COL. GEORGE WASHINGTON FLOWERS 
 MEMORIAL COLLECTION 
 
 DUKE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 DURHAM, N. C. 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 W. W. FLOWERS 
 
BISHOP IVES' SERMON 
 
 at Tin: 
 
 NORTH-CAROLINA CONVENTION, 
 1832. 
 
A SERMON 
 
 AT 
 
 # 
 
 THE OPENING OF THE FIRST CONVENTION 
 
 AFTER HIS ENTERING ON 
 
 THE DUTIES OF HIS EPISCOPATE: 
 
 DELIVERED IN ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, EDENTON, N. C. 
 MAY, 1833: 
 
 BY THE 
 
 RIGHT REVEREND LEVI SILLIMAN IVES, D. D. 
 
 BISHOP OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN THE 
 STATE OF NORTH-CAROLINA. 
 
 NEW-YORK: 
 
 PRINTED AT THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL PRESS. 
 1832. 
 
Edenton, May 19th, 1832. 
 
 Rt. Rev. and Dear Sir, 
 
 With much pleasure I communicate the following resolution, passed by 
 the Convention of the Church in this Diocese, at its present Session ; and respect- 
 fully beg leave to unite with my brethren in the request which it contains. 
 
 With sincere and respectful consideration, 
 
 Your obedient and humble Servant, 
 
 J. R. Goodman, 
 
 In behalf of Committee. 
 
 In Convention, May 18th, 1832. 
 Resolced, That the thanks of this Convention be communicated to the Right 
 Reverend Diocesan, for the Discourse delivered by him this day, and that a 
 Committee be appointed to request a copy for publication. 
 
SERMON 
 
 l Cor. ii. 1,2. 
 
 "And I, Brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of 
 wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God ; 
 
 "For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and 
 him crucified." 
 
 It is a circumstance contributing no slight evidence to the 
 divine character of the Gospel, that it has prevailed in the hands 
 of so feeble an agent as man. Had the angels of light, those 
 ministers of God "that excel in strength," been commissioned 
 to preach his word, and to give effect to its heavenly truths and 
 precepts, we might reasonably have looked for the most successful 
 results. But when we hear the mandate given to twelve un- 
 lettered men, with their successors to the end of time, " Go teach 
 all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the 
 Son and of the Holy Ghost f ' when we see these men actually 
 going forth to an encounter with human corruption and infernal 
 artifice, it will require something more than what appears on 
 the field of contest to justify any other expectation than the 
 immediate and utter defeat of a band so feeble. But the Gospel, 
 with such supporters and such adversaries, has come off tri- 
 umphant ; has, for eighteen hundred years, and with no one but 
 man to wield the implements of its warfare, enjoyed a succession 
 of most brilliant and daily extending conquests. The conclusion 
 is inevitable : — Our faith stands not in the wisdom of men, but in 
 the power of God ; neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he 
 that watereth, but God that giveth the increase. Here then is the 
 ground of our confidence ; the plea we offer for our high endea- 
 vors; the pledge we give for the fulfilment of our sacred trust. 
 The Lord of Hosts is with us 9 the God of Jacob is our refuge ! 
 We are not sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves, 
 but our sufficiency is of God ! 
 
 Inspired by this truth, St. Paul entered with joy upon the 
 
4 
 
 trying labors of his apostleship ; under its animating convictions 
 martyrs and confessors fought manfully the good fight of faith; 
 while to the faithful ministers of Christ in every age it has 
 furnished the only source of encouragement, the only warrant 
 of success. 
 
 Christian Brethren ! When the most unlooked for event of 
 my having been chosen to the office of a Bishop in the Church 
 of God was first made known to me, I could think of little but 
 my unworthiness and insufficiency. The magnitude of such an 
 office ; its dignity ; its sacredness ; its demands of wisdom, of 
 labor, of self-denial in the particular region where I was called 
 to exercise its functions ; all united, with the characters of diffi- 
 culty impressed upon it by the master-hand which had just 
 performed so eminently and with such prodigious strength its 
 high requirements, to elevate it before my mind in a light truly 
 appalling : and it was not till the circumstances of the case 
 induced the belief that the providence of God directed me to 
 this scene of duty ; till prayerful meditation led me to perceive 
 that, in my appointment, He had followed the usual line of his 
 proceedings, choosing the weak things of the world to confound the 
 things which arc mighty ; that I could feel assured of not acting 
 presumptuously in accepting this difficult and most responsible 
 charge. 
 
 " When, therefore, I came to you, Brethren, I came not with 
 excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the 
 testimony of God ; for I determined not to know any thing 
 among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified :" and now, 
 although I am with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much 
 trembling, yet strong is my confidence that God will be with 
 me : that He, who hath given his promise to his ministers, " Ltf, 
 I am with you always, even unto the end of the world," will 
 not now leave His servant, unworthy as he may be, to the 
 discouragements of unblest exertion, but will uphold him by the 
 right hand of His power, and make him an instrument of some 
 good to His Church. When I inquire for human strength or 
 fitness, my heart is indeed desolate within me, but God is the 
 strength of my heart, and to Him will I look as my portion for ever. 
 
5 
 
 Brethren of the Clergy, ice are laborers together with God; and 
 while the reflection suggests the certainty of our success in 
 Him, let us not overlook the truth, that it does as plainly inti- 
 mate a connexion between our success and our duty ; that in 
 order to ensure the presence of God with us, we must be labor- 
 ers with him; must put forth our efforts in accordance with his 
 will : " Son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house 
 of Israel, therefore thou shalt hear the word from my mouth, 
 and warn them from me ;" " If any man speak, let him speak 
 us the oracles of God ; if any man minister, let him do it as of 
 the ability which God giveth ; that God in all things may be 
 glorified through Jesus Christ." So then we are ambassadors 
 for Christ ; and consequently, to ensure any reasonable pros- 
 pect of success, we must faithfully deliver the message with 
 which we have been intrusted. But in what does this message 
 consist ? This question, I doubt not, has already been well 
 weighed and settled in the mind of each one of my clerical 
 brethren present ; still the occasion seems to furnish a sufficient 
 apology for its being presented anew to-day, and somewhat in 
 detail. By this means you will be put in possession of my views 
 of Christian doctrine and ministerial fidelity ; while these views, 
 so far as they deserve to have weight with you, may tend to stir 
 up your minds by way of remembrance, and to animate our brethren 
 of the laity in those good old paths of life, which apostles trod, 
 and in which they called upon all to follow, clad in the whole 
 armor of God. 
 
