SuU ? V ij^ 5^ 5::=^ n^ ^i^ o^ "^52- OF THE AT PRINCETON, N. J. D €3 3V .A. 1" I C3 ZV O IS- SAMUEL AONEW, OK PHILADELPHIA, PA. ® ' — r% |] (UlS(\ Division SERMON S O N PRACTICAL SUBJECTS, E Y DAVID GIL SON, M. A. CURATE OF ST. SAVIOUR'S, SOUTHWARK, ^SISTANT - PREACHER AT STOCKWELL - CHAPEL, AND AT ST. PAUL'S, COVENT-GARDEN. LONDON: PRINTED FOR J. F. AND C. RIVINGTON, N° Si, ST, Paul's church yard ; j. walter, charing- CROSS; AND J, SEWELL, CORNHILL. M DCC LXXXVIII. PREFACE. T^HE following difcourfes are "*" not publiflied, from views of temporal fame or profit ; confide- rations, whichj in the opinion of the authour, fhould leaft of all have influence on religious ftudies. He compofed and delivered them, un- der a higher fenfe of account, than what ftands conne6led with human judgment ; and he feels no difpo- fition to court another fandlion, when fubmitting them to open examination. Not that he difre- gards the fentence of the learned, that he would not be proud of the encouraging approbation of the wife ; but thefe will not be back- ward in allowing this cheriflied featiment its latitude, — That am- A 2 bition iv PREFACE. bition of praife, or dread of cen- fure, are but unimportant objeds to the mind of him, whofe foul is bid to inform his fervices — and whofe immediate judge is God. At the requeft of many refpedl- ed hearers, which it would have been undutiful in him to negleft, and by the favour of friends — whofe kindnefs it would be un- grateful not to notice, they are prefented to Them, and to the Public. Indulgence, for every weak, human effort, however well in- tended, or guardedly made, is what one man need not blufh to folicit from his brother ; and fo far as either defe6l, miftake, or languor, may be difcovered by the fcienti- fick, the difcerning, the devout — the authour afks it of them. In one cafe, there appears to himfelf a probabihty of exception. The manner PREFACE. V manner of addrefs and familiar re- prefentation, held necell'ary and employed by the Speaker, remains unaltered by the Writer. A change might, no doubt, here, have eafily been made ; and, par- ticular circumftances and applica- tions being unnoticed and left out, the difcourfes taken a form of more general ufefulnefs. But this change to make — he had neither right nor inclination. He was afl^ed for his fermons, by Hearers, who, flatteringly perhaps — yet kindly, expreffed a confidence of their be- ing beneficial to their fellow-chrif- tians, in the fame ftate as uttered to them ; and he gives them the fame unvaried dodirine, from the prefs, which, from the pulpit 5 con- ciliated him the favour he moil regards ; and if it begat him any enmity — begat him that he is leaft difpofed to Ihun. If vi PREFACE. If he feels any regret, from an unnoted name and obfcurity of ftation, it is chiefly that he cannot confer fuch honom-by his thanks, as his v/ell-wifliers have fairly me- rited by difinterefted kindnefs. But he remembers, with fatisfac- tion, that the fervice of the heart — only a like tribute can repay ; and if either his life or writings, can fhew his own pious afte6lions fincere, or elevate thofe of his brethren to a nearer refemblance with the image divine, he fhall think he has in this, as in every cafe befides, abundant caufe to blefs the fame Gracious Being, for the event of the one, — for the ef- fed: of the other. CON- ^;>.».^.^?.tAft,>.■«, __ C O N T E ^V-?^'-?,- k-'-^^OLOGIOi:L />« SERMON I. On New- Year's Day. Page 2 Samuel xiv\ 14. jP(?r i^;^ mujl needs die, and are as water fpilt upon the ground^ which camiot be gathered up again : neither doth God re- JpeB any per/on-, yet doth he devifc means (hat his banijhed be not expelled from hiin^ I SERMON ir. On the Duties of the M a R R i e d. Judges xiii. 22, 23. ^nd Manoah Jaid unto his wife. We fiall furely die, becaufe we have feen God. But his wife fa id unto hiniy If the Lord were pleajed to kill us, he would not have received a burnt-offering and a meat- offering at our hands, neither would he have jloewed us all theje things, nor would as at this time ijave toui us Jucb things as the/e% 29 S E R^ vili CONTENTS. SERMON III. The fame Subject continued. Page Ruth i. 16, 17. Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee : for whither thou goejly I will go ^ and where thou lodgejiy I will lodge ; thy people fiall be my people J and thy God my God: Where thou diejiy will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do fo to me^ and more . alfo, if ought but death part thee and me. ^^ SERMON IV. On the Duty of Masters. Luke vii. 4. j^jid when they came to Jefus, they bef ought him injiantly, faying^ I'hat he was wor- thy for whom he fhould do this — . 87 SERMON V. On the Duty of Servants. Job iii. 19. ^he fmall and great are there ; and the fervant is free from his majier, iij SER^ contents; ix SERMON VI. On Keeping the Sabbath. Page Isaiah Iviii. 13, 14. tf thou turn away thy foot from the fah^ bathf from doifig thy pleafure on my holy day } and call the fabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable , and fh alt honour him^ not doing thine ow?i ways, nor finding thine own pleafure^ nor fpeaking thine own words : Then Jhalt thou delight thyfclf in the LORD ; and I will caufe thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father : for the mouth of the LORD hath fpoken it. i/^j SERMON VII. On the Lord's Supper. John xxi. 15. •"-fef us faith to Simofi Peter, Simon fn of fonas, love/i thou me more than thefef He faith unto him. Tea, Lord, Thoit knoiveji that I love thee.-^ iSj SER. X CONTENTS. SERMON VIII. On the Resurrection of Lazarus. Page John xi. 36. ^hen /aid the yews. Behold how he loved him ! 213 S E R M O N IX. On Schism. Philippians i. 15. Borne indeed preach Chrijl, even of envy and Jlrife, 247 S E R M O N X. On Spring. Genesis i. ^, - — jlnd the evening and the morning were the Jirjl day, 287 SERMON XI. On the Right Use of Wedded Affection. Gompofed on the Marriage of a Friend.' John iv. 16. 'fefiis faith unto her. Go, call thy hujband and come hither, 305 SE R- CONTENTS. XI SERMON XIL An Estimate of Female Cha- racter. Page pROVfeRBS XXxi. 30* Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: But a woman that feareth the LORQ'^i^j^f^-^-^^^i Jhejhall be praifed, ^^^ |3^.. ^ ^ r~Q^ SERMON XIIL On Sorrow. VhSOLOGIG^ 2 Cor. vii. 10. ''^leii^ Tor godly for row worketh repentance fofaU vat ion not to be repented of: but the for- row of the world worketh death, 362 SERMON XIV. On the Proper Application of Natural Knowledge. Preached at the time of a Thunder Storm. Job xxvi. 14, XjO, thefe are parts of his ways, hut how little a portion is heard of him f but the thunder of his power who can under^ Jiand? . 411 5 SER. Xii C O N T E N T S. SERMON XV. On Compassion. Page Luke x. 29. But he willmg to jujiijy himfelf, /aid unto Jefus, And ivho is my 7ieighbour t 431 SERMON XVI. On the Comforts of the Christian Faith. Job XIX. 25. / know that my Redeemer liveth — . 457 SERMON XVII. On the Joys of Heaven. Isaiah li. 11. -~^The redeemed of the LORD fiall return y and come with fmging unto Zion ; and everlcfting joy Jhall be upon their head : they JloaiL olkain gladnefs a?id joy ; and for row and mourning JJ: all fee away. 483 SUB- SUBSCRIBERS. MR. Adams, Southampton-ftreet, Covent-garden Mrs. Adams, Maidenhead Mrs. Adams, St. Margaret's-hill Ifaac Akerman, Efq; Hartford- ft reet, 2 copies Mr. Alexander, South-Lambeth Lady Aftiurft Mr. Afwell, Greenwich Mr. Matthew Atkinfon B Mr. Raker, Bedford-ftreet, Covent-garden Mifs Barker, Stockwell B. Barratt, Efq; Stockwell, 2 copies Mrs. Barratt, ditto ditto Mr. Battell Mr. Thomas Beard Mrs. Bedwell, Scotland-yard Mrs. F. Bekhier Mr. Bell, High-ftreet, Borough Mrs. Bell, ditto Mr. Bellamy, Chandos-ftreet, Covent-garden Mrs. Bellamy, Red-lion-ftreet, Borough Rev. James Bentham, M. A. Prebendary of Ely, and F. S.A. Rev. JefFery Bentham, M. A. Minor Canon of Ely Mr. Bentley, Bedford-ftreet, Covent-garden Mrs. Beft, York-ftreet, Covent-garden Mr. Bibbins, Hoxton Mrs. Blackmoore, Henrietta-ftreet, Covent-garden William Bleamire, Efqj Queen's-fquare, Wcftminfter, 2 copies Mr. Bourdillon, Ruflel-ftreet, Covent-garden Mr. Breach John Bright, Efq; Tooting, 2 copies Peter Broadley, Efq; High-ftreet, Borough Mrs. Sarah Broadley, ditto a Thomas SUBSCRIBERS. Thomas Brooks, Efq; Maid-lane Peter Brown, Efq; Tooting, 2 copies Mr. Buckley, Taviftock-ftreet, Covent-garden Rev. R. Bullock, D. D. Redor of St.Paul's, Covent- garden, 2 copies Mr. Burgefs, Stockwell, 2 copies Rev. Mr. Butcher, Vicar of Wandfworth Mr. Butler, Druggift, St. Margaret's-hill Mr. Buttle, York-ftreet, Covent-garden Mr. Byam, Charles-ftreet, Covent-garden, 2 copies Mrs. Byam, ditto ditto Mr. Byam, Cirencefler Samuel Byam, Efq; Temple Mr. Byam, Tetbury, Gloucefterfliire Mr. Byrn, Bedford-ftreet, Covent-garden C Mr. Campbell, Shakefpcar' Tavern, Covent-garden Mr. Cane, St. Saviour's Church-yard Mr. Cannon, Surry-ftreet, Strand Mr. Carter, Stockwell, 2 copies Mr. Carter Mr. Chaplin, Bridges-ftreet, Covent-garden Rev. Mr. Cockfhutt, Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge Mr. Collifon, Stockwell, 2 copies Mr. W. Combes, Chandos-ftreet, Covent-garden Mr. Cookfon, Taviftock-ftreet ditto Mr. Cuttin Thomas Coutts, Efq; 2 copies Mrs. Crawford, Eflex-ftreet Mifs Crawfurd, ditto James Crofts, Efq; King-ftreet, Covent-garden, 2 copies Mr. James Crofs, Henrietta-ftreet, ditto Mr. Curling, New-market, Southwark D Mr. D'almain, Bow-ftreet, Covent-garden Rev. A. Davidfon, Lymington, Hants, 4 copies Mrs. Davidfon, ditto, 2 copies David SUBSCRIBERS. David Davies, Efq; King-ftreet, Covent-gardeii Rev. Reynold Davies, 2 copies Mr. Daws-, Walcot-place, 2 copies Rev. Mr. Day, Chaplain of St. Saviour's Mrs. Day Rev. Mr. Day David Day, Efq; Little Hermitage, Kent Mr. A. Day Mr. Day, York-ftreet, Covent-garden Mrs. Day, ditto Mr. William Day, ditto Mifs Day, ditto Mifs Day Right Hon. Lady Deerhurft, 2 copies Mr. De-la-Pierre, Well-ftreet, Hackney Rev. Mr. De Veil John Dorville, Efq; 2 copies Mr. Douglas, Stockweil, 2 copies Mrs. Douglas, ditto, ditto Mifs Douglas, Taviftock-ftreet, Covent-garden Mr. George Duguid, High-ftreet, Borough Mrs. Dunn, Adelphi E Hon. and Right Rev. The Lord Bifliop of Ely, 2 copies Mr. Edwards, jun. Newington Butts Mifs Edwards, Taviftock-ftreet, Covent-garden Mr. T. Ellis, St. Margaret's-hill Rev. Mr. Embry, Preacher at Stockwell-Chapel, 2 copies F Mrs. Filmer Mr. Finch, King-ftreet, Covent-garden Mrs. Finch, ditto Rev. Mr. Finley, Sudbury, Suffolk Mrs. Fiftier, Te'tbury, Gloucefterftiire Mr. Thomas Foot Rev. Robert Forby, Barton, Norfolk Mr. Francis, York-ftreet, Covent-garden Mr, French, Taviftock-ftreet, ditto a 2 Mifs SUBSCRIBER S» Mifs French, Stockwell, 2 copies Mr. Froome, Grand Hotel, Covent-garden G Mrs. GifFard, Bridges-ftreet, Covent-garden Mrs. Goodenoi:;^h Mr. Grazebrook, WalbiidTC, Gloucefterftiire Mr. Green, New Bond-ftreet Mr. Gueft, Bedford-ftreet, Covent-garden H Mr. Hambly, Spltal-fields Rev. Dr. Hamilton, Goodman's-fields, 2 copies Mr. Harrington, Surgeon, Harteft, Suffolk Mr. Jofeph Harris, St. Margaret's-hill Mr, Hawkes, James-ftreet, Covent-garden Rev. Mr. Hawkins Mr. John Hawkins Mr. Hayward, Church-flreet, Hackney Mrs. Heighington Mr. Hewetfon, King-ftreet, Covent-garden Mrs. Hildefly, Henrietta-ftreet, ditto Mr. Hitchins, Stockwell, 2 copies Thomas Hopkins, tfq; Glamorganfliire Mr. Horwood Mr. E.vHoficins, Tetbury, Gloucefterfhire Mr. Howard, Soutbampton-ftreet, Covent-garden Mrs. Howell, High-ftreet, ;*orough Mr. Howes, Winlbn, GlcJCffterlbire Mr. Hutchins, Hudfon's-Bay-Houfe Mrs. Hutchins, King-ftreet, Covent-garden Mr. Jackfon, King-flreet, Bloomfbury Mr. Jennings, Henrietta-ftreet, Covent-garden Mrs. Jeremy, Southampton-ftreet, ditto Mrs. Johnfon, Henrietta-ftreet, ditto Mifs Johnfon, ditto Mifs Johnfon, Boxford, Suffolk Mr. Johnfon Mifs Johnfon Mr. SUBSCRIBERS, K Mr. Jofeph Kemble, Swithin's-lane Mr. Kefteven, York-ftreet, Covent-garden Mr. T. Kefteven, ditto Rev. A. Kilgour, D. D. Polftead, SufFolk Mrs. Kilgour, ditto Mifs Kilgour, ditto Leonard Killam, Efq; Argyle-ftreet, 2 copies Rev. John King, Redtor ot Pertenhall Mr. William King, King-ftreet, Covent-garden Mr. Kinfey, Bedford Coffee-houfe, ditto L Mr. Lanfden Rev, Mr. Lawrence Mr. Lawrence, Henrletta-ftreet, Covent-garden, 2 copies Mifs Lebeck, Taviftock-ftreet, Covent-garden Mr. Lewis, King-ftreet, ditto Mr. Lewis, jun. ditto, 2 copies Mr. Lideard, Cirencefter Mr. Lucas, York-ftreet, Covent-garden M Mr. Malcolm, Kennington Mr. Malyn, Stockwell, 2 copies Mifs Martelli, Sherborne, Hants Mr. Meat\'aw, Stockwell, 2 copies Mrs. Meflenge, Vinegar-yard, Southwark Rev. William Metcalf, M. A. Minor Canon of Ely James Meyrick, Efq; Parliament-ftreet, 2 copies Thomas Mills, Efq; 2 copies Edward Moore, Efq; Stockwell, 2 copies Mrs. Moore, ditto ditto Mr. Moore, RufTel-ftreet, Covent-garden Rev. Mr. More, St. Margaret's, Weftminfter Rev. Caefar Morgan, M. A, Chaplain to the Lord Biftiop of Ely Robert Morgan, Efq; Charlotte-ftreet, Bloomfbury T. C. Morgan, Efq; Fairford, Gloucefterfhire, 2 cop. Mrs. Morley, Kennington Mr. SUBSCRIBERS. Mr. Morphett, Stockvvell, 2 copies Mrs. Morphett, ditto, 2 copies Mr. Morris, ditto, 2 copies Mrs. Moriis, ditto, 2 copies Mr. Mount, Cirencefier Mr. J. B. Murphy, Church-ftreet, Lambeth N Mr. Na{h, Rupert-llreet Mrs. Norman, Southampton-ftreet, Covent-garden O Mr. Philip Egerton Ottey, Lincohi's-inn Mr. Ovey, Taviflock-ftreet, Covent-garden Mr. Owen, King-ftreet, ditto P Jofeph Paice, Efq; 4 copies Mr. Partridge, Taviftock-ftreet, Covent-garden Mrs. Pearfon, Church-yard Row, Newington Butts Mrs. Peafe, Strand Mifs E. Peck Mrs. Pemberton, Gough-houfe, Chelfea Mrs. Pennant, Upper GrolVenor-llreet Thomas^ Hallard Penoyre, Efq; 2 copies Rev. J. Phillips, Wandfworth, 2 copies Mrs. Piggott Mr, James Piggot, Temple Lady Pitches, 2 copies Mr. Pitt, Cirencefter Mifs Pitt, Tetbury, Gloucefterfhire Mr. Poole, Ely Mr. Pringle, Henrietta-flreet, Covent-garden R Rev. Thomas Rackett, 2 copies Mr. Ratray, Pater-nofter Row, 2 copies Mrs. Ratray, ditto, 2 copies Robert Ray, Efq; Lincoln's-inn, 2 copies Mrs. Sarah Reeve, Ipfwich, 2 copies Colonel Rigault, Taviftock-ftreet, Covent-garden * Riggj Efq; Piazza, ditto Mrs. SUBSCRIBERS. Mrs. Roberts, Wandfworth Jofeph Robertfon, Efqj Stockwell, 2 copies Mrs. Robertfon, ditto ditto Rev. Robert Robertfon, Manningtree, Eflejc Mrs. F. Robinfon Matthew Robinfon, Efq; Chrlfl's College, Cambridge Samuel Rufli, Efq; Vinegar-yard, Southwark, 2 copies Mr. John Rutherford Mr. Sabb, Borough, 4 copies Mrs. Sedgwick, Bedford-ftreet, Covent-garden Mrs. Sellwood, Abingdon Rev. Mr. Sharpe, Clapham William Sheldon, Efq; Southampton -ftreet, Covent" garden Mrs. Shrimpton, Bedford-fquare, 2 copies Mr. Simpfon Mifs SkinHey Mrs. E. Slack John Smith, Efq; Tooting, 2 copies Mr. Smith Mrs. Sparkes, Southampton- ftreet, Covent-garden Robert Steel, Efq; 2 copies Thomas Steel, Efq; 2 copies Mrs. Steel, 2 copies Mr. Strachan, Mincing-lane, 2 copies Stratton, Efq; Grove-ftreet, Hackney Thomas Strong, Efq; Wandfworth Rev. Mr. Swaine Mr. Thomas Tatterfal Mrs. Tatterfal Mr. Taylor, St. Margaret's-hill Henry Thomas, Efq; 2 copies Mr. Thomas, High-ftreet, Borough Mrs. Tinkler, Charles-ftreet, Covent-garden Mr. Tombs, Coats, Gloucefterlhire Mr. Tombs, Abingdon Rev, SUBSCRIBERS. Rev. Dr. Turner Mr. James Tufon, Boxford, Suffolk Mr. Tutt, Taviftock-ftreet, Covent-garden V Rev. Dr. Vyk, Lambeth W Mr. Walker, Bedford-ftreet, Covent-garden Mr. Wallace, ditto Mr. Wanfey Mr. Jofeph Waring, Lambeth Mr. John Watts, Bankfide, Southwark Mils Watt?, ditto Mr. John Watts, Tooley-ftreet, Southwark Mrs. Weetman, Bridges-ftreet, Covent-garden Mr. Wells, ditto Thomas Wetherall, Efq; Tooting, 2 copies Mr. Whale, Cloak-lane, 2 copies Mrs. Whinnell, Scotland-.yard John White, Efq; Abingdon-ftrect William White, Efq; Temple Mrs.^ T. Wickes, Tetbury, Glouceftcrfhire William Wilkinfon, Efq; 2 copies Mr. Wilkinfon, Taviftock-flreet, Covent-garden Mrs. Wilkinfon, ditto Mrs. Willerton, New Bond-ftreet Rev. Mr. Williams, Re£lor of Selworthy, Somerfet{h. Mr. Wilfon, Henrietta-flreet, Covent-garden Mr. W. Wilfon, jun. Mr. William Winter, Chandos-ftreet, Covent-garden Matthew Winter, Efqj Tootina;, 2 copies Mrs. Woods Mrs. Wotton, Maiden-lane, Covent-garden Mr. Wright, Dolor's Commons Mr. David Wright, St. Martin's-Ie-grand, 4 copies Y. Mrs. Young, Charles-flreet, Covent-garden S E R- M>o<>0€><>0<>0<<3><>C><'0<|>0<<>)«>»0<>00<^ S E R O N L On NEW-YEAR'S DAY. 2 Samuel xiv. 14. i^'^r we mufi needs die, and are as water fpilt upon the ground, which camiot be gathered up again : neither doth God re- fpe5i any per/on-, yet doth he devife means that his banijhedbe not expelled from him, gXXX^FEW meditations on Death, maySERM, ^^ j^ not be wholly unfuitable — to mix ^•..AA,-sA ^jjj^ g^g^ ^j^^ feftive pleafures of a New- Year's Day ! The Pidure whofe light would charm us, whofe figures would laft- ingly engage, muH owe much of its excel- lence to its colours and its fliade : and the B Tra- I. 2 On New-l^ears Day. Ser M. Traveller who now rejoices under the fmiles I- of the rifing Sun, will, furely, at times, caft a thought before — to the place where he fhall take up his abode — when it fets 1 To abftracft the mind from confidera- tions which are ftrengthened by every tem- poral regard, and to lead it, with any fuc- cefs proportionate to our wiihes, to pon- der on the end of things, is what we al- moft ceafe to exped:, though we ceafe not todefirej yet thus far fhall our labours terminate in fomething good, if during only the fhort fpace of time wherein we actually befpeak your attention, that at- tention be taken off from your bodies, your vanities, and the concerns of a day, and jBxed — as far as by the grace of God we may be enabled to imprefs it — on your fpiritual natures and duties, on the period of life, and the eternity which follows. For we muji needs die, and are as water fpilt upon the ground^ which cannot be ga- thered up again — . On this fubje(5t, nothing new need be cxpeded, and nothing marvellous is meant —to On New-Tear s Day. J « — to be Tald : but although it be a com- Serm. moil — it is not the lefs a ferious thing — ^' to die; and though Life, from the natural decay of the frail veffel that holds it, or from ten thoufand accidents that accelerate diffolution, be eafily, like water yfpUt upon the ground-^the refie6lion that it is never, in this flate, to be gathered up again — » fhould teach us the ufefulnefs of Virtue, and the necefiity of Hafle. With theoccafion whereon thefe words were employed, we will briefly endeavour that you fliould be acquainted : for, with pafTages of Sacred Scripture, to our forrow we find numbers little familiarifed j to ouf united grief and aftonifhment — -many that, from ignorance, are unable to refer to them if they would. Joab^ the General of David^ furpafilng in all the qualities that dignify— -the dif- politions that endear, feems not lefs to have excelled in the virtues of retirement, than in the valorous atchievements of war. In eloquencCj as in arms, the Jon of Zeriiiah appears not to have been far behind the B 2 diftin- 4 On New-Tear s Day, Serm. diflingu idled fon of Jejfe. And while \t !• is pleafant to follow noble fpirits from their publick walk to their fcenes of pri- vacy, it is doubly delightful to find them uniformly illuitrious, in the retreat of filence as in the refort of fame. It were from our purpofe, to multiply inftances, wherein this Kinfman of the king of If- rael manifefted that he was affectionate and wife as he was brave • feeing That before us may abundantly fuffice. Abfalom^ the Jiealer of the hearts of Ifrael, the avenger of his fifter, the favourite of his father, h^idi fed from ihoit father s face, through fear of punifliment for an hafty vengeance done on the life of an haplefs, guilty bro- ther; for whom David, during the firfl tumults 'of affe6tion, is faid, by the relater of his Story, to have mourned every day. But the grief that is hopelefs, is vicious; and fuch, the man according to the Lord's own heart would not long be left to in- dulge.— T^he foul of king David longed to go forth to Abfalom : for he was comforted concerning Am?io}i—feei}ig he was dead. The On New -Tear s Day. 5 The offices of Friendfliip — are all — theSfiRM. duties of the heart. The underftanding I- may afford them fandlon, but it never gave them rife. Joab feems to have felt, before he knew, them ; yet no man, fure- ly, ever knew them better : and if ever David was peculiarly ungrateful — it was to Zeruiah's fon ! Now Joab the fon of Zeruiah per cei'ued that the kings heart was toward Ahfalom I — and Joab, with a deli- cacy that makes his name to me immortal, without one confideration for himfelf, fet immediately about finding the means to give that longiJig heart its eafe, its wiHied- for gratification, foab fent to Tekoah, and fetched thence a wfe woman — we will not flay to afk, was there not a wfe woman nearer the court ? — and faid unto her I pray theCy feign thyfef to he a mourner, and put on now mourning apparel, and anoint not thyfef with oil — but be as a woman that had a long time 7nourned for the dead: and come to the king, and fpeak on this manner unto him. So foab put the words in her mouth, B 3 Nbvef, 6 On New-Tears Day, Serm. Never, fure, was kinder Teacher; never, J- fure, was apter Scholar ; and, if the term may at all be allowed, never, fure, Vv^as Fraud more Innocent— than here ! She came unto the king, and flie uttered her complaint; the complaint, as of a widow, whom the reve?igers of blood fought to de- ftroy-y whofe only remaining coal they cru- elly wanted to quench, nor leave to her nor her father s houfe a najjte or a remainder upon the earth. Go to thine houfe, faid the king, and I will give charge concerning thee, Whofoever faith ought unto thee, bring him to me, and he fiall not touch thee any more. Then faid fie — and blelTed be her memory for even being the inflrument of making an application fo pious and io jufl ! — / pray thee, let the king remember the Lord thy God, that thou wouldejl not fiffer the revengers of blood to dejlroy any ?nore, lejl they dejiroy my fon. She wanted him to bind himfelf with an oath ; ancj David, as in almoft every cafe recited in his hillory, became his own accufer and pondemncr where his condudl was to blame 3 —As On New -Tear s Day, 7 — y^i- the Lord liveth, replied he, /f/^^r^SERM. pall not one hair of thy f on fall to the earth. !• T!hen the woman [aid. Let thine ha?idmaid, I pray thee^ fpeak one word unto my lord the king. And he f aid. Say on. And the woman faid. Wherefore then haft thou thought fuch a thing agamfi the people of God? for the king doth fpeak this thing as one which is faulty , in that the king doth not fetch home again his hanified. — For we miifi needs die, and are as water fpilt upon the ground, which cannot be gathered up again : neither doth God refpeB any perfon ' — yet doth He devife means that his banifhed be not expelled from him. Let the effect which thefe words had on David be witnefTed in us. He Tent for the fon, that he had banifhed from his pre- fence, yet who was never exiled from his lovei and though his forgivenefs met with an ungrateful return, though the hearts of the men of Ifrael went after Abfalom, and the ill-requited Father was, in his turn, unnaturally compelled to flight -, yet was the lelTon he had learned from the Wid^w B 4 gf 8 On NcW'Tears Day, Serm. of Tekoahy a comfort in his afHidion, a I» folace in his pain. By her he had been taught to bear in immediate remembrance, the paiiing nature and the flippery tenure, of every worldly polTeflion, of every earthly good, — as well as been put in mind that though God wzs no rejpecicr of perfons — that though nor king nor prophet, from the impartial diitributions of providence, was to expe6t exemption from the trials or the ills of life, yet did Omnifcient Good- nefs invariably devife means that his banifi- ed fdould not be expelled from Joim-y and that thofe who fliould find favour in his fight, though driven by calamitous chance, to feek, for a time, the way of the wildernefs, and t^rry in a place afar of\ would yet again to the Zion in which they had de- lighted be brought back, and fliewn both the ark of the Lord, and his holy habit a^ tion. In a train of convictions like thefe, let our prefent thoughts be directed to iflue. Queflion that fond, that infatuated Fol- lower of earthly Fame; and feek an ac- count On New-Tear s Day* f count of his expectations, and how, evenSERM. in the fpace of one fhort year, they have I- been anfwered. In purfuit of the vifion- ary fplendors that had formerly engaged him, he muft own that he rcfumed, and has incelTantly profecuted, his mad career. Whether the perverfe difpofition of his mind will permit him to acknowledge it or not, you may perceive, giving ever fo little heed, that he has met with difap- pointment. The praife and approbation of men — the fplendors he fo idly, fo doat- ingly purfued, have been found both un- real and unpermanent; and the objedls which refled:ed them, difjovered, on a nearer approach, to be merely inanimate bodies — (hone upon, indeed, by every fa- vouring ray, but as ready to be darkened by every cloud. Did he feek for the palm of wifdom ? He fought and he coveted it amifs. To beftow fo choice a reward, is not in the province of fools: and the wife who have it to confer, beftow it never where it is fought. Was he defirous to obtain the fummit of honour and power ? He lo On New -Tear s Day. He may have wearied his footfteps in the fearch i but in proportion to his eagernefs to grafp it, the fleeting phantom has fled. An Inferior he may have made to bend, an Equal he may have outwitted and outrun, and the favour of thofe in highefl degree his Superiors may have obfcured the envy of flation ^ yet the banquet to which he has been admitted — has had fome unfa- voury didi — fome other, perhaps lefs am- bitious attendant, the fame flattered and flattering Power has, unfortunately, de- lighted to honour: and the Haman that went forth joyful and with a glad heart-^ has returned to his houfe mournings when a Mordecai has not flood up at the gate. Or was he taken with the form, and ufed every art to obtain the commendation, of extraordinary Virtue ? Every art, un- fupported by the practice, has failed him. The miftaken confidence which he placed in his own weaknefs, and which he arro- o-antly held forth as a brazen wall of de- fence, has given way to the moft trivial attack. Where he thought himfeif moil fecure. On New-Tear s Day, 1 1 fecure, it has been found he was moft ex- Serm. pofed ; and where he had thought, either !• in the cafe of himfelf or of his boafled concerns, to excite the envy — while he ufurped the praife, of others — he has needed their pity, and been a thriftlefs debtor to their grief. Like a building placed on an unfure foundation, the higher have been raifed its pinnacles — -the lower has been its fall. Or has Pleafure, the indulgence of every licentious defire, been the intoxicating po- tion, of which, for thefe twelve months paft, the degraded flave of fenfuality, to forgetfulnefs has drunk ? Confefs, mif- taken Mortal ! while yet every feeling of thy mind does not forfake thee, and thy heart become as wholly brutifh as thy ways, confefs that the draught has at leaft at intervals been bitter : and be perfuaded — when even thy corrupted fenfe would deceive thee— -that what is poifonous can never be fvveet. ^ In following the impe- tuous current of defire, by what guileful fhores, through what dangerous trad:s, has it 12 On New-Tear s Day, Serm. it led thee ! On this llde the rofy cup has ^' been prefented, on that fide the unabaflied lip; and alluring invitations Tung around thee, to leave the protecftion of fober ho- nour— and truft to the condud: of intem- perate joy. And envied thou not, after liumbers fo fatal, after dreams fo frightful as fail not to hover o'er the pillov^'s of riot and excefs, enviefl thou not the grazing herds of the pafture, who for a feafon par- take of enjoyments jufl as valuable as thine — and have nothing to anfwer when the feafon is paft ! Or, Worm of this World ! laft mortl- fier of human nature ! has thy pafiion been gold ? Has it fweetened thee one meal ? Has it foftened thee one fleep ? Earlier than to the God that watcheth over Ifrael — has the unrelenting Power Thou ferveft called thee up — to pay thy homage to him ; and not till later than the children of vir- tuous labour repofe, does he fufFer thee to intermit thy cares, and fnatch a momen- tary reft. Thy life is one continued dream. Oh when wilt thou awake ! When will thy On New-Tear s Day, 1 3 thy plans of gain, thy fchemes of advan- Serm. tage, fufFer thee to calculate the time — I. when all thy work muft be done ; and be- ^ ' " yond which there is neither labour nor de- vice I Canft thou think to tafte a fleep that is fecure, on the top of a mail: ? — and yet not lefs frantic the unfettled bafis of ava- ritious hopes. He in whom you confide for the advancement of your profits, is not to be truded ; for the leafi; of his own in- terefts is put in an equal fcale with all of yours — and the fmallefl breath of humour, the dufi: of the balance, fhall turn the beam. Thofe, for v/hom you pretend to heap and to hoard, for, in reality, in every accumulation, you think but of your- felves, may by the time when you fhall have done heaping and hoarding — be them- felves a heap of dufi: : nay, the very chil- dren, for whofe exaltation and comfort, you mod naturally and warmly plead, may after all your pains and felf-denials, to ferve and elevate them, repay all your zeal with indiflference and cold neglefl; and as far as the comparifon extends, prove as ungrateful 14 Oji New-Tear s Day, Serm. ungrateful to you — as you have been to I- God. Give room, O thou Hurried or thou Giddy Mortal ! give room, this day, to one fober reflection. Where are the mul- titude of thy fellows who, like thee, were toiling or trifling, a few fhort years, a few fhort months, a few Hiort days ago ? Thou mayeft not but remember, that plans by Thefe were laid, devices employed, and cnterprifes profecuted, with all the eager- nefs and ardour that can charaderife any diligence of thine. From low beginnings, the fon of induftry and labour, proceeded, with laudable emulation, to fecure a mo- derate portion of worldly eftedts. With a moderate portion he reiled not fatisfied. For having made an efcape fo immediate from Poverty, his terrified imagination faw her courfing him ever at his heels ^ and, to avoid fo dreaded a phantom, he calls forth all his ftrength, and invokes every power to aid his fpeed. He has raifed a tree; by his own labour raifed it; but he dares not talle of the fruit. That, with On New 'Tear s Day. 15 with fcrupulous abflinence, is fufFered to Serm. hang on the cumbered bough ; as if there !• were to be on earth — but His one Summer —and the produce of His cultivation were to fupply the wants of an eternal Winter ! He abounded mjlocks and herds -y but nei- ther did he make himfelf or his houfhold rejoice in their increafe ; nor, in imparting thence a covering to the naked, was he blejfed by the loins of the poor. He grew rich in merchandife and all manner ofjlore. His channel was enlarged like the river, into which flowed every lelTer ftream. He bought, and he fold; he built, and he planted; and men beheld him take root — and admiring his growth, reforted under his branches. This his lituation, a few moments back: but, however little think- ing of the event, he too 7nujl needs die! and like water unprofitably cafl upon the ground — who fliall gather him up ? His worldly fortunes, the fpoils he has left behind him, fome long-time impatient heir fhall greedil}/ pick up — when he fees the conqueror Death has brought him down : or. 1 6 On New-Tear s Day. Serm. or, thofe riches, which in his time have I. been fo watchfully guarded, he fiall gather * for him — that JJmll have pity on the poor ! But, for himfelf, who is there left to take care ? or if there pofTibly could -, but we abfolutely deny that the worldling can have a Friend j what would cares avail ! A life fo ill employed, is never to be re- flored ; and if there be one child of virtue to mourn at his grave, the burden of his lament muft be — that the wretch is im- mortal ! Nor lefs, my youthful Auditors! is re- fle6lion ufeful for you. This day, like every one of each revolving year, may be taking fomething away from your elders, and be yet forming an addition to your comforts and flrength. But forget not, on this account, that the fummit of hu- man life, and of every enjoyment granted therein, is foon reached — the paffage over it is quick and unperceived j and it will be your turn, ere you are well aware, to go down the hill. You muft turn your back on theie leafy arbours, thefe beds of rofes, and On New-Tear s Day. j^ s^nd thele feats of perfume, in which yourSERM, path may have, hitherto, been marked I. out delightful — gladdened with the vernal' ' ' air and the morning dew : and encounter, in your decline, thofe more dreary, but thofe more certain profpe(51:s, the withered wildernefs, the falling fhadows, and the darkfome vale ! But though far ; and threefcore years can hardly admit fuch an cxpreffion to apply to their extent -, though diflant from life's decline, you may never be faid to be far from your fate. If youth "be moftly free from weaknefs ^ it is but the more expofed to difeafe. The even- ing, we know, will be dark ; yet have we no afTurance, of the morning, but what there may be rain. The caterpillar gnaws the green leaf, as well as the worm con- fumes the ripe fruit: nor does the hufband- man lefs bewail the blighted Blade — than the mildew'd Ear. A Twelvemonth ago, were there not fome that heard mc ; or if me they heard not — if for inftru6tion fpiritual, they nei- ther cared nor liflened — had ftill a It^on C given i8 On NeW'Tears Day. Serm. given them by the revolving Sun; whofe I. ears are now fealed up from dodlrine ; who with their bodily eyes now fee that revol- ving Sun no more ? * Vigorous, blooming, and fair, the hour that another year com- menced, found them ; and feemed to pro- mife many a future feafon of chearing congratulation, of jocund fruition, and health. With minds, furely not other- wife conceiving than your own this mo- ment, they feleded and they followed their tafks and their amufements ^ and thought of no more, but that to-morrow fhould, through a prefigured eternity of youth, be fiicb as to-day. To day — they are as water fpilt upon the ground 1 and They who would moiften all its dufl with their tears — cannot gather up a particle again ! Of all the big-fwelling hopes, the fondly-preconceived endearments, the folid concluiions of virtuous defire, the tender folicitudes of natural affedion, the ami- able propenfides of an enamoured bofom, the excelling tranfports of a friendly \iQ2;/?^« was alone, and an help meet 46 On the Duties Serm. meet for him, was given him by his Maker. II. Venerate, then, that inflitution, which '■ ^ ' precedes all laws. When the rib was taken from our firft Father's lide, and came ^ back, from under the forming hand of Omnipotence, a fair and fit afibciate of his future life. Marriage was rendered fa- cred and inviolable : and to the laft of their fons and daughters it was ordained — that, leaijing father and mother^ they fliould cleave together as man and wife. But while fuch is the ordinance of Heaven, and fuch the neceffiiry tie of hu- man fociety; conlider, my Friends, that human fociety, as it now ftands, is not free from enjil — as were created the Firft Pair. By Their trefpafs, the earth now brings forth thorns and thiftles — and the bowers of paradife are no more. Fancy, to the youthful mind may paint every field luxuriant, and every arbour green 5 but as advances are made in the fcene, there are weeds found to flioot more numerous than flowers, and leaves that wither — fafter than they bloom. Accommodate your mind. of the Married. 47 mind, then, to your condition. In thefe Serm. Iron times, expe6l not the fabled enjoy- H- ments of a Golden age. In meeting with partners for life, lay not your account with finding fuch as fhall be free from the faults of humanity. Moderate your wifhes. Examine yourfelf if you are perfe<5t ; and till you find that you are, exped: it not in others. Dream not of blifs denied to mortals -, or that you alone are to be ex- cepted from the general lot of mankind. "While the World is a Wildernefs around —think not that miracles are to be wrought in your favour, and that 'Eden is to flou- rifli alone for you. On the fordid wretch, who facrifices his fon, or who fells his daughter — for gold, the heaviefl: curfe but one — of difappointed hopes — fhall light — and that (hall defervedly fall on the lli)I more fordid wretch that buys them. Where the nuptial knot is tied without confulting the afFed:ions, laws may reftrain, and pru- dence may cloak; but though Avarice may lead the trembling vicJlim to the Altar, and Cruelty, v/orfe than favage — make it bleed 4§ On the Duties Serm. bleed — human nature, and the human !!• heart, will burfl indignant from the force ^ of violence, and, like the palm tree, refift the weight that prelTes it down. Let not the Marriage torch be lighted, till affedion and favour have made clear the fky: Amid the mifts of difcontent and the tears of forrow, can it burn ? Were there but care taken, that tempers were fludied and hearts were known, be- fore wedlock, there would be few- or no complaints in that ftate — of tempers or difpofitions that were intolerable. But in this bargaining age, when perfonal charms are fet to fale, and mental acquifitions, if any---thrown into the lump, what won- der, if the Vender is an hypocrite ? what wonder if the Purchafer be unhappy ? Miferable mufl the rnan, and miferable muft the woman — ever be, who only for the fake of worldly lucre meet -, who only for the fake of worldly lucre — do not part ! But leaving this part of the fubject, as deferving of itfelf confideratlon apart, let of the MarriS. 4^ let us advert to the circumftances of thofcSERM. who are already united, and whole duty ^I- it therefore is to confult the interefls of' ' that union. Let them pradiife, I fay, Mutual Forbearance. Forbear one another in love, are the words of Scripture. By mutual forbearance, I wifli to be underilood to mean — that difpaffionate re- gard for the fentiments of others, and that virtuous patience under the eifed: of their millakes, which cannot but be ne- ceffary in every habit of intercourfe amongH: mankind. It is remarkable that more of this virtue, for a virtue it is, is difplayed In publick, than is experienced in private. There are abundance of charaders, both male and female, who feem^ before the eyes of the world, to regard the opinions, and even confult the prejudices of others, who yet retire to their own families, and appear there to think they have a right to ufurp the only liberty of thinking, and to did:ate in an arbitrary manner to every perfon around them. Here, then, lies the error ; and let the cure be applied here. E If 50 ' t)}2 the Duties Serm» If to fliew paffion in publick, be a vice; ^^' it is cowardice — to fhevv it at home. If from a fear of offending even Grangers, people generally keep within the limits of civility and fober reafon, what name fliall we give to that brutality — which renders a difcontented man worfe than a confumtng rain \ and a brawling woman to make a 'i.oide habitation more uncomfortable than a lonely corner on the houfe top ? By yielding fomething on either fide, both fides may be made more happy. But let the fubmiffion, inflead of being only difcourfed of, really be put in pradice. How often do we hear of philofophical eafe ' — and chri/h'an forgivenefs ? one pra(5lical inilance of either, is worth a thoufand times' mention of both. A temporal dif- eafc under which we have fometimes been faid to labour, is to talk of civil liberty and not enjoy it ; and fure, the fpiritual difeafe under which the prefent times with us do labour — is to talk of religion, and neither have any — or care for it. We are either totally ignorant of our duty, or we think. of the Married, ^i think, by making a noife about it, we (hall Serm. free ourfclves from the obligation under ■^■*^* which we lie to perform it. The fire of devotion is either extinguifiied, or the fmothered flame, like that of an expiring conflagration, only fparkles aniid rubbifli, lumber, and flones ! What fatisfa6lion were procured, what anxiety, in the marriage' ftate were pre- vented, if huiband and wife were, in their turns, attentive to the failings and the merits of each other ! A man is appointed to rule, it is true ; but why fliould he alone of all rulers, think to exercife go- vernment without moderation — without confulting the genius of thofe that are to obey ? To obey is the province of the wife ; yet by yielding (he bed fecures Her power. Why then does flie revolt againft the lord of her affedions, the protedor of her weaknefs, the fweetener of her life ? Let her reft fatisfied to move in that fphere wherein Providence has ap- pointed her. Let her not he felicitous about worldly parade; or the approbation E 2 of c2 On the Duties Serm. of a crowd — who care nothing about her i^' welfare. Let her Hufband be all the world to Her. And let her not be fo ftudious to pleafe all the reft of mankind — as Him. Let lier not fret in retire- ment; nor envy the *' glow-worm" its '* ineffedtual fire." Let her be fatisfied with her own fuperior virtue. The unvaluable pebble, or ignoble pafte, may borrow a ihort-lived glory from the artificer's craft, and by the light of a taper, catch ths hafty attention of the ill-judging eye; 'tis the diamond, with native luftre, comes forth with inherent brightnefs' — and fparkles in the fair face of day. Let not hufband or wife, in the hour of defpondence, or, if fuch mufl: happen, even in the moments of chagrin ; — let them not forget the terms of their meet- ing. They were to eafe each others bur- den, to augment each others delight -, to mitigate each others forrows, and increafe each others joys. If, therefore, little er- rors, and trifles not underftood, for fuch to the befl will happen, fhould intervene to of the Married, ♦ ^3 to mar their happinefs, let each recoiled, Serm, if thefe errors or thefe trifles would have ■^^* had power to prevent their jundion — in the days of their iiril Love. If they would not — and whofe experience will offer an argument againfl: the fuppolition? let them not mar their happinefs and quiet now. If fuch little objedions were got over; if fuch little entanglements did not prevent their joining their fites in one lot — and entering one veffel at port, for the tumul- tuous voyage of life ; fhall they madly be- gin to fettle differences on the main ocean, or difpute about paltry accommodations, when the wave fwells and the ftorm threat- ens, the tempeft brews — the thunder rolls, and the lightenings flafli ? Before one en- ters on a voyage, much confideration may be requifite ; and, without knowledge to difcern its motions and a heart to brave its fury, none — ihould venture to fca. But, once embarked, there is but one duty — to refped the welfare of your mate as your own, and to feek for one common Port of Safety. If, to deflroy another, you fmk the veffel, can you yourfelf be preferved ? E 3 As ^^ On the Duties, £cc. Serm. As you have, then, but one interefl, be II. united in one bond of charity and love. Seek not to bring paflion to reafon ; but flay till the pafiion is over, and then pre- fer your complaints. While the winds roar, what boots it to make a clamour ? Stay till the tempeft fubfides ^ and then you fhall be diflindly heard. If your partner is under the influence of any gloomy paflion, be not you fo too ; for the end iliall be bitter. Seefl thou one brand on fire ? Set not another to it. When left to itfelf, the flame fhall go out : but if more fuel is added, beware left it con- fume thy fubftance — and fpare not thine hoqfe. Pra6llfe, then, mutual forbearance, Hufband and Wife ! It is your common intereft and your firfb duty. — There are feveral others, on Vv'hich I cannot now enter; the confideration whereof I re- ferve, till God blelles us with another op- portunity. Meanwhile, may His Spirit guide us to profit by every miniflration of his word ! Amen. S E R- SERMON III. On the Duties of the Married. Ruth i. i6, 17. Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee : for whither thou goeji, I will go ; and where thou lodgejl^ I will lodge ; thy people fiall be my people y and thy God my God : Where thou dief^ will I die, and there will I be buried: the. LORD do fo to me^ and more alfo, if ought but death fart thee and me. X'''^'x^ fuchof you, my brethren, as have Serm Ci •*■ j> had the opportunity, and — as polTefs III. ■■■'""'^''""" the inclination, of recolletling my lafh fermon, it were unneceffary to fay jnuch, by way of introdudtion to this. E 4 You 56 On the Duties Serm. You may remember, that, in fubmit- III. ting to the confideration of the married part of my audience fome thoughts anent their particular duties in that ftate, I cited, from the book of Judges, the flory of the devout Manoah and his excellent wife — as an illuftrious example of united piety and conjugal affedion. Iw fearch- ing for a parallel pallage, to engage your attention to my remarks, continued on the fame fubjc6l, I know not if the Divine Volume— which is full of all good in- ftrudiion, could have afforded me any one, fo eligible as that which I have fe- le£led. Without fmking from the high lin^, marked by the virtues of the Parents of Samfo7iy where could I have found a topick of fuch confpicuous merit and ufe, ^— as the fingular faithfulnefs and con- flancy of Ruth f Her's is an affeding ftory ! And lam perfuaded there is hardly one of you, but whom, at one period of your life, it has affected. The period I mean is that of your earlier days, when you firft read it ^ or —v of the Married, ^y or when it was firft told you : Before theSERM. cares of this world had bufied your head, HI- before its vices had roughened the firings of your heart, fuch a tale was calculated to move you : and I can rely on the tefti- mony of Nature — for it is her own lan- p-ua^e to her own children — it did move you then ; though the hackneyed ways ot men may have fince obliterated fympathy, and made you forget it now. Neither you nor I can be the worfeof a (hoYt review. Of that part which im- mediately relates to our fubjed:, the review is neceffary : for the other, which, though more pleafing, is not fo clofeiy connected with our prcfent purpofe, I refer you to the whole hiftory, as fet forth by the in- fpired penman — in a fimplicity of drefs, and with an energy of didlion, which our frail powers would fain imitate — but can- not equal. A MAN of Bethlehem-jiidah, E lime lech by name, had, during a famine which af- flicfted his native land, gone and fojourned in the neighbouring country of Moab, — be 5^ On the Duties Serm. he and his wife and his two fons. Be it III. remembered, betwixt the Moabites and the children of Ifrael there was fome affi- nity 'y feeing the former derived their ori- gin from Abraham's brother's fon : — And in times of hard fortune men are generally fooneft difpofed to revive old claims of kindredfliip. In this place of fojourn, however, it appeared not to have been the will of the Almighty that the affairs of this fmall family fhould profper. The head of it was taken away, and Naomi was left— a widow and defolate — with her two fons. By thefe two fons, now dif- united — as it were — by abfenee and want of iqtercourfe with their own tribe and people, and furely by the appointment of Providence — whofe deftination, myfleri- oully carried on, was to bring a mofl worthy woman to a mofl deferved flate of exaltation among the peculiar heritage of promife — were wives taken of the women of Moab : The name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth ; and there they dwelled about ten years, 6 of the Married. 59 Still, to all worldly view, the Al- Serm. mighty dealt very bitterly with the unfor- tunate ftranger. Her two Jons, after being fo long the fupporters of her for- lorn widowhood, died alfo both of them ; and the woman was left of her two fons, and her hiijband — to perifli unaffifled in a ilrange land, or to return — hard fate 1-— to that land empty, from whence fie had come out full. This laft, however mor- tifying to a generous mind, flie made her choice : and beginning perhaps to think that (he had done wrong in not waiting God's mercies among her own people; and where there was opportunity as there was exprefs command, to refort to his confecrated temple j and that all the rnis- fortunes which had fallen upon her might be confidered as tokens of the divine dif- pleafure at fuch an improper courfe ; upon hearing that the Lord had lifted his people in giving them, bread, fhe determined to return to the duties of her religious obe- dience— though without hopes of being reinflated in her temporal welfare. She pre-i. 6o On the Duties Serm. prepared her mind for encountering, on in. her return, all that negle6l, that fcorn, that contempt, that oppreffion — which the fpite of the high, the malevolence of the low, and the depravity of the ignorant are ever fond to fhew to the humbled child of fortune. To be confidered no more as a perfon of fubftance, influence, or concern, but as a poor, difappointed, ab- je(51, old and wretched woman j to be de- pendent on the precarious bounty of Thofe and whofe Fathers — flie and her fathers — had fed ; to be obliged to the ofl^ntation of pride for a garment to cover her age ; to be expofed to the titter of vanity, and the V taunt of the pitilefs ; — thefe were hard fubmiflions, and difficult lelibns to learn ! But they were fuch fubmiffions and fuch leflbns as are ufually taught in Adverfity's fchool ; and all apprehended negled: and ill-treatment, fhe refolved to endure patiently and chearfully : and Jhe arofe with her daughters in law and went unto the way to return unto the land of yudah, 3 Unto tf the Married. 6 1 ' Unto thefe two daughters — for we fhall Serm. now adopt the words of Scripture alone, ^^^' as defpairing of faying any thingxurfelves that can ever fo reach the heart ! — after they had both accompanied her a part on her penfive way, the difconfolate Naomi faidi Go J return each to her ??20thers : the LORD deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and with me. l^he LORD grant you that ye may find reft^ each of you in tbe houfe of her hufband. Then fie kljjed them, and they lift up their 'voice, and wept. And they f aid. Surely we will return with thee unto thy people. And Naomi faid. Turn again, my daughters : why will ye go with me ? Are there yet any more fins in my wo7nb, that they may be your hufiands F Turn again, my daugh- ters, go your way ; for I am too old to have tin hufhand. If I fioould fay I have hope, if I fiould have a hufiand alfi to night, andfi^ould alfo bear fins ', would ye tarry for them till they were grown f Would ye fay for them from having hufiands ? nay, 7ny daughters, for it grieveth me much for your fakes, that the 62 On the Duties Serm. f/je band of the LORD is gone out agdinfl ' me. And they lift up their voice, and wept again. — Fortified Indeed muft be that heart againft every impreflion of humanity and compafTion, and untender and unpitying that eye, which in fuch circumftances, in fuch diflrefs — would not weep — would not bleed ! And Orpah kijfedher 7nother in law — this is a mark of love every hypo- crite can fhew ! — but Kiith clave unto her. The force of Her afi^edion is beautiful beyond example. Two fuch characters — it is rare to find. Had a Third been as perfefl; had no inftance of human cor- ruption and weaknefs appeared — had there been no Orpah to kifs and yet part, but only a Naomi fo pious and a Ruth that fo clave — the relation had been lefs benefi- cial r, for it had left us to deplore our total want of virtue, and overwhelmed us into defpondence with a fenfe of our own imbecillity. — Behold, thy fifler in law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods, return thou after thy fjler in law. And Ruth faid, Intreat 7nenot to leave thee, er of the Married. 63 or to return from following after thee : fof^ Serm, whither thou goeji, I will go ; and where III. thou lodgefi, I will lodge -, thy people fiall ' " ' be my people, and thy God my God: where thou dieji, will I die ; and there will I be buried: the LORD do fo to ?ney and more alfo, if ought but death part thee and me. The applications given by paffion, by interefl, by deceit — may be unguarded, unfounded, undeferved, unprincipled j nay, and for the mofl; part are fo; but what affedlation of delicacy, what prudery of virtue, what morofenefs of religion — can prevent our calling a V/oman like this. Divine ! — And that thefe expreflions of uncommon conftancy, were not — mere profeffions of no meaning, or idle protef- tatlons of no valuable effed- — but the ef- fulions of a principled, a good and a ten- der heart, was, in the fequel of their ftory, evidenced and made clear. By the re- markable providence of Heaven, this ac- complidied Daughter of Moab, was raifed from deprefiion and poverty, to affluence and high flation. Then did fhe fulfill the 64 ^f^ ^'^^ Diitim Serm. ^^^ prayers of the elders mid the people in III. the gate, by doing worthily in Ephratah, and being famous in Beth-lehem -, while to her once difconfolate mother in law rtie aded as the refiorer of life, and the affec- tionate ncurijher of her old age. Still fhe loved her i and was unto her better than feven fons -, ftill ftedfail, conftant, kind and true, — according to her wifli and to her word — Nothing but death — did part them. F A I R E G T Daughter of Fame ! Thy worth has wove thee an immortal garland, which no time fhall wither, nor canker deftroy. Thy virtue and thy truth met, even on earth, their merited reward ; and when Death came to part thee from what thou heldeft dear — he might lay his cold hand on thyhufband, on thy mother ; he might flretch his icy fingers on thyfelf — yet flill could he not feparate thee from that Eter- nal Fountain of bleffednefs, in whofe pure eye fuch virtue was dear — whofe bene-^ volent Spirit could alone infpire tender- nefs and love, like thine. The fons and daughters of the Married, 6 r daughters of future ages and nations ^all Serm. take thy condudt as an example, fuited to HI. the befl ambition of their hopes. The maiden fliall copy the pattern fo framed for honour; and the young man of an ingenuous bofom — jQiall figh for a woman like thee I In a tribute of f® deferved praife, I hope I addrefs not a heart but what will join me. And while they are in fuch a frame, let me befpeak their regard to a iQve of fuch virtue, that entitles to i^ high commendation. It is for this pur- pofe I feek the aid of examples ; exam- ples, which cannot but flimulate you more to the proper difcharge of the duties of wedlock, than precepts ten thoufand times told. You muft bear, however, my Friends, with precepts too. And in obe- dience to that great command of loving, and being ufeful to, one another, I pro- ceed to obferve what particular precepts, you that are married are more immedi- ately concerned with. The duty of Mutual Forbearance, I inflanced as your iirfl. ^ SuiFer 56 On the Duties Serm. Suffer me to recommend, as your fecond, III. Mutual Confidence and Trufl. To fliew the beneficial effe6l, nay the neceffity, of this, it were onJy needed to {hew the difquiets and unhappinefs which refult from the want of it. But to do this, I muft be obliged to have recourfe to darker colours and fliades — than whereby I could have any pleafure in drawing the pidture, or you fatisfa6lion in 'viewing it. For it would require, that — I fpoke of *' tainted plagues," of mifery, of mourning, and defpair; of love that, without any of its native fweetnefs, was Jlrong as death, and oi jealoufy that was as unfatisfied and as cruel as the grave. On themes which- danger and forrow call their own, we wifh not to enter. The receffes of horror we feek not to invade. Content it us, from the tranquil fliore — to caution thofe amid the perils of the waves, againfl: the ilorm which threatens and the eddy that devours — without frightening them with a tale of what havocks have been done^ and what ruins made — before them ! CAN of the Married, ^y CAN two walk together, unlefs they be^^^^i* agreed'^ Much lefs can They tafte of ■^■^■^• happinefSj whofe perfons, whofe fortunes the marriage' band has united, if there is not fomething" — ftronger than even the marriage' band itfelf— which ties their af- fe(!lions, their defires, their wiflies and their hearts in one. He that knows anv thing of human nature, will not try to force it. Violence may produce fubjec-- tion ; but it will never beget good-wilL By opennefs of temper, and liberality of fentiment, was not the affe«5lion, that fmiled on your nuptials, firil lighted up ? Let the fame behaviour fecure its conti- nuance, and enable it always to burn clear. Avoid mean fufpicion and diflruft, as you would the adder that lurks in your path — fweird with the poifon of death. Keep your own heart untainted, your own purity unfpotted, and feldom will you find even the imagination of your partner to ftray. There is flill, amid all the ra- vages that fm has made, fomething left fg nobie in the human mind, that the be- F 2 traying 68 On the Duties Serm. traying the unbounded truft of others, is III- the laft idea that wickednefs dares to fug- geft. One of the ftrongefl props — even of a yofeph's virtue — was the unlimited trufl repofed in him by his mafler. In the common adtions of life, the duty I am recommending is embraced as a maxim of prudence : Would you keep a man honefl? treat him as fuch. When a perfon once finds there is no confide-nce to forfeit, no favour to lofe; but let him be as bad as he vi^ill, he cannot be vi^orfe than he is fuppofed, what a temptation is given a weak mind to trefpafs in reality, where he is already thought to trefpafs in inten- tion 5 and even in a heart truly upright, what a ftroke is given to banifli all regard and efteem ! How much more, in the dear relation the happinefs of which thefe obfervations are defigned to guard, muft all dark and myfterious doubts and apprehenfions in- jure quiet, and undo peace? A fufpicious difpolition is the bane of all domeflic blifs. It is that poifonous leaven, which infedeth of the Married. 69 infedeth every comfort of life; and con- ^^^^* verts the honeyed fweets of the cup of, love, into hated potions, bitter as the vi^ormwood and the gall. Thou haft a treafure, and thou valueft it ; thou doft well. But if thou only fhewefl thy value of it — by locking it up, thou doft woe- fully wrong. The hand of rapine fhall defeat thy tyrannous precautions ; the ruft fliall confume, or the canker gnaw it, in thy moft fecret and reclufe chamber. Be generous in thy truft; — and it (hall re-" turn to thee as pure as it came from the mine — ** unmixed with bafer metal." Seem to dread no evil; and the lefs will be- fall you. Mark that penfive,melancholy Mourner, whofe breaft is now racked with the lighs fhe has heaved j whofe cheeks, once fair and comely, are now befurrowed with the tears (he has {bed. Afk her the caufe of her difquiets. She herfelf, generous as honeft, may not tell you. — Enquire it of others ; — and you will not wonder why ihe weeps. She brought to a man that F 3 fhe ^o On the Duties Serm. ^g loved, and who vowed that he doate4 III. on Her, a fair reputation, a temper de- voted to pleafe, and a heart intent upon duty. She had a foul attempered to com- municate iiappinefs } and (lie exped;ed a portion of it in return. There, ihe was diiappointed. Scarce was the fondnefs of a firft meeting over, when difcontented humourSj like thick vapoi^rs arofe, and clouded for ever that fun— which pro- mifed once to fhine fo fair. Upon her innocent gaieties and well-meant relaxa- tiorjG, harfh conjediures and thoughts un- kind began to alight. Every perfonal at- trad:ion— became a fault -, every winning accomplifliment — a plague: and relent- lefs Jealoufy, of hideous afpedl, began to colled: its blackell florm. The inter- change of hearts — was no more : • and the vows of love melted into air. Every blemilli was now magnified, every good quality leffened, by the felf- tormenting detractor ; till Hatred began to breathe its venom, adapt its difguife, and prepare its revenge. The powers^ that have been fabled of the Married. j i fabled to guard the marriage' bed, forfook Serm. it at once ; and the furies, inimical to the III. peace of mortals, began to inftigate, and rejoice over, their future vidlims. Se- dudion laid its fnares — and was fuccefs- ful ; which it had never been, had not He who ought moft to have prevented it, himfelf firft fcattered thofe brambles and planted thofe thorns — -under which the net found a covering, and which urged the hefitating fair one— to take the fatal nep! Pity the fate of a Wife fo unfortunate. But refer ve a tear as compaffionate — for the Hufband who has been as unhappily joined to a peevifh and ill-tempered wife. In the refort of intemperance you may find him all the day. His footfteps fteal to the unhallowed haunts of debauchery '- — by night. Driven from his own hearth — which ought to be ever chearful ; wan- dering in his own houfe — and yet finding no home ; in intoxication he hurries to drown reflet^ion, and in the harlot's em- F 4 brace-- 72 On the Duties Serm. brace — to bury the anguifli of having a III. wife without pofTeffing a friend ! Enough of fubjeds fo diftrefilng. Oh let the manners be guarded againfl, from which fuch direful confequences flow ! Let mutual confidence reign ; and let this be flrengthened by what I would recom- mend, in the third place. Mutual Love. It may feem ftrange that I Ibould incul- cate lefTons, that every body is granted to know. It is for this reafon I do it. I will) not to go beyond the bounds of na- ture, to fhew learning or entrap applaufe. All that I want is to put you in mind of plain truths^ which not one of you may deny, but which if none of you negledl— > you are not like the reft of the world ! Let married perfons, I fay, cherifh mutual love; and let this love extend to mutual forgivenefs. The complexion of publick manners, gives more caufe for fuch an exhortation, than may at firft fight appear. It is now neither rare to hear of perfons being married without Jove I nay it is held as a kind of pheno-. menon of the Married, 73 menon when It happens otherwife; nor of Serm. perfons who once pretended to much — ■*"• having none when once they are married. I truft, this corruption has not yet reached you. And may God, if he mean you peace, forbid that it ever fliould ! But be careful of all approaches to coldnefs and want of afFedion. Indifference as well as unkindnefs' — has broken many a tender heart. Shall time and habits of inter- courfe, corroborate every other affedlion % and fliall they only weaken that, which (hould increafe every day into flridler friendfliip ? Conlider what you have felt ; and beware of difcovering any tokens that you ever can ceafe to feel. Conlider what you have vowed ; and think how difhonourable it were — not to fet your heart to pay. Thou haft received a wife, O hufband I to be the folace of thy life, and thy part- ner till death. She has left her father's ihelter and her mother's love; and trufled herfelf to thine. For the confidence fhe has repofed on thy faith, wilt thou fhew her 74 On the Duties- Serm. her lefs ? Wilt thou wantonly grieve that •^■^•** bofom — that has no other receptacle for its own griefs — but thine ? Thou haft re- moved a Flower that once pleafed thee, and which thou calledft heaven and earth to witnefs thou wouldeft ever admire— into thine own garden ; and canft thou look on, unconcernedly, and fee it wither there ? Or is it become lefs dear to thine eyes, becaufe thou knoweft it to be thy property — and that though thou makeft its feat a wildernefs, it may not remove from thence ! Be not that Barbarian ! Or, if thou wilt, give up thy name of man to the tyger of the defart-^a favage of a milder nature than thee. Thou haft, O wife! received a huf- band, to whom thou haft furrendered thy hand, refigned thy will, and pledged thy heart. The fmile on thy brow, that firft won his regard — thou haft fworn Ihould be perpetual to Him. The affe6lion that beamed from thine eyes, and captivated his — thou haft caufed him to believe, fliall ever dwell there ^ and brighten up his moft of the Married, 7^ moil cloudy moments in the darkell Tea- Serm. ion of his diflrefs. Prove not falfe to III. thy word. Give him no room to appre^. hend he has taken an hypocrite to his bofom ; that the vifion he had, before marriage, was only a pleafing, unreal phantom-r— now either vaniflied away, or changed into a ghaftly form. Think of his aclive engagements, and publick cares ^ and let thy gentle bofom be the pillow where a|l thefe cares may be forgot. If, from a contentious and tumultuous world, he fliould fometimes retire to thee — ruf-^ fled himfelf, encreafe not thou his agita- tion by minute inquiiition, or an afpedt of difrcgard. Reflect that it is His^-tp encounter the ilorm; it is Thine to enjoy the calm. Enjoy it thyfelf, and fweeten it to him. Expofed to the inclemencies of the air, wearied with the fatigues of labour, or wafted with the intenfenefs of thought — 'for thy fubflflence, thy conve- nience, thy pleafurc; is it much if thy chearfulnefs enhance his v^'elcome, and thy endearments give a relifh to his re~ pad? 76 On the Duties SERpvf. pafl ? Has he met with anxiety abroad, ^^^' and fhall he alfo meet it at home ? Have the fhafts of misfortune been aimed at his houfe, and wilt thou, with continual fretting, point the arrow at his heart ! Adopt a different demeanour — if thou wouldeft not have thy fex to difown thee ; if thou wouldeft not have thy Nature fliudder at a monfter. Be it thine to foothe not to irritate, and, without idle queftionings, unreludantly to obey the man that Heaven and thine own choice have made thy lord. In his joys and in his forrows, take a willing fliare. In the funfhine of life, let thy participation brighten the bright fcene; in the adverfe hour, let thy fympathy enliven the fad fliade. From the thickell cloud of dif- trefs, let thy favour break forth like the rain-bow, and quiet with the aiTurance of hope the forebodings of the defpond-i jng breafl. Practise forgivenefs, one to the other. In every line of. fociety, this is indifpenfable ; and furely it cannot but be of the Married, 77 be io in that, where failings are fo little Serm. flieltered from obfervation, and where it ^U* is fo necefTary that harmony fhould pre- vail. In the intimacies of domeftic union, various little inftances of negledt, inatten- tion, or even femblances of difregard, muft, I believe, occur to the befl. Let thefe, I befeech you, if you value happi- nefs as any thing but a name, be either entirely overlooked, or infpedled with the moft indulgent eye. Learn of the Apof- tie. Hujband and wife are one flejh : and no man was ever willing to do otherwife than cherijh his own fiejh. Think but of this, when you would imbibe any harfli notions refpedling your companion, how that companion cannot fuffer alone — but that you muft fuiFer alfo ; and the tongue fet for reprehenfion will lie quiet in the palate ; and the brow that began to knit, imperceptibly open into a fmile. Let your love be fhewn by a forgiving difpo- fition. Will any man madly plant thorns on his own couch ? — Any man put fire into his own bofom ? If the ftate to which the y$ On the Duties q the gpeateft temporal bleflings are annexed, jjl and where love and repofe are expeded to dwell; if that be made a fcene of dif- cordant pafTions and divided affedions — - the fuperiority of Human enjoyments is loil ! From the abodes of civil fociety, men and women of fuch ferocious temper may retreat when they will — to the haunts of defolation and dens of carnage 3 there, with the leopard of the mountain and the hysna of the wood, to ravage and rend their^ haplefs prey- — and ruin while they weep. Let me exhort you, in the lafi: place, though I mean it Firft in point of im- portance, to be unitedly Religious and Devout. *' This — the laft key-ftone, that *' forms the arch !" Without this, brittle will be the tie which binds you, and not much to be envied all the comforts you can ihare. Marriage, in modern times, is too much looked upon only as a civil com- pa£l:, which the ufes of focial policy au- thorife, and the conveniences of indivi- duals beget. This might more excite our wonder. of the Married, f the bands of nature, of law, of religion ; feek not to be loofed. Seek by every lenient care of humane, fympathetic afFe(^ion, to render G that 82 On the Duties Serm. ^^^^ lliort journey pleafant, which you III. are bound in company to fulfil. That 'journey which, perhaps, in life's gay prime you began, when every thing around you was rendered charming — by the dews of the morning, and the verdure of fpring. Call to mind how it behoves you, when thefe flattering fcenes are paft, to bear up with one another, when entering the "vale ** of years ;" and life begins to change its *' blooming honours" — into the " fear ** and yellow leaf!" From the example of the wife of Mcmoah, and of Naomi's daugh- ter in law, learn ufeful inflru6lion, ye pious wives ! ye daughters of virtue ! WJien your comforts are found, be it your joyful office to anoint with the oil of gladnefs ', when hurt by evil-accident, be it your tender care to pour balm into the wound. Is your hulband afflicted like Manoah — under the terror of the anger of Heaven ? Oh ! be yours the happy prudence of his wife. From your own religious mind, bring confolation to his. For which purpofe let religion there abide, 3 and of the Married, ^'^ and occupy your hearts. What, in fuch Serm. circumflances, could have availed to the ^^^' troubled Manoah a difcourfe upon fafhions of drefs, a tale of fcandal, or an afFed:a- lion of wit ? — have you not at leafl: heard of fome which could have afforded him no other entertainment ! From RiUh, leara how to behave in calamity ; and like her, profperity fhall be able to make you happy. — Thy people jhall be my people ^ and thy God my God: where thou diejl, will I die, and there will I be buried — are words expreffive of that undivided lovethat fhould crown the marriage' union. Let Eaftern Tyrants, and men of eafl:ern manners, ** triumph over a lifelefs, ** violated form ;" be it our's, whom nobler principles afluate, more liberal laws oblige, and a better religion guides — to allow to woman that fphere, with which Provi- dence has dignified her, and which it is vicious to degrade her from. .And while fuch is the attachment of Britlfh huf- bands; let it beget a return of grateful obedience from Britifh wives. Let their G 2 adorn^ 84 On the Duties Serm. adorning not be that outward adorning of J II- plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel -, in this many other nations have better opportunities — and more art to excell; hut let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the orna7?ient of a meek and quiet fpirit, which is in the fight of God of great price: and in this no people on earth, have opportunity or in- citement to exceed them. Finally, brethren, be of o?ie nmid. Study, whatever part is afligned you, to difcharge your duty to the befl of your power; and leave the refl to merciful Heaven. The ftate of marriage prevents many evils, and brings many comforts; yet are you not to expe«ft any earthly itate — without its cares. Sink not under them : But let both the fatisfacftions and the dif- appointments of life, lift your thoughts from this vain world and all its unfub- iVantial joys, to that God, who both lends you the one, and fuffers you to feel the other, for your eternal good. — The time is Jkort y of the Married, 85 Jloorf t It remaineth that hth they that Serm, ^ave wives be as if they had none ; and they IH. that weep^ as though they wept not : and they that rejoice^ as though they rejoiced not i and they that buy^ as though they pof- fejfed not ; ajid they that ife this worlds as not abufng it — for the faJJnon of this world pajjeth away. Soon (hall we be called from feeing thefe varying faJJ/ions — as they pafs. One thing is certain — and That is only needful. Let us not, like Martha, be careful about many things, but like the wifer Mary choofe and hold by that. Then, after finifhing our different probations here below, the fcale of our virtues fhall be enlarged ; and on that more pure and more permanent ftate we fhall enter — where they neither marry, nor are given in marriage ; but are as the angels of God,. Amen. Q \ S E R. SERMON IV. On the Duty of Masters, Luke vii. 4. And when they came to JeficSy they befoiight him injiantly, faying, That he was wov" thy f^r whom he Jhoiild do this — . XXXXT were an idle fpeculation, intheSERM. X X prefent ftate of man, to think of IV. *v.s/-..-.. bringing all men to an equality of' condition. Neither the interefts nor the powers of human nature, as they are at prefent conflituted, will admit it; nor has Heaven, that overfees and overrules all human affairs, given us any reafon to exped: fuch an arrangement to take place in this JPabl unary world. G 4 Had 83 ' 071 the Duty Had Nature^iad Eternal Wirdom, of whom that Nature is only handmaid — - beftowed upon every man the fame gifts, and afforded to each an equal opportunity of difplaying them ; were it the condudt of Providence to try every man with like fortunes, apportion to every man the fame talents— the fame difpoljtions, and allot the fame occafions whereon to exercife them ; the principles of virtue muft have lain dormant in the human mind— having no room to expand ; muft have chilled—* while they were deftroyed in — -the human heart. In the difrerent conditions, then, of meri's lives, let fomething befides the time and chance that happenetb ta all men, be marked. Let not him that enjoy eth power, affluence, or fame, foothe his mind with prefumptuous conceit, as if his own hand had raifed hirn to that high degree of honour, of wealth, of reputation,-^ but check the intem.perance of pride, by refieding on a truth which no fmgular exception may refute— that the race is not always of Majiers. 89 always to the fwift, nor the battle to the Serm. firong — nor bread — to men of iinderjlanding. ^ ^ • Nor Jet him, to whoai thele worldly be- nefits are denied, defpondently conclude, that the poverty, the mifery, the igno- miny he lufFers, are heaped upon his devoted head only becanle of greater w^ick- ednefs j and that thus he is receiving at the lord's hand — double for all his fms. Let him remember that to the braved foldier the General appoints the foremoft ' rank in danger^ that the probation he undergoes, may ilTue in the exalting of his virtue : and that though neither he nor bis parents may have finned more than others, he may be called to fuffer more — - for the manifeftation of the glory of God. To that God, let both of them refer their different appointments. Let his goodnefs be acknowledged, as his power is known. Let men compare their individual lots; and balance juftly their refpedive joys and griefs. Let him that is on the hill' top, confider the goodnefs that raifed him thither; and let him vvho travels in the bottom ^o On the Duty Serm. bottom of the vale, look up to that Al- mighty arm that can refcue him thence : let him not forget that if the other, from the advantage of his fituation, enjoy more funfhine — he, from his, is (lieltered from many a florm : and let either ponder, v^^ith dutiful refignation, on the kind behells of the Omnipotent. In the divifions, that occupy life, ** Mafter" and " Servant" are terms well known-— are terms well known in Scrip- ture. To either clafs, I purpofe to addrefs fome admonitions, which, if they are welU founded, will, I hope, be well-taken. Dif- charging in this, as it is the iirfi: wiOi of tny heart I fhould in all cafes do, the duty of a fervant to that heavenly Mafter— "whofe accountable fervants we all are, and before whom fhortly we mufl all appear. The prefent difcourfe, I defign for the attention of thofe of you who are ** Maf- " ters :" a future one, if the Great Lord of all permit, fhall be employed in the ^'^Vifirig ot tliofe, yNho^-juI/iii i^s an hire- ling — their day, \ win. of Majiers, gi I WILL folicit your regard to one of Serm, the beft earthly ** Mafters," that hiftory, ^^- facred or profane, has ever brought under my review. Of his name I cannot in- form you. The fame of this world, is mod frequently the facrifice of Folly to Guilt. For this man, his faith and his pradice ihall fpeak — where the names of conquerors of nations are offenfive as their duft. Birth and titles are nothing but vanity. All merit is perfonal. Let the Egyptians boaft of their Sefoilris, the Grecians glory in their Alexander, the Romans in their Csfars — we can, in the chapter whence the Text is taken, inflance a charadler more approved than they all — while of his rank, and defignation we can fay no more — than that he was a certain centurion ! In drawing your regard to the noblenefs of his conduft, we (hall hardly do more than extract the paflage of facred fcripture, which contains its relation : throwing in a few obfervations, which would hardly efcape your own minds on an attentive perufal of the ilory. One 92 On the Duty One cannot, furely, firO: of all, help remarking the honourable teflimony, given in this, as well as in other parts of the word of God, to the virtues of a Soldier. It were a happy world, did the fvvord no more lay wafte — nor war deflroy : but fuch a blefled period is only to be hoped for in thofe purer regions of celeftial peace, where contentious and malicious fpirits cannot enter. In this tumultuous fcene of clafhing interefts and difcordant paffions, force is often necelTary, to fup- port innocence, and to repell injuflice. Melancholy is the view of human depra- vity, which is prefentcd to the fenfible mind, in the confideration of War be- coming a trade. To think of one parti- cular clafs of men being educated in the art, and difciplined to the office — -of cut- ting off their fellow-beings, is furely dif- treffing to a feeling heart. Whofe blood is fo cold that will not warm into wrath againft the monfter that takes away the life of one fellow-creature ! How hum-? bling fhould it prove, then, to the pride of of Majlers, ^^ of our nature, to find the corruption of Serm. that nature, in fome cafes, fo great, that, IV". what is abominable in one, becomes ne- ' cefTary — and from being necefTary, becomes tolerable — and even — we fay it reludlantly — honourable, in thoufands ; in thoufands who are publickly enlifted as the minifters of death — and to wear, without blufhing, the livery of flaughter ! We may not flay here to expatiate, as fuch an opening might lead us ; or to mention how prof- perous States have been, and fome in the world at this day are, where the citizen and the fuldier — are neither diflind names, nor diilin V. which thou art prefer vcd from the fury of the tide ? — Thou art fet to watch thy mafter's fields and as it were not fault enough to Jleepy while an enemy might occafion him wrong — iho'i foiv^"/} the tares thyfelf. Thou art appointed to guard his fruity and thou, with nefarious hand, pluckefl the faireft from the tree. The cuftody of his houfe is given thee, to keep cif the wafting fire -, and thou thyfelf pre- pareft the brand. Thou art befeeched, during his hour of repofe, to ward off all hoftile attempts on his life; and to his lonely chamber — in the darkeft feafon of midnight — thou beareft the dagger ! Have I carried the likenefs beyond the truth ? it were a happinefs to think fo. But ah ! we are warranted to fay much more, had we time to fay it. As I men- tioned in my laft fermon, that no other country afforded fuch liberal ufage to the generality of dependents as did England, I am led to fay in this, what is by no means agreeable to me, that, perhaps in no no country are thofe dependents more un- Serm. grateful ; efpecially in the particular now V. under notice. How many families are embroiled with their neighbours; how many chief friends, by fuch tale-bearers^ are feparated 1 How many innocent indi- viduals, whofe integrity is fit to ftand the teft— whofe manners fecure the approba- tion of the wife and noble— fink under the difregard of an heedlefs multitude, from no greater llur than what is caft by fome tattling golTip, fome mean, wicked — and therefore fuipicicus— defamer, accuftomed^ perhaps, to fmile in his face, and to i^^ii at his table ! The charadier of others, is a commodity that comes cheap; but it ftands the fair pofiefTor dear. Whatever rien retail, let them not retail that: it v/as never meant to undergo the regula- tions of trade. It is a plant, which Vir- lue rears, and Religion fliould guard; and where there is much of the one or of the other, lio unhallowed hand will be fuf- fered to touch it. In On the Duty In the Laft place, be religious : learn to obey God, and you will have a Mafter who will never ceafe to protcdt, and pro- vide for you, though all worldly friends and protedors caft you off. Make a con- fcience of difcharging your duty ; and it will become eafy. If you are bleffed with gentle mafters, acknowledge the goodnefs of that Heavenly Mafler, whofe grace it is that implants benevolence in the human heart. If you are tried with fuch as are froward, beware of thinking you are thereby liberated from your obligation of faithful fervice. Denied of your reward fropi thofe, for whom you have laboured or do labour faithfully, look up to Him who from eternity has been labouring for you. If you have the happinefs to ferve fuperiours that are pious ; and fuch, where it is given you to felefl, ever be your choice ; think them worthy of double honour: and your interefts will be to them in turn, doubly dear. If thy dwelling, for the proof of thy virtue, be with the irreli- gious or profane, keep thyfelf pure ; retire o from of Servants, 145 from their vices to thy friendly clofet^SERM. or, if thou mayeft not retire — feek confo- ^' lation and affiance in thy own virtuous breaft. Thither can no impertinence of vanity intrude. Keep thy heart clean, and a purified fanctuary for the promifed fpirit of grace ', and thou fhalt enjoy tran- quillity there-— when all is difcord around thee. Pity thy mafler : look thou do not defpife him. Shew him in thy good con- du(ft a proof of the force of religious principles ; and who knows if Heaven, may not honour thee — as the inftrument of gaining thy mafler to become a brother in Chriji ? At any rate, thou (lialt have adled nobly; and noble, by the decree of Omnipotence, fliall be thy reward. The kingdom will foon come, where there is no other refpe£t of perfons, than what arifes from the tenour of their lives and pra(5tices : and there, being exalted above all thofe who — whatever were their worldly fortunes — have died in their fins, thou fhalt tafte of that immortal freedom— which. i i},^. On the t)ut) Serm. which, from thy long bondagCj Ihall prov^ V. the more fweet ! Brethren! wc are all Servants: and other title belongs not to the proudefl of the children of mortality. It be- comes us to behave foberly, and not quar- rel with our fellowSj but prepare our ac- counts I ignorant of the day, when the Eternal Mafter fhall come to reckon- but certain that it will be foon. Let us have our talents, whatever they be, to produce improved, at that important appearance. Where we have failed in laying them out to advantage, nay where we have even ungratefully and imprudently fquandered them away, let us feek for a Friend to reprefent our follies kindly, and, ii it it be poffible, prevent that mifery which we know mufl follow condemned guilt. Far we have not to feek -, for there is a Friend- — the befl and moft powerful Friend of mankind-— that, unlike all others who have favours to bellow, becomes the fuitor to thofe whom his kindnefs is in- tended to blcfs J and his words run in a tenour 5 of Servants. 145 tenour fo enlivening as this— ^^, ^?^^J^Serm. JJoall receive ; feek, and ye pall find 3 knock, V . a?id it jhall be opened unto you. ** Saviour of the world ! Lord of all! We are Thy fervants, and we proftrate our fouls before Thee. We were en- , thralled in the bittereft flavery; and Thou haft revived us with the unex- ped:ed mefiage of a glorious redemption. From captivity, Thou haft brought us to liberty and life : and for the doleful founds of forrow, awakened our hearts to the tranfporting fong of triumph. Mitigate, O companionate Mafter ! the ills we muft endure while feeking after Thee. And Oh, let Thy merits be fo adopted, and our fancftification fo com- plete— before we meet Thy exalted pre- fence, that on Thy face we may behold the fmile of welcome, and hear from Thy mouth thefe words of approbation — Well done, good and faithful fervant ; enter thou into the joy of tby Lord!" Amen. L § E R. ^><30'h3< .3K'<3<|'0o<><2>><3<>0<^ SERMON VI. On Keeping the Sabbath. Isaiah Iviii. 