in everlasting\nattendances on the will of some superior; so that they have few moments\nin a day, wherein they are capable of retiring, and holding any converse\nwith themselves or with heaven. But O! how pleasant is it to such as are\nadvanced in the providence of God, and have a value for their hidden\nlife, to steal an hour of retirement from the burden of their public\ncares! How sweet is the recovery of a few minutes, and how well filled\nup with active devotion! The secret life of a christian grows much in\nthe closet, and without a retreat from the world it cannot grow. Abandon\nthe secret chamber, and the spiritual life will decay: Doubtless many of\nyou can witness that you have found it so; and your own mournful\nexperience echoes to the words of our ministry in this point.\n\nThere was an ancient philosopher, who, when he had lost his riches in a\nstorm at sea, gave thanks to providence, under a heathen name; \u201cI thank\nthee, fortune, that hast now forced me to retire, and to live within my\ncloak;\u201d that is, upon the supports of philosophy, in meaner\ncircumstances of life. How much more should the christian be pleased\nwith a private station, who has the supports of the gospel to live upon,\nand to sweeten his retirements! How cautious should christians be,\ntherefore, of the management of all the public affairs of their civil\nlife, lest they do any that should hurt their secret or religious life!\nWe should be still enquiring, \u201cWill such sort of company to which I am\nnow invited; such a gainful trade which I am ready to engage in; such a\ncourse of life which now lies before me; tempt me to neglect my secret\nconverse with God? Does it begin to alienate my heart from heaven, and\nthings unseen? then let me suspect and fear it.\u201d Be afraid, christians,\nof what grieves the blessed Spirit of Christ, who is the principle of\nyour life and may provoke him to retire from you. Be diligent in such\nenquiries, be very watchful and jealous of every thing that would call\nyour thoughts outward, and keep them too long abroad. Christians should\nlive much at home, for theirs is a hidden life.\n\nVI. Inference. We may see here divine wisdom in contriving the\nordinances of the gospel, with such plainness, and such simplicity, as\nbest serves to promote the hidden life of a christian. Pomp and\nceremony, gilded and sparkling ornaments, are ready to call the soul\nabroad, to employ it in the senses, and divert it from that spiritual\nimprovement, which the secret life of a christian requires, and which\ngospel-institutions were designed for.\n\nYou see in the heathen world, and you see in popish countries, that the\ngay splendours of worship tempt the hearts of the worshippers to rest in\nforms, and to forget God; and we may fear the greatest part of the\npeople lay under the same danger in the days of Judaism. I grant indeed,\nthat where pompous and glittering rites of religion are of special\ndivine appointment, and were designed to typify the future glories of a\nmore spiritual church and worship; there they might hope for divine aids\nto lead their minds onward beyond the type, to those designed glories.\nBut carnal worshippers are the bulk of any sect or profession. All\nmankind, by nature, is ready to take up with the forms of godliness, and\nneglect the secret power. We naturally pay too much reverence to shining\nformalities and empty shews. Set a christian to read the most spiritual\nparts of gospel, on one page of the bible, and let some scene of the\nhistory be finely graven, and painted on the opposite side; his holy\nmeditations will be endangered by his eyes, fair figures and colours\nattract the sight, and tempt the soul off from refined devotion.\n\nI cannot think it any advantage to christian worship, to have churches\nwell adorned by the statuary and the painter; nor can gay altar-pieces\nimprove the communion service. While gaudy glittering images attract and\nentertain the outward sense, the soul is too much attached to the\nanimal, to keep itself at a distance; while the sight is regaled and\nfeasted, the sermon runs to waste, and the hidden life withers and\nstarves. When the ear is soothed with a variety of fine harmony, the\nsoul is too often allured away from spiritual worship, even though a\ndivine song attend the music. Our Saviour therefore, in much wisdom, and\nin much mercy, has appointed blessed ordinances for his church, with\nsuch plainness and simplicity, as may administer most support and\nnourishment to the secret life. Thus I have finished the remarks on the\nhidden life of a christian, considered as to its spiritual exercises in\nthis present world.\n\nI proceed to consider, in what respects this life is hidden, as it is\nmore usually called eternal life, or to be exercised and enjoyed in\nheaven.\n\nAnd here we must confess, that we are much at a loss to say any thing\nmore than the scripture hath said before us. _Life and immortality_,\nindeed, _are brought to light by the gospel of Christ_, in far brighter\nmeasures than the former ages and dispensations were acquainted with; 1\nTim. i. 10. But still, what the apostle says concerning all the\nblessings of the gospel, we may repeat emphatically concerning heaven,\nthat eye hath not seen, that ear hath not heard, that it hath not\nentered into the heart of man to conceive; nor indeed hath God himself\nrevealed but a very small part of the things he hath prepared, in the\nfuture world, for them that love him; 1 Cor. ix. 10. _It doth not yet\nappear what we shall be_; the glory of that state is yet a great secret\nto us; 1 John iii. 2. We know much better what it is not, than what it\nis: we can define it best by negatives. Absence from the weaknesses,\nsins, and sorrows of this life, is our best and largest account of it,\nwhether we speak of the separate state, or the heaven of the\nresurrection.\n\nThe veil of flesh and blood divides us from the world of spirits; we\nknow not the manner of their life in the state of separation: we are at\nan utter loss as to their stations and residences; what relation they\nbear to any part of this material creation; whether they dwell in thin\nairy vehicles, and are inhabitants of some starry world, or planetary\nregion; or whether they subsist in their pure intellectual nature, and\nhave nothing to do with any thing corporeal, till their dust be recalled\nto life. We are unacquainted with the laws by which they are governed,\nand the methods of their converse: we know little of the businesses they\nare employed in, those glorious services for their God and their\nSaviour, in which they are favoured with assistant angels; and little\nare we acquainted with their joys, which are unspeakable and full of\nglory. The very language of that world, is neither to be spoken nor\nunderstood by us; St. Paul heard some of the words of it, and had a\nfaint glimpse of the sense of them; but he could not repeat them again\nto mortal ears; nor had he power, nor leave to tell us the meaning of\nthem; 2 Cor. xii. 4. For, _whether he was in the body, at that time, or\nout of the body_, he himself was not able to determine.\n\nAnd as for the heaven of the resurrection; what sort of bodies shall be\nraised from the dust, for perfect spirits to dwell in, is as great a\nsecret. A spiritual body is a mystery to the wisest divines and\nphilosophers; where our habitation shall be, and what our special\nemployment through the endless ages of immortality, are among the hidden\nunsearchables. The most that we know, is, that we shall be made like to\nChrist, and we shall be where he is, to behold his glory; 1 John iii. 2.\nand John xvii. 24.\n\nIf the eternal life of the saints be so much a secret at present, we may\ndraw these two or three inferences from it.\n\nI. Inference. How necessary is it for a christian to keep faith awake\nand lively, that he may maintain his acquaintance with the spiritual and\nunseen world! It is faith that converses with invisibles: _faith is the\nsubstance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen_;\nHeb. xi. 1. It is faith that deals in hidden traffic, and grows rich in\ntreasures that are out of sight. It is by faith in the Son of God, we\nlive this spiritual life, by faith in an absent Saviour; Gal. ii. 20.\n_Whom having not seen we love; and though we see him not, yet believing,\nwe rejoice_; 1 Pet. i. 8. Let the christian, therefore, maintain a holy\njealousy, lest too much converse with the things of sense, dull the eye\nof his faith, or weaken the hand of it. Let him put his faith into\nperpetual exercise, that he may live within the view of those glories\nthat are hidden from sense; that he may keep his hold of eternal life;\nthat he may support his hopes, and secure his joys. Until we can live by\nsight, let us _walk by faith_; 2 Cor. v. 7.\n\nThough the life of heaven be hidden, yet so much of it is revealed as to\ngive faith leave to lay hold of it; and yet not so much, as to make the\nhand of faith needless. It is brought down by our Lord Jesus Christ in\nthe gospel, within the view of faith, that we might live in expectation\nof it, and be animated to the glorious pursuit; but it is not brought\nwithin the reach of sense, for we are now in a state of trial; and this\nis not the proper time nor place for sight and enjoyment.\n\nII. Inference. How little is death to be dreaded by a believer, since it\nwill bring the soul to the full possession of its hidden life in heaven!\nIt is a dark valley that divides between this world and the next; but it\nis all a region of light and blessedness beyond it. We are now borderers\non the eternal world, and we know but too little of that invisible\ncountry. Approaching death opens the gates to us, and begins to give our\nholy curiosity some secret satisfaction; and yet how we shrink backward\nwhen that glorious unknown city is opening upon us! and are ready to beg\nand pray that the gates might be closed again: \u201cO! for a little more\ntime, a little longer continuance in this lower visible world!\u201d This is\nthe language of the fearful believer: But it is better to have our\nchristian courage wrought up to a divine height, and to say, \u201c_Open ye\neverlasting gates, and be ye lift up, O ye immortal doors_, that we may\nenter into the place where _the King of Glory is_.\u201d There we shall see\nGod, the great unknown, and rejoice in his overflowing love. We shall\nsee him not as we do on earth, darkly, through the glass of ordinances;\nbut inferior spirits shall converse with the Supreme Spirit, as bodies\ndo with bodies; that is face to face; 1 Cor. xiii. 12.\n\nThere shall we behold Christ our Lord in the dignity of his character as\nMediator, in the glory of his kingdom, and the all-sufficiency of his\ngodhead; and we shall be for ever with him. There shall we see millions\nof blessed spirits, who have lived the same hidden life as we do, and\npassed through this vale of tears, with the same attending difficulties\nand sorrows, and by the same divine assistances. They were unknown, and\ncovered with dust as we are, while they dwelt in flesh, but they appear\nall-glorious and well known in the world of spirits, and exult in open\nand immortal light: We shall see them, and we shall triumph with them in\nthat day; we shall learn their language, and taste their joys: we shall\nbe partakers of the same glory, which Christ our life, diffuses all\naround him, on the blessed inhabitants of that intellectual world.\n\nIII. Inference. How glorious is the difference between the two parts of\nthe christian\u2019s life, _viz._ the spiritual life on earth, and the\nperfection of eternal life in heaven; when all that is now hidden shall\nbe revealed before men and angels! Come now, and let us take occasion\nfrom this discourse, to let loose our meditations one stage beyond death\nand the separate state, even to the morning of the resurrection, and the\nfull and public assembly of all the saints. O what an illustrious\nappearance! What a numerous and noble army of new creatures! Creatures\nthat were hidden in this world among the common herd of mankind, and\ntheir bodies hidden in the grave, and mingled with common dust, rising\nall at once, at the sound of a trumpet, into public light and glory; the\nsame persons, indeed, that once inhabited mortality, but in far\ndifferent equipage and array. The christian, on earth, is like the rough\ndiamond among the common pebbles of the shore; in the resurrection-day\nthe diamond is cut and polished, and set in a tablet of gold. All that\ninward worth and lustre of holiness and grace, which are now hidden,\nshall be then visible and public before the eyes of the whole creation.\nThen the saints shall be known by their shining, _in the day when the\nLord makes up his jewels_; Mal. iii. 17. When the spirits of the just\nmade perfect in all the beauties of holiness, shall return to their\nformer mansions, and become men again; when their bodies are raised from\nthe dust, in the likeness of the body of our blessed Lord, how shall all\nthe saints shine in the kingdom of their Father, though in the kingdoms\nof this world they were obscure and undistinguished! They shall appear,\nin that day, as the meridian sun breaking from a long and dark eclipse;\nand the sun is too bright a being to be unknown; Mat. xiii. 43.\n\nWhat is there in a poor saint here, that discovers what he shall be\nhereafter? How mean his appearance now! how magnificent in that day?\nWhat was there in Lazarus on the dung-hill, when the dogs licked his\nsores, that could lead us to any thought what he should be in the bosom\nof Abraham? What is there in the martyrs and confessors, described in\nHeb. xi. those holy men, with their sheep-skins, and their goat-skins\nupon them, wandering in deserts, and hidden in dens and caves of the\nearth? What was there in these poor and miserable spectacles that looks\nlike a saint in glory? or that could give us any intimation what they\nshall be in the great rising day?\n\n_Now are we the sons of God_, but _it does not yet appear what we shall\nbe_; 1 John iii. 2. We can shew no pattern of it here below. Shall we go\nto the palaces of eastern princes, and borrow their crowns and sparkling\nattire, to shew how the saints are drest in heaven? Shall we take their\nmarble pillars, their roofs of cedar, their costly furniture of purple\nand gold, to describe the mansions of immortality? Shall we attend the\nchariot of some Roman general, with all the ensigns of victory, leading\non his legions to triumph, and fetch robes of honour, and branches of\npalm to describe that triumphant army of christian conquerors? The\nscripture makes use of these resemblances, indeed, in great\ncondescension, to represent the glories of that day, because they are\nthe brightest things we know on earth. But they sink as far below the\nsplendours of the resurrection, as earth is below heaven, or time is\nshorter than eternity.\n\nWhat is all the dead lustre of metals, and silks, and shining stones, to\nthe living rays of divine grace springing up, and shooting into full\nglory? Faith into sight, hope into enjoyment, patience into joy and\nvictory, and love into its own perfection? Then all the hidden virtues\nand graces of the saints, shall appear like the stars at midnight, in an\nuncloudy sky. Then shall it be made known to all the world, these were\nthe men that wept and prayed in secret; it shall be published then in\nthe great assembly, these were the persons who wrestled hard with their\nsecret sins, that sought the face of God, and his strength, in their\nprivate chambers, and they are made more than overcomers through him\nthat hath loved them. The poor trembling christian who lived this hidden\nand divine life, but scarce knew it himself nor durst appear among the\nchurches on earth, shall lift up his head, and rejoice amidst the church\ntriumphant; and the hidden seed of grace, that was watered with so many\nsecret tears, shall spring up into a rich and illustrious harvest. This\nis the day which shall bring to light a thousand works of hidden piety,\nfor the eternal honour of Christ and the saints; as well as the _hidden\nthings of darkness_, to the sinners\u2019 everlasting confusion; Mat. xxv.\nand 1 Cor. iv. 5.\n\nThus the spiritual life of christians, which was concealed in this\nworld, shall appear in the other in full brightness; and they themselves\nshall be amazed to see what divine honours Jesus the Judge shall cast\nupon their poor secret services and sufferings.\n\nBut in what supreme glory shall their life display itself, when both\nparts of the human compound are rejoined after so long a separation!\nThis is life eternal indeed, and joy unspeakable. How gloriously shall\nthe perfections and honours, both of body and mind, unfold themselves,\nand rise far above all that they heard, or saw, or could conceive! Each\nof them surprized, like the queen of Sheba in the court of Solomon,\nshall confess with thankful astonishment and joy, that not one half of\nit was told them, even in the word of God. \u201cAnd was this the crown,\u201d\nshall the christian say, \u201cfor which I fought on earth at so poor and\nfeeble a rate? And was this the prize for which I ran with a pace so\nslow and lazy? And were these the glories which I sought with so cold\nand indifferent a zeal in yonder world? O shameful indifference! O\nsurprizing glories! O undeserved prize and crown! Had I imagined how\nbright the blessing was, which lay hidden in the promise, surely all my\npowers had been animated to a warmer pursuit. Could I have seen what I\nought to have believed; had I but taken in all that was told me\nconcerning this glorious and eternal life, surely I would have ventured\nthrough many deaths to secure the possession of it. O guilty negligence!\nand criminal unbelief! But thy sovereign mercy, O my God, has pardoned\nboth, and made me possessor of the fair inheritance. Behold, I bow at\nthy feet for ever, and adore the riches of overflowing grace.\u201d _Amen._\n\n\n\n\n SERMON X.\n _The Hidden Life of a Christian._\n COL. iii. 3.\u2014For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.\n THE SECOND PART.\n\n\nIt is to the christian converts who were at Colosse, that the apostle\naddresses himself, in this strange language: Ye are dead, and yet I tell\nyou where your life is. This divine writer delights sometimes to\nsurprize his readers, by joining such opposites, and uniting such\ndistant extremes. But can a dead person have any life in him? Yes, and a\nnoble one too, ye are dead to the world, and dead to sin, but ye have a\nlife of another kind than that which belongs to the sinners of this\nworld: your life is spiritual and holy; theirs is sinful, and engaged in\nthe works of the flesh: Your life is heavenly, and seeks the things\nwhich are above; theirs is derived from the earth, and grovels in the\ndust: Your life is everlasting, for your souls shall live for ever in a\nglorious state, and your bodies shall be raised from death into equal\nimmortality, and a partnership of the same glory; but their best life is\nonly a temporal one, and when that is at an end, all their joys, and\ntheir hopes are for ever at an end too, and their eternal sorrows begin.\n\nBut this life of a christian is a hidden life. That was the first\ndoctrine I raised from the text. Both the operations and the springs of\nit, are a secret to the world, and the future glories of it, when it is\nmost properly called eternal life, are still a greater secret, and much\nmore unknown: Yet, saith the apostle, I can acquaint you where the\nsprings of it lie, and whence all the future glories of it are to be\nderived; they are hidden in God, with our Lord Jesus Christ. Now by\ngiving so short a hint, in a word or two, where this our life is hid, he\nhas said something greater, and brighter, and more sublime, concerning\nit, that if he had shewn us, from a high mountain, at noon-day, all the\nkingdoms of this world, with all the dazzling glories of them, and then\npointed downward, \u201cthere your life is.\u201d\n\nLet this therefore be the second doctrine, and the subject of our\npresent meditations, that the life of a christian is hidden with Christ\nin God. It is hidden in God, as the first original and eternal spring of\nit, and entrusted with Christ as a faithful Mediator; it is hid in God,\nwhere our Lord Jesus Christ is, and he is appointed to take care of it\nfor us; for he also is called our life; verse 4.\n\nThe method I shall take for the improvement of this truth, is, to\nexplain these words of the apostle more at large, and then deduce some\ninferences from them.\n\nThe _first_ enquiry will arise, in what respect the christian\u2019s life is\nsaid to be hidden in God? And, _secondly_, What is meant by its being\nhidden with Christ?\n\nI. _First_, In what respect is the life of a christian said to be hidden\nin God?\n\nThe word God is taken in scripture, either in general for the divine\nnature, which is the same in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; or, in\nparticular, for the person of the Father. And I do not see any absolute\nnecessity to determine, precisely, which was the meaning of the apostle\nin this place. The three particulars by which I shall endeavour to\nexplain it, will include both. The life of a christian is hidden in God;\nthat is, in the all-sufficiency of the divine nature, in the purpose of\nthe divine will, and in the secret engagements of the Father to his Son\nJesus Christ, in the covenant of redemption.\n\n1. The christian\u2019s life is hidden in the all-sufficiency of the divine\nnature. And there are immense stores of life, of every kind, hidden in\nGod, in this sense. This whole world of beings, that have, and have not\nsouls, with all the infinite varieties of the life of plants, animals,\nand angels, were hidden in this fruitful and inexhaustible fund of the\ndivine all-sufficiency, before God began to create a world. All things\nwere then hidden in God; for of him are all things, and from him all\nthings proceeded; Rom. xi. 36. Now this all-sufficiency of God consists\nin those powers and perfections, whereby he is able to do all things for\nhis creatures, and ready to do all for his saints; these are most\neminently his wisdom, his almightiness, and his goodness.\n\nThere are inconceivable riches of goodness and grace in God, which are\nemployed in furnishing out life for all his saints; and all the unknown\npreparations of future glory are the effects of his grace. Eph. ii.\n4.\u2014_God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,\nwhen we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ_; and\nhe did it for this purpose, _that in the ages to come, he might shew the\nexceeding riches of his grace, in his kindness towards us through Christ\nJesus_; ver. 7. Not all the goodness that appears in the rich provision\nhe hath made for all the natural world of creatures, nor all the\noverflowing bounties of his providence, since the first creation, are\nequal to those unsearchable treasures of mercy and goodness, which he\nhath employed for the spiritual welfare, and eternal life and happiness\nof his own chosen children; and in the secret of this grace were all the\nblessings of his covenant hidden from eternity.\n\nThe divine wisdom is another part of his all-sufficiency. There are in\nGod infinite varieties of thought and counsel, riches of knowledge, and\nwisdom unsearchable; and he hath made these abound in his new creation,\nas well as in the old; in the supernatural, as well as in the natural\nworld. Eph. i. 8. _He hath abounded towards us_, sinners, in this work\nof salvation, _in all wisdom and prudence_. What surprizing wisdom\nappears in the vital powers of an animal, even in the life of brutes\nthat perish? What glorious contrivance, and divine skill, to animate\nclay, and make a fly, a dog, or a lion of it? What sublime advances of\nwisdom to create a living man, and join these two distinct extremes,\nflesh and spirit, in such a vital union, that has puzzled the\nphilosophers of all ages, and constrained some of them to confess and\nadore a God? And what a superior work of divinity, is it, to turn a dead\nsinner into a living saint, here on earth? and then to adorn a heaven,\nwith all its proper furniture, for the eternal life and habitation of\nhis sons and his daughters? What divine skill is required here? What\nimmense profusion of wisdom, to form bodies of immortality and glory,\nfor every saint, out of the dust of the grave, and the ashes of martyred\nchristians? Our spiritual and our eternal life are hid in the wisdom of\nGod.\n\nThe power of God is his all-sufficience too. The power that quickens and\nraises a soul to this divine life, must be almighty; Eph. i. 19, 20. It\nis the same exceeding greatness of his power that works in us who\nbelieve, which wrought in our Lord Jesus Christ, when he raised him from\nthe dead, and set him at his own right-hand in heavenly places. It is\nthe same powerful word _that commanded the light to shine out of\ndarkness, that shone into our hearts_, when he wrought the knowledge of\nChrist there; 2 Cor. iv. 6. and when he commanded us, who lay among the\ndead, to awake, and arise, and live. Was it not a noble instance of\npower, to spread abroad these heavens of unknown circumference, with all\nthe rolling worlds of light in them, the planets and the stars? And the\nsame hand is mighty enough, if these were not sufficient, to build a\nbrighter heaven, fit for the saints to live in during all their\nimmortality, and to furnish them with vital powers that shall be\nincorruptible and everlasting. Thus the life of the saints is hidden in\nthe almightiness of God, as well as in his wisdom and goodness. Thus it\nis contained in the all-sufficience of the divine nature, and each part\nof it is ready to be produced into act, in every proper season.\n\n2. The life of a christian is hidden in the purposes of the divine will.\nAnd in this sense, the whole gospel, with all its wondrous glories and\nmysteries, is said to be hid in God; Eph. iii. 9. When St. Paul preached\n_among the gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ_, he made all men\nsee something of that mystery, which from the beginning of the world had\nbeen hid in God. And if this be compared with Eph. i. 9. we shall find\nthat this mystery of the will, or good-pleasure of God, was that which\nhe eternally purposed in himself.\n\nThere is not one dead sinner awakened, and called into this divine and\nspiritual life here, or that shall ever be possessed of life eternal\nhereafter, but it was contained in the eternal secret purpose, and\nmerciful design of God, before the world began. For it is a very mean\nconceit, and a disgraceful opinion concerning the great God, to imagine\nthat he should exert his power to work life in souls, here in time, by\nany new purposes, or sudden designs, occasioned by any works or merit of\ntheirs, which he had not formed and decreed in himself, long before he\nmade man. This doctrine would represent God as a mutable being; but we\nknow that he is unchangeable. There is nothing new in God; and his\nimmutability is that perfection of his nature which secures the\nperformance of this divine purpose, and the life of every christian.\n\n3. I might add, in the third place, that the life of a christian is\nhidden in the unknown engagements of the Father to his Son Jesus Christ\nthe Mediator. That sacred and divine transaction betwixt the Father and\nthe Son, is often intimated in the holy scriptures, and some of the\npromises of that covenant are there represented; Ps. lxxxix. 19-28,\n29-36, &c. _I have laid help upon one that is mighty; my mercy will I\nkeep for him for ever, and my covenant shall stand fast with him: his\nseed will I make to endure for ever, and his throne as the days of\nheaven._ Then when _the covenant of peace was between them both_, as it\nis expressed in Zech. vi. 13. then did the Father promise that he should\nhave _a seed to serve him_; Ps. xxii. 30. and this must be a living\nseed, and they must be raised up from among dead sinners, and they shall\nbe made living saints in the world of grace, and in the world of glory.\n\nMany of these promises are transcribed as it were, into the covenant of\ngrace, and they are written down in scripture for our present\nconsolation and hope; and many others are, doubtless concealed from all\nbut Jesus the Mediator; they are hidden from men and angels, and\nreserved to be known, by surprizing accomplishment, in the future bright\nages, beyond the date of time, and to entertain the long successions of\nour eternity. Now the truth and faithfulness of God are those attributes\nof his nature which secure this covenant, and all the divine engagements\nof it; both those which are revealed to the children of men, and those\nthat are known only to the Son and the Father: But it is sufficiently\nevident, that all the degrees and powers of the spiritual and eternal\nlife of the saints, with all the graces, glories and blessings that\nshall ever attend them, are hidden and laid up in these sacred\nengagements and promises.\n\nII. This leads me to the _second_ enquiry; and that is, what is meant by\nthese words, _with Christ_, in my text? and how the christian _life is\nhid with Christ_?\n\nIf I would branch this into three particulars also, I should express\nthem thus:\n\n1. Our life is hidden with Christ, as he is the great Treasurer and\nDispenser of all divine benefits to the children of men. This is the\nhigh office to which the Father hath appointed him; and this is the\ncharacter that he sustains; and he is abundantly furnished for the\nexecution of this great trust. In this sense, all the stores of life and\nblessing, that ever shall be bestowed on the sinful race of Adam, are\nlaid up in the hands of Christ, the Son of God.\u2014_It hath pleased the\nFather, that in him all fulness should dwell_; Col. i. 19. _And he was\nfull of grace and truth, that of his fulness we might receive grace for\ngrace_; John i. 14-16. That is, a variety of graces and blessings\nanswerable to that rich variety, with which our Lord Jesus Christ, the\nHigh-treasurer of heaven, was furnished from the hand of the Father. And\nto this purpose, perhaps, John v. 26. may be interpreted, compared with\nver. 21. _As the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the\nSon to have life in himself; that as the Father raiseth up the dead, and\nquickeneth them, even so the Son may quicken whom he will._\n\nThe blessed Spirit itself, as it is the great promise of the New\nTestament, and the glorious gift of God to men, was communicated to the\nSon, and by him bestowed upon us; for he went to heaven to receive the\npromise of the Spirit from the Father, and he shed it forth upon the\napostles and the believers; Acts ii. 33. It is this Spirit who gave\nmiraculous gifts to them heretofore, that is the immediate principle, or\nworker, of divine life in dead souls now: And it is by this same Spirit,\nthat he shall raise our dead bodies from the grave; Rom. viii. 11. He is\nthe spring of our spiritual and eternal life; and he is dispensed to us\nfrom the Father, by the hands of the Son.\n\nAnd here it is proper to take notice of the special manner wherein the\nLord Jesus Christ is the treasurer, or keeper of life, and all divine\nbenefits for the saints, and becomes the dispenser thereof to his\npeople: He is ordained to stand in the relation of a head to them, and\nthey are his body, his members. Thus our life is hidden with Christ, as\nhe is the vital head of all his saints. Their life is hid with Christ,\nas the spirits and springs of life, for all the members in the natural\nbody are said to be contained in the head. _Christ is the head of his\nown mystical body_; Eph. iv. 14-16. _from whom the whole body, fitly\njoined together_, maketh increase to its own edification: it is the same\nvital spirit that runs through head and members.\u2014\u2014_He that is joined to\nthe Lord, is one Spirit_; 1 Cor. vi. 17. and therefore partakes of the\nsame life.\n\nThus you see, that though the life of a christian is hidden in God, in\nthe all-sufficiency of his nature, and the purposes of his will; yet our\nLord Jesus Christ, as Mediator, is entrusted to keep it for him, and\ndispense it to him.\n\n2. Our life is hid with Christ, as he is our forerunner, and the\npossessor of life, spiritual and eternal, in our name. And this may be\ndescribed in a variety of instances, according to the various parts, as\nwell as the several advancing degrees of our spiritual life, and the\nperfection of it in life eternal. When his human nature was first formed\ncomplete in holiness, it was a pledge and assurance, that we should be\none day completely holy too; for, as is the head so must the members be.\nIn the original sanctification of his spirit, flesh, and blood, we may\nread the certain future sanctification of every believing soul, with its\nbody too; See John xvii. 19. and Heb. ii. 11.\n\nAgain; when his body was raised from the dead, it was a pledge and\npattern of our being raised from a death in sin, unto the spiritual life\nof a saint, as well as a certain assurance of the resurrection of our\nbodies into future glory. The first is evident from Eph. ii. 6. _When we\nwere dead in sin, he hath quickened us together with Christ._ And Rom.\nvi. 4. _As Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the\nFather, even so we must also walk in newness of life; for we are planted\nin the likeness of his resurrection_; ver. 5. And in 1 Cor. xv. 12, &c.\nthe apostle builds his whole argument of the resurrection of the bodies\nof saints who are dead, from the rising of our Lord Jesus Christ out of\nhis grave: _For Christ being risen from the dead_; ver. 20. _is become\nthe first-fruits of them that slept_. And as all that are united to\nAdam, by having him for their head must die; so all who are one with\nChrist, and have him for their head, shall be made alive: which seems to\nbe the meaning of the 22d verse: _As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall\nall be made alive._\n\nWhen he ascended into the heavens, it was not merely in his own name,\nbut in ours too, to take possession of the inheritance for the saints in\nlight. Heb. vi. 20. Our hope enters within the vail, whither Jesus the\nforerunner is for us entered. And when he sat down at the right-hand of\nGod in the heavenly places, it was as the great exemplar of our future\nadvancement, and thereby gave us assurance, that we should sit down\nthere too: and therefore the apostle, in the language of faith,\nanticipates these divine honours, and applies them to the Ephesians\nbeforehand: _God hath raised us up together_, says he, _with Christ, and\nhath made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus_.\n\nIt was _through the blood of the everlasting covenant_, that Jesus _the\ngreat Shepherd of the sheep, was brought again from the dead_; and it\nwas _the God of peace_ who raised him; Heb. xiii. 20. And it is by\nvirtue of his own blood, and righteousness, that he, who once took our\nsins upon him, is now discharged: It is through his own sufferings that\nhe appears with acceptance before the throne, and enjoys a divine life\nin the unchangeable favour of God; and all this as our head, surety, and\nrepresentative, giving us assurance hereby, that we, through the blood\nof the same covenant, shall be brought again from the dead too: that we\nthrough the virtue of the same righteousness, and all-sufficiency of the\nsame sacrifice, shall appear hereafter before God in glory, and stand in\nhis eternal favour; and as an earnest of it, we enjoy a life of holy\npeace and acceptance with God in this world, through the same\nall-sufficient blood and righteousness: For he _appears in the holy of\nholies, in_ heaven itself, _in the presence of God for us_; Heb. ix. 24.\nHe secures all the glories and blessings of spiritual and eternal life\nfor us, as he has taken possession of them in our name.\n\n2. Our life of grace, and especially our life of glory, may be said to\nbe hidden with Christ, because he dwells in heaven, where God resides in\nglory; God, in whom is our life. He is set down on the right-hand of the\nMajesty on high; Heb. xii. 2. There our eternal life is. The things\nwhich are above, are the objects of our joyful hope, _where Christ is at\nthe right-hand of God_; Col. iii. 1. It is the short, but sublime\ndescription of our heaven, that we shall be _present with the Lord_, we\nshall be where Christ is, to _behold his glory_; 2 Cor. v. 8. and John\nxvii. 24. And shall possess all that unknown and rich variety of\nblessings which are reserved for us in heavenly places, whither Christ\nour Lord is ascended. Thus I have endeavoured to explain, in the largest\nand most comprehensive sense, what we are to understand by the life of a\nchristian hidden with Christ in God: It is reserved in the\nall-sufficiency, the purposes, and the engagements of God, under the\ncare of the Mediator, and in the presence of Christ.\n\n[This sermon may be divided here.]\n\nThe use I shall make of this doctrine, is, to draw four inferences from\nit for our instruction, and three for our consolation.\n\nThe inferences for our instructions are such as these:\n\n1st Instruction. What a glorious person is the poorest, meanest\nchristian? He lives by communion with God the Father and the Son; for\nhis life is hid with Christ in God; 1 John i. 3.\u2014\u201cTruly our fellowship\nis with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things\nwrite we unto you, that your joy may be full; the joy that you may\njustly derive from so glorious an advancement.\u201d\n\nA true christian does not live upon the creatures, but upon the infinite\nand almighty Creator: upon God who created all things by Jesus Christ.\nCreated beings were never designed to be his life and his happiness;\nthey are too mean and coarse a fare for a christian to feed upon, in\norder to support his best life: He converses with them indeed, and\ntransacts many affairs that relate to them in this lower world: While he\ndwells in flesh and blood, his heavenly Father has appointed these to be\na great part of his business; but he does not make them his portion and\nhis life. They possess but the lower degrees of his affection: He\nrejoices in the possession of them, as though he rejoiced not; and he\nweeps for the loss of them, as though he wept not: He enjoys the dearest\ncomforts of life, as though he had them not; and buys with such a holy\nindifference, as though he were not to possess; 1 Cor. vii. 29, 30. for\nthe fashion of them passes away: But the food of his life is infinite\nand immortal. It is no wonder that a man of this world lets loose all\nthe powers of his soul in the pursuit and enjoyment of creatures, for\nthey are his portion and his life. But it is quite otherwise with a\nchristian: he has a nobler original, and sustains a higher character:\nHis divine life must have divine food to support it.\n\nLet our thoughts take a turn to some bare common, or to the side of a\nwood, and visit the humble christian there; we shall find him cheerful,\nperhaps, at his dinner of herbs, with all the circumstances of meanness\naround him: But what a glorious life he leads in that straw-cottage, and\npoor obscurity! The great and gay world shut him out from them with\ndisdain: He lives, as it were, hidden in a cave of the earth; but the\ngodhead dwells with him there. The high and lofty one that inhabits\neternity, comes down to dwell with the humble and contrite soul; Is.\nlvii. 15. God, who is the spring of life, comes down to communicate\nfresh supplies of this life continually. _He that dwelleth in love,\ndwelleth in God_; 1 John iv. 16. He is not alone, for the Father is with\nhim; John xvi. 32. The Father and the Son come and manifest themselves\nunto him, within the walls of that hovel, in so divine a manner, as they\nnever do to the men of this world, in their robes and palaces: John xiv.\n22, 23. And that he may have the honour of the presence of the blessed\nTrinity, his _body is the temple of the Holy Ghost_; 1 Cor. iii. 16. and\nvi. 19. O! the wonderful condescensions of divine grace, and the\nsurprizing honours that are done to a humble saint! How is this\nhabitation graced! Heaven is there, for God and Christ are there; and\nwho knows what heavenly guards surround him! what flights of attending\nangels? Are they not all ministering spirits, sent down to minister unto\nthem that shall be heirs of salvation? Heb. i. 14. But our Lord Jesus\nChrist is now unseen, God and angels are unseen; the christian\u2019s company\nbelong to the invisible world: He lives a hidden, but a divine life; his\nlife is hid with Christ in God.\n\nIId Instruction. See how it comes to pass that christians are capable of\ndoing such wonders, at which the world stands amazed. The spring of\ntheir life is almighty; it is hid in God. It is by this divine strength\nthey subdue their sinful natures, their stubborn appetites, and their\nold corrupt affections: It is by the power of God, derived through Jesus\nChrist, they bend the powers of their souls unto a conformity to all the\nlaws of God and grace; and they yield their bodies as instruments to the\nsame holy service, while the world wonders at them, that they should\nfight against their own nature, and be able to overcome it too.\n\nAnd as they deny themselves in all the alluring instances of sinful\npleasure, under the influence of almighty grace, so they endure\nsufferings, in the sharpest degree, from the hands of God, without\nmurmuring. And when they have laboured night and day, and performed\nsurprizing services for God in the world, they are yet contented to\nsubmit to smarting and heavy trials from the hands of their heavenly\nFather, without being angry at their God: they know he loves them, and\nhe designs all things shall work together for their good.\n\nBesides all this, they bear dreadful persecutions, cruel mockings, and\nscourings, and tortures, from the hands of men, and go through all the\nsorrows of martyrdom. What noble instances and miracles of this kind did\nthe primitive age furnish us with, so that their tormentors were amazed?\nThey saw not the secret springs of divine life which supported them;\nthey knew not the grace of God and the power of Christ, by which the\nchristians were upheld in all their labours and their sufferings. The\nspring of their life was almighty, but it was hidden from the eyes of\nmen: It was concealed and reserved with Christ in God.\n\nRead the labours and the sufferings of St. Paul; 2 Cor. xi. 23. \u201cIn\nstripes above measure, in prisons frequent, in deaths often: He was\nbeaten with rods, he was stoned, he suffered shipwreck, in perpetual\nperils by land and sea, in weariness, in painfulness, in watchings and\nfastings, in hunger and thirst, in cold and nakedness.\u201d One would think\nhis bones were iron, and his flesh were brass. He was invisibly\nsupported by Christ the spring of his life. Read his wondrous virtues\nand self-denial; Phil. iv. 11, 12, 13. I know how to be abased and how\nto abound; I can be full, and be hungry; I can possess plenty, and I can\nsuffer want: I can do all things through Christ strengthening me. This\nwas the fountain of his life and strength. I acknowledge, says he, in\nanother place, that I am nothing, I have no sufficiency of myself to\nthink so much as one good thought: But all my sufficiency is of God, in\nwhom my life is hid; 2 Cor. iii. 5. And with what a devout zeal does he\nascribe his life to Christ, in that glorious amassment of spiritual\nparadoxes! Gal. ii. 20. \u201cI am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I\nlive: yet, not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live\nin the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and\ngave himself for me.\u201d Therefore I can be delivered to death daily for\nJesus Christ\u2019s sake; troubled and perplexed, and yet not in despair; be\ncast down, and not be destroyed; because I believe that the life of\nJesus must be made manifest in my mortal flesh, and he which raised up\nthe Lord Jesus, shall raise us up also by Jesus, and shall present us\nwith you; 2 Cor. iv. 14.\n\nIIId Instruction. See whither a dead sinner must go to attain spiritual\nand eternal life, and whither a decaying dying christian must go for the\nrecruit of his fainting life too; it is to God by Jesus Christ, for it\nis all hidden with Christ in God.\n\nIn vain shall a man who is dead in trespasses and sins, toil and labour,\nand hope to attain life any other way. God is the spring of all life,\nand he has trusted it to the hands of Jesus Christ: _I am the way, the\ntruth and the life_, says our Saviour; John xiv. 6. No man can have life\nwithout coming to the living Father; and no man cometh to the Father but\nby me. Seneca and Plato, with their moral lectures, and the writings of\nhuman philosophy, may give a man new garments, may make his outward life\nappear much better than before; they may teach him, in some measure to\ngovern his passions too, and subdue some of the fleshly appetites; but\nthey cannot raise him to the love of God, to the hatred of every sin, to\nthe well grounded hopes of the favour of God, the blessed expectation of\na holy immortality, and a preparation for heaven. They cannot give the\nman a new life: He must be born again of the Spirit of Christ, or he can\nnever become a living christian.\n\nAnd in vain would the poor backsliding christian, with his withering\ndecaying graces, recruit and renew his divine life, without applying\nhimself afresh to Jesus Christ: While he forgets Christ, he must go on\nto wither and decay still. There is nothing in earth or heaven can\nsupply the utter absence of our Lord Jesus Christ. When the stream of\nspiritual life ebbs or runs low, it is not to be quickened, recovered,\nand increased, but by new supplies from the fountain which is on high.\nRemember, O degenerate christian, remember whence it was you derived\nyour first life, when you were once dead in trespasses and sins; fly to\nthe Saviour by new exercises of faith and dependance, mourning, in all\nhumility, for your unwatchful walking, and your absence from the Lord.\nCommit your soul afresh to his care, exert your utmost powers, and beg\nof him renewed instances of the living Spirit, that the face of your\nsoul may be like a watered garden, and the beauty of the divine life may\nbe recovered again.\n\nIVth Instruction. See the reason why a lively christian desires and\ndelights to be so much, and so often, where God and Christ are; for his\nlife is with them.\n\nThis was the divine temper and practice of the saints under a much\ndarker dispensation than what we enjoy. How does the holy soul of David\npant and long for the presence of God! and he brings even his animal\nnature, the very ferments of his flesh and blood, into his devotions;\nPs. lxiii. 1. _My soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee._\nPs. lxxxiv. 2. _My heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God._ In\nall the various and fervent language of sacred passion and transport, he\nbreathes after God, who is the strength of his life and his salvation;\nPs. xxvii. 1. The Jewish saints cleaved to the Lord, _for he was their\nlife, and the length of their days_; Deut. xxx. 20.\n\nAnd what sweet delight does St. Paul take in mentioning the very name of\nChrist? How does he dwell upon it in long sentences, and loves to repeat\nthe blessed sound! How often does he rejoice in the hope of dwelling\nwith him hereafter, and persuades the Colossians, in this context, to be\nmuch with him here; ver. 1. If ye are risen with Christ, and have\nderived a quickening virtue from him to work a divine life in you, let\nyour affections ascend above, where Christ your life is.\n\nIs not a man, whose very soul and life is wrapped up in honour and\nambition, desirous ever to be near the court! His life flourishes under\nthe sunshine of the prince\u2019s eye, and therefore he would fain dwell\nthere. Does not the covetous wretch love to be near his hoards of gold\nor silver? He has put up his life in his bag, among his treasures, and\nhe is not willing to be far distant, nor long separated from them.\nWhatever a man lives upon, he would willingly be ever near it, that so\nhe may have the pleasure of feeding upon what is his greatest delight,\nand be refreshed and nourished by that which he feels to support him.\nNow, what honour is to the ambitious, what money is to the covetous,\nwhat all the various delights of sense are to the men of carnal\npleasure; that is God to the saint, that is Christ Jesus to the\nchristian; and therefore he is ever desirous of such further\nmanifestations of God and Christ, that may invigorate his spiritual\nlife, and give him the pleasing relish of living. Then a man feels that\nhe lives, when he is near to the spring of his life, and derives fresh\nsupplies from it every moment.\n\nThence it is, that in every distress or danger, the saints fly to God\nfor refuge and relief: He is their great _hiding place_; Ps. xxxii. 7.\nAnd Christ Jesus is represented in prophecy under the same character;\nIs. xxxii. 2. This man, in whom the _Godhead dwells bodily_, shall be a\nhiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest. The name of\nGod in Christ, _is a strong tower; the righteous run into it_, to hide\nthemselves, _and are safe_; Prov. xviii. 10. Their life is in God, in\nthe keeping of Christ, and they can defy deaths and dangers, when their\nfaith is strong, and their thoughts are fixed above.\n\nThey know the meaning of that tender and divine language; Is. xxvi. 20.\n_Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about\nthee; hide thyself, as it were, for a little moment, until the\nindignation be over-past._ In a time of public terror, and spreading\ndesolation, they retire to their secret places of converse with God, and\nare secured, at least from the terror, if not from the destruction too.\nWhen the arrows of death fly thick around them by day, and the\npestilence walks through the streets in darkness, when a thousand fall\nat their side, and ten thousand at their right-hand, they make the Lord\ntheir refuge, even the Most High their habitation, and dwelt at ease in\nhis secret place. He covers them from evil, or he gives them courage, so\nthat they are not afraid: They place themselves under the protection of\nhis name; they find shelter in his attributes: These are their secret\nchambers; they hide within the curtains of his covenant, they wrap their\nsouls, as it were, in a sheet, or rather in[23] a volume of promises;\nthat ancient volume that has secured the saints in all ages; and though\ndeath be near them, they know that their better life is safe: He gives\nhis angels charge over them, to keep them on earth, or to bear them up\nto heaven, where their life is; Ps. xci. 11, 12.\n\nThence it comes to pass that we see christians, searching after God in\nordinances, and seeking for the Lord Jesus Christ in sermons, in\nprayers, in the closet, and in the sanctuary; for they live upon him. A\nholy soul pursues after the presence of his God, and his Saviour, with\nthe same zeal of affection and fervent desire, that the men of this\nworld indulge in their pursuit of created good: _My soul followeth hard\nafter thee_; Ps. lxiii. 8. Carnal persons are contented to be absent\nfrom God, for he is not their life: They can satisfy themselves with a\nshew of religion, without the power of it; and with empty forms of\nordinances, without Christ in them, because they are not born again,\ntheir life is not spiritual. The sinner lives upon visible creatures,\nand these awaken his warmest affections. A saint lives upon hidden and\ninvisible things, upon the hopes of futurity, and upon the glories that\nare concealed in the promises: He lives upon the righteousness and the\nintercession of Jesus his Mediator, upon the strength and grace of\nChrist, who is his head in heaven; upon the word, the promise, and the\nall-sufficiency of a God; and therefore these are objects of his\nmeditation and his desire.\n\nI proceed now to the three inferences for our consolation.\n\n1st Consolation. If our life be hidden with God, and our Lord Jesus\nChrist, then it is in safe hands. The wisdom and mercy of God have\njoined together, to appoint, shall I say, such a secret repository for\nour spiritual life, that it might be for ever secure. What can we have,\nor what can we desire more for the safety of our best life, than that\nGod himself should undertake to reserve it in himself for us, and\nappoint his own eternal Son, in our nature, to be the great Trustee and\nSurety, for his exhibition of it in every proper season?\n\nOur original life was hid in the first Adam; it was intrusted with man,\npoor, feeble, inconstant man, and he lost it: He was of _the earth_,\n_earthy_, and our life with him goes down to the dust. Our new life is\nintrusted with Christ; it is hidden in God, who is almighty and\nunchangeable; and therefore it can never be lost. The second Adam is\n_the Lord from heaven_, a quickening Spirit; 1 Cor. xv. 45, &c. And _he\nthat believeth on him, though he were dead in_ nature, _yet shall he\nlive_ by grace, for _Christ is the resurrection and the life_: And if he\nbe once made spiritually alive by Christ, he shall live for ever. This\nis the language of Christ himself; John xi. 25, 26.\n\nWhat an unreasonable thing is it then for a christian to fear what men\nor devils can do against him, for they cannot hurt his best life! It is\nabove the reach of all the assaults of earth or hell. Our Lord Jesus\nteaches us not to be afraid of them who only can kill the body; for the\nsoul is not in their reach; nor is it possible for them to prevent the\nbody from partaking of its share, in the glorious life appointed for a\nchristian at the great rising-day.\n\nWe see here upon what firm grounds the doctrine of a christian\u2019s\nperseverance is built, Christ is his life, _Jesus, the same yesterday,\nto-day, and for ever_. The all-sufficient God, and his eternal Son, have\nundertaken for the security of it; John x. 28, 29, 30. _I give unto them\neternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them\nout of my hand. My Father which gave them me, is greater than all, and\nnone is able to pluck them out of my Father\u2019s hand. I and my Father are\none._ God hath sworn by his holiness, that the seed of Christ shall\nendure for ever; Ps. lxxxix. 35, 36. and that his loving-kindness shall\nnot be utterly taken away from his own children: And our Lord Jesus\nChrist doth little less than swear to the perseverance of his disciples,\nwhen he says; John xiv. 19. _Because I live, ye shall live also_: for,\nas I live, is the oath of God.\n\nWhy art thou cast down, O believer, and why is thy soul disquieted\nwithin thee? Hope in God thy life, for thou shalt yet praise him, how\nmany and great soever thine adversaries are, and how difficult soever\nthy path and duty may be, and how loud soever thy foes threaten thy\ndestruction. There may be many things in thy travels through this world,\nthat may hurt or hinder the growth of thy spiritual life, and may for a\nseason interpose, as it were, between thee and thy God: but neither\nlife, nor death, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor\nthings to come, shall ever separate thee entirely from him, whose love\nis secured in Jesus Christ; Rom. viii. 38, 39. The disciples were much\nto blame, that they were overwhelmed with terror in the midst of the\nstorm, while Jesus Christ was with them in the same ship; and ye should\nchide your own souls, when you feel yourselves under such unbelieving\nfears as our Lord Jesus Christ chid in his fearful followers: \u201cO ye of\nlittle faith, wherefore did ye doubt?\u201d\n\n2nd Consolation. What a comfortable thought must it be to a poor feeble\nchristian, that God and Christ know all the state of his spiritual life?\nfor it is hid with them. Though the life of a saint has a cloud upon it,\nthough it is entirely hidden from men, and sometimes too much hidden\nfrom himself too, yet the Father and the Saviour know every circumstance\nof it, how low it is, how feeble, what daily obstacles it meets with,\nwhat hourly enemies assault it. Christ our Lord well knows when our life\nis in danger, and what are the necessary supplies.\n\nThis is very encouraging to a poor trembling believer, when he hardly\nknows how to address the throne of grace himself in such a manner, as to\nrepresent all his wants, and all his spiritual sorrows and difficulties\nto God in prayer; but our Lord Jesus Christ, who is a compassionate\nhigh-priest, who is our Head, and near a-kin to us his members, is\nperfectly acquainted with our state: And the christian, mourning under\nthe decays of grace, can look up to Christ with hope, he can mingle new\nexercises of faith and dependance, among his sighs and groans, and\ncommit his case afresh to Jesus his Saviour, with a humble and a holy\nacquiescence in him. Christ himself, who is the believer\u2019s life, must\nknow and will take care of all affairs which relate to his spiritual and\neternal welfare.\n\nIt is a matter of sweet consolation too, when a humble christian, who\nwalks carefully before God, is reproached by the world for a deceiver\nand a hypocrite, that he can appeal to God, with whom his life is hid,\nand say, \u201cMy record is on high; though my friends, or my enemies, may\nscorn or deride me, yet he knoweth the way that I take, and the secret\nexercises of my hidden life: He knows my longings and breathings of soul\nafter him, and that nothing but his love can satisfy me: He knows my\ndiligence and my holy labour to please him: He knows the wrestlings and\nthe conflicts that I go through hourly, to maintain my close walking\nwith my God: He knows that I live, though it is but a feeble life; and\nthe charges of the world against me are false and malicious.\u201d It is with\na relish of holy pleasure that the christian sometimes, in secret,\nappeals to our Lord Jesus Christ, as Peter did, and says, _Lord, thou\nwho knowest all things, knowest that I love thee_, John xxi. 17.\n\nIIId Consolation. It is a matter of unspeakable comfort to a christian,\nthat the most terrible things to a sinner, are become the greatest\nblessings to a saint: And these are death and judgment. What can be more\ndreadful to those who know not God than those two words are; for they\nput an eternal end to all their present pleasures, and to all their\nhopes. But what greater happiness can a saint wish or hope for, than\ndeath and judgment will put him in possession of? The one carries his\nsoul upward where his life is, that is, to God and Christ in heaven; the\nother brings his life down to earth, where his body is, for Christ shall\nthen come to raise his dust from the grave.\n\nI confess, I finished my former discourse on this text, with a\nmeditation on death and judgment; how the gloom which hung around the\nsaint in this life, is all dispelled at that blessed hour; and he who\nwas unknown and despised among men, stands forth with honour amongst\nadmiring angels: His hidden manner of life is for ever at an end. But in\nthis discourse the secret and glorious springs of his life, _viz._ God\nand Christ, will naturally lead us to the same delightful meditations of\nfuturity, as the hidden manner of it has done; and there is so rich a\nvariety of new and transporting scenes and ideas attending that subject,\nthat I have no need to tire you with unpleasing repetition, though I\nresume the glorious theme.\n\nLet my consolations proceed then, and let the saints rejoice. At the\nmoment of death, the soul may say, \u201cFarewel, for ever, sins and sorrows,\nand perplexities; farewell, temptations of the alluring, and the\naffrighting kind; neither the vanities, nor the terrors of this world,\nshall reach me any more; for I shall from this moment for ever dwell\nwhere my joy, my life is. All my springs are in God, and I shall be for\never with him.\u201d\u2014And when the morning of the resurrection dawns upon the\nworld, and the day of judgment appears, the body of a christian shall be\ncalled out of the dust, and shall bid farewell for ever to death and\ndarkness; to disease and pain, to all the fruits of sin, and all the\neffects of the curse. Christ, who is the resurrection and the life,\nstands up a complete conqueror over all the powers of the grave: He bids\nthe sacred dust, arise and live; the dust obeys, and revives; the whole\nsaint appears exulting in life; the date of his immortality then begins,\nand his life shall run on to everlasting ages.\n\nMethinks such lively views of death should incline us rather to desire\nto depart from the body, that we may dwell with Christ. Death is but a\nflight of the soul where its divine life is. Why should we make it a\nmatter of fear then, to be absent from the body, if we are immediately\npresent with the Lord! Methinks, under the influence of such meditations\nof the resurrection, faith should breathe, and long for the last\nappearance of Christ, and rejoice in the language of holy Job: _I know\nthat my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon\nthe earth_; Job xix. 25. A christian should send his hopes and his\nwishes forward to meet the chariot-wheels of our Lord Jesus the Judge;\nfor the day of his appearance is but the display of our life, and the\nperfection of our blessedness. _When Christ, who is our life, shall\nappear, then shall we also appear with him in glory_; Col. iii. 4. My\nthoughts kindle at the sound of that blessed promise, and I long to let\ncontemplation loose on a theme so divinely glorious. If ever the pomp of\nlanguage be indulged, and the magnificence of words, it must be to\ndisplay this bright solemnity, this illustrious appearance, which\noutshines all the pomp of words, and the utmost magnificence of\nlanguage. Come, my friends, let us meditate the sacred conformity of the\nsaints to Christ, first, in their hidden, and then in their glorious\nlife; as he was on earth, so are they; both hated of the world, both\nunknown in it. The disciples must be trained up for public honours, as\ntheir Master was, in this hideous and howling wilderness, in caves of\ndarkness, or rather in a den of savages. They must follow the Captain of\ntheir salvation through a thousand dangers and sufferings; and they\nshall receive their crown too, and a glory like that which arrays their\ndivine Leader.\n\nO may I never think it hard to trace the footsteps of my Lord, though it\nbe in a miry, or a thorny way! May I never repine at poverty and\nmeanness of circumstance in my present pilgrimage! nor think it strange\nif the world scorn and abuse me, or if Satan, the foul spirit, should\nassault and buffet me sorely! Dare I hope to appear in glory, when\nChrist, who is my life appears; and can I not bear to attend him in\nsufferings and shame? Am I better than my blessed Lord? What poor\nattendants had the Son of God, at his first entrance into our world! How\nmean was every thing that belonged to him on earth! What vile and\ndespicable raiment, unworthy of the Prince of glory! What coarse\nprovision, and sorry furniture, to entertain incarnate godhead! And how\nimpious was the treatment he found among men, and impudent temptations\nfrom the same foul spirit! He had snares, sorrows, and temptations,\nwatching all around him: The sorrows of death compassed him about, and\nthe powers of darkness crowded him with their envious assaults; earth\nand hell were at once engaged against him; they hung him bleeding on a\ncursed and infamous tree, lifted on high to be made a more public\ngazing-stock, and an object of wider scorn! Blessed Saviour! how divine\nwas thy patience to endure all these indignities, and not call for thy\nFather\u2019s legions, nor thy own thunder.\n\nBut, this was the hour of thy appointed combat, the place of thy\nvoluntary obscurity, and the season of thy hidden life; and thy saints\nmust bear thy resemblance in both worlds. How unspeakable were thy past\nsorrows! and thy present glories all unspeakable! How infinitely\ndifferent were these dark and mournful scenes, from the joys and honours\nthou hast purchased by those very sufferings! Sacred honours and joys\nwithout alloy, which thou art now possessed of as their great\nforerunner, and hast made ready for thy subjects in thy own kingdom!\nWhat robes of light shall array thy followers in that day; What bright\nplanet, or brighter star, shall be the place of thy dwelling? or shall\nall those shining worlds be mansions of various residence, as thou shalt\nlead thy saints successively through the vast and numerous provinces of\nthy boundless dominion? Sorrow, sin, and temptation, shall be named no\nmore, unless to triumph over them in immortal songs. The fairest spirits\nof light, in their own heavenly forms, shall be the companions and\nattendants of the children of God. Jesus, the Lord of glory, is their\nking and head, the leader of their triumph, and the pattern of their\nexaltation. Jesus shall appear in his meridian lustre, as the Sun of\nRighteousness in the noon of heaven; yet the beams of his influence\nshall be gentle as the morning-star. There needs no other sun in that\nupper world; the Lamb is the light thereof. Jesus, the ornament of\nparadise, and the delight of God, shall be the eternal and beatific\nobject of their senses, and their souls; they must be _where he is, to\nbehold his glory_.\n\nThe blessed God shall dwell among them, and lay out upon them the riches\nof his own all-sufficiency, riches of wisdom, grace, and power,\nall-suprising, and all-infinite. Divine power shall then reveal all the\nglory that has been laid up for them, of old, in the purposes of God, or\nin the promises of the book of life. But it was fit it should be hidden\nthere, while the time of their probation lasted; it was fit they should\nlive by faith, and under some degrees of darkness, while the ages of sin\nand temptation were rolling away: It was divinely proper that eternal\nlife should not break forth; nor the splendours of the third heaven be\nmade too conspicuous, till the six thousand years of mortality and death\nhad finished their revolutions round the lower skies, and had answered\nthe scheme of divine counsel and judgment, on a world where sin had\nentered.\n\nBut life and heaven must not be hid for ever. The almighty word, in that\nday, shall bid the ancient decree bring forth, and the promise unfold\nitself in public light. What new worlds of unseen felicity! what scenes\nof delight, and celestial blessings, never yet revealed to the race of\nAdam! When the rivers of pleasure, that had run under ground from the\nearth\u2019s foundation, shall break up in immortal fountains.\n\nMercy and truth shall lavish out upon men with an unsparing hand all\nthose treasures of life which were hid in God, and in the gospel for\nthem. The All-wise shall please himself in making so noble creatures,\nout of so mean materials, dust and ashes. Glorified saints are\nmaster-pieces of divine skill; and the blessed original, or first\nexemplar of them, the man Jesus, is the perfection of the contrivance of\nGod; here he has abounded in all wisdom and prudence. Then the\ninhabitants of upper worlds shall see an illustrious and holy creation,\nrising out of the ruins of this wretched globe, involved all in guilt,\nand weltering in penal fire. When this scene opens, what sounding\nacclamations shall echo from world to world, and new universal honours\nbe paid to Divine wisdom! The morning-stars shall sing together again,\nand those holy armies shout for joy. The grace of God descending to\nearth, in days past, had in some measure prepared his children for\nglory: But in that day he shall enlarge their capacities, both of sense\nand of mind, to an inconceivable extent, and shall fill the powers of\ntheir glorified nature with the fruits of his love, new and old.\n\nAnd what if the limits of our capacity shall be for ever stretching\nthemselves on all sides, and for ever drinking in larger measures of\nglory; What an astonishing state of ever-growing pleasure! What an\neternal advance of our heaven! The godhead is an infinite ocean of life\nand blessedness, and finite vessels may be for ever swelling, and for\never filling in that sea of all-sufficiency. There must be no tiresome\nsatiety in that everlasting entertainment. God shall create the joys of\nhis saints ever fresh: He shall throw open his endless stores of\nblessing, unknown even to the first rank of angels; and feast the sons\nand daughters of men with pleasures a-kin to those which were prepared\nfor the Son of God. For verily he took not upon him the nature of\nangels, but the likeness of sinful flesh: And when he shall appear the\nsecond time without sin to our salvation, we shall then be made like\nhim, for we shall see him as he is. _Amen._\n\n\n HYMN FOR SERMONS IX. and X.\n _The Hidden Life of a Christian._\n\n\n O happy soul, that lives on high,\n While men lie groveling here!\n His hopes are fix\u2019d above the sky,\n And faith forbids his fear.\n\n His conscience knows no secret stings,\n While grace and joy combine\n To form a life, whose holy springs\n Are hidden and divine.\n\n He waits in secret on his God;\n His God in secret sees:\n Let earth be all in arms abroad,\n He dwells in heavenly peace.\n\n His pleasures rise from things unseen,\n Beyond this world and time,\n Where neither eyes nor ears have been,\n Nor thoughts of mortals climb.\n\n He wants no pomp, nor royal throne\n To raise his figure here;\n Content, and pleased to live unknown,\n Till Christ his life appear.\n\n He looks to heaven\u2019s eternal hills,\n To meet that glorious day;\n Dear Lord, how slow thy chariot-wheels!\n How long is thy delay!\n\nFootnote 23:\n\n The bible, of old, was written on several sheets of parchment tacked\n together, and rolled up in a volume.\n\n\n\n\n SERMON XI.\n _Nearness to God the Felicity of Creatures._\n PSALM lxv. 4.\u2014Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to\n approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts.\n THE FIRST PART.\n\n\nIt was an elegant address that the queen of Sheba made to Solomon, when\nshe had surveyed the magnificence of his court, and heard his wisdom;\n\u201cHappy are thy men, and happy are these thy servants, who stand\ncontinually before thee!\u201d 1 Kings x. 8. And there was much truth and\nhonour in her speech. But the harp of David strikes a diviner note;\nBlessed is the man whom thou choosest, O God, that he may approach unto\nthee, and dwell in thy courts, in the holy sanctuary.\n\nWhether, in these words, the Psalmist blesses those levites and priests,\nwhose duty it was to attend the ark, and to dwell near the tabernacle,\nor whether he pronounces blessedness on every man of Israel, whose\nhabitation nigh the ark gave him frequent opportunities to attend at\nthat solemn worship, is not very necessary to determine. Either of these\nmay be called dwelling in the courts of God. But it is most probable,\nthat the sacred writer designs the second sense of the word, and that he\nincludes himself in the desire or possession of this blessedness, though\nhe was neither a priest nor a levite; for he uses the same phrase in\nseveral places, and applies it to himself; Ps. xxvii. 4. _One thing have\nI desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the\nhouse of the Lord all the days of my life._ Ps. xxiii. 6.\u2014_I will dwell\nin the house of the Lord for ever._ By which he intimates, that he would\nseek the most frequent opportunities of approaching God in public\nworship.\n\nIt is sufficient to my present purpose, that the holy Psalmist makes the\n_blessedness of man_ to depend upon his _near approaches to God_.\n\nHere we should remember that God is necessarily near to all his\ncreatures, by his infinite knowledge, by his preserving and governing\npower: _He is not far from every one of us: for in him we live, and\nmove, and have our being_; Acts xvii. 27, 28. But the privilege which\nDavid speaks of in my text, is a _peculiar approach of a creature to\nGod_, which is a fruit of divine choice and favour. The souls who enjoy\nthis blessing are chosen to it, and by divine providence and mercy are\n_caused to approach him_. What further explication of this phrase is\nnecessary, will be sufficiently given in the following parts of the\ndiscourse.\n\nLet this then be the doctrine which I shall attempt to confirm and\nimprove, _viz._\n\nDoctrine. Nearness to God is the foundation of a creature\u2019s happiness.\n\nThis may be proved with ease, if we consider, what it is that makes an\nintelligent being happy: and how well such an approach to God furnishes\nus with all the means of attaining it. The ingredients of happiness are\nthese three: 1. The contemplation of the most excellent object: 2. The\nlove of the chiefest good: 3. And a delightful sense of being beloved by\nan all-sufficient power, or an almighty friend.\n\n1. The contemplation of the most excellent object. And he who is nearest\nto God, has the fairest advantages of this kind. The understanding is a\nnoble faculty of our natures; truth is its proper food; and truth, in\nall the boundless varieties and beauties of it, is the object of its\npursuit, when it is refined from sensualities.\n\nThis is the delight of the _philosopher_, to search all the hidden\nwonders of nature, and pursue truth with a most pleasurable and restless\nfatigue: For this he climbs the heavens, traces the planetary and the\nstarry worlds: For this he pries into the bowels of the earth, and\nsounds the depths of the ocean; and when, with immense toil of mind, he\nhas found out some unknown natural truth, how are all the powers of his\nsoul charmed within him, and he exults, as it were, in a little\nparadise!\n\nBut the souls who are admitted to draw nearest to God, contemplate\ninfinite truth in its original. They converse with that divine\nartificer, who spread abroad these curtains of heaven, who moulded this\nglobe of earth, and furnished the upper and the lower worlds with all\ntheir admirable varieties. He is a God of glory and beauty in himself,\nas well as the author of all the beauties of nature. All his\nperfections, as well as his works, yield heavenly matter for\ncontemplation: He eminently contains in himself all the amazing scenes\nof nature, and the more transporting wonders of the world of grace;\nthose mysteries wherein _he has abounded in all wisdom and prudence_:\nHow the ruined sons of Adam were rescued from death, by the Son of God\ndying in their stead; how Satan was baffled in his most subtle designs,\nand the deepest policies of hell undermined, when the prince of darkness\ndestroyed his own kingdom, by persuading men to put the Son of God to\ndeath.\n\nWhat a divine pleasure is it to converse with that wisdom which laid the\neternal scheme of all these wonders, and of ten thousand more unknown\nbeauties in the transactions of providence and grace, with which the\nblessed minds above are feasted to satisfaction! And besides all these\nGod has reserved in himself a hidden world of new scenes to open\nhereafter, and an everlasting profusion of new wonders to display before\nthe eyes of his favourites. Heaven is described by _seeing God_, by\n_beholding him face to face_, and by _knowing_ him in the way and manner\nin which _we are known_; 1 Cor. xiii. 12. And he is pleased to indulge\nsome taste of this felicity to his children in this life, by mediums and\nglasses, by types and figures, by his word and ordinances, under the\nenlightening beams of his spirit. This is the _beauty of the Lord_, for\nthe view of which David desired to _dwell in_ the sanctuary; Ps. xxvii.\n4, that he might see the power and glory of God continually, as he had\nsometimes seen it there: that he might behold his beauty, and talk of\nhis glorious goodness in his holy temple. O _how great is his goodness!\nand how great is his beauty_; Zech. ix. 17.\n\nBut contemplation alone cannot make a creature happy: This only\nentertains the understanding, which is but one faculty of our natures:\nthe will and affections must have their proper entertainment too. Their\nbeatific exercise may be comprized in the word love, either in the\nout-goings, or the returns of it: And this leads me to the following\nparticulars:\n\nII. The next ingredient of a creature\u2019s happiness, is, the love of the\nchiefest good. And those _whom God chooses, and causes to approach\nhimself_, when they are under divine illuminations, see so much beauty\nand excellency in his nature, his power and wisdom, and so many lovely\nglories in his overflowing grace, that they cannot but love him above\nall things; and this love is a great part of their heaven. What sweeter\npleasure is there in this lower world, than to give a loose to the\naffectionate powers of the soul, to converse with the most amiable and\nmost desired object, to feed upon it without ceasing, and to dwell with\nit perpetually? But the most relishing enjoyments of this kind that\nmortality admits of, in the pursuit or possession of created good, are\nbut faint and feeble shadows of the blessedness of holy souls in the\nlove of God, who is the most amiable, and the best of beings: Therefore\n_they love him with all their heart and soul, with all their mind and\nstrength_; and if they had more powers in nature that could be employed\nin love, they should all be laid out in the search and fruition of this\nfirst and best-beloved: for there are endless stores, and treasures of\nunknown loveliness in the godhead, to excite and entertain for ever the\nfresh efforts of the most exalted love. But for me to know, and to love\nthe best of beings, cannot make me completely happy, unless I am\n_beloved_ of him also, and unless I _feel_ that he loves me. Happiness\nrequires mutual love.\n\nIII. The third ingredient therefore of our felicity, and that which\nperfects the blessedness of a creature, is, the delightful sense of the\nlove of an almighty friend. To know, to love, and to be beloved by such\na being, must complete our bliss; one who hath all beauty, and all\ngoodness in himself; one who can free us from every pain, secure us\nagainst every peril, and confer upon us every pleasure. This is the\nperfection of our heaven, when all these are enjoyed in a perfect\ndegree, without any alloy. Now such is the state of those who _are\nchosen and caused to approach unto God_, so as to know him, and love\nhim; that they have the chiefest advantages to obtain the assurance and\ntaste of his love. The man whom the Psalmist pronounces blessed in my\ntext, hopes for this pleasure in _the house of God_, that he shall be\n_satisfied with the_ divine _goodness_ there.\n\nThe _loving-kindness_ of God is life, or something _better than life_;\nPs. lxiii. 3. and to have a sensation of this loving-kindness, is to\nfeel that I live. To think, to know, and to be assured that I am\nbeloved, by an all-sufficient power, _who can do more_ for me _than I\ncan ask or think_, in life, and death, and in eternity, and to have\npleasing and spiritual sensations of _this shed abroad in the heart_;\nthis raises the christian near to the upper heaven, while he dwells on\nearth, and he _rejoices with joy unspeakable, and full glory_.\n\nSome may object here and say, Is it no part of our blessedness then to\nlove the saints, to rejoice in their love, to contemplate the works of\nGod, and his wonders in creation and providence? Answer, Yes surely; and\nwe have allowed it before: But when we take true satisfaction in any of\nthese, it is as they proceed from God, as they relate to God, and lead\nour souls to centre in him; for God, who is the first cause, must be the\nlast end of all, and no creatures, as divided from him, can make us\neither holy or happy.\n\nI proceed to make some improvement of the few thoughts I have delivered\non this subject.\n\nI. My first reflection should be upon the scale of blessedness, or the\nseveral degrees of felicity that creatures are possessed of, according\nto their advancing approaches toward God: But my meditations dilate\nthemselves here to so large an extent, as makes it necessary to adjourn\nthis thought to the next discourse. I proceed therefore to the\n\nII. Reflection, What unknown evil is contained in the nature of every\nsin, for it divides the creature from God and from happiness? It may be\nsaid to every soul on earth, as it was once said to Israel; _Your\niniquities have separated between you and your God_; Is. lix. 2. What a\nworld of endless mischief was comprized in the first sin of Adam,\nwhereby this lower creation was, as it were, cut off from God at once?\nMan was at first happy in the image and love of his Maker, a-kin to him\nby nature and creation, as a son to a father: Adam was _the Son of God_;\nLuke iii. 38. and he enjoyed the privilege and the pleasure of holy\nnearness to God, and humble converse with him. He read the name of his\nMaker in all his works; he could contemplate divine wisdom, power, and\ngoodness there; he loved his Creator with all his soul, and was happy in\nhis Creator\u2019s love. But when sin entered, Adam fled from his heavenly\nFather, and his friend; _he hid himself among the trees in the garden_,\nwhen the voice of the Lord called after him, _Adam, where art thou?_ And\nit has been the dismal description of sinners ever since, that they are\n_afar off from God_.\n\nO what tongue can express, or what heart can conceive, the immense load,\nand everlasting train of mischiefs and miseries, that lie heavy on poor\nmankind, and have pursued human nature, in all the infinite members and\nbranches of it, through all ages and nations, for almost six thousand\nyears? All these were introduced by man\u2019s first disobedience. We are a\nsinful race of creatures, born in the likeness of the original sinner;\nWe come into the world _estranged from God, and go astray from the\nwomb_; for we were _shapen_ in iniquity, and conceived in sin; Ps.\nlviii. 3. and li. 5. It is the temper and spirit of mankind, by nature,\nto desire an absence from God, and to wish their own misery; Job xxi.\n14. \u201cWhat is the Almighty that we should serve him?\u2014Depart from us, for\nwe desire not the knowledge of thy ways.\u201d By nature we love him not, nor\ndo we seek after his love. This is your state, and this mine by nature:\nThese are our hateful and deplorable circumstances, and yet we go on to\naggravate our own guilt, to run further from God hourly, and to make\nhaste to everlasting wretchedness, if divine grace prevent us not.\n\nIII. Reflection. Is nearness to God the foundation of the creature\u2019s\nfelicity, then how vain are all pretences to happiness, while man is a\nstranger to God? Let him be surrounded with all imaginable delights of\nsense, or let him be furnished with all advantages of reason or natural\nknowledge, to entertain the mind; yet if he be afar off from God, he\nmust be afar off from blessedness. _Without God, and without hope_, is\nthe character of the sinful world. Do the profane and sensual wretches\nboast of their pleasures, while God is not in all their thoughts? Empty\nshews of pleasure, and vain shadows! And even these shadows, these vain\nflatteries, are ever flying from their embraces; they delude their\npursuit in this world, and shall vanish all at once at the moment of\ndeath, and leave them in everlasting sorrow.\n\nLet the sensualist _sport himself in his own deceivings_, and bless\nhimself in the midst of his madness: Let the rich worldling say, \u201cSoul\ntake thine ease, for thy barns and thy chests are full.\u201d Let the mere\nphilosopher glory that he has found happiness out; let him busy himself\nin refined subtilties, and swell in the pride of his reason: let all\nthese pretenders to felicity, compliment each other, if they please, or\ncall themselves the only happy men; yet the meanest, and the weakest of\nall the saints, would not make an exchange with them; for the saint is\nbrought nigh to God: And though his poverty here be never so great and\nhis understanding never so contemptible, yet he knows this great truth\nwell, that to exchange God for the creature, would be infinite loss, and\nmisery unspeakable. They who never drew near to God, who never saw God\nin his works or his word, so as to love him above all things, and\npartake of his love, must be miserable in spite of all their pretences:\n_They that are far from God shall perish_; Ps. lxxiii. 27.\n\nIV. Reflection. God has not utterly abandoned this world to sin and\nmisery, while he keeps his word and his ordinances in it: For these are\nhis appointed means of approaching to him, and steps whereby we may\nclimb to the blessedness of saints and angels. God sent his word after\nAdam the sinner, when he fled from him in paradise, that he might recal\nman back to himself; and he has been ever since sending messages of\npeace, and invitations of love, to a ruined and rebellious world. Happy\nsinners, who hear the voice of an inviting God, who turn their back upon\nthe perishing vanities of life and time, who forsake the creatures, and\nreturn to their Creator again! Thousands of the sons and daughters of\nAdam have accepted the messages of this grace, and have been by these\nmethods trained up for glory: By conversing with God in his ordinances,\nand dwelling in his courts on earth, they have been happily prepared for\nan everlasting habitation in his court of heaven. We this day are\nfavoured with the same divine call in the gospel; let every soul of us\nrejoice and follow.\n\nV. Reflection. The true value of things on earth may be judged of and\ndetermined by their tendency to bring us near to God and heaven. The\ncommon measure of our esteem of things, is the influence they have to\npromote what we think our happiness. Now, if our judgment be set right\nin this point, and we are convinced that an approach to God is the way\nto be happy, then whatsoever leads us nearest to God will rise in value\nin our esteem.\n\nThen our hearts will set a high esteem on those friends or relatives who\ndraw us to the knowledge and love of God: Then we shall prize the\nministrations of the gospel in England above the riches of both the\nIndies; then we shall not think the ministry of the word a mean and\ncontemptible employment, nor delight to hear scandals thrown on the\npersons or the characters of those who are engaged in it; for _these are\nthe servants of the living God, who shew us the way_ to be happy. Then\nwe shall commend those sermons, and those writings most, not that have\nmost wit and fancy in them, but those which we feel and find to draw our\nhearts farthest off from sin and the creature, and bring them nearest to\nGod; and then, if there were but one bible in the world, we should all\nagree to say, that there is not treasure enough in all the material\ncreation to purchase it out of our hands.\n\nVI. Reflection. All the means of separation from God should be numbered\namong the instruments of real misery.\n\nDoes Satan the fallen angel, solicit our youth with his flatteries; that\nit is time enough to mind religion yet; let us have a few more gaudy\ndays first? Does he frighten the aged sinner with terrible falsehoods,\nand tempt him to an utter despair of grace? Let his wicked suggestions\nbe renounced with disdain, and let him never prevail to keep one soul of\nus at a distance from God; for his first business was to divide us from\nGod, and to ruin our happiness: And it is his daily employment to hold\nus fast in the chains of iniquity and death, and thus to prevent our\nreturn to God.\n\nDoes the flesh allure us to pursue sinful delights? Does it awaken and\ncharm our imagination with the flowery and fatal scenes of luxury and\nmirth? Do the lusts of the flesh, or the lusts of the eye, persuade us\nto seek happiness among them? And tempt us, at least for the present, to\nlay aside the thoughts of God? Let us set a strict guard upon ourselves,\nand watch all the avenues of sense and appetite, lest we be drawn off\nfrom the practice of piety, and the service, and the love of God, where\ntrue happiness is only to be found.\n\nDo you find, O christians, that the world begins to creep into your\nhearts? Do you find any creature sit too near your souls, and take up\nany of that time and room which God should have there? Awake, betimes,\nand bestir yourselves, lest it divide you from your happiness. When you\nfeel your spirits at any time grow cold in religious worship, when you\ncan pass a day with an indifference about secret converse with God, and\nbe content to be long absent from him, search with diligence what enemy\nit is that has crept in secretly, and interposes betwixt God and you;\nand when you have found it, never rest, till by the aids of divine\ngrace, you have removed the idol from your thoughts, and your soul be\nrestored to its holy nearness to God again. I might say in general,\nconcerning all this world, keep your hearts aloof from it, while your\nhands, and perhaps your heads too, are engaged in the necessary affairs\nof it. The nearer your souls are to the creatures, the farther they\ndepart from God and blessedness. As a natural consequence from this\nthought, we may raise another\n\nVII. Reflection. Wanderings, and vain thoughts in the time of religious\nworship, are, and will be, the great burdens of a child of God; for they\nclog him, and keep him down when he would rise to his heavenly Father;\nthey are bars in his way to blessedness, for they hinder his approach to\nGod. But what wretched creatures are we, if we indulge vain thoughts,\nand worldly images and idols in the house of God, without complaint, and\nwithout mourning! What holy shame and repentance should it work in us,\nto think, that even in the place where the great and blessed God comes\nto shew his face, we should be building up walls and partitions to hide\nhis face from us! that we should turn away our faces from him in the\nhour when he comes on purpose to meet us!\n\nI might add, as a concluding reflection, that it is a tiresome bondage\nto a saint, in a devout frame, to dwell so long in this body of flesh\nand blood. This mortal state prevents our complete happiness every hour\nthat we tarry in it. While we sojourn in this tabernacle, we are so much\nthe farther from God; while _we are at home in the body, we are absent\nfrom the Lord_; 2 Cor. v. 6. This mortal flesh is a painful veil to the\nlively christian, for it divides him from the sight and full enjoyment\nof his chosen blessedness. At the best we see God but _darkly through a\nglass_ while we dwell here; the moment of release places us in the\nregion of spirits, _where we shall see him face to face_; 1. Cor. xiii.\n12. Though all these reflections may afford us many useful rules for our\npractice, yet I will not finish the discourse without a few inferences\nwhich are more expressly practical.\n\nPractical Directions.\u20141. Give all glory to God for ever, who brings\nhimself so near to us: He puts us thus far in the road to happiness,\nwhen he builds his houses amongst us, when he approaches to us in his\nholy ordinances, when he calls, and causes us to approach to him, and\ngives us kind and sure promises of eternal blessedness above in his\nimmediate presence. Let each of us join with Solomon in that noble piece\nof worship; 1 Kings viii. 27. \u201cBut will God indeed dwell on earth?\nBehold the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee, how much less any\nhouse that is built for thee?\u201d Yet the Lord is near to the churches of\nhis saints, when they worship him; _he is near to all that call upon\nhim, to all that call upon him in truth_; Ps. cxlv. 18. And _his word is\nnear us_, even in our hands, and on our lips; that word which teaches us\nthe way to approach God, and ensures the blessedness.\n\nO give glory to God, the great and holy God, that he should ever be\nwilling to let sinners approach him; that the Majesty of Heaven, and the\nsupreme Lord of all, who had been highly provoked by his rebellious\ncreatures, should ever come into terms of reconciliation; that he\nhimself should provide a reconciling sacrifice, to satisfy his own\ngoverning justice, and a reconciling spirit to reduce the rebel man to\nhis obedience and love. This divine condescension, O my soul, demands\nthy wonder and thy worship.\n\n2. Adore the mystery of the incarnation, and bless God incarnate; for\nthis is the ground of all our habitual nearness to God, and all our\nactual approaches to him and heaven. It was the Son of God, who is one\nwith the Father, that stooped down, and approached to our nature, and\ntook a part of it into union with himself, that we might approach to the\nDeity: No man cometh to the Father but by the Son; John xiv. 6. For ever\nhad we, the wretched offspring of Eve, been banished from the courts,\nand the presence of God, had not this man Jesus the Son of Mary, been\ncaused first to draw near, and to dwell near; and blessed be his name\nfor ever.\n\nWe rejoice with all the powers of our souls, to think how near to God\nthe man Jesus is, for since he approaches the throne, we shall approach\ntoo; Rev. iii. 21. We shall be blessed through his blessedness; Gal.\niii. 8. 14. He was first chosen to draw near, and _we chosen in him_;\nEph. i. 4. Nearness to God is still a matter of divine choice and\ndistinction: He approaches to God above, accepted in his own spotless\nrighteousness, and we in him: He is in a more transcendant manner one\nwith God, and we must be united to God by him, and so made somewhat like\nhim; John xvii. 24. When our Mediator approaches to the Father in\nworship, he, as our High-priest, bears the name of the whole church in\nheaven and earth, on his breast, and on his shoulders; Ex. xxxviii.\n12-29. In his beauty of holiness, we unholy creatures are presented\nbefore God, and caused to approach with glorious acceptance.\n\nStand still here, O ye saints of the Most High, and survey your\nprivileges and your honours; and remember that whensoever you draw near\nto God in the courts of his house, it was Jesus who drew near first, it\nis Jesus who still dwells near to make you acceptable: it is he who\nmaintains the nearness of your state, and your peace with God, by ever\npresenting your natures in his person: _He appears in the presence of\nGod for us_; Heb. ix. 24. It is Jesus, who, by his Spirit, lifts you up\nnear to the Father; and it is by his best beloved and nearest Son, that\nGod the Father draws near to all his children.\n\n3. Be not found amongst the mockers of approach to God, and holy\nconverse with him in worship. They despise felicity itself. Such there\nhave been of old, and such there are in our days; and because they are\nafar off from God themselves, they deny all nearness to him, they\nridicule our approaches to God, as the vain effects of a wild\nimagination, and the mere sensible commotions of a warm fancy.\n\nBut is it not a very rational and intelligible thing, for a soul in\npublic worship, so to draw near to God, as to learn more of him, and to\nknow more of his perfections and graces than he knew before? May not\nsuch a worshipper have his love to God raised and warmed by such\nadvancing knowledge! And may he not arise, by holy inferences, to a\nlivelier and surer hope that he is beloved of God too, and solace\nhimself in this assurance? What is there in all this which is not\nperfectly agreeable to reason, or that should provoke an impious jest?\nBut let such have a care, lest they blaspheme God and his Spirit; let\nthem take heed, lest they be thrust down to hell, and set at a dreadful\ndistance from God, without remedy, who deride the joy of heaven.\n\n4. Take heed of those deceits of being above ordinances, lest you lose\ntrue happiness through pride and vain conceit. Abandon the vain fancy of\nliving nearer to God in the neglect of them. God is glorious in himself,\nbut he has appointed ordinances, as means whereby we may approach and\nsee him. Some stars, though large in themselves, yet are not visible\nwithout glasses; and others that are visible to the naked eye, yet\nappear much fairer and larger by this help. Even so those glories of\nGod, which are unknown to reason, and to the light of nature, are\ndiscovered in the ministrations of his word; such are his subsistence in\nthree persons, and his forgiving grace: and those glories of his nature,\nwhich are traced out by human reason, stand in a diviner light, with all\ntheir splendors about them, in the gospel, and the sanctuary.\n\n5. Never rest satisfied without approaching to God in spirit and in\ntruth, when you attend on his ordinances. This is the goodness of his\nhouse that must satisfy the holy soul of the Psalmist, as he expresses\nit in the following words of my text: _We shall be satisfied with the\ngoodness of thine house._\n\nWhat a folly it is to be pleased with empty ordinances without God! 1\nTim. iv. 8. _Bodily exercise profiteth little._ To make a serious matter\nof mere external things, and to make nothing of spiritual ones! These\nformal and silly creatures come to the palace of the king, and turn\ntheir backs on his person, to play with his shadow upon the wall:\nridiculous and childish folly! And yet how often is this the trifling\npractice of the men of wisdom? And sometimes persons of true piety are\ntempted to indulge in it. Let me ask my conscience, \u201cDid I never let my\ncuriosity dwell upon the just reasoning, the correct style, the pretty\nsimilies, the flowing oratory, or flowery beauties of a sermon, while I\nneglected to seek my God there, and to raise my soul near him? Or\nperhaps I was charmed with the decency and voice of the preacher; or, it\nmay be, was better entertained with some zealous party flights which\nflattered my own bitter zeal, and seemed to sanctify my uncharitable\ncensures; and when I returned from the place of worship, I had a\npleasant remembrance of all these.\u201d But it had been better, if\nconscience had reproached my folly, and made me remember that I had\nforgot my God there.\n\nIt is also a dreadful abuse of gospel-ordinances, and a high mockery of\nGod, to come to his courts, and not draw near him; Jer. xii. 2. \u201cWhen\nGod is near in our mouth, but far from our heart.\u201d Ordinances are an\nappointed medium for man to come to God by them. If we use them not as\nsuch, we either make idols of them, by placing of them in God\u2019s stead,\nor we make nothing of them, no means of converse with God: both ways we\nnullify them, for an idol is nothing, and mere vanity, as the prophets\nand the apostles speak: So ordinances are vain and unprofitable, and\nutterly insufficient to make us happy without God. They are mere images,\nand shadows without the substance.\n\nTo seek after God, and endeavour to approach him in all his own\ninstitutions, is the way to be recovered from the miseries of the fall.\nTo live in a holy nearness to God, is a restoration to the pleasures of\ninnocency. It is the full happiness of reasonable natures to be always\nwith God: It is our noblest honour, and our sweetest consolation, in\nthis state of darkness and trial, to get as near him as earth and grace\nwill admit; and it is also the best preparative for heaven and the state\nof glory, where we shall dwell for ever near him, and be for ever\nblessed. _Amen._\n\n\n HYMN FOR SERMON XI.\n _Nearness to God the Felicity of Creatures._\n\n\n Are those the happy persons here,\n Who dwell the nearest to their God,\n Has God invited sinners near?\n And Jesus bought his grace with blood?\n\n Go then, my soul, address the Son,\n To lead thee near the Father\u2019s face;\n Gaze on his glories yet unknown,\n And taste the blessings of his grace.\n\n Vain vexing world, and flesh, and sense,\n Retire while I approach my God;\n Nor let my sins divide me thence,\n Nor creatures tempt my thoughts\n abroad.\n\n While to thine arms, my God, I press,\n No mortal hope, nor joy, nor fear,\n Shall call my soul from thine embrace;\n \u2019Tis heav\u2019n to dwell for ever there.\n\n\n\n\n SERMON XII.\n _The Scale of Blessedness: Or, Blessed Saints, Blessed Saviour, and\n Blessed Trinity._\n PSALM LXV. 4.\u2014Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to\n approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts.\n THE SECOND PART.\n\n\nBy the entrance of sin into the world, man was first separated from God\nand happiness: God in righteous anger withdrew from his creature man;\nand man, obeying the dictates of his own impious folly, runs farther\naway from his Maker God; _He is born like a wild ass\u2019s colt_, unknowing\nand thoughtless: and like a colt he runs wild in the forest of this\nworld, roving amongst a thousand vanities in quest of happiness, but\nafar off from God still. He seeks substantial and pleasant food, but he\nmeets with broad barren sands in the wilderness, or with brakes, and\nbriars, and bitter weeds. He follows every foolish fire of fancy, till\nhe is led into many a pit and precipice; He rises again, and changes the\nchase: He flies perpetually from object to object, but finds everlasting\ndisappointment: Shadows, and painted hopes, flatter and tire, and delude\nhim, till he lies down and despairs in death.\n\nThis is the case of mankind by nature; they live ignorant of God, and\nwilfully blind to their own felicity. Fatal blindness and wretched\nmankind! But blessed be God, that he has not renounced and abandoned all\nour race for ever, and fixed us in a state of eternal separation from\nhim! Blessed be God, who has chosen, and already called many of the\nwanderers to himself again! He has built dwellings for himself on earth;\nhe has appointed means for our return, and invites all to approach him.\nGood David had a full and lively sense hereof when he wrote the words of\nthis song; _Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to\napproach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts_: Whence I derived\nthis doctrine in the foregoing sermon.\n\nDoctrine. Nearness to God is the foundation of a creature\u2019s happiness.\n\nThis doctrine appeared in full evidence, while we considered the three\nchief ingredients of true felicity, _viz._ the contemplation of the\nnoblest object, to satisfy all the powers of the understanding, the love\nof the supreme good, to answer the utmost propensities of the will; and\nthe sweet and everlasting sensation and assurance of the love of an\nalmighty friend, who will free us from all the evils which our nature\ncan fear, and confer upon us all the good which a wise and innocent\ncreature can desire. Thus all the capacities of man are employed in\ntheir highest and sweetest exercises and enjoyments. Now it is God\nalone, the great and ever-blessed God, who can furnish us with all these\nmaterials of blessedness, who can refine our natures, and who can thus\nengage and entertain all the powers and appetites of our natures\nrefined.\n\nHaving finished what I designed in the explication and proof of this\ndoctrine, I proceeded to make various reflections for our information\nand practice. But the meditation which I proposed, and reserved for this\ndiscourse, was the sacred scale of blessedness, or the several degrees\nof felicity, that creatures are possessed of, according to their\nadvancing approaches toward God; and we shall find blessedness, in its\nhighest perfection, to belong only to God himself.\n\nFirst degree of blessedness.\u2014I. Happy are they who, though they are\nsinners by nature, yet are brought so near to God, as to be within the\nsound and call of his grace.\n\nIn this sense the whole nation of the Jews was a people near unto God,\nfor he shewed his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto\nIsrael; and upon this account they were happy, in ancient ages, above\nall kingdoms of the earth; Ps. cxlvii. and cxlviii.\n\nHappy those countries where the apostles of Christ planted the gospel,\nand brought grace and salvation near them, though they were before at a\ndreadful distance from God! Happy Britons in our age! Though we are\ninvolved, with the rest of mankind, in the common ruins of our first\ndefection from God, yet we are not left in the darkness of heathenism,\non the very confines of hell: But God has exalted us near to heaven and\nhimself, in the ministrations of his word, and led us in a way to his\neverlasting enjoyment. He has built his sanctuaries amongst us, and\nestablished his churches in the midst of us. We are invited to behold\n_the beauty of the Lord_, to return to our obedience and his love, and\nthus be made happy for ever.\n\nThis is a matter of divine choice and peculiar favour. Blessed England,\nwhom \u201cHe hath chosen, and caused to approach\u201d thus far towards himself!\nAnd why was not the polite nation of China chosen too; And why not the\npoor Savages of Africa, and the barbarous millions of the American\nworld? Why are they left in a dismal estrangement from God, \u201cEven so,\nFather, because it pleased thee,\u201d whose counsels \u201care unsearchable, and\nwhose ways of judgment and mercy are past finding out.\u201d\n\n\u201cBlessed are the people who hear and know the joyful sound;\u201d Ps. lxxxix.\n15. But there are degrees of this blessedness, even in the lands which\nenjoy the gospel. Blessed are they above others, who dwell near to the\nplaces of public worship, who sit under an enlightening, a powerful and\npersuasive ministry, who have opportunity to hear the word of God often,\nand who have skill to read it. Blessed are they who are born of\nreligious parents, and trained up in the early forms of piety; these are\nstill brought near unto God; they are nursed up, as it were, in his\nchurches, and dwell in his courts. And blessed are those who are devoted\nto the service of the sanctuary, like the priests and levites of old,\nwho were brought nearest to God, among all Israel; for their civil\nemployment, as well as their religious duty, led them continually toward\nGod, heaven and happiness. But all these glorious privileges are not\nsufficient to ensure eternal felicity, unless we come one step farther\nin approaching to God.\n\nSecond degree of blessedness\u2014II. Happy are those souls who have been\ntaught to improve their outward advantages of nearness to God, so as to\nobtain reconciliation, with him by the blood of Christ. This is the\ngreat end of all the privileges before-mentioned, which either Jew or\nGentile were partakers of: This was the design of all the approaches\nthat God made towards them. Peace and salvation, were preached _to those\nwhich were afar off, and to them that were nigh_, and Christ died to\nreconcile both unto God; and that _through him both might have an access\nby one Spirit unto the Father_: Eph. ii. 16, 17, 18. Why are all the\nalluring glories of the Lord displayed before us, in his gospel, but\nthat we might be drawn to love him? Why are these wondrous\nmanifestations of his grace made to us, but that we might become the\nobjects of his love, and taste of his special goodness.\n\nHappy persons, who are weary of their old estrangement from God, who\nhave heard and have received the offers of his mercy, who have made\ntheir solemn approaches to God by Jesus the Mediator, and are joined to\nthe Lord in a sweet and everlasting covenant! Happy creatures, who\nbehold the beauties of their Maker\u2019s face with double pleasure, who love\nhim with all their souls, and begin to taste the love of his heart too!\nThis is a matter of special privilege. _Blessed are the men who are thus\nchosen_ by divine grace, and whom he _has caused to approach to himself_\nby the converting power of his own Spirit! Let them come, let them come,\nand give up their names to his churches; let them take up their places,\nand dwell in his courts on earth, and thus make a nearer approach to his\ncourt of heaven.\n\nO that sinners would once be convinced that there are divine pleasures\nin religion, and _joys which the stranger intermeddles not with_! O that\nthey would be once brought to believe, that happiness consists in\napproaching to God! That they would but give credit to the report of\nwise and holy men, who have lived in humble converse with God many\nyears! What a sacred and superior pleasure it is, above all the joys of\nsense, to love the great and blessed God, and to know that he loves me!\nTo walk all the day in the light of his countenance! To have him near me\nas a counsellor, whose advice I may ask in every difficulty of life! To\nbe ever near him as my guard, and to fly from every danger to the wing\nof his protection! To have such an almighty Friend with me in sickness\nand sorrow, in anguish and mortal agonies, and ready to receive my\ndeparting spirit into the arms of his love.\n\nO that the formal and nominal christian, who attends divine worship,\nwould but once be persuaded, that if he come one step nearer to God, his\nhappiness will receive almost an infinite advance! Let the shadows lead\nhim to the substance; let the image in the glass allure him to converse\nwith the original beauty, and the ordinances of grace bring him near to\nthe God of grace! Let him no longer content himself with pictures of\nhappiness, but give himself up entirely to the Lord, and be made\npossessor of solid and substantial felicity. Blessed is the man who has\nrenounced sin and the world, and his heart is over-powered by divine\ngoodness, and brought near to God in his holy covenant.\n\nYet there are degrees of blessedness among the saints on earth. Blessed\nis every soul whose state and nature are changed, who is not a stranger,\nbut a son: but more blessed are those sons who are most like their\nheavenly Father, and keep closest to him in all their ways! Blessed are\nthey above others in the holy family, who seldom wander from their God,\nwhose hearts are always in a heavenly frame, and whose graces and\nvirtues brighten and improve daily, and make a continual and joyful\nadvance toward the state of glory!\n\nThird degree of blessedness.\u2014III. Now let us raise our thoughts, and\nwonder at the blessedness of the saints and angels in the upper world:\nand blessed are those spirits, whether they belong to bodies or not,\nwhom the Lord has chosen, and caused to approach so near him, as to\ndwell and abide in his higher courts! They are fully _satisfied with the\ngoodness of his house, even of his holy temple_. The saints are\nestablished as pillars in this temple of God, and shall go no more out.\nThey approach him in their sublime methods of worship, without the\nmedium of types and ordinances: They _see God face to face_; 1 Cor.\nxiii. 12. Though ordinances in the church on earth are means of drawing\nnear, yet in that very thing they are also tokens of some degree of\nestrangement. The saints above are constantly _before the throne_, or\nnight and day serving the Lord, as it is expressed metaphorically; Rev.\nvii. 15. though in truth _there is no night there_; for they who dwell\nwith God, dwell in light everlasting: They approach to their Maker in\nmost pleasurable acts of worship, without any interposing cloud to hide\nhis face from them, without clogs and fetters to hold them at a\ndistance, without wanderings, without sins, and without temptations.\n\nO blessed state! O glorious felicity! They behold the beauty of the\nLord, transported in divine contemplation, infinitely various and\nimmortal. They feed upon his goodness with all the raptures of refined\nlove, and are held in long ecstacy under the permanent sensations of the\nlove of God.\n\nYet in this state of perfect glory, there are doubtless some different\ndegrees of nearness to God, and consequently there are different ranks\nand orders of blessed spirits. This is evident amongst the angels beyond\nall contradiction: for though all of them behold the face of God\ncontinually; Mat. xviii. 10. yet Gabriel seems to be a favourite angel,\nstanding in the presence of God, and employed in the noblest errands to\nmen; Luke i. 19. And we read of seraphs and cherubs, angels and\narchangels, thrones, dominions, and principalities; which plainly\nexhibits to us a celestial hierarchy, or superior and subordinate ranks\nof glory and power.\n\nAnd why may it not be so amongst the saints on high, those sons of Adam\nwho are made like to angels! They are so many stars that shine with\nvarious degrees of splendour, as they are placed nearer to the Sun of\nRighteousness, and receive and reflect more of his beams. I might\nmultiply arguments on this head, but I shall at present ask only these\ntwo or three convincing questions.\n\nCan we ever imagine that Moses the meek, the friend of God, who was, as\nit were, his confidant on earth, his faithful prophet to institute a new\nreligion, and establish a new church in the world; who, for God\u2019s sake,\nendured forty years of banishment, and had forty years fatigue in a\nwilderness; who saw God on earth face to face, and the shine was left\nupon his countenance? Can we suppose that this man has taken his seat no\nnearer to God in paradise, than Samson and Jepthah, those rash\nchampions, those rude and bloody ministers[24] of providence? Or can we\nthink that St. Paul, the greatest of the apostles, _who laboured more\nthan they all_, and _was in sufferings_ more abundant than the rest; who\nspent a long life in daily services and deaths for the sake of Christ,\nis not fitted for, and advanced to a rank of blessedness superior to\nthat of the crucified thief, who became a christian but a few moments,\nat the end of a life of impiety and plunder? Can I persuade myself, that\na holy man, who has known much of God in this world, and spent his age\non earth in contemplation of the divine excellencies, who has acquired a\ngreat degree of nearness to God in devotion, and has served him, and\nsuffered for him, even to old age and martyrdom, with a sprightly and\nfaithful zeal; can I believe that this man, who has been trained up all\nhis life to converse with God, and is fitted to receive divine\ncommunications above his fellows, shall dwell no nearer to God\nhereafter, and share no larger a degree of blessedness, than the little\nbabe who just entered into this world to die out of it, and who is\nsaved, so far as we know, merely by the spreading veil of the covenant\nof grace, drawn over it by the hand of the parent\u2019s faith? Can it be\nthat the great Judge who _cometh, and his reward is with him, to render\nto every one according to his works_, will make no distinction between\nMoses and Samson, between the apostle and the thief, between the aged\nmartyr and the infant, in the world to come?\n\nAnd yet after all it may be matter of enquiry, whether the meanest saint\namong the sons of Adam, has not some sort of privilege above any rank of\nangels, by being of a kindred-nature to our Emmanuel, to Jesus the Son\nof God? But this leads me to the\n\nFourth degree of Blessedness.\u2014IV. Let us stand still again, and wonder\nyet more at the blessedness of the man Christ Jesus in his approach to\nGod.\n\n1. His very union to God is habitual blessedness. He is constituted near\nto God by an unspeakable union. What joys, what unknown delights above\nour language, and above our thoughts, possess the holy soul of the man\nJesus, for he is the nearest creature to the blessed God; for he is one\nwith godhead; John x. 30. The Son of David, according to the flesh, is\njoined in a personal union to the eternal God, and thus he _is over all,\nGod blessed for evermore_; Rom. ix. 5.\n\nThere was a time indeed, when the divine nature so far withheld its\ninfluences, as to let him feel sorrows and sharp agonies, when he came\nto make himself a sacrifice for our sins, and exposed his holy nature to\npain and shame: He consented for a season to have God absent, but cried\nout terribly under the present anguish of it, and shall have no more\ntrials of this kind. Christ _being raised from the dead, dieth no more_;\nRom. vi. 9. The man who was born of the virgin, shall now have the\neternal Son of God for ever manifesting himself in him and to him,\naccording to this divine union.\n\nThis is that glorious piece of human nature, that one man, whom God has\nchosen, from all the rest of mankind, to bring so near to himself. This\nis that flesh, and that soul, which were chosen by God the Father\u2019s\ndecree, from among all possible, and all future flesh and souls, to be\nmade for ever one with God: and they are for ever one. This wondrous\nunion has, and must have everlasting pleasure in it, vastly beyond our\nnearest unions and approaches to God even in our most exalted state in\ngrace or glory. This is an approach to God indeed, _and blessed is the\nman whom thou hast thus chosen_, O Lord, and thus _caused to approach\nunto thee, that he may dwell, not only in thy courts, but in thy bosom_,\nin thyself for ever and ever: Blessed is this man, and may he be for\never blessed![25]\n\n2. His knowledge of God is much more intimate, more extensive, and more\nperfect, than any other creature can attain: for as he is exalted to the\nhighest station and dignity that can belong to a creature, so we may be\nassured the all-wise God has furnished him with faculties of the noblest\ncapacity, answerable to so exalted a station; and Christ has the highest\nadvantage to fill all those capacities with inconceivable treasures of\nknowledge, by dwelling so near to God, and being so intimately united to\nDivine Wisdom. The sublime furniture of his understanding is vastly\nsuperior to all that we know, or can know; for our union to God is but a\ndistant copy, his is the bright, but inimitable original. Our nearness\nto God bears no proportion to that of the man Jesus; for his union to\nthe godhead is of a superior kind. He has therefore a vaster\ncomprehension of all truth, and a sweeter relish in the survey of it,\nthan any created spirit, angelic or human; and thereby this part of his\nblessedness becomes far superior to theirs.\n\n3. All the outgoings of his holy soul towards God, all his desires, his\nlove, and delight, are more noble in their kind, and more intense in\ntheir degree, than those of any other creature. He who dwells so near to\ngodhead, sees vastly more beauty, excellency, and loveliness in the\nDeity, than men or angels can do at their distance; and therefore his\nlove is raised to unknown heights and raptures.\n\nAll his worship of the Father consists of nobler acts, and nearer\napproaches, than it is possible for any other creature to perform or\npartake of. Jesus, the man, worshipped here on earth, and he worships\nabove in glory: He loves the godhead, as infinitely more amiable than\nhimself; he trusts in it as more powerful; acknowledges God is above him\nin every glory, in every beauty infinitely superior to him; and this is\ndivine worship; for a creature is still beneath God, and the\nacknowledgment of it is the worship due from him. Now Christ pays this\nacknowledgment with greater humility than the meanest worm of the race\nof Adam; for the nearer he is to God, the better he knows the true\ndistance of a creature; and because he does it with greater humility,\ntherefore with sweeter delight; for the lower a creature lies before\nGod, the nearer doth God approach it. _The High and Holy One, who\ninhabiteth eternity, and dwelleth in the high and holy place, dwelleth\nalso with the humble soul_; Is. lvii. 15. But this leads me to a farther\ndegree of the blessedness of the man Christ Jesus; and that is,\n\n4. He hath a fuller, a richer, and a more transporting sense of the love\nof God, since God makes nearer approaches to him, and discovers more of\nhis infinite goodness, and communicates more of his love. We may venture\nto say, that God loves the human nature of Christ better than he does\nany other creature; and this human nature has a stronger, and more\nintimate consciousness of the divine love, and a sweeter sensation of\nit, than saints or angels can have, because of the personal union\nbetween the son of man and the eternal God: which union, though we know\nnot precisely what it is, yet, we know to be sufficient to give him the\nname Emmanuel, God with us; which distinguishes it most gloriously from\nall our unions to God, and raises his dignity, his character, and his\nadvantages, even as a man, to so sublime a degree above that of all\nother creatures.\n\nBy his exaltation, and his dwelling so near to God, his powers are\ninconceivably enlarged, and made capable of taking in higher degrees of\nfelicity. Sights of God stretch the faculties of the soul, and enlarge\nit to receive more of God; this eternal sight has our Redeemer. We see\nthe glory of God chiefly in the face of Christ Jesus his Son, but he\nsees the glory of God in his own face and brightness, Christ himself is\n_the brightness of his Father\u2019s glory_; Heb. i. 2, 3.\n\n5. As Christ is the medium of our nearness to God, as he is the head of\nall those who approach to God, and the Mediator through whom all\napproach, so his blessedness is above ours; for in some sense, and by\nway of eminence, he enjoys and feels all that we enjoy and feel, and\nvastly more too; for he is the medium through which we approach and we\nenjoy, as well as a person who himself, and for himself, approaches and\nenjoys: As when a stream of wine or living water is conveyed from the\nspring by a pipe or channel, the pipe has a tincture of the rich liquor\nas it flows; so, if it be lawful to illustrate things heavenly and\ndivine, by things on earth, and to bring them down to our ideas by\nmaterial similitudes, our Lord Jesus, who is authorised to confer life\nand joy on the saints, and through whom all grace, glory, and\nblessedness, are conveyed to them, feels, and tastes, and relishes,\neminently and in a superior manner, all the joy and the blessedness that\nhe conveys to our souls; and all better than we can do, for he is nearer\nthe fountain; he takes a divine and unknown satisfaction in every\nblessing which he communicates to us. Besides all this, there are some\nricher streams that terminate and end in himself; the peculiar\nprivileges and pleasures of the good man, while others flow through him,\nas the head, down to all his members, and give him the first relish of\ntheir sweetness.\n\nWhen Christ, at the head of all the elect saints, shall at the great day\ndraw near to the Father, and say, _Here am I and the children thou hast\ngiven me_; those blessed ones whom _thou hast chosen, that they may\napproach unto thee_ by me; I have often approached to thee for them, and\nbehold I now approach with them to the courts of thy upper house. What\nmanner of joy and glory shall this be! How unspeakably blessed is our\nLord Jesus; and we rejoice with wonder!\n\n[This sermon may be divided here.]\n\nFifth, or supreme degree of Blessedness.\u2014V. Our admiration may be raised\nyet higher, if we make one excursion beyond all created nature, and lift\nour thoughts upward to the blessedness of the three glorious persons in\nthe trinity[26]. All their infinite and unknown pleasures are derived\nfrom their ineffable union and communion in one godhead, their\ninconceivable nearness to each other in the very centre and spring of\nall felicity. They are inseparably and intimately one with God; they are\neternally one God, and therefore eternally blessed; 1 John v. 7. _For\nthere are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and\nthe Holy Ghost; and these three are one_; which text I believe to be\nauthentic and divine, and that upon just reasons, notwithstanding all\nthe cavils and criticisms that have endeavoured to blot it out of the\nbible. Nor is their blessedness, or their nearness, a dull inactive\nstate: Knowledge and mutual love make up their heaven, so far as mortals\ndare conceive of it, and so far as we have leave to speak of God after\nthe manner of men.\n\n_First_, Knowledge.\u2014An eternal blissful contemplation of all the\ninfinite beauties, powers, and properties of godhead, and of all the\noperations of these powers in an inconceivable variety among creatures,\nis the glorious employment of God. His own knowledge of infinite truths,\nwhether wrapt up in his own nature, or unfolded and displayed in his\nworks, is a pleasure becoming the Deity; and each sacred person\npossesses this unknown pleasure.\n\nAnd besides the general glories of the divine nature, we may suppose,\nthat a full and comprehensive knowledge of the sameness, the difference,\nthe special properties, and the mutual relations of the three divine\npersons, which are utterly incomprehensible to mortals, and perhaps far\nabove the reach of all created minds, is the incommunicable\nentertainment of the holy Trinity, and makes a part of their\nblessedness. In reference to this mystery, God may be said to dwell in\nthick darkness; 1 Kings viii. 12. or, which is all one, in light\ninaccessible; 1 Tim. vi. 16. We are lost in this glorious, this divine\nabyss, and overcome with dazzling confusion: But the ever blessed Three\nbehold these unities and distinctions in the clearest light. _As the\nFather knoweth me, so know I the Father_, saith Jesus the eternal Son;\nJohn x. 15. And _as the spirit of a man knoweth the things of a man, so\nthe things of God are known to his own Spirit_, for he _searcheth the\ndepths of God_; 1 Cor. ii. 10, 11. as it is expressed in the original,\n\u03c4\u1f70 \u03b2\u03ac\u03b8\u03b7 \u03c4\u03bf\u1fe6 \u0398\u03b5\u03bf\u1fe6.\n\nBut God\u2019s contemplation, or knowledge of himself, is not his only\npleasure, for God is love; 1 John iv. 8. He has an infinite propensity\ntowards himself, and an inconceivable complacence in his own powers and\nperfections, as well as in all the outgoings of them toward created\nnatures. His love being most wise and perfect, must exert itself toward\nthe most perfect object, and the chiefest good; and that in a degree\nanswerable to its goodness too: Therefore he can love nothing in the\nsame degree with himself, because he can find no equal good.\n\nMay we not therefore suppose the blessedness of the sacred Three to\nconsist also in mutual love? May I call it a perpetual delightful\ntendency, and active propensity toward each other? An eternal approach\nto each other with infinite complacency? An eternal embrace of each\nother with arms of inimitable love and with sensations of unmeasurable\njoy? Thus saith the Son of God under the character of divine wisdom;\nProv. viii. 23, 30. _I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning,\nor ever the earth was. Then was I by him as one brought up with him, and\nI was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him._ As the Father\nloveth the Son, so the Son loveth the Father. As the Father delights\ninfinitely in his perfect image, so may we not venture to say, the Son\ntakes infinite delight in the glorious archetype, and thus imitates the\nFather? Will not the expressions of the apostle Paul; Heb. i. 3. and the\nwords of Christ himself; John v. 19, 20. encourage and support this\nmanner of speaking? He _is the brightness of his Father\u2019s glory, and the\nexpress image of his person: The Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him\nall things that himself doeth: and what things soever he seeth the\nFather do, these also doth the Son likewise_. And this seems to be the\nfirst foundation of those glorious offices of raising the dead, and\njudging the world, which in the following verses are committed to the\nSon, _that all men may honour the Son, as they honour the Father_; ver.\n23.\n\nAs the blessed Three have an unknown communion in the Godhead, or divine\nnature, so they must have an unspeakable nearness to one another\u2019s\npersons, an inconceivable in-being and in-dwelling in each other. John\nxiv. 10. I in the Father, and the Father in me. Each is near to the two\nother divine subsistences, and this mutual nearness must be attended\nwith delight and felicity unknown to all but the blessed Three who enjoy\nit. O glorious and divine communion! The Father for ever near to his own\nimage the Son, and herein blessed! The Son never divided from the\nembraces of the Father, and therefore happy! The Spirit everlastingly\nnear them both, and therefore he is the ever-blessed Spirit! And all\nthese united in one Godhead, and therefore infinitely and for ever\nblessed!\n\nThe Father is so intimately near the Son and Spirit, that no finite or\ncreated natures or unions can give a just resemblance of it. We talk of\nthe union of the sun and his beams, of a tree and its branches: But\nthese are but poor images, and faint shadows of this mystery, though\nthey are some of the best that I know. The union of the soul and body,\nis, in my esteem, still farther from the point, because their natures\nare so widely different. In vain we search through all the creation to\nfind a complete similitude of the Creator.\n\nAnd in vain may we run through all the parts and powers of nature and\nart, to seek a full resemblance of the mutual propensity and love of the\nblessed Three towards each other. Mathematicians talk indeed of the\nperpetual tendencies, and infinite approximations of two or more lines\nin the same surface, which yet never can entirely concur in one line:\nAnd if we should say that the three persons of the Trinity, by mutual\nin-dwelling and love, approach each other infinitely in one divine\nnature, and yet lose not their distinct personality; it would be but an\nobscure account of this sublime mystery. But this we are sure of, that\nfor three divine persons to be so inconceivably near one another in the\noriginal and eternal spring of love, goodness, and pleasure, must\nproduce infinite delight. In order to illustrate the happiness of the\nsacred Three, may we not suppose something of society necessary to the\nperfection of happiness in all intellectual nature? To know, and be\nknown, to love and to be beloved, are perhaps, such essential\ningredients of complete felicity, that it cannot subsist without them:\nAnd it may be doubted whether such mutual knowledge and love, as seems\nrequisite for this end, can be found in a nature absolutely simple in\nall respects. May we not then suppose that some distinctions in the\ndivine Being are of eternal necessity, in order to complete the\nblessedness of godhead? Such a distinction as may admit, as a great man\nexpresses it, of delicious society, We, for our parts, cannot but hereby\nhave in our minds a more gustful idea of a blessed state, than we can\nconceive in mere eternal solitude.\n\nAnd if this be true, then the three differences, which we call personal\ndistinctions, in the nature of God, are as absolutely necessary as his\nblessedness, as his being, or any of his perfections. And then we may\nreturn to the words of my text, and boldly infer, that if the man is\nblessed who is chosen by the free and sovereign grace of God, and caused\nto approach, or draw near him, what immense and unknown blessedness\nbelongs to each divine person, to all the sacred Three who are by\nnature, and unchangeable necessity, so near, so united, so much one,\nthat the least moment\u2019s separation seems to be infinitely impossible,\nand, then we may venture to say, it is not to be conceived; and the\nblessedness is conceiveable by none but God?\n\nThis is a nobler union and a more intense pleasure than the man Christ\nJesus knows or feels, or can conceive; for he is a creature. These are\nglories too divine and dazzling for the weak eye of our understandings,\ntoo bright for the eye of angels, those morning-stars; and they, and we,\nmust fall down together, alike overwhelmed with them, and alike\nconfounded. These are flights that tire souls of the strongest wing, and\nfinite minds faint in the infinite pursuit: These are depths where our\ntallest thoughts sink and drown: We are lost in this ocean of being and\nblessedness, that has no limit, on either side, no surface, no bottom,\nno shore. The nearness of the divine persons to each other, and the\nunspeakable relish of their unbounded pleasures, are too vast ideas for\na bounded mind to entertain. It is one infinite transport that runs\nthrough Father, Son, and Spirit, without beginning, and without end,\nwith boundless variety, yet ever perfect, and ever present, without\nchange, and without degree: and all this, because they are so near to\none another, and so much one with God.\n\nBut when we have fatigued our spirits, and put them to the utmost\nstretch, we must lie down and rest, and confess the great\nincomprehensible. How far this sublime transport of joy is varied in\neach subsistence: how far their mutual knowledge of each others\u2019\nproperties, or their mutual delight in each others\u2019 love, is distinct in\neach divine person, is a secret too high for the present determination\nof our language and our thoughts, it commands our judgment into silence,\nand our whole souls into wonder and adoration[27].\n\nThus we have traced the streams of happiness that flow amongst the\ncreatures in endless variety, to their original and eternal fountain,\nGod himself: He is the all-sufficient spring of blessedness as well as\nof being, to all the intellectual worlds; and he is everlastingly\nself-sufficient for his own being and blessedness.\n\nBut are not we told in scripture, that _God delights in the works of his\nhands_, that _he takes pleasure in his saints_, that _he rejoices in\nZion_, and _rests in his love_ to his church; that Jesus Christ, even as\nman and Mediator, is the _beloved of his soul, in whom he is\nwell-pleased_? Yes, surely, this is one way whereby he represents his\nown divine satisfactions in our language, and after the manner of men.\nBut we must not imagine that he ever goes out of himself, and descends\nto creatures, as though he needed any thing from them, who are all\nbefore him as nothing, and less than nothing, and vanity. It is from his\nown wisdom, power, and goodness, as they appear in all his works, that\nhis delight arises; and it is in these glories of his nature, and in the\ngracious purposes of his will, as they are manifested in his works, that\nthe saints and angels, and all the happy ranks of beings, find their\nhighest satisfaction. It is in the contemplation of God, and in the\nexercises and sensations of divine love, that all supreme felicity\nconsists, so far as we are capable of being acquainted with it.\n\nThe only reflection with which I shall conclude the subject, is this,\nthat communion with God, which has been impiously ridiculed by the\nprofane wits of the last and the present age, is no such visionary and\nfantastic notion as they imagine; but as it is founded in the words of\nscripture, so it may be explained with great ease and evidence to the\nsatisfaction of human reason. That it is founded in scripture, appears\nsufficiently in several verses of the xvii. chapter of St. John\u2019s\ngospel, where the divine union and blessedness of the Father and the\nSon, are made a pattern of our union to God, and our blessedness; John\nxvii. 21, 22, 23-26. _That they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in\nme, and I in thee; that they may be one in us_: And in this sense, but\nin a lower degree, even here on earth, _our communion, or fellowship, is\nwith the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ_; 1 John i. 3. Though our\ncommunion with Christ includes also some particular varieties in it,\nwhich is not my present business to explain.\n\nThat this doctrine is exactly agreeable to reason, may be thus\ndemonstrated:\n\nWe use the word communion, when two or more persons partake of the same\nthing. So friends have communion in one table when they dine together:\nChristians have communion in one sermon, in one prayer, or one\nsacrament, when they join together in those parts of worship; and the\nsaints have communion with God in blessedness, when they rejoice in the\nsame object of contemplation and love. God surveys himself, he is\npleased with his own glories, delights in himself as the highest and the\nnoblest object; he trusts in his own right-hand of power, he leans upon\nhis own understanding, he rests in his own counsels and purposes, he\nfeels and he acknowledges all his own infinite perfections, and thus he\nenjoys them all. Thus also is our blessedness frequently set forth in\nscripture. It is our happiness to know God, to contemplate his glories,\nso far as they are revealed; to love him and his goodness, to trust in\nhis wisdom, and lean securely on his strength? to feel the workings of\ndivine powers and graces in and upon us, and to make acknowledgment of\nthem all to God. Thus the image of God is restored to us in holiness and\nin happiness: Thus we are said to be holy as God is holy; and thus also\nwe are blessed as God is blessed.\n\nBut though we are admitted to this amazing privilege, and hold communion\nwith God, in the same object of contemplation and love, yet we must\nstill remember, with humble adoration, that his holiness and his\nhappiness, does infinitely exceed ours. The pleasures which arise from\nhis knowledge, and his love of himself, are as far above our taste, or\nall our ideas of blessedness, as heaven is higher than the earth, or as\nGod is above the creature.\n\nThere is another sense also of this phrase, communion or fellowship with\nGod, which has been used by many pious writers, when they make it to\nsignify the same thing as converse with God; and this also depends upon\nour nearness, or approach to him: As when a christian, in secret, pours\nout his whole heart before God, and is made sensible of his gracious\npresence, by the sweet influences of instruction, sanctification, or\ncomfort. When man speaks, and God answers, there is a sacred communion,\nbetween God and man; Is. lviii. 9. _Thou shalt call, and the Lord shall\nanswer._ This holy David often enjoyed, and always sought after it. When\nthe soul, in secret, complains of perplexity and darkness, and God is\npleased to give some secret hints of direction and advice; when the soul\nmourns before God, confessing guilt, and the weakness of grace, and some\ndivine promise is impressed upon the mind by the Holy Spirit, whence the\nchristian derives peace of conscience, and strength to fulfil duty, and\nto resist mighty temptations: These certainly are seasons of converse or\ncommunion with God.\n\nSo when, in public worship, we address God with our souls in fervent\nprayer, and while we hear the word of God spoken to us by his ministers,\nwe receive an answer to those prayers in the convincing and sanctifying\nimpressions which the word makes upon the heart; this is also an hour of\nsecret communion. So at the supper of the Lord, when with hope and joy\nwe receive the bread and the wine, as divine seals of the faithfulness\nof God\u2019s covenant, and when we transact those solemn affairs also as\nseals of our faith and love, and our engagements to be the Lord\u2019s; we\nmay properly be said to hold _fellowship, or communion with him_.\n\nWhat swift advances of holiness doth the saint feel in his heart, and\npractise in his life, after such seasons of devotion! What glory doth he\ngive to religion in a dark and sinful world! What unknown pleasure doth\nhe find in such approaches to God! And he moves swiftly onward in his\nway to heaven, by such daily receipts of mercy, and returns of praise.\nThese are powerful motives that will make him persist in his holy\npractice and joy, in scorn of all the mockery and ridicule of a profane\nage of infidels. So the moon holds bright communion with the sun, the\nsovereign planet; so she receives and reflects his beams; she shines\ngloriously in a dark hemisphere, and moves onward sublime in her\nheavenly course, regardless of all the barking animals that betray their\nsenseless malice.\n\nThis blessed privilege and pleasure of converse with God, which is\nenjoyed by the saints on earth, is doubtless the pleasure and the\nprivilege of the spirits of the just made perfect, and of angels near\nthe throne, but in a much higher degree: When they address the Majesty\nof Heaven in the forms of celestial worship, and receive immediate and\nsensible tokens of divine acceptance; or when they take their orders and\ncommissions from the throne for some particular errand, or high\nemployment, and return again to make their humble report there: These\nare glorious seasons of converse with their Maker.\n\nMuch more glorious communion of this kind does the man Christ Jesus\nenjoy with God, in transacting all the vast and illustrious affairs of\nhis commission; a commission large as the extent of his Father\u2019s\nkingdom, full of majesty and justice, terror and grace; a divine\ncommission to govern, to redeem, and to save, or to punish and destroy\nmillions of mankind, as well as to rule all his unknown dominions in the\nupper and nether worlds.\n\nBut in what manner this communion between the Father and Christ is\nmaintained, we know not; nor can we guess in what manner, or in what\ndegree such sort of converse or communion as this is practised, or is\npossible, between the three glorious persons of the ever-blessed\nTrinity. These are mysteries wrapt up in sacred darkness, and the\nexplication of them surrounded with dangers. A particular knowledge of\nthese divine unsearchables, any farther than scripture has revealed\nthem, is by no means necessary either to begin, or to maintain our state\nof grace. Let us content ourselves a few years longer with humble\nignorance, and we shall have brighter discoveries in the future world,\nif it be necessary there to fulfil our happiness, and to complete our\nstate of glory.\n\n\n HYMN FOR SERMON XII.\n _The Scale of Blessedness; or Blessed Saints, Blessed Saviour, and\n Blessed Trinity._\n\n\n Ascend, my soul, by just degrees,\n Let contemplation rove\n O\u2019er all the rising ranks of bliss,\n Here, and in worlds above.\n\n Blest is the nation near to God,\n Where he makes known his ways:\n Blest are the men whose feet have trod\n His lower courts of grace.\n\n Blest were the levite and the priest,\n Who near his altar stood;\n Blest are the saints from sin releas\u2019d,\n And reconcil\u2019d with blood.\n\n Blest are the souls dismiss\u2019d from clay,\n Before his face they stand:\n Blest angels in their bright array,\n Attend his great command.\n\n Jesus is more divinely blest,\n Where man to godhead join\u2019d,\n Hath joys transcending all the rest,\n More noble and refin\u2019d.\n\n But, O what words or thoughts can trace\n The blessed Three in one!\n Here rest my spirit, and confess\n The infinite unknown.\n\nFootnote 24:\n\n These expressions may be sufficiently justified, if we consider\n Jepthah\u2019s rash vow of sacrifice, which fell upon his only child; and\n Samson\u2019s rude or unbecoming conduct in his amours with the Philistine\n woman at Timnah, the harlot at Gaza, and his Delilah at Sorek, his\n bloody quarrels, and his manner of life. The learned and pious Dr.\n Owen, as I have often been informed by his intimate friend Sir John\n Hartopp, called him a rude believer. He might have a strong faith of\n miracles; Heb. xi. 22. but a small share of that faith which purifies\n the heart.\n\nFootnote 25:\n\n I know the word blessed, when it is applied to God or Christ,\n generally signifies, that they are the objects of our blessing or\n praise, and it is thus translated from the originals, \u05d1\u05e8\u05d5\u05da or\n \u03b5\u03c5\u03bb\u03bf\u03b3\u03b7\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2: But in our tongue this word signifies also happy, and the\n original words \u05d0\u05e9\u05e8\u05d9 and \u039c\u03b1\u03ba\u03b1\u03c1\u03b9\u03bf\u03c2 are frequently rendered blessed, to\n signify happiness, as in my text. Though, if our translators had\n always observed the distinction, the precise lease of the original had\n better appeared.\n\nFootnote 26:\n\n See the note toward the end of this part of the sermon, p. 151.\n\nFootnote 27:\n\n This discourse was delivered above twenty years ago, and the reader\n will observe some warmer efforts of imagination than riper years would\n indulge on a theme so sublime and abstruse. Since I have searched most\n studiously into this mystery of late, I have learned more of my own\n ignorance: so that when I speak of these unsearchables, I abate much\n of my younger assurance; nor do my later thoughts venture so far into\n the particular modes of explaining this sacred distinction in the\n godhead. There appears to me good reason to doubt, where there can be\n three distinct and different principles of consciousness, and three\n distinct and different wills in the one God, the one infinite Spirit.\n I was afraid to assert it in this sermon heretofore, and I am more\n afraid to assert it now. Reason and scripture join to teach me, that\n there can be but one God, and this God is a Spirit. What distinctions\n may be in this one Spirit, I know not: Yet, since I am fully\n established in the belief of the Deity of the blessed Three, though I\n know not the manner of explication, I dare let this discourse appear\n now in the world, as being agreeable so far to my present sentiments\n on this subject. A larger and more particular account of my most\n mature thought on the doctrine of the holy Trinity, may be seen in the\n last sermon of my third volume.\u2014_April 8, 1729._\n\n\n\n\n TWO SERMONS\n _On our Appearance before God here and hereafter._\nDelivered in Sir Thomas Abney\u2019s Family at Theobalds in Hertfordshire, at\n the Evening-worship, Nov. 25, and Dec. 9, 1716.\n\n\n_To the Right Worshipful_ Sir Thomas Abney, Knt. and Alderman of London.\n\nWORTHY SIR,\n\nWhile you were restrained by the laws of men from public worship in that\nway which you have chosen, I also suffered the same restraint, by the\nprovidence of God confining me to long sickness; during which time I\nenjoyed in your excellent family, many happy conveniences, toward the\nease of my affliction, and the recovery of my health.\n\nI thought it therefore a necessary piece of christian gratitude, that\nsome of the first-fruits of my labours should be devoted to your\nservice; and with this view I attempted such meditations as might be\nwell suited to my own circumstances of confinement, as well as to yours;\nthat I might speak more sensibly from the heart to your spiritual\nadvantage, and to the profit of all your household.\n\nSince that time it has pleased the providence of God to take off your\nrestraint entirely, by the repeal of that unrighteous law, and to give\nyou the pleasures of his sanctuary; yet the review of these discourses,\nthrough the operation of the blessed Spirit, may renew some useful\nmeditations, when offered from the press as a testimony of public\nthankfulness, and in this new form proposed to your perusal, by,\n\nSIR,\n\nYour most affectionate,\n\nAnd obedient servant,\n\nUnder many obligations,\n\nI. WATTS.\n\n\n\n\n SERMON XIII.\n _Appearance before God here and hereafter._\n PSALM xlii. 2.\u2014When shall I come and appear before God.\n THE FIRST PART.\n\n\nThe holy Psalmist was now absent from his usual place of public worship,\nand restrained from coming near to the ark of God which was the token of\nthe divine presence in the days of the Jewish church; and when he had\nbeen meditating on his past and present circumstances in this respect,\nboth what he enjoyed heretofore, and what he was deprived of now, he\nbreaks out into a divine rapture: _As the hart panteth after the\nwater-brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God._ And he goes on to\ndescribe the frame of his spirit in this holy song: The substance and\nsense of the whole psalm is, as it were, epitomized and drawn up into\nthese few words, _when shall I come and appear before God?_ I shall not\nspend time to shew in how many senses man may be said _to appear before\nGod_; but shall content myself to say, that in this place it signifies\nattendance on public worship, in the place where it was usually\ncelebrated and performed. In the words of the Psalmist we may find the\ntemper of his heart expressed under these two general heads.\n\nI. A belief of the special presence of God in his ordinances of public\nworship.\u2014II. An earnest longing after them on that account.\n\nI shall enlarge a little on each of these, and make remarks as I go\nalong, under each head.\n\n_First_, The words express David\u2019s firm belief of the special presence\nof God in his ordinances, insomuch that he calls an attendance on them,\nan appearance before God. We are always in the view of God, and _every\ncreature is naked and open_ in his sight, and for ever appears before\nhim as the all-seeing and all-knowing Creator and Governor of all\nthings; but it is a peculiar, a gracious, and favourable presence of God\nthat belongs to his sanctuary, his appointed worship: God is taking\nspecial notice of our carriage toward him, and manifesting his designs\nof special mercy towards us.\n\nDavid well knew this, that the great end of appointing public worship,\nwas, that there might be a communication between God and man, who were\nso dreadfully separated by sin: He knew the gracious promise, that where\nGod _recorded his name, there would he come and meet his people, and\nbless them_; Ex. xx. 24. He knew what sensible tokens of divine presence\nwere found in the sanctuary; there was _the ark of God, and the\nmercy-seat that covered it_, upon which God dwelt in a bright shining\n_cloud_ between the golden _cherubims_, to signify his dwelling in light\namong the glorious angels in heaven; beside the many sweet experiences\nwhich David had of sensible discoveries of God in counsel and grace,\nstrength and consolation, in his public worship.\n\nAnd have not christians, under the gospel, as great a reason to expect\nthe special presence of God among them in his ordinances! Are they not\nappointed on purpose to bring God near to us, and to bring us near to\nGod? Have we not an express promise of God himself, dwelling in flesh,\nthat _where two or three are gathered together in his name, he will be\nin the midst of them_; Mat. xviii. 20. and is not Christ worthy of\ncredit? Have we not his word there published and preached? Doth not God\nappear there very eminently, in the glory of his truth, in the beauty of\nhis holiness, in the purity of his commands, in the terror of his\nthreatenings, in the sweetness of his promises, in the wonders of his\nwisdom and power, and more amazing works of his grace and love? Doth not\nthe Lord discover himself there in the majesty of his government, in the\nmiracles of his providence, and the divine glory of his fore-knowledge\nin prophecies exactly fulfilled? Surely that man must be blind indeed,\nwho sees not God in the scriptures.\n\nWill you say, \u201cAll this may be seen and read at home in private, as well\nas in a public assembly?\u201d But you must remember that even the written\nword of God was communicated to the most part of mankind only in public\nworship, for some thousands of years: for before the art of printing was\ninvented, one bible was scarce to be found in several hundred houses,\nand very few of the common people were capable of reading; nor could\nthey know the written word, but by their attendance on the public\nministrations of it. And in our day, how many are they who either do, or\nwill know very little of religion, but what they hear at church.\n\nBesides the written word of God is given to be expounded by his\nministers, that the gospel being preached at large, and the truths of it\nbeing particularly applied, his presence and glory may appear therein.\nMany parts of scripture are so obscure, that God stands, as it were,\nbehind a veil, or a curtain, till, in the ministry of the word, the\nsense is explained, the veil removed, and God stands forth to sight in\nthe open glories of his majesty, or his mercy. It was for this purpose\nthat Christ, at his departure from earth, engaged the promise of his\npresence with his ministers in the preaching of his gospel. _Lo I am\nwith you always even to the end of the world_; Mat. xxviii. 20. And is\nnot this sufficient ground for men to expect and hope to see God there?\n\nBesides all this, have not christians enjoyed blessed experiences of the\npresence of God _in his sanctuary, in the assemblies of his saints_? One\ncan say, \u201cI was all darkness and ignorance, and there I found divine\nlight, discovering to me my sin and misery, and his salvation.\u201d Another\ncan say, I was _dead in sin_, and found my soul raised to a divine life\nthere; \u201cI was mourning and despairing, and there I found a word of\nsupport and holy joy, such as no mere words of men could convey into me;\nand I am forced to confess _God was in this place of a truth_;\u201d 1 Cor.\nxiv. 25.\n\nRemarks on the first head.\u2014I. How much should we guard hypocrisy in\ndivine worship, because it is an appearance before God? We do then, in a\nsolemn manner, set ourselves before God, and, as it were, humbly call\nGod to look upon us, and take notice of our hearts. Let us remember\nthis, every one of us, when we go to public worship, we do in effect say\nto God, \u201cO Lord, we are always in thy sight, but in a special manner we\nnow come to shew thee our hearts, to acquaint thee humbly with our\nwants, our sorrows, and our sins, our desires and hopes;\u201d and _God will\nnot hold him guiltless that takes his name in vain; He is a jealous God,\nhe will not be mocked_; Gal. vi. 7. _He is a Spirit, and he will be\nworshipped in spirit and in truth_; John iv. 24. He is sharp-sighted, he\nsees through our souls, and knows the ends and designs of our coming,\nwhether to see creatures, and be seen of them, or to see himself, our\nCreator: Whether to observe the modes, dress, and behaviour of our\nfellow-creatures on earth, or to learn the will of God, and the mode of\nheaven. Suppose Jesus Christ, in his human nature, were there, whose\n_eyes are as a flame of fire_, and through your countenances can discern\nthe most secret thought of your souls, would you not stand in awe of his\nmajesty? Would not this glorious appearance fix the most vain and\nfluttering imagination in a pious solemnity? How solicitously would you\nwatch over your minds, lest they wander from worship! How carefully\nwould you keep your hearts! Or suppose you saw the holy angels there\nwhich attend the churches in worship, would you not be ashamed to trifle\nin their presence? And has not the spiritual presence of the great God\nas much real, though invisible awfulness and majesty in it!\n\nHow do persons both of the polite and the vulgar world, all agree to\ndress fine and gay, and make the best figure of all the week, to appear\nbefore men on the day of the Lord? But let us remember that we come not\nonly before men, but before the living God, in whose sight, ornaments of\nthe body are of no account, and, O, what pains ought we to take, to put\non our best ornaments of the mind! To see that our graces all shine,\nwhen we are to stand before God! And not to suffer one vain thought, one\ncorrupt affection to work in us; nor _a spot or blemish_, if possible,\nto be found upon us!\n\nAlas! what millions of hypocrites have we in the world? How many may we\nfear in every congregation? How many come to attend at prayers, but\nnever seek to join in their own wishes and desires with the words of him\nwho speaks? How many voices follow the tune in a psalm, but their souls\nfeel no joy, no inward elevation of praise? How many hear the word as\nthe word of man, and their hearts have no sense of God speaking to them?\n_They sit before God as his people, but their heart goes after their\ncovetousness_; Ezek. xxxiii. 31. after their idols of business, or\ncarnal pleasure, after every vain object of their eyes, or vainer images\nof the fancy. Let us take heed therefore, how we shut our eyes, or\nharden our hearts against a present and a speaking God; _for the word of\nthe Lord is quick and powerful_; God speaking by his eternal word, or by\nhis ministers in the sanctuary, pierces the secret recesses of the soul\nand spirit: God sits there: _discerning the intents and thoughts of the\nheart; all things are naked and open before his eyes with whom we have\nto do_; Heb. iv. 13.\n\nII. Remark. In attendance on public worship, we should fix all our hope\nand expectation of profit upon the presence of God in it; for the design\nof ordinances is to bring us to _appear before God_. Now, if in things\nof this life, God should be our chief hope, much more in things of\nanother; Ps. lxii. 5. _My soul, wait thou only upon God, my expectation\nis from him._\n\nHow ready are we, even in spiritual concernments, to depend on outward\nforms and ceremonials! and to hope, or despair of success, according to\nsome circumstantial attendants on worship? One is ready to say, \u201cIf it\nwere a nice enquiry into some deep doctrine, I should get something by\nhearing the word.\u201d Another complains, \u201cAlas! If it had been a sermon of\ngrace and privileges, I had not been so careless in my attention, nor\nwasted my time.\u201d And a third satisfies his conscience with this, \u201cIf I\nhad heard moral duties enforced powerfully on our practice, then I could\nprofit by the preaching; or if he who ministers had but more skill in\ncomposing, more fervency of speech, more warmth in delivery, more\ngraceful pronunciations, more strength of argument; surely I should feel\nmore lasting impressions of religion under every sermon.\u201d And thus we go\non from week to week, and worship without any sensible benefit, because\nwe seek all from men.\n\nBut, alas! if all these things were exactly suited to our wishes, the\nmatter ever so agreeable, the manner ever so entertaining, the voice\never so charming, and the performance ever so affectionate; if God be\nnot there, there is no lasting benefit; _Paul may plant, and Apollos\nwater, but God gives the increase_: 1 Cor. iii. 6. The ministration of\nthe word is committed to man, but not the _ministration of the Spirit_.\nWhat can a man do to give eyes to the blind? To give ears to the deaf?\nCan a man make the lame to walk? or raise the dead to a divine life? and\nturn sinners into saints? _Who is sufficient for these things?_\n\nA minister is ready to say, \u201cWhen shall I preach to such a people? they\nwould learn and profit by my sermons.\u201d A christian is ready to say, When\nshall I hear such a minister, or partake of such an ordinance, or hear a\ndiscourse on such a subject managed in such a particular method? And\nthey are ready to go away discouraged, as though all hope were gone,\nwhen they find a disappointment in the pulpit; as though the graces of\nGod were confined to a particular instrument, or as though the words of\na man were our only hope.\n\nWhen any of us have been at church, and waited in the sanctuary, let us\nexamine what did we go thither to see; a shadow of religion? An outside\nof christian forms? a graceful orator? The figures and shapes of\ndevotion? Surely then we might with as much wisdom, and more innocence,\nhave gone _to the wilderness to see a reed shaken with the wind_. Can we\nsay as the Greeks at the feast; John xii. 21. _We would see Jesus?_ Or,\nas Absalom; 2 Sam. xiv. 32. _It is to little purpose I am come to\nJerusalem, if I may not see the king\u2019s face._ To little purpose we go to\nchurch, or attend on ordinances, if we seek not, if we see not God\nthere.\n\nIII. Remark. What everlasting thanks are due to our Lord Jesus Christ,\nwho hath made way for our _appearance before God_ with comfort and hope?\nYou are called by the name of christians, you profess to believe in him,\nbut you know little what you have to do with him, or what use his name\nis of in religion, if you can go daily to appear in the presence of God\nwithout him; you know not the nature of christianity, if you do not feel\na want of Christ when you bow yourselves before God.\n\nConsider a little what God is, and what you are, that you may have a due\nsense of the necessity of Christ; say to yourselves, \u201cI am going to\nappear before the great and glorious God, a God of infinite perfection,\nand I am a little vessel of mere imperfection and infirmity; what shall\nI do to stand in his sight? He is a God of majesty and judgment, and I\ntraitor, a rebel by nature and action; I want some person to introduce\nme into his favour. He is a God of spotless holiness, and I am defiled\nwith a thousand sins, who shall make me appear lovely in his sight! he\nis a God of inflexible justice, and I a guilty wretch, a criminal, a\nmalefactor, already condemned; who shall plead for me, and obtain a\npardon?\u201d O beg of Christ to introduce you with acceptance; in him alone\ncan we appear well-pleasing to God: He is the beloved of the Father, and\nif we are ever accepted, it must be in the beloved; Eph. i. 6. Christ\n_appears now in the presence of God for us_, in the virtue of his blood\nand spotless obedience; Heb. ix. 12, 24. He who once appeared with sin\nimputed, _was made sin for us_, and was treated as a sinner in the world\nfor our sakes, now appears before God, without sin, in heaven, as our\n_great High Priest_ and Surety, to make us acceptable to God there. Nor\nshould our warmest devotions, nor our highest praises, dare to appear\nthere without him.\n\nRemember that the high priest himself among the Jews, was in danger of\ndeath, whensoever he went into the _holy of holies_, to appear before\nthe tokens of the divine presence, if he had not proper garments upon\nhim, and _the blood of atonement_ with him; see Ex. xxviii. 35, 43. Lev.\nxvi. 2, 13, 14. Let Aaron be clothed, and _the blood so sprinkled_,\nsaith the Lord, _lest he die_. How much more may we fear destruction, if\nwe rashly, or carelessly, come near and speak to God himself, and yet\nneglect the garment of righteousness, and _the blood of sprinkling_, and\nChrist our great Mediator.\n\nRemember, O christian, that for a sinner to appear before God without\nthe Mediator, is a thing of infinite terror, and not of comfort. A\ntraitor would keep at the farthest distance from the prince, if he hath\nno friend to speak a word for him there. To come and present yourselves\nbefore God as sinners, without a Saviour, would be but to awaken his\nwrath, and put him in mind of your guilt, and his righteous vengeance.\nRemember therefore to take Christ with you when you come near to God.\nSee Eph. ii. 3, 13, &c. \u201cWe are by nature children of wrath, and afar\noff from God,\u201d it is he only can bring us near:\u2014\u201cNo man cometh to the\nFather but by me;\u201d John xiv. 6.\n\nAnd as this is the only appointed way for sinners to appear before God,\nso it has been the sweet experience of ten thousand souls that they have\ndrawn near to God, in this manner, with acceptance and delight. Hear\nwhat many a child of God can tell you in this case: \u201cWhen I had the\nfirst sight of my guilt and defilements, and beheld God in the terrors\nof his holiness and justice, as _a consuming fire_, I was affrighted at\nthe thoughts of appearing before him; every threatening that I heard, I\nthought it was pronounced against me, nor could I delight myself in the\nblessings of his gospel, for they were not mine. But when he was pleased\nto lead and draw me to Christ, I saw such an all-sufficiency of\natonement and righteousness in him, that would answer all the demands\nthat divine justice had upon me; I joyfully accepted of this salvation,\nI surrendered myself as the subject of his saving grace: And though now\nI behold God in the same glorious and dreadful attributes as before, and\nbehold myself still defiled and sinful, yet I humbly dare appear before\nhim daily and hourly, for Jesus is my intercessor, he is my\n_propitiation_, he is the Lord my righteousness, and my God sits upon a\nmercy-seat sprinkled with the blood of this heavenly sacrifice. My sins\nare many and great, and the matter of my daily groaning; I hear the\nthreatenings and curses of his holy law, but they affright me not from\nhis presence; for in the name of my Mediator I come, who hath borne the\ncurse for me: With humble penitence, and with a lively faith, I draw\nnear to a reconciled God, and give eternal thanks to the Reconciler.\u201d\n\nIV. Remark. What a blessing it is to have many houses of God in the\nnation where we dwell; and those houses of God near us! God may say to\nus, as to Israel; Deut. xxx. 12. \u201cSay not who shall ascend into heaven\nto bring the word to us, that we may hear it? Or, who shall go over the\nsea, &c. for the word is very nigh to us.\u201d We need not travel so far as\nthe Jews, three times every year, to public worship; and yet they \u201cwent\nfrom strength to strength, till they appeared before God in Zion;\u201d Ps.\nlxxxiv. 7. Consider some nations where God is not worshipped aright, and\nhath no dwelling-place; consider how far some poor creatures come even\nin this island, many miles from their own dwelling, to appear before God\nin his ordinances; but God seats his throne, as it were, at our doors:\nthere are many synagogues of God in our land, for us to appear before\nhim, and many near us in the city where we dwell, and near us too in\nthis place of retirement.\n\nHow valuable a privilege is it to dwell in a religious family, in a\nhouse of God, where there is a _church in the house_, as Phil. verse 2.\nwhere we often appear before God? How gladly would many persons (who are\nin better circumstances in the world than some of us enjoy) exchange\nthose better circumstances for spiritual advantages such as we have: But\nsome of you perhaps may say, \u201cWe may be saved without so much religion,\nwithout so much ado about the worship of God in families or in\nchurches.