 What then is our message to sinners 1 To answer this inquiry, 
 and to make a suitable application of the subject, is my design 
 on the present occasion. 
 
 I. The message of the Gospel minister. 
 " I determined not to know any thing among you," writes St. 
 Paul to the Churches at Corinth, "save Jes'us Christ and him 
 crucified." As I have chosen this language to express to you, 
 Brethren, the fixed purpose of my ministry, you will at once 
 perceive that I regard it as embracing the whole sum of minis- 
 terial duty; and hence, that my first object will be sufficiently 
 answered, when all that is implied in the expression, "Jesus 
 
Christ and him crucified" shall have been fully and explicitly 
 made known to you. 
 
 Restricting our view, in the first place, to the simple meaning 
 of the words themselves, we shall have this truth, Jesus Christ 
 the Saviour of men, the Anointed of God, and him crucified, him 
 bearing our sins in his own body on the tree. The isolated 
 expression, therefore, points us directly to that stupendous 
 transaction so prominent on the pages of the Gospel record, — 
 God the Father offering upon the cross his only- 
 begotten Son, as a victim to divine justice in the place 
 op fallen and condemned man. No wonder that a truth so 
 interesting to the sinner, so vital in the scheme of his salvation, 
 yet so repugnant to the prejudiced Jew, so confounding to the 
 haughty and self-sufficient Greek, should have engrossed the 
 whole mind of the Apostle^ and become, as it were, the living 
 principle of all his instructions ! Still, as no one could be more 
 solicitous than he, to declare the whole counsel of God, and as the 
 whole counsel of God is absolutely inseparable from the doctrine 
 of Christ crucified, we may reasonably expect to find him in 
 the discharge of his duties, giving to every part of the Christian 
 scheme its appropriate significance. On turning to his Epis- 
 tles, this expectation is abundantly realized. In that to the 
 Corinthians, from which the text is taken, the cardinal truth is 
 every where insisted on ; Other foundation can no man lay than 
 that is laid, which is Jesus Christ ; still this "foundation" is 
 presented as sustaining a grand and finished edifice. But as the 
 ultimate design of St. Paul must be supposed the same in every 
 Epistle, we are at liberty, in our inquiries into his views of 
 preaching Jesus Christ and him crucified, to have recourse to 
 all of his inspired writings. 
 
 What then, Secondly, is the full meaning of this expression 
 as understood by the Apostle himself? 
 
 In no portion of his writings has he furnished any thing like a 
 well arranged system of Gospel truth, except in his Epistle to the 
 Romans. Generally his instructions, being local and particular 
 in their application, are given without method ; while here, the 
 great object in view appearing to demand it, the leading points 
 
7 
 
 of Christian doctrine are so digested into a connected train of 
 argument as to bring each point before the mind according to 
 the most natural order. The truths, however, thus presented 
 in this one Epistle, are set forth with equal clearness and force 
 in almost every other. While then I adopt, in regard to the 
 first great principles of the doctrine of Christ, the arrangement 
 observed in the Epistle to the Romans, I would direct you, for 
 the support of these principles, to every part of the apostolic 
 writings. 
 
 1. We begin then with the deep and general corruption of 
 mankind by the fall of Adam : — a truth equally humiliating and 
 fundamental. To establish it, St. Paul appeals to facts; proving, 
 from their own depraved lives, that both Jews and Gentiles are 
 all under sin ; — agreeably to what was anciently written in the 
 Book of Psalms, "There is none righteous, no, not one : there 
 is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after 
 God ; they are all gone out of the way, they are together 
 become unprofitable ; there is none that doeth good, no, not 
 one." 
 
 Lest it should be urged, that this wide-spread corruption in 
 manners was the effect of mere outward circumstances, to be 
 corrected by some future and well-timed efforts of men, the 
 Apostle charges it directly upon a corrupt nature, universally 
 entailed through the transgression of our forefather Adam. 
 " Wherefore, by one man sin entered into the world, and death 
 by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have 
 sinned." Here then was an effectual bar to any hope from 
 human merit or human exertion. The whole world was shown 
 from its own willing and aggravated impieties, to stand guilty 
 before God : and as all law, natural and revealed, moral and 
 ceremonial, had been broken, and, from this original and uni- 
 versal bias to evil, must continue to be broken, no means of 
 escape could possibly arise from such a source; for "by the 
 deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified ; and there is no 
 difference, for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of 
 God." Thus arraigning the world of the ungodly before a law 
 that is holy, just and good, and pointing them to its numberless 
 
violations through their wanton perverseness, the Apostle would 
 fasten upon them the conviction of deep, inborn sinfulness, and 
 of the consequently just and awful punishment that hung over 
 their eternity. 
 
 At this stage of the argument, he is prepared to open before 
 them the way of salvation. Having placed them all beneath 
 the doom of a righteous sentence, proved that they had together 
 become unprofitable before God, with no prospect in themselves 
 of being able or disposed to alter their condition, he has come 
 to a point, from which he can most forcibly exhibit the value 
 and the freeness of the gift of eternal life, through the right- 
 eousness and death of the only-begotten Son of God. 
 
