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SEVEN SERMONS, 
 
 ON 
 
 BAPTISM, CONFIRMATION, 
 THE LORD S SUPPER, AND THE SABBATH; 
 
 Chiefly addressed to Young Persons* 
 
 BY THE REV. JOHN SCOTT, A.M. 
 
 Vicar of North Ferriby, and Minister of 
 St. Mary's, Hull. 
 
 THE THIRD EDI HON. 
 
 " Remember ihy Creator in Ihe days of thy Youth," is a precept 
 big with the deepest wisdom* Lord Chatham. 
 — 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 PRINTED FOR L. B. SEELEY, 169, FLEET-STREET; 
 By J. Seeley, Buckingham. 
 
 1822. 
 
,REC. NOV 1880. 
 THEOLOGX^-- 
 
 A DV li RTI^EHENT. 
 
 THE following Sermons on Confirmation and the 
 Sacraments were preached partly in 1807, and partly 
 in 1809, and first published in the latter of those years. 
 
 The Sermon on the Sabbath was preached before the 
 Magistrates of Hull, in 1807, and was twice published 
 separately, with Appendixes on Societies for the sup- 
 pression of vice, and on Sunday-evening Lectures. The 
 Appendixes, together with such passages of the Sermon 
 as appeared only of local application, are now omitted. 
 
 The following paragraph formed part of the advertise- 
 ment originally prefixed to that discourse. 
 
 ' To some readers an apology may appear necessary 
 ' for the very free use which hus been made of the wri- 
 ' tings of a celebrated divine, and moral philosopher, 
 ' from many of whose principles, both in religion and in 
 ' morals, the author must avow a decided dissent. But 
 1 the passages themselves must plead their own cause. 
 
r 
 
 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 If they strongly tend to impress the mindi of men with 
 regard for the Sahbath, and love for the public worship 
 of God, this, it is hoped, will fully justify the insertion 
 even of more extended quotations than the rules of good 
 composition might warrant. But, further than this, 
 the author certainly considered it as no small advantage, 
 to be able to introduce such sentiments, as several here 
 alluded to, in the words of a writer, whom all allow to 
 have possessed great talents, and a very enlightened 
 and liberal mind, and who has never been charged with 
 exceeding on the side of strictness.' 
 
PBIHC 
 ON 
 
 ■RfjC* NOV 1 
 
 E6LOGI 
 
 ON BAPTimg^^ 
 
 S. MATTHEW, XXVIII, 19, 20. 
 Go ye, then/ore, and leach all nations, baptizing them 
 in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
 Holy Ghost ; teaching them to observe all things what- 
 soever I hare commanded you : and lo ! I am with you 
 alway, even unto the end of the world.' Amen. 
 
 A FTER our blessed Saviour's resurrection 
 f'rojn the dead, lie continued with his apostles 
 and disciples "forty days, speaking to them 
 " of the things pertaining to the kingdom of 
 " God :" 1 more fully explaining the nature of 
 his religion, and the steps by which he would 
 have them proceed to establish his church in 
 the world. 
 
 The words of my text were among the di- 
 rections then delivered. They are some of 
 " the last words" of Jesus Christ; if not the 
 very last words which he spake, before " he 
 " was taken up towards heaven, and a cloud 
 " received him out of" human " sight." This 
 circumstance cannot but add to the interest 
 
 ' Act» i,3. 
 
 A i 
 
6 BAPTISM. [SERM. 
 
 which we take in them, though their intrinsic 
 beauty and importance render every other 
 recommendation needless. 
 
 " All power," said the risen and just ascend- 
 ing Saviour, " is given unto me in heaven and 
 "in earth." And mark his first exercise of 
 the power thus committed to him, in his 
 mediatorial character. It is, to throw wide 
 the doors of salvation to the whole race of 
 mankind, that " whosoever will" may enter 
 them; and to promise his universal and unin- 
 terrupted presence to his church, however 
 despised or afflicted her lot. 
 
 " All power is given unto me in heaven and 
 " in earth : Go ye, therefore, and teach," or, 
 more literally, make disciples of, " all nations, 
 " baptizing them in the name of the Father, 
 " and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ; 
 " teaching them to observe all things whatso- 
 " ever I have commanded you. And lo! I 
 " am with you alway, even unto the end of 
 " the world." — Well may the evangelist sub- 
 join his devout " Amen !" 'So be it, blessed 
 '•Lord !' 
 
 But who, let me ask, that was not God as 
 well as man, could, with any meaning, make 
 such a promise, "Lo! I am with you alway, 
 " even unto the end of the w orld ?" or, w ithout 
 impiety, require the nations of the earth to 
 be baptized in his name, in common with that 
 pf the eternal Father ? 
 
 The Christian sacrament of Baptism, thu? 
 
I.J BAPTISM. 7 
 
 instituted, will form the subject of the present 
 discourse. 
 
 All of you, it may be presumed, have re- 
 ceived Christian baptism. Many of you, as 
 parents or sponsors, have presented others 
 to be baptized : and many of you are about 
 to renew the vows of baptism, in Confirmation. 
 It behoves yoe all seriously to attend to the 
 subject. I pray God, that you may do so to 
 your lasting benefit ! 
 
 1. The first question which may naturally 
 be asked respecting baptism is, Why do 
 we use such a rile ? Our text furnishes the 
 answer: Christ has commanded it. 
 
 We are satisfied also, that it is " most 
 agreeable with the institution of Christ, 1 and 
 the practice of his apostles, that the children 
 of those, who have embraced his religion, 
 should be received into his church by this 
 sacrament, as the children of Jewish parents 
 were incorporated into the Old Testament 
 church by circumcision. 3 
 
 2. But a further question arises, Why did 
 our Lord appoint such a rite ? a rite which can 
 carry with it no virtue, no efficacy, of its own ? 
 
 To this we may reply, first, that various 
 ablutions having been appointed among the 
 Jews, as the means of purification from cere- 
 monial defilement, it had by degrees become 
 
 i tliurch Anklet, xjvii. 
 
 ? Gen. xvii. 
 
8 
 
 BAPTISM. 
 
 [St RM. 
 
 customary with them, to baptize every pro- 
 selyte whom they received from the heathen 
 nations. Hence this was to them a familiar 
 sign of embracing a new religion, and enter- 
 ing upon a new and more pure course of life. 
 
 John the Baptist accordingly adopted it, 
 by divine appointment, 4 as a token of repent- 
 ance; and called not only upon gentiles, us 
 the Jews had done, but upon the Jews them- 
 selves to receive "the baptism of repentance," 
 aud to bring, forth the " fruits of repentance," 
 if they would not be excluded from the king- 
 dom of the Messiah, which was about to be 
 set up in the world, and of which they had 
 imagined themselves the natural heirs. * 
 
 And hence we may add, as a second and 
 principal reason why our Lord appointed this 
 ordinance, that the rite itself is very signifi- 
 cant. It is not merely an arbitrary, hut 
 a very natural, sign, of the " inward and 
 "spiritual grace," which it is intended to re- 
 present. 
 
 3. This then introduces a third question, 
 What is intended by this tign? What does 
 baptism represent to us ? 
 
 It represents washing from sin. It signifies 
 to us, that, as our bodies are cleansed by 
 being washed with water, so do our souls 
 need to be purified from sin. 
 
 And this purification from sin is twofold: 
 
 « John i, 33. • Mall. hi. Compile Dan. |,« 
 
BAPTISM. 
 
 9 
 
 first, by the blood of Christ; and, secondly, 
 by the grace of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 " The blood of Jesus Christ," we read, 
 " cleanseth us from all sin." They " have 
 " washed their robes, and made them white 
 " in the blood of the Lamb." " Unto him 
 " that loved us," saith St. John, " and washed 
 " us frorefour sins in his own blood — to him 
 " be glory and dominion for ever and ever." 5 
 
 By this is meant, our deliverance from con- 
 demnation and punishment ; and the removal 
 of guilty fears from our conscience ; our being 
 "justified by the blood," or " through faith 
 " in the blood" of Jesus Christ. T 
 
 And the reason why these benefits are 
 ascribed to his blood is this, that, by his 
 death upon the cross, he hath made atone- 
 ment for our sins : hath made such a display 
 of the evil of sin, and of the holiness and 
 justice of the divine character ; hath so as- 
 serted the honour of the divine law and 
 government ; that God may now be glorious 
 in the salvation of sinners, whose perdition 
 his perfections otherwise required. Through 
 this propitiation God is "just," while he is 
 " the justificr" of sinners that " believe in 
 " Jesus." 8 
 
 Through this medium, therefore, that is, 
 through a " Mediator, who gave himself a 
 
 0 John i,7; Rev. i, 5,6; vii, It, 
 
 1 Rom. tHjSS; v, 9; I li b. ix, u 
 « Rom. iii,i;4-26; It, 5. 
 
10 
 
 lAPTISM. 
 
 [SERM. 
 
 " ransom" for us, is all mercy exercised, all 
 pardon granted. " By liiru all that believe 
 " are justified from all things :" but " there 
 "is none other name under heaven given 
 " among men whereby we must be saved." 
 
 Let him, who has hitherto remained careless 
 about his sins, hear these solemn truths and 
 take warning ! Let the guilty conscience hear 
 them aud be emboldened to return unto God, 
 pleading the name of his Son ! Let all hear 
 and apply them for their soul's health ! 
 
 The other way in which we are to be washed 
 from sin is, by the regenerating, Sanctifying 
 grace of the Holy Spirit, purifying our hearts 
 and lives from the polluting love and practice 
 of sin. " According to his mercy he saved 
 " us," saith St. Paul, (speaking of true Chris- 
 tians,) " by the w ashing of regeneration, and 
 " renew ing of the Holy Ghost." 
 
 The blessing, of which we before spoke, 
 may be compared to the pardoning of a cri- 
 minal, who must otherwise suffer the sentence 
 of the law : that of which we now speak, to 
 the curing of some deadly disease, which 
 would otherwise infallibly destroy the un- 
 happy sufferer who laboured under it. 
 
 Both thes'e blessings our necessitous situa- 
 tion indispensably requires : both, blessed be 
 God ! are amply provided for us in the gospel. 
 Though distinct, they are inseparable. To 
 procure for us pardon and peace with God, 
 
li] BAPTISM. t\ 
 
 is the peculiar work of ' God the Son, our 
 ' Redeemer :' to " renew us in the spirit of 
 " our minds," that of 'God the Holy Ghost, 
 ' our Sanctifier.' 
 
 Both appear to be sometimes intended by 
 the figure of the baptismal water : but, as 
 the atonement of Christ, and our " justifica- 
 " tion by his blood," are especially set forth 
 in the other sacrament of the Lord's Supper ; 
 so the grace of the Holy Spirit, and our 
 sanctification as effected by it, seem to be 
 particularly represented in Baptism: 9 puri- 
 fying water, and refining, transforming fire, 
 being the constant scriptural emblems of the 
 Holy Spirit. 10 
 
 Accordingly our church, in her Catechism, 
 (alluding to our being ' buried,' as it is ex- 
 pressed, in the water, and ' raised up again' 
 from it,) describes ' the inward and spiritual 
 ' grace of baptism' to be, ' a death unto sin, 
 'and new birth unto righteousness:' for, as 
 she elsewhere admonishes us, we must 're- 
 ' member always, that bap 1 ism doth represent 
 ' unto us our profession, which is, to follow 
 ' the example of our Saviour Christ, and to 
 
 » In this view, the two lacraments, and the great doctrine of 
 atonement by the blood of ( hrNt, and sanciiLcation by the grace 
 of the Holy Spirit; mutually reflect light anil dignity npon each 
 other. The doctrines explain Ike sacraments; and the sacra 
 nienls display most strikingly the importance of those doctrines, 
 to the commemoration, the honour, and the illustration of which. 
 Hie only positive institutions of Christianity are dedicated. 
 