\u201d Let me tell you, if a religious family be not a pleasure to\nyou, heaven itself cannot afford you pleasure; for that is but one great\nreligious family, of which Jesus Christ is the head: And if the business\nof that place be not your delight, you shall never have a place there.\n\nShall I ask the servants of this house, when you are called in to\nmorning and evening prayer, what is your end? Do you come with hope and\ndesire _to appear before God_? Or is it merely to obey the orders of the\nhouse, and comply with the custom of the family, for the sake of your\ntemporal interest? Ask yourselves, my friends, what is it that brings\nyou in constantly at the seasons of reading and praying? Is it a design\nto get near to God. Shall I ask the children, when you come in at the\nhour of worship, do you set yourselves as before God? Do your thoughts\ngo along with the words of him who prays? Do ye attend to the word read,\nas the word of God, whereby you must be judged? Or do you satisfy\nyourselves to wear out the quarter of an hour, in sitting still, or in\nkneeling as others do, without thoughts of God? Shall each of us ask our\nown hearts, how do we pass the time of daily worship? Are we careful to\nlay aside all our thoughts of the world, that we may be at leisure for\nGod? Remember, that not only in the morning and evening devotion, but at\nevery meal we appear before God: Now, do we join in prayer for a\nblessing on our food and in giving thanks? Or do we think the word of\none who speaks sufficiently sanctifies and blesses the meat for all who\ntaste it?\n\nLet us farther ask our consciences this one question, do we remember God\nall the day, as those who have appeared before him at worship in the\nmorning? Do we walk among men as those who dwell in a house of God? Do\nwe eat, and drink, and speak, and live, as those who profess so much\nreligion and worship. Let us think on these things, and consider who\nthere is among us that ventures to trifle with the great and dreadful\nGod in such appearances before him? Or provoke him with a conversation\nunsuitable to such professions?\n\nBlessed be God, there is more than the form of Godliness found in the\ngoverning parts of this family! And I am persuaded, that not the parlour\nonly, but the meaner rooms are witnesses of devotion and pious\ndiscourse: But we are none of us above the need of self-enquiry; and as\nwe all appear with our bodies to worship God daily, methinks I would not\nhave one soul among us absent from God in this daily worship.\n\nThus have I finished the first general head of my discourse.\n\n_Secondly_, The words of the text discover to us an earnest longing\nafter divine ordinances, and the presence of God in them. This\nabundantly appears also in several parts of this psalm: How mournfully\ndoth the Psalmist complain, and what a painful sense he expresses of his\nlong absence from the house of God! _verses_ 3, 4. What a sweet and\nsorrowful recollection he makes of past seasons of delight in worship?\n_My tears have been my meat day and night,\u2014my soul is cast down and\ndisquieted, I remember when I went with the multitude to the house of\nGod, with the voice of joy and praise_; but now God seems to have\n_forgotten me_, ver. 9. How earnestly doth he breathe after the\nsanctuary? Psalm lxiii. and lxxxiv. to _see thy power_, O God, and _thy\nglory, as he had seen it there_. He borrows metaphors and similitudes\nfrom some of the most vehement appetites of nature to signify his strong\ndesires after God; _my flesh thirsteth for thee, even fainteth for the\ncourts of the living God_.\n\nAnd this is the blessed temper of a christian, when in his right frame;\nhe is never satisfied when quite restrained from divine ordinances,\nwhether by persecution, by banishment, by the unreasonable laws of men,\nor by afflictions and weaknesses laid on him by the hand of God. He\nthinks over again those seasons wherein he enjoyed the presence of God\nin worship, and the recollection of them increases his desires of their\nreturn. He watches every turn of providence, and hopes it is working\ntowards his release: When he sees the doors of his prison begin to open,\nhe is ready to break out of confinement, and seize the pleasure of\npublic worship: He thinks it long till he appears before God again. \u201cI\nhave chosen God, saith he, for my highest good, for my everlasting\nportion, and I would willingly often resort to the place where God hath\npromised to communicate his blessings, and where I have so often _tasted\nthat the Lord is gracious_.\u201d\n\nRemarks on the second head.\u2014I. How very different are they from the\ntemper of David, who enjoy public ordinances continually, and are weary\nof them? Who appear before God frequently on the Lord\u2019s day, and yet\ncry, _what a weariness is it, when will the Sabbath be gone_; Mal. i.\n13. and iii. 14. Amos viii. 5. When shall we return to the world again?\n\nWhat is the reason of this great aversion to divine worship among those\nwho call themselves christians? Truly the greatest part have nothing of\nchristianity besides the mere name: Some are stupid sinners, and have no\nsense of divine things; and they think it is all lost time: They have no\nneed to come before God, but that it is the custom of their country, or\nof the family where they live, and they must do it; they do not know how\nto spend the hour elsewhere without reproof and censure: Or they come\nmerely to see, and to be seen, as is the fashion of the land.\n\nSome perhaps have a sense of religion, and yet they cannot look upon God\nany otherwise than as their enemy, and so they come before him without\nany love or delight in his company; and then no wonder if they are weary\nof it. They do not come as friends to take pleasure in his presence;\nthey would be well enough pleased, if they could live for ever in this\nworld, and never have any thing to do with God: Their chief motive is\nthe fear of hell, and therefore they drudge on in toilsome and\nundelightful religion.\n\nAnd indeed this is one great reason why so many true christians feel no\nmore longing after God, either in public or in private worship; because,\nthough they have some faith and some cold hope, yet they are contented\nto abide in this state of uncertainty, without joy or assurance, and do\nnot make it their business to advance in christianity: They cannot\nrejoice in God as their father, or their friend, with a lively soul; and\nthey find but little pleasure in his house. But it is a divine pleasure,\nand a-kin to heaven, when a child of God, with a lively faith and joyful\nspirit, comes before God as his God, and entertains himself with all the\nblessed discoveries that he makes of his wisdom and grace in his\nchurches, with all the promises of the covenant, with all the words of\nlove that God hath written in his book, or publishes in his ordinances\nby the ministry of men. He feeds upon heavenly provisions in his\nFather\u2019s house; and when he departs, he maintains on his soul a sweet\nsavour of heaven. But alas! there is a great withdrawment of the Spirit\nof God from his churches; a deadness of heart has seized believers in\nour day, and they grow carnal: O pray that the Spirit may return to the\nsanctuary again!\n\nII. Remark. How comfortable a thing would it be, to feel our souls\nlonging for divine ordinances more earnestly after restraint! We should\nlearn the language of Jonah, when in the belly of the whale; Lord, _I am\ncast out of thy sight, yet I will look again toward thy holy temple_;\nJonah ii. 4. I will look while I am at a distance, and pray toward the\nmercy-seat, in hope and desire to come near the sanctuary.\n\nWe are too ready to grow indifferent, and think we can do well enough\nwithout this appearing before God? We grow, as it were strangers to him\nby long absence; and though the sacred correspondence in public be lost,\nyet sometimes it is not much regretted: This is a frequent distemper of\nthe soul. When fasting increases a regular appetite, it is a sign of a\nhealthy constitution; but weakly natures are so overwhelmed with a\nlittle fasting, that their appetite is gone too. Many christians may\ncomplain of this, and say, \u201cThough I find some relish of pleasure when I\nam in the house of God, and amongst his saints; and though it was very\npainful to me to endure the first months of confinement, yet a long\nrestraint has brought me under the spiritual disease, that my appetite\nand desire grow feeble, and my heart too indifferent to public worship.\u201d\n\nNow in order to enquire into the temper of our spirits, and to awaken us\nto greater longings after divine ordinances, let us consider what are\nthe two chief ends of a christian in his appearance before God: It is\neither to do something for God by a public profession of his name among\nmen, or to receive something from him in order to our own comfort and\nsalvation. If we hope to receive, this calls faith into exercise; if we\nendeavour to do something for his service, this awakens our zeal. Now,\nis our faith active? Is our zeal lively in this matter? Some christians\nhave one of these, some the other most in exercise: Some look most at\nhonouring God in a public profession, some at obtaining some sensible\nbenefit and delight to their own souls: But it is best when both of\nthese invite us to the sanctuary, and make us long after the presence of\nGod.\n\nSome of us, it may be, have found the work of grace and salvation begun\non our souls at public worship; there we were first awakened and\nconvinced of sin, there we were first led to the knowledge and faith of\nChrist, and pardoning grace was revealed with power by the ministry of\nthe word; therefore we long after the _sincere milk of the word_, in the\nsame public dispensation of it, _that we may grow thereby_. Others have\nbeen favoured, it may be, with the presence of God more abundantly in\nsecret; and reading, and meditation, and secret prayer, have been the\nchief sensible instruments of their conversion, sanctification, and\npeace; these therefore, sometimes have not the same earnest longing\nafter public preaching as others have; yet they do continually attend on\nthe ordinances of Christ in public, to maintain religion, in the\nprofession of it, among men; and they ought to do it. But these persons\nare most in danger of growing cold and indifferent.\n\nI grant it is a glorious and self-denying temper, to maintain a warm\nzeal to do much for the honour of God in the world, even though we enjoy\nbut little of him; but this is not so frequent among men: For we are\nusually drawn to God by the blessings we hope to receive; and we should\nconsider, that an utter neglect of all those enjoyments of God in the\nsensible increase of grace and joy, which are to be found in public\nworship, is a sign that our faith runs too low: We do not expect to\nreceive much from God, even in his own appointed methods; and therefore\nwe grow negligent whether we worship him in public or not. O let the\nsoul who feels nothing of this negligence, but maintains a warm desire\nof ordinances under long restraint, rejoice and bless the Lord!\n\nHowever, while any of us are confined, our desires after God ought to\nappear in this, that we often seek him in secret, and are perpetually\nwith him in our thoughts; that we take all proper opportunities to lift\nup our souls to him in the midst of common affairs, and thus do what we\ncan to make up the loss of the sanctuary: But we should be still\nbreathing also after church-worship, and the communion of saints; for\n_God loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob_; Ps.\nlxxxvii. 2.\n\nIII. Remark. O what unhappy clogs these fleshly sinful bodies are to the\nmind! How they contradict the best inclinations of the soul, and forbid\nit to fulfil its spiritual desires! The soul would appear often before\nGod, but the flesh forbids: The spirit would rejoice to be among\nchristian assemblies, but the body is too often confined by sickness, or\nby the necessary cares that relate to this life, this poor animal life,\nthat has so troublesome an influence upon the noblest enjoyments of the\nmind.\n\nThe soul would wait upon God whole hours together in praising, in\npraying, in hearing the word; but the body is weak, overwhelmed with a\nlittle attention, and can bear no more. The soul wrestles and strives\nagainst the infirmities of the flesh, and labours hard to abide with\nGod; but these very wrestlings and strivings overcome languishing\nnature; the impotence of the flesh prevails against the sprightliest\nefforts and vigour of the mind; the flesh prevails, and the spirit must\nyield. Thus we are dragged down from the holy mount of converse with\nGod, and the soul, who is a-kin to angels, and employed in their work,\nmust descend, and lie idle, to refresh the animal. In vain would the\nspirit raise all its powers into lively and devout exercise, if the\nflesh grows faint under a warm affection, it is forced to let go the\nholy thought, and quit the divine pleasures of religion, until a better\nhour return.\n\nSometimes, through drowsiness, and want of natural spirits, we grow\nstupid and heavy in religious duties, and have but little sense of that\nGod before whom we appear. Sometimes, through excess of spirits, our\nimagination grows vain and fluttering, and wanders far away from the God\nwhom we worship. If we fix our thoughts one minute upon things of the\nhighest importance and the most awful solemnity; the next flying idea\ncatches the mind away, and it is lost from God and devotion again. We\nappear before God, and disappear again; we wander into the world, and\nreturn to God, twenty times in an hour.\n\nOur eyes and our ears are constant witnesses of this painful weakness;\nand unhappy instruments they are to draw off our souls from the divinest\nmeditation. Every thing around us is ready to disturb and divert our\nfeeble nature in the most heavenly acts of worship: Poor broken worship!\nPoor frail estate of human nature! But there is a blessed assembly of\nbetter worshippers above: Awake our faith and desire to join them! and\nlet each of us say, \u201c_O when shall I go_ to that bright company, _and\nappear_ amongst them _before God_.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n SERMON XIV.\n _Appearance before God here and hereafter._\n PSALM xlii. 2.\u2014When shall I come and appear before God.\n THE SECOND PART.\n\n\nBy an appearance before God, in the text we are to understand our\nattendance upon him in the public ordinances of worship; and the longing\ndesire the Psalmist had to draw near unto God in his ordinances,\nrepresents to us the character of every sincere christian, when he\nenjoys his own right frame, and heavenly temper of soul; He longs, he\nbreathes after those seasons of divine improvement and comfort.\n\nI shall make no further repetition of any thing before delivered; but\nconsidering that all our appearances before God in this world in his\nsanctuary, are but means to prepare us to stand before God in the world\nthat is to come; I shall not think myself at all to wander from the\ntext, if I spend my whole time, at present in shewing the difference\nthat is between our appearance before God on earth here, and our\nappearing before him in the other world hereafter; and this in order to\nawaken the sinner, and to encourage the true christian.\n\nThere are two great future appearances before God, the one at judgment,\nand the other in glory in heaven. The one belongs to all men, the other\nonly to the saints. And now that I may divide my discourse aright and\ngive to every one their portion, I would beg leave chiefly to apply our\ngeneral appearance before God at judgment, to those who are unconverted,\nand in a state of sin; for we have reason to fear that there may be some\nsuch among us: And I will apply the blessed appearance before God in\nheaven to converted souls, to whom only it belongs: These are the\npersons who have faith and love, and are in some measure prepared to\nappear and worship there.\n\n_First_ then, Let us consider our appearance before God in judgment. It\nis true, at the moment of death our souls immediately stand before God\nto be judged, as well as our souls and bodies united, shall stand\ntogether there in the great day of the resurrection; yet I shall not\nmake any distinction of these seasons now, lest I should multiply\nparticulars; but shall treat of them together, to awaken the secure and\nsinful worshipper, who appears before God here in the form of devotion:\nAnd to put him in mind he must ere long stand before God in another\nmanner than now he does, and to set his thoughts at work to compare one\nwith the other in these particulars:\n\n1. The sinner now appears with some degree of willingness in the\npresence of God, then it is under a terrible constraint. A wicked man\nmay be willing to come to public ordinances for many carnal ends, as to\ncomply with his superiors, to follow the custom of the family where he\ndwells, to gain reputation among men, to satisfy the cries of an\nawakened conscience; for his conscience, perhaps, will not be easy\nwithout the performance of some duties; and so he makes use of divine\nworship, and his public appearances before God, as a kind of opiate, to\nstupify an uneasy conscience, and therefore he has some inclination and\nwillingness to come before God here on earth: but at death, and at the\ngeneral resurrection, he must appear whether he will or no; Heb. ix. 27.\n_It is appointed for all men once to die, and after death the judgment_;\nRom. xiv. 10. and 2 Cor. v. 10. _We must all appear before the judgment\nseat of Christ. The angels shall gather the elect_ from the four\nquarters of the world, and bring them near to the judge with pleasure;\nbut sinners shall be dragged toward that awful tribunal, and be forced\nto abide the trial.\n\nWhile the believer, who walks in lively faith, says, When shall I come\ninto that world of spirits, and appear there before God? the sinner\nwishes that day may never come: O that I might live for ever on earth!\nthat I might for ever converse with men, and never see the face of that\nGod who hates me, and whom I have never loved. O that death might make\nan utter end of me! O that the grave would cover me for ever, that I\nmight rise no more. And when that dreadful day comes, then, \u201cFall on us,\nrocks; then, mountains press us down, and conceal us for ever from the\nwrath of God and the Lamb;\u201d as in Rev. vi. 15, 16. that outcry is\nrepresented. But they must stand and see the terror; they are\nconstrained to hear the glorious and dreadful sentence, Dost thou\nbelieve this, O my soul! and canst thou be content to live unprepared\nfor the solemnities of this day?\n\n2. Here sinners appear like the saints of God in disguise; but there as\nsinners, openly guilty, and exposed to light: Here not separated from\nthe saints in the place of worship, there sufficiently distinguished and\ndivided from all who love God, and that worship him in spirit: For when\na sinful soul goes out of the body to appear before God, every angel in\nheaven knows him; he is naked without a covering of disguise, as well as\nwithout the covering of a justifying righteousness; and upon this\naccount he appears all guilty, not only before the searching eye of God,\nand the terror of his anger, but also before the blessed spirits who are\nnear the throne. Here those who are in the same assembly, know not\nwhether we are the children of God, or _the children of the devil_; but\nin the world of spirits, all the children of Satan are as much\ndistinguished from the children of God as an angel of light is from a\nspirit of darkness.\n\nThis flesh is a disguise to the soul, a thick cloud to cover a thousand\nhypocrisies; but at the great day the naked soul must be known; _All\nnations shall be gathered before him, and he shall separate them one\nfrom another, as a shepherd divideth the sheep from the goats_; Mat.\nxxv. 32. Jesus shall separate the one from the other; and what will the\nsinner say at that day? \u201cI have on earth appeared before God among the\nsaints, but now I must for ever dwell with my companions in iniquity,\nwith my partners in _everlasting burnings_; I am so like to the spirits\nof hell, now I am undressed, and divested of all disguise, that I see\nmyself justly divided for ever from the saints, and a fit companion for\nnone but devils.\u201d O who can tell the torment that is contained in such a\nself-condemning reflection as this?\n\n3. Sinners appear now, and take no notice of God as Creator, or Christ\nas Mediator and Saviour; but at the appearance in judgment it will be\nimpossible to stand before God, and not take notice of him. He appears\nthere as a God of terrible and incensed majesty, and they must see him;\nand Jesus Christ sits there, and must be seen, not as the Saviour to\nsecure them, but the judge ready to condemn them to everlasting\npunishment; Rev. i. 7. assures of this day, and speaks of it as already\ncome: _Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him, and\nthey also which pierced him; and all kindreds of the earth shall wail\nbecause of him. I shall behold him_, says the wretched Balaam, _but not\nnigh_; Num. xviv. 17. not as my God, near me, but as my enemy, afar from\nme. \u201cNow God speaks with the voice of mercy in the church, and I turn a\ndeaf ear to him, may the sinner say, but then it is the language of\njustice and vengeance: O that my ears and my eyes were sealed up for\never: for his looks, his words, his actions, smite my soul through with\na thousand torments.\u201d\n\nIt is impossible for the wicked to turn their eyes from God in that day,\nwhereas now for a whole hour or two, in his worship, their hearts are\nnot once fixed upon him. A God of holiness will be seen on his seat of\njudgment; and the sinner who _will not see, shall see_, and be\nconfounded at the sight. Think of this, O my soul! and when thou findest\nthy thoughts wandering from God in the next duty of worship, take this\nawful hint to recal them again.\n\n4. Now the sinner appears before God as on a throne of grace; there on a\nthrone of justice: now in a state of trial: there for a final sentence.\nHe comes now to hear the general language of God to men; there to hear\nhis own particular judgment from the same God; now the sinner stands in\nthe church, in a general assembly: and he stands within the reach of a\ngeneral promise: _He that believes shall be saved; he that confesses,\nand forsakes his sin shall find mercy_: But then the book of all the\npromises is for ever shut, and it is declared by the Judge, that not one\nof them belongs to him: He hath refused all the offers of grace, and the\nday of grace is gone for ever.\n\nNow he stands, and hears the general threatening of the word: _The soul\nthat sinneth shall die; the wages of sin is death: he that believeth not\nshall be damned; he that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap\ncorruption_: Yet he may escape all these threatenings. But in the great\nand last day he hears his own name, as it were, read together with each\nof these threatenings, and united to them all: \u201cThou art the impenitent\nsinner, and thou must die for ever? thou hast not believed in Christ:\nand thou art the person who shall be for ever damned.\u201d\n\nNow he appears before God, and though he is, as to his state; at a\ndistance from him, yet he may be converted and brought near; he hears\nthese blessed words; Mat. xi. 28. _Come all ye that are weary and heavy\nladen, and I will give you rest._ Is. xlv. 22. _Look unto me, ye that\nare at the ends of the earth_, and in immediate danger of hell, _and be\nye saved_. But there the only word is, _depart from me, ye cursed, into\neverlasting fire_; for I have not one word of promise, of encouragement,\nor of comfort for you.\n\nBecause he appears now in a state of trial, it is with some hope of\nobtaining pardon; but there he stands only waiting for the sentence of\ndeath, and therefore with everlasting despair: He appears there guilty\nin open light, and his condemnation is certain and unchangeable.\n\nBelieve this, sinner, now in this life; the wrath of God lies heavy upon\nyou; John iii. 36. but this wrath may be removed; the condemnation that\nis now upon you from the law, may be reversed: the gospel is ready to\ntake it off, if you receive this gospel: But there, before the judgment\nseat, every soul who is found in his sins, falls under an eternal curse,\nand without repeal: that condemnation shall never be removed; for\nimmediate execution follows upon the sentence. Now the sinner appears\nbefore God, and hears such words of compassion as these are: \u201cI delight\nnot _in the death of a sinner_, I would have him _turn and live_; I\npropose the method of reconciliation and life;\u201d But then the Lord sits\nupon a throne of judgment, and he shall laugh at the calamity of the\nwicked, and the obstinate sinner\u2019s distress; for pity and compassion are\nfor ever hid from his eyes. Now, who is there among us able to bear the\nsight of a provoked God, who is infinite in power, terrible in majesty,\nand has abandoned all compassion.\n\n5. The sinner now appears often before God; there but once, and is for\never driven from his presence: Here, if you meet with no comfort from\nGod in one ordinance, you may find it in the next; but then you shall be\n_punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord,\nand the glory of his power_; 2 Thess. i. 9. How will you long for such\nseasons again, when you are for ever shut out from them? \u201cO that I had\nbut one Lord\u2019s-day more to spend in the service of God! how would I\nlabour and wrestle with God in prayer, that I might become a new\ncreature!\u201d But in hell the days are all alike, they are all dark and\nstormy; there is not one day of sunshine, not one sabbath, not one hour\nof rest. \u201cHow did I mock God on earth, must the sinner say, when I\nappeared before him! and after I had mocked him once, I trifled again\nand again; but now I find he is a God who will not be mocked; I see he\nis a terrible majesty, and I am driven for ever from all his grace and\ncompassion, and shall see his face no more.\u201d\n\nUse. All the use I shall make of this head, is only to urge upon your\nminds a practical belief, and a lively sense of this appearance before\nGod at judgment. Must we all stand _before the judgment seat of Christ_?\nDo we think we are ready? What answer do our own consciences give, when\nwe make that enquiry? Am I prepared to appear before God the Judge? Have\nI but little hope, and yet can I satisfy myself to lie down at night,\nand arise in the morning, and have this hope not increased? Have I so\nlittle expectation of my appearing well there, and yet rest contented\nunder it?\n\nDo I worship now with that sincerity and devotion, as those who must\nhereafter come to be judged? Could we, dare we, indulge ourselves in the\nneglect of any duty, or commission of any sin, or careless performance\nof the religious services we owe to God, at the rate we now do, had this\ngreat appearance before God at judgment been often upon our thoughts?\nAlas! these things vanish from our minds, many times, together with the\nbreath and air that forms the words: Business, or cares, or the\ndiversions of this life, turn away the soul from God and judgment, We\ndwell in flesh, we see not God, and we are ready, foolishly, to imagine\nthat we shall never see him: We thrust this hour at such a distance, as\nthough it would never come; we put it afar off as an evil day.\n\nBut let us stand still here, and consider a little: This evening we are\ncome to appear before God in worship; we see ourselves here, and see\neach other; we are sure it is a reality, and not a dream; yet seven\nyears ago, this evening was at so vast a distance from us, that we\nscarce knew how to realize it to our thoughts, and make it, as it were,\npresent: but now all that long distance is vanished, and this evening is\ncome; those days are all passed, and this hour is upon us. Thus it is in\nthe case of death and judgment. Seven years hence, it is most likely,\nsome one or more of us, and perhaps every one of us, shall appear before\nthe bar of God our Judge; that appointed hour will come however it seem\nafar off now; and then it will be as real an appearance as this present\nhour is, but a much more solemn one: we shall see and feel ourselves\nthere, and know it is not a dream, but an awful reality.\n\nConsider further, that it can be but a few seven years more, before\nevery one of us must certainly appear at the judgment-seat of God; and\nas long as these years seem now, yet they will quickly fly away, and the\nlast hour will be upon us.\u2014Think how many of your acquaintance, in seven\nyears past, have made their appearance before God, have past their final\ntrial, and received their everlasting sentence: And each of us may say,\n\u201cWhy should not I be the next? What is there in my nature, or in my\ncircumstances that can secure me against the summons of death and\njudgment?\u201d It may be but a few days before we are called; and is every\none of us here ready? This is a question of infinite importance, and let\nus not give rest to our souls, till we can answer it to our\nsatisfaction.\n\nO how should we live! how should we act! how should we speak! how should\nwe worship! if this were always upon our hearts? O that we could but\nrealize these awful things to our minds, and make them more familiar to\nour thoughts daily! Could sinners then be one day contented without\nconverting grace, and without a justifying righteousness? Could they any\nlonger refuse the mercy of the gospel, and Jesus the Saviour? Could they\nbe satisfied to appear all guilty before God, and no friend there to\nspeak for them? no intercessor to plead for them? none to undertake\ntheir cause? Could they go on to sin with a negligent mind, if they\nthought the judgment-door just opening upon them, and Jesus Christ at\nhand? Could it be possible we should have such cold and lazy desires\nafter a Saviour and his salvation, if we thought our everlasting\nhappiness or misery depended upon the next day, the next hour, or the\nnext moment? For we know not how soon the summons may come, and state us\nbefore his tribunal.\n\nII. The _second_ part of my discourse leads me to consider the blessed\ndifference that there shall be between a christian\u2019s appearing before\nGod in heaven, and his appearance here in divine ordinances before God\non earth? and by a comparison of these two, may the Spirit of God awaken\nour faith, our hope, our love, and our joy, and all join to promote our\nsanctification! The differences then between our standing before God in\nworship now, and our worshipping before God in heaven, are such as\nthese:\n\n1. Now the true christian appears in a mixed assembly of saints and\nsinners: there the assembly is all holy, and not one sinner amongst\nthem. Here sincere souls and hypocrites meet together in worship; there\nthe hypocrite is for ever banished. In the houses of God on earth, the\nwicked Canaanites will mingle with the children of Israel; but in his\ntemple in heaven, every one is an Israelite indeed; _There shall no more\nbe found a Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts_; Zech. xiv. 21.\n\nThe children of God here, are under a veil of infirm and sinful flesh,\nand in the likeness of sinners; there they are unveiled and acknowledged\nto be _the sons and daughters of the Almighty_; 1 John iii. 1, 2.\n_Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we\nshould be called the sons of God! But the world knows us not_; nay, we\nare not at many times known to ourselves; but when he comes whom we have\ntrusted, then we shall be known and distinguished from the world, as\nGod\u2019s only begotten Son; and we shall be known and distinguished as the\nchildren of God, all related and a-kin to him:\u2014_When he appears we shall\nbe like him, for we shall see him as he is_; 1 John iii. 2. and shall\nsufficiently be distinguished from all who belong not to Christ.\n\nHere a child of God, in the sanctuary, is deeply humbled at the mention\nof the name of God; but his humility is not seen. Here his zeal kindles\nat the proposal of a duty, but it burns with a hidden flame: Here his\nlove is at work, his hope is arising, his joy is getting up to heaven,\nwhen he is engaged in the meditation of a comfortable promise, or some\nof the blessed privileges of the children of God; while those who are\naround him, even his next neighbour who sits close to him, knows nothing\nof the holy workings of his heart, and the breathings of his soul\ntowards God: But there the whole assembly shall worship with one heart,\nand one soul, and not one wandering worshipper, or one wandering thought\nin worship.\n\nWe are ready to complain here, that we ourselves know not whether we\nshall be accepted or no; through the weakness of faith, want of\nholiness, decay of zeal in our spirits, and that degeneracy we sometimes\nfind and feel in ourselves, we are often ready to doubt, and almost upon\nthe borders of despair. This is the case of many a poor, trembling\nchristian; but there every one shall worship with strength of joy,\nliveliest delight, and warmest zeal and affections: and be assured his\ngraces are all true, for he shall see them all in the light of glory.\n\nThis suspicion or jealousy of ourselves, flattens our devotion many a\ntime here, and takes away the pleasurable sensations of religion,\nbecause we ourselves know not whether God accepts us or no: There a full\nassurance of our being beloved of God, and being for ever accepted of\nhim, shall make every exercise of devotion a most agreeable and perfect\npleasure. O my soul, how should it quicken thy race, and exalt thy joy,\nto think how fast thou art removing from this world of sinners, and from\nall thy own doubts and fears, to a glorious assembly of holy souls,\nwhere not one doubt, or fear shall remain in their consciences, nor in\nthine!\n\n2. In this world the saint appears among a few to worship his God, but\nthen among millions. Now many times we have worshipped in a secret\ncorner, for fear of men; but then it is all in public glory: for there\nall the worship that is paid, is the established worship of the whole\ncountry; and honours, and kingdoms, and wealth, are all on that side:\nAll the inhabitants are made rich for ever, with the riches of heaven;\nand all the children of God are the sons and daughters of a king, and\nall heirs and possessors of glory, and reign together with the Lord\nJesus: Rom. viii. 17. 2 Tim. ii. 12. Here many times the children of God\nare forced to be separatists from their neighbours and fellow-citizens,\nthey are divided from the multitudes and crowds of mankind, they are but\na _little flock_; but there they shall shine in the midst of the\n_general assembly of the first-born, and a great multitude which no man\ncan number_; Rev. vii. 9. that with victories and songs are for ever\naddressing the throne of God and the Lamb. O when shall I hear the voice\nfrom heaven say, _Come up hither_?\n\n3. Now we worship in a way of preparation; there for enjoyment and full\ndelight. Ordinances here are but slight shadows, and very faint and\nimperfect resemblances of what the worship in heaven shall be. Now the\nword of God is spoken by a man, and it loses much of the divinity and\npower, by the means of conveyance; there it will be spoken by God\nhimself to our spirits, or by our Lord Jesus Christ, to the ears of our\nbodies, raised, sanctified, and immortal; and our souls shall receive as\nmuch of the express ideas, as God designs to convey by all his\nconversation with that sanctified number: nor shall they miss of any of\nthe beauty, or spirit, or perfection, of those thoughts which God\nhimself would impress upon us.\n\nNow in the letters of the bible we read the good-will and mercy of God\nto sinners; but there, in a far brighter manner of conveyance, _in thy\nlight shall we see light_; Ps. xxxvi. 9. Here we seek the Father and the\nSon; the one as our happiness, the other as the way to the enjoyment of\nthat happiness, as they are usually represented in the word of God:\nThere we shall say, We have _found him whom our souls desire_ and love,\nand shall be for ever happy in his presence. Our business now in this\nworld is to get a right temper and frame: there to practise and indulge\nthe joy. Happy souls, who are thus prepared in the outer courts to draw\nnigh and worship _within the veil_!\n\nNow we appear with imperfect services, and poor improvements, there with\nglorious and complete worship: For here _we see God but as in a glass\ndarkly_; there _face to face_; 1 Cor. xiii. 12. Now we can have his\nglory, or his grace represented to us but in part, in a small measure,\nand according to our poor capacities of receiving; there _we shall see\nhim as he is, and know as we are known_.\n\nWhat are our prayers, what are our praises here? our praises when\noffered up in a song, or in plainer language, in comparison with those\nthat are paid to God above? Now we speak of him _whom we have not seen_,\ntherefore we speak in so imperfect a manner: There we shall hear and\nspeak of him whom we see or know more intimately: Now we appear before\nGod, and bring too much of the world with us; there we _leave the world\nand go to the Father_, God and Christ are too much forgotten, or they\nare too often thrust out of our minds by vain thoughts, even when we\nourselves are never so desirous to spend an hour or two with God; what\ninterruptions do we find? What long blanks divide the several petitions\nof our prayer, and break off the meditation while we stand before God to\nworship him? We have many enemies within and without, who stand ready to\nseize away our souls from God, and to rob him of our devotion: Vain\nfancies call us aside, and our senses turn off our minds from heaven.\nThere shall be everlasting worship above, without one impertinence\ninterposing; no trifles there to divert us, and separate one part of our\nworship from the other: there all the powers and faculties of nature\nshall perpetually be engaged in the business and blessedness of that\nstate. Glorious worship, and blessed worshippers! fit for the presence\nof the Majesty of heaven.\n\n5. I might say, We come with very little comfort, and many\ndiscouragements, to appear before God on earth; but there with\neverlasting consolation. We come now to the word, and we go away again,\nhardly hearing the voice of God in his word or seeing his countenance,\nbut there we shall be for ever near him; no wall of flesh, or of sin to\ndivide us.\n\nNow we are defiled with guilt, and ashamed to lift up our faces towards\nheaven, and blush even when our hearts are never so sincere; but there\nwe shall come near to God, even to God in glory, and not be afraid of\nhim; there we shall see a God undefiled, ourselves also being undefiled;\na God of spotless purity, and ourselves without blemish _before the\nthrone_; our _garments washed_ white _in the blood of the Lamb_, and\nnever, never to be defiled again; that is the glory and pleasure of a\nchristian. Then we shall appear _without spot, or wrinkle, or any such\nthing_; without guile in our mouths, or vanity in our hearts; _without\nfault before God_, and therefore without pain; without sorrow, and\nwithout fear for ever, even though we stand before God in all his\nmajesty; for we are assured of his mercy. Now we worship with prayers\nand tears, because of many and heavy burdens, sorrows and sins; but\n_then with everlasting songs and joy on our heads_; Is. xxxv. 10. If we\nhad a painful and living sense of these things, of the wanderings,\ntemptations, burdens, and defilements, that mingle with our worship\nhere, we should cry aloud, and say, _How long, O Lord, how long?_\n\n6. _Lastly_, Now we appear and depart again, but then we shall abide\nwith God for ever. Now we go down from the mount of converse with God,\ninto the world of temptation, and sin, and business, and care: We appear\nupon mount Horeb, or Pisgah, and we take a little view of the promised\nland: but we go down again as the children of Israel did, to fight with\nthe Canaanites, the giants that are in the valley, our mighty sins, our\nstrong corruptions. In this valley of tears we must have a conflict\nbefore we get to the promised land; there every worshipper has in his\nhand a palm of complete victory; Rev. vii. 9. and he is for ever\ndischarged from fighting: _Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in\nthe temple of my God; and he shall go no more out_; Rev. iii. 12. So\nnecessary is the presence of the saints in heaven, that our Lord Jesus\nChrist has represented them as pillars of that building. God dwelling in\nthe midst of his saints, counts himself dwelling in one of his glorious\nheavens: and every saint there is, as it were, a pillar, and a support\nof it: We are _lively stones_ in that building in which God will for\never inhabit. Now we come to the house of God as visitants; but there as\ninhabitants, as the _children_ of God, who _abide for ever in the\nhouse_: There every saint obtains what holy David wished for, and that\nin the literal perfection of it, that he might _dwell in the house of\nthe Lord for ever_; Ps. xxvii. 4. and xxiii. 6.\n\nUse. The only reflection I shall make on the second part of my\ndiscourse, is this, that we should raise our hope, our consolation, and\nour joy, by a meditation of such future worship in heaven as this is,\nwhen we lie under many weaknesses, restraints, and defilements, in our\nbest worship on earth. O! how would this hope rejoice our hearts, if we\ncould but live upon it! What secret comfort would it be to a poor humble\nsoul, who is hindered from drawing near to God in worship now, because\nhis affections are perpetually ready to wander, to think that he shall\ncome and appear before God hereafter, and see him without ceasing, and\nhis thoughts shall never wander from his God. When he complains under\nthe temptations of Satan, and absence of God from his ordinances, what a\npleasure to think he is going above to worship at the _general\nassembly_, where Satan never enters, and where God never conceals\nhimself; but appears universally gracious, and without a frown; where\nthe God of glory and mercy appears unchangeably, and for ever the same.\n\nThose of us who have been long restrained from all the pleasure and\nprofit of public ordinances, what a blessed release will it be to our\nsouls, when we shall be dismissed from the bonds of flesh, into that\ngreat and holy society of spirits, and shall feel no more restraints for\never? We who have been detained from the house of God, by the\nuncharitable laws of men, or the painful providence of God, with what a\ndivine relish shall we embrace our liberty in that day, and be eternally\nfree from all forbidding laws, and all imprisoning providences?\n\nO how heartily should it engage our affections to one another, and\nincrease the pleasure of our worship, when we come to wait on God\ntogether here below, to think that we shall worship God together in the\nupper world? How should it unite the hearts of our congregations one to\nanother in divine love and make christians for ever forbear wrath and\nanger here, since they must be everlasting fellow-worshippers above?\n\nWhat a glorious joy will it be to you who are the heads and rulers of\nthis family, who have so often joined in sweet devotion here on earth,\nwhen you shall meet each other there, and worship together before the\nthrone in heaven? What a mutual endearment, and mutual delight does such\na prospect raise between the nearest relations? How doth it exalt the\nsweetest passion, heighten and refine the warmest love? What a blessed\ntransport will it be to the parents, to find their children there\nengaged in the same work? And what a joyful meeting will it be to you,\nthe children, the hopeful offspring of this house, to find each other in\nthat company, and to see your pious parents with you? With what a\nglorious and unspeakable joy shall parents render up their accounts to\nGod in this language, \u201c_Lord here am I, and the children that thou hast\ngiven me_;\u201d imitating the words of the Lord Jesus, giving up his account\nto his Father; Heb. ii. 13.\n\nHow will our gladness increase, and our souls enlarge themselves in holy\njoy, to behold our christian friends, and our dear relatives, standing\nin the same assembly, as fellow-worshippers at the throne? How will the\nheads of this family rejoice, if their whole household should be found\nthere, whom they have endeavoured to encourage in their way to heaven,\nby a religious care to maintain household worship? how will the joy of\nfaithful ministers be advanced by every one of their hearers, whom they\nshall find in that blessed church above? _Ye are our crown, and our\nglory, and our rejoicing in that day_; 1 Thess. ii. 19, 20.\n\nNow should not each of us maintain a holy jealousy within ourselves, and\nsay, \u201cWhich of us shall be missing?\u201d May not every one of us so far\nsuspect ourselves, as to say, \u2018_Lord is it I?_\u2019 Shall I be wanting\nthere, when all the rest of this little assembly shall be worshipping\nwith the saints in heaven? Shall I be separated from them with whom I\nhave so often appeared before God, and bowed the knee together on earth?\nO dreadful thought of overwhelming sorrow! Which of us all has so much\nstupidity, or such impious courage, as to bear the terrible\napprehension? To be divided for ever from the family of God, and shut\nout of his upper sanctuary! O may these words make a proper impression\non every heart, to keep our jealousy awake, and spur us onward in our\nchristian course of duty and devotion! May such thoughts as these excite\nus to _give all diligence, to make our calling and election sure_, and\nin every act of worship here in this world, to get some clearer evidence\nof an interest in the favour of God, some further meetness for glory;\nthat when the great assembly shall join together in that heavenly\nworship, we may assist with our praises, and mingle our joy with theirs.\n_Amen._\n\n\n HYMN FOR SERMONS XIII. and XIV.\n _Appearance before God here and hereafter._\n\n\n While I am banish\u2019d from thy house,\n I mourn in secret, Lord:\n \u201cWhen shall I come, and pay my vows,\n And hear thy holy word?\u201d\n\n So while I dwell in bonds of clay,\n Methinks my soul shall groan,\n \u201cWhen shall I wing my heavenly way,\n And stand before thy throne?\u201d\n\n I love to see my Lord below,\n His church displays his grace;\n But upper worlds his glory know,\n And view him face to face.\n\n I love to worship at his feet,\n Though sin attack me there;\n But saints exalted near his seat,\n Have no assaults to fear.\n\n I\u2019m pleas\u2019d to meet him in his court,\n And taste his heavenly love;\n But still I think his visits short,\n Or I too soon remove.\n\n He shines, and I am all delight,\n He hides, and all is pain:\n When will he fix me in his sight,\n And ne\u2019er depart again?\n\n\n\n\n SERMON XV.\n _A Rational Defence of the Gospel: Or, Courage in professing\n Christianity._\n ROM. i. 16.\u2014\u2014I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the\n power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.\n THE FIRST PART.\n\n\nShame is a very discouraging passion of the mind; it sinks the spirits\nlow, it enfeebles all the active powers, and forbids the vigorous\nexecution of any thing whereof we are ashamed. It was necessary\ntherefore, that St. Paul should be endued with sacred courage, and\nraised above the power of shame, when he was sent to preach the gospel\nof Christ among the Jews or the heathens, to face an infidel world, and\nto break through all the reproaches and terrors of it. _I am a debtor_,\nsaith he, _verse 14_, _to the Greeks and to the Barbarians_; that is, to\nthe learned and the unlearned nations; _to the wise and to the unwise_:\nI have a commission from Christ to publish his gospel among all the\nnations of men, and I esteem myself their debtor, till I have delivered\nmy message: And though Rome be the seat of worldly power and policy, the\nmistress of the nations, and sovereign of the earth, where I shall meet\nwith opposition and contempt in abundance, yet I have courage enough to\npreach this doctrine at Rome also, _for I am not ashamed of the gospel\nof Christ_.\n\nMy friends, this is an age wherein the gospel of our Redeemer meets with\nmuch contempt and opposition. There are many in a baptized nation, and\nwho have been brought up in the christian belief and worship, that begin\nto be weary of Christ and his religion; they are endeavouring to find\nblemishes and defects in this sacred gospel, and in that blessed word of\nGod that reveals this grace to us. The divine truths, that belong to\nthis gospel, meet with mockery and profane reproach from deists and\nunbelievers. I may call it therefore a day of rebuke and blasphemy. God\ngrant we may never become a land of heathens again! Those of us that\nbelieve this gospel from the heart, have need of courage to maintain our\nprofession of it, especially in some companies and conversations. We\nshould prepare ourselves to encounter the false reasonings of\nunbelievers, as well as harden our faces against their ridicule. Let us\ntherefore meditate this sacred text, that each of us may pronounce\nboldly the words of this great apostle, _I am not ashamed of the gospel\nof Christ_.\n\nNow, that our meditations may proceed regularly on the present theme of\ndiscourse, let us consider,\n\nI. What the gospel of Christ is, that we may not mistake it.\u2014II. What is\nincluded in this expression, I am not ashamed of it.\u2014III. What there is\nin this gospel that might be supposed any way to expose a man to shame;\nand I shall take occasion under this head to give particular answers to\nsome of the most important objections that might be made against the\ngospel, and shew that there is no just reason to be ashamed of it.\u2014IV. I\nshall consider what is that general answer to all objections; that\nuniversal guard against sinful shame which is contained in my text, and\nwhich will bear out every christian in his faith and profession of the\ngospel of Christ, _viz._ that it is the power of God to the salvation of\nevery one who believes.\u2014And, V. I shall draw some proper inferences.\n\n_First_, What is the gospel of Christ?\n\nI answer in general, It is a revelation of the grace of God to fallen\nman through a Mediator. Or, It is a gracious constitution of God for the\nrecovery of sinful and miserable man, from that deplorable state into\nwhich sin had brought him, by the meditation of Christ: Or, in the words\nof my text, it is the power of God, or his powerful appointment, for the\nsalvation of every one who believes. The word gospel, in the original,\n\u03b5\u1f50\u03b1\u03b3\u03b3\u03ad\u03bb\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd signifies good news, or glad tidings. And surely, when a\nsinner who is exposed to the wrath of God, is sensible of his guilt and\ndanger, it must needs be glad tidings to him to hear of a way of\nsalvation, and an all-sufficient Saviour. This constitution of God for\nour salvation has had various editions, if I may so express it, or\ngradual discoveries of it made to mankind, ever since Adam first sinned,\nand God visited him with the first promise of grace before he turned him\nout of paradise. But the last and most complete revelation of this\ngospel was made by the personal ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ, and\nmore especially by his apostles, when his own death, resurrection, and\nexaltation had laid the complete foundation for it. From the books of\nthe New Testament therefore we may derive this larger description of the\ngospel of Christ.\n\nIt is a wise, a holy, and gracious constitution of God for the recovery\nof sinful man, by sending his own Son Jesus Christ into the flesh, to\nobey his laws which man had broken, to make a proper atonement for sin\nby his death, and thus to procure the favour of God, and eternal\nhappiness for all that believe and repent, and receive the offered\nsalvation; together with a promise of the Holy Spirit to work this faith\nand repentance in their hearts, to renew their sinful natures into\nholiness, to form them on earth fit for this happiness, and to bring\nthem to the full possession of it in heaven.\n\nIt might be proved that this is the sense and substance of the gospel of\nChrist from many of the prophecies of the Old Testament, and the\nceremonies and figures of the Jewish church, as well as from a variety\nof citations from the writings of the evangelists and apostles: Yet\nthere have risen some persons, I mean the Socinians and their disciples,\nin the last age and in this also, who call themselves christians, but\nthey also curtail and diminish the gospel of Christ, as to make it\nsignify very little more than the dictates and hopes of the light of\nnature, _viz._ \u201cThat if we repent of our sins past, and obey the\ncommands of God as well as we can for the future, Christ as a great\nprophet, has made a full declaration that there is pardon for such\nsinners, and they shall be accepted unto eternal life:\u201d and all this\nwithout any dependance on his death as a proper sacrifice, and with\nlittle regard to the operations of his Holy Spirit.\n\nNow I need use no other argument to refute this mistaken notion of the\ngospel, than what may be derived from the words of my text, _viz._ that\nSt. Paul expresses it with a sort of emphasis, and as a matter of\nimportance, that he was _not ashamed of the gospel of Christ_: Whereas\nif this had been all the substance of the gospel, he had no reason to be\nashamed of it either among the Jews or the heathens. The Jews had a\nknowledge of forgiveness upon repentance, and a belief of it long before\nChrist came: And the heathen philosophers would have readily received\nit, as a thing very little different from what their natural reason\nmight lead them to hope for: though it could not fully assure them of\nit: They would never have sought to expose and ridicule the preaching of\nSt. Paul as mere babbling, and called him _a setter forth of strange\ngods_.\n\nBut on the other hand, if we suppose him publishing the glorious\ndoctrine which I have described, there was something in this so strange\nto the ears of the heathens, as well as of the blinded Jews, that might\nwell be supposed to awaken their opposition and rage; and therefore it\nwas a great point gained with him, when he had courage enough to\nmaintain such a gospel, and to say, I am not ashamed of it.\n\nThis leads me to the second thing proposed.\n\n_Secondly_, What is included in these words, I am not ashamed of the\ngospel? To this I answer under these five heads:\n\n1. I am not ashamed to believe it as a man.\u20142. I am not ashamed to\nprofess it as a christian.\u20143. I am not ashamed to preach it to others as\na minister.\u20144. I am not ashamed to defend it, and contend for it as a\ngood soldier of Christ.\u20145. I am not ashamed to suffer and die for it as\na martyr.\n\n1. I am not ashamed to believe this gospel as a man. My rational powers\ngive me no secret reproaches. My understanding and judgment do not\nreprove and check my faith. I feel no inward blush upon the face of my\nsoul, while I give the fullest assent to all these truths, to this\nscheme of doctrine, to this heavenly contrivance and system of grace. A\nrational man, especially who has been bred up in learning, should be\nashamed to believe fables and follies, but I believe all this gospel and\nam not ashamed. My own reason approves it, and justifies me in the\npersuasion and belief of such a gospel as this is. I believe it with so\nfirm and unshaken a faith, that I venture all my own eternal concerns\nupon it. I lay all the stress of my hopes of a blessed immortality on\nit. My soul rests here, and I am not ashamed of my resting-place: I am\nnot ashamed of my Saviour, and the method of his salvation. I am\npersuaded my hopes shall never disappoint me. Surely, if the gospel had\nbeen so very irrational a thing, as some men pretend it to be, St. Paul,\nbeing so rational and wise a man, would have been ashamed to believe it.\nBut I believe it, says he, and am not ashamed. I do not think it casts\nany just reflection upon my rational capacities, or my learned education\nat the feet of Gamaliel, for me to give a full assent to this gospel.\n\n2. I am not ashamed to profess it as a christian. I am ready to tell the\nworld that I believe it, and I take all occasions to let the world know\nit. I am coming to profess this gospel at Rome, and am not ashamed: I\nhave owned it before my own countrymen the Jews already, where it has\nbeen most reproached. I have been telling the Gentiles what the gospel\nof salvation is, and I long to see you at Rome, that I may tell you what\nmy belief is in the gospel, and may hear how far you have believed, and\nmay be _comforted by the mutual faith both of you and me_; Rom. i. 12. I\nshall be glad to tell you what doctrines I venture my own soul upon, and\nshall be willing to hear from you whether you venture your souls upon\nthe same doctrine, or no; and shall rejoice to find we are both\ninterested in one salvation.\n\n3. I am not ashamed to preach it to others as a minister, that is, to\ninvite others to believe it. It is a communicable good, and I am sent to\ndiffuse it, nor am I ashamed of my commission. See 2 Tim. i. 12, 13.\n_Our Lord Jesus Christ has abolished death, and brought life and\nimmortality to light by the gospel_, and has appointed me a preacher,\nand an apostle to the gentiles: I preach the gospel, and _am not\nashamed_, though I have suffered for it. I venture my soul upon it unto\nthe last great day, and I bid thee, Timothy, as a preacher unto others,\n_to hold fast the same form of sound words which thou hast learned of\nme_. I long to teach the whole world this faith and this doctrine,\ntherefore _I am a debtor to the Greeks and barbarians_; I would make\nothers partakers of the same hope. _Would to God, that not only thou,\nAgrippa, but all those that hear me, were not only almost, but\naltogether such as I am, except only these bonds, these sufferings_\nwhich I endure for Christ\u2019s sake; Acts xxvi. 22.\n\n4. I am not ashamed to contend for it as _a good soldier of Christ_; to\ndefend it when it is attacked, and to vindicate the cause of my Lord and\nMaster. Where it is assaulted I endeavour to secure it, though with many\nreproaches from the carnal prejudices of mankind. I oppose them all; for\nthey oppose my Saviour and his cross, and I build my everlasting hopes\nthere. _I am set for the defence of the gospel of Christ_; Phil. i. 17.\nand I will _contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the\nsaints_; Jude ver. 3. And he gave us an instance of it, that when Peter,\nwho was an apostle, seemed to diminish some of the glory and the liberty\nof the gospel, he _withstood him to the face_; Gal. ii. 11. \u201cThere shall\nno man silence me, or stop my mouth, when I am preaching a crucified\nSaviour, and when I express my faith in the liberty and latitude of the\ngospel of Christ. For if I durst withstand an apostle under his criminal\nconcealments, and in his diminution of the honour of this doctrine,\nsurely I dare oppose all the world besides.\u201d\n\n5. _Lastly_, I am not ashamed to suffer and die for it as a martyr. Load\nme with reproaches, ye Jews, my countrymen, and load me with chains, ye\nmagistrates of Rome; of none of these am I ashamed or afraid, but with\nall boldness I am always ready that Christ should be magnified in my\nlife, or my death; Phil. i. 14, 20. And as for my friends that are full\nof sorrow lest Paul should be sacrificed for the faith of Christ. What\nmourn ye, and break my heart for? _I am not only ready to be bound, but\nto die for the sake of Christ. I count nothing dear to me, no nor my\nlife precious to myself, that I may finish with joy the course of my\nministry of this gospel, that I may testify the grace of my God_; Acts\nxx. 24. and xxi. 13.\n\nI might add also, that St. Paul intends and means more than he expresses\nby a very usual figure of speech: I am not ashamed of it, that is, I\nglory in it, I make my boast of it. If there be any doctrine worth\nboasting of, it is the gospel of Christ. If I have any profession to\nglory in, it is that I am a christian. Once I was a pharisee, and I\ncounted it my gain and my honour; Phil. iii. 7, 8. _But what things were\ngain to me, these I counted loss for Christ; yea, doubtless, and I count\nall things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus\nmy Lord._ I glory in being a minister of the gospel; it is the highest\nhonour God could have put upon me, who am less than the least of all\nsaints. _To me is this grace given to preach among the gentiles the\nunsearchable riches of Christ_; Eph. iii. 8. I glory in it to that\ndegree, that I am dead to all things else. _God forbid I should glory in\nany thing save in the cross of our Lord Jesus, whereby the world is\ncrucified to me, and I to the world_; Gal. vi. 14. I glory in my\nsufferings: and, my friends, if ye understood the value of these things,\nthey are your glory too. _If I am offered up a sacrifice for the service\nof your faith; I joy and rejoice together with all_; Phill. ii. 17. O!\nthat you would but rejoice together with me in it. Thus I have shewed\nyou that all these things are implied in St. Paul\u2019s not being ashamed of\nthe gospel of Christ, and I have proved it to you from other parts of\nhis epistles.\n\nThe third general head I proposed to speak to, was this; What is there\nin this gospel that may be supposed to expose any man to shame! And this\nquestion is very needful; for if there were nothing in it that men might\ntake occasion to throw their scandals and reproaches at, it had been no\ngreat matter for St. Paul to have cried out, I am not ashamed of the\ngospel of Christ.\n\nTo this I answer in general, this was a gospel that contradicted the\nrooted prejudices of the Jews, and was severely reproached by those that\nprofessed great knowledge in their law; it was also a new and strange\nthing to the Gentiles. _A crucified Christ was a stumbling-block to the\nJews, and foolishness to the Greeks_; 1 Cor. i. 23. There was something\nin the faith, and practice, and worship of the gospel so contrary to the\ncourse of their education in the world, so opposite to their carnal\ninclinations, and to the customs and fashions of their country, that a\nman might well be afraid and ashamed to profess it, when they lift their\ntongues, and their hands, and their swords against it, and the chief of\nthem _crucified the Lord of glory_, and put the preachers of it to\ndeath.\n\nThus in general. But while I descend to particulars, I shall confine\nmyself only to those occasions of shame, which the same gospel meets\nwith in our day, that so the discourse may be more useful, to the\npresent audience; and as I mention each objection or supposed occasion\nof shame, I shall endeavour to take off the force of it, and shew that\nit is unreasonable.\n\nNow the things that might any ways be supposed to expose this gospel to\nshame, may be ranked under these two heads:\u2014\n\nI. Those which arise from the doctrines of the gospel: And, II.\u2014Those\nwhich arise from the professors of the gospel.\n\n_First_, The occasions of shame that arise from the doctrines of the\ngospel, are these five that follow:\n\nI. That there are mysteries in it which are above the powers of our\nreason to comprehend, and I will never believe a gospel that I cannot\ncomprehend. This is the language of Socinians, men that have pretended\nso much to reason in our day.\n\nBut to relieve this occasion of shame, let us consider that mysteries\nare of two sorts.\n\n_First_, Such as we should never have known but by divine revelation;\nbut being once revealed, they may be fairly explained and understood.\nSuch is the doctrine of the satisfaction of Christ, of the resurrection\nof the dead, of the forgiveness of sins for the sake of Christ\u2019s\nsufferings, and of eternal life in a future world. I say, these are all\nmysteries that were hid from ages, that is, they are such truths which\nnature or reason could not have found out of itself, but being once\nrevealed to us of God, may be fairly explained and well understood.\nOther sort of mysteries are those, which when revealed unto us, we know\nmerely the existence, or reality and certainty of them, but cannot\ncomprehend the mode and manner how they are. And of this kind there are\nbut two that I know of which are peculiar to our religion, and which are\nthe chief objects of offence to some men. These are the mysteries of the\nblessed Trinity, and the mystery of the incarnation of Christ. The\nmystery of Three, whom the scripture describes as persons, who have some\nglorious communion in one godhead! and the mystery of two natures united\nin one person.\n\nNow, though the way and manner how the three persons, Father, Son, and\nSpirit, should be one God, and how two natures, human and divine, should\nbe one person in Christ Jesus; I say, though the way and manner how\nthese things are, is not so easy to be explained and unfolded by us, and\nabove our own present capacity to comprehend and fully to explain, yet I\ncould never find these things proved impossible to be. If I must refuse\nto believe a thing that I know not the manner and nature of, there are\nmany things in the world of nature, and in natural religion, that I must\ndisbelieve. Let them explain to me in natural religion what is the\neternity of God, what ideas they can have of a being that never began to\nbe; and then perhaps I may be able to explain to them how three persons\ncan have communion in one godhead, and how two natures can be one in\nperson. I am well assured, there are some doctrines in natural religion\nas difficult to be explained, and hard to be understood, and the manner\nof them is as mysterious, as these doctrines of revealed religion, which\nare also rendered more offensive to the thinking mind, by some men\u2019s\nattempts to explain them in an unhappy manner.\n\nBut we may go a step lower to meet this objection, and confound it. In\nthe world of nature there are mysteries of this kind, which are as\nunaccountable and as hard to be unfolded as the mysteries of grace. It\nis the doctrine of union both in the trinity and the incarnation, which\nrenders them so mysterious. Now this doctrine of unions in natural\nphilosophy hath been hitherto insolvable. We know that spirit and body\nare united to make a man: But the manner how they are united, remains\nstill a most difficult question. We know that some bodies are hard, and\nsome are soft; but what it is that ties or unites hard bodies so closely\ntogether, and makes them so difficult to be separated, is a riddle to\nthe best philosophers, which they cannot solve; or what it is that\nrenders the parts of soft bodies so easily separable. And many other\nthings there are in nature as mysterious as this.\n\nBesides, if it were possible for us to explain all things in nature, and\nto write a perfect book of natural philosophy with the most accurate\nskill, yet it would not follow that we must know God the Creator to\nperfection. The things of God are infinitely superior to the things of\nmen. The nature of a Creator in his manner of existence is infinitely\nabove the nature of creatures in theirs. It is fit there should be\nsomething belonging to God an infinite Spirit, that is incomprehensible,\nand above the power of finite spirits to comprehend, and fully search\nout and explain. It ought therefore to be no just ground of shame to the\ngospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, that it has mysteries in it, that is to\nsay, that it has some doctrines in it, which we could never have found\nout by the mere light of reason; and some truths, the full explication\nwhereof we can never attain to, since there are many things in the world\nof nature, in the world of bodies and souls, and many things in natural\nreligion, which we cannot fully explain.\n\nII. Another occasion of reproach, which men fasten upon the gospel, is,\nthat some of the doctrines are so singular and contrary to the common\nopinions and reasonings of men; such as that the ever-blessed God should\nwant a satisfaction, in order to pardon sin with honour; that he should\npunish the most innocent and obedient man that ever lived, even his own\nSon, for the sins of wicked and rebellious creatures; that we should be\nfreed from hell, which we had deserved, by the sufferings of another in\nour stead; that one man should be justified with another\u2019s obedience;\nnay, that ten thousands of men should be pardoned and justified for the\nsake of the obedience and death of one single man; that all our own\nrepentance is not sufficient of itself to obtain our pardon; and our\nholiness, be it never so great, does not procure us a title to the\nfavour of God and heaven; that dead bodies, though mouldered in the\ngrave for thousands of years, should be raised again to life and\nimmortality: These are such strange doctrines, so very foreign to the\ncommon sentiments of most men, that some of the Athenians cried out,\n\u201c_What does this babbler mean?_\u201d A man should be ashamed of these\nthings; the very heathen philosophers called it foolishness.\n\nBut now to remove this scandal, let us consider that many of these\nthings are not so contrary to the reason of men as some think: As for\nthe satisfaction made for our sins by the sufferings of Christ, did not\nalmost all the heathen world suppose that God would not pardon sin\nwithout satisfaction? What else mean all their bloody sacrifices? And\nwhy did they sometimes proceed so far as to murder men, and offer them\nto God for their sins? I confess indeed, that many of the philosophers\nand learned men amongst them, who derided the gospel of Christ, did also\ndespise the sacrifices and religious ceremonies of their own countrymen,\nbelieving that God would be merciful to men that were penitent and\npious, without any rites of atonement and sacrifice. But it is as\nevident also, that the people had a general notion of the necessity of\nsome atonement for sin, and that the more valuable the sacrifice was,\nthe sooner was their god appeased, and the benefit procured would be\nmore extensive, howsoever the philosophers might ridicule it. It is\nmanifest then, that many of the heathens did imagine that the death and\nsufferings of one person would procure pardon and immunities for a whole\nmultitude. And upon this principle some of the ancient Romans, now and\nthen, out of nobility of spirit, devoted themselves to death, to appease\nthe anger of the gods, for their whole country. Thus it appears, that\nthe business of satisfaction for sin, and the doctrine of expiation and\natonement by the blood and death of a surety, was not so utterly unknown\nin the world.\n\nI add farther, that the notion of one person\u2019s making satisfaction for\nthe crime of another in human and political affairs, has been sometimes\npractised, and thought to be very intelligible; and why should it be\ncounted so very monstrous and absurd in things divine? Do we understand\nwhat it is for one man to become a surety for another, or for a criminal\nto be set free from punishment by the voluntary substitution of another\nperson in his stead? Are we not well acquainted what it is for one man\nto pay the debt of another, and the original person that was obliged\nthereby, to become free? Do we not know what it is for a whole family of\nchildren to inherit a possession for many ages, one after another, for\nsome noble acts and services of their father? Therefore honour, and\nglory, and happiness, bestowed upon a multitude, for the sake of what\none man has done, is not so unintelligible a thing as some men would\npersuade us. Why should that be esteemed impossible in the affair of\nreligion, which is evident and plainly practicable in the affairs of\nthis world?\n\nAgain, they think it strange that our repentance should not be enough to\nobtain the pardon of past sins, and our own obedience should not procure\nheaven for us. But are not traitors and robbers, and all notorious\ncriminals punished in all governments, notwithstanding their\nrepentances? Can their sorrow for what is past, procure a pardon of\ntheir prince? Who then would be punished? And is man\u2019s government in\npunishing criminals, without a satisfaction, just and reasonable? And\nshall God\u2019s government be counted unreasonable? Can future obedience\namong men obtain forgiveness for past treason and rebellion? And why\nthen should you think the great God is obliged to accept of it?\n\nAs for the resurrection of the dead, though it was counted a strange\nthing among the heathens, when it was preached to them, yet in these\nlatter days, since the knowledge of God and his glorious attributes has\nbeen so much increased, and the reason of men has freely exercised\nitself upon things divine and human; the resurrection is not counted any\nimpossible thing, nor the doctrine of it incredible. And I am verily\npersuaded if men, whom God has endued with large capacities and great\nskill in reasoning, would but employ those talents to write a rational\naccount of most of the doctrines of our Lord Jesus Christ, it might be\ndone with much glory and success.\n\nAs for those few doctrines of christianity, which may at first appear\nless reasonable to men, their abundant attestation from heaven demands\nour belief.\n\nIII. Another occasion of reproach is, that the gospel teaches\nmortification and self-denial in a very great degree, conflicting with\nour natural appetites, and fighting against our own flesh and blood: And\nall that it promises is an unseen heaven, a future reward, a far distant\nhappiness in another country, which eye has not seen, nor ear heard of,\nnor the heart of man conceived. A mere spiritual pleasure, that is to be\nenjoyed by the mind, and which the body shall not taste of, till perhaps\nafter a thousand years or more. Now, as under the former head, the\ndoctrines of the gospel are a scandal to the men of reasoning, so under\nthis they become a scandal and reproach to those that are literally\ncalled men of sense, who are carnalized and immersed in sensuality. They\nthink it strange to forego the joys of sense for the hopes of enjoying a\nhappiness in a world they do not know when or where.\n\nBut I need not stand long to answer this calumny; for even some of the\nrefined philosophers gave sufficient rebuke to this sensual temper: The\nvery heathens could say enough to abate this censure, and to remove this\noccasion of shame, though the gospel of Christ does it infinitely\nbetter.\n\nChristianity does not abridge us of the common comforts of flesh and\nblood, nor lay an unreasonable restraint upon any natural appetite; but\nit teaches us to live like men, and not like brutes; to regulate and\nmanage our animal nature with its desires and inclinations, so as to\nenjoy life in the most proper and becoming manner; to eat and drink, and\ntaste the bounties of providence, to the honour of our Creator, and to\nthe best interest of our souls.\n\nBut, suppose, we were forbid all the indulgence of our appetites, and\nthe delights of sense, by the gospel; surely, those who know what\nintellectual pleasures are, who can relish the joy that belongs to\nspirits, will not be much terrified with these objections, nor deride\nthe faith of Christ, because it does not propose to them the reward of\nan earthly paradise. The rewards of the gospel are indeed spiritual till\nthe resurrection, but those spiritual pleasures shall vastly\nover-balance all that toil, sorrow and suffering, we have passed through\non earth, and all that self-denial which we have exercised. But when the\nbody shall be raised again, our refined delights of all kinds shall be\ninfinitely satisfying: We shall not say, that God has dealt our\nhappiness to us with a niggardly hand, but that he has exceeded all his\npromises, when we shall come to taste the things God has prepared for\nus, which eye hath not seen, or ear heard of.\n\nIV. Another prejudice against the gospel is this; some persons charge it\nwith much of enthusiasm; and that the doctrine of the operations of the\nSpirit, and the expectation of his divine assistance to instruct us in\ntruth, to mortify sin in us, and to enable us to perform holy duties,\nhas too much of a visionary and fanciful turn of mind, and does not\nbecome men that profess reason.\n\nBut if such objectors were better acquainted with themselves, and knew\nthe weakness of their own reason in the search after truth, and the\nvarious and plausible errors that attend their enquiries on every side;\nif they were better acquainted with the strength of temptation, the\npower of their own sinful appetites, and the weakness of their will to\nresist sin, and to fulfil the rules of righteousness: surely they would\nnot think it a ridiculous thing to lift up a prayer to the great God to\nguide them into truth, and to assist them to walk steadily in the paths\nof religion and virtue. If they had but a deep and lively sense of their\nown insufficiency for every thing that is good, and of the many dangers\nand enemies that beset them, they would rather see infinite reason to\nbless their Creator, that has given them any promise or hope of the aids\nof his grace.\n\nNor is it at all fantastical or irrational to suppose, that the great\nand blessed God, who made these spirits of ours, should kindly act upon\nthem, and influence them by secret and divine methods to their duty and\ntheir happiness; that he should send his own Spirit to help them onward\nin their proper business, which is to serve him here; and assist them in\nthe pursuit of their true blessedness, which is, to enjoy him hereafter.\n\nMethinks it is one of the glories of the gospel of Christ, that God has\nnot only sent his Son to purchase heaven for us, but continually sends\ndown his own Spirit to lead every humble christian in the way thither.\nWhen a poor penitent creature, distressed under a sense of the power of\nsin, dwelling in him, who has long and often toiled and laboured to\nbring his heart near to God, and to suppress the irregular and\nexorbitant appetites of his nature, addresses himself to the throne of\nGod, and cries earnestly for divine help, it is a glorious provision\nthat is made in the gospel of Christ, that the Spirit of God is promised\nfor our assistance. Nor is it at all unworthy of a person of the\ngreatest reason and the best understanding, humbly to wait and hope for\nthe accomplishment of this promise. Thus the charge of enthusiasm\nvanishes, and the gospel maintains its honour.\n\nV. The last objection against the doctrines of the gospel of Christ, is,\nthat they are not sufficiently attested, that there is not ground enough\ngiven to credit the divinity of them in our age. They are ready to say,\n\u201cThese things were done, according as ourselves profess, above sixteen\nhundred years ago, and we have not sufficient credentials to venture our\nfaith upon it at this day.\u201d\n\nIt would be too long here to repeat over to you half the grounds we have\nfor faith in this gospel. That there was such a man as Jesus Christ;\nthat he lived at such a time at Jerusalem; that he wrought wondrous\nworks in his own country, is not at all disbelieved by those that\nprofess any reasonable faith in human history. The Jews themselves, who\nwere his greatest enemies, do not deny that he wrought those miracles,\nwhich others could not work; but they pretend, that he did it by some\nmagic art, by diabolical charms: and wrought miracles not by the power\nof God, but by virtue derived from spells and evil spirits. So that the\nmiracles he wrought were not disbelieved and denied, but the heavenly\nspring of them is impiously perverted and turned downward, as though\nChrist borrowed his power from hell to transact these affairs. But the\nholiness and the heavenly temper of the gospel of Christ refutes this\naccusation. Satan was never known to demolish his own kingdom of\nungodliness in such a manner as this. The gospel of Christ in every part\nof it has a most singular and sublime tendency to advance the name, the\nattributes, and the honour of God, whom Satan hates with a perfect\nhatred: He would never lend his assisting hand to support a scheme of\nreligion so divine and holy.\n\nNever was any body of doctrines and of duties so composed and calculated\nto promote the glory of God, nor the good of man, as this gospel does:\nOur peace and happiness would be secured by it on earth, if all men\nwould comply with it, and our felicity after death is the great and\nindefeasible proposal and design of it: Now Satan is a restless enemy to\nmen, his fellow-creatures, as well as to God, his Maker; and he would\nnever exert the remains of his angelic power to encourage and defend\nsuch a pious and beneficent religion.\n\nBut the most amazing progress and success of the gospel is another\nargument that proves it to be divine, even when devils and magicians\nopposed it as well as princes and philosophers. That the gospel itself,\nwithout the force of arms, that a naked gospel, that seems so incredible\nas this did, should spread itself throughout the world in so short a\nspace of time, that by the preaching of a few despised persons, and\nseveral of them fishermen that were utterly unlearned: That this gospel\nshould triumph over all the powers and policies of men and hell: That it\nshould make its way in opposition to the wisdom of philosophers, and the\nwill of princes, and all the temptations and terrors of this world: This\nis another miracle, which perhaps is as divine and convincing as any of\nthe preceding wonders, that attested this gospel, when it was first\npreached.\n\nI add also the testimony of prophecy to that of miracles. The wondrous\nand exact accomplishment of many prophecies since our Lord Jesus Christ\ndwelt on earth in the days of his flesh, confirm his gospel. The\nprophecies that he himself gave forth from God, is another testimony of\nthis gospel, which is uncontrollable. The destruction of Jerusalem, the\ntime and methods of its destruction, and the terrors of it, may be read\nin Mat. xxiv. And if you read the history of Josephus, a Jew, you find\nso many parallels, that you may say Christ did foretel it indeed.\n\nI might here subjoin the predictions of the apostles, particularly that\nof St. Paul, and St. John, concerning the rise and spirit of antichrist,\nwherein the church of Rome so clearly answers the language of the\nvisions and prophecies. But the brightest and most uncontrollable\nwitness of prophecy to the truth of the gospel, is the most exact and\npunctual accomplishments of all the predictions of the Old Testament, in\nthe life and death, the resurrection and glory of Jesus Christ our Lord.\nFrom the first promise given to Adam in the garden, down to the words of\nMalachi, the last of the prophets, you find every thing that was said of\nhim fulfilled in his history. And thus the books of the Jews, wherein\nthey placed all their hopes, confirm the gospel of Christ, and refute\nand confound their own infidelity: So that if ever I had been a Jew, and\ndid believe Moses and the prophets, I think I am constrained to be a\nchristian, and believe in Jesus Christ.\n\nThus I have endeavoured to answer those objections against the gospel,\nwhich are pretended to arise from the truths or doctrines of it: And\nbefore I proceed to answer those cavils which are raised against it,\nbecause of the professors of it, I must finish the present discourse\nwith a word or two of improvement.\n\nUse 1. If this be a gospel not to be ashamed of, then study it well:\nLearn the truths and doctrines of it thoroughly: Truths and doctrines,\nwhich St. Paul, so wise, and so great a man, did not blush to profess,\nand preach, and die for. Value it as he valued it: The more you know it,\nthe more you will esteem it; and the better you are acquainted with all\nthe glorious articles of it, the less you will be ashamed of it: The\ndivine harmony of the whole will cast a beauty and a lustre on every\npart.\n\nUse 2. Furnish yourselves with arguments for it daily, that you may\nprofess it without shame, and defend it without blushing: This is a day\nof temptation, and you know not what conversation you may be called into\nby divine providence; you know not what cavils you may meet with to\nassault your faith, and attack christianity. _Be ready therefore to give\nreasons of the hope that is in you_, and to make a just and pertinent\nreply to gainsayers, and convince those, if possible, that are led away\ncaptive by the wiles of the devil to forsake Christ and his gospel. Let\nnot every turn of wit, or sleight of argument and sophistry, make you\nwaver in your faith. It is a gospel that will bear the trial of\nreasonings and reproaches. It has something in itself that is divine,\nand therefore it is able to support the professors of it against an army\nof cavillers.\n\nUse 3. Submit to all the institutions of it. Profess the whole of the\ngospel; not only the doctrines, but the ordinances of this gospel, are\ndivine and glorious; they have something in them that shew they come\nfrom God, and they have something in them that evidently leads to God.\nThey have all something in their sense and signification that discovers\ndivinity. Wait upon God therefore in all his ordinances, in the\nassemblies of christians, that you _may see his power and his glory in\nhis own sanctuary_, and that you may, from your own experience, be able\nto say, that the gospel is too great, too glorious, too divine a thing\nin its doctrines and worship, and in all its institutions, for you ever\nto be ashamed of. It has now, for sixteen ages, endured the test of the\nwit, and the rage of earth and hell, and it shall stand in power and\nglory, till the heavens be no more.\n\n\n HYMN FOR SERMON XV.\n _A Rational Defence of the Gospel._\n\n\n Shall atheists dare insult the cross,\n Of our Redeemer God?\n Shall infidels reproach his laws,\n Or trample on his blood?\n\n What if he chuse mysterious ways,\n To cleanse us from our faults?\n May not the works of sov\u2019reign grace\n Transcend our feeble thoughts!\n\n What if his gospel bids us fight\n With flesh, and self, and sin?\n The prize is most divinely bright,\n Which we are call\u2019d to win.\n\n What if the foolish and the poor,\n His glorious grace partake?\n This but confirms his truth the more,\n For so the prophets spake.\n\n Do some that own his sacred name,\n Indulge their souls in sin?\n Jesus should never bear the blame,\n His laws are pure and clear.\n\n Then let our faith grow firm and strong\n Our lips profess his word;\n Nor blush, nor fear to walk among\n The men that love the Lord.\n\n\n\n\n SERMON XVI.\n _A Rational Defence of the Gospel: Or, Courage in Professing\n Christianity._\n ROM. i. 16.\u2014I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the\n power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.\n THE SECOND PART.\n\n\nThere are many in the world who call themselves christians, and boast in\nthe name; yet if you ask them what the gospel of Christ is, they are\neither struck into confusion and silence, or they give such an awkward\nand impertinent answer, as sufficiently discovers they know little of\nthe religion of Christ, or of the sacred name into which they were\nbaptized. Now that we may act and speak as becomes persons endued with\nreason, I thought it necessary at first to give some account what this\ngospel is, that you might know and understand, the religion which you\nprofess; and if ye will glory in the name of christian, ye may be able\nto tell what it is you mean by christianity.\n\nBy reading the books of the New Testament, wherein the gospel is\ncontained, you will find this to be the sum and substance of it, _viz._\nthat it is a wise, a holy, and a gracious constitution of God for the\nrecovery of sinful man, by sending his own Son Jesus Christ into the\nflesh, to obey his law which man had broken, to make a proper atonement\nfor sin by his death, and thus to procure the favour of God, and eternal\nhappiness, for all that believe and repent, and receive this offered\nsalvation; together with a promise of the holy Spirit to work this faith\nand repentance in their hearts, to renew their sinful natures unto\nholiness, to form them on earth fit for this happiness, and to bring\nthem to the full possession of it in heaven.\n\nI have shewn, in the next place, what St. Paul meant, when he told the\nRomans he was not ashamed of this gospel: He was neither ashamed to\nbelieve it as a man, nor to profess it as a christian, nor to preach it\nto others as a minister, nor to defend it as a good soldier of Christ,\nnor to suffer and die for it as a martyr.\n\nThe third thing which I proposed, was to make it appear, that all the\noccasions of shame, which men of infidelity pretend to raise from this\ngospel, may be answered upon the fair and just principles of reason and\nargument. The first sort of reproaches are those which are cast upon the\ndoctrines of the gospel, and I hope I have rolled them away.\n\nI repeat no more of these things, but proceed to the next sort of\noccasions of shame, and these are such as are supposed to arise from the\nprofessors of this gospel; and I shall endeavour to shew you also Low\nthey may be answered. They are chiefly these four.\n\nI. Some will say, \u201cThe professors of this gospel in the beginning were\nthe weak, and foolish, and mean things of this world; but it was\ndespised by the wise, it was scorned by the great and honourable, and\npersecuted by the mighty. Why should a Paul, a pharisee, a doctor of the\nlaw, become a follower of a carpenter\u2019s Son, and associate with a parcel\nof fishermen? This is a scandal, and foolish indeed. _Who among the\npharisees or rulers have believed on him_; John vii. 48.\u201d This was the\nstumbling-block of the gospel in that age, and it is the stumbling-block\nat which many persons take offence in our age too. \u201cIt is the unthinking\nmultitude, say they, the mere mob of mankind, that are led away with the\nnoise of strange things and the gospel. And it is only those who have no\nrelish of good sense that can dispense with mysteries. The poorer and\nweaker sort of men and women flock after your powerful preachers of the\ngospel, but wise men despise it.\u201d I am very glad, my friends, if in your\nconversation you meet with no such persons that ridicule the gospel at\nthis rate. But there are many in our age and nation arrived at this\nheight of pride and contempt of the gospel.\n\nThis objection may have more answers than one given to it; as _first_,\nit is a matter of unjust reproach, and it is false in fact; for all the\nprofessors of this gospel are not weak and unlearned. There have been in\nthe very beginning of christianity some wise, some great persons, that\nhave given testimony to this gospel by their believing it. St. Paul was\na man of no weak reason, no mean understanding, no small learning, and\nyet he believes this gospel, and professes he is not ashamed of it.\n\nAnd there have been in most ages of the church some instances of the\npower and success of this gospel in converting philosophers and senators\nand princes. The learned, the ingenious, and the noble amongst mankind\nhave sometimes given up their names to Christ, have yielded their assent\nto his doctrines, and conformed their hearts and lives to the rules of\nhis gospel. Men of wit and reason have been converted to the faith, and\nthen have exerted their peculiar talents in the defence of christianity,\nand they have convinced the world that they had neither left their\nreason nor their wit behind them when they became christians. Men of\ngrandeur and power have sometimes also supported it with honour.\n\nBut the number of these have not been exceeding great. God has ordained\nthat there should be some, to shew that it is no foolish and\nunreasonable doctrine, that it is not a religion unworthy of kings, nor\nunbecoming the wisest and the greatest of characters. But if there have\nbeen but a few great and wise have embraced it, it is evident that its\nsuccess and glory is not owing to the wisdom and power of men, but to\nthe divinity of its doctrines, and the power of God.\n\nBesides, I might tell you, _secondly_, that riches, and grandeur, and\nelevated degrees of wit and learning, become a sore temptation to pride\nof mind and self-sufficiency. Now the faith of the gospel is founded in\nhumility, and self-diffidence, and poverty of spirit; and this is one\nplain reason why it was received by so few of the rich, and the learned,\nand the mighty among men, though it was contrived and invented by God\nhimself.\n\nI answer, in the _third_ place, that it is one of the designed\ncharacters of the true gospel of Christ, and it is foretold by the\nancient prophets, that when it should come to be preached upon the\nearth, the poor should receive it. Its reception by the poor and weak\namong men, is one evidence that it comes from God; Mat. xi. 5. When John\nthe baptist sent his disciples to our Saviour to know whether he was the\nMessiah, or must they expect another? _Go, tell John, the blind receive\nsight, the deaf hear, and the lame walk, and to the poor the gospel is\npreached; blessed is he that is not offended in me, &c._ Go, and give\nJohn this very account I now relate to you, and tell him these are my\ncredentials, these are the testimonials I bring. John will infer that I\nam the Messiah, and this is the true gospel that I preach; for the great\nand rich, and the pretenders to wisdom among the Jews, account it _a\nstone of stumbling, and a rock of offence_, and only a few of the poor\nreceive it; as it was foretold by the prophets.\n\nEach of us may say therefore, if only the wise, or the great, or the\nrich, believed it, it must have been such a gospel as I could never have\nbelieved; for it wanted one character which is necessarily adjoined to\nit, that is, that the poor receive the gospel: _Father, I thank thee_,\nsays our Lord, _that thou hast hid these things from the wise and\nprudent, but thou hast revealed them unto babes_; Mat xi. 25. \u201cIt\npleased God, when the world by wisdom knew not God,\u201d to darken all their\nwisdom, and turn it into folly, and to call those that were esteemed\nfools, and make them wise in believing the gospel, of Christ. It has\npleased God to chuse the mean, and _weak, and contemptible things of\nthis world to confound the wise and mighty_. It has pleased him to chuse\nthe _things that are not, to bring to nought the things that are, that\nno flesh might glory in his presence_; 1 Cor. i. 27, &c.\n\nII. It is another occasion of stumbling or shame in the gospel of\nChrist, that some of the professors of it are vicious in their lives.\n\u201cWill you believe such a gospel, says an infidel, that does not restrain\nthe professors of it from the worst of sins?\u201d\n\nThis, I confess, gives it great dishonour among the men of the world,\nand is sometimes ready to shake the faith of younger christians; they\nknow not how to go on farther in christianity, for such and such that\nmade great profession, you see how they are fallen. This is a common\ntemptation of the devil; it is a frequent snare, and there hath been\nmany a pious soul that hath been in danger of being caught thereby. The\nvices of some professors were great even in St. Paul\u2019s days: There were\nsome among the Philippians; Phil. iii. 18. \u201cOf whom I have told you\noften, and now even weeping, that they walk as enemies to the cross of\nChrist, and cast scandal and shame upon it. It makes my eyes flow with\ntears, and my soul bleed within me to hear of it: The gospel of Christ\nis so much dishonoured by these means.\u201d\n\nBut if we take a nearer view, we shall see that no doctrine ought to\nfare the worse, because some wicked men are professors of it. It was not\ncounted a discredit to philosophy, that some of the professors of it,\nwho hated the gospel, were vicious in their lives. I would ask the deist\nnow, is there any ground to disbelieve natural religion, because there\nare some that make profession of it are fallen into great sins? The\ngospel itself _teaches us to deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts_,\nand does not indulge one of them. And they are said to be enemies to the\ncross of Christ, when their conversation is all earthly, when their God\nis their belly, and their glory is their shame. This is no fault of the\ngospel, for they felt not the power of it. Nor is there any religion or\nprofession in the world that would have had any followers at all by this\ntime, if men must have entirely cashiered that religion, because there\nhave been some persons vicious that have been professors of it. There is\nno sect, no religion in the world, though the institution and the rules\nof it have been ever so pious, but what has produced some persons that\nhave been vicious in their lives.\n\nBut this cavil is still carried on, and urged with much vehemence. \u201cIf\nthe gospel of Christ were a religion so heavenly, and so divine in its\noriginal, as you pretend, surely the nations that profess it would\neminently exceed all other nations in piety, in justice and goodness:\nwhereas the nations that now a-days embrace christianity, are not at all\nsuperior to the Mahometans, nor to some of the heathens, either in duty\nthat relates to God or man: And if we may give credit to ancient\nhistory, the virtues of the old Romans, long before the days of Julius\nC\u00e6sar, shone much brighter than any of the virtues of the baptized\nnations: There was more truth and honesty, more devotion to the heavenly\npowers, more of a public spirit and zeal for their country\u2019s good, than\nwe can find in any christian kingdoms or states now-a-days.\u201d To this I\nwould give these three answers:\n\n1. The account which we have of the shining virtues of these best ages\nof heathenism, is given us only by their own posterity, who lived in\nsucceeding ages. Now it is the well-known temper and custom of mankind\nto magnify the virtue of their ancestors, and to say, that the former\ntimes are better than these; But you have scarce any heathen writers,\nwho do not describe their own ages as vicious enough, if they have\noccasion to talk upon that subject. And therefore there is just reason\nto suspect the strict truth of these encomiums of their fore-fathers.\n\n2. Although some social virtues in a heathen country might really\nflourish more for an age or two, springing from the principles of\nambition, and honour, and love to their own country; yet there were such\nvices also practised among many of the gentile nations, which are seldom\nheard or known among christians: The apostle describes them in Rom. i.\n26. and that in such a manner, as leads us to believe, that they were\npractised by those who professed wisdom among them.\n\nIt must be acknowledged also, that these nations were gross idolaters,\nand worshipped many gods, and that even in the times when their social\nvirtues were most conspicuous. Now this is most highly criminal in the\nsight of the great and sovereign God, the Creator of all things: And the\nwarmer and the more zealous were their devotions which they paid to\nthese idols, with the neglect or contempt of the true God, the greater\nwas their guilt and abomination.\n\nBut, 3. The chief answer I give is this, that when whole kingdoms are\nmade christians merely by birth, education, and custom, it is not to be\nsupposed that a twentieth part of them believe the gospel upon any just\nand reasonable principles of knowledge and choice. When whole cities and\nnations are worshippers of Christ, no otherwise than the Ephesians were\nworshippers of Diana, or the Turks of Mahomet, it is not reasonable to\nexpect that there should be much difference in the virtues of such a\nnational sort of Christians, Mahometans, or Heathens; for the principle\nfrom which all their religion springs is the same, namely, their\neducation, custom, and fashion of their country; and therefore their\nvices are much the same as they would be according to the present\nreigning humour, disposition, or political temper of the nation,\nwhatsoever were their form of religion and their established worship.\n\nThe true way therefore to put these things to the test, is to consider\nthose christians only who believe and profess the gospel from knowledge,\nand choice, and inward conviction, and who make their religion a matter\nof solemnity and importance and not of mere form and custom. Now if you\nseparate these from the rest of mankind, I am well assured, that as bad\nas the christian world is, you will find all the human and divine\nvirtues more gloriously practised among such christians as these, than\namong an equal number of the professors of any other religion under the\nsun: For inward christianity, and the faith of the gospel, when it is\nbuilt upon just foundations, will necessarily draw along with it such a\ntrain of virtues and graces, as shall _adorn the doctrine of God our\nSaviour_; and by such a comparison as this, men would be constrained to\nconfess that _God is among us of a truth_.\n\nIII. The various and divided opinions, the sects and parties that are\nfound in the christian world, have been another occasion of scandal and\noffence to the infidels. \u201cHow can we ever come, say they, to any\ncertainty what your religion is, since you do not agree about it among\nyourselves?\u201d\n\n\u201cAll Europe pretends to be christian, and to believe the gospel; yet\nFrance, and Spain, and Italy, and Poland, and a good part of Germany,\ntell us, that true christianity is found only amongst them. But in the\ncountries of Denmark, Sweden, and the northern parts of Germany, and in\nthe British islands, there is another religion professed, of a very\ndifferent kind, and they call theirs the pure gospel, and reformed\nchristianity. The protestant and the papist divide these western parts\nof the world, and they are ready to tear one another to pieces upon the\naccount of their different opinions and practices. Now if the books that\ncontain the religion of Christ be of so very uncertain sense and\nsignification, truly we are ashamed of such a doubtful religion; it is\neven as well for us to content ourselves with the religion that the\nlight of nature teaches us, and the dictates of our common reason, which\nwe think has more certainty in it.\u201d\n\nTo this I answer, that it is a great mistake to imagine that the light\nof nature and reason, if left entirely to itself in this corrupt and\nfallen state, has more certainty in its determinations than scripture\nhath. How many wild opinions hath the corrupt mind of man produced among\nthe inhabitants of the heathen world, and this same light of nature has\nnot corrected them? What infinite diversity of vain and monstrous\nfancies hath past for religion and devotion among them? And the light of\nnature has been supposed to dictate some of them, for they did not\nalways pretend revelation for them. There have been wide and\nirreconcileable differences among the philosophers, as well as among the\npriests and the people of different nations. The light of nature and\nreason is a poor dark bewildered thing, if it hath no commerce, nor\ncommunication with persons who have been favoured with divine\nrevelation. It is only the scripture that has established and\nascertained the doctrines of natural religion: And it is to the\nscripture that the deists of our age are obliged for their greater\nacquaintance with natural religion than ever their forefathers, the\nheathen philosophers, arrived at, though they are too proud to\nacknowledge it. If they agree better, and are more uniform in their\nprinciples now than the old epicureans, the stoics, and the platonists\nwere, it is all owing to a more intimate acquaintance with the writings\nof Moses and the prophets, the evangelists, and the apostles; so that it\nis with a very ill grace that our present infidels can object to\nchristians their difference of opinions, and pretend that this is a\nground of shame to the gospel of Christ, and a reason why they do not\nbelieve or profess it.\n\nBut I come now to give some account of the true reasons of such\ndivisions of sect and party among christians. There are two great causes\nof these divisions, and the charge is not to be laid upon the gospel of\nChrist, nor upon the books that contain it.\n\n1. The first cause is, that the papist does not pretend to derive his\nreligion merely from the bible; but he brings in the Jewish apocryphal\nwriters of ancient ages, and lays them also for a foundation of his\nfaith; and he makes the traditions of the christian church, which he\npretends to have been delivered down from age to age, of almost the same\nauthority as the scripture itself: And some of their authors have raised\nthese traditions to equal dignity with the scripture, as being built\nupon the same foundation, _viz._ the authority of the church. As they\nhave many things in their religion which they cannot find in the word of\nGod; so they think it is sufficient if they can support them by these\npretended traditions of the church. Whereas the protestant takes nothing\nfor the ground of his faith but the books of the Old and New Testament;\nand what he cannot find written there, nor derived thence by most\nobvious and evident consequences, he does not profess it as any\nnecessary part of his christianity. The religion of the protestant\ntherefore is abundantly more conformable to the gospel of Christ, both\nin the doctrines and the worship of it, because it derives the whole\nfrom the word of God: But it is no wonder at all that there should be\nsuch a difference between them and the papists, when they lay such\ndifferent foundations for their faith and practice.\n\n2. Another reason why the protestant and papist differ so much is,\nbecause the papist pretends that there is an infallible judge among them\nto determine all controversies; and that their popes, and their\ncouncils, which they call the church, have authority to appoint what\nshall be esteemed the true articles of faith, and to bring in rites and\nceremonies into their worship according to their own invention and\npleasure. And that all the people are bound to believe as the church\nbids them believe, and to practise in matters of worship whatsoever the\nchurch bids them practise: And upon this account they forbid the\nscripture to be read by the common people, that they may not learn the\ntruth of the gospel, but may take all for gospel which they teach them,\nand be content with it. Whereas the protestant has nothing else but his\nbible to have recourse to for the conclusion of all controversies; and\nhe encourages every man to use his bible, and to judge for himself\nconcerning the sense and meaning of it, using the best helps that he can\nobtain for this end: The protestant ministers teach him not only what\nthey know of the gospel, but they put the bible into his hand, and bid\nhim search and see whether things are so or no, that thence he may learn\nwhat are those doctrines and those duties which Christ has required him\nto believe and practise. Thence it comes to pass, that there are almost\na thousand things in popery, which the protestants utterly disown,\nbecause they disown the power of the pope, or church, to stamp new\narticles of faith, or invent new forms of worship.\n\nObjection. But it may be said still, there are so many different sects\nand parties among the protestants themselves, as encourages the deist to\nmaintain his charge and accusation.\u2014\u201cWhy do you, saith he, who profess\nto derive all your religion from the scripture, differ so much among\nyourselves, both in doctrine, in worship, and in the order of your\nchurches, if the _gospel of Christ_ be so excellent a religion, and if\nthe books that contain it can give you so plain and certain a knowledge\nof it!\u201d\n\nI answer, That almost all those things wherein protestants differ, are\nbut of smaller importance in religion, in comparison of those many and\ngreat things wherein they agree. The chief and most important points of\nchristianity are written with so much plainness and evidence in the word\nof God, as would lead all humble, honest, sincere and diligent enquirers\ninto a belief of them, and consent in them. Now it is not necessary that\nthe lesser matters of christianity should be written down so expressly\nin scripture: For the all-wise God thought it proper to leave many of\nthese articles of less importance more dubious and obscure, both to\nawaken the diligence of men to study his word, and to leave amongst them\nsome occasions for the exercise of their mutual charity and forbearance.\nOur blessed Lord has thought it proper to put the universal love which\nhe requires amongst his followers, to this test or trial, to see whether\nthey will cultivate peace and charity to one another amidst their\nvarious and divided opinions in things of less concernment.\n\nI confess there are some differences among protestants in the great\ndoctrines of the Trinity, and the satisfaction of Christ, which must be\nacknowledged to be articles of very high moment and importance in\nchristianity. But if we compare those few who profess dangerous opinions\nin these points with the millions that agree in the same general\nprofession of faith, it will be found that their number is but very\nsmall. If we consider the great ignorance of God, which is found in all\nmen by nature, and take a survey of the unhappy influences that\neducation, fancy, passion, pride, friendship, aversion, precipitance and\nlaziness, have upon mankind in forming their judgments and opinions, we\nshall not wonder to find some persons here and there falling into\nstrange sentiments, contrary to the plain and sufficient evidence of\nscripture. We believe in general, that whoever puts off all prejudices,\nand is piously sincere in his search of the word of God, shall certainly\nfind, through divine assistance, all needful truth. If therefore a\ndisbeliever come with a serious, humble, and pious mind, and apply\nhimself with diligence and fervent prayer to read the scripture; I am\nwell assured he will become a christian, and find out so much of the\ndoctrines and duties of the gospel, as are necessary to his eternal\nhappiness.\n\nBut there will be heresies arising sometimes in the church. Tares will\ngrow up sometimes in the field that is ever so well cultivated, and sown\nwith corn: And what unknown reasons there may be in the counsels and\nprovidence of God in permitting heresies to arise for the farther trial\nof his own people, is too high and hard a point for us to determine. The\napostle saith; 1 Cor. xi. 19. _There must be also heresies among you,\nthat they which are approved may be made manifest_: If such a thing as\nthis is, shall be abused by men of corrupt minds, to turn them quite\naway from the gospel of Christ, and to support their own infidelity,\nthey must answer for it at the great day to Christ their Judge.\n\nThus I have done with the third charge or accusation brought against the\ngospel, and removed the scandal and shame that some men have thrown upon\nit, because there are such sects, and parties, and divided opinions\namong the professors of it.\n\nIV. Another occasion of scandal which infidels charge upon the gospel of\nChrist, is this, \u201cThat some who have long professed it have forsaken it;\nand one should be ashamed to embrace such a faith as this is, for it has\nbeen tried, and found to be vain and groundless, even by those who have\nknown it long, and searched it through and through, and therefore at\nlast they have abandoned and cast it off.\u201d\n\nBut in answer to this, give me leave to say, first, that the chief and\nmost common reason why persons who have professed christianity cast it\noff, is not because they found any just reason of blame either in its\nprinciples or rules; but because they think it too strict for them, and\nit curbs their vicious appetites more than they like.\n\nI will allow, that perhaps there may be some persons who have abandoned\nthe christian religion from a wantonness of fancy, from a licentiousness\nof thought, from a pride of reasoning, and who make it their glory to\nhave thrown off the bonds of their education, and to have obtained the\nhonour of free-thinkers, or from a presuming conceit that they must\ncomprehend every thing in their religion, and will believe nothing that\nhath mysteries in it. Such vain principles as these may have influenced\nsome minds, and given them up to apostacy: But, I fear, far the greatest\npart of those who forsake the gospel, have been tempted to it by the\npower of their lusts, which the gospel would restrain: and some of these\npersons upon their death-beds have confessed it too.\n\nThis is also sufficiently visible in the world, that when men have long\nprofessed this gospel and forsaken it, they seldom grow more pious, more\nsober, more honest or good than before; but, on the contrary, they\ngenerally have indulged vicious excesses, and neglected all piety, and\nthis is rather a ground of glory to the gospel than a just reason of\nshame.\n\nIf these persons had generally grown more holy, if they had feared God\nmore afterwards than ever they did before, if they had more aimed at the\nglory of God, and loved him better, when they forsook Christ and his\ngospel, then we might have some reason to suspect this gospel was false,\nand a mere mistake or imposture. But when these persons grow more unjust\nthan before, love their neighbour less, are become more sensual, more\nselfish, disregard God more than they did before; I repeat it again,\nthis is rather a ground of glory to the gospel of Christ, than of shame.\nDemas _hath forsaken us_, saith Paul, because he _loved this present\nworld_; 2 Tim. iv. 10. A covetous Demas is no good argument why St. Paul\nshould forsake Christ, or be ashamed of the gospel. And the apostle has\nshewn that those who have _made shipwreck of their faith_, have parted\nwith _a good conscience_ too, and lost their virtue; 1 Tim. i. 19, 20.\n\nBut there is another answer which the apostle John gives to this\nobjection in his first epistle, chap. ii. ver. 19. _They went out from\nus, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no\ndoubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made\nmanifest that they were not all of us._ They might make a profession of\nthe gospel, and perhaps give a real assent to the truths and doctrines\nof it by the convincing influence of miracles and human reason, or\nperhaps they became christians merely by the force of education, because\nthey were taught this religion from their childhood, and professed it\nwithout thought; but they never had such a powerful belief of this\ngospel of Christ, as to change their hearts, to renew their natures, to\nform their souls after the image of Christ into real holiness; and\ntherefore like the hearers that are compared to stony ground, the seed\ndid not sink deep into their hearts, though they might _receive the word\nat first with joy, but having not root in themselves; they endure but\nfor a while, and when any temptation arises, they are offended_, and\ndepart from the faith which they once professed; Mat. xiii. 20, 21. Thus\nit appears, that the gospel of Christ is never the worse in itself, nor\ndoes it deserve the less esteem in the world, notwithstanding such\napostates as these, no more than seed-corn should be pronounced nought,\nbecause it does not bring forth a harvest in every soil.\n\nI have now finished the third general head of discourse which I\nproposed, and have shewn, whatsoever occasions of shame might be\nsupposed to arise either from the doctrines of the gospel, or the\nprofessors of it, are unjustly charged as blemishes on the gospel; and I\nhave given particular answers to both sorts of cavils, and defeated the\naccusations.\n\nOne word of advice to christians shall conclude the present discourse;\nand that is this:\u2014\n\nSince the gospel of Christ gives no just occasions of shame, you that\nare professors of it should take heed that you do nothing to cast shame\non this gospel. Do not mingle the christian faith with doubtful notions\nof your own. Do not defile your christian conversation with sinful\npractices. Do not make the lesser circumstances and appendages of your\nreligion the matter of loud contest, and a party strife; for all these\nthings expose the gospel to shame, and may justly put its professors to\nthe blush, in the face of the world, when they are guilty of these\npractices.\n\nLet me insist a little upon each of these.\n\n1. Do not mingle the christian faith with doubtful notions and fancies\nof your own. The articles of our christianity, and the necessary truths\nof the gospel, are divine and glorious: Take heed you do not bring in\nyour peculiar sentiments and favourite opinions, which have no\nsufficient evidence from the word of God, and join them in the same\ndignity with the articles of your faith; and much less should you dare\nto impose them upon the consciences of your fellow-christians. The\ngospel itself will suffer by it, and sink in the esteem of the world,\nwhen the divine doctrines of it are mingled with our weaknesses, and\ndebased by the addition of our doubtful sentiments.\n\n2. Defile not your christian conversation with sinful practices. Indulge\nnot a conformity to this present evil world in any of the corrupt and\nunlawful customs and courses of it. Mingle not your practice of the\nlovely duties which this gospel enjoins, with lying, and slandering, and\nrailing; do not interline your lives with religion and sin, with\ndevotion and shameful lusts. It is a gospel that forbids all iniquity,\nit requires that you mortify sin and _cleanse yourselves from every\ndefilement of flesh and spirit_, and that you go on to _perfect holiness\nin the fear of the Lord_; 2 Cor. vii. 1. The very design and end of it\nin God\u2019s eternal counsels and contrivance, is, _that you might be holy,\nand without blame before him in love_; Eph. i. 4. If you pursue this\nadvice, then shall others, who behold you, confess that there is\nsomething divine in christianity, when you thus adorn the doctrine of\nGod your Saviour. Thus you give the gospel its due honour by believing\nall it reveals, by worshipping according to the methods of its\nappointment, and by that purity of conversation which it enjoins.\n\n3. Make not the lesser circumstances and appendages of your religion the\nmatter of loud contest, and a party-strife. We are called to _contend\nearnestly for the_ great and necessary doctrines of _faith_, which were\nonce delivered to the saints: But we are commanded also to receive those\nthat are weak in the faith, without involving them _in doubtful\ndisputations_ about matters of less moment. Give no occasion to the\ninfidel to blaspheme the gospel by your factions and quarrels, and the\nrage of a bitter and unsanctified zeal. Oh that the time were come, when\n_the wolf and lamb shall lie down together, and there shall be nothing\nto hurt or destroy in all the holy mountain_! But surely, it is very\nhard if the lambs themselves, who belong to the flock of Christ, cannot\nlive without hurting and destroying one another; that christians cannot\nlive without exposing their divine and heavenly religion to the\nblasphemies of sinful men. Happy were the christian world, if we could\nall behave ourselves so as never to give occasion to the adversary to\nreproach the professors of the christian faith, nor throw shame and\ndishonour upon the gospel of Christ! May the blessed Spirit of God teach\nus this lesson effectually, and let it be copied out in our lives daily,\ntill we arrive at the regions of perfect holiness and love! _Amen._\n\n\n\n\n SERMON XVII.\n _A Rational Defence of the Gospel: Or, Courage in Professing\n Christianity._\n ROM. i. 16.\u2014\u2014I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the\n power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.\n THE THIRD PART.\n\n\nThough the passion of shame has something in it that sinks our nature,\nand enfeebles our spirits, yet it is a very becoming passion, where sin\nis the object of it; and indeed it was wisely ordained by our Creator to\nbe a guardian to those small remains of natural virtue that abide in us\nsince the fall. We find the first young sinners clothed with shame in\nthe garden of Eden at the presence of God. But the growing corruption of\nour natures, the subtilty of Satan, and the temptations of this world\nhave joined together to take this piece of artillery out of the hands of\nvirtue, and make use of it in their attacks upon religion and goodness.\nWe ought to be ashamed indeed of nothing but our sin, our folly, and our\nwretchedness; but we have been too ready to be ashamed, even of the\ngrace of God, and the methods of our recovery from folly, wretchedness,\nand sin. The gospel itself, _the glorious gospel_, has been made a\nmatter of reproach among men, and its professors have been sometimes\ntempted to be ashamed of it.\n\nThe blessed apostle in my text had gained a victory over this\ntemptation, for he was not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Whatsoever\nthere might be contained in the doctrines of this gospel, or whatsoever\nmight be found among the professors of it, from which infidels or\nunbelievers might take occasion to throw shame and scandal upon it; yet\nI have shewn in the two foregoing discourses, that all this is unjustly\ncharged on the gospel, and have given particular answers to both sorts\nof cavils.\n\nI go on now to the last proposal, which is to explain the force of the\napostle\u2019s argument against shame in professing and preaching this\ngospel, and to make it appear, that the words of my text contain a\ngeneral and most extensive guard, or defence, against all possible\noccasions of shame in the profession of christianity; and that is, that\n_the gospel of Christ is the power of God for the salvation of all that\nbelieve_.\n\nNow this is an argument which you, who believe in Christ, may all assume\nto yourselves as well as the apostle: You cannot preach this gospel so\nwell as he, nor explain the reasons of your faith to others, and\nestablish it upon so solid and unshaken foundations of argument, as Paul\ncould do; but every christian, that has embraced the faith, and felt the\npower of this gospel for his own salvation, may give this reason for the\nprofession of it, and may support his courage in opposition to all the\nsharpest temptations of mockery and reproach.\n\nWhen the apostle says, it is the power of God, we must suppose him to\nunderstand, it is a most powerful means, or effectual instrument that\nGod uses, to save souls, and it is attended with divine power for that\nend.\n\nIt is more powerful than the light of nature; for we have no just reason\nto believe, that the mere light of nature, without some helps of divine\nrevelation, or some unwritten traditions of it, ever saved any souls at\nall; and if there have been any of the sinners of the heathen nations\nmade partakers of grace, I think it is otherwise to be accounted for\nthan merely by the poor remains of the light of nature.\n\nIt is more powerful than any religion that men or angels could invent,\nand more powerful too, than any religion that God himself ever invented,\nor revealed, and proposed to men before the gospel of Christ. His\nrevelations to the patriarchs were but few; they were made here and\nthere to a house or two, or to a family; they were particular favours\nthat he bestowed upon persons called out of idolatry, nor had they a\nvery long, nor spreading, nor lasting influence, except in the family of\nAbraham, Isaac, and Jacob, where they were frequently renewed.\n\nIt is more powerful than all the revelations of grace, which God made by\nMoses to the children of Israel, and intermingled with the Jewish law:\nfor these discoveries reached but to one single nation, and wrought but\nfeebly toward the conversion of sinful souls to God and holiness, in\ncomparison of what the gospel of Christ has done.\n\nBesides, let it be considered, that all the power which all the former\ndiscoveries of grace to the patriarchs, or to the Jews, had to save\nsouls, was derived from the gospel of Christ, which is contained in them\nin lower measures, and in a more obscure manner. Therefore since the\ngospel of Christ now stands forth in open light, and in full glory, it\nis most eminently powerful to convert sinners, to bring this apostate\nworld back again to God, and to save millions of souls.\n\nI. It is the most powerful means of salvation, considered in itself, and\nin its own nature and influence.\u2014II. It is the most powerful means, as\nit is accompanied with the influences of the Holy Spirit.\n\nThe first of these maybe called a moral persuasive influence; the last\nis supernatural and sovereign. Let us meditate on each of these\ndistinctly.\n\nI. It is the most powerful means, if we consider the gospel in itself,\nand its own nature. Not that the mere word of the gospel, reaching the\nears of men, is sufficient to change the heart, and to save the soul\nwithout divine influences: For it is said to be the power of God to\nsalvation; that is, it is that doctrine whereby God exerts his divine\npower to save sinful man. But still it must be granted, that the\ndoctrine itself in its own nature has a very great and evident tendency\nto this glorious end, as it is the noblest, the richest, and the\nbrightest discovery of grace that ever was made to man.\n\nIf we consider it in its own nature, it has the greatest moral power, or\npersuasive influence toward the salvation of perishing sinners. This is\neasily proved by explaining what this salvation means.\n\nSalvation includes in it a freedom from the guilt and punishment of sin,\ntogether with a right and title to heaven; it implies also a freedom\nfrom the power of sin, and thereby a preparation for heaven, and a final\npossession of it. Under each of these considerations it will appear with\ngreat evidence, that _the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is the power\nof God to salvation_.\n\n1. It is the most powerful means to set sinners free from the guilt and\npunishment of sin, and to relieve a distressed conscience under the\nsense of divine anger: It gives the most effectual security to a\nbeliever against the terrors of hell and eternal death; for it not only\ndeclares, that there is forgiveness with God, but it shews us the\nfoundation upon which this forgiveness stands, namely, the satisfaction\nmade to the offended justice of God by the death and sacrifice of Jesus\nChrist, his Son. Suppose it were possible for a philosopher, or wise\nman, to prove that God would forgive the sins of the penitent, yet there\nis nothing but the gospel that can set the conscience at such joyful\nease from the terror of guilt, and release the soul from the chains\nwherewith it was held: \u201cFor now, says the believer, I not only hear it\nproved by divine testimony, that there is pardon of sin to be obtained\nfrom God, but I see how God may do it with honour: I behold the\natonement that is made by Christ Jesus, his own Son: The atonement is\nequal to the offence: He can justify me, though I am a sinner, upon the\naccount of this perfect righteousness, and he can do it with glory to\nall his terrible perfections; therefore I may venture my assent to this\ndoctrine, and I may rest my soul upon it.\u201d\n\n2. The gospel is a powerful means also to raise undeserving sinners to a\nhope of heaven and eternal life. It shews us what heaven is, by the\ndiscoveries of one that has been there, even the Son of God himself.\n_Life and immortality are brought to light by this gospel_, which lay\nhid under much darkness before; 2 Tim. i. 10. It teaches us also, how\nthe happiness of heaven is procured for us, even by the obedience and\nblood of the Son of God; and therefore, some think, heaven is called\n_the purchased possession_ in Eph. i. 14. It assures us, that this\nblessed state of the enjoyment of God in unchangeable peace, and in the\ncompany of blessed spirits, waits for every believer, when he is\ndislodged from this flesh, and when the habitation of the body is no\nlonger fit to retain the spirit: And it reveals also the final heaven of\nthe saints, when the body shall be raised into immortality. \u201cWithout\nthis gospel, says the soul, I could have no just ground to hope for\nheaven; for all my best righteousnesses are imperfect, my fairest acts\nof holiness have many defects in them; but I behold the perfect\nrighteousness of my Saviour that has procured it. A life of holiness\nwithout defect, and a most submissive obedience to a painful and\nshameful death, has been the price and purchase of it.\u201d\n\n3. This gospel is a most powerful means to subdue sin in the soul, to\nmortify corrupt nature, to inspire us with virtue, to wean our hearts\nfrom vice, sensuality, and trifles, and from all the insufficient\npretences to blessedness that the world can flatter us with. The gospel\nof Christ, both in his own personal ministry of it, and in the writings\nof his apostles, sets before us the most divine scheme of morality,\npiety and virtue, that ever the world knew. The sacred dictates of\nprobity and goodness towards men, as well as the venerable rules of\npiety toward God, which are scattered up and down in an imperfect and\nobscure manner among the philosophers, and shine like a star here and\nthere in the midnight darkness of heathenism; these are all collected\nand refined in the gospel of Christ, and fill the christian world with a\npure and universal light like the sun unclouded in a meridian sky: We\nknow our duty infinitely better from the instructions of Christ and St.\nPaul, than all the Platos, and the Plutarchs, all the Zenos and the\nAntonines of Greece and Rome, could ever teach us.\n\nThe most divine rules of the gospel are attended also with the noblest\nmotives to love virtue, and to hate all vice; for never was the evil of\nsin so displayed to the eyes and senses of men, as by the cross and\ngospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Never did sin appear so hateful, so\nabominable, so justly the object of divine and human hatred, as when it\nappeared pressing the soul of the holy One of God into agonies and sharp\nanguish. A believer, who has seen the evil of sin as revealed in this\ngospel, will hate it, and will be led powerfully to a conquest over it.\n\nBesides, the terrors of hell are revealed to us among the doctrines of\nchristianity, as the just punishment of sin, and that in such a manner\nas no other religion pretends to: For, as the doors of heaven are opened\nby our Lord Jesus Christ, both by his ministry on earth, and by his\nascent into heaven, and by the farther discoveries which his apostles\nhave made of the future unseen happy world, so the doors of hell are\nopened too. Our Lord Jesus himself preached hell and terrors to sinners\nwith a sacred vehemence, and set everlasting fire in a clearer and more\ndreadful light than ever had been done by all the philosophers in the\nworld. The soul of every saint has been in some measure a witness of\nthis truth, when it lay under the work of divine conviction.\n\nAnd not only the horrid nature and evil of sin, and the dreadful\nconsequences of it, are powerful motives to make us stand afar off, and\nfear it: but \u201cThe sweet and constraining influence of the love of Christ\ndoes most effectually incline me, saith the believer, to hate every sin,\nand to follow after universal holiness: Shall I build up again the\nthings which my Saviour died to destroy? This would be to make him\nsuffer agonies in vain, and run counter to all the designs of his\nbleeding love, and the voluntary sacrifice of his soul?\u201d\n\n\u201cI have also the glorious and perfect example of my blessed Lord: Never\ndid virtue and religion shine so bright, and look so amiable as in his\nlife, and he has set it before me as my pattern: I feel the attractive\nand divine power of it: Where my Lord leads, I must follow; for I would\nfain be like him. He draws me by his example, and he draws me too by his\nheavenly promises. He spreads the glories and the joys of heaven before\nme, to allure my hope; I see those sacred glories, I long after the\npossession of these unfading joys, and I must and will keep the path\nthat leads to paradise, that where my Lord is, I may be also. The rules\nand precepts of holiness, which my Lord has taught me, are more pure,\nmore clean, more perfect, more divine and godlike, than ever any other\nscheme of rules and duties was; and the joyful and dreadful motives\ngiven me to press after this holiness, are infinitely beyond all the\nmotives that any doctrine of religion has proposed. Blessed be God that\nI ever learnt those holy rules, that I ever felt the power of these\ndivine motives, and am become a lover of holiness.\u201d\n\n4. Thus the gospel prepares the saint for heaven, and fits every power\nof his soul for the business and blessedness of those happy regions.\n\u201cOnce, says he, I had no delight in spiritual things; I had no relish of\nspiritual pleasures; but now I taste them with delight, and I rejoice in\nthe hopes of a sweeter and more complete taste of them on high. Once I\nhad no love to God: it is true, I feared him as some unknown and\nextraordinary terror; but I had no delight in him, no desire after him.\nNow he is the object of my warmest love, and of my sweetest meditations.\nHeaven itself, as it is described in the word of God, was not pleasant\nto me. What! The everlasting continuance of a sabbath? Perpetual\nemployments of worship and service to be done for God everlastingly?\nThese are things that were not agreeable to carnal nature; but by the\ninfluence of this gospel of Christ my heart is new-moulded, and I\ndelight in the fore-thoughts of such a heaven as the gospel describes.\u201d\nSuch instances as these of the sweet efficacy of the gospel upon the\nsoul of man, turning it into a divine temper, and fitting it for the\nenjoyment of God, are so many proofs of the power of this gospel unto\nsalvation, and so many grounds and reasons why the believer cannot be\nashamed of it.\n\nBut I must add, in the fifth place, it is the gospel of Christ that\nbrings believers to the final possession of heaven. Then, and not till\nthen, is the salvation perfect, it is the gospel that has given us an\nunchangeable promise of heaven, when our state of trial is ended here on\nearth, and Christ is bound to fulfil it. The gospel assures us, that\nwhen we are absent from the body, we shall be present with the Lord.\nWhen we see the heavens open at the death of Stephen the first martyr,\nand Jesus Christ, standing there to receive his departing spirit; we\nbelieve that the same Jesus will fulfil the same kind office to us also,\nand receive our spirits, if we have been found faithful to the death.\n\nThe same gospel also gives us a more distant hope and glorious assurance\nof the resurrection of our bodies from the prison of the grave. When we\nbehold the body of our blessed Saviour rising from the tomb, and\nascending to glory, and when we are told, that his resurrection is a\npledge and pattern of ours; then with a joyful expectation we wait for\nthe same blessedness. The gospel lays an obligation upon Christ himself\nto raise his saints from the dead; for he himself tells us, that it is\nthe will of his Father, that every one which seeth the Son, and\nbelieveth on him, should have everlasting life, and I will raise him up\nat the last day; John vi. 40.\n\nHence it comes to pass, that the believer triumphs over death under the\ninfluence of these hopes. \u201cNow, saith the saint, I can venture to die;\nfor my spirit shall be received to dwell with my Saviour among the\nspirits of the just that are made perfect. These feeble and withering\nlimbs of mine I can chearfully commit them to dust and the grave; for\nthe great trumpet must sound, the dead must arise, my Redeemer will call\nmy flesh from its dark prison; I shall arise to meet the Lord in the\nair, and dwell with him for ever in unknown worlds of blessedness.\u201d Thus\nI have shewn you the first thing I proposed, _viz._ how the gospel in\nits own nature has a very proper and powerful tendency in a moral or\npersuasive way towards the salvation of the soul, as it insures\npardoning grace and final blessedness to believers.\n\nII. I come now to shew how the gospel is made powerful to the salvation\nof sinners by the accompanying influence of the Spirit of God, and this\nis supernatural and sovereign. If I should run over all the particulars\nI have just before mentioned, I might make it appear in each of them,\nhow the Spirit of God by the word of his gospel, works this salvation.\n\nIt is this blessed Spirit that awakens the stupid and thoughtless sinner\nto a sense of his guilt and danger. It is he shews him the evil of sin,\nand makes him groan after deliverance, and cry out, what shall I do to\nbe saved? And it is the Spirit that reveals and discovers Christ Jesus\nto him as the only and all-sufficient Saviour: It is he who shews the\nconvinced sinner, that there is righteousness and grace to be found in\nChrist, to answer all his present complaints and necessities. The word\nof the gospel says these things indeed, but it is like a _dead letter_,\ntill the living spirit speaks them over again, and, as it were,\nconstrains us to hear the voice of encouragement and hope. It is he\nrepresents the death and sufferings of the Son of God, as an effectual\natonement for sin, and makes the soul believe it, and teaches us how to\nlay hold on this hope, to fly to this refuge, to receive this atonement:\nIt is the Spirit of God that softens the hardest heart, and melts it\ninto godly sorrow: It is he makes us willing to accept of Jesus as a\nPrince and a Saviour, to renew our sinful natures, to refine our hearts,\nand thereby to reform our lives: It is he that takes the blood of\nChrist, and applies it to a distressed conscience under the guilt of\nsin, and thus gives the disquieted soul rest and peace: _He takes of the\nthings of Christ, and shews them unto us_ in all their glory and\nsufficiency for our salvation, and thereby justly obtains the name of\nthe paraclete, that is, an _advocate_ for Christ, and a _comforter_ to\nus: John xiv. 26. and xv. 26. and xvi. 14, 15. He composes the ruffles\nof the disturbed mind, and speaks all the waves of the soul into a calm:\nHe makes all within us peaceful and easy, under the apprehensions of\ndivine forgiveness through the merit of Christ.\n\nIt is only the Spirit of God that can make the discoveries of heaven in\nthe gospel effectual to awaken our hope, and to raise our joy: He shews\nus how it is purchased by the blood of Christ, and that it is made sure\nto all those that believe: He stamps his own holy image upon us, and\nseals us up for the inheritance of heaven; Eph. i. 13. _When ye heard\nthe word of truth, the gospel of your salvation_, and _believed it, ye\nwere_ then _sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest\nof our inheritance_. The Spirit is sent into our hearts as a _Spirit of\nadoption, whereby we call God Father_; Gal. iv. 6. And he changes us\nfrom children of wrath into the sons and daughters of the living God;\nand he himself dwelling in us is a pledge and _earnest of that\ninheritance, which is reserved for us among the saints in light_.\n\nIt is the same blessed Spirit that makes the gospel of Christ powerful\nto mortify sin in us; for though the words of the gospel forbid all\niniquity, and require us to renounce the lusts of the flesh, and the\nvanities of the world, if we belong to Christ; yet it is by the Spirit\nof God alone that we are enabled to _mortify the deeds of the body_,\nthat we may obtain eternal life: It is he that makes the commands of\nChrist come with divine power and authority upon the soul, and gives the\nmotives of the gospel power to persuade us: It is he that renews our\naffections, makes us hate sin, and love God supremely, and causes us to\ndelight in the spiritual pleasures of a future, unseen world, which\nbefore we treated with contempt, or disregard: It is by the\n_sanctification of the Spirit, and the belief of the truth_, that we are\nprepared for the heavenly _glory whereunto we are called by the gospel_;\n2 Thess. ii. 13. And since the Spirit of God is promised to _dwell in us\nfor ever_; John xiv. 16, 17. we have good reason to believe he will be\nour eternal Sanctifier in heaven and our eternal Comforter.\n\nThere is such a thing as the influence of the Spirit of God attending\nthe gospel of Christ. The apostle argues thus with the Galatian\nchristians, _Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the\nhearing of faith?_ Gal. iii. 2. And it is the great promise of the\ngospel, or the new covenant, that God would _send his Spirit_ to make it\npowerful for the blessed ends for which he has designed it; Ezek. xxxvi.\n25, 26, 27. Joel. ii. 28. Zech. xii. 10. Is. xliv. 3.\n\nIn the primitive days of christianity, and the age of miracles, the Holy\nSpirit attended the preaching of the gospel with his extraordinary\n_gifts of tongues, of healing, of prophecy_, as well as with the graces\nof conviction, and sanctification, and comfort: And the suddenness and\nthe glory of the change that was wrought on sinners carried with it an\nillustrious and incontested proof of the presence and power of God and\nhis Spirit. Nor have some fainter resemblances of such glorious grace\nbeen altogether wanting in later ages. There have been some most\nremarkable instances of great sinners converted at once by the _gospel\nof Christ, and the demonstrations of the Spirit_.\n\nBut in his more usual and ordinary communications of grace, he works so\ngently upon our natures, and in so sweet and connatural a way, as not to\ndistinguish his agency in a sensible manner from the motions of our own\nsouls; for he never disturbs our rational powers, nor puts any violence\nupon the natural faculties; yet when we are changed, when we are\nrenewed, when sin is mortified, the scripture tells us, that it is the\nSpirit of God has done it: When our souls are prepared for heaven, and\nour corrupted natures sanctified, and suited to the things that are\nprepared in heaven for us, we are assured by the word of God, that the\nHoly Spirit has been the great operator, and has wrought this change in\nus. Thus I have made it appear at large, how _the gospel of Christ is\nthe power of God to salvation_. I apply myself immediately to raise a\nfew inferences from the subject I have been treating of.\n\nInference.\u2014I. How unreasonable are all the reproaches that are cast upon\nthis gospel! A gospel that saves mankind from misery, and from sin, and\neternal death! A gospel that teaches men how to appear before a holy and\nterrible God with comfort, though their sins are many, and their\nrighteousnesses are imperfect! A gospel that gives the hope of pardon to\ncriminals and rebels, and the hope of heaven to undeserving creatures!\nAnd all this upon such solid grounds and foundations as justifies its\nhighest promises and proposals to the reason of men! It is a gospel that\nchanges our sinful natures into holiness, and reforms our hearts as well\nas lives! A gospel that, aided by divine power, creates souls anew, and\nraises dead sinners to life! It is a gospel that turns wolves into\nlambs, and makes ravenous vultures as meek as doves! A gospel that so\ndisturbs the kingdom of Satan, as to take thousands of slaves and\ncaptives out of his dominions, to transfer them into the glorious\nkingdom of Christ, and make them chearful and willing subjects! A gospel\nthat fulfils gloriously the first promise, and makes it appear, that the\nseed of the woman hath broke the serpent\u2019s head, and destroyed the works\nof the devil. You have never seen, you have never known, you have never\nlearned this gospel aright, if you have not felt it to be the power of\nGod unto salvation. Those that can speak evil of this gospel, it may be\nuniversally said concerning them, _they speak evil of the things they\nknow not_; for if they had known this gospel as they ought to know it,\nthey would have seen it all over glorious and divine; they would have\nfelt it to be attended with divine power to their salvation, and then\nthey would never speak evil of it.\n\nThe heathen world may be ashamed of their doctrines and their religion;\nthe heathen worshippers may be ashamed of their sacrifices, their\nsuperstitions, and their forms of devotion; for they have no power to\nsave their souls: And many of them were indeed brutish and shameful.\nMahomet, the founder of the Turkish religion, may be ashamed of his\nalcoran, and volume of fables and incredible lies; all his followers may\nbe ashamed of their prophet, and of the sensual paradise that he\npromises them. The Jews, under the eye of Christ, and the sun-beams of\nthe gospel, may be ashamed of the vain traditions of their rabbins which\nwere never divine: and even of their old rites and ceremonies which\nMoses gave them; for all these are now but _weak and beggarly elements_;\nthe Spirit of God calls them so; Gal. iv. 9. They have now no power to\nsave souls, since God hath abolished them; nor indeed had they ever any\npower but what they borrowed from this gospel of Christ, which lay\nconcealed in them: But let none of us that believe and profess the\ngospel of Christ, be ever ashamed of any of the doctrines, or precepts,\nor promises of it; for they are all holy, they are all heavenly; all of\nthem have divine power accompanying them to lead souls to salvation.\n\nII. Learn hence the true method of obtaining christian courage; courage\nto profess the gospel of Christ against all opposition: It is by getting\nit wrought into your hearts and lives by christian experience, and not\nby learning a mere form of words in a road of education and catechism.\nYou must feel it as _the power of God to your salvation_, or you will\nnever suffer much for it: Let it be an _ingrafted word able to save your\nsouls_; James i. 21. and then it will harden your faces against all\nblaspheming adversaries, and the terrors of a persecuting world: then\nyou will be able to render a most powerful reason why you are bold to\nprofess this gospel, and to _answer every one that asks you a reason of\nthe hope that is in you_; you will be able to oppose those that set\nthemselves against the gospel of Christ, when you feel this divine\nspring of courage within you.\n\nI have encouraged you before, to acquaint yourselves with reasons and\narguments that may defend your religion, and support your faith: But\nhours of temptation may come, when all the knowledge and learned\nfurniture of your head, all the arguments that are treasured up in your\nmemory, and all the reasonings that your invention can supply you with,\nwill hardly be able to keep your faith and hope firm and stedfast; for\nSatan goes before you in skill and rational argument; and though your\narguments are strong and solid, yet he may baffle you by his hellish\nsophistry, and thus cheat you of your faith, and your hope, and your\nheaven, if you have not got this gospel wrought into your hearts with\npower, if you have not felt it to be _the power of God unto salvation_.\n\nHence it comes to pass, that in times of great temptation and\npersecution there are many fall away, as the leaves of a tree in the\nblasts of autumn, when but here and there one stands and endures the\nshock: It is because there are so few of the professors of the gospel\nhave felt it to be the power of God to the conversion of their souls,\nand turning their hearts to God and heaven. And hence it comes to pass\nalso, that several unlearned christians in all ages, that could not\nargue much for the faith in a rational way, yet could dare to die for\nit, because they had this argument wrought in their own souls; they had\nfelt a divine power going along with it to change their natures, to make\nthem new creatures, to give them the hope of heaven, and a preparation\nfor it.\n\nIII. From what you have heard of this subject, learn the wide extent of\nthis argument for the defence of the gospel of Christ, and the\ninvaluable worth of it to every christian, _viz._ that the gospel is the\npower of God to your salvation.\n\nIt is an argument of wide extent: for it belongs to every christian, to\nthe wise and to the unwise, to the weak and the strong; there is no\nsincere christian, no true believer in Christ, but hath got the\nfoundation of this argument wrought within him: He knows this gospel is\ndivine, and he should not be ashamed to believe and profess it; for he\nhath felt it support his soul under a sense of guilt, and give him solid\nhope of pardoning grace. He hath found it change his sinful nature,\nsoften his heart into repentance, and turn him from a sinner into a\nsaint; it hath laid the foundation of eternal life within him. And as it\nis an argument that belongs to every true christian; so it answers every\nobjection that an infidel can bring against the gospel, either from the\ndoctrines, or from the professors of it: And methinks, I would fain have\nyou all furnished with this glorious argument, and learn to manage it\nfor the defence of your faith.\n\nDo they tell you, that the doctrines of the gospel contain mysteries in\nthem, and things that are unsearchable? Do they endeavour to put you out\nof countenance by ridiculing the truth of christianity, as being\ncontrary to the common opinions and reasonings of men? Do they reproach\nthem as foolish and unreasonable, and do they endeavour to persuade you\nthat they are not sufficiently attested, and there is not ground enough\nto give credit to them? Though there have been particular answers given\nto each of these cavils in the first discourse; yet you may give this\ngeneral and short reply to all of them, and say, \u201cI am sure they are not\ncontrary to reason: for they are divine. They are not incredible, nor do\nthey want sufficient evidence; for God himself by his own Spirit has\nborne witness to them in my heart: He has wrought an almighty work there\nby the means of this gospel: He has created me anew unto faith, and\nhope, and holiness: He has turned my heart from earth to heaven, and\nsubdued the sinful inclinations of my nature by the precepts, by the\npromises, by the glorious discoveries of this gospel: He has made use of\nit to save my soul; and I carry about me an incontrolable proof that it\ncame from heaven.\u201d Now though this sort of argument may have but little\nforce in it sometimes for the conviction of the infidel; yet it is of\nsufficient force to establish the believer.\n\nBut I proceed. Do they fill your ears with the mean and contemptible\ncharacter of the professors of this gospel? Do they charge many of them\nwith vicious practices? Do they tell you of their different opinions,\ntheir contests and their quarrels? And do they discourage you by\npointing to the apostates that have forsaken the faith? You may defend\nyourself and your profession against all these objections by the same\ngeneral argument thus; \u201cAre the professors of it some of the mean and\nbase things of this world? But they are saints, and this gospel has made\nthem so; they are the sons and daughters of the most high God by faith\nin this gospel; and I will not be ashamed to reckon myself of their\nsociety, and to number myself amongst them. Are there many that are\ncalled christians, whose lives are vicious? Surely they never knew this\ngospel in truth; they are but false professors of it. There are\nthousands that can bear this witness to the gospel, that it has changed\ntheir hearts; it has renewed their natures: it has made them hate every\nvice, and their lives shine amongst men glorious in holiness, and\nresembling God himself. Are the sentiments of some of them different\nfrom others? It is chiefly in points of lesser importance; but the\nsubstantial truths of it, which are the power of God to salvation, are\nprofessed and acknowledged by us all. And though a thousand should\nforsake this gospel, and become apostates, yet I can never part with it,\nwhile I feel the blessed effects of it abiding upon my heart, and I\ntrust, through the grace of God, they shall abide for ever.\u201d\n\nThis leads me to the last inference.\n\nIV. What strong engagements is every true christian under to maintain\nthe profession of this gospel? Not only is he laid under many\nobligations from the commands of God, and the bonds of duty, and\ngratitude, and love, but he has a constant pressing obligation within\nhim. \u201cHow can I be ashamed of my hope, my portion, my everlasting all?\nShall I be ashamed of that gospel, upon which my salvation is founded,\nand my best and highest interest, even my expectations of endless\nfelicity? If I let go this faith, if I lose my hold of this gospel, I\nlet go my hold of Christ, of God, and his love; I let go my hold of\nheaven, and all my happiness: My sins all return upon me with their\ninsufferable loads of guilt and anguish of conscience, if I lose my\nfaith in this gospel; for all my hope of pardon is built upon this\nfoundation: heaven with the joys of it vanish from my soul, if I part\nwith this glorious gospel of Christ, and death and hell face me with all\ntheir terrors.\u201d\n\nThere is an awful and solemn motive derived from the great judgment-day\nto maintain the profession of this glorious gospel; for our Lord himself\nhas pronounced this threatening, and he will fulfil it, _Whosoever shall\nbe ashamed of me and my words amongst a sinful generation of men, I will\nalso be ashamed of him before my Father and his holy angels_. But this\ntext shall be the subject of some future discourses.\n\n\n HYMN FOR SERMONS XVI. and XVII.\n _The Gospel the power of God to Salvation._\n\n\n What shall the dying sinner do,\n That seeks relief for all his woe?\n Where shall the guilty conscience find\n Ease for the torment of the mind?\n\n How shall we get our crimes forgiven,\n Or form our natures fit for heaven;\n Can souls all o\u2019er defil\u2019d with sin;\n Make their own powers and passions clean?\n\n In vain we search, in vain we try,\n Till Jesus brings his gospel nigh:\n \u2019Tis there such power and glory dwell,\n As saves rebellious souls from hell.\n\n This is the pillar of our hope,\n That bears our fainting spirits up:\n We read the grace, we trust the word,\n And find salvation in the Lord.\n\n Let men or angels dig the mines,\n Where nature\u2019s golden treasure shines;\n Brought near the doctrine of the cross,\n All nature\u2019s gold appears but dross.\n\n Should vile blasphemers with disdain\n Pronounce the truths of Jesus vain,\n I\u2019ll meet the scandal and the shame,\n And sing and triumph in his name.\n\n\n\n\n SERMON XVIII.\n _Faith the Way to Salvation._\nROM. i. 16.\u2014\u2014The gospel of Christ,\u2014it is the power of God unto salvation\n to every one that believeth, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.\n\n\nSalvation is a frequent and familiar word in the mouth of all who call\nthemselves christians. It is a sort of asseveration or oath among the\nlooser and meaner part of mankind: As I hope to be saved. But little do\nthey know what salvation means. All the notion they have of it is this,\nthat they would be saved from going down to hell, a place of fire and\ntorment, and that they would go up to heaven when they die, to some\nunknown shining place above the skies, where they shall be free from all\npain and uneasiness. This is the utmost point to which their idea\nreaches, and I think I have hit their sense exactly in this description.\nAlas! poor ignorant creatures! They have no thought of being saved from\nsin, of having their hearts made holy, their sinful inclinations\nrectified, their passions subdued or refined, their love turned toward\nGod and things spiritual, and their desire and delight fixed upon things\ndivine and holy, instead of their sensual entertainments of flesh and\nblood. They have no concern about the pardon of the guilt of sin, and\nrestoration to the favour or image of God, and not so much as a wish for\nthe joys that arise from his love, or from the blessed presence of our\nLord Jesus Christ in the world to come.\n\nI have shewn you therefore in the foregoing discourse what this\nsalvation is, and made it appear that the gospel is the power of God to\nsalvation, that is, it is a powerful means in the hand of the Spirit of\nGod to save us from the guilt of sin, and to give us a right to heaven;\nto save us from the power of sin, to fit us for the business and the\njoys of heaven, and ensure to us the actual possession of it.\n\nThere are two things yet remain to be considered in discoursing on this\nsubject:\n\nI. The place or influence that faith, or believing, hath in this\nsalvation; for the gospel provides this blessing only for believers. It\nis called the power of God to salvation to every one who believes.\u2014II.\nThe wide extent of this glorious benefit: It belongs to every one that\nbelieves, whether Greek, or Jew.\n\nI shall treat of each of these particularly:\n\n_First_, Since the gospel is the power of God to the salvation of them\nthat believe, let us enquire, what place or influence has our faith in\nthis concernment?\n\nTo answer this, we may consider faith in its various acts or degrees of\nexercise as it begins in assent, as it proceeds to affiance, and as it\nis completed in assurance; and shew what influence each of them hath in\nthe work of salvation.\n\n1. An assent to the truths of the gospel must begin the work of\nsalvation in us: There must be a belief and inward conviction of our\nsinful and dangerous state, which is more clearly revealed under the\ngospel, and that there is an atonement made for sin by the blood of\nChrist: We must believe, that there is forgiveness to be found with God,\nfor the sake of this atonement; and that there is grace enough in our\nLord Jesus Christ, to renew our sinful natures, and to fit us for\nheaven. This usually begets in the sinner, who is truly awakened, some\ndesire toward this salvation, and some distant hope of obtaining it.\nWhen the poor perishing creature believes and beholds the glorious\ninfluence of the death and righteousness of Christ to justify a sinner\nin the sight of God; when he surveys the love, the wisdom, the grace,\nand the power of Christ, answerable to all his wants, he then comes to\ndetermine thus with himself, \u201cThis salvation is glorious and desirable;\nthe methods proposed, even for my own attainment of it are practicable\nand sufficient, and why should not I apply myself to this Saviour, and\nseek this unspeakable happiness?\u201d\n\n2. Affiance or trust in Jesus Christ the Saviour is the next degree of\nfaith. When we are willing to be delivered from the condemning guilt of\nsin, and from the defiling power of it, and have seen an all-sufficiency\nof atonement, grace, and power in Christ, then we commit our souls into\nthe hands of Jesus, the Mediator for this blessed purpose, and make a\nsolemn surrender of our whole selves into his charge and care, that we\nmay be pardoned for the sake of his death, that we may be accepted of\nGod through his righteousness, that we may be sanctified and made holy\nby his grace and Spirit, and that we may be fitted for and preserved to\nhis kingdom. We reflect upon our past iniquities, and mourn to think\nthat we have been rebels so long; we are ashamed and grieved for our\nrebellions, and we now most earnestly desire to be made willing subjects\nto his holy government; and therefore we entrust our souls with him, and\nbeg that he would take us under his care for this end, and bring us into\nthe Father\u2019s presence with comfort and joy. This is the soul\u2019s coming to\nGod by Jesus Christ.\n\nNow such an act of faith as this is, has some sensible tendency to\npromote the peace of a distressed conscience, the sanctification of a\nsinful nature, the solid hope of heaven, and a preparation for it. But\nstill it must be acknowledged, that its original and chief influence\narises from divine appointment. The gospel is the power of God to\nsalvation, and it is by divine promise and power that faith saves the\nsoul. Such a faith, or trust in Christ, has all the promises of\ngospel-blessings belonging to it. God has appointed in his word, and it\nis the standing rule of the gospel, _He that believeth shall be saved_;\nMark xvi. 15, 16.\n\nAll the parts of salvation come by faith: Justification, and favour in\nthe sight of God; Rom. v. 1. _Being justified by faith, we have peace\nwith God._ Adoption comes also by faith; Gal. iii. 26. _Ye are the\nchildren of God by faith in Christ Jesus._ Sanctification is ascribed to\nthe same principle: Acts xv. 19. The Gentiles had their _hearts\npurified_ from sin _by faith_. Joy and hope come in this way also; Rom.\nxv. 13. _The God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing,\nthat you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost._ And\nyou may read several of these benefits of the gospel, these divine\ningredients of our salvation put together, and all attributed to faith;\nActs xxvi. 18. I send thee now to the Gentiles, saith the Lord Jesus to\nSt. Paul, _to open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light, and\nfrom the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of\nsins, and inheritance among them who are sanctified, by faith that is in\nme_.\n\nFaith, or affiance in Jesus Christ, is an acceptance of this salvation,\nit is a trust in the offered grace, it is a dependance on the promises\nof the gospel confirmed by Christ, it is the surrender of a sinful soul\nto Jesus the Saviour to perform his whole work of grace for him and to\nhim; and thereby the believing sinner, according to the appointment of\nGod in his gospel, partakes of all the benefits that are treasured up in\nChrist.\n\nFaith in the gospel relieves the distressed soul under a sense of the\nguilt of sin, and the humble weary sinner finds mercy to forgive, and\nstrength to subdue it. Faith appropriates and applies the blood of\nChrist, that sovereign medicine, to the wounds of a guilty conscience,\nand the conscience finds ease and refreshment. It applies the grace of\nChrist, that powerful antidote, to expel the venom of in-dwelling sin,\nand the soul is healed in some measure, and the poison is expelled. It\nlays hold on the power of Christ to assist in the performance of every\nduty, and it obtains divine assistance. Every true believer has\nexperienced something of these benefits by a sincere surrender of\nhimself to Christ in such a way of trust and holy dependance.\n\nCan the thirsty soul taste of the running water, and not find\nrefreshment, since God, who created water, has ordained it to refresh\nthe thirsty? Can weary limbs lie down on a bed, and not find ease, since\na bed is made to give ease and rest to the weary? Can a fainting\ncreature drink a divine cordial appointed to give life, and yet feel no\nrevival? No more can a guilty, distressed, and penitent sinner believe\nthe truths of the gospel, and trust in Jesus the Saviour, and yet find\nno relief: for this is the will and settled law of the God of heaven,\nthat peace and holiness shall be obtained this way.\n\n3. When faith grows up to assurance, it approaches towards complete\nsalvation. Then the christian can say, _I know I have believed on the\nSon of God_, I know I enjoy his favour. Then the holiness and the joy\nincrease, for the salvation enters into the soul in fuller measures: The\nnearer faith arises to assurance of our own interest in the grace of\nChrist, the more it supports the soul, the more it comforts, the more it\nsanctifies, and the more evidently doth the gospel appear to be divinely\npowerful to save us from sin and hell.\n\n\u201cCan I believe God has pardoned me, so vile a rebel, and forgiven me so\nmany and aggravated offences, and yet is it possible I should not love\nhim, and rejoice? Can I be assured he loves me, and not make him a\nreturn of my highest and warmest love? Can I believe that Christ the Son\nof God died for me, and shall I not consecrate myself and all the powers\nof my nature to him, that I may live devoted to his service? He has\nbought me with a price, a dear and valuable price, that of his own\nblood, and I must _glorify him with my body and with my soul, which are\nhis_; 1 Cor. vi. 20. Can I believe that I am redeemed from hell and\ndestruction, and shall I dare to walk in the road that leads to it? And\nnot rather _run with patience_ and joy _the race that is set before me_,\ntill I arrive at the gates of heaven? Am I not assured that Jesus the\nbeloved of God suffered death for my sins, and shall not I hate sin,\nwhich caused his suffering? Sin, which was the occasion of his agonies,\nand the very sting of his sorrows! _I am crucified_ and dead to sin, and\nto this world, by my union with a crucified Saviour, _yet I live_, saith\nthe divine apostle, _and the life that I now live in the flesh, I live\nby the faith of the Son of God, who hath loved me, and given himself for\nme_; Gal. ii. 20. How is it possible that I should hope to be made like\nChrist in glory, with a full assurance of arriving thither, and not\n_purify myself as he is pure_; 1 John iii. 2, 3. While I believe and am\npersuaded that the promise of the joys of heaven shall be fulfilled to\nme, I would awaken myself hourly to the joyful prospect, and be ever\npreparing for the possession of that blessedness.