4^' ' 
 
 ^^. '.^do'^^ (S2'X 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 (iF THE > 
 
 Theological Seminary 
 
 PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
 ^''' §9/P '^'^''^^^ 
 
 ^^4^ ^H3 Section....^ 
 
 Book 
 
 A DONATION 
 
 iircribci) 
 
DISCOURSES 
 
 ON SEVERAL 
 
 Evangelical Subjects, 
 
 TENDING TO ILLUSTRATE 
 
 The influence of the Doctrines of Grace, 
 upon Holiness in Heart and Life. 
 
 B Y 
 
 Mr JOHN S P E N C E, 
 
 Minifter of OrwalL 
 
 For the kingdom of Cod is not in "Mord, hut in pct»;r, 
 
 1 Cor. iv. 20. 
 Nona if any man hath not the Spirit of Chrijiy he is none 
 
 of his. Romt. viii. 9. 
 
 1 
 
 EDINBURGH: 
 
 Printed by. Murray & Cochran* 
 
 Sold by J. Dickson, Edinburgh ; A. DoNALDSOif^, 
 London j and other Bookfcllers^ 
 
 IM D C C L X X I X*. 
 
AD VERTI SE MENT 
 By the Publisher. 
 
 THE foUowIrig Sermons ard 
 defigned to lead perfons 
 to a clofe examination of the 
 heart, and its various workings, 
 for the conviction of hypocrites, 
 for the awakening of finners, 
 for the encouragernent and com- 
 fort of true beHevers ; and al- 
 fo to recommend Chriftianity to 
 the belief of all men, by bringing 
 its truth to the teft of their own 
 confciences and feelings. 
 
 The author of thefe difcourfes 
 
 never intended them for the prefs ; 
 
 a 2 but 
 
iv ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 but feveral perfons of charader 
 having heard them preached, to 
 their edification, and one of them 
 having obtained the manufcripts 
 from the author, with power to 
 difpofe of them as fliould be jud- 
 ged proper, was pleafed to order 
 this pubUcation, from a perfuafion, 
 that fermons founded entirely on 
 the gofpel-plan, would, in their 
 plain, natural drefs, have a happy 
 tendency to promote the great in^- 
 terefts of Religion and Morality. 
 
 Edinburgh, 
 Nov. 12. 1779. 
 
' C O N T ^v:!S:?":^T..,S. 
 
 Pag. 
 SERMON L 
 
 An Ordination-Sermon. 
 
 Jeremiah, xxiii. 22. 
 ^wf if they had Jiood in my counfel^ and 
 had caufed my people to hear my ivords^ 
 then they jhould have turned them from 
 their evil zvay^ and from the evil of their 
 doings^ - - - I 
 
 SERMON II. 
 
 The efFedls of the word entering into 
 the heart. 
 
 Romans, x. 8. 
 
 7'he xvord is nigh thee^ even in thy month, 
 and in thy heart ; that is the word of 
 faith which %ve preachy - 80 
 
 SERMON III. 
 On the Chriftian's freedom by Chrift. 
 
 John, viii. 36. 
 If the Son therefore fmll make you free^ 
 ye pall be free indeed^ - 115 
 
 Part 
 
VI CONTENTS. 
 
 Pag. 
 
 t* A R T II. 136 
 
 SERMON IV. 
 Chrift the true light of the ^orld. 
 
 John, i. 9. 
 That "Was the true light, which lighteth 
 every man that comet h into the world, 164 
 
 SERMON V. 
 The influence of faith upon religious 
 fortitude. 
 
 H E B. xi. 27. 
 
 ^ For he endured as feeing him who is 
 
 invijible, - - ~ ig$ 
 
 SERMON VI. 
 The influence of faith upon religious 
 fortitude. 
 
 H E B. xi. 27. 
 
 . For he endured as feeing him who is 
 
 invifibky 
 
 It 
 
 :> 
 
 S E R 
 
CONTENTS tli 
 
 Pag, 
 SERMON VII. 
 
 On the joy of the Lord as our 
 ftrength. 
 
 N E H E M I A H, viii. I O. 
 
 'The joy of the Lord is your ftrength^ 237 
 
 SERMON VIII. 
 
 The Backflider's ConfeiTion and Sup- 
 plication. 
 
 P s A L. cxix. 1 76. 
 
 J have gone ajiray like a loji jJieep ; feek 
 thy fervant^ - - 277 
 
 SERMON IX. 
 
 Keafons for inquiring where God is 
 to be found, and diredions where 
 to find him. 
 
 J p B, xxiii. 3. 
 that I kn^w where /might find him ! 315 
 
 8 E R. 
 
vtti/ CONTENTS, 
 
 Pag. 
 
 SERMON X. 
 
 God the deiire and joy of the faint. 
 
 Isaiah, xxvi. 9. 
 
 ff^Hh my foul have I de fired thee in the 
 mght ; yea.^ with my fpirit within me 
 will I Jeek thee early ^ •, 342 
 
 SERMON XL 
 On difcerning the Lord's body. 
 
 I Cor. xi. 29, 
 He that cateth and drinketh unworthily, cat- 
 eth and drinketh damnation to himfelf^ 
 ,Wt difcerning the Lord^s hady^ - ^jz 
 
 ERRATA, 
 
 ^ag. tin. 
 
 4. 22. for concerted read conceited 
 31. 10. read God they declare; that they <^c. — 
 
 a femlcolon mifplaced. 
 ii6, 3. «/^/i?/^ to ^^or^ fay 
 200. 1. r/?iZ(f tabernacle 
 204. 5. delete not after is 
 207. Co infert the before fretful 
 
 S E R- 
 
SERMON ,S. 
 
 ^'■ 
 
 SERMON %T-. 
 ^ji Ordination'Sennon, 
 
 Jeremiah, xxiil. 22. 
 
 But if they had Jiood in my counfel, and had 
 caufed my people to hear my zuords, then they 
 pould have turned them from their evil tvay^ 
 and from the evil of their doings. 
 
 N gathering a church, and training men for 
 the kingdom of heaven, God hath uniform- 
 ly employed, in every age of the world, the 
 miniftry of particular perfons, duly qualified, 
 and fet apart for that purpofe. The wifdom and 
 propriety of this inftitution are fo apparent to the 
 common rcafon of mankind, that the nations have, 
 in their practice, univerfally conformed to it. 
 
 a' 'At 
 
2 An Ordination-Sermon. Ser. L 
 
 At firil, as it was neceffary, God communica- 
 ted his mind immediately to certain individuals, 
 commanding them at the fame time to publifh it 
 to others in his name. The revelation to thofe 
 chofen heralds came upon their own minds in fuch 
 a godlike manner, as fully fatisfied them, upon 
 cool examination, that it proceeded from the one 
 fupreme God ; and their publication of it to o- 
 thers was accompanied with fuch authentic marks 
 of his fignet to their mcflage, as made it evident 
 to the fenfes, as well as to the reafon and con- 
 fcience, of the unprejudiced, that the inflruftions 
 they delivered were not their own dreams, but the 
 ijfndoubted oracles of God. But though thefe o- 
 racles given by infpiration contained the only in- 
 fallible ftandard of truth and duty, yet the au- 
 thority of the miniftry was not confined to the 
 perfons of the infpired men who publifhed or com- 
 mitted them to writing; for, during the intermif- 
 fion of that infpiration which diftinguiflied thefe 
 extraordinary meil'engers, and after it had ceafed 
 altogether, the inftitution of public teachers was 
 continued in the church, with authority from God, 
 to minifter, to illuftrate, and enforce, his oracles 
 already on record. He gave fome apoflles, fome 
 prophets, fome evangelifts, and after them ap- 
 ^jointed paflors and teachers, to be continued in 
 fucceffion to the end of time, for the perfeding 
 of the faints, for the work of the miniftry, for 
 the edifying of the body of Chrift= 
 
 This 
 
Ser. I. An Ovdination-Scnnon. g 
 
 This inftitutlon being evidently divine, and ft 
 fuch importance to promote the kingdom of Chrift, 
 it is no wonder, that the malevolence of Satan 
 in his inflruments jQiould be chiefly levelled a- 
 gainft the minifters, the fervants of the Mofl liisrh 
 God, appointed to fliew unto men the way of 
 falvation. The perfonal faults of individuals are 
 commonly ufed as a plaufible pretext to difcredit 
 the whole order, and vi'ith them to bring religion 
 itfelf into contempt ; and however unfair this rca- 
 foning is, yet, in the management of an artful e- 
 nemy, it feldom fails of fuccecding too well ; e- 
 fpecially when the general charge has the unhappy 
 advantage of being fupported by too many inftan- 
 ces of clerical mifcondu£t. 
 
 That unbelieving impious men fhould be teach- 
 ers of faith and piety, is fuch a glaring abfurdity 
 as needs no labour to expofe it. It is obvious to 
 the common fenfe of mankind ; it is feen, and de- 
 fpifed, by the mod profligate. They cannot fup- 
 prefs their indignation at his inconfiflent infamous 
 character, who dares to recommend reli'^gion and 
 morals to others, while he himfelf praclifes the 
 contrary. The man's hypocrify they deteft, tho* 
 they love his vices, and by his contagious example 
 are more and more confirmed in them. 
 
 An order of men fet apart for difpenfmg the 
 
 ordinances of grace, being the eflablifhed means 
 
 of maintaining and fpreading divine truth, the 
 
 Condu6l of thofe confecratcd guides, as it always. 
 
 A 2 hath 
 
4 -^n Ordination-Sermon. Ser. I. 
 
 hath had, fo it ever muft have, great influence upon 
 the ftate of religion in the vi^orld. As they ad their 
 part well or ill, it goes well or ill with the church. 
 When the truth of grace fhines confpicuous in the 
 foundnefs of their principles, and the purity of 
 their lives, religion gains credit, and profpers ; 
 but if they are infedled with error and vice, with 
 pride, with ambition, with envy, and other felfifli 
 paflions, the beauty of the church is fullied, its 
 miniftry blafted, and its fruitfulnefs deftroyed. 
 The teachers thus corrupted, the fatal contagion 
 fpreads among the people ; as exemplified by the 
 hiflory of the Jews before us, of whom it is faid, 
 ver. 14. 15. *' From the prophets of Jerufalem is 
 *'• profanenefs gone forth into all the land.'* If 
 men deftitute of capacity and religion grafp at the 
 i"ninif!:ry, only for " a piece of bread," and fo run 
 unfurniflied and unfent ; if, when they are en- 
 tered into the fanduary, inftead of declaring faith- 
 fully the revealed truths of God, they infill rather 
 upon a fcheme repugnant to thefc, upon the con- 
 certed airy produce of their own, or of other 
 mens fancy ; they (hall not profit the people at all, 
 nor be inftrumental in curing, but rather in fofter- 
 ing the corruptions of the world. But as the 
 Spirit fays in my text, " If they had flood in my 
 " counfel, and had caufed my people to hear my 
 ^' words, then they Ihould have turned them 
 ^' from their evil way, and from the evil of their 
 
 ^'' cloings." In other words : — Did thofe who 
 
 afTumQ 
 
Ser. I. y4n Ordination-Sermon. jT 
 
 aflume the facred character acquaint themfelves 
 with God, did they reverently confult him for 
 knowing his mind, and faithfully deliver the truths 
 infpired by the Holy Ghoft, with a fmcere inten- 
 tion to turn men from fm to God, then fhould 
 they fucceed in turning at leafl; fome of the people 
 from their evil ways. 
 
 For unfolding the words more fully, it is pro- 
 pofed, 
 
 I. To fliew, that the end of the minlftry is to 
 turn men from their evil way, and from the evil 
 of their doings. 
 
 1. To make fome remarks upon the means to 
 be employed for this purpofe. 
 
 3. To illuflrate the connexion between the 
 means and the end. 
 
 4. To fubjoin a few inferences from thq whole. 
 
 I. I am to fliew, that the end of the miniftry 
 is to turn men from their evil way, and from 
 the evil of their doings. Some apprehend, 
 that each of thefe phrafes expreffeth a meaning 
 diftind from and exclufive of the other ; that by 
 the firfl is meant precifely the wrong way or bent 
 of the heart ; and by the other, an evil courfe 
 of life : but without llraining to find fuch a dif- 
 tinftion in the words, we may be aflured that no- 
 thing lefs can be intended by turning men from 
 their evil way, and from the evil of their doings, 
 than a thorough converfion of the whole man to 
 God, confifting in a change of heart, attended 
 
 with 
 
& An Ordination- Sermon. Ser. I. 
 
 with a correfpondeiit change of practice as its na- 
 tive fruit and iflue. 
 
 The fcripture-account of man's heart, which 
 accords to experience and obfervation, is, that it 
 is Wind and wicked, wholly alienated from God, 
 and enmity againil him. The arduous work of 
 the miniftry, in harmony with fcripture, is, to al- 
 ter this wrong temper of the hearts of men. He 
 who came a light into the world, fent prophets and 
 apoflles, arid all his miniftcrs, " to open the blind 
 " eyes," to fubdue the rebellious will, and to purify 
 the affedions, that they may rife upwards to God^ 
 in whom alone they can find reft. This is a capital 
 dodrine of the word. That " we muft have a ne%\> 
 " heart, and a ntiv fpirit." The complaint is, 
 that men profeffing to return, do not turn with 
 Uie whole heart, but feignedly ; that they follow- 
 not God fmgly for himfelf, but felfifhly, for fome 
 worldly intereft-. The prime defign of the miiii- 
 ftry then is, to change the corrupt heart of man ; 
 to turn it out of its natural evil courfe ; and by 
 doing fo, to turn men from their evil courfe of 
 life. Vain is the attempt to reform the life, to re- 
 duce it to a fettled tenor of virtuous conduQ:, 
 while the internal fpring of the heart moves irre- 
 gularly. This redtified, the converfation takes a 
 correfpondent turn. To direct the life to what the 
 heart inclines, becomes an eafy talk. " The in- 
 <^' tegrity of the upright fliall guide him, and di- 
 " red his ways. The high-way of fuch is to de- 
 
 " part 
 
Ser. I. j^n Ordination- Sermon. f 
 
 *' part from evil." Thus to take men off a fmful 
 courfe of life, and, in order to it, by all the win- 
 ning methods of perfuafion to gain the heart to 
 God, is the worthy object of the miniftry. 
 
 A difpenfation from work, is not mens privilege 
 by the gofpel. It calls us from evil works to thofe 
 that are good. Although we are not juftified by 
 the works of the law, but by the righteoufnefs 
 of Chrift, this fuperfedes not the neceffity of our 
 good works, but affords rather the "moft powerful 
 incitement and encouragement to them. — God 
 hath ordained us to good works. — He creates us 
 in Chrift Jefus unto good works. — He commands 
 believers carefully to maintain good works ; to 
 work out their own falvation with fear and trem*. 
 bling ; to occupy every one diligently in his 
 vlnefard : he who doth not thefe things " cannot 
 {land in the judgement." We muft arife, and 
 work for God, from new, divine principles. Both 
 muft go together, a new heart and a new adive 
 life. 
 
 The defign of revelation never was to gratify 
 mens inquifitive curiofity ; nor only to furnifli their 
 minds and heads with found notions, but to corredb 
 the heart, and regulate the life. Carefully indeed 
 ought men to be inltructed in the form of found 
 words : but lliould the head be ever fa clearly en- 
 lightened with thefe j fhouid men be ever fo zea- 
 lous for them ; if thc-y are not operative upon the 
 heart, to produce in it faith that works by love, 
 
 they 
 
8 An Ordination-Sermom Ser. L 
 
 they are unavailing to falvation ; and the warmefl; 
 zeal for them, under pretence of being zealous 
 for free grace, Ihall be rejected as fleihly zeal for 
 their favourite paffions, to which they make theii* 
 falfe notions of grace fubfervient. Thus men of 
 found heads may be as corrupt in heart, and fi-^ 
 nally periili, as thofe who err in principle ; as he 
 who takes a wholefome medicine indifcreetly, 
 without obferving the proper regimen, may die 
 by it as certainly as another does by poifon. 
 
 Nor is it enough for anfwering the faving de- 
 fign of revelation, that we have fuch faith in it as 
 makes fome impreffion upon the heart, if that 
 impreffion be not ftrong enough to produce a 
 good life. To prefume that we have faith and a 
 good heart, and that the poffeffion of thefe inter- 
 nal qualities renders a holy aftive life unneceflary, 
 is a dangerous deceit ; a deceit not uncommon in 
 the world. And can it be ferioufly entertained 
 by any, upon rational convidion, that a good 
 heart and a bad life can confift together ? If the 
 heart be good, the life alfo mufl: be good ; if the 
 tree be good, the fruit will be fo of courfe. A bad 
 life is a clear indication of a naughty heart, void 
 of faith. " Shew me thy faith by thy works." 
 If this tefl be wanting, iliould men in the mod 
 rapturous zeal, declaim in praife of faith and 
 grace, all is hollow hypocrify, the felfifli exulta^ 
 tion of corruption in finding fheker and indul* 
 gence for itfelf in the grace of God. 
 
 As 
 
Ser. I. -An Oydmation-Sennon. 9 
 
 As faith without works is vain, fo exterior de- 
 cency and fobriety of hfe, with confidence in its 
 worth, is a deceit equally vain and fatal. Our 
 works which flow not from a heart purified by 
 faith, are but dead v/orks, the fuperficial beauty 
 of whited fepulchres which covers putrefaction with- 
 in. In the heart, both vice and virtue, or fin and 
 grace, have their root. For giving fubfiftence to 
 virtue ; for giving it real beauty and folidity in 
 life, we mull begin with levelling at corruption in 
 the heart, that, by laying the axe to the root of 
 the tree, we may bring down the whole body, 
 root and branch ; and that, having laid a new 
 foundation of fpiritual life, we may rear upon it 
 the fuperftrufture of a holy adive life. Firfh make 
 the tree good, in order to its bearing good fruit. 
 God having joined both together, it is at the ha- 
 zard of our fouls if we attempt to fcparate them. 
 
 Fairly to reprefent divine truths to the mind ; 
 ftrongly to inculcate them upon the heart, for its 
 transformation, that, in life, its goodnefs may be 
 expreffed in all works of righteofnefs, is the de- 
 fign of the miniflry ; which, in conformity to the 
 Bible, is to be diligently purfued, for bringing fin- 
 ners to God, juflified by faith, fanclified and made 
 meet by the Spirit for every good v/ork j Tit. ii. 1 1» 
 12. 
 
 This is a defign worthy of God, in harmony 
 with the wifdom and goodnefs of his firit creation 
 upon man, which he beheld, and pronounced 
 
 B f?ood. 
 
10 An Ordination-Sermon. Ser. I. 
 
 good. God made man after his own image ; 
 man by fm at once defaced this image, and for- 
 feited the divine favour. If God' then ftiall par- 
 don and fave man, he mud either call him back 
 to his primeval (bund conftitution, or deny the 
 wifdom and goodnefs of his firll work. 
 
 It becomes the holinefs of God, that, Vv'hen he 
 receives the offender into favour, he, at the fame 
 time, reconcile his heart to his holinefs. And, in- 
 deed, this is ever his way. I'hofe who once were 
 enemies to him in their minds by wicked works, 
 he reconciles, to himfelf, in Chriil ; he makes 
 them new creatures in Chrifl; ; fo that, in their 
 hearts, they are no more enemies, but friends. 
 
 It becomes God, as a wife and righteous gover- 
 nor, that, while he pardons the fmner, he reco- 
 ver him from his difaffeclion and wanton difobe- 
 dience. He would elfe encourage the licentious 
 contempt of his law and government. Shall he 
 ferioufly punifli fm in the perfon of Chrift, and 
 yet favour it by taking the unrelenting viper into 
 his bofom ? It is a contradidion in terms. No 
 wife ruler will, in pardoning, intend to give the 
 criminal a licence to continue his rebellion ; nor 
 will he pardon a known traitor, who, he is fure, 
 when at hberty, will plot the overthrow of his go- 
 vernment. 
 
 How worthy the defign, afferted above, is of God, 
 appears from the purpofe he intends to ferve by his 
 redeemed ones : viz. that they Ihould manifefl: his 
 
 glory, 
 
Ser. I. ^n Ordination-Sermon. ii 
 
 glory, by fliewlng forth his virtues and praife. For 
 this end the very nature of man is defigned ; and 
 what can be the defign of redemption, but to reflore 
 man to his firfl perfed (late for anfwering this end ? 
 And can man anfwer this end, and remain an e- 
 nemy in his heart, dill difpofed to be a6tive in 
 tranfgrefTmg ? Being defigned for the fervice of 
 God, how neceflary is it that the evil heart be firft 
 correded and recovered from its diforders ? For 
 God is a fpirit, and muil be ferved principally with 
 our fpirits. And the body being the foul's copart- 
 ner, or the inftrument by which it ads, it is alfo. 
 neceflary, that the good affedions of the foul be 
 exhibited in all thofe fruits of righteoufnefs, which 
 are, through Jefus Chrift, to the praife and glory 
 of God. 
 
 If we confider the heavenly ftate into which 
 God intends to bring men ; the fpirltual employ- 
 ments and enjoyments of that blefl'ed Hate, to be- 
 hold God's face, to fmg his praife with joy and 
 1 apture ; we will fee how neceffary it is to cure the 
 inbred difafledion of their hearts, to recall them 
 from a fmful life, and to form them into a divine 
 temper and exercife. 
 
 It is unv/orthy of a holy God to admit an im- 
 pure creature into his prefence and bofom. The 
 nature of things forbids this incongruous union. 
 Both the honour of God, and the happinefs of the 
 creature, forbid it. The fmner's heart, his tafte, 
 all his affcdions and fenfes being depraved with 
 B 2 fm i 
 
12 An Ordination-Sermon. Ser. I. 
 
 fin ; the refplendent glory, the refined entertain- 
 ment and melody of heaven would be unluitable and 
 intolerable to him. It is neceflary, therefore, that, 
 for dwelling in blifs with God, men turn from fin : 
 and alfo that their converfion and purgation from 
 it commence and advance in this life, the fchool 
 of difcipline, in which habits of holinefs muft be 
 formed, to qualify them for the pure delights of 
 the heavenly (late. 
 
 Upon the whole,- nothing refle£ls more diflio- 
 nour upon God and Chrift ; nothing can be more 
 injurious to the gofpel, and to the fouls of men, 
 than to reprefent the fcheme of divine grace, as if, 
 in giving encouragement to finners, it gave coun- 
 tenance to fin. This contradifts the moll: obvi- 
 ous difcoveries of God, by the light of reafon and 
 of revelation. And confidering the pronenefs of 
 human nature to catch at every encouragement 
 to fin, all modes of expreffion, which tend to 
 weaken, in the minds of men, the indifpenfable 
 obligation upon them to relinquifi fin, in turning 
 to God through Chrift, are highly unfafe, and 
 carefully to be avoided. This leads 
 
 II. To confider the means to be ufed for gain- 
 ing the end of the facred miniftry. 
 
 It hath pleafed God, that the treaty between him 
 and men ihould be carried on by the miniftry of men, 
 ^hofen from among the people. How fit appears 
 
Ser. I. j^n Ordination-Sermon. 15 
 
 this inftltutlon, from the weaknefs of the Inftru- 
 ments to fet forth the excellent glory of divine 
 power and grace ! How happily contrived to af- 
 ford encouragement to men ! when they fee their 
 fellows, in like deplorable circumftances with 
 themfelves, with exprefs authority from God, and 
 with evident figns of his affifling prefence, pu- 
 blifhing falvation to the world, and teftifying, not 
 only what they learn from fcripture, but what 
 they alfo know experimentally, — the terrors of 
 God againfl fm ; his loving favour and healing 
 comforts to returning fmners. 
 
 But in order to the fuccefsful difcharge of their 
 duty, two things are pointed at in the text as in- 
 difpenfably neceifary : FirJ}, That they fiand in 
 the counfel of God ; Secondly, That they caufe 
 his people to hear his words. 
 
 The ^7;/? of thefe'refpe6ls the perfonal qualifi- 
 cations of a minifter, and feems to allude to what 
 paiTeth in the courts of earthly princes, where the 
 fovereign diPtinguiflieth fome chofen perfons as the 
 objects of his peculiar favour, admits them into 
 his fccret counfel, and communicates his defigns 
 to them, which they are charged to carry into 
 execution, both as to matter and manner, pre- 
 cifely in terms of the commiffion they receive from 
 him. This, applied to minifters, who are the 
 jneiTengers of the Lord of hofts, implies, 
 
 1. That they who bring a meffage of peace 
 from God to others, ought firfl to be themfelves 
 
 in 
 
14 -^n Or dinatio7t- Sermon. Ser. I. 
 
 in favour with him. We are all, of whatever 
 order, alike by nature, children of wrath, and 
 muft be reconciled in the one way common to 
 all. Whoever therefore undertakes the miniflry 
 of reconcihation, ought firfl: to confider the me- 
 thod of reconciliation ; and, by confenting to it, 
 make his peace with God, and be taken into fa- 
 vour. 
 
 It is quite incongruous, that a prince fhould 
 impart his fecrets to a known traitor ; that he 
 lliould employ in any important embafly, where- 
 in the great interefls of his kingdom and glory 
 are deeply concerned, one whom he knows to be 
 in heart difaffected to him ; that he fliould fend, 
 with overtures of peace to others, one who him- 
 felf never underftood, nor approved, nor fubmit- 
 ted to thefe overtures. Is it to be fuppofed that 
 fuch a man will faithfully execute his commiffion ; 
 that he will be true to his prince, and hearty in 
 perfuading thofe to whom he is fent, to accept the 
 offered peace ? Will he not rather, when he fees 
 it to be for his own intereft, betray his truft, and 
 treacheroufly go over to his mafter's enemies ? 
 
 It is true, that God, in his providence, may 
 permit a wrong-hearted man to enter into his 
 fanftuary. And indeed, upon his plaufible ap- 
 pearances in the eye of the world, it becomes al- 
 lowable, yea dutiful, in the church to receive him : 
 for, notwithftanding " his evil eye," or felfifh in- 
 tention , his gifts may be ufeful. But although. 
 
Ser. I . An Ordination - Sermon . i j" 
 
 in the holy and wife adminiftration of his provi- 
 dence, God permits the event, he approves not, 
 but, in his w^ord, and in the man's own confci- 
 ence, forbids his prefumptuous ufurpation ; nor, 
 however he may boaft of " many wonderful works, 
 " done by him in the name of Chrift," will Chrift 
 acknowledge him as his fervant at the lad day ; 
 but, with the ftern countenance of a judge, will 
 accod him thus : " What hadft thou to do to de- 
 " clare my ftatutes." Thou who hatedfl; inflruclion, 
 and taught not thyfelf, how unfeemiy was it in thee 
 that thou Ihouldft prefume to teach another ? 
 
 Surely none, except the man who, by yielding 
 himfelf to God, is in favour with him, ought to 
 exercife the miniftry : though it does not thence 
 follow, that, merely by becommg God's friend, 
 he is on that account fit to be fent on this embafiy. 
 Every one who believes in the Son, is the friend 
 of God ; but he is not therefore qualified for every 
 employment. There are diverfities of gifts and 
 talents adapted to the different (lations .of life. 
 Every one ought to examine his own talents, and 
 what occupation bed befits them. When called 
 to this, humbly undertake it, and confcientioufly 
 " abide in it with God ;" content and well-pleafed 
 with the prefent appointment of providence, quiet- 
 ly waiting till you are fairly called to ad; in a lar- 
 ger fphere, and fitted for it. Thus, 
 
 2. The vi^ords may imply, that for fuccefs in 
 the miniftry, one mufl have the call of God to 
 
 it 
 
i6 All Ordiiiatioji-Sermon. Ser. I. 
 
 it. Every prince has the chufing of his own fer- 
 vants, and of the feveral departments proper for 
 them to fill. They mud not grafp at places j e- 
 very one according to his liking, but mud wait 
 their mailer's difpofal and call. 
 
 Upon this point, 1 venture only to fay, that, 
 from experience of the bleifed eft'eds of the go- 
 fpel upon his own heart ; — from the fuccefs of 
 his application to ftudy, in attaining a competent 
 meafure of gifts for infi:ru61:ing others ; — and 
 from other favourable circumftances in provi- 
 dence, inviting him, I may fay, to take part of 
 the miniftry ; — one may be comfortably fatisfied 
 of his call from God. 
 
 I will not affirm, that one may not lawfully, 
 with God'e allowance, minifter divine truths to o- 
 thers, though he cannot confidently avow his own 
 experience of their powerful influence. If Provi- 
 dence, from his youth, direded the courfe of his 
 ftudies to facred things ; — if he has acquired a 
 meafure of gifts which fets him above the com- 
 mon or ordinary level of men ; ^ if he is fincere- 
 ly defirous to know the truth favingly, and with 
 fuch defire fearches the fcriptures diligently ; — if 
 he be judged fit for the miniftry, and properly 
 called to it by the church, although he has not 
 yet attained to great boldnefs in the faith, to a 
 joyful affurance of the goodnefs of his fiate ; — 
 he may, neverthelefs, have God's call to the mi- 
 nifl:ry. It may be one of the duties neceffary for 
 
 carrying 
 
Ser. T. j^n Ordination-Sermon. 17 
 
 carrying on his own falvation, to exercife his gift* 
 publicly for edifying the church. 
 
 Uncomfortable, indeed, is the minifter's em- 
 ployment, if he is not clear as to his call from 
 God, and acceptance with him. Difcouraged 
 with oppontion, contradidion, and ill ufage from 
 the world, and with want of fuccefs ; if then he 
 doubts his authority from God, how can he fup- 
 port himfelf with the only comfort that remains ? 
 " Though Ifrael be not gathered, yet lliall I be 
 
 *' glorious in the eyes of the Lord. Surely my 
 
 *' reward is with my God." 
 
 If a man be fmcere, his mind cannot be eafy 
 till he know alTuredly that he is a minifter by the 
 will of God, and has not run unfent. But though 
 the evidence of this be not to his wilh, if, while he 
 fludies for others, he fearches for wifdom to him- 
 felf, he ought not to fear that his exercihng the 
 miniftry will be accounted ufurpation and intru- 
 fion, but rather to believe it will be confidered as 
 the practice of a neceflary duty for his own falva- 
 tion, as for that of others. And it is highly pro- 
 bable, that one fo fmccrely and ufefully employed, 
 ihall, before he goes oil' the world, obtain the de- 
 fired fatlsfactlon. Again, 
 
 3. The v/ords imply, that after one has obtain- 
 ed favour with God, and good evidence of his caU 
 to the minirtry, he muft refolve ever to confult 
 God tor his inftrudlions to men, and invariably 
 to adhere to thefe, without pvefuming to add to 
 
 C 01 
 
i8 u^f I Ordination-Sermon. Ser. I. 
 
 or to take from them, to enlarge or to abridge 
 them. And if God's call, and not felf-will, en- 
 gages him in the work, he will naturally be led 
 to rainifler to others the method of his own ad- 
 mifiion into favour, as the way of peace to all. 
 " When it pleafed God," fays Paul, " to call me 
 " by his grace, and to reveal his Son in me, I 
 " conferred not with flefli and blood." As he 
 confulted not the inclinations of animal nature, 
 nor the dilates of human policy, as to the courfe 
 he was to take, fo neither did he think himfelf at 
 liberty, as a miniller of Chrift, to deliver the arbi- 
 trary fuggcftions of his own or of other mens 
 hearts, but that which he received of the Lord. 
 Vv^e are indeed to confult and commune with our 
 hearts, not to learn our divinity from their natu- 
 ral fentiments, but for perceiving the words of 
 God in them, which alone we are authorifed to mi- 
 nider as his mind. The prophets were to deliver 
 nothing as God's mind, but what they had recei- 
 ved from him, by one or other of the extraordi- 
 nary methods by which he revealed himfelf to 
 them. " He that hath my words, let him fpeak 
 " my words faithfully : " he who, on th€ con- 
 trary, taught the dreams and viiions of his own 
 fancy, or, as the Spirit exprefies it, " the deceits 
 '* of his own heart," was a falfe prophet. So 
 he who, undervaluing the oracles of God, pre- 
 fumes to declaim from his own imagination, is a 
 falfe teacher. The fervant who knows his ilation, 
 
 and 
 
Ser. I. ^n Ordination-Sermon, 19 
 
 and is true to his mafter, will ftudy to know his 
 mind, and deliver what he has from him in corn- 
 million. 
 
 This brings me to the /f-co/zr/ thing exprefled in 
 the text as indifpeniably necelTary for attaining the 
 falutary end of the miniftry, namely, that they 
 who fpeak in the name of the Lord fliould cauje 
 the people to hear the zvords of God. This 
 comprehends both the divine matter, and the lan- 
 guage with which it is clothed. 
 
 Thefe words of God are to be fought for in the 
 canon of fcripture, which contains a complete re- 
 velation of all that is neceffary for the purpofes of 
 religion in this world, till we receive the end of 
 our faith, the complete and everlafiing falvation of 
 our fouls. 
 
 I. The divine matter, or the truths of fcripture, 
 are to be delivered. The mind of God, in the 
 words of fcripture, is diligently to be fearched for, 
 in dependence upon the Spirit of God, " who 
 *' knows the fenfe of his own words,'* and will re^^ 
 veal it to them who by meditation and prayer ho- 
 neftly inquire after it. 
 
 It is pretended, that it is not eafyto afcertain the 
 true fenfe of fcripture ; that its obfcurity necefla- 
 rily caufes diflerent opinions, and calls for mutual 
 charity. This, in foft words, is an injurious re- 
 fledion upon the fcriptures ; a fly difmgenuous 
 artifice, wherewith to cover hatred aiia contempt of 
 the lacrcd writings, and the arbitrary interpretation 
 C 2 cf 
 
20 j4n Ordination-Sermon. Ser. I. 
 
 of them into any fenfe that agrees beil with mens 
 own favourite conceits. 
 
 In fcrlpture there is but one mind, one way of 
 falvation, the refult of God's manifold wifdom ; 
 the knowledge and faith of which he has made ne- 
 ceiTary to falvation. He has therefore revealed it 
 fo, that a humble honefl inquirer cannot mifs of 
 finding it. Why is it hid to fo many " wife and 
 " prudent ?'* Why are men fo divided in opi- 
 nion about its capital dodrines ? We cannot 
 help thinking, but that, for the moft part, it is 
 owing to the pride and paffions of men, to their 
 negle6t ot feeking truth in the proper way. They 
 depend too little upon the aids of God's Spirit, and 
 too much upon their own underftandings ; there- 
 tore, in recompence of their pride, they are left 
 to ftray bewildered as in a pathlefs defert. Hum- 
 ble fouls, who fmcerely fearch the fcriptures, with 
 fervent prayer, " that God may fend forth his 
 " light and truth,*' fhall know the prime doctrines 
 of fcripture, which ftand immediately connected 
 with falvation. 
 
 Thefe in general are, — man's fall from his firfl 
 innocent ftate, whereby he loft both the favour and 
 image of God ; — man's want of power to reftore 
 himfelf to his forfeited happinefs ; — the neceflity 
 of a fit Mediator for this purpofe ; — the wonder- 
 ful perfon of the Mediator, at once partaking of 
 the nature of God and of man ; — his various of- 
 fices, with the fuitablenefs and efficacy of thefe 
 
 offices 
 
Ser. I. ^n Ordination-Sermon, 21 
 
 offices for rendering him a complete and all-fuffi- 
 cient Saviour : — That, as the honour of- God re- 
 quired, he, for our redemption, obeyed the law, 
 and gave his life a ranfom for our fms : — That 
 God, " in the depth of his wifdom, and for 
 *' difplaying the glorious riches of his grace, 
 " found and gave this Mediator,'* and accepted 
 his fervice in our room : — That for adual 
 falvation by the Mediator, vi'e muft fubmit to 
 his righteoufnefs for juftification, to the opera- 
 tions and government of his Spirit, for being 
 fanftified, and reduced to obedience : —That this 
 obedience of faith is itfelf the gift of God's grace, 
 which we muft alk from him. " Thefe are all plain 
 " and right to him that underftandeth ; he that 
 " runs may read them/' And however different 
 men may have their different modes of expreffing 
 thefe dodrines, and view them in different degrees 
 of light ; yet in the one true fenfe of them all true 
 believers unanimoufly agree. I add, 
 
 That thefe truths are to be viewed, not fepa- 
 rately and apart, but in their mutual dependence 
 upon and connexion with each other. The fcrip- 
 tures are not, like human productions, written with 
 the art of compofition ; nor do they proceed in a 
 regular train of thoughts, with a laboured illuftra- 
 tion of the dependence of one truth upon another, 
 fo as to form one entire well-digefted fyftem ; yet 
 certainly they exhibit a fettled plan, the deep-laid 
 icheme of God's manifold wifdom and grace. 
 
 This 
 
22 j^n Ordination- Sermon. Ser. I. 
 
 This fcheme we are to fearch for, to make it fa- 
 miliar to eurfelves, and to minifter it to the world. 
 If we deviate from it, " we fall from grace," 
 and miflead others into error. We ad like a 
 foolifh prefumptuous builder, who departs from 
 the plan he received from the archited, who 
 alters, or adds to it the conceits of his own fan- 
 cy, which disfigure the building, and turn the 
 whole into a motley piece. And as thefe ill-judged 
 affefted additions enter not into the original plan, 
 as they ftand not firm upon the foundation, the 
 builder, the building, and all concerned in it, 
 " muft fuffer lofs by them," i Cor. iii. ii. 12. 
 We are workers together with God, employed to 
 carry on his fpiritual building, according to his 
 plan, upon the foundation which he has laid, 
 that of the apoflles and prophets, whereof Jefus 
 is the chief corner-ftone. While we accommo- 
 date every part of our work to this plan and 
 fomidation, ^' the whole building, fitly framed to- 
 " gether, groweth up into a holy temple in the 
 " Lord." 
 
 May I be allowed here to glance at the inde- 
 cent reflexions thrown out againft fyfliems, and 
 readers of fyflems, as if thefe fyilems were 
 the arbitrary compofitions of men, fet up in op- 
 pofition to the Bible ; and the readers of them took 
 them upon trufl, and, without examination, adopt- 
 ed them as their creed ? 
 
 And 
 
Ser. I. j^n Ordinatioti-Sermon. 23 
 
 And were not the authors of thefe fyflems men of 
 genius, men learned in the original languages ? 
 Were they not men of application and piety ? Have 
 they not ftudied for thenifelves and for the church ? 
 Have they not fupported what they wrote with 
 fcripture-authority, and left men to judge forthem- 
 felves ? Are not many who read them equally 
 well qualified ? Do they not examine them by 
 fcripture and reafon ? Becaufe they take the help 
 of thefe worthy authors, for the eafier fludy of 
 the fcriptures, do they therefore take all that they 
 read upon trufl ? Is their whole confeffion the 
 eiFe<5l of prejudice ? If all our knowledge by 
 thefe fyftems be prejudice, then whofe knowledge 
 is any more than prejudice ? The difciples of Dr 
 Taylor are men of prejudice as much as others. 
 
 It is no unjufl feverity to fay, that the faffi- 
 dious manner in which fome fpeak againff fyftems, 
 betrays their vanity in no fmall degree. By fuch 
 language they would have the world believe, that 
 they are men of uncommon application and capa- 
 city ; — that, for the knowledge of the truth, they 
 go diredly to the pure fountain of fcripture. Is' 
 it not as probable, that, from diflike to labour, 
 and to Bible-doclrines contained in fyftems, they 
 fpeak fo contemptuoufly of them ? By going out 
 of the common track of thinking, they would be 
 thought to poffefs fuperior difcernment, and 
 ilrength of mind, far exalted above the ordinary 
 
 fize 
 
24 -^'^ Ordination-Sermon. Ser. L 
 
 fize of men. There is no evidence at all of this, 
 but rather, that they are in the too common road 
 to error and corruption, in company with the ab- 
 jeft perverted part of mankind. Let them travel 
 on together ; there is no caufe why we lliould en- 
 vy their company or their road. 
 
 We are not afliamed of the Bible-fcheme, as laid 
 down in feveral approved fyftems, and in the Con- 
 FEssiON of our church. Thoufands, of eminent 
 parts and piety, thewifeft and bed of men, in our 
 own and in other churches, have found the mod 
 fatisfying. evidence of its truth to their minds, the 
 fweetefl reft and joy in it to their hearts. It is 
 not therefore decent, modeft, nor honeft, in thofe 
 who ftand candidates for charges m the church, 
 either to fet afide this truly excellent fcheme, or 
 to deface its beautiful frame, by retailing only 
 fome detached pieces of it, coloured over with 
 the tinfel of a little dazzling eloquence. 
 
 Would thefe men confefs, as they ought, that 
 their turn lies another way; that they never con- 
 fidered nor felt, that for pleafmg the Deity one 
 fcheme of religion and of virtue was more necef- 
 fary than another ; they fhould demand our pity : 
 but to prefume, from pretenfions to fuperior know- 
 ledge, to introduce fuch a great alteration in our 
 Confeffional, who that has any fenfe of propriety, 
 can help feeling indignation at fuch arrogance ? 
 A novice I to pour contempt at once upon the 
 
 mediatory 
 
Ser. I. ^n Ordination-Sermon. 2^ 
 
 mediatory plan, and upon the many tlioufands in 
 former and latter days, who have exprefled their 
 happinefs and joy in the faith of it, is truly infuf- 
 ferable. And what are thofe mens greater advan- 
 tages, by nature, by education, by apphcation, 
 or by grace, for difcovering truth ? Will they 
 fay, that the fecrets of God are with them ? For 
 aught that appears to us, it is probable, that 
 thefe fecrets are intruded rather with another fort 
 of men. The fa£t is, they have got early ac- 
 quaintance with books of ja particular caft ; with 
 the novelty and fprucenefs of which they are ha- 
 ftily taken, and fo intoxicated, that they fwallow 
 them whole, without reflexion or examination ; 
 not willing to fufpeft fallacy or danger in what is. 
 fo grateful to their juvenile tafte ; being fo un- 
 happy as to have no ferious difpofition to find the 
 truth for their own comfort and falvation. To 
 gain the world's applaufe for diflinguillied ingenui- 
 ty, for fprightly turns of expreffion, and for deli- 
 cacy of tafte, is the darling objeft in view : 
 " Vain man would be wife.'* But no man needs 
 fear, that the fubject of the gofpel will cramp his 
 genius. There is full fcope for the moft unbound- 
 ed imagination, to expatiate in the ample field of 
 fcripture, amidft the vaft wonders of redeeming 
 love. Here indeed is a field, large and copious, 
 to employ the genius of an angel. It is the chief 
 theme that employs the fublime contemplative 
 powers, that infpires the loftieft fongs of the whols 
 D anselic 
 
2^ ^n Ordincition'Sermon. Ser, I. 
 
 angelic hofl, cherubinis and feraphims, all the 
 great intelleds of the upper world. It is very 
 ftrange, that it fliould be deemed a fubjed too 
 confined for a little earthly genius. Again, 
 . 2. We are to deliver fcripture-truths in grave 
 fcripture-languag-e : " All fcripture is given by in- 
 ** fpiration of God." " Holy men of God fpake 
 " as they v^ere moved by the Holy Ghoft.'* They 
 were infallibly led to the matter, and alfo to the 
 words : at the fame time that their didion was left 
 to run agreeably to each writer*s particular genius 
 in language ; the words moft fitly expreffive of the 
 divine matter were fuggefted- 
 
 Thefe words, chofcn by the Spirit, are the fit- 
 tefl: for conveying his fenfe to our minds. The 
 truths, therefore, are to be delivered, as nearly 
 as we can, in his words. This requires not that 
 our whole difcourfe be precifely in fcripture-terms ; 
 for then mud we leave off preaching, and turn 
 mere readers, nay readers of Hebrew and Greek. 
 The mind of fcripture is chiefly to be attended to. 
 For cxprelfing this, " we are to feek out accept- 
 '* able words ;" words pertinent and agreeable. 
 They are the more fo, the nearer they approach 
 to fcripture-language. In ufmg our own, we are 
 to avoid the extremes of a flat groveling mean- 
 pefs, and an affeded fwelling fublimity; and, as 
 much as pofEble, to keep up the beautiful fimpli- 
 city of the facred writings ; fupporting every point 
 with an appofite fcripture -citation, evidently ex- 
 
 prefliv? 
 
Ser. I. An Ordination-Sermoih 2f 
 
 prefllve of the purpofe in hand. How tranfcend* 
 ent is the beauty and energy of the fcriptures, per- 
 tinently applied ! " They are as apples of gold 
 " in pidures of filver." They are as the king's 
 fignet to all our difcourfes, giving them grandeur, 
 demonftration, and authority. Indeed, after all our 
 reafoning, and perfuafive pleadings, it is found, 
 that they are the very words of fcripture which 
 gain upon the confciences and hearts of the hear- 
 ers, which alarm, pierce, wound, and heal them. 
 We ought not therefore to fhun introducing them 
 copioufly into our fermons. ^t the fame time, if 
 the mind of the Spirit be preferved, it is not ne- 
 ceflary that the whole difcourfe ihould continue to 
 run in the exprefs words of fcripture. 
 
 This gives occafion to animadvert a little upon 
 the frivolous cavils againfl; the ConfeiFion, which 
 all intrants to the church are required to fub- 
 fcribe, as if this was an impofition of unfcripturai 
 terms of Chriftian communion. We are not re- 
 quired to fubfcribe to it as a mere human compofi- 
 tion ; but as a colledion of divine truths^ fet down 
 in other words, more familiar in common ufe, ex- 
 preffing the obvious fenfe of the words of fcrip* 
 ture.. 
 
 And is the Confeffion, efpeclally the doctrinal 
 part of it, complained of for differing from the 
 fenfe of fcripture, and not rather for being too 
 plainly expreilive of it.? Many worthy perfons, 
 who, from their youth to old ag?, continue to 
 Da examine 
 
5^8 An Ordinalmi'SertHfin. Ser. I. 
 
 examine it by fcrlpture, can fee no difference, 
 but the mod perfect harmony between them. In- 
 fidels themfelves confefs^ that the dodrines of the 
 Confeffion mod controverted by profeffing Chri- 
 flians, are the clear language of fcripture ; fuch 
 as, the doftrine of the Trinity, — the divinity of 
 our Saviour, — the neccffity of fupernatural grace, 
 
 and juftification by faith. The Confeffion is 
 
 inveighed againft by fome, not for clafliing, but 
 for agreeing vi^ith thefe fcripture-dotlrines ; which, 
 becaufe they fall not within the narrow compafs 
 of their reafon, they will not allow to be true, ei- 
 ther in fcripture or in the Confeffion. The mind 
 of both, with refpeft to thefe dodrines, is very 
 clear, and alike clear in each : in the one, and in 
 the other, there is no darknefs at all. No inge- 
 nuous man can pretend ignorance of the fenfe of 
 the Confeffion, arid of the fociety's mind in it. 
 Their very quarrelling with it fhews that they per- 
 ceive it. It is impoffible, therefore, to reconcile 
 their condud to candour and common honefty, 
 who, in order to obtain the temporal emoluments, 
 fubfcribe with a mind contrary to the well known 
 mind of the fociety. 
 
 That it is required of all intrants to fubfcribe 
 the Confeffion, cannot juftly be complained of. 
 It is a privilege of right belonging to every focie- 
 ty, to provide in the beff manner for its own fafe- 
 ty and purity. And no injury is done to any in 
 being excluded from the fociety, who, by refu- 
 
 fmg 
 
Ser. I. j^n Ordination-Sermon, 29 
 
 fing to fubfcribe to its laws and principles, feeni 
 rcfolved to affert and propagate the contrary. 
 
 After we have fubfcribed this confeffion, fhould 
 the majority of the fociety depart from the prin- 
 ciples of their firll foundation, and require our 
 concurrence in fupporting contrary meafures ; we 
 certainly ought, in confcience, to decline compli- 
 ance, and ftrenuoully to fland to the original laws, 
 the terms of our admifllon. Should fuch recu- 
 fants, by an arbitrary ftretch of power, he de- 
 prived ; let them reiblve to fuffer wrong patiently. 
 While one is permitted to keep his place, he ought 
 not, willingly, to defert it, but to " abide in it ;** 
 and, by doing his duty faithfully, contribute his 
 help to reftore the laws to their ancient vigour. 
 Thus, by the honeft flruggles of a few, " with 
 " meeknefs of wifdom," matters may be brought 
 to rights again. A hafty attempt, even upon the 
 defection of the majority, to reprobate and over- 
 turn the old church, and to begin rearing a nev/ 
 one, in a feparate ftate, may be hazardous to the 
 rafli undertakers, blading to their miniflry, and 
 hurtful to the conftitution for which they zealoufly 
 contend. The old conllitutional principles being 
 ftill acknowledged, the true friends of the con- 
 llitution aft mod effedually for its prefervation, 
 for its perpetual profperity and glory, by conform- 
 ing fteadily to its rules, in their pradice ; and by 
 doing their utmofl, in fellowfhip with the commu- 
 nity, to perfuade other members to the like con- 
 formity. But from this digrellion I proceed, 
 
 3- To 
 
D 
 
 o ^n Ordination- Sermon. Ser. I. 
 
 3. To obferve, that " to caufe men to hear 
 " the words of God," may imply a certain man- 
 ner, fit to engage and to command their atten- 
 tion and regard. 
 
 As to adion and gefture, — let it be na- 
 tural and eafy, moving between the extremes 
 of aukward rufticity and airy afFedation. Na- 
 ture, under fome correftion, is the bed guide : 
 it never offends. The gefture therefore mud vary 
 in different fpeakers, according to the difference 
 in their natural complexions. 
 
 As the matter ought ever to confift of the whole- 
 fome words of our Lord Jefus, fo ought it to be 
 afferted as plain acknowledged truth, unferment- 
 ed Vv'ith the fretting gangrene of controverfy and 
 perverfc difputings, which fofter a vain contentious 
 humour, " and hinder godly edifying." 
 
 Alfo the divine matter ought to be delivered 
 with " all gravity," with dignity of deportment 
 and fpeech : " But fpeak thou the things which 
 " become found dodrine, in found fpeech that 
 " cannot be condemned ;" with fuch decency of 
 mien and language, as becomes the dignity of 
 the fubjeft. Therefore low diminutive fimiles,— 
 falfe improper metaphors, ^trivial quaint turns of 
 wit, which tend to debafe the important fubjefl, 
 -to raife the contempt and laughter of the intelli- 
 gent audience, are to be avoided. 
 
 As we are " to Ihevv uncorruptnefs in dodrine, 
 " and gravity of deportment, folikewife fmcerity ;" 
 our appearance declaring to others, that we fpeak 
 
 under 
 
Ser. I. An Ordination- Sermon. 31 
 
 under the awe of God ; that we believe what we 
 fay to be his truth ; that, without difguife, we 
 (ludy to hold it forth in its true light : " For we 
 '' are not as many who corrupt the word of God ; 
 *' but as of fmcerity, but as of God, in the fight 
 « of God, fpeak we in Chrifl.'* 
 
 We are alfo to deliver the truth with autho- 
 rity ; with modefty, but with boldnefs, as it be- 
 comes thofe who are fatisfied that it is the truth 
 of God ; they declare that they have authority from 
 him to declare it ; that, as the very truth of 
 God, it recommends itfelf to the confciences of 
 men : " We handle the word of God by mani- 
 " feilation of the truth, commending ourfelvcs to 
 ** every man's confcience, in the fight of God." 
 " Therefore we are not afhamed of the gofpel of 
 " Chrift." 
 
 At the fame time our authority is to be tempered 
 with a moderate degree of fear and diffidence in 
 ourfelves : *' And I was with you in weaknefs, 
 *' and in fear, and in much trembling." A pro- 
 per expreflion this of reverence for God and for 
 his truth ; of due concern to fupport the ho- 
 nour of our chara£ler ; that we may fucceed 
 in our embafly, and that it may not mifcarry 
 in our unfkilful hands. 
 
 Thus, again, we are to fpeak fo as to fatlsfy 
 the people of our fervent love of fouls ; that our 
 view is not to pleafe, but to fave men ; — that we 
 feek not ourfelves, but their falvation in hearken- 
 ing to the truth : " As we are allowed of 
 
 « God 
 
3 2* j4n Ordination-Sermon. Ser. L 
 
 *' God to be put in triift with the gofpel, even fo 
 " we fpeak ; not as pleafing men, but God, who 
 " trieth our hearts." — "Nor of men fought we 
 " glory, neither of you, nor of others ; but being 
 ** affedionately defirous of you, we were willing 
 *' to have imparted unto you, not only the gofpel 
 *' of God, but alfo our own fouls, becaufe ye 
 *' were dear unto us.'' 
 
 In fine, for caufing men to hear the words of 
 God from us, the recommendation of a good life 
 is abfolutely neceflary. — • " Thefe things com- 
 " mand and teach," faid the Apoftle Paul to 
 Timothy. But he did not flop there : to all his 
 other directions he fubjoined the following charge : 
 .— " Let no man defpife thy youth ; but be 
 " thou an example of believers, in word, in con« 
 " verfation, in charity, in fpirit, in faith, in pu- 
 " rity." This good life extends far ; it compre- 
 hends the government of our whole behaviour to- 
 wards ourfelves and others, righteous and un- 
 righteous, according to the word of God. — Our 
 moderation and temperance mud be manifeft to 
 all men. Nor muft decent fobriety be the whole of 
 our recommendation ; it is neceifary that our life 
 be adorned v/ith the beauties of holinefs : " Ye 
 " are witnelfes. and God alfo, how holily, and 
 " juftly, and \inblameably, we behaved ourfelves 
 " among you who believe." 
 
 Towards the people of our charge we ought to. 
 walk in love ; by diligent labour, with all gentle- 
 nefs, and meeknefs of v/ifdom, teilifying our hearty 
 
 concern 
 
Ser. h ^n Ordination-Sermon. 33 
 
 concern for their everlafting intereft, and for their 
 eafy accommodation in time alfo. " But we were 
 " gentle among you, even as a nurfe cheriflieth 
 " her children. — As you know how we exhorted, 
 " and comforted, and charged every one of you, 
 " as a father doth his children, that ye would 
 " walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto 
 " his kingdom and glory.'* — In like manner, re- 
 commending ourfelves to thofe who believe not ; 
 
 — to the froward and difobedient, by all expref- 
 fions of good-will, by courtefy and kindnefs, and 
 by fuffering wrong with patience ; lliewing, that, 
 when injured, we feek not revenge, but the of- 
 fender's recovery to God : "In. all things, thus 
 " approving ourfelves as the minifters of God, 
 " in much patience, in afflldions, in ncceffities, 
 " in diftreffes, — by purenefs, — by knowledge, 
 " — by long-fuffering, — by kindnefs, — by the 
 " Holy Gholt, — by love unfeigned." Thus li- 
 ving, we teftify to the world our own belief of the 
 gofpel, and its mighty influence upon our hearts 
 and lives ; — a powerful engagement upon others 
 to hearken to us ! But if our practice contradicts 
 our doftrine, we forfeit credit with the world, — 
 *' render ourfelves bafe and contemptible before all 
 " the people, — caufc many to (lumble at the law." 
 
 — And God and men, and our own confciences, 
 will cry out again fl; us in thefe words of fevere 
 but juft reproach. — "• Therefore thou art inex- 
 " cufable, O man, whofoever thou art that 
 " mdgefl : for wherein thou judged another, thou 
 
 E " condemned 
 
34 
 
 jin Ordinal ion-Sermon. Ser. I. 
 
 " condemnefl: thyfclf. — And thinkeft thou this, 
 " O man, that judged them "who do fuch things, 
 " and dofl the fame, that thou fhalt efcape 
 " the judgement of God ?" 
 
 Part Second. 
 
 III. I SHALL now proceed to illuflrate the con- 
 nexion between the means and the end, which 
 
 was the third thing propofed in the method. 
 
 And this connexion will appear, if we confider, 
 
 I. That they are abfolutely neceflkry for gain- 
 ing the end propofed ; or, the only means that 
 can be efFe£tual for turning fmners from their evil 
 ways, and from the evil of their doings. The 
 fcripture contains God's plan, his method of re- 
 conciliation, on which he laid out his manifold 
 wifdom. — As being truly his fcheme, according 
 to which alone he purpofes to fave men, it is pro- 
 pounded to our faith. 
 
 And is there not the bed evidence of its truth, that 
 • it is of God?' — Read the hiftory of the Bible, the 
 aftonifliing interpofitions of Providence in favour of 
 the Ifraelites, the feed of Abraham, in preferving 
 and delivering them when they were few in 
 number, and after they were multiplied. Read 
 the hi^lory of the men of God, to whom he 
 revealed himfelr, — what effed the revelation 'had 
 upon them, — bow they lived, — how they con- 
 quered, — -how they died.— Above all, fix your 
 attention upon the divers typical reprefentations 
 
 of 
 
Part II. An Ordination-SennotJ. gy 
 
 of the promifed Meffiah, — the circumftantial de- 
 lineations of him, by different perfons, in different 
 ages; the prophecies refpeding his birth, life, death, 
 . refurredion, and afcenfion to heaven ; and fee all 
 thefe in the minuteff circumftances, fulfilled in the 
 New-Teftament hiftory concerning Jefus. — Attend 
 alio to the fignally great effects of his vidory and 
 exaltation, continued, by the miniftry of the word, 
 to this day ; and fay, if this be not the grand 
 contrivance of Heaven, in which the highefl: glory 
 of God, and the mofl important interePcs of men, 
 are deeply concerned: — to vt^hich all the great 
 adlings of Providence referred, and to the accom- 
 plifliment of which all were diredted. — Todifbelicve 
 and rejed; it amidff fuch a flood of evidence as 
 comes pouring upon our reafon and all our fenfes, 
 marks the mojfl criminal infidelity, guilt of the 
 deepeft dye. — To preach it, without believing it, 
 betrays the darkcft Atheifm. — To profefs to be- 
 lieve it, and yet, craftily, to explain away its very 
 effence, and, in its place, to fubftitute mens own 
 corrupt glofs, is the bafeft, vilefl hypocrify, moll 
 hateful to God, and to all honeft men. 
 
 Every perverfe turn which men give to the fa- 
 cred oracles they call gofpel. Thus will every 
 one dignify his own fancied glofs ; falfely pretend- 
 ing, that, only in the mode of expreffmg things, 
 he differs from the commonly-received gofpel. 
 
 Were the difference only in expreffion, and the 
 
 fubftance of the truth (till retained, this would ea- 
 
 fily be fecn, and borne with. — When, with the 
 
 E 2 ordinary 
 
36 An Ord'mation-Sermoth Ser. L 
 
 ordinary natural form of expreflion, the truth it- 
 felf is departed from, this is as eafily feen. And 
 however this fuppofitltious thing be named go/pel^ 
 it is not the Apofiile's gofpel, but another, fpu- 
 rious and falfe, by which unhappy impoflors 
 may for a time fucceed in corrupting the unwary 
 in their principles and morals ; but, in the iffue, 
 fhall " bring upon themfelves fwift deflruQion," 
 by the provoked vengeance of Heaven, according 
 to that awful maledittion. Gal. i. 8. — " Should 
 *' we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other 
 '•' gofpel than that which the apoftles have preach - 
 *' ed, let him be accurfed." But, 
 
 2. As the fcriptures are the only means for turn- 
 ing men to God, fo there is likewife, in regard of 
 both matter and expreffion, a peculiar fitnefs in 
 them for gaining this end. The account they 
 give of the divine perfections, being the moft 
 rational, muft be the beft adapted to fatisfy the 
 underflanding : And the expreffion which is e- 
 qually clear and flrong, is by far the fitteft vehicle 
 to convey jufl and great ideas of God. 
 
 In fcripture-phrafeology there is inimitable 
 grandeur and magnificence, at the fame time a 
 natural fimplicity, which gives the whole a con- 
 vincing air of truth. The furpafling greatnefs 
 and majefly in fcripture- expreffion, is a greatnefs 
 breathed into it by the native greatnefs of the 
 p:iatter. We fee in it no periods wrought up with 
 painful labour and art ; but the fublime matter 
 ^very where putting on its natural graceful garbj. 
 
 that 
 
Part II. ^n Ordination-Sermon. 37 
 
 that unafFefted dignity and eafe with which it be- 
 comes the Omnipotent to fay and to • do every 
 thing. 
 
 I fhall give a few fpecimens of the fitnefs of 
 the matter and the exprellion of fcripture, 
 to turn us to God, as they give us the moft: 
 honourable views of him, and are adapted to 
 work upon our fear, hope, and love, and to re- 
 commend themfelves to our confciences. 
 
 How auguft is the fcripture-account of God's 
 neceffary felf-exiftence and unity ! — "In the be- 
 " ginning God created the heaven and the earth." 
 — Himfelf uncreated, exifling neceflarily, and 
 but one. — '' I, even I, am he, and there is no 
 " God with me. — Is there a God befides me ? — 
 *' Yea there is no God, I know not any, — I 
 " am Jehovah, and there is none elfe. — There is 
 " no God befides me.'' — This is powerful to com- 
 mand our entire dependence upon God, and fub- 
 jedion to him. 
 
 In what awful terms, fit to alarm our fears, do 
 the fcriptures fet forth the holinefs of God, his 
 abhorrence of fm, his inviolable juflice, and his 
 awful determination of vengeance upon the difo- 
 bedient : " Who is like unto thee, O Lord, a- 
 " mong the gods ?" — " Thou art of purer eye^ 
 " than to behold fm ; nor canft thou look on ini- 
 " quity." — " When the Lord faw the abomina- 
 " tions of his people, he abhorred his fons and 
 «^ daughters, and faid, I will hide my face, I will 
 
 " turn 
 
3S An Ordination-Sermon. ..Ser. L 
 
 " turn away from them." — " Evil cannot dwell 
 " with him." — "A God of truth, and without 
 " iniquity, jufl and right is he." Juft in his na- 
 ture, jull in executing his laws, in fupporting his 
 government. Even when he gives men the hope 
 of mercy, he excludes from it the impenitent, 
 and threatens them with wrath and hell at the re- 
 velation of the righteous judgement of God. — 
 How frightful his threatenings againft the difobe- 
 dient, that he fhall punifli them with everlafting 
 deflrudion ! " For a fire," faith he, " is kindled 
 *' in mine anger, and fliall burn into the lowed 
 " hell." — And fliall not deftrudion from the Al- 
 mighty be a terror unto us ? On hearing of 
 which tremendous words, can we forbear expreff- 
 ing their effed: upon us in the language of the 
 prophet ? — " My lips quivered at the voice ; rot- 
 *' tennefs entered into my bones, and I trembled 
 " in myfelf, that I might reft in the day of 
 " trouble." 
 
 They are alfo fit to work upon our hope, as 
 they reprefent God at once holy and merciful : 
 " The Lord God is merciful and gracious, whilft 
 " he by no means clears the guilty." — " There 
 " is forgivenefs with God, and plenteous redemp- 
 *' tion." — " Return, ye backfliding children : 
 " ye have played the harlot with many lovers ; 
 " yet return unto me. — Though your fms be as 
 " fcarlet, they fhall be as white as fnow ; though 
 *' they be red like crimfon, they fliall be as wool." 
 
 — « If 
 
Part II. ^n Ordination-Sermon . 39 
 
 — " If ye be willing and obedient, ye fhall eat 
 " the good of the land; but if ye refufe and re- 
 " bel, ye (hall be devoured with the fword : for 
 " the mouth of the Lord hath fpoken it." — 
 " Turn ye at my reproof : behold, I will pour 
 " out my Spirit unto you, I will make known my 
 " words unto you.'* 
 
 Let me fubjoin the ftriking reprefentation in 
 fcripture of the laft judgement, as fit to work 
 upon both our fear and hope, and fo to turn us 
 from fin to God. — Attend to the view given of 
 the judge, — of his appearance, — of the procefs, 
 
 — of the fentence, — oftheiflue of the fentence, 
 
 — and of the everlafling if ate of the two different 
 parties that enfues upon the execution of the fen- 
 tence : " Then the Son of man, the Son of God 
 in his glorified human nature, fhall come in his 
 glory, with all the holy angels, thoufands of thou- 
 fands, like a fiery ftream, ilfuing forth from be- 
 fore him. — And he fliall fit upon the throne of 
 his glory, — and before him fhall be gathered all 
 nations : — for with the fliout of a defcending- 
 
 o 
 
 God, — with the voice of the archangel, and the 
 trump of God, the dead fhall be raifed. — The 
 fea fhall give up the dead which are in it : the 
 graves fhall open, and deliver up the dead which 
 are in them : and all the dead, fmall and great, 
 fliall ftand before God. The judgement be- 
 ing fet, he fhall feparate the affembled world, 
 the righteous from the unrighteous, as a fhepherd 
 
 divideth 
 
40 u/^n Ordination-Sermon. Ser. I. 
 
 divideth his fheep from the goats, placing the one 
 on his right hand, the other on his left. — Then 
 the books Ihall be opened, the awful regifters 
 of life and death, and men fhall be judged out o£ 
 thefe faithful records, every one according to his 
 works ; " the judge, to fhew 'himfelf upright, 
 pointing out the accepted works of his redeemed, 
 diftinguiilied, for truth and fubftance, from the 
 mere femblance of them in others. — " Then fl:iali 
 the King fay unto them on his right hand. Come, 
 ye bleffed of my Father, inherit the kingdom pre- 
 pared for you from the foundation of the world, 
 — Then fliall he fay alfo unto them on the left 
 hand. Depart from me, ye curfed, into everlafl;- 
 ing fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. — 
 And thefe fhall go into everlafling punifhment, 
 the lake that burneth with fire and brimftone, 
 where the fmoke of the torment afcendeth for 
 ever and ever, where the worm dieth not, and 
 where the fire is not quenched. — But the righ- 
 teous fhall go into everlafling hfe." They fhall 
 afcend, with triumphant acclamations of joy, up- 
 ward to the third heavens, where they fhall be 
 ever with the Lord ; " in whofe prefence is fulnefs 
 of joy, at whofe right hand are pleafures for ever 
 more. They fliall hunger no more, neither thirffc 
 any more ; neither fhall the fun light on them, 
 nor any heat : for the Lamb, which is in the 
 midfl of the throne, fhall feed them, and fliall 
 lead them unto living fountains of water; and 
 
 God 
 
Ser. I. jIn Ordination-Sermon. 41. 
 
 God Ihall wipe away all tears from their eyes. — And 
 there fhall be no more death, neither forrow, nor 
 crying ; neither fhall there be any more pain ; for 
 the former things Ihall pafs away. — The ran- 
 fomed of the Lord Ihall come to Zion, with 
 fongs and everlafting joy upon their heads^ 
 where with holy rapture they fhall worfhip God 
 day and night in his temple, faying, with a 
 loud voice, Blefling, and glory, and wifdom, and 
 thankfgiving, and honour, and power, and might, 
 be unto our God, for ever and ever." Did ever 
 the heart or imagination of man conceive a fcene 
 and language like this .? — fo grand, fo godlike ? 
 How low, before it, fink the boldefl flights of 
 human invention and fpeech ! Is not this the di- 
 vine language of heaven ? Are not thefe the 
 fublim.e words of one caught up into paradife .^ 
 words which it is not pollible for one uninfpired 
 of God to imagine, or to utter ? Do they not 
 flrike confcience with awe, and extort from it the 
 corfefTion, — " Of a truth God is in thefe words ?" 
 Can a man hear them, without perceiving in them 
 the authoritative majefty of God's voice ; withouc 
 feehng the liveliefl concern to efcape the wrath, and 
 to obtain the glory, they dcfcribe, by turning from 
 fm to God ? 
 
 Permit me, before I conclude this head, to do 
 juflice to the mediatory fcheme in general, by 
 {hewing, that as it alone is elTedual for the falva- 
 tion of finners, fo its dirccl: tendency is to turn men 
 from fm to God. 
 
 F It 
 
42 An Ordination-Sermon. 3er. L 
 
 It betrays amazing inattention or wilful refift- 
 ance to the cleared light, to reprefent it, either as 
 favouring fin, or flattering man's conceit of his 
 natural powers. If rightly underftood, it heightens 
 our reverential view of God's glorious holinefs and 
 inflexible jufl:ice, as well as of his engaging mercy 
 and grace, and powerfully enforces the motives to 
 repentance and holy obedience. 
 
 The fcripture-expreifions of God's holinefs and 
 juflice already taken notice of, are all upon the 
 mediatory plan ; iJDoken by Jehovah, in Chrift, 
 reconciling the world to himfelf ; fpoken by the 
 Mediator himfelf, as the infallible prophet of his 
 church. AH is the language of his mediation, 
 and all the do£trines relating to it call men from 
 fm to God, and proclaim the neceffity of their con- 
 formity to him in holinefs ; — the fcheme, in all 
 its parts, diredly pointing at this as its end. 
 
 Man being fallen, by tranfgreflion, from the fa- 
 vour and image of God, the Mediator's defign is 
 to refl:ore him to both ; the one as well as the o- 
 ther being necelfary for his happinefs. Therefore, 
 to procure man's redemption from the curfe, and 
 to reitore him to favour, Jefus dies for man. He 
 dies, not merely to manifefl: God's feverity a- 
 gainft fm in general ; for had this been all that 
 was intended by his death, God might, for his 
 fake, reftore angels as well as men : but he died, 
 as was neceflary, for fatisfaclion to jufl:ice, in the 
 hature that fmned. The Meffiah, therefore, be- 
 comes: 
 
Ser. I. ^n Ordination- Sermon. 4 j 
 
 comes man, and dies a real proper facrifice for 
 fin ; by which the bar from law and jufticc to 
 man's return to favour is removed. — Still more 
 than this, he, by his obedience, acquired right in 
 Jaw to the " fulnefs of the Spirit," toward the re- 
 novation of his people, for whom he died ; this 
 being neceflary to qualify them for the fervice and 
 enjoyment of God ; in order to which, deliver- 
 ance from corruption ncceffarily accompanies de- 
 liverance from the curfe of the law ; this fame 
 corruption, by which the foul is alienated from 
 God, being itfeif a part, if not the foreft part of 
 the curfe. Nor is it poffible to conceive of the 
 curfe removed, and fin at the fame time maintain- 
 ing its dominion over the foul. The curfe, there- 
 fore, being taken away, fin of courfe lofes its 
 flrength, and dies apace. 
 
 This will appear from the nature of that faith 
 which is made neceflary in order to adual benefit 
 by Chrift ; and that is, to fubmit to Chrifh as our 
 fi;rength, as well as our righteoufnefs ; which im- 
 plies, that we fubmit to the operations of his Spi- 
 rit for our fanftification. He is as much the ob- 
 jetl of faith for this purpofe, as he is for juftifica- 
 tion ; he being made of God, unto us, not 
 only righteoufnefs, but fandification alfo ; al- 
 though it be the natural order, to view him firfl: 
 in his prieftly charader, that being relieved of the 
 eurfe by the merit of his facrifice, cur accefs to the 
 F 1 fountain 
 
44 -<^'2 Ordination-Sermon. Ser. I. 
 
 fountain of life may thereby be opened for our 
 fandification. 
 
 This faith being of grace, and " by tlie opera- 
 *' tion of the Spirit of grace," it muft be of fach 
 a nature as anfwers the grand defign of divine 
 wifdom and grace, to abolifh fin, by the incarna- 
 tion, the obedience, and death, of his own dear 
 Son, on the accurfed tree, as the facrifice and at- 
 onement for guilty man. And it is eifential to the 
 nature of true faith, to influence fubmiflion to this 
 great defign of the death of Chrift, " who v/as 
 manifefted to deftroy the works of the devil ; and 
 gave himfelf for us, that he might redeem us from 
 all iniquity, and purify unto himfelf a peculiar 
 people, zealous of good works." 
 
 Great are our advantages, upon this fcheme, 
 for fubduing fm, and advancing in holinefs, ha- 
 ving by faith redemption in the blood of Chrift, 
 and a communication with '' the fullnefs of God 
 " in him." It is the province of faith, or it is the 
 operation of the foul under the influence of faith, 
 to fubmit to Chrilt, to depend upon him, to afk 
 all needful fupplies of grace from him. And thus, 
 while faith gives to God the due honour of his 
 holinefs, it afcribcs all to grace ; as it is fit that 
 divine grace fnould have the entire glory of par- 
 doning and rcflioring froward rebels. 
 
 That the purifying believers from the defile- 
 ments of fm, is what the fcheme of grace, and 
 true fakh in harmony with it, aims at, is evident 
 
 from 
 
Ser. I. An Ordination-Sermon. 45 
 
 from the ftrain of the new covenant, from the ac- 
 count we have of the firfl emanation of its virtue, 
 towards the produftion of faith in man's heart : 
 *' I will fprinkle clean water upon you, and cleanfe 
 you from all your idols. — I will take away the 
 heart of ftone ; — I will give them a heart to 
 know me, that I am the Lord.— And I will be their 
 God ; for they fhall return to me with their whole 
 heart." 
 
 This is the exprefs defign of all the promifes 
 which faith refpeds, that by them we may pu- 
 rify ourfelves from all filthinefs of the flefh and of 
 the fpirit. And it is almoll unnecefTary to obferve, 
 that the threatenings are intended to deter us from 
 fin : — " If we fin wilfully, after we have recei- 
 ved the knowledge of the truth, there remains no 
 more facrifice for fiti, but a fearful looking for of 
 judgement and fiery indignation to devour the 
 adverfary, when the Lord Jefus fliall be revealed 
 from heaven in flaming fire, to take vengeance 
 on them who know not God, and obey not the 
 gofpel." 
 
 Chrift, who befl underflood the genius of his 
 own religion, commanded all men to repent, be- 
 caufe the kingdom of heaven was at hand. His 
 apoftles, full of the Holy Ghoft, took up his 
 text,, and vehemently prefled the fame doftrine, 
 teaching publicly, and from houfe to houfe, " te- 
 flifying to the Jews, and alfo to the Greeks, re- 
 pentance towards God, and faith towards our 
 
 Lord 
 
46 ^n Ordination-Sermon. Ser. L 
 
 Lord Jefus Chrift," as infeparably conneded by 
 divine conflitution, and in the very nature of 
 things. Thus the fcriptures fpeak of God's grant, 
 ing repentance to the Gentiles, and purifying 
 their hearts by faith. Nor is this all : for we find 
 unbelievers, men in a natural ftate, are faid to be 
 foolilh and difobedient ; but w^hen the gofpei 
 comes to them in power, and in much affurance, 
 then they are reprefented as turned unto God 
 from idols. 
 
 It would be an eafy talk to fliew, that the con- 
 fideration of the ftate and place to which the 
 gofpei calls us, to wit, God's kingdom and glory, 
 ferves alfo to draw us from fm, and perfuade us 
 to holy obedience. But enough hath been faid to 
 illuitrate the direct tendency of the gofpei fcheme 
 to turn men from fm to God.— It may, by fome, be 
 judged unneceflary to dwell fo particularly upon a 
 point fo plain : but plain and obvious as it is, the fubtle 
 corruption of man's heart finds a way of eluding its 
 evidence. For many profeiTmg Chriftians, by their 
 expreffions and practice, betray their mifappre- 
 henfion of the gofpei, and their fro ward difpofi- 
 tion to turn its grace to licentioufnefs. — And did 
 ever a more unaccountable delufion poffefs the 
 minds of men, than the hope of being admitted 
 into God's favour and prefence, upon the media^ 
 tory plan, without improving it for their purifica- 
 tion from fm. 
 