13, 14. If thou turn away thy foot fro?n the fab- bath, from doing thy pkafure on tny holy day ; and call the fabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable, and Jh alt honour hitn, not doing thine own ways, nor^ Jinding thine own pkafure, ?ior fpeaking thine own words : Then /halt thou delight thyfelf in the LORD -, and I will caufe thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father : for the mouth of the LORD hathfpoken it. XXXXOME, ye breakers of the fabbath ! Serm, O - rity. The fame,, it has never been doubted, has been the obligation, and the fame, with more or lefs degree of limilarity, the devout pradice, of the followers of the chriftian faith, to the prefent day. Such, the Sabbath. ir^ Such, then, is the fource of this ap-SERM. pointment : the Law of God exprefsly VI. ordains it, the Revelation of Chrift and the manners of his Church — in her purefb times — only tend to flrengthen what that Law enjoins. Let us advert then, in the Second place, to the Manner in which we ought to ob- ferve and keep the fabbath. It mufl: be confeiTed that the flate of the Ifraelites, and our's under the gofpel, differ fo widely, that many of the injun6lions laid upon that people, either extend not to us at all — or extend with abated force. Thus, in the cafe of the fabbath, their obfervance was of a n:ri6ler and more painful kind, than what is either expecfled or required of us. We are not, now, of the children of the bondwoman but of the free, Mercy is, with us, better than facrifice ; and obe- dience more acceptable than the calves of the lips, A total ceflation from worldly labour, is the Chriftian's duty as well as it was the Ifraelite's j but the duties of the former, are in general more of the pofi- tive. jf± On Keeping Serm. tive, thoie of the latter, more of a nega- VI. tive kind. The obedience required by the law, was ftridl ; the obedience flowing from faith, is a6llve. The "^hriilian f^b-* bath is, as well as the Jewifh, a day of reflj but it is -iAio a feafon of joy* The fire is not, now, commanded to be extin- guifhed through all our habitations ; bul it is ordered to be lighted up, with chari- table intent, for the folace of the cold—s and the comfortlefs. Our doors and our windows, are not ordered to be ihut up ; but they are ordered to be open — for the harmlefs flranger, and the unfriended poor, s From being a day of fevere abfle- mioufnefs and mortification, the fabbathj according to the chriftian fyllem, is be- come a perpetual feftival to the devout believer on Jefus. No innocent gratifica- tions are forbidden. No decent convivi^ ality is reckoned culpable. The day which the LORD hath tnade-^ht hath allowed his people to rejoice and be glad in it. This being the cafe, what duties are recjuired. In the due obfervation of the holy the Sabbath. 155 holy fabbath, will perhaps be beft com- Serm. prehended, if I mention to you, firft, thofe VI. of a neg.nive, and, afterwards, thofe of a pofitivc. nature. The negative duties re- commended in the Text, and to be gene^ rally derived from the w^ords of the New Teflament as well as of the Old, are— ^ there will not much, we be- lieve, come abroad, to teftify private up- rightnefs or benefit mankind. Besides, there is a pofitive command upon every chriftian, to confecrate this day to publick worfhip, where infur- mountable obftrucftions prevent him noti There can, therefore, be no duty in any performance which is done in oppofition to one acknowledged and prefcribed. He that is ordered by the divine law to pay his vows in God's temple, cannot, furely, be thought to offer any acceptable facrifice in other place than where God hath ap- pointed. The Jews might, by fuch rea-* N a foning-j I So On Keephig Serm. funlng, have excufed themfelves from ap- VI. pearing before the Lord in Jerufalem ; and faid, they were ready to pay their of- ferings at their refpedivc homes. This would never of them have been accepted. By falling into fuch errour, they fet up their idols in place of the true God^ and into exactly fimilar or worfe errours would any of us fall, who, in avowed breach of that precept which enjoins publick wor- fhip, fhould think of doing God as ac- ceptable homage — by confulting his own eafe — by indulging his own pride, and paying the tribute he owes, as it were by ftealth. This were but buildmg an high ■place for ChemoJJ:) the abomination of Moab, andyijr Mokch the abomination of the chil- dren of Ammon, in the hill that is before ferifalem-, a certain token that the heart is drawn away after idols, nor continues longer perfeB with the Lord his God, Our's, my brethren, is a plain and a pleafant way. That our God, who has been fo often gracious unto us after many baclflidings, may prefer ve to us the heri- tage o the Sabbath, iSx tage of our fathers — the honours of ourg^j^j^^^ country, and make us, in the light of the VI. nations, to ride upon the high -places of the' " ' earth — let us fear and obey and honour him. Let us delight ourfelves in him, and we may be then fecure, as in a for- trefs, that no earthly danger, nor infernal malice can either allault or overthrow. Let us amend our ways ; for they need it much : Let no interefted, unconfcientious flattery perfuade us but what they do. Lidividually, we need amendment i we need it, as a people. In tranfgreffing the day of the Lord, we are culpable to an excefs. Compare but the manner in which this day is ufually fpent, with the manner in which thechriftian revelation prefcribes, which the fober regulations of our ov/n laws confirm — that it fliould be fpent; — and call for the head to be waters, the eyes to he fountains of tears — that you may weep day and night for the fins of the people. So admirable are the laws yet in being in this country, for preferving the order N 3 of I $2 On Keeping of chriftian worship, and for hallowing, or at leaft, in as far as human inftitutions couid go, to prevent profaning, the fab- bath day, that they are yet witneffes againft the indolent Sleepers in ZioUy who have the guardianfliip of her bulwarks to main- tain 'y and flothfully or connivingly fuffer her walls to be caft dov/n. . For the ftrid:- iiefs of proteftant worfhip, for the revival of the laws that were made by a noble ancellry to guard the Englifli Church-r- and for the enforcing of thofe that regu- late the beauteous order of her worfhip, it is confidered by men that are ignorant as uncharitable, by men that are arrogant and fupercilious, factious — to plead. Perifh the cowardice, that fhuns the conflid — when Virtue is on our fide, and Vice is our only foe \ How iliall thofe that have the power, give in their anfwer to Hea- ven for negledting, to put impiety out of countenance, through fear of meeting its frown ? Minifters of Chrifl:, are not the only Watchers. You are all of you, lefs the Sabbath, i^3 lefs or more, to watch in your pofts. Serm. For the fmalled: defaults, for thofe ^ VL about worldly property, all the law of our country begins to be chiefly em- ployed : The garments of the leprous per- fon are fought to be wafljed, while the body itfelf— is fuffered to go without any cure. Who is there that will fet the exam- ple, of probing the wound to the quick ? That will fee the laws are put in force againft fabbath-breaking, impiety and wickednefs ? What temporal renown would fuch a man merit, who, forfaking at once the mean fubterfuges of a daftardly or a confenting mind, would ufe the power of his llation, his influence, his employ — to rid fociety of thofe that moil offen- fively difgrace its laws— and fet up a ftandard for religion and God? What bleflTednefs hereafter fhould reward fuch exemplary virtue,— rthat were infl:rumental in reforming a people, and bringing the (miles of approving Heaven once more N 4 over 184 On Keeping Serm. over his Country? If the times are not VI. too degenerate to expecl fuch virtue ; be it found among you. There are Cha- radlers among you, from whom we would wifh to exped it. Be conftant in your oppofition to immorality and impiety: and the obloquy which wickednefs, when alTailed, may attempt to throw upon you, iliall fly away as do the fogs of the morn- ing— which in certain lituations portend the day more clear, " To Thee O Lord of the fibbath I " we offer up our hallowed vows and " prayer. May our creation and redemp- " tio;i dwell on our minds; and thence ** may we be Incited to blefs Thee, for " all the wonders of Thy love towards *' us. Our failings, our fins and back- ** flidings, with humbled hearts v/e de- '* plore : We feek for refuge in a Me- ** diator's compafTion, and fly for pardon *' to his appeafmg blood. T^iini us^ O LORD, and we fiall be turned ; draw ** us with the cords of T^hy love, ajid we '' Pjall the Sabbath. 185 ^ Jhall run after 'Hhee. Change ourSERM. ' hearts, and reform our manners, and in ^-^* * thine infinite goodnefs blot out our * iniquities : and — notwithftanding the * defedlion of their erring children — Oh * forfake not the Land where our Fathers * worfhipped Thee !" Amen. S E R. SERMON VII. Qn the L o R p ' s Supper, John xxi. 15. ^—Jefus faith to Simon Peter, Simon fon of yonas, lovejl thou me 7nore than thefef He faith unto him. Tea, Lord, Thou know eft that I love thee. — XXXXX is not becaufe we profefs it, butSERM. <5 ^..y- becaufe we profefs the bed religion, VII, XXXK — that Chriftianity has its value. A religion, becoming God to eftablifh, and rational beings to entertain, behoved to illuftrate the charad:er of the Creator, to exalt the happinefs of the creature ^ and, in the lapfed flate of human nature, that revelation muft appear moft worthy— whicl:^ i§8 On the Lord's Supper. Serm. which reprefented the Supreme as mod VII. amiable, and taught the erring Ions of ^^ " 'men thegreatefl confidence in the mercies of Heaven ; that fuited beft to foften the temper and guide the aile(flions of the mind ; whofe precepts tended moll:, in the feafon of gladnefs, to regulate the con- dud: — and whofe promifes, in the penfive hour of defpondence, could mofl effec- tually enliven the heart. Posterior to the Almighty's difpen- fation of his will to Adam, we know but of three revelations that have been adopted in. the world : The Jewifli, the Moham- medan, and the Chriflian. The Firft, though fliadowy, and, except in its mo- ralities, abrogated, we believe -, the Second — placed fo here without any regard to time — as the vifionary work of a wicked and defigning man — whofe credit is un- authenticated, and as containing grofs, pernicious, and immoral tenets, we de- fervedly rejedl; the Third we confider as the fuUefl and mofb confirmed teflimony, that God has ever been pleafed to give to man : On the Lord's Supper, 189 man: And as manifefling, withal, the Serm. completion of his will and of our falva- ^11. tion, we are aflured of its being the lad. In this New Teilament of grace and life, we find every part exceed our mod hallowed conceptions of a true religion. The devout and examining mind, is ftruck with wonder and love by the uniform tenour of the gofpel; with the fublime hmplicity of its dodirines ; with the ex- alted fpiritthat breathes in its promifes, — and even feems to mingle cornmiferation with its threats. Above all, the hiflory of its blefled Founder, tends to infpire a regard for thofe holy truths, which he left the bofom of the Eternal Father — by his fufferings and death on earth — to feal. 7'he Word that was God, who, for unnumbered ages of unfathomable eter- nity pall, had dwelt in glory with God, was, in pity to the miferable race of mor- tality and (in, made JteJJj and dwelt among men. He who by a word fpoke worlds into exiftence, was embodied like one of us ! To mark our helplefs, fallen condi- 6 tion. ig6 On the Lord's Supper, Serm. tlon, he fubmitted to be meanly borti— VII. and piteoully expofed : He left the courts of heaven — and was laid in a manger I After this, could worldly grandeur ever enjoy its fhadow, without a blufh ? — The Lord of glory was wrapt in /waddling clothes f and — put into 2ijlable where brutes were fed ! AnC his whole life affords a fimilar pidure of God-head humbled for the re- demption of men. He filled up the days of his miniitration with the exercifes of benevolence and prayer. Employed to accomplifli the gracious will of his Father, he took not a ftep, but to perform fome duty of charity, leve and grace ^ his mouth was not opened, but to fpeak a miraculous cure on fome fuffering mortal's afflided body, or while fome dodrine, falutary to the more diflrelTed fpirit, dropped fronx- his heavenly tongue. He felecfled a chofen number, to witnefs his labours of love for loft mankind, and to be executors of a better covenant — ratified in his death. To thefe beloved difciples, he entrufted the care On the Lord's Supper. loi care of difpenfing the gift of the gofpel. Serm. With thefe he travailed in pain and for^ VII, row ', defpifed and rejected of men ; for our inqiiitiesy wounded — for our tra?2fgre//ions, made acquainted with grief. With thefe, in his Lafl: Supper, he left a pledge of his affedion ^ a precious token of remem- brance, for them, and for all his friends, to the end of the world. Thefe, though loving him to the death, in death — denied him — forfook him — aiid fled : the difciple whom he loved, only — flood by his crofs. On that crofs, he offered up his life a ranfom for all \ and having fatisfied the claim of divine juftice, he burft afunder the bands of his prifon' houfe, and arofe victorious over his enemies and our's. He Ihev^ed himfelf to his forrow^ing fol- lowers ; he comforted them : to fatisfy their doubts, he condefcended to convince their fenfes — of the reality of his rife from the dead. — They difcovered their Lord and Mafler in the breaking of bread. On one of thefe occafions it was that he faid to Simon Peter, Simon fon of Jonas, lovejl thou 192 Oji the Lord's Supper. Serm. thou me more than thefe'^ He faith unto ^^^' hwiy Tea, Lord, thou knowej} that I love thee. In further treating this fubje(fl, I fliall, Firft, explain the import of our Saviour's queftion to Peter; Secondiy, point out the fitnefs of his reply ; and thence take occafion, in the Laft place, to call your attention to the efpeclal duties of a Com- munion' Sabbath, with which the kind providence of God hath this day fa- voured us. — Simon Jon oj 'Jonas, lovejt thou me more than thefe ? — \i you recolle6V, my brethren, the temptation of this difciple before the criiigifixion of Chrlft, and how his virtue — for a warning to us — proved deficient in the trial ; if you bear in mind that circumjfliance, you will difcern more clearly the propriety of our Saviour's now examining the fincerity of his repentance and reformation. He, that was acquainted with the intricacies of human reafon and the weaknefles of man's heart, well knew the mifguided notions, whereby SIn:ion had been On the Lord's Supper. 193 been formerly mifled; and, with the kindefl: Serm. intention of now putting the wifdom— '^*-^* he had derived from the experience of his own frailty — to the proof, interrogates this apoftle, whether his love for Him, exceeded that of the other difciples : he had, aforetime, been zealous in his de- clarations of unequalled love and fidelity — what were his fentiments now ? — But to make the cafe in conlideration more gene- rally ufeful, let us flop here to examine what is implied in ** loving Chrift." Of all our earthly paffions, though, from the fatality of our condition, they are all become grofs and obfcured, that of Love — even to worldly objedls — moft exalts and ennobles the human mind. We are thereby, as it were, lifted above the nar- row contractions of fenfe — and feel mofl convincingly that we have fouls. The evil and turbulent aifeiflions, that, at other times, diflraft the fpirit, at the prefence of this humanizing temper, die ; and every inclination, that adds a dignity or gives a lufire to our natures, fuccecds into their O places J 9+ ^^^ ^^'^^ Lord's Supper, ' Serm. places in our bofoms — at the call of Love VII. — which, as the word of peace over the troubled waters, fpeaks a calm to the ruf- fled mind, and charms our difquieted fouls into repofe. Judge, then, the ef- fed fuch a paffion muft have, when raifed, by divine contemplation, to a hea- venly obje^l, the glorious bridegroom of our fouls ! — Greater love hath no man than tbiSy that a ?nan JJjould lay down his life for his friend -y and to fuch a lofty pitch of virtue fome have arrived, as, in this cafe, have even dared to die : But Jefus, the Lord, hath commended his love towards iis,^ tn that while we were yet at enmity with God^ he died for us, the juji for the unjujly giving himfef a ranfom for ihe children of difobcdience. Now, as we love him, hecaufe he firji loved us — and he hath teftificd the unexampled force of his love ' — by giving up his life to fave us from eternal death— how ardent ought our re- turns to fuch infinite love to be ? Our love to Chrift will, firft, teach us, to deny ourfelves to the indulgence of every On the Lord's Supper, 19^ every other regard that would draw ourc^j^j^^ afFedlions from him. Our fouls can have VII. but one objed: of love; and if thatobjedl be Chrift, how little will all other de- formed idols of deiire be able to infpire us with attention more ? Thofe fUfe gods, that we have, beforetimes, miftakenly adored, will, like the diftant flars which dazzle our fight in the abfence — yet fade away at the approach, of the fun, hide their diminifhed heads, and trouble us with the empty proffers of temporal pleafures no more. Again, the love of Chrift, will not only turn away our defires from things earthly, but it will give them, befides, a proper direftion ; it Vi^ill fix them on Chrift himfelf and things heavenly. When fenfual temptations allure us, we will not only refift their call — but will feek fecu- fity againft their influence, by courting occafions of fpiritual and devout exercifes. If ive /ove Chrift J we will love his com- mandments. We will love him in all his mediatorial ofSces : as our Prophet, in O 2 y reveal- iq6 On the Lord's Supper, Serm. revealing to us the Inftrudions of faiva- VII. tion ; as our PrieU:, in performing that gracious work, by his offering up himfelf a facrifice for the fins of rnany people, and in continuing a Saviour's interceffion at the right hand of God ; and as our King, in being the fupreme ruler of our hearts — the conquerour of his and our enemies, the finifher of our faith, and the com- pleter of our vidory over fm, death and hell. We will love the example he i^X us, as falutary for the growth of our vir- tues ; and, in loving it, endeavour to cer- tify our refpedl — by imitation. His life on e£trth was an united difplay of meek- nefs, grace, and paiience. To be like him, we will ftudy to abound in thofe gentle qualities : and as he died for us, fo if the fmcere and ardent love of Chrift burn in our bofoms, we will be ready, for his caufe and name, to fuffer, undifmayed, perfecution and death. We will alfo love the Lord, in his fe- cond appearance j and having followed him as our Redeemer and Lawgiver, wait in glad On the Lord's Supper, 197 glad cxpedtation — till he cometh as outSerm. Judge. Having no caufe to dread his VII. frown of condemnation, we will impa- tiently long for the blelTed communication of his welcome ; and in fuch chearful hope, labour to keep thofe holy virtues in gracious exercife — that fhall not then be. forgotten. To this end, we will love him, in thofe ordinances he has left be- hind him, as the perpetual, facred pledges of his love and remembrance of us. And we will, in like manner, be incited to the obfervation of that new commandment — -to love one another, as he hath loved us.— --A cup of cold water, given to a difciple, in the name of a difciple. He himfelf hath taught us, will not lofe its reward-, and for them that hurt one of the leajl of thofe little ones he hath left behind him, it were better that a ?nilJlone were hanged about his neck and he were caji into the depths of the fea. Thus, every argument that can arife from charity, or may be enforced by fear, join to beget in us this bond of per fe 51 ion — the love of our fellow-chriflians, the O 3 love 198 On the Lord's Supper. Serm. love of our fellow-men : And fuch is the ■^' general definition of the love of Chrill, as deducible from, and illuftrative of the text we are handling. If Simon Peter were pofielled with the principle of fuch a love — above the other difciples— appears to have been the import of our Saviour's interefting queftion to that apoftle. Let us, next, attend to the propriety of his anfwer. Lord, thou knoweji that I love thee—. It was not now, as before the fufferings of our Lord ; 'Though all men deny thee, yet will I never deny thee. No ! Peter—- arofe illuftrious from his fall. He could now appeal to the Lord himfelf, for the genuinenefs of his affedlion. Peter's love was greatly increafed; but alongft with that his humility was increafed alfo. His part: errours had taught him diffidence in his own flrength, and allowed him not to boafl: any longer of furpaffing his brethren. And as, in the hour of temptation, every trial but the more confirmed his guilt, fo, now, every reply he made our Lord to 2 the On the Lord's Sapper, ipgj the repeated interrogation, illuftrated, more Serm. and more, his faith and zeal. Lordj — VII. faith he the hCz time, grieved that his love was doubted, Lord, thou kjioweji all things, thou knowejl that I love thee, — As if he had faid ; " I am now convinced of ** my own weaknefs, and of thy infinite ** power. By the fulfilment of thy ** fiyings, in rifing again from the fe- *' pulchre wherein we faw thee laid, I ** know and believe thee — Xo be the om- ** nifcient Lord : By my doubts, and de- *' nial of thee in thy fufferings, I feel ** myfelf — to be the chief of finners. Yet *' mine iniquities — have cofl: me forrows ** — my vanities created me the pains of ** humbling repentance. I am now het- ** ter acquainted with mine own heart. *' I now will profefs nothing — to thy all- " fearching wifdom ; but I now can lay " my foul open to thine infpedion. See, " then. Lord, if my tranfgreffions have " not humbled mc — and if fincere re^ *' pentance, and love for tb.ee, fill not up *' all my bread ? Lord, thou knoweji all O 4 *' things^ 20O On the Lord's Supper. Serm. " things, and thou feefi: and knowefi the VII. *t iQ^g J j^Q^ have for thee /" This was an acknowledgment, fuitable for a man that had erred ; and acceptable to him— that knew his heart. This, my brethren, is an aiFeding example, and the more, as the application nearly con- cerns ourfelves. Chrift, though nov/ cloathed in majefty with God-^ — is prefent in the holy ordinances of his Church. He hath chofen you a part of his Church. — This day, he hath prepared the marriage feajl 'y heinviteth you to come to the ban- queting houfe, while his banner over you— ^ he has promifed — Jhall be love: And to every one of you, the important queftion is now put — aS by the Lord himfelf to the Son ofjonas — Lovejl thou tne? What is the anfwer, you are prepared to make; and fhall it correfpond with the courfe of your after lives ? Have you exa- mined deeply your own hearts, refpedling the end of the holv inftitution, in the obfervance of which you are, this day, to be engaged— and your own motives for On the Lord's Supper » 2qi celebrating it? Do you confiderately re-SERM. "XT'! T fled, that the fymbols of the broken body ^ ^^' and fied blood of our Redeemer, were de- signed as precious remembrancers of the new covenant of grace and love, which he fealed in his death ; that they are yet tokens to us of his continual cheriiliing the num- ber of his flints, and fitting us, by a life of holinefs and felf-denial, for eternal righ- teoufnefs and glory. Is it the burthen of your fins, under which every pious foul — groaneth to be delivered, that makes you long to caji off the Jlavery of Satan, which impofes fuch a load upon you -, and is it love for Jefus, who was extended on a painful crofs — to refcue your fpirits from that bondage — that impels you to renew vour obedience, and to pay your vows, a free-will offering, in the prefence of all his people, at his holy altar ? Having (cen your fns as truly exceeding fmful — and difagree- able to the pure eye of a righteous Jeho- vah, have you difmiffed them from pof- feffing any room in your hearts ? Knowing that there is no /^/sri/V/g an omnifcient God, have 202 On the Lord's Stepper, Serm. have you, preparatory to your meeting him VII. in his facied ordinance, freely forgiven youv 7ieighbours their trefpaffes, as you hope to be forgiven j and, being in good will with all men, arrayed yourfelves in tem- perance, charity, and brotherly love — as a iveddlng-garment without which there is no fitting down fafely to the marriage of the Lamb? Thefe difpofitions, I befeech you, carry with you, in their full extent, to that Altar — wliere Chrift is reprefented as bleeding and dying for you. BlefTed ihall ye then be — that ye obey his invita- tion of love. You can have no (lain his blood will not wafh away. Every finner, whofe penitence is fincere and reformation earnefi, has an allured welcome to the table of the king s Jon. Such are the feafons, my brethren, for our faith becoming vigorous; and helping us to tejlify a good proj'ejjion before angels and men. Such are the feafons for raifing cur thoughts above worldly vanities, left we profane the Tancluary of God and his Chrift with an unholy defire : when it be- comes On the Lord's Supper, 203 comes us to Jloiit the doors of our hearts Serm, for a little moment y and to lift the longing ^ -^^• affedions of thofe hearts to Chrift. "While you join, O Believers in Jefus ! let me alk you — while you join in the fvveet com- memoration of his immortal love, that your fpirits be excited to be thankful, \xv remembrance of what he did — what he fuffered — for you. Refign to the difpofal and government of his Spirit the empire of your fouls ^ and promife eternal love and obedience to his direction — in oppo- lition to every temptation, in contempt of every danger, through this troublefome life. Though the thought of former er- rours may leffen your comforts, yet if even after having ungratefully denied him, your fouls are now ready to reply. Lord, thou knowejl all things y — thou knoweji that I love theey be not, then, difcouraged — your falvation is fare. And fufFer me to exhort you, when mixing again with the world ; that world, which is always at enmity with the crofs of Chrift ', to carry the godly refolutions, you 204 . On the Lord's Supper c Serm. you fliall have formed at his altar, into VII. practice. The temptations of life, will afTail your virtue with redoubled induftry ; nay, there are many who would rejoice in feeing you fully a good profefiion, and fall to a level with their unregenerate minds ; that would fay, " We thought where his *' pretended fandtity would end ! What ** better is he, now, with all his profef- ** lions, than we, who never made any *' profeffion at all ?" But will not your watchful nefs, my brethren, prevent thefe Ungodly — from triumphing over your fall ? If the enemy grows flronger, will not you put on, wifely, the whole armour of faith ? You are forewarned of the dan- ger : be condant in your vigilance to ef- cape or overcome it. You have the pro- mifes of the Lord to comfort you, his arm to fliield you, his fpirit to guide you, and his everlafting glory to recompence your perfeverance at the lafl. Let me befeech you, then, in the mer- cies of Jefus, to continue Jiedfaji and vn- jnoveable : and let neither death ?ior life, things, On the Lord's Supper. 205 things pre fent, nor things to come, tribula- Serm. tion or anguifi, principalities or powers, be VI I. able to fepar ate you from the love of Chriji \ be able to make you fwerve from the path of his commandments. Your redemption^ Beloved in the Lord Jefus ! draweth nigh. If, while the bleffed bridegroom of your fouls tarrieth, ye neither — to the forget- fulnefs of diWiy—Jlumber nor feep ; but, when he cometh, to bring you from trou- ble and mifery to the joyful courts of his father s houfe, have your oil ready and your lamps burning, then fhall ye enter in with thofe that are prepared — to an eternal mar- riage' feaft. There will you remember, with heavenly fatisfadlion, every ordinance, you delighted to celebrate on earth ; every ordinance, whereby you might teftify, be- fore the Lord that knoweth all things, and to the world around you, that, above all mortal objeds, the love of your fouls, was fixed on Jefus. It remains that I fulfil another duty, however painful the tafk ; that after having in wcaknefs endeavoured to encourage thofe 2o6 On the Lord's Supper, , Serm. thofe in their duty, whofe hearts allow VTT ^■^^* them not to be ajhamed — to fhew them- felves difciples and followers of Chriji, I difcharge my confcience, in another part of dodrine; and bring to the minds of the indifferent, lukewarm and carnal, this momentous truth — which all the fubtlety of the deiigning, the cavillings of the licentious, can never alter; — that he, who in all his m\.<^rQ{\.s gat beret h not with Cbrijl, fcattereth unwifely away : It remains— that I offer an admonition to thofe who communicate not — in the blefled Supper of the Lord. And Oh ! my brethren, what fliall I fay unto you ? Would to God, there were none of you of this defcription : And thanks be to God, that, comparatively with many Audiences, there are few. Shall I call you fellow-chriflians ! You would appear negligent of fo honourable a dif- tin6lion. You are not afliamed of earthly maflers, fuperiours, and governours ; and do you bluih to coafefs yourfelves the fer- vants. C— u«i-<~^ On the Lord's Supper. 207 vants, the fubjeds, and the difciples — of Serm. ChrilT: — the Lord — your heavenly King ? ^■^^* The piety of your forefathers, has left you a chriftian name y but how is it you feek to adorn the chriftian faith ? It de- mands obedience to the commandments of Chrifl:, — and you are forgetful of the laft command he left to thofe that loved him — to commemorate his dying love, to the end of the world. The carnal heart is ready to fuggeft a weak, and mofl: frequently a bad — excufe ; you think not yourfelves in fuch a holy and prepared flate as to be worthy of par- taking of an ordinance, where there is fuch danger of eating and drinking judg- ment-, and the vows you mult therein make, are too flrid for the way in which you have been accuftomed to live. True ! it is a facred inftitution, and requires ear- ned and fmcere preparation ; but, to what diftant period will you delay the needful work ? Can there ever be a better feafon, for repentance and reformation, than the prefent moment ? Oh, I want words to exprefs 2o8 ■ On the Lord's Supper. - Serm. exprefs the pity, with which fuch a con- dition ought to be confidered. You would \\'i(h to be happy. Breathes there a mor- tal without fuch a wifh ! But you think it too much to part with your worldly paffions and carnal delires. Your fouls, bewitched with fmful temptations, cry out, with the lluggardj — Tet a little Jlesp, a little Jlumber, a little folding of the hands to fleep. I INTREAT you, my brethren, I ex- hort— I command you — by the mercies and power of God — be ye reconciled to Chrift. Let not acruciiied Jefus plead in vairr. In the facrament of the Supper, he fhews you the bleeding wounds, with which he was pierced, on Calvary mount, for you. And is it pollible not to love fuch a Saviour ? As certainly as God is in heaven and ye are upon earth, there will a time come, when all thefe excufes (liali vanifh, when all other truil fiiall fail you, and you fli^^ll wilh you had been Chriltians indeed ! — On the fand a foundation — a falfe foundation — may be prefumptuoully, "' an O?? the Lord's 'Supper, 209 an edifice may be raifed, and for aSERM. time look fair to the eye; but when the VII. tide rolls on its waves, and the florm iwakens its billows, the bulldinp- — at the firfl onfet — (hall yield to the fury of the waters, — and bury its ill-fated tenant for ever in the deep. — Be your's a more oru- dent choice; that ye may fliun a fall fo ruinous ! Learn wifdom in the day of grace, before the door of mercy is for ever jJmt ; when it will not be opened to every one that faith, Lord, Lord, — but to thofe that have performed the fayings of Chrift, and valued the precious, the ineflimable gift of redeeming love. To conclude, my brethren ; let him that JIandethy take heed lejl he fall : and let him that has unfortunately fallen, have fpeedy recourfe to the aids of the divine fpirit — that he may be enabled to follow the example of the ^on of fotias, may rife agairiy like x\^q jiift man, feven times; and run, with augmented caution, experience, and ftrength, the chriftian race of immor- tality and life, ix:hich is ft before him. Of P ' that 1 6 On the Lord's Supper, that blcflcd Spirit, the Comforter, the communications are, yet, to be expelled by all devout chriftians, that pray for them in faith; believing y they fi all receive. As the queftion of our Lord, which we have been conlidering, was not confined to Peter, but defigned to convey inftru(5tion — with all his other words and precepts — to remotefl ages and remoteft lands ; fo was it not alone by the primitive difciples, that the bountiful imparting of his gracious favour was to be hoped for, but by every fucceeding believer in his name. Having fuch high hopes fet before us, let us fludy to afcertain them. Let us furround the throne of grace with un- wearied diligence. Let us Jl rive for fpi- ritual majieryy that we may overcome. Let us y2> run^ as they that wifi to obtain the prize. Let us, according to the different opportunities — which God, in his wife providence, allots to each of us as to him fcemeth bell:, embrace every occafion of advancing his glory, recommending his re- ligion and worfliip— promoting his praife. Whatever 2 On the Lord's Supper* 211 Whatever parts are afligned us, it IsourSERM. chief honour and our trued interefl — to ^^1* adt thofe parts well. On the fame ftage, we have, each of us, our walk circum- fcribed. Different chara(5lers we fill ; and we fill them with different degrees of abi- lity. The fcenes may often change their appearance, the fpecftators often vary their opinions. We are, one after one, making our exit, and a fmile, or a tear, may attend our different fates : But the curtain — (hall foon drop over all — and then the only Judge — whom it is worth our while to have pleafed, fliall take account of our ac- tions, and determine our final ftate of pu- nifliment or reward. ** Father of Spirits ! Preferver of man- ** kind ! Turn our hearts together — to ** fear, to love, and praife Thee. Bo'w ** T^hy heavens, and come down ; and vifit " us with the fmile s of Thy favour. Oh, •* forgive our want of preparation to meet '* Thy holy prefence; and when our fins '* would awaken Thy difpleafure, look on ** us in the face of Thine Anointed — and take *' pity upon us, Thy Children !" i\men, P 2 ^kS>o<'2X'0»>0«Sk|x33<'<^ SERMON VIII, On the Resurrection of Lazarus, John xi. 36. Hhen faid the Jews, Behold bow he loved him 1 jpSerm. time, in Gethremane's garden, be fecure4 ^^^^' and offered up; that alleviated the burderj ^"^ of the general curfe, mitigated the forrow of man's labour, foftened the thoxns an4 the thijtles which the earth v/as to bring forth i and elevated the hopes of him who was taken out of the ground, that though his dif:btd;cnce had confiriicd him to re- turn again to its dull — rlie iliould not there be left for ever to perifh, but fhpuld rife to briiife the head of that ferpent vvhofe malice only would be permitted — to hriiifn his heel. In the eternal councils of Hear ven, it was ordered, when the falvation that ^was promifed to the firft man, and which upheld all his race, Hiould be com- pleted. A kingdom the God of heaven de- figned to fet up, which (liould never he dejiroyed, nor left to other people, hut fould break in pieces and con fume all other king- doms, \iiii\i (?,c\.\iQ<^ to fand faf for ever. Yet other powers, and the images of other empires, had under the eye of Almighty Providence, their limited fufferance to arjfe. The gold, the filver, the brafs, the irou On the RefurreBion of Lazarus, 233 iron and the clay^ had their places ap- Serm. Dointed and their form ; till the prefixed VIII. moment when the jione, that was to be- come a great 7nountain and to Jill the whole earth, was cut out without hands, and broke the iron, the clay, the brafs, the filver and the gold to pieces together, making them become like the chaff of the fummer threjloing foor, that the wind carries away. Of the better covenant of life, the con-f dition was Faith. By delaying the period of our Saviour's coming in the fiefh, op- portunity was given for Faith to have her perfect work. Had Jefus been prefent at the firft ficknefs of his friend at Bethany, the ftroke of mortality might have been prevented: but, I am glad for your fakes, faith he to his followers, that I was not there, to the intent that ye may believe. And fo has it feemed good to eternal Wif- dom, to have called the greatefl number of his earthly creatures to ** believe;" that fo they may have greater bleffednefs ^han thofe few — who believed bec2Lu{e. hav- Jng feen— -the unequalled love and power of 234 On the Refiirreciion of Lazanis, Serm. of his Word. Lazarus was fufFered to *^^^^- lie in the grave four days; and yet was reilored to life. The Ifraelites were kept in bondage four hundred years -, and yet, according to the promife of the everlafting God to Abraham, delivered from Egyp- tian thraldom, and that natmi judged. Above four thoufand, did the world lie in jiut in darhiefs and the fiadow of death ; neverthelefs, the fame Power, the fame Truth, and the fame Wifdom, was exem- plified in the marvellous redemption, which in the perfon of Jefus, our ever- to-be bleffed Lord, took effeft. The Sun of right eoifnef Si after a long night, at lafl: arofe ; Ignorance was compelled to call in its meteors, and Mifery to withdraw its fhades. Mofes jlretched forth his rod -, and the Ifraelites paffed over the red fea, on their pafTage to the Land of Promife. A greater than Mofes, wept without Bethany ; and an efteemed Lazarus — was given to his tears. Without ferifalefn, fefus died ; and eternal life to lofl mankind was pur- chafed by his blood ! Let — v On the RefurreBion of Lazarm, 235 Let us view the likenefs, farther. In Serm. the remarkable way in which this redemp- VIII. tion was wrought. Behold us, under the'" curfe of a broken law, lying in the cor- ruption of errour and the grave of fin ! To refcue us thence, ineftedual were our own efforts, unavailing the pity of angels, as were the forrows of the troubled fifters, or the lamentations of the condoling Jews. To this abode, ungrateful as the cave where the body of Lazarus began to grow acquaint with corruption, from which all other beings gat them away, unwilling or unable to revive the finful carcafe • to this abode of mifery and tranfgreflion, our Friend and Redeemer came^ — to lift away the flone— the burden of a trefpaffed co- venant, which none but an almighty arm could move— to free vis from the grave- clothes of unrighteoufnefs and guilt, which nothing but infinite love would untie. And in doing this for the help- lefs race of mankind, who were dead to the hopes of life without fuch a ranfom — he was not only troubled in fpirit — but he gave 236 On the RefurreSfion of Lazarus, Serm. g^ve up the ghoji ', he not only came to the VIII. grave where we lay, but he entered in, ^ ' ' and fpread, by the etiicacy of fuch a con- defcenlion, the hope and the power of a blefTed refurredion, through all the do^ mains of the dead. Such a triumph, Peath amazed faw — and could hardly be- lieve it was his own vidtim. With re- ludlance did he proceed to inflid: that blow, in which he forefaw the pre-or- dained flroke, which was foon to terminate his own havocks -, which made his dart unable, longer to wound, and turned the weappns, prepared againft mankind, to confoLind and to ruin his own work. The fallen angels, beheld their malice defeated ; and faw a way towards Heaven opened up from the gates of Hell for men, which was everladingly fhut from them. Man himfelf, at the tomb of his expedlation, was gladdened with the heart-chearing queftion of the meifenger rob'd in white. Why feek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, he is rifen. He is rifen ! And with him our fmful nature arofe, to afpirCj On the Refurre^iion of Lazarus, 237 afpire, and to long, after the perfedions, Serm. and f , '" glories of heaven ; and to be VIII. blefs : . the full aiTurance of neither afpir-- ;:^ nor longing in vain. From all the incumbrances of our enflaved condi- tion, from the threatenings and the pu- nifliments of a lavi^ difpcnfation, we are, by his merits, transferred into the freedom of the gofpel of peace. From the grave of original fm, he has fummoned us to come forth ; faid to the powers that had us actually in bondage, loof thern^ and let the?n go; and fliall not all the reftored captives, and delivered fons of Adam, ex- claim in glad tranfport — " Behold how he *' hath loved us !" Thus have I endeavoured to fet before you the parallel, which exemplifies fo fully what Jefus has done for you. Suffer me to recommend to you, what ye fhall do for him. The only interefts you can have worth fecuring, will be beft fecured by obeying him. With what fentiments, think you, of^ joy and gratitude, did the riling Lazarus behold 2'? 8 On the RefurreBion of Lazarus. Serm. behold his Lord? And ihould not fenti^ VIII. ments of more unbounded joy, and livelier gratitude, infpire the reftored finners of Adam's race ? Him, from the loathfomc grave, he raifed, 'tis true; and gave him back to the affe(3:ions of his weeping kin- dred, and pleafed once more his eyes with the enlivening light of the fun. But though refcued from Death's arrefting hand, he had flill the debt to pay. Though he, from the cave of mortality, as Heze- kiah from the bed of licknefs, was re- ftored, for a feafon, from the cutting off of his days, and granted to enjoy the re- Jidue of his years ; yet, in the deliverance of both, had not the glory of God been concerned, it had been but bringing them again from the re^ons of peace, to go foftly all their prolonged years in the bit- ternefs of their fouL The continued days of refpite had foon been overpaft ; and the grave, once defrauded of its due, had ap- peared doubly awful, to the prifoner doomed to (hake oiF his fetters no more ! But to Hezekiah and to Lazarus, happier profpedls On the Refurrediion of Lazarus. 