\u201d\n\nThus when faith arises to a sublime and eminent degree in this world,\nthe believer may be said to _rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of\nglory, and to receive the end of his faith, even the salvation of his\nsoul_; 1 Pet. i. 8, 9.\n\nBefore I pass to the second head, I desire leave to make these few\nremarks.\n\nRemark I. Though the first degree of faith or assent to the gospel be\nnecessary to salvation, yet it is not of itself sufficient; and though\nthe last degree of faith or assurance be gloriously useful in this work,\nyet it is not absolutely necessary.\n\nA mere assent to the truths of the gospel is not sufficient to save; for\nthere are many who by the force of education, or by the force of\nargument, yield their assent to the doctrine, and believe it to be true,\nyet it is a cold, feeble, languid assent; it begins and ends in the\nhead, and never reaches the heart; it does not awaken them thoroughly,\nnor make them long after the pardon and the grace promised: They seem to\nsit still contented with the forms of their catechism, and a general\nbelief of the christian religion, so far as they know it; but are under\nno painful solicitude, or concern of soul, about the forgiveness of\ntheir sins, the sanctification of their natures, their interest in the\nfavour of God and eternal happiness; and therefore they proceed no\nfarther, they never heartily apply themselves to Jesus Christ the only\nSaviour, and they fall short of the blessing. The devils believe as much\nas they do, but are in a state of damnation still.\n\nAgain, consider that a full assurance of our own interest in the favour\nof God through Jesus Christ, is the highest degree of attainment on\nearth; but it is not necessary to the being of christianity, nor doth it\nbelong to every christian. It is true indeed, that every one ought to\nseek after it by the frequent exercise of faith and love, and every\ngrace, thus brightening the evidences of his saving interest in the\nblessings of the gospel daily; and where assurance is obtained upon\nsolid grounds, holiness and joy will rise by swift degrees, and the soul\nwill make glorious advances towards the heavenly state and complete\nsalvation: But some christians scarce ever arrive at this attainment all\ntheir days.\n\nSince therefore a mere assent to the gospel in general is not sufficient\nfor salvation, and a full assurance of our own interest is not\nnecessary, it follows, that an affiance or trust in Christ as a Saviour\nis the most essential and important act of faith. This is that sacred\nand appointed duty of a convinced soul, whereby it is made partaker of\nthe blessings of salvation according to the gospel, if it be practised\nin the way which I have just before described.\n\nII. Take notice here of the difference between the law and the gospel,\nbetween the covenant of works, and the covenant of grace. The one gives\nus life upon our working, the other saves us from death, and gives us a\nright to heaven upon our believing, therefore one is called _the law of\nworks_, and the other _the law of faith_; Rom. iii. 27,\n\nIt is proper here to observe, that the scripture sometimes speaks of two\ncovenants; the old and the new: and means chiefly the \u0153conomy or\ndispensation of the Jews under Moses, and the \u0153conomy of Christ, or the\ndispensation of the gospel since the Messiah came. But by the two\ncovenants I now speak of, I would be understood to mean the law or\nconstitution of innocency, and the constitution of grace.\n\nBy the constitution, or law of innocency, man was to have obtained\neternal life before his fall; and as this law or covenant was given to\nAdam as the head and representative of all mankind, so every son and\ndaughter of Adam continues under it till they accept of the covenant of\ngrace, or the offers of the gospel, either in the darker or brighter\ndiscoveries of it: And therefore all mankind, Jews and Gentiles, are\nlaid under condemnation by it in the writings of St. Paul, in the second\nand third chapters to the Romans. By this law of works, _every mouth is\nstopped, and the whole world is become guilty before God_; Rom. iii. 19.\nThough the nations of the Jews and christians, and perhaps the greatest\npart of the heathen world, have had some revelations of the gospel or\ncovenant of grace, and have been under the outward offers of it; yet\nJews, heathens, and national christians, are all under the sentence of\nthe covenant of the law of works, till they enter into the covenant of\ngrace by repentance and faith in the mercy of God.\n\nBut the covenant of grace, or the gospel is a new constitution, which\nGod hath ordained for the relief of poor fallen miserable man, condemned\nand perishing under the curse of the law of works. It is a constitution\nof grace, whereby alone fallen sinners can obtain salvation.\n\nThe law of works demands universal obedience to all the commands of God,\nobedience perfect and persevering; for this is the language of it; _the\nman that doth them shall live in them_; Rom. x. 5. and it curses every\nsinner without hope or remedy; _cursed is every one that continueth not\nin all things that are written in the book of the law to do them_; Gal.\niii. 10, 12. But the voice of the gospel, the righteousness of faith, or\nthe way of justification by Christ, speaketh on this wise, _With the\nheart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is\nmade unto salvation; for the just shall live by faith_; Rom. x. 10. Gal.\niii. 11. The one proclaims eternal life to all that perfectly obey, the\nother publishes salvation to all that believe, though their obedience be\nvery imperfect.\n\nI grant indeed, that the apostle cites these descriptions of the law of\nworks out of the books of Moses, and therefore some persons would\nsuppose him only to mean the particular law given to the Jews at mount\nSinai, and not the general covenant of works made with Adam, and with\nall mankind in him.\n\nBut to this I give these two answers:\n\n1. The laws of works, which the apostle speaks of in the epistle to the\nRomans, particularly in the second and third chapters, cannot signify\nmerely the Jewish law; for it is such a law as includes all the heathen\nworld, as appears plain; Rom. ii. 14, 15. and by which the heathens as\nwell as the Jews were condemned, and could never be justified; Rom. iii.\n20. _By the deeds of the law shall no flesh he justified in his sight,\nfor by the law is the knowledge of sin_; therefore this must be a law\nthat extended to all mankind, since it stops every mouth, and proclaims\nthe whole world guilty before God.\n\n2. The law given to the Jews, or the covenant of Sinai, so far as it is\npurely political, was indeed a covenant of works; and their continuance\nin, or rejection out of the land of Canaan, depended upon their own\nworks, their obedience or disobedience to this law, as it is often\nexpressed in the writings of Moses: And upon this account it is used\nsometimes by the apostles as a very proper emblem or representative of\nthe covenant of works made with our first father Adam, who was to have\nenjoyed or forfeited some earthly or heavenly paradise, according to his\nobedience or disobedience. It is plain then, that though St. Paul may\ncite the law of Moses to shew the nature of a law of works in general,\nyet it does not follow that he means only the law or covenant of Sinai;\nand it is as plain, by his including the Gentiles under it, that he does\nnot mean the law of Sinai, but the original law or covenant of works\nmade with all mankind in Adam their father and their head, and of which\nthe law of Sinai was a proper emblem or figure.\n\nAll laws of works therefore are insufficient for the salvation of sinful\nman, and his restoration to God\u2019s favour and image, and eternal life.\nThe law of Sinai was a law of works, promising an earthly Canaan to the\nobedient Jews. The law of innocency in Eden was a law of works,\npromising life and immortality to obedient mankind. But they have been\nboth wretchedly broken; man was turned out of paradise, and the Jews out\nof Canaan, because of disobedience. But now the gospel whereby the Jews\nor Gentiles are to be saved, or to obtain eternal life, requires faith\nin the mercy and promises of God in and through Jesus Christ; and by\nthis means it saves us, though our obedience be far short of perfection:\nThis was the way whereby the Jews themselves were saved under the Old\nTestament: for the _gospel was preached to them as well as unto us_;\nHeb. iv. 2. though it was in darker hints, and types and figures. And in\nthis way were Abraham and David justified as the apostle teaches; Rom.\niv. 3, 4, 5, 6.\n\nThough the Jews\u2019 enjoyment of the land of Canaan depended on their good\nworks and obedience to the law of Moses, yet their hope and enjoyment of\nheaven depended on their faith or trust in the mercy of God, which was\nto be farther revealed in the days of the Messiah. And it is the same\ngospel by which we are to obtain salvation, since Christ is come in the\nflesh; but with this difference, that we are now more expressly required\nto make Jesus Christ the object of our faith, and we have a thousand\nclearer discoveries of his righteousness and grace than ever the Jews\nwere favoured with.\n\nHappy mankind! though fallen and ruined in Adam, yet recovered and\nraised to righteousness, grace, and glory by Jesus Christ. How dreadful\nis that law which pronounces a curse and death upon every transgressor!\n_Tribulation and wrath, indignation and anguish upon every soul that\ndoth evil, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile_; Rom. ii. 9. But\nhow sweet and reviving is the grace of that gospel, which becomes the\npower of God to the salvation of every one that believeth, to the Jew\nfirst, and also to the Greek!\n\nThe great and blessed God saw the frailty of his creature man, how ready\nhe was to ruin himself under a law of works; therefore he appointed his\nrecovery by the law of faith. And _what the law could not do, in that it\nwas weak through the infirmity of flesh, that he has sent his own Son\nJesus Christ in the likeness of sinful flesh_, to do for us, to fulfil\nall the demands of the law, both in the penalty and the precept, _to\nfinish transgression, to made an end of sin_, by his own sufferings,\n_and to bring in an everlasting righteousness, that whosoever believes\non him shall be saved_. Blessed God! How kind and condescending are thy\nways to the children of men! How full of compassion to rebels, who had\ndestroyed themselves! How gentle are the methods of thy recovering\nmercy! If we will but confess our sins, mourn over our own follies,\nreturn to the Lord our God by humble repentance, and put our trust in an\nalmighty Saviour, there is peace and pardon, there is grace, and life,\nand glory provided for us, and laid up in the hands of Jesus Christ our\nLord.\n\nIII. Though the gospel offers us salvation by faith and not by works,\nyet it effectually secures the practice of holiness since holiness is a\npart of that salvation. We are saved from sin as well as from hell by\nthis gospel; and we must have our souls prepared for heaven, as well as\nbrought to the possession of it. He that pretends to trust in Christ,\nfor a deliverance from hell and has no desire to be made holy, he has no\ndesire after such a salvation as Christ proposes in his gospel, nor is\nhe like to attain it.\n\nWe must be sensible then of the corruption of our natures, the\nperverseness of our wills, the vanity of our minds, the earthliness of\nour affections, our inability to do that which is good for time to come,\nas well as our guilt, condemnation and misery, because of our\ntransgressions past: We must desire that a thorough work of repentance\nmay be wrought in our hearts, that the power and reign of sin may be\nbroken there, and that we may become new creatures as well as desire to\nescape the wrath of God, and hell, and eternal death, if ever we would\nbe partakers of that salvation which the gospel proposes. Christ will\nnot divide one part of his salvation from the other: And in vain do we\npresume to trust in him for happiness, if we are not willing to be made\nholy too.\n\nHow false and unreasonable are all the reproaches that are cast upon the\ndoctrine of salvation by faith, as though it tended to promote looseness\nof life, and to indulge iniquity; when that very salvation includes in\nit a freedom from the power of sin, and a delight in all that is holy?\nThis is the very character of Christ our Saviour, and the reason of _his\nname Jesus_, that _he should save his people from their sins_; Mat. i.\n21. If we are _delivered by Christ_, it is _from this present wicked\nworld_; Gal. i. 4. If we are _redeemed_, it is _from all iniquity, that\nwe might be a peculiar people purified to himself, zealous of good\nworks_; Tit. ii. 14.\n\nIV. Though the gospel is such a glorious doctrine of grace, that there\nis no reason to be ashamed of it, yet since it saves us by faith, and\nnot by works, there is no reason for us to boast when we are saved. We\nmay _glory_ indeed _in the cross of Christ_ and make our boast in the\nRedeemer all the day long; but the gospel for ever cuts off all ground\nof boasting in ourselves. Here the justice and mercy of God shine forth\ngloriously; here the righteousness of God is declared, sinners find\nremission or pardon, _God is just_, and _a justifier of him who\nbelieveth in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law?\nOf works? Nay, but by the law of Faith_; Rom. iii. 25, 26, 27. _By grace\nye are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift\nof God; not of works, lest any man should boast_; Eph. ii. 8, 9.\n\nThe gospel concurs with the law in this respect, that it shews us our\nown guilt and vileness, our ruin and our impotence to restore ourselves,\nand therefore it has put all our help upon another. God has _laid our\nhelp upon one that is mighty to save_; Ps. lxxxix. 19, and he has\nordained that the way whereby we should derive this salvation, is by\nrenouncing all dependance upon self, and trusting in Christ and grace\nfor all that we enjoy and hope for. This is the business of faith; this\nis the very nature of that Christian virtue, to disclaim all\nself-sufficiency, and receive all from mere mercy; and therefore it is\nappointed to be the means of our justification under the gospel;\ntherefore it is said so often in scripture, that we are _justified by\nfaith_, that divine grace may have all the glory; Rom. iv. 16. Therefore\nit is of faith, that it might be of grace. We are ignorant and foolish,\nand must derive wisdom from Christ: We are guilty, and must receive\nrighteousness from him: We are unholy, he is the spring of our\nsanctification: We are captives and slaves to sin and Satan, and we must\nhave redemption from him: _He is made of God to us wisdom,\nrighteousness, sanctification, and redemption, that no flesh might glory\nin his presence_, but _he that glories, must glory in the Lord_; 1 Cor.\ni. 29, 30.\n\nMan, innocent man, had power and righteousness, and life put into his\nown hands; but the first Adam grew vain in his self-sufficiency, and he\nfoolishly sinned, and lost it all: Therefore God, in order to our\nrecovery, would put power, and righteousness, and life into the hands of\nanother, even his own Son, the second Adam, that we might go out of\nourselves, and seek it all from another hand. Now faith, or trust, is\nthe proper act of the soul, to express our own emptiness, and our\ndependance on another for all.\n\nThis is the language of faith, \u201cLord, I am a sinful and guilty creature;\nI have no righteousness, no merit, to recommend me to thy favour; I have\nno power to change my unholy nature, and rectify the criminal disorders\nof my soul; I am unable to subdue the sins that dwell in me, or practise\nthe required duties of holiness; I deserve condemnation and death, and I\nam by nature walking in the way to hell: helpless and hopeless for ever\nin myself, but in thy rich grace is all my hope: I rejoice in the\ndiscoveries of thy mercy; I come at the call of thy gospel, upon the\nbended knees of my soul I accept of the proposals of thy grace; I give\nup myself to thy power and mercy, as it is revealed in Jesus Christ, thy\nSon, that I may be saved from sin and hell. To me belongs nothing but\nshame and confusion of face; I renounce for ever all self-sufficiency,\nand if ever I am saved, thy grace shall have all the glory.\u201d Now when a\npoor humbled sinner is brought thus far, and receives the salvation of\nGod in this lowly posture of soul, the great God has obtained a good\npart of his designs in the gospel upon him; self is humbled, grace is\nglorified, and the sinner is saved by faith.\n\nV. Heaven is made up of believers. The whole number of the saved were\nonce sinners, and obtained salvation by faith.\n\nThe holy angels indeed never sinned, and yet whether their confirmed\nstate of holiness and glory is not secured to them by trust or\ndependance on Christ, may be a reasonable enquiry; for _all things in\nheaven and earth are_ said to be _gathered together, and reconciled in\nhim_; Eph. i. 10. Col. i. 20. But this we are sure of, that not one of\nall the race of Adam hath been restored to the love of God, or raised to\nheaven, by their own works but all by faith. It is sovereign and\nglorious grace that has saved them all, and that by the gospel too, in\nthe various editions of it, from the promise in Eden, till the full\ndiscovery of grace at the day of pentecost after the ascension of\nChrist.\n\nO it is a pleasing entertainment of soul to send our thoughts forward to\nthe last great day, or to send them upward to the courts of heaven and\nglory, and to hear how the millions of redeemed sinners shout and sing\nto the honour of divine grace! How all that happy world of believers\nassist the melody, and dwell upon the delightful sound. \u201c_Not unto us, O\nGod our Father, not unto us, but to thine own name_\u201d, and to thy mercy\nbe all our honours paid though the ages of eternity. We were a race of\nguilty and perishing rebels, who had sinned against thy majesty, and\nruined our own souls: We lay upon the borders of death and hell without\nhelp, and without hope: We could do nothing to procure thy love, nor\nmerit any thing by the best of our works: But thou hast called us to\nbelieve thy gospel, to trust in thy grace, and to lay down the arms of\nour rebellion, and to receive the blessings of salvation by faith: We\nhave nothing to boast of, for we are mere receivers: Thou hast put forth\nthine almighty arm, and hast made thy gospel the instrument of thy power\nto save us; and while we feel and taste the complete salvation, thy\npower and thy mercy shall have all the praise.\n\nNot unto us, O Lord Jesus our Saviour, not unto us is any honour due;\nbut to thy condescending love; to thy compassion and death shall our\nhonours be paid, and our acknowledgments made for help. We saw ourselves\nhelpless, and were directed to thee for ever: We trusted in thee, and\nthou hast saved us: it is thy sufferings that have procured our pardon;\nit is by faith in thy blood we find an atonement; it is through thy\nrighteousness that we are justified and accepted of God, and made\npartakers of these heavenly glories that shine all around us. All our\nsacred comforts, our excellencies, and our joys are thine. Pride is\nhidden from our eyes for ever, and boasting is banished from all our\ntongues: It is thou hast fulfilled the law: it is thou hast suffered the\ncurse; it is thou hast purchased, and promised, and bestowed the\nblessing. We believed thy word, we received thy grace, and behold, we,\ndying sinners, are raised to life, and advanced to glory. There is not a\nsoul of us but delights to join in these sublime anthems of worship;\n_Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and\nwisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing: Blessing, and\nhonour, and glory, and power be to him that sits upon the throne, and to\nthe Lamb for ever_. Amen.\n\n\n HYMN FOR SERMON XVIII.\n _Faith the Way to Salvation._\n\n\n Not by the laws of innocence\n Can Adam\u2019s sons arrive at heaven;\n New works can give us no pretence\n To have our ancient sins forgiven.\n\n Not the best deeds that we have done,\n Can make a wounded conscience whole;\n Faith is the grace, and faith alone,\n That flies to Christ, and saves the soul.\n\n Lord, I believe thy heavenly word,\n Fain would I have my soul renew\u2019d;\n I mourn for sin, and trust the Lord,\n To have it pardon\u2019d and subdu\u2019d.\n\n O may thy grace its power display,\n Let guilt and death no longer reign;\n Save me in thine appointed way,\n Nor let my humble faith be vain.\n\n\n\n\n SERMON XIX.\n _None Excluded from Hope._\nROM. i. 16.\u2014The Gospel of Christ,\u2014it is the power of God unto salvation\n to every one that believeth, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.\n\n\nWe have seen the gospel of Christ vindicated in the former discourses on\nthis text, and the glorious doctrines of it guarded against the various\nreproaches of an unbelieving world: We have heard what a powerful\ninstrument it is in the hand of God for the salvation of perishing\nsinners. We have been taught the way to partake of this salvation, and\nthat is by believing; and we have learned what influence our faith has\nin this sacred concernment. I proceed now to the last thing which I\nproposed, and that is to shew the wide extent of this blessing of the\ngospel; for it brings _salvation to every one that believes, to the Jew\nfirst, and also to the Greek_.\n\nWhere the word Greek is used in opposition to the Barbarian, as it is in\nthe fourteenth verse before my text, it signifies the learned part of\nmankind, as distinguished from those that are unlearned; the Greeks\nbeing the most famous among the nations for wisdom, knowledge, or\nlearning in that day: But when this same word stands in opposition to\nthe Jew, as it does here in my text, then it includes all the heathen\nworld, so that when the apostle says, the gospel brings salvation both\nto the Jew and the Greek, he shews the extent of this benefit to all\nmankind that hear and receive it.\n\nIt may be worth our while to spend a few hints upon the order in which\nthe apostle represents the communication of this blessing, _viz._ to the\nJew first, and then to the Greek or Gentile.\n\nWhen he describes, in the second chapter of this epistle, the terms or\nconditions of the covenant of works, he sets mankind in the same order;\nhe pronounces _indignation and wrath upon every soul that doth evil, of\nthe Jew first, and also of the Gentile; but glory, honour and peace to\nevery man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile_.\nSo when he declares the blessings of the covenant of grace or the\ngospel, he brings the salvation first upon the Jews, and then upon the\nGentile nations: And one reason of it may be this, that the Jews having\nbeen favoured with an earlier and more express discovery of the nature\nand will of God than the heathens, they seem to stand fairest for the\nparticipation of divine blessings and that, even by the law of works, if\nlife and righteousness could have been obtained by it, as well as by the\ncovenant of grace, or law of faith. But if they abuse their knowledge,\nand their sacred advantages, to the neglect of God and godliness, faith\nand works, they justly fall under a more severe condemnation every way,\nbecause their guilt is greater.\n\nBut there may be some special reasons given why God thought it proper,\nin the course of his providence, to send the notice of this salvation by\nJesus Christ among the Jews, before he sent it to the Gentile world.\n\nI. The Jews were the chosen people of God, the sons and daughters of\nAbraham, his friend, the first favourites of heaven, considered as a\nfamily and a nation: and as he first preached to them the purity and\nperfection of his law, whence they might discover their own sin and\nmisery, so he published his gospel of grace by Jesus Christ first among\nthem, and sent his Son with the messages of peace and forgiveness first\nto their nation. The great God thought it becoming his equity to publish\nhis abounding mercy first toward them, amongst whom he first published\nhis law, to shew them their guilt and misery through the abounding of\nsin: \u201cBy the law is the knowledge of sin; and where sin has abounded,\ngrace has much more abounded;\u201d Rom. iii. and v.\n\nII. The Jews had this same gospel preached to them many ages before in\ntypes and emblems, in sacred ceremonies and dark prophecies. Now it was\nfit, that the types and prophecies should be explained and the grace\ncontained therein revealed first to them; for hereby the gospel obtained\na great confirmation, and established its own truth, when it appeared in\nall the parts of it so exactly answerable to the ancient figures, and to\nthe predictions of many hundred years. It was fit that the Messiah\nshould appear among them first, where his character add picture had been\ndrawn for many ages before, that so he might be known and distinguished\nwhensoever he should visit the world. It was fit that his doctrine\nshould be first published in plain language, where it had been long\nwritten and spoken in metaphors. Thus the gospel went forth first from\nJerusalem, that it might be preached and proclaimed with more glorious\nevidence among the rest of the nations.\n\nIII. Jesus Christ, who is the subject and substance of the gospel, was\nhimself a Jew, of the seed of Abraham, of the nation of Israel. He was\nborn, he lived, he died amongst them. All the great affairs of his\nbirth, his life, his ministry, his death and resurrection, were\ntransacted in their country, and in the midst of them. It was fit the\nbenefit thereof should be first offered to them.\n\nIf this gospel of Christ had been first preached to the gentiles, while\nit was kept silent and secret amongst the Jews, there might have been\nreason to suspect that there was some fraud or falsehood at the bottom,\nand that this doctrine would not bear the light in the country where\nthese things were done, and that it would not stand the test of\nexamination in the land of Judea, and therefore the story was told first\namong strangers: And thus the gentiles might have found some difficulty\nto receive it, and been prejudiced against the belief of it. But now,\nwhen it is published through all the land of Israel, and the apostles\nappeal to their own countrymen for the truth of these transactions; when\nit has stood the test of public examination there, where the things were\ntransacted, it goes forth to the rest of the nations with brighter\nevidence and glory.\n\nIV. I might add in the last place, that it was fit it should be first\npublished to the Jews, who seemed to have the first claim to it; that\nsince they refused it, it might be offered to the poor gentile nations\nwith greater justice and equity, even the Jews themselves being judges.\nSuch are the frequent hints given by St. Paul; Acts xiii. 46. _It was\nnecessary that the word of God should have been first spoke to you; but\nseeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting\nlife, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. Be it known therefore unto you, that\nthe salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and they will hear it_;\nActs xxviii. 28.\n\nWhen we think of that poor unhappy nation, the Jews, scattered abroad\namong all the kingdoms of the earth, banished from their own promised\nland for their rejection of Christ, and yet hardened in their unbelief,\nmethinks we should send out a groan of pity for them; for they are the\nsons and daughters of Abraham, the first favourites of our God. Jesus\nour Saviour was their Messiah, their kinsman, and their rightful king.\nWe should send up a kind wish to heaven upon their account, \u201cHow long, O\nLord, how long shall Israel be cast off? How long wilt thou be angry\nwith the children of Abraham, thy friend? When shall the day come for\nthe opening of their eyes, that they may _look on Jesus whom they\npierced_, and believe _and mourn_? When shall _the veil be taken off\nfrom their hearts_, that they may read the books of Moses, and trust in\nJesus of Nazareth, whom their fathers crucified?\u201d\n\nWhen we see one and another of the Jewish nation in this great city, and\nthink of their blindness and their zeal for the idle traditions of their\nteachers, and observe their ignorant rage against our blessed Saviour:\nwhen we behold the vain superstitions of their worship, the thick\ndarkness that hangs upon them under the brightest beams of gospel-light,\nand their wide distance from salvation, we should let our eyes affect\nour hearts, and drop a tear of compassion upon their souls. \u201cThese were\nthey to whom the promises of salvation did first belong, and to whom the\nfirst news was brought, that _Jesus the Saviour is born_. These are they\nto whom the gospel was first preached. God himself dwelt in the midst of\nthem, and the Son of God was their brother, their flesh and their blood.\nThough they are for a season cast off for their infidelity, yet God has\ntold us, that he has a secret love for that nation still for their\nfather Abraham\u2019s sake; Rom. xi. 28. and this love shall break forth in\nits full glory one day. Make haste, _O deliverer_, who didst _come out\nof Zion_, make haste to fulfil thy promises, and _turn away ungodliness\nfrom Jacob_. Let the _fulness of the Gentiles be brought in, and let all\nIsrael be saved_. Bring them back from all the lands whither thine anger\nhath scattered them. Release thy ancient people from their long\ncaptivity to Satan, and their bands of thick darkness. Be thou, O\n_Jesus, who art the light of the Gentiles_, be thou also _the glory of\nthy people Israel_.\u201d\n\nBut I would endeavour to make a larger improvement of this general head\nof discourse.\n\nDoes the gospel bring salvation to every one that believes without\nexception: to all ranks and characters, and degrees, and orders of men?\nthen let this grace be spread far abroad: And let not the more polite\nand nicer hearers grow tired, or drowsy, or disdainful, while I amplify\na little and diffuse my thoughts into various particulars, pointing out\nthe variety of the subjects of this grace; for I would, as it were,\nmention every sinner by name, that they may not be left only to\nunaffecting general notions, but being especially addressed they may all\ncome and partake of this salvation by believing this gospel.\n\nA glorious and extensive gospel indeed, and a wide-spreading salvation?\nTo _every one who believes_! None excluded from this blessing!\n\n1. It is not confined to one nation, or one family, not to one tribe or\nkindred of mankind, as the law of Moses was. _Go preach the gospel_,\nsays our Lord, _to every creature_; Mark xvi. 15. _Preach repentance and\nremission of sins in my name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem_;\nLuke xxiv. 47. To the Jew first, but let not this grace be confined to\nthem: Publish this blessed doctrine also to the sinners among the Greeks\nand Gentiles. You that are afar off from God, even in the _ends of the_\nearth, ye are called to _look unto Christ: and be saved_; Is. xlv. 22.\nIt is no matter, O sinner! what thy father was, or what thy kindred are!\nif thou art but a believer in Christ, thy soul is happy, thy sins are\npardoned, _the gospel is the power of God to thy salvation_.\n\n2. It is not confined to one sex only, or to one age. The children are\ncalled as well as the fathers, and men and women are invited to partake\nof this blessing together in Christ. _There is neither male nor female_,\nneither young nor old, neither Greek nor Jew, that have any distinction\nput upon them, to exclude them from this grace; _they are all one in\nChrist Jesus_; Gal. iii. 28. Children, have you seen the evil of your\nsins, and the danger of hell? Do you long for pardoning and saving\ngrace, and are you willing that Christ should make your peace with God,\nthat he should enable you to serve him upon earth, and prepare you for\nheaven? Come then, trust in this gospel, give up yourselves to Jesus\nChrist the Saviour in the manner I have spoken, and the salvation is\nyours. Nor let old sinners thrust away this mercy from them, under a\npretence that they have long abused it. You are now under the joyful\nsound of the gospel; you sit now under the language of inviting love:\nAre you willing to be made new creatures before you die, and to accept\nof a deliverance from hell, though you are upon the very borders of it?\nBehold power enough in this gospel to deliver you: The blood of Christ\ncan wash out stains of the longest continuance; The Spirit of Christ can\nchange the skin of an old Ethiopian, and create an old inveterate\ntransgressor into holiness. This gospel could save the thief upon the\ncross, and ensure paradise to him. It can rescue a dying rebel from\neternal death; for it gives life and salvation to every one that\nbelieves.\n\n3. It is not limited to one rank or condition of men in the civil life,\nbut reaches to persons of every circumstance. The rich and the poor, the\nmaster and the servant, the prince and the peasant, must partake of\nsalvation by the same faith in the Son of God. The barbarian and the\nScythian, who seem to be born for slaves, and the Romans who are lords\nof the earth, _the bond and the free_, have all an equal call to receive\nthis salvation; Col. iii. 11. Ye are all rich enough to obtain it: There\nis no purchase of these blessings by any other price but that of the\nblood of Jesus. Silver and Gold, and the treasure of kings, are all\ncontemptible offers in so sacred a concernment as this is. The benefit\nis too valuable to be bought at any meaner rate: Christ, who paid for\nit, will bestow it freely on all. If the rich will receive it, they must\ncome without money, and without price, and accept of the free gift of\nGod, as humble petitioners at his footstool; and the poor _that have no\nmoney, come ye and buy_; Is. lv. 1, 2. Let the vilest, meanest creature\ncome to this treasury of grace, and with thankfulness receive the\nsalvation, for it is bought already. You are called only to trust in\nthis gospel, to surrender yourselves to this Saviour, and the salvation\nshall be yours. Ye that are mean and low and base in this world, there\nare many of your brethren already joined in the fellowship of this\ngospel: Come, enter yourselves into the blessed fraternity. _To the poor\nthe gospel is preached_, and the poor receive it. But there are some\nnoble, there are some great, there are some rich, that have felt the\npower of it too: There is Philemon the master, and his servant Onesimus,\njoined in the same faith, and partakers of the same salvation; Philem.\n16.\n\nAgain, 4. It is not confined to persons whose intellectual excellencies\nare superior to their neighbours, or who exceed others in understanding\nand the acquirements of the mind. St. Paul was _debtor both to the wise\nand the unwise_; to the learned Greek, and to the ignorant and\nunpolished barbarian; Rom. i. 14. He preached the gospel to all of them:\nFor Christ had a chosen number amongst them all. If the witty, and the\nwise, and the learned will lay down their pride, and submit to the\ndoctrine of Christ crucified, and not call it foolishness: If they will\nhumble their understandings to receive the sacred mysteries of our\nreligion, _God manifest in the flesh_, and put to death for the sins of\nmen, and will place the concerns of their eternal welfare into the hands\nof him who hung bleeding upon the cross: If they are willing to _be\nconverted and become as little children_, there is a door for them to\nenter into the kingdom of heaven. And as for you, whose understandings\nare weak and unpolished with human learning, this is a doctrine and a\ngospel exactly fitted for your character: It is no business of great\nsagacity, no ingenious matter to become a christian. Believe the truths\nthat are plainly revealed concerning your own sin and misery, and the\npower of Jesus Christ to save you; bewail your own wretchedness and\nguilt, and entrust yourselves in the arms of his grace, that ye may be\nmade holy and happy, and ye also shall become possessors of the same\nkingdom. _Father, I thank thee, Lord of heaven and earth, that though\nthese things may be hidden from the wise and the prudent, yet thou hast\nrevealed them to babes_; Mat. xi. 25, 26.\n\nBut I pursue the distributions of this grace yet farther:\n\n5. No particular tempers or constitutions of men, no different qualities\nof soul or body, can exclude those that believe from the grace or\nblessings of this gospel. _Let not the strong man glory in his\nstrength_, nor the comely figures of human nature boast themselves in\ntheir beauty. Let not the weak be overwhelmed with despair, nor the\ndeformed or uncomely stand afar off and abandon their hopes; the same\nSaviour proposes the riches of his grace to all. Learn therefore to look\nupon all your natural advantages, and all your natural discouragements,\nwith a negligent eye in the matter of your salvation. If you would be\nstrong to win heaven, you must borrow all your strength from Christ and\nthe gospel. If you would appear comely and honourable before the face of\nGod, you must be clothed in _the robe of righteousness, and the garments\nof salvation_, which he has prepared; Is. lxi. 10.\n\nNor can any difference in the natural qualities of the soul forbid any\nperson who believes in Christ to hope for this salvation. Those who are\nby nature proud or peevish, sullen or passionate, angry or revengeful,\nhave been made partakers of this grace, as well as those who by the\ncomplexion of their animal frame, and the original temper of their\nminds, have had more of the natural virtues belonging to them; such as\ngentleness, meekness of spirit, good-humour and kindness. Those who have\nsomething in their very frame that is sly and crafty, or covetous,\nwanton, and intemperate, have felt the power of this gospel, as well as\nthose that have been generous and sincere, modest, chaste, and\nabstemious; for the grace of the gospel, which was typified by the ark\nof Noah, takes in all manner of animals, clean and unclean, and saves\nthem from the deluge of divine wrath that shall come upon an ungodly\nworld. But there is this blessed difference, that the brutes went out of\nthe ark with the same nature they brought in: but those who come under\nthe protection and power of this gospel by faith, they are in some\nmeasure changed, they are refined, they are sanctified. The wolf that\ncame in, is turning into a lamb, and the raven by degrees becomes a\ndove, surely, the gospel has begun to make them so, for it has begun\ntheir salvation.\n\nI will grant indeed, that the perverse temper of blood and spirits, and\nthe very make of the man, as to his natural and vicious qualities, is\nseldom entirely altered by the grace of God here on earth. There will be\nsome sallies of animal nature, some out-breakings of the irregular fire\nthat is pent up in the constitution; and these will too often mix\nthemselves with our conduct, and interline our acts of virtue and duty.\nBut the holy soul, who believes in Christ, will be humble, will mourn,\nwill accuse and chide itself before God in secret, and will be\nimportunate and restless in prayer for the victory. The christian will\nnot suffer himself to be carried away willingly by the stream of vicious\ninclinations; for _he that is born of God sinneth not_; 1 John v. 18.\nand it is in vain to talk of the gospel and salvation of faith and\ngrace, if we give up the reins to vicious nature, and bid a careless\nfarewell to any one virtue.\n\nBut to proceed yet farther in reckoning up the various characters of\nmen, whom the gospel makes christians by the grace of faith.\n\n6. As no persons are excluded because of their natural constitution, so\nneither are any forbid the blessing of salvation because of their former\nill characters in the moral life. Not the greatest of sinners are shut\nout from this blessing, if they repent and believe the gospel. Not the\nJews who crucified the Lord of glory: Not the Gentiles or Greeks, who\nwere slaves to superstition and idolatry, and drenched in most infamous\nand abominable practices; the Greeks, who gave themselves up to work\nuncleanness with greediness without God, and without hope in the world.\nOne gospel has saved them all. No former follies or faults, no, not the\ngreatest of sins against man, or against God himself, ought to shut up a\nhumble soul under despair; for _this is a faithful saying, and worthy of\nall acceptation, that Jesus Christ came to save the chief of sinners_; 1\nTim. i. 15. And that is a word of most extensive grace which our Saviour\nspeaks; Mat. xii. 31. _All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven\nunto men._\n\nYou who have enjoyed a happy education, and had pious parents to boast\nof, as the Jews boasted of Abraham; you who have many shining works of\nsobriety and righteousness, you are called to come and trust in this\ngospel: But you must renounce all your pretended merit, and accept of\npardoning grace, or you can never be saved. And you that have nothing\nthat looks like a good work to glory in, sinners as bad as the worst of\nGentiles, come, and believe this gospel, and surrender yourselves to\nJesus the Prince and the Saviour; his blood is all-sufficient for the\npardon of your sins, his righteousness is all-sufficient for your\njustification; and his Spirit can purify your sinful natures. _Where sin\nhas abounded, grace has much more abounded_; Rom. v. 20. It is to the\neverlasting honour of _the gospel of Christ_, that it has appeared to be\n_the power of God to the salvation_ of multitudes of such as you: _Such\nwere some of you_, saith the apostle to the _Corinthians_; _but ye are\nwashed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the\nLord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God_; 1 Cor. vi. 11.\n\nAnd surely if great degrees of sin cannot exclude the penitent soul from\nthe benefit of the gospel; then, 7. Neither shall any person be excluded\nbecause of the weak degrees of his faith; _Him that is weak in the\nfaith, receive ye; for Christ has received him_; Rom. xiv. 1-3. Read\nthat kind condescending promise, and believe it; Mat. xii. 20. _He will\nnot break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax_, nor suppress,\nnor despise the least, the lowest desires of grace: He will encourage\nthe youngest and the feeblest acts of sincere repentance and true faith,\nthough struggling under much sin and darkness, till it break out into\nevident and active flame. The little tender seed of grace under his\nheavenly influences shall bud, and blossom, and spring up into full\nglory.\n\nHow large and glorious is the salvation that attends faith in this\ngospel! How extensive is the grace of God our Saviour! How unsearchable\nare the riches of his mercy! _O the heights and the depths, the lengths\nand the breadths of the love of Christ, that pass all knowledge!_ None\nof the sons or daughters of Adam the sinner, are excluded from this\nsalvation, where the gospel is preached, but those who exclude\nthemselves by stubbornness and unbelief. Persons of every kind, every\ncharacter, condition and quality, amongst men, have found this _gospel\nbecome the power of God to their salvation_, when they have fled to this\nrefuge, and believed in this Saviour.\n\nWhat improvement now shall I make of the last part of this discourse,\nthis wide extent of salvation bestowed on all who believe? Has every\nsingle believer this salvation in some measure conferred on him, and\nwrought in him? Then here is a plain and evident test, whereby to try\nour faith, or a certain sign whereby we may judge, whether we are true\nbelievers, or no.\n\nThe gospel is the manifestation of the power of God for the salvation of\nevery one that believes. What have you found of this salvation begun in\nyou? What have you felt of your own guilt and wretchedness by reason of\nsin, and of your danger of eternal death? Have you seen the death of\nChrist as an effectual atonement to procure the forgiveness of an\noffended God? Have you beheld the power and grace of Christ sufficient\nto renew your sinful natures, and to form them after the image of God in\nrighteousness and true holiness? Have you found your conscience resting\nupon the sacrifice of Christ, and your souls humbly expecting pardon and\npeace there? Are your hearts turned away from every sin? Is the temper\nof your mind made divine and heavenly, and suited to the business and\nblessedness of the upper world? This is the salvation of Christ which\nthe gospel proposes, and bestows upon all that believe.\n\nUpon such solemn enquiries as these, I am persuaded there is many a soul\nmust take up this heavy complaint, \u201cAlas! I fear I am no believer: I\nhave sat long under the sound of the gospel, and I have heard the\ndoctrine of Christ crucified many years to no purpose; for I have never\nfound this gospel attended with any such powerful impressions as to\nbegin salvation in me. I have been too thoughtless about the guilt of my\nsins, and about the forgiveness of them in the court of heaven. Nor have\nI found my sinful nature changed, nor my affections sanctified. I have\nvery little of these spiritual desires and delights which have been\nbefore described as part of my salvation, I feel the inward workings of\nmy soul vain and carnal still; I am not prepared for the heavenly world,\nand surely then I have never truly believed in Christ, nor received his\ngospel.\u201d\n\nTo such complaints as these, I would propose these three several\nanswers:\n\nAnswer I. It may be so indeed. All this complaint may be just and true;\nand perhaps thou art an unbeliever still, dead in trespasses and sins,\nand exposed every moment to the stroke of death, and to everlasting\nmisery. This is the case of many a thousand beside thyself: Even the\ngreatest part of those who are called christians, are yet afar off from\nGod and from salvation, and have no just ground to suppose that they are\nbelievers in Christ. But it is of infinite concern for thee, O sinner,\nto busy thyself about this enquiry. There is not any one act in thy\nlife, in which thou canst be engaged, that is of greater and more awful\nimportance than this; for thy heaven or thy hell depends upon it.\n\nSome sit all their days under the gospel, and hear nothing but the\noutward sound, always unmoved, unawakened, and unaffected; slumbering\nand nodding upon the borders of eternal fire; while others hear the\nvoice of the Son of God, arise from the dead and receive a new, a divine\nlife. Some in the same family, perhaps of thy own kindred, thy flesh and\nblood, or some that are upon the same seat in the public assembly, are\nconvinced and converted, believe in Christ, and are saved; while thou\nremainest a hard and impenitent sinner under the voice of the same\ngrace, and the preaching of the same salvation.\n\nAnd if this be thy case, it is a dreadful one indeed. Consider, how will\nthy condemnation be aggravated, that thou hast heard the gospel\npublished with so much glorious evidence in such a land, and such an age\nof light as this is, and yet thou abidest in the state of impenitence,\nand unbelief, and death. Thou hast had the blessings of heaven offered\nat thy door, and hast hitherto refused to receive them. Thou hast sat,\nas it were, on the banks of the _river of life_, and never desired to\ntaste the _living water_. Thou hast dwelt near the shadow of the _tree\nof life_, but art an utter stranger to the fruit. O! with what a stupid\nand a careless ear hast thou heard the things of thy everlasting peace!\nThink of it therefore, and be horribly afraid: If the gospel be not\npowerful for the salvation of thy soul, it will become through thy own\nimpenitence, a powerful means to increase thy damnation, to make thy\nhell hotter, and thy eternal sorrows more intolerable, _Wo to thee_,\nCapernaum! _Wo to thee_ Bethsaida! Wo unto you, O sinners of Great\nBritain, ye have been exalted to heaven in divine favours, and ye shall\nbe thrust down to hell, if ye continue in unbelief. _It shall be more\ntolerable in the day of Judgment for Sodom and Gomorrah, than for you_;\nMat. xi. 21.\n\nBut art thou indeed yet an unbeliever? Yet sleeping the sleep of death?\nIt may be this is thy awakening time: It may be this is the hour when\nthou shalt begin to hear the voice of God in order to life. O cherish\nsuch important thoughts as these. Let them arise with thee in the\nmorning, let them lie down at night with thee, and give thyself no rest,\nnor give rest to the God of heaven, nor to Jesus Christ the Saviour,\ntill he has received thy soul into the arms of his love, forgiven thy\nsins, and made thee a new creature, that the gospel may not be to thy\nsoul the savour of eternal death.\n\nII. But perhaps the person who makes this complaint, may be some humble,\nmelancholy christian, some sincere believer in Christ, and yet under\ndark and timorous apprehensions, concerning his own state. It may be,\npoor trembling soul, that thou hast found the preaching of the gospel to\nbe the power of God to thy salvation, though thou art not able rightly\nto evidence it to thy own conscience.\n\nThou hast not the joy of pardon indeed, but hast thou not some\nglimmering hopes? Surely thou dost not abandon thyself to utter despair?\nThou hast not assurance that Christ has accepted of thee; but art thou\nnot sincerely willing to surrender thyself to him, to receive his\ncomplete salvation in the holiness as well as the happiness of it? Dost\nthou not long to be pardoned and accepted of God, for the sake of his\ndeath and obedience? And art thou not heartily desirous to give him all\nthe honour of thy salvation? Thou hast not much power against sin, but\ndost thou not hate it with immortal hatred, and esteem it thy constant\nenemy? Does it not often cause thee to mourn before the Lord, because of\nthy captive state, and the working of in-dwelling iniquities? Perhaps\nthou dost not yet feel thyself to be manifestly saved from sin, but art\nthou not saved from the love of sin? It dwells in thy flesh, it may be,\nand raises tumults there, but not in thy desire and thy delight. Canst\nthou not say with the apostle; Rom. vii. 23, 24. _There is a law in my\nmembers warring against the law of my mind?_ But it is a daily torment\nto me, _O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me?_ Thou dost not\nlove God, it may be, according to thy wish and desire; but is there any\nthing which thou valuest more than God and his love? Art thou not truly\nwilling to love him above all things, to be renewed and sanctified in\nall the powers of thy nature, to be fitted for the business of heaven,\nand suited to the blessedness?\n\nIf thy heart can echo to this sort of language, and the grace of God has\nprevailed thus far in thee, then thy salvation is begun; the gospel has\nshewn its divine power upon thee, and thou art indeed to be numbered\namong the believers.\n\nIII. But I would conclude my discourse with a word that may have equal\nrespect to saints or sinners. If you are concerned sincerely about your\neternal welfare, but can see no comfortable evidences in yourselves of\nthe work of faith, or the beginnings of salvation, if all within you\nappear to be guilt and sin, and there is much of hell and darkness in\nthe soul, yet do not cast away all hope: Arise and come to Jesus the\nSaviour, behold he calleth you. This is the season of the grace of the\ngospel, _This is the accepted time, this is the day of salvation_. Make\nhaste now to the city of refuge, fly now to the hope that is set before\nyou.\n\nThe promises are held open to thee, O soul! whosoever thou art, even the\npromises of light and life, of grace and eternal glory. Christ Jesus\ninvites thee by the messengers of his gospel: If there be some darkness\nupon thy Spirit, do not spend all thy time in laborious and fruitless\nenquiries whether thou hast heretofore believed in Christ, or no; but\ncome now with an humble sense of thy guilty and sinful circumstances,\nand surrender thyself to his charge and care by a new act of faith, or\ntrust, or dependance. Plead with him to accept a vile criminal\noverloaded with guilt and misery, and to make thee accepted with God by\na righteousness which was not thy own. Beseech him to look with pity on\nthy unholy soul, to sanctify and renew it, to take thy hard heart into\nhis hand, and soften it into repentance. Plead with him, and say, Lord,\nart not thou exalted to give repentance as well as remission? Entreat of\nhim to subdue thy sins, to new-mould and create all the powers of thy\nnature in the beauties of holiness, and to prepare thee for the heavenly\nstate. Go and complain humbly at his mercy-seat, how long thou hast sat\nunder the ministry of his own gospel, and felt no divine power attending\nit. Intrust thyself now to his care, and place thyself by faith under\nhis divine influences. _He that comes_ in this manner, _shall in no wise\nbe cast out_, for the Lord has promised to receive him; John vi. 37.\nWait on him with daily importunity, follow all the means of grace which\nhe hath appointed, and the gospel of Christ shall appear in due time to\nbe the power of God, even thy God, to thy salvation. _Amen._\n\n\n HYMN FOR SERMON XIX.\n _None excluded from Hope._\n\n\n Jesus, thy blessings are not few,\n Nor is thy gospel weak?\n Thy grace can melt the stubborn Jew,\n And heal the dying Greek.\n\n Wide as the reach of Satan\u2019s rage,\n Doth thy salvation flow:\n \u2019Tis not confin\u2019d to sex or age,\n The lofty or the low.\n\n While grace is offer\u2019d to the prince,\n The poor may take their share:\n No mortal has a just pretence,\n To perish in despair.\n\n Be wise, ye men of strength and wit,\n Nor boast your native powers;\n But to his sovereign grace submit,\n And glory shall be yours.\n\n Come, all ye vilest sinners, come,\n He\u2019ll form your souls anew:\n His gospel and his heart have room\n For rebels such as you.\n\n His doctrine is almighty love;\n There\u2019s virtue in his name,\n To turn the raven to a dove,\n The lion to a lamb.\n\n\n\n\n SERMON XX.\n _Christian Morality_, _viz._ _Truth, Sincerity, &c._\nPHILIP. iv. 8.\u2014Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever\n things are honest, _or grave_, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever\nthings are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of\n good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think\n on these things.\n \u039f\u03c3\u03b1 \u03b5\u03c3\u03c4\u03b9\u03bd \u03b1\u03bb\u03b7\u03b8\u03b7, &c.\n\n\nFaith and practice make up the whole of our religion: A sacred compound,\nand divinely necessary to our happiness and our heaven! Nor does the\nblessed apostle in any of his writings ever dwell so entirely on one of\nthem, as to forget the other. In this letter to the saints at Philippi,\npractice has the largest share. Through every chapter he scatters up and\ndown particular directions for the conduct of those believers who dwelt\namong the gentiles; but he gives them two general rules, by which they\nwere to walk. The first is in the beginning of his epistle; Philip. i.\n27. _Let your conversation be as becomes the gospel._ Act always\nagreeable to the temper and design of that gospel, which brings\nsalvation by Jesus Christ, and then you will certainly practise every\nvirtue of life; your carriage can never be amiss.\n\nAnd toward the latter end of his letter he saith, _Finally, brethren_,\nbefore I take my leave of you, I would give another general rule to\ndirect your practice: I would recommend holiness to you under another\nview, and describe it in such colours and characters, as will not only\napprove themselves to your fellow-christians, but even to the heathens\namong whom you live, _that you may be_, as he expresses it in _chap._\nii. ver. 15. _that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God\nwithout rebuke in a wicked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as\nlights in the world_; that they that have a mind to speak evil of\nchristianity, and cast what reproaches they can upon the doctrine of the\ncross, may not be able to find any flaw in your conversation, or any\nground to slander the doctrine which you profess.\n\nThe rule is this, whatsoever the light of nature, and the better sort of\nheathens, esteem true and honest, or decent, and just, and pure, and\nlovely, and of good report, let these things be your meditation, let\nthese be your constant aim and design, let these be the business of your\nlives, and your perpetual practice: Think of these things, says the\napostle, and think of them so as to perform them.\n\nIn a day wherein the professors of christianity, and of the glorious\ndoctrines of the gospel, grow degenerate and loose in their lives, and\nfall sometimes into vices, which the better sort of the heathens have\nutterly condemned, I think it may not be amiss to stir you up together\nwith myself to all holy watchfulness and caution; that christianity in\nour profession and in our practice may appear and shine in its own\nbright raiment; _that the doctrine of God our Saviour may be adorned in\nall things_, and that it may look, as it is indeed in itself, a doctrine\naccording to godliness.\n\nWithout any further preface, or division of the words, I shall take\nthese several sentences in the text, as so many distinct characters of\nmorality, or virtue, which the apostle recommends; and in discoursing of\neach of them, I shall follow nearly the same method; _viz._\n\nI. Shew the sense, latitude, and extent of the duty.\u2014II. Make it appear,\nthat these duties are required by the law of nature.\u2014III. Discover what\nadditional influence the gospel should have upon our consciences to the\nmeditation and performance of such duties; and sometimes,\u2014IV. I shall\ngive directions toward the performance of them, and guard against the\ncontrary sins.\n\n_Whatsoever things are true._\u2014The first thing that the apostle mentions\nis this, whatsoever things are true, let these be our meditation, and\nour practice.\n\n_First_, Let me shew the sense, latitude, and extent of this advice.\n\nTruth in general lies in a conformity of one thing to some other which\nis made the standard or rule of it. So a picture is said to be true,\nwhen it is conformable to the face and figure of the person: So a copy\nof any writing is true, when it is conformable to the original. So a\nnarrative or history is true, when it describes matters fairly as they\nwere transacted, and tells the circumstances just as they are. And that\nis true doctrine which is conformable to the word of God, which is the\nrule and standard divine truth.\n\nBut none of these agree to the design of my text. For the apostle here\nis describing moral characters, and the duties of a christian. Truth in\nthis place is not so much to be considered as seated in the\nunderstanding, as it is in the will. It signifies here integrity and\nuprightness, in opposition to hypocrisy, insincerity, or moral\nfalsehood. And there are three things that make up the perfect character\nof truth or integrity:\n\n1. That our words be conformable to our hearts.\u20142. That our deeds be\nconformable to our words.\u20143. That our whole carriage be conformable to\nitself, and consistent with itself at all times, and in all places.\n\n1. The first thing wherein this virtue consists, is in the conformity of\nour words to our hearts. This is sometimes called veracity, sometimes\nsincerity; a necessary duty that belongs to every christian, and that in\nall the affairs of life. We must be sincere in all relations of matters\nof fact; in all the narratives or accounts we give of either persons or\nthings, in all our discoveries of our esteem for other men, and in all\nour professions of love and good-will to others. Whatsoever we speak, it\nought to be agreeable to the sentiment of our souls.\n\nLet us first consider what is that truth that is required in relating\nmatters of fact, and narratives concerning things or persons. This is\nwhat Solomon mentions; Prov. xii. 17. _He that speaketh truth, sheweth\nforth righteousness; but a false witness deceit._ In the xvth Psalm,\nver. 2. it is the character of one of those who shall inhabit the holy\nmountain of God, that he not only worketh righteousness, but he speaketh\nthe truth in his heart. That which he thinks in his heart to be true, he\nclothes it in words, and thus delivers it out to his fellow-creatures.\nThe apostle in Eph. iv. 25. makes mention of the same duty, and presses\nit upon those to whom he writes; \u201cWherefore putting away lying, speak\nevery man truth with his neighbour; for we all are members one of\nanother:\u201d Members one of another, as we belong to the same original, as\nwe are born of the same first parents, as we are made of one flesh and\nblood, as we are parts of the same civil society or nation, and\nespecially as we that profess christianity are related to one another in\nnearer and diviner bonds, as we are members of the general church or\nbody of Christ. Now it does not become those that are joined in so near\na relation to lie and speak falsely, and deceive one another, no more\nthan the members of the natural body should do injury to each other,\nwhose single welfare lies much in the welfare of the whole body.\n\nI grant it is possible for the best and wisest of men sometimes to be\nmistaken in their apprehensions of things, and they may happen to speak\nsomething that is false in the course of their conversation: for they\nmay be deceived themselves, and not know the truth. But in matters which\nthey have occasion to speak of, they ought to be as well informed of the\ntruth of things as present circumstances will admit, and to say nothing\nto their neighbour but what they really believe themselves. When we\nspeak a thing which we sincerely believe, and it happens not to be true,\nthat is properly called a MISTAKE, for we had no design to deceive the\nperson we converse with. But when we speak the thing that is false, and\nwe know it to be false, or do not believe it to be true, this is\nwilfully to deceive our neighbour; and is properly called by the odious\nname of LYING.\n\nIt is granted also, that no person is always obliged to speak all that\nhe knows, when he is giving an account of some particular affair or\nconcern of life. There are several seasons, wherein it is a piece of\nprudence to be silent, and not to publish all the truth. We have a most\nremarkable instance of this in the prophet Jeremiah, when he had been\nadmitted to the speech of Zedekiah the king, and had given him divine\ncounsel, that he should submit himself to the Chaldeans, and save his\nlife, and preserve the city from burning, and at the same time had\nintreated for himself, that he might not return to Jonathan\u2019s house and\nthe dungeon, lest he died there. A little after, the princes of Israel\ndemanded of him what discourse he had with the king; he concealed his\nchief business from the princes, which was about submission to the\nChaldeans, and told them that he _presented his supplication to the\nking, that he would not cause him to return to Jonathan\u2019s house, so the\nprinces left off speaking with him, and the matter was not perceived_;\nJer. xxxviii. 24, &c. There may be various occasions in life, wherein it\nis proper to keep ourselves upon the reserve. Silence is much commended\nby Solomon, who was made divinely wise; Prov. xxix. 11. _A fool uttereth\nall his mind; but a wise man keepeth it in till afterward._\n\nYet it must be confessed too, that sometimes the concealment of part of\nthe truth, when it is necessarily due to the hearer, in order to pass a\nright judgment of the whole, is almost as criminal as a lie: And herein\nconsists the guilt of partial representations. But I cannot stay to\ndiscuss this point at large.\n\nThe great rule of veracity in general lies in being just and fair in our\nnarratives and representations of things and in saying nothing but what\nwe believe to be true. Whatsoever therefore we have to speak to our\nfellow-creatures, let us lay a charge upon our consciences perpetually,\nthat we speak according to the sentiments of our hearts; and remember,\nthat what disguises soever our tongues put on, God our Judge sees\nthrough them all.\n\nAnd not only when we relate matters of fact, but when we express our\nsentiment of the characters of men, let us be just to truth. I confess,\nbrotherly love generally requires us to put the most favourable colours\non a blemished character, and say the softest things that the matter\nwill bear; love covereth a multitude of faults and follies, and in this\ncase silence often becomes us best. But when providence and duty\nrequires us to speak, no pretences of love or charity are sufficient to\nexcuse a falsehood.\n\nAgain, when we have a bright character upon our tongues, or when we are\npaying civilities to our neighbours or friends, let us take heed of\nbeing lavish beyond what truth will allow. The sins of complaisance may\nbe connived at or applauded by men, and miscalled by the name of good\nbreeding; but the eye and ear of God take a juster and more severe\nnotice of the softest and smoothest falsehoods.\n\nIn all the discoveries of our esteem for other men, let us speak no more\nthan we in our hearts believe. It is a character of a very vicious time,\nand a very degenerate and corrupt age, Ps. xii. 2. \u201cThey speak every one\nwith his neighbour, with flattering lips, and with a double heart do\nthey speak; but the Lord shall cut off all flattering lips, for he hates\nthem,\u201d ver. 3. They speak flattery with their tongue, while at the same\ntime their throats are open sepulchres, and they, it may be, attempt to\nwaste, devour, and destroy. This character of the basest of men you read\nin the vth Psalm; and you find the same hateful practice among the Jews\nin their deepest degeneracy; _Jer._ ix. 5, 8. \u201cThey will deceive every\none his neighbour, and will not speak the truth. One speaketh peaceably\nto his neighbour with his mouth, but in heart he layeth wait for him.\u201d\nBut this which was so abominable in a Jew, surely a christian ought to\nstand at the greatest distance from it at all times.\n\nAs in discovery of our esteem, so in the profession of our love and\ngood-will to our neighbour, we must observe truth. When your heart is\nnot with your neighbour, be not profuse of the language of friendship.\n_Let love be without dissimulation_; Rom. xii. 9. Let love be sincere to\nyour fellow-creatures, and love to your fellow-christians be upright and\ncordial. Let not that affection appear in a flourish of fine words, if\nit be not warm in your soul. This is the first character of truth, that\nour words agree with our hearts.\n\nII. The next instance of the truth required in my text, is, when our\ndeeds are conformable to our words: And this is called faithfulness, as\nthe former is called veracity or sincerity. Faithfulness or truth, in\nthis sense, has respect to our vows, our promises, our resolutions, or\nour threatenings.\n\n1. Vows are properly made to God alone: And when they are made, if the\nmatter of them be lawful, they ought to be performed. \u201cWhen thou vowest\na vow, defer not to pay it. Better it is thou shouldst not vow, than\nthat thou shouldst vow, and not pay;\u201d Ec. v. 4, 5.\n\n2. Promises of things lawful made to our fellow-creatures, must also be\nfulfilled with religious care. As for things unlawful, they ought not to\nbe promised. We bind ourselves to perform what we promise, and the law\nof God binds us as well as the laws of social life. In the xvth Psalm,\nver. 4. it is another of the characters of him that shall inhabit the\nmountain of God, _that he sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not_;\nthat is, he makes a promise to his neighbour, and though it be much to\nhis own disadvantage, yet he doth not alter the word that is gone out of\nhis lips, nor make a forfeiture of his truth by breach of his promise.\n\nWe should remember, that when we bind ourselves by a promise to give any\ngood thing to another, or to do any thing for the benefit of another,\nthe right of the thing promised passes over from us to the person to\nwhom the promise is made, as much as if we had given him a legal bond,\nwith all the formalities of signing and sealing; we have no power to\nrecal, or reverse it without his leave. Always except the promise be\nmade with a condition expressed, or necessarily and evidently implied;\nthen indeed, if the condition fail, the promise is void. But the lips of\na christian, when they have once uttered an absolute promise, have laid\na bond upon his soul; and he dares not break the law of his God, though\nthe law of man should not bind him.\n\n3. The case of threatenings is somewhat different. A promise makes over\nthe right of some benefit to another who may justly claim it; but a\nthreatening only shews what punishment shall be due to another for such\na particular fault or offence. If a superior propose and publish a law,\nand therein threaten an inferior with some penalty, the superior is\nsupposed to be at liberty, whether he will execute the threatening of\nhis own law, or no: for the criminal will not claim it. Thence arises\nthe power of a superior to pardon a fault.\n\nBut if over and above the proposal and publication of this law, a\nfather, for instance, or a master, does solemnly foretel or declare that\nhe will certainly execute the penalty upon the child or servant\noffending; I think he ought generally to esteem himself bound to fulfil\nsuch a declaration or threatening, if it were made in a prudent and\nlawful manner; unless the repentance of the offender, or some other\nchange of circumstances, give him a just reason to change his mind and\nalter his purpose.\n\nAnd in the fourth place, the case is much the same when we make a solemn\nresolution, and publicly declare it, that we will do such or such a\nthing in time to come. If this resolution be solemn and public, and be\nin all respects lawful, it should generally be performed; unless some\nother circumstances arise, which we did not foresee, or which escaped\nour present notice when the resolution was made: otherwise we justly\nexpose ourselves to the censure of fickleness, inconstancy, rashness,\nand folly: And such a conduct seems to intrench upon truth. But this\nleads me to the third or last instance of truth.\n\nIII. Another part of the character of truth is, when our whole carriage\nis conformable to itself. When we are always of a piece with ourselves,\nand our conduct is still consistent with our own character and\nprofession. This is called constancy.\n\nSomething of this might have been introduced indeed under the first or\nsecond particulars, when I shewed how our words should agree with our\nhearts, and our deeds with our words; for both these demand that our\npractice should correspond with our profession. But I choose to cast all\nthat I have to say on this subject under the head of constancy to our\nprofessions and pretences, which implies a perpetual and persevering\nhonesty of thoughts, words, and actions, and a regular consistency with\nourselves. Now that I may throw this matter into the easiest method, I\nshall shew how this exercise of christian truth will appear in a good\nman at all times, in all conditions of life, in all places, and in all\ncompanies.\n\n1. At all times a good man is the same: He ever maintains the same pious\nand religious design, and having set his face heavenward, he travels on\nin the sacred narrow path, and never wilfully turns aside to the\nright-hand or to the left: Or if at any time he makes a false step, he\nrecovers it again with humility and shame, and repentance, and his feet\nreturn to the ways of holiness.\n\nHere let it be observed, that a good man may change his practices in\nsome lesser points of christianity, and alter his principles too in\ndoctrines of less importance, and yet he is not to be charged with\ncriminal inconstancy or falsehood: For he never renounces all\nimprovement of knowledge, but is ever ready to receive further light,\nand to retract his former errors and mistakes: And indeed this is one\nglorious evidence of his being a constant friend to truth. But being\nwell established in the necessary and fundamental points of faith and\npractice, he walks on regularly in his christian course without\nwavering, or wandering into forbidden paths, ever pursuing his last\ngreat end: And this is a constant christian, though his sentiments, in\nthe latter part of his life, may differ in several points from the\nthoughts of his youth.\n\nWhen the eye of the world smiles upon his profession, and the sun shines\nbright upon his party, or when the clouds arise, and the sharp winds of\npersecution blow, he is still the same steady christian, composed,\nquiet, undisturbed; not doubtful what he should do, but aiming at\nheaven, he marches on homewards, with the regular discharge of all his\nduties to his God on high: nor does he forget his obligations to his\nfellow-creatures on earth, though in twenty instances they may forget or\nrefuse to fulfil their duty to him. His supreme obligations are to God\nhis Maker, and to these he must be true and faithful.\n\nHow various were the trials that St. Paul met with from the Jews, and\nfrom the Greeks, from the Jewish christian, and the heathen converts?\nBut how bright and blessed an uniformity ran like a golden thread\nthrough his whole life and ministry? Hear the holy man often in his\nwritings declaring his own stedfast adherence to the gospel: Hear him\nappealing to his Ephesian disciples concerning his own conduct, and\nproving it to their consciences, that he had in some good measure\nacquitted himself according to this rule of christianity; Acts xx. 18.\nWhen the elders of Ephesus were come to him, _Ye know_, says he, _that\nfrom the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been\nwith you at all seasons_, and that was by the space of three years, as\nin ver. 31. _serving the Lord with all humility of mind, with many tears\nand temptations that befel me_: And I was constantly testifying to the\nJews and Greeks, _faith and repentance, and shunned not to declare the\nwhole counsel of God to you, coveting no man\u2019s gold or apparel_, &c. I\nhave shewed you now, that for these three years together I have\nmaintained the same holy conduct, that so you might follow my example,\nthat ye might always act agreeable to yourselves, and be constant to\nyour own virtuous and holy character.\n\nBut what an inconstant christian is he who changes his principles and\npractices, being blown about with the wind of prevailing party, and the\nhumour of the times? Who seems active in the cause of religion, when\nreligion is the fashion of the age; but he grows ashamed of every part\nof godliness, when the times turn upon him! His religion dies, when\npiety is discouraged in the world, and a saint becomes a name of\nreproach! To-day for the God of Israel, and to-morrow among the\nworshippers of Baal! Now a zealot for pure doctrine and worship, anon so\nlukewarm and indifferent about every thing of religion, as though it had\nno place near his heart! Multiplying duties of godliness one week, and\ngrossly negligent of all duty the next! To-day preaching and practising\nthe rules of christianity, and to-morrow talking and living like a man\nof heathenism? True and constant to nothing, but to his own fickle\ntemper and inconstancy!\n\nIs it not a glorious character when we can say of a good man, that \u201call\nthat have known him give him a good word; that those who have lived many\nyears with him, and seen him in his unguarded hours, and in the undress\nof life, pronounce him the same man as he appears in the public world.\u201d\nThey who have known him longest, admire him most and love him best, and\nthey bear a noble testimony to his virtues, and his graces. His graces\nand his virtues advance with his years, they imitate the morning sun,\nwhich keeps the same steady pace through the heavens, but rises hourly,\nand shines with a brighter lustre, and with warmer beams. \u201cThe path of\nthe just, like the morning light, shines more and more unto the perfect\nday;\u201d Prov. iv. 18.\n\nBut what a wretched satire it is upon any man to say, \u201cIf you see him\nfor an hour his talents will surprize and please you, but if you have a\nyear\u2019s acquaintance with him, his evil qualities are so many and so\nhateful, that all his charms vanish, and he sinks and loses all your\nesteem?\u201d So a torch blazes high when it is first kindled, but the flame\ngrows lower as it burns, till it expire in stench and smoke. Where such\na censure is just, or such a simile well applied, the man is far from\nthat fair character of truth and constancy which the gospel recommends.\n\n2. A true christian is the same in all conditions of life. Let the\nfavours or the frowns of men attend him, or the awful providence of God\nmake a surprizing change in his affairs, still he ceases not to look and\nlive, to speak and act like a christian. Is it not a very honourable\naccount that you have heard sometimes given of a person in the height of\nprosperity, and in the depth of afflictive circumstances, that he is\nstill the same man? That he maintains his probity and his integrity, and\nevery virtue, in the midst of all the revolutions of providence! Serene\nand chearful, calm, peaceful and heavenly, holy and humble amidst them\nall! St. Paul was eminent for this grace. \u201cI know,\u201d saith he, \u201chow to be\nabased and how to abound, to be full and to be hungry: I have learned to\nbe content in whatsoever state I am,\u201d and to appear a christian under\nevery change of circumstances; Philip. iv. 11, 12.\n\nThe man of truth and constancy, when he is exalted and walks upon the\nmountains of prosperity and honour, is not vain and haughty in his\ntreatment of inferiors, nor does he look askew upon his former friends,\nnor cast his eye down with contempt on his meaner brethren. When his\nmountain shakes and falls, he descends calmly into the valley; but he is\nnot of a mean, abject and desponding spirit: Ever mindful of his high\nbirth as a christian, and of his heavenly home, he bears up with a\nsacred constancy of soul, with a generous contempt of this world, and\nall the vanishing honours and the uncertain possessions of it. His\nbehaviour is ever true to his holy profession, and to his sublimest\nhope. Is not this a character which each of us wish our own? Is it not\nworthy of our aim and ambition, our daily pursuit and labour to obtain?\n\nThere are some christians that know not how to bear the smiles of\nprovidence: and some who are as much untaught to bear the frown of it:\nFor their piety is ever changing, as their circumstances are.\n\nThe first sort are they who are never very serious and devout but when\nthey lie under the chastisements of God: They seem humble, penitent, and\npious when the rod of heaven is upon them, but when that is once\nremoved, they forget their sorrows and their seriousness together. Such\nwere the rebellious and inconstant Jews of old, when the Lord slew them,\nthey sought him early, and enquired after God; but they took every new\noccasion to murmur and rebel again: There was no truth in their\nreligion; \u201ctheir heart was not right with God,\u201d nor \u201cwere they stedfast\nin his covenant;\u201d Ps. lxxviii. 34. \u201cIn trouble they visited thee, O\nLord, and poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them; but\ntheir goodness was like a morning cloud, and as the early dew, it\nvanished away;\u201d Is. xxvi. 16. Hos. vi. 4.\n\nThere is another sort of men who behave well enough in matters of virtue\nand religion when they are in peaceful and easy circumstances; but if\nonce they are smitten in their flesh, in their good name or their\nestate, or have any of the comforts of life imbittered to them, they\ngrow peevish and passionate, and nothing can please them; they vent\ntheir impatience on their friends, and throw their vexation of spirit\nall around them, as though they resolved to imitate that brutal\ncharacter which the prophet mentions, _like a wild bull in a net_,\nstruggling, and raving, and _full of fury_ under _the rebuke of the\nLord_; Is. li. 20. Surely both these qualities are very contrary to that\nserene and uniform practice of true godliness that becomes a saint.\n\n3. In all places, as well as in all times and circumstances, the true\nchristian appears the same, and is just to his own profession.\nWheresoever he dwells, or sojourns, where he spends an hour or a year,\nhe is constant to himself, and consistent with himself still. He ever\nmaintains the same pious designs, and adorns and glorifies the doctrine\nof the gospel in all things. When at home and when abroad, he is the\nsame person. When at church paying his honours and devotions to heaven;\nwhen in his own family among his children and servants, or when in his\nshop and in the affairs of life; when in the street or on the exchange\nconversing with the world, friends and strangers, known and unknown;\nwhen in his closet and secret chamber, still he is the same good man:\nstill acting consistent with himself and his profession, still pursuing\na regular steady course of piety, and his dying pillow confirms the\nsincerity and practice of his life. Religion is ever uppermost in his\nheart, and all his affairs and businesses in the world, are managed with\nregard to his last great end. Thus though his engagements and actions of\nlife be very various daily, according to the various calls of duty; yet\nhis design is ever the same, and the rule that governs all his practices\nis the word of God, the gospel of our Lord Jesus.\n\nHow far from the glory of this character were the false-hearted sons of\nIsrael in Jeremiah\u2019s time! They were guilty of stealing and murdering in\nthe streets, or by-ways, or private-houses, _yet they came and stood\nbefore the Lord in the house which was called by his name_; Jer. vii. 3,\n4, &c. There were also in our Saviour\u2019s days men of the same deceitful\nspirit, whom he frequently and sharply reproved under the odious name of\nhypocrites, who made long prayers in the temple, and in the corners of\nthe streets; but devoured widows\u2019 houses, and neglected judgment, mercy\nand faith; who made clean the outside of their cup, but filled it with\nall extortion, luxury, and excess. You read their infamous manners at\nlarge in the vi. and xxiii. chapters of Matthew.\n\nThey had no more truth in them than whited sepulchres or flowery graves,\nfair indeed and beautiful on the outside covering, but all within is\ndeath, and horror, and rottenness. O, how inconsistent were the two\npieces of this character one with another! How far from that truth and\nuprightness, that sincerity and constancy, that the gospel requires, and\nso much approves of? What a most sharp and shameful reproach is it, and\nyet a righteous one too, that is thrown on some persons? They are saints\nat church, and devils at home!\n\nIt is pity we must borrow a word from hell to describe any sort of men\nthat dwell on earth: I would not willingly apply it to any particular\nperson living: But in describing a general character of this kind, we\ncan hardly paint it in colours frightful enough. In public they are all\nmeekness and innocence, all demure, and abstemious, and heavenly, and\nthey _transform themselves_, as their father does, _into angels of\nlight_; 2 Cor. xi. 14. but follow them to their houses, and you see a\nsurprizing change: There luxury and riot, there fury and passion reign\nin every room, their dwelling is without God, without prayer, without\npiety or peace, and has more of hell than of heaven in it. _O my soul,\ncome not into their secret_, to their family, _my honour, be not thou\nunited!_ for truth and goodness are far from them.\n\n4. The true christian is the same in all companies: And though he does\nnot think himself obliged to cast his pearls before swine, to give that\nwhich is holy to dogs, or to impose a discourse of religion upon those\nthat hate it; yet he never forgets his religion in the worst of company,\nnor does he throw off the christian in the midst of heathens. The\ngeneral course of his life shines in the beauty of holiness, and\nglorifies his God in an impious world. And there are seasons too, when\nhe sees it necessary to rebuke public iniquity, and bear a testimony\nagainst a vicious age: _He has never any fellowship with the unfruitful\nworks of darkness_, but _rather he reproves them_; Eph. v. 11. Yet\nsometimes his prudence directs his christianity to lie concealed, but he\nnever dares do any thing that contradicts it. It is like a garment that\nhe ever wears about him, though he does not always wear it uppermost: He\nkeeps it ever as his guard, though he does not always expose his glory.\n\nWhat a scandal is it to any person who professes the name of Christ,\nthat he can sometimes lay aside all his christianity, and bury it in an\nhour of riot! That he can drink till midnight when he gets among\ndrunkards, and take his cup as merrily and as often as they! That he can\nrelish a lewd or profane jest, and make one too, when he sits in the\ncompany of lewd or profane jesters! That he can lisp out an oath, and\nstammer at a curse, or perhaps he can swear roundly when he is in the\nmidst of swearing wretches! And yet he can pray and talk devoutly when\nhe falls into religious company, and pretend to tremble at the\nprofaneness of the age. What shameful hypocrisy and falsehood is this!\n\nThere are some persons who have appeared in the country to be professors\nof religion, and perhaps may have obtained a name of piety; but when\nthey come up to the city among loose libertines, where their vices are\nbetter hid, they give themselves up to loose practices, and indulge a\nlicentious month or two. They are pious amongst their acquaintance, and\nprofane amongst strangers. They have not impudence enough to be constant\nin vice, nor have they grace enough to be true to virtue.\n\nThere are some that speak fair to the face of their neighbour, and\nspread their compliments abroad before him; but behind his back, in\nother company, they are as liberal of their reproaches, and can hardly\nendure a good thing to be said of him. Their behaviour has brought an\ninfamous word into the English tongue; for they are justly called\nbackbiters.\n\nThere are some children that pay the utmost deference to their parents\nin appearance and shew, and will not dare anything vicious while they\nare under their eye; but when they are mingled with their vain young\nacquaintance, they run into many extravagances, and give a loose to the\nwild appetites of the flesh. But these are not the children of truth.\n\nThere are some servants who make their zeal and diligence appear while\ntheir master\u2019s eye is upon them; but they are mere eye-servants and\nfalse creatures, for when they are out of his sight, they can waste his\nsubstance among merry companions, and perhaps purloin and pilfer to\ngratify their own covetousness, or luxury: or at best they make no\nconscience of acting for their master\u2019s interest, when he is absent.\n\nThus different company hath a different influence on the thoughts, the\nwords, and the works of men: And some persons will run into every vice\nand folly, rather than to oppose their company; they had rather sin\nagainst God, and be false to their profession, than venture to be, what\nthey call, rude and uncivil to company. So tender are they of giving\noffence to men, and so careless of offending the great and dreadful God!\n\nThere are some of all ranks and orders, of all sexes and ages of\nmankind, that seem to be sober, but have nothing of this divine virtue\nof truth or constancy in them. They would neither swear, nor drink, nor\ngame, nor speak a lewd or impious word, when they are in a sober family:\nBut when at any time they happen to come into houses without godliness,\nthey can follow the course of the family in all manner of iniquities,\nand grow false to all their former appearances of goodness.\n\nI might multiply instances of this kind, to shew what falsehoods and sly\ndeceits are practised amongst men who call themselves christians, and\nhow inconsistent many of their actions are with their own professions\nand pretences: But this part of my discourse hath already exceeded its\njust bounds. Yet I think I ought not to leave it till I have answered\none objection.\n\nObjection. It may be said here, does not St. Paul, one of the truest\nchristians and the best of men, tell us, that when he was among the\nJews, he became as a Jew, and appeared like one that was under the law:\nBut when he was among the Gentiles, who were without law, he appeared\nlike a Gentile too, for he was not willing to offend the one or the\nother; according to his own advice, _Give none offence neither to the\nJews, neither to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God_; 1 Cor. ix. 20.\nand chap. x. 32. To this I answer,\n\nThe blessed apostle, when he had none but Jews about him, practised so\nmuch of the Jewish law as was consistent with christianity: When he had\nnone but Gentiles with him, he declared his freedom and release from the\nbonds of the Jewish law, and neglected the Jewish ceremonies, for some\nparts of the Jewish law were now lawful for a season, though they were\nso far abolished that they were not necessary for a christian. And the\napostle managed this affair with holy prudence, and with a religious\ndesign to ingratiate himself and his ministry, as much as possible both\nwith the Jews and Gentiles for the salvation of both of them: For you\nfind this was his great end, _I am made all things to all men, that I\nmight by all means save some_; and _this I do for the gospel\u2019s sake_;\nver. 22, 23.\n\nYet you may observe, that though he appeared free from the Jewish law\nwhen he was among the Gentiles, yet he did not carry it like a lawless\nman, but confined all his practice within the bounds of his duty to God\nand his Saviour, _being not without law to God, but under the law to\nChrist_; ver. 21. So that neither one sort of company nor the other\ntempted him to neglect any duty, or to indulge any sin.\n\nYou may observe also upon another occasion, where Jews and Gentiles were\nboth present, when he thought a conformity to any of the Jewish customs\nmight give greater offence to the Gentile christians, and be likely to\ndo more hurt than good, he withstood Peter to the face, for his sinful\ncompliance with the uncharitable Jews: He reproved him for dissembling,\nand chid him because he _walked not uprightly, according to the truth of\nthe gospel_, and would not _give place to him by subjection; no, not for\nan hour_; Gal. ii. 5, 11, 14, &c.\n\nThere are some seasons therefore when we may indulge an innocent\ncompliance with our company in things lawful, in order to do credit to\nthe gospel Of Christ, and make our profession appear lovely and\nhonourable in the eyes of all: But there are other seasons when\ncircumstances are so placed, that we may not indulge the same\ncompliances, lest our liberty be construed to an evil purpose, and we\nbring more scandal than honour to our profession by it.\n\nI grant there are some difficulties attending particular cases in the\nchristian life, and it is hard to know sometimes how far we may go. It\nis no easy matter to tread in the apostle\u2019s steps, to become all things\nto all men, and yet be true to Christ. In the general, let this be our\ngreat rule, to act always with honest zeal for the glory of God, and see\nthat we please him in the first place; and then as _far as possible to\nplease all men, not seeking our own profit, but the profit of many, that\nthey may be saved_; 1 Cor. x. 31, 32, 33. And if while we endeavour to\nbe true to God, we should happen to be less complaisant to men, we shall\ncertainly find favour at the throne of God, and then we ought not to be\nover-solicitous whether men be pleased, or no.\n\nThus I have finished the first general head, which was to shew the\nextent and latitude of this virtue, or what is included in the nature of\nthis truth, which the apostle recommends to christians. It contains in\nit veracity or sincerity, faithfulness and constancy: And a lovely\ncharacter it is indeed, when it shines in its full glory.\n\nBut it is time now to enquire, which of us can say, \u201cThis character\nbelongs to me? Am I this true, this sincere, this faithful, this\nconstant christian? Am I always careful that my words are conformable to\nmy heart, and express the honest sense of my soul; Do I speak nothing\nbut what I believe to be true, and set a continual guard upon the door\nof my lips, lest they utter deceit and falsehood? Do I neither flatter\nmy neighbour, nor spread a false report of him? Am I watchful to make no\npromises, but what I mean sincerely to fulfil? And am I as careful to\nperform my vows and all my engagements? Am I sincere in the profession\nof godliness, and constant in my practice of it at all times and\ncircumstances, in all places and companies whatsoever?\u201d\n\nLet us ask our hearts again, \u201cWhile we have heard this discourse, how\nmany of us have sat here judging our neighbours, and not ourselves: Have\nwe been distributing abroad the shameful characters of insincerity,\nfalsehood, unfaithfulness, and inconstancy, among our acquaintance? Or\nhave we applied the words as a test to our own souls, as a trial of our\nchristianity? Have we taken a secret and malicious pleasure in fixing\nthese scandals upon others? Or have we begged of God to fix the\nconviction upon ourselves if we are guilty? And which of us can stand up\nand say in the face of heaven, We are innocent, entirely innocent of all\nthese charges?\u201d O may the blessed Spirit, the Convincer and the\nSanctifier, shew each of us our own concern in this sermon, awaken each\nof us to a sense of our own iniquities, and by his almighty grace work\nin us repentance, and restore us to truth and holiness!\n\n\n\n\n SERMON XXI.\n _Christian Morality_, _viz._ _Truth, Sincerity, &c._\n PHILIP. iv. 8.\u2014Whatsoever things are true,\u2014think on these things.\n\n\nTruth is a name of wide extent. It includes in it the blessings of the\nhead and the heart. Happy the man whose head is furnished with a large\nknowledge of divine and human truth, and so far delivered from mistakes\nand errors, as to lay a foundation for wisdom and holiness! But all the\nfurniture of the head is not sufficient to make us truly wise and holy,\nwithout the honesty and integrity of the heart. Truth demands a room and\nplace there also: And this is the truth which my text recommends.\n\nThe first thing I proposed, was to shew the latitude and extent of this\nduty\u2014and I have described it as consisting in these three things; 1.\nVeracity, which is, when our words are conformable to the sentiments of\nour mind. 2. Faithfulness, when our actions agree with our words. 3.\nConstancy, and that is when our practices are consistent with our pious\nprinciples, and the whole course of our life is of a piece, governed by\nthe same rules and dictates of morality and religion. Where these are\nwanting, that person is false, faithless, fickle, and inconstant, and\nacts neither agreeable to his nature as a man, nor to his character as a\nchristian.\n\nThe second thing I designed to shew, was that the light of nature\ndictates and requires the practice of this virtue: And it will appear,\nif we consider our relation either to God or man.\n\nI. If we consider our natural relation to God, both as our Creator or\nFather, and as our Lord or Governor.\n\nConsider him as our Father, the Author of our being. Truth and\nfaithfulness are the attributes of his nature, and the necessary\ncharacters of his conduct toward his creatures; and many of the heathens\ncould tell us, that a likeness to God the Father of our spirits, in such\nmoral perfections of his nature, is the duty and glory of mankind. We\nare his offspring, saith Aratus, a heathen poet; Acts xvii. 28. and\nchildren should be like their divine Parent.\n\nThe light of nature tells us, that he is not only our Creator, and our\nFather in this sense, but he is our Lord and Governor also. And he has\nknowledge, and he has power to answer and fulfil this high character and\nstation. The great God who looks into our hearts, who sees our souls\nthrough and through, he knows what our inward sentiments are while the\nfalsehood is on our lips; he remembers what our engagements and\ncontracts are while we renounce and break them; he hates deceit, lying,\nand falsehood; and all the civilized nations have ever supposed that he\nwill avenge it with peculiar judgments.\n\nIt is upon this supposition of an all-knowing and avenging power, that\noaths are administered in all countries which are reformed from utter\nbarbarity. An oath is appointed to be the confirmation of truth in what\nwe say or do. Therein God himself, with all his knowledge, his power and\nhis terrors, is called upon to bear witness to what we speak, and to be\nan avenger of perjury and falsehood. Surely we might venture to say,\nthat a day will come when the great and holy God will shew himself\nterrible to liars and deceivers, if we had nothing but the light of\nnature to tell us so.\n\nII. If we consider our relation to mankind, truth will appear to be a\nnecessary duty. Man is a sociable creature, he is made to love society;\nbut no society can be maintained without truth: All falsehood therefore\nis inconsistent with the social nature of mankind, and consequently it\nbecomes contrary to the law and light of nature. Without truth we should\nall become deceivers to one another, every man a liar to his neighbour.\nNo contracts would be of any force; no commerce could be maintained;\nnone of us would he able to trust another, nor could we live safe by\nthose that dwell nearest to us.\n\nHe that indulges himself in lying, takes away his own credit, and gives\nsufficient occasion for his neighbour not to believe him, even when he\nhappens to speak the truth; for a man that will lie and deceive\nsometimes, how can we tell that he is not dealing deceitfully with us,\neven when he professes to be most faithful and true? And children should\ntake notice of this, that if once they indulge the sin of lying, there\nis nobody will ever believe what they say.\n\nA liar is such an abandoned character amongst mankind, that though there\nare too many who deserve the name, yet every one is ashamed of it. It is\nesteemed a reproach of so heinous and hateful a nature for a man to be\ncalled a liar, that sometimes the life and the blood of the slanderer\nhas paid for it. The very nature of man resents it highly, for it\nimplies in it, that a man guilty of this vice deserves to be cut off\nfrom all society with mankind, and to be thrust out of cities and\nfamilies like a beast of the earth.\n\nThe same thing may be said of an unfaithful man, a man who makes\npromises, contracts, and agreements, and takes no care to perform them.\nAll commerce and traffic is confounded, and the laws of it dissolved, by\na person of this shameful conduct. He that loses his credit and honour\nby this sort of falsehood, cuts himself off from many of the blessings\nof civil society, and stands as it were excommunicated from the\nfriendship, the company, and commerce of his neighbours among whom he\ndwells. His character becomes hateful among men, and his name is a word\nof scandal and infamy. But where a man is true to his word, and punctual\nin all his correspondencies, how fair is his reputation! How honourable\nis his name! And he stands entitled to all the blessings of the society\nwhere he resides.\n\nI might borrow arguments also from the light of nature, to shew what an\nexcellent virtue is that of constancy; how useful in the whole course of\nlife; how honourable a name does it gain a man in the world! With what a\nhappy regularity his affairs proceed, both in his household and in his\nshop, or business of life! He maintains a sacred and steady peace of\nmind, and all men bless him: but the character of a fickle, wavering,\ninconstant man, is always mean and contemptible: he is compared to a\nweather-cock, that is blown about by every wind: and his name is thus\nexalted, or stuck on high, there to become a more public mark of jest\nand ridicule.\n\nThe third thing I proposed, is to consider what are those additional\narguments that might be drawn from the gospel for the practice of this\ntruth and sincerity, this faithfulness and constancy: For the gospel\ndoth not only confirm all the duties of morality that the light of\nnature dictates, and establish all the reasons of them that the light of\nnature more feebly proposes, but it adds also many arguments and motives\nto enforce the same virtuous practices, which the mere light of nature\nknows nothing of; and I shall represent all these advantages of the\ngospel here. But I will not overload your memory with particulars, and\ntherefore I shall speak them more generally, and heap them together; and\nmay your souls and mine feel the united force of them!\n\nIt is a gospel of truth we profess, even the eternal truth of God\nrevealed to men concerning our salvation and his glory. There are a\nmultitude of scriptures where the gospel itself is called the truth, and\nthe word of truth; and it is a most inconsistent thing for the\nprofessors of this gospel to be guilty of falsehood.\n\nGod the Father is the God of truth: and never did he give so glorious a\ndemonstration of the sincerity of his love, of the faithfulness of his\npromises, and of the constancy of his compassionate design to man, as in\nsending his own Son into the world, according to his ancient prophecies\nof a thousand years, and bestowing upon us Jesus the Saviour.\n\nJesus Christ, by whose name we are called, _he is the true and faithful\nwitness_; Rev. iii. 14. _Truth, and grace_, and peace, _came by him_;\nJohn i. 17. He is called the truth; John xiv. 6. He came down to _bring\nlife and immortality to light by his gospel_; he came to tell us, and he\nwell knew, that in _his Father\u2019s house were many mansions; and if it\nwere not so, says he, I would have told you_: But it is not my business\nto be a deceiver to men: Therefore all the life, light, and immortality\nthat I have discovered to you in my preaching, it is all sincere, it is\nall real. When you enter into the other world, trusting my promises, you\nwill find all my words fulfilled. I would not have raised your\nexpectations, if it had been otherwise.\n\nAgain, _the Holy Spirit is a Spirit of truth_; it is he that _guides us\ninto all truth_; John xvi. 13. And the name of this Father, and this\nSon, and this Holy Spirit, is called upon us in our first admission to\nchristianity. So that we wear the name of the God of truth upon us, and\nshall we indulge temptations to falsehood? Shall we practise deceit, who\nprofess a gospel of such truth, and upon whom the name of the Father,\nthe Son, and the Holy Ghost, the name of the God of truth is pronounced\nin baptism?\n\nGod is sincere in his revelations of grace, and discoveries of his\npardoning mercy; for he sent his own Son to die for us, and this is a\nproof of his sincerity in his designs of love. Let us then be sincere in\nlove to our God, to our fellow-creatures, and fellow-christians. Jesus\nChrist is sincere in the profession of his love, and he hath given us an\ninfallible pledge of it, for he hath given his life for us. _Greater\nlove hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his\nfriends_; John xv. 13. But he hath laid down his life for enemies, and\ntherefore he hath magnified his love, and divinely demonstrated it to be\nsincere and true, beyond all possibility of jealousies and exceptions.\n\nGod is faithful to all the promises of his gospel; _all his ways are\nmercy and truth to his people: He is a God keeping covenant through all\ngenerations._ This is the illustrious title that he assumes to himself,\nand glories in: And this is the name by which the ancient saints have\ndelighted to make their addresses to him. These heavens shall be\ndissolved and perish in the flame, and this earth become a smoking\ncinder; \u201cheaven and earth shall pass away, but the word of the Lord and\nhis truth abide for ever; not one jot or tittle of them shall perish,\nbut all shall be fulfilled.\u201d\n\n\u201cBy two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie;\u201d\nthat is, his oath and his promise, he hath established his covenant of\ngrace, \u201cthat the heirs of salvation, might have strong consolation;\u201d\nHeb. vi. 18. Hereby it comes to pass that we have a sure hope of eternal\nlife; for \u201cGod that cannot lie hath promised it to us in Christ Jesus\nbefore the world began;\u201d Tit. i. 2. and 2 Tim. i. 9. And though it was\nso long ago since the first promise was made, the first promise made to\nChrist before the foundations of the world, and the first promise made\nto fallen Adam a little after the foundations of the world were laid;\nyet our God hath not forgotten his promises and his covenant; he remains\nstill faithful to fulfil every word of grace \u201cthat is gone is out of his\nlips;\u201d Ps. lxxxix. 33, 34. And should not this oblige us to like\nfaithfulness to our fellow-creatures, since God, who is so infinitely\nour superior, is pleased thus to bind himself by promises, and thus to\nfulfil them.\n\nThe constancy and immutability of God in his designs of mercy to\nsinners, should influence us to the practice of the same constancy of\nspirit in our professions of his gospel. God acts always like himself,\nconformable to the glory, and holiness, and dignity of his nature, so\nshould we, who are the sons and daughters of the most high and holy God.\nHe is uniform in his counsels and methods of grace and peace, he is\nunchangeable in his love, and always the same: \u201cAnd Jesus Christ is the\nsame yesterday, to-day, and for ever;\u201d constant to himself, and\nconsistent with himself in all the purposes of his mercy, and in all the\nprosecutions of those divine and eternal purposes in heaven and on\nearth. No alteration of circumstances, no change of place, from a cross\non earth to a throne in heaven, can change his compassion and love to\nhis saints. And shall we suffer our petty changes here on earth, from a\nhigher to a lower part of a little mole-hill, to make such a shameful\nalteration in our conduct to our friends, as too often endangers our\ntruth, and discovers our inconstancy?\n\nLet us consider that by our profession of christianity we renounce\ndeceit and falsehood, and all the hidden things of darkness: We are\n_children of the light_, then let us _walk in the light and do the\ntruth_, and let our _deeds be made manifest, that they are wrought in\nGod_; that is, in the faith and fear of God; John iii. 21. Why should a\nchristian be a deceiver, when he bears the name of Christ the faithful\nand true? How inconsistent a character is it for a christian to be a\nliar? For a christian to be false, and violate and break his word? How\ndishonourable is it to the holy name we bear?\n\nLet the children of Satan, who is a liar from the beginning, delight\nthemselves in falsehood, and sport themselves in their own deceivings:\nLet those who renounce all hope in the promises of God, imitate the\ndevil, who is the father of lies: But let us who trust in the God of\ntruth, who believe in Jesus the Saviour, and make his truth our hope,\nlet us imitate our heavenly Father and our blessed Lord. Let us speak\nthe truth and practise it. It was by a lie of the devil that our first\nparents were deceived and ruined: All our sin and misery sprung from\nthat falsehood, _Ye shall not surely die_. And it is by our faith in the\ntruth and promise of God that we hope for salvation. While we therefore\nremember either the spring of our ruin, or the means of our recovery, we\nshould love the truth, and hate lying.\n\nBut there are motives of terror, as well as arguments of grace and love,\nthat should ever influence us to sincerity and truth. We should remember\nthat Christ our Lord has _eyes like a flame of fire, that he searches\nthe hearts and the reins, and will render to every one according to\ntheir works_; Rev. ii. 23. We should remember the dreadful threatenings\nthat Christ the faithful and true Witness, Christ the Lord and Judge of\nall men, hath denounced against hypocrites. You scarce find him\npreaching a sermon of any length, but he has one or more woes in it\nready for those that practise hypocrisy.\n\nThere is no sort of sinners that he treats with such infamous names, and\nsuch killing reproaches as he does the hypocrite. They resemble the old\nserpent, the devil, in subtlety and falsehood, and therefore the\nlanguage of Christ to them runs in this manner; Ye Jews, who are false\nto the inward conviction of your own consciences, _ye are of your\nfather, the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do: He was a\nmurderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there\nis no truth in him.\u2014When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own; for\nhe is a liar and the father of it_; John viii. 44. It is as if our Lord\nhad said, \u201cThe first lie that ever was made, was made by the devil; and\nby his telling a lie, and our mother Eve\u2019s believing it, he murdered\nmankind in Adam their head. And yet you false Jews would imitate him,\nand make him your father.\u201d And again, _Woe unto you scribes and\npharisees, hypocrites,\u2014ye serpents, ye generation of vipers_, sons of\nthe old serpent, _how can ye escape the damnation of hell_; Mat. xxiii.\n29, 33. Your eternal punishment is most just and unavoidable.\n\nIn another of his discourses he makes the punishment of hypocrites to\nbe, as it were, the pattern of the punishment of the worst of\nwickedness. The _servant_ who is intrusted with the household of his\nLord, that shall _beat his fellows_, and _shall eat and drink with the\ndrunken, his Lord shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion\nwith the hypocrite; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth_; Mat.\nxxiv. 51. And when you read the black catalogue of sinners, who are\ndoomed to everlasting destruction; Rev. xxi. 8. the name of liars is put\nin with a peculiar remark, _the unbelievers, the murderers, the\nwhoremongers, the sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their\npart in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the\nsecond death_. As if he had said, whosoever escapes hell, no liar shall\nescape it, and it is repeated again in the next chapter, _Without the\ngates of_ heaven _are dogs, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever\nloveth and maketh a lie_; Rev. xxii. 15.\n\nWhensoever therefore we find a temptation to falsehood, let us set\nourselves under the immediate eye of God our Judge, God _who shall bring\nto light the hidden things of darkness, and shall judge the secrets of\nevery heart one day by Jesus Christ our Lord_; 1 Cor. iv. 5. Rom. ii.\n16. If we did but always place ourselves as in the sight of the great\nand dreadful God, whose eye beholds every falsehood we practise, and all\nthe hidden hypocrisy, the lurking deceit of the soul, whose ear attends\nto every word of falsehood we speak, and records it all in his book\nagainst that great and terrible day of account; surely we should find a\nmore effectual influence of it upon our spirits, to guard us from such\nwords and actions as are inconsistent with the sincerity of a christian.\n\nAnd let our hearts be melted into repentance for our past iniquities of\nthis kind, and moulded into the love of truth by a delightful meditation\nof the faithfulness of our Lord Jesus Christ to us, in performing his\nkind and dreadful undertaking to suffer for our sins. Let us dwell upon\nthe thoughts of his faithfulness to all his promises, and think thus\nwith ourselves, that he has engaged us to truth of every kind by the\nstrongest bonds of duty and love: And if we are false and unfaithful to\nhim in this world, how justly may he cut us off from all our glorious\nhopes and expectations in the world which is to come.\n\nBut this leads me to the fourth general head that I proposed; which was\nto lay down some directions how christians may be preserved in the ways\nof truth, how they may secure and maintain this blessed character of\nintegrity and uprightness which I have described. And I think this may\nbe better performed by distinguishing truth, or integrity, into those\nthree distinct parts, under which I treated of it before, namely,\nveracity, faithfulness, and constancy, and by giving some rules for the\npreservation of each.\n\nThe rules to preserve veracity, or to keep our words conformable to our\nhearts, are such as these:\n\nI. Be persuaded in your own minds, that no circumstances whatsoever can\nmake a lie lawful. Though when a question is asked, there are many cases\nwherein it may be lawful to turn the discourse aside, to wave a direct\nanswer, to be entirely silent; or in some circumstances it may be both\nlawful, prudent, and proper, to conceal a part of the truth, as I hinted\nin the former sermon; yet in my opinion it is neither prudent, proper\nnor lawful, to speak a falsehood to deceive my neighbour. The whole\ntruth may not always be necessary to be spoken to men; but such\nfalsehood is always a sin in the sight of God. All lying is utterly\nforbidden; and the true meaning of a lie is, when we speak that which we\nbelieve to be false, with a design to deceive the person to whom we\nspeak.\n\nHere may arise two questions:\u2014I. If I have a good and valuable end in\nspeaking, and my design is to serve the glory of God, or the good of my\nneighbour, may I not then use the art of lying, or speak a known\nfalsehood without sin?\u20142. Surely there are some sort of persons who have\nno right to truth, such as children, common liars, knaves or cheats; may\nwe not therefore deceive them by direct falsehoods, either for their\ngood, or for our own?\n\nThese are enquiries of very great importance to the honour of truth, to\nthe satisfaction of conscience, and to the welfare of mankind: And it is\nmy present opinion (and I think there is good reason for it) that none\nof these cases can make an express and deceitful falsehood to be lawful,\nor change the nature of a lie, and make it innocent; but to debate these\ntwo cases as largely as they deserve, would too much incumber the\npresent discourse; I leave them therefore to be read with an honest and\nserious mind, as an Appendix to these sermons of truth, and so proceed\nto the next direction, how to preserve our veracity.\n\nII. The second rule to preserve veracity is this; accustom yourselves to\na sober, modest way of speaking, avoid all those methods of speech that\nborder upon falsehood. I shall mention a few of them, to give sufficient\nnotice of what I mean.\n\nSome persons affect to be certain of every thing they speak, and\npronounce all that they say with the highest assurance. If they are\nrelating matters of fact, which they only learn by report, they tell you\nevery circumstance without the least hesitation, and endeavour even in a\ndubious matter to make the hearer believe it with the highest\nconfidence: They are never in the wrong, never doubtful, whether they\nare in the right no. If they are declaring their own sentiments of the\nmost difficult subject, it is always as clear to them as the light, they\nare always as positive as if it were divinely revealed, and written in\nthe most express words of scripture.\n\nNow such sort of speakers will often find they have been mistaken; and\nif they have modesty enough to retract their words, it is well: but for\nthe most part they refuse conviction, and often persist to maintain\ntheir own error, even almost against their own consciences. In short, it\nappears to me, that a man who dares frequently to assert doubtful\nmatters with the most positive air of assurance, has not so much\ntenderness about his heart, and such a religious fear of lying, as a\ngood christian ought to have.\n\nThere are others again that affect to tell you nothing that is common,\nbut would always surprize the company with strange things and prodigies,\nand all this out of the pride of their hearts, and an ambition to have\ntheir own stories applauded and admired by all that hear them. This sort\nof affectation oftentimes betrays a person into falsehood, and secretly\nand insensibly allures him to say things that are neither credible nor\ntrue. Sailors and travellers should set a special guard upon themselves\nin this respect.\n\nThere are a third sort of talkers, that when they discourse of common\nthings, are ever expressing them in exalted and superlative language. If\nthey speak of any thing small, it is prodigiously small; if they speak\nof any thing great, it is incomparably great. If they name a man of\nwisdom, he is the wisest man in the world; or a woman of piety, she is\nthe only saint in the nation. An imprudent man with them is the greatest\nfool in nature; and a little disappointing accident in life, is an\nintolerable vexation. If they happen to hear a good sermon, the preacher\nwas inspired, not an angel could exceed him: If it was a mean discourse,\nthe wretch had not a grain of sense and learning. Every opinion they\nhold is divine and fundamental: All their own sentiments, even in lesser\nmatters, are the very sense of Christ and his apostles, and all that\noppose them are guilty of heresy or nonsense. Now persons who have\naccustomed their tongues to this language in common discourse, seem to\nwant that due caution which the strict rules of godliness may seem to\nrequire, and make a little too free with truth. Either their thoughts\nare very injudicious, if they can believe what they say; or if they do\nnot believe it, they should make their words agree better with their\nthoughts.\n\nBut besides the approaches to falsehood in this manner of conversation,\nthere is something in it that is very vain, and almost ridiculous.\nMethinks such an extravagant talker is something like a man that walks\nupon stilts through the open street, or like one who wears a coat much\nlonger than his neighbours; and how tall soever they may think\nthemselves, the world will be ready to call one of them a child, and the\nother an idiot.\n\nObjection. But are there not a multitude of such expressions in\nscripture in the books of Job, and the Psalms, and the Prophets, wherein\neven the more plain or common occurrences of life are dressed up in very\nmagnificent language, and in expressions that far exceed the truth of\nthings? Does not David, in his elegy upon Saul and Jonathan, say, _they\nwere swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions_? 2 Sam. i. 23.\nAnd even in St. John\u2019s history of the life and death of Christ, does he\nnot suppose, _that if all things which Jesus did were written, even the\nworld itself could not contain the books_? John xxi. 25.\n\nAnswer. It is the natural language of poetry and prophecy, and the\ncustom of the eastern nations, to express things in a lofty and sublime\nmanner; so that there is no danger of being deceived by that language,\nwhen a prophet or a poet indulges such figures of speech. Now the books\nof Job and Psalms, and David\u2019s elegy, are so many Hebrew poems. The\nbusiness of oratory is a-kin to verse, and sometimes requires a\nfigurative style. But in familiar language and common discourse, it is\nnot the custom of mankind to use such extravagance of expression: The\nhearer is many times ready to be led into a mistake thereby, because he\nsupposes the speaker to mean plainly what he says. And I would not\nwillingly indulge a habit of expressing my thoughts in such a manner in\ncommon conversation, as should deceive my hearers, to humour a silly\naffectation.\n\nAs for the figure which St. John uses to represent the variety of useful\nthings which were said and done by our Saviour, it is such as can lead\nno man into a mistake, for none can believe it to be understood in a\nliteral sense. Besides, if one would indulge the most superlative\nexpressions and boldest figures that human language can furnish one\nwith, to set out the honours of any person on earth, there can be no\nsuch proper or deserving subject as Jesus Christ our Lord.\n\nIII. The third rule to preserve veracity is this, practise nothing which\nyou are ashamed of. Do nothing that you need be afraid of the ear of the\nworld: Walk carefully in the ways of virtue and duty: Fulfil your\nobligations to God and man to the utmost of your power: Venture upon no\npractice that needs a cover, a disguise, or an excuse; and then you will\nnot be so often under the temptation of lying.\n\nLet children remember this, and have a care of disobeying God, or their\nparents, even when they are alone; lest they be tempted to excuse their\nfaults by lying, which indeed does but enlarge and double them, rather\nthan diminish and excuse them. Let servants take notice of this, and pay\nall due honour and faithful obedience to their masters and governors? or\nelse the devil, and their own corrupt hearts, will frequently join\ntogether and help them to lie for the cover of their guilt. Let every\none that hears this discourse watch over all their actions, and confine\nthem within the rules of religion; otherwise their practice, which will\nnot bear the light, will put them under a temptation to hide it behind a\nrefuge of lies.\n\nAnd under this head I might particularly give this advice. Do not affect\na cunning way of life. Do not aim at the character of a subtle and\ncrafty man. Be not fond of being let into secrets, nor of engaging in\nintrigues of any sort. There are some tempers of mankind that are\nnaturally addicted to craft, and are ever seeking to outwit their\nneighbours: they seldom live upon the square, or walk onward in an open\npath; but are still doubling, and turning, and traversing their course.\nThey take a special pleasure in managing all their affairs with art and\nsubtilty, and call it necessary prudence. But if you would shew\nyourselves tender of the truth, and preserve it, let your course of life\nbe bold, and free, and open. There is much prudence to be used in our\ndaily conduct, without this crafty humour. The integrity of a man will\npreserve him, and keep his tongue from falsehood; whereas a man who is\nmuch engaged in crafty designs, will now and then be tempted to intrench\nupon truth, and come near the brink of lying, to carry on and cover all\nhis secret purposes.\n\nMethinks I could pity rather than envy the high station of courtiers.\nHow often they are constrained to put on disguise, to colour or to\nconceal their real designs! How near they walk to the borders of\nfalsehood, and tread hourly upon the very edge of a lie! David, the man\nafter God\u2019s own heart, while he kept his father\u2019s sheep, was more secure\nfrom this temptation; but when he became a courtier and a king, he was\noften exposed, and therefore he begs earnestly, that God would _remove\nfrom him the way of lying_; Ps. cxix. 29. He had felt the mischievous\ninfluence of this snare, and dreaded the pernicious power of it. To be\never practising the politician at home and abroad, is a constant snare\nto sincerity; and to live as a spy in a foreign court, may be a post of\nservice to our own nation; but it is exceeding dangerous to virtue and\ntruth.\n\nIV. Have a care of indulging any violent passion, for that will tempt\nthe tongue to fly out in extravagance of expression, and out-run the\nsettled judgment of the mind. Whether it be grief or impatience, or\nanger and resentment, it will engage the soul to form ideas far above\nand beyond the truth of things, and often arm the tongue with unruly\nexpressions, even beyond the sentiments of the heart. Strife and\ncontention, and noisy quarrels are very dangerous enemies to truth.\n\nAnd upon this account, above all things, I would warn young christians\nto avoid the excessive zeal of a party-spirit in the lesser differences\nof religion. There has been often a great deal of darkness, and fire, of\nrage, and deceit, and falsehood in such sort of quarrels as these. Men\nof natural warmth, animated by an honest zeal for God and religion,\ntaking it into their head, that every doctrine besides their own is\ndamnable heresy, and all forms of worship different from their own, are\nsuperstitious or schismatical, and abominable in the sight of God; they\nhave, under the influence of these principles, kindled their passions to\na flame: and to secure the reputation of their own party, or vindicate\nall their principles and practices, they have made shameful inroads upon\ntruth, even in relating matters of fact: and as Dr. Tillotson well\nexpresses it, that the zealots of all parties have got a scurvy trick of\nlying for the truth; though he confesses he has never observed any that\nwould be so very fond of a false report, or hug and caress a lie as the\npapists have done. And I wish no protestant had ever followed their\nexample.\n\nI should proceed now to lay down rules how persons may best preserve\ntheir faithfulness to vows or engagements of any kind. But this may be\nreserved to the next discourse.\n\n\n HYMN FOR SERMONS XX AND XXI.\n _Christian Morality_, _viz._ _Truth, Sincerity, &c._\n\n\n Let those who bear the christian name\n Their holy vows fulfil:\n The saints, the followers of the Lamb,\n Are men of honour still.\n\n True to the solemn oaths they take,\n Though to their hurt they swear;\n Constant and just to all they speak,\n For God and angels hear.\n\n Still with their lips their hearts agree,\n Nor flattering words devise;\n They know the God of truth can see\n Through every false disguise.\n\n They hate th\u2019 appearance of a lie,\n In all the shapes it wears;\n Firm to the truth: and when they die,\n Eternal life is theirs.\n\n Lo! from afar the Lord descends,\n And brings the judgment down;\n He bids his saints, his faithful friends,\n Rise and possess their crown.\n\n While Satan trembles at the sight,\n And devils wish to die,\n Where will the faithless hypocrite,\n And guilty liar fly?\n\n\n\n\n SERMON XXII.\n _Christian Morality_, _viz._ _Truth, Sincerity, &c._\n PHILIP. iv. 8.\u2014Whatsoever things are true,\u2014\u2014think on these things.\n\n\nWhen we are ever so well informed in the nature of our duty, we still\nwant arguments to make our consciences feel the obligation. Flesh and\nblood are frail and sinful; grace is feeble and imperfect in the present\nstate; temptations surround us in this lower world, and are ever ready\nto allure or affright us from the paths of holiness: we have need\ntherefore of powerful motives to enforce every duty upon our practice.\n\nIn the first discourse on this subject, we have heard the nature and\nextent of that truth or sincerity which the gospel requires. In the\nsecond we have considered what obligations are discovered by the light\nof nature to be faithful, upright and constant in our words and our\nways; and what additional motives the religion of Christ has furnished\nus with, to practise the same virtues; and may the good spirit of God\nmake our souls feel the power of them! But nature is dark, as well as\nfeeble. We are unskilful in the matters of holiness, and know not how to\nsecure our virtue, and to guard ourselves from temptation to the\ncontrary vice, unless we are informed by particular directions. I begun\nthis work at the end of the last discourse. And as truth was divided\ninto three parts, _viz._ veracity, faithfulness, and constancy; so I\nproposed to give special rules for the preservation of each of them.\n\nThe directions to preserve our veracity, were these:\n\n1. Be well persuaded in your minds, that a known and wilful lie is\nutterly unlawful: Let your heart be established in this doctrine; for a\nslight conviction may be easily overcome by some advantageous\ncircumstances, and the temptation will soon prevail.\u20142. Be sober,\nmodest, and cautious in the manner of your speech, and do not allow\nyourself in those ways of expression which border upon lying; for if you\noften accustom your tongue to venture near a lie, you will be in danger\nsometimes of falling into it.\u20143. Take care to do nothing that you need\nto be ashamed of, that so you may not be under the temptation of a lie\nto cover or excuse it.\u20144. Watch against the violence of any passion; for\nthis will sorely endanger the veracity of your lips. Passion will carry\nyour judgment beyond the truth of things, and then it will soon awaken\nyour tongue to an extravagance of language, even beyond the present\nirregular judgment of the mind.\n\nI persuaded you there to beware of blind and fiery zeal, and more\nespecially in matters of small importance, lest you should be tempted to\ntell lies for a pretended defence of the truth. The pious frauds, as\nthey are called, or the religious cheats that have been practised in\nchristendom in all ages, have brought much dishonour to the gospel of\nChrist.\n\nThe second part of truth is faithfulness, to our vows, promises, and\nsolemn resolutions. This is a conformity of our deeds to our words, as\nthe former was a conformity of our words to our thoughts. And I come now\nto lay down some rules how we may secure our faithfulness, and maintain\nour conscience and conversation free from guilt or blame in this respect\nalso.\n\nI. Be very cautious in all the promises, vows and obligations, under\nwhich you lay yourself. Use a pious prudence in this matter, and it will\nbe more easy to you to perform them. Do not multiply needless bonds upon\nyour souls. The more care you take before you utter any thing with your\nlips, you will be more secure of fulfilling what your lips pronounce. In\nthe case of vows, there is no inconvenience of solemn engagements to God\nto do what his law hath made your duty before. And this was the custom\nof the primitive christians, as Pliny, a heathen, acquaints us, that\nthey made vows, and swore in their secret meetings, not to commit\nmurder, or theft, or adultery, or indulge vicious courses. It is good to\nremind ourselves of what God requires, and establish all our obligations\nto the general practice of holiness.\n\nBut you had need be well advised before you make vows in matters that\nare indifferent; for many times this has exposed persons to greater\nsnares and difficulties. They have hoped to restrain the violence of\nnatural appetites by means of their own devising; and thus they have\nbeen tempted to be unfaithful to God himself. The word of God gives us\nthis advice; Ec. v. 5, 6. _Better it is that thou shouldst not vow, than\nthat thou shouldst vow and not pay. Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy\nflesh to sin, neither say thou before the angel, it was an error.\nWherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the works of\nthine own hands?_ That is, \u201cDo not hastily engage thyself in vows, such\nas the weakness of flesh and blood will not suffer thee to perform: Nor\nthink of being absolved from thy own obligations in the presence of God,\nand his holy angels, by foolish excuses, and saying, It was a mistake;\nlest God, being angry and offended at thy broken vows, should bring a\ncurse upon thee and thy affairs.\u201d There is most abundant experience of\nthe folly and danger of needless vows in the church of Rome.\n\nIn the case of promises made to others, and public solemn resolutions,\nbe not too frequent in making of them. See that the reason of things,\nthe providence of God, and the circumstances of life, seem to call you\nto it before you engage, that so you may better maintain your\nfaithfulness, and turn your words into deeds. Why should you make chains\nto bind yourself, without necessity or reason? Why should you promise to\ndo this, or to go thither in a thoughtless or trifling way, and let your\ntongue put needless bonds and fetters on your hands and feet for time to\ncome? _My son, if thou art surety for a stranger_, or if thou make a\nbargain without discretion, or multiply promises without prudence, _thou\nart snared with the words of thy mouth_.\n\nThere are some persons who are very free of their promises upon all\noccasions; and often indulge this manner of speaking, \u201cI am resolved to\ndo such a thing to-day, or I will certainly go to such a place\nto-morrow,\u201d &c. Whereas sometimes they find the thing impracticable,\nsometimes it is inconsistent with their other duties of life, sometimes\nit lays them under great difficulties and inconveniences to fulfil such\nappointments, and often they forget them too, and so disappoint their\nfriends.\n\nBefore you tie yourselves by your solemn resolves and engagements, ask\nyour hearts, Is it possible to be done, Is it lawful? Is it convenient?\nIs it proper? Is it consistent with other promises? Is the thing which I\nwould promise due to my neighbour upon principles of honour, virtue,\ngratitude, religion? Is it necessary at all, and is it necessary at this\ntime? Methinks I would have no promise made, but what should be kept;\nand therefore I would set all these guards around my lips. Experience of\nhuman affairs will teach us the use of these prudential rules, if we\ncannot learn them without it. A watchful caution in all such sort of\nlanguage, as lays us under any engagements to future practices, is of\nnecessary use to secure our faithfulness, and to maintain our truth with\nhonour.\n\nBesides, I might add also, that we should bring in something of God and\npiety into the common engagements of life; and this would preserve a\ngreater guard upon our tongues, _Go to now, ye that say, to-day or\nto-morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and\nbuy and sell, and get gain: whereas ye know not what shall be on the\nmorrow;\u2014for that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and\ndo this, or that_; James iv. 13, &c.\n\nIf therefore we would secure our faithfulness as well as our veracity,\nit is necessary to learn a modest and cautious way of speaking and\naccustom our tongues to practise it. When we are relating any thing past\nor present, the words, I think, I suppose, it is my opinion, are very\nproper where the case has any thing doubtful in it: So when we engage\nourselves to do any thing for time to come, I intend, I design, I hope,\nI will endeavour, are more cautious methods of speech, and very proper\nupon most occasions of life, except where the circumstances require a\nmore express promise, whereby we bind all our faithfulness to the\nperformance.\n\nII. I would add another rule in the case of vows and promises, which\ncannot but have some force toward the preservation of truth. Think\nsolemnly with yourself, how miserable and abandoned a creature you must\nbe, if neither God nor man should fulfil any of their promises or\nengagements to you, and thereby you should awaken your soul and all your\npowers to perform your obligations to them. What if your governors\nshould break their engagements to defend and protect you? What if your\nparents and your friends should refuse to help and assist, to feed, or\nclothe, or comfort you? What if your debtors should refuse to pay what\nthey owe you? and your servants deny you their obedience and help in a\nmost necessary hour? What if your neighbours should disappoint you in\nall the agreements and promises they make? What if the great and blessed\nGod should seize all your forfeited mercies, because of your\nunfaithfulness to him, and perform none of the promises of his word\nwhich regard this life, or the life to come? What a load of calamities\nwould at once come upon you, and overwhelm you in soul and body! You\nwould fall under universal distress and wretchedness in this world, and\nhave no hope for eternity; and yet if you are careless to fulfil your\ncovenants, or wilfully break your engagements, why should you expect\nthat God should fulfil any on his side? Or why should his kind\nprovidence incline any creature to fulfil any on their side?\n\n\u201cO blessed and holy God, how false have we been to thee! How fickle! How\nunfaithful! How often have we broken the solemn engagements under which\nwe have laid ourselves to thy majesty! Our comforts are all forfeited\ninto thy hands, and yet we have food and clothing given us; the mercies\nof the night and the day are continued to us; thy compassions are\nrenewed every morning, and in the evening thy faithfulness is glorified.\nWe are ready to charge our fellow-creatures with unfaithfulness, and\nreproach their breach of promise, when we ourselves perhaps have been\nthe unfaithful dealers, and have broken all those engagements and bonds\nof kindness or duty which are the foundation of their promises. We\nseldom or never think of our own unfaithfulness to them or to thee, but\ndelight ourselves in accusations, while thou delightest in forgiveness.\nO how often hast thou pardoned our broken vows, and hast been slow to\nanger! But we though we are wretchedly unfaithful ourselves, yet are\nslow and backward to forgive. We have been guilty of many failures in\nthy covenant, and our everlasting hopes had been utterly lost, if thy\ncovenant had not stood firmer on thy side than it has on ours. Blessed\nbe the name of Jesus, our glorious Surety, our Advocate at thy\nright-hand, to whom thy promises were first given! He has fulfilled all\nhis sacred engagements: Thy faithfulness to him can never fail: in him\nare all our hopes established; by his grace we are kept from an utter\nrenouncing of thy covenant, though we have so often wretchedly failed in\nthe performance of it. Glory, honour, and praise be given to a faithful\nGod, to a kind and faithful Mediator.\u201d\n\nI come now to propose a rule or two for the preservation of our\nconstancy, which is the third part of truth or integrity; and to give\nsome directions how we may keep the whole course of our life consistent\nwith itself, and agreeable to our profession.\n\nI. Fix your great and general end, your chief and everlasting design,\nand keep it ever in your eye: then you will certainly be more regular\nand uniform in all your particular practices. Set your face towards\nheaven betimes. Let it be the most solemn and unalterable business of\nyour lives to please God on earth, in order to enjoy him in heaven, and\nthen you will not be easily tempted aside by the flatteries or the\nterrors of this world, to go astray and wander in the paths that lead to\nhell. Give yourselves up to Christ both in secret and in public. Devote\nyourselves to him, to his fear, and love, and service, in your private\nretirements, and solemnize your obligations to him among the churches of\nhis saints. See that you are an inward christian, and declare to the\nworld, that you are a follower of Christ. Mix with the sheep of his\nflock, and you will find many advantages thereby to secure your truth\nand constancy. When a temptation comes to make you act like the sinners\nof this world, tell the world, and tell your own heart, that you are a\nchristian, and you must pursue heaven.\n\nII. Get above the fear of the world, and the shame of professing strict\ngodliness. It is sinful shame, or sinful fear, that has a thousand times\ntempted the professors of the name of Christ, to be false to their\nprofession, to act unbecoming their character, and inconsistent with\nchristianity. It is from a certain feebleness and cowardice of soul that\nthey desire, at any cost, to keep well with all men, and are afraid,\nsorely afraid, to be out of the fashion, or unconformable to this world:\ntherefore they venture upon some practice in company, that their hearts\nwould abhor, if they were alone: Therefore they indulge many sinful\ncompliances; sometimes they countenance the lewd and the profane, they\njoin in a jest upon things sacred, they make the ministers of Christ\ntheir objects of ridicule; and sometimes they fall into sensuality,\nluxury, and excess, because they must do as their company does, and have\nnot courage enough to refuse.\n\nIf we would be true to Christ, we must live above the world, and be dead\nto all its threatenings and reproaches. If we are afraid of being\nthought truly religious, we shall not be able to maintain religion in\nthe truth of it. There needs a sacred courage to be constant in the\nfaith. We must learn to _endure hardship as good soldiers of Christ_, if\nwe would be true to the _Captain of our salvation_. All that belong to\nhis army are _chosen_ and _faithful_; Rev. xvii. 14. It is a coward that\nchanges his side as oft as the enemy makes a flourish, and he lists\nhimself under every banner: But the constant christian is a soldier\n_faithful to the death, and he shall receive the crown of life_; Rev.\nii. 10.\n\nIII. Never venture into the world without having solemnly committed\nyourself to the grace of Christ. Trust your soul afresh in the hands of\nJesus every morning, that he may keep you true to himself all the day.\nAll the divine motives you have learned, and all the solemn engagements\nunder which you lay your own souls, will prove but a weak defence to\nvirtue without faith and prayer. Commit yourselves to him who is able to\nkeep you from falling, and to present you faultless. Your hearts, your\nlips, and your lives must be in his keeping, if you would have them true\nto God or man. Your adversary the devil is watchful and busy with all\nhis wiles to tempt you to falsehood and inconstancy; none but he who has\nconquered the devil can be your sufficient guardian. And when and\nwheresoever we find frailty and folly in ourselves, O may the strength\nof Christ appear in our weakness, and be glorified in our preservation!\n\nThus I have finished all that I proposed concerning the first duty\nrecommended in my text, Whatsoever things are true\u2014think on these\nthings.\n\nThere may be perhaps some other instances wherein this divine character\nof truth, uprightness, or integrity, ought to appear in the conduct of\nchristians which do not so directly and immediately fall under the\ngeneral heads which I have before named: But they may be easily reduced\nto one or another of them. There are various other methods of deceit and\nfalsehood practised in the world, which break in upon this sacred\ncharacter of truth, which I have not expressly mentioned before; such as\nsubscribing with the hand to testify our assent to opinions, which we do\nnot believe; counterfeiting the names or writings of other persons\nwithout their knowledge, consent, or approbation; adding or blotting out\nany thing from divine writings; or doing the same to the writings or men\nin civil affairs or contracts, whereby one party or another may receive\ndamage; practising fraud or deceit, or any criminal concealment in\nmatters of traffic, or in matters of trust; and, in general, forgery and\nknavery of all kinds whatsoever: some of these may, by natural and easy\nconsequences, be reduced to the heads I have spoken of, and are\neffectually precluded by the large description of moral truth, which I\nhave given: Others of them fall as naturally under the general head of\njustice and injustice, which will be the subject of one of the following\ndiscourses.\n\n\n AN APPENDIX\n_To the three foregoing Sermons, wherein two important Questions about_\n TRUTH _and_ LYING, _are debated at large_.\n\n\nQuestion I. If I have a good and valuable end in speaking, and my design\nis to serve the glory of God, or the good of my neighbour, may I not\nthen use the art of lying, or speak a known falsehood, without sin? Did\nnot Rahab the harlot practise this; Josh. ii. 4, 5. when she hid the\nspies of Israel, and told the messengers of the king of Jericho, that\nshe knew not whence they came, nor whither they went? And yet she is\ncommended by the apostle Paul; Heb. xi. 31. That _by faith the harlot\nRahab perished not with unbelievers, when she received the spies in\npeace_.\n\nAnswer I. When any action, considered in itself, is utterly unlawful, it\nis not possible that the goodness of the end or design, can so change\nthe law of God, or alter the nature of things, as to make that action\nlawful. The apostle Paul brings the same objection; Rom. iii. 7. _If the\ntruth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory, why am I\njudged as a sinner?_ But in the next verse, he speaks of it with\nindignation, as a heinous slander cast upon him, that he should maintain\nthis pernicious doctrine, _Let us do evil that good may come_: And he\nadds concerning these slanderers, or concerning those who hold this\ndoctrine of doing evil with a good design, that _their damnation is\njust_; ver. 8.\n\nAnswer II. The case of Rahab is easily adjusted in this manner, without\nallowing a lie to be lawful: Rahab, though she was a woman of evil fame\nin Jericho, yet had heard of the promise of God to Israel, to establish\nthem in the land of Canaan; she believed this promise, and under the\ninfluence of this faith she entertained the spies, and thereby assisted\nthe Israelites in the conquest of that city; so far her action is\napproved of God, and mentioned with honour: But she used a very sinful\nmethod in compassing this design, when she told a plain lie to the\nmessengers of the king. The timorousness of her temper was a sore\ntemptation to her; and though she fell into a criminal action, yet God\nso far excused the ill conduct, as to forgive the falsehood, and thereby\nput a more signal honour upon the eminence of her faith. Her name stands\ntherefore recorded with honour in scripture among believers. But the\nlie, though it was pardoned, remains still a blemish to her character.\n\nThere may be also a reason given why the scripture does not particularly\nmake any sharp remark upon this falsehood of Rahab: for the great degree\nof her ignorance does much lessen her fault, though not cancel it. A\nwoman of her character, living in a heathen country, may well be\nsupposed to have had little knowledge of the sinfulness of so beneficial\na lie as that was, and no scruple about it.\n\nBut it is by no means a sufficient justification of her conduct, that\nthe scripture does not directly censure her for lying; for there are\nmany actions recorded in scripture, both of saints and sinners, which\nare utterly unlawful in the sight of God, which yet have not an express\ncensure passed upon them. Rahab\u2019s being an harlot is not censured in any\npart of her history; nor Judah\u2019s defiling Tamar his daughter-in-law; nor\nJacob and Rebecca\u2019s complication of lies to gain the blessing; nor the\nmost express and wicked lie of the old prophet in Bethel, though it was\nthe cause of the death of another prophet; 1 Kings xiii. yet surely\nthese were crimes of heinous guilt. The plain commands or prohibitions\nof scripture are the rules to govern our practice: Nor can we fetch the\nlawfulness or unlawfulness of any matter of fact from the mere silence\nof the historical part of scripture about it.\n\nQuestion II. If there are some persons who have not a right to truth,\nmay we not lawfully speak falsehood to them? Now to prove that some have\nnot a right to truth, it is urged, that truth or veracity is a virtue or\nduty of the social life: But there are many questions may be asked in\nthe social life which the speaker has no right to be informed of, and\ntherefore he has no right to truth when they are answered; may we not\nthen answer them with falsehood? There are also some characters of\npersons who seem to have no part in the social life, as children who are\nnot capable of judging for themselves, nor acting regularly in society;\nmay we not speak a falsehood to them for their good? There are some who\npractise no social virtue, such as knaves and cheats, thieves, and\npilferers; surely these have no right to truth, who are ever dealing in\nfalsehood; and may we not cozen them who would cozen us? I will first\noffer two or three general answers to the question, and then descend to\nconsider the particular instances.\n\nAnswer I. Truth seems to be a matter of eternal right and unchangeable\nequity. And there are general and express commands given us in scripture\nto speak the truth, and there are as express prohibitions of falsehood\nand lies. Now if there were any such exceptions as these against the\ngeneral rule, I think God would have given us some plainer evidence of\nthese exceptions in so important a point as truth is, upon which the\nwelfare of mankind so necessarily depends: But I cannot find any such\nevident exceptions given in the whole word of God.\n\nAnswer II. When we say a person has no right to truth, it may signify\none of these two things:\n\n1. That he has no right to demand of me a direct answer to his enquiry:\nAnd I will readily grant it in this sense, there are thousands who have\nno right to the truth; and therefore I may wave the question, I may give\nthem an insufficient answer, or I may be silent, and boldly refuse to\ngive them any answer at all. But 2, If his having no right to truth, be\nintended to signify, that the character of his person, or the nature of\nhis question, is such as releases me from all obligation to truth in\nanswering him, and that therefore I may lawfully tell him a falsehood;\nthen I deny the propositions: For my obligation to speak truth doth not\nall depend on the nature of his question, nor doth it depend merely on\nthe character of the enquirer, but on the eternal rule of equity, and\nthe command of God. And I think this appears from hence, that though I\nwere alone, it would not be warrantable in me to assert with my lips a\nknown falsehood: and in this case the right or claim of man can have no\nplace nor consideration.\n\nAnswer III. If this exception be made to the plain law of God, that we\nmay speak a direct and express falsehood to any persons who in our\nesteem have no right to the truth in their enquiry; this seems to break\nall the bands of human society, violate all the faith of men, and render\nthe divine commands of veracity, and the prohibitions of falsehood\nalmost useless. The consciences of men would find a way of escape from\nthe greatest part of the bonds of duty, and yet think they committed no\nsin.\n\nFor let us consider, who it is that must judge whether the person to\nwhom we speak has a right to truth or no. Is it not the speaker himself\nwho will be the judge? Now if the speaker must judge whether his\nneighbour has a right to truth, there is no case, wherein the speaker\u2019s\ninterest may be any ways endangered by the truth, but his own sinful\nheart will readily whisper to him, that the hearer has no right to truth\nin such a question: and conscience will easily be warped aside, and\ncomply to pronounce a known falsehood, under the colour and pretence of\nthis exception: As for instance; if the buyer asks the seller, how much\nhe gave for any merchandize? The seller by this rule may tell him double\nthe price that it cost; for he will say, the buyer has no right to truth\nin such a question as this is. So if I ask an artificer, how he fashions\nhis work, or what tools he uses in it? He may by this rule give me a\nvery false answer, under pretence that I have no right to truth.\n\nI readily grant in these cases, that the enquirer has no right to demand\nand claim an answer to such questions; therefore the seller or the\nartificer may refuse to inform him. But it is surprising to think that\nany man should persuade himself, that such a question being once asked,\ngives him a right to tell a lie! That any person should ever believe,\nthat the mere enquiry of a thing improper to be told, absolves the\nanswerer from all the obligations of truth, which his duty to God and\nman have laid upon him! Surely such a rule of conduct as this, had need\nhave better arguments to establish it. But those who maintain this\nprinciple, must rather recur to the character of the person who makes\nthe enquiry: and here indeed they give a little better colour to their\ncause.\n\nI come therefore now to give particular answers to the instances\nalledged; 1. Concerning children. 2. Concerning knaves and cheats.\n\nInstance I. Will you say, that children have no right to truth, because\nthey are not capable of civil society?\n\nBut I reply, they are capable of knowing what truth and falsehood are,\nand of being influenced by the one or the other; they are capable of\nbeing deceived, and of knowing when they are deceived, they are capable\nof judging when they are treated with truth and sincerity, and acting\naccording to the things you tell them; or else to what purpose do you\nspeak falsehood to them instead of truth, and try to impose a lie upon\nthem?\n\nThey are capable of resenting your conduct, when they find out the\nfalsehood; and of refusing to believe you another time; For the very\nreason why they believe your falsehood at first, is, because they\nsuppose you speak truth to them, and would not deceive them: And it is\nonly upon this very principle that you yourselves can attempt to impose\nupon them.\n\nAgain, They are capable of learning from you and imitating your conduct,\nand they will be so much more ready to practise lying, and to deceive\nyou with it, when they have found you practising lies, in order to\ndeceive them. Suppose a mother has now and then persuaded a child to\ntake a wholesome bitter medicine, by saying, it is not bitter, or has\nallured it to bed or to school by some of the arts of falsehood, and\nthis child should imitate the mother\u2019s example, and grow up to a\nconfirmed liar; what inward and piercing reflections must the mother\nfeel? Alas! I have taught my child this sinful practice, I myself have\nled it into the ways of the devil: How can I chide and correct by my\nreproof that vice, which I have taught by my example!\n\nIt is sufficiently evident therefore, that though children are not\ncapable of half the duties of the social life, yet they are so far\ncapable of them, as to know what truth and falsehood are, and to resent,\nand to practise accordingly: And this is sufficient to the present\nargument, and fully answers the objection. I think therefore it is\ninfinitely better to allure those, whose understandings are weak, and\nwhose wills are obstinate, to the practice of duty, by all the gentle\narts of softness and fondness, of persuasion and love, than by venturing\nto make an inroad upon our own sincerity, and to trifle with so sacred a\nthing as truth.\n\nBut the querist may say, Suppose these softer arts have been tried, and\nhave no effect, and children may be in danger of destroying themselves,\nif they are not immediately prevented by some plain and express\nfalsehood; is it then unlawful to preserve their lives by a lie? Answer.\nIt is a command of God indeed to preserve life, but it must be done by\nlawful means. May a man rob on the high-way, to get money to feed and\nclothe him? Surely we ought to trust the kind care and providence of God\nwith our own lives and others in the way of duty, and not do evil that\ngood may come, as was said under the former question.\n\nThus much shall suffice for the case of children, on pretence of their\nbeing incapable of civil society. But the querist will insist still on\nthe next instance:\n\nInstance II. Cheats, and knaves, and thievish criminals, have no right\nto truth; for they have broken the bonds of civil society, though not by\na public renunciation of them, and therefore we may use all manner of\ndeceit toward them, and treat them with express falsehood and lying,\nwheresoever it may promote our own interest and safety.\n\nTo this I reply, that the rule of Christ is, _Whatsoever ye would that\nmen should do unto you, do ye also that unto them_; Mat. vii. 12. But\nthis licentious doctrine cancels this divine rule, and substitutes\nanother in the room of it, _viz._ _Whatsoever men do unto you, do ye\nalso that unto them_; which is as widely different from the sacred rule\nof Christ, as light is from darkness, or heaven from hell. By this new\nrule we are no longer bound to practise that truth, that justice, that\ngoodness to others, which we think reasonable they should practise\ntowards us; but we have leave to practise that falsehood and knavery,\nthat fraud, and injustice, and mischief to others, which they do\nactually practice towards us, or which we suspect they design to\npractise.\n\nIf one half of a city or a nation were fallen into knavish practices,\nthrough the great degeneracy of the age, or were become thievish\npilferers, the other half would, by this rule, practise knavery with\nlicence toward them, and deal out falsehoods to them by divine\npermission. And then the charge would quickly be just and universal,\n_There is no truth in the land_, as Hos. iv. 1.\n\nThere is indeed scarce any censure of a degenerate and corrupt age under\nthe Old Testament, but fraud and deceit, lies and falsehood, make a\nconsiderable part of the accusation or complaint; and surely God would\nnever allow any principles or practices that have so pernicious a\ntendency. Hear how the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah lament their\nmultiplied transgressions in _conceiving and uttering from the heart\nwords of falsehood_: _Truth is fallen into the street, yea, truth\nfaileth, and equity cannot enter_; Is. lix. _This is a nation that\nobeyeth not the voice of the Lord. Truth is perished, and is cut off\nfrom their mouth. They deceive every one his neighbour, and will not\nspeak the truth; they bend their tongues like their bow for lies_; Jer.\nvii. and ix. Now if this licentious principle were allowed, neither God\nnor his prophets would ever want matter of complaint.\n\nBy this means also it will come to pass, that if a man happen once to\nget the name and character of a thief or a cheat, all his neighbours\nwill think themselves authorized to have no regard to truth or honesty\nin all their dealings and discourse with him; for this rule affirms that\nhe has no right to truth. And when any person fancies that he has seen\nreason to suspect or disbelieve his neighbour\u2019s honesty, he will think\nhimself absolved from all obligations to speak truth to him. But what a\nwide and dreadful flood-gate would be opened by this means, to let in an\ninundation of fraud and falsehood, and to practise all manner of deceit!\n\nLet it be remarked also, that this doctrine is near a-kin to the popish\nabomination, \u201cThat no faith is to be kept with heretics; for they are a\nsort of dangerous men, who would ruin the church, and therefore they\nhave no right to truth.\u201d Now what shameful and horrid perjuries, and\nwhat execrable mischiefs, have sprung from this one impious principle of\nthe church of Rome? The word of God gives no manner of indulgence to\nsuch licentious principles as these. We must wrong no man, defraud no\nman; we must not render to any man evil for evil, nor falsehood for\nfalsehood, but overcome his evil with our good: and we must _provide\nthings honest in the sight of men_.\n\nIt will be said, perhaps, that the scripture most frequently mentions a\nneighbour, or a brother, or a fellow-christian, in the prohibitions of\nlying and falsehood, as in the ninth commandment, _Bear no false witness\nagainst thy neighbour_; 1 Thess. iv. 6. _No man defraud his brother._\nEph. iv. 25. _Speak every man truth to his neighbour._ Lev. xix. 11.\n_Lie not one to another._\n\nBut let it be replied, that the scripture demands righteousness for the\nstrangers also; Deut. i. 16. and in several other places. And when God,\nby his prophet Malachi, forbids _treacherous dealing with a brother_, he\ngives this reason for it, _Have we not all one Father? Hath not one God\ncreated us?_ Therefore all mankind are brethren in this sense. Our duty\nto speak and practise truth, arises from our obligations to the law of\nGod; and since God has not released us by any such exceptions, the lying\nand deceitful carriage of men does not authorise us to practise deceit\nand lying. It is indeed a piece of an old latin verse, that is in the\nmouth of many, \u201c_Fallere fallentum non est fraus_;\u201d which may be\nEnglished thus, To cheat a knave is no cheating: But I know no verse in\nscripture that gives us this liberty. And I think we may by the same\nrule steal from them that would steal from us, or plunder those who\nwould plunder us.\n\nI will readily grant, that when a contract or bargain is made, whereby\nboth parties are obliged mutually to perform something to or for each\nother, whether this contract be expressed in verbal promises, or implied\nin the nature of things, and by the known customs of mankind, then if\none of the parties fail of performance, the other is thereby released\nfrom his promise or engagement: and the reason is most evident, because\nthe promise or engagement was made in a conditional manner; and if the\ncondition on one side be not fulfilled, the agreement or bargain on the\nother side is void, and utterly ceases; so that a man is innocent in\nthis case, though he does not perform his promise. Now this is so well\nknown to all men by the light of nature, and the easiest reasoning, that\nthere is no need to enlarge upon it.\n\nAccording to this general and known rule, suppose a merchant order any\nquantity of goods from his correspondent by the first ship, and promise\npayment by such a day; if the sending of those goods be neglected, and\ncarelessly delayed, the merchant is not bound to keep his first\nappointed time for payment. An hundred instances there are of the like\nnature, which a small degree of reason, and an honest conscience, will\neasily determine, without intrenching upon truth. Such is the case of\nall conditional promises and contracts. But if a man be never so great a\nknave, and I should make him a lawful and an absolute promise of any\nthing, surely I ought to perform it, and not satisfy my conscience in\nthe practice of deceit and falsehood, under a pretence that he had no\nright to truth.\n\nThere are other cases which may occur in human affairs, and create\ndifficulty in the minds of sincere christians, a solution of which may\nbe found in books written on those subjects: But I think most of them\nmay be easily answered by the general principles before laid down: And,\nto finish this subject, I add, that I know of no circumstances that can\nmake a plain, and express, and known lie to become lawful: If life\nitself were in danger, yet the express prohibitions of falsehood and\nlying in the law of God, make it safer, in point of conscience, to\nventure the loss of any earthly comfort, and life also, rather than\nventure upon a plain and solemn lie.\n\nAnd, in my opinion, that man, who, being assisted by divine grace,\nmaintains the truth boldly, or refuses to speak a known falsehood to a\nmurderer, or a bloody tyrant, and bravely resigns his life upon the\nspot, he dies a martyr to truth; his name shall be registered with\nhonour among the saints of God on earth, and his soul shall have its\nplace among the martyrs in the upper world.\n\n\n HYMN FOR SERMON XXII.\n _Faithfulness._\n\n\n Hath God been faithful to his word,\n And sent to men the promis\u2019d grace,\n Shall I not imitate the Lord,\n And practise what my lips profess?\n\n Hath Christ fulfill\u2019d his kind design,\n The dreadful work he undertook,\n And died to make salvation mine,\n And well perform\u2019d whate\u2019er he spoke?\n\n Doth not his faithfulness afford\n A noble theme to raise my song?\n And shall I dare deny my Lord,\n Or utter falsehood with my tongue?\n\n My King, my Saviour, and my God!\n Let grace my sinful soul renew,\n Wash my offences with thy blood,\n And make my heart sincere and true.\n\n\n\n\n SERMON XXIII.\n _Christian Morality_, _viz._ _Gravity, Decency, &c._\n PHILIP. iv. 8.\u2014Whatsoever things are honest, _or grave_, &c. think on\n these things.\n \u039f\u03c3\u03b1 \u03c3\u03b5\u03bc\u03bd\u03b1, &c.\n\n\nSince the translation of the bible into the English tongue is so\nexcellent a performance in itself, and so necessary a service to the\nchurch: I feel a sensible regret, whensoever there is occasion to\ncomplain of it, or to correct it. In the main, I may venture to say\nboldly, it teaches us all the necessary doctrines and duties of\nchristianity in a very ample and complete manner, and sets them in an\nevident light: And what the Spirit of God spoke in ancient times in\nGreek and Hebrew, is sufficiently manifested to us for our salvation in\nthe English bible.\n\nBut in this part of the verse, which I am now to discourse of, the word\nwhich we render honest, is not so well translated as I could wish; for\nhonesty is contained in the words true and just, which go before, and\nfollow my text. But the Greek \u03c3\u03b5\u03bc\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2, more properly signifies grave,\ndecent, or venerable; and so you find it in the margin, which will\noftentimes help you, when the word in the English text is not so\nexpressive of the original sense. The same word \u03c3\u03b5\u03bc\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2 is rendered grave\nin several other places of scripture: It is three times so expressed in\nthe third chapter of the first epistle to Timothy, ver. 8. _The deacons\nmust be grave._ Ver. 11. _Their wives also must be grave._ Ver. 5. _A\nbishop must have his children in subjection with all gravity._\n\nIt is a word that is used in Greek authors to represent the character of\nan aged man, a philosopher, or a magistrate among the heathens. It\ncarries in it the idea of an honourable gravity, and a venerable decency\nof behaviour; and this is what the apostle recommends to the practice of\nchristians. It is as if he had said, \u201cThe character of every common\nchristian should have something in it so honourable, as may command a\nsort of veneration and respect from all persons they converse with, as\nmuch as the character of a wise old man, a magistrate, or a philosopher,\ndoes in the heathen world.