 ><> Is. xliv, 3; E/ek. xxxvi. M-«7; Matt.iil.lt; Acts ii, 3, 
 
is 
 
 B .\ PTISM. 
 
 [SERM. 
 
 ' be made like unto him ; that, as he died 
 ' and rose again for us, so should we who are 
 ' baptized die from sin, and rise again unto 
 ' righteousness, continually mortifying all our 
 ' evil and corrupt affections : and daily pro- 
 ' ceeding in all virtue and godliness of living.' 
 And, in her Article on the subject, she de- 
 clares baptism to be ' a sign of regeneration 
 ' or new birth,' that is, of that change of 
 heart and life of which we have spoken. 
 
 Our Lord also appears to view the subject 
 exactly in the same light, when, iu his dis- 
 course with Nicodenius," he pronounces., 
 " Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a 
 " man be born of water and of the Spirit" — 
 of water as the ' outward and visible sign ;' 
 of the Holy Spirit, as the giver of ' the inward 
 1 and spiritual grace' — " he cannot enter into 
 " the kingdom of God.'' 
 
 But baptism is not only ' a sign' of these 
 blessings, but also, as the nature of a sacra- 
 ment implies, ' a pledge to assure us thereof,' 
 if we righ tly seek them, and ' a means whereby 
 • we receive the same,' if we properly use 
 it.'* Hereby, as ' by an instrument, they that 
 ' receive baptism rightly are grafted into the 
 ' church ; the promises of the forgiveness of 
 « sins, and of our adoption to be the sons of 
 ' God, by the Holy Ghost, are visibly signed 
 
 >> John iii. 18 Cbnrcb Catecbum. 
 
I.J BAPTISM. 13 
 
 « and sealed; faith is confirmed, and grace 
 
 * increased by virtue of prayer unto God." 13 
 
 And even infants, who have committed no 
 actual sin, need this washing, and this reno- 
 vation of heart : because, as our church 
 teaches us from scripture, ' they are con- 
 ' ceived and born in sin." 4 And, beyond all 
 doubt, they are capable of these benefits. 
 It is as much possible for them to receive 
 
 • rom Him, who " filled" John the Baptist 
 "with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's 
 " womb," a new and right bent and disposi- 
 tion of heart, (which shall discover itself as 
 they become capable of shewing their dispo- 
 sitions,) as it is for them naturally to possess 
 a wrong bent and disposition of heart, which 
 all experience evinces that they do. 
 
 And this unspeakable blessing we may 
 cherish the hope that they shall enjoy, if we 
 be sincere and earnest, as we ought to be, in 
 our prayers for them. Hence our church 
 says, that, ' being born in original sin, and in 
 ' the wrath of God, they are, by the laver of 
 ' regeneration in baptism, received into the 
 ' number of the children of God, and heirs of 
 ' everlasting life." 5 Not that she confounds 
 what, in her catechism and articles, she so 
 carefully teaches us to distinguish, ' the out- 
 
 13 Church Articles, xxvii. 
 
 >< Baptismal Service, prefatory address. 
 
 U Private Bapt. Serv. 
 
 B 
 
14 
 
 BAPTISM. 
 
 ' ward and visible sign,' and ' the inward aud 
 'spiritual grace:' but, borrowing her lan- 
 guage from times when baptism and effectual 
 conversion to Uod were, comparatively, sel- 
 dom separated, she presumes, wherever she 
 has no evidence to the contrary, that, in answer 
 to the prayers of the congregation, and of 
 pious friends, the inward grace accompanies 
 the outward sign : which, we may well believe, 
 would much more frequently be the case than 
 it is, were it not for the defect of faith and 
 prayer, in the several parties concerned. But, 
 if the after life of the baptized person demon- 
 strate the sad fact, that in his instance this 
 charitable supposition was unfounded, far, 
 far indeed, would the church be from encou- 
 raging him to hope, that he had, in such a 
 state, any part or lot in the eternal blessings 
 of Christ's kingdom. No : in that case, he 
 is * an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven' in no 
 higher sense, than those persons were " chil- 
 dren of the kingdom," of whom our Lord, at 
 the very time he gave them this title, declared, 
 that they should be "cast out into outer dark - 
 " ness." 16 
 
 We are baptized, then, because our Saviour 
 Christ hath commanded it : and he com- 
 manded it, principally, we may believe, 
 because it is an expressive sign of purifica- 
 tion from sin. 
 
 '« Man, 10-it. 
 
BAPTISM. 
 
 L5 
 
 4. A farther very important question arises, 
 What does baptism imply on the part of those 
 to whom it is administered, or of their repre- 
 sentatives I What do we profess, when we 
 receive baptism, or present a child to be 
 baptized ? 17 
 
 In the first place, it is evident, that we pro- 
 fess our belief of Christianity, our reception 
 of Christ as our Saviour, and our unreserved 
 submission to his doctrines and precepts. 
 Baptism was originally designed as a visible 
 and public profession of becoming Christ's 
 disciples, and embracing his religion. " Go 
 '* ye, make disciples of all nations, baptizing 
 " them" is the language of my text. 
 
 And, in an age when Christianity, yet new 
 in the world, was rejected by Jews, despised 
 by gentiles, and persecuted by all, to make 
 this profession was no small proof of sincere 
 faith iu Christ, and devout attachment to his 
 cause. Then, at least, it might reasonably 
 be presumed, that few would submit to re- 
 ceive the outward and visible sign, who did 
 not already possess, in some degree, the 
 inward and spiritual grace. 
 
 But circumstances are now changed. Now 
 it is discreditable not to profess ourselves 
 Christians : and therefore thousands will pre- 
 sent their children for baptism, and for con- 
 
 '7 In the baptism of infants, every ma n present is * put in 
 1 remembrance of bis own prolessiun nude to Goil in his Bap. 
 ' lism.' — Bapt. Service, 1st Kubrick. 
 
 B 2 
 
1G 
 
 BAPTISM. 
 
 [SF.RM. 
 
 firmation, who neither themselves live as the dis- 
 ciples of Christ, nor desire that their children 
 should do so: nay, who would be pained 
 at heart to see their children fulfilling their 
 baptismal vows, by renouncing the 'pomps 
 ' and vanity of this wicked world,' and con- 
 scientiously making, not the customs and 
 fashions of men, but ' the holy will and 
 ' commandments of God,' the rule of their 
 lives. — Awful indeed is such conduct! In 
 some views, it is even worse than the part 
 taken by the open enemies of Christ : it is 
 betraying his cause, while, like Judas, we 
 give him the salutation of pretended friend- 
 ship and feigned respect. 
 
 But not only does baptism, from the design 
 of the institution, express, in general, a 
 receptiou of the Christian religion : it also, 
 from the evident signification of the rite, as 
 above explained, indicates an acknowledg- 
 ment, and professed belief of all the great 
 leading doctrines of Christianity : I mean, 
 especially, of the f;ill and depravity of man ; 
 of redemption and justification by Christ, 
 dying for us, and " washing us from our sins 
 " in his own blood ;" of regeneration and 
 sanctification by the Holy Ghost ; and, con- 
 sequently, of the Trinity of Persons in the 
 Godhead. 
 
 I have already spoken on the principal of 
 these topics; and shewn how striking a lesson 
 
BAP: ism. 
 
 17 
 
 the sacrament of baptism delivers to us, — 
 addresses, if I may so speak, to our very 
 senses, — respecting them. He, who disbe- 
 lieves these doctrines, must necessarily con- 
 sider the rite itself as insignificant, and not 
 appointed to represent any thing important 
 to us. He who, disbelieving them, yet offers 
 himself, or presents his child, for baptism in 
 our church, must be guilty of vile hypocrisy ; 
 for they are studiously interwoven with every 
 part of her services for the occasion. 
 
 But, my brethren, that we assent to these 
 doctrines, that we hold them as sentiments, 
 is not sufficient. By no means. They are all 
 addressed to the heart and conscience. They 
 all immediately concern the heart and con- 
 science. We must feel their force and influ- 
 ence upon our own hearts and consciences, 
 or v\e do not rightly ' believe' them. 
 
 Are you then, let me ask it with affectionate 
 earnestness, Are you bowed down in the dust 
 of deep repentance before God, under the 
 sense of your depravity of heart, and cor- 
 ruption of life ? Are you, day by day, in 
 secret, (as you profess to do at church,) 
 ' acknowledging and bewailing your manifold 
 ' sins and wickedness, which you, from time 
 ' to time, most grievously have committed, 
 ' by thought, word, and deed, most justly pro- 
 ' voking God's wrath and indignation against 
 ' you V Are you renouncing all confidence 
 in whatever you have done, or can do, to 
 B S 
 
18 
 
 BAPTISM. 
 
 [SEKM. 
 
 put away your sins, to recommend you to 
 God, or even to intitle you to an interest in 
 Christ, that you may trust only in the blood 
 and righteousness' of that " Lamb of God 
 " which taketh away the sin of the world," 
 and may cast yourselves entirely (as lost sin- 
 ners, who have no other hope,) upon the 
 free mercy of God exercised through him ? 
 Do all the quiet and peace of conscience 
 which you enjoy, all your hope and confi- 
 dence towards God, arise, not from incon- 
 sideration, not from self-complacency and 
 self-righteousness, not from presumption, but 
 from humble and living faith in the Redeemer ? 
 Are they obtained and preserved only by 
 '* coming unto him;" 18 by earnest, believing 
 application to him for the fulfilment of his 
 gracious promises, made to the " weary and 
 heavy laden" soul ? by ' feeding upon him in 
 ' your heart by faith, with thanksgiving?' by 
 " living the life which von now live in the 
 " flesh by the faith of the Son of God?"— 
 Do you, again, as much desire to be delivered 
 from your sins, your sinful tempers, and 
 dispositions, and practices, as to escape the 
 punishment due to them ? And are you, for 
 this purpose, not only watching and striving 
 against these evils, from day to day, but, by 
 
 l» Malt. xi,C8,29; John 1,11,15; ill, 14, 15; vi,S5; XV, 4 ; 
 Gal.1i,«0; 11vb.vi.l8; vii,55; 'J fini. i, 12. These passages 
 slntiingly illnstia.le what (he Scriptures mean by that faith in 
 Chriit, to which every tiling in the Chiblian life is ascribed. 
 
1 ] BAPTISM. 19 
 
 earnest prayer, seeking the grace of the Holy 
 Spirit of God to change your very hearts, " to 
 " renew you in the spirit of your mind," ' to 
 ' sanctify you,' and to assist and enable you 
 to subdue your sinful propensities, and to 
 vanquish all the enemies of your souls ? 
 Unless such be, in some good measure, your 
 course, you are yet, notwithstanding all your 
 professions, strangers to true faith in Christ : 
 you have not practically and effectually be- 
 lieved the great ' articles of the Christian 
 ' faith,' as in your baptism you engaged to do. 
 
 But, lastly, baptism implies the devotion, 
 the consecration of the baptized person to 
 God, to live to bis service and glory. Hence 
 its very title of a sacrament, which was the 
 name of the military oath among the Romans, 
 binding the soldiers to inviolable allegiance 
 to their commander, and adherence to their 
 standards. Hence the very vows of baptism, 
 (of which we shall hereafter speak more par- 
 ticularly,) ' that we will renounce the devil 
 ' and all his works, the pomps and vanity of 
 ' this wicked world, and all the sinful lusts 
 ' of the flesh ; that we will believe all the 
 ' articles of the Christian faith ; and that we 
 ' will keep God's holy will and cominand- 
 ' ments, and walk in the same all the days 
 ' of our life.' And hence the words, which 
 in our baptismal office accompany, and ex- 
 plain the sign of the cross : ' We receive this 
 
2D 
 
 I'.APTISM. 
 
 [SERM. 
 
 ' child into the congregation of Christ's flock, 
 ' and do sign him with the sign of the cross, 
 ' in token that hereafter lie shall not be 
 ' ashamed to confess the faith of Christ cru- 
 ' cified, and to fight manfully, under his 
 ' banner, against sin, the world, and the 
 ' devil ; and to continue Christ's faithful sol- 
 ' dier and servant unto his life's end.' 
 