 2. Here then is the second fundamental point of Christian 
 faith, urged by St. Paul ; and although second in the order of 
 arrangement, yet not second in the grade of importance. In 
 fact, it is the chief corner-stone in this spiritual edifice ; that which 
 upholds every other part, and gives strength and perfection to 
 the whole structure. What, indeed, were the value of Chris- 
 tianity, without the doctrine of Christ crucified ; of his 
 vicarious sacrifice on the cross for sinners ? Take this away, and 
 you remove the very sun from the Gospel system. Without it, 
 every thing is cold and dark. Without it, every blessing is 
 annihilated; every hope made illusive as the visions. of night. 
 Of whatever importance, then, to the sinner, may be the other 
 doctrines of the Gospel, this is his city of refuge from the 
 avenger ; his ark of safety from the all-devouring flood. It is 
 manifestly held in this estimate by the Apostle. 
 
 "As by one offence," says he, "sentence came upon all men 
 to condemnation ; even so by one act of righteousness, the free 
 gift came upon all men unto justification of life:" for "God com- 
 mendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, 
 Christ died for us. Much more, then, being now justified by 
 his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, 
 when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the 
 death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, shall we be saved 
 by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God, through 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the 
 
9 
 
 atonement" "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God 
 is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." 
 
 Language, so clear in itself, and so faithfully expressive of 
 the original, needs little comment from me. To the mind 
 unfettered by prejudice, it will convey this simple meaning ; — 
 That, in his death on the cross, Jesus Christ paid to divine 
 justice the penalty due from sinners on account of transgression ; 
 and thus opened a way by which they may be justified before God, 
 and become partakers oj everlasting life and joy. To me, it has 
 always been matter of wonder that any one, with any thing like 
 a proper knowledge of the apostolical Epistles, should arrive at 
 a different conclusion ; or with even a slight acquaintance with 
 the nature of his own " works and deservings," should desire to 
 do so. The perversion must be ascribed, in charity to reason, 
 to the workings of that corrupt heart of which I have spoken as 
 so busy and so predominant in every carnal breast, and against 
 which in the study of the divine word, I shall presently have 
 occasion to warn you. My object now being not so much the 
 defence, as a mere statement of the truth as it is in Jesus, I 
 proceed to notice two important ideas which St. Paul never fails 
 to connect with this momentous doctrine of atonement : the 
 first having respect to the nature of the atoning sacrifice ; the 
 second, to. the instrument by which the blood of that sacrifice is 
 spiritually applied to the cleansing away of sin. 
 
 In regard to the nature of the atoning sacrifice, we may 
 observe, that, as in this Epistle to the Romans, so every where 
 in his writings, it is set forth as divine. In the passages already 
 adduced to show the way of salvation, we are said to have 
 received the atonement by our Lord Jesus Christ; to have been 
 reconciled to God through the death of his Son : and again, in a 
 succeeding chapter, to have become partakers of that love of 
 God which moved Him not to spare his own son, but to deliver 
 him up for us all. Taking this language in connexion with the 
 10th, 11th, and 12th verses of the 14th chapter of the same 
 Epistle, we have sufficient proof that St. Paul did not lose sight 
 of the deity of Jesus Christ, in this view submitted to the 
 Romans of his having offered himself, in our nature, a sacrifice 
 2 
 
10 
 
 for sin; but that he considered the two ideas as wholly insepa- 
 rable. In order, then, to place the doctrine of vicarious atone- 
 ment by the blood of Christ, in its own clear and impressive 
 light, the minister of the Gospel must not be backward in 
 enforcing it by the dignity and stupendous condescension of the 
 divine victim. 
 
 The other idea to which the Apostle has here given so much 
 prominence, relates to the instrument, by which the atoning 
 sacrifice of Christ is made available to dur rescue from eternal 
 misery, and to our enjoyment of eternal happiness. And that 
 instrument is failh. Being naturally in a state of guilt and con- 
 demnation before God, "we are justified freely by his grace," 
 declares this inspired teacher, "through the redemption that is 
 in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation 
 through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the 
 remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God ; 
 that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in 
 Jesus :" — " Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by 
 faith without the deeds of the law." Faith, then, is the instru- 
 ment of our justification : I say the instrument, it being some- 
 times most unscripturally represented as the meritorious cause. 
 The expression, a man is justified by faith, viewed in connexion 
 with the verses immediately preceding it, will be found to mean, 
 not that our faith is the purchase of justification, which we owe 
 solely to the blood of Christ, but that, through faith, as an 
 instrument, " we obtain the benefit of redemption wrought by 
 Jesus Christ." 
 
 The unsanctified heart of man, in order to evade the humi- 
 liating resort of utter dependence upon another, may perhaps 
 satisfy itself with a reference to the merits of Christ for just 
 enough to make up the deficiencies of what it esteems an almost 
 perfect life, or to render that life acceptable at the bar of judg- 
 ment; in the same manner as the influence of a powerful friend 
 sometimes gives success to our petitions with the great. But 
 when we apply our minds honestly to the truth as exhibited by 
 St. Paul, we shall at once see the folly of all these evasions, and 
 be led to the conclusion, however mortifying to our pride, that 
 
1 1 
 
 we are miserable, unprofitable sinners, in the midst Gf our best 
 services, dependent, and exclusively, upon the atoning merits of 
 Christ, for salvation from hell, and for admittance to heaven. 
 That neither faith, nor works, nor any thing else belonging to 
 us, enters, in any sense, into the procuring cause of our justifi- 
 cation ; but that the purchase of this is alone the blood-perfected 
 righteousness of a crucified Redeemer. On no other ground 
 could the Apostle, with any semblance of reason, declare, that 
 we are justified freely by the grace of God, through the redemption 
 that is in Christ Jesus. But, as 1 said, the merits of this 
 redemption must be appropriated to ourselves by means of faith, 
 as an instrument. In better words, " God so loved the world, 
 that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in 
 him should not perish, but have everlasting life." 
 
 3. Although this truth is so intimately connected with our 
 last general proposition, yet its importance will justify me in 
 presenting it as the third point insisted on by the Apostle. 
 