\u201d\n\nTo improve this subject, I shall shew,\n\nI. Wherein this gravity consists.\u2014II. How the light of nature recommends\nit.\u2014III. How the gospel enforces it.\u2014IV. Lay down a direction or two, in\norder to obtain it.\n\n_First_, This gravity and venerable decency which the apostle recommends\nin my text, may be supposed to consist in these three things.\n\n1. A moderation and decency in our apparel.\u20142. A gravity and sobriety in\nour speech and conversation.\u20143. Honour, decency, and dignity in our\nwhole deportment and behaviour.\n\nI. A moderation and decency in our apparel, such as becomes the\nprofession of persons whose chief ornament is religion and godliness.\nThis the apostles, both St. Peter and St. Paul, each in their turn,\ninsist upon, as a necessary qualification of women who profess\nchristianity, and as an ornament to the doctrine of the gospel of\nChrist; 1 Pet. iii. 2, 3. Let your conversation be with fear; _whose\nadorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and\nwearing of gold_; 1 Tim. ii. 9, 10. The apostle Paul bids Timothy the\nyoung evangelist teach the same doctrine and practice. _In like manner_,\nI will _also that women adorn themselves in modest apparel with\nshamefacedness and sobriety; as becometh women professing\ngodliness_.\u2014Not that all christians must utterly abandon those richer\nand costly methods of ornament, gold or pearls, which the apostle there\nmakes mention of; for every one of us should wear such raiment as suits\nour character and our age, our company and business in the world: But\nlet not these be our chief ornaments, still remembering that we are\nchristians, and let our apparel, as well as our conversation, shew that\nwe despise trifles and thus maintain the dignity of our high and holy\ncalling.\n\nHere, saith a[28] learned commentator, \u201cit is worthy to be noted by the\nwomen that this precept ought not to be slighted by them, as of little\nmoment, seeing it is so carefully inculcated by the two chief apostles\nof the Jew and Gentile, St. Peter and St. Paul; and the contrary is\nrepresented as a practice opposite to godliness.\u201d\n\nNor while you are dressing, should you forget that you are sinners, and\ntherefore should put on shamefacedness; for all our ornaments and\nclothing are but a memorial of our first sin and shame. And when we take\na pride in our garments, it looks as if we had forgotten the original of\nthem, the loss of our innocency. Nor is this sort of advice to be\nconfined to the female world: For, as the same author expresses it, \u201cIf\nit be so unbecoming a christian woman to be thus concerned in adorning\nand tricking up her body, it must be much more unbecoming a christian\nman, and that which makes him truly to deserve the name of a fop.\u201d It is\na token of a light and vain mind to be too fond of gaudy habits, a mind\nnot much affected with sin or with salvation. Surely christians are born\nfor greater things, and their aim should point at higher excellencies\nthan these are. Let their chief ornaments be the graces of the Spirit,\nand the virtues of the heart and life. A well adorned body, and a\nneglected mind, very ill becomes a professor of the gospel.\n\nChristians should look like strangers and pilgrims here, and not think\nthemselves undressed, unless they are conformed to all the niceties and\nfashions of the world. Sometimes, it may be, we are too much afraid we\nshall not look like the children of this world; whereas the apostle\nadvises us rather to look like strangers. We are travelling homeward\nthrough a foreign country, having the ornaments of holiness on us, which\nis the raiment of heaven. I confess we are not required to affect\nsingularity, nor to seek a foolish and useless distinction from the\ncustoms of our country, where they are proper, innocent, and becoming;\nfor the kingdom of God does not consist in any affected peculiarities of\ndress or behaviour; but let us remember too, that it is below the glory\nof our character, and the dignity of our calling, to have our thoughts\nuneasy, if every pin and point that belongs to our apparel be not placed\nin the most fashionable manner; to fret and rage, if every fold of our\ngarment be not adjusted in perfect conformity to the mode.\n\nThen we may be said to fall short of that venerable decency in our\napparel which christianity should teach us, when we are among the first\nin any new devised and gaudy fashions; when we are some of the foremost\nin the gaieties of the age: When we run to the extremes of every new\nmode, and affect to vie with the vainest of our sex: When the business\nof dressing is made one of the most frequent, important, and solemn\nenquiries and concerns of life; and when it employs some of our most\nserious thoughts, and our warmest passions: When we indulge a greater\nexpence in finery than our circumstances will allow, or our stations\nrequire: When we waste more time in adorning ourselves, than the duties\nwe owe to God or man, will reasonably permit; and especially if we\nintrench upon the hours which should be devoted to sacred purposes. I\nshould add also, that then we certainly break in upon christian\nsobriety, when we indulge such sort of clothing as in its own nature\nbecomes a temptation to immodesty, and brings fuel to the impure fire of\nthe eyes, or of the heart.\n\nI would not be thought to treat too largely upon this subject or handle\nit too severely; but let us remember, that our biggest danger in this\nage is excess, and luxury, and vanity of mind: We are pretty secure\nnow-a-days from too great a carelessness in this respect.\n\nII. Gravity and sobriety in our speech is another part of that\nhonourable conduct and character which we ought to maintain, and to\nwhich the holy apostle invites us. In the second chapter of Titus, ver.\n6, 7, 8. you have this direction of the apostle to Titus the evangelist,\nhow he ought to behave himself, and what he speaks to him chiefly as a\nminister, may be given as a rule to all christians whom he must instruct\nin all things, _shewing thyself a pattern of good works_; _in doctrine_,\nor in discourse, _shewing incorruptness, gravity, and sincerity; sound\nspeech that cannot be condemned, that he that is of the contrary part\nmay be ashamed, having no evil to say of you_. He gives the christians\nat Ephesus the same advice; Eph. iv. 29. _Let no corrupt communication\nproceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of\nedifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers._ Talk of\nsomething that may improve one another in knowledge, in virtue, in\nreligion: And let each of us be ashamed to think that we have been an\nhour or two in each other\u2019s company, and have neither spoke nor heard\nany thing that is worth remembrance. How often, after a visit among\nfriends, must we take up this just and shameful complaint, \u201cAlas, I have\nsaid nothing for their improvement, nor heard any thing for my own!\u201d\n\nIn Eph. v. 4, the apostle there secludes some sort of conversation from\nthe lips of christians, _Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor\njesting, which are not convenient_, which are \u03bf\u03c5\u03ba \u03b1\u03bd\u03b7\u03ba\u03bf\u03bd\u03c4\u03b1, not\nagreeable to our profession. Foolish talking and jesting are here\nforbidden, as well as filthiness. By foolish talking, we may suppose\nsuch sort of language to be intended, from which it is impossible any\nprofit or advantage, should arise to a wise or a good man. And by\njesting the apostle here designs such sharp and biting jests that wound\nthe reputation of a person concerning whom they are spoken. Such a turn\nof wit, as the original word signifies, that at the same time wounds a\ngood name, and gives a bitter reproach: Not that every thing pleasantly\nspoken is supposed to be unlawful; or that the apostle any where forbids\nall manner of mirth and jesting in conversation; for there are proper\ntimes and seasons for such sort of discourse: And there may be valuable\nends in it too, when it is innocently used, on purpose to recreate\nnature, and refresh the mind. And how far this may be indulged, I shall\nhave occasion to speak toward the end of this sermon.\n\nIII. Another thing that is included in this word gravity, is honour and\ndecency in our whole deportment and behaviour. Each of us should be\ncareful to maintain our public character as a christian, with a due\nsense of the dignity of it. Christians should be ashamed to debase the\npowers of their nature, to practise any thing that is sordid and\nunworthy; nor make the members of their flesh, nor the faculties of\ntheir mind, slaves to that which is ridiculous or foolish.\n\nHow unbecoming is it to see a christian spoil his countenance, and\ndisfigure a human face, by practising all the wild and wanton grimaces\nof folly and madness! To see man, who is made after the image of the Son\nof God, distort his body in the most antic postures, and give up all the\nhonours of his nature to base and senseless merriment! Surely the duties\nof christianity lead us to nothing below the dignity of man. Here I\nwould not be mistaken, nor do I pretend that the gospel requires such a\nconstant solemnity of countenance and language, as though we were all\npreachers, or always preaching. There is no need to put on serious airs\nat all times: We are not bound to banish mirth when we become\nchristians. Laughter is a natural action, and the faculty was not given\nto mankind in vain, nor is the exercise of it forbidden for ever.\n\nThe chief ends of it seem to be these two; either to recreate animal\nnature by expressions of mirth, or to put folly out of countenance.\n\nThere may be times to recreate nature, to unbend the spirits from\nbusiness, and to indulge mirth among our friends. The wise man assures\nus, there is a time to laugh, as well as to mourn. There are times\nproper for weeping, and some persons may have times for dancing too; Ec.\niii. 4. And in the 19th verse of the xth chapter the same divine writer\nsays, _a feast is made for laughter_. At the mutual entertainment of\nfriends we may be merry, and not sin. Our holy religion only demands\nthis of us, that we confine our mirth within the limits of virtue, and\ntake heed lest when we give a loose to the sprightly powers of animal\nnature we should transgress the rules of piety, or trespass upon things\nsacred.\n\nAnother purpose for which laughter was made, is to reprove and punish\nfolly, and put vice out of countenance. There are seasons wherein a wise\nman or a christian may treat some criminal or silly characters with\nridicule and mockery. Elijah the prophet condescended thus to correct\nthe priests and worshippers of Baal; but this sort of conversation must\nby no means be the business of our lives, and the daily work and labour\nof our thoughts and our tongues. It is _the heart of a fool that is in\nthe house of mirth_, for he would dwell there continually; Ec. vii. 4.\nIf we are always affecting to throw out some turns of wit upon every\noccurrence of life, and tack on a jest to every thing that is spoken, if\nwe interline all our discourse and conversation with merriment, banter\nand joking, it is very unworthy of that gravity and honour that belongs\nto the christian life.\n\nThe second head of discourse which I proposed, is to prove that the\nlight of nature, or the law of reason, requires something of this\ngravity of speech and behaviour; and this is manifest, if we consider\nthe nature of man in opposition to the brute that perishes, or the\ngrowth and age of man in distinction from children and babes.\n\n1. If we consider man in opposition to the brutal world: Man, who has a\nrational soul, should act conformable to that sublime principle within\nhim, and not devote himself to a life of fantastic humour, or content\nhimself with the character of an everlasting trifler. What a poor and\ncontemptible account is it of any person to say, he is a walking jest, a\nmere living trifle? His thoughts are made up of vanity and emptiness,\nhis voice is laughter, and his whole life is composed of impertinences.\n\nThere is a sort of persons in the world who never think well of\nthemselves but when they are dressed in gay attire, and hope to command\nthe respect of mankind by spreading abroad their own fine feathers.\nTheir raiment is the brightest and best thing that belongs to them, and\ntherefore they affect to shew it. There is another sort of men who value\nthemselves upon their merry humour, and that they can make their company\nlaugh when they please. But the more refined and rational part of the\nworld value all these creatures as they do peacocks, or other animals\nthat imitate the voice and actions of man. They use them as an\nentertainment for their eyes or ears, to give a fit of diversion, or to\npass away a merry hour. We generally look upon this kind of people as\nvery worthless things, as something beneath ourselves and as sinking\nbelow their own species. We seldom converse with them upon the level, or\nto attain any of the nobler purposes of life. We only borrow their wit,\nor their folly, their humour, or their finery, for a season of\namusement, and justly despise them when the laughing hour is at an end.\nReason itself tells us, that human nature was made for something greater\nand better, for contemplation and action much superior to what these\ntrifling creatures are acquainted with. Again,\n\n2. If we consider man as he stands in distinction from childhood, surely\na more grave and solemn carriage becomes him.\u2014Children are pleased with\npainted toys; gaudy garments and sounding trifles are their chief\ndelight. They are entertained with little impertinences, agreeable to\ntheir ignorance and the weakness of their age: But it is a shame to a\nperson of well-grown years to practise the child for ever. He that\ndevotes himself to a life of useless idleness, and treads round the\ncircle of perpetual mirth and amusement, without profit to himself or\nthe world, is but a child in longer garments, or an infant of larger\nsize.\n\nThe third general head leads us to consider, what forcible arguments\nchristianity furnishes us with to practise this sobriety, gravity and\ndecency of behaviour: And I shall throw them all into a few\nexpostulations.\n\n1. Do we not bear the name of Christ, a sacred and venerable name? And\nshall we cast disgrace upon it by any thing that is mean and\ndishonourable? Do we not profess to be the followers of a crucified\nJesus, to be disciples of the cross? But wherein do we follow him, if we\nspend our days in mirth and trifling? His conduct was all holy and\nheavenly, and we can never look like his disciples, if our conversation\nsavour of earth and vanity. What a noble simplicity runs through all his\nspeeches, through all the actions and the behaviour of our blessed Lord!\nAnd how little do we imitate him, if we fondly pursue the gay follies of\nlife in our dress, in our speech, and in every thing we do! No glarings\nof affected wit, nor insipid pertness, can add any thing to our\ncharacter as christians.\n\n2. Let us remember that we are the sons and daughters of the Most High\nGod. We profess to separate ourselves from the triflings and\nimpertinences of this world, as well as from the impiety and guilt of\nit. \u201cCome out from among them, saith the Lord, and I will be your\nFather, and ye shall be my sons and my daughters, saith God almighty.\u201d\nSurely the children of a prince should behave with solemnity and honour,\nwhen they are in the midst of the lower orders of mankind; and the\nchildren of the King of heaven should remember the dignity of their\nbirth, and their high relation, when they are conversant among the sons\nof earth. Their carriage indeed should not be proud and haughty to the\nmen of this world; Jesus, the only begotten Son, was meek and lowly: And\nthere is a sacred art of maintaining a divine humility, among the\nmeanest of our fellow-creatures, without indulging the practice of any\nthing mean and ridiculous. Our blessed Lord was a companion of\nfishermen, but not of mimics and public jesters.\n\n3. Let us think again, that we are bought with a high and valuable\nprice; _we are redeemed, not with corruptible things, as silver and\ngold, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without\nblemish and without spot_; 1 Pet. i. 17, 18. And what is it that we are\nredeemed from? It is from this evil world, and from a vain conversation.\nThe Son of God hath _loved us, and washed us in his own blood_, and\nshall we defile these souls of ours with the meannesses of this life\nwhich Christ hath cleansed in so rich a laver? He hath _made us kings\nand priests unto God and his Father_. Let us now and then ask ourselves\nand enquire, is our language and behaviour becoming such illustrious\nnames, such titles, such honours, as are put upon us by the Father and\nthe Son?\n\n4. Again, let us review our profession; What is our calling? What is our\ndesign? What is our hope? Are we not born from above? Are we not\npilgrims and strangers here? Do not we profess to seek a better country,\nthat is, a heavenly? Do we not live for heaven and immortality? How\nunbecoming is it then for christians to be perpetually light, and vain,\nand frothy? How unbecoming our holy and heavenly calling, and our\neverlasting hopes? If we are children of the light and of the day, let\nus not live as though we belonged to the night and darkness: Let us not\nsleep, nor trifle as others do, but watch and be sober. And especially\nif our natural temper be sanguine and sprightly, and incline to assume\nvain airs, there is more need of constant watchfulness over the heart\nand life, and a bridle upon the tongue, lest we should speak\nindecencies, and be guilty of folly and madness.\n\n[Here this sermon may be divided.]\n\nThe last thing I designed, was to propose some directions in order to\ncure the levity of the mind, and to maintain such a decent gravity in\nthe course of our life as becomes the gospel.\n\nDirection I. Let us meditate often on the most sublime and the most\nawful parts of christianity; and through the assistance of the Spirit of\nGod, these will be effectual guards against this vanity of temper.\n\nThe sublime truths of christianity demand our frequent review. Let us\noften rise high in our thoughts, and let our faith look far backwards to\nthe eternal ages before this world was. Let us contemplate the love of\nGod the Father, in contriving our salvation, before he stretched abroad\nthese heavens, or laid the foundations of this earth. Let us think of\nthe condescension of his mercy, when he chose fallen perishing sinners\nto be the objects of his everlasting love. Let us dwell upon his\ncompassion to man, when he appointed his own Son to take flesh upon him,\nand to become our Mediator and sacrifice. Let us survey with holy wonder\nthe various glories of the Son of God, by whom and for whom all things\nwere made, who upholds all things by the word of his power, and who is\nthe express image of his Father. Let us behold him consenting to hide\nall these honours behind a veil of flesh and blood, walking the streets\nof Jerusalem, and travelling on foot through the villages of Israel,\nattended with a few poor despicable men, or surrounded with the\nreproaches of the blaspheming Jews. Let us look upon this illustrious\nperson, who was adored by angels, yet unknown and unglorified among the\nsons of men, and humbled even to death and the grave; then gaze on him\nrising again from the dead, and declared to be the Son of God with\npower, exalted at the right-hand of the Majesty on high, and ruling all\nthe millions of inhabitants of the visible and invisible worlds. Surely\nif our souls were inured to the meditation of such sublime wonders as\nthese, we should not easily immerse ourselves in trifles and fooleries.\n\nAgain, let us meditate on the more awful doctrines, the more solemn and\ndreadful truths of our religion, and these will be an effectual\nrestraint to a vain temper of mind. Let us think on the justice of God\nmanifested in the destruction of sinners in all ages, when it appeared\nin a prodigious flood of water, and with a deluge of rain testified\nagainst the wickedness of the old world; and when it came down in\nflaming fire upon Sodom, and upon the cities of the plain. Let us\nmeditate on the wrath of God, that has been revealed in numerous\ninstances against all the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. Let us\ncontemplate that divine and severe justice, that appeared in the\nsufferings and death of God\u2019s own Son, when it pleased the Father to\nbruise him, and to make his soul an offering for sin. Let us think of\nhis agonies in the garden, and on the cross, when he bore the weight of\nour iniquities, and stood in the place of sinners. Let us send our\nthoughts down to the regions of death and hell, and behold the fallen\nangels bound in chains of darkness, and groaning under present torments,\nyet waiting for the day of greater vengeance. Let us think with\nourselves what millions of our fellow-sinners, the sons and daughters of\nAdam, lie there banished from the presence of the Lord, and tormented\nwith fire in their consciences without remedy, and without hope, and\nsay, why are not we there too?\n\nLet us often look forward to the awful moment of our death, and the time\nof our departure from all the flattering scenes of this present world.\nThis will put a damp upon the vainest mind, and hang with a painful\nweight upon the sons of mirth and levity. This will be a means to\nrestrain us from that foolish and trifling behaviour, which otherwise\nour tempers might incline us to. And let us remember the solemn hour\nwhen we must stand before the tribunal of our Lord Jesus Christ,\ndivested of all these gaudy shews of life, in which we are now ready to\npride ourselves, and there we must receive a sentence without repeal,\nwhich shall send us to heaven or to hell at once, and fix our\neverlasting state. These are terrors or glories too solemn to be trifled\nwith; these are thoughts that will hold our souls awake and serious,\nthis will preserve that gravity of mind which becomes a christian, and\nkeep us in a prepared temper to fulfil present duty, and to wait the\nfinal event of all things.\n\nII. If we would maintain that venerable decency in our frame of spirit,\nand in our deportment, which becomes the gospel, let us set ourselves\nabout some useful employment for the service of God, or our\nfellow-creatures, or for our own best improvement. If Satan find the\nmind empty of thought, and the hands void of all business, he will be\nready to fill them with temptations to iniquity and mischief: And the\ntriflers of this world will be ready to seize upon such a person as a\nfit partner for their impertinences, and allure him into follies beneath\nthe dignity of human nature, and the character of a christian.\n\nI have often pitied some of the dependents of honourable and wealthy\nfamilies of both sexes, the unhappiness of whose education has given\nthem nothing to do, nor taught them to employ their hands or their\nminds: Therefore they spend their hours in sauntering, not knowing\nwhither to go, and are at a loss what to do with themselves to wear\ntheir life away. Upon this account they give themselves up sometimes to\nthe mean and scandalous pleasures of the lowest of the people, and spend\ntheir hours in chattering and vulgar merriment. They make the business\nof their dress the study and labour of half the day, and spend another\npart of it in trifling discourse and laughter, and in scattering jests\nand scandal upon their neighbours or acquaintance. All these pieces of\nfolly and immorality would be rectified, if they would but find out for\nthemselves some daily and proper business to be employed in. King\nSolomon at his leisure hours studied natural and moral philosophy, he\ndiscoursed of the nature of vegetables, from the cedar to the hyssop,\nand of beasts, birds, and fishes besides his proverbs and rules of\nprudence for the government of human life; 1 Kings iv. 32, 33. St. Paul,\nwhen he was not employed in his sacred work, yet he would not be idle;\nand having no need to study for his sermons which he had by inspiration,\ntherefore he wrought with his hands at tent-making, and maintained\nhimself by it: \u201c_Not_, says he, _because we have not power to eat your\nbread while we teach you the gospel: but to make ourselves an example to\nyou_.\u201d See Acts xviii. 3. and 2 Thess. iii. 8, 9. And good Dorcas, when\nshe had no business of her own, _made coats and garments for the poor_;\nActs ix. 36, 39. Such honourable examples as these deserve our\nimitation.\n\nIII. Let us keep a strict watch over ourselves when we indulge mirth,\nand set a double guard upon the seasons of recreation and divertisement.\n\nThe rules of religion do not so restrain us from the common\nentertainments of life, as to render us melancholy creatures, and unfit\nfor company. There is no need to become mere mopes or hermits, in order\nto be christians. The gospel does not deprive us of such joys as belong\nto our natures, but it refines and heightens our delights. It draws our\nsouls farther away from mean and brutal pleasures, and raises them to\nmanly satisfactions, to entertainments worthy of a rational nature,\nworthy of a creature that is made in the image of God. The innocent\nentertainments of life are not utterly forbidden to christians, but are\nregulated by the gospel.\n\nWhen we have considered and found them to be lawful, then they are to be\nregulated these two ways.\u20141. All our recreations and divertisements must\nhave some valuable end proposed. 2. We must distinguish the proper time\nand season of them, and confine our diversions to that season.\n\n1. They must always have some valuable end proposed. The chief and most\nuseful design of them is to make us more chearful and fitter for some\nhours or days of service afterwards. Recreation must not be our trade or\nbusiness, but merely used as a means to prepare us for the valuable\nbusinesses of life.\n\nThe scripture indeed tells us, that \u201c_of every idle word that men shall\nspeak, there shall be an account given in the day of judgment_;\u201d Mat.\nxii. 36. And much more of idle hours and actions. But this doth not\nutterly exclude all manner of recreations, or all words of pleasantry,\nwhich may be innocently and properly used upon some occasions; but\nwhatsoever words, whatsoever conversation, whatsoever sort of\npleasurable entertainments, we indulge ourselves in, which have no\nvaluable end, no useful design in them: These will bear but an ill\naspect before the judgment-seat of Christ. We shall not be able to give\na tolerable account of such idle words or hours at that day; and it is\nthe judge himself who tells us so, and adds his _Amen_ to it.\n\nIt is proper more especially for persons that are of a melancholy\ntemper, or that have perhaps been overwhelmed with bodily diseases, or\noverloaded with some sorrows, or cares, or businesses of life, to give\nthemselves a little loose or diversion now and then in delightful\nconversation, or other recreations and exercises. These may be as useful\nas a glass of wine to refresh nature, to make the heart glad, and the\nspirits lightsome; for they tend to fit this animal body of ours for\nbetter service to the soul in future duties that God calls us to: And so\nlong as we confine our recreations to this design, and keep this end in\nview, our words of pleasantry in private conversation, and even our\nrecreations, and diversions that are more public, may be agreeable to\nthe mind and will of God; for it is his will, that our whole nature,\nflesh and spirit, should be kept in the fittest frame for duty. And some\nnatures are so constituted, that they will hardly be kept in a temper\nfit for duty, without some divertisements and recreations. Where this\ntherefore is the end, these practices cannot be called idle, that is,\nimpertinent, and to no purpose. But where no reasonable design is\nproposed, sports and merriments are hardly to be defended, for all\nrational creatures ought to act with a view to some valuable end.\n\n2. Another regulation which ought to be given to all our diversions, is\nthis; we should narrowly watch, lest the time of our recreations intrude\nupon the hours and seasons of business or of religion. There is a time\nto laugh, the wise man tells us, as well as a time to labour or to pray;\nbut laughter must be confined to its proper place and proper time, and\nnot intrench upon the season where affairs of bigger importance, and\nmatters of grave and serious consequence should be transacted.\n\nConscience has something to do in matters of recreation as well as in\nour religious or civil affairs: And as it can never be lawful to rob God\nor our families of any of the time that should be devoted to their\nservice, on purpose to lay it out in diversion, so neither is it by any\nmeans proper to let the seasons of diversion come too near the seasons\nof worship. When a loose is given to all the natural powers in mirth and\npleasure, they are not so easily recollected all at once for the sacred\nservice of religion. Nor should we run hastily away from the duties of\nworship, and plunge ourselves into the midst even of innocent merriment;\nfor this would look as though we were weary of devotion, and longed to\nbe at play. A wise christian will divide his times aright, and make all\nthe parts of his conduct to succeed one another in a decent order.\n\nBesides, the hours of recreation should not be multiplied by those\npersons who have least need of them; such are persons of a chearful and\nhealthy constitution: And they will be used more sparingly by christians\nof maturer age, and longer standing in religion. As a child grows up\ntoward man, he leaves off the impertinences of infancy, and the sports\nand trifles of childhood; and as a man grows up more and more toward a\nperfect christian, his methods of pleasure will be changed from light\nand gay, to that which is grave and solid.\n\nTo conclude this subject, I would mention only one powerful motive to\npreserve christian gravity, and that is, that hereby the temper of your\nspirit will be better prepared for every religious duty, whether it be\nprayer or praise, and better fitted to meet every providence, whether it\nbe prosperous or afflictive: Whereas those who perpetually indulge a\nmerry temper of mind, when a prosperous providence attends them, they\nare tempted to excessive vanity and carnal joy; their hearts are not\nfilled with thankfulness to that God from whom their mercies come, being\ntoo thoughtless and regardless of the original donor. On the other hand,\nwhen affliction smites them, they are in danger of despising the stroke\nof the rod, nor does the correction of their heavenly Father make so\ndeep and useful an impression upon their spirit as it ought to do.\n\nWhen in the course of our lives we maintain such a grave and composed\nframe as becomes a christian, we find our hearts more ready for all the\nduties of worship. We are prepared to receive evil tidings as well as\ngood, and to attend on the will of God in all his outgoings of\nprovidence. We are ready to receive messages of sorrow, or the summons\nof death, for we are still conversing with God: We keep the invisible\nworld in the eye of our faith: And our spirits are ready prepared to\ndepart from the flesh, and to meet our God and our Saviour in the\nunknown regions of light and immortality.\n\n\n HYMN FOR SERMON XXIII.\n _Christian Morality_, _viz._ _Gravity, Decency, &c._\n\n\n Are we not sons and heirs of God?\n Are we not bought with Jesus\u2019 blood?\n Do we not hope for heavenly joys,\n And shall we stoop to trifling toys?\n\n Can laughter feed th\u2019 immortal mind?\n Were spirits of celestial kind\n Made for a jest, for sport and play,\n To wear our time, and waste the day?\n\n Doth vain discourse or empty mirth\n Well suit the honours of our birth?\n Shall we be fond of gay attire,\n Which children love, and fools admire?\n\n What if we wear the richest vest,\n Peacocks and flies are better drest:\n This flesh, with all its gaudy forms,\n Must drop to dust and feed the worms.\n\n Lord, raise our hearts and passions higher,\n Touch our vain souls with sacred fire;\n Then with an elevated eye\n We\u2019ll pass these glittering trifles by.\n\n We\u2019ll look on all the toys below\n With such disdain as angels do,\n And wait the call that bids us rise\n To promis\u2019d mansions in the skies.\n\nFootnote 28:\n\n Dr. Whitby.\n\n\n\n\n SERMON XXIV.\n _Christian Morality_, _viz._ _Justice, &c._\nPHILIP. iv. 8.\u2014Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest,\n _or grave_, whatsoever things are just\u2014\u2014think on these things.\n \u039f\u03c3\u03b1 \u03b5\u03c3\u03c4\u03b9\u03bd \u03b4\u03b9\u03ba\u03b1\u03b9\u03b1\u2014\u2014\n\n\nIn many parts of the sacred writings, there appears a very close\nconnexion of the subjects which are handled; a natural order is\nobserved, and a beautiful transition made from one to the other: But\nthis is not to be expected in every text, nor is it at all necessary\nthat it should be so. When St. Paul enumerates several virtues or vices,\nhe sometimes heaps them together, and doth not design any regularity or\nnatural order in placing them. Our commentators therefore in such cases,\nwhen they are once resolved to find these beauties and connections where\nthe holy writer did not intend them, they oftentimes torture and strain\nboth their own invention, and the words of scripture. Thus, I fear, I\nshould do, if I would attempt to give a reason why the apostle in this\ncollection of virtues, named gravity or decency before justice, which is\nof so much greater importance in the christian life.\n\nI take them therefore in the order in which they lie; and having treated\nof truth and gravity, I proceed now to consider the third piece of\nmorality which he mentions, that is, justice, _Whatsoever things are\njust_,\u2014think on these things; let these be the objects of your\nmeditation and of your practice.\n\nAnd here if I should entertain you in two discourses with this single\nsubject of justice, I hope I shall not exceed the limits of your\npatience: For it is what the apostle frequently insists upon as a glory\nto christianity, that those that profess it be just or righteous. You\nwho have fixed your hope on the grace of God, and have a design to\nhonour the gospel, to you I would recommend this great duty of the law,\nand that in this method:\n\nI. I shall endeavour to shew what is the general nature of this justice,\nand lay down the universal rule of it.\u2014II. Discover in various special\ninstances what those things are, which are just, or wherein our justice\nor righteousness must appear.\u2014III. I shall give some proof of this great\nduty of justice or righteousness by the light of nature, and according\nto the law of reason.\u2014IV. Shew what forcible influence the gospel of\nChrist has to recommend justice to your meditation and practice.\u2014V.\nPropose a few directions how to guard yourselves against temptations to\ninjustice, or rather point out some of the chief springs of injustice,\nthat you may avoid them.\n\nAnd while I proceed in this work, you will rejoice inwardly if you find\nyour own consciences sincerely answering to the characters of this\nvirtue in any good measure: And if there be any shall find himself a\nguilty sinner, and very deficient in this practice, let him be reproved,\nashamed, and amend.\n\nFirst then, Let us consider the nature of this justice, and what is the\nmost universal rule of it.\n\nIn general, justice consists in giving to every one their due. According\nto the stations in which God has placed us, and according to the several\nrelations in which providence has joined us to our fellow-creatures,\nevery person we converse with hath something due to him; and this we are\nbound to pay as men, and much more as christians. But since cases and\ncircumstances are infinite, and it is impossible for any book to\ncontain, or any man to receive and remember so many special rules for\njustice, as there may be occurring circumstances in the world, which\nrequire the practice of it; our Lord Jesus Christ has therefore given us\none short rule whereby to judge what is due to every man, and fitted it\nto every purpose: Mat. vii. 12. _All things whatsoever ye would that men\nshould do unto you, do ye even so to them; For this is the law and the\nprophets._\n\nI confess there may happen in human affairs some cases of such exceeding\nintricacy and difficulty, that very few persons have skill enough to\ndetermine precisely what is due, or what would be strictly just and\nrighteous: Nor will this rule infallibly lead us into the perfect\nknowledge of it; but even in such cases, a sincere honest man consulting\nhis own conscience, and asking, what he thought reasonable that his\nneighbour, in the like case, should do to him, would seldom wander far\nfrom strict justice; and by practising agreeably to this general law,\nwould approve his conduct both in the sight of God and men.\n\nThus our blessed Saviour hath set up a court of equity in the breast of\nevery man. This rule is easy to be understood, and ready to be applied\nupon every occasion. The meanest of them may learn and practise it, and\nthe highest are bound to obey it. This is that divine and comprehensive\nrule of justice or righteousness, by which you must regulate all your\nactions, and give every one their due: \u201cDo to others, as you would have\nthem do to you:\u201d Not as an unreasonable self-love would wish to receive\nfrom others, but as your own conscience would think it reasonable others\nshould do to you, as I have explained it at large in a sermon on that\ntext.[29]\n\nThe second thing proposed, was to discover in various instances what\nthose things are which are just, or wherein our righteousness must\nappear.\n\nHere it is necessary to distinguish justice into that which belongs to\nmagistrates, and that which belongs to private persons.\n\nThat which belongs to magistrates is called distributive justice,\nbecause it divides and distributes such rewards and punishments as are\ndue to every one, according to the merit or demerit of the person; and\nthis is done either by the law and light of nature, or by the laws of\nthe land in which we dwell. Now in this sort of justice the general rule\nof our Saviour, of which we have been speaking, is of excellent and\nconstant use. Let a prince or a magistrate place himself in the room of\na subject or inferior, and ask what is equitable and just that his\ngovernor should practise toward him, and let that be the measure of his\nown conduct toward his subjects or inferiors: Let him exercise his\nauthority according to this sacred rule of righteousness.\n\nBut in our separate assemblies we have very little need to speak of the\nduty of magistrates, or of distributive justice, since there are very\nfew of that rank and order of men among our hearers. We have reason to\ngive hearty thanks to our present governors, who distribute so much\njustice to us, as to give us the liberty of worshipping God in a manner\nthat differs from theirs.\n\nI apply myself therefore immediately to consider that justice which\nbelongs chiefly to private persons, and which is their duty to practise.\nThis is called commutative justice. This is that equity of dealing, that\nmutual exchange of benefits, and rendering to every one their due, which\nis necessary between man and man, in order to the common welfare of each\nother. This is that justice that is due from every person toward his\nneighbour, whether he be superior, inferior, or equal: And I think the\nfollowing instances which I shall mention, will comprehend most of the\ncases wherein the practice of justice is required:\n\nI. It is just that we honour, reverence and respect those who are our\nsuperiors in any kind; whether parents, masters, magistrates, ministers,\nor teachers, or whatsoever other character of superiority there be in\nthe natural, the civil, or the religious life; otherwise we do not pay\nthem their due.\n\nHonour and obedience are due to parents. It is the first command of the\nsecond table. _Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be\nlong in the land. Children obey your parents, for this is right in the\nLord._ Manifest your affectionate duty toward them. Pay all due\nsubmission to their commands, and all honourable regard to their advice.\n\n_Honour the king as supreme_, and other ministers of justice as\nsubordinate to him, and submit to them in all the just executions of\ntheir authority: This is due from subjects to princes. _Servants, be\nobedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, in\nsingleness of heart as unto Christ, with good-will, doing service as to\nthe Lord, and not to men._ Your faithful, diligent, and cheerful service\nis their due. _Let those that labour in the word and doctrine be counted\nworthy of double honour_, that is, of respect and maintenance: It is due\nto them in the church where they are set as elders, if they rule well. I\nmention these hints but very briefly, and for the most part in the\nlanguage of scripture, as instances wherein these characters of\nsuperiority demand honour and duty from inferiors.\n\nI grant there may be other obligations to respect and honour our\nsuperiors in some of these cases, besides the mere law of justice: but\nthis law of commutative justice that I am now treating of, obliges us to\nit. The light of nature and scripture both suppose and oblige parents to\ntake care of their children, to advise and instruct, nourish and provide\nfor them; therefore obedience and honour becomes their due. The command\nof submission given to subjects, supposes and obliges princes and rulers\nto protect and defend them from all injury. The precept of chearful and\nwilling obedience given to servants, supposes and obliges _masters to do\nthe same things unto them_; that is, to treat them with good-will, and\nchearfully give them their food and clothing, or their wages and hire;\nEph. vi. 9. Nature and scripture suppose ministers and teachers to be\ncapable and willing to give good advice, counsel, and instruction to\nthose who are younger, or who accept of their preaching; therefore let\nrespect and honour be paid where it is due.\n\nIt is the foundation and rule of commutative justice in all these\ninstances, that whilst inferiors are obliged to pay due regards to those\nthat are above them, the superiors are equally obliged to confer those\nbenefits on persons of a lower character, which the law of God, and the\nlight of nature require; but some of the cases I have mentioned, will\nfall in naturally under the following particulars.\n\nII. Another instance of commutative justice, is the particular kindness\nthat is due to near relations. This is a very beautiful and a pleasant\npart of life, where it is well managed, this affectionate and delightful\nexchange of good turns one for another.\n\nNow that it is due to near relatives, according to the appointment of\nGod, will be made evident in this manner:\n\nGod, the great Creator of all things, could have produced all men\nimmediately by his own power, and have made them arise up in several\nsuccessions of time, without such a propagation or dependance one upon\nanother, if he had pleased; and then there would have been none of these\ntender and engaging relations of father, son, and brother. But the wise\nCreator hath ordained otherwise; he hath appointed such methods for the\nbuilding of families, and continuing mankind in the world, as bind every\nsoul of us by the ties of nature to one another; Acts xvii. 26. _Of one\nblood hath God made all the nations of the earth._ And those that are\nnearer a-kin to one another, especially in the same family, as brethren\nand sisters, ought to look upon themselves under more peculiar and\nmutual obligations to do kindnesses for each other in the first place,\naccording to their capacity. The obligation lies on each party, because\nit lies upon the other. My brother is bound to love and help me,\ntherefore it is my duty to help and love my brother: For _a brother is\nborn for adversity_; Prov. xvii. 17. It is the sovereign will of Heaven,\nthat there should be such near relations, who should be bound by the law\nof creation and duty to protect, to support, and assist one another in a\ntime of adversity: This is the design of God the Creator, in the course\nof his providence, in his subdivision and propagation of all the\nfamilies of the earth.\n\nAnd as it is a piece of justice to confer this mutual help which is due\nto near relations, so there is something of justice too in our\ndistinguishing acts of kindness and assistance according to difference\nof necessity, and according to difference of merit. I cannot believe I\nam bound to love or serve every brother, or every sister, with equal\ndegree of affection and kindness, whatsoever their character be, whether\nvirtuous or vicious: Nor to bestow equal benefits upon them, where there\nis not equal necessity: this can never be of a divine appointment. And\nthough there is some duty, some kindness, some assistance always due to\nthose that are our near relatives, yet this very rule of justice obliges\nus to give more respect or love to those that are in themselves more\nhonourable and worthy, and those who merit more at our hands, may\nreasonably expect it. This will farther appear from the next particular.\n\nIII. Another instance of justice is, love to those that love us, and\ngratitude to those that have done us good. Those that have been\nserviceable to us in the concerns of our souls, or our bodies, demand\nkindness from us, and returns of service, according to their benefits,\nand our capacity.\n\nLet us first take notice of the gratitude that is due for spiritual\nbenefits. The christian Galatians, who were converted from idolatry and\nheathenism, and reconciled to God by the preaching of St. Paul, had such\na powerful and penetrating sense of their obligations to him, that if it\nwere possible, saith the apostle, _I bear you record, ye would have\nplucked out your own eyes, and given them to me_; Gal. iv. 15. And when\nthe same apostle writes to Philemon, who was converted to the faith by\nhis ministry, he gently insinuates the obligations he was under; though\nI do not think proper to tell thee, saith he, _how thou owest unto me\neven thine own self_; ver. 19. St. Paul speaks upon this principle in\nmany places of his epistle; 1 Cor. ix. 11. _If we have sown unto you\nspiritual things, is it a great thing if we should reap your carnal\nthings?_ And when he gives an account of the contribution which the\nchristians of Macedonia and Achaia made for the poor saints at\nJerusalem, he expresses himself thus: _It hath pleased them verily to\nmake this contribution, and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles\nhave been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also\nto minister unto them in carnal things_; because it was from the Jews\nthat the gospel first came forth, and was preached among the Gentiles;\nRom. xv. 27.\n\nThere is some sort of gratitude due also to those who by their writings,\nor more especially by their conversation or instructions, have improved\nour understandings, and added to our knowledge in things natural or\nmoral, as well as divine. There are some persons in the world, who have\nadvanced their intellectuals in a very sensible manner, by the company\nof their friends, but they have so much of pride and self reigning in\nthem, that they refuse to acknowledge it: They would fain have the world\nbelieve that it is the rich soil of their own understanding has produced\nthis harvest of itself: They are ambitious and fond to have it thought\nthat their notions are all their own. Though they plumed themselves with\nborrowed feathers, they are unwilling to confess whence they received\nthem, and pretend they are owing to nature only. But pride is a secret\nvice, and a cursed spring of injustice in more instances than one, as I\nshall shew hereafter.\n\nAfter the benefits bestowed on our souls, we ought to consider what is\ndue to those that have served our bodies, or our natural life. Those\nthat have healed our diseases, that have saved us from imminent dangers\nand calamities, or present death; those that have fed or clothed us, or\nsupported life when we were poor and destitute: All these deserve\nparticular kinds of remembrance, and due returns of service. Those that\nhave either vindicated our honour, or increased our reputation, and\nspread our good name in the world, stand entitled also to some agreeable\nreturns of benefit.\n\nDo not let us imagine then, that gratitude is a mere heroic virtue, that\nwe may pay or not pay at our pleasure; for nature dictates it to us, as\na piece of strict commutative justice, and equity of dealing between man\nand man. We may be very properly said to treat our neighbour unjustly,\nif we refuse to serve him again, who hath first served us, when his\ndistressed circumstances shall require our assistance.\n\nThere are some cases indeed wherein the person who is obliged by his\nneighbour\u2019s kindness, cannot possibly make a return equal to the benefit\nreceived, without ruining himself and his family, or exposing himself\nmuch more than his neighbour did to serve him. There are cases wherein\nthe person who hath obliged us, may over-rate his kindness, and\nundervalue all our acknowledgments: He may require most unreasonable\nreturns, and think he is never sufficiently recompensed. There are cases\nalso wherein the benefactor may repent of his past services, may\nendeavour to take away the benefit bestowed, may without reason commence\na resolute enmity, and do what in him lies to cancel all former\nobligations: In such circumstances as these, the obligation of gratitude\nmay be diminished, and perhaps may cease altogether. And though\nsometimes, in these very cases, there may be high and heavy charges of\ningratitude brought by the first benefactor against a person of a very\ngrateful mind; yet these accusations may be utterly unjust in the sight\nof God, who knoweth and weigheth all circumstances in a righteous\nbalance. But where no such bars are laid in the way, it is evident that\nthe practice of gratitude, and a mutual return of benefits, is but a\npiece of natural justice. The very _publicans and sinners do good to\nthose, that do good to them_: Mat. v. 46. Luke viii. 32.\n\nIV. Another piece of justice is, the payment of the full due to those\nwhom we bargain or deal with, whether the contract be made formally in\nwords, or implied in the nature of things, according to the customs of\nmankind. And under this head, not only those who buy and sell, who lend\nand borrow; but all ranks and degrees of mankind, who have any commerce\nwith each other, are included, from the prince upon the throne, to the\nday-labourer in the high-ways and hedges.\n\nThe very notion of commutative justice implies the giving one good thing\nin barter of exchange for another. And all commerce amongst men was\noriginally carried on this way, _viz._ the husbandman gave corn, the\ngrazier cattle; the draper gave cloth; the artificers and labourers\ntheir skill and work; the prince and rich man gave food and protection;\nthe poor and the subject gave their attendance and service: And thus\nmankind lived by an exchange of benefits. But when they found many\ninconveniences arise from this manner of dealing, they contrived another\nway of exchanges, and that is by money, which by universal agreement is\nmade the common measure of all things in contract: And since that time,\nskill and labour, attendance and services are exchanged for money, as\nwell as goods and merchandizes. Now herein consists the practice of\njustice, that every one render to his neighbour that which is due upon\nthe account of any of these benefits or conveniencies of life he\nreceives from him.\n\nLet us give the first place to kings and rulers in this discourse, as\njustice requires. Though the distribution of special rewards and\npunishments may have something in it of a distinct nature, yet the\ncommon protection which they owe all their subjects, and the obedience\nand tribute which their subjects owe them upon that account, are\nproperly a part of commutative justice. By their oath of magistracy, and\nby our engagements of allegiance expressed or implied, we bargain with\nthem for protection, and we ought to pay them tribute. They accept of a\nhigh and heavy charge, and agree to execute the laws of the land for the\ngood of the people: Therefore not only the purses, but the consciences\nof the people are under obligations to pay taxes to the magistrate for\nthe support of his governing power, and the maintenance of his honour\nand authority, that he may the better fulfil the glorious and useful\nwork. This is what the apostle insists upon, and argues in that known\nplace, the xiii. chapter to the Romans; _Rulers are ordained of God, not\nfor a terror to good works, but to the evil_. The ruler is the _minister\nof God to thee for good, and he beareth not the sword in vain; he is an\navenger to execute wrath upon him that doth evil_. Wherefore ye must\nneeds be subject, not only for wrath, that is, for fear of his anger:\nbut for conscience sake, as a matter of justice and duty: And for this\ncause also pay tribute. And it is to be noted, the apostle puts our duty\nin this respect upon the foot of justice; ver. 7. _Render therefore to\nall their dues_; that is, whatsoever things are just, perform to them;\nrender _tribute to whom tribute is due, custom to whom custom, fear to\nwhom fear, honour to whom honour_.\n\nAs the payment of tribute and taxes to those who undertake our\nprotection, defence, and safety, is a necessary duty; so the payment of\na salary to a teacher, of wages to a servant, of money or merchandize to\na trader, of hire to the workman, are other parts of justice. Let not\nthe labourer that hath reaped down your fields, or wrought in your\nservice, go without his hire, which was a practice the apostle\nreproached in his days; James v. 4. The law of Moses is very strict in\nthis matter; Deut. xxiv. 14, 15. _Thou shalt not oppress a hired servant\nthat is poor and needy, whether he be of thy brethren, or a stranger._\nTo express it in modern language; whether he be a christian or not, a\ngood man or an evil man, let him have his hire. If he is so poor that he\ncannot tell how to provide for himself to answer the necessities of the\nevening, then see that thou pay him the hire of the day, nor let the sun\ngo down upon it, for he is poor, and sets his heart, or depends upon it.\nTrespass not upon his poverty by thy withholding his due so long as may\nturn to his prejudice; let not his hire, which is detained by fraud, cry\nagainst thee, for the Lord of hosts, the God of Justice will hear the\ncry of the oppressed.\n\nAnd not only in the case of a poor labourer, but in every other instance\nmake conscience of paying that which you have borrowed, or what you owe\nto your neighbour, and that not only in full measure, but at the\nappointed time of payment: The time is part of the contract as well as\nthe money. Do not say, \u201cI intend to be honest, but I will not pay this\nweek, or this month.\u201d Do not withhold what is due, and say to thy\nneighbour, _Go, and come again, when thou hast it by thee; Withhold not\ngood from him to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand\nto do it_. This is forbid by the inspired preacher Solomon; Prov. iii.\n27, 28. Nor is this agreeable to the golden rule of our Saviour, _Do to\nothers as ye would that others should do unto you_.\n\nV. Help to our fellow-creatures in cases of great necessity, seems to be\nanother piece of human justice, even though they have never done any\nthing actually for us. We are bound to defend our neighbour from\napparent injury, so far as is consistent with our own safety, and\nsometimes farther too. It is our duty to direct him in the right way,\nwhen he is wandering or uncertain. It is a piece of justice to warn him\nof approaching danger, and to give him some assistance in case of sudden\ncalamity or distress attending him. When we see his soul, or his body,\nor his estate in imminent hazard, we ought to give him notice of it; we\nshould put forth some efforts of kindness for his security, and pluck\nhim as a brand out of the fire. Our own conscience dictates this to us,\nsince we should think it a very reasonable thing to expect the same\nkindness from our neighbour, when we are found in the like\ncircumstances.\n\nCan we suppose that the law of God should appoint us to lift the ox or\nthe ass of our neighbour out of a pit, or to restore his sheep to him\nwhen going astray; Deut. xxii. 1. and yet that we are not bound to\nfulfil the same duty of love toward our neighbour himself? Nay, the\ncommand of Moses reaches still farther; Ex. xxiii. 4. _If thou meet\nthine enemy\u2019s ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it\nback to him again._ How much more should this be practised toward the\nsoul or the body of a fellow-christian?\n\nIf the law of justice require us to secure the cattle or possessions of\nour neighbour; surely then we are obliged to deal as kindly with his\nreputation and good name, which in some cases is the best part of a\nman\u2019s estate, and is almost as dear to many as their health or life.\nWhen we happen therefore into such company as give their tongues a loose\nto scandal, and we hear our neighbour vilified and reproached, we ought\nto ward off the calumny, and to refute the scandal, where we know that\nour neighbour does not deserve it.\n\nThis piece of justice or duty, to assist a suffering neighbour, arises\nfrom the social nature of man, who by the law of nature is so far born\nfor a social life, as to come into the world with this claim, and under\nthis sort of obligations; for a naked exposed infant may claim the\npatronage and protection of every eye that beholds him. And where other\ncircumstances are equal, those who are most capable of affording help,\nseem to be most obliged. Now if it be a work of human justice to\npreserve such a helpless piece of human nature from death, surely every\ninfant grown up to any degrees of capacity and manhood, ought in like\nmanner to esteem himself obliged to afford some assistance to his\nfellow-creatures, according to their distress, and his capacity well\nconsidered and adjusted.\n\nTherefore, my assistance or relief of an injured or perishing creature,\nis a sort of duty to mankind, though the person himself be an utter\nstranger to me: The history of the good Samaritan in the gospel tells\nme, that in such a case every man is my neighbour, though he be of a\ndifferent nation, sect, or party. But when men are fellow-subjects, or\nfellow-citizens, or combined in any natural, civil, or religious\nsociety, this rule of justice appears with more force and evidence; it\nstrikes a brighter light upon the conscience, and ought to have more\npower upon the heart and practice; for combination into society is an\nimplicit contract or promise of mutual help under necessity.\n\nI confess, several of the instances which I have mentioned under this\nfifth head may be referred also to charity and mercy, of which I shall\nspeak hereafter: but for as much as the light of nature and the law of\nGod require these beneficial actions of men toward each other, I have\nhere placed them under the head of justice.\n\nVI. The last piece of justice which I shall mention, is reparation to\nthose whom we have wilfully injured, as far as possible: And this is a\ncertain duty, whether we have done them injury in their souls, in their\nbodies, in their estates, or in their reputation.\n\nIf we have led them into errors or heresy by our conversation; if we\ntempted them to sin by our allurement or example; if we have solicited\ntheir assistance in any base or guilty practices of our own; we ought\nseriously to employ our best powers and prayers toward their recovery\nfrom the snare of the devil: If we have wilfully injured their health;\nif we have blasted their credit; if we have thrown a blot upon their\ngood name; if we have defrauded them of any part of their due, or wasted\ntheir substance, let us know and consider that the law of justice\nrequires us to make what restitution we are capable of: But still it\nmust be done in such a manner as must consist with our duty to the rest\nof our fellow-creatures round about us. It is a vain thing to pretend to\nbe sorry and repent that we have done our neighbour a wilful injury or\nto flatter him with idle compliments of asking his pardon, while it lays\nin our power to repair the damage he sustains in a way of consistence\nwith our duties, and yet we obstinately refuse it: Such a repentance as\nthis cannot be sincere in the sight of God, nor have we any reason to\nhope that his justice or mercy will condescend to accept it.\n\nWe have heard these various instances of justice, this large and\nparticular account what is due to our neighbour, in the manifold\nrelations and businesses of life. I grant there are several difficulties\nthat may attend some of these instances in the particular practise of\nthem, by reason of the infinite variety of circumstances which may\nsurround our actions, and the unforeseen occurrences of human life. The\nstrictest rules of equity or justice, in some cases, require a\nmitigation; and it is impossible to say before-hand what shall be\nprecisely and exactly due to our neighbour in every new accident or\noccurrence. But a sincere love of justice wrought deep into the heart,\nand a sacred regard to the golden rule of equity which Christ hath given\nus, will lead us through most of these perplexities into the paths of\nrighteousness and truth.\n\nIt is time now to have the question put close to conscience; Has this\nbeen the manner of our life? Has this been our conduct toward our\nfellow-creatures? Are we children, and have we paid all due honour and\nobedience to our parents? Has the father no cause to complain that we\nhave disobeyed his authority? Has the mother no reason to say, that we\nhave scorned her advice, or abused her tenderness and compassion? Are we\nservants, have we never wasted the goods of our master, nor spent that\ntime in idle company, in folly, or in sin, which should have been\nemployed in his service? Have we dealt with our relatives in the same\nfamily as becomes a brother, a sister, or a near kinsman, and fulfilled\nthe duties to which we were born? Do we never neglect to make due\nacknowledgments for favours received? Have we loved those that love us,\nand practised the law of justice and gratitude to those who have rescued\nour souls and bodies from distress and danger, or laid obligations upon\nus by peculiar benefits.?\n\nAm I a trader, and do I practise strict justice and truth, in all that I\nbuy, and in all that I sell? Have I been carefully solicitous to wrong\nno man, to defraud no man, to cheat and cozen no man? Do I hate the arts\nof falsehood and knavery? Have I paid the full due to all that I deal\nwith, and do I keep the proper time of payment, which contract or custom\nhave appointed? Have I defended my neighbour from injury, and assisted\nhim in the day of his distress, as I myself should reasonably hope for\nhis defence and assistance? Have I sought to rescue his good name from\nreproach and slander when it has been attacked? Or have I rather fallen\nin with slanderers, and joined in with the wilful scandal? Have I\nhonestly sought to make restitution to another where I have been guilty\nof wilful injury, and done what in me lays to repair the damage that my\ninjustice has brought upon him? Have I attempted to repair his losses,\nso far as is consistent with the duties of my other relations in life?\n\nWhere is the person that can lay his hand upon his heart, and say, I am\nguiltless before God in all this? Who can wash his hands in innocency,\nand pronounce himself righteous? Surely such a discourse as this is,\nshould awaken conscience to sensible acts of repentance and mourning; we\nshould be willing and ready to yield to the conviction, where the word\nof God fastens the charge upon us, and lay ourselves low before the\nthrone of a righteous God. _Blessed Lord God, if thou art strict to mark\niniquities, who can stand before thee? But there is forgiveness with\nthee that thou mayest be feared._ We have failed in many instances of\nduty toward our fellow-creatures, as well as toward thee our Creator: We\nhave neither given to God nor to our neighbour the full due of love\nwhich thy righteous law requires: We lie down in the dust before thee,\nand betake ourselves to the refuge that is set before us: Jesus the\nrighteous is our hope, he not only paid to God and man all their due, in\nthe course of his holy life, but he also restored that honour to thy\njustice by his death, which we had taken away by our unrighteousness. O\nmay every soul of us be forgiven for his sake, and created anew in\nChrist Jesus unto good works? _Amen._\n\n\n HYMN FOR SERMON XXIV.\n _Christian Morality_, _viz._ _Justice and Equity_.\n\n\n Come let us search our ways, and try,\n Have they been just and right?\n Is the great rule of equity\n Our practise and delight?\n\n What we would have our neighbour do,\n Have we still done the same?\n And ne\u2019er delay\u2019d to pay his due,\n Nor injur\u2019d his good name?\n\n Do we relieve the poor distress\u2019d,\n Nor give our tongues a loose\n To make their names our scorn and jest,\n Nor treat them with abuse?\n\n Have we not found our envy grow,\n To hear another\u2019s praise?\n Nor robb\u2019d him of his honour due,\n By sly malicious ways?\n\n In all we sell and all we buy,\n Is justice our design?\n Do we remember God is nigh,\n And fear the wrath divine?\n\n In vain we talk of Jesu\u2019s blood,\n And boast his name in vain,\n If we can slight the laws of God,\n And prove unjust to men.\n\nFootnote 29:\n\n See Sermon XXXIII.\n\n\n\n\n SERMON XXV.\n _Christian Morality_, _viz._ _Justice_, &c.\n PHILIP. iv. 8.\u2014Whatsoever things are just, &c.\u2014\u2014think on these things.\n\n\nIf a bare proposal of the rule of duty, and the mention of the various\ninstances of it, were sufficient to persuade mankind to the practice;\nthen I need not prolong my discourse on this subject of honesty and\njustice: For I have already proposed the sacred rule which our Saviour\nhas given us, Do to others as ye would that others should do to you; and\nI have described the several instances wherein this rule must direct our\nconduct, that we may be just and righteous in all our dealings amongst\nmen.\n\nBut alas! our natures are so corrupt, our consciences are so unwilling\nto receive the laws of duty, and our perverse wills and passions have so\nmuch reluctance to the practice, that we have need of arguments to\nenforce it upon conscience, we have need of powerful motives to awaken\nour souls to righteousness, and it is necessary therefore that I proceed\nto the third head of discourse which I proposed, and that is to shew how\nfar the light of nature dictates to us the duty of common justice, and\nwhat arguments may be drawn from thence to influence men to be honest.\n\nI. If we consider the natural right that every man hath to keep that\nwhich belongs to him, it will appear that this is the gift of God as the\nGod of nature. God, the common author of all our beings, requires that\nthis right be held sacred and inviolable.\n\nI shall not run back to ancient ages, to trace the original grounds of\nproperty, or how men became entitled to any of their possessions: It is\nsufficient for me, that every man is born into this world with a right\nto his life, to his limbs, to his liberty and safety, and to the good\nthings of this world which he possesses according to the laws of nature,\nand of the nation where he is born. He has a right also that these\nshould be secure from the hands of injustice and violence, unless he\nhimself be some way concerned in the practice of injury to his\nfellow-creatures. That man therefore who offers injustice or violence to\nhis neighbour in his body, or his soul, or estate, he robs him of his\nnatural right which God hath given him, and which the law of nature\nsecures to him: He sins against the God of nature, the common Father of\nmankind; and his conscience hath reason to expect that the God of\nnature, who is just and righteous, will avenge the mischief done to his\ninjured creatures.\n\nLet it be always observed and excepted here, that the great God himself,\nconsidered merely as the God of nature, and where he has not bound\nhimself by promise, reserves a right to resume what he has given, and\nespecially when his creatures have made a forfeiture of their blessings\nby sinning against their Maker: But this does not authorize men to\ndeprive one another of their possessions, unless he has appointed them\nfrom heaven the executioners of his vengeance by a most evident and\ninfallible commission particularly given by God himself; as in the case\nof the Israelites spoiling the Egyptians of their borrowed jewels, and\ndepriving the Canaanites of their lands, and their lives: But I know not\nany instance of that kind ever since.\n\nII. If we consider the need that every man stands in of the help of his\nfellow-creatures, justice and honesty will appear to be a natural duty\nof the social life: And God, as he is the Governor of the world, will\ntake vengeance of any neglect or violation of this duty, either in this\nworld, or in the other.\n\nCommutative justice, as it is described in the former discourse, is\nbuilt upon this foundation, that one man has need of another\u2019s\nassistance: Nor is there any the meanest figure amongst mankind so very\nworthless, useless, and contemptible, but he may be capable of doing us\nsome service either now or hereafter. It is possible we may be in such\ncircumstances, as to stand in need of the help of the meanest, as well\nas of the mighty; and therefore the duty of social life obliges us to\npractice the rules of justice toward all. The rich stand in need of the\npoor to perform the meaner offices for their convenience, as much as the\npoor stand in need of the rich to supply them with food or money. The\nmaster has need of the servant to assist and obey him, as well as the\nservant stands in need of maintenance or wages from the hands of his\nmaster. One man can never procure for himself all the necessaries, and\nall the conveniences of life! it is indeed impossible. The same man\ncannot sow his own corn reap his own harvest, keep his own sheep, make\nhis own bread, form all his own garments, build his own house, fashion\nhis own furniture, and secure his own possessions; no man can provide\nfor himself in all respects, without the assistance of his\nfellow-creatures. Now those from whom he expects to receive help in any\nof these instances, it is necessary he should give them help in other\ninstances wherein they stand in need of his. This is one foundation of\njustice between man and man; that so every man may have the necessaries\nand conveniences of life by his neighbour\u2019s assistance. Thus _the king\nhimself_, as Solomon says, _is served by the field_; Eccl. v. 9. The\nprince stands in need of the plowman: The plowman gives food to the\nprince, and the prince gives to the plowman protection and safety.\n\nI might run through the various instances wherein justice is to be\npractised, and shew how the higher and lower orders and characters of\nmen have mutual need of each other: The buyer and the seller, the\nartificer and the merchant, the teacher and the scholar; and thus I\nmight make it appear, that unless a due exchange of benefits be\nmaintained, and the practice of justice secured, none of us could enjoy\nthe safety, the ease, or the conveniences of life.\n\nWhere there is no practice of justice amongst men, no man can live safe\nby his neighbour: Every one that is mighty and malicious, that is proud\nor covetous, that is envious or knavish, would rob another of his due,\nand either assume the possessions of his neighbour to himself, or make\nhavoc of them, and destroy them. There would be everlasting confusion\namongst men, slander and theft, cheating and knavery; plunder and\nslaughter, and bloody violence would reign among all the tribes of\nmankind; if justice were banished from the earth; for neither life, nor\nliberty, nor peace, nor any of our possessions, nor our good name, can\nbe secured without it. Therefore the light and law of nature sets a\nsacred guard upon justice, and has written the necessity of it in the\nconsciences of all men, who have not seared those consciences as with a\nred-hot iron, and rased out so much of human nature from their souls.\n\nThe practice of justice has so extensive an influence into the whole\nconduct of our lives, and the welfare of mankind, that some of the\nheathen writers have made it to be comprehensive of all virtues.\n\nBut because sinful men are ready to break the bonds of commutative\njustice and invade the property, the peace, or the life of their\nneighbours, therefore government is appointed, and magistrates are\nordained to maintain peace and equity amongst men, and to punish the\nbreakers of it. This is the greatest reason why there must be such a\nthing as magistracy and distributive justice amongst mankind; that those\nwho commit outrage upon their neighbours, and practice injustice toward\nthem, may be punished by the laws: For, as the apostle says to Timothy,\n_the law is not made for the righteous, but for the disobedient, for the\nungodly, and for sinners; for murderers, stealers, and liars, &c._ That\nit may be a strong restraint upon the violent inclinations of men, and\nbring just vengeance upon them, when they bring injury upon their\nneighbours. Therefore it is for the welfare of the innocent and the\nrighteous, that the laws have ordained vengeance for the guilty; that\nthose who would not injure their fellow-creatures, may be guarded in the\nenjoyment of their own property and their peace, and may have them\nsecured from the sons of injustice.\n\nAnd besides all the punishment that such sinners justly receive from men\non earth, God, the great Governor of the world, has often revealed his\nwrath from heaven against all the unrighteousness of men, as well as\ntheir ungodliness. He has hereby proclaimed his public approbation of\njustice, and his hatred of all iniquity. His terrors have sometimes\nappeared in signal and severe instances against those who have been\nnotoriously unrighteous, and who have broken all the rules of equity in\nthe treatment of their fellow-creatures. This the heathens themselves\nhave taken notice of. And they thought this to be so necessary for the\ngovernment of the world, that their priests have invented a sort of\ngoddess called Nemesis, whose office is to avenge the practice of fraud\nor violence, and to bring down curses on the head of this kind of\ncriminals.\n\nAs the ancient records of the heathen world give us some histories of\ndivine vengeance, so the bible abounds with more awful and illustrious\ninstances of this kind; which leads me to,\n\nThe fourth head of my discourse; and that is, to consider what forcible\narguments and motives the christian religion affords for the practice of\njustice among men.\n\nIf I were to speak of distributive justice, or that which belongs to the\npractice of the magistrate, never was it more gloriously manifest, than\nin and by God the Father, when he refused to pass by our iniquities\nwithout punishment, and laid the dreadful weight of it upon the head and\nsoul of his own Son. Never could magistracy receive such a glory, as\nwhen our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, hung and died upon the\ncross, suffering the penalty that the law of God, the supreme\nmagistrate, had denounced against sinners.\n\nAnd as punishing justice was glorified in all its terrors, so rewarding\njustice also appeared most illustrious. Because our Lord Jesus Christ\nhad fulfilled obedience not only to the broken law which we lay under,\nbut to those peculiar laws which God the Father also gave him as a\nMediator; therefore it pleased God highly to advance him, according to\nhis own eternal covenant. God rewarded him, as a magistrate,\ndistributing justice to a person who had done the greatest things for\nthe honour of his sovereign: He exalted him at his own right-hand, and\ngave him a name above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee\nshould bow; for he deserved it at the hands of his Father, and his\nFather distributed rewards equal to his desert.\n\nRewarding justice again appears glorious, in that God the Father\ncommunicates unto us the rewards of the sufferings of his own Son. God\nis faithful and just to forgive us our sins, because _the blood of Jesus\nChrist, his Son_, has paid for all our follies and unrighteousness; 1\nJohn i. 9. Faithful and just to his Son, that he may not go without the\nrewards of his sufferings: Faithful and just to us, because it was in\nour name and stead that the Son suffered. But not to insist upon this\nlonger, commutative justice is abundantly enforced also by many\nconsiderations drawn from the books of the Old Testament, as well as\nfrom the gospel of Christ.\n\nIf we consult the moral statutes of God, which were given to the Jews,\nwe shall find them full of righteousness. These statutes are of\neverlasting force, and their divine solemnity should impress our\nconsciences. _That which is altogether just shalt thou follow, that thou\nmayest live and inherit the land: And the judges and officers shall\njudge the people with righteous judgment, and shall shew no respect to\npersons, nor take a gift to pervert justice_; Deut. xvi. 18, 19, 20. _Ye\nshall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another. Thou shalt\nnot defraud thy neighbour, nor rob him. The wages of him that is hired\nshall not abide with thee all night until the morning. Ye shall do no\nunrighteousness in judgment, in weight, or in measure, just balances and\njust weights shall ye have; I am the Lord your God_; Lev. xix. 12, &c.\n_A false balance is an abomination to the Lord; but a just weight is his\ndelight_; Prov. xi. 1. _To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to\nthe Lord than sacrifice_; Prov. iii. 15. _Woe to him that buildeth his\nhouse by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong, who uses his\nneighbour\u2019s service without wages, and giveth him not for his work_;\nJer. xxii. 13. _Remove not the ancient land-marks, nor enter into the\nfield of the fatherless: for their Redeemer is mighty, and he shall\nplead their cause with thee_; Prov. xxiii. 10, 11.\n\nIf we review the records of the Jewish history, we shall find the cruel\nand the covetous, the tyrant and the oppressor, made terrible examples\nof the vengeance of God against unrighteousness. Survey the plagues of\nEgypt, and the dreadful desolations of that fruitful country, with the\ndestruction of the first-born by the midnight pestilence, and the armies\nof Pharaoh drowned in the Red sea, and you may read there the wrath of\nGod against the unrighteousness of men, written in dreadful characters.\nThey treated the race of Israel with cruelty and sore oppression; they\ndestroyed their male-children, and provoked God to bring swift\ndestruction upon themselves. Behold Adonibezek, king of the Canaanites,\nwith his thumbs and his great toes cut off by Joshua, and confessing the\njustice of the great God. _Three-score and ten kings_, saith he, _with\ntheir great toes and their thumbs cut off, have gathered their meat\nunder my table: As I have done, so God hath requited me_; Judges i. 7.\n_See the dogs licking up the blood of Ahab in the place where he slew\nNaboth the Jezreelite_, in order to take unjust possession of his\nvineyard; 1 Kings xxi. 19. These things which were written of old time,\nremain upon record for our instruction in the days of christianity.\n\nBut let us take more special notice what influences may be derived from\nthe gospel, and from the name of Christ, to enforce the practice of\njustice among men.\n\nI. If we look to our Lord Jesus Christ as a law-giver, how various and\nhow plain are his solemn and repeated commands, not only in his sermon\nupon the mount, but upon other occasions too, that justice be practised\nbetween man and man. He hath explained to us that glorious rule of\nequity, on purpose to make the practice of justice easy, plain, and\nuniversal, _love your neighbour as yourself_; that is, do to others, as\nye would that others do to you.\n\nWe cannot but think that the holy soul of our Lord Jesus was concerned\nto secure the practice of justice and righteousness among his followers,\nwhen we read his terrible rebuke to the pharisees for the neglect of it,\nand a curse pronounced upon them; Mat. xxiii. 23. \u201cWoe unto you scribes\nand pharisees, hypocrites: for ye pay tythe of mint, and anise, and\ncummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment,\nmercy, and faith.\u201d Judgment in that place may signify commutative and\ndistributive justice: all manner of exercise of righteousness towards\ntheir fellow-creatures. Under a pretence of serving God better than your\nneighbours, and crowding his temple with your presence, and his altar\nwith sacrifices and gifts, ye abandon common justice, ye neglect the\nrighteousness due to your fellow-creatures. There is a woe denounced\nupon you, and my Father will inflict the curse, for _he hates robbery\nfor burnt-offering_; Is. lxi. 8. Nor will the God of heaven excuse you\nfrom paying your dues to men on earth, under pretence of paying honour\nor sacrifices to him.\n\nThere are many other threatenings in the New Testament written against\nthose that neglect justice, and pronounced by the apostles in the name\nand authority of Christ, their exalted Lord. The covetous and\nextortioners, those that take away the light of their fellow-creatures,\nare shut out from the heavenly blessedness; 1 Cor. vi. 10. \u201cKnow ye not,\nsays the apostle, that none of these shall inherit the kingdom of God?\u201d\nAs much as to say, it is so very obvious a thing, that an unjust man can\nnever enter into heaven, whatsoever pretence he makes, that I may appeal\nto the meanest capacity, ye all know it. God will repay vengeance to\nthem that do wrong to their neighbours, whether they be great or mean,\nfor _there is no respect of persons with him_; Col. iii. 25.\n\nII. Consider Christ as a pattern of justice and righteousness. Look to\nthe example of our Lord Jesus; you see him, who was the sovereign\nMagistrate and Lord of all, who could distribute crowns and kingdoms to\nmen, submitting himself to commutative justice among creatures.\n\nBehold the Son of God, who was the brightness of his Father\u2019s glory, and\nthe delight of his soul before the creation; behold him stooping down to\nour world, and taking flesh and blood upon him to become our brother,\nthat he might shew us how we ought to love our brethren. It was an\nunparalleled instance of divine love that Christ has given us, when he\ncame down from heaven to become our neighbour, and to dwell amongst us,\nthat he might teach us to love our neighbours as ourselves.\n\nBehold the glorious Son of God subjecting himself to his earthly\nparents, to Joseph the carpenter, and to Mary his mother, that he might\ninstruct us how to pay obedience to our superior relations. See how the\nKing of kings pays tribute to C\u00e6sar, when he was so poor, that he was\nforced to send Peter a fishing, to procure the tribute-money by a\nmiracle. And though the beasts of the field were his, and he could have\ncommanded the cattle upon a thousand hills, to make provision for his\nfollowers; yet he would not dispossess the owners of them, but created\nfood on purpose to feed four or five thousand in the wilderness.\n\nIII. If we consider Christ as a glorious benefactor, who has taken care\nto provide for us the necessaries of this life, and hath purchased for\nus, at the hands of God, the eternal treasures of heaven and glory. Has\nnot this blessed consideration force enough to guard us against all\ntemptations to injustice? Shall a christian break the rules of equity,\nand steal, or cheat, or plunder his neighbour to gain money or\nmerchandise, who has the promises of God for his support in a way of\ndiligence and humble faith? Shall we sully our consciences, and defile\nour souls with knavery and injustice for a little of the pelf of this\nworld, when we have the unsearchable riches of Christ made over to us in\nthe gospel, and the inheritance of heaven in reversion?\n\nIV. Let us consider the very nature and design of the gospel of Christ,\nit is to make sinners holy, to make the unjust righteous: The new man of\nchristianity must be created in righteousness and true holiness.\nTherefore are we _purchased with the blood of Christ, that we might be a\npeculiar peeple, zealous of good works_; Tit. ii. 14.\n\nIt is a shame and scandal to the christian name, when one who wears it\nis unrighteous or dishonest. An unjust christian, what a contradiction\nis it in itself, and how it disgraces the profession of the gospel! Hear\nhow the great apostle treats his Corinthian disciples when such sort of\nsins were found amongst them; 1 Cor. vi. 1-8. _Dare any of you, having a\nmatter against another, go to law before the unjust man and the infidel?\nDare any of you injure your neighbour, your fellow-christian? I speak\nthis to your shame. Brother goes to law with brother, and ye injure one\nanother. Why do not you rather suffer wrong? nay, you do wrong, and\ndefraud, and that your own brethren._ But what is the consequence? Such\nwretches as these are, _shall never inherit the kingdom of God_.\n\n_The grace of God that bringeth salvation_; Tit. ii. 9, 10. _teacheth us\nto deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly and\nrighteously_, and religiously, _in this present evil world_. It teacheth\nus righteousness towards men, as well as sobriety among ourselves, and\ngodliness towards the King of heaven. But how hath this divine religion\nbeen scandalized for want of justice in the professors of it!\nScandalized among heathen kingdoms, among Turks and unbelievers! and\nchristianity in our own land, how hath it been dishonoured by the\npractices of those that pretend to that holy name! How hath the\nconversion of wild heathens in the Indian nations been hindered by the\ninjustice and fraud of christian merchants and traders there, or by\nmerchants who call themselves christians. I have heard it said by\npersons whom I could fully credit, that a Turk when he is suspected of\nfraud and cheating, will reply, \u201cWhat, do you think I am a christian?\u201d O\nhow hath the gospel of the lovely Jesus been rendered odious by the\nabominable practices of those that pretend to honour him! What\nfalsehood, what lying, what perjury, and cheating, and deceit, and\nviolence have been practised by our traders in foreign lands! Thus there\nhas been an ill savour of our holy christianity carried beyond the seas,\nby those, perhaps, who have pretended to convert the infidels. And many\nin our own nation, who have begun to set their faces towards heaven,\nhave been sorely disgusted at the knavish practices of professors, and\nbeen tempted to think that all religion is a jest, and to abandon the\nordinances of the gospel. But when souls stumble, and fall, and perish\nby such discouragements, woe to him that gave the offence, and laid this\nstumbling-block of iniquity in their way. How heavy must the blood of\nsouls lay upon such sinners!\n\nSurely there has been enough said on this head to discourage oppression,\ndeceit, and injustice in the professors of christianity, if argument,\nand shame, and terror can have power and prevalence over sin and\ntemptation. O may almighty grace attend this discourse of justice, and\nwork the sacred love of it in the hearts of men!\n\nNow if ye are made willing to walk by the rules of equity and justice,\ninstead of proposing particular directions for this end, I shall\nproceed,\n\nIn the fifth and last place, to point out the various springs of\ninjustice, that ye may avoid them.\n\nThe great and general spring of injustice to our neighbour is a criminal\nand excessive love to ourselves. For since the comprehensive notion of\njustice lies in this, to give to every one that which is due, it\nfollows, that the general notion of injustice consists in taking to\nourselves more than is due, or in giving less than is due to our\nneighbour.\n\nThere are a thousand instances of this unrighteousness among men, in\nreference to their bodies, their souls, their good name, or their\npossessions in the world. This general term of injustice is so\nextensive, that it includes a great part of the sins forbidden in the\nsecond table. Disobedience to parents and governors, rebellion, treason,\nmurder, adultery, theft, violence and plunder, cheating, and deceit, and\nslander, with all sinful desires to possess what belongs to our\nneighbour, may be justly ranked under the head of unrighteousness: And\nthey spring from this one fountain, namely, an excessive regard to self.\nIt is to this natural and exalted idol that we sacrifice the peace and\nthe property, the good name, and even the life of our fellow-creatures.\nNor will any method be effectual to secure us from the practice of\ninjustice, till we learn to degrade self a little in our own esteem, and\nto judge of our neighbour, and of the things that are his due, by the\nsame rule and measure by which we take an estimate, of ourselves, and of\nwhat is due to us. Let us put our neighbour in the place of self, and\njudge how he ought to be treated.\n\nBut that we may more effectually guard ourselves from the temptations of\ninjustice, let us descend to particulars, and we shall find that almost\nall the unrighteous practices of men spring from some of these six\nprinciples; _viz._ covetousness, pride, luxury, sloth, malice against\nmen, or distrust of God.\n\nI. Covetousness is a great spring of injustice. This consists in an\nimmoderate desire of possessing: And we are told by the apostle, that\nthe love of money is the root of all evil, which while some have coveted\nafter, they have not only erred from the faith, but they have ventured\nupon many sins, as well as pierced themselves through with many sorrows.\nFor _they that will be rich, fall into temptation, and a snare, and into\nmany foolish and hurtful lusts, which draw men in destruction and\nperdition_; 1 Tim. vi. 9, 10. Solomon is of the same mind; Prov. xxviii.\n20, 22. He that maketh haste to be rich, shall not be innocent, for he\nhath an evil eye upon the possessions of his neighbour.\n\nIt is from this cursed root of covetousness that a multitude of bitter\nfruits proceed. It is by this vicious principle working within us, that\nwe are tempted to take what is not our due, either by craft or by\nviolence. Hence it is that men cheat each other in their daily commerce,\nthey defraud and over-reach their neighbour, if they can, in every\nbargain they make, and try all the arts of subtle knavery, in order to\nenrich themselves. They divest their souls of truth and virtue, and put\noff conscience and shame to load themselves with thick clay.\n\nIt is covetousness that teaches the sons of men to practise upon their\ndealers with a false balance and a deceitful beam. They shorten their\nmeasures, and lessen their weights by which they sell their goods: But\nwhen the case alters, and they buy any thing for themselves, they will,\nif possible, take another sort of weight, or use a different measure;\nall which are an abomination to the Lord.\n\nIt is the same evil and unrighteous principle that persuades the seller\nto put off corrupt and damaged wares for good and sound, and to cozen\nhis neighbour with merchandize that is by no means such as he reasonably\nexpects. It is this principle that persuades the buyer also to cheat his\nneighbour with corrupt and false money, which he knows to be unlawful\ncoin. For corrupt merchandize and corrupt money, false balances, light\nweights, and scanty measure, seem all to stand in the same rank of\ndeceit: These are all weapons of craft and knavery to give a secret\nwound to their neighbour\u2019s estate, they all belong to the armory of\nfraud, and the magazine of unrighteousness.\n\nIt is this covetous humour that tempts the tongues of men to speak\nflattering falsehoods in their daily dealings, and some of them make an\nhourly sacrifice of truth to the gain of a penny. It is from this\nprinciple that they break their promises of payment; they withhold the\nmoney that is due to their neighbour, beyond all reasonable time, and\nthat for no other reason but to gain by the loan of it: They delay the\npayment of their poor creditors for many months, or perhaps for years,\nand put the advantage which they make of this delay into their own\npurse. This is a frequent, but an unrighteous practice in our day: For\nthe profit that accrues by the detaining of money that is due to another\nbeyond the customary or contracted time of payment, should doubtless be\ngiven to the person to whom the principal money was due; or at least he\nshould have such a valuable share of it as may compensate the damage or\nloss he sustains by the delay.\n\nIt is a covetous desire of gain that tempts men to practise extortion,\nand to prey upon the necessities of those they deal with. When the buyer\nwants any conveniency of life, they force him to give much more than it\nis worth, because he stands in the utmost need of it; or they constrain\nthe seller perhaps to part with some of his most valuable possessions\nfor a trifle, because he is under special necessity and present\ndistress. This was the extortion which Jacob practised upon his brother\nEsau, when he made him sell his birth-right for a mess of pottage, while\nhe was faint with hunting. And it is the same iniquity when we impose\nupon the ignorance or known unskilfulness of the persons we deal with;\nand especially when we make our advantage of children or servants, or of\npersons who confess their own ignorance, and leave the choice of the\ngoods, or the determination of the price, to the conscience of him that\nsells.\n\nWe may indeed set a just value upon our own goods; but we must not set a\nprice upon any man\u2019s pressing necessity, nor raise a tax upon his\nignorance. It can never be certainly determined how much it is lawful\nfor a trader to get by his merchandize: Doubtless he may sometimes make\na greater gain of the same things than at another: And this is often\nnecessary, in order to compensate the losses, the risks or dangers that\nhe passes through. He may lawfully make those advantages which the\nchange of things, and the divine providence often puts into his hands:\nNor is it unlawful for him to take more of some persons than he does of\nothers for the same merchandize; for he may treat some of his customers\nfavourably, though he must deal righteously and justly with them all.\nBut let him see to it that he use ingenuity towards the poor, the\nnecessitous, and the unskilful, as well as moderation toward all men.\nThe circumstances of things are so various, that much of the practice of\njustice must be left to the court of equity in every man\u2019s breast, under\nthe sacred influence of this rule, _Do that to others which you think\nreasonable that others should do to you_. It is best in all doubtful and\ndifficult cases to practise what is fair and honourable in the sight of\nmen, and what is safe and innocent in the sight of God: for a good\nconscience is better than the largest gain: But where the sacred\nprinciples of virtue are over-borne by corrupt inclinations, the moral\npowers of the soul are stretched at first to the lengths of moderate\niniquity, and conscience is strained to the indulgence of some smaller\nunrighteousness: but virtue will die by degrees, and conscience will\nlearn in time to allow bolder injustice. And then, though it may be\nstupified and senseless for a season, yet let the sinner know, that it\nwill have its feeling return again, and the guilt of knavery and\nfalsehood will torture the soul with unknown agonies here or hereafter.\n\nBut the wretched influence of this vice of covetousness is not confined\nonly to traffic and merchandize: It spreads its unrighteousness much\nfarther and wider: It tempts the sons and daughters of men to withhold\ndue honour and necessary supplies from their aged parents, and exposes\nto great hardships in the latter end of life, those to whom we owe our\nlife itself, and the comforts of it in our younger years. It withholds\nwages from the servant, and salary from him that has earned it. It\nforbids those who have received benefits to make a grateful return to\ntheir benefactors. It will teach a man to stop his ears at the cry of\nhis neighbour in distress, lest it should cost some money for his\nrelief. It refuses an alms to the starving poor, and finds an excuse for\nthe churl, lest he stretch out his hand of bounty to a perishing family.\nIt is so wrapped up in self, that it never considers what is due to\nanother; and ventures to break all the rules of righteousness rather\nthan diminish its own estate, or part with any thing it can call mine.\nIt would suffer a church or a kingdom to sink and perish, and let the\npublic peace be broken, and the nation dissolved, if it might but secure\nitself and its own possessions in the midst of those ruins. An accursed\nvice. An iniquity big with misery and desolation! yet it hides itself\ntoo often from conviction and reproof; it runs like a river under\nground, and attempts to conceal itself under the specious disguises of\nfrugality and virtue, while it practises all the mischiefs we have been\ndescribing.\n\nII. Pride is another spring of injustice. But having broken up the\nfountain of covetousness as of a great deep, and traced it in its\nvarious streams, the labour of drying them up has employed so much time,\nthat the pursuit of the other springs of unrighteousness must be delayed\ntill a further season.\n\n\n HYMN FOR SERMON XXV.\n _Christian Morality_, _viz._ _Justice and Truth_.\n\n\n Great God, thy holy law requires,\n To curb our covetous desires,\n Forbids to plunder, steal, or cheat,\n To practise falsehood or deceit.\n\n Thy Son hath set a pattern too,\n He paid to God and men their due:\n A dreadful debt he paid to God,\n And bought our pardon with his blood.\n\n Amazing justice! boundless love!\n Do we not feel our passions move?\n Do we not grieve that we have been\n Faithless to God, or false to men?\n\n Have we no righteous debt denied,\n Through wanton luxury or pride?\n Nor vex\u2019d the poor with long delay,\n And made them groan for want of pay?\n\n Have we ne\u2019er thrown a needless shame,\n Or scandal on our neighbour\u2019s name?\n O happy men, whose age and youth\n Have ever dealt in love and truth;\n\n But if our justice once be gone,\n And leave our faith and hope alone;\n If honesty be banish\u2019d hence\n Religion is a vain pretence.\n\n\n\n\n SERMON XXVI.\n _Christian Morality_, _viz._ _Justice, &c._\n PHILIP. iv. 8.\u2014Whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure,\n think on these things.\n \u039f\u03c3\u03b1 \u03b4\u03b9\u03ba\u03b1\u03b9\u03b1, \u03bf\u03c3\u03b1 \u03b1\u03b3\u03bd\u03b1.\n\n\nJustice and truth are two of the chief bands that preserve human\nsociety. If truth and justice perish from the earth, the sons of men\nwould become like the savages of the wilderness, where the strong or the\ncrafty animals prey upon _the weak, the simple, and the innocent_. The\nLord God, the author of nature, is a God of justice, and he has written\nsomething of this law in the consciences of men. But the God of grace\nhas given us much plainer rules for the practice of it, hath allured us\nto righteousness by sweeter motives, and hath guarded it by more awful\nand solemn terrors. These things have been the subject of the former\ndiscourse; and that we may, as far as possible, assist towards the\nrooting out injustice from the hearts and lives of christians, I have\nbegun to point out some of the chief principles, or springs of it.\n\nThe first which I mentioned is covetousness, a vicious weed that grows\nin corrupt nature, and is fruitful of a thousand unrighteous actions.\n\nI proceed now to the second, that is pride. When a person sets too high\na value upon himself, and aggrandizes himself in his own esteem, he is\nready to imagine that all things are due to him, and there is very\nlittle left to become due to his neighbour. The proud, as well as the\ncovetous man, is full of self, and he forgets the command of love to his\nneighbour: He treats him as if he was not made of the same clay, and\nlives as though he were obliged to no duty to his fellow-creatures. This\nis evident in a variety of instances.\n\nIt is pride that forbids us to give due respect to those that are above\nus in the family, in the church, or in the civil state: And instead of\npaying the honours that are due to superiors, we are tempted to treat\nthem with insolence and scorn. Many a father in our degenerate age, has\nfound this unhappy effect of raising his children too soon and too high:\nAnd the mother has seen her sin, and felt it in her punishment, when she\nhas cockered up her young offspring in pride, and thereby taught them to\nbreak the rules of justice, to slight all her authority, and make a\nscoff of that pre-eminence which God and nature have given her. The\nproud man is ready to say in his heart, \u201cAll that are around me ought to\npay me respect, and do me justice,\u201d while he is regardless of the\nrespect due to others. \u201cLet them carry it towards me as they ought, and\nI will carry it toward them as I please.\u201d\n\nIt is pride that inclines us to throw a blot here and there upon the\ngood name of our neighbour, and to blemish his reputation, lest he\nshould outshine us. When some honourable mention is made of another\nperson in our company, especially if it be one of our own sex, our own\nrank or degree in the world, do we not feel something rising within to\nlessen their honour, and to stain their character? It is through this\nvanity and ambition of mind, that we are tempted to defame and reproach\nour neighbour, and to rob him of his just honour among men, and we\nendeavour to build our own fame and credit upon the ruin of his. But it\nis a sandy, or rather an impious foundation; and the fame that is built\nupon such ground will never stand. Pride inclines us to assume more\nrespect than is due to ourselves, and to take it away from our\nneighbour, even as covetousness tempts us to take more money to\nourselves than is due, and to deprive our neighbour of it. Thus both of\nthem are opposite to the sacred rule of justice; one to that justice\nwhich we owe to our neighbour\u2019s estate, and the other to his good name.\n\nBut the evil influence of pride spreads farther also; for it teaches us\nto practise unrighteousness in matters of property: It instructs us in\nthe methods of oppression, and inspires us with a wicked courage to\npractise it; Ps. lxxiii. 6, 7, 8. _When pride compasses men as a chain,\nand they wear it as a golden ornament, then violence covers them as a\ngarment; and though their eyes stand out with fatness, and they have\nmore than heart could wish, yet they are corrupt, and speak wickedly\nconcerning oppression._ They gripe those that are poor, because they\nthemselves are mighty. They refuse to pay the just demands of their\nneighbours, they speak loftily, and stand it out with them against all\nright and justice, because they are great in the world. It is the rule\nof justice to change places with our humble neighbour, and ask\nourselves, what we should think due to us, if we were in his place. Or\nat least we should set ourselves and our neighbour upon the level, and\nconsider what is just and right on both sides. But the heart of pride\ncannot bear such a rule, it exalts itself far above the level of\nmankind, and practises toward those that are around it with a superior\ninsolence and injustice. Cursed pride, the first-born of hell! It seized\nour first parents and tempted them to aim at godhead, to practice injury\nto God himself, and assume a right to the fruit of the forbidden tree!\nVile iniquity, that hath tainted all the seed of Adam! It is a haughty\npoison that was infused into our veins with the first sin; and where\nshall we find the son or daughter of Eve that is not infected with it?\nBlessed be the grace of God, wheresoever its dominion is broken, so that\nit does not break out into all the works of unrighteousness.\n\nThe third spring of injustice among men is profuseness and luxury. When\npersons affect to live in a manner above what their circumstances will\nafford, they are tempted to intrench upon the property of their\nneighbour, either by cheating or by violence.\n\nIt is the language of luxury, \u201cI must indulge my appetite, my table must\nbe furnished with a costly variety, and I must eat and drink with\nelegance, as is the modish phrase. I must treat my friends when they\nvisit me, with fashionable entertainments; I must keep fine company, and\nmake a figure in the world; I must appear in such an equipage as my\nneighbour allows himself, though he be ten times richer than I am. I\nmust have many changes of raiment, for it is a mean and vulgar thing to\nappear too often in the same dress: My house must be furnished after the\nmode, and I must shine at home and abroad in silks or in silver; for I\ncannot bear the thought that such or such a one should out-shine and\nover-top me.\u201d Then the patrimony is sold or mortgaged to raise present\nsupplies, and the rich food and clothing, and luxurious expences of a\ntwelve-month, devour and swallow up seven years income, or the gain of\nhalf their lives.\n\nWhat remains then, when their own substance is not sufficient to supply\ntheir vanity, but that they make an inroad upon the property of their\nneighbour? They run deep into debt with the artificer and trader, and\nthey never concern themselves how to make payment. The workman has built\nthem palaces, instead of such common dwellings as their character\nrequires, and the artificers of various kinds have furnished out their\nbravery of apparel or equipage: But the unhappy creditors are ready to\nstarve in tattered raiment, through the oppression and injustice of\ntheir luxurious neighbour. And when they make a modest demand of what is\ndue to them, they meet with nothing but a frown or a jest, and the\nreproachful names of saucy and impertinent. But, _wo to him that covets\nan evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high;\u2014for\nthe stone shall cry out of the wall against the oppressor: The beam out\nof the timber shall answer it, and shall bear witness against\nunrighteousness_; Hab. ii. 9, 11.\n\nThis is the crying guilt of many, and very commonly practised in this\ncity, in greater or in less degrees; but perhaps the profuse wretch\npursues a bolder course of injustice, and betakes himself to robbery and\nplunder: He lies at watch on the high-ways, he seizes and assaults the\ninnocent traveller, and deprives him of his wealth and every thing\nvaluable, in order to support his own wild and extravagant expences.\nLuxury must be fed, though justice be starved; and luxury must be\nclothed, though justice go naked.\n\nMy hearers perhaps will think themselves unconcerned in all this story,\nand take no share of conviction to themselves, nor do I know any of them\nto whom half this charge belongs. But let it be considered, that men do\nnot usually rise to this degree of madness all at once. Unrighteousness\nhas several steps and stages in its race; if we indulge our appetites,\nand spread our tables, or form our apparel or our furniture but a little\nbeyond our income, if we once begin to admit such a manner of life and\nexpence as exceeds our estate, in order to please our own sensual or\nvain inclinations, or to vie with our neighbours, we expose ourselves to\nmost evident temptations of injustice, and lead our souls into sinful\nsnares. \u201cWe cannot live frugally as our fathers did: The fashion is\naltered, and we must follow it, whether the purse can bear it or no.\u201d\n\nHence arise the impetuous desires of hasty and extravagant gains by\ngaming, in order to recover what is lost by luxury. Men venture largely\nupon the turn of a dye, and defraud their honest creditors of their\nbread and life, to pay, what they call in their cant, the debts of\nhonour. A wanton sort of justice and illegal equity! It is the luxurious\nfashion of life that hath filled our land with the itch of gaming; and\nif the turn of a wheel can entitle them to thousands, they despise the\nslow and tedious ways of supplying their wants by labour, business, or\ntraffic. Thus honest industry is discouraged, and trade, which is the\npolitical life of our nation, lies groaning and expiring.\n\nHence proceeds the wicked custom of breaking promises to those that we\ndeal with, and long delays of payment, till we imagine that the debt is\ncancelled, by being almost forgotten. A vain and criminal imagination!\nAs though the daily increase of interest, and the patience of the\ncreditor, could make the principal cease to be due! As though time, and\nunjust delay could pay debts without money.\n\nHence flows the unrighteous practice of borrowing without any design to\npay, which is gross and shameful iniquity: I would hope none of the\nprofessors of religion have so far abandoned all sense of righteousness.\nYet there are too many, who, when once they have borrowed, grow so\ncareless and negligent of payment, that it brings a disgrace upon their\nprofession, and a blot upon their character. Profuse and thoughtless\nsinners, who run in debt to every one that will trust them for the daily\nconveniencies of life! Though they have no reasonable prospect of\npaying, yet they ask their neighbour to lend, with a free and courageous\ncountenance, and put a bold face upon their venturous iniquity, being\ntoo proud to let their poverty be known. But the God of justice beholds\ntheir crime, and writes their names down in his book among the\nunrighteous. Ps. xxxvii. 21. _The wicked borroweth and payeth not\nagain._\n\nHence it comes to pass that there are so many bankrupts in our days,\neven among the professors of strict religion: A shameful and ungodly\npractice, if it arise from luxury and profuseness, or from a careless\nneglect of their proper affairs! It was thought sufficient, in the days\nof our fathers, to deserve an expulsion from the church of Christ,\nunless they could evidently make it appear, that it was merely the\nunforeseen and frowning providences of God, they were reduced to this\nextremity.\u2014There is many a man hath groaned away his latter years in\npoverty, and perhaps in a cold prison, and in most forlorn circumstances\nof life, by means of the profuseness of his youth: And he hath been\ntaught to read the guilt of his luxury and injustice in a long and\npainful lesson.\n\nBut a profuse and sensual humour is not only the spring of\nunrighteousness among persons of better rank and circumstance in the\nworld, but it tempts servants also to be unjust to their masters: They\nwill now and then provide a treat for themselves and their friends; they\nmust eat nicely, and drink to excess: And thus they waste their master\u2019s\nsubstance. They must keep good company in the world, and now and then\nspend a licentious hour or two, while their just and reasonable service\nat home is neglected; and perhaps the purse of the master must pay for\nall.\n\nUnder the same head I may bring a charge of injustice against the\ncareless and wasteful servant, who persuades himself that his master is\nrich enough, and therefore he is not solicitous to buy or sell, or\nmanage any affairs for him to the best advantage. He permits the goods\nof his master to be wasted or embezzled, he grows liberal and generous\nat his master\u2019s cost, and has no thought of the golden rule of our\nSaviour, to manage his master\u2019s concerns with the same frugality and\nconduct, as he would expect a servant should do for him. But it is time\nI proceed to the next particular.\n\nThe fourth occasion of injustice, is sloth and idleness. For the\n_slothful man is a brother to him that is a great waster_; Prov. xviii.\n9.\n\nWhosoever wants the necessaries, or the conveniencies of life, is bound\nto obtain them by labour and diligence, if he is not possessed of them\nby any other methods of favourable providence. _In the sweat of thy\nbrows shalt thou eat thy bread_, was the command given to Adam, when he\nwas turned out of paradise, and forfeited his property in the fruits of\nEden. But when once a person gets an aversion to business, when he finds\na pleasure in sauntering and trifles, and indulges idleness and a lazy\nlife; then he is tempted to seek the supports and comforts of nature by\nsome practices of unrighteousness. _The slothful man will be clothed\nwith rags_, unless he procure better clothing by fraud or violence;\nProv. xxiii. 21.\n\nHence it is that persons learn the art of stealing, and possess\nthemselves of the goods or the money of their neighbour by thievery.\nThey mark out the houses in the day, and break them up at midnight for\nplunder. They remove the ancient land-marks, to enlarge their own\nborders; they violently take away flocks, and feed upon them. They go\nforth to their unrighteous work in the morning, and rise betimes for a\nprey. They reap down the corn in their neighbour\u2019s field, and the wicked\ngather the vintage. They cause the naked to lodge without cloathing, and\ntake away the sheaf from the hungry. _These are they that rebel against\nthe light, they abide not in the paths thereof._ Though God does not lay\nfolly to them, nor punish their crimes by his immediate judgments, yet\nhis eyes are upon their ways; Job xxiv. 2-23. And many times his\nprovidence brings their crimes to light, and they are punished for their\niniquity by the sentence of the judge. O what a shame and scandal is it,\nthat in a nation professing christianity, there should be such\nmultitudes trained up to the pilfering trade, and educated for infamy,\nfor transportation, and the gibbet!\n\nThere are others, whose hands refuse to labour, and whose temper of mind\ndelights in idleness, but they venture not upon these bolder crimes;\nthey learn other unrighteous arts of cheating and falsehood, and fall\ninto the same evil practices, which I have just before described under\nthe head of luxury. But when luxury, pride, and sloth join their forces\ntogether, the temptation to injustice becomes exceeding strong, and\nthere are few who have power to resist it. Such was the unjust steward,\nwhom our blessed Saviour represents in a parable, procuring himself a\nway of living by cheating his Lord: Luke xvi. 1, 2, 3, 4. He had wasted\nhis master\u2019s goods, and he was to be cashiered from his service: What\nshall I do, said he, I have not been used to work, I cannot dig; there\nis the sloth of the man: He had lived well in his stewardship, and was\ngrown proud, to beg I am ashamed. Well, I can purloin no more of my\nLord\u2019s estate for myself, but I can do it for his debtors; I will cheat\nhim in his accounts, and make all his debtors my friends, by cancelling\na good part of their obligations, and then I shall get a livelihood\namongst them. O that all such practices had been found no where but in\nparables!\n\nSome that have been reduced to poverty by idleness, and have borrowed\nboldly what they could never pay, yet wipe their mouths, and think\nthemselves innocent and righteous, because they have not a sufficiency\nto make payment: Whereas, in truth, it is their own sloth that makes\nthem poor, and keeps them so. Some of these idle creatures waste their\ndays in drowsiness and inactivity. \u201cA little more sleep, a little more\nslumber, so poverty comes upon them like an armed man without\nresistance.\u201d Others are a little more sprightly, and they spend their\nhours in an inquisitive impertinence, in public news and private\nslander, in searching and tatling of the affairs of other persons and\ntheir families, while they eat, and drink and live upon the labour of\nthe diligent, and unjustly serve themselves out of the industry of their\nneighbour. So the worthless drone wastes the summer\u2019s day in buzzing and\ntrifling, he gads abroad, and wanders with idle flight; then he returns,\nand feeds upon the honey that the bee has gathered, and abuses the\nindustry of a better animal.\n\nSt. Paul takes notice of this sort of people at Thessalonica who call\nthemselves christians, and reproves them with just severity; _We hear\nthere are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but\nare busy bodies. Now them that are such, we command and exhort by our\nLord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own\nbread: For even when we were with you this we commanded you, that if any\nwould not work neither should he eat_; 2 Thess. iii. 10, &c. And in his\nletter to the Ephesians, he exhorts the thief to diligence. _Let him\nthat stole steal no more, but rather let him labour, working with his\nhands, the thing which is good_; and that not only for his own support,\nbut that he may have to give to him that needeth; Eph. iv. 28. How\nlittle do those christians read their bibles! Or how little do they mind\nwhat the great apostle tells them! They profess they were never brought\nup to work, and give that answer roundly as a sufficient excuse for\nidleness: And therefore when they become poor and necessitous, they\nthink it the duty of others to maintain them, without stretching out\ntheir hand for any thing but to beg and receive. They will apply\nthemselves to no employment, though they are told their duty\ncontinually: Their pride, indolence, and sloth withhold them from\nlabour, though they are called to it daily in the loudest language in\nwhich God now-a-days speaks to his creatures; and that is the voice of\nreason, of scripture, and of providence.\n\nBut there is another sort of sloth and idleness, that leads on to the\npractice of injustice too, and that is when men are busy in their\ntrades, and the affairs of life, but seldom look into their accounts, or\nperhaps keep none at all: And thus they live upon the spend, and are\nutterly ignorant whether their income will support it. They eat and\ndrink with daily chearfulness, and sleep sound upon their pillow, while\nthey know not whether their food and raiment, and even the bed they rest\non, be their own or no. Perhaps they have let their accounts run long\nbehind, they are a little jealous of their circumstances, and then it is\nan unpleasant and tedious task to take a thorough review of them. By\nthis means they run on venturing and heedless, till justice overtakes\nthem, and ruin seizes them at once. Then they see what a shameful and\ncruel inroad they have made upon their neighbour\u2019s property: They find\nthen that they have fed and clothed themselves and their household out\nof their neighbour\u2019s estate. What shall I say to persons of this\ncharacter? Their souls are generally hardened on all sides against\nconviction, and it is with much difficulty they are ever brought to\nconfess their own folly, their sloth and unrighteousness. Ask thyself, O\nman, O woman, ask thyself this short and solemn question, \u201cAm I willing\nmy neighbour should deal thus with me, and spend my substance for his\ndaily support?\u201d\n\nHere let it be observed, that I would always except from this accusation\nsuch as are mere children and cannot work, or such as are aged, and past\nall ability of labour, such as are weak and sick, and rendered thereby\nutterly incapable of working, and such as seek work with honest\ndiligence, and would be glad to be employed in any thing they can do, if\nthey could find others to employ them. Some of these indigent and\nnecessitous persons are in every city, and they seem to be marked out by\nprovidence as the proper objects of compassion and bounty, and are not\nto be blended with the slothful and idle creatures in the general charge\nof unrighteousness.\n\nFifthly, The next spring of injustice is malice and envy. This is the\nvilest of all, and the most like the devil; for it contrives mischief,\nand brings injury upon others, without seeking gain and advantage to\nself. This is a vile iniquity, and has a great deal of the spirit of\ncruelty and of hell in it, where ill-nature and spite reign and triumph.\n\nThough envy and malice awaken and excite the sinner to acts of\nunrighteousness and violence, and tempt us to rob our neighbour of what\nis his due; yet these vicious principles aim more frequently to disturb\nthe peace, or health, and good name of our neighbour, than to injure his\nestate. It is wrath and hatred that boils up the blood into fury and\nrevenge, and moves us to smite our neighbour with the fist of\nwickedness; nor is the guilty passion allayed till it has practised\nmischief to his body, or his reputation, or his family, or to something\nthat belongs to him. Hence proceed murders and death, and all the train\nof evils and injuries of the cruel and bloody kind. It was from this\nprinciple that Cain slew Abel his brother, that the sons of Jacob sold\nJoseph into slavery: It was from this principle that Sanballat and\nTobiah joined their rage and their counsels against the Jews, that they\nmight hinder the rebuilding of Jerusalem, and endeavour to destroy the\nbuilders, and throw down the work; Neh. ii. 10.\n\nI hope there are no examples of this flagrant injustice to be found\namong us who profess piety. But are there none of us guilty of some\nlesser injuries rising from the same principle? Are there none of us\nthat indulge our tongues to backbite and slander, to make our neighbours\nlook odious, or to make ourselves easy or merry? This is to play the\n_madman, who casts abroad fire-brands, arrows, and death,\u2014and saith, Am\nI not in sport?_ Prov. xxvi. 18, 19. Are there none of us that delight\nto teaze, and vex, and torture our neighbour by disagreeable speeches\nand sly reproach? Do we never envy and provoke one another, contrary to\nthe apostle\u2019s express prohibition? Gal. v. 26. Do we not take pleasure\nto repeat the things that make each other uneasy, in order to vent the\ngall within us, and scatter the venom upon our neighbour\u2019s good name?\nThis is malice and unrighteousness together; a complicated crime, which\none would think should be abhorred by every christian, if one did not\nfrequently see and feel the practice of it among the professors of the\nname of Christ. I might well compare such creatures to a wasp or hornet,\nwho first teaze and disquiet us with their endless humming, and ere we\ncan get rid of them, they fix their painful sting in our flesh; though\nneither the pain nor the teazing vexation they give us, can procure any\nconveniency to those peevish insects, those noisy animals of a little\nangry soul.\n\nIf we are poor, this evil humour tempts us to envy the riches of our\nneighbour, and we magnify and exalt them beyond the truth, that we may\ngive some colour to our splenetic and uneasy carriage. If we are\nafflicted, or in pain, we envy the welfare and the ease of others, we\nenlarge our paraphrases upon their blessings, and blacken their\ncharacter, that they may appear unworthy of such favours, and worthy of\nour indignation and envy. \u201cWhen shall the time come, O Lord Jesus, thou\nking of righteousness, and king of peace, when shall that day appear,\nthat Ephraim _shall not envy Judah, nor Judah molest Ephraim_? When\nshall it be that no ravenous beast shall come near Zion, and there shall\nbe nothing to hurt or destroy in all thy holy mountain?\u201d\n\nThe last spring of injustice that I shall mention, is unbelief, and\ndistrust of the providence of God. When persons are in low\ncircumstances, they are sometimes hurried by the power of this\ntemptation to use sinful means in order to obtain what they want, or at\nleast what they fancy they want for the comfortable support of life. The\nword of God has many engaging promises in it, to those who are diligent\nin their duty: Though _the soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath\nnothing; yet the soul of the diligent shall be made fat_: Prov. xiii. 4.\nIt is the hand of a diligent man that maketh rich, for it hath the\nblessing of the Lord upon it. God can increase the handful of meal in\nthe barrel, and lengthen out the stream of oil from the little cruse,\nthat the debts of the widow may be paid thereby, and her family find\nprovision; 1 Kings xvii. 12, 14. And even since the days of miracles\nhave ceased, there are many christians who have lived by faith, and have\nfound wonders of support, not much inferior to this ancient miracle.\n\nBut those who know not the way of living by faith, are too ready to\nindulge themselves in some little pilfering or cheating methods to\nprocure a subsistence. Thus unbelief has a plain tendency to\nunrighteousness, but _he that believeth shall not make haste_; Is.\nxxviii. 16. He that believes the care of God toward his own people, and\nputs his trust in his Redeemer, who is Lord of all things, he that lives\nupon the covenant of God daily he shall not make haste to make himself\nrich, or to possess himself of the comforts of life by any methods of\ninjustice; his faith and diligence shall be rewarded at least with daily\nbread.\n\nAnd now having finished this subject, I must beg pardon of my reader for\ninsisting so largely on those two virtues, justice and truth, in my\ntext. But they are of so divine a necessity to make up the character of\na christian, they are of so valuable importance to the glory of the\ngospel, and so shameful an inroad has been made upon them in various\ninstances in our degenerate age, that I was willing to attempt something\nto retrieve this part of godliness: And O may the convincing and\nsanctifying Spirit of God attend it with his sacred influences, that\nthose who are called by the sacred name of christian, may never bring a\nblemish upon it by deserving the characters of false and unjust!\n\n[The Second Part of this Sermon.]\n\nThe next virtue mentioned in my text, is purity; whatsoever things are\npure,\u2014think on these things. The sense of this word \u03b1\u03b3\u03bd\u03b1 in the Greek,\nis extended so far by some critics, as to include temperance in eating\nand drinking, as well as chastity and modesty in all our words and\nbehaviour; and thus it signifies almost the same with sobriety, and\nimplies a restraint upon all the excessive and irregular appetites that\nhuman nature is subject to. Under these two heads I shall treat of\npurity briefly, and shew under each of them how the light of nature, and\nhow the gospel of Christ requires the practice of it.\n\nI. Temperance in eating and drinking may be included in this command of\npurity, for we can hardly suppose the apostle omitted so necessary a\nvirtue, and it is not mentioned at all, if it be not implied here. It is\nnot beneath the doctrine of christianity to condescend to give rules\nabout the most common affairs of human life, even food and raiment. It\nis a piece of impurity to imitate the swine, and to gorge ourselves\nbeyond measure; to give up ourselves to fulfil every luscious appetite,\nand every luxurious inclination of the taste.\n\nAn indulgence of this sort of vice, what infinite disorders doth it\nbring upon mankind! If a man would read the character of a drunkard\npainted in very bright and proper colours, and receive the foulest ideas\nof it in the fairest oratory, he cannot find a better description than\nProv. xxiii. 29-32. _Who hath woe? Who hath sorrow? Who hath\ncontentions? Who hath babbling? Who hath wounds without cause? Who hath\nredness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine, they that go to seek\nmixed wine. Look not therefore upon the wine when it is red, when it\ngiveth its colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright._ Some men in\nour age well understand what Solomon here means. _But at the last it\nbiteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder._ The pleasure will be\nattended with intolerable pain and mortal injury, when the excess of\nliquor shall work like so much venom poured into the veins, and cast\nthee into diseases as incurable as the biting of any serpent; it will do\nthee more mischief than an adder with all his poison. There are many\nthat have felt the words of Solomon true, when their voluptuous sins\nhave been dreadfully recompensed with ruin to their soul and body.\n\nBut the inspired writer dwells upon the loathsome subject, and bids us\nmark the particular effects of it: _Thine eyes shall behold strange\nwomen, and thine heart shall utter perverse things_; Prov. xxiii. 33.\nthat is, says a learned paraphrast[30] upon the text, \u201cthy thoughts will\nnot only grow confused, and all things appear to thee otherwise than\nthey are; but lustful and adulterous desires will be stirred up, which\nthou canst not rule, and thy mouth being without a bridle, will break\nforth into unseemly, nay, filthy, scurrilous, or, perhaps, blasphemous\nlanguage, without respect to God or man.\u201d Yea, thou shalt be, saith the\nwise man, as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that\nlieth upon the top of a mast; ver. 34. that is, \u201cThou wilt sottishly run\nthyself into the extremest hazards, without any apprehensions of danger,\nbeing no more able to direct thy course, than a pilot who snores when a\nship is tossed in the midst of the sea; no more able to take notice of\nthe peril thou art in, than he that falls asleep on the top of a mast,\nwhere he was set to keep the watch.\u201d _They have stricken me_, shalt thou\nsay, _and I was not sick_; they have beaten me, and I felt it not. When\nI shall awake, I will seek it yet again; ver. 35. It is as if the wise\nman had said, \u201cThat to complete thy misery, thou shalt not only be\nmocked, and abused, and beaten, but thou shalt be as senseless as if no\nharm had befallen thee: And no sooner wilt thou open thine eyes, but\nthou wilt stupidly seek an occasion to be drunk, and be beaten again.\u201d\n\nMy friends, have ye never seen a drunkard make that odious figure, in\nwhich Solomon represents him? You find human nature is constant to\nitself: It appears now in Britain, just as it is described in the days\nof old at Jerusalem in all its vicious excesses. There is a great degree\nof likeness between our forefathers\u2019 intemperance, and their children of\nlate posterity. One would think one such a spectacle as this, or the\nmere report of it, with an assurance of the truth, should be enough to\nforbid our lips the excess of liquor, and to set a guard upon ourselves\nin the hour of temptation.\n\nNot only those who overwhelm themselves with strong drink, and forget\nreason and themselves, but those that are mighty to drink wine, have a\nsevere censure cast upon them, and a curse in the book of God: Is. v.\n11. not only _woe to them, that rise up early in the morning, that they\nmay find strong drink_, and continue till night, till wine inflame them;\nbut _woe to them that are mighty to drink wine_, even though they are\nnot utterly overcome by it, to the disorder and disgrace of their\nunderstandings, verse 22. The reason is, because nature will not bear\nsuch a quantity of wine or strong liquors at first; and it is presumed\nmen have forced nature beyond its original capacity, and thus have grown\nup, by degrees of sin, to such a strength in drinking. These are they\nthat _call evil good and good evil_, and that glory in their shame.\n\n_Hearken to thy father\u2019s advice_, O youth, _and despise not thy mother\u2019s\ncounsel; hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the\nway of temperance. Be not among wine-bibbers, amongst riotous eaters of\nflesh_; ver. 19. Youth is greedy of pleasure, and in danger of being\ncorrupted by it; therefore avoid the society of drunkards and gluttons.\nYou see they are joined together in the prohibition and threatening of\nthe word of God, \u201cfor the glutton and the drunkard shall both come to\npoverty.\u201d A wanton indulgence of the taste will tempt men to revelling\nand riot, thence follows a neglect of all business; and many a prodigal,\nwho had a fair estate, is by this means become a beggar or a prisoner.\nLet us be watchful therefore when we sit down at a plentiful table, and\nput a knife, as it were, to our throat, if we feel the danger of a sharp\nand wanton appetite; let the guard of our virtue be as sharp and active\nas our thirst or hunger. Let us not be desirous of feasting ourselves\nwith dainties, for they too often prove deceitful meat: And though they\nare never so tempting to the palate, yet they may disturb the health of\nthe body, or indispose the mind for the service of virtue. But this\nleads me to the next general head, and that is, To consider how the\nlight of nature condemns this vice, this sort of impurity.\n\nIf it were my business to make a flourish with learned citations, it\nwere an easy matter to bring the Greeks and Romans hither to pass\nsentence upon the glutton and the drunkard, and all the luxury of the\ntaste; for it is too mean an indulgence either for a man or a christian.\nIt does not become human nature to endanger the welfare of all its\npowers, and enslave them all to the single sense of tasting, \u201cI am\ngreater, says Seneca, and born to greater things, than to be a slave to\nthis body, or to live merely to become a strainer of meats and drinks.\u201d\nThe wisest of men, and the best writers of all ages, even in the heathen\nnations, have passed their heavy censures on these impure and brutal\nfollies, whereby we are reduced to the rank of beasts that perish, or\nperhaps sunk below them by the practices of intemperance; for there are\nbut few of that lower rank of creatures, who swill themselves beyond the\ndemands of nature; or, at least, beyond what nature is able to bear.\n\nLet us argue a little upon this head from the principles of reason, and\nconsider that the chief designs of food are these two, the support of\nour nature, and the refreshment of our spirits. Therefore give food to\nhim that is hungry, that life may be maintained: Give drink to him that\nis thirsty, to assist the supports of life, and to refresh it. Give\nstrong drink to him that is ready to faint, that his spirits may be\nrecruited: and wine to him that is heavy of heart, that he may forget\nhis sorrows; Prov. xxxi. 6, 7. It is evident that every thing, which\ngoes beyond the mere necessity of nature for its support, does not\npresently become sinful; because the refreshment of nature is also one\nend and design of our food. Remember that the supports of nature are\ndesigned by the God of nature to make us fit for all the services and\nduties of life, and the refreshments of it are ordained by the same\nAuthor of nature, to render us chearful in the discharge of those\nduties. The one is necessary to give us a capacity to perform, and the\nother proper to render the performance chearful and delightful to us,\nand to intermingle our labour with such innocent delights as may awaken\nour thankfulness to the bounty of our Creator.\n\nThence it will follow, that the rich are allowed to furnish their tables\nwith a variety of pleasing and grateful food; and that feasts designed\nfor chearful enjoyment of our friends, are by no means forbidden by the\nlight of reason, or of scripture: For we gain vigour for action, by\nhaving the spirits raised and exhilerated. But it will follow also, that\nwhen we have our choice of what we shall eat or drink, we ought to\ndetermine not merely by pleasure and appetite, nor feed till we are\nunfit for service. If we know, or have a good guess beforehand, that\nthis cup, or this dish, will render us unfit for the proper business of\nthe day, or incapable of the several duties we are called to; yet if,\nfor the sake of mere sensuality, we venture upon it, God will number it\namong our sins against the light of nature. Those ends therefore for\nwhich God hath ordained our various food, both in his creation and in\nhis providence, namely, the support of nature, and its refreshment; let\nthese be our designs in eating, and give rules for our determination\nwhat food we should partake of.\n\nIt must be granted indeed, that a sickly person may be indulged in more\nsolicitude about food, and may make it a matter of more distinguishing\nchoice than persons vigorous and healthy. But then the great end must\nstill be kept in the eye, that is, the recovery of strength for future\nservice, where they are much cut off from present work: For neither the\nsick nor the healthy, should live for the sake of eating, but both\nshould eat for the sake of living and working.\n\nNow if the light of nature requires such purity and temperance, how much\nmore doth the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ oblige us to it?\n\nI. It is the command of our Redeemer, \u201cthat we take heed of surfeiting\nand drunkenness, lest our hearts at any time be overcharged with them;\u201d\nLuke xxi. 34. And what charge doth the holy apostle give, Eph. v. 18.\n_Be not drunken with wine_, wherein is excess, _but be ye filled with\nthe Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns, and spiritual\nsongs_. Do not be so indulgent to your palate and your glass, as to let\nexcess of wine overtake you, lest you christians should do as heathens\nhave done, and break out into irregular songs, and licentious or profane\nmirth; but seek rather the largest influences of the blessed Spirit, and\ngive a sacred loose to a devout frame: Break out into divine psalms or\nsongs; comfort yourselves, and edify your neighbours thereby. In Rom.\nxiii. 13, 14. St. Paul advises us how we should behave ourselves in this\npoint; _Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and\ndrunkenness;\u2014but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision\nfor the flesh, to fulfil it in the lusts thereof._ Put on the spirit of\nthe gospel, and the ornaments of christianity, and then you cannot for\nshame seek the pleasures of the brute, nor sink down into the base\nimpurities of the animal nature: If you have put on the Lord Jesus\nChrist, and are his disciples indeed, then look like christians; let the\nvery life of Christ be manifest in your lives: Live above these animal\ndesires, these lower designs of the flesh, which is not the chief nature\nof the man, much less should it be the chief end of christians to\ngratify it.\n\nII. Let christians consider, that the original ruin of their natures,\nsoul and body, arose from the indulgence of a foolish appetite. When our\nmother Eve saw the fruit of the forbidden tree, she thought it was\npleasant to the eye, and good for food: She tasted it herself, and\ntempted Adam to the sin that ruined him and all his offspring. When\ntherefore a temptation to this sort of guilt appears, let us think of\nall the miseries of our fallen state, and not dare to repeat that crime,\nwhich had such dismal consequences. It brought iniquity, pain, and death\ninto human nature, and begun all that dishonour to God, and all that\nmischief among men, that ever was found in this lower world.\n\nIII. Every saint ought to have a mortal quarrel with the flesh, because\nhe carries about the seeds of iniquity in it, and the springs of\nperverse appetite which ought always to be kept under, lest our very\nspirits become carnal, and we lose our heavenly crown. Therefore saith\nthe apostle; 1 Cor. ix. 27. _I keep under my body, and bring it under\nsubjection_, and endeavour to be temperate in all things, that running\nin the christian race, I may obtain the prize. It is the business of a\nchristian to eat and drink in due season, for strength and refreshment,\nnot for luxury and drunkenness, which Solomon forbids to princes; Eccl.\nx. 17. It was an excellent saying of that holy man, Mr. Joseph Allein;\n\u201cI sit down to my table not to please my appetite, or to pamper my\nflesh, but to maintain a servant of Jesus Christ, that he may be fit for\nthe Lord\u2019s work.\u201d\n\nIV. The saints should be pure and holy; even in the affairs of the\nnatural life; for they have meat to eat, that the world knows not of:\nthey drink of the pleasures that flow from God, and from his covenant;\nand therefore should not be over-solicitous about pleasing their meaner\nappetites. Those that indulge themselves in carnal delicacies, and make\nenquiry for the pleasures of the flesh, as the main business of life,\nwhat shall I eat, and what shall I drink? Those that live in a round of\nsensuality, they debase their souls, make themselves unfit for the\nduties and pleasures of a christian, unfit for divine communications,\nfor holy fellowship, heavenly meditation, and lively exercises of faith,\nupon unseen things; they damp their zeal for God, blunt their relish for\nreligious delights, and are perpetually defiling their own consciences.\nThese are they that _make their God their belly_, while they profess to\nbe christians. But the apostle, in Phil. iii. 18, 19. tells us,\n\u201cwhatsoever they profess, _they are enemies of the cross of Christ_, and\nI cannot speak of it, says he, without weeping.\u201d\n\nNow if there be any such sinners amongst us, such slaves to a paltry\nappetite, that make it a business of too solemn and solicitous enquiry,\n\u201cHow we shall regale the palate, and gratify the taste:\u201d If there are\nany of us that know not how to forbid ourselves a savoury or luscious\ndish, even though we know or expect it will discompose the flesh or the\nmind: If we have not temperance enough to deny the superfluous or\nexcessive glass, when it comes to our turn, nor virtue nor courage\nenough to refuse it, let us take our share in the reproofs of this\ndiscourse; and let us remember that we have had fair warning this day\nfrom the word of God, that we may not drown our souls in sensual\nindulgences, and make ourselves unfit for the duties of life, or for the\nbusiness or the joy of heaven.\n\n\n HYMN FOR SERMON XXVI.\n _Christian Morality_, _viz._ _Temperance_.\n\n\n Is it a man\u2019s divinest good,\n To make his soul a slave to food?\n Vile as the beast, whose spirit dies,\n And has no hope above the skies?\n\n Can meats or choicest wines procure\n Delights that ever shall endure,\n Was not I born above the swine,\n And shall I make their pleasures mine?\n\n Am I not made for nobler things?\n Made to ascend on angel\u2019s wings?\n Shall my best powers be thus debas\u2019d\n And part with heaven to please my taste?\n\n Can I forget the fatal deed,\n How Eve brought death on all her seed,\n She tasted the forbidden tree,\n Anger\u2019d her God, and ruin\u2019d me.\n\n Was life designed alone to eat?\n What is the mouth, or what the meat?\n Both from the ground derive their birth,\n And both shall mix with common earth.\n\n Great God new-mould my sensual mind\n And let my joys be more refin\u2019d;\n Raise me to dwell among the blest,\n And fit me for thy heavenly feast.\n\nFootnote 30:\n\n Bishop Patrick.\n\n\n\n\n SERMON XXVII.\n _Christian Morality_, _viz._ _Chastity_, &c.\n PHILIP. iv. 8.\u2014Whatsoever things are pure, &c.\u2014think on these things.\n \u039f\u03c3\u03b1 \u03b1\u03b3\u03bd\u03b1, &c.\n\n\nPurity of heart and life, in the perfect beauty of it, belongs to no man\nsince our original apostacy. That foul and shameful departure from God,\nhas rendered us all unholy and unclean. But we are recalled to seek our\nancient glory, by the messengers of heaven, and the ministry of the\ngospel. The apostle exhorts us to it in the text. If the word pure be\ntaken in its largest extent, it may include in it temperance in meats\nand drinks, as well as chastity in behaviour. You have heard already a\ndiscourse of temperance, with so hateful an account of the crimes of\ngluttony and drunkenness, that I hope my hearers have conceived a sacred\naversion of such sensualities.\n\nLet us now proceed to the second sense implied in the word, and that is,\nmodesty and chastity of speech and behaviour. This is a most eminent,\nand most undeniable part of that purity, which St. Paul here requires;\nand this, in many of his epistles he insists upon as necessary, in order\nto make up the character of a christian, and render it honourable; and\nSt. Peter recommends it to the pious women in his day, as a means of the\nconversion of their husbands, who were gentiles: _That they who obeyed\nnot the word of the gospel, might be won to a_ good esteem of\nchristianity, _while they beheld the chaste conversation of their\nwives_; 1 Pet. iii. 1, 2.\n\nThis virtue stands in opposition to those several vices, which are\ndistinguished by different names in scripture, such as adultery,\nfornication, lasciviousness. 1. Adultery, when one of the persons who\nare guilty of impure embraces, is under the sacred bonds of marriage. By\nthe commission of this sin there is injury done to another family, and\nthus it is not only an offence against the laws of purity, but a\nviolation of the laws of justice. 2. Fornication, when both the guilty\npersons are free and unmarried. It has been sufficiently proved by many\nwriters, that this is utterly unlawful, however some have attempted to\nvarnish the guilt, and excuse the crime. 3. Lasciviousness, which\nconsists in giving a loose to those impure thoughts, words, and actions,\nwhich have an apparent tendency toward the sins before-mentioned.\nBesides these, there are other names and instances of unclean\nabominations, which I wish could be utterly rooted out from human\nnature, by burying them in everlasting silence.\n\nIf I were to fetch arguments from reason and the light of nature, I\nmight make it appear that these things are criminal and contrary to\nthose rules of morality, which were written in the heart of man. And\nperhaps they would have appeared in the same guilty colours to all men,\nif the light of nature were not obscured by corrupt passions, and\nlicentious appetite. The practice of these impure vices is inconsistent\nwith the great ends for which God has formed our natures, has raised us\nabove the beasts that perish, and has inclined mankind to form\nthemselves into societies for mutual benefit. The brutes, who have no\nnature superior to the animal are not governed by the same laws. But the\nGod of nature, who has made us compound beings and (shall I say?) hath\njoined an animal and an angel together to make up a man, expects that\nthe angel should govern the animal in all its natural propensities and\nconfine it within the rules of religion and the social life.\n\nThese vices are also contrary to the solemn ordinances of marriage which\nthe blessed God instituted in paradise in a state of innocency, and\ndesigned to continue through all generations. If these impurities of\nconversation were publicly permitted, all the tender and most engaging\nnames of relation and kindred, such as father, sister, and brother,\nwould be confounded, and almost abolished among mankind; and what dismal\nconsequences would hence ensue? In what helpless circumstances would\nchildren be then brought into this world? And many of the ends of human\nsociety would become frustrate and vain.\n\nI confess indeed, that several of these vices were practised in the\nheathen world without any inward remorse of the mind, without private\nreproof or public shame. Some of these impurities were allowed by the\nlaws of their country; some were indulged at festivals, and sometimes\nthey were mingled with their religious ceremonies, and made part of the\nworship of their gods; Idol gods! Abominable religions! Base and\nshameful worshippers! _For it is a shame_, saith the apostle, _even to\nspeak of those things that are done in secret; those unfruitful works of\ndarkness_: Eph. v. 11, 12. Yet there have been several of the grave, the\nsober, and the wisest among the Gentiles, who being constrained by the\nmere force of reason, have spoke against these corrupt practises, and\nhave adorned the virtue of chastity with many honourable encomiums.\n\nBut how doubtful soever this duty hath been reckoned among the heathen\nnations, yet it is made necessary by the principles of the christian\nreligion, and a strong and severe guard of prohibitions and threatenings\nis set all around to secure the practice of it. Now that I may speak of\nthis subject as becomes me, and recommend it in language pure and\nundefiled, I shall set before you some of these scriptures, that bear\nwitness against all the violations of it, under the following heads:\n\nI. The express precepts of the law of God demand the first place in this\ncatalogue of divine testimonies against impurity, for they were\ndelivered at Mount Sinai to many hundred thousands at once, they were\nushered in with lightning, and pronounced with thunder. Ex. xx. 14.\n_Thou shalt not commit adultery._ This is the seventh command: And that\nthere may not be the least tendency toward this sin, the tenth command\nis set as a preservative and defence, _thou shalt not_ so much as _covet\nthy neighbour\u2019s wife_, verse 17. In this epitome and sum of the laws of\nGod, whereby he rules his creatures, which is called the decalogue or\nten commandments, you find this vice of impurity is twice forbidden;\nonce in the perfect act, and again in the criminal wish and intention.\nObserve here, that though the words of these commands directly point to\nadultery, yet it appears by the very reason of things, as well as from\nother passages of scripture, that all unchaste thoughts, words, and\nactions, are here forbidden, as our younger years have been taught in\nthe catechism.\n\nNor is this a law that belonged only to the Jews, for the New Testament\nmentions and enjoins this command with the rest, which are of equal\nforce under the gospel. The law forbids all manner of lust, and saith;\n_Thou shalt not covet_; Rom. vii. 7. The great apostle puts the\nThessalonians in mind of what he had taught them as the law of Christ. 1\nThess. iv. 2, 3, 4, 5. _For ye know what commandments we gave you by the\nLord Jesus. For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that\nyou should abstain from fornication: That every one of you should know\nhow to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour; not in the lust\nof concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God._ It is as\nmuch as if he had said, it is a dishonour to christianity, and a step of\nreturn to heathenism, to give a loose to impure lusts. He repeats the\nsame thing; Eph. iv. 17-21. \u201cThis I say therefore, and testify in the\nLord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity\nof their minds, having the understanding darkened, and being alienated\nfrom the life of God through the ignorance that is in them; because of\nthe blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling, have given\nthemselves over to lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with\ngreediness. But ye have not so learned Christ;\u201d \u201cif so be ye have been\nled by him, and taught the truth as it is in Jesus.\u201d In vain ye profess\nto have learned the truth as it is in Jesus, or to have put on Christ,\nwhile you practise the same abominations as ye did before, while ye walk\nand live as the heathen world.\n\nII. The hateful description of these sins which is given us by the holy\nwriters, should print the same odious image of them upon our minds, and\nfor ever forbid the practice. Solomon, a great king, and a man of\nexcellent wisdom, had well known the mischief and madness of this sort\nof vice; he gives his son the most solemn charge against it in various\nparts of the book of Proverbs, more especially in the vi. and vii.\nchapters, which he spends entirely upon this theme, and in the ii. and\nvi. and the ix. chapters, where he applies near half of them to the same\ndesign; wherein after he has shewn the insinuating flatteries of the\nwanton woman he never fails to give notice of the terrible attendants of\nthose that follow her. _For her house inclines to death, and her paths\nunto the dead; none that go to her return again, neither take they hold\nof the paths of life._ There is scarce any iniquity that does so\neffectually harden the heart, and prevent all repentance. _Let not thine\nheart therefore decline to her ways; go not astray in her paths: For she\nhas cast down many wounded, yea, many strong men have been slain by her:\nHer house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death._ This\nleads me to the next particular.\n\nIII. If we consider the dismal effects of these impure practices, as\nthey are recorded in sacred history, they should keep our souls awake,\nand keep us always to the watch, lest we be ensnared. Behold Sampson the\nstrongest of men, who was a holy Nazarite, and devoted to God; how was\nhe brought down shamefully from the heights of his glory to prison and\nslavery, to blindness and death by the love of strange women! Behold the\nJewish hero lying like a thoughtless fool upon the lap of Delilah, while\nthe _seven sacred locks of his head were shaven_, and his divine\nstrength _went from him, for the Lord departed_! Behold the wretched\ncaptive with his eyes bored out by the Philistines, bound with fetters\nof brass, and grinding in the prison-house! Behold the man who was once\ntheir terror, now become their sport, their mockery, and their\nlaughing-stock in the house of Dagon their god: See him there crushed to\npieces, and expiring under the weight of his own revenge upon his\nPhilistine enemies; and all this for the love of a harlot! Mark the\nmischiefs, the calamities, and the bloodshed that pursued the house of\nDavid, when adultery and guilt in the matter of Uriah had provoked his\nGod! See how sin and death made wide inroads into his household! See\nthere his son Amnon slain by his brother Absalom for the folly he had\nwrought in Israel, and the incest with his sister Tamar? Think of\nSolomon the wisest of men, whose heart was enticed away by strange women\nfrom the God and religion of his fathers, when he paid such profane and\ncriminal regard to the idols of his mistresses, as to build temples for\nthem near the temple of Jehovah; and \u201cthe Lord was angry with Solomon,\nwhen his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and he rent the\nkingdom from him in the days of his son Rehoboam,\u201d and made a long and\nfatal separation between the tribes of Israel for many generations. And,\nto name no more, turn your eyes to Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities of\nthe plain, _giving themselves over to fornication, and going after\nstrange flesh_; mark how the Lord _rained fire and brimstone out of\nheaven upon them_, and they are _set forth for an example suffering the\nvengeance of eternal fire_; Jude 7.\n\nIV. Think of the dreadful threatenings that are denounced against impure\nsinners in the word of God, and you will find these are flaming\nwitnesses against their practice; Hos. iv. 1-5, \u201cThe Lord hath a\ncontroversy with the inhabitants of the land, because of killing,\nstealing, and adultery: therefore shall the land mourn.\u201d And God seems\nto forbid the prophets to give them reproof, as though he resolved to\ndestroy them. _Let no man strive and reprove another._ His mercy and\nforgiveness seem to be put to a stand; Jer. v. 7, 9. \u201cHow shall I pardon\nthee for this? saith the Lord; thy children have forsaken me when I fed\nthem to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves\nin troops in the harlots\u2019 houses. Shall I not visit them for these\nthings, saith the Lord? and shall not my soul be avenged on such a\nnation as this?\u201d When the apostle Paul had represented this sort of vice\nin 1 Cor. vi. 18, 19. \u201cas a defilement of the body, which is the temple\nof God, and the habitation of the Holy Spirit;\u201d he adds this word of\nterror; iii. 17. \u201cIf any man defile the temple of God, him shall God\ndestroy; for the temple of God is and ought to be holy,\u201d and not kept as\na nest for unclean vermin. \u201cBe not deceived; neither fornicators, nor\nidolaters, nor adulterers, nor those who indulge vile impurities, shall\ninherit the kingdom of God;\u201d 1 Cor. vi. 9, 10. _Such were some of you_,\nindeed, says St. Paul to his converts, _but ye are washed and\nsanctified_ from these pollutions, or you could never have been saved.\nTherefore saith the same holy writer, \u201clet neither fornication, nor any\nunclean practices be so much as once named amongst you as becometh\nsaints;\u201d that is, let them never be named without abhorrence. \u201cFor this\nye know, that no whoremonger, nor any unclean person, nor covetous man\nwho is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of\nGod. Let no man deceive you with vain words; for because of these things\ncometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience;\u201d Eph. v. 3-6.\nThe visions of St. John in the book of the Revelation, pronounce the\ndoom of _whoremongers_ with the rest of notorious sinners, and give them\n\u201ctheir part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is\nthe second death;\u201d Rev. xxi. 8. How impiously bold are those sinners,\nwho dare venture through all these terrors to gratify a sensual\nappetite! Who can rush upon the point of the avenging sword of God, and\nplunge themselves into everlasting burnings, to taste the deceitful\nbaits of impure and forbidden pleasure!\n\nBefore I conclude this head, I would just hint a few directions to those\nwho would preserve their modesty and virtue, and prevail against all\ntemptations to impurity.\n\n1. Set a severe watch upon your eyes and your heart. Keep all the powers\nof nature under a proper discipline, and guard all the avenues of the\nsoul. Secure your senses without, and your fancy within, as much as\npossible, from all allurements of this kind. Let us remember that sin\noften begins in the imagination, and therefore we must establish a\nstrict guard upon our roving thoughts, and reduce them when they first\nbegin to go astray. We must lay a strong chain of restraint upon those\nendless wanderers; for our Saviour himself tells us, Out of the heart\nproceed adulteries and fornications, which defile the man; Mat. xv. 19.\n\nWe must make a self-denying covenant with our eyes, that we may not look\nupon temptation, lest we be led astray from the paths of purity. Our\nblessed Lord himself gives us a sufficient caution, when he explains the\nseventh commandment; Mat. v. 28. _I say unto you that whosoever looketh\non a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already\nin his heart._ When our Saviour forbids a wanton look, he requires that\nwe put a veil upon our eyes, lest like wandering stars or foolish fires\nthey betray us into foul and miry pits of pollution, or lead us to deep\nand dangerous pollutions.\n\nAvoid all impure representations, pictures, and images: Turn your eyes\nfrom immodest sights, and your ears from polluted language, whether it\nbe in discourse, or writing, a lewd jest, or a wanton song. Let them not\nentertain you, though they may be attended and adorned with never so\nmany colours of wit, and charms of music. Romances and novels, and\ninvented stories of forbidden love, have painted over these impurities\nwith shining eloquence, and awakened the same foolish passions in the\nreader. O how unhappily has the art of verse, which was first\nconsecrated to the service of the temple, been prostituted to the vilest\npurposes, to give gay colours to temptation, and gild over the foulest\nimages of iniquity! And what a multitude of souls may date the\ncommencement of their guilt and ruin from the time when they began to\nfrequent the poisonous entertainments of the stage! Their ears which\nwere shocked at first with some of the coarse and foul expressions of\nmodern comedy, by degrees are hardened to bear the most offensive\nlanguage: Their modesty and blushing dies and vanishes by degrees, till\nat last they learn to relish the grossest pollutions of the theatre, and\nperhaps put the fable into practice.\n\nAs faith and salvation come by hearing, so iniquity and everlasting\ndeath come sometimes by hearing too. And what we would not hear, surely\nwe should not speak. Let us then set a guard upon our tongues, lest they\nborder upon forbidden language. _No filthiness, no foolish talking, no\ncorrupt communication must proceed out of our mouths_; Eph. iv. 29. and\nv. 4. We should not affect those speeches of a double meaning, which\nlead the thoughts away to lewd and wanton conceits, and make foul\nimpressions upon the mind. Let your ears hate to be treated with such\nindecencies, nor let our lips dare to treat others so.\n\n2. Do not make too rich provisions for the feeding of the flesh; indulge\nnot yourselves on the delicacies of the taste, nor in the luxury of\nexcessive sleep: Both of these may incline animal nature to licentious\ndesires: Stand afar off from gluttony and excess of wine, nor pamper the\nbody beyond the just support, and due refreshment of nature. The holy\napostle in his prohibitions, couples \u201cchambering and wantonness with\nrioting and drunken practice;\u201d Rom. xiii. 13. and calls them all works\nof darkness. It is a good remark of Kempis, a devout papist in former\ndays, \u201cBridle the appetites of the palate, get a sovereignty over them,\nand you will be better able to master every other appetite.\u201d\n\n3. Always employ yourselves in something innocent and useful, that may\nengage the powers of the body, or the mind, or both, that so temptation\nmay never find you idle. The springs of the sin of Sodom were _fulness\nof bread, and abundance of idleness_; therefore they grew _haughty, and\ncommitted abomination before the Lord_; Ezek. xvi. 49, 50. This is an\nadvice of Jerome, one of the christian fathers. Be still doing some\nwork, that the devil, when he comes to tempt, may always find thee busy.\nWhere you are in danger of these sins, put yourselves upon a necessity\nof diligence all the day, that you may have no time nor room for wild\nimaginations nor impure indulgences.\n\n4. Avoid the seasons, the places, and the objects of temptation, as far\nas it is consistent with the necessary duties of life: For he that hath\nno caution about him, and is not afraid of being tempted, he is not\nacquainted with human weakness, nor is he so much afraid of sin as he\nought to be.\n\n5. Maintain an everlasting and awful sense of the presence of God thy\nMaker, thy Governor, and thy Judge. Remember the Lord beholds the secret\nworkings of the heart, and the foul practices of darkness and midnight.\nThere is not a place where the eye of God cannot come. What an\nhonourable character hath young Joseph acquired in the word of God, and\nhis name stands recorded with renown in divine history through all ages,\nfor his flight from the allurements of an immodest woman: The guard\nwhich he continually placed upon his virtue, was the all-seeing eye of\nheaven. \u201cHow can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?\u201d Gen.\nxxxix. 9.\n\n6. Get those scriptures written in your hearts, and ready at all times\nin your memories, which may be the most effectual antidotes and\npreservatives against all forbidden pleasure. This was the ancient\npractise of the saints. Ps. cxix. 11. \u201cThy word have I hid in my heart,\nthat I might not sin against thee.\u201d The word of God is the sword of the\nSpirit, to put to flight, and to slay whole armies of iniquity.\n\n7. Fly daily to the mercy-seat for divine aid: Commit thy soul and body\nto the keeping of Christ; he is exalted and authorized to take care of\nsinners, who make him their refuge: he is also compassionate and ready\nto succour the tempted. There is cleansing virtue in the blood of Christ\nto wash away the foulest guilt, and to sprinkle the conscience of the\nhumble penitent with peace and pardon: and there is all-sufficient power\nand grace with him to subdue the most raging vices. Make haste to him by\nhumble faith, and most importunate prayer: Continue instant at the\nthrone: Never rest till he hath by his providence and his grace\ndelivered you from the dangerous temptation, or made you conqueror over\nthe sin that easily besets you. There are a thousand souls in heaven,\nwho were once conflicting here with the same impure temptations, but\nthey gained the victory by the blood and Spirit of Christ, and are made\nmore than conquerors through him who hath loved them.