 And this dedication is expressly directed 
 by our text, (which contains the original 
 institution of the ordinance,) to be made 
 equally to each of the three Persons iu the 
 adorable and undivided Trinity : " Baptizing 
 " them in the name of the Father, and of the 
 " Son, and of the Holy Ghost." So solemnly 
 and authoritatively is the belief of this sacred 
 mystery, which forms the foundation of the 
 whole doctrine of redemption, inculcated upon 
 us, at the very threshold of our admission 
 into the Christian church. 
 
 Such then is the nature of Christian bap- 
 tism, and such the professions made in it. 
 It denotes purification from sin : and to be 
 baptized is to avow to all the world, that fcre 
 receive Christ as our Saviour ; that we prac- 
 tically believe all the great truths of his 
 religion, and deeply feel their importance and 
 value ; and that we devote ourselves to the 
 service of God, the Father, the Son, and the 
 Holy Ghost. 
 
 5. The benefits sought in baptism, and 
 
BAPTISM. 
 
 21 
 
 sealed by it to all those, in whom is found 
 " the answer of a good conscience" '9 to the 
 professions which it implies, we have already, 
 virtually, explained ; and shall not now fur- 
 ther enlarge upon them. They are, in short, 
 all the great blessings of Christianity ; the 
 pardon of sin, sanctification by the Holy 
 Ghost, adoption into the family of God, the 
 enjoyment of his favour here, and the inheri- 
 tance of everlasting life hereafter. In the 
 language of our church, they are, being 
 ' made members of Christ, children of God, 
 ' and inheritors of the kingdom of heaven.' 
 
 But, independently of any saving benefits 
 to individuals baptized, great public advan- 
 tages are derived from the general observation 
 of the rite. It is one of those positive insti- 
 tutions by which the evidence of Christianity 
 is confirmed, and its great doctrines kept 
 continually in view. It brings baptized per- 
 sons within the pale of the visible church ; 
 and secures to them an education, compara- 
 tively, at least, Christian : it leads them to 
 hear the gospel preached ; and teaches them 
 to consider themselves as those " to whom 
 " the oracles of God are committed" z> and 
 addressed ; on whom all Christian duties are 
 binding, as well as to whom all the privileges 
 of true Christians are offered. These are 
 
 >» 1 Peter 111, SI. 
 
 30 See Rom. Hi, beginning, — In answer to the objection, 
 What profit in circumcision i 11 
 
22 
 
 BAPTISM. 
 
 [SERM. 
 
 circumstances of vast importance to the per- 
 sons concerned : and they give to Christian 
 ministers the advantage ol addressing congre- 
 gations, in some degree instructed in the 
 nature, and acknowledging the obligations, 
 of the truths which they have to inculcate, 
 instead of leaving them to execute their com- 
 mission amidst a world of heathens. 
 
 And now then, dearly beloved in the Lord, 
 seeing ye have all been partakers (it may be 
 presumed,) of the external rite of baptism ; 
 seeing also that such unspeakable benefits 
 are by it sealed to all those who are baptized, 
 and " born again," not of water only, but of 
 the Holy Ghost ; let me beseech you, in the 
 name of our Lord Jesus Christ, by your Chris- 
 tian profession, and by the worth of your 
 immortal souls, that ye rest not content with- 
 out the inward and spiritual grace, without 
 " the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus," to 
 cleanse you from your guilt, and the "sancti- 
 " fication of the Spirit" M to remove your 
 depravity, — to make you holy here, that you 
 may be for ever happy hereafter ! This, 
 God is witness ! is " our heart's desire and 
 " prayer" for you all. 
 
 Oh think, how deplorable, how intolerable 
 it will be, having been " exalted unto hea- 
 " ven," in Christian privileges, to be at length 
 cast down to hell for not improving them ! 
 
 »' 1 rettr 
 
1.] UAPTISM. 23 
 
 Oh how will you bear, as our Lord declared 
 to the impenitent Jews would be their case, 
 to see many, at the last day, " coming from 
 " the «ast, and west, and north, and south, 
 " and sitting down in the kingdom of God, 
 " and you yourselves" " the children of the 
 " kingdom," — those who, but for their own 
 folly and disobedience, should have actually 
 been the ' inheritors of the kingdom of heaven' 
 — " cast out into outer darkness !" — Heaven 
 forbid that such should be your doom ! Yet, 
 assuredly it will be the doom of multitudes ! 
 of many who entertained no apprehensions 
 of the kind ! Hear ye the words of our 
 Saviour Christ : " Strive to enter in at the 
 " strait gate : for many, I say unto you, will 
 " seek to enter in, and shall not be able. 
 " When once the Master of the house is risen 
 " up, and hath shut to the door, and ye 
 " begin to stand without, and to knock at 
 " the door, saying, ' Lord, Lord, open unto 
 " us !' and he shall answer, and say unto 
 " you, ' I know you not, whence you are;' 
 *' then shall ye begin to say, ' Wc have eaten 
 " and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast 
 " taught in our streets ;' " — We have heard 
 thy gospel ; we have been baptized in thy 
 name ; we have professed thy religion ; we 
 have communicated at thy table : — " But he 
 " shall say, ' I tell you, 1 know you not whence 
 " you are : depart from me, all ye workers of 
 •' iniquity.' There shall be weeping and 
 
24 
 
 PTISM. 
 
 [SEIIM. 
 
 " gnashiug of teeth, when ye shall see Abra- 
 " ham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the 
 " prophets in the kingdom of God, and you 
 " yourselves thrust out. — And, behold ! there 
 " are last which shall be first, and there are 
 " first which shall be last." 11 I know not a 
 more awful passage in the word of God. — 
 And, if this will be the doom of " many," 13 it 
 may be of us ! It will be ours if w e supinely 
 take it for granted that it will not. It will 
 be ours, if we do not bestow great and 
 serious pains to prevent it; "to flee from the 
 " wrath to come ;" " to strive to enter in at 
 " the strait gate;" " (o fight the good fight 
 " of faith ;" " to lay hold on eternal life." 
 
 Oh let not all our opportunities be thrown 
 away ! let not our advantages be given us in 
 vain, or worse, infinitely worse than in vain! 
 Having been brought so near to heaven, let 
 us not, by carelessness, by love of the world 
 and of sinful indulgence, by neglect of sal- 
 vation, plunge ourselves into hell ! We are 
 ' called to a state of salvation,' and placed in 
 circumstances peculiarly favourable for secu- 
 ring our everlasting bliss ; 14 let us not have 
 for ever to reproach ourselves, with having 
 thrown away such a prize, placed within our 
 reach, or in our very hands ! Awake, arise, 
 implore of God, that he would give you his 
 grace to * embrace and ever hold fast' the 
 
 »« Luke *hi, 24-30. 
 
 a> Compare Malt. vii,«s. 
 
BAPTISM. 
 
 •26 
 
 proffered blessings. His authority commands, 
 his mercy invites, his " terrors" should "per- 
 " suade" you. He " waiteth to be gracious ;" 
 to bestow upon you whatever may be needful 
 to your final welfare. 
 
 Thus would we exhort, persuade, intreat 
 all who come within the sound of our voice : 
 and, in particular, all baptized persons, ' all 
 ' who profess and call themselves Christians.' 
 Examine yourselves, whether you have yet 
 had any more than " a name to live," while 
 you have been spiritually "dead." How have 
 you performed the vows of God which are 
 upon you ? What ! have you served the 
 devil, the world, or the flesh, instead of 
 renouncing them ? trampled on the command- 
 ments of God, one or all, instead of keeping 
 them ! Yet still he stretcheth out the arms 
 of mercy, ready to receive you if you will 
 now return to him : ready to blot out your 
 iniquities, to " heal your backslidings," to 
 number you with his children. Oh " seek ye 
 " the Lord while he may be found !" 
 
 But especially we would address ourselves 
 to you, my dear young friends, who are about 
 to offer yourselves for confirmation. ' Being 
 ' now come to years of discretion,' you are 
 called upon to consider, ' what your godfa- 
 ' thers and godmothers promised for you in 
 ' your baptism.' These promises were made 
 in order that you might be admitted to great 
 benefits. You are now invited ' to ratify and 
 C 
 
MS 
 
 BAPTISM. 
 
 [SERM. 
 
 ' confirm the same,' that, solemnly binding 
 yourselves to perform them, and, by the grace 
 of God, actually performing them, you may 
 enjoy all the great and everlasting benefits of 
 Christianity. Oh think what those benefits 
 are ! To have your sins all forgiven you, for 
 Christ's sake. To have Almighty God for 
 your father and friend, in life, in death, and 
 for ever. To have Christ for your redeemer 
 and saviour ; the Holy Ghost for your sanc- 
 tifier, your teacher, your guide, and your 
 comforter. To live here piously, holily, use- 
 fully, happily, under his influence. To look 
 forward to death without fear ; and to have 
 heaven for your everlasting home. Are not 
 these most desirable blessings ? Almightv 
 God now offers them to you. He invites, yea 
 intreats, you to come and receive them freely, 
 giving up yourselves to his service. " They 
 " that seek me early (he saith,) shall find 
 " me." Jesus Christ commands, that we 
 " suffer" even " little children to come unto 
 '* him, and forbid them not." "Of such," 
 he says, '* is the kingdom of God." Oh may 
 your hearts be early fired with the hol\ ambi- 
 tion of obtaining his favour, and receiving 
 his blessing ! O may you " remember your 
 " Creator in the days of your youth !"' ' 'Twill 
 ' save you from a thousand snares, to mind 
 1 religion young.' ' 'Tis easier work if you 
 * begin to serve the Lord betimes.' It will 
 be easier, by much, to enter upon the service 
 
I.] BAPTISM. 27 
 
 of God now, than at a period when sinful 
 propensities are confirmed by indulgence, 
 evil habits contracted, and irreligious con- 
 nexions formed. And at the end, "Twill 
 ' please you to look back, and see that your 
 ' whole lives were God's.' — True, there are 
 difficulties in your way even now : but God 
 will enable you to overcome them, if you 
 pray to him. True, you are young : but you 
 may die .young, as so many do ; and then 
 your opportunities are over. Be persuaded 
 then to be serious in what is before you. 
 Consider the vows you are to make. Pray 
 to God that you may be sincere in mak- 
 ing them, and not mock him with ' solemn 
 ' words upon a thoughtless tongue.' Pray to 
 him that you may perform what you vow. 
 Then shall you be " blessed in your deed." 
 Your ministers and pious friends will rejoice 
 over you. Angels in heaven will rejoice over 
 you. God himself, and your Redeemer, will 
 rejoice over you." You yourselves will look 
 back upon the transaction now before you, 
 and rejoice in it for ever. 
 
 A few words more I cannot but add, to 
 parents and sponsors who bring children to 
 baptism. Consider, we beseech you, the 
 serious nature of this proceeding. Alas ! 
 that it should be so lightly regarded as it 
 commonly is. You make solemn professions 
 
 " Luke iv, 10; Mi liil, II. 
 C 2 
 
28 
 
 BAPTISM. 
 
 [seem. 
 
 yourselves on such an occasion. You profess 
 yourselves Christians, and by so doing vir- 
 tually renew your own baptismal vows. How 
 then are you performing them ? Pause, pause 
 upon that question. You make also solemn 
 engagements for your conduct towards the 
 children baptized ; that jou will see that they 
 be ' virtuously brought up to lead a godly 
 ' and a Christian life,' and be instructed in 
 ' all things which a Christian ought to know 
 ' and believe to his soul's health :' 16 in short, 
 that you will do what in you lieth, by exam- 
 ple, by instruction, by admonition, to cause 
 them to perform the vows made for them. 
 And do you then go away, and think no 
 more of your engagements to God, to his 
 church, and to the poor infants who are so 
 unhappy as to have such faithless sureties ? 
 Do you leave them to grow up uninstructed, 
 unadmonished ; and, by your conduct, encou- 
 rage them rather to serve, than to ' renounce, 
 'the devil?' to follow, rather than to shun, 
 ' the pomps and vanity of this wicked world ?' 
 Did you thus break your engagements with 
 men, what would be the estimate made of 
 your character? Yet " if one man sin against 
 " another, the judge shall judge him ; but, 
 " if a man sin against the Lord, who shall 
 " intreat for him ?" 
 