 In entering upon a consideration of the office of Gospel faith 
 in the scheme of redemption, I feel, Brethren, that I am engaged 
 at the very source of all spiritual life — am about to hold up to 
 your view the most essential attribute in the character of that 
 man, who is created anew, in Christ Jesus unto good works. 
 Hence the duty of being in our statements plain and explicit. 
 To this, St. Paul seems to have furnished every aid : and nothing 
 can be more important than our entire reliance upon this aid in 
 settling a point so vital to our eternal well-being. Now to my 
 mind, as I look into the writings of this Apostle, one thing seems 
 perfectly clear ; viz. that we are justified by faith without the 
 icorks of the law. In other words, that faith, considered simply 
 as a principle of affectionate trust in the heart, is the instrument 
 of our justification ; the instrument by which our cordial assent is 
 given to the plan of salvation through the righteousness and death 
 of the Son of God. From this office of faith, therefore, works of 
 every description are absolutely excluded. Many persons, 
 generally correct in their doctrinal views, have erred here from 
 too great precipitancy — -from their crowding into the foundation 
 that which properly belongs to the superstructure. Their fears 
 
12 
 
 lest repentance and obedience should be overlooked, have led thern 
 to hurry these essential qualifications of the Christian into the 
 foreground of the plan of mercy — to connect them with faith, 
 in its high office of leading the sinner to a heart-felt and justifying 
 confidence in the blood of Christ ; whereas St. Paul excludes 
 them from partaking at all in this particular ivork, while he 
 assigns them in the scheme of practical godliness, a no less 
 important, but very different place. Whoever wishes to see this 
 point fully and Scripturally discussed, will do well to consult 
 "A Summary View of the Doctrine of Justification," by the 
 learned and pious Dr. Waterland.* And besides, he will 
 find, by reference to the early Fathers, the English Reformers, 
 the Articles and Homilies of our Church, the same views clearly 
 presented. The language of our Eleventh Article is explicit : 
 it is the following ; "We are accounted righteous before God 
 only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, by 
 faith, and not for our own works or deservings. Wherefore, 
 that we are justified by faith only, is a most wholesome doctrine, 
 and very full of comfort, as more largely is expressed in the 
 Homily of Justification." In that Homily the subjoined passage 
 is directly to the point : — " St. Paul declareth nothing upon the 
 behalf of man concerning his justification, but only a true and 
 lively faith ; and yet that faith doth not shut out repentance, 
 hope, love, dread, and the fear of God, to be joined with faith 
 in every man that is justified ; but it shutteth them out from the 
 office of justifying." And why ] The same Homily answers — 
 " Because faith doth directly send us to Christ for remission of 
 our sins, and that, by faith given us of God, we embrace the 
 promise of God's mercy, and of the remission of our sins, (which 
 thing none other of our virtues or works properly doth,) there- 
 fore, the Scripture useth to say, that faith without ivorks doth 
 justify." To the same purpose Clemens Romanus, a companion 
 of St. Paul, declares, speaking of the salvation of the Old Testa- 
 
 * This excellent treatise, edited by the self-denying rector of Christ Church, 
 Nashville, Tennessee, has been published in a tract form, and may now be had at 
 the Protestant Episcopal Press, New-York, or of their agents at Wilmington, Fay- 
 etteville, and Raleigh, in this State. 
 
18 
 
 ment saints, " They were all greatly glorified and magnified, " — ■ 
 I use the translation of Dr. Waterland — "not for their own 
 sake, or for their own works, or for the righteousness which they 
 themselves wrought, but through his good pleasure. And we 
 also being called through his good pleasure in Christ Jesus, 
 are not justified by ourselves, neither by our own wisdom, or 
 knowledge, or piety, or the works which we have done in holiness 
 of heart, but by that faith by which Almighty God justified all 
 from the beginning." 
 
 From these remarks it will be perceived that I regard faith, 
 in the apostolic sense, as something more than a mental acqui- 
 sition, something more than a bare conviction of the understanding, 
 however clear, that the truths and events of the Gospel are 
 sustained by proper evidence ; that I regard it, in short, as a 
 moral virtue, deeply seated in the heart; and not only interesting 
 that heart in the economy of divine grace generally, but causing 
 it to repose entirely and with animating trust, in the merits of a 
 crucified Redeemer for the gift of eternal life. " Faith," in the 
 words of St. Paul, "is the substance of things hoped for;" that 
 is, it so impresses these things upon the heart and mind, as to 
 give them, by a certain effect, an actual subsistence. " It is the 
 evidence of things not seen," "being, as it were, the eye of the 
 mind looking to the blood of Christ, and thereby inwardly 
 warming the affections to a firm reliance upon it," and entire 
 acquiescence in the rules of holy living it enjoins. 
 
 Thus far, I have spoken only of what the Apostle seems to 
 regard as the preparation, on the part of man, to receive justifi- 
 cation. The subject, however, does not terminate here. If I 
 have not been greatly misled in my view of the meaning of St. 
 Paul, he sets forth Christian Baptism as the rite, in due sub- 
 mission to which, we are taught to expect, through faith in 
 Christ, the forgiveness of sins, and a covenant title to the 
 favor of God ; as the divinely instituted mode by which the sinner 
 may publicly declare his faith, plead guilty before God, and cast 
 himself entirely upon the mercy of his Judge — and the one in 
 which his Judge may publish the remission of his sins, through 
 the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; and stipulate to give 
 
14 
 
 him, by proper regard to the terms of the covenant, the blessings 
 of eternal life. 
 
