^'Pw^ .'^: ^ i^' ^ PRINCETON, -N. J. No. ''Case,_ ^ No. Shelf, __^^ No: Book, J.: -J- v.^ 'J'li« John M. Krebs Donation. \ f TAIiVABLE BOOK8, PUBLISHED BY GRIGG & ELLIOT, JVo. 9 JVorth Fourth Street, PHILADELPHIA. spZiEjrmn i^inn^Ri^ EniTiojrs, BYRON'S WORKS, complete in 1 vol. 8vo., including all his Suppressed stnd Attributed Poems. (Tj'Tliis edition has been carefully compared with the recent London edition of Mr. Murray, and made complete by the addition of more than fifty pages of poems here- tofore unpuWished in England. Among these there arc a number that have never ap- peared in any American edition ; and the Publishers believe they are warranted in say- ing, that this is the most complete edition of Lord Byron's Poetical Works, ever published in the United States. COWPER AND THOMSON'S PROSE AND POETICAL WORKS, complete in 1 vol. 8vo., including two hundred and fifty Letters, and sundry Poems of Cowper, never before published in this country ; and of Thomson a new and interesting Memoir, and upwards of twenty new poems, for the first time printed from his own Manuscripts, taken from a late edition of the Aldine Poets, now pubUsh- ing in London. The distinguished Professor Silliman, speaking of this edition, observes, " I am as much gratified by the elegance and fine taste of your edition, as by the noble tribute of genius and moral excellence which these delightful authors have left for all future gene- rations ; and Cowper especially, is not less conspicuous as a trup Christian moralist and teacher, than as a poet of great power and exquisite taste." GOLDSMITH'S ANIMATED NATURE, in 4 vols. Svo., il- lustrated with eighty -five copperplates. * ^* Goldsmith can never be made obsolete, while delicate genius, exquisite feeling, fine invention, the most harmonious metre, and the happiest diction are at all valued. This is a work that should be in the library of every family, being written by one of the most talented authors in the English language. MILTON, YOUNG, GRAY, BEATTIE, AND COLLINS' POETICAL WORKS, complete in 1 vol. Svo. THE WORKS OF LAURENCE STERNE, in 1 vol. Svo. with a life of the author, written by himself. The beauties of this author are so well known, and his errors in style and expression so few and far between, that one reads with renewed delight his deUcate turns, &c. THE POETICAL WORKS OF ROGERS, CAMPBELL, MONTGOMERY, LAMB, AND KIRK WHITE, complete in 1 vol. 8vo. THE POETICAL WORKS OF MRS. HEM AN S. Complete in 1 vol. Svo. "As no work in the English language can be commended with more confidence, it will argue bad taste in a female in this country to be without a complete edition of the writ- ings of one who was an honour to her sex and to humanity, and whose productions, from first to last, contains no syllabic calculated to call a blush to the cheek of modesty and virtue. There is, moreover, in Mrs. Hemans' poetry a moral purity, and a religious feeling, which commend it, in an especial manner, to tlic discriminating reader. No parent or guardian will be under the necessity of imposing re^strictions with regard to the free perusal of every production emanating from this gifted woman. There breathes MISCELlvAlVEOUS WORKS. throughout the whole a most eminent exemption from impropriety of thought or diction ; and there is at times a pensiveness of tone, a winning sadness in her more serious compositions, which tells of a soul which has been lifted from the contemplation of ter- restrial things, to divine communings with beings of a purer world." HEBER, POLLOK AND CR ABBE'S POETICAL WORKS, complete in 1 vol. 8vo. " Among the beautiful, valuable, and interesting volumes which the enterprise and taste of our publishers have presented to the reading community, we have seldom met with one which we have more cordially greeted and can more confidently and satisfac- torily recommend, than that, embracing in a single, substantial, well bound, and hand- nomely printed octavo, the poetical works of Bishop Heber, Robt. Pollok, and the Rev, Geo. Crabbe. What a constellation of poetic ardour, glowing piety, and intellectual bril- hancy ! Such writers require no eulogy. Their fame is established and universal. The sublimity, pathos, and piety, of all these writers, have given them a rank at once with the lovers of poetry and the friends of religion, unsurpassed perhaps by that of any other recent authors in our language. A more delightful addition could scarcely be made to the library of the gentleman or lady of taste and refinement. The prize poems, hymns, and miscellaneous writings of Bishop Heber, the ' Course of Time' by Pollok, and the rich, various, and splendid productions of the Rev. Geo. Crabbe, are among the standard works, the classics of our language. To obtain and preserve them in one volume, cannot but be a desirable object to their admirers." And it is to be hoped it will bo found in the library of every family. A writer in the B '< 'i Traveller holds the following language with reference to these valuable editions : — Mr. Editor : I wish ■ ithout any idea of puffing, to say a word or two upon the " Library of English Pods" that is now pubUshed at Philadelphia, by Grigg & Elliot ; it is certainly, taking into consideration the elegant manner in which it is printed, and the reasonable price at which it is afforded to purchasers, the best edition of the modern Bri- tish Poets that has ever been published in this country. Each volume is an octavo of about 5G0 pages, double columns, stereotyped, and accompanied with fine engravings and biographical sketches, and most of them are reprinted from Galignani's French edition. As to its value we need only mention that it contains the entire works of By- ron, Keats, Cowper, Thomson, Burns, Milton, Young, Scott, Moore, Coleridge, Rogers, Campbell, Lamb, Hcmans, Heber, Kirk White, Ciabbe, the Miscellaneous Works of Goldsmith, and other martyrs of the lyre. The publisher is doing a great ser- vice by this publication, and his volumes are almost in as great demand as the fashionable novels of the day, and they deserve to be so, for they are certainly printed in a style superior to that in which we have before had the works of the Enghsh Poets. JOSEPH US'S (FLAVIUS) WORKS. By the, late William Whiston, A. M. From the last London edition, complete in 2 vols. 8vo. As a matter of course, every family in our country has a copy of the Holy Bible — and as the presumption is, the greater portiori often consult its pages, wc take the liberty I of saying to all those that do, that the perusal of the writings of Josephus will be found very interesting and instructing. All those who wish to possess a beautiful and con-cct copy of this invaluable work, would do well to purchase this edition. It is for sale at all the principal bookstores in the United States, by country merchants generally in the Southern a\hd Western states, and at a very low price. BURDER'S VILLAGE SERMONS, or 101 plain and short Discourses on the principal doctrines of the Gospel ; intended for the use of families, Sunday schools, or companies assembled for religious instruction m country villages. — By George Burden To which is added, to each Sermon, a short Prayer, with some general prayers for families, schools, &c. at the end of the work. Complete in one volume 8vo. These sermons, wUch are characterized by a beautiful simplicity, the entire absence of controversy, and a true evangelical spirit, have gone through many and largo etlitions, and been translated into several of the continental languages. " Thoy hare also been MISCELLANEOUS WORKS. the honoured means not only of converting many individuals, but also of introducing the gospel into districts, and even into parish churches, where before it was compara- tively unknown." " This work fully deserves the immortality it has attained." This is a fine library edition of this invaluable work, and when we say that it should be found in the possession of every family, we only reiterate the sentiments and sincere wishes of all who take a deep interest in the eternal welfare of mankind. BIGLAND'S NATURAL HISTORY OF ANIMALS, 12 co- loured plates. BIGLAND'S NATURAL HISTORY OF BIRDS, 12 coloured plates. PERSIA. A DESCRIPTION OF. By Shoberl, with 12 co- loured plates. These works are got up in a very superior style, and well deserve an introduction to the shelves of every family library, as they are very interesting, and particularly adapted to the juvenile class of readers. A COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. Designed for the use of Students of the English Bible. By Charles Hodge, Professor of Biblical Literature in the Theological Seminary at Princeton. This invaluable work is very highly spoken of and recommended, by those who are much distinguished for their Uterary attainments. THE IMPORTANCE OF FAMILY RELIGION: with a selec- tion of Hymns and Prayers, adapted to Family Worship, and Tables for the regular Reading of the Scriptures. By the Rev. S. G. Winchester, A. M. The subject is one of incalculable practical importance, and is treated in a masterly manner. It contains an able, elaborate and highly instructive Essay on the obligation, nature and importance of Family Religion ; and we hope, ere long, it will be found in the Library of every family. A very eminent Divine, and one who is ever industriously engaged in promoting the welfare and happiness of the human family, in speaking of this work, observes — " That every new work which is calculated to encourage and promote family religion is worthy of consideration, and should be welcomed as contributing to the energy of pub- lic morals, and to the good order and prosperity of society. Such a work is the one be- fore us. The preliminary essay unfolds the importance of the domestic constitution and urgently explains and enforces parental duty. It should be carefully read and seriously pondered by parents who design to make use of the book as an aid to family religion. The Prayers and Hymns are judiciously selected, and arc printed in a large type with a reference to their being easily read by the head of a family in conducting its devotions. There are many who, through timidity or some natural defect, feel incompetent to ex- temporaneous prayer in the presence of otncrs ; to such we recommend a form, while at the same time we do not, as a general rule, believe it to be the best way to animate and express devotional feeling. We have known some who, by the use of forms of prayer in the family, have succeeded in overcoming their oppressive timidity, and afterwards, without their aid, have directed the devotions of others in an edifying manner. Extem- poraneous prayer, when it can be offered to edification, is the best mode of addressing the throne of grace, but in other cases, forms of prayer may be used with great propriety." LECTURES ON SCRIPTURE FACTS AND PROPHECY. By W. B. Collyer, D. D. In 1 vol. 8vo. A new edition of this distinguished author's works. Few persons will rise from the perusal of this book wiLliout acknowledging, that their thoughts and affections have been elevated by the fsrveiil and pious eloquence of the writer. THE DAUGHTER'S OWN BOOK; Or Practical Hints from a Father to his Daughter. In 1 vol. ISmo. MISCELLANEOUS WORKS. The publishers arc very confident, from the great demand for this invaluable little work, that ere long it will be found in the library of every young lady. BENNET'S (Rev. John) LETTERS TO A YOUNG LADY, on a variety of subjects calculated to improve the heart, to form the manners, and en- lighten the understanding. " That our Daughters may be as polished corners of the Temple." The publishers sincerely hope {for the hapjmiess of mankind) that a copy of this valuable little work will be found the companion of every young lady, as much of the happiness of every family depends on the proper cultivation of the female mind. CARPENTER'S NEW GUIDE. Being a complete Book of Lines, for Carpentry, Joinery, &c., in 1 vol. 4to. The Theory and Practice well explained, and fully exemplified on eighty-four copper- plates, including some observations, &c., on the strength of Timber ; by Peter Nichol- son. Tenth edition. This invaluable work superseded, on its first appearance, all existing works on the subject, and still retains its original celebrity. Every Carpenter in our country should possess a copy of this invaluable work. HIND'S POPULAR SYSTEM OF FARRIERY, taught on a new and easy plan, being a Treatise on all the diseases and accidents to which the Horse is liable. With considerable additions and improvements, adapted particularly to this country, by Thomas M. Smith, Veterinary Surgeon, and member of the London Veteri- nary Medical Society, in 1 vol. 12mo. The publisher has received numerous flattering notices of the great practical value of this work. The distinguished editor of the American Farmer, speaking of the work, observes — " We cannot too highly recommend this book, and therefore advise every owner of a horse to obtain it." NEW SONG BOOK.— Grigg's Southern and Western Songster; being a choice collection of the most fashionable songs, many of which are original, in 1 volume, 18mo. Great care was taken in the selection to admit no song that contained, in the slightest degree, any indelicate or improper allusions — and with great propriety it may claim the title of " The Parlour Song Book or Songster." T\\e immortal Shakspcare observes, — '' The man that hath not music in himself, Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds. Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils." Numerous flattering notices of this work have appeared, from time to time, in the dif- ferent newspapers throiigliout the country. The following is from the pen of William Leggett, Esq., former editor of " The Critic," a gentleman highly distinguished for his literary attainments : " A handsome copy of this very popular collection of melodies is lying on our table. It differs from song books generally, as much in the taste and judgment which have been displayed in the selection, as in the neat style of its typography and binding. — There is scarcely a song, old or new, admired for any of the qualities which constitute a good one, whether for harmony of expression, spirit or tenderness of the thoughts, appositeness of imagery, and illustration or smartness of point, that is not to be found in this little volume. Besides the numerous productions of the master spirits of the old world, it contains many sweet effusions from cis-atlantic poets ; and, indeed, some of these 'native wood noles wild,' to use the expression of the bard of paradise, are well entitled to a place even in a work which contains the melodious numbers of Campbell, Moore, and Byron. In this last edition of the Southern and Western Songster, the editor has availed himself of the enlargement of the size of tho volume, to introduce the admired songs of the distinguished vocalists, Mrs. Knight, Miss Kelly, the Miss Gilhnghams, Miss Clara Fisher, Miss Kock, and others. The extensive and rapid sale which the previous editions of this Songster met with, has rendered its character so well known, that it can scarcely require commendations ; but if any of our readers are in MISCELIiANEOUS WORKS- want of an extensive, judicious, and neat collection of Melodies, we can cheerfully re- commend the volume before us, as combining all those qualities." SAY'S POLITICAL ECONOMY. A Treatise on Political Economy, or the Production, Distribution, and Consumption of Wealth. By Jean Eaptiste Say. Fifth American edition, with Additional Notes, by C. C. Biddle, Esq., in 1 vol. 8vo. The editor of the North American Review, speaking of Say, observes, that " he is the most popular, and perhaps the most able writer on Political Economy, since the time of Smith." The distinguished biographer of the author in noticing this work observes, " Happily for science he commenced that study which forms the basis of his admirable treatise on Political Economy, a work which not only improved under his hand with every succes- sive edition, but has been translated into most of the European languages." This work has been introduced as a text book into the principal Universities and Col- leges of our country, as well as in Europe. It would be beneficial to our country if all those who are aspiring to office, were re- quired by their constituents to be conversant with the pages of Say. RUSH ON THE MIND. New fine edition. 1 volume, 8vo.— This work is valuable and highly interesting for intelligent readers of every profession : it is replete with curious and acute remarks, both medical and metaphysical, and de- serves particular praise for the terserless of its diction. RUSH ON THE HUMAN VOICE. Embracing its Physiolo- gical History, together witli a System of Principles, by which criticism in the art of Elocution may be rendered intelligible, and instruction definite and comprehensive. To which is added, a brief Analysis of Song and Recitative ; second edition, with additions. By James Rush, M. D. A DICTIONARY OF SELECT AND POPULAR QUOTA- TIONS, which are in daily use : taken from the Latin, French, Greek, Spanish, and Italian languages ; together with a copious collection of Law maxims and Law terms ; translated into English, with illusn-ations, historical and idiomatic. Sixth American edi- tion, corrected with additions. 1 vol. 12mo. In preparing this Sixth edition for the press, care has been taken to give the work a thorough revision, to correct some errors which had before escaped notice, and to insert many additional Quotations, Law maxims and Law terms. In this state it is oflered to the public in the stereotype form. This little work should find its way into every Fa- mily Library. CONVERSATIONS ON CHEMISTRY; in which the Ele- ments of that Science are familiarly explained and illustrated by Experiments and En- gravings on wood. From the last London edition. In which all the late Discoveries and Improvements arc brought up to the present time, by Dr. Thomas P. Jones. All preceptors who have a sincere desire to impart a correct knowledge of this im- portant science to their pupils, will please examine the present edition, as the correction of all the errors in the body of the work renders it very valuable. The eminent Professor Bigelow, of Harvard University, in noticing this work ob- serves, " I am satisfied that it contains the fundamental principles and truths of that Science, expressed in a clear, intelligible, and interesting manner. The high character of the author, as a lecturer, and as a man of science, will, I doubt not, secure for the work the good opinion of the public, and cause its extensive adoption among Semina- ries and students." The learned Professor Siliman observes, tliat this edition is decidedly more valuable than any preceding one. CONVERSATIONS ON NATURAL PHILOSOPHY; in which the Elements of that Science are familiarly explained. Illustrated with plates, j By the author of " Conversations on Chemistry," &c. With considerable additions, g corrections, and improvements in the body of the work ; appropriate Questions, and a Glossary. By Dr. Thomas P. Jones. The correction of all the errors in the body of the work, renders this edition very valuable ; and all who understand the subject, consider it superior to any other in use. MISCELL-ANEOUS WORKS- SENECA'S MORALS.— By way of abstract to which, is added, a Discourse under the title of an After-Thoujht, by Sir Roger L'Estrange, Knt. A new fine edition, in 1 vol. 18mo. A copy of this valuable little work should be found in every family library. MALTE-BRUN'S NEW and ELEGANT QUARTO ATLAS, exhibiting the five great divisions of the globe, Europe, Asia, Africa, America, and Oceanica, with their several empires, kingdoms, stales, territories, and other sub-divi- sions, corrected to the present time ; and containing forty maps, drawn and engraved particularly to illustrate the Universal Geography, by M. Malte-Brun. The Atlas is particularly adapted for Colleges, Academies, Schools, and private fami- lies. There is no work that ever was published in this country which has received more numerous and flattering recommendations. THE AMERICAN CHESTERFIELD; or ''Youth's Guide to the Way to Wealth, Honour, and Distinction," «fec. " We most cordially recommend the American Chesterfield to general attention : but to young persons particularly, as one of the best works of the kind that has ever been published in this country. It cannot be too highly appreciated, nor its perusal be un- productive of satisfaction and usefulness." QUESTIONS ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS, de- signed for Bible Classes and Sunday Schools, by Charles Hodge, Pro. Tlieol. Seminary, Princeton. THE PASTOR AT A SICK BED, AND AN AFFLICTED FAMILY'S COMPANION. This is a new work from the German, and is one among the most valuable and popular works of the day. In 1 vol. 12mo. HITCHCOCK'S NEW AND POPULAR METHOD OF TEACHING THE ART OF BOOK-KEEPING. In three parts. THE BRITISH PREACHER, consisting of Discourses by the most eminent living Divines in England, Scotland and Ireland, accompanied vrith pulpit sketches. To which are added. Scriptural illustrations ; and selections on the office, du- ties and responsibilities of the Christian ministry. By the Rev. Wm. Suddards, Rector «f Grace Church, Philadelphia. Vol. 1. This volume contains nearly sixty Sermons by the most distinguished ministers in the British empire. Professing to be " The British Preacher," and not a sectional or deno- minational preacher, it has admitted upon its pages the sermons of clergymen in the Episcopal, Presbyterian, Congiegational, Methodist and Baptist Churches. It is adorn- ed with portraits (in Longacre's best style,) of Bishop Wilson of Calcutta; Dr. Chal- mers of Edinburgh ; Dr. Raffles of Liverpool ; Robert Newton of Manchester ; and the late Robert Hall of Bristol. It will no doubt be intere.sting to the clergy and reli- gious community of the United States to become acquainted with so many ornaments of the British pulpit as this work offers to their notice. Should this volume meet with due encouragement, it will be succeeded by others of a similar character. Shakspeare, 2 vols. 8vo. Scott's Napoleon, 2 vols. 8vo. British Drama, 2 vols. Svo. Jefferson's Works, 4 vols. Websfel*s Speeches, 2 vols. Tatler ami Guardian, I vol. Butler's History of Kentucky. 1 vol. 8to. Dictionary of Biography. By Davenport. 1 vol. 8vo. Secret Debates in the Convention. Chalmcr's Political Economy, i2mo. Plutarch's Lives, 1 vol. Svo. Do. do. 4 vols. 12mo. American Revolution, 12 mo. Goodrich's Universal Geography, Svo. MoKheim's Church History, 2 vols. Svo. Lord Nial ; or the Wizard's Grave. Rolliii's Ancient History, 2 vols. Svo. Wirts's Patrick Henry, 1 vol. Svo. Nicholson's Operative Mechanic, 2 vis. Svo. MISCELLANEOUS WORKS The Young Mother, 12mo. The Bravo, by Cooper. The Pioneer, by do. Reid on Watch-making, 8to. Coleridge's Friend. Hall's Sketches of the West. ' Mariner's Library, 1 vol. 8vo. Psalms and Hymns for the Episcopal Church, various sizes. The Spectator, 12 vols. Life of Talleyrand. Mrs. Royal's Works. Lowth's Isaiah, 1 vol. 8vo. Miller's Letters to Presbyterians. Young Cadet. Hudibras, ISmo. The Sailor Boy. The Life of Girard. Bouriene's Napoleon. Common Place Book of Romantic Tales. The Teacher's Guide, Godman's Rambles of a Naturalist, Encyclopedia Americana, 13 vols. Porter on Sugar Cane. Leland on Revelation, 2 vols, Ganihl's Political Economy. Watson's Body of Divinity. Mrs. TroUope's Belgium. Macknight on the Epistles. Six Months in a House of Correction. Miller's Hymns, Tredgold on Rail-roads. Earle on do. do. Sandford and Merton. Memoir of F, P. Sailings, 18mo, Beecher on Intemperance, Memoir of Catharine Amanda Ogden. The Juvenile Polyanthus, Family Dyer and Scourer, Records of a Good Man's Life. Militiaman's Pocket Companion. Potter's Compend. Rifle Drill. American Gardener, by Fessenden, Groom's Oracle, The Prairie, by Cooper, The Sketch Book, by Irving, Tales of a Traveller, by do. Travelling Bachelor, La Fayette in America. Pocket Lawyer. Ventriloquism Explained. Pleasures of Hope by Campbell. Peter Wilkins, Weems on Duelling. The Statesman's Manual, by Coleridge. Charlotte Temple, Dreamer's Sure Guide, North American Indians, Flowers of Wit, I. Baron Munchausen. Hocus Pocus. Clarionet Preceptor. Fife do. Fifer's Companion. Instrumental Director, Brown's Catechism, Merchant's Memorandiun Book. Little Grammarian, Two Wealthy Farmers. Adventures of Capt, Smith of Kentucky, Life of Joseph, by M'Gowan. Narrative of Gen. Winchester's Defeat The Fortune TeUer, by Napoleon. Shorter Catechism, corrected by Brown. Essay on Duellmg, by Weems. Hind's Farriery, very valuable. Adams' Roman Antiquities, Svo. Albums, fine paper, in a great variety of bindings, &c. Butler's Hudibras, 18mo. Brown's Philosophy of the Human Mind, 2 vols, Svo. Brown's Dictionary of the Bible, Svo. British Spy. By Wirt, ISmo. Burke's Works, complete. Bickersteth on Prayer, 12mo. Bickersteth on the Lord's Supper. Butler's Analogy of Religion, 12mo. Baxter's Call to the Unconverted, 18mo. Brown's Concordance, ISmo. Bibles for Families, of all sizes and in a variety of bindings, at very low prices, with and without psalms and plates. Bracebridge Hall. By W. Irving, 2 vo- lumes, 12mo, Baxter's Saint's Rest, ISmo. 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Blanks, do. — 2, 3, 4, 5 quire Accounts long and broad, (Foolscap.) — 4, 5, 6 and 7 quire Legers, do. do. do. — 4, 5, 6 and 7 quire Day Books, do. do. do. • ,* Public, private, and social libraries, and all who purchase to sell again, supplied on the most reasonable terms -with every article in the Book and Stationary line ; in- cluding new novels, and all new works in every department of literature and science. All orders rvill be thankfully received and promptly attended to. VILLAGE SERMONS; OR, ONE HUNDRED AND ONE PLAIN AND SHORT DISCOURSES, ON THE PRINCIPAL DOCTRINES OF THE GOSPEL; INTENDED FOR THE USE OF FAMILIES, SUNDAY SCHOOLS, OR COMPANIES ASSEMBLED FOR RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION IN COUNTRY VILLAGES. BY GEORGE BURDER. Come, let us go forth into the Field ; let us lodge in the Vill.ngcs. — SolomorCs Smig. TO WHICH IS ADDED TO EACH SERMON, A SHORT PRAYER, WITH SOME GENERAL PRAYERS FOR FAMILIES, SCHOOLS, &c. AT THE END OF THE WORK. PHILADELPHIA : PUBLISHED BY GRIGG & ELLIOT— No. 9, N. FOURTH STREET. STEREOTYPED IIV J. HOWE. 1835. Entered according- to the Act of Congress, in the year 1831, by Henry Adams, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. CONTENTS. y \ -V Sermon I. The Conversion of the Jailer. Acts xvi. 30, 31 5 -^ II. Tlie Broad and thu Narrow Way. Matt. vii. 13, 11 9 III. Tin: Nature, Spirituality, and Use ol" the Law. Koni. vii. "J 13 IV. Christ, the End of the Law for Ri^'hteoiisness. Rom. .\. 4 18 V. The Fall of Man. Eccles. vi. 29. . . 22 VI. Redemption. Eph. i 0 2G VII. RegHMcration, or the New Birth. John iii. 3 30 Vni. Ropfinlancc. Mark vi. 12 34 IX. Thu Work of the Holy Spirit. Rom. viii. 9 39 X. Holiness. Heb. xii. 14 43 XI. Death and Judgment. Heb. ix. 27. 47 Xll. Hell and Heaven. Matt. xxv. 4(). .. 51 J, XIII. A New Heart the Child's best Por- tion. Ezek. xxxvi. 2() 56 XIV. The Lord's Prayer. Matt. vi. 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 CO XV. The Danger of Formality and Hy- pocrisy. Matt. vii. 21 C4 XVI. The Pharisee and Publican. Luke xviii. 13 eS XVII. Zeal for the Salvation of Sinners. Rom. X. 1 73 i. XVIII. The Prodigal Son, or the Penitent jovfully received. Lukexv. 24. .. 78 ^•XlX. Christ the Way to God and Heav- en. John xiv. C 82 XX. Coming Sinners Welcome toChrist. John vi. 37 87 XXI. The vain E.xcusesof Sinners Expos- ed. Luke xiv. 18 ': 92 XXIL Christthe Bread of Life,and thoNa- tiire of Failhin hiin. Jolnivi. 27. 97 XXIII. A Sinner Changed by Grace. 1 Pet. iv. 3,4 100 XXIV. Dives and Lazarus, or the Sufficien- ty of Scripture for the Purposes of Salvation. Luke xvi. 31 105 XXV. The Pleasures of Religion. Prov. iii. 17 110 XXVI. The ValueoftheSoul. Matt. xvi.2U. 1J4 Conviction of Sin. ICor. \iv. 24,-2,5. 119 The Lamb of God beheld by Faith. Jo '.I i. 2;» 124 XXIX. The Conversion of St. Paul. Acts ix. 11. ....". ' 129 .^ »^XXX. The Love of God. John iii. l(i. . .. 133 "" XXXI. On the ftibliath, or Lord's Day. Evod. XX. b 13-* XXXII. TheOnlyFoundation.lCor.iii.il. 143 XXXIII. The Doctrine of liio Trinity. 1 John V. 7 148 XXXIV. The Power of the Gospel. Rom. i. HI. 153 XXXV. Sin and Death, or Grace and Life. Rom. viii. I'J 158 XXXVL Pardoning Mercv. Isaiah i. 18. • . . 103 XXXVII. The Penitent Thief Luke xxiii. 42, 43 1G7 XXXVIII. The World to Come. Luke xx. 35, 3ti 172 ^ XXXIX. Safety in the Ark for perishing Sin- ners. Gen. vii. 1 177 XL. The'#5collencv of the Knowledge of Christ. I'iiil. iii. 8 182 XLI. The Heart Taken. Luke xi. 21, 22. 187 XLII. Christ«s All. Col. iii. 11 191 XLIU. Apiistasy from Christ to be Dread- eil. John vi. 07. CS IPG XLIV. The Birth of Christ. Luke ii. ].>. . . 201 " XLV. The Cross of t.'hrist the Christian's Glory. Gal. vi. 14 205 XLVI. The Resurrection of Christ. Luke x\iv. 34 210 XLVII. The Descent of the Holy Ghost. Acts ii. 4 215 XLVin. Christ our Benefactor. Act9x.38. .. 220 XLIX. The Christian Temper. Phil. ii. 5. 224 V> XXVI -'nxxvii XXVIII Sermon L. Christian Practice. Titus ii. 11, 12. 220 LI. Nonconformity to the World. Rom. xii. 2 234 LII. Preparation for Death. Matt. xxiv. 44 239 Lin. UnivcrsalGood News. Mark xvi. 15. 243 - LIV. Parable of the Sower. Matt.xiii. 18. 248 LV. Conversion of Lydia. Acts xvi. 14. 253 LVI. Enmity of theCarnal Mind against God. Rom. viii. 7 258 > LVII. Martha and Mary, or theOne Thing Needful. Luke x. 41, 42 263 LVIIL Religion or Ruin. Ezek. xviii. 30 268 LIX. Lot's Deliverance. Gen. xix. 24, 25, 21) 273 LX. Irresolution Reproved. 1 Kings xviii. 21 277 LXI. Sin Dethroned. Rom. vi. 14 282 LXIL Universal Holiness. Zech. xiv. 20. 287 LXIII. A Good Hojie through Grace. 2 Thess. ii. 16 292 ■ • LXIV. Looking unto Jesus. Heb. xii. 2. .. 297 LXV. Happiness of Being with Christ. John .wii. 24 302 LXVI. The Importance of the Knowledge of God. John xv ii. 3 308 LXVII. The Power of God. Genesis xvii. 1. 313 XXVIII. The Wisdom of God. Rom. xvi. 27. 317 LXIX. The Holiness of God. Isaiah vi. 3. 322 LXX. The Justice of God. Dent, xxxii. 4. 327 LXXI. The Omnipresence of God. Psalms cxxxi\.7 331 LXXII. The Patience of God. Rom. ii. 4. . . 336 LXXIII. The Sovereignty of God. Ps. c.\v.3. 340 LXXIV. The Goodness of God. Ps. xxxiii. 5. 345 LXXV. The Mercy of God. Ps. Ixii. 13. ... 350 ^ LXXVI. The Love of God. 2 Cor. xiii. 14. 354 LXXVII. The Faithfulness ofGod. lCor.i.9. 359 LXXVIII. God with all his Perfections, the Christian's God. Ps. xlviii. 14. . . 364 LXXIX. Jesus Christ, an incomparable Teacher. John vii. 40 368 LXXX. Christ the Great Physician. Matt. ix. 12 372 LXXXI. Following the Lord fully. Num- bers .\iv. 21 377 LXXX II. The Pearl of great Price. Matt. >iii. 45, 4ii : 3S2 LXXXIII. Sinners are Self destroyers, but Sal- vation is of Gild, ifiisea \iii. 9. "Sf> LXXXIV. Onesimus; or, Tlie iirofitable Ser- va it. PhileinoM v,;r. 10, 11 :«>1 IjXXXV. S:iperalionniliMg(;race. Rom. v.2il. 39(i LXXXVI. Jerusalem lamented. Luke xix. 41, 42 400 LXXXVII. The .Attraction of the Cross. John xii. 32 405 LXXXVIII. Baptism not Regeneration. John i.i;! 409 LXXXIX. Invocation of Christ. Rom. x. 13. 414 XC. The Spiritual Resurrection. John v. 2.5 419 XCI. The Practical Knowledge of Christ. Ephes. iv. 20,21 423 XCII. The Happy Believer. Luke i. 45. .. 428 XCIII. The Doctrine of Pro\ iilinice practi- cally improved. Luke xii. 7 432 XCIV. Wisilnui, Kighteousiiess, Sanrtifi- cation and Redcuiplion, derived from Christ. 1 Cor. i. 30 437 XCV. Samson's Riddle. Judges xiv. 14. .. 441 XCVI. The profitable Jonrnev. Num. x. 29. 44C XCVII. The Water and Ihe Blood; or. Com- plete Purifnation. 1 John v. (>. 450 XCVIIL Jcsns Christ the Object of Faith, of Love, and of Joy. 1 Peter i. 8. . . 455 - XCIX. Sin odious to Go sleeper, arise, and call upon thy God, lest thou perish I Where is thy conscience ] What says deatii ? Is it not approaching! O rouse yourselves from this dangerous leth- argy, and think v. hat you are, and where you are going. Some of you may be free from the grosser vices, not chargeable, perhaps, witli profaneness or drunkenness: yet know, that if living m ease and securi- ty, without any care about your soul and eternity, you are, etiually with tlie vilest characters, in the broad road to destruc- tion. Again, The carnal or fillhy heart is inchVded; so the Holy Ghost describes the lieart of man in its natural and depraved state. The immortal mind of man, origi- nally created in tlie image of Gofl, and formed for spiritual exercises, is now, by the fall of Adam, become carnal. So St. 10 VILLAGE SERMONS. Paul speaks in the 8th of Romans, verse the 5tli, " They that are after the flesh, do mind the things of the flesh ; but they that are after the Spirit, llie tilings of the Spirit." The carnal man is all for the world. His cares, his hopes, his fears, his desires, his pleasures, his pains, his con- versation, is all about the world. His fleshly mind is crowded with worldly thoughts, and, as it was at Bethlehem, there is no room for Christ in the inn. But let it be observed, that whoever is in this case is in the broad road ; for the Scrips ture declares, that " they that are in the flesh cannot please God," and that this " carnal mind is enmity against God." This is the miserable condition of many, wlio pass for moral, industrious, good sort of people ; but they are far from God ; — they are " sensual, not having the Spirit ;" and minding only earthly things, their end is destruction. Phil. iii. 19. Once more, observe, that the broad way includes — a wicked life. A life of sin. Whoever lives in wilful disobedience to the commands of God, is assuredly in the road to destruction. Let none deceive themselves with vain words and idle ex- cuses. "He that committeth sin is of the devil," 1 John iii. 8. " Know ye not," saith the Apostle Paul, " that the unright- eous shall not uiherit the kingdom of God ] Be not deceived ; neither fornica- tors, nor adulterers, nor thieves, nor covet- ous, nor drunkards, shall inherit 'the king- dom of God," 1 Cor. vi. 9, 10. God will not hold liim guiltless, who taketh his name in vain ; nor will the sabbath-breaker escape unpunished. How is it then that poor sinners flatter themselves with hopes of salvation ! " for these things' sake the wrath of God cometli on the children of disobedience," Eph. v. 6. To these destructive sins another may be added, which is more destructive than them all; namely, the sin of unbelief Though a person should be free from many of the sins just mentioned, yet unbelief would be like a millstone about his neck, and sink him for ever in the gulf of perdi- tion. God having, in his rich mercy to mankind, sent his Son to be a Savior, and sent his gospel to publish this in our ears, nothing can be more displeasing to him than to " neglect his great salvation," or " refuse him who speaketh from lieaven." Our blessed Savior, wliile he mercifully promises, that, " he who believetli shall be ^aved ;" solemnly declares, that, " he who believetli not shall be damned," Marie xvi. 16. This, then, is the wide gate and the broad way — namely, a thoughtless mind — a carnal heart — and a wicked life ; all which, by unbelief, which refuses the only method of salvation, lead to certain and everlasting ruin. But you will ask. Why are these things so described ] Why are they compared to a wide gate and a broad way 1 The rea- son is plain ; for as it is easy to go throug , a wide gate and walk in a broad road, so the sirmer finds no hindrance to his enter- ing on a life of sin, and little or no diffi- culty in pursuing it. Our corrupt nature strongly inclines us to sin. David says, " We are conceived in sin, and shapen in iniquity," Psalm li. 5. ; and that " the wicked are estranged from the womb ; they go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies." You know that children need no teacher to make them wicked. Sin is in our very nature, and we walk in this road of our own ac- cord ; it is natural and pleasant to us : while we as naturally dislike the narrow road, and despise those who walk in it. Besides, those who are in the broad road meet with no hindrances from the world or from the devil. The broad way is the way of the world; for, as the Apostle John saith, " The whole world lieth in wicked- ness," except the happy few who are de- livered from it by the grace of God. In this broad way all ranks of men may be seen, from kings and princes, down to slaves and beggars. Now it is easy to walk in a broad road with a multitude, provided they are all going one way, which is the case here ; and the world will love its own. In this road, persons feel the great force of example, and plead, you know, for what they do, by the common- ness of it, or its being the way of the world. They are afraid of appearing sin- gular, even though conscience sometimes remonstrates against their evil courses. The pleasures of sin entice them to go forward, notwithstanding every warning of their danger; and the hopes of gain, and the favor of mankind, seduce them ; for these they are afraid of losing, if they become religious. This road is wide and easy, because the devil gives no disturbance to them that walk in it. While " the strong man arm- ed keeps the house, the goods are in peace." He strongly opposes the people of God who are in the narrow way ; he disputes every inch of ground with them ; but he is in league with these ; he endeav- ors to keep them from all fear of conse- quences ; he blinds their minds, lest the light of the gospel should shine into them SERMON II. 11 and he fills their hearts with prejudices against faithful preachers, who would point out their sin and danger. Yea, he takes the same course with tiiem as he did with our first mother; when he tempted her to eat the forbidden fruit. God had said, "If ye eat it, ye shall surely die ;" but this father of lies directly contradicts the threat- ening, and induces her to eat, by saying, " Ye shall not surely die." So in this case our Savior plainly declares, that the broad road of sin leads to destruction ; but Satan deceives poor sinners, and prevails upon them to believe, that, though they live in sin and unbelief, they shall not experience the destruction threatened. But who will you believe — the God of truth, or the father of lies ? Observe the text : " The broad road leads to destruc- tion ;" and O think what that destruction is. Think wliat " a fearful thing it is to fall into the hands of the livmg God." Think, O think, of " the worm that never dies, and the fire that is never quenched." What would you not do to prevent the de- struction of your property, the destruction of your dear relations, the destruction of your life ] But what are all these to your soul, your immortal soul ? " For what is a man profited, if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul 1 or, what shall a man give in exchange for his soul !" Well then, would you avoid this destruction, and surely you would, this broad road must be forsaken ; and, blessed be God, that it is not yet too late to forsake it ; and you must enter into the narrow way, by the strait gate mentioned in the text. Let us therefore, in the second place, II. Consider what is meant by the strait gate, and the narrow way, and what it leads to. The design of these expressions is to show, that the entrance into a religious course of life is painful and difficult, and that tribulation is to be expected in our progress. We may include the whole in three words, Repentance, Faith, and Ho- liiNESs; a little examination of these par- ticulars will prove the propriety of the phrases in the text. John the Baptist, our Savior, and his Apostles, all went out and preached Re- pentance ; and without this we are assured men must perish. Now repentance cannot but be painful, tor it consists chiefly m a godly sorrow for sin, together with a firm resolution to forsake it at all events, and whatever it may cost us. The penitent sinner, being convinced that he has sinned, and come short of tlie glory of God ; that he has by sin destroyed himself, and be- come liable to the dreadful wrath of God, perceives that he has all his life been act- ing a most foolish and hurtful part; but that he must now forsake all his sins, though dear to him as his rigiit eye, and useful to him as liis right hand. Now all this appears to a natural man irksome and unpleasant. He is unwilling to think se- riously of his sins and of their fatal conse- quences, and still more unwilling to part with them. He therefore shuns this, as a man would avoid passing through a very strait and low door, when a spacious one offered itself at the same time. Faith is also intended by the narrow way. " By grace are we saved through faith," and " without faith it is impossible to please God." True faith consists in so believing the gospel of Jesus Christ, as to take him for our only Savior ; utterly re- nouncing all dependence on our own works and righteousness ; submitting to be saved by the mere favor of God in Christ, as a poor beggar is relieved by an alms. Jesus Christ is, himself, the way. "I, saith he, (Jolrn xiv. (5.) am the way ; — no man Cometh to the Father but by me ;" and it is by faith that we walk in this way ; for all true Christians live by faith, and walk with God by faith. Now this way of living, renouncing all our own works, in point of dependence, and accounting them, in that respect, as " dung and dross, that we may win Christ;" this way is so contrary to our natural in- clinations, and so humbling to a self-right- eous spirit, that it may well be called a narrow way. There are thousands who are so proud of their good hearts and their good works, that they scorn to be indebted to Christ for his righteousness. They think themselves rich, and increased with goods, and that they stand in need of no- thing, while, in fact, they are poor, wretch- ed, miserable, blind, and naked. Rev. iii. 18. The boasting Pharisee, whom we read of in tlie gospel, was so swollen with the pride of his duties and works, that he could not enter in at the strait gate ; but the poor Publican, who saw and felt him- self a sinner, stooping low before God, en- tered it, crying out, " God be merciful to me a sinner !" The way of holmess is also a narrow way. Holiness consists in the conformity of our will to the will of God; it is pro- duced by the power of the Holy Spirit in the regeneration of a sinner. 1'he law of God is v/rittcn on his heart; whereby he is disposed to resist temptation, to forsake sin, and to practise obedience to the com- mands of God. In doing this, we must 12 VILLAGE SERMONS. deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and follow Christ. We must mortify the flesh, witli its affections and lusts. We must crucify the old man of sin, and walk, not according to the course of the world, nor according to tlie flesh, but according to the Spirit. Now, in doing this, we can- not but meet with ditiicidties. We shall meet with continual opposition from our own corruptions, the law in our members warring against the law of our minds. We shall also suffer reproach and contempt from the world ; for all who will live godly in CJirist Jesus shall suffer persecution. And besides all this, God our heavenly Father sees it necessary to chastise us with the rod of affliction, of which all his children are partakers, for spiritual good. Considering therefore the nature of Re- pentance, P'aith, and Holiness, we clearly see how properly a true Christian may be said to enter upon a religious life by a strait gate, and to proceed in it by a nar- row way. But here, perhaps, an objection may be started. Does not our Lord say, — " Take my yoke upon you, for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light V Does not Solo- mon say, " The ways of wisdom are pleas- antness, and her paths peace 1" And does not St. John say, that " Christ's commands are not grievous 1" How then is it true, that the gate is strait, and the way narrow 1 I answer, the ways of religion are per- fectly easy and pleasant in their own na- ture ; the difficulty arises from the deprav- ity and corruption of our nature. Angels do the will of God witli perfect ease and pleasure, for they have no sin in their na- ture to oppose it. But through the power of sin in our hearts, the entrance into reli- gion becomes painful and difficult, and through the remains of it in regenerate persons, more or less of that diffioulty is found in the wliole journey. Yet grace renders it practicable, and oflen pleasant ; so that no believer repents of his choice, nor wishes to turn back because of the hardships he endures ; but, like Moses of old, " chooses ratlier to suffer affliction witli the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season ; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches tlian the treasures of Egypt" — and for the same good reason — having " respect to the re- compense of reward." And this leads us to tlie last particular, namely. IIL To enforce the exhortation, " Enter ye in at the strait gate." O liow wise, how gracious, how reason- able, is tliis advice ! ]\Iay God dispose all our hearts to obey it ! There are but two ways that we can travel; the one leads to eternal misery ; tlie otlier to eter- nal bliss ! and that we may not miss our way, the blessed Jesus clearly marks out the right one, so that we cannot mistake — the gate is strait, the way is nawow, and there are few travellers in it. It is true, there are difficulties in the way, but heaven will make amends for all. Heaven is worth every thing, or it is worth nothing. Let us not be such cowards as to be fright- ed at a little trouble. Nothing, even in this life, can be attained without it. A child cannot learn to read witliout difficul- ty. A boy cannot learn a trade without pains. We cannot carry on any business without care or labor. But are we there- fore prevented from these things 1 No, we wisely consider the advantage, and act ac- cordingly. Neither let us be swayed by numbers. " Follow not a multitude to do evil." Let us not think ourselves right, because we do as others. We must suspect ourselves if we do. The broad road is thronged with travellers ; but the narrow has only a pil- grim here and there. And this should keep us fi'om being ashamed of singularity in a good cause. Christ here teaclies us to expect that religion will liave few ad- vocates comparatively. God grant that we, however, may be of that happy number ! Well then, let us, by divine grace, re- solve on eternal life at all events. On the one hand, here is a broad road, full of pas- sengers, in wliich, it is true, the poor, pal- try, perishing, intoxicating pleasure of sin may be enjoyed for a moment, though not without a pang ; and at the end of this short discourse is — O tremble, my soul, at the thought — Destruction ! — not ceasing to be, but an utter end of all pleasure for evermore. Misery, pains, torments, with- out mitigation, \v'ithout cessation, witliout end. Everlasting separation from the pres- ence of God, tlie fountain of life ; and con finement in chains of darkness with devils and damned spirits, to all eternity. On the other hand, God . has set before us the way of life. The entrance is strait, the way is narrow. Difficulties indeed there are ; but grace lessens them all, and sweetens tliem all ; so tliat the worst of Christ's way is better than the best of Sa- tan's way ; and, what is best of all, the end is eternal life. And O, what tongue can tell, what heart conceive, what God has laid up for them that love him ! Is tliere a redeemed soul in glory, who now repents of the pains he took in religion ! Does he repent of his repentance ? Does he regret that he believed in the Son of God ? Is he SERMON III. 13 sorry that lie walked in the way of holi- ness V O no. Each glorified saint reviews with ecstasy of joy, the rich grace of God, that enabled him to discover the danger of that Itroad road in which he once travel- led, and that placed his feet in the narrow but sure and safe road to eternal bliss. Obey then the words of our Lord in an- other place, '• Strive to enter in at the strait gate." — Agonize to do it. Do it at all events. Do it directly. Let not a mo- ment be lost. "Escape for your lives; look not behind you ; neither tarry ye in all the plain : escape to the mountain, lest ye be consumed." Fly from the wrath to come. " For many shall seek to enter in and shall not be able." (Luke xiii. 24.) ]\lany, who would willingly go to heaven, seek after it in so cold and slothful a man- ner, or by such false and mistaken ways, that they never obtain it; and O how many, who now neglect it altogether, will loiock for admittance when the door is shut! Now, therefore, while it is called to-day, let us hear his voice. Let us be diligent in observing the sabbath, attend- ing on the preached word as often as pos- sible, reading the scriptures daily ; and especially, let us wrestle hard with God in prayer, that he would give us his Spirit, to teach and assist us, and work in our hearts that deep repentance, that true faith, and that genuine holiness, which are the proper exercises of all who travel in the narrow way to heaven. The almost Christian and Apostate. Bro.