 But^ 
 
Scr. I. ^n Ordination-Sermon, 47 
 
 But, laftly. The gofpel-fcheme is peculiar- 
 ly fitted to tiie purpofe of mens converfion to 
 God, in regard of its efficacy, by the prornife 
 of the Spirit. — " Go, teach all nations, — preach- 
 *' ing repentance and remiffion of fins in my name, 
 *' and lo, I am with you alway to the end of the 
 " world." — " I will fend the Comforter, the Holy 
 *' Ghoft : — he will teach you all things; — he 
 *' will convince the world of fin ; — he will take 
 *' of mine, and fhew it unto you.*' The word of 
 God, accompanied with this prornife, is like 
 fire that melts, or a hammer that breaketh the 
 rock in pieces. — " Holding forth the word of life/* 
 we may expedt the promifed Spirit, and fuccefs 
 by his concurring influence. — Whereas, if to 
 the wholefome words of Jefus we prefer our own 
 fancies, thefe (liall be left of the Spirit to their 
 own natural weaknefs ; and whatever value we may 
 put upon fuch fplendid conceits, they are, com- 
 pared with fimple gofpel-truths, but as chaff" to the 
 wheat,, and can have no good effed. They may 
 afford a little temporary amufement to itching- 
 ears, but ffiall make no impreflion upon the 
 heart, nor ever produce in it any thing like ge- 
 nuine piety. Thefe carnal weapons have no fit- 
 nefs in themfelves, and it is vain to pray for a 
 bleff'mg upon them. God hath not promifed to 
 blefs them ; and, beyond his promife, no prayer 
 can extort a blefling from him. — Mens vain 
 
 conceits, 
 
48 j^n Ordination-Sermott. Ser. L 
 
 conceits, their fine-wrought declamations upon 
 virtue, fubftituted in place of plain gofpel, equally 
 unfit in themfelves, and unbleft of God, will ne- 
 ver penetrate the heart, either to wound or to heal 
 it. Whereas " the word of God is quick and 
 *' powerful, and fharper than any two-edged 
 *' fword, piercing even to the dividhig afunder of 
 " foul and fpirit, and of the joints and marrow, 
 *' and is a difcerner of the thoughts and intents of 
 " the heart." 
 
 IV. I {hall now review the whole, and apply it 
 in feveral inferences. And, 
 
 I . From what has been faid, we fee the defign 
 cf the miniftry, a defign of the greateft import- 
 ance to the world, — to turn men from the power 
 of fm and Satan, — to reftore them to the favour 
 and image of God, — to bring them to the enjoy- 
 ment of him, in an everlafting kingdom of righte- 
 oufnefs and peace. 
 
 To this momentous point, all our fermons, 
 our whole life, our mofl vigorous efforts, ought 
 to be direfted : not merely to furnifli mens heads 
 with notions ; far lefs to engage them in parties, and 
 to inflame their angry paflions againll: one another j 
 but to divorce their hearts from fm and worldly va- 
 nities ; — to direct them to God, and the great ob- 
 jeds of the invifible world ; — to unfold and illu- 
 ftrate the mediatory fcheme, fo as to make men 
 fee that this is its fcope and dired tendency ; — 
 
 that 
 
Part II. ^n OrdiiiatioU' Sermon. 49 
 
 that it is not intended for fpeculation only, but 
 for pradice, to mend the heart and life ; — that 
 if it produces not this effect, however found mens 
 opinions may be, it leaves them where it found 
 them, under the curfe- 
 
 Careful ought we to be, that, in miniilring the 
 grace of God, we ufe no form of words from 
 which men may draw the lead encouragement to 
 a libertine life ; but teftify, with the fcriptures, in 
 words of no ambiguity, that, had we light to be- 
 hold all the glories of holinefs and grace in Chrift, 
 yet, if it be not a light powerful to transform us 
 into his image, it is unavailable for falvation. 
 This is doing juflice to the fcheme ; we reprefent 
 it truly, as it isj in a light worthy of a holy God. 
 — To put another face upon it, is to do it the 
 moft flagrant injury and difhonour, — " to pervert, 
 and handle the word of God deceitfully," to the 
 prejudice and ruin of immortal fouls. There- 
 fore, 
 
 2. The fubje6l w"arns us, miniflers, to make 
 this cur chief ftudy, to -convert men to God. 
 And, did we confult with God, with his word, 
 and .with confcience ; did we rightly underiland 
 our work ; this we would propofe to ourfelves as 
 the principal, if not the fole end of our labours 
 and ftudies. — For gaining this end, how ferioufly 
 would we plead, how humbly would we walk with 
 God in holy duties ; and how diligently would we 
 feek out the fttteft fentimcnts and words, for a- 
 
 G lar mi ng,. 
 
50 ^n Ordination-Sermon. Ser. I. 
 
 larming, for wounding, and healing the hearts of 
 our hearers ! — Happy were it for the church oF 
 God, did we thus employ our talents ; if, in- 
 flead of forming political unions, and contending 
 for pre-eminence, who fhall have the lead, who 
 Ihall engage the ftrongeft party, and fecure the 
 chief influence in difpofing of the benefices of the 
 church, v/e laid out the vigour of our genius, in 
 devifmg means " for bringing fmners to God,'* 
 in harmony with the Mediator's defign. 
 
 3. The fubjeft directs us to the only proper 
 means for gaining this end ; that is, God*s gra- 
 cious plan of falvation, delivered in the fcripture. 
 For gaining God's end we mud: ufe God's means. 
 Vain men are ever prefuming to depart from 
 this plan ; or to alter it, and in their wifdom to 
 reduce it to the form of the firft condition of life 
 to innocent Adam. The pretence is, that the 
 fcheme of grace hurts morals. But can this, in- 
 deed, be the real caufe of mens diflike of it ? - — 
 Do we not fee, that they are not the moft diftin- 
 guifhed for a confifhent uniform courfe of virtuous 
 condutt, wliofe prevailing turn is, to defcant upon 
 the nature and beauty of virtue ; and that the dif- 
 folute and immoral are bed pleafed with fuch 
 difcourfes. Whence then is mens diftaffe at 
 the gofpel- fcheme ? i. From the pride of 
 corrupted nature, which cannot endure to 
 hear the mortifying truth, That, for doing 
 good, what is in all refpefts good, there re- 
 mains in man naturally no difpofition nor flrength. 
 
 2.1 Fro Hi 
 
Part II. yin Ordination-Sermon. 5*1 
 
 2. From the enmity of the carnal mind againfl: ho- 
 linefs. — The gofpcl gives the moll frightFul difco- 
 very of the evil of fm, and of the unrelenting fe- 
 verity of divine juftice againfl: it, while it intimates 
 the neceflity of Chrifli's death for atoning it ; and 
 the neceflity upon us to fubmit to him for the de- 
 flruQion of fm. From this, mens confciences fe- 
 cretly perceive, that the gofpel flrikes at the very root 
 of fm. — Unwilling to yield to this, they are eafi- 
 ]y perfuaded, that, without a fatisfaclion, the 
 pardon of their infirmities (as they call their 
 vices) may be obtained from the goodnefs of 
 God. And if, without a fatisfaclion, the pardon 
 of one or more fins may be hoped for, the 
 heart is cunning enough, from the unlimited good- 
 nefs of God, to expefl: the gracious forgivenefs of 
 all fins. And thus, in truth, a felf-righteous, as 
 well as an Antinomian fpirit, leads to licentioufnefs. 
 3. From a difpofition to magnify tlie powers of nature, 
 men are emboldened in their prefent criminal pur- 
 fuits, by the hope of being able to repent when they 
 pleafe. Whereas, the gofpel, bylevellingour boaft- 
 ed natural powers, and by afferting that faith and re- 
 pentance are the gifts and effe&s of divine grace, 
 calls us immediately to break oft our fins and iloth, 
 left, by wilfully-indulged delay, we provoke the 
 fpirit to depart, and to give us up to a " repro- 
 bate mind." — The gofpel-plan, therefore, both 
 as it is commanded of God, and is beft adapted in 
 itfelf for turning men to him, that, and that alone, 
 we are to preacii. 
 
 G 2 This 
 
5*2 y^n Ordination-Sermojt. Str. L 
 
 This requires a diligent fearchinc; of the fcrip- 
 tures, for gaining acquaintance with the fcheme- 
 ' — It requires our ferious concern and labour to 
 feel, to know it experimentally, that as " fcribes well 
 inflru£ted unto the kingdom of heaven," we may 
 make it manifefl to others, as we ought. " The 
 heart of the wife teacheth his mouth, and addeth 
 learning to his lips." 
 
 Thus we are to deliver it purely, unmixed v/ith 
 our own dreams and fancies. — We may not pre- 
 hime to render it more fit, as we vainly think, for 
 the purpofes of religion, by accommodating it to 
 the tafle of the world. We mull take it as it 
 ftands in the Bible, keeping flridly to our inftruc- 
 tions t " It is the wildom and power of God for 
 falvation." By attempiing to mend or new-model 
 it, we but fpoil and weaken it : every refinement 
 of man upon it, is " a wild gourd," which brings 
 poifon and death into our food. 
 
 As wc are to minifler the gofpel purely, free from 
 every erroneous mixture of human invention ; {"o 
 from the gaudy ornaments of over-laboured elo- 
 quence, *' the enticing words of man's wifdom," 
 and deliver it in the native fimplicity of its own 
 fcripture-drefs. Artificial embellifliments of ftyle 
 may be too much ftudied, and be the chief recom- 
 mendation of fome difcourfes, from Yv'hich, if you 
 take thcfe brilliant colourings, what remains 
 is of little or no confequencc. 
 
 What has fuch childifli toying to do with the 
 bufmefs of preachmg ? The gofpel is too ferious 
 
 a 
 
Fart II. ^n Ordination- Sermon, 53 
 
 a fubjecl for men to difplay their wit, and little 
 arts of bulking, upon it. We would fcarce think. 
 him ferious, who, in announcing wrath and hell 
 againfl: fm, and warning men fpeedily to make 
 their efcape to the Saviour from thefe dreadful e- 
 vils, fliould take time to cull flowers of rhetoric 
 wherewith to garnifli his difcourfe, and to fliew 
 his own {kill in making a fine tale of it. Did the 
 alarming object fill his eye, it would pour from 
 his hps a torrent of natural eloquence, fuch as 
 flows freely from him who feelingly fees the real 
 danger from which he calls others to make their 
 efcape. 
 
 By this it is not meant to reflrain any from u- 
 fing God's particular gift to him, the agreeable 
 art of pcrfuafion, for infmuating himfelf into the 
 affedions of his hearers. — This is duty : " Be- 
 caufe the preacher was wife, he fought to find out 
 acceptable words." We are to acl like a wife 
 phyfician, who fo mixes his medicine, that the pa- 
 tient may take it down without exceflive difgufl ; 
 yet not ^o as to weaken its falutary virtue, by ma- 
 king it too palatable. Thus are we to chufe our 
 words, fo as not to offend by a flovenly coarfenefs 
 of ftyle ; at the fame time avoiding the other ex- 
 treme, a finical fprucenefs ; that the fplendor and 
 delufive charms ot words may not predominate in 
 the difcourfe, fo as to engage the peoples attention 
 more to the art of the fpeaker than to the weight 
 of the matter. 
 
 We ought alfo to minifter the word difpaflio- 
 
 natelv. 
 
54 ^^' Ordination-Sermon. Ser. I. 
 
 nately, in the meek fplrit of the gofpel, without 
 any mixture of flrange fire : " The man of God 
 mud be meek, and his words with meeknefs of 
 wifdom." The word never enters more kindly 
 than when it falls mod gently : " Ride profper- 
 oufly in thy majefty, becaufe of meeknefs," &c. 
 *' The wrath of man worketh not the righteouf- 
 nefs of God.'* If we admit a fever into our fpirits, 
 it will convey a feverifli heat into the fmcere milk 
 of the word, which will breed ill blood in the 
 hearers, — furly prejudice againft us and our doc- 
 trine. 
 
 Warm we ought to be, but it mufl; be the 
 warmth of love. While we fliew ourfelves all fire 
 againft fin, we muft then appear to burn only with 
 love to fouls ; meek and forgiving in our own 
 caufe, referving all our heat for the caufe of our 
 God. And he may take mod liberty in re- 
 proving offences againfl God, who fhews the great- 
 efl readinefs to forgive the wrongs that are done to 
 himfelf. This leads 
 
 To obferv? another mean by w^hich we gain 
 the great end of our miniftry, i. e. a cordial u- 
 nion among ourfelves, in carrying on the com- 
 mon interefl of cur one Lord : " Now we be- 
 feech you, brethren," fays Paul, " by the name 
 of our Lord Jefus Chrifl, that ye all fpcak the 
 fame things ; and that there be no divifions among 
 you ; but that ye be perfedly joined together in 
 the fame mind, and in the fame judgement.*' — 
 
 « When 
 
Part II. ^n Ordhiation- Sermon. 53* 
 
 " When the watchmen thus hft up the voice to- 
 gether, Zion profpers." ■ Vv^hcn, on the contrary, 
 we " confult with flelh and blood," and are by 
 our felfiih paflions dillrafted and divided ; when 
 we run into parties, and contend who fliall lord it 
 over the reft ; we fooliflily pull down what we 
 ought to build up and maintain. 
 
 The pride ot" man is not eafily fubjed to Pref- 
 byterian parity. The ambitious cannot brook its 
 reflraints. At the very time they protefs regard 
 for the conftitution, they will (train hard to obtain 
 the pre-eminence it forbids. Hence it is, that 
 fome, turning afide from their proper work to the 
 fludy of politics, employ their time and talents in 
 devifmg how they may outwit and difconcert their 
 rivals. This is the gift wherein they covet to ex- 
 cel. And what is this boafled excellence, but fu- 
 perior dexterity in prieilcraft and deceit ? 
 
 For conducting the government of the church, 
 wifdom and prudence in a high degree are reoui- 
 fite ; and for this fome are peculiarly gifted above 
 others. Let fuch employ their talents, with 
 meeknefs of wifdom, for the peace and profperity 
 of the church; and they fh all be refpected, and 
 fubmitted to. 
 
 \Vere we all difpofed to a6l honeftly for what 
 ought to be the common intereft of all, there 
 would be no occafion for treading in the dark 
 mazes of policy. No material difference in opi- 
 nion or conduct could fubfift long among us, there 
 
 being 
 
5^ An Ordination-Sermjii. ' Ser. I. 
 
 being no Intricacy in the principles of the church 
 to cauie fuch difference. Thefe are well known, 
 or may eafily be known. Our difagreement muft 
 therefore proceed from other caufes, — our jarring 
 interefts, our felfidi views and paffions. 
 
 In fuch a great body as a national church, it is 
 not to be fuppofed but there Ihall be differences, 
 arifmg from the mixture of corrupt members, and 
 from different degrees of light in her found ones. 
 As to differences in leffer matters, mutual forbear- 
 ance is to be exercifed ; without this, no fociety 
 can for any time keep together. With rigour to 
 prefs compliance in every point, doth not fecure, 
 but breaks order and peace. It is ftrange that this 
 is not adverted to, and that the forbearance which 
 Chriftianity requires is not exercifed. Whence 
 can this proceed ? Do the principles of the church 
 forbid it ? It is a ffiameful refledion upon any 
 church-conftitution, to fay it prohibits forbear- 
 ance where Go'd's word requires it. The dif- 
 honourable imputation applies not to the prin- 
 ciples of the church, but to the fpirit of its meni- 
 
 ]^ers. Can the principles of the church 
 
 deny forbearance to any in ading conform- 
 ably to thefe principles, againft a mcafure con- 
 tradictory to them ? Do they not grant even 
 greater indulgence than this, as not only con- 
 fident with, but neceffary, to the flifety, to 
 the beauty, to the peace, and all the valuable 
 concerns of every church of Chriil ? That difci- 
 
 pline 
 
.Partil. -^11 Ordination-Sermon. 57 
 
 pllne which denies mutual forbearance with re- 
 fpe£t to lefler differences, while it relaxes of its 
 feverity towards trefpaffes upon " the weightier 
 matters of the law," is liable to fufpicion, that it 
 proceeds from " the evil fpirit in mm that lud- 
 ethtoenvy;" and that the true intereft of the 
 conftitution is not the favourite objed. — They 
 are ordinarily the wifed and bed of men, who are 
 moft indulgent to the religious fcruples of others. 
 And it is notorious, that thofe who are mofl for- 
 ward and rigid in forcing uniformity in every 
 point of external order, are far from meriting the 
 charafter of fuperior regard for religion, in prin- 
 ciple or pra£lice. This leads to obfervc, 
 
 That we mufl recommend our do£lrine by a 
 fober, prudent, and pious life. Without this, all 
 we fay will lofe its credit and efFe£l. Preaching 
 well, and living loofely, gives men occafion to 
 fay, Either this is not the gofpel, or thefe are not 
 Chriilians. It is by hviug the doctrine we preach 
 that v/e preferve our authority among the people ; 
 and our attempting to fccure refpetl without a 
 good converfation is a mere ftrue^ole for lordlv 
 
 O 00 J 
 
 domination. This is implied in Peter's words, 
 1 Pet. v. 3. " Neither as being lords oVer God's 
 heritage, but being enfamples to the flock;" 
 which plainly intimates, that it is only by tranfcri- 
 bing our doftrine into our lives ; by recommend- 
 ing Gurfelves to the confciences of men, both by 
 
 H an 
 
' j?8 y^n Ordination-Sermnn. Ser. I. 
 
 an examplary life, and by found dodrine, that 
 we can expett to maintain our authority as the 
 ministers of Chrift. So preaching, and fo living, 
 taking heed to ourfelves and to our doftrine, we 
 may hope to fucceed in turning men to God : 
 Mai. ii. 6. *' The law of truth was in his mouth, 
 and iniquity was not found in his lips. He walk- 
 ed with me in peace and equity, and did turn 
 many away from iniquity." So intending, and 
 fo fucceeding, joyful ihall be the meeting between 
 the ferv^ant and his Lord. Glorious ihall be the 
 reward of the faithful. When the chief Shepherd 
 fliall appear, he fliall receive a crown of glory 
 that fadeth not away. When the fleeping dead 
 iliall awake, and come forth, then " they that be 
 wife fliall fhine as the brightnefs of the firmament ; 
 and they who turn many to righteoufnefs, as the 
 ftars for ever and ever." — But wo to that evil 
 fervant, who fays in his heart, " My Lord delay- 
 eth his coming ;" and fo prefuming, lets loofe the 
 reins to his pafTions. See his fearful doom, 
 Matth. xxiv. 48. — -51. 
 
 4. If it be the minifler's bufinefs to fpeak the 
 words of God, for turning men to him, then 
 certainly ought the people, with this intention, to 
 hear them from us. Be ye well acquainted with 
 fcriprure ; and by it examine what you hear. 
 You mull not take all for gofpel that founds like 
 gofpel. You may hear Chrifl and grace, and 
 high ftrains of grace, oft repeated j yet this may 
 
 not 
 
Part II. ^n Ordination- Sermon. 59 
 
 not be preaching Chrifl:. Advert to the tendency 
 of what you hear. If, while it levels confidence 
 in felf-rightcoufnefs, it takes us off from the love 
 and pradice of fin, and leads to Chrifl for holi- 
 nefs, as well as for pardon, receive ^t as the truth ; 
 but if it doth not, alfuredly the doctrine is un- 
 found. It may foothe imagination, and foften the 
 pailions ; but it poifons the heart. Take heed 
 how you hear, — that you hear attentively, with 
 an honefl purpofe, to be inflruded, and turned to 
 God, in anfwer to the defign of the word ; in 
 order to which, you had need to watch over the 
 fubtile workings of the heart, by which you are 
 in danger of being mifled to favour or cenfure 
 doftrines as they agree or difagree with your 
 corrupt tafte. The heart of every man, under the 
 influence of fm, is naturally heretical : fo that oft, 
 when you cenfure the dodrine, you ought rather 
 to cenfure your own heart. The dodrine may be 
 found and good, and yet, by an unfound heart, 
 be perverted to a bad defign. Thus ungodly 
 men turn the Bible-dodrlne of grace to licentiouf- 
 nefs. Take heed, therefore, that you come to 
 hear with an honefl intention to profit. And for 
 this end, confider the order in which you are to 
 take up the Bible-fcheme of religion ; — 'that firft 
 you have faith to fee the truth of revelation, the 
 harmony and glory of the divine perfedions, 
 " fhining in the face of Chrifl," and in the doc- 
 trines concerning him ; and the infallible cer- 
 li 2 ^ tainty 
 
6o ylii Ordination-Sermon. Ser. T, 
 
 tainty of that life and immortality brought to 
 light by the gofpel. Even in natural religion, 
 faith muft have the lead. According to mens ap- 
 prehenfions of God, of his perfeQions, and of the 
 certainty of a future ftate, they Ihall be influenced 
 to live virtuoufly. Till men are ftrongly perfua- 
 ded of thefe truths, cold directions to do this and 
 that, enforced by elegant defcriptions of the beau- 
 ty of virtue, are feeble cords to draw or to hold 
 them to virtue. AvA until we apprehend God 
 in the light of gofpel- grace, until we fee the at- 
 onement in Chrifl's blood, with the promife of 
 the Spirit, " to work in us all our works," and, 
 under the humbling convidion of guilt and con- 
 demnation, embrace the Saviour as our righteouf- 
 nefs and ftrength, vain are our attempts to mor- 
 tify corruption in heart, and yield loving obedi- 
 ence to the law. The queiiion, therefore, is in- 
 judicious. Whether morality be better than faith ? 
 It is as if you fhould afli, whether walking be 
 better than the life, which puts the feet in mo- 
 tion ? or whether the lamp that burns be better 
 than the oil which feeds the flam.e ? There is 
 no life nor real worth in morals without faith, as 
 they neither proceed from a pure heart, nor are 
 directed by a fmgle eye. On the other hand, it 
 is not a living faith, but a fruitlefs notion, which 
 is not produftive of good works. Both are infe- 
 parably connected together. 
 
 You cannot, therefore, hear too much of the 
 
 Coi^riiics 
 
Part II. j4n Ordination-Sermon, 61 
 
 doctrines of grace, nor be too much delighted in 
 hearing them : but give ferious attention to their 
 defign. Be concerned to feel their virtue and 
 power, in turning you from fm, your favourite 
 fms. Be earneft in prayer for this effedl. Judge 
 not of your profiting merely by the pleafure you 
 have in hearing. You may have a natural pleafure 
 in hearing, without any fpiritual advantage. Your 
 profit is ever in proportion to your growing ha- 
 tred of fin, your growing knowledge of, and 
 love to Jefus, and his ways of holinefs : " Be 
 ye doers of the word, and not hearers only.'' — 
 " Bleffed are they who hear and do the word 
 of God." — " If ye know thefe things, happy 
 are ye if ye do them." If ye do them not, the 
 gofpel is to you " the favour of death ;" and af- 
 ter all your pleafure and rapture in hearing it, 
 *' you Ihall die in your fins." 
 
 So far, and too far, I fear, for your patience, 
 have I delivered what I believe to be truth. May 
 the God of truth, and of all grace, blefs for our 
 good what of his truth hath been fpoken. 
 
 CHARGE 
 
6i An Ordination-Sermon. Ser. I. 
 
 CHARGE to the Minister. 
 
 Reverend and Dear Brother, 
 
 The difpenfation of the gofpel is committed to 
 you, and you have accepted the momentous truft. 
 Suffer me to lay before you, in a folemn charge, 
 as is ufual, " how you ought to behave yourfelf in 
 the houfe of God, which is the church of the U- 
 ving God." 
 
 The providence of God has called you to mini- 
 fter his word to this congregation. You are du- 
 ly ordained and fet apart to the work of the mi- 
 niftry. High and honourable is the employment 5 
 but it is difficult. Various and weighty are the 
 duties belonging to it ; divers and dangerous are 
 the temptations which attend it. For difcharging 
 the one, and overcoming the other, a more than 
 ordinary proportion of gifts and graces is nccef- 
 fary. 
 
 Before you undertook the arduous trufl:, you 
 have, 1 hope, counted the coft, and feen where 
 your flirength lay. 
 
 Before you devoted yourfelf 10 the minifl;ry, for 
 bringing others to God, you have, no doubt, firff: 
 believed, and given yourfelf to God, for your own 
 falvation, and have got the aim of your heart di- 
 reQed to his glory. 
 
 To 
 
Charge to the Mmijier. 63 
 
 To be called by grace, and to have Chrifl: re- 
 vealed in the heart, is a neceifery qualification for 
 preaching to others ; but not all that is required. 
 Befides the faith and grace common to all private 
 Chriftians, one muft poifefs, in a fuperior degree, 
 the gifts of knowledge and utterance, for being 
 able to teach others. 
 
 As you have ftudied to be furniflied vv'ith thefe, 
 you mud continue labouring to be enriched with 
 them more and more, " ever following on to 
 know the Lord,'* and his way, more perfedllv ; 
 that as " a fcribe well inilru6ted in the kingdom 
 of heaven, you may bring out of your treafure 
 things new and old.'* 
 
 Labour for a clear view of the mediatorv 
 fcheme, and its defign, " that you may be able 
 to make it manifelt to others, as you ought." Af- 
 itdi not to be wife above what is written. Never 
 venture to declare to others what you have not 
 firft clearly conceived in your own mind. The 
 vanity of diving deep into myiieries, or of foarino- 
 higher than their flrength could carry them, has 
 thrown fnany into intricacy, obfcurity, and error. 
 Be not flat or mean ; but be ever plain and clear. 
 Dark involved difcourfes, rarely, if at all, do good ; 
 they perplex, inftead of enlightening. True, it 
 is the Spirit of God that enlightens the mind ; but 
 ordinarily it is by the fit mean of a perfpicuous 
 communication of the truth. 
 
 For attaining this gift, give attendance to read- 
 ing; 
 
64 --/'^ Ordination-Sermon. Ser. L 
 
 ing ; and fee to make a right choice of books. 
 For diredlion in tl:^^, confult with perfons of ap- 
 proved judgement and experience. " Be not wife 
 in your own conceit," fo far as to think you are 
 above the neceffity of counfel from other men. It 
 is the mod unaccountable vanity and weaknefs to 
 imagine we need no help from the conference and 
 advice of our brethren. 
 
 Be not anxious to read much ; but read with 
 care. We become knowing and learned, not fo 
 much by turning over many books, as by think- 
 ing much, and digefling thoroughly what we 
 read, with intenfe meditation : " Meditate on 
 thefe things ; fo fhall your profiting appear to all." 
 
 As to the rule of preaching, never go to the 
 pulpit, but with a fmcere intention to do good, 
 to gain fouls, to convince, to convert, or to com- 
 fort the contrite. 
 
 For awakening this pure purpofe in your foul, 
 confider and feel the majeftic prefence of that 
 God in whofe name you are to fpeak, the in- 
 eftimable worth of immortal fouls, the high im- 
 portance of faving one of them from fm and 
 hell. 
 
 For gaining this worthy end, " be diligent to 
 know the ftate of your flock," — their fms, — 
 their complaints, — their diftrelfes, — their attain- 
 ments, — their graces and comforts, — the home 
 language of particular providences. Chufe fub- 
 
 jeds. 
 
charge to the Minifter. 6f 
 
 jects of difcourfe fuitablc to thefe. Implore God's 
 diredion in the choice of them.* Then ftudy your 
 fermons with care ; not fo much to embcllifh and 
 garnifli them with the ghttering toys of tinkling 
 words, and flowers of rhetoric, for gratifying the 
 falfe tafte, and catching the vain applaufc of fu- 
 perficial hearers ; but, by fearching the confcien- 
 ces, to render them profitable. Study to pleafe, 
 but chiefly that you may edify. Exert your 
 flrength to find fcntiments pertinent, clear, and 
 ftrong, — to exprefs them in forcible fcripture- 
 language, the fitted: to alarm and penetrate the 
 heart. Try them firft upon your own heart ; if 
 they tally with its experience, and rip up its fores, 
 you may expe£l they will pierce the hearts of others. 
 " As face anfwers to face in a glafs, fo does the 
 heart of man to man." Thus labour to get your 
 fermons firft wrought into your own foul. It is a 
 good rule, That, when we ftudy for the falvation 
 of others, we, at the fame time, ftudy for our 
 own ; urging our hearts to believe, to hope, to 
 love, to exercife the feveral graces which corre- 
 fpond to the do6trines we deliver : " So fhall we 
 be mighty in the fcriptures, fervent in fpirit, ferving 
 the Lord.*' 
 
 And, knowing in whofe name, and whofe word 
 you fpeak, — fpeak with freedom and boldnefs, 
 — flatter none, — declare the truth as occafioii 
 may require, *' whether men will hear, or whe- 
 tlier they will forbear :'* " be not afraid of their 
 
 I faces," 
 
66 ^n Ordinailort'Sermoju Ser. I. 
 
 faces," nor of their vvordii. Say in the noble fpi- 
 rit of the prophet,* — " As the Lord liveth, what 
 God has commanded me to fpeak, that will I 
 fpeak." At the fame time, temper your freedom 
 with prudence and modelly ; Ihewing that your 
 zeal is the flame of love ; efpecially in miniftring 
 reproof, which requires the greateft delicacy and 
 caution. By indifcreet forwardnefs, you exafpe- 
 rate inftead of gaining the offender, and get unto 
 yourfelf a blot. This fometimes will be the effed 
 of reproof, when managed with the moft confum- 
 mate prudence. It was the effed of our Lord's 
 reproof, although he was the wifdom of the Fa- 
 ther, and ever aclcd prudently. Stephen, alfo, 
 full of the Holy Ghoft, miniffring reproof with 
 the forgiving meeknefs of heaven, did only draw 
 upon himfelf the fury of the enraged multitude, 
 " who were cut to the heart, and gnafhed upon him 
 with their teeth." Do you your duty with fide- 
 lity and fmglenefs of heart, having all your de- 
 pendence upon God, ftriving in prayer for his di- 
 reftion, and for fuccefs by his blefling. So 
 preaching and fo praying, you may well entertain 
 hope, that your labour fliall not be in vain, — that 
 you fliall not preach one fermon without fome 
 good following upon it. 
 
 This painful laborious courfe you are to conti- 
 nue towards your growing improvement. It is a 
 poor account of a man, ftill poflelling health and 
 ■vigour, that, for the firfl few years of his mini- 
 
 ftry. 
 
charge to the Minijier, , 67 
 
 dry, he preached well, but is now fenfibly fallen 
 off. We muft never be at a ftand, nor decline ; 
 but be ever advancing, and " abounding in the 
 work of the Lord." 
 
 As you are to inflru£l: publicly, fo " from houfe 
 to houfe," — pundual, faithful, diligent in every 
 :duty; — ftudying every point,' that in none you 
 may appear lame — Give thyfelf wholly to the 
 great work of faving fouls. Lofe no favourable 
 opportunity of doing fomething in this way.— 'In 
 vifiting the fick, when, by the apprehended ap- 
 proach of death, the patient is difpofed to be fe- 
 rious, fail not to improve the advantage this gives 
 of infmuating proper inftruclion, with gentlenefs, 
 into his mind. The irrecoverable lofs of an op- 
 portunity of this kind, through negle6l or floth, 
 muft give uneafmefs to a reflecting mind. 
 
 That you may not be diftracied or dilheartened 
 in your miniftry, fee you do not intangle yourfelf 
 in " the cares of this life.^' Some, by grafping 
 too eagerly at the world, have overloaded them- 
 felves with debt and cares, — deftroyed their peace, 
 — difcompofed their minds for ftudy,-— -choked 
 the good feed in their own hearts, — and loft all 
 heart and fpirit for the duties of their facred 
 charge, to the great prejudice of fouls. 
 
 For keeping yourfelf and the church pure, at- 
 tend ftridly to the exercife of difcipline, in ex- 
 cluding from Chriftian privileges the ignorant and 
 profane, whofe too cafy admiffion to them, we 
 
 I 2 are 
 
68 y^n Ordination- Sermon. Ser. L 
 
 are fure, offends God, " profanes the fan6l:uary," 
 and " provokes the glory to depart." Keep fuch 
 back, till they are inftruded, and recovered to a 
 good life. In this you need to exercife prudence. 
 — Be not hafty to publifli, and to bring before 
 church-courts, every offence. — If it be private, 
 or known only to a few, try, according to the 
 rules of fcripture, and of the church, what may 
 be done with the delinquent by private commu- 
 ning. If the offence be an open fcandal, pubHc 
 difciplinemuft be exercifed, and cenfure inflicted, 
 proportioned to the crime. 
 
 For giving weight and authority to your facred 
 niiniflrations, let your life be blamelefs, ■ — a life 
 of exemplary fobriety and moderation. Approach 
 not near the borders of immorality, — " abftain 
 from all appearance of evil." Be not fo much as 
 fufpeded of intemperance. 
 
 Let your whole life difcover your fear of God, 
 .— your fear to offend, — your fear " to hinder 
 the gofpei," — your juft concern to " magnify your 
 office." In things indifferent, pleafe not your- 
 felf, but your neighbour for his good, to edifica- 
 tion. " Thus walk charitably towards your bro- 
 ther." Let your whole condutl: breathe good 
 will and love to your people. Make it manifefl that 
 it is your heart's defire and prayer to God that they 
 may be faved. 
 
 Give proof ofU^he'love of God dwelling in 
 3^ou, by being forward to remember the poor, e- 
 
 fpecially 
 
charge to the Minifiei\ 69 
 
 fpecially poor faints, Gal. ii. 10. — Manage their 
 funds with difcreet oeconomy. Find out the indi- 
 gent. Diftribute to their neceflities. " As you 
 abound in every thing, in faith, in utterance, in 
 knowledge, and in all diligence, fee that you a- 
 bound in this grace alfo." 
 
 Let the condefcending gentlenefs and meeknefs 
 of your Lord adorn your general behaviour, 
 recommend and endear you to all. Be humble, 
 but with dignity ; grave, but not furly nor mo- 
 rofe. Maintain that juft medium, between fervile 
 familiarity and forbidding referve, which fecures 
 againll contempt, and gains refpeft. 
 ■ Be not foon angry, " He who is hafly of fpirit 
 cxalteth folly." — Be not apt to kindle into paffion 
 upon every flight provocation. This weaknefs 
 muft leiTen you in mens efteem. And, when 
 greatly injured, (which may probably happen one 
 time or other), " render not evil for evil, — railing 
 for railing, but contrariwife, blefling.** Never 
 bring your private quarrels into the pulpit. Shew, 
 by a ready difpofition to forgive, that you feek 
 not revenge, but the offender's recovery to God ; 
 — that you are more affected with the injury as 
 done to God, and to the finner himfelf, than as 
 done to you. Thus, by all methods of meek for- 
 bearance and kindnefs, ftudy to gain mens hearts, 
 to overcome their evil with your good. " The 
 fervant of the Lord muft not ftrive, but be gentle 
 -to all." At the fame time it is neceffary, thaf, 
 >' on 
 
70 j^n Ord'mation-Sermon.. Ser. I. 
 
 on occafions, you rebuke fharply and with autho- 
 rity. For the more perfect knowledge of the fe- 
 veral duties incumbent upon you, with refpecl to 
 worfliip, difcipline, and government, confult the 
 fcriptures : " Wherewith ihall a young man cleanfc 
 his way ? By taking heed thereto according to the 
 word." 
 
 This charge I give thee before God, who 
 quickeneth all things, and before Jefus Chrift, 
 who before Pontius Pilate witnefled a good con- 
 feffion, that you keep this commandment without 
 fpot, unrebukable until the appearing of our 
 Lord Jefus Chrift. 
 
 You will be ready to fay, — How folemn the 
 charge ! — O how high the demand ! " And who 
 is fufficient for thefe things?" — "Be of good 
 courage :" " Your fufficiency is of God ; he 
 fends you not a warfare upon your own char- 
 ges." — Live by faith upon your Lord, and he 
 will blefs and profper you ; by his grace ftrength- 
 ening you, you can do all things. Nor be dif- 
 couraged, although, for a time, no obfervable 
 fuccefs iliould attend your miniftry. This ought 
 to humble us, and to awaken prayer : but not to 
 diihearten or difquiet us, if our hearts reproach 
 us not with negligence and unfaithfulnefs. — Do 
 you your duty, — truft in the Lord, and be do- 
 ing good ; and for your rejoicing *' you fhall have 
 the teftimony of a good confcience." — " Though 
 Krael fliould not be gathered, you fliall be glori- 
 ous 
 
charge to ihe Minijier* ^t 
 
 ous in the eyes of the Lord, your work lliall 
 be with your God."™" Bs not then weary of 
 well-doing ; for in due feafon you fliall reap if you 
 faint not/' Yea God may comfort your heart, 
 with manifefl; proofs of your fuccefs, before you 
 die; fo that on the confmes of eternity you fliall 
 exult in the glad profped of appearing before God, 
 with feveral of your flock along with you ; of 
 whom you will be bold to fay, — Behold me. 
 Lord, and the children thou haft gracioufly given 
 me ! 
 
 CHARGE to the People. 
 
 Suffer me, before I conclude, to direct 
 a fliort addrefs to the people of this congrega- 
 tion. 
 
 You are now provided with the greateft blefling 
 in time, a gofpel-miniftry, the chief means ap- 
 pointed of God for bringing men to himfelf. Be 
 fenfible of your mercy, thankful to God for it, 
 and take heed how you improve it. 
 
 You have got a mlnifter fettled among you with- 
 out violence to your inclinations. He is of your 
 own chufmg. Hence no prejudice, occafioned by 
 intrufion, ftands againft him : a circumftance 
 which renders you the more inexcufable if you 
 do not profit by him. For what purpofe have 
 
 you 
 
72. A;i Ordination-Sermon. Ser. I. 
 
 you called him ? Why is he ordained among 
 you ? — Do you think, that, becaufe you 
 have called him, he mufl therefore be your 
 obfequious fervant, to flatter your humours, to 
 conform to your wills. — He muft ftudy to pleafe 
 you, but only for your good : — if otherwife 
 " he feek to pleafe men, he cannot be the fervant 
 of Chrift." 
 
 " Let men account of us as the minifters of 
 Chrift, and ftevi^ards of the myfteries of God, in 
 whom it is required, that they be found faithful, 
 diflributing to every one the portion allotted him 
 by the mafter, without preferring one to another, 
 doing nothing by partiality." — The minifter's 
 bufmefs is, honeftly to declare the truth for bring- 
 ing you to God. 
 
 The character is honourable, and very import- 
 ant : it challenges your efteem and veneration. 
 You have already teftified your regard for this 
 man, in judging and chufmg him as a fit paftor, 
 to whom you may fafely commit the care of your 
 fouls. Fall not from your declared refpeft, but 
 rather grow in it. '' He worketh the work of 
 God, and fpeaks the word of God to you.'* He 
 is liable to many temptations to difcourage his 
 heart, and weaken his hands in this work. Do 
 not ye add to his difcouragement, by your difre- 
 fpect and coldnefs of love. " We befeech you, 
 brethren, to know him who laboureth araong 
 you, and is over you in the Lord, and to efteem 
 
 hi:a 
 
charge to the People. 7^ 
 
 him very highly In love, for his work's fake : for 
 he watcheth for your fouls as one who muft give 
 account ; that he may do it with joy, and not with 
 grief ; for that is unprofitable for you.*'— Beware 
 of treating him rudely, " he is the meflTenger of 
 the Lord of Hofls." The mafler and the fervant's 
 honour are nearly connefted together : The in- 
 jury done to the fervant the mailer refents as done 
 to himfelf: "Touch not mine anointed, faith 
 the Lord, and do my prophets no harm : he 
 who toucheth them, toucheth the apple of my 
 eye." — Irt every parifli, there are fome bold (in- 
 ners, who, unable to fmother their unprovoked 
 fpite againfl: the m/mifler, will ever be bufy in 
 troubling him : let fuch tremble at the apoftolic 
 commination, " He who troubleth you, fliali 
 bear his judgement, whofoever he be." 
 
 Be not upon the catch for faults in his condud : 
 thefe you will find ; " for we are men of like paf- 
 fions with yourfelves." Watch not for his halt- 
 ing, with a malevolent intention to proclaim with 
 exaggeration his every failing, to the prejudice of 
 his character and ufefulnefs. Beware of hurtinp- 
 
 o 
 
 him with others by dark furmifes, nor defcrt him 
 yourfelves for leffer defe0.s in his life or miniftra- 
 tions. We command none, for the fake of order, 
 to hear him who preaches not the truths of the go- 
 fpel. — The Lord forbids it. " If there come un- 
 to you any that brings not this doftrine, receive 
 him not, neither bid him God fpeed." But fee 
 K that 
 
74 
 
 An Ordination-Sermon. Ser. I. 
 
 that ye well underftand what the true gofpel 
 is ; that ye judge not the matter from the 
 mere found of words ; and that it is from un- 
 feigned regard to the truth, and not from fpite, 
 you withdraw. Sometimes a pretended zeal 
 for the purity of the gofpel covers wrath and 
 pride, hatred and rancour ; and often, to be 
 revenged on the minifter, men take a fad revenge 
 on themfelves, by flying from their mercy. Nor 
 is it obvious that ever any, by thus deferting their 
 refpedive pallors, improved in their religious tem- 
 per and life. Give not heed therefore to the foli- 
 citations of thofe whofe ufual way it is to lie in wait 
 to efpy and to publifh the faults of others, in or- 
 der thereby to draw followers after themfelves j 
 and who, by this very pradice, are far from e- 
 vincing that they are innocent and good. " We 
 befeech you, brethren, mark them who caufe di- 
 vifions and offences, and avoid them : for fuch 
 ferve not our Lord Jefus Chrift, but their own 
 belly, and by good words and fair fpeeches de- 
 ceive the hearts of the fimple.'* 
 
 Never come to hear the word, but with a fin- 
 cere purpofe to be inftrufted. Come not with a 
 captious defign to find fomething to quarrel with. 
 PrepoffeiTed with this dark untoward difpofition, 
 the evil fpirit that infpires it (though there fliould 
 be nothing cenfurable in the difcourfe) will inftrudb 
 your wanton imagination to fport with the found 
 of fonie expreffion, to wrefl it into a bad fenfe, 
 
 greatly 
 
charge to the People, 75" 
 
 greatly to your own hurt, thereby " making your 
 
 bands flrong." Come with a humble mind, 
 
 a candid pure purpofe to profit; and you ihall not 
 " be fent empty away." Should there be fome 
 blameable wanderings from the purpofe in what 
 you hear, you Ihall be taught of God, " to re- 
 fufe the evil, and chufe the good ;" to throw away 
 what is naught, and to take up what is pure and 
 wholeforae. 
 
 Come not merely for entertainment to the ear 
 and fancy, by the fplendid eloquence and inge- 
 nious art of man, but to hear the word of God 
 for your falvation. 
 
 Some, loft to all fenfe of God's authority in 
 the word, come to church merely to be enter- 
 tained by man : they feel not the importance of 
 fcripture-truth ; but go away, praifmg or difprai- 
 fing the fpeaker ; and that is all the fruit of their 
 hearing. 
 
 Come to hear the overtures of peace from God, 
 miniftered by man ; humbly depending upon the 
 Spirit of grace for a willing mind to agree to thefe 
 overtures : " We pray you," faith the apoflle, 
 " in Chrifl's (lead, as if God did befeech you by 
 us, be ye reconciled to God." See you reiufe 
 not him who fpeaks to you from heaven by your 
 minifter. Should you be kind to your minifter, 
 and reje£l his mtifage ; while you flatter the fer- 
 vant, you defpifc his mailer, and the end of the 
 miniftry is defeated, — your fouls are loll. 
 
 K 2 Yea, 
 
76 ^n Ordination-Sermon. Ser. L 
 
 Yea, by your negled and mifimprovement of 
 the means of grace, God is provoked to deprive 
 you and your children of them. It is one of the 
 foreft judgements with which God threatens his 
 people, a judgement forer than famine of bread, 
 " that they Ihould wander from fea to fea, — 
 run to and fro to feek the word of the Lord, and not 
 fmd it." — " While ye have the light, walk in it, 
 left darknefs come upon you ;" left the light of 
 gofpel-truth depart, to give place to the darknefs 
 of error. And have we not caufe to apprehend, 
 from the rapid growth of infidelity, from the un- 
 fruitful formality, and from the open difobedi- 
 ence to the gofpel by multitudes, who ftill hold 
 it in profeihon, that this judgement, in a train of 
 other calamities, is haftening upon us ? 
 
 As you owe your minifter the encouragement 
 of your cordial obedience to the gofpel ; fo arc 
 you bound to contribute, every one in his ftation, 
 toward the comfort of his life, and the fuccefs of 
 his miniftry ; that, with refped to outward cir- 
 cumftances, he be well accommodated ; that by 
 no vexing inconvenience he be difcouraged and 
 hindered in his work. It is ftrange to fee the 
 backwardnefs in many pariflies to afford what is 
 neceffary for the accommodation of the minifter ; 
 that every trifling expence laid out this way, is 
 given with reludance. And is a gofpehminiftry 
 to be deemed a burden, and not a privilege ? Is 
 it not worth laying out fonie expence in its fup- 
 
 port ? 
 
charge to the People, 77 
 
 port ? Who hath ever felt its happy effeds, and 
 does not think fo ? 
 
 Befides, it is required of you more diredly to 
 forward his greater ufefuhiefs, by inftruding your 
 families ; you who are parents, by teaching your 
 children. If the inftrudion of children be negled- 
 ed by parents, and wholly left to the minifler, his 
 work mufl go on the more flowly. 
 
 Aflifl him alfo in the vigorous exercife of difci- 
 pline. Much you can do in this way, — by de- 
 teding the fcandalous, — by giving evidence a- 
 gainft them, when duly called to do it, — by dif- 
 countenancing them hi their offenfive pradices 
 and contumacy. If, by continuing your wonted 
 familiarity, ye encourage them in their fins ; if 
 ye fkreen them on any account whatfoever, you 
 are partakers with them in their fins. You are 
 chargeable with the fcandal, the prejudice and 
 hurt to the fociety, that enfues upon the delin- 
 quent's efcape from cenfure. " Have no fellow- 
 ihip, therefore, with the works of darknefs, but 
 rather reprove them ;'* that the impure may be 
 feparated from the congregation of the upright. 
 
 Laftly, Offer up your daily fervent prayers to 
 God for him. It is God's meffage he brings. 
 Can you love God, and not affedionately wifh 
 fuccefs to his meffage ? If it fucceed, it muft be 
 by the influence of God's own bleffmg ; and this 
 is obtained ordinarily by prayer. His charge is 
 weighty and laborious. He meets with unceafing 
 
 oppofition 
 
78 ^n Ordination-Sermon. Ser. L 
 
 oppofition from the world, and from hell. There 
 is no might in man to withftand their combined 
 force : " Who is fufficient for thefe things ?" 
 " If God ftrengthen him not with all might in the 
 inner man," he muft fmk under his difficulties : 
 therefore pray for him. 
 
 Do it for your own fake. He labours for your 
 fouls. He who prays not for his minifler, is not 
 likely to profit by him. In fiiort, your fpiritual 
 profperity and his are fo conjoined, that they keep 
 pace together. As he profpers and improves, 
 your fouls profp?r ; as he declines and fails, you 
 are in danger of fuifering lofs. On your own ac- 
 count, therefore, you need to pray daily, that he 
 may be under God's continued influence and di- 
 re 6lion. 
 
 By thus affifling him, you are confidered as 
 ** his fellow-helpers in the work of the Lord," 
 as partners in his fuccefs. As fuch, you fhall 
 fliare in his reward, and fhine with him in glory. 
 
 Thus living, and praying in the Spirit, knit to- 
 gether in love, " your hearts fliall now be com- 
 forted by the mutual faith of him and you." And 
 tho* you muft: ere long be feparated by death for 
 a time, joyful fliall be your meeting in another 
 world, at the appearing of our Lord Jefus Chrifl. 
 "When your pafl:or fliall fee you as his children in 
 Chrift, " whom he hath begotten through the 
 gofpel," and you fliall fee him as your fpiritual 
 father, by whofe minifl:ry you have been brought 
 
 to 
 
Charge to the People. 79 
 
 to Chrifl, and to glory ; who can conceive the 
 vehement flame of love with which your hearts 
 lliall then glow one towards another ! God grant 
 that fuch may be the great, the happy effect of this 
 day's folemnity among you. As it is comfortable 
 in its beginning, may it be fo in its continuance 
 and end. 
 
 And now, Brethren, I commit you and your 
 paftor to God, and to the word of his grace, 
 which is able to build you up, and to give you an 
 inheritance among them who are fandified. A- 
 men. 
 
 SER- 
 
SERMON II. 
 
 The efFeds of the word entering into the 
 heart. 
 
 Romans, x. 8. 
 
 The word is nigh thee^ even in thy month, and. 
 in thy heart ; that is the word of faith tvhich 
 we preach. 
 
 THE Apoftle, in aflerting the righteoufnefs 
 of faith, breathes out his foul in ardent 
 defire for the falvation of Ifrael ; intimating there- 
 by his ftrong perfuafion of the abfolute neceffity 
 of righteoufnefs by faith as the alone way of fal- 
 vation. Our Lord peremptorily determines the 
 everlafling (late of all men thus : — • " He that be- 
 lieveth, Ihall be faved ; he that believeth not, fliaii 
 be damned." This fentence is decifive and irre- 
 vocable. 
 
 To feek righteoufnefs in another way, that is, 
 by the works of the law, betrays ignorance both 
 of law and of gofpel, of God and of ourfelves. 
 The apoflle adduces Mofes, the giver of the law, 
 in fupport of the truth of his dodrine, — That 
 righteoufnefs and life come not by the law, but 
 by faith : '' for Mofes," fays he, " defcribeth the 
 
 righteoufnefs. 
 
Ser. II. 'The effeds of the -word, &c, 8 1 
 
 righteoufnefs which is of the law. That the man 
 who doth thefe things Ihall hve by them." By this 
 defcription, he (liews, that rightcoulaefs and life 
 cannot be atLain':^d by the works of the law ; becaufe 
 it is impoffible for man, in his prefent lapfed (late, 
 to yield that perfeft obedience wliich the law per- 
 emptorily requires. To the righteoufnefs of the 
 law he oppofes. the righteoufnefs which is of faith, 
 and urges it alfo by the authority of Mofes. The 
 place he refers to is Deut. xxx. ii. — 14. 1 he 
 apoftle, in delivering the mind of Mofes, varies 
 his words, fo as to accommodate them to the new 
 difpenfation of grace under the gofpel. Mofes 
 mentions the commandment or word of God on- 
 ly, by which we are to underftand the then reve- 
 lation of God's mind in general ; the -fubftance, 
 the life and foul of Vv^hich v^^as the MeiTiah promi- 
 fed to come, in whom the people were to believe 
 for life, through him. 
 
 It was not neceflary, for their living by him, that 
 they fliould fee him actually prelent before their 
 eyes. God's promife, that he fliould be mani- 
 fefted in his time, was a fufficient foundation for 
 faith to all the Old-Teftament faints. And in- 
 deed the leading command, under both difpen- 
 fations, is, to give entire credit to the tefti- 
 mony of God refpedting the Meffiah. Accor- 
 dingly the apoftle accommodates the words of 
 Mofes to Chrift already come in the flefh ; and 
 ihews, that our righteoufnefs, in the fight of God, 
 
 L is 
 
82 The effects of the tvord Ser. II, 
 
 is by faith in him, the Lord our furety, who, 
 being called of God, undertook our caufe, and, 
 by becoming obedient unto death, accomplifhed 
 our redemption. The difficulty fuppofcd to arife 
 againfl this doctrine, he exprelTes thus : '' Say 
 not in thine heart, Who (hall afcend into heaven ? 
 that is, to bring Chrifh down from above ? or. 
 Who fliall defcend into the deep ? that is, to bring 
 Chrift again from the dead." This fpeaks the 
 perplexity of man's thoughts, upon hearing a 
 matter which reafon is fo unable to comprehend. 
 That God fhould fend his divine Son, in the like- 
 nefs of fmful flefli, to die a facrihce for the fms 
 of men ; — that, after he had, to the fatisfadion 
 of juftice, finiflied the work given him to do, 
 God fliould have raifed him from the dead, and 
 given him glory; — and that, through faith and 
 trufl in the fole merit of his obedience, guilty 
 man fliould fland jufliihed in the fight of God ; — 
 all this, fays the unbelieving heart, is quite re- 
 mote from ordinary obfervation. No eye hath 
 feen, no ear hath ever heard, any thing fimilar to 
 it. — What evidence have I of its truth ? Who 
 will fliev. Jefus to my fenfes ? If I fee him not 
 with iheu:; eyes, I will not believe. Thus unbe- 
 lief infifls for the evidence of fenfe. Every one 
 would be an eye-witnefs of Chrifl's miracles, of 
 his death and refurredion, elfe he will not be- 
 lieve. This ever has been the perverfe demand 
 
 of 
 
Ser. II. tn the heart* 83 
 
 of infidelity. The Jews required a figii, while 
 they rejected figns which ought to have iatisfied 
 them. An evil and adulterous generation conti- 
 nues to make the fame unreafonable demand, fay- 
 ing with the Jews, " How long doll thou make 
 us to doubt ? If thou be the Chrift, tell us plain- 
 ly." Why, fay they, did not Jefus, after his re- 
 fur rcdion, ihew himfelf openly before all the 
 people ? But God, inftcad of granting fuch fa- 
 tisfaclion as mens perverfe humour infifts for, af- 
 fords another kind of evidence, more confonant 
 to his wifdom, and equally, if not more, fatisfac- 
 tory to the minds of all unprejudiced inquirers af- 
 ter truth, i. e. the teilimony of chofen witneifes, 
 having God's feal appended to their teftimony. 
 This teftimony carries fufficient evidence to induce 
 our faith, though with our eyes we fee not the 
 Lord. Nor is it neceflary for believing, that we 
 ihould fee him. We have a furer ground for 
 faith, the teilimony of the word ; a ground fo rea- 
 fonable and fure, that, if we believe not Mofes, 
 the prophets, and the apoflles, neither would we 
 believe lliould one rife from the dead. The Lord 
 would have his difciples believe upon the teflimo- 
 ny of fcripture, although he had not appeared to 
 them after his refurrcdion : Lukex.viv. 25. " Then 
 faid he to them, O fools, and flow of heart to be- 
 lieve all that the prophets have fpoken ! Ought 
 not Chrift to have fuifered thefe things, and to 
 enter into his glory ? And beginning at Mofes, 
 L 2 and 
 
84 "fhc effects of the zuord Ser. II, 
 
 and all the prophets, he expounded unto them 
 in all the fcriptures the things concerning him- 
 felf." Accordingly he fays in another place, 
 " Blefled are they that have not feen, and yet 
 have believed ; " that is, who fliall believe on me 
 through the word preached by my fervants, tho* 
 they fee me not with their bodily eyes. " Say not 
 then,, Who fliall afcend into heaven ? (that is, to 
 bring Chrifl down from, above)," &c. " The word 
 is nigh thee ;*' it is pubUfned to the world ; " it is 
 in thy mouth." You are taught it with fuch 
 plainnefs of fpeech, rhac yo.; may underfland it ; 
 and if, in hearing it, you underftand it Jo as to 
 believe it in your heart, and confefs it with your 
 mouth, you have the faith that juflifies. When 
 the apoflle adds, the " word of faith which we 
 preach," he means, that the word which he and 
 the other apoftles preached, was, for fubflance, 
 the fame that Mofes and the prophets delivered as 
 the object of faith, — the word, not of the law, 
 or covenant of works, but of the gofpel, or the 
 new covenant, written by grace upon the heart j 
 as appears fron^ the whole of Deut. xxx. particu- 
 larly ver. 6. compared with Jer. xxxi. 3J. 32. 2,^' 
 It was the fame fchcme of juftification by faith 
 that Mofes and the prophets taught, M'hich Paul 
 and the other apoflles preached, Heb. iv. 2. It 
 is the fame gofpel, with different degrees of light, 
 that obtains under both Teftaments. 
 
 Having' 
 
Ser. II. i72 the heart. 85* 
 
 Having faid fo much for explication, I fiiall, in 
 dilcourfing farther from the words, 
 
 1. Shew, that faving faith terminates upon the 
 teftimony of God in the word ; and, 
 
 2. Explain what that intimate nearnefs of the 
 word in the heart is, which rifes to this faith ; 
 and, 
 
 3. Laftly, apply the fubjed. 
 
 I. I AM to (hew, that faith terminates upon the 
 teftimony of God in the word. 
 
 By the word I underftand the revelation of 
 fcripture in general, defigned the lata and the 
 tejiimony. If. viii. 20. This word is the object 
 of faith ; particularly as it points to Chrift, the 
 centre in which all the lines of fcripture meet. 
 
 The capital truths concerning him, which faith 
 refpefts, are thefe : — That Jefus Chrift, the Son of 
 God, was made of the feed of David, according 
 to the flefti J — That he died for our fms, according 
 to the fcriptures ; — and, That he was buried ; — 
 and. That he rofe again the third day. Take along 
 with thefe fads the promife of God, that whofoever 
 believeth in him, or looks to him for redemption, 
 fhall not perilh, but have everlafting life. In the 
 verfe that follows my text, the apoftle exprefles 
 the objed of faith more generally, thus : " If 
 thou Ihalt confefs with thy mouth the Lord Jefus, 
 and ftialt believe in thine heart, that God hath 
 raifed him from the dead, thou flialt be faved. 
 
 This 
 
86 The effeCis of the word Ser. 11, 
 
 This is a fummary of the gofpel, comprehend- 
 ing the feveral important truths connefted with the 
 death and refurreftion of Chrifl. 
 
 Upon the teftimony of God, in this word, ter- 
 minates that faith which is required for falva- 
 tion ; or, faith refpeds and refts upon the written 
 word as the word of God, and the alone fure 
 ground of trufl for falvation. So it flands con- 
 tradiftinguillied from the belief /jhat builds, i. 
 upon the natural conclufions of fallible human' 
 reafon; 2. upon vifions and revelations; or, 3. 
 upon the mere authority of human teftimony. 
 
 I. True faith refpefts, as the ground of its 
 truft, the truth of God's word revealed in fcrip- 
 ture. Faith, once fatisfied of the divine authority 
 of fcripture, admits as divine truth whatever it 
 finds there, although reafon cannot fully account 
 for it. The pride of man leads him to call every 
 thing to the bar of his reafon ; to admit nothing 
 for truth, but what it can fairly account for, in its 
 nature and defign. How can this or that be true I 
 fays proud man ; it tallies not with my reafon. 
 Hence many wife and learned, (after having al- 
 lovs'ed the truth of revelation), not fubmitting their 
 underftanding to the wifdom and authority of 
 fcripture, but meafuring all truth by their own 
 natural notions and obfervations of things, have 
 explained away the true genuine fenfe of fcrip- 
 ture, vi^refling it, by forced and unnatural glofles, 
 to fpeak their own preconceived opinions. Things, 
 
 lay 
 
r 
 
 Ser.IL in the heart. 87 
 
 fay they, muft not be taken in their plain literal 
 meaning, but in the fenfe of our reafon. And 
 what are thefe ingenious reafonings by which men 
 fix upon fcripture a fenfe foreign to what the 
 common acceptation of words fuggefts ? What 
 are they but the airy imaginations of men, 
 which exalt themfelves againll the knowledge of 
 God? 
 
 If we, who acknowledge the divine authority 
 of fcripture, will reafon for perfuading men of 
 their genuine fenfe, let us reafon from fcripture, 
 as our Lord did with the Jews, and as was Paul's 
 manner in teftifying the kingdom of God. For 
 perfuading the Jews concerning Chrift, he rea- 
 foned out of the fcriptures, opening, and alled- 
 ging, out of the law of Mofes, and out of the 
 prophets, " that Chrifl mufl needs have fuffered, 
 and that he lliould be the firfl that fhould rife from 
 the dead, and Ihould fliew light to the people, and 
 to the Gentiles ; and that this Jefus whom he 
 preached was the Chrifl:.'* 
 
 The ufe to be made of reafoning in divine mat- 
 ters is this : After having confirmed, by it, the 
 truth of revelation in general, we fliould then, by 
 carefully comparing fcripture with fcripture, af- 
 certain the mind of the Spirit in them, which 
 
 faith refpeGs and refts upon. It does fo, 1. in 
 
 contradiftindion to the belief that is built upon 
 vifions and revelations ; in which 1 include the evi- 
 dence of figns and wonders which men wantonly 
 
 require. 
 
83 The effeCis of the word Ser. II, 
 
 require, according to their own humour, while they 
 rejc6: thofe fet before them, equally good and fa- 
 tisfying to honed unprejudiced minds. Thus 
 the Pharafees, after the Lord had performed be- 
 fore their eyes the moft real miracles, at once 
 expreffive of his divine power and goodnefs, fay, 
 tempting him, " Mailer, we would fee a fign from 
 thee." This unreafonable, arbitrary demand, 
 the Lord denies ; well knowing, that it proceeded 
 not from a fincere defire to be faUsfied of the 
 truth, but from perverfe unbelief and malice ; 
 and that, if he had indulged their defire, they 
 flill would have rejefted thefe figns wrought at 
 their own requeft, and fallen upon a way of difcre- 
 diting them, together with his other miracles. A 
 flriking inftance of this untoward fpirit we have 
 in the Jewilh rulers, who after they had acknow- 
 ledged that a notable miracle, manifeft to all Je- 
 rufalem, had been done by the apoftles ; yet, 
 from inveterate obftinacy, flraitly charged them 
 not to fpeak any more in the name of Jefus. 
 
 Thus men under the influence of a perverfe 
 infidel heart, pretend they cannot believe for want 
 of evidence. They quarrel with the evidence 
 provided in the wifdom of God, for gaining be- 
 lief j and, in its place, propofe another, after 
 their fancy, more fatisfadory. Why, fay they, 
 did not Jefus fhevi^ himfelf openly to all the people, 
 after his refurredion ? And why not to all na- 
 tions, — to all generations, — and to every indivi- 
 dual 
 
Ser. ir. in the heart, 89 
 
 dual in every age ? Such are the vain imagina- 
 tions of men, in oppofition to the vvifdom of God. 
 They would afcend into heaven, to bring Chrid 
 down, for fatisfadlion to mens fenfes ; though 
 the evidence, as it now (lands, is undoubtedly the 
 beft, and the fitteft to convince and fatisfy. It 
 comes recommended by the amplefl teftimony ; 
 yea more, it is written fo legibly upon the face 
 of fcripture, that it leaves all the world without 
 excufe in not receiving it. 
 
 The evidence is fufficient to fatisfy every dili- 
 gent honeft-hearted inquirer. Thoufands, the 
 wifefl and bed of mankind, acquiefce in it with- 
 out complaint ; and more than fatisfies fuch candid 
 unprejudiced minds, is unworthy of God to 
 grant in compliance with the licentious hu- 
 mour of unreafonable men. And I ever thought 
 it was doing too much honour, and paying 
 too high a compliment to the vanity of infi- 
 delity, to employ fo much laboured argument 
 in anfwering its perverfe frivolous cavils, which, 
 inftead of curing, has rather foftered and infla- 
 med its arrogance. Would men give that atten- 
 tion to the evidence brought in proof of fcripture, 
 which the ordinary occurrences in life require for 
 belief ; would they, with fober ferious minds, 
 look into the word, they could not fail of feeing 
 fuch evidence of its truth, as might fuffice to con- 
 vince them that it is the word of God- 1 add. 
 
 That faith finds, in the word, fure ground to 
 M rea 
 
go The effeds of the zvord Ser. 11. 
 
 refl upon, without the aid of vifions and revela- 
 tions, or fudden extraordinary manifeftations. 
 The dark unbelief of the heart infifts for thefe ad- 
 ditional grounds of faith, as if there were no power 
 to believe without them. Thus, ferious fouls may 
 be long bewildered by unbelief, and mifled by it 
 to pray for bright manifeftations, the evidence of 
 fenfe, in order to their believing, and thereby 
 be diverted from the courfe proper for ob- 
 taining faith, namely, reading, hearing, and 
 meditating upon the word, accompanied with 
 prayer for the Spirit to open the underflanding to 
 underftand and believe the fcriptures. 
 
 There is a certain manifeftation of the truth, 
 and of Chrift, to the heart, by the Spirit, necef- 
 fary to believing ; and, becaufe of this fpiritual 
 difcernment of God's teftimony and glory in the 
 word, faith, which comes by hearing, is juftly termed 
 feeing. But this fpiritual fight, which is equiva- 
 lent to the fenfible evidence which unbelief craves, 
 differs from thefe imaginary vifions, as thefe again 
 differ from that fignal manifeftation of the divine 
 glory with which God is pleafcd, fometimes, to 
 introduce faith, and which, on occafions, is his 
 peculiar fovereign vouchfafement to his people. 
 But fuch manifeftation is ordinarily by means of 
 the word : nor is it effential to the being of faith, 
 or neceflary to its formation, it being rather an 
 effed or concomitant of faith. Both are expref- 
 fed by Job, thus : — "I have heard of thee by 
 
 the 
 
Ser. II. in the heart. g i 
 
 the hearing of the ear," — that is faith, "But now 
 mine eyes fee thee." This expreffes a fignal ma- 
 nifeftation, fiiccecding, for his comfort and efta- 
 bUlhment, to long and great diftrefs : but both 
 the one and the other come by the word of God, 
 upon which faith faftens, while it perceives in it 
 the teftimony of God. 
 
 Thus, 3. True, faith refpefts the teftimony of 
 God in the word, in contradiftindion to that hu- 
 man faith which flands upon the authority of the 
 church, and of human teftimony alone. 
 
 It may be alked, — Is human teftimony to be 
 fet afide, as having no place in the reafons of our 
 faith ? The anfwer is. That there is a rational be- 
 lief of the truth of fcripture, which is introdudory 
 to divine faith. This rational belief is founded up- 
 on human teftimony, the ftrongeft that ever gained 
 credit to any matter of fad:. A great number of 
 the moft refpedable charadtrs atteft the fads 
 narrated in fcripture, fealing their teftimony with 
 their blood. Many who faw the fads with 
 their eyes, confirmed them to others, with figns, 
 and wonders, and divers miracles of the Holy 
 Ghoft ; a fort of confirmation to them equivalent 
 to the evidence of fight. The fads and oracles fo 
 confirmed, they put upon record, fubmitting 
 them to the fevereft fcrutiny of thofe who had the 
 faireft accefs to know their truth. Thoufands, 
 upon the moft convincing evidence, receive them 
 as undoubted truths : they deliver them to 
 M 2 their 
 
92 The effects of the ivord Ser. It. 
 
 their children, and thefe to theirs, as they re- 
 ceived them from their fathers ; — one genera- 
 tion thus tranfmitting them to another, down to our 
 own time ; fo that " a great cloud of witnefles, 
 compafling us about, in every age, recommends 
 the fcriptures to our belief : and not to receive 
 them as real matters of fa£t, upon fuch credible 
 teftimony, is a petulant outrage againft the com- 
 mon fenfe and reafon of mankind ; to pervert 
 which, is all that fome atchieve by their philofo- 
 phy. 
 
 But, though we admit the truth of fcripture 
 upon the teftimony of man, yet our faith ''that 
 brings falvation," is not therefore built upon 
 man's authority. This natural faith, which yields 
 to external evidence, comes not up to divine faith ; 
 it is only fubfervient to it, in bringing to our view 
 and ears the word of God, in which divine faith 
 fees the teftimony of God as the fole ground of 
 its trull and reft. The teftimony of the church 
 fays, as Philip faid to^athaniel, — "We have 
 found him of whom Mofes in the law and the 
 prophets did write, Jefus of Nazareth : come 
 and fee." Nathaniel having come, and heard Je- 
 fus himfelf fpeak, be fays, believing, " Rabbi, 
 thou, art the Son of God, thou art the King of If- 
 rael." Invited by what our fathers have told us, 
 we repair to the fanfluary, and as we have heard, 
 fo we fee, with our own eyes, in the city of the 
 Lord of hofts. Thus our faith is built upon the 
 
 infallible 
 
Ser. 11. in the heart. 93 
 
 infallible teftimony of God in the word. We 
 hear it publilhed by man, but it is upon the wit- 
 nefs of God we receive it. As the Apoftle fays, 
 I Theff. ii. 13. "For this caufe thank we God, 
 becaufe when ye received the word of God, 
 which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the 
 word of man, but, as it is in truth, the word of 
 God." Ye heard it from us, but ye received it, 
 not upon our teflimony, but upon that of God 
 himfelf. Upon the teflimony of man we fo far 
 believe as to come and fee, or to attend upon the 
 ordinances of religion, for hearing God himfelf 
 fpeaking to our hearts in the word. As the Sa- 
 maritans, upon the woman's report, believed, 
 and came themfelves to Jefus, and then faid to 
 the woman, " Now we believe, not becaufe of thy 
 faying, for we have heard him ourfelves, and 
 know that this is indeed the Chrift, the Saviour of 
 the world." It is obfervable, that our Lord 
 chides not his difciples fo much for miftruft- 
 ing the women who brought them intelligence of 
 his refurreftion, as for queftioning the authority 
 of God in fcripture : — " O fools, and flow of 
 heart to believe all that the prophets have fpoken." 
 They teflified beforehand that the Mefliah mufl 
 die and rife again. Upon this tefl:imony of the 
 fpirit ot prophecy, the difciples ought readily to 
 have believed, that he, who, by evident figns, 
 proved himfelf to be the promifed Mefliah, was 
 rifen from the dead : — " He that hath ears to 
 
 hear, 
 
9^4 "^^^^ effech of the word Ser. II. 
 
 - hear, let him hear what the Spirit in the word faith 
 to the churches.'* This is divine faith that hears 
 God himfelf fpeaking in the word, and receives it 
 upon his teftimony. 
 
 As infidelity draws its objedlions to revelation 
 from its intrinfic characters, fo divine faith, feeing 
 the charaders of divinity written upon the face of 
 fcripture, fays, Of a truth God fpeaks in this 
 book. 
 
 Thoufands have this divine faith, who never 
 gave themfelves much trouble to enquire into the 
 nature of moral evidence, or the proof from hu- 
 man teftimony of the truth of revelation ; but, up- 
 on general thinking, perceive the fum and ftrength 
 of the argument drawn out by the learned, in a 
 long train of reafoning, and thence readily con- 
 clude, in compliance with the obvious diftates of 
 unbiaifed reafon, that the concurring teftimonies 
 of fo many, and of fuch witnefTes, cannot be 
 falfe, but muft be true. Mofl juftly taking this, 
 for granted, they take up the Bible, and read ; — 
 they refort to the fanctuary to fee and to hear ; and, 
 by the bleffing of God, their underftandings open 
 to underftand the fcriptures, — to perceive the 
 truth and authority of God in them ; and they in- 
 flantly conclude, — " Of a truth this is God's te- 
 ftimony eftabliflied in Jacob, — his law appointed 
 in Ifrael." Thus the unlearned are led eafily to 
 believe with rational aflurance ; whereas many 
 who have beftowed much labour in examining 
 
 the 
 
Ser. II. in the heart. 9 - 
 
 the arguments of the learned for and againfl: the 
 fcriptures, whofe candour and good fenfe yield to 
 the commanding evidence of their truth, and who, 
 upon fohd principles of reafon, are firmly fettled 
 in the belief of them, do reft there, never rifino- 
 to the fpiritual difcernment of divine faith, which 
 fees " the greater witnefs of God" in the word, 
 •which fubmits to its authority, and ventures the 
 important concerns of eternity upon the faithful 
 w^ord of his grace. This leads, 
 
 II. To explain what that intimate nearnefs of 
 the word in the heart is, which rifes to this faith. 
 
 It may not be improper to obferve, that the 
 particulars to be mentioned upon this head, are 
 all the effeds of the gracious agency of the Spirit 
 of God, opening the ear to hear the word with a 
 feeling of its divine authority ; for, fays the A- 
 poftle, I Their, i. 5. " Our gofpel came not unto 
 you in word only, but alfo in power, and in the 
 Holy Ghoft, and in much aifurance." Preach the 
 word who will, fhould an angel from heaven be 
 the preacher, if the Spirit of God, along with his 
 miniftry, preach not the word home to our fpirits, 
 we never will believe for falvation. While Peter 
 preached concerning Chrift, the people who heard, 
 believed his words, becaufe the Holy Ghoft fell 
 upon them, Afts x. " It is written in the pro- 
 phets, and they Ihall be all taught of God." 
 
 Now the faith which the Spirit produceth oy 
 
 means 
 
g6 The effeds of the zuord Ser. IL 
 
 means of the word, as it is exprefled by the 
 word's being near in the heart, imports, 
 
 I . That the word fo enters the underftanding, 
 that we not only underftand the doftrines it deh- 
 vers, but perceive that they are of God. " Lo 
 now, fay the difciples to Chrift, fpeakefl thou 
 plainly, and fpeakefl no proverb. — Now we are 
 fure that thou knoweft all ihings. — By this we 
 believe that thou camefl forth from God." If the 
 word be heard, and not underftood ; or fhould 
 the letter of it be underftood, and the word not 
 perceived to be of God, it is far removed from 
 our hearts : even when we hear it with under- 
 ftanding, it is to us as if it were beyond feas, or 
 locked up in heaven. Such is the exalted under- 
 ftanding of the poor and illiterate, above others, 
 in hearing the gofpel, that they perceive it to be 
 the word of God, and eftimate their profit by it, 
 only fo far as it comes to them with this evidence. 
 How comes it to pafs that they, in true wifdom, 
 thus rife above many learned ? how, but by the 
 demonftration of the Spirit, revealing to babes 
 the things which are hid from the wife and pru- 
 dent, and from the princes of the world ? 
 
 The fit mean, fubordinate to this miniftration 
 of the Spirit, is plainnefs of fpeech, conformable 
 to fcripture-language. " We fpeak wifdom, not 
 in the enticing words of man's wifdom, but which 
 the Holy Ghoft teacheth, comparing fpiritual 
 things with fpiritual." The fcripture needs no aid 
 
 fron\ 
 
Ser. II. in the heart. 
 