 Before adducing that passage in the Epistle to the Romans, 
 which appears to exhibit this truth, I would refer you for its 
 manifest inculcation to the words of Him, who spake as never man 
 spake. To the disciple who came to him by night, Jesus said, 
 Verily, verily I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water 
 and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." 
 And again to the twelve, just previous to his ascension, — " He 
 that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved; but he that believ- 
 eth not shall be damned." In this language no one can fail to 
 perceive that both faith and baptism are, in some sense, con- 
 nected with our justification : faith, as the instrument by which 
 we receive this blessing, and baptism, as the contract on the part 
 of God, by which it is publicly conveyed, and made sure to us. 
 Look at the conversion of St. Paul : for three days had he 
 evidently exercised faith in the Lord Jesus, when Ananias was 
 sent to declare him justified in baptism, in the words " Arise and 
 be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the 
 Lord." Hence we ought to be prepared to understand the 
 meaning of this same Apostle, in the passage to which allusion 
 was just made: — "Know ye not, that as many of us as were bap- 
 tized into Jesus Christ, were baptized into his death?' That 
 is, into a covenant title to the merits of his death, through which, 
 by the power of the Holy Ghost, we are enabled to die unto 
 sin] "Wherefore we are buried with him by baptism into 
 death." In baptism, coming thereto with a lively faith in the 
 atoning blood of Christ, we receive from God the Father a 
 solemn promise of our death unto sin, in freedom from its penal 
 effects, and in an increased ability to rise from its corruptions, to 
 newness of life. Such are the views of St. Paul,* sustained, as 
 I might show, by the writings of most of the Fathers for the first 
 four centuries. f Therefore, my Brethren, "we are the children 
 
 * See Ephes. v. 25, 2G. Col. ii. 1 1, 12, 13. Tit. iii. 5, G, 7. Heb. x. 21, 22, 23. 
 1 Pet. iii. 21. 1 Cor. vi. 11, with reference to Wolfius in loca. 
 
 t See quotations from the Fathers in the treatise of Dr. Waterland, referred to 
 above. 
 
15 
 
 of God by faith in Jesus Christ: for as many of us as have 
 been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ." 
 
 The query, I am aware, may here be made, ' Whether no 
 salvation will be granted, except its blessings have been sealed to 
 us in baptism ? — whether a man possessing faith and neglecting 
 baptism may not finally be saved V Our answer is, "The mercy 
 of God is everlasting," and may be extended beyond the institu- 
 tions which he has established for its ordinary conveyance; but 
 that we have no warrant for committing our spiritual interest to 
 such an expectation ; and that our attempt to do so is the 
 strongest evidence against the genuineness of our faith. A man 
 may be satisfied that he has paid the full price demanded for an 
 estate; still you will hardly see him entering upon the uncon- 
 cerned possession of it, till it has been secured to him by the 
 proper legal instrument. So with the true child of God, he may 
 be persuaded that Christ has cancelled the debt due for his 
 sins to divine justice, and that he possesses the faith requisite to 
 his justification: still you will not find him resting here, so long 
 as he perceives that this justification is to be ratified by entering 
 into external covenant with his heavenly Father. The genuine 
 disciple of Jesus finds no non-essentials among the requirements 
 of that God who made and redeemed him. Sufficient for him 
 to know, that so great, so good a being demands his service. 
 In his view, duty is binding because God commands it; is profit- 
 able because the appointed medium of his blessing. The lan- 
 guage of such a one is not, 4 What may I omit and finally arrive 
 at heaven?' but that of St. Paul, "Lord, what wilt thou have 
 me to do ?" 
 
 4. We pass to the fourth particular of our subject, the con- 
 version of the sinner to God : the first steps of which have already 
 been brought to view, though under a different name. Faith, 
 once planted in the heart by a divine influence, must be regard- 
 ed as the commencement of that spiritual image, the possession 
 of which constitutes us new creatures in Christ ; or as the semi- 
 nal principle of all holiness; the seed from which, by a sort of 
 spiritual vegetation, every thing belonging to the new man is 
 produced. 
 
16 
 
 The necessity of this radical change in the affections and the 
 life of every fallen being, I hardly need say, is found in that deep 
 and universal depravity, with the consideration of which we 
 commenced. "The natural man receiveth not the things of the 
 Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he 
 know them, because they are spiritually discerned." "The 
 carnal mind is enmity against God — is not subject to the law of 
 God, neither indeed can be:" and "to be carnally minded is 
 death." Three things, from this language, are most evident; — 
 that the unrenewed man is pursuing a course of blind opposition 
 to the spirit of the Gospel — that in himself no adequate power 
 exists to arise to a better state — and that to continue in his 
 present condition, exposes him to the miseries of eternal death. 
 A question of most thrilling interest here arises ; whether in the 
 economy of redemption by Christ, sinners generally are fur- 
 nished with the power to rise from this death of sin to newness 
 of life 1 When we contemplate the unlimited offers, invitations, 
 entreaties, warnings and provisions of the Gospel, we can have 
 no hesitation, surely, in giving to this question an affirmative 
 answer. Upon this principle the Apostles uniformly proceeded, 
 in publishing the truths of redemption, and in appealing, for 
 their enforcement, to the awards of final retribution. But as 
 the limits of a single discourse forbid me to enlarge, permit the 
 reference upon this point to the clear and well sustained argu- 
 ment of Bishop Sumner in his Apostolical Preaching,* a book 
 eminently calculated, from its concise and forcible exhibition of 
 Gospel truth, to build up every class of Christians in the faith 
 once delivered to the saints. 
 
 In this state of weakness and corruption, then, every sinner 
 under the Gospel is provided with adequate power to subdue his 
 lusts, and turn to the ways of God. And every where in his 
 writings St. Paul ascribes this power to the operation of the 
 Holy Ghost — the Holy Ghost, moving upon the heart 
 silently, but with increasing effect, as the means of his influence 
 
 * See chap. iv. On Grace. This volume will be found among the " Standard 
 Works" published by the Protestant Episcopal Press, New- York, and may be 
 obtained of their agents in this State. 
 