\n\nI fear I have trespassed upon my hearers, in dwelling thus long on this\ndangerous theme. It is time to retire, and end my discourse. Those who\nhave a mind to be better furnished with weapons and divine armour\nagainst these enemies of purity and virtue, I would recommend to them\nthree books, where they may find abundant provision: And these are Mr.\nOstervald\u2019s Treatise of Uncleanness, Mr. Henry\u2019s Four Discourses against\nimmorality, and Mr. Baxter\u2019s Christian Directory, tome 1 chap. 8. part\n5. And may the holy and pure Spirit, who attended at the baptism of our\nSaviour in the form of a dove, which is an emblem of chastity, may he\ngive these waters of the sanctuary a divine efficacy to purify the souls\nof polluted sinners, and to guard the innocent and the tempted from\nthese dangerous pollutions!\n\n\n HYMN FOR SERMON XXVII.\n _Christian Morality_, _viz._ _Chastity._\n\n\n The lord, how great his majesty,\n How pure are all his ways,\n Sinners unclean offend his eyes,\n Nor stand before his face.\n\n Thou hast ordain\u2019d immortal woes,\n And everlasting fire,\n To be the just reward of those\n Who follow loose desire.\n\n I hear, I read the dreadful doom\n Of Sodom; in thy word;\n And dares a feeble worm presume\n Thus to provoke the Lord?\n\n Dear Saviour, guard me by thy grace,\n From thoughts and words unclean,\n Nor let temptation gain success\n To draw my soul to sin.\n\n\n\n\n SERMON XXVIII.\n _Christian Morality_, _viz._ _a Lovely Carriage_, &c.\n PHILIP. iv. 8.\u2014Whatsoever things are lovely\u2014\u2014think on these things.\n \u039f\u03c3\u03b1 \u03c0\u03c1\u03bf\u03c3\u03c6\u03b9\u03bb\u03b7, &c.\n\n\nMan was a lovely creature in his first formation and innocence, however\nhe has been debased and dishonoured by the fall. Now there is nothing in\nall the religion of Christ but what tends to restore man to the\nexcellencies of his original state, or to exalt him above them, and to\nrender him all over amiable. To this end truth and sincerity are\nrecommended to him in the gospel, with a venerable decency in all his\nconduct. To this end he is required to practise justice to his\nneighbour, and to keep himself pure and chaste from all the vices of\nsensuality. Thus far we have proceeded in improving the text. And the\nman who has attained thus far, has many lovely qualities belonging to\nhim, such as lay a foundation for a good report, and deserve our\npraises.\n\nYet there are many things in human conversation, which do not directly\nfall under the commands of truth and gravity, justice and purity: These\nthe apostle recommends to the Philippians, under the following\ncharacters, _viz._ things that are lovely, that are of good report,\ndeeds of virtue, and worthy of praise.\n\nThe things that are lovely, are such as look well among men, and have a\ngood appearance in the eyes of the world: Those things that gain the\nlove of our fellow-creatures: Not merely such religious practices, as\nmake us beloved by fellow-christians, but such a temper and conduct as\ncommands the esteem and respect even of the ungodly, and those that\nprofess not strict religion. This ought to be the carriage of the saints\nof the Most High, they should practise those things that are grateful\nand pleasing to human nature, so far as innocence allows: those things\nthat may recommend our conversation to our neighbours, and procure the\nlove of all men. Is it not a very desirable thing to have it said of any\nparticular christian, all that know him love him; he hath no enemies but\nthose that are unacquainted with him, unless it be such as hate him upon\nthe same ground as the devil doth, and that is because of his piety and\ngoodness? But to explain this more fully, and impress it with more power\nupon every one of our consciences, I will descend to particular\ninstances of a lovely carriage. And here I shall mention but these few,\n_viz._ prudence, moderation, humility, meekness, patience, and love.\n\nI. Prudence is a lovely quality. This teaches us to speak every word,\nand perform every action of life at a proper time, in the proper place,\nand toward the proper person. It is prudence that distinguishes our\nvarious behaviour toward our fellow-creatures, according to their\ndifferent ranks and degrees among mankind, or the different relations in\nwhich we stand to them. It is a very desirable excellency to know when\nit is proper to speak, and when it is best to keep silence; at what\nseasons, and in what company we should awaken our zeal, and exert our\nactive powers; or when we should hide ourselves, or put a bridle upon\nour lips, and sit still, and hear.\n\nPrudence is of infinite use in all the affairs of life and religion: Nor\nis there any hour of the day, nor any place wherein we spend that hour,\nwhether alone or in public, but gives occasion for some exercise of this\nvirtue. It does not belong to human nature to possess this in\nperfection: Perfect prudence dwells with God alone, God the most lovely\nof beings: He that comes nearest to it, is the wisest of men, and he\ngains the love and high esteem of all that are near him; for his conduct\nin life is of singular advantage to those that converse with him, as\nwell as to himself. This man is consulted by his friends as an earthly\noracle, and by his advice he saves many from ruin. Thus he wins and\nwears their honour and their love.\n\nThere are many good qualities both of the natural and moral kind that\nmust meet together, to make up a prudent man. He must be furnished with\na memory of things past, and with just and proper observations made upon\nthem, that he may know how to improve every opportunity and occurrence\nof life to the best purposes when the same occasions return. There is no\nprudence without some degrees of experience. But experience alone is not\nsufficient; he should have also a wide extent of soul, and be able to\ntake a large and comprehensive survey of the concurrent circumstances of\nthings present: And he must be blessed with a solid judgment, that by\nputting many things at once into the balance, he may find which\noutweighs the rest, and determine his present conduct thereby. He must\nhave a degree of sagacity, to foresee future events, according to the\nusual consequences of things in this mortal state. The prudent man\nforesees the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are\npunished; Prov. xxii. 3. that is, They suffer for their want of prudence\nand foresight. And besides all these, he should be a man of firm and\nsteady resolution to go through difficulties, and to put in practice\nwhat his judgment has determined.\n\nRash and ungoverned passions are great enemies of this virtue. Both\nthese push a man onward to a hasty and irregular conduct. His lips\nmultiply folly, and his hands practise it through the impatience of his\nspirit. His unguarded talk, and precipitant actions plunge himself into\nsnares, and sometimes involve his acquaintance in the same mischief.\n\nThere are other characters also inconsistent with prudence, such as an\nunthinking and an unsteady temper. The thoughtless person lives at a\nventure, walks always at random, and seems to aim at nothing. He enjoys\nthe present hour indeed, talking and acting according to the mere\nappearances of things. He is content with a slight sudden view of any\nthing without recollection or forethought; and in a most literal sense\ntakes no thought for the morrow. The fickle and inconstant man, he may\naim at something indeed, and have honest designs in his head, but is\never changing the means to attain them, and pursues nothing with that\nsteadiness that prudence requires, or that the necessity of human\naffairs demands of every man that would be wise and happy. Such men may\nbe pitied as weak and silly, but they are seldom esteemed, or much\nbeloved in the world, while prudence is so much wanting.\n\nThere is no necessity that I should cite special parts of the word of\nGod, to encourage us to seek this most amiable quality, since the\nrecommendations of true wisdom, both human and divine, are scattered up\nand down through all the sacred writings: And the Spirit of God has\ngiven us one or two books on purpose to teach us prudence; these are\nEcclesiastes and the Proverbs of Solomon. Nor can I propose any better\ndirection to gain universal wisdom, that to read the book of Proverbs\noften with diligence and humble prayer.\n\nII. Moderation is another lovely quality. It teaches us to maintain a\nmedium between those wild extremes, into which human nature is ready to\nrun upon every occasion.\n\nWhen a warm and imprudent talker adorns some common character with\nexcessive praises, and carries it up to the stars; the moderate man puts\nin a cautious word, and thinks it is sufficient to raise it half so\nhigh. Or when he hears a vast and unreasonable load of accusation and\ninfamy thrown upon some lesser mistakes in life, the moderate man puts\nin a soft word of excuse, lightens the burden of reproach, and relieves\nthe good name of the sufferer from being pressed to death. When he sees\noppression and violence practised among his neighbours, the justice of\nhis soul directs him to take the part of the injured person, and his own\nmoderation and goodness inclines him to do it in such a manner, as may\ncalm and suppress the resentment of the oppressed, and soften and melt\nthe oppressor into compliance with the rules of justice. Thus he\nreconciles them both, without giving offence to either.\n\nWhen any sects of christians seem to be carried away with the furious\ntorrent of some prevailing notions, or some unnecessary practices, some\nspecial superstition, or a contentious spirit, the moderate man tries to\nshew how much of truth and goodness may be found amongst each party,\nwhere all agree to hold Christ Jesus the head; though he dares not\nrenounce a grain of truth or necessary duty, for the sake of peace, and\nhe would contend earnestly, where providence calls him, for the\nessential articles of faith which were once delivered to the saints; for\nhe knows the wisdom that is from above is first pure, and then\npeaceable; James iii. 17. Yet he takes this occasion to prove that some\ntruths or some practices, are articles of less importance to the\nchristian life; that they are not worthy of such unchristian quarrels;\nand thus he attempts, as far as possible, to reconcile the angry\ndisputers. Sometimes he has the happiness to shew them both that they\nfight in the dark; he explains their opinions and their contests, and\nputs the best sense upon both of them: And when he hath brought them\ninto the light, he makes it appear that they are friends and brethren;\nand that religion and the gospel are safe on both sides, if they would\ndwell together without fighting, but that it is sorely endangered by\ntheir battles. So St. Paul dealt with the Jewish and gentile christians,\nand assured them that they both belonged to the kingdom of God, and the\nchurch of Christ, though they quarrelled about flesh, and herbs, and\nholy-days. How lovely, how glorious, how desirable is such a character\nas this!\n\nI confess when a party-spirit runs high among the different sects of\nreligion, or the different divisions of mankind, this most amiable\nvirtue is called by the scandalous names of indifferency, and\nlukewarmness, and trimming; and it sustains a world of reproaches from\nboth the quarrelling parties. Moderation, though it is the blessed\nprinciple, which awakens and assists men to become peace-makers, yet at\nthe same time when it enters into the battle to divide the contenders,\nit receives an unkind stroke from either side. This the reconciler\nexpects, and he bears it for the sake of union and love.\n\nThe moderate man in cases of private property or interest, does not\ninsist upon the utmost of his own right with a stiff and unyielding\nobstinacy, but abates of his just pretensions for the sake of peace; and\nwhat he practises himself, he persuades others to practise in the like\ncontests. This is that moderation and gentleness, which the great\napostle recommends a few verses before my text. Phil. iv. 5. _Let your\nmoderation be known unto all men._ And our blessed Lord himself gives\nthe moderate man this illustrious encomium, blessed are the meek, who\nsubmit rather than quarrel, for they shall inherit the earth. _Blessed\nare the peace-makers, for they shall be called the children of God_;\nMat. v. 5-9. Happy souls whom the God of truth, and the God of peace,\nacknowledges for his children, and to whom he promises a large\ninheritance!\n\nAnd let it be observed also, that whatsoever hard usage the sons of\npeace may meet with, while the ferment of parties is hottest, and the\nstorm is high, yet when the clamour and rage are sunk and calm, when the\nparty-fury hath spent itself, and is grown cool enough to suffer men to\nbethink themselves, and to see all things in their true colours, then\nthe man of moderation stands approved of men as well as of God; the\ndivine virtue appears in its own lovely form, and receives a becoming\nshare of honour.\n\nIII. Humility is a lovely virtue. It is beautiful and becoming for a man\nto divest himself of all affected grandeur, and not to exalt his head\nabove his neighbour. O that we were all clothed with humility! It is an\nornament that becomes sinners well. Let us put it on with our daily\nraiment, and strive to vie with each other which shall practise this\ngrace in the greatest perfection.\n\nHow unlovely a carriage is it to boast ourselves of any superior quality\nwe possess, or to assume lofty airs, because we have more money than our\nneighbours! To aggrandize ourselves in our own esteem, in our own\nlanguage, in our behaviour, because we fancy ourselves to be better\ndressed, or better fed than our fellow-creatures! And if we have a\nlittle honour put upon us by the providence of God, it is a criminal\nvanity for us to grow haughty and insolent upon that account. I am in\npain whensoever I hear a man treat his servant as he does his dog: as\nthough a poor man were not made of the same clay, nor born of the same\nancient race as his master: As though Adam, whose name is dust, was not\nour common father, or a lord had not the same original as other men.\n\nNay, the nobler possessions of the mind, ingenuity and learning, and\neven grace itself, are no sufficient ground for pride. It is a comely\nthing to see a man exalted by many divine gifts, and yet abasing\nhimself. It is a lovely sight to behold a person well adorned with\nvirtue and merit, and glorified in the mouths of all men, and yet\nconcealing himself: To see a man of shining worth drawing, as it were, a\ncurtain before himself, that the world might not see him, while the\nworld do what they can to do him justice, and draw aside the veil to\nmake his merit visible. Not that a man of worth is always bound to\npractise concealment; this would be to rob mankind of the blessing God\nhas designed for them, and to wrap up his talents, in the unprofitable\nnapkin. But there are occasions wherein a worthy and illustrious person\nmay be equally useful to the world, and yet withdraw himself from public\napplause. This is the hour to make his humility appear.\n\nHow graceful and engaging is it in persons of title and quality to stoop\nto those that are of a mean degree, to converse freely at proper seasons\nwith those that are poor and despicable in the world, to give them leave\nto offer their humble requests, or sometimes to debate a point of\nimportance with them: Not all the dignity of their raiment can render\nthem half so honourable as this condescension does; for nothing makes\nthem so much like God. The High and Holy One, who inhabits eternity,\nstoops down from heaven to visit the afflicted, and to dwell with the\npoor. And surely, when we set ourselves before the divine Majesty, we\nare meaner and more contemptible in his eyes, than it is possible for\nany fellow-creature to be in ours; he humbles himself to behold princes.\n\nIt must be allowed indeed, that where God and the world have placed any\nperson in a superior station, and given him a sensible advancement above\nhis fellow-creatures, he is not bound to renounce the honours that are\nhis due, nor to act beneath the dignity of his character and state. This\nwould be to confound all the beautiful order of things in the natural,\ncivil, and religious life. But there are cases and seasons that often\noccur, when great degrees of humility may be practised without danger of\nsinking one\u2019s own character, or doing a dishonour to our station in the\nworld. There is an art of maintaining state with an air of modesty, nor\nis there any need to put on haughty and scornful airs, in order to\nsecure the honours of a tribunal, or the highest offices of magistracy.\nI have known a man who acted in an exalted station with so much\ncondescension and candour, that all men agreed to love and honour him so\nfar, that it was hard to say, whether he was most honoured, or most\nbeloved.\n\nHow amiable a behaviour is it in younger persons, when respect is paid\nto age, and the honour is given to the hoary head that nature and\nscripture join to require; Lev. xix. 32. \u201cThou shalt rise up before the\nhoary head, and honour the face of the old man: and fear thy God: I am\nthe Lord. Though the character of the aged person, in respect of riches,\nquality, and learning, may be much inferior, yet the wisdom that is\nnaturally supposed to be derived from long experience, lays a foundation\nfor this superior honour. And I look upon it as a part of the shame and\njust reproach of our day, that there is such a licentious insolence\nassumed by youth to treat their elders with contempt. But so much the\nmore lovely is the carriage of those who, in spite of evil custom, treat\nold age with reverence, and abhor the pert and petulant indignities that\nsome of their companions cast upon the writings and counsels of their\nancestors.\u201d\n\nAnd here I beg leave also humbly to admonish my fathers, that they\npractise the lovely grace of condescension, when they converse with\nthose that are young. I entreat them to permit a youth of an inquisitive\ngenius, to propose an argument for some farther improvement of\nknowledge, or to raise an objection against an established doctrine, and\nnot to answer him with an imperious frown, or with the reproaches of\nheresy or impertinence. I beseech them to indulge the rising generation\nin some degrees of freedom of sentiment, and to offer some demonstration\nfor their own opinions, besides their authority, and the multitude of\ntheir years. The apostle Peter\u2019s advice may be addressed to persons of\nall ages and characters; 1 Pet. v. 5. _Ye younger, submit yourselves to\nthe elder: Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed\nwith humility; for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the\nhumble._ If we have more knowledge than others, how lovely is our\nconduct, when we teach and instruct them, not like sovereigns of their\nfaith, and dictators to their understanding, but in a way of friendly\nconversation, and mutual improvement? If any thing occurs to be debated,\nit is a sign of modesty to yield to the force of argument, and not to\nresolve before-hand to be infallible and obstinate, as though we were\nexempted from the common frailty of human nature, and free from all\npossibility of mistake. While we are arguing with others, in order to\nconvince them, how graceful a thing it is, when we have the power of the\nargument on our own side, to keep ourselves from insult and triumph! how\nengaging a behaviour toward our opponent, when we seem to part as though\nwe were equal in the debate, while it is evident to all the company,\nthat the truth lies wholly on our side!\n\nYet I will own there are seasons, when the obstinate and the assuming\ndisputant should be made to feel the force of an argument, by displaying\nit in its victorious and triumphant colours: But this is seldom to be\npractised, so as to insult the opposite party, except in cases where\nthey have shewn a haughty and insufferable insolence. Some persons\nperhaps can hardly be taught humility without being severely humbled;\nand yet where there is need of this chastisement, I had rather any other\nhand should be employed in it than mine.\n\nIV. Meekness is another of the lovely graces. This is contrary to wrath\nand malice, and all the angry passions, as humility stands in opposition\nto pride. As there are generally some secret workings of pride in the\nheart, when a man gives indulgence to his wrathful passions; so where a\nperson has thoroughly learned the practice of humility, the grace of\nmeekness is easily attained, and indeed it seems to be a necessary\nconsequent of it.\n\nHow lovely is the character of a man, who can hear himself censured and\nreviled, without reviling again! Who can sustain repeated affronts,\nwithout kindling into flame and fury. Who has learned to bear injuries\nfrom his fellow-creatures, and yet withhold himself from meditating\nrevenge! He can sit and hear a strong opposition made to his sentiments,\nwithout conceiving an affront: He can bear to be contradicted without\nresenting: And as he never loves to give offence to any man, so neither\nis he presently offended. It is only the more peevish and feeble pieces\nof human nature, that are ready to take offence at trifles, and many\ntimes they make their own foolish jealousies a sufficient ground for\ntheir indignation.\n\nWe cannot expect to pass through the world, and find every thing\npeaceful and pleasant in it. All men will not be of our mind, nor agree\nto promote our interest. There are savages in this wilderness, which\nlies in our way to the heavenly Canaan; and we must sometimes hear them\nroar against us. Divine courage will enable us to walk onward without\nfear, and meekness will teach us to pass by without resenting. We should\nlearn to feel many a spark of angry fire falling upon us, from the\ntongues of others, and yet our hearts should not be like tinder ready to\ncatch the flame, and to return the blaze. The meek christian, at such a\nseason, possesses his soul in patience, as good David did, when Shimei\nsent his malice and his curses after him: The saint at that time was in\nan humble temper, and said, _Let Shimei curse_. We should not _render\nevil for evil_, but according to the sacred direction of scripture,\nendeavour to _overcome evil with good_; Rom. xii. 21.\n\nAnger is not utterly forbidden to the christian; yet happy is he that\nhas the least occasion for it. In Eph. iv. 26. the apostle gives this\nrule: _Be ye angry, and sin not._ As if he would have said, when the\naffairs of life seem to require a just resentment and anger, look upon\nit as a dangerous moment, and watch against a sinful excess. Let us\nnever give a wild loose to our wrath, but always hold the reins of\ngovernment with a strong hand, lest it break out into forbidden\nmischief. When we give ourselves leave to be offended, let the anger\nappear to be directed against the sin of the offender, if possible, more\nthan against his person.\n\nLet our anger be well-timed, both as to the season and the length of it.\nThe seasons of it should be very uncommon; a christian should seldom\nawaken his anger, and the continuance of it must be very short. _Let not\nthe sun go down upon your wrath, nor give place to the devil_; Eph. iv.\n26, 27. The long sullen resentment which is practised by some persons,\ncarried on from day to day with a gloomy silence, and now and then\nventing itself in a spiteful word, or a sly reproach, is by no means\nbecoming the name and spirit of a christian. This is _giving place to\nthe devil_, and making room for him to lodge in our hearts. This is as\nmuch contrary to meekness, as a short and sudden fury is, and perhaps\ncarries in it a guilt more aggravated in the sight of God.\n\nYet neither should our anger indulge itself in loud and noisy practises,\nnor fill the house with a brawling sound. _It is better to dwell in a\ncorner of the house-top, than to cohabit in a palace with such a\nbrawling companion of life_; Prov. xxi. 9. And the wise man has repeated\nit again in the xxv. chapter, as a matter worthy of a double notice. St.\nPaul forbids this practice to the Ephesians: _Let all bitterness, and\nwrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil-speaking, be put away from you,\nwith all malice_; Eph. iv. 31.\n\nNor should our resentments carry us to any cruel practices. The word of\nGod spends its curses upon such sort of anger; Gen. xlix. 7. _Cursed be\nthe wrath of Simeon, for it was fierce, and the anger of Levi, for it\nwas cruel._ You know what mischiefs it hurried them into, even to foul\ntreachery and murder, and the destruction of a whole country. The grace\nof meekness is an enemy to all these practices, and a happy preservative\nfrom them.\n\nV. Patience is a lovely virtue. I am not now speaking of that religious\nexercise of it, which consists in a humble submission to the providences\nof God, without repining at his hand, or sending up our murmurs against\nheaven; but a patient conduct to our fellow-creatures, is the thing\nwhich I chiefly design here to recommend.\n\nWhen some persons stand in need of any of the necessaries or\nconveniences of life, they must be supplied first, they can brook no\ndelay; let all the world stand by waiting till they are served; and\ntheir anger is quickly kindled if their affairs are not dispatched in a\nmoment. They make no allowances for the necessities or conveniences of\nothers; nor for the various accidents that attend human life, which may\nstop the speed of the most diligent servant, and constrain him\nunwillingly to delay his message or his work. But the patient christian\nconsiders all things; desires but his share of the attendance of his\nfellow-creatures, and waits without clamour till the proper season. He\nmakes wise and kind allowances for every incident of life that may give\njust occasion to a delay; and gains the love of all that are about him\nby his most engaging carriage.\n\nHow lovely is it to see a teacher waiting upon those that are slow of\nunderstanding, and taking due time and pains to make the learner\nconceive what he means, without upbraiding him with his weakness, or\nreproaching him with the names of stupid and senseless? This is to\nimitate God, the God of long suffering and patience, _Who giveth wisdom\nto all that ask, and upbraideth not_; James i. 5. The patient man\nattends and waits upon those that are slow of speech, and hears an\nargument fully proposed before he makes his reply. This is an honourable\nand lovely character; _But he that answereth a matter before he heareth\nit, it is folly and shame unto him_; Prov. xviii. 13. Perhaps he is\nutterly mistaken in the objection which his friend was going to make,\nthen he is justly put to the blush for his folly and impatience.\n\nThe virtue of patience teaches us to be calm and easy toward our\nfellow-creatures, while we sustain sharp and continued afflictions from\nthe hand of God. It is the unhappy conduct of some christians, that when\nthe great God puts them under any sore trial or chastisement, they are\nangry with all their friends around them, and scatter abroad their\ndiscontents in the family, and many times make them fall heaviest upon\ntheir most intimate friends. If one were to search this matter to the\nbottom, we should find the spring of it is an impatience at the\nsovereign hand of God; but because their christianity forbids them to\nvent their uneasiness at heaven, they divert the stream of their\nresentment, and make their fellow-creatures feel it: So a piece of\nunripe fruit pressed with a heavy weight from above, scatters its sour\njuice on every thing that stands near it, and gives a just emblem of the\nimpatient christian.\n\nBut what a lovely sight is it to behold a person burdened with many\nsorrows, and perhaps his flesh upon him has pain and anguish, while his\nsoul mourns within him; yet his passions are calm; he possesses his\nspirit in patience, he takes kindly all the relief that his friends\nattempt to afford him, nor does he give them any grief or uneasiness but\nwhat they feel through the force of mere sympathy and compassion? Thus,\neven in the midst of calamities, he knits the hearts of his friends\nfaster to himself, and lays greater obligations upon their love by so\nlovely and divine a conduct under the weight of his heavy sorrows.\n\nVI. Love to mankind in the various branches of it, is a most lovely\nquality, and well becomes a christian.\n\nShould I speak of love in the heart, which ever thinks the best\nconcerning others, and wishes and seeks their welfare and happiness:\nShould I speak of it as it works on the tongue, and appears in all\nfriendly language, whether the object be present or afar off: Should I\ndescribe it as it discovers itself in the hand of assistance and bounty,\nto relieve the poor and helpless: Each of these would yield sufficient\nmatter for a whole discourse; and this grace would appear lovely in all\nits forms. It is a pain to my thoughts to omit it here: Methinks I can\nhardly tell how to let it go without large encomiums: Nor could I\nprevail with myself to pass it over now with so brief a mention, if I\ndid not design to employ an hour or two on this subject hereafter.\n\n[The Second Part of this Sermon.]\n\nI proceed to shew how the very light of nature recommends every\nagreeable and obliging character; every lovely quality that is found\namong mankind; and reason exhorts us to the acquirement and practice of\nit.\n\nI. Our own interest directs us to it. It is a natural good quality, and\na most useful thing to desire the love of others, to seek the favour of\nour fellow-creatures. It is a very lawful ambition to covet the\ngood-will of those with whom we converse; and to pursue such practices\nas may procure us a place in their good opinion and friendship. We who\nare born for society, must naturally desire to stand well with mankind;\nand that our neighbours should wish our welfare, should treat us with\ndecency, and civility, and love; should assist our interest, and do us\ngood when we stand in need of them: And if so, then the rule of justice\nobliges us to practise the same towards them, which we desire they\nshould practise towards us. The more we exercise of _humility_,\n_meekness_, _patience_, _charity_, and _good-will_ towards our\nneighbours, the more reason have we to expect the same returns of a\nlovely carriage from them. And it is no small advantage in life, for a\nperson to be much beloved. When he falls under sudden distresses, every\nman is ready to relieve him, when he meets with perplexing difficulties\nhe has the ready assistance of multitudes at his command, because he\nhath many lovers.\n\nII. It is a most generous character, and the sign of a great and good\nsoul, to delight to please those with whom we converse. It is a lovely\nsight to behold a person solicitous to make all around about him easy\nand happy. Such amiable souls as these it is a frequent practice, and a\npleasure to them, to contradict, their own natural inclinations, in\norder to serve the desires, or the interest of their friends. Happy\ntemper! that finds so much satisfaction in this self-denial, that the\nvery virtue loses its name, and it becomes but another sort of\nself-pleasing. Such persons are in pain, when they find their friends\nhard to be pleased, and they suffer sometimes too much uneasiness in\nthemselves, because of the perverse humours of those they converse with.\nThis uneasiness indeed may arise to a criminal excess, but the spring of\nit has something amiable. I could wish every soul of us would learn a\nlovely carriage. For,\n\nIII. It makes us resemble God himself. And yet there are some that will\nbe selfish and churlish, that will practise the furious or the peevish\npassions, through some reigning principle of pride, or covetousness,\nimpatience, or envy. There are some that delight in vexing their\nfellow-creatures, and in giving them torment and pain. Part of these\nqualities make us a-kin to brutes of the worser kind, when we take care\nof none but self, and are regardless of neighbour\u2019s welfare. \u201cIf self be\nhealthy and rich, easy and honoured, it is no matter though the rest of\nthe world sustain sickness, and poverty, and scandal.\u201d Others of these\nunlovely characters approach nearer to the spirit of the devil, who\ntakes delight in torturing his fellow-creatures, and doing what mischief\nhe can amongst men.\n\nBut it is a God-like temper to take a sweet satisfaction in diffusing\nour goodness, and in pleasing and in serving all that are near us. _Let\nus then be followers of God as dear children_; Eph. v. i. He is the\noriginal beauty, he is the loveliest and the best of beings. To be good,\nand to do good, is a divine perfection, and let us remember it is a\nperfection that may be imitated too. _He causes his sun to rise, and his\nrain to fall on the just and on the unjust, and fills the hearts_ even\nof the evil as well as the good _with food and gladness_, when he _gives\nthem fruitful seasons_; Acts xiv. 17. Let us not dare then to be rough\nand quarrelsome, and sullen, and ill-natured, while we profess to be his\noffspring. Let there be something lovely in our whole temper and\nconduct, while we pretend to be imitators of the God of love. And does\nthe light of nature furnish us with all these motives for a lovely\ncarriage? then surely the light of scripture enforces them all. The\ngospel obliges christians to this practice by much stronger arguments,\nand it lays on us more substantial obligations.\n\nI. The blessed and ever glorious Trinity, the Father, the Son and the\nHoly Spirit, give us in the gospel a divine example of this practice.\nHas God, the great and glorious God, manifested a lovely conduct in his\nworks of creation, and his ways of providence; how much more glorious a\npattern has he set us in the transactions of his redeeming love! What\ncondescension hath he here shewn! What gentleness! what patience and\nforbearance! what forgiveness! what infinite and endless discoveries of\ngrace has he made in his gospel! _God the Father reconciling the world\nto himself by Jesus Christ_, has a peculiar sweetness of aspect and most\namiable appearance. Here every christian beholds him such as he revealed\nhimself to Moses, when he caused his _glory to pass before him_; Ex.\nxxxiv. 6. _The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious,\nlong-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth_, &c. The Son of God\nstooping down to take flesh and blood upon him, made the most amiable\nfigure in the universe. Even in his glorious and triumphant state in\nheaven, he is represented by a _lamb that was slain_, an emblem of\nmeekness and innocence. And if ever the blessed Spirit appeared in the\nshape of any living creature, it was in the _form of a dove_, a lovely\nand gentle animal. Thus the blessed Trinity conspire to teach us this\namiable and divine carriage.\n\nII. The Son of God incarnate has brought a lovely pattern of this\npractice nearer to us in his whole deportment on earth. I cannot part\nwith the most graceful example of our Lord Jesus Christ with a slight\nnotice. He came into this world partly with a design to become our\npattern in every virtue, and in every grace. Let us turn our eyes\ntowards him in all the circumstances and behaviours of life, and he will\never appear, as he is in himself, the _chiefest of ten thousands, and\naltogether lovely_. Let us take a survey of him under those several\nparticulars, in which an amiable carriage has been described.\n\nIs prudence a lovely virtue? How perfectly wise was the conduct of our\nLord! How carefully did he attend to the circumstances of time and\nplace, while he dwelt among mankind! How happily did he suit his\nconversation to his company! How wisely did he derive his divine\ndiscourses from the daily occurrences of life! How admirably did he\ndistribute his benefits according to the various necessities of men! So\nthat the unprejudiced world pronounced concerning him, _He has done all\nthings well_. Shall we be rash and foolish, fickle and imprudent, and\nlive at random in our words and our works, when we have so divine a\npattern of prudence before us in the history of the gospel?\n\nIs moderation another lovely character, and a peace-maker an amiable\ntitle? Such was our blessed Lord, and such should his followers be. How\nglorious a sight is it to behold the Son of God coming down from heaven\nto be a mediator betwixt his offended Father and his offending\ncreatures! to reconcile heaven and earth together, and rather than fail\nin this attempt, he gladly exposed himself to shame and death, and made\na cement of everlasting friendship betwixt God and man with his own\nblood. Shall we, who are reconciled by such amazing transactions,\nquarrel with each other for trifles, and form ourselves into parties for\nrage, and strife, and hatred, and yet profess the name of the great\nreconciler! Are we not commanded to _follow peace with all men, as far\nas possible_, with the security of our holiness and peace with God? And\nhow can we otherwise hope to be the subjects and favourites of the\nPrince of peace?\n\nIs humility another part of an amiable character? Who was ever humble as\nthe Son of God? _The brightness of his Father\u2019s glory, and the express\nimage of his person, who emptied himself, and took upon him the form of\na servant, and was made in the likeness of men, and humbled himself yet\nlower, even to the death of the cross_, and to the dust of the grave;\nPhil. ii. 6-9. Therefore the Father loved him, and the Father exalted\nhim. This is the man, the God-man, who calls us to the practice of this\nvirtue; _Learn of me_, says he, _for I am meek and lowly, and ye shall\nfind rest for your souls_; Mat. xi. 29. What folly and madness is it for\ndust and ashes to be proud, when God\u2019s own Son was humble? And he gives\nus a noble instance to assure us that humility is a lovely quality: When\nthe rich young man in the gospel came and kneeled before him to ask his\nadvice, _Jesus looked upon him and loved him_; and would have left it\nupon record in his word, that there was something lovely in a modest and\nhumble carriage, even where the saving grace of God was wanting: Mark x.\n21.\n\nMeekness and patience are the next things I mentioned, that go to make\nup the character of a lovely person. But who was meek as the Son of God\nis? What affronts did he endure even while he was inviting sinners in\nthe most affecting language to their own eternal happiness? What\nshameful mockery did he sustain? What loads of malicious and infamous\nblasphemy? But _when he was reviled, he reviled not again_; 1 Pet. ii.\n23. _as a sheep before her shearer is dumb, so opened he not his mouth_;\nIs. liii. 7. O when shall we learn to imitate our blessed Lord, and\nforbear and forgive as he did.\n\nHow was his patience tried to the utmost? And that not only in the\nfruitless and thankless labours of his life among a cruel and insolent\nrace of men, but in the approaches of his bloody death. When the blessed\nRedeemer lay agonizing in the garden, or hung bleeding on the cross, to\nsee him oppressed with the weight of the wrath of God due to our sins,\nconflicting with the rage of devils, forsaken by his friends, and\nsurrounded with the profane insults of barbarous men: What a mournful\nand moving spectacle! And yet there is something divinely amiable in it,\nto behold him all over calm and patient, and meditating immortal and\nforgiving love. What unworthy followers are we of the blessed Jesus,\n_the Lamb that was slain_, when upon every occasion we take fire, and\nbreak out into an impatient fury?\n\nBut if I should enter upon the last instance of a lovely character, and\nbegin the mention of love, how far beyond all example, and beyond all\ndescription, is the love of our Lord Jesus! How tender were the\ncompassions of his heart! How extensive the benevolence of his soul!\nWhat melting language of love dropped from his lips hourly! And how were\nhis mortal and immortal powers employed in procuring infinite blessings\nfor sinful men, in distributing them amongst the rebellious! O that we\ncould learn to think, and speak, and act like our blessed Saviour whose\nlife and whose death was a rich and various scene of divine and human\nlove!\n\nIII. I might draw further arguments from the examples, and from the\nwritings of the apostles and holy men in the primitive days of\nchristianity; when they were all of one heart and one soul, and did\nevery thing to please and serve their fellow-christians. I would mention\nthe epistles of St. John; what a divine spirit of love breathes in them!\nBut next to our Lord Jesus, I should rather turn your eyes and thoughts\nto the temper and conduct of St. Paul, the greatest of the apostles, and\nthe nearest to Christ. How did _he please all men, not seeking his own\nprofit, but their salvation, even as Christ pleased not himself_? And he\nleaves us his own example in subordination to his Lord, _Be ye followers\nof me, even as I also am of Christ_; Rom. xv. 1-3. and _give none\noffence, neither to Jew nor Gentile_; 1 Cor. x. 32. Who is there\nsorrowful among you, and I sympathize not? _Who is weak, and I am not\nweak?_ _Who is offended_, and I do not share in the pain? 2 Cor. xi. 29.\nI bear and _endure all things for the elect\u2019s sake, that they may be\nsaved_; 2 Tim. ii. 10. How lovely was his behaviour in all respects? His\nepistles are full of it, it shines through every page: His character\ndemands a volume to describe it, all worthy of our imitation and our\nwonder.\n\nBut I must hasten to the last motive derived from christianity, and that\nis the nature and design of the gospel itself. It is the most lovely of\nall religions. Wisdom, humility, peace, patience, meekness, moderation,\nand love, run through every part of the covenant of grace, like so many\nbright and beautiful colours joined together in the rainbow, that\nstretches its glory round the lower sky, and seals an ancient and\neverlasting peace between earth and heaven.\n\nThere is therefore the most sovereign and constraining obligation laid\nupon us christians, to do all things that are lovely, that we may make\nour holy religion appear like itself, and cause christianity to be\nbeloved of men. Every christian is in some degree entrusted with the\nhonour of Christ, and with the credit and renown of his gospel. Let us\nbe watchful then to take all opportunities, and use all pious methods to\nmake our hope appear glorious, and set the name of Christ in its own\namiable light, and to _adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour_.\n\nHow dishonourable and shameful a thing is it for a christian to have an\nunlovely carriage, or to shew any thing in his conduct that is rough and\nforbidding! What a blemish does it cast upon the gospel which he\nprofesses! Let us talk what we will of the sublimer glories of\nchristianity, and profess an acquaintance with the deepest mysteries,\nyet with all our flaming zeal for the faith, we may become scandals to\nthe gospel, if we abandon the practices of love. The world will judge of\nour religion by our temper and carriage. We give occasion therefore to\nthe world to upbraid us, _What do you more than others?_ If we, who\npretend to be christians, who have professed the most lovely of all\nreligions, are guilty of practices unworthy of the sacred name: When\nthey see our carriage as bad as others, they will be ready to cry out,\n\u201c_What is your beloved more than another beloved?_\u201d What are your\ndoctrines better than others, if your practice differs not from others!\nAnd are you willing it should be said of you, that you are the occasions\nof shame and scandal to the name and religion of Christ?\n\nWe should do all things that are amiable in the sight of men, that the\ngospel may have the glory of it: Shall I say, the gospel of Christ\ndeserves it at our hands? If the gospel brings so rich a salvation to\nus, it is fitting we should bring a great deal of honour to it. How\nhonourable is it to the gospel of Christ, when persons of a rough,\ncrabbed, sour temper, are converted by this gospel, are become\nchristians indeed, and are made all over amiable, and soft, and obliging\nin their deportments; when they carry it like new creatures, like\npersons that are changed indeed, that have much of the spirit of love in\nthem, the temper of the gospel, and the temper of heaven! It is this\ngospel, as I have said before, that turns lions into lambs, and ravens\ninto doves, the most savage creatures into mild and gentle.\n\nWhile we are thus engaged in the practice of love, we have no need to\nabandon our zeal for the truth; but we should separate our divine zeal\nfrom all our own guilty passions, lest instead of honouring God, we\nshould destroy his children. The servant of the Lord may be bold and\nstedfast in the defence of the gospel, but he must _be gentle towards\nall men, ready to teach_, and patient under injuries. _He must not\nstrive_ like a hero for victory, but when any _oppose themselves to the\ntruth, he must instruct them in meekness_; 2 Tim. ii. 24. While we are\npeaceful and harmless, we may be at the same time prudent and wise; our\nLord Jesus has joined these two characters; Mat. x. 16. And it is a very\nlovely inscription for a disciple of Christ to wear in all his public\nand private conversation, _wise as serpents_, and _harmless as doves_.\nThus we may guard ourselves from the malice of the world, while we\nattempt to win them by all the sacred methods of humanity and divine\ngoodness.\n\n\n HYMN FOR SERMON XXVIII.\n _Christian Morality_, _viz._ _a Lovely Carriage_.\n\n\n O \u2019tis a lovely thing to see\n A man of prudent heart,\n Whose thoughts, and lips and life agree\n To act a useful part.\n\n When envy, strife, and wars begin\n In little angry fools;\n Mark how the sons of peace come in,\n And quench the kindling coals.\n\n Their minds are humble, mild and meek,\n Nor let their fury rise;\n Nor passion moves their lips to speak,\n Nor pride exalts their eyes.\n\n Their frame is prudence mix\u2019d with love;\n Good works fulfil their day;\n They join the serpent with the dove,\n But cast the sting away.\n\n Such was the Saviour of mankind,\n Such pleasures he pursu\u2019d;\n His flesh and blood were all refin\u2019d,\n His soul divinely good.\n\n Lord, can these plants of virtue grow\n In such a soul as mine?\n Thy grace can form my nature so\n And make my heart like thine.\n\n\n\n\n SERMON XXIX.\n _Christian Morality_, _viz._ _Things of good Report, &c._\n PHILIP. iv. 8.\u2014Whatsoever things are of good report,\u2014think on these\n things.\n \u039f\u03c3\u03b1 \u03b5\u03c5\u03c6\u03b7\u03bc\u03b1, &c.\n\n\nThe value of a good name was so great under the Jewish dispensation,\nthat the Spirit of God does not think it beneath his care to recommend\nit to his chosen people, by the mouth of Solomon, the wisest of men. _It\nis better_ and more worth _than precious ointment_; Eccl. vii. 1. It was\ncounted an ornament and entertainment at public feasts, to have rich\noils poured upon the head; the price of some of them was exceeding\ngreat; they gave refreshment to the natural spirits, and spread a\nperfume through all the company. But a good name is of greater price, it\nis a rich ornament to the character of him that possesses it, and has a\nconsiderable influence toward his happiness; so that to use the words of\nSolomon again; Prov. xxii. 1. _It is rather to be chosen than great\nriches._\n\nThe blessed apostle of the Gentiles is of the same mind, and he\nrecommends to the christian world, the practice of those things that are\nof good report, which is the way, whereby a good name is to be obtained.\nHe had just before recommended to us the things that are lovely in the\neyes of men, and such as will render us well-beloved among our\nneighbours. Now he invites us to the practice of those _things that are\nof good report_ in the world, such as will procure us reputation, and a\ngood name, where we may live, especially among the wise and sober part\nof mankind. This hath some difference in it from the former, though it\nmust be granted, that all things that are lovely, have also a tendency\nto obtain a good name.\n\nThere are many things in the conduct of life, which do not so directly\noffer themselves to us, as parts of necessary justice, piety, or\ngoodness. But yet they are such as bear a good character in the world,\nand they give to the man that practises them, a good reputation among\nhis fellow creatures: on the contrary, there are several other\npractices, which is not easy to prove directly sinful, yet they are of\nill report, and they ought not to be indulged among christians. Among\nthese practices of good report, some are changeable with the times and\ncustoms of the country, and they obtain a different character and\nesteem, according to the age and place wherein we dwell; others always\nand in all places among sober and wise men, obtain the same character;\nthey have been in all ages and in all nations, esteemed things of good\nreport: The nature of them seems to be unchangeable: And it is this sort\nof actions only that I shall take notice of. By various particulars this\nhead will be better illustrated and improved, than it can be by any\ngeneral descriptions.\n\nIt is a matter of good report to mind our own business, yet to be of a\npublic spirit, to be regular in our conduct, to keep the best company,\nto abstain from the utmost bounds of things lawful, and in doubtful\nmatters, to follow the practices of the wisest and the best. As I\ndiscourse upon each of these particulars, I shall observe what are those\nopposite practices of evil report, which we ought to avoid.\n\nI. It is a thing of good report to mind our own business.\u2014The holy\napostle requires it; 1 Thess. iii. 11. _That ye study to be quiet, and\nto do your own business._ One would think there should be no need of\nstudy and application in order to be quiet; but some persons are of so\nturbulent and restless a temper, that they naturally intermeddle with\neverything: They had need take pains with themselves to keep themselves\nquiet, and busy only in their proper work. The word in the Greek\n\u03c6\u03b9\u03bb\u03bf\u03c4\u03b9\u03bc\u03b5\u03b9\u03c3\u03b8\u03b1\u03b9 signifies that we should be ambitious of quietness and\ndiligence in our calling, for it is a matter of honour and credit. In\nwhatsoever station we are placed, it is industry must gain reputation.\nThere are other great and valuable advantages of it, but I confine\nmyself now to this one, that is a thing of good report among men.\n\nIf persons are called to magistracy, let them attend to the work of\ntheir superior post. Let them rule and govern with all diligence, and\nfulfil that office well, with which God has entrusted them. Let them\nemploy themselves much in their proper sphere, and not wear the\nhonourable title in idleness, or bear the sword in vain, which hath been\ntoo frequent a practice in this great city, and thereby vice has grown\nrampant, and reformation of manners hath been shamefully discouraged.\n\nThese who are made ministers of the gospel, let them make it their\nbusiness to win souls to salvation, to bring in sinners to faith and\nholiness, and to edify the saints by their exhortations, by their\ndoctrine, by their example. We should be _instant in season, and out of\nseason, reprove, rebuke, and exhort with all long-suffering and\ndoctrine_; 2 Tim. iv. 2. _Let him that ministers wait on his ministry:\nHe that teacheth, on teaching; he that exhorteth, on exhortation_; Rom.\nxii. 7. Let us not waste our time and our best talents in the pursuit of\nlaborious trifles, in intricate and perplexing controversies, which are\nless necessary to the life of christianity, or on useless and angry\nsquabbles, which divide and tear the church. Nor let us throw away these\nthoughts and hours, on pompous ornaments of learning, on critical or\npolite, studies, or curious and artificial works, which should be\ndevoted to matters of more sacred importance.\n\nIf we are engaged in trades, manufactures, or merchandize in the world,\nlet us shew all industry; and honest labour and care, and thus walk with\nGod, _every man in his calling, wherein he is called_, till the\nprovidence of God evidently leads him to other work; 1 Cor. vii. 25. And\nthus we may refute the calumnies of those who would seek all occasions\nto reflect upon us for our stricter profession of religion. There are\nmany encouraging promises given to diligence in the word of God. I shall\nmention but one at present that agrees with my present subject; Prov.\nxxii. 29. _Seest thou a man diligent in his business, he shall stand\nbefore kings, he shall not stand before mean men._ That is, \u201chis good\nreport and his reputation shall grow and increase, that he shall be\nbrought into more honourable company, and to a more exalted station.\u201d\n\nIf we are servants, let us devote our time and thoughts to the business\nwhich our superiors have entrusted us with, and seek their interest with\nah honest soul. If we are children and scholars, under instruction, let\nus apply our minds to learn the things we are taught, and attend to the\ninstructions of those who teach us. Every one of us have our proper\nwork, which demands our application to it. There are many enemies to\nthis virtue, many practices inconsistent with the character of\ndiligence, as it is celebrated and recommended in the word of God.\n\n_First_, Sloth or laziness stands foremost in this rank. Surely the\npowers of our mind and body were never made to be useless. _Go to the\nant, thou sluggard_, and learn industry of that little animal. Can we\nthink we were born to be cumberers of the ground, and mere burdens of\nthe earth we dwell on? Let us shake off this stupid and infamous humour,\nlet us rise to an active life, and answer the ends of our creation. And\nfor the same reason it is, that there ought to be a restraint put upon\nan excess of sleep, and slumber. You know the character of the drowsy\nwretch, that turns from side to side _upon his bed, as a heavy door upon\nits hinges_; and _the sluggard_, who with folded hands sits still and\nlets the weeds grow over his corn; but these men shall be _clothed with\nrags_; Prov. xxi. 14.\n\n_Secondly_, Luxury and an intemperate love of pleasure, is another enemy\nto diligence in our callings. It is an odious character that is given to\nthe inhabitants of Crete by one of their own poets; and the Spirit of\nGod confirms the truth of it; Titus i. 12. _The Cretans are evil beasts,\nslow bellies_; so shamefully engaged in gluttony and the luxury of the\npalate, that they render themselves heavy, stupid, and unfit for\nbusiness; A lazy generation of men, that have much more inclination to\neat and drink, and live like brutes, than to employ themselves in any\nhonest labour, that is worthy of human nature, or becomes a man.\n\nUnder the same reproof I may justly bring an excessive indulgence of\nsports or recreations, beyond what is necessary for the refreshment of\nnature, and the recruit of our spirits, in order to fulfil duty with\nmore diligence: This was intimated in a former discourse. It is but a\ncharacter of ill report, when a man is too often found in the place of\nsports and unnecessary diversions, while he ought to be in his shop, or\nin other proper business of his life. Prov. xxi. 27. \u201c_He that loveth\npleasure shall be a poor man; and he that loves wine and oil_, feastings\nand entertainments, _he shall not be rich_.\u201d\n\n_Thirdly_, A tattling humour, excessive talking, and an idle inquisitive\nimpertinence, are great enemies also to that industry, that is\nrecommended to us. Solomon assures us, that though there is _profit in\nall labour_, yet _the talk of the lips, tendeth only to penury_; Prov.\nxiv. 23. And he redoubles it upon our ears, that a _prating fool shall\nfall_: Prov. x. 8-10. There are some persons that love to talk of any\nthing, or every thing, besides their own business; like foolish children\nthat turn every page of their books, and flutter a little about every\npart of them, besides where their lesson is. Every moving feather is\nready to seize the fancy of these triflers, this fickle and talkative\nrace of men: They are but taller children. Every little story entertains\ntheir idle inclination, and gives them fresh employment to tell it over\nagain. They had rather do any thing than the duty of the present hour;\nthey spend their time like the _inhabitants of Athens, in little else\nbut hearing or telling some new thing_.\n\nSome of these persons are ready to intermingle themselves with every\nman\u2019s concernments, uncalled and undesired: They search into the secrets\nof families, in order to gratify a wicked humour, to spread abroad and\npublish some private scandal. _They creep into houses_, to make mischief\nthere, and by _tattling_ and repeating matters of contest, _they\nseparate very friends_, and raise angry quarrels in peaceful families;\nProv. xvii. 9. Such persons seem to deserve the public censure of the\nmagistrate, in the opinion of the apostle Peter; 1 Peter iv. 15. _But\nlet none of you_, that are christians, _suffer as an evil-doer, or as a\nbusy body in other men\u2019s matters_. He himself once fell under the\ncensure of Christ our Lord, for this inquisitive and needless curiosity.\nJohn xxi. 21, 22. When St. Peter had received a prophecy from his master\nconcerning his own martyrdom, he had also an express notice what his own\nbusiness was, _viz._ to _follow_ his master. But Peter had a mind to\nknow what should become of John too; \u201cLord, says he, and _what shall\nthis man do or_ suffer? _What if I will_, says our blessed Lord, _that\nhe tarry till I come again?_ _What is that to thee?_ Is that thy\nbusiness, Peter, to know what shall befal John? Mind thy own duty, and\n_follow thou me_.\u201d A wise and divine rebuke from our risen Saviour!\nAfter this, St. Peter well knew how to censure such impertinence, and to\nreprove _busy-bodies_.\n\nOf the same mind is the apostle Paul. He advises women how to behave\nthemselves, that they may not fall under this charge. _Let them guide\nthe house_, says he, and employ themselves in domestic affairs: for if\nthey neglect this work, _they learn to be idle, wandering about from\nhouse to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also, and busy-bodies,\nspeaking things which they ought not_; gathering up matter for slander\nof their neighbours at their next visit, where every one is ashamed to\nbe silent, and therefore each is ready to furnish the company with their\nshare. But this practice, in the opinion of the sacred writer furnishes\nthe adversary with daily occasion to slander christianity, and to _speak\nreproachfully_ of the gospel, and it is a thing of _very ill fame_; 1\nTim. v. 13, 14.\n\nII. A public spirit is another thing of good report. Though christians\nmust be diligent in their business, yet they should not confine all\ntheir cares within the narrow circle of self, but have a hearty\nsolicitude for the welfare of the nation in which they dwell, for the\nneighbours among whom they inhabit, for the church of Christ in the\nworld, and extend their concern to the happiness of mankind: The apostle\ndirects Timothy to _make supplications, prayers, and intercessions for\nall men_, and to take such a satisfaction in the mercies they receive,\nas to _give thanks_ to God upon their account; 1 Tim. ii. 1. He exhorts\nthe Ephesians to _prayer and supplication for all the saints_; Eph. vi.\n18. And what he taught, he also practised in an eminent and glorious\nmanner; _the care of all the churches came daily upon him_: And you find\nhim in the beginning of his epistles lifting up his petitions and his\npraises to heaven continually for the churches to whom he writes.\n\n_We should rejoice with them that rejoice, and weep with them that\nweep_, and share with our fellow-christians in their joys and their\nsorrows, that we may thereby double their joys, and lighten the weight\nof their sorrows by a blessed sympathy. Rom. xii. 15. We should _bear\none another\u2019s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ_; Gal. vi. 2. And\nin 1 Cor. x. 24. he saith, \u201cLet no man seek his own, but every man\nanother\u2019s wealth, or welfare;\u201d that is, \u201cLet no man be so wholly\nswallowed up in his own profit and peace, as utterly to neglect the\npeace and profit of his neighbour.\u201d But though this be so honourable and\nbecoming a practice, yet it has ever been too much neglected, even among\nthe professors of the gospel; for St. Paul tells the Philippians, that\nTimothy was a singular instance of this good quality; Phil. ii. 20, 21.\n_I have no man like minded, who will naturally care for your state; for\nall seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ\u2019s._\n\nSome may be ready to raise an objection here, and say, \u201cHow is this\nconsistent with the former character and practice which I recommended,\nnamely, that every man mind his own business?\u201d\n\nI grant that this ought generally to be our first care, that we fulfil\nthe duties of our own particular station well, and see to it, that\nourselves and our household be supported: This is usually the loudest\ncall of providence, for he that provides not for those of his own house,\nwhen it is in his power, does not answer the demands of christianity,\nbut is worse than an infidel, or one that has denied the faith; 1 Tim.\nv. 8. But there are many sacred and civil services may be done for the\nneighbourhood, the church, and the nation, without any culpable\nhinderance to our own affairs. So much time may be easily redeemed from\nsloth and slumber, from useless and impertinent conversation, as the\npublic may call for at our hands. And when there is a day of distress or\ntrouble come upon our friends, upon the land wherein we dwell, or the\nchurches of Christ in the world, when virtue and religion are in sinking\ncircumstances, we are called sometimes to lay out a larger part of our\ntime and strength, our interest and our substance, for the welfare of\nthe public, which otherwise perhaps might be due to ourselves, and our\nown family. In such cases as these, christian prudence must direct us\nhow to distinguish wisely, and determine how far this self-denial is to\nbe exercised, in order to promote the happiness of mankind, and the\npublic honour of Christ. This is a thing of good report in the church\nand in the world, and it will turn to our honour in the day of the Lord.\n\nBut let no man deceive himself, and vainly imagine that he may lay claim\nto the honour of a public spirit, because he spends half his days in\nplaces of public resort, and in fruitless enquiries and chatterings\nabout the affairs of government, and the business of the state; perhaps\nhe extends his care also to Muscovy and Persia, as well as Great\nBritain, while the care of his shop is a little thing with him, the\nbusiness of his study or counting-house is forgotten, and his family\ncomplains of woeful neglect: Nor are public affairs mended by all his\nimpertinence.\n\n[If this sermon be too long, it is best divided here.]\n\nIII. Regularity in the conduct of our affairs is a becoming character,\nand will gain us a good name amongst men. As there are many and various\nduties that belong to the natural, the civil, and the religious life; it\nis a piece of eminent wisdom to appoint proper seasons and rules for the\nperformance of them; nor should we think it beneath us, as far as\npossible, to govern ourselves by those rules, and keep to our own\nappointed seasons; otherwise all our affairs will be ready to run into\nconfusion, one duty will be apt to intrench upon another, and some of\nthe duties of life or godliness will be neglected, or quite forsaken,\nunder a pretence of want of time.\n\nOne thing that intrenches upon the regular hours and orders of life, is\na trifling and dilatory temper, putting off necessary business, whether\nit be work or devotion, till the last moment; and then, if the least\naccident intervenes, we have not left ourselves sufficient time to\nperform it. These are the persons who are frequently found in a hurry\nand confusion, because they have neglected to do the proper work in the\nproper season. Their business is always done in haste, and often\nunfinished. These are they who keep no appointments, who are seldom true\nto their hour, who make their friends wait for them upon all occasions,\nwho often create uneasiness to all the company, and put a whole family\nout of order. What an unbecoming behaviour is this! What an ill aspect\nit bears! especially if these delayers are in any degree inferior, or\nthe younger parts of a house. And yet it might easily be prevented, by\ntaking the first opportunity for every business. O it is an excellent, a\ngolden rule, \u201cNever leave that till to-morrow, which may be done to-day,\nnor trust the business of this hour to the care of the next,\u201d for the\nnext is not mine.\n\nWhen servants are of this dilatory and trifling humour, they waste their\nmaster\u2019s time perpetually, and put their superiors to many\ninconveniences. They prevent one another\u2019s business as well as neglect\ntheir own. You would wonder how they could spend three or four hours in\na common errand, and make a family wait half a day for a message, that\nmight be dispatched in half an hour. They cannot keep their eyes or\ntheir ears from attending to every object they meet; their endless\ncuriosity of enquiry, and their irresistible inclination to talk of\nevery thing that does not concern them, is an everlasting hinderance to\ntheir proper work. This active sort of idleness is much harder to be\ncured than that of the slow and stupid kind; and you see it belongs to\nthe poor as well as the rich; though it is a matter of disreputation and\ninfamy to both.\n\nPersons of this unhappy conduct, whether of high or low degree, are in\ngreat danger of trifling in the most sacred and divine concernments, as\nwell as in common life. They sometimes manage their spiritual and\nimmortal affairs in the same dilatory manner, but with more dreadful and\nfatal consequence. They put off repentance from day to day, and delay\ntheir solemn transactions with God, till sickness seizes them, or till\ndeath approaches: Then what hurry of spirit! What dreadful confusion of\nsoul! What tumults and terrors overwhelm them! And it is well if the\nmatters of their salvation be not unfinished at the last hour, and\nthemselves made miserable to all eternity, because they trifled away\nlife and time.\n\nA second enemy to this regular conduct of life, and which indeed is\nderived from the former, is this, an inversion of the order of nature,\nand a change of the seasons which God hath appointed for business and\nrest. I confess this is not now-a-days a matter of ill report in itself,\nhowever contrary it be to the laws of nature and the creation: But it is\nattended with many irregularities, and sometimes with infamous practices\ntoo: And therefore I would spend one page to give it an ill name; and to\nbring it into just discredit.\n\n_God has made every thing beautiful in its season_; Eccl. iii. 11. _The\nsun ariseth;\u2014and man goeth forth to his work until the evening_; Ps.\nciv. 22, 23. It is more natural and healthful to pursue the concerns of\nlife, as much as possible by day-light. Midnight studies are prejudicial\nto nature: A painful experience calls me to repent of the faults of my\nyounger years, and there are many before me have had the same call to\nrepentance. Wearing out the lightsome hours in sleep, is an unnatural\nwaste of sun-beams. There is no light so friendly to animal nature as\nthat of the sun. Midnight assemblies, festivals, and entertainments,\nexhaust the spirits, and make a needless profusion of the necessaries of\nlife: They carry a very ill appearance with them, even where no\nwickedness is indulged, they are practices of evil report, and deserve\ncensure and shame.\n\nIt is no honour to our whole nation, that we have learned the fashion of\ndoing nothing in the morning; among persons of mode the day often begins\nat noon: The hours of business are grown much later among us than our\nforefathers could bear. They knew the worth of day-light. In some things\nindeed we are bound to comply with custom, or we must forsake the world:\nfor a few can never stem the general tide, or reform a degenerate age:\nAnd there are some few trades and employments which demand labour at\nnight. But in our general conduct we should endeavour to act more\nagreeably to the laws of creation and nature, and to reduce families to\na little better order, wheresover we have power and influence. Surely it\ncan be no great hardship for any persons in health to begin their duty\nwith the rising sun, for almost half the year. We should not think it\nsufficient to get up a little before noon, nor should we turn the\nmorning of God and nature into midnight, nor make the decline of the sun\nserve for our morning work.\n\nI would not be thought in this page to reflect upon the weak, the\nsickly, and the aged parts of mankind, whose nature may require longer\nsleep, and a larger degree of rest to recruit their spirits: Nor do I\naccuse those unhealthy persons, who can get no slumber till the night is\nhalf spent, and are thereby constrained, merely for the sake of health,\nto let their bed intrench upon so many hours of day-light: Yet I\npersuade myself, that if these last would but bear the inconveniences\nthey complain of for a week or two, if they would break off their\nmorning-slumber early, and early betake themselves to rest, nature would\nquickly learn a better habit, the reformation would soon grow easy: And\nperhaps this might advance their health in a sensible manner, beyond all\ntheir old indulgences, or their present expectations.\n\nAn excessive love of company, an affectation of going abroad, a delight\nin wine and strong drink, are the third sort of enemies to that\nregularity and order which I am now recommending. Such practices are\ncensured in the word of God; I have called the prophet Isaiah, in a\nformer discourse, to witness against the drunkard, but I must ask leave\nto cite the same text again, against the wasters of time in taverns, or\nmeaner drinking-houses. _Wo to them that go to their cups in a morning_:\nThis throws all the business of the day out of order; and sometimes they\nare tempted to continue until night, or at least they return thither\nagain and stay till wine inflames them: then all the follies of life\nplay their parts; but they forget religion, and _regard not the work,\nnor the worship of the Lord_; Is. v. 11, 12. How often has it been\nfound, that the religion of the closet, as well as that of the family,\nhath been shortened and omitted, and by degrees thrust out of doors, and\nforgotten, for want of shaking off every impediment, and confining\nourselves to proper seasons. We intend to fulfil our duties, but we\nintend it at random, without keeping any time for it: And thus some\nhouseholds, that would be called Christians, live without God in the\nworld. They that _tarry long at wine_, or in any needless company, and\nlengthen put the hours of their needless absence from home, may count\nthemselves guilty of the several disorders that are committed in the\nfamily; which would be rectified, or entirely prevented by the presence\nof the master.\n\nI confess sometimes necessary business detains a person beyond his usual\nand appointed hour: there must also be some allowances made for the\nunhappy engagements which may attend some particular callings in the\nworld. Our own consciences must be the final judges in this case: But\nlet us be faithful and honest, and frequently make an enquiry, whether\nour conduct be regular or no: and whether it be the necessity of affairs\nthat intrenches upon the seasons of duty, or whether it be a careless\nindifference of spirit. Good orders in a household, and regular hours\nfor all the duties and enjoyments of life, give beauty and ornament to\nlife itself: Like a musical instrument, where every string is wound up\nto strike its proper note, and the skillful musician keeps his time, how\ndoes it entertain the ear with innocent pleasure, and refresh the heart,\nwhen practised at proper seasons? Such a family appears like a Bethel, a\nhouse of God, and the Lord himself delights to dwell in it. O may it be\nmy lot and portion always to inhabit in such a tabernacle, till I lay\ndown this body in the dust, and my soul arises to the well-ordered\nfamily of heaven!\n\nIV. Sorting ourselves with the best company is another beautiful part of\nChristian conduct, and procures a good report. By the best of company, I\ndo not intend the greatest or the richest, nor the most ingenious and\nwitty; for there are some of these that are vain and vile enough; but\nthe best in my esteem, are those who are most virtuous, most pious, most\nknowing and wise, or those that are seeking after virtue, piety, and\nwisdom. Thus by conversation with the one, we may be always doing good,\nand with the other we may be always receiving some good. _He that\nwalketh with wise men, shall grow yet wiser, but the companion of fools\nshall be destroyed_; Prov. xiii. 20. _Be not deceived, God is not\nmocked, evil communications corrupt good manners._ A heathenish poet,\nand an inspired apostle agree in these words; 1 Cor. xv. 33. If we are\nengaged much in converse with those that are light, and frothy, and\nvain, we shall gain the same levity of temper. If we talk much with the\nprofane, we shall be tempted now and then to a profane expression too.\n\u201cCan a man touch pitch, and not be defiled!\u201d Can a man pass through the\nflames, and his clothes not be singed? Neither can those that walk\nfrequently and delightfully amongst light, vain, intemperate persons,\nescape being defiled by them.\n\nIt is true, the apostle tells us, if we would utterly seclude ourselves\nfrom all manner of converse with persons of ill character, we must\nabandon society, and almost _go out of the world_; 1 Cor. v. 10. But the\nmeaning of the apostle, when he bids us avoid evil companions is, as\nmuch as possible, to shun their company; see therefore that it is a\nnecessary call of providence leads you amongst them; otherwise abstain.\nThose who give themselves up to be entertained by every one that will\nentertain them, those who will walk with every companion, and will herd\nwith every drove, they are in danger of being corrupted with any vice,\nand of learning every ill principle. But if through the grace of God, we\nshould escape the infection, of error or sin, yet we shall loose our\ngood name by keeping ill company. A delight in base and worthless\ncompanions, will make the world judge that we are like them: Whereas we\nshall gain a part of the good character of our associates and\nacquaintance, and derive honour from them, if we are so happy as to have\nfriendship and intimacy with persons of piety, learning and virtue. May\nthese be the friends of my choice, and my companions for ever!\n\nV. Abstinence from the utmost bounds of things lawful, is another\npractice of good report amongst men. It is but a narrow line in many\ncases, that divides, between a lawful and a sinful practice; and if we\nwill venture, as near as possible to the very borders of what we think\nlawful, we shew too great an inclination to the bordering iniquity, and\nwe shall often be in danger of treading on forbidden ground. If we\nindulge the love of pleasure, or give an unguarded loose to any unlawful\npassion, we shall find it difficult to with-hold the violence of corrupt\nnature from transgressing the lawful bounds. If a wild horse be indulged\nin his career, it is well if he does not break the reins, and fling the\nrider. It is a foolish fancy to walk upon the edge of a precipice,\nunless we could infallibly secure our head from giddiness, or our feet\nfrom stumbling. It is much safer therefore to keep a proper distance\nfrom fatal danger. The world will give us but an ill character, and say\nvery justly concerning us, that we are not much afraid of vice, if we\ndare rashly venture into temptation.\n\nIt is the advice of the Holy Spirit, and St. Paul to the christian\nconverts, _Abstain from all appearance of evil_; 1 Thess. v. 22. And the\nApostle Jude requires us to _hate even the garments that are spotted by\nthe flesh_; Jude, verse 23. Every thing that looks like guilt should\nforbid our approach; we should chuse to stand afar off, and withhold our\ndesires, lest we defile our consciences, and bring a blemish upon our\ncharacter. What an honour is it to any man, when it is said concerning\nhim, \u201cHe has a tender soul, and a conscience that will not stretch, to\nthe length of the loose customs and fashions of the times: he dares not\nallow himself all the liberties that are innocent and lawful, lest he\nshould wound his own spirit, and his good name, by venturing too near to\nthe borders of iniquity.\u201d Let such a temper be our constant guard and\nornament.\n\nVI. Following the common practices of the saints in doubtful matters, is\nanother thing of good report, and ought to be so among those that\nprofess the name of Christ? Whether it be in our trade and business, in\nour apparel, or our visits, in our forms of address to our superiors, or\ncommon methods of conversation and civility, of recreation, or\nentertainment, let the general customs of the saints of the purest ages,\nor the customs of the purest churches, and the best christians in our\nown age, be a direction to our practice. _Ask for the good old way_,\nsays the prophet Jeremy, and if we know not what part to chuse, let us\n_go by the footsteps of the flock_ of Christ. Enquire what the followers\nof our Lord have done in past ages, and what the wisest and best of them\ndo in our own age, and this will give us a considerable assistance to\ndetermine what ought to be our practice.\n\nIn 1 Cor. xi. 16. the apostle Paul seems to refer to this general head,\nfor our determination in doubtful matters. When he had been proposing\nthe law of nature, or the order of creation, to direct the man and the\nwoman what sort of covering they ought to wear, _viz._ _that a woman\nought not to be uncovered, and that a man should not wear long hair_,\nthat is, should not nourish his hair to make it grow long, as women, nor\nmanage it with a nice and effeminate curiosity, he concludes with this\nsentence, _If any man seem to be contentious_, that is, if any man be\nnot contented with the arguments I have brought, but will carry on\ncontention and dispute, let him remember this decisive argument, that\n_we have no such custom, nor the churches of God_; we the preachers of\nthe gospel, and the apostles of Christ, have neither found nor approved\nsuch sort of customs among the christians where we have lived, nor are\nthey practised in any of the churches of God, which we have heard of.\n\nI will readily allow, that the strict professors of religion in some\nparticular ages of the church, may have generally indulged either some\nunreasonable scruples, or some unreasonable liberties. There are some\npractices of evident and undoubted lawfulness, which have been forbidden\nin severe and dreadful language by some or other of our religious\nancestors; such as wearing borrowed hair, or suffering our own to reach\nthe shoulders; using any thing that borders upon lot or chance, except\nin matters of sacred or solemn concernment: wishing a friend\u2019s health\nwhen we drink; practising any part of our civil calling after sun-set on\nSaturdays, or even calling the months, or the days of the week by names\nborrowed from the heathens, such as Monday or Tuesday; January, or\nFebruary: Yet in such cases as these, had I lived amongst them, I would\nhave conformed to their customs, and have given no offence; but I would\nhave taken every proper occasion to shew that these were unnecessary\nscruples.\n\nThis was the conduct of St. Paul, in the controversy about eating meats\noffered to idols; 1 Cor. viii. 8. _Meat commendeth us not to God; for\nneither if we eat, are we the better; neither if we eat not, are we the\nworse._ There he declares how needless these scruples were; and 1 Cor.\nx. 25. to shew that christian liberty, where no scrupulous person was\npresent and opposed it, he bids them, _eat whatsoever is sold in the\nshambles, asking no questions for conscience-sake_. But in both these\nplaces he cautions them against offending the weaker brethren, and shews\nalso how afraid he was of giving offence, or acting in their presence\ncontrary to their practices, even though they were built on needless\nscruples. Verse 13. _I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, if it\nmake my brother to offend_; that is, if it tempt him to grow bold, and\nventure upon the same food against his conscience. And the apostle\npractised this self-denial, lest he should _sin against his weak\nbrother_, lest he should _grieve him_ by his _uncharitable_ licence; as\nRom. xiv. 15. This holy caution and tenderness of offending the weak,\nwas the constant practice of that blessed saint, who had more knowledge\nthan all of us, but he had more condescension and self-denial too. O\nthat we might all make him our pattern, and practise the charity we\npreach so loudly, and profess with such a modern assurance!\n\nThere are other practices which might be comprised under this general\ncharacter, and recommended as _things of good report_. But I must not\ndraw such discourses out to a tiresome length, which perhaps may create\nbut too much pain and uneasiness, by the very sense and subject of which\nthey treat. Yet certainly it is a part of our duty and our interest to\nknow, and meditate, and practise those things that may gain us a good\nname and reputation in the world, and may brighten our character among\nthe churches of Christ; and to avoid every thing that would blemish our\nhonour, or sink our esteem among wise and good men. What arguments may\nbe drawn from the light of nature to enforce this exhortation, or what\nmore powerful motives are derived from the gospel, to awaken and excite\nus to the practice of all that is honourable, shall be considered in the\nnext discourse, when I treat of the matters of virtue and praise, which\nare recommended in the last words of my text.\n\n\n HYMN FOR SERMON XXIX.\n _Christian Morality_, _viz._ _Things of Good Report_.\n\n\n Is it a thing of good report,\n To squander life and time away?\n To cut the hours of duty short,\n While toys and follies waste the day!\n\n To ask and prattle all affairs,\n And mind all business but our own?\n To live at random void of cares,\n While all things to confusion run?\n\n Doth this become the christian name,\n To venture near the tempter\u2019s door?\n To sort with men of evil fame,\n And yet presume to stand secure?\n\n Am I my own sufficient guard,\n While I expose my soul to shame?\n Can the short joys of sin reward\n The lasting blemish of my name?\n\n O may it be my constant choice\n To walk with men of grace below,\n \u2019Till I arrive where heavenly joys,\n And never-fading honours grow!\n\n\n\n\n SERMON XXX.\n_Christian Morality_, _viz._ _Courage and Honour; or Virtue and Praise_.\n PHILIP. iv. 8.\u2014\u2014If there be any virtue, and if there be any praise,\n think on these things.\n \u0395\u03b9 \u03c4\u03b9\u03c2 \u03b1\u03c1\u03b5\u03c4\u03b7 \u03ba\u03b1\u03b9 \u03b5\u03b9 \u03c4\u03b9\u03c2 \u03b5\u03c0\u03b1\u03b9\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2, &c.\n\n\nVirtue is an honourable and extensive name: It is used by moral writers\nto include all the duties we owe to _ourselves_, or our\n_fellow-creatures_; such as _sobriety_, _temperance_, _faithfulness_,\n_justice_, _prudence_, _goodness_, and _mercy_; and the sense of it is\nsometimes stretched so far, as to comprehend also the duties of religion\nwhich we owe to _God_. But let us take notice, that the first and\noriginal signification of the word both in the Greek and Latin tongues\nis much more limited, and it means only _power_ or _courage_. The Greek\nword \u03b1\u03c1\u03b5\u03c4\u03b7, used here by the apostle, is derived from \u0391\u03c1\u03b5\u03c2, the name of\nMars, or the heathen god of war: And doubtless the most ancient meaning\nof it among the _Greek writers_ was _warlike valour_, though in time the\n_philosophers_ enlarged the sense of it to include every moral\nexcellency.\n\nThe several places in the New Testament where the word is used, have\nchief reference to some work or glorious power when it is applied to\nGod, or courage when it refers to men. I wish I could stay here to\nexplain them all, but I must mention one of them, _viz._ 2 Peter i. 5.\n_Add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge\ntemperance_, &c. Virtue is to be added to faith, that is, next to your\nbelief of the gospel, get courage to profess what you believe: Is it not\nto be supposed, that in this place virtue can signify the whole of\nmorality, because the particular virtues of temperance, patience, and\ncharity are named also: And therefore this must signify some part of\nmorality distinct from the rest, _viz._ a strength or fortitude of soul.\n\nAnd for the same reason the word virtue in my text cannot signify the\nwhole system of moral duties because St. Paul in the same verse had been\nrecommending truth, justice, and purity or temperance, which are so many\npieces of morality; and it is not reasonable to imagine that he brings\nin a general name that comprehends them all in the midst of so many\nparticulars, which is contrary to the use of all writers, and to his own\ncustom too. I confess if he had said, _if there be any other virtue_, as\nhe does in the like case; Rom. xiii. 9. when he had omitted any\nparticular, we might then have understood virtue in the general sense;\nbut now it is evident, that he means a particular excellency, distinct\nfrom those before-mentioned; and the word itself requires us to\nunderstand a brave, bold, and generous spirit and practice. He\nrecommends to them a great and excellent behaviour, wherein their holy\ncourage may appear, when the call of providence gives a just occasion.\n\nCourage is a virtue which stands in opposition both to fear and shame;\nand it guards the mind of man from the evil influence of both those\npassions. The man of courage has not such a feeling fondness for his\nflesh nor his estate, as to be afraid to profess his sentiments, or to\nfulfil his duty at every call of providence, though his estate may\nsuffer damage by it, or his flesh be exposed to pain: Nor has he such a\ntenderness for his honour, as to secure it with the loss of his\ninnocence. He is not ashamed to appear for virtue in an age of vice and\nscandal: He stands up boldly for the honour of his God, and ventures a\nthousand perils rather than wound his conscience, or betray his trust:\nHe dares profess and practise temperance among an herd of drunkards, and\npurity in the midst of the lewd and unclean: The man of courage can\ndespise the threatenings of the great, and the scoffs of the witty,\nconscious of his own integrity and truth. He can face and oppose the\nworld with all its terrors; and travel onwards in the paths of piety\nwithout fear. _The righteous man is as bold as a lion_; Prov. xxviii. 1.\n\nNow it is the apostle\u2019s advice to the Philippian converts, that\nwhensoever there is any just occasion given to exert their fortitude,\nwhether it be in the defence of the rights of mankind, and the liberties\nof their country, or in vindication of the cause of God or virtue, let\nthe christian take those opportunities to speak his mind, and shew his\ncourage; let him make it appear that the meek of the earth may sometimes\nresist the mighty oppressors, that the followers of the Lamb dare to\noppose the wild beasts of the age, and are ready to sacrifice all that\nhuman nature calls dear for the service of God, or the welfare of their\nfellow-creatures.\n\nThe heathen world may derive some arguments from the light of reason,\nand some perhaps from more corrupt and selfish principles, to awaken\ntheir valour, and to raise heroes amongst them: But there is nothing\namong all the writings of the philosophers, or the examples of their\nreal or their fabled heroes, that can raise and support so illustrious\nand divine a courage, as the principles and the patterns with which the\ngospel of Christ has furnished us; whether we look to Jesus, the founder\nof our religion, the Son of God in our nature, or to his apostles, or to\nthe primitive martyrs, among whom some of the weaker sex and the weaker\nage, have outshone the glory, and darkened the lustre of all the great\nmen of heathenism.\n\nWhat blessed views hath the gospel given us of heaven and future\nhappiness, to animate our zeal, and to engage us to the boldest efforts\nof goodness! What promises of almighty power to assist us in our sacred\nattempts, and to bear up our spirits! What rich and infallible\nassurances have we in the word of God to support our highest\nexpectations, that if _we are faithful to the death, we shall receive a\ncrown of life_! Rev. ii. 10. And Jesus our forerunner hath already taken\npossession of all these prizes and glories to reward the conquerors.\n\nShall we sink and despond at any dark appearances? Shall our spirits\nfail us in the midst of duty, when we have so many divine motives to\nvalour and holy fortitude? Methinks there should be nothing too hard for\na christian to undertake or suffer, when God and providence call him to\nit. I confess that flesh and blood are frail and feeble: Animal nature\noverwhelms the soul with its shudderings, and forbids the execution of\nthe bravest purposes. It is only grace, divine grace, that can\nstrengthen the trembling christian, and make him venture through dangers\nand death in the way to the heavenly crown. It is this gives power to\nthe promises, and makes the saint believe the performance. It is this\nsets heaven before his eyes, and gives it such an attractive influence,\nsuch a sovereign conquest over all his fears; it even braces the sinews\nof nature, and exalts the spirits to despise danger and pain. What\nwonders of holy fortitude might a christian perform, if the eye of his\nfaith were kept always open, and firmly fixed on those bright and\neverlasting invisibles?\n\nBut I shall enlarge no farther on this argument of christian courage,\nand I am the more inclined to dismiss this subject at present, having\nreserved some discourses on it for another season[31].\n\nI proceed therefore to the last exhortation in my text, _If there be any\npraise_, any actions that deserve honour amongst men, _think on these\nthings_, engage yourselves in the practice, and obtain the honour. The\npraise which the apostle here recommends, may be described as Cicero,\nthe famous Roman orator, describes glory; it is, \u201cThe concurrent and\nunanimous commendation of good men, or the general voice of wise and\nuncorrupted judges, concerning any eminent practice of virtue.\u201d\n\nThe holy apostle had just before recommended things of good report, and\nnow he exhorts them to the practice of laudable actions or things that\nmerit praise. The difference between these two is this: a good report\nsignifies a clear and unblemished character, fair reputation among men,\na good name among those with whom our daily acquaintance lies, and our\ncivil conversation and business. But praise implies a considerable\ndegree of applause or honour, obtained by some eminent actions, or some\nextraordinary instances of wisdom, courage, or goodness. A man that has\nnever attained to any great degree of excellence above his neighbours,\nmay yet have a fair reputation in the world: But the word praise seems\nto imply a great and honourable name, as well as a good one.\n\nI shall mention but two general instances, wherein we may suppose the\napostle recommends to us the practice of those things that are laudable:\nOne is, an extraordinary conduct in common affairs; the other is an\nimprovement of the seasons, or occasions of extraordinary virtue.\n\nI. It is a thing praise-worthy to labour after an extraordinary conduct\nand uncommon excellence in our common affairs of life, to excel all\nothers in the things that relate to our station in the world. Let each\nof us search and enquire, what is it within our reach that shines\nbrightest among men, and then pursue it with vigour.\n\nIf a person, who professes religion in the strictest manner, and in the\npurest forms, be made a magistrate or public officer, let him do\nsomething extraordinary for the public welfare, if it be possible, and\nmerit the public thanks and praise of the community. So if a man be\ncalled to the ministry of the gospel, let him imitate the blessed\napostle in zeal for Christ; as in 1 Cor. xv. 10. _I laboured more\u2014than\nthey all._ Let there be no bounds to our desires of excellence, and our\nzeal for the salvation of men. _Covet earnestly the best gifts_, says\nthe apostle; 1 Cor. xii. 31. and animate them with the noblest graces.\nThere is a holy emulation wherein we may vie with one another, and each\nof us get as near perfection as possible. This is praise-worthy. I told\nyou before, that magistrates or ministers must be diligent in their work\nto gain a good report, but they must double that diligence to obtain\nspecial praise.\n\nSo in the most common employments of life, and the management of daily\naffairs abroad or at home, we should aspire to be patterns of every\nthing that is good and laudable, that we may all be able to say as St.\nPaul, _Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ_: 1 Cor. xi.\n1. Am I a master? Let me have a holy ambition to be the best of masters,\nand by an excellent conduct constrain all my servants to praise and love\nme; except such vulgar and brutal souls that no kindness can engage, no\nmerit can oblige, and no virtue can influence. Am I a servant? Let my\nzeal for my master\u2019s interest exceed all my fellows, and my faithfulness\nand diligence in every duty extort honour even from those who envy me,\nand deserve the esteem and love of those that are above me. If I am an\nartificer, and God hath given me any superior talents or capacities, I\nshould not employ those superior talents in trifles, but use them to\nsome most valuable purposes, for the benefit of mankind, beyond what\nformer ages have known. I should promote useful knowledge, if I am a\nphilosopher, and carry it on farther than my fathers have done. These\nare some instances wherein we may perform actions of praise that are\nbecoming a man or a Christian.\n\nII. It is a thing praise-worthy to improve all the seasons and occasions\nof extraordinary virtue, to seize on those special opportunities which\nprovidence now and then may give us to exert uncommon degrees of wisdom\nor mercy, activity or courage.\n\nWe are always required to be faithful to our rulers, and kind to our\nneighbours and friends: But when our king or our country is in some\nimminent danger, when some threatening mischief hangs over a family, or\na city, when our friend or brother, or even a stranger, is in immediate\nperil of life, there may be a glorious occasion for some great and\ngenerous exercise of loyalty, fortitude, compassion, or love, to save a\nfriend or a stranger, a prince or a nation. All the world shall agree to\npraise the man who performs that noble service.\n\nWe are bound always to be liberal, and to give to the poor, but\nsometimes we have an opportunity to exercise that grace of liberality in\na more ample and generous manner, so as to deserve and obtain an\nhonourable name: As when a great number of distressed wretches come to\nthe city or place where we dwell, or when some general calamity involves\nall our poor neighbours, and reduces them to great straits, then we\nshould exercise bounty beyond the common measure: Thus a christian shall\nhave the honour of relieving the poor more than heathens do, or those\nwho make no profession of godliness.\n\nSo in the practice of charity and forgiveness, Jesus our Lord requires\nus to forgive our enemies, and to do good to those that hate, and abuse,\nand persecute us: But when it lies in our power to do a most\nconsiderable service to a person that has done us the highest injury,\nthen there is a special providence calling us to perform a glorious\naction of praise. Such was the character of that great and good man\nArchbishop Cranmer, of whom it is said, if any man had done him an\ninjury, he would ever afterward be his friend.\n\nIn short, whensoever an occasion arises to give an eminent and glorious\nproof of generosity or compassion, of gratitude or goodness, of zeal for\nGod, or love to men, it is the apostle\u2019s advice, that a christian should\nseize the golden hour, and not suffer a heathen to prevent or exceed\nhim. And among christians, let those who profess the severest virtue,\nand the purest methods of christianity be the persons who seize most of\nthese opportunities to perform actions worthy of praise. But when there\nis any thing mean and base, scandalous and sordid appears in the world,\nas it never should be said that a christian has done it, so neither\nwould I ever have such a scandal fall upon any person who professes the\nstrictest forms of godliness.\n\nI come in the next place to consider, what arguments may be drawn from\nthe light of reason, to excite us to actions of good report, and such as\nare worthy of special praises; for in the foregoing discourse I told\nyou, that I should join the arguments or motives together, which belong\nto both these exhortations.\n\nI. If a person practises things of good report, and acquires to himself\nreputation and praise amongst men, he does himself and his family a\nconsiderable kindness by it. If a man has not a good name, he can\nneither expect to be entertained in any society with pleasure, nor to\nreceive any special benefits from the world. A person of ill report is\nrather hated than beloved, he is shunned and avoided rather than\ndesired, and his neighbours will treat him with neglect rather than\nassistance. His very name is mentioned with disgrace instead of praise.\nWhereas, on the other hand, a man whose excellent character has deserved\na good report and honour among his fellow-citizens, has every one ready\nto invite him to their company, and willing to reach out to him their\nfriendly hand when he is fallen into danger or distress.\n\nBesides, such a person lays up honour for his household, and provides\nthe friendship of mankind for the help of his family in generations yet\nto come. It is confessed indeed, that the spirit of the world has too\nmuch baseness in it, and too great a neglect of real merit: Yet when a\nman has deserved exceeding well of his country, and acquired any special\ndegrees of praise or renown amongst them, the world is not yet quite so\nbrutal and degenerate, but that it has given many instances of bounty\nand goodness to the posterity of a man of honour. _His name shall be had\nin everlasting remembrance, and the generation of the upright shall be\nblessed._ Ps. cxii. 2, 6.\n\nII. A man that has obtained a good report and honour in the world, by\nmany reputable actions, is capable of much greater service both to God\nand his fellow-creatures. If we have gained esteem and reputation among\nmen, they will be more ready to hearken to our counsel, and comply with\nour advice. We shall have more influence on mankind, both to promote the\nhonour of God and the benefit of men. A word that we speak, will make\ndeeper impression, and be attended with greater success. A word or a\nlook of Cato among the Romans, would do more to restrain vice, and to\nshame the vicious, than the frown of an emperor.\n\nIII. There is so much real and inward satisfaction arises from a good\ncharacter, obtained by a life of virtue and piety, that a man who knows\nthe pleasure of it, would not renounce the practices which may attain\nit. I confess it is a more important matter to secure a good conscience\nthan a good name, and to obtain praise in the sight of God, than in the\nlips of men: But where both these are joined together by the favour of\ndivine providence, our virtue and piety has a larger reward, and our\nnatures are so framed and composed, that we cannot help taking some\nsatisfaction in it. Prov. xv. 30. _A good report makes the bones fat_;\nthat is, as one expresses it, it revives the heart to such a degree, as\nrenders the body more healthful and vigorous.\n\nMethinks those persons have something very degenerate in them, and their\nconduct is a little unnatural who seem to have lost the very desire of a\ngood name or reputation. I cannot but wonder to hear a person boast of\nhis scorn and contempt of it in such language as this; \u201cI will pursue my\nown designs, I will gratify and please myself, and I care not what the\nworld says of me.\u201d Surely if such language did become a christian, the\nscripture would not be so solicitous to recommend a good name and things\nof good report.\n\nThis naturally leads me to consider, what influence christianity has to\nexcite us to the practice of reputable actions and such as deserve\nhonour amongst men.\n\nHere we may first take notice, how often the scripture proposes honour\nas a reward of goodness and virtue. Our Saviour promises it to those\nthat are humble and condescending; if thou art ready at some\nentertainment to seat thyself in a lower place; Luke xiv. 10. _The\nmaster of the feast shall exalt thee, and thou shalt have worship in the\npresence of those that sit at meat with thee; for he that humbleth\nhimself shall be exalted._ St. Paul tells the christians, _do that which\nis good, and thou shalt have praise from the ruling power, for\nmagistrates are appointed for the praise of them that do well_; 1 Pet.\nii. 14. Solomon proposes the same motive; Prov. iv. 7, 8. _Wisdom is the\nprincipal thing, therefore get wisdom;\u2014she shall bring thee to honour\nwhen thou dost embrace her._ The apostle recommends often to the\nchristians of his day a good name amongst infidels and heathens, a good\nreport of them which are without; and he mentions it as an eminent\ncharacter of a companion of Titus, that his praise is in the gospel\nthroughout all the churches; 2 Cor. viii. 18. And it is recorded to the\nhonour of Demetrius by St. John, that he had _a good report of all men,\neven of the truth itself_; 3 John verse 12. Christians and heathens\nspeak well of him, and his good character is just and true. Nor must it\nbe forgotten, that in this little collection of advices in my text the\napostle twice recommends such practices as deserve honour among men,\n_viz._ things of good report, and things worthy of praise.\n\nSurely if we did but consider how much our Saviour and his gospel gain\nby it in the world, we should ever be engaged in works of good report,\nand practising that which may redound to our praise, for hereby we\nspread a good savor of the name of Christ wide in the world, and our\nholy religion reaps sensible honour and advantage by it. When the name\nof any person is celebrated amongst men for something great and useful,\nwhen his deeds are mentioned with public praise, it is quickly enquired,\n\u201cWhat religion is he of?\u201d Is he a heathen? Then the glory will be\nascribed to idolaters, and the honour perhaps be given to their idols.\nIs he a christian? Then the name of Christ our Lord will gain reputation\nby it, and men will speak more favourably of that doctrine which was\nadorned with such eminent virtue and piety. This did unknown service to\nthe gospel in the first propagation of it, when it appeared in the\nworld, that the characters and the lives of christians were lovely, that\ntheir works were all goodness, that they were persons of an excellent\nspirit, and obtained a good report among their heathen neighbours: they\nsaw their good works, and were thereby led, by degrees, to glorify their\nheavenly Father, and their Saviour.\n\nAnd where there is any separation made from the public worship of a\nnation, with a profession to reform any corruptions of doctrine or\npractice, how much honour would be done to these reforming principles,\nand how much service to this interest, if every one that is engaged in\nit were always practising things of good report, and aiming at some\neminency and uncommon goodness in their various stations of life. If\ntherefore we have any love for Christ our Lord, if we have any zeal for\nhis glory, if we have any regard to the honour of the gospel, or if we\nwould bring any credit to the particular profession we make, let us set\na severe watch upon ourselves against every thing that would blemish our\ncharacter in the world, and let us aspire to all superior excellencies\nthat are within our reach, that we may be _to the praise of the glory of\nhis grace, who has made us accepted in the beloved_; Eph. i. 6.\n\nIt is necessary here to remove two or three objections out of the way,\nthat may seem to attend this exhortation of the apostle.\n\nThe first is this: If a good name be so valuable a thing, why should\nthere be such a woe denounced by our Saviour against those that have the\ngood word of all men: Luke vi. 26. _Woe unto you when all men shall\nspeak well of you; for so did their fathers to the false prophets._\n\nI. Answer. That the design of our Saviour is to shew, that no man in a\ndegenerate and corrupt age, can attain the high esteem and hearty good\nword of all persons in the world, but those who are time-servers and\nhypocrites, who can suit themselves to every company, and comply with\nevery change of the times; who can profess to be religious, and yet\nindulge themselves or others in the practice of their secret iniquities;\nsuch were the false prophets of old. Such a person as this may for a\nshort season get all men to speak well of him: The drunkards will\ncommend him, for he can get drunk as well as they, and the swearer, for\nhe can join with them in swearing; and the men of piety may be deceived\nin him, and give him a good report, for his tongue is tipped with\nreligious language, and he seems to be a saint; but in reality he is an\nuniversal hypocrite, and true to nothing. Our Lord Jesus hates and\ncensures such a character as this is, and this is the design of his\nreproof. Again,\n\nII. Let it be noted, that this sort of sinners can hold the good word of\nall men but for a very short time. The drunkards, the profane, and the\nlewd, may caress a man for a season who complies with their vices; yet\nwhen they hear that he pretends to be religious among persons of piety,\nthey will speak evil of him in abundance, and brand him for an\nhypocrite, which is a more loathsome name; and his pious acquaintance,\nwhen they shall find out his practice of secret wickedness, they will\njustly fix the same odious character upon him: Thus he who before had\nthe good word of all men, shall then be loaded with public scandal and\ninfamy. I add further,\n\nIII. That a good report signifies a good character and honourable\nreputation among all wise and good men, upon the account of valuable\nqualities, and the exercise of virtue and goodness; and where a man\nmanages his affairs with an excellent conduct in this respect, and keeps\nhimself without a blemish, he will command some degree of esteem and\nreverence from the viler part of the world: His good name will be\ngeneral, though perhaps not universal; and if the wicked world finds\noccasion to speak evil of him in any thing, it is only in the matters of\nhis God, and his exemplary practice of piety. This thought introduces\n\nThe second objection, _viz._ if a good name amongst men be so desirable,\nwhy does our Saviour say, Mat. v. 11, 12. _Blessed are ye when men shall\nrevile you, and shall speak all manner of evil against you, falsely for\nmy sake; then rejoice ye, and be exceeding glad, for great is your\nreward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets that were before\nyou._\n\nAnswer. It is supposed that the evil which men speak of you is false;\nfor so our Saviour expresseth it, _when they shall speak all manner of\nevil against you, falsely for my sake_. They shall scandalize you as\nbeing ill men, merely because you are christians; and throw upon you\nmany odiums, which your practice has never deserved, on purpose to\nexpose the christian religion. The apostle Peter agrees with our Lord\nJesus Christ in the same design; 1 Pet. iii. 16. Keep _a good\nconscience, that whereas they speak evil of you as evil-doers, they may\nbe ashamed while they falsely accuse your good conversation in Jesus\nChrist_.\n\nNow when it appears to be pure hatred of God and of goodness, of Christ\nand his gospel, for which you are reproached, then you have cause to\nrejoice, because Christ is on your side: So he was reproached in the\ndays of his flesh, so the prophets that went before him, and the\napostles that succeeded him; 1 Pet. iv. 14. _The Spirit of God and of\nglory resteth upon you, for on their part he is evil spoken of, but on\nyour part he is glorified._ Happy are ye, for Christ and you are joined\ntogether in the same cause: and you who have glorified him on earth,\nshall be glorified together with him in heaven.\n\nThe third objection is this; if praise amongst men be lawful to be\nsought, how comes it to pass that there are so many reproofs given to\nthose who seek the praise of men? How can these scriptures be reconciled\nwith some others that are cited before to encourage actions worthy of\npraise! How often does our Saviour severely rebuke the pharisees for\nthis practice, that _they do their good works to be seen of men_? Mat.\nvi. 2, 5, 16. John v. 44.\n\nAnswer. It is evident that these hypocrites whom our Saviour reproves,\nneglected all inward piety before God, and practised the outward forms\nof godliness merely to gain the _praise of men_, they _loved_ and\n_valued_ it _more than the praise of God_; John xii. 43. They received\nhonour of one another, and had no concern about that superior blessing,\nthat divine esteem and approbation which God only can bestow, and which\nonly would stand them in stead hereafter. Where the praise of God is\ninconsistent with the praise of men, there it is evident we must despise\nthe censures or the praises of the world, and seek the divine\napprobation only: But where these two benefits may be happily conjoined,\nwe are not bound to separate them. God never requires us to seek infamy\nand reproach, or to abandon that honour that belongs to truth and\ngoodness.\n\nBut that I may more effectually guard every christian against all the\ndangers and temptations that may attend a good name, and honour in the\nworld, I would conclude the discourse with these four advices:\n\nI. Make not the praise of men your chief aim or design in any thing you\ndo: But let it be your first and chiefest care to approve yourselves to\nGod and your own consciences. Do those actions that are worthy of\npraise; and whether the world acknowledge it or no, your souls will find\ninward peace, your labour of love shall not be forgotten of God, _he is\nfaithful who hath promised_; Heb. x. 23.\n\nII. If you are so happy as to obtain the esteem of men, set a guard upon\nyour soul, lest pride and vanity take occasion to arise and shew\nthemselves. Have a care lest Satan the tempter gain an advantage against\nyou by the fruits of your virtue and the eminence of your graces. Pride\nis such a cursed twining weed, it will sometimes root itself in virtue\nand honour, it will grow up to an equal height, and make its supporters\nwither and die.\n\nIII. Let all the honour you acquire among men, be improved to the honour\nof your God and Saviour. If you make your own applause your great end,\nJesus will say to you another day, as he did once to the pharisees,\n_Verily I say unto you, ye have your reward_; Mat. vi. 2, 5, 16. The\npraise of men will be your whole recompence, and there is nothing more\nremains for you. Whensoever therefore you receive applause from the\nworld, make the world know that it was not the man but the christian\nthat practised the virtue, and gained the praise. _Not I, but the grace\nof God, which was with me_; 1 Cor. xv. 10. If you so manage all your\nlaudable actions, that Jesus Christ and his name may gain some honour by\nthem, this shall turn to your praise and glory in the day of Christ, as\nwell as to the praise of God your Saviour.\n\nIV. When the providence of God and his grace have favoured you so far as\nto gain a good character in the world, have a care of every thing that\nmay impeach your honour, or sully your reputation. Remember the lesson\nthat Solomon teaches you from so contemptible a thing as a dead fly; a\nfew of them will _cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a\nstinking savour; so does a little folly disgrace a man who is in\nreputation for wisdom and honour_; Eccl. x. 1. The blemish that arises\nfrom one base or foolish action will darken a bright character, and\ncancel the honour that has cost the labour of many years to acquire; And\nthe gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ will suffer much by it also, it\nthose persons once descend to folly and disgrace, who have risen high\nbefore in the regions of wisdom and public esteem.\n\nHappy those christians who walk closely with God to the end of life, and\nkeep their garments unspotted! When they die, they leave a perfumed name\nbehind them to the churches, and to the families to which they have\nbelonged; and perhaps they bequeath a lasting honour to religion as long\nas the world shall stand. Such has been the character of some of the\nsaints in ancient ages of the world, such in the elder and later days of\nchristianity: The brightness and savour of their good name abides to\nthis day amongst us, as an ornament to religion, and a rich perfume to\nthe gospel of our Lord Jesus. To him be glory and dominion for ever and\never. _Amen._\n\n\n HYMN FOR SERMON XXX.\n _Christian Morality_, _viz._ _Courage and Honour_.\n\n\n Do I believe what Jesus saith,\n And think his gospel true?\n Lord, make me bold to own my faith,\n And practise virtue too.\n\n Suppress my shame, subdue my fear,\n Arm me with heavenly zeal,\n That I may make thy power appear,\n And works of praise fulfil.\n\n If men shall see my virtue shine,\n And spread my name abroad;\n Thine is the power, the praise is thine,\n My Saviour and my God!\n\n Thus when the Saints in glory meet,\n Their lips proclaim thy grace;\n They cast their honours at thy feet,\n And own their borrow\u2019d rays.\n\nFootnote 31:\n\n See the two following sermons.\n\n\n\n\n SERMON XXXI.\n _Holy Fortitude, or Remedies against Fear._\n1 COR. xvi. 13.\u2014\u2014Stand Fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.\n\n\nIn the first ages of christianity, the professors of the gospel had\ngreat need of divine courage, that they might stand the many shocks of\nopposition, reproach and violence. The Corinthian heathens, though they\nwere a polite and learned people, yet they were blind and obstinate in\ntheir own superstitions and idolatry, and rooted in the profane and\nvicious customs of their ancestors. It required a large stock of holy\nfortitude, to profess and practise a new religion among them, that ran\ncounter to all their former opinions, and their manners. Therefore St.\nPaul, who planted the gospel in that city, calls upon his converts to\nshake off cowardice and fear, to stand firm and unmoved in the\nprofession of their faith, to behave like men of war, like heroes, in\nthe practice of christianity, and to exert all their strength of soul in\nthis glorious work. _Stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be\nstrong._\n\nIt is true, we live not in a heathen country, among lewd and barbarous\nsuperstitions: The land where our lot is cast, is honoured with the\nchristian name, and professes the religion of Jesus: yet let me tell\nyou, infidelity is a growing temptation of this age, the gospel of\nChrist hath plentiful ridicule thrown upon it, by many of our neighbours\nthat go under the name of christians, and we may sometimes be called to\nput on courage for the defence of this gospel.\n\nBut besides this, there are many things occurring in the divine life,\nthat require us to put on this holy fortitude of soul. The very nature\nof men is so corrupt and vicious, their hearts are so averse to the holy\nprecepts of christianity, the multitude of sinners is so exceeding great\nin every nation, even where the gospel is professed, the customs of this\nworld are so contrary to the rules of the gospel, and the malice and\nrage of Satan with his evil angels, is so constant and so violent\nagainst the religion and the name of Christ, that it is true at all\ntimes, as well as in the primitive age, _that all that will live godly\nin Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution_; 2 Tim. iii. 12. When we\nbecome soldiers of Christ, and resolve to be religious in good earnest,\nwe must reckon upon enemies and oppositions, we must be prepared to\nendure hardness; chapter ii. verse 3.\n\nOur business therefore is, to seek for a spirit of power and holy\nfortitude, that we may be void of fear in the profession of our faith,\nand in the practice of our daily duties. Not the Corinthians only, but\nwe also, _must watch, and stand fast in the faith, we must quit\nourselves like men, and be strong_. If we are frighted at the sound of\nevery reproach, or terrified by the fierce opposition of a wicked world,\nwe shall be in danger of turning back from the paths of christianity,\nand of losing the heavenly prize. Such doctrines, and such practices as\nthe gospel teaches, require the professors of them to be bold and\nvaliant.\n\nAnd besides the difficulties we shall meet with from a degenerate and\nsinful world, there are many other trials that attend the christian\nlife. Sorrows and sufferings belong to human nature, in this fallen and\nunhappy state: _Man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward_; Job v.\n7. This earth is designed for a stage of conflict, a scene of probation,\nwhere each of us must act our parts, under the eye and notice of God our\nsupreme governor, and our final rewarder. He expects that we should put\non a sacred hardiness of soul; he requires that we should not indulge a\nspirit of fear, but be armed with power and courage, that we may endure\nto the end. And blessed be his name that he hath given us promises to\nraise our hope, that as he endued his people in ancient times with his\ngrace, so he will bestow this spirit of holy fortitude upon us also, and\nthat as our day is, so our strength shall be.\n\nTo cast my discourse into some method, I shall,\n\n_First_, Briefly describe this divine temper of mind. In the next place,\n_Secondly_, I would represent the various occasions which we shall find\nfor the exercise of it. _Thirdly_, I shall mention a few motives to\nincite us to acquire this holy fortitude, and to maintain it throughout\nour whole course of life. And _Fourthly_, propose some remedies against\na spirit of slavish fear, which is directly opposite to this christian\nvirtue.\n\nThe first thing proposed is, to describe what I mean by fortitude and\ncourage; and to this end, we must distinguish it into that of the active\nand that of the passive kind. Active valour or courage, is such a temper\nof soul, as to attempt and venture upon any bold act of duty, which may\nendanger our present case, and worldly interest; and prompts us to\npursue it with a becoming steadiness and bravery of mind, undaunted at\nevery opposition we meet with, and unterrified at all the threatening\ndangers that stand in our way. Passive valour is such an habitual\nfirmness and constancy of soul, as enables us to bear what sufferings we\nfall under, without repinings and inward vexations, and without any\noutward tokens of sinking and despondency. When we sustain heavy\nsorrows, or anguish of the flesh, without any wild and unreasonable\ngroanings of nature, without rage and unbecoming resentment, without\ntumult and confusion of spirit. And this should be the temper of our\nsouls, and our christian conduct, whether the sufferings which we feel,\narise from the immediate hand of God, or from the injustice and violence\nof men.\n\nIn the second place, I come to represent the various occasions that we\nshall find in the christian life, for the exercise of this holy courage,\nand that under both kinds of it, _viz._ the active and the passive, or\nthat which consists in doing, and that which consists in suffering; and\nI shall enlarge upon each of them in a practical way. Active valour is\nnecessary for a professor of the christian faith: And when and\nwheresoever divine providence gives us any just occasions for the\nexercise of this sort of fortitude, let no christian refuse them, or\nshamefully withdraw from his duty. The occasions we have for it are such\nas these:\n\nI. When we are called to profess and practise strict piety, even under\nthe special view and notice of profane sinners. Perhaps our dwelling may\nbe cast among profligate wretches, who live without God in the world;\nbut we must not be afraid to own, that we fear the great God, and that\nwe worship that awful name, which their blasphemies affront and vilify.\nNor must we be ashamed to let the world know, that we cannot pass a day\nwithout calling upon our God, and that prayer is as necessary to us, as\nour daily food. It is strange and monstrous that it should ever be\naccounted a matter of shame among creatures to acknowledge the God that\nmade them, or that it should ever need any courage to profess homage and\nadoration to our Creator! What degenerate times do we live in, that it\nshould require some fortitude to tell the world, that we who are\ncreatures confess a God! And yet sometimes even this very fortitude is\nwanting, and we are contented to look like atheists, lest we should be\nthought religious. Base cowardise! and degenerate times indeed!\n\nII. When we happen into the company of infidels and apostates from\nchristianity, who throw their impious jests on the gospel of Christ, we\nmay find a plain call of providence to stand up for his name and honour.\n\nIt is true, there are few of us who are sent to travel beyond the seas,\nand to engage in necessary converse about religion with heathens; but I\nhinted before, that infidelity is a growing mischief of the present age,\neven in our own land. It seems to be a spreading infection, and how far\nthe great God may suffer it to prevail, he only knows. There are\nmultitudes already that have made shipwreck of the faith of Christ, and\nbetake themselves only to the dim and glimmering light of nature, as a\nsufficient refuge for their souls, and their only guide in matters of\nreligion: A poor doubtful guide, and a dangerous refuge! And yet these\nmen are continually instructing one another to wage war against the\nblessed gospel, and rise in arms of defiance against the only Saviour.\nIt is proper then for us to enquire, are we ready to declare ourselves\nchristians if we are called to it, when deists and scoffers surround us\nwith their abominable jests, or their wanton cavils? For though\nsometimes they argue against our creed with calmness and decency, yet it\nmust be confessed that those are the most common weapons which this sort\nof men make use of. Dare we now make a profession of our faith among men\nof infidelity, and not value their banter, and their insolent\nreproaches? Let us remember, that christian courage must encounter\nmockery and slanders as well as other terrors: Courage must guard us\nagainst sinful shame, as well as against sinful fear. Can we glory in a\ncrucified Saviour as the wisdom and the power of God, if we should be\nplaced between the Jews on one side, and the heathens on the other, who\nload this doctrine with folly and scandal. St. Paul was a brave example;\nO that every soul of us could as bravely imitate him! But let us proceed\nto some more occasions of courage a-kin to this.\n\nPerhaps we content ourselves to be christians in our closets, and to\nfrequent the public assemblies of worship without shame or fear, because\nour neighbours do the same: But I would enquire of such general\nprofessors of christianity, why are you so backward to give up your\nnames to Christ, and attend on the special ordinance of his holy supper?\nIs it not because you are ashamed to appear in such a strict profession\nof godliness, and to be known and observed by the world, as those that\nhave devoted themselves to the Lord in his church? This is certainly the\ncase of some younger converts. Let them here be put in mind of their\nformer neglects, and their present duty. Be strong in the Lord, banish a\nshameful shame, and seal your covenant in the blood of Christ, his cross\nis your hope, and why should you not make it your glory too?\n\nIf you are ashamed of such a public profession in peaceful times, what\nwill ye do if days of trial should come? Would you be ready to vindicate\nyour separation from the church of Rome, and all its superstitions?\nWould you have courage enough to maintain the purity of your profession,\nand your close adherence to scripture, in opposition to all the\ninventions and traditions of men? Would your heart be strong to persist\nin your peculiar practices of religion, in the most scriptural forms of\nit, in an hour of persecution and danger? Blessed be God for a\nprotestant king on the throne, and a glorious race of protestant princes\nto succeed him. May the blessings of heaven from above descend on them\nall, and render them in their successions an everlasting blessing to\nGreat Britain and all the protestant churches! But a christian indeed\nshould be so formed, and so furnished, as to be ready to profess and\npractise his religion in every nation, and in every age, in the midst of\nstorms as well as under the shining sun.\n\nIII. When we are called to practise an unfashionable virtue, or to\nrefuse compliance with any fashionable vice. This is another occasion\nthat demands the exercise of christian fortitude. Let us survey a few\ninstances of this kind.\n\nIt is an unfashionable thing now-a-days to introduce a word of practical\ngodliness into company: The polite world will tell us, it spoils\nconversation: Mark, what a silence is spread over the room, when any\nperson dares to begin so disagreeable a subject; there is none to second\nhim, he may preach alone, and it is well if he escapes a profane scoff.\nThis is a very true, but a very shameful account of things, according to\nthe present mode. Any thing but religion is thought fit to entertain a\nfriend. Even where persons of piety meet together in their visits, this\nsort of language is banished from company and the parlour, and it is\nconfined only to God and the closet. Alas! we are ashamed to appear\ntruly religious; but if we had holy courage enough, one person would not\nbe afraid to begin, nor another to carry on such divine discourse. There\nare surely some happy moments wherein an useful word may be introduced\nwith prudence and decency, to warm each other\u2019s hearts, and to rekindle\nthe holy fire of love and devotion that is almost expiring.\n\nAgain, perhaps we may be much engaged in the world among persons that\nmake no conscience of speaking truth: But if we would be christians\nindeed, we must have courage enough always to shew a hatred of\nfalsehood, and keep up a tenderness of spirit, lest we be drawn to the\nborders of a lie; nor must we be ashamed to let the world know that we\nare the devoted servants of truth. When some knavish or unjust practice\nhas overspread a city or a country, and become almost universal, we must\ndare to be honest in a cheating world; we must maintain our\nrighteousness, and let it shine in the midst of a deceitful age, though\nperhaps we may be called scrupulous fools. If we happen to be engaged in\nnecessary business with persons who drink to excess, we must boldly deny\nthe imposed glass, we must secure our own sobriety, even in the midst of\ndrunkards, and as much as possible avoid their society: Nor should any\nscandalous names of puritan and precisian affright us from the paths of\nstrict holiness. When we meet with gross affronts in the world, we may\nbe made the scorn and jest of all the company, if we decline the modish\ncustoms of satisfaction and bloody revenge; we may be charged with\ncowardice among the ruffians of the age; but a man of honour must have\ncourage to bear this charge, unless he will venture to run upon the\nsword of God which is drawn and pointed against revenge, duelling, and\nmurder.\n\nWhen the fashion of dress or visits, of salutations or entertainments,\nexceeds the bounds of modesty or temperance, or intrenches upon truth or\nreligion, we must bravely dare to be unfashionable, and _have no\nfellowship with any unfruitful works of darkness_; Eph. v. 11. We must\nobey the great and holy God, rather than comply with the sinful customs\nof men.\n\n \u201c\u2019Tis brave to meet the world, stand fast among\n Whole crowds, and not be carried with the throng.\u201d\n\nI grant that religion doth not consist in singularity, but there are\nsome seasons when we must be singular, if we would be holy, and exert a\nsacred fortitude of soul, to secure ourselves from the defilements of\nthe world. _Come out from among them is the language of God in such\ncases, touch not the unclean thing, and be ye separate, saith the Lord_;\n2 Cor. vi. 17.\n\nIV. Another instance of necessary courage, is, when we are called to\nundertake the cause of the oppressed, to plead for the poor against the\nmighty, or to vindicate the innocent against the men of slander or\nviolence. It is a cowardly spirit, a spirit of shameful pride, or\nselfish meanness, to trample upon those that are lying upon the ground,\nto tread upon the poor and the distressed, and sometimes through fear of\nthe mighty, as well as scorn of the poor, to neglect the cries of those\nthat are injured. This indeed is the custom of the world; but if we be\nthe disciples of Christ, we must have more courage than this, we must\n_open our mouths for the dumb_, and plead the cause of those that cannot\nspeak for themselves; Prov. xxxi. 8.\n\nWhen we happen into company that delight in scandal, and the slander\ngoes round from tongue to tongue, we must first guard our lips from the\ninfamous compliance, though we cannot defend our ears: And then we\nshould have some compassion on the absent person, who perhaps may be\nloaded with calumny and lies: Nor should we be afraid or ashamed to put\nin a relieving word; to support the good name of those that are\noppressed by malicious reproaches. And if the censure be never so just,\nyet where providence doth not plainly call us to join in that censure,\nlet us not betray such an inclination to evil-speaking, nor shew such a\nbase and mean soul, as to call names for company.\n\nWhere the life or the estate of our neighbour is in danger, we must\nventure something to secure it, as well as to defend his good name. This\nadvice is given in Prov. xxiv. 11, 12. _If thou forbear to deliver them\nthat are drawn out to death, and those that are ready to be slain; if\nthou sayest, behold, we knew it not, doth not he that pondereth the\nheart consider?_ That is, if there are any persons drawn out to death,\nand ready to be slain by sinful oppression, and that thou had a just and\nreasonable power in thine hand to preserve them, it is not thy duty to\nstand still or hide thyself, and say, _behold I knew it not_. He that\nlets the ox or the ass of his neighbour go astray or sink under a\nburden, and passeth away regardless as though he did not know it, is\nunder the censure of the word of God; and much more do we deserve the\ncensure, if we abandon our fellow-creatures of human nature to perish,\nwhen we are able to save them. The all-wise and almighty God considers\nit, and he will not approve of such meanness of spirit, and such a\nshameful defect of christian charity.\n\nV. It is a work which calls for courage to admonish our brethren when\nthey depart from the ways of righteousness, and to reprove sin among\nthose with whom we converse. The law of God requires it; Lev. xix. 17.\n_Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise\nrebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him._ It is expressed as\nthough a neglect of reproof, where it is a duty, looks like a sort of\nhatred, or want of love. But for the most part it is want of courage\nforbids it. Let it be done with holy boldness; but without wrath and\nresentment, or selfish revenge; let it be expressed and managed with all\nlove and gentleness, with all humility and compassion, and with a\nbecoming exercise of those lovely characters of moderation and meekness,\nwhich I have elsewhere described.\n\nNathan the prophet ingeniously reproved David the king for his adultery\nand murder. And we should learn the most artful and obliging methods,\nand the softest language of reproof, that we may practise it with more\ncourage, security, and success; and the more secret it is, it will\ngenerally be most successful. If at any time we are called by most\nevident providence, to give an open rebuke in the face of the world,\ntogether with courage, we must put on all wisdom and humility, lest we\npublish our own conceit and pride, and provoke wrath without hope of\nsuccess. When we rebuke the profane and impious wretch, for the most\nglaring iniquity, we should use our best prudence in distinguishing\nproper seasons, _lest we cast a pearl before swine, and it become\nuseless, and be trodden under foot_; Mat. vii. 6.\n\nSometimes it is hard to know what is our duty in this respect but thus\nfar in general it may be said, This should be done whensoever there is a\ngreat and evident probability of doing service to God and souls by it:\nWhensoever a vindication of the name of God and his honour requires it,\nor when there is any just hope of doing good to men; there is indeed a\ntime to keep silence in this case, and there is a time to speak. O may\nthe word and Spirit and providence of God join together to give us\ndirection in this difficult duty, and courage to perform it!\n\nVI. Reformation of all kinds, whether in families or churches, in\ncities, or nations, demands a good degree of resolution and courage. It\nis a brave and daring enterprize, to stem the torrent of the age we live\nin, and to attempt to change the vicious customs of a city or nation. We\nmust have a soul inspired with zeal for piety and goodness, if we would\ncontest the point with the guilty, and cover them with deserved shame,\nor bring them to deserved punishment. Blessed be God there are societies\nformed in our age for this glorious purpose! May everlasting success\nattend their zeal, and may their heads be covered with divine protection\nin every hour of danger!\n\nWe have need of courage to stand up for truth and purity in the church\nof Christ, when it is over-run with corrupt doctrines, wicked heresies,\nsuperstitions, and false worship. We must use our endeavour to root out\nthese evil weeds by all the sacred influences of reason and scripture;\nnot by rage and violence, not by fraud and falsehood, not by slander and\nscandalous language, not by calling in the power of the magistrate and\nthe sword of the state to assist us; Christ hath not allowed his\nfollowers such weapons as these against superstition and heresy; _The\nsword of the Spirit is the word of God_; Eph. vi. 17. _The weapons of\nour warfare are not carnal_; 2 Cor. x. 4.\n\nAnd when we have endeavoured to reform the offenders by all christian\nmethods, and find no success, we must dare to separate ourselves from\nthe many and the mighty, who will not be reformed. This was the glorious\npractice of our fathers, the protestants and the puritans, in the\nseveral seasons of their reformation, when they were called to oppose\nthe greater or the lesser corruptions of the christian church.\n\nIf our kindred or families are fallen into any foolish, vain, or sinful\npractices, or any civil society to which we belong hath departed from\nthe rules of justice or truth, it belongs to a christian to become a\npublic good, by using his influence, as far as it goes, toward the\nrectifying of every disorder. He should put on a divine fortitude,\nwhensoever providence calls him to attempt a reformation amongst them.\nThere is need of a noble spirit and a pious bravery, to rise up against\nany foolish or vicious customs, to combat any rooted principles or\nhabits of error or iniquity, and to oppose any number of persons that\nare engaged in an evil course. Moses forbids us _to follow a multitude\nto do evil_; Ex. xxiii. 2. And there are seasons when we may be called\nto oppose a multitude of evil-doers: And though no man stand by us, yet\nwe are bound to stand by the cause of God and goodness. So divine a\ncause deserves and demands such divine courage.\n\nHow glorious was the character of Caleb and Joshua, who spoke well of\nthe land of promise, and encouraged the armies of Israel while all the\nrest of the spies which were sent _brought an evil report upon the good\nland_: Num. xiii. 31, 32. The people believed the evil report, and spoke\nof stoning Joshua and Caleb. But the _glory of the Lord appeared in the\ntabernacle_, and God himself gave a testimony from heaven to the sacred\ncourage and honour of these Jewish heroes. What a brave spirit dwelt in\nElijah, who attempted to reform Israel from idolatry! He would not fall\ndown and worship Baal, though he thought he had been left alone, the\nonly worshipper of the true God in the nation; 1 Kings xix. 14.\n\nVII. There are some other, and very common occasions for the exercise of\nsacred courage, which attend persons especially in the lower ranks of\nlife: As for instance; when a servant is called by providence to speak\nthe truth, and yet he dare not do it without offending his master: When\na poor man is required to bear witness in some important concern, and\nhis rich neighbour frowns and looks sour upon him: When a person of an\ninferior character is tempted to join with the mighty in some unjust and\ndishonourable practices, and while his superiors invite him to it, his\nconscience forbids his compliance. It is a noble act of christian\ncourage, in such instances as these, to follow truth, equity, and\nconscience, wheresoever they lead, in opposition to all the allurements,\nthe frowns, and the threatenings of persons in an higher station. Let\nthose who fall under such a temptation remember, _there is an higher\nthan the highest_, and the great God, the Lord of heaven and earth, is\nthe patron of truth and righteousness, the guardian of innocence, and\nthe dreadful avenger of deceit and lying.\n\nI might add other instances of a kindred nature in common life, wherein\nchristian fortitude is greatly necessary, especially in this corrupt and\ndegenerate age: As when a trader must look poverty in the face, and meet\napproaching ruin in his outward circumstances, unless he make some\ninroad upon his honesty, and practise falsehood and deceit. But if the\ncase be thus, if a christian sees himself sinking in the world, by the\nfrowns of providence, he must dare to sink rather than cheat his\nneighbour, and save himself by any base and dishonest methods. A man of\nreligion and honour must stand firm to his word, must follow strict\nequity in all things, and neither enter into any methods of fraud, nor\nof violence, to retrieve his decaying circumstances.\n\nO how many little knavish contrivances do persons often practise to\nsecure a good bargain to themselves, and sometimes they support their\ndying credit in the world at the expence and loss of their innocent\nneighbour! They borrow what they know they are not able to pay: They\ndraw up false accounts of their own estate: They impose upon the\ncredulous with words of a double meaning, or with downright lies: They\nalmost forget they are christians, for fear lest they should be undone,\nand practise the things at which an heathen would have blushed and\nstarted, because they have not courage enough to be honest and poor.\n\nVIII. Christians have need of holy fortitude, to venture their lives at\nthe demand of providence, and expose themselves to violence, and to a\nbloody death. Sometimes they are called to this glorious service in the\ncause of God and his church: So were many of the prophets, the apostles,\nand primitive christians, as well as the martyrs of later ages.\nSometimes in the cause of our country, divine providence calls us to\nexpose our blood, and to assist or guard the nation against invasions\nfrom abroad, or tumults at home, and to quell the rage of a brutal\nmultitude. In a just and necessary war for our country, or in a defence\nof our natural or religious rights, we may fight with christian courage,\nwhen we have well surveyed the justice of our cause, and find it\napproved of God. And there are seasons when we may be called to venture\nour lives for our christian brethren; 1 John iii. 15.\n\nBut perhaps some of these things may come as naturally also under the\nhead of passive valour and courage: And indeed the most active valour of\nthe greatest heroes is built upon that which is passive. It is on this\naccount they dare venture to expose their flesh to wounds, their names\nto reproach, or their bodies to death, because they can bear the wounds,\nthe reproaches, or death itself with a noble serenity and fortitude of\nsoul. All the active boldness in the world is but rashness and folly\nwhere such a hardiness and patience are utterly wanting. Of this passive\nvalour I shall mention but two particular cases wherein christians must\nexert themselves.\n\nI. When we are called to bear sickness, pain, shame, losses,\ndisappointments, all the sorrowful changes of life, or death itself from\nthe mere hand of God. This is to be done with a steadiness of spirit,\nwith a firmness of soul, with christian fortitude, with a sacred and\nserene calm upon all our powers and passions, without fretting or\nvexing, or inward disquietude. It is a sign of a weak mind to be overset\nwith every blast of wind. _If thou faintest in the day of adversity, thy\nstrength is but small_; Prov. xxiv. 10. We must not indeed _despise the\nchastening of the Almighty, nor must we faint when we are rebuked of\nhim_; Heb. xii. 5.\n\nLet the men of this world that know not Christ, that are not acquainted\nwith the gospel, and have not felt the powers of the world to come, let\nthem fret and grow peevish at every disappointment that falls upon them\nin their earthly comforts, or when their flesh is visited with sore\npains: But it does not become a christian to be sour and fretful under\nthe afflicting hand of God, for it is the hand of his heavenly Father.\nTo be overwhelmed and almost distracted with the crosses we meet with in\nthe world, is not becoming the character of a child of God, one that is\nhigh born, that has his birth from heaven, and his family there; it is a\nshame for him to grow wild with impatience, or to run into desperate\ncourses for relief. This is not courage, but mere cowardice of soul, to\nput an end to our own life in order to escape from our sorrows. The\nwisest among the heathens reproved it as a meanness of spirit; and\nsurely it is much more unbecoming the religion of Christ, and that\ndivine fortitude that every christian should be endued with. We are not\nto be affrighted, though the mountains should be turned upside down, and\ncast into the midst of the sea. The Lord of hosts is our shield and\ndefence, he is a rock above all the waves, and if our feet are fixed\nupon this rock, what need have we for terror? The name of the God of\nJacob, in the xlvi. Psalm, is a match for all our foes, and a sovereign\nremedy for all our fears.\n\nChristian courage appears also upon a bed of sickness, when, at the call\nof God, we look death in the face with a chearful soul. When all our\nfriends stand around us, and every one, by the lamentable air that sits\nin their faces, gives us notice of our approaching dissolution, then to\nlook upon death with a serene countenance, and not be affrighted, but\nventure boldly into the invisible world; this is a glorious fortitude\nderived from the grace of faith.\n\nII. Another instance of passive valour is, when we bear persecutions of\nall sorts from the hand of men with a holy courage, for the sake of God.\nWhen we can be plundered of our possessions in this world, and stripped\nof all our comforts, and yet be easy. _Ye took joyfully the spoiling of\nyour goods_, says the apostle to the Hebrews; _chapter_ x. _verses_ 33,\n34. _and ye endured the great fight of afflictions with chearfulness,\nknowing that in heaven ye have a better and more enduring substance_. In\nHeb. xi. _verse_ 36. when the apostle speaks of the ancient Jewish\nsaints, _they had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, of bonds and\nimprisonments, they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted,\nwere slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheep-skins, and\ngoat-skins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented_: but they were men\nabove this world, _of whom the world was not worthy_: They had a spirit\nof divine courage that made them too great for this world, although they\nwere almost banished out of it, and wandered among the beasts of the\nearth. Let not christians then be guilty of base and mean compliances,\nto preserve their substance in the world, nor to cover their names from\nslanders and infamy, nor to secure their liberties or their lives when\nChrist calls us to part with them. If there be any virtue, if there be\nany praise, think on these things. If there be any call to the practice\nof such courage, for the sake of Christ, remember these exhortations,\nand be not afraid.\n\nThus I have given you variety of instances both of active and passive\nvalour, as they are to be exercised in the christian life: I fear they\nare too many for the best and boldest of us to practise, even under all\nour advantages. But in order to render them a little more easy to\nchristians, the following motives and directions may give some\nassistance under the influence of the blessed Spirit. And these shall be\nthe subject of the next discourse.\n\nRecollection.\u2014And now, O my soul, it is time to turn thy thoughts\ninward, and enquire, how much of this discourse is suited to thy own\ncase? Thou acknowledgest there is a God, but art thou not sometimes\nashamed to call upon him in the morning for his presence all the day,\nlest thy companions should know thou hast been upon thy knees? Hast thou\ncourage to ask a blessing on thy food in the place where others deride\nthe practice?\n\nThou hast learned and thou hast believed the religion of Christ, but\nhast thou ever yet had courage enough to make a solemn and public\nprofession of it? Hast thou ever yet publicly given thy name up to\nChrist as one of his subjects, and joined thyself to his visible kingdom\namongst men: Or art thou only a believer in secret, ashamed to make\nprofession of thy faith, by joining thyself to some christian assembly?\nIf this be thy state, thou hast now a loud call to add fortitude to thy\nfaith, and assume christian courage to profess the sacred name in which\nthou hast believed.\n\nOr art thou a professor of this holy religion? Thou hast listed thyself\nunder the banner of Christ, in these days of liberty and peace, and\nwhile thou dwellest among those who encourage thy faith and profession.\nBut enquire into thyself, hast thou such a love to the gospel, as to\nglory in it even amongst infidels, who make it the object of their\nmockery and reproach? Has this divine religion so deep a root in thy\nheart, as to bear and resist the storms of the world, and to stand firm\nand flourish still? Hast thou courage to declare thyself a disciple of\nthe cross, and a professor of a crucified Saviour, when thou shalt\nhappen to be in the company of those who blaspheme him?\n\nHast thou obtained holy boldness enough to practise virtue when it is\nout of fashion, and canst thou refuse to comply with the warmest\ntemptations to a fashionable sin? Hast thou got such a victory over\nthyself as to dare to be singular, if thy company would lead thee into\nany modish vice? This is an hard lesson to young and tender minds, but\nit must be learned. O my soul, if thou wilt be a christian indeed, hast\nthou courage to vindicate the innocent, when he is assaulted with\nslanders, and to frown upon those who delight in scandal? Or art thou so\nmeanly spirited, as to join in a common jest, that is thrown upon the\nabsent, and to mix with the odious tribe of back-biters? Remember this\nis a shameful baseness of spirit: but a christian must be a man of\nhonour.\n\nCanst thou see thy friends, thy companions, indulge a sinful course, and\nhast thou not one kind admonition for them? Hast thou not virtue and\ncourage enough to warn thy brother, and to turn his foot from the path\nof iniquity, that leads to ruin and death? But remember also, that\ngentleness and love must attend thy rebukes, if thou ever desirest they\nshould attain success. A reprover should have a bold, but a tender\nspirit. What zeal hast thou, O my soul, for reformation? Or canst thou\nbear with immoralities and corruptions of every kind? And rather than\nventure to displease man, wilt thou let thy neighbours go on for ever to\ndisplease God? What wouldest thou do, if thou wert called to face the\ngreat, and to profess religion before the mighty men of the earth? Is\nthy faith grown bold enough to shew itself in a court, in a palace, and\nto venture all thy earthly interests for the defence of it?\n\nThus far concerning thy active fortitude. But how stands the case with\nregard to passive valour, and enduring of sufferings? Is thy heart firm\nunder sharp trials of providence? Canst thou resign thy health and thy\nease into the hand of God without fretting or repining? Or doth thy\ncourage faint, and thy impatience shamefully discover itself under the\ncommon pains and diseases of nature? I grant there is much of weakness\nderived even to a manly spirit, from the distempers of the flesh: When\nthe nerves are unbraced, and the tabernacle of the body tottering, the\nsoul partakes of the infirmities of this poor fleshly engine. O frail\nunhappy state of human nature, and souls that dwell in clay! But is it\nthy constant labour and prayer, that patience may have its perfect work,\nthat thy spirit may be ever sedate under all the pains and disquietudes\nof this mortal flesh, and thy temper kept serene under all the frowns\nand clouds of heaven?\n\nArt thou ready to face the king of terrors, and to descend into that\ndark valley? Thou must meet this adversary shortly, O my soul! Labour\ntherefore daily to get courage and victory over death, by faith in a\ndying and a rising Saviour. Happy is that faith that has no carnal fear\nattending it, but is got above the frowns and smiles of this world. My\nsoul longs after it, and reaches at it, as something within the power of\nher present attainment through the grace of Christ. I long to be armed\nwith this sacred courage, and to have my heart fortified all round with\nthese divine munitions. I would fain be calm and serene in the midst of\nbuffetings and reproaches, and pursue my course steadily toward heaven,\nunder the banner of faith, through all the arrows of slander and malice.\nLord Jesus, I wait for thy divine influence, to bestow this grace, and\nthy divine teachings, to put me in the way to obtain it.\n\n\n HYMN FOR SERMON XXXI.\n _Holy Fortitude, or Remedies against Fear._\n\n\n Am I a soldier of the cross,\n A follower of the Lamb?\n And shall I fear to own his cause,\n Or blush to speak his name?\n\n Must I be carry\u2019d to the skies,\n On flow\u2019ry beds of ease;\n While others fought to win the prize,\n And sail\u2019d through bloody seas?\n\n Are there no foes for me to face?\n Must I not stem the flood?\n Is this vile world a friend to grace,\n To help me on to God?\n\n Sure I must fight if I would reign;\n Increase my courage, Lord!\n I\u2019ll bear the toil, endure the pain,\n Supported by thy word.\n\n Thy saints in all this glorious war,\n Shall conquer though they die;\n They see the triumph from afar,\n And seize it with their eye.\n\n When that illustrious day shall rise,\n And all thy armies shine,\n In robes of victory through the skies,\n The glory shall be thine.\n\n\n\n\n SERMON XXXII.\n _Holy Fortitude, or Remedies against Fear._\n 1 COR. xvi. 13.\u2014Stand fast in the Faith, quit you like Men, be strong.\n\n\nHaving described this holy temper of spirit, this fortitude both of the\nactive and passive kind, and having set before you various occasions for\nits exercise in the christian life, I proceed now to the third thing\nwhich I proposed, and that is, to excite you by some engaging motives,\nto seek after this temper, which is so necessary for a christian. I\nshall not enforce this from the light of nature, and from the mere laws\nof reason, which have been joined with ambitious and selfish principles\nin some of the pagan heroes, and have influenced many a man, in the days\nof heathenism, to some great exploits of fortitude and fame. There is\nnothing in all the principles of natural religion, that makes the mind\nbrave and noble but it receives high advancements and glorious efficacy\nfrom christianity. I would call you,\n\n_First_, To cast your eyes on the noble patterns of courage that you\nfind in the New Testament. I do not invite you to meditate the examples\nof heathen warriors, but consider the example of christian heroes, your\npredecessors, who have stood fast in the faith, who have quitted\nthemselves like men, in numerous and shining instances of active and\npassive courage. Look at the blessed apostles, Peter and John, when they\nrejoiced to suffer shame for the sake of Christ their Lord, and boldly\ntold the council of priests, that they must preach the name of Jesus, in\nopposition to their menaces: They must obey God rather than men. Look at\nSt. Paul the most eminent christian hero: Behold him in the midst of the\nRoman soldiers, and a violent multitude of unbelieving Jews. Hear how he\nacknowledges his exalted Saviour before captains and centurions, before\nking Agrippa, before Felix and Festus, who were two successive governors\nof Judea! And with the same fortitude of soul he appeared before C\u00e6sar,\nat Rome. _I am not ashamed_, says he, _of the gospel of Christ_; Rom. i.\n16. for he whom I have trusted in is almighty to support me. Read that\nmost generous and pathetic speech of his; Acts xxi. 13. when the spirit\nof prophecy had foretold that Paul should be _bound at Jerusalem, and\ndelivered captive into the hands of the Gentiles_; his friends and\nstrangers besought him not to go up to that city. Then Paul answered,\n_What mean ye to weep, and to break mine heart? For I am ready, not to\nbe bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord\nJesus._ I know, says he, _and the Holy Ghost is witness, that bonds and\nafflictions wait for me, but none of these things move me, neither count\nI my life dear to myself, that I may finish my course with joy, and the\nministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel\nof the grace of God_; Acts xx. 24.\n\nNow when a special occasion calls us to the exercise of this virtue, and\nto confess Christ before the world, for us to be mealy-mouthed, and\nbaffled, and frighted at the countenances of men, this is to forsake the\nexample of the blessed apostles, and obey men rather than God. The\nprophets and the apostles, the ancient saints and the primitive martyrs\nhave given us noble patterns of this virtue; and why should our spirits\nfail us, or our lips tremble, if we are called to the same glorious\nconfession? Is not our religion divine? Is not the gospel still worthy\nof the same honour? Is not our God the same almighty? Is not our\nRedeemer the same Jesus? And does not a dying, a rising, and a reigning\nSaviour deserve the same homage of our tongues, and demand the same\nglory at our hands? Yes, surely he demands it of us, and he deserves it\ninfinitely: And not only his apostles, but his own example teacheth us\nto practise this fortitude, both of the active and the passive kind. In\nthe\n\n_Second_ place then, behold this perfect pattern of fortitude, Jesus the\nSon of God: When he came into the world in the midst of poverty, and\nmade but a mean figure, as the son of a carpenter, he was called to\noppose the whole nation of the Jews, and the priests and princes of\nJerusalem; he was sent to reform the vicious customs of a wicked and\ndegenerate age. How did he stand and face danger without fear? When he\nwent into the temple, with what a sacred zeal did he scourge the buyers\nand sellers out of his Father\u2019s house of prayer? Ye know what a noble\ntestimony he bare to the truth, when he was called before the great men,\nthe rulers of the church and state. You know again, what instances of\npassive courage our Lord Jesus manifested, when he was hatefully\nreproached, and suffered shameful indignities from a rude multitude:\nWhen he was persecuted, when he was buffeted, when he wrestled with many\nand mighty sorrows, when his friends left him alone in the hands of his\ncruel enemies.\n\nIt must be confessed, his spirit trembled within him, and he was sore\namazed, when it pleased his Father _to bruise him, and put him to grief,\nand to make his soul an offering for sin_; Is. liii. 10. These were\nunknown and inexpressible burdens, that made him groan indeed; and\noffered strong cries and tears to heaven, that the cup of terror might\npass from him. If ever his courage seemed to fail him, it was in that\nagony in the garden, when he endured more than any mere man could bear.\nA formidable and a dismal hour, when the Father hid his face from him,\nand the powers of darkness fell upon him with angelic might and fury!\nBut these are sorrows of atonement, which the saints are never called to\nsuffer. And yet by secret divine supports, Jesus endured all these\nagonies, and upon the cross he triumphed not only over the malice of\nmen, but _over principalities and powers of hell, and made an open shew\nof them_; Col. ii. 15. perhaps, before armies of the invisible world,\nand millions of applauding angels.\n\nRead the sacred advice; Heb. xii. 1, 2, 3. Not only look ye, says the\napostle, to the great cloud of witnesses that are gone before, but above\nall look to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of your faith, who, for the\njoy that was set before him, endured the cross, and despised the shame,\nand is set down at the right-hand of the throne of God. Consider him\nthat endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, that opposed\na multitude, a legion, a world of sinners, lest ye be weary and faint in\nyour minds, nor let your spirits sink while you behold his divine\nfortitude: Let such an illustrious scene animate your souls, and inspire\nthe fainting believer with new courage. Consider,\n\n_Thirdly_, What you are; if you are christians, ye are soldiers of\nChrist, ye have already entered the lists, with all the powers of hell,\nand are ye afraid of _man that is a worm, and the son of man that is a\nworm_? Job xxv. 6. Ye have ranged yourselves under the banner of the\nRedeemer, and the Redeemer\u2019s army must fight against all the armies of\ndarkness and their allies. You have set up to oppose sin and Satan, two\npowerful enemies, and are ye afraid to be brow-beaten by a fellow-worm,\none who is weak and mortal like yourselves? Consider,\n\n_Fourthly_, If ye are christians, what promises of the divine presence\nand help you have in the bible, and when the mighty God has given such\ndivine encouragement, he chides his people into courage; Is. li. 12, 13.\n_I, even I am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldst\nbe afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be\nmade as grass? And forgettest the Lord thy Maker, that hath stretched\nforth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth? and hast\nfeared continually every day, because of the fury of the oppressor?_ A\ngenerous and divine cordial to keep the soul from fainting! The presence\nof God is an effectual support. St. Paul found it so; _for when all men\nforsook him, the Lord stood by and strengthened him_; 1 Tim. iv. 16, 17.\nAlas! we are poor, feeble, trembling soldiers, our hands hang down, and\nour faces gather paleness: But we dare to confront the terrors of this\nworld, if we taste and feel such divine encouragements. We know that a\nweak christian can do wonders with an almighty Saviour and an\nall-sufficient promise. When St. Paul had this word given him, _My grace\nis sufficient for thee_, he could _glory even in infirmities_, that the\n_power of Christ might rest upon him_; 2 Cor. xii. 9. The little feeble\nman, of a _contemptible presence_, could do _all things through Christ\nstrengthening him_; Phil. iv. 13. And every believer has the same\nAlmighty Helper, the same gospel, and the same promises.\n\nIn the last place, consider the large and never-fading crown of glory,\nthat awaits the conqueror at the end of the christian conflict. _Be thou\nfaithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life_; Rev. ii. 10.\nConsider the honour and triumph, those riches of glory, and that\neverlasting inheritance, that shall be your reward in the future world,\nthrough the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ; _He that overcometh shall\nsit down with me on my throne_, &c. Rev. iii. 21. _He that overcometh\nshall inherit all things_; chap. xxi. 7. Put all these together in the\nbalances, with a few crosses and disappointments, a little trouble and\nuneasiness, nay, though you should add torture and death in the same\nscale, you may easily judge which will outweigh. Gaze at your crown of\nlife, and your immortal hopes, till you feel your souls divinely\nanimated to the combat: Learn from the apostle, and assume that glorious\nlanguage; _Our light afflictions, which are but for a moment_, are\nscarce to be mentioned or named _with the far more exceeding and eternal\nweight of glory that shall be revealed_; 2 Cor. iv. 17. _Therefore we\nboth labour and suffer reproach_; therefore we bear all present sorrows\nwith holy courage, because we look not at the things that are seen,\nlittle things that are temporal; but look at the great unseen things\nthat are eternal; 2 Cor. iv. 18.\n\nThe fourth and last general head of discourse shall now furnish us with\nsome sacred remedies against this slavish fear. The passion of fear in\ngeneral, is wisely wrought by the great God into human nature: It is a\ndisturbance both of our animal composition, and of the mind upon the\napprehension of some approaching evil, or upon the apparent danger of\nit. This is an excellent provision, which the God of nature has made, to\nguard us from many mischiefs. It is innocent and useful when it is fixed\non a proper object, and exercised in a proper degree. It becomes a part\nof our religion when God is the object of our fear, whereby we maintain\nsuch a holy awe of his majesty, as awakens a constant desire to please\nhim, joined with a temper of holy love.\n\nBut when we suffer creatures to raise and influence our fears upon every\noccasion, so as to ruffle and disquiet our spirits to throw the soul\nfrom off its rest, and to turn us aside from the steady course of duty,\nthen it becomes a sinful and forbidden passion, and we should make it\nour business to watch against it, and suppress it. There are some\npersons so feeble in their native constitutions, or their spirits are so\nweakened by the distempers of the flesh, that fear is a constant tyrant\nover them: Their case is to be pitied indeed, but they ought to stir up\nthemselves as far as possible to shake off this bondage, lest it\nwithhold them from the practice of necessary duties, and rob them of all\nthe comforts of religion. This slavish fear is a disease of the mind, as\nwell as a weakness of nature; and besides, our summoning together all\nthe powers and precepts of reason, we should also apply the remedies of\nreligion, in order to remove it: If the divine Spirit concur with his\nblessing, the following methods may be made happily successful:\n\nI. See to it that ye are christians indeed, that you have the power of\nreligion wrought in your hearts, otherwise you will never be able boldly\nto maintain the form and the profession of it, in an hour of danger.\nFear will prevail over every thing but true faith: And if your religion\nbe not inward and sincere and built on solid foundations, it will\ntremble and totter, and be in great danger of being utterly lost. One\nhard name, one biting reproach, one witty scoff or ugly slander, will\ndash the hypocrite out of countenance, and he dares not stand up for his\nGod and Saviour.\n\nAnd remember also that your faith must be always kept awake and lively.\nSee to it that your hope be not only well established, but you must\npreserve your evidences for heaven ever clear, that ye may look upon\nyourselves as the care and charge of Christ, and under the special eye\nand protection of God your Saviour. This was the divine foundation on\nwhich the great apostle raised his courage in the gospel to so high a\ndegree. I am neither afraid to suffer these things, says he, that is,\nbonds and imprisonments; nor am I ashamed of this gospel, for I know\nwhom I have believed, I know him as my Saviour, and I am persuaded he is\nable to keep that which I have committed to him against the day of his\nappearance; 2 Tim. i. 12.