 97 
 
 from the flowers of human rhetoric, cither for in- 
 forming the judgement, or for affeding the heart. 
 The felt authority of God gives the fmiple words 
 of fcripture a dignity and majefty powerful to awe 
 
 the heart. It imports, 
 
 1. That God himfelf, or the image of his 
 glory, is near with the word in the heart. The 
 word, by the Spirit, comes with an affefting re- 
 prefentation of the glorious objeds it declares, 
 -both of the terrors of the law, and of the com- 
 forts of the gofpcl ; the one defigned, ** the mini- 
 flration of condemnation ;" the other, " the mini- 
 ftration of righteoufnefs." As the Spirit is pleafcd 
 to apply the one or the other, God is perceived, 
 really fpeaking, by the word, in the heart, as Job 
 perceived him fpeaking in majefty to his foul. 
 " My people, (fays God by the prophet), fliall know 
 my name, — they ihall know in that day, that I 
 am he that doth fpeak, behold it is 1.'* 
 
 The truths are then perceived, both in their reality, 
 and in their glory. They are perceived in their reality 
 and infallible certainty. Thefe, fays the enlightened 
 foul, are the true fayings of God, and not; the 
 cunningly-devifed fables of men. They are to me 
 as certain as if I heard God proclaiming them, 
 with an audible voice, from the excellent glory. 
 If the Spirit minifter the law, its terrors are 
 as fenfibly fek, as if Sinai, all on fire, prc- 
 fented itfelf to our view. If he minifter the 
 gofpel, Chrift i$ feen " evidently fct forth cruci,- 
 
9S The effects of the word ■ Ser.II. 
 
 fied before our eyes." And as they are per- 
 ceived in their reality, fo likewife in their 
 glory ; as it is written, " They (hall fee the 
 glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our 
 God." " This beginning of miracles, (fays the e- 
 vangelifli), did Jefus in Cana of Gallilee, and ma,- 
 nifefted forth his glory, and his difciples believed 
 on him." As the word declares, the heart per- 
 ceives a wonderful glory in the divine perfon of 
 Chrift, in his death and righteoufnefs, in his re- 
 furreftion and fecond coming ; — that thefe glo- 
 rious objeds are near j — that Chrifl and his 
 righteoufnefs are near : " Hearken unto me, ye 
 ftout-hearted, who are far from righteofnefs, I 
 bring near my righteoufnefs, it fhall not be far 
 off." As near as the word is in the heart, fo 
 near is Chrift, for the heart to take hold of him, 
 and of his righteoufnefs, the word being the 
 vehicle in which this treafure is prefented to it. 
 Alfo, that his fecond coming is nigh : — That this 
 folemn event, as announced in fcripture, fhall 
 furely and fliortly come to pafs : the certainty and 
 folemnity of the event, (though yet at the di- 
 ftance of many years), making a thoufand years, 
 
 in the eye of faith, to be as one day. The 
 
 exprefTion further imports, 
 
 3. That faith perceives the word, and the glo- 
 rious objeds it reveals, as matters which nearly 
 concern one's felf, — that the word is fent to him in 
 particular, as if God addreffed him by name : — 
 *' Thou art the man:" — " Gird up thy loins now 
 
Ser. II. in the heart* 99 
 
 like a man ; I will demand of thee, and declare 
 thou unto me.*' 
 
 The fcripture ufes to addrefs the church in ge- 
 neral, in fuch a manner as calls the attention of 
 every individual to the meflage, as direded to 
 himfelf, IC xliii. i. "Thus faith the Lord that 
 created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O 
 Ifrael, Fear not : for 1 have redeemed thee, 1 have 
 called thee by thy name, thou art mine. ch. xliv. 
 21. 22. Remember thefe, O Jacob and Ifrael ; for 
 thou art my fervant ; I have formed thee, thou 
 art my fervant : O Ifrael, thou flialt not be for- 
 gotten of me : I have blotted out as a thick cloud 
 thy tranfgreffions, and as a cloud thy fms : re- 
 turn unto me, for I have redeemed thee.''— As Je- 
 fus faid to Philip, and to others, fo the vi^ord e- 
 ver fays, in Chrift's name, when it comes near to 
 the heart, — "Follow thou me ;" " Believe thou 
 in the Lord Jefus, and thou {halt be faved." 
 
 Wh^n the word comes thus near to the heart, 
 the eifefts are, 
 
 I. A fudden alarm, efpecially if it find us fe- 
 cure in fin. Then a voice vi'ithin us faith, " What 
 mcanell thou, O fleeper ? arife, call upon thy God, 
 that thou perifh not." — " Awake, thou that 
 fleepeft, and arife from the dead, and Chrift fnall 
 give thee light.'* The finner, flarting, awakes, 
 and finds himfelf to have been as one afleep upon 
 the top of a mad, ready to perilh ; and won- 
 ders he has fo long efcaped. Juftly may he now 
 N 2 take 
 
lo© The effects of the ivord Scr. II. 
 
 take up the words of Eliphaz, Job iv. x 2. " Now 
 a thing was iecretly brought to me, and mine car 
 received a little thereof. Fear eame upon me, and 
 trembhng, which made all my bones to Ihake.'V 
 In view of the holy majcfty of God, he anfwers 
 the defcription in Ifaiah, 57th and 66th chapters. 
 — a poor, humble, contrite fmner, trembling at 
 the word. Nor is it only the glory of God in 
 the miniftration of condemnation, but in the mi- 
 niftration of righteoufnefs alfo, that hath this ef- 
 fea. 
 
 The word having thus got within a man, and 
 roufed confcience from its flumber, it finds him 
 employment for faving his foul. The concern 
 and cry now, is not, " What fhall I eat and 
 drink?" but, " What fhall I do tobcfaved?" 
 Sitting alone, penfive and fad, he meditates how 
 to efcape from impending danger to the city of 
 refuge : " The captive exile hafleneth, that he 
 may be loofed, and that he fhould not die in the 
 pit.** While the word and Spirit keep without the 
 heart, men are fearlefs and fecure in fin, caring 
 only for the things ot this life. 
 
 A 2d ef!e£t of the v/ord of God's grace enter- 
 ing into the heart, is wonder, amidft doubting, 
 at the condefcenfion of divine grace. Surprifed 
 with the appearance of favour not looked for, the 
 fmner fays, Can this be a meffage from God to 
 me ? Whence is it to me, a froward rebel, that 
 Gcd fhould fend his word, yea come himfclf 
 
 near. 
 
Scr.ll. in the heart, loi 
 
 near, and fpeak fo kindly, in the word, to my 
 heart ? Methinks I hear his voice, faying, " Open 
 to me, arife, and come away." Upon which the 
 foul, filled with admiration and gratitude, rifes 
 without delay, leaves all, and goes after him. In 
 that day " his Iheep hear his voice ;" and hearing, 
 they eafily let go their idols, which held them cap- 
 tive. They difmifs them with indignation, and 
 follow Jefus ; their fpirits breathing, in ardent de- 
 fire. " O that we knew where we might find him, 
 and fee more of his glory ! " 
 
 The felicitous fpirit of prayer now kindles in 
 the heart. When Saul faw the Lord, and heard 
 his voice, perceiving it at his heart, the next thing 
 we hear of him is, " Behold ! he prayeth." Faith 
 and prayer are fo nearly allied, that faith is expreflf- 
 ed, at the 1 3th verfe of this chapter, by calling up- 
 on the name of the Lord : " And whofoever Ihall 
 call upon the name of the Lord, fliall be faved.** 
 
 A 3d effefl: of the word, near in the heart, 
 is trull in God, in anfwer to the word, and the 
 defign of its promulgation. The word directed to 
 the heart by the Spirit of God, " caufcs it to 
 hope and truft in it." The foundation of trufl is 
 brought near by the word : " I bring near my 
 righteoufnefs." This relieves and raifes the foul 
 finking in defpair, through fear of the curfe, to 
 a lively hope : " Here," fays the revived heart 
 of the contrite one, " 1 find firm ground to build 
 upon. For my ample fecurity, I have God's pro- 
 
 mife 
 
102 'The effe^s of the ivord Ser. II. 
 
 mife to trufl to. Be it unto me according to his 
 word ; and there Ihall be a performance of what 
 he hath fpoken." 
 
 Some, in hearing, rife to defire and joy, who 
 never reach a fettled trufl in the word ; and there- 
 fore fall off. Their defire and joy, not rooted in 
 true faith, fade and die. The fpirit of prayer dies 
 in them. Unfettled and Wavering in their hope, 
 and not finding with Chrill: " the words of eter- 
 nal hfe,'* they go back, and walk with him rio 
 more. 
 
 The 4th effed is^ fatisfadion, contentment, 
 and reft, in God. The word near^ in the 
 heart, fays, that it has penetrated into the inmoft 
 affedion of the foul, and gained the afcendant o- 
 ver all other objeds in the heart ; — that it fills 
 and entertains it abundantly. Upon which the 
 foul, exulting, fays, — " How fweet are thy words 
 unto my tafte ! fweeter than honey to my 
 mouth ! I rejoice in it as one that hath found great 
 fpoil. Yea, the law of thy month is better to me 
 than thoufands of gold and filver." Delighted 
 and fatisfied with this heavenly manna, the heart 
 conceives a diftafte at the grofs pleafures of fenfe, 
 and difmiffes them with abhorrence : " What 
 have I to do any more with thefe defiling idols ? 
 Too long have I been their flave." Rejoicing alfo 
 in having found the pearl of great price, the foul 
 at times burfts forth in grateful praifes : " In 
 Zion, comforted by the Lord, is found joy and 
 
 gladnefs, 
 
Ser. II. in the heart* 103. 
 
 gladnefs, thankfgiving, and the voice of melody.** 
 Wlien " the Lord's Anointed preaches good ti* 
 dings to the meek, and proclaims the acceptable 
 year of the Lord," the redeemed captive fmgs,— 
 " I will greatly rejoice in the Lord ; my foul fhall 
 be joyful in my God ; for he hath clothed me 
 with the garments of falvation, he hath covered 
 me with the robe of righteoufnefs." This joyful 
 frame is not uniformly permanent. The faint, 
 after he is " lifted up," is often " caft down again." 
 His ordinary lot is to pafs through viciffitudes of 
 day and night, of joy and fadnefs ; although the 
 ground of his rejoicing in thp covenant, and the 
 fpring of it in the heart, remain invariably the 
 fame . 
 
 The 5th effed is, confeffion of Chrift, and of his 
 truth, with boldnefs, firmnefs, and conflancy. 
 Experience of the power and comfort of the word 
 fo recommend and endear Chrift and his truth 
 to the heart, that we will not be afhamed nor a» 
 fraid to confcfs them before men : " 1 will fpeak 
 of thy teflimonies,'* fays David, *' before kings, 
 and will not be afhamed. Princes have perfecu- 
 ted me without a caufe ; but my heart ftandeth in 
 awe of thy word." He adds, " I will rejoice at 
 thy word, as one that findeth great fpoil." Both 
 fear of, and delight in the word of God, kept 
 him fledfafl in his adherence to it. The difciples, 
 finding the words of eternal life with Jefus, are 
 
 bold 
 
104 ^he effeds of the word Ser. IL 
 
 bold to confefs him in face of the terrors of the 
 world. 
 
 I obferve, laftly, That the word having thus 
 got near the heart, ever afterwards maintains 
 its poffeflion : having gained the fupreme affeftion 
 of the heart to God, and its trufi: in him, it never 
 lofes its effed in the foul, but " lives and abides 
 for ever," within us, in its virtue and efficacy. 
 
 Once " begotten of this incorruptible feed," we 
 ever preferve the aifedion of God's children ; 
 for the word of the Lord endures for ever, fo as 
 to keep up the prevailing defire of the foul to- 
 wards God, and its honeft purpofe to follow him. 
 With the difciples, it anfwers every temptation to 
 forlake him, " To whom fhall I go ? Lord, thou 
 haft the words of eternal life. — Thy teftimonieg 
 have I taken as an heritage for ever ; for they are 
 the rejoicing of my heart. — I have inclined my 
 heart to obferve thy ftatutes to the end; I will 
 never forget them ; for by them thou haft quick- 
 ened me." 
 
 Thus have I endeavoured to put together the 
 thoughts fuggefted to me by the text ; and, after 
 my beft care to explain its import, I am fenfible 
 it is but an imperfeft view 1 have given of it j and 
 that the operation of faith upon the word near, 
 in the heart, ft ill remains a myftery, not only to 
 unbelievers, but in part to believers thcmfelves. 
 To the blind unbeliever no words can convey 3 
 
 clear 
 
Ser. II. in the word. i oy 
 
 clear idea of this " hidden manna ;'* it is known 
 only to him who receives it. To the right under- 
 ftanding of this matter, the experimental know- 
 ledge of the truth, in hearing and learning of the 
 Father of lights, is neceflary. If, by this divine 
 teaching, we rife not to a feeling perfuafion of the 
 truth, our knowledge, even of the fcriptures, our 
 mofh extenfive critical knowledge of their contents, 
 inflead of profiting us, will only heighten our 
 condemnation. My confidence in the truth of 
 what I have advanced, is, that all is fupported by 
 fcripture, and delivered moftly in the words of 
 fcripture. 
 
 II!. Indulge me a few minutes longer, while, 
 in fome inferences, I apply the fubjecl. And, 
 
 1 . Behold, with adoring wonder, the engaging 
 grace of God to us the guilty fons of men, that, 
 when the curfe of his violated law had excluded 
 us from life, he fhould have opened for us an en- 
 trance into life and glory, in another w^ay, (mar- 
 .vellous indeed in the eyes of the whole inteHi8;ent 
 creation), i. e. through the righteoufnefs and death 
 of his only-begotten Son, *' made fiefli, and fet 
 forth to be a propitiation for fin through faith in 
 his blood ;" — a way highly honourable to God, 
 plain and, eafy to us. By the fatisfacllon of his 
 Son's obedience to the law, in our room, God's 
 honour is \\t\\ fecured. The way of faith in his 
 blood, rendered neceffary for our falvr.tion by 
 
 O him 3 
 
lo6 The effects of the. word Ser. 11. 
 
 him, (though impraclicable by the mere exertion 
 of our natural powers), is become eafy by liis 
 grace, which with pov/er works it in us. And 
 however God may have a peculiar favour for 
 fome, there is, notwithftanding, in the incarnate 
 crucified Son of God, hope fet before every fm- 
 ner who hears the gofpel, that he fliall, not only 
 be faved in believing, but that, by humble, perfe- 
 vering, diligent attendance upon the fiveral in- 
 ftitutions of religion, he may obtain grace to draw 
 his heart by faith to Chriif, and fo rife to life, to 
 favoiir and glory, for the everlafting honour of 
 God's lovereign rich grace, through the infinitely 
 meritorious righteoufnefs of his divine Son. 
 
 2. See alfo the kindnefs of his grace, its tender 
 care for our fafety and comfort, in giving us the 
 word, his own infallible word, put on record in 
 fcripture, as a ground of hope, as the guide of 
 our life, and our fecurity againfl deception. How 
 affefting is the condefcenfion of his grace, in ta- 
 king this method of fettling a correfpondence be- 
 tween him and our fpirits, by the written word ; 
 thereby to certify us, that when the word comes 
 with eflicacy upon our hearts, it is he himfelf, our 
 Redeemer-God, that communes with us. What- 
 ever fpiritual light or life, whatever reproof, com- 
 fort, or dire6lion, com.es by the word, we may 
 \)C fure it is from God, — the fuggeflion of his 
 Spirit. 
 
 By the touchflone of the written word, you 
 
 may 
 
Ser. ir. in the heart. 
 
 1®7 
 
 may try the fpirlts, and difcover them ; fo that, if 
 you are not inattentive, and " wiiHngly ignorant," 
 you cannot be deceived. You have been in iears 
 often; as often have you been relieved by the 
 word, your counfeilor and comforter. In relying 
 upon its faithfulnefs, you may be as confident that it 
 will never deceive you, as that God cannot lie. O 
 value the fcriptures., as you do vour fouls. Value . 
 them as a light fhining in a dark place, — the lamp 
 by which God guides your fteps,-— the medium, 
 by which he filently fpeaks to your hearts, — the 
 manna with which he feeds you in the defert, — 
 the fword with which he guards your fouls, and 
 wounds your enemies, with which he wounds, and 
 heals you again, — the ilaff given to fupport you, 
 till you have got through the dark valley of death 
 to the promifed land. O how deftitute of wlf- 
 dom, of counfel, and of comfort, are they who 
 defpife the word of God ! Of what treafure do 
 they rob themfelves who flight its ordinances ! 
 In mufing ferioufly upon this fubjed, one mufl be 
 ftruck with the danger of negleding to read and 
 hear the word, as by it God fpeaks to the heart of 
 man, inftrufts and forms it into a divine temper* 
 Go, in contempt, out of the reach of hearing it, 
 ar.d you are never like to hear from God, till he 
 fpeak to you in wrath. From this alfo, 
 
 3. We infer, that the preaching and hearing 
 
 of the word are of the moft fcrious and av^'ful 
 
 concern. God is peculiarly near in the word. 
 
 O 2 ' In 
 
io8 7'he effciCh of the ivord Ser. IL 
 
 In it he addrefl'es men by his fervants. How 
 dreadful is this place ! It is the houfe of God. 
 Know ye,- that it is by his authority we are here 
 affembled. It concerns us who minifter, to take 
 heed that what we deliver be the evident truth of 
 God. It equally concerns you who hear, to take 
 heed how ye hear, that it be " with reverence and 
 godly fear." " O worfhip the Lord in the beauties 
 of holinefs ! Fear before him, all ye people. Ho- 
 linefs becometh his houfe for ever. He is to be 
 feared of all who are about him." 
 
 Therefore, in hearing, be attentive, with ferious 
 concern, to hear God's voice in the word, — ta 
 feel it in its power. Man may fpeak with enter- 
 tainment to your undei (landing ; he may fpeak to 
 your fancy, and put it in a glow r but it is God 
 only that can pierce and overcome the heart. Who 
 are men, but miniilers by whom you believe ? 
 You may be greatly pleafed, you may be affed- 
 ed to ravifhment and wonder, in hearing man ; 
 but if you hear not, if you regard not, a greater 
 than man, in the word m/miflered by man, you 
 ftill remain in your unbelief and fms. Multitudes 
 wondered at the gracious words which drop- 
 ped from Chrift's lips, and faid, " Never man 
 fpake like this man," who yet believed net, 
 but periflied in their fms. In hearing, there- 
 fore, be attentive to perceive God's voice, 
 Chrift may be " knocking at the door of your 
 
 heart,'* 
 
Ser. II. in the heart. 1 09 
 
 heart," and you, through inattention and floth, 
 may not perceive him ; as young Samuel miflook 
 the Lord's call, though thrice repeated, for the 
 voice of man : " God fpeaketh once, yea twice, 
 yet we perceive it not." This liftlefs inattention 
 and fluggifh negledl may provoke the Spirit to 
 withdraw ; that when you feek him you Ihall not 
 find him ; when you call, he will give you no 
 anfwer. 
 
 4. If it be afked, (as it will by a ferious doubt- 
 ing foul), How may I know whether God has 
 ever fpoken, in the v^ord, with energy, to my 
 heart ? 
 
 To this I anfwer. That if, at any time, God 
 has, from peculiar favour, directed the word to 
 your heart, then, by it, the fecrets of your heart 
 were made manifeft ; — it hath told you all that 
 ever you did ; — it has imbittered fin to you. 
 — It has recommended Chrift to your efteeni 
 and love, and warmed your heart with defire 
 after him. While the minifter opened to you the 
 fcriptures concerning him, did not your heart 
 burn with ardent aifedion towards him ? O that 
 I could call this Jefus my friend ! he is the chief 
 among ten thoufand. — The word hath endear- 
 ed itfelf to your heart ; fo that your chief de- 
 light is now in the facred volume, and in the 
 public ordinances, the lovely tabernacles of God's 
 
 grace, 
 
no The effcCls of the ivord Ser. IL 
 
 grace, where he communes with his people, as 
 from between the cherubims. 
 
 5. Have you, in reading or hearing the word, felt 
 the effects juft now mentioned produced by it in your 
 foul. If you have, it becomes you to be thankful, 
 and, with humble gratitude, to adore the dif- 
 tinguifliing grace of God, in his kindnefs towards 
 you. Many, by nature, in like forlorn circum- 
 ftances with you, and not lets deferving of favour, 
 " he lets alone," fuffering them, without rebuke, 
 to follow the courfe of the world, and of their own 
 corrupt hearts. But, as the prophet expreffes it, 
 '* when he paflfed by thee, and faw thee polluted 
 in thine own blood, deftitute, helplefs, perilhing," 
 then, compaffionating your mifery, he faid, " Live." 
 After he had brought down your heart with 
 fear and grief, he fent his word and healed you. 
 By good and comfortable words he allured and 
 drew your heart to Chrift. The imprelTion made 
 by his love ftill remains, " as a nail fafliened in a 
 fure place.'* You may complain that it is not 
 with you now as it was in the d^ys of youth ; 
 but, flili, the defire of your foul towards him is fo 
 kept up that you cannot turn away from him to 
 other comforters. From this know your ele£lion 
 of God, — know that he loves you. Regard the 
 meffage of grace fent into your heart as an olive- 
 branch brought you in token of his covenant of 
 peace with you, — that, as with growing defire you 
 
 remember 
 
Ser. II. in the heart. HI 
 
 remember him, fo "he remembers you with the 
 favour he bears unto his people;" — that he will 
 bring you out of all your tribulations into Imma- 
 nuel's land, where, in fulfilment of your heart's 
 defire, you fliall fee the King in ail his beauty and 
 glory. Witli humble adoring thankfulnefs fay, 
 Why this grace to me more than to others ? Was 
 it in the diligent ufe of means, by being inflant 
 in prayer, you obtained deliverance and comfort ? 
 And what was it that inclined your heart to this 
 diligence ? what, but the fecret preventing grace 
 of God, without your knowledge of it ? By the 
 light of that grace, now beftowed upon you, you 
 will be taught to acknowledge this, that after all 
 your dilgence in duty, in failings and prayers,, 
 it was fovereign grace alone that faved you. 
 
 Let his unmerited dillinguifliing love to you 
 kindle your love to him, and keep it ever alive. 
 Let what he has already faid to you, and done for 
 you, encourage your truft in him for more, ac- 
 cording to his promife, — Look for the fecond 
 coming of Chrift, and wait for him, joyful in 
 hope. When prefTed with ftraits, when per- 
 plexed with any of the crofs accidents of life, let 
 this glorious event come in contemplation for your 
 relief; and wait upon the Lord continually, in 
 all commanded duties, for the continued provi- 
 fion neceflary on the way to your heavenly Fa- 
 ther's everlafting habitation. 
 
 I 
 
112 The effeds of the zvord Ser. IL 
 
 I conclude with a fliort addrefs to you who 
 never heard God in his word. Flow pitiable is 
 your cafe ! Aniidft plenty you are in w^ant. You 
 fit here " like the heath in the defert, and fee 
 not when good cometh." — In a fruitful land, you 
 are " as one inhabiting the parched places of the 
 wildernefs.'' God is near in this minillry, but 
 far from you, — far from your fenfe and feeling. 
 Your ears are fealed, you hear him not. This 
 and that poor man cries, God looks to him, 
 and fpeaks comfort to his heart, that delivers 
 him from his fears : but he looks upon you afar 
 off. You are deaf to his calls ; — he is filent 
 to you, as to one left by him to defcend into 
 the pit. — Does it not affed you to be thus 
 forgotten, as it were, and defpifed of God I 
 Does it not move your ferious concern, to think, 
 (if you think at all), that, when he warns, re- 
 proves, and comforts others, he fliould leave 
 you to fleep fecure in the chains of your lufls ? — 
 Awake, and call upon God, that you peridi not. 
 Pray, that his Spirit may fix your attention, and 
 *' open your heart to hearken to the things that 
 are fpoken by his fervants in his name." Often and 
 long has God "flood at the door and knocked," and 
 as often have his kind and generous offers been 
 rejeded. This continued froward negled of the 
 invitations of grace have fo eftranged God from 
 you, and you from him, and from facred things, 
 
 that 
 
Ser. II. Jn the lie art. I r^ 
 
 that you have not now the feeUng of either in 
 your confcicnce, which once you had. — RcfleCl-, 
 and be grieved at this ; but give not way to de- 
 fpair, fo far as to conclude in your heart there is 
 now no hope for you in God. — To day, if you hear 
 his voice, harden not your heart, either through 
 prefumption or defpair. You have deeply cor- 
 rupted your ways, " yet return unto me, faith the 
 Lord." The invitation is continued. — "Hear- 
 ken, I bring near my righteoufnefs, — it fhall not 
 be far off; hear, and your foul fl;iall Hve ; — inchne 
 your ear, and come unto me, and I will make 
 with you an everlafting covenant." For animating 
 your drooping fainting foul to hope, " confider 
 the Apoftle and High Priefl: of our profeffion Je- 
 fus Chrift." In contemplation of his truly divine 
 perfon and character, expoftulate thus with 
 yourfelf, — " Is there not in the blood of that di- 
 vine perfon, which is faid to cleanfe from all fin, 
 — is there not in it fufficient virtue to cleanfe me 
 from the enormous guilt of my manifold fms ? is 
 not the arm. of him who is the Almighty God, 
 powerful to fubdue and root out my inveterate cor- 
 ruptions ? Jhall I, by diftrufl of this, in contra- 
 diction to exprefs teftimony of fcripture, greatly 
 augment my guilt, by making the God of truth 
 a liar? — God forbid." By fuch communing 
 with one's felf, God operates in the confcience and. 
 beart. 
 
 P la 
 
XI4 The effects of the luoni^ c^c. Scr. II. 
 
 In order to ycur recovery to God, by his grace, 
 I offer the following advices, 
 
 1. That (as your own confcience admoniflies) 
 '' you abrtain from fleflily lulls which war againll 
 the foul :" preferve your heart, as much as poffi- 
 bly you can, from further corruption by unman- 
 ly indulgence to the fordid pleafures of fenfe. 
 With the heart man believes and receives the 
 truth. A fenfual heart is, and muft be, a blind 
 unbelieving heart ; it being grofs, and incapable 
 of forming any jufl conception of the nature of 
 God, and fpiritual things. — The moil invincible 
 obftrudion to the entrance of the word of faith, 
 is the indulged enmity of the carnal mind. 
 
 2. Be habitually importunate with God in prayer. 
 Wait upon God continually in his ordinances. Ne- 
 ver wilfully omit one opportunity of attending upon 
 the public miniilry of the word. " Bleffed is the 
 man that heareth me, faith the wifdom of God, 
 watching daily at my gates, waiting at the pofts 
 of my door." So doing, you bid fair for ob- 
 taining wifdom, and eternal life. Amen, 
 
 SER- 
 
SERMON III. 
 On the Chrlftian's freedom by Chrift. 
 
 John, viii. 36. 
 
 If the Son therefore JJjall make you free^ ye 
 JJmil be free indeed. 
 
 P A R T I. 
 
 THE defire of liberty is eflential to the confti- 
 tution of human nature. To be free is re- 
 garded as the highefl privilege of life, without 
 which all other enjoyments lofe much of their re- 
 lifli. But though liberty be the objeft of univer- 
 fal defire, yet, for want of confideration, the na- 
 ture of it is fatally miilaken by many : they do not 
 perceive, that true happinefs has its refidence with- 
 in the man, and refults from the (late and temper 
 of his foul ; in confequence of which they fre- 
 quently dream that they are polfefTed of freedom, 
 while in reality they are held in the mod ignomi- 
 nious bondage. 
 
 Some lay claim to liberty as their birthright, 
 an hereditary appendage of thofe outward diltinc- 
 tions which exalt them above others. They can 
 boaft of their defcent from an illuftrious race of 
 anceflors, of fplendid titles, of wealth and honour, 
 P 2 of 
 
1 1 6 On the Chriftian's Ser. III. 
 
 of a diflinguiflied rank in church and ftate, of 
 power and authority over a numerous train of ob- 
 fequious vaflals. They can to fay to one " Come, 
 and he cometh ; and to another, Go, and he 
 goeth." They have what their hearts defire : 
 ihey purfue their pleafures without control ; and 
 now they fay. Are we not free ? But while they 
 thus boafl: of their fancied liberty, they are the 
 abjeft Haves of corruption. All within is diforder 
 and wild confufion : the juil fubordination of the 
 feveral powers of the foul is fubverted : the fenfi- 
 tive part of man domineering over the rational, 
 to the deilrucVion of liberty and felf-enjoyment. 
 As the civil liberty of a people confifls in being 
 governed according to eftablifhed laws for the 
 good of the whole, fo the true freedom of man is 
 to have power over his own fpirit, by fubjefting 
 the inferior appetites, according to the law of his 
 creation, to the jurifdiction of reafon and con- 
 fcience. 
 
 This felf-government once loif, liberty is no 
 more the privilege of man. Hence the virtuous 
 fervant is free, and the libertine mafter a flave ; 
 the prifoner is loofed from his bonds, and the 
 jailor held in fetters. Who does not fee Paul en- 
 ioying the trued liberty, when he uttered thefe 
 words, " For the hope of Ifrael 1 am bound with 
 this chain ?'' and who can figure flaves more igno- 
 minious than his accufers, zealots under the 
 
 dominioii 
 
Part T. freedom by Chrifi, 1 1 jf 
 
 dominion of impetuous lufts, led captive by the 
 devil at his pleafure ? 
 
 What a benevolent free fpirit doth the great a- 
 poftle breathe, in his reply to King Agrippa ! 
 " Would to God, that not only thou, but all who 
 hear me this day, v^^ere both almofl: and altoge- 
 ther fuch as I am, except thefe bonds ? " 
 
 Let it now be obferved, that the Jews, with whom 
 Jefus was reafoning concerning the liberty to 
 which the text refers, could not digeft his ac- 
 count of it : on the contrary, though they recei- 
 ved him as a prophet from God, yet they claim- 
 ed their liberty, and all the privileges belonging 
 to the peculiar people of God, on account of their 
 natural relation to Abraham : " We be Abra- 
 ham's feed," fay they, " and were never in bond- 
 age to any man." To redify their miftake, our 
 Lord tells them, here, and in other places of la- 
 cred writ, that no man, of whatever nation, whe- 
 ther Jew or Gentile, who did not believe on him 
 as the promifed Meffiah, the Saviour of the world, 
 could claim, or enjoy, the liberty of the fons of 
 God ; that without this faith, tho' they were the na- 
 tural feed of Abraham, highly favoured, and diflin- 
 guiflied from the world, for ages pad, as his pe- 
 culiar people, his fons and daughters, they fhould 
 not long enjoy the illuftrious title, but, like LHi- 
 mael, the fon of the bond woman, be ejeded and 
 cait out of his houfe and family ; that by faith, 
 and faith only, in the Son of God, the promifed 
 
 feed. 
 
1 1 8 On the Chrijlian^s Ser. IIL 
 
 feed, in whom all the families of the earth were to 
 be blefled, and not by their external privileges, 
 they could be made free, could inherit the bleff- 
 ing, or become heirs according to the hope of e- 
 ternal life. The whole argument is fummed up in 
 the text : " If the Son therefore fhall make you 
 free, ye fhall be free indeed." 
 
 In difcourfmg upon this fubject, it is propofed to 
 fhow, 
 
 1 . The freedom here intended. 
 
 2. The reality and excellence of this freedom, 
 That this is to be free indeed. 
 
 3. That the Son of God alone makes us thus 
 free. 
 
 4. Laftly, I fhall apply the whole, in feveral in- 
 ferences. 
 
 I. As to the freedom with which Chrifl: makes 
 us free, it Is not fuch a freedom as anfwered the 
 expectation and peculiar circumftances of the 
 Jews, but fuch as was required by the neceffitous 
 Hate of m.ankind. It is true, the Jews were deli- 
 vered from the burdenfome ceremonies of the 
 law, its rites and facrifices, upon Chrifl's coming 
 into the world, and erecting the gofpel-kingdom ; 
 from whofe obedience and death thofe facrifices 
 derived all their virtue, and in whom they had 
 their full accompliihment, Heb. x. 1. — 14. But 
 however great this deliverance from the darknefs 
 and bondage of the law is^ it is not principally 
 
 here 
 
Part I. freedom by Chrlft. I ig 
 
 here meant ; but a deliverance of infinitely great- 
 er importance, from the bondage of corruption, 
 by the gofpel, extending to believers of all na- 
 tions. The middle wall of partition between Jews 
 and Gentiles being broken down, Chrift became 
 a light to lighten the Gentiles, as well as the glory 
 of his people Ifrael, proclaiming falvation to all the 
 ends of the earth. And yet what vaft numbers, 
 loft to all fenfe of their own intereft, rejcding 
 Chrift, whofe yoke is eafy, and whofe burden is 
 light, continue the willing flaves of fin and Satan ! 
 Nor is it lefs furprifing to find many who pretend 
 to the liberty wherewith Chri(l has made us free, 
 entangling themfelves amidft the endlefs abfurdi- 
 ties of fuperfiition and will-worlhip, after the doc- 
 trines and commandments of men. Hence the in- 
 vocation of faints and angels, the adoration of 
 ftocks and ftones, the auricular confefiions and 
 maffes, the penances and pilgrimages, the cru- 
 fades, the fallings and fcourgings ; not to mention 
 the other numberlefs impofitions of the church of 
 Rome ; commands in themfelves grievous, and in 
 their coniequences fatal. 
 
 But to return : We may confider this freedom 
 from fin of which the text fpeak, with reference 
 to the twofold bondage intQ which it has brought 
 us : 1. As, by rendering us guilty before God, it 
 has brought us under obligation to punilliment. 
 2, As, by captivating our fouls, it has gained 
 
 powei: 
 
120 On the Chriftian's Ser. HL 
 
 power to command our obedience to its vitious in- 
 clinations. 
 
 I. As to the firfl kind of bondage by fin, 
 namely, our obligation to punifhment, let it be 
 obferved, that this is the deplorable natural 
 ftate " of all the world, to ftand guilty before 
 God," liable, as infolvent debtors, to his juftice. 
 God being holy, muft abhor fm, as it contradids 
 his nature, and perverts his bed work. As a 
 holy, wife, and righteous lawgiver, whofe honour 
 binds him to maintain the authority of his law 
 and government, he muft, with exemplary feve- 
 rity, punifh fm. So he declares in the folemn 
 fanclion of his pofitive threatening againft it. We 
 therefore, by fm, are become the unhappy objedts 
 of God's difpleafure, obnoxious to the maledic- 
 tion of his law : " We are children of wrath, and 
 heirs of hell." How dreadful this bondage^ to 
 be caft out of God's favour, as an abhorrence to 
 his holinefs, and to be doomed to death by the 
 righteous fentence of his law ! Were one, by the 
 iuftice of his country, condemned to die, and re- 
 ferved in durance to a day fixed for his execution, 
 would he not bewail his miferable lot, his moil 
 •cdflifting captivity ? Still more completely wretch- 
 ed is our ftate, till we come to the knovWedge of 
 the Son of God, in being fentenced to die by the 
 righteous judgement of that God who can cafl 
 both foul and body into hell : " He that belie- 
 veth not, is condemned already." Of this con- 
 demnation, and of the certain approaching execu- 
 tion. 
 
I'art I. freedom by Chriji, 1 2 1 
 
 tion of it, every finner, in his intervals of fober 
 thoughts, feels the mod awful prefages : " A 
 dreadful found is in his ears," that in profperity 
 the deftroyer Ihall come upon him. Affrighted 
 with an evil confcience, " he fleeth when no man 
 purfueth." From the enllaving terrors of this con- 
 demnation, the Son of God makes us free. His 
 mediation averts the wrath of God, and obtains 
 for us his favour and friendfhip, with " the adop- 
 tion of fons." 
 
 Of this happy change in the finner*s ftate, fome 
 intimation is dropped into the confcience, which 
 relieves it of the fervile fear of death ; — " gives 
 the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of 
 praife for the fpirit of heavinefs ;'* — infpiring the 
 foul with the church's glad anthem, " Though 
 thou waft angry with me, thine anger is turned 
 away, and thou haft comforted me. Behold ! 
 God is my falvation.'* — *' Who now ihall con- 
 demn ? it is Chrift that died." This anfwer of a 
 good confcience towards God, gives filial confi- 
 dence in approaching to him. " Having fuch a 
 great High Prieft over the houfe of God, we 
 come boldly unto a throne of grace," anima- 
 ted with the fpirit of power, and of love, and 
 of a found mind. Which leads to obferve, 
 
 2. That with reference to the fecond kind of 
 bondage I mentioned, viz. the enllaving power of 
 fm over our fouls, the Son doth likewife make us 
 free. Man, in his prefent corrupted ftate, pofleiTes 
 
 (^ not 
 
122 On the Chrijiian' s Ser. III. 
 
 not the free exercife of his rational powers, the 
 fall has fo weakened and perverted them. 
 
 1. His underftanding is darkened, fo that 
 he cannot rightly conceive of God's nature 
 and ways. The natural man has no comfort- 
 able views of God, with any certainty ; but 
 fuch confufed mifreprefentations of fancy, as fub- 
 je£l: him to thofe fears which haunt the dark fhades 
 of night. Nor, in this difmal ftate, can man ap- 
 ply to his proper work, or proceed regularly in 
 it ; but muft fit down in uncertainty, and difcou- 
 ragement of heart. His ftate refembles that of 
 the Egyptians, who, when grofs darknefs covered 
 the land, fat down in their feats, difconfolate and 
 hand-bound, " and rofe not any of them from his 
 plac",'* to do any work. Or if man, thus blind, 
 fliould attempt to work, inftead of performing it to 
 purpofe, he muft mar and fpoil it. 
 
 2. We not only want light to dire£l:, but alio 
 v/ill and inclination, to our proper work. As 
 the underftanding is blinded, fo the will is per- 
 verted, and has contracted a rooted averfion to 
 the work of Heaven : " The carnal mind is en^ 
 mity againft God ; it is not fubjedt to his law," 
 &c. This infurreftion of man's will againft the 
 will of God is his bondage. True freedom is to 
 act according to the original eftabliflied order of 
 nature. This order fubjecls man's will to his Crea- 
 tor's, the proper temper of man's foul in its found 
 conftitution* 
 
 When^ 
 
Part I. freedom by Chriji. 123 
 
 ■ When, in order to be free, men break off from 
 this rule, they fall under the power of felfifli paf- 
 fions, and become flaves to their own will, the 
 froward impotent will of the flefli : as when a 
 rebel founds the trumpet of fedition againfb his 
 lawful fovereign, many, feduced by his fair pro- 
 mifes of liberty, refort to his ftandard ; but they 
 foon find, that, inftead of gaining and infuring, 
 they have loft their liberty, and are fallen under 
 the moft intolerable opprellion of a lawlefs ty- 
 rant. Only in being fubje£t to the will of God 
 we are free; as our Lord fays to the Jews, " If 
 ye were Abraham's feed,'* i. e. the fons of li- 
 berty, as ye vaunt yourielves to be, " ye would 
 do the works of Abraham ; but ye are of your 
 father the devil, and his works ye do.'* Your 
 own lufts are his weapons by which he enflaves and 
 deftroys you. What an outcry for liberty is often 
 
 heard from the bafeft flaves of corruption ! 
 
 This leads to add, 
 
 3. That the affedions are enflaved to the grofs 
 objects of fenfe, which entice and draw them a- 
 way from God. They are broken loofe from the 
 rank they held in man's firft conftitution, and 
 have degenerated into irregular appetites and way,- 
 ward paffions, arbitrary and impetuous in their 
 excentric motion, brooking no reftraint from rea-^ 
 fon or confcience, but ufurping the government 
 to which they oi^ght to be fubjeft. The foul, 
 O 2 which. 
 
12 4 0^ th^ Chri/iian's Ser. III. 
 
 which was formed for refting in God with fu- 
 preme delight, is become an alien to him, and, in 
 his place, has fixed upon earthly objefts, fuited 
 to the inferior appetites of fenfe. Moderately to 
 indulge thefe, in fubordination to the ultimate end 
 of man, is natural and allowable, and ever attend- 
 ed with fome real enjoyment ; but to give them 
 the preference, to mifplace the fupreme affedion 
 of the heart upon the obje6ts of fenfe, is wretch- 
 ed debafing flavery : for thefe fenfual exceffes ne- 
 ver fatisfy ; they give pain and torment, in raifing 
 and enlarging defires which they cannot pofTibly 
 fatisfy. In purfuing them, man wearies himfelf 
 " for that which is not bread." They ever leave 
 the foul empty and hungry, vexed and fretted 
 with difappointment : A ftate of mind much re- 
 fembling that of the prodigal, who would have 
 filled his belly with huiks, and was left to famifh 
 even without thefe ; or that of a ftarved difap- 
 pointed Have, condemned to hard labour, pi- 
 ning away in perpetual difcontent and chagrin, 
 
 4. Fvom this darknefs of the underflanding, 
 this perverf nefs of the will, and fenfuality of the 
 affcaicjis, arifes that excurfive vanity of the mind 
 which cannot fix in the confideration of any wor- 
 thy objeft ; which cannot, with (l?yed thought, 
 ** ponder the paths of life ;'* but fi irts dcfuirory 
 from object to obje£l ; and, after a tranfient fjlance 
 at divine things, breaks off from them, in diftafle 
 or defpair, to hunt after earthly vanities. What 
 
 pitiable 
 
t*artl. jreedojn by Ckrijl. lay 
 
 pitiable bondage is this difability to difcern, and 
 to dwell on the contemplation of the noble objects 
 of heaven, fo fit to entertain, to improve, and 
 perfed the foul of man ; — to be void of tafte for 
 thefe, and by inclination to be hurried on in per- 
 petual chace of one vanity after another, all fri- 
 volous and delufive, which ever mock our expec- 
 tation, and which, being ever prefent before our 
 eyes, and indulged by our atFedions, defile, cor- 
 rupt, and debafe the foul more and more ? ^ 
 
 To complete the account of the natural captivity of 
 man's foul, I add, 
 
 5. That, as an apoftate from God, he is fallen 
 under the power of Satan, who detains him in bond- 
 age. The fandion of the curfe incurred by tranf- 
 greflion, and the weak difordered ftate of man's foul, 
 now bereft of the image of God, render him an 
 eafy prey to this wicked fpirit. Hence his power 
 to blind the minds of men, to hide the truth from 
 them, to miflead the judgement to adopt the 
 moft pernicious errors. This power he exercifeth 
 over many of the learned, who often miftake 
 plain truths lying obvious to their view in fcrip- 
 ture. Wife in their own conceit, and fancying 
 their reafon mighty to invefligate all truth, in 
 fearching for it they drop dependence upon God, 
 and truft in themfelves. Left, therefore, of God, 
 to .einain under the blinding influence of Satan, 
 and their own pride, they wander from truth : 
 
 « While 
 
126 On the Chriflian' s Ser. III. 
 
 ^' While they profefs themfelves to be wife, they 
 become fools." — " Evil men underftand not 
 judgement."-— Satan alfo has power to operate 
 upon the lufts and paffions of man's heart ; to fo- 
 licit and draw them forth into adion, thereby to 
 defile, to corrupt, and harden, the heart flill 
 more. As " god of this world, he rules in the 
 hearts of the children of difobedience," to keep 
 them engaged to his vile drudgery by their own 
 hearts lufts. 
 
 This our captivity to fin and Satan is attended 
 with confequences which exceedingly imbitter the 
 fpirit of man, while the heart is ftarved, and the 
 confcicnce fretted. 
 
 Thefe are, perpetual difappointment, diffatisfaC" 
 tion, difguft, difquiet and vexation, felf-condem- 
 nation, remorfe and anguifh, jealoufies, fears, and 
 divers troubles of life, under which one hears no 
 comfort from a well-grounded hope, but the cut- 
 ting upbraldings of confcience, ever founding in 
 his ear, that thefe are the fruits of his wickednefs, 
 forboding infinitely worfe to follow. Thus are 
 their forrows multiplied who haften after other 
 gods. Every man's heart feels, that to be car-^ 
 nally minded is death, — prefent death to all his 
 comforts. Every wicked foul is diftraded and 
 pulled afunder with divers confliding paffions, 
 drawing contrary ways ; each thwarting the other, 
 as all of them together crofs the will of God, and 
 prqvoke his difpleafure. Impotent man there- 
 
 forcg 
 
Parti. freedom by Chrift. is;!^ 
 
 fore, under their power, muft be an abje^l flave, 
 and undergo torture fimilar to that of the inhabi- 
 tants of Rabbah, when put under faws and har- 
 rows of iron : no art of man to intrench and for- 
 tify himfelf in the delufion of falfe principles, can 
 divert thefe painful feelings from indulged cor- 
 ruption : " There is, there can be no peace to 
 the wicked, who are like the troubled fea, when 
 it cannot reft, whofe waters caft up mire and 
 dirt." 
 
 From this complicated bondage and mifery the 
 Son of God fets us free. As he frees us from 
 the condemning fentence of the law, fo from the 
 dominion of fin, that it ftiall not reign in us. He 
 enlightens and corredls the judgement:— -he 
 turns us from darknefs to light, and gives us to 
 fee th? glory of the Lord : — he takes off the fro- 
 wardnefs of the will, and fubdues it to obe- 
 dience:— "he recovers the affedions from their 
 raniblhig after fenfual delights, and purifies them 
 into a prevailing tafte for the " things of the fpi- 
 rit ;" — turns the eyes from beholding vanities, and 
 fixes them with fupreme delight upon divine ob- 
 jedls. Thus rectifying what fin has mifplaced, 
 allaying the fedition of the lower appetites and 
 paflions, and reducing them to their due fub- 
 ordination to the higher powers, he reflores 
 the foul to its primitive found conftitution, 
 
 and reft in God. Thus far concerning the 
 
 nature 
 
tiS On the Chriftian's Scr. IIL 
 
 nature of that liberty wherewith Chrifl makes us 
 free. 
 
 II. I proceed, in the fecond place, to fhew its 
 reality and excellence. That this is to be free in- 
 deed. Which will appear by illuftrating more par- 
 ticularly, what has been already obfcrved in gene- 
 ral, that from this freedom refults the higheft felf- 
 enjoyment, that peace and ferenity of mind which 
 conflitute true happincfs. 
 
 1 . Whom Chrift makes free, they are free in- 
 deed ; — free from thofe perplexing alarming fears 
 which diftradl the mind of the wicked, and from 
 that dreadful load of debt due to law and juftice. 
 This merciful Redeemer having, by the facrifice 
 of himfelf, in their room and Head, blotted out 
 the hand-writing of ordinances that was againft 
 them, nailing it to his crofs, and thereby can- 
 celled their obligation to punilhment, proclaims 
 pardon to their guilty, and liberty to their captive 
 fouls, " opening the prifon doors to them who 
 were bound." What holy joy mufl they now 
 feel, " when delivered out of the hands of their 
 enemies, they ferve the Lord without fear, in ho- 
 linefs and righteoufnefs before him, all the days 
 of their life !" "What tranfporting pleafure, when, 
 beholding a reconciled God putting off all his ire, 
 and an atoning Saviour, " in whom they have re- 
 demption through his blood, even the forgivenef? 
 of fms,** they can fay, in the triumphant language 
 
 <?f 
 
JPart I. freedom by Chrljio 129 
 
 of the infpired Paul, " Who fliall lay any thing 
 to our charge ? It Is God that juitifies : who is he 
 that condernneth ? It is Chrifl: that died." Thrice 
 happy t!iey who thus enjoy that divine reft which 
 ftrangers cannot intermeddle with, " walking ia 
 the tear of God, and in the comforts of the Holy 
 Ghoft." 
 
 2. It contributes farther to this felf-enjoyment 
 and happinefs, flowing from our freedom by 
 Chrift, that as he obtains our pardon, the divine 
 forgivenefs, he alfo raifes us in himfelf to the high 
 privilege of adoption. Tho' once outcafts from God, 
 the children and (laves of fm and Satan, we are now 
 the fons of God ; — once far off, aliens from the 
 commonwealth of Ifrael, ftrangers and foreigners 
 from the covenant of promife ; but now brought 
 nigh, fellow-citizens with the faints, and of the 
 houfehold of God ; — poor in the world it may 
 be, yet rich in faith, and heirs of a kingdom ; — ^ 
 bondmen perhaps in an enemy's country, and yet 
 free of the city of the living God, " who have 
 not received the fpirit of bondage again to fear, 
 but the fpirit of adoption, whereby we can cry, 
 Abba, Father ;" and are enabled, with filial bold- 
 nefs and confidence, to fpread all our fms and all 
 our forrows before him, w4io is our compaffionate 
 father, and never-failing friend. 
 
 3. Believers being, by faith in Chrift, ralfed to 
 the moft honourable relation of fons, are for ever 
 iafe under the protedion of tlieir Lord and King, 
 
 II \\\iO 
 
1^30 On tJic CJinJiian's Ser. III. 
 
 who rules in ngliteoufiiefs, and fways a fceptre of 
 grace over all his children. " A father of the fa- 
 therlefs, a judge of the widow, is God in his holy 
 habitation :" Their dwelling is on high ; their place 
 of defence is the munition of rocks ; the eternal 
 God is their refuge, and underneath them are his 
 everlafting arms. Thus fafe, under the fliadow of 
 liim that is Almighty, they are not afraid of e- 
 vil tidings ; they lie down in peace, and fleep, 
 knowing that the Lord will make them to dwell 
 in fafety. 
 
 4. One cannot well conceive felf-enjoyment 
 more pleafmg and delightful, than a heart to ap- 
 ply with vigour and alacrity to the work of God, 
 to be no more enflaved by the lulls of the flelli, ha- 
 ving thefe in fubjettion to the nobler powers of the 
 foul, v/hich, as you have already heard, is an eflential 
 part of the liberty wherewith Jefus makes us free. 
 To approve of one thing, and to be dragged 
 .by in cl; nation to tlic contrary^ is a perfect re- 
 femblance of the condition of a flave. In this 
 mutinous Hate of mind, man is a tyrant to himfelf ; 
 the ufurpation of his froward inclination ever ex- 
 pofmg him to the fcvere fcourges of his aggrieved 
 confcience. But when the will readily falls in 
 with what the judgement recommends as the will 
 of God, man then walks at liberty, uninthralled 
 by his dlfcordant faculties and paffions ; grace fo 
 reftoring thefe to their loft harmony, that the one 
 in ita natural order follows the other. All now is 
 
 peace 
 
Part I. freedom by Chr'iji, 131 
 
 peace within, in quiet fubjcction to lawful autlio- 
 rity. Confcience, the word, and the Spirit, with 
 their joint tcflimony, give peace. Yea, peace na- 
 turally rifes iVom the regular ailing of a renewed 
 foul : — " The work of righteoufnefs fliall be peace, 
 and the efTed of righteoufnefs quietnefs and afiu- 
 rance for ever." But when one attends to the ex- 
 cellency of this orderly courfe of the foul with 
 refpecl to the great obje£l on which it terminates, 
 and the confummate felicity to which it leads, 
 his peace rifes to *' joy unfpeakable and full of 
 glory." 
 
 There is one other ingredient in this freedom, 
 which gives the higheft felf-enjoyment ; that is, 
 eafy accefs to the purell entertainment, fuited to 
 the rational part of man. This entertainment is 
 found ill the very work of religion, as I juft now 
 obferved ; — in the exercife of the feveral graces, 
 fuited to the different circumftances of life, — in 
 the communications of divine aid, — and in fel- 
 lowfliip with God. 
 
 I. The faint is entertained, nay delighted, 
 with his work. He can take up his Lord's 
 words, and fay, " I delight to do thy will, 
 O my God," it is my meat and my drink, — yea, 
 •■' it is n:ore to me than my necelfary food." 
 His work being the fpontaneous ading of his 
 powers reftored to health, or of a heart attemper- 
 ed to the law, it is therefore his freedom. " Thy 
 R 2 command- 
 
132 On the Chriftian's Ser. III. 
 
 commandments (faith the Pfalmift) are not grie- 
 vous ; — they are the rejoicing of my heart ; in 
 keeping them there is a great, an exceeding great 
 reward." 
 
 If to this we add the affurance of divine aid, 
 which worketh in us both to will and to do, to 
 what an exalted pitch muft the joy of the Chriftian 
 arife, who feels and knows, " that being a fellow- 
 worker with God, his labour fliall not be in vain 
 hi the Lord r" Even affli6tions afford confobiions 
 that are nor fmall, the communications of divine 
 grace, the rejoicing of hope, and of a good con- 
 fcience, while they give occafion to the exercife of 
 faith, of patience, of humility, of meeknefs, of 
 fubmifiion, and rcfignation. Hence we find the 
 Apoflles glorying in tribulation, counting it all 
 joy when they fell into divers temptations ; and 
 thus are the faints ftrengthened and comforted by 
 their trials and conflifts. 
 
 And what Ihall I fay of their delightful fel- 
 lowftip with God in Chrift, when, through 
 him, they all have " accefs by one Spirit unto 
 the Father ?" — Now, they know from their 
 happy experience, that the fecret of the Lord is 
 with them that fear him, and that he will fhew 
 them his covenant, r — And, O, how blefl'ed ! 
 when, in anfwer to their earneft prayer, " We 
 befcech thee fliow us thy glory," he " makes all 
 Jiis goodnefs to pafs before them," and warms 
 
 their 
 
Parti. freedom by Chriji. 133 
 
 their heart with reciprocal returns of love and gra- 
 titude. 
 
 This holy communion with their God and Fa- 
 ther they enjoy through the means of grace, the 
 private and public ordinances of divine appoint' 
 ment : in meditation, in prayer and praife, in 
 reading and hearing the word, and particularly in 
 the facrament of the Lord's fupper. On this 
 mountain, and at this table, the Lord of hofts 
 makes indeed for his people " a feaft of fat things, 
 full of marrow." Here the believing communi- 
 cant, fatisfied with the goodnefs of God's houfe, 
 fits under his fliadow with great delight, eat- 
 ing of his pleafant fruits. With what over- 
 flowing joy does he hear the endearing voice of 
 his Redeemer, " Eat, O friends ; drink, yea, 
 drink abundantly, O beloved !" — In this manner 
 the ju(t, the upright man, when ftripped of all 
 worldly delights, is fatisfied from his happy capa- 
 city of receiving communications of grace from 
 God, and of holding intercourfe with him ; where- 
 as the wicked, in the fulnefs of his fufEciency, is 
 ever in v/ant ; ever difappointed of expecjted fatif- 
 faftion from the world, haunted with the fpedres 
 of a guilty confcience, and frighted imagination. 
 
 But it is proper to obferve, that this liberty and 
 joy of good men, arifmg from a fenfe of the di- 
 vine favour, and reftoration to the image of God, 
 are not obtained here to perfedion. 
 
 True it is, that every believer, with refpefl to 
 
 his 
 
134 On the ChriftiavL s Ser. III. 
 
 his flate. Is at once perfedlly changed. He 
 " paffes from death to hfe,'* Is abfolved from con- 
 demnation, and received Into favour. — Adopted 
 into God's family, he enters upon an unahenable 
 title to the inheritance of the faints, never to be 
 forfeited, notwithflanding his many unbelieving 
 fears. It is alfo true, that the good work, his re- 
 covery from fm to holinefs, is begun, and fliall be 
 carried on, with increafmg light, and love, and 
 liberty, unto the day of Chrift. But neverthelefs, 
 far from having already attained, or being already 
 perfect, he (lill feels " a law in his members war- 
 ing againft the law of his mind ;" hence many pain- 
 ful ftruggles with the remains of the old man, the 
 body of death, that ftlll cleaves to him. As the 
 captive children, when delivered out of Eabylon, 
 and after Cyrus had announced their liberty to go 
 up and build the Lord's houfe at Jerufalem, went 
 up weeping in great affiidicn, and amidfl the re- 
 proach of furrounding enemies, ever lying in wait 
 to interrupt them In their work, to injure and op- 
 prefs them ; in like manner, after the Redeemer 
 has proclaimed liberty to his captives, they go 
 up to the heavenly Jerufalem, entangled, re- 
 tarded, and molefled in their courfe by many e- 
 nemies, groaning within themfelves to be deli- 
 vered from the bondage of corruption, into the 
 glorious liberty of the fons of God ; but, not- 
 withftanding all thefe difcouragements, they ftill 
 go on, from ftrength to flrength, through much 
 
 tribulation. 
 
Parti. freedom by Chriji. 135" 
 
 tribulation, till every one of them appears be- 
 fore God in Zion. 
 
 At the happy hour of their death, a paffage 
 opens to the land of everlafting light and joy, 
 ** where the wicked ceafe from troubling, and 
 where the weary are at reft.'* They enter into 
 peace ; they reft in their beds, fleeping in Jefus, 
 and hear no more the voice of the oppreiTor. 
 " There the prifoners reft together, and the fer- 
 vant is free from his mafter." Their heaven-born 
 fpirits, difmifted from mortality, afcend v^ith rap- 
 turaus joy to join the ranfomed above in fongs of 
 falvation to God and to the Lamb. And beinr 
 now freed from the defilement and fetters of fleih 
 and blood, " they are without fault before the 
 throne of God, and ferve him day and night in his 
 temple." 
 
 At the laft day, the great day of the manifefta- 
 tions of the fons of God, their dead bodies fiiall 
 arife incorruptible, glorious, ftrong, fpiritual, fit- 
 ted for the fervice and enjoyments of the blifslul 
 regions of immortality, the manfions prepared for 
 them in their Father's houfe. Refined, and " fa- 
 ihioned like unto Chrift's glorious body,'* they fliall 
 refemble the winged feraphims, prompt as they 
 to execute God's commands, and fulfil all his 
 pleafure. Swift as the wind, bright as the ftars, 
 they ihall afcend, with loud Hofanna's, to meet the 
 Lord in the air, and fo (liall they ever be with the 
 Lord. Thus admitted into the palace of the E- 
 
 ternal 
 
136 On the Chr[ftian*s Ser. IlL 
 
 ternal King, " there fliall be no more curfe, no 
 more death, nor pain, nor forrow, nor crying ; 
 but the throne of God, and of the Lamb, fliall 
 be in it, and his fervants lliall ferve him; — and 
 they fliall fee his face ; — and his name fhall be in 
 their foreheads; — and there fliall be no night 
 there ; — and they need no candle, neither light 
 of the fun ; for the Lord God giveth them light ; 
 and, as kings and priefts unto their God, they 
 fliall reign for ever and ever." To this ama- 
 zing height ihall the freedom arife with which 
 Chrift has promifed to crown his people ; hap- 
 pinefs unknown to the fubjeds of earthly princes, 
 however great and bountiful. " Be jv^yful then, 
 ye children of Zion, in your King." Exult to fee 
 him coming in his glory, to make you thus glo- 
 rious. . This leads me to fhew. 
 
 Part IL 
 
 in. That the Son of God only can make us 
 
 thus free. For illuftration of which point, I 
 
 remark, i. That the very appellation of Son im- 
 plies the idea of his divinity. 2. That he muft 
 be God who is able to procure our freedom. 
 Which will appear, 3. from a view of what he 
 muft neceflarily do for effefting it. 
 
 Before I enter upon the difcufiion of thefe par- 
 ticulars, allow me to notice, that the One God is, 
 
 diftinguiihed 
 
Part II. freedom by Chriji. 137 
 
 diftinguifiied into Three. Which Three, as they 
 are not, nor can be, three diftintt beings, neither 
 can the language of fcripture be conftrued into 
 merely three diverfe modes of exiftence in the one 
 Divine Effence. The appellations of Father^ 
 the fVord^ or Son^ and the Holy Spirit, muft 
 import more. And though the terms in ufe, 
 Perfons of the Trinity, do not convey a clear 
 idea of Three which are not three diftincl be- 
 ings but One in effence, they are perhaps the 
 bell our language can admit of; and will be al- 
 lowed, by modeft minds, that delight not in per- 
 verfe difputings, to pafs as harmlefs, if not per- 
 fectly fit modes of expreffmg what is manifellly re- 
 vealed, but what we cannot comprehend ; as in- 
 deed we cannot enter into the myfterious incom- 
 prehenfible nature of God, the Immenfe Eternal 
 Father of Spirits, fo far as to be able to fay with 
 underftanding, that this dodrine, which puzzles 
 reafon, is contrary to reafon, and confequently not 
 trtie. -^— And now, ^ 
 
 I . As to the fippellation of the Son, by way of pre- 
 eminence, i. e. the uncreated, only-begotten Son 
 of God, it evidently imports his Deity, and perfect 
 equality to the Father. This acceptation of the 
 name feemed to be familiar to the Jews, John v. 
 1 8. That it was applied to him, with refped to 
 both natures in his one perfon, is plain from 
 John i. 14. : " And the Word was made flelh," 
 ^c. It is acknowledged, that the Word is the 
 
 S name. 
 
138 On the Chrijiian's Ser. III. 
 
 name by which the Second Perfon of the Trinity 
 is defigned. The glory ol the divine Word is faid 
 to be the glory of the only-begotten Son. The 
 appellation of Son, herefore, belongs to him as 
 God. That it applies to the entire perfon, God- 
 man, is put out of doubc by Heb. i. 8. : " But 
 unto the Son he faith, Thy throne, O God, is 
 for ever and ever,'* he : words which celebrate 
 
 the Son as God. It is alfo true, that fome- 
 
 times, with refpe£t to his human nature, and me- 
 diatory office, he is defigned the Son ; as when 
 the Son is faid not to know the lad day ; and that 
 then he fliall be fubject to God. But it is equally 
 true, that, with refped: to his divine nature, the 
 above fcriptures defign him the Son ; and that, 
 chiefly, in regard to his divinity, this title is given 
 to Chrift. 
 
 Since, then, the fcripture defigns Chrift the 
 Son, while it points him out as God, it is ever fafe 
 for us to follow its language. In doing fo, we 
 are in no danger of being led into mifapprehen- 
 fions of 'priority and inferiority in the Perfons of 
 the Trinity. Nor has it been found, that this ap- 
 pellation, God the Son, of conftant ufe in the church 
 for feveral ages, has difturbed the faith of Chri- 
 llians, or hindered their rejoicing in God, in ex- 
 perience of his gracious acceptance of their ad- 
 drelTes direded in name of God the Son. 
 
 But fome will affed to be exquifitely nice, and 
 wifer than the Spirit of God, in the choice of per- 
 tinent 
 
Part II. freedom by Chrl/i, 139 
 
 tinent modes of expreffing truth ; and, by their 
 corrections, their arbitrary diftmdions, and their 
 fond explications of terms different from common 
 ufe, what fervice have they done to the interefts 
 of truth and reliijion ? What other purpofe is 
 ferved by their vain fmgularity, than that of rai- 
 ling needlefs doubts and fcruples, increafmg divi- 
 fions, and breaking the unity and peace of the 
 church ? But I proceed to fliew, 
 
 2. That, to accomphih our freedom, it was 
 necefTary that the Son, vi^hile he partakes of 
 the nature of man, ihould alfo be God, equal 
 in dignity and glory to the Father. It was 
 fit and neceffary, that he who was to redeem 
 and reftore the ruined human race, fliould be 
 the fame by whom man was firft created. Ac- 
 cordingly we find, that the fcripture- account 
 of man's redemption by Jefus is often accom- 
 panied with a defcription of his divine power 
 in creating and governing all things; chap, i- of 
 this gofpel, Col. i. and Heb. i. Which affords 
 this inflruction. That to be qualified for the work 
 of our redemption, the undertaker mud ftand to 
 us in the relation of creator. 
 
 Were he a creature only, and not God, confi- 
 dering the infinite difproportion between God and 
 the moft exalted creature, it is not conceivable 
 what intereft his interceffion could have with God 
 to procure favour for any of his offending creatures- 
 If the oUcncc was to be pardoned by a pure act of 
 S 2 grace. 
 
140 On the Chrijllan^s Ser. III. 
 
 grace, without any ranfora, what hifluence could 
 a creature have to move the exerclfe of this 
 grace ? The creature's attempt to plead for it, 
 would be blafphemy, as it would be an audacious 
 pretenfion to greater grace and goodnefs than was 
 in God. If the offending creature was to be re- 
 ftored upon a competent ranfom, how could a 
 creature give this ranfom ? What had he to of- 
 fer over and above the duty he owed for him- 
 felf ? 
 
 That the Redeemer, therefore, may be quali- 
 fied for accompli filing the entire work of redemp- 
 tion, (the neceifary atonement for fm, and our 
 aftual deliverance from the bondage of death), he 
 muft poflefs the dignity and power of God ; he 
 muft be above all creatures, the Almighty Creator 
 himfelf. 
 
 He muft alfo be the Son, the fecond in order, 
 a diftindl perfon from the Father, but neceflarily 
 his equal, as fubfifting in the fame divine eflence ; 
 equally with him hating fm, and zealous to fupport 
 the rights of juftice. Accordingly it is faid of the 
 Son, Heb. i. 8. "Thy throne, O God, is forever 
 and ever ; the fcepter of thy kingdom is a fcepter of 
 righteoufnefs. — Thou haft loved righteoufnefs, 
 and hated iniquity.'* It was competent for him, 
 the Son, to interpofe between finners and the Fa- 
 ther, the fapreme judge and protedor of the law, 
 to avert from them the vengeance of his ju- 
 ftice, and to remove the obftrudion, to the 
 
 mighty 
 
Part II. freedom by Chriji. 1 4 1 
 
 mip-hty agency of the Spirit, the third pcrfon of 
 the Godhead, for their healing. 
 
 In him, the only-begotten and eternal Son of 
 God, in him alone we could have been made free, 
 and become the adopted fons of God. Had he 
 not been found qualified for thefe purpofes, we 
 mufl have remained in flavery, and have perifhed 
 for ever. — ' — This will further appear, if we con- 
 fider, 
 
 3. What, in law, was incumbent upon him for 
 effeding our freedom. 
 
 I. He mufl: perfedly obey the law as a fervant, 
 in the nature that offended : for thus it behoved 
 the law to be magnified, before it could admit 
 our freedom. In order to this, he mufl: be made 
 of a woman, and be partaker of our nature. But 
 that his obedience to the divine law might avail 
 us, he mufl: be more than man. At the fame 
 time that he is a fervant, he mufl: likewife be 
 Lord of all ; under no natural obligation to the 
 law as the law of a fuperior, but fubjed to it only 
 as a law taking rife from the perfeftion of his 
 own nature. Were he not thus abfolutely free and 
 independent, his obedience could not, in law, be 
 fuftained as a fervice for others, but for himfelf 
 only. Therefore, that he might be in a capacity 
 of availing others by his fervice, he mufl: be God ; 
 having right and power to form a perfectly holy 
 man, and to join this man to his divine perfon. 
 • And thus, " he being in the form of God, took 
 
 upon 
 
142 On the Chrifiian's Ser. III. 
 
 upon him the form of a fervant." The great 
 God, the Son of the hving God, became man. 
 Both natures (without any tranfmutatlon of the 
 one nature into the other) (till retaining their dif- 
 tind properties, by a myfterious union confti- 
 tuted one glorious perfon ; the one nature, i. e. 
 the human, rendering h^im capable of obeying as 
 a fervant ; the other, i. e. the divine, (lamping in- 
 finite value upon the fervice of his humanity; 
 highly meritorious of all favour to thofe guilty crea- 
 tures whom he reprefented. — — Again, 
 
 2. It was incumbent upon him to give a 
 fufficient ranfom, for procuring our freedom. 
 — Nothing is more evident from fcripture, nor 
 more confonant to the ilrain of the law, nor 
 to the majefty of the divine lav^^giver, than, 
 that for obtaining our freedom, fuch a ran- 
 fom was necelfary ; both for faving the veracity of 
 God, and for fupporting the authority of his law 
 and government. Now, the only ranlbm that could 
 be fufficient was the facrifice of himfelf. Law and 
 juflice required, that the fatisfaclion, by fufl'ering, 
 Ihould be in that nature whofe offence made it ne- 
 celfary. The "Surety, therefore, m.uft be of the 
 feed of Abraham, that he might be a merciful and 
 faithful high prieft ; and might, by fuffering death, 
 make his foul an offering for fin.'* But in order to 
 his being fupported under, and honourably car- 
 ried through his great fufferings ; that they might 
 be of fufficient worth and value to anfwer the ends 
 
 of 
 
Part II. freedom by Chr [ft. 143 
 
 of the divine government, and equivalent to the 
 punifhment incurred by guilty man, he muft alfo 
 be God. Were he only a man, he could not 
 by any means redeem his brethren, nor give to 
 God a fufficient ranfom for them. 
 
 Confider further. 
 
 That the Surety who gives this ranfom, muft 
 be one, who, after fuffcring for a time, ought to 
 rife to life, and receive his reward ; for it con- 
 tradi6ts jufliice and goodnefs, to admit an innocent 
 perfon to fubjecl himfelf to endlefs extreme fuffer- 
 ings for the guilty. The Surety, therefore, after 
 tailing death for men, fully to the fatisfattion of 
 juftice, muft revive from it, " and enter into his 
 glory," and bring with him thofe for whom he 
 fuffered. For fliould he not rife, but remain 
 under fuiferings, his people muft for ever remain 
 in their fms, — in the bonds of guilt and death. 
 The cafe Handing thus, who but the Son of God 
 could make us free, by giving himfelf a ranfom 
 for us ? who, but he, could by one great offer- 
 ing, the temporary facrifice of himfelf, perfed for 
 ever the expiation of fm, — procure our efcapc 
 from the curfe, and liberty to enter with him into 
 the holy place ? But again, 
 
 3. As by giving himfelf a ranfom he was to 
 purchafe our freedom, fo was it incumbent upon 
 him to reftore us to the original reditude of our 
 nature, in man's firft creation : v/hich nothing lefs 
 than omnipotence was able to accomplifh. Fie dif- 
 
 played 
 
144 On the Chriftian's Scr. Ill, 
 
 played the dignity and power of God, in giving fuch 
 a ranfom as the law required ; and by giving it he 
 acquired right in law to employ his divine power 
 for our healing ; the great end for which he faf- 
 fered and died ; as we read, Eph. v. 25. " Chrift 
 loved the church, and gave himfelf for it, that 
 he might fandify and cleanfe it, — that he might 
 prefent it to himfelf a glorious church." — He firfl 
 gave himfelf a ranfom, and having thereby re- 
 moved the obftruclion from the curfe to the 
 exercife of grace, he now applies his power to 
 reflore and heal us. He per(orms both in his 
 own perfon, and the one in order to the other. 
 It was fit and neceffary, that the new creatlori 
 fhould be reared, as was the firft, by a divine agency 
 of the three perfons, analogous to that which at firft 
 produced and formed the world ; — that, as iht 
 Father created all things by the Son, he fliould al- 
 fo reftore man by the Son, equally aftive with 
 the Father, in the fame divine effence, by the al- 
 mighty agency of the Holy Spirit ; to whofe in- 
 fluences, for raifmg the new creation, the Son, 
 " for the fuffering of death,'' has right in kw. 
 By this Spirit he delivers with power. 
 
 In general, he delivers us out of the liands of 
 our enemies, enemies powerful, fubtle, and refo- 
 lute to hold us in their chain. The words of 
 the prophet apply here, Jer. I. 2)?)' "The children 
 of Ifrael and the children of Judah were oppreffed 
 together, and all that took them captives held therxi 
 fall, they refufed to let them go. — Their Re- 
 
 deemex 
 
Part II. freedom by Chriji . 145 
 
 deemer is flrong, the Lord of hods is his name ; 
 he will thoroughly plead their caufe. — He fliall 
 divide the fpoil with the flrong. — He fhall take 
 the prey from the mighty, and deliver his lazufnl 
 captives," — his property in law, he having paid 
 their ranfom. 
 
 The grand enemy that holds guilty man in capti- 
 vity is Satan. He is " the flrong man, who keeps 
 the houfe, and all his goods," i. e. all the powers of 
 man's foul in a fatal fecurity, "• till a flronger than 
 he come upon him, and bind him, and fpoil him of 
 his armour, and cafl him out." And who is this 
 flronger one ? who but " the lion of the tribe of 
 Judah r" — " the Son of God, who was manifefc- 
 ed to deflroy the works of the devil." Thefe are, 
 our inbred lufts, from love to which we are plea- 
 fed with our captivity, and ever unwilling to 
 change our flate, till the Redeemer, " by the rod 
 of his flrength fent out of Zion," make us will- 
 ing. 1 add, 
 
 That for reftoring us to freedom, he mufl, as 
 fcripture expreffes it, create us of new in himfelf, 
 in order to our partaking of his life. The de- 
 flrudion of our primitive holy nature by fm, ren- 
 ders this neceffary. The original beauty of God's 
 image upon the foul of man is loft ; the come- 
 ly order of its faculties is broken ; the life 
 which fuftained their harmony, which animated 
 and directed them in their courfe to God, being 
 T extind : 
 
1 46 On the Clmjiian*s Ser. III. 
 
 extlnd : hence we are even " dead in trefpafles 
 and fins.'* To recover our freedom from this dif- 
 ordered carnal mind, " which is enmity againft 
 God," and to direct our hearts unto the love of 
 God, it is neceffary that the divine life be reftored : 
 A work to which the Son of God alone is equal ; 
 " for in him was hfe, and the hfe was the light of 
 men." For infpirlng this life into the dead fouls 
 of men, " the Spirit was given him without mea- 
 fure : " He having made peace by the blood of 
 .his crofs, it pleaied the Father that in him all full- 
 nefs fhould dwell, all the treafures of wifdom and 
 of underftanding." " As the Father raifeth up the 
 dead, even fo the Son quickeneth whom he will," 
 by the Spirit, with which he is anointed. This 
 power, elfential to him as God, the Father confers 
 upon him as Mediator, on account of his fatisfaftion 
 to juftice by the fuffering of death. It is in this 
 character the Lord thus fpeaks of himfelf, If. Ixi, 
 " The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, bccaufe 
 the Lord hath anointed me to preach good ti- 
 dings unto the meek ; he hath fent me to proclaim 
 liberty to .the captives, and the opening of the pri- 
 fon to them who are bound." 
 
 How the Lord, by the Spirit, a£lually tranflates 
 us to a ftate of freedom, we partly learn from 
 ch. xvi. of this gofpel, from verfe 7. to 15. 
 where the ftated order in which our deliver- 
 ance proceeds is defcribed. Fird, "the Spirit con- 
 vinces 
 
Part II. freedom by Chrlft* 147 
 
 vinces the finner of fin," of condemnation and 
 bondage ; that, in thefe deplorable circumilan- 
 ces, he is abfolutely helplefs in himfelf 5 and that, 
 by any works of righteoufnefs in his power, he 
 cannot get from under the curie of the law, and 
 the power of fin. — The fmncr, thus made fenfible 
 of bondage, and extreme mifery, the Spirit relieves 
 by bringing to his view the redemption that is in 
 Jefus, the all-fufficient help provided for perifli- 
 ing fmners in the Son of God, proclaiming in 
 his heart, as by an audible voice, thofe words of 
 grace, — " O Ifrael, thou hall deftroyed thyfclf; 
 but in me is thy help." — Look unto me, and be 
 thou faved. See the righteoufnefs of God mani- 
 fefled in me ; furely in me you have " righteoufnefs 
 and flrength ;" upon which the fmner's contrite, 
 difponding heart revives. He fees help in Jefus ; 
 in feeing it he looks for it ; he applies, he calls 
 for it ; he faftens upon it as all his falvation and 
 all his hope. Thus, in giving- faith, and by faith 
 uniting us to himfelf, the Lord dehvers our fouls. 
 And now the heart, conceiving hope in God, 
 with tiears of joy begins to v/ork in love towards 
 him. The affections, loofed from idols, flow 
 forth, in a ftrong current, towards the Redeem- 
 er. 
 
 Having thus raifed the finner to life by faith, 
 
 he puts his Holy Spirit within him, to preferve 
 
 faith, that it may not fail, but increafc in ftrength j 
 
 to bear down fm, that it may never regain its 
 
 T 2 former 
 
148 Onthe Chrijiian's Ser. III. 
 
 former dominion, but gradually confume away 
 of Its deadly wound. 
 
