v» ^^^■■■■■■■■■■l tibvavy of Che Cheolocjicd Seminary PRINCETON • NEW JERSEY PRESENTED BY Hott rd c . £700 v.2. See DiLcoUllc XIV. Vol. II. I'.W.-h pin "W Sharp Icm1|> paarVg£r£& discour s\ij Of L 10 1952 tecM %^t O N VARIOUS SUBJECTS, By JACOB DUCHE, M. A. Rector of Christ-Church and St. Peter's, ^Philadelphia; AND FORMERLY OF CLARE-HALL, CAMBRIDGE. The SECOND EDITION. VOL II. LONDON; Printed by J. Phillips, George-Yard, Lombard-Street: And Sold by T. Cadell, in the Strand} H. Payne, Pall-Mall; C. Duly, in the Poultry ; and J. Phillips. M.DCC.LXXX. CONTENTS of VOLUME SECOND. DISCOURSE I. On Poverty of Spirit. St. Luke, Chap. vii. Part of Ver. 22. " To the Poor the Gofpel is Preached." DISCOURSE II. The Improvement of Times and Seasons. ECCLESIASTES, ChAP. ill. VER. I. " To every Thing there is a Seafon, " and a Time to every Purpofe un- " der Heaven." DISCOURSES III, IV. The Universal Shepherd. Isaiah, Chap. xl. Ver. 10, 11. «' Behold ! the Lord God mall come " with ftrong Hand, &c." a 2 D I S- CONTENTS. DISCOURSE V. On the Epistle for the Fourth Sunday after Easter. St. James, Chap. i. from Ver. \j, to 21. u Every good Gift, and every perfect " Gift, is from xA.bove, &c." DISCOURSE VI. On the Epistle for the Fifth Sunday after Easter. St. James, Chap. i. from Ver. 22, to the End. " But be ye Doers of the Word, &c." DISCOURSES VII, VIII. The Characters of the Regene- rate AND UNREGENERATE STATES. Psalm civ. Ver. 29, 30. " Thou hideft thy Face, they are trou- « bled 3 &C," D I S- CONTENTS. DISCOURSE IX. Hope in God, the only Refuge in Distress. Psalm xlii. Ver. ii. " Why art thou caft down, O my Soul! " and why art thou difquieted within " me ? Hope thou in God ; for I " lliall yet praife him, who is the " Health of my Countenance, and " my God." DISCOURSE X. A nominal or partial Belief in the Gospel, Unprofitable. St. John, Chap. ii. Ver. 23, 24, 25. " Now when he was at Jerufalem at " the PafTover, in the Feaft-Day, &c." DISCOURSE XI. The Life and Death of the Righteous. Psalm xxxvii. Ver. 37. *' Mark the perfect Man, and behold " the Upright; for the End of that " Man is Peace." D I S- CONTENTS. DISCOURSE XII. Jesus Sleeping in the Ship. St. Matthew, Chap. viii. latter Part of Ver. 24. " But he was afleep." DISCOURSE XIII. On Regeneration. Preached on Christmas Day. Isaiah, Chap. xl. Ver. 9. " O Zion, that bringeft good Tidings ! " &c." DISCOURSE XIV. On St. Peter's Denial of Christ. St. Luke, Chap. xxii. Ver. 61, 62. " And the Lord turned, and looked " upon Peter, &c." DISCOURSE XV. On Good Friday. Isaiah, Chap. liii. Part of Ver. 12, " He hath poured out his Soul unto " Death." D I S- CONTENTS. DISCOURSE XVI. On the First or Spiritual Re- surrection. Romans, Chap. vi. Part of Ver. 4. " Like as Christ was raifcd up from " the Dead by the Glory of the " Father, even fo we alfo mould walk " in Newnefs of Life." DISCOUF. SE XVII. On a Future Resurrection. Preached on Easter Day. Ezekiel, Chap, xxxvii. Ver. 3. " And he faid unto me, Son of man, " Can thefe Bones live ? and I an- " fwered, OLord God, thou know- " eft!" DISCOURSE XVIII. On the Epistle for the Sunday after Ascension-Day. 1 St. Peter, Chap. iv. Ver. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. " The End of all Things is at hand, &c." DIS- CONTENTS. DISCOURSE XIX. Preached on Whitsunday. Galatians, Chap. iv. Ver. 6. " And becaufe ye are Sons, God hath " fent forth the Spirit of his Son " into your Hearts, crying, Abba ! " Father!" DISCOURSE XX. The Ground and Nature of Pri- vate and Publick Worship. Habakkuk, Chap. ii. Ver. 20. " The Lord is in his Holy Temple : " let all the Earth keep Silence before " him." D I S- DISCOURSE I. On Poverty of Spirit. St. Luke, Chap. vii. Part of Ver. 22. Vol. II. DISCOURSE I. St. Luke, Chap. vii. Part of Ver. 22. " To the Poor the Gospel is " preached." IN the verfes immediately preceding my text, we read, that John the Baptift fent two of his difciples to our Blessed Lord, with this remarkable meffage : " Art thou he that mould " come, or look we for another?" Anx- ious for their falvation, he wiflied to have all their doubts, with refpect to the character of Jesus, fully fatisfied, and to make them acquainted, as foon as poffible, with the nature and defign of A 2 his 4 DISCOURSE I. his kingdom. Our Blessed Lord, who well knew the fecret views and pur- pofes of the Baptift in this mefTage, gracioufly condefcended to exhibit fuch amazing proofs of thofe mighty powers with which he was inverted by his Heavenly Father, as murt needs have convinced thefe difciples of John, that he was certainly the Messiah that " mould come," and that they need not " look for another." For, " in that " fame hour," fays the Evangelifl, " he " cured many of their infirmities and *' plagues, and of evil fpirits; and unto " many