\n\nIf you would raise your spirits to a sublime pitch of holy fortitude,\nbrighten your faith and hope daily, by a frequent examination of the\nframe of your hearts, by watchful walking before God, by committing your\nsouls afresh into the hands of Jesus and his Spirit, for pardoning and\nrenewing grace, that you may believe on just and solid grounds, that you\nare the children of God, and that Jesus is your salvation. A lively\nfaith gives divine courage. Faith is a noble shield to ward off fear,\nand our helmet is the hope of salvation.\n\nTake heed of defiling yourselves with sensuality: Take heed of any false\nbiasses on your spirit, and wrong designs in your actions, lest you\nbring fresh guilt upon your consciences. Guilt will create fear, and\nfill the soul with a perplexing tumult of thoughts. But when the terrors\nof this world assault you on every side, reproaches and threatenings,\nthe frowns of your friends, and the rage of your enemies, you may be all\nserene and peaceful within, while you maintain a sacred consciousness of\nsoul, that you have been seeking the light of truth, and pursuing the\npath of duty. When I can say, God is my witness that I am sincerely\nlabouring in his service, when I can look up to heaven, though my\nfriends scorn me, and say, my record is on high; I may imitate the faith\nand courage of Job in his best hours, and leave all my interests in the\nhand of my God. Let our faith be active then, and our conscience clear,\nthat we may read our title to all the promises, and apply them to our\nown case with courage and assurance. _The God of hope will fill us with\nall joy and peace in believing_; Rom. xv. 13.\n\nThe covenant of grace is a blessed treasury: There is armour of defence\nto be found against every assault and danger. If the promises of the\ncovenant be ours, we shall be secured of a happy final issue of all our\nsufferings: _All things shall work together for our good_; Rom. viii.\n28. _If God be for us who shall be against us?_ verse 31. If we behold\nGod engaged on our side, we may defy a legion of adversaries in the name\nof the Lord our God. _Thou art my glory_, says the Psalmist, _and my\nshield, and the lifter up of my head_; Ps. iii. 3. The little word, my,\nshews his own interest in his God, and then he can grow brave in the\nvery centre of a thousand deaths and dangers. _I will not be afraid of\nten thousands of people that have set themselves against me round\nabout_; verse 6.\n\nII. Get a large and general acquaintance with the promises of the\ngospel[32], that in every special time of need you may have some\nsuitable word of refuge and support. From xl. to the xlv. chapters of\nIsaiah, there is a variety of rich encouragements against slavish fear:\nAnd there is another treasure of them from the l. to lv. Many a\nchristian has been able to live upon them, in the most dangerous and\ndistressing seasons. They are divine springs of courage, and they\noverflow with consolation. The assurances of holy David in the midst of\nhis perils, have been a glorious support to the fearful soul. Several of\nhis Psalms are filled with the same heavenly cordials. You can hardly\nfind three of them together, without some triumphs of faith in them. In\nthe writings of the evangelists, and in the epistles you may read many\nprecious promises scattered abroad, to allay your fears. In the second\nand third chapters of the _Revelation_, they stand thick as the spangles\nof heaven: They sparkle like stars in the firmament at midnight, and\nthey ever shine brightest in the darkest sky. It is with unknown\npleasure that the soul of a christian contemplates and surveys those\nheavenly lights in the most gloomy and dismal hours, and they turn the\nshadows of death into morning.\n\nThough it is of excellent use, to have the mind and memory well stored\nwith the various promises of the covenant, yet in some special seasons\nof trial, it is of eminent advantage to keep the mind and thoughts fixed\nupon some single promise, that is most suited to the present danger or\nsuffering; and to the present taste and relish of the soul. In such a\nseason, the running speedily from one promise to another, and skimming\nover them with a slight survey, will not be so effectual a relief, as\nfixing upon some peculiar and proper word of grace, and living upon it\nfor a whole day together. Thus every morning you may take some new\ncomforter with you, and let it abide upon your heart all day, and it\nwill whisper to your soul with divine sweetness in the dark and solitary\nwatches of the night. When some special terror possesses your thoughts,\nand the heavy oppression returns often upon your spirits, or when any\nfresh assault comes on you from without or within, fly to the word you\nhave chosen for your refuge; repeat it often, and cleave to it by\nmeditation. _The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous\nrunneth into it and is safe_; Prov. xviii. 10. And remember God has\nmagnified his own word above all the rest of his name; Ps. cxxxviii. 2.\nTry this method, it has been successful and well approved, and I doubt\nnot but that you will be able to attest the success of it through the\naids of divine grace.\n\nIII. Preserve the spirit of prayer always in exercise, and the spirit of\nfortitude will descend on you. Address the throne of God with\nearnestness and faith, and cry to the Lord the God of your salvation\nwithout ceasing. It is he gives spirits to renew the battle, when we are\nalmost tired and grow weary; Is. xl. 28, 29. He gives courage in the\nmidst of terrors, for he can preserve and secure us in the extremest\nperils. _We despaired of life_, saith the apostle, _and had the sentence\nof death in ourselves, but we were delivered, for we trusted in him that\nraiseth the dead_; 2 Cor. i. 8, 9, 10. It is he that repels the most\nimminent danger, it is he that rebukes the spirit of fear, and gives us\nthe spirit of power, and holy fortitude; 2 Tim. i. 7. _Wait on the Lord,\nand be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thy heart; wait I say on\nthe Lord_; Ps. xxvii. 14.\n\nBut be sure in all your addresses to the mercy-seat, have an eye to\nChrist Jesus the Mediator, your advocate at the throne, and the Captain\nof your Salvation, who is engaged to see you brought safe to heaven. The\nFather has entrusted you as sheep in his hand, and he will not suffer\nyou to perish. Look to him as your great High-priest and Intercessor in\nheaven; and _since you have such a High-priest as Jesus the Son of God,\nwho can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, let us come\nboldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace\nto help in time of need_; Heb. iv. 14, 15, 16. Many a feeble christian\nwho has gone to the mercy-seat, trembling and terrified under huge\napprehensions of danger, and almost overwhelmed with tumultuous fears,\nhas risen up from his knees with a heavenly calmness and composure: The\narmy of his fears has vanished at once, and he has gone out to face the\nmost formidable of his adversaries, with divine resolution and courage.\n\u201cI sought the Lord and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.\nThey looked unto him and were enlightened, and their faces were not\nashamed. The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him,\nand delivereth them. O taste and see that the Lord is good: Blessed is\nthe man that trusteth in him;\u201d Ps. xxxiv. 4-8. \u201cIn the day when I cried,\nthou answeredst me: and didst strengthen me with strength in my soul;\u201d\nPs. cxxxviii. 3.\n\nIV. Get a greater degree of weanedness from the flesh, and from all the\ndelights and satisfactions that belong to this mortal life: Then as you\nwill not feel so great a pain in being stripped of them, so neither will\nyour soul be filled with terror, when you are in danger of losing them.\nLearn to put off a little of that sinful tenderness for self, which we\nbrought into the world with us. One of the first lessons in the school\nof Christ, is self-denial; Mat. xvi. 24. If any man will come after me,\nthat is, be my disciple, let him deny himself, and take up his cross,\nand follow me.\n\nIt is a certain tender fondness for our flesh that makes us afraid of\npain. It is a fondness for our name and reputation that makes us afraid\nof reproaches. It is a fondness for our possessions, and our easy\ncircumstances in the world that makes us afraid of poverty: And too\ngreat a fondness for life makes us afraid of dying. Whensoever therefore\nthe cause of Christ plainly calls us to risk our name and honour in the\nworld, to part with our wealth or our ease, and to venture and to expose\nlife itself, we shrink from the command; slavish and sinful fear\nprevails mightily upon us, because we love earth, and self, and flesh\nbetter than we ought to do. We must subdue this self-love, and unmanly\nsoftness, if we would approve ourselves as good soldiers of Jesus\nChrist, and gain a spirit of sacred courage and resolution. We must be\ndead to the things of flesh and sense, and gain a victory over the\ncomplaints and groanings of nature. We must go as far as we can toward\nparting with right-hands, and right-eyes, in every sense of the words,\nif we would be christians indeed.\n\nV. Endeavour to keep yourselves always employed in some proper work,\nthat your fears may be diverted when they cannot immediately be\novercome. If our thoughts and hands are idle and empty we lie open to\nthe invasion and tumult of our fears, and we give them leave to assault\nus on all sides.\n\nThe passion and principle of this slavish fear, is mingled with our\nflesh and blood, and therefore we must employ even our flesh and blood\nin some better business, that we may turn the current of animal nature,\nand leave the imagination no leisure to sit brooding over its own\nterrors. Want of occupation and engagement of the powers of nature,\nexposes the mind of man to the inroad of all the frightful images, that\nfancy can furnish out, and to all the terrifying suggestions of a\nwatchful and malicious tempter. That wicked spirit has some strange and\nunknown methods of access to our souls: He will worry the sheep of\nChrist with terrors, when he is not suffered to devour or destroy them;\nand an unbusied mind is prepared to admit his worst temptations.\n\nBut while I am pressing you to find out some employment for yourselves,\ntake care that it be such as may approve itself to God and your own\nconsciences. We must be ever found in the way of duty, as I hinted\nbefore, if we would support a holy courage. It is only the righteous\nthat has just reason to be bold as a lion. Be ready to meet Christ the\njudge, and his glorious appearance at all times, and then you need not\nfear all that earth or hell can do against you.\n\n[If this Sermon be too long, it may be divided here.]\n\nLet us proceed now to propose some further remedies against this slavish\npassion of fear.\n\nVI. Keep your eye fixed on the hand of God in all the affairs of men.\nView his powerful and over-ruling providence in all things, even in\nthose things that awaken your most troublesome fears. Think with\nyourselves, that you put creatures in the place of God, if you fear them\nmore than God, as though they were the sovereign lords and disposers of\nall your comforts. Learn to see God in all things, and behold him in all\nthings as your God, and then creatures will have but little influence to\nawaken any of the passions of the soul, or to raise distressing fears\nwithin you.\n\nAre your spirits so weak, that thunder and lightning, and the storms of\nthe air affright you? Think who it is that commands the tempests to\narise, and quashes the storms at his pleasure. In whose hand is the\nthunder? Who kindles the lightning? Who directs the flashes, and guides\nevery sweeping blast of wind or fire to its appointed place? Remember\nthe disciples in the midst of the storm, and the language of Jesus\nwalking upon the water, _It is I, be not afraid_; Mat. xiv. 27.\n\nOr if the public commotions of the world awaken your fears, read the\nname and presence of God, even your God, in the xlvi. Psalm, and rejoice\nand stand firm amidst the tumult and shaking of the nations. _God is our\nrefuge and strength, a very present help, in trouble. Therefore we will\nnot fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be cast\ninto the midst of the sea_, verses 2, 3. _The heathen raged, the\nkingdoms were moved: He uttered his voice, the earth melted_; verse 6.\n_The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge_; verse\n11. _Selah_[33].\n\nOr perhaps more particular and personal dangers and afflictions threaten\nyour good name, your estate, your flesh, your life. Well, the name of\nGod in his presence is an universal spring of comfort and courage, a\nwide spreading shield against every mischief.\n\nAre you terrified at the thoughts of personal reproach and slander, know\nthat the tongues of men are within the reach of the hand of God, and he\ncan cast a bridle of restraint upon them, but if he take off that\nrestraint, and leave them to their own perverseness and rage, learn to\nsay as good David, when Shimei cursed him; the hand of the Lord is in\nit, God hath given him a loose to curse me: And thus sweetly compose\nyourselves to an acquiescence in the providential will of your heavenly\nFather.\n\nIs poverty and want the thing you dread? But is not God your heavenly\nFather? And can you not trust him to provide for his children? Will he\ngive the young ravens their food, when they cry, and will he not feed\nhis sons and his daughters? It is true you may be reduced to bread and\nwater, and brought down to the very lowest circumstances, and you must\nsubmit to his will: God will feed your nature, though he will not feed\nyour pride.\n\nAre you affrighted at the thoughts of sickness and pain? Remember\ndiseases are the servants of our Lord Christ, he can bid pains and\nanguish of body go or come as he pleases; nor can they seize you without\nhis commission, nor tarry with you beyond his appointed moment. Commit\nyour flesh to him as well as your spirit: He is a wise physician, and he\nwill deal tenderly with you: He has worn flesh and blood, and has a\nsympathising heart, nor will he grieve his own members beyond what his\nwisdom and his love sees needful.\n\nAre you afraid of persecuting enemies, that hunt you from place to\nplace, and would pursue you even to the death? Remember that they are\nbut the slaves of Satan, and they and their master are all in a chain,\nunder the sovereign dominion of Christ your Lord. The wicked of the\nearth, in this sense, are called the hand of God; Ps. xvii. 14. They are\nbut as instruments to execute his divine purposes, and they cannot move\nnor act beyond his permission. He put a hook in the nostrils of\nSennacherib, that Assyrian wild beast, and a bridle into his jaws; he\nsuffered him to come and gaze at Jerusalem, then in one night the angel\nof death destroyed all his army, and the Lord put a song of triumph into\nthe mouth of his people.\n\nIn a time of persecution in the last century, some pious ministers were\nmet together, expressing their mutual fears, and consulting how to\nprovide for their own safety: When one stood up in the spirit of faith,\nand said, _We are all immortal till our work is done_; whereby he\ndeclared his lively sense of the restraining power of God over the\nmalice of men, and his assurance that God would preserve them in life,\nso long as he had any service to employ them in. This was in truth a\nsublime thought: A Roman orator or a Greek poet would have been admired\nand celebrated for it by all the critics: This was the language of\nfaith, and it had a sublime and glorious effect, it dispersed their\nfears at once, and they went away rejoicing.\n\nVII. Recollect your own experiences of the goodness of God in carrying\nyou through former seasons of danger and sorrow. _I will remember_, says\nDavid, _the works of the Lord, and his wonders of old_; Ps. lxxvii. 11.\nI will remember the special deliverances I have obtained in times of\nmost imminent peril. Think with yourselves how high the tempest of your\nfears has sometimes risen, and God has sunk them at once into silence.\nThink how extreme your danger has been, when you have been perplexed in\na wilderness of thorns, and have seen no way for your escape, but the\neye of God hath found a path of safety for you, a path which the eagle\u2019s\neye hath not seen: He has led you as one that was blind, by the way that\nyou knew not, he has made darkness light before you, and crooked things\nstraight, according to his promise; Is. xlii. 16.\n\nAnd remember also, that sometimes when the very evil which you feared\nhas fallen upon you, it has not been half so heavy and painful as your\nfears have represented it, and you have been enabled to bear that which\nyou thought was intolerable. Remember the years of ancient time, and\nrejoice in that God who has often disappointed your fears of\ndestruction, and has outdone all your hopes in a way of deliverance. _I\nsaid, I am cut off from the earth, and shall go to the gates of the\ngrave: I reckoned from night till the morning that he will cut me off\nwith pining sickness, from day even to night, he will make an end of me:\nBut in love to my soul, O Lord, thou hast delivered it from the pit of\ncorruption, for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back._ Perhaps\nyour own experience may teach you to sing this song of Hezekiah, as it\nis recorded; Is. xxxviii. 10-17. Or to join with holy David, and repeat\nhis hymns of praise. And thus, beside your own experiences you may\nreview the happy experiences of the saints of old, or of Christians in\nlater times, and encourage your faith in opposition to all your fears.\n\nVIII. Charge your conscience solemnly with the authority of the divine\ncommand to suppress your fears. Remember that the exercises of faith,\ncourage, and holy firmness of soul, are duties as well as blessings.\nRead how often the great God forbids his people to indulge their fears;\nIs. xl. 10-13, 14. xliii. 1-5. xliv. 2-8. Fear not, is a command\nperpetually repeated, because God well knew how prone our feeble natures\nare to be affrighted at every appearance of danger: And even when he\ncalls his people Jacob a _worm_, and confesses the extreme weakness of\ntheir nature under that emblem, yet he insists on the same precept\nstill, _Fear not thou worm Jacob_; Is. xli. 14.\n\nOur blessed Lord joins frequently in the same prohibition of a slavish\nfear; Mat. x. 28. _Fear not them which can kill the body, but are not\nable to kill the soul; but fear him rather, who can destroy body and\nsoul in hell._ And Peter, who once wanted courage, and denied his Lord,\nin his elder and better days, grew bolder for the name of Christ, and he\nforbids us _to be afraid or troubled at the terror of men_; 1 Pet. iii.\n13. He repeats the charge of the prophet Isaiah, _sanctify the Lord of\nhosts in your heart_; Is. viii. 13. The Lord of hosts alone is the\nproper object of our supreme fear. This will over-rule and abolish all\nother fears, as the little noises of earth are lost in the thunders of\nheaven. The fear of God in a sublime degree will be an effectual cure of\nour sinful fear of creatures.\n\nIt is true, the principal of fear is a natural affection, it is rooted\nin flesh and blood, it grows high and domineers, especially in some\nconstitutions, and when the natural spirits are enfeebled, it still\ngains the greater ascendancy over us: But if it be indulged and\nencouraged, it soon becomes sinful, for it seems to stand opposite to\nthe grace of faith, and too often prevails over it. Therefore Christ\nchides his disciples, when they were affrighted in the storm while he\nwas in the ship: _Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no\nfaith?_ Mark iv. 40. And even when Peter was walking upon the water, and\nChrist was near him, he saith, _O thou of little faith, wherefore didst\nthou doubt?_ Mat. xiv. 31. For a christian to give himself up to the\nwild tyranny of his fears, is contrary to the very spirit and design of\nthe gospel of Christ; Rom. viii. 15. Ye have not received the spirit of\nbondage to fear, but the spirit of adoption. The spirit of power and\nlove; 2 Tim. i. 7. Remember then you are the sons and daughters of God:\nIt is below the dignity of your character to yield to this slavery, and\nyour Father himself reproves, and your Redeemer forbids it.\n\nIX. Think of the many advantages that arise from a holy fortitude of\nspirit in the midst of dangers. This divine temper of mind will\nestablish your feet on a rock in the midst of storms, it will animate\nyou to practise every duty, and to prevent many of the mischiefs you\nfear. This will preserve the soul in a sacred serenity and calmness\nunder all the gloomy and painful events of providence. Without this\nfirmness of spirit you can never practise what Christ commands his\ndisciples, and that is, _to possess their souls in patience in the hour\nof their distress_; Luke xxi. 19. But we may keep up the government of\nourselves by a holy fortitude and calm submission to the will of God.\nThis will make sorrows lighter, and the heaviest afflictions become more\ntolerable.\n\nWhereas, if we give a loose to fear, it throws the whole frame of nature\ninto a tumultuous hurry and confusion, it takes away the use of prudence\nto contrive the proper means for our escape, it cuts the sinews of our\nmost active powers, and enfeebles our whole nature, so that we become an\neasy prey to every adversary. The more we are affrighted, the less able\nare we to defend ourselves.\n\nFear is a dreadful bondage of the soul, and it holds the man in chains:\nTherefore in the text just now cited, the spirit of fear is called a\nspirit of bondage. It is this that brings the soul down to taste the\nbitterness, and to feel the smart of those very evils which affright us\nat a distance, and which perhaps never come near us. Those very\nsufferings which are prevented by the mercy of God, we endure them in\nour thoughts, and feel the pain of them by an indulgence of an excessive\nfear. We suffer an affliction once, if we are overwhelmed with the\nterror of it: And if at last it does really overtake us, we double the\nsuffering, and make the pain the longer. Oftentimes in cases of bodily\ndistempers, the fear itself brings the disease, and aggravates all the\nsymptoms. If we could read the records of the grave, we should find that\nmany a person has been oppressed, and sunk down to death, by the\nexcessive fear of dying.\n\nThe last remedy of fear which I shall mention, is this, suppose the\nworst that can come, and be calmly prepared for it: This will be a\nmighty relief against the tyranny of our fears.\n\nYou are afraid of losing your honour among men, afraid to bear the\nscourge of their tongues, and bitter reproaches. But think with\nyourselves, when slander and falsehood have done their worst, it is but\nthe wind of the breath of man, and this cannot hurt your best interest,\nwhile you stand approved of God. Infamy amongst men is but a trifling\nevil if compared with praise honour and glory among the saints before\nthe throne, and the applause of Jesus and his angels at the last great\nday.\n\nYou are frighted with the hideous appearance of poverty, because scorn\nattends it as well as want. But our blessed Lord had not where to lay\nhis head; he was fed by the bounty of kind friends and pious women, who\nministered to him of their substance. The great and the wise, the rich\nand the learned of that day, made him their mockery: The very finger of\nscorn pointed at him in the streets: And why should the disciple think\nit necessary that he should be above his Lord. Ye may be _poor in this\nworld, and at the same time rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom_;\nJames ii. 5.\n\nYou are afraid of sickness and pains of the flesh, and your life becomes\na burden to you, by reason of your constant dread of some infectious\ndistempers. You shift your dwellings, you hide yourselves at home, and\nyet you enjoy no peace. Suppose the distemper should seize you, has not\nsickness often brought your soul nearer to God? And if your outward man\nhas decayed, your inward man and your best interest have had a rich\nadvancement thereby.\n\nYou are terrified at the threatening of bloody men. It must be granted,\nthat flesh has a strong empire over the soul where dangers of torment\nand death appear. But suppose men of violence kill the body, then you\nwill be dismissed at once from all their fury, and from your own fears.\nTheir terror cannot reach beyond the grave; that is a safe and peaceful\nhiding-place.\n\nBut perhaps you are frighted at the thoughts of dying, even in the\ncommon way of nature: It may be, the king of terrors dresses himself in\nformidable airs, and shakes your very frame: But would you live here on\nearth for ever? A christian who has hopes and interests, and possessions\nbeyond the regions of time and sense, should not be afraid to enter upon\nthem. Remember that death itself, even in its most formidable\nappearance, is ordained of God to open the door of heaven for you, and\nlet your souls into the joy of eternal life: The grace of your Redeemer,\nand the epistle of St. Paul, join to teach you this song, _O death,\nwhere is thy sting?_ And _O grave, where is thy victory?_ 1 Cor. xv. 55.\n\nThus, by keeping your soul in a ready preparation for the worst events\nthat your fear can imagine, you overcome this tyrant of the soul, and\ntriumph over this slavish passion. Thus you transform your very terrors\ninto joys, and gather honey out of the lion, as Samson did. The more\nfatal your dangers are, the nearer is your final deliverance. Say to\nyourself, Is my feeble flesh tottering into the grave? Then my soul is\nso much nearer to the gates of glory. This is the holy skill of turning\nevil into good. Such a faith, kept in lively exercise can make roses\nspring out of the midst of thorns, and change the briars of the\nwilderness into the fruit-frees of paradise. O what a state of divine\nand sacred peace does that christian enjoy, who can look stedfastly upon\nthe face of danger, in its most frightful forms, and say through grace,\nI am prepared! _Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,\nI will fear no evil, for my God is with me_, and he will be with me for\never.\n\n_Recollection._\u2014What progress hast thou made, O my soul, in acquiring\nthis sacred fortitude? The former discourse has taught thee the\nnecessity of it, and the various occasions for the exercise of it in the\ncourse of the christian life. In this latter sermon thou hast heard the\nmotives that should awaken all thy powers to obtain and practise it, and\nthou hast been informed what are some of the most sovereign remedies\nagainst thy foolish and sinful fears. Methinks I feel the want of this\nholy hardiness of soul, to walk through the midst of temptations\nunmoved, unterrified, and undefiled. My virtue and my religion have too\noften suffered by the prevailing power of a slavish fear: my conscience\nhas lost its innocence and peace by too many sinful compliances. What\nshall I do to harden my spirit all over, that temptation and slavish\nfear may not find a place to enter.\n\nFor this end I review the glorious motives set before me. For this end I\nlook to the noble army of martyrs, to the blessed society of the\napostles, to the cloud of witnesses which have trod the same path before\nme, who have borne an undaunted testimony to the same religion which I\nprofess. I would chide and shame myself out of my sinful cowardice,\nwhile I behold their illustrious examples of zeal. But above all I fix\nmy eye upon Jesus, the divine author of this religion, _the Author and\nFinisher of my faith_; Heb. xii. 2. I would learn of the _Captain of my\nsalvation, who was made perfect through sufferings_; Heb. ii. 10. I\nwould learn of my divine Teacher, to endure hardships like a good\nsoldier of Christ, while I fight under his banner, against those very\nenemies that he hath subdued.\n\nConsider, my soul, what thou art: What is thy character and profession:\nIf thou art a christian indeed, thou hast taken up arms against sin and\nSatan, and a world that is in rebellion against God: And shall the frown\nof a man make thee drop thy weapons, and discourage thee from the\nglorious service? Thou hast many rich encouragements to expect divine\nassistance: Many joyful assurances of victory are given to them that\nendure in the day of conflict, and a glorious crown stands ready for\nthose that overcome. O may the crown of glory sparkle in my eye, and\ngrow brighter and larger by a nearer view, and a perpetual contemplation\nof it! Make me forgetful of ease and health, O my God, and of all my\nmortal interests, while I press forward with sacred courage to lay hold\non this crown! Blessed Saviour, make me triumph over every difficulty,\ntill death the last of all my enemies, be subdued, and I have obtained\nthe glorious prize.\n\nI would shake myself out of my fears, and awaken my zeal by such motives\nas these. And O that I could treasure up in my memory the various\nremedies of which I have heard this day, to heal this infirmity of my\nnature, and to overcome these foolish and sinful terrors of spirit! I\nwill review my faith, and the grounds of my hope, that I may know that I\nam a christian indeed, that I am one of the sheep of Christ, and under\nhis divine care; and I would watch against every temptation, lest I\ncontract a new guilt and defilement, and thereby darken my evidence and\nawaken my fears. I would survey with pleasure the gracious words of\npromise, which are scattered up and down in the book of God. O may the\nblessed Spirit print many of them on my heart, that they may be always\npresent with me, and that I may find them within my reach, and ready at\nhand as a special cordial in every fainting hour! I would run to them as\nmy sure refuge in every season of danger and conflict, and be animated\nto confront a sinful world.\n\nGive, me, O my God, give me the spirit of prayer, and let me keep ever\nnear to the throne of grace, that my soul may not come thither as a\nstranger, but that in every surprize I may address thee as a God near at\nhand, and that in the name of my great High-priest, Jesus the Son of\nGod, I may find grace ready to help me in the time of need.\n\nWean me, O Lord, from all the delights and hopes of flesh and sense?\nMortify me to all the humours and joys of a perishing life, and a vain\nworld. Arm my soul all over with a religious hardiness, that I may\nventure into the field of battle, and may scarce feel the wounds which I\nreceive, in thy cause. Give me the happy skill of diverting my fears,\nwhen I cannot at once subdue them, and lead me into proper employments\nof my heart and hand for this purpose.\n\nI would live as under the eye of God. I would take notice of his hand in\nall the affairs of life, and all the dangers that attend me. I would\nlearn of Moses to endure the fight of afflictions, as seeing him who is\ninvisible. Let me hear thy voice, O Jesus, my Saviour, let me hear thy\nvoice walking upon the waters; when I am tossed about upon the waves of\ndistress and difficulty, speak to my soul, and say, It is I, be not\nafraid.\n\nSurely I have had some experience of the Divine Presence with me in the\nmidst of dangers: God has sometimes disappointed all my fears, and\ninterposed his shield of power and love for my defence: Why should not I\ntrust a faithful God, and that infinite goodness which I have already\ntasted of? I charge my conscience with the authority of thy word. O\nLord, when thou forbiddest all my sinful fears, I would renounce them\ntoo, I would struggle to break these painful fetters, and fight against\nthis inward slavery of the soul, these domestic tyrants. O that the\nspirit of power were always with me, to dispel the spirit of bondage.\n\nI would be bravely prepared for the worst of sufferings, to which my\ncircumstances in this life may expose me. I would be ready to meet\ncontempt and scandal, poverty, sickness, and death itself. Jesus can\nsupport me in the heaviest distresses, though all the sorrows I fear\nshould come upon me. He can bear me on the wings of faith and hope, high\nabove all the turmoils and disquietudes of life: He can carry me through\nthe shadow of the dark valley, and scatter all the terrors of it. Give\nme, O Lord, these wings of faith and hope, and bear me upon them through\nall the remains of my short journey in the wilderness: Make me active\nand zealous in thy cause while I live, and convey me safely above the\nreach of fear, through the valley of death, to the inheritance prepared\nfor me in the land of light. Then my fears shall cease for ever, for\nenemies and dangers are not known in that land. There all our conflicts\nshall be changed into everlasting triumphs, while songs of honour and\nsalvation ascend in a full choir to the grace that has made us\novercomers. _Amen._\n\n\n HYMN FOR SERMON XXXII.\n _Holy Fortitude, or Remedies against Fear._\n\n\n When tumults of unruly fear\n Rise in my heart, and riot there,\n What shall I do to calm my breast,\n And get the vexing foe supprest?\n\n What power can these wild thoughts control,\n This ruffling tempest of the soul?\n Where shall I fly in this distress,\n But to the throne of glorious grace?\n\n My faith would seize some promise, Lord;\n There\u2019s power and safety in thy word:\n Not all that earth or hell can say,\n Shall tempt or drive my soul away.\n\n I call the days of old to mind,\n When I have found my God was kind;\n My heavenly Friend is still the same;\n Salvation to his holy name.\n\n Great God, preserve my conscience clean;\n Wash me from guilt, forgive my sin;\n Thy love shall guard me from surprize,\n Though threat\u2019ning dangers round me rise.\n\n When fear like a wild ocean raves,\n Let Jesus walk upon the waves,\n And say, \u201c\u2019tis I;\u201d that heavenly voice\n Shall sink the storm, and raise my joys.\n\nFootnote 32:\n\n A little book published lately by Mr. Samuel Clark, of St. Alban\u2019s, is\n of excellent use for this purpose. The title of it is \u201cA Collection of\n the Promises of Scripture under their proper heads.\u201d 1720.\n\nFootnote 33:\n\n That is an excellent treatise which Mr. Flavel has published against\n sinful fear, especially in times of public danger and persecution: And\n his little book of keeping the heart, has some valuable chapters in\n it, containing rich preservatives against this weakness of the mind.\n\n\n\n\n SERMON XXXIII.\n _The Universal Rule of Equity._\n MAT. vii. 12.\u2014All things whatsoever ye would that men should do unto\n you, do ye even so unto them; for this is the law and the prophets.\n\n\nWhen our blessed Lord took upon him the public office of a prophet or\nteacher amongst men, he found it was not only necessary to instruct them\nin the sacred mysteries of religion, and inform them of their duty to\nGod his Father, and to himself; but he employed much of his ministry\nalso, to teach them the practice of social virtue, and how they should\nbehave toward their fellow-creatures. In the heathen world the rules of\nmorality were lost in a great measure, as well as the rules of piety and\nworship; and the Jews, the peculiar people of God, had grossly corrupted\nboth the one and the other. As our Saviour refined the practice of\nreligion towards God, and raised it by his gospel, to a high and\nheavenly degree, beyond what mortals had known before, so he explained\nand established the rules of moral virtue, in a more glorious and\nconvincing manner than the world had been acquainted with.\n\nRead his life, and observe how often he takes occasion in the several\nseasons of his preaching, to give particular directions for our conduct\ntoward our neighbours. But after all, he knew that the nature of man was\ncorrupt, his passions strong, his memory frail, and that he would be\nready to neglect, or forget his various sacred precepts, when there was\nmost need to practise them; and therefore he thought it proper to give\none short and comprehensive rule of equity to regulate all our conduct,\nthat should be written as it were in our very souls: And this is\ncontained in the words of my text, _whatsoever ye would that men should\ndo unto you, do ye even so unto them; for this is the law and the\nprophets_.\n\nTo dilate a little upon this subject, and refresh a living sense of it\nupon your memories and your consciences, I shall follow this method, and\nenquire,\n\nI. What is the true meaning of this divine rule.\u2014II. What is the special\nargument that our Lord uses in order to enforce it. III. Wherein the\nparticular excellencies of it appear.\u2014IV. I shall conclude with some\nreflections on this subject.\n\n_First_, What is the true meaning of this rule?\n\nIn order to understand this rule aright, we must consider what it does\nnot require, as well as what it does: For on the one side, some selfish\nnecessitous and unreasonable persons may expect more from us than this\nrule obliges us to perform: And on the other side, a timorous and weak\nconscience may perhaps be led into a mistake, and think itself bound by\nthis rule to perform some instances of kindness to others, which are\nutterly unreasonable and unrequired, and which might be injurious on\nother accounts to ourselves, or to our families, or to the rest of\nmankind.\n\nWe must remember then, that this rule does not mean to oblige us to give\nall that to another, or do all that for another, which we could possibly\ndesire or wish to be bestowed upon us, or done for us; but whatsoever we\ncould reasonably desire, and justly expect another should do to us, that\nwe ought to do to him when he is in the like circumstances. All that in\nour calm and sedate thoughts we judge fit and proper another should do\nfor us, that we should practise and do for him. Such requests as we\ncould make to others, and could justify them to ourselves in our own\nconsciences, according to the principles of humanity, the rules of civil\nsociety, and the rights of mankind, such we ought not to deny to others\nwhen they stand in need. Not all that a fond self-love would prompt us\nto ask, but all that our conscience tells us we might with reason\nexpect.\n\nI shall mention an instance or two, which will more fully explain what I\nmean.\n\nA criminal under righteous condemnation for murder or robbery, may think\nthus with himself, _Surely I would pardon the judge or the prince, if he\nwere in my circumstances, therefore he ought to pardon me_; Or the judge\nhimself might think, _I should be glad to be pardoned or not condemned\nif I were in the case of this criminal, therefore I will not condemn\nhim_. This sort of thoughts arising from unreasonable and unjust\nprinciples, either of a sinful self-love, or indulgence to iniquity, are\nnot to be the measure of our actions nor expectations; these are not\njust and reasonable desires, nor can our own conscience in our sedate\nand calm enquiries judge so concerning them.\n\nAgain, if we were poor and starving, it may be we would be glad if our\nrich neighbour would settle upon us a competent estate sufficient to\nmaintain us for the term of our lives; but this we cannot reasonably\nexpect, or reasonably desire and demand; therefore we are not bound, be\nour circumstances never so large, to settle such a competency upon our\npoor neighbours, be their circumstances never so mean. We cannot\nrationally expect these things should be done unto us, we cannot\nequitably desire them of another, therefore we are not bound to do thus\nto another.\n\nBut if we are placed as criminals at the bar of judgment, we may\nreasonably expect that all the favourable circumstances which attend our\naccusation, should be well weighed, and all the kind allowances made,\nwhich the nature of the charge or crime will admit; for our consciences\nwould think it reasonable to allow so much to any criminal, if we\nourselves were placed in the chair of magistracy. Or if we, through the\nfrowns of providence, are poor and starving, we may reasonably expect\nour rich neighbour should bestow upon us a little of his bread, a little\nof his clothing, to supply our extreme necessities now and then; and\nthus much our neighbour may expect from us, when he is fallen into decay\nby the providence of God, while our circumstances are large, and we are\nwell furnished for such bounty.\n\nThus you see the true intent and meaning of this universal law of\nequity, _viz._ That we practise toward our neighbour in such a manner as\nour own hearts and consciences would think it reasonable he should\npractise towards us in the like case.\n\nThe _Second_ enquiry was this. What special argument doth our Lord use\nto enforce the observance of this sacred precept?\n\nWhen our Saviour had laid down this general rule, he adds, \u201cThis is the\nlaw and the prophets;\u201d that is, this is the summary of all the rules of\nduty, which are written in the law of Moses, concerning our carriage to\nour neighbour, and of all the laws which are explained by the succeeding\nprophets, and sacred writers under the Old Testament. They are all\ncomprehended in this short line; _Do to others, as you would have others\ndo to you_. It is very nearly the same thing, in other words with the\nlaw of Moses, _Love thy neighbour as thyself_; Lev. xix. 18. but it is\nmuch plainer and more intelligible: And indeed this rule of Moses is to\nbe understood and interpreted, and applied in practice according to this\nplainer rule of Christ, thus, \u201cLet thy love to thy neighbour be as great\nas thou canst reasonably expect or desire thy neighbour\u2019s love should be\nto thyself.\u201d\n\nWhen our blessed Lord gives an abridgment or abstract of the ten\ncommandments, he doth it in these words; Mat. xxii. 37, 38, 39. _Love\nthe Lord thy God with all thy heart and soul, that is, love God above\nall things: this is the first and great commandment._ _And the second is\nlike unto it; love thy neighbour as thyself_; that is, consider him as a\npiece of human nature, as a second self, and imitate thy love to thyself\nin thy conduct toward him: Or, according to my text, it may be explained\nthus; enquire of thy own heart how thou wouldst have him love thee, and\nlet this be the rule and measure of thy love to him. All our duties to\nGod or man, all the commands of the first and the second table, all the\ndictates of the law and prophets depend on these two commandments.\n\nThen we answer the design of the law, then we obey the prophets, then we\nfulfil the commands of Moses, and of Christ, when we give to God our\nsupreme love, and when we put ourselves in the room of our neighbour,\nand then carry it toward him, according to the love we expect he should\nbear us. This is _loving our neighbours as ourselves_, and this _love is\nthe fulfilling of the law_; Rom. xiii. 10. When our Saviour delivers the\nwords of my text, it is as if he had said to us, \u201cIf ye would practise\nall the duties that you owe to your fellow-creatures, and fulfil all the\nlaws of the second table, in the most compendious and perfect manner,\nremember and practise this one general direction, deal with the rest of\nmankind as your conscience judges they should deal with you.\u201d But this\nleads me to the:\n\n_Third_ enquiry, _viz._ wherein do the peculiar excellencies of this\nrule appear:\n\nThis golden rule hath many excellent properties belonging to it. I shall\nmention a few on purpose to impress it on your consciences with more\nconviction, pleasure and power.\n\nI. It is a rule that is easy to be understood, and as easy to be applied\nby the meanest and weakest understanding. It is so plain, that what is\nsaid by Isaiah concerning all the precepts of the gospel, is more\neminently true of this; _it is a highway of holiness, and the wayfaring\nman, though a fool, shall not err therein_; Is. xxxv. 8. The laws of man\nare often expressed in such obscure language and terms of art, that they\npuzzle us to find out the meaning of them: And the nice distinctions and\nsubtle reasonings of men, oftentimes add to their darkness, and raise\nnew disputes: But this is a law that every man understands; nor is it\neasy to be clouded by the comments and glosses of crafty men, if we are\nbut sincerely resolved to judge and practise according to it. By the\nmeans of this rule, they who never studied the civil law, nor took pains\nin enquiring the moral dictates of the light of nature; they who never\nexamined the statutes of a nation, nor the rules of natural justice, are\nall furnished with a law or rule of equity in their own minds, by which\nto manage their whole practice, with regard to their neighbours. Those\nwho are not capable of long trains of reasoning, or of applying several\ngeneral rules to all their particular cases: yet are able to look into\ntheir own hearts, and to ask this easy question, \u201cWould I myself be\ncontent to have others deal thus with me? Why thou should I deal thus\nwith another?\u201d\n\nII. It is a very short rule, and easy to be remembered: The weakest\nmemory can retain it; and the meanest of mankind may carry this about\nwith them, and have it ready upon all occasions. It is of admirable use,\nto solve a thousand cases of conscience that may arise on the sudden,\nand may perplex our minds with difficulty. \u201cIt lies ready,\u201d says a\nconsiderable author, \u201cfor present use upon all exigencies and occasions.\nWe can scarce be so far surprized by an immediate necessity of acting as\nnot to have time for a short recourse to this rule, or room for a sudden\nglance, as it were, upon it in our minds, where it rests and sparkles\nalways like the urim and thummim on the breast of Aaron.\u201d\n\nIf we have no written cases of conscience, no books at hand to direct\nour practice, if we have no faithful minister near us, no wise and pious\nfriend to consult on a sudden occasion, this one rule, written in the\nheart, may serve instead of all other helps. This blessed precept\nstrikes a sudden and sacred light into the mind, where the case may seem\nintricate: It shines upon our way, and makes our path plain, where an\nhonest and scrupulous conscience might be just before bewildered in the\ndark, and not know how to act. \u201cPractise that, O man! toward thy\nneighbour, which thou art convinced thy neighbour should practise toward\nthee.\u201d\n\nIII. This excellent precept of Christ, carries greater evidence to the\nconscience, and a stronger degree of conviction in it, than any other\nrule of moral virtue. As I said before, that a little reason will serve\nto apply it, so I say now, there is not much need of reasoning to find\nit out; for we fetch the proof of it from within ourselves, even from\nour own inward sensation and feeling. If we would know what is just and\nequitable to do to our neighbour, we need but ask our own inward sense,\nand our conscience together, what we would think equitable and just to\nreceive from him? Thus there is but one and the same measure of justice,\nby which we must mete it out to ourselves and others; and that measure\nlies within us, even in the heart. We are very sensible of benefits and\ninjuries that we ourselves receive, and this very sense of injuries and\nbenefits, is, as it were, transcribed into our conscience, from the\ntenderest part of our own souls, and becomes there a rule of equity, how\nwe should treat our neighbours.\n\nIt is a most righteous precept of the ancient Jewish law, and of\nuniversal obligation; Deut. xxv. 13, 14, 15. _Thou shalt not have in thy\nbag, or in thine house, divers weights, and divers measures; a great and\na small: That is, one wherewith to buy, and another wherewith to sell;\nbut thou shalt have a perfect and just weight; a perfect and just\nmeasure shalt thou have._ This precept as soon as it is mentioned,\nstrikes the conscience with conviction of the justice of it: And what is\nsaid here of traffic and dealing, holds as truly of the general commerce\nbetween man and man, in all the ordinary and extraordinary affairs of\nlife: That mutual exchange of good offices, whereby society is upheld,\nmust be regulated in the same manner, and by the same rule; and the\nimmediate conviction of the equity of it, doth as strongly strike the\nconscience. \u201cThere must be a perfect weight, and a just measure,\u201d saith\nthe author before-cited, \u201cby which all men are mutually obliged to\nregulate their conduct, in acting and suffering, in commanding and\nobeying, in giving and receiving: and this can be no other than the\nequal and righteous rule of the text; the doing in all cases and to all\npersons, even as we would be done unto. There is no one so absurd and\nunreasonable, as not to see, and acknowledge the absolute equity of this\ncommand in the theory, however he may swerve and decline from it in his\npractice.\u201d For, it is founded not only in the reason of things, and in\nthe common share, and equal interest that we all have in human nature;\nbut it is also written in the most sensible and the tenderest part of\nour constitution; and from thence it is derived to the mind and\njudgment, as a law of behaviour towards our fellow-creatures.\n\nIV. Hence it comes to pass, that it is a precept particularly fitted for\npractice, because it includes in it a powerful motive to stir us up to\ndo what he enjoins. This character of it, I borrow from the same author,\nwho talks thus upon it: \u201cOther moral maxims propose naked truths to the\nunderstanding, which operate often but faintly and slowly on the will\nand passions, the two active principles of the mind of man: But it is\nthe peculiar character of this rule, that it addresseth itself equally\nto all these powers, even to the passions, and the will, as well as the\nunderstanding. It not only directs, but influences; it imparts both\nlight and heat; and at the same time that it informs us clearly what we\nare to do, excites us also in the most tender moving manner, to the\nperformance of it; for in truth, its seat is not more in the brain, than\nin the heart of man: It appeals to our very senses themselves, and\nexerts its secret force in so prevailing a way, that it is even felt as\nwell as understood by us.\u201d\n\n\u201cThere is nothing that we know, that gives a man so true and lively a\nsense of the sufferings of others, or restrains him so powerfully from\ndoing unrighteous and oppressive things, as his having smarted formerly\nhimself under the experience of them. Now the supposing another man\u2019s\nill usage to be our own; is the giving ourselves a present sense, as it\nwere, and a kind of feigned experience of it; which doth, for the time\nserve all the purposes of a true one.\u201d\n\nV. It is such a rule, as if well applied, will almost always secure our\nneighbour from injury, and secure us from guilt, if we should chance to\nhurt him. God will not impute guilt to us, if we should happen to\nmistake in a point of doubtful enquiry, and to hurt our neighbour by a\nconscientious obedience to this rule.\n\nI say, it will almost always secure us from injuring our neighbour, I\ncannot say, it is always an absolute, infallible, and certain rule of\nright and wrong; for our knowledge of the eternal rules of right and\nwrong is but imperfect; neither our own heads or hearts, are furnished\nwith all the various and particular principles of equity. A mere enquiry\ninto our own hearts or consciences, can never give us a perfect\nknowledge of the abstracted rules of justice: Nor can it determine us to\nthe certain practice of it, in all the most intricate cases, unless\nthese perfect rules of justice were fully written in the heart of every\nman. But under the present circumstances of mankind, in this poor,\nignorant, and corrupt state of human nature, it appears to be the best,\nthe most righteous, the most secure, and the most universal rule that\never could be invented or given to men; for it will certainly secure and\nprevent every man from injuring his neighbour in all cases, except where\nhe himself is willing and content to receive equal injury: And I am\nsure, self-love will tell us, that these cases are exceeding few.\n\nIt is evident therefore, that an honest man will scarce ever mistake in\nkeeping close to this rule. And if I should then happen to do an injury\nto my neighbour, instead of strict equity, yet I can appeal to God, and\nsay, I endeavoured to apply this rule to my conscience, in the present\ncircumstances, with the utmost sincerity. I acted no otherwise to my\nneighbour, than I desired or judged it reasonable for my neighbour, to\nact towards me in the like case. And surely my unavoidable mistake will\nnot be imputed to me as a crime, where I have honestly followed the rule\nmy Saviour has given me, and acted therein according to the best\ncapacity of my judgment.\n\nVI. It is a rule as much fitted to awaken us to sincere repentance upon\nthe transgression of it, as it is to direct us to our present duty. This\nrule abides in the bosom of a christian, it dwells so near him, that it\nis, as it were, mingled with conscience itself; and by this means it\nbecomes not only a safe guide, but a sharp reprover too: It soon puts us\nin mind where either inclination or practice warps toward injustice and\ndeceit. Have we never felt our conscience sting us with a bitter\nreflection derived from this rule, when we have neglected in any\ninstance to fulfil our duty to our neighbour? I am sure if we kept it\nmuch in view, we could neither practise injustice with ease of mind, nor\ndwell long under this guilt, without some inward reproaches: If the\nprecept had not power enough to restrain us from present sin, yet it\nwould spur us on to serious and speedy repentance.\n\n[Here the sermon may be divided, if it be too long to be read in a\nfamily at once.]\n\nVII. It is a most extensive rule, with regard to all the stations, ranks\nand characters of mankind: for it is perfectly suited to them all: And I\nthink it may be said, that it is equally useful to the rich and the\npoor, to the buyer and the seller, to the prince and to the peasant, to\nthe master and the servant: They all come under the single rule of duty\nand justice: This should govern them in all their conduct. Be your\ncondition, O christians, what it will in the world, do but put\nyourselves into the circumstances of one another, in your own thoughts,\nfor a moment, and ask what is reasonable to be done to yourselves? And\nyour consciences will return a speedy and easy answer what you should do\nto others.\n\nLet the tenant say, \u201cIf I were a landlord, what should I think\nreasonable that my tenant should pay me?\u201d And the landlord should ask\nhimself, \u201cWere I a tenant, what should I claim of my landlord?\u201d I would\nhave the master enquire, \u201cWhat should I expect, if I were a servant, at\nthe hand of my master?\u201d And let the servant say, \u201cWhat, if I were a\nmaster, should I expect from the hands of one that served me?\u201d Parents\nshould ask themselves, \u201cif I had been a negligent child, and guilty of\nsome trifling offence, could I think it just my father should be in such\na passion with me?\u201d And the son should enquire, \u201cif I were a father,\nwould I not think it reasonable my child should obey me in such\nparticular instances or commands?\u201d Thus the landlord and tenant, thus\nthe master and servant, thus the father and the son may come to an\nadjustment of their mutual obligations.\n\nThe merchant should say to himself, \u201cif I were an artificer, should I\nthink it reasonable that the labour of my hands, and the sweat of my\nbrows, should be screwed down to so cheap a price?\u201d The seller of goods\nshould say, \u201cIf I were the buyer, would I think it just to have such\ncorrupt or faulty wares put into my hands? Am I willing to have my\nnecessity, my ignorance, or unwariness thus imposed upon?\u201d And the buyer\nshould ask himself, \u201cIf I were the seller, should I bear to have my\ngoods thus run down and depreciated below the just value?\u201d\n\nThe learned professions may also learn their duty from this rule. The\nlawyer should say to himself, \u201cWhat if I were the client should I think\nit equitable to have my cause so long delayed, by so many shiftings and\nescapes, from a determination?\u201d The physicians and the surgeons should\nput themselves in the places of their sick and wounded patients, and\nsay, \u201cDo we prescribe never a potion, or use never a plaster more than\nwe would think proper for ourselves, if we were languishing under the\nsame sickness or wounds? Do we take the same safe and speedy methods of\nrelief for others that we would have applied to ourselves?\u201d And the\npreachers of the gospel should place themselves in the room of their\nhearers, and say, \u201cDo we labour in our closets, in our secret hours of\nretirement, and in our public ministrations, for the conversion and\nsalvation of those who hear us, as we would have ministers do for us, if\nwe were perishing in our sins, and in danger of eternal death? Do we\ntake such pains to awaken the slumberers upon the borders of hell, as we\nourselves would have others take, in order to awaken us out of such\nfatal slumbers? Do we study and contrive with what divine cordials we\nshall refresh and comfort the mourners in Zion, even as we should desire\nto be comforted and refreshed?\u201d Such sort of self-enquiries as these,\nwill lead us to the practice of our present duty, and solve many a\ndifficult case of conscience better than turning over the largest\nvolumes.\n\nVIII. This sacred rule is a most comprehensive one, with regard to all\nthe actions and duties that concern our neighbours. It is not confined\nmerely to the practice of justice, but it extends much wider and\nfarther: It is of mighty influence in the direction and practice of\nmeekness, of patience, of charity, of truth and faithfulness, and every\nkind of social virtue, and a most happy guard against every social vice.\nIt would be endless to enter into all the special cases of vice and\nvirtue, which relate to the social life, and to shew how much they are\naffected by this rule, and what divine advantages we may attain for the\npractice of morality, by keeping this one sentence ever upon our\nthoughts. Yet I cannot pass over so important a theme, without giving a\nshort specimen of some of these advantages.\n\nThis golden precept would teach us how to regulate our temper and\ngeneral behaviour in the world. Am I not willing to be treated in an\naffable and civil manner by those who converse with me? Let me treat\nothers then with all becoming civility, and make it appear that\nchristianity is a religion of true honour, and that a christian is\nindeed a well-bred man. Do I think it unreasonable that my neighbour,\nthough he be my superior, should assume haughty airs and disdain me? Let\nme watch therefore against all such scornful speeches and disdainful\nairs, when I converse with one, who is inferior to me. Do I think it a\ngrievous thing, that a man should break out into sudden passion against\nme, if I happen to speak a word contrary to his sentiment, or to set\nhimself in a rage for a trifle? Let me set a strict guard then over all\nmy passionate powers, and learn to bear opposition without impatience.\nLet me quench the first risings of sudden anger, lest they kindle into\nan ungoverned flame, and hurry me on to the practice of what I condemn\nin others.\n\nThis excellent rule would teach us tenderness and beneficence to those\nthat are unhappy. We should never make a jest of the lame or the blind,\nthe crooked or the deformed: we should never ridicule the natural\ninfirmities of the meanest of our fellow-creatures, nor their\nprovidential disadvantages, if we did but put ourselves in the room of\nthe blind and lame, the deformed and the poor, and ask whether we should\nthink it just and reasonable to be made the mockery and the jest of\nthose that behold us. We should certainly be inclined to visit the sick,\nand feed the hungry, to give drink to him that is a-thirst, and to\nsecure the feeble and helpless from the oppression of the mighty, if we\nenquired of our own hearts, what treatment we should expect if we were\nhungry and thirsty, if we were sick and helpless.\n\nThis blessed command of our Saviour would incline us to reprove with\ngentleness, to punish with mercy, and never to censure others without a\njust reason, and a plain call of providence; for we ourselves desire and\nwould reasonably expect this sort of treatment from others. If we\ncarried this sentence always in our memories, should we blaze abroad\nscandalous reports before we know the truth of them? and publish\ndoubtful suspicions of our neighbour\u2019s guilt? Should we blacken his\ncharacter to the utmost, even where there is a real crime, and make no\nreasonable allowances for him? Should we perpetually teaze children,\nservants, or friends with old faults, and make their follies and\nmiscarriages the matter of our delightful conversation? Should we\ncensure every little deviation from the truth, as heresy? Should we\npronounce anathemas and curses upon him that leaves out of his creed a\nfew hard words which men have invented, or that differs from us in the\nbusiness of meats, and days, and ceremonies? We ourselves think it hard\nto have doubtful reports of evil published concerning us, and suspicions\nblown up into guilt: We think it hard if our crimes are aggravated to\nthe utmost, and no reasonable allowances are made: We find it very\npainful to us, and think it unreasonable to be ever teazed with the\nmention of our former follies, or to have our little differences from\nanother\u2019s faith or worship to be pronounced heresy, and to be cut off\nfrom the church for it.\n\nIn short, if this blessed rule of our Saviour did but more universally\nobtain, we should never persecute one another for our disagreement in\nopinion, for we should then learn this lesson, that another has as much\nright to differ from me in his sentiment, as I have to differ from him.\nIf this rule did but prevail amongst all that own the christian name;\nthen truth, honesty and justice, meekness and love would reign and\ntriumph through all the churches of Christ, and those vile affections\nand practices of pride, envy, wrath, cruelty, backbiting, and\npersecution would be banished for ever from amongst us.\n\nIX. It is not only a rule of equity and love to direct our whole conduct\ntoward our neighbours in the social life, but it is also a rule of the\nhighest prudence with regard to ourselves; and it promotes our own\ninterest in the best manner: For if we make conscience of treating our\nneighbours according to all the justice and tenderness that this rule\nwill incline us to, we may reasonably expect the same kind and tender\ntreatment from those that are round about us. Such a practice will\nnaturally engage the greatest part of mankind on our side, whensoever we\nhappen to be assaulted or oppressed by the sons of malice or violence.\nHappy is that person who has gained the love of mankind, by making the\nlove of himself a rule and measure of his actions toward them, and has\npiously followed that precept of the law of God, _Love thy neighbour as\nthyself_.\n\nLet us remember that we live in a changeable world, and the scenes of\nlife are continually shifting. I am now a master, and in possession of\nriches, and if I treat my servant, or any poor man insolently, I may\nexpect the like insolent treatment if my circumstances sink, and reduce\nme to a state of poverty or service. But if I follow this golden rule of\nour Saviour, in treating my inferiors, I do, as it were, hoard up for\nmyself a treasure of merit and benevolence amongst men, which I may hope\nto receive and taste of, in the day of my necessity and distress. Thus\nin behaving myself toward others according to this holy rule of\nfriendship, I not only please and obey my God and my Saviour, but I\nhappily secure my temporal interests also.\n\nX. In the last place, to mention no more. This rule is fitted to make\nthe whole world as happy as the present state of things will admit. It\nis not to be described nor conceived what a multitude of blessings and\nfelicities the practice of this single precept would introduce among all\nmankind.\n\nIf we were not thus wrapped up entirely in self, in our own party, or in\nour own kindred, but could look upon our neighbours as ourselves, and\nseek their advantage together with our own, every man would become a\ndiffusive blessing amongst his neighbours, and the mutual benefits of\nmankind would scatter happiness through all the world. In such a\nbeneficent state as this, every man would be, as it were, a good angel\nto all that came within the reach of his commerce; this earth would be a\nlittle image of heaven; and our present social life amongst men would be\na foretaste of our future happiness among saints and angels. In those\nglorious regions, every one rejoices in the welfare of the whole\ncommunity and they have a double relish of their own personal\nblessedness, by the pleasure they take in contributing to the\nblessedness of all their fellows.\n\nThus have I given a short and very imperfect account of the excellencies\nof this sacred rule of equity and love, and named some of the advantages\nit has above most other precepts of morality. It remains only that I\nmake two or three reflections on so agreeable a subject.\n\nReflection I. In what a compendious method has our Saviour provided for\nthe practice of all the moral duties enjoined by Moses and the prophets!\nFor he has summed them up in a very few words, and reduced them to one\nshort rule; but the extent and comprehension of it is universal, and\nalmost infinite.\u2014Though we should forget twenty particular precepts of\nlove and righteousness, yet if this be fresh in our thoughts, and always\nready at hand, we shall practise all those particular precepts\neffectually, by the mere influence of this one general rule. It is true,\nit is a real advantage toward our practice of virtue and justice, to\nhave the mind stored with special precepts, suited particularly to every\ncase; but where the memory is defective, or other rules are not learned,\nthis golden one will do very much towards supplying the place of many.\nOur Saviour himself grants this truth, when he says; _This is the law\nand the prophets_.\n\nII. What divine wisdom is manifested in making this golden rule of\nequity a fundamental law, in the two most famous religions that ever God\nappointed to the children of men; that is, the Jewish and the christian!\n_Love thy neighbour as thyself_, was a rule appointed to the Jews; Lev.\nxix. 18. This is repeated by our Saviour; Mat. xix. 19. And a happy\nexplication or comment on it given in my text, _Whatsoever ye would that\nmen should do to you, do ye even so unto them; for this is the law and\nthe prophets_. There were none of the heathen philosophers that\ndelivered this as a general law, in so strong, so universal, and so\ncomprehensive a manner as our Saviour has done, though one or two of\nthem offered some occasional hints of the same kind. But our Saviour\nappoints it as the grand rule of social virtue, amongst all the subjects\nof his kingdom; and he tells us too, that this is the sum and substance\nof the directions given by Moses and the prophets for the conduct of men\ntoward their fellow-creatures.\n\nThe wisdom of this precept eminently appears herein: Our blessed Lord\nwell knew that self-love would be a powerful temptation to men, to turn\nthem aside from the sacred laws of justice, in treating their\nneighbours; and therefore he wisely takes this very principle of\nself-love, and joins it in the consultation with our reason and\nconscience, how we should carry it toward our fellow-creatures. Thus by\nhis divine prudence, he constrains even this selfish and rebellious\nprinciple to assist our consciences and our rational powers, in\ndirecting us how to practise the social duties of life.\n\nIt was Christ the Son of God who gave laws to Moses for Israel before\nhis incarnation, and it is he who is come in the flesh, as a preacher of\nrighteousness to men, in these latter days; and in both these seasons of\nlegislature, he has manifested this sacred wisdom: _Ye know the heart of\na stranger_, saith the Lord, in his dictates to Moses; Ex. xxiii. 2.\n_for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt; therefore thou shalt not\noppress a stranger_. And he gives us still the same general rule for our\nconduct; \u201cLook into your own hearts, consider what human nature is, you\nknow you are men of like frailty with others, enquire what treatment you\nwould reasonably expect from your fellows, and be sure you practise in\nthe same manner toward them.\u201d\n\nIII. Since the wisdom of Christ thought fit to teach us rules of equity\nand righteousness amongst men, and has, as it were, extracted the very\nsoul and spirit of all social duties, and summed them up in this short\nsentence: Let not the disciples of Christ forget this rule; nor let the\nmost eminent and exalted christians think it beneath their study and\ntheir practice. The love of God and Christ is not the whole of our duty,\nnor can we be christians indeed, if we neglect to love our neighbour.\nHow vain are all our pretences to faith in Christ, and piety toward God,\nif we grow careless in our conduct toward men? All our fancied\nattainments in the school of Christ, how are they disgraced and\ndestroyed, if we abandon this rule of moral virtue, and treat our\nneighbours contrary to this divine principle of equity and love.\n\nWhat shall we answer in the great judgment-day to an enquiring God, when\nin flaming fire he shall put us in mind: \u201cI gave you a plain and easy\nrule of righteousness in my word, I wrote it in your hearts also, in\nvery legible characters: If you had but looked carefully into your\nconsciences, you might have read it there: But you resolved to sacrifice\nall to your lusts: you have wronged and defrauded your brethren, and\nexposed yourselves to my righteous sentence, for your wilful practice of\nunrighteousness against so plain a law.\u201d\n\nIt is a just remark which has often been made on this occasion: \u201cThe\nheathen emperor Severus shall rise up in the judgment with such a\ngeneration of christians, and condemn them: For he, by the light of\nnature, was taught highly to reverence this precept,\u201d when he had\nlearned it from the professors of christianity. You might read it upon\nthe walls of his palace; it was engraven there to govern his court in\nthe times of peace; and it is said, he carried it to war with him in the\nbanners of his army, that it might regulate his conduct, upon all\nmilitary occurrences. What a pity it is that Severus was a heathen! Or\nrather what a shame and sorrow it is, that there should be so few of\nthis character in the courts, in the armies, in the markets, the shops,\nand the families of christians? When will that blessed day come, that\nshall bring this departed glory back again to the church of Christ? When\nshall the spirit of faith and charity be poured down from on high, and\nrighteousness come from heaven to dwell among us?\n\nRecollection.\u2014Blessed Saviour, how great is thy goodness, to give us so\ncomplete, so plain, so easy, and so divine a rule to square all our\nactions in the social life! How happily hast thou comprized Moses and\nthe prophets in two short lines, that is, the command of a supreme love\nto the Lord our God, and a love to our neighbour like that which we bear\nto ourselves?\n\nRemember, O my soul, this short and comprehensive lesson; and amongst\nall thy duties and zeal toward thy God, forget not this rule of conduct\ntoward thy fellow-creatures. I can never complain, it is too high and\nhard for my understanding to apprehend, or too tiresome and painful for\nmy memory to retain, or too burdensome to carry it about always with me.\nI am convinced, fully convinced of the justice of it: It strikes upon my\nconscience with strong light and evidence, and sometimes I feel the\nforce of it, like an inward motive, awakening me to the practice of all\nthat it enjoins. O that I might ever live under its prevailing\ninfluences, and then I might humbly appeal to God, that I have\ntransacted my affairs with men, by the principles of sincere godliness,\ntruth and justice.\n\nForgive, O my gracious God, all the wretched instances of my departure\nfrom this sacred law of equity. This sacred law will awaken the soul to\nrepentance, as well as direct it to duty; and whatever station of life I\nam engaged in, whatever rank, character, office, or relation I bear in\nthe world, or in the church of Christ; let me form all my future conduct\nby this command of my Saviour, let me bring all my past actions to this\nholy test, and let my conscience repent or rejoice.\n\nO how bright a lustre would be cast on the religion of Jesus, and on all\nthe professors of it, if this rule were always in use! But alas! it lies\nsilent in our bibles, and we hear it not; or it sleeps in our bosom and\nwe awake it not, when we have most need of its assistance. We read and\nwe forget even this short rule of righteousness, and thus we practice\niniquity daily, and injure our neighbours without remorse. O wretched\ncreatures that we are? How great is our negligence and our guilt, that\nwe do not so much as ask our consciences honestly, how we should treat\nour fellow-creatures; but we ask our lusts and our passions, we enquire\nof our ambition and pride, our covetousness, our wrath and revenge, how\nwe should behave to others.\n\nReflect, O my soul, how often thou hast turned aside from this blessed\nrule of thy Saviour, by consulting with the corrupt principles of flesh\nand blood. How often hast thou neglected this holy precept, to follow\nthe vicious customs of a sinful world, and a degenerate age! A\ndegenerate age indeed, that has forgot the practise of truth and love!\nWhere shall we write this rule in large and golden letters, that the\nwhole city might read it daily? Shall we engrave it on every door, that\nall who pass by may see it? Shall it stand fixed to every post of the\nhouse, that it may direct all your domestic conduct? Shall it meet us at\nthe entrance of every shop, and thus guard our traffic from iniquity,\nand sanctify all our commerce? Shall we make a philactery of it, and\nwear it on the borders of our garments, that we may never put it off,\nunless we lie down to sleep, and cannot act? But the Spirit of Christ is\nthe best writer of his own golden rule, and the heart of man is the best\ntable to receive and bear this writing. O that the holy Spirit would\nwrite this sacred law of justice and love more deeply, more effectually\nin all our hearts, that the religion of our Saviour might look like\nitself, all amiable and holy; and that while we give glory to God on\nhigh, for his saving grace, we might find peace and truth spreading\nthrough all the earth, and good-will multiplied among the children of\nmen. Thus the will of God would be done on earth, as it is in heaven,\nand the kingdom of our Redeemer come in its expected glory. _Amen._ Even\nso come Lord Jesus.\n\n\n HYMN FOR SERMON XXXIII.\n _The Universal Rule of Equity._\n\n\n Blessed Redeemer, how divine,\n How righteous is this rule of thine,\n \u201cNever to deal with others worse,\n Than we would have them deal with us.\u201d\n\n This golden lesson short and plain,\n Gives nor the mind nor memory pain:\n And every conscience must approve\n This universal law of love.\n\n \u2019Tis written in each mortal breast,\n Where all our tenderest wishes rest;\n We draw it from our inmost veins,\n Where love to self resides and reigns.\n\n Is reason ever at a loss?\n Call in self-love to judge the cause;\n Let our own fondest passion shew\n How we should treat our neighbours too.\n\n How bless\u2019d would every nation prove,\n Thus rul\u2019d by equity and love!\n All would be friends without a foe,\n And form a paradise below.\n\n Jesus, forgive us that we keep\n Thy sacred law of love asleep;\n And take our envy, wrath and pride,\n Those savage passions, for our guide.\n\n\n\n\n SERMON XXXIV.\n _The Atonement of Christ._\n ROM. iii. 25.\u2014Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation\u2014\u2014\n\n\nIt is one of the chief glories of the gospel, that it discovers a full\natonement for sin by the blood of Christ, that it sets before us the\nreconciliation of sinners to an offended God, by the death of his own\nSon. One would be ready to wonder, that any of the guilty race of Adam\nshould be unwilling to receive so divine a discovery, or should refuse a\nblessing so important.\n\nBut such unhappy principles have prevailed over the minds of some men,\nand particularly the Socinians in the last age, that they have been\ncontent to venture their eternal hopes on the mercy of God, without a\ndependance on the satisfaction made for sin, by Jesus the Saviour. They\nimagine Christ the Son of God came into our world chiefly to be a\nteacher of grace and duty, to be an example of piety and virtue, to\nplead with God for sinners, and in short to do little more than any\nother divine prophet might have been employed in, if the wisdom of God\nhad so appointed it. They suppose he yielded to death that he might seal\nhis doctrine with his blood, and might set us a glorious pattern of\nsuffering and dying, and then he led the way to our resurrection, by his\nown rising from the dead.\n\nIt is granted indeed, these are some of the designs of the coming of\nChrist, some of the necessary parts of the blessed gospel: But it seems\nto me, that this blessed gospel is shamefully curtailed, and deprived of\nsome of its most important designs and honours, if a proper atonement\nfor sin by the blood of Christ be left out of it.\n\nForgive me, my fellow-christians, if I spend a discourse or two on this\ngreat article of our common faith. I think it of so high a moment, that\nI would fain pronounce and publish it aloud in an age that verges\ntowards infidelity; I would glory in the cross of Christ, and endeavour\nto support this doctrine with all my power. O may none of those who bear\nthe christian name, ever grow weary of it, or run back again to the mere\nreligion of nature, as though we had no gospel!\n\nI shall not spin out my thoughts, or employ yours in a laborious enquiry\ninto the connection of the words, but take them just as they lie, and\nmake this plain sentence the foundation of my discourse.\n\nDoctrine.\u2014God hath set forth his Son, Jesus Christ, to be a propitiation\nfor the sins of men.\n\nWhen the apostle says, God hath set him forth, Christ is plainly the\nperson intended: and this greek word \u03c0\u03c1\u03bf\u03b5\u03b8\u03b5\u03c4\u03bf, set forth, denotes\neither, 1. That God hath fore-ordained and appointed his Son to become\nour propitiation by his divine purpose in eternity, which purpose he\nexecuted here in time: Or, 2. It intends that God hath set him forth,\nthat is, proposed and offered him to the world as an atonement for the\nsins of those who trust in the merit of his death; for so the following\nwords intimate, God set him forth for a propitiation, through faith in\nhis blood. I am not solicitous which of these senses the reader will\nchuse; either of them perfectly agrees with the design of the apostle.\n\nI would just take a brief notice also, that some interpreters transpose\nthe words of the text a little, and read them thus, _whom God hath set\nforth to be a propitiation in his blood through faith_, and thus they\nsuppose the apostle, in this very verse, declares that Christ atoned for\nour sins by his own blood: And if this be the true sense of it, it does\nbut more effectually confirm the design of my doctrine, which is to shew\nthat Christ, by his bloody death, became a sacrifice to God, in order to\nmake satisfaction for the crimes of men. My method of discourse shall be\nthis:\n\nI. To explain more at large the manner in which I conceive Christ to\nbecome an atonement or propitiation for our sins.\u2014II. To give some\nreasons to prove, that he is ordained of God, and set forth or offered\nto the world under this character.\u2014And, III. I shall shew what glorious\nuse is made of this doctrine throughout the whole christian life.\n\n_First_, Let me explain the manner wherein Christ becomes an atonement\nor propitiation for sin. And to render this point easy to the lowest\nunderstanding, I would draw it out into these propositions:\n\nProposition I. The great God having made man, appointed to govern him by\na wise and righteous law, wherein glory and honour, life and immortality\nare the designed rewards for perfect obedience; but tribulation and\nwrath, pain and death, are the appointed recompence to sinners who\nviolate his law.\n\nThis law is in a great measure engraven on the hearts and consciences of\nall men by nature; at least the general precepts of it are written in\nthe conscience: And mankind, by the light of nature, has some notion\nalso of these penalties, _viz._ the _indignation and wrath of God on\nthose that do evil_. And such as have enjoyed the benefit of divine\nrevelation, in patriarchal, Jewish, or christian times, have had much\nclearer discoveries thereof. This might be proved at large from the\ndiscourse of St. Paul; Rom. ii. 6-16. compared with Rom. i. 32. _The\nheathens who are without the law, have the work of the law written in\ntheir hearts_, and they know, or might know, that those who break it\n_are worthy of death_.\n\nII. All mankind have broken the law of God. _There is none righteous;\nno, not one_; Rom. iii. 10. By sinning against God, we have lost all\npretence to the reward of life, and immortality, and glory; Rom. iii.\n23. _All have sinned and come short of the glory of God._ And we have\nalso subjected ourselves to guilt and punishment; verse 19. _Every mouth\nis stopped, and all the world becomes guilty before God._ A sentence of\nwrath and death is _passed upon all men, for that all have sinned_; Rom.\nv. 12. and the best of saints were by nature _dead in trespasses and\nsins, and the children of wrath even as others_; Eph. ii. 1-3.\n\nIII. God in His infinite wisdom did not think fit to pardon sinful man,\nwithout some compensation for his broken law, some recompence for the\ndishonour done to his government. He did not see it proper to forgive\nall our guilt without some satisfaction for breaking his holy commands.\nI will not enter into that curious enquiry, whether God, considered\nabsolutely as a sovereign, could have done it. It is enough for us that\nhe hath, in effect, declared he would not do it, and that probably for\nsuch reasons as these:\n\n1. If the Great Ruler of the world had pardoned the sins of men without\nany satisfaction, then his laws might have seemed not worth the\nvindicating. It might have been questioned, whether his statutes were so\nwisely contrived and framed, as to deserve a vindication, if he had\nfreely forgiven all rebels that had broken them, without any\nconsideration, without any satisfaction at all. It becomes a wise\nlawgiver to see that his wisdom in framing his laws, be not exposed to\ndishonour; and therefore his laws must be vindicated, when they are\nbroken.\n\n2. Men would have been tempted to persist in their rebellions, and to\nrepeat their old offences continually, if there had been no vindication\nof the honour of the law, nor any of the threatenings of it had been\nexecuted. Therefore God requires a satisfaction for his broken commands,\nthat his subjects might be kept in due obedience, by an awful fear of\nhis governing justice. And it is on this account, _viz._ to deter and\nfright men from sinning, and breaking his laws, he hath given them an\naccount in what a severe and terrible manner he dealt with _angels that\nsinned, he spared them not_; 2 Pet. ii. 4. _but delivered them to chains\nof darkness until the judgment of the great day_; Jude 6.\n\n3. His forms of government among his creatures, might have appeared as a\nmatter of small importance: His threatenings might have been counted a\ntrifling and useless formality, and mere vain terrors, if he had given\nlaws, and took no care whether they were obeyed or no: and if he let\nthose creatures that broke them come off, without any tokens of his\ndispleasure, without any reparation of the honour due to his law and\ngovernment: Let not sinners deceive themselves with vain hopes, and\ndress up the great God in their own imaginations, as a being of mere\nmercy, as an Almighty Creator, that keeps no discipline or authority\namong his creatures; Gal. vi. 7. \u201cBe not deceived, God is not mocked; He\nthat soweth to the flesh shall reap destruction.\u201d\n\n4. God had a mind to make a very illustrious display, both of his\njustice and of his grace among mankind, which should be the solemn\nspectacle and the wonder of other worlds besides this, even the world of\nangels, principalities and powers; and therefore he hath designed his\ngrace and his justice should mutually set forth each other, in his\ntransactions with sinful man: On this account he would not pardon sin,\nwithout a satisfaction; but he thought fit to require and demand that\nsin be punished, and that the honour of the law be repaired to the full,\nthat his justice might shine in full glory: And at the same time, in\norder to display his rich mercy, he would find out a way to save\nmultitudes of these rebellious creatures.\n\nThese, and other reasons, infinitely superior to all our thoughts, might\nbe in the divine mind, why God would not pardon sinners without a\nsatisfaction.\n\nIV. Man, poor sinful man, is not able to make any satisfaction to God\nfor his own sins, by his utmost labours of future obedience: For all\nthat he can do for time to come, is but mere necessary duty, if he had\nnot sinned at all; and therefore this can never make any recompence to\nthe governing justice of God, for his past transgressions.\n\nIt is a most strange vain doctrine of the papists, that some persons are\nsuch great saints, that they do works of heroic virtue beyond what they\nare required to do; and these they call works of supererogation, whereby\nthey can merit some favours at the hands of God, not only for\nthemselves, but for their neighbours too. Strange doctrine indeed, made\nup of folly, pride, and absurdity! Our best services are so much due to\nGod, that if any man could practise complete righteousness, and fulfil\nthe law of God constantly through all his life, it would not make amends\nfor one past offence, nor merit any favour of God for a criminal\ncreature.\n\nBut, alas! man is so far from being able to fulfil perfect righteousness\nfor time to come, that in this fallen state, he can do nothing that is\ntruly good: he broke the law of God in days past, and he goes on to\nbreak it daily and hourly. His understanding is grown so dark, his will\nso perverse, and his affections and appetites so corrupt and vicious, by\nhis departure from God, that he cannot answer the present demands of\nduty; much less can he bring an offering of righteousness to atone for\npast iniquities. \u201cWe are by nature dead in trespasses and sins.\u201d\n\nV. Neither can this guilty, wretched creature man, make any satisfaction\nto the broken law of God by his sufferings, any more than by his doings.\nFor the penalty of the law is tribulation and anguish of soul and body,\nthe wrath of God and death: and how far this dreadful sentence reaches,\nwhat miseries are implied in it, and how long the execution of it must\ncontinue, who can tell? This we know, that God himself, who sees the\nfull evil, and complete desert or demerit of sin, hath, in some places\nof scripture, threatened eternal punishment of sinners.\n\nAnd if we may venture to judge concerning the greatness of the guilt,\nand demerit of our offences against God, by the same rules, by which\nreason teaches us to judge of the guilt and demerit of an offence\nagainst our fellow-creatures, we must say the guilt of sin is infinite;\nand therefore the punishment due to a sinning creature is everlasting,\nbecause he cannot any other way sustain punishment equal to his infinite\ndemerit of sin. Among men the crime is always aggravated in proportion\nto the person, against whom it is committed: Therefore any offence\nagainst a father, or a king, has much more guilt in it, and is more\nseverely punished, than the same offence committed against an inferior,\nor an equal. An attempt upon the life of a neighbour, is punished With\nimprisonment or a fine: But an attempt made on the life of a king\ndeserves death.\n\nNow the great God our Creator, being a king of infinite glory and\nmajesty, infinitely superior to his creature man, every offence against\nthis God, has a sort of infinity in it[34]: And God may demand\nsatisfaction equal to the offence, that is infinite, which poor sinful\nman can never pay, so as to out-live the payment. On this account, he is\nexposed to the execution of the sentence of God for ever: His punishment\nhas no end. Perhaps this will be counted an old-fashioned argument, and\nnot so generally received in our day, as it was in the days of our\nfathers: Therefore I have examined it afresh with all the skill I have,\nand having surveyed the objections which are raised against it, I think\nthey are not hard to be answered: And, after all, so far as I can judge\nin a may of reasoning upon what scripture has revealed, this argument\nseems to have weight and strength in it still.\n\nWere it not for the supposition of the infinite guilt and demerit of\nsin, I do not so plainly see the justice or equity of God in preparing\neverlasting chains of darkness, and eternal fire, for the devil and his\nangels, as a proper punishment due to their first act of rebellion\nagainst him, and because they _kept not their own first estate_[35];\nJude 6. Nor indeed do I see such evident reason, why sinners among men\nshould be threatened with eternal punishments, and punished with\neverlasting destruction, as a legal penalty due to past sins; Mat. xxv.\n46. and 2 Thess. i. 9. which sins were done perhaps in a few days or\nhours, unless upon a supposition that all offences committed against the\ninfinite majesty of God, have a sort of infinite demerit in them.\n\nI beg leave to add this one thought more, and that is, if sin has not a\nsort of infinite demerit in it, I cannot see why man himself, by some\nyears of penal sufferings, might not make full atonement for his own\nsins: But the language and current of scripture seems to represent\nsinful man as for ever lost to all hope in himself, and then the\nnecessity of a Mediator appears with evidence and glory.\n\nVI. Though man be incapable to satisfy for his own violation of the law,\neither by his obedience or his punishment, and so to restore himself to\nthe favour of God, yet God would not suffer all mankind to perish.\nTherefore out of his abundant mercy, he appointed his own Son to\nundertake this work. His own, his only begotten Son, who is the\nbrightness of his Father\u2019s glory, and who lay in the bosom of the Father\nbefore all worlds, his Son who was one with the Father, by a communion\nof the godhead, and who is himself, on this account, called God over\nall, blessed for ever; this well-beloved Son of God is ordained and\nappointed to be the great Reconciler between God and man.\n\nVII. Because God intended to make a full display of the terrors of his\njustice, and his divine resentment for the violation of his law;\ntherefore he appointed his own Son to satisfy for the breach of it, by\nbecoming a proper sacrifice of expiation or atonement: Now, both among\nJews and heathens, the original notion and design of an expiatory\nsacrifice, is, when some other creature or person is put in the room or\nplace of the transgressor, and the punishment or pain due to the\ntransgressor is transferred to that other person or creature. Therefore\nbeasts were slain for the offences of men, who were supposed to deserve\ndeath. And when any person became a surety for a city or nation that was\ndefiled with sin, among the heathens, that person was substituted in\ntheir room, and so devoted to death. So the Son of God became a surety\nfor sinful men: It pleased the Father to make him their sacrifice, and\nsubstituted him in their stead: God ordained that he should put himself\ninto their circumstances, as far as was possible, with a due\ncondescendency to his superior character, and that he should sustain, as\nnear as possible, the very same pains and penalties which sinful man had\nincurred. Since tribulation and anguish of soul and body, a sense of the\nwrath of God, and death, were the appointed penalties of the sin of man;\ntherefore he determined that his own Son should pass through all these:\nAnd since the law curses all that continue not in all the commands of\nit, therefore Christ _was made a curse for us, that he might redeem us\nfrom the curse of the law_; Gal. iii. 10-13. Hereby he gave a most awful\nand sensible demonstration to this visible world of mankind, and\nperhaps, much more to the invisible world of angels and devils, how\ndreadful a thing it is to break the law of a God, what infinite evil is\ncontained in sin, and at what a terrible rate it must be expiated and\natoned for.\n\nVIII. The Son of God being immortal, could not sustain all these\npenalties of the law which man had broken, without taking the mortal\nnature of man upon him, without assuming flesh and blood: Thus his\nincarnation was necessary, that he might be a more proper surety,\nsubstitute, and representative of man who had sinned; and that he might\nbe capable of suffering pain, and anguish, and death itself, in the room\nand stead of sinful men. It was because the _children who were_ given to\nChrist; Heb. ii. 13, 14. because these _children were partakers of flesh\nand blood, therefore he himself also took part of the same, that through\ndeath he might redeem them_, that by his own dying he might make\natonement for their sins; Heb. x. 5. _Sacrifice and offering_ of beasts,\nthou wouldst not accept as equivalent for the sins of men: _But a body\nhast thou prepared me_, saith our Lord, _that men might be redeemed by\nthe offering the body of Christ, once for all_; ver. 10.\n\nIt was in the prospect of the Son of God becoming man, by taking flesh\nand blood upon him, that God spake thus to David; Ps. lxxxix. 19. \u201cI\nhave exalted one chosen out of the people; that is, out of mankind: I\nhave laid help upon one that is mighty: And when he was found in fashion\nas a man;\u201d Phil. ii. 10. God laid on him the iniquities of us all by\nimputation; Is. liii. 5, 6. even as the sins, and iniquities, and\ntrespasses of the children of Israel were laid on the head of the goat\nof old, by the confession and hand of Aaron; Lev. xvi. 21.\n\nWhen the guilt was thus transferred to him, as far as it was possible\nfor the Son of God to sustain it, he then became liable to punishment;\nand indeed that seems to me to be the truest and justest idea of\ntransferred or imputed guilt, _viz._ when a surety is accepted to suffer\nin the room of the offender, then the pain or penalty is due to him by\nconsent: And as this is the true original and foundation of expiatory\nsacrifices, as I have shewn before, so this seems to be the foundation\nof that particular manner, wherein scripture teaches us this doctrine:\n\u201cHe that knew no sin was made sin for us, that we might be made the\nrighteousness of God in him;\u201d 2 Cor. v. 21. \u201cHis own self bare our sins\nin his own body on the tree;\u201d 1 Pet. ii. 24. \u201cThe chastisement or\npunishment of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed;\u201d\nIs. liii. 5. And in many other places of scripture we read the same sort\nof language. This doctrine is supported with great strength, by the most\nlearned and pious Dr. Owen, in his short treatise of the satisfaction of\nChrist.\n\nUpon this account, though God the Father was never truly angry with his\nbeloved Son, yet it pleased the Father to bruise him, when he stood in\nthe room of guilty creatures. The Father himself put him to grief, and\nmade his soul an offering for sin; Is. liii. 10. Then the Son of God\nbegan to be sore amazed, and very heavy at the approaching deluge of\nthis sorrow; Mark xiv. 33. The Father forsook him for a season, withdrew\nhis comfortable influences, and gave him some such exquisite sight and\nsense of that indignation and wrath that was due to sin, as filled his\nholy soul with anguish, \u201chis soul was exceeding sorrowful even unto\ndeath;\u201d Mat. xxvi. 38. While his body sweat drops of blood in the\ngarden: And at last he poured out his soul to death, and \u201cgave his life\na ransom for many: he reconciled us to God by the blood of his cross;\u201d\nCol. i. 20.\n\nThough we allow the human nature of Christ to be the highest, the\nnoblest, and best of creatures, and in that sense might be worth ten\nthousand of us: yet if sin has an infinite evil in it, then no mere\ncreature, by all his sufferings, could make complete and equal\nsatisfaction for sin: But when the Son of God, who is one with the\nFather, takes flesh and blood upon him, and becomes God manifest in the\nflesh, here God and man are united in one complex person, and hereby we\nenjoy an all-sufficient Saviour, a Reconciler beyond all exception, a\nSacrifice of atonement, equal to the guilt of our transgressions. And so\nfar as I can judge, it is on this account one apostle says; Acts xx. 28.\n\u201cGod redeemed the church with his own blood; and another asserts, Hereby\nperceive we the love of God, that he laid down his life for us;\u201d 1 John\niii. 16.\n\nAnd I do not yet see sufficient reason why that expression of St. Paul;\nHeb. ix. 14. may not be referred to the same sense. \u201cHow much more shall\nthe blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself\nwithout spot to God, purge your conscience, &c.\u201d If the eternal Spirit\nsignify the divine nature or godhead, which dwelt bodily in the man\nJesus, then the dignity of his complete person is made the foundation of\nthe value of his blood. This dignity of the godhead which was personally\nunited to the man who suffered, spreads an infinite value over his\nsufferings and merit: And this renders them equal to that infinite guilt\nand demerit of sin, which would have extended the punishment of man to\neverlasting ages. The infinite dignity of the person suffering, answers\nto the infinite dignity of the person offended, and so takes away the\nnecessity of the everlasting duration of it.\n\nThus our blessed Mediator, the man Jesus Christ, in whom dwells all the\nfulness of the godhead bodily, fulfilled the righteous demands of the\nlaw, and suffered the penalties due to our sins. He magnified his\nFather\u2019s law in this manner, and made it honourable, beyond what all the\nsons of Adam could do by their utmost sufferings. Thus the justice of\nGod shines most gloriously in the sufferings of his Son Jesus Christ:\nThus the great God vindicated his own character, as a wise and righteous\nlaw-giver, before the face of men and angels, in the anguish and death\nof his own Son: He gave a most awful and formidable assurance, that he\nwas not a God to be trifled with, and that the sin of his creatures\nshould not go unpunished. He that spared not his own Son, when he stood\nin the room of sinners, will never spare guilty rebels that persist in\ntheir rebellions. Thus far we see how Christ became a sacrifice of\natonement.\n\nIX. God, the great Ruler of the world, having received such ample\nsatisfaction for sin, by the sufferings of his own Son, can honourably\nforgive his creature man, who was the transgressor. There is so glorious\na reparation made to the honour of his righteous and broken law, that he\ncan pardon sinners without dishonour to himself, and his government. He\ncan glorify his justice and his mercy, at once, in a most exuberant and\nillustrious manner, since his own Son has become a priest of atonement,\nand offered up himself as a sacrifice, to make _propitiation for sin_:\n_He can declare his righteousness, though he passes by a thousand\noffences that are past, and can shew himself, just to his own law and\ngovernment, at the same time that he forgives millions of sins; and is a\njustifier of him who believeth in Jesus_; Rom. iii. 25, 26.\n\nX. I might add in the last place, since my text intimates it, that as\nthe great God in his eternal counsels, appointed his Son Jesus Christ to\nundertake this difficult and glorious work, for the salvation of sinful\nmen, so in the days of the gospel he has, in the most plain and explicit\nmanner, offered this reconciliation to sinners who return to God by the\nmediation of Jesus Christ: He has proposed peace to those who are\nsincerely desirous to be reconciled to God, and to have all enmity done\naway on both sides; to those who trust in the virtue of the blood of\nChrist, as the foundation of this divine peace between God and them, or\nin the language of my text, to those who have faith in his blood.\n\nBut let it be remembered, that this desire to be reconciled, must\nproceed from a painful sense of sin, that makes a separation between God\nand the soul: This implies sincere repentance in the nature of it. It\nmust be such a faith in Jesus and his sacrifice, as works powerfully by\nholy love, and produces all the good fruits of religion in the heart and\nlife. All faith is useless to attain peace with God, unless it carries\nin it the springs and seeds of love and holiness. Though we are\njustified by faith, yet it must not be a mere bold presumption, but a\nliving faith, which will appear in its fruits.\n\nThus I have endeavoured to perform the first thing I proposed, and that\nwas to shew in what manner I conceive of the Son of God becoming an\natonement for the sins of men. Far be it from me, to imagine that every\none must believe these things just after the same order, and in the same\nmanner in which I have learned to conceive of them: Several learned and\npious men have explained the manner of this atonement in another way:\nBut they agree in the doctrine of a proper satisfaction for sin.\nDifferent persons behold the representation of these great and important\nthings of christianity in different lights: And though, according to my\nmeasure of knowledge in the scripture, this manner of conception of the\natonement of Christ seems most agreeable to the word of God, yet, I am\nfully persuaded, God has never made salvation to depend upon a nice\nexactness of sentiment about the mere order of ranging these divine\ndiscoveries, or about the precise logical relations of the sufferings of\nChrist, to our sins, or to our pardon. Whosoever sincerely confesses and\nrepents of sin, and trusts in the all-sufficient atonement and sacrifice\nof Christ, to remove the guilt of it, has abundant assurance from\nscripture, that the blood of Jesus Christ will cleanse him from all sin,\nand that the Son of God has been, and will be his High-priest, to\nreconcile him to God the Father.\n\nThe Recollection.\u2014It becomes me now to reflect on what I have heard this\nday. The atonement of Christ is one of the chief glories, and most\nsurprising wonders of my religion: It is the ground of my hope, it is\nthe very life of my soul. Here I have been learning the several\ntransactions of the great God, the Creator and Ruler of the world, with\nall the children of men from the beginning of their creation. The light\nof nature informs me in an imperfect manner, and the scripture with much\nbrighter evidence assures me, that I was made under the law, and not\nborn to live at random, according to the wild dictates of appetite and\npassion. I am informed also, my Creator has guarded the honour of his\nlaw with indignation and wrath, with pain of the flesh, and anguish of\nthe mind, and death itself, as the penalties to be inflicted on those\nthat break it. A law divinely wise and righteous, and a sanction of\nsolemn and divine terror!\n\nBut, alas! I am one of the sinful guilty race of man. My very nature is\ncorrupt, my powers of action are unholy, and I have broken the law of my\nGod in a thousand instances. My conscience condemns me, my mouth is\nstopped, I am guilty before God, I lie under the sentence of his\ncondemning law by nature, and am by nature a child of disobedience, and\na child of wrath. It is a glorious instance of divine mercy and\nforbearance, that he has not executed the severities of his law upon me\nlong ago: It is rich mercy and adorable patience that my flesh and\nspirit have not been filled with all these terrors, that I am not made\nas wretched as I have been rebellious.\n\nNor can I expect, that the great and terrible God, who sent his\nindignation upon angels when they sinned, turned them out of heaven, and\nchained them in darkness, should forgive all my infinite offences,\nwithout some reparation made for the honour of his broken law. He is a\ngreat God indeed, his majesty is tremendous, and every thing that\nbelongs to him must have its due honour.\n\nIf I labour with all my powers to make him some recompence for my past\niniquities by new obedience, I find it is impossible. The best of my\nrighteousnesses are all defective: My holiest services want some\nforgiveness as well as my wilful sins. Nor can I suffer the punishment\ndue to my iniquities, without being for ever miserable. All the doors of\nhope are shut against me, nor by the utmost effort and labour of my own\npowers, can I find a way to escape: If I am left to myself in this\nstate, I must despair and perish. But blessed, for ever blessed be the\nmercy of my God, that he has sent his own Son to take flesh and blood\nupon him. He has sent him in the likeness of sinful flesh to become a\nsacrifice for sin, to sustain the sorrows which I could never sustain,\nand to provide a laver of his own blood to cleanse us from all sin.\nLord, I humbly approach this sacred laver, to wash away the defilements\nof my soul.\n\nChrist is become a sacrifice to divine justice, in the room and stead of\nmen. And he is also our great High-priest: For he offered himself up to\nthe strokes of justice, and the penal demands of the law of God, and\nthereby he hath shewn himself to be a priest of reconciliation. How\nadorable is this contrivance! How amazing is this love! How should\nsinners be surprized with a sense of this abounding grace! Here I behold\nthe Son of God stooping down from the height of his glory, to become a\nmortal man, surrounded with flesh and sorrows: I behold the first\nfavourite of heaven, the first beloved Son leaving the bosom of his\nFather, and the fulness of celestial joys, that he might unite himself\nto our feeble nature, and taste the anguish and the smart that our\nrebellious had deserved. I behold him forsaken of his Father, and lying\nunder the weight and terror of some unknown discoveries and impressions\nof that divine indignation and wrath that was due to sinners; unknown\nimpressions indeed, that struck the Son of God with amazement, and made\nhis soul exceeding sorrowful even to death.\n\nAnd was all this for my sins, O my Saviour; Didst thou sustain these\nheavy sufferings from the hand of God, that such a rebel as I might be\nreconciled? Yes, all this for my sins, if I am found a sincere believer\non the Son of God.\n\nEnquire now, O my soul, dost thou believe in Christ? Hast thou seen thy\nheavy guilt, and thy danger of eternal death? Hast thou been weary and\nheavy laden with a sense of thy past iniquities? Hast thou been pained\nat thy heart under the present power of indwelling sin: And hast thou\nfled for refuge to the hope set before thee in the gospel? Hast thou\njoyfully received Jesus the Saviour by faith in his blood? by a living\nand active faith? Hast thou committed thyself to him, to be delivered\nfrom the reign of sin, as well as from the condemnation of it? Then\nmayest thou join with the blessed apostle, and speak in the language of\nfaith, _He loved me, and gave himself for me_? Gal. ii. 20.\n\nLet me meditate again the sorrows and agonies of my dear, my adored\nRedeemer. Infinite agonies and sorrows, beyond all the powers of\nlanguage. Is my heart made of stone, that it can hear such an history\nand not melt within me, have I no tender part within me to bleed at the\nrehearsal of such anguish, and such love? Blessed Jesus smite the rock\nof my heart, and let it pour out new streams of repentance and\naffectionate gratitude. I was dead, and the Son of God gave himself up\nto death, in order to raise me to life again. I was a traitor and an\nenemy, and he hath sustained the arrows of the Almighty to reconcile me\nto his Father, and turn away his infinite indignation. My great\nHigh-priest has offered up himself a bloody sacrifice for me, that my\nguilt might be forgiven, and cancelled for ever.\n\nThink, O my soul, study, contrive, speak, what wilt thou render to the\nLord for such astonishing condescension, and such unexampled grace. How\nwilt thou show thy inestimable value of his atonement? What does he\nrequire of thee, but to keep those garments clean, which he has washed\nin so rich a fountain as his own blood? And shall I ever wilfully\nindulge the practice of sin again, and return to my old defilements?\nShall I ever consent to break the law of my God? Have I not seen the\ndreadful nature and dismal effects of it, in the agonies and death of my\ndearest Lord? What shall I do that I may never sin more? Lord, I cannot\npreserve myself from the fatal infection, while I dwell in a world where\nsin reigns all around me, in a world that lies in wickedness; and while\nI am so nearly allied to flesh and blood, where folly, vice, and sin run\nthrough every vein to my heart. Jesus, I commit myself afresh to thy\ncare, thou wilt save the soul that thou hast purchased at so dear a\nrate; thou wilt accept and save a returning penitent. Here I devote my\nlife, my self, my flesh and spirit, and all my powers to thy obedience,\nand the purposes of thy glory for ever and ever: My soul looks up to\nthee with an eye of humble confidence, and my faith and hope rest on thy\neverlasting love. _Amen._\n\n\n HYMN FOR SERMON XXXIV.\n _The Atonement of Christ._\n\n\n How is our nature spoil\u2019d by sin!\n Yet nature ne\u2019er hath found\n The way to make the conscience clean,\n Or heal the painful wound.\n\n In vain we seek for peace with God\n By methods of our own;\n Jesus there\u2019s nothing but thy blood\n Can bring us near thy throne.\n\n The threat\u2019nings of the broken law\n Impress our souls with dread:\n If God his sword of vengeance draw,\n It strikes our spirits dead.\n\n But thy illustrious sacrifice\n Hath answered these demands;\n And peace and pardon from the skies\n Come down by Jesus\u2019 hands.\n\n Here all the ancient types agree,\n The altar and the lamb:\n And prophets in their visions see\n Salvation through his name.\n\n \u2019Tis by thy death we live, O Lord:\n \u2019Tis on thy cross we rest:\n For ever be thy love ador\u2019d,\n Thy name for ever blest.\n\nFootnote 34:\n\n Every circumstance that aggravates any crime, must aggravate it in a\n degree proportionable to that circumstance; otherwise we could never\n determine what is the degree of this aggravation, nor adjust the\n punishment in proportion to it. On this account, if the crime he\n committed against God, an infinite being, the guilt must be infinitely\n aggravated.\n\nFootnote 35:\n\n I grant, 1. That their continual persistence and obstinacy in sinful\n practices, may naturally render them continually miserable; and 2.\n This continued obstinacy may also, in a legal sense, merit continual\n new punishment. And perhaps, on these two reasons, the actual eternity\n of hell may be justly supported. But unless we suppose every wilful\n rebellion against the infinite Majesty of God, to have also a sort of\n infinite evil in it, I do not see that everlasting chains, and eternal\n fire, are a proper deserved punishment, legally due to their first\n rebellion, that is, to one act of sin.\n\n\n\n\n SERMON XXXV.\n _The Atonement of Christ._\n ROM. iii. 25.\u2014Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation\u2014\u2014\n\n\nHaving explained the manner in which Christ is a propitiation for sin; I\ncome in the second place to propose some reasons to evince the truth of\nthis doctrine, namely, That God hath ordained his Son Jesus to be our\npropitiation or sacrifice of atonement. And here I shall proceed by\ndegrees, from some apparent probabilities, to more evident and\nconvincing proofs.\n\nI. The first reason I shall give for it is this, that an atonement for\nsin, and an effectual method to answer the demands of an offended God,\nis the first great blessing which guilty mankind stood in need of: but\nthe powers of nature could never procure it, nor could the light of\nreason ever shew them how to obtain it: Now it is the design of the\ngospel of Christ to supply the wants and deficiencies of guilty nature,\nthat is both impotent and blind; it is to introduce an effectual\nreconciliation between God and sinners; it is to point out an atonement\nto them, answerable to their guilt, which they wanted, and to discover a\nsolid foundation for peace. This is done in the death of Christ.\n\nA few easy reflections of natural conscience, will acquaint all the\nthinking part of men that they are sinners, that they have offended the\ngreat and glorious God who made them: And those that have read the\nhistories of mankind, and have surveyed distant nations and past ages,\nhave found this to be almost the universal enquiry of men, \u201cWhat shall\nwe do to pacify the anger of that God, against whom we have sinned?\u201d The\nheathen world had an awful notion of the vengeance of heaven. Hence\narose endless forms of superstition: How many long and costly\nceremonies, what painful and bloody rites of worship have been invented\nand practised by men, to make some compensation for their crimes? All\nthe craft and contrivance of their priests, could never have prevailed\nwith the bulk of mankind, to take such yokes of bondage upon them, if\nthere had not been something in natural conscience, which wanted an\natonement and peace to be made with heaven, from a sense of their own\nguilt.\n\nThe prophet Micah introduces this general language of an awakened\nconscience, _Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, or bow myself\nbefore the high God? Shall I come before him with burnt-offerings?\u2014Will\nthe Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of\nrivers of oil? Shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the\nfruit of my body for the sin of my soul?_ Micah vi. 6, 7. Alas! All\nthese are vain and fruitless proposals: But the gospel makes the\nenquiring conscience easy, when it proposes the blood of the Son of God,\nappointed by the Father as a satisfactory offering for the sins of men:\nThis is what the guilty world wanted, but could never find out. This the\ngospel hath revealed and set in an open light.\n\nAnd indeed, if the great God who is offended, did ever send down a\nPeace-maker to reconcile heaven and earth, it is very reasonable to\nsuppose that he should answer the universal cry of nature distressed\nwith guilt; and that he should furnish sinful creatures with such an\natonement for sin, and such a solid foundation for their acceptance with\nhimself, as might fully satisfy their reason and their awakened\nconsciences. And this is no where to be found in so evident and complete\na manner, as in the death of Christ.\n\nII. The very first discoveries of grace, which were made to man after\nhis fall, implied in them something of an atonement for sin, and pointed\nto the propitiation which Christ has now made; Gen. iii. 15, &c. The\nfirst appearance of grace was the promise given that the _seed of the\nwoman should bruise the head of the serpent_, that is, he should abolish\nthe guilt, mischief, and misery that sin and the tempter had introduced:\nBut in order to do this, the woman\u2019s seed must have his heel bruised,\nmust sustain some personal sufferings.\n\nImmediately after this, sacrifices of beasts were instituted[36] as a\ntype and prefiguration of some future glorious sacrifice and atonement\nthat should be made to God for the sins of men. Now it is the very\nnotion of an expiatory sacrifice, as I have shewn before, that some\ncreature is provided to stand in the room of the original transgressor\nand to bear his guilt and suffer punishment in his stead, that thereby\nthe transgressor having his guilt taken away, may be delivered and\nsaved. And when Adam was ordered to put a beast to death which had not\nsinned, in order to worship or honour God by it, and when he found that\nhe himself who had sinned, was not put to death, it was not hard for him\nto understand that the beast was put to death in his room and stead: And\nit is not unlikely that God told him so.\n\nLet us consider further, that it is exceeding probable, when the _Lord\nGod made coats of skins for Adam and his wife_; Gen. iii. 21. these were\nthe skins of the beasts that had been put to death in sacrifice: And\nthus God made it appear to them, that their nakedness was covered, and\nthe shame of their guilt removed, by a blessing derived from the beasts\nthat were slain. The skins of the sacrifices being put upon their\nbodies, might abate something of their former fear, and encourage them\nto appear before God, who were terrified a little before, at the\nthoughts of their guilt and nakedness. Their deserved death was\ntransferred to the sacrificed animal; and the skin of the animal\nsacrificed, was transferred to them as a covering for their guilt and\nshame. These are no obscure intimations of benefit and safety to be\nderived to sinners, from some atonement to be made for sin.\n\nIf we will hearken to St. Paul, he explains the first promise, when he\nsays, Heb. ii. 14. that _Christ took flesh and blood upon him, that he\nmight, by his own death destroy the devil, who had the power of death_,\nor had introduced it into the world. Here the Saviour\u2019s heel was\nbruised, and the head of the serpent broken; nor can it be well\nsupposed, how the death of Christ should destroy the works of the devil,\nbut by making an atonement for the sins of men; for which sins divine\njustice had put them under his power or tyranny.\n\nI will not presume to say, that Adam himself could read so much gospel\nas this in those first words of promise; or that he knew in so explicit\nand distinct a manner, the designs and ends of a sacrifice, when God\ntaught him the practice: Yet it is very probable, that the great God\ncondescended to give a much farther explication both of the first words\nof comfort concerning the seed of the woman, and of his own appointment\nof sacrifices, and of the reason of them, than Moses has written, or\nthan we who live at this distance of time can ever certainly know.\n\nIII. Suppose what I have yet offered, be too obscure a foundation for\nthis doctrine, yet let us consider that the following train of\nceremonies, which were appointed by God in the Jewish church, when he\nseparated a peculiar people to himself, are plain significations of such\nan atonement for sin as our Lord Jesus has made, and they confirm the\nmeaning of the first institution of sacrifices.\n\nI will grant indeed, that many of the ceremonies of the Jewish church,\nhad also some other intendments, _viz._ To distinguish the nation of\nIsrael from the Gentile world, and to keep them in subjection to God,\nwho was their political head or king, as well as their God, to preserve\nthem as a nation in his favour, and restore them when they had offended\nhim as their governor and king: But a few considerations will give us\nsufficient evidence, that these are mere subordinate designs of God in\nthe Jewish law, and especially in his institution of the ceremonies of\natonement and priesthood.\n\nFirst Consideration.\u2014The Jewish ceremonies are often represented as\ntypes or figures of gospel-blessings by the apostle Paul; 2 Cor. iii.\nGal. vi. Col. ii. Heb. vii, viii, ix, x. The levitical ceremonial rites\nwere but the letter, of which the gospel of Christ is the spirit or\nmeaning: Those were but as a veil to cover the good things of the\ngospel; they were but weak and poor rudiments or elements of learning,\nto lead us into the knowledge of gospel-blessings. \u201cThe law was our\nschool-master to bring us to Christ. They were but a shadow of things to\ncome, whose substance or body is Christ; They served but to the example\nand shadow of heavenly things: that is, the things of the gospel: They\nwere a figure for the time present; a shadow of those good things to\ncome, which the Holy Ghost signified by them.\u201d The great end of these\nJewish ceremonial appointments in the sense of this inspired writer,\nwas, that they should stand but as types and figures of things under the\ngospel; as emblems of the various offices of the Messiah that was to\ncome, and eminently of his priesthood and propitiation. Now the\nsubstance is superior to the shadow.\n\nSecond Consideration.\u2014This is more evident still, if we consider that\nmany of the defilements which were to be removed by these sacrifices and\npurifications, were of an external and corporeal nature, which,\nconsidered in themselves, were generally innocent as to moral guilt, and\ndid not want such sort of bloody purgations[37]. Thence we may\nreasonably infer, that these external defilements of the body, did\ntypify and represent the moral and sinful pollutions of the soul: and\nconsequently, that the external and corporeal forms of atonement and\npurgation were chiefly designed as types and figures of the blood of\nChrist, which was a real propitiation for the sins of the soul.\n\nThird Consideration.\u2014The most exact and happy resemblance and\nconformity, between the method of atonement by the priesthood and\nsacrifice of Christ, and the appointed rites of the levitical priesthood\nand atonement, very naturally leads us to suppose, that one was designed\nto figure out and foretel the other; especially since the scripture\ngives us such frequent hints of it. The great God, to whom all his own\nworks are known from the beginning of the world, had the sacrifice and\npriesthood of his Son Jesus ever in his eye, when he ordained the Jewish\nforms of atonement. He kept in view Jesus the high-priest, who was\nhereafter to enter into heaven in the virtue of his own blood, when he\nappointed Aaron to go into the holy place, the figure of the true, with\nthe blood of the yearly expiation. He kept in view the merit of Christ\u2019s\ndeath, which was to be applied to our souls and consciences by faith,\nwhen he appointed the people to be sprinkled with the blood of the\nsacrifices: And therefore the blood of Christ is called the blood of\nsprinkling; Heb. xii. 24. And when he ordained the morning and evening\nlamb for a continual burnt-offering, he pointed, though afar off, to the\nMessiah, the Lamb of God, that must take away the sins of men.\n\nThese resemblances might be shewn in a multitude of other instances: but\nI cannot omit this one, _viz._ As the killing of the beast was designed\nto hold forth the violent and bloody death of Christ, the great\nsacrifice; so the burning of the flesh and entrails on the altar by that\ndivine fire, which was always kept alive there, and which was kindled at\nfirst from heaven, seems plainly intended to foretel those sacred divine\nimpressions of the indignation of God due to sinners, which were to be\nmade upon the holy soul of Christ himself, _when it pleased the Father\nto bruise him, and put him to grief_: For the indignation of God is\noften represented by fire.\n\nWe must not imagine therefore, that these levitical ordinances were\nfirst in the design of God, as proper statutes for the Jewish nation,\nand then that the Son of God came into the world, and passed through\nsuch special scenes of life, death, and resurrection, merely in order to\ncopy out these Jewish ordinances: But we must conceive the Son of God,\nfirst designed as our great Atonement and High-priest on earth, and in\nheaven: And in the view and foresight hereof all those levitical\nordinances were given to the Jews as figures and emblems, to give early\nnotice before-hand, of the blessings of the great Messiah. Surely the\natonement of the Messiah, which was to be a real relief for the guilt of\nall nations, was of much more importance, and held a higher rank in the\nideas and designs of God, than the mere ceremonies given to a single\nnation.\n\nIf it should be objected still, that those Jewish rites have been\nplainly proved by some learned men to be political services done to God\nas their King and Governor, for he dwelt in Jerusalem as their king, and\nkept his court among them in the tabernacle and the temple. I answer:\n\n1. This may very well be granted as an inferior and subordinate design\nof God: For the consideration of God, as the civil or political ruler of\nthe Jewish nation, is much inferior to the consideration of him as the\nCreator, and the Lord of the souls and consciences, not only of the\nnation of Israel, but of all mankind, who were to derive benefit from\nthe sacrifice of Christ. The supreme intent and meaning of any\nconstitution, does by no means destroy those which are subordinate. It\nmay be allowed also:\n\n2. That the sacrifices duly offered, did make a real and proper\natonement for the political guilt of the Israelites in the sight of God,\nconsidered as their peculiar king, and continued them in his political\nfavour, or restored them to it, after some breach of the Jewish laws.\nThis seems to be the sense of the apostle, Heb. ix. 13. _The blood of\nbulls and goats sanctifies to the purifying of the flesh_, as well as of\nmany expressions in the books of Moses. And yet these same sacrifices\nmight make a typical atonement for their moral guilt in the sight of\nGod, considered as their God, that is, as the Lord of conscience, and\nthe God of the souls of men: And all this with a direct aspect upon the\nsacrifice of Christ, the great and real atonement that was to come: And\nindeed, the next words; Heb. ix. 14. intimate so much, _How much more\nshall the blood of Christ purge your consciences from dead works?_ that\nis, from works of sin which deserve death in the sight or judgment of\nGod, considered as the supreme Lord of souls and consciences.\n\nThese sacrifices, I say, could make but a typical atonement for moral\nguilt in the sight of God, considered as their God; for it is\nsufficiently evident to any thinking mind, that it _was not possible for\nthe blood of bulls and goats to take away sin_, as committed against a\nGod; Heb. x. 4. And therefore the Jews themselves, when they had offered\ntheir chief sacrifice of yearly expiation, had not so clear, so full,\nand so satisfactory a peace in their consciences, as the gospel of\nChrist bestows on christians; The apostle says, verse 1, 2. _The comers\nthereunto were not made perfect_; for if they had _the worshippers once\npurged, would have no more conscience of sin_, or sense of guilt.\n_Wherefore, when Christ came into the world, he saith, sacrifice and\noffering_, that is, _of bulls and goats, thou wouldst not, for they were\nnot sufficient, but a body hast thou prepared me_; and for what end this\nwas done, the following verses tell us, that sinners might be purified\nfrom the guilty defilements of sin, _through the offering of the body of\nJesus Christ once for all_; verse 10.\n\nThus the blessed God, who designed in due time to make his own Son an\natonement for sinners, did early give some emblematical notices of this\ndivine atonement to those few who were taught to understand them: And in\nthis manner he kept alive in the world the hope of some such glorious\nfuture transaction, which should be the ground-work of peace between God\nand men, by the appointed death and sacrifice of beasts throughout all\nages, ever since he made the first promise, and gave the first hope of\ngrace to fallen man.\n\nAnd indeed, all the souls that were pardoned, and all the sins that were\nremitted under the several ancient dispensations of Adam, Noah, Abraham,\nand Moses, must be referred to the virtue of this great sacrifice of the\nSon of God, though all who were pardoned might not distinctly know the\nground of it. _Him hath God set forth to be a propitiation for the\nremission of sins that are past_ in far distant ages, as well as for\nsins that are yet to come; Rom. iii. 25. His sacrifice has a most\nextensive efficacy, it reaches through all nations, and all ages, from\nthe beginning of the world to the end of it. It was this sacrifice of\nChrist, that gave virtue to all other institutions and rights of\natonement that were appointed by God himself. In themselves they were\nweak and insufficient, but they were made powerful through the blood of\nChrist, to speak pardon and peace in some measure, to the guilty\nconscience, though since Christ is come, we hear the joyful sound of\npeace and pardon more distinctly.\n\nIV. Nor was this doctrine manifested only in the ancient forms of\nworship and sacrifice which God had ordained, but some of the noblest of\nthe following prophecies confirm and explain the first promise, and shew\nthat Christ was to die as an atoning sacrifice for the sins of men. I\nwill mention only the words of those two great men, Isaiah and Daniel.\nBy Daniel we are told, that the _Messiah shall be cut off, but not for\nhimself, and the design of this is, to finish transgression, to make an\nend of sin, to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in\neverlasting righteousness_; Dan. ix. 24, 26. Isaiah speaks the same\nthing more largely, in his liii. chapter, verses 5, 6, 10, 11. _Christ\nwas wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities,\nthe chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are\nhealed: We like sheep have gone astray, and the Lord hath laid on him\nthe iniquity of us all.\u2014\u2014It pleased the Lord to bruise him, and_ _to put\nhim to grief, and to make his soul an offering for sin.\u2014By the knowledge\nof him shall he justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities._ How\nexceeding plain and strong is this language to support my doctrine, and\nhow exceeding hard to construe it to any other sense!\n\nIt may not be amiss to subjoin the witness of John the Baptist, who was\nmore than a prophet, and the very fore-runner of the Messiah; John i.\n26. _Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world._ Now\na Lamb takes away sin in no other way than by dying as a sacrifice. Thus\nour blessed Redeemer who, once in the end of the world, appeared to put\naway sin by the sacrifice of himself, as a great High priest, was, as it\nwere, ushered into his office by a long train of types and prophecies:\nAll these went before him, that when his great sacrifice was offered, it\nmight not seem a strange thing, but might be more easily received by all\nthe world, who stood in so much need of him, and to whom the tradition\nof sacrifices had been conveyed from Noah; and especially by the Jews,\nwho had so much notice of him before, by more express revelations beyond\nwhat the heathens could learn by their broken traditions of sacrifice.\n\nV. Our Saviour himself, among the rest of his ministrations as a\nprophet, taught us the doctrine of atonement for sin by his death, and\nthat in these three ways:\n\n1. He did speak of it, though but sparingly, in plain and express\nlanguage to his own disciples in private. Mat. xx. 28. _The Son of man\ncame not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a\nransom for many_: And this he spoke a little after he had foretold his\nsufferings, his crucifixion, his death, and his rising again the third\nday.\n\n2. He preached this doctrine publicly to the multitude in parables and\nfigures of speech; John vi. 51. _The bread that I will give is my flesh,\nwhich I will give for the life of the world. Except ye eat the flesh of\nthe Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you_: Which can\nsignify nothing but his dying as a propitiation for sin, that we might\nlive by our feeding upon his sacrifice, or partaking the benefit of it.\nJohn xii. 24. _The hour is come that the Son of man must be glorified.\nExcept a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone:\nbut if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit._ Verse 32. _If I be lifted\nup from the earth, I will draw all men unto me: This he said, signifying\nwhat death he should die._ His being lifted up on the cross should draw\nmany souls to him as their way to the favour of God. Once he spoke it in\na little plainer language, in public; John x. 11. where he represents\nhimself as the _good Shepherd, who lays down his life for his sheep_.\n\n3. He taught the same doctrine both in types or emblems, and in plain\nlanguage, just before he died, at the institution of the holy supper;\nLuke xxii. 19. _He took bread\u2014and brake it_, saying, _This is my body\nwhich is given for you_. And of the cup he said, _This cup is the New\nTestament in my blood which is shed for you_; or as St. Matthew\nexpresses it, _This is my blood of the New Testament which is shed for\nmany, for the remission of sins_. These things put together, make it\nevident that Christ himself taught this doctrine.\n\nObjection. But it will be said, How can we suppose that this doctrine of\natonement by the death of Christ, should be so considerable a part of\nthe gospel, if our blessed Redeemer, the great Prophet of his church,\nspoke so seldom of it in public, and that in so obscure a manner?\n\nAnswer 1. This doctrine of atonement for sin by his death, and the\nacceptance of it with God the Father, could not be so well preached in\npublic till he died, and rose again; for his death was the foundation of\nthis atonement; his resurrection and his ascension to heaven were the\nproofs of its being accepted of God. Now it was divinely wise and proper\nfor our Lord not to preach such doctrines too freely in public to the\nmultitude, till these events should appear in the world. If he had\nspoken all these things, concerning himself it would have probably\namazed and confounded the common people, and raised their rage or their\nridicule; so ignorant and so full of prejudice as they were in that day.\n\n2. If Christ had publicly and plainly preached up the atonement of his\ndeath, he must thereby have foretold openly that he must die as a\nsacrifice; and this might have had very ill effects on the malicious\nJews, either, 1. To provoke them to kill him, before his hour was come,\nand pretend that they only obeyed his own prophecy and commission when\nthey put him to death: Or, 2. They might lay hold on him, and keep him\nprisoner without killing him, to endeavour to falsify his prophecies of\nhis death, and thus attempt to make void his doctrine of atonement.\n\nIt is true, God, by his immediate influence on the wills of men, could\nhave prevented these effects: But it is not the manner of God\u2019s conduct\nin providence to answer and accomplish his own predictions by such\nimmediate, divine, and over-ruling restraints upon the wills of men, if\nit may done otherwise. And therefore indeed, the prophecies, and\nespecially such as are accomplished in the same age in which they are\nspoken, are usually given forth in metaphors and parables, that men may\nnot so clearly and perfectly understand them, and that God, in his moral\ngovernment of the world, may not be constrained to go out of his common\nand ordinary methods, in order to bring these prophecies to pass.\n\n3. It is evident, from many expressions in the evangelists, that it was\nnot the design of Christ, in his own life-time, to publish the grace and\nglory of the gospel, in so clear, so distinct, and so complete a manner,\nas he designed to have it published by his apostles after he was gone to\nheaven. The design of his own public ministry was rather to prepare the\nway for the setting up of his own kingdom in the world, than to set it\nup in the full glory of it in his own person. According to this view of\nthings, his preaching was formed; _Repent ye for the kingdom of heaven\nis at hand_; Mat. iv. 17. That is, the gospel state approaches, or hath\napproached to you. The prayer he taught his disciples stands on the same\nfoot, wherein they are instructed to pray, _Thy kingdom come_; Mat. vi.\n10. Therefore when he spake to the multitude, of the special glories of\nhis gospel, and especially of his atoning sacrifice, it was generally in\nparables; and when he instructed his disciples more particularly in\nprivate, he gave them but hints of it, and told them that they should\npublish these things upon the house-tops after the Son of man should\nrise from the dead, but not before.\n\nEven just before his death, his own disciples themselves could not\nbear many things that he had to teach them; John xvi. 12. These things\nwere reserved therefore for the forty days communication with them\nafter his resurrection, when he spake with them _of things pertaining\nto the kingdom of God_; Acts i. 3. and more especially for the\nteachings of his own Spirit, which he poured out upon them after he\nwent to heaven. By these means they were more completely furnished for\ntheir ministry, and learned the doctrines of the gospel, in a more\nperfect manner than ever our Lord himself taught them in his\nlife-time. Thus it appears that though Christ was the founder of a new\nreligion among men, yet there is good reason to be given, why he did\nnot teach plainly and publicly some of the chief doctrines of this\nreligion, during his own life on earth, _viz._ because these doctrines\nwere built on his death, his rising again, and ascending to heaven,\nwhich events were then unaccomplished[38].\n\nThence we may infer, as we pass along, that if we would learn the\nplainest and fullest account of the gospel of Christ, it is not enough\nfor us to consult merely his public sermons, or the histories of his\nlife, which are called the four gospels, but we must read carefully the\nwritings of the apostles after he went to heaven; for, during the life\nof Christ, neither did he preach, nor did the apostles themselves learn\nthis gospel in the complete extent and glory of it. But this is only an\ninference by the way.\n\n[This is a proper pause in the middle of this sermon, when it is read in\nfamilies.]\n\nLet us proceed to the next reason to prove that Christ was a\npropitiation for our sins in his death.\n\nVI. The terrors of soul, the consternation and inward agonies which our\nblessed Lord sustained a little before his death, were a sufficient\nproof that he endured punishments in his soul which were due to sin.\nThese were vastly greater than the persecutions of bloody men, and the\nmere fears of dying: Can it ever be imagined, that the Son of God, whose\nvirtues and graces, whose patience and holy fortitude sparkled with\ndivine lustre in the various parts of his life, should have shewn so\nmuch natural fear, and innocent disquietude of spirit, at the mere\nthoughts of death by the hands of men, as if he had nothing else to\nencounter with? When this dreadful hour was come, and the powers of\ndarkness were let loose upon him, _he began to be sore amazed, and very\nheavy_; Mark xiv. 23. He told his disciples, _My soul is exceeding\nsorrowful even unto death; He went forward a little, and fell on the\nground, and prayed, that if it were possible that hour might pass from\nhim_. He entreated his Father, _with prayers and supplications, with\nstrong cries and tears_; Heb. v. 7. Such a terror was upon his spirits,\nthat three times he repeated the same petition, that he might be excused\nif possible from drinking that cup of sorrow. The agonies of his soul\npressed great drops of blood through the pores of his body, and bathed\nhim in a crimson sweat. These cries and tears, these agonies and these\nsweats of blood preached the doctrine of atonement with dreadful power,\nand uncontested evidence. And as upon the cross, so in the garden, it is\nprobable his Father forsook him, or hid his face from him, so that he\nhad need of an angel to be sent down from heaven on purpose to comfort\nor strengthen him; Luke xxii. 43. It was here that he learned feelingly\nwhat was the curse of the broken law, what was that indignation and\nwrath, tribulation and anguish, that were due to the sin of man. Here\nthe seed of the woman maintained a combat with that great serpent, the\ndevil, and had his heel bruised; that is, his lower nature filled with\nanguish. And it is most probable, that his nature being worn out with\nthis load of distress, was the true reason why he expired on the cross\nmuch sooner than was expected, so that _Pilate marvelled to hear that he\nwas already dead_; Mark xv. 44.\n\nI think it is impossible for the Socinians, who represent the death of\nChrist chiefly as a martyrdom for the truth of his doctrine, and an\nexample of patience in suffering, to support their scheme against this\nargument, or to give any tolerable account of this amazement which\npossessed his spirit before his enemies came near him, and of these\nagonies of soul which our blessed Lord sustained. Surely such sorrows\nand such terrors demonstrate the work of propitiation and the dreadful\nlabour of reconciling an offended God and sinful man.\n\nVII. This doctrine of satisfaction for sin by the death of Christ is\ndeclared, and confirmed, and explained at large by the apostles in their\nwritings, when they were fully furnished for their ministry, by the\ngifts of the Holy Ghost. Read St. Paul\u2019s letters to the churches, and\nyou find them abounding in such expressions as these: _Christ died for\nour sins_; 1 Cor. xv. 3. _He gave himself for us, to redeem us from all\niniquity_; Tit. ii. 13. _We have redemption through his blood_; Eph. i.\n7. _God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not imputing\ntheir trespasses to them._ _He was made sin_; 2 Cor. v. 19, 21. _And he\nwas made a curse for us_; Gal. iii. 13. _He is our propitiation and\natonement_; 1 John ii. 2. _He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice\nof himself_; Heb. ix. 26. _When we were enemies we were reconciled to\nGod by his death_; Rom. v. 10. _He made peace by the blood of his\ncross_; Col. i. 20. _He was delivered for our offences, and raised again\nfor our justification_; Rom. iii. 25. _By the righteousness of one man,\nthe free gift came upon all men to justification of life._ _By the\nobedience of one shall many be made righteous_; Rom. v. 18, 19.\n\nNow in the writings of St. Paul on this subject, we may observe three\nthings.\n\n1. He speaks this language, when in a plain doctrinal way he is teaching\nthe gospel of Christ, therefore these expressions of his are to be\nunderstood in the common sense and meaning of the words. It would be a\nvery great force and torture put upon these expressions, if we construe\nthem only to mean, that God promised forgiveness to penitent sinners by\nJesus Christ, as a messenger of grace, and that Christ died as a martyr\nto bear witness to this truth. Read his epistles to the Romans, the\nEphesians, the Colossians, and the Hebrews, where he treats of these\nsubjects, and you will find that the apostle in his doctrine of\natonement, means much more than this; for he talks in a plain rational\nand argumentative style and method, to inform the minds of men, of the\ntrue design of the death of Christ, and give them the clear knowledge of\nthe truth.\n\n2. He not only represents the death of Christ as our atonement for sin,\nbut he declares this to be the great end of his appearing in the flesh.\nHeb. ii. 14. _Because the children were partakers of flesh and blood, he\nhimself also took part of the same, that through his own death he might\ndestroy the devil._ Heb. x. 5. _Sacrifices of bulls and goats were\ninsufficient, but a body hast thou prepared me._\u2014ix. 26. _Once in the\nend of the world he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of\nhimself._ This was the design of his incarnation.\n\n3. He makes the cross of Christ, and Christ crucified, to stand for the\ngospel itself, and glories in it; 1 Cor. i. 23, 24. _Christ crucified is\nthe wisdom of God, and the power of God_;\u2014ii. 2. _I desired to know\nnothing among you but Christ, and him crucified._ Gal. vi. 14. _God\nforbid that I should glory, save in the cross of Christ_: And many such\nexpressions he uses, as though the public sermons of Christ, the example\nof Christ, and the duties that he prescribed, were all as nothing\nwithout the atoning virtue of his death, and his sacrifice on the cross;\nfor all these would not save us without his dying. This is eminently the\ngospel.\n\nNor is the apostle Paul singular in declaring this doctrine of\natonement, or different in his sentiments from the other apostles. You\nfind Peter and John saying the same things in their epistles: 1 Pet. i.\n18, 19. \u201cYe were not redeemed with silver and gold, but with the\nprecious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish.\u201d\u2014ii. 24. \u201cWho\nhis own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree. Ver. 21. Christ\nhath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, to bring us to\nGod.\u201d 1 John i. 7. \u201cThe blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all\nsin.\u201d\u2014\u2014ii. 1, 2. \u201cJesus Christ the righteous is the propitiation for our\nsins.\u201d iii. 16. \u201cHereby perceive we the love of God, that he laid down\nhis life for us.\u201d Rev. i. 5, 6. Unto him that loved us and washed us\nfrom our sins in his own blood be glory and dominion for ever. These\napostles take every occasion to publish the same gospel and the same\npromises and hopes of salvation, by the death and sacrifice of our Lord\nJesus Christ.\n\nVIII. To sum up many arguments in one, These were the doctrines that\nwere witnessed to the world by those amazing gifts of the Holy Ghost,\nwhich attended the gospel[39]. The gifts of tongues, the wonders of\nprophecy, the powers of healing and destroying, communicated to men in\nsuch a manner as the world never saw, and astonished the spectators, all\nconfirmed the truth of this atonement which the apostles preached. These\nwere the discoveries that were made so gloriously successful for the\nconversion of nations. These doctrines subdued kingdoms to the belief of\nthem, and triumphed over the souls of men: These were the truths that\nchanged the corrupt natures of men into virtue, piety, and goodness,\nthat turned sinners into saints in multitudes, and raised a church for\nChrist in the world, in spite of all the rage of enemies, the\nsuperstitions of the priests, the learning and sophistry of the\nphilosophers, the wild prejudices of the people, and the tyranny of\nprinces.\n\nThe primitive christian writers who were converted to the faith, teach\nus these same doctrines of the grace of God, through the atonement of\nChrist, the pardon of sin through his blood, which had so much power\nover their own souls. In the faith of these doctrines, and the hope of\neternal life by them, they became the glorious confessors and martyrs of\na crucified Christ, and cast down the tempter and the accuser by the\nblood of the Lamb. This is the doctrine that has been delivered down to\nus through all ages of the christian church; and though the\nantichristian powers have mingled it with many of their superstitions,\nyet the gates of hell have never been able to prevail against it, so as\nto root it out. This is the religion which, two hundred years ago, was\nreformed from popish corruptions, and while our blessed reformers\nlaboured to recover and convey it to us in its primitive glory, many of\nthem were called to witness and seal it with their own blood.\n\nAn occasional Remark.\u2014Since these were the truths that the last, and\nbrightest, and best revelation of God communicated to men: since this\npropitiation of Christ was the doctrine which the inspired apostles\ntaught, and in which all the foregoing revelations centre, even from the\nbeginning of the world: It is by this therefore, that all the former and\ndarker discoveries are to be explained; all the types and shadows of\nceremonial worship, and the obscure language of prophecy, must have\ntheir true light cast upon them by this doctrine. This is the clue to\nguide us into the mysteries and deep things of God, which lay hid under\nthe veils for so many ages. The great apostle St. Paul shews us how to\npenetrate and unfold all the ancient dispensations, by the doctrine of\nthe Son of God coming into the flesh, by his dying as a sacrifice for\nsin, by his rising and ascending to heaven, by his appearing there as a\npriest to intercede for sinners in the virtue of his sacrifice, and by\nhis sitting there as a king, to reign over all things for the salvation\nof his people, whom he has purchased with his own blood.\n\nThe Recollection.\u2014What a variety of supports has this blessed doctrine\nof our reconciliation to God by the atoning death of Christ? What a\ntrain of arguments to confirm it are drawn down from the very first\nentrance of sin into the world? Guilty nature urges us on to enquire\nafter such an atonement, and the bible reveals it to us in a long\nsuccession of types, promises, and prophecies, in narratives and plain\ninstructions, in darker or brighter discoveries from the beginning of\nmankind.\n\nIf I forsake the gospel of Christ, and his atonement for sin, whither\nshall my guilty conscience fly to find a better relief? This is the\ndoctrine that supplies the chiefest wants of a guilty creature, and the\nchief defects of natural light and reason. Nature shews me no way to\nrecompense the justice of God for my innumerable sins. Nature shews me\nnothing which God will accept in the room of my own perfect obedience,\nor in the room of my everlasting punishment. If I leave thee, O Jesus,\nwhither should I go? Thy sufferings are the spring of my hope of pardon,\nand my eternal life depends on thy painful and shameful death.\n\nI see and obtain in this gospel of atonement all that the heathen world\nlaboured for in vain, by many wild inventions, and painful\nsuperstitions. The anger of the God of heaven is pacified by the\nsufferings of Jesus his Son. O my God, let my soul never run back to\ninfidelity and heathenism, and rove abroad among the foolish inventions\nof men, in quest of any other methods of atonement. The blood of Jesus\nis all my hope.\n\nHere I see the gracious promises of ancient times fulfilled, even the\nfirst promise of mercy that was ever made to fallen man. Here I behold\nthe accomplishment of the predictions of the holy prophets since the\nworld began; 1 Pet. i. 11. \u201cIt was the Spirit of Christ spake in them,\nconcerning the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow;\u201d\nGen. iii. 15. Here I see \u201cthe seed of the woman breaking the head of the\nserpent;\u201d 1 John iii. 8. _The Son of God manifested_, and by his own\ndeath, _destroyed the works of the devil_. Here I behold; Dan. ix. 24,\n26. the Messiah _cut off, but not for himself_. I behold him here on his\ncross, _finishing_ iniquity, _transgression, and sin_; and _bringing in\neverlasting righteousness_. I see, Is. liii. 10. _his soul made an\noffering for_ the _sins_ of men: And the prophets Isaiah and Daniel\nconspiring with the blessed apostles to point to Jesus as an\nall-sufficient Saviour.\n\nI see the types and shadows of the Jewish religion so happily answered\nin this doctrine of the priesthood and sacrifice of Christ, that I am\nwell assured that this is the substance, for it bears the shape and\nlineaments of the shadow. This is the great original; for if carries the\nexact resemblance of the types and pictures that went before. The\nancient religion of emblems and figures was confirmed by the amazing\nwonders of Moses; but the religion of Christ, which contains in it the\nsubstance and true glory of all former dispensations, is not only\nattested by the miracles of the Son of God, but he himself also appears\nin the midst of it, in so divine a correspondence with the typical\nordinances of Moses, as gives a double and most undoubted confirmation\nto his own blessed gospel, and his own atonement for sin. Every thing\nthat established the religion of the Jews, serves to establish me in the\nreligion of Christ. Their lavers and washings, their altars and\nsacrifices were divine; but they were divine only for a season. These\nancient veils which covered the gospel, were of God\u2019s own contrivance;\nand when they were exhibited to the people, especially in the days of\nMoses and Solomon, they made a bright and sacred appearance; but now the\ngospel stands forth unveiled, and in perfect light, God himself hath\nfolded up these veils as an old garment, and laid them aside. The\nsubstance is come, and the shadows disappear. Blessed be the Lord that I\nwas brought forth since the Sun of Righteousness is risen upon the\nearth, and the morning clouds are vanished away.\n\nI hear Jesus, my great Prophet, preaching this doctrine of propitiation\nfor our sins by his death, in his own ministry; though he was content to\ndo it in a more obscure and imperfect manner: And I now see the reason\nwhy he taught this truth chiefly in parables, because it was not proper\nin that age to be published to the multitude in plain language, till he\nhad actually died and rose again.\n\nI behold his terrible agonies in the garden, before he came near the\ncross. I see the blessed Son of God labouring under the burden of our\nguilt, wrestling, and sweating blood, under the unknown impressions of\nthat tribulation and wrath, that indignation and anguish which was due\nto my sins. What else could make so glorious and divine a person\ndiscover such dreadful distress of soul? Again, he cries out on the\ncross with anguish of spirit, he bleeds, he groans, he dies. I\nacknowledge the truth of the doctrine of his atonement. I read it in all\nhis agonies. These are such sufferings, and such sorrows as are beyond\nall that men could inflict, or that a mere man could bear, beyond all\nthe common terrors of death and the grave. My Saviour sustained a\nheavier burden, and was engaged in harder work; a labour more dreadful\nand more glorious. He was then making atonement to divine justice for my\nsins. And blessed be his name for ever and ever.\n\nI read the same doctrine of atonement for sin, by the death of Christ,\nin the writings of his holy apostles. This was the gospel which they\npreached to the Jews, and to the rest of the nations. This they\ndelivered down in the sacred records of the New Testament, whence we\nderive our religion and our hope. The language in which they expressed\nour reconciliation to God, by the death of Christ, carries with it such\nevidence, and such strength, that if I believe these books to be divine,\nI cannot but receive this doctrine as the truth of God; and I would\nlearn of St. Paul; Gal. vi. 14. _to glory in the cross of Christ_;\nand\u2014ii. 20. to _live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and\ngave himself for me_.\n\nWhen I read the astonishing gifts of the blessed Spirit, communicated to\nthe first preachers and professors of the gospel, when I survey these\ngifts in all their extensive glory, and in all their force of argument,\nI look upon all of them as a heap of united wonders, conspiring to\nsupport this doctrine of the propitiation of Christ, which was every\nwhere taught by these inspired favourites of heaven. Every strange\ntongue which they spoke, teaches me this blessed truth. Every disease of\nbody which they healed, assures me, that the stripes which Christ\nsustained, were for the healing of our souls. Every unclean spirit which\nthey cast out, establishes my belief, that by the atoning death of\nChrist we are delivered from the power of the devil. Every surprising\nwonder which they wrought, gives me a firmer persuasion of this wondrous\ndoctrine, that the Son of God died to give us life.\n\nBlessed Saviour, let the same spirit, by whose influence they healed the\nsick, they cast out devils, and wrought all these wonders, write this\nholy religion, and this doctrine of thy atonement for sins deep in my\nheart. O let me make it my daily food, the support and the life of my\nsoul. Teach me to apply it to all the holy purposes for which so\nglorious a doctrine was revealed to the world. In the faith of this\natonement, by the blood of Jesus, let me join in the songs of angels,\nand pronounce with joy; Luke ii. 14. _Glory to God in the highest, peace\non earth, and good-will to men_; Glory to God my Father, and my Saviour:\nPardon, life, and salvation to dying sinners. _Amen._\n\n\n HYMN FOR SERMON XXXV.\n _Faith and Repentance encouraged by the Sacrifice of Christ._\n\n\n Where shall the guilty conscience go\n To find a sure relief?\n Can bleeding bulls or goats bestow\n A balm to ease my grief?\n\n Will popish rites and penances,\n Release my soul from sin?\n What insufficient things are these\n To calm the wrath divine!\n\n God, the great God, who rules the skies,\n The gracious and the just,\n Makes his own Son our sacrifice:\n And there lies all our trust.\n\n O never let my thoughts renounce\n The gospel of my God,\n Where vilest crimes are cleans\u2019d at once\n In Christ\u2019s atoning blood.\n\n Here rest my faith, and ne\u2019er remove;\n Here let repentance rise,\n While I behold his bleeding love,\n His dying agonies.\n\n With shame and sorrow here I own\n How great my guilt has been;\n This is my way t\u2019 approach the throne,\n And God forgives my sin.\n\nFootnote 36:\n\n Though we have no express revelation in scripture, that sacrifices\n were now instituted, yet there is abundant reason to believe it: For,\n 1. Abel offered bloody sacrifices. Now we can hardly suppose that Adam\n or Abel would ever invent such a strange ceremony to please God with\n it: Nor could reason ever dictate to them, that God, their Creator,\n would be pleased with such a bloody practice, as cutting his living\n creatures to pieces, and then burning them with fire. Nor would God\n who is jealous of his prerogative in matters of worship, ever have\n shewn his acceptance of these rites, if he himself had not appointed\n them. 2. Though we do not read that Adam offered sacrifice, yet it is\n plain he was not permitted to eat flesh; and therefore it is more\n probable, that when he killed beasts, it was for sacrifices: And God\n taught him to make cloathing for himself out of their skins. This was\n immediately after the fall.\n\nFootnote 37:\n\n It may be worthy our notice here, that blood is no very proper liquid\n for purification of any defilements, unless it be, as it represents\n death to be an atonement for the guilt of sin, which is a moral\n defilement of the soul. And yet Heb. ix. 22. _Almost all things under\n the law are purged by blood_: One would think water should be a much\n better cleanser: But we find this purging or cleaning signifies\n atonement for sin, when the very next words give us the reason why\n blood is appointed, _viz._ because pardon or remission is the thing\n sought; _for without shedding of blood is no remission_.\n\n It is plain therefore, that to a guilty and defiled soul or\n conscience, every thing is defiled; as Tit. i. 13. But when both the\n people and their sacred utensils were sprinkled with blood, it denotes\n that all things are sanctified and pure, to those whose souls partake\n of the atonement of Christ, and whose sins are remitted through his\n bloody death.\n\nFootnote 38:\n\n I grant there are some other ingenious and probable reasons offered by\n the author of Miscellanea Sacra, why Christ did not communicate his\n gospel so completely to his disciples in his own life-time; Essay 1.\n p. 156-159, but what I have mentioned is sufficient for my purpose.\n\nFootnote 39:\n\n It was generally agreed that these gifts of the Holy Ghost were never\n set in such an illustrious light, for the defence of christianity, as\n in a late treatise, entitled Miscellanea Sacra, Essay I. especially\n from page 141 to the end.\n\n\n\n\n SERMON XXXVI.\n _The Use of the foregoing Sermons, with intermingled Reflections._\n ROM. iii. 25.\u2014Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation\u2014\u2014\n\n\nThis glorious doctrine of the propitiation of Christ, has been explained\nand proved at large in the former discourses. It remains that we shew\nthe proper uses of it. If we would set our thoughts at work to draw\ninferences, we might derive thence many truths, as well as duties. But\nas my chief design is to promote practical godliness, I shall content\nmyself with mentioning two doctrinal inferences, and all the rest shall\nmore immediately direct our practice.\n\nFirst doctrinal inference. How vain are all the labours and pretences of\nmankind, sinful, guilty mankind, to seek or hope for any better religion\nthan that which is contained in the gospel of Christ! It is here alone,\nthat we can find the solid and rational principles of reconciliation to\nan offended God. This doctrine of atonement for sin by the sufferings of\nChrist, is a substantial ground for our establishment in christianity,\nand should be an effectual persuasive, to continue in the profession of\nthe gospel; Heb. iv. 14. _Having such a High-priest as Jesus the Son of\nGod, who after he had died for our sins, rose again, and entered into\nheaven, let us hold fast our profession._ All the religions that God\never appointed for fallen man, meet and centre here. If you have any\nregard to reason and argument, if you would follow the dictates of\nrevelation, or if you would seek the peace and happiness of your souls,\nnever, never forsake the religion of Jesus.\n\nReflection.\u2014\u201cMy soul, hast thou heard this doctrine of the propitiation\nof Christ, and the arguments that support it in the last discourse? Dost\nthou receive, dost thou believe this great article of faith? Hold it\nfast then, and live upon it continually. Never hope to find a surer\nspring of pardon, nor a sweeter relief for a guilty conscience. Maintain\nthis hope, and hold fast thy bible, where this blessing is discovered to\nmen. Keep upon thy spirit a due sense and relish of this atonement for\nsin: It will be a blessed guard against infidelity, and assist thee to\nstand in an hour of temptation, against the cavils of men, who have\nrenounced the gospel of God.\n\n\u201cBut remember, O my soul, that if thou sin wilfully against this gospel,\nthat is, if thou abandon this grace, and reject it utterly with contempt\nand opposition, _after thou hast received the knowledge of the truth,\nthere remaineth no more sacrifice for sin, but a certain fearful looking\nfor of judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the\nadversaries_;\u201d Heb. x. 26, 27. This scripture seems to stand like a\ndivine engine, charged with vengeance and eternal death, and pointed not\nonly against the primitive apostates, but against some of the profane\ninfidels and scoffers of our age, who have renounced, reproached, and\nridiculed the gospel which they once professed. Remember also, that it\ncarries in it a very dangerous and threatening aspect, upon those who\ncontinue to profess the religion of the bible, but cancel out of it the\ndoctrine of the atonement of Christ; for there remains no other\nsacrifice. Have a care, therefore, O my soul, and stand at a distance\nfrom their company, who deny the propitiatory virtue of the blood of\nChrist! Let them find a better ground to build their hopes of pardon\nupon: But do thou lay thy foundation _on this rock, and the powers of\nhell shall not prevail against it_.\n\nSecond doctrinal inference.\u2014How strange and unreasonable is the doctrine\nof the popish church, who while they profess to believe the religion of\nChrist, yet introduce many other methods of atonement for sin beside the\nsufferings of the Son of God, and the atonement which Jesus has made.\n\nEvery time they celebrate the Lord\u2019s-supper, and the priest communicates\nthe consecrated bread to his deluded followers, they suppose there is a\nfresh propitiation made for sin: Therefore they call it the sacrifice of\nthe mass, and imagine that their unscriptural representation of this\nholy ordinance, is a real propitiation, not only for the sins of the\nliving, but for those that are dead also. Whereas St. Paul assures us;\nHeb. ix. 28.\u2014_Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many._ Heb. x.\n14. _By one offering he hath for ever perfected them that are\nsanctified._ I confess, this practice, of theirs in the mass, looks\nsomething like a pretence of honour, to the name and death of Christ;\nbecause, they declare, the mass is but, as it were, a repetition of the\nvery sacrifice of Christ himself: Though that is expressly contrary to\nthe language of scripture; for \u201cthis man Jesus, after he had offered one\nsacrifice for sin, for ever sat down at the right-hand of God;\u201d Heb. x.\n12. because his single sacrifice was all-sufficient, and needs no\nrepetition.\n\nBut, besides this, they have many other methods of atonement which men\nperform, and which they add to the atonement of Christ. What are all\ntheir imposed penances, their pilgrimages on bare feet, the scourgings\nof their own bodies, the garments of hair worn upon their flesh, and\ntheir multitudes of repeated Latin prayers? What are they all but\ntoilsome and painful labours, invented by men, to make atonement for the\nsins of the soul?