 The enemies of the foul, having lofl their prey, 
 will, by all methods of deceit and violence, con- 
 tend for the recovery of it. By repeated attempts 
 they will ftrive to draw the believer back to his 
 former bondage. But all in vain : — he fhall, by 
 the fuperior power of his mighty leader, main- 
 tain his liberty ; and, maugre all oppofition, "hold 
 on his way, waxing ftronger and ftronger." He 
 meets with many ftraits and difficulties, with many 
 fears and difcouragements, which bring him into 
 bondage of fpirit : but the Lord is ever nigh with 
 the fupports of his grace, feafonably to relieve and 
 reftore him. By fome fuitable word of promife 
 he revives and helps him over his difcouragements. 
 Thus the truth, and faith in the truth, which firfl 
 made him free, ever fecures his freedom, and 
 keeps him in heart. The Lord is engaged to fe- 
 cure the believer's fafety on the way : and he is 
 faithful and powerful to execute his trull. — " He 
 will feed his flock like a fliepherd."— None of 
 them can Jdc loft. " All fliall be kept by the 
 power of God, through faith unto falvation. — 
 His flieep hear his voice. — They follow him. — 
 He gives unto them eternal life ; and they fball 
 never periili ; neither fhall any pluck them out of 
 his hands. — He iliall guide them by his counfel 
 through hfe, and afterwards receive them into 
 glory. — The laft enemy he fhall deftroy is death.'* 
 
 For 
 
Part II. freedom by Chriji. 14^ 
 
 For completing their freedom, " he fhall in the 
 end ranfom them from the power of the 
 grave, he fliall redeem them from death," and 
 call forth his prifoners into the light of glory, in 
 fulfilment of that promife. " He that feeth, and 
 belie veth in the Son, hath everlafling life ; and I 
 will raife him up at the laft day. — For the Lord 
 himfelf fhall defcend, with the voice of the arch- 
 angel, and the trump of God. — Then all that are 
 in their graves fliall hear the voice of the Son of 
 Man, faying, Awake and fing, ye that dwell in the 
 dud. — And his dead men fhall live ; together with 
 his dead body fhall they rife/' and live, fhining 
 refplendent with his glory, which lliall then be 
 feen upon them in perfedion. 
 
 The lall great aflize being over, he will bring 
 them with him, as his brethren and co-heirs, into 
 his Father's houfe and kingdom, there to abide 
 and reign with him for ever, delighted with the 
 abundance of its peace, liberty, and glory. No more 
 fliall they go out, to be expofed to the troubles, 
 temptations, and painful difcipline which attended 
 their^minority here. " Thofe former things are for 
 ever done away. — And the Lamb, who is in the 
 midfl of the throne, fhall feed them, and lead them 
 into living fountains of water." — A new peaceful 
 fcene of pure, fublime delights, in a perennial un- 
 intermitting flow. 
 
 In this exalted flate of confummate, unchange- 
 able happinefs, their hearts fnall rejoice, and on- 
 
 •y 
 
xyo On the Chrifiian*s Ser. IIL 
 
 ly rejoice, ever finglng in raptures high, — " Sal- 
 vation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto 
 the Lord our God." 
 
 To raife Tinners from the lowed abafement, "from 
 darknefs and the (liadow of death," to this won- 
 derful height of light and freedom, is a mighty 
 undertaking indeed ! Who but the Son of God 
 was fit to engage in it, or able to execute it ? who 
 but he had merit to purchafe, or power to con- 
 fer " the high prize ?" Certified, by the tefti- 
 niony of God, that, with fuch fuperlative honour, 
 Jefus iliall, from himfelf, crown all his livhig 
 members, we may well lift up the voice, and fay, 
 . — " Surely this is the Son of God." 
 
 IV. Application. 
 I. The fubjefl: brings joyful tidings to our ears* 
 It points out a fure way in which we may recover 
 our freedom from the moft WTetched ftate of 
 flavery. Hear our melTage from God to finful 
 men ; hear it, and let your hearts go forth to 
 meet it with joy. '— Ye may rife from condemna- 
 tion to favour ; from the froward temper of 
 rebels, to the loving obedient difpofition of chil- 
 dren ; which is attended with the joy of felf-ap- 
 probation, and with the gladening expreffions of 
 God's fatherly love. All of us may be thus 
 made free, the poor as well as the rich, the fer- 
 vant as well as the mailer. Hear, and fubmii to 
 the Son of God, and rife to liberty j rife to the in- 
 
 heritapce 
 
Part II. freedom by Chriji. 151 
 
 heritance of glory. Although once the flaves of 
 hell, now commence heirs of God, co-heirs with 
 Chrift, of his everlafting kingdom, where all pre- 
 fent diftindions Ihall ceafe, and all the Hiints " iliall 
 be kings and priells unto God.'* 
 
 " The chief of fmners,'* as well as the fobcrer 
 fort, may be thus made free : " The Son of man 
 came to feck and to fave that which was loft. — 
 He came not to call the righteous, but fmners, 
 to repentance.'* — All are invited to the hberty of 
 the fons of God. Shall we not all then be ambi- 
 tious of it, and every one defire it for himfelf ? 
 faying, with anxious concern of foul, " May I, a 
 poor, guilty, defpifed, neglected creature ! may 
 
 I hope to be thus made free ?" Did we feel 
 
 our deplorable bondage, did we believe the fe- 
 rious proclamation of freedom from heaven, 
 with what eagernefs would every one liften to it ? 
 
 Were any of you incumbered with debt, ftanding 
 in fear of a purfuit by the creditor, how glad would 
 you be, to hear of a cautioner generouily offering 
 to pay your debt ? Were you fhut up in prifon, 
 condemned by juftice to die a public ihameful 
 death, what would be the ftate of your mind in 
 hearing of a pardon come from your prince ? 
 yea more, in hearing his declared purpofe to raife 
 you to favour, to advance ycu to eminent ho- 
 nours, to adopt you as a fon ; and all upon your 
 accepting of thefe high privileges as the pure fa- 
 vours of his grace ? Such, and infinitely more 
 
 important. 
 
152 On the Chrijiian*s Ser. IlL 
 
 important, Is the meffage we bring you from God, 
 even the offer of redemption from the curfe, — of 
 pardon and eternal life, — of being clothed with the 
 garments of falvation. — of being adopted into his 
 family, — and exalted to a kingdom; — and all this 
 upon your willing acceptance of his gracious favours. 
 The only hindrance to our deliverance is our un- 
 willingnefs. God proclaims liberty to every foul 
 that will be made free. His juft complaint of the 
 unbelieving hearers of the gofpel is, " And ye 
 will not come to me, that ye might have life.'* 
 How perverfe is this refufal ? How mufl it ag- 
 gravate our guilt ? What can we plead in ex- 
 cufe for it ? Hear the Lord's upbraiding w^ords 
 to the Jews, direfted to us : — "If I had not 
 come, and offered freedom to you, you had not 
 had fm ; but now you have no cloke for your fin : 
 for if ye believe not that I am he, ye fhall die in 
 your fms." 
 
 2. We fee, that only upon the mediatory plan, 
 through the knowledge and faith of the Son of 
 God, our deliverance comes. This plan claims 
 thefe neceffary advantages for our freedom, pe- 
 culiar to itfelf. 1 . It brings with it abfolute 
 certainty of its divine authority. 2. It recom- 
 mends itfelf to the confcience as worthy of 
 God. It exhibits the divine attributes harmoniouf- 
 ly combined, and fliining forth in the height of 
 their glory, each refleding a luftre upon the other. 
 3. It comes attended with a fpirit and power that 
 
 vaife 
 
Part ir. frecdovahy Chnfl. 1^3 
 
 raife the dead, that redify the heart, and enliven 
 it with divine love. 
 
 The wifdom of the world will have this plan to 
 I'.e irrational ; but, confidering the prefent lapfed 
 ilate of human nature, it is indeed the onlv ra- 
 tional fcheme for our recovery : " They are un- 
 reafonsblc and wicked men, who hear, and bc- 
 iieve it not." It is ridiculous vanity to pretend 
 ro arrive at true virtue and happinefs upon any o- 
 ther plan. Thole who attempt to perfiiade the 
 world of man's natural power to work himfelf in^ 
 to freedom, do thereby but expofe their vanity 
 and pride to the pity and contempt of fober- 
 thinking perfons, who in good carnefl; are inqui- 
 ring after fatisfaction and reft to their fouls in 
 God. Do we not know what man by his natural 
 powers can do ? Do we not know that thefe pre- 
 tended friends to virtue " do glory in appearance, 
 and not in heart ?" that they boait of a falfe gift ? 
 that in their blind opppfition to the revealed plan 
 of falvation through Clirift, they pciTefs not, in 
 any degree, genuine divine virtue ? Have not 
 many, of diftinguifhed capacity, as eager as any 
 infidel " to find life by the works of their ov.-n 
 liands," — -Jiave they not tried, with the intenfe vi- 
 gour of their fouls, " what the law could do for 
 them ?" and found it " Vvcak through the flefh ?" 
 ■r-That favour and peace, righteoufnefs and bo-r 
 iin.efs, (as they pur fue '4 thefe with confidence iii 
 thei^ own ftrength for working righteoufiiefs), fled 
 
 U frouv 
 
154 On the Chriji'uin*s Ser. III. 
 
 from them, and left them forfaken and defpairing, 
 till, by the word and Spirit of God, their eyes were 
 turned to the gofpel-way of peace. Surely, " in 
 returning, and refling on God through Chrift, 
 we are faved.'* In humble quiet confidence, 
 founded upon this Rock, is our ftrength. 
 
 3. We fee our high obligation to the love of 
 God ; — to the love of the Father, who fpared not 
 his own Son, but fent him to our loll: world, 
 " in the likenefs of fmful fieih," by the moft 
 painful fervitude to purchafe redemption for us. 
 How high our obligation to the Son ! who, to 
 procure our freedom, cheerfully agreed to take 
 on him the form of a fervant ; to fubje£t himfelf 
 to contempt and contradidion, to forrows and a- 
 gonies, to the moft exquilitely cruciating pains, 
 juftly due to our fins ? In this difpenfation, ju- 
 ftice appears terrible. The manifold wifdom of 
 God, in devifing the expedient, which, with full 
 fatisfaftion to the law, difplays grace in all the 
 richer, of its glory, engages the admiration of an- 
 gels and faints. But it was love, divine love, and 
 grace palling knowledge, that moved God to this 
 exertion of wifdom ; which fets his love in a ftill 
 ftronger light. Now it is manifeft, that " God is 
 love." This is the great good arifing from the inex- 
 cufable evil of man's apoftafy ; — the bright ma- 
 r)ifen:?;:ion of the entire glory of God, of his 
 boundlefs goodnefs, bis fclf-moving everlafling 
 
 love, 
 
Part II. freedom by Chriji. i^^ 
 
 love, his awful inajefly and holinefs, tempered with 
 the kindnefs and grace of a Saviour ; — mercy 
 and truth meeting together, rigliteoufnefs and 
 peace kifTing each other ; — all ihining in divine 
 harmony to promote the grand defigu of faving 
 fouls from death. O what engagement to love is 
 here ! what obligation to gratitude, to a ready, 
 humble, thankful compliance with the godlike 
 benevolent fcheme ! To neglecl this falvation, 
 the refult of unbounded wifJoni and grace, — 
 wilfully to refufe the benefit of it, — in fcorn to 
 turn afide from it, to what we are pleafed to call a 
 more rational fcheme, — is of all fms the greatefl. 
 It is the bafefl: ingratitude, the blacked, the molt 
 complicated crime, the fun ever looked upon. It 
 is fuch an outrage of mahce againft God, as is not, 
 perhaps, overmatched in hell. Alienated from 
 God, as hell itfelf, is the dark heart of man, till 
 the attractive glory of redeeming love open to its 
 view ; — then, and only then, difarmed of its dif- 
 affedion, it feels itfelf gently drawn to God, by 
 the powerful conflraints of love ; agreeably to that 
 expreffion in Jer. xxxi 3. " 1 have loved thee with 
 an everlafting love ; therefore with loving kindnefs 
 have 1 drawn thee." 
 
 4. If any fhould afk. How may I know whe- 
 ther Chrlfl has made me free ? the queflion ad- 
 mits of an eafy folution. If made free, attend, 
 and you may know j for you muft feel it. A re- 
 U 2 view 
 
156 On the CLrlftiLufs Ser. lit 
 
 view of what has been faid will help to fatlsfy you. 
 
 But for your further airifiance,- 
 
 (i.) If you have been convinced of condemna- 
 tion and death by the law ; — ■ if the more you 
 ftrove to be relieved by your own works, you 
 funk the deeper into bondage ; — if, when redu- 
 ced to great diffrefs, in fclf-defpair, (as a forlorn 
 outcafi: ready to perifli), your eyes then Were o- 
 pened to fee, with wonder, deliverance provided in 
 a crucified Jcfus, his helping hand gracioufiy 
 ftretched out to you ; — if, with aflured under- 
 Handing of this gofpel-method of relief, (which 
 you could not before be perfuaded of, nor apply 
 for your relief, though you oft heard of it, and 
 pled it with God in prayer), you have fled to 
 Chrift as your alone refuge, finding in him that 
 deliverance, peace, and reft, which you fought, 
 but could not obtain, by the law : — furely you are 
 *' fent forth out of the pit;" you are made free. 
 This turn of mind, from felf-righteoufnefs to the 
 riv"^hteoafnefs of God by fiiith, indicates a favin«'- 
 work of grace, that has moulded the heart into the 
 form of the new covenant. 
 
 (2.) If your tafle is altered fo, that the prevaif- 
 ing delight of your heart is in God, you are free. 
 The elTence of (\n lies '' in loving pleafures more 
 than God." Moderately to delight in the crea- 
 ture, being conilitutional to innocent nature, can- 
 net be forbidden ; but in heart to prefer any crea- 
 ture to God, is criminsh And let it be remark- 
 ed. 
 
Pan II. freedom by Chriji , ij; 
 
 ed, that fuch may be the carnal temper, not only 
 of" thofe who habitually indulge appetite to excefs, 
 but of thofe who are ftriftly temperate. For* 
 while they ufe the world fparingly, their whole 
 foul's delight may ,be in its comforts, without any 
 tafte for the things of the Spirit. It concerns us, 
 then, with careful attention, to examine, whether, 
 while we ufe the world foberly, we find prefer- 
 able entertainment to our fpirits in God. It is 
 certain, that men may regard the dictates of reafon, 
 fo far as to keep their appetites and paffions under 
 reft raint, and yet pleafe themfelves with bodily fa- 
 tisfadions in moderation, without any delight in 
 God. And thus the fober and abftemious may 
 be as void of the life of God as the riotous glutton 
 and drunkard. But if your inclination to vitious 
 indulgences be changed into a diftafte of them ; — 
 if, while you allow nature its moderate gratifica- 
 tion in the creature, ftill your reigning joy is in 
 God, abftaining not only from thofe excelfes which 
 would deftroy this fpiritual tafte, but even from 
 fuch licence in pleafure as may impair or weaken 
 it : — by this you may know that you are deliver- 
 ed from the fmful exceftive love of the creature. 
 
 And now being delivered, feel your obliga- 
 tion to the love and grace of God. O love, and 
 be thankful to your kind deliverer, the gene- 
 rous loving Son of God : " You are bound to 
 give thanks always to him who has called you to 
 his kingdom and glory, through fandliiication of the 
 Splrlr, and belief of the truth." — " Let your foul 
 
 magnify 
 
158 On the Chiftian's Ser. IIL 
 
 magnify the Lord, your fpirlt rejoice in God your 
 Saviour." He has done great things for you in- 
 deed : yet it is but an earned of greater things 
 
 to follow. Exult in the profpert before you. 
 
 Your begun deliverance is a door of hope, " like 
 the valley of Achor," in the entry to Canaan, that 
 you fhall furely enter in, and poffefs it. He who, 
 " by his right hand, brought you up out of the 
 fea," will lead you on fafe unto perfect liberty, 
 reft, and glory. O love the Lord, all ye his 
 faints ; be thankful, and ever praife that grace 
 " which hath made you meet to be partakers of 
 the inheritance of the faints in light." 
 
 Shew your love to him, your deliverer, by con- 
 tinued expreffions of your love to holinefs. Now 
 you are free, ufe not your liberty as a cloke to 
 fm. This abufe of grace is peculiar to the un- 
 godly. It is foreign to the nature of a Chriflian. 
 If you make free with fm, pretend not to faith : 
 fay not you have learned this of Chrift ; it is 
 blafphemy. If truly taught the truth " as it is in 
 Jefus," hoUnefs will be your liberty ; nor will 
 you ever think youifelf perfedlly free, till you 
 are perfcftly holy. There is no point of truth 
 in the Bible, no doftrine, no promife, no pre- 
 cept, no ordinance, but is diredly levelled at fm, 
 to root it out, and fitted to promote holinefs ; 
 and fo all God's children underftand the fcrip- 
 tures. 
 
 I 
 
Part II. freedom by ChriJI. i^g 
 
 I conclude with a fliort addrefs to my young 
 hearers j to which I beg their ferious attention. 
 
 You are naturally fond of liberty ; but, decei- 
 ved by imagination, you often miftake it, and, in 
 its place, take up with what is your ilavery, your 
 prcfent fliame and difgrace, and which fliall be 
 your torment in after life, and on a deathbed. 
 
 Pleafure you purfue as your happinefs ; — here 
 it is in reality : — " If thou kneweft the gift of 
 God," Jefus, the Son of the living God, " thou 
 wouldfl afk of him, and he would give thee li- 
 ving waters ;" folid, fafisfyingj permanent plea- 
 fures. 
 
 What think you of having the pov/ers of your 
 mind free to dwell upon the nobleft objeds, which 
 prefented to your view, will give you hio-h en- 
 tertainment ? What think you of having thefe 
 great objedls near you, in every fituation, in the 
 midft of trouble, to afford you folacing relief ? 
 
 You may now poiTefs an eafy mind, undifturb- 
 ed with the cares and croiTcs of life ; but if you 
 live long in the world, you fnall meet with 
 troubles, troubles under which you can have no 
 firm fupport but from religion. O how foothinp- 
 the confolation in adverfity ! to look inward upon 
 one's felf, and, in confulting confcience and the 
 Icriptures, to hear both fpeaking peace from God, 
 and alfuring you that all fliall end well ! 
 
 If now, in youth, you refufe to come under 
 Chrift's yoke ; — if, burfling the bands, you give 
 
 full 
 
i6o ^ Onthe Chrijtiati's Ser. III. 
 
 full fvving to vitious inclinations ; — there is little 
 hope of your return to God in advanced life ; 
 It is far more likely that you will run rio: to the 
 end, — remain infcnfible to all religious impref- 
 fions, — proceed from evil to worfe, — and go down 
 to the " grave with your bones full of the iniqui- 
 ties of youth." 
 
 After having fpent the flrength and vigour of 
 life in the fervice of fin, the evil days fhall come, 
 when you fhall wifh, and wifh in vain, to be made 
 free. Feeling the torment of your domineering 
 palTions, then confirmed into inveterate habits, 
 you will defire to Ihake them off, and not be 
 able. You will perhaps fay, " The Spirit of God 
 can conquer them." True, he can ; and great 
 wonders the grace of God has done. But fuch 
 miracles of grace are very rare, and not to be 
 prefumed upon. Your prefumptuous finning may 
 proceed to fuch a daring height, as may provoke 
 the Spirit to ceafe " flriving with you ;" that 
 " though you feek him, you fhall not find hini ; 
 though you call upon him, he will not hear you ;"* 
 but, in juft anger, give you caufe, in fore diftrefs, 
 to take up Saul's dolorous complaint, '' The Phi- 
 liflines make war againfl me, and God is de- 
 parted from me, and anfwereth me no more, nei- 
 ther by prophets nor by dreams," i Sam. xxviii. 
 
 15- 
 
 We are fure, that at what time a finncr re- 
 pents, God will receive him ; but the feafon of 
 grace, for obtaining repentance, may be finned 
 
 away. 
 
Part II. freedom by Chriji. i6i 
 
 away. There may be a limited period fixed, in 
 the purpofe of God, for the return of a finner ; 
 which, if exceeded, it will not fuit with the wife 
 meafares of the divine government to grant re- 
 pentance ; or if, after you have confumed the 
 prime of fife in the wild waftes of fm, you fliould 
 be recovered, it will probably be with bitter re- 
 morfe, with terror and aftonifhment of heart : 
 *' You fhall be afliamed and confounded, bearing 
 the reproach of your youth.'* — *' The wicked- 
 nefs of your licentious courfe fliall correal you.'* 
 God will take vengeance upon your inventions : 
 " He will put away your fms ;" but with fevere 
 rebukes and chaflifements he may vifit them up-^ 
 on you, and upon your children after you. The 
 children yet unborn may fuffer for your wanton 
 extravagancies ; as the fms of Manaflah, though 
 forgiven him, were feverely vifited upon Judah 
 feveral years after. Therefore feek the Lord', 
 while he is near, in the days of youth. Hearken 
 YiOVJ to the miniflry of liberty from God. Hear, 
 and comply with it, and you are for ever deli- 
 vered. 
 
 Ye who have the advantage of a Chriflian edu^- 
 cation, under religious parents, fee you do not 
 frowardly negled this advantage ; if you do, ye 
 are in danger of being left of God to a greater 
 height in Vv^ickednefs than others, and to be invol- 
 ved in didinguiflied reproach and mifery in this life. 
 
 X Hearkeii^ 
 
i62 On the ChriJIian's Ser. HI. 
 
 Hearken, therefore, now to inftrudion, and live. 
 1 add. 
 
 That there is particular encouragement to 
 young perfons, that if they feek the Lord, they 
 fhall find him. " They who feek me early,** 
 faith the Spirit, " fliall find me." Per fevering in 
 abftinence from known fm, and " in fearching for 
 God'- in the duties of religion, they are fure to 
 6nd him at length. 
 
 Nor is this all : For thofs who devote the firfl 
 fruits of their years to the fervice of God, are 
 peculiarly dear to hini, and bid fair for being ho- 
 noured with particular expreffions of his regard, 
 denied to his other children. Thus God exprefled 
 his particular delight in young Samuel, by admit- 
 ting him immediately into his fecrets, preferably to 
 old Eli. I might name others, who, for their early 
 piety, are in fcripture niarked as peculiar favourites 
 of Heaven. 
 
 Let all thefe reafons perfuade you, rny dear 
 young hearers, to give Chrift your hearts with 
 out delay, and without referve. Beg of God 
 hirnLlf to open ^our hearts to underfland and 
 embrace the truth. And when you have got your 
 hearts engaged to Chrift by faith and love, go, feal 
 your covenant with him at his table : " Yield your- 
 felves unto the Lord, and then enter into hi$ fanc- 
 tuar)." 
 
 We advife you not, without a change of difpo- 
 fitlon by grace, to partake of that folemn ordi= 
 
 nanccj 
 
Part II. freedom by Chriji. 163 
 
 nance, in hope it will prove a reftfaint upon 
 your paffions, and prtLrve you from the vitious 
 couirfe of the world. No covenant, no cngage- 
 mentj can command the corrupt heart, or bridle 
 its lufls. Nothing fhort of the new heart, made 
 new by the grace of God's covenant, can bind us 
 to God, and fecure a truly Chiiflian converfa- 
 tion. Get the heart enlightened with faith, and 
 warmed with love to Chrift. " Incline your ear, 
 and come unto him;'* then profefs and feal your en- 
 gagement to him at his table : " And he will make 
 an everlafting covenant with you, even the fure 
 mercies of David. — He will ever remember the 
 kindnefs of thy youth. — Nor fhall his kindnefs 
 ever depart from thee ; neither fliall the covenant 
 of his peace be removed from thee, faith the Lord 
 that hath mercy on thee. In righteoufnefs flialt 
 thou be eflablifhed, and be preferved unto his 
 heavenly kingdom. This is the heritage of the 
 fervants of the Lord ; and their righteoulnefs is of 
 me, faith the Lord." — By thefe words of truth, 
 
 j may the grace of God proclaim liberty to us all. 
 
 * Amen* 
 
 X 2 SER 
 
SERMON IV. 
 Chrift the true light of the worlci. 
 
 John, i. 9. 
 
 That zvas the true light ^ zuhich light eth every 
 man that cometh into the zvorld. 
 
 FOR laying firm and ftrong the foundation of 
 mens faith and hope of falvation by Jefus, 
 the apoflle introduces the hiftory of the Saviour's 
 incarnation, life, and death, with a magnificent 
 defcription of his real Godhead ; fiiewing, that he 
 who came, in the humble form of man, to redeem 
 the world, was the Eternal God, the fame who 
 in the beginning created heaven and earth. In 
 fuch divine hands, furely, the arduous underta- 
 king to reftore guilty men to life and favour can- 
 not fail. 
 
 In him, the Son, as one with the Father and 
 Spirit, is life eflbntially. He is the fource of life 
 and being to every creature. In him, as Media- 
 tor, in confequence of his engagement for men, 
 is lodged fpiritual and eternal life. All the life 
 that ever did, or ever fliall, animate the foul of 
 any of Adam's apoflate race, is derived from him, 
 
 as 
 
 N 
 
Ser. IV. Chrift the true lights &c. 165 
 
 as the gift of God, through his mediation and 
 merit. 
 
 Prophets, and holy men of God, were commif- 
 fioned to announce the coming of the Mefliah, 
 and to point mens view to him as their hfe. The 
 obfcure notices given of him in ancient prophe- 
 cies, in facrifices, and the other fliadowy repre- 
 fentations under the law, were then the only true 
 light that guided men to God. In thefe lafl days, 
 upon the aftual appearance of the Meffiah, the 
 old fhadows have brightened into day. The Sun 
 of Righteoufnefs is rifen, in fuller difplay of his 
 perfon and chara£i:er. While men keep him in 
 view as their life, they walk in the true light, and 
 live in favour and fellowfhip with God. If, lo- 
 fmg fight of him, they regard rehgious obfervan- 
 ces, whether of divine or human inflitution, as 
 their righteoufnefs for life, inftead of ufmg them 
 as prefcribed means, by which they are to come 
 to Chrift for righteoufnefs, and eternal life 
 through him, they wander in darknefs ; and if 
 they perfifl in that courfe, fhall never fee light. 
 
 It is the Word made flelli, or as manifefled in 
 the man Jefus, who had then returned to the Fa- 
 ther, after he had finifhed his work upon earth, 
 of whom the apoftle fays, " That zvas the true 
 light.** For though this defignation belongs to 
 him as the Eternal Word, by whom all things 
 were made, and may be confidered as defcriptive 
 of what he is in himfelf-, yet it is more peculiar- 
 
1 6 6 Chrift this trite light Ser. IV. 
 
 ly with refpe£t to what he is to iis^ as the Word 
 made flefh, the reconciling Mediator between 
 God and men, that he is here called, *' The true 
 light, which lighteth every man that cometh into 
 the world." 
 
 In difcourfing of the fubje£l, I Ihall inquire, 
 
 I. Into this character of tPie true light, given, 
 by way of eminence, to the divine Mediator, and 
 to the plan of grace laid in him for faving the 
 world ; 
 
 1, Into the operation and efFe£l of this light up- 
 on men, as it is expreffed by " lightmg every 
 man that cometh into the world ;" and, 
 
 3. Laflly, I fliall apply the fubjed in a few in- 
 ferences. 
 
 I. I begin with inquiring into this character of 
 
 the true light given to the divine Mediator. 
 
 It will readily be admitted, that light is one of 
 thofe fignificant metaphors by which the true God 
 is diflinguifhed in the facred writings. Thus faith 
 the Apoflle John, i John i. 5. "God is light." 
 This denotes the abfolute perfection, the unfpot- 
 ted holinefs, and unbounded knowledge of the 
 one true God. He is light originally and effen- 
 tially, and in him is no darknefs at all. The 
 fame defignation, when applied fo Jefus Chrifl, 
 leads us to view him, as poii'efled of proper Deity, 
 "Emanuel, God with us,'* uniting in his own 
 pcrfon, as Mediator, the two diftind natures of 
 
 God 
 
Ser. IV. of the Ivor Id, 167 
 
 God and man ; being at once, as the Apoftle Jude 
 defcribes him, Jude, f 25. " the great God, 
 and our Saviour, to whom all glory and majefly, 
 dominion and power, belong of right, for ever 
 and ever/*'— What a firm foundation is here laid 
 for our faith and hope ? We may be well aflured 
 that the great undertaking to fav^e perifliing fin- 
 pers, muft infallibly fucceed in the hands of fuch 
 a mediator, who is both the Mighty God and the 
 
 Prince of Peace. But without enlarging upon 
 
 this, I proceed to obferve, 
 
 I. That this character of the true light implies, 
 that from Jefus, as the original hving fource of 
 light and knowledge, was derived all the light, 
 refpecling the nature and will of God, which ever 
 bleffed the human race. He is " the Sun of 
 Righteoufnefs," who, from his own infinite full- 
 nefs, fheds his enlightening beams upon this dark 
 world. Prophets and apofties were but his mini- 
 ilers to publifh to men what they received from 
 him, according to the meafure of light with v^hich 
 he infpired them. " Holy men of God fpakc as 
 they were moved by the Holy Ghoft," or by the 
 Spirit of Chrift that was in them ; which fpirit, 
 tho' a diflin£l fubfiftence, is fo far one with Chrift, 
 that he, the Lord Jefus, is faid to be " that Spirit,** 
 2C0r.iii.17. And Paul declares, that he learned not 
 the gofpel from man, but was taught it by the re- 
 velation of Jefus, in whom are hid all the trea- 
 fures of wifdom and knov.'ledge, and by whom he 
 
 and 
 
l68 Chrijl the true light Ser. IV. 
 
 and the other apoftles received grace and apoftle- 
 fbip; (by the communication of the Spirit, it is 
 true), but ftill it was from Chrift's fuHnefs ; as Jefus 
 fays of the Spirit, Jo. xvi. 14. " He fliall receive of 
 
 jnine, and fhall Ihew it unto you." This leads 
 
 to obferve, 
 
 1. That Jefus, the divine Son of God, fland- 
 ing as Mediator between God and man, is the 
 true hght that fliines through the whole of reve- 
 lation. He is the main fubjed and fubftance of 
 all fcripture, the centre in which all the lines of \t 
 do meet : " To him give all the prophets witnefs." 
 He, in his perfon, and mediatory chara6ter, throws 
 light upon fcripture, which gives a confiftency to 
 its feveral parts, — an important fignificance, 
 and grandeur of defign, to what, without reference 
 to him, muft appear unreafonable, and unworthy 
 of God. 
 
 He is the true light of the hiftorical part of 
 fcripture, — - of its prophecies, — of its divers rites 
 and facrifices. The reference vi hich Providence, 
 in all its great adings, had to God's defign by 
 him, throws a light, which exalts God in our 
 eye, upon the various revolutions among nations, 
 upon the rife and downfal of empires, of ftates, 
 and of kingdoms, all manifeftly fubfervient to the 
 rife, to the fpread and prefervation of his fpiritual 
 kingdom. 
 
 This extraordinary perfon, and the very im- 
 portant purpofe to he ferved by iiim, give a great 
 
 meaning 
 
Ser. IV. of the ivorhU 169 
 
 meaning to the otherwifc unaccountable apparatus 
 of difpenfations towards the Jewi!h nation, the 
 Ions of Abraham. When we confider God's fe- 
 paration of thetn from the reft of the world, the 
 fignal interpofition of Providence, in a long feries . 
 of (trange operations towards them, as if they were 
 the only people that employed the divine attention 
 and care ; when we viev*' this as a plan formed 
 with reference to the Meffiah, and for un;iering in 
 the promife concerning him with accumulated 
 evidence of its truth, — fo that when he Ihould 
 come, the w^orld, in his appearance, might fee 
 with irrefiftible evidence that he was indeed the 
 perfon prcmifed to come, " for falvation to the 
 ends of the earth ;'* and that the temporary dif- 
 tinftion of the Jews in God's favour, was from 
 good-will to all the w^orld, and with a kind inten- 
 tion of equal benefit by the Meffiah to all nations 
 indifcriminately ; — this places that fmgular difpen- 
 fation in a light which highly magnifies the gracq 
 and wifdom, the faithfulnefs and power of God. 
 
 He is likewife the true light of the an- 
 cient facrifices ; a very unmeaning unreafonabl*? 
 inftitution in itfelf, without reference to him. The 
 Ihedding of the blood of goats and calves as an at* 
 oning facrifice, was fuch an improbable method 
 of appeafing the Deity, and fo remote from rea-* 
 fon, that it never could have been imagined by 
 the mind of man, nor find a place in the worfliip. 
 of God, had it not been ncilfied by revelation^ 
 
 T tha^ 
 
lyo Chrift the true light Ser.lV, 
 
 that fuch v/as God's appointment. Nor could 
 God have either appointed or accepted them on 
 their own account, as having any virtue or efficacy 
 to expiate the guilt of fm : " For it is not poffible 
 that the blood of bulls and of goats (hould take a- 
 way fin. Wherefore when he, the Son, cometh 
 into the world, he faith, Sacrifice and offering 
 thou wouldft not, — in burnt-offerings and facri- 
 ■fices thou haft had no delight : then faid 1, Lo, I 
 come to do thy will." The reference which fa- 
 crifices had to Chrift, and to his propitiatory death, 
 gave them all their fignificancy. He is the truth 
 and fubftance, whereas they were only the flia- 
 dows, ferving as figures of the Holy One promi- 
 fed to come, to put away fin by the facrifice of 
 himfelf. Now that he is come, a great High 
 prieft, and hath offered himfelf as the one perfed: 
 facrifice, he thereby hath explained to the 
 world the true intent of the ancient facrifices ; 
 and their defign being fully anfwered in his death, 
 they are for ever aboliihed. 
 
 3. As Chrift is the true light of fcripture, which 
 gives a confiftency to its feveral parts ; fo he is 
 the light that ftiews to men their way to God, 
 and to the heavenly world. In him, as the anoint- 
 ed Mediator, we fee our way to God, and the 
 only way in which we are fure to come to him, 
 and to find favour in his fight. 
 
 The revelation concerning him, gives know- 
 ledge of falvation, by the reniiffion of fins, in vir- 
 tue 
 
6ef . tV. of the 'world, 171 
 
 tue of his atoning facrifice . The way to the holieft is 
 confecrated for us, " through the vail of his flelh." 
 In the very conftitution of his perfon, in which 
 the divine and human natures arc united, we fee 
 our accefs to God prepared. In the manifeft de- 
 fign of the union of the two natures, we fee en- 
 couragement to hope for reconcifiation and union 
 to God in him. But when we fee this divine per- 
 fon, as Mediator betv/een God and man, offer- 
 ing himfelf a facrifice for fin, and that by the ap- 
 pointment of God ; this fliews, with fuHnefs of 
 light, that our way to God is open through faith 
 in his blood ; — " that having fuch a high prieft 
 over the houfe of God, we may come with bold- 
 iiefs, in full affurance of faith, to a throne of 
 grace." Thus, he is the true light that fliev/s the 
 way, and is himfelf the only way to God. " I 
 (faid he) am the way^ the truth, and the life : no 
 man cometh to the Father but by me ;*'- and a- 
 gain, " This is the will of him who fent me, that 
 every one who feeth the Son, and believeth on 
 him, may have everlafling life.'* Whatfoever 
 leads men to any dependence upon their own 
 works for juftification and life, is a fcilfa light, 
 that leads away from God. Man's vain attempt 
 to cftablifli felf-righteoufnefs, doth, under pre- 
 tence of zeal for virtue, betray the latent enmity 
 of the heart, againft both law and gofpel. The 
 language of it is, — I am determined to have life 
 (let fcripture fay what it will to the contrary) in 
 
 Y 2 ijiy 
 
172 Chrift the true light Ser. 1V# 
 
 my own way, by my own works, in my own 
 flrength : — 1 know no other way ; my reafon can 
 lubmit to no other. This felf- righteous turn. of 
 mind is our natural way, to which, in defiance of 
 revelation, we obftinately adhere ; as k is natural 
 to us, while unregenerated, ever to err in heart, 
 "not knowing the way of peace," not knowing 
 God, nor Chrtft, nor the law, nor ourfelves. It 
 mud be a ftupid confcience that allows a finful 
 creature fo far to over-rate his works, as, upon 
 their account, to expect the favour of God, or to 
 think there is real truth or worth in any work of 
 his that is not done by the Spirit of life from 
 
 Jefus. This leads to obferve, 
 
 4. That he is the true light that gives us the 
 true knowledge of God, or that (hews him to us 
 in his true glory. " No man hath feen God at 
 any time ; the only begotten Son, who is in the 
 bofom of the Father, he hath declared him." As 
 he is invifible to the eye of fenfe, fo is he, in his 
 true nature, hid from the underftanding of every 
 one to whom the gofpel, or the revelation con- 
 cerning him, is hid. " Ye neither know me, 
 (faith Jefus to the Jews), nor my Father : if ye had 
 known me, ye fliould have known my Father al- 
 fo : for he who hath feen me, hath feen the Fa- 
 ther." Jefus, in bis mediatory charader and work, 
 in his life and do6lrine, is the vifible reprefentative 
 image of the true God ; or the mirror in which we 
 fee the true image of the one God. The light of 
 
 the 
 
Str. IV. of the world. 173 
 
 the knowledge of the glory of God, in all its 
 brightnefs, fliines in the face of Chrift. In him 
 we fee God contriving and ading in a manner 
 worthy of the true God, " in bringing many fons 
 to glory,*' by a " captain of falvation made per- 
 fect through fufferings." In him we fee all the 
 divine perfedions, — hoUnefs, juftice, truth, mer- 
 cy, and grace, all harmoniouily uniting, and (hi- 
 ning forth in the perfedion of their glory, refleding 
 a reciprocal luftre the one upon the other. 
 
 Without the revelation of God in Chrift, God 
 is not known. Men pretend to magnify God, 
 by a pompous defcription of his excellencies, 
 drawn from their own imagination. But it is a 
 partial and maimed account they give of him. Jn 
 favour of themfelves, they rcprefent him as all 
 goodnefs, and entertain the hope of favour from 
 him as fuch, while they live as they lift. Thus, 
 when they would celebrate God by flattering com- 
 pUments to his goodnefs, they rob him of his ju- 
 ftice. In hoping for pardon and favour, without 
 regard to Chrift's facrifice, they prefume to repeal 
 the fentence of his law, without any fatisfadion in 
 fupport of its authority. In doing fo, they deftroy 
 at once God's law and government : which betrays 
 their ignorance of the true God ; that it is not 
 in him they truft, but in the idol of their own i- 
 magination ; for no rational ground of truft in 
 the true God can be feen but in Chrift. Should 
 God, in his glorious holincfs, out of Chrift, be 
 ^ prefented 
 
174 Chrift the true light Ser. IV. 
 
 prefented to mens view, the fight would drive 
 them to difl:ra£lion. In Chrift, God is feen at 
 once, as a juft God and a Saviour ; — fevere in pu- 
 nifliing fin, yet gracious in pardoning the finner ; 
 exhibiting the moft righteous vengeance upon fin, 
 in the higheft manifeftation of love to the perfon 
 of the finner. Now, God appears to us in his 
 true light. In the Son we behold him fliining 
 in the full glory of his grace and truth, and only 
 fo we behold him as " the God of hope** to 
 guilty men. In the Son alfo, and in the defign 
 of his mediation, we fee the true God, glorious 
 in holinefs, in providing, as for the atonement, 
 fo likewife for the deftrutlion of fin, and for the 
 reduction of the finner to dutiful holy obedience. 
 This is the manifeft defign of the fcheme of grace 
 in Jefus. The atonement made for fin is to pre- 
 pare the way for its deftru6tion : " for this pur- 
 pofe was the Son of God manifefted, that he 
 might deftroy the works of the devil.'* Upon 
 the plan of the gofpel, fin cannot live in him who 
 falls in with it ; and upon no other plan can its 
 power be broken and die. The infidel, plan of 
 felf-righteous men, we are fure, never touches 
 the life of fin. In fo far as it difallows the necef- 
 fity of an atonement, it holds the mortification of 
 
 lin to be unneceffary. 1 add, 
 
 , 5. That the exprefiion may import, that the 
 ifcvelation concerning Chrift comes with fuch full- 
 nefs of evidence, as is fiifficient to fatisfy the whole 
 
 ratioral 
 
Ser. IV. of the tv or Id. 17^ 
 
 rational world of its truth. Befides the high at- 
 teftation from heaven to its truth, in a long feries 
 of aftonifliing miracles, and in the circumffcantial 
 accompli 111 ment of ancient prophecies, its own na- 
 ture fpeaks for it, and {hews it to be of God, 
 as being worthy of the one true God. It places 
 the nature and perfedions of God in fuch a vene- 
 rable and amiable light, as mufl: recommend it to 
 the reafon and confcience of every fober-minded. 
 unprejudiced pcrfon. 
 
 It is no improper remark, that the difcovery of 
 the gofpel-fcheme of redem.ption fhews it to be of 
 God. The conftitution of Chrifl's perfon, uni- 
 ting the human nature to the divine, in order to 
 aft and fufFer as Mediator for men, is a fublime 
 device, fo far furpaffing the higheft conception of 
 finite created" minds, and fo honourable to God 
 that it could never have been known, nor fpoken 
 of, in our world, had it not been fupernaturally re- 
 vealed as the mind of God. 
 
 It is with jufl: indignation a fober ferious perfoii 
 hears a wanton infidel pretending to reprobate re- 
 velation for want of evidence. He muff be wil- 
 lingly ignorant of it, who fees not the evidence of 
 its truth. Thofe who have fincerely inquired into 
 the evidence, and who fee it to their fatisfadion, 
 cannot cafily believe others to be ferious in pre- 
 tending, that they want light fufficient to induce 
 belief J but mud fufpeft, that, with this pretence, 
 
 they 
 
176 Chriji the true light Scr. IV. 
 
 they impofe upon themfelves ; that pride, vanity, 
 wantonnefs, and the love of pleafure, are in rea- 
 lity at the bottom of their incredulity, rather than 
 defed of light. What Jefus and his apoflles af- 
 fign as the caufe of infidelity, may be depended 
 upon as the true account of it. Jefus fays, that 
 men, from love of darknefs, and from hatred oi 
 the light, which reproves their evil deeds, will not 
 come to the light. The caufe of mens infidelity 
 affigned by Paul, being the efFedb of the former, 
 is dreadful : " If our gofpel be hid, it is hid to 
 them who are loft, in whom the god of this world 
 hath blinded the minds of them who believe not, 
 left the light of the glorious gofpel of Chrift, who 
 is the image of God, fliould lliine into them.'* 
 By rebelling againft the light, men provoke God 
 to " give them up to their chofen delufions : " 
 then indeed, forfaken of the Spirit of God, be- 
 caufe of their pride and frowardnefs, and left to 
 their own counfels, " they become vain in their i- 
 maginations, and their foolifh heart is darken- 
 ed." The darknefs is in mens hearts, not in the 
 grounds and reafons of faith. For the gofpel 
 comes forth, pouring, upon the world, in a flood 
 of light, fufficient to convince and perfuade every 
 reafonable foul ; but indulged darknefs compre- 
 hendeth it not. When revelation is candidly exa- 
 mined, the evidence of its truth is perceived. 
 And if, when its truth is perceived, it is admitted 
 into the heart, it produces great effeds in the foul. 
 
Ser. IV. of the world. 177 
 
 as it is faid to work effedualiy in them who believe. 
 . This leads me, 
 
 II. To inquire into the operation and efFc<5l of 
 this true light, as it is expreifcd by lighting evc' 
 ry one that comtth into tlie zvorld. 
 
 We are not to underftand this of the natural 
 light of reafon with which we come into the 
 world, and of which the Son of God, who 
 made ah things, is the author. It is to be 
 underftood of that additional fupernatural light, 
 refpe6fing divine objefts, with which every 
 man, whether learned or unlearned, pofTeffing 
 ftrong or weak natural faculties, needs to be en- 
 lightened, for his eftedual inftruftion in the na- 
 ture and ways of God. Nor does this fuperna- 
 tural light mean only the external revelation o£ 
 fcripture, with which God hath bleffed the world, 
 but farther, the mighty efficacy of the word, by 
 the Spirit of Chrift, to communicate real fpiritual 
 light and life to the heart of man, naturally fo dark 
 that it cannot comprehend the light of revelation. 
 Without this illumination of the heart by the Spi- 
 rit of Chrift, no man born of a woman, with the 
 beft helps nature and education can afford, nor 
 even with the help of fcripture itfelf, can know 
 the Lord, fo as to receive his teftimony, and fub- 
 mit to him. By the wifdom of learning, the na- 
 tural man has no great advantage above the un- 
 learned, for knowing the truths of God \ fo far 
 
 Z ixoia 
 
178 Chrift the true light Ser. IV. 
 
 from it, that, of all men the learned, without, the 
 light of grace, have, by the metaphyseal conceits of 
 falfe fcience, contributed mofh to involve plain truths 
 in obfcurity. By the fubtleties of converts from 
 among the learned of antiquity, Chriftianity was 
 firit corrupted, and its plain truths, level to vul- 
 gar capacities, rendered intricate, ambiguous, and 
 difputable. But fuppofe one had divine truths 
 laid before him in fo clear a light that he cannot 
 fail of perceiving them, each feparately by itfelf, and 
 all of them in their connexion together, as he does 
 other matters of fpeculation ; yet can he not, with- 
 out the operation of the Spirit of God upon the 
 heart, view them in their true fpiritual light and 
 glory. 
 
 It is this efficacy of the true light to lighten the 
 heart 1 am a little to enlarge upon. 
 
 Jefus Chriil, who is the Lord from heaven, is 
 elTtntial I'ght and life. In his public charadter 
 of Mediator, he is to us a quickening fpirit. His 
 words are fpirit and life. The doftrine concern- 
 ing Chriil is attended with fpirit and power pecu- 
 liar to itfelf : " Our gofpel," fays the apoftle, 
 *' came not in word only, but in ppwcr, and in 
 the Holy Ghoft." — " The teflimony of the Lord 
 is pure, enlightening the eyes.'' By the word 
 of Chrift, there is a real creation of fpiritual li- 
 ving lip-ht in the foul of man, a creation as real as 
 there was in the beginning by that word, " Let 
 there be light." 
 
 The 
 
Sen IV. ^f the zuorld. jyg 
 
 The Lord not only commands his truth to be 
 miniftered to us, but by it he hghteth the man, 
 while he openeth his underftanding to underftand 
 the fcriptures hi their fpiritual truth and glory. 
 The great effect of which inward powerful teach- 
 ing is, that the truth which we formerly heard, 
 and to which our reafon gave a cold affent, we now 
 fee, and the objed to which it refers, in a very 
 different manner. The didant objeft once laid be- 
 fore us in a dead pidure, now becomes prefent 
 and living in our eye. 
 
 The objed which the truth of the word thus 
 Tnews to the heart is Chrifl, or God glorious in 
 the face of Chrift. His wonderful perfon, cha- 
 racter, and work, are fo far the fubllance and end 
 of all fcripture-truths, that the true knowledge and 
 fenfe of them is expreffed by " Chrifl dwelling in 
 the heart by faith," — and " Chrill; in us the hope 
 of glory." When, by means of the word, this 
 glorious object is introduced into the heart, then 
 fliines in it the true light of grace. 
 
 But, to give a more particular detail of the ef- 
 fedts of this hght, as it is expreffed by " lighting 
 the man," let it be obferved, 
 
 I. That it is alight which affures the foul of 
 the truth : " Now (fay the difciples to Jefus) 
 we know affuredly, that thou camefl forth from 
 God." " We believe, and are fure, that thou 
 art that Chrift, the Son of the living God ;" as 
 what one fees with his eyes he is mofi affuredly 
 Z 2 perfuaded 
 
iSo Chviji the true light Ser. IV. 
 
 perfuaded of. How different now is one's know- 
 ledge and belief from that wavering perfuafion 
 which is founded upon mere human teftimony, and 
 alfo upon the dubious deduftions of reafon ! It is 
 the aifured perfuafion of faith, which refls upon 
 the infallible teftimony of the faithful God, clearly 
 and feelingly perceived. 
 
 They greatly miftake themfelves, who think 
 that a doubting llaggering perfuafion of the truth of 
 revelation will anfwer the purpofe of a religious life, 
 and carry them forward in a patient continuance 
 in well-doing towards glory, honour, and immor- 
 tality. Abiblute affurance is necelfary to this. 
 And thus affuredly perfuaded is every true belie- 
 ver whom the true light lightens. He fees and be- 
 lieves in the Son of God, tfiat he died for fin ; — 
 that he rofe again, and afcended into heaven ; — 
 that he will come again, and raife the dead, and 
 raife his own members to everlafting life. He 
 who believes not thus affuredly, but wavers be- 
 tween certainty, doubt, and probability, is likely 
 to prove double-minded, and unftable in. all his 
 ways. 
 
 2. When the light of divine truth fhines into a 
 man's heart, he fees a great glory in the gofpel,— 
 glorious holinefs, — glorious grace, — ^ glorious wif- 
 dom, in giving a confiftency to juftice, truth, 
 and mercy, all of them in their highefr exercife 
 together. Such glory he nov/ fees, where once 
 he could fee nathing to raife his wonder, or to en- 
 gage 
 
Ser. IV. of the zuorld, 1 8 r 
 
 gage his love. The vail being taken from his 
 heart, he views the fcheme of grace in Chrift as 
 *' the Lord's doing, and marvellous it is in his 
 eyes.'* The light that ihines in the believer is of 
 the nature of heaven ; of vi^hich it is faid, that 
 *' the glory of God lightens it ;'* and that " the 
 Lamb is the light thereof.'* In the contrivance of 
 man's redemption, he fees that God, in devifmg 
 means for faving fmners, hath at the fame time 
 provided well for his own glory, that this great 
 effort of his wifdom and grace is his chief glory, 
 furpaffing in excellence all his other works. It 
 fills him with wonder, that the great God lliould 
 employ fuch manifold wifdom and grace for the 
 recovery of the wretched pofterity of Adam ; and 
 he is loft in amazement upon the firft dawn of 
 hope, that the benefit of this gracious fcheme is 
 
 defigned for himfelf. This leads to obferve, 
 
 3. That, being enlightened by the Spirit of 
 truth, one perceives his own particular interefl 
 and concern in the falvation publiflied to the world 
 through Jefus Chrift. This is certainly the efFeft 
 of the true light fliining in his heart, that he fees 
 the Son of God fet forth before himfelf, as well as 
 before others, to take the benefit of his mediation. 
 Although one cannot know, before he believes, 
 whether it be in the purpofe of God to fave him, 
 or not, it is certain, that when faith enters, he 
 perceives the good-will of God towards himfelf, 
 \n the proclamation of it to all men indifcrimi- 
 
 nately, 
 
i82 Chriji the true light Ser. IV. 
 
 nately, fo far as to be encouraged by it humbly 
 to apply to God, and plead for pardon and eternal 
 life through Jefus Chrift. In the general offer of 
 falvation, he perceives the invitation of grace fo 
 addreffed to himfelf, that he is enabled to reply, 
 " Behold, I come unto thee ; for thou art the 
 
 Lord my God." This, again, 
 
 4. Is the effed of the true light, that as it 
 fhews the divine objed, the fure path to life with 
 God, and encouragement to the hope of every in- 
 dividual ; fo it is powerful to draw the heart in 
 love to unite with Chrift. It is an engaging light, 
 in which is feen the higheft expreffion of love, 
 manifefling God to be love, in the manifeftation 
 of his Son in the flefh, for the purpofe of mens 
 falvation. This view attracts love, and defire of 
 union, to the divine objeiSt, moft amiable and glo- 
 rious in the foul's eye, both in regard to the 
 matchlefs excellencies of his perfon, and to his 
 charader of Mediator and Surety, for bringing 
 men to God by his merit and power. " His 
 name, when known, is as ointment poured forth ; 
 therefore do the upright love him.'* Our apoftle 
 fays, " That he who loveth not, hath not known 
 God ;" which implies, that he who knows God 
 in Chrifl, muft, in feeing, love him ; that love 
 is the natural and neceffary fruit of the true light ; 
 nay, that love is itfelf the light and beauty of the 
 foul ; without which it is all darknefs : for this 
 living light from Chrift prefents him to the heart 
 
 iu 
 
Ser. IV. oftheivorld, 183 
 
 in the attradive glories of grace and love ; and in 
 doing fo, changes the heart into light and love, 
 into the fame nature with that light which lightens 
 it ; fo that the heart becomes '' light in the Lord." 
 And therefore the foul, now made light, or 
 " born fpirit of the Spirit," loofened, by the view 
 of Chrifl's fuperlative glory, from its former at- 
 tachment to the comforts of earth, naturally tends 
 to the great original and parent of light, to unite 
 with him, as the native element of its new na- 
 ture, wherein it finds its true reft and happinefs. 
 The light that hath not this effed;, is not the true 
 light of faith, but the vain illufion of fancy. 
 
 It may not be improper to notice here, that this 
 movement of one's love towards Chrift, under 
 the attradion of his love, is ordinarily attended 
 with felf-loathing, and much weeping. " I now 
 fee thee," fays Job ; " wherefore I abhor myfelf." 
 Mary, knowing that much was forgiven her, lo- 
 ved much ; and her love wept plentifully. One 
 cannot help being fo tenderly affeded with that 
 light, in which he fees God fo glorious in holi- 
 nefs, and himfelf fo vile by fm ; God fo good 
 and kind, and himfelf fo ungrateful and undefer- 
 ving. ' ■ ' But 1 proceed to obferve, 
 
 5. That the efted of the true light, as it is ex- 
 prefled by lighting the man, is, that it relieves 
 him of his diftreffmp: burdens and fears : " Thev 
 looked unto him, and were lightened, and their 
 faces were not alhamed. This poor man cried j and 
 
 the 
 
1 84 Chrift the true light Ser. IV. 
 
 the Lord heard, and faved him out of all his trou- 
 bles." It lightens the heart, in relieving it of all 
 difquieting fears, particularly of the fear of divine 
 wrath. 
 
 So long as one is under the law, or, as the a- 
 poftlc exprefles it, " of the works of the law," 
 he is under the curfe ; and let him do his befl, 
 he is never free. The difquieting jealoufy of 
 wrath ftill purfues him. ; he is never fatisfied in 
 his mind, that God is pleafed with his perform- 
 ances ; but is told by his confcience, that they 
 fall far fhort of the " perfed law of God," which 
 flill condemns and threatens him as a tranf- 
 greflbr. 
 
 By his religious obfervances, he may bring his 
 confcience into a temporary peace ; but it is the 
 falfe fhort-lived peace of a dormant confcience, 
 which, at intervals, awakes from its fleep, and 
 whifpers in his ear, that he is yet far from righ- 
 teoufnefs ; that the curfe (lands in full force a- 
 gainft him, and cleaves to him, and to his works. 
 This being ever the unquiet ftate of his mind, his 
 obedience is with abjed fervility of fpirit. It is 
 unnatural and irkfome, in backward peevifh com- 
 pliance with confcience, againft the natural bent 
 of the heart. 
 
 Now vifited with the true light, and made ac- 
 quainted with the method of reconciliation through 
 the death of Chrift, — feeing him fet forth a pro- 
 pitiation for fin,— joining himfelf to him, and 
 
 trufting 
 
Ser. IV. of the zvorld. i^^ 
 
 trufling in him for relief from the curfe, which 
 he took on himfelf, and bore in his own body on 
 the tree, he is lightened of his fears, and joys in 
 God through his Lord Jefus Chrifl:, by whom he 
 hath now received the atonement ; finging with 
 the church, " Though thou waft angry with me, 
 thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedft 
 me. — Behold, God is my falvation !" His con- 
 fcience now purged from dead works, he ferves 
 God with the filial confidence of the fpirit of ad- 
 option, ferene and joyful, in hope of acceptance 
 
 with God in Chrift. Again, 
 
 The heart is lightened in being relieved of the 
 bafe fervitude of worldly lulls, and of the vexing 
 murmurs of confcience accompanying the allowed 
 dominion of fin. Every foul, we are fure, that, 
 in ignorance of Chrift, " is of the works of the 
 law,'* is under the curie ; and, as being under the 
 curfe, is under the enflaving power of earthly af* 
 fedions, taking place by turns one of another, in 
 the ditferent periods of life, as our conftitution, 
 or the temper of our blood, changes with our 
 years. Such is the flavifli, wretched ftate of eve- 
 ry foul of man, till the light of the gofpel fhine 
 in the heart. Notwithftanding the faireft face of 
 religion and virtue in life, without a living faith 
 in Chrift, fin ever lives unmortified in the heart. 
 It dies only by the Spirit of Chrift, received by 
 faith. 
 
 The felf- righteous, while they glory in the 
 A a virtuous 
 
1 86 Chrifi the true light Ser. IV. 
 
 virtuous eflbrts of nature, make a pitiable 
 figure in the eye of a ferious Chriftian, who 
 knows, in his very heart, that fuch boafting is 
 vain, betraying a dead confcience, infenfible, both 
 to the extent of God's law, and to the broken 
 ftate of mens powers. For as Jefus is " the 
 Lamb of God that taketh away the fm of the 
 world," in its guilt ; fo is he the mighty Son of 
 God, " manifefted to deitroy the works of the 
 devil." Enlightened with the true knowledge of 
 him, one is relieved of the oppreffive tyranny of 
 fin : " He hath crucified the flefh, with the af- 
 fettions and lufts thereof; the law of the fpirit of 
 life in Chrifi having made him free from the law 
 of fin and death ;" which, before his knowledge of 
 Chrift, he could by no means fubdue, nor would, 
 from fincere defire. 
 
 Now being made free, by Chrift, from the vex- 
 ing fervitude of fin, he rejoices in this freedom, 
 as in deliverance from a diftrafting complication 
 of difterapers, and, rejoicing, fays, '' God be 
 thanked, that I am not what once I was; — that 
 being made free from fin, I am become the fer- 
 vant of righteoufnefs." O the happy peace, the 
 calm retreat from the difquieting tumult of world- 
 ly afledions, into which I am brought ! I am 
 come from difcontent and trouble, to my defired 
 reft ; — from the dclufive phantoms of fenfual plea- 
 fures, to preferable delight in God, in whofe love 
 1 inherit fubftance. This I find to be life and peace ; 
 
 as 
 
Ser. IV. of the world. 187 
 
 as to be carnally minded I ever found to be death, 
 and flill find to be fliame and grief in the re- 
 membrance of it. 
 
 In confequence of fuch deliverance from the 
 fervitude of fm, the heart, relieved of its former 
 gloom, is happy and joyful in finding the image 
 of God formed upon it. The chearful light of 
 this image, the diflinguiflied beauty and honour 
 of it, gives the Chriflian fuch inward fatisfaction 
 and joy, as make his countenance to fhine. 
 
 The light of it is pleafure rifmg to tranfport. 
 As when one comes out of dreary darknefs into 
 the chearful light of day ; fo happy, fo glad is a 
 poor fmner tranflated from darknefs to light. It 
 is with joy unfpeakable he fays, " I was fome- 
 times darknefs, now am 1 light in the Lord." 
 What a happy change is this, — from darkne: to 
 light, — a marvellous light, that gives the true en- 
 joyment of life ! 
 
 How chearful, with dignity of afped, is he, 
 in finding the beauties of the divine image, the 
 graces and virtues of the Spirit, come in place of 
 the deformities and wild diforders of fm ! This is 
 what the prophet rejoices in, when he fmgs, — "I 
 will greatly rejoice in the Lord ; my foul fliall be 
 joyful in my God : for he hath clothed me with 
 the garments of falvation, he hath covered me 
 with the robe of righteoufnefs, as a bridegroom 
 decketh himfelf with ornaments, and as a bride 
 A a 2 adornetl\ 
 
1 88 Chrift the true light Ser. IV.- 
 
 adorneth heifelf with her jewels." I am now, 
 faith the Chriftian, glorious within. 
 
 He is joyful in the diftinguilhed honour of 
 this fpiritual adorning of grace, ^s being derived 
 from the Son of God, and the true refemblance 
 of him. " This (may the Chriftian fay) is 
 Chrift:'s mind in me ;" being *' joined to the 
 Lord, I am one fpirit with him." O the honour 
 of being " conformed to the image of the Son of 
 God, the brightnefs of his Father's glory !" This 
 mufl: render one precious and honourable in the 
 fight of God. The King muft delight in this, his 
 own beauty, though yet but imperfectly drawn 
 upon my foul." Such honour have all the faints, 
 in whom God dwells, as in his temple. 
 
 Further, the Chriftian is happy and glad in the 
 honour of free accefs to God, and communion 
 with him, through Jefus, by the Spirit. *^ We 
 (fays our apoft:le) have feen the light that was ma- 
 nifefted, — and truly our ftUowlhip is with the 
 Father, and with his Son Jefus Chriil." — The du- 
 ties and ordinances of religion have been appoint- 
 ed for this w'orthy purpofe, that we, enlightened 
 by grace, might, in them, draw near to God, 
 and hold intercourfe with him ; the mediation and 
 nierit of Chrift: being the procuring caufe ; our u- 
 nion to him, and his fandifying grace, being our 
 iitnefs for fuch honouiable communion. Without 
 it, religious inftitutions are barren ceremonies, 
 and attendance upon them, a very irkfome tafk. 
 
 The 
 
Ser. IV. of the ivorhl. 1 89 
 
 The world derides this communion as blind en- 
 thufiafm, and all who pretend to it, as wrong- 
 headed fanatics ; thus " fpeaking evil of what 
 they underftand not," and for which they un- 
 happily want a proper temper of mind. Sincere 
 believers know it to be a blefled reality. They 
 have fome tafte of the hidden manna. Defire 
 aiid hope of it draw them to ordinances, and en- 
 gage their frequent ferious attendance upon them. 
 Nor are they difappointed of their hope ; but find 
 it good for them fo to draw near to God ; — " that 
 a day in his courts is better than a thoufand in the 
 voluptuous tents of fmners." " Kow amiable 
 (fays a faint) are God's tabernacles ! — how defpi- 
 cable has been my entertainment ! — What empty 
 huPKS have 1 lived upon, in company with worldly 
 rioters, compared with what I now enjoy, while, 
 " reverently inquiring in God*s temple, I behold 
 the beauty of the Lord," — I view, I love, and 
 delight lit heavenly objects ! — Depart from me, 
 ye enfnaring workers of iniquity ; 1 purpofe to keep 
 the commandments of my God, and to wait upon 
 him in the tabernacles of his grace, for the purer 
 comforts of his love." 
 
 I add, that the Chriftian, in perceiving the im- 
 perfeciion of the divine image in his foul, and. of 
 his fellowfliip with God ; and in prefenting to his 
 view the difficult courfe of duties and trials he has 
 yet to go through ; he is not difcouragcd, but 
 yejoices in his connexion with Chrift, his mighty 
 
 head J 
 
190 Chrift the true light Ser. IV. 
 
 head, who has left no fervice upon him to per- 
 form in his own ftrength, but has undertaken to 
 be ever with him, by his Spirit to fupport and 
 bear him honourably through his work and war- 
 fare. In this view, rifing above difcouragements 
 and fears, he trufls, with glorying, in the Lord. 
 *' I can do all things through Chrift ftrengthening 
 me. — In the Lord have I righteoufnefs, and in 
 him i have ftrength. — The Lord is ray light and 
 my falvation, whom fliall I fear ? The Lord is 
 the ftrength of my life, of whom fliall I be afraid. 
 • — During the courfe of my fpiritual warfare, he 
 will be with me, according to his promife, to 
 ftrengthen me with might, according to his glo- 
 rious power, unto all patience and long fuffering 
 with joyfulnefs.'* 
 
 Finally, he rejoices in the clear light of the 
 word, which fliows him, that as the whole of falva- 
 tion is of fovereign grace, by the operation of the 
 Spirit, through the mediation of Chrift ; — there- 
 fore, when once it is begun in a real change of 
 heart, it cannot utterly fail, nor ftop in its pro- 
 grefs ; but that the grace which has begun it, will 
 finifli it ; that, as it has laid the foundation, and 
 reared it fo far, it will crown it with glory. — 
 The power of God is engaged by his faithful 
 promife, never to forfake the gracious work of 
 his hand, but to fuftain and perfed: it. The mer- 
 cy of God, and its fruit in the heart of man^ 
 fhall endure for ever. Grace, from a fmall feed, 
 
 fliall 
 
Ser. IV. i>J[ the world, 19 1 
 
 fhall advance to its full growth and perfed matu- 
 rity in glory. The tendency of grace is in its na- 
 ture to this perfedlion, as it is of the morning- 
 light to fliine with increafmg brightnefs to the 
 perfect day. And that it Ihall fo advance, is 
 greatly fecured by two immutable things, wherein 
 it is impoihble for God to lie, — his promife, con- 
 firmed by the folemnity of an oath. 
 
 Amidft this flood of light, (may the Chriftian 
 fay), light fliowing my way to God, and the fe- 
 curity for my fafety and fuccefs in that way, have 
 I not good caufe to be ferene and chearful in this 
 foreign land ? What now is wanting to the per- 
 fedion of my blifs, but (what I have the hope of) 
 complete vidory over all enemies, and a triumph- 
 ant entrance into glory, to fee, face to face, him 
 whom I now fee darkly as through a glafs, in 
 whom, fo feen, I rejoice with joy unfpeakable and 
 full of glory I 
 
 III. I fliall now conclude the fubjed with a few 
 inferences by way of application. 
 
 And I . From what hath been faid, we fee, that 
 Chrift, and the revelation concerning him, is the 
 only true light in which God is feen, and the way 
 of falvation in his favour. Without this light, the 
 whole world would continue to be the miferable 
 habitation of horrid darknefs and cruelty. Thofe, 
 therefore, who make it their bufmefs to malign 
 and difcredit this light, are the mod peftilent ene- 
 mies 
 
192 Chriji the true light Ser. IV« 
 
 mies of God, and of mankind. Are they not 
 leagued with Satan, as his accomplices, to efta- 
 blilh his infernal empire in the world, to detain 
 men under his power, in, the chains of darknefs 
 and vice ; and thereby to defeat the favourite pro- 
 ject of Heaven, for difplaying God's higheft glory 
 in the falvation of men, by Jefus Chrift ? Of all 
 crimes, the malevolence of infidelity is the great- 
 eft, in crucifying the Son of God afrefli, againft 
 the accumulaiied ftrength of evidence, through a 
 long feries of ages. In the guilt of modern infi- 
 delity, I may fay, there is a degree of perverfe- 
 nefs exceeding that of his firft crucifiers, the Jews. 
 In oppofmg revelation, and " denying the Lord 
 that bought them," without the leail pretence of 
 ferving thereby the intereft of civil fociety and of 
 virtue, men have no cloke, no rational pretence, 
 with which to cover, or to alleviate their (in : 
 they have, therefore, reafon to fear, and diJ they 
 coolly confult with unbiaffed reafon, they would 
 fear and tremble, at the confequences of theii" fpite- 
 ful oppofition. 
 
 •2. I'rom the fubject we fee, that the mere 
 knowledge and acknowledgement of this truth, 
 (which, we think, every attentive mind muft fee 
 reafon to acknowledge), will not avail for our fal- 
 vation, if, by the efficacy of the Spirit, it prove 
 not a living light in the heart. Without the 
 knowledge of the truth, the heart cannot be 
 good ; at the fame time, our fentiments and words 
 
 may 
 
Ser. IV. of the zuorkL 193 
 
 may be very good and found, and our hearts not 
 right with God, not a whit the better for our 
 knowledge, but as blind and corrupt as ever, and 
 as much efcranged from God as thofe who never 
 heard of Chrifl. A man may excel in knowledge 
 and in eloquence, while his heart, in contradic- 
 tion to his knowledge and good words, runs in 
 its old courfe of felf-righteoufnefs, and " pleafing 
 of the flefh ;" trufting in found opinions, as his 
 righteoufnefs, and " feeding upon aflics,^' the 
 fordid pleafures of fenfe, as freely as ever ; void 
 of truft in God, of love to him, and of taile for 
 fpiritual objeds : he is not, therefore, more a 
 Chriflian with his knowledge, than he was with- 
 out it ; — " for if any man have not the Spirit of 
 Chrift, how found and rich foever his knowledge 
 of the truths concerning Chrift may be, he is 
 none of his, he has no part nor lot in him/* 
 
 Knowledge is one of the gifts which the A- 
 poftle Paul exhorts us to covet earneftly ; at the 
 fame time, he fuppofes (what is manifeft in 
 experience) that one may excel in it, may 
 fpeak with the tongue of an angel, may have 
 the gift of prophecy, and underftand all myfte- 
 ries, and all knowledge, and yet be nothing in 
 refpedt of real goodnefs. It cqncerns us, there- 
 fore, in the purfuit of knowledge, " to have our 
 eyes ever towards the Lord," for the light of tlie 
 Spirit to accompany our progreflive knowledge of 
 the truth ; without which divine light, our painful 
 (ludy to increafe in knowledge, will, like all our 
 B b othej: 
 
194 Chrift the true light Ser.TV. 
 
 other labour under the fun, prove but vanity and 
 vexation of fpirit. 
 
 The efiedl of the living light of the Spirit is, 
 agreeably to the genius of the truth, to lead the 
 heart to Chrift as the fole foundation of our hope, 
 not merely for refuge in him from feared wrath, 
 but for entertainment to the foul, by the pure en- 
 joyments of God's love, preferably to the grofs 
 delights of fenfe. For this, the fpiritual life in the 
 heart of man leads, in life and in death, to look 
 with truft to Tefus. 
 
 3. From what hath been faid, we fee, that by 
 the utmoft eiiorts of nature we cannot kindle in 
 ourfclves this living light. It is the gift of God's 
 grace, the production of his power. . We are in- 
 deed to exert our beft endeavours, to occupy dili- 
 gently in all appointed means, in order to its pro- 
 duction ; and one fit and likely mean for obtain- 
 ing it, is frequent ferious meditation upon the 
 truths concerning the perfon of Chrift, his media- 
 tory charafter, and his humble obedience unto 
 death for our redemption; in which view of him, 
 we will !ee the deplorable ftate ^f human nature, 
 which rendered this method of falvation by grace 
 through Chrift ncceflary. To meditation upon 
 this affeding fubjecf, we are to join prayer, (as 
 indeed a fenfe of inability to hx our thoughts 
 calls us to pray), that God, in mercy, may fend 
 the truth vnth quickening light into our hearts. 
 And as the ordinance of the Lord's fupper ex- 
 hibits 
 
Ser. IV. * of the zo or Id, 1 95* 
 
 hibits the Son of God offering himfelf, in man's 
 nature, a facrifice for fin ; which propitiatory fa- 
 crifice is the ground-work of the fcheme of grace, 
 the root upon which flouriflieth all its fruit ; it 
 is therefore a fpecial mean, fit in itfelf, and great- 
 ly defired by lively Chriftians, for increafmg and 
 ftrengthening the fpiritual life. And by thofe 
 who have life in them, and, in the exercife of it, 
 reverently attend upon the ordinance, Chrift's 
 tlefli and blood, reprefented in the facramental 
 fymbols, are found to be meat indeed, and drink, 
 indeed. 
 
 B b 2 SER 
 
SERMON V. 
 
 The influence of faith upon rehgious for 
 titude. 
 
 H E B. xi. 27. 
 For he endured as feeing him who is in- 
 
 VI 
 
 ifible. 
 
 IN this chapter the apoflle prefents us with ^ 
 magnificent difplay of the triumphs of divine 
 faith, while he brings upon the held the army of 
 the faints, atchieving, by faith, deeds unequalled 
 in glory by the boafted exploits of all the infidel 
 heroes, either of ancient or of modern times. 
 
 The particular inftance of heroic faith which 
 the apo^le celebrates in the palTage before us, is 
 that of Mofes, the Jewifn lawgiver, a man " mighty 
 in v/ords and in deeds." This illuftrious perfon, 
 relying upon the promife which God gave to A- 
 braham, that after four hundred years he would 
 put his poflerity in pofieffion of the land of Ca- 
 naan, " refufed to be called the Son of Pharaoh's 
 daughter," and " forfook Egypt, not fearing the 
 
 wrath 
 
Ser. V* The influence of faith J ^c. 197 
 
 wrath of the king : for he endured as feeing 
 him who is invijible." 
 
 Of all the bodily fenfes, fi^^ht is the quickeft, 
 and moft diftinft ; and therefore the term feeing 
 is here very properly ufed, to exprefs the clear 
 and fatisfying perception which Mofes had of the 
 being and perfedlions of God, by the fpiritual eye 
 of an enlightened underftanding ; for thus only 
 is the invifible God to be difcerned. And by this 
 fpiritual eye of faith, one has a perfuafion of the 
 reality of his exiftence, and of the glory of his 
 perfedions, as affured and infallible, as he can 
 have by the eye of fenfe of the exiftence of any 
 material objeQ; that is placed fully in his view^. 
 By fuch a fight of God Mofes endured ; by the 
 like fight ot God are we alfo to endlire. 
 
 It is for want of this fettled unwavering perfuafion 
 of unfeen things, that fome, after they have, with 
 warmth of affection, fprung forth towards heaven, 
 and endured for a while, faintly give back, fall- 
 ing down the ftream, along with the prevailing 
 courfe of the world. They fet out with a brifk 
 fally of pafiion, kindled by an imaginary reprefen- 
 tation of the heavenly joys ; but the evil heart 
 of unbelief, flill remaining the fame, in the hour 
 of temptation breaks from its temporary re- 
 flraint, and, according to its natural bent, " de- 
 parts from the living God," in the vain purfuit of 
 earthly things. 
 
 It will readily occur to you, that enduring ne- 
 
 celfarily 
 
198 The influence of faith Scr. V. 
 
 cefTarily fuppofes trials to be endured, painful 
 trials, which require both the exercife of pa- 
 tience, and the exertion of ftrength. 
 
 I (hall therefore, in further difcourfmg upon 
 thefe words, 
 
 1. Give fome account of the trials and tempta- 
 tions to which the Chriftian is expofed in a prefent 
 world ; 
 
 2. Explain what is meant by enduring \k^t.m.\ 
 
 3. Shew the influence of faith, or feeing Jiini 
 luho Is Invl/ihle, upon the Chrillian's fortitude in 
 enduring trials and temptations ; 
 
 And conclude the whole with fome practical im- 
 provement. 
 
 I. I begin with giving fome account of the trials 
 and temptations to which the Chriftian is expofed 
 in a prefent world. 
 
 " Many are the affliftions of the righteous,'* 
 fald David. Some may have a larger fhare of 
 them than others, but fuft'ering is the common 
 lot of them all. Through many tribulations they 
 muft enter into the kingdom of heaven j and all 
 who will live godly in Chrift Jefus, fhall, by the 
 wife appointment of God, fuffer perfccution in one 
 kind or another. 
 
 " Wo to them who are quite at eafe in Zion," 
 meeting with nothing in their religious courfe to 
 moleft: them, with no difficulty or danger to en- 
 gage their violent flruggle to furmount it. Thefe 
 
 fee;n 
 
Ser. V. upon rcUgioiis fortitude . 199 
 
 fcem not to be called to the kingdom of heaven ; 
 for " the kingdom of heaven fuilcreth violence, 
 and the violent lake it by force." 
 
 It were endlefs to enumerate the various evi].^ 
 which afFiicl the juf!:. They may all be comprifed 
 imder the few follovving heads, which will ferve to 
 give a general view of them. As, 
 
 1. The reftlefs motions, fuggertions, and foil* 
 citations, of indwelling fm, of unbelief, of pride, 
 of concupifcence, of remaining corruption in all 
 its rebel paflions, and the perpetual confliiSt be- 
 tween it and grace in the foul. This of itfelf is 
 a mod acute afflidion, which makes the life of a 
 Chrifhian a life of tribulation, of foiicitude and 
 fear, of forrow and fighing. It is an irkfome bur- 
 den, the occafion of painful exercife, of many 
 bitter complaints and tears in fecret, to every gra- 
 cious foul ; and the more fo, that this conflicl is 
 not merely between corruption and confcience, 
 but alfo between corruption and a fpiritual heart, 
 that delights in God, and in his law ; and there- 
 fore cannot eafily endure the fight of that hateful 
 enemy, which, with deceit and violence, oppofes 
 itfelf to the life of God, which thwarts, entangles, 
 and retards it, in all its aims and movements to- 
 wards God. Paul's complaint of this body of 
 death was not peculiar to him, but is common to 
 all believers, who, to their fliame and grief, carry 
 this troublefome inmate in their bofom, ever con- 
 tending with it, till d'eath releafc them from, it and 
 
 the 
 
20O The influence of faith Ser. Y. 
 
 the earthly tabernable together. Whoever feels not 
 thefe contrary contendhig principles within him," as 
 it were the company of two armies," and finds it 
 not difficult to endure and maintain the conteft, 
 appears not to have in him the grace of God. 
 