 Finally, in bringing your children to bap- 
 
 3* Bapliimal Service — Addreis to Ihe sponior». 
 
tisni, you profess to seek great blessings for 
 the helpless infants themselves — whom you, 
 their parents, have brought into existence, 
 but whose existence not all the world can ever 
 again extinguish : who must live for ever, 
 happy or miserable, according as they obtain 
 or fail of the blessings thus sought for them. 
 And can you do this with careless, unfeeling 
 indifference ? Study, seriously, the prayers 
 offered up for your children at their baptism. 
 Surely they must interest your hearts ! Surely 
 you can never be unconcerned whether they 
 be fulfilled or not ! Surely you cannot go 
 away, and never more offer up the like 
 prayers for thein ! — Consider your past fail- 
 ures : and may the God of heaven grant 
 you repentance, and grace in future to dis- 
 charge the solemn duties incumbent upon 
 you ! 
 
SERMON II. 
 
 ON CON FIRMATION. 
 
 JEREMIAH, L, 5. 
 Saying, • Come, and let us join ourselves to the Lord,'in 
 a perpetual covenant, that shall not be forgotten/' 
 
 It has pleased Almighty God, very com- 
 monly, in his word to represent his dealings 
 with mankind, his promises to them, and the 
 duties which he, in consequence, requires of 
 them, under the notion of a covenant. " 1," 
 he said to Noah, immediately after the deluge, 
 " behold, I establish my covenant with you 
 " and with your seed after you, — neither shall 
 " all flesh be any more cut off by the waters of 
 " a flood." 1 To Abraham he engaged, " I 
 " will establish my covenant between ine and 
 " thee, and thy seed after thee, in their 
 " generations, for an everlasting covenant, to 
 " be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after 
 " thee." 2 And accordingly a covenant was 
 solemnly made and ratified by God with the 
 people of Israel, at Mount Sinai, soon after 
 
 Gen, ix, 9. 
 
 ■> Gtn. Tvii,7. 
 
II.] CONFIRMATION. 31 
 
 their deliverance from Egypt. The Lord pro- 
 mised, that, if they would "hearken to his 
 " judgments, and keep them, and do them, 
 " he, the Lord their God, would keep unto 
 " them the covenant and mercy which he 
 " sware unto their fathers ; and would love 
 " them, and bless them," so that they should 
 " be blessed above all people." But, on the 
 other hand, it was denounced, " Cursed be 
 " he that confirmeth not all the words of this 
 " law, to do them." 3 
 
 As the Israelites so lamentably departed 
 from their engagements with God, it became 
 one great office of their pious princes and 
 reformers to call them to renew, and bind 
 themselves more strictly to observe, this cove- 
 nant. Their history records several remark- 
 able transactions of this kind ; particularly 
 in the times of Joshua, of Asa, of Jehoshaphat, 
 of the high priest Jehoiada, of Hezekiah, and 
 of their last good king, Josiah :+ and seldom 
 did any great reformation take place among 
 them, without a solemn renewal of their 
 covenant with God. 
 
 And the privileges and duties of the Chris- 
 tian dispensation are still represented in the 
 same way. In the thirty-first chapter of this 
 book, the introduction of the gospel is thus 
 predicted : " Behold, the days come, saith 
 
 > Dent, vii, & xxvii,s6. 
 
 < Jo». xxiv; 2Chron. xv, xxiii, xxix-xxxi, xxxiv. 
 
32 
 
 CONFIRMATION. 
 
 [SERM. 
 
 " the Lord, that I will make a new covenant 
 " with the house of Israel and the house of 
 " Judah, not, according to the covenant that 
 " I made with their fathers in the day that I 
 " took them by the hand to bring them out 
 " of the land of Egypt ; (which my covenant 
 " they brake, although I was a husband unto 
 " them, saith the Lord :) but this shall be 
 " the covenant that I will make with the 
 " house of Israel," — a covenant which ex- 
 tends, doubtless, to all the true church of 
 God, — " After those days, saith the Lord, I 
 " will put ray laws in their inward parts, 
 " and write them in their hearts, and will be 
 " their God, and they shall be my people." 
 Accordingly the gospel is commonly denomi- 
 nated " the new covenant ;" and the very 
 book in which it is revealed is styled The 
 New Testament, or rather, Covenant. 
 
 These remarks may illustrate the language 
 of my text, and prepare the w ay to the appli- 
 cation of it which I propose. 
 
 This chapter and the succeeding one pre- 
 dict the destruction of Babylon, and the 
 restoration of the Jews from their impeuding 
 captivity in that city, in consequence of the 
 well-known decree of Cyrus, recited in the 
 beginning of the book of Ezra. Beautiful is 
 the picture, here prophetically delineated, pf 
 the poor captives returning, not only to their 
 land, but to their God, with tears of repent- 
 
II.] CONFIRMATION. 33 
 
 ance for their sins against him, and of joy 
 for the renewed indications of his favour to 
 them I " In those days, and at that time, 
 " saith the Lord, the children of Israel shall 
 " come, they and the children of Judah toge- 
 " ther, going and weeping : they shall go and 
 " seek the Lord their God. They shall ask 
 " the way to Zion, with their faces thither- 
 " w,ard, saying, ' Come, and let us join ourselves 
 " to the Lord, in a perpetual covenant, that 
 " shall not be forgotten V " 
 
 Now these words speak precisely the senti- 
 ments which we would express, when we 
 invite you to baptism, or to confirmation. 
 ' Come,' we would say to you, ' Come, join 
 ' yourselves to the Lord, in a perpetual, an 
 ' everlasting covenant, never to be forgotten.' 
 
 Baptism, as we so lately explained it to 
 you, is, where rightly received, " the seal" 
 of such a covenant; as circumcision was of 
 the covenant made with Abraham and his 
 seed. Every person, receiving baptism, does 
 himself, or by his sureties, iu hope of the 
 blessings of which that sacrament is ' a means 
 • and a pledge,' renounce the world, the flesh, 
 and the devil, and devote himself to God 
 through the Redeemer. 
 
 Confirmation, though not, like baptism, 
 expressly 'ordained by Christ himself,' yet 
 is derived from the earliest practice of the 
 Christian church, perhaps from that of the 
 
34 
 
 CONFIRMATION* 
 
 [SERM. 
 
 Apostles themselves. At least, without con- 
 tending that it is the same " confirmation of 
 " the churches" in the faith, attended with 
 " the laying on of hands," and the commu- 
 nication of the Holy Ghost, of which we read 
 in the Acts and the epistolary writings of the 
 apostles, J yet its ultimate design is, virtually, 
 the same : it aims at the same great object, 
 by such means as are left in our power. Its 
 intention is, by calling baptized persons to a 
 more particular consideration of the nature 
 and obligation of their professions, and to 
 a solemn and public renewal of them, to 
 establish their minds in attachment to Christ, 
 and to engage them unalterably to be ' his 
 ' faithful soldiers and servants' for ever. 
 
 Such a transaction seems peculiarly proper 
 with respect to those, who, as the great mass 
 of the people in Christian countries are, have 
 been baptized in their infancy. What can 
 be more natural or expedient, than to call 
 upon such persons, when they ' are now come 
 ' to years of discretion, and have learned 
 ' what their godfathers and godmothers pro- 
 ' mised for them,' before they were capable 
 of promising for themselves ; and when they 
 are now just entering upon life ; to come 
 forward, and seriously say, whether they 
 recognize their baptismal vows, whether they 
 humbly purpose to stand to them ; aud, in 
 
 < Acti viil, 1*~17; xlr.K; IT, M,41; ria.fi ; Heb,»i,2. 
 
CONFIRMATION 
 
 35 
 
 attestation of their so doing, ' themselves, 
 ' with their own mouth and consent, openly, 
 ' before the church, to ratify and confirm 
 ' the same ; and also to promise, that, by 
 ' the grace of God, they will evermore endea- 
 ' vour themselves faithfully to observe such 
 ' things as, by their own confession, they have 
 ' assented unto.' 
 
 And this is the account which our church 
 gives of confirmation. — What, I ask, can be 
 more reasonable, than that she should require 
 from each of her young members such an 
 avowal ? Without something of the kind, 
 she must be at a loss to determine whether 
 she is to consider them as continuing her 
 members, or as renouncing their baptism, 
 and their connection with her. What is it, 
 but like Joshuas address to the people of 
 Israel, " Choose ye this day, whom ye will 
 " serve," the Lord, or other gods? Or like 
 that of Elijah, " How long halt ye between 
 " two opinions ? If the Lord be God, follow 
 " him; but if Baal, then follow him." 6 
 
 And may not confirmation, thus under- 
 stood, admit of the most important improve- 
 ment for the good of such young persons ? 
 It furnishes both to ministers, to parents, to 
 sponsors, and to all who have the super- 
 intendance of youth, the most desirable 
 opportunity for communicating religious in- 
 structions, and impressing serious sentiments 
 
 « Josh. Klv, 14,15; 1 Kings xvlii, 81. 
 
36 
 
 CONFIRMATION. 
 
 [SERM. 
 
 on their luinds. The solemn prayers, also, 
 of the church are offered up for them, on the 
 occasion ; and these will, no doubt, be aided 
 by the fervent intercessions of all pious per- 
 sons, for what form the rising hopes of the 
 church, as well as of the community. 
 
 And shall the seed of divine truth be all 
 thrown away 7 . Shall God refuse to " hear 
 " his own elect, who cry day and night unto 
 " him," pleading for the fulfilment of his 
 promises 1 No : it will not be, it cannot be, 
 it is not, the case. Those ministers who 
 have had most experience, and have taken 
 most pains on these occasions, have given us 
 the most encouraging reports of the happy 
 effects produced by means of them. They 
 have found many young persons at these 
 times, " join themselves to the Lord in a 
 " perpetual covenant, not to be forgotten :" 
 and many more in whose minds the seed of 
 divine truth was then sown, which, perhaps 
 even long afterwards, sprang up, and ripened 
 into a blessed harvest. 
 
 Let us hope, my Christian brethren, that 
 what we have thus '* heard with our ears," 
 we shall ourselves witness, realized before 
 us : and that, while so many young persons 
 are early entering upon courses of vice and 
 folly, we shall see not a few, in consequence 
 of what is now doing for them, devoting 
 themselves to the Lord from their youth. 
 
 And you, my young friends, oh that we 
 
fcl.J CONFIRMATION. 37 
 
 could inspire you with this hope and ardent 
 desire for yourselves, which are our heart's 
 desire and hope for you ! Hear ye the pro- 
 mises of God made to his church with respect 
 to those who are placed precisely in your 
 circumstances, and pray that they may be 
 fulfilled in yourselves, individually. Thus 
 saith the Lord to his church, by his prophet 
 Isaiah : " Fear not, O Jacob, my servant, and 
 " thou Jesurun, whom I have chosen: for I 
 " will pour water upon him that is thirsty, 
 " and floods upon the dry ground : I will pour 
 " my Spirit upon thy seed, find my blessing 
 " upon lliy offspring: and they shall spring up 
 " as among the grass, as willows by the water- 
 " courses. One shall say, ' I am the Lord's ;' 
 " and another shall call himself by the name 
 " of Jacob ; and another shall subscribe with 
 " his hand unto the Lord," — engaging him- 
 self to be his servant, — "and shall surname 
 " himself by the name of Israel." 7 
 
 In order that the blessings, here so beauti- 
 fully described, may accompany your con- 
 firmation ; that it. may indeed prove the 
 " joining of yourselves to the Lord in a per- 
 " petual covenant ;" let me obtain your serious 
 attention to the further instructions upon the 
 subject, which I am about to address to you. 
 