\n\nReflection.\u2014\u201cBlessed be the name of our God, who has delivered our\nnation from this bondage of iniquity, from these foolish yokes and\nburdens of superstition; these profane dishonours done to the sacrifice\nand atonement of Jesus our Saviour. We are ready to look on popery now\nas lying afar off, across the seas, as an evil thing at a great\ndistance, and are not so much impressed with a grateful sense of our\npreservation from it. We are too soon forgetful of our narrow escape\nfrom this mischief, by the late revolution, and the protestant\nsuccession; by the arm of God, and by the two best of kings, William our\ndeliverer, and George our defender. Had it not been for these\nprovidences of heaven, and these princes on earth, our land might have\nbeen filled with these superstitions, and they might have been imposed\non us, under the penalties of imprisonment and poverty, torment and\ndeath. And how could we stand in the fiery trial? Awake, O my heart, and\nlet my tongue awake into songs of praise and salvation, that I am not\ntempted or compelled to disgrace the blood of my Saviour by having other\natonements for sin imposed on my conscience. And in the midst of thy\npraises to God, O my soul, drop a tear of pity on thy brethren, who\ndwell in the midst of these temptations, and in the language of\nchristian sympathy, lift up a groan to heaven for them, and say, _How\nlong, O Lord, how long?_\u201d\n\nBut let my thoughts return home from the popish countries and their\nsuperstitions. It is not enough for me to renounce the inventions of\nmen, as any part of my righteousness, to procure my pardon and\nacceptance in the sight of God, but even the duties which God himself\nhas required, the duties of faith and love, of repentance and new\nobedience, must never stand in the room of the atonement of Christ. They\nare all poor defective works, and want to be sprinkled with the blood of\nhis sacrifice! They were never designed to join with the obedience of\nChrist, in procuring the favour of an offended God. Have a care,\ntherefore, O my soul, of resting in the best of thy holy services, or of\nmaking them a matter of merit, to introduce thee before his presence.\nWhen thou art raised nearest to heaven in the practice of christian\ngraces and duties, fall down before the throne, confess thy\nunworthiness, and say; Ps. cxxx. 3, 4. _If thou, O Lord, shouldst mark\niniquities, who can stand?_ But _there is forgiveness with thee_, and\nplentiful redemption by the blood of Jesus. There lies all my hope.\n\nThus I have finished the two inferences for instruction, I proceed now\nto those which more immediately relate to our practice. This blessed\ndoctrine of the atonement of Christ, runs like a golden thread through\nthe whole of our religion: It unites the several parts of it in a sweet\nharmony, and casts a lustre over them all. Let us then particularly\nsurvey some of the various practical uses to which it may be applied.\n\n1. It is a solid foundation, on which the greatest of sinners may hope\nfor acceptance with God, when they return to him: It is a sufficient\nground for their firm trust in Christ as a Saviour, and a reviving\ncordial against sinking in despair.\n\nLet the crimes of a creature be never so great and heinous, yet the\natonement of the Son of God is equal to them all. Let the defilements\nand stains of the soul be never so deep and crimson, the blood of Christ\nhas a strange and divine virtue to wash them away, and to make the\nsinner white as snow, even in the sight of a holy God. Rev. vii. 14.\n_They washed their garments, and made them white in the blood of the\nLamb._ _This is a faithful saying_, as St. Paul tells Timothy, _and\nworthy of all acceptation, Christ Jesus came into the world to save\nsinners, of whom I am chief_; 1 Tim. i. 15. And our Saviour assures us,\n_All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven to men_; Mat. xii.\n14. because that he knew that he could make compensation to divine\nJustice for all this guilt. Therefore all sorts of blasphemers and\ncriminals shall be forgiven, but those who blaspheme the Holy Spirit in\nhis highest attestations to this gospel, and utterly refuse this\natonement of Christ. 1 John i. 7. _The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth\nus from all sin_; it is a divine sacrifice, and all-sufficient\npropitiation, extensive as our iniquities.\n\nJesus is an able and an almighty Saviour, so that the vilest of sinners\nneed not despair, if they are but willing to return to God, and come\nunto him, that they may be saved in his own way. The deepest wounds that\nwere ever made in the conscience by sins, against light, and against\nlove, sins of long continuance, sins of old obstinacy and repeated\nbackslidings, sins of the blackest aggravations, may all be healed by\napplying the blood of Christ. Awake, arise, O sinner, fly to the hope\nthat is set before thee? In vain will you try a thousand remedies, this\nis the only relief. A soul stung with the guilt of sin, as with a fiery\nserpent, must look up to Jesus hanging on the cross, there alone can he\nfind healing and life.\n\nReflection.\u2014\u201cAnd what is my state? and what is my present case? Am I a\nsinner under the first awakenings of conscience? Is my spirit filled\nwith dreadful apprehensions of an offended God, and of a law that\npronounceth curses and death? Am 1 enquiring, What shall I do to flee\nfrom the wrath to come? Does the load of all my past offences lie heavy\nupon me? Are my sins gone over my head as a heavy burden, too heavy for\nme to bear? Does Satan the tempter and the accuser, terrify and hurry me\nwith despairing thoughts? Does he tell me that my crimes are too big to\nbe forgiven? But Satan is _a liar from the beginning_. The gospel of\nChrist is divinely true. I come to Jesus as a great High-priest in the\nblood of his atonement: I come _weary and heavy laden_, under a sense of\nthe guilt of past sins, and the remaining power of them in my soul. O\nJesus fulfil thy promise, and give rest to my labouring and wounded\nspirit! Speak a word of peace and pardon to a sinking creature, and\nraise and receive him to hope and salvation. I am worthy to perish for\never, but thy death is worthy to procure life for me. Here I rest my\nheavy-laden soul, and with humble hope I wait for thy mercy.\n\n\u201cOr, am I a professor of religion that have fallen under great decays\nand wretched backslidings? Are old terrors and agonies returned upon my\nconscience with redoubled smart and anguish? Do I see my guilt? My\nshameful wanderings, my loathsome iniquities? Do I seem as it were to be\ncast out from God? And does he seem to shut the door of heaven against\nmy prayers? Yet I will not despair: I will come in the name of Jesus the\ngreat atonement. Wash my guilty soul, O blessed Redeemer, with thy\nblood, and I will look again toward the holy temple. I will lift up a\nhumble eye toward an offended God. Thy sacrifice is ever fresh in the\npower and virtue of it. The _Lamb as it had been slain_, appears in\nheaven with the marks of his sacrifice. I return with a broken heart to\nmy heavenly Father: I return trembling and hoping in the merit of that\neverlasting atonement, and wait for restoring grace.\n\n\u201cOr, am I endeavouring to walk closely with my God, in all the duties of\nholiness, but daily infirmities break out, daily follies and guilt\nattend me? I make sore complaints indeed, because of the perpetual\nworkings of indwelling sin; yet I will not despair. I love the word of\nGod, and I read it to keep me from sinning: But St. John assures me _if\nany man sin_ through the weakness of nature, and the prevalence of daily\ntemptations, _we have an advocate with the Father, even Jesus the\nrighteous_; 1 John ii. 1, 2. And he is an effectual Advocate, because he\nis a propitiation for our sins; and he pleads in the virtue of his own\nblood. O may I ever maintain a constant exercise of faith on the Son of\nGod, as my great High-priest! May I keep up a lively and delightful\nsense of the all-sufficiency of his atonement upon my spirit, that this\nwhich is the glory of my religion, may also be the daily life of my\nsoul.\u201d\n\nII. This doctrine of atonement for sin, should be used as a powerful\nmotive to excite repentance in every heart where sin hath dwelt.\nRepentance and forgiveness are joined together in the commission of our\nexalted Saviour; Acts v. 31. Grace is a sweet and constraining motive to\nduty. There is abundant encouragement for sinners to repent and mourn\nbefore God for their past transgressions, because the blood of Jesus has\nprovided pardon for them. 1 John i. 9. _If we confess our sins, God is\nfaithful_ to his own word, and _just and true_ to his Son Jesus, _to\nforgive such_ offenders, _and his blood will cleanse us from our sins_.\nThe fallen angels are not called and encouraged by divine mercy, to\nrepent of their heinous rebellions; for there is no Saviour, there is no\natoning sacrifice provided for them.\n\nReflection.\u2014\u201cAnd is there such an atonement made? And are there such\npardons provided for such guilty wretches as I have been? Is God\nreconciling himself to men, and reconciling men to himself, by the blood\nof Jesus? Then let my soul mourn for all her follies, all her past\niniquities. Let me be covered with shame, and lie in the dust at the\nfoot of God. O let him speak peace and forgiveness to me, through the\nblood of Christ. I remember my guilt, and am confounded, and open my\nmouth no more to vindicate myself: I am overwhelmed with this amazing\ninstance of divine love: God has sent his Son to die for me, and is\npacified toward me, for all that I have done against him. O wretched\ncreature that I am, that ever I should rebel against a God of such\ncompassion! Against a God, who all this while had such kind designs\ntowards me, and was making his own way to reconciliation and peace,\nthrough the blood of his own Son! I find now by sweet experience, what I\nhave been often told by other christians, that the most kindly workings\nof true repentance, arise from the sense of a forgiving God, and a dying\nSaviour.\u201d\n\nIII. Let us use this atonement of Christ, as our constant way of access\nto God in all our prayers. This is the only safe method of address to\nthe mercy-seat: It is ordained for this very purpose, to help a sinner\nnear to God; Heb. x. 19, 21, 22.\u2014_Having therefore, brethren, boldness\nto come into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,\u2014and having a High-priest\nover the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart._ He is\nascended to heaven before us, he is entered within the veil in virtue of\nhis sacrifice: he has bespoke acceptance for our persons before the\nthrone, and a favourable audience for all our prayers. Whatsoever we ask\nof the Father, we must ask it in his name, and especially in the name\nand virtue of his great atonement: All the blessings that God has to\nbestow, are purchased by his sufferings.\n\nReflection.\u2014\u201cRemember, O my soul, and be humble; remember thou canst not\nbe a welcome guest even at the throne of grace, unless thou art\nsprinkled with the blood of Jesus. The God whom thou hast offended, is a\ngreat God, and a terrible, a God of holiness, like a devouring fire; a\nGod of awful majesty and severe justice, who will by no means clear the\nguilty, without some recompence for his broken law. Dare not to approach\nhim therefore, but under the protection of the blood of his Son: Christ\nis set forth as our propitiation through faith in his blood. If thou\nbring the atonement of Christ in the hand of thy faith, thou shalt find\nsweet and easy access: And when thou art filled with inward sorrows,\nthou mayest pour them all out, and spread thy complaints and thy burdens\nbefore the eyes of thy God, with inward consolation and hope.\n\n\u201cLord, I have sinned, but thy Son has suffered: I come to the throne of\ngrace in his name. My offences cry for vengeance, but the blood of Jesus\nspeaks better things, and cries louder for peace and pardon. Let the\nvoice of that blood which has made full satisfaction for the vilest\nsins, prevail over all my unworthiness. Let the Lamb which is in the\nmidst of the throne be honoured this day, by introducing a guilty\ncreature with all his complaints and sorrows into thy awful presence,\nand thy divine favour. Let me obtain grace in the hour of my distress\nand necessity: And, O that I may find such success, and such ease of\nsoul, in drawing near to God by the blood of Christ, that on all\noccasions I may run to this refuge, and maintain humble and constant\ncommunion with God my Father, in this new and living way of access. May\nthis earthly and foolish spirit of mine, never be such a stranger as it\nhas been at the mercy-seat, since the door of approach is always open,\nsince I have so glorious an introducer.\u201d\n\nIV. We should use this atonement of Christ, as a divine guard against\ntemptation and sin; 1 Pet. i. 15, 18, 19. _As he which hath called you\nis holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation\u2014for ye are redeemed\nwith the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and\nwithout spot._\n\nReflection.\u2014\u201cAnd has this soul of mine, which was in slavery to sin and\nthe power of Satan, been redeemed by the death of the Son of God? and\nshall I run back to my old slavery, and give myself up again to the\nreign and tyranny of sin? Has this guilty and polluted soul been washed\nin so precious a laver as the blood of the Son of God? And shall I\ndefile myself again? Shall I return with the dog to his vomit, or with\nthe swine that was washed, to her wallowing in the mire?\u201d 2 Pet. ii. 22.\nIt was sin that cost my Redeemer so dear, that cost him agonies and\ndeath: And shall I indulge such an enemy in my heart, and obey it in my\npractice? God forbid! How shall I that am dead to sin, by my interest in\na dying Saviour, live any longer therein? Rom. vi. 2. It is a scandal\nand reproach to this blessed doctrine of atonement, if I should ever\ndare give a loose to my iniquities, while I profess faith in the blood\nof Christ. Grant, O Jesus, that I may never turn this adorable grace of\nthine into wantonness.\n\nV. The atonement of Christ is an argument of prevailing force to be used\nin prayer, when we plead for the aids of the blessed Spirit; when we ask\nfor his sacred influences to enlighten, to sanctify, or to comfort our\nsouls. The Spirit flows down to us in the blood of Christ.\n\nReflection.\u2014\u201cHoly Father, thou hast not withheld thy Son Jesus, but hast\ngiven him to die for me, and wilt thou not give me thy Spirit to live in\nme, and to raise me to a divine life? Even when I was dead in trespasses\nand sins, my blessed Saviour poured out his own soul to death, that I\nmight be recovered to thy favour; and shall I not have thy image\nimpressed upon me by the Spirit, that I may appear before thee in the\nbeauty of holiness? Shall I be sprinkled with the blood of Christ, and\nhave my errors forgiven, and shall I not have divine light bestowed upon\nme, that I may not wander afresh in the ways of error and darkness! Is\nmy guilt cancelled, and are my iniquities removed by the great atonement\nof the Son of God, and wilt thou not bestow thy sanctifying Spirit upon\nme, to guard me from renewed guilt and fresh iniquities? Lord, have I\nnot fled to lay hold on the hope set before me? Hast thou not forgiven\nall my sins? And shall not the Spirit the Comforter, speak peace to my\nsoul, and fill me with hope and joy in believing? Wilt thou deny thy\nSpirit to any creature, for whom thy Son has poured out his invaluable\nlife and blood?\u201d\n\n[If this sermon be too long, here is a proper pause.]\n\nHow great and desirable are the advantages that we have found already to\nbe derived from this gospel of atonement? May our souls possess and\nimprove them all? But there are still more treasures of divine grace to\nbe dug out of this golden mine: It is an inexhausted fountain of duties\nand blessings. I proceed therefore to point out more of them to the eye\nof faith.\n\nVI. We should use this doctrine of propitiation for sin by the death of\nChrist, as an everlasting spring of holy love to God the Father, and to\nhis Son Jesus Christ. Great and unspeakable was the love of God the\nFather; 1 John iv. 10. \u201cHerein is love; not that we loved him, but he\nhath loved us, and sent his Son to be a propitiation for our sins.\u201d\nGreat and unspeakable is the love of Jesus the Saviour; \u201cit has heights,\nand depths, and lengths, and breadths in it which pass our knowledge;\u201d\nEph. iii. 18. For, \u201cwhen we were enemies, he died to reconcile us to\nGod;\u201d Rom. v. 10. The great and blessed God had no richer gift than his\nSon, and he bestowed his Son upon us. Christ Jesus himself made his\nflesh and soul an offering for our sins. It was a spring of divine love\nthat arose from the bosom of God, and runs through all this sacred\ntransaction in many blessed streams: It runs through all the length of\ntime into a long eternity. How should this melt and soften our hearts,\ninto returns of love to the great God, and to his Son Jesus Christ. _We\nlove him_, saith the beloved apostle, _because he first loved us_; 1\nJohn iv. 19.\n\nReflection.\u2014\u201cAnd what shall I do to raise my love to God my Father, and\nmy blessed Redeemer? When I was a stranger and an enemy, God reconciled\nme to himself, by sending his Son to die for me. How hard is this\nwretched heart of mine, that it feels no more powerful impressions from\nthis amazing love and compassion of God to a rebel creature? What\nsorrows, what indignities, what bitter scoffs, what loads of reproach,\nwhat inward and unknown agonies of soul, what a shameful and painful and\ncursed death, did the blessed Son of God endure for my sake: And can I\nforbear to love him? Alas! how cold are my affections! How feeble and\nlanguid is my zeal! What poor sorry returns do I make for these infinite\ncondescensions of divine love! Warm my heart, O Jesus with this love,\nand inflame all my affections. O may all the powers of my soul exert\ntheir utmost diligence in the service of the Son of God, that has\nredeemed me! His love was stronger than death: and shall it not\nconstrain me to love him? Did he lay down his life for my sake, and\nshall I not lay out and employ my life with all my talents and\ncapacities to his honour? Blessed Jesus, I grieve, I mourn, I am\nconfounded that I feel no more of the constraining influences of thy\ndying love, to make all my duty and obedience easy and delightful.\u201d\n\nVII. This doctrine carries in it a strong persuasive to that love and\npity which we should shew on all occasions to our fellow-creatures. When\nthe apostle John had magnified the love of God, in that he had sent his\nSon to be a propitiation for our sins: He makes this inference,\n_Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another_; 1 John\niv. 11. And in the foregoing chapter, iii. 16. he raises this inference\nof love to a sublime degree: _Because God hath laid down his life for\nus, we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren_. But how can any\nperson make a pretence to christianity, who _hath the goods of this\nworld, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of\ncompassion from him_? verse 17. How can such an hardened and cruel heart\npretend that the love of God dwells there?\n\nThis blessed truth of the forgiveness of sin through the propitiation of\nChrist, demands of us the duties of forbearance and forgiveness, of\nkindness and tenderness to men. \u201cBe ye kind one to another, and\ntender-hearted, forgiving one another even as God for Christ\u2019s sake hath\nforgiven you;\u201d Eph. iv. 32. Shall Christians bite and devour each other,\nshall they rage against each other with bitter reproaches, shall they\nquarrel, and grieve, and wound each other who were once fellow-slaves in\nthe chains of guilt, and death, and were redeemed together by the\nvoluntary death of the Son of God? Shall they who have known and tasted\nsuch divine compassion, imitate the rage, and malice, and envy of hell,\nrather than the heavenly example of the blessed Jesus?\n\nReflection.\u2014\u201cAnd hast thou never felt the influence of this divine\ntruth, O my soul, this blessed doctrine of atoning love? Dost thou swell\nwith anger? Dost thou resent every supposed injury? Dost thou indulge a\nspirit of revenge? And do thy thoughts contrive mischief to men, while\nthe thoughts of the Son of God are all tenderness and compassion towards\nthee? Had he resented all thy iniquities, had he meditated vengeance for\nall thy crimes, he had never laid down his life to rescue thee from\nhell, and thy state and thy case had been miserable without hope.\n\n\u201cHast thou no pity for the poor, when their necessities and groans cry\naloud for thy relief? The Son of God did not deal thus with thee: He\nexpended the riches of his love upon thee, even his unsearchable riches\nof grace: And when no other price was sufficient to redeem thee from\ndeath, he gave up himself for thee, and made his own soul an offering\nfor thy sins.\u2014Remember therefore, when provocations to anger are set\nbefore thee, and thou feelest the inward rising passion, remember the\ndeath and love of the Son of God, remember the price of thy\nforgiveness.\u201d\n\nVIII. Patience under heavy afflictions, is another divine lesson that we\nshould learn from this doctrine of the atoning death of Christ; and not\npatience only, but holy joy in the midst of earthly sorrows may be\nderived from the same spring. Rom. v. 1, 2, 3, 8. \u201cBeing justified by\nfaith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ;\u2014we rejoice\nin hope of the glory of God; and not only so, but we glory in\ntribulations,\u2014because God has commended his love towards us at this\nrate, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.\u201d\n\nReflection.\u2014\u201cWhy then should my spirit be overwhelmed under the troubles\nof this life? Surely the mercies which I enjoy are infinitely greater\nthan all my sorrows. God has redeemed my soul from hell by the blood of\nhis Son. Lord, I would suppress all repining thoughts; I am humble, I am\nthankful; and though thou visitest me with chastisements, to reduce me\nfrom my follies, thou hast not laid on me the burden of my sins, nor\ncalled me to the hard and dreadful work of answering the severe demands\nof thy broken law. This burden thy own Son has borne; this work he has\nperformed. _The cup_ of common sorrows _which my heavenly Father puts\ninto my hand, shall I not drink it!_ It is not a cup of such anguish and\nterror as the Son of God drank up for my sake. Why should a creature\nsaved from hell, be impatient and uneasy at any of the little sufferings\nwhich he sustains here on earth!\n\n\u201cThis is not only a powerful argument to compose my soul to resignation\nunder troubles, but even to raise me to holy joy. Surely he that has\nloved me, and has given his own Son up to death for me, does not afflict\nme willingly, nor grieve my spirit beyond what he sees necessary. He\ntransacts all his affairs with me according to that covenant of love\nwhereby he ordained his Son to die for me; and he will bestow upon me\nevery good thing in its proper season: _He that spared not his own Son,\nbut gave him up to die for us, shall he not with him freely give us all\nthings_; Rom. viii. 32.\n\n\u201cBless the name of thy God, O my soul, let my heart be filled with\nthankfulness, and my lips with praise: He has distinguished thee, my\nsoul, by peculiar blessings. He has made no such preparation of an\natonement for angels, those heavenly creatures, when they sinned against\nhim, but they are cast down into chains of darkness, and why am not I\ncast into chains of darkness too? He has not revealed this grace to\nseveral large heathen nations: They know nothing of a Redeemer: But he\nhas revealed his Son to me, in the glory and grace of his atonement He\nhas raised me to the hope of eternal life, by the death and the\nresurrection of Jesus his Son. Let all my murmurings and impatience be\nsilent for ever. The worst of _my present sufferings are not worthy to\nbe compared with the glory that shall be revealed_, the glory purchased\nby the sufferings of Christ;\u201d Rom. viii. 18.\n\nIX. The doctrine of the atonement of Christ gives us a blessed\ninvitation to the Lord\u2019s-supper, where Christ crucified is set forth\nbefore us in the memorials of his propitiation.\n\nThe propitiation of Christ is of so constant and universal use in the\nwhole of our religion, that our blessed Lord would not suffer us to live\nwithout some sensible tokens and signs of it, and these are to be\nfrequently repeated to the end of the world; and therefore he has given\na most express and positive command; Luke xxii. 19. _This do in\nremembrance of me._ And the apostle Paul; 1 Cor. xi. 29. where he\nteaches the Corinthians this ordinance, assures them, _As often as ye\neat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord\u2019s death till he\ncome_. Our blessed Lord has not given us such a peculiar memorial of any\nof his other actions or offices as he has of his priesthood and\nsacrifice.\n\nReflection.\u2014\u201cAnd shall I not do honour to the memory of my dying\nSaviour? Shall I refuse to remember my great High-priest, and his\npropitiation for sin, in the way and manner in which he has enjoined me?\nDo I not trust in the death of Christ for my salvation, and shall I not\nglory in his cross, and profess it before the world? Do I not stand in\ndaily need of this bread of life which was broken for my sake, and shall\nI reject the memorials of his broken body, when his flesh and spirit\nwere made an offering for my guilt: Do I not hope for forgiveness\nthrough his blood, and shall I not drink this cup of reconciliation\nwhich he has mingled! I have learned by the gospel, the excellency and\nvirtue of the propitiation of Christ, to cancel my iniquities, and shall\nI not receive this propitiation in all the methods of his own\nappointment? Shall I dare to say, it is enough for me to read it in the\nbible, and to hear it in the ministry of the word, and to meditate on it\nin private, when my Lord has given me an express command to receive it\nalso in those emblems and sensible figures of bread and wine, and has\nsanctified them for this very purpose? Is this a kind return to him that\ndied for me?\n\n\u201cBlessed Redeemer, forgive all my omissions, my delays my careless or\nslothful neglects of this holy ordinance of thine, and all my sinful\nindifferency about it. O scatter all my doubts, banish all my excuses,\nand bring me to thy holy table as a penitent and humble disciple, as a\nworthy and joyful receiver; there let me join with my fellow-christians\nand remember thy dying love.\u201d\n\nX. We may use this doctrine as our most effectual defence against the\nterrors of dying; and as our joyful hope of a blessed resurrection.\n\nThe atonement of Christ is a divine support in the agonies of death. At\nsuch a season a thousand past iniquities will sometimes crowd in upon\nthe memory, and fill the soul with horror, and perhaps Satan the accuser\nmakes a dreadful assault upon the conscience at the same time, and\ntorments the spirit with painful agonies: But the most formidable\nterrors, the sharpest agonies find a relief here, the very sting of\ndeath is taken away by the death of Christ; 1 Cor. xv. 56. _The sting of\ndeath is sin, and the strength of sin to condemn us is the law of God:\nbut thanks be to God through Christ Jesus_, who hath answered the\ndemands of the condemning law, and taken away the sting of death by his\natoning sacrifice.\n\nWe may now venture into the presence of a holy and righteous God, laying\nfresh hold of the atonement in a dying hour by a living faith, and\nhaving our departing spirits sprinkled with the blood of Christ. It was\nthis very blood in the virtue of which Jesus himself was raised from the\ndead; Heb. xiii. 20. _The God of peace brought again from the dead our\nLord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the\neverlasting covenant._ It was in the virtue of this blood that he\nascended and appeared before God in heaven; Heb. ix. 12. _Christ by his\nown blood entered into the holy place, having obtained eternal\nredemption for us._\n\nDid the cursed guilt of our sins bring the Son of God down from heaven\nto earth, did it smite him to death, and lay him low in the grave? But\nthe power of his complete atonement has broken the bonds of death and\nthe grave; this has brought him back to life again, and has raised him\nfrom earth to heaven; and by the same blood of his cross he has opened\nan effectual way for our rising from the dead, and our final admission\ninto the place of blessedness. As Aaron the Jewish high-priest might not\ndare to venture into the holy of holies without the blood of expiation,\nso Christ our great High-priest, when he had once taken our sins upon\nhim, might not ascend to heaven into the presence of God, till in the\nlanguage of scripture he could carry his blood with him, till he could\nshew a full atonement. Now that very same blood and sacrifice which gave\nChrist himself a joyful admission into heaven, who was the great\nShepherd and the Representative of his people, will also give every one\nof his sheep a safe and glorious entrance into the presence of God. This\nwe may hope for with a chearful heart, when our departing spirits are\ncalled away from this lower world. And for the further joy of our faith,\nwe should remember also, that in the virtue of the same blood we shall\nbe raised from the grave: The grave shall obey the voice of him that\ndied for us; for he has ransomed us from the power of it. Then the soul\nand body of every disciple of Christ shall be introduced with divine\nacceptance to dwell where Jesus is, and _to behold his glory_; John\nxvii. 24.\n\nReflection.\u2014\u201cWhy then art thou so terrified, O my soul, at the thoughts\nof dying? Why all these shudderings of the flesh, and these agonies of\nspirit at the apprehensions of death and the grave? Are the sins of thy\nlife great and numerous? Do they throng in upon thy conscience, and fill\nthy thoughts with tumult and terror? Remember the time, the dark and\ndismal hour, when Jesus thy Saviour bore all those very sins in his own\nbody on the tree: There the demands of Divine Justice were all answered,\nand sin has now no power to condemn the saint, nor has death power to\nhurt him in his best interests;\u201d Rom. viii. 34. \u201cWho shall condemn? It\nis Christ that died, yea, rather has risen again, as a complete\nconqueror over death.\u201d And is not Christ thy Head, thy Redeemer and the\nCaptain of thy salvation?\n\n\u201cLet me call to mind the solemn seasons of transaction between Christ\nand my soul. Have I not resigned myself to him as an all-sufficient\nSaviour, to deliver me both from the guilt and the power of every sin?\nHave I not trusted in the blood of his atonement, and felt the\nquickening power of his Spirit as the fruit of his blood? Has he not\nraised me to a new life? What if the mortal body must die, because it\nhas sin in it, yet my Spirit shall live because Christ is my\nrighteousness. Fear not then, O my soul, but go chearfully through the\ngates of death when he calleth thee. Jesus has taken away the terrors of\nthat dark passage. He has deprived death of its sting, and sanctified\nthe grave for a sweet sleeping place. Awaken all the powers of thy\nfaith, and triumph over the conquered enemy. The justice of God is\nbecome thy friend, and death can do no mischief to the friends of God,\nreconciled by the blood of Jesus. Look forward and behold thy great\nFore-runner ready to introduce thee into the presence of _his Father and\nthy Father, his God and thy God_, with exceeding joy. Bid a joyful\nfarewell to flesh and sense, those busy tempters; farewell to time and\nthis world, and all things that are not divine and holy. Turn thy back\non all visible objects, close thine eyes with a smiling countenance,\nforget earth for ever, and enter into the heavenly mansions.\u201d\n\nXI. The view of Christ as our propitiation, is not only a safe defence\nagainst the terrors of death, but it is a divine allurement toward the\nupper world. There lives our dear Redeemer, our blessed and beloved\nLord, who ransomed our souls from sin and hell. There he reigns on the\nthrone as king of glory, who once hung on the cross as our sacrifice of\natonement: The Lamb of God in the midst of the throne, with the signals\nof his death upon him. The sight of these signals shall open all our\nsprings of love: Joy, love, and gratitude shall fill the departed\nspirit: As soon as we are absent from the body, we are present with the\nLord who died for us.\n\nReflection.\u2014\u201cO happy day and happy hour indeed, that shall finish the\nlong absence of my beloved, and place me within sight of my adored\nJesus! When shall I see that lovely, that illustrious Friend, who laid\ndown his own life to rescue mine, his own valuable life to ransom a\nworm, a rebel that deserved to die. He suffered, he groaned, he died:\nbut he rose again, the blessed Saviour arose, he lives, he reigns\nexalted over all the creation. Faith beholds him risen, and reigning,\nbut it is through a glass, it is at a distance, and but darkly. I wait,\nI hope for a more divine pleasure; it is a delight worth dying for, to\nbehold him face to face, to see him as he is, to converse with his\nwondrous person, and to survey his glories. Alas! my soul is too patient\nof this long distance and separation. O for the wings of love, to bear\nmy spirit upward in holy breathings! Methinks I would long to be near\nhim, to be with him, to give him my highest praises and thanks for my\nshare in his dying love. I would rise to join with the blessed\nacclamations, the holy songs of the saints on high, while they behold\ntheir exalted Saviour. How sweet their songs! How loud their\nacclamations! This is the man, the God-man who died for me! This is the\nSon of God, who was buffetted, who was crowned with thorns, who endured\nexquisite anguish, and unknown sorrows for me, who was scourged, and\nwounded, and crucified for me! This is the glorious Person, the Lamb of\nGod, who washed me from my sins in his own blood. Blessing, honour, and\nsalvation to his holy name forever.\u201d _Amen._\n\n\n HYMN FOR SERMON XXXVI.\n _Christ\u2019s Propitiation improved._\n\n\n Lord, didst thou send thy Son to die\n For such a guilty wretch as I?\n And shall thy mercy not impart\n Thy spirit to renew my heart?\n\n Lord, best thou wash\u2019d my garments clean\n In Jesu\u2019s blood from shame and sin?\n Shall I not strive with all my power\n That sin pollute my soul no more!\n\n Shall I not bear my Father\u2019s rod,\n The kind corrections of my God,\n When Christ upon the cursed tree\n Sustain\u2019d a heavier load for me?\n\n Why should I dread my dying day\n Since Christ hath took the curse away,\n And taught me with my latest breath\n To triumph o\u2019er thy terrors, death?\n\n O rather let me wish and cry,\n \u201cWhen shall my soul get loose and fly\n To upper worlds? When shall I see,\n The God, the man, that dy\u2019d for me?\u201d\n\n I shall behold his glories there,\n And pay him my eternal share\n Of praise, and gratitude, and love,\n Among ten thousand saints above.\n\n\n\n\n SERMON XXXVII.\n _The Christian\u2019s Treasure._\n 1 COR. iii. 21.\u2014All things are yours.\n\n\nIt is a peculiar delight of this apostle to survey the blessings we\nderive from Christ, and to run over the glories of the gospel in flowing\nlanguage. At the end of this chapter he reckons up the privileges of the\nsaints, and tells them, they have an interest in all things: \u201cIt does\nnot become you, says he, to enter into parties, and to glory in any\nsingle man, no, not in Paul, Apollos, nor Cephas, _for all things are\nyours, whether life or death, whether this world or the other, whether\nthings present or things to come, all are yours_.\u201d\n\nTo improve this proposition, and to bring it down to some practical\npurposes, let us consider,\n\nI. What we are to understand by this extensive privilege of true\nchristians, contained in this expression, _All things are yours_; and\nwhat is the true limitation of the sense of it.\u2014II.\u2014It shall be proved,\nthat notwithstanding the limited sense of these words, yet the saints\nhave a richer treasure in them, than the greatest riches of a\nsinner.\u2014III. We shall enquire how christians come to possess such a\ntreasure. And,\u2014IV. See what use may be made of this doctrine:\n\n_First_, What are we to understand by this expression, _All things are\nyours_? To answer this enquiry clearly, I am constrained to introduce\nthese two negatives:\n\n1. We are not to suppose here that all things are in the possession of\ntrue christians, and under their power. This truth every man is a\nwitness of, that the saints have neither heaven nor earth in their\npresent possession. The sun and stars are not at their command, nor the\nriches of this world in their chest, nor the kingdoms of this world\nunder their government. No, by no means, for they are most times poor\nand mean in this world, many of them destitute of the common supports of\nnature, and the comforts of life. Christ himself their Lord and Master\nhad not where to lay his head: And the apostles, who were the chief of\nchristians, suffered \u201chunger and thirst, were naked and buffetted; they\nhad sometimes neither food nor raiment, neither rest nor peace, nor any\ncertain dwelling-place;\u201d 1 Cor. iv. 11.\n\n2. And as all things are not in their possession, so neither are we to\nunderstand that all things in a civil sense are their right and\nproperty. They have not a just claim and demand of the good things which\ntheir neighbours possess, nor ought they to take possession of them,\nthough they had power to do it. It is a very wicked principle which has\nno countenance from scripture, and has been abused to most unrighteous\nand bloody purposes, that dominion is founded in grace, or that the\nsaints have a present civil right to all the earth, and the good things\nof it. From this sort of doctrine, some men of furious zeal and\nenthusiasm have been tempted to rise and seize on the property of their\nneighbours. And indeed, all the persecution in the world upon the\naccount of religion, is built on this principle, \u201cthat the saints alone\nhave a right to peace and liberty, to honour and money, and all the good\nthings of this life; and that the heretic and the sinner have no right\nto any thing.\u201d And though persecutors are very much ashamed to own this\ndoctrine in words, yet they confirm it and comment upon it, in all their\noppressive and bloody practices.\n\nBut the christian religion knows no such principles; it allows every\nman\u2019s property and interest in the goods of this world, whether he be a\nTurk or a Jew, a heathen or a christian, a saint or a sinner. It is\nprovidence has disposed of these outward things in the civil life, and\nmen become entitled to them, by the laws and agreement of civil society:\nAnd thus a rich wicked man may be righteously possessed of a fine house,\nand purple raiment, may have a well spread table, and large lands, and\ndominions, while a saint may happen to lie at his door destitute of\nbread and clothing.\n\nBut in what sense than can it be said, that \u201call things are theirs.\u201d\n\nTo give a just answer to this enquiry, we must take notice, that the\napostle\u2019s first design here, is to shew, that believers need not be so\nfond of assuming to themselves a peculiar interest in one minister or\nanother, for they may enjoy the gifts of all; _all are for their sakes_:\nAnd from this single hint he rises high into the privileges of the\nsaints. Not ministers only, as Paul and Cephas, are designed for their\nbenefit; but all are theirs: All things in heaven or earth, in time, or\nin eternity, are appointed to do some service to them. This therefore I\ntake to be the true sense of my text, _viz._ \u201cThat all things in the\ncreation of God, all things in all his vast dominions, which a christian\ncan or shall at any time have to do with, shall as certainly serve to\npromote his true interest, and his final happiness, as though he himself\nhad sovereign dominion over them, or present possession of them:\u201d Always\nsupposing that the christian maintains his character, and acts in his\nstation becoming the dignity of his holy and heavenly calling.\n\nThe plain meaning of the words is, that _all things shall work for the\ngood of the saints_. But the apostle chuses to express this in a noble\nmanner here, and by such an exalted figure of speech as aggrandizes the\ncharacter of the saints, and raises their dignity: And therefore he\nrepresents them as having a property in all things, and speaks sublimely\nof them, as though they were possessors of heaven and earth. Now the\nground on which he builds this manner of speaking, may be set in a just\nand easy light. We can properly be said to possess nothing but what\nturns to our account, what is of some service or advantage to us; and\ntherefore in the common language of life, we say, concerning a rich\ncovetous man, \u201che is a poor wretch, he has nothing, because he receives\nbenefit from so small a part of his estate: And in truth, he has no more\nthan he enjoys or uses.\u201d Now the true christian reaps the benefit of all\nthings; and God, the great God, the Possessor of heaven and earth, makes\nall things work together for the benefit of his people; and in this\nsense it is that all things are theirs.\n\nAll things shall turn to their advantage, either, 1. for the support and\ncomfort of their temporal life; or, 2. for the beginning and improvement\nof their spiritual life; or, 3. for their possession and enjoyment of\nlife eternal.\n\nBut instead of collecting all the treasures and riches of the saints\nunder these three general heads, I shall chuse rather to make a\nparaphrase on the whole verse of my text, and thus discover the interest\nthat a christian has in the persons and things of earth and heaven.\n\u201cWhether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death,\nor things present, or things to come, all are yours.\u201d\n\nI. The ministers of the gospel are yours.\n\nIs Paul appointed an apostle separated to the gospel by the immediate\ncall of Christ; it is for your sakes, O ye Corinthians, that he was\nchosen and called! Christ had you in his eye, and upon his heart, when\nhe stopped him in the midst of his fury and persecution; when he\noverwhelmed him with glory, in the road to Damascus; and from a\npersecutor, made an apostle of him, and a preacher of the cross of\nJesus: For he designed then to send him to Corinth, to call you from\nheathenism, and to save your souls.\n\nIs Paul a man of learning and of bright parts? Is he endowed with\nprofound knowledge of divine mysteries above his brethren? Is he fit to\npreach for the conversion of the heathen world, and to write the great\nthings of God for the church, in all future ages? It is for your sakes,\nO christians, that he is thus endowed: It is for you, O believers in\nGreat Britain, though you live as it were at the ends of the earth, and\nin the old age of the world; it is even for you that he was appointed\nand inspired to write his epistles to Rome, Corinth, and Ephesus, and\nthe rest of the early churches. It is by his writings, that you have\nbeen enlightened in the mysteries of Christ, and the wonders of the\ngospel. Almost seventeen hundred years ago was he made the apostle of\nthe gentiles, and that partly for your sakes. Paul himself is yours.\n\nWas Apollos an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures? It was for\nyou, O primitive christians, that he had the gift of oratory bestowed on\nhim. Has any minister in our age and place of abode a peculiar talent of\neloquence, hath he a vivacity of fancy, a strength of expression, a\nsweet accent, and a commanding voice? It is designed for the conviction\nand salvation of your souls. Can he thunder like the voice of God on\nmount Sinai, and flash the terrors of the law, like lightning, upon your\nconsciences? It is to awaken you out of your carnal slumber and security\nin sin, to make you fly from the wrath to come, and cry out, _What shall\nI do to be saved?_ Can he set the blessings of salvation in a glorious\nand convincing light? It is to persuade you to accept them. Has he the\nart of striking the passions, and touching the inward springs of the\nsoul? Can he spread the invitations of grace before you, in alluring\nlanguage? Can he dissolve his thoughts in the tenderest accents of\nspeech, and moisten his words with his tears? It is all designed as a\nmeans, in the hands of the Spirit, to melt your hearts to repentance,\nand to soften your souls to receive the impressions of the gospel. Has\nhe the holy skill of displaying the glories of our blessed Saviour? Can\nhe set off the miracles of his life? Can he talk of his bleeding and his\ndying love in the most affecting manner? Can he paint him in the honours\nof his resurrection, his triumph and his exalted state, in most\nmagnificent colours? It is all for the assistance of your faith, the\nkindling of your love, and the advancement of your joy. Not Paul only,\nbut Apollos is yours.\n\nIs Cephas or Peter a man of boldness and courage to defend the truths of\nthe gospel, or to speak for Christ amongst infidels? It is to lead you\nonward as the soldiers of Christ, through the midst of dangers, and to\nencourage you to face the persecuting world bravely in the profession of\nthe cross.\n\nOr is the character of Cephas, as an instructor of the young, and a\ncondescending preacher to babes? He has this talent given him for your\nsakes too, to feed you while you were babes in Christ, with the sincere\nmilk of the word, to set before you the first principles of the oracles\nof God, and assist you to imbibe the rudiments of christianity, before\nyou were fit to receive the more exalted doctrines, and be fed with\nstronger meat. Thus not only Paul and Apollos, but Cephas is yours. All\nthe officers in the church, both ordinary and extraordinary, are\nappointed for your sakes. It is for you that Christ ascended on high,\nand gave gifts to men. Read and believe it; Eph. iv. 11, 12. \u201cAnd he\ngave some apostles; and some prophets; and some evangelists; and some\npastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of\nthe ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.\u201d\n\nAnd as the gifts and graces of the ministers of the gospel are designed\nfor the benefit of the church, so the outward circumstances that attend\nthem, their sorrows, and their joys are ordained for the advantage of\nchristians: And St. Paul rejoices in it; 2 Cor. i. 3, 4, 6. \u201cBlessed be\nGod, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies,\nand the God of all comfort, who comforteth us in all our tribulation,\nthat we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the\ncomfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God;\u2014And whether we be\nafflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which appears to be\neffectual, when ye endure the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or\nwhether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation,\u201d that\nis, we preach more effectually from our own experience.\n\nThus whatsoever be the characters, or the talents, or the circumstances\nof life that attend your ministers, they are ordained of God for some\nvaluable purposes to you.\n\nII. This world is yours. Not only the ministers of the gospel but the\nworld, and the things of it are yours. It is for your sakes, O\nbelievers, that the world stands! For when sin entered into it by Adam\nthe first man, there was a curse spread over it; and perhaps immediate\ndestruction had attended it, but for the sake of the children of God,\nwho were appointed to be born in successive ages, amongst the posterity\nof Adam, among the children of men. It is for the sake of the elect, who\nwere given to Christ before the world was, that this earth and these\nlower heavens are continued in being. This earth abides as a stage of\naction, proper for a state of trial for the saints, and when the last\nsaint is born, and his state of trial is finished, the world and the\nworks of it shall be burned up together.\n\nIt is for you, O christians, that these heavens, or, shall I say, this\nglobe of earth rolls round in its daily and yearly courses, and the sun\nand the moon send out their brighter or paler beams, to light you onward\nin your way to glory. The morning breaks for you to give you day-light,\nthat you may work for God: And the evening spreads its long thick\nshadows over the nations, to determine a time for your repose and\nrefreshment. The darkness and the light are yours, during your\ncontinuance in the flesh. When all your work here is done, these lower\n\u201cheavens shall be folded up like an old garment, as a vesture shall they\nbe changed;\u201d they shall flee away and be no more.\n\nSurvey the trees and the fields, how they bring forth food for you. The\nbeasts of the earth grow and are nourished for your conveniency; they\nwere born and live, and die for your support and nourishment. The winds\nblow to purge the air for you, and to keep it wholesome, while God has\nappointed you to breathe in it. The fountains bubble, and the rivers\nflow to quench your thirst. Flax and wool are ordained for your\ncovering, and the silk-worm is set to his shining task, that some of\nyour garments may be soft and easy: _The beasts of the earth are at\npeace with you, and you are in league with the stones of the field_; Job\nv. 23. O happy and glorious state of the children of God!\n\nChrist, in his providential management of all things in this world, has\na chief regard to his own people. The wicked of the earth who dwell\namong the saints, come in for a share of the common good things of life,\nchiefly as they are instruments of the providence of Christ, for some\nknown or unknown benefit to his church.\n\nI might tell you also, that if you are christians indeed, then though\nyour ungodly neighbours may have a rightful civil property in many good\nthings of the world, yet you have a better and sweeter interest in the\nearthly blessings which you possess. You can taste the love of a Father\nin them, and the kindness of a reconciled God. They are common benefits\nto the world, but they are made as it were special blessings to you.\nThey are put into your hand by a better covenant: They are sanctified to\nyour use: The world itself becomes a means to raise your heads towards\nGod. And whereas wealth, and honours, and the plenteous enjoyments of\nlife, become a temptation and a snare to the wicked; and, through the\ncorruption of their natures, divide their souls from God and heaven, the\nsame things are made happy instruments in the hand of the Mediator, to\nfurnish you out for eminent service, and to help you onward to a better\nworld.\n\nIII. Life and death are yours. Life, with all the comfortable attendants\nof it; or even with all its difficulties and vexations, it is still\ndesigned for your advantage: And death, as terrible as it is in itself,\nshall appear to be a benefit to you. But I insist no longer on this head\nat present, because I design it to be the subject of following\ndiscourses.\n\nIV. Things present, whether visible or invisible, and things to come,\nare all yours.\n\n1. Visible things present are yours. I have shewed you in part already,\nhow the wheels of nature are rolling for you. This lower creation stands\nand moves for your sakes, for your relief and support, while you are\ntravelling to heaven. The present posture of things in this world, the\ndaily scenes of life are continued or changed and still over-ruled by\ndivine providence for your good. Kingdoms, and laws, and governments,\nare established among men for your safety: If the world were without all\ngovernment, and all things run into confusion, the saints, with all\ntheir earthly comforts, would become the plunder and property of the\nwicked continually. The princes of the earth, and the political\nconstitutions of nations, are designed to be a screen and defence to the\npeople of God, who dwell among them: For _if these foundations are\ndestroyed, what can the righteous do_; Ps. xi. 3. _The wicked would bend\ntheir bow, and make ready their arrow upon the string_; and they would\nnot only in private, but publicly _shoot at the upright in heart_; verse\n2. There would be neither life nor safety for a christian. Yet, on the\nother hand, when Christ, in the course of his providence, brings\nconfusion on states and kingdoms, and when he suffers the wicked of the\nearth, like wild beasts of the wilderness, to spoil, devour and destroy,\nit is usually designed by his wisdom, as a season of proper trial for\nhis own people, and that country becomes a scene of their glorious\nsufferings. Christ, who is the head over all things, sets up and pulls\ndown tyrants or good princes, as may best serve the counsels of his\nFather\u2019s mercy, and his own kind designs for his chosen and redeemed\npeople.\n\nAnd as the whole world of nature, and the present affairs of nations are\nmanaged by Christ, for the good of the church; so the world of grace,\nand the affairs of his sanctuary, and his kingdoms on earth, are all\nordained for the benefit of the saints. Christians, why did he separate\nyou from the world, and call you out of the wilderness, and make you a\nchosen nation, and a peculiar people? Was it not for your advantage? Why\ndid he write his word? Why did he ordain ministers and holy\ninstitutions? Was it not for your edification? Were not the seals of the\ncovenant given to assist your faith, by the aid of your senses, and by\nthis means to inflame your love, and exalt your joy? Are not the\nprecepts of the word written to direct you in the way of duty? Are not\nthe threatenings pronounced to awaken your fear, and guard you from sin\nand folly? And are not all the promises of the gospel given to comfort\nyour souls, to support your spirits, and give a sweet taste of glory\nbefore-hand.\n\nWhatsoever temporal circumstances attend you in this present life,\nwhether they are painful or pleasant, they are all the appointments of\nyour heavenly Father for your real interest. Are you at peace in the\nmidst of plenty, and does every thing around you smile upon you? It is\nthat your hearts may be raised to thankfulness, and your lips tuned to\npraise. Do you labour under pain or sickness? It is to wean you from\nflesh and blood, to put you in mind, that this tabernacle is falling, to\nawaken your hearts to insure a better habitation on high. Do you want\nfood or raiment? It is to make you remember that you are in the\nwilderness, and to call your meditations upward to your Father\u2019s house,\nwhere there is bread enough, and to spare. Are you scorned and reviled\nby the basest of men? Are you persecuted or imprisoned and treated with\nrudeness or cruelty? It is to try and prove your suffering graces, that\nyour faith, courage, and patience may shine as gold that has passed\nthrough the furnace; are you called to seal the truth and testimony of\nJesus with your blood? It is to prepare you for the crowns of glory that\nare laid up for martyrs.\n\nThis thought leads me onward in the survey of this rich inventory of a\nchristian, and carries my thoughts into the invisible regions, and into\nfar distant futurities.\n\n2. Not things present only in this visible world, but things invisible\nin other worlds are also yours, and were appointed for your benefit.\nThese are numbered by the apostle among the riches and possessions of\nthe saints. Is there a heaven built on high, with many palaces of light\nin it? They were built and furnished for your reception. It is, \u201cthe\ninheritance of the saints in light;\u201d Col. i. 12. Are there mansions of\nunknown glory, well prepared by our Lord Jesus Christ, since his ascent\nto heaven? He assures us in his last words, that they are prepared for\nyou; John xiv. 2, 3. _In my Father\u2019s house are many mansions: if it were\nnot so, I would have told you; I go to prepare a place for you. And if I\ngo and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to\nmyself; that where I am, there ye may be also._ Each of these mansions\nstands waiting for those saints, for whom they are provided; and they\nare all adorned with rich magnificent furniture, in the perfect beauty\nof holiness.\n\nThe angels, in their shining orders, are ordained to be your attendants:\nThose holy inhabitants of the upper blessed world, _encamp round about\nthose that fear the Lord_; Ps. xxxiv. 7. and are appointed as guards to\nhis children, by their heavenly Father. _Are they not all ministering\nspirits, sent forth to minister to them who shall be heirs of\nsalvation_; Heb i. 14. They wait upon your dying beds, and convey your\nsouls to the bosom of Abraham; Luke xvi. 22. Happy souls, who have so\nillustrious a guard, so secure a convoy to the far distant and unknown\nregions of light and joy.\n\nThe very hell that is provided to punish impenitent sinners, though we\ncannot say it was built for you, christians; yet it has been of glorious\nand terrible service, to awaken your souls out of a natural and guilty\nstate. When the Spirit of God in the ministry of his word has opened the\nmouth of hell, and brought the flashes of that furnace into your face;\nit has awakened your consciences in time past, and driven you to seek\nrefuge in the arms of Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come.\nThus hell itself is constrained to pay a tribute towards the salvation\nof the saints.\n\nAnd the devils themselves who dwell there, with all their fiery\ntemptations, have been but as underworkers for our final good; they are\nas slaves to Christ, the great Refiner, who designed to purify your\nsouls by those very methods of temptation, which those evil spirits made\nuse of on purpose to destroy you. Thus the ministers of divine wrath to\nsinners are become instruments of your benefit. _When Satan has desired\nto winnow you as wheat, Christ has prayed for you, that your faith fail\nnot_: Luke xxii. 31, 32. and he has care that by this winnowing you\nmight be purified, that nothing might fly away but the empty chaff: that\nyou might appear in the sight of Christ as purer corn. Now if hell, and\nthe wicked inhabitants of it, may be constrained to serve your interest,\nand to promote your happiness, surely there is nothing in all the\ncreation, but may turn to your advantage. O divine privilege, when the\ncreatures that are under the deserved curse of God, are thus made to\nsubserve your blessedness!\n\n3. But not only present invisibles, but even all future unseen things\nare yours too. The morning of the resurrection is appointed for your\nglory; and the great trumpet is put into the hands of the arch-angel, to\nawaken your sleeping dust into immortality. Jesus the Lord himself shall\ndescend from heaven to call you from the grave: And _though ye were\ndead, ye shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and live_; John v. 35.\nThe great day of judgment, and all the solemnities of it, are ordained\nfor your honour, to publish your victories over sin and Satan, before\nthe face of the whole creation, to pronounce you openly acquitted and\njustified before men and angels, to proclaim you the sons and daughters\nof the Most High God, and determine your state to everlasting\nblessedness.\n\nAre there crowns of infinite value laid up in heaven? Are there rewards\nof glory there, immense rewards, and of endless duration? It is to crown\nyour labours, your conflicts, your christian race; it is to reward your\nsufferings, your patience, and your conquest: And the day of glory is\nstretched out to all everlasting, that your happiness may know no end.\n_Thus things present, and things to come are all yours_; and there is\nnothing in time or eternity, which can come within the reach or notice,\nbut in some of these senses shall subserve your interest, and turn to\nyour advantage. This is the genuine sense, and this the true limitation\nof these words, _all things are yours_.\n\nThe second thing proposed in this discourse, was to prove that\nnotwithstanding the limited sense of these words, yet the true christian\nhas a richer treasure in them, than all the worldly wealth of the\nsinner. And without multiplying particulars the proof of it will\nsufficiently appear in these four things:\n\nI. The treasure of the meanest saint is vastly more large and extensive,\nthan that of the richest sinner. Let the wicked man point to his heaps\nof money, and run over the names of his farms and manors, and call\nhimself the lord and master of them all; it is but a narrow and poor\nsurvey, that a few pieces of shining earth can give us; or the fields\nthat lie within the prospect of a mile or two, when compared with this\nvast and universal treasure, _all things are yours_! It is true,\nchristians, that you have not the civil property and power over the\nearth, or the heavens; but you receive a divine advantage from all\nthings, and that is more than the sinner can say concerning any one\nthing that he possesses in the way of civil property.\n\nII. This treasure of the saints is more secure, and more durable than\nany thing that a sinner enjoys; therefore the apostle calls the wealth\nof this world, _uncertain riches, that cannot be trusted in_; 1 Tim. vi.\n17. _Riches make to themselves wings, and fly away as an eagle towards\nheaven_; Prov. xxiii. 5. and leave the owner poor and destitute: Many a\nwealthy man who flourished yesterday, in abundance of ease and plenty,\nmay be stripped of all to-morrow, and want the common supports of\nnature. What possessions soever are built upon the foundations of civil\nproperty, may be taken away from the saint or the sinner, by robbing and\nplunder, by cheating and knavery, by inundations of water, or the rage\nof fire, or by the invasion of a foreign enemy, but the beneficial\ninterest that a christian has in all things is preserved to him by the\ncovenant of grace. He may be stripped of all earthly possessions, but\nthe loss of his temporal estate shall turn to his real benefit, as well\nas the possession of it. Losses and crosses, as well as plenty and\npeace, are numbered among the items of his inventory, and make up his\ntreasure; so that though the outward scenes of things on earth are\nperpetually changing, his real and everlasting treasure is the same; for\nall things that appear in nature, that occur in present providence, or\nshall arise in future ages, shall work for his advantage: He may lose\nmoney or lands as well as a sinner; but that very loss shall turn to his\ngain.\n\nThis sort of treasure he cannot be dispossessed of by death itself for\nwhen he quits his visible interest in all things in this lower world, he\nenters into a new world of spirits, which he has never seen: and yet all\nthings in that world are his too: All things in those unknown regions,\nwhere the departing spirit goes, are made over to the saint, by the same\ncovenant as the things of this world; they shall all administer some\ndivine profit to him, and be a part of his happiness in the world to\ncome.\n\nIII. This treasure of a christian is ever growing, at least in the\npossession; for the occurrences of every day make some addition to it;\nwhereas the wealth of sinners is impaired with using. The largest\nearthly estate may be wasted: Money decreases daily by procuring the\nsupports of life; but a christian\u2019s treasure still improves. He lives\nupon it every day, and yet it grows still.\n\nThe providences of God here on earth, present us daily with some new\naffairs, new occurrences: Whether they be pleasant or painful, still the\nspiritual man finds his interest in them; and when he reviews his\naccount in the evening, if his heart has been in a proper frame, he may\nwrite himself gainer. He has possessed and enjoyed the very crosses and\nsorrows of his former days: He has treasured up a store of divine\nexperiences, in the midst of plenty and want, health and sickness: New\nscenes of life arise, new appearances of things; he is still like the\nbee, ready to suck honey from every flower that blows: He gathers his\nfood and his riches from weeds that are unsavoury, as well as from the\nblossoms of perfume: If he is by this means adding daily to the number\nand strength of his graces and virtues, he is, as it were, treasuring up\na good foundation for time to come, and, shall I be bold to say, adding\nbeauties and ornaments to his robes of glory, and lustre to his heavenly\ncrown.\n\nIV. This large inheritance of a christian is all sanctified, which is\nmore than can be said of any part of a sinner\u2019s estate. The riches of\nthis world may be abused to luxury and debauchery, to iniquity and sore\nvexations. They may be abused to profaneness and impiety, to dishonour\nGod, and corrupt the conversation of men, and to ruin their souls for\never: But this large and extensive treasure of a christian, is designed\nfor his real happiness, as well as for the honour of his God; whatsoever\nhe has to do with in the world, he uses it to the glory of his God, to\nthe honour of his Saviour, to the benefit of his fellow-creatures, and\nto his own sublimest advantage. And concerning this sacred treasure, it\nmay be said, that it is the property, or in the possession of a\nchristian, no farther than it is sanctified to him, or than he receives\nit with a sanctified mind. _To the pure all things are pure_; Tit. i.\n15. for _every thing is sanctified by the word of God and prayer_; 1\nTim. iv. 5. The exercise of piety among the saints puts a sort of\nconsecration upon all creatures, so far as they use or enjoy them.\n\nThus it is made sufficiently evident, that the treasure of a saint\nvastly exceeds all the richest possessions of a sinner. I cannot enter\nnow upon the third branch of my design, which was to shew, how a\nchristian comes to be made heir and possesser of all things. Let us\ntherefore shut up the present discourse with this one reflection:\n\nReflection.\u2014\u201cHow unreasonable is it for a christian to forsake his\nprofession, or his practice, for any thing which this world can tempt\nhim with? For his treasures and enjoyments already are greater than any\nthing he can hope for in the ways of sin.\n\n\u201cWhat a powerful motive may be drawn hence, to persevere in faith and\nholiness? Christians, _all things are yours_; every thing you converse\nwith shall turn to your benefit; _this world, and the other, things\npresent and things to come, life and death are yours_.\n\n\u201cWhat valuable pretences can the world make, to tempt you to lose this\ninheritance, to quit these hopes, and to part with these possessions?\nCan you, by complying with any temptation, provide yourself with such\nriches as these; or with any thing that shall answer the loss of them?\nSin and the world can promise you but a little, narrow share of good\nthings: The gospel of Christ gives you a most extensive treasure, for it\nbestows all things upon you. The world can make nothing secure, but the\ntreasures of christianity are everlasting; they reach beyond the grave,\ninto unknown worlds and ages. All the wealth and pleasures, and\nenjoyments of this life perish with the using; but your inheritance is\never upon the increase: As fast as time and providence bring forth days,\nand seasons, and new scenes, so fast this treasure grows; and you may\nreceive the daily profit of it. What can sin and the world give you but\nwhat hath a secret curse in it? These your treasures are sanctified\nblessings, and the foretastes of them are designed to assist you onward\nin the ways of holiness and peace, till you arrive at the brightest and\nsweetest part of them, the full enjoyment of God and happiness in the\nupper world.\n\n\u201cGo on then, christians, with zeal and courage in the profession of your\nfaith: Go on with constancy in the practice of duty: Feed daily upon\nthat portion of your inheritance, which your heavenly Father appoints to\nsustain you in your travels homeward; and expect the rest in your\nFather\u2019s house. When the world would tempt you to forego your sacred\ninterest in the gospel, by the alluring offer of any temporal\nenjoyments, tell the world, that _life and death, things present and\nthings to come, are yours_ already: Let the world know that Christ has\nengaged and secured your heart for ever to himself, by outbidding all\nthat the world can offer; for he has written down and sealed your title\nto a larger and richer inheritance, and annexed it to his own: _Ye are\njoint-heirs with Christ_. And he has appointed it to stand recorded in\nhis holy book to the view of men and angels, that _all things are\nyours_.\u201d\n\nThe Recollection.\u2014\u201cAnd is it possible that so worthless a creature as I\nam, should be really entitled to all these blessings: Can it be true,\nthat so rich an interest in the good things of time and eternity belongs\nto me? To me, who am less than the least of all the mercies of God? To\nme, who in the days of sin and ignorance, have abused all things, O my\nGod, to thy dishonour? To me, who have provoked thy justice to strip me\nof all the common blessings of nature and life, and to make me for ever\npoor and miserable? Is the mercy of God so vast and overflowing, as not\nonly to forgive these provocations, and to admit me into his favour, but\nto bless me also with so rich an inheritance? Fall down prostrate, O my\nsoul, at the foot of sovereign and all-sufficient grace. Remember thy\nguilt, thy poverty, and thy wretchedness, and be ever humble before God\nthy infinite benefactor. Mourn over all thy unworthiness, and maintain a\nconstant temper of penitent love, and self-abasing gratitude. I deserve\nto be cut off for ever, O Lord, from thy house, from thy family, and\nfrom all the blessings of thy children: But thou hast called me to the\nknowledge of thy Son Jesus, thou hast taught me to lay hold on the arm\nof thy salvation, thou hast made me willing in the day of thy power to\nrenounce every sin, to subject myself to thy sceptre of righteousness,\nand to accept the grace of thy gospel. Thou hast opened the treasures of\nthy love, treasures that contain in them the good things of earth and\nheaven, things visible and invisible, things present and things to come:\nAnd while these treasures stood open to my view, in the voice of thy\ngospel thou hast told me, _All is yours_.\n\n\u201cO for an enlarged exercise of faith, to survey this inheritance! to\nrejoice in this extensive bounty of the Most High! to read the blessed\nlanguage of this text, and to believe it with a humble claim and\nappropriation! Surely here is enough for faith to live upon, through all\nthe remaining years of my pilgrimage, and my hope, till faith shall be\nturned into perfect sight, and hope into full and final enjoyment. I\nwould not change my portion with the richest sinner on earth: My estate\nis larger, and my interests are more extensive. His gold and silver, his\nhouses and lands can reach no farther than this world and time; but my\ninheritance runs into eternity, and my enjoyment of it has no period.\n\n\u201cMy treasures are secure against all the invasions and plunder of\nenemies, against all the rage of the winds, and waves, and fire; against\nall the confusions of the world, against all the overwhelming changes of\ntime and nature; even against death itself, and the last conflagration.\nThese lower heavens may be dissolved, the elements may melt with fervent\nheat, and the earth, and the works thereof, with all the fields, and the\npalaces, and the treasures of it, may be burned up, but my inheritance\nstands ever secure, for God himself, who is the original Creator and\nPossessor of all things, has secured life and happiness to me in his\ncovenant: He has secured a possession of every thing that can be\nnecessary to my happiness, or to my eternal life.\n\n\u201cO that I were taught to enjoy these blessings daily; and to observe the\ndaily accessions that are made to my treasures, by all the new scenes of\nprovidence that are ever rising! May I be instructed to make a\nsanctified improvement of them all, and thus add something hourly to my\nbest interest, to my everlasting hope! May life itself, with all the\ndaily comforts and crosses of it, minister to me some sacred\nmeditations, some holy and heavenly thoughts! May a divine consecration\ncome down on all my affairs and concerns in this present state! and by a\nwise improvement of all those parcels of my inheritance, which my\nheavenly Father puts into my hands here on earth, may I be trained up\nand grow fitter daily for those brighter talents, those more glorious\nenjoyments, which he keeps in reserve for me when time shall be no more.\n_Amen._\u201d\n\n\n HYMN FOR SERMON XXXVII.\n_A Christian\u2019s Treasure:\u2014All things are yours, whether Paul, or Apollos,\n or Cephas, &c._\n\n\n How vast the treasures we possess!\n How rich thy bounty, King of grace!\n This world is ours, and worlds to come:\n Earth is our lodge, and heaven our home.\n\n Paul is our teacher: while he speaks,\n The shadows flee, the morning breaks;\n His words like beams of knowledge shine,\n And fill our souls with light divine.\n\n Cephas is ours: he makes us feel\n The kindlings of celestial zeal:\n While sweet Apollos\u2019 charming voice\n Gives us a taste of heav\u2019nly joys.\n\n The springing corn, the stately wood,\n Grow to provide us house and food:\n Fire, air, earth, water, join their force;\n All nature serves us in her course.\n\n The sun rolls round to make our day,\n The moon directs our nightly way;\n While angels bear us in their arms,\n And shield us from ten thousand harms.\n\n O glorious portion of the saints!\n Let faith suppress our sore complaints,\n And tune our hearts and tongues to sing\n Our bounteous God, our sovereign King.\n\n\n\n\n SERMON XXXVIII.\n _The Christian\u2019s Treasure._\n 1 COR. iii. 21,\u2014\u2014All things are yours.\n\n\nThere is nothing that a wise man can wish for in order to make him\nhappy, but the gospel proposes it to encourage the faith and practice of\nchristians. What honour is there to be enjoyed among the sons of men,\nthat is wont to gratify our ambition, but the gospel assures us of\nhigher honours than this, when it makes us the sons of God? What\npleasures are there to be tasted in the satisfaction of animal nature,\nbut the gospel invites us to more refined, and more lasting pleasures,\nwhich are to be derived from the love of God, and the company of our\nSaviour with all his saints? What riches can be possessed or desired by\nthe most covetous mind, but the gospel proposes a far more extensive, a\nmore durable, and more useful treasure, when it tells us in the words of\nmy text, _all things are yours_?\n\nThe former discourse has made it appear in what sense these words are to\nbe understood: Not that we have a present possession of till things, a\npower over them, or a civil right to seize and enjoy them; but the\nmeaning is this, that so far as a christian can have any thing to do\nwith the things of this world, or of another, things present or to come,\nthey shall all be made to work together for his real good. It has been\nalso proved in the second place, that this inheritance of the saints is\nincomparably richer, and more valuable than any thing which sinners can\npossess. I proceed now to the:\n\nThird general proposition, and that is, to enquire how christians come\nto be partakers of so fair and rich a treasure.\n\nI. It is the kind and eternal purpose of God their Father, that it\nshould be so. Christians, God has created all things in the world of\nnature with this design, that you should derive some benefit from them,\nas far as they can come within your reach or notice, your service or\nuse: He appointed all things in the counsels of his providence, to bear\nsome blessing for you. He has ordained all things in his kingdom of\ngrace for your advantage: and there are unknown regions of light and\nglory which he has provided for you. His elect were ever nearest to his\nheart, next to the man Christ Jesus, next to his only begotten Son; _for\nthey were all chosen in him before the foundation of the world_; Eph. i.\n4. Whether creation or providence, whether nature, grace or glory, _all\nthings are for your sakes_; 2 Cor. iv. 15.\n\nI would caution you again, that you are not to understand it in such an\nincredible sense, as though God made every particular creature in the\nupper and the lower worlds, only to give the possession of them to the\nsaints, or that he manages all his providential kingdom, merely for the\nsake of his own people without any other view. No, this is stretching\nthe words into an extent too large and unreasonable; for there are\nmillions of creatures, millions of plants and animals in earth and sea,\nthat are born, and grow, and live, and die again, which the saints of\nGod never saw, nor know, nor shall know; nor can they receive any\nimmediate benefit from them. But the meaning is this, that all things\nwhatsoever the saints can or shall have to do with in this or other\nworlds, were intended to yield some profit to them, and especially while\nthey maintain their character as the children of God, and walk as\nbecomes their dignity and their profession. In all God\u2019s general\ncounsels of creation, and providence, and grace, he kept his eye, as I\nmay say, still upon his saints: He designed their good in ten thousand\ninstances, in his great and glorious works, and resolved that nothing in\nall his kingdoms should interfere with their last and best interest.\n\nThough what he has written down in the book of his decrees, is read only\nat large by his Son Christ Jesus, yet he has written out a sweet\nabstract of it in the book of his promises, that the saints on earth\nmight read and know it; Rom. viii. 28. _And we know that all things work\ntogether for good, to them that love God, to them who are the called\naccording to his purpose._ It was for their sakes the promises were\nwritten, that they might have not only a present relish of divine\nblessings, but a sweet foretaste of joys long to come. The blessings of\nthe children of God were numbered up, and written down originally for\nthem, in the book of God\u2019s everlasting counsels; and in the book of his\nword has he copied out for them, the blessings of heaven from above, and\nof the deep from beneath; the precious things brought forth by the sun,\nand under the influence of the moon; the chief things of the ancient\nmountains on earth, so far as is needful for them here, and the precious\nthings of the everlasting hills of paradise hereafter.\n\nDoes the great Creator and Lord of all keep the wheels of nature in\ntheir settled courses? It is for his people\u2019s good. _The stars in their\ncourses shall fight for Israel_: Or does he countermand nature in any of\nits motions, and bid the _sun stand still in Gibeon, and the moon in the\nvalley of Ajalon_? It is that the armies of his people may have long\nday-light, to subdue their enemies. Hail-stones and thunder shall break\nout of the clouds to destroy the Canaanites, when Israel is at war with\nthem: But if Israel want bread in the wilderness, the clouds shall drop\ndown manna, and give them bread from heaven. The Lord gave up Egypt with\nher armies to the waves of the Red-sea, for the ransom and redemption of\nhis people: He gave Ethiopia and Seba to the sword for the safety of his\nservant Jacob; Is. xliii. 7. _I have loved thee, O Israel, therefore I\ngave men for thee, and people for thy life._ And it is no wonder that\nGod has given all things to his children, since he has given himself to\nthem, and told them, _I am your God_: It is no wonder he has bestowed\nall things upon them, since he has bestowed his Son upon them: His own,\nhis only Son, who is dearer to him than all the creation; Rom. viii. 32.\n\u201cHe that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how\nshall he not with him also freely give us all things?\u201d\n\nII. The saints have an interest in all things, for Christ is made Lord\nover all things for his people\u2019s good; Eph. i. 22. \u201cGod hath put all\nthings under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to his\nchurch.\u201d Thus the names of the saints are, as it were, inserted into\nthat divine patent that exalts and constitutes Christ Lord of all.\n\nAnd indeed, Christ has not only a right to all things by the mere\ndonation of the Father, but it may be said, he has purchased all things\nfor his own honour, and his people\u2019s good. \u201cBecause he was obedient unto\ndeath, therefore God has so highly exalted him;\u201d Phil. ii. 8. \u201cand made\nhim Lord of the dead and the living;\u201d Rom. xiv. 9. And perhaps it is in\nthis sense, that the inheritance of the saints may be called \u201cthe\npurchased possession;\u201d Eph. i. 14. Now, christians, since all the\naffairs of nature, grace, and glory, are put into the hands of such a\nfriend in trust for you, that they may be managed and employed for your\nadvantage, it is as well, nay, it is much better than if all things were\nat present in your possession, that is, under your present state of\nweakness and folly; for his wisdom and goodness shall govern all for\nyour truest interest. Ye are Christ\u2019s, so the apostle expresses it in\nthe verse next to my text: And Christ, who has all in his hands, will\ntake care of you who are his own.\n\n\u201cChrist is made heir of all things;\u201d Heb. i. 2. And if ye belong to\nChrist, _then are ye heirs of God, and joint heirs of Christ_; Rom.\nviii. 17. And the express promise of the Father confirms it, that all\nthings are yours; Rev. xxi. 7. \u201cHe that overcometh shall inherit all\nthings, and I will be his God, and he shall be my son;\u201d 1 Cor. xii. 27.\n\u201cYe are the members of the body, and Christ is the head.\u201d Now the\nmembers must in their measure become sharers of what the head possesses.\nIn your proportion, O christians, you shall have communion with Christ\nyour Lord, in his royalties and his wide dominion: for he hath promised\nthat \u201cye shall sit down on his throne, when ye have overcome your\nenemies, even as he overcame, and is set down on the throne with his\nFather;\u201d Rev. iii. 21. Ye are one with Christ, and therefore in your\nmeasure, O believers, and according to your capacity, ye shall possess\nand enjoy all things which he possesses, so far as is requisite for your\nbenefit in this world, and your truest happiness for ever.\n\nIII. The saints are actually invested with this privilege, by believing\non the Son of God, by accepting the covenant of his grace, by receiving\nChrist Jesus the Saviour, according to the appointed methods of the\ngospel. When a poor, destitute, guilty, and perishing creature is made\nwilling by divine grace, to give up himself to Christ as his Saviour and\nhis Lord, he is divested of his guilt, he is clothed with the robes of\nsalvation, he is translated out of a state of sin, poverty, and\nwretchedness, into a state of rich grace, and becomes a child of God,\nand an heir of all things. A living faith, which has all the springs of\nholiness in it, is ordained to carry in it all the springs of treasure\nand felicity. This unites the soul to Christ, this gives a humble claim\nto all the blessings laid up in the eternal decrees and purposes of God;\nblessings purchased by the blood of his Son Jesus; blessings promised in\nthe word of the gospel, wherein all things are given for a possession to\nthe children of the Most High.\n\nIV. All things may be said to belong to the saints, or shall turn to\ntheir advantage, because the blessed Spirit is given them, to teach them\nto improve all things for their own benefit; 1 Cor. ii. 12. _We have\nreceived\u2014the Spirit, which is of God, that we might know the things that\nare freely given to us of God_: And that not only that christians might\nknow what their treasures are, but learn how to make a right use of them\ntoo. They are taught by the Holy Spirit, to receive the common blessings\nof nature from the hands of God, as a Father and a Friend, and a God in\ncovenant: And they rejoice in them as such, with humble thankfulness;\nthey are instructed to derive useful meditations from the sun, moon, and\nstars; and to read the wisdom, the power, and the glory of their\nCreator, and their Father there, and to rejoice in his goodness. The\npeaceful state of kingdoms, or battles, wars and earthquakes, and the\nconvulsion of nations, are all made useful lessons to a child of God;\nand he gains something from all of them, by the teachings of the blessed\nSpirit.\n\nThe saints are led into an acquaintance with the word of God by the same\nSpirit too: They receive the promises and directions of the gospel,\nthrough the influences of this Spirit. They derive light, holiness and\ncomfort from every part of the book of God; that is, from the law and\nthe prophets, the histories and the epistles, and from all the\nordinances of the sanctuary: He teaches them to borrow some food and\ndelight from Moses and David, as well as from Peter and John. He leads\nthem through the sweet fields of gospel grace, and directs them to\ngather many a flower there for their refreshment, and to feed on the\nfruit of the tree of life for their support. He shews them how to profit\nby the ministry of a Paul, and to learn the deep mysteries of Christ: He\nimpresses on their souls the warm and pathetic words of an Apollos, and\nfires their hearts thereby with zeal and love: He teaches his younger\ndisciples over again the first lessons of grace, which a Cephas had just\ntaught them. Thus Paul and Apollos, and Cephas are theirs.\n\nHe instructs them how to converse with things invisible and future by\nfaith, and to make use of the unseen and distant glories of eternity,\nfor their present comfort and joy. \u201cIt is the God of hope, who by his\nSpirit fills them with all peace and joy in believing:\u201d Rom. xv. 13. And\nI might add also, that the Holy Spirit is given them, and dwells in them\nas an earnest of their inheritance of all things, 2 Cor. v. 6. till the\nredemption of this purchased possession, that is, till it shall be\nredeemed, and freed from all the present incumbrances of sin and Satan;\nEph. i. 13, 14. Then in a happy hour shall this purchased possession be\ndisclosed in the fairest light, and proclaimed to be the property of the\nsaints.\n\nTo sum up all in a few words, a christian\u2019s interest in all things is\nwell founded, and well confirmed. They are his by the original purpose\nof God the Father, when he created all things; it was his design that\nhis chosen people should receive benefit from them. They are his by the\nappointment of divine providence, that all things shall work together\nfor his good. They are his; for Christ the Son of God has purchased a\ndominion over all things, that he may manage them for the service of his\nredeemed ones. They are his, because the Spirit teaches him to derive\nsome advantage from all things by faith and holy meditation. God has\ngiven himself to the saints as their portion for ever: He has given his\nown Son for them as a ransom from death; he has given his Spirit to\nthem, as the principle of their life: And in this view, we may rise in\nthe language of faith, and say in the words of the blessed apostle, \u201cHow\nshall he not herewith freely give us all things;\u201d Rom. viii. 32.\n\nThus having made it appear in what sense all things are yours, and upon\nwhat foundations this glorious privilege is built, I proceed in the\n\nLast place, to consider what use may be made of this discourse.\n\nFirst Use.\u2014It affords a word of mourning and terror to obstinate and\nimpenitent sinners. Are all things made beneficial to the saints? Think\nwith yourselves then what you lose, because you are not of that number.\nIf you live and die in this sinful state, you have a comfortable\ninterest in nothing: Nothing works for your real benefit. Your abuse of\nall things that you have any thing to do with, takes away the true\npleasure and enjoyment of what you possess, and turns them into a curse\nto you instead of a blessing. _Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or\nthis world, or life or death, or things present, or things to come_,\nnothing is yours: _for ye are not Christ\u2019s_. And ye shall reap no final\nand lasting advantage from any thing, if you persist in a sinful and\nimpenitent state; for ye are without God in the world, without Christ,\nand without hope.\n\nDo you sit under the ministry of Paul, who spreads the glorious light of\nthe gospel around you? But the God of this world hath blinded your\nminds, that this divine light should not reach them: Even the preaching\nof Paul is a savour of death unto you, if you live and die without the\nfaith and love of Christ. Do you hear the zealous and pathetic language\nof Apollos? But your heart perhaps grows the harder under it: You resist\nthe affectionate entreaties of the gospel, from the lips of that\neloquent preacher. And even Apollos, whose soul is wont to melt with\ncompassion for perishing sinners, shall rise up in judgment against you.\nAnd as for the plain and condescending ministry of Cephas, you despise\nthe man and his sermons together; therefore you can get no benefit by\nthem. Neither Paul, nor Apollos, nor Cephas is yours.\n\nWell, if spiritual things are not yours, you hope, however, that you\nhave a property in things temporal: If the blessings of the church do\nnot belong to you, yet you claim a good share in this world, and the\nblessings of it: You feed deliciously, you are dressed in gay colours\nand gold, and you have wealth laid up in store for many years to come.\nPoor vain creatures! What is all your treasure? What is your property in\nit? A sorry property in lands, and a large estate, when not a clod of\nthe earth, nor a penny of the money shall turn to your real and lasting\nbenefit! I grant that you possess some of the good things of this world\nindeed. But your riches and plenty are not real and proper blessings,\nwhile you are afar from Christ, and strangers to him: Your own unbelief\nand impenitence, and rebellion against God, turn all the comforts of the\nworld into curses: It is only the grace of Christ can take off the\ncurse, and sanctify this world into a blessing.\n\nLife is not yours; it is not for your final advantage, while you waste\nit in vanity and sinful amusements: A long life spent in this manner,\nshall but add to your guilt, and aggravate your condemnation. Death is\nnot a benefit, but a dreadful hour to you, for it delivers you over to\nthe full power of Satan that cruel tormentor, and opens the scene of\nyour everlasting sorrows.\n\nThings present are not blessings to you, while you resolve to continue\nin this sinful state. You abuse the day-light, and waste it in trifles\nor in crimes; or at best you spend it in an eager pursuit of the things\nof the world, with the neglect of God. The night is given to recruit\nnature for new services, but you seize the shadows of the evening to\nmake a screen for your secret iniquities, and hide your sins behind the\ncurtains of midnight.\n\nYou feed on the fruits of the earth, and other rich provisions of divine\nbounty; but perhaps you make them instruments of shameful intemperance:\nOr at best you lay out the strength of them in empty follies, or in low\nearthly designs, without a thought of God or heaven. The morning and the\nevening wait upon you in long successions, but you are heaping up\niniquities from morning to evening. You walk daily in the paths of\ndeath, and the suns-beams do but light you onward to everlasting\ndarkness. You are nourished by your food for the day of slaughter. Daily\nand hourly you abuse the goodness of God, and even these abused\nblessings of his goodness shall call for greater degrees of vengeance at\nhis awful judgment seat. Thus neither the light of the sun, nor the\nfruits of the earth, neither day nor night, are yours; for you abuse\nthem to sinful purposes, and they yield you no real profit.\n\nAnd if things present are not yours, if ye have no solid and lasting\nbenefit by them, much less can you pretend to claim any comfortable\nshare in the things that are to come. There is a heaven of happiness\nprovided for the saints, but you are utterly unprepared to fulfil the\nbusiness of it, or to taste the blessedness. There is no room nor place\nthere for you. There is nothing glorious and delightful among all the\npromises of God, or all the joyful scenes of the world to come, that you\ncan claim any title to, nor have you any interest in them. When hell\nshall open its mouth indeed, to receive millions of the damned,\naccording to the final sentence of the Judge, there you will find a\nplace and room provided for you; but it is an uneasy and dreadful one.\nHell is yours, the vengeance of God is yours, endless misery is yours;\nyou have been treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath; and you can\nclaim nothing but this painful portion, this dismal and everlasting\ninheritance.\n\nAnd can you be content with such a portion as this is, while the saints\nare inheritors of all that is holy and happy, both in this world and the\nnext? O may your busy thoughts be awakened betimes, and make you ever\nrestless and uneasy in your present wretched estate! Return to the Lord\nin humble mourning for all your past iniquities: Return to God speedily,\nfrom whom you have wickedly departed: Loath yourselves because of your\nabominations, and abandon every idol: _Say to him, my Father, in the\nspirit of faith and penitence, and he will put you among the children,\nand give you a goodly heritage_; Jer. iii. 19.\n\nSeek acquaintance with Jesus the Son of God, the Saviour, the Lord and\nHeir of all things; commit your souls to his hands, resign yourselves\nentirely to his grace, that he may change your unholy natures by his\nSpirit, that he may cleanse away your guilt by the blood of his\natonement, that he may give you an interest in his own riches; then the\ncovenant of his love shall sanctify to you all the enjoyments of earth\nand time, and make you possessors of all the good things in heaven and\neternity.\n\nSecond Use.\u2014This doctrine discovers to us the glory of the new covenant.\nA blessed covenant indeed that has given so rich a treasure to creatures\nso unworthy! We are sinners, and deserve nothing, yet when we believe in\nthe Son of God, the gospel gives us in our measure the inheritance and\npossession of all things.\n\nAdam was made Lord of this lower world; this earth and the creatures\nthat dwell on it were put into his hands, all things below were given\nhim for his use, his support, and his delight. Thus mankind considered\nin the first Adam, in his innocent estate, were lords of all. But _by\none man sin entered into the world_; Rom. v. 12. and by that sin, Adam\nhas forfeited his sovereignty and dominion, with all his large\npossession of the creatures, both for himself and for us. When the\nsentence came forth from the mouth of God, _Cursed be the ground for thy\nsake_; Gen. iii. 17. the curse fell on all this lower world, and did, as\nit were, make a seizure of the creatures out of the hands of Adam the\ngreat sinner. They are no more his in that sanctified manner for his\nreal and final benefit, as they were before: They now become instruments\nof temptation and sin, pain, and sorrow and misery. But the covenant of\ngrace restores all back again to us in and by the second Adam, who is\nthe Lord of the new world, and under this character, is possessor of all\nthings: And a sanctified use of all things is given to us again, in and\nby Christ Jesus. O glorious covenant, that can take away the curse from\ncreatures, and make them become a blessing to the saints!\n\nBut there is a further glory in it still; for our possession of all\nthings in the second Adam, is far more secure than it was in the first.\nThis rich and extensive treasure is put into the hands of Christ our\nMediator, our Head, and our Surety for us, that we may not abuse our\npossession by sin to our own ruin; and that we may not forfeit our\ninheritance the second time, and so lose it for ever.\n\nThird Use.\u2014This doctrine yields sweet consolation to a poor afflicted\nsaint, who is taught to make a right improvement of it. The gospel\nshould teach a christian in these circumstances, such divine language as\nthis: \u201cAm I poor and despised by the great and rich in this world? yet I\ntrust I am made a child of God by his renewing grace, and the promise\ngives me a right to all things. God my Father has engaged that all\nthings shall work together for my good. He has made me a joint-heir with\nhis best-beloved Son Jesus, and has given me a fair and large\ninheritance. I shall be possessor of every comfort among the creatures\nthat is necessary to my supreme interest, and my final happiness, and\nGod himself is my eternal portion.\n\n\u201cWhat if I cannot read my name and my title to lands and houses, to\ngreen fields and palaces, in large conveyances and writings under the\nseal of men? but I can read my name as a christian in the covenant of\ngrace, under the seal of God, and the blood of his Son, and there I find\nthat all things are mine. While I survey the gardens of a rich sinner,\nevery herb and flower there gives me more sweetness than he can find in\nthem all: For I can converse with God my Maker, and my Father, in every\nherb, and every flower. While I walk amongst the trees of my neighbour\u2019s\nfields, they yield me their refreshing shade, and compose my thoughts to\ndivine meditation. I can lift up my eyes to the stately building where\nmy neighbour dwells, and raise my thoughts thence to the mansions of\nglory: Then I rejoice to think how much my inheritance and my mansion\nthere exceeds the most magnificent structure on earth. Thus his fields,\nand his gardens, and his stately dwelling, afford a divine light to me,\nwhich perhaps the earthly possessor of them knows nothing of: And though\nI have almost nothing that I can call my own on earth, yet, in this\nsense, _I possess all things_. My God hath given me so much of the good\nthings of this world, as he saw needful and proper for my real interest:\nand surely if I might have had all things within my immediate reach, and\nunder my sovereignty, I would not lay hold of more of them (if I were\ntruly wise) than would promote my welfare.\n\n\u201cDo I sit at the footstool of the rich in the house of God; or am I but\na door-keeper in the sanctuary, yet I can there hear Paul declare the\nsublime mysteries of the gospel, and while he reveals the wonders of\nGod\u2019s eternal love, my heart within me believes, and adores, and\nrejoices. Apollos entertains me with most affectionate discourses of the\ngrace of Christ and his glory: my faith rises high, my love is kindled\nto him whom my eyes have not seen; I believe in him, I love him, and my\njoy grows almost unspeakable. I remember the former instructions of\nCephas, who taught me the first principles of this divine religion; and\nI take pleasure in those sacred foundations. Blessed be God, they are\nunshaken, and my faith and hope, which were begun under his ministry,\nstand for ever firm. Paul, and Apollos, and Cephas are mine.\n\n\u201cIt has pleased my heavenly Father indeed, to lay many sorrows upon me\nin this wilderness; but I have learned to think and speak like a\nchristian, and say, Though I appear _as dying, yet behold I live_;\nthough I am _chastised_, yet I am _not killed_: Every stroke of his rod\nis given by the hand of his love. His rod, like the rod of Aaron,\nblossoms with divine blessings, and brings forth holy fruit. These\nwounds that I feel let out the blood of pride, and cure the distempers\nof my soul. Thus the very sufferings of nature, and the sorrows of life\nare mine; I have learned to reckon my afflictions among my blessings;\nthey work for my profit. Whether peace or pain, are all mine. Besides, I\nsolace myself in the midst of my poverty and distress with this sweet\nmeditation, that the less I enjoy of temporal comforts, and the delights\nof this world, if I improve my sufferings and sorrows well, there is the\nmore joy and glory laid up for me in the world to come. _My light\nafflictions which are but for a moment, are working for me a far more\nexceeding and eternal weight of glory_; 2 Cor. iv. 17. Is my life on\nearth stretched out to a tiresome age? Heaven will be much the sweeter,\nand after many toils, I shall have the stronger relish of an eternal\nrest. Or does death make haste toward me in younger years, and bring my\nbody quickly down to the dust? My soul then is but dismissed the sooner\nto the building on high that is prepared for me; for whether life or\ndeath, all are mine.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhen I cast my eyes around, and survey the present frame of things, the\nsun in his daily circuit, and the moon and stars in their nightly\ncourses, my faith assures me they are all employed in rolling the months\nand hours away, that stand between me and immortal happiness: And when\nthe morning of the resurrection dawns upon the earth, the gospel tells\nme, that I have a share in all the rising glories of that day. Should\nthe heavens and the earth be shortly set on fire, if I have but my faith\nawake within me, I shall have no fear nor surprize; I myself, and all my\nbest interests are out of the reach of these flames; my treasures are of\nan unperishing kind. The period of all things here below shall but usher\nin my brightest hours, and begin the years of my eternal pleasure; for\nthe book of God assures me, that things present and things to come are\nmine. Make haste then, all ye remaining revolutions of nature; and days,\nand months, and ages make haste: Time cannot fly too fast for me, who\nhave such an eternity in view. My Lord hath told me in his word, surely\nI come quickly, and my heart echoes to that voice of my beloved, Amen,\neven so come Lord Jesus.\u201d\n\nFourth Use.\u2014This doctrine requires the believer to be found in the\nconstant exercise of faith, that so he may be able always to survey his\ninheritance, and take solid delight in it. Otherwise, when he sustains\nloss in temporal things, and sickness and trouble attend him in the\nflesh, he will be ready to judge by the mere principles of sense, and to\nthink his comforts all gone, and that he has nothing left. It is faith\nalone can teach a believer to rejoice in this treasure given him by the\ncovenant of grace, when the world has taken almost all sensible comforts\nfrom him. The natural man with an eye of sense looks on things just as\nthe eye of a brute-animal beholds them, and sees nothing more than\naccording to the common impressions they make on flesh and blood: But\nthe eye of faith is aided by the divine glass of the covenant, which as\na microscope discovers many beauties where the natural eye unassisted,\ncan see nothing but roughness and deformity.\n\nIt is nothing but faith fixing its eyes on sanctified losses and\ncrosses, sanctified pains, and sickness, and distresses, that can enable\nus to reckon these among our treasures. It is nothing but the spirit of\nfaith that can instruct us to think ourselves rich, because we are heirs\nof the kingdom, while we are poor and destitute in this lower world;\nJames ii. 5. It is the spirit of faith that taught the Apostle Paul to\ntriumph under all his infirmities, in such language as this; _As dying\nand behold we live; as sorrowful, and yet always rejoicing; as poor, and\nyet making many rich; as having nothing_, and _yet possessing all\nthings_; 2 Cor. vi. 9, 10. And if we have the same spirit of faith we\nmay believe and speak the same language.\n\nFifth Use.\u2014This doctrine forbids all murmuring at the hand of God,\nthough his dispensations may have something painful and severe in them.\nHe has given us all things indeed, by the promise of the gospel, but he\nhas not put this treasure into our own hands, lest we should abuse and\nforfeit it; but he has put it into the hands of Christ for us; and it is\nChrist our Lord who distributes out such parcels and portions of our\nestate to us daily, as his perfect wisdom sees most proper to promote\nour real interest.\n\nThe christian under sickness, perhaps will say, Is not life and health\nwrit down in the inventory of my inheritance? Yes, but sickness and\ndeath are written down there too, and thy Saviour knows that sickness is\nbetter for thee at this season than health. Do not murmur at his hand,\nfor God the Father has intrusted him to manage and govern all his own\nvast dominions; and canst not thou entrust him to manage thy estate, to\ndispose of thy concerns, and to allot thy daily portion to thee?\n\nThe saint surrounded with distress and poverty, or naked, and hungry\nwill say, Is not food and raiment, and peace specified in the articles\nof the covenant, and numbered among my treasures? Yes, but poverty, and\nhunger, and cold, and nakedness are there also: And thy heavenly Father\nsees it best to withhold peace and plenty from thee at present, or to\ngive thee thy food and raiment but in a scanty measure, to mortify thy\nflesh, to humble thy pride, to wean thee from the creatures, to teach\nthee immediate dependence on himself, and to fit thee for a departure to\nthe heavenly world.\n\nWhen thou art deprived therefore of one earthly comfort after another,\nand the remaining good things of this life seem to be leaving thee, have\na care of murmuring against thy God. Dare not take up the words of Jacob\nand say, \u201cJoseph is not, and Simeon is not, and will ye take Benjamin\nalso? Surely all these things are against me;\u201d Gen. xlii. 36. But Jacob\nwas made to know, by sweet experience, that all these things wrought for\nhis real advantage, and were made the means of preserving himself and\nhis family too in a day of spreading famine and desolation.\n\nSixth Use.\u2014This doctrine forbids all contention and envy at our\nfellow-creatures, as well as repining against God.\n\nIs my brother healthy and strong, while I am sick and feeble and\nlanguishing? Does my brother possess more of the good things of this\nlife than I do? It is because our common Father sees it proper to keep\nme shorter, and to withhold so full an allowance from me. I have an\ninterest in the same large inheritance: I am a child of the same family;\nand therefore all things are mine as well as his: But I have committed\nit entirely to the wisdom and goodness of our heavenly Father, to put\ninto my hands what part he pleases of my large inheritance. He is\nwisest, and will distribute the several portions that he sees fittest\nfor his children, and for this reason I cannot envy my brother. It is\nthe same kind and faithful hand that weighs and measures out my grains\nand scruples, and little handfuls of earthly blessings, that gives my\nbrother his loads and his full barns.\n\nHas the ministry of Paul been blessed to me, and not that of Apollos?\nHave the labours of Apollos been more blessed to my fellow-christian, or\nthe plain and familiar instructions of Cephas? Well, I will never make\nany parties in the church upon this account: for all the ministers of\nthe gospel are appointed for our edification; and I will rejoice in them\nall, and bless God for the service they do the family of Christ. If my\nportion of spiritual food be distributed to me by the hands of Paul, it\nis our common Father that conveys the same sacred food to another, by\nthe hands of Cephas or Apollos; and the world shall never hear me say,\n\u201cI am of Paul, in opposition to Apollos or Peter; though I must confess,\nGod has blessed his ministrations most eminently to my soul.\u201d\n\nSeventh Use.\u2014Has God given all things to the saints by the covenant of\ngrace, surely then they should return all things back again to him, in a\nway of gratitude, duty and service. Has he promised to make every thing\nwhich we have to do with, concur to promote our best interest, and our\nfinal happiness? Let us then apply ourselves with zeal and diligence, to\nmake every thing within our reach subserve his divine interests, and the\nglory of his kingdom.\n\nHas my gracious God withheld nothing from me, but together with his own\nSon given me all things, why then should I withhold any thing from him?\nWhy should I not devote my heart, my head, my hands, my whole self, and\nall things that are within my power, to the honour of his name? Does God\nbestow life or health or riches upon such a worthless creature as I am?\nLet holiness to the Lord be written upon them all. And if my\nfellow-creatures are poor, needy, cold, and starving, let me chearfully\nminister to them of my substance, which the great Lord of heaven and\nearth has so richly bestowed on me. My God honours me indeed, when he\nmakes me the dispenser of his blessings among his creatures, and\nespecially among his saints. I lose nothing by this benevolence, but am\nrather enriched by this very distribution. I become rich in good works,\nand rich in divine promises: \u201cHe that gives to the poor lendeth to the\nLord, and he will repay him.\u201d Alms are as money laid out to the best\ninterest, and are a growing treasure.\n\nBut should I hope for no new beneficial return of all my kindness to\nmen, the very benefits received of God my Father constrain me to this\nbounty. Has he given all things to a poor worthless creature, and shall\nI give nothing to the poor, or the unworthy? Shall I not rather imitate\nthe profuse bounty of my God, who commands _his sun to shine, and his\nrain to descend both on the evil and the good_. It is a divine\nexcellence to love and to distribute as God does.\n\nThe name of Jesus my Saviour has yet a further power to oblige me to use\nall my earthly possessions for his honour. Has Christ Jesus purchased\nthis large and fair inheritance for me with his blood, has he given me\nmuch on earth, and the hopes of greater treasures in heaven, then I will\nbe my own no longer, but give my whole self up to him, with all my\npowers and talents, and possessions! They are thine, blessed Saviour,\nthey are thine for ever. It is the solemn and deliberate wish of my\nheart, that I may never possess or enjoy any thing from which Christ has\nno revenue of glory. O that his grace may enable me to employ things\npresent for this holy purpose! And when I arrive at the actual\npossession of things to come, they shall be improved in an unknown but a\nnobler manner, for the everlasting glory of my God, my Father, and my\nSaviour.\n\nThe Recollection of the doctrinal part.\u2014\u201cIn this discourse, O my soul,\nthou hast not only been called to survey the riches of thy inheritance,\nbut thou hast learned also, in what manner this inheritance is made over\nto thee, if thou art a sincere christian, and a believer on the Son of\nGod.\n\n\u201cLook backward, my soul, to eternal ages, before the world began, when\nGod marked out the bounds of this creation, and the limits of these\nheavens, and this earth, he designed them with all their treasures, for\nthe service of his holy ones, for the benefit of his children, angels\nand men; and thy name and thy share was written down amongst them. The\ngreat God, in those early days of his eternity, has provided a rich\nsufficiency for thy present and future blessedness. O may my faith take\nthis delightful and distant retrospect, and rejoice in God\u2019s eternal\nlove?\n\n\u201cGod has given all things into the hands of his own Son Jesus, whom he\nhath ordained Lord of all, that he might govern and dispose of all\nthings for the good of his people. Christ is risen from the dead, and\nhath taken possession of all the blessings of grace and glory, in the\nname of his saints, that he may make them possessors in their season,\nand according to their measure: That he may make thee, O my soul, a rich\npossessor of so fair an inheritance; and that he may keep every part of\nit secure for thee, till in succession of times and seasons, both in\nearth and in heaven, thou art fit to receive and enjoy it. If thou art\nmade a joint-heir with Christ, thou art heir of all things.\u201d\n\nBut remember, it is a living faith in Christ that must entitle thee to\nthis rich inheritance. It is of infinite importance then, to search\noften and enquire, Am I a christian indeed? A sincere convert, a\nbeliever in Jesus? And does my faith evidence itself in all the fruits\nof repentance, love, and holiness? O may I feel my soul to live daily\nthis divine life by the faith of the Son of God, that I may maintain a\nhumble claim to these treasures of mercy laid up in the gospel,\ntreasures committed to the hands of Christ to be kept safe for me.\n\n\u201cAnd may the blessed Spirit instruct me daily to improve all things to\nmy spiritual and eternal benefit, that I may not be like a fool, who has\na prize put into his right-hand, and knows not how to make use of it!\nMay I be taught to draw some sacred advantage, some holy delight and\nrefreshment from the continual new scenes and occurrences of life! May I\nderive knowledge, and love, and heavenly sweetness from the surprizing\nworks of God, as the God of nature, and from the more surprizing wonders\nof his grace! May I learn something divine and holy from all the\ntransactions of his providence, and the various turns and changes of\nthis present state, till I am prepared and _made meet for_ a more fit\nand ample possession of the everlasting _inheritance of the saints in\nlight_!\u201d Amen.\n\n\n HYMN FOR SERMON XXXVIII.\n _All things working together for Good._\n\n\n My soul survey thy happiness,\n If thou art found a child of grace,\n How richly is the gospel stor\u2019d!\n What joy the promises afford!\n\n \u201cAll things are ours;\u201d the gift of God,\n And purchas\u2019d with our Saviour\u2019s blood,\n While the good Spirit shews us how\n To use and to enjoy them too.\n\n If peace and plenty crown my days,\n They help me, Lord, to speak thy praise;\n If bread of sorrows be my food,\n These sorrows work my real good.\n\n I would not change my bless\u2019d estate\n With all that flesh calls rich or great;\n And while my faith can keep her hold,\n I envy not the sinner\u2019s gold.\n\n Father I wait thy daily will,\n Thou shalt divide my portion still,\n Grant me on earth what seems thee best\n Till death and heav\u2019n reveal the rest.\n\n\n\n\n SERMON XXXIX.\n _The right Improvement of Life._\n 1 COR. iii. 22.\u2014Whether life or death,\u2014all are yours.\n\n\nIt is a large and fair inheritance that belongs to the children of God.\nThey have no need to divide themselves into little parties, and to\nquarrel about their particular interest in one minister or another, in\none blessing or another; for whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas,\nwhether life or death, all things are theirs.\n\nMy former discourses have explained in what sense christians possess all\nthings, and that is, that all things present or to come, that can any\nway affect or concern them, shall certainly turn to their benefit, and\nsubserve their great and final interest. I proceed now more particularly\nto enlarge on the words, which I had chiefly in my design, _whether life\nor death, all are yours_. The first doctrine arising from the words is\nthis, \u201cLife itself, and the continuance of it to the saints, is for\ntheir advantage.\u201d Now to improve this proposition to practical purposes,\nI shall do these things:\n\nI. I shall make it appear under a variety of instances, that life is\ndesigned for the benefit of christians.\u2014II. I would amplify and confirm\nthe doctrine yet further, by discovering what a variety of graces may be\nexercised on earth, which can have no place in heaven; and make it\nappear, that in some respects, a saint below hath advantage above the\nsaints that are on high.\u2014III. I shall answer a considerable objection or\ntwo that seems to rise against the doctrine, while I am treating of it:\nAnd, at last some inferences will be drawn from the whole discourse.\n\nFirst let me shew wherein life appears to be a benefit to true\nbelievers. _Life is yours_, O christians, for\n\n1. This is the time that was given you for your reconciliation to God,\nand securing your everlasting interest. All the elect of God are born\ninto this world sinful and miserable, by their relation to the first\nAdam, therefore St. Paul seems to include himself, as well as the\nheathen infidels, when he speaks of the iniquity of their nature, and\nthe guilt of their state. Eph. ii. 2. _We all had our conversation in\ntimes past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the\nflesh and the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath even as\nothers._ Now this life is the time given to seek deliverance from the\nwrath to come, to fly to the hope that is set before us; _now is the\naccepted time, now is the day of salvation_; 1 Cor. vi. 2. Now while we\nare in our state of trial, before the gates of the grave have closed\nupon us, and before the gates of hell have been opened to receive us.\n\nWe are all, by nature, strangers to God, enemies in our minds by wicked\nworks, and under sentence of condemnation: Remember, O sinners, this is\nthe time to get acquaintance with God, to return to his service, and\nobtain his special favour. We are defiled and guilty creatures: This is\nthe hour of cleansing while the fountain of the blood of Christ stands\nopen, to wash us from sin and uncleanness. We are, by nature, utterly\nunfit for heaven, and all the works and the joys of it, because of the\nvicious inclinations that govern us. This is the day of repentance as\nwell as pardon: This is the day given to us to insure those blessed\nmansions on high, and to obtain preparing graces. This temporal life is\nthe only season, wherein the sentence of our condemnation can be\nreversed, and wherein we may obtain eternal forgiveness, and a right to\nlife everlasting. The blood and righteousness of the Son of God, are not\nproposed nor offered to guilty creatures in the other world. Now is the\ntime to acquire a meetness for the inheritance in light through the\nsanctifying influences of the blessed Spirit.\n\nAfter death there is nothing of this kind to be done: There is no work,\nnor device, no knowledge, nor wisdom, no faith or repentance to be\nexercised, no such duty to be performed among the dead, no opportunity\nto rectify, the mistakes of life: There is no grace to be obtained for\nsinners _in the grave, whither we are all travelling_; Eccl. ix. 10.\nWhat is left undone at that awful moment, must be for ever undone. At\nthe voice of the summons we must go, whether pardoned or unpardoned,\nwhether holy or unholy, whether hoping or despairing. And a dreadful\nspectacle it is, as your eyes ever beheld, to see a sinner expiring in\nfull and raging despair.\n\nBut O what infinite advantage has it been to christians, that they have\nenjoyed, this golden hour of grace, and been taught to improve it well!\nWhat, had become of you, O believers, if ye had been arrested some years\nago by the messengers of death, and hurried away into eternity? Where\nhad your portion been, if ye had been sent down to the grave in the\nmidst of your sins, before you were awakened or convinced of your folly\nand danger, before you had felt inward repentance, or had been\nacquainted with Jesus that bought and bestows forgiveness; before ye had\nknown the virtue of his reconciling blood, or seen the face of a God\nreconciled? While your hearts and life were all unclean and unholy, your\ndeath must have been dreadful, and your soul for ever unhappy. What\ninfinite honours are due to the patience and long-suffering of your God,\nand to the mercy and mediation of Jesus your Saviour? Glory be to divine\npatience, and divine grace, for life prolonged, and a sinner saved!\n\nII. Life is yours; it is your opportunity of doing much service for\nChrist, and manifesting your gratitude for his redeeming love; 2 Cor. v.\n15. _They who live, should not henceforth live to themselves, but to him\nthat died for them, and rose again._\n\nHere on earth, you may speak of the wonders of his grace that has saved\nyou, and publish his love that is unspeakable: You may tell sinners of\nthe infinite dimensions of this love, to invite them to partake of the\nsame salvation. Here your lips, and your tongues may be delightfully\nemployed, in declaring what you have tasted of the blessings of the\ngospel, and the grace of Christ; and call others to _taste and see that\nthe Lord is good, and how blessed the man is that trusteth in him_! Ps.\nxxxiv. 8. Here you make it known, for the support of poor convinced\nwretches that are ready to despair, what heights and what lengths, what\nbreadths and what depths there are in the love of Christ; for it reached\nyour soul even at the borders of hell, it spread wide to cover all your\ngreat and heinous iniquities; it rises high, for it has lifted your\nhopes to heaven, and it stretches its sweet and sovereign influence\nbeyond the length of time, and provides for your life and happiness that\nshall measure out eternity. Here you may proclaim the praises of your\nRedeemer to an ignorant world, you may promote his interest a hundred\nways on earth, and thus glorify your Saviour which is in heaven.\n\nThis is not to be done in the same manner, nor for the same blessed\npurposes amongst the saints above. When the body lies senseless and\nmouldering in the grave, the tongue cannot praise the Lord: _The living,\nthe living, they praise thee as we do this day_, as Hezekiah did when he\nwas recovered from sickness, and had a sense of pardoned sin. Is.\nxxxviii. 17, 18. _In love to my soul, thou hast delivered it from the\npit of corruption, for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back. The\ngrave cannot praise thee, the dead cannot celebrate thee; they that go\ndown to the pit cannot hope for thy truth._ This is the proper work of\nthe living saint, to make known to sinners the grace of salvation.\n\nLife is the only time of such work and service. \u201cOpportunity, (saith a\nwriter on this subject) is like a golden instrument to dig for heavenly\ntreasure: Do not wear it out as many have done in digging for pebbles,\nand at your latter end become a fool. Plead not your mean capacity:\n_Kings of the earth, and all people, old men and children may praise the\nLord_; Ps. cxlviii. 11, 12. Serve your age according to your talent;\nMat. xxv. 15. He that had but one talent, but a single capacity, was\ncalled to account for it, and cast into outer darkness. Think how many\nopportunities you have out-lived, which will never have their\nresurrection: Redeem lost time, by improving what remains. Project\nimprovements of life, since your light is near extinguished. Make up in\naffection what may be wanting in action. If you cannot do much, yet love\nmuch. If our servants should work no better for us than many have done\nfor God, we should turn them out of doors. Stir up others to work for\nGod, that you may do by their hand what you cannot do by your own.\u201d Thus\nthis pious author.\n\nLet us consider what glorious services have been done for God, by the\nlong continuance of saints in this world. Survey the labours and the\nsufferings, the ministry, the zeal and the success of the blessed\napostles, who planted the first christian churches. What monuments of\nhonour did they raise among Jews and strangers, among Greeks and\nbarbarians, the savage and the polite heathens, to their crucified and\nexalted Saviour! What multitudes of subjects were brought to bow the\nknee to Jesus by their preaching! What a large harvest of souls was\ngathered unto Christ, when the apostle scattered the seed of the gospel\nall round the countries, from Jerusalem, through the provinces of the\nlesser Asia, and through the southern parts of Europe, as some have\nsupposed, as far as Spain! And the Redeemer was glorified by his labours\nwhere the name of the true God the Creator was hardly known before. What\nan extensive blessing to the world was the life of Paul? It is to this,\nthat the following ages of christianity, as well as the primitive\nsaints, owe the unspeakable benefit of his writings; and it is to this,\nthat Great Britain owes the blessing of his divine epistles. How\nhonourable was it for St. Paul himself, and how happy for us, that he\nwas made an instrument of such service to Christ, such a glorious\nservice, as spread itself around the nations, and reached to distant\nages of mankind. His long life was an illustrious blessing both to\nhimself and to the christian world.\n\nIII. Life is yours, O christians, for it allows many a proper season for\ngiving examples of holiness to mankind. And it is a honour to a saint,\nto be made an example of religion amongst a nation of sinners, or a\npattern of holiness, among the churches of believers. Herein you become\nfollowers and imitators of the blessed Lord your Master: He is the first\npattern, he is the most glorious example; for in all things he must have\nthe pre-eminence.\n\nIf you become a public and a shining example of virtue, and piety, and\ngoodness, you may attain these four very valuable ends at once:\n\n1. By this means you pay great and just honours to the blessed gospel\nwhereby you are saved, and confound and silence the impious accusations\nand slanders of the wicked: And especially if your station and rank in\nthe world make you the object of more public notice, either in a city,\nin a village, in a neighbourhood, or in any society of men, then like a\ncandle or a torch set on a hill, you diffuse light and honour far around\nyou, and God and the gospel are glorified on your account. And not only\nin the higher stations of life, but even servants of the lowest\ncharacter, if they are but saints, _may adorn the doctrine of God their\nSaviour in all things_; Titus ii. 10. It is greatly for the credit of\nour holy religion, when the men of this world seeing our good works, are\nforced to confess that there is something divine in christianity, that\nGod is amongst us of a truth; and by these means they are constrained to\nglorify our Father, and our Redeemer, and our holy religion. This is the\ncommand of Christ; Mat. v. 16.\n\n2. Hereby sinners are not only convinced that there is a power and glory\nin the doctrine of Christ, but many a soul has been converted to the\nfaith of Jesus, by beholding the pious conversation, the heavenly\ngraces, the holy love, the divine zeal, the constancy, the patience, and\nthe sufferings of christians. The good women in St. Peter\u2019s days were\nexhorted to invite and draw their unbelieving husbands to the faith and\nlove of the gospel, by beholding their chaste conversation, coupled with\nreligious fear, and the ornament of a meak and a quiet spirit; 1 Pet.\niii. 1-4. Look forward, O christians, to the last great day, and think\nwith what a pleasing joy you shall hear those who have been converted by\nyour example, and reformed from a licentious course of life, declare\nthis to your public honour before men and angels: Your holy example\nthough buried long in silence, shall have a glorious resurrection in\nthat day, and the Judge himself shall proclaim it to your praise, that\nhe used your piety here on earth, as an instrument of his grace to\nenlarge his kingdom.\n\n3. Hereby christians of a lower form, and those that are babes in\nChrist, are awakened to a holy imitation of your superior virtues and\ngraces. It was the continuance of St. Paul in this life, through the\nvarious stages of it, that recommended him as a pattern to the believers\nof his day, in all the various circumstances of their lives; and the\nlonger he lived, the more glorious example he left behind him, for the\nbenefit of the saints, that they might _be followers of him as he was of\nChrist_; 1 Cor. xi. 1. And I may add in the\n\nFourth place, Where a christian of shining virtues and of diffusive\ngoodness is blessed with a long life, the memory of his example, and the\nsweet savour of his graces, remain the longer on earth, after his own\ndeparture to heaven. It is like a rich perfume that has lain some\nconsiderable time among garments, it communicates a pleasant fragrancy\nto the apparel long after the perfume itself is removed. Thus many a\nsaint, by the sweet odour of his name, has done honour to the gospel in\nthe place where he lived, while his bones are mouldering in the dust:\nThe history of his various virtues has dwelt long on the lips of the\nsurviving neighbours, and perhaps, hath awakened others to an imitation\nof such a pattern many years after his decease.\n\nWhether example be of any use in heaven, or whether the saints of lower\nrank there may be excited to holy imitation, by the superior graces or\nglories of more eminent saints, is not so well known to us; but this we\nmay be well assured of, that the example of christians can have no use\nin that happy world, to guard the doctrine of Christ from profane\nreproaches, or to convince or convert sinners and infidels. It is the\nliving, and the living alone, that can do this service for Christ, and\nglorify his gospel in such instances as these:\n\nBut I proceed to another advantage of our continuance in this world.\n\nIV. Life is yours; for it gives opportunity for abounding in good works\nto the great benefit of mankind. The longer a saint lives, if he\nmaintains his character with honour, he becomes so much a greater\nblessing to the world. But what a deal of good ceases with the life of a\ngood man!\n\nChristians, ye are required to maintain good works for the honour of\nyour Father, and for the glory of your Saviour, who hath purchased you\nto be a peculiar people, zealous of good works: But there is another\nreason for them too, and that is, \u201cthese things are good and profitable\nto men;\u201d Titus ii. 14. compared with the third chapter, verse 8. Every\nday of life opens some new scenes, wherein you may be serviceable to\nyour neighbours, your relatives, your fellow-creatures, and so make the\nworld the better for you.\n\nThe days and years of life should be numbered by the multitude of good\nworks, as much as by the revolutions of the sun and moon: For lost and\nwasted time should not come into the account of life. But if this were\nour way of counting, what should we say of thousands, who have lived to\nno other purpose but to eat and drink, and to make up the number of\nmankind? O it is a mean and pitiful thing only to be old in time, and\nnot in duties to God, or benefits to men. And, as an author speaks on\nthis subject, All the good works of many who are stricken in years will\nlie in a very little compass: To be an ancient man or woman of two or\nthree years old, sounds like a contradiction, and it is, indeed, a\nmatter of great shame, and ought to awaken deep repentance.\n\nHow many are there that live to no purpose at all, and the world will\nnot miss them when they are gone? How many that live to wicked purpose,\nand the world is glad to be rid of them? Some are mere cumberers of the\nground, and some are perfect nuisances, and public mischiefs. Such\nshould never pretend to the name of christians. Let us remember it was\nthe character of our blessed Lord, that _he went about doing good; and\nhe was willing to work those works while it was his day of life; for the\nnight was coming on him wherein he should have no such sort of work to\ndo_; John ix. 4. O may our Saviour be our pattern, and let us be\nfollowers of the holy Jesus! Alas! what a noble pattern! what slow and\ndistant followers.\n\nIt was this desire of service to the world, that put the great apostle\ninto a strait betwixt two, as in Philip. i. 23. He knew not what to ask\nfor; _Shall I pray for death and glory, my heart hath a wish that way?\nIt is far better for me to depart, and to be with Christ: Or shall I\ndesire to continue in life? This is for the service of your faith, and\nfurtherance of your joy; therefore I am content, saith he, to have my\ncrown and glory deferred, that my longer life may be your advantage. O\nwhat an illustrious spirit of zeal and love reigned in the heart of this\napostle!_\n\n_Ye are the light of the world_, saith Christ to his disciples; Mat. v.\n13, 14. What a dark dungeon would this world be, if it had never a saint\nin it? _Ye are the salt of the earth_; What corruption of manners would\noverspread the face of the earth! What vile communications, and odious\npractices would defile the world in a few years, if every christian were\ndead! What shameful and abominable works had over-run the heathen\nnations, before Christ and his gospel appeared, and the idolaters were\nmade christians! A saint in a family, is like _the ark of God in the\nhouse_ of Obed-edom; 2 Sam. vi. 12. _For the Lord blessed the house of\nObed-edom, and all that pertained to him, because of the ark of God._ A\npious soul is a Joseph in the family of Potiphar; Gen. xxxix. 5. _When\nthe Lord blessed the Egyptian\u2019s house for Joseph\u2019s sake; and the\nblessing of the Lord was upon all that he had in the house and in the\nfield._\n\nA number of saints in a city, or a nation, are many times like Noah,\nDaniel, and Job, in the midst of them. They guard the public by their\nprayers from mighty ruin and wide desolation. Sodom itself had been\nsaved, if there had been ten righteous souls in it. And I am persuaded,\nGreat-Britain had been a kingdom of idolaters and slavery, or a heap of\nconfusion and slaughter, and a field of blood long ago, because of the\nprovoking wickedness in the midst of it, had it not been for the few\nrighteous that have always stood in the gap: There have been always some\npowerful pleaders at the mercy seat, when the wrath of God and the\ndestroying angels have been breaking in like a flood upon us, some Moses\nand Samuel to withhold the desolation, when popery and tyranny have been\njust at our gates, and ready to overwhelm us.\n\nO how many unknown blessing do these sinful nations enjoy, because of\nthe lives and the prayers of the saints that are in it! Holy souls, who\nthough they are divided into different parties, and practise their\ndifferent forms, yet worship the same God, through the same Mediator,\nand by the same Spirit, who are ever welcome to the throne of grace, who\nare all saints in the esteem of God, and in the language of scripture.\nStrange, that the name of a saint should be used as a term of reproach\namongst us, and cast upon one party in a way of scorn, when these are\nthe persons of every party who are the most excellent in the earth;\nthese are the guards and walls of defence to the nation, _the chariots\nof our Israel, and the horsemen thereof_; 2 Kings ii. 12. xiii. 14.\n\nV. Life is yours; for it affords means for brightening your evidence for\nheaven, and improving your own preparation for glory. Surely you are not\nwilling to depart from this world, till you have good hope of an\ninterest in a better state, and a comfortable expectation that it shall\nbe well with you for ever. Does God prolong your days on earth? See\nthen, that the principles of piety and goodness be well rooted in your\nhearts, and that your graces grow up under the influences of heaven. See\nthat they bud and blossom with fair flowers, to the honour of your\nprofession, and to the joy of your own consciences. Let the sacred\nfruits of your love and zeal break out upon all just occasions: Shine\nbrighter in holiness every day of your mortal life, and bring forth\nfruits meet for life everlasting, that ye may know and be assured that\nthe seeds of glory are sown within you, such divine seeds as will bear a\nrich and blessed harvest in the great day.\n\n_He that has this hope will purify himself as Christ is pure_; 1 John\niii. 3. and his increasing purity will confirm his hope. Believe it\nchristians, as your life and practice grows more divine and undefiled,\nthe image of Christ will appear in you with fairer evidence, and raise\nyour hopes of dwelling with him to the joys of assurance. Many a soul\nhas gone to heaven as in a chariot of triumph, after some years of their\npractice of christianity, who, at their first profession of it, were\noppressed with many doubts and fears, and were often trembling upon the\nborders of despair. Life was their blessing indeed, when it taught them\nto die with faith and honour, and enter into the world of spirits with\ndivine joy.\n\nLet it be said then concerning you, O christians, that you sensibly\napproach nearer to heaven every month of your continuance upon earth,\nand that you look more like the inhabitants of that upper world, by how\nmuch the longer you continue in this lower state; that when you depart\nhence, you may be assured of a joyful admission into paradise. May your\ngraces shine bright, and your evidences for heaven appear so glorious\nand incontested, that there may be no tremblings about your heart in\nthat solemn and important hour; no doubtful flutterings or frights on a\ndeathbed, but that you may find the gates of glory open before you, that\nyou may see your way clear through the dark valley, and have a rich and\nabundant entrance into the kingdom of your God on high.\n\nVI. Life is yours, that by a due improvement of it your crown of glory\nmay be enlarged, and your seat advanced in heaven.\n\nThat there are different degrees of honour and joy conferred on the\nsaints above, according to their different characters and capacities, is\na doctrine that hath so much countenance and evidence from scripture,\nthat we can no longer justly doubt of it: And, I think, I have made this\nappear by incontested proofs in another place[40]. If you are zealous\nfor the cause of Christ, and active in his service through all the\nstages of life, and your old age be crowned with abundant fruits of\nrighteousness, your reward in glory shall bear a proportion to these\nlabours, and the length of your time on earth shall give a glorious\naddition to your recompence in the heavenly world; 1 Cor. xv. 58. _Be ye\nstedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord; for as\nmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord._ What a\nshame and pity is it that you or I should have a long life on earth, and\nbut a low rank or a little portion of reward in heaven!\n\nBut to animate your zeal, I would humbly propose yet a more surprizing\nadvancement in glory, to the diligent improvers of life and grace. What\nif the services you do for God on earth should still bring forth new\nfruit among men long after your death? and if your happiness should be\never increasing in this proportion? When the great Judge comes, he will\nsurely _reward every one according to their works_: But in Jer. xvii.\n10. it is said, _God will not only give to every man according to his\nways, but also according to the fruit of his doings_? What if our\nlabours, our prayers, our pious works and words, or our examples on\nearth should go on to produce this divine fruit, even the conversion of\nsouls when we are in heaven? And what if the rich and overflowing grace\nof God should reward us on this account with growing glories? And _those\nwho turn many to righteousness in this manner, should shine as stars\nwith increasing lustre_?\n\nSome divines have supposed, that the mischievous influence of the works\nand lives of the wicked shall increase their torment: And perhaps,\nJeroboam, who set up the calves at Dan and Bethel, and who made the land\nof Israel to practise idolatry for some hundreds of years after his own\ndeath, might feel yearly more intense agonies of conscience, and his\nhell grow seven times hotter. This is a dreadful thought, and should\nterribly awaken and impress those sinners who have diffused their\niniquities far and wide, who have corrupted whole families, and cities,\nand nations, and spread their poison through succeeding ages. And why\nmay not the joy and crown of St. Paul increase and brighten by the\nconversion of sinners, through sixteen hundred years, by the influence\nof his holy writings amongst all the christian nations? And thus not the\nThessalonians alone, but the inhabitants of Great Britain, shall be the\nmatter of his glory and joy! O it is a blessed thing to multiply good\ninstructions, and counsels, and exemplary practices of holiness; and to\nhear of them after we have gone to heaven, either by ministering angels,\nor by souls newly arriving there, that they still yield on earth a\nfurther crop and harvest of honour to Christ, and profit to men. Such\ntidings as these cannot but raise and advance our own joys.\n\nAs your zeal and labour in active service shall find a retribution every\nway answerable, so your patience under sufferings shall meet with a\nproportionable reward; 2 Cor. iv. 17. _For our light afflictions, which\nare but for a moment, are working for us a far more exceeding and\neternal weight of glory._ Life is the only season, as I shall shew\nafterwards, for this sort of exercise; and the longer we endure sorrows\nhere honourably, the richer shall our reward be hereafter, though the\nreward is not of merit but of free grace.\n\nHow many saints are there in heaven exalted to eminent stations in that\nupper world, and some who wear, perhaps, the crown of martyrdom, and\nenjoy the prizes of victory over a thousand temptations, after they have\nrun a long race in christianity? And yet many of these, it may be, would\nhave possessed but a low station, and a little share of honour and\nhappiness in those heavenly regions, if they had been cut off from the\nearth in their younger days, and been called away to heaven immediately\nafter their conversion. Surely, if you have spent many years in public\nlabour for Christ, and zealous devotion, you have endured cruel\nmockeries, imprisonments and sharp sorrows, for the sake of Christ and\nhis gospel, and through the course of a long life, have borne a constant\ntestimony to the faith of Jesus, there are superior glories suited to\nyour character in heaven, which wait your arrival there.\n\nThus I have made it appear, in various instances, that temporal life\nitself, and the continuance of it, becomes a real advantage to a true\nchristian: which was the first thing I proposed. But here is an\nobjection which may be raised against this doctrine, _viz._ \u201cDo not some\ntrue christians fall into grievous sins, when their life is prolonged,\nwhereby their conscience is wounded, their garments defiled, their\nprofession blemished, and the holy name of God and Christ blasphemed? Is\nlong life therefore any blessing to christians, since we are so\nuncertain how we shall behave, and especially if we behave ill?\u201d\n\nAnswer 1. The great and natural design, and tendency of our continuance\nin life, is to do more service for God and men, and obtain more\nblessings for our own souls; to grow more fit for heaven, and to raise\nand enlarge our crown. If we abuse the time given us for these blessed\npurposes, and indulge to sinful lusts or follies, it is highly criminal\nin us, and we alone must bear the blame.\n\n2. Sometimes those very sins have been so impressed upon the\nconscience by the convincing spirit, as to become a means to awaken\ndegenerate christians to greater watchfulness, greater tenderness of\nconscience, and greater degrees of humility, of spirituality, and\nheavenly-mindedness: Those very falls have been made an occasion of\ntheir rise and growth in christianity by the grace of that God, who\nturns darkness into light, and a curse into a blessing.\n\nBut where it is not so, God is not to be charged with injustice, in not\nraising us to higher degrees after our falls; our negligence and\ncriminal indulgences of temptation, have justly forfeited his peculiar\nfavours: And it must still be confessed, it is our own fault where\nlength of life is not attended with growth in grace, and meetness for\nsuperior glory.\n\nI should now proceed to the second general head proposed; but not having\nroom to finish all my design at once, I shall conclude this discourse\nwith these two reflections:\n\nFirst Reflection.\u2014What a rich advantage is put into the hands of a young\nconvert! When a sinner, in his younger years of life is changed into a\nsaint, what a blessed privilege is granted him by divine grace? And what\na glorious opportunity is afforded him, the improvement whereof may\nreach to everlasting ages!\n\nHappy soul, who art reconciled to God betimes, and a thousand sins in\nthe following course of thy life are hereby prevented! Happy soul, to\nwhom Christ has manifested his love in the beginning of life, and saved\nthee betimes from eternal death! According to the course of nature, thou\nhast a prospect of doing long service for thy Lord and thy God. Awaken\nall thy thoughts; consult, contrive, and seek divine advice what thou\nshalt do for his honour, who hath given thee so early a salvation. Pray\nfor the direction of the blessed Spirit, to mark out the paths of thy\nfeet, and to employ thy head, thy hands, and thy tongue, in the most\nhonourable manner for thy God, and the most useful for the good of men.\n\nRemember, every hour of thy time is a part of thy treasure: Let it not\nbe said at last, it was a prize put into the hands of a fool that had no\nskill nor heart to use it. God, even thy God, expects a daily revenue of\nglory, as the just improvement of this treasure. Let a holy zeal be\nkindled within thee, to do glorious services for thy Creator and thy\nSaviour, and to shew thy large returns of love to him who hath first\nloved thee. Let a pious ambition set all thy powers at work to do some\nuncommon good for men, and to be made an extensive blessing to all that\nare near thee, arise, and shine long, as a fair example of holiness in a\ndark and wicked world, and let every year of life brighten thy character\non earth and enlarge thy reward in heaven. Be not content merely to get\nsafe within the walls of paradise; the thief on the cross, who was\ncalled at the last hour of life, obtained this privilege; but let thy\nambition rise higher, and reach at some of the more exalted stations in\nthat kingdom. Then shall it appear that life is thine in the sweetest\nsense, when every stage and period of it shall add new honours to the\nname of thy God, give new blessings to the world, and advance the joys\nof thy own eternity.\n\nSecond Reflection.\u2014If life be such a privilege to a christian, and be a\npart of his treasure in this sense, then what a dismal account hath an\nold sinner to give, who hath wasted life and time in folly and guilt,\nand no part of it hath been improved for his eternal happiness.\n\nO miserable creature! Neither life nor death is thine. Bethink thyself a\nlittle, and review the dismal scene: Say to thy soul, \u201cWhat have I been\ndoing these fifty or sixty years? I came into life guilty and unclean,\nand am now upon the borders of death unclean and guilty still. I was\nborn a child of wrath, and am a son or daughter of wrath still. I was by\nnature an enemy to God, and I am an enemy to God still, and have no\ninterest in his love. Life was given me that I might seek reconciliation\nand grace; but I have neglected and abused offered grace, and am not yet\nreconciled to my almighty and offended Maker. The Judge is just at hand,\nmethinks I hear the sound of his chariot-wheels, and a dismal account\nhave I to give of all my wasted life. I have done no real service for\nGod, nor have given an example of holiness to men: but alas! I have been\na pattern of iniquity, or at least, I have followed a multitude to do\nevil: Every year have I heaped up to myself new treasures of wrath in\nhell, instead of securing a crown in heaven, and advancing my station\nand my joy there. Is there any hope for me in the poor remains of life\nthat may yet be allotted me? Is the grace of the gospel sufficient to\nsave such a wretch as I am?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, O sinner, it is sufficient, for Jesus Christ came into the world\nto save sinners, even the very chief of them. There is grace in the\nheart of the Father to receive thee; there is sufficient virtue in the\nblood of Christ to cleanse away all thy guilt; there is influence enough\nin the blessed Spirit to soften thy heart, and renew thy nature, though\nthou art an old hardened rebel, and a transgressor from thy very\ninfancy. Lose not a moment more, but set about the work in good earnest;\ntrifle no longer with grace, thou who art on the borders of the grave;\nfly to the hope that is set before thee; beg salvation of God with daily\nand nightly tears, and give him no rest till he hath heard thee. Such an\nimportunity is like to be successful; and then, though thy temporal life\nhath been no benefit to thee hitherto, yet the last moments of it may\npossibly be accepted, and prevent thy everlasting death. God who is rich\nin mercy, may bestow on thee some humble place in heaven, but thou canst\nnot expect to shine amongst the brightest saints. Thou mayest be blessed\namong the dead who die in the Lord, and rest from thy sorrows and thy\nsins; but thou hast scarce any good works to follow thee. Thy works in\nall the sprightly years of thy life, have been matter of guilt and\nshame, and it is infinite mercy, that they shall be remembered no more,\nBut if thy heart be broken for sin, and healed by the blood of Christ,\nthy humble repentance, and thy holy faith in the few remaining days of\nold age, and death, shall be accepted through the abounding grace of the\ngospel. The dying thief on the cross forbids thee to despair utterly,\nthough thou hast run a terrible risk, and ventured on the borders of\ndestruction: And if thou art saved at last, it is so as by fire, it is\nlike a brand plucked out of the burning, or as a man escaping naked out\nof the flames, and passing on the very brink of hell into everlasting\nlife.\u201d\n\nThe Recollection of the doctrinal part.\u2014\u201cAnd is life the only space\ngiven me to be reconciled to God, and am I still a stranger and an\nenemy? Have I wasted away so many years of this golden season of hope,\nthis day of mercy, and have I not yet received this mercy, nor laid hold\non this hope set before me: Search, examine, enquire, what is thy state,\nO my soul? And if thou art yet a child of wrath, and unreconciled to\nGod, make haste and fly for refuge to the grace of the gospel. Cry\nmightily for repentance and forgiveness in the name and blood of Jesus.\nLet no more days of thy life pass away in such a dangerous and dreadful\nstate, lest life should come to a speedy period, and then thou art\nbanished from grace and hope for ever.\n\n\u201cBut if the character of a sincere penitent, and a holy christian be\nfound with thee, if thou art partaker of the love of God, through the\ngrace of Jesus, then _bless the Lord, O my soul, and let all that is\nwithin me praise his holy name_, that he has not cut me off in the days\nof my enmity to God, unsanctified, and unpardoned; that he has\nlengthened out my life and the seasons of his mercy, till he has changed\nmy sinful nature, and secured me in the covenant of his grace.\n\n\u201cIs life given me as an opportunity of service to my Lord Jesus? It is\nhe that has redeemed me: it is he that has laid out his valuable life\nfor me, what shall I do, O my Saviour, to make some humble returns of\nacknowledgment and love? O let my useless and unserviceable years be\nforgiven, and let the remains of life, whether long or short, be all\ndevoted to the interests and honours of my Redeemer. Were it possible\nfor the saints, after they have dwelt some time in heaven, to come down\nand dwell on earth again how would they multiply their labours, and lay\nout their new life in more activity and service for their God and\nSaviour? When they have found and tasted what a heaven of happiness\nsucceeds the short labours of life, how would they double all their zeal\nand diligence, and be grieved they could do no more? When they have seen\nand conversed with their beloved Lord, and beheld him face to face, with\nhow much warmer love would they engage in his service? Surely they would\nall cry out, that the longest life on earth is much too short to shew\ntheir zeal, affection, and gratitude to so divine and glorious a friend.\nThink of this, O my soul, and remember, if thou ever arrive safe at\nheaven, thou wilt wish thou hadst done more for thy beloved Lord here on\nearth.\n\n\u201cIs this mortal life continued to me that I may spread a savour of piety\namongst my fellow-creatures, and set a religious example to men? Lord,\nsuffer me to do nothing that may lead sinners astray from thee. Pardon\nall the evil examples I have ever given, and let my future conduct shine\nin holiness, as a pattern to those that are round about me. Methinks, I\nwould convince the world that religion has something excellent and\ndivine in it, and encourage them to the practice of strict godliness.\n\n\u201cIs life prolonged that I may be profitable to mankind, and have I lived\nthus long already to so little purpose? Though my goodness extends not\nunto thee, O Lord, yet I entreat that my fellow-creatures may be the\nbetter for me while I continue amongst them. O may the God of Abraham\nbestow on me that rich favour which Abraham received in those divine\nwords of promise, _I will bless thee, and I will make thee a blessing_;\nGen. xii. 2. I would fain live useful and beloved, that I may die\ndesired and lamented. What a shameful thing is it when I go out of the\nworld, that my acquaintance should say, He is gone, but there is no loss\nof him.\u201d\n\n\u201cHave my days been prolonged thus far that my hopes of heaven might be\ndaily increasing, that my evidences of adoption might grow stronger\ndaily, and my soul be more prepared for heaven: Look inward then, O my\nsoul: Hast thou acquired a more divine and heavenly temper than in years\npast? Art thou wrought up to a greater meetness for the inheritance on\nhigh? Are thy desires, thy appetites, and all thy powers more fitted for\nthe business of heaven, and attempered to the blessedness of the upper\nworld? Art thou growing fitter still for the sight of God, for converse\nwith Christ, for the company of saints and holy angels? How are thy days\nand months, and years run out to waste, if thou art so much nearer\ndeath, and yet art not so much riper for heaven?\n\n\u201cAnd is it possible that a length of life should be so improved, as that\nmy crown of glory, and my portion of happiness may be enlarged\nhereafter? Let my holy ambition awake at such a hint as this, and let me\naspire to a superior rank among the blessed, by employing every part of\nlife to the most noble and excellent purposes for which life is granted.\nLet me ever abound in the work of the Lord, since I am assured that no\npart of my labours shall be in vain in the Lord, or want its proper\nrecompence. Though it is the blood of my Redeemer that has purchased all\nthe prizes and crowns in heaven; yet if I am a swift runner in the\nchristian race, and the race itself be long, I am fitted to receive the\nfairer prize: And if I am an active and victorious soldier in the army\nof Christ, and have served faithfully through a tedious war, I may have\nreason to hope for a brighter crown. We may humbly wait for a reward in\nproportion to the work, according to the encouragements of the bible,\nwhile we still acknowledge that it is free and sovereign grace both\nenables us to hold out working, and bestows the rich reward.\u201d _Amen._\n\n\n HYMN FOR SERMON XXXIX.\n _The Right Improvement of Life._\n\n\n And is this life prolong\u2019d to me?\n Are days and seasons given?\n Shall I not then prepare to be\n A fitter heir for heaven?\n\n I\u2019ll never let these moments pass,\n These golden hours be gone;\n Lord, I accept thy offer\u2019d grace,\n I bow before thy throne.\n\n Now cleanse my soul from ev\u2019ry sin,\n By my Redeemer\u2019s blood;\n Now let my flesh and heart begin\n The honours of my God.\n\n Let me no more my soul defile\n With sin\u2019s deceitful toys;\n Let chearful hope encreasing still,\n Approach to heavenly joys.\n\n My thankful lips shall loud proclaim\n The wonders of thy praise,\n And spread the savour of thy name,\n Where e\u2019er I spend my days.\n\n On earth let my example shine;\n And when I leave this state,\n May heaven receive this soul of mine\n To bliss divinely great.\n\nFootnote 40:\n\n Treatise on Death and Heaven, discourse II. sect. 2.\n\n\n\n\n SERMON XL.\n _The Privilege of the Living above the Dead._\n 1 COR. iii. 22.\u2014\u2014Whether life or death,\u2014\u2014all are yours.\n\n\nWhen these words were explained, this doctrine was drawn from the first\npart of them, _viz._ \u201cWhen life is given or continued to the saints, it\nis for their advantage.\u201d\n\nThe first thing proposed, in our meditations of this truth, was to make\nit appear by a variety of instances, that life is designed for the\nbenefit of christians. I proceed now to the\n\nSecond, _viz._ to amplify and confirm this doctrine yet further by\nrepresenting what various graces may be exercised on earth, which can\nhave no place in heaven; and to discover in what respects, a living\nchristian may be said to have some advantage over the saints that are\ndead.\n\n1. The first grace I shall mention, which belongs only to this life, is,\nfaith of things unseen, whether present or future; for in heaven this\nsort of faith is ended and lost; it vanishes into sight; 1 Cor. v. 7.\nHere in this world we walk by faith, and not by sight; but in the world\nabove, we shall live by sight, and not by faith. _Blessed are those\nsouls_ on earth, _who have not seen, and yet have believed_; John xx.\n29.\n\nHereby the living christian doth much honour to God, and offers him a\nrevenue of such glory, as can never be offered to him among all the\nsaints and angels on high. To believe that there is a God who made all\nthings, among a world of atheists, that deny him that made them; to\ncarry it toward an unseen God with a solemn awe of his majesty, and deep\nreverence and submission to his will, in the midst of thoughtless\nsinners who deride religion, and live without God in the world; to\nbelieve that the bible is the word of God, notwithstanding all the\ndifficulties contained in it, and all the bold and subtle cavils that\ninfidels have raised against it, to make this word the ground of our\nreligion, the rule of our practice, and the foundation of our hopes, in\nthe midst of an age of deists and heathens, that laugh at our bible and\nour belief together: These are noble instances of a militant faith in a\nworld of infidelity. To believe that Jesus of Nazareth, who was hanged\nupon a tree without Jerusalem, and died there, is the only begotten Son\nof God, the Maker and the Saviour of the world, to believe that he now\nlives and governs all things at the right-hand of his Father, and to\ntrust in him who died upon the cross to give us a crown of eternal life;\nthese are such exercises of the grace of faith, as have no place in the\nworld of sight, where every saint beholds him face to face: Such acts as\nthese, are only suited to our present state of absence from the Lord,\nand yet they are highly honourable to God and our Redeemer, _whom having\nnot seen we love, and in whom, though now we see him not, yet believing,\nwe rejoice with joy unspeakable_:\u20142 Pet. i. 8.\n\nTo believe that there is a heaven of glory far above the clouds, where\nour Lord Jesus Christ has dwelt in his human nature almost two thousand\nyears, and where ten thousands of his blessed saints and angels are for\never enjoying divine consolations; to maintain a firm belief that there\nis a reward for the righteous laid up on high, while they are here\ntrodden to the dust; to believe there is a hell, an unseen world of\nmisery and torture, where damned spirits are punished for their\nrebellion against the great God, and shall for ever suffer the weight of\nhis indignation; and to walk through this world with a holy negligence\nand contempt of it under the influence of these future invisibles, these\neternal joys and eternal sorrows: This is a faith that gives much glory\nto God, while we live, and speak, and act, while we suffer and endure,\nas seeing him who is invisible, and firmly believing all the joys and\nterrors of another world, which are hidden from us by the veil of flesh\nand blood.\n\nThis was the faith of the ancient patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob;\nthis was the faith of Noah and Moses, and many other heroes, whose names\nshine with honour in St. Paul\u2019s epistle to the Hebrews; and great and\nblessed God received daily honours from this their faith. In heaven all\nthese invisibles are seen, all these futurities become present, and they\nare no longer matters of faith. O that this faith might overspread the\nearth, as sight is found all over heaven!\n\nII. Hope and expectation of future blessings, either here or hereafter,\nunder all present darknesses and discouragements, is another grace which\nmay be exercised by the living saints; but among the saints that are\ndead there is no room nor place for it; for in heaven our hope is turned\ninto enjoyment; _hope that is seen or enjoyed, is not hope; what a man\nseeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that which we see\nnot, then do we with patience wait for it_, Rom. viii. 24. And this\npatient and chearful expectation under discouraging difficulties, is a\nglorious homage paid to God, such as the saints in heaven cannot pay\nhim.\n\nThe living christian knows not what honour he brings to his God, when\nhis hope for promised mercies bears itself up, while there are no\nappearing prospects to the eye of sense, and in opposition to a thousand\nrising dangers; when he can live upon the naked promise, and be assured\nof the full performance, merely because his God hath spoken it. Then we\ngive honour to God, such as the souls in heaven cannot give him, when\nunder the renewed exercise of faith and repentance we maintain a humble\nhope of the pardon of sin through the promises of his gospel, even\nthough our iniquities have been exceeding great, and though sin is every\nday working and striving against our best purposes, and too often\nbringing us under fresh guilt.\n\nThen we glorify our blessed Redeemer so as the saints in heaven cannot\nglorify him, when we feel our consciences burdened with sin, and yet\nmaintain faith and hope of acceptance with a great and holy God, through\nthe death, righteousness, and intercession of a person whom we never\nsaw. This is an illustrious honour done to the name, and sacrifice, and\nmediation of the Son of God.\n\nThen we give glory to the blessed Spirit our enlightener, and our\nsanctifier, when in the midst of our own errors and darknesses, and in\nthe midst of difficulties and cavils raised by men, we trust in his\npromised guidance into all necessary truth; when we walk on in the midst\nof temptations waiting and hoping for fresh sanctifying influences,\nwhile we feel and groan over the deceitfulness and the weakness of our\nown hearts, that are too ready to start aside from God like a broken\nbow.\n\nThen we honour God and his gospel indeed, when we hope for our own final\nsalvation through the blood of the everlasting covenant, having fled for\nrefuge to the hope that is set before us, though by the wiles of the\ndevil, we have been under strong temptations to despair, and sometimes\nhave seemed to be forsaken of God, as Christ Jesus was when hanging on\nthe cross: It was then that he glorified his Father and his God, by the\nconstancy and courage of his hope, in such a manner as he was never\ncapable of doing after that great and dreadful day; and herein his poor\ntempted followers have been noble imitators of their Saviour and their\nLord, and have held fast their confidence in divine mercy in the midst\nof sore temptations, and given great glory to their God and Father.\n\nNor is this hope a vain presuming confidence, or a bold fit of\nenthusiasm, for it evidences its own heavenly and divine original, by\nkeeping the soul pure, and holy, and humble, in the midst of all this\ndarkness, and this disconsolate state: _He that has this hope will\npurify himself, even as Christ is pure_; 1 John iii. 3. A presuming hope\nthat carries no spring of holiness in it, can neither honour God nor\nprofit men.\n\nBut there are other occasions also in this life, for the exercise of the\ngrace of hope, _viz._ amidst huge and threatening difficulties, that\nrelate to the public interests of religion. When the feeble and doubting\nchristian sees the affairs of the church of Christ sinking daily, he is\nalmost ready to sink and die too, and to despair for Zion; and it is the\nlanguage of his unbelief, _by whom shall Jacob arise, for he is small?_\nBut the stronger christian, who knows how to live upon a promise, can\nreply, that the God of Jacob is almighty, the king of Israel is the true\nGod and everlasting king, and the interest of the church shall rise\nagain, even though it were drowning; for not all the floods on earth,\nnor even the gates of hell shall prevail against the church that is\nbuilt upon Jesus the rock of ages: And Jesus himself receives his\nspecial tribute of glory from his saints on earth, while they triumph in\nthis hope.