 1, The fnares of the world, which fall in and co- 
 operate with inherent corruption, to the prejudice 
 of the foul. Thefe are of tv/o kinds, fome of them 
 enticing, others terrifying. 
 
 Thofe of an enticing nature are the blandiflt- 
 ments, the foft alluring delights of the world, 
 which addrefs, flatter, and deceive the fenfes and 
 imagination, being adapted to " the lufl of the 
 flelli, the lufl of the eye, and the pride of life." 
 Various are the feducing objedts of the world, 
 which, minifter to the gratification of thefe paf- 
 fions. I fhall only notice, that as there is a 
 promptitude in corrupt nature ta fnatch the bait 
 in thefe forceries of the world, fo the enchanting 
 invitations of pleafant companions, the infmuating 
 charms of focial entertainment, give efficacy to the 
 temptation, and are of dangerous influence to en- 
 fnare us into a partnerfliip with the voluptuous ia 
 their exceflTes. 
 
 Other temptations of the world are of a terri- 
 fying nature, being the effeds of the hatred of the 
 world. See a rhetorical enumeration of them iia 
 the following part of this chapter ; all fit to work 
 upon our fear, in diftrefling us with the removal 
 
Ser. V. upon religions jortitude. 201 
 
 of every defired comfort, and with the prefcncc of 
 every afflicting evil. 
 
 The tempting fcene begins with cruel mocking, 
 reproach, and fcorn, for refufmg to comply witli 
 vain men in their revellings ; men who deem it. 
 llrange that you run not with them into the fame 
 Gxcefs of riot, fpeaking evil of you for that ab- 
 ftemioufnefs which jufLly merits elteem and praife. 
 It is not unufual for fober perfons to be reproach- 
 ed for what is their glory, by fottifli fenfualifls, 
 who, in defiance of the firft ditSlates of reafon, 
 make their belly their god, a.nd glory in their 
 iliame. It is not eafy to. endure this temptation. 
 Too oft it prevails with foberly,difpofed, but irre- 
 folute fouls, not yet firmly rooted in the truths of 
 the gofpel. 
 
 But from reproach, the hatred of the world 
 proceeds to dill more violent meafures., which 
 deprive us of our goods and lives. The en- 
 mity of the ferpent againft the feed of the woman- 
 knov/s no bounds : as it finds opportunity, it 
 ruflies on to the laft extremity of cruel perfecu- 
 tion. With this dreadful calamity the faints, in 
 every nation, have been tempted. It is not yet a 
 century fince it raged in our own land. And be- 
 fore this " generation ihall piifs away,*' the bloody 
 fcene, inftigated by a Popifli Antichriltian fpirit, 
 may return to try us. Many worthy perfons^ 
 who are mofl: attentive to the operations of Provi- 
 dence, have a flrong impreffioH of fome fevere vi- 
 C c fitatioix 
 
20 2 The influence of faith Ser. V, 
 
 fitation at hand. This is not to be fcorned or ne- 
 glected as a blind impreffion, unfupported with 
 realbn. It is raifed by the prefent evident fymp- 
 toms of God's anger, compared with the ufual 
 forerunners of very afflidling judgements in for- 
 mer times. Read thefe, at your leifure, in 
 Math. xxiv. — I glance at two of them, flagrant 
 among us ; namely, fervid heart-burnings, con- 
 vuHions, and divifions in church and ftate. And 
 among individuals, every fpecies of diflipation and 
 riotous excefs ; fuch as prevailed in the days of 
 Noah, when they were eating and drinking, gi- 
 ving unbounded indulgence to their bodily appe- 
 tites, with fearlefs contempt of God's awful threat- 
 enings, and repeated warnings given them of the 
 impending flood. " He that runs may read" 
 the formidable prefages of judgements haftening 
 towards us with dreadful fleps. '' Scoffers, who, 
 walking alter their ungodly lulls," give no at- 
 tention to God's word or providence, may defpife 
 thefe fears as the bugbears of fuperftition and fa- 
 naticifm : but, for all their wanton derhion, the 
 end ol our prefent peace and liberty may be at 
 hand. — The commillioned deftroyer of the Gen- 
 tiles may even now be on his way. One thing 
 is manifefl: to every one that knows and fears 
 God, that the general way of the world at pre- 
 fent, (no clafs or order of men excepted), mufl be 
 highly difpleafmg to the fupreme ruler of the u- 
 iiiverfc, who cannot behold iniquity, and hath 
 
 revealed 
 
Ser. V. tipon religious fortitude, 203 
 
 revealed his wrath from heaven againfb all un- 
 righteoufnefs and ungodlinefs of men. 
 
 3. The faints have to endure the temptations 
 of Satan. The deadly weapons he employs a- 
 gainft us, are our own inbred corruptions, and the 
 allurements of the world. By infmuating him- 
 felf with thefe, and ftimulating them, he puflies 
 us on to fm and deftrudtiort. He fkilfully adapts 
 his temptations to the principles of our nature, 
 flattering our inclination to pleafure, to pride, and 
 vanity ; fo feducing us to his fervice, «nder co- 
 lour of ferving ourfelves. Thus he addreiled our 
 mother Eve. With her, though innocent, he 
 prevailed. And with fuch fly baits he prefumed' 
 to aflail our Lord himfelf. In playing off his temp- 
 tations upon him, he found nothing of his own in 
 him, but fuch a fulnefs of God, as rejected with 
 indignation, and refifl:ed with pov/er, all his temp- 
 tations in the wildernefs ; which, by the way, con- 
 tain the feveral heads of all his infidious methods 
 with men to this day. " Upon him, indeed, 
 the foe did not exaft \' but in attacking us, he 
 finds much within us of his own to favour his 
 deceits. Hence it is, that the enemy has ever ob- 
 ferved one uniform method of tempting, with 
 little variation : and though this be on record in 
 fcripture, and in the memoirs of many flints, he 
 continues to fuccced too well by them, to the ruin 
 of myriads of mankind, and oft to the v;ounding 
 of God's people, though never to the final dc- 
 ftruflion of any of them. 
 
 C c 2 For 
 
204 '^iic influence of fait Ji Ser. V. 
 
 For giving efficacy to his temptations, addreffed 
 to the paffions, he applies all his craft to the weak- 
 ening or fubverting our faith. This he fometimes 
 doeSi by mifreprefenting the goodnefs of God. 
 He would perfuade us, that all good is not to be 
 expelled, and no evil ; that even the evil threat- 
 ened, is not to be dreaded. Thus he undermined 
 Eve's faith ; barefacedly affirming, in contradic- 
 tion to God's exprefs threatening of death, " that 
 ihe fliould not die." At other times he repre- 
 fents the jufticc of God as inexorable, " allow- 
 ing no place for repentance," affording no hope 
 of recovering the favour of God, upon falling in- 
 to hn, after confellion and fubmifTion made, efpe- 
 cially after engaging by vows to be the Lord's. 
 He fuggefts, " that now there remains no facrificc 
 for our fm :" and by thus working upon the timidity 
 of our unbelieving hearts, for driving us into de- 
 fpair, he difcourages ail endeavours, in the ufe 
 of means, to fave our fouls, and exafperates the 
 heart againlt God. By the fubtiky and violence 
 of his fuggeitions, enforced by the authority of 
 maimed citations from fcripture, he prevails againft 
 believers fo far as to perplex and difhearten them 
 for a time. With reprobates he prevails fo far 
 as to take from them all hope. His firfl at- 
 tempt is to lull the fmner alleep in his prefumptu- 
 ous confidence. When confcience, inilruded 
 and awakened, declares againft this falfe reft, and 
 urges the neceflity of deliverance from fin, by the 
 
 blood 
 
Ser. V. iip07i religions fortitude, to^ 
 
 blood and grace of Chrlft, he fo artfully manages 
 the terrors of the word, that the tempted fmner 
 cannot believe, but fmks in fuller defpair. And, 
 (which may feem ftrange), after one is reduced to 
 dark miftrun:, which, Inftead of killing fm, does 
 but fret the heart againft God ; when the anguifli 
 of miftruft abates, as it gradually does, and the 
 love of fm revives, with fome fenfe in confcience 
 ftill remaining ; then the tempter, tolling the (in- 
 ner from one extreme to another, draws him back 
 to his former flate of prefumptuous hope, in 
 which he continues more at eafe, while confci- 
 ence is toothed with the regular obfervance of re- 
 ligious forms, and with the flattering hope that 
 he ihall, fome time hereafter, gain that power o- 
 ver his corruption, which he cannot, or rather 
 will not now exert. With this complicated deceit 
 he is detained, in a flate of guilt and wrath, till 
 he die, — dying with the perilhing hope of the hy- 
 
 pocrite. Again, 
 
 Satan tempts, by raifing perfeeution againfl: 
 the church. It is then " he goes about like a 
 roaring lion, feeking whom he may devour." He 
 goes forth, " having great wrath, — breathing 
 death and flaughter." And fucceeds too well with 
 many unftablc fouls, not grounded and fettled in 
 the faith, whom, by the terrors of torture he 
 frightens from their profeffion, — " drawing away 
 the third part of the (tars of heaven, cafting them 
 to the earth, — and flaying many of the faints," 
 
 while 
 
2o6 *The influence of faith Ser. Va 
 
 while the remaming faithful that efcape the general 
 carnage, flee into the wildernefs, where God pre- 
 pares for them a place of fafety, and feeds them 
 
 for a time. But, 
 
 4. The faints have to endure trials immediately 
 from the hand of God ; by his myfterious aftings 
 towards the outward and inward man, — too hard 
 for the utmofl ftretch of human thought to ex- 
 plain into figns of love. Such were his ftrange 
 methods with Job, in laying his hand with Angu- 
 lar feverity, upon his fubftance, upon his chil- 
 dren, and upon his perfon, rendering him at 
 once poor, childlefs, defolate, and difeafed ; at 
 the fame time with-holding from his foul the di- 
 vine comforts he once enjoyed. Such alfo was 
 God's trying difpenfation towards David, in per- 
 mitting him, for many years, to wander in jeo- 
 pardy of his life, from SauFs perfecution, which 
 ofttimes put his faith to a ftand. So he tried Abra- 
 ham with his ftrange command to facrifice his on- 
 ly fon Ifaac, the child of the promife. I may add, 
 the difcouraging trial to the woman of Canaan, by 
 the Lord's frowning anfwer to her humble requeft, 
 by which he would feem to cut her off from all hope. 
 By thefe methods, inexplicable to reafon, God 
 tempts ; not according to the common accepta- 
 tion of the word : " For God cannot be tempted 
 witli evil, neither tempteth he any man." He 
 only trieth the righteous, as a refiner and puri- 
 fier of filver. Pie fearches them thoroughly for 
 bringing forth what is in their hearts. But from 
 
 his 
 
Ser. V. upon religious fortitude. 207 
 
 his trying methods, which have the appearance 
 of anger and negled, unbelief and corruption 
 take occafion to tempt the foul to break off from 
 God, " and to make lliipwreck of faith and a 
 good confcience ; faying, in fretful language of 
 one unbeliever, *' This evil is of the Lord, why 
 ihould I wait any longer?" — and of another, — 
 " Curfe God, and die." This vexing hery tempta- 
 tion gives occafion to the vigorous flruggle of faith 
 to endure it, without faintly yielding to it. And it 
 is peculiar to the noble grace of faith, fupported 
 by the arm of Jehovah, to withlland its violence, 
 and rife fuperior to it : the powers of nature, in 
 their utmofl exertion, being, of themfelves, too 
 
 feeble to maintain the combat. This leads to 
 
 fhew, 
 
 II. What is implied in enduring them. 
 
 I. With regard to the troubles of life, (which 
 I chiefly confider here in the hght of temptations 
 to fm), to endure thefe, totally excludes the idea 
 of Stoical apathy, or infenfibility to pain ; and 
 fuppofes a painful fenfation of them, difficult to 
 bear. For where there is nothing to give pain 
 or difquiet, there is nothing to be endured. It is 
 the poignant pain, caufed by any aiiiiding difpen- 
 fation, that proves the temptation to fm, and 
 this temptation gives cd.gc to the aiillflion. 
 
 Nor does it exprcfs a mere paiTive (late of mind, 
 tjiat ftoops under its burden, and tamely fuffers. 
 
 the 
 
2o8 The hifluence of faith Ser. V; 
 
 the temptation to take its courfe, without any 
 aftive refiftance made to it. To endure, implies 
 exertion, fo as firmly to ftand one's ground, ta 
 maintain trufl in God, and to cleave to him in 
 the ftedfaft purfuit of duty, from which the temp- 
 tation would turn us afide. The temptation foli- 
 cits and urges to adual fm, thereby aiming a 
 deadly blow at the foul ; to ward off which, ihe 
 foul mufl: be adive in ufmg the whole armour of 
 God, efpecially the fliield of faith. Temptation 
 in its nature, admits not of a fupine or merely 
 paffive ftate of mind. One muft either be aftive in 
 refilling it, or yield his confent to it. There is 
 no medium: As, when corruption folicits, the 
 only part then neceffary for one^s fafety is, not 
 a tame fuffering of its outrage : he muft be active 
 in refilling it by faith, by prayer, and other 
 means. When Paul complained, " that he did 
 what he would not,'* was he then merely paffive ? 
 was not his foul fledfailly active in believing ? was 
 lie not fervent in praying, when he broke out into 
 the exclamation, " O wretched man that 1 am, 
 who fhall deliver me !" He muft neceflarily have 
 been fo, or led a willing captive by fin. 
 
 Thus, in refpect of all temptations, for de- 
 feating their pernicious tendency, our faith muft 
 exert its vigour in collefting all its forces of fcrip- 
 ture-arguments, — hold them forth to the tempta- 
 tion, and plead them, in ardent prayer with God. 
 It is the nature of the life of God in the foul, ani- 
 mated 
 
Ser. V. upon religions fortitude, 209 
 
 mated with hope, thus to rife againfl: its hateful 
 enemy, that would deltroy it, in turning it afide 
 
 from God. 1 add, that to endure, exprefles, 
 
 2. Refolution and flrength of mind to with- 
 ftand temptation from inward corruption, from 
 the blandifliments, the foft allurements of the 
 world, and alfo from the terrors of it. It requires 
 flrong refolution to refill the foft deluding tempta- 
 tions of the world, whether they arife from folici- 
 tations of corruption, urged with the flattering 
 promifes of pleafure and proiit, or from the infi- 
 dious perfuafions of worldly company, who tempt 
 our compliance with them, in their excefles, by 
 fair profeffions of regard and friendfliip. To e- 
 lude the laft of thefe, and to meet them with the 
 Pfalmift's expreffion of noble refolution, — " De- 
 part from me, ye workers of iniquity, for I pur- 
 pofe to keep the commandments of my God," is 
 not eafy to atchieve. And perhaps, to withftand 
 this infmuating kind of temptations, requires for- 
 titude in a higher degree than is necelTary to 
 face the more terrifying ones. Many have fallen 
 by the enchanting firen charms of worldly delights, 
 who have braved the fire of perfecution. It is 
 our attachment to thefe fenfible delights that 
 makes the terrors of the world prove fuch a dan- 
 gerous temptation to our nature. How foon. thefe 
 may attack us, we know not ; when the wrath 
 of man fliall threaten us with the lofs of peace, of 
 liberty, ofeafe, of all our worldly goods, and of 
 «?ur- lives. 
 
 ft 4 ThefQ 
 
2IO The influence of faith Scr. V. 
 
 Thefe are evils terrifying to nature, a fhock too 
 ftrong for natural courage to fuftain. It re- 
 quires fupernatural ftrength to bear up againft 
 them, without departing from God, and from 
 duty. Such courage fortified Nehemiah's foul, 
 when a report was brought him of a fecret plot 
 to flay him ; thereby to difcourage his heart, and 
 weaken his hands, in God's work. His noble re- 
 ply to the report was, " Should fuch a man as I 
 flee ?" or ftoop to any daflardly method of faving 
 my life ? No ; I will not defift from the work j 
 
 I will liiand to my pod. This forbids not, in 
 
 feme circumftances of danger, to provide for our 
 fafety by flight. It is our Lord's inftruftion, 
 " when we are perfecuted in one city, to flee to 
 another." Prudence muft come in to guide our 
 refolution ; it otherwife degenerates into obftinacy 
 and fool-hardinefs. 
 
 3. To endure implies patience ; which may be 
 taken for refolution and fl:rength of mind in con- 
 tinuance, to fuftain the fliock of temptation in ge- 
 neral, without faintly yielding to it : or, with re- 
 fped to troubles and -calamities, it exprefles that 
 temper of mind which bears the irritating provo- 
 cation in them, with calmnefs of fpirit, and fted- 
 fafl; attention to duty. This patient fpirit ope- 
 rates towards God and man, and extends to our 
 thoughts, words, and adlions, fo as to fupprefs 
 hard thoughts and murmuring complaints of 
 pod's feverity, and wrathful expreflfions of refent- 
 
 ment 
 
Ser. V. upon religious fortitude, 2 1 1 
 
 ment againfl men, who may be the inflruments of 
 our trouble ; quietly fubmitting to the difpenfa- 
 tion as the wife and righteous appointment of 
 God. Such government of himfelf David main- 
 tained, under temptation from his fon's rebellion, 
 and Shimei's railing. In both he, with meek 
 fubmiflion, regarded the trial as from God ; pray- 
 ing that he might be delivered from men, who 
 were his hand to chaften him. This view of af- 
 fliction influences patience. 
 
 To endure is to wait upon God with meek, 
 fubmiflion, in hope of a favourable iflue to the 
 trouble, in his own time and way, without wea- 
 rying of God*s corredion, or running to unwar- 
 rantable methods of relief. It is to bear aflliftion 
 with habitual uniform patience, in the general 
 courfe of one's life : 1 fay, in the general courfe 
 of one's life ; for it doth not always exclude oc- 
 cafional fits of anger, and peevifh difcontenr. 
 When trouble ruflies upon us in furprife, or 
 lengthens beyond expedation, with increafmg 
 weight, it is too apt, in our prefent ftate of im- 
 perfeftion and frailty, to rufile and unhinge our 
 minds. Such was its effect upon Job. Though 
 fl:ill his foul was habitually patient and fubmiflive ; 
 vet the fliroke falling upon him fuddenly, and be- 
 ing repeated with increafmg feverity, it made him. 
 ftagger. 
 
 A remarkable inflance of this occafional frail- 
 ty, joined to true goodneO, we have in Jo- 
 D d 2 nah ; 
 
212 The influence of faith Ser. Vd- 
 
 nail ; who, notwithftanding repeated fits of uii- 
 accoLintable anger and peeviflmefs, which lodged 
 like the frowavdnefs of the wielded, yet, in the 
 greateft extremity, exhibited a confpicuous ex- 
 ample of the humble fubmiilion and meek refig- 
 nation peculiar to a gracious foul, when he fays 
 to the mariners, moft humbly acknowledging his 
 offence, and accepting the punifliment of it^ 
 *' Take me up, and cafl me into the fea ; fo (hall 
 the fea be calm unto you ; for I know, that for 
 my fake this ftorm is upon you.'* If he was angry 
 beyond what became a faint, he alfo fliewed fuch 
 humble fubmiffion to God, and unrepining ac- 
 quiefcence in his rebuke, as none but a great faint 
 was capable of. This fhould teach us, not to 
 draw one's reigning charafter from the unavoid- 
 able frailties of his peculiar conftitution, but from 
 the nobler quahtics of grace, which, amidft thofe 
 blemiflies, we. may behold exerted, and fliining with 
 a bright luftre. 
 
 I add, that to endure habitually, Is to en- 
 dure with perfevering patience to the end : 
 " We have need of patience, that, after having 
 done the will of God, we may inherit the promi- 
 fes." Many feemed to have run well for a 
 time, who, fainting in the middle, or toward 
 tJie end of their courfe, have loft the prize. Af- 
 ter having withftood and furmounted one or 
 more fliarp rencounters, the attack flill prefling 
 on, and, the enemy continuing and varying his 
 
 artful 
 
Str. V* upon Religious fortitude, a 1 3 
 
 artful methods of deceiving, (as he did with our 
 mother Eve), at length, wearied out with incef- 
 fant attacks, they faintly yield the caufe to the 
 urgency of the temptation. " Confulting with 
 flefh and blood,*' they forfake Chrift, " and walk 
 no more with him.** Demas, for a feafon, feem- 
 ed " to endure hardnefs as a good foldier of Je- 
 fus Chrift ;" but having loved this prefent world, 
 and his fleftily eafe, after having taken a few 
 turns, with a goodly appearance, in conflift with 
 perfecution, he wearies of the fatiguing fervice of 
 the gofpel, and declines going along with Paul, 
 " as his companion in tribulation, and in the king- 
 dom and patience of Chrift.'* 
 
 Many promifmg appearances in youth, blafted 
 by the pleafures and cares of life, have degene- 
 rated, and ended in the deformities of a worldly 
 voluptuous converfation. Awakened by fome 
 flight influences of the fpirit of the gofpel, to 
 ftiarp conviftions of fm, to ardent defires, and 
 hopes of an imaginary heaven, men fet out to- 
 ward it with great forwardnefs ; but thefe fair 
 bloflbms, blighted by the malignant influence of 
 temptation, die away, before they have ripened 
 into the fruit of faith and a new heart. Upon 
 which thefe falfe-hearted profeftbrs return to their 
 old courfe of fenfuality : " Having begun in the 
 fpirit, they end in the flefti," and perifti. Only 
 thofe who attain to genuine divine faith, and 
 
 are 
 
214 ^^^ influence of faith ^ &c. Ser. Vo 
 
 are united to Chrifl as the branch is to the vine, 
 have ftrength to carry them on to the end : " And 
 they who thus endure to the end, fliall be faved.'* 
 We lliall have a fuller view of thefe points, while 
 I illuflrate, 
 
 III. The influence which feeing the invifible 
 
 God has upon our enduring the evils of life. 
 
 But this fhall be the fubjed of another difcourfe. 
 
 Ser- 
 
SERMON VI. 
 
 The influence of faith upon religious for- 
 titude. 
 
 H E B. xi. 27. 
 
 ' . - '" ■ For he endured as feeing him %uho is in- 
 vifible. 
 
 T Hough the faith which the apoftle cele- 
 brates in this chapter be the fedate exercife 
 of a reafonable foul, in its higheft elevation ; yet 
 is it not merely the refult of man's reafoning fa- 
 culty, or the mere conclufion of natural reafon, 
 built upon the external evidence of the truth of 
 revelation. This kind of faith, wrought out by 
 the ftrength of natural reafon, if it rife not, by the 
 Spirit ot God, to fomething (if I may fo exprefs 
 it) intuitively luminous, is not fufficient to bear 
 up againfl the temptations of the world . Many, of 
 the cleared and ftrongeft underftanding, have this 
 kind of faith, fo firmly laid in principles of reafon, 
 that it has fome effeft upon their confciences ; and 
 yet, for want of that true divine faith, which, by a 
 due fullnefs of light, fubdues and reftifies the 
 
 heart. 
 
2 1 6 The ij^fliience of faith 5[er. VL 
 
 heart, they continue Haves to fome bafe lull, and 
 are carried away, by the torrent of the world, in- 
 to the mofl fliameful exceffes, as if they were one 
 with the common herd of reprobate infidels ; 
 whereas thofe poor ones, who cannot reafon as 
 thefe do, yet, by the power of divine faith, break 
 through troops of enemies, trampling upon temp- 
 tation in their way ; the feebleft among them be- 
 ing, as David, " ftrong as an angel of God.'* 
 
 The faith that renders us thus vidorious, is 
 that which fees the invifible God ; which not only 
 fees the fatisfying rational evidence of the truth, but 
 apprehends the divine objed itfelf, God Almighty; 
 and in the light of his glory, fees the infallible e- 
 vidence of the truth of the gofpel. In feeing him, 
 one perceives, with fatisfadion to his reafon, to hi^ 
 confcience and heart, the gofpel-plan of falvation 
 to be fo, worthy of God, fo expreflive of his glo- 
 ry, that it removes all doubt of his teftimony m 
 it. So abundant, fo powerful, is the flood of e- 
 vidence, in this view of God, that one eafily ad- 
 mits the external proofs, without laboured rea- 
 foning ; and will not fuffer his faith to be iliaken 
 by the frivolous objedions of infidels, ftarted from 
 the feeming contrariety of fcripture-dodrines to 
 reafon, or a few feeming hiftorical inconfiflen- 
 cies, and little chronological obfcurities, owing to 
 our ignorance. By thefe captious conceits, he 
 will no more be tempted to queftion the truth of 
 the gofpel, than he can doubt of the real exifl- 
 
Ser. VI. upon religious fortiUtde. i \ 7 
 
 ence of any objeft he fees with his eyes, though 
 his reafon cannot fully account for it ; and mar- 
 vels at the aftedled blindncfs and perverfenefs of 
 the wife and prudent, who itumble at little diffi- 
 culties, magnified, by fceptlcal wits, into import- 
 ant objeftions ; but which difappear, and are loft 
 in a bright train of fubftantial proofs, pouring, in 
 fullnefs of light, upon the eyes of the unprejudicciU 
 Abraham might obje£l to God's commandment to 
 him, to offer up his fon Ifaac, as being repugnant 
 to reafon ; iDut feeing the invifible God, and per- 
 ceiving his authority, in hearing his voice, he; he- 
 fitates not to obey. ■ Again, 
 
 This faith, exprefled by fteing, fpeaks its affu- 
 rance, the highefl alTurance, of the truth of the 
 object, of its reality and glory : An afllirance ef- 
 fential to the faith of every true believer, amidil 
 all his mifgiving doubts about his own ftate. It 
 is for want of this affured perfuafion of the infal- 
 lible certainty of the object, that many are carried 
 away by the deceit and violence of temptation. 
 Which fhews, that, for ftanding firm againft the 
 various aiiaults of temptation, abfolute certainty 
 with refpeft to the truth of divine objefls is necef- 
 lary. This certain feeling perfuafion keeps a fe- 
 rious upright foul humbly waiting for God in the 
 dark, till light and comfort come. 
 
 It is proper to add, that this feeing of the invi- 
 fible God is a purely fpiritual, intelleftual fight of 
 God, who is a pure fpirit ; in nature and excellence, 
 E e infinitely 
 
2i8 The influence of faith Ser. VL 
 
 infinitely removed from, and exalted above every 
 thing that is vifible, as well the fenfible ligns of his 
 fpecial prefence, as the graven idols of the na- 
 tions. When the angel of the Lord appeared un- 
 to Mofes, in a flame of fire, out of the midft of 
 the bufh, and God himfelf called unto him ; ia 
 hearing his voice, it vras a different objed Mofes 
 perceived, from the fymbol of his prefence in the 
 burning bufli. The fight is not the lefs real, nor 
 the lefs evident, that it is not fenfible. 
 
 The medium by which we thus fee God, is the 
 word of fcripture, which proclaims his glory. 
 This fnews it to be a fpiritual fight ; that it is in 
 hearing and underflanding his voice, and per- 
 ceiving his wondrous glory in what he declares 
 concerning himfelf, we fee him. As, when God 
 fpake to Mofes out of the burning bufh, it was 
 then he faw, with his underftanding, the invi- 
 fible God ; an obje£l quite diflincl from the flame 
 of fire, vifible to his bodily eyes : fo we fee God 
 in the word, beaming in upon the confcience and 
 heart. We behold him in the dodrines and promifes 
 concerning Chrifl, the image of the invifible 
 God, in whom alone we fee him for the encou- 
 ragement of hope, decked with awful and amiable 
 glory. For, out of Chrift, no man can fee God, 
 and live : but, in " the Word made flefli, we be- 
 hold the brightnefs of his attraftive glory." In 
 the Son, we fee him as our ovtn God, ihewing 
 himfelf and his good- will towards men j and gi- 
 ving 
 
Ser. VI. upon religious fortitude. 219 
 
 ving us the fpiritual eye of faith for this very end, 
 that in feeing. him in this engaging light, we may 
 confidently trufl: in him as our God in Chrift ; and 
 thence derive comfort and flrength to bear with 
 patience and rcfignation all the tribulations of this 
 mortal (late. ■ For illuflratino: this arpument, we 
 have, in a former difcourfe upon the text, 
 
 1. Given fome account of the trials and temp- 
 tations to whi(jh the ChrifUan is cxpofcd in a pre- 
 fent world. We have, 
 
 2. Explained what is meant by enduring and 
 
 bearing up under them. Vv^e now proceed, as 
 
 was propofed, 
 
 III. To fliew the Influence of faith upon the Chri- 
 llian's fortitude in enduring thefe trials and tempta- 
 tions, " by feeing him who is invifible.^' — — And, 
 
 I. Faith hath this happy influence, as it prcferves 
 and deters from fin, and of confequence difarms 
 trials and temptations of their main ftrength, by 
 feeing God to be glorious in holinefs, of purer eyes 
 than to behold iniquity, who commands a beco- 
 ming diftance from the moft perfect faint. Thus, 
 when Mofes faw the Lord in the flame of lire, he 
 heard a voice calling to him, " Draw not nigh hi- 
 ther : put ofi:' thy flioes from off thy feet; for the 
 place whereon thou {landed is holy ground." 
 From tiiis view of the holinefs of God, fin appears 
 in all its vilenefs, and full of terror, as a tranf- 
 greflion of the divine law, and diametrically oppo- 
 fite to tlie purity of the divine nature; as diflionour- 
 ing to God, and ruining to the fouls of men. And 
 E e 2 ill 
 
2 20 The mfliience of faith Ser. VI. 
 
 in this glafs too the bed of men may perceive their 
 own deformity. Hence Ifaiah cries out, " Wo 
 is me ; for I am undone, becaufe I am a man of un- 
 clean lips ; for mine eyes have feen the King, the 
 Lord of hods.** In like manner fpeaks Job, " I 
 have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but 
 now mine eye feeth thee ; vv^herefore I abhor myfelf, 
 and repent in dud and alhes.'* The believer, un- 
 der fuch impreflions of his own unworthinefs, can 
 v^o longer endure that wicked thing to dwell in 
 
 .'I which God's foul hateth, but flees from it as 
 
 .-^ word enemy. 
 
 w^hen fin would court his embraces under the 
 avjd enticing form, he replies, with juft indigna- 
 tion, " How can I do this great evil, and fin a- 
 gaind God ?'' Should the temptation fugged, 
 that the darknefs of the night would cover him, 
 faith fixes the mind upon the omnifcience of God, 
 from whofe all-feeing eye nothing can be hid, to 
 whom darknefs is as light. Thus the fnare is 
 broke, and he efcapes. If iinners entice him, 
 he confents not ; knowing that tho* they may roll . 
 their unlawful pleafurcs for a while as a fweet morfel 
 under their tongue, they will prove the gall of afps 
 within them, and the end thereof fhall be death. 
 If he is reproached i'or the name of Chrid, and made 
 the fong of the drunkard, and the jed of the 
 fcorner, be endures this trial of cruel mockings ; 
 being alTured, from the - word of trutli, that the 
 Spirit of God and of glory fliall red upon him ; 
 and that great fliail be his reward in heaven. If 
 
 his 
 
Ser. VI. iLpon religious fortitude, '221 
 
 his lot is cart: in thofe unhappy times wherein ini- 
 quity is eftabliflied by law, and his obedience re- 
 quired under the fevered fanftion, he anfwers as 
 the Apoftles, when commanded by the Jews, not 
 to fpeak any more in the name of Jefus, " Whether 
 it be right in the fight of God, to hearken unto you 
 more than unto God, judge ye.'* In fhort, when a 
 wicked and perfecuting world appears in all its 
 terrors, to move him away from the hope of the 
 gofpel, faith caufes him to triumph in the firm 
 perfuafion that the God whom he ferves, will de- 
 liver him out of the hands of all his enemies. In 
 thefe, and other refpedls, he, by feeing the invi- 
 fible God, as glorious in holinefs, is enabled to 
 maintain his (tedfaflnefs amidft all the frowns and 
 fmiles of a prefent evil world. 
 
 2. Faith's view of God infpires with confidence and 
 refolution to encounter every trial and temptation. 
 
 As it difcerns the agency of God in all our trials ; 
 that no affliclion can happen to us but by the direc- 
 tion and the difpofalof his over-ruling providence, 
 Amos iii. 6. ; Ifaiahxlv. 7. Oft, indeed, men are 
 brought to trouble by their own folly, by their 
 ungainly temper, by their indifcreet management, 
 by their prodigality and injuftice. Under fuffer- 
 ing from fuch caufes, a guilty confcience mufl 
 damp confidence toward God, and caufe dejedion 
 of fpirit. But it ftrengthens for fuflering with.fe- 
 rene compofure, to think, that what we endure 
 is the lot meafured out to us by the fovereign 
 will and wife appointment of God : " Let none 
 
 fuffer 
 
2 22 The influence of faith Scr. VI. 
 
 fufFer (fays the Apoftle Peter) as a murderer, or 
 as a thief, or as an evil-doer, or as a bufy body in 
 other mens matters. Yet if a man fuffer as a Chri- 
 ftian, let him not be afliamed, but let him glorify 
 God on this behalf." — " Let them who fuffer ac- 
 cording to the will of God, commit the keeping 
 of their fouls to him in well-doing." 
 
 Again, faith greatly fortifies our refolution, 
 as it affures us that God himfelf " is with us" 
 in whatever trials he calls us to endure. It was 
 this that fortified the fpirit of Caleb againfl all 
 difcouragements : " Their defence is departed 
 from our enemies ; the Lord is with us." It was 
 this that roufed the finking courage of Jofhua : 
 " Arife, go over this Jordan ; as 1 was with Mo- 
 fes, I will be with thee ; 1^ will not fail thee nor 
 forfake thee." It was this perfuafion that con- 
 firmed the refolution of the three children, and of 
 Daniel, to meet with fuch unfliaken conftancy 
 the rage of the fire, and of the hons : " Cur 
 God, whom we ferve, is able to deliver us ; and 
 he will deliver us." In all your afHiclions, O 
 Chriflian, hear your encouragement from God : 
 " Fear thou not, for I am with thee ; be not dif- 
 mayed, 1 am thy God : I will flrengthen thee ; yea, 
 I will help thee ; yea, I will uphold thee with the 
 right hand of my righteoufnefs." From thefe and the 
 like promifes with which the Bible is flored, of the 
 divine prefence in all our trials and temptations, the 
 fuffer ing Chriftian may reft affured, that the watch- 
 ful eye of his God and Father will ever be towards him 
 for good, and particularly in giving him the fpecial 
 
 influences 
 
Ser. VI. upoti religions fortitude . 223 
 
 influences of grace to fave, to refine, and pre- 
 pare you for reft and g^ory. In this perfuafion of 
 faith, we will endure with refolution, yea with 
 joy rifmg to exultation of fpirit ; and, without it, 
 we mud fmk under our burden, and perifli by 
 miftruft, in adverfity. 
 
 3. The faith which fees the invifible God, and 
 the methods of his wifdom and grace in the light 
 of revelation, influences to endure, with perfe- 
 vering patience, both the conflict with indwelling 
 fm, and with the various tribulations of life. 
 That the followers of Chrift fhould be affli£ted 
 and exercifed all their life with remaining cor- 
 ruption, every Chriftian knows to be the wife 
 appointment of God, for the purpofes of his own 
 glory, in the manifeftation of his forbearance, his 
 faithfulnefs, and his power, and for the greater 
 joy and triumph of his people, in the iflue of 
 their warfare : and therefore, though he fighs, 
 in pain, for deliverance from the bondage of cor- 
 ruption, he is not difcouraged, nor in defpair ; 
 but rejoices in hope of viftory ; being fecure of 
 the continued fuccours of divine grace, promwfed 
 to be fufl^cient for him. Under his painful con- 
 flict, when his fteps are ready to Aide, his cou- 
 rage revives, in hearing the voice of God,— 
 " Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people. Speak 
 ye comfortably to Jerufalem, and cry unto her, 
 that her warfare is accompliflied," If. xl. 1.2. 
 — '— Again, 
 
 With 
 
2 24 The influence of faith Ser. VL 
 
 With refped to the calamities of hfe, the be- 
 liever, in feeing the invifible God, fees him to be 
 the one true God, who made all things, and rules 
 them ever by his power ; and who, in the whole 
 condudl of his providence toward his people, a6ts 
 up precifely to the terms of his covenant ; — that, 
 according to its gracious tenor, in faithfulnefs he dif- 
 penfes troubles ; — that every afflidlion, for kind, 
 meafure, and duration, is by his difpofal ; — that 
 it is oft his way, for wife purpofes, with increafmg 
 weight to draw out the affliclion to a confider- . 
 able length. Thus he left his people to be afflicted, 
 for many years, in Egypt and in Babylon ; tho' 
 he could eafily have delivered them fooner. 
 
 The term fixed for the duration of the trial, he 
 is pleafed to conceal from his people, for exer- 
 cifing their faith and patience. In this view, 
 faith, without prefuming to prefcribe to God, du- 
 tifully fubmits to his will, and quietly, in hope, 
 waits for his falvation ; perfuaded, that when rea- 
 fon is puzzled with the intricacy of his way, he 
 does all things in the beft manner, for his own 
 glory, and for the improvement of his people in 
 every gracious and virtuous difpofition. In appa- 
 rent extremity of danger, when the vifible courfe 
 of things has a threatening afpe6l upon the church, 
 and feems favourable to the enemy, affording 
 them matter of triumph, while the children 
 tremble ; faith looks, through thefe dark clouds, 
 to God himfelf, " feated on his holy hill of Zion,'' 
 
 wielding 
 
Ser. VI. upon religions fortitude. 225 
 
 wielding the fceptre ot univerfal government, and 
 conducting all events (even when, in his actings, 
 he puts on terror) perfectly according to the 
 fettled plan of his wifdom and grace ; — holding 
 the impotent attempts of his enemies in derifion ; 
 caufing their wrath to work his praifc, in accom- 
 plifliing his purpofe, for the correction and falva- 
 tion of the church, and for their own utter con- 
 fufion; Habb. i. 12. In this view, faith fays of 
 the enemy, amid their fanguine exulting hope of 
 fuccefs, in the language of Micah iv. 1 2. " They 
 know not the thoughts of the Lord, neither un- 
 derflandthey his counfel ; for he fliall gather them 
 as the fheaves into the floor.'* — When the wicked 
 boaft that they act wifely, in devifing methods 
 for wearing out the faints, faith hears God fay- 
 ing, — " I alfo am wife to confound their niea- 
 fures. — I have feen the afflidion of my people. 
 I am come down to deliver them." It fees, that 
 the increafmg violence of the enemy, does but 
 haften the church's deliverance, as it raifes her 
 louder comphints, and more fervent fupplications 
 to God : and therefore fays, in the darkeft times, 
 " I will wait upon the Lord, who hideth himfclf 
 from the houfe of Jacob, and I will look for him." 
 Though faith fees not the precife time that fliall 
 put a period to the trial, it fees that certainly de- 
 liverance (hall come ; " for furely (faitkGod) there 
 
2 26 The influence of faith Ser. VI, 
 
 is an end, and thy expedation fliall not be cut 
 off.'* It fees alfo, that God will bring the Chrir 
 ftian out of trouble, with fignal advantage and 
 improvement of his fpiritual flate, — "I know 
 that when I am tried, I fliall come forth as gold -,' 
 and that glory fliall be the happy iflue of it : — 
 " Bleffed is the man that endureth temptation : 
 for when he is tried, he ihall receive the crown of 
 life, which the Lord hath promifed to them who 
 love him. — Our light afflidions, which are but for 
 a moment, work for us a far more exceeding and 
 eternal weight of glory." This fays, that afflic- 
 tions are, in part, the methods by which God 
 forms his people for heaven ; and that the greater 
 their prefent fufferings are, for righteoufnefs, the 
 greater fliall be their future glory. Hence thofe 
 honoured with martyrdom, for the tefl:imony of 
 Jefus, {land arrayed with dift:inguifliing glory in 
 the heavenly world. And I may venture to fay^ 
 that next in diftindion to the army of martyrs in 
 glory, fliall be thofe of rank in this world, who, 
 amid the temptations peculiar to their high fta- 
 tion, keep themfelves unfpotted from the world, 
 and fl:ill preferve their integrity, their purity, and 
 pious devotednefs to God. 
 
 The tranfcendent excellence and happinefs of 
 this glory, is the clear vifion and full fruition of 
 pod in the glorified Mediator. The various in- 
 
 gredientSj 
 
Ser. VI. upon religious fortitude. 227 
 
 gredients in the heavenly felicity, are, by the A- 
 jpoftle John, fummed up in this one expreffion. 
 *' And they fhall fee his face." Thus, in feeing 
 the invifible God, we fee him as our God, who 
 will be " our everlafting light and glory," — our 
 great and never-fading inheritance ; as when 
 Mofes faw him, and heard him fay, " I am the 
 God of Abraham, of Ifaac, and of Jacob,*' the 
 God, whom thefe your fathers, now in a feparate 
 ftate, enjoy ; " for he is not a God of the dead, 
 but of the hving." And to every one who truly 
 believes, he fays, as to Abraham, '* I am thy 
 ihield and eicceeding great reward." All who 
 fee him by faith, have, in this dawn of divine 
 light, the fure pledge of " feeing him, ere long, 
 face to face." How mufl this hope influence to 
 endure patiently, and to " wait for the viiion, 
 which, after a little while, Ihall furely come, 
 and not tarry !" In view of God, as our fure e- 
 everlafting portion, how frivolous mud appear all 
 fublunary delights in their nature and dura- 
 tion ! how hglit the afflidions of time ! — Blind, 
 alas, to God, and to the great realities of the 
 life to come, the greatefl: part of mankind un- 
 profitably difquiet themfelves in purfuit of the 
 fugitive vanities of time.* To fecure freedom from 
 fufferings here, and to live in honour, in affluence 
 and eafe, is their only care. 
 
 F f 2 ''O 
 
3 28 Tlie influence of faith Ser. VL 
 
 " O that vain mortals were wife, and would 
 confider their latter end.'' Would we be perfuaded 
 to beflow ferious thought upon God and eternity ; 
 did we bear upon our minds the image of thi-s 
 world pafling away, and of the other with its great 
 concerns, ready, in the ampUtude of their glory, 
 to open to our view ! what manner of perfons 
 would we be ? 
 
 Did we oft reprefent to ourfelves the world dif- 
 
 folving, on the one hand, — and on the other the 
 
 glorious appearance of the fupreme judge, — the 
 
 folemn ftate of his perfon, — the wondrous pomp 
 
 and fplendor of his train, — cherubims and fera- 
 
 phims innumxcrable doing homage to him as their 
 
 king: — did faith realife to us the univerfal filent 
 
 attention to the loud-founding trumpet, which will 
 
 Hiake the pillars of heaven, and pierce the inmoft 
 
 caverns of the earth ; — the dead rifmg from their 
 
 graves ; — the judgement fet ; — ^the books opened j 
 
 — the equal adminiftration of that laft folemn pro- 
 
 cefs, " which fhall feparate the flieep from the 
 
 goats,'* and adjudge them to tlieir refpedive 
 
 Hates, for eternity; — the heavens rolled up as a 
 
 fcroU ; — the earth and all its works burnt up, 
 
 and flaming in one great conflagration; — the 
 
 faints, in bright aray, and their Lord upon their 
 
 head, afcending up to the third heavens, with 
 
 wonderful fliouts of triumph ; while the wicked, 
 
 with 
 
Ser. VI. upon religious fortitude. 229 
 
 with dolorous fhrieks of extreme anguifh and de- 
 fpair, depart into infernal darknefs and torment : 
 In contemplation of this aftonifhing complicated 
 fcene of ineffable joy and terror, how little muft 
 appear the paltry affairs of this life, — the riches, 
 the pleafures, the pomp, and power of this world ? 
 Did we conceive and believe, what it is to dwell 
 with God; — what happinefs reigns in heaven, 
 beyond any thing the faints ever enjoyed, or felt 
 or imagined, while here ; O what would we not 
 endure and do, to have our lot, our permanent 
 fnanfion, with God's ranfomed ones ! How patient, 
 in this hope, would we be of fufferings ! Yea, 
 how joyful in tribulation ! — How flridly fober ! 
 — How fervent and frequent in prayer ! — How 
 circumfpect and watchful ! How zealoufly adtive, 
 to glorify God, as the way to his kingdom ! — 
 And if we thought upon the abfolute purity of the 
 heavenly ftate, how fhould we feel the necefTity 
 of holinefs in heart and life, of walking humbly, 
 by faith, with God, in order to our poifeffing 
 that inheritance of the faints in light, " which is 
 incorruptible, and undefiled, and palTeth not a- 
 way." 
 
 Application. 
 
 I. From this fubje6l, and from experience, we 
 
 learn. 
 
230 The influence of faith Ser. VI.- 
 
 learn, that troubles and temptations are appoint- 
 ed for us, in our way through this life to heaven. 
 We muft refift and overcome them, or perifli in 
 the wildernefs. We may not pretend, in excufe 
 for fm, that there is no avoiding of temptation. 
 True, temptation is tmavoidable ; but is it irre- 
 fiftible ? is yielding to it unavoidable ? The 
 heart of him who fays fo is a fecret friend to the 
 temptation. He pretends a neceflity to fm laid 
 upon him by temptation ; but it is a neceffity ra- 
 ther from inclination. Should an enemy attack your 
 life, and you were provided with every advantage 
 for making refiflance ; would you thus excufe your- 
 felf from exerting your force to repel the hoflile at- 
 tack P— Would you fay, " It is vain to attempt re- 
 fiflance ; my enemy is too powerful for me : '* — 
 Would you, with this pufillanimous excufe, tame- 
 ly furrender your life to the will of your foe, 
 who you knew would not fpare it ? Temptation 
 aims at your life. You muft overcome, or be flain 
 by it. In overcoming you fhall live, and inherit 
 
 all things. Again, 
 
 2. It is by faith we overcome ; faith that re- 
 fpeds God in Chrift, and Chrift as our righteouf- 
 nefs and ftrength. This faith is cur vidory. We 
 cannot pafs through the fnares of the world with 
 our life, but by it. It is God indeed, by his mighty 
 arm, that fupports us j but then it is by means of our 
 
 faith 
 
Sec. VI. upon religious fortitude. 231 
 
 faith " tzJcing hold of his ftrength, and leaning 
 upon it." Thus God fuceours, animates, leads, and 
 guides his people. This faith " is of God's ope- 
 ration," and becomes a living adive principle in 
 the foul. Without it one's " bow cannot long a- 
 bide in ftrength." Under the reftraint of in- 
 ftrudtion, or of a temporary commotion of affec- 
 tion, " we may endure for a while;'* but by and 
 by, the heart, if not purified by faith, will refume 
 its natural bent ; as Jehoafli did that which was 
 right all the days of Jehoiada the prieft, but 
 his inftru6tor being dead, he foon returned to 
 the natural courfe of his unbelieving heart. If 
 all the faints in heaven and earth lliould, with their 
 utmoft care, watch over the unregenerate heart of 
 one fmner, fooner or later it would make its efcape' 
 from God, and find an opportunity of returning to 
 its old haunt. No guard can keep the heart, but the 
 grace and Spirit of God inhabiting it. And not 
 only muft faith be in the heart, but it mud be ac- 
 tive in cleaving to God, in pleading importunately 
 with him for fuceours. In this way we overcome 
 and in no other. If we have not faith in Je- 
 fus, with it to ward off the attacks of temptation, 
 we cannot prevail ; we muft fall by the darts of 
 the wicked one. Thus Ifrael could not enter the 
 good land, but periftied in the wildernefs, becaufe 
 of unbeUef. Saul, having no pov/er to be- 
 lieve. 
 
232 The influence of faith Ser.Vl. 
 
 lieve, funk under his diftrefs, and, in abje£t 
 defpair, fell upon his fword : whereas David's 
 faith carried him onward, though with fome ftag^ 
 gering, through all his dangers, fighting and con- 
 quering to the end of his courfe. Therefore, 
 
 3. We muft keep faith in conftant habitual 
 exercife. Mofes endured " as feeing him who is 
 invifible ;'* that is, by continuing to contemplate 
 God, he continued to endure. We muft have 
 " our eye ever toward the Lord," for the renewed 
 fupports of his grace. We are never, in this 
 world, above the neceflity of ufmg our armour, 
 becaufe we are never above danger from temp- 
 tation. After many comfortable interviews with. 
 God, and many fignal viftories obtained over our 
 foes, we are not to b£ fecure, as if all danger were 
 over. The enemy continues to way-lay us, ever 
 waits for our halting, and fails not to feize his op- 
 portunity of overthrowing our fteps. 
 
 It minifters important inftrudion to the church, 
 that Solomon, after the Lord had appeared to him 
 twice, and fpoke much encouraging comfort to 
 his heart, lliould fo grofsly, and fo long, have 
 been mifled, '' fmning in that very thing concern- 
 ing which God fo folemnly commanded him/* 
 This warns us of the neceflity of conftant de- 
 pendence upon God ; that we are never to inter- 
 r^it " the fight of faith,'' but to continue it till we 
 
 have 
 
Ser. VI. upon religious fortitude, 235 
 
 have fought it out, putting off our armour and the 
 body together. And it is this, probably, among 
 other caufes, that moves the diflike of the world at 
 a life of faith, that it is a laborious life, requi- 
 ring the conftant " girding up the loins of our 
 mind ;" the continued, painful, but pleafant ex- 
 crcife, of thinking, of confidering, and looking 
 up to God, to Chrift, to the covenant, and to the 
 promifeSi for continued fuccours of grace from 
 them. In order to this, 
 
 4. Keep the eye of faith ever clear. This is 
 neceffary, as we cannot make one regular ftep in 
 the Chriftian life without it. In thefe two ways 
 we are to keep it clear : i/?, by reftraining indul- 
 gence to fenfual plcafures, and by abllracting 
 from the cares of life. 
 
 The pleafures of fenfe darken the eye, and vi- 
 tiate the tafte of the foul. The inordinate cares of 
 life have the fame effedl, diftrading, diftempering, 
 and drawing away the heart from God. We 
 muft, therefore, avoid immoderate indulgence 
 to the one, and engaging unneccilarily in the o- 
 ther. 
 
 They are not to be envied, but pitied, who 
 fpend their time and fubftance in a continued 
 round of voluptuous entertainments aiid diffipa- 
 ting amufements, thereby to keep God and eter- 
 nity out of fight. How infipid their prefcnt en-* 
 joyment of life, as they have reafon to howl for 
 the miferies cominG; upon them ! 
 
 G g 2d!y, 
 
2 34 TJie iufluence of faith Ser. Vt. 
 
 idly. We keep the eye of faith lively and bright, 
 by guarding againfl: floth and fecurity, which is to 
 faith what fleep is to a living man. It fliuts the eye, 
 that, though it has a natural capacity of feeing, we 
 <:an no more exert it, while drowned in neep, 
 than he who is wholly deftitute of the faculty. 
 And while the Chriflian thus lleeps, the enemy 
 fows his tares : lie has a great advantage againft 
 him, to rob him of his ftrength, and to dehve.- 
 him up to " hurtful lufts.'* For keeping the eye 
 of faith awake, we mud guard againft floth, by 
 being ever ufefully employed in one duty or ano- 
 ther. There is no fpiritual indifpofition of which 
 we are in greater danger than floth. Reft is fweet to 
 our nature ; it infenfibly fteals upon us ; and once 
 we are funk in it, we incline to take our reft, to ' 
 fret at being difturbed in it ; and we may fieep on 
 till " the midnight-cry awake us." Advert, there- 
 fore, when flumber begins to creep upon your fpi- 
 rits, and, to prevent its progrefs, inftantly run to 
 a^^ion. 
 
 Our care to abftain from thefe blinding evils 
 mud be habitual, being all day long in the fear 
 and love of God. Think not that with fafety you 
 may indulge excels occafionally now and then, fmce 
 you make it not your daily pra<3:ice, but are for 
 the moft part fober and ahftemious. This is to 
 play faft and loofe with confcience, and wantonly 
 to countcrad the Lord's exprefs command : 
 - " Take heed, left at any time your hearts be o- 
 
 vercharged 
 
Scr.VI. upon religions Jortitude. 235 
 
 vcrcharged with furfelting and drunkennefs, and 
 the cares of this life." To imagine, in contra- 
 diction to this, that you may, innocently, on cc- 
 cafions of bufmefs with company, make free with 
 the rules of moderation, cannot be the dictate of 
 grace, but of fly corruption. Your owti heart 
 finitcs you for it, and accufes you of infmcerity. 
 And fliould there, confiilently with this duplicity 
 of conduct, be in you a living root of grace, it 
 mud be hid from you ; its comfort mud be with- 
 drawn ; and by the rebukes ot God, you Ihall 
 fmart for your falfe perfidious behaviour. Never 
 pretend to trud in God for any favour or comfort 
 out of God's way. 
 
 Ladly, To your watchful care to obferve thefe 
 diredtions, join daily fervent prayer. As ab- 
 ftinence from the pleafures and cares of the w'orld, 
 and from^ torpid (loth, is neceflary to keep the foul 
 in a proper frame for prayer ; fo prayer is necef- 
 fary, and contributes greatly, to fortify againd 
 thefe enlharing evils, and to keep faith alive and 
 in vigour, as it is itfelf the breathing of faith. 
 By prayer, if rightly gone about, we draw near 
 to God ; w'e converfe with him ; we contemplate 
 his glory. And thus, accudomed " to behold his 
 glory," with reverent familiarity to converfe with 
 him, we grow in faith, in joy, and peace. Vv^e re- 
 ceive influences of grace from him, to fupport, to 
 encourage, and drcngthen us to advance in our 
 Chridian courfe. 
 
 G g 2 Thc(^i 
 
236 The influence of faith, &c. Ser.VI. 
 
 Thefe things are recommended by fcripture for 
 faving our fouls : this makes them neceflary. 
 Nor ought it to be deemed too great labour for 
 obtaining the heavenly inheritance. Whoever 
 thinks fo, and thence gives himfelf little trouble a- 
 bout falvation, he fliall come fliort of the prize, 
 and fee his miftake when it is too late, too late to 
 arife and go forth to meet the bridegroom ; fo that 
 when he expects to enter in with him into the mar- 
 riage, he fliall find the door Ihut. "Which deplo- 
 rable difappointment of our hope, may God, of 
 iiis infinite mercy, prevent, jimeri. 
 
 SER- 
 
SERMON VII. 
 On the joy of the Lord as our flrength, 
 
 Nehemiah, viii. ic. 
 The joy of the Lord is your Jlrengih . 
 
 UPON hearing the words of the law read, 
 the people mourned and wept. Through 
 exccfs of fear and grief, their hearts feemed to be 
 difcouraged, and their hands weakened, for the 
 work in which they were engaged. And who can 
 hear the voice of God's law, demanding perfed 
 obedience, and the awful fandion with which it 
 is fenced, without trembling for fear, from con- 
 fcioufnefs of guilt, and even fmking into defpair, 
 if not relieved by the comforting voice of mer- 
 cy ? 
 
 Nehemiah and Ezra raifed the people from 
 their difcouragement, with words from God full 
 of all confolation. They check their forrow, and 
 call them to joy in the Lord, faying, '' Mourn not, 
 nor weep, neither be forry ; for this day is holy 
 
 unto the Lord your God." With thefe words 
 
 they flilled the people, reflored their drooping fpi- 
 
 rits« 
 
238 On the joy of the Lord Ser. VII, 
 
 rits, and fent them away chearful, and well heart- 
 ened for the work. ' 
 
 Thus the fearful of heart and forrowful need to 
 be healed and ftrengthened with comfort, to 
 have ftraight paths made for their feet. They will 
 otherwife be in danger of being turned out of the 
 way. 
 
 The people to whom thefe words were firft ad- 
 drelTed, had a weighty work on hand, and great 
 difficulties to difcourage them in it ; fo have we. 
 Their work was a warfaring work ; fo is ours : 
 and we, as they, need to be ftrengthened for it, by 
 joy derived from the Lord : " For the joy of the 
 Lord is our ftrength." 
 
 In difcourfmg of thefe words, I fliall fliew, 
 
 1 . What this joy of the Lord is j 
 
 1. How it is our ftrength. 
 
 L I begin with confidering what this joy of the 
 Lord is. 
 
 It is that joy which arifes in the heart, from the 
 views God gives of himfelf in his word, properly 
 
 apprehended and apphed by us. Let us then 
 
 attend, 
 
 i//, To the joyful views God gives of himfelf in 
 his word ; 
 
 And, idly. To the manner in which thefe views 
 are to be improved and applied by us, fo that oui: 
 hearts fhall feel joy from them. 
 
 As 
 
Ser. VII. as our ftrength. 239 
 
 As to the views God gives of himfelf in his 
 word, they are fuch as are fit to dift'ufe joy and 
 tranfport through the whole habitable earth, yea 
 through all the upper and lower regions of crea- 
 tion. The prophet, in publifliing peace and falva- 
 tion by redeeming grace, fummons heaven and 
 earth to fing and to rejoice : " Sing, O heaven, 
 and be joyful, O earth, and break forth into Ting- 
 ing, O mountains ; for the Lord hath comforted 
 his people, and will have mercy upon his afflidt- 
 
 ed.*' The law clothes God with terror, which 
 
 takes from man all hope of favour. Now, upon 
 the interpofition of a divine Surety, having put oft 
 the frowning face of rigid vengeance, he exhi- 
 bits himfelf in the mild attradive light of pardon- 
 ing grace, fuch as affords hope to a whole guilty 
 world, being terrible only to obftinately-impenitent 
 fmners, who will not be faved. 
 
 The wifdom of God, fet on work by boundlefs 
 grace in our favour, has found a way of relaxing 
 the rigour of the lav/, with great honour to its au- 
 thority. In harmony with this plan of gr?xe, his 
 name laid before us, as it is proclaimed by himfelf 
 to Mofes, is, " The Lord, the Lord, merciful 
 and gracious, abundant in goodnefs and truth;" 
 and with a lull clearer difcovery, in the new dif- 
 penfation, of the v/ay in which he is propitious, 
 through a fatisfactory facriiice, he is defigned, 
 " God in Chrift, reconciling the world to him- 
 felf." 
 
 The 
 
240 On the joy of the Lord Ser. VIL 
 
 The human race, through the firfl: man's tranf- 
 greffion, behig under guilt, and the fentence of 
 death, by the law ; and fallen man being no more 
 able, by any means in his power, either to pre- 
 vent the execution of the fentence, or to relieve 
 himfelf from it ; God, at once to fave the fmner 
 from perifhing, and his veracity and juftice from 
 reproach, c. ills the Eternal Word, his Son, to un- 
 dertake as Surety for helplefs man ; to become 
 refponfible to the law for his guilt and penalty, 
 and alfo for that perfect obedience to which he 
 flood bound : and in order to his fulfilling all this, 
 according to law, he calls him to become man, 
 to alTume human nature into perfonal union with 
 the divine, fo as in thefe two natures to become 
 one perfon. The Son agrees, and yields obe- 
 dient to his Father's will. Being fent of the Fa- 
 ther, he comes forth, made of a woman, made 
 under the law, fubjeded, in man's room, to its 
 Vv'hole requifition, for his redemiption. 
 
 Engaged as Surety for men, he muft ad: for 
 them, as prieft, to offer facrifice, even the facri- 
 fice of himlelf. " What the law could not do, 
 what all its burnt-offerings and facrifices could not 
 do, God having fcnt forth his Son, to be an of- 
 fering for fin, condemned fin in the flefli." His 
 death was a fufficient condemnation of fin in our 
 nature, a fufficient vindication of God's righteous 
 law, a full compenfation for the injury done to it- 
 by fin. New the obligation to puniflimcnt upon 
 
 the 
 
Ser. VII. as our Jirength. 241 
 
 the believing finner is diflblved ; the penalty is 
 difcharged : " The juft died for the unjuft." — . 
 " There is therefore now no condemnation to them 
 who are in Chrift Jefus.*' Hear your pardon 
 proclaimed from heaven : " Deliver him from go- 
 ing down to the pit ; I have found a ranfom. — 
 Be it known to you, that through this man is 
 preached unto you the forgivenefs of fms. — Ye 
 are called to joy in God, through the Lord Jefus 
 Chrift, by whom you have received the atone- 
 ment." — As, by his obedient fuiferings, he ob- 
 tained our freedom from the curfe, fo, by his 
 perfed obedience in terms of law, he gained our 
 tide to life ; therefore, inftead of death, the wages 
 of fm, God's gift to us now is eternal life, through 
 Jefus Chrift, in whom is life, as his purchafe for 
 
 men. Again, 
 
 Man having loft the divine image, and the re- 
 covery of it being neceflary to qualify him for the 
 enjoyment of God, his all-fufficient Surety is 
 charged, not only with the redemption of man 
 from guilt and punifliment, by fuffering, but with 
 the reiloration of his degenerate foul to holinefs. 
 He gave himfelf for our fms, that he might fanc- 
 tify and cleanfe us, and prefent us to himfelf a 
 glorious church. And as he is charged with this, 
 as a part of his undertaking, fo is he well furnifh- 
 ed for it, the fullncfs of the Godhead being 
 lodged with him in his mediatory character, to 
 H h be 
 
242 On the joy of the Lord Ser. VIL 
 
 be employed by him for our purification and fal- 
 vation. 
 
 Thus, when God calls us to his kingdom and 
 glory, through fanctification of the Spirit, and be- 
 lief of the truth ; when, as it becomes his ma- 
 jefty, and our rational nature, formed for obe- 
 dience to him, he calls us to have refpeft to all 
 his commands ; to fight our way through the 
 world, in the various exercifes of grace, and in 
 the performance of manifold duties, againft mani- 
 fold difficulties ; this he requires of us, not in 
 our own ftrength, nor for gaining thereby a title 
 to life ; but tells us, that we are to carry on all 
 our work, in dependence upon the Redeemer, 
 who is defigned " the Lord our righteoufnefs and 
 flrength ;" and is our /Ire i/gth in confequence of 
 our juflification, and the recovery of our title to 
 life by his righteoufnefs. 
 
 He is indeed our ftrength, without whom we 
 ought to attempt nothing in God's fervice, and can 
 do nothing, Jo. xv. 5. Being engaged by his office, 
 and by his promife, to make his grace iufficient for 
 lis to every good word and work, he does all in us 
 and for us. Paul's exhortation to the Philippians 
 equally concerns every Chriftian : " Work out 
 your own falvation ; for it is God that worketh in 
 you both to will and to do." When thus encou- 
 raged, and employed in the great work to which 
 we are called, in a conftant dependence on the 
 ftrength of Chrift, ail is well j God is glorified ; 
 
 our 
 
Scr. VII. as our Jlrength. 243 
 
 our fouls arc faved ; and every one, like the E- 
 thiopian eunuch, " goes on his way rejoicing." 
 
 In the mortifying profpe£i: of the body's return- 
 ing to its original duft, how joyous the hope God 
 jn Chrifl gives in his promife, that immediately at 
 death, the fpirit, difmcumbered of the body, Ihall 
 be admitted to the beatific vifion of God in paradife; 
 and that at length the body fliall be raifed, won- 
 derfully transformed into a glorious, fpiritual, ac- 
 tive body, to reunite with a perfeclly holy foul, 
 both together to live with God, in endlefs fullnefs 
 of joy, unmixed with pain or fear. 
 
 The certain evidence and fure pledge of all this, 
 is the refurredion of Jefus from the penal death 
 he fufFered for our fms ; his entrance into heaven, 
 as our forerunner and great high prieft, to conti- 
 nue his interceflion for us, till all God's Ifrael, 
 whom he hath foreknown, are faved ; when, as 
 he hath promifed, he fliall come again, to redeem 
 them from the grave, and to bring them to his Fa- 
 ther's houfe, to be there for ever happy with him- 
 felf, in beholding his glory. 
 
 Such are the gladdening views we have of God 
 as a juft God and a faviour. It gives real joy to a 
 gracious heart, to fee God glorious in the exer- 
 cife of juflice, while he holds forth a fceptre of 
 grace to guilty rebels. It is this view of ample 
 provifion made for the honour of juftlce in the 
 plan of grace, that draws a ferious foul to fettle 
 vpon it, with confidence, fatisfadion, and joy. 
 H ii 2 God's 
 
244 0^ ^^^ Py of ^^^^ ^ord Ser. VII. 
 
 God's way is all grace to us, while he is feverely 
 juft in exafting our debt of the Surety. He in- 
 deed infifts upon our holy obedience and good 
 works, becaufe he wills us to be good and happy 
 likehimfelf; but he infifts not for obedience, ac- 
 cording to the drift tenor of the original law of 
 righteoufnefs, perfed perfonal obedience to be 
 wrought out from our own natural powers, and 
 that for life, as it is defcribed by Mofes, — " The 
 man who doth thefe things fliall live by them.'* 
 Life to us, by fuch a law, is now become abfo- 
 lutely unattainable. God's voice in the gofpel is 
 very different, it is fuch as fuits our lapfed ftate : 
 " Believe in the Lord Jefus Chrifl," and truil in 
 his perfeft obedience, as your righteoufnefs, for 
 your juftification, and acceptance with God. Truft 
 in him for life to form you to holinefs, and to 
 carry you on in a uniform courfe of obedience, 
 till you are fitted for glory. And the fame faith 
 by which we truft in the Surety, is of God : " By 
 grace ye are faved, through faith ; and that not of 
 yourfelves : it is the gift of God." Thus, our 
 righteoufnefs, our holinefs, our obedience, are all 
 to us of God's grace, who reconciles, fubdues, and 
 conforms us to himfelf, by Jefus Chrift ; and 
 hence, while he difplays the awful glory of juftice, 
 in exacting our ranfom of the divine furety his Son, 
 he, at the fame time, appears, in his way with us, to 
 be all mercy and love. Both thefe views reprefent- 
 ing him in the moft engaging and encouraging light 
 
 to 
 
Ser.VII. as our Jirength. 245* 
 
 to finful men, the publication of the glad tidings 
 they bring, is defigned to give joy to the hearts 
 of all the human race who hear them. But they 
 are few who derive joy and hope from them, 
 becaufe few, upon due attention, admit them into 
 their minds, and retain them as fubjeds of ferious 
 deliberate thought. Many attend upon the mini- 
 ftry of thefe things : in hearing, they underftand 
 them. They allow them to be true ; at the fame 
 time they carelefsly let them pafs with a cold alTent 
 to their truth, in common with other matters 
 wherein they have no particular concern. They 
 cannot, therefore, feel any intimate joy from 
 them ; but only fuch natural entertainment, as 
 the mind's natural appetite for knowledge re- 
 ceives, from intelligence of things in general, be 
 they earthly or heavenly, real or imaginary. — — 
 Let us then attend, 
 
 2dly^ To the manner in which the views God 
 gives of himfelf, in his word, are to be improved 
 and applied by us, fo that our hearts fliall feel joy 
 from them. 
 
 It is obvious, that for being raifed to fpiritual joy 
 in the Lord by thefe delightful views of him, one 
 mull hearken to them, fo as, in his heart, to perceive, 
 them to be the infallible, important truths of God, 
 without any ftaggering uncertainty about them. Ac- 
 cordingly the people are faid to have gone away to 
 make great mirth, becaufe they underftood the good 
 words which were declared unto them by Nehe- 
 
 miah 
 
246 Oji the joy of the Lord Ser. VII, 
 
 miah and Ezra, and believed that they were 
 the words of God. 
 
 But this general belief is not enough. One 
 mud perceive his own perfonal concern in thefe 
 difcoveries of a reconciled God, that they are 
 laid before him in particular. For drawing his heart 
 to God, he muft hear the word fpeaking to him- 
 felf thus : " The word which God fent unto the 
 children of Ifrael, which he publiflies to the world 
 in general, this word of falvation God fends to 
 you, in particular, preaching peace to you by Je- 
 fus Chrift." It is come to your ears, for an en- 
 " couraging ground of hope to you. If the word 
 is not fo heard, and regarded as a ground of hope 
 to one's felf, but only acknowledged as true in 
 general, it is heard without effeft. Our hearing 
 of it profits not, becaufe it is not mixed with 
 faith. 
 
 Again, As, in hearing, one apprehends thefe 
 dehghtful views of God exhibited to him for 
 the encouragement of his truft ; fo alfo, for feeling 
 joy from them, he muft adtually truft in God on 
 thefe grounds. He muft give credit to the words^ 
 of God, and in hope venture his falvation upon 
 God*s faithful teftimony in them ; agreeably to 
 which the Apoftle fays to the Ephefians, " in 
 whom ye alfo trufted after that ye heard the word 
 of truth, the gofpcl of your falvation/' Whatever 
 fpeculative knowledge we may have of thefe fa- 
 cred divine truths, if we do not receive them 
 with that cordial believing aflent, which leads us 
 
 to.. 
 
Ser. VII. as our Jirength, 247 
 
 to reft and trufl in them as the ground of our fure 
 hope, the words of the God of truth who cannot 
 lie ; we, in place of joy, will feel nothing but 
 felf-condemnation, the cutting remorfe of an ac- 
 cufing confcience, becaufe we have not believed 
 the record of God, in relation to ourfelves, " that 
 he has given to us eternal life, and that this life 
 is in his Son.'* Sorrow and dejedion are the in- 
 feparable attendants of unbelief; whereas truft 
 and rejoicing in God, go hand and hand together : 
 Pf. xiii. 5. " But I have trufted in thy mercy, my 
 heart fhall rejoice in thy falvation :'* Pf. xxxiii. 2 r. 
 " For our heart (hall rejoice in him, becaufe wc 
 have trufted in his holy name.'* 
 
 Farther, To attain comfort from thefe viev/s of 
 God, one muft, in trufting, fall in vi^ith the fcope 
 and defign of the truth, by yielding himfelf, with- 
 out referve, to Chrift, to be crucified with him, 
 to be formed by his grace into a holy temper, in- 
 to a heavenly aftive life and converfation. The faith 
 that influences to renounce fm, and to ferve the 
 living God, is the faith that purges the confcience 
 from dead works, that gives the anfwer of a 
 good confcience towards God : being juftified by 
 fuch a faith, wc have peace with God, and re- 
 joice in hope of his glory. When the word came 
 to the Theflalonians with power, this determined 
 them to become followers of the Apoftles, and of 
 the Lord, in a courfe of holy obedience and pa- 
 tient fufFering. It was then they are faid to have re- 
 ceived 
 
248 On, the joy of the Lord Ser. VIL 
 
 ceived the word, in mi^ch afflidlon from the 
 world, but with joy in the Holy Ghoft. When, 
 upon receiving clear inflruction, which removes 
 every doubt, one believes and fubmits to Chrift, 
 to be wafhed by him from fm, and to be go- 
 verned by his will, it is then the foul rifes to 
 hope, and to rejoicing in hope of the glory of 
 God. We cannot otherwife have the teftimony of 
 confcience for our rejoicing. It is a falfe hypocri- 
 tical faith, which encourages us to rejoice in God, 
 while it allows us to continue in fin. The joy 
 which fuch a faith infpires, is no better than the 
 laughter of fools, in midft of which the heart is 
 forrowful. Of all delufions it is the ftrongeft, and 
 of moft difficult cure. When one is fo intoxicated 
 with it, that the repeated wounds made by fin are 
 no more felt ; when confcience is benumbed, and its 
 chidings no more heard ; this looks like a judicial 
 
 plague upon the heart, that fhall not be healed. 
 
 Once more. 
 
 For deriving joy from thefe views of God, one 
 muft have perfonal experience of their powerful 
 cfFe£t upon his own heart. It may indeed be faid, 
 that this experience is implied in what we have 
 already fpoken. And, no doubt, in the appre- 
 henfion of thefe views, by the light of faith, 
 which affuredly perfuades us of their truth, which 
 relieves from difconfolate darknefs and perplex- 
 ing doubts, which changes the heart from the 
 love to the hatred of fin, and to the love of God 
 
 and 
 
Ser. VII, ^-f our Jircngih. 2^9 
 
 and hollnefs, there is an experience of the diflinguifli. 
 ing loving-kindnefs and power of God, which doth 
 rejoice the heart. But to this I may add farther, the 
 experience of comfortable accefs to God, by faith 
 and truft in Jefas Chrifl ; — fenfible intimations of 
 his favour ; — real fellowfliip with him in the duties 
 and ordinances of religion, in the reciprocal aft - 
 ings of love betv.een God and our fouls ; — ex- 
 perience of comfort, of relief and deliverance from 
 ftraits, from trouble and temptation, in anfvver to 
 prayer, which makes the heart to rejoice : 
 Pf. xxviii. 7. " The Lord is my ftrength, and my 
 fhield ; my heart trulled in him, and I am help- 
 ed : therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth, and with 
 my fong will I praife him.'* Such experience is 
 juftly regarded as a clear evidence of one's recon- 
 ciliation to God, and of God's fpecial favour and 
 regard for him '• it raifes to full aflurance of hope, 
 that God is for him as his God and friend ; and 
 thus fills his heart with joy and peace, breaking 
 forth in tbefe words of exultation and triumph, 
 " I can now joy in God through my Lord Jefus 
 Chrift, by whom I have received the atonement. 
 — My foul doth magnify the Lord, my fpirit re- 
 joiceth in God my faviour. — His grace hath re- 
 garded the low eflate of a fmner ready to perifh. 
 Lie that is mighty hath done for me great things 
 indeed, and holy is his name ; and his mercy is 
 on them who fear him, from generation to gene- 
 ration."-— —:-Thefe particulars will receive a fur- 
 ther illuftration, while 1 fhew, 
 
 I i II How: 
 
2^0 On the joy of the Lord Ser. Vlt. 
 
 II. How the joy of the Lord is our ftrength, 
 which was the fecond thing propofed in the me- 
 thod. 
 
 Now the joy of the Lord is our ftrength in the 
 two following refpefts : iji. As it fortifies the 
 mind againft thofe perplexing fears, arifmg from 
 the demands of the law and its awful threaten- 
 ings, which w^ould crufh us with their oppreffive 
 weight, and render us equally unfit either for ail- 
 ing or fufFering in the fervice of God ; and, 2dly.y 
 As it infpires refolution and fortitude, both for 
 difcharging the various duties of the religious life, 
 and for enduring the great fight of afflidlions to 
 which we may be called. 
 