\d is the road that leads to death, And thousands walk together there; But wisdom shows n narrower path, With here and there a traveller. " Deny thyself, and lake thy cross," Is the Redeereor's great command ! Nature nnjst count her gold but dross, If she would gain the heav'nly land. The fearful soul that tires and faints. And walks the ways of God no more. Is but esteemed almost a saint. And makes his own destruction sure. Lord, let not all my hopes be vain ; Create niy heart entirely new , Which hypocrites could ne'er attain ; Which lalse apostates never knew. PRAYER. — Almighty God! thou hast now set before us life and death, — blessing and curs- ing! We have heard from our Savior's lips that there are only two ways in which we can walk. The broad way of Carelessness, Carnality, and Sin, which certainlv leads to endles.s ruin ; and the narrow way of Repentance, Faiih, and HoU- ness, which leads to eternal life. Grant, 0 most merciful God, that we may immediately resolve, by thy grace, which we now heartily implore, to forsake the broad way, however diHicult we may find it so to do ! Suffer us not to proceed in it another step; but may we determine, at all events, and without a moment's delay, to strive to enter in at the strait gale. May we do this, whatever it may cost us! — although the world, the llosh, and the devil, may oppose us, yet en able us to escape for our lives, and flee for refuge to the Savior, lest we be consumed ! Strengthen us, O Lord, by thy Holy Spirit, that henceforth we ntay pursue the narrow way thai leads to thee and to Heaven! O work in our hearts that genuine repentance, that true iiiiih, and that gos- pel-holiness which are found in all the travellers to Sion ! and this we beg for the sake of Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen. SERMON III. THE NATURE, SPIRITUALITY, AND USE OF THE LAW. . Rom. vii. 9. — For I was alive without tlip law once : but when the coaimandment came, sin revived, and I died. It is a most true maxim of scripture, that, " The whole need not a physician ; but those who are sick." The church of Christ has been justly compared to a hos- pital, to which none but the sick repair; no wonder then that the gay and healthy shun it. But whether we know it or not, our souls are sadly and dangerously dis- eased ; and the worst symptom of all is, we know it not. It may not be pleasant to a person to be told of any thing amiss in his health, his family, or his affairs; yet he is a true friend who gives the information, and he is a wise man who thankfully receives it. With this view, John the Baptist was sent before Christ ; by preaching repentance to prepare the way for hmi : and the disciples of Jolm gladly received the Savior. With- out the knowledge of ourselves, as sinners, we cannot understand the gospel, nor prize Jesus. And this is the true key to wJiat would otherwise be unaccountable — the general neglect of the great salvation. When our Lord himself and his inspired Apostles, with every possible advantage, preached the gospel, few believed the heavenly report ; almost all, witli one con- sent, began to make excuse ; one going to his farm, and another to his m'ercJiandise. Now, as men are all alive to worldly pleas- ure and profit, it is evident, that tlieir ne- glect arises from ignorance of their true state ; and this is from their ignorance of the law of God, which is tlie only certam rule and standard by which to measure ourselves. Hence, St. Paul designing in this Epis- tle to treat fully concerning the great point of justification, or being made righteous before God, takes care, in the first place, 14 VILLAGE SERMONS. to prove that all men in the world are sin- iners — the Gentiles against the law of na- ture, and the Jews against the written law, or ten commandments. He well knew the importance of this method, by his own experience ; for he says in tlie text, " he was alive without the law once," &c. that is, when he was unconverted, and a proud Pharisee, he had high swelling thoughts of himself; thought all was well between God and him ; he did not see himself dead in the law, being justly condemned by it for his sin ; but he was all alive in his own opinion ; and his mistake arose from igno- rance of the law. He was " without the law;" not without the letter of it; he could have said it by heart : but he did not know its spiritua-l meaning and high re- ouirements. But when the commandment came, especially the tenth commandment ; when it came in the light and energy of the Holy Spirit to his mind and con- science ; when he saw that it reached to the thoughts, principles, views, and desires of the heart, as well as to his words and actions ; requiring perfect purity, and con- demning for a single sin, even in thought — then, saith he, then " sin revived, and I died." Then he saw thousands of things to be sins, which he never thought such before ; and he found sin had full power and life in him; sin revived in his con- science ; he saw it in all its dreadful ter- ror, as justly exposing him to the wrath of God ; and he fell under a sense of death, and condemnation, as a man dead in law, and deserving to die eternally. Now, that we may rightly understand the law, and that it may be " our school- aiiaster to bring us to Christ," let us. First, Take a view of the holy law, by which is the knowledge of sin : and, Sccondli/, Consider the proper effect of a work of the law on the heart. L Let us take a view of the holy law of iGod ; for hereby is tiie knowledge of sin. Remember, my friends, that God, who is the maker of the world, is also the gov- •ernor of it. God prefaces his law with these words, /«?« Jehovah, the self-exist- ent Being, tlie source of all being, on whom all beings depend : and he adds, / am thy God, to remind the Jews of their relation to him ; for they were his profess- ed worshippers, as we also are. He adds, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, and out of the house of bondage. Here are their obligations to him on account of their wonderful deliverance ; so the re- demption of sinners by Jesus Christ lays them under infinite obligations to holy obedience. ]\Tan is a rational being, and accountable to God for his conduct. Brute3 are led by instinct ; but it is fit that man should be led by proper motives, willingly to obey his Maker's will. Now from the first, God gave a law to man. It was not indeed written. There was no occasion for it. Men lived almost a thousand years, and could easily teach their children -what God at first taught Adam. At length, however, God saw fit to give his law from Mount Sinai, in dreadful thunders ; and also to write it on two tables of stone. You will observe, that the law of God is summed up in one word, namely. Love; and that this love has two objects : Love to God, for what he is in himself, and for the blessings he gives us; and love to man, for God's sake. The love we owe to God is to be ex- pressed in four ways; and these are set forth in the first four commandments. The ^rsi commandment is, Thou shall have no other gods but me. This requires us to know and confess the true God, Fa- ther, Son, and Holy Spirit, as the only living God, and our God ; in opposition to all idolatry ; it requires us also to love and adore him, as the author of our being, and the source of our happiness ; and this com- mandment is broken, not only by worship- ping other gods, but by setting our idols in our hearts, by excessive self-love, or love of creatures, relations, money, or gratifica- tions of the flesh; so that, according to this, there are many Atheists, living with- out God in the world, and many idolaters, worshipping the creature. The second commandment forbids all worship of Images; and requires us to worship God in the way he has appointed ; but, alas ! how many wholly neglect and despise liis worship ! How many worship God with various superstitions and inven- tions of men! How many others forget that God is a Spirit, and must be worship- ped in spirit and truth ! What levity and folly do many mix with their pretended devotions. But in vain do we thus mock God, and play the hypocrite, drawing nigli to him with the lips, when our hearts are far from him. The reason added to this commandment, for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, &c. shows how extremely displeasing it is to him to neglect his wor- ship, or worship him in an improper man- ner, and that he will resent this sin not only to the persons who commit it, but to their posterity. The third commandment forbids the taking the Lord's name in vain. But, O ! how awful is the common practice of cursing and swearing! We may truV SERMON III. 15 say, " Because of swearing the land mourn- eth ;" the breath of some men is nothing but blasphemy; "their throat is an open sepulchre ;" the stench of their profaneneas is uifinitely worse than that of a stinking carcass; and many, who do not use the most horrid oaths, will cry out — O Lord ! O God ! O Christ ! God bless us ! Lord have mercy ! &c. &c. But, however com- mon this practice is, let all men know, that God declares " he will not hold them guiltless that take his name in vain." O consider what a great God we have to do with ; and let his name never be mention- ed without a serious pause, allowing us time to tliink who he is, and that he is greatly to be feared. The fourth commandment respects the religious observation of the Lord's Day, or Christian Sabbath. Wc can never enough admire the goodness of God in the appoint- ment of it. Persons should prepare for it, by having every tiling in readiness as much as possible, that no part of it, espe- cially the morning, which is the best part of it, should be lost All unnecessary works are to be laid aside : no journeys, no visits, no settling accounts, writing letters, nor paying and receiving wages. The whole day, from morning to night, should be spent in acts of religious worship, pub- lic and private, except so much as must be employed in works of necessity and mercy. O ! how awfully is this holy day pro- faned by idleness, by needless journeys and visits, by wilfully staying away from public worship, or by persons going to church merely to meet with neighbors for worldly business, or to show their new clothes; by going to public houses, by reading newspapers, or by mere worldly vain discourse and amusement ! Now, the breach of this commandment, and of the three former, evidently proceeds from want of love to God. If we loved him as the best of beings, we should love his day, revere his name, and prize his wor- ship. And have we not broken all these commandments I Have we not reason to cry, in the words of the Liturgy, " I^ord, have mercy upon us, (for having broken these laws) and incline our hearts to keep them in time to come." Proceed we now to the second table of the law. The six last commandments re- spect our love to our neighbor. The sum of all is, " Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" The Jifth commandment respects our nearest neighbor, our relations, our pa- rents. These have tlie care and expense of education ; we can never repay their kindness. We should honor them by obe-- dience to their directions, and treating them with the greatest respect ; and that not only in childhood, but in youth and. riper years ; we should study to preserve their reputation ; to alleviate their infirmi- ties ; and, if necessary, to support them in old age. This command also includes all relative duties, whether to superiors, inferiors, or equals ; it includes the duty that servants owe to their masters, and subjects to their governors; it forbids mere eye-service; wasting the property of superiors ; or being unfaithful in what they commit to our trust. The sixth commandment directs us how to show our love to our neighbor, by a re- gard to his life and health ; and it forbids not only actual murder, but anger, hatred, malice, and other murderous tempers ; for " whosoever hateth his brother is a mur- derer," X John iii. 1.5. Whoever saith to his brother, Raca, (thou ^dls fellow) or thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire," so our Lord declares. Matt. v. 22. All unjust wars, fighting, quarrelling, ill usage, or provocations, which may hurt the health or life of anotlier, are forbidden. Many aged parents are murdered by the base conduct of their children; many wives are murdered by the drunkermess, idleness, and abuse of their husbands ; and many poor children are murdered by the neglect and wickedness of their parents. Self-murder is also hereby forbidden, no man having a right over his own life, any more than over that of his neighbor. But the worst of all is soul-miirfler. Parent.«, who neglect to instruct their children, and who are examples of vice to them ; drunk- ards, whoremongers, and adulterers, who allure others to sin with them ; all these are soul-murderers. The seventh commandment respects the love of our neighbor, with regard to purity of heart, word, and deed : it tbrbids not only the actual adultery of married per- sons, but all fornication, Jasciviousness, and wantonness. Every lustful thought, word, or look, makes a person an adulterer in God's si<,ht; for so Christ himself explains this commandment, Matt. v. 28. " WJioso- ever looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." All private uncleanness, known only to God and conscience, and practised perhaps by those who pass for chaste and virtuous people, is forbidden. Immodest dress tends to the breaking of this law ; as also do lewd books, novels, plays, songs, and pictures. In a word, this commandment requires the most per- 16 VILLAGE SERMONS. feet purity in heart, speech, and behavior, and an endeavor to promote the same in others. The eighth commandment directs us how to show our love to our neighbor, by a regard to his property. It forbids taking to our own use what belongs to another. Covetousness has led men to invent a thousand ways to cheat and defraud. Those who deceive in selling by false weights and measures ; those who run in debt, without the prospect of paying again ; those who oppress the poor ; servants who neglect their business, or waste their mas- ter's property, are all thieves in God's es- teem. This command extends much flir- ther than human laws can reach ; and re- quires that we should treat our neighbor, with respect to his property, as we could wish to be treated by him. The ninth commandment respects our love to our neighbor, in his reputation or good name. Not only taking a false oath before a magistrate, but all lying, slan- dering, and evil speaking, is forbidden. And, O ! how is the world filled with this ! And what is the greater part of common conversation but a wanton breach of this law ] We ought to be as tender of another man's character and reputation as of our own, and to avoid all such remarks, re- ports, censures, and ridicule, as we should be unwilling to receive from others. The last commandment enjoins the love of our neighbor, by requiring us to be con- tent with our condition : forbiddino- us to envy or grieve at the good of our neigh- bor, or wish to deprive him of it, that we may enjoy it. Yea, it goes much further, and forbids the most secret wish of the heart to obtain any thing that God forbids ; and this is particularly the commandment that St. Paul speaks of in the text — " I had not known lust, (saith he, ver. 7,) ex- cept the law had said thou shalt not covet." When this commandment came with pow- er to his mind, he saw that the secret working, and first motions of inordinate affection, were sins. Before he saw this, he thought all was well, for he was free from gross and outward offences ; he was what the world calls a good liver: but this commandment showed him the sins of his heart. He found the law was spiritual — reachhig to the thoughts and desires of the heart ; and thus, " sin, by the com- mandment, became exceeding sinful." Having taken this brief view of the law, we may proceed, Secondly, To consider the proper effect of a work of the law upon Uie heart " Sin revived, and I died." The law is " the ministration of con- demnation, and of death," 2 Cor. iii. 7 — 9. If a person could keep it perfectly, it would entitle liim to life ; for it was origi- nally " ordained to life," but " I found it," saith St. Paul, " to be unto death." The reason is, because we cannot, through tlie weakness of our fallen nature, keep it per- fectly : and if we fail in one point, we are guilty of all. Therefore it is written, Gal. iii. 10, " As many as are of the works of the law (that is, who trust to the works of the law for salvation) are under the curse ; for cursed is every one that continueth not in all things written in the book of the law, to do them." Now this is the sad condition of us all, till we believe m Christ for righteousness. It is to no purpose for any one to plead — I have not sinned so and so. Hast thou sinned once 1 Then thou art guilty, and the law condemns thee to eternal deatli. The law makes no allowances, no abate- ments ; it does not say a word about sin- cere obedience, or doing as well as we can : No, the law says. Do all things that are commanded : Do them perfectly : Con- tinue all thy life to do them; and tlien thou mayest be justified by thy work : but, if thou fail in one mstance, thou comest under the curse ; for " whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet ofiend in one point, is guilty of all." James ii. 10. A person may say, it is true I have sinned ; but I am very sorry for my sins, and I will amend my life ; will not this relieve me from the curse.' N^o. The law has made no provisiop for repentance, reformation, or pardon. The style of the law is not. Repent, and live; or reform, and live. But, keep the whole law per- fectly and continually, and live: trans- gress it, and die. It is true that the gos- pel brings relief for the sinner, because it reveals Christ and his righteousness : but the law knows nothing of mercy. It is not intended to give life, but to kill, and de- stroy all hopes of life by obedience, and to force the sinner to fly to Christ. So St. Paul speaks, Rom. iii. 19, " Now we know, that whatsoever the law saith, it saith to them that are under the law ; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world become guilty before God." This, then, cuts ofi' all hopes of salvation by works ; for the Apostle adds, " Tlierefore by tlie deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight ; for by tlie law is the knowledge of sin." This is its use. It can go no further. It is by the gospel we have the Ivriowledge of righteousness. We should be very careflil to distin- SERMON III. 17 guisli between tlie law tind the gospel, for many mistakes arise from mingling them together. " According to the law, salvation is by works; according to the gospel, it is by grace." " The law says, Do this, and be saved ; l)ut the gospel says, Believe this, and thou ihalt be saved." " The law threatefts to punish the sin- ner for the first offence; but the gospel oilers him pardon for many offences." " Tlie law sentences him to death ; the gospel oders him ju:^tification to life." " By the law, he is a guilty sinner ; by the gospel, he may be made a glorious saint." "If he die under the guilt of the broken law, hell will be his everlasting portion ; if he die a partaker of the grace of the gospel, heaven will be his eternal inherit- ance." APPLICATION. And now, my dear friends, having laid before you the nature of the law, let me beg you most seriously to consider what has been said, and that with regard to yourselves. What do */om know of God's law by your own experience ! Have you not seen that it is exceeding broad ; that it requires you to love God with all your heart, and soul, and strength! and your neighbor as yourself! And have you done this ! Alas ! your conscience smites you, and your own mouth must condemn you. How often have you said, " We have of- fended against thy holy laws. We have lell undone those things which we ought to have done ; and we have done those things which we ought not to have done." Probably you- have often joined in the church service, and said, after the reading of the commandments, " Lord have mercy upon us," that is, forgive our disobedience to them, " and write all these thy laws in our hearts, we beseech thee." Bid you mean \vhat you said ! If not, you lie be- fore God : if you did, you pleailed guilty ; you have confessed you are a breaker of the law, and under its curse. And have you considered what " a fear- ful thing it is to fall into the iiands of the living God !" O, how would your heart melt within you, if you duly considered what it is to be under his curse, and to bear his wrath to all eternity. If you can hear the curses of this law, and not be alarmed for your .'safety, your iieart is hard indeed. May CJod have mercy upon you, and take away tlio heart of stone ! Perhaps you are saying, Must I despair, then? No; God forbid! You must de- C spair of obtaming salvation by your works, your sorrow for sin, or your future amend- ment. And this will make the gospel wel- come to you. Tlie law has dune its office, if it drives you to Christ. It is preached for this very purpose, and " Christ is the end of the law for rigliteousness." The gospel reveals a free, full, and everlasting salvation. It publishes to the convinced sinner, pardon and life, as the free gift of God; for Christ has obeyed the precepts of the law in our stead. He has also borne the punishmen-t in our room. " He hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us." What a bless- ing have you already received, if God, by his good Spirit, has convinced you of sin ! Tliis is the dawn of a glorious day. He will also convince you of righteousness, and show you that it may be yours. Cast yourselves down at the footstool of mercy. Confess your sins. Acknowledge your guilt. Own your helplessness. Cry for pardon. Fly to Jesus, who waits to be gracious, and all shall yet be well. He hath wounded, that he may heal ; he hath killed, that he may make alive. You now will be glad of the physician, for you feel your siclmess ; and he waits to be gra- cious. You are weary and heavy laden, and he will give vou rest. " Go, vou that rest upon the law, AnJ madly seek salvation there, Looii. to the flame that Moses saw, And shrink, and tremble, and despair. " But I'll retire beneath the cross ; Savior, at thy dear feet I He ! And the l^een sword that Justice draws, Flaming and red, shall pass me by." PRAYKR.— Most holy (Jod, thou art the Cre- ator of all mankind! 'I'lioii hast made man a rational being, and given to him for the rule of his actions, a law which is holy, just, and good ! It was meet, right, and our bo-^nden duly to keep thy law, which justly rociuires of us to love thee with all our heart, and to love our neighbors as ourselves; but, alas! we have been far from doing this, — we have sinned against thee, and broken thy holy law, in thought, word, and deed. Thy law". O God, is spiritual, and reaches to the secret thoughts of the heart, requiring truth in the inward parts; but we confess, with shame and grief, that we have regarded iniquity in our hearts, and often cherislied unholy desires fir things lbrt>idden! We (ind, therefore, that the law which was ordained unto life, condemns us to deaih, by reason of onr transgression, and curses the orfender, even tor a single sin. We, therefore, w^ould not go about to establish our own righleousness; for by the deeds of the law can no one he justilied. We desire, therefore, through the law, to be dead to the law, .ind no longer to seek juslilicaliou by it; but we would gladly embrace the gospel, which assures us that Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the 2* 18 VILLAGE SERMONS. law, by being made a curse for us : for his sake, O most merciful Father, blot out all our iniqui- ties, and let us be accepted in the Beloved ! — to whom, with thee, and the Holy Ghost, be all honor and glory, world without end ! Amen. SERMON IV. CHRIST, THE END OF THE LAW FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Rom. X. 4. For Christ is tlic end of the law for right- eousness to every one that believeth. The two principal parts of Scripture, which it concerns us most to know, are the Law and the Gospel. " He who can rightly distinguish between these," says Luther, " is a good divine ;" and we may add, that he who knows how to use both aright, in an experimental and practical manner, is a good Christian. The nature and use of the law has been already considered. The proper effect of it is the same in every believer as it was in St. Paul. " I was alive without the law once ; but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died." The person brought into this state will be put on the inquiry — How then can I come before God and hope for pardon? If the law be so holy and strict — if it can do nothing for me, but convince me of sin, and condemn me for it — by what means can I be ac- cepted ] Now there are but two ways, that ever were proposed of God, or devised by man : the one according to the old covenant, Do, and live ; the other, accordmg to the new — " Believe in the Lord Jesus' Christ, and thou shalt be saved." Whatever ways and means have been thought of, by people of all religions, they may be reduced to these two— WorA.?, or Grace. And these can- not be mixed ; for if any merit be allowed to works, there is an end to grace ; and if salvation be of grace, then there is no place for the merit of works. So St. Paul speaks, Rom. xi. 6. " If by grace, then it is no more of works : otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace ; otherwise work is no more work." So that you see salvation cannot be by grace and works mixed, it must be by one or the other alone; and we are repeatedly assured in the Scrip- ture, that " by grace are we saved, through faith," and " not by works, lest any man should boast," Eph. ii. 8, 9. It is of vast importance to be rightly in- formed on this head. This may be inferred from what St. Paul says of the Jews, Rom. ix. 30, &c. " The Gentiles (saith he) who followed not after righteousness, have at- tained to righteousness, even the right- eousness which is of faith: but Israel, which followed after righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness." This, you will say, is strange ! What can be the reason of it ? He tells us, ver. 31. "Because they sought it not by faith." How then 1 " As it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stum- bling stone. Alas, how many thousands called Christians, have stumbled in the same way. God preserve us from it ! How earnestly did the good apostle wish for the salvation of his mistaken brethren. His " heart's desire and prayer to God for them was, that they might be saved." He saw, that while they were looking for life by their works, they were not in the way of salvation. It is true, they had a great zeal for God, but it was good for nothing ; it was founded in ignorance. " They were ignorant of God's righteousness," namely, tjis in the text; ahd being ignorant of this, and yet wanting a righteousness, " they went about to establish their own ;" — they tried to set it up, and make it stand for their acceptance ; even their own poor, imperfect, ceremonial, and outward works; but they were totally insufficient for that purpose; and thus through the pride of their hearts, which scorned to be entirely beholden to free grace, they re- fused to stoop, and submit to be saved by the righteousness of another, even of Christ, who is said in the text to be the " end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." May God keep us from this worst sort of pride ; and enlighten our minds while we attend to the three following particulars. I. Jesus Christ, by his obedience and death, performed a perfect righteousness. II. In so doing, he is the end of tlie law ; and, III. This righteousness is given to every believer. I. Jesus Christ, by his obedience and death, performed a perfect righteousness. " God made man upright." He gave him a law to be the rule of his actions, in- cluding a promise if he kept it, and a threatening if he broke it. If he obeyed the law perfectly, God would esteem him righteous. Adam fell ; and, with him, all his posterity ; for he was appointed their head and representative. " By one man's disobedience iriany were made sinners," Rom. V. 19. Our nature is now corrupt ; and we are born with enmity in our hearts against God. " The carnal mind is not subject to the law of God, neither can it SERMON IV. 19 be," while it remains carnal. But the law- is not altered. It requires what it always did, Love. This was always due from man to his Creator, and always will, whether men pay it or not. If man refuse to give it, he is a rebel and an idolater. The law being ever the same, it thunders out its dreadful curses against every sinner, for every sin. But the law provides no reme- dy. It will not accept of sincere obedience, instead of perfect obedience. It says not a word of accepting a sinner's tears for payment; or admitting his future obe- dience as a recompense for past sins. No, it constantly demands supreme love and perfect obedience ; and condemns the sin- ner for the want of it in a single instance. "But what the law could not do, be- cause of the weakness of the flesh, God has done anotlier way." God has sent his Son to be our righteousness. As the law could not abate in its demands, and must have obedience from the creature, or pun- ish the sinner; Jesus Christ graciously undertook to obey and suffer for his peo- ple ; to obey all the precepts of the law, and to suffer all its pains and penalties. The law required perfect obedience of them ; Christ came as their surety to obey for them ; and so, as it is written, " By the obedience of one shall many be made righteous." This blessed and comfortable truth may be fully proved from many scriptures. Take the following, 2 Cor. v. 21. " He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sm, that we might be made the right- eousness of God in iiim." Jesus Christ knew no sin. He was free from sin in his nature; that holy thing which was born of the virgin being the Son of God. His whole life was as pure as his birth. He knew no sin in thought, word, or deed. He challenged his bitter- est enemies to prove him a sinner — " Which of you, said he, accuseth me of sin!" Yea, the great enemy, the devil, came and " found nothing in him ;" no sin in his heart ; no sin in his life. Thus was he the pure and spotless Lamb of God, prepared to bear away the sin of the world. But Jesus Christ, wiio knew no sin, was " made sin,''^ tliat is, by imputation ; it was reckoned to hmi ; put to his account ; in the same manner as his righteousness is imputed to us, or put to our account. Out of his great love to his people, he became their surety, to answer for their sins, and to bear their punishment. So the prophet Isaiah speaks, chap. liii. 4, dz,c. " Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows. He was wounded for our trans- gressions ; he was bruised for our iniqui- ties ; the Lord hath laid upon him the ini- quity of us all." The design of Christ's being made sin for us was, ". that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." Righteous- ness is a perfect conformity to the law of God, without which no man can be saved ; for it is written, '' The unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God," 1 Cor. vi. 9. Now we are all unrighteous, because we have broken the law. " There is none righteous" upon earth in himself: " no, not one." And yet without a righteous- ness, we cannot be saved. What then can we do ! Where can we look ] Only to Jesus. " Surely shall one say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength." " It is not said, in my own works, in my own repentance, no, nor in my own faith, but in the Lord Jesus have I righteousness — righteousness for justification, and strength for sanctification. An imputed righteous- ness to procure my acceptance; an im- parted strength to produce my holiness. Surely, which expresses a firm persuasion, and an unshaken affiance." To him give all the prophets witness ; for " this right- eousness of God without the law, is wit- nessed by the law and the prophets." Hear what the prophet Daniel says of him, ch. Lx. 24. — " To finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make recon- ciliation for iniquity, and to bring in ever- lasting righteousness." All this Christ actually did by his obedience unto death ; and thus he became the end of the law, which is the second thing we proposed. II. Jesus Christ, by his righteousness, is become the end of the law ; for 1. Hereby he put an end to the ceremo- nial law, or those ordinances, such as sac- rifices, which were types or emblems of liim. You may remember, that our Savior, just before liis death, cried out, " It is fin- ished .'" — as if ho had said — My engage- ments with the Father are accomplished — the types and prophecies are fulfilled — my dreadful sufferings are at an end — the ceremonial law is abolished. Thus " the law came by Moses, but grace and truth by Jesus Christ." 2. The moral law, or law of the ten commandments, was hereby satisfied and magnified; according to the prophecy, (Is. xlii. 21.) " He will magnify the law and make it honorable." The law must have its end, and be completely fulfilled, or we cannot appear as rigiiteous before God; but we are unable to fulfil it ourselves. What we, however, could not do, He, as 20 VILLAGE SERMONS. our surety, has done. The law demands a righteousness of us ; this is the end at which it aims, but we cannot effect it. Christ has done it for us, and is become the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. With this the law is satisfied, and, like the avenger of blood, pursues the smner only till he takes refuge in Christ ; in him the believer finds a sanctuary, and the law retires, satisfied, and well pleased for his righteousness' sake. We have only now to show, m the Third place, That this righteousness is given to every believer ; or, that it is by ftiith we become interested therein. The righteousness wrought out by Jesus is freely given to the believer ; so St. Paul says, Rom. v. 16. " The judgment was by one (offence) to condenmation, but the free gift is of many offences to justification." If it be asked. How can the righteous- ness of another be made ours ? We an- swer, in the same manner that our sins were made Christ's, that is, by imputation. Christ, who had no sin of his own, was made sin for us ; reckoned as a sinner, and dealt with as such ; so we, who have no righteousness of our own, are made the righteousness of God in him — not in our- selves. The sins of the elect were not inherent in Christ, but put to his account ; so the righteousness of Clirist is not in- herent in us, but imputed to us ; and God is graciously pleased to deal with us ac- cordingly : he treats us as if we had not sinned, and accepts us as perfectly right- eous, so that there is no condemnation whatever to us. The nature of tliis may be learned from the dealings of mankind with one another. We read in St. Paul's Epistle to Phile- mon, to whom he wrote in behalf of Onesi- mus, a runaway servant, who was after- wards converted, desiring him to receive him again — " If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee aught, saith Paul, impnte il to me" put it to my account. And thus it is with bondsmen, or sureties, who make themselves liable to pay tlic debt of an- other; what they pay is imputed to the person for whom they are bound, and he is reckoned to have paid it by them : and thus as a plain man expresses it, " The gospel is nothing but good news — that a rich man is come into the country, to pay poor people's debts." Now this glorious gift of rigliteousness becomes ours by faith ; it is therefore call- ed "the righteousness of faith ;" and "the righteousness of God, which is by faith, and which is to, and upon, all that be- lieve." Hence, also, we are said to be jus- tified by faith ; and " to be saved by grace, through faith." The person who has been convinced of sin by the law, alarmed by his sense of danger, led to seek tor salvation, and en- ligiitened in the knowledge of Christ, gladly receives this gift of righteousness. He sees no other way. He is pleased with this way. He receives this righteousness, and relies upon it for his acceptance with God. We mu^t always remember, that the only person who can or will receive this righteousness, is one who has been con- vinced that he is unrighteous in himself; and who is looking out for deliverance from that state in which the law leaves him. He hears the proposal of the gospel ; assents to it as true ; delights in it as good ; renounces all other ways of obtaining re- lief, and heartily consents to be saved by grace alone. This is that faith frequently described in the Scripture by receiving Christ — coming to Christ — and trusting in Christ APPLICATION. And now, my dear friends, consider, I beseech you, the great importance of this subject. That great reformer, Luther,. said, " that justification by faith is that ar- ticle on which the whole church must stand or fall." It was the pillar of the Reformation. It is the leading doctrine of the Churcli of England. In one of the- thirty-nine articles, which you will do well to read', this grand truth is thus expressed : " We are accounted righteous before God, only for tlie merit of our Lord Jesus Christ, by faith, and not for our outi works or de- serving's. Wherefore, that we are justi- fied by faith only, is a most wholesome doctrine, and very full of comfort." The prayer-book speaks the same language. Perhaps yoa may remember these expres- sions : " O Lord God, who seest that we put not our trust in any thing that we do." Agam, " We lean only on the hope of thy heavenly grace." In another place, " We do not presume to come to this thy table, trusting in our own righteousness." Take also a few passages from the book of Homilies. " Man cannot make himself righteous by his own works, neitlier in whole nor in part : for that were the great- est arrogancy and presumption in man that Antichrist could set up against God, to aftirm that man mio-ht, by his own works, take away his sins, and so justify himself" In another place we have these excellent words, " Christ is now become the right- eousness of all them that do truly believe in him ; He, for them, paid the ransom by SERMON IV. 21 his death ; lie, for them, fulfilled the law in his life. Once more, " This righteous- ness, which we so receive of God's mercy, and Christ's merits, embraced by faith, is taken, accepted, and allowed of Cod, our perfect and full justification." Think of tliis matter with respect to yourselves. — You must die. You must appear before a holy God, wlio hates sin, and has declared that tlie soul tliat sinneth shall die. Are you not asking, — " Where- with shall 1 come bctbre the Lord, and ap- pear before the most high God !" You have now heard. Not by work* of righteous- ness which you have done. These are imperfect and insufficient. The best of them is mixed with sin. Trust not to tliein. Renounce them all, and say with St. Paul, '• Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but dung and dross, that I may win Christ, and be tbund in him, not havmg on mine own righteousness, but that which is through the faith of Clxrist,,the right- eousness which is of God, by faith." If you trust to any thing else, you "frus- trate," as much as you can, " the grace of God," and in eiiect say, that " Christ died in vain." This is a blasphemy that you do not intend, but all self-righteousness speaks this horrid language. Remember what is written, 1 Cor. iii. 11, "Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." This alone can bear the weight of a sinner's salvation ; every other will give way when the storm comes, and bury the builder in its ruins. But I hope better things of you, my brethren, even the things wiiich accom- pany salvation. I hoce you are convinced of sin, and also of righteousness ; that you are hungering and thirsting atl:er it. Be of good comfort. It is the gift of God, freely bestowed, without any deservings on the part of the sinner. " Ask, and ye siuill receive. Seek, and ye shall find. Ivjiock, and it shall be opened unto you." Pray to God for faith. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to produce it. Faith Com- eth by hearhig. Continue to hear his word ; and expect, that, in waiting upon God, he will enable you to mix faith with it, that so it may profit your soul. Have any of you, my brethren, put on the Lord Jesus! Is he the foundation of your hopes! Is his righteousness tlie rock on which you build ! the wedding garment in which you resolve to appear before Jiim l I call upon you to rejoice. Blessed are your eyes, for they see : and your ears, for tliey hear. Blessed is your heart, for therewith ye have believed unto salvation. Now you may say with the Church, (Isa. Ixi. 10.) *' I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God ; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation; he hath covered me witii the robe of right- eousness!"— " A robe, that hides every sin, which in thought, word, or deed, I have committed. A robe, which screens from the sword of justice, the curse of the law, and all the vengeance which my iniqui- ties have deserved. A robe, which adorns and dignifies my soul; renders it fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and meet for the inheritance of the saints in light." Happy believer ! go on thy way rejoicing. The sting of death is gone. Who shall condenm thee ! God hath justified thee. Thou luiowest in whom thou hast believ- ed ; and he will assuredly keep that which thou hast committed unto him. Wear this righteousness as thy breastplate. It shall guard thy heart from fear, in sickness and in death; yea, thus defended, thou shalt appear with boldness in the presence of God. Filled with holy joy and gratitude, let thy lips and life proclaim the same faith which justifies the soul, sanctifies the heart; that this doctrine is according to godliness; and that, "the grace of God, which bringeth salvation, teacheth thee to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live righteously, soberly, and godly in this present evil world." Let the following lines be the sincere language of every soul : " Be all my heart, and all my ways, Directed to thy single praise ; And let my glad obedience prove, How much I owe, how much I love." The Law and Gospel distinguished. The Law commands, and makes us know, What duties to our Ciod we owe; But 'tis the Gospel must reveal Where lies our strengtii to do his will. The Law discovers guilt and sin, And shows how vile our hearts have been; Only the Gospel can express Forgiving love, and cleansing grace. What curses doth the Law dcnoimce Against the man who fails hut once! But in the Gospel C'hrist appears, Pard'ning the guilt of num'rous years. My sold, no more attempt to draw Thy life and com(()rt from tiie law; Fly to the hope the Gospel gives, The man who trusts the promise lives. Watts. PRAYER. — O God of our salvation, we re- joice 10 hear that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth ! May we be true believers, that he may he the end of the law for ns ! We rejoice in believing that what the law could not do ibr us, because of the weakness and infirmity of our fallen na- ture, thou, O (iod, in thy infinite wisdom and love, hast done in another way, — even by giving thy dear Son to be our righteousness! li^ was 22 VILLAGE SERMONS. made ein for us, thai we might be made the righteousness of God in him. He perfectly obey- ed all his precepts in his holy life ; he endured its heaviest penalties in his meritorious death, and thus brought in an everlasting righteous- ness, by which the law is not only satislied, but magnihed, and made honorable !— O then enable each of us to say, •' In the Lord have I right- eousness and strength : I will greatly rejoice in the Lord : — my soul shall be joyful in my God ; for he hath clothed me with the garments of sal- vation; he halh covered me with the robe of righteousness!" — to him be glory, honor, and praise, now and for evermore ! Amen. SERMON V. THE FALL OF MAN. Eccl. vii. 29. — God made man upright ; but they have sought out many inventions. These are the words of Solomon, the king of Israel ; and appear to be the re- sult of much observation and experience. Possessed of superior talents, and placed in the highest station, he resolved to at- tain the utmost degree of wisdom : but his success was not equal to his wishes. He perceived, however, the extreme folly of having so many wives and concubines ; and says, verse 28, — " One man among a thousand have I found ; but a woman among all those have I not found ;" that is, amongst liis courtiers and flatterers, one man, perhaps, among a thousand, he found, on whom he could depend; but not one among his thousand wives and concubines. " But this only, saith he, have I found — that God made man upright ; but they have sought out many inventions." This he was sure of He had no doubt respecting this : and to this apostasy of man he traces up the evils he saw and felt. These words represent two things — namely. The original and apostate state of man. First, let us consider the original state *)f man. " God made m.an upriglit." M'ln signifies the first man Adam ; the father and head of all men ; in whom the whole human race was included. God made him ; formed him out of the dust of the earth ; and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, Gen. ii. 7. God made him upright ; this does not mean in his bodily stature, but in the frame and dispo- sition of his mind. " God created man in his own image, in his own likeness." He was naturally and habitually righteous. His heart was properly disposed towards God ; with a love of good, and a hatred of evil. The law was not written for him in tables of stone, but it was written upon hia heart. His mind was endued with true know- ledge, (Col. iii. 2.) He knew his Maker. He knew his glorious perfections ; his power, his wisdom, his holiness, and liis goodness. He knew his relation to God, his duty to him, and his dependence on him. He saw the glory and goodness of God in his works. He studied them, that he might glorify God in them ; hence we find him giving names to the creatures, which, in the original, show that he had observed them, and tmderstood their na- ture. His loill was conformed to the will of God. It had no such bias to evil as we now have ; but it was disposed to comply with the divine will in all respects. The affections of hil soul were holy and heavenly. He loved God above all. He considered him as the supreme good, and the grand source of his happiness. He loved the creatures for God's sake ; and all the beauty of sweetness he found in them, led him to adore and love his God the more. In this state, man was truly blessed and honorable. His mind was calm. His con- science was easy. He knew no guilt. He felt no shame. He was a stranger to fear. No angry passions disturbed his soul. His body was free from disease and pain. He conversed with God, and was as happy as Paradise could make him. Had he continued in this state of up- rightness for a certain time, he would prob- ably have been translated, without pain or death, to a heavenly state, still happier ; and all his posterity would liave been con- firmed in the same condition of holiness aud happiness, without the danger of fall- ing, as he did : for as it is certain, that all mankind, descended from Adam, are in- volved in the consequences of his fall ; we may justly conchide, that had he main- tained his integrity, they would all have shared in the happy fruit of it. But, alas ! though " God made man upright, he hath sought out many inventions." " The crown is fallen from his liead, the glory is depart- ed from him." This is a point which it greatly concerns us to know. This is one of the first principles of our religion, on which all the rest depend. For if man is not at variance with his Creator, what need of a Mediator ! If he be not depraved and undone, what necessity of a Restorer and Savior 1 If he is not enslaved to sin, why is he redeemed by Jesus Clirist ? If he is not polluted, why must he be washed in the blood of the Lamb ? If his soul is not dis- ordered, what occasion is there for a divine Physician ? In a word, if he is not born in sin, why is a new birth so necessary, SERMON V. 23 that Christ solemnly declares, without it no man can " see the kingdom of God !" Let us then attend, in the second place, to The present apostate state of man. Satan, full of hatred to God, and envying the happiness of man, devised the method of his destruction witli infernal cunning. He assaulted "the weaker vessel" first; questioned, and then denied the word of God ; represented the command not to eat of tlie tree as very severe ; and the eating of it as quite harmless, yea, as highly ad- vantageous. " Ye shall not surely die," said the devil, though God had said, " Ye shall surely die." Thus Eve was deceived, and became the unhappy means of seduc- ing her husband. Thus both our parents fell from their original state of purity and bliss ; and, as a token of God's dreadful displeasure, were banished from the garden of Eden. But you must observe, that in and by this fall of our first parents, all their posterity likewise fell. So, St. Paul assures us, Rom. V. 12, " By one man sin entered in- to the world, and death by sin ; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sin- ned." And again verse 15, " through the offence of one, many are dead ;" and again, verse 18, " by the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation." In consequence of our fall in Adam, our nature is wholly corrupt. Our hearts are naturally carnal and worldly. We forsake God, the foundation of happiness ; and vain- ly strive to make ourselves happy in sin and folly ; or, as our text has it — " we have sought out many inventions" — many vain reasonings — many foolish questions and speculations ! we may read our depravity in our misery. In our present fallen state we can relish only earthly things, and they all conspire to disappoint our expectations. What are the numberless inventions of men, but weak and wicked attempts to pro- cure happiness without God, and contrary to his will. What inventions to please the imaginations 1 Hence the loads of nov- els which burden the world, and are read and relislied far better than the word of truth. What inventions to delight the eyes ! Hence plays and shows, and all the vanity of dress. What inventions to please the ear ! Hence all the charms of music, vocal and instrumental. What inventions to gratify tlie taste 1 Hence all tlie art of cookery, collecting niceties from every quarter of tlie world. Of how many may it be said, that their kitchen is their temple, the cook their priest, and their belly their god ! What inventions are there to kill time ! Short as life is, and we all complain it is so short, yet it drags on too slowly for many. Hence the various amusements, especially playing at cards, invented on purpose to kill time. All, how soon will these murderers of time wish for one of their lost hours, when time with tliem shall be no more ! What inventions are there to gratify pride ! What contrivances to make us look greater and finer than our neigh- bors! What inventions to become rich and great! for this, men spend all their strength, and risk their health and life. What inventions to deceive one another, and to appear wliat we really are not ! But there are worse inventions still in matters of religion. What inventions of