 1. First then, I say, reflect that this is a most 
 solemn trm-isoclion in which you are engaging. 
 
 ^ If. xliv, 3—3. 
 
 D 
 
38 
 
 CON FIRM ATIOl 
 
 [SLRM. 
 
 I have already explained to you its uature. 
 It is entering into covenant v>ith God. It is 
 devoting yourselves to his service in this life, 
 that you may inherit his everlasting kingdom 
 in the life to come. It is, ' with your own 
 ' mouth and consent, openly, before the 
 ' church, ratifying and confirming' your bap- 
 tismal vows. 
 
 What those vows are, I purpose to explain 
 to you more particularly, in another discourse. 
 But you mvist know enough of them to be 
 aware, that they are of a very serious nature. 
 
 The duties to wlrieh they bind you are of eter- 
 nal and unalterable obligation. You cannot 
 escape from their obligation, even by refusing 
 to make, or to renew these vows. Every 
 human being who comes to the knowledge of 
 them, is bound to perform them, and is a 
 rebel against his Maker, if he fail to do it. 
 
 Yet certainly thus engaging for the per- 
 formance of them is a solemn transaction, 
 well adapted to impress the mind with a 
 sense of the obligations under which it lies, 
 and to fortify it against every temptation to 
 violate or neglect them. 
 
 Making promises to our fellow creatures 
 is a serious act, and the violation of them 
 highly criminal. But how much more serious, 
 to vow unto God ! and how much more hei- 
 nous a crime, the non-performance of our 
 vows. 
 
 Yet have not mauy per-.ous present this sin 
 
II.] CONFIRMATION 7 . 8§ 
 
 lying at their door? Oli consider it : repent of 
 it : lest it be your ruin ! 
 
 All the circumstances, likewise, under which 
 this ratification of your vows is to be made, 
 are solemn. It is to be made in the house of 
 God, and in his more immediate presence, 
 invoked for the occasion ; before a large 
 assembly of his professed worshippers ; and 
 to one of the principal ministers of his church : 
 — as we may justly say, " before so great a 
 " cloud of witnesses." It is to be accom- 
 panied with solemn prayers, and the laying 
 on of the hands of the Bishop, craving the 
 divine blessing upon you. It is to be made 
 by every one of you all, ' with his own mouth 
 
 * and consent.' The Bishop puts to all the 
 persons to be confirmed the following ques- 
 tion, which every one of you is to consider 
 as addressed to himself, personally : ' Do you 
 ' here, in the presence of God, and of this 
 ' congregation, renew the solemn promise and 
 ' vow that was made in your name at your 
 ' baptism ; ratifying and confirming the same 
 ' in your own persons, and acknowledging 
 ' yourselves bound to believe and to do all 
 ' those things which your godfathers and god- 
 ' mothers undertook for you V And to this 
 question ' every one is audibly to answer, 
 
 • / do: 
 
 Assuredly this is a covenant " that shall 
 " not be forgotten." Its consequences shall 
 be " everlasting." If it be truly and uprightly 
 D S 
 
40 
 
 CON I IRM ATION. 
 
 [SEUM. 
 
 made, you shall remember it through life with 
 satisfaction ; you shall remember it in death as 
 your consolation ; you shall remember it to all 
 eternity with grateful joy ; as having " this day 
 " avouched the Lord to be your God ;" and 
 having beeu from this day acknowledged by 
 him, as his servants and children. But if it be 
 made inconsiderately, ignorantly, insincerely, 
 and, in consequence, remain unfulfilled; then 
 its effect must be, to bring dow n upon you " a 
 " curse and not a blessing:" and, unless deep 
 repentance prevent, the remembrance of your 
 unholy trifling with God will prove a never- 
 dying worm of remorse, corroding your con- 
 science for ever. 
 
 Oh then, my dear young friends, be im- 
 pressed, be deeply impressed, with the 
 enormity of entering upon this most serious 
 transaction, as so many, alas ! do, in a 
 spirit of profane levity. Dread to make the 
 day of confirmation a day of frivolity, and 
 much more a day of disorder, of riot, and 
 wantonness. Pray earnestly to God, that he 
 would impress a devout seriousness upon 
 your spirit, both during the day, while you 
 are previously preparing for it, and whenever 
 (as I hope will often be the case,) you may- 
 hereafter reflect upon it. — ' Be serious in a 
 1 serious cause.' 
 
 But 2ndly, though a solemn, this is also a 
 pleasing service, kindly appointed for your 
 good : for your present comfort, and your 
 everlasting benefit. 
 
w.] 
 
 CONFIRMATION. 
 
 41 
 
 That Almighty God should condescend to 
 enter into covenant with the sinful children 
 of men, to take them for " his people," and to 
 engage to be " their God," and their " portion 
 " for ever and ever," displays kindness and 
 mercy more than tongue can express. Well 
 may we exclaim, " Lord, what is man, that 
 " thou so regardest him !" Yet that it has 
 pleased God thus to deal with men from the 
 beginning, we have already shewn. " Come 
 " out from" a wicked world, " and be ye 
 " separate, and touch not the unclean thing, 
 " and I will receive you, and will be a Father 
 " unto you, and ye shall be my sons and 
 " daughters, saith the Lord Almighty:" 8 this 
 hath been his gracious language "in all gene- 
 " rations." 
 
 And, from several passages which have 
 been already quoted, we find, that it is ad- 
 dressed to us with express reference to " our 
 " seed, our children after us," as well as for 
 our own benefit.. " This is my covenant with 
 " them, saith the Lord," (directly predicting 
 the Redeemer and the gospel,) " My Spirit, 
 " which is upon thee, and my words which I 
 " have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out 
 " of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the 
 " mouth of thy seed's sved, saith the Lord, 
 " from henceforth and for ever." 9 
 
 Hence the children of the Jews were incor- 
 porated into the visible church of God by 
 
 • S Cor. vi, 17, IB. » R.Ux.Sl. 
 
 D 3 
 
42 
 
 CONFIRMATION. 
 
 [SERM. 
 
 circumcision, and the children of Christian 
 parents are incorporated into it by baptism. 
 
 And great is the notice which Almighty 
 God has taken of young persons in his word ; 
 great the kindness which he has shewn for 
 them. Nothing is more frequently repeated 
 than his command to us, to instruct them in 
 his truth, to " train them in the way wherein 
 " they should go ;" " to bring them up in 
 " the nurture and admonition of the Lord." 
 " Remember now thy Creator," he admonishes, 
 " in ihe days of thy youth." " I love them 
 " that love me, and they that seek me early," 
 they especially " shall find me." And, to 
 name no more instances, let me call your 
 particular attention to the admirable conde- 
 scension and kindness of our blessed Saviour, 
 when some pious parents so naturally and 
 simply brought their " little children unto 
 " him, that he should put his hands upon 
 " them, and pray." " His disciples," we 
 are told, " rebuked those that brought 
 " them," thinking that they gave him unpro- 
 fitable trouble. "But when Jesus saw it, he 
 " was much displeased, and said unto them, 
 " f Suffer the little children to come unto me, 
 " and forbid them not : for of such is the 
 " kingdom of God. Verily, 1 say unto you, 
 " whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of 
 " God as a little child, he shall not enter 
 " therein.' And he took them up in his 
 " arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed 
 
CONFIRMATION. 
 
 4S 
 
 " them." 10 How exquisitely beautiful is this ! 
 Striking indeed, one would believe, must have 
 been the effect of this transaction upon the 
 parties concerned in it. What an obligation 
 must it have fixed upon the parents to train 
 up their children to the service of that Saviour, 
 to whom they had presented them, and who 
 had so graciously received and blessed them ! 
 What a plea must it have furnished with the 
 young persons themselves, when come to 
 years of discretion, not basely to desert or 
 disobey him, to whom they had been thus 
 devoted in their infancy, and who had shewn 
 such tender regard for them. " And is it not 
 in the highest degree encouraging to all truly 
 Christian parents, whose first desire for their 
 beloved offspring is, the blessing of Christ? 
 Is it not most inviting to young persons ? 
 
 My dear young friends ! just as these pa- 
 rents did, would we bring you, or invite you 
 to come, into the presence of the gracious 
 
 '0 Mark x, IS. 
 
 " ' What a topic of expostulation would this transaction give 
 ' the ministers of Christ, if these parents afterwards brought op 
 ' their children in an unchristian manner, or set them a bad ex- 
 ' ample I Or, with the children, if they renounced that Saviour, 
 ' who had so condescendingly taken them in his arms and blessed 
 ' them I In what a variety of ways might instructions and admo- 
 ' nilions, both to the parents and to the children, be grounded 
 ' upon it ; and what a sweet subject of converse would it afford 
 • to the parents, in afterwards instructing the children I What 
 ' a plea in prayer for them ! And might not infant-baptism be 
 ' improved to similar purposes, did all, who approve and contend 
 ' for it, bestow due pains to make it a means of grace to tbem- 
 ' selves, and those concerned f" — Scott's Commentary. 
 
CONFIRMATION*. 
 
 [SERM. 
 
 Saviour, that you may receive his blessing, 
 and go forth and live in the world as becomes 
 those who have been thus consecrated to God 
 your redeemer, from your youth. It is no 
 less for your own good, your comfort, your 
 happiness, than because we would have you 
 to do your duty, that we wish you to ratify 
 and to perform your baptismal vows. Re- 
 member the blessiugs of baptism, where it is 
 ' rightly received.' * To be made members of 
 ' Christ, children of God, and inheritors of 
 ' the kingdom of heaven.' What inestimable 
 blessings are these ! — In what sense you are 
 to understand your having breti made par- 
 takers of them, we endeavoured to explain to 
 you in a former discourse. You are said to 
 be so, upon the supposition of your having 
 received ' the inward and spiritual grace,' of 
 baptism, as well as ' the outward aucl visible 
 ' sign.' And, if you do indeed possess this 
 inward and spiritual grace, it will shew itself 
 by leading you to keep your vows, — renoun- 
 cing the world, the flesh, and the devil ; 
 believing truly in Christ ; and walking in the 
 commandments of God. But, if you do not 
 these things, you demonstrate that you have 
 " neither part nor lot" in the spiritual and 
 eternal blessings of Christianity . 
 
 This point may receive apt, and I hope 
 not unpardonably familiar, illustration, from 
 an usage with which the greater part of my 
 audience is conversant. Under the charter of 
 
this corporate town, numerous persons are 
 free-born; but, unless, when grown up to 
 maturity, they sue out, or, as it is termed, 
 take up, their freedom, they can enjoy no 
 benefit of this privilege. So you are ad- 
 mitted, in your infancy, into ' a state of sal- 
 ' vation ;' but you will; in the end, derive no 
 advantage from that circumstance, unless you 
 be afterwards careful to secure the blessings of 
 salvation in the prescribed way ; 11 repenting of 
 your sins, believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 and yielding up yourselves to the service of 
 God, through him. This is what we are con- 
 tinually urging you to do, in our preaching, 
 and w hat you profess actually to do in con- 
 firmation. The church hopes you are sincere, 
 when you make this profession; and, in that 
 hope and persuasion, 3 again address God in 
 your behalf, as having ' regenerated you by 
 ' water and the Holy Ghost, and forgiven 
 ' you all your sins.' — Our heart's desire and 
 prayer to God for you is, that your whole 
 future lives may shew, that she did not flatter 
 herself with vain hopes, when she indulged 
 this charitable supposition respecting you. 
 Then your blessedness will be indeed great ; 
 you will live here in the favour of God ; when 
 
 !• See answer in the Catechism to the question, ' Why then 
 ' are intauts baptized V &c. 
 