 I. The joy of the Lord is our ftrength, as it o- 
 vercomes thofe fears which arife from the demands 
 of the law, and its awful threatenings : 
 
 When the people heard the words of the law 
 read, confcious that they had done wickedly, and 
 incurred the difpleafure of God by tranfgrefling 
 it, they went in difcouragement of heart, and 
 would have periled in defpair, had they not 
 been revived and comforted by the meffen- 
 gers of God bringing them tidings of peace. 
 So, when we hear the voice of the law, " Do 
 this and live," — and, " Curfed is every one 
 that continueth not in all things which are 
 written in the book of the law to do them ;** 
 confcious that, by innumerable inftances of tranf- 
 
 ^reffion, 
 
Ser. VII. as our firengtli. sj-i 
 
 greflion, we have confirmed ourfelves in the guilt 
 and curfe under which we were born ; and that it is 
 abfolutely impoffible for us to come up to the 
 terms of the law for life ; where muft fuch con- 
 viftion and fear iflue, but in utter defpair, had 
 we not other views of God than the law prefents 
 us with, even bright views of grace through Chrift, 
 fufficient to free us from its terrors ? In fear of 
 the pit opening to receive the guilty foul, how re- 
 lieving to hear the joyful found of grace, " O 
 Ifrael, thou haft deftroyed thyfelf, but in me is 
 thy help !" In God, who juftly threatens thy de- 
 ftrudion for fm, is thy help. " I am merciful, 
 faith the Lord ; there is forgivenefs with me, and 
 plenteous redemption for the chief of fmners." 
 How comforting and ftrengthening to the heart, 
 to fee God, even in excuting juftice, exercifing 
 mercy ! How quieting to the awakened con- 
 fcience> which infifts, as well as the law, for fa- 
 tisfadion to juftice, to hear God faying, " Deliver 
 him from going down to the pit, I have found a 
 ranfom ! Behold the Lamb of God. — Behold my 
 Son fent forth in the iikenefs of fmful flelh, made 
 an offering for you. — The juft dying for the un- 
 juft, to bring you to God. — Believe in the Lord. 
 Jefus. — Seek refuge from wrath in his righteouf- 
 nefs. Bring the obedience of the Surety in an- 
 fwer to the demand of the law. — • Truft in him, 
 and in my promife of pardon and life through him, 
 and thou flialt be faved." 
 
 I i 2 The 
 
252 On the joy of the Lord Scr. VIL 
 
 The once fearful foul, hearkening to tliis report 
 of grace, and returning anfwer to it by faith, is re- 
 lieved of the fear of condemnation by the law, 
 and can, with ftrong confidence, repel its charge : 
 " Who Ihall condemn ? it is Chrifl; that died ; and 
 died a facrifice for fin, by the appointment of God. 
 Being now juftilied by faith, 1 have peace v/ith 
 God ; his anger is turned away from me, and he 
 hath comforted me : Behold, God is become my 
 falvation, my flrength and fong ; I will truft 
 and not be afraid.'* If the law and confciencc 
 fhould return to urge npon the foul the charge of 
 guilt and condemnation for old fms ; or if, upon 
 involuntary inflances of mifconduct, fear fhould 
 arife that the pardon obtained was only for fms that 
 were paft before believing, and not for thofe com- 
 mitted fmce ; the anfwer is ready, the anfwer that 
 filences all challenges from law and confcience, and 
 fortifies the foul againfl: the terror they would raife : 
 *'The blood of Jefus Chrifl cleanfeth from all fin ; I 
 have fled to it for redemption, and there is no con- 
 demnation to them who are in him ; for in virtue 
 of his one perfeft facrifice and everlafti ng righte- 
 oulnefs, there is forgivenefs of the fins that are 
 paft, and full fecurity againft the believer's re- 
 lapfe into condemnation, though through the power 
 of temptation, and the remains of corruption, he 
 may wander for a"v/hile from the paths of righte- 
 oufnefs. He who walks not after the flefh with a 
 willing mind, but after the Spirit in the generd 
 courfe and tenor of his life, can, againft every 
 
 challenge 
 
Scr. VII. as our Jirength. 253 
 
 challenge for old and later tranfgreffions, keep up 
 his confidence in God, by looking unto Jefus, 
 and relying on his all-atoning blood. Ever main- 
 taining faith in Chrift's righteoufnefs, he may even 
 maintain the firm perfuafion that his iniquities, 
 however many, and however great, fhall be for 
 ever blotted out. In this aflured hope, he is call- 
 ed to rejoice all the day, and in God's favour 
 ihall his horn be exalted. 
 
 But this, fay you, is the ground of my fear and 
 diftrefs, that I iliall not be able to keep the faith, 
 and hold out to the end. Let fuch hearken to 
 the many ftrengthening cordials Vv^hich are to be 
 found in the facred records, againft thefe unbelie- 
 ving fears. There you are allured, upon the au- 
 thority of God himfelf, that if your faith be of 
 God's operation, you have in his promife the fame 
 fecurity for its never-failing duration, that you 
 have for the end of it, the falvation of your fouls, 
 namely, that God is faithful, by whom you have 
 been called into the fellowfhip of his Son Jefus 
 Chrift, and who fliall therefore confirm you unto 
 the end ; that ye lliall be kept by the power of 
 God through faith unto falvation ; that Chrift, 
 who is your Advocate with the Father, and whom 
 the Father heareth always, prays for you, that 
 your faith may not fail. Nor is this all : for he, 
 as your Surety, has become bound to hold you in 
 his own hands, that ye may never perifli, but 
 have everlafling life. Of whom then fhall ye be 
 
 afraid ? 
 
254 ^'^ ^^^ J^y (^ft'^i^ Lord Ser. VI!. 
 
 afraid ? Shall the enemies you mufl encounter, or 
 the length and difficulties of the way to hi§ king- 
 dom and glory, difquiet your minds with anxious 
 folicitude, when you hear him faying, " My pre- 
 fence fhall go with you, and I will give you 
 jreft?" 
 
 Among many ftumbling-blocks and difcoura- 
 ging fears which at firfl deter from entering on 
 a religious courfe, and from becoming the pro- 
 fefled difciples of Chrifl, one is, the fear of being 
 left to make fhipwreck of faith, to be a reproach 
 to religion, and double our guilt by apoflafy. 
 The animating view the fcriptures give of the co- 
 venant of grace, of the ftrong fecurity in it for 
 the perfeverance of faith, and for continuing by 
 faith in God's fervice ; this, when fuggefted by 
 the Spirit to the wavering irrefolute mind, yet 
 halting between two opinions, will overcome the 
 fear of falling away ; and, againft its moft plau- 
 fible objections, draw the foul to engage with 
 Chrift. When the Spirit whifpers thefe alluring 
 words to the timid lingering heart : *' Fear not, 
 I the Lord have called thee by my name ; and 
 thou art mine. I have betrothed thee unto me 
 for ever, in faithfulnefs and tender mercy. Be 
 not difmayed, I am thy God ; I will flrengtheii 
 thee ; yea, 1 will help thee ; yea, I will uphold 
 thee with the right hand of my righteoufnefs* 
 This is the covenant I will make with you, I will 
 Xiot turn away from you to do you good j and I 
 
 will 
 
Ser. VII. as our ftrength . 255* 
 
 will put my fear in your hearts, that you fliall not 
 depart from me." The foul to thefe encouraging 
 wdrds of grace, rifing above all fears, joyfully re- 
 plies, " Behold, I come unto thee ; for thou art 
 the Lord my God." Let us now confider, 
 
 2. How the joy of the Lord is our ftrength, 
 as it infpircs refolution and fortitude for difchar- 
 ging the various duties of the religious life, and 
 for enduring the great fight of afflidions to which 
 we may be called. 
 
 When we believe and rejoice in the glorious 
 difplays above mentioned, exhibited to us in the 
 gofpel, concerning the great God our Saviour, the 
 God whofe we are, and whom we ferve, fuch 
 views of him, as full of mercy and truth, muft ne- 
 ceffarily quicken and animate us in the work hi 
 has given us to do ; efpecially when we confider, — 
 the nature of the work itfelf, — the end for which we 
 are called to work, — the affurance we have of di- 
 vine aid to fupport and carry us on in it, — the pro- 
 mife of the pardon of our daily failures, and the 
 acceptance of our perfons and imperfed: fervices in 
 Chrift the beloved. 
 
 The work itfelf is in its own nature well calcii-i 
 lated to infpire with defire and refolution to conti- 
 nue and advance in it. What is this work ? It 
 is the work of univerfal righteoufnefs, compre- 
 hending the inward exercife of all gracious difpo- 
 fitions, faith, hope, love, meeknefs, and fuch like ; 
 together with the external exprdfTions of them, in 
 
 fobrietys 
 
2^5 On the joy of the Lord Ser. VII. 
 
 fobriety, juftice, and mercy, in the pra(^ice of aU 
 relative and devotional duties : An arduous worl^ 
 indeed ! but honourable and glorious, fuited to 
 the original dignity of our nature, which raifes the 
 mind to a refemblance of God himfelf, and thence 
 £hc fource of the pureft joy and delight. What is 
 faid of focieties in general, is applicable to indivi- 
 duals in particular : " Righteoufnefs exalteth a 
 nation; but fm is the ruin and difgrace of a 
 people." How hateful, how defpicable, the cha- 
 rader of the wicked ! " whofe god is their belly, 
 and whofe glory is in their fliame ; ivho mind only 
 earthly things." But O how amiable and excel- 
 lent the character of the righteous, who, rifing 
 above this world, " has his converfation in heaven ; 
 and, by a patient continuance in well-doing, a- 
 greeable to the law of his God, feeks for glory, 
 
 for honour, and immortality ! " From this view 
 
 of the work of righteoufnefs, the work that is gi- 
 ven us to do, fo honourable, fo reafonable, fo de- 
 lightful, the believer rejoices in it more than in all 
 riches : " O how do I love thy law ! It is my me- 
 ditation all day long, fweeter to my tafle than ho- 
 ney, than honey from the comb. I will obfervc 
 it, I will keep it continually." 
 
 Again, we derive flrength for our work, from, 
 the confideration of the end for which we are 
 called to work ; not for life, in terms of the origi- 
 r^al law, " Do this and live j" but,^ from life by 
 
 Chrift, 
 
Ser. VII. as our Jircngth, 257 
 
 Chrift, from the influences of his grace, to the 
 fupport and advancement of the divine life in our 
 fouls. Being called into the fellowfhip of Chrift 
 by faith;, we are in him intitled to eternal life ; 
 and being quickened by his Spirit into newnefs 
 of life, we walk after the fpirit, go on towards 
 perfe£lion, till we arrive at the heavenly world, 
 where God commands the bleiTmg, even life for 
 evermore. The difpofition wrought in us by the 
 power of the Holy Ghofl, to walk uprightly, and 
 work righteoufnefs, the natural a6ting of a renew- 
 ed foul begun to be faved, is part of the falvation 
 itfelf, and neceflary, by forming us into a con- 
 firmed habit of holinefs, to fit and qualify us for 
 that complete falvation, that life and happinefs with 
 
 God, for which we are defigned. From 
 
 whence it appears, that good works are not the 
 caufe, but the effeft, of life and grace derived 
 from Chrift, who is in all refpeds our life, our li- 
 ving head. What is our work of righteoufnefs, 
 but the confequence and improvement of the 
 freedom wherewith Chrift has made us free from 
 the condemning fentence of the law, and the molt 
 direful effeft of the curfe, the enilaving dominion 
 of fin ? Loofed from our bonds, enlarged from 
 prifon, we walk at liberty ; go up chearfully to 
 Zion, as the children of Ifraei when fet free from 
 their captivity. And I need not fay, that a felt 
 willingnefs, an inclination to work the work or 
 God, muft neceifarily excite us to do it with all 
 K k ouc 
 
258 On the joy of the Lord Ser. VII. 
 
 our ftrength and mind. Thus, when the people 
 underftood the law, and found themfelves difpofed 
 to obferve it, they juftly regarded this as a token 
 of God's favour, and were animated by it in their 
 work. 
 
 Encouraged by a fenfe of our liberty to walk in 
 God's ways, we will go on in them, in grateful 
 returns for our great deliverance ; this courfe 
 of holy obedience being neceffary to pleafe and 
 glorify God, our deliverer, by exemplifying in life 
 the godlike effeds of his grace, by fliewing be- 
 fore the world, :hat his workmanfnip upon us is 
 
 fuch as does honour to a holy God. But the 
 
 objection recurs, " Though 1 am not required to 
 work for life, yet it being neceffary to falvation 
 to work righteoufnefs, the caufe of fear and dif- 
 
 couragement is ftill the fame.'* In anfwer to 
 
 this, let it be further obferved. 
 
 That in the promife of every thing that is ne- 
 ceffary for enabling us to go on in the work of 
 God, is our ftrength. 
 
 God prepares the foul for his work, by infpi- 
 ring it with a principle of divine life, by taking a- 
 way the heart of ftone, and giving a heart of flefh, 
 upon which he writes his law. Thus we are 
 God's workmanfliip created in Chrift Jefus unto 
 good works. By being made partakers of a divine 
 nature, a foundation is laid for us to proceed up- 
 on in the improvement of holinefs, and in the per- 
 formance of every duty : for the refult of the 
 
 new 
 
Scr. VII. as our ftrenglh. 259 
 
 new creation by grace is a difpofition to do the 
 will of God in all things, in contradiftion to the 
 will of the flefli. Having thus prepared us for his 
 work, he will ever after carry us on towards per- 
 fection, by his Spirit put within us, caufing us to 
 walk in his flatutes. The infant feed of grace 
 ever needing to be quickened, fupported, and 
 ftrengthened, by continued influences ; thefe in- 
 fluences are vouchfafed, fo that no duty can prove 
 too hard for us. 
 
 God will both fliew us our way, and give us re- 
 Xolution to advarice in it, againft all difcouragements. 
 In fome intricate cafes, we may be at a lofs to 
 know what is duty ; but God can make our path 
 plain before us ; and he hath promifed that he 
 will do it, Pf. XXV. 9. " The meek he will guide 
 in judgement ; the meek he will teach his way.*' 
 And again, y 12. " What man is he that feareth 
 the Lord ? him fliall he teach in the way that 
 he fliall chufe." Now one is greatly embold- 
 ened to his duty, when he clearly fees the way in 
 which God would have him to go. A wife man 
 is flirong, and a man of underflanding is of an 
 
 excellent fpirit. In giving the knou'ledge of 
 
 duty, the Spirit infpires the heart with refolution 
 to do it. He does fo by keeping up a fenfe of 
 God's fupreme authority, and alfo a comforting 
 fenfe of his love in Chrift. This fenfe of God's 
 love, kindling love in the heart, will conft:rain 
 and enable us to do all things for Chrill. With- 
 out love many duties will be omitted, and every 
 K k 2 duty 
 
26 o On the joy of the Lord Ser. VII. 
 
 duty will be an irkfome talk ; but love kept alive will 
 carry us on willingly and refolutely in the mofl 
 difficult inftances of duty, ever rejoicing, (hould 
 we Tuffer reproach and contumely, bonds and fet- 
 ters, from a perfecuting world, for the fake and 
 tellimony of Jefus. With fuch encouragement 
 from grace, we can do all things through Chrifl: 
 Itrengthening us. We can rife fuperior to all 
 difficulties in the way of duty : " As our day is, 
 fo will our flrength be.'' Not one thing is requi- 
 red, but what is alfo promifed. All is fo far of 
 grace to us, that Paul afcribes nothing to himfelf, 
 though he laboured more abundantly than all the 
 apoftles, but afcribes all to the riches and freedom 
 of divine grace. 
 
 Perhaps, in examining yourprefent flrength, you 
 may find it infufficient to bear you out, with that 
 unfliaken conflancy which others have maintain- 
 ed amidfti heavy trials. But if you have ftrength 
 for the duties, and againft the trials of your pre- 
 fent fituation, you may confidently hope, that, 
 when brought to more trying circumftances, your 
 llrength fiiall then be proportioned to your bur- 
 den. — You may indeed fay, " Notwithftand- 
 ing thefe encouraging aids of grace, I am far 
 from coming up to the perfed rule of duty. I 
 do no work to the fatisfaclion of my own con- 
 fcience. What coldnefs and deadnefs of fpirit, 
 what mifirufi:, what vanity and wanderings of 
 mind} mingle with my prayers and all my other 
 
 duties." 
 
Ser. VII. (IS our Jirengtii. 261 
 
 duties." — But in anfwer to all tliefe complaints, I 
 have one effeftual ground of encouragement to 
 mention, namely. 
 
 The promife of the pardon of daily failings, 
 and of the acceptance of our perfons and imper- 
 fect fervices in Chrifl. 
 
 Believers in Chrift are not under the law, in its 
 dgid form, as it was given to Adam ; but they 
 are under grace. This, however, is not to be 
 under flood, as if the law was abrogated or lower- 
 ed in its demand, to make way for a new indul- 
 gent law, requiring fmcere, though imperfed: 
 obedience, for life. No ; the law, being ho- 
 ly, juft, and good, not one tittle of its high de- 
 mand lliall or can be difpenfed with : it muft 
 have its full requifition. This it has had from 
 Chrift, the Surety ; and this it has from the be- 
 liever, not perfonally, but in the Surety. The 
 Lord Jefus was made under the law, and bound, 
 in our nature, to fatisfy it for us. The fmner, 
 called into his fellowlliip by faith, becomes one 
 with him in law, and, in him, is abfolved from 
 the curfe of the law, and its rigorous demand up- 
 on him. He can anfwer all its claim, by pleadino- 
 the fatisfaftion of his Surety in his room. He is 
 no more under the law, but under grace, or un- 
 der the law to Chrift, his fponfor ; which is a law 
 of grace, of fpirit and life ; according to which he 
 can warrantably plead for the full pardon of fin, 
 and for the continued progrefs of a work of grace 
 
 in 
 
lb 2 On the joy of the Lord Ser. VII. 
 
 in his heart ; that as Chrifl has undertaken, he 
 may fulfil iJi him the work of perfect righteouf- 
 nefs, as he hath already fulfilled it for him. The 
 behever's work, then, is not a work for obtaining 
 life ; it is a work of grace, begun and carried on 
 by grace ; which, as the cfFefl of the travail of 
 Chrifl's foul, and the fruit of his obedience, muft 
 be preferved, and go on to perfeftion. No finful 
 defeds, thereforCj can ftop its progrefs, nor difap- 
 point the believer's hope of life. He can with e- 
 qual confidence plead for the continued pardon of 
 fm, and the continued progrefs of a work of grace, 
 both being equally the purchafe of Chrifl's blood. 
 The encouragement arifing hence is, that if you 
 find your heart turned to Chrifl:, as all your 
 hope; if you fmd it turned from the love of fin, 
 to the love of God, and of holinefs ; if you can 
 fay with Paul, " I truft I have a good con- 
 fcience, willing in all things to live honeftly, or 
 prevailingly inclined to obey God, though I can- 
 not attain to perfcftion, but evil is prefent to 
 withfland and hinder me ;" yet if you yield not to 
 the fohcitations of fm, but cry earneflly to God for 
 help againft it ; then may you with certainty con- 
 clude, that a work of grace is begun, and that 
 God will never forfake this work of his hand ; that, 
 as fm is pardoned, fo it ihall at length be deflroy- 
 cd, and your victory over it be complete through 
 Chrifl. For thus runs the covenant of grace : 
 " I will put my laws into their mind, and write 
 
 them 
 
Ser. VII. as our Jirength, 263 
 
 them in their hearts. I will be merciful to their 
 unrighteoufnefs, and their fms and their iniquities 
 will I remember no more." 
 
 how relieving and encouraging is it, under a 
 fenfe of fin, and fear of wrath, to hear thefe words 
 of grace ! " 1 knew that thou wouldft deal very 
 treacheroufly, and wert called a tranfgrelTor from 
 the womb ; but, for my name's fake, will I defer 
 mine anger, and for my praife will I refrain for 
 thee, that I cut thee not off." 
 
 It only remains to be fhown, that the joy of the 
 Lord, or the comfortable experience of God*s fa- 
 vour and love. Is the ftrefigth of the Chriftian to 
 fupport him under fufFerings of every kind. 
 
 1 might obferve, by the way, that temptations 
 may be reckoned among the fufferings of the 
 Chriftian ; and among thefe, the mod dangerous, 
 becaufe the moft infinuating, are thofe which arife 
 from the blandiihments of fenfe. For repel- 
 ling fuch, our chief ftrength is derived from 
 experience of the purer joys of God's love, and 
 communion with him ; to which fenfual indul- 
 gences are repugnant, and of which they tend 
 to deprive us. Fear of lofing thefe fweet com- 
 forts, that fill the heart with gladnefs, will fortify 
 the mind againfh thofe fugitive iilufions of fancy. 
 And indeed, if our delight and. joy, in prayer, and 
 in other devotional exercifes, have not the effect 
 to deaden our relifh for earthly things, our feem- 
 ing joy in God is beyond quefiion all delufion, 
 the mere overflowings of the animal fpirits j which 
 
 may 
 
264 On the joy of the Lord Ser. VIL 
 
 may indeed gratify the appetites of the body for a 
 feafon, but can yield no fatisfaftion to the more 
 
 noble and exalted powers of the mind. But, 
 
 paiTmg this, I (hall confine myfelf to what is more 
 commonly underllood hy J/ifferhjgs, namely, thofe 
 painful trials to which the Chriftian is liable ; whe- 
 ther in his body, — his reputation, — his fubftance, 
 — ^or whatever elfe is dear to him in a prefent 
 world. And, 
 
 1. When ficknefs, infirmities, and pains, in- 
 vade the Chriftian, bringing fm and the curfe to 
 view, what fupports him under thefe afflicting e- 
 vlls, is his knowledge of being one with Chrift, 
 who took our infirmities, and bare our fickneffes, 
 that, by virtue of his crofs, thefe bitter fruits of 
 the curfe might be converted into fo many heal~ 
 ing medicines, and prove the means of deftroying 
 fm, the deadly root from whence they fpring ; 
 that, if his ficknefs fliould be unto the death of 
 the body, it fhall be unto the health and life of the 
 fpul. In hope of this, the Chriftian, under pains 
 and pining ficknefs, revives, (while nature com- 
 plains), and is ftrong to fuffer ; ufmg, at the fame 
 time, all proper means for preferving health, and 
 lengthening life. 
 
 2. When the Chriftian fuffers in his good 
 name, which is, and ought to be dearer to him 
 than life, and which, with his beft care, he can- 
 not always fecure againft the venomous tongue 
 of malice and envy, then the joy of the Lord will 
 
 bq 
 
Ser. VII. as oi& flrengih. 265* 
 
 be his fupport. — 'Of all evils, reproach to an in- 
 genuous fpirit, is the moft wounding. — One can- 
 not help feeling its galling fling. Confcioufnefs 
 of innocence does not render him infenfible to it : 
 reproach, faith the holy Pfalniill, hath broke my 
 heart. For a time, it gives more exquifite pain 
 to the innocent than to the guilty, from fear of 
 lofing his ufefulnefs with his character : but after 
 having been agitated, for fome time, with fuch 
 vexing thoughts, the teftimony of a good con- 
 fcience;will at length relieve him of hisdifquietude. 
 Should the reproach of confcience fecond that of 
 the world, one's fpirit then mud fail him : but 
 confcience acquitting him, he will rejoice in its te- 
 ftimony, calmly committing himfelf to him who 
 judgeth righteoufly. When men fay, " Let us 
 devife devices againd him ; let us fmite him 
 with the tongue," he appeals to God, in hope 
 that he will plead his caufc, and cover with fhame 
 thofe who feek his hurt. . How is his hope raifed, 
 and his heart ftrengthened, upon hearing the en- 
 couraging voice of God in fcripture : — " Heark- 
 en unto me, ye who know righteoufnefs, the people 
 in whofe heart is my law ; fear ye not the re- 
 proach of men, neither be ye afraid of their re- 
 vilings ; — I, even I am he that comforteth you, 
 who art tliou that thou fliouldfl be afraid of a 
 man that fliall die, and of the fon of man that 
 fliall be made as grafs ?" The amiable example of 
 Chrid, and of his apodles, bcirig fet before him, 
 L 1 how 
 
266 On the joy of the Lord Ser. VII. 
 
 how chearfully does he engage in the imitation of 
 it, in the exercife of patience, forbearance, and 
 forgivenefs, with prayer for reviling enemies ? Nay, 
 having now the fame mind in him that was in Je- 
 fus, he is not only patient, but rejoices in his fuf- 
 ferings, as giving occafion for the difplay of thofe 
 graces of which we have juil fpoken. Such a tem- 
 per, maintained amidd the injurious reproaches of 
 men, is indeed true greatnels of fpirit, and mufl 
 ever be attended with peace and joy. Thus, Da- 
 vid felt more joy, and Hieweci greater ftrength of 
 mind, when, in meek reply to Shimei's railing, 
 he faid, " Let him alone, the Lord hath com- 
 manded him," than when, in the fury of refent- 
 ment, he rufhed forth againfl churlifh Nabal. 
 
 3. When a Chriilian fuifers by decay of 
 circumflances, it \s, his peculiar happinefs, that he 
 can then fu.pport himfelf wiih joy in his God. In- 
 deed., when one fud'ers through flothful neglecl 
 of his rJfaTS, through profligacy and indifcreet 
 profufion, or through the adventurous iniquitous 
 methods too much in fafliion, by which fome, im- 
 patient of honc.lt induffcry, haden to be rich, he can 
 have no joy in God to fupport his mind amidft the 
 ruin flowing f\-om fuch criminal caufes. But when 
 a. Chridian is reduced to hardlhips by the deceit or 
 violence of men, by fraud or oppreiTion, by ca- 
 fual difaflers in the ordinary courfe of things, by 
 the flormy elements of fire and water, he can joy 
 in God as his God ; he can blefs God that his 
 portion is not in this life, -—that it is fecured in 
 
 heaven : 
 
Ser. Vir. as our flrength. 267 
 
 heaven : he can take joyfully the fpoiling of his 
 goods, knowing in himfelf that he hath in b'^avcu 
 a bet^^er and an enduring fubftance. When the 
 difquieting tumult railed in his mind by his lofs, 
 begins to fettle, and he refleO-s upon the danger 
 he was in, of being feducea from God, by the 
 fnare in his affluence, and that the diminatiori of 
 his wealth hath called his more ferious attention 
 to the true riches ; inftead of repining, he will fee 
 reafon to rejoice at his lofs, as his greateft gaih, 
 as the means of weaning him from the palling 
 vanities of time, and of raifmg his heart to God, 
 -and the ever-during riches of the inheritance of 
 the faints in glory. This feems to be meant by the 
 Apoftle, James i. 10. " Let the rich man rejoice 
 that he is brought low, becaufe as the flower of 
 the grafs he fiiall pafs away ;" becaufe it teacheth 
 him the fluctuating ftate of human affairs, the 
 fading nature of fublunary enjoyments, and calls 
 him to lay up treafure in heaven. 
 
 4. The joy of the Lord is our ftrength to 
 bear us up againft our lofs, by the death of dear 
 relations and friends on whom we have much de- 
 pendence ; as when death deprives one of pa- 
 rents, while he yet needs the help of their coun- 
 fel and care. In this orphan ftate the Chriftian 
 finds refource in God as his God, and can fay, 
 " God liveth, bleffed be my rock ; when father 
 and mother, and all other benefactors forfake me, 
 'God will take me up." — When, by death, one is 
 L 1 2 deprived 
 
268 On the joy of the Lord Ser. VII. 
 
 deprived of children, from whofe life he pro- 
 mifed himfelf much comfort, he can fay, in the 
 fubmiflive language of -pious Job, — " The Lord 
 gave, and the Lord hath taken away, blefled be 
 the name of the Lord." But if in. death they afford 
 good hope of theii dying m the Lord, arnidll the 
 tender foftenings of nature into tears of moderate 
 forrow^, how is the godly parent's heart comfort- 
 ed againft fretting grief, meekly refigning to the 
 will of God his own prefent pleafure, in hope of 
 greater gain to the dead, in being perfeftly blefi- 
 ed vt^ith God i — How different is the chearful re- 
 fignation of David, upon the death of the child 
 of whofe w^elfare in a future ftate he entertained 
 good hope, from his violent grief and bitter la- 
 mentation for Abfolem, whofe wicked life gave 
 reafon to doubt of his after happinefs ! 
 
 Laftly^ When the meffenger of death comes 
 to one's ovv^n door, and calls, — "Set thy houfe 
 in order ; thou flialt die, and not live ;" what can 
 bear up one's heart againft the terrors of that 
 awful fcene, but the joy of the Lord, confidence 
 in God as his God ? The natural courage which 
 fome wicked men exhibit in dying, is but fool- 
 hardinefs and ftupidity. The Chriftian alone, in 
 the joyful remembrance of the word on which 
 God caufed him to hope, is ftrong and refolute 
 to launch fertii into the boundlcfs ocean of eterni- 
 ty, to go through the dark valley of the fliadow 
 of death. David's ftrcngth, when dying amidft 
 
Ser. VII. fts our JirengtJi. 269 
 
 the dlfcouraging ftate of the church and his fami- 
 ly, was his hope : — " Although my houfe be not 
 fo with God, yet he hath made with me an ever- 
 lafting covenant, ordered in all things and fure." 
 When one is about to leave this v/orld for ever, 
 to enter into the unknown world ot fpirits, to ap- 
 pear before a holy God, to receive his final fen- 
 tence, tliat fixes his everlafting (late, what can 
 keep up his fpirit, but the knowledge of his rela- 
 tion to Chrift, as his all-fufficient Surety and Shep- 
 herd, that he is with him to guide him fafe to 
 thofe blifsful regions whither he is entered as his 
 forerunner ? Recollc^led experience of God's 
 former loving-kindnefs gives him fome notion of 
 the nature of the life of happy fpirits, confirms 
 his hope, and ftrengthens his heart into a compo- 
 fed waiting for God's falvation, leading him to 
 fay with Jacob, — " God Almighty appeared to 
 mc at fuch times, and in fuch places, and blefled 
 me." — In the mortifying profpcft of lying down 
 in the dud, to be confumed of worms, the joy 
 and flrength of his heart is, that he can fay in 
 hope of a glorious refurreftion, " I know that 
 my Redeemer liveth, and that he fliall ftand at the 
 latter day upon the earth ; and though after my 
 (kin worms deitroy this body, yet in my fle(h 
 Hiall I fee God." 
 
 In this hope, with v^^hat godlike meeknefs, yea 
 with Vv'liat rapturous joy have many Chrifrians 
 died ! How have the martyrs overcome the world, 
 
 rifins: 
 
27 o On the joy of the Lord Ser. VIL 
 
 rifing fuperior to its frowns and fmiles. Support- 
 ed by more than human flrength even by the felt 
 prefence of God ! how hive they triumphed over 
 the moft frightful inftruments of torture ! have 
 fung amidft the raging flames, and glorified God 
 in the fires ! They that know the name of their 
 Ood Ihall be flrong, and do exploits. 
 
 Conclusion. 
 
 From what has been faid, we fee, that the per- 
 fuafion of God's peculiar favour toward us, is fo 
 far from encouraging remifliiefs in or weakening 
 the motive to duty, that, on the contrary, it is our 
 ftrength that carries us on chearfully, with refo- 
 folution and fpirit, in our Chriflian work and 
 warfare. Afted by fervile fear only, without fome 
 degree of joy and hope, our work will go on hea- 
 vily, and we will foon throw off the galling yoke. 
 If the love of God, if joy and delight in him do 
 not rule in the heart, fo as to be a counterbalance 
 to the temptations of the world, to the fear of 
 man, and the pleafures of fenfe, we cannot long 
 preferve our integrity ; whereas the perfuafion 
 and fenfe of God*s favour, that he is for us, is e- 
 ver with us to keep and deliver us, that he accepts 
 our perfons and fervices in Chrift, that our labour 
 iliall not be in vain, that our work and warfare 
 fliall be fuccefsfully accomplilhed, and iflue glo- 
 rioufly ; this will put life in us, and carry us on 
 with flrength againfl all oppofition. Let us then 
 
 be 
 
Ser. VII. as our Jtrength, 271 
 
 be careful to maintain a comfortable fenfe of 
 God's love; without which, difcouraging fears 
 will ever be in our way, the gralhopper will be 
 a burden : but love levels mountains, fmooths 
 rough places, and renders our path plain 
 and eafy. When therefore you find miftrull 
 and difcouragement creeping upon you, check 
 it inftantly with the Pfalmift's expoflulation, 
 *' VvHiy art thou cafl: down, O my foul, and why 
 art thou difquieted within me ? hope in God, for 
 I fliall yet praife him." Strive to rife from dejec- 
 tion of fpirit to joy and ftrength. Strive to a- 
 bound in love, fo fhall you ever abound in the 
 work of the Lord. Be filled with joy and peace 
 in believing, and you fhall be filled with the works 
 of righteoufnefs, which are by Jefus Chrift mito 
 the glory of God. 
 
 In order to this, as you mud be new creatures, 
 created again in Chrifl: Jefus unto good works ; 
 — as you are to give up yourfelves to God, to love 
 and to ferve him, not for a time or for many days, 
 but for ever, to folloir him through every ftep of 
 the wildernefs to the heavenly world ; fo you muft 
 endeavour by grace to keep up a conftant fenfe 
 of your filial relation to God as yqur God and fa- 
 ther in Chrift, and of your acceptance in him as 
 your righteoufnefs and flrength. " We are the cir- 
 cumcifion, who worfhip God in the Spirit, and re- 
 joice in Chrilt Jefus, and have no confidence in 
 the ilefh." 
 
 . If 
 
272 On the joy of the Lord Ser. ViL 
 
 If we would maintain our rejoicing in the Lord, 
 we mufl; c^iercife oiirfelves in keeping confciences 
 void of offence toward God and man. We mufl: 
 order our life with conftant regard to the rules of 
 the gofpel. Peace be on them who walk accord- 
 ing to this rule. Rejoicing in God, and working 
 righteoufnefs, have a mutual influence the one up- 
 on the other. " Thou meeteft him that rejoiceth 
 and worketh righteoufnefs, thofe who remember 
 thee in thy ways." God meets them who are di- 
 ligi;ent and chearful in his work, with additional 
 comfort. His comforts are only to be found by us 
 when v/alking in his ways. 
 
 You mufh be particularly on your guard againft 
 fenfual pleafures. Thefe, whether they be fecret or 
 more open, have the fame effeft in robbing us of our 
 joy and ftrength in the Lord : " Dearly beloved, ab* 
 {lain from flefnly lulls, which war againft the foul," 
 Thefe kill the fpirit of prayer, a fpecial mean of 
 deriving comfort from God. Senfual indulgences 
 fo deaden the heart to this exercife, that it fliall 
 never have power to prevail with God for the 
 blefilnfT. One reafon why Chridians are fuch 
 ftrano-ers to the comforts of God is, that they are 
 flrantrers to mortification ; that, inattentive to the 
 rules of temperance and moderation in the ufe of 
 lawful objecfs, prefcribed by their Lord and Ma- 
 iler, they too freely indulge to appetite, to bodi- 
 ly fatisfaclions, andthe cares of this life. Much 
 
 fwect 
 
Ser. VII . OS our ftrength . 275 
 
 fweet confolation might believers enjoy in their in- 
 tercourfe with God, were it not for their cul- 
 pable conformity to tlie exceffes and vanities of the 
 world. In proportion to our indulgence to thefe, 
 the Spirit of God withdraws his comforts ; yea, 
 our tafte is vitiated fo that we but faintly defire 
 them. Spiritual comfort is incompatible with in- 
 ordinate appetite and care for the things of fenfe. 
 Thefe take away the heart from God. If, not- 
 withftanding habitual undue compliance with the 
 irregular demands of appetite, one fhould occafio- 
 nally warm in devotional exercifes, and rife into a 
 rapturous flalli of joy, how delufive, how fatal is 
 this joy ! It is worfe than perpetual dejedion from 
 the flings of a murmuring confcience. This may 
 at length, like a gnawing moth, and rotteinnefs in 
 the bones, operate for the fmner's converfion from 
 his joylefs life of fm ; whereas falfe joy confirms the 
 foul in the chains of fm and death ; the end where- 
 of is Ihame and forfow, anguilh and everlafting v/o. 
 
 Permit me to add, that for maintaining joy in the 
 Lord, we are to avoid duplicity in all our words 
 and a£lions, and ever acl up to the plainnefs and 
 fimplicity of truth : " God's countenance beholds 
 the upright, and his eyes are ever towards him for 
 good." 
 
 NotwithRanding my addrefs to young perfons 
 in another difcourfe, I ihall not conclude this with- 
 out offering my ferious advice to them, if perhaps 
 they will hearken to it. 
 
 M m Be 
 
274 On the joy of the Lord Ser. VIL 
 
 Be intreated, in God's name, and for your 
 own fakes, to fet out early in the ways of God, 
 before you are feduced into the vltious courfe of 
 the world, and your hearts become defperately cor- 
 rupted with it. 
 
 Among the few who fhall be faved, very few 
 are recovered in advanced life, from a profli- 
 gate debauched habit, to fobriety and ferious god- 
 linefs. If, after a long night fpent in fin, you 
 fhould at length awake to the bufinefs of religion, 
 the objedion againft hope which you will find the 
 hardefl: to conquer, is, That you have prefumed 
 and lingered too long againit your light. Be 
 warned, then, before you are immerfed in the 
 intoxicating pleafures of fin, to take up ferious 
 thoughts about your falvation, to apply to prayer, 
 earneftly to plead with a gracious God to lead 
 you, by faith, to Chrift, that in him you may be 
 juflified, and preferved biamelefs unto his heaven- 
 ly kingdom. Plead that, by his grace, you may 
 enter lb thoroughly into the fpirit of religion, that 
 you fliall feel real joy in it, fuch as will preponde- 
 rate againft all the joys of the world. This will be 
 your bed fecurity againft the infmuating blandifh- 
 ments of fin. 
 
 After you have given up yourfclf to the Lord, 
 and tafied that he is gracious, know and beware 
 of the danger of being drav/n off by the enfnaring 
 illufions of fcnfe. Your compliance with thefe, 
 m violation of your engagement, will quench 
 
 your 
 
Ser. VII. as our ftrengih, 2 7 5 
 
 your joy, and fo' grieve the Spirit, that you fhall 
 be left by him to go comfortlefs many days and 
 years, perhaps all your life, and to go olF the 
 world trembling in a dark cloud of diftrading 
 doubts and fears. Probably this wrong turn for 
 the vanities and follies of the world, (though ne- 
 ver plunged in the grofs pollutions of it), accom- 
 panied with the negleft or carelefs performance of 
 duty, after a courfe of afFetlionate delightful 
 walking with God, may be the reafon why fome 
 ferious fouls are ever fad, ever complaining, but 
 never rejoicing. Flee therefore youthful lufls : 
 follow righteoufnefs, faith, and love. Give your 
 young hearts to Chrift, and keep yourfelves pure 
 and unfpotted from the world, and your joy will 
 ever grow. 
 
 Early rehgion, uniformly continued in, will be 
 the joy, the ftafF, and ftrength, of old age. You 
 will then have folacing confirming refledtions up- 
 on the kindnefs of youth, when, in obedience to 
 God's call, you came after him in the wildernefs. 
 It will greatly comfort you to find, that in you are 
 fulfilled thefe endearing words of grace : " Heark- 
 en unto me, O houfe of Jacob, and all the rem- 
 nant of the houfe of Ifrael, which are born by 
 me from the belly, which are carried from the 
 womb : and even to your old age, 1 am he, and 
 even to hoar hairs will I carry you : I have made, 
 and I will bear, even I will carry, and will deliver 
 you." Rejoicing in fpirit, you will tiien fing,. 
 M m 2 '^ Thoijc 
 
276 On the joy' of the Lord, he. Ser. VII. 
 
 " Thou art my hope, O Lord God, thou art my 
 truft from my youth. O God, thou haft taught 
 me from my youth ; and hitherto have I declared 
 thy wondrous works. Now alfo, when I am old 
 and gray-headed, O God, thou wilt not forfake 
 me. This God will be my God for ever and 
 ever, my guide even unto death, my portion for 
 ever. My lips fliall greatly rejoice^ when I fmg 
 unto thee, and my foul which thou haft: redeem.- 
 ed." j4men. 
 
 SER- 
 
SERMON VIII. 
 
 The Backflider's Confeffion and Suppli- 
 cation. 
 
 P s A L. cxix. I ']S, 
 
 I have gone aftray like a loft peep ; feek thy 
 fervant. 
 
 THE natural difpofition of man, in his pre^ 
 fent (late of apoftafy, is to wander from 
 God. Even in thofe who are regenerated, there 
 is, from the influence of remaining corruption, an 
 unhappy tendency to turn afide after the courfe of 
 the world. But being " born fpirit of the Spirit," 
 they neither depart wilfully, nor are they permit- 
 ted to continue long unadmonifhed in their wan- 
 derings. God being merciful to them, orders 
 matters fo, that, either by fome inward fuggeflion, 
 or by fome outward difpenfatlon of providence, 
 they are timeoufly brought to themfelves, difcover 
 the error of their way, and return forrowing : 
 " Their own backflldings are made to reprove 
 them." 
 
 Some there are, who, by tafting the good word 
 of God, and the powers of the world to come, 
 fippear to have made confiderable advances in re- 
 ligion ; 
 
278 Tlie hachflider^ s confejjlon Ser. "^^11, 
 
 ligion ; but do not attain that heart-purifying faith 
 whereby the foul is united to Chrifl. Tbefe, when 
 they begin to decline, iifually ■" Hide back with a 
 perpetual backiliding.*' Pleafed with their own 
 way, though highly ofFenfive to God and man, 
 nay, making a mock of fm, and lightly fporting 
 themfelves with their own deceivings, they conti- 
 nue to go aflray in the greatnefs of their folly, 
 and wander without end. Or, if God hath 
 thoughts of peace towards any of them, he will, 
 for their recovery, purfue them with threatening, 
 vexation, and rebuke. With fear upon fear, with 
 trouble upon trouble, he will fpcnd his arrows 
 upon them, till they acknowledge their iniquity,, 
 and proclaim their bitter repentance to all around 
 them. 
 
 A holy God (as It becomes his majefly) will in- 
 timate pardon and comfort to none, till he hath 
 made them to know, that " it is an evil thing and 
 bitter that they have departed from him/' If his 
 own people forfake his law, and walk not in his 
 judgements, he will vifit their tranfgreffion with 
 the rod, and their iniquity with flripes. Though 
 he give them their fouls for a prey, yet he will be 
 fandified by taking vengeance upon their inven- 
 tions. And when their fm is accompanied with 
 peculiar aggravations, he frequently chaftifes the 
 dearefl of his children with uncommon feverity.a 
 for a warning to others, that he may vindicate 
 
Ser. VIII. «H^ fuppUcatioiu 279 
 
 the honour of his law, and manifell the glory of 
 his holinefs and juflice in the eyes of the world. 
 
 Thus he dealt with David for his heinous offence 
 in the matter of Uriah the Hittlte. The fome 
 prophet who faid to him, upon the confeffion of 
 his guilt, " The Lord hath put away thy fm j 
 thou ihalt not die," did likewife intimate to him 
 that awful fentence, *' The fword lli.ali never de- 
 part from thine houfe." And it is not impro- 
 bable, that David, when he uttered the confeflion 
 and prayer in my text, was vifitcd with fomc hea- 
 vy afflidion, which would naturally bring to his 
 remembrance that aggravated tranfgreffion which 
 God had diftingullhed by fuch an awful mark of 
 his righteous difpleafure ; and raife in his mind a 
 dark cloud of perplexing jealoufies and fears, not 
 to be difpelled by his own reafonings, nor by any 
 other means, till God himfelf ihould again fpeak 
 peace to his confcience, and lift up the light of his 
 countenance upon him. Such we may fuppofe 
 his fituation to have been, when he thus addreifed 
 God, in words expreffive of forrowful contrition, 
 and undiffembled humility, / have gone ojiray 
 like a loft peep ; Jeek thy fervant. 
 
 In difcourfmg further upon this paffage, I pro- 
 pofe to confider, 
 
 1 . David's penitent confeffion : / have gone 
 fijiray like a loft fjjeep ; 
 
 2. • His humble fupplication : Seek thy fer- 
 vant ; 
 
 3. The 
 
2 8o ^he backflider^s confcffion Ser.VIIL 
 
 3. The arguments with which he urges his fuit, 
 implied in the appellation of GoAhJervant^ which 
 he avows himfelf to be. 
 
 And the whole may be improved, either for 
 the prevention of backfliding, or for recovery from 
 it. 
 
 I. I begin with the Pfalmift's penitent confeffion : 
 I have gone aftray like a loft jloeep. 
 
 This is the language of one awakened from 
 deep flumber, when he comes to have different 
 views of himfelf, and of his way, from thofe he 
 formerly had, while afleep in the arms of fin. It 
 may be confidered, both as an acknowledgement 
 of his being out of the road of duty, — and as a 
 complaint, with fear and trouble of mind, upon 
 finding himfelf out of the way of fafety. 
 
 " I am at prefent where I ought not to be," 
 faith the awakened foul. " I have (frayed far 
 from my God, and from the paftures of his flocks. 
 I have left his fellowfliip, and the fellowfhip of his 
 faints, to go in company with aliens, vain perfons, 
 and diflfemblers ; to feed with them upon fordid 
 hufks, in preference to the pure and fubftantial 
 goodnefs of his houfe. Ah, wretched choice ! 
 highly diflionouring to God, and hurtful to myfelf. 
 The fober reflection upon it fills me at once with 
 grief and fhame.'* 
 
 Here it may be proper to inquire, in what re- 
 fpeds one may have reafon to confefs, that he 
 
 hath 
 
Ser. VIII. and fiippUccttiDn» 281 
 
 hath gone ajiray ; and to mention fonie of the dif- 
 ferent ways in which a faint is liable to wander from 
 God. 
 
 The heart is the governing fpring and principle 
 of all our movements. If the heart be fet and 
 kept in a right diredion, the man will abide with 
 God. If tlie heart be neglected ; if it is allowed 
 to fmk in lloth, and left to run wild for want of 
 culture, the whole courfe of his life mud run in- 
 to diforder ; or fuppofmg that no irregularity 
 fhould appear in the life, but, on the contrary, 
 unblemifhed fobriety, and the ihew of every vir- 
 tue ; yet, if the heart be not alive, and, with di- 
 ligent care, held to its proper exercife, the man 
 is gone away from God. Amidfl all his virtuous 
 appearances, he fecretly ferves, and is acled by 
 fome private felfifii paffion, appetite, or affection. 
 His heart, deceived with this idol, hath fo turned 
 him afide, that, while he fecms fcrupuloufly mind- 
 ful of the comn^iands, he is quite forgetful of God, 
 who is their author. 
 
 That thus in heart men may depart from God, 
 while their lives are irreproachable, will appear, 
 if we attend to the way in which we come to 
 God, abide in him, and walk with him; that is, 
 by faith and love, or faith which works by love. 
 Here, by the way, we find the mod rational and 
 fatisfying account of the foundation of virtue, 
 which might fuperfede the painful difquifitions of 
 (peculative men in quell of it, and fettle their 
 N n , wrangling 
 
282 The bachjlider'' s confdjjion Ser. VIII, 
 
 wrangling difputes about it, would their vanity 
 allow them to take revelation for their p;u.de. 
 
 Without faith that kindles love, ViO man can 
 have fellowfhip with God, nor can enter upon his 
 wav, but mull ever be a blind wanderer, as in a 
 pathlefs defert. And after one has obtained faith, 
 and is brought to God by it, if he be not careful 
 habitually to ext-rcife it, he niuft lofe hio way, 
 and turn afide into by-paths. Faith keeps fight of 
 God, and of the great reahties of the invihble 
 world ; and by contemplating the love and" glory 
 of God, his awful and amiable glory in Chrift, it 
 kindles love, with folicitous concern to a61: for his 
 honour, in all holy cdnverfation, agreeably to the 
 worthy defign of the gofpel. By thefe principles, 
 in habitual exercife, under the influence of the 
 Spirit of Chrifl, the foul is kept with God, rejoi- 
 cing in his way. 
 
 But when a Chriftian wearies of the labour of 
 thinking, " of girding up the loins of his mind;" 
 when he relaxes his watch, intermits the exercife 
 of faith, fuffers it to fhut its eye, and to fmk in- 
 to the foft (lumbers of fioth, then the evil heart 
 of unbelief, which is ever awake and adive, is 
 prompt " to depart from the living God." I fay 
 not that it fliall prevail to draw the faint into the 
 extreme of an openly diffolute life. This is not the 
 fpot of God's children ; it betrays rather the apo- 
 flafy of a falfe heart, once enlightened, but never 
 renewed by the powerful light of the truth. 
 
 When 
 
Ser. VIII. and fiipplication. 283 
 
 When fecurlty overtakes a fincere believer, fo 
 much of the ■witnefs of God flill remains in him, 
 as Ihall reftrain him from grofier crimes, and keep 
 liini to duty. But, 
 
 I. While he continues in the outward perform- 
 ance of duty, his heart Is not fo evangehcal as for- 
 merly It was. He is not fo humbly dependent 
 upon Chrift's mediation for acceptance and life, 
 but is become over confident in himfelf. Inflead 
 of undertaking, as he ought, " to do all things 
 through CLrifL A lengthening him,'* he ventures 
 much upon himfelf, even after his ftrength, 
 through the decay of faith, is greatly impaired. 
 And thus his faith. Intermitting due attention to 
 the Mediator, and declining in its exercife upon 
 him for life, he (fo far as It does fo) ftrays from 
 God, and a6ts criminally, by mifplacing in him- 
 felf the trufl he ought to have In Chrill. For it 
 is a fort of idolatry, to attempt, in one's own 
 flrength, to do the work of God, the work for 
 
 which his divine power alone Is fufficicnt. A- 
 
 gain, 
 
 1. As, in felf-confidcnce, he engnges in du- 
 ty, fo he performs it very poorly, awkwardly, and 
 uncomfortably. It muft be fo, when he lofeth 
 fight of the only fource of life and flrength, which, 
 placed in the eye of laith, would warm, enliven, 
 and enlarge his heart to run In the way of God's 
 commandments. His comnumicatlon with Chrifl's 
 fullnefs being obllrucled, by reafcn of the Inac- 
 N n 2 tion 
 
iH4 The backJUder^ s confeffion Ser. VllL 
 
 tion of faith, he becomes feeble and lame in eve- 
 ry duty, heartlefs and fpiritlefs, languid and for- 
 mal, in all his religious fervices. In meditation, 
 he is unfixed, defultory, and vain ; in fecret 
 prayer, he is irreverent and cold, brief and unfre- 
 quent. His attendance upon ordinances is vi^ith 
 wearinefs, without delight or comfort. Every re- 
 ligious exercife lies as a dead weight upon him. — • 
 And, 
 
 3, Having, in a great degree, loft relilh for the 
 duties of religion, feeling no profit nor comfort 
 from them, the love of the world, and of its va- 
 nities, fteals imperceptibly upon him. He en- 
 gages to excefs in its affairs and cares, in its com- 
 pany and converfation, in its entertainments and 
 amufements. Bufinefs, which once was his bur- 
 den, in fo far as it diverted him from intercourfe 
 v%'ith his God, is now too much his pleafur-e. He 
 conforms, unwarrantably, to the world, to its prin- 
 ciples and maxims, to its cuftoms and fafhions. 
 In regard to the friendfnip of the world, and to 
 his fecular intereft connefted with it, he falls in 
 too much with the political views and fchemes of 
 others, varying from what once was his fettled 
 judgement, and is, for a time at leaft unhappily 
 bribed into a change of fentiment ; a new light, 
 which is only darknefs fucceeding to light. 
 
 Thus far a Chriilian v.ho has in him a root of 
 grace, rnav decline and fall from his firft love, and 
 
 firfi 
 
Ser. Vlll. and fupplication. 285 
 
 firft works ; and, if left to himfelf, it is hard to fay- 
 where he would Itop. But fhall he be permitted 
 ever thus to wander, to dream out his life, and 
 to die in his fm ? No ; — he fhall not perifh ; — > 
 he is one of the loft flieep of Ifrael ; — he muft 
 be fought out, and brought back again to the 
 fold. 
 
 All along, in his (lumbering declining ftate, he 
 is diflatisfied with himfelf, is reftlefs in liis flecp, 
 — uneafy on his couch, — feared as it were with 
 dreams, and terrified with vifions. As a bird that 
 wandereth from her neft, fo is the heaven-born 
 man that wandereth from his place ; ever in pain 
 to get back again to his reil in God. His mur- 
 muring confcience is a moth and rottennefs, or a 
 gnawing worm within him : And God will order 
 it fo, that, by his rebukes, by fome fliarp afflic- 
 tion, he fhall be thoroughly awakened, and 
 brought to himfelf. — He awakes from his dream, 
 and fliudders to fee the flovenly ftate of mind he 
 was in, — his negled; of duty, — the negligence 
 of his fpirit in duty, — the flupor, the vanity, the 
 formality, and hypocrify of his fpirit in praying, 
 in hearing, in communicating ; he fees, that 
 when he thought he was with God, doing hini 
 fervice, he was ft raying from him, mocking him 
 with his "blind, corrupt offerings ;"• — that, in 
 being " the friend of the world, he was the enemy 
 of God." — Upon this difcovery he is confounded, 
 jand, in diftrefs of foul, adopts the language of 
 
 the 
 
2 86 Tnc bachflidtf s coiifcfiun Ser. VIIL 
 
 the Pfalmift, — "I have gone aftray like a loft 
 Iheep." 
 
 There is fomething in the form of this con- 
 feffion, and the terms in which it is expreifed, 
 that well deferves our attention, and may convey 
 to our minds very ufeful inicrudion. 
 
 I. The penitent is reprefented as laying the 
 whole bhime of his mifconduft upon himfelf : /, 
 fays he, have gone aftray .• " 1 was not conftrain- 
 ed \fs force or violence, but prompted and led off 
 by the fly corruption of my own heart ; I have 
 freely and wiiiingly gone aftray. — I plead no excufe 
 from the temptations of the u-orld. When fin- 
 ners enticed, I eafily confented. — 1 plead no ex- 
 cufe from my particular circumftances. — Let no 
 man dare to fay he is tempted of God, that, by 
 placing him in fuch a fituation, be lays a -fnare 
 for him : — G od forbid ! — - Every man is tempted 
 when he is drawn away of his ov/n luft, and en- 
 ticed. — I ptcad no excufe, nor alleviation of my 
 guilt, from the inl'red corruption of my nature : 
 this, with the Pfalmift, I regret as miy repro?ch 
 and fliame. — I was conceived in fm ; upon that 
 account I am efpeciaily v:k." Thus the penitent 
 ftands guilty, without defence, before God. He 
 offers no apology from invincible inability, but 
 confefTes, that, if he had maintained the watch 
 and care which were in his power, he might, by 
 the grace of God, have prevented the deviations 
 in heart aild life which now affllci; him. 
 
 It 
 
Scr. VIII. and fup plication. 287 
 
 It is the immutable faitbfulnefs of God's pro- 
 mife that fecures the believer's perfeveraiice ii\ 
 grace. This, however, fuperfedes not the necef- 
 fity of duty on his part, but rather requires his 
 conftant attention to it, and hi^ diligent exerciiing 
 of the grrce he hath received, in order to its con- 
 tinued prefervation and growth. While God 
 " worketh in us both to will and to do of his good 
 pleafure," we are to work out our own falvation 
 with fear and trembling. Thefe two are fo evi- 
 dently connected together, viz. the operations of 
 God's grace, and the Chridian's diligence in duty, 
 and he is fo clearly taught this connection by the 
 w^ord, and by the grace of God in him, that there 
 muft be a great degree of frowardnefs in his negleft 
 of duty ; and if he allows himfclf to mifunderfEand 
 and forget it, he fhall be taught to underftand and 
 mind it by the fevere difcipline of the rod. 
 
 Again, in comparing himfelf to a loft fijccp^ 
 the penitent confefleth his brutifli headlong folly, 
 with felf- contempt and abhorrence, efpecially for 
 having withdrawn from under the eye and care of 
 his good fiiepherd. In having done fo, he novv- 
 fees that he afted a foolilh irrational part ^ and 
 fays, with Afaph, " So foolifii was 1, and igno- 
 rant, I was as a bead before thee." Infiead of 
 exercifmg the underllanding and reflection of a 
 man, 1 drove on with the blind precipitance of an 
 irrational unthinking animal. In finning, it is 
 pertain, men fufpend the exercife of fober think- 
 ing J 
 
2 88 The hachflldef s confejfion Ser. VIIL 
 
 ing ; they do not commune feriouily with their 
 own hearts, and with the word of God. Sinners, 
 therefore, as fuch, being inconfiderate, are com- 
 pared to the dulled animals : " The ox knoweth 
 his owner, and the afs his mafler's crib, but 
 Ifrael doth not know, my people doth not confi- 
 der." Sprightly turns o^ wit fally from them a- 
 mldft their wanton exceffes, but it is manifeft, 
 that they think not, as the fober reafon of man di- 
 reds ; which inexcufable negleft of thought, the 
 prophet reproves in his expoflulation with tranf- 
 greffors : " Remember this, and fhew yourfelves 
 men^ bring it again to mind, O ye tranfgreflbrs." 
 The penitent, in this view of his mifconduft, as 
 the effed of brutifii inconfideratenefs, defpifes 
 himfelf. 
 
 By open finning, men render themfelves bafe 
 and contemptible to the virtuous, worthy part of 
 mankind ; and very grating to their pride is the 
 juft contempt they meet with. But when they 
 awake to cool refledion, none then defpifes them 
 fo much as they do themfelves. In fecurity, and in 
 diflipation of thought, they fancy many things to be 
 harmlefs which are highly criminal ; that to tranf- 
 grefs the ftrid boundaries of religion and virtue, 
 indicates largenefs of mind, rifing above the illi- 
 beral confined views of others. They glory in wha^t 
 is no glory, but is Ihameful folly. But when they 
 are brought to think as men and Chriflians, they are 
 afhamed of their meannefsj — yea, they abhor them- 
 felves 
 
Ser.VIII. and fupplicatiou. 289 
 
 felves for their wrong judgement and conduct ; they 
 are afhamed even of their rehgious performances, 
 upon which they once valued thcmfelves. In dif- 
 covering the felfilliners, vanity, and indifference 
 of their fpirits in them, they lothe themfelves, and 
 confefs, — " We are all as an unclean thing, our 
 righteoufnelfes are as filthy rags, and our iniquities, 
 like the wind, have taken us away." So far are they 
 now from expecting favour and reward for their 
 duties, that, on their account, they dread anger 
 and rebuke. 
 
 This leads me to repeat the obfervatlon 1 made 
 when I entered upon this head of difcourfe ; 
 namely, that as the words exprefs a confeffion of 
 having ftrayed from the path of duty, fo they 
 may likewife be confidered as a complaint of the 
 true penitent with fear and trouble of mind, upon 
 finding hlmfelf out of the way of fafety. 
 
 When one dwells carelefsly at his cafe, he fins 
 without fear, — not confidering what he is doing. 
 Roufed by fome afiliclion, or by the threatenings 
 of the word, he finds, to his aftonifliment, that 
 his folly has brought him into circumflances of ex- 
 treme trouble and danger, out of which he can- 
 not extricate himfelf. All refuge failing him, he 
 is in conflernation, almod didraded with fear. 
 As a lamb fallen alleep in the defert, when it a- 
 wakes after the fhepherd and flocks are gone, — 
 it looks round and round, but gains no fight of 
 them ; — fearful of danger, it flands aghaft in per- 
 O o plexing 
 
290 The backjlider^ s confejjmi Ser. Vill. 
 
 plexing uncertainty whither to dire£l its courfc, 
 then wildly rullies upon a track that chances to 
 lead farther off from fafety into greater danger : 
 fo is he who fms fecurely, and fays in his heart, 
 I fliall fee no evil. He awakes, — he finds himfelf 
 upon unfafe ground, — that fm has deceived him, 
 and, by its flatteries, drawn him off from his for- 
 trefs and defence, into the toils of his enemies, 
 far from his protedor and friend. — Confcience 
 now falls upon him, with its cutting upbraidings. 
 — The law works wrath, and raifes a ftorm of 
 dark fears in his foul. — The enemy that formerly 
 deceived him into a perfuafion of the harmlefs- 
 nefs of fm, now throws his fms in his teeth, 
 frightens him with fiiggeftions of divine wrath, to 
 overwhelm him in the horrors of defpair. He 
 tempts him to conclude that God hath finally for- 
 faken him, and " will be favourable no more.'* 
 Thefe diflrefling fuggeflions he finds it not fo cafy 
 to repel as once he imagined. And now, under 
 doubt of God's favour, he fees no fafety for him 
 imy where, but frowns and threatened ruin from 
 every quarter. 
 
 When, by unbending thought, one lets his con- 
 fcience deep in fecurity, he infenfibly runs into 
 " a world of iniquity j'* all the time fpeaking 
 peace to himfelf, while he is laying up terrors 
 and forrows for an after period. When the man 
 comes out of his dream, and confcience, with vi- 
 gour, rcfumcs its fundion, he finds himfelf in a 
 
 perilous. 
 
Scr. VIII. and fiippUcation. 291 
 
 perilous fituation, involved in difficulties and dan- 
 gers, very different from the flattering hopes with 
 which Satan and his own heart had fcduced and 
 betrayed him into fin. He now feels the end and 
 fruit of fin to be very bitter and dangerous, 
 " Their forrows fhall be multiplied who haflen 
 after other gods ;" and he is ready to tear him- 
 felf in vexation, for having fuffered his heart to 
 be fo eafily deceived by the palpable forceries of 
 
 fin.. But this will appear more fully, while 
 
 I confider, 
 
 II. The courfe which the Pfalmift takes for his 
 recovery, i. e. fapplication to God, expreffed 
 thus, Seek thy fervant. 
 
 Altho' a (inner, on his firfl: return to God, may pro- 
 perly adopt this form of prayer ; yet here I confider 
 it rather as the language of one formerly acquaint- 
 ed with the comforts of God's fellowihip and love, 
 but whofe heedlefs deviations from his way have 
 now brought him into perplexing diftrefs. The 
 prayer exprelfes, 
 
 I. The vehemence of the mofl earned impa- 
 tient defire of foul to be reftored to his former 
 happy ftate. Being now thoroughly awakened 
 from the "ileep of fin,** he cannot fay in the 
 language of cold indifference, " If God recover 
 me, it is well ; if he does not, there is no help for 
 it, I muff: perilh." One who " knows the terrors 
 of the Lord," cannot fo eafily fuftain the thoughts 
 of of-rifliing ; — no^ — he can have no enjoyment 
 O o 2 of 
 
292 The backflldcfs confe£io}i Ser. VIIJ, 
 
 of himfclf, until he is on his former good terms 
 wiih God. And for this end, he, among other 
 means, employs earnefl prayer, as in ^i 1 69. " Let 
 my cry come near before thee, O Lord, — let 
 my fupplication come before thee." O to get 
 back again to my former happy ftate, in friendly- 
 familiar converfe with God ! " Oh that 1 were as in 
 months pad, as in the days when God prefer ved 
 me, when his candle fliined upon my head, and 
 when by his light 1 walked through darknefs ; as 
 1 was in the days of my youth, when the Al- 
 mighty was yet with me." Finding himfelf in a 
 ftrange land, a captive in the hands of his ene- 
 mies, who are ready to deflroy him, he is ex- 
 tremely foiicitous to efcape out of this perilous fi- 
 tuatioU;, to return to his Father's houfe, to his 
 king and country, to his brethren and friends ; — 
 to regain his former peaceful refidence within the 
 walls of Jerufalem, under the countenance and 
 
 patronage of his God and King. It expreffes, 
 
 2. Felt ignorance and inability to find the way 
 that leads back to God. Deceived by Satan and 
 their own hearts, men prcfumc, that, though for a 
 time they ftep out of God's way, they have it in 
 their power to repent, and recover themfelves, 
 when they pleafe. Probably Judas fold his Lord 
 for the paltry bribe of thirty pieces of filver, upon 
 prefumption that afterv/ards he would, from his 
 gentlenefs and grace, eafily obtain forgivenefs. It 
 is dangerous to prefume upon fovereign grace. 
 
 The 
 
Ser. VIII. and fupplicaiion. 293 
 
 The foolifli finner, in his profperoiis flate, adverts 
 not to the danger. But, when trouble and dif- 
 trefs check him in his rambling, and compofe him 
 to refledion, he then perceives the fatal deception. 
 He feels to his Ibrrow, that, having lofl his way, 
 he is bewildered in a maze, out of which he can- 
 not extricate himfelf. His fight and ftrength ara 
 gone, and the enemy is upon him. So it befel 
 him who refigned his ftrength to his idol, when, 
 upon alarm of the enemy, he attempted to fliake 
 himfelf as at other times, behold his ftrength is 
 gone, and he is become weak as other men. 
 Wilful fmning provokes the Spirit to depart, upon 
 which the deferted Chriftian lofes fight of the way 
 of peace, of which natural light aifords no notice ; 
 and though it be clearly laid before us and pro- 
 claimed in tlie word, yet if the Spirit with-hold 
 • ihis light, one cannot difcern or apply it to his 
 comfort. The glorious name of God lay fair be- 
 fore David, befides feveral promifes of peculiar 
 favour to him ; yet, under defertion, he could 
 not apply them, for his relief from trouble. 
 What he formerly conceived for his great com- 
 fort, he now mifapprehends. Various objedions 
 and difcouraging thoughts caft up in his mind, 
 efpecially if he has now before his eye that great 
 fin for which the law appointed no facrifice : How 
 would he fay, can it confift with the holinefs, iu- 
 ftice, and veracity of God, and with the wife 
 meafures of his goTernment, to pardon a finner 
 
 who 
 
294 ^^'^'^ backflidcr's coiift-JJlon Ser. VllL 
 
 who hath fo finned prefumptuoufly ? The exprefs 
 threatenings of fcripture, feeming to concur with 
 this reafoning, heighten his difcouragenient, and 
 bear down his faith. In attempting, by him- 
 felf, to rife, he but finks deeper in the mire. 
 Like Afaph, Pf. Ixxiii. i6. "When he thinks to 
 know this, it is too painful for him." His re- 
 peated efforts to fupport himfelf againft the con- 
 demnation of the law, and the challenges of con- 
 fcience, are all baffled. Thus he is left " to take 
 counfel in his foul^ having forrow of heart," for 
 many days, as a jufi: challifement for his wanton 
 prefumption. 
 
 If then a faint, after wandering from his God, 
 has it not in his will to renew the exercife of faith 
 and repentance for his confolation, what prefump- 
 tuous folly is it, in a gracelefs finner to imagine it 
 is in his power to recover himfelf when he pleafes, 
 or that at any time, in ficknefs and on a death- 
 bed, he can, in iiiith, alk mercy fo as to obtain 
 it? 1 add, 
 
 3. That the penitent, after finding all means, 
 his reafonings, and bed endeavours, ineffectual 
 for his recovery, is direfted by faith to betake 
 himfelf to God, under full convidion, that he a- 
 lone, by his llglit and arm, can feck, and find, 
 and bring him back. 
 
 Means are to be ufed, but not to be reded in. 
 After a faint has wandered out of the way, no 
 means, no inftruments, neither fcripture nor pro- 
 
 vidence^ 
 
Ser. VIII. and fuppUcatiou, 295 
 
 vidence, nor minidcrs nor ordinances, nor angels 
 nor faints, can oF themfclves recover him. God 
 alone, by his grace and power, can fetch him 
 back. In converting and in reftoring his people, 
 he makes ufe of means and inftruments. He em- 
 ploys the word, and meflengers clothed with liis 
 authority, to declare it. For recovering David, 
 God fends Nathan to him with a parable in his 
 mouth. He revives and comforts Saul, by fend- 
 ing Ananias to him. And Cornelius is warned to 
 call for Peter, vvho fhoukl tell him words which 
 would enlighten and flrenothen his faith. But it 
 was God himfelf, with thefe inftruments, that 
 made them effectual for the purpofes he defigned 
 to ferve by them. God, with Nathan and his pa- 
 rable, fo profpered the prophet's art in fpreading 
 his net about David, that he was taken, fought 
 out, and found. He caufed his heart to perceive 
 the reproof as a meiTage from him ; to it, as 
 fuch, David meekly fubmits, and reverences the 
 prophet. Thus, by means, God ever feeks and 
 finds his chofen, caufmg them, in reading, in 
 hearing, in thinking, and praying, to perceive his 
 voice of authority and grace, for iheir wounding 
 
 and healing. Again, 
 
 4. The prayer expi-elfes a humble acknowledge- 
 ment of his need of grace, and thankful willing- 
 ncfs to {land indebted to it for his recovery. 
 When he prays, " Lord, feek me,'' it is as if he 
 b?d faid, " Having wandered from thee, O Lord, 
 
 and 
 
296 The backjlider^s confeffion Ser. VIII. 
 
 and loft my way, with all power to recover my- 
 felf, thou muft feek me, elfe I am for ever 
 loft ; and having, by my inexcufeable revolt, for- 
 feited all right to thy favour, and incurred thy 
 juft dlfpleafurc, if ever thou doft recover me, it 
 muft be of grace, exceeding rich grace.'* He 
 acknowledges, that it was of grace he at firft dif- 
 tinguiftied him by his favour ; that he took him 
 from the ftieep-cote to be ruler over his people ; 
 that all his favours to him were purely of grace, 
 even when no open offence reproached his life : 
 " Of thine own heart," fays he, " thou. Lord, 
 haft done all thefe great things. Much more muft 
 it be of grace, if, after I have offended thee, and the 
 generation of thy children, by my fliameful abufe 
 of the fignal gifts of thy grace, thou ftialt reftore 
 me again, and continue me in thy favour.'' 
 God's fure covenant is eftabliftied with the belie- 
 ver, and infallibly fecures his perfeverance in grace, 
 and his final falvation ; but, by this folemn en- 
 gagement to continue his favour, God's grace is 
 not leffened, nor the believer's relapfes into fm 
 extenuated ; but both are thereby rather height- 
 ened, grace in its glory, and fin in its demerit. 
 Such is the believer's fenfe, under convidion, af- 
 ter falling into any inftance of offenfive mifcon- 
 ducl, that by the peculiar favours of heaven to 
 him, his fm is become exceeding fmful, is more 
 heinous in its nature, and more deferving of 
 (ieath, than the fins of others ; not without fear, 
 
 that 
 
Ser. VIII. and rupplieatio72. 297 
 
 that it may bring wrath and death upon him. 
 That this was David's fear, appears from Nathan's 
 confoling meflage to him : " God hath put a- 
 way thy fm ; thou flialt not die." If God had 
 not fpoken this to his heart, he could not have 
 conceived hope, but muft have died in defpair. 
 And after hope begins to dawn, how earneftly 
 does he cry to God for the increafe of it ! " Re- 
 joice the heart of thy fervant." It is grace the 
 linner pleads in his firft return to God. It is grace, 
 exceedingly rich grace, the believer ever after views, 
 and pleads, for the pardon and healing of his back- 
 Hidings. And, under conviction and trouble for 
 fm, how marvellous in his eye appears every renew- 
 ed manifellation of pardoning mercy ! he thinks it 
 not the lefs grace, that God is engaged by promife 
 to continue his mercy towards him. This rather 
 raifes his admiration of the incomprehenfible grace 
 of his eternal purpofe, and of the matchlefs glory 
 of his faithfulnefs, in keeping promife to one 
 " who he knew was to be a tranfgrefTor from the 
 womb, and would deal very treacheroufly." 
 
 5. This prayer indicates fome good degree of 
 trufl in the gracious nature of God. Without 
 fnch truft, no means would be ufed. In abfolute 
 defpair, the hands would hang down, quite en- 
 feebled for action j but when one, with ferious 
 concern, applies to prayer and other means, faith 
 then operates in his heart, though he does not 
 advert to it. And its nature is, to think honour- 
 P p ably 
 
"'■m>\ 
 
 298 The hack flider's confejjion Ser.VllL 
 
 ably of God's grace and goodnefs, with humble 
 hope of good from it. By caufmg fuch thoughts 
 to arife, it affords fome fupport to the foul, a- 
 midft the moft perplexing doubts and fears. 
 When it fees no hght from any particular promife 
 to dirccl and encourage it ; when the man thinks, 
 that the temper of his mind, and the actings of 
 his life, have little appearance of a (late of grace, 
 and, in confulting his ownreafon, cannot corceive 
 how a holy God can, confifleritly with his honour, 
 pardon and favour fucli a fmner as he {:■ ; even 
 then faitli conceives fome hope from the geiieral 
 declarations of God's merciful and gracious na- 
 ^■ture. It is publiilied in fcripture, it is verified in 
 experience, that the God of lirael is a merciful 
 God. This encourages prayer : " Seek me, O 
 Lord ; I have wantonly wandered from thee ; — I 
 hav e loft my way, and cannot find it. — By my 
 foolilhncfs, 1 have forfeited all right to thy favour 
 and help. — I know not, but thou knoweft, hcv/ I 
 may yet be refl:ored. — - The riches of thy grace 
 exceed finite comprehenfion. — Thy wifdom is an 
 unfathomable depth. — There may be hid with 
 thee fome method of reftoring me, not only with 
 the fafety of thy honour, but with a rich revenue 
 of glory to thy wifdom and grace. — Thou art 
 wonderful in counfel ! and fliall not the wondrous 
 glory of this hidden wifdom, of the exceeding riches 
 of thy grace, appear in thy kindnefs towards me, 
 
 through Chriftjcfus?"_ 
 
 Faith 
 
S e r . VIII. and fiipplicat ion . 299 
 
 Faith is very ingenious in fuggefting expedients 
 againft difcouragements ; as we fee it did in fup- 
 port of the woman of Canaan. 
 
 It is the Lord hiinfelf that fuggefts fuch thoughts, 
 and " girds us with ftrength," when we know it 
 not. All the time the penitent is inlfant with God 
 in prayer, the good Shepherd, by his Spirit, is 
 prefent with his heart. His loving eye is upon his 
 poor bewildered creature, watching the proper fea- 
 fon (which is ordinarily when he fees that his power 
 
 is gone) to give him deliverance and relief. 
 
 But I proceed to unfold, 
 
 III. The arguments wiih which the penitent 
 urges his fuit, implied in the appellation of fcr- 
 vant, whereby he at once encourages his hope, 
 and acknowledges the obligation upon him to re- 
 turn to God, and to walk with him. 
 
 The argument implied in the appellation of 
 God's fcrvcinty by which he deligns himfelf, as it 
 is pertinent to be pled by a penitent, fo is it pro- 
 per in the mouth of a fmner, upon his firlt return 
 to God. And, 
 
 I. As an argument proper to be ufcd by the 
 latter, it may be unfolded thuii : " O Lord, I am 
 bound to be thy fcrviint. Thou art my crc.itor ; 
 and thou haft created me for thy fervice and glo- 
 ry. 1 have wickedly departed from thee, my 
 riglitful Lord, and fold myfelf to (trangers, to 
 thine enemies. Thy right to me, notwithftand- 
 P p 2 ing, 
 
§00 The bachjlidcr*s confejlfion Ser. VIIL 
 
 ing, ftill (lands good. I ought to be thy fervant, 
 and am wilhng to return to thy fervice. Aflert 
 thy right to me, and reilore me to my bounden 
 duty. Shall 1 be thus left in the hands of ene- 
 miet;, — a lod creature, — loft to thee, — loft to my- 
 feif,-^ — loft to all the valuable purpofes of my crea- 
 tion ? Is it not more pleafing to thy benign na- 
 ture, that I lliould regain man's firft happy ftate 
 in thy fervice ? Seek me, therefore, recover, and 
 receive me. And why fliouldft thou not ? There 
 is now no obftruftion trom juftice to my recovery. 
 Thou haft found a ranfom. Thou haft fent thy 
 divine Son, as thy fervant, to ad and to fuffer for 
 fmful men. He magnified the law, and fatisfied 
 juftice. Wilt thou not, therefore, take me into fa- 
 vour, make me thy fervant, permit me to live, fmce 
 thy merciful nature can have no pleafure in my 
 death, and as there is no necefTity from juftice that 
 I ftould die ?" 
 