that were blind, he gave fight. " Then Jesus anfwering, faid unto " them, Go your way, and tell John, " what things ye have feen and heard ; " how that the blind fee, the lame walk, " the lepers are cleanfed, the deaf hear, " the dead are raifed, and to the Poor 11 the Gofpel is preached." The DISCOURSE I. 5 The evidence which was here pre- ferred, muft have been flrong and con- vincing indeed, as it refulted from the concurrent teftimony of miracles and prophecy. Omnifcience, no lefs than Omnipotence, fealed and confirmed the miffion of Jesus. For the words of the Evangelift are a literal and exact ac- complishment of a remarkable predic- tion — Rapt into future times, the fub- lime and evangelical Ifaiah had fore- told, that the Messiah Ihould " preach " good tidings unto the meek, that he y mould bind up the broken-hearted, " that he mould proclaim liberty to the " captives, that he mould open the tc blind eyes, and make the deaf to hear." One of thefe remarkable characterises, by which the Son of God was to be diftinguimed at his appearance upon earth, I have felected for the fubject of my prefent difcourfe, viz. as a " preach- " er of Good Tidings unto the Meek/' or, according to the words of my text, A3 ** a preach <• 6 DISCOURSE I. " a preacher of the Gofpel to the " Poor. To the Poor the Gofpel is *' preached." The original word, which we render Gofpel, fignines good news or glad ti- dings ; fo that the Gofpel of Jesus Christ means, the glad tidings pub- lished to mankind by this Illuftrious Perfonage. To thofe, who have been brought, by the kind difpenfations of Divine Grace, to a proper fenfe and con- viction of their fallen ftate, this Gofpel muft be glad tidings indeed! From the original apoftafy of our firft progenitor, we inherit a diftempered ruined nature : our whole frame hath loft its primitive health, and ftrength, and beauty. The Gofpel of Jesus Christ informs us of a Medicine of Sovereign Virtue, by which this difeafe may be effectually removed, and the ruins of man com- pletely repaired. Jesus Christ him- felf DISCOURSE I. 7 felf, is the Univerfal Reftorer; and the medicine which he applies, is his own Light, and Life, and Strength. " He " rifes upon our fouls with healing un- " der his wings ;" and, by the falutary influences of his Bleffed Spirit, commu- nicates his own heavenly virtues to the fickly finking frame. " I will ranfom " them," fays he, " from death : I will " redeem them from the power of the " grave. O death, I will be thy " plague ! O grave, I will be thy de- " ftrudion!" Our natural ftate is a ilate of pover- ty, nakednefs, hunger, and want of e- very kind. The Gofpel directs us where to apply for relief; and a/fures us, that we mail not apply in vain. It directs us to Jesus himfelf, and aflures us, that it is he alone, who can make us rich ; that it is he alone who can cloath our nakednefs with his own pure and A 4 fpotlefs 8 DISCOURSE L fpotlefs robe; who can fatisfy our hun- ger with his bread of life, and fupply all our wants out of the inexhauftible treafures of his Grace. Such, my Bre- thren, is, in general, the nature of that Gofpel, or of thofe glad tidings, which in my text are faid to be preached or published to the Poor: " To the Poor " the Gofpel is preached." — Let us now proceed to enquire who thofe perfons are, that come under this particular defigna- tjon, " The Poor." I. According to one fenfe in which this name is ufed, we are to under/land all thofe, who, for wife and gracious purpofes, are placed by Providence in low and indigent circumftances, deftitute of this world's goods, and conftrained, by a painful feries of toil and labour, to earn a fcanty pittance for the pre- fervation and fupport of their animal life. To thefe, who, according to this more common acceptation of the word, are DISCOURSE I. 9 are called " The Poor," the Blessed Jesus tells us, that his Gofpel was more immediately preached. During his pilgrimage upon earth, fuch was the pride and arrogance of the Jewifh Rabbies and doctors of the law, that they looked down upon the illite- rate vulgar with a fovereign contempt. They were too mercenary, to inflrucl: them without a reward; and too vain, to affociate with them, whilft they were poor and uninftructed. Their lectures and expofitions, fuch as they were, they referved for their rich and honourable pupils, whofe wealth might fatisfy their avarice, whilft a connection with their fplendid and powerful families would gratify their ambition. Their hatred of the Poor feems to have been of the mofl malicious kind : for though they took no pains to inflrucl: them in their duty, they were careful enough " to bind " heavy burdens upon them, grievous " to io DISCOURSE I. " to be borne; whilft they themfelves " would not even put forth one of their