17 
 
 enjoined in God's word arc employed. In that Epistle which 
 we have taken as our guide this morning, he says, speaking of 
 the delightful influence of justifying faith, that this is experienced 
 "because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the 
 Holy Ghost, which is given unto us." And again, " If ye live 
 after the flesh ye shall die; but if ye through the Spirit do 
 mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live ; for as many as are 
 led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." "If any 
 man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his ; and if 
 Christ be in you, the body is dead, in respect to sin ; — for we 
 can do all things through Christ, that strengtheneth us," as the 
 renewing energies " of the Holy Ghost are shed on us abun- 
 dantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour." Whence it is 
 sufficiently manifest that, in the work of our conversion, our 
 only hope of success is in the all-powerful help of the Holy 
 Spirit, the third person in the Godhead — and that this help is 
 granted us through the mediation of Jesus Christ, and conse- 
 quently must be as universal as his atonement. Faith, then, 
 implanted in the heart by a divine operation, is the beginning of 
 that new creation in Christ Jesus unto good works, without 
 which no man shall see the Lord. Repentance, in this case, 
 being always supposed, as' it is utterly impossible to exercise a 
 lively and effectual trust in the blood of a crucified Redeemer, 
 without having that perception of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, 
 which will lead to godly sorrow. Here then, the good seed 
 having taken root, cannot fail, under the gentle dews of heavenly 
 grace, to produce the fruits of holiness in heart and life ; " For 
 every man that hath this hope in him," — that is, the hope of salva- 
 tion by faith in Christ, "purifieth himself even as he is pure." 
 
 5. I am admonished, however, to hasten to our last topic of 
 consideration — the divinely appointed means of attaining, for our 
 conversion and sanctification, the necessary aids of the Holy 
 Spirit. And here time will permit me to do little more than 
 barely to enumerate these means. To avoid misapprehension, 
 consider them as adapted to the case of two classes of indi- 
 viduals, — to those baptized in infancy, and to such as have lived 
 without baptism to adult age ; — the infant, placed in that cove- 
 3 
 
18 
 
 riant relation to God, denominated in Scripture being bom anew 
 of water and the Holy Ghost, or the being saved by the washing 
 of regeneration,* is to be regarded as freed from the curse of 
 original sin, as under the tutelage of the divine Spirit, assiduously 
 to be trained up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Thus 
 treated by the parent, as a member of Christ, the child of God, 
 and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven, by his putting him in 
 timely remembrance of his solemn vow, promise and profession ; 
 by faithfully instructing him according to the strict tenor of that 
 vow ; by leading him onward by the powerful influence of a 
 godly example ; and by daily pleading in his behalf, the mercy 
 of a covenant God, there may be expected to follow that renew- 
 ing of the Holy Ghost, that repentance unto life, that/a^/i ivhich 
 works by love — in short, that new creature in Christ Jesus, 
 which we are taught to look for as the legitimate result of this 
 covenant state. When such means, in dependence upon the 
 divine Spirit, are employed with the child, he will, at a proper 
 age, be prepared to make a public declaration of his faith in 
 Christ agreeably to the terms of the covenant, and to receive 
 an increased measure of God's grace in the divine rite of con- 
 firmation ; and to continue to show forth the Lord's death, and 
 to commune with him in the blessed sacrament of his body and 
 blood. 
 
 But let no man deceive himself in this matter, and think 
 to obtain the favor of God by a heartless performance of these 
 external duties, while the affections and the life are given to the 
 ivorld. If the distinguishing fruits of the Spirit be wanting, no 
 outward condition or ordinance can in any respect supply the 
 deficiency. Indeed, the blood of the covenant thus trodden 
 under foot, cries to heaven for deeper vengeance upon the per- 
 jured soul. " Every branch in me," says the Son of God, 
 " that beareth not fruit, is taken away, and men gather them and 
 cast them into the fire, and they are burned." To those, there- 
 
 * See this subject treated at large by Dr. Waterland, in his admirable discourse 
 upon Regeneration, stated and explained according to Scripture and antiquity, 
 in connexion with Bishop Sumner's Apostolical Preaching. On Grace, chap. iv. 
 part 1. 
 
19 
 
 fore, who have thus crucified the Son of God afresh, by disre- 
 garding the obligations of his covenant of love, we can only 
 address the pressing calls of repentance and return to the way 
 of life. " Repent and turn yourselves from all your transgres- 
 sions, so iniquity shall not be your ruin." 
 
 The means of divine grace, however, are to be employed by 
 such as without baptism, have arrived at adult age in a some- 
 what different order. To render a covenant state of any avail 
 to them, they must enter it in the vigorous exercise of evan- 
 gelical faith and repentance — must first experience the renewing 
 power of the Holy Ghost. In regard to a point so clear I 
 shall adduce but a single text of Scripture, and that for the sake 
 of illustration rather than proof: — to the eunuch requesting to 
 be baptized, Philip, the deacon, replies, " If thou believest with 
 all thine heart, thou mayest." The means, therefore, which 
 these unconverted persons should be exhorted to use, are such 
 as may be best calculated to awaken in their minds a conviction 
 of guilt, and to lead them to faith in the Son of God; such as 
 serious reflection, prayer, searching the Scriptures, and devout 
 attendance upon the instructions of the sanctuary. But so soon 
 as the divine Spirit fixes upon the heart the first impress of a 
 Saviour's love, and the first solemn resolution to pursue the 
 strait and narrow way to the kingdom of glory, the sinner 
 should proceed to renounce his sins, in the laver of regeneration, 
 and to receive from God the Father, through the death of 
 Christ the Son, a covenant title to the blessings of eternal life. 
 While then we insist upon repentance and faith as essential 
 qualifications in adults for Christian baptism, it is highly import- 
 ant that we guard against the error which many timid persons, 
 under the influence of fanatical prejudice, fall into, of expecting 
 in themselves the ripe fruits of the Spirit before they enter upon 
 that process of divine culture, which alone is designed to bring 
 these fruits to perfection. Religion, in the soul of man, as 
 uniformly set forth in the word of God, has a state of infancy 
 and of manhood; and he who demands of the "babe in Christ" 
 the same evidences of conversion as of him who has arrived at 
 the "fulness of his stature," acts in opposition to the instructions 
 
20 
 
 of our great High Priest, who did not break the bruised reed, nor 
 quench the smoking flax. 
 