 Still farther, as a member of the church, he 
 may plead thus : " By baptifm, I have been ear- 
 ly dedicated to thee, to be thy fervant for 
 ever. 1 have been fo dedicated by thofe who had 
 authority from thee to do it. This gave thee a 
 peculiar right to me, as to a holy thing confecra- 
 ted to thy fervice. By withdrav/m.g myfelf from 
 thee, after fuch folemn conlecration of my fervice, 
 1 have incurred the guilt of facrilege. Recover 
 thy property ; feek and find thy fervant, early de- 
 voted to thy fear." — — But, 
 
 2. A 
 
9er. VIII. and fuppUcation. go i 
 
 1. A faint who hath joined himfclf to the 
 Lord in terms of the new covenant, in pleading 
 with God for his recovery from backfliding by 
 a renewed exertion of his grace, may reafoii 
 thus. 
 
 '" Lord, I am thy fervant by right of covenant 
 entered into between us both. Thou haft called 
 me to be thy fervant. Thou haft fliewed me thy 
 covenant, and gained my hearty confent to it. 
 Thou faidft, I will be thy God : I agreed to take 
 thee for my God, and joined myfelf to thee in an 
 everlafting x:ovenant, to love and to ferve thee. 
 In taking me to be thy fervant, thou didft engage 
 to be my God, — to furnifli me for thy work, — 
 to protect and defend me. By my own folly, I 
 am fallen into the hands of other mafters ; but 
 they have no right to detain me. 1 am thy pro- 
 perty. I am pre-engaged to thee. Thou haft 
 paid my ranfom. " Truly I am thy fervant.'* Al- 
 though other lords have decoyed me away from 
 thee ; and though I have given them encourage- 
 ment, they have only ufurped thy right. Still I 
 am thy fworn fubjeft ; thou art my lawful prince. 
 Demand me back again ; vefcue me with power : 
 why fliould thine enemy be allowed to triumph ? 
 I may not be fold for a flave, being thy lawful 
 captive and hired fervant ; even as a Hebrew fer- 
 vant might not be fold for a bondman, becaufe 
 the Lord claimed a peculiar right to him as his 
 fervant : " For unto me, (ciith the Lord, the chil- 
 dren 
 
30 2 TIis bachflidcr's covfejjlon Ser.VIII. 
 
 dren of Ifrael are fcrvants, they are my fervants, 
 vv'hom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt j 
 I am the Lord their God.'* 
 
 Or he m.ay reafon thus : " It is true, I have 
 turned a fide from thy way ; but (till I am will- 
 ing to be thy fervant ; my heart is with thee. 
 Other lords I renounce ; their rule is to me the 
 mod opprellive fervitude ; thy fervice is my choice, 
 my liberty, my honour, my comfort. I defire no- 
 thing fo paffionately as grace to fit me for ferving 
 thee with advantage, a heart enlarged to run the 
 way of thy commandments. Is not one who ho- 
 neftly defires to be thy fervant, encouraged to 
 hope for thy favour ? Shall not thy love and pity 
 draw thee to meet, half-way, a returning prodi- 
 ral, who defires to be as one of thy hired fer- 
 vants ? Haft thou not faid, " O Ifrael, thou art 
 mv fervant ; I have formed thee ; thou ftalt not 
 be forgotten of me. I have blotted out as a thick 
 cloud thy fins. Return unto me ; for I have re- 
 deemed thee."— I defire to return; and if! 
 know myfcir, am difpofed to do thy will. I am 
 now in a dark comfcrtlefs ftate of mind ; yet (as 
 the Pfalmifl: adds in the clofe of the verfe) do I 
 not forget thy commandments. I walk in dark- 
 nefs, yet fear the name of the Lord, and obey the 
 voice of his fervants. Is there not hope of favour 
 to one of this mind ?" 
 
 Confcioufncfs of a fincere inclination to the fer- 
 vice cf God, under convidion of pad fins, and 
 of many prefent defects and diforders, gives cn- 
 
 courafrement 
 
 o 
 
Ser. VIII. and fupplicailon . 305 
 
 couragcment to hope In God. If our heart con- 
 demn us not of fecret regard to any fm, but is con- 
 fclous of willingnefs to forego every fin, the mofl 
 favourite fin, dear as a right eye or a right hand, 
 then may we have confidence towards God, as his 
 heaven-born children. 
 
 It is this confcioufnefs of finccrity thePfahiiifl: a- 
 vovvs, in pleading his character as God's fervant. 
 He pleads not his regal dignity as King of Ifracl ; 
 nor merely his foundnefs in the faith, nor the 
 countenance and encouragement he gave to o- 
 thers in the fervice of God, but his character as 
 God's fervant, " being willing in all things to o- 
 bey him." With fuch confcioufnefs, one may, 
 with humble trufl, commit himfelf to the grace 
 of God, and expert from it all the flrength and 
 
 comfort that is neceffary for his frrvicc. A- 
 
 gain. 
 
 He may urge his fuit thus : *'' Lord, I am thy 
 fervant, by public folemn profefhon and engage- 
 ment." 
 
 David was raifed to fcrve God in an eminent 
 flation. He did not think, that by his high rank 
 he was privileged to take greater liberties in fin 
 than others. So far from it, that, as his eminence 
 had fet him up to public view, and rendered his 
 adions more confpicuous, he judged, that on that 
 account it was the more neceffary for liim to ex- 
 cel in grace, to be more accurately attentive to all 
 the rules of the law, that, by a life of diftinguifli- 
 
 cd 
 
304 T'he backfUder^s confejjion Scr. VIIL 
 
 ed exemplary holinefs, he might exhibit a bright 
 pattern for imitation to all Ifracl. " I am (might 
 he fay) thy profeiTed fervant ; I have much to do 
 for thy honour : O favour me with grace, that I 
 may ferve thee with the circumfpedlion, the meek- 
 nefs ofwifdom, the diligence, the liberty and com- 
 fort, which become thy fervant/* 
 
 In order to the faithful difcharge of the fervice 
 we owe to God, we muil have grace to live un- 
 blameably, and alfo to live comfortably and joy- 
 fully. The argument, therefore, arifmg from the 
 appellation of God's fervant^ i-s powerful with 
 God, and may be urged as follows. 
 
 " That I may ferve thee in my ftation with fuc- 
 cefs, and with credit to religion, O forgive and 
 correct the errors of my pafl life, and prevent af- 
 ter wanderings. Let my errors be made manifefl 
 to myfelf, that I may amend them, before they 
 become manifefl to the world. Why fhould the 
 hearts of thy children be made fad, and the wicked 
 be hardened, by my mifconducl ? O let not the 
 enemy reproach religion, nor the foolifh people 
 blafpheme thy name for my fake. Save me from 
 being the caufe of fuch difhonour to thee, and of 
 fiich mifchief to men." 
 
 And indeed greater prejudice hath been done 
 to the interefts of Chriftianity by the diffolute 
 worldly lives of its profeSed friends, than by all 
 the volumes of infidelity which have ever been pu- 
 blilhed by its avowed enemies. The truth of 
 
 Chrift 
 
Ser. VIII. and fapplication 
 
 n^y 
 
 Chrifl: hath received its deepefl: wound in the houfe 
 of his friends. 
 
 Farther may the dejeded faint plead, " That 
 I may fcrve thee, my God, to advantage, give 
 me to live joyfully, walking in tlse comforts of 
 the Holy Ghoft. If I am left to go difconfolate 
 and dejefled, it is but little fervice I can do thee. 
 Many duties will be omitted, many opportunities 
 of doing good will be overlooked, to the lof ; of 
 honour to thee, and of profit to n:cn. But let 
 the joy of thy falvation be my flrength ; then will 
 I teach tranfgreflbrs thy ways, and fmners fliall be 
 converted unto thee ; faints alfo fhall be confoled 
 and edified. 
 
 If iiiou fhalt deny me comfort, any little fervice 1 
 do will be unpleafant to thee, as it will be irkfornc- 
 to Tiie ; for thou loved a chearful giver, Befides, 
 being difcouraged and fad in heart myfelf, inftead 
 of being a helper of the faith and joy of others, I 
 Ihall difcourage and weaken them ; yea, by my 
 rueful ungainly air, I fliall give an unfavourable re- 
 pref;:ntation of thy way, to the world, as a joylefs 
 bufmefs that flafves its votaries : — enliven, there- 
 fore, and rejoice the heart of thy fervant, that I ■ 
 may ferve thee with alacrity. This will recora- 
 mend religion to enemies, and draw them to era- 
 brace it ; when they fee, t'lat, while I am tempe- 
 rate in all earthly things, I am ftill joyful, ferene, 
 and happy In thee, and abundantly rewarded by 
 thy fervice. — i\Tany fnall fee this, and truft in 
 O a the 
 
306 The backjlider's confej/ion Ser.VilL 
 
 the name of the Lord. — Bring my foul, there- 
 fore, out of prifon, that I may praife thy name. 
 The righteous fhall compafs me about, when thou 
 flialt deal bountifully with me." This joyful 
 temper, and a regular life, are fo connected to- 
 gether, that none can joy in God, who walks not 
 circumfpedtly. 
 
 Allow me here to add, to what hath been faid, 
 a few things by which one may know, whether 
 the Lord, from fpecial good-will, be in fearch of 
 him. 
 
 I . Firft, then, are you awake to feel yourfelf 
 loft, — loft, not fo much for the lofs of the world, 
 and of the comforts of natural life, as in the lofs 
 of God's favour and love. 
 
 Once you dwelt carelefsly, without thought or 
 fear of this : do you now feel, that, to be " with- 
 out God," is to be loft indeed, loft amidft the 
 p-reateft worldly affluence ? — Is affliction upon 
 you ? This of itfelf is grievous to nature ; but 
 what is it that embitters it with deadly venom ? 
 Is it the remembrance of fin, by which you have 
 forfeited the favour of God ? Were this fting ta- 
 ken out of your trouble, could you comfort your- 
 felf againft all for rows ? Were you fure of reco- 
 vering God's favour, would you, in the lofs of all 
 other things, joy in God's falvation ? If it is thus 
 with you, it looks as it God, by your affli£tion, 
 was about to bring you home to the Good Shep- 
 herd. You have the appearance of thofe with re- 
 gard 
 
Ser. VIII. mid fupplication, 507 
 
 gard to whom Jefus fays, — " The Son of Man 
 is come to feek and to fave that which was loft." 
 Thefe words may fpeak comfort unto you. 
 
 1. Do you feek the Lord, fmcerely lamenting 
 after him in all duties and ordinances ? When. 
 God is in fearch of a loft fmner, he fecretly moves 
 his heart to feek him. — He feeks thee, and thou 
 calleft upon him to feek and to find thee ; furely 
 thou ihalt be found. "When the appointed time 
 of deliverance to God's people draws near, the 
 time of difclofmg his thoughts of peace towards 
 them, it is faid to them, — " Then ftiall ye call 
 upon me, and ye fhall go and pray unto me ; and 
 I will hearken unto you ; and ye fhall feek me 
 and find me, when ye fearch for me with all 
 your heart." You feek him with all your heart, 
 when you feek him as with diligence, fo likevi^ife 
 with a heart willing to part with every fin, even 
 with the fin for which you once had the ftrongelt 
 pafTion. 
 
 You may, at times, think you are thus will- 
 ing, but beware of deceit. — You are not fm- 
 cerely willing to forego fin, if you are not led to 
 this willingnefs by a painful bitter fcnfe of the 
 horrible evil and deformity of fin. If, in feeking 
 the Lord, you are not only willing to refign every 
 fin, but are filled with indignation againft it, as 
 the accurfed thing which hath feparated between 
 you and your God, and would acknowledge your 
 O q 2 high: 
 
i 
 
 08 The hachjlider^s coyifejjion Ser. VIIL 
 
 liigh obligation to his goodnefs, if, though you 
 fnould not be admitted to fee his iace in heaven, 
 he would deliver you from the dominion of eve- 
 ry luft, efpecially of your predominant palTion, 
 then have you already that of God in you, which 
 will lead to everlafting confolation. Grace 
 hath wrought a change in you though you 
 know it not. But he who prays with fecret re- 
 gard to fome idol in his heart, feems not to have 
 yet begun to pray in the Spirit, nor to be fought 
 after by any effectual operation of grace. He 
 feeks, but feeks amifs ; he therefore Ihall not find : 
 and v/o to him if he die under the power of his 
 indulged paliicn ; it fliall faften, as a viper, upon 
 his inmoft foul, and be his cruel tormentor in hell 
 
 for ever. --Once more, 
 
 3. Does the word which we preach find you 
 out ? Does it defcrlbe your particular charafter, 
 ?md the courfe of your life, which muft be hid 
 from the minifler ? Does it make manifefl the fe- 
 crets of your heart ? Do you hear the thoughts 
 and defigns which lodged in your mind before 
 you came to the houfe of God, read over to you, 
 and your particular fin reproved, as if the mini- 
 fler addrefled you by name, faying, " Thou art 
 the man :" Inftead of being irritated with jea- 
 loufy of an uncourteous defign in the fpeaker to 
 point you out to the public, do you humbly take 
 the reproof as from the Omnifcicnt God ? If fo, 
 
 it 
 
Ser. VIII. and fuppUcation, 509 
 
 It appears that the Spirit of God is, by this word, 
 feeking you, as he fought David by Nathan's pa- 
 rable. Had not God's efFedual bleffing accom- 
 panied tlie prophet's miniftry, David would have 
 ferved him as fome of his fuccefibrs ferved other 
 faithful prophets. The king's wrath would have 
 kindled, and he would inftantly have ordered Nathan 
 to prifon or to death for his prefumption. But it 
 having been God's kind defign to recover his fer- 
 vant from his fall, he is humbled, — takes the 
 reproof as from God, — repents, and reforms. 
 Art thou, in like manner, humbled by the word 
 that reproves thy fm ; yea, art thou glad of the 
 reproof, that it is come fo near to pierce the 
 heart, faying, — O may I hope, that this word, 
 which comes with authority that overawes my 
 foul, is the word which is defigned to recover me 
 to God ? Be of good chcar, behold ! thy falva- 
 tion Cometh, it is not far off! And all ye to whom 
 thefe few things apply, it is highly probable, that, 
 ere long, after you have got out of your difcou- 
 ragements, men fliall call you " a holy people, 
 the redeemed of the Lord, — a people fought 
 out, and not forfaken." 
 
 Now to conclude : 
 The dcfign of all that hath been faid, is to fhew 
 the necemty of walking with God, habitually in his 
 fear, with accurate attention to the rules of reli- 
 gion, 
 
3 1 o The backflider^s covfejfwn Ser. VIIL 
 
 gion, for enjoying the comforts of it, — for ad- 
 orning our profeffion and recommending it to 
 the world. To be fober, and to watch unto pray- 
 er, — to be harmlefs and blamelefs, giving no of- 
 • fence, is the indifpenfable law of Chrifhianity, e- 
 qualiy binding upon all who name the name of 
 Chrift. And is not God kind in commanding 
 fuch a life ? Is it not man's liberty and happinefs 
 to have power over every appetite, every affection 
 and paflion ? Is it not real mifery to have any luft 
 for one's mailer ? Should we fuppofe one to fall 
 fhort of heaven, and to perifh, would we not 
 deem his deliverance from this tyrant to be fome 
 alleviation of his torture ; as he would, at leaft, 
 be relieved of one vexing devil in hell ? Is not all 
 this undoubted truth ? Does it not recommend it- 
 felf as truth to confcience ? — We know it doth. 
 We know, it fliall, one day, be confirmed in the 
 experience of every foul that hears it, — in the 
 fad experience, perhaps, of fome of us, a few 
 days hence, upon a deathbed. — Confcience, if 
 fairly liftened to, witnelfeth alike in us all, to the 
 great lines of truth. For, " as face anfwereth 
 to face, in a glafs, fo doth the heart of man to 
 man.'* 
 
 But, after all that can be faid, fome will conti- 
 nue to be what they were. " As one beholding 
 his natural face in a glafs, goeth his way, and 
 flraightway forgetteth what manner of man he 
 
 was ;" 
 
Ser. Vlll. and fupplication. 5 1 1 
 
 was ;" fo too many hear, nre convinced it may 
 be to compuncllon ; but neglefting to dwell up- 
 on the fubjed in their after thoughts, the con- 
 vi£lion lofes its effect. Plunging haftily into the 
 cares and pleafures of life, they choke the good 
 feed, that it becomes unfruitful. 
 
 Of fuch a man, God fays, " Let him alone, 
 he is joined to his idols. — The forrows of a tra- 
 vailing woman fhall come upon him. — I will meet 
 him as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps.—- 
 I will rend the caul of his heart." 
 
 Some, from a ftrange fort of unmanly vanity, 
 and low ambition to gain applaufe from the fools 
 of the world, the flaves of fm, eafily fuffer tliem- 
 felves to be led away with the error of the wick- 
 ed. Young perfons, efpecially, are liable to this 
 weaknefs. They cannot withftand the folicita- 
 tions and taunts of the multitude of their equals, 
 but, abandoning reafon to the ufurpation of domi- 
 neering paffions, they glory in running to the ex- 
 treme of licentioufnefs, in breaking through all the 
 reflraints of religion, " rejoicing when they do 
 evil." Some, not fo loft to all fenfe of goodnefs, 
 but who yet preferve fome remains of modefty, 
 and of deference to reafon and confcience, from 
 a weak fear of being accounted unfafliionably fo- 
 ber and grave, fimply go along with the multi- 
 tude, againft the convidion and condemnation of 
 their own minds. Could we perfuade fuch to con- 
 
 fult 
 
3 1 2 The backflider's confejjion Ser. Vlil. 
 
 fult yet more deliberately with themfelves, there 
 is hope, that their own refledions might, by the 
 bleffing of God, prevail to gain their compliance 
 with the obligations of religion, the mod perfedl 
 reafon and truefi: glory in the world. To you 
 then I fay, and what I fay to you I fay unto all, 
 " Quit yourfelves like men ;" be ftrong in the 
 Lord, and fland firm againfl temptation. Quit 
 you like the noble followers of the Lamb. I call 
 them no'j'le^ as I well may. They are fo, indeed, 
 who rcfifl: fin, and the various incentives to it ; 
 chufing rather to expofe themfelves to the hatred 
 and reproach of the world, than, by any com- 
 pliance with its vinous courfe, to difhonour their 
 Lord. They are truly noble, who, " having re- 
 fpect unto the recompence of reward, eiieem the 
 reproach of Chrifl greater riches than the trea- 
 fures of the world ;" who, " knowing in them- 
 felves, that they have in heaven a better and an 
 enduring fubftance, patiently wait, through the 
 Spirit, for the hope of righteoufncfs. by faith.*' 
 
 If the world depart from the purity of the go- 
 fpel, either in principle or pradice, it cannot jufti- 
 fy your conformity to it in any inftance, that by 
 the multitude it is deemed to be harmlefs, becaufe 
 it is the fafliiori. This rather will be an argument 
 with the finccre lover of Jefus to be more flridlly 
 attentive to the perfect rule of God's word, and 
 more fiudious to fl-iine in thofe virtues and graces 
 
 ^\ hich 
 
Ser. VIII. cind f up plication, g 1 3 
 
 which are inoft diredly oppofite to the errors and' 
 vices that prevail in the world. Greatly beloved 
 is he who thus diftinguiflieth hiinfelf for God ! 
 Men may treat him ignominioufly, and charge 
 him with fuperftitious fingularity ; but how abun- 
 dantly (hall this reproach be recompenfed by the 
 honourable teftimony of God in his favour I fuch 
 teftimony as he gave to Caleb : " But my fer- 
 vant Caleb, becaufe he had another fpirit with 
 him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring 
 into the land whereinto he went ; and his feed 
 Ihall poflefs it.'* Would not fuch a report from 
 God, whifpered in your confcience, yield you 
 pleafure far furpafling that which arifes from the 
 united applaufes of angels and men ? When, a- 
 gain, it fhall be faid unto thee, as unto Noah, 
 " Come thou, and all thy houfe, into the ark ; 
 for thee have I feen rightd^us before me, in 
 this generation j" Come thou, thy children, and 
 all thy houfe, into the ark ; there dwell fafely, 
 and " reft quiet from fear of evil," when the cry 
 fliall be heard, " Deftrudion upon deftrutlion ;" 
 when fear is on every fide, and all the faces of 
 the wicked are turned into palenefs, and every 
 one of them is feen with his hands upon his loins, 
 bewailing himfelf with moft bitter lamentation, 
 " Wo is me now ; for my foul is wearied be- 
 caufe of murderers : '* in that day of diftrefs un- 
 to others, you fhall rejoice in God, and fmg for 
 joy of heart. To thofe who keep themfelves pure 
 R r and, 
 
314 The back flider's confej/lon, &c. Ser.VIIL 
 
 and unfpotted from the world in a time of ge- 
 neral apoftafy, may well be applied the Redeem- 
 er's comfortable words to the church of Sardis : 
 " Thou hail a few names even in Sardis, which 
 have not defiled their garments ; and they fliall 
 walk with me in white ; for they are worthy/' ' — 
 
 SER- 
 
' SERMON IX. 
 
 Reafons for enquiring where God is to be 
 found, and directions where to find him. 
 
 Job, xxiii. 3. 
 that I knew tvhere I might find him ! 
 
 HOW different is the language of a renewed 
 heart, under the load of extreme and com- 
 plicated diftrefs, from that which is dictated to a 
 carnal mind by the forrow of the world, which 
 worketh death ! Job, laid on a dunghill, and co- 
 vered with fore and loathfome boils, bereaved of 
 his children, his fervants, and his flocks, doth not 
 fay, " O that I knew where, or by what means., 
 I might recover thofe earthly comforts 1 have loft !" 
 but, " O that I knew where I might find him 
 whom my foul loveth, the God of all my mercies, 
 in whofe favour is life, and whofe loving kindnefs 
 is better than life !** — " O that I were as in months 
 paft, as in the days when God preferved me, when 
 his candle fliined upon my head, and wlien by 
 his light I walked through darknefs ; when the fe- 
 cret of the Lord was upon my tabernable j when 
 R r 2 the 
 
3i6 On feehing after Scr. IX. 
 
 the Almighty was yet with me ! " Amidft all his 
 outward troubles, the hiding of God's face moved 
 his bittereft: complaint : " Let my God return 
 to me, and I afk no more. Let him reflore un- 
 to me the joy of his falvation, and all Ihall be 
 well." 
 
 From the cafe of this holy man, we learn, 
 
 1 . That when God vifits his children with out- 
 ward trials of the fevered kind, it may pleafe 
 him, at the fame time, for wife and holy pur- 
 pofes, to withdraw from their fouls the comforts 
 of his love. This obfervation I propofe to illu- 
 ftrate, in the firft place ; 
 
 2. I fliall point out fome of the weighty reafons 
 every rational foul has for the fohcitous exclama- 
 tion in my text : that I kne%o tuhere I might 
 find him ! After which, I fhall endeavour, 
 
 3. In anfwer to the ferious and anxious inquirer 
 after God, to inform him, with certainty, where 
 he is to be found. 
 
 L I obferve. That when God vifits his chil- 
 dren with fevere outward diftrefs, it may pleafe 
 him, at the fame time, for wife and holy purpofes, 
 to withdraw from their fouls the comforts of his 
 love ; which they juftly account the bitterell ingre- 
 dient in their afflidion. 
 
 It is no unufual thing to hear the people of God, 
 in the hotted furnace of adverfity, complaining, 
 
 that. 
 
Ser. IX. and finding Cod. 3 17 
 
 that the Comforter, who fhould relieve their fouls, 
 is gone away from them. Thus did Job, the 
 moll perfect faint in his day : " The arrows of the 
 Almighty (faid he) are within me, the poifon 
 whereof drinketh up my fpirits. The terrors of 
 God do fet themfelves in array againfl: me." 
 Here we fee, that his outward diftrelTes were not 
 the matter of his complaint, but the withdrawing 
 that confcioufnefs of the divine favour which he 
 formerly enjoyed. " I cry (fays he) unto thee, 
 O God, and thou doft not hear me ; I ftand up, 
 and thou regarded me not. Thou writeft bitter 
 things againfl me." How often do we hear Da- 
 vid uttering the like complaints, when wafted with 
 ficknefs, or perfecuted by his foes ? " O Lord, 
 rebuke me not in thine anger ; neither chaften 
 me in thy hot difpleafure. Return, O Lord, and 
 deliver my foul.'* Others we find bewailing, in 
 the day of their calamity, that the Lord had hid 
 his face from them, and feemed to caft off" their 
 foul ; — that he covered himfelf with a cloud, that 
 their prayers fliould not pafs through; — that he 
 had brought them into darknefs, and not into 
 light ; — all of them exprefiing a fimilarity in 
 the inward Hate of their minds to the melancholy 
 afpeft of their outward condition. 
 
 Thus it has been with the moft eminent faints 
 in former times ; and this ftill continues to be the 
 lot of God*s children. It is indeed a part of their 
 conformity to Chrift, who, in the extremity of his 
 
 bodily 
 
3 
 
 1 8 On ftek'wg after Ser. IX. 
 
 bodily torments, had the comfortable fenfe of his 
 Father's love withdrawn, in teftimony of his juft 
 feverity againfh thofe fms of his people, which he 
 then bore in his own body upon the crofs, when 
 he was wounded for their tranfgreffions, and brui- 
 fed for their iniquities. 
 
 God hath a twofold defign in dealing after this 
 manner with the dearefl of his children. — One is, 
 to r-eclaim them when they go aftray, to awaken 
 them from fecurity, and roufe them to their duty, 
 — The other is, to bring their faith and patience, 
 "and other graces, into exercife, for his own glory, 
 and their fpiritual improvement. 
 
 The firji defign of afflidion is, to reclaim the 
 children of God when they go aftray, to render 
 them attentive to their higheft interefts, and more 
 ibufy in their preparation for an eternal world. It 
 is true, that he ufually begins with moderate cor- 
 redlion. He applies the rod at firft with a gentle 
 hand ; and while he ftrews their path with thorns, 
 to prevent their lying down in it, or miftaking it 
 for their reft, he at the fame time encourages them 
 to go forward in their journey, by fpeaking good 
 and comfortable words to their hearts. He miti- 
 gates their neccffary corredlion with fome tokens 
 of his love ; and fometimes imparts to them fuch 
 meafures of inward joy, as do more than over- 
 balance all their fufferings from without, and 
 make them thankful, and even joyful, in tribu- 
 lation. 
 
 But 
 
Ser. IX. and finding God. 3 1 9 
 
 But when, notwithflandlng the means he thus 
 gracioufly employs, to alarm them on the one 
 hand,^ and to allure them on the other, they fall 
 afleep in fecurity, or Hide into carnal indulgence, 
 and conformity to a world that lieth in wickednefs, 
 (which, through the artifice of the cunning adver- 
 fary, they are never more apt to do than after lin- 
 gular comfort and enlargement in dut)'); then, in 
 order to roufe them from their fatal lethargy, and 
 to prevent their eafy return to folly, the Lord not 
 only chaftifes them with a fliarper rod, and per- 
 haps repeats the flroke with increafmg violence, 
 but while he lays his hand upon the outward man, 
 he at the fame time (that they may tafte all the 
 bitternefs of fin) withdraws from the inward man 
 the confolations of his Spirit ; infomuch that, in> 
 the whole of his condud towards them, they can 
 fee nothing but the frowns of a holy and righteous 
 judge. 
 
 When after this manner God deals with his chiU 
 dren, it is obvious, that he takes the fittefl and thd 
 mod effedual method for gaining the falutary end 
 of afRiftion, in bringing them back to himfelf, and 
 rendering them more circumfped, and fearful to 
 offend him. 
 
 For if, at the very time they are fuffering under 
 the rebukes of his providence, he fhould folace 
 them with the liberal communications of his love, 
 this would, in many cafes, blunt the edge of afflic- 
 tion, and counterafl the purpofe for which it was 
 
 appointed. 
 
320 On feeking after Ser. iX, 
 
 • appointed. They would hardly fufped, that any 
 part of their conduct was very faulty in his fight, 
 fo long as they beheld the light of his countenance ; 
 nay, rather they would be apt to conclude, that 
 their fufferings were folely owing to the malevo- 
 lence of men, or took their rife from fome natural 
 caufe, without any commiffion from God for the 
 punifhment of their fins. 
 
 So that, in correding his children, God appears 
 to a6t both wifely, and with kindnefs of love, 
 when, together with providential rebukes, he 
 fometimes withdraws from their fouls the confola- 
 tions of his Spirit, " to lay them in darknefs, in 
 the deeps ;" to let loofe upon them the terrors of 
 the law, and the cutting reproofs of their own 
 confciences, for giving to afflidion a keener edge, 
 that it may pierce to the bottom of the fore, which 
 mufl be laid open at the root before it can be 
 healed : nor is there any faint fo perfect, as to have 
 nothing in him amifs that needs to be correded by 
 fuch fe verity. 
 
 But, idly^ God with-holds from his people, un- 
 der fufferings, the comforting fenfe of his love, 
 that he may bring their faith and patience, and o- 
 ther graces, into exercife, for his own glory, and 
 their fpiritual improvement. The Lord trieth the 
 righteous, and bringeth them into the net to prove 
 them, Pf . Ixvi. i o. 1 1 . 
 
 Sometimes he permits the enmity of the world 
 to raife cruel perfecution againft his church. In 
 
 this 
 
3er. IX. and finding God. 321 
 
 this ftate of public fufferings, when he calls forth 
 his fervants, openly to confefs him, at the hazard 
 of their efiects and lives ; then, as their occafions 
 require, they are mod fignally fupported -and 
 ftrengthened with the comforts of God, " that 
 as their fufferings for Chrifl: abound, fo do their 
 confolations by him." At other times he feverely 
 afflids his children, by with-holding from them 
 the comforts of his love. That he may give them 
 an opportunity of exhibiting to the world the 
 truth and power of religion, while in comfortlefs 
 diftrefling circumftances, which tempt to repining 
 and difobedience, they are ftill feen to maintain 
 their faith and truft in him, a conflant regard to 
 his will, and meek refignation to the difpofal of 
 his providence. What a proof of unfhaken faith, 
 "—how honourable to God and to religion, — 
 how confounding to Satan and to an infidel world, 
 was the behaviour of Job, in extreme diftrefs, of 
 whom God teftifies to Satan's face, " Still he 
 holds fall his integrity, though thou movedft me 
 againft him, to deflroy him without caufe ! When, 
 amidft appearances of divine anger in outward 
 trouble, a cloud, at the fame time, drawn over 
 the mind, covers from one's fight the evi- 
 dences of God's love ; this dark difconfolate ftate, 
 which excludes every chearing ray of light, both 
 without and within, feems the fitteft to prove- 
 the truth and the ftrength of faith. It requires 
 no great exertion of faith, to truft, to be refigned, 
 S f when. 
 
32 2 On feeking after Scr. IX, 
 
 when in alflidion one's cup of joy overflows, in 
 feeling the comforts of God, and the endear- 
 ments of his love : while he hears God fpeaking 
 peace, and taftes that he is gracious, he has then 
 the evidence of fenfe, and cannot but believe. 
 But when all things wear a difmal afped ; when 
 appearances in Providence are unfavourable, and 
 the foul gropes difconfolate in defertion and dark- 
 nefs ; when God's way with the entire man is fo 
 intricate, that one cannot perceive the defign of 
 it, nor its fitnefs to anfwer the purpofes of divine 
 wifdom and love, as Job complains, ch. xxiii. 8. 9. ; 
 in fuch a ftate of darknefs, to trufh, to be refign- 
 ed, to be afraid of fm and attentive to duty, 
 this is faith indeed. To rely upon the fingle te- 
 flimony of God's word, without afking a fign, 
 any fenfible pledge, or proof of his love ; nay, 
 when all appearances are againft one ; then to fay, 
 with Job, " Though he flay me, yet will I truft in 
 him;" — to believe implicitly, that what is inex-? 
 plicable to him at prefent, is ordered in the befl 
 manner for his falvation ; and that, when he is 
 tried, he fliail come forth as gold : thus to hope 
 againfl: all difcouragements, is indeed to be fl:rong 
 in faith, giving glory to God. And this faith, 
 which doth fuch honour to God, will furely bring 
 comfort in the iflue. The end of it fliall be full- 
 nefs of light and flrong confolation. The vifion 
 is yet for an appointed time ; — though it tarry, 
 wait for it. 
 
 There 
 
Ser. IX. and finding God. 323 
 
 There is indeed one fource of comfort that re- 
 mains to the faint in his moft difconfolate flate, 
 that is, the teftimony of a good confcience. He 
 can appeal to God himfelf, that the prevailing de- 
 lire of his heart is towards him, and his chief de- 
 light in him. Thus did Job, xiii. 15.; xxiii. 10. 
 II.; xxvii. ^.6. " Behold now, (fays he), my wit- 
 nefs is in heaven, and my record is on high." In 
 fupport of this teflimony, it fometimes pleafes 
 God to let in fome gleam of light, " left the fpi- 
 rit fhould fail before him, and the foul which he 
 hath made.'* But, notwithftanding this teftimony 
 of integrity and faith, a faint may have caufe to 
 complain of the abfence of God's comforts ; nay, 
 that his foul is troubled at his prcfence, and vex- 
 ed with his terrors. Thus Heman, while with 
 boldnefs of faith he avows his fmcerity, and his 
 relation to God, as the God of his falvation, ftill 
 complains, — " My foul is full of troubles, and 
 my Ufe draweth nigh to the grave : v^hile 1 fuffer 
 thy terrors, I am diftraded ;" which cafe carries in 
 it fome refemblance to that of the King of faints, 
 whofe faith ftood firm, his bow abiding in its 
 ftrength, while his Father's anger put his foul into 
 an agony. Let it here be obferved. 
 
 That, in the faint's affliclion, the bittereft in- 
 gredient is either the fear of God's anger for fm, or 
 the want of the comfortable evidence of his love. 
 In all their calamities, it is not the rebuke, but the 
 wrath, of God, which they deprecate. And what 
 S f 2 they 
 
2 24 On feeking after SenlX^ 
 
 they mofl; ardently pray for, is the pardon of 
 fin, the light of his countenance, and deliver- 
 ance from trouble, as an evidence of his favour. 
 When afflicted with bodily pains, with the lofs of 
 relations and worldly effeds, what chiefly diftrefs- 
 ed Job, was the abfence of his God, and his only 
 cry was, — " O that I knew where I might find 
 him !'* The import whereof is, 
 
 1 . That he might have fuch a difeovery of God, 
 in the riches of his grace and mercy, as would en- 
 courage his faith, and aflure his heart that God 
 loved him, and that the prefent feverity in break- 
 ing him with breach upon breach, was the fruit 
 of that love. 
 
 2. That he might have accefs, with confidence, 
 to a throne of grace, and clearly fee the way 
 of making his requefls known to God, with 
 acceptance, which, at prefent, was, in a great 
 meafure, veiled from his fight, as he complains^ 
 y 8. and 9. 
 
 And, 3. That in confequence of freedom and 
 enlargement in prayer, he might be admitted in- 
 to friendly familiar intercourfe with God, of 
 which, in the days of his youth, he had fweet ex- 
 perience, when, as he expreffes it, ch. xxix. 4, 
 *' the fecret of God was upon his tabernacle, 
 when the Almighty was yet with him/' This is 
 the true fpirit of a genuine faint. The foul which 
 once has had experience of comfortable commu- 
 nion with God, cannot live quiet in want of it ; 
 
 and. 
 
Ser. IX. and finding God. 325 
 
 and, in the poflefTion thereof, it can patiently, yea 
 
 ioyfuUy endure fufferings of every kind. 1 fliall 
 
 now proceed, 
 
 II. To point out fome of the reafons every ra- 
 tional foul has for the folicitious exclamation in 
 my text. 
 
 Were a guilty world awake ; did men think as 
 men ought to do j if they thought of God, and of a 
 future ftate of eternal exiftence, as they think of 
 the concerns of a prefent world, the univerfal 
 cry would be, " O that I knew where I might find 
 a departed God ;" for that he is departed from the 
 human race, in his jufl: difpleafure againfl fin, 
 and doth not now fland in the fame friendly terms 
 with men that he did before their criminal apo- 
 ftafy, is a truth too obvious to be denied. Thofe 
 who affert, that, in this refped, things continue 
 as they were, how much do they miftake and 
 diflionour God ! how do they reproach his work, 
 and betray their ignorance both of God and man ! 
 It is manifeft upon the face of the world, it ap- 
 pears from the reftlefs cares and purfuits, the dif- 
 content, the complaints, and manifold miferies 
 of men, fo inconfiftent with a ftate of innocence 
 and favour with God, that, as they are eftranged 
 from God, fo he, in juflice, is gone far from 
 them. This fad truth is felt and confefTed by all 
 the world ; and confeifed with indifference, ex- 
 cept by a few recovered to God by grace through 
 
 Chrift. 
 
326 On feeking after Ser. IX, 
 
 Chrift. Thefe having tafted that the Lord is gra- 
 cious, cannot, with eafy minds, bear the hiding 
 of his face, but muft cry after him. And all 
 have the fame reafon for being equally felicitous ; 
 becaufe, 
 
 1. The comfort of our being depends upon 
 the favour of God. As no living thing can fub- 
 fift, nor enjoy the happinefs proper to its nature, 
 but by his benign influence, fo the favour of God, 
 and the comfortable fenfe of it, is in its nature, 
 and for duration, the only good proportioned to the 
 nature of man, confidered as a rational or an im- 
 mortal being. 
 
 Man is fo made, that his happinefs, in anfwer 
 to the demands of his entire nature, cannot be 
 complete, but in contemplating the glorious per- 
 feclions of God, and in receiving fenfible intima- 
 tions, in his confcience and heart, of his favour 
 and love. Earthly objeds are not commenfurate 
 to the extenfive cravings of man's nature. They 
 only afford the fuperficial pleafure which arifes 
 from the gratification of the lower appetites. 
 They are not at all fuited to the foul, — to its 
 contemplative powers and fpiritual defires. Thefe 
 require God for their objed, to employ, to en^ 
 tertain and content them. The whole world be- 
 fides, is not adequate to their nature and capacity. 
 Now, without the knawledge of God, as one's 
 own God, without friendly converfe with him, 
 
 and 
 
Ser. IX. and finding God. 327 
 
 and the fenfible communications of his love, the 
 foul is unhappy. It is miferable in want of its na- 
 tural fupport, even when it becomes fo degene- 
 rate and depraved as to have loft relifli for di- 
 vine things. Amidft the greateft affluence of 
 worldly comforts, it is diffatisfied, it feels a want 
 of fomething greater and better, and, fecretly re- 
 pining, complains of penury and bondage. 
 
 Perhaps the moft delicious fenfation which 
 foothes and feafts the human mind, is that which 
 is raifed by the approbation and applaufe of the 
 public, on account of mental endowments, efpe- 
 cially by the applaufe of the fenfible intelligent 
 part of mankind ; but this, even when accompa- 
 nied with a fullnefs of every other comfort, is not 
 fufficient fo to fatisfy and quiet any man's mind, 
 that fretting difcontent and envy fhall not break 
 his reft, and fpoil him of peace and happinefs. 
 
 Men of genius flatter one another with mutual 
 profeiTions of friendfhip, as kindred fouls ; but 
 whatever they may pretend, are they not in their 
 hearts too often envious fouls, chagrined and eat- 
 en with envy, the one at the reputation of the o- 
 ther, if equal or fuperior to his own ? You will 
 find each of thefe kindred fouls highly pleafed, 
 if you deny to his bofom-friend an excellence 
 which you allow to him. So long as a man, am- 
 bitious of a name for fhining talents, hears of an- 
 other in the world fuperior to himfelf in his pro- 
 feflion, he cannot be perfectly happy. He cannot 
 
 be 
 
328 On feeking after Ser. IX. 
 
 be pcrfefl;Iy eafy and content with his inferior 
 fhare of fame ; nor indeed with all the honour the 
 creature can beftow upon him j as every man's 
 feeling teftifies : which intimates to us, that only 
 in God*s favour and approbation the foul of man 
 finds fettled undifturbed peace, and refts fully fa- 
 tisfied and happy. The moft elegant and delicately- 
 feafoned gratifications of fenfe, are but empty hufks 
 to the foul : being remote from its nature, they 
 anfwer not its defire. No man could ever fav^ 
 that his portion of the world, of its wealth, of 
 pleafure, of honour and fame, however great, 
 had fet his mind at eafe in full contentment, and 
 ftayed his defire fo that it craved no more. 
 Thefe illufions of fancy do but mock the foul, 
 and, by their increafe, awaken its keener fenfe of 
 want, and its more eager thirfl after what is fiill 
 wanting to its happinefsr 
 
 But farther, as in its nature, fo likewife for dura- 
 tion, the fenfe of God's favour is the only good pro- 
 portioned to the nature of man. I might obferve, 
 that even now, for duration, the fenfe of God's 
 favour, or the comforts of religion, far excel all 
 fenfual gratifications. Thefe are momentary, and 
 ever difappoint expedation. They perifh in the 
 very enjoyment, and are often attended with fickly 
 loathing and remorfe. But the foul's intercourfe 
 with God doth highly rejoice the heart, and the 
 joy is continued in refledion. Befides, the de- 
 lights of fenfe, however grateful to a juvenile 
 
 tafte^ 
 
SehlX. and finding Codk 2 29 
 
 tafte, when old age or pining ficknefs overtake 
 us, they lofe their relifli ; then arrive the evil days, 
 of which it (hall be faid, " I have no pleafure in 
 them.** In that declining period of animal na- 
 ture, of its fpirits and tafte, fo difconfolate to o- 
 thers, in want of God, the teftimony of a good 
 confcience, the comforts of God, and the retro- 
 fped of a life fpent in his fervice, will, to a pious 
 foul, be the joy and ftrength of his heart. Join- 
 ed to this teftimony of confcience, the hope of 
 immortality will give a chearful air to infirm old 
 age. With what divine ferenity and joy, amidft 
 the felt frailties of declining life, will a venerable 
 faint raife his hoary head, when he can fay, " I 
 know that my Redeemer liveth ; and that though 
 after my Ikin, worms deftroy this body, yet in my 
 flefti I ftiall fee God !'* 
 
 Thus efpecially, in regard to the foul's immor- 
 tality, the eternal God is the only good propor- 
 tioned to its duration. The world pafleth away, 
 and all that is in itj the luft of the flefti, the luft 
 of the eye, and the pride of life : the pleafure of 
 thefe ends with this natural life. The foul, that 
 never dies, when feparated from the body, is in- 
 capable of enjoying them. Nor, when, at the 
 laft day, the body fliall be raifed, and re-united 
 to the foul, is it defigned, that man ftiould any 
 more be gratified with the pleafures of fenfe. 
 The defire of them, indeed, ftiall cleave to unfanc- 
 ]tified fouls ; and with their fierce craving, while 
 T t gratification 
 
53© On feeking after Ser. IX. 
 
 sratlfication is denied, lliall torment them exceed- 
 
 o 
 
 ingly. But the faints, who have acquired and 
 cultivated a tafte for fpiritual things, being fitted 
 to live upon God himfelf, independent of all the 
 gratifications of animal life, Ihall be rendered 
 completely bleifed with his everlafting love and 
 glory, continually prefent to their minds, in all 
 their ravifhing delights, to fatisfy their moft en- 
 larged defires through all the ages of eternity. 
 
 1. The fecond reafon and quickening motive to 
 this folicitous inquiry, is the hope of finding God. 
 The exclamation in our text is not the language 
 of extreme diflrefs, embittered by defpair, but ra- 
 ther of vehement defire, and ardent refolution, 
 in all the ways of religious indufhry, animated 
 with hope, to fearch after God. Whatever you 
 have been, however far your fm hath removed 
 you from God, if you feek him fmcerely, there is 
 Hill hope of recovering his favour. Did men con- 
 fider, on the one hand, the mifery of being un- 
 der God's difpleafure, and, on the other hand, 
 the fuperlative happinefs of being in friendlhip 
 with him, the prefent comfort flowing from it, 
 the profped of its efteds in a future ftate, when 
 this fliort fliadowy life is at an end, how would 
 their hearts exult in the hope of recovering his 
 favour ! From fuch enlivening hope none of us 
 are excluded. While life is continued with us, 
 there is no caufe for defpair, unlefs, from the love 
 of fm, we wilfully cafl away our hope. Indeed, 
 
 if 
 
Ser. IX. and finding God. 351 
 
 if finners, before death, " find not the know- 
 ledge of God/' and gain his favour, they fliall, 
 in fruitlefs lamentation, bewail their fatal negled. 
 God is for ever loft to them ; and in the lofs of 
 him, they are for ever loft. Their exiftence fliall 
 be endlefs exquifite torment ; their employment 
 ever-raging blafphemy in the anguifli of defpair. 
 But fo long as we are permitted to live upon 
 earth, we all may have the hope of efcaping this 
 mifery, and of rifmg to confummate joy and glory, 
 in God's favour and love. Should not this hope, 
 then, awaken and animate our fouls ? Should it 
 not roufe our a£tive powers to the moft vigorous 
 exertion, in ftriving to obtain the objedl of our 
 hope ? Ought not each of us to fay, with grate- 
 ful admiration, " And is it true that God is to 
 be found ? that I knezu tvliere I might find 
 him!" 
 
 This motive comes with particular force upon 
 the minds of young perfons, to quicken and en- 
 courage them in the early period of youth to feek 
 God. 
 
 Having, in fome preceding difcourfes, endea- 
 voured, from feveral topics, to perfuade to early 
 application to religion, I fliall in this beg leave 
 only to call the attention of my young friends to 
 the few following ftridures : — That in God's pro- 
 mife there is fpecial encouragement to the hope of 
 thofe who feek him early, that they fliall fuccecd : 
 That, in early years, the mind is more ductile,. 
 T t 2 and. 
 
332 On feekin^ aftei Ser. IX. 
 
 and fufceptible of religious impreflions : — That 
 the heart, not being yet praftifed in fin, is lefs en- 
 tangled in the lufts of the world, lefs bialfed with 
 prejudice in favour of any particular idol : — That 
 in advanced life, after having been accuflomed :o 
 evil, mens natural averfion to God, and to his ways, 
 will grow more headftrong, their contracted inve- 
 terate habits of fm will render their finding of 
 God lefs probable, as they will confirm the natu- 
 ral indifpofition of the heart to feek him : — That 
 God is fovereign in difpenfmg his grace, he being 
 debtor to no man : —That there is a time where- 
 in God is to be found ; which would feem to inti- 
 mate, that there is alfo a time in which he may 
 not be found : — That, by rebelling againft the 
 light, men grieve the Spirit, and provoke him to 
 depart ; and that, after he hath withdrawn, and 
 fm has taken away the heart, their dead prayers 
 will not bring him back, but rather provoke God 
 to fay concerning them, " My Spirit fhall not al- 
 ways ftrive with this man.*' And if he returns 
 not with light and life upon their hearts, they are 
 undone. Although, from fome reniaining light 
 in confcience, " they may feek to enter into life, 
 they Ihall n^ver be able.'* Arife, therefore, my 
 dear young friends, to feek God early; conti- 
 nuing the felicitous inquiry, that I knew 
 
 ivhere I might find him ! But, 
 
 3^/)/, There is a fpecial call in afflidion to in- 
 quire after God. Whatever be the immediate 
 
 caufie 
 
Ser.lX. and finding God. 333 
 
 caufe and inftrument of our affliction, God's go- 
 verning hand is chiefly to be regarded in it. This 
 is the view that Job takes of afflidion, " That it 
 comes not forth of the duft," but is either per- 
 mitted or appointed by God ; and therefore, fays 
 he, " I would feek unto God ;" meekly fubmit- 
 ting to the rod in his hand. In afflidion we mur- 
 mur, kick, and fpurn againft man, not knowing 
 it is againft God we fpurn ; as one, ignorantly in 
 the dark, haftening into a pit, fpurns againft a 
 friend behind him, who ftrives to pull him back 
 from deftruclion. Job xxxiii. 18. There is no af- 
 flidion whatever, whether it be by bodily ficknefs, 
 by lofs of means, by reproach, or by the diftrefs 
 and death of friends and relations, but is, by the 
 wife difpofal of God's providence, for good and 
 profitable inftruclion to us, for our correction and 
 recovery from fm. The intimation by it to us ever 
 is, that God is difpleafed with us for fm ; and fays, 
 that if we turn not from it to him, he will, in juft 
 anger, ever afflidt us for it. 
 
 Affliction alfo carries in it encouragement to our 
 hope of favour. For every the fevereft affliction 
 is in meafure, and, as fuch, is for correction ; af- 
 furing us, that upon our return we fliall be recei- 
 ved into favour, Job xxxiii. 27. 28. Were it de- 
 figned for deftruCtion, it would be " a cup of red 
 wine," without any abatement of deferved wrath. 
 By afflicting us in meafure, while he fpares our 
 
 lives. 
 
334 ^^^ feeking after Ser. IX. 
 
 lives, God is evidently driving with us, to fave us 
 from perdition. 
 
 Affliction calls us, with particular ferioufnefs, 
 *« to feek unto God ;" and it feems to be the laft 
 effort of grace to recover a finner ; which pro- 
 ving ineffectual, God gives him 'up to a repro- 
 bate mind, to hurry on, unreftrained, in his own 
 chofen courfe, to deftruftion : " Why fhould ye 
 be ftricken any more ? ye will revolt more and 
 more." 
 
 Afflldion, by giving us a tafte of wrath, warns 
 us of wrath in its extreme to fall upon us, if we 
 turn not at God's reproof ; that, if we are not 
 admonifhed by fuch a ftriking warning, we fhall 
 furely perifh, and perifh with aggravated ven- 
 geance, for defpifmg God's friendly reproof; as he 
 threatens his church for not fearing and receiving 
 inftruCtion from his judgements, Zeph. iii. i. 
 " "Wo to her that is filthy and polluted, to the op- 
 preffmg city ; fhe obeyed not the voice ; fhe re- 
 ceived not corredion j flie trufted not in the 
 Lord ; (lie drew not near to her God.'* There is, 
 for this reafon, in affliction, a peculiarly ftriking 
 call to the ferious inquiry in the text, as, by fome 
 fparks of God's wrath, we are fenfibly forewarned 
 of that " full cup of red wrath," prepared for his 
 
 incorrigible enemies in the world to come. 1, 
 
 proceed, 
 
 III. Ix 
 
Ser . IX. and finding Gad. 3 3 y 
 
 III. In anfwer to the ferious and anxious in- 
 quirer after God, to inform him, with certainty, 
 where he is to be found. 
 
 Job, though now in diftrefs from the abfence of 
 God, was provided with an anfwer to his own 
 queftion, when he could fay, " I know that my 
 
 Redeemer hveth." David knew where to find 
 
 God, when he fung, " Bleffed be he that cometh 
 in the name of the Lord to fave us. — Open to 
 me the gates of righteoufnefs, I will go in to 
 them." In the promifes and prophetic defcrip- 
 tions of the Mefliah, men were directed to him in 
 whom God was to be found. " Abraham faw his 
 day, and was glad." In profped of his advent, 
 the melfengers of God cried to the world, " Ho, 
 every one that thirfteth, come ye to the waters. — 
 Incline your ear, and come unto me ; hear, and 
 your foul Ihall live." Which words feem to be 
 taken up by Jefus, the Mefliah, with application 
 to himfelf, when he cried in the temple, on the 
 laft and great day of the feaft, " If any man thirfl:, 
 let him come unto me and drink. He that belie- 
 veth on me, as the fcripture hath faid, out of his 
 belly fliall flow rivers of living water." Hear now 
 the joyful found ftill more clear, with fullnefs of 
 evidence in the gofpel : " How beautiful upon 
 the mountains are the feet of Chrifl's meflengers, 
 who bring good tidings, who publifli peace, who 
 bring good tidings of good, who publifli falvation 
 through the Son of God, manifefl:ed in the fiefli." 
 
 « For 
 
^g6 On feeking after Ser. IX. 
 
 " For God fent forth his Son, made of a woman, 
 made under the law, to redeem them who were 
 under the law." To accomplifh this great defign, 
 he fent him to be a propitiation for fm, in giving 
 his life a rarifom for men : " He was made fm 
 for US;, that we might be made the righteoufnefs 
 of God in him." And now God is in Chrift re- 
 conciling the world to himfelf : " Be it known 
 unto you, therefore, that through this man is 
 preached unto you the forgivenefs of fm." — " Ye 
 who fometimes were far off, and who are ftill far 
 off, may be made nigh by the blood of Jefus." 
 Peace from God, through Chrift, is preached to 
 all of the human race. There is no difference made 
 ' between nations or families, or ranks or charac- 
 ters. The fame God is rich in mercy unto all who 
 call upon him ; " for whofoever fliall call upon the 
 name of the Lord, fliall be faved." — Believe on the 
 Lord Jefus Chrifl ; "for whofoever believeth on 
 him, fhall not be afliamed.'* Hear the Son of 
 God calling from heaven, in his Father's name, 
 and in his own, " Come unto me, all ye that la- 
 bour, and are heavy laden. — Him that cometh 
 unto me, I will in no wife caft out." Find the 
 knowledge of Chrifl, and you find God in him. 
 He is now in the court of heaven, appearing 
 there, in our nature, in whom, and through 
 whofe interceffion, God is to be found. Him 
 whom the Jews flew, and hanged on a tree, him 
 hath God exalted with his right hand, to be a 
 
 Prince 
 
Ser. IX. and finding God. 337 
 
 Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance to Ifrael, 
 and rorgivenefs of fins ! 
 
 But where and how is Chrift to be found ? 
 
 V/here is he to be found ? In the fcriptures. 
 Thefe are they which teilify of hini. In thefe fa- 
 cred orcicles, it is written by infpiration, that God 
 fent his Son to die a facriiice for fin, that v/e 
 might Hvc through him. Believe this record of 
 God, that he hath given to us eternal life, and 
 that this life is in his Son, and you fliall ever live 
 in favour with God. By faith in the word con- 
 cerning Chrift, you are really pofiefled of Chrid. 
 *' Say not, Who fliall afcend into heaven, (that 
 is, to bring Chrift down from above), or. Who 
 Ihall delcend into the deep, (that is, to bring up 
 Chrift again from the dead). The word is nigh 
 thee," Rom. x. 8. Perceive the faithful teftimony 
 of God in the word, with truft in it, pleading 
 Chrift's merits, and God's proraife through him. 
 If, after this manner, you come to God, in 
 Chrift's name, you give him glory. And thus, 
 but in no other way, fliall you find favour in his 
 fight. 
 
 If you aik. How fliall I find him in the fcriptures ? 
 I anfwer. By looking into them with diligent fearch 
 for him. The kingdom of heaven is like a trea- 
 fure hid in a field, or like a merchant-man feeking 
 goodly pearls. 
 
 Although faith be the gift of God, the effed 
 
 of preventing grace, (as the apoftle fays, " Vfhen 
 
 U u it 
 
3s8 On feeking after Ser. IX, 
 
 it pleafed God to call me by his grace, and to re- 
 veal his Son in me, immediately I conferred not 
 with flefli and blood) ;" yet, for obtaining this gift, 
 we are to apply to the ftudy of thefe facred o- 
 racies, by reading, by attending upon the public 
 miniftry of them, by ferious meditation and prayer ; 
 our fpirits, in thefe exercifes, making diligent 
 fearch for a fatisfying difcovery of the grounds of 
 faith and hope, in order to a fettled reft of foul 
 upon them, with alfurance of underftanding. 
 When we are engaged in this ferious inquiry, pray- 
 ing with folicitous concern, that I knezu where 
 I mi-rjit find him ! it is then the Spirit of God 
 breaks in upon the foul with the light of faith. 
 Awake, therefore, to thought and prayer. A- 
 wake to fuch a fenfe of your extreme mifery with- 
 out God, that concern to fmd him may, above 
 all other cares, have the afcendant. Fix it as. 
 your determined purpofe, that you fliall exert, 
 and continue to exert, ihe utmoft vigour of your 
 foul to find Chrift. Settle this as your laft end, 
 as the only valuibk purpofe of your being ; and 
 refolve, that though, by the moft vigorous efforts, 
 of your powers, you cannot flrike the leaft fpark 
 of divine light and life out of your dark and dead 
 heart, it fjiall, hov/ever, be your inceftant earneft 
 endeavour, by all means, as commanded, to ob- 
 tain precious faith, in dependence upon God's 
 grace. And while you labour, through thick dark- 
 nefs, to penetrate into light, fenfible of your in- 
 
 fufficiency. 
 
Ser. IX. nml finding God. 339 
 
 fufficiency, by fearching, to find out God, pray, 
 •with your eye direded to himfclf, -*' Tell me, O 
 thou whom my foul loveth, where thou feedeft, 
 where thou make (I thy flock to re (I at noon." — 
 Seek him on bed, in the iilent watches of the 
 night. Rife In the morning, and go in fearch of 
 him, from dutv to duty, lamenting after him v/ith 
 weeping und fupplication. Let no delay of an- 
 fwer difcourage 3^our perfevering importunity ; 
 but continue indant in prayer, ever acknowled- 
 ging, in a humble fenfe of your unworthinefs, 
 that all your cxpeQation is from fovereign grace. 
 
 If you are favoured with any degree of life to 
 hope, be thankful ; nor fay, in peevifn difcontent, 
 you have gained nothing, becaufe you have not 
 been raifcd to full affurance. By the way, God 
 often vouchfafes this to the weak, when he denies 
 it to the ftrong, who, in regard of their fuperior 
 ftrength of judgement, are more able to live by 
 faith ; and therefore Chriftians have more of the 
 joy of affurance in their youthful days, " the days 
 of their efpoudds,'* than afterwards, when, at full 
 age, by reafon of ufe or habit, they are of riper 
 judgement, and more firmly rooted in the faiih. 
 Mean-time labour for aiTurance, in the diligent 
 ufe of all means : " Give all diligjence, to the full 
 affurance of hope to the end." 
 
 Some relics of light in confcience may move 
 
 you to feek God in prayer ; but while you feek 
 
 him with a languid unferious fpirit, (like thofe who 
 
 U u 2 oiTered 
 
340 On feeklng ajter Ser. IX, 
 
 offered the lame and fick), you fliall never find 
 him. Strive to enter in, and you fliall fucceed. 
 O pray that the new creature may be formed v^^ith- 
 in you, whofe generous heroic nature it is, to rife 
 fuperior to all ftumbling-blocks and difcourage- 
 nients. 
 
 In conclufion, let all the reafons fuggcflied ex- 
 cite our felicitous concern to find the knowledge 
 of God, and to obtain favour in his fight. 
 
 Ye who forget God, confider what a dreadful 
 hazard you run, in fuffsring the cares of this life, 
 the deceitfulnefs of riches, and the luft of other 
 things, or even the intenfc ft udy of fcience, to 
 divert you from feeking and finding God. Con- 
 fider that the world, and the fafhion of it, are fafl: 
 pafiing away. Prefume not upon length of days. 
 Amidft your flattering hopes of life, you may be 
 fuddenly cut off; and if you are taken away in 
 your fin and unbelief, you are lofl:, for ever loft. 
 You will, in the other world, feel what it is to be 
 without God. You will paffionately wifh, and 
 wifli in vain, you had feized your opportunity 
 while you had it. Oh the fad difference you fliall 
 find between your prefent fl:ate and what it fliall 
 then be 1 Here, perhaps, you live at eafe, fa- 
 ring fumptuoufly every day; there, fl:ripped of 
 every comfort, you fliall not, under extreme tor- 
 tures, find one refrefliing drop of water. Now, 
 perhaps, you are fo vexed with fl;raits jyid pains, 
 
 that 
 
Ser. IX. and finding God. 341 
 
 that you are weary of life ; but, in the other 
 world, you fhall find the mofl; afllifting condition 
 here to be a paradife, compared with hell, where 
 your anguifli ihall be heightened, and rendered 
 flill more intolerable, by the defpair of efcaping 
 from that place of torment. " Confider this, ye 
 who forget God, left he tear you in pieces, when 
 there iliall be none to deliver ;" no entertaining 
 companion, no loving friend, to divert or afluage 
 your pains ; when there fliall be no Saviour to in- 
 tercede for you. Rejed the benefit of Chrifl's 
 facrifice now, and you have nothing to look for, 
 in a future world, but " fearful judgement, and 
 fiery indignation, to devour you for ever," 
 Heb. X. 27. Awake, therefore, from the inchant- 
 ment of fm, to feek God, and follow on to know 
 him. Keep out of the vain courfe of the world, 
 walk in the footfteps of the flock, and you fiiall 
 furely get out of darknefs into light, and find 
 God, to your prefent confolation, and your ever- 
 lafting joy. They who fow in tears, fhall reap 
 in joy : " He that goeth forth, and weepeth, 
 bearing precious feed, fliall doubtlefs come again 
 with rejoicing, bringing his fheaves with him." 
 Then the anxious exclamation, that I knetv 
 tuhere I might find hitn ! fhall be happily ex- 
 changed for that grateful acknowledgement, to the 
 praife of divine grace, " I have found him whom 
 my foul loveth." ^men. 
 
 * SER- 
 
SERMON X. 
 God the defire and joy of the faiiit. 
 
 Isaiah, xxvi. 9. 
 
 fVith my foul have I defired thee in the night ; 
 yea^ -with my fpirit tuithin me tvill I J'eek 
 thee early, 
 
 UCH warm expreffions of inward devotion 
 have, in every age of the world, been ridi- 
 culed by vain ungodly men, as the language of 
 enthufiafm, the reveries of a wild overheated ima- 
 gination. They prefumptuoufly revile what they 
 do not underftand ; and hate what, for want of a 
 fpiritual faculty, they do not feel, and are unable 
 to conceive. They may indeed know, and in the 
 moments of cool reflection they do perceive with 
 pain, that fomething gready fuperior to what they 
 poflefs, or can attain to of themfelves, is neceflary 
 to their inward peace and fatisfaclion, that fullneis 
 of felf-enjoyment at which they afpire. But, 
 alas ! notwithftanding this felf- conviction, they 
 foohihly rejeCl the counfel of God againfl: them- 
 felves, and fet at nought the alone fcwrce whence 
 
 true 
 
Scr. X, Cod the de/ire J <trr. 343 
 
 true peace and joy can find accefs to the difquiet- 
 ed guilty mind. You will fee, that I mean the 
 religion of Jefus ; without the knowledge and be- 
 lief of which, the finner mufl for ever remain far 
 off from God and happinefs. But when, by the 
 power of the Holy Ghoft, it gains admiffion into 
 the heart, a new fupernatural principle is formed 
 there, which elevates the foul above fublunary 
 things, and leads its view, its governing aim, 
 from earth to heaven, from the creature to the 
 creator, fitting the fpirit of man for communion 
 and fellowihip with God, the Father of fpirits, 
 in faith and love. Now the foul, rifing from its 
 debafement, recovers its true nobility, in taking 
 its flight up to God as its chief good ; and ha- 
 ving found him, hath reached the utmoft boun- 
 dary of its wifti ; and fo returns into its quiet 
 reft. 
 
 To maintain conftant friendly intercourfe with 
 God in all circumftances, is the faint's great con- 
 cern, his chiefeft joy. While he finds himfelf fo 
 favoured, his peace ftands unlliaken, amidft the 
 various vicifTitudes of time. In the general courfe 
 of things, it is God he chiefly regards, the wife 
 and powerful adminifl:ration of his all-governing 
 providence. In all events, of favourable and un- 
 favourable afpe6:, of judgements and of mercies, 
 he fees and reveres God, ftudious in them to hold 
 intercourfe with him, humbly waiting for fome 
 
 fpecial 
 
344 ^^^ ^^^^ defire - Ser. X. 
 
 fpecial good by them to himfelf, and to the whole 
 church of Chrift. 
 
 Amidfl: the tumultuous reeling of nations, and 
 the noife of floods lifting up their voice, he refts 
 ferenely quiet, in hope that all fliall ifliie glo- 
 rioufly. He fees him who fits at the helm, that the 
 mighty hand of God rules in the raging of the 
 fea, lifting up its waves, and Hilling them again ; 
 that, by his unerring wifdom, all things, even 
 feemingly crofs difpenfations, confpire together for 
 bringing about his great defigns. In the apparent 
 confufion of things, the believer refts fatisficd, 
 that God is regularly going on with his own 
 fcheme, and waits in joyful expedation of its cer- 
 tain accomplifliment, to God's everlafting honour, 
 the falvation of his people, and the converfion or 
 overthrow of his enemies. 
 
 This book of Ifaiah is full of clear and lofty 
 predidions of the coming bf the MelTiah, and of 
 the happy days of the gofpel under his reign. 
 In this and the preceding chapter, the Spirit of 
 God evidently points at this great event ; in the 
 certain profpeft of which, the prophet rejoices 
 with exalted fongs of praife, and, in the language 
 of holy confidence, excites the people to truft and 
 rejoice with him ; knowing, that as God was 
 faithful who had promifed, he was able alfo to 
 perform it ; for in the Lord Jehovah is everlaft- 
 ing ftrength. To remove their doubts- and un- 
 believing fears, arifing from many difcouraging 
 
 appearances^ 
 
Ser. X. and joy of the faint. , 345- 
 
 appearances, he aflures them, that the judgements 
 upon the Jewlfh and other nations were only 
 means in the hand of Providence, to udier in, 
 more confpicuoufly, the promifed Meffiah ; and, 
 in this beUef, he exhorts them to help forward 
 the accomplifhment of the promife, by praying, 
 after his example, in faith, that the day-fpring 
 from on high might foon vifit a dark benighted 
 world, and the Sun of righteoufnefs arife, on the 
 habitations of cruelty, with healing in his wings ; 
 when, by the fullnefs of gofpel-light, not only the 
 veil on Mofes's face Ihould be taken away, but 
 the face of the covering caft over all people, and 
 the veil fpread over all nations fhould be deftroy- 
 ed. Happy and glorious days ! when the Gen- 
 tiles, delivered out of Heathenifh darknefs and 
 idolatry, and the Jews, freed from their burden- 
 fome rites, fliould worfliip God, the only true 
 and living God, in fpirit and in truth. 
 
 With what propriety then might the Old-Te- 
 itament faints, looking forward to thofe timies of 
 refrefning from the prefence of the Lord when 
 the defire of all nations fhould fill the earth with his 
 glory, with what propriety (I fay) might they adopt 
 the devout language of the text : " fVith my 
 foul have I defired thee in the night ; yea with 
 my fpirit -within me will I feek thee early.'' 
 
 Thefe words juflly mark the diftinguifliing cha- 
 rader of a real faint : 
 
 I . By his habitual defire 5 and 
 
 X X -i. By 
 
34^ €od the defire S^r. X. 
 
 1. By the manner in which his defire operates. 
 
 With his foul he dejireth God. 
 
 With his foul and fpirit he feeketh God in the 
 flight and early,- — r Viewing the text in this light, 
 let us, 
 
 I. Confider the charader of a real faint, as it 
 is diftinguifhed by his defire. With his foul he 
 defireth God. 
 
 In illuftration of this, let it be obferved. That 
 the defire or prevailing difpofition of the mind 
 towards this or that objed, afcertai.ns one*s true 
 character, with more precifion, in moft cafes, 
 than his outward aftions or conduct. It is true, 
 if one's defire be fmcerely towards God, the te- 
 nor of his life cannot contradict, but muft corre- 
 fpond to that defire. Yet, in certain cafes, a 
 man may act one way, and his defire take a con- 
 trary couife. His adions may be religious to ap- 
 pearance, while his eye looks afquint to fome 
 worldly intereft, to which he profanely defigns 
 to make his aifumed form of godlinefs fubfer- 
 vient : yea, he may for a while go the round of de- 
 votional exercifes, and may thereby be deceived 
 into an opinioxi that all is right, when in truth he 
 has no defire after God, no delight in duty, but 
 means only to relieve his troubled mind from, 
 fear of wrath, and to Ihield himfelf from the 
 fmitings of confcience with which it arraigns him 
 for fm regarded io the heart. It is therefore un- 
 
 fafe 
 
&r. X. aiid joy of the faint. 347 
 
 fafe to form a conclufive judgement of our cha- 
 rafter from any thing that is merely externa). 
 
 Many who are fpiritually dead, think favour- 
 ably of themfelveS) beeaufe they do fome things 
 that are materially good, and are not in all re- 
 fpefts as other men are. And fome who would 
 be thought wife, become fo fottifli, at the ex- 
 pence of much labour, that they quiet themfelves 
 with a fort of inftiuclive virtue which hath no re- 
 ference to God or the world to come. But our 
 fafety lies in looking inv/ard, that we may judge 
 of our charader by the prevailing habitual defires 
 of our hearts : for fuch as thefe are, whether 
 good or bad, fuch likewife are we in the fight of 
 God. 
 
 In the life of a hypocrite, and of a trlie Ghri- 
 ftian, there is no doubt a real difference which 
 might be feen, could vVe follow each of them 
 into their fecret retirements, or even trace 
 them exadly through all their public tranf- 
 adions. But on the imperfedt furvey we 
 muft necefl'arily take of them, the conduft of 
 both may appear equally fair. Between Judas 
 and John there was no vifible difference, either 
 in profeffion or practice, whereby the hypocrite 
 could be dilHnguilhed from the faint. But there 
 was an elfential difference in the defires and affec- 
 tions of their hearts, known only to God, who 
 feeth not as man feeth, and whofe judgement is 
 always according to truth* 
 
 X X 2 That 
 
34^ God the defire Ser. ]t. 
 
 That the Invifible God (hould be the objedt of 
 defire to fuch creatures as we are, may appear in- 
 conceivably myfterious to thofe who know not 
 God, nor the workings of devout affedlions to- 
 wards him. Being " fenfual, having not the fpi- 
 rit,'' they can form no conception of defire rifmg 
 above the objefts of fenfe. To thefe, indeed, 
 the foul in its prefent Hate of depravity is wholly 
 confined. But when, by grace, it recovers its na- 
 tive health and vigour, it rifeth upward to the Fa- 
 ther of fpirits, its chiefefl joy. No longer fatis- 
 fied with this vain world, or the things of the 
 world, it afpires to thofe things which are above, 
 breathing after its original glory and felicity, the 
 image, the friendlhip, and the enjoyment of God. 
 , The peculiar nature of that defire which diflin- 
 guilhes the faint will appear more fully if we take 
 a view, firji, of its divine objed: ; and, fecondly^ 
 of its commanding influence over the whole 
 man. 
 
 I . The obje6: on which the defire of the faint 
 terminates is God himfelf. He contemplates the 
 infinite perfections of his nature, his wifdom, 
 power, holinefs, juftice, goodnefs, and truth : 
 he fees all thofe fliining with united fplendor in 
 Jefus Chrifl:, who is emphatically ftyled the de/ire 
 of all nations ; becaufe in him thefe perfedions 
 are difplayed in fuch an amiable light as would 
 recommend him to the efteem and love of all, if 
 their eyes were opened to behold his glory. 
 
 He 
 
Ser. X'. and joy of the faint. , 349 
 
 He is fenfible, that without an interefl in the 
 friendfliip of this all-perfed being, the weak de- 
 pendent creature mud be miferable. He therefore 
 defires his favour from a principle of regard to 
 his own fafety, and can find , no reft while there 
 remains any doubt of his acceptance with liim. 
 
 He is further fenfible, that the friendfhip of 
 God contributes no lefs to his honour than to 
 his fecurity, and therefore defires it on that ac- 
 count. • What real fatisfaftion can a thinking per- 
 fon derive from all the vain honours this world 
 can confer, if haunted with jealoufies that he 
 who is higher than the higheft looks upon him 
 with contempt and abhorrence ? But if perfuaded 
 in his own mind that he pofTefTeth the favour and 
 approbation of God, though treated by a blind 
 malignant world as the filth and ofF-fcouring of 
 all things, he can comfort himfelf with the A- 
 poftle Paul's conclufion, *' He that judgeth me is 
 the Lord." 
 
 But chiefly the faint defires God, on account 
 of the glorious excellencies of his nature, in 
 which he greatly delights, and to which he moft 
 ardently afpires to be conformed ; efheeming 
 the refemblance of God to be at once the 
 glory and happinefs of his nature, as he is 
 thereby rendered meet for communion with God 
 here, and the full enjoyment of him in the future 
 flate. For if defire be imcere, it will flop no 
 where ihort of the abfolute perfection of hoh- 
 
 nefs 
 
35® ^od the de/ire Ser. '^^ 
 
 nefs in the heavenly world. Paul, who excelled 
 in gifts and graces, and was diftinguifhed by more 
 abundant labours in the fervice of Chrift, yet did 
 not think that he had already attained, either was 
 already perfect. This one thing, (faid he), I do, 
 " forgetting thofe things which are behind, and 
 reaching forth unto thofe things which are before, 
 I prefs toward the mark for the prize of the high 
 calling of God in Chrift Jefus." 
 
 As this defire of the faint is the breathing of 
 love, it is not only folicitous for good to himfelf 
 in particular by the favour of God, and the be^ 
 nign influence of his perfections, but it rifes to 
 zealous concern for the moft diffufive advance- 
 ment of the honour of God, " that the whole 
 earth may be filled with his glory, — that from the 
 rifmg of the fun unto the going down of the fame, 
 God's name may be praifed ;*' — that the ftrife of 
 contending empires, and the Ihaking of nations, 
 may contribu/e to the brighter appearance of the 
 the defire of all nations ; and that God, Father, 
 Son, and Hply Ghoft, may be highly glorified in 
 the profperity and enlargement of the church 
 which he hath redeemed, and in the falvation of 
 multitudes out of every kindred, and tongue, and 
 people, and nation. " Let the people praife thee, 
 O Lord, let ^11 the people praife thee. O that the 
 falvation of (j/od were come out of Zion !" This 
 is the genuine language of a faint, and fuch is his 
 defire with refpedt to its object. 
 
 2, Let us ilow take a view of its commanding 
 
 influence 
 
Ser. X. and joy of the faint . 351 
 
 influence over the whole man in his various pur- 
 fuits, and natural defires after other things. 
 
 The Author of our being hath planted in our 
 conftitution certain defires or appetites fuited 
 to thofe materials which are neceflary for 
 our fuftenance and comfort in a prefent world. 
 Thefc bodily cravings, by their regular returns, 
 keep the principle of felf-prefervation awake ; 
 and therefore their demands not only may, but 
 ought to be attended to. But man, in his dege- 
 nerate ftate, confines his whole attention to the 
 low gratifications of fenfe. Solicitous only about 
 *' what he fhall eat, and what he fhall drink, and 
 wherewithall fliall he be clothed," like the Gentiles 
 who know not God, he employs all his care and 
 activity in providing for the flefh, to fulfill the 
 lufts thereof. 
 
 Now the fpiritual defire I am fpeaking of, when 
 kindled in the foul, doth not extinguifh thefe na- 
 tural appetites. It only breaks their dominion, 
 reftrains their excefs, and keeps them within 
 their proper limits, in fubordination to the empire 
 of reafon and confcience. It allows the gratifi- 
 cation of them in fubferviency to its own more 
 exalted aims, and in fuch meafures as may tend 
 to raife the foul to God, inftead of rendering it 
 difafFeded to, or unfit for his fervice, according 
 to the apoftolic injundion, " Whether ye eat, 
 or drink, or whatfoever ye do, do all to the 
 glory of God." 
 