doctrine ! how many teach, for divine truth, the commandments of men ! What inven- tions in the worship of God ! Hence all idolatry and superstition ; hateful to God, and hurtful to men. What inventions as to the way of acceptance with God ! There is but one true way, and that is Christ; but instead of this, men have invented a thousand ways ; pretending, by tlieir own virtue, goodness, morality, charity, and de- votion, to recommend themselves to God. Not to dwell any longer on the word " inventions," let us take a general view of man in his fallen state. See what ignorance veils his mind ! How wretched and near to the state of brute beasts are millions of the Imman race ; the untutored savages, and the degraded blacks, yea, even Europeans, who are mere enlightened. Americans also, a people more highly favored than any others, a people inhabiting a land of civil and reli- gious liberty ; a land full of Churches and Bibles ! O how many thousands are in darkness and the shadow of death ! Yes, even many of those, who are scholars, and wise enough in worldly things, know not God, know not tliemsclves, know not Jesus Christ. How many that seem to be reli- gious, worship "an unknown Gofl," being- ignorant of their fallen state, and therefore ignorant of the salvation of the Redeemer ! But ignorance is not all. Consider the carnality of the mind. The heart is gone from God. It does " not like to retain God in its knowledge." How many are saying to God, " Depart from us ; we desire not the knowledge of thy ways !" And say, my brethren, is it not so with some of youl Why else is it that you do not love prayer ? Why do you neglect tlie bible ? Why do you break the sabbath ? Why do you take pleasure in the company of the wicked, while you laugh at serious people, and true piety 1 Your conscience sometimes smites you fijr this, for you know they are right, 24 VILLAGE SERMONS. and you are wrong; and were you on a dying bed, you would gladly be in their state* You have an immortal soul, whicla you know must be saved for ever, or lost for ever, and yet you live as if you had no soul at all. And though religion be the great business of man, it is the only busi- ness that you neglect ; it is the only busi- ness that you hate to see others mind. And does not this convince you that you are carnal indeed ! " Even a child is known by his doings," " foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child," Pro. xx. 2. xxii. 15. Have you never observed the envy, pride, and passion of little children .' They could not learn these evil tempers from others. They brought them into the world with tliem. They were born in sin. Look at young people. The seeds of sin which were in their nature, spring up and grow apace. The bud of vice now begins to blow. See the forward rash youth, full of pride and self-conceit, despising his pa- rents, impatient of control, bursting every bond, that he may pursue his pleasures; and determined to indulge his lusts, though at the expense of health, character, and life itself O who can lament, as it de- serves, the shameful, the worse than brutal lewdness of both sexes ! This vice awfully prevails ; and though some may laugh at it, and think it a little sin, let them know, that " whoremongers and adulterers God will judge." Heb. xiii. 4. What shall we say of profaneness ? " Because of swearing the land mourneth ;" our country groans under the burden of this horrid crime, this unprofitable vice; the streets, the roads, the fields, the ale- houses, ringf with the horrid language of hell. The throat of the swearer is " an open sepulchre," belching forth, in oaths and curses, a stench more hateful to God, than the smell of a human carcass to man. This is so common tliat we almost forget its criminality ; but what saith the law 1 " Thou shalt not take the name of tlie Lord thy God in vain ; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless, that taketh his name in vain." Surely this is a sin, which, above most others, shows that man is wofully fal- len and wicked ; or how could he practise, how could he love, this unprofitable vice 1 Time would fail us to speak of a thousand other evils which proceed out of the heart. Read the catalogue given by our Savior himself. Matt. xx. 19. «Evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false v/itness, blasphemy ; these come forth from the heart, and they defile the man." The Scriptures abound with testimonies to this sad truth. Read the followmg Gen. vi. 5, " And God saw that the wick- edness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually ; and it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart." See also Gen. viii. 21, " The im- agination of man's heart is evil from his youth." Read also Job xi. 12, " Vain man would be wise, though man be born like a wild ass's colt ;" and chap. xv. 14, " What is man, that he should be clean .' and he which is born of a woman, that lie should be righteous ] And lest any should think that all people are not so bad, and that these things are said only of openly wicked persons, observe what the tbllowing Scripture declares. Psalm xiv. 2, 3, " Tlie Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand and seek God. They are all gone aside ; they are altogether be- come filthy ; there is none that doeth good ; no, not o?ie." In a word, see the true pic- ture of fallen man, in Jerem. xvii. 9, " The heart is deceitful above aU things, and des- perately wicked ; who can know it ?" Thus, then, is this terrible, but useful truth, fully confirmed. None can deny it, without denying the word of God. But if these testimonies are not enough, turn your eyes to the state of mankind in this present evil world, and you will find sad proof that man is in a fallen state. How astonishing is the quantity of misery in the world ! How many thousands are rending the air with the cry of pain or wretchedness! Strange, that ever there should be so much ; that there should be any suffering in the creation of a good God ! Doubtless there is a cause for it ; and if the Bible had not told us what it is, we should be for ever in the dark. O, Adam, what hast thou done ! O, man, what art thou always doing ! Is not " the earth cursed for man's sake!" and why doth it bring forth so plentifully thorns and briers, while useful plants, and fruit, and grain, cannot be produced without great labor"! The earth itself preaches to us this hum- bling doctrine, and while man gains his daily bread by the sweat of his brow, let him learn that sin is the fatal cause. Sometimes the earth is deluged with dangerous floods ; at other thnes it is har- dened with excessive drought. Dreadful peals of thunder siiake flie heavens ; fear- ful flashes of lightning fill the skies. Hor- rible earthquakes cleave the ground, and open a sudden grave for thousands. Burn- ing mountains belch forth tlieir destructive SERMON V. 25 contents. The seas, raised to fury by stormy winds, bury the poor helpless sea- men. Terrible plagues sweep away whole cities in a few days. What is the language of these fearful messengers! They all unite to say, Man is fallen, and God is angry. Consider also the sorrows of mothers in bringing forth their ofl'spring; the cries, and tears, and pains, and death of little babes. Think of the various fierce and agonizing diseases of mankind. What is the world but a huge hospital ? and where jalmost the house that there is not one sick 1 How many of our poor fellow-creatures are pining in poverty, or racked with pain, or raving with madness ? Turn your eyes to the dying bed of a fellow-mortal. Look at his ghastly countenance. See how he is convulsed ; how he labors for life. At last, with a mournful groan, he bids adieu to this wretched world. Behold the pale and lifeless corpse. In a few days, perhaps in a few hours, it begins to change. Putre- faction seizes it ; and the body, once so dear and pleasant, the parent, the wife, and the child, must be " buried out of our sight ;" must be consigned to the dark, cold, and lothesome grave, to become the prey of sordid worms. What a terrible proof does all this afford of our sinful state ! IMPROVEMENT. And now what shall we say to these things ? Is this the state of man ! How ne- cessary it is that he should know it ! We observed at the beginning, that it is one of the first principles of our religion, and without knowing this, we cannot under- stand the rest. — " When the veil is upon the heart, the veil is upon every thing." There are three things, the absolute neces- sity of which we may learn from what has been said, namely, Redemption, Repent- ance, and Regeneratinn. 1. Redemption. God hates sin with in- finite abhorrence. Sin renders us abomi- nable in his sight. " The wages of sin is death." " He will render indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil." How then can we escape the damnation of hell] Blessed be God, he hath so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son to be our Redeemer, and Savior. Jesus Clirist has died for sinners " the just for the unjust, to bring us to God." By his blood, reconcili- ation is made for iniquity ; and by his Spi- rit, our nature is renewed ; so that we may be fully restored to tlie favor and image of God. " O Jesus, what hast thou not done to loosen guilt and pain, to sweeten adver- sity, to blunt the sting of death, to restore D happiness, in some degree, to the earth, and to insure it in eternity !" 2. See also the need of Repentance, or such a sight and sense of sin as leads to godly sorrow and self-abhorrence. " Sin is the only thing that God hates, and almost the only thing that man loves ;" but grace will make us hate it heartily, and our- selves on account of it. Alas, how far from this are many, who yet call them- selves Christians ! Hear the proud Phari- see crying, " God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are :" or boasting that he has a good heart, and a clear conscience ; that he does his duty to the best of his power, and never hurt any body in his life. This is the wretched cant of poor deluded souls, who know not the " plague of their own hearts." God forbid this should be our case. Let us rather, like the good men we read of in Scripture, confess our sins, lothe ourselves, and repent in dust and ashes. Then shall we thankfully receive the free mercy and forgiving love of God through Jesus Christ. 3. From hence also we may learn the necessity of Regeneration. Nothing short of this is sufficient : for " striving against nature is like holding a weathercock with one's hand ; as soon as the force is taken off, it veers again with the wind." If we are bom in sin, we must be born again. So our Savior solemnly declared to Nico- demus, John iii. 3. " Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." We must have a new heart ; that is, a new dis- position of heart ; such a change within, as may justly be called a new creation. And this is far more than the baptism of water. We must be " born of water and of the Holy Ghost ;" that is, we must ex- perience the power of the Spirit on our minds, which is like that of water on the body, to cleanse and purify it from sin. Water in baptism, is " the outward visible sign," but there is also "an inward and spiritual grace;" and this is "a death unto sin, and a new birth unto righteousness." The regenerate person hates sin, and earn- estly desires deliverance from it. The sincere language of the soul is — " Go, sin ; go, for ever, thou rebel to God ; thou cru- cifier of Christ ; thou griever of the Spirit ; thou curse of the earth ; thou poison in my blood ; thou plague of my soul, and bane of all my happiness." How important then is the knowledge of our final state ! " it is the devil's master- piece to make us think well of ourselves;" It is God's great and gracious work to discover to us our true condition. May 26 \1LLAGE SERMONS. tlic Holy Spirit, so bless what has now been said concerning it, that, discovering the disease of our nature, we may liighly prize the great physician of our souls ; may lie down before a holy God in the dust of hu- miliation yet looking up for pardoning mer- cy, and for sanctifying grace, daily to renew us in the spirit of our mind, till, being made meet for heaven, we are ad- mitted into that blessed state, where sin and sorrow shall be known no more ; and wliere, with all the Redeemed, we shall celebrate our glorious recovery fi-om the ruins of the fall, ascribing salvation to God and the Lamb, for ever and ever. Amen. PRAYER.— O Thou God of infinite purity and holiness, when it pleased thee to make man, thou didst make him in thine own image, after thine ovrw likeness, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness! Thou didst make him upright: his mind was endued with the knowledge of thee; his will was conformed to thy will ; and the af- fections of his heart were holy and spiritual : but O how soon did he fall from that happy estate, by eating the forbidden fruit, exposing himself to the threatened curse, and involving all his pos- terity in sin and misery! We confess, O Lord, with shame, the total de- pravity of our nature ! Our minds are veiled in ignorance, — our hearts are carnal and full of en- mity against thee ; and from this bitter fountain have flowed the streams"of innumerable trans- gressions. We desire to repent as in dust and ashes. We pray to be renewed in the spirit of our minds, that we may become new creatures in Christ Je- sus,— that being interested in the great redemp- tion, we may be restored both to thy favor and thy image, so that finally we may be admitted into thy presence, and obtain an inheritance among them who are sanctified by faith in thy dear Son, who, with thee and the Holy Ghost, are one God, blessed for evermore ! Amen. SERMON VI. REDEMPTION. Eph. i. 6. — In whom we have redemption through his blood. The word Redemption, is perhaps the most compreliensive that our own language, or any other, can aftbrd. Redemption itself is certainly the greatest blessing that God can bestow, or man receive. ''Tis this that strikes the joyful strings of the heav- enly harpers.' This is the burden of that ever-new song, which none but the re- deemed can sing — " Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, for thou hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation." The salvation of man, under whatever name it is described, always supposes his fallen, guilty, ruined, and helpless state; nor can we understand one word of the gospel aright without knowing this. He is dangerously diseased ; Christ is the phy- sician, and salvation his cure. He is na- ked : Christ covers him with his righteous- ness. He is famished : Christ is his meat and drink. He is in darlmess: Christ is his light. He stands at tlie bar, accused and ready to be condemned: Christ ap- pears as his surety, and pleads his right- eousness for his justification. So here in the text. Man is in bondage : Christ pays the ransom, and procures his discharge. Come then, my friends, and let us at- tend to this great subject; and remember, that we are fixing our minds on the same delightful theme that engages the hearts and harps of glorified saints ; and which will employ our grateful tongues to all eternity, if we are found among the ran- somed of the Lord. Redemption, among men> is the deliver- ance of persons out of a state of captivity and bondage by an act of power, or rather by the payment of a price for their ran- som. The recovery of God's chosen peo- ple from the ruins of the fall is therefore described by this term ; because they are, by nature, in a wretched state of bondage and slavery, from which they could never deliver themselves ; and in which, if not delivered, they must perish for ever. But Christ, the Son of God, out of his infinite love and compassion, undertook the deliv- erance : and by paying down a sufficient price, even his own precious blood, as a ransom, delivered them from ruin, and re- stored them to liberty. That w^e may better understand this re- demption of lost man, let us consider — A/s captivity — his helplessness — and the means of his deliverance. Consider, first, the state of man as a captive and a slave. Captives, among men, are persons taken in war and made pris- oners. In many cases they have been used very ill ; put to shame ; doomed to hard labor ; confined in chains, prisons, or mines ; led at the chariot-wheels of their conquerors; and sometimes put to death in a wanton and cruel manner. To this day the poor Blacks are treated as cap- tives, and kept in a state of bondage. Not- withstanding the praiseworthy efforts that have been made to abolish the nefarious traffic in human blood, ships are fitted out in different countries, and sent to Africa, on purpose to get hundreds and thousands of them for slaves. They are stolen, or procured under various and wicked pre- tences ; torn from the bosoms of their dear- est relations ; forced away from their own SERMON VI. 27 country ; closely stowed together in a ship, I and, wlien brouirht to the West-Indies, sold like beasts in a market. They are then doomed to hard labor, and often to cruel usage, till deatli puts an end to their miseries, or their liberty is obtained by paying a sum of money for it. In such -a case, a man may be said to be redeemed; and, ceasing to be a slave, he becomes a freeman. This may give us some idea of the nature of Rcdcm])tion. When God made man, he made him upright; he made him free; but he soon lost his liberty. Satan attacked him, and prevailed against him ; and not against him only, but against all his posterity. Iri^ this state we are born ; in this we live ; and in this we die and perish, unless the Redemption of Christ is applied to our souls by the Holy Spirit. You would pity a niimber of poor captives, if you saw them in heavy chains ; if you saw them stripped of their clothing, rob- bed of their wealth, or sold like beasts ; if you saw them cruelly abused and beaten, and pining to death in pain and misery. Well, this is our own state by nature. We are conquered by Satan ; far removed fi-om our original happy condition ; deprived of our true riches, the image and favor of God ; tied and bound with the chains of our sins, basely employed by the devil in the horrid drudgery of our lusts ; and, if grace prevent it not, liable to be summoned by death into an awful eternity, to receive the wages of our sin, which is eternal misery. From this sad condition we cannot de- liver ourselves. We have neither the will nor the power. It is the peculiar misery of sinful man, that he knows not his mise- ry. Other captives groan for freedom. Even a bird, or a beast, deprived of lib- erty, struggles to get free ; but more wretched and stupid sinners deny that they are slaves; and foolishly boast, like the Jews, " that tliey were never in bondage to any man." They hug their yoke ; they love their prison, and fancy music in the rattling of their chains. If any here are in this condition, may God open tlieir eyes, and deliver them from the sad infatuation ! But if a man had a will to be free, he has not the powr.r. Wiiat Vansom can he offer ! Can he make satisfaction to the in- jured law of God ! Can he render back to his Maker the glory of whicli lie has robbed him 1 Or can he restore to his own soul the image of (rod, which is lost and spoiled by sin ! Can he renew his sinful nature to holiness, or make himself a new creature! No; it is impossible. If the heart of God do not pity ; if the hand of God do not help ; he must die a slave, and be the eternal companion of his cruel ty- rant and fellow-slaves in the prison of hell. But blessed be God for Jesus Christ! When there was no eye to pity, no hand to help, his own almighty arm brought sal- vation. The Son of God, touched with compassion for perishing man, descended from his throne of glory, and visited our wretched abode ; and, because those whom he came to redeem were partakers of flesh and blood, " he also himself took part of the same; that tlirough death he might destroy liim tliat hud the power of death, that is, the devil ; and deliver them, who, through fear of death, were all their life- time subject to bondage." Heb. ii. 14, 15. Among the Jews, tlie right of redemp- tion belonged to the kinsman. Jesus Christ, in order to redeem us, became a man, the kinsman of our nature, " bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh ; for both he that sanctifieth, and tliey that are sancti- fied, are all of one ; for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren." Heb. ii. 11. The redemption of captives is usually by paying a price, or ransom. This Christ paid, and the price was no less than his blood: so says our text — "In whom we have redemption through his blood." And so St. Paul speaks, Eph. i. 18, " Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, but With the precious blood of Christ ; not by so mean a price as the perishing riclies of this world, such as the silver and gold, which are paid for buying poor captives out of bondage, misery, and slavery among men, but it was at no less a price tlian the noble and invaluable pre- cious blood, sufferings, and death of the Son of God. Having taken a general view of Re- demption, let us de.'^cend to some particu- lars, by which we may better understand the subject, and be more affected with it. The natural man is a captive of the Devil —of the Flesh— of the World— of the Law, and of the Grave. From all these Christ delivers his people. 1. We are all, by nature, captives of the Devil. This may seem to you a hard say- ing ; but it is too true ; sec the proof of it in 2 Tim. ii. 26, — " That tiicy may recover themselves out of the snare of the Devil, who are taken captives by him at his will" — taken alive, as captives of war to be en- slaved and ruined by the Devil. O how dreadful is the power of Satan over wicked men ! They are not aware of it, or they would earnestly pray, " Lead us not into 28 VILLAGE SERMONS. temptation, but deliver us from evil," or the evil one. St. John says, " The whole world lieth in wickedness, or in the wicked one," 1 John v. 19; and St. Paul says, " He worketh in tlie children of disobe- dience," Eph. ii. 2. So that there is more truth in some common expressions, used by wicked people, than they are aware of; as when they say, " The Devil is in you." It is awfully true of all unconverted sin- ners. And it deserves notice, how such people continually sport with such words as these — Hell and hellish — Devil and devilish — Damn and damnation. Surely these words show who is their master! and what is likely to be their place and portion. May God discover tlie evil of such things to all who practise them. Now, the blessed Redeemer came down from heaven to destroy the works of the Devil. He overcame all his temptations in the wilderness ; he triumphed over him on the cross ; and when he ascended into heaven, " he led captivity captive ;" con- quered the conqueror, and bound the strong one. He showed his power over devils, by casting them out of the bodies of men ; and he still shows his power, by casting them out of tlie souls of all who believe in him. O that he may show this power among us this moment ! Yes, my friends, if we are redeemed from Satan, we are " redeemed to God," — redeemed to God as his peculiar prop- erty ; for his honor and service ; for com- munion with him now ; and for the ever- lasting enjoyment of him in glory. 2. We are all, by nature, captives of the Flesh ; our mmds are fleshly ; " sin reigns in our mortal bodies ; we obey it in the lusts thereof; our members are instru- ments of unrighteousness ; we have yield- ed our members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity : for his servants we are to whom we obey." Rom. vi. 12, «Sic. Is not this true, my friends'! are not some here present yet the slaves of sin ; one of drunkenness ; another of swearing ; another of fornication ; anotlier of lying ; another of thieving, or some other heinous fiin 1 Ah, Sirs, " the end of these things is death :" — " for these things' sake, cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience." Alas ! how many are strong advocates for human liberty, who are them- selves the slaves of corruption ! " For of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage." 2 Pet. ii. 19. But adored be Jesus, he came to " save us from our sins ;" " that we, being deliv- ered from the hand of our enemies, might eerve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life." By the power of his Spirit, the people are " born again," and made " new creatures in Christ Jesus ; old things pass away, and all things become new." They are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit ; they walk not according to the flesh ; they are enabled to crucufy the old man of sin, and put on the new man of grace ; and to live, in some degree, in that holiness, with- out which no man can see the Lord. So St. Paul speaks to the converted Romans, " God be thanked, that (though) ye were the servants of sin, ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteous- ness." Rom. vi. 17, 18. 3. We are all, by nature, captives of the World : or, as the scripture expresses it — " Walk according to the course of this world," willingly carried along with the stream of sin, and foolishly thinking we shall do well, because we do like others ; forgetting that " broad is the road that leadeth to death, and many there be that walk therein ;" while the narrow way to life is found by very few. By nature we are conformed to tlie world ; to its foolish customs, maxims, dress, and amusements ; and also to its dangerous, mistaken notions of religion. People are afraid to think for themselves ; they take the religion of their neighbors on trust, without examining, by tlie word of God, whether it be right or wrong, true or false. But our blessed Lord " gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from the present evil world," from the sins, snares, customs, and fashions of the men of tliis world. St. Peter speaks of being redeem- ed from " our vain conversation, received by tradition from our fathers." It matters not what we were brought up to, nor what our forefathers lived in : if it was wrong, we must forsake it. We must confess Christ before men, or he will deny us be- fore angels : and we shall not be ashamed of the gospel of Christ, if we know it to be the power of God to our own salvation; but ratlier glory in the cross of Christ, by which we are crucified to the world, and the world to us. Then are we the true disciples of Christ, when we are not of the world, even as he was not of the world. 4. We are all, as sinners, captives and prisoners to the broken Laiv and offended Justice of God. Tlie law justly demands of us perfect and perpetual obedience. If we fail in one point, we are guilty of all ; and fall under its fearful curse. The law demands our obedience, or our blood. If SERMON VL 29 we disobey but once, our lives are forfeit- ed. We are condemned already ; and, if death finds us in that state, it shuts us up for ever in hell. But, glory be to the Lamb of God, that he came into the world to save sinners : and as there could be no remission of sins but by the shedding of blood, he freely gave himself up for us, and died for our sins, " the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God. " Thus he gave liimself " a ransom" for us ; and " redeem- ed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us," Gal. iii. 13. Hereby, all who believe in him are " delivered from the wrath to come." " There is therefore now no condemnation to them." They have passed from death unto life; and " who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect f It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth ■? It is Christ that died." In consequence of this they are entitled to peace of conscience, even the peace of God that passeth all under- standing. Finally, we are all, by reason of sin, doomed to Death, and shall shortly be prisoners of the Grave. This is the house appointed for all living ; to this dark abode we must soon remove, and there remain till the great day, when there shall be a resurrection both of the just and the un- just. But the glorious Redeemer has said of his people, " I will ransom them from the power of the grave ; I will redeem them from death. O death, I will be thy plague ; O grave, I will be thy destruction !" Yes, Jesus is made unto us redemption ; name- ly, " the redemption of the body ;" and " the creature itself," that is, the body, " shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption, into the glorious liberty of the children of God," Rom. viii. 21. Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, " Death is swallowed up in victo- ry ! O death, where is thy sting ? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law : but thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ." APPLICATION. And now, my friends, what think you of Redemption.' Does it appear to you a little or a great matter? How arc your hearts aflected with it 1 Do you know that you are, or once was, in this miserable bondage ! You can never desire deliver- ance, nor love tlie deliverer, till you know this. When Israel was in Egypt, " tliey sighed by reason of their bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of their bondage." Again, when Israel was in Babylon, "they sat down by the rivers and wept ! yea, they wept when they remembered Zion." De- pend upon it, if you never saw this to be your condition, it is your condition now. If you never sought redemption, you never partook of it. If you never saw any ex- cellency or preciousness in Christ, you are yet " in the gall of bitterness, yet in the bond of iniquity." Be advised, when you go home, to retire to some secret place, and, on your bended knees, implore the blessed Redeemer to set you free. Say, with the Psalmist, " Draw nigh to my soul, and redeem it." Look through the bars of your prison to heaven. Cry to the Lord in your trouble, and he will save you out of your distresses. Hear him saying, " Wilt thou be made free !" He stands ready to knock off thy fetters, and set thee at liberty. If it was necessary for you to pay the price of redemption, you might well despair! but the price is paid; no- thing on your part is wanting, but a heart and a hand to receive it. Come then, for all things are ready. " Let Israel hope in the Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy and with him is plenteous redemption," Psa. cxxx. 7. Here is the sum of the gos- pel. Here are glad tidings of great joy to souls burdened with sin. Are you afflicted with a sense of your sin and misery? Well, there is hope in Israel concerning this. " Hope in the Lord ;" not in your- selves, nor in your own works, but in Je- hovah ; and your encouragement to do so is — " with hun is mercy," — grace, good- ness, bounty. He is, of his own nature, disposed to forgive ; and there is this fur- ther encouragement — " with him there is plenteous redemption." Christ has shed his precious blood as the ransom price. The redemption is plenteous. The bound- less stores of grace and mercy are fully equal to all your wants. Hope then in the Lord, and let your expectation be fixed alone in him ; lor " he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities." And you, wlio, through grace, have be- lieved to the saving of your souls, come and consider the sad state you were in ; from which notliing could deliver you but the astonishing ransom of the Savior's blood. O see the malignity of sin, in the Redeemer's bloody sweat in the garden, and in liis dreadful pains on the cross. O see what sin has done ! See and detest the murderer of thy gracious Lord. Hate it with a perfect hatred, and resolve to wage eternal war against it. Come and meditate on the love of Christ, 3* 30 VILLAGE SERMONS. " who loved you, and gave himself for you," and who has, by his Spirit, brought home tlie Redemption to your lieart. 'I'll ere was nothing good in you to engage him to do this ; for " while we were yet enemies, Christ died for us." O be thankful for your wonderful deliverance. " O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good ; for his mercy endureth for ever. Let the re- deemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy." Had a generous fellow-creature delivered you from Turkish slavery, or from a Span- ish inquisition, how would you express your thanks ? " O Sir, would you say, I am under inexpressible obligations ; I have not such another friend in all the world ; I shall never forget your kmdness while I live." But no earthly friend can redeem your soul from sin and hell. " O would to God, (said a holy man) I could cause paper and ink to speak the worth and excellency, the high and loud praises of our brother Ransomer ! Oh, the Ransomer needs not my report ; but if he would vouchsafe to take and use it, I should be happy if I had an errand to this world, but for some few years, to spread proclamations of the glory of the Ransomer, whose clothes were wet and dyed in blood ; if even, after that, my soul and body should return to their origi- nal nothing." Thus, my friends, let us think of Christ: and, thus thinking of him, let us show our love by keeping his commandments ; ever remembering, that " we are not our own for we are bought with a price ; therefore let us glorify God in our body and in our spirit, which are God's." Remember, you are yet in the body, a body of sin and death : and though, through grace, " you delight in the law of the Lord after the inward man, yet is there another law in your members, warring against the law of your mind." " Watch against it then, lest at any time it should bring you into captivity of the law of sin." Stand fast therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made you free ; and rejoice in hope of the complete, everlasting, and glorious liberty of the children of God in a better world. PRAYER. — Father of mercies, and God of all grace, behold, at thy footstool, a company of thy sinful creatures, who, by nature, were slaves of Satan, and led captive by him at his will! \ye were tied and bound with the cliains of our sin, and basely employed in the drudgery of our lusts. From this sad condition we had neither the will nor the power to deliver ourselves; but, glory be lo thy name, when there was no eye to pity, no hand to lielp, thou did.st remember us in our low estate, and sent thy only-begottfen Sen, in whom we have redemption, through his blood, even the forgiveness of our sins, and a deliver- ancp ii-om all our tyrants ! O that we may be redeemed from sin, from Satan, from this present evil world, and, finally, from the grave ! Being liberated by Jesus, may we be free indeed ; and constantly watch anil pray, lest we be entangled again with the yoke of bondage ; and may we ever remember that we are now no longer our own, but being bought with a price, must glorify God with our bodies and our spirits, which are his ! Glory be to thee, blessed Jesus, for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood ! Blessing, honor, glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever ! Amen. SERMON VII. REGENERATION, OR THE NEW BIRTH. John iii. 3. Jesus answered, and said unto Iiim, Verily, verily, I say unto tliee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdoui of God. The two grand truths of the Christian religion are, our ruin in Adam, and our recovery in Christ : and till we know both these, we can perform no duty, nor enjoy any privilege aright ; we can neither serve God here, nor enter into his glory here- after. You too must have observed, that the Scripture always divides mankind into two classes — the wicked and the righteous ; sinners and saints; believers and unbeliev- ers; heirs of hell and heirs of heaven. These are all mixed together on earth, but they will be separated at the day of judg- ment ; and their eternal state will then be fixed, according to what was their true character here. What then can be of greater importance to us, than to know our real state at present? and observe, that though there is that difference between men, which was just mentioned, we are all by nature in one and the same condi- tion : that is, sinners and children of wrath. So that, unless a change passes upon us, we continue in it, live and die in it, and are lost for ever. This is the solemn truth, which Jesus Christ in our text declared to Nicodemus. Perhaps you may like to know who he was, and liow Christ came to say this to him. I will tell you. Nicodemus was a great man among the Jews. He was a teacher, and a ruler ; and having heard that Jesus Christ had said and done many wonderful things, he came to him one night, being ashamed to come by daylight, and said, " Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God." Jesus Christ SERMON VII. 31 directly begins to teach Nicodemus ; and he begins with the most important truth that was ever taught — The necessity of the new birth, which he asserts in the strongest manner possible : " Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." As if he had said, I, who am the truth it- self, assure you, that no man, considering his fallen and corrupt nature, can under- stand or enjoy the blessings of that king- dom of grace which I am come to set up ; nor can he enter the kingdom of glory to which it leads, unless his heart is changed by power from above. It seems that Nicodemus did not, at first, rightly understand what our Lord meant by this ; and he asked how it could be. But our Lord insists upon it again and again, and we doubt not that Nicodemus came to understand it at last, and really to become a new creature. The Lord grant that we also may become new creatures, so as to serve him here, and enjoy him hereafter ! The neiD birth signifies a great change, made in the heart of a sinner by the power of the Holy Spirit. It means that some- thing is done in us, and for us, which we cannot do for ourselves; something, to which we were before strangers; some- thing, whereby we begin to live, as we did not live before ; yea, somethmg, whereby such a lite begins as shall last for- ever; for, as by our first birth we are born to die, so, by our second birth, we are born to live for ever. That we may better understand the new birth, or this change of heart, let us more particularly consider, I. The nature of this change ; and, II. The necessity of it. I. Let us consider the nature of this change. " It is not a change of the sub- stance and faculties of the soul. Sin did not destroy the essence of the soul, but its rectitude ; so grace does not give a new faculty, but a new quality. It is not de- stroying the metal, but the old stamp upon it, to imprint a new one. It is not break- ing the candlestick, but putting a new light in it. It is a new stringing the in- strument, to make a new harmony. It is a great change : or else such a term as "the new birth;" or, "a new creation ;" or, " resurrection ;" would not be proper. When a child is bom, its way of existing, and of getting nourishment, is quite different from what it was belbre : 60 by the new birth, we live in a very dif- ferent manner. The greatness of this change is elsewhere described by " pass- ing from darkness to light;" yea, by "pass- ing from death to lite." " You hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins." It makes a man quite the con- trary to what he was before ; as contrary as East to West ; North to South ; light to darkness ; flesh to spirit. It is such a change, as if a Blackanoor should become white; or a lion become a lamb. In a word, God takes away the heart of stone, and gives a heart of flesh. It is a universal change — " a new crea- ture ;" a complete creature ; not a mon- ster, with some human jjarts, and others wanting. It is God\s work, and therefore perfect in its parts ; though there is room for growth in every part, as in a new-bom child. O let us not deceive ourselves with a partial change ; such as taking up some new opinion, or joining a new sect; or leaving off" some old sins, or performing some moral or religious duties. The com- mon changes of age and life may occasion some partial alterations ; but this is a change of the whole man. In the under- standing there is light instead of dark- ness. In the will tliere is softness instead of hardness. In the affections there ia, ■ love instead of enmity. It is an inward change. It will indeed produce an outward change, if the life was before immoral; but there may be strict morality without this inward change. Re- formation is not Regeneration, though too often mistaken for it. It is a change of heart. We must be " renewed in the spirit of our mind," Eph. iv. 23. " Man looks at the outward ajipearancc, but God look- eth at the heart," God has promised to give his people " a new heart ;" and the penitent Psalmist prays for it — " Create in me a clean heart, O God ! and renew a right spirit within me." Without this there is no true change. "The spring and wheels of a clock must be mended, before the hand of the dial will stand right. It may stand riglit twice in the day, when the time of the day comes to it^but not from any motion or rectitude in itself So a man may seem by one or two actions to be a changed man ; but the inward spring being amiss, it is but a deceit." There is a great difference between virtue and re- ligion ; between morality and holiness. Many people abstain from some sins, and perform some duties, for the sake of health, reputation, or profit ; but in the new crea- ture there is a change of principle. The principle of a now creature is faith : " faith working by love," and this abides. He is not like a clock that is wound up, and goes only while it is acted upon by the weight; 32 VILLAGE SERMONS. but, having the Spirit of God witliin him, and the life of God in his soul, grace is as " a well of water, springing up into ever- lasting life." There is in the new creature a change of the end he has in view, as well as the principle from which he acts. " The glory of God is the end of the new man : Self is the end of the old man." Nothing is a greater evidence of being born again, than to be taken off the old centre of self, and to aim at the glory of God in every thing ; whether we eat or drink ; whether we are in private or public ; whether we are en- gaged in religious or in common afiairs ; to desire and aim sincerely at the glory of God ; knowing that " we are not our own, but bought with a price, we are to glorify God with our body, soul, and spirit, all which are his." That the new birth is such a change as has been described; namely, a great change, a universal change, and an inward change, will still more plainly appear, if you consider the alteration it makes in a person's views and apprehensions. He has new thoughts of God, of himself, of the world, of elernily, of Jesus Christ, and of all divine ordinances. He has new thoughts of God. Before, he lived, in a great measure, "without God in the world ;" without any true know- ledge of God ; without any proper regard to God ; and was ready to think God " al- together such a one as himself" But now he sees that with God there is " terrible majesty," perfect purity, strict justice, and that he is indeed greatly to be feared. Now he knows that God's eye is always upon him ; and that, if he were to enter into judgment with him, he could never stand. But he learns also from the gospel, that God in Christ is full of grace, and good- ness, and love ; so that, " he fears the Lord and his goodness." The new creature has very different thoughts of himself. He once acted as his own master ; followed his own wicked will; was ready to excuse his worst ac- tions ; thought lightly of his sins ; perhaps gloried in his shame. Now he sees the evil of his former ways ; he mourns sin- cerely for his sms ; he sees the badness of his heart from whence they flowed ; he ranks himself among the chief of sinners; he wonders at his former boldness in sin ; and he wonders more at the patience of God, in not cutting him off with some sud- den stroke of his judgment. In short, he cries, " Behold, I am vile. I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." The new creature has new thoughts of the world ; of the men of it, and the things of it. Once he loved the company of pro- fane and unclean persons ; now he shuns them as he would the plague ; and his lan- guage is, " Depart from me, ye wicked men, for I will keep the commandments of my God." Before, he hated the very sight of a godly person ; now, his heart unites with those who fear the Lord ; he thinks them " the excellent of the eartJi," wishing to live and die with them. How different also are his views of the things of the world ! Once they were his only portion. He sighed to be great; he longed to be rich ; he panted for pleasure. Eating and drinking, cards and plays, music and danc- ing, or some other vain amusements, were his dear delight; and to enjoy these he would sacrifice every thing. Now he sees the vanity of them all. He sees their dan- ger. They had led him to the brink of ruin ; and now he can truly say, " These pleasures how no longer please, No more delight afford : Far from my heart be joys like these, Now I have known the Lord !" But oh, what new apprehensions has he o{ Eternity ! He hardly ever used to think . of it ; now it is almost always on his mind ; for now he has that faith, which is " the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Now, therefore, he looks not at the things that are seen, for he knows they are temporal; but at the things which are not seen, for they are eternal. He knows that he must live for ever; either in a glorious heaven, or in a dreadful hell. Compared, therefore, with eternal concerns, all worldly things appear as empty shadows, and he considers every thing below according to the relation it bears to his eternal happiness. The new creature has also very differ- ent thoughts of Jesus Christ from what he had before. Once he was without form and comeliness to him ; now he appears " the chief among ten thousand, and altogether lovely." He did not wish to hear of him, or read of him, or speak of him, except to profane his name : now he can never hear enough of him ; for he sees, that if ever he is saved, he owes it all to Jesus ; and therefore " counts all things but loss, that he may know him, and win him, and be found in him." He also thinks very differently of reli' gioHs ordinances. He could not bear to keep the sabbath holy. Either he wholly neglected public worship, and took his car- nal pleasure ; or if he came, it was a bur- den : he did not join in prayer, singing, at best, was an amusement; he disregarded SERMON VII. 33 the word preached, perhaps derided it; and, as for private prayer, he hated it. How great the change ! Now tlie sabbatli •is his deliglit, " the holy of the Lord and honorable." The house of God is his home ; the word of God his food ; the Bi- ble his dear companion; and prayer tlie breath of his soul. Thus you see what a change has taken place in his views ; and, if time permitted, we might show that these new views are attended witli neiv affections ; he loves what before he hated ; he liates what be- fore lie loved. He has new desires, new fears, new joys, and new sorrows. He makes new resolutions. He is employed in new labors. He has new entertain- ments. He has new hopes and prospects. How justly then is he called a new crea- ture ! Having briefly shown the nature of re- generation, let us consider, II. The necessity of it. Observe how very strongly our Lord asserts in the text — " Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Surely, these words must have great weight with us, if we be- lieve the God of truth. But you will ask. What is meant by the kingdom of God J I answer, it means the kingdom of grace upon earth, and the kingdom of glory in heaven. Now, without the new birth, no person whatever can see the kingdom of God. It is not said, he may 7iot, or he shall not, but he cannot ; it is impossible in the nature of things. With respect to the gospel state here, in which Christ reigns, no man can be a true (Christian, unless he is born again ; he can- not be a true member of the church of Christ, or of that society which is govern- ed by Christ ; ho cannot perform any of the duties required in this kingdom ; nor can he enjoy any of the privileges bestow- ed in it. He cannot perform any of the duties. Fallen man is ignorant of what is truly good. " He calls evil good, and good evil." He is, " to every good work, reprobate," Titus i. 16. And he has a dislike to that which is good. " The carnal mind is en- mity against God," and shows its enmity by rebellion against the law of God, Rom. viii. 7. Now, remaining in this state, lie cannot answer the end of his being, which is to glorify Gotl ; and having this unfitness and unwillingness to answer that end, there is an absolute, an universal necessity for this change. It is " in Christ Jesus we are created to good works." We cannot " pray in the Spirit," till we are " born of the E Spirit;" we cannot "sing with grace in our hearts," till we have grace ; we cannot " worship God in the Spirit," while we are in the flesh. A dead sinner cannot present "a living sacrifice." The duties of a na- tural man are lifeless and selfish; "he cannot serve God spiritually," because he is carnal ; nor graciously, for lie is corrupt ; nor vitally, because he is dead ; nor freely, for he is enmity against God ; nor delight- tiilly, for his heart is alienated : nor sin- cerely, for his heart is deceit ; nor accepta- bly, "for he that is in the flesh cannot please God." In like manner, the unregenerate person cannot enjoy any of the blessed privileges of the gospel state. He knows nothing of the joys of salvation. He is a stranger to the peace of the gospel. He has no relish for the sincere milk of the word. He can- not delight in prayer ; nor enjoy commu- nion with God, or communion with the saints, for things that are not natural can never be deliglitful. And this also makes it plain, that The unrenewed man cannot see the kingdom of glory. The new birth does not indeed entitle a person to heaven; but it makes him " meet for the inheritance of the saints in light." The unrenewed sin- ner is shut out from heaven by the unal- terable determination of God himself, who has declared, that " nothing which defil- eth" shall enter that place, and that " with- out holiness no man shall see the Lord." And if you consider what the joys and employments of heaven are, and what the disposition of a sinner is, it will plainly ap- pear that he cannot see the kingdom of God. " The happiness of heaven is holi- ness; and to talk of being happy without it, is as great nonsense as to talk of being well without health, or being saved without salvation." People are ready to think, if they go to heaven they must bo happy; but, without a new nature, a man might be as much out of his element in heaven, as a fish, out of the bottom of the sea, would be in a green meadow, or an ox in the bot- tom of the sea. Can a wicked man, who now hates the godly, expect to be happy among none but saints? Can he, who cannot keep three hours of the sabbath holy, bear to keep an eternal sabbath ] Can he, who now curses and swears, imagine that his tongue shall be for ever employed in praising God ! Can he, who now hates to think of God, love to em])loy his mind in the eternal contemplation of him 1 No, no. Hell is tlie sinner's "own place;" there he will have his own company, and, in some measure, his old employments, though 34 VILLAGE SERMONS. without tlis pleasure of them ; but as to heav- en, he can never see it till he be born again. APPLICATION. From what was first said of the nature of the new birth, let us learn to avoid the common mistake, that baptism is regenera- tion. It is the sign of it, but not tlie thing itself. We must " be born of water and of the Spirit," John iii. 5 ; that is, of the Holy Spirit, whose grace is, to the soul, what water is to the body. Take not the shadow for the substance. Can baptism change the heart ! Has it changed yours ? Say, poor sinner, how is it with you .' Con- science will tell you, " Old things are not passed away; all things are not become new." Do any of you live in drunkemiess, profaneness, sabbath-breaking, whoredom, or any other sin ! Or do you live uncon- cerned about your soul, careless about sal- vation, without Christ, without prayer? know for certain, that you are yet a stranger to this great and blessed change. And yet, without it, the God of truth assures you, it is impossible for you to be saved. You must be born again. Do not think that outward reformation, or morality, or religious professions, or religious duties, are sufficient. All these are far short of this inward, spiritual change. You must be born again. As sure as there is a God in heaven, you must be born again, or you can never go to heaven. And can you bear the thought of being shut out ] Put the question to yourself "Can I dwelt with everlasting burnmgs ? Can I endure eternal darkness 1 Can I bear to be eter- nally separated from the blessed God ? Is my present sinful, sensual life to be prefer- red before eternal joys ! Is there one text in the Bible to give m,e comfort in this state !" O that you may be so deeply con- vinced of the immediate necessity of this change, that you may, ere you sleep this night, fall down on your knees before God, and earnestly desire him to make you a new creature. He can do it in a moment ; and he has promised his Holy Spirit to them that ask him. Say not, as the foolish do, I will not change my religion. Let me ask v The punishment of loss is not all ; there is the punishment of sense likewise ; hell is not only the loss of happiness, but it is the sense and feeling of the most exquisite sufferings. Take an account of it from tlie lips of Jesus Christ himself; speaking of hell, he says, " Where the worm dieth not, and the lire is not quenched." This is the description he gives of it over and over again, in Mark ix. By "the worm that dieth not" is generally understood the gnawings of a guilty conscience ; or that painful remorse which sinners will feel, when tliey remember the sin and folly which brought them to hell. Thus, in the parable, Abraham speaks to Dives, and says, " Son, remember tliat thou, in thy lifetime, receivedst thy good things." Memory will be a dreadful source of misery. '■^ Son, remember!'''' said Abra- ham to Dives. Poor sinners will remember the good instructions they received from their parents, the faithful sermons they heard from their ministers, the solemn ad- monitions they had from their own con- science. They will remember what Sab- baths they misspent, what mercies they abused, what judgments they slighted. Tliey will remember with what contempt they treated serious piety ; and in vain will they wish to be in the place of those they once despised. It will be intolerable for them to reflect on their folly in parting with heaven for such wretched trifles. How despicably small will the pleasures of sin then appear to them. They will not be able to bear themselves, when they think for what they have lost their God, and heaven, and their souls. And this will fill them with the most horrid rage and fury. They will be inwardly racked with envy, hatred, and resentment against God, against their tempters, against the com- panions of their sins, and especially against tiiemselves. But besides this inward torment, or " the worm that never dies," there will be outward torment, or " the fire that is never quenched." The nature of this fire, or the place where it is, are matters of fool- ish curiosity : our business is not to amuse ourselves with questions about it, but to take care to avoid it. God, who sustained the companions of Daniel in a hot furnace, so that they were not scorched, can easily support life in the burnings of hell. The wrath of God, who, as an avenger of sin, is " a consuming fire," is the hell of hell : and " who can tell the power of his an- ger !" Our utmost fears of it come short of the truth. A spark of this fire in a guilty conscience is intolerable, for, "a wounded spirit who can bear?" Job, in his affliction, cried, " The arrows of the Al- mighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit : the terrors of God set themselves in array against me." What will terribly add to the greatness of these sufferings, is, that they are with- out any intermission or mitigation. In the greatest miseries of this life, God is gra- ciously pleased to allow some intervals of rest ; but of those in hell it is said. Rev. xiv. 11, " They have no rest day nor night." Think of this, you who never cease from sin, but do evil day and night ; the damned have no rest from their torment. Dives asked but a momentary alleviation of his torture, when he desired that Lazarus | might be sent "to dip the tip of his finger! in water and cool his tongue ;" but even! this was denied him. This, my friends, is a very short and; slight account, from the Scriptures of truth,!