\n\nThere are also some seasons wherein a living saint honours God in this\nworld, by maintaining his hope in the midst of various trials that\nattend him in his private affairs, and especially when poverty and\ndistress overtake him like an armed man, and he hath no other help nor\nhope left, but in some gracious words of promise, and some unknown\nappearances of providence in his behalf. Blessed are the poor who can\nlive by faith! A christian honours God also greatly in the days of\nsickness, and the hour of death, when he feels nature sinking, and flesh\ndissolving; yet he can look upon his withering limbs without dismay, in\nthe hope of the resurrection, and speak in the language of holy Job,\n\u201cThough after my skin worms devour this body, yet in my flesh shall I\nsee God;\u201d Job xix. 26.\n\nI grant that the saints who are in heaven, the spirits of the just made\nperfect, wait also, and hope for the resurrection of the body, and all\nthe promised blessings of that day; but they have a bright and sure\nprospect of it by the light of glory, in which they read all the\npromises; and they have a pledge and pattern of it in the body of Jesus\nChrist raised from the dead, and glorified in the midst of them. Their\nhope lies under no darkness, no discouragement. The saints on earth\ntherefore, in the exercise of this their hope, give a greater glory to\nGod than those in heaven; for it struggles with mighty difficulties, and\novercomes them all. It is such a hope as Abraham built on the mere\npromise of God, that he should have a son when he was a hundred years\nold, and his wife Sarah was ninety. \u201cHe hoped in God who quickened the\ndead, and called those things which be not as though they were; who\nagainst hope believed in hope, that he might become the Father of many\nnations, according to that which was spoken; so shall thy seed be. He\nstaggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in\nfaith, giving glory to God;\u201d Rom. iv. 17, 18-20.\n\nIII. Liberality and compassion to the poor is another exercise of grace,\nfor which this life only gives opportunity. The objects of our bounty on\nearth are both saints and sinners; for we are charged to imitate our\nheavenly Father, _who commands his sun to rise on the evil and the good,\nand his rain to fall and refresh the just and the unjust_; Mat. v. 45.\nBut in the world to come, the saints are raised far above the want of\nour compassion, and condemned sinners in their long everlasting misery\nare forbid all refreshment.\n\nIt is in this life only, that we can shew our love to Christ himself, by\nrefreshing the bowels of his saints. It is here that we may treasure up\nmatter for divine approbation and solemn applause, in the great\njudgment-day, when the alms that have been given in a private corner,\nwhere _the left-hand has not known what the right-hand did_, shall be\npublished with honour before that innumerable assembly. \u201cI remember,\u201d\nsays our blessed Lord, \u201cI well remember, when in yonder world ye fed my\nhungry saints, then ye fed and nourished me; when ye gave drink to them,\nye gave drink to me, and relieved my thirst; when ye bestowed garments\non them, it was I that was naked, and ye clothed and covered me; and\nwhen ye visited them in sickness or in prison, I was the prisoner, I was\nsick, and I take it as kindly as though ye had visited and comforted\nme.\u201d Astonishing condescension of the Son of God! Surprizing honour put\non the liberal christian! But here is the only place for acquiring these\nhonours, though they are published hereafter.\n\nThere is no poor christian to be supplied in heaven out of the stores of\nyour bounty, no naked saints to be clothed there. All the regions of\nheaven cannot afford any such object of your compassion and love. Many a\nsaint on earth is hungry, and thirsty, and naked, and exposed to sore\nhardships and necessities, but necessities and hardships are unknown in\nheaven. Many a widow, and orphan, and poor destitute christian, lies\nsick and groaning as it were at the gates of glory: Let us seize the\nopportunity to feed, to support, and to comfort them; for there is no\ndestitute creature, no sick, or poor, no needy widow or orphan, within\nthe gates.\n\nLife is given to some persons for this very end! Good Dorcas was even\nraised from the dead, and had her life lengthened out to make more coats\nand garments for the poor. Ministering to the saints is a delightful\nlabour, and a business worth living for. In this world the rich\nchristian has the honour of being a steward for God to feed his\nchildren; but in the world above, there are no earthly treasures to\nreceive such a sort of consecration as this is, no alms to be offered up\nas an acceptable sacrifice to God the Father, or to his Son Jesus. See\nthen that ye practise this virtue as often as providence gives a proper\noccasion, and thus consecrate your substance to the Lord of the whole\nearth. Lend a little to the Lord in this manner, and it shall be paid\nwith large interest: \u201cHe that hath pity on the poor lendeth to the Lord,\nand he will repay him;\u201d Prov. xix. 17.\n\nPerhaps another week, or another day shall divide you from all your\nearthly riches; no more of them can be laid out for God: Perhaps death\nmay send you into the invisible world, and ye shall have no more objects\nof your pity for ever; _whatsoever thy hand then finds thee to do, do it\nwith all thy might_; Eccl. ix. 10. _You that are rich in this world, be\nrich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate, laying\nup in store a good foundation against the time to come, that ye may lay\nhold on eternal life_; 1 Tim. vi. 18, 19. And remember that _he that\nsows sparingly, shall reap sparingly; but he that soweth bountifully in\nhis distributions to the poor, for the sake of Christ, shall also reap\nbountifully of the riches of glory, in the great day of reward_; 2 Cor.\nix. 6.\n\nIV. Another grace which only the living can exercise, is, charity to our\nfellow-creatures under their mistakes, or infirmities, and a charitable\nand loving frame of spirit to our fellow-christians who differ from us\neither in principle or practice.\n\nInfirmities and mistakes belong only to the present state: This life is\nthe only time when a fellow-saint can be overtaken in a fault, and when\nwe are capable of restoring such a one in the spirit of meekness. It is\nhere only that the proposed motive has any room or place; _consider\nthyself lest thou also be tempted_; Gal. vi. 1. And though we are bound\nto maintain an everlasting aversion to every sin, yet we should imitate\nand honour the forgiving mercy of our God, by speaking peace and\nconsolation to a returning sinner.\n\nBe not too severe in your censures, you who have been kept from\ntemptation, but pity others who are fallen, and mourn over their fall.\nDo not think or say the worst things you can of those who have been\ntaken in the snare of Satan, and been betrayed into some grosser\niniquities. When you see them grieved and ashamed of their own follies,\nand bowed down under much heaviness, take occasion then to speak a\nsoftening and a healing word. Speak for them kindly, and speak to them\ntenderly. \u201cHave compassion of them, lest they be swallowed up of over\nmuch sorrow;\u201d 2 Cor. ii. 7. And remember too, O censorious christian,\nthat thou art also in the body, it is rich grace that has kept thee\nhitherto, and the same God, who for wise ends has suffered thy brother\nto fall, may punish thy severity and reproachful language, by\nwithholding his grace from thee in the next hour of temptation: and then\nthy own fall and guilt shall upbraid thee with inward and bitter\nreflections, for thy sharp censures of thy weak and tempted brother.\nThis life is the only time wherein we can pity the infirmities of our\nbrethren and bear their burdens. This law of Christ must be fulfilled in\nthis world, for there is no room for it in the next; _wherefore bear ye\none another\u2019s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ_; Gal. vi. 2.\n\nThis world is the only place where different opinions and doctrines are\nfound amongst the saints; Disagreeing forms of devotion, and sects, and\nparties, have no place on high: None of these things can interrupt the\nworship or the peace of heaven. See to it then, that you practise this\ngrace of charity here, and love thy brother, and receive him into thy\nheart in holy fellowship, though he may be weak in faith, though he may\nobserve days and times, and may feed upon herbs, and indulge some\nsuperstitious follies while thou art strong in faith, and well\nacquainted with the liberty of the gospel. Let not little things provoke\nyou to divide communions on earth; but by this sort of charity, and a\ncatholic spirit, honour the Saviour and his church here in this world;\nfor since there are no parties, nor sects, nor contrary sentiments among\nthe church in heaven, this christian virtue can never find any room for\nexercise there. This kind of charity ends at death.\n\nV. Sympathy with mourners, and pity and relief to those that are\noppressed with many sorrows, is a virtue that belongs only to the saints\non earth. There are no sorrowful christians in heaven, and the various\nmethods of comfort, which we practise toward our suffering brethren here\nbelow, are therefore impracticable in the upper world. \u201cThe God of all\ncomfort is he who comforteth us in our tribulations, for this reason,\nthat we may be able to comfort those that are oppressed with their heavy\nafflictions;\u201d 2 Cor. i. 4. \u201cThis is pure religion and undefiled; to\nvisit the fatherless and the widows in their afflictions, as well as to\nkeep yourselves unspotted from the world;\u201d James i. 27. But it is the\nreligion of the church on earth, not the religion of heaven.\n\nGo, then and visit thy brother in distress, visit poor afflicted and\nsuffering christians: Go mention the promises of divine grace that\nbelong to them in a suffering state, and lead them to rest upon some\nhappy promise: Go teach them the benefit of afflictive circumstances:\nLet the twelfth chapter to the Hebrews be your text, and raise many a\nsweet inference for the support of sufferers. Tell them of the fruits of\nholiness that grow upon the bitter tree of earthly sorrows; and that the\nwood of the cross blossoms with grace and glory. Put them in mind of the\nexamples of divine deliverance, when there has been no outward prospect\nof help and hope. Lead them to a meditation of the heavenly state: Point\ntheir thoughts upward: Direct their faith and their hope thither: teach\nthem to look at the things that are unseen and eternal, that they may be\nable in the language of faith to say, \u201cThese light afflictions which are\nbut for a moment, are working for us an eternal weight of glory;\u201d 2 Cor.\niv. 17.\n\nThere are no sorrows among the inhabitants of heaven, no sufferings\nthere, no pain, no complaint; nor is there any need of your\nconsolations: This is a work you cannot do in paradise, but God delights\nto see his children here comfort one another in their travels through\nthis valley of tears, this tiresome wilderness; 1 Thess. iv. 18. Then\nlet us give our fellow-christians their due of consolation, and offer to\nour God the sacrifice of his delight.\n\nVI. Forbearance and forgiveness of real or supposed injuries, is a grace\nto be practised only by the living christian.\u2014Christ Jesus our Lord\ndemands it, and lays a bar upon your hopes of the forgiveness of God, if\nye refuse it to your fellow-creatures; Mat. vi. 14, 15. And the great\napostle entreats you to practise it. _Put on therefore, as the elect of\nGod, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind,\nmeekness, long-suffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one\nanother, if any man hath a quarrel against any: Even as Christ forgave\nyou, so also do ye_; Col. iii. 12, 13. Charity, or love, as it should be\ntranslated, suffers long, beareth all things, and hopeth all things; and\nthough considered in the general notion of love to the saints, it lives\nfor ever in heaven; yet these special exercises of it belong to this\nworld. Charity or love is not easily provoked, it thinketh no evil,\ngives every thing the best turn that it will bear, and puts the best\nsense upon all things that are spoken. O that every living christian\nmight adorn his profession with the exercise of this virtue; 1 Cor.\nxiii. 4-8.\n\nMeekness is a grace which has no place in the upper world, in this\nrespect, that it has no trials there. Glorify God your Saviour therefore\nin the days of your trial here below, and be ye meek and lowly as he\nwas; be ye slow to anger, and swift to forgive, as God your Father is.\nWhen you hear a word of offence or reproach spoken, and feel the rising\nferment of the blood, watch against it, subdue it: This is the hour of\nbattle, see that ye come off conquerors. When there is a word of\nbitterness upon your tongue, stifle it, and keep silence, subdue the\ntemptation, and prevent that sin; give glory to God in this manner,\nwhich the saints in heaven cannot do. \u201cDearly beloved, avenge not\nyourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: Be not overcome with evil;\nbut overcome evil with good;\u201d Rom. xii. 19-21.\n\nLove is a virtue that flourishes in heaven, it grows high, it spreads\nwide, and it shines bright in the upper world. Love is a grace that\nout-lives faith and hope, and endures for ever. There is no such union\nof hearts, no such sacred bonds of affection, as are found among the\nsaints on high. Heaven is the very element and region of love; but it is\nall love to God, love to Christ, and to our fellow-saints: For love to\nenemies is not known in that country, because there is no enemy there.\nTo love them that hate us, to bless them that curse us; to pity, and\nforgive, and pray for those that injure us; these are not only noble\nsingularities of the christian religion, which are not known amongst all\nthe catalogues of heathen virtues, but neither are they practised in the\nheavenly world. As glorious and sublime as they are, yet they are never\nfound among _the spirits of the just made perfect_: Those holy souls,\nare all far above the reach of malice, hatred, and enmity; there are no\nobjects there for them to exercise these divine virtues upon. Love to\nenemies therefore dwells only amongst the living saints: To forgive\ninjuries, is the glory that is peculiar to christians in this mortal\nstate, and our blessed Saviour has a most peculiar revenue of honour\nfrom it.\n\nBut besides the honour that Christ and his gospel receive from such a\nkind and charitable conduct, there is a pleasure in this victory over\nresentment, that far exceeds the pleasure of revenge which is the\ndelight of the wicked: And it is a pleasure also, which the saints above\ncannot partake of; for there are no offences, no injuries, no\nprovocations there: This life alone is the time to forgive, and to be\nforgiven. Now who is there among us, that would not seize the\nopportunity of every injury and offence to practise a glorious duty, and\nenjoy a pleasure which the blessed in heaven cannot taste?\n\nVII. Self-denial and mortification of sin, belongs also to this life\nalone. It is the first lesson in the school of Christ, _to deny\nourselves daily, if we will be his disciples_; Luke ix. 23. but it is\nthe lesson of the school and not of the palace; a lesson for earth and\nnot for heaven; for in the world above, our duty is all delight, and\nthere is no need of contradicting our own pleasure, or our interest, in\norder to please or serve our God, or our brother. In those holy regions\nevery part of our work is congenial to our sanctified natures, and with\nresistless appetite and inclination we shall pursue all the duties that\nbelong to that happy state.\n\nNor are there any sins to be mortified there: The body of death is\nburied with the body of flesh in the grave, and earth is the place where\nthe members of it must be put to death. _Mortify your members which are\nupon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil\nconcupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry_; Col. iii. 5. Let us\nbe daily engaged in the zealous practice of this duty, and subdue all\nthe unruly appetites that make an assault upon our virtue, that defile\nour conscience, and subdue our peace. Now, now is the time to set\nourselves at work to fight against our vicious inclinations and our\nirregular desires: Now let us multiply our victories over sin and self.\nEarth is the field of battle with sin: In heaven our desires shall all\nbe pure and holy, there is no sinful wandering appetite, no perverse\naffection; no irregular thought or wish amongst all the saints above:\nThere is no contest with indwelling corruptions, no such conquests are\nto be gained in all that holy and happy world. There are no new honours\nof this kind to be given to Jesus, the Captain of our Salvation, nor any\nnew triumphs to be obtained over sin, to the glory of divine grace. Come\nthen, let us bestir ourselves, and awake to the battle, let us bravely\nresist the workings of flesh and blood, by the aids of the blessed\nSpirit; let us _be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus_, and\nmaintain the glorious warfare, like soldiers who fight for the honour of\ntheir general, and who hope for a crown of immortality.\n\n[If this Sermon be too long, it may be divided here.]\n\nVIII. Repentance and godly sorrow for our past offences, belong only to\nthis life. Converting grace works only on earth; we are called to repent\nin order to be forgiven: _Repent and be converted, that your sins may be\nblotted out_; Acts iii. 19. And the exercise of this grace is not only\nnecessary at first conversion, (though it most eminently appears at that\nseason) but it must run like a thread through the whole course of this\nmortal life, till death shall put an utter end to sin. Let every known\nsin therefore which we are guilty of be attended with some new and\nsensible exercise of shame, and sorrow, and holy indignation against\nourselves. Let us live in a daily, constant, penitent frame, for we are\ndaily sinners. This painful sense of sin, this holy mourning, is an\nhonour done to the law of our God. It is the living, the living who are\ncalled to this work; for _there is no repentance in the grave_: Shew\nyour hatred of sin therefore continually, and your sincere love to the\nlaw of holiness by such an humiliation as becomes an imperfect saint.\n\nYou will ask me, \u201cDo no saints in heaven repent that they have ever\nsinned here on earth?\u201d\n\nI answer, that whatsoever regret they feel in the memory of their past\ntransgressions, it is not attended with such sensible shame and inward\npain at the heart, as are necessary to that duty of repentance that is\nrequired here on earth; for there is nothing must break in upon their\nperfect peace or joy in heaven. As God is said not to remember their\niniquities, because he does not remember them in order to punish, so the\nsaints above are not said to repent of sin, because they have no such\nshame and grief accompanying it as whilst they dwelt upon earth, and\nwhich are some of the most remarkable ingredients in our repentance.\n\nBut we may suppose there is among them some sort of holy\nself-displicency, and something of a sacred regret, that ever they\noffended such a God, and such a Saviour? There will be surely an inward\nand hearty disapprobation of their former sinful ways whenever they\nthink upon them: And, indeed, without some reflection on their former\nguilt and misery, they can never give due glory to Christ their\nRedeemer, who rescued them from their sorrows and their sins. But all\nthe painful and shameful attendants of this grace of repentance must be\nbanished from heaven, because it is a state of perfect joy and peace.\n\nIX. Patience and submission to the will of God under all manner of\npainful providences, gives glory to God here on earth, such as the\nsaints in heaven cannot give him. We are taught indeed to say, _Lord,\nthy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven_: But it is the preceptive\nwill of God, or the will of his commands, which is here signified, not\nhis providential will, whereby he punishes; for there is no affliction\nin heaven, and therefore there is no such sort of submission, no\nexercise of patience there: They obey the will of his commands in\nperfection there, and God himself has no will that they should suffer,\nor endure sorrow.\n\nShew then, O believers, your submission to the will of God, here, as\ndear and obedient children, when your heavenly Father sees it needful to\nchasten you; Heb. xii. 6-11. _If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with\nyou as with sons; for what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not?\nGive him reverence therefore when he corrects you, and be ye in\nsubjection to the Father of spirits and live._ It is only children under\nage that their earthly fathers scourge and chastise; such are christians\nin this world, the sons of God in their infant state: but when the\nchildren are grown up to manly age, they have no more chastisement; such\nare the saints in heaven, who are _grown to the fulness of the measure\nof that stature_ which God designs for them in Christ. This life\ntherefore is the only time when you can honour the sovereignty and the\nwisdom of God your Father, when he sees fit to take his rod in hand, and\nto instruct you in righteousness.\n\nX. A sacred compassion for perishing sinners, and longing desire and\nlabour for the conversion of souls, is a business that belongs to this\nlife only. When we are past the line of time, and entered into eternity,\nwe can add no new subjects to the kingdom of our Lord: This is a service\nthat can be performed no where but in the present state: It is the\nliving, and they alone that have this work intrusted with them. When the\nlips are closed in the grave they cannot speak for God, nor exhort\nsinners to be saved.\n\nLet ministers call up all their powers then to the blessed work of the\ngospel. Let them stir up all their gifts, and employ them all for the\nwelfare of immortal souls. What is the furniture of human learning? What\nare their talents of oratory, their flowing language, and their art of\npersuasion? What is their vivacity of spirit, their sweetness of voice,\ntheir penetrating force of elocution? What are all these but weapons of\nwarfare to fight against the kingdom of Satan among men, and instruments\nto build up the church of God on earth? What are they all but\nconsecrated gifts to win souls to Christ out of the kingdom of this\nworld? They are given only for service in the present life. Let us use\nthem then with our utmost skill for these holy purposes: For, _Whether\nthere be tongues they shall cease: Whether there be knowledge_ and human\nlearning, _that shall vanish away?_ 1 Cor. xiii. 8, 9. These poor\nimperfect talents are not made for heaven. Let our zeal therefore employ\nthem to the utmost on earth.\n\nO let us be _instant in season and out of season_, and proclaim the\nterrors of the law to awaken the stupid and impenitent, to make them fly\nfrom the wrath to come. Let us publish the glad tidings of the gospel,\nand by all the methods of compassion and tenderness, let us beseech and\nintreat sinners to be reconciled to God. Let us set the unsearchable\nriches of Christ before them, the all sufficiency of his righteousness,\nand the power of his grace; and study and contrive how we may address\ntheir consciences in the most successful manner, till we have won their\nhearts over to Christ and salvation.\n\nAnd let this not only be the labour of the sanctuary, and the work of\nour public offices in the church, but let the houses where we dwell, and\nthe families where we visit, be witnesses for us in the great day, that\nwe have instructed and warned the souls of men, that we have carried on\nthe business of the pulpit in the parlour, and have spread the savour of\nthe knowledge of Christ through all our conversation.\n\nLet parents that are solicitous for the eternal welfare of their\noffspring, and love their sons and daughters as their own souls, let\nthem seize the present opportunity for this sort of work. Let them make\nuse of all the language of gentle authority, and of constraining love,\nto win the hearts of their children to God, to persuade them to accept\nof the grace of Christ, and snatch them as brands out of the burning.\nLet friends and dearest relatives, let masters and rulers of families,\nlay hold on every just occasion to speak of the things of God to those\nthat are near them.\u2014Life is the only time to express our zeal for God,\nand love to souls, in such a manner as this. When we pray, _Thy kingdom\ncome_, we should awaken our endeavours to gain some new subjects to\nChrist.\n\nCome, let us all engage our own consciences in this sacred and\ncompassionate work, while we consider, that _to-day is the accepted\ntime, now is the hour of salvation_. God may put an end to our own\nlives, or the lives of our friends to-morrow, and either their death or\nours will prevent this sort of work for ever. Then we can speak no more,\nor they can hear us no more: They will be for ever out of the reach of\nour compassionate desires to save them. We may send our bitter sighs,\nand our fruitless groans, after them, when they are gone down to\ndarkness without hope; and we may feel the inward anguish of a sharp and\npainful repentance, while, through our neglect, and their own folly and\nwickedness, they are cursing the day of their birth and crying out, in\nfull despair, under the torture of divine vengeance.\n\nXI. Another grace which can be exercised only in this life, is holy\nzeal, and boldness in the profession of christianity, with courage in\nsuffering for Christ. These are virtues that belong only to our mortal\nstate; these are made necessary to the saints, by the opposition that is\nraised against true religion by the men of this world. Here in this\nworld, _they that will live godly in Christ Jesus, must suffer\npersecution_; 2 Tim. iii. 12. Our Saviour himself, in the first\npublication of his own gospel, _endured the contradiction of sinners\nagainst himself_; he sealed his doctrine with his own blood, and has\ngiven his followers a glorious example of a suffering zeal and holy\nfortitude. Imitate him who _endured the cross, and despised the shame_;\nHeb. xii. 2, 3.\n\nThis sort of virtues doth not belong to the heavenly state; for there is\nno opposition made to truth and holiness: There are no such trials of\nour zeal and courage in heaven; courage to speak boldly for Christ, and\nzeal to give him public glory, by maintaining his gospel in the face of\nterror and death; for there are no infidels, no sinners, no enemies in\nall the heavenly regions. There are no threatening tyrants, no\npersecuting powers, no penal laws in the upper world: No prisons, no\nfires, no gibbets nor axes there for the followers of the Lamb; no cruel\nmockings nor so much as a reproachful word: but the greater our zeal is\nfor the service of God and our Saviour in the heavenly state, the\ngreater shall be our honour and applause among the inhabitants of that\ncountry.\n\nEndure then for a season, ye disciples of Christ, grow bold in the\nprofession of his name, and exult with holy _joy, that you are counted\nworthy to suffer shame for his sake_; Acts v. 41. It is here on earth\nonly, that it is in your power to shew, how much you love your Saviour\nmore than your life, and that your love to your Lord is stronger than\ndeath with all its terrors. Upon this account shall I exhort you to\npractise what the apostle James expresses; James i. 2. _Count it all\njoy, my brethren, when ye fall into divers temptations; for the proof or\ntrial of your faith shall appear honourable and glorious when Christ\ncomes_; 1 Pet. i. 7. It was a frequent and sacred ambition among the\nprimitive christians to contend for the crown of martyrdom. This world\nis the only stage for such bloody conflicts, and this life is the only\nseason wherein we can obtain the addition of this ornament to our crown\nof glory.\n\nXII. May I add in the last place, that a calm and chearful readiness for\na removal out of this world, is an honour done to Christ and his gospel\nhere on earth, which belongs not to the heavenly state. Death, in the\ncourse of nature, as well as by the hands of violence, hath always\nsomething awful and formidable in it. Flesh and blood shrinks and\ntrembles at the appearance of a dissolution, and Christ delights to see\nthe grace that he has wrought in his saints gain the ascendency over\nflesh and blood, and conquer the terrors of death and the grave. He\nloves to see his followers maintain a serene soul, and venture upon the\ninvisible world upon the merit of his blood, with holy fortitude and a\nchearful faith. It is only the living christian that can die, and\nglorify God his Saviour in that great and important hour. The saints,\nwho are arrived at heaven, _dwell in the temple of God, and shall go no\nmore out_; Rev. iii. 12. They are for ever possessed of life and\nimmortality. There are no more deaths or dangers for them to encounter,\nno more terrors to engage their conflict. Death is the last enemy of the\nsaints; and when the christian meets it with sacred courage, he gives\nthat honour to the Captain of his Salvation, which the saints in glory\ncan never give, and which he himself can never repeat. Dying with faith\nand fortitude is a noble conclusion of a life of zeal and service. It is\nthe very last duty on earth; when that is done, then heaven begins.\n\nThus I have made it evident, in many instances, that there is a rich\nvariety of virtues and graces to be exercised in this life, which have\nno place after death, and upon this account the living christian may be\nsaid to have some advantage beyond the dead. Here an objection or two\nwill arise that may require an answer.\n\nObjection I.\u2014But is not heaven always represented as a state of\nperfection? Is not grace and holiness more complete there than ever they\nhave been, or can be in the time of our mortal life? And yet how can it\nbe a state of greater perfection, if so many graces are wanting there?\n\nAnswer.\u2014These graces which belong to the living saint, and have no place\namong the happy dead, are but the various exercises of a sanctified\nmind, arising from some imperfections in our present state. Faith is\nowing to our want of sight: Hope is owing to our want of enjoyment:\nPatience, courage, compassion, forbearance, forgiveness, repentance, and\nsuch like graces, are owing to the sins, the sorrows, or the temptations\nthat are found in this world only. The follies, the mistakes, the\ninfirmities of ourselves, or our fellow-christians, or the wickedness of\nthe world wherein we live, are the only things that give occasion for\nthe exercise of such graces as I have now mentioned; therefore in a\nperfect state there is no room for them.\n\nYet every saint in heaven has a sanctified nature, which is the root and\nspring of all these graces, and they would appear in glorious exercise\nagain, if there were any objects, or occasions, or seasons proper to\nexcite them. Therefore the saints above are not defective in any virtue\nor grace, though they have no actual exercise of several of them in\nheaven. So God himself would not be in himself less merciful if he\nappeared in any province of his dominion where there was no creature in\nmisery, and consequently no proper object for mercy. He is a God of\ninfinite compassion and forgiveness still, though he has no immediate\nnew exercises of them in heaven, in a world where no sinners are: for\nsin and misery are the only proper occasions of forgiveness and mercy.\nThus the saints in heaven are perfect in grace and holiness, even though\nthere are no proper objects or occasions, for this holiness or this\ngrace to manifest itself in such peculiar instances as I have been\ndescribing in this discourse.\n\nII. How can it be said, that a living christian has any advantage above\nthe dead? Is not heaven better than earth? And upon that account, is not\ndeath often represented to us under most pleasing colours in the gospel,\nas it is an escape from the sins and sorrows of this present state, and\nas it conveys us into the world of blessed spirits, where there are\ninfinite advantages above any thing to be enjoyed in this life!\n\nAnswer.\u2014Though the living saint has some advantages which the dead\ncannot partake of, yet it is very true, that the honours, the pleasures,\nthe joys, the perfections, and the advantages of heaven, when summed up\ntogether, are far more and greater, and are infinitely preferable to\nthose on earth; but they are not at all of the same kind. When we\ncompare the state of grace and the state of glory together, we may\nboldly say, the state of glory has vastly the preference; and St. Paul\nhimself thought so, Phil. i. 21, 23. _To be dissolved, and to be with\nChrist, is far better_ than to dwell in this sinful world. He asserts\nit, that death would be his own gain; yet still he allows there are some\nadvantages of this life, which death would deprive him of; for, says he,\n_for me to live_ in the flesh, will be for the honour of Christ in his\nchurches; and I shall have this fruit of my life, even the _furtherance\nof your faith and joy_; verses 22, 25.\n\nWhen we are encouraging christians to live above the fear of death, we\nrepresent to them all the glories and felicities of the future world,\nwhich are infinitely superior to all things we can enjoy in this life.\nBut while we continue here on earth, under the difficulties and\nhardships of the present state, _we have need of patience, that when we\nhave done the will of God, we may receive the promises_; Heb. x. 36. And\nwe have need of all those peculiar advantages to be set before us, which\ncan belong to our stations here on earth, on purpose to support our\npatience, to bear us up under present burdens, and make us active in\npresent duties: Although it must be still confessed, that all those\nadvantages of this life, joined with our present sins and sorrows, are\nmuch inferior to the actual taste and fruition of the joys of heaven,\nwhere sin and sorrow are known no more.\n\nThis thought very naturally leads me to the improvement and conclusion\nof my discourse, which I shall wind up briefly in these four practical\ninferences:\n\nInference I.\u2014Since there are many virtues and duties which belong only\nto this present life, \u201clet us lose no opportunity for the practice of\nthem, for the next day, or the next hour, may put it for ever out of our\npower to practise them.\u201d Eternity is a long duration indeed, but it will\nnever afford us one season for visiting the sick, for feeding the\nhungry, or for charity and meekness towards those who injure us:\nEternity itself will never give us one opportunity for the pious labours\nof love toward the conversion of sinful acquaintance and relatives. O\nlet us not suffer this precious lamp of life to burn in vain, or weeks,\nand days, and hours to slide away unemployed and useless. Let us\nremember, that while we are here, we work for a long hereafter; that we\nthink, and speak, and act with regard to an eternal state, and that in\ntime we live for eternity. Let us call up all our powers to action and\ndiligence, that not a day of our short lives may pass away, but what may\nturn to our account in the years of eternity. While God is pleased to\ndelay our heaven, let our continuance on earth be filled up with the\nvarious exercise of such graces as are suited to our present stations.\nLet this be a new spring and motive to our zeal, that we are doing such\nhonours to God and our Saviour here on earth, of which none of the\nsaints above are capable, and for which this life is the only season:\nAnd let it appear in the day of retribution that the length of our life\nhere on earth, has been a great, and real, and everlasting advantage to\nus, by preparing us for a higher station after death, and a fairer\ninheritance in that world which is everlasting.\n\nII. \u201cThough your hopes of heaven be never so well grounded, yet be not\ntoo impatient of dwelling longer on the earth: And though your burdens\nand sorrows may be very great in life, yet be not too hasty and\nimportunate in your desires of death.\u201d Support yourself under all the\nfatigues, trials and difficulties of the present state, with this\nconsideration, that you are now employed in such service for God, and\npaying such a tribute of honour to him in your suffering circumstances,\nas all the saints in heaven cannot do. Some of the children of God in\nthis world have been too impatient of life, and too eager in their\nimportunities for death and the grave. Job and Elijah were great\nfavourites of heaven, but they failed a little in this point: And God,\nin the course of his providence, afterward made it appear what eminent\nservice he had for them both to do before they left this world. Elijah\nwas designed to reform the whole nation of Israel from idolatry, and Job\nto be parent of a new large family, and give the world an example of\nGod\u2019s rewarding providence. _If life be yours_, O christians, and be\nnumbered among your possessions, be not too hasty to part with it, nor\nto throw away that talent which may yet in days to come be employed to\nthe signal honour of thy God and Saviour.\n\nIII. \u201cIf life be almost spent, and you have done little for God, see\nthat in your last, your dying hours, if possible, you speak and act for\nhis glory. Let not the whole season of life quite pass away, and be\nturned over like a blank leaf which has none of the praises of God[41]\nwritten upon it. A word of warning from a death-bed may make a deep and\nhappy impression on those that hear it, and through divine grace may\nsave a soul; and if so, thou shalt hear of it again with honour and\napplause in the great day. The thief that was converted upon the cross,\nspoke a word for Christ in his last moments, and it has been blessed to\nrescue many from the jaws of despair: That dying creature had done\nnothing for God in his life; a vicious life, and a wicked creature! But\nthe profession of sincere faith and repentance which he made at his\ndeath, hath been richly honoured in the kingdom of grace; and I am\npersuaded it has helped many a fearful christian on toward the kingdom\nof glory.\u201d\n\nIV. If so many valuable works are done, and so many graces are exercised\non earth, which have no place in heaven, then the lives of the saints\nare worth praying for. Precious in the eye of God is the life of his\nsaints, and they should be precious in the eye of man too. When an\nactive, useful christian, when a pious magistrate, when a zealous and\nfaithful minister goes down to the dust, alas! how much good ceases from\nthe earth for ever? The world knows not what it loses by such a death.\n\nLet not children be impatient at the length of life which their holy\nparents enjoy: You know not, children, what benefit ye may reap from\ntheir example, their counsel, their earnest prayers, and secret\nwrestlings with God for your souls: Let us have a care that we do\nnothing, that may break the spirits of our pious friends, or that may\nhasten the departure of holy persons from this lower world, whose\nvirtues and graces are of eminent use among us. Let us rather pray\nearnestly, that God would lengthen out the days of those, who speak and\nact with a useful zeal for the honour of Christ, and for the welfare of\nthe souls of men. When death once has put a period to their days, all\nthis sort of service is finished for ever; and we ourselves may sustain\nunknown loss by their speedy departure out of this world.\n\nThe Recollection.\u2014\u201cIs not this a strange doctrine which I have heard\nto-day, that a christian on earth has many privileges which can never\nbelong to the saints in heaven? Is it not strange tidings to hear, that\nthere are many graces to be exercised in this life, which neither saints\nnor angels can practise in the holy and heavenly world? And yet the\nevidence is so strong, and the truth is so plain and certain, that I see\nit, and I must believe it. Remember then, O my soul, thou hast one more\nmotive to diligence in all the duties of life than ever thou hadst\nbefore; And thou hast also one more support under all thy sorrows,\nbeyond what thy former days were ever acquainted with. A delightful\nsupport it is under sufferings, and a noble motive to duty. Awake, awake\nall my active powers, let every grace be in exercise, and every talent\nbe employed to bring this revenue of honour to my God and my Saviour in\nthis life, which the saints above cannot give him, and which, at the\nmoment of death, must for ever cease.\u201d\n\nBlessed Spirit, lead me to the practice of the most useful duties, that\nmy service may be of a large extent both to God and man. Now let me\nstudy and contrive, wherein I may best promote the interest of Christ\nand his gospel here on earth. Let me bear the burdens of life with a\nholy satisfaction: Let me endure the fatigues of labour with a sacred\npleasure: Let me resist the temptations, let me sustain the sorrows of\nlife like a good soldier of Christ in the present field of battle.\nHeaven will have other business for me, and proper work of its own: That\nis the place of joy and triumph.\n\n\u201cForgive, O my God, all my slothfulness in duty, and my impatience of\nsuffering. Let this new and glorious motive possess my spirit\npowerfully, and influence all my future conduct, that when the messenger\nof death shall tell me, I must be employed in this sort of work no more,\nI may look back from the borders of eternity, and rejoice that I have\nbeen assisted by divine grace, to do so much for God on earth; and when\nI am called away from the present stage of action, I may be received by\nmy great Master at the gates of heaven, with a _Well done good and\nfaithful servant, come, enter into the joy of thy Lord_. _Amen._\u201d\n\n\n HYMN FOR SERMON XL.\n _The Privilege of the Living above the Dead._\n\n\n Awake my zeal, awake my love,\n And serve my Saviour here below,\n In works which all the saints above,\n Which holy angels cannot do.\n\n My faith and hope may see the Lord,\n Though veils of darkness lie between:\n Hope shall rest firm upon his word,\n And faith rejoice in things unseen.\n\n Awake my charity and feed\n The hungry soul, and clothe the poor;\n In heav\u2019n are found no sons of need,\n There all these duties are no more.\n\n Subdue thy passions, O my soul,\n Maintain the fight, thy work pursue,\n Daily thy rising sins controul,\n And be thy vict\u2019ries ever new.\n\n The land of triumph lies on high,\n There are no fields of battle there;\n Lord, I would conquer till I die,\n And finish all the glorious war.\n\n Let ev\u2019ry flying hour confess\n I gain thy gospel fresh renown,\n And when my life and labours cease,\n May I possess the promis\u2019d crown.\n\nFootnote 41:\n\n It was a custom in former days for merchants in their books of\n accounts to have \u201cLaus Deo, or Praise to God,\u201d written in the\n beginning of every leaf, and it stood on the head of the page in large\n and fair letters, to put them always in mind, that in their human\n affairs they should carry on a divine design for the glory of God.\n\n\n\n\n SERMON XLI.\n _Death improved to our Advantage._\n 1 COR. iii. 22.\u2014Whether life or death,\u2014all are yours.\n\n\nThe chief thing which the apostle has in his eye in these verses, is to\nrepresent the glory and grandeur, the treasures and possessions that\nevery believer is a partaker of, by virtue of his interest in Christ:\nand to shew, that whatsoever persons or affairs a christian has to do\nwith in the natural, the civil, and the religious life, they shall all\nturn to his benefit some way or other. All the circumstances that attend\nhim while he continues here in this world, and even his departure out of\nit too, shall work for his good. Death is numbered among his possessions\nas well as life. Death may be terrible to flesh and blood, for it is a\ncurse in its original nature and design, and sinners will find and feel\nthe curse of it; but it is transformed into a blessing to the saints by\nthe abounding grace of the gospel.\n\nI confess, it is a christian\u2019s own death, that the holy writer seems\nchiefly and most particularly to design and intend here: And this I\nshall most largely insist upon. But since death in all its circumstances\nand attendants, in all the extent of its dominion, and with all its\npower, is under the sovereign management of God our heavenly Father; it\nis constrained to subserve his kind and gracious purposes to his own\npeople, in all its forms and appearances. And I think upon this account,\nthat I shall not transgress the apostle\u2019s great and general design, if I\ntake the dreadful name of DEATH, in its widest and most formidable\nextent of power, and with relation to all its victories, and shew how,\neven in this largest sense, it is appointed to subserve the glory of\nGod, and the kingdom of Christ, and by the grace of the new covenant, it\nis rendered useful and beneficial to every true christian; on this\naccount therefore it may be numbered amongst his possessions. _Death is\nyours._\n\nWith this view I shall endeavour to run through these five general heads\nfollowing, and improve each of them, in a few particulars, to the\nbenefit of christians, agreeably to the design of my text.\u2014Death is made\nuseful to a saint, when we consider it.\n\nI. As reigning over all mankind in general.\u2014II. As seizing on impenitent\nand unpardoned sinners.\u2014III. As taking captive the bodies of the\nsaints.\u2014IV. As depriving us of our dear relations and kindred. And,\u2014V.\nAs bringing our own bodies down to the dust.\n\nI confess, I was very unwilling to leave the death of Christ out of this\ncatalogue; for his death is not only the most eminent blessing to every\nchristian, but it is also the price that purchased all other blessings\nin time, and in eternity. It is the death of Christ that may be called\nthe christian\u2019s richest treasure, for it procures for him all the\ntreasures of grace and glory. It is the fruit of his death, that _all\nthings are ours, whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or things present,\nor things to come_. It is his death that gives truth and virtue to the\nwords of my text, and to all the rich and spreading comments upon it,\nthat faith can make here on earth, and that our souls shall taste and\nenjoy hereafter in heaven.\n\nYet when I consider, that the death of Christ is more directly expressed\nin many other scriptures, and does not seem at all to have been the\ndesign of St. Paul in this text: and when I survey what a vast and\ncopious subject I must enter into, if I recount the riches of blessing\nthat are derived from this spring, I chuse to refer that subject to\nanother season. I proceed therefore according to the order I have\nproposed, to treat of the various advantages to be derived from this\nproposition, _Death is yours_.\n\n_First_, The death of mankind in general shall be made profitable to\nbelievers. The death of all the sons and daughters of Adam, shall\npromote the improvement of the children of God, in knowledge, grace, and\nholiness; for it instructs them in three most useful lessons.\n\n1. It gives them a most powerful and sensible lecture on the vanity of\nman. A burying place filled with tombs, is a lively book of human\nfrailty: It repeats the melancholy lesson in every leaf. Each little\ngrave-stone becomes a preacher of vanity to the living, even in the\nprofound silence of the dead. This is the doctrine of every rising\nhillock, this is the universal theme: And every stately monument there\nstrikes the beholder with the same mortifying truth: though perhaps it\nswells with many pompous titles and images of honour. And this lesson of\nvanity stands written there still in fair and indelible characters,\nthough the name of the dead, and all their praises be quite worn out.\nDust and ashes, even without an inscription, and without a monument, are\nsilent but powerful teachers.\n\nAlas, what is man in his best estate! A poor and mortal dying creature!\nWhen we read the histories of past ages and foreign nations, and find\nthat those whole nations and ages are all dead and mingled with the\ndust, and even those, who once made a great bustle and figure in this\nworld, are now but an empty name, we cry out, \u201cWhat vain creatures we\nare!\u201d When we behold our neighbours and our acquaintance on the\nright-hand, and on the left, dropping away all around us; when we see\none following another daily down to the grave of silence, it is a very\nnatural and just reflection: \u201cAlas, how frail is man!\u201d When we behold\nthe young, the healthy, the fair, and the strong, the rich, and the\npowerful, together with the poor, the feeble, and the slave, all\nyielding to the common law of death, and turning into earth and\nrottenness, we have just occasion to cry out, \u201cWhat a vain empty thing\nis human nature, even the best of it: A piece of pretty mouldering clay:\nThese bodies of ours are fine and curious engines but made of the dust,\nand to dust they return again.\u201d\n\nThis is the common state, situation, and view of things in all seasons,\nand in every generation. But when we fix our thoughts on some special\nseasons or causes of mortality, when we think of a famine or a\npestilence that sweeps away thousands in a few days, that empties the\nwhole streets in a night or two, and lays towns or cities desolate; when\nwe read of wars and battles that overspread the mountain with slaughter,\nand cover vast plains with human carcases; when we hear of storms at sea\nthat drown many hundreds at once, and perhaps some thousands sink down\nto death in their floating habitations, then we are more feelingly\npenetrated with a sense of our vanity, then we sigh and groan aloud and\nbreak out into this mournful language? _O Lord! hast thou made all\nmankind in vain?_ Ps. lxxxix. 49. How awful is thy government! How\nterrible are thy judgments, thou Almighty Sovereign of life and death!\nThe ancient saints have made such remarks often, and mixed these scenes\nof mortality with their pious thoughts, and turned them into devotion:\nThey have drawn many serious and pathetic inferences from such\nmeditations on death, and vented their musings of thought in holy\nlanguage.\n\n(1.) \u201cShall man compare himself with God? Mortal man _that dwelleth in\nhouses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, and who is crushed\nbefore the moth! Shall he set himself to contend with the eternal God\nhis Maker_;\u201d Job. iv. 17-19. Again:\n\n(2.) \u201cWhat little reason have we to be proud and boastful! Poor dying\nmushrooms, who start up for a few hours, but cannot assure ourselves of\nto-morrow! To-day we swell and look big among men, to-morrow we are a\nfeast for worms. _Our days are as a hand\u2019s breadth; verily every man at\nhis best estate is altogether vanity_;\u201d Ps. xxxix. 5. Again:\n\n(3.) \u201cHow vain and fruitless a thing is it to _put our trust in princes,\nor in the son of man in whom there is no help_? _His breath goeth forth,\nhe returneth to his earth, in that very day, his thoughts perish_; Ps.\ncxlvi. 3, 4. Man is too weak a thing to encourage or support our\nconfidence.\u201d And:\n\n(4.) \u201cWhat a necessary duty is it then to fix our constant dependance\nupon God, even in all the common affairs of life! _Let us not say\ntherefore, that to-day or to-morrow we will go into such a city, and\ncontinue there a year, and buy, and sell, and get gain; whereas ye know\nnot what will be on the morrow? For what is your life?_ _It is even a\nvapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away; for\nthat ye ought to say, if the Lord will, we shall live to do this or\nthat_; James iv. 13-15. And it is the same inference that holy David\nmakes more than once upon a survey of the mortality of man, in the\nPsalms just before cited, _Lord, what wait I for? My hope is in thee_;\nPs. xxxix. 11. _Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help,\nwhose hope is in the Lord his God, who keepeth truth for ever_; Ps.\nxlvi. 5, 6. The Lord is an everlasting friend, he lives when creatures\ndie, and fulfils his word of truth, when the words of princes perish\nwith their breath.\u201d\n\n2. The death of mankind in general shews us the dreadful evil and desert\nof sin. It discovers to us the awful holiness and terrible Majesty of\nGod; and it teaches us what a sublime value he puts upon his own law,\nand how fearfully he avenges the violation of it. I join these three\nthings together, because they stand so nearly connected in the divine\neconomy.\n\n(1.) The universal death of mankind shews us, what a dreadful and\nheinous evil there is in sin, and, what wide destruction it has\ndeserved. _By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and\nso death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned_; Rom. v. 12.\n_For the wages of sin is death_; Rom. vi. 23. Man was made innocent, and\nwhile he continued obedient, he was immortal: Transgression and death\ncame in together: A formidable pair! Two dreadful names, big with\nmischief and ruin to human nature. When we see the dying agonies of poor\nmankind, our fellow-creatures, our brethren in flesh and blood, let us\nremember the sin of our common father, that first subjected him and all\nhis posterity to death; and let us reflect upon the dreadful evil that\nis contained in the nature of every sin; for it deserves death at the\nhand of God. Alas, how often has the best of us deserved to die, for our\ntransgressions have been multiplied without number.\n\n(2.) The death of all mankind makes a solemn discovery to us of the\nterrible Majesty of God and the justice that attends his government. He\nwill not pass by the guilt of his rebellious creatures, without a due\nresentment of their crimes. And even though he pardons the sins of his\nown people, so as to secure them from eternal vengeance, yet they must\npass through death, that they may learn what an evil and bitter thing it\nis to have offended against their Maker and their God.\n\nWhen we see a church-yard filled with little hills of mortality, the\nruins of a parish, or a spacious town, and the dust of many generations,\nwe naturally cry out, as in Deut. xxix. 24. \u201cWherefore hath the Lord\ndone thus unto this land, and what meaneth the heat of all this great\nanger?\u201d The next verse will give you an answer to it; yea, every man may\nanswer himself, _because they have forsaken the Lord their God_; they\nhave forsaken _his covenant of life and sinned against him_. Those\ndreadful words, _In the day thou eatest, thou shalt die_; have been\nputting into execution almost six thousand years, and the _Lord\u2019s anger\nis not yet turned away, but his hand is stretched out still_; Is. v. 25.\nthe vengeance of the Lord is not yet fully executed according to the\njust demerit of sin. Though saints are saved from the dismal\nconsequences of death, yet God would not rescue them from dying, that\nthey might always remember what sin deserved. Thus the death of all\nmankind discovers to us the awful Majesty of God our Maker, who will not\nbe affronted by his creatures, without terrible resentment; he is a holy\nand jealous God.\n\n(3.) It teaches us the high value that God has for his own law, that he\nwill rather dash a whole creation to pieces, than suffer his holy law to\nbe insulted and broken, without some reparation of the honour of it. The\nrace of Adam is doomed to death, for the sake of sin against this law,\nand mortality and a curse spread over this lower world. Let us inure our\nthoughts to such reflections as these, that we may ever keep our souls\nin awe of the Majesty of God, and dread the thoughts of breaking his\nlaw, which he values above a whole world of men. O that sin may become\nthe most hateful object in our eyes; it is this that has laid cities\ndesolate, and fills the graves; it is this that has corrupted and\ndestroyed our natures; it has turned millions of strong and well-formed\nbodies into dust: It has ruined the most beautiful part of God\u2019s lower\ncreation, and is sending thousands daily to the pit of corruption and\nnoisome darkness. It is sin has filled our nature with diseases, and\nsown the poisonous seeds of mortality and death in every son and\ndaughter of Adam. A malignant and fatal poison, that has destroyed all\nthe nations upon earth, and buried them under ground, heaps upon heaps,\nin above a hundred successions! But I now go on to another distinct\nlesson, that the death of all mankind teaches us.\n\n3. It informs us, in a very sensible and affecting manner, that we\nourselves must shortly die, and awakens the soul to actual preparation\nfor its departure. Heb. ix. 27. _It is appointed for all men once to\ndie, and after death the judgment_, Joshua and David, saints and kings,\ntell us they _go the way of all the earth_: \u201cThe grave is the house\nappointed for all the living;\u201d Job xxx. 23. When we behold one after\nanother, made of the same flesh and blood as we are, going down to the\ndust in a long continual succession, we have a solemn warning, that we\nmust shortly follow: There is no ransom in this case, no hope of safety,\nno door of escape, and as Solomon expresses it, _there is no discharge\nin this war_; Eccl. viii. 8.\n\nA true christian takes notice of this with a pious awe upon his spirit;\nand when he is ready to grow drowsy and secure, the sight of a funeral,\nor a grave, shall rouse him out of his sleepy temper, and awaken\nreligion into life again: When he hears of a neighbour\u2019s death, he asks\nhis own soul, \u201cArt thou ready? For the next summons may come to call\nthee away into the world of spirits, to stand before God the Judge of\nall.\u201d\n\nThus a child of God reaps some advantage by the spreading empire of\ndeath over all mankind; he makes a sacred improvement of the terrible\nwaste that the king of terrors has made over all the earth: He learns\nthe vanity and emptiness of man in his best estate: He grows humble and\ndependant on the eternal God: He reads the dreadful evil of sin on every\ntomb-stone: The death of every man calls him aloud to prepare for his\nown, and to be in actual readiness for his entrance into the invisible\nworld. Happy souls, who take this warning, and stand ever prepared!\n\nBut I proceed to the next general head which I proposed;\n\n_Secondly_, As the death of mankind in general, gives these divine\nlessons to a saint, so the death of impenitent sinners, which hath\nsomething in it very terrible, may be turned to the advantage and profit\nof believers, these three or four ways:\n\n1. If we are true christians, and persecuted and injured here on earth,\nthen the death of the wicked delivers us from our enemies, and releases\nus from the wrath of our oppressors. In the grave \u201cthe wicked cease from\ntroubling, as well as the weary are at rest;\u201d Job iii. 17.\n\nLook back to the distance of three thousand years, and see the children\nof Israel on the banks of the Red-sea, rejoicing in the Lord their\ndeliverer, when an army of Egyptian carcases floated on the waters, or\nwere cast up in heaps upon the shore: These were the cruel oppressors of\nthe people of God: They were drowned in the evening, and the morning\nlight discovered the havoc that death had made, and the salvation it\nwrought for Israel, in the xiv. and xv. of Exodus. See the whole city of\nJerusalem, and Hezekiah at the head of them, triumphing in the Lord,\nwhen he sent the angel of death, and destroyed the besiegers: \u201cA hundred\nand four score and five thousand Assyrians lay dead on the borders of\nthe city;\u201d Is. xxxvii. 36. \u201cBy terrible things in righteousness God\nanswered the prayer of his saints;\u201d Ps. lxv. 5. And at the death of\nHerod, the father and mother of our blessed Lord were glad, for they\nreturned from their flight; they came from the land of Egypt, and dwelt\nin their own land again; and the child Jesus was saved from the\nmurderous designs of that cruel man; Mat. ii. 19.\n\nSuch examples of advantage which the saints receive from the death of\nthe men of violence, their impious and bloody enemies, are frequent in\nsacred history: And we may remark in our day, how many a time God hath\nsaved us in Great Britain, when we have been on the borders of\ndestruction, by the death of persecutors at home and abroad. The\nmonarchs of the earth, have been turned down to their graves, one year\nafter another, and the churches of God, in many nations, have found rest\nand deliverance.\n\n2. The death of impenitent sinners has been many a time, the happy\noccasion of the conversion of a saint. There is many a holy soul, now in\nheaven, that was first awakened to fly from the wrath to come, by the\ndeath of some of his wicked companions in his younger years. When a\nsnare falls suddenly, and seizes a little bird or two of the flock, the\nrest take wing toward heaven, and fly for safety. And happy are those\nsouls, who take the terrible warning, who fly to the sacred refuge, and\nlay hold on offered grace.\n\nWhen a vile wretch is seized in the midst of his companions, and his\nsins, and sent down to hell and destruction in a moment, the very gates\nof hell seem to open before our faces, to receive the rebel; such a\nspectacle fills the hearts of those that are near him, with amazement\nand terror, and hath often been the first means of sending them to the\nthrone of grace; and, by degrees, to the gates of heaven. The story of\nPeter Valdo is famous on this occasion, who was a rich merchant at Lyons\nin France, but had no sense of inward religion, or true piety. When in\nthe midst of feasting and merriment, he saw one of his companions struck\nwith sudden death, he was awakened to serious thoughts of eternity: Upon\nthis he applied himself to study the scripture, and discover the errors\nof the Roman church; he acquainted his friends with them, and instructed\nthe poor, who were continual partakers of his bounty. Then being\nexcommunicated by the popish clergy, he retired, with some of his\ndisciples, to the vallies of Piedmont, where he found some christians of\nan ancient and primitive stamp, and joining with them, established those\nchurches which are called the Vaudois, and are famous in history, even\nto this day.\n\nBishop Burnet also tells us, in the life of the Lord Chief Justice Hale,\nthat in his younger years he gave himself up to much frolic and vanity,\ntill one of his loose companions fell down on a sudden, and they thought\nhim dead: which surprizing providence sent Mr. Hale to his knees, to\npray earnestly for the recovery of his companion, and laid a foundation\nfor that life of eminent virtue and religion, which is described in\nthose memoirs. Thus not only the death of profligate sinners, but even\nthe appearance of their death, has been blessed to gracious purposes,\nfor the conversion and salvation of others.\n\n3. The death of the wicked gives the children of God glorious matter for\npraise to his distinguishing grace. When they see or hear of a hardened\nand impenitent sinner cut off in his guilt and obstinacy, and in the\npursuit of his lusts, the holy soul cries out with thankfulness and\nzeal, \u201cGlory be to that grace which has made the difference betwixt him\nand me!\u201d\n\nAnd this is still more remarkable, when a sinner dies with all the\nterrors of God upon him, when the sting of death enters into his heart,\nand sharpens all his last agonies, when conscience is awakened with all\nits horrors, and the soul is plunging with its eyes open into a gulf of\neverlasting misery. O how sensibly does this affect the heart of a true\nchristian! He stands and wonders, and adores that rich mercy that has\nsnatched him as a brand out of the burning. \u201cWhat am I,\u201d says he, by\nnature more than another, that God should have called me by his grace,\nand given me repentance unto life, while this poor wretch continued\nobstinate and impenitent? We were both sons of Adam the sinner,\nalienated from the life of God, and enemies to all that is holy: We were\nboth favoured with the means of grace, and sat under the ministrations\nof the same gospel. Who, or what am I better than my neighbour, that God\nshould powerfully incline my heart to accept the offered salvation! That\nhe should have prepared me as a vessel of mercy, to be filled with\nglory, while my old companion has now made himself a complete _vessel of\nwrath_, and fitted himself for swift destruction; Rom. ix. 22, 23. By\nnature I was a _child of wrath_, as well as he, a rebel, and a vile\ntransgressor, _without God_, without Christ, _and without hope_: And why\nwas not I seized by divine justice, in those days of my rebellion, and\nmade a sacrifice to the indignation of God? What merit was there in me,\nthat I should be spared, while my companion suffered under speedy\nvengeance? Let the freedom and riches of grace be adored for ever: It\nwas rich and sovereign grace that spared me. And now, through the\nabounding mercy of God, I hope I have fled to lay hold on the refuge set\nbefore me; my heart is, in some measure, sanctified, my nature renewed,\nand my sins pardoned. Blessed be the Lord who hath given me _hope in\ndeath, while the wicked are driven away in their wickedness, driven far\naway_ from hope and heaven; Prov. xiv. 32.\n\n4. The death of impenitent sinners does another service also for the\nsaints, in that it sensibly excites their pity and their prayers for the\nliving. It awakens the exercise of pious charity for the souls of their\nfriends, that are yet _in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of\niniquity_. A true christian, that has tasted of the grace of God, can\nhardly be supposed to see his impenitent neighbour seized with sudden\ndeath, and sent away to darkness, but it touches the springs of holy\ntenderness within him, and constrains him to speak a word to others in\nthe same danger, and to lift up a cry to God upon their account for\ngrace and salvation. Surely that christian is not in a right temper of\nmind, who can see or hear of impenitent and guilty souls seized away\nfrom his neighbourhood or his acquaintance, and plunging into eternity\nwith horror and despair, and yet have no compassion awakened in him, no\nbowels of pity moving for those of his acquaintance that are involved in\nthe same iniquities, and are yet in the land of the living, and on this\nside hell. Such an awful providence is like a warning-word which heaven\nputs into our mouths, that we may echo it with solemn horror round the\nneighbourhood, and try to rouze stupid sinners from their dangerous and\nfatal lethargy.\n\n[Here is a proper pause in this Sermon, if it be too long to be read at\nonce.]\n\nBut it is time now to leave this general head, and go on to the next.\n\n_Thirdly_, If the death of hardened sinners turns to the advantage of\nthe saint, the death of fellow-christians shall certainly work for his\nbenefit too.\n\nYou will be ready to say, \u201cWhat! Can the loss of good men from the earth\never be turned into a benefit? Can the death of saints bring any\nadvantage to the survivors?\u201d Yes, surely, if they die like christians\nindeed, in the lively exercises of faith and hope, and this will appear\nin these four particulars:\n\n1. It confirms our faith in the gospel of Christ, and supports our holy\nprofession. It gives us an assurance of the truth and power of our\nreligion, above all other religions in the world, when it enables a poor\nfeeble dying creature to face death with courage, to look beyond the\nlimits of life and time, and venture into an unseen world with holy joy\nand triumph. It gives us a glorious evidence, that the principles of\nchristianity are such, as will justify all the labours of a holy life,\nand will bear us out in the profession of it, in the midst of ridicule\nand mockery, of persecution and martyrdom. This surely must be a\nreligion coming down from God, that can give the weak and unlearned such\na courage, as to encounter death itself without fear: and that not from\na stupid and senseless temper of spirit, not from a brutal hardiness,\nsuch as carries the horse and the hero into the battle, but with a clear\nand full discovery of God and his holiness, of our own sins and his\nforgiving grace, this religion can enable us to venture into his\nimmediate presence. How glorious is our gospel, how divine a doctrine is\nthis! It has wrought ten thousand such wonders by faith in the blood of\nChrist, as the great atonement for sin, and the only way to the Father.\n\nA saint leaving this world, and putting off mortality, with the light of\nheaven breaking in upon his soul, and the beams of glory shining round\nabout him, with divine joy and transport in his countenance, and the\nlanguage of heaven upon his lips, brings the invisible world into\npresent view: The pious spectators grow up to a sensible assurance of\nthe glories and felicities of that invisible world; each of them sits on\nthe borders of paradise, each of them gets a glimpse of the new\nJerusalem, and all the heavenly country, and this adds new strength to\nhis faith and hope.\n\n2. The glorious death of our fellow-christians greatly encourages the\nimitation of their holy life. To see a child of God die from amongst\nmen, leave this world with a holy contempt and sincere pleasure, and\nenter into the presence of his heavenly Father with a filial confidence;\nto see him finish his race with joy, and, as it were, lay hold on\nsalvation, and put on his heavenly crown: This calls aloud upon us to\ntread in the same steps, to pursue the blessed prize, and to be\n_followers of them, who, through faith and patience, inherit the\npromises_; Heb. vi. 12. When we _mark the perfect man, and behold the\nupright, and see that his end is peace_; Ps. xxxvii. 37. we are animated\nto walk with God in the same uprightness, and to press after the same\nperfection. Having such _a cloud of witnesses_ that have gone before us,\nand Christ our Lord at the head of them, _we run with patience the race\nthat is set before us_, till we arrive at the promised glory; Heb. xii.\n1.\n\nTo stand near the bed of a dying saint, and observe the sweet serenity\nof his soul under the agonies of his flesh, would force Balaam himself\nto say, _Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be\nlike his_; Numb. xxiii. 10. But the christian goes further, and with\nholy zeal, and humble dependance upon divine grace, establishes himself\nin the ways of holiness: He resolves that he will live the life of the\nrighteous too, and tread in the paths of piety with utmost watchfulness\nand care that he may lay a foundation for the same peaceful reflections\non his death-bed, and the same joyful prospect.\n\n3. The death of fellow-saints is for our benefit, as it weans us from\nthis world, as it makes earth and this life less pleasant to us, and\nheaven more desirable. Every holy soul that leaves the world, carries\naway so much grace and goodness from it. What would this world be if all\nthe saints had left it, but a cage of unclean birds, a nest of serpents,\na wilderness of savage beasts, a habitation of Satan, and his sons and\ndaughters; a dwelling of devils, and a region of darkness a-kin to hell?\nDid not converting grace turn sinners into saints, and make a constant\nsuccession of christians, this would be the dismal character of this\nworld in the space of one generation. But, blessed be God, as bad as\nthis world is, divine grace is still at work, and makes it a sort of\nnursery for heaven by new conversions.\n\nYet still the death of the saints is the loss of so much of heaven out\nof our sinful world; and the fewer friends God has here, there will be\nthe fewer communications between heaven and earth. The absence of Christ\nand his saints, spreads a sort of dim shadow over all the fairest\ncolours of this lower creation; the beauties of it fade, and the flowers\nof it, in our esteem, languish and hang their head, because Jesus, and\nso many of his holy ones, are departed. When we see one pious friend\nafter another, taking their leave of us, and ascending to the upper\nworld, we are ready to say, \u201cWhat should we stay here for? Our God is on\nhigh, our Saviour is on high, multitudes of our friends are departed\nfrom us, and dwell on high. Farewell earth, and time, and sensible\nthings: We long to be with our best friends, and with our God; we are\nready, O Jesus, for thy first summons; take us when thou pleasest into\nheaven and eternity.\u201d\n\n4. The comfortable death of a saint instructs us how to die, and makes\ndeath easy. When we see and hear a fellow-christian examining his heart,\nsearching his soul to the bottom, turning all his secret thoughts\noutward, and looking over the past conduct of his life; when we behold\nhim reviewing his own follies and iniquities, and recalling to mind also\nall his sacred transactions with God; when we see him surveying all\nthese most important concerns in the light of the last judgment, and, as\nit were, under the piercing rays of the great tribunal; when we hear him\nabasing himself to the dust in the most vilifying expressions, because\nof his sins, and yet rejoice in the evidences of his graces, and\nrepeating the promises of the gospel with a pleasant hope; this teaches\nus to converse with our own souls in a more lively manner, about sin and\nforgiveness, about death and eternity; for it brings these awful themes\ninto open view, and sets them before us in their infinite importance.\nThis reads us a glorious lecture upon the gospel of Christ, and\npardoning grace, and the sanctifying Spirit, and the hope of glory,\nbeyond what we ever found before in the best of sermons, and under the\nwarmest preachers.\n\nCome, my friends, come into the chamber of a dying christian, come,\napproach his pillow, and hear his holy language: \u201cI am going up to\nheaven, and I long to be gone, to be where my Saviour is. _Why are his\nchariot-wheels so long a coming?_ Then with both arms stretched up to\nheaven, I desire to be with God. I hope I am a sincere christian, but\nthe meanest, and the most unworthy: I know I am a great sinner; but did\nnot Christ come to save the chief of sinners; I hope I shall find\nacceptance in Christ Jesus. I have trusted in him, and I have strong\nconsolation. I have been looking into my own heart, what are my\nevidences for heaven? Has not the scripture said, _He that believeth\nshall not perish, but shall have everlasting life_; John iii. 16. Now,\naccording to the best knowledge I have of what faith is, I do believe in\nChrist, and I shall have life everlasting. Does not the scripture say,\n_He that hungereth and thirsteth after righteousness shall be\nsatisfied_; Mat. v. 6. Surely I hunger and thirst after it, I desire to\nbe holy, I long to be conformable to God, and to be made more like him;\nshall I not then be satisfied! I love God, I love Christ, I desire to\nlove him more, to be more like him, and to serve him in heaven without\nsin. I have faith, I have love, I have repentance, yet I boast not, for\nI have nothing of myself, I speak it all to the honour of the grace of\nGod, it is all grace; I say then, I have faith, and repentance, and\nlove; but faith and repentance are all nothing without Christ; it is he\nmakes all acceptable to the Father, and I trust in him. My friends, I\nhave built on this foundation Jesus Christ, he is indeed the only\nfoundation: Have you not built on the same foundation too? This is my\nhope. Is it not your hope also? Dear brother, I shall see you at the\nright-hand of Christ: There I shall see our friends that are gone a\nlittle before: I shall be with them first before you. I thank you, my\nfriends, for all your offices of love; you have prayed with me, you have\nrefreshed me. I love and honour you now, but I shall meet you in heaven,\nI go to my God and your God, to my Saviour and your Saviour[42].\u201d\n\nWould one think there could be so much pleasure in the dying chamber of\na beloved friend? Surely this makes good the words of my text; if we are\nchristians, death is ours. O this is a divine entertainment that\nrefreshes our spirits! And while sorrow trickles from our eyes for the\nloss of a departing christian-friend; there is a sympathy of joy that\nworks powerfully at the heart, and the heaven within us breaks out and\nshines through our tears. Then, with a wondrous mixture of the painful\nand the pleasant, with a sweet confusion of pious passions, we bid our\ndying brother, \u201cFarewell.\u201d\n\nAt such a season as this, our thoughts are led upward to heaven, and\nforward to the great resurrection. We open the eye of faith, and see the\nholy soul ascending to God; we behold the weak and languishing body\nrising glorious out of the grave, shaking off the dust, and putting on\nits immortality: While our faith attends the spirit of our departing\nfriend to heaven, we grow willing and desirous to be gone too; and being\nbrought so near to the gates of glory, we would fain take our leave of\nmortal things, and accompany the expiring saint to the joyful world of\nspirits. The memory of such a scene, and such a hour, will dwell upon\nour thoughts long, and support our own hope of victory, when we shall be\ncalled to conflict with the same enemy. Having such a witness gone\nbefore us, we shall not only _run our race with patience_, through all\nthe stages of it, but _finish our course with joy_.\n\nThere is a sacred courage derived many times to a weak believer, by\nattending the last moments of a dying saint ascending to the upper\nworld. I was afraid of death, says a feeble christian, till I saw my\nneighbour die: He was once a sinner as well as I, and he had his\nimperfections and failings in this life, as I have mine; I humbly hope I\nhave practised the same repentance as he has done, I have trusted in the\nsame Saviour, I have ventured my all upon the same gospel, and travelled\non in the same path: surely there is forgiveness for me too; surely the\nsting of my death shall be taken away also; and, through grace, I shall\njoin in his triumph; _O death where is thy sting? O grave where is thy\nvictory_; 1 Cor. xv. 55.\n\nThis observation has been most gloriously exemplified in the death of\nmartyrs: When the spectators that have been heathens, or but almost\nchristians, have been strangely animated to profess the gospel boldly,\nwhile they have seen the most amazing courage of these glorious\nsufferers for Christ. And those that have been doubtful and trembling\nbelievers, whose faith was wavering, and who were ready to let go their\nprofession, have ventured through blood and torments, and death, with a\ndivine resolution, when they have beheld the martyrs meet the same death\nand torments with a sacred bravery of soul.\n\nA multitude of fearful christians may be animated and encouraged to\ntravel through the dark valley, and to cross the cold flood of death, by\nthe example of a single saint, who has passed that important hour with\nsuccess and honour. So you have seen a flock of sheep stand doubtful and\ndelaying on the bank of some little brook; but when the first and second\nhave made their way through it, the rest venture over in multitudes, and\nleap the ditch with the greatest ease, the difficulty and the danger\nvanish at once, when they have seen a forerunner leading the way.\n\nThus it hath been made evident in several instances, that the death of\nfellow-christians is ours. It shall turn to our great advantage, through\nthe influences of the gospel, and the Spirit of grace, where christians\ndie like themselves, in the exercise of a joyful hope. It confirms our\nfaith in the gospel of Christ, it encourages our imitation of their holy\nlife, it makes earth and this life less pleasant to us, and heaven more\ndesirable, and it instructs us how to die.\n\nBut if a saint go out of this world under much darkness and terror, this\nis commonly to be supposed a divine chastisement for the criminal\nindulgence of some temptations, or some unwatchful steps he has taken in\nthe course of his life; for God will make his own people know, many\ntimes by painful experience, that it is an evil and bitter thing to\nbackslide and depart from him. A wise and pious spectator upon this\noccasion, will take warning by the terrors of the Lord, and by the\npunishment of his fellow-christian, to avoid that guilt, and those\ncriminal indulgences, which have provoked God to leave his brother to\ndarkness, even in the hour of death: And this may be a means to awaken\nhim to a most watchful course of holiness, lest he fall under the same\nstrokes of anger from his heavenly Father, and suffer his displeasure in\nthat awful moment, when he would most earnestly wish for the sweetest\nsense of his love. Thus I have finished the third general head, and\nshewed that the death of the saints may be richly improved to the\nadvantage of the living.\n\nThe Recollection.\u2014\u201cCome, my soul, who art daily conversing with the\naffairs and concerns of life, come now, and meditate on the name of\ndeath: It is a name that carries much terror in it to nature; come, and\nsee whether thou canst not derive a blessing from it, by the\ninstructions of the gospel, and the aids of grace. Thou hast heard the\nlessons that the death of mankind in general should teach thee: Enquire\nnow what thou hast learned of them: Hast thou seen the vanity of man as\na mortal dying creature? It is an easy matter to say, Alas, we must all\ndie: But hast thou felt the penetrating force of this truth? And does it\ninfluence thy whole conduct? Art thou not still, at every turn, putting\nthy confidence in one creature or another, whose breath is in his\nnostrils, and whose death disappoints thy hope? Or hast thou removed thy\ndependance from all creatures to God, and fixed thy hope in him that\nlives for ever? O blessed effect of the meditation on death?\u201d\n\n\u201cAgain, Hast thou seen the heinous evil of sin in the spreading\ndesolation that death has made over this lower world? Remember that it\nreceived its commission from the justice of God, almost six thousand\nyears ago, and from his law which sin had broken: The dreadful execution\nproceeds to this day, and it will proceed till there be no sinner upon\nearth. Sin is the spring of all this havoc of the lives of men. It is\nsin that has deserved all these tremendous executions of wrath: And yet,\nO my soul, how often hast thou indulged this mischief, to play about thy\nbosom, like a harmless thing! Come, view the dismal effects of it, in\nthe death of millions, and learn to hate and renounce it for ever. It is\nno small evil that could awaken the indignation of God at this rate, and\ndiffuse it so widely, over so large and so glorious a part of his\ncreation, as the whole nature and race of man.\n\n\u201cAgain, I would enquire, has the death of mankind taught me effectually,\nthat I must shortly die? And have I been excited, to make a suitable\nprovision for this awful and important hour, since I must not, I cannot\nescape it? Not only the death of mankind in general, but the death of\nwicked men may instruct me in some useful lessons too. Here I learn how\nGod rescues his children from the rage of oppressors, when he smites\nthem down to death, and lays all their fury silent in the dust. Thus\ndeath itself becomes a deliverer to the saints, by destroying their\ncruel persecutors. I learn also, that when early or sudden death has\nseized a bold sinner, it is a loud warning-word to all his companions.\nWhen I see such terrible examples in the course of providence, let my\nsoul stand in awe and fear.\n\n\u201cAnd if God has distinguished me by his mercy, if he has pardoned my\nguilt, and sanctified my corrupt nature, if he has made me one of his\nown children, and prepared me for dying, when he summons others away\nunpardoned, unsanctified, unprepared, let all my powers be excited to\nbless the name of the Lord for his saving love. I was also a child of\nsin and wrath, but divine grace has made the difference. It is grace\nthat has snatched me from the very brink of the pit of hell, and is\ntraining me up for heaven. And while I adore thy distinguishing mercy, O\nmy God, to me, I would pity and pray for poor heedless and regardless\nsinners, that are following one another in a dismal succession, down to\nthe gates of death. O may their eyes and souls be awakened in their day\nof life and hope, lest death seize them, and send them farther down to\neverlasting darkness and despair! But if such lessons, as these, be\nderived from the death of sinners, how much more benefit may be drawn\nfrom the dying hours of a sincere christian, especially if his heart be\nstrong, and his faith lively!\n\n\u201cHere, I see the gospel of Christ in some of its power and glory, when I\nsee a christian under all the weaknesses and languishings of nature,\nmeeting death without terror, and _overcoming his last enemy by the\nblood of the Lamb_. I see the saint all serene and peaceful, even in the\nagonies of dying nature, and amidst the sorrows of lamenting friends. He\nhas heaven in view, and he bids farewell to earth with holy joy: Shall I\nnot imitate the faith and holiness of his life, which laid a foundation\nfor so peaceful and glorious a death? Do I not feel my soul a little\nmore weaned from the world, since such a pious friend has left it? Has\nnot death lost some of its frightful appearances, since I have actually\nseen it conquered? Do I not feel my heart panting and breathing toward\nthe society above, since I have another friend gone thither? Does it not\nseem a more easy thing to me to lay down this tabernacle, to part with\nflesh and blood, and to venture into those unseen regions, since I have\nbeheld my fellow-christian go before me? He has made the great and\nsolemn experiment, and surely I should have courage to follow: He has\ngiven evident proof, that there is a sacred power in the gospel, the\npromises and the grace of Christ, to convey the soul safe through the\ndark shadow of death, without surprise and consternation: And has not my\nsoul the same rich encouragements, the same promises of grace, and the\nsame gospel of hope?\n\n\u201cO my Redeemer, and my Lord, hear a humble suppliant, influence my soul\nby thy rich grace, to keep my faith awake, my conscience undefiled, and\nmy evidences for heaven ever bright and clear; And when my appointed\nhour comes, that solemn and final hour, _let me die the death of the\nrighteous_, and my departure be like his; Num. xxiii. 10. Is death an\nenemy to nature, and does it carry terror in the name? Yet since thou\nhast subdued this enemy, and taken it captive, to serve the purposes of\nthy love, since thou hast numbered it, and written it down among the\npossessions of thy people: since thou hast taught so many of thy\nfollowers to triumph over it; let me also, blessed Jesus, let me be\nenabled to meet it with holy fortitude, and a lively hope. O let me\nfollow _the footsteps of the flock_, into the world of spirits, with a\nsacred pleasure, though it be through a dark passage. And as those, who\nwent before me, have taught me to dare to die, so let my dying moments\nencourage those who come after me, to venture into death, at thy call,\nwithout terror and without reluctance.\u201d _Amen._\n\n\n HYMN FOR SERMON XLI.\n _Death of Mankind, Saints and Sinners, Improved._\n\n\n Has death such vast destruction made?\n Does every hour increase the dead?\n Here I behold the guilt of sin,\n That brought this spreading mischief in.\n\n Great God! How awful and how just!\n Thy law, that turns our flesh to dust!\n O let me learn how frail am I,\n And all my life prepare to die.\n\n When impious wretches yield their breath,\n And go unpardon\u2019d down to death,\n Awake my soul, adore the grace;\n That gave thee a repenting space.\n\n But when a saint with chearful air\n Meets his last foe, and feels no fear,\n Our faith, our hope, and courage grow;\n We learn to face the tyrant too.\n\n We could renounce our all things here,\n And wish that moment would appear,\n When we shall leave this world and rise\n To meet the joys above the skies.\n\nFootnote 42:\n\n These are some of the dying words of the Reverend Mr. Samuel Rosewell,\n when, with some other friends, I went to visit him two days before his\n death, and which I transcribed as soon as I came home, by their\n assistance.\n\n\n\n\n SERMON XLII.\n _The Death of Kindred improved._\n 1 COR. iii. 22.\u2014\u2014Whether life or death,\u2014\u2014all are yours.\n\n\nHappy and immortal had Adam been, and all his children, if he had not\nventured to break the command of his Creator: Life had been theirs in\nthe most glorious sense of it; and death had not been known. But when\nsin entered into the world, death followed close behind it, according to\nthat just and solemn threatening, _In the day thou eatest, thou shalt\nsurely die_; Gen. ii. 17. And what a dismal havoc has this enemy made\namongst the inhabitants of our world! It has strewed the earth with\ncarcases, and turned millions of human bodies into dust and corruption.\nThe very name of death spreads a terror through all nature: But as\ndreadful and formidable as it is in itself, the grace of Christ makes a\nblessing of it, and sanctifies it to the advantage of his own people.\n\nIn the former discourse on this subject, we have learned some divine\nlessons from death, in its widest extent of dominion. The death of all\nmankind yields some special advantage to a saint: He is taught to reap\nsome benefit from the death of impenitent sinners, though it carry along\nwith it, such a fearful train of attendants, and draw after it a long\neternity of torments. He knows how to derive some advantage from the\ndeath of his fellow-christians; and whether they die in the joy of\nfaith, and serenity of spirit, or whether their sun sets in a cloud, and\nfears and doubts attend them, in that important hour, still he is taught\nto profit by it. In these three instances, it appears that death is\nours: Death is in this respect made the treasure and property of a\nchristian, as he is instructed to improve it, to his own sacred\ninterest, and to the welfare of his soul. We proceed now to the\n\nFourth general head, and shall endeavour to shew how the death of our\nrelations and kindred in the flesh shall turn to our benefit.\n\nI. It shews us the emptiness and insufficiency of our dearest created\ncomforts, of all blessings that are not immortal.\n\nWe have lost, perhaps, an inferior relation, a son, a daughter, a\nnephew, a pleasing entertainment and comfort of life: But death tells\nus, it was a poor dying comfort, a pretty piece of brittle clay, broken\nand dissolved, and mouldering to the dust. Our love and our grief, it\nmay be, join together, to recal the past days of fondness and delight,\nshort-lived delight, and empty vain fondness, that ends in tears and\nlong mourning? We have lost a superior relation, or perhaps, an equal, a\nfather, a wife, a husband, or a brother: We have lost a guide, a\nsupport, a helper, a dear affectionate friend, entirely loving and\nentirely beloved.\n\nHe was a kind and skilful guide, but death teaches us the insufficiency\nof his guidance, who left us in the mid-way, and lets us travel through\nall the remaining part of this dark wilderness alone. He has given us\nsweet counsel and direction in days past, but he can now direct us no\nmore, we can consult him no more: Those lips of advice, on which we\nhung, are closed and silent in death: That voice will be heard no more:\nWe must walk without this counsellor all the rest of our way, be it\nnever so long, and never so dangerous.\n\nHe was our helper, and our support under daily difficulties; but it was\na weak support, that could not stand itself, when death shook him: A\npoor helper, and a sorry defence, that could not resist the powers of\ndisease and mortality, nor defend himself from the assaults of death.\n\nHe was a friend, and a faithful one too; but it was a feeble, a failing\nfriend, even in the midst of his love and faithfulness; for he was\ncalled away, and constrained to depart from us in a dark and sorrowful\nminute, and hath left us to mourn alone.\u2014He could not abide with us a\nmoment beyond his summons; he forsook us while we were drowned in grief,\nand could give us no more consolation. _Our fathers where are they?_\n_Our prophets_, our instructors, our guides, and helpers are gone down\nto the land of silence, they lie asleep in the dust and darkness; Zech.\ni. 5.\n\nThus death is made of advantage to us, even when it strikes us in so\ntender a part: For it teaches us this sacred lesson, how vain and empty\nare all our hopes in creatures! The dart of death is like a pen of iron\nin his hand, and he writes emptiness and vanity on every friend, on\nevery relative that he takes from our family, from our side, from our\nbosom: He writes it in deep and painful characters, and holds our souls\nto the solemn lesson. The same truth stands written in many a part of\nthe book of God, in divine and golden letters; but perhaps, we would\nnever have learned it, had not death copied it out for us in letters of\nblood.\n\nII. The death of our kindred drives us to a more immediate and constant\ndependance on God. When the stream is cut off, what should we do but run\nto the fountain? If the stars vanish, we seek the sun-beams. And O may\nthe sun arise, and shine upon our souls with growing light and comfort\nas the stars disappear!\n\nWhile our friends or kindred were alive, we made them our refuge in\nevery distress; we have trusted in them perhaps too much; we have lived\ntoo much upon them, with the neglect of God. A parent, a brother, or\nperhaps a dearer relative; these were our high tower, our defence, our\nsun, and our shield: These assumed that station in our hearts, and that\nhigh place in our esteem, which is due to God only. But, when this tower\nis battered down to dust, when the shield of clay is broken to pieces,\nand this dim and feeble sun turned into darkness, then we make God alone\nour sun, our shield, and our high tower of defence. Then we search out\nearnestly, what kind and condescending characters, and relations God has\nassumed in his word; and we read and survey the gracious titles of our\nLord Jesus Christ, with new and unknown delight.\n\nHave any of you lost your earthly parents? Then you read with pleasure\nthose words of the Psalmist, _If my father or my mother forsake me_, as\nthey must do at the hour of death, then the Lord will take me up; Ps.\nxxvii. 10. And you rejoice in that glorious promise, _Be ye separate\nfrom idols_, saith the Lord; that is, separate yourselves from the\nsinful practices of the world, _and I will receive you, and I will be a\nFather to you, and ye shall be my sons and my daughters, saith the Lord\nAlmighty_; 2 Cor. vi. 17, 18. Has death entered into a family, and taken\nthe head, the husband away? The words of Isaiah grow sweeter than ever;\nIs. liv. 5. _Thy Maker is thy Husband, the Lord of Hosts is his name,\neven the God of the whole earth._ Are the widows and the fatherless\nchildren in danger of oppression, because they have lost their defender?\nThey run to the lxviii. Ps. and live upon the 5th verse of it; _A Father\nof the fatherless, and a Judge of the widows, is God in his holy\nhabitation_. Is a brother summoned away by the stroke of death? But the\nLord Jesus is alive still: He that took flesh and blood upon him, that\nhe might be made like the rest of the children of God, _He is not\nashamed to call them brethren_; Heb. ii. 11. This is a _brother_ that\nwas _born for_ the day of _our adversity_; this is the _friend that\nsticks closer than a brother_, and abides with us when a brother\ndeparts, according to the expression of the wise man; Prov. xvii. 17.\nand xviii. 24. Thus the names, and characters, and relations of God the\nFather, and of our Lord Jesus Christ, acquire a new sweetness, and\nappear with greater love and glory in them, at the death of our earthly\nrelatives.\n\nThere is many a christian can speak feelingly, and say, \u201cNever did I\nlive so much upon my God, I never knew nor loved my Saviour so well,\nnever conversed so much with his word, never did I find such sweetness\nin his names, nor his promises, nor such pleasure in secret converse\nwith him, as I have done since the day I lost such a friend, or such a\ndear relation by the stroke of death: I have learned now to put no trust\nin creatures; _for their breath goeth forth, and that very day their\nthoughts of kindness perish_; Ps. cxlvi. 3-8. _Now refuge fails me, no\nman_ seems to be _concerned for me_, since the death of such a friend;\n_I say_, therefore, _to my God, thou art my refuge_; Ps. cxlii. 4, 5.\u201d\n\nIII. The death of our dearest friends calls us to a noble trial of our\nlove to God, and our submission to his sovereignty. Human nature indeed\nis afraid of trials; but when the present aids of divine grace give us\nthe victory, then _blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when\nhe is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath\npromised to them that love him_; James i. 12. And upon this account, he\nexhorts christians in the second _verse_, to a very sublime and\ndifficult practice, _My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into\ndivers temptations, knowing this, that the trial of your faith worketh\npatience_, and if it endures the trial, _it will be found unto praise,\nand honour, and glory, at the appearing of Jesus Christ_; 1 Pet. i. 7.\n\nWhen God sends his messenger of death, and takes a dear and beloved\ncreature from our arms, or our bosom, the divine question is like that\nof our Lord to Peter, _Simon, lovest thou me?_ John xxi. 15-17.\nChristian, _lovest thou me more than_ thou lovest this creature? Art\nthou willing to resign this comfort at my call? Hast thou not given\nthyself to me, and does thy heart refuse to give up thy son, thy\nbrother, or thy dearest friend? Hast thou not called me thy sovereign? I\nam come now to enquire into thy sincerity. Dost thou resign thy most\nbeloved objects to my disposal? I gave up my Son to death for you; and\nhave you any thing so dear to you as my Son was to me? What says your\nheart in answer to these solemn questions? Do you love me above all\nthings, or no? Is your will bowed down to my foot? Can you now repeat\nfrom your very souls the same language, in which you have often\naddressed me in your closets, and in my sanctuary, \u201cI am thine, Lord, I\nam thine; all that I have is thine?\u201d Or do you murmur and quarrel at my\nprovidence, when I send my servant death to your house, to try whether\nthese professions of yours were sincere or no?\n\nHappy the christian that comes off with honour in this hour of trial,\nand who can say heartily, Lord, I resign what thou demandest, and am\nangry with myself that I should find so much reluctance in my heart, to\nsurrender any thing at the call of God! What a shining evidence of our\nsincerity is obtained at such a season? What a noble proof of our\nsupreme love to God? And it shall be recorded in heaven for our honour,\nand produced in the day of the Lord Jesus?\n\nThere is nothing in all the history of Abraham, the father of the\nfaithful, that gives him a more shining character on earth, or, perhaps,\nin heaven, than that he gave up his son Isaac, at the command of God,\nand _took the wood, and the fire, and the knife, in his hand_, and\ndevoted his beloved, his only son to death; though it was in a way so\nterribly painful and so shocking to nature, that he himself must be the\nexecutioner. He had offered the precious sacrifice already in his heart,\nwhen the angel of the Lord came down and stopped his hand: Now I know\nthat thou fearest God, and I know that thou lovest him too, seeing thou\nhast not withheld thy son, thy only son from me; Gen xxii. 9-12.\n\nThus the death of the dearest relation turns greatly to our advantage,\nwhen it gives us so bright an evidence of our own graces, and assures us\nthat we are hearty lovers of God.\n\nIV. The death of a beloved relative, has often wrought for the good of a\nsaint, when the long and painful sorrow which has attended it, has shewn\nus how dangerous a thing it was to love a creature too well.\n\n\u201cO! What a wound do I feel at my heart, says a christian, since the\ndeath of so near a relation: It pains me all the day: It fills my eyes\nwith tears, and forbids my rest in the night: I am so troubled that I\ncannot sleep: It unfits me for the present duties of life, and hangs too\nheavy upon me, in the midst of the duties of religion. Surely, that\ncreature dwelt too near my heart, and was joined in too close a union,\nsince my heart bleeds and smarts so long after the parting stroke. Let\nme watch my affections for time to come, and set a guard upon my love,\nthat it never, never tie my soul so fast to a creature again. Come down,\nblessed Saviour, and take faster hold of my heart; let thy own hand heal\nthe wound that death has made, and let thy mercy pardon the guilt of my\nexcessive creature-love: Dwell thou in my soul, my Lord and my God, and\nfill up all the unhappy and painful vacancy: Keep my affections for ever\ntrue to thee, and let my love to thee be supreme and unrivalled; nor let\nthe softer passions of my nature wander and lose themselves amongst\ncreatures again, lest they contract new guilt: lest they provoke thee to\nrepeat the same smarting tragedy, and to renew these scenes of\nmourning.\u201d\n\nV. The death of our kindred is for our advantage, when it awakens us to\nreview our own conduct toward them, whether we have behaved aright or\nno, and when it quickens our duty to surviving relatives.\n\nWhile they are alive, and present with us, our neglect of duty towards\nthem does not so soon strike our consciences; but when the stroke of\ndeath divides them from us in this world for ever, we are ready then to\nbethink ourselves, whether our carriage toward them has been just and\nkind: And if our enquiry finds out our guilt, our hearts are tender at\nthat season, and we soon yield to the conviction. \u201cDid I pay that duty\nto a father, which he well deserved, and which God required? Did I treat\na mother with that filial affection, and submissive tenderness that\nbecame a child? Did I pay that just deference and honour to the counsels\nand advice of my parents as I should have done? Did I treat my sisters\nwith that decent affection and respect that became me? And did I\nexercise brotherly love toward all my equal relatives? Or has my conduct\nbeen undutiful, unkind, and unbecoming?\u201d\n\nAnd especially if we have this to charge ourselves with, that we took no\ncare for the welfare of the souls of those that are dead. Such thoughts\nas these will hang heavy about the heart, and press hard upon the\nconscience in that day. \u201cDid I not see my child or my brother walk in\nthe ways of sin: and yet did I ever give him a hint of his dreadful\ndanger? Did I fear that he was a stranger to the grace of God, and yet\ndid I not neglect to invite him to receive the gospel? Had I not reason\nto question whether he was a sincere convert or no? But how little have\nI done toward his conversion?\n\n\u201cOr if he was ever concerned about the affairs of his soul, and awakened\nand thoughtful about death and hell, did I direct him in the way of\npeace? Did I endeavour to lead him to Jesus the Saviour? Or did I let\nhim go on without instruction, and without comfort, till death laid its\ncold hands upon him, and he plunged into the eternal world at a mournful\nuncertainty? O my heart! my heart! The anguish of it pains me beyond\nwhat I am able to bear. O that I could recal my brother, or my son from\nthe grave! How would I follow him with counsels and intreaties? And\nneither give him nor myself any rest, till I had good hope, through\ngrace, that he had fled for refuge to lay hold on Christ and his\nsalvation. I would never be at ease, nor would I cease pleading for him\nat the throne of grace, till I had found some evidences of a new nature\nin him, and a change of heart from sin to repentance and holiness.\n\n\u201cOr suppose my departed relative was a true christian, what did I do\ntoward the increase of his faith? Did I ever allure him to holy\nconversation? Did I take occasion now and then to introduce religious\ndiscourse? Did I converse with him ever about the matters of our common\nsalvation, that as iron sharpens iron, so we might have quickened each\nothers zeal and love, and helped each other onward in our way to heaven?\n\n\u201cSurely I have found myself too guilty, in some of these instances.\nForgive my criminal negligence, O my God, and through thy grace, I will\napply myself to double diligence, with regard to my relatives that yet\nsurvive: I will enquire, as far as it is proper, into the state of their\nsouls: I will seek the most powerful and the kindest methods, to awaken\nthe thoughtless sinners amongst them; and I will study, and pray, and\nask God what I shall say to make a deep impression upon their hearts:\nAnd though I have no office in the church, yet what I have learned\nthere, I will talk over at home: I will preach Christ crucified, and all\nhis gospel to them, as God shall give me proper opportunity. I will\nconverse more freely with my pious kindred about the things of God, and\nlearn their inward sentiments of religion and experimental godliness.\nThus will I bring holy discourse into the parlour and the chamber; and\nevery soul in my house shall be a witness of my endeavours to promote\nthe eternal welfare of those that are near me.\u201d\n\nNow when the death of a near relation attains such an end as this, and\nraises our repentance and holy zeal at this rate, we cannot doubt but\nthat we receive sensible advantage by it.\n\nVI. The death of our friends, who were truly religious, inclines us to\nreview their instructions and their virtues, and sets them before our\neyes, in a fresh and lively manner, to influence our own practice.\n\nWe are too ready to forget their advice, while they are living and daily\npresent with us, and we take too little notice of those virtues, in\nwhich they were eminent. We beheld their humility toward God and men,\ntheir condescension to their inferiors, their love and hearty friendship\ntoward their equals, and their sweetness of temper toward all around\nthem. We beheld it, and perhaps we loved and honoured them for it; but\nwe took but little pains to copy after them. We saw their pity to the\npoor and the miserable, their charity to persons of different sects and\nsentiments in religion; their readiness to forgive those that offended\nthem, and their good-will and obliging carriage to all men. There was a\nbeauty and loveliness in this conduct, that rendered them amiable\nindeed, but how little have we transcribed of their example, either into\nour hearts or our lives? We observed their constant tenderness of\nconscience, their devotion toward God, and their zeal for the honour of\nChrist, and his gospel in the world. O that we had made these graces the\nmatter of our imitation! What can we do now more to honour their memory,\nthan to speak, and live, and act like them?\n\nIt may be we have got their pictures drawn by some skilful hand, and\ntheir images hang round us in their best likeness, as tender memorials\nof what we once enjoyed, to give us now and then a melancholy delight,\nand awaken in us the pleasing sadness of love. These we call our most\nprecious pieces of furniture, and our hearts rate them at an uncommon\nprice. But it would be much richer furniture for our souls, to have the\nbest likeness of our pious predecessors and kindred copied out there.\nLet us now and then reflect what were their peculiar virtues, and the\nremarkable graces that adorned them; and if we could imagine the spirit\nof each of them to look down upon us, through those eyes which the\npencil has so well imitated, and to speak through those lips, each of\nthem would say, in the language of the softest and most sacred\naffection; _Be ye followers of me as dear children_, so far _as I was a\nfollower of Christ_.\n\nAnd this thought I would more especially impress on those who were most\nunhappily negligent of the pious counsel of their ancestors, or ran\ncounter to their holy advice and example in their life-time. \u201cI was too\nregardless, may a young christian say, of the wise and weighty sayings\nof my father deceased, they return now upon my thoughts, with a fresh\nand living influence. I have been too ready to neglect what a kind\nmother taught me; but the instructions that I received from her dying\nlips, had such an air of solemnity and tenderness in them, that they\nhave made a deep impression upon my heart; and I hope I shall never\nforget them. The prudent and pious rules that my elder relations have\noften set before me, recur to my thoughts with double efficacy since\ntheir death: I shall hear them speak no more, I shall see their holy\nexamples no more: I will gather up the fragments of their religious\ncounsels, and make them the rule of my conduct: I am w ell assured their\nsouls are happy, and by the grace of God I will tread in their steps,\ntill I arrive at those blessed regions, where I hope to meet them.\u201d\n\nThis thought leads me on to the last instance of benefit which we derive\nfrom the death of our kindred in the flesh.\n\nVII. The death of dear and near relations calls our thoughts in a more\npowerful and sensible manner, to converse with the grave and eternity.\n\nWhen our neighbours, or our common acquaintance die, we attend the\nfuneral, and cast an eye into the grave; we spend a thought or two on\nthe pit of corruption, and the mouldering dust: We awaken a meditation\nor two on things heavenly and the world to come; and we return quickly,\nand busily to this world again: But when God sends death into our\nchambers, and it makes a slaughter there, it awakens us more effectually\nfrom a drowsy frame, and it nails our thoughts down to our most\nimportant and everlasting concerns. \u201cPart of me is gone to the dust\nalready, it is not long ere the surviving part shall go also. Death has\nsmitten the desire of my eyes, and the partner of my joys, it will\nstrike me ere long, and am I ready?\u201d This thought dwells upon the heart\nof a true christian at such a season, and while the Spirit of God\nassists the work, it is not in the power of all the trifles in this\nearth to banish the holy thought, and carnalize the mind again. As when\na man is seized with the dead palsy, or has a limb cut off, and buried\nin the dust, how sensibly does this awaken in him the thought of death\nand futurity? \u201cThe sentence of death is begun to be executed on me\nalready, and the whole execution will be quickly fulfilled; it is time\nnow to be ready, for death is in good earnest, and has begun his work.\u201d\n\nAnd if our departed relative were a christian indeed, and gave us\ncomfortable hope in his death, then it leads our thoughts naturally to\nheaven, and most powerfully touches the springs of our heavenly hopes.\nIt raises our pious wishes to the upper world and we say, as Thomas did\nat the death of Lazarus, _Let us go, that we may die with him_; John xi.\n16. Let us go to our God and our holy kindred, and enjoy their better\npresence there. Let us not _sorrow for the dead, as those that mourn\nwithout hope_; 1 Thess. iv. 13. but look upward to things unseen, and\nforward to the great rising-day, and rejoice in the promised and future\nglories that are beyond life and time.\n\nEvery dear relative that dies and leaves us, gives us one motive more to\nbe willing to die: Their death furnishes us with one new allurement\ntoward heaven, and breaks off one of the fetters and bonds that tied us\ndown to this earth. Alas! we are tied too fast to these earthly\ntabernacles, these prisons of flesh and blood. We are attached too much\nto flesh and blood still, though we find them such painful and such\nsinful companions. We love to tarry in this world too well, though we\nmeet with so many weaning strokes to divide our hearts from it. O it is\ngood to live more at a loose from earth, that we may be ready for the\nparting hour: Let us not be angry with the sovereign hand of God that\nbreaks one bond after another; though the strokes be painful, yet they\nloosen our spirits from this cottage of clay, they teach us to practise\na flight heaven-ward in holy meditations and devout breathings; and we\nlearn to say, _How long, O Lord, how long?_\n\nThe Recollection.\u2014\u201cHave any of us lately felt such parting strokes as\nthese? Have we lost any of our beloved kindred? God calls upon us now,\nand enquires, What have you learned of these divine lessons? I would ask\nmyself this day, Have I seen the emptiness and the insufficiency of\ncreatures, and recalled my hope and confidence from every thing beneath\nand beside God? Have I past through this solemn hour of trial well, and\nshewn my supreme love to God, and my most entire submission to his\nsovereignty, by resigning so dear a comfort at his demand? Have I been\ntaught by the inward pain which I felt at parting, and by the smart\nwhich still remains, how dangerous a thing it is to love a creature too\nwell? Have I duly considered my past conduct toward my relations\ndeceased, and does it improve itself to my conscience at the review? Or\nhave I found matter for self-condemnation and repentance? Have I\ntreasured up the memory of their virtues in my heart, and set them\nbefore me as the copy of my life? Have my thoughts followed the soul of\nmy dear departed friend, and traced it with pleasure to the world of\nblessed spirits; and does my own soul seem to fix its hope and joy\nthere, and to dwell there above? Are my thoughts become more spiritual\nand heavenly? Do I live more as a borderer on the other world, since a\npiece of me is gone thither? And am I ready for the summons, if it\nshould come before to-morrow?\u201d\n\n\u201cHappy christian, who has been taught by the Spirit of grace to improve\nthe death even of the dearest relative to so divine an advantage! The\nwords of my text are then fulfilled experimentally in you: _Death is\nyours_: Death itself is made a part of your treasures. The parting\nstroke is painful indeed, but it carries a blessing in it too; for it\nhas promoted your heavenly and eternal interest.\u201d _Amen._\n\n\n HYMN FOR SERMON XLII.\n _Death of Kindred improved._\n\n\n Must friends and kindred drop and die?\n Must helpers be withdrawn?\n While sorrow, with a weeping eye,\n Counts up our comforts gone.\n\n Be thou our comfort, mighty God,\n Our helper and our friend:\n Nor leave us, in this dang\u2019rous road,\n Till all our trials end.\n\n O may our feet pursue the way,\n Our pious fathers led?\n While love and holy zeal obey\n The counsels of the dead.\n\n Let us be wean\u2019d from all below;\n Let hope our grief dispel;\n Death will invite our souls to go,\n Where our best kindred dwell.\n\n\n\n\n SERMON XLIII.\n _Death a Blessing to the Saints._\n 1 COR. iii. 22.\u2014Whether life or death,\u2014all are yours.\n\n\nWe have already seen many divine comforts, and a rich variety of\nblessings derived from the formidable name of DEATH: One would scarce\nhave thought that a word of so much terror should have ever been capable\nof yielding so much sweetness; but the gospel of Christ is a spring of\nwonders: It has consecrated all the terrible things in nature, even\ndeath itself, and every thing beside sin, to the benefit of the saint.\n\nDeath, in all its appearances, may furnish the mind of a believer with\nsome sacred lesson of truth or holiness. When it appears in the extent\nof its dominion, and bringing all mankind down to the dust; when it lays\nhold on an impenitent sinner, and fills his flesh and soul with agonies;\nwhen it assaults a saint, and is conquered by faith; when it makes a\nwide ravage among our acquaintance, when it enters into our families,\nand takes away our near and dear relatives from the midst of us, still\nthe christian may reap some divine advantage by it.\n\nBut can our own death be ever turned into a blessing too? Nature thinks\nit hard to learn such a strange lesson as this, and has much ado to be\npersuaded to believe it. How dismal are its attendants to flesh and\nblood! What languishings of the body! What painful agonies! What\ntremblings and convulsions in nature frequently attend the dying hour\neven of the best of christians! Can that be a blessing which turns this\nactive and beautiful engine of the body into loathsome clay; which\ncloses these eyes in long darkness, and deprives us of every sense? Can\ndeath become a blessing to us, which cuts us off from all converse with\nthe sun and moon, and that rich variety of sensible objects which\nfurnish out such delightful scenes all around us, and entertain the\nwhole animal creation? Can that be a blessing which divides asunder\nthose two intimate friends, the _flesh and the spirit_, that sends one\nof them to the noisome prison of the grave, and hurries away the other\ninto unknown regions? Yes, the gospel of Christ has power and grace\nenough in it to take off all these gloomy appearances from death, and to\nilluminate the darkest side of it with various lustre. So the sun paints\nthe fairest colours upon the blackest cloud, and while the thick dark\nshower is descending it entertains our eyes with all the beauties of the\nrain-bow; a most glorious type and seal of the covenant of grace, that\ncan give a pleasing aspect to death itself, and spread light and\npleasure over the darksome grave.\n\nIf we are believers in Christ, _death_ is ours as well as _life_. These\ntwo contrary states may each of them derive peculiar benefits from the\nnew covenant. The christian may be taught so to value and improve life,\nthat he may be not only patient, but chearful and thankful in the\ncontinuance of it. This has been made evident in a large discourse\nalready: And yet it must be confessed, that the advantages which death\nbrings to a believer are still greater and more glorious, and this will\nappear in the following particulars:\n\nI. Death finishes our state of labour and trial, and puts us in\npossession of the crown and the prize. St. Paul was appointed to die by\nthe sword of Nero, and to end his labours and his race in blood; yet he\nrejoices to think that his race was just at an end, and triumphs in view\nof the glorious recompence; 2 Tim. iv. 7, 8. _I have fought the good\nfight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith, henceforth is\nlaid up for me a crown of righteousness._ There is a voice from heaven\nthat proclaims the dead happy; upon this account, that their toil and\nfatigue is come to an end. Rev. xiv. 13. _Blessed are the dead that die\nin the Lord, for they rest from their labours, and their works follow\nthem_; that is, the prize of everlasting happiness which Christ has\npromised to his labouring saints. Rev. ii. 10. _Be thou faithful unto\ndeath, and I will give thee a crown of life._ So the weary traveller\ncounts the last hour of the day the best; for it finishes the fatigue\nand toil of the day, and brings him to his resting-place. So the soldier\nrejoices in the last field of battle; he fights with the prize of glory\nin his eye, and ends the war with courage, pleasure, and victory.\n\nII. Death frees us for ever from all our errors and mistakes, and brings\nus into a world of glorious knowledge and illumination. The vale of\ndeath is a dark passage indeed, but it leads into the regions of perfect\nlight. _Now we know but in part_, says the apostle; 1 Cor. xiii. 12.\n_Now we see but through a glass darkly, then we shall see God and our\nSaviour face to face, and know them even as we are known_; not in the\nsame degree of perfection indeed, but according to our measure and\ncapacity, we shall know them, in a way of vision, or immediate sight, as\nGod knows his creatures, as one man knows his friend, whose face he\nbeholds with his eyes; or as one spirit knows another, by some unknown\nways of perception which belong to spirits.\n\nO what a new and unspeakable pleasure will it be to the disciples of\nChrist, and the ministers of the gospel, that have been tired and worn\nout in tedious controversies in this world, and sorely perplexed amongst\nthe difficult passages of scripture, when they shall arrive at that\nregion of light and glory, where the darknesses of the mind shall be all\nscattered, the veil shall be taken off from sacred things, and doubts\nand difficulties shall vanish for ever!\n\nAlas! What desolation and mischief has the noise and clamour of\ncontroversy brought on the church of Christ in all ages! What quarrels\nand sharp contests has it raised among fellow-christians, and\nespecially, where zeal and ignorance have joined together, and brought\nfire and darkness into the sanctuary! This has banished charity and love\nout of the house of God, and made the Spirit of God himself to depart\ngrieved. Surely death carries a considerable blessing in it, as it\ndelivers us from these disorders, these bitter quarrels, and appoints us\na place in the temple of God on high, where the axe and the hammer never\nsound, where the saw of contention is never drawn, where the noise of\nwar is heard no more, but perfect light lays a foundation for perfect\nand everlasting love.\n\nIII. Death makes an utter end of sin, it delivers us from a state of\ntemptation, and conveys us into a state of perfect holiness, safety, and\npeace. _The spirits of the just are made perfect_ in holiness, when they\nleave this sinful and mortal flesh, they stand without spot or blemish,\nwithout fault or infirmity of greater or lesser size, and appear pure\nand undefiled before the throne of God; Rev. xiv. 5. _Their robes are\nwashed and made white in the blood of the Lamb; and they serve him\nwithout sin, day and night, in his temple_; Rev. vii. 14, 15. When death\ncarries them away from this world, it carries them out of the\nterritories of the devil; for he has no power in that land whither happy\nsouls go: And all the remaining lusts of the flesh, that had their\ndeath\u2019s wound given them by renewing grace, are now destroyed for ever;\nfor the death of the body is the final death of sin, and the grave is,\nas it were, the burying-place of many unruly iniquities, that have too\noften defiled and disquieted the spirit.\n\nAnd as the corrupt affections which are mingled with our flesh and\nblood, and which are rooted deep in animal nature, are left behind us in\nthe bed of death, so when we ascend to heaven, we shall find no manner\nof temptation to revive them. There is no malice or angry resentment to\nbe awakened there, no incitements to envy, intemperance, or the cursed\nsin of pride, that cleaves so close to our natures here on earth. When\nwe are encompassed with those blessed creatures, angels and saints made\nperfect, we shall meet with no affront, no reproach, no injury to\nprovoke our anger, or kindle an uneasy passion. Most perfect friendship\nis ever practised there; it is a region of peace, a world of immortal\namity.\n\nNor shall we find any temptation to envy, in that happy state; for\nthough there are different ranks of glorified creatures, yet each is\nfilled with a holy satisfaction, and hath an inward relish of his own\nfelicity suited to his own capacity and state, and they have all a\ngeneral relish of the common joy, and a mutual satisfaction in each\nothers happiness. Envy, that fretful passion, is no more. In heaven\nthere are no provocations to those unruly appetites, which break in upon\nour temperance, and pollute our souls.\n\nPride and haughtiness of spirit have no room in that blessed world: The\nsuperior order of saints, which are nearest the throne, shall not\ndespise the meanest; for the nearer they approach to the perfect image\nof Christ, the more intense and diffusive is their love. Besides, every\nsaint in glory shall see himself in his own nothingness, and infinitely\nindebted to divine grace for all things: This shall for ever forbid all\nvanity and conceit of merit. In heaven we shall see God in the fulness\nof his glory, and shall have so penetrating a sense of his saving grace,\nthat a creature rescued from hell cannot be proud there.\n\nRejoice then, ye poor feeble christians, that have been long wrestling\nwith your indwelling sins, and maintaining a holy and daily fight, with\nstrong and restless corruptions in your nature: _Lift up your heads_ at\nthe thoughts of death, _for the day of your redemption draws nigh_; Luke\nxxi. 28. Death is your deliverer. It is like the angel that Christ sent\nto Peter, to knock off his fetters, and release him from the prison; it\nmay smite and surprize you, and it has indeed a dark and unlovely\naspect; but its message is light and peace, holiness and salvation.\n\nIV. Death is ours, for it takes us away from under all the threatenings\nof God in his word, and places us in the actual possession of the\ngreatest part of the blessings, that God has promised us. The saints\nthat are dead are thus described; they are _those, who through faith and\npatience, inherit the promises_; Heb. vi. 12.\n\nWhilst we are in this life, there are many threatenings in the bible\nthat belong to the saints as well as to sinners. I shall mention that\ngreat and general one that is annexed to the covenant of grace; Ps.\nlxxxix. 30. _If the children of Christ forsake my law, and walk not in\nmy judgments; then will I visit their transgression with a rod, and\ntheir iniquity with stripes_; but when death has conveyed them into the\npresence of their heavenly Father, they shall forsake his law no more;\nthere are no more transgressions for the rod to correct, the stripes of\nchastisement cease for ever; and their Father, and their God, shall be\nangry no more.\n\nThe best part of the promises are fulfilled when a soul arrives at\nheaven. The promise of the resurrection of the body yet remains\nunaccomplished indeed; but every separate spirit in heaven waits for it\nwith full assurance of accomplishment. \u201cI have found,\u201d says the holy\nsoul, \u201cso many rich promises of the covenant fulfilled already, and I am\nin the possession of so many divine blessings that God once foretold,\nthat I am well assured that my God is faithful who has promised, and the\nrest shall be all fulfilled.\u201d\n\nV. Death raises us above the mean and trifling pleasures of the present\nstate, as well as delivers us from all present pains, and brings us into\na world of perfect ease, and superior and refined delight. It divides us\nfrom the pains and pleasures, that we derive from the first Adam, and\nsets us in the midst of superior blessings, which the second Adam has\npurchased for us. _We shall hunger no more, we shall thirst no more,\nneither shall the scorching heat of the sun light upon us_, or any\npainful influence from the elements of this world: _The Lamb which is in\nthe midst of the throne shall feed us with celestial food_, suited to\nour purified natures, and lead us to drink full draughts of unknown\npleasure, which is described by living fountains of water. We shall see\nGod himself, the original beauty, and the spring of all delight: We\nshall see our Lord Jesus Christ, the most illustrious copy of the\nFather, _the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his\nperson, and God himself shall wipe away all tears from our eyes_; Rev.\nvii. 16, 17. _Though the wages of sin is death_ by the appointment of\nthe law of God; Rom. vi. 23. yet this very death is constrained to serve\nthe purposes of our great Redeemer; and it brings us into the possession\nof that _eternal life_, which is the _gift of God through Jesus Christ\nour Lord_.\n\nVI. Death not only gives us possession of promised blessings, but it\nbanishes all our fears and doubts for ever, by fixing us in a state of\nhappiness unchangeable. They that are once entered into the temple of\nGod on high _shall no more go out_ of it; Rev. iii. 12. For they are\nestablished in the house of God, they are as pillars there, they become\na part of that vast and living temple, in which God dwells for ever in\nall his glory.\n\nDeath is ours; for it finishes our fears, it fulfils our wishes and our\nhopes, and leaves us no more room to fear to all eternity. When we\nbehold the face of God in righteousness, and awake out of this world of\ndreams and shadows, in the world of happy spirits with the likeness of\nGod upon us, we shall find sweet satisfaction; Ps. xvii. 15. _I shall be\nsatisfied when I awake with thy likeness._ Death leaves a saint, as it\nwere, but one thing to wish or hope for, and that is the resurrection,\nor the accomplishment of this text in its completest sense, _viz._ that\ntheir bodies may awake out of the grave with the likeness of Christ upon\nthem, and be made conformable to his glorious body, in vigour, beauty,\nand immortality.\n\nVII. Death is a happiness to a christian; for it divides him for ever\nfrom the company of sinners and enemies, and places him in the society\nof his best friends, his God, and his Saviour, his fellow-saints, and\nthe innumerable company of angels. O how sorely has the soul of many a\nsaint been vexed here on earth, as the soul of Lot was in Sodom, with\nthe conversation of the wicked! How have they often complained of the\nhidings of the face of God, of the absence of Christ their Lord, and the\nsensible withdrawings of the influences of the blessed Spirit!\n\nThere is a great partition-wall betwixt us and the happy world, whilst\nwe are in this life; the veil of flesh and blood divides us from the\nworld of spirits, and from the glorious inhabitants of it. With what\nsurprizing joy, shall a poor, humble, watchful christian, that has been\nteased long, and long tormented with the company of the wicked, enter\ninto that illustrious and blessed society, when death shall break down\nthe partition-wall, and rend the veil of flesh and blood that divided\nhim from them, and kept him at a painful distance! \u201cIt is better,\ninfinitely better, shall the departed soul say, to see God without the\nmedium of such ordinances, as I have used on earth: It is better to be\nabsent from the body, and to be present with the Lord Jesus. It is\nbetter to ascend, and worship in the midst of the heavenly Jerusalem,\nand amongst that blessed assembly of the first-born, than to be joined\nto the purest churches on earth, or to be engaged in the noblest acts of\nworship, which the state of mortality admits of. Farewell sins and\nsinners for ever: Temptations and tempters, farewell to all eternity.\nAnd ye my dear holy friends, beloved in the Lord, my pious relatives, my\ncompanions in faith and worship, farewell but for a short season, till\nyou also shall be released from your present bondage and imprisonment by\nthe messenger of death: Fear it not, for it is your Lord, and my Lord,\nyour Saviour and mine, who sends it to release you from all the evils\nwhich you have long groaned under, and to bring you to our Father\u2019s\nhouse, where the businesses, the pleasures, and the company are\ninfinitely agreeable and entertaining.\u201d\n\nThus have I shewn in various instances, how the death of a believer in\ngeneral is appointed to work for his good, and becomes an advantage to\nhim through the grace of Christ. I proceed to shew how the death of a\nchristian in all the particular circumstances that attend it, has\nsomething in it that may be turned to his benefit.\n\n_Christ has the keys of death and the grave; he was dead, and is alive,\nand behold he lives for evermore_; Rev. i. 18. And he knows how to\nmanage all the circumstances of the death of his saints for their\nprofit: He appoints the time when, the manner how, and the place where\nthey shall die, and determines all these things by rules of unsearchable\nwisdom, under the influence of his faithfulness and his love.\n\n1. The time when we shall die is appointed by Christ: If he calls us\naway in the days of our youth, he secures us thereby from many a\ntemptation, and many a sin; for our life on earth is subject to daily\ndefilements. He prevents also many a sorrow and distress of mind, many\nan agony and sharp pain to which our flesh is subject, and saves us from\nall the languishing weaknesses of old age, and from tasting the dregs of\nmortality.\n\nWhen our blessed Lord foresees some huge and heavy sorrows ready to fall\nupon us, or some mighty temptations approaching towards us, he lays his\nhand upon us in the midst of life, and hides us in the grave. This has\nbeen the sweet hiding place of many a saint of God, from a day of public\ntemptation and over-spreading misery.\n\nIf he lengthens out our life to many years, we have a fair opportunity\nof doing much more service for our God, and our Redeemer; and we also\nenjoy the longer experience of his power, his wisdom, and his faithful\nmercy, in guiding us through many a dark difficulty, in supporting us\nunder many a heavy burden, and delivering our souls from many a\nthreatening temptation. Oftentimes he sweetens the passage of his aged\nsaints through the dark valley, with nearer and brighter views of the\nheavenly world: He gives them a strong and earnest expectation of glory,\nand some sweet foretaste of it, to bear them up under the langours of\nold age and sickness: The haven of rest becomes sweeter to them, when\nthey have passed through many tedious storms: The hour of release into\nthe world of light, is more exquisitely pleasing, after a tedious\nimprisonment in the flesh, and long years of darkness.\n\n2. The manner, how we shall die, is appointed also by Christ our Lord,\nfor the benefit of his saints. If death smite us with a sudden and\nunexpected stroke, then we are surprized into the world of pleasure at\nonce, and, ere we are aware, our souls find themselves in the midst of\nthe paradise of God, surrounded with joys unspeakable. If our mortal\nnature decay by slow decrees, we have a precious opportunity for the\nmore lively exercises of faith, we may then converse with death\nbefore-hand, and daily grow in preparation for our departure. We see\nourselves launching down the stream of time, and if our faith be awake\nand sprightly, we rejoice in the sensible and hourly approaches of\nheaven and eternity. We may speak many useful dying sentences for the\nglory of our Lord, and make happy impressions upon the souls of those we\nleave behind; We may invite and require, we may allure and charge our\ndear relatives to follow us in the same path, and to meet us before the\nthrone.\n\n3. Our Lord also designs our benefit, when he appoints the place of our\ndeath, whether we shall quit the body at home or abroad; for some of us\nhe sees it best, that our friends should stand round us and close our\neyes, and, as it were, see our spirits take their flight into the\ninvisible world, that they may assist and support us with divine words\nof consolation, or that they themselves may learn, and dare to die, and\nbe animated by our example to encounter the last enemy. Our Lord sees it\nproper, for others of his saints, to die in the midst of strangers, or\nperhaps amongst enemies and by a violent death, that he may thereby give\na glorious testimony to their faith and piety, as well as to the power\nof his own gospel. Whether we breathe our last at land or at sea, in our\nnative country, or in a foreign climate, _all shall work together for\nthe final welfare of those that love God, and are called_ and justified,\nand sanctified _according to his holy purpose_; Rom. viii. 28.\n\nThere are, doubtless, some peculiar and secret reasons, in the grand\ncomprehensive scheme of the counsels and decrees of God, why the death\nof every saint is appointed at this season, and not at another; why some\nyoung buds are cropped ere they blossom on earth, and transplanted to\nopen and unfold themselves, and shine in the garden of God on high,\nwhile others are brought home into the heavenly garner, like fruit well\ngrown, or like a shock of corn fully ripe. There is a divine reason why\nsome are hurried away by a violent death, and others are permitted\nnaturally to dissolve into their dust: Why some must die on this spot of\nground, and others on that: for the vast scheme of his counsels has a\nglorious consistency in it with the covenant of his grace: And indeed,\nthe covenant of grace runs through the whole scheme of divine counsels,\nand mingles itself with them all. We rejoice in this meditation, while\nwe believe the truth of it. We are persuaded, that we shall know,\nhereafter, the various and admirable designs of divine providence and\nlove, in all the infinite variety of the deaths of his saints; and this\nshall make part of our songs in the upper world, and give a joyful\naccent to our hallelujahs there.\n\nLet us maintain therefore, a blessed assurance of the wise and gracious\ndesigns of our Lord, in all the circumstances of the death of his\npeople. Let us learn to say with that aged saint, and eminent servant of\nChrist, the Reverend Mr. Baxter, when under many weaknesses of nature,\nand long and sore agonies of pain, he spake concerning his death, \u201cLord,\nwhen thou wilt, what thou wilt, how thou wilt.\u201d Let us insure our souls\nin his hands for eternity, and not be over-solicitous about the\ncircumstances of our death, about the place, the manner, or the hour\nwhen we shall take our leave of life and time.\n\n[If this sermon be too long, it may be divided here.]\n\nHaving made it appear, in these several sermons, that death is ours, or\nshall turn to our advantage, not only when it strikes our friends or\nstrangers, but when it seizes our own flesh also: I desire to conclude\nthis subject of discourse with various inferences, of which some may be\ncalled doctrinal, and others practical.\n\nThe doctrinal inferences are these:\n\nInference I. How different is the judgment of sense, from the judgment\nof faith? The eye of sense looks upon death as a sovereign and cruel\ntyrant, reigning over all nature and nations, and making dreadful havoc\namong mankind, as it were, after his own will and pleasure; but faith\nbeholds it as a slave subdued to the power of Christ, and constrained to\nact under his sovereign influence for the good of all his saints. Sense\nteaches us to look upon ourselves, as the possession and food of death;\nbut faith assures us, that death is our possession, and a part of our\ntreasure. Death is yours, O christians, _for all things are yours_.\n\nWhen sense has the ascendant over us, we take death to be a dark and\ndismal hour; but in the speech and spirit of faith, we call it a bright\nand glorious one. Sense esteems it to be the sorest of all afflictions,\nbut faith numbers it among the sweetest of our blessings, because it\ndelivers us from a thousand sins and sorrows.\n\nIt has been reported, that Socrates called \u201cdeath a birth-day into\neternal life.\u201d A most glorious thought, and a very inviting name! But it\nis strange, that a heathen philosopher should ever hit upon it, it is so\nmuch like the dialect of the gospel, and the language of faith. He had\nlearned to talk more nobly than the sensual world, though he was not\nfavoured with the light of the gospel. It is so much the more shameful\nfor christians, to talk and live below the character of this\nphilosopher.\n\nO when shall we get above this life of sense? When shall we rise in our\nideas and our judgment of things? When shall we attain to the upper\nregions of christianity, and breathe in a purer air, and see all things\nin a brighter and better light? When shall we live the life of faith,\nand learn its divine language? Death is like a thick dark veil, as it\nappears to the eye of sense; when shall our faith remove the veil, and\nsee the light, the immortality, the glory that lies beyond it? Death,\nlike the river Jordan, seems to overflow its banks, when we approach it,\nand divides and affrights us from the heavenly Canaan: When shall we\nclimb to the top of Pisgah, that we may look beyond the swelling waves\nof this Jordan, and take a fair and inviting prospect of the promised\nland.\n\nII. How glorious and how dreadful is the difference, between the death\nof a saint and that of a sinner, a soul that is in Christ, and a soul\nthat has no interest in him! The death of every sinner has all that real\nevil and terror in it, in which it appears to an eye of sense; but a\nconvinced sinner beholds it yet a thousand times more dreadful. When\nconscience is awakened upon the borders of the grave, it beholds death\nin its utmost horror, as the curse of the broken law, as the\naccomplishment of the threatenings of an angry God. A guilty conscience\nlooks on death with all its formidable attendants round it, and espies\nan endless train of sorrows coming after it. Such a wretch beholds death\nriding towards him on a pale horse, and hell following at his heels,\nwithout all relief or remedy, without a Saviour, and without hope.\n\nBut a true christian, when he reads the name of death among the curses\nof the law, knows that Christ his Saviour and his Surety, has sustained\nit in that dreadful sense, and put an end to its power and terror. He\nreads its name now in the promises of the gospel, and calls it a\nglorious blessing, a release from sin and sorrow, an entrance into\neverlasting joy. The saint may lie calm and peaceable in the midst of\nall the attendants of death; like Daniel in the den of lions, for it\ncannot hurt or destroy him: But when a sinner is thrown to this\ndevourer, it does as it were break all his bones, it tears both his\nflesh and his spirit as its proper prey; _Death feeds upon him_, as the\nscripture expresses it: Ps. xlix. 14. and fills his conscience with\nimmortal anguish. Who can bear the thought of dying in such a state\nunder the dominion of death, without Christ, and without hope.\n\nIII. How much does the religion of the New Testament transcend all other\nreligions, both that of the light of nature, and all the former\nrevelations of grace; for it better instructs us how to die. The\nreligion of the ancient patriarchs, the religion of Moses and the Jews,\nas well as the religion of the philosophers, all come vastly short of\nchristianity, in the important business of dying.\n\nThe philosopher, by the labours of his reason, and by a certain\nhardiness of spirit, persuades himself not to tremble at the thoughts of\ndeath; for it may be, there is no hereafter; or if there be, he would\nfain hope for an happy one: And thus he ventures into death, with some\nsort of courage and composure of mind, like a bold man, that is taking\nan immense leap, in the dark, out of one world into another: but he can\nnever know certainly, that there are no terrible things to meet him in\nthat unseen state.\n\nThe religion of the Jews and patriarchs, which God himself revealed to\nmen, enabled many of them to resign their lives with patience and hope,\nand to walk through the valley of death without much dismay, when the\nappointed hour was come. A few of them I confess, have been elevated by\na noble faith above the level of that dispensation: Yet some of them\nseem to make bitter mourning, because of the shadows of darkness that\ncovered the grave, and all the regions beyond it. _They were all their\nlife-time subject to bondage through the fear of death_; Heb. ii. 14.\n\nIt is our Jesus alone, who has _brought life and immortality into so\nglorious a light by the gospel_; 2 Tim. i. 10. He dwelt long in heaven\nbefore he came into our world, and again he went as a fore-runner into\nthose unseen worlds, and came back again and taught his disciples, what\nheaven is: And thus we learn to overcome death with all its terrors, by\nthe richer prospect, which he has given us, of the heavenly country that\nlies beyond the grave: He has taught his followers to rejoice in dying,\nand to possess the pleasures that are to be derived from death, as it is\nan entrance into the regions of light and joy. Blessed be God! that we\nwere born in the days of the Messiah, since Christ returned from the\ndead, and that we were not sent either to the schools of the\nphilosophers, or even to Moses, to teach us how to die.\n\nIV. Learn from these discourses, what a sweet and delightful glory\nbelongs to the covenant of grace, that turns a curse into a blessing.\nWhen the broken law, or covenant of works attempts to curse thee with\ndeath, O believer, (as Balaam did Israel) _the Lord thy God turns the\ncurse into a blessing to thee by this new covenant, because the Lord thy\nGod loveth thee_; Deut. xxiii. 5. So afflictions are turned into mercies\nby the virtue of this covenant, they mortify our sins, they wean us from\nthe world, they bring our hearts near to God, they make us partakers of\nhis holiness. So death, which is the greatest affliction to nature, and\nhas such a formidable aspect to a sensual man, is made subservient to\nthe eternal welfare of a christian. It is this sweet covenant that has\nwrought the change; Christ has conquered it, and the believer enjoys the\ntriumph.\n\nDoes the eye of nature behold death as a serpent? Our Lord Jesus has\nbroken its teeth, and taken away its sting; for by his sacrifice he has\nabolished sin, which is the sting of death. Does nature look upon death\nas a lion? Our Redeemer has slain it, and the covenant of grace has\nfurnished the carcase of it with honey, and stored it with delicious\nfood for the entertainment of a christian; thus, _Out of the eater\ncometh forth meat, and out of the strong cometh forth sweetness_; Judges\nxiv. 14. The riddle of Samson, when applied in this manner, carries a\ndiviner beauty in it, and more exquisite delight. And as that Jewish\nchampion feasted his father and his mother, with delicacies taken out of\nthe lion he had slain, so does our Lord feast his brethren and his\nfriends, with sacred pleasures derived from death, our vanquished enemy.\n\nO how unspeakable is the privilege of those that belong to Christ! If\nyou are his, then death is yours: Christ is the only begotten Son, and\nhe inherits all things; not only as a son but as the first overcomer:\n_Ye all are sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus_; Gal. iii. 26. _Ye\nshall also be overcomers, and shall inherit all things_; Rev. xxi. 7.\n_Whether life or death, things present or things to come, all are yours,\nfor ye are Christ\u2019s._ I proceed to the practical uses.\n\nI. If death in every sense, may be turned to the advantage of the\nsaints, as I have proved in the former discourse, let us see then, that,\nin all its appearances, we gain some advantage by it. Let us not act\nlike fools, who have a prize put into their hands, and know not how so\nuse it.\n\nIf our fellow-creatures die and go down to the dust, and the nations of\nmankind perish from the earth, let us learn thereby the frailty of our\nnatures; let us learn so to _number our days as to apply our hearts to\nwisdom_; Ps. xc. 12. and be awakened to an active and immediate\npreparation for the day of our own death. If we see impenitent sinners\ndying under the anguish of a guilty conscience, let us gain a sensible\nlesson of the dreadful evil of sin; let it raise such a religious fear\nof the wrath of God, and such a sacred gratitude for our deliverance,\nfrom the torments of hell, as may quicken every grace into its warmest\nexercise, and its brightest evidence. If death seize upon our Lord\nChrist himself, his dying groans lay a foundation for our immortal\nhopes: Let us meditate on the thousand blessings we receive from his\ncross and his tomb. Do the saints around us lie down and die? We should\nlearn to follow them boldly into the dark valley, and to fall asleep in\nthe dust with the same chearful hopes of the joyful rising-day. Does\ndeath come near us into our own family, and tear our dear relatives from\nour arms? Even this may be turned to our advantage too; it should render\nthe world and the pleasures of it more insipid and worthless; it should\nloosen our heart-strings from the fond embraces of the creature; for it\ncalls our eyes and our souls heavenward and home-ward, and that with a\nloud and sensible voice, if nature and grace are awake to hear it.\n\nIf death and the grave be ours, and we make no use of this privilege, we\nare like misers, who have treasure in their possessions but never employ\nit to any valuable purpose. Has Christ our Lord taken death among his\ncaptives, and made it his own property? Let us look upon ourselves as\nhumble sharers in the victory; he has appointed it to serve the interest\nof all his followers: He has put it into the inventory of our treasures.\nLet us improve it then to these divine purposes, let us seize and enjoy\nthe spoils _which Christ, the Captain of our salvation_, has taken from\nthe hands of the prince of darkness.\n\nII. Is death become your possession, O believers, through the grace of\nthe covenant: Fear it not then, but ever look upon it with an eye of\nfaith as a conquered adversary: Behold it, as reduced to your service;\nwait for it, with holy courage and pleasure; it is a messenger of mercy\nto your souls from Christ, who hath vanquished it in the open field of\nbattle, and reduced it to his subjection. When you labour and groan\nunder sins and temptations, under pains and sorrows, remember Christ has\nappointed death to be his officer for your relief. It is like the porter\nthat opens the door of his repository, the grave, where your bodies\nshall take a sweet slumber till the resurrection-day; and it is\nappointed also to open the gates of heaven for your spirits and to let\nthem into a world of unknown felicity.\n\nDeath has so many things belonging to it, which are afflictive to\nnature, and formidable to the eye of sense, that we have need of all\nmanner of assistance to raise our souls above the fear of it. The very\nthought of dying makes many a christian shudder, and sweat, and tremble,\nand awakens all the springs of human infirmity: O may the grace of faith\ngain a more glorious ascendancy in our souls! We should often meditate\non such doctrines as these, which place that dreadful thing death in the\nmost easy and pleasing light; we should behold it as changed from a\ncurse into a blessing, and numbered among our treasures. Christians\nshould accustom themselves to look at it through the glass of the\ngospel, which casts fair colours upon what is in itself so dark and\nformidable. It is the gospel in that glass which discovers to us the\nflowery blessings that grow in that gloomy valley, and gives a fair and\ndelightful prospect of those hills of paradise and pleasure that lie\nbeyond the grave. Why should we let this blessed gospel lie neglected,\nand live still in bondage to the fear of dying?\n\nThe Recollection.\u2014\u201cCome now, and let us learn by this discourse, to\nshame ourselves of these weaknesses, these unreasonable fears. Let us\ntalk to our own souls in the language of faith. Why, O my soul, art thou\nafraid to let this body die? Hast thou not endured labours and trials\nenough, and art thou unwilling to come to the end of them? Hast thou not\nyet been tempted enough? Hast thou not been foiled too often, and too\noften thrown down in the conflict? Think of thy many wounds of\nconscience, the bruises of thy spirit, the defilement of thy garments,\nand the loss of thy purity and thy peace. Canst thou bear, that all\nthese should be repeated again and again? Art thou unwilling this war\nshould have an end? Art thou afraid of victory and triumph? What dost\nthou labour and fight for? Dost thou not run to obtain the prize? Dost\nthou not wrestle and fight to gain the crown? And hast thou not courage\nenough to go across the dark valley, to take possession of this crown\nand this prize?\n\n\u201cThink, O my spirit, think of thy painful ignorance whilst thou dwellest\nin this region of shadows: Is not knowledge thy natural and delicious\nfood? Hast thou not lived long enough in darkness, and been involved too\nlong in mistakes and errors? And art thou willing to dwell in a land of\ndarkness still, a land of dreams and disguises, where truth is hardly\nfound? Art thou afraid of the borders of that world, where light and\nknowledge grow, and where truth, and realities appear all unveiled and\nwithout disguise? Where thou shalt be cheated no more with the sound of\nwords, but shalt see all things just as they are, in a clear light,\nwithout error, and without confusion? O happy period of thy mistakes and\nwanderings, of all thy learned mazes in quest of truth! And art thou\nstill afraid to come near it?\n\n\u201cHas it not been the matter of thy sacred mourning, that thy God is so\nmuch concealed from thee, that greatest and best of beings? That the Son\nof God, _the brightness of the Father\u2019s glory_; Heb. i. 3. is so much a\nstranger, and thy Saviour is so little known? That thy faith has been\nlabouring and wearied in many enquiries about the glories of his person\nas God-man, about the wonders of his united natures, and the mysteries\nof his gospel, about the power of his death, the virtue of his\nrighteousness, and the sovereignty of his grace? And art thou afraid of\nthe sunshine, and that perfect day that shall scatter all these clouds\nof doubt and mistake, and let thee see thy Saviour and thy God face to\nface, as they are seen by angels? O that surprizing hour, of unknown\ndelight, that shall place thee, O my soul, in the midst of the world of\nspirits, surrounded with the light of heaven, and in the open presence\nof God, even thy God! When thou shalt gain swift and transporting\nacquaintance with the Almighty Being that made thee, and the Son of God,\nwho dwelt once in mortal flesh, and died to save thee! When the divine\nirradiations of the Eternal Spirit shall unfold those mysteries to thy\nview, which had so much darkness about them in these lower regions! What\nan illustrious scene of light and joy shall arise all around thee as\nthou enterest into that unknown state! What strange new ideas of things,\nwhat new worlds of knowledge shall throng in upon thee, and thy enlarged\nunderstanding shall receive them all with infinite satisfaction, and\nwith ever-growing pleasure! Art thou not already on the wing, my soul,\nat such a divine prospect as this? O stupid creatures that we are! we\nseek after the light of truth here below, and crowd about a glimmering\nspark of knowledge, we wrangle all around it with endless contention,\nand yet when death would open the gate of glory, and admit us into\nregions of light, we start back, and retire, contented to abide among\ntwilight and shadows.\n\n\u201cBut, O my soul, if truth and knowledge are not sufficient, to allure\nthee, has holiness no constraining power? Hast thou not sinned enough\nand broken the laws of God often enough already? Hast thou not brought\nguilt enough, and grief enough, upon thyself, that thou art afraid of a\nstate of perfect holiness? What is it that has given thee such inward\npain as the perpetual workings of thy native iniquity? What is it that\nhas made thee cry out, _O wretched creature that I am! who shall deliver\nme from the body of this death?_ Rom. vii. 24. From the temptations and\nsins which are mingled with flesh and blood! And art thou afraid to have\nthy groans ended, thy complaints removed, and thy deliverance appear?\nArt thou unwilling to accept of the release? Dost thou shrink back from\nthe sight of the deliverer? Hast not thy faith often seen the spirits of\nthe just made perfect standing before the throne, rejoicing before God,\nworshipping in the complete beauty of holiness? And has not thy faith\nawakened thy desires and thy sacred wishes? O that I were in the midst\nof them! Why then art thou so unwilling to leave this body of sin and\ndarkness, and to go out of this troublesome and impure prison into that\nglorious world, that blessed assembly, and to worship amongst them\nwithout imperfection, and without weariness? Consider, O my soul, are\nthy complaints of indwelling corruption sincere? Are thy groans for\ndeliverance honest and hearty? Why then art thou afraid to let this\ntabernacle be dissolved, and to gain a blessed release from these inbred\nand restless enemies? Has not the lustre of perfect holiness attraction\nand force enough in it, to awaken thy longings, and stretch thy wings\nfor a flight to heaven?\n\n\u201cRemember also whilst thou art here, and art often sinning, many of the\nthreatenings of God in his word stand bent against thee, his arrows\nsometimes stick in thy flesh, and pierce thy very soul. I confess these\nare not the sword of his vindictive justice, thy afflictions are but the\ncorrections of his rod: But is it not better to dwell in that world\nwhere thou shalt feel no such correcting strokes, and deserve\nchastisement no more, where the Lord thy God shall lay aside every\nfrown, and remove his anger for ever?\n\n\u201cThy best life now is to live upon the promises; but does not all the\nexcellency of a promise consist in the hope of performance? And is not\nthe performance then so much better than the promise itself? Is not\npossession better than hope? Is not an assured and an unchangeable\npossession better than this state of doubts and fears? Is it not much\nmore agreeable to _dwell in the house of God for ever_; Ps. xxiii. 6.\nthan only to make a visit to it now and then? Is it not infinitely\nbetter to be fixed in a state of perfect felicity, without the least\nfear or apprehension of losing it? To be as a _pillar in the temple of\nGod, thy God, and to go no more out_; Rev. iii. 13.\n\n\u201cThink again, Hast thou not sustained sufficient pains and sorrows both\nof flesh and mind in this lower world? Death shall put an end to them\nall; and art thou unwilling to have a full release from sorrow and pain?\nHas this flesh of thine been complained of so often as thy clog and thy\npainful prison, and art thou more afraid to have thy fetters knocked\noff? Has not thy body given thee smart and anguish enough? And has it\nnot tempted thee enough away from thy God, and thy truest happiness? Has\nthy sinful sickly flesh been so charming a companion that thou art not\nyet willing to part with it? Dost thou not desire to have all thy\ndiseases healed at once? Wouldst thou not be glad to have all thy\ntorments of body and mind for ever eased, and all the uneasinesses of\nflesh and spirit removed for ever?\n\n\u201cIt is true, the mere desire of ease should not be the chief reason why\nthou shouldest desire death, nor shouldest thou seek it with an\nimpatient spirit: It is thy duty to bear sufferings and sorrows with\nholy patience, as a good soldier of Christ, it is thy duty to abide in\nthy post during his pleasure, to fill up the hours with service, and to\nsustain the fatigues and burdens of the mortal state to the glory of God\nthy Saviour: But he does not require that thou shouldest fall in love\nwith a state of guilt and pain, a state that has so much sin and\ntemptation, so much burden and fatigue in it; he gives thee leave to\ngroan after the hour of release and deliverance. _In this tabernacle we\ngroan earnestly, being burdened_; 2 Cor. v. 2.\n\n\u201cConsider further, O my soul, what is there in this world that should\nmake thee fond of continuing among the inhabitants of it? Has not the\nworld, thou dwellest in, sufficiently discovered itself to thee, as a\nland of mere vanity and vexation, and art thou fond of the tents of\nMeshech and Kedar, where thy soul has so little peace? Art thou afraid\nto change thy dwelling-place? Hast thou not been teased long enough with\nthe company of sinners, or the foolish and unfriendly carriage of those\nwho are imperfect saints? Hast thou not been often ready to say, _O that\nI had the wings of a dove, to fly away from the windy storm and\ntempest?_ Ps. lv. 6, 7. to get afar off from the rage and malice of\nenemies, from the troublesome infirmities of friends, afar off from the\npeevishness, the envy and the passion of some of thy fellow-christians?\nHow often hast thou wished even for a wilderness where thou mayest be at\nrest? Behold the door of death will shortly open itself to thee, and\nwould let thee in, not to a wilderness, but to a paradise, to a place of\neternal rest and freedom from all uneasy society; and yet thou delayest\nand hangest backward, and art afraid to go.\n\n\u201cIn that upper world the saints have no follies about them, no vicious\nand fretful humours, no springs of vexation; they leave all their\nweaknesses, their envy, and their anger behind them in the grave. In the\nheavenly country, every companion is an everlasting friend, and all thy\ndear and pious kindred, who are departed, have put off every thing that\nonce made thee or them uneasy. They are far better company above than\never they were, or could be, here on earth; and dost thou not want to\nsee them all in their best raiment of grace and glory; and to hold sweet\ncommunion with them in the purest intercourses of love?\n\n\u201cBut there are still sweeter allurements to a holy soul; God, even thy\nGod, dwells in the midst of his saints on high, and that in the full\nglories of his love: Jesus thy Saviour, whom thou hast known, and whom\nthou hast loved, though thou hast never seen him; Jesus is Lord of that\ncountry, he waits for thee there; God himself dwells there as the\nfountain of felicity, and shall be no more absent from thee. Thou shalt\nno more complain of the withdrawings of the light of his countenance, or\nthe short visits of his grace: Thou shalt sit solitary no more, nor\nmourn under the dark eclipses of the Sun of righteousness. It is the\npleasure of that heaven thou hopest for, _to be for ever with thy Lord,\nto behold his glory, to see him as he is, and to be made like him_, and\nwilt thou not enter in at the gate into the new Jerusalem when he calls\nthee, but tremble and start backward, because there is a short dark\nvalley that lies on this side of it?\u201d\n\nRemember, O my soul, _death is thine_: There is nothing in that dark\nvalley shall hurt thee. Lift up thy head, arise, and shake thyself out\nof the dust. Let thy faith take a sweet prospect over the little hills\nof time, and beyond the vale of death: Look far into the invisible\nworld, and banish all thy fears under the strong allurement of the joys\nthat are prepared for thee; wait with pleasure for the hour of thy\ndeparture, and rejoice and triumph when the divine message shall come.\nWhile thou continuest here, _life is thine_. When thou goest hence,\n_death is thine: things present and things to come are thine_; and the\ninvisible world to which thou art hastening, has everlasting joys in\nreserve for thee: Heaven itself is thine: Heaven is the inheritance of\nall the saints: The glories laid up there are waiting for thy\npossession: the dissolution of thy earthly tabernacle shall convey thee\ninto the midst of them.\n\nAwake, arise, and meet the happy moment, when thou shalt be undressed of\nthis sinful flesh and blood: O let these defiled garments ever sit loose\nabout thee, that they may be cast off without pain and regret: Go, my\nsoul, at the summons of thy God and Father, and when the symptoms of\ndying nature shall say, _Hark, he calleth thee_; let thy faith and thy\nlove, and thy joy answer, _Lord I come_. Go, my soul at the invitation\nof thy Redeemer, at the voice of thy beloved: Behold he appears, he\ncomes! Go forth and meet him. Drop this fleshly clothing with holy\ndelight; arise, _put on thy beautiful garments_, and shine for the\n_glory of the Lord is rising upon thee_: Go shine among _the spirits of\nthe just made perfect_, thyself a spirit released from earth, and\ndivested of all imperfection. O happy farewell to life and time! O\nglorious entrance into immortality!\n\n\n HYMN FOR SERMON XLIII.\n _Death a Blessing to the Saints._\n\n\n Do flesh and nature dread to die?\n And timorous thoughts our minds enslave?\n But grace can raise our hopes on high,\n And quell the terrors of the grave.\n\n What! Shall we run to gain the crown,\n Yet grieve to think the goal so near?\n Afraid to have our labours done,\n And finish this important war?\n\n Do we not dwell in clouds below,\n And little know the good we love?\n Why should we like this twilight so,\n When \u2019tis all noon in worlds above?\n\n There shall we see him face to face,\n There shall we know the Great unknown,\n And Jesus, with his glorious grace,\n Shines in full light amidst the throne.\n\n When we put off this fleshly load,\n We\u2019re from a thousand mischiefs free,\n For ever present with our God,\n Where we have long\u2019d and wish\u2019d to be.\n\n No more shall pride or passion rise,\n Or envy fret, or malice roar,\n Or sorrow mourn with down-cast eyes,\n And sin defile our souls no more.\n\n \u2019Tis best, \u2019tis infinitely best,\n To go where tempters cannot come,\n Where saints and angels ever blest,\n Dwell and enjoy their heavenly home.\n\n O for a visit from my God,\n To drive my fears of death away,\n And help me thro\u2019 this darksome road,\n To realms of everlasting day!\n\n\nEND OF THE FIRST VOLUME.\n\n\nEdward Baines, Printer, Leeds.\n\n\n\n\n \u25cf Transcriber\u2019s Notes:\n \u25cb Text that was in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_).\n \u25cb Footnotes have been moved to follow the sermons in which they are\n referenced.","title":"The works of the Rev. Isaac Watts, D. D. in nine volumes (volume 1 of 9)","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":321041}