 The means by which, after being duly adopted into the family 
 of God, we are to be nourished up into everlasting life, are 
 furnished in the instructions and ordinances of his house. 
 Already have I spoken of confirmation, or the laying on of 
 hands, and the holy supper of the Lord, as among the most 
 important means of grace, as they are a'mong the most binding 
 acts of Christian obedience : the former of which, although not 
 possessing with the latter the high character of a sacrament, still 
 must be regarded as set forth with no less authority as belonging 
 to the principles of the doctrine of Christ. As to the views of 
 St. Paul upon the every-day duties of the Christian, it cannot be 
 necessary that I should here detain you : he who knows any 
 thing of the plague of his own heart, or of the dangers which 
 beset the narrow way of life, has not yet to learn, that daily 
 prayer, daily self-examination, and daily study of the divine 
 oracles, can alone preserve him unspotted from the world, and 
 enable him " to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our 
 Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ." 
 
 In order, however, to realize the full and proper effect of these 
 means, St. Paul, clearly, to my mind, insists upon the import- 
 ance of our keeping the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 
 And he does not leave it doubtful, as to what is implied in this 
 duty, but proceeds to state explicitly that there is but one body, 
 meaning the Church,* and one Spirit, even as ye are called in 
 one hope of your calling ; one Lord, one faith, one baptism ; 
 and that this Lord, previous to his ascension into heaven, com- 
 missioned certain disciples, with their successors to the end of 
 time, to act in his Church, according to their several grades of 
 office, " for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the 
 ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ ; till we all 
 come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son 
 of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of 
 the fulness of Christ ; that we henceforth be no more children, 
 
 * Coloss. i. 18. 
 
tossed to and fro, arid carried about with every wind of doctrine, 
 by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie 
 in wait to deceive ; but speaking the truth in love, may grow up 
 into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ, from 
 whom the whole body fitly joined together, and compacted by 
 that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual 
 working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the 
 body unto the edifying of itself in love." 
 
 The unprejudiced mind will discover, in this passage, that for 
 the purpose of uniting his people to himself on earth, and fitting 
 them for his immediate presence in the heavens, our Lord has 
 called them out from the world into a visible society, denomi- 
 nated his body, and in other places, his Church : that this Church 
 possesses certain characteristics, so intimately connected, as to 
 render the presence of each one as necessary to the full opera- 
 tion of the whole, as the joints and sinews of the human body are 
 to its proper health and action ; and that the principal link in 
 this bond of union with the Saviour, and the one which seems 
 to give due efficiency to every other, is the ministry, which he 
 established, and to which he gave his promise that it should be 
 perpetuated in unbroken succession to the end of time.* 
 
 It is, then, in our cordial belief of the doctrines, and in our 
 submission to the ordinances of the Church, as dispensed by the 
 ministry which Christ has set over it, that we are to maintain 
 a Scriptural union with him, its divine Head. It is this union 
 of his followers for which our blessed Lord so fervently prayed 
 just previous to his agony on the cross ; it is this which the 
 Apostles so constantly urged upon the Churches as essential to 
 their spiritual welfare ; and it is this which Was so beautifully 
 illustrated in the lives of the first Christians, of whom it is said, 
 that, having believed on the Lord Jesus, and been admitted by 
 baptism into his Church, they continued steadfastly in the Apostles* 
 doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. 
 And finally, to give to all these things the most stirring and 
 
 * For the author's views of the ministry, the reader is referred to the excellent 
 sermons of Bishop Ravenscroft on this subject, and to the "Works on Episcopacy," 
 published by the Protestant Episcopal Press. 
 
22 
 
 resistless force ; to deter the vicious, arouse the indolent, and 
 animate the wavering, the Apostle does not cease to appeal to 
 the awful scene, when death shall close the work of human 
 probation, and hurry us to the eternal awards of the great judg- 
 ment; the awful scene, when the trumpet shall sound, and the dead 
 shall arise, and this corruptible put on incorruption and this mortal 
 immortality ; and when, under the sentence of a just retribution, 
 the wicked shall go away into everlasting punishment^ and the 
 righteous into life eternal. 
 
 Thus, Christian Brethren, have I endeavored to give you the 
 apostolical view of the message of a Gospel minister ; to point 
 out as plainly as the time would permit, what is implied in 
 preaching Jesus Christ and him crucified. To lay before you 
 the Scripture truths, and that system of divinely appointed 
 means, which, if pressed home upon the consciences of our 
 hearers with suitable discrimination and dependence upon God's 
 blessing, can hardly fail to produce that renovation of heart, 
 that spirituality of view, that holiness of life, without which they 
 are all utterly vain — without which no man shall see the Lord. 
 
 The application of my subject must be in few words ; indeed 
 I owe you an apology, Brethren, for the claims already made 
 upon your patience ; but I plead the cause of Christ crucified, 
 and in view of his seat of judgment, where, with every one of 
 you, I must stand, and give account of my stewardship. Oh, fear- 
 ful account ! and oh, how soon may we be called to it ! 
 
 1. As we contemplate it, let me appeal first to you, Brethren 
 and companions in the sacred office ; and entreat you to call 
 often to mind, that our message is received from a crucified 
 Master. The reflection will at once suggest, that his love, which 
 commendeth itself so strongly from the cross, should constrain us 
 to follow, and with undeviating caution, the guidance of his 
 blessed Gospel, in publishing this message. Brethren, we con- 
 sider not the temptations to depart from this suggestion : the 
 natural indolence of our minds may often lead us to prefer the 
 tinsel offering of our own, prepared at little cost, to the pure 
 gold, brought up with hard labor from the deep treasures of 
 
23 
 
 Gospel truth ; or our thirst for literary fame may almost unwit- 
 tingly lead us to infuse into our discourses more of the senti- 
 ments of a heathen sage, than of an inspired apostle. But what 
 usually lies at the bottom of all this evil, is the pride of a self- 
 deceiving heart. Startle not at this, beloved Brethren ; ministers 
 of the lowly Saviour as we are, our hearts are still more or less 
 susceptible to the blinding impulses of pride. And these may 
 prompt us to depart from the simplicity of the Gospel, in order 
 to appear original, or striking, or great. But let us remember, 
 that the most original, the most striking, and the greatest preacher 
 that earth can furnish, is but a fallen being, with every percep- 
 tion dimmed, and every faculty debased. When, therefore, we 
 resort to our reason for a single truth, or to our fancy for a 
 single speculation, unguided by the plain teachings of God's 
 word, depend upon it, we resort to a corrupt and equivocal 
 source. And besides, in the study of God's word we must be 
 much in prayer, much on our watch, lest the cross of Christ 
 become an offence to us, or the inspired delineations of our guilt 
 become repulsive to our pride. How often has the conceited 
 schoolman succeeded in doing away, in his own view, the Scrip- 
 tural doctrine of human depravity, while led blindfold in his 
 efforts by the very depravity which he would deny. Let us 
 beware then, Brethren, of these ruinous devices of a proud 
 heart, and with his word in our hand cast ourselves at the feet 
 of an omniscient Master, praying always, " Lord, increase our 
 faith !" 
 