*; of the dreadful sufl^erings of miserable sin-; ners in hell. And who, in his senses, would; venture upon such a course of life, as musti lead to one hour's sufferings of this kind I But, O, it is not an hour, it is not a day, it; is not a week, it is not a month, it is not a year, it is not seven years, or fourteen years, or a hundred years ; it is not a thousand years — it is not merely as long as from the foundation of the world to this day ! O how would the damned rejoice, if ten thousand years mitifht finish their miseries ! but it is for ETERNITY. Do you start at the^ word ] It is Christ's word. Christ says, in the text, "these shall go away into ever-^ lasting- punishment." In vain do letter-"* learned men try to reason aw ay tlie solemn truth, and lessen the duration of future punishment; Christ says it is clernul ; and uses the very same word to signify an eter- nal heaven, as he does to express an eter- nal hell : (for the words are the same in the original,) besides, it is said. Rev. xiv. 14, " The smoke of their torment ascend- eih up for ever and ever ;" and our Lord also declares, " their worm dieth not, and their fire is not quenched." Tremble, sinner, at " tlie wrath to corned That wrath which is now coming, and will soon be here, will even then " be wrath to come" When a million million million 5* 54 VILLAGE SERMONS. years are past, it will still be " wrath to come,^^ because it shall never have an end. O that we could impress upon you a lasting idea of Eternity ! Suppose all the vast ocean to be distilled by single drops, and a thousand years to pass between every drop, how many millions of years would it take to empty it? Suppose the whole world to be made up by grains of sand, and one grain only to be taken away in a thousand years; how many millions of years would it take to remove the whole 1 We cannot count how long : yet we sup- pose it may be done in a most immense length of time. Suppose it done. Sup- pose the ocean emptied, drop by drop. Suppose the globe reduced, grain by grain, ■to the last sand. But would eternity be spent ? Would eternity be lessened ? No, not at all. It is a whole eternity still ; and the torments of the damned would be as far from an end, as when the reckoninsr began. A mmute bears some proportion to a million of years ; but millions of mil- lions bear no proportion to eternity. Sinners, have you reason? Have you ■common sense 1 Have you self-love ? Sum- mon up your powers, then, and determine this moment, whether you had best go on in the way of sin, for the sake of your short-lived pleasures, thus to be repaid with everlasting woe ; or whether it will not be your wisdom this moment to forsake them, and, by the grace of God, choose the way to eternal life. Before we proceed, stop, and take a "view of sin. Will any man but a fool " make a mock of sin," when he sees what its wages are] Is that "a madman who casteth about arrows, firebrands, and death, and saith, Am I not in sport?" He is ten thousand times more mad, who sports with sin, and laughs at that wliich fills hell with groans and tears. Be persuaded not to trifle, as many do, with the name of hell and damnation. Many, who cannot bear to hear these in a sermon, use them in a jesting mannei, in their common discourse. This is one of Satan's ways to ruin souls. People sport with these things till they forget their importance, and find, too late, that they are serious matters. ■" Who laughs at sin laughs at his Maker's frowns ; Laughs at the sword of justice o'er his head ; Laughs at the dear Redeemer's tears and wounds, Who, but for sin, had never groan'd nor bled !" "Awake, then, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." Fly, sinner, from the " wrath to come," " Escape for thy life, look not be- hind thee, tarry not in all the plam, lest thou be consumed." Tiiink what a mis- erable soul m hell would give to be in thy present situation. Think, how hell would resound with joy, could the good news of salvation be preached to lost souls. Well, Sirs, they are preached to you. This day is salvation come to this house. As yet there is hope. Christ came to deliver from the wrath to come. It may be you were brought here at this time for the very pur- pose of being warned to fly to the refuge. Christ is a mighty Savior. Nothing is too hard for him. " Come, then, for all things are ready." If God has made you willing, depend upon it he will make you welcome. Who can tell, but instead of being fuel for everlasting burnings, it may be said of you — " Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire !" We now gladly turn to the more pleas- ing part of our text — " but the righteous into eternal life." Who are the righteous ? " There is none righteous" upon the earth, saith the Scrip- ture, " no, not one" — that is in himself. A righteous man and a sinner are two con- traries ; to be righteous, is to keep the law perfectly, which no mere man ever did ; and no fallen man can; for "all have sinned ;" sin being " the transgression of the law." How then can any man, being a sinner, become righteous ! There is but ond way. It is by the righteousness of Christ, put to the account of an unright- eous man. This righteousness Christ wrought out by his perfect obedience to the law. This righteousness is held out in the gospel ; and when a sinner is con- vinced that he wants it, and must perish without it, he comes to God for it ; God gives it him ; he receives it by faith, puts it on, wears it, lives and dies in it, and be- ing " found in Christ," he is admitted, in this wedding-garment, to the marriage- supper of the Lamb. The persons called " righteous" in the text had thus put on Christ ; and the faith whereby they did so, wrought by love. The context shows how their feith wrought by works ; they loved the Members of Christ for Christ's sake, and showed their love to him, by helping them in their af- flictions. These are the persons who go into life eternal. What is heaven ? A carnal man can have no idea of it, or none but what is car- nal and ridiculous. It is not a Mahometan paradise, where the lusts of the flesh may be indulged. No ; " life and immortality are brought to light by the gospel ;" and there we find it consists in a complete de- liverance from all the evils of the present state ; and in the enjoyment of all that SERMON XII. 55 can render the soul perfectly and for ever happy. Need we be told tliat " man is born to trouble !" This is our sad, and only certain inheritance; mingled indeed, with a tliousand undeserved mercies. But all the sorrows of a believer shall cease at his death. No more excessive labor and fa- tigne. No pinching want and poverty. No painful, irksome, lothesome diseases. The inliabitant of heaven shall not say, " I am sick." Nor shall any of the number- less sorrows of mind, we now feel, follow us to glory. We shall not suffer in our own persons, nor shall we suffer in or by our relations or friends. We shall " drop the body of sin," in the dust ; and we shall no more be the grieved spectators of sin in the world. " God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes ; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying ; neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away," Rev. xxi. 4. But this is not aU. Our knowledge, which is now so very small, shall be won- derfully mcreased. It is eternal life to know God ; but O, how little do we now know of him ! but " tlie pure in heart shall see God," and know, in a moment, more than all the learned could attain in many years. " We shall know, even as we are known, — we shall have as certain, immediate, and familiar a knowledge of divine things, as any of our most intimate friends now have of us ; yea, we shall know God, and Christ, and angels, in the same kind of way that they now know us ; not " through a glass darkly," but " face to face," as clearly and distinctly as one man beholds another when they converse together. But the heaven of heaven will be the presence of Christ, being with Christ, and beholding his glory. This is what Christ, as Mediator, prayed for in behalf of his disciples. " Father, I will, that they also whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am ; that they may behold my glory," John xvii. 24. This is what Paul longed for and wished to depart to enjoy : " I have a desire to depart and to be with Christ," Phil. i. 23. And what will render the vision of Christ so very excellent is, that " we shall be like him, when we see him as he is" — we shall bear his amiable and illustrious image of light and love, holiness and happiness, in our souls. Even our bodies, now vile by reason of sin, and which must soon be viler still m the corruption of the grave, shall, when raised from the dead, be made like unto his glorious body. Add to this another most desirable blessing ; the constant com- pany of the saints. Believers shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob ; with the prophets and apostles ; and with all the redeemed of every nation. But what tongue can tell, what heart can con- ceive, what God has prepared for them that love him ? APPLICATION What more can be said to engage your regard to religion, than what has been now said ! Life and death, blessing and cursing, heaven and hell, have been set before you. Surely " one thing is need- ful,^^ even the care of the soul. " Is there a dreadful hell !" Well ; we have been warned of the danger, and ad- ' vised to fly to Jesus, the only deliverer from the wrath to come. How groat is the evil of sin, seeing that God will punish it in this dreadful man- ner ! Is there a hell of eternal torment for sinners ? O then be afraid of sin, however pleasant it may be. W ho would drmk a glass of the most delicious liquor, however thirsty he might be, if he knew that dead- ly poison was mixed with it 3 Beware then of sin, which infallibly destroys the soul, and shun it as you would shun hell. Is there a glorious heaven 1 We are in- vited to seek it. There is but one way to heaven, and Christ is that way. O what a Savior is Jesus ! Can we, who deserve hell, avoid if? Yes, glory be to him, he shed his precious blood to redeem his peo- ple from it. His perfect righteousness is the only title to glory; and this righteous- ness is theirs, who believe in him. There must also be a fitness for this holy state, and this is the work of the Spirit. If we are found among the redeemed, we owe it to the Father's love, the Son's salvation, and the Spirit's grace. God grant that we may so hear his word at this, and at all times, that, mixmg faith with it, we may profit thereby; and "growing up into Christ in all things," and looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eter- nal life," we may faithfully and diligently serve him, and our generation, according to liis will; enjoy his gracious presence in all the means of grace ; experience tlie support of his gospel in the trying hour of death; and, finally, have "abundant en- trance afforded us into his everlasting kingdom and glory." Now to the God of our salvation. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be universal and everlasting praise. — Amen. 56 ViLLAGli: SERMONS. PRAYER. — Almighty and most holy God, thou hast now set before us Life and Death, Heaven and Hell ! — into one of these eternal states must each of us soon enter! O sufler us not to be careless and unconcerned about our everlasting state ! Our sins have exposed us to thy dreadful wrath, and it is of thy mercies that we are not already consumed; but great has been thy forbearance ! May thy goodness lead us to repentance ! — and may we be seriously con- cerned to flee from the wrath to come, even to Jesus Christ, the only deliverer from it ! Thou hast also set before us a most glorious and happy state, to which believers are entitled by the righteousness of Christ, and for which they are prepared by the Spirit of God. O that this glorious prize of the Christian calling, may ever be before our eyes ! — and may we so run as finally to obtain it ! Let not the alluring vanities of this world engage our hearts ; but may we set our affections on things above ! May our con- versation be in heaven, and when we are called hence by Death, may God graciously afford us an abundant entrance into his eternal kingdom and glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord ! SERMON XIII. TO CHILDREN. A NEW HEART THE CHILD'S BEST PORTION. Ezek. xxxvi. 26. A new heart will I give you. My dear children, I hope you will mind what I am going to say to you. I am going to read you a sermon made on purpose for children, and made so plain, that I hope you will understand it all. I suppose you know that you have souls, which must live when you die, and must go to heaven or hell for ever. Now do you not think it is right to mind your souls, so that they may not go to hell ! I know that you love to play, and it is right you should play some- times ; but you should mind sometJiing else besides play. You know there is a God that lives in heaven, and it is he who gives you meat and drink, and clothes ; it is he who keeps you from being sick, and from dying; and he does this, that you may have time to think of him, and pray to him. For I would have you know, that it is a terrible thing for God to be angry with you. It is a great deal worse tlian for your father and mother, or master, to be angry with you. Perhaps they may beat you when they are angry: but God Almighty can cast you into hell, to be burned in the fire for ever and ever. Perhaps you will say, I hope he will not do so to me. My dear children, I hope so too ; and I read this to you, that you may know how to avoid that misery, and that you may learn the way to heaven. Now Jesus Christ is the way to heaven. He came down from heaven to save us from going to hell ; and he did this by suffering and dying for our sins, that we might not suffer for them ourselves; just as if one of you was going to be beat, and punished for doing wrong, and another person should, in love to you, and to keep you from being hurt, be beat in your stead, and so you escape the punishment. The first thing that must be known, in order to your being saved, is this, that you are sin- ners ; that you have " left imdone what you ought to have done, and that you have done the things you ought not to have done." When your parents have been angry with you for doing wrong, you have, perhaps, tliought of it afterwards, and have been very sorry for it ; and when you feel sorry for it, you want them to forgive you, and you go to them and ask their pardon. You also promise to do so no more. Now there is something in religion like this. We have all done what we should not do, and God may justly be angry with us; but "there is forgiveness with bun, that he may be feared." His dear Son Jesus Christ bore his anger for us; and he sends hia servants with the Gospel, that is, good news ; telling us, that if we come to him by Jesus Christ, he will forgive us, and be kind to us, and help us to do better for time to come. Now the text I have read, is God's kind promise to his children. A 7iew heart will I give you. The word heart does not signify a part of your bodies, but it means the mind, the spirit, the disposi- tion ; that God will make it new, and right, and good ; so that you should love, and serve, and enjoy him, both here and liere- after. It is the same thing that is in an- other place called being horn again. You may remember reading in the third chap- ter of St. John, that an aged man, named Nicodemus, came to Jesus Christ by night, to be taught by him ; and that our Savior said to him. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he can- not see the kingdom of God. By this he meant a change of heart, which is made by the power and grace of the Spirit of God. Now if the heart was not bad, tliere would be no need to change it ; but the heart of every person, of every child, is very bad, til] grace alters it. We are all born in sin, and love sin, until we are born again ; and then we love Christ, and every tiling that is good. And you will observe that being baptized, or cliristcned, is not the same as being born again. Water cannot cleanse or change the heart; it is "an outward visible sign of grace," but not grace itself. The nature of this gracious change I shall ncrw explain to you, by describing both the SERMON XIII. 57 old heart wliicli God takes away, and the new heart which God gives. I. The heart is by nature hard; it is compared in the words after the te.\t to a stone, tiiat feels nothing : the heart of man by nature has no feeling; that is, no feel- ing of spiritual things. A person who has no grace may be tender-hearted to his fel- low-creatures, and " weep with them that weep ;" but yet not mind what (iod says to him in the Bible. The Bible says we are all lost and ruined sinners; that the wrath of God abideth on us, if we believe not ; that God is angry with the wicked, and will turn them into hell. But how few people regard this I They eat and drink, and take their pleasure, even on the liOrd's day, as if nothing was the matter. Now is this not owing to the hardness of their hearts ? If you were to see a poor wretch at the bar, condemned to die by the judge, and he was to remain unmoved, or even laugh in his face, you would think he had a very hard heart. Now this is the case of every sinner. My dear children, is it not your case .' You are " by nature cliildren of wrath, even as others ;" but when was you concerned about it 1 You would cry and be very sorry if your parents were angry with you, and threatened to turn you out of doors, and never see you any more ; but how much worse would it be, if God should say to you, " Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting burnings." The hardness of the heart appears also in not being moved and melted with the goodness of God. O how good is God to us all ! He makes the sun to shine, and the flowers to spring, and the corn and herbs to grow. It is he who gives us food day by day, and rest by night; and "his goodness should lead us to repentance." " He has also so loved the world," wicked as it is, "that he sent his only-begotten Son, that wliosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life." And he has sent his ministers to us, with the glad tidings of this salvation, and they warn us to flee from the wrath to come ; they invite and beseech us to be reconciled to God. But how hard is the heart that remajns unmoved with all this tender love and goodness ! What should you think of a child, who treated a dear father or a kind mother witii neglect and scorn, after they had spoken and behaved in the kindest manner to him? Would you not tliink him very brutish and wicked 1 Well, thus sinners treat the blessed God. And have not t/nu done so ! It is God who has led and fed you all your days. He gave you kind pareata and friends to care for you H when infants, or you must have been starv- ed to death, and perished for want. He gives you clothes, and food, and health, and pleasures, and friends; and he does more, he gives you his gospel ; he sends you the word of salvation, he gives you opportunity to learn to read it, and hear it; and what i^turn have you made for all his goodness ? O that your hearts may melt in godly sorrow for sin ! May the Lord give you " the heart of flesh," the soft heart, the feeling heart, which " trembles at his word," and " fears the Lord and his goodness." Then will you be afraid of the least sin ; you will avoid all bad company ; you will not dare to take the name of the Lord in vain; you will not play on the Sabbath day ; nor will you behave badly to your parents, or any other persons. And if you have this soft heart, you will be very sorry for your sins, and sorry to think you have offended God, and sorry to think that the blessed Jesus should suffer such shocking pains as he did, for your sins. II. The heart is by nature proud: but the new heart is humble. Man, as a crea- ture, has no cause to be pjoud, much less as a sinner, yet we are all born proud. There never was a person born without a proud heart ; though some do not show it so much as others. You that are children know how apt you are to be proud of new clothes, and fine things ; and how fond you are of showing them to others ; and as peo- ple grow up, they grow prouder ; proud of beauty, riches, learning, or office: yea, proud of being religious. So you read of the Pharisee, who went up to the temple to pray, and with monstrous pride stood by himself, and said, " God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are, nor even as this Publican:" and then he boasted of his good works. But God abhorred this proud wretch, while he looked with Compassion on the man whom the Pharisee despised, the poor Publican, whose heart was broken for sin, and who had nothing to say tor himself, but " God be merciful to me a sinner!" Even children are proud of their religion ; they boast of being better than their brothers and sisters : they love to tell of their feults, and of their own goodness. My dear children, why do you hope to go to heaven ? Is it because you arc not so bad as others ; because you say your pray- ers, and go to church or meeting 1 If so, you are proud ; proud of your own right- eousness, which the Scripture calls "filthy rags." Now, who would be proiid of filthy TRssI But the righteousness of Christ is like a fine clean white robe ; is not that better! And would vou not be jrlad to 58 VILLAGE SERMONS. have it ? Pray then to God to clothe you with it. The new heart is an humble heart. The person who has it tliinks so highly of the great and blessed God, the majesty of heaven and earth, that he shrinks, as it were, into nothing before him. He has such a view of the holiness of God, and his commandments, and such a ^nse of the wickedness and deceitfulness of his own heart, that he lies as it were in the dust, " abhors himself, and repents in dust and ashes." III. The heart is by nature worldly. All natural men are called in Scripture — Men of the world, lohose portion is in this life : tliey think only of the world, they speak only of the world, and all their de- sires are worldly. " What shall we eat, what shall we drink, and how shall we be clothed!" After all these, and only such things as these, do worldly men seek. In this case there is no heart for religion. " God is not in all their thoughts ;" and for the sake of the world, they neglect the Gospel, and lose their own souls. They are "careful about many things," with Mar- tha, but do not choose " the one thing needful," with Mary. Now this is a sad state to be in ! If we love the world, the love of God is not in us, 1 John ii. 15. If we mind " earthly things," so as to make them our chief good, our " end will be de- struction," Phil. iii. 19. And say now, my dear children, are not your hearts worldly ! Though you are not engaged in worldly business, yet your little hearts love only the things of this world. Are not play and pleasure all you seek and delight in. Per- haps you do not like prayer ; either you do not pray at all in secret, or satisfy } our- selves with a few formal words which you have got by heart, without feeling any de- sire after Christ, and grace, and salvation. And when your parents pray in their fam- ilies, as I hope they do, you do not regard wliat is said ; and when you are in the house of God, perhaps you do not mind what the minister says, or content yourself merely with remembering the text. But this is not religion. The worldly heart must be taken away, and you must have a heavenly, spiritual heart, that delights in God and Christ, and prayer and praise ; in the word of God and spiritual conversation. Blessed be God, there have been many such children ; perhaps you have read of them in the tracts publislied for children. The Lord make you like them; that so you may live to God, if you are spared to live longer ; or made fit for heaven, if he should be pleased to remove you. IV. The heart is by nature wicked ; the Scripture says it is desperately wicked, Jer. xvii. 9. And our Savior says. Matt. XV. 19, Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, thefts, murders, and many other bad things. Now you know they must be in the heart, or they could not come out of it. Some people will tell you they have good hearts, even though they speak bad words, and do bad actions. But this is a mistake. A good tree bears good fruits ; and a sweet spring does not send forth bit- ter waters. Now every person's heart is wicked by nature ; and if some people do not commit such wicked actions as others, it is not because their hearts are better by nature, but because God would not let them be so wicked as they would; just as they chain up wild beasts to keep them from destroying us. My dear children, you may see the truth of this in yourselves. You know how apt you are, or were once, to tell lies. Nobody told you how to tell lies. You did it naturally. Now is not that a proof of a wicked heart ] Lying is a great sin. It is the work of the devil, who is " a liar, and the father of lies." Lying is so hateful to God, that he will not let any liars go to heaven, " nothing that maketh a lie," Rom. xxi. but he says, ver. 8, " All liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brim- stone." O pray to God to forgive you this great sin. You may know that your hearts are wicked by your going into a passion when you are crossed, and great anger is a degree of murder in God's esteem. Matt. V. 22. But the wickedness of the heart ap- pears most of all in its enmity against God ; for St. Paul says, Rom. viii. 7, " the car- nal mind is enmity agauast God;" and have not you shown this in your dislike of religion, in breaking the Sabbath, in taking the Lord's name in vain, in disobeying your parents, and in many other ways 1 See then how needful is it that you should have a new heart ; and the new heart is a pure heart. Jesus Christ says, Matt. v. 8, " Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Now the heart is " puri- fied by faith." When we see what a wick- ed heart we have, and are filled with grief and fear, then we fly for refuge to Jesus Christ. Then God pardons our past sins for his sake, and gives us his Holy Spirit to make us hate sin, and fight against it ; and make us desire to know his will, and love to do it. Pray then with David, " Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me," Ps. li. 10. Remember, that " without holiness no man shall see the Lord." SERMON XIII. 59 V. The heart by nature is deceitful: yea, the Scripture says, deceitful above all things. It calls good evil, and evil good. It clieats people with false pretences and vain excuses; so that the way of the wick- ed seems right to them, although it leads to destruction. There is scarcely any sin- ner, however great, that does not flatter himself all will be well at last, though God tells him to the contrary. On this account, '* he that trusteth his own heart is a fool." But when the Lord gives a new heart, he makes it sincere. A real Christian is like Nathaniel, of whom our Savior said, " Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile ;" that is no al- lowed hypocrisy in his dealings with God or man. . VI. And lastly, The heart is naturally an unbelieving heart. It is a sad thing that man should be more ready to believe the lather of lies than the God of truth. It was by hearkening to the devil, that Eve, our first mother, sinned; and there has been in mankind ever sincer " an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God." It is plain that people do not be- lieve God. If they believed what he says of sin, tliey would not dare to practise it. If they believed what he says of Christ, surely they would come to him for life and salvation. And the reason they do not, is, they " love darkness rather than light, be- cause their deeds are evil." But the new heart is a believing heart. The Christian takes God at his word. He believes his threatenings, and fears. He believes his promises in Christ, and hopes. He believes his commandments, and obeys. Without this faith " it is impossible to please God ;" for he that believeth not God hath made him a liar. But faith glorifies God. " He that believeth on Christ hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not shall not see life ; but the wrath of God abideth on him." John iii. 36. APPLICATION. And now, dear children, I have told you what sort of hearts we have by nature, and what the Lord can make them by his grace, I hope you will consider what I have said, and consider what hearts you have. Are they not hard, and proud, and worldly, and wicked, and deceitful, and unbelieving / I think jwu must own they are so by nature. And does not this show you that you must be born again, and have a new heart? If your heart should not be changed, you will grow more wick- ed as you grow older ; and if you should die in your sins, you will be lost for ever. But, my dear children, I hope better things. Do not you know that Jesus Christ came " to seek, and to save that which was lostf And do you not remember reading that some good people brought their little children to him, and desired him to bless them '! And he said. Suffer little children to come unto me. Would you not be very glad if he was here now, and you could go and kneel down to him, and say. Blessed Jesus, bless me, even me also 1 Well, though he is in heaven, you may do this now. He is the same to-day that he was then. He loves little children as well as ever. And I beg and beseech each of you, when you go home, to go into some private place, and loieel down, and say, Blessed Jesus, I have a wicked heart that makes me do wicked things, and I am afraid of thy anger : but I have heard in the Gospel, that thou hast died for sinners to save them from hell, and sin, and the world; O save me, lest I perish. Take away my heart of stone, and give me a heart of flesh ; a heart to knov/, trust, and love thee, that I may serve thee in this world, and be for ever happy in the world to come. Let none of you say, " I am not old enough, or not big enough, to be religious; it is time enough yet." Dear children, you are not too young to die. Younger than you are in the grave. Besides, you cannot be too young to serve the Lord. Can you be safe too soon? Can you be happy too soon ? Can you glorify God too much ? Surely not. Well, then, pray for a new heart. It is the best gift that God can give you, or you receive; and may God Almighty, for Christ's sake, bestow it upon every one of you. Amen ! PRAYER. — Bi>EssED and gracious God, our heavenly Father. We are taught, by thy holy word, that our hearts are, by nature, very sin- ful ; that they are hard, and proud, and worldly, and wicked, and deceitful, and unbelieving: and we feel that this is all true ; and we are very Sony that though we are so young, our liearls are so bad. But Oh ! merciful God, do not be angry vi'ith us, and punish ns as our sins de- serve : but, for the sake of .lesus Christ, who died to save poor sinners, have mercy upon us, and forgive all our past sins, ."^nd, as it has pleased thee to promise to give thy children a new heart, we pray thee to give us new hearts. Give us soft and feeling hearts, humble hearts, heavenly hearts, holy heart.s, sincere hearts, and believing hearts, that so we may love and serve thee all our days, and when we die be received into heaven. 60 VILLAGE SERMONS. SERMON XIV. THE LORD'S PRAYER. Matt. vi. 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13th verses. After this manner therefore pray ye. Our t-ather which art in heaven ; hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in hea- ven. Give us this day our daily bread. And for- give us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil : for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. Prayer to God is the bounden duty of all men. " We live, and move, and have our being in him." " Every good and per- fect gift proceeds from him." " Men ought therefore always to pray, and not faint." We are .so sinful, that we always need mercy. We are so weak, that we always need help. We are so empty, that we al- ways need supplies. We are so exposed, that we always need protection. How rea- sonable then that we should continue in prayer ! But we greatly need direction in prayer. We know not how to pray, nor what to pray for, as we ought. Therefore Christ has been pleased to teach us in these words, which contain an excellent pattern for prayer. Not that we are tied down to use these very words, much less to use them always ; but after this manner we are to pray. Now as many persons constantly use this prayer, it may be very useful to explain it ; because it may be feared that a great many say the words without know- ing their meaning, which is formality at best ; and many contradict every part of this prayer by their wicked lives, which is base hypocrisy. May we therefore be as- sisted by the good Spirit rightly to under- stand it, that so, whenever we use it here- after, we may ofl'er up a reasonable and spiritual sacrifice, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. I. Our Father which art in heaven. We should always begin our prayer with proper thoughts of God. And what thoughts of him are so proper as those suggested by these words, namely, his goodness and his greatness? As Kfulher he is good. As a heavenly father he is great. Thus are we taught to approach him with confidence and reverence. As the Creator of all men, God may, in a general sense, be called the father of all: but it is in a higher and sweeter sense that he is here called a father. We are to take it in a Gospel view — God reconciled to be- lieving sinners through faith in the blood of Jesus Christ. God is angry with the wicked every day. He does not look down upon them with a fatlier's eye, nor do they look up to him with a child-like spirit. Therefore this prayer is not fit for the use of a man who lives in sin, whose carnal mind is enmity against God. How dare the swearer, the liar, the drunkard, call God a father ? God will not own the rela- tion. If such men pray, might they not rather cry — Our father which art in hell '! for Christ said to such persons, " Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do." John viii. 44. But when a person is convinced of his lost estate by sin ; when he is enlightened to know Christ as a Savior ; and when by precious faith he comes to God through him; then God is reconciled to him; his anger is turned away, and he comforts hint. Then he may look up to God as a merciful God, forgiving iniquity, trangres- sion and sin ; for " to as many as receive Christ, and the atonement through him, he giveth power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe in his name ;" and to such only is " the spirit of adoption" given, whereby they cry " Abba, father." For it is one thing to use the v/ordi father, and another to approach him, as a loving child comes to a tender parent, with a per- suasion of his bemg able and willing to supply his wants. To such persons this name is full of comfort ; for they are em- boldened to believe, that if earthly pa- rents, though evil, know how to give good gifts to their children, God, our heavenly father, is much more disposed to do them good, and bless them with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus. But this name teaches us also the great- ness of Gofl. Children ought to treat their earthly parents with great respect: but what reverence is due to the Father of spirits, whose throne is in the heavens ! yea, " tlie heaven of lieavens cannot con- tain him." God is everywhere present ; he is not confined to heaven ; but he is said to dwell there, because there he dis- plays tlie brightest beams of his glorious majesty ; and there angels and saints bow low before his feet, crying, day and night, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Al- mighty !" Such thoughts as these should possess our minds when we say, Our Fa- ther which art in heaven. Tliink of his goodness and his greatness wlien you pray. Take care to lift upyour hearts to heaven when you pray to iiun who dwells in hea- ven, or else your prayers will never reach his throne. II. Hallowed be thy name.' This is the first petition; and is placed first, to show us that our first and chief desire should be that God may be glorified ; for SERMON XIV. 61 tliat is the meaning of it. The name of God signifies God himself; as he is pleased to make himself known to us by his names and titles, his words and works : for as a man is known to us by his name, so God has made himself to us in the gospel. There all his glorious perfections shine and unite. There he shows himself " a just God and a Savior." Now, to hallow God's name, is to sanctify it ; to hold it sacred; for to sanctify any thing is to set it apart from every profane and common use. In this petition, then, we pray that God would enable us to glorify him in all things whereby he makes himself known. We must glorify him in our hearts, by high, holy, reverent thoughts of him. We must glorify him by our tongues, by al- ways speaking of him in the most serious manner. We must glorify him in all our actions; not only by acts of solemn wor- ship, but by the most common actions of life; for, whether we eat or drink, all should be done with a view to the glory of God. Now, how dreadfully far from this are many who say this prayer, and who no sooner get up from their knees, than they profane and blaspheme this holy name ! Think of this, you who curse and swear, or take the Lord's name in vain. When you say, in a thoughtless manner, God bless us ! O God ! O Christ ! &c. is this to hal- low the name of God 1 Leave off praying, or leave oft* swearing: for they cannot agree together. But let every one that fears God, re- member, that the glory of God is the first and chief thing that we are to ask for, and to desire, and sec, even before our own good. Now, that we and others may do tiiis, we are taught, in the next place, to pray, III. Thtj kingdom come ! Now, this does not mean the kingdojn of God's provi- dence, which rules over all ; this cannot be said to come, for it is come already, and will never cease: but it means that spirit- ual kingdom which Christ came to set up in the world. That kingdom of the Mes- siah, which the pious Jews had long ex- pected, and which, when this prayer was given to the disciples, was said to bo at' hand. This kingdom of Christ did come soon after. It was set up when Christ ascended to heaven, and the Spirit de- scended from it But still the prayer is as necessary as ever ; for we pray that this kingdom may be established in our own hearts, and extended to all the world. The kingdom of Christ is erected on purpose to destroy the kingdom of Satan. The devil has usurped a dominion over all mankind ; and though he does not now possess the bodies of men, as he once did, yet he " ruleth in the hearts of the chil- dren of disobedience," who are " led cap- tive by him at his will ;" and in some parts of the world he is still worshipped as God. Now, in order to destroy this infernal kingdom, Jesus Christ came into the world; he overcame Satan in all his at- tempts to seduce hun ; and on the cross he spoiled principalities and powers, and con- quered when he fell; he deprived Satan of his power, and led captivity captive. Wherever he sends his gospel, he pro- claims liberty ; and wherever he gives his grace to any person, there Satan is de- throned : and being made willing to sub- mit to Christ, the believer is translated out of Satan's kingdom of sin and darkness into the holy and happy kingdom of God's dear Son. Now when we say. Thy kingdom come we pray that the light, power, liberty, and glory of Christ's spiritual kingdom may be more fully experienced in our own hearts, more fully established m our own souls. For as one observes — " In worship we pay our homage to God. In the ivord, we come to learn his laws. In the sacraments, we renew our oaths of allegiance. In almsgiving, we pay him tribute. In prayer, we ask his leave ; and praise is our rent to the great Lord, from whom we hold our all." Thus also we express our soul's desire for our poor fellow-sinners. Deeply af- fected with the state of Heathens, Jews, Mahometans and wicked Christians, we pour forth our souls in holy longings for their conversion, earnestly desiring the joyful day when it shall be said — " The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever." Rev. xi. 15. IV. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. God, the glorious maker of the world, has a riglit to govern it. His will is the proper rule of his creatures' actions; and it is obeyed by them all, except men and devils. God has made known his wiU to us in liis word. The law of the ten commandments shows what obedience he requires of us; but, as fallen creatures, we have rendered ourselves incapable of perfect obedience to it, and so of obtaining life by it. God has graciously given to us the law of faith, or the gospel of salvation by Jesus Christ; and this is his command- ment, that we should "believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love 6 62 VILLAGE SERMONS. one another." But the natural man re- fuses obedience to this also; he is either unconcerned about salvation, or dislikes the way of it ; and while he remains in this state, he cannot do the will of God in any respect acceptably, for " without faith it is impossible to please him." In short, " the carnal mind is enmity against God ;" the will of the flesh is directly contrary to the will of God ; but it accords with the will of Satan, sinners being " led captive by him at his will." How necessary then is this petition — Ihy will be done ! And it includes, 1. A desire to know it ; as the Psalmist prays (143. 10.) " Teach me to do thy will, for thou art my God ;" or, as converted Saul, " Lord, what wilt thou have me to do V 2. A heart to do it ; a heart on which God has written his laws. It is related of a c!fertain person, that when he was teaching his child to say this prayer, and came to this petition — " thy will be done," the child refused to say it, and would have it " my will be done." This poor simple child was far more honest than many of us, who say thy will be done, and yet de- termine to follow our own will: but the real Christian's- desire is, "O that there were such an heart in me, to fear God, and to keep all his commandments al- ways!" Deut. v. 29. We pray also, 3. For strength to do the will of God : for " to wilV may be present, and yet how to perform tliat which is good we may not find ; but, knowing that the Lord worketh in his people both to will and to do, we hereby pray that he would " make us per- fect in every good work, to do his will ; working in us that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ. This petition also includes holy submission to the will of his providence, however afflic- tive, and that we may learn to bear it with- out murmuring, knowmg that it is his will, and for our good. Now, we pray for grace to do all this, in imhation of the spirits of just men made perfect, and of the sinless angels in heaven. " God's will is done in heaveny The an- gels that excel in strength do his com- mandment : hearken to the voice of his word : they do it iiumbly, cheerfully, dili- gently, constantly; and so do glorified saints in heaven, ""for there his servants shall serve him." So let it be our meat and drink, to do the will of our heavenly Father, and to bear Christ's yoke, which is easy ; and his burden, which is light." V. Give us this day our daily bread. This petition implies our dependence on God for food, and all the supports and comforts of life. Man, as a fallen creature, has forfeited the good things of tliis life, and deserves to be deprived of them all. The earth was cursed for man's sake, therefore in sorrow and labor he eats of it; but it is through tlie goodness of God that he has power to labor; that rain from heaven and fruitful seasons are even granted. It is " he who gives us our corn, and wine, and oil ;" and, though the poor man works hard for his daily bread, it is no less the gift of God. To him also we owe the appetite that makes our food pleasant, and the power of digestion that makes it nourishing. Moderation in our desires is here ex- pressed. We are not taught to ask for riches and honors ; they are often the de- structive snares of those who possess them ; but we may lawfully ask for food and raiment, " for our heavenly Father knoweth that we have need of all tliese things;" ver. 22; and having these, we ought to be content. We are not to ask for weekly bread, or monthly bread, or yearly bread ; but for daily bread ; for we must not boast of to- morrow, or depend on future years ; but live in daily dependence on God, without anxious cares for a future time. " Suffi- cient to the day is the evil thereof;" and sufficient for the day is the good thereof; so that we are to exercise ourselves in daily prayer, and receive every meal, and every morsel, as the gift of a good God, which will make it sweeter. The Christian will also ask for bread for his soul as well as his body. Christ is to the believer's soul what food is to the body. He is " the bread of life ;" and if we are born of God, we shall daily desire to feed upon him in our hearts, by faith, with thanksgiving. VI. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. This petition is joined to the last by the word and, which may teach us, that without the forgiveness of sms, the comforts of this life can do us no real good ; " for what is a man profited, if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul ?" Every man is a sinner. Tliere is not a creature who wants daily bread, that does not also want daily pardon ; and yet how few are sensible of it ! Sin is here compared to a debt. There is a debt of duty we owe to God ; and, in case of failure, we contract a new debt to tlie jus- tice of God. The debts we owe to man expose us to misery here ; but the debts we owe to God expose us to eternal misery ; for " the waiges of sin is death." And be it remembered, we are not able to SERMON XIV. 63 pay a single farthing of this debt ; if ever we are delivered from going to the prison of hell, it must be by a free pardon, for so we here pray — ^^ forgive us our debts ;" or, as it is elsewhere, "forgive us our trespasses." God will take no composition. We can make no amends. It is not taking care not to contract a new debt that wiU discharge an old one ; this will not do with our neighbors, nor will it do with God. Free forgiveness alone will prevent our punishment. But be it carefully observed, that though a sinner is justified freely, it is only " through the redemption tliat is in Christ." It costs us nothing ; but it cost him dear. And it is only through faith in his blood that we can receive it. With believing and penitent hearts we must go to God by Jesus Christ, and plead for his mercy for Christ's sake. At the same time we are here taught what is the true disposition of a gracious soul — a forgiving- temper — " as we forgive our debtors ;" that is, as we forgive those who have in- jured us in our property, person, or name. Not that our kindness to another deserves forgiveness at the hand of God ; but that, as we cannot expect pardon from God, while we refuse it to those who ask us for it ; we may liumbly hope, that if we are enabled by grace to forgive others, God, whose thoughts and ways are infinitely -above ours, will not reject our prayer for pardoning mercy through Jesus Christ. VII. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Those whose sins are forgiven will be afraid of sinning again ; and, knowing the power of tempt- ation, will pray to be kept from it. Now temptation is any thing which makes trial of us, and proves what is in our hearts. Afflictions are God's trials of us, for .our good; but all Satan's temptations are to lead us into evil. The person who uses this prayer aright is afraid of sin ; knows the plague of his own heart ; the power of his corruption ; the snares of the world ; and the devices of the devil ; and he offers up this petition to God, that he would keep him out of the way of such trinls as would be too hard for him, or grant sufficient strength to resist and overcome the devil ; " the evil one ;" the wicked one ; the great tempter, who " goeth about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may de- vour." But this must be accompanied with watchinfT, and avo'ding all wilful oc- casions of sin, or else words do but mock God. VIII. The conclusion of the prayer is — For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. This shows why we should pray to God ; and wliy we may hope to be heard. The kingdom is his. God is king of all the world, and has a right to dispose of all things in it. The power is his, as well as the authority ; whatever our wants are, he can supply them; whoever our enemies are, he can subdue them. He tlierefore can answer our prayers ; and as a loving Fa- ther we hope he will. His then will be the glory. Whatever God does is for liis own glory ; and if we are disposed to give him all the glory of what he does lor us, we may hope that our petitions will be granted. This kingdom, this power, this glory are ybr ever ; he will never want the power to help; and if we are saved, we shall never cease to give him praise. Tlie force of the whole prayer lies in the first and last words of it — Our Father, and Amen. In the first we apply to God in Christ, as reconciled to us ; in the last, we set our seal to the whole, and say, Amen : so let it he ; so we humbly hope, it shall be for Christ's sake. APPUCATION. How awfully is this prayer abused ! Ig- norant people use it as a kind of charm ; and think it enough to say the words, with- out considering the meaning. O beware, as you love your souls, of mocking God by thoughtless praying. Can you call him a father, while you obey the devil ? Will you say " hallowed be thy name," and yet you profane it daily 1 What do you care for his kingdom, while you belong to another ? or talk of God's will without wishing to do if? Do you not forget him when you eat and drink 'i Are you not careless about the for- giveness of your sins, adding daily to the dreadful debt ; and perhaps living in malice and wrath 1 How can you pray that God will not lead you into temptation, when you run wilfully into the way of it; fre- quenting tiie alehouse, the playhouse, the fair, the wakes, and the conijjany of the lewd, the protane, and the drunken ? Dear fellow-creature, permit me to say, that thus contradicting your prayers by your life, you cannot expect to be h6ard ; nay, God may justly say to you at last, " (^ut of thine own mouth will I condemn thee, thou wick- ed servant." But God forbid ! Think over this prayer before you use it again : and beg of God to enable you to use it with un- derstanding and sincerity, that the rich blessings asked for in it may be yours, and God be glorified in your everlasting salva- tion. Those who are " born of God," and have 64 VILLAGE SERMONS. "the spirit of grace and supplication," teaching them to pray, will not confine themselves at all times to these words ; yet they may be used with great comfort and edification. God is your father ; he is more disposed to give than you to ask; plead that dear relation. Let his glory be your first desire ; the increase of his kingdom your highest wish. Let his will be done in love, by saints below as well as those above : then fear not to depend on his pro- vidence for daily supplies. " There is for- giveness with him, that he may be feared ; and he that is for us is greater than he who is against us. Though surrounded with snares, his sheep are in his hand : and they shall be kept by his power, through faith, unto salvation. Then shall prayer be turned into praise ; and all the ransomed of the Lord shall unite in full chorus, and say, — " Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen, and Amen. PRAYER. — Our Father which art seated on a throne of glory in the highest heavens, help us to bow before thee with the deepest reverence, and at the same time with fiUal confidence, believing that thou art able and willing to supply all our wants. We desire to glorify thy great name. May the whole race of mankind pay that dutiful venera- tion to thy divine Majesty which thy matchless perfections so justly demand. May the kingdom of grace, which thy dear Son came to introduce among men, be more fully established, and more widely extended, until all the kingdoms of this world shall be included in it. May thy will which is always wise, holy and good, be done by men on earth, as it is done by angels in Heaven; and may we mortals ever submit to it with becoming reverence and resig- nation. Give us this day our daily bread. We would not seek the great things of this life ; but we humbly desire a competent supply for our present necessities, leaving future provision to thy pater- nal care. And though we have, in many respects, acted like disobedient children, yet we beseech thee, O merciful Father, for Christ's sake, to forgive all our sins, and blot out all our debts from the book of thy remembrance, even as we, by thy grace, freely forgive our fellow-creatures who have of- fended us. And we pray to be kept from such circumstan- ces as might render temptation exceedingly dan- gerous and hard to be withstood ; and if we are so tempted, deliver us by thy mighty power from the evil one, the tempter, that he may not prevail and triumph over us. And these things we are encouraged to ask, for thou art the supreme king of the world ; thou hast almighty power to help us; and to thee be ascribed the glory of infinite perfection, and ever- lasting praise. Amen. SERMON XV. THE DANGER OF FORMALITY AND HYPOCRISY. Matt. vii. 21.— Not every one that saith unto me Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of Heav en ! but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven. We have before us an eternal world, in which there are but two states, the one in- expressively happy, the other inconceiva- bly wretched ; and in one of these each of us must very soon be fixed. — But, in which ? — It is impossible we can be indif- ferent about knowing in which, when an hour, a moment, may place us in one of tliem 1 Perhaps you will say. How can a person know 1 I answer, it may be known ; clearly known by the word of God ; for in the Scriptures the characters of samts and sinners are exactly drawn. It is plainly laid down who shall go to heaven, and who shall go to hell ; and having this rule, we are often exhorted to try ourselves by it ; " to examine ourselves whether we be in the faith ;" and thus, " to make our calling and election sure." The words of the text are of this nature : and you will re- member that they are the words of Jesus Christ, who is to be our judge : so that the same lips, which declared this to us, will pronounce upon each of us the sentence of life or death. O that we may now learn, what all the world shall then learn, that true religion does not consist in words, or professions of regard to Christ, or in gifts, or zeal, or usefulness; but in doing the will of God from the heart. I. We learn from these words, that at the great day there will be an earnest de- sire in many to enter into the kingdom of heaven. By the " kingdom of heaven" is sometimes intended the kingdom of grace in the church of Christ on earth ; but here it means the state of glory above, where Jesus shaU^reign in all his divine glory, and all his subjects enjoy perfect bliss. That this is referred to appears from the next verse — " Many will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord." In that day ; it is not said in what day : nor was tliere any need to say what day ; for all the disciples of Christ know what is meant by it. They are often thinking on that day, when they shall " see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great glory ;" " when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with all his mighty angels in flaming fire." This is called the great day ; a day of the greatest grandeur, a day of the greatest joy, and a day of the greatest terror. It is SERMON XV. 65 also called the day of the Lord, and the day of Christ. This is man\s day ; yea, tiie devWs day ; wlien sinners triumph, and Satan reigns ; but the triumph of tlie wicked is sliort, and the prince of this world shall be judged. O how careless are most people now about this great day. Scoffers abound in these latter times, and say, " Where is the promise of his coming!" Now and then, indeed, a just concern has prevailed for a season ; as under John's ministry, " the kingdom of heaven suHered violence, and ail men were for pressing into it." When a nation has been frightened by an earth- quake or a plague, multitudes have been alarmed for a while. A few years ago thousands followed Mr. Whitfield into the open fields to hear the word ; and we have read of great awakenings in this and other countries. O that we could now see the same ! O that now when the judgments of tlie Lord are abroad in the earth, this sinful nation would learn righteousness ! But O, how will it be when the day comes ? How will it be when the trumpet shall sound 7 What terror will seize the heart of the wicked man ! Ah, he will say. Is the dreadful day come at last ? the day I so of- ten heard of, so often laughed at ! O my folly ! O my vain and hurtful lusts ! For Avhat have I lost my soul ! For the sake of my business, my pleasures, my compan- ions, I have lost my soul, my heaven, my all. O that I never had been born ! But, perhaps, recovering himself a little, he may say — Am not 1 a Christian ; was I not baptized and confirmed, and did I not take the Sacrament ! Lord, Lord, open to me ; but it will bo too late; the door is shut; many will then seek to enter in, but shall not be able. The judge will profess unto Uiem, I never knew you; depart from me, ye workers of iniquity. And this leads us to observe in the next place, that, II. A mere profession of religion will then be found i^isujjicienl. The judgment of men carries it now ; but it is a small matter to be judged of man's judgment. Man looks only at the outward appearance, but the Lord searcheth the heart ; and he will then make t!ie result of his search public, ^^he young man may now rejoice in his youtliful lusts and pleasures: he may walk in the way of his heart, and in the sight of his eyes; but let him know, and O that he may consider it, that " for all these things, God will bring him into judg- ment," Eccles. xi. 0. Yea, God will bring every secret thin's into judgment ; what is spoken in the ear in the closet shall be pro- claimed on the house-top ; and tlaen shall I the secrets of all hearts be made manifest Then shall many that were first be last; and many that were last shall be first. Then shall the hypocrites be detected and exposed. Then shall a separation be made between tlie tares and the wheat ; between the sheep and the goats ; between the fool- ish and the wise virgins. Then shall he say to poor vain formalists, I never knew ijou, c|-c. But let us more particularly ex- amine the pretensions of these people. It should seem that they used to pray ; they used to say. Lord, Lord ! It is cer- tainly a bad sign for any one that he does not pray ; and it is generally a good sign wlien a person does pray ; but it is not a certain sign of grace. " The wicked some- times pour out a prayer when God's chas- tening hand is upon them." Afflictions will sometmies extort prayers and vows, and many duties of religion ; but when the af- fliction is over, there is an end of their de- votion ; and they return to their sins, as the dog to his vomit. So there may be transient convictions of sin, and terrific fears of hell, especially in the time of sick- ness and apprehension of death ; and these may lead not only to a temporary reforma- tion, but to doing many things, as Herod did when he heard John gladly, and as numbers of persons in popish countries, who do penance for their sins ; but there may be all this, and much more, while men remain workers of iniquity. Again, these people appeared to be zealous in religion, as the repetition of the word. Lord, Lord, seems to intimate ; and we find in the next verse, that they " pro- phesied in the name of Christ," Most of the prophets, especially the stated prophets, were " holy men ;" but some, especially of the occasional ones, as Balaam, Saul, and Caiaphas, were wicked men. So were some of the first preachers of Christianity : and so are many now. This is an awful word for the carnal clergy of any church, and wicked preacliers of any denomina- tion ; and it shows that zeal for religion is no proof of sincerity in it. These men did more still ; — " they cast out devils in Christ's name." When Christ was upon earth, and for some ages after, the devil was permitted to possess the bodies of men ; but Christ and his apostles were able to cast them out; and so did common Christians for a long time after, by the mention of his name. But this and other extraordinarv gifl-^ were not confined to real Christians: wicked professors some- times did it, and here, we see, boasted of it, and pleaded it; but the plea is not ad- mitted. Other " wonderful works" tliev 6* 66 VILLAGE SERMONS. also did; for so the Lord permitted, in order to promote the spread of Christianity ; but what availed all this, while the devil was not cast out of their own hearts, and the wonderful works of God's grace had never been wrought in their own souls? Men may be famous and useful in the church, yet, after all, be " castaways." These people also professed obedience to Christ; they called him Lord. He is " Lord of all." He has all power in heaven and earth; and to him every knee shall bow. But it is to no purpose to call him Master and Lord, if we do not the things which he commands. Christ is not deceiv- ed by compliments, and he will reject that false devotion which consists only in words. " Saying and doing arc two things, often parted in the conversation of men. He that said, I go, Sir, never stirred a step." Matt, xxi. 30. Now, notwithstanding all the profes- sions of these people, it appears, from the words of Christ himself, that they were workers of iniquity. They loved sin, they lived in sin, they made a trade of sin ; it was their calling and business, at which they daily worked, as a man at his proper trade. All this they did under the mask of religion, and are therefore rejected. Depart from me, I never knew you. Observe here, my friends, the deceitful- ness of sin, and the deceitfulness of the heart. Though these formal professors lived in sin, and must know they did so, yet they continued to depend on their out- ward forms, and to approach the bar of God with a lie in their right hands. Alas ! how many deceivers live and die deceived, and their fatal mistake is never detected till it is past remedy ! Just like the Jews of old, to whom St. Paul thus speaks. Rom. ii. 17. " Behold thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God, and knowest his will, and approves! the things that are more excel- lent, being instructed out of the law ; and art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light to them which are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes ; which has the form of knowledge, and of the truth in the law." These outward things the Jews rested in, presumed upon, and were proud of; while they were ignorant of the spiritual design of their own rites ; and many of them so wicked, that " the name of God was blas- phemed among the Gentiles" by their sins. "They were strangers to that important distinction which the apostle makes, ver. 28, 29, of that cliapter, where he says, " He is not a Jew, which is one outward- ly ; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh ; but he is a Jew, wliich is one inwardly ; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God." Thus you see, there is a great difference between outward and in- ward religion; between the religion of form, and the religion of the heart. What circumcision, sacrifices, and the temple, were to the Jews of old. Baptism, the Lord's Supper, and public worship, are to professing Christians now ; and as the ig- norant Jews put their trust in their church privileges, so many nominal Christians now ; but if this be all, their praise will be, not of God, but of men only. This is evident from our text, in which a claim on Christ, founded on these things, is rejected. / never knew you ; that is, " I never esteemed or approved of you as my true disciples and servants ; nor will I own or accept you as such. Depart from me : I now banish you from my blessed and glorious presence to everlasting misery and despair, O all ye wilful transgressors." How dreadful will that word Depart be ! How did Peter dread the thought of de- parting from Christ, when, many of his disciples having forsaken him, he said to the Apostles, " Will ye also go away?'''' Peter in the name of the rest, replied, " Lord, to whom shall we go ] thou hast the words of eternal life." A holy soul dreads the idea of departing from Christ by apostasy ; but how terrible will it be, to hear the great Judge command us to depart ! God grant that now we may de- part from all iniquity. If there be any in- iquity in us which we know not, merciful Savior, discover it to us, and deliver us from it ; and never let us hear thee say, " Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity." We now proceed to the last and most pleasing part of our subject, and observe, in the Illd place. That all true and obedient believers will be admitted into the heaven- ly kingdom. Here is our Lord's descrip- tion of them, of every one of them ; He that doelh the will of my Father which is in heaven. The will rf God cannot be known but by his word. The Scriptures are given us on purpose that we may know his will ; and there are two princi- pal tilings in the Scriptures, namely, wliat we are to believe concerning God, and the duly which he requires of us ; or in other words, Faith and Practice ; and both of these are equally necessary ; for we can never do the will of God in holy obedience without first believing in God through SERMON XV. 67 Jesus Christ ; the whole of the Christian religion consisting in this failli, which worketh by love. Faith is first necessary in order to obe- dience ; so Christ taught the people, wiio asked him, What must we do, that we may loork the works of God ! John vi. 28, &,c. This is the work of God, said he, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent ; as if he had said, " the great and hnportant duty wliich I am come to point out to you, and which leads the way to all others, and is necessary to tlie acceptance of your per- sons, and of all your obedience, and which therefore God commands, approves, and is the author of, is this, that ye cordially em- brace, and yield yourselves up by faith to me, as the true Messiah, the only Media- tor, according to the discoveries I make of myself, and of the way of salvation by me." And St. Jolm also says, 1 John iii. 23, This is his commandment : That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ. When people read or hear of the commandments, they think the ten commandments only are meant ; but this is a great mistake, for the very first busi- ness of a poor guilty helpless sinner is, to come to Christ for salvation. We are not to suppose that we must first prepare, or make ourselves worthy, by sorrow for sin, purifying our hearts, or reforming our lives, before we may venture to trust in Christ ; all these are the proper fruits and etfects of faith. We must believe in him " who justifieth the ungodly," and not think first to make ourselves godly, and then hope in liim. Faith is the first work. Ixx)k to Jesus. Come to Jesus. Trust in Jesus ; and then a good liope of pardoning mercy will incline the heart to love him, and hate every evil way. We cannot do good works till we are in Clirist by faitli, any more than the branch of a tree can produce fruit when separate from the stock. Christ is the vine, and we are the branches ; and by virtue of union to him, we become fruitful in every good word and work. n. This also is the will of God, even nnr sanctificatinn. God is holy: therefore we must be holy. We are chosen in Christ unto sanctification and obedience. The Lord gives liis people a new heart, upon which he writes his laws, and which, througli his grace, become pleasant to them. Being crucified with Christ, the old man of sin is crucified. They reckon themselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive to God, tlirough Christ Jesus our Lord. The daily inquiry of a new-born soul is, " Lord, what wilt thou have me to do !" " Teach me to do thy will, for thou art my God." I will run in the way of thy commandments, when thou hast enlarged my heart." And this disposition will show itself in all the relations and circumstances of life; in the family, the workshop, and in all common actions, as well as in the house of God. Whether we are husbands, wives, cliildren, servants, subjects, filling up our places to God's glory will be our constant aim. Particularly, shall we be desirous to fulfil the royal law of love to our brethren, on which great stress is laid in the New Testament; for the law, as far as it relates to our neighbor, is fulfilled in one word, Love. Now persons of this character shall have an abundant entrance into the kingdom and glory of Jesus Christ. While formal- ists and hypocrites are s!mt out, the blessed Redeemer will smile upon thee, and say, " Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world ;" and he will men- tion, as the evidence of their election and fruit of their faith, the acts of Christian love which they performed to their hun- gry, thirsty, naked, sick, or imprisoned brethren ; taking them as kindly as if they had been done to himself; " for inasmuch as ye did it to one of the least of these my brethren, ye did it unto me." See Matt. XXV. 34, &c. APPLICATION. And now, my friends, having heard how awful the fate of mere formalists and hypo- crites will prove at the great day, it surely becomes us seriously to examine of what kind our religion is. It plainly appears, from what has been said, " that the king- dom of God is not in word, but in power," 1 Cor. iv. 20. And as they are many who have the form of godliness, but who deny tlie power of it, it is most necessary, as we value the salvation of our souls, to deter- mine whether our religion is form or power, that so we may know whether the great Judge will own or disown us at the last. Consider, therefore, what your religion consists in, and wliat you depend upon. la it that you were born and bred a Christian; tliat you were baptized ; that you have gone to church, or meeting ; that you can say the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Commandments : that you have taken the Sacrament, been sorry for your sins, and do to others as you would be done by 1 Or that you have done your best, and put your trust in God ! Are these your pleas? Is this your religion ! Tlien, pardon me, if I speak the truth in love, and tell you, plainly, this will not do. These emotv 68 VILLAGE SERMONS. boasts prove that you are a stranger to true heart religion. All these things you may imagine you have done ; but if this be all, it is only crying, Lord, Lord. Had you gone much farther than this, and equalled the Pharisees in their zeal and devotion, all would be insufficient, without a convic- tion of your sin and misery ; a heart hum- bled for your iniquities ; a view of the only way of salvation through Jesus Christ; and that faith in him which purifies the heart, works by love, and overcomes the world. Be not deceived then. Satisfy yourselves with nothing short of that which Christ will accept and approve at last. This is doing the will of God : which will, as you have now heard, requires, in the first place, believing in the Lord Jesus Christ ; coming to him as a guilty, help- less sinner, and receiving him as your wis- dom, righteousness, sanctification, and re- demption. Come, then, my fellow-sinner, to Jesus. Beg of him to teach you. Beg of him to wash you in his blood. Beg of him to give you his Spirit, and enable you, from a principle of love, to forsake every evil way, and cleave to him with purpose of heart. Then shall ye know that the " kingdom of God is not meat and drink," forms and ceremonies, "but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." Let me drop a word of caution to those who perhaps may boast that they are no hypocrites, for they do not pretend to any religion. Can you think that this will be admitted as an excuse ? Will you dare to approach the awful bar of God, and plead, " Lord, I never pretended to serve thee ! I never thought it worth my while to know or worship thee. I loved the world and my sins so well, that I lived like an Athe- ist." O Sirs, deceive not yourselves. An- swer that question if you can, " How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salva- tion V Formalists and hypocrites pay some compliment to religion, by counterfeiting it, and imitating it ; yet will they perish : but you despise it. You treat the blessed God and the gracious Savior as unworthy your notice. How then can you expect but to have your portion with hypocrites and unbelievers, and to be turned into hell with all those who forget Godl These words may probably be very alarming to the tender spirits of some who truly fear God. Some of the sincere and humble followers of the Lamb may be ready to fear, lest he should bo angry with them at last, and say, "Depart, I never knew you." But, my dear brethren, tell me, is it not your heart's desire to know and do the will of God, particularly in those two grand points, fkith and holiness? Say, is not Jesus high in your esteem ; the chief of ten thousand, and altogether lovely ; and would not you gladly be con- formed to him, in cheerfully doing and pa- tiently suffering tiie will of God ! Take courage, then. These words are as full of comfort for you, as they are full of ter- ror to formalists and hypocrites. The Friend of sinners will say to his dear peo- ple. Come, ye blessed of my Father, in- herit the kingdom prepared for you, and for which my grace prepared your souls on earth. Enter into the joys of your Lord. And now are any of you beginning to say, I fear I have been deceived. I fear my religion will not stand the test. I have mistaken the shadow for the substance ; the shell for the kernel. What shall I do ? I answer, it is an infinite mercy that you have discovered your mistake. You might have died deceived, and have been rejected by Christ. But it may be hoped that it is a token for good, and the dawn of mercy to your soul. Let your fears bring you to your knees, and at the throne of grace im- plore divine aid. Say, with the Psalmist, " Search me, O God, and loiow my heart ; try me, and Imow my thoughts ; and see if there be any way of wickedness in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." PRAYER.— O God, the great Searcher of all hearts, suffer us not to deceive ourselves with a mere form of godliness, while strangers to its power. Let us not be found amongst Formalists or Hypocrites. May we take warning from that solemn word of admonition which we have just heard, and which proceeded originally from the lips of him who in the great decisive day will be our Judge ! May we now truly ktiow and diligently perform the will of God! May we, first of all, believe in Jesus, and receive him as our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and re- demption ; and also be under the constant influ- ence and guidance of the Holy Spirit, so that we may faithfully do the will of our Father who is in Heaven ; and finally, in the day of judgment, be graciously admitted into the kingdom of glory, when the Lord of all shall say to his believing and obedient people, "Come, ye blessed of my I'^ather, inherit the kingdom prepared for you, from the foundation of the world." SERMON XVI. THE*PHARISEE AND PUBLICAN. Luke xvi. 10. — God be raorciful to me a sinner. There is a time approaching, when MERCY will appear to all mankind the most valuable thing in the world. Figure to yourselves the avtful hour, when you shall SERMON XVI. 69 be about to quit this mortal state, and launch into an unkiiovvn world ; realize the still more awful moment, when the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised ; when the great white throne shall be erected, and the assembled world shall appear before the universal Judge ; when the grand sei)aration shall be made be- tween the rigiitcous and the wicked ; the one being placed at the right hand, the otiicr at the left of Christ — then, my friends, then will the full value of mercy be known. O what a word will mircy be tlien ; a world for mercy then ! " Vessels of mercy," obtainers of mercy — how will they shout and sing, " O give thanks to the Jjord, for he is good ; for his mercy en- dureth for ever." While others, in all the bitterness of fruitless woe, shall cry, O that we had but known the need of mercy, the way of mercy, and the value of mercy, while it might have been had ! But now tlie door is shut ; the mercies of God are clean gone for ever, and he will be favora- ble no more. With this amazing scene in prospect, let us address ourselves to the text, and to the parable of the Pharisee and Publican, of which it is a part. The introduction to it, and the conclusion of it, will be the best key to its true meaning. Ver. 9. " Our Savior spake this parable unto cer- tain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others." Here are two bad things in their charac- ter. 1. They trusted in themselves — which no man can do, if he knows the holy law of God ; and 2. Tlicy despised others, which wc cannot do, if we know our own hearts. Tlie conclusion shows how God dislikes such people, while he accepts a poor dejected sinner ; for " every one that exalteth himself shall be abased ; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." Ver. 14. " Two men went up into the temple to pray ; the one a Pharisee, and tlie other a Publican." Ver. 10. The Pharisees were a sect of people in those days in high re- pute for religion; they separated them- selves from others, as if more holy : they distinguished themselves by peculiar zeal for ceremonies: but many of them were rank hypocrites, neglecting the religion of the heart, and indulging tliemselves in cruelty and oppression. The Publican also appeared at the same place, at the same time, and on the same errand ; but how different their characters ! Had we seen them both together, we should per- haps have thought far better of the Phari- see than of the Publican ; " for man look- eth only at the outward appearance, but God looketh at the heart." Very different motives brought them here. The Pharisee came because it was a public place, and he wished to be seen and admired ; the Publican came because it was " a house of prayer," and he wanted to pour forth his soul before God. Thus, my friends, in all our places of worship there is a mix- ture of characters ; but let us remember, God is the searcher of the heart, and he knows what brings us to his house. Ver. 11. " The Pharisee stood and pray- ed thus with himself; — he stood by him- self, with great formality, in a place where the people must notice him ; he prayed thus with himself, and to himself, not to God : Ah, Sirs, there are many people who pray to themselves ; they speak not to God ; their words never reach him ; they utter sounds, but not desires ; this praying will do no good. It is remarkable, that in all the Pharisee's prayer there is not one peti- tion : he came to pray ; but surely he for- got his errand, for he asks nothing. Praise to God is certainly a proper and a noble part of prayer ; but though he pretends to praise, he only boasts. But let us hear his fine prayer ; " God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are." What is this but ignorance, pride, and censoriousness ? Be- sides, he begins his prayer with a lie. He was as other men are, for all men are sin- ners ; in this respect all are on a level : there is no difference, as the Scripture speaks, Rom. iii. 22, 23. It is true that some men are restrained from sins that others commit ; but the seeds of every sin are by nature in the heart of every man ; and if we have not actually committed them, we owe it to the restraining power or the changing grace of God. The Pliarisee seems to admit of this, by saying, " God, I thank thee ;" but we have reason to doubt his sincerity in so saying ; and to think they were words of course and form ; for so proud a Iieart as his could not be duly sensible of his obligations to divine grace ; and there are many, who, like him, use words of praise, but feel no gratitude to God. His meaning was probably this, " O God, tliou Author of my being, I thank thee for the noble powers with which thou hast endowed me, by my owtt wise and careful improvement of which I have kept myself from being so wicked as other people." You will observe, that there were two principal parts of the law; the one re- spected morals, the other ceremonials. Now the Pharisee takes care to brag of his regard to both ; and first, to tlie moral 70 VILIJ\.GE SERMONS. law, / am not as other men are — well, what are other men ? Why, according to his account, it should seem that most other men are extortioners, unjust, adulterers. At all times there are too many such peo- ple as these ; but his way of mentioning them was merely for the purpose of exalt- ing hunself and his own sect, some of whom were equally criminal, though un- der the mask of religion. It may be the Pharisee was not an " extortioner," — did not cruelly oppress his neighbor ; but we have Christ's authority for it, that the PJiarisees were generally " covetous," and some of them " devoured widows' houses." He says he was not " unjust" — not a knave, or a cheat : but could he say he had never coveted his neighbor's goods ? for this is heart-robbery in the sight of God. He says he was not an " adulterer ;" it may he so ; but our Lord says, that " he who look- eth upon a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery already with her in his heart." Matt. v. 28. But this was the folly of such men ; they washed the out- side of the cup and the platter, but within they were " full of extortion and excess ; righteous without, but full of hypocrisy and iniquity within ;" so Christ declares. Matt, xxiii. 26, &c. Not content with boasting of himself, he must abuse the poor Publican. — " I am not as this Publican. What business had he with the Publican 1 He ought to have re- joiced to see him in the temple ; he might have hoped it was a symptom of his refor- mation. He should have gone and shook hands with him, and given him some good advice. But his proud heart spurns at the broken-hearted sinner; just as modern Pharisees, who look upon mourning souls as poor, canting, whining hypocrites, far heneath their notice. There was a great .deal of cruelty ui this; he could not say his own prayers, without putting in a caveat, ■as it were, against the petition of his poor neighbor. But the Pharisee has yet more to boast •of He had not only "done nobody any harm," as the vulgar phrase is, but he had been mighty religious ; he kept Lent all the year. I fast, said he, twice a week. Occasional fasting, in order to humble ourselves before God for our sins, is very commendable, whether by private persons or public bodies ; but the Pharisee's fasting was not for that purpose, but for ostenta- tion, and with a view to merit at the hand of God, as appears by his boasting of it. Besides this, he tells God, he gave tithes of all he possessed ; not only of what the law of Moses required, but of the herbs in tenth part of all "lether titheable his garden ; he devoted he had to religious uses, or not by the law. Thus you have the Pharisee's prayer ; a prayer which God rejected ; for though he justified himself, God did not justify him. And now, my friends, let us examine cur- selves J Is there nothing of the Pharisee's spirit in us ! Do we not hear people speak- ing the same language sometimes ? Is not this all the hope of some persons, that they never did any person harm ; that they pay every one his due ; and perliaps that they go to church constantly, behave decently, take the sacrament, give alms ; and so on ] How often do we hear this language on a dying bed ! Poor ignorant souls rush into the presence of God with no other founda- tion for their liope than the Pharisee had ; while we hear not a word of true humility, poverty of spirit, sense of sin, or hope in Jesus, as the sinner's only friend and hope. O Sirs, beware of resembling the Pharisee. Pleas like his may please men, but they will not succeed with God : rather let us resemble the poor broken-hearted Pub- lican, whose character and prayer we next consider. V. 13. "And the Publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes to heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, " God be merciful to me a sinner !" By a Publican you are not to understand the keeper of a public-house, but a tax- gatherer. The Jews were, at this time, subject to the Roman emperor, and paid him taxes, which were sometimes farmed by the rich publicans, who, in the execution of their office, were too often dishonest and oppressive ; on account of which, and on account of the taxes themselves, which were vexatious to the Jews, the name of a publican was abominable, and was classed with those of harlots and sinners. Whether this Publican was an extor- tioner, or not, we cannot say. Doubtless he was a sinner ; and by some means or other he became a convinced sinner, a penitent siimer, and a praying sinner. Perhaps this was the first time that ever he prayed in his life ; for sinning generally keeps men from praying. It is plain that the Spirit of God had humbled his heart ; and he was one of those blessed men, who are " poor in spirit," and he was one of those blessed mourners, who "shall be comforted." Observe his posture — he stood afar off — at a great distance from tlie holy place, where the priest officiated ; he knew this became him, for he had lived at a great distance from God as a sinner; and he SERMON XVI. 71 knew he deserved that God should for ever behold him afar off. Observe also his dejected looks : he could not look up ; he thought it would be pre- sumptuous in him to lift up his eyes to heaven, the habitation of God's glory. Other sinners have thought the same ; David says, Ps. xl. 12. " Innumerable evils have compassed me about ; mine ini- quities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up ;" but those down- cast eyes attracted the eyes of God ; lie could not lift up his eyes, but he lifted up his heart ; and there is no beauty in the sight of God greater than blushing for sin. "For to this man will I look," saith the Lord, " even to him that is poor, and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word." Isa. Ixv. 2. Another mark of his repentance was his smiting his breast ; he knew his heart ; he did not think it a good heart, as some very ignorant people speak ; no, he knew the plague of his heart ; he knew it was the seat and source of all his sins, and by smiting on his breast he seemed as if he would take revenge upon his own wicked heart ; it expresses his indignation against himself, and the vehemence of his anger against sin. Men and brethren, what do you know of such a disposition as this ? When were you thus angry with your- selves, and filled with shame and confusion of face because of your sins f Know this, that such is the temper of all who are taught of God ; and if you have never felt in this manner, you are yet strangers to true repentance. Now we come to his prayer. It was very short, but ver)' good; no man ever offered a better, or to better purpose. Not that the mere words are of any avail : too many people use such words profanely, when they say, on a surprise, God bless us ! or Lord have mercy on us ! but such praying as tliis is the way to get a curse, not a blessing. Wlien the Publican said, God be merciful to me, a sinner, he felt what he said : he felt he was a perishing sinner, and he felt an earnest desire for mercy. lie calls himself, a sinner, or the sin- ner, as some would render it ; or the chief of sinners, as Paul called himself The word sinner was a term of reproach among the Jews, and seemed to be applied chiefly to a harlot, or some notorious offender; but the Publican takes it to himself It is very likely he spake this aloud in the hearing of the Pharisee, and others who did not think themselves sinners ; for he 'vas not unwilling to appear before men what he well knew he was before God. He would not have been angry with that sort of preaching which lays men low ; nor would he have been displeased \vlth a friend who should have said, You are a very great sinner. But say, my friends, what would yon think of a person who shall charge you in that manner ] Would you not be very angry, and say, I am no worse than others. But a true penitent can never find words sufficient to express the sense he has of his vileness. If we know the meaning and extent of the Ten Commandments, we shall say after each of them, " Lord have mercy upon us !" And if we see any thing of the holiness, majesty, and glory of the great God, we shall cry, with Isaiah, " Woe is me, for I am undone ;" or with Job, " I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee ; wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." No person truly enlight- ened will say, as many have done, I am not a great sinner ; for, in fact, there can- not be a little sinner, unless there were a little law to break, a little God to offend, and a little wrath to incur. It is too com- mon for persons to comfort themselves with the idea that they are not such great sinners as some others; many dying peo- ple do this, and even wretches at the gal- lows have done so. But this is very ab- surd ; for the question is, not whether we have sinned as much as others, but whe- ther we have sinned at all ; that is, whe- ther we have broken the holy law of God ! If so, we are sinners, and stand exposed to the just wrath of the Most High ; nor can we escape it but by partaking of that great mercy for which tJie Publican prayed. You will next observe, that his sense of sin and danger put him upon prayer. Many people live without prayer; and what is the reason ? They do not feel the need of mercy; for this is the first thing a con- vinced sinner prays for ; and it is a good sign of grace, when a desire for mercy sends a man to his knees. Angels rejoice on such an occasion, and point to the new- born soul, saying, " Behold, lie prayeth !" My friends, do you pray for mercy 1 If not, how can you expect it; and what must become of you without if? O that you may begin to pray ! This poor man cried to the Jjord ; and whither can a creature fly for help but to God 1 He is our maker ; he is our govern- or; he is our just Judge; he is able to save or destroy: lie is offended with our sins, yet is he most gracious, and ready to forgive. How reasonable, then, that 8 72 VILLAGE SERMONS. guilty, helpless sinner, ready to perish, should apply " to him that is able to save to the uttermost all who come to hun by^ Jesus Christ." He begs for mercy. What is mercy 1 We know what it is by our own feelings. It is compassion to the miserable ; it is a disposition to pity and relieve the distress- ed ; and we never speak of mercy but with reference to misery. It is not, then, a light unfeeling use of solemn words, that can encourage us to hope for mercy : it is not saying, without feeling, Lord iiave mercy upon us ! CJirist have mercy upon us ! but it is coming with the Publican's spirit, with his broken heart, with his remorse, with his desires, and in earnest prayer claiming this precious blessing. Observe it is mercy he asks. Here is not a word of merit. Mercy and merit are opposite things. The Pharisee's prayer was a mere boast of meritorious deeds; the Publican has nothing to plead; nor does he ask for wealth, or honor, or plea- sure ; his heart is dead to these : all his desires centre in one, and that one is mercy. " Mercy, good Lord, mercy 1 ask, This is the total sum ; For mercy, Lord, is all my suit; O let thy inercy come !" But the petition, be merciful, includes sometliing more tlian is commonly under- stood by it ; the word translated merciful has respect to the atonement made by blood ; to the sacrifice offered up at the temple; which were types of Christ, " whom God hath set forth to be a propi- tiation, through faith in his blood." Rom. iii. 25. At the temple, in tlie court of which the Publican stood, there was a lamb offered every morning at nine o'clock, and every evening at three ; and these were the hours of prayer; so that the pious Jews came then to pray, that by vir- tue of the atonement of Christ represented by blood, and of his intercession represent- ed by the incense, tlieir prayers might find acceptance. His prayer then was — God be propitious to me a sinner — accept the atonement m my behalf— let my soul be cleansed in the blood of Christ. In this manner, by faith in Jesus, let us seek the mercy of God; Let us not dream of mere absolute mercy. " A God all mercy is a God unjust." The mercy of God cannot be bestowed without regard to his justice. Now God has glorified liis justice by pun- ishuig sin in the person of our glorious Redeemer, upon whom " he laid the ini- quities of us all," and through whom he is, at once " a just Grod and a Savior." In this w%,y, and in no other, can a sinner ob- tain mercy ; for our Lord declares, that no man cometh to the Father but by him; and no mercy cometh to the sinner but through him; but in his dear name we may " come boldly to the throne of grace, and so obtain mercy, and find grace to help in every time of need.' Thus came the Publican, and in this way he succeeded. It was not the depth of his humility, the sincerity of his repent- ance, nor the fervency of his devotion, that merited acceptance ; these . dispositions were the gifts of God, and could merit no- tliing ; but it was the merit of the Redeem- er's precious blood, typified by the blood of lambs, which he pleaded, and which shall never be pleaded in vain. Our Lord tells us, ver. 14, " This man went down to his house justified rather than the other," or not the other ; the reason of which he adds, " For every one that exalteth him- self shall be abased ; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." O what a bless- ing ! " He went down to his house justi- fied ;" there was no condemnation to him ; he was accepted in the Beloved ; he had passed from death to life ! Happy man 1 he might " eat his bread with gladness, and drink his wine," or water either, " with a merry heart, for God accepted his works." APPLICATION. Shall we not then " go and do like- wise !" Are we not sinners ? Fly instantly to the throne of grace. The Lord waits to be gracious. This is the accepted time ; lose it not by delay. To-morrow may be too late. Now, then, with the Publican's spirit, let each of us cry, God be merciful to me a sinner ! But O beware of the Pharisee's spirit. Every man is born a Pharisee. Ask your little children why tliey hope to go to heaven ; and if they have not been better taught, you will find their hope is, because they are not so bad as others. Would to God it were not so witli grown-up persons too ! But let no one dare to persist in a self-righteous course ; " for he that exalt- etli himself shall be abased" — abased even to hell. Renounce, then, your own right- eousness, as St. Paul, the converted Phari- see, did, who says, Phil. iii. 7, " W^hat things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ ; yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dunv; that I may win Christ, and be found in him." Tlie Publican's i^uccess is a great en- couragement to every sensible sinner seek- SERMON XVII. 73 ing for mercy. Seek like him, and like him you shall obtain it. And O, let those who have obtained it be full of joy. " Praise the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever ;" and as an evi- dence of having obtamed mercy from God, show mercy to men. " Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful." PRAYER-— O Lord God, lioHntifjil artd gra- cious, long-snfieriiig, and aljtindaiit in goodness and truth ; iliou kcepcst mercy for thousands, thou pardonest iniiinity, transgression, and sin ; neither dost thou retain liiy anger, for ever, be- cause ihou dclightest in mercy. Look down in thai mercy on us, who now humbly lift up our hearts unio thee. We, like the penitent Publican of whom we have heard, would approach thee, deeply sensible of the sin of our nature and of the sin of our lives: and with broken hearts and contrite spirits, would cry, " God be merciful to us sinners!" We acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness, which we from time to time most grievously have committed, by thought, word, and deed, against thy Divine Ma- jesty: provoking most justly thy wrath and in- dignation against us. We do earnestly repent, and are heartily sorry for these our misdoings : the remembrance of them is grievous iinto us ; the burden of them is intolerable. Have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us most merciful Fa- ther. For thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ's sake forgive us all that is past, and grant that we may ever hereafter serve and please thee in newness of life, to the honor and glory of thy name, through Jesus Christ our Lord ! Amen. SERMON XVII. ZEAL FOR THE SALVATION OF SINNERS. Romans x. 1. — Brethren, my lieart's desire and pray- er to God for Israel is, tliat they might be saved. True religion consists chiefly in love to Ciotl, and love lo man : and wherever one of these is found there is the other also. It was love that brought the Savior down .from tlic throne of glory to this mean and vvrctched world, tliat he might " seek and save those who were lost." While he lived on earth, "he vvent about doing good;" and when be returned to heaven lie com- manded his ministers and people to follow his example, and to do good to all men as they had opportunity. The Apostles and first Christians gladly obeyed, and w-ere very active in spreading abroad the know- ledge of their gracious Master and his great salvation. Among these, St. Paul was one of the mo.