 While 
 
352 God the defire Ser. a., 
 
 While wc thus attend to the cravings of 
 the inferior appetites in due fubordination to 
 the higher purfuits of the foul, we may truly 
 be faid to have but one object of defire, e- 
 ven that one good thing in which the Pfalmift 
 placed his chief delight when be exprefled him- 
 felf thus, " Whom have 1 in heaven but thee r^ 
 and there is none in all the earth whom I defire 
 befides thee : my flefh and my heart faileth, but 
 God is the flrength of my heart and my portion 
 for ever." 
 
 This defire having once gained the afcendant, 
 fliall ever afterwards maintain its influence. Tho* 
 it may fuffer abatement, it fiiali never die, but 
 prove a well of water fpringing up unto everlaft- 
 ing life. The exquifite pleafure flowing from 
 this heavenly defire, far furpafilng all the de- 
 lights of fenfe, not only tends to keep it alive, 
 but likewife to maintain its fuperiority. Befides, 
 the fame God who kindled it in the renewed foul, 
 hath engaged himfelf, by covenant and promife, 
 to guard and preferve it to the end of life. 
 
 In proportion to the growing prevalence of this 
 defire, the love of earthly things dies apace. It 
 is never indeed wholly extinguiflied in this life ; 
 fome remains of this body of death, will cleave 
 to the mofl: improved faints, till their earthly ta- 
 bernacles be diflblved, which mud give rife to 
 many perplexing thoughts, and painful longings 
 for complete deliverance. " In this tabernacle they 
 grone being burthened, having a defire to de- 
 part. 
 
Scr. X. and joy of the faint. 353 
 
 part, and to be with Chrift. But tho' they may 
 not perceive it, the earthly aftedions are gradually 
 lofing ground, while the fpiritual life, like the 
 morning-light, is ftill advancing, " fhining more 
 and more unto the perfeft day." 
 
 The hypocrite may appear to be gradually dy- 
 ing to the world, and growing indifferent to its 
 pleafures ; but this feeming mortification is not 
 owing to any root or growth of fpiritual defire, 
 but merely to the decay of nature ; fuch as 
 Barzillai pleaded in excufe for declining to accept 
 David's invitation to his court : " How long, 
 (faid he), have I to live, that I fhould go up with 
 the King unto Jerufalem ? I am this day four- 
 fcore years old ; and can I difcern between good 
 and evil ? Can thy fervant tafle what I eat or 
 what I drink ? Can I hear any more the voice of 
 finging men or fmging women ? Wherefore 
 fhould thy fervant be yet a burden to my Lord the 
 King V 
 
 Whereas the faint*s growing indifference to. 
 earthly things, is not the effect of declining na- 
 ture, but of an improved tafle for the comforts 
 of God, which deadens his relifli for the plea- 
 fures of fenfe. Being " rifen with Chrift, he feeks 
 the things which are above, where Chrift fitteth 
 at the right hand of God.** Every kind of life 
 defires the aliment that fuits its nature ; and the 
 life of God in the foul neceffarily breathes in de- 
 fire after God, its parent, as the natural fupport o£ 
 Y y its. 
 
354 ^^^ ^^^^ dejire Scr. X. 
 
 its being, without which it cannot live. *' They 
 that are after the flelh do mind the things of the 
 flefti, and they that are after the Spirit the things 
 of the Spirit." The earthly man, deftitute of 
 this divine life, cannot, with all the powers he 
 derives from the firft Adam, rife above earthly 
 things, " the defires of the flefh and of the mind." 
 He may wifh to efcape the effeds of God*s anger, 
 and to be favoured with impunity in his fmful 
 courfe ; but he can never defire God on account 
 of his own excellence, or for the communications 
 of his grace, that he may be a partaker of his ho- 
 linefsr Wanting this defire, and the life that in- 
 fpires it, he treats with ridicule every one that 
 pretends to it j and becaufe he finds nothing of 
 that kind in himfelf, he prefumptuoufly concludes 
 that it hath no exiftence at all. Whereas he 
 ought to fee, and to deplore, the dead, corrupt- 
 ed ftate of his foul in want of it, and, with tears 
 of lamentation for his raifery, to alk it from God. 
 Surely it is eafy for him to beflow it ; and, accord- 
 ing to the neceffity of our fouls, it is what he 
 has promifed, as his own free gift through Jefus 
 Chriil, who died that we might have this fpiri- 
 tual life, and have it here, as the beginning of 
 eternal life hereafter. Whoever dies without it, 
 dies indeed, and dies for ever. " Except a man 
 be born again, born fpirit of the Spirit, he cannot 
 fee the kingdom of God.'' 
 
 For 
 
3er. X. and joy of the faint. ^^^ 
 
 For a farther account of this defire, let us con- 
 fider, 
 
 II. The manner in which it operates, exprefled 
 in the text, " by feeking God, with foul and fpi- 
 rit, in the night and early.'*. 
 
 Soul and fpirit are, in fcripture, ufed indifcri- 
 minately, to denote the fame thing, viz. the fpiri- 
 tual fubftance, with all its faculties, which was 
 breathed into man at his firfl creation ; and they 
 are here introduced together, to exprefs the fm- 
 cerity and intenfenefs of the united powers of the 
 foul in their actings upon God, particularly in 
 prayer. 
 
 I. The words exprefs the foul's fmcerity in 
 the exercifes of devotion ; which implies the exer- 
 cife of the mind, in viewing God in the glory of 
 his majefty. Many, under the influence of cu- 
 ftom, and the commandments of men, obfcrve 
 forms of devotion, without the light and power of 
 it, blindly refting upon their dead fuperftitious u- 
 fages, as meritorious of heaven. But a true be- 
 liever, in his religious addrefles, has God himfelf 
 in his eye, the authority of his command, and 
 the encouragement of his grace, by which his 
 devotion is influenced. Under impreffions of 
 God's glorious holinefs and grace, he draws near 
 with a true heart, in full aflfurance of faith. 
 There is a fimilarity between all the people of 
 God in the nature of their devotional exercifes. 
 Y y 2 \VIiat 
 
3^6 God the defire Ser. X^ 
 
 What is fald of Mofes, of Abraham, and of other 
 worthies, in their tranfadions with God, holds truer 
 of every faint. God Ahnighty appeared to A- 
 braham, and fpake to him ; Abraham, with fo- 
 lemn reverence, fpeaks to him again. God and 
 Mofes fpeak together, face to face. Ifaiah and 
 Hezekiah direct their prayers to God, in view of 
 him as Lord of hofts, the God of Ifrael, dwelling 
 between the cherubims. In like manner, though 
 not with equal elevation of foul, every believer 
 addrefles God, with a fpiritual underftanding of 
 the one true God whom he worlhips. In acts of 
 devotion, he fifts himfelf as in the prefence of 
 God, faying, in the fpirit and words of Paul, with 
 his foul lifted up to heaven, " I bow my knees 
 unto the Father of our Lord Jefus Chrifl:, of 
 whom the whole family, in heaven and in earth, 
 is named/' Such are the defires of the renewed 
 foul towards God, which the text is meant to hold 
 forth ; but the words farther imply, as expreffive 
 of fmcerity, that this defire does not originate 
 from, or terminate in, the effcds of God's provi- 
 dential care of the body, fupplying its wants, or 
 healing its difeafes, but flows, as has been above 
 obferved, from that which fuits its own fpiritual 
 nature and tafte, and tends to its elTential comfort 
 and improvement ; that is, God himfelf, the in- 
 timations of his favour, and the communications of 
 his grace. Agreeably to this, we find the faints 
 every where breathing after him, for what he is in 
 
 himfelf. 
 
Scr. X. and joy of the faint, 357 
 
 himfelf, poffefled of all poffible perfedion, the Pa- 
 rent of all good : " Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift 
 up my foul. O thou that dwelled between the 
 cherubims, fhine forth ; caufe thy face to fliine 
 upon us. There be many that fay. Who will 
 fhew us any good, the riches, the pleafures, the 
 honours, of this world ? but. Lord, lift thou up 
 the light of thy countenance upon us. Thou 
 haft put gladnefs in my heart, more than in the 
 time that their corn and win.e increafed." Thus 
 are their defires immediately direfted to God, the 
 natural, the fubftantial good of the foul ; while 
 they defire other things, even the ordinances of 
 divine appointment, not for their own fake, but 
 as they afford evidences of God's favour, advan- 
 tages for his fervice, and fit them for the en- 
 joyment of him. Hence, when the Pfalmift prays, 
 " O fend out thy light, and thy truth, let them 
 lead me, let them bring me to thy holy hill, and 
 to thy tabernacles," he does not ftop here, but im- 
 mediately adds, " Then will I go unto the altar of 
 God, unto God my exceeding joy.'* 
 
 2. The words of the text exprefs, not only the 
 fmcerity, but the fervour of fpirit, in which de- 
 fire operates towards God. In viewing his match- 
 lefs excellencies, the high importance of his fa- 
 vour, the fuperlative honour and happinefs in his 
 fpecial love and fellowfhip, and feeling, at the 
 fame time, how far fhort we are of that perfedion 
 in light and love to which the foul is defigned to 
 
 rife, 
 
^$9 God the defire Ser. X. 
 
 rife, all its affeftionate powers are exerted, and drawn 
 forth, fometimes even with agony of defire to- 
 ward this one good thing, in which all other con- 
 cerns are fwallowed up and loft. As one ready to 
 perilh with hunger, defires bread, and bread on- 
 ly, or burning with third:, defires drink, and 
 drink only ; fuch fervent earneftnefs of defire 
 the faints breathe in prayer, for the fenfe of God's 
 favour and love, as the comfort of their life^^ 
 nay as the one thing needful, without which they 
 cannot live. " As ^h^ hart panteth after the water- 
 brooks, fo panteth my foul after thee, O God. My 
 foul thirfteth for God, the living God. O God, 
 thou art my God ; early will I feek thee ; my foul 
 thirfteth for thee ; my flefli longeth for thee in 
 a dry and thirfty land, where no water is. Let 
 my cry come near before thee ; let my foul live, 
 and it ftiall praife thee. O that I knew where I 
 might find thee ! O be not filent to me, left I 
 be like tliofe who go down to the pit." In thefe 
 and many fuch like fpirited expreffions, the faints 
 exhibit both the deliberate exercife of judgement, 
 and the moft vehement ardour of affedion, in 
 their addreffes to God ; and the more clear and 
 enlarged their views are of God, the more fer- 
 vent are their fpirits, the higher do their affec^ 
 tions rife. Who can behold the majefty of the 
 God of Ifrael, " riding upon the heaven in the help 
 of his people, and in his excellency on the fky V* 
 Who can ferioufly attend to the important ever- 
 
 lafting 
 
Ser. X. and joy of the faint. 35-9 
 
 lading intereft of man, depending on the favour of 
 the Eternal Jehovah, and be quite cool and difpaf- 
 fionate, and not feel his foul on fire with defire ? 
 
 A farther view we fhall have of this fervent fpi- 
 rit, while I confider the feafons in which defire is 
 
 here faid to operate, — in the night, and early. . 
 
 Which implies, 
 
 I. That the exercife of defire in prayer is ha- 
 bitual. Although it be not at all times equally 
 intenfe and lively, it is in fome degree habitual 
 and inceflant ; fo that the faint can never altoge- 
 ther ceafe from praying with defire. He who is 
 moved only with a fudden flafh of affedion, feems 
 fervent in prayer for a time ; but as this affedion, 
 which has no root or fpring of life to feed it 
 gradually decays, fo dies defire and delight in 
 prayer ; and having loft delight in prayer, after 
 having drudged in it with liftlefs heavinefs for a 
 time, he at length gives it up altogether, and fo 
 becomes a barren apoftate from God, twice dead, 
 plucked up by the root. But they who are infpi- 
 red with the light of life, with faith and hope, 
 and are under the warm imprefTions of redeeming 
 love, muft neceifarily feel longing defires after 
 farther difplays of the divine glory, after nearer 
 intercourfe with the beloved of their fouls ; and 
 hence their earneft perfevering fupplications at 
 the throne of grace, " Set me as a feal upon 
 thine heart, as a feal upon thine arm : for love is 
 ftrong as death." Thus do they " cry unto God 
 
 with 
 
^6o God the defire Ser. X. 
 
 with the heart, and pray without ceafing." With 
 the great High Priefl in their eye, his merit, his 
 power, and his tender compaffions, they live and 
 die praying. 
 
 2. The expreffion farther implies the confcien- 
 tious obfervance of the ftated hours of prayer and 
 praife, the morning and evening facrifice. I need 
 not ftay to fhew particularly how reafonable it is 
 that we fhould begin and end the day with prayer 
 and thankfgiving to God. This is his command, 
 that we fhould wait on him, at thefe feafons par- 
 ticularly, with our dutiful acknowledgements for 
 mercies received, and humble fupplications for 
 thofe we ftill ftand in need of. Nor need I in- 
 form you, that, in obedience to the divine com- 
 mand, it hath ever been, and is now, the practice 
 of all the faints, to dired their prayers to God in 
 the morning, and in the evening not to be filent. 
 They who occafionally omit thefe ftated feafons of 
 devotion, in anfwer to the call of worldly cares, 
 of company and avocations, taking up the tafk in 
 fits, it may be only on the fabbath-day, or when a 
 few minutes hang heavy upon their hand, or when 
 trouble is upon them, fuch give a very fufpicious 
 difcovery of their Chriftian chara£ler. They lie 
 open to the cutting interrogatory with which Job 
 reproaches the hypocrite, " Will God hear his 
 cry when trouble cometh upon him ? Will he 
 delight himfelf in the Almighty ? Will he always 
 call upon God?'* What reafon have fuch to 
 
 fear^^ 
 
Ser. X. and joy of the faint, 36 1 
 
 fear, that having flighted God's call in his time, 
 they (liall not find him, though they may feek 
 him afterwards with tears, in their own time and 
 way ? In oppofition to this chara£ler, the fmcere 
 confcientious Chriftian dare not abfent from the 
 place and hour of prayer. Obedient to the en- 
 dearing command of his God and Father, and 
 longing for the communications of his grace, he 
 rejoices when called to join with thofe who are 
 going up to the temple to worfliip ; and, in his 
 fecret retirements, lifts up his foul to God, as Da- 
 vid did, in the evening, and morning, and at noon, 
 praying in thefe acceptable times, in full aflurance 
 of being heard. And though he finds himfeif in 
 a dull torpid temper of mind, he will, in obe- 
 dience to God's command, and in hope of quick- 
 ening by his grace, fet about the duty in its pro- 
 per feafon. If he fees before him a croud of 
 bufmefs which requires difpatch, he will rife the 
 earlier for prayer, and thereby prevent interrup- 
 tion of his duty to God, by the intrufion of world- 
 ly cares. Should fome hafty fummons that he 
 mufl: neceflfarily attend, call him from his clofet, 
 in that cafe he mufl content himfeif with a few 
 thoughts and ejaculations ; while he grieves that . 
 he has not more time to fpend with his God. — -— 
 But, 
 
 3. The exercife here exprefled brings to view, 
 devotion, in fmgular ardour, rifing to fuch vigo- 
 rous exertion, as carries the foul beyond the or- 
 Z z dinary 
 
362-' Cod the de fire Ser. X. 
 
 dinary rate and dated hours of prayer common 
 to the faints, to fpend moft, if not the whole of 
 the night, in heavenly meditation and prayer, ac- 
 cording to what the Ffalmill: aflerts to have been his 
 own exercife in particular circumftances : " 1 have 
 remembered thy name, O Lord, in the night. 
 At midnight 1 will rife to give thanks to thee. I 
 prevented the dawning of the morning, and cried. 
 Mine eyes prevented the night-watches, that I 
 might meditate on thy word.'* 
 
 Here it feems proper to obferve two things by way 
 of caution : On the one hand, that neither the 
 Pfalmifl's pradice, nor any thing in theword of God, 
 gives countenance to the ftated obfervance of devo- 
 tional night-vigils, in a continued fucceffion of de- 
 votees, when there is nothing particular in the ftate 
 of their minds, nor in their circiimftances, urging 
 them to it. This is the unwarrantable prefcription 
 cf fuperllition and will-wofihip, after the com- 
 mandments and dodrines of men. It is alfo to 
 be obferved, on the other hand, that a godly 
 jTerfon feldom ilecps out che night, without fome 
 wakeful intervals of devout conuiiuning with his 
 lieart ; and perhaps the faints freed and mod de- 
 lightful moments of intercourfe with Heaven, 
 arc in thefe filent meditations and prayers of 
 the night, when the din of the world is hulh-. 
 ed, and their eyes and ears are ihut againft the 
 bufinefs and amufements of the day ; yea, from 
 the habit of anxious defire after Chrift, thoughts 
 
 of 
 
Ser. X.' and py of the f Hint. $6^ 
 
 of him fo naturally rufli upon a fpirltual mind, 
 that with propriety one may fay, " I flecp, bur 
 my heart waketh.'* Something like this, there- 
 fore, will be found in the ordinary temper and 
 cxercife of a Chriftian ; but to rife at midnight to 
 pray and give thanks, and, after preventing the 
 Vv'atches of the night, to renew the fame exercife 
 early, is only calfed tor on extraordinary occafions 
 cither of fmgular diftrefs, or of joy, whether perfonal 
 or public, which fo entirely occupy the thoughts^ 
 that the mind canr^ot get itfelf difengaged from 
 them. Thus, when one is in a very diftrefsfui flate, 
 through im believing fears about his fpiritual 
 condition, he is then fo troubled, that he cannot 
 reft till that fear is taken oft'; or wlKn, on the o- 
 ther hand, he is in a very joyful frame, from 
 full aflurance of the divine favour, and a fignal 
 vouchfafement of intimate communion with God, 
 the comfort is then fo exquifite, that he cannot 
 cafily let it go, but muft indulge its continu- 
 ance, the fweetnefs thereof caufmg the heart of 
 him that is laid to fleep, to fpeak, and fmg for 
 joy. When David's foul is fore vexed, he all the 
 night makes his bed to fwim, he waters his couch 
 with his tears. In deep diftrefs, his eyes were 
 held waking, and his fore ran in the night. He 
 likewife records the joyful feafons, when the com- 
 forts of God had the fame eftxct upon him, to 
 keep his eyes waking, in affording him fongs in 
 the night, as the faints, when joyful in glory, arc 
 laid to fing aloud upon their beds. 
 '' ■ Z z 2 Farther, 
 
364 God the dejire Scr. X. 
 
 Farther, when the judgements of God are in 
 the earth, threatening national diftrefs. When 
 fuch alarming appearances of divine anger as 
 now hang over us, call to humiliation and prayer, 
 then it is that the children of Zion are awake, 
 and, for Zion's fake, give themfelves no reft, till 
 God make Jerufalem the praife of the whole 
 earth. ' 
 
 In the prefent calamitous quarrel between 
 Great Britain and her colonies, in which the 
 hand of God is vifibly lifted up to chaftife both 
 parties, men take different fides with keennefs of 
 zeal, juftifying and blaming the one or the other, 
 according as they are affeded, without duly at- 
 tending to the general intereft of both. They do 
 not confider, that God commands the warriors as 
 " his fanctified ones ;" — that he calls his mighty 
 ones for his anger ; — that the Lord of hofts gathers 
 the kingdoms of nations ; — that he muftereth the 
 hoft of the battle ; — that the weapons of deftruc- 
 tion are the weapons of his indignation ; — that 
 the fword of the Lord is bathed in heaven, and 
 is come down upon the people of his anger to 
 judgement ; — that he commands it to flay, and 
 multitudes to fall, every one by the fword of his bro- 
 ther ; — that through the wrath of the Lord of hofts 
 the land is darkened, when the battle of the warrior 
 is with confufed noife, and garments rolled in blood. 
 -^Such is the majeftic language of fcripture, di- 
 reding us to behold the judicial hand of God now 
 lifted up. His complaint is, that in fuch events 
 
 men 
 
Ser. X. and jdy of the faint, 365 
 
 men will not fee hira, nor learn righteoufnefs ; 
 and therefore he threatens to deftroy, and deliver 
 up to flaughter, the people that will not underfland 
 nor regard the operations of his hand. In fimilar cir- 
 cumftances of public calamity, it was ufual with the 
 faints in former times to betake themfelves to fading 
 and prayer ; wifliing their head were waters, and 
 their eyes fountains of tears, that they might weep 
 day and night for the flain of their people, and 
 for fm which flew them. In their folicitous con- 
 cern, highly awakened by the frightful fymptoms 
 of God's difpleafure, the true children of Zion rife 
 above themfelves 5 the fervour of their devotion 
 exceeds its ordinary flandard, that as they cry in 
 the day-time, fo neither can they in the night-fea- 
 fon be filent. 
 
 In like manner, their fpirits, highly elevated 
 with joy upon the return of God's favour, in fignal 
 deliverance from public diflrefs, in anfwer to their 
 humble fupplications, his fong is with them in the 
 night, affording them fweeter folace than balmy 
 fleep. 
 
 As to the ftate of mind expreffed in this fmgu- 
 lar height of devotion, I fhall only add to what has 
 been faid, that it reprefents, 
 
 1. A foul thoroughly awake, with the great 
 importance of things unfeen and eternal full in its 
 eye, having their proper weight upon the fpirit, to 
 raife in it thofe affedions they are in their nature 
 
 fit to inl]:>ire 3 and, 
 
 2. That 
 
366 God the defire Ser. X» 
 
 2. That being awake, it is freely difpofed, and 
 heartily willing, to arife to aftion. One may a- 
 wake to fome fenfe of the infelicity of a finful (late, 
 of the goodnefs of religion, and may have fomc 
 defire to be in the happy ftate of the righteous, 
 by being like them, and yet be fo far under the 
 power of a drowfy humour, fo far in bondage to 
 his flelhly eafe and floth, as to be difmclined to 
 aftion. The defire of the fluggard killeth him, or 
 torments him with felf-condemnation ; for his hands 
 refufe to work ; his prevailing floth fuggefting a- 
 gainft prefent application to labour this frivolous 
 excufe, " Yet a little fleep, yet a little flumber ;'* 
 let me alone at prefent, a little hence I will rife to 
 work. But my text exhibits a foul awake, and 
 alive at the fame time, powerfully inclined to 
 a6lion : loofed from the bonds of floth, the 
 fpirit rifes fuperior to the inchnation of fluggifli 
 nature, and, with prevailing willingnefs, engages in 
 devotional exercifes, when nature would call to refl:. 
 When defire is high, when need is prefling, and hope 
 is lively, then the expedation of fome rich boon from 
 God, eafily invites one from his couch, the fonl pre- 
 ferring freedom of converfe with God, to the foft 
 allurements of fleep. Enlivened with the fpirit of 
 life from Chrift, the faint can now fay, " My 
 heart is fixed, my heart is fixed. I will pray, 
 I will fing and give praife.'* He no longer 
 pleads with complaint of partial indifpofition,' 
 that "the fpirit is willing but the . flefli is 
 
 weak.'"' 
 
Ser. X. and joy of the faint* 367- 
 
 weak.'* The whole man is engaged in this work : 
 *' His heart and flefli cry out tor the living God," 
 faying, "When fhall 1 come and appear before God ? 
 Such lively exercife of defire, fb ferioully inflant 
 in feeking and ferving God night and day, carries 
 comfort in its very bofom, and will be followed 
 with a (till higher degree of it. Although it 
 ftruggles for a time in agonizing diftrefs againft 
 mifgiving doubts, it ordinarily iflues in ftrong 
 confolation, by liberal difcoveries and communi- 
 cations of divine love and grace, through Chrid, 
 unto all riches of the full affurance of under- 
 ftanding, to the acknowledgement of the myftery ot 
 God, and of the Father, and of Chrifl. The painful 
 exercife will probably be recompenfed with fuch a 
 folacing meffage as was brought by the angel of 
 God to Daniel, after mourning and praying for 
 fome weeks, " O man greatly beloved, fear not ; 
 for from the firft day thou didfl fet thine heart tc 
 underfland and to chaften thyfelf before God, thy 
 words were heard," thy prayers and thy tears came 
 up for a memorial before God. This confola- 
 tory fuggeflion by the Spirit to the heart, as in 
 the mean time it would fpread through the foul a 
 fullnefs of heavenly joy, fo, if followed with watch- 
 ful humility, and not abufed to prefumptuous fecu- 
 rity, it may prove the means of eflablifliing the 
 Chriftian in a calm flate of habitual affurance and 
 peace through life ; and of rendering his hope 
 tiiumphant at the hour of death, by the remem- 
 brance 
 
D 
 
 68 Gbdthedejire Ser.X. 
 
 brance of pall times, in which he tafted the fweet- 
 nefs of communion with God. 
 
 It was from a recolledion of this kind, that Ja- 
 cob derived fupport and confolation in his laft fick- 
 nefs, when, as we; read. Gen. xlviii. 2. 3. " he 
 ftrengthened himfelf, and fat upon the bed, and 
 faid unto Jofeph, God Almighty appeared unto me 
 at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blelfed me.'* 
 
 Conclusion. 
 
 From this fubjecl we learn, that in order to our 
 forming a true judgement of ourfelves, we are to en- 
 quire into the prevailing defire of our hearts. It is 
 this that determines our real chara6ter ; and any one 
 who means not to impofe on himfelf may, upon a 
 little refledion, difcover whether his defire be 
 prevailingly towards the world, and the gratifi- 
 cations of fenfe, or towards God : if towards the 
 world, he is earthly and fenfual ; if towards God, 
 he is fpiritual and heavenly. 
 
 To what has been faid of the nature of this 
 pure defire, I fhall only add, that it allows one 
 no quiet, while in doubt of the favour of God. 
 To be quite eafy in mind, while one is uncertain 
 whether God favours him or not, betrays root- 
 ed infidelity of heart, and profane contempt of 
 God. 
 
 Again, The defiire of the life of God in the foul, 
 being reftlefs for alfurance of God's love, is ever 
 aftive in fearching diligently for him, in alj the 
 ways of commanded duty, private and public, in 
 
 which 
 
3er. X. and joy of the faint. 569 
 
 which he is to be found, trying them repeat- 
 edly with increafing ardor, even after repeated diC- 
 appointment of hope. 
 
 You are not to call in queflion the fincerity o-f 
 your defire, altho' it does not raife you at mid-night 
 to pray. There is no prefcribed rule for this. It is 
 but the occafional natural eifect of fome perplexing 
 trouble, or of an overflow of comfort. To make 
 a cuftom of formal nodurnal devotion, without a 
 necelfary call to it, from fuch an extraordinary 
 ftate of mind, i& a fuperllitious Popifli penance, 
 10 which no command of God fubjeds us. God, 
 who knows our frame, bids us not confult the 
 profperity of the foul by an over-rigorous cha- 
 ftifement of the body. The delicacy of our con- 
 flitution cannot bear the aufterities of fevere fiift- 
 ing and watching, .without prejudice to our health. 
 And from the intimate connexion between the 
 two parts of our compofition, when the temper 
 of the body is relaxed and difordcred by volun- 
 tary negledt, the mind in proportion is rendered 
 unht for its proper exercife, and thereby the 
 progreffive profperity of the foul is retarded. On 
 the other hand, pampering the body, and immo- 
 derate indulgence to fleep, debilitate the vigour of 
 our intellectual faculties, which are ufually mofl 
 lively, as early in youth, fo likewife in the morn- 
 ing of the day. We ought therefore carefully to 
 avoid the two hurtful extremes of exceflive rigor 
 and unreflrained indulgence. 
 
 ^ A Wc 
 
370 God the dejire Ser. X. 
 
 We may think we defire God, becaufe we wifh to 
 be happy m efcaping the effects of his wrath for fin. 
 But in order to our being capable of defiring God 
 preferably to all the delights of fenfe, to all created 
 enjoyments, we mull be born again. It is the fpirit 
 of life from Chrift that afcends in defire to God, in 
 anfwer to the voice from heaven, " Come up hi- 
 ther." And after this defire is kindled, we muft 
 be careful, to keep the facred fire ever burning on 
 our hearts, ever rifmg in its fervour, by abftain- 
 ing from what tends to damp its flame ; and e- 
 fpeciaily by the habitual exercife of a contem- 
 plative faith upon the enlivening comforts of 
 the gofpel, its precious promifes of prefent grace 
 and future glory ; waiting upon God continually 
 in all the ways of duty for the conveyance of frefh 
 fupplies of light and life by thefe channels ; wait- 
 ing for him alfo in the way of his judgements, 
 with truft in the wifdom, power, and mercy of 
 God, for good to the public, by his public chaftife- 
 ments ; and for good to ourfelves, by our per- 
 fonal afflictions ; in hope that, with refpeft to both, 
 his kind defign by all the feverities of his provi- 
 dence is to humble and prove us, to do us good at 
 the latter end. 
 
 If you have received any fpiritual advantage at 
 this time, tenderly watch over its prefervation, hold 
 faft what you have, that none may take your 
 crown. — " Ee not high-minded, but fear." By 
 faith, by humble dependence on God's grace, by 
 
 prayer. 
 
Ser. X. and joy of the faint. 371 
 
 prayer, by watching unto prayer, you fland. 
 Thus iliall you preferve your comfort, and ho- 
 nourably fupport the character you bear, to the 
 glory of God, and the edification of his church, 
 going on profperoufly from flrength to ftrength, 
 till you finilli your courfe with joy. Amen. 
 
 3 A 2 SER- 
 
SERMON XL 
 On difcerning the Lord's body. 
 
 I Co R. xi. 29. 
 He that eatheth and drinketh unwordiily, eateth 
 and drinketh damnation to himfelf, not difcern- 
 ing the Lord's body, 
 
 T UMBERS are in ufe of receiving the fa- 
 H cramental elements, who want the know- 
 ledge and difpofition requifite for partaking aright 
 of the Lord's fupper ; and therefore, as often as 
 they eat and drink, inftead of fliewing forth the 
 Lord's death, according to his appointment, they 
 eat and drink damnation, or judgement, to them- 
 felves, not difcerning the Lord's body. 
 
 As the words of the text cxprefs that defefl: of 
 the mind which occafions unworthy communi- 
 cating, and at the fame time imply the gracious 
 quality that fits for partaking worthily, it will be 
 allowed, that they contain a mod proper fubjeft of 
 difcouriis, on a day of preparation for the folem.n 
 fervice to which we are called. 
 
 I propofe, therefore, to enquire what is inclu- 
 ded in difcerning the Lord's body, which the A- 
 poflle rcprefents asabfolutely neceflary for avoid- 
 ing the condemnation of thofe, who, by eating and 
 drinking unworthily, are guilty of the body and 
 
 blood 
 
Ser. XL On di/cerning, &c, 373 
 
 blood of the Lord : After which I fliall direct you 
 to the proper improvement of what may be faid. 
 
 That we may underfland what is meant by 
 difcerning the Lord's body, two things . muft be 
 attended to. 
 
 I. The objed prefented to our view; 
 
 1. The ad of the believing mind in difcerning 
 that objedl. 
 
 I. The objed prefented to our view is the 
 Lord's body, i. e. our Lord himfelf in his entire 
 bumanr^ature : For many paffages occur in the 
 facred writings, where the whole man is denoted 
 by one eflential part of his conftitution ; and both 
 foul and body are meant to be included when 
 one of them only is expreffed. Of this we have 
 a- clear proof in Paul's exhortation to the believing 
 Romans, chap. xii. 1 . " I bcfeech you, brethren, 
 that ye prefent your bodies a living facrifice, holy, 
 and acceptable to God, which is your reafonable 
 fervice." It can admit of no queftion, that by 
 prefenting their bodies, he means alfo their fouls, 
 the devoting themfelves wholly, foul, fpirit, and 
 body, unto God ; becaufe, M'ithout this, their bo- 
 dily fervice would be a dead, not a living facri- 
 fice, and could not be acceptable to God, who 
 demands the heart ; and, where the heart is want- 
 ing, will be fatisfied with nothing elfe. But, to 
 fpeak more diredly to the object in view, let it 
 be obferved, that it was prophefied of Chrift by 
 Ifaiah, that " his >«/ Ihould be made an offering 
 
 for 
 
374 ^^ difcerning Ser. XL 
 
 for fin," for the fins of his people, ch. liii. lo. 
 And we are told by our Apoftle, in his epiftle to 
 the Hebrews, ch. X. lo. " that believers are fancti- 
 fied through the offering of the body of Chrift 
 once for all." Thus the atone rnent for gui'ty 
 man, uaich the ^>rophet afcribes to the pouring 
 out. of Chris's foul, U afcribed by the Apoftle to 
 the ofFeving of the body of Chrift j which can ad- 
 mit of no other folution but this, that, by an u- 
 fuai figure, a part bting put for the whole, they 
 both mf-an and I'peaK of the fame ^\\VL^g^ i. e. of 
 Chrilt hlmfelf, "' 'vho hath given himfeli for us, 
 an ofT'-ring and a facrlfice to God,' Epbef. v. 2. 
 Whence it followo, that the broken body of 
 Chrifl:, to which the text calls our auent;?ii as an 
 expiatory facrifice, muft mean his whole human 
 nature, foul and body. And ii is alfo to be re- 
 marked, that as boLh thefe corflitient parts of the 
 man were efl'ential to the one facrifice v h^ch he 
 offered upon the crofs, they W2re alfo partakers 
 together of his fufferings through life, particularly 
 in the garden of Oethfem.ane before hiS cruci- 
 fixion, where he began to be fore amazed^ and in 
 an agony. And, O, how hot the confiift ! " iiis 
 body fweating as it were great drops of blood fall- 
 ing down to the ground ;" and his foul forrowful, 
 (as he expreffed it himfelf ), " exceeding forrow- 
 ftil, even unto death." Such v/as the awful 
 fcene, and fucli the moving language of the 
 man Chrift Jefus, in the hearing of his difciples ; 
 not furely of his divine nature, which is incapable of 
 agony and pain, but of his afflicted human foul. 
 
 Befides, 
 
Ser. XI. the Lord^s body, 375 
 
 Befides, without a reafonable foul united to 
 his body, he could not, properly, have been al- 
 lied to our nature, nor have taken on him the 
 feed of Abraham ; which, however, he is faid to 
 have done ; and which indeed became neceflary 
 for hill to do. He could not otherwife, as a repre- 
 fentativc of men, have been qualified to (land 
 in their place as Surety ; neither could he have 
 expiated the fm of the foul, if he had' not fuffer- 
 ed in his own foul. And, on the other hand, 
 it was no lefs neceflary, that a body fliould have 
 been prepared for him, as by this only he was 
 capable of becoming a propitiatory facrince, by 
 the fuffering of death ; and by this too his fuffer- 
 ings were rendered viable to the whole intelligent 
 creation, to angels and men, before whofe eyes 
 Jefus Chrift was evidently fet forth crucified. 
 What has been faid on this part of our argument, 
 may be fummed up in the words of the Apoftle to 
 the Hebrews, ch. ii. 17. "That he might be a 
 merciful and faithful high prieft, in things pertain- 
 ing to God, to make reconciliation for the fins of 
 the people, it behoved him to be made like unto 
 his brethren in all things.'* 
 
 By this view of Chrift in the lacrament of the 
 fupper, as clothed with our nature in its lowed 
 fuffering ftate, it may alfo be intended to exhibit 
 the amazing condefcenfion of the eternal Son of 
 God, in becoming a frail man, to be crucified in 
 weaknefs : " who, (as we read), Philip, ch. ii. 6. 
 to 8.) though he was in the form of God, and 
 
 thought 
 
^jG On dlfcerning Ser. XL 
 
 thought it not robbery to be equal with God ; yet 
 made himfelf of no reputation, and took upon 
 him the form of a fervant, and was made in the 
 likenefs of men : and being found in fafliion as a 
 man, he humbled himfelf, and became obedient 
 unto death, even the death of the crofs." If you 
 alk. Why did Chrifl aflume this humble form ? 
 and why in that form did he fuffer and die ? we 
 have the anfwer, Heb. ii. 14. " Forafmuch as the 
 children were partakers of flefh and blood, he alfo 
 himfelf took part of the fame ; that through death 
 he might deflroy him that had the power of death.'* 
 
 ■ This leads to 
 
 Another and more important view our text 
 gives of the obje£l we are called to difcern ; a view 
 that fpreads an awful glory around the weak, the 
 defpifed body of a fufFering Jefus : It is called, 
 the Lord's body, the body of him who is em- 
 phatically ftyled The Lord, This high title which is 
 exclufive of an equal, belongs to the one God, and 
 is given to him only. So Jefus is defigned the 
 one Lord, and Lord of all. To which of the an- 
 gels is this name given at any time ? Not to the 
 highefl; Seraph ? No : they are all commanded to 
 worfliip the Son as their Lord and God. The 
 broken body of a crucified Jefus, reprefented by 
 the facramental bread, is the Lord's body ; not 
 merely his property, as is the earth, and the full- 
 nefs thereof, the world and they that dwell there- 
 in, Pf. xxiv. I. ; but his body, by the moft intimate 
 and indiiToluble union. Such interefl as the foul of 
 
 man 
 
Ser. XL the Lord's body, yjy 
 
 man has in his body, as an eflential part of the 
 human conftitution, the fame intereft the Eter- 
 nal Word hath in this body whereof my text 
 fpeaks, as a part of himfelf, or as it enters into 
 the conftitution of his divine perfon ; and hence 
 his name is called Immanuel^ or Cod-man, It 
 is this conftitution of the Mediator's perfon which 
 gives the true interpretation of that amazing paf- 
 fage of fcripture, — God purchafed the church 
 with his otvn blood, — his own perfonal blood, 
 properly belonging to the human nature indeed, but 
 juftly called the blood of God, inafmuch as the man 
 Jefus, whofe blood was fhed, was united perfonal- 
 ly to the everlafting God ; an union that render- 
 ed his blood precious beyond conception ; infinite- 
 ly valuable, and efficacious to obtain the eternal 
 redemption of innumerable fouls. 
 
 This is the great objed exhibited to our 
 faith, and which faith difcerns in the facramen- 
 tal fymbols, — " the Lord*s body, — God mani- 
 fefted in the flefli," — the Eternal Word clothed 
 with the human nature, and in that nature 
 wounded, broken, and bruifed, and fo offered up 
 a real proper facrifice for fin. This juft view of 
 it gives high importance, a grandeur and maje- 
 fty, to the inftitution, though of mean appearance 
 to the carnal eye. The natural man, who wants 
 faith, and looks no farther than to the outfide of 
 the ordinance, fees no beauty, nor glory, nor im- 
 portance, in it, for which, upon its own account, 
 
 % B he 
 
^3 On difcerning Ser. XL 
 
 he fliould defire it. Many, therefore, who now 
 fit down at the Lord's table, would never appear 
 there, v/ere it not to pleafe thofe with whom they 
 may be conneded in civil life, or to carry on their 
 felfifii defigns to gr'eater advantage, by prefer- 
 ving fome charader among the religious part of 
 mankind ; efpecially fuch as are members with 
 them of the fame church. When, therefore, 
 merely in comphance with the cuflomary natio- 
 nal profeffion, tliey partake of the elements, and 
 at the fame time have no fenfe nor impreffion of 
 the great objed: reprefented by them, they muft 
 neceifarily wonder why men make fo much ado 
 about this ordinance, and are at fuch pains to 
 prepare for it. But to them who believe, it is 
 truly precious, important, and folemn ; while in 
 it they behold the divine glory of the only- begot- 
 ten Son of God ; the great God and their Sa- 
 viour, made flefh, and made a curfe for them, 
 bearing their fms in his own body on the tree. 
 
 Faith's fpiritual difcernment of this great ob- 
 jed, is what qualifies for communicating worthily 
 and profitably ; and without it, fuppofe one were 
 ever fo intelligent, and perfuaded of the hiftori- 
 cal fad of Chrift's crucifixion, whereof the or- 
 dinance is commemorative, he partakes unwor- 
 thily, being devoid of true judgement, of affec- 
 tion, and devotion. The table of the Lord is 
 contemptible to him, it is profaned, its fpiritual 
 fruit is difreliflied and defpifed j infomuch that 
 
 what 
 
Ssr. XI. the Lord's body. 379 
 
 what fboulJ have been for his welfare becomes a 
 
 fnare, and hurtful to his true intereft. Which 
 
 leads me, 
 
 II. To confider tlie ad of the believing mind 
 jn difccrning the Lord's body. 
 
 It implies a fupernatural faculty of the foul, which 
 js a fpccial gift from God, and is not difpenfed to 
 men promifcuoufly. It is not the natural privilege 
 of any man ; nor is it acquired by the utmofl exer- 
 tion of reafon. It is fomething fuperadded to our 
 natural faculties, and peculiar to thofc that are en- 
 lightened from above, who are thereby enabled 
 to conceive of divine things in a manner impof^ 
 fible to others. As fome have a natural tafte or 
 difcernment of propriety, of elegance and beau- 
 ty, which, though it receives improvement by 
 exercife, is not an acquired accomplifliment, but 
 a natural gift ; fo this difcernnient of the Lord's 
 body is a particular gift or quality of grace peculiar 
 to a true believer : *•' For the natural man recei- 
 veth not the things of the Spirit of God, neither 
 can he know them, becaufe they are fpiritually difr 
 cerned." Again, 
 
 This difcernment differs greatly from our 
 knowledge by reafoning. It is the province of 
 Reafon to infer one thing from another ; as, 
 when the people faw the miracles of Chrift, they 
 thence concluded, " This is the prophet that 
 fliould come." Reafon alfo infers the exigence of 
 thing?, while we fee not the objeds themfelves,, 
 3 B 2 anrt; 
 
jSo On difcernuig Ser. XI, 
 
 and feel little or nothing of their effects upon us ; 
 as when one beholds the moon, and other pla- 
 nets, fliining with a borrowed light from the fun, 
 his reafon concludes, that the fun certainly exifls, 
 though it be out of his fight, and he is not fen- 
 fible of its warm refrefhing beams. To difcern 
 is to perceive what is prefent to our view. It ex- 
 prefTes knowledge by intuition, or looking on 
 what is before us, rather than by dedudlions or in- 
 ference. In viewing the Lord's body in the facra- 
 mental elements, the believer indeed reafons ; but 
 all the reafoning required is fo fimple, that the un- 
 learned is at no lofs to comprehend it. *' Thefe 
 figns (fays he) are inftituted for bringing a cru- 
 cified Jefus to my remembrance ; and I do re- 
 member him." And in remembering him by the 
 help of thofe external figns, the divine objed fig- 
 nified by them, is, through faith, prefent to his 
 mind •, and that in proportion as the Lord is plea- 
 fed to blefs the elements, and to manifeft himfelf 
 in the breaking of that bread. Whereas the man 
 that remembers Chrift in the facrament as cru- 
 cified, only by the exercife of his reafon, and 
 merely as an hiflorical faft ; though he may, by 
 a hvely imagination, figure to himfelf a fcene fo 
 tragical, as raifes a violent commotion of the ani- 
 mal fpirits ; yet thq divine objeft e:^^hibited to 
 faith's view is hid from him. It enters not into 
 his underftanding nor heart ; and therefore he 
 partakes of the elements ignorantly, in unbelief; 
 
 while 
 
Ser.XI. the Lord's body. 3S1 
 
 while the true believer fees in them Jefus Chrifl: e- 
 vidently fet forth crucified before his eyes, to his 
 humiliation, comfort, ?nd joy. 
 
 It may not be unneceifary flill to infill:, that it 
 is not a difcernment by fcnfe of a fenfible objeft, 
 but a fpiritual difcernment of a fpiritual objeft, 
 quite diftinct from, and infinitely tranfcending in 
 excellence what may be known by our fenfes, by 
 feeing, by tailing, by handling. The fenfible 
 figns give occafion to the remembrance of the a- 
 dorable objeft, which is of a quite difi'erent nature 
 from them, and to be apprehended by a different 
 faculty froni eyes of flefh, i. e. by the fpiritual eye 
 of the new creature. 
 
 Papifls, even by their abfurd blafphemous doc- 
 trine of Chrift's corporal prefence in the hoft, ac- 
 knowledge the neceifity of attending to an object 
 different from the bread. At the fame time, by 
 tranfubflantiating the bread into Chrifl's bodyj 
 to be eaten in a natural way, they difallow the fa- 
 culty of fpiritual difcernment, and of faith's feed- 
 ing on an unfeen Jefus ; perverting both into 
 what is merely fenfible, and in a way that pal- 
 pably contradicts fcripture, reafon, and fenfe. By 
 keeping the divine objed out of fight, they, a- 
 greeably to the corrupt heart of man, render 
 faith's labour and exercife unneceffary for falva- 
 tion ;. and fo would lead the ignorant multitude 
 to fuppofe it in the power of every man, in the 
 natural way of eating, to partake of Chrifl's fa- 
 
 ving 
 
582 On difcerning Ser. Xi, 
 
 ving benefits, though he is not there in a corpo- 
 ral, but a fpiritual fenfe : fo that, whatever elfe 
 is pretended to be brought to view by the ma- 
 gic of confecration, can be no other than the 
 idol of mens fancy, fubftituted in Chrift^s place. 
 By what fafcmation could the world be brought 
 fo univerfaily to fwallow fuch an abfurdity and a- 
 
 bomination ? Good caufe have we in thefe 
 
 happy ides, gratefully to blefs God, that we are 
 taught according to the pure truth of fcripture, 
 which direfts us to view the fymbols of breaci 
 , and wine, as commemorative figns of the cruci- ° 
 fixion of the Son of God in our nature ; and in 
 partaking of them, to call him to mind, with trufl 
 in the atoning virtue of his death, for eternal re- 
 demption. 
 
 In amplification of what hath already been ad- 
 vanced, it will be proper to confider more parti- 
 cularly, firji. What faith difcerns in the Lord's 
 broken body ; and, fecondly^ How the foul is af- 
 fefted by what it thus difcerns. 
 
 Firji, As to what faith difcerns in the Lord's 
 body. 
 
 1 . It fees the Eternal Word, (whofe goings 
 forth have been from of old, from everlafting), 
 clothing himfelf with human nature, and coming 
 into the world in the likenefs of finful flefh ; but 
 in himfelf without fin, holy, harmlefs, and unde-- 
 filed. It fees the only-begotten Son of God, ap- 
 pointed, qualified, and fent by the Father frorp 
 
 heaven 
 
Ser. XI. the Lord's body. ^ 3^^ 
 
 heaven to earth, for the redemption of a perifli- 
 ing world. It fees man, and more than man, 
 the great God in and with man, by the wife con- 
 trivance of Heaven, reprefcnting, redeeming, and 
 faving man. 
 
 Faith (which perceives fomething godlike in 
 this great truth) fees it with certainty ; *•' knowing 
 affuredly that Jefus came forth from God, and that 
 the Father did fend him." It is peculiar to di- 
 vine faith, to be infallibly perfuaded of divine 
 truth. The moll: rational natural man in the 
 world, " being alienated from the life of God, 
 becaufe of the blindnefs of his heart," believes 
 not with an infallible perfuafion of the truth. 
 Upon m.oral evidence, he is obliged to affent to 
 it ; but he is not affuredly perfuaded of it in his 
 heart : " Great is the myftery of godlinefs, God 
 manifefled in the flefh." This is fo contrary 
 to the apprehenfions of an unenlightened mind, 
 that " his being believed on in the world," is rec- 
 koned part of that myftery, and what Chrifl him- 
 felf tells us is hid from the natural man, however 
 wife and prudent in other refpeds. Whence it 
 appears, that no man can believe with the heart 
 unto falvation, but by a divine faith of God's o- 
 peration ; or, to fpeak in the language of infpira- 
 tion, '' no man can fay that Jefus is the Lord, 
 but by the Holy Ghoft j" he cannot fay it with 
 fuch a firm unfliaken faith, as to rely upon and trufc 
 in him. 
 
 Thus 
 
384 071 difcerniug Ser. XI. 
 
 Thus true faith, and true faith only, fees with 
 certainty this important truth, That the Son of God 
 is come in the fleili, upon the benevolent defign 
 of redeeming a guilty world, by laying down his 
 life for them. He who thus believes, is born of 
 God, is tranflated from darknefs to light, and 
 beholds the glory of Chrift in human form, as 
 the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace 
 and truth. The hearts of others are fo enveloped 
 in darknefs, that they apprehend not this truth in 
 its highly interefting reality, and can fee no form 
 or comelinefs in Chrift why he fliould be de- 
 fired. 
 
 2. True faith fees this divine perfon, after he^ 
 had finiflied a courfe of perfed obedience on 
 earth, yielding his facred body unto death, as a 
 real propitiatory facrifice for fin, in the room 
 of fallen apoftate man, offering himfelf unto 
 God, through the Eternal Spirit, in the per- 
 feO: exercife of all the graces of the Spirit, in 
 the perfection of love to his Father, and to his 
 people, and in the firmeft unfhaken truft in 
 God, for fupport under his fufferings, for an ho- 
 nourable end of them, and for fuccefs to his 
 great undertaking, in bringing many fons to 
 glory. It was this voluntary offering up through 
 the Eternal Spirit, of his humanity, perfonaliy u- 
 nited to his divinity, that rendered his facrifice, 
 what it appears to be to the eye of faith, of a 
 fweet-fmelling favour to the Moft High, in which 
 
 the 
 
Ser. XL the Lord's body, ^Sj' 
 
 the truth and fubftance of all the legal fhadows 
 received their full accompHfliment, and by which 
 alone reconciliation could be made for iniquity- 
 In this mvfterious facrifice, faith fees the awful 
 glory of inflexible juftlce;, the amiable difplays 
 t)f tender mercy, and the depth of the riches, 
 both of the wifdom and knowledge of God, in 
 reconciling the feeming oppofite interells of thofe 
 divine attributes with refped to guilty man, 
 caufing them to meet in perfeft harmony, and 
 maintaining at the fame time the rights of both 
 in their highefl: exefcife, in puniihing fm with 
 tremendous feverity, and faving the fmner with 
 matchlefs grace and love. 
 
 3. Faith fees Jefus to be Lord even in his hu- 
 mihation and abafement, in his agonies and for- 
 rows. It fees him exerting the power of a God, 
 *' in bearing the curfe of the law in his own body 
 on the tree." This curfe was the fling of his 
 fuiFerings, which pierced his inmoll foul; — the 
 awful load, whence it became forrowful, ex- 
 ceeding forrowful, unto death. Who then but 
 a God could have borne, without fainting, the 
 dreadful weight ? Had Chrift been no more 
 than a mere creature, poiTelling the ftrength of 
 all creatures in one, he muft have funk under the 
 infinite load. His viQ-orious fufferings cry aloud, 
 from the crofs, to creation, " Behold the man, in- 
 extreme fufferings, ftill maintaining the dignity of 
 the Son of God, the dignity of perfect innocence 
 -: C and 
 
86 On difcermng Ser. XL 
 
 and hollnefs, and confefs him fuflained by h'n 
 eternal Godhead ! See him, in human nature, 
 a£ting a part becoming a man fo nearly allied to 
 God ! lovely, infinitely lovely, in his life ! in 
 death, like the fetting fun, beammgj if poffible, 
 in ftiU brighter glory ! See him then finifliing a 
 Gourfe of the moft painful obedience, in the per- 
 fedion oi meek refignation to the will of ■ his Fa- 
 ther, fmiting and aitlitllng him in the day of his 
 fierce anger!'* — *' O my Father, if this cup 
 may not pafs away from me, except I drink it, 
 thy will be done^" See here a conquering God 
 
 in a fufFering man ! Thus, 
 
 4. Faith fees the Lord's broken body accomplifh*- 
 ing the great purpofe intended by it, the expiation 
 of fin ; and calls to us, in the words of the Re- 
 deemer's harbinger, " Behold the Lamb of God 
 that taketh away the fin of the world." The 
 Meffiah, having been cut off for the fins of the 
 people, hath finifhed tranfgrefiicn, and made re- 
 conciliation for iniquity. God having laid on 
 him the fi^ns of a whole eleft world, he, by one 
 offering, hath completed the atonement of them ; 
 the certain effect of which is, that many heavei> 
 born fons fliall be brought to glory. 
 
 The great evidence of this (and which the 
 Lord's fupper is defigned to bring to view, as 
 well as his death) is iiis refurredion from tlie 
 dead, and his triumphant entrance into glory. 
 
 The 
 
Scr. XI. the LorcUs body. 387 
 
 The defignatlon of tlie Lord's body given to the 
 human nature of«Chrift crucified, fuggcfts to us, 
 that his body could not have continued under 
 the power of death, but muft have revived : 
 *' And he is rifen indeed ; for though he was cru- 
 cified in weaknefs, he lives by the power of God." 
 His voice, in the facramental fymbols, fpeaks 
 thus in our ears : " I am he that hveth, and 
 was dead j and behold, I am alive for evermore, 
 and have the keys of hell, and of dea:h." 
 Through death, he hath deftroyed him that had 
 the power of death ; and for the fufFering of 
 death, he is crowned with glory and honour. He 
 is raifed to reign in the fame nature that died, 
 as Lord over all. This declares the efficacy of 
 his facrifice to raife to life thofe for whom it was 
 ' offered. For men he died, and for men he rofe 
 again, in their name, and as their head. Hence 
 the fulled affurance that they fhall rife with him, 
 and follow him to glory : " For now is Chrifl 
 rifen, and become the firil-fruits of them who 
 flept." " And fince by man came death, by man 
 came alfo the refur region from the dead ;" which 
 exprefles the propriety of mens deliverance from 
 fm and death by one man, conftituted their headi, 
 and fatisfying the law in their place : " If, there- 
 fore, we believe that Jefus died, and rofe again ;, 
 even fo them alfo who fleep in Jefus will God 
 Ipj-ing with him." Such is the elevating encou- 
 3 C 2, ragement. 
 
^88 On difcerning Ser. Xf. 
 
 ragement prefented to our view by the Lord's bo- 
 dy. 1 add, 
 
 Laftly, That from this view of the Lord's body, 
 held forth in the facramental fymbols as the of- 
 fering of the body of Jefus, a high-prieft taken 
 from among men, .one may derive comfort to 
 himfelf in particular : for no fooner are his eyes 
 opened to behold Chrift crucified, and his ears to 
 hear tlie call, going along with this exhibition of 
 him, to all the world, to every individual that 
 claims kindred to the human nature, to look to 
 this great facrifice for redemption, than he fees 
 his own right and title to trufl: to it ; and in 
 trufting to it, fees ground for the mod aflured 
 hope of pardon and eternal life. It is by blinding 
 our minds, and hiding Chrifl from our view, that 
 Satan keeps us from trufling our guilty fouls to 
 him, " for redemption in his blood." Were the 
 vail taken from our hearts, to fee him in the 
 light of a propitiatory facrifice, every one would 
 confidendy come under' " the refuge of his 
 wings," with the difciple's exclamation of parti- 
 cular trufl, " My Lord, and my God !" 
 
 To this appropriating aft of faith, which brings 
 Chrift, and the benefits of his death, home to 
 our own fouls, we are called in a particular man- 
 ner, in the facrament of the fupper, " Take, 
 eat ; this is my body, broken for you." War- 
 ranted by this divine teftimony, the teftimony of 
 Jefus himfelf, the believing communicant echoes; 
 
 back 
 
Ser. XL the Lord*s body. 3S9 
 
 back with holy joy and confidence, " This is 
 Chrift's body, broken for me. — This is my be- 
 loved, and this is my friend ; — who laved me, 
 and gave himfelf for me." 
 
 Having thus, in feveral particulars, brought to 
 view what faith difcerns in the Lord's body, I 
 next proceed to fliow, in the 
 
 Second place, How the foul is affeded with what 
 it thus difcerns. 
 
 It is of importance to attend to the afFedions 
 raifed by faith's contemplation of Chrifl in his 
 death : for by them it may be known furely, that 
 he is truly feen ; and by the want of them, it 
 may as certainly be known, that he is not feen in 
 the faving light of which we fpeak. 
 
 I. Faith's view of Chriil in his death, raifes 
 wonder and admiration, which mingle with 
 the exercife of all devout aft'edions. See Luke, 
 xxiv. 41. Faith is a marvellous Hght, unfold- 
 ing amazing wonders to the believing mind. To 
 one newly awaked from fleep, and coming 
 out of darknefs, it is an aftonifhing fight, to fee 
 the great God, who is faid to humble himfelf 
 when he beholds the things that are in heaven 
 and in the earth, condefcending fo low as to be 
 made flefn, that, by the energy of God in man, 
 he might, agreeably to the divine law and confti- 
 tution, fave men. And yet here we fee fomething 
 ilill more aftonifliing : we fee this God-man (vvhofe 
 humanity, on account of its union to God, chal- 
 lenges the profoundeft refpecl from angels and 
 
 men) 
 
S9<^ On difcerfiing Ser. XL 
 
 , men) fubmitting to the greateft indignities, to 
 die as the bafeft criminal, in the molt ignominious 
 manner, that, in fatisfying the law for men, he 
 might procure their efcape from its curfe. 
 
 And when thus beholding the wonderful con- 
 defcending grace of the Saviour, we fee the no 
 lefs wonderful counfel of God, in devnfmg this 
 gracious plan of redemption, which exhibits mer- 
 cy and juilice in their utmoft glory. -Here 
 
 indeed is a myftery of grace and wifdom, afto- 
 nifliing to angels ; and which fo far exceeds the 
 comprehenfion of the inhabitants of this world, 
 that, though it comes recommended by the moft 
 unqueftionable teftimony of its truth, yet the be- 
 lieving of it, as above obferved, enters into the 
 great myftery of godlinefs. He who thus difcerns 
 the Lord's body fees in it this myflery ; and in 
 beholding it, is filled with the higheft admiration. 
 We may therefore conclude, without breach of 
 charity, that he who, in partaking of the facra- 
 incntal elements, has never had his wonder raifed, 
 in any degree, by what they reprefent, hath never 
 feen the Lord's body. He hath not feen God, 
 and God manifefted in the flefli. 
 
 2. Faith's view of the Lord's body affeds the 
 foul with fear, fear of God's holy indignation a- 
 gainft fin. In Chrifl crucified God appears a con- 
 fuming fire. O what an infinite evil mufl: fin be, 
 that could not be expiated, nor the finner faved, 
 ^yithout {bedding the precious blood of Chrift ! 
 
 How 
 
Ser. XI. the Lord's body. 3^1 
 
 How tremendous the wrath kindled by it, arid 
 the inflexible feverity of divine juftice, that could 
 not be pacified, but by the agonies, and forrows, 
 and death, of fuch a divine perfon ! How dread- 
 ful the fight ! the Son of God incarnate, fuffcr- 
 ing, bleeding, and dying, a viditn for fm, upon 
 the crofs ! This carries a more fright! ul alarm to 
 the guilty minds of men, than the awful glory of 
 God upon Mount Sinai, when he defcended up- 
 on it in fire, in thunderings and lightnings, and 
 with the found of a trumpet. The language of it 
 is, that God will by no means clear the guilty, 
 without full fatisfadion to all the demands of law 
 and juftice : fo that, if we come Ihort of an inte- 
 reft in the atoning death of Chrift, " there re- 
 mains no more facrifice for fins, but a certain 
 fearful looking for of judgement and fiery indig- 
 nation." If juftice fpared not the well-beloved 
 and only-begotten Son of the Father, but fmote 
 him to death, when he became the fubftitute of 
 finners ; will it, can it fpare the guilty offend- 
 ers ? How can they efcape cverlafting deftruc- 
 tion, if they rejedl the benefit of his facrifice ? 
 In this view of the Lord's facred body, broken 
 for the fins of men, one is affected with fear of 
 God's glorious holinefs, and joins trembling with 
 
 his mirth. Thus, 
 
 3. As faith's view of the Lord's body raifes 
 holy awe, and dread of God's hot difpleafure a- 
 gainft fin, it at the fame time infpires vi'ith joy 
 
 and 
 
59^5 On di/cenihig Ser. Xt; 
 
 and hope. When we fee God and man united 
 as one perfon in Chrift, faith glories in him as 
 fuch a furety, and fuch a high pried; as our cir- 
 cumftances required, at whofe birth the heavenly 
 hofl, looking forward to his atonement, proclaimed 
 *' peace on earth, good-will towards men." Again, 
 faith's view of an incarnate God, gives the well- 
 grounded hope, that God and man, however far 
 feparated by fin, may again be brought nigh 
 through the blood of Chrift, and united toge- 
 ther in the everlafting bonds of love and peace. 
 Amazing grace ! He who thus dwelleth in love, 
 dwelleth in God, and God in him. As con- 
 nefted with this, when we farther fee this 
 divine perfon becoming obedient unto death, 
 for the offences of men, and thereby abolifli- 
 ing the curfe, and blotting out the hand-wri- 
 ting of ordinances that was againft us, (where- 
 of God hath given the world the fulleft affurance, 
 in that he hath raifed him from the dead) ; this 
 effedually removes the fearful apprehenfions of the 
 curfe of the law, and affords the joyful hope of 
 certain deliverance from it, in confequence of our 
 believing. It relieves of the pain of anxious un- 
 certainty about a future ilate, and affords good 
 hope beyond the grave, that " when our earthly 
 houfe of this taberiiacle is diffolved, we have a 
 building of God, a houfe not made with hands, 
 eternal in the heavens.^' In this hope, the fin- 
 cere communicant rejoices in fpirir, finging and 
 
 making 
 
Ser. XL the Lord's body. 393 
 
 making melody In his heart to the Lord. Need I 
 add, 
 
 4. That faith's view of Chrifl in his death 
 kindles love to God ? In Chrift's broken body, 
 God, " who is rich in mercy," manifefts that great, 
 that unfpeakable love wherewith he loved the 
 world, in giving his Son to die for ungodly fm- 
 ners. This love of God to men conflrains love 
 to him in return. But when, in feeling the dif- 
 tinguifhlng efFe£ls of his love, one can fay, 
 " God, who loved the world, hath loved me with 
 an everlafting love ; he hath, in fome meafure, 
 fhewed me his love and glory in Chrift, and with 
 loving kindnefs hath he drawn my heart to him ;'* 
 O how doth love then rife in its heavenly ardour ! 
 This, I know, is confonant to the experience of 
 fome, I trufl of many now hearing me, who, in 
 difcerning Chrift's broken body, by a true and 
 lively faith, as the appointed facritice for fin, for 
 their fins in particular, have felt all the affeclio- 
 nate powers of the foul, fwailowed up in God, 
 crying out, with wonder and delight, " O the 
 height and depth, the breadth and length, of the 
 love of God in Chrift ; love which paffeth know- 
 ledge ! Behold what manner of love the Father 
 hath beftowed upon us, that we (liould partake of 
 the childrens bread !" But, alas ! what vaft num- 
 bers in partaking of the ordinance, mean only to 
 commemorate the event of Chrift's death as the 
 matter of belief, without feeling any operation of 
 % D love 
 
394 On difcerning Ser. XL 
 
 ]ove and gratitude, any melting of heart towards 
 God, for his great love wherewith he hath loved 
 us ! If there are any fuch here prefent, their hard 
 infenfible fouls bear witnefs, themfelves being 
 judges, that their eyes have not yet been opened 
 to difcern the Lord*s body. 
 
 Some ferious Chriftian may flarde at this, and 
 fear that he is not a living v/orthy communicant, 
 becaufe he finds his love far fhort of the meafure 
 of love due in return to the love of God. This 
 is no uncommon complaint with the people of God : 
 A complaint which fometimes rifes from love to 
 Chrift ; and which they cannot deny when the que- 
 ftion is put to them, as it was by our Lord to Peter, 
 but mud confefs with Peter, " Lord, thou knowefi: 
 all things, thou knoweft that I love thee," tho' not 
 as 1 ought, nor as thy love deferves. The more 
 enlarged the Chriftian's views are of the love of 
 God in Chrift Jefus, the more fenfible he is of 
 the deficiency of his own love. Even when he 
 enjoys mofl of the comforts of God's favour, and 
 is in the bell temper of mind, he complains of 
 the coldnefs and imperfedion of his love, that 
 it afcends not v/ith a perfectly pure flame. Hence 
 the faints, being burdened, earneftly long, and 
 pray, with weeping fuppllcation, for the happy 
 period when love fhall be made perfect, and the 
 
 whole man fliall be one flame of love. ■ 
 
 But, 
 
 5'. and 
 
ber 
 
 . XL the Lord's body. 395* 
 
 5. and laftly, Faith's view of the Lord's body- 
 awakens forrow and mourning, — the forrow and 
 mourning, not of fear, but of love. " They fliall 
 look upon him whom they have pierced, and they 
 fhall mourn for him." They fhall feel fympathy 
 with him, that diflblves in a foft flood of tears, 
 when they fee him expreffing his wonderful love 
 to a fmful ungrateful world, by fuffering fuch 
 extreme torments on their account ; — love (Irong- 
 er than death ; — love which led him to encounter 
 a death tormenting as the colleded pains of hell, 
 a death fo full of horror, as on its firll appear- 
 ance drew from him that moving complaint, 
 " Now is my foul troubled, and what fliall I fay ?" 
 as if the Son of God was put to a fland with the 
 (tern afpeft of death envenomed with the fting of 
 the curfe. On fight of him, with the arrows of 
 the Almighty flicking faft in his foul, the believer 
 mourns for him : — " Ah, that the holy and inno- 
 cent Lamb of God, he who never oifended, but 
 did always that which pleafed his Father, it wounds 
 my foul to think that he fliould be fo fmitten of 
 God and afflicted. Surely he hath borne our 
 griefs, and carried our forrows ! With a fuffering 
 Jefus in my eye, can I but weep for him, as did 
 the daughters of Jerufalem when he was led away 
 to his crofs ? Was ever forrow like unto his for- 
 row ! w^as ever love like unto his love, which led 
 him to endure fuch unparallelled forrow for ene- 
 mies !" 
 
 3 D 2 Wheu. 
 
-» 
 
 96 072 difcerniiig Ser. XI. 
 
 When one refle£ts upon the unworthy returns 
 he hath made to this love, he is affeded with in- 
 genuous fliame and forrow. In feeing the well- 
 beloved Son of God put to grief for his fins, holy 
 indignation rifes in his breaft againft fin and a- 
 gainft himfelf. O how willingly now, in com- 
 pliance with the defign of Chiiil's death, does he 
 refign the whole body of fin to be deftroyed ! 
 " Let not that accurfed thing live in me, for 
 ■which the Son of God, my Saviour, died.'* 
 
 Thus the true difcernm-ent of the Lord's body 
 awakens to exercife all devout affedions, and e- 
 ver leaves upon the foul a fanftifying impreffion. 
 It is powerful to draw the heart from fin, to raife 
 its abhorrence of all " idols," to kindle its ardent 
 love of holinefs, and to influence it, with alacrity 
 and fpirit, to univerfal obedience. " Beholding 
 the glory of the Lord, in this death, we are 
 changed into the fame image, from glory to 
 glory." And ever in proportion to our fpiritual 
 difcernment of the Lord's body, fhall be the melt- 
 ing of heart taken notice of, the keennefs of our 
 hatred at fin, and the ardour of our love to holi- 
 nefs. 
 
 They who fit down at the Lord's table with- 
 out feeling any imprellion of this kind, — who 
 partake of the elements without adoring wonder, 
 without filial fear, without joy, without love, with- 
 out forrow, without any painful feeling of fin, 
 without indignation againft it, and a vehement de- 
 fire 
 
Ser. XI. the Lord's body. 397 
 
 fire of holinefs, are certainly blind to the nature of 
 the ordinance. They receive no benefit by it, but 
 rather great prejudice to their fouls ; they eat and 
 drink judgement to themfelves. 
 
 I (hall now conclude with a (liort improvement 
 of the fubjed. And, 
 
 From what has been difcourfed, agreeably, I 
 hope, to truth, we fee, that eating of the Lord's 
 fupper is a ferious and folemn a6lion, which draws 
 after it very important confequences, greatly to 
 our profit or to our prejudice. He muft think 
 fo who ftudies to enter into the fpirit of things, 
 and who knows he has more to find than the 
 mere knowledge of the dodrines, even the di- 
 vine object itfelf, to which the dodrines are de- 
 figned to lead us. He who regards this ordi- 
 nance only as a refpedable ceremony, an ordi- 
 nary matter, of eafy comprehenfion, and of 
 eafy performance, muff be little acquainted with 
 God, with himfelf, and with every thing of a 
 facred, fpiritual nature. Partaking of the Lord's, 
 fupper has the form of figning, fealing, and rati- 
 fying a mutual engagement between God and our 
 fouls. If. xliv. 5. It is certainly the mofl ferious 
 tranfadion with God, for eternity, that can em- 
 ploy the mind of man ; a tranfadion which re- 
 quires a capacity quite above what is natural to 
 ?iny man, a capacity of feeing and believing what 
 ;s invifible to the eye of fenfe, and can be known 
 
 only 
 
398 On cUfcerning Ser. XL 
 
 only by the revelation of the Spirit. I fay not this 
 to difcourage any ferious perfons who have a great 
 defire after the ordinance, and the glorious objed 
 it reprefents, a crucified Jefus ; but who, fenfible 
 of its great folemnity, and queflioning their fit- 
 nefs for it, fear to approach. Thofe who are 
 fincere, but of fearful hearts, I would encourage 
 and flrengthen. I mean only to- deter the igno- 
 rant and unbelieving, the diffolute and profane, 
 the hypocrite, or fuch as regard iniquity in their 
 heart, from meddling with thefe facred fymbols.' 
 O be not too rafh to approach the Lord's table ; 
 it will be to your hurt. Neither be eafy in the 
 negled of the duty ; fet about preparing for it 
 with all diligence and fpeed. Look ferioufly in- 
 to the flate of your fouls. " Put off the old 
 man, put on the new man,'^ Chrifl Jefus. Be a 
 Chriftian firft, and then be a communicant. Be- 
 lieve 71010^ as you are called, in the Lord Jefus, 
 that you may have redemption through his blood, 
 and peace with God. A delay in this matter is ex- 
 tremely dangerous, as you know not what a day 
 or an hour may bring forth. " What then your 
 hand findeth to do, do it with thy might ; for there 
 is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wif- 
 dom, in the grave, whither thou goeft." And 
 now let what has been above reprefented, agree- 
 ably to the dodrine of the text, be deeply im- 
 prelfed upon your mind ; I mean, that in order to. 
 ?i due participation of the Lord's fupper, commu- 
 nicants. 
 
Ser. XL the Lord's body. 399 
 
 nlcants mud have that fpiritual difcernment, which, 
 through the fymbols of bread and wine, beholds 
 the man Chrift Jefus, " in his died garments, 
 glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatnefs 
 of his ftrength, mighty to fave," till, warmed with 
 a live coal from this altar, they love him, adore 
 him, truft and rejoice in him. Such faving difco- 
 vcries of the Lord of glory, and Redeemer of 
 mankind, are, I may venture to affirm, a fuper- 
 natural gift, which you mud humbly afk from him, 
 yea, muft in fome meafure obtain, and feel its 
 happy effe£ls in your heart ; otherwife you cannot 
 with profit, or with fafety, partake of the ordi- 
 nance. 
 
 I cannot conclude without obferving, that the A- 
 poflle, in this chapter, after taking notice of the 
 unhappy divifions and diforders which then rent 
 thj church of Corinth, fo contrary to this feafl: of 
 love, reprefents many of them as altogether dif- 
 qualified from partaking of it, by their ignorance 
 and intemperance. Being devoid of faving know- 
 ledge, the eye of faith by which only Chrift cru- 
 cified can be fpiritually difcerned in the facrament, 
 " they did eat and drink unworthily," as you have 
 heard, " not difcerning the Lord's body ;" and 
 by their intemperance, and inordinate indulgence 
 to appetite, particulary to the lufl of drunken- 
 nefs, were a fcandal to their holy profefTion, 
 and in prefuming to affemble for eating the 
 ■Lord's fupper, "came together, not for the better, 
 
 but 
 
400 . On difcerning Ser. XL 
 
 but for the worfe ;" and, what is ftill more alar- 
 ming, " came together unto condemnation.'* 
 Surely it needs no argument to fhew, that fuch 
 ignorant voluptuous libertines, who, renoun- 
 cing all pretenfions to the Chriftian name and 
 charadler, have become the votaries of Sa- 
 tan, cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the 
 cup of devils, cannot be partakers of the Lord's 
 table and of the table of devils. The exhortation to 
 thofe profane perfons runs on this wife, " Cleanfe 
 your hands, ye fmners, purify your hearts, ye 
 double-minded ; be afflicted, and mourn, and 
 weep, for all your abominations ; believe with 
 the heart unto righteoufnefs : then may you come 
 to the Lord's table, and humbly hope to be 
 fealed by the Spirit unto the day of redemp- 
 tion." 
 
 One other remark I mud add, by way of 
 caution, that we mud beware of imagining, 
 from the charader and conduft jufl mentioned, 
 which the apoftle here gives of the Corinthians, 
 as the unhappy caufe of their eating and drinking 
 vmworthily at the facramental fupper ; — we muft, 
 I fay, bfeware of imagining from thence, that no- 
 thing but grofs ignorance, or open vice, forbid an 
 approach to the table of the Lord. 
 
 It appears, from what the fame apoflle teaches 
 in this epiftle, and clfewhere, and indeed from the 
 nature of the ordinance itfelf, in what light foever 
 we confider it, that not only clean hands, tem- 
 perance. 
 
Scr. XI. the Lord's body, 401 
 
 perance, and fobriety, but a pure heart, a heart 
 fandified by divine grace, is required, by the 
 command of Heaven, in all thofe who would, 
 come to that holy table, fo as " to receive the 
 bleffing from the Lord, and righteoufnefs from 
 the God of their falvation." What Chrift faid to 
 Peter, he fays to all his difciples, " If I wafh thee 
 not, thou haft no part with me." If no waihing 
 by Chrift, then no part, no lot, no intereft in Chrift. 
 In his fermon on the mount, he pronounces " the 
 pure in heart bleffed, becaufe they fhall fee 
 God ■" intimating, that without fuch inward pu- 
 rity they cannot fee God. To the fame pur- 
 pofe fpeak all the prophets, and all the apoftles, 
 that without holinefs no man^ whatever be his 
 qualifications in other refpefts, can fee or en- 
 joy God, either in his kingdom of grace here, 
 or in his kingdom of glory hereafter. What 
 thefe infpired writers fay unto one, they fay 
 unto all, « Wafh ye, make ye clean; be yc 
 faved with the wafiiing of regeneration, and 
 the renewing of the Holy Ghoft." — " Yield 
 yourfelves unto the Lord," and then enter into 
 his fanduary, which he has confecrated for his 
 fandified ones. " Wafh your hands in iimocen- 
 cy, and fo compafs his holy altar." Incline your 
 ear, and come unto him. Come to his holy 
 table, to the marriage -fupper of the Lamb, the 
 feaft of fat things prepared for you ; and there 
 " eat ye that which is good. Hear, and your 
 3 E foul 
 
402 On difcernmg, &c. Ser.XI, 
 
 foul fliall live J and God will make with you an 
 everlafting covenant, even the fure mercies of Da- 
 vid." Amen, fo be it. 
 
 And may the grace and power of Jehovah be 
 for ever glorified in the falvation of all within 
 thefe walls, through Jefus Chrift. To whom, 
 with the Father, and the Holy Ghoft, be glory 
 and dominion, world without end. Amen, and 
 Amem 
 
 FINIS, 
 
...^^HMMHMMMMMHMMMHfll 
 
\-''r4y./ r"-