23^ profpe<^s were held forth, l^hou hafi if^ Serm* love to my foul, faid the firil in a fong of VIII. thankfgiving, delivered my foul from the pit of corruption ; and he adds, what was the trueft foundation to his praife, for thou hafi cajl all my fins behind thy back ; to the latter was afcertained that his re- demption was complete 3 for the voice that called him from the grave, was the voice of Him to whom it was equally eafy, to fay, 'Thy fns be forgiven thee, as Take up thy bed and walk. XJs, my bre- thren, hath the compaffionate Jefus called from a deeper dungeon, than the cav* where Lazarus lay. In our abjed: ilate of mifery, there was no created fellow being to mourn or lament ', no affe6led re- lations to fsnd a mefliige that a brother was fick. And to the title of Friend or brother, we had alike loft: every claim. Accufing angels only bore the account; and carried the tale of our tranfgrellion, unpitying of our woes. Yet then did the God whom we had offended, from whofe ways we had departed, find us out — and ? his 240 On the "kefurredllon of Lazarus 1. 'Serm. ^^'^ ^^'^^^ rf vifiting us, was a time of love, VIII. Shall not joy for luch falvation wrought, flaall not gratitude to him that wrought it for us, fill our difconfolate bofoms, and warm our deadened hearts ? Shall not wc add to thefe, the devout afpirations of faith and love, that, after having died in the likenefs of his death, we may have his bleffed fpirit given us to be renewed in the hopes of accompanying him in his refurredion ? The commands, he has given us in charge, as the evidence of our being indeed his difciples, can we hefitate to obey ? If the condefcending Redeemer weeps over the grave where our hearts are funk, and our fpirits lie dead in fin j fliall it feem much to us, if we apply our befl endeavours, and where our befl endeavours fail us, implore the afTiflance of his all* powerful grace to help us — to take away the fione ? If from the bondage of corrup- tion's grave he calls us forth, and gives us power to obey the fummons ; fliall our own hands be idle to follow the diredion, that gives flrength while it gives com- mand. On the Refwrecfion of Lazarus. 241 ' mand, to loofe the grave-clothes that bifidS^RM, us hand and foot, and to fay to all our VIII. blinding and our finful paffions, " Hear *' the word of our Redeemer, and let ** us go ?" A SECOND ufe to which I would turn the conlideratlon of this fubjedt, is to make men admire the glorious work of our re- demption. And this I found on the be- haviour of the Jews, Could not this man, faid fome of them as they went to the grave of Lazarus, 'which opened the eyes of the blindy have caufed that even this man Jhould not have died? Here, ye fcepticks on the power of God ; here, ye cavillers on the ways of his eternal Providence, fludy a paflage that reproves your arrogance, and attend the eventful fequel, that Ihews you *' what worms ye be." ** Could not God *' have prevented fm entering into the '* world; and if he could, why did he ** not ?" — Are the queftions which give you, ye fondly conceit, a title to know- ledge : but which only difcover much ig- norance and much impiety joined together R in 242 On the RefurreB'ion of Lazarus, 'Serm. in one bad heart. "We fay unto you, he VIII. «' could/' for it was his grace and love that folely prompted him to make the world, of which you are the greatefb dif- grace : but we add unto you, he *' would *' not ;" for his wifdom forbade that there fhould be merit in flavifli homage : and if the freedom of will which he granted to man, was abufed, his goodnefs found a ranfom 3 and his power, to the confufion of you and of your mafter, was exempli- fied more in bringing thofe, that 'mere dead, to life, than it could have been in preventing them to die. The Jews, at the 'grave of Lazarus, were convinced of their unbelief j and you, at the crofs of Jefus, may be incited, if you have hearts in you, to fmite your hardened bofoms, and confefs — that verily the government of the world is j-ighteous, that the redemp- tion wrought by his Son, is in truth the ivork of God, Lastly, be intruded, my dear fellow chriftians, from the example before you, to be tender-hearted one to another. lx\ adopting On the KefurreBion of Lazarus, 243 adopting this principle of humanity, ing^RM. fulfilling this law of your religion, you VIII. oifer an acceptable facrifice, and you may^ * much profit your own fouls. Had the Jews deferted the forrowful houfe of Mary and Martha^ they had never feen the power of God in the refurre61:ion of their departed brother 3 and thus loft an oppor- tunity, which, we are told, many of them embraced, to believe in him that had fuch power, and manifefted fuch love 1 For- fake not your friend in his diftrefs, leave not your enemy. Follow him to the re- treat where he pours forth his anguifli ; attend him to the grave where, in hope- lefs mifery, he retires to weep. Who knows but the Lord may vifit you there ? In the abodes of afflidion, he delights to dwell ; in the retirements of grief he is fooneil found ; and while you mingle your tears with thofe that mourn, your Re- deemer's mercies may vifit your hearts, and tune your voices to the found of praife. To conclude, my beloved brethren : what can there be in this world, that R 2 ihould 244 ^^ ^^^ RefurreBion of Lazarus. Serm. fhould draw away our minds from Chrift ? VIII. Every thing that docs, muft carry us at difcance from happinefs : And who is there of us, that wiflies not to be bleft ? Shall we forfake the Fountain of living waters, and expend our pains and cares on that which profiteth nought ? We may expend our pains and cares ; may raife to ourfelves ambitious hopes, and follow the purfuits of empty defires. A time fpeedily hallens, when the Redeemer, that is reje6led, be- comes the Judge. When at the grave of linners he no more fhall weep; nor bid the captive of corruption go free; but in indignation, multiplied by defpifed mer- cies, give command to his attending mi- nifters — then become the minifters of his wrath — to caft the enemies of his king- clom, from before his prefence, into un- ' quenchable fire. Embrace his gracious offer of peace, while you are in the way with him; in- finite as is his love, its operations have an end; and when once that end overtakes the impenitent, this fhall be the fruitlefs excla- O;/ the Refur7'eBion of Lazarus, 245 exclamation, re-echoed, for the tortured Serm. circle of evcrlafting ages, through the ca- Vlii. verns of hell, '* Behold, how once the " Pvcdeemer of the world loved us ! Bc- *^ hold, howweare now undone!" " Father of Spirits ! Maker of man- *' kind! Thou Lord of all! To Thee the " clay and the living principle, the iflues '' of life and of death, helong. Prevented *' by our weaknefs, eflranged by our fins, ** afliamed from our guilt, we know not *' of ourfelves hov/ to approach Thcc. ■^ Yet to none but Thee can vv'e go, for ** Thou alone had the words of everlad- «* ing life. Of that undeferved gift, we *' defire a portion ; and v/c implore that ^' Spirit, v/hofe comfort Thy dear Son has ^' purchafed, and which is only Thine to " give, that we may be delivered from the '^ thraldom of an evil nature, and re- ** ftored, by Thy favour, to the fmiles of *' Thy flice. So fliall we add to the triumph ** of redeeming love, and be pointed out, ** to admiring faints and angels, asthehum- R 3 \' bie 246 On the Kefurreciion of Lazarus, Serm. ** ble followers of the lowly Jefus, and the VIII. ** coflly purchafe of the blood of the *' Lamb," Amen, S E R. z^,L SERMON IX. On Schism. Philippians i. i^. Some indeed preach Chrijiy even of eniy and Jirife, XXXXX were noteafy, my brethren, forSERM, Jj * >> me to exprefs the pain which I IX. XXXa f^.^]^ in being, as it were, forced by the circumdances of the times and place wherein we live, to make fuch words as thefe the fubjed: of your meditation. I have always reckoned, and I trull I have reckoned riglitly, that the place in which I ftand, was dedicated to nobler ends and purpofes — ^than to fcatter the words of hafty cenfure, or retail the prejudices of R 4 I'^nf 24S 0?z Schifm, Serm. party' fpirit. I have confidered It as the ^■^' duty of a Preacher of the gofpel — who knew the value of the talent committed to his care, and who fincerely wiflied to im- prove it, — when he afcended the pulpit, to elevate his own mind, and to elevate the minds of his hearers, fometimes at leaft, above the incidents of a depraved common life, or the wanderings of a de- bafed fancy. The miniilration of the word of life, I have looked upon, as a work too important to be interrupted, by the fmifter cares of the w^orfl of human paffions. Our's is a plain duty. If we under- fland the fcriptures ^-— and if we do not, who are to be our teachers ? — Surely not thofe — we are fent to inlirud:; the Spirit of God is an Inftrudor, under whofe doc- trine we fliall not err; if we underftand the fcriptures, we cannot, but from fome bad motive, ftray from that line of duty which they uniformly and invariably point out : To preach Cbrift, and bim crucified, and On Schifm, 249 and not to ellablifli for doBrines — the com- Serm, IX niandmcnts of men. In this pcrfuafion, I muft be fufFered to k^rn my duty from that Fountain of grace and wifdom' alone, who giveth to all, in meet portions, of the ineftimable treafure of the word of life. From that word only, can I fee reafon, to borrow truths that may be ufeful for you ; and to that — < am I delirous to fubmit every appeal. In all that facred volume have I found no warrant, to court your good opinion at the expence of my own ; to facrifice to the fmiles of the v/orld — the interefts of heaven. To enjoy both at once is a thing that happens rarely, and, when it ^j.ot'^, is a gift of Heaven for which to Heaven we {hould be thankful : But with you I fpeak the truth more boldly, as happy in knowing what numbers of vou, havino; fenfe to dif- cern, have, at the fame time, good nature to approve — fentiments that fpring from no dubiou-s motive ; which but can arile, and which my heart tells me do arife, from the fingle defire 0\. difcharging my duty 2 CO On Schifm, Serm. duty before God — and, confequently, well ^^* to you. Some indeed preach Chrijly even of envy and Jirife ! Infatuated men ! that acft a taking part — -from fuch bad principles ! — . With what relucftance does neceflity urge me, to call off your attention, but for a moment, from that Chrift and Saviour—- the redemption wrought by whom it is my bufmefs to preach— to conlider the tenets and the prad:ices of thofe who profane his crofs I Are there not fufficient enemies to the chriflian fpirit and name, — but there muft alfo arifc thofe — who pretend to fight under its banner ? Was it not enough to fatiate the infernal fury, that the rulers' hand and xh^'Koxmn foldicrs had the mer- ciful Jefus given to their wills? Mufl a 'Judas — one of his twelve followers — betray bim 'y a Peter — one of his beloved difciples '^deny him too? — The will of Heaven muft be obeyed. But it is not Heaven's will that Vice fliould triumph over Vir- tue. It becomes, then, my part, as a Watchman wifliing to be found faithful^ On Schifm, 251 to warn you of the fword he fees hajlening Serm. to lay wajie the land. If the intelligence IX. is beneficial, ftay not to enquire — how high or how low is the ftation, how va- lued or unprized the deferts, of him who gave it you — but efcape for your life. — To him, that is faithful in a little, there may be fome merit — though it blaze not abroad -, there is fome reward — though the world beftow it not. These things, my brethren, I hold ne- cefiary to obferve, that, if on this occaiioa only, I advert to thofe ill-guided zealots, whofe motives are defcribed in the text, and in future pafs them over — with a iilence which ought to cover maladies v/e hold incurable, you will pleafe to afcribe it to its right caufe ; not to the want of arguments to confute all wanderings from fcripture' truths ; but, to the refped: I bear to my own commiffion, the regard I entertain for your befl interefts, and the fear, which ought ever to be before a Mi- nifter's eyes, of lowering the religion of Chrifb. A foldier in the lines of war, ought 252 On Schifm, Serm. ought to hold the incitements of his dan-» IX. gers and of his triumphs too high — to flop at every fliallow brook on his way, or lay down his weapons, that he may be at liberty to fcatter the flies or infedls, that may trouble — but that fliould not impede his progrefs. — The Levite — that would be acceptable before the Lord — behoved to keep his cenfer ii'om Jirange Jire I For once, then, my brethren, let us ** learn wifdom from a foe." Foes, we can have none but what are fuch to the caufe of truth and virtue; and fuch, v/e truft, fhall we be enabled to make thofe appear to you, who preach Chrijl — e-ven of envy andjlrfe. You fhall have a fermon — as irregular, at leaf!:, as their's. May it be but half as fuccefsful for the purpofes of convidion • and I fliall be happy, without their praife ! I AM perfuaded, there is not one that hears me, but who is ready to fay, that the religion of his country, as well as its conftitution of civil government, is the befl under heaven. The intelligent among you 0?i Schifm. 253 you know it is fo; and the ignorant and^ERM, carelefs take it, as they take moft of their * opinions, on report. Now it is the wifli of every man that is not utterly deftitute of underftanding or moral principle, that a good thing fhould be preferved. This is fully underftood, and generally adhered to, in temporal conditions. That the State may flourifh, it has its appointed guardians, its fixed regulations, and its fupreme refort 5 that Trade may thrive, it has alfo its necefTary reftridions, its whole- fome immunities, and its fettled ftandards : and that different Profeflions may indivi- dually profper, they have their different degrees, dependencies, and controul. To whoever would break in upon, or alter, at his own pleafure, thefe eftablifhed bounds — which experience has fand:ioned as wife and falutary, there is no fcruple in affix- ing the name of ** criminal;" — and of all innovators, is he only who fets himfelf to botch religion, to efcape cenfure or meet regard ? We all know how obnoxious quackery is in any profeffion. Men in bulinefs 2t± On Schifm. Serm. bufinefs would foon raife an outcry, and IX. raife it juftly, were an interloper, who had undergone no previous fervice, to run away with the profits of the fair trader* And is religion of lefs value, or has it fewer claims to attention, than trade ? The prefervation of the one, you all ngree, de- pends upon ading up to the honeil prin- ciples of its inftitution, and guarding all its avenues from injury and deceit. In the name of all that is eonfiftent in the thoughts of mankind, has not the Chrif- tian Church an equal right to its charter ? Is it only to be an open Common — for the reception of every Stray ? Let it : But let thofe who refort thither, be at leafl free from contagion ! To the lawlefs infurgent, who, at his own hand, would new-model the State, there is a penalty fixed, and a " judgment ** that fhall not pafs." It is not an illi- beral— but a pious — wifh, that he who would craftily undermine, or audacioufly fubvert, the religious eftablifliment of his fathers — fhould, at leaft, be retrained from difie- On Scbifm. 25^ difleminating thofe errours, which may Serm. prove the fcourge of his poflerity. The £ck man fends for a phyfician, and put- ting confidence in his fkill, implicitly fol- lows his prefcriptions ; the contentious man employs a lawyer, and without pre- tending to inn:ru(5t him in the intricacies of his trade, gives him his fee; but the cafe is become very different where fpiri- tual affairs are concerned. There, almofl every man, of late, is become ivifer than his Teacher* To places of entertainment, men refort with a refolution to be pleafed i to places of traffick, with a view to pro- fit j but men go to church — if they go thither at all — much oftener to judge his miniftering fervants — than to worfhip their God. And to what is this fo chiefly owing^ as to the ill-tempered conceits of thofe — ■ who preach Chrifty even of envy andjirife? Refpeding fuch unhallowed meffengers, I will but afk a few queftions j and truft to your own experience to furnifh you with replies. 4 Do ^r^ On Schijhi, Serm. 1^0 ^^^ ^^^y pi'C^ch Chriil — of cnvj-^ IX. who have no regular call to preach him at all? Do not they preach him — e'ven of firfe — 'who invert the meek fayings of the Saviour of mankind into authoritative re- ile6lions on thofe of his well-meaning dif- ciples, that walk 7iot with them f There is a fpirit, at prefent, gone abroad, my brethren, the excelTes of which it behoves us to guard againfl, with the moft cau- tious vigilance. Let me befpeak your fe- rious attention to the truths I utter. Of numerous religious audiences, I believe to my great fatisfadion, you need not fuch admonitions moft. For once, however, they may not be unneceiTary. Let the mifguiding of others, teach us circum- fpection. Though Ifrael play the harlot, yet let 7iot Jiidah offetid. — The beft of human principles are apt to be corrupted. The beft of human ac- tions have a tendency to decline. This is confpicuoufly evident in that fpirit which I now notice. I fliould not bring it into difrepute, by calling it a ** fpirit of enthu- " fiafm," On Schifm. 257 ^' fiafm," nor fhould I ftlgmatize thofe Serm. that are led by it, if I termed them " Me- ^J^ ** thodifuS;" for there is an Enthufiafm — which I wifli to be in all my difcourfcs — and in all your hearts 1 and there is a Method of piety, to which I dedicate all my defires and labours— that you and I may uniformly embrace and follow it. The abufe of which I treat, is what has arifen from bad men making an handle of the bed things, to mifguide fome of the beft hearts, and produce fome of the worfl efFedts to fociety and morals. I SAY not that the minifters of the Ghurch are blamelefs. I fay not but that inattention, indifference, the pride of learning or the pride of life, on our fide, may have caufed coldnefs, difcontent, and defertion from the Lord's temple, on your's. But might not the fault, as is held fair in other cafes, be divided here ? Grant that xhtfons of Eli, men of Belial, made people to abhor the offering of the Lord', was there no backflldlng, no tranf- greffion, no going a whoring, among the 3 twelvi 25^ On Schifm, Serm ^'^'^^'^^ tribes? Have there not been pro- IX. phets, unfuccefsful among their people, c-.-i^— -' 23 ^yg]i ^g the Preachers of the Englifh Church ; and had the former the whole fault imputed to them ! Neither let it lie with the lafl. The licentioufnefs, ever confequent upon luxury's growing in a State, firfl deprived religious ordinances of their proper check upon manners, and in procefs from bad to worfe, came to difallow it together. Delivered, at the fame time, from the trammels of popifh prieftcraft, men began to difregard all cccleliaftical controul — from having wit- nefled the wildnefs and oppreffion of its excefs ; 'till they habituated themfelves, by Ihaking off all veneration for minifters that had abufed their privileges, to enter- tain no reverence for thofe that were faith- ful. The lamb, delivered from one thicket, where it long had in pain been faftened, leaps over the lawn with heedlefs and impetuous joy— nor fees till it is caught in another. WiTK On Schifnu 259 With the efteem for Churchmen, fellSERM. their ufefuhiefs. Preachers— in the de- IX. clenfion too natural to human virtue — became inanimate, when their hearers be- came cold and negledful. Wearied with labouring without love, they ceafed, many of them, to labour at all, — and left the altar to be ferved — by the Children of Neceflity — While the mariners obeyed command, and the iliip had its tackle en- tire, the Pilot flood by the helm, and pointed to the road of fafety ; but when the florm difmantled the vefTel, and the crew became mutinous, he let his hand forfake the rudder ; and, defpairing of ever bringing his charge into harbour, turned all his folicitude to Hive one plank — to tranfport himfelf on fhore ! Thus, amid the inundation of vices that, in the courfe of the prefent century, have deluged our country, what could be done by the feeble minifters of her en- feebled church, to v/ard off univerfal de- pravity ? We fcruple not to confefs, that all has not been done — that was in their power. S 2 The zSo On Schifm. Serm,'^^-^^ '^P^'^'^' even in apollolick times, ivaf IX. given in earthen vejels -, who, then, is fo * ' ' unreafonable as to expefl perfe^ion in us ? — But we hefitate to confefs another thing, or even to allow its truth — that the ne- gledls of fpiritual Paftors, gave warrant for the fheep to flray ; or made Them proper objects of reprehenlion in popular harangues. Let the flock of Chrift be fed; God forbid, but that they fliould be fed with a careful hand, and out of the beft of the pafture ! — but let them be fed in the bounds prefcribed ; let them keep in the fold which the Shepherd of Ifrael hath' appointed. If they will ftray through the vallies, if they v.ill wander over the mountains, what wonder if they are caught in the brake — or fUl a haplefs prey to the devouring wolves ! Let us remark, now, what ufe has been made by defigning and fubtle men, of the opportunity afforded them, by the circumftances we have been mentioning, of raifing their own fame on the bafis of popular crrour. God is ever gracious ^ and Oji Schifm* 261 and his fpirlt is never idle in bringing Serm. objedls to the throne of his mercy. In IX. the ivo'rji of times, he faved a remnant -^ and in the midfl of dangerous years, he ilill maintains and builds up his church. Good men faw with pain that they lived in a corrupted generation, and every day growing worfe. They fet themfelves to reform it, by word and by example. The Spirit of the Eternal, aflifled the endea- vours of many of them ; and brought them to effed:. But there foon minoled o with thefe, men who were actuated by another fpirit. Satan is never remifs in ' cajiing in his tares with the wheat. Men arofe, who faw the gains of piety, without feeling its force. It was no hard matter -—to affedi it ^ and, under that affecftation, it was eafy to impofe upon the well- meaning and fober-minded. 'The bird, purfued by the hawk, fiies into the fiiare, and knows not that it is for his life. Advan- tage was taken of the weaknefs of human nature; and knowing that men, awakened to a fenfe of religion, were apt to take S 3 the 262 On Schifm. ' Serm. the nrft fair diredtion, they took fuch 1-^- eiFeclual means — to accommodate their tenets to their pnrpofes, that under the feeming difavowal of "^ preaching them- *' felves," they came to preach nothing — ■ but themfelves — in effedi or, if they preached Chrifiy 'twas of e7ivy and Jirife. Under the fpecious pretext of feeking nei- ther power nor profit from the flock of Chrifl, they eflablifhed, more fuccefsfully, their obtaining both the one and the other : While, under the form of Protef- tants of diftinguifhed felf-denial, they a6t as the ConfefTors of the penitent, — Direc- tors^ of their mifguided hearers' faith -, and thus unite the oflices of the Monk and the honours of the Pope — in one ! All men are fond of power. They that had no profpcdt of ever reaching to any in a civil capacity, had a door opened to them in another view. The Bible was ranfacked to abet their fcheme ; and it was foon found to abound in pafTages that could be made to fuit their humour. It was but averting, that the fame call fub- I fifted On Scbifm, 263 tided to this day, as was given to the firfl Serm. difciples of Chrift — the fame gifts pro- ^■^• mifed — that miracles were not ceafed -, and that every believer of the gofpel — had au- thority to preach, as well as a command to believe. There was no more room flraightway left for the complaint, that the harveji wds plenty and the labourers few ; for labourers flocked from every quarter ; — one from the loom — from the fhop-board — from the plow — and all — all powerful in the fcriptures ! 'Tvvas found an agreeable channel wherein difappointed or malignant humours might flow : and men — tired of all other " trades"— or banifhed from them, have but to turn Preachers ! Let us beftow one glance on their doc- trines. Wherein do they differ from our own ? In no particular that I can find — but in their manner of turning them. One great caufe, perhaps, why churches are thin, and conventicles crowded, is the dexterous manner in which all points are ^lanaged, in the latter, to fuit the humours S 4 of 264 On Schifm. Serm. of the people. This can hardly be other- IX. wife in the nature of things. In a church, however little our place, — and little ought that place never to be efteemed, whereto is affigned the office of fpeaking the words of life— we all know that fuch provilion is made for our eftablifliment, by the laws Qf our country, that we may live without the credence of common opinion. We are, therefore, under no abfolute neceffity to court it: fo far from this, that we have every incitement to adl independently of it, and, by difcharging our duty from principle, fecure the favour of our own conlciences, the favourable acceptance of God — who is greater than our cofijciences, and even the approbation of the fenlible and wife} which will never fail, fooner or later, to crown the head of that man who does not go out of the way of virtue to, feek it. But tfie cafe is widely different in the haunts of fanaticifm. Upon the breath of common fame, they hang -, and nobody marvels to fee the wind drive abou^ ^ feather ! 4 The On Scbtfm, ^65 The beft pattern, next to Him who Serm. was himfeif the pattern of all excellence, IX. which *' we" have for preaching, — and I ' '' ^ queflion if, in all their refearches for au- thorities, *^ they" ever find a better, is the apojiie Paul. At a ferrnon of his, you may rernember, it is related that Felix, a Roman Governour, was made to tremble, I dare fay you alfo remember well, what was, at that time, the fubjed: of his rea- fonings : it was — righteoufnefsy temperance^ and a judgment to come. Had Paul given up the caufe of his Mafter; had he only defcanted on the *' badnefs of all man- ** kind-'— and preached ** faith" v/ithout either retrofpeft or effect ; he and his wife had been pleafed — Felix had not tremhledi snd Paul had not been left bound. There is not, there cannot be. a tale more jfoothing to a linner, than-— that all mankind are as great iinners as himfeif. The Preacher, therefore, that would in- gratiate himfeif with a Governour — inftead gf making him tremble^— xiv^x^i avoid rea- Jming about virtues which he knows are not 266 On Schifm. Serm, ^^^ agreeable to his hearer to pra£!:ire— . IX. fpeaking of the criminality of pafiions ^-v^ -* which he loves to indulge — or mention- ing, with any application, that dreadful day, which Ihall try the deeds and the creeds of all men. Let him but reconcile his confcience to the corruptions of his heart; tell him how wicked fome other heart is — how " damnably wicked" his own ; — let him bear the other in counte- nance for all his fins, by expatiating, with felfifh humility, on his own tranfgref- iions ; and if he is not fuccefsful in at- taining worldly regard — mufl be owing to his hearer being a wifer man than Felix — himfelf more deferving to be left bound hi fetters — though, from the cunning of car- nal wifdom, more likely to efcape them— than the refolute Paul! To tell men of their particular lins, to exhort to particular duties — is making them the mark at which the arrow is fhot, and, therefore, whatever found divi- nity it may be, it is not good human policy. But, dwell as much as you pleafe on ge- neral On Schifm, 267 neral fins, and repeat without ceafing theSERM. efficacy of faith — that is an arrow iliot I^* aloft in the air ; no body apprehends dan- ger, no body is hurt, and no body is dif- pleafed with him that fliot it. It is fo eafy a thing to fay one has faith, and the havino- it — fuch a falvo for all heart- cares and even outward blemifhes, that no wonder the founds are pleafing, and thofe that utter them delightful, to certain de- fcriptions of men. I admit that there are many who give ear to fuch founds, from an amiable weaknefs ; nay, fome, from the befl motives that can a£luate a human heart : And I am not uncharitable. Were their judgments but as clear, as their hearts are honeft, they would be of .fm- o-ular ufc in the chriftian church 3 they would— if fo it were poffible for any man to be to fo pure a charad:er — be an honour to the chriftian name. But ftill, this in- dulgence I am not willing to give without qualification. From the fame liberal prin- ciple of juftice, fanftioned by knowledge, I believe that there are many miftaken people. 268 On Schifm, Cerm. P^op^^i w'lih. devout minds, that fall dowij IX. — according to th.eirconceptions,in thebefl meaning — before the image of the Virgin Mary,andvalueas a moftineftimable relic cer- tain difpofitions of the Confecrated Hoft ! For both, I allow all the latitude that the c^^k: will fuffer: but for their Teachers, I have not fo mild a fentence. — / have not fent thefe prophet s^ yet they ran : I have not fpoken to them, yet they prophefied. But if they had Jiood in jny~ counfel, and had caufed my people to hear my 'words, then they fiould have turned them from their evil way, andfrora the evil of their doings* But to do this was not a tafic fo popu- lar. The recommendation of good works, is not generally a grateful bufinefs 3 for the performance of them is not — fo pro- blematical, A mifer, an extortioner; a proud, a revengeful man, will be delighted with expatiations on the general corrup- tion of human nature; and, without feek- ing a cure, find iq that an excufe, for his c>wn. To tell him ** to believe," he will iiold glad tidings ; for this, as his owr* evil Of! Schifm, 269 evil heart will modify it, he can pretend Serm. to do — without either parting with his IX. means or reftrainidg his paflions. But to *— "v— J urge him to the pra6Vice of charity, to the walk of uprightnefs, to the path of humility, and to a placable temper, will be apt to make him hateful that gives the advice. He may a(ft as a friend ; and as a beft friend he does ad-^but he has touched his very fore ! Why will men be fo thoughtlefs, as to forfake the words of found dodrine, and folloiv after lies ? The mofl foolijh virgins, and men moft unwife, may boaft, all the day, that their lamps are trimmed ^ and their 'vejfels full of oil -, but when night comes to render their ligl't necefTary — it will be the beft proof their allertions were true, if thofe that are around them fee them burning. Be thou ivarmed, be thou clothed, is a language which, O thou Pharifee ! thou Zealot! thou mayeft ealily adopt; but thy merit will be iefs ambiguous, and thou wilt do a greater ple.ifure to Heaven — greater 270 ^^ Schi/nt. Serm. — greater good to thyfelf — if thou parteft IX. with the fleece of thy (heep ! My brethren 1 Let me not be willingly mifunder flood. Of the neceffity, the effi- cacy, and benefits of faving Faith, if there are others who can fpeak with greater elo~ quence, there is not one that can do it with greater goodwill than myfelf. But I warn you againfl: adopting a partial, a contracted creed. Be our's, the whole truths of the Bible. Let us not divide the Word of God ; nor give out the Chrif- tian fyllem by piecemeal. Without faitb ' — *^ we" fay, ca?z no mail living be jufti^ Jled'y but we fay alfo. Without holinefs fiall no man fee the Lord. That the human heart, that man's whole nature, is cor- rupted and depraved, the Scriptures tell us ; and I believe none of our own experiences will fuifer us to doubt it : But yet, O thou declaimer on thy nature ! thou fatyr- ifl of thine heart ! — are there fome things good — both in the one and the other, God has not yet fo forfaken the works of his hands, as to leave them totally without his On Schifm, 271 his image. If thy mind were unpofTelTed Serm. of the principles of found reafonings and IX, right judgments, how couldeft thou dif- cover the beauties of revelation -, how couldeft thou difcern the admirable iitnefs of a covenant of grace -, or how couldeft thou even mark the depravities of that mind, againfl which thou art fo loud in thy outcry ? Thou fayefl: — *' it is given ** thee of God's grace, and by the im- " partings of his holy Spirit" — and thou fayeft rightly. But beware, left this thy knowledge lead thee into errour. Some portion of this grace — of that fpirit, thou waft never without : nor ever wilt be — - 'till thou mourn thy lofs among the fiends that fell ! It is to the divine erace thou oweft every power, every faculty of thy mind. What is thy reafon — thy con- fcience — but the Spirit within thee — ut- tering the voice of God ? Thou art thy- felf bid to try the fpirits ; and art thou capable of this, without illumination from above ? While thou dwelleft, with a fort of fatisfa^^ion, on the failings of thy kind, con- ^yi On Schifm, Serm confidereft thou how great is the danger IX. left thou dillionour thy Maker ? By fuch ^^ — "^ — ' means cannot the interefts of thy religion be ftrengthenedi Its blefled Founder^ v*^ho, furely, knew beft — what was in man ' — faw the human foul, buried indeed in the rubbifli of carnality and fm j yet ftill fuch a jewel he reckoned it — that he con- defcended, in his love, to give his life to reftore it to its former luftre — and {ez it in even higher glory than that in which it was framed. He it was that acknowledged a difciple without guile -y for the grace from above had prevented him, and he had been jeen by his Saviour, before he jlood under the Jig-tree, Thou advifeft thy neighbour to eredl a building ; thou ex- horteft him to raife one that fhall laft for po-es ; and thou pointed out Chrift — as the chief corner ftone. Thou doft well* But, is it right to decry thofe materials and call them ufelefs, which muft go to compofe the ilrudture ? -Surely not. Al- ter, then, thy condud:, and change thy opinion, if thou wouldefl wilh to act and to On Schtfm. 2^3 to think— as becomes a chriflian and aSERM, mafl. Gain a better opinion of thine own IX. heart, of thine own nature; and for this*^ purpofe, pray to God to make it better; and implore the affiflance of his Spirit to help thee to keep it fo, feeing out of it are the ijfues of life* The humours of the mind, as well as thofe of the body, are ill to be turned from an improper diredlion* The infa- tuation of the prefent day, and what has indeed been always, more or lefs^ the in-' fatuation of the unthinking, is to pay more attention to names than things j eA fentials are difregarded, and the moft tri- vial circumrtances occupy their place. You will hardly meet a man to whom the terms — ** Arian," '' Arminian," ** Soci- ** nian," '* Antinomian," " Predeflina- " rian," — and many more than a learned man need know, or a good man would wifh to know — are quite familiar; and they are bandied about with no little {hare of acrimony. But, of a hundred, that have got fuch names to trumpet at plen- T furCj, ^74 ^^ Schifm. Serm. ftire, alk ninety-nine— any thing further IX. than what barely relates to names, and the " bird taught to imitate founds" — (hall afford you an anfvver almoft as confiftent. My brethren, if it be poflible, let us root out this errour from ourfelves. L"t us root it out, I fay ; for I am not flatterer enough — and God forbid I fhould ever flatter here ! — to fay it may not have en- tered. Let us banifh from our devotions all ideas of the differences of Se6ls. They are the refuge of the v^eak and the evil- minded. Let us be fenfible and flrong ; difpofed to ferve the Lord as he has bid- den us, and to lay no dependance on the unauthorized opinions of men. Let us turn away our ears from thofe, who preach Cbrifi^ even of envy and Jirije. When every body begins to reform his neighbour, every body begins to need refor- mation himfelf. When a man once goes about to hunt for religious fentiments, he will leave off with having none at all — or having fuch as are much worfe than none. On an unknovv'n road, without neceflity, it Oh Scbifm. tj!^ it is befl: not at all to enter; for no man, Serm. even the befl-intentioned, knows how far it may lead him. ** I" knew a Seft, who began — with making the work of falvatioa eafier than moft others. It was but to ** be- ** lieve" — and they allowed only one kind of belief — " that Chrifl: did arife from the ** dead," and the matter was done ! And they ended at lafl, in finding all religious ordinances unnecefTary. They ceafed from all kinds of prayer -, they eeafed, as far as the laws would permit them, from all obfervation of the fabbath j their Teacher alfo, the Authour of thefe winning tenets^ came to be made eat the bait of his own trap : unfortunately, they found him— an unneceffary ordinance too, and forced him to come to this Se6t-foftering Town — to devife a new one * ! * The people here alluded to, ftiled themfelves Bereans; and in a place — fo well benefited by in- ftruftion — as Edinburgh, made a confider-able noile, about ten years ago. T a Gra:^t 276 On Schifm, Serm. Grant that the Church, like all other IX* ranks and eftates of men, wants amend- ment. The mod natural mode of pro- curing fuch a meafure, would have been, for thofe who faw the necellity, to do their parts to forward fo defireable an end ' — and leave the condu6l of others to the Teft of Heaven. Is not the man of bu- finefs fatisfied that he has his hands full of employ ? Does he leave the care of his own work, and wade that time, which ihould be fpent more ufefully, in depre- ciating the workman fhip of others ? But will any man be hardy enough to fay, but that this lafl condud:, however incon- gruous to good profefHons, is not adopted by fome modern devotees ? Hear them in their bcft-tempered harangues ; and you would be led to think they were addrefling an aflembly of Pagans ; people, to whom the gofpel had never before reached. From the tenour of their difcourfes, you will gather this melancholy opinion, that — before their time — there was no prophet — the highivays were unoccupied — until they, like On Schifm, 277 like other DeboraFs, arofe — every oneSERM. thinking himfelf as well entitled as (lie — •^"^• to be a ruler i?i Ifrael I What! Did not our Fathers live under the ** light of the " gofpcl" — though it might not be lifted fo high ? Has not the Lord had many ho- noured inflruments of his glory, before thefe days ? Are there not many precious writings — fuppofe all the prefent watchers of Siofi were diwib dogs — of worthy di- vines that are gone to their Mafter ? Is not the Book of God open to every attentive eye ? and has not the grace of God and the love of Jefus, filled and warmed many a heart — before ever they went to a Me- thodift' Meeting ? Such as fiould be favedy are the words of Scripture, nnere daily added to the church. To the church, as by Chrift appointed, and by his apoftles fettled, his promifes of grace and aid were given. Of the ** Inlpiration" of fuch as lliould leave that Church — there is no mention ; but there is abundant warning given to the true chriftian, v/ho abides in the eflabliflied T 3 profcf- 278 0/2 Bchifm. Sehm. profeflion of the faith, agriinft evil men and ^^- feducersy who, according to the Apoftle, fhould wax worfe and worfe, deceiving, and being deceived. Of which fort — as he ad- vertifeth Timothy, in the fame chapter, are they which creep into hoifes, and lead captive filly women laden with fins, led Gway with divers lujls j ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Of fiich may it truly be faid, , T^hey went out from lis, hecaife they were 7:ot of us. And, really my friends, I think tbofe men onght to be heard with fome littie diffidence and caution, who enter- tain your ears with the breaches of Zion- — while each of them has his appointed fla- ticn — to build up her walls. It might become fome others better, if it could becoine any bcdy at all, to except againft the conftitutions of our national Church, to rail at — perhaps fancied — backfliding?, and to tell of the pride and graceleifnels of her confecrated Guardians — than thole who have fwore an hearty acceptance to her Articles — and a due and r;^ady obe- dience On Schifin. 279 dience to thofe that are fet over them in Serm. the line of their profeffion. Such ^i^^^' J[^ ties, may fatisfy vulgar, and what the facred penman calls itching ears ; they may be tolerated, under the mild hierarchy of the Church: in the State, they would look fomething like treafonable. But, in proportion as men become lefs careful of their fouls than of their bodies, their fpi- ritual guardians come to grant more li- cence than their temporal ! These reflexions, my fellow-chrif- tians, I have held it my duty to make. I hope they will meet with a reception from you, fuited to their good intention ; and if I venture to fay their truth, I (hall not fear an unkind one. God knows what pleafure it would afford me, could all our weaker brethren be brought to think even as we : To think, that the gifts of the holy Spirit are the ineflimable fruits of the death of Chrift, and the moft precious bleffings given to man ; but that they are moil: fuccefsfully to be waited for, in the face v)h>ire the Lord hath chofen tQ J^t his T 4 name. 28o On Schifm, Serm. name. At Jerufalem it was where the of- ^^* fering was to be brought, and prayer to be made : When there was once an altar in every grove^ and a priejl under every green tree, the attributes of the Lord Jehovah were profaned, and iniquity triumphed yr(?/» Beerfieba to Dan. Search the annals of every country, and you will find that fanatical phrenzy has been moft dangerous to a State. It has either been reflrained in its impetuous courfe, or has flrew^d its way with ha- vock. and ruin. The records of our own, exemplify the aflert'on true. If you would not wlfh to fee fuch times, fliun, fly, check, fuch manners. The conftant ex-- ercife of guarded piety is like the moderate ufe of the fire and the air, in their benefi- cial and temperate effects; but wild zeal and bigotted ardour produce convuliions like the volcano and the earthquake ; they cover with ailies the fruits of men's la- bours, they bury cities, and lay wafte nations. It is an eafy thing, with words pf men's wifdom, to gain upon the un* thinlcing, On Scbifm. 