-5t zenlous, as his great labors and alTectionate writings fully tes- tify. Our text is an expression of his strong desires for the salvation of Israel, or the Jews, who were Iiis countrymen; and the particular reason of his anxiety K about them was, because he knew they were not in the way to obtain salvation. It is true, they had a zeal for religion, but it was not a zeal according to knowledge. They were under a very fatal mistake, which was their seeking salvation by their own works, for " they stumbled at that stum- bling stone," as, alas ! many people called Christians do still. Knowingtherefore their danger of being eternally lost, he expresses his feelings m these words — " My heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved." And will you, my friends, who live in this place, permit us to say that we hope and trust we are moved by the same desire "! If any person should inquire, and it is natural and proper for them to inquire, why we come here to pray and sing, and read a sermon ; we humbly reply, for no other reason upon earth tiian this, that we may promote your salvation; that we may stir you up to con- sider your need of it ; that we may show you, from the Gospel, the only true way of it ; and that we may put you upon seeking it immediately. We purpose to show you from these words, I. That serious Christians plainly see the dangerous state in which many of their neighbors are. II. That they earnestly desire their de- liverance from it. I. We observe, that serious Christians plainly perceive the dangerous state of un- converted sinners around them. We can- not tell what the grace of God may do hereafter for the worst of men ; and the conditions of some may be doubtful ; but in many cases, it is too evident that men " are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity," as St. Peter said to Si- mon Magus : at least, so mucli may be dis- covered as fully warrants our fears on their behalf Now this sad condition of men ap- pears, 1. From their living in open sin : for indeed, " some men's sins are open before- hand, going before to judgment," some proclaim their sin as Sodom, and glory in their shame. St. Paul says, " the works of the flesh are manifest," among which he names " adultery, fornication, unclean- ness, wrath, murder, and drunkenness." Gal. V. 19. Our Savior has directed us to judge of men by their fruits ; " for every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree oringeth forth evil fruit ;" and he adds, (observe his solemn words,) " Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire/' Matt. vii. 17. We are forced to conclude, 74 VILLAGE SERMONS. therefore, that " if men live after the flesh, they must die ;" that if they proceed in the broad road, it must be to destruction ; and that " the unrigliteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God." Some men are evident- ly " men of the world," " servants of sin," and captives of Satan ; such to whom our Lord said, " Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do." When we see persons living in sin- ful pleasure, we know, " they are dead while they live." How can we suppose the profane swearer has the fear of God, or that the Sabbath-breaker has any regard for his soul 1 2. Carelessness about religion is an- other alarming symptom of a graceless, and therefore, dangerous, state. There are many who have no concern about their souls or salvation. Like Gallio, they care for none of these things. But this care- lessness is as strong a proof of being in a state of nature and of wrath, as livuig in open sin is; for it is written, Heb. ii. 3, " How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation 1" To neglect this salva- tion is to omit all those duties which are necessary to a profitable hearing and keep- ing the word preached. How many are there, who every sabbath turn their backs on the house of God, where his Gospel is preached, and spend the day in idleness and sinful pleasure ! How many are there, who are able to read the Bible, but who never look into that sacred book, that they may become wise to salvation ! How many are there who never lifl up their hearts to God, in prayer for his teaching and his mercy! Now^ how shall such escape"! Those who despised the law of Moses died without mercy ; but to despise the Gospel is a greater crime, and deserves a greater punishment. Those who seek not mercy now, according to the Gospel, shall never have it. " This is the acceptable time ; tliis is the day of salvation :" if tliis be neglected, let poor sinners expect no more to hear of mercy through all eternity. 3. Formality in religion is anotlier evi- dence of being in a dangerous condition. There are some, who dare not omit all re- ligious duties, public and private ; but they are like the Pharisees, " who drew nigh to God with their mouth, and honored him with their lips, but their heart was far from him ;" by many religious ceremonies " they washed the outside of tlie cup and platter, but within they were full of extortion and excesses." Matt. xv. and xxiii. How many say their prayers like parrots, without knowing their meaning ! How many go to church only to see and be seen ; and, when they come away, are full of mirth and folly ; thinking no more of what has passed, and spending the rest of the day in worldly conversation, or amusement ! Others thmk, that because they belong to a good church, and have been baptized, and say their prayers, and take the sacrament, all is well with them; while they are strangers to heart-work in religion ; were never alarm- ed on account of their sins ; never hum- bled for their sins ; never fled to Jesus for refuge from their sins; and never knew any thing of that great change of heart, called, in Scripture, regeneration, or the new birth. Now, when we see our neigh- bors content with this poor empty form of godliness, and denying the power thereof, we cannot but be deeply concerned on ac- count of their danger. 4. There is another thing which alarms us on their behalf; that is when we see them receive, for truth, great and funda- mental errors, as to the doctrine of reli- gion. We know it is commonly said, that it does not signify what a man believes, if he does but live a good life. But we tes- tify against this opinion, as destructive of the souls of men. Did not the great Re- deemer come into the world to enlighten it ? Is he not the great Teacher, wlio, by his word and Spirit, reveals the will of God for our salvation ? Has he not promised his people that they shall " know the truth, and the truth shall make them free ]" And has he not said that his sheep hear and know his voice, but will not follow the voice of a stranger 1 How then can error be harmless 1 The Scripture speaks of " damnable heresies" as well as damnable vices. Surely, it is of great hnportance that we have right views of the blessed God, as to his holiness, justice, and mercy ; that we migJit have right views of our- selves, as fallen, guilty, helpless sinners; and especially that we have right views of .Tesus Christ, and of tlie nature and way * of salvation through him by faith. It was the want- of these that made St. Paul use the words of our text. The Jews rejected Christ and his rigliteousness, and " went about to establish their own righteous- ness," ver. 3 ; thus they stumbled at Christ; and St. Paul knew, that if they died in this state they must perish for ever : and this led him to say, " My heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved." And this leads us to observe, in the next place, II. That serious Christians earnestly and sincerely desire the salvation of their neighbors, whom they thus perceive to be in a dangerous slate. SERMON XVII. 75 If love to our neighbors requires that we should pity and help them in time of sickness, poverty, or any other kind of temporal distress, how much more then should we care for his soul, and labor to prevent liis eternal ruin ! All tlie love and politeness that worldly men show to their neighbors is for the perishing body ; while they care not for the soul, but perhaps con- tribute much to its eterhal destruction. But if the love of God be slied abroad in our heart, the salvation of souls will be the first object we have in view, and happy shall we be, if we can in any wise be in- struments in their future happiness ; for, 1. We tremble to tliink of their future 7iiisery. We know assuredly, that " tlie wrath of God is revealed from lieavon against all ungodliness and unrighteous- ness of men." Rom. i. 18. We certamly know that all men are born in sin, and are children of wrath ; and that without an in- terest in Christ by faith, and a heart chang- ed by grace, no man shall see the Lord; tliat the " wrath of God abideth on every unbeliever," and that " he will render in- dignation and wrath, tribulation and an- guish, upon every man who dies in his sins," impenitent, unpardoned, unrenewed. Now, can we thmk of our relations, our friends, our neighbors, being in this state, without pitying them, praying for them, and exhorting them to " fly from the wrath to come V It is impossible ! If any man can, how dwelletli the love of God in him 1 When our compassionate Savior paid his last visit to Jerusalem, and from a hill be- held that great and wicked city, which, on account of unbelief, was to be destroyed in about forty years, he wept over it ; though then surrounded with a multitude, crying "Hosanna," he lamented over it with tears, saying, " If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace ! but now they are hid from thine eyes." Luke xix. 42. And may not we be permitted, with some small portion of the same love and compassion to our perishing neighbors, to say, O how happy would it be for you, now to know those things, which are necessary to your present peace and pverla-sting sal- vation ; lest, ere long, God sliould deprive you of tlie means of grace, and give you up to the blindness of your minds and the hardness of your hearts ! It would shock us beyond measure to see one of ynu burn- ing in a great fire, were it but for a few minutes ; but who can think without hor- ror of everlasting burnings ? We there- fore would, as St. Jude speaks, ver. 22, " save you with fear, pulling you out of the fire ;" or, as St. Paul speaks, 2 Cor. v. 10, 11, " Knowing the terrors of the Lord, we persuade men." 2. As we wish to prevent your future destruction, so likewise we earnestly de- sire that you may share with us in the joys and glories of the heavenly world. We believe " there is a reward for the right- eous ;" that " the pure in heart shall see God ;" that " in his presence is fullness of joy, and at his right hand there are plea- sures for evermore." We believe that Clirist is gone to heaven to prepare man- sions for his people, and that in due time, they shall be with him, to behold his glory, to enter into his restj to sit down with him on his tlirone, and to wear a crown of glory. We humbly hope, through Jesus, to partake of these blessings, and we would gladly take all the world along with us. We are grieved to tliink that any sliould despise the good land, slight the invita- tions to Heaven, or expect it on false grounds. We are grieved to think that so many cleave to the dust, and, for the sake of the short-lived pleasures of sm, and a portion of this world, are in danger of losing eternal joys. This therefore puts us upon urging you to seek first the king- dom of God, and the righteousness there- of, that you may also be admitted into the kingdom of glory. 3. We wish you to know and enjoy the present pleasures of true religion. Let strangers to godliness say what they please, we maintain that the ways of wisdom are pleasantness, and her paths are paths of peace. Some of us have tried both the pleasures of sin and the pleasures of reli- gion, and we are bold to say, there is more satisfaction in one hour's communion with God, than in days and months of sinful in- dulgence. We can say, with David, " A day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness." A good hope through grace, a knowledge of the pardon of our sins, a persuasion of tlie favor of God towards us, a belief that all things are working to- gether for our good, and that we shall go to heaven when we die ; together with the actual delight we find in prayer, praise, Ilea ring, reading, and conversation with the peojilo of God — tiiese arc joys that satisfy and sanctify tlie mind, and, com- pared to which, all tlie frotliy mirth and carnal pleasures of the wicked are mean as the toys of children, and liurtful as the sports of madmen. We wish you there- fore, brethren, to be partakers of the grace of God, and we say to you, as Moses to 76 VILLAGE SERMONS. Hobab, " Come thou with us, and we will do thee good: for the Lord hath spoken good concerning Israel." Numb. x. 29. 4. We wish the salvation of others on account of the glory of God, for which we feel ourselves concerned, and which will be promoted thereby. We are taught to pray, "hallowed be thy name." Let God be glorified ! And surely, when a poor sinner ceases to be a rebel to his Maker, throws himself at the feet of mercy, and swears allegiance to the God of his salva- tion, the Lord is glorified. Satan loses another subject, and one is added to the kingdom of Jesus. The love of Christ constraineth us, and our loyalty to the King of heaven makes us long to see his kingdom flourish. We cannot tell of how great importance may be the value of one converted soul : a wife, a husband, the children of the family, the servants, the connexions, may all be the better for it ; the gospel may be spread ; more souls may be converted ; and generations yet unborn may derive benefit from it. We would therefore compass sea and land to make one proselyte, not to our party, or any par- ticular sect, but that Jesus may be exalt- ed : " for blessed be his glorious name for ever, and let the whole earth be filled with this glory. Amen and Amen." Ps. Ixxii. 19. 5. Again, we wish for the salvation of sinners for the sake of the good of the na- tion where we dwell. True Christians are the salt of the earth, that keep it from perishing. Sodom would have been pre- served from destruction, if ten riffhteous men could have been, found in it. And may we not say, in these threatening times, " Except the Lord had left us a seed, we had been as Sodom, and been made like unto Gomorrah V Rom. ix. 29. The pray- ers of God's people are a greater defence to tlieir country than all its fleets and ar- mies : and tliat kingdom is most likely to flourish, in which truth and righteousness most abound. 6. To say the truth, we are not without a little selfishness in this matter : for, be- side all the reasons before mentioned, we have so7rw view to our own peace and hap- piness. We do find that " the meanest service of Christ has refreshment in it. Our good Master sends not his servants on a warfare at their own charge. He that wateretli the souls of others shall himself be watered. We think tlie conversion of a soul to God is the greatest honor and liappin(!ss, next to our own salvation, tliat we can enjoy ; and though we know that no man has any claim upon God ihr what he does, all being unprofitable servants, that the best action of man has no merit in it, yet we believe that there is a reward of grace for the faithful servants of Christ, who has promised that so small a gill as a cup of cold water given to any one, be- cause he belongs to Christ, shall not be forgotten ; and as to those whom he em- ploys in his worjc, " they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament ; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever." Dan. xii. 3. Let us now show in what manner a de- sire for the salvation of sinners ought to be expressed ; for this desire, when true, will not be idle, but active, and will put persons on earnest endeavors to accomplish it; and 1. By prayer. Tlie conversion of a soul. Like the creation of the world, is the work of God alone. A real Christian is a new creature, " born not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." John i. 13. St. Paul, therefore, in our text, mentions, not only his "heart's de- sire," but " his prayer to God" also. Those who truly pray for themselves, will pray for others too. If a husband or a wife has a partner who knows not the Lord, prayer will be immediately offered. If a parent has an ungodly child, like Abraham, he will cry, O that Ishmael might live before thee ! or like the poor man, Malt. xvii. 15, Lord, have mercy upon my son. Thus Job rose early in the morning, and offered up ten offermgs for his ten children ; because he feared they had sinned against God in their feasts with each other. 2. We should urge our friends to come and hear the gospel. Do not be ashamed to invite them to hear that word, which God has made his power to your salvation. When Christ called Andrew to be his dis- ciple, Andrew soon invited his brother Pe- ter ; and the day after, when Christ called Philip, Philip presently findeth Nathaniel, and invited him to come and hear Jesus. So, when the Lord sent Peter to preach to Cornelius, a Roman officer, he found Cor- nelius had called togetlier his kinsmen and friends, and they were all gathered to- gether in a private house, as you may be here, to hear all things which God had commanded Peter to preach. O how many have had reason to bless God for ever, that some kind friend first invited them to go and hear a gospel sermon ! Practise this, my friends; all of you, who have tasted tliat the Lord is gracrous, say to others, " O taste and see, that the Lord is good." Sinners, as you all know, are very active to bring otliers into sin, and to invite them to plays and merry meetings ; why should SERMON XVII. 77 not we be more active to save souls, than sinners are to destroy them "? 3. There is another way in which we should show uur desire for the salvation of our fellow-creatures, and that is, by the Christian education of children, our own, and our noiglibor's. Abraliam was com- mended of God for tliis. — " I know liim, said the J,ord, that he will command his children and his liousehold after him ;" and parents were ordered, by tlie law, Deut. vi. 7, " to teacli their children tlie words of God diligently ; to talk of them when tJiey sat down in the house, wlien they walked by the way, when they lay down, and when they rose up." If parents wish well to the souls of their children, they will try to inform their minds, bring them under tlie word, and restrain them as much as possible from sabbath-breaking, and other sins. And as there are some parents who will not, or cannot, instruct tlieir own children, let us do what we can for them. Wliy should one of these little ones perish, while Sunday schools may be kept up"? The Lord prosper this good work more and more. And to this we may add, constant regard to family worship, by those who are at the head of families. Surely, they have little regard to the souls of children and servants, who do not daily read the Scriptures, and pray with their families. 4. Personal exhortation is a great means of good to the souls of men. " Exhort one another daily, while it is called to-day, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. How often has God blessed one sentence, spoken in his fear and love ! A " word spoken in season, how good is it !" O let us try, whenever we can, mildly to reprove sin ; and give a hint on all proper occasions, ui companies, on journeys, at work, whereby we may prove, if tlie Lord bless it, the instrument of our neighbor's conversion. 5. To all this, one thing more must ne- cessarily be added, and that is, a holy life. Actions speak louder than words. " Let our light shine before men, that they, see- ing our irood JuorAs," as well as hearing our g-Dod words, " may glorify God." There is a testimony for God in the life of a holy man, that the wicked may despise, but cannot resist. Thus let all Christians liold Ibrth the word of life, "that so even the prejudiced, who will not liear the word, may, without the word, be won by our con- versation." 1 Pet. iii. 1. APPLICATION. Men and brethren : Is it tlie duty and practice of all real Christians to be thus affectionately concerned for the salvation of others 1 Should you not be much more concerned for your own salvation; you, who have hitherto totally neglected it ? O consider the value of your souls. Are you not sinners! And must you not soon re- ceive the wages of your sins, unless they are pardoned for Christ's sake .' And can you expect pardon without seeking it ! O then be wise. Rouse yourselves from your dreadful stupidity. Cry to God for his mercy and grace, lest you perish. This is the day of salvation. To you is the word of salvation sent. O that it may not be sent in vain ! Jesus Christ is a great and gracious Savior ; he was never known to reject one perishing sinner who came to him for life. Let this be an encouragement to you to apply to him, and you will find him able and willing to save to the utmost. From what has been said, we may learn the nature of true grace, how it opens the heart, and shows itself in love to God and man. This may afford some comfort to those who fear they are destitute of it. Ask your hearts whether they do not long for the salvation of your fellow-men ! and whether you do not, with Christ, angels, and all good men, rejoice in their conver- sion 1 If so, it is a good evidence of grace. On the contrary, those selfish, souls, who can be content to go to heaven alone, while they care not if all around them perish, while they make no one ef- fort to rescue them from destruction ; such persons have reason to fear ; tor if we love not our neighbor whom we have seen, how can we love God whom we have not seen "? Finally, let every serious hearer suffer the word of exhortation. See, in St. Paul, a pattern of holy zeal, and imitate it. Like him, let it be your heart's desire and prayer to God, that Israel may be saved. Look around you, and see, who is there to whom you may be usefld. Consider by what means you may best advance tlie glory of the great Redeemer, by bringing souls to him. Remember that life is short, and all opportunities of usefulness will cease. Work then while it is day, for the night of death is coming, when no man can work. " Serve your generation according to the will of God," and then enter into tlie prom- ised rest; where, with all the redeemed, you shall glorify the riches of free grace to all eternity. PRAYER.— Almighty God, wc behold the transgressors and are grieved ; our souls are vexed from day to day with tlie filthy eonversa- lion of llie wicked. We see llie broad road whi(;h leads to destruction thronged with multi- tudes, while few are walking in the narrow way 7* 78 VILLAGE SERMONS. that leads to life. We lament that so many of our fellow-creatures are living in open sin ; in carelessness about their souls, in formality, and in error. We tremble to thinli of their danger ,' we earnestly wish they may partake of our hap- piness, both here and hereafter ; that their souls may be saved ; that thy name may be glorified ; and that our country may be benefited. For this, O Lord, we lift up our hearts to thee, that tiiou wouldst be pleased to snatch these poor sinners as brands out of the fire ; to show them the dan- ger of their present situation ; and enable them now, whilst it is called To-day, to hear thy voice, and to cry to thee for mercy. And O ! fill our hearts with gratitude, that thou hast called us, as we trust, by thy grace, out of darkness into thy marvellous light, and translated us from the kingdom of Satan into that of thy dear Son. Keep us, O Lord, unto the end ; may we glorify thee upon earth, and then be admitted into thy presence, to see thy face, and sing thy praise for ever and ever ! Amen. SERMON XVIII. THE PRODIGAL SON ; OR, THE PENITENT JOYFULLY RECEIVED. Luke XV. 24. For this my soa was dead, and is alive again ; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners; he therefore behaved in a kind and affable manner to all, even to some who had been very great sinners. This offended the Jews, and especially the self-righteous Pharisees. They thought that a holy prophet should have nothing to do with sucli bad people ; not considering that he \yent among them on purpose to save them from their sins. But Jesus Christ vindicates his conduct, by appealing to the custom of men in general, who al- ways rejoice when they recover any val- uable thing that was lost. In this beauti- ful and affecting parable we have, I. The Prodigal's sin and folly, in de- parting from his father, and living in a ri- otous manner. II. His repentance and return. III. His kind reception. IV. The envy of his elder brother upon that occasion. I. We have the prodigal's sin and folly, V. 11 — 13. "A certain man had two sons: and the younger of them said to liis father. Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me : and he divided unto them his living. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living." The prodigal son is an emblem of a sin- ner. He disliked the restraint of his pious father. He wanted to be his own master ; to live in a state of independence, and to be governed by his own corrupt judgment. The language of sinners is, " Let us break his bonds asunder, and cast away his cords from us ;" they say unto God, " Depart from us ; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways. What is the Almighty, that we should serve him] and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him !" Job xxi. 1.5. All natural men are, like the prodigal, men of the world, and want their portion in this life, regardless of a portion in heaven : and, like him, they wish to live at a distance from God, and, as much as possible, " without God in the world." But let us stop a moment, and ask whether this is not a picture of ourselves. Has not each of us, more or less, acted the same part ? Is there not in us, even in us, an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God 1 Is not this the rea- son that so many forsake the house of God, even on the Lord's day — that they dislike to hear God speak to them in his preached word — that they refuse to speak to God in their prayers — and that they despise truly religious persons, who are of the family of God ? Surely all this arises from hearts " alienated from this life of God ;" this is " the carnal mind," which is enmity against him. Observe, now, how he behaves in the distant country to which he went. Prob- ably he told his father that he would traffic with his money, and so mend his fortune ; or at least, that he would travel for the improvement of his mind ; but he no sooner gets this portion into his hands, and be- comes his own master, than he enters upon a loose, lewd, riotous way of life, in the company of bad women and other wicked companions. Thus he wasfed his sub- stance, and abused the gifts of God ; gave himself up to luxury and lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness." See the consequence of being left to ourselves; the misery of departing from God ! and O, beware of wasting his gifts ! Our reason, our health, our strength, our time, our money, our influence, are all talents committed to our trust; let them be used to promote the glory of God, and the salvation of our souls, and not abused to the purpose of sin and destruction. Mark now, my friends, how certainly misery follows sin. Ver. 14. When he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land, and he began to be in want Here is a proof of the truth of that old proverb — " Wilful waste makes woful want." See how the pleasures of sense SERMON XVm. 79 perish in tlie using : for as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is tlie laughter of a fool ;" a noisy blaze, succeeded by a dismal darlaiess. Let this, as Solomon advises, " keep thee from the evil woman ; from the flattery of the tongue of a strange viroman ; tor by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread. She hath cast down many wounded. Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of doath.'^ Prov. vi. 24. and vii. 26. What was become of the prodigal's gay friends J Would none who had feasted at his table come forward to supply his wants ! No: tliey all deserted him. Place no de- pendence on sinful companions. Many adore the rising sun, who turn their backs upon it when it sets. And how just it is, tliat he, who acts as an enemy to God, should not be able to find a friend among men! One should have thought that now, in his adversity, he would have turned his thoughts homeward. Surely this was a proper time for serious reflection. But he was not sufficiently humbled ; rather than to go back to his father, he will submit to the most servile state. Ver. 15. " He went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine." It is no disgrace in this country to be a servant, or to feed any sort of cattle : but you are to observe that he was a Jew, and as swine's flesh was for- bidden to the Jews, there could be nothing more odious and abominable to him tlian the care of swine. It seems, too, that this gay youth was a poor worthless creature, and notwithstanding his education, fit for no better employment. O how are the mighty fallen, and how is the fine gentle- man degraded ! But far ofreater is the disgrace of sinful men. Created at first in the nnage of God ; honorable and happy in communion with him; see him now fallen from his higli estate, become a servant of sin, yea, a slave of the devil ; a companion of beasts; yea, himself, as Bisliop Hall speaks, " Half a beast and half a devil !" Whatever sin- ners may think of themselves, their wretch- ed business is no other than tlie prodigal's ; they are " making provision for tlie flesh, to fulfil tlie lusts thereof," and that is no better than feeding, greedy, dirty, noisy, swine. Disgraceful as his employment was, could he have got wholesome, though plain food, he might have made himself content. But, to fill up the measure of his misery, we find he was almost starved to deatL Having, perhaps, a bad-hearted master, and that in time of famine, he had not a morsel of bread : he must not only feed the swine, but feed with them, and eat the same food. Ver. 16. " He would fain have filled his belly with the husks which the swine did eat" — wild chestnuts, probably, or some such trash, not fit for a man to eat ; but though he would have been glad of' them, he could not get them, or not enough of them, to satisfy his hunger. Here also is a picture for the sinner. Husks are food for sWine, not for men ; so the things of this world are not rnore fit to satisfy ihe immortal soul, than husks to feed the body. They suit not our nature, nor satisfy our desires. " Why seek ye that which is not bread, Nor can your hungry souls sustain? On ashes, husks, and air, you feed ; Ye spend your little all in vain." n. Let us now proceed to a more pleas- ing part of the subject. " It is a long lane, they say, which has no turning," and yet, alas ! thousands go on all their days in the way to eternal ruin ! But here we have an instance of a sinner, reduced to the last extremity, to whom his afflictions were sanctified, beginning to repent, and return to God. Ver. 17. " And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger !" " He came to himself" — remarkable ex- pression ! He had been beside himself, he had acted the part of a madman ; and indeed " the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil, and madness is in their lieart." Eccles. ix. 3. Do madmen mistake their own condition, and fancy themselves kings and emperors! so do poor sinners; they think themselves spiritually " rich and in- creased with goods, &c. and know not that they are w^retcbed, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." Madmen are often desperately mischievous, and even self-murderers. So are all sinners. Wliat madness can be equal to thfe eternal de- struction of the soul for the sake of a few momentary pleasures ! Yes, we are all far from ourselves, when we are far from God; and we never return to ourselves, till God, in mercy, return to us. Regard not then the foolish reproach of the world, who will say, when you are truly concern- ed for your souls, that you are mad. No ; they are the madmen who live in sin ; yo?«, who are coming to God, have come to yourselves. The Prodigal compares his own wretch- ed state with the condition of his father's meanest servants. " I am starving ; they 80 VILLAGE SERMONS. are feasting. I am miserable; tliey are happy." Just so, a repenting sinner plain- ly perceives his own miserable case, and longs to partake of their happiness, who live in the liouse of God, and are his de- voted servants. " I perish," said he ; so may every man say who lives in sin, " I per- ish ; but there are others (O that I were one of them !) who dwell in the house of the Lord ; feast upon his rich grace ; know that their sins are pardoned, and are full of peace and joy in believing." What is the natural consequence of such a comparison! Why an effort, an immediate effort, to mend his condition. Hope springs up in his heart ; and though there was but a may-be, a mere peradven- ture, of success, he makes the following wise resolution ; ver. 18, 19. " I will arise, and go to my father, and will say unto him. Father, I have sinned against Heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son ; make me as one of thy hired servants." He resolves to return to his father. Now, what is conversion, but the sinner's return to God 1 This is what God calls, us to in his word — " Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts ; and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." Isa. Iv. 7. But with what spirit will he return"? Will he feign an excuse, and go with a lie in his mouth ] Will he say, " I have been very unfortunate ; I have been robbed of my property ; been deceived by swindlers ; or had a shipwreck at sea 1" Or, will he plead his youth, and indiscretion, and say, " Though I have done wrong, I had a good heart ?" Such, my friends, are the wretch- ed excuses of unhumbled sinners. But the Prodigal now perceived the plague of his own heart ; he was " poor in spirit ;" he would make no excuses; but own his guilt, and confess he was unworthy to be treated as a son ; he would be contented and thankful to be admitted into tlie kitchen or the scullery. " Make me as one of thy hired servants." Thus it will be with every true penitent ; he will give glory to God, by making full confession of his sin, and will sincerely admit that he is totally unworthy of the mercy and grace of God." Observe ; he says, " I have sinned against Heaven''' — against the God of Heaven: against the high authority of God, and against the wonderful goodness of God. It is a foolish and hurtful mistake of some people, when they speak of 'a drunkard, or some other wicked man, to say — " He hurts none but himself" It is true, sinners hurt themselves; but they also offend and provoke the God of Hea- ven ; and in true repentance, the sinner, like the Prodigal, and like the Psalmist, will- say, " Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight." Before thee, said he; the Prodigal had sinned against his father, by throwing off his easy yoke : and let young people re- member, that disobedient and undutiful behavior to their parents is a sin against God, that needs his pardoning mercy, and must be repented of Think of this, children. Shall we pause a moment — and ask ourselves, whether we find in our hearts a disposition like that of the Prodigal ? We have all sinned with him, but which of us repents with him? Depend upon it, we shall not think of returning to God, till we feel the misery of departing from him. We have forsaken God, we have set up for our own guides, we have abused the gift of God, we have been the slaves of sin ; and have we not found emptiness, insufficiency, dissatisfaction, misery, and danger in this condition 1 If not, may God open our eyes, and help us to discover it. If we are con- vinced of these things, let us make the Prodigal's resolution, " I will arise ;" and not only make it, but execute it ; for we read, ver. 19, He arose and came to his father. There are many good resolutions formed, which come to nothing. It has been said, that " hell is paved with good resolutions :" perhaps there is not one un- happy creature there, who did not at one time or other say, " I will arise and go to my father ;" but their resolutions died away The Prodigal, however, arose, and began his journey — a long journey — for you will remember that he went into " a far coun- try." Ah ! who can tell what pamful fears and doubts assaulted his mind in the way ] Hunger had brought him very low ; and he might have said " How can these trem- bling limbs carry me so many miles 1 I must beg my way ; perliaps I may die on the road : and, oh ! if I live to reach the place, how can I bear the sight of the house? My father, my offended father; will refuse to see me ; forbid me the house, and after all my labor, I may be rejected, and justly too. But, however, tliough I may perish if I go, I must perish if I stay. " I will arise and go to my father."^-He goes. He continues his journey ; and, at length, after many a weary step, and many a toilsome day, he catches a glimpse of the mansion; he halts; his heart beats; a thousand fears rush into his mind. Ah! what shall I do ? What shall I say 1 SERMON XVIII. 81 Just then, for so Providence ordered it, "when. he was yet a great way oft", his fatlier saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him." This is tlie Hid thing we are to consider ; his kind reception. God's eyes are upon all his creatures. " He looketh upon men," to see if tliere be any that regard, any that return ; and the very first motions of the heart towards iiim are noticed. " He look- eth upon men ; and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not ; he will deliver his soul from going down into the pit, and his life shall see the light." Job. xx.\iii. 28. He had comjMSsicn. A parent can rea- dily conceive what tender feelings would be excited by the sight of a long-lost child returning in tliis miserable plight; and by these feelings the God of mercy is pleased to express his perfect readiness to receive and tbrj^ive a repenting sinner. He run. The prodigal, perhaps, stopped short, afraid to venture on ; but the father runs ; forgetting his age, and the gravity of his character, he runs to meet him, im- patient to embrace hun. He fell on his neck and. kissed him; though ragged, though filthy, though lately come from feeding swme. Any other than a father would have lothed; but the pa- rent loves, and manifests his love by ins '.af- fectionate embraces. W^hat a wonderful display is this of the love of Gotl ! It is thus that God pre- sents us with the hlessing-s of his good- ness. It is thus tliat repenting sinners are welcomed by the God of mercy. Hear it, O my friends, hear it tor your encourage- ment, that our God is " ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of groat kindness." Nehem. ix. 17. Hear his own words ; Jer. xxxi. 18. " I have surely lieard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus : Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke : turn thou me, and I shrJl be turned, for thou art the Lord my God. Surely after that I was turned, I repented ; and after tiiat I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh; I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the re- proach of my youth." This is the lan- guage of Epiiraim's repentance. Now hear the la ngiiage of God's compassion, ver. 20. " Is Ei)liraim my dear son ] Is he a pleasant child '. For since I spake agiiinst him, 1 do earnestly remendier liim still ; therelbre my bowels .arc troubled for him: I will surely have mercy upon iiim, saitli the Lord." Yes, sirs, God, for Christ's sake, keeps mercy in store fbr the chief of sin- ners who return to him. Now what elfect had this kind behavior on tlie prodigal .' Did it make him suppress liis intended confession ! Did it prevent the humiliation he resolved upon ! No ; it rather increased his contrition and godly sorrow. An awakened sinner is affected and melted down with the discoveries of (jlod's free, full, and pardoning love in Christ Jesus, it apj)ears so great, so unde- served, and so e.xcellent. " Law and terrors do but harden, All llie while tliey work alone; Dut a sense of" blood-bought pardon Soon dissolves a heart ol" sUjne." The prodigal no sooner meets his father, than he cries, "Father, I have siimed against heaven and m thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son." — He was going on ; he would have said more; but the father stopped him, and said to his servants, who witli surprise had fol- lowed him, and gathered round to behold the affecting scene, — " Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet ; and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill .it; and let us eat and be merry ; for this my son was dead, and is alive again ; he was lost, and is found." Ver. 22—24. Tiie prodigal was half naked ; he is clothed, and that witli a robe ; the dress of a prince rather than of a servant. He had the appearance of a wretclied slave ; the ornaments of a free man were put upon liim. He was ready to starve ; the niost delicate food is prepared fbr hun. He was almost overwhelmed with grief; cheerful- ness and joy now fill his lieart. Thus, the lower the penitent sinks into humility, the higher will God raise him, and heap upon him the greater benefits. The reconciled sinner shall be treated as a child ; he shall be clothed with the garments of sahation, with the righteousness of Clirist ; he shall have the seal of adoption, and tiie graces of the Spirit enabling him to walk in the ways of God. We have scarcely time to notice, in tiio fourth place, the behavior of his ill-natured elder brother ; suffice it to say, it was a picture of the 1'hari.sees; and represents the character of many " wlio value them- selves on the regularity of their own con- duct, and betray a strong aversion to the ricli grace of the gospel, wliich is extend- ed to the I'-reatest sinner ; t!;cy are olltMid- ed that no peculiar compliment is paid to their excellence, and that others wiioni t!iey de^pirttsd are jnit uii a level with them." Thus Clirist reproves them. 82 VILLAGE SERMONS. CONCLI'SION. Men and brethren: There are two things in this parable which I trust you will not forget — the folly of sinners, and the com- passion of God. Let each one of us con- sider, whether he has not ungratefully run away from God — disliked his restraints — been wise in his own conceit — indulged forbidden lusts — and abused the bounties of heaven ! And yet perhaps totally insen- sible of the evil of so base conduct. In the midst of prosperity there was not a thought of returning to God ; and even in afflic- tion trying any other method rather than that. But surely it is high time to bethink ourselves. May divine grace bring us all to ourselves, as the necessary means of bringing us to God. Let us resolve, without a moment's delay, to humble ourselves at his feet ; and let us be encouraged to do so, by the affecting account we have heard of God's kindness. " He sees afar off the returning sinners ; he pities, he meets, he pardons, he embraces them. He arrays them with the robe of the Redeemer's rigliteousness ; adorns them with the orna- ments of sanctifying grace ; honors them with the tokens of adopting love ; and in- vests them with all the privileges of his dear children." O that we may feel the charming force of these heavenly attrac- tions ! May there be joy in heaven and earth this day on our account ! and may we, thus received into the house of God, abide there all the days of our life, ad- miring and adoring the sovereign, free, and everlasting grace of God: and saying, " Behold ! what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God. " The mighty God will not despise The contrite heart for sacrifice ; The deep-fetch'd sigh, the secret groan, Rises accepted to tlie throne. " He meets with tokens of his grace, The trembling lip, ihe blushing face. His bowels yearn, when sinners pray, And Mercy bears their sins away. " When fill'd with grief, o'erwhelm'd with shame, fie, pitying, lieals their broken frame ; He hears their sad complaints, and spies His image in their weeping eyes. " Thus, what a rapt'rous joy, possess'd The tender parent's throbbing breast, To see his spendthrift son return. And hear him his past follies mourn V And now let us, who long have been The wretched slaves of hell and sin, Repent — made wiser by the rod — Come to ourselves, and then to God. PRAYF:R.