 " This language of charitable hope and supposition pervades 
 all the services ot the church : and it appears to be the true key 
 to the language of the baptismal offices. 
 
46 CONFIRMATION. [SERM. 
 
 death shall conic, this his covenant will be 
 " all your salvation and all your desire ;" 
 and, when " flesh and heart shall fail, God 
 " will be the strength of your heart, and 
 " your portion for ever." 
 
 3. Let me then, in. the last place, address 
 a few directions to you, for your preparation 
 for this solemnity. 
 
 I need not now say, Be serious in all that 
 respects it : I need not say, Thankfully avail 
 yourselves of the opportunity afforded you. 
 I have been shewing you how much reason 
 you have for both these things. But, 
 
 (1.) Be careful to understand the engage- 
 ments you are to enter into, the vows you are 
 to make. I have already spoken of them to 
 many of you, and purpose to enlarge upon 
 them more hereafter. But consider them at 
 home. Study the explanation of them giveo 
 in the tract which has been put into your 
 hands. ,+ You will find that they comprehend 
 a great deal. 
 
 (2.) Examine your lives past. Remember, 
 you have always been under the obligation of 
 the vows, which you are now called upon 
 more solemnly to ratify. But how much, 
 alas! have you failed of keeping them How 
 much have you yielded to sin, to the works 
 
 >* " The Parochial Minister'! Address to all those persons 
 ouder bis care who ire of a proper age to be confirmed by the 
 Bishop : by the Rev. Thomas Robinton, A M. Vicar of St. 
 Mary's, Leicester." 
 
II.] CONFIRMATION. 47 
 
 and temptations of the devil! What wrong 
 tempers and passions have you indulged ! 
 How much have your hearts been set upon 
 the vanites of this life ! How little have you 
 known or thought of God, and your blessed 
 Saviour? How little have you delighted in 
 his service, or, indeed, at all studied to serve 
 him ! Compare your dispositions and your 
 conduct with the summaries of duty to God 
 and to your neighbour, given you in your 
 catechism : and you will find that you have 
 much, much indeed to repent of. Enter then 
 upon your renewed consecration of yourselves 
 to God, with humiliation, and confession of 
 your past offences ; and earnestly imploring 
 his pardoning mercy through the great Re- 
 deemer. In this respect, as well as others, 
 take for your example the Israelites spoken 
 of in my text, who are described as "going 
 " and weeping, to seek the Lord their God." 
 Their tears of godly sorrow, we are assured, 
 would soon be turned to joy. They are said, 
 " to have asked the way to Zion, with their 
 "faces thitherward:" 
 
 (3.) Be aware that you possess an evil 
 nature, which will still carry you contrary to 
 your duty, your resolutions, and your vows, 
 unless it be thoroughly changed by divine 
 grace. All your good purposes, therefore, 
 will come to nothing, they will vanish as the 
 " early cloud, and the morning dew," unless 
 you call upon God, by earnest and frequent 
 
CONFIRMATION. 
 
 [SEKM. 
 
 prayer, to enable you to keep them. Pray 
 daily unto God, especially for these two 
 blessings, the pardon of your sins, and a new 
 heart, s filled with love to God, and disposed 
 to delight in his service. Remember the 
 admonition in your Catechism, ' My good 
 ' child, know this, that thou art not able to 
 ' do these things of thyself, nor to walk in 
 ' the commandments of God, end to serve 
 ' him, without his special grace ; which thou 
 ' must learn nt all times to call for by difi- 
 ' gent prayer.' Remember the professions 
 which you yourselves make in answer to the 
 question, ' Dost thou not think, that thou 
 * art bound to believe and to do as thy god- 
 ■ fathers and godmothers promised for thee V 
 You reply, ' Yes verily, and by God's help, 
 ' so I will : and I heartily thank our heavenly 
 ' Father, who hath called me to this state of 
 ' salvation through Jesus Christ our Saviour. 
 ' And I pray unto God to give me his grace, 
 ' that I may continue in the same unto my 
 ' life's end.' Oh do not say these things with- 
 out doing them ! 
 
 These then are my present admonitions to 
 the young persons themselves. I now turn 
 to others. 
 
 Some, probably, may think the views which 
 have been taken, both of baptism and of con- 
 firmation, much too solemn, or, as they may- 
 is P»«lm li, 9, 10. 
 
II. J CONFIRMATION. 49 
 
 represent it, alarming. I ask. What is your 
 reason for this opinion ? Is it supported by 
 any solid reason \ Or do you form this judg- 
 ment, only because our views are much more 
 serious than you have been used to enter- 
 tain, or than the world in general entertains? 
 There is no weight whatever in such a reason. 
 I would only inquire, Whether our statements 
 have not been sufficiently confirmed from 
 scripture, and from the nature of the case. 
 If so, oh beware, how you prefer to them the 
 inconsiderate, the unfounded sentiments of a 
 world, careless and self-flattering upon all 
 spiritual subjects ! On similar grounds, you 
 might reject the belief of all the most impor- 
 tant truths of scripture: nay, if fact had not 
 extorted your assent, you might have disbe- 
 lieved the possibility of all the awful indica- 
 tions of the divine displeasure against sin, 
 which the state of the world, in so affecting a 
 manner, exhibits to our view. 
 
 But, perhaps, you were confirmed years 
 ago, and have never thought very seriously 
 of the obligation which you then contracted. 
 And this may prejudice you against the 
 admission of such solemn views of the subject. 
 You are unwilling to think yourselves criminal 
 in having thus lightly regarded your engage- 
 ments. But your unwillingness to feel your 
 criminality, is no proof that it does not exist. 
 Certainly you are deeply guilty, if you have 
 trifled with the vows of God, which are upon 
 E 
 
>0 
 
 CONFIRMATION. 
 
 [SERM. 
 
 you : aud the only course of wisdom and 
 duty, which lies open to you, is humbly to 
 acknowledge, aud repent of your deceitful 
 dealing with Him, who "searcheth all hearts," 
 " whose you are, and whom you" ought ever 
 to have " served." And, if you do uot take 
 this course, He will one day discover to you 
 your dissembled guilt, in a manner which 
 shall overwhelm you with terror and despair ! 
 
 But I would again address myself to pa- 
 rents and sponsors. I call upon you, bre- 
 thren, at this time, to do your duty. The 
 church expects it, your ministers intreat it. 
 Almighty God requires it of \ou. The office 
 of sponsors is not, as is sometimes ignorantly 
 represented, to perform the duties, or to 
 bear the sins, of the children for them : it 
 was designed, to insure the baptized person's 
 being instructed and admonished concerning 
 his duty. Parents do naturally lie under 
 every obligation to instruct and admonish 
 their children ; and, therefore, the church 
 does not admit (hem as sponsors. They are 
 already pledged as deeply as possible. But 
 she requires additional sureties, lest parents 
 should be removed or incapacitated, or should 
 neglect their duty. The very nature of the 
 office, therefore, shows how improper it is, 
 that it should be undertaken lightly, or be 
 committed to those who are themselves des- 
 titute of serious piety. At all times, it is the 
 duty of you who hold it, to take care that 
 
.1] 
 
 CONFIR MATION. 
 
 51 
 
 the young persons, for whom you have en- 
 gaged, grow not up without proper instruction. 
 But especially on such occasions as the pre- 
 sent, look diligently to your children and 
 god-children. Affectionately converse with 
 them : instruct thetn : admonish them : pray 
 for them, and with them : and do all that in 
 you lieth to prevail with them to keep the 
 vows which you, in their name, made for 
 them, and which they are now about to 
 renew, in their own name. 
 
 Finally, I call upon all serious Christians. 
 Assist us with your prayers. Bear our young 
 people continually upon your hearts before 
 God. Consider their situation, — just enter- 
 ing upon a world, how dangerous! the impor- 
 tance of their conduct ! the worth of their 
 souls ! Pray that the seed of divine truth, 
 now sown among them, may find a prepared 
 and fruitful soil ! Pray that they may indeed 
 yield themselves up unto God in their youth, 
 and serve him all their days ! How happy 
 will this be for themselves : how happy for 
 those who are connected with thein : how 
 happy for the church of God ! — " Ye that 
 " make mention of the name of the Lord, 
 " keep not silence, and give him no rest," 
 till he thus bless and replenish his church — 
 till he " pour his Spirit upon our seed, his 
 " blessing upon our offspring'.'* 
 
 E i 
 
SERMON III. 
 
 OA' THE VOWS OF BAPTISM AND 
 CONFIRMATION. 
 
 ECCLESIASTES, V, 4, 5. 
 When thou vowcst a vow unto God, defer not to pay it ; 
 for he hath no plcusiire in fouls : pay thut which thou 
 hast vowed. Better is it that thou shouldst not cow, 
 than that thou shouldst vow und not pay. 
 
 JL HE doctrine of the text is such as needs 
 no argumenls to confirm its truth and pro- 
 priety. Whoever considers what is implied 
 in the awful name of god, must be deeply 
 sensible how much it concerns us to be 
 humble, reverent, and above all, sincere, in 
 our transactions with Him, — that great Being 
 to whom we owe our very existence, and ou 
 whose favour our well-being is absolutely 
 dependent. 
 
 Impressed with these sentiments, the wise 
 and inspired King of Israel thus addresses 
 his reader: " Keep thy foot, when thou goest 
 " to the house of God : and be more ready 
 " to hear, than to offer the sacrifice of fools," 
 who mock the Most High with an outward 
 
in.] 
 
 VOWS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 53 
 
 service, from which the heart is absent. 
 " Be not rash with thy mouth, and let no) 
 " thy heart be hasty to utter any thing before 
 " God : for God is in heaven, and thou upon 
 " earth, therefore let thy words be few," 
 or serious and well considered ; not rash 
 effusions, not " vain repetitions." " When 
 " thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to 
 " pay it ; for he hath no pleasure in fools : 
 " pay that which thou hast vowed. Better 
 " is it that thou shouldst not vow, than that 
 " thou shouldst vow, and not pay." 
 
 How well these sentences apply to the 
 subject on which we have of late been endea- 
 vouring to fix your attention, must be obvious. 
 We are all, in one way or other, bound unto 
 God by solemn vows. Many are just about 
 to bind themselves by the vows of Confirma- 
 tion. Much does it behove us to be careful 
 that we " pay" and that we " defer not to 
 " pay," that which we vow. 
 
 In order that we may pay our vows, it is, 
 in the first place, necessary, that we should 
 understand them. To assist you in this pre- 
 paratory step, as, in my last sermon, I 
 explained to yon the nature of confirmation, 
 1 shall, in this and a following discourse, 
 offer you some remarks on the vows ratified 
 and renewed in that ordinance. The com- 
 ment upon them, which our limits admit, 
 must necessarily be general, and somewhat 
 E 3 
 
54 
 
 VOWS OF BAPTISM [sERM. 
 
 superficial : yet I would hope, that, by the 
 blessing of God, it may not be without its 
 use to you. 
 
 The vows to be considered are those made 
 for us in our baptism ; which we, ' with our 
 ' own mouth and consent, openly, before the 
 
 * church, ratify and confirm,' in what is, 
 partly for this reason, called Confirmation. 
 
 They are three : ' First, That we will re- 
 
 * nounce the devil and all his works, the 
 ' pomps and vanity of this wicked world, 
 ' and all the sinful lusts of the flesh : Se- 
 ' condly, That we will believe all the articles 
 
 * of the Christian faith : And, thirdly, That 
 ' we will keep God's holy will and command- 
 ■ inents, and walk in the same all the days 
 ' of our life.' 
 
 1. On the first of these vows we may re- 
 mark, that, when we are called to ' renounce' 
 the devil, the world, and the flesh, it is 
 implied, that these enemies of God, and of 
 our souls, have obtained a great power over 
 us. And little need be said to convince any 
 seriously minded person, that this is the fact. 
 