281 thinking, to catch the unwife: and could Serm. I regard your approbation more than the I^* jnterefls of your fouls, I too might amufe you with tales, that to fome would, per- haps, be more acceptable than thefe eter- nal truths. But there is fomething here — within that will not let me; and there is a God above who will not fuffer me to be a lofer ! To conclude the matter in fum; let a fentence tell our creed. We preach up Chrifl as the only Saviour, and we hold that faith is the only mean, whereby we can benefit by his merits ; that faith we know to be the gift of God, and that every one to whom he gives it, has the aids of his Spirit; we know alfo that though Chrifl has done all with refpedt to efficacy, he has left fomething for us to do, with rcfpedl to ufe; he has not, however, fent us a — warfare on our o%vn charges I he has commanded us to keep his law, — and he remains our InterceiTor where we fail ; he has procured us the Comforter, when we are ready to faint. When 2S2 ^'2 Schifm, Serm. Vv-'hen we preach the propriety, neceirity IX. I will not call it, that where I wifl:^ to **""* — ' profit I may not offend the weaked mind, of good works, we never mean — indeed I believe it is never half fo much meant as is generally fuppofed, to recommend the obfervance of the Law as a term for jufti- fication. We are, in one fenfe, quite free from the Law; and in that fenfe we fpeak not of it. We fpeak of it as a new com- mandment, as the commandment of Chrift, who has renewed it as a rule of obedience, and made it of everlafting obligation. They that refufe to obferve his command- ments, cannot love him ; and they that do not love him, fhall never fee his face in mercy. This is a creed, without caring for the m.odifications of any man, drawn fron?i the Word of God, and confonant to the church of England. Let it ever be our's. We ourfeives have fvvore, or onr fathers have fworn for us, that fuch per- fwalions were agreeable to our hopes ani;! to our confciences ; let us abide in our profeiTipn, Let us not change old wine for On Bckifm, ^^3 for new, till we have good airurance that the Serm. IX new is better. There are certainly many temptations to a minifter toufelefsboldnefs^ for there is too much reafon, perhaps, for complaint, tliat the true friends of the church arecoldeft to, and care leaft for, their teacher : and, let him do what he will, he is hardly thought to have done his duty. Whereas half the care, in another direc- tion, might procure him favour and fe- cure him pralfe. But there is this, among many other things, to comfort him that is faithful, that the favour of man is very precarious — but the favour of God is cer- tain 'j that the opinions of men are not his eovernours, but that he ferves, and looks up for retribution, to a kinder Mailer. Let me advife thee, O thou Chriftian ! from a heart not, at lead, difiifeded to the caufe of that Lord, from whom I de- rive commifTion, and, I hope, afiiftance, to fpeak unto thee; let me advife and ear- neflly exhort thee, to join charity and de- votion in one pious heart. Boaft not of thy faith, but by thy works-, and even fliew 284 On Schifm, Serm. ^^w it fo, without boafting. Read the IX. leiTons of James the difcipk of ye/us y the "^fervant of God, as well as thofe of Paul that was called to be a-n apojile. So fhalt thou efcape the temptation that comcth on all fejh. Mind not thofe who preach Cbriji out of envy and f rife -, who under a fair pretence, undo fouls j mind them not, O thou conflant follower of thy Re- deemer,— but to pity them; and to pray that they may be brought to preach or at leaft to receive him, of good will. There are, now, that preach, as there were in the days of Ifaiah tint fa/ied, for f rife and debate), Be yours, I truft it is, and I hope, it will more and more be, a different pradtics ! Be it, to unloofe the bands of wickednefs, and undo, as much as may be, the burden that preffes fore. Be it thine to deal thy bread to the hungry, and to bring the poor that are cafl out to thy boufe-y when thou feeji the naked, Oh — ■ lend a garment to cover him, and hide not shyfelf from thine own fiejh. Then Jhall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine On Schifm. 285 thine health fiall fpring forth fpeedilyi ^^XSerm. righteoufnefs Jhall go before thee -, and the IX. glory of the Lord Jhall be thy rereward. ' - ' ^ben jhalt thou call, and the Lord Jhall anfiver : thou Jhalt cry, and he Jlmllfay, Here I am ; then Jhall thy light rife in ob- fcurity, and thy darknefs be as the noon day. Silent in its progrefs, but fure and beneficial in its effe6ts, is true Chriftian virtue. That which is fpurious and af- feded, makes a blaze — and expires. The meteor of a night may cafl a momentary fplendor acrofs the fky, and engage the admiration of gazing multitudes; but foon the flalh is over, and its aflonifhed obfervers are left in vain difputings about its origin, and fruitlefs enquiries about its life. It is the fun that, regular in his fphere, cherifhes creation with his light and heat ; v^'hofe power even reilrains thefe leller fires from hurting us; and whofe rays penetrate through the crufl of the globe, and form the ufeful metal and the ilone of price, •' O Thou ^86 On Schifm, ** O Thou good. Thou wife, Thoil * equitable Arbiter of Nature! omnlpo- ' tent, omniprefent God ! We are Thine ; * for Thou haft made us : from Thee we * fell; and Thou haft redeemed us. O ' give us to entertain worthy thoughts * concerning Thee, and refolutions ufeful refpecfting ourfelves. While we wander in this wildernefsj guide us with Thy light ; and O prevent our being led by any fpirit but Thine. So fhall we praife Thee, when we approach Thy prefence j and fo {hall our enraptured hearts exalt Thee, while the ages of eternity ceafe not to run." Amen* S E R-. ^■<2><>0<'«'o<<'<2)»xSx-0><>0<'0<>^<''3<'0<'0<-^ SERMON X. On S p RING. Genesis i. 5. '—And the evening and the morning were the Jirji day, X^CXXx is not eafy for man to forget his Serm- Q ^ O Maker. Not but that human cor- X. ^■^AXA ruption has made him fo inclina- ble, and every errour, once indulged, would lead him, perverfely, to wander more ; yet not fo numerous can be the tendencies of evil, as are the cares of over- ruling Good ; nor is mortal trefpafs fo great, as to exclude the prevalence of the grace divine. The powers and beauties, of even ihe natural world, were, at iirfl, by in ■V— 288 On Spring. Serm. its almighty and omnlfcient authour, X. and are ftill, by his condudling providence, * £o regulated and difplayed, as to render it infipoifible that he who was in his own image forme df after his own Ukenefs framed, fhouid behold them with unconcern, or contemplate them but with wonder, plea- fure, and gratitude. In the lapfed flate of his nature, are the traces of original glory obfcured ? has ignorance blinded his mind, has fuperftition overwhelmed him with terrour; is he cafl where the earth, whofe dominion was given him, has not yet by his art httnfubdued, where religious and moral truths are become fo concealed, that if he fees their diftant, retiring rays, he feels not their heat — where the hiftory of his kind is wrapt in fable ; even there the God of all might and mercy has not left himfef without a witnefs—^lh^ heavens- declare his glory i the earth his handy work — day unto day doth utter fpeech concerning Him-, — and when adion and labour give way to retirement and reft, night unto night doth teach the knowledge of Him j 6 while On Bprmg. 289 while both the Light and the E^arknefs, Serm. Ml this teftimony agree, that He is in X. himfelf " Good" — and of his goodiiefs he has not been fparing. And why fhould not we, alfo, my bre« thren, with all the light which we have derived from a greater Sun, look back to the firft reparation Eternity fuffered Time to make in its bounds; when the light from the darknefs was divided — and the 'Evening and the Morning were the fir jl Bay! To a meditation like this I would not> at prefent, incite you, did I not hope you were already prompted by the feafon of the year. Our religion, certainly, teaches us things more important, than difcerning the fa£e of the Jky, or marking the times -, yet there is a wide difference between doin? this merely as the eifort of a vainly cu- rious, and of a devoutly intelligent mind : and nothing more important can our reli- gion enforce or recommend, than, from views of his works, of his providence, of his love, — to be led to acknowledge the U majefiy. 290 On Sprhig. /Serm. majefty, the wifdom, and the mercy o£ X. God. Reason fhould direcft, not extlnguifh, paflion. And yet the miflake is not un- common, that it is chiefly called upon for the latter purpofe. In places, efpecially — I fpeak of crowded focieties in towns — ' where every obje6l we behold is artificial; and what we know of nature is only from imagination or memory derived 3 the dan- ger is great, that habit contra6l our feel- ings, and when thefe are gone, what but the void of an ever-difcordant, and ah ! an ever-unprodu6live chaos of the mind- is left ! It is well for the purpofes of vir- tue, of religion, where fuch enlarged views of nature have at fome time been re- ceived, as to leave a fitnefs, at all times future, for the admiflion of fentiments that are noble, of emotions that are lively, of principles that are good. By reafon we may then, perhaps, be refined, for a time into infenfibility ; but, when opportuni- ties offer, the Heart will refume its in- fluence, and with pleafure retrace thofe day's. On Spring. 291 days, when It was ready to receive every Serm. tender impreflion — and when each ftroke X. of paflion funk too deep to be erazed by the philofophy of riper years. To men, I fay, whofe habits of life in a g-reat meafure deprive them of witneiT- ing, to any peculiar efFecV, the nr.tural changes of the year ; who only amid the fecurity and comforts that art and induftry have procured, hear of the winter' ftoi-m, and who are, willingly or necefiarily, pre- cluded from feafting on the beauties of Spring, the fubjea: may be more indif- ferent than it would be or ever can be to thofe, who, far from the deadening cla- mour of bufy flreets and marts, are left alone with Nature — and Nature's God. Such are not only at leifure to contem- plate, but may moft impreffively be made to feel, the varying appearances, the pro- perties and lav/s, which this material world owes to that immutable Being — who bringeth forth Mazzaroth in his feafon, •■who guides Ar Burns ivith his fins; to whom alone the ordinances of heaven are U 2 kno'wn 292 On Spring, Serm. J^r.own — as he alone hath appointed them X. — and hath fet the domiiiion thereof in the earth. To them it is granted, in im- proveable ftillnefs, to ** hear the diilant ^* thunder roar," or to '* catch the whif- ** perings" of the evening' gale; to be ilruck with the '* torrent — that founds *' from afar"— or to liflen to a calmer voice, and " learn wifdom from the brook ** that babbles by." Yet if to us fuch fcenes are not ufually prefcnt, are not daily renewed, let us not judge it unim- portant to revive them, or reprefent them, if they have never, in any lively degree, been known. We do truer homage to God, when we meditate on his works, to afcribe Him the praifc, than when we beftow even our innocent admiration on the inventions of men. The conflant and uniform tenour which we perceive this Univerfe hold, has the fame efFc(Sl: on our minds as — on our bodily fenfes, has that of motions, whofe operation has been fo common that it ceafcs to be felt. But, fuppofe the laws of Cn Spring, 293 of Nature changeable and precarious, place Serm. yourfelf in the fituation of the firft man, X. to whom exiftance, fo lately given, was inexpreffibly dear, and image what would be your natural horror on feeing that Sun decline, whofe abfence (hould involve you in darknefs— which you were uncertain whether it would ever be again enlight- ened. Or, after long experience of the fparing mercies of the Eternal, grant that you had feen, with Noah, how dreadful was the deftrudion which, for the pro- voking ivkkednefs of men therein, God had brought upon the earth ; and learn to efti- mate how delightful the chearing promife muft have been — when the confidence of the fuffering but delivered finner had to reft on fo ftable a declaration as this -, The Lord faid in his heart, I will not again curje the ground any more for mans fake -y for the imagination of man s heart is evil from his youth ; neither will 1 again fnite any more every thifig living, as I have done. While the earth remaineth, feed-time and harveji, and cold and heat, and fummer U 3 ^nd 294 ^^^ Spring, Se'rm. ^^^ ^winter, and day and night Jhall not X. ceafe. Without, however, having reference to ideal fituations, let me call upon you to unite with me in thankfulnefs, for that wherein we really are placed. When the Jig-tree piitteth forth her bloJJoms-^tvQn. the difciple of Jefus will obferve that the fummer is nigh ; and why fliould he omit any conlideration, that helps him forward to a nearer profped: of the -kingdom of God ? In this Vizv^, let me be fufFcred to lead your attention to two or three parti- . culars, wherein the mild return of Spring, may imprefs us with thoughts that enli- ven the heart- — and accord with godiinefs. In the Firfl place, then, we Ihould, on this occafion, be led to be thankful, for the natural pleafure of fuch an event. Our minds are not more the work of God than are our bodies ; and in any cafe where either, or where both are delighted. His is the appointment- — His be the praife ! And, fay ye moil: refined thinkers about the modes of human blifs ! from what natural On Spring. 29c natural incident or quarter, can you de- Serm. rive fo many fources of grateful enjoy- X. ment, as from the earth apparalled in re- ' newed verdure, and the heavens, again fmlling over the labours of men, dropping dew ! What an innocent feaft to the fenfes is prefented in every field, on every hill, in every vale ? To what point can we turn the hurrying, eager eye, where it is not captivated and fweetly delayed ; where it is not fatisfied and refreflied ? With how wild yet chafte a fancy, has Nature mixed her colours, how gaily painted her robe ! How bountifully has (he fcattered her flowery bloflbms, with what luxuriance has fhe flung her odours, and what de- lightful melody does {he waken from the grove ! While every fenfe is pleafed, the organs of each are flrengthened — for chear- fulnefs is infpired by the fcene — and health is caught in the gale. The Morn- ing Sun himfelf feems to reft over the view, and difpenfe his mofl: benignant fmiles on the infant year. The delights of this feafon, from charming the body, U 4 pafs 296 On Spring* Serm. pafs to the mind. The manner in which ■^* they influence each other we know not ; we are only certain of the fadt : and few, I believe, but will allow they have felt an unufual ferenity, livelinefs, and joy, while the furrounding objeds were congenial to fuchdifpofitions; when the garden breathed perfume, and the gladdened choir of the woods poured forth the notes of rapture. But, Secondly, the goodnefs of God ought, at this time, to be gratefully ac- knowledged, in refpedl of the ufe and ad- vantage of fuch an event. His works, as the great Creator muft ever excite our ad- mii^ation -, but confidered alfo as our kind Preferver, how lively fhould be our gra- titude, every revolving Spring ? In our flate here below, our animal nature muft be fupported, as well as our fpiritual is employed. We have, therefore, more relation with earth than merely being pleafed or delighted with looking over its furface ; we muft alfo therefrom be fed. By this, however, the beauties that pleafed, increafe their value. The blade and the bloffom On Spring* 297 blofibm become then doubly fweet to con- Serm. template, when the mind anticipates the X. fruit and the full ear. Did but one Spring ^ ^ and Harnjeji ceafe -, if the earth did remain , where would be its inhabitants ? Men commonly think not of thisj but it is highly fit that it flaould be pondered deeply by us, and by all that dwell in the world. Is the goodnefs of the Almighty lefs, be- caufe it is continued ? Is not every day and month that is renewed to us, every gift that remains to us, the fame as if we had firil received it ? Break forth, then, into finging, ye gladdened tribes of the earth, when the year has gained a conqueft over Winter i and the Power that fuftained your fathers, and from the womb hath fuftained you, fhews ftill the fame bene- volent marks of his providence, and gives you aiTurance in that parental care, that, when your life is faded beyond Spring's revival— {hall nourifh and feed your children. But let us, my brethren, in the Laft place, be thankful, that one ** greater ** Spring" awaits us, from whofe unbound- ed 298 On Spring* Serm. ed influence even the grave ihall not efcape. X. And in this expedation ; may it be to each of us a happy one! the return of this feafon, may, not only as a natural event that pleafes and gratifies, as a providential one that profits and preferves, make us lift our minds in thankful emotion to Him that made and that fupports us, but alfo, and chief of all, imprefs our minds with lively hopes of a better refurreSiion^ and bid our redeemed fouls make mention of the Lord, and of his righteoufnefs only. The Spring that now enlivens the fancy, and exhilirates the heart, in a few /hort' months fhall be forgot; and hoary winter maintain dominion over the blafled year. It is there the refemblance holds moft peculiarly with man : for in his life there is more fiorm than funihine, and May can hardly pluck him a wreath ere it withers, nor Autumn lend him aught of her fruitage — that will abide the ^winter's fall. But the Son of God, for the relief of tranfgrefiing and miferable jnortals, has vifited the prifon of the tomb i On Spring, 299 tomb; and bid every believing foul — Serm. efcape to liberty. No more, then, hath X» Death the power of an everlafting V/inter! On the *' gloom of the gnwe," it hath already ** dawned ;" and when evening and winter are pad, our longing delires are crowned with the profpe(3: of an eternal , morning — and an ^^ unbounded Spring" that {hall ** encircle all." Here is the fcene of our trial and labour 5 then may we look forwards to triumph and to reap. What knowledge we can here attain, what comforts can here be adminiftered, are but deiigaed to keep us in the way, and to bear us up from utterly falling ; 'tis but feeing darkly in a glafs — but beholding th^ Jpoufe through the lattice. The fir ft day thcit ihone — had its clofe as well as its prmie -, and of all the weary days which, ever lince, have to ftruggling man been allotted, there have been numbered, in his painful records, more evenings that darkened and depreffed — than mornings which have cheared or delighted him. But yt a little while, and — T^ime fiall be no more. 200 On Spring. Serm. ^iore,' — The various evenings and mornings X. of each individual life — compofe but one Day — and that Day be the laft ! To that blifsful period, look forward, then, ye, whofe hours are here beclouded, and whofe fleps wax faint ! You complain of the hardnefs of your way. You were not promifed to find it foft, at your firfl fetting out. You have had nothing be- fal you, then, but what you were fore- told, or might eafily forefee. Go on to the end, and you fhall be as little difap- pointed. Ti)at which thou foweji, is not quickened except it die. Rcfign, in the hufbandman's hope and patience, refign the bare grain to the earth j and truft to God for giving it a body I Behold where the Redeemed of the Lord await you, to put a new fung into your mouthy even thankjgiving unto your God. Like your's, their days were painful, many times doubtful and defponding their hearts; but the Sun of righteoufnefs chafed all the fhadows of evening, all the darknefs of night away; and they are now, by his grace Oft spring. 30 1 grace and love, exalted above the ^jri- o/'Serm. ibe morning — with the angels of God to X. fhout aloud for joy . ' Behold, with the eyes of faith, your Redeemer himfelf. See, where, at his. Father's right hand, he is prefenting your prayers, and backing his interceffion with a declaration fo infinitely kind as this. Father ! I will that thofe which thou hafl given me may be with me where I am, that that they may behold my glory. To be with Him — to be with Chrift — repine not, my beloved friends, though your evening ihould long endure, or your darkened fky look angry; feeing thefe are proofs of your love and patience, which he gives to lit you for entering the prepared manfions. Only lofe not fight of Him under the cloud of affli6lion. For a motnent, he may, as it were in wrath, hide himfelf from you -, for a night, withdrawing his face — that whom your foul loveth you fhould feek more earnellly, may, — under a fenfe of indifference and a fear of defer- tion, weeping endure-, it is Vfiih. everlaji- ing ^02 0/z Sprmg» Serm. ing mercies to vijit you again, and that the X. joy may be more complete — which comet b in the morning of your endlefs Day. The plant that is by December nipt, piittcth forth freili buds in the Spring ; and of Death's mofl untimely vidtim — even the JleJI:> jJoall rejl in hope. The Pil- grim that journeys the defert, beholds, at laft, the temple of his vow; and the flruggling Sailor, after a cheerlefs night, fees the harbour of his wifh — and the day. Does not the religion of Jefus infpire a fortitude as flrong — a refolution as brave 1 And are not the rewards which He hath promifed, better to us, than what the Univerfe belides could give? Lift up, then, your minds above Life's dull fphere, and, in conceptions worthy of fouls immortal, leave this earth and all its vanities behind you. Behold the works of creation, and walk with dignified gladnefs amid the creatures of God; review the kindnefs of his providence, and let your words be words of praifej think on the wonders of Redemn- On Spring, ^ot Redemption, and let every adion be cha- Serm. rity — every thought be love. X. ** O God of Majefty, wifdom and grace, ^'^"^ " bid the hearts of thy people correfpond ** with thy vi^ord. Early may we be con- " vinced that all the views for which our " natures were intended, can only be an^ •' fwered — all the delights of which our ** natures are capable only be fecured, " in ferving Thee. May the world within •* us, be as regularly ordered by thy grace •* and Spirit, as the vifible world without " us is governed by thy power. What- ** ever be the complexion of outward cir- ** cumltances, may we from the knovv- ** ledge and faith which are from Thee, ** poiTefs peace and pleafure within. A$ ** Time revolves over us may we be more ** and more prepared for its end ; and as " Thou continued: to pour forth Thy be- ** nefits may grateful obedience be the " offering of our hearts. Thus may we " foon hope, to fhake off and fubdue, the **. impurities and hardships, of a mortal Q " and 304 ^^^ spring. Serm. ** ^^^ ^" imperfefl ftate; and the account X. ** of all our eve?2mgs and mornings being, ** with Thy approbation, clofed, be ready " to welcome and fhare in the glories of " an uninterrupted Day — and an eternal ** Spring/' Amen. S E R^ SERMON XL Oil the Right Use of Wedded Affection*. John IV. i6. Jefus faith unto her. Go, call thy hiijband and come hither. 5^p of Wedded Ajfeclion, 327 And Is it not a happinefs — when thegERM. morning dawns — when the fun arifes and XI. purfues his courfe in the majcfty of his "* itrength — or when his lateft beams vifit the mountain tops — and tinge the evening' clouds — is it not a happinefs — for fouls united in one — to think that every day is fpent in the fervice of the fame mafler -, the cares and comforts of whofe provi- dence are equally concerned about — and intended for, both ; whofe Sun — not as on the juji and on the unjujiy but with afped: — equally benignant — is bid to fhine; whofe Promifes — with like good effed: eflablifh — and whofe Love, in one abun- dant flowing meafure — refreshes and fills — two infeparabie, kindred hearts ? What is the world's calculation of convenience to thefe ? Can it beftow the peace — they covet ', can it take it away ? It may carry away the defpifed water-pots, that were left at the well; but it cannot deprive the believing hufband and wife — of that living water — beflowed by the Lord Jefus — Y 4 which 328 Of2 the right Ufe Serm. y^h'ich fprings up a fountain of health — of XI. fpi ritual joy — of everlajiing life. My friends ! On no one particular fituation of life, fet your hearts for hap- pinefs. This is not the place of your reft. Only let this be your dired:ion : The more you communicate to others, the greater will invariably be your own por- tion. To communicate perfed: happinefs — is not the province of man -, yet much may we avail to each other — in lightening one another's load of forrovv. The poor we have always with us, we have always the fervants of Chrift. In relieving and befriending them, we {hev/ our obedience to Him 5 and the cup of cold water fhall never in fuch a caufe be given — and mifs of its reward. Confine not your views to what pafles daily before you. Look for- ward to the period that fhall put an end to your race. Not more than in things earthly, will you find in things fpiritual — that the race has been always to the fwift — or the battle to the firong. But in re- viewing your adions, your allotments, your of Wedded Affeclion. 2 29 your experiences, your thoughts — this one Serm, thing you fl:iall find — a truth unfhaken as XI. the hills — and iftable as the rocks ; that in whatever inftance you negleded the calls of your Saviour, your own trueft good was negleded alfo ; and that whatever earthly advantage you courted only for itfelf — was never calculated to give you peace in the latter end. You mufl die unto the worlds before you can live unto God, It is not meant by this, that you are to go out of the world. But if you are indeed Chrill's fervants, and transformed, in the renewing of your minds, into his image, you will not conform yourfelves to its manners ; but rather endeavour — to bring its children over to be imitators of you. Had Chrift been only known in Jewry, had his life and death been only impor- tant eigliteen hundred years back, there were lefs caufe to wonder that his hiftory and meffage were now uafolded and pref- fed, with fo apparently little efFe6l; but if indeed every ftep that he took, every indignity he fufFered, and every word that he 15 3 o On the right Ufe Serm. ^^ uttered, are to us as interefting as they XI. could be to thofe who faw him in the flefh, bow Jhall ye efcape — if ye negleSi fo great and fo neceflary a falvation ? Go, call thy hiijband and come hither ^ is now, therefore, a command as much in feafon — • as it was at yacob's well. Go, every wife, every man and every woman here ! and call thofe over whom thou hart: any in- fluence— to come to the fame fource of happinefs, whence everlafling comforts are proffered unto thee. Bid the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, the bride out of her clofet % and let them both cry mightily unto the LORD, whofe judgments — as well as whofe mercies, are in all the world — and let this be our united Prayer j " Spare, O Lord, O Lord, fpare thy ** people, and bring not the inheritance '* of thy fervants, to reproach for their ** iniquities. Give us that knowledge of ** Thee as may make us bewail our own " ignorance, lament our own backllidings, " abhor our own fins. From Thee ** coracth down t'^&x'j good and every ** perfect: of Wedded ^ffeSlion, 331 perfect gift; and Thou alone imparteH: Serm. the fpirit, with which we can enjoy XL what Thou beftows. Whatever good ' ^ thing Thou granted us — whatever Thou refufeft — may we ftill confider Thee as our Parent — by whom it is better for us to be correcfted — than fufFered to go.< on in our errours. Be Thou our guide to the inftruding of others ; and where our teftimony proves too weak to con- vince— be thy word itfelf made power- ful— to make fmners come unto Thee and believe. Biefs our friends, reward our benefi\6tors, pity and forgive our ene- mies. Give us flrength and wifdom to fulfil :iU our duties ; and iliorten the time, blelled Lord, wherein we fee diforder prevail over Thy works ; and fpeedily open our eyes to the joys of that ftate more perfedl — when neither death nor life — things prefent — nor things to co?ne-—vn2iy be able to feparate or keep us — from Thy favour and love!"— Amen, S E R- ^><>0<><3<>0<,0<><3<>0'><'e><|o<>0<3<><2><0<><3<]; SERMON XII. An Estimate of Female Character, Proverbs xxxi. 30, Fa'DOur is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, j}:)e jhall be praifed. X>0 principle of the Female mind. To XII. X;0 for a heart — never did boafted Virtue pof- fels one half (o true. — Be it fo, prefump- tuous young man ! Enjoy the momentary deception that muft pain thee long — if no compaflionate hand difturb thy {lumber till it fteep thy fenfes in the fleep of death. Alas, my brother ! we cannot leave thee to indulge a dream fo fatal ! We cannot fee thee recline, though on a bed of rofes, unheedful of the viper that prepares its fling. We would awaken thee out of thy guilty trance, though thou fcorn the head that droops in pity over thy debafement — though thou mock the goodnefs which would lift thee up to virtue. Hear, then, a lefTon, guided by expe- rience, enforced by love. To be wife — or to be miferable, is the choice fet before thee. When even Solomon — ceafed to be the one, he incontinently became the other. When his Jirange wives turned away his hearty he incurred the ajiger of the LORD i and had his ki?igdom rent — to of 'female Charauier. 339 to the exaltation of his fervant^ To him Serm. give ear, as to a living oracle ; and think XII. not but that you {hall fall, if you dare to approach the dangerous precipice— where even he could not ftand. — From him, take the account of ^^ dangerous Woman — whofe only boaft is her form — that is deceitful — her beauty — that is vain ; unen- titled to the praife — as unacquainted with the merits of Her, whofe brightefc excel- lence is the Fear of the LORD. The conceptions of men, are proportionate to their fenfibiiities. Solomon's, in the fub- je<5l before us, in both muft have been furpafling. None^ fure, ever felt it bet- ter; for none have ever dcfcribed it fo well ! Difcretion, faith he in one place, JJoall preferve thee, imderfianding fiall keep thee: to deliver thee from the Jirange liwman, even from the fir anger that fatter eth with her words ; which forfaketh the guide of her youth — and for get t eth the covenant of her God. For her houfe incUneth unto deaths and her paths unto the dead. None Z 2 that 34^ -^^ EJlimate , Serm. that go unto her return again^ neither take XII. they hold of the paths of Ife. — T'he lips — are his words in another place — the lips of a ftrange woman drop as an honey-comb y and her mouth is fmoother than oil : hut her end is bitter as worfjiwoody fiarp as a two-edged /word. Her feet go down to death ; her Jieps go down to hell. Left thou fiouldeft ponder the path of life, her ways are ?noveable, that thou canft not know them. Remove thy way far fro?n her, and come not nigh the door of her houfe y left thou give thine honour unto others f and thy years unto the cruel : left ft rangers be filled with thy wealth ; and thy labours be in the houfe of aftranger, — and thou mourn at the laft, when thy ftefto and thy body are confutned, and fay. How have I hated inftruclion, and my heart defpifed reproof^ And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined jnine ear to them that inftruBed me ? Say unto Wifdom^ adds he further, T^hou art my ftfter ; and call Under flanding thy kinfwoman — That they ?nay keep thee from the of Female CharaBer. 341 the Jlrange woman. Then follows adc-SERM. tail of the defperate fimplicity of a young XII. Wanton, which cannot fail of interefting every generous heart. At the window of my houfe I looked through my cafement, and beheld among the fimple ones, I difcerticd among the youths a young man 'void of un- derjlanding, pajjing through the Jireet near her corner ; and he went the way to her houfe, in the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night : And behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, andfuhtil of heart. -She is loud and ftubborn ; her feet abide not in her houfe: now is jhe without, now in the Jireets, and lieth in wait at every corner. — Bo jhe caught him and kijfed him, and with an impudent face faid unto him, — / have peace-offerings with ?ne ; this day ha'wc I paid my vows. Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to feck thy face, and I have found thee. I have decked my bed with coverings of tapejlry, with carved works, with fine Vmen of Egypt. I have perfumed my bed with ?nyrrh, aloes, and 7j 3 cinnamon. 242 -^n Eft l mate S E R M . china mo n. — JVifh her much fair fpeech Jhe XII. cat fed him to yields with the flattering of her lips fje forced him.^ — He goeth after her flraightwajy as an ox goeth to the f aught cr, or as a fool to the cor region of the focks ; till — a dart frike through his liver j as a bird hafeth to the fnare, and knoweth not that it is for his life. Hearken unto ?ne now therefore^ O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth. Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not a ft ray in her paths. For Jhe hath cafi down many wounded : yea, many frong men have^ been fain by her. Her houfe is the way to helU going down to the chambers of death. So v/arneth he — that was wifer than the fages of the eafl. And who can fay the advice is not necefTary — is not falutary— - for both body and foul ? Can any one, that ever went out of his chamber to con- template the ways of men ; or can he, that was never out of his chamber for fuch purpofe, who will but at the win- dow of his houfe look through his cafement ? Have of Female CharaBer, 343 Have we far to go — to find among />^^Serm. youths y a young man 'void of underjlanding -, XII. or are there many corners to pafs — ere he meet with fuch guileful addrelTes ? We can have no pleafure in drawing melancholy pictures of the times ; but the colours muft be fable — if we trace the refemblance true. What then, let me aik you, in the name of all that is lovely in manners — all that is noble in virtue, what is the fummit of modern female educa- tion— but the fetting off the fa'uoiir that is deceitful — and making njain beauty vainer ftill ! What frivolous cares occupy the attention of falfly-indulgent parents, of children prematurely petulant and af- fuming, for feveral precious years of open- ing youth ! The Flower — that is cheriflied in the bofom of fpring — needs but a little fupport and watering from a fkilful hand. Left, with that, to itfelf and to time, it will, in its proper feafon, unfold its blof- foin, difplay its luftre, and yield its fruit. But, if taken by foolidi fondnefs from its leat in the garden — to deck the fum- Z 4 mer* 344 -^^^ EJiimate Serm. mer' window or the winter's hearth — itg ^11- leaves, expofed to too early touch, may afford fome faint anticipation of expecfled fragrance, but wdll foon fhrink up and wither ; leaving deferved difgrace to the rafli hand that tore it, in miftaken re- gard, from its natural bed. Is it the meaning of Fathers, by bringing their fons forward fo ear]y into the fields of nature — to fee them fall into fnares, that are every where Jaid around them, whiU they have not yet ftrength to fly ? Is it — can it be — the defire of Mothers, by be- dizening their infant daughters — with attire^ — not unlike the attire of an harlot-^ to make them — like her^ — and like her betimes too — fubtil of heart f — Such — r charity will not fufter us to think, can ever be the view. Let impartial expe- rience decide, whether, in general, toQ truly is not fuch— rthe eiie(5t. Taught from her earlieil: cradle, to regard the gew-gav/s of finery and drefs as a reward for obedience in doing well, the young Female is very apt to imbibe a confirmed of Female CtaraSfer, 345 confirmed opinion — that doing well is in- Serm. feparably connected with fuch kind of XII. rewards ; and by the force of fo falfe a .conviction, is flie with difficulty, in after life, ever to be reconciled with worth — if it is covered in a homely robe. If Na- ture has faihioned her of comely propor- tions, no artificial pains are ipared to ren- der that frame — which time fhall foon change and death foon difiblve-r-paffing elegant; to catch every beholder's eye. No matter what becomes of thofe nobler qualities of the mind, which, if duly cul- tivated, might engage, might captivate, might enrapture fome honeft heart. It is not the tribute of an Honeft Heart — can content her. Trained up by parental avarice to ftrew wiles— for opulence, (lie offers herfelf its voluntary vi6lim. If wealth may be had in a virtuous con- nexion— in a virtuous connexion flie is fatisfied that it fliould be had. If it may not — fo — let it be procured how it can! Is 346 -^n EjUmate Serm. Js not the favour of fuch, deceitful — is XII. not fuch beauty vaiti f Say ye, who have felt the difappointment of ill-founded, over-fanguine hopes -, who greedily feizing the fair-fhining cup, have tafted the bit- ter dregs it contains j who thinking to clafp perfe6:ion, have held the haggard form — that faddens your waking meditations, and makes your {lumbers mad ! A figure, worfe than the foregoing, fucceeds. There is, and owing to the corruption of our natures — there is not feldom, a Charac- ter— that has pleafure in deceiving, and is prone to betray. She wears a Woman's vifage ; and prides her — in a favage heart. The Stripling — whom a dying mother's tears configned to piety, the Youth — whom an aged father's anxious folicitudes cannot always guard — are her prey ! Crafty flie was from the womb; and the malig- nant fpirit that heatened her veins, in- filled into her— cruelty — with her mo- ther's milk. With her years, her vices grew. At fir it the publick laws of (o- ciety, the particular reflraints of her fex, held of Female CharaSfer. 