— Tkacii us, O Lord, w- beseech tliee. to learn from what we have now heard, the egregious folly of sinners, and the wonderful compassion of thy lieart. We see in the Prodi- gal an emblem of ourselves. We, like him, have wickedly departed from thee, despising thy pa- renlal care and thy merciful restraints; we have indulged many forbidden lusts, and ungratefully abused the bounties of heaven. But, blessed be ihy name, if thou hast, by any means brought us to ourselves. Blessed be God for his rod, as well as for his word. Happy afflictions are those which cause us to bethink ourselves, and incline us to return to our Father! If never before, let us now say, " We will arise, and go to our Father. Fa- ther ! we humble ourselves before thee ; we are ashamed ; we are grieved that we have offended thee, and injured ourselves. But, surely, there is forgiveness witli thee, that thou mayest be feared. We are encouraged by the Prodigal's reception to come to thee. O receive us; pity, pardon, and embrace us as thy children. Admit us into thy family, and to thy table. Clothe us with the robe of the Redeemer's righteousness, adorn us with the ornaments of sanctifying grace and adopting love. Never more suifer us to de- part from thee ; but may we dwell in thy house for ever, to adore the riches of thy sovereign grace, and to glorify thy goodness to all eternity! Amen. SERMON XIX. CHRIST THE WAY TO GOD AND HEAVEN. John xiv. 6. — I am the way. If we believe there is a future state of happiness, called heaven, and a future statp of misery, called hell, there can be no- thing of greater consequence to us, than we may obtain the one, and escape the other. If we have any serious thoughts of these things, we cannot but inquire, Which is the true way to heaven 1 Every thing that calls itself Religion, pretends to be the way ; but, as there are so many different ways, they cannot all be right : yea, we are bold to say they are all wrong, except one, and tliat one is declared in the text ; " I am the way, said Jesus ; no man Cometh to the Father, but by me." Our Lord spake these words to his disciples when they were full of trouble, because he was about to leave them. He comforts them by saying he was going to heaven, his Father's house, to prepare a place for them, and that he would come again, and receive them to himself, that where he was they also might be ; and then he adds, " Wliither I go ye know, and the way ye know." But Thomas, wlio was rather of a doubtful turn of mind, replied — Lord, afler all thou hast said, we are stiR at a less about the place where thou art going, and how then can we know the way to follow thee? Jesus answered, / arn the way ; which is as if lie had said, I am the SERMON XIX. 83 Mediator between God and man ; I am the means of intercourse between heaven and earth ; whatever comes from God to a sin- ner, comes through me ; and whatever, of an acceptable kind, goes from a sinful man to God, must pass through my hands. In treating upon these very important and useful words, we shall show — I. To what Christ is a xcay ; and II. What sort of a way he is. I. We are to consider, What Christ is a way to. Every way or road leads from some place to another ; now, as he is pleased to call himself a way, in condescension to our mean capacities, we are to consider what lie is the way from, and what he is the way to. We are to remember that we are fall- en, guilty creatures, in a state of sin, and liable to all miseries here and hereafter; and that we are far from God, from riglite- ousness, and from lieaven : now, if ever we are brought back to God and a state of grace here, and to a state of glory hereaf- ter, it must be in and through Jesus Christ alone. We say, then, that Christ is the way to God, and the way to heaven. The first of these is directly expressed bj' our blessed Lord in the te.xt : / am the way, no man cometh to the Father but by me. When man was first created, he lived in a happy state of nearness to God ; he knew God, and delighted in him as his chief good ; but sin, cursed sin, soon made a dreadful separation ; and now we come into the world " estranged from God, and go astray from the womb ;" we desire ab- sence from God ; " he is not in all our thoughts;" but we seek happiness in sin and folly. Yet is the I^ord our God pleased to invite us back to him, by the promises and blessings of his Gospel, and by the or- dinances of his house. And although mul- titudes despise these, and madly resolve to pursue the way of destruction, yet a happy few there are, who hear the voice of the Son of God in his word, are made sensi- ble, tliat, being far from him, they must perish, and that it is good for them to draw nigh to him. But these persons have of- tentimes such an awfid view of the glorious ami dreadful majesty of God, as an infi- nitely holy and just being, and of the dis- tance that sin lias occasioned, that they know not how to approach him. The pro- phet Micah thus expresses the anxious desires of such an one, chap. vi. G. "Where- with shall I come bef()-e the Lord, and bow myself before the high God ] Shall I come before him with burnt-offerings, with calves of a year old ] Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thou- sands of rivers of oil ? Shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body lor the sin of my soul ?" Blessed be the Lord, " he hath showed us what is good !" He hatli given us a full answer to these inquiries in our text. Jesus is the way. It is not by costly otlerings of blood or oil, nor at the dreadful expense of sacri- ficing a darling child ; but Jesus is the way. He not only came to shoic us the way, but to be the way. He did not come to tell us how we may " make our peace with God," as some express themselves, but to be our peace ; for " he made peace through the blood of his cross." It is by the death of Jesus that we draw near to God ; so St. Peter tells us, " He suffered for our sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God." ^^^e were far from him ; we had neither the will nor the power to re- turn ; and sin, if not atoned tor, must have made an everlasting separation between a holy God and vile sinners ; but Jesus, who was perfectly just and righteous, endured the most shameful and painful sufferings upon the cross for us, that is, in our room and stead, that he might reconcile us to God, and bring us to a holy confcfrmity to him, and happy communion with him here, and to the eternal enjoyment of him here- after. In this way, that is, in Jesus, we have free access to the glorious Majesty of heaven ; we may, by prayer in his name, "come with boldness to the throne of grace," there to " obtain mercy, and find grace to help us." Hear what St. Paul says of this matter, Heb. x. 19, &c. " Hav- ing, therefore, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us, through the vail, that is to say, his flesh, let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith." What a glorious privilege is this ! We may approacJi the great God, as our reconciled God and Fa- ther ; we may use holy freedom with him in our prayers; we have this libeity of ac- cess by the merit of Christ's blood, and by the application of it to our consciences through faith therein. This is the wny prepared for our use, even Jesus, who is " the way, the truth, and the life ;" he is the truth and substance of all tlie ordinances of the Old Testament; with particular reference to the rending of that vai! which separated the holy of holies in the temple from the holy place ; and which rending took place at the moment of or.r Savior's death ; which signified that now^ the way to God and heaven is laid open for all be- lievers ; and that is the second thing pro- posed. 84 VILLAGE SERMONS. 2. Jesus Christ is the way to heaven. This indeed follows the other ; for if we come to God by Jesus as our recon- ciled Father, if sin be pardoned, and we are admitted to a life of holy communion with liim here, it is certain that we shall also liave " an abundant entrance into his heavenly kingdom and glory." Jesus died, to " redeem us to God" to his favor and image here, and to his glory hereafter. He died, to " bring many sons to glory ;" that they may be satisfied with the goodness of his house, even to his holy temple; that tliey may be pillars in that temple, never more to go out; that they may approacli him in a more sublime way of worship than at present, without the help of means and or- dinances ; that they may " see him face to face," without a cloud to hide his glory from them, and without the clog of sinful flesh and blood. Now Jesus is the only v/ay to heaven. This is the record of the Gos- pel— " God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in his So?i." There it is, and nowhere else : and whoever thinks to get to heaven another way, misses the true road, and will be eternally disappointed. There are many ways to hell, but only one to heaven; and if Jesus be not our way, we shall never get thither. As sinners, we have forfeited heaven and deserved hell ; but Jesus Christ has not only redeemed his people from the curse, that they may not go to hell, but by liis perfect obedience or righteousness he has procured for them a title to heaven. The righteousness of Christ is "to, and upon, all who believe in him ;" it is transferred to them, imputed to them, or reckoned to their account, as if they had themselves performed it ; and on this ground it is tliat they are admitted into the realms of light and glory; ^^ therefore are they before the throne, because they have washed. ^leir robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb ;" and not on account of any goodness, virtue, or good works of tlicir own. Besides this, there is a Jitncss for hea- ven, a meetness of disposition and capacity of enjoyment, for that Iioly state, without which no man can sec the Lord: for it is plain that a wicked man, a carnal man, could not enjoy heaven, were he admitted into it ; there must tlicrefore be a change of heart, a love of God and liolincss, as well as a title to glory. Tliis also we liavc from Jesus Christ. We are not pardoned by his blood, and then sanctified by our own endeavors (these also are to be used,) but "Christ is made unto us sanctifica- tion." It is by the Spirit of Christ, dwell- ing and working in us, that we are renew- J ed in the spirit of our minds ; the love and power of sin mortified ; the world, with all its vanities, crucified to us ; and we led into a spiritual life of communion with God here, as the preparation and pledge of our eternal happiness in heaven. Thus is Je- sus, in every point of view, the way to heaven. Having briefly shown that Christ is the way to God and heaven, let us stop a mo- ment, and ask ourselves whether we have any desire tliat lie may be onr way in these respects ] Are there not some who are so far from wishmg to draw nigh to God, that their hearts and lives plainly say, " Depart from us, for we desire not the knowlege of thy ways]" You dare not say so in words; but your actions say so. God and sin can- not reign in the same heart ; and when you choose sin, and indulge it, you do in effect say — " God, begone ! 1 hate your company, I love your enemy, I love sin, and will submit to the devil's rule. I will have nothing to do with you. I hate prayer. I hate the Bible. I hate the saints." This is horrid language, and you dislike the sound of tlie words ; but is not this the fair language of your profane cursing and swearing, of your lust and lewdness, for- nication and uncleanness ? Is not this the language of your sabbath-breaking, and con- tempt of religious ordinances and means of grace 1 When you get drunk, and swear, and lie, or steal, or commit any bad action, do you not say. Depart from me, and let sin and Satan have me ? O my friends, con- sider what will be the end of these things. You must die, and then appear before God ; a holy, just, and offended God; and should you not inquire. How may I come before him acceptably 1 Remember then that Je- ans is- the way, and O that you may be made " willing in the day of his power," to come to him foi*' pardon and life ; for "he is able to save to tlie uttermost, all who come to God by him." The same may be said of Christ as the way to heaven. Oli ! how many care no- thing about heaven ! " And can it be sup- posed that any man will ever come to hea- ven, who never thought of it before lie came thitlier ? No, indeed, it is " tiie prize set before us," and the Christian must "so run as to obtain it," and there is no Way to run in, but in Jesus Christ. Most men hope to go to heaven wlien they die ; and yc^t few consider wliother they are in the riglit way. As Christ only is the way, let any person inquire, when any^anff is pro- posed to him as tlie way. Is it 'G^jpBl^tJf men say, Good works are the JTteg^fck, Are good works Christ? If they sayi^^Ssp' SERMON XIX. §5 tism and the Lord's supper arc the way, ask again, Are these Christ ! Is repentance Christ ! Are ahns Christ ! This is a very easy method of coming to tlie trutli. Christ is the w.iy ; and therefore, whatever is not Christ is not tlie way. He then, onlij, being the way, let us, 11. Show what sort of a way Christ is. 1. Christ is a new way ; so lie is called, Ileb. X. 22. Not that the way of salvation by Christ is a new invention, for he is " the Lamb slain from the tbundation of the world." Adam, Abel, and Abraham, went to heaven in this way; but it is called new, because there was one before it. The tirst way, in which it was proposed tor man to be happy, was by his own innocence and perfect obedience : and if Adam had not sinned, this would have been his way to heaven ; but as soon as he sinned, and .'fell, and we in him, this way was shut up tor ever : so that there never was a soul got to heaven m the way of works, nor ever will. This way, by grace, came after the other, and instead of it, and is there- fore called a new way. It is called new, because it was newly made, when the New Testament was written. Jesus Christ had lately died to become this way. It Ls new, because newly and more plainly revealed in Gos- pel times than it was before ; and because it will always be new, and never give place to any other. 2. It is a living- way. This way to heaven was by Christ's dying ; yet it is called a living way, because all our life springs from his death. Christ is tlie life of all who live spiritually or eternally. This way is trodden onlj- by such. All who are in this way are alive to God, and, what is more, they shall never die. The eternal life of all who ai'e in Christ, and walk in him, is secure ; for because ho live.s, they sliall live also. No man ever died upon this road. " I am," saith Clirist, " the resurrection and tlio life ; lie Ihat be- lievelh in me, tliougli he were dead, yet shall he live ; and whosoever livetli and believeth in me sliall never die." — Tiie body indeed must die, because of sin, tliough that is more properly called slcrp, in the New TcL-tament, and" the body shall be raised in glory; " but the spirit is life, because of rigliteou.snoss," and shall never perish, but have everlasting life. 3. It is a pidin way. come ways are hard to find ; have many turnings and windhigs and cross-paths ; but this way is easy to find, and to keep. The prophet Isaiah, speaking of it, says, " the way- faring men, though fools, shall not err therein." Isa. xxxv. 8. It is an infinite mercy, that the things which belong to our peace are not difficult. There are, it is true, deep and difficult things in the Bible ; but the grand truths which concern our salvation are perfectly plain and easy. What can be plainer than what is said about our fallen, sinful, helpless state, as suuiers ! or about Jesus Christ, as the only all-sufficient Savior! or about our duty, and saved sinners, towards God as man 7 It is a great blessing to poor people, that these things are so plain, and that God by his Spirit makes them so, even to " babes and sucklings ;" for " the entrance of his words giveth light: itgiveth understanding to the simple." 4. It is a free way. There are private ways that belong to great men, and they are open to few ; it would be a trespass for a stranger to be found in them ; but this is a public way, the king's high-way. St. Paul says, it is consecrated, that is, ap- pointed, dedicated, devoted to this purpose, and free for the use of all who desire to travel in it. There are no bars or toll- gates, where travellers must pay for per- mission to enter or proceed ; for salvation is " without money and without price." Isa. Iv. 1. It is a way prepared on purpose for the use of sinners, who are returning to God ; and no objections are made to such persons. No worthiness, nor qualifi- cations, nor conditions, are required of the traveller ; whosoever will, may come and welcome. It is a free way. 5. It is a safe and sure way. It is a firm solid road, there is no danger of sink- ing in it, for Christ is the rock of ages. It suffers no alterations by rains and floods, as other ways do ; it is passable at aJI times ; there is nothing at any time to hinder our access to God, and progrc-^s to heaven. Nor is there any occasion to fear enemies upon it. There are such ; but they cannot prevail. " The devil (says one) has been busy upon this road tor about five thousand years, but yet never slew one believer; for every traveller is " kept by the power of God, through faith, to salvation." -So that he may walk on with boldness, and fear no evil ; rejoicing to think that every believer, that once set liis foot in this way, has been enabled to proceed, and not one of them failed of " receiving the end of his foith, even the salvation of his soul." 6. It is a pleasant way. The Scripture says, " the ways of wisdom are pleasant- ness, and all her paths are peace." Satan invites men to travel in the ways of sin, under the notion of their being pleasant 8 86 VILLAGE SERMONS. and there certainly are pleasures in sin ; but they are for a short season; they are now mingled with bitter pains and pangs of conscience, and they will issue in misery everlasting. But " the ransomed of the Lord," who return to the heavenly Zion, " shall come with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads." Believers are called upon to " rejoice always in the Lord." Those who travel in this way are not only secure from harm, as you have heard, but the Lord has engaged for their supply on the road ; he has promised that " they shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of his house, and drink of the rivers of his pleasure." They shall " sit under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit be sweet to their taste." They shall enjoy the company of the saints as their fellow-travellers, with whom their communion shall be sweet. Yea, the Lord of the way himself has promised to bear them company, and has said " Fear not, for I am with thee ;" and " I will never leave nor forsake thee." Lastly, It is the only way. Many ways to God and heaven have been proposed by mistaken men, under the influence of the great deceiver, the devil : and it is too commonly supposed that any way will do, if a man is but sincere in it. But this cannot be true ; for if any way of man's invention might suffice, what occasion was there for Christ to come from heaven, obey the law, and endure the curse, that he might become our way ] for, " if right- eousness come by the law," or men can be tlieir own Saviors, or partake of the mercy .of God without an atonement, all the vast •expense of Christ's sufferings and death might have been spared ; yea, in that case " the grace of God is set aside, and Christ is dead in vain." Gal. ii. 21. But Christ crucified is the only way ; so St. Peter solemnly declares, Acts. iv. 12. " Neither is there salvation in any other ; for there is no name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved." There is salvation in his name ; it was procured by him, and he ever lives to bestow it; it is also published by divine authority ; it is given forth in the preached gospel; but there is no other, under heaven, given for that purpose ; none given by God's orders ; if any others are given, it is by impostors and deceivers. Jesus only is the way to God and heaven. Thus you see that Christ is a new way — a living way — a free way — a safe way — a pleasant way, and the only way. APPLICATION. My dear friends, suffer me to remind you, that as certainly there is a way to heaven, and Christ is that way, so certainly there is a way to hell, and sin is tliat way ; and so surely as the believer in Christ sliall arrive at heaven, so surely shall the sinner going on in his wicked way, go to hell at last. O, Sirs, do not despise this ! Do not laugh at it ! It becomes you to be serious in serious matters. " Now, therefore, thus saith the Lord, consider your ways." The Scripture speaks of a false way, a crooked way, a j^^^verse way, a tvicked way. Now what is your way ! Is it the way of the flesh, the way of the world ! Then, give me leave to tell you, " it lead- eth to destruction." The Lord's eye is upon you. He knows the way you take ; " and the way of the wicked is an abomi- nation to him." Now, it is possible you may be deceived concerning the way you are in ; you may think it safe, while you are in the utmost danger ; for the way of the wicked seducelh them, Prov. xii. 20 ; and the Scriptures declare, that there is a way which seemeth right to man ; but the end thereof are the ways of death. Prov. xiv. 12. Is it not then your wisdom, to examine very carefully whether you are in the right way or not ? and as the heart is very deceitfiil, let me recommend it to you to pray for the Lord's help, lest, after all, you should be deceived. Let me ad- vise you to use that prayer which you will find in the 139th Psalm, the 23d verse — Search me, O God, and know my heart ; try me, and know my thoughts : and see if there he any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Listen to the voice of heaven, which in vites you in these words — Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy vj)on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon, Isa. iv. 7. Let it be your prayer, that God would teach you his way and convert you from the error of your own ways : and for this purpose, read and hear the word of God. Say to your companions, in the words of the Prophet — Co7ne ye, and let us go to the house of God, and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths. Isa. ii. 3. O that God may direct your feet into the ways of peace ! Is Christ the way to God ? then, believ- ers, make daily use of him as such. Come boldly to a throne of grace. This is a way consecrated for you, and free for your use. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Remember, he is a living way. Live upon him, and live to him. Let others SERMON XX. 87 see you are in Christ, by your walking not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. Remember, he is a sure way ; you may walk with confidence in it, with- out fear of miscarrying : " He is faithful who has promised." Christ hath promised to keep his sheep, and that none shall pluck them out of his hand. The world may op- pose, and Satan oppose, but greater is " He that is in you, than he that is in the world," and " if God be for us, who can be again.st us !" Is Christ the way to heaven? and are any of you in him .' look forward with joy- ful hope of the glory of God. Bless him for bringing you out of the paths of destruc- tion, and leading you into the way of peace. Love Jesus, for becoming your way at such an expense to himself; and be concerned to walk even as he walked. Thus shall you recommend this way to others, and constrain them to say. We will go with you, for God is with you of a truth. "Jesus, my all, to heaven is gone, He whom I fix my hopes upon : His track I see, and I'll pursue The narrow way till him I view. " The way the holy prophets went, The road that leads from banishment ; The king's high-way of holiness I'll go, for all his paths are peace. " Thus will I tell to sinners round, What a dear Savior I have found ; I'll point to thy redeeming blood, And say, Behold the way to God !" SERMON XX. PRAYER.— Glory be to thee, O God, that life and immortahty are brought to light by the gos- pel ; and although, as siimers, we have deserved thy dreadful wrath in a future state, yet, that there is a world of light, and glory, and happi- ness provided for the redeemed ; and tliat tliou hast, in infmite mercy, revealed to us the path of life. We rejoice to learn that there is a way to the Father and to Heaven, and that Jesus Christ himself is the way. Holy Fatlier, we humbly approach thee in his name. In the new and liv- ing way, consecrated for us by his precious blood, we come to thee ; and we desire to do tiiis with confidence and boldness, in the full and assured belief of the truth, and with cheerful hope of a gracious acceptance, believing that this is the true way, the living way, the sure way : and in this way we desire to walk all the days of our life. And while we are in this world, we desire to walk so as to please (iod, not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit; not according to the way of tiie world, but in the highway of holiness, adorning tlie doctrine of God our Savior in all things. And we desire to look forward with joyful liope of future and everlasting glory ; that after a life of (-onininnion with God here, we may be brought to Heaven, there to be satisfied with the goodness of his house, even of his holy temple, and to serve him in a superior manner for ever and ever ! Amen. COMING SINiNERS WELCOME TO CHRIST. John vi. 37.— He tliat cometli to me, I will in no wise cast out. Two things are necessary to encourage a convinced sinner to come to Christ for salvation: the one is, that he is able to save ; the other is, that he is willing. Of the former, few comparatively doubt. And who can doubt at all, if he believes that Christ is the great Creator of the world 1 For " is any thing too hard for the Lord V* Nor is there the least reason to doubt of his good-will to save. And yet how many are distressed with fear on this account? There are few who say — " If thou canst do any tliing, help us !" but there are many who cry — " Lord, if thou loilt, thou canst make me clean !" Happy the soul that comes thus far. Jesus will answer, as he did of old,—" / icill, Be thou clean." This assurance he gives us in many parts of the Scripture, but in none so fully as in the text. Our Lord is here speaking to a mul- titude of the Jews, who, having seen the miracle of feeding five thousand people with five loaves, followed him a great way, in hope of seeing such another miracle, and perhaps of living upon his bounty. But he exhorts them to seek the bread of life for their souls; laments their unbelief; but comforts himself in this, that all who were given to him by the Father should cer- tainly come to him ; and declares his per- fect readiness to receive every coming soul. This, my friends, is indeed good news; glad tidings of great joy to those of you who are seeking salvation, and who know that it is to be had only in Jesus; espe- cially if your fearful hearts have been tempted to think he will not receive you. Be no longer faithless, but believing; he says, that if you come, he will in no wise cast you out — he will on no account what- ever reject or refuse you, but readily em- brace you in the arms of liis mercy, and give you pardon, peace, holiness, and hea- ven. Now, that we may clearly understand this, and get the full comfort of it, let us consider, I. What is meant by coming to Christ , and, II. The encouragement held out m our text to all corners. I. What is meant by coming to Christ. None can suppose it is coining to him with our bodies. This is now impossible; for the heavens have received him out of our sight; and tliough his divine presence is 88 VILLAGE SERMONS. everywhere, his glorified botly is only in heaven. And were he on earth, as he once was, coming to him with our bodies only would be of no use, as appears froai this chapter, ver. 56, wiiere he says to the peo- ple who were round about liim — " Ye also have seen me, and believed not." Nor is it merely commg to his house, where he is preached ; nor to his table, where he is set forth. Many do all this, who are none the nearer to Christ. Ezek. xxxiii. 31. But this coming is to be understood spiritually ; it is the coming of the heart ; it is the mo- tion of the mind ; it is " the flight of the soul to Christ." It is therefore much the same as believing in Christ ; see ver. 35 ; " and Jesus said unto tliem, I am the bread of life ; he that cometh to me shall never hunger ; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst ;" the same person is intended, and tlie same act of the mind. But you will observe, that such a comer to Christ is convinced of his sin and dan- ger, and comes to Christ for help ; just as it is said by the prophet Isaiah (xxvii. 13.) "The great trumpet shall blow, and be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish." No man will go and beg for bread till he is pinched with want. The prodigal son never said, " I will arise, and go to my father," till he was ready to perish with hunger. It is a sense of sin and a fear of liell, together with a hope of mercy, that puts a man upon coming to Christ; for he himself declares, when speaking to the Jews, " Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life." Life, you see, is what a sinner must come for ; the life of his soul, for he now sees that he is exposed by sin to eternal death. Now, " all that a man hath, will he give for his life." When this is in danger, he will be in earnest ; he will be in haste ; and the lan- guage of the coming sinner is — " What shall I do to be safe 1" — " Lord, save, or I perish !" This coming of his soul to Christ sup- poses faitii. No man can come to him tUl he has heard of him; and no man can hear of him but by the Gospel. Now the Gospel means good news ; glad tidings. The Gospel tells us that " Jesus Clu-ist is come into the world to save sinners ;" tliat " he is come to seek and to save that which is lost :" that " his blood cloanseth from all sin." The Gospel also calls and invites poor sinners to apply to Jesus, that they may have life. For instance, Jesus says, Matt. xi. 28. Come unto me, all ye that la- bor and are lie.avy laden, and I will give you rest." Now t!ic sinner hears these gracious words. The Holy Spirit gives him light to understand £hem. He mixes faith with them. He believes them to be true. Now he cannot believe tliese things without being ahected with them ; without having a desire to be mterested in them. If he is persuaded of the freeness, fullness, and suitableness of the salvation that is m Christ, his thoughts must and will be much engaged about it; his afiections will be moved ; in other words, he comes to Christ, his mind flies to huna for refuge, and there it rests. Now this application of the soul to Je- sus has a respect to the various offices and characters which he sustains for our salva- tion. For instance. Is he called a tSarior, that is, a deliverer 1 the soul desires and hopes for deliverance from sin and liell by him alone. Is he a Prophet ? the soul, sensible of its woful ignorance, comes to him, with an humble teachable spirit, to be taught and made wise to salvation. Is he a Physician ? the convinced sirmer, sick to death of sin, eagerly applies to him for health and cure. Is he a Priest J the sin- ner, longing for pardoning mercy, depends alone upon the merit of his sacrifice. Is he a King ? the soul, heartily weary of Sa- tan's tyranny, willingly submits to his mild government, and relies on his heavenly protection. In a word, he " receives Christ Jesus the Lord," as offered to him in the Gospel. Here let us stop a moment, and put a question. We have been told what believ- ing is ; what coming to Christ is ; now, my friends, the question is, Do we thus come to Christ ? He tliat cometh shall be saved ; hut he that cometh not, shall not be saved. O let us not neglect this great concern ! " How shall we escape, if we neglect tliis great salvation V Thmk of a dying hour. Think of tJie judgment day. And O! how dreadful would it be, if Christ should say to any one of us — " Wretched creature, ruined sinner, your destruction lies at 3'our own door ! You were told of your danger ; you were in- vited to believe m mc ; you were assured, that if you came to me, I would save you; but you refused ; you would not come to me, that ybu might have life. Perish therefore. Perish v;ithout pity. Perish without remedy !" God forbid tliat we sliould hear such dreadful words ! rather let us, one and all, this very moment, fly, in tlie wishes and desires of our hearts, to this compassionate Friend of sinners. But perliaps there are some here who earnestly desire to be saved, yet their hearts are full of fear, lest they should be rejected. They have such a sight of the SERMON XX. 89 greatness of their sine — of their ignorance — of their unworthiness — of the wicked- ness of their hearts, that they are afraid to come, lest tiie Lord should cast tliem out. This is a very common case. You must think that scarcely any one feels and fears as you do. Were you to talk with serious per.sons m general, you would lind that al- most all of tiiem, especially at first, have had the very same fears, and have been so uuicli distressed at times, that they were almost in despair. Jesus Christ knew be- foreliand tliat it would be tluis; and he therefore graciously spoke these kind en- couraging words, on purpose to comfort poor, doubting, trembling, coming sinners — " Hun that cometh to me, I will hi no wise cast out." Tliat we may take the comfort of these precious words, let us, II. Consider the encouragement held out in the text to all comers; I say to all comers — " him that cometh ;" let him be who lie may : high or low : rich or poor : young or old: learned or ignorant: yea, even great sinners ; the chief of sinners ; all who come shall be welcome. Great smners need great encouragement; and liere they have it. What words could have been spoken more comfortable to the distressed sinner! Many are afraid that there is something peculiar in their case ; something, on account of which they sliall certainly be cast out: but our gracious Lord, who well knew what timid creatures his people are, lias provided in these words an effectual antidote to their fears. This word, Him, takes in all sorts of persons, in all ages and places : all sorts of sinners, even the greatest : it includes liars, drunk- ards, harlots, tliieves, murderers, and all other kinds and degrees of siimers whom- soever. If any doubt of the truth of this, let them turn to tlic following texts; Isa. i. 18. Matt. xii. 31. ]\Iatt. xxi. 31. Mark xvi. 15, 16. Acts xiii. 39. Only let them come, they shall be received ; no difficul- ties made ; no objections started : what- ever they have been, whatever they liave ^done, they shall not be cast out. Nay, more, Jesus says — " I will in no wise cast him out." I will not by any means, or on any account whatsoever, let it be what it may, cast him out: though he may de- serve it: though he may dread it; let him take my word for it. I will receive and embrace him; I will show him all the mercy lie needs, for pardon, peace, and holi- ness : I will save him for ever. Sucii is the import of these most glorious words. And this might be cnougii, were it not tliat sin- ners, who ajo coming to Christ, are com- M monly fruitful in fears and objections, and can scarcely be persuaded of this truth : it seems too great and too good to be true, at least as applied to them, who see their unworthiness and feel tlieir guilt. For the greater satislaction, then, of such trem- bling souls, let us attend to a few consid- erations, from which it will appear, that Jesus Christ will heartily welcome every coming sinner. 1. Consider the gracious nature, the kind disposition of Christ towards sinners. "God is love." Jesus is love incarnate. He is the God of love in human nature. " His licart is made of tenderness, his bow- els melt with love." We are to remember that he is the brother of our nature. Be- cause we are flesh and blood, he became such, that he might be a merciful high- priest, and, through deatli, abolish death. Heb. ii. 14. 17. " Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, tliough he was rich, he became poor, that we through his poverty miglit be rich." Had he not loved sinners, he had never forsaken the throne of heavenly glory ; condescended to be born of a poor virgin ; to be laid in a man- ger ; to be always a man of sorrows, la- bors, and sufferings ; to endure the contra- diction of sinners against himself; and, after all, to be betrayed, falsely accused, scourged, smitten, spit upon, crowned with thorns, and nailed to a cross. Who, that considers this, can doubt whether Jesus loves sinners ! Tlie names of Christ, both in the Old and New Testament, point out his gracious nature. Simeon waited for the consolation of Israel. Now, if Jesus had not a gra- cious heart, his appearance in the world would liave been no consolation to sinful men. The prophet Isaiah says, " He sliall feed his flock like a Shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with liis arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are witli young." Jesus is this good and gracious shepherd, who even laid down his life for the sheep; who feeds them in his pleasant pastures, and guards them with his almighty hand. He is tlie tender and skilful Piiysician, who heals the sick, disordered, and dying souls : who never refuses a patient, nor fails in the most desperate case. He is the Good Samaritan, who pities and helps the wounded and dying traveller, neglected and forsaken of men. He is the Husband of his church, a name that implies tender care and a kind aflec- tion; and whose love is tiie pattern for mortals to imitate. In short, he is, as his enemies reproachfully fai(J, tlie Friend of sinners; not of sin, as they pretended^ 8* 90 VILLAGE SERMONS. but that best of friends, who " delivers us from our sins." 2. Consider the Office of Christ, as an- other argument to prove his readiness to receive a coming sinner. Jesus Clirist, as touching his godhead, is equal with the Father ; but he condescended to become a servant for our salvation. As such he of- ten speaks of being "sent;" and of doing " not his own will, but the will of his Fa- ther." And what is the will of the Fa- ther, think you ? " 7%js," saith Jesus, "is the Father's will ichich hath sent^me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing : but that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life." John vi. 39, 40. Jesus Christ is " the Apostle and High- Priest of our profession." The high-priest was an officer of the Jewish church, whose business it was to offer gifts and sacrificee ; it was necessary for him to be tender- hearted to the ignorant, and those who were out of the way, and to be faithful to God and man. Thus Jesus, our great High-Priest, is compassionate ; " is touch- ed with the feelings of our infirmities; was tempted in all points like as we are ; and being made perfect through sufferings became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him." Heb. iv. 15. v. 9. Now it is the office and business of Jesus Christ to save sinners. The high- priest of old had nothing to do but with Burners. It was an office on purpose for sinners ; and this was the only errand of Christ to our world. He came "not to condemn the world : he declined any thing of that sort; as you may remember re- specting the woman taken in adultery, he would not condemn her." John viii. He ab- horred her sin, but it was not his office to condemn ; he came only to save. And as to proud, self-righteous people, he had no- thing to do with them ; for " he came not to call the righteous, but sinners, to re- pentance." Look then upon Jesus, as a public officer, appointed by divine authority to dispense mercy and pardon to every coming sinner; to every one v/ho comes to God for mercy through him. As it is the duty of a judge to dispense the laws, and do justice between man and man ; or as it is the duty of the pliysician of an hospital to take care of all the sick who are in it; so it is the gracious office of the Lord Jesus to dispense mercy, pardon, grace, life, and salvation, to all who ajiply to him ; and were it possible, we speak it with the deepest reverence, were it possi- ble, wliich it is net, that the blessed Jesus should refuse and reject one sinner who comes to him for life, he would be unfaith- ful ; but this can never be ; we have his word for it in the text, " I will in no wise cast out him that cometh." 3. Consider, once more, the gracious conduct and behavior of our Savior when he was upon earth. " He went about doing good." And who were the objects of his regard 1 Were they the princes and rulers, the rich and prosperous, the wise and learned ! No. These, in general, despised and rejected him. He turned his attention to the poor and needy, the sick and mise- rable ; yea, to publicans and harlots, that he might reclaim and save them. This was his reproach — " a friend of sinners." Did he see a multitude of ignorant people following him for instruction ? How did he exert himself in teaching them ; in houses, in synagogues, in the temple, in a ship, on a mountain ! How plainly, how sweetly, how forcibly did he lead them into divine knowledge ! Nor did he forget their bodies. Were they hungry, and ready to faint ? he had compassion on them, and worked miracles to supply them with food. See also what vast numbers of diseased per- sons apply to him; the blind; the deaf; the dumb ; the diseased with fever, leprosy, palsy ; and others possessed with the devil ; he heals them all. You never read of one poor, sick, miserable creature that he re- jected ; if they came, they were welcome : he never sent them away disappointed, and do you think he will show less pity to the sorrows of the mind, to the diseases of the soul ? Surely not ; for the salvation of one soul is of more consequence than all the thousands of bodily cures he wrought upon earth. Every man and woman that Christ healed, died at last ; but he whom Jesus saved " shall never die, but have everlasting life." And yet this, great as it is, is as easy to him as to say to a leper, Be thou clean. Come but to him, fellow- sinner, and he will directly say. Be thou saved. Remember, too, what a kind attention Jesus paid to mourning sinners. Remem- ber the penitent harlot in the Pharisee's house : she came behind him, and washed his feet with penitential tears: she was despised by the Pharisee, because she had been a great sinn^; but Christ speaks kindly to her, and says, " Thy sins are for given thee." Remember what he said to another great sinner, the Samaritan wo- man at the well of Sychar — " If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that speaketh to thee, thou wouldest have asked, and he would liave given thee liv- ing water." John iv. 10. — If you knew tlie SERMON XX. 91 worth of salvation, and would ask it of Christ, you should have it; and he says the very same to us : " If you knew the value of my salvation, felt your need of it, and would apply to me for it, you should not be denied." Remember, my friends, how Jesus mourned and wept, when har- dened sinners were about to perish in their unbelief; remember liow he wept to think of Jerusalem's approachmg destruction. Remember, too, how he rejoiced at the prospect of a sinner's salvation ! though he was a man of sorrows, tliis filled him with joy ; and can you doubt, after all this, whether Jesus will receive you or not : O be not faithless, but believing. Stagger not at tliis precious promise through unbe- lief; but be strong in faith, glorifying God. APPLICATION. From what has been said, we may learn what an important thing it is to come to Christ. We are all, by nature, at a dread- ful distance ; and " they that are far from him," if they die so, " must perish." This then is the first and cliief thing in religion, to come to Christ; that is, so to believe the Gospel, as to apply in heart and mind to him for salvation. It is not enough to come to church, or come to meeting, or come to sacrament ; all is in vain, if we do not come to Christ : for salvation is to be had of none but Christ, and not of hini neither, without coming for it. Come then, you- who never came before. You shall have heaven if you come ; hell must be your portion if you do not come. Pray to God to draw you. " Draw me," says the church, " we will run after thee." Come quickly. You may be less disposed to come to-morrow ; yea, to-morrow itself may never come to you. Consider the en- couragement that these words of Christ afford. " Come to me," said Jesus, " for I am meek and lowly of heart." You need not be afraid to come, for he says, and you may believe him, " he will ua no wise cast you out." Make no excuses. Say not I am ignorant. Come to him, and lie will teach you. Say not I have a hard heart. Come to him, and he will soften it. Say not I have a corrupt heart. Come to him, and he will sanctify it. Say not, I am a great sinner — tiiis is the very reason why you should come. " This man receiveth sinners ;" he came on purpose to save them, and bids you come, that he may save you. Think not foolishly, first to mend yourselves, and then come to him ; you will never be better till you do come. " Come needy, come guilty, come lothesome and bare; You can't come too filihy ; come just as you are." And you who have come — adore the grace that inclined you to come ; that made you Vv'illing in the day of God's gracious power, and that made you welcome in the day of his wonderful mercy. " 'Twas the same love that spread the feast, That sweetly forc'd us in ; Else we had still refus'd to taste, And perish'd in our sin." What hath God wrought? Is it not good to draw near to God .' Have you not tasted that the Lord is gracious ! " God hath strewed all the way from the gate of hell where thou wast, to the gate of heaven, whither thou art going, with flowers out of his own garden. Beliold, how the promises, invitations, calls, and encourage- ments of the Gospel lie round about thee." O keep near to thy Savior ; there is safety, there is peace. This last affords to every believer a sure mark of his election. Do you sometimes fear whether your name is written in heaven ; whether you are among his elect 1 Behold the certain proof. "All that the Father hath given to me shall come to me." Have you come to Christ? Well, then, this is the proof ©f your being one of those who were given to him. Thus make " your calling and election sure ;" your election, by your calling. Finally, let those who have come to Christ, by faith, rejoice to think, that in the heavenly world they shall come to him in a superior manner. " Now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face : Faith shall be changed into sight, and hope into possession. " So shall we be for ever with the Lord." " Come weary souls with sin distress'd, Come, and accept the promis'd rest; The Savior's precious calls obey, And cast your gloomy fears away. » " Oppress'd with guilt, a painful load, O come, and spread your woes abroad ; Divine compassion, mighty love, Will all the painful load remove. Lord, we accept, with thankful heart, The hope thy gracious words impart: Wc come with trembling, yet rejoice, And bless the kind inviting voice. Dear Savior ! let thy pow'rful love Confirm our faith ; our fears remove, And sweetly influence ev'ry breast. And guide us to eternal rest." PRAYER. — O God of all grace, we are greatly encouraged by that most gracious promise which W'e have now been considering. Blessed Jesus, thou art the only, the all-suiruiont Savior. Thou art ahle lo save to the uticrniosi all who come to the Faiher by thee ; and we have now been as- sured that thou art as wdUm; to save as thou art able, — that thou wilt not reject any sinner who comes to tliee for salvation. Blessed Lord, lliy 92 VILLAGE SERMONS. name and thy nature is Love ; thy love brought thee down from Heaven, laid thee in the man- ger, and nailed thee to the cross. Thou didst go about doing good, and didst never refuse to lielp the sick and the miserable, when they came to thee for relief; and we believe thou art tlie same gracious Lord, now tliou art in Heaven : that thou art rich in grace and mercy to all who call upon thee. Thou art still saying, " Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Adorable Savior, we come at thy call. We are ignorant; we come unto thee, to teach us. We are guilty ; we come unto thee, as the great Atonement for sin. We are weak and exposed ; we come to thee, to strengthen and defend us : O do thou be all in all unto us, for body and for soul ; for time and for eternity ; and we will ascribe blessing and honor, glory and power unto thee for ever and ever! Amen. SERMON XXL THE VAIN EXCUSES OF SINNERS EX- POSED. Luke xiv. 18. — And they all, with one consent, be- gan to make excuse. The blessings of the Gospel in Christ are, in the parable of which the text is a part, fitly compared to the dainties of a noble and costly feast " A certain man made a great supper, and bade many," ver. 16. So Christ has made plentiful provisions in his Gospel for the souls of men, and freely invites all who hear it to be partakers. " And he sent his servants at supper-time, to say to them that were bidden. Come, for all things are now ready," ver. 17. So Christ having called the Jeios by his own ministry, sent the apostles after his resurrection to renew the invitation, and to say that tlie work of redemption was finished, and that he was willing to receive all who should come by faith to him ; and this is the language of the Gos- pel wherever it is preached. If we consider the nature of a feast, we shall see how properly our Savior compares the blessings of our salvation to it. In a feast we expect roholesome provision — plenty — variety — elegance — company, and the whole gratis. All these, and more, Jesus gives us in his Gospel. Here is " the bread of life which came down from heaven," without which we must for ever perish ; but eating which secures our eter- nal life. Here is plenty, for in our Father's house there is bread enough and to spare ; and however many tlie guests who come, still " there is room." Here is variety ; pardon, peace, holiness, adoption, joy in the Holy Ghost, communion with God, perseverance to the end, and glory, to crown tlae whole. Here is elegance ; dam- ties worthy God to bestow ; dainties fttched from heaven ; dainties purchased at a cost beyond the value of a thousand worlds — for " Christ's flesh is meat indeed, and his blood is drink indeed !" Here is good com- pany ; for, sitting dovi^n at the Gospel feast, " we come to an innumerable company of angels : to the general assembly and church of the first-born ; and to God, the Judge of all ; and to the spirits of just men made perfect ; and to Jesus." And what is best of all, it is gratis — " without money, and without price" — " the poorer the wretch, the welcomer here." Now if these great and glorious bless- ings are considered, how necessary, how free, how precious and delightful ! one would naturally suppose that all men, to whom the Gospel offers them, would as readily and joyfully receive them, as they usually accept an invitation to a plentiful and agreeable entertainment. But, alas, it is not so ! If we examine the word, or look into the world, Ave shall find it quite otherwise. — "They all with one consent begin to make excuses ;" for all men, till changed by the grace of God, are blind, and lame, and deaf, and dead, as to all spiritual things ; seduced by the Devil's lies, and in love with the world, they vainly strive " to fill tlieir belly with the husks of swine," but have no more relish for sal- vation, than a sick man for wholesome food ; yea, like him, " their soul lotheth dainty meat." Yet amidst this awful depravity, to the honor of Scripture and the truths of God, men are ashamed to give a direct refusal ; conscience admits the value of the Gospel : and therefore, to make their neglect of it appear justifiable, they have recourse to various excuses, with which they strive to satisfy themselves and tlieir neighbors, and vainly hope to satisfy God. To describe these excuses, and to answer them; to show what they are, and the folly of them, is the business, which, with the Lord's assist- ance, I shall now attempt ; and O that the Spirit of our God may succeed what shall be said to the conviction of these excusers, and sweeping away all their refuges of lies. We shall first notice the three excuses which follow our text ; and then proceed to mention other excuses and objections which are often made. I. The first said — I have bought a piece of gronnd, and I must needs go and see it ; I pray thee have me excused. Til is is the plea of a rich man, who had been adding field to field. He was under no kind of necessity to view the land he SERMON XXL 93 iiad bought : probably he had seen it before he hud bought it ; if not, he might have stayed till another day, and liave tbund the field in tiie same condition ; but he wanted to feast his eyes ajTOn his new purchase. See here an instance of the inordinate love of the world, the pride of possession, the deceitfulness of riches. This was " a man of the world, whose portion was in this life," for the sake of which he was deaf to the call of Christ. O how hardly shall they who are rich enter into the kingdom of licaven ! so great is the danger of loving the world too much. 2. And another said — / have bought Jive yoke of oxen, and I go to prove thein: 1 pray thee have lue excused. Here is the man of business : the former.was taken up with pleasure ; this with care. " Too much leisure, or too much business, are equally dangerous to the soul." This was a frivolous excuse like the former ; another day would have done as well for proving oxen in tlie plow, for the purcliase was already made; but anxiety for the vi^orld prevailed over his spiritual interest. And what is this but the common excuse of tradesmen, laborers, and women who have families] / have no time to spare for re- ligion. Let me ask you. What is your time for ? Is not the care of the soul the one thing needful ? Should you not seek first the kmgdom of God and his right- eousness] Besides, "what will it profit, if you gain the whole world, and lose your own soul." And let me tell you, there is time enough to mind the alTairs of both worlds, and both are best minded together : the one need not shut out the other. Re- ligion will not make men idle; it will make an idle man industrious; it tends even to worldly prosperity. " Godliness is profitable for all things, having the prom- ise of this life, and of that which is to come." How can any man say he has no time for religion, when the Sabbath-day is ap- pointed for that very purpose ; yet that holy day is profaned by many, by business, idleness, or taking pleasure. There are fifty-two days in every year, wliich ought to be wholly employed in public or private duties of religion. Wliat account will they give to God of their time, who have squandered away their precious hours in their sin and tolly, and wiio have turned their backs on the means of grace, wliich might have made tlieni wise to .