 1. God originally " made man upright," 
 " after his own image," and under no other 
 control than the mild and gracious one of his 
 Creator's authority. But, ever since Satan 
 seduced our first parents to take part in his 
 rebellion, he has possessed such an influence 
 over us, that he is styled in Scripture, *■ the 
 
AND CON FIHMATIO' 
 
 65 
 
 " god," and " the prince, of this world ;" and 
 " the spirit that now worketh in the children 
 " of disobedience." 
 
 We are taught, that the devil, with " his 
 " angels," acts especially as the tempter of 
 men : in which character he assailed " the 
 
 second Adam, the Lord from heaven," 
 (Jesus Christ,) as he had done the first; but, 
 happily, with a very different issue. But so 
 subtle are his devices, that he is said, " to 
 " transform himself into an angel of light to 
 " deceive ;" and so successful, that he is 
 described as " the old serpent, that deceiveth 
 " the whole world." 
 
 And are there not facts in the history, and 
 even in the general state, of mankind, which 
 cannot be satisfactorily explained but by the 
 acknowledgment of such an influence? Look 
 to the extreme wickedness of men, in every 
 age and country, which has hitherto over- 
 borne all the obstacles that could be opposed 
 to it, and ail the means that have been used, 
 to give the ascendency to truth and righte- 
 ousness in t lie earth. Look especially to this 
 circumstance, that thoroughly ' to renounce' 
 the dominion of Satan by being strictly reli- 
 gious, and resolutely living as the ' servants 
 ' of God,' has ever been matter of ill-report 
 in the world : has ever been singular, and 
 unfashionable : has ever been so to such a 
 degree, as, in all times and places, to be 
 stigmatized by a still unexhausted series of 
 
$0 
 
 VOWS OF BAPTISM 
 
 [SERM. 
 
 terras of reproach : — to such a degree, as 
 constantly to hold out to men the temptation 
 to be " ashamed of Christ and his words ;" 
 ashamed of true religion, as an obnoxious 
 peculiarity ! Does not this shew that we live 
 in a world where another power, hostile to 
 that of the Creator, has established its usurped 
 dominion ? 
 
 Can we, again, need more decisive proofs of 
 the " energy of delusion" which is exerted 
 upon the minds of mankind, than are exhi- 
 bited in such facts as these : That men 
 expect to find happiness in forsaking and 
 disobeying their Maker ! That they regard 
 the service of God as gloomy, and as leading 
 to melancholy ! That they profess to believe 
 in eternity, and yet never prepare for it ! 
 That they avow a conviction, that sin will 
 lead them to hell, and yet live in sin without 
 remorse ! a persuasion that heaven is not to 
 be obtained without holiness, and yet evincf 
 no desire to become holy ! a belief that the 
 Son of God in human nature, agonized an l 
 died for their redemption, and yet feel nei- 
 ther real gratitude to him, nor anxiety to 
 secure their interest in his salvation! With 
 such preposterous contradictious, the minds 
 and conduct of men, alas ! abound. Of 
 such deep, such inveterate, and invincible 
 delusions, the world is full. 
 
 Many persons, it may be apprehended, arr 
 under great mistakes respecting the tempt a- 
 
III. J AND CONFIRMATION. 57 
 
 tions of the devil. These consist not, in 
 general, in the sudden and terrifying injection 
 of blasphemous thoughts; but, whenever any 
 thing prohibited by God is made to appear 
 (like the forbidden fruit to our first parents,) 
 irresistibly inviting and desirable to our minds ; 
 or any thing commanded by God, to appear 
 insuperably difficult, repulsive, and disagree- 
 able ; then may we say, that we have " en- 
 " tered into temptation." 
 
 But we bind ourselves ' to renounce tbe 
 ' devil :' to cast off his dominion, however 
 firmly established : to serve God, openly and 
 unreservedly, however unfashionable and sin- 
 gular this may be: to withstand every tempta- 
 tion, " steadfast in the faith :" unceasingly 
 to oppose the influence of the powers of 
 darkness and sin, in our own hearts, and in 
 the world around us. 
 
 We also promise and vow to renounce • all 
 ' the works of the devil.' Every species of 
 sin is to be ranged among ' the works of 
 ' the devil.' But, where we have ' the pomps 
 ' and vanites of this wicked world,' and ' the 
 ' sinful lusts of the flesh,' separately enume- 
 rated, we are determined to a rather more 
 strict interpretation of the term. 'The works 
 ' of the devil,' then, are those sins which more 
 peculiarly characterise fallen spirits. Such 
 are, pride, malice, envy, wrath, hatred, re- 
 venge. If we carefully watch over our own 
 
VOW? OF BATTISM 
 
 [SEKM 
 
 hearts, we shall find, all these evil passions, 
 at one time or another, working powerfully 
 within us : and, in mauy cases, the senti- 
 ments of mankind encourage the indulgence 
 of them, under the names of high spirit, a 
 riob/e pride, a lojty sense of honour. They 
 are all, however, " abomination with God." 
 These, even more than sensual lusts, make 
 man resemble the foul spirits of hell. We 
 vow, remember, to oppose them, iu their 
 inward workings, as well as in their out- 
 ward acts. 
 
 All lying, all slander and evil speaking, 
 and especially all speaking e\il of religioD, 
 and of religious persons, from secret dislike 
 to their religion, is a work of the devil : who 
 is, therefore, called, " the father of liars," 
 and " the accuser of the brethren." 
 
 All profaneness is a work of the devil: not 
 only cursing and blasphemy, (which are the 
 very language of hell,) but all scoffing at 
 sacred things, and every exercise of wit to 
 the disparagement of God's word, and of 
 religion. 
 
 Very particularly, tempting and embolden- 
 ing others to commit sin, or discouraging and 
 hindering them in their duty, is the work of 
 the devil. And, alas ! how generally do men 
 of every description yield themselves to Satan, 
 as his instruments in this infernal service! 
 How few, comparatively, associate together, 
 without corrupting one another ! 
 
AND CONKJRMA'l ION. 
 
 Finally, all irrcligion is the work of the 
 devil, whose great employment it is to oppose 
 the authority, the honour, and service of 
 God, in the world. As far, therefore, as we 
 neglect religion, or go contrary to its obliga- 
 tions, or counteract its progress and influ- 
 ence, so far the work of the devil succeeds 
 with respect to us, and is furthered by us. 
 
 2dly, The next things which we renounce 
 are, ' the pomps and vanity of this wicked 
 ' world.' The world is here denominated, 
 ' this wicked world :' and the scriptures de- 
 clare, that " the world licth in wickedness." 
 They affirm, that, "if any man will be the 
 " friend of the world," or determine to stand 
 fair in the opinion of the world, "he is the 
 " enemy of God." To be " of the world," 
 therefore, is to be " not of God.'" I beseech 
 you all seriously to reflect on this truth ! 
 
 ' Renouncing the world,' however, does not 
 mean, refusing to take any part in the business 
 of life, much less, omitting to serve and assist 
 our fellow creatures. No : the Christian is 
 conscientiously to fill up his place in society, 
 and to render himself useful to mankind. 
 " I pray not that thou shouldst take them 
 " out of the world, but that thou shouldst 
 " keep them from the evil," was our Lord's 
 intercession for his disciples. 
 
 Bat every serious inquirer into the subject 
 
 ' John xvil, 1(5 ; JHmeiiv, ♦"■ I John ii, 15 ; iv,4-6 ; v, 19- 
 
80 
 
 VOWS OF BAPTISM 
 
 [SERM. 
 
 will be shocked to find, how much the system 
 of this world is arranged in opposition to the 
 revealed will of God : to how many cases 
 that saying of our Saviour is justly applicable, 
 ' that which is highly esteemed among men is 
 " abomination in the sight of God." 2 
 
 For example : " to seek great things" for 
 ourselves in this life, is what the world not 
 only practises, but applauds. On the con- 
 trary, " to set our affections on things above," 
 " to lay up for ourselves treasures, not on 
 " earth, but in heaven," to be content with a 
 moderate portion here, " to let our modera. 
 " tion be know n unto all men ;" in a word, 
 " not to seek great things for ourselves" 3 in 
 this world, but to devote ourselves to higher 
 pursuits: these are the injunctions of Scrip- 
 ture. If we be not constantly on our guard, 
 " watching and praying lest we enter into 
 " temptation," we shall imbibe the spirit 
 which is " of men, and not of God," in this 
 respect. — We vow to renounce ' the covetous 
 ' desires of the world."* 
 
 Again, Reputation is the idol of the world. 
 Nor is it to any man's honour to set the opi- 
 nions of his fellow creatures absolutely at 
 defiance. The profession of utter indifference 
 to it, is, generally speaking, equally proud, 
 foolish, and false. 5 The respect or esteem 
 
 * Luke xvi, 15. 5 Jer. xlv. * Bapi. Service. 
 • Negligere quid de se quisque sentiet non solum arro- 
 ganlis est, sed etiam omniito dissoluli. Cic. de Off. Lib. I.e. 
 
AND CONFIRMATION. 
 
 61 
 
 of mankind, as far as it may be had without 
 any dereliction of duty, is desirable : and 
 that we should follow those things which are 
 "of good report," (provided, of course, that 
 they be not contrary to the laws of God,) is a 
 precept of inspiration. In short, the esteem 
 of men is to be desired just for the same pur- 
 poses, and within the same limitations, as is 
 the possession of properly ; namely, as a 
 means, under the providence and blessing of 
 God, of comfort to ourselves, and of useful- 
 ness to others. But, just as mankind set 
 an inordinate value on properly, and seek 
 it with undue eagerness, and by unlawful 
 means, so do they also act by reputation. 
 Not only is the pursuit of ' glory,' as our su- 
 preme or ultimate object, always a violation 
 of our allegiance to the God by whom we do, 
 and to whom we ought to live ; but, in the 
 more retired walks of life, the regard to 
 character, the desire of standing well in 
 the estimation of men, is very commonly a 
 most dangerous snare, witholding us from 
 the service of God. 
 
 The world approves what is customary : 
 what the laws of honour, of fashion, of 
 general practice in our line of life sanction. 
 Men cannot break through these rules with- 
 out incurring censure, ridicule, reproach. 
 Yet these rules are often at variance with 
 
 48. — It is irue, that our danger is commonly from the other 
 extreme : bin there nrc those who err on this side. 
 
 F 
 
62 VOWS OF BAPTISM [SEKM. 
 
 the law of God. They enjoin what it for- 
 bids : they forbid what it enjoins. For 
 example : they will not allow a man to be 
 strictly religious ; to avow his religious prin- 
 ciples ; and to incite others to be, and to do, 
 the same. In such a case, then, it is, that 
 it becomes noble, that it is Christian, that it 
 is our indispensable duty, to despise our cha- 
 racter, to disregard the opinion of men, to 
 say by word and deed, " Whether it be riglit 
 " to hearken unlo you more than unto God, 
 "judge ye." Fear, and shame, and loss, 
 must here go for nothing. For our blessed 
 Saviour solemnly forewarns us, " Whosoever 
 " shall be ashamed of me and of my words, 
 " in this adulterous and sinful generation, of 
 " him also shall the Son of man be ashamed," 
 and shall disown him, " when he cometh in his 
 " own glory, and the glory of his Father, and of 
 " the holy angels. " He taught us what to ex- 
 '* pect, when he pronounced, " Blessed are ye 
 " when men shall hate you, and when they 
 " shall separate you from their company, and 
 " shall reproach you, and cast out your name 
 " as evil, for the Son of man's sake: — for in 
 " the like manner did their fathers unto the 
 " prophets. But woe unto you when all 
 " men shall speak well of you : for so did 
 " their fathers to the false prophets." 7 
 
 Once more. The world is dissipated, 
 
 6 Markviii,38; Lake ii, cG. ' Lnke ri. 5«,SS,«6. 
 
AW CONFIRMATION. 
 
 thoughtless, fond of pomp and display, and 
 devoted to what it calls pleasure : and often 
 seeks its pleasure from what is fraught with 
 wickedness. Yet it would veil all with the 
 accommodating names of harmless gratifica- 
 tions, innocent amusements. All this is, at 
 the best, ' the pomps and vanity of this wicked 
 world :' often it is much worse. The Chris- 
 tian renounces it all : it is all unfit for a 
 rational being who has to provide, in the few 
 short years of life, for everlasting existence ! 
 for a sinner " preparing to meet his God !" 
 He has no time for it : and, what is yet more, 
 he has no heart for it. He ought to be, and 
 he is, serious. He ought to be, and he is, 
 diligent and watchful : " not slothful in busi- 
 " uess, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord." 
 He is commanded " whatever he does, to do 
 " all to the glory of God." He is " to deny 
 " himself, and take up his cross daily, and 
 " follow" his Lord and Master, on pain of 
 being accounted " unworthy of him." 
 