347 held her in fome awe, and bound her to Serm. feme abftinence. But, the pale of mo- XII. defty once thrown down, ihe has over- leaped every hedge of decency and order. She has forgot v;hat chaflity and what honour — mean ; and — if ever flie was fuckled at a bread that could relent — (lie has forgot it in the abandonment to which Vice has deferted her foul. — Is not her ** favour" — worfe than *' deceit" — is not her " beauty"— if beauty flie boafts, worfe than " vanity" — fay ye, that have followed her to her haunts, and witnefTed — how vicious mifery that feeks the twilight — the black and dark night— to cover its hor- rors— how it looks, when it fees the light ? But, here, it were in vain to repeat the queftion i for the only anfwer we can pXDedl — muft ilTue in lighs from the cells of repentance, in groans from the bed of ficknefs, in grievous moanings from the chambers of death — or in blafphemous murmurs from the confines of hell. Occasions there are, I am weH aware, my brethren^ whereon you mud hear very different 348 An Eft im ate Serm. different dodrine from this'*. Whereon XII. — '* lips as fmooth as oil," tell courteous tales to captivated matrons, of the " falfe ** inlinuating temper," the ** fedudlive <* wiles"— the " favage arts" — of " Man ;" and of the '* helplefs innocence" — the " unfufpedlingdifpofition" — and the" ten- ** der heart"— of " Woman." The tale is pleafing to fome minds ; and the Teller is careifed. ** Peace to all fuch !" — In whatever they deferve our imitation, they merit it not in this. A departure from Truth, can never be acceptable fervicc to God. It is to be lamented that perfons, otherwife eloquent, fhould exceed the * The reference, here implied, could eafily be made , and as this Sermon was compofed, in confe- quence of having remarked the general tenour of fuch Difcourfes, perhaps, in juftice to the authour, it fliould. But as the paflage cannot remain obfcure to any that are acquainted with, what the writer thinks, a too frequently adopted mode of recommending the inte- refts of certain Inftitutions about London, he would rather thefe fayings, where they may be juftly impref- iive, fliould have their filent efficacy, than treat with any boldnefs unamiable in a Learner — -talents which— ^ while he has admired, have improved him. bounds of Female Charadler, '>^9 bounds of nature for any finifter purpofej Serm. nay, even from a defign that may appear XII. benevolent. We have an invariable pre-' ^~~* cept enjoined us, not to do evil, that good may come: and thofe, that thus y^-zt; ^'^- mty, are not to exclaim at difappointment — if they reap the eajl-wind. He betrays his ignorance of this world and its ways, who does not know — and he betrays the interefts of truth and religion, if knowing he does not tell — -that men, in a greater proportion than is neceffary for us to dwell upon, have been ruined by women — than thofe have — by men. It is a poor compliment to our nature they pay us, in calling the mod dignified fex — the worfl. God knows, and our own hearts know- that Men are wicked enough -, but if They have engrofled all the cunning, the male- volence, the cruelty— that fm has fcat- tered in the world, our own, experience is a lie — and the fcriptures are a fable ! Nay, my Sifters of Mortality ! we owe you much ; but we owe you no fuch facrilice to falfliood. You were the firft human 35^ ^n Efiimat^ , Serm. human deceivers ^ and you continue to be ^^I- the deepefl, flill. You were the inftru- ments of men's greateft ruin. Let this make you humble. Your favour is yet deceitful y and your beauty is vai?2. You were alfo honoured to be an inftrument of man's refloration to happinefs. Let this excite you to fear the Lord-^hy whom you were thus highly beloved — and great, as we (hall endeavour, by and bye, to fhew you, fiiall be your praife. Seek not to overpafs the limits prefcribed you, nor to arrogate the boaft of innocence — ^which does not to you belong* In treating You with tendernefs, let us not ceafe to do Ourfelves juftice. There is a tendernefs, remember ye, fatal to its objed : For fuch, may you never have a Minifter— ^ whofe duty it is to divide the Word truly ■» — to thank. Examine the hiftory of the Old Tef- tament, from the firfl; fociety in Edeit, to the offenfive marriages of the remnant of ^udah J and be fenfible what fhare You have had in the general calamities of the 6 earth of Female CharaSfer, 35 1 earth — and in the miferies which particu- Serm, lar ilates and perfons have been doomed XII. to endure. It were grievous to fum up names, that Guilt has configned to in- famy. We hope — while we yet have no warrant to affert — that the hiood of Him who was peculiarly of the feed of the Woman y has wallied thofe garments white, which had imbibed fo deeply iniquity's fcarlet dye. Be inilruded, ye daughters of human weaknefs, to fet little value on perfonal advantages, which are oftener a fnare to others and a curfe to yourfelves, than of much confequence- — a bleffing they have it not in their nature to be, to either. Seek a better way of veiling your weaknefs, if you will veil it, than by afTuming on your ftrength. Learn to bear truth without reludlance. Grant that you were flattered all the days of your lives J and though all the days of your lives you may flatter yourfelves, others will hardly do it longer than for the few fhort years, wherein a fading complexion can for weak minds form a charm ; — it is a long 2^2 -^« EJlimate Serm. long eternity to bewail the dreadful reflec- XIl^- tion — that deceiving others, you have been yourfelves deceived ! Who is he, vi^hom the laws of his country, for preventing repeated outrages on fociety, condemn to fuffer a violent and a fhameful death ? is it not often the wretch milled— whom the deluding, in- fatiable, profligate Harlot-^has inftigated to deeds of rapine, or inured, with horrid fympathy, to the trade of blood ! Some- times both the Tempter and the Tempted — are called to fufFer their deferts ; and Juftice is pleafed in taking fuch an expia- tion. But oftener does the Betrayer ef- cape, to fpread her wiles anew — and " undo *' more men I" Or,. who was that frantick monfter— who himfelf burft indignant from a world - — where he had not courage to (lay — and rufhed into a Prefence, where — Thought recoils, when we would image — how fliall he appear ! might it not be fome dcfpe- rate foul, whom the perpetual goadings of St vexatious Termagant made to hate the light of Female CharaSler, 353 light of the fun — and weary of a woeful Serm. life ? — Have not thefe, has not every in- XII. fatuated fon of frailty — from our firfl Father that fell, to his children that yef- terday laft went aftray — found — and found to their forrow, that Favour — without Virtue — is deceitful -, that Beauty — without Grace — is worfe than vain ? It is pleafant to have done with this part of the fubje6t; and to call off your attention from fo faddening a view. ** Is ** there," may ye well fay, ** no more " exhilarating profpecfl, wherein Female ** Worth is eminent — and the objed of *' defired praife ?" There moft certainly and happily is j and Solomon, the great judge of morals and of mankind, has di- rected us how to draw the line — between ornaments that merit no regard, and ac- complifhments that equally entitle to love and to praife. Prefixed to the obfervation we are conlidering, there is given by the Wife Man, an enumeration of the properties of a Good Woman, fo elegant, full, and cir- A a cumflan- 354 -^^^ E/limate Serm. cumllantlally pleafing, as not to refer you XII. to it ill his own words — were doing you and it and its fubjedt injuftice. On pe- rufing it, you will not be able to help remarking, that all the virtues he appor- tions to the character he draws, are of a domedic kind. Her engagement in the affairs of her houfliold, is beautifully re- lated; her adivity in management, her diligence in refources of advantage, exhi- bited in colours truly delightful. And amid all the concerns of an enlarged fa- mily— for in fuch he difcovers her in- volved— he has taken care to fhew her, fliir not unmindful of what nature and virtue point out as peculiarly amiable in the female character — compaffion and cha- rity. Though, for idle amufements and gay diverlions, flie feems to admit no re- laxation ; yet does ihe find time, from her mod hurried employments — XofiretcJo out her hand to the poor-, yeciy faith he, fie reacheth forth her hands to the needy. Of all kinds of praife, that is furely the moft pleafl;nt, and ought indeed fo to be — for of Fe7nale CharaSier. 35 r for it is the leafl problematical, which Serm. comes by report. When a woman, there- XII. fore, receives commendation in tliis man- ner, and for thofe very things — which in her are praife- worthy, affedion, induRry, and piety ; the tribute, being proper and well- deferved, mufl be grateful to an ingenuous mind. The chief glory of a woman, is to be dear to her own houfhold, unaffeded in her manners, and not afhamed of her religion. Her praife is, to open her month with wifdom, and as it is, in the paffage before us, excellently exprefled, to let the law of kmdnefs dwell upon her tongue. Could ever the incenfe of praife be more acceptable to the fenfe of the deli- cate, than when thus offered up ? — Her hujband is known in the gates, when he fitteth among the elders of the land. Her children arife up, and call her blejj'ed -, her hujband alfo — and well he may — and he praifeth her. Yea, by fuch behaviour, fhe will give room for many that mark her difcretion, to adopt the well-earned commendation that follows; Many daugh- A a 2 ters ^r^ An EJlimate Serm ^^''^ have done virtuotfjlyj but thou excellejl XII. them all. Favour and beauty are deceitful ^"-^s""^ and vain, hut a woman that feareth the LORD, fie — as fhe alone defervcs — -JJ:al/ be praift'd. Give her of the fruit of her hands -, and let her own works praife her in the gates. What a beautiful pidure, of exem- plary love and of laudable induftry, is here prefented ! May it meet with many a like- nefs in your own experience ^ and may thofe who have not yet realized it, be in- cited to copy it, by contemplating it — henceforth. Let Women — know their fphere -, and let them be fatisiied to move invariably within it. Within it, they never move but gracefully ; when out of it, gracefully they never can move : Nor can they ever go out of it — without fault and without danger. Their rank is an ufeful, a necelTary, an honourable one — but it is a fubordinary. By natural ap- pointment, the Man was made Head to the Woman. When that order is fooliflily inverted, there ceafes to be either health or of Female CharaBer, 357 or harmony in the conftitutlon. It is of-SERM. "tener the indication of a weak, effeminate XII. age, than — as is many times fpecioully alledged— of a refined one, when this in- verfion of order becomes predominant. The antient matrons of Rome — and from antient Rome it were happier for Britain fhe would always take her leffons than from modern France — coniidered their children ** well-nurtured," as " jewels *' heft fet j" and the ** love of their " fpoufed mafters, as their bleffing and ** their fame." And if thofe fliould be called ** iron times" — I fear no contra- didlion while I pronounce them h:ippier — than the " golden days" of after ages — when a diffipated Sex left their homes, to crowd the amphitheatre; reforted, in pro- fane commixtion, to publick baths ; ap- plauded indecent gambols; or looked on with unnatural joy — while naked gladia- tors fought. Take higher authority, from the volume of infpiration. Contraft in your minds the daughters of IfraeU ferv'mg the LORD, in the times of their Judges — A a 3 with 35^ ^n Eftimafe Serm. with the women that Ezekiel in *viJion faw, XII. committing abomination, and — at the gate of the lord's hoiife — weeping for T^am- muz. Image to your recolledlion — Hebe- kah with her pitcher — and Rachel with her Jheep at the well i then think of thofe daughters of Zion, who are defcribed by the zealous Ifaiab — as haughty , and walking with fretchedforth necksy and wxinton eyesy walking and mincing as they go, and making a ti/iklijtg with their feet ^^ — and I will leave your own hearts to prefs a con- clufion— without uttering a word ! JvET the Daughters of Britain, prevent future obfervers from eftablifliing a com- parifon— fo humiliating to Them ! Let their own garb — their own gait— their own exercifes, content them. Let not the hand rejoice in the whip- — nor glory in the fceptre, which Nature wifely meant—for the fitter exercife of the needle and the diftaff. Let them not parade in all the trappings of the mafculine, till at leaft they have lofl all the timidity and weak- nefs — not to fay foftnefs, of the feminine^^ charader, of Female CharaSier, 3 ro character. Let not that voice be heard in Serm. publick afiemblies, which ought rather to XII. endear amid the prattle of her children- and pleafe in the privacy of connubial blifs. Let a woman — fear the Lord; and /lie fhall have every delire of eilimation fatisfied. And let this ** fear" be confpi- cuous, in the ordering her own fleps aright, and in fuperintending the affairs of her houfhold. When we confider the place, in which Mothers, and all who are Heads of fami- lies, fland ; and how much is to them en- trufted as to forming the minds, direcftino- the manners, and influencing the condudl, of their children and fervants, we muft be led to reckon the woman — as a moft va- luable member of fociety — who anfvvers, in the difcharging fuch an important trufl — the expe(ftation of Virtue — the views of Religion. Fathers have not generally their ofF- fpring, efpecially in the tendered age — . when impreffions, that longeft endure, are eafieft made, much under their infpedion. A a 4. This «6o An Eftimate Serm. This the necefTary avocations of life will XII. frequently prevent ; and many times fuch as might be difpenfed with— but thought- lefsly are not — forbid. How ufeful and honourable the province — that Mothers are then called to fill ! Under Their eye, the young Plants grow up ; be it Their fludy and care, to flielter them from ad- joining harm, to crop every wild luxu- riance, to encourage every afpiring fnoot — to ward off every inclement blaft : So fhall they be entitled both to praife and reward. Every beholder that witnefles their attention, every one that witnefTes the tStdi^ fhall exalt the reputation of pious Mothers ; — and to the gratitude of pofte- rity, confecrate their name — and tranfmit their worth. By pofterity, flrall that worth be revered ; it can never — by the warmed filial affedion — be repaid ! The plants that have been reared by their foflering care, {hall grow up to afford them fhadow and fhelter — when old age and weaknefs haften their decline. The trunk that raifed fuch branches, fhall be refpe^led while it {lands j and, of Female Char aBer. 361 and, when it falls, its remains fliall bec^j^^^ held facred. And fall it {hall only to XII. human view. Its flocl: — has taken root" — '' — ^ in a kinder foil and a milder climate— than what this barren Earth could afford, and iliall fpring again, with eternal verdure — where its leaf no more (hall wither, or its honours fade. And, further, befides the general Praifc, to which Piety, whether exhibited in a male or female character, is ever entitled, there is a particular commendation due to a Vv'"oman's — not only, as has been (laewn, from its difFufive ufefulnefs, but alfo from its peculiar beauty. On this head, per- haps the moft unthinking will condefcend to favour us with their attention : What adds to, or fets off their beauty, is not apt to be indifferent. Let not fuch be fur- prized — if we tell them that the moll univerfal, and — what may no little enhance its value — the moft durable charm which flie can polTefs — is the ** Fear of the Lord.'* For is not that feature of face or of character, accounted moft lovely and cap- tivating. 362 An EJiimate ' Serm. tivating, by which the truefl admiration, XII. and the bed hearts, are engaged and fe- *''"*^ cured ? But this, without piety, they can never accomplidi. Their moft engaging charm, therefore, is piety. It ftrengthens all the ties of nature, and confirms every band of affection. It makes them the delight of their parents, the delight and bleffing of their hufbands ; it makes them — dear to all mankind. The Woman that poflefTes it — her price is truly above rubies. She breathes the fpirit of concord, amid her kinsfolks j of humanity and chriftian charity, among flrangers. She imparteth to the innocent joys of profperity the re- lifli of devotion, which makes them flill dcfired and long enjoyed. From the wounds of adveriity, fhe cxtra6ls, with amiable care, — the poifon that would make them fatal. Through life, ilie applies the comforts of that Heaven — of whofe kind- nefs, with foftnefs half-angelic, fhe is the minifler; and, in death, gives pleafure to its bright Society — -in receiving another fo pure and fo welcome a Saint \ To of Female CharaBer, 363 To conclude the fubjed ; let me briefly Serm. exhort you, not to feel the truth of Solo- J^^ mon's obfervation—and yet form no wife refolutions, or adopt no amended line of behaviour — correfpondent to fuch a con- vi6tion. Let t\\Q fear of the Lord, I be- feech you, as it is the beginning of-^^ijdom ^-be your road to praife. A little of that approbation, to which it even now fecures you a title, is of more intrinfick value, worth more to your own minds— vv^hen they reflea foberly, than all the empty applaufe of a theatre of fools 5 the grin of a dangling ignorant fop -, or the ten thou- fand fimpering fmiles of a pert— filly cox- comb. And let not Earthly Praife of any- kind, limit your ambition. Afpire by a devout fpirit, temper, and pradice, to that approbation, which your gracious Redeemer ihall apportion — from his Judgment' throne. Remember what were his words upon earth; Martha, thou art careful about many things ; but Mary hath chofen the better part', and forget not what will be his Sentence there— ATi?^ eijery one that faith 9 3^4 An 'EJlimafe SEKyi, faith unto me hordy Lord^ Jhall enter into ■^^** the kingdom of heaven 'j hut they 'u^ hie h do the luill of my Father 'which is in heaven* To ** do th^t will" — as it is your glory — let it be ycur delight. The Praife of man is at bell fo tender a bud — as the firjfl: wintry wind will difperfe — or the firft warm fun will blight : but the Praife vouch fafed from God — is a wreath com- pofed of ever-blooming flowers, which neither can tempefts deform, nor lighten- ings blafl:. Such be the meed that fhall crown your heads, when the tumultuous dream of life is over — and you awake in the regions of unending day ! ** O Thou Good, Thou Compaffionatc *' Lord ! before whom both the young *' and the hoary head, /hould in lov/ly re- *' verence bend ; who fafhioned us all ** from the womb, and rulefl our fteps to '* the grave; teach us by the tvtr-^rt' '' fcnt illumination of Thy Spirit — to re- '* member that we are but duft ! Over the ** errours of unthifiking years. Oh fp read *' the curtain of Thy merciful oblivion : " and of Female CbaraBer. 365 ** and even in tlic ohlllmuy of hardened Serm. <« y\ge — be I'hy I^ower fliewn — not in a II. *' conli<;ning to torments but in nieltini; ** into repentance — the flony heart. \Vc " are the clay, and '-J'bou art the Potter, ** Onr unbounded defire, and carnefl long- ** ing is, that Thou wouldeft form us, by ** I'hy ahiiighty hand, to llie I'lkoicfs of ** \\\oic favoured vcffels — which I'hou had ** ordained to hunoiir. Teach us to l.i- *• crifice to the ("indlity oi' Tliy hivvs the " intemperance o(" pleafure, the conceiv- ** in<;s of pride. 'J'eath us to be tender- ** hearted to the failings of ollicrs — *' knowing tliat we ourlelves arc (rail. ** And fo order ail our goings and difpofc *« all our hearts, to the manifedation of ** Thy glory, and liie participation of a " Redeemer's love — that we may lay down *' our heads iu death with alfurancc, that '* when all thofe varying fccnes — which ** are 'waln and deceit Jul— \\\^ pall — we ** may meet the welcome approbation, *' promifed to them that fear Thee!" Amen. S K )X- ^>0<>0<>O<'<3<>O>eH<2><><2><><2><.-0<'<2><><2><''2x>S>C exhorted XIII. to convert the fenfe we have of afflidion, into a fentiment of piety : — / rejoice, faith its affeftionate apoftle, not that ye were made forry,- but that ye forrowed to re^ "fentance—for ye were made forry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. For godly forrow, adds he, worketh repentance to falvation not to be fepejifed of: but the for row of the world worketh death. It is my defign, my brethren, from thefe words, ' to fpeak Firfl, of the Occa- fion, the Advantage,. and Relief of human Sorrow -, or, in other words, from taking an obfervation of the anxieties and griefs which fall to the lot of good men, to draw forth this comfortable conclufion to every perfon thus afflided, that godly forrow worketh repentance unto falva^ tion not to be repented of-, and, in the Second place, to manifeft, with all fuitable earneftnefs, the danger of that " Sorrow" which is not ** godly/' or to urge every B b natural 370 On Sorrow, Serm. natural argument that can arife, to caution Xlll. againfhthat finful melancholy and defpon- dence, which is in truth thtjorrow of the ivorldj and whofe dreadful confequence is, th^t it worketh death. THE^true meaning of Sorrow, is what- ever pains the remembrance; or rather, indeed, the pained remembrance itfelf of what the underllanding and the heart have held valuable or ddar. And from the ima- gination as well as the memory it^ borrows aid to ftrengthen the fenfe of woe that was wafting, to embitter the cup that was alres^dy full. We not only, in circum- flances where our minds become fubjed:ed to this gloomy Power, recollefl with re- gret what we have — but image with' a fond difquiet what we might have, been". We not only increafe the magnitude of bleilings that are lofl -, but we dwell upon the fancied enjoyments oi thofe that fliould have been obtained. We fuppofe our- felves in a fituation, to which, perhaps, our condition has no other title than what is raifed by felf-conceit ; and we fuffer all the 0?i Sorrow > 37^ the pangs of difappointment, when all the Serm. confequent, ideal expeftations are not XHI^ realized. Forgetful of the rank which we hold in creation, unmindful of the mi- ferable allotment which our own errours have condemned us to undergo, we imi- tate the infatuation of the. inhabitant of frozen regions, who (hduld, without doing any thing to render comfortable his chear- lefs abode, without a thought of removing from the barren promontory and incle- ment fky, fit down repining and inadive in his dreary cave, to languifh out a life of woe, in expedance of a kinder climate, and a fairer day. To be more particular on this head, we - niay refolve the ufual fprings of natural and guiltlefs forrow to thefe four different fourcesj difappointed hopes, mifplaced affedtion, the lofs of friends— and a fenfe of errour. Alas ! how fertile are thofe fources of human woe ! who is there that boalls that fingularity of good fortune, as to be excepted from fubmitting to feel any of thefe affliaive calls? For forrow, bleffed B b 2 t® 372 On Sorrow. Serm. b^ ^^^^ ^^^ °^ heaven, there Is, as we m XIII. due time fhall notice, a remedy and a * ' ' cure ; but we know of no prefervative againfl it, but infenfibility ; and the lot of tbofe who thus efcape it, the good, though plunged in the depths of mortal inifery, cannot envy. In the firfl: flages of life, we fet out on our journey with buoyant fpirits and an unwounded heart; with every chance-companion we are con- jfident, with every incidental trifle we are pleafed. The vernal fun irradiates every field ; and the iky appears to be without a cloud. Every contiguous objed:, to the inexperienced eye of youth, is grateful, and every diflant profpe(5l promifes fair. It is not to be wondered, if in fuch cir- cumftances — figurative of happinefs, we fhould be induced to lay our account with having uninterrupted happinefs apportioned to our peculiar fhare. Ignorant of our- felves, and unacquainted with the nature of moil things about us, we farm concep- tions for which there are no grounds, and: entertain expe(5lations for which there is no On Sorrow, 373 no warrant. Accuftomed to give implI-SERM. cit way to fuch conceivings, and to yield XIII. up our fouls to fuch pleafurable fafcina- tion of Hope, we forget the diflance which, by the laws and order of nature, is put between the pofTcfTion and the de- firej and like true children, who have not yet gained by experience any adequate idea of fpace — like forward children in our nurfes' arms, put forth our little hands to grafp the ftars. When in either cafe the attempt is difcovered fruitlefs, we begin to fret at difappointment — to '* turn away ** our face — and cry." But, befides, even in more guarded hopes, the reliance that has been placed, has to the forrow of thofe who placed it, been fhewn to be vain. The lituation of many, has given them large fcope for in* dulging extended hopes. Nurfed in the lap of plenty, and fondled in the bofom of parental love, they have depended, without feeming to arrogate to themfelves any peculiar title to fuperior felicity, on ilBuence and tender regard to blefs their B b 3 lot 374 ^^ Sorrow^ Serm. lot to the grave. Qualified by natural ta- XIII. lents and acquired abilities, to move in the highefl flations of ufefulnefs and ho- nour, they have eftimated their degree of fuccefs by their merits of attainment; and pre-fuppofed the rank to which their powers entitled them, as an inherent pof- feflion — a rightful inheritance. The hopes of neither have been anfwered. From the lap of plenty and the bofom of love, the Firfh has been taken ; and expofed, amid lofs and calamity, in poverty and defer- tion, in that inftrudlive condition, where bitter experience fhould put him in mind that the rights of all Nature's children were the fame; the fame their immuni- ties, the fame the helplefs and weak eftate of the kings and the beggar's fon, and that Naked came I from the womb, and naked thither Jhall I return, is the necef- fary acknowledgment, and ought to be the religned expreilion — of all the oif- fpring of mortality. The Second, not- withftanding ail his talents of ufefulnefs and qualifications to ihine in an exalted fphere On Sorrow. ^y^ fpliere of life, has through life, in penury Ser m. and contempt, been left to ftruggle with XIII. wretched nefs and forrow ; and to make this tlie burden of his oblivious day's com- plaint— this the unpleafing meditation that tends not to fmooth his uneafy bolder — that the race is not to the pwift — nor the battle to the jirong ; nor bread to men of imderjianding . Proceed we to a theme of heavier complaint; and — in as numerous inftances, more wailing forrow. The external in- commodations of life are but trifling in comparifon of thofe that affcdt the mind, and banifli interior peace. The herd may gnaw the rind, and tlie tempeft of the nisht or the wintry ftorm, detorm the branches and fliake off the leaves; but a little time will heal up the wounds, and a, milder Ipring reilore the tree its hoi^ours — and the grove its Ihade; but when tlic canker preys upon the core, the lapfe of time but increafes the ravage, and Spring that clothes all things in verdure, n^iakes the havock of the hidden fpoiler but the B b 4. more: 376 On Sorrow* Serm. more to appear: While as unfriendly XIII. moifture from below makes the covered ^" ^ ' roots to decay, and the lightning-blaft from above flrikes the unfheltered top, beyond all power of reftoration its lovely foliage withers j and as the piteous wreck of the tempeft — it ftands on the moun- tain— bare. 'T^e fpirit of a man may fujiain his mjirmity — but a wounded fpirit who can bear F — -Mifplaced or unanfwered afFed:ion, has made many a beauteous flower to fade, and has caufed many a pillar of flrengih to fall. The heart has many times, without giving heed to the judgment, and oftener without the power of being under the judgment's controul, gone forth in all its foftnefs, and, in the dangerous fields of wild afFedlion, nurfing up the tender blolToms of defire, prepared the materials of its own future woe. Lonely, and folicitous of refledled happi- npfs, the mind has fought a partner of its joys i and confident of fuccefs to its in- genuous inclinations, has overlooked the hasard of a cold return, or fallen into the fnare On Sorrow. 377 fnare of unprincipled deceit. The exer- Serm. eife of afFedtions that engrofs and wholly XIII. occupy the heart, cannot often be repeated ; but occafions that give it the little piercings of difquiet, ever and anon, recur. Every tranfient attachment of Friendfliip and of Love, draw back the regards of the foul of ieniibility — to thofe inore youthful and ' flrid:er ties — which, formed by gentle Nature, by approving Virtue fandtioned, though by Vice, by Neceflity, by Fate, long cruelly difunited and rent — fliU in the records of memory pofTefs a confpi- cuous place, flill are felt, and flill are fa- ered. Sacred they are— ^and alas ! they are confecrated to Sorrow ! Reftlefs and diffatisfied with fatisfadtions obtained, the uneafy mind too readily admits a perfua- iion, that thofe were not the fatisfad:ions for which it fought. The heart, upon this fuggeftion, is foon difpofed to wan- der, and felf-creative of ills, employs ima- gination to point her every pang. ** Had not fuch been my fate, were not ^* fuch mine unhappinefs,— how fmooth *' had ^yg On Sorrow, Serm. " had been my days — how bleft had beea XIII. *< rny lot ! Had I but referved my afFec- ^"'^''^ " tions till I had met their objed, my ** face had been undifcoloured with tears, " and my rnind been peacefully at reft. *' But now, on the cold earth dejeded, " I grieve under the punishments of mif- *' guided fancy. I lament, without hope <« of eafe, the imprudent ileps that have *' dedicated my days to mourning; and if *• I look before me — every fight is hor- « ror." — Such is the difconfolate voice of thofe who in this darkfome vale, bemoan their ill-requited or their ill-forted affec- tion; and without all the confideration due to piety, grow peeviili under their lot, and unavailingly call their flars un- kind. But from that ** houfe of mourning'* founds a fcream of louder diftradion — a voice of deeper woe 1 The houfe of mourn- ing it fliall long be called; and longer than it is called fo, fnall it be ; for it is not aftedation or vanity that has urged that cry of lamentation, or hung thofe . . ^ walls On Sorrow. 37^ walls with black. A brother that had an Serm. affeaionate fifter, a fpoufe that had a ^^^ loving confort, a parent that had a dutiful child ; a fifter, a wife, a child that had relatives equally fympathiring,—havethere, amid fighs and tears that admit of no du- bious conftruaion, breathed their laft. Oh how tranfpiercing that agonizing pang which fhoots through, this moment, that afflifted, aching heart! The wide world appears a wildcrnefs, this whole beauteous univerfe a prifon — v. hen that foul of en- joyment, in the poffeffion of which was treafured up all the fondnefles, all the af- fedions of the foul, is loft. No more the beloved prefence delights ; no more the relilhed converfation chears. The com- mon occurrences of life amufe" no more : for whatever noble is done, whatever wife is faid, the perfon in whom the doating heart is interefted, is no longer capable ot either adion or fpeech. The publick af- fembly and the diverting fpedacle, are reforted to without plcnfure and without cffed; for the objed that made g^ycr every ^30 O^ Sorrow. Serm every fcene, that made Tweeter every plea- XIII. fure — is not there ! And the remembrance *— -v—^ of how they pleafed and how they de- lighted, in the company of thofe, the luflre of whofe eyes is now marred in the duft, whofe once eloquent tongues in the grave are mute, augments the fenfe of the folitary forrow — makes the penfive hour more intolerably painful — and adds a prellure to the burden of comparative grief. And grant thefe finer fenfibilities of nature did not prevail ; ilill abundant room is affqrded, from confiderations more com- monly important, to indulge under fuch circumftances, in all the bitternefs of woe. ^ In lofing a friend, there is alfo loft a pro- te6lor — a provider — he that was to fupply every want and alleviate each diftrefs ; he that was to promote the honour of his family, to advance their eafe — to labour for their bread — he is gone, and the com- forts of his care and labour — lleep under the fod that covers his watchful head. Or, if, on the perfon beloved and loft, no fucli neceflary On Sorrow. 381 neceflary interefts depended, yet flill there Serm. depended much of the few joys and the XIII. limited happinefs expeded in life. He was needful for advice, for participation, for folace, for afliftance, for converfe, for ^afe ', or though the ufe he was of to en- joyment might not be difcerned while we had him with us — we are awakened of a fudden to feel the vacancy acutely, and to lament our own unobfervance and ino:ra- titude — when he is gone. From this, by a natural tranfition, are we led to notice a fenfe of errour as ano- ther productive fource of Sorrow. After the difappointments, anxieties, and loiles which we may have fuftained, we can hardly remain fo inconfiderate as not to refled: on our own thoughtleflnefs being fometimes the caufe. The conclufion which Reafon, upon this, will immediately urge us to make, muft needs be, that had we a6led more worthily and wifely, many of thefe painful recolleClions had been pre- vented ; and that thofe which we endure are no other than the invariable confe- quences 382 On Sorrow. Serm. quences of overweening expedtation, and XIII. the deferved punifliments of vicious errour and iinful trefpafs. It is then that the fenfe of all other forrows is fwallowed up in this. DiftrelTes were otherwife confidered as incidental grievances which might for a time molefl our fpirits, and then ceafe to opprefs : but here they put on the form of a yoke to gall us — and a goad to vex. Have our hopes not been anfwered ? We fee that to us fuch hopes did not belong. Have our hearts been troubled ? We are felf-con- vicled that they deferve no eafe. Have we been doomed to lofe the deareft objed of our regard ? We are abafed into fliame with recolletfling that fuch objedt was earthly j and that our iniquities have in- volved us in the experience of fuch pre- fent, and in the fear of flill greater future, afflidlion. Here, then, let us advert to the ufe of fuch trials — to the advantage which Sorrow, thus indulged, is calcu- lated to procure. Ponder, On Sorrow, "3*83 Ponder, thou child of afflidlion, thySERM. own crooked goings ; and let it iearn thee Xlll. to lift up the eyes of pious nnieditation to contemplate the ways of God. Had he circumfcribed thy path within terreftrial limits, and yet fuffered thee to groan un- der the miferies of life, thou mighteft have liad fome caufe to cry out with Cain, My pimifiment is greater than I can bear. -And yet, upon refledlion, wouldcft thou iind fuch complaint to he ill-founded, when littered by either Cain or thee. Greater than thou canft or than thou mayeft be wil- ling to fuftain ; — but not *'. greater than " the crime" can the " puriifhrnent" be. Sanguine in thy hopes, intemperate in thy wiilies, indifcreet in beftowing thy afFec- •tions, and prefumptuous in founding thy "traft, repine not at the award, but adore the Wifdom which has inrtrudted thee, though it may be in the accents of mourn- ing, in the vanity of earthly glory, and the arrogance of human confidence. Thy '^hopes in this world have been frudrated, 'thy views been difappointe'd — thy fondeft defircs 384 On Sorrow. Serm. deflres unanfwered, and thy moil cordial XIII. vows unbleft : Thou mayeft think it happy *""^' for thee that they have. Had all thy plans fucceeded, and had all thy expe6la- tions been crowned, one plan hadft thou not raifed nnconne£led with this bafe world, nor indulged a iingle expexftation beyond it. However naturally good thy difpolition, and ingenuous thy temper; and much in this refpedt, in the corrupt ilate of thy nature, is not left thee to boafl; in the fecurity and indifference, in which profperity is wont to bind up the foul, thy virtues had been untried — without merit, without ufe. Forgetful of thy own condition, forgetful of the blelTed Power that placed thee in a flate of probation, thou mightefl not indeed have known ** forrow" — thou mightefl not have known " repentance" — but neither in thy heart, nor at the end of thy courfe, hadfl thou known, or fhouldfl thou ever know, ** Salvation." Advantageous, then, to thyfelf, mufl fuch forrows prove j and the fenfe of them, is, moreover, ufeful in making On Sorrow* 385 making thee benevolent towards others. Serm. It was never obfervable in life, that he XIII. who had endured no afBidion was of any beneficial import to fociety. The human heart is befl difpofed to ads of kindnefs and of comfort, when it has found of what valuable ufe they have been to itfelf. The deer that has once been ftricken, flies not from its fellow — when expofed to the fhaft. By experiencing the vicifiitudes of fortune, and the mutability of earthly things, the mind is foftencd into thoughts of fympathy, and the heart more readily melts into the warmth of charity. " Not *' ignorant of misfortune myfelf, I have ** learned to fuccour the wretched;" is the exprefllon of the benefited Spirit, that in the ftorms and confiids of a tumultuous world, has been taught, in beholding fur- rounding mifery, hov/ noble it is to pity- how glorious it is to fave ! After confiderations like thefe, you muft be willing to follow me to the lall particular which, on this head, I purpofed to notice ; the relief and remedy of that C c unguilty 386 On Sorrow » Serm. unguilty forrow which has fo manifold a ^*^^* fource, and is fo ufeful in its operation — • leading unto repentance, and working after a godly fort. The diflincftion, exprefTed by the apoftle in the Text, is neither unnecelTary nor trite. The forrow of the world may work repentance — that is, may beget a dilTatis- fadion with what has been done ; but this is merely from the expecfled advantages pro- jeded, not having enfuedj and this remorfe itfelf becomes as finful as thecourfe which gave it rife, Wnen Judas went and hanged hirnfelf he was as guilty, as when he be- trayed his Majier, It is only a godly forrow which worketh that repentance which is a duty — not the variation of a crime — and is never to be repented of-, for the fruit thereof \sfahation. For this kind of forrow, then, we fay that the hopes and aflurance of that falva- tion to which it leads, are the only re- medy and cure : That religion is the only juft fupport under affliction; the religion of Chrift the only folace to the godly mind — the only balm to cure every wounded fpirit. On Sorrow.^ 3^7 fplrit, and the only adnliniftratlon of com- Serm. fort to wipe away every tear. Haft thou,^^^-^'^ O my brother or my fiftef of mortality, been early doomed to lament the difap- pointment of youthful, of innocent, or even of over^eager hopes, -^ and Grief ufurped the privilege of Time, to whiten thy temples and wrinkle thy brow ? Thou haft thereby icQn that earthly hopes are uncertain ; thou haft wifely learned where to place them better. Had all thy wifhes been accomplifhed, thy blifs had not then been permanent ; and thou mighteft have loft the beft occafion that Heaven ever lent to erring mortals to learn them to be wife. Has thy heart been the prey of un- tutor'd paflion, or have the tumults of ungovernable affedion diftraded thy breaft; do the regrets of love ill-tempered, or of friendfhip fpitefully returned, dwell with grating remembrance in thy fufceptive bofom J and do ever- waking wifties and ever-wafting woes deprive thee of equa- nimity and reft ? — Or has thy friend not deceived thee ? — Wert thou given, for C c 2 fome 3S8 On Sorrow, Serm. ^oi^e fhort feafon, to know what happinefs. XIII. was i and are thofe thou lovedft gone ^ ^ before thee into the world of fpirits — and left thee a miferable remnant of undivided affe(!^ion in this ? Add to all thefe fubjeds of difquiet, the torment which is brought thee by a fenfe of thine own undefervings and failings before the Supreme. — With all thefe woes — and with all thofe failings; fly not His prefence — for it is only there thou art fafe. It is his word only that can fpeak life to thy finking fpirit : And the Death thou dreaded will every where find thee — but under the Jhadow of his Almighty njoiu'is ! The aftections that have been ill- requited on earth below, fee that thou purify, according to the precepts of the gofpel, and place them on thy Redeemer, and on things above. The lofs of thy kindred, bewail not as thofe without hope. If accidents have befallen them here, even in a hrothers houfe^ repinefl thou that they have been found worthy to be taken foonell: to their exalted Elder Brother and their Father wj;iich is in heaven ? Sor- rowed: •a On Sorrow, 3 89 rovveft thou that they are liberated fromSERM. the prifon, whofe bondage thou feelefl fo XIII. hard^ or doubtefl thou that the fame' ^^""^ friendly hand of divine Deliverance that has freed them from all mortal fuiterings and forrows, will alfo, at the proper feafon, relieve and liberate thee r Think upon thy own errours, and balance them againft thy woes ; and let the long-fuf- fering of thy God, and thine own ingra- titude, make thee blulli. Thus fhall thy forrow be acceptable in the eyes of Hea- ven, for it fliall uniformly lead thee to repentance ', and of that repentance thou fhalt never be ajloamed, for by a faithful perfeverance therein, thou flialt fee an end to all thy forrows in thy fahation and happinefs being complete. I COME now, in the Second place, to caution you againft admitting to be the gueft of your bofoms that melancholy Defpondence, which, inftead of being be- neficial— as the grief which is owned of piety and of virtue — is, when ever given C c 3 way 39© On Sorrow. Serm. way 'to, dangerous to either, and, when XIII. perfevered in, deftrudlive of both. — The forrow of the world — worketh death ! — fo do alfo its joys ! What, then, is there in this world, peculiar to itfelf or connected with its views, but what is pernicious and fatal ? — From godly — the Sorrow that is worldly — differs in this, that as the firll is always accompanied with a fenfe of errour and a defire of amend- ment, fo furely is the latter attended with an impatience of fpirit, a difeontented temper, and an obduracy of heart. Un- der, the one, a man laments that he is not wifer and better; under the other, his only caufe of concern is, that he is not rnore fuccefsful and profperous. When he grieves after a godly forty he is only angry with himfelf; but when in the latter fenfe he grieves, he ungratefully arraigns the eftabliflied order of nature, impioufly taxes with injuftice the difpen- fations of Providence, and utters the voice of blafphemous complaint againft his Maker, Cain^ v^e are told, ijoas "oery wroth^ On Sorrow. 