 2. Another consideration, my clerical Brethren, which I 
 would urge upon you, is the importance of presenting from time 
 to time, to your hearers, the truths of the Gospel, somewhat in 
 the order in which I have now stated them. My reasons are 
 many and strong, I can only name a few of them : order per- 
 vades the arrangements of Providence throughout our world — 
 things are in their proper places, and arise before us in regular 
 and beautiful succession. 
 
 Order marks the best and most successful operations of men ; 
 — the man of system, in whatever profession or employment, is 
 certain to be far ahead of his competitors.. Observe the incul- 
 
cation of human principles and ideas : — Where is the nursery of 
 the infant mind, in which system is not followed? — and if not 
 followed, where can true success be found ? But can order be 
 so natural and so important in these things ; and should it be 
 wholly dispensed with in our religious instructions ? I am con- 
 fident that much ultimate advantage would result to our congre- 
 gations from delivering our discourses, at least one every Lord's 
 day, in the order now proposed. Besides, it would secure the 
 exhibition of the whole truth. We are often governed by an 
 unjust preference in the choice of our subjects ; our minds are 
 led away by the imposing character of one doctrine, or our 
 hearts deeply penetrated by the saving nature of another ; and 
 we make it the constant theme of our public addresses, to the 
 entire neglect and consequent discouragement of others, no less 
 needful to the man of God, that he may be perfect, thoroughly 
 furnished unto every good work. The observance of system in 
 exhibiting the doctrines and precepts of Christ crucified, will at 
 once correct the evil, and insure to every prominent truth a 
 certain degree of attention. This method also will be found 
 greatly to facilitate the preparations for the pulpit, to the minis- 
 ter who observes it. It will naturally lead his mind, too, away 
 from itself, to proper dependence for its knowledge upon the 
 wisdom of God ; to give it a directness, and a vigor, and a 
 spirituality, which nothing can give it but a thorough and sys- 
 tematic training in the oracles of truth. In short, this system 
 in preaching comports exactly with the designs and provisions 
 of the Church. Her services, her creeds, her catechism, her 
 ecclesiastical year, and all that pertains to her, are set forth in 
 uniform and beautiful order : follow her example, then, my 
 Brethren of the clergy, by presenting her doctrines according to 
 some system ; always reserving to yourselves one occasion in 
 the week to adapt your instructions, admonitions, or encourage- 
 ments to the particular state of your congregations. 
 
 3. But again, do not forget to make the great leading doctrines 
 of the cross the leading topics of your discourse. Nothing will 
 humble the human heart but a sense of its deep corruption — 
 nothing will detach it /rom the world, the flesh and the devil, but 
 
25 
 
 the power of Christ's love. Let, then, our self-ruined and 
 guilty state, and the truth that our hopes rest alone in the blood 
 of Jesus, for spiritual and eternal good, be pressed upon the 
 mind and the affections till they are yielded to Christ. The 
 lukewarm spirits and worldly lives which we are called so often 
 to deplore, in professing Christians, may, in a great degree, be 
 ascribed to a want of this faithful inculcation, on our part, of 
 the two cardinal truths I have mentioned. Let us be faithful 
 here; and we shall soon experience our reward in that hungering 
 and thirsting after righteousness, in that overcoming the world, that 
 fighting the good fight of faith, that perseverance to the end on the 
 part of our hearers, which nothing but the constraining love of 
 Christ can produce. 
 
 4. Finally, my Brethren of the clergy, determine with St. 
 Paul, not only not to preach, but not to know any thing, among 
 your people, save Jesus Christ and him crucified. Keep far 
 from these heavenly doctrines, all questions of merely earthly 
 policy. Let them not become fettered and weighed down by 
 the devices of man's wisdom : they are able to stand alone — 
 yea, to have free course and be glorified without any adventitious 
 aid. Their own life-giving power, if left unembarrassed, will 
 ever prove a match for any opposition they may meet. Jesus 
 Christ has furnished in his Church sufficient means to give due 
 effect to his word. Let us not, then, seek to ingraft any thing 
 upon these with the vain hope of producing a salutary influence 
 upon human passion, to which they are not adequate. Any 
 such attempt, though it may subserve a temporary purpose, will 
 end in evil to the cause of our Redeemer. 
 
 And in conclusion, let us be persuaded to enforce our preach- 
 ing by our lives ; to show in those lives that we have been with 
 Jesus ; that we bear about in our bodies the dying of the Lord. 
 Let us keep ourselves from the entanglements of sense ; that we 
 may stand in bold relief before our people and the world, as the 
 ambassadors of a divine and crucified Master. 
 
 To you, my Brethren of the laity, my concluding word is, act 
 up to the high privileges you enjoy ; let the love of Christ con- 
 4 
 
26 
 
 strain you ; let it be seen in all that you say and do, that you 
 are grounded and settled in the truth ; in the truth as it is in 
 Jesus ; that you are governed by the love of Him who was 
 crucified to save you. 
 
 Great are the responsibilities of every intelligent being who 
 draws the breath of life in a Gospel land ; great must be his 
 account. But if there be one class of these beings more 
 responsible, more pressed by the solemnities of judgment than 
 another, that class is Episcopalians — their measure of spiritual 
 blessings is full !