«alvation. Permit me also to observe, tliat some, who cannot find time to serve God, can find tune to sin : they can find time to curse and swear, to talk and sing obscene- ly, to be drunken, and to be wanton. Yea, some of these people comj)lain of too much time ; and therefore they invent amuse- ments to kill time. O, if the hours that some consume at tlie ale-house, the fairs, and merry meetings, were spent in hearing and reading the word of God, in prayer, and singing his praises, to how much bet- ter account would they turn out ! 3. The excuse of a third person was, / have married a wife, and therefore cannot come. Here is an excuse of another kind, which takes in too great a regard to crea- tures, and too much fondness for domestic enjoyments, and the pleasures of this life. It was a very weak excuse ; for though he had married a wife, he might surely liave left her for a few hours, without a breach of proper aflection ; or he might have taken her with him to such a great feast as this, where so many were bidden, and none for- bidden ; or he might have gone alone, if he could not persuade her to go with him. How many perish by the unlawful use of lawful thuigs, and undue regard to carnal relations ! Husbands and wives, who ought to help each other in the great concerns of salvation, are often deadly hindrances ; and will reproach each other to all eternity for being such. Thus Adam ruined him- self and all his posterity by carnal fond- ness, and loving the creature more than the Creator. Let married persons be on their guard ; and remember that not only houses and lands, but wives too, must sometimes be forsaken, rather than for their sakes we should forsake Christ. All these excuses were, as you see, frivolous and foolish ; they were all of a worldly kind ; and indeed it is the world, in some form or other, that proves the great hindrance of men's salvation. But there are many other excuses which peo- ple are apt to make, equally absurd. I shall proceed to notice some of them. Religion, says one, is a hard and dijfi- cult thing ; hard to understand, and diffi- cult to practise. I answer. Is it necessa- ry 1 Christ sa)% it is the one thing neces- sary. It is just as necessary as salvation Ls. And do you object to every thing ne- cessary, because it is difficult? Do not you find hardships in your trade or busi- ness] and yet you pursue it. Consider, also, it will be nmch harder to bear the torments of hell, than to practise tlie du- ties of religion. A person, who wanted one of the martjTs to recant, said, " Life is sweet and death is bitter." " True (said he) but eternal life is sweeter, and eternal death is more bitter." Will not heaven make amends for all our pains and labors'* 94 VILLAGE SERMONS. Do you think there is a saint in heaven, that repents of what he did or sutFered for Christ J but in fact, true religion is not so difficult as you may imagine : the path is so plain, that " the way-faring man, though a fool, shall not err therein." And Jesus says, " Take my yoke upon you, for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light ; his commands are not grievous, and grace makes them pleasant. Religion is far from beuig a gloomy business. " Wisdom's ways are pleasantness, and all her paths are peace." Can it make a man unhappy to love God, and be loved by him ] It is a gloomy thing to be at peace with God, to know that our sins are pardoned, and to have the earnest of glory ! There are joys in religion far beyond any that the world can pretend to, and such as wicked men would be glad to possess, when they come to lie on a dying bed : then is the value of true religion known, when the world can afford no further help. 5. Some object, and say, Your religious people are hypocrites ; after all their pre- tences, they are like other folks. I answer by a question — Are they all hypocrites? If so, then there is no such thing as reli- gion in the world ; if so, the Bible is all a lie, and Christ must have shed his blood in vain ; for he died to redeem us from the world, and our vain conversation in it, and to make us a holy people zealous of good works. It is admitted there are some hyp- ocrites ; and woe be to them ! There was a hypocrite, a Judas, even among the apos- tles : but religion did not cease because of him. If there was not a reality and an excellency in religion, there would be no hypocrites ; if guineas and bank-notes were not valuable, there would be no counter- feits ; and, I presume, you do not refuse to take any money, because there is base rCoin ; nor would you excuse yourself from paying your rent to your landlord, because you are afraid of takmg bad money. If tliere are hypocrites, as you say, and we allow, then there is the greater need to iook to yourself, that you are sincere ; but I greatly doubt the sincerity of those who make this excuse ; and their hearts tell them it will not be admitted at the bar of God. Besides, it is censorious and v/icked to judge another man, and to call him a hypocrite, unless his life is bad ; but, be- cause you can find no blemish in the life of a truly religious person, you presume to searcli his heart, and call him a hypocrite. The truth is, you would be glad to prove him such, as an excuse for your own want of religion. 6. Methmks I hear another person say — / see no occasion to make so much fuss about religion. — You say truly ; you do not see : but your not seeing, is a proof of nothing but your own blindness ; a blind man sees nothing. If you examine the word of God, you will find the Christian life compared to a warfare ; now a soldier's life, in the tune of actual service, is not idle. It is also compared to a race, in which great exertion and activity are necessary, if a man would so run as to obtain the prize. A Christian is represented in Scrip- ture as " crucifying the old man of sin," and " mortifying the deeds of the flesh ;" and can these things be done by the sloth- ful man, who is a stranger to zeal himself, and hates to see it in another ? Has not God required you to love him with all your heart, and all your soul, and all your mind, and all your strength ; and do you know anybody that does more than this? Let me also ask you. Why it is that you com- mend industry in worldly business, and despise it in religion 1 If there be a hell to avoid, and a heaven to obtain, and sm to destroy, and a God to serve, and a soul to save — why should you not be as earnest in religion as you are in the world 1 why should not a Christian love God as much as you love money, or sin ? I know the answer your heart makes. 7. Another cries — I shall do as well as my neighbor : and if I perish, God help thousands ! I reply. If you do not better than the thousands that perish, God help you ! Jesus Christ has said, " Wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat ;" while the narrow way to life is found and trod by few. Think not well of your state, because you are like others: you have greater cause to suspect it. Christ's flock is small ; but the devil's herd is large. " The whole world," says St. John, " lieth in wickedness." Follow not, then, the multitude to do evil, but consider their end, and be wise. It is a very affect- ing and useful story that Mr. Baxter re- lates in his " Call to the Unconverted ;" " I remember," says he, " a circumstance that a gentleman told me he saw upon Acham-bridge, over the Severn, near Shrewsbury. A man was driving a flock of fat lambs ; and something meeting them, and hindering their passage, one of the lambs leaped on the walls of the bridge, and his legs slipping from under liim, he fell into the stream : the rest, seeing him, did, one after one, leap over tlie bridge into the stream, and were all, or almost all, drowned. Those that were behind did little know what was become of them that SERMON XXI. 95 were gone before, but thought they miglit venture to follow their companions ; but as soon as ever they were over the wall, and falling headlong, the case was altered. Even so it is with unconverted carnal men. One dieth by them, and drops into hell, and another follows the same way; and yet they will go after them, because they think not whither they are gone. O ! but when death Jiath once opened their eyes, and they see what is on the other side of the wall, even in another world, then what would they give to be where they were 1" 8. Another objector says — But I hope to do better than many, for I am not so bad a sinner as some. I answer. You are not to be compared with others, but with the law of God, which requires perfect obedi- ence. Now, compared with this, you will be found a sinner ; and it is not being a less sinner than another that will save you; but faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose righteousness is " to and upon all that believe in him." Besides, the folly of such an excuse is manifest ; for if find- insr another man worse than one's-self would do, then all smners might escape except that one, who is worst of all. 9. Perhaps another person will say — It is true I am a sinner bad enough ; but I do some good things, and will not they atone for my sins ? St. Paul shall answer. " Without shedding of blood there is no remission;" the good works of men were never appointed to the office of a Savior ; for " if righteousness come by the law, Christ is dead in vain." Why do we call Jesus a Savior, and yet hope to be saved by our works 1 which is to become our own Savior. But the word of God has settled this, and declares, Eph. ii. 8, " By grace are we saved, through faith; and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God ; not of works, lest any man should boast." And to say the trutli, no man can do works good in the sight of God until he is first justified by faith, for even " the prayers of tlie wicked are an abomination to him ;" and the thirteenth Article of the Church of England truly says, that " Works done before the grace of Christ, and the inspi- ration of his Spirit, are not pleasant to God ; and we doubt not but they have the nature of sin." 10. Unwilling to humble himself, and cry for mercy, another says — / a7n no scholar, and God expects no more than he gives. I answer. You may be a true Chris- tian, and yet no scholar. God hath sent you his word, and you can hear it, if you cannot read it ; not to say, that since Sun- day schools have been set up, every person almost may learn to read, if he will. But know this, my friends, that ignorance wUI excuse none. Where knowledge is a duty, ignorance is a sin. It is not your want of opportunity to know the Gospel, but your want of inclination to it, that keeps you ignorant. You take pains to know how you may get food and raiment, or charity ; why then remain contentedly ignorant of " the things Vv'hich belong to your everlasting peace !" Isa. xxvii. 11. 2 Thess. i. 8. 11. Another person, advanced in years, says — / «?« too old to change my religion. What do you call religion ! Is it a set of notions and ceremonies ? Is it an attach- ment to certain ministers and buildings I This is not religion. Religion is the de- votedness of the heart to God ; and without this the most pompous forms are of no avail. Nicodemus was an old man when he came to Christ, who said to him as we say to you, " Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." In a word, if your religion has not changed you, it is high time to change your religion. 12. Methinks I hear another say, — / in- tend to be better, at some future time. So did Felix, who trembled when Paul preach- ed, and said to him, " When I have conve- nient season, I will call for thee ;" but that season never came. Hell is paved with good intentions. Should you die in your sins, which God forbid I out of your own mouth will you be condemned ; for you are forced to admit that all is not right ; and yet you venture to go on in sin, though you know not what a day may bring forth. — Go to the sick and dying bed of a neighbor, and hear him groan and complain of an acliing head and a sick stomach ; observe his shaking hand and dis- ordered pulse ; the rattling throat, the con- vulsed limbs, and the cold sweat ; and say, is this a time for repentance '! Are these poor dregs of life all you should offer to God? O be wiser; nor leave the service of God, or the salvation of your soul, to so improper a season. But, after all, the true reason remains untold. May not all your excuses be summed up in this one ! — / love sin, and cannot part with it ; but observe, you must part with sin, or part with heaven. You must turn or burn. And are you content to enjoy the present pleasures of sin for a moment, and endure everlasting pains, which are their certain consequence ? It is related of a man, wlio, by his excesses, was in danger of losing his sight ; and being told by the physician that he must change his course or lose his sight, replied, " Then 96 VILLAGE SERMONS. farewell dear light !" Thus many, by per- sisting in sinj seem to say, — Farewell God of mercy, Savior of sinners. Spirit of holi- ness ! farewell ye people of God ! farewell life of happiness, heaven and glory ! and, for the sake of dear sin, welcome devils, welcome darkness, despair and misery, for evermore. APPLICATION. Thus, Sirs, we have taken notice of some of those excuses which smners often make, wlio love darkness rather than liglit ; who follow lying vanities, and forsake their own mercies. But it is plain tliat all these excuses arise from the darkness, worldli- ness, and enmity of our fallen nature, and they sliow the necessity of having " a new lieart, and a right spirit." These ex- cuses v/ill scarcely now satisfy those who make them ; they will miserably fail them in. the prospect of death ; and they cannot be accepted at the bar of God. In his parable before us, it is said, that " when the servant showed his Lord these things, he was angry, and said, None of those men which were bidden shall taste of my sup- per." God forbid this sentence should go forth against any person here. As yet, our gracious Lord commands us to " go out into the high-ways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that his house may be filled." In his name we come, and call you to the Gospel-feast. Knowing the terrors of the Lord, we persuade you ; and knowing the bounty of the Lord, we invite you. None ever repented of coming ; nor were any rejected who came. Come then to Jesus. " The Spirit and the Bride say. Come ; and let him that heareth, say. Come ; and let liim that is athirst. Come : and whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely." " All things are ready, come away, Nor weak excuses frame ; Crowd to your places at the feast, And bless the founder's name." PRAYER. — Merciful Father ! how great is thy goodness to the children of men! Our sins deserve thy wralh, and justly we might be con- demned, and punished for ever. But such is thy grace, that thou hast provided for us a great sal- vation, wliich it hath pleased thee to compare to a royal feast ; and thou hast sent thy servant to invite us to it, saying " Come, for all things are now ready." O maiie us heartily willing, and truly glad to come at thy call, and partake of that heavenly food, of those rich dainties, which will secure our eternal hfe. O that by faith we may feed upon Christ, " whose flesh is meat indeed, and whose blood is drink indeed." We are asliamed to think that we, or any of our fellow-sinners, should refuse tliy invitation ; preferring the world, the flesh, anil sin, to the Gospel. O that they may no longer make vain and wicked excuses, lest thou shouldst be angry, and swear in thy wrath that they shall never taste of thy supper! But O make us willing in the day of ihy power, thankful and glad to re- ceive ihy proliered benefits, without money and without i)rice, tliat so we may be happy both here and hereafter, and glorify thy name to all eternity! and this we beg for the sake of Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen. SERMON XXII. CHRIST THE BREAD OF LIFE, AND THE NATURE OF FAITH IN HIM. John vi. 27. Labor not for tlio meat which perish- eth, but for tliat moat which endureth unto ever- lasting life, which the Son of Man shall give unto you. When our Savior had fed five thousand people with five loaves and two fishes, they were so struck with the miracle, that they determined to proclaim him for their king — the Messiah. But he refused their offer, and got out of their way. They fol- lowed him next day to a great distance ; but our Lord, who knew their hearts, told them plainly that tiiey acted from a corrupt principle in following hun, ver. 26. " Jesus said. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the mira- cles, but because ye did eat of the loaves and were filled." There may be a great show of zeal in ruiming after prayers and preaching, without a spark of grace. Few persons seek Christ for his own salce, or for spiritual blessings only. Many follow him for loaves, not for love. Let us be- ware of hypocrisy. These people had come many miles in hopes of another mira- cle; air their labor in coming so far was for bread. Now Ciirist sliows them a more excellent way ; he puts tliem upon a better plan : he bids them be more moderate in their worldly pursuits, and more diligent in their heavenly pursuits. But when lie says, " Labor not for the meat which per- isheth," you cannot suppose that he forbids men to labor in an lionest way to get their daily bread. No ; for God has laid tliat burden on all tlie cliildren of Adam : " In the sweat of thy brow shalt thou eat bread ;" and " He that will not work, nei- ther let him eat." But we are to under- stand it comparatively. Labor not for worldly bread in the first and chief place ; it must not be our principal care and con- cern ; and for tiiis good reason — it perish- eth : not only our necessary food, but the wealtli, lienor, and pleasure of the world, whicJi men hunger for, like meat, perish ; they perish in the using, and they who use them must soon perish in the grave. This SERMON XXII. 97 shows the folly of bping too eager in tlie pursuit of them ; and at tlie same time should put us upon the greatest diligence in seeking for the food of our immortal souls ; even Christ himselti who is' the bread of life, as he largely shows in this chapter. Now to help you in doing this we shall, I. Consider Jesus Christ under the em- blem of Food; and, II. Impure into tlie nature of that la- bor wliich is here recommended, in order to obtain it. I. Let us consider Jesus Clirist under the emblem of Food. As we cannot un- derstand any thing tliat is spiritual, but as it is compared to something that is natural, God is pleased in his word to use many similitudes, whereby to set forth the ex- cellencies of the Lord Jesus Clirist, and recommend him to us. Hence he is called a Sun, to signify Light ; a Rock, to signify Support ; a Refuge, to signify Safety ; and here he compares himself to Food. And this way of teaching not only helps us to understand spiritual things, but it serves to put us in mind of them ; so that when we see the sun, it may remind us of Christ our light ; and when we take our meat, it may put us in mind of Jesus, the meat which endureth to eternal life. This is part of that.spiritual-mindedness, which to enjoy is life and peace. A few particulars will convince you how properly Christ is compared to food. 1. Because Christ is as necessary to the life of the soul as meat is to the support of the Hody. You know God has so formed our bodies, that we caftnot live long with- out fjod. Christ is no less necessary for the soul ; so it is written in this chapter, ver. Ii3, " For the bread of God is he which Cometh down from iieaven, and givetli life to the world ;" and again, ver. J35, " I am the bread of life ;" and ver. 51, " If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever." The same is asserted again and again throughout the chapter ; the whole of which you will do well to read when you go home. 2. All kinds of food are the gift of God ; no man in the world can make any thing eatable. Man can plant, and sow, and rear cattle ; he also can cook his food with endless variety, when he has got the mate- rials ; but he can make none of them. No man can give life to a plant, or to a beast. Every thing we eat is the gift of a good God. Just so Christ, the bread of litl^ is tlie gift of (iod. "God gave his Son." " Blessed be God for his unspeakable gift. !" The manna that God sent down to feed Is- N rael in the wilderness was a lively type of Jesus ; " for the bread of God is he which cOmeth down from heaven," ver. 33. 3. Most kinds uf food are prepared for our use by Jire. So Christ, as our sacri- iice, endured, in the garden, and on the cross, the dreadful wrath of God, as "a consummg lire." This was set forth in a lively manner by the sacrifices of old, which were burnt on the altar, which re- presented that Christ was to be consumed by the flames of his love for his Father and his elect, and at the same time by the flames of the divine wrath against sin, which he had undertaken to bear. But the Paschal-lamb was not wholly consumed ; after it was roasted with fire, it was eaten by the ancient believers ; the same sacri- fice which procured their safety became their food ; and thus it is with us, if by faith we feed upon Christ crucified. And this leads to another remark. 4. Food must be actually received, eat- en, and digested, in order to support life. It is not hearing of food, nor seeing it, nor smelling it, tliat Avill satisfy hunger or nourish the body ; nor will merely hearing of Christ, nor attending ordinances, nor partaking of sacraments, nourish the soul unto eternal life. By true faith, every be- liever receives Christ for himself, depends upon him for his own salvation, and feeds upon him in his heart with thanksgiving-. This eating is absolutely necessary to sal- vation, as Christ declares, ver. 53. " Verily, verily, I say unto you. Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, ye have no life in you." 5. There is pleasure and delight in the reception of food, if persons arc in health; and so there is in feeding upon Cln-ist by faith. But then there must be spiritual healtli and appetite. The disordered stom- ach of a sick man "lotheth dainty meat;" and there are those who abhor the doCLrinc of salvation by Christ ; but the man who is alive to God, who hungers and thirsts after righteousness, finds sweet and hea- venly delight in partaking of Christ and his benefits. His love, hia grace, his blood, his righteousness, his intercession, his glory, are sweeter to the taste than honey to the palate. He sits down to the Gospel table, and finds there a feast of fat things full of marrow, and can say with the spouse in the Canticles, " I sat under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste." 6. We may remark, that when Christ is compared to food, it intimnfes the rousdin' CI/ with which believers must make u;-e of hhn. Manvof t'.ie busines-sesand pleasures 9 98 VILLAGE SERMONS. of life are occasional only ; but we cannot live without " daily bread." Just so it is, that " the life we live in t!ie flesh must be by the faith of the Son of God." " The just shall live by his faith ;" and he who has once tasted that the Lord Jesus is gracious, will say, " Evermore give me this bread !" II. We now proceed to inquire into the nature of that labor which Christ recom- mends in tlie te.xt ; for he not only directed the people to moderate their worldly pur- suits, saymg, " Labor not for the meat that perisheth," but he directed them to employ themselves diligently in the pursuit of heavenly things ; as if he had said, " Labor for the meat which endureth unto eternal life." But we are not to suppose that any sort of labor is intended by which a sinner can merit eternal life, or that any diligence in religion "''U make a man worthy of Clirist, or ths mercy of God, through him. This is a common and a very dangerous iriistake ; but this would be to subvert the whole Gospel, which teaches us, that " not by works of righteousness which we have done," but " by grace are we saved, through faith ; which faith itself is the gift of God." The Lord will beat down all human pride, and glory in self He alone must be exalted in our salvation. And it is evident, from the latter part of the text, that merit is entirely out of the question ; for, of this bread of life it is said — which the Son of man shall give you. If then it be given, tiie labor required cannot be in order to merit or purchase it. The nature of this labor may be learned from the following verses : the people ask- ed our Lord what it was. What shall we do, that we may work the works of God ? They wanted to know whether he required any other worlis than Moses did : they thought something very great was neces- sary, which they called "the works of God ;" and they seemed to think, that by some of their good deeds they might merit this l^read. Now observe Christ's plain answer, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom hr hath sent — " 'J'his is the great duty which is necessary to the acceptance of your persons and your works: this is what God commands, ap- proves, and is the Autlior of; namely, that ye receive me, and rest your souls on me for salvation, as appointed of the Father for that j)urpose, and plainly authorized and approved by the miracles I have wrouglit." Faith, then, is the work intended. Be- lievhig in Christ is tliat labor which he re- commends to us, in order to our living upon this heavenly food. You will ask — What is faith 1 I answer in the words of the late reverend Mr. Roinaine: "Faith signifies the believing the word of God. It relates to some words spoken, or to some promise made by him, and it expresses the belief which a person who hears it has of its being true. He assents to it, relies upon it, and acts accordingly. This is faith." We are to believe all that the word of God declares ; but faith, as connected with sal- vation, chietly relates to the divine testi- mony, or record of Christ, concerning Jesus Clirist. All faith relates to some tes- timony, human or divine. Now, saith St. John, if we receive the witness (or testimo- ny) of men, the witness (or testimony) of God is greater : for this is the witness (or testimony) which he hath testified of his Son. lie that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness, that is, the testimo- ny of Christ, in himself, in his own mind or conscience : he that believeth not God hath made him a liar ; because he believ- eth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record : that God hath given to us eternal life ; and this life is in his Son. 1 John v. 9 — 11. The Holy Spirit enlightens the mind unto the true meaning of this blessed testimony ; and the believer is persuaded of its truth, ex- cellence, and everlasting unportance. He assents to it as true. He delights in it as good, and rests his eternal all on this foundation ; expecting that God, who is faithful to his promise, will not suffer him to perish, but give him eternal life. Or, as the renowned Witsius expresses it, " As faith is an assent given to the divine truth, it includes in* it the acceptance of the benefit offered by the covenant of grace. Here is my Son, says God, and salvation in him: I offer him to whoever desires hun, and believes that be shall find his sal- vation in him. Who desires him ! Who believes this? I do, says the believer; I greatly long for liiin ; I believe my salva- tion to be laid up in him : I take him as thus offered to mc. Be it so, saith the Lord." Perliaps you will now ask me. But why is this called labor .' Is there any difficulty in all this ? Yes ; much every day : for, 1. Believing in him alone for salvation, i-3 quite foreign to the notions of men, by nature, and quite contrary to tlie terms of the covenant of works, which all natural men are under, and to which even awa- kened sinners are mucli inclined. St. Paul laments the state of the Jews, who, "be- • iug ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to ♦:stablish their own right- eousness, would not submit themselves to SERMON XXII. 99 the righteousness of God." Rom. x. 3. They sought righteousness by their works, "they stumbled at the stumbling-stone." Rom. ix. [i2. Now it is one of the hardest things in the world to bring oil' a moral, devout man from dejjendence on his good works, to trust his salvation on Christ alone ; tlierefore is believing called a labor. 2. There are many other people who think that believing in Christ tor salvation is too easy, ciicap, and common a thing ; they would rather do some hard and diffi- cult task : sometiiing that looks great and meritorious ; such as building a churth, or an hospital; giving a great deal to the poor, or wearing sackcloth, or living in a monastery, or going a pilgrimage. There iiave been people that have walked with spikes in their shoes, and others who have burnt their children in the fire, to appease their gods. But only to believe in Christ seems too simple and easy a thing, and on that very account it is hard to them. Thus we read in the Old Testament of a Syrian general who had the leprosy, and went a long journey to be cured by Elisha the prophet. When this great man came to the door, the prophet sent out a messenger desiring him to wash in the river Jordan, and he should be healed. This you will say was an easy thing. So it was: but that very circumstance made it hard, for it put the great man in a rage. " I thought, said he, that he would surely come out to me, and stand, and call upon his God, and strike his hand over the place;" so he went away in a passion. But one of his servants wisely said, " If the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldst thou not have done it .' How much rather, then, when he saith to thee. Wash, and be clean ?" He took the hint, and was perfectly healed. 1 Kings v. 3. Another thinnf makes believino- a la- bor. Many think that if much stress is laid upon faith, it will make people neg- lect good works, and so be hurtful to the interests of virtue and morality. Some think it is not amiss to talk of Christ and his merits to dying people, because they cannot live to abuse the doctrine ; but that little should be preached about free grace and the blood of Christ, lest it should lead to licentiousness. Alas, for such persons ! It is evident they are "the wliole, who need not the physician." If ever they had been convinced of sin, and led to fear the wrath of a just and holy God, they would gladly fly to tlie only refuge for a sinner: and they would know by experience, that the Gospel is as good a doctrine to live by, as it is to die by. And indeed it is an abominable reproach upon the Holy Gos- pel to charge it with so bad. a tendency. In fact, we know from the word of God, from experience, and from observation, that faith purities the heart, works by love, and produces all the fruits of righteous- ness and goodness. 4. But the great thing that makes be- lieving in Christ so laborious, is, the awful view that a convmced sinner often has of his guilt. He sees he has broken the law of God, and is exposed to its dreadful curse. He knows the corruption of his nature, and the plague of his heart. He feels that his heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. He ranks himself among the chief of sinners; thinks there is not another sinner in the world so bad as himself; he fears there is something singular in his case : perhaps he is ready to fear that he has committed the unpar- donable sin : he complains that he is beset with blasphemous thoughts : and on all these, and perhaps on many other accounts, is afraid there is no help tor him in God. Besides, the Devil is very busy with a convinced sinner. He is afraid of losing a subject; -and as it was of old with a young man who was coming to Christ for a bodily cure, " while he was yet a com- ing, the Devil threw him down and tare him ;" so Satan tries all his skill, and em- ploys all his agents, to Jel jjreached also to them that are dead ; tliat is, to those believers who were dead when St. Peter wrote, as well as to those who were tlien living : that they might he judged according to men in the flesh ; that they might judge and condemn them- selves for their fleshly lusts, and mortify their carnal appetites ; and so be dead to sin, but live according to God in the Spirit ; that being quickened from the death of sin to the life of righteousness, they might, being helped by the Spirit, be conformed to the will of God, and do those things which are pleasing in his sight. It is by the preaching of the Gospel that this change is generally effected ; for it is the Gospel only, which is " the power of God to salvation." This is God's mighty instrument for " pulling down the strong hold of the devil," for opening men's eyes, and turning them from darkness unto light, and from the power of Satan unto God." The sinner is usually first alarmed by the Law, as contained in the ten com- mandments. If his eyes are opened by the Spirit of God, he sees that " the law is spiritual," and reaches to the secret thoughts of his heart; and that having broken the law, he is under its curse. Tills, though before lie was " alive with- out the law," the commandment comes with power to his conscience, sin revives, and he dies : that is, he now sees he is a dead man in law ; justly condemned to eternal death on account of his sins. But the law alone is insufficient to de- stroy the power of sin. Tlie Gospel is the instrument employed by the Holy Spirit for this purpose. Sin never appears to the believer so sinful as when he beholds Christ crucified for it. Jesus Christ, as crucified for sin, was the grand subject of apostolic preaching. The first ministers of Christ " determined to know nothing among the people but Jesus Christ, and him crucified." And O, how glorious were the triumphs of the cross ! It was this which subdued tlie hearts of poor, wretch- ed, beastly, devilish men, among the hea- then. Those who had wallowed in the filth of sin, and reduced human nature to the most degraded state, became holy, humble, chaste, temperate, honest, pious, gentle, usefnl men. This it was that changed St. Paul from a bloody persecutor of the saints to an liumble disciple and flaming preacher of Christ. So he says. Gal. vi. 14. " God i()rbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom tlie world is crucified unto me, and I unto tiie world." So that every believer may say and sing, " It was the sight of thy dear cross First wean'd my heart from earthly things. And taught me to esteem as dross The mirth of fools and pomp of kings," And this shows that the very first busi- ness of a convinced sinner, who " hungers and thirsts after righteousness," is to come to Christ. We have no strength and ability in ourselves, by nature, to become holy, and subdue our sins ; we must begin to live to God in a new way, by faith in Christ. The efforts of a natural man to- wards holiness are all forced and unnatural ; we must have a new nature and new pow- ers ; and thes6 we can have only in and fi-om Christ, and by virtue of union to him, through faith. Christ dwells in the hearts of believers, and they dwell in him. They are " Members of his body, and are so joined to him as to become one spirit." They are branches of Christ the tree ; separate from him they can do nothing: but from union to him proceed all their good works, and sincere acceptable obedi- ence. -Thus the soul is brought to cleave to Christ with purpose of heart, to hate every false way, and to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, and righteously, and godly, in this present evil world. TJiis is the great change that grace makes. III. We proceed to speak of the reason- ableness of this change. " The time past, (says our holy apostle) the time past of our lite may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles." Not as if sin was entitled to any portion of our short and mortal lives. No. A moment given to sin is a moment too much. But it may well be said, " the tune past* may suffice ; for, " Sin is a dreadful waste of precious time. Life is very short." Time flies on swift wings ; and when once gone, is gone for ever. We can never recall a lost hour. And yet, how is time squandered away ? SERMON XXIII. 103 O visit dying beds, to learn the value of time. What would some dying people give for a few weeks or a few hours I There have been instances of rich men, who have offered physicians half their estates, if they could prolong their lives for a few weeks ! And what is " the worm that never dies," but the horrid remorse of a damned sinner, rcHecting, with intolerable anguish, upon the loss of his time and abuse of his mercies in a life of sin ! Sin is also a nsdcss thing. " What fruit liad ye 1" said St. I'aul to the converted Roman ; " what fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed!" What profit, honor, or, pleasure, did ye find in your former sinful courses, even while pursuing them ? Were they not at- tended with remorse, trouble, mischief, and stings of conscience ^ And what bitter fruits do they produce in reflection ! as holy Job says, "Thou writest bitter things against me, and makest me to possess the sins of my youth !" Sin is extremely hurt- ful and dangerous to ourselves and others. The sinner is like " the madman, who casteth abroad fire-brands, arrows, and deatii, and saith. Am I not in sport '! You would shudder to see a child playing with a razor, or with the fire ; or standing on the brink of a deep precipice at the sea- side ! Yet such is the state of every man in his sins. Such was once our state : and may not the time past suffice to have wrought the will of the flesh, yea the will of the devil, who was aiming at our de- struction ■? " for the end of those things is death :" the direct tendency and due desert of these sinful practices is nothing less than death temporal and eternal. How dreadfully mischievous is the sinner to his neighbor ! He cannot be content, to perish alone. Like the Devil, he labors to bring others into the same condemnation witli himself He is a soul-murderer. What a melancholy reflection to a considerate mind ! — Perhaps there are souls now in hell, who perished by my means. It was the dread of such a reflection that probably made Dives v,'i.sh that a message might be sent to his five brethren, to prevent their coming to that place of torment ; for it is likely they had been led into sin by his infidel counsel and wicked example ; and he knew that, if they came there, they would upbraid him as the author of their ruin. Now surely tlie time past may suffice to have been so hurtful to ourselves and others. It is also reasonable to forsake sin, " be- cause it is so highly dishonorable to the blessed God." Surely God deserves to be loved and obeyed by all his creatures ; but sin is an act of robbery ; it defrauds God of his just rights, and transfers to Satan the obedience due to him. It is an act of treason and rebellion against the Majesty of heaven. Yea, it is a kind of atheism ; for in vain we profess " to know God, if in works we deny him ;" if we live in sin,, we live " without God in the world." Once more, a life of sin is directly "contrary to our Christian profession." Why do we call ourselves Christians, if we neither obey nor resemble Christ ! Why call we him Master and Lord, if we do not the things which he commands 1 Were wo not baptized unto Ciiristl and does not our baptism signify "a deatli unto sin, and a new birth unto righteousness.'" a re- nouncing the world, the flesh, and the devil ! To be a Christian indeed, is to be a follower of Christ, to have the same miiid in us as was in him, and to walk even as he walked ; but what a horrid contra- diction there is in such names or charac- ters as these — a drunken Christian — a ly- ing Christian — a lewd Christian — a pro- fane Christian. It is said of Alexander the Great, that he had a soldier in his army of his own name, but understanding that he was a base cowardly fellow, he called hun into his presence, and reproaching him with cowardice, said, " Either change your name, or fight better !" And how properly might the great and holy Redeemer say to wicked men, professing to be Christians, Renounce the name of Christians, or live better ! How reasonable then is it to for- sake sin, seemg it is such a waste of precious time ; so useless, so hurtful to our- selves and others ; so dishonorable to God ; and so contrary to our holy profession as Christians ! Rather let us obey the exhort- ation of St. Paul, Rom. xii. 1. " I beseech you, tlierefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service ;" it is fit and right, as we are the crcatares of God, the author of all our powers, and especially if we are partakers of liis grace and love in Ciirist Jesus; — "for of him, and through him, and to him, are all things : to whom be glory for ever. Amen !" IV. Lastly, we are to consider the usage which a changed person marj expect to meet with from a wicked world : " they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot; speaking evil of you. tliey wonder what is come to you, that you have so suddenly forsaken their company and their pleasures ; they cannot account for such a strange alteration, and 104 VILLAGE SERMONS. they despise you as stifF, unsociable, foolish creatures, or as mad entliusiasts. Now here observe, that wJiere such a change as this takes place, it is visible ; tor if the world did not see it, they could not hate it. And indeed, when persons who have lived in open sin become serious and holy, the cliange cannot be hid. It is said of Barnabas, that " when he came to An- tioch, and had seen the grace of God, he was glad : the grace of God, as a spiritual principle in the heart, cannot be seen by bodily eyes ; but the eliects of it in a holy life and conversation must and will be seen. Cln-istians, however humbled and retired, are like " a city set upon a hill, which cannot be hid ;" they are like " a candle that giveth light unto all that are in the house ;" and their " light must so shine before men, that they may see their good works, and glorify their Father who is in heaven." Matt. v. 14, 15, 16. Yes, the change we speak of will be observed. Carnal companions will be deserted, places of vain amusement forsaken. No oath or filthy jest, or light expression, will proceed from the mouth; the places where the Gospel is preached will be frequented, the Sabbath day will be carefully kept holy, and the whole behavior and appearance will be such as become godliness. This will excite hatred. " The carnal mind is enmity against God," and every thing godly, and godlike. When God permits, persecution will follow; and if this is not public by the magistrate (which blessed be God, our laws prevent) yet re- lations, friends, and neighbors, show their dislike. " Every one who is godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution ;" so the Scripture declares, and so serious per- sons will be sure to find it. Nor let them wonder Or be offended at this, for from the beginning it was so. " He that was born afler the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit." And every believer must bear the cross ; if not AbeFs cross, yet Isaac's ; if not martyrdom, yet mock- ing. They think it strange, and then speak evil: perhaps they will falsely ac- cuse you ; they will say you are hypo- crites, and take up. a profession of religion to answer some wicked purposes. But be not offended ; this is rather " a token for good," on your behalf, while, on tlieirs, it is an awful evidence of their Christless, dangerous state ; for, as it follows in the next verse, " They shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead;" they must answer for all " their ungodly deeds and hard speeches;" and what will they answer to Jesus, on whom their reproaches fall, when he shall say, " Why persecute ye me?" Let persecu- tors consider how they will answer 'this, APPLICATION. We have considered, in the first place, the walk of a naiural man ; and may we not say, I iord, what is man ! What a wretched, fallen, guilty creature is man ! How is our nature depraved, which in- clines us to such a course, and what abun- dant cause is there for mourning and la- mentation on this account. And say, my friends, what sort of a walk is ours '! Whose will do we follow \ Is it the will of the flesh, or the will of God ! Which of these do rjou consult f Do you consider in your daily walk, Will this action I am going to do, this pleasure I am going to take, please God or not ! Can I ask his blessing upon it ! Are you not rather led captive by your smful passions, your sensual inclinations, and the custom of the world! But you plainly see from the text that tliis way leads to destruction, and you must forsake it, or perish. Learn also that the commonness of sin affords no excuse for it. The will of the Gentiles, or the way of the world, is the broad way to ruin. Follow not the multi- tude to do evil. Forsake the foolish and live. The narrow road that leads to hea- ven has but few travellers ; God grant we may be found among the number i From what has been said, the necessity of regeneration evidently appears. Is the heart of man so corrupt ? Is he so strongly inclined to the will of the world, and tiie beastly lusts of the flesh ! what then can effect an entire change and alteration, first in the heart, and then in the life 1 " Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leop- ard his spots !" With man this is impossi- ble ; but nothing is too hard for the Lord. The people to whom St. Peter wrote had felt this change, and so have thousands in all ages. For this purpose the Lord hath sent his Gospel hither. Salvation has come to this house. To you is the word of this salvation sent. The Lord open your hearts, as he did Lydia's, to attend to tlie word. Which of you is willing to be saved ; to be saved 71010 ; to be saved from sin ; to be saved by Jesus ! He is able to save to the uttermost; it is his office to save ; it is his delight to save ; and there- fore he sends us, in his name, to invite you to come to him ; to beseech you to be re- conciled to God. Come, then, fellow-sin- ners, all things are ready. Come to this great and loving Savior, and lie will wash you from all your past sins in t])e fountain of his precious blood, and give you a new SERMON XXIV. 105 heart, a heart to love him, and walk in his holy pleasant ways. O, that we could per- suade you to forsake your sins, and come to Jesus for life. But this is his work. The Lord make you " willing in the day of his power." Christians ! with what holy shame and grief may you review the former part of your lives ! May not " the time past suf- fice to have wrought the will of the Gen- tiles]" Did you not live long enough in sin ? Ah, you will say, too, too long ! O, the vanity of my childhood and youth ! O, misspent sabbaths ! O, my youtliful w-an- tonness, lusts, and revellings. I look back upon them with a mi.xture of shame and indignation. I blush to lift up my face to » lioly God. I smite my breast with the publican, and say, " God be merciful to me a sinner !" Well, God has been merciful to you. Is not tliis a brand plucked out of the fire ! O, what debtors are we to the free, sove- reign, almighty grace of Jesus. You were dead in trespasses and sins : you hath he quickened, and saved by his grace. " Such were some of you ; but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of our God." 1 Cor. vi. 11. And now, my friends, what doth the Lord require of us? Have we lost so much time while we were in our sins ! O let us be doubly diligent in future. Let us re- deem the time, for the days are few and evil. Let us be active for God, for our own souls, and for others. Let us lay ourselves out for usefulness. And instead of run- nin