391 wroth, and his countenance fell ', but this Serm. we may not attribute to any genuine anxi- XIII. ety he felt at his own offering's being rejedted; for thus the Lord condefcend- ingly expoftulates with the ungrateful murmurer ; Why art thou wroth ? and why is thy countenance fallen ? If thou doeji well, Jloalt thou not be accepted t and if thou doejl not well—fm lieth at the door, — It WHS chiefly becaufe his brother, th# righteous Abel, had ** done well" — and was preferred, that thefe clouds of envious difcontent deformed his brow. — While Nabal held afeajl in his houfe like the feajl of a king, — Nabal* s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken-, but, in evidence of how little folid are the joys of intemperance, // came to pafs in the jnorning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal — and he was told the things that had happened — that his heart died within him, and he became as a Jione, — JVhy, fa id the infinuating Prompter of an evil heart to deeds of violence, — why is thy fpirit fo fad that thou eat eft no breads Becaufe — ■ C c 4 replied 39^ On Sorrow, Serm. replied the king of Samaria — the weak and XIII. wretched flave of his own paffions — the weak and wretched ilave of malicious fug- geftions — becaufe I /pake utito Naboth the yezreeliie, and he anfwered, I will not give thee my vineyard: becaufe of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had fpoken unto him, when he [aid, I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers, Ahab came into his houfe heavy and difpleafed, and laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his face — a7id would eat no bread I —Dojl thou well to be angry, faid the Merciful Lord to the difcontented Jonah ? — / do well to be angry, replied the un- mindful Prophet ; it is better for me to die — than to live ; I do well to be angry, even unto death. — Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and fh all we not receive evil F ■ — faid the noble and exemplary Job — Curfe God, and die I was the language of his impatient Wife. — One thing lackeji thou yet, faid the Teacher and the Saviour of all mankind -, fell that which thou haji, and give it to the poor — and thou fialt have treafure On Sorrow. ^93 treafure in hjaven. — Alas, to this mifcon- Serm. «eiving young man, would that one valua- XIII. ble thing ftill be lacking ; he departed dif- ' ' — ' con folate, he went away very forrowfid — for he had large pojjejjions, and was very rich ! Not forgetting fuch inftances of Worldly forrow, we may, perhaps, give our thoughts on this fubje6l the mofi: ufeful direcTrion, if we particularly remark, as we did before in the confideration of the forrow that was godly, the Occafion alfo of this which is worldly — its Danger — and its End. Difappointed hopes, mif- placed affecflion, the lofs of friends, and a fenfe of errour, were the principal f[3rings, we obferved, of that grief which leads to repentance J and fo promotes falvation, Difappointed hopes, in like manner here, difappointed ambition, the ill-fatisfied delire of power, the ill-requited paflion of ''finful pleafure, the lofs of miftaken ho- nour and wealth, may comprehend every origin of the fmful forrow, the worldly forroiv, againft whofe influence we wifli to 294 ^^ Sorj'oiv^ Serm. to guard you; whofe evil tendency we XIII. defire to make manifeft before you ; while we fhew you, in what manner, and admo- nifh you how it never fails, to work out death. The man, who choofes a virtuous, who embraces a religious life, lays his account with oppofitions in his way; for he has been forewarned that fuch abide him. When he meets with them, therefore, he is not left difconfolate. No new thing has happened to him, no unexpe(fled. Multiply upon him fufferings and griefs as they will, he is neither deferted nor hopelefs. In the midft of the forroivs that I have m my hearty thy comforts^ fa id the faithful Pfalmift, and fays every pofTeflbr of like hope and faith, to the fame mer- ciful and compaffionate Lord; thy com- forts have refrefied my foiiL Not fo the cafe with him, who follows the broad a«d the downward way. Therein, every difappointment is concealed, at his firft fetting out. He is told of no danger, no «bftru£lion ; and he is prepared to en- counter On Sorrow, 395 counter ncne. Power, and wealth, andSERM. honour, are objefls that he fanguinely XIII. purfues ; and he doubts not but their ac- complifhment Ihall be equal to their pro- mife. Neither the ordinary courfe of human affairs, however, nor the jufi: ad- miniftratlon of divine providence, fuffers this to be the cafe. Whatever relates to fo changeable a creature as man, whatever is tranfa^ted on fo variable a fcene as this world, muft partake of that mutability and uncertainty which belong to the a*5tors and the iffue. And whatfoever, more- over, is the idol of a bad man's confidence, can have no (lability. When the confe- quences, therefore, which by wifdom might have been forefeen, by uprightnefs might have been prevented, come to prefs the iinner — when in the cup of pleafure, which he idly fancied pure, he finds the bitter of the wormwood, and the poifon of the gall; when amid the flowers of honour — which feem to compofe the gay, and long-defired garland, his pained fenfc awakes him to feel the piercings of the thorn ; 2g6 On Sorrow. Serm. thorn; when among the chefts and bags XI^^- that his late and early labours have ac- quired for the delighting of his foul, he is tortured with the worm that gnaws— ^ and threatened or plundered by the thieves that fpoil ; when amid all his riches, pro- motions, and revellings, he is made to feel the deficiency of that eafe and com- fort, which neither revellings, promo- tions, or riches can purchafe or fecure ; cr when by one fudden ilroke of adverfe fortune, he is deprived of all the honour which he coveted, the mirth in v/hich he rioted, the wealth in which he trufled — he is aftonifhed — terrified — and in abjedl mifery left — with the wretched Epbraim- itCy in pitiful accent to exclaim, They have taken away my gods — and what have I more ? When a good man is difappointed, in even what appears no unwarranted expec-,, tations, he may forrow for a moment with the anxiety natural to the human heart -, but he foon recollects his errours ; and betakes him, in humble and contrite re- liance. On Sorrow, 397 iiance, to the fure rock of his confidence Serm. again. The thought of what evil accident XIII. may have befallen him does not pain him' * {o much, as -the appreheniion he devoutly falls into, left he have fuifered his fpiiit to repine againft His wife ordinances, by which, he is well affured, that fuch acci- dent fliall not to him pro've evil in the latter end. But when crolTes and deferved dif- appointments overwhelm the unrighteous man, thofe very croffss and difappoint- ments do not vex him fo much, as he is harraffed by the arrogance of his proud and unfandiified heart — that he has not power over accident and Fate ; that he himfelf cannot order his own affairs, nor regulate the events belonging to them, without controul ; that he cannot rule the univerfe — but is forced to feel himfelf un- able, cither to heap the burden of human ^|K)es on the heads of the innocent — or to avert them from his own. In like manner, does he in common with the lot of mankind, fee hitnfelf de- prived of friends and relatives ? he has no folace 29^ On Sorrow, bERM. folace to chear, no balm to cure, the Xill. wounded fpirit. He has no Friend above, as the good man enjoys, to provide him other earthly comforts, or whofe favour can compenfate the lofs of all. And he even laments the departure of his kindred and acquaintance, not fo much from tender affedion, or pious motive and regard, as merely from the damage vi^hich his tem- poral concerns may fuftain by the lofs. Such thefprings of worldly forrow. And its courfe is pernicious, as its end is fatal. Men begin with caring much, very much, for themfelves ; and in the felfifh progrefs, make hafte to lofe even every veftige of charity for others. Whatever obflrudions intervene to retard their way to wealth and fame, they attribute as a fault committed again ft them by their brethren. With thofe that are behind them, they grow peevifh and angry, becaufe they will not negle(5t all their own proper interefls and help to pufh on Their's. At thofe who keep up with them in the fame courfe, they are malicioufly difpofed, through fear left On Sorrow, iefWthey fhould outrun them. And at Serm. thofe who have outrun and are got XIIl! before them, they are envioufly enraged -, comparing their own labours, with the other's fuccefs. But the tendency of fuch a dangerous difpofition flops not here. It leads infatuated and ungrateful men, not only to prefume too much on themfelves, and to hate their neighbours ; but impi- oufly to find fault with the laws of om- nifcient wifdom, and to murmur, with loud-tongu'd blafphemy, againft the Su- preme. Plere the bufy fpirit of Evil, the deadly foe of darknefs, finds opportunity, and ufes it with infernal pleafure, to inftil the fubtle thoughts of unbelief, and the black poifon of defpair~to bring the diftradled foul to his own likenefs, and to urge it cruelly onwards to the darkfome horrors and the precipice of death. *« Self- " murder ! what art thou ? Art thou not " the curfed ofl^spring of cowardice and " pride? Early in the world, were not- thy ravages felt ; among many nations is thy detefled name unknown. Men " needed ^oo On Sorrow. ■J^ ■ Serm. " needed to be matured in wickednefs, XIII. '' before the thoughts of thee could find ' — r-^ ** an entrance ; And fure it was the worft *' in counfil, and the keeneft in fpite— ** in hell — that firil devifed and recom- *• mended thee. Late in the world hath ** worldly ** forrow" wrought, fofrequent- '^ ly, ** fuch death" — Late in the world *' haft thou become a power fo prevalent; ** haft thou ftalked in terrours, fo confpi- ** cuous a monfter — and oh ! to our dif- *' grace, and to the forrow of every ** chriftian heart in our country, fettled ** Here ! With what offenfivc weapons ** ftiall we attempt to bear down thy ** hardy creft ? with what armour of dc- ** fence, fhall we warn the pious foldier *' of Jefus, to fhield himfelf from fuch *' a direful enemy as thee ?" Give en- trance, my brethren, to a little reflexion. It were mockery unfufFerable in me to foothe the carnal, eafy mind with faying, thae none of you need fo to be guarded — fo to be advifed; for whofe ftrength among us is not very weaknefs, whofe faircft 0;2 Sorrow. ' .qj faireft fighteoufnefs is not very rags ? Who Serm can put that trufl in his own heart— whofe XIIL deceitfulnefs he muft have fo repeatedly experienced, if he ever attended in the leaft to its workings — as to be fecure this moment, from what enormity or what depth of wickednefs, his paffions and the fpiritual enemy of his foul may hurry him into, the next? No man may flem the impetuous current, may flop the jfiery courfcr, when they are once broke loofe ; the floodgates had beft not been opened, the bridle not taken off. To have you adopt fuch fagacious condud: is our well- meant intention, when we call you again to refled:. Who was that — for a name we have not to call him by — that by violent means — for in ideas not in words do we wifli to make the pi6lure horrible — put an end to his life ? Was it he, who, orphan of fortune from the vi^omb, was early tu- tored to the endurance of all the variety of wretchednefs ? No ! He has been fo long acquainted with woe, that it has become his companion : And it is doubtful, if he Pd ihould 402 On Sorrow, Q^-,-, fliould know how to a(5t in other com- o E R M . XIII. pany. A61 in this manner, it is certain, i,, ,-^».«^ Y\Q, would never j for terrours have been fo familiar to him, that he cannot image a diftrefs, which he has not felt, and which, therefore, he would incur a cer- tain pain to efcape. Was it the perfon who loft a father or mother ? wife or huf- band ? brother or fifter ? child or kinf- man ? No ! Scarcely for a good man will even one dare to die. And when has it, I pray you, been known — that the noofe has been fitted, the edge been whetted — or the faithlefs wave been courted — for lolTes like thefe ? Give to this confideration, I in- treat you, the force it has a right to de- mand. For thefe rendings of the affec- tions, and the following difquiets of the heart, the tear has been dropt — the figh has been heaved — and the flow worm of grief has wafted and confumed, at times, the bloffom of youth and of beauty. But farther has not its power extended. No hanging and drowning, no poignard nor poiibn, have ever been confequent on re- 9 gi'ets On Sorrow, 403 grets like thefe. Thefe 2iVQ for rows which. Serm. lead to repentance — never to be repented of: X^^^« it is only th&forrow which is worldly^ and that has its rife, its continuance, and its limit, infeparably connecfled with earthly things, that is produdive of effefts £0 dreadful— and wzrkcth out fo fliameful a death. Here is one vidlim of defpair which the pleafures of the world have made ! While he could enjoy them he did ; and unmindful, uncareful, of the dicflates of confcience or the lefTons of wililom, pro- ftituted his talents, his time, and his hopes, in an idolatry fo unferviceable and impure. He has been ill requited for an attachment fo flrid:. Deceit, difhonour, and difeafe — have, through all his wan- derings, attended his fteps, been clofe to him in all his moments of vanity and felf- deception, and have at laft overpowered him with united force., Caft away his youthful years, without advantaging him* felf J prodigally wafted his vigour of man* hood, without benefitting mankind ; in D d 2 the 404 On Sorrow* Serm. the penfive hour, he has neither friend nor XIII. fupporter : And the only chance which, in the darknefs of defpondence, he fees, to make tolerable the ftate of being — is to be no more ! There — lies as fad an example, though one we can hardly fo lament — of unconquerable defpair. To gain the world — its wealth — its drofs — its vanities — was all the ambition of his refllefs and infatia- ble defire. Part of this world he gained 5 far greater than has been obtained by many a chara6ler more worthy -, yet flill for the reft was he purfuingi flill was the defire untameable, the acquifition incomplete. The gods he has fervedy have been found dumb idols ; the world, in which was all his confidence, has forfaken him -, and after many a fruitlefs attempt for that pur- pofe, if he finds himfelf unable to take vengeance on that world, with defpightful purpofe of heart, and unnatural hand, he has haftened in furious diilradion — to turn the vengeance on himfelf. Rather than have it known that his difpofition was dif- ferent from his demeanor — to make his vital On Sorrow. 405 vital blood ilTue forth, he will open, with Serm. daring violence, the fluices of his heart : XIII. Rather than appear among his fellows with a lefs uplifted brow — on the firft prefent- ing pillar he will dafh out his brains : and rather than exill: a proof, that the children of the world may not at all times even in their own ge?ieration be wife, he will leave the world, without one other hope — than in trufting to the miftaken charity of thofe he has fo abruptly left — in the gentleft conflruftion of judgment, to account him a madman. But art thou, unhappy youth ! inve- terate flave of the world and of Satan ! Art thou, canft thou be — no more ? Wilt thou not own the impotence of worldly pride, when thou beginneft to feel the torments that are its punifhment ? For thee what mercy can be found — when thou diedft in guilt : when the very ftroke that freed thee from the confinement of earthly trou- ble, gave fignal to the evil fpirits that watched and rejoiced in thy fall — to carry thee into their own eternal prifon — i?ito D d 3 outer 4o6 Cn Sorrow, Serm. outer darknefs, where, in place of the Alll. cj-ofTes and fcoffings which here thou mighteH: experience or dread, there is weepifigy and wailingy and gnajlnng of teeth ? What a miferable exchange hail: thou made ? What avails it, that from a miftaken and pernicious lenity, — which takes its rife from ignorance, or feeks its fhelter in vice, — what avails it to thee, that thy bodv is not frequently expofed to merited infamy and difgrace ? The flars, where thy immortal part is judged, (hall ^ not be called in fault — nor fliall the harm- lefs moon be reckoned guilty of thy blood. Alas ! alas ! what avails our addrefling thee ? Thou art no longer capable of Aj- bour or device : and the laft device-~the lafl thoughtful labour, which under the fufferance of Heaven, thou waft permitted to employ, was to imitate the pride of the devil, and defpifing the lot affigned thee, make a rank to thyfelf-— was to work out by thy guUty /arrow j fuch a deathful por- tion— and with him^j who urged thee to a deed On Sorrow, 407 deed fo damnable, to make thy eternal MSerm. in hell XIII. Let us drop, my brethren, fo melan- choly a fubjecft, in a fentence or two of concluiive exhortation. There are two cures for fmful melancholy, which, I am fully convinced, are unfailing, with the blefling of God on our endeavours, to ba- nifli it from every troubled mind. The one concerns the fpiritual, the other the corporeal frame. I mean ** bodily exer- ** cifc" and ** prayer." On taking a mo- derate fliare of the firfl, a great many evils with which the fpirit of man is nearly connefted, are difpelled; and on being much employed in the latter, an holy calm, a ferene confidence is communicated to the believer's mind, fuch as will not ealily be put into a ferment by any fudden guft of paffion, or any continued florm of adverfe fortune. Big as may fvvell the wave, and loud as may found the blaft, however defpondent the hearts of the un- fkilful, however drooping the courage of the untried. His fpirits will not be apt to D d 4 fink— 40 S On Sorrow, SERM.fink — His refolution not be ready to be XIII. {haken — who has calculated the hazard of every florm — has taken care that his vef- fel and tackle are tight — and who on hav- ing recourfe to the Pilot that guides the helm — has received full alTurance — that he fhall be brought fafe to fhore ! " Governor of Nature! Author of " Life ! Eafer of the Wounded Mind ! ** Supporter of the difconfolate Heart ! " God of all confolation ! What are we *' in Thy prefence, that we fhould ever ** murmur at Thy decrees ? — Thy decrees, *' which to us are falutary, however little *' we may be able to judge or difcern. ** Controul in us, by Thy gracious Spi- ** rit, moH: Mighty Lord, every thought *' that is foolifh, every defire that is fin- *' ful ; help us to banifh every complaint ** that is unmeet. O avert from us, in^ ** Thy everlafling kindnefs, thofe trials ** and temptations, which would moft ** ealily befet our virtues, and ruin our ** precious fouls. Affli£l us not beyond ** the meafure whitherto we are enabled to << carry On Sorrow* 409 *' carry patience and hope. Turn by Thy Serm, " power, and difpofe in Thy mercy — XIII. " every faculty of our fouls and every dif- ** penfation of Thy will, to make us bet- " ter in ourfelves, and more obedient to ** Thee. Give us the fpirit of earnefl ** fupplication. Give us the wifdom to " be content. Remove from all our Sor- " rows the cup of Thy anger and of Thy <' wrath. Help us to look to Him who ** has mercifully drunk it for us, has *' troden the wine-prefs alone, and vifited «« us with the founds of healing in the ** chambers of death. So fliall we, through *« all the varied ftages of our being, mag- *« nify "Thy holy Name, and make our boafi «« of T^hy PraifeJ* Amen, S E R- ^>o<>o<'<'e><'0<>o>o<'0<|>o<'<2><>o<><><'0<'0<><5><>0<><>0<«2><>|H£>-kS>0<><5><«3'><'<^ SERMON XV. On Compassion. Luke x. 29. But he willing to jujlify bimfelf, /aid unto JefuSt And who is my neighbour ? ^■■^T is not my intention, in this dif-^ERM, JS <5 courfe, to call your regard particu- * XXXX ]ai-ly to the virtues of that " Sama- ritan," whofe humane and charitable tem- per and deeds, were dignified with the ap- probation of our Saviour — gained, from their reprefentation, the praife even of thofe who were thereby convinced of their own deficiency ; and which, in defiance of aU ^^^ On CompaJ/ion* SERM.all the narrow-mlndednefs of felfifli, all XV. the fpite of malicious men, have yet fe- cu red him — and {liall to the end of the ■world fecure him, the rare, the diftin- guifhing title of *' Good." Like all the other relations flowing from the fame blefied mouth, this is truly afFedling -, to fome minds — fo much fo, as to render, through life, every objed: lefs important than an obje6l of diilrefs. But it has al- ready exercifed a Fancy fo lively, and called forth the fentiments of fo warm a Heart* — that in the moments — and fuch it Were profitable for you often to indulge— of fefious retirement to read and to learn ; wlien there can be no temptation to fcatter yb'^t 'thoughts, when there need be no prejudice to warp your judgments, we will truft your bofoms may be melted into the tender eifufions of humanity and love: And ftill, my brethren, fhall *' our" eyes be bleifed in the profpedl — if we are fo happy as to fee the land fertile and the fruit appear, though through fome channel more highly honoured, come the waters — in * Sterne, fome On CompaJJionl 435 fome fpot more fondly favoured — fall the Serm. dews ! XV". In as far as refpecfls myfelf, of llories of this nature, I acknowledge I am, at many times, for your fakes fearful, on my own account backward, to treat. How- ever frequently the remembrance may de- cay, there will a time — in reality — come — when we muft refpedively anfwer, to the verieft fcruple, for the talents en- trufted to each of us ; and how we have therewith benefited one another. The prayer I offer up is unfeigned — that ia That day of unavoidable fentence, not one lin of negledl — of indifference— of unfruit- fulneis and hardnefs of heart — under the miniftiations of the true word of God, may be laid to your charge ! But the many inftanccs I witnefs, wherein the effe^s of a preached Gofpel are checked and limited by grovelling paflions and low-born cares; when inftrudtions of a tenour divine, are fought to be obfcured in minds that never admitted a ray of knowledge ; when the lelTons of wifdom — the fayings of Jefus, Ff ^ arc 434 ^^ Compajjion, Serm. are lofhupon unaffedioned fpirits — wholly X^« occupied with the deformed worihip — en- Haved to the foul-deadening fervice — of an earthly god j I bewail the little influ- ence which truths, however interefting, and however earneflly urged, are — on minds, fo unhappily infenlible to their •force and beauty, calculated to have 3 and, ,defpairing to exalt the conceptions, and guide to their proper objeds the feelings of others, ceafe to think it a duty — to fink under my own. Behold, a certain lawyer Jlood up, and tempted himy fayingy Majler, what Jhall I do to inherit eternal life '^ — Oh that he had been the laft of his tribe, the laft fecure and carnal mind, that, raifed high with the mifconceptions of an unbelieving, proud-fwoln heart, had fo llood up to tempt the Lord Jefus — and v/ithiland the clear, pradlical truths of his gofpel I Re- peated often had been the exprefs condi- tion, whereupon the promife of eternal life had, through the loving-kindnefs of Almighty God, been given — on which that On CompaJ/ion, 4^p that forfeited, ineftimable bleffing itfelfSERM. was, in the new difpenfation of grace, XV. made obtainable — to man : it was to believe on His na?ne who came to publifli and to feal it ; to furrender up every wrong-placed confidence in the ineifedtual obfcrvances of a broken ** covenant of works," and to mftke the faith in a Mediator the only principle of renewed obedience. Yet, for- cretful of this, or too much exalted with an opinion of his own felf-righteoufnefs to admit it, Jiood up this lawyer — and fo do thoufands of unregenerate and conceited perfons, at this day— with the interroga- tion, equally tempting and abfurd, faying. What jJmll I ** do' to inherit eternal life ? Thk fevereft rebuke impofed by Truth, is when a man's own arguments arc made to condemn him. In the inftance before us, the wifdom of the ** proverb" feems to have received a confirmation, if it need- ed any, from the reply made by him who was greater than Solomon : wherein this unbelieving /oo/ appears, indeed, to have been thus an/were d accord i?2g to his folly ; F f 2 that 436 On Compajfion* Serm. that he might become better acquainted XV. with his duty — though he fhould ceafe to be fo "wife in his own conceit. He faid unto him, what is written in the law ? How readeji thou f — We may be well con- vinced, that this was a replication as un- expected— as it muft have been little re- lifhed: For we have only to judge from the manner in which a like reception of fuch queftionings by the fame fort of *' tempters" — is relifhed now. Such yet come to Chrift 5 and— -with difpofitions no wife unlike to his — that by fuch a title hailed him and kijfed him, that he might betray him to his enemies — call him Majler — and fay. What fiall we do that we may- be faved y that we may inherit eternal life f But they wifh for no perfonal reference to be confequently made, fuch as may lead to humble their own pride — or alter their own condud:. To have the bleffings of the chriftian life, recommended and fet forth as an eternal inheritance, they objed: not ; for who is there — with the dellre, the longing for happinefs,. totally unin- fpired. On Compajfion, 437 fpired, unprompted? Expatiate on theSERM. peaceful comforts of a devout and fpiri- ^^'^ tual mind — and welcome ; but in what re- gards bringing the matter home— calling at their own breafl — awakening their own confcience — putting the queftion to €ach individual bofom, ** What is written on ** the living tables of thine own heart V How readeji Thou ? — They may not fome- times help " reading" aright— but alas ! alas ! they are, even thence, far more fre- quently earned to " juftify themfelves,'* than to — learn of hini who was meek and loiiily I — And he anfwering, /aid, I'hou fialt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy foul, and with all thy jlrength, an,d with all thy mind-, a?i4 thy neighbour as thyfelf.—rheAQ could not be a fairer, a more literally-exaa reply. He had read the law— as it was written ; but like many befides, who have read both the " law" and the " gofpel"— with the ex- tent of the one he was unacquainted, as to the fpirit of the other he was adverfe, F f 3 Vet 43^ On CompaJJton. Serm. Yet ** approbation'* in as far as he did , /* well" — was not withheld from him — And he faid unto hiniy Thou haji anfwered right : this do, and thou fialt live. Let this kind, this compaflionate mode of treatment, which the merciful Jefus cxercifed towards a fmner that came to tempt him, meet with, as it highly merits, my brethren, your devout admiration. Jic Ji 00 d up thzt he might provoke him. He made ufe of the language of a difciple, and called him Ma/ier ; but the purport of his addrefs, was — that he 7?iight have 'whereof to accufe Him — not to receive a lefTon to amend himfeif. Had he bene- fited, as he ought, by the opportunities he enjoyed of underftanding the Law, that Jjaw would have proved a fchool-maftery to condu£t him into the path of more be- neficial, more exalted ftudies — and to bring him unto Chriji. Bring him unto Chrift, iiot to tempt— '\>w\. to believe and follow him, not to cavil at, but obey, his word. We fhould then have heard no fuch quef- tion as what Jhall I ** BO^' to inherit \ etetiial On CompaJJion, 4^0 eternal life ? but — ** What are the favIngSERM. ** truths I ought to learn, what are the ^^• *' fpiritual objects — to which I (hould de- " vote my heart ? I know what is written " in the law -, but the more I read thcre- ** in, the more fenfible I become of tranf- ** grejjion. I behold it is a perfeSl law ; ** 1 own that its precepts are pure, its ** Jlatiites everlajiing : But when I bring ** my adlions — my obedience — to fo un- ** erring a rule — lb jufl: a flandard, I am ** forced to confefs myfelf an imperfect, *' fmful creature. To be judged by ordi- *' nances and commandments fo politive ** and undeiiled, no excellence that I know ** of human virtue, may abide. If to " offend in one be to offend in all — how *' terrible muft be that Authority which ** has been manifeflly contemned in the '•' breach of each ! I afk thee not, tbere- " fore, as Majler, what I fliall ** DO/' ** for what is written in the law, I cannot ** read, but it condemns me. With all '* my hearty all my foul, all my frength ^' and all my mind, I am bid to love the F f 4. " Lord 44® ^^ Compajjlon. Serm. ** Lord my God -, and yet, of the affec- XV. t< tions and vvorfhip of thefe, there is not ** perhaps any being- — than My God — has ** had lefs ! I am commanded to Jove my ** neighbour as tnyfelf; and yet Myfelf *' have I loved fo wholly — as to remain in ** ignorance of ♦* who my neighbour is." ** If only, then, by performing the ftri6l *• law of God, by " doing" thofe things *' that are therein " written," I am to ** have hopes for ** life eternal" — eternal ** life, alas ! muft never be inheritance of *' mine. Conditions with the Being I " have offended, and whom, of myfelf, I *' am unable to pleafe, it were impious — *^ therefore-^for me to attempt to fettle. ** If I am to inherit eternal life, I muft ** owe it to thy goodnefs, and to no '* righteoufnefs of my own. I need not ** be told what I am to ** jDO," when I *' feel I can, in this cafe, do nothing, — *' Lord, if thou ivilt thou canjl make me ^' clean — f^fus I Majler I have mercy on Nox On C^mpaJ/ion, 44 1 Not fuch was the acknowledgment, Serm, the deportment, of the laivyer that Jiood -^^« up to tempt Cbriji. And I would have you to mark the contrafl ', as it is from thence that thofe, who tempt him now in like manner, may fee more clearly, and more fpeedily be afliamed of, their perverfenefs and guilt. We may charitably fuppofe, that by what Jefus had drawn from this per- fon's own mouth, he muft have flood im- mediately felf-convi(5led. He had, no doubt, approached our Lord, with the linifter defign of getting him to fay fome- thing agaifiji the Law — that they might find occalion tojlay him: But till his hour was comey and till the great defigns of Pro- vidence, in all lefler inftances, are to be anfvvered, how weak — in oppolirion to Al- mighty wifdom and power — are either hu- man or infernr.l malice and craft ! — 'This do, and thou fialt live^ implied, then, a feverc reprimand on him — who had never a more prefumptuous opinion of his own know- ledge, than when he thus pretended to iland in need of being taught; while it yet 442 On CompaJJion* Serm. y^^ i*poke nothing againjl Mofes or the XV. Temple, How much more amiable had he ren- dered his charafler, had he exprelTed, at once, the fenfe he mufl: have had of his errour ! But contracted minds are ever flow to part v/ith an opinion. Willing to jujlify himfelf — be /aid u?tto yefus. And who is my neighbour f He wants to fliun the reproofs of his ov/n alarmed confci- ence, in entering into a new difquifition, by which he thought the voice of that confcience might be filenced. And ex- actly thus does every hardened finful mind: It attempts with the confiderations of pre- fent eafe — to ftifle the calls for future re- formation. The finner indulges himfelf in every courfe of thinking, in every con- verfation, in every pradice, which feem maft likely to carry him away from the point where his fecurity has been alarmed, or where — by fome free admoniilier— the altar of his vanity has been cad down without a trefpafs-offering ! The reflec- tion is not fuffered to arife; *' how un- " tameable 0?2 Cojupajjion, 443 ** tameable has been my difpofitlon ? — Serm. ** how deaf has been the ear I have fhut XV. *' to inftrudiion ? how carelefsly have I ' ' *' attended to the fayings of the gofpel ? — ** How forgetful have I remained of my ** difobedience; how inclined to compre- •' hend all my religion in afl^ihg or in re- *' peating what I am to do -, and when my ** grateful love and affections fliould be ** acknowledgly bellowed on the Lord my ** God, and my regards exercifed towards *' my neighbour as myfelf — do not I only ** provoke my Saviour — in vainly feeking ** tojujiify my own unworthinefs ; and — " inftead of being fully engaged in the ** noble concernments of mutual pity and " help — Hand up making idle enquiries — ** And who is my neighbour t — Oh may ** the preventive grace of God meet every ** fuch (inner, with as gentle a rebuke, *' and means of amendment as efficacious, " as thole here employed by our i.ord ** while on earth !" He had come to queilion and to reafoa with Chrift^ and this is all the ufe of its know- 444 ^^ CompaJJion, Serm. knowledge that an unbelieving mind is XV. willing to make : but he was anfwered in a way much more adapted to his condition. That underllanding, of which he feemed fo vain, was to be humbled — for the good of his foul ; and in place of adopting the terms of bare and unprodu(5live difputation, he that knew what was in man, took in the beft qualities of human nature to for- ward the influence of divine truth ; and by introducing an appofite, a moving ftory — made a mofl pathetick addrefs to his heart. — The examination of the acutefl: reafon, religion fhuns not; but in reafon- ings merely acute, religion as little con- fifts. She even delights to have all the ornaments of human wifdom added to her building, but the foundation muft be laid invariably in the fear and love of God : And it is the heart and the affedions that he requires — not the bare aflent of a mind that is cold and unloving. In the radiant path of his glory ftays not the vernal Sun, till the prefumptupus infeds of reafoa would fettle the order of his goings-— or fcrupu^ On CompaJJion, 44^ fcrupulouily take account of thofe quali- Serm. ties of his nature, which make his beams XV. to fhine. Unnoticed their furmifes, un-' regarded their wandering thoughts, he pur- fues his tradl of ufefulnefs ; to difpenfe his bounties to every body within the reach of his light and heat, to melt the fnows of winter, and caufe the fummer plants to grow. Chriftianity, in like manner, the Effulgence of that Sun of righteoufnefs, which arofe to carry health to the earth's afflided tribes — chriftianity looks for eiFe(5ts, not conclufions; and paffes from the heady and high-minded — to take up its more natural refidence — and difperfe its bleflings — in the open and Jimple heart. It leaves thofe who truft much in what they can ** do" — to do all they can — and find their unprofitablenefs at the laji. And to thofe hefitating, poor, half- complying finners, who, inftead of fuffering one generous impulfe of nature to carry them out of their narrow felves to the difcharge of any deeds of charity and love, pretend to need being taught — ** and 446 On CompaJJton. ' Serm. ** and who is my neighbour ?" — it affords XV. no other reply, than, by reprefenting a ^ ~'~"'fcene of diftrefs, as did its bleiTed Au- thour, and (hewing the different conduct of thofe who relieve or who pafs it by un- pitied, calling upon every one's own na- tive fenfe for — ** which now of thefe— " thinkeft Thou — was neighbour unt(5 ** him that fell into trouble." — A certain man went down from yeru- falem to yerichoy and fell ajnong thieves, which f ripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half-dead. And by chance there came down a certain prieji that way j and when he faw him, he paffed by on the other fde. And likewife a Levite, when he was at the place ^ came and looked on him, and — pajfed by on the other fde, — But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was : and when he faw him — he had compajjion on him — and went to him — and bound up hts wounds, pouring in oil and wine — and fet him on his own beaft, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow. On Companion, ^^y morrow^ 'when he departed, he took out two Serm. fence, and /aid unto him, Take care of him: XV. und whatfoever thou fpendeji more — when 1^ ' "' come again — I will repay thee. Which now of thefe three, thinkeft thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves ? And he faid — is there one mind fo darkened here, that would not alfo % ? — He that Jhewed mercy on hi?n. Then faid Jefus unto him — is there one heart here fo har- dened as not to feel its force ? — Go, and do Thou likewife.^^To reprefs the inclina- tion I have to enlarge on a pi6lure fo hu- mane, on a precept fo divine, breeds me, I fear, greater difficulty, than it will many of you — regret. A few exhortations, I muft, at any rate, be fuffered to derive from it : Take them as they are defigned ; or fay at once and openly — that you wi(h not to be taught ! You have, this day, you have on many of the beft dedicated of your lives — come before the Saviour of the world ; and pro- feffing not to tejnpt him, have yet fuffered your devotions to be tarniflied by the — at • leart 44^ Of2 CompaJJiortl Serm. ^s^ft unnecefTary — queftion, what Jh all I do XV. to inherit eternal life ? Boafting in the pride 'of human knowledge, you have been fent to make refearches — and what is written in the law, you can both read and repeat. With the articles of the chriftian faith, in regard • of the letter, you are, generally, alfo, we will fuppofe, as well acquainted. That you are to love the Lord your God — that you are to believe in his Chriji — that you are to keep his laws and ordinances, you have had it in charge from your fa- thers, and transfer — we will hope — the like command to your children. But are your conceptions, all this while, let me afk you, either intelligent or lively — about eternal life F You may have heard much — but do you know experimentally any thing — about the life which is fpiritual ? Have you learned, to yield up your ** good" work^, as well as to forfake " bad" ones, when you come to Chrift's altar ? You come to the Temple, you partake of the communion of Chrift; but do you con- £der your prayers — as words that have a meaning. On CompaJJion, 449 meaning, your vows — as oaths mofl: bind-SERM. ing'y or are you only ftudious lo found a XV". trumpet before you — ind ^^ after promiles *' moft facred," to make enquiry^ — To lonj.e your neighbour as yourfelf — you caa alfo each of you repeat — is your duty; yet, (hame on your double-dealing in the covenant of your God ! — after all the obli- gations of fandlity ; all the motives, which earthly confiderations afford, and heavenly regards would prompt, to brotherly kind- nefs — you ftand afking, in excufe for your unwillingnefs to practice what is right and lovely; And who is my neighbour? Why, thou partner of my frailty! my brother of mankind — let me whifper one other queftion to thee — " Who is NOT ** thy neighbour ?" — Who is there that wears the image of thy Maker ; who, that in his joys and in his forrows, has the lame feelings to be hurt — the fame organs to pleafe ; or who that is nan^ed into the" title of one heavenly family, and made thereby a fellow-heir of the fame chriftian hopes with thee — and is not thy Neigh- G g hour — 45^) On Comfajjon. SeRM. hour — thy Brother — and Friend ? Away ■^^* with the diftindlions of Lawyers that tempt Chrijly of Priejis and of Levites — who only come to the objeds of mifery by chance — and by choice forfake them ! The Samaritan that had mercy — that took care of fuch an objedl; that fpared neither trouble nor expence that others fhould take care him of too j he, he alone of the three — was neighbour unto him that fell among thieves-, — he, he alone was the ^* Hoft" — whom the greateft and the befl Benefador of mankind, Ihall, for all his exerted cares of charity and love, when ** He" comes again — with everlafting in- tereft repay. How common is the excufe for an un- compalTionate temper; how little to be fuftained, at either the bar of reafon — or the tribunal of God ! No man denies but that fellow mortals, every where around him, endure calamity. But the untender, unchriftian mind puts dexteroufly — as it thinks — the queftion ; *' what obligation *' lies peculiarly on me to afford this in- " dividual On CompaJJlon, 4jr ** dividual relief ? What call have I, IoSerm. " retard my journey, to negleft my own XV. " affairs, or even to pain myfelf with the ** fight of misfortune ? Why am I to " part with the cil and the ivine and the ** pence — that may be convenient and ne- ** ceflary for my own accommodation-— to *' pour into the wounds — or to compenfate ** the cares employed for the recovery-^ ** of thofe, whom I know not, whether ** or not they be defcrving of fo much ** felf-denial, or fo coftly a fare ?" — Thus might argue the Fruji of bloody facri- iices, or the Levite that attended the cere- monies of the unclean ; and thus may ar- gue every foul infenfate, which — like then> — can look aty and yet leave the brother that is Jiripped — and wounded — and left half-dead -y but io argued not I he Samari- tan that had mercy 'y fo neither taught nor adted He, who was made a Priejl Jor ever after the ** King of Salem's" order : and fo — I fpeak it in the humility which will be approved by him who knows my heart — would not teach nor argue I— for all Q g 2 the 4^2 On Companion. Serm. ^^^ boafted enjoyments, all the tempting XV. vanities, beneath the fun ! You give your affent to one doctrine of faith 'y you go *' to Jerufalem" together, and you vow to love Chrift and them that are his. Yet, on the " v/ay to Jericho," immediately after, into the hands of *' thieves" — of robbers, mercilefs and pi- tilefs — your brother may fall ; and with- out a thought of the bond that fliould unite redeemed fouls — he may be left to' languifli and to die, while you are fatis- fying your guilty doubts — whether he be ** your neighbour." Had no greater love been fliewn towards you — ye had not been now alive to exhibit fo much cruelty. Into your finful wounds, had there been no charitable hand to pour balm ; Jiripped 2.vA half- dead as in your trefpaffes ye lay, had there been only fpedators of your mi- fery — from curiolity or by accident, who had then unfeelingly left you, and pafled on their way — yourfelves had known what it was — to pour forth the complaints of a foul that was abandoned to perifli. But pitied. On CotfipaJJion, 453 pitied, raifed, and taken care of from theSERM. vvom'b — as ye have been ; having every ufe- XV. ful creature for your fcrvice, every obedi- ent fervant of God for your hoft — and God himfelf, even God your Saviour, to infpire, to dircdl, and to reward thofe meaner cares, that may be taken in compliance with his requed ; do not your bofoms glow to anticipate a jufb command, and toga and do likewiJe-*--'^it\\o\M a moment's quef- tioning Vv'hether the objedl of diftrefs that ftrikes your eyes, or that ought to tng2.gQ the commiferation of your heart, be in any common worldly fenfe, a neighbour or not? Dwell not too much at home. There the worldly mind is apt to dote, and make felf an idol. The fpirit of the generous, walks abroad ; and Benevolence fiands at every corner, to point it to its kindred. The family of the wretched is^ large ; and wherever any of its members are found, at yerufalemy at 'Jericho, or deferted and left wounded — and naked and deilitute by the way — there is the Home of a Chriftian ! G g 3 If 454 ' ^'^ CompaJJion* Serm. If you are unwilling to be put in min(5 XV. how uncertain, how unftable, are your own pofleflions and pleafures, look about you and fee how precarious are thofe of others. If fame, or if wealth, or if ho- nour, be the powers to which ye offer fa- criiice, think that on their altars many of- ferings have heretofore been laid, by ho- magers as pious as you. But where are now the fruits of a devotion fo ill-direded ? Thefe very altars, have fallen upon and crufhed their worlhippers — and their in- cenfe fmokes no more ! — But while Time fhall lad, the memory and the praife of good deeds fhall endur£; and when l^ime jJoall be no more^ Eternity fhall take their memorial, as a pafTport to its blifsful feats. The prieft and the Levite— r-that neither pitied nor relieved, may then hide their heads, as they formerly hardened their hearts ; and the lawyer — and thofe who were iDilling to jnfiify ** thcmfelves" like him, attempt their la ft plea of j unification, and attempt it in vain' — fiying, hordj wh.^n Jaw On CompaJJion, 455 faw we thee an hungredf—ox JTho is ?ny Serm, neighbour F—v^hi\c the Samaritan, andj^ every liberal foul— that felt and that aaed like him, that " went and did likewife"— {hall be admitted to where troubles no longer moleft, nor unfeeling fellow-crea- tures diminiHi the completed meafure of joy- *< O Lord of Mercy I Give ear to our ** prayers ; and teach Thou us to liften to " the prayers of others. Teach us to liften ** to that voice within ourfelves, which, if « not unnaturally obftrufted, would ever " incite us to be tender-hearted. Relieve " the affliaions of the chaftened and con- *' trite; raife up them that fall, and com- '« fort thofe that mourn. Sent hither — " in our ftate of probation— far from «« Thee, may wefeek to lefTen thediftance, «* by putting on the likenefs and imitating ** the perfcdion of goodnefs— difplayed in «* Thy Son ; and, by every aid and confo- «* lation of chriftian love and patience, *' helping onwards our forrowing fellow- *' travellers toThine— ourEternalFather's c( houfe 1" Amen. G g 4 S E R- ?^><£K>o<><5^>0<><5«K'3><«S^<^00>0-0<'0<»©<'0'^ SERMON XVI. csanz^oaB On the Comforts of the Christian Faith. Job xix. 25. I know that my Redeemer Uveth — . ^pcxx X has ever been the flu dy of man, fince S e r m , V V ^^s errours made that ftudy necef- XVI. Axxx f^^J.y^ hovj he might lighten prefent pain, and how he might avoid future pu- niOiment. By the mofl: infenfible of the human race, the firfl; has been feh ; by the moft obdurate, the latter has been feared, from the time v^^herein the voice of God difplayed the terrours oi a broken Law^ — and 458 On the Comforts Serm. ^nd denounced the curfe of a trefpalTed XVI. Covenant. Wretches there have been, we grant, and v^^retches, we lament, there flill are, who employ not a thought about the origin or remedy of evil, nor are careful of the exercife or grateful for the commu- nication of good; their minds being wholly devoted to viiible and carnal delights, their hearts univerfally corrupted by the impure gratifications of fenfe : but from thefe it were unfair to judge of human nature; the vapour of the bog — though kindled, is not to be compared with even the falling ftar ! In refearches for lofl happinefs, in the ouefl: of needed comforts, feeble was the aid that Reafon could beftow. Her pow- ers, 'tis true, have been ufually called in, for fuch purpofe; but foon has it been found that they were inadequate to the want. All the knowledge that the firft man gained, by trufting to his natural fa- culties, and fctting afide the mandate of God — was the deplorable difcovery that he was naked', and the fame unvaried confe- quence has marked the courfe of obflinacy — chofen of the Chrijitan Faith, — chofen by every one of his offspring ; Serm. while, in purfuing the fancied divifions of XVI. good and evil — they have loft the diftinc- tion ; and in prefumptuoufly arrogating to themfelves an equality with the Power Supreme — they have heard his footfteps with terrour. Even Natural Religion has not been fufficient, to ftay the heart of man in trou- ble, or to clofc his eyes in peace. The confcioufnefs of defe(5t, has reftrained hu- man virtue ; and a belief of the wound's being mortal rendered defperate the cure. The experience of providential care which every fubjed of the divine government might imbibe, would certainly lead him — when his meditations afpired heavenwards — to put confidence in that almighty Arm which bore up the worlds it had framed : but my fpirit jlmll not always Jirive with ynen — would deaden his hopes, when he looked around him^oii earth, and beheld ■opprefTion, cruelty and malice, lay wafte the fair forms of Nature, and make a wil- dernefs of the garden of God. — And, de- fcending 460 On the Comforts Serm. fceniing to the walks of private life, how XVl. f^rong becomes the proof of our needing a particular revelation ! Here it is that fingly we feel, here it is we individually evidence, what confolations are needed from the tejiimoniesy as well as what won- der is infpired by the works of the LORD; what fortitude and conftancy are derived and confirmed, from the opening thofe fpiritual profpe6ts — having a Friend on High— an IntercelTor near the Throne Eternal. Hence it is that patient Job's, becomes the fuffering Chriflian's fong of triumph ; I know that my Redeemer livetb — the^exhilarating expreffion of Faith, ut- tered with comfort, in the hour of an- guifh, by every child of woe. The occafion upon which thefe words are uttered by Job, may deferve confidera- tion. I know not that there is any in life, v/hereon every good man has oftenef had his patience alfo tried, in a manner fo harHi and repeated. Complaining of the cruelty of his friends, he fets forth his mifery before iKenx— as for that undeferved cruelty cf the Chrijlian Faith, 461 cruelty fufficient food. How longy while Serm. he craves their pity, does he 2i\k them — XVI. how long will ye vex my foul, and break me in pieces with words ? Have pity vpon me, have pity upon me^ O ye niy friends j for the hand of God hath touched me. Why do ye perfecute me as God, and are not fatisjied with my flejh ? Oh that my words were now written. Oh that they were printed in a book I That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever! For I know that my Redee?ner liveth, and that he jhall fiand at the latter day upon the earth. And though after my fkin worms ' defiroy this body, yet in niy fefJj Jhall 1 fee God; whom I JJmllfee for myfelf, and ?nine eyes fiall behold, and not another ; though my reins be con fumed within ?ne. In difcourfing on this palfage of Scripture, three particulars feem chiefly oblervable; and to thofe I fliall requeft your attention ; Firil:, to coniider the difadvantage which thofe men labour under, who want this faith in a Redeemer ^ Secondly, to examine with wliat propriety fuch an exprCiTion of religious 462 On the Comforts Serm. religious confidence ought to be made, by X^^' the well-difpofed, in the feafon of health and profperity -, and, Laftly, to explain what folid comfort is hence deduced to the mind that fuffers, and can look up to that 'Redeemer wbich liveth, when all things are adverfe on earth. I am, Firft, to confider the difadvan- tage which thofe labour under who want the faith in a Redeemer. Were we to take a retrofpeeen his ruin ! For him, when natural diftrefs over- clouds the iky, nc^fun of comfort arifes to difpel the (liade ; when deferved indigna- tion haftens a night of horror, nor favour- ing ftar his wearied fteps enlivens, nor, amid the difmal darknefs that furrounds him, can he bear the foreboding of the coming Day. A Redeemer liveth — but he liveth not for *' him." He ih^M Jiand at the latter day upon the earth -, but it fliall be to confign his foul to diimnation. H h 4 I pro- ^"72 On the Comfcrts Serm. 1 proceed to examine, in the Second XVI. place, how comely and proper is fuch an exprcffion of religious confidence, in the feafon of health and profperity. It might be confidercd as in no fmall degree a proof of the certainty of a future flate, that the enjoyments of this life> rather lead us from our duty, than flrength- cn us in it. It is hardly poflible here to miflake what is meant by enjoyments, or to rank under this defcription any of thofe fublimer pleafures which have their feat in the mind, and are thofe which the pra(5lice of our duty itfelf infpires and fecures. But refpeding the lower gratifications, which infinuate themfelves into the breafts of the unwife, and eflrange them from God; can it be denied that they are not adapted to the perfedion, which — ^if our natures are confeffedly incapable of here, our minds can yet image, and alpire after, in a world to come ? Were there no fuch world, wherein the nature we fee here in its infancy, was to complete its growth, what of the Chnjiian Faith, 47, what fhould hinder man to be fatlsfied asc^„^, well as the beaft of the field j or bid the XVI. one go any further than the othfer for food or for repofe ? Who dealeth out the one his portion, meeteth with all the grateful return which the objedis of his regard can beflow — the ox knoweth his owner and the ajs his majlers crib ; while, among the human race, though it be the LORD that prepareth the pajhire, the ever- watchful — the ever-compaffionate Shepherd that feeds * — his people doth not know — even Ifrael doth not conjider I Were the goods of fortune intended as the only bleffings which the Almighty de- figned for mankind, they would furely never draw us from him. But the expe- rience of every fon of Adam teftifies, that more of the rich than of the poor, have been wicked j that a flate of eafe and af- fluence, of honour and power, has gene- rally fuggefted thoughts of pride and arro- gance ; brought on a forgetfulnefs of an overruling Power, and given rife to everv prefumptuous boaft of impiety. When the 474 ^'^ ^^^ Comforts Serm. the Avarltious contemplates his hoards, XVI. he feldom harbours, I believe, a higher thought than a complacent admiration of his own induftry-— W//6 my ow?i hands have I not got all this wealth f — 'And while walking in the palace of his kingdom-^th^xQ have been more than Nebuchadnezzar that have faid. Is not this great Babylon^ that I have built for the houfe of the kingdom y by the might of my power, and for the ho^ nour of my majejly I Now, let us examine, my brethren, what effedts this confideration (hould have on thofe who are well-difpofed. Are we convinced, that the tendency of worldly advantage is to lead us to a negledt of that reverence due to the very Being who gives it us, and to the fuppreflion of thofe de^ fires whofe objeds are fpiritual, muft it not, to every mind the leaft attentive, ap- pear our plainell duty, to guard againft fuch a dangerous propenfity ; and efpeci-^ ally fo when we are placed in that fituation where this very evil impulfe is known to operate ? If by the difcovery we make, that of the Chrifiian Faith. 475 (hat earthly benefits are fo far from being Serm. in themfclves real bleflings, that they mod: -^ * !• frequently prove a curfe to the ungrateful receiver, by blotting out of his bufy mind every trace of the love of his Benefaftor, we are induced to an affurance that this in- iinite Benefactor has, for his obedient children, an unmixed Good in referve, and joy and pleafure, fuch as in place of dead- ening gratitude, awaken eternal praife j blinded in very deed muft be our fenfe, not only of propriety, but alfo of intereft and duty, if in our profperity and health — we cultivate not every remembrance of Him who gives us leave to profper : And feek jiot to have this as the ground of our fatisr fad:ion— which mufl: be the ground of all that is heart-felt — *' I rejoice in the ftores ** I poffefs y I tafte without regret thofc *' favours that are heaped upon me, for, ^* of the loving kindnefs which has been ** apportioned to me, I endeavour to bellow ** a fhare on others. The God of mercy ** hath divided me my inheritance. And " though from failings, in this ftage of 3 " "^y ^.76 ^^ ^^^ Comforts Sekm *' "^y being, I expeft not to be free;. XVI. " though even his gifts, all-gracious as he ^ is, all-bounteous as they are, though " his gifts have not made me perfedl, it is ** the Lord that hath marked out my lot, ** and I know that my Redeemer liveth. The external appearance of happinefs, the exultation, the pomp, the fliew, are ufurped by the unrighteous ; and we give them up their claim without envy. But whatever real happinefs is promifed from. Heaven, or is felt upon earth, we aver — with the confidence of the witnefifes of Truth — is only the portion of the fervants of God. I fay, then, that only he who has made God the rock of his defence-, who has lifted his eyes from the bondage of mortality — whofe fetters alike in palaces and in dungeons bind — (for, in the pre- fence of Pharaoh, or under the Tafk- mafters' rod — to the expectants of Canaan, it is Egypt ftill !) vvho, in piercing the dark veil that hangs over an Unfeen World, is not terrified with the fight of the Lord fitting in Majejiy, as he fees at the fuiie time of the Chrijiian Faith, 477 time his living Redeejner as an IntercclTor Serm. there , — he alone can know what happinefs XVI. attends the faithful even in their ftate of' ^"^ probation ; and he alone can anticipate — as he only is prepared for — that ftate of immortal fruition, where every voice is harmony, and every perception blifs. But although fuch the hopes that man may indulge^ fuch is not the fate he expe- riences in common. Oftener is it his to grieve, than to be glad ; and fince Eden's gates were fhut — who is there can call Sorrow a ftranger ? — Not he who images what Paradife's beauty was, ere primitive offence deformed the garden of God \ nor he who has felt the ** thorns and thiftles," the produce of the *' ground accurfed" — for the ** difobedience" of man. Here, then, it is, that, in the Lafl place, we arc to feek, for the comfort derived to the fuffering mind, from the hope that in- fpired the holy Job to exprefs, amid all his woes, as a defiance to an hoft of troubles, I know that my Redeemer Hveth, and that he ^j^S On the Comforts ^-ERM, ^^ fi^^I Ji^nd on the earth at the latta' XVI. day. On the earth fliall He ftand at the latter day, fay, ye fufFering finners ! and Ihall he not remember then, as the whole con- dud: of his merciful Providence exempli- fies now, that He coniiders — we are dufl? Alas ! only in the gloomy period, while duft we are, have we this plea of weak- nefs with God. When our time of trial is accompliflied here below, it is expeded that we fliould be fit to enter on a king- dom above. Will it then avail us, to plead the corruption of our nature, the deficiency of our fervice, the coldnefs of our regard ? Mo ft afiu redly it will not — for where we were weak, we had it in our offer to feek for help in the Mighty, and to place our confidence in Hi?n that was Jirong : where we were unwilling, free grace has been prefented : when in trefpafles and fins we were dead, the Redeemer that liveth^^h^th ilept in in our fteadj and — Come to me that ye may have life*-A\z.^ been all the terms of his of the Chnjlian Paith, 4^^ his ranfom ! To thofe that fuch terms Serm. have embraced, how light may prove the XVI. burden of worldly trouble ! The conflia:' may be fharp ; but it cannot be long ! And poor is the fpirit indeed, that would not barter earth for an immortal crown. An immortal crown, it is true, is not to be gained without trouble. The follies of the world, are to be renounced -, the gains of it, are to be execrated ; its glo- ries, its fame and opinion, are to be re- figned ; its oppofition and its hate are \fb be encountered : but what of all this ? / know that my Redeemer Iheth — is fufficient to give quiet after all fuch ftruggles as thefe ! Hear me, all ye that have comfort in hope, and, though exercifed in tribulation, maintain a title to your treafure in Chrift — ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have feen the end of the Lord. Such an end, and as far as heavenly bleffings exceed earthly, infinitely greater and happier, will he afford to each of you, if ye indeed be conftant, and endure; and take this for a feal 4^0 On the Comforts Serm. a feal of your acceptance, the Lord know-- XVI. eflj them that are his. Suppofe you are overwhelmed with diflrefs ; grant that dif- eafe and defer tion, have faddened your fleps, and made thofe fleps folitary ; that the ingratitude of mankind has touched ycur foul ; that the fuggeftions of an evil povv'er have difcompofed your fpirit; Ail), my deareft friends, have ye hope in God — and who pitteth his triift in the Lord — we have his own word to allure us — fhall never —never in the end — mifcarry. For my own part ; and, bear with me while I tell you, it would give me comfort that many of your experiences were even as comfort- able as mine ; I have known what means the feftive fong — perhaps more than any perfon here. Be this to the account of my yoiith : And you will, one day, be wit- "nelTes, whether That — all unmindful or fjot^ — of my great Creator has been fpent— and I have heaved, perhaps, as deep a figh — as ever llruggled in the bofom of the broken-hearted ; yet never in the hour of mirth, could I fubflantiate a joy; never could of the Chrljtian Faith, 48 1 Gould I build a hope, in the feafon of for- Serm. row- unlefs where the foundation was laid XVI. on things divine — and this manifeft afTu- ' ' ' ranee fpoke peace to my foul ; / hiow that my Redeemer liveth ! *' O Blessed Autliour of human na- *' ture ! Reftorer of them that are fallen ! ** Sandifier of the impure ! Speak peace " to our fplrits. Of Thy all-fuiiicicnt *' grace, allow us fuch a portion — that ** our hearts, amid the corruptions of an ** iniquitous age, may be more gladdened ^' than they — vjhe?! their corn and ivinc " ahoundeth, Ferfedt Thy ftrength in our ** weaknefs. Awaken us to a fenfe of our ** guilt, and bring us to the Fountain—* *' that Thy Love hath opened^-^ox fin and *^* for uncleannefs. May we never think ** of the fhortnefs of life, without remem- ^* bering the errour that caufed it; may *' we never be appalled with the terrours of *' death — but where the remedy Thy ever-* ^* lafting kindnefs has prefented fliall fpeak ^' peace to the foul of the aifrighted. ^-^ Supply us with might to refill our foes: \\ *' -^may 482 Serm. XVI. On the Comforts, &c. — may we learn of Thy mercy, to pity them. Teach us what is valuable and worthy, in principles, in manners, in life j and give us power to prefer, be- fore idle vanities, the jewel, whofe luftre by no worldly mifchance is obfcured — nor extinguifhed in the houfe of death. Purify our hearts as a living facrifice, to be prefented, by our blefled Inter- cefTor, at Thy mofl merciful throne : And when after this fkin— worms dejlroy thefe refpeitive bodies — may each of us, having put on incorruption — in joy fee Ihee our God r Amen , SER- SERMON XVII. On the Joys of Heaven, Isaiah li. ii» *-^T!he redeemed of the LORD fiall retur?i, and come 'with fmgmg unto Zion ; and everlajiing joy jhall be upon their head : they fiall obtain gladnefs and joy ; and for row and mourning fi all flee aiuay, yxxx HE two chief motives cf human Serm. xTx adion, are laid to be Hope and XVII. XXXX Pear. According as the fouls of' * individuals are more or Icfs intelligent about their nature and duties, will be the particular influence of thefe refpedive prin- I i 2 ciples ; 4^4 On thejoys of Heaven, Serm. ciples ; and, in proportion as the minds of ^ ]2i people are awake or dead to the call of found dod:rine, will conftantly appear their general operation : But to operate, in fome meafure or degree, ceafe they never, until the human faculties — are either extind:, or become wholly unmanageable by the force of reafon. For he — that has left but one figh to breathe, would wifli his head laid fofter, for that expiration, if he could ; and him — whom the dlflblving pang is fe- parating from a world of pain, the con- queft over death — makes fmile in agony ! Now, of the *' hopes" and ** fears" that a£luate mortals, thofe that are con- fined to this world, mufl not be faid to be the chief. For, however ufually wanting the effect in which fuch confiderations fhould ilTue, not unfrequently break in — though the viiitation, being not fuppofed of the fort which entitles to Vv'orldly ho- nour, may not as frequently be owned — the refiedive thoughts, that would prefs on every rational agent an enquiry like this ; ** what good have I gained of all my " labours On the Joys of Heaven. 48 r ** labours that I have carefully taken under n oE R M • ** the fim ? or lliall the fruit of thcfe la- XVII. ** hours and cares, be qualified to fecure " me againfl: the apprehenfions — forced " upon my mind — of His anger, who ** can take the body that things temporal ** cheared, the yj^// that fpirits earthly ap- ** plaud, and, unfwayed in the determi- '• nations of his juftice, by the little par- *' tialities which ufurp to themfelves the " privilege of arbitrating in the concerns *' of human life, cajl them both into hell- " fire ? — Not uncommonly, we fay, will fuch contemplations arife. And why lliould we, then ** dream," in this night of our earthly pilgrimage, when, for both our fafety and fatisfad:ion, it is better to be " awake." Awake, then, ye that are blefled with the expedations of chriiUan faith : Awake, ye expectants of that im- mortal glory, which that faith alike en- hances and fecures. Your liberation fhall fpeedily be complete ; feeing the authour of your deliverance is ftrong. — Awake, put en firengthj O arm of the Lord; awake 113 as 486 On the Joys of Heaven, Serm. jj- ij7. the ant lent days, in the generations of habi and wounded the dragon f Art thou not it which hath dried the fea, the waters of the great deep- — that hath jnade the depths of the fea a way for the ranfomed to pafs over? 'Therefore the redeemedof the LORD fhall return, and come with fngi?2g unto Zion ; and everlafifig joy fiall be upon their head : they Jloall obtain gladnefs and joy ; and forrow and mourning Jloall jlee away. There is abundant fcope afforded us in this paffnge of holy writ, to apply it to the fplritual comforts of the fubjecls of Chrift's kingdom — while firuggling in their warfare here below 3 but we will choofe, at prefent, to derive thence only a meditation on the Future Joys of the faith- ful— as an incentive to our pracftifing that holinefs here, in the exercife of which alone we may promife ourfelves fuch a re- .ward — in the beatitude of the Bleft. The Joys of Heaven, then, for once be our theme. And " be Thou, O Spirit of ** Comfort, Infpirer of Hope — our *' Chafl'ner On the Joys of Heaven. 4^7 "^ Chafl'ner— our Supporter — our Guide! Serm. «* Send Thv illumination to irradiate our XVII. ** darknefs. Thy fandity to guard our con- *' ceptions, Thy confolations to diffipate *' our fears. Inftil every thought into our *' minds, that may have a tendency to " caufe them to re-afcend to their native *' feats ; and rearain in us every defire — " that would affimilate the biifs eternal to <* a correfpondence v^'ith one carnal wiili. «« V/ith a live coal in his hand from '^hy " altar, O LORD— that fitteft upon a «« throne high and lifted up I biAoiteofthe '* Seraphim^ that Jill J he temple, in con- •' defcending pity /} 5 and let not^ hi$ *« voice— L^, this hath touched thy lips-^ «' be unattended with the chearing confe- " quence— /y6^ iniquity of thy people — as «' well as thine — is taken away, and your ii fn — together— zV purged!" Poor vv-cre the boaft of that virtue, which is founded alone on the cxpe£tation of reward; and little may be the claim of that love and patience, which, only for the fake of retribution, endure. Yet though I i 4 ■'' 4S8 On the yoys of lleave?i. Serm. it be unmeet, to have fuch hopes fingly XVII. for a foundation, we are by no means for- bidden to have them in aid^ and though our confejjion of Chrift fhould precede our fupplication — to be remcjnbered in his fu- ture kingdom ; yet may we allowably em- brace the promife, that tends to alleviate our crofs, and prefigure to our fuffering minds the enrapturing day — when, freed from the trials of our faith — from the miferies of our nature — we fliall ihake off the entanglements of fin, and the encum- brance of duft; and entering on a flate of more elevated exiflance — be — for ever be with him in Paradife. Come then, my dear Fellow-Chriftians ! come, ye redeenied of the LORD -, and let us together, in tutor'd imagination, afcend from thefc plai?is of Moah — where, onid children of a jlrange people y we at prefent fojourn; and from the mountain of vilion, take one felicitating profpedl of the land of promife — even the happy Canaan I Let us bring before our eyes the long-defired feafon, wherein our Lord (liall comfort the 'wajle On the yoys of Keavcji, 480 K!>^afie places of ZioUy make her wildernefs ^^ft^^^ iike Eden, and her defer t like the garden o/^XVII. Crod ; when therein fiall gladnefs be found, thankf giving and the voice of ?nelody ; and when thither — after all cur weary wander- ings— even we — (hall with fmging ret urn ^ while everlajling joy being affigned as our fbable portion, — hoth.forrow and inoiirning fiall for ever flee away ! In endeavouring to defcribe the felicities of a future world, we fliall entertain you with no *' Fool's paradife," nor exceed the warrant of Scripture, with any intent to pleafe. We fhall barely fuggeft, what we know thereof from divine revelation ; par- ticularly from the revelation of Him who brought life and immortality to light ; or what, from an underftanding — by his good grace enlightened — may naturally and rea- fonably be added. Contenting ourfelves, after all our limited refearches, with this reftraining — yet heart-afTuring maxim -, we know not yet what we Jl:all be — but this we know — that when He who is our life fiall appear — we Jl)all be like him. Of 490 On the Joys of Heaven, Serm. Of the pieafures, promifed in the Gof-- XVII. pel to the faithful followers of Chrift, a divifion may properly be made, in the de- fcription, into thofe that are of a negative, and of a pofitive nature. It is of the firft of thefe, that we can have much the clear- eft apprehenfion ; feeing our weak mortal powers are, in their prefent ftate, fo con- ditioned, as to give us few fenfations of " pleafure" — but what merely arife from the ** abfence of pain." In this cafe, then, we have only to remind us of what efpecialiy, in our ftate of mortality, ha- rafles and grieves ; what peculiarly pains the mind and deprefles the hearty and to conceive it one of the characters of the blifs eternal— to put a final period to fuch fuffering, to fpread a veil of impenetrable oblivion over fuch woe. And yet, it is, perhaps, going too far, to fay that fuch events ft^all be " forgotten 5" for the fup- pofition were highly virtuous, that would ]ead us to imagine the retrofpecft to our paft diftreffes fhould conftitute no little addition to our joys to 9ome. When the tempeft On the Joys of Heaven, ^g i tempeft of the dark night is blown over, Serm. more gladdening, when the light arifes — XVII. is the pure morning' air : And he, who' ' ' from the devouring jaws of the raging ocean has, with much difiiculty, efcaped with his life, v/ill not turn away his eyes — all at once — from the wide wildernefs of waters that had fo nearly been his grave; but will, furely, for a while, throw them back, in a fort of folemn tranfport, to- wards the rocks he fo narrowly avoided—- the waves he has fo hardly overcome. But, more particularly to in fiance the bleffings of this fort, whicli, in their ce- lellial kingdom, await the juft, let us re- mark, in the Firll place, that, in that happy region, there fhall be — no more ** Sin." To thofe, to whom iniquity w^as never a ** burden," this part of the compolition of heavenly happinefs — will fcarcely be in- telligible. But to thofe, atprefent, I fpeak not; my efforts being, now, only direded —to hii/d up the faith of the faints : And thefe will readily comprehend, what is meant Ag2 On the yoys of Heaven. Serm. meant by a deliverance from the power as X\^1I. •^vell as the punifhment of Sin — ^being de- fervedly reckoned one of the highefl blef- fings of the world that is to come. This deliverance, even here, in the chriftian heart is begun 3 but, there, it is completed and perfected. The ftate of probation be- ing pafl, we fhall be (nrc that neither in- clination nor paffion — fhall any longer carry us aftray. We Hiall, therefore, be at liberty to tafte every indulgence, that may be prefented to purified, immortal minds. We fhall be free to liften to every voice, feeing — there — fhall not voice be raifed — that is calculated to miflead. We may fuffer our fight to dwell on every defirable objed:, for — there — fliall no objeft be placed, but what is defigned to anfwer our defires to the full. We may uplift our hearts, without a check to their rapture, affuredly knowing that each rapture is by God infpired, by him as grateful homage approved, and to him returns — as an ac- ceptable offering of praife. No fpot of defilement, fhall cleave to our fervices j no defed:. 'On the yoys of Heaven. 493 defed, no impurity, intermix with. iIicSerm. hojy incenfe, which our redeemed fouls ^^i^- prefent before the throne. Q\\x garments being wafied with the blood of fprinkling, fhall admit no mark of decay, no flaiii of corruption more; and the raiment given us by the Reftorer of our innocence, fhall iliine for ever glorious — Hiall remain for ever white. If our love is fixed upon God; and un- lefs upon God our love be fixed, we fhall never have one happy hope realized; if the love of our fouls is indeed beflowed, on him who merits all our befl affections — the redeemer of our fpirits ; think, only, what an increafe of joy it will bring us, in being at laft exalted above our errours and our vices, delivered from our weak- nefs and our guilt, and permitted to ferve the God we love — according to the mca- fure wherewith he hath loved us ! We fhall not then need to fear his prefence ; for we fliall have committed no offence : nor fhall a fingle omitted duty deprive us of one tlifs-giving fmile. Rejoice, then, O ye I that 494 ^^^ ^'^^ "J^y^ ^f Heave?^. , Serm. that ftruggle with a corrupted nature, that XVil. your warfare will be foon accompli {hed; and that your viclory — will be complete as it is nigh. Rejoice that the Arm of the LORD hath been Jiretched out for your refcue^ that, when otherwife you muft for ever have laid captive, in the thraldom, and under the tyrannous preffure, of your fins. That Arm for you hath cut Rahab, and, in laying proiirate the pov/er of the arch- betrayer of mankind, hath given the fer- pent his threatened briiife- — the dragon his deadly wound. ' Yea, and ftill further remains for the Righteous to be glad, in profpeft of thofe enjoym.ents promifed to them that continue Hedfall; for the Arm of the LORD hath yet done more than overwhelming the flrength of our Adverfary ; it hath alfo dried up the fea, the waters of the great deep, and hath made the depths of the fea a way for the ranfom.ed to pafs over. In that kingdom, whither they are called, there fliall, not only, be no more " Sin;" there fliall, in the Second place, be no more On the Joys of Heaven, 4q^ more "Suffering" — no more " Sorrow." Serm, As, here below, thefe two can never be XVII. difuniled, we clafs them both together in' ^'""^ regard of that deliverance from them, which fliall form one great characfteriftick of the heavenly happinefs. Afk the good man that fuffers, that forrows and grieves ; afk your own heart, if fuch be your cha- rader and lot ;^what a Heaven — Imagi- nation itfelf can form, in only being freed from the circum (lances that diflrefs, — and, in the reftoration of every object whofe lofs is deplored, having the fountain of wafting tears dried up. What ! — for Man, A\'ho is born to trouble; who, all his life long, is expofed to care, and labour, and bitternefs of fpirit -, for the religious Man, who, more than any other, is reproached, and vilified, and perfecuted, to make a tranfition — fo fudden — fo tranfporting — to where " trouble" cannot follow him, where cares cannot moleil, reproaches cannot reach; nor ** envy" nor ** malice," nor «* hate," difturb or annoy ; — how quiet- ing the conception, how llrengthening the A alia ranee. 496 On the Joys of Heaven. Serm. ^ffurance, to poor confli6ling mortals! — * XVII. Vigorous become the exertions, and firm " — the Mariner's heart, when, after hard flruggling with a tempeftuous ocean, while neither fun 7iGr far has appeared — and the gloomy night has had no other exercife nor comfort, than cafing out anchors, and wijlnng for the day — the Day — at lafl, opens his difconfolate eyes to the raviOiing fight of a fafe and convenient harbour j; and that, too, — no other — than the place and haven where he would be I In the next place, we are informed ; though, as might be expe6led — from the weaknefs of our prefent apprehenfion, and the exalted nature of the objecl-^informed with lefs clearnefs, that there are Pofitive enjoyments apportioned to the righteous, thofe ranfomed of the Lord Jefus ; when, after the great depth, that for them has been made a way, hath been pajfed over — - they return to their heavenly Zion, Not barely ihd.]\forrow and mourning fee away,^ they fdall alfo obtain gladnefs -, and ever- \^^m'g joy fiall be upon their head* It On the yoys of Hea'oen, 497 It were, I hope, almoft an unnecefTary Serm, diftiiKflion, to fay the " Joy" here fpokenXVII. of will be Spiritual. For does a Good man know, or relifii, any but what is fuch, even here below ? We acknowledge, and We lament, that there are Creatures, whofe fouls, by an habitual indulgence of fie/hly appetites, have defcended to be fo low and fo grofs, as to limit what they *' know" of earth, and what they " wifh" of heaven, to the contracted circle of merely fenfual delights. Thefe bound their narrow and their felfiih views, to the little extent of this barren, unproductive Vale — where they plunder, or where they plod. And, fo long have they been wedded to the cuftoms, and enamoured of the conceits, of theip oblivious fpot, that, hardly fhall you perfuade them ever — to *' afcend the ** mountain:" Or, if you fhould, haply, prevail on one of them, to accompany you to its top, and jQiew him all the nobler profpe6l of a larger country — which only the wide horizon, and the diftant ocean, bound; his eye, of light intolerant, would K k clofe 498 On the yoys of Heaven, Serm. clofe on all its beauties : And the air, too XVII. pure for a conftitution fo debafed, would '^"~^ hurry him " down" again-^to his dirty Track of clay — his Twilight — and his Fog ! But not fuch — the preparation, nor the choice, of the fuccefsful candidates for Heaven. They have, here, their minds enlarged, their hearts opened, their tempers humanized; and, to others' joys and woes, attuned and foftened. They know what Chrift, and they feel what Nature, have a right to claim at their hands : And they haflen to fulfil their taiks, more out of love for him who has bidden them work, than — great as it is — from hope of the re- ward. To them, the veil that covers the invifible world, is lifted upj and they are at the fame time enabled to difcern, and, as far as their prefent Hate allows, to imitate, the employments of the faints, Mean^ while, they ardently long to be removed to that ftate themfelveSj where the flraiten- ing ties of fenfe, or corporeal relation, ihall ceafe to hamper or keep down the foul, On the jfoys ef Heaven. 499 ioul. That Soul, which now lattguiflies Serm* 'till it " reach the perfection of the an- XVII.^ " gels," as well as faiiits till it comes before the prefence of God. There, it knows, is its home, and all the kindred with whom it fhall affociate through eter- nityi Those, and we may well conclude, thofe only, who are admitted to cOmpofe a part of that bright fociety— to have been here our fellow-travellers, fhall we, to any increafe of our joy, recoiled in Para- dife* Of none of the pleafures, that await us hereafter, are we more certain^ than of meeting, in the realms of the de- parted, with thofe that to our fouls have been dear. — But, my brethren, be not de- ceived. In this point, do not err. Not becaufe we have been '' wives" and " hu{bands," '* children" and " parents," " brothers" and '* fifters" fhall we theil retrace a relation to each other — when we meet ! But *' One Relation"— fliall be acknowledged there 5 and this be thequef- tion, which joins or feparates us for ever ^ K k 2 '' \YcrQ ^oo On the *Joys of Heaven, Serm." Were we Followers together of the XVIT • • • *' Lamb ? — did we feek, in united ardour, ** the Friendlhip of Go^V -—There, they neither marry nor are given in tharri- age. The whole Church that is glorijicd, ihall, in that her Jlate triumphayity have only one Heavenly Bridegroom. — The Pa- rent may re-embrace the Child, or the Child the Parent ; the Brother the Sifler, or the Friend the Friend ! — but it fhall only be Becaufe we are all. His Offspring ; have all been obedient ; and, in proportion as our refpedive union has advanced our '♦irtues and fpiritualized our affecftions, to be — through His everlafling mercy, in proportionate degrees of progreflive happi- nefs, for ever and for ever bleil. Lazarus as well as Ifaac, is, there, in Abraham's Bofoni — -and there, no other Gulph fliall feparate, nor other '* Union" bind, than ' what is fixed between the feats oi joy and the place of torment -, than what has had the love of God and immortal fruition, for its fubjed, its being, and its end ! We On the Joys of Heaven^ 501 We are ilill authorlfed to add, that even Serm. our bodies in their glorified ftate, when XVII. they are once, after the image of Chrifsy exalted above corruption and change, fhall partake of every gratification, that may be poffible to their nature. Of what fort thefe may be, or how great indeed, and infinitely tranfporting, are all the joys and pleafures, laid up in ftore for the Good, ceafe we,— with reverence ceafe we, either to difcufs or enquire ! Taking this for the caution to check our curiofity, while it a6ls, at the fame time, as a declaration importing much comfort and hope;— "Eye hath not feen, nor ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive the great, the unutterable things, trea- fured up and referred by God, for thofe that love him. But, my beloved, one ufe, it is obvi- ous, fhould not be negle£led to be made of thefe confiderations: God wq vau^love, if we feek to partake of thofe good things that pafs mans comprehenfon. How ex- tenfive the treafure, we need not be in- duftrious 502 On the Joys of Heavdni, Serm. duftrlous to learn : Only, forget We not X\ n. there being really no other treafure but that ; nor other way to attain it than that which He himfelf hath appointed. Choofe ye, then. This ; This choofe— ye that are defirous of hidden treafure — the only du- rable riches; far furpaffing or filver or gold. Would it not diflurb you-— when drefTed in coftly apparel, with fumptuous fare fet before you, with mufick and the 'uoice of melody to adorn the feaft, if fome poor mendicant in rags j whom you may, perchance, have feen by the way fide beg^ ging, pr paifed, unpitying, by — in the hut of his mifery — that you might not be faddened by his " tale of woe;" were by the Mafter of the Entertainment made take your place at the table ; while you were fent — to wait the Fragments, in the lowejl room ? And will you not — O be perfuaded ! — have much greater caufe of difquiet, fhould you, at the end of your life — at your entrance into an eternal world-^fee the fouls of the Needy, of the Defpifed, 8 On the Joys of Heaven. 503 Defplfed, of the Rejeaed, have white gar- ^^^tsi, ments ghe?i them, a new name and exceed- XVII. ing glory, in their Ahnighty Fathers' ' ' houfe-y and you yourfelves be forced, to betake you to that land of darknefs, on which the clouds of forrow and of mourn- ing — that/f^ away from the region of the Glorified, — yea, and blacker clouds than thofe, make hafte for ever to fettle, and canopy your heads with horror, amaze- ment, and eternal gloom ! But let thoughts of a different nature, occupy your minds, who, after the labours of life are over, expe(5t to revifit your own country J after the depths of afflidlion are pafed, to return with thajikfgiving unto Zion. There, I befeech you to remember, there — is to be your everlafting abode. And if gladnefs, and pleafure, 2Xi^ joy are to be your inviolable portion there ; and if thence tiW. forrow and mour7iing fliall for ever flee away, need you much to lament any mortifications you have here to under- go : or, are you hopelefsly to fink under diilrefies, whofe duration fhall be fo fliort ? JC k 4 — Avoid, "^ ^04 On the Joys of Heavetti Serm. — Avoid, however, one miflake, my XVII. Friends ! as you would vi^ifh to ihun your ruin. Forget not the fituation wherein- you are wifely placed. It is defigned to be a flate of feif-denial and probation. Think not, therefore, that you are ever called upon to rejoice, unlefs your faces are turned towards Zton, It is a pitiable, it is a common errour, forthofe, who are vifited with any earthly calamities, to refolve them inftantaneoufly into virtuous trials. Be convinced, O my Fellow-Mortal, they may be fometimes, nay, are they not moft frequently ? — the punifhments of thy vice. The encou- rao-ement to be joy fid, thou art ever willing to receive ; and ever welcome is the Mel- ienger — that brings thee fuch tidings: But fuch tidings I will not be one that will always bring theej for — \\\^ forrow, and the grief and the moiirningy which thou partakell of, for awakening thee to a fenfe of thy fins — or enfuing as their con- fequence, it is my commiffion — to be as- ready to denounce againfi; thee, as my fatif- fadion On the Joys of Heaven. 505 fadlon would be apparent in finding rea-SERM. fon to hope better things while 1 thusfpeak. XVII. Be the dilTatisfadions attending thy pro- grefs, only once the refult of thy fledfaft- nefs in abiding faithful to the caufe of religion and of virtue; of refigning earth- ly convenience and men's praife, for the hopes of heaven and the approbation of God 'j and then, my road is as plain, and thy fitnefs is as evident, to exhibit in profpedl the happinefs of futurity, and to afcertain to thy elevated fpirit^ an allured part therein. Let only fuch be the ground of your expectation, and not on lefs than immortal tranfports may then your expedlations reft. A little while, and the heayens that cover you, and the earth — where multitudes feek their only happinefs- — fhall be no more ! To thefe a new heaven and a new (arth fiall fucceed't both altered indeed in their natures, and their inhabitants differ- ent ; for there the Lamb fiall be the Su?t (jnd the Temple, and ri^hteoiifnefs fiall LI (hcr^ co6 On the 'Joys of Heaven. -v-yTT* there everlaftingly d^well^ and holinefs be an habitation for ever. Cast not then av/ay your hopes, ye regenerated children of grace; fuppreis your anxious fighs, wipe away your tears, ye children of forrow. A jubilee of re- je.ife awaits you, a Sabbath of rell : And you lliall fpend it in perfed peace, with all the united fons of concord, in your happier Jen f akin and your purer Zion above ; when the fong of gladnefs fliall found from every lip, and forrow and mourning — are for ever fled away. Approach, ye Days of long-wiflied forjepofe. Come on, ye feafons of de- light, whofe anticipations bear up the weary and afflided foul ! Until the day . dawn — till the fiadows flee aw^y, be thou, O thou beloved of our fouls, like the roe or the young hart oji the mountains of Bether. Come, Redeemer! cometojudg- nient. Here, in our following of Thee, tlie tears are fhed- — the bitternefs of which Thv love alone can jfoften 3 and here is [ felt On the yoys of Heaven, 507 fdt tnat LmguifliQient under pain — thatg^TiM. inexpleable ddire after what is good andXVil. lovely, which the comforts of heavenly grace may alone enable us to fupport, and the fulfilling of the hopes infpired by Thee, prove folely adequate to fatisfy. Period of confummate glory ! why art .thou delayed ? Or why do fuch obfcuie creatures as we ventu?Pto tax Wk^ appoint- ment, who knows — and who affords us the means to know alio — what is good for man — what is glorious for himftlf ? ** Merciful Father! Omnipotent ** God ! who teacheft Thy way to the ** humble, and accepted:, as a grateful *' offering, the heart contrite ! Such a *' facrifice, we defire to pay Thee j ind ** to make our earthly trials ufeful, and ** our forrows important, by gaining Thy ** notice, Thy pity, and Thv love. ** While abfent from Zton and from " Thee, O give us to find an apt reff^m- ** blance — -in Thy ordinances and in Thy ^* imao-e, here below. And when to both ^* thefe exalted hopes of our nature. Thou *^ fuf- 5©$ On the yoys of Heaven. Serm^ " fufFereft us and helpeft us to return^ XVII. «* let fighing and fuiFering mark our af^ " Aided fervices no more : But let Joy '* Immortal — as it is now our Comfort *' — be then — and for ever — our unfading '* Crown !" Amen. F I N I S^ %M