 Nor is this a life barren of enjoyment. 
 The possession of a taste, a relish for such 
 a life, a preference of it, a delight in it, is 
 the very thing which constitutes a Christian. 
 And, for the man who is leading such a life, 
 there are a thousand subsidiary pleasures, 
 sober, tranquil, and cheering, — truly innocent 
 and virtuous pleasures, — to be enjoyed. But 
 pleasures which inflame the passions, which 
 dissipate the thoughts, which rob the soul of 
 F 2 
 
<54 VOWS OF BAPTISM [SERM. 
 
 its sobriety, its holy vigour and resolution in 
 the great work of life, are intitled to any 
 character, rather than that of innocence : 
 " Let no man deceive you with vain words." 
 
 3dly, ' The sinful lusts of the flesh' are 
 renounced. The flesh is often in scripture 
 put for the whole corrupt nature of fallen 
 nian. Even those evil passions which most 
 entirely have their seat in the mind, are in- 
 cluded under this name 8 But here, being 
 distinguished from ' the works of the dexil,' 
 as well as from ' the pomps and vanity of 
 * the world,' ' the lusts of the flesh' may 
 perhaps be most properly understood, of 
 those sins in which the body is primarily 
 concerned ; and which consist in the inordi- 
 nate indulgence of appetites, in themselves 
 innocent and necessary. I shall not dwell 
 upon this class of sins : they are sufficiently 
 well known. The Apostle thus enumerates 
 them : " Adultery, fornication, uucleanness, 
 '• lasciviousness,— drunkenness, reveUings, and 
 " such like." And he adds concerning them, 
 " Of which I tell you before, as I have also 
 " told you in time past, that they which do 
 " such things shall not inherit the kingdom 
 " of God." And again, in another passage, 
 " For this ye know, that no whoremonger, 
 " nor unclean person, nor covetous man, 
 " who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in 
 
 • Oil. t, so, si. 
 
Ill] 
 
 AND CONFIRMATION. 
 
 65 
 
 " the kingdom of Christ, and of God. Let 
 " no man deceive you with vain words: for 
 " because of these things cometh the wrath 
 " of God upon the children of disobedi- 
 " ence."9 
 
 We should,, however, observe, that all im- 
 purity of mind, of thought, of conversation, 
 as well as outward acts of unchastity, comes 
 under these heads, in the estimation of God, 
 " who knoweth the heart." '° Sloth, love of 
 ease, and fondness for indulgence, are also 
 condemned, as well as gluttony and drunken- 
 ness. — " Flee," therefore, " youthful lusts, 
 " which war against the soul !" 
 
 All these enemies, then, the devil, the 
 world, and the flesh, which have obtained 
 
 9 Gal. v, 19 — IN ; Epli. v, 3 — 6. 
 10 Mall, v, 47,28.— What words can sufficiently reprobate the 
 detestable custom, so generally prevalent, I am told, of mingling 
 corrnption with the cups which should only refresh and cheer 
 the friendly parly, — by drinking obscene toasts ? What a sink 
 of pollution does such a practice shew the minds of some men 
 to be, who would pass for polile and refined I — " They are like 
 " unto whited tombs, which indeed appear beautiful outward, 
 " but are within full of dead men's bom s, and all nnclcanness." 
 In Ibe energetic language of Scriplnre, " Their throat is an open 
 " lepulchre," emitting a poisonous stench, to spread contagion 
 and death all around them. — Young men, llee such companions! 
 Cherish tor them thai loathing and disgust, which they deserve I 
 The insidious decency of ambiguous language, in which they may 
 sometimes envelope the foulness of their ideas, shewB only the 
 deeper corrnption of their imaginations, which could dwell with 
 pleasure on such sentiments, and studiously devise such modes 
 of conveying them into the youthful mind, as should at once 
 give them a faster hold of the memory, and screen them from 
 that merited abhorrence, which their unveiled, native deformity 
 mn»t excite in nil persons not utterly depraved. 
 
 V 3 
 
66 
 
 VOWS OF BAPTISM, &c. 
 
 such fatal power over man, we engage to 
 renounce, and resist, all the days of our life. 
 The language of this vow is, " Other lords 
 " have had dominion over us; but, hence- 
 " forth, by thee," by thy grace, "will we 
 " make mention only of thy name," O Lord ! 
 Oh may wc all, and, in particular, may you 
 who are just entering upon life, and are 
 about solemnly to make this vow, have grace 
 to keep it ! 'to fight manfully under the 
 ' banner of Christ, against the world, the 
 ' flesh, and the devil, and to continue the 
 * faithful soldiers and servants' of the Re- 
 deemer, ' unto your life's end !' 
 
 ' From all the crafts and assaults of the 
 1 devil ; from all blindness of heart ; from 
 ' pride, vain glory, and hypocrisy ; from envy, 
 ' hatred, and malice ; and from all the deceits 
 ' of the world and the flesh ; may the good 
 'Lord evermore deliver you, "and preserve 
 you to his kingdom and glory ! 
 
SERMON IV. 
 
 THE SUBJECT CONTINUED, 
 
 ECCLES1 ASTES, V, 4, 5. 
 When thou lowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it ; 
 for he hath no pleasure in fools : pay that which thou 
 hast vowed Better is it that thou skouldst not vow, 
 than that thou skouldst vow and not pay. 
 
 In a former discourse from these words, 1 
 endeavoured to explain to you the first of 
 those vows, which are made in our name at 
 our baptism, and are ratified by ourselves at 
 our confirmation. I now proceed to the con- 
 sideration of the two remaining vows. It 
 will not be necessary to dwell quite so long 
 upon them, as the catechism itself furnishes 
 a more particular explanation of them, than 
 it does of the preceding one. 
 
 II. The second vow is this, ' That we will 
 ' believe all t he articles of the Christian faith.' 
 
 Before we can believe the articles of the 
 Christian faith, it is necessary that we know 
 them ; and they are to be known 6nly from 
 the sacred scriptures. 
 
6« 
 
 VOWS OF BAPTISM [sCRM. 
 
 1. In the first place, then, this vow binds 
 us to be serious and diligent readers of 
 the word of God. And how reasonable a 
 duty is this! Does the Most High speak to 
 us from heaven 1 Does he reveal to us, as 
 his creatures, his laws and our duty ; and, 
 as sinners, the means of restoration to his 
 favour, and of attaining everlasting life ? Does 
 he commission holy men to record this reve- 
 lation, and authenticate the inspiration of 
 their writings, by miracles, and prophecies, 
 and "many infallible proofs?" Aud shall 
 we not apply ourselves to the study of these 
 writings, with hearts full of zeal and gratitude ? 
 
 Alas ! what contempt of God, and of ever- 
 lasting salvation is shewn, by the multitudes, 
 who having the scriptures in their hands, 
 and acknowledging them to be divinelv iu- 
 spired, yet. have time for any pursuit, any 
 amusenieDt, rather than for the study of the 
 sacred oracles ! Who content themselves 
 with the most superficial, partial, and imper- 
 fect know ledge of their contents, acquired 
 without any pains or study ! Most justly 
 will they be judged " unworthy of eternal 
 " life," who thus despi-e the word of salva- 
 tion, mercifully put into their hands ! 
 
 My young friends, you bind yourselves to 
 pursue a more rational and more virtuous 
 course : to read the scriptures daily. Not h u r- 
 rying thoughtlessly over their sacred pages : 
 but carefully perusing and devoutly medi- 
 
IV.] AND CONFIRMATION. 69 
 
 fating upon them, with prayer to God for the 
 teaching and blessing of his Spirit, to unfold 
 their truths to jour understandings, and to 
 give them their due effect upon your hearts. 
 There is not one among you who may not 
 find opportunity thus to store up some por- 
 tion of them, daily, in his memory: and what 
 an invaluable treasure would you thus amass, 
 in a course of years! Oh begin the practice 
 with this day! You will look back upon its 
 commencement with pleasure for ever. 
 
 2. The next tiling for which we engage, in 
 this vow, is, simply and implicitly to receive 
 whatever we find declared in the volume of 
 revelation, upon the authority of God who 
 declares it. He is too wise to err, and too 
 good to deceive : the sacred scriptures are 
 proved to be his word : whatever, therefore, 
 they tell us, we are to believe without hesita- 
 tion or wavering. " Whoever will not" thus 
 " receive the kingdom of God," or submit to 
 the gospel, " as a little child," — with the 
 humility and simplicity of such a character, 
 — " he shall not enter therein." 1 
 
 But, 3dly, we are not merely to assent to 
 what we read in the Bible, as true : we shall 
 find that it is all important, all interesting to 
 ourselves, in the highest degree. He alone, 
 therefore, believes it rightly, whose heart is 
 influenced and whose life is governed by it. 
 Let this truth be ever in our thoughts. 
 
 i Mstt.xviii, 1— *; Mark x, 15. 
 
70 
 
 VOWS OK BAPTISM [s F.RJI. 
 
 To inform us of the principal ' articles of 
 ' the Christian faith,' the ' creed,' or belief, is 
 given in the catechism, where our baptismal 
 vows are recorded. It is a very ancient and 
 excellent composition, derived from the sacred 
 scriptures, and teaches us, as we are further 
 informed, * to believe, first, in God the Fa- 
 ' ther, who hath made us, and all the world ; 
 ' secondly, in God the Son, who hath re- 
 ' deemed us, and all mankind ; and, thirdly, 
 ' in God the Holy Ghost, who sanctifieth us, 
 ' and all the elect people of God.' 
 
 We are to believe in God, as almighty, all- 
 wise, all-knowing, every where present ; our 
 creator, preserver, and continual benefactor; 
 our governor, and judge : as holy, and hating 
 sin, with a perfect hatred : as just, and deter- 
 mined to punish it in all the impenitent; yet 
 as merciful, and, through Jesus Christ, de- 
 lighting to pardon and save the penitent 
 sinner. How ought we to be affected by 
 such a faith ? What! can we believe in God, 
 with any true faith, while we li\e without 
 serious regard to him ? without prayer, with- 
 out repentance, without obedience? Impos- 
 sible ! 
 
 We are to believe in Jesus Christ, the only- 
 begotten Son of God, as having, 'for us men 
 ' and for our salvation, come down from hea- 
 ' ven :' as having humbled himself to bufferings 
 and death, the most ignominious and excru- 
 ciating, that he might " redeem us to God 
 
IV.] AND CONFIRMATION. 71 
 
 " w ith his blood :" as having risen (Void the 
 dead, and ascended into heaven, and there 
 ever living " to save to the uttermost all them 
 " that come unto God by him." And can 
 we truly believe in Jesus Christ, without 
 ourselves " coming unto God through him?' 
 without " fleeing from the wrath to come," 
 which our sins have deserved ? w ithout mourn- 
 ing for those sins, as the crucifiers of the 
 Lord of Glory? without fervent love and gra- 
 titude to him? without "living to him who 
 " died for us, and rose again ?" 
 
 We believe that " this same Jesus," who 
 " once appealed to put away sin by the 
 " .lacrilice of himself," shall come again " the 
 " second time," to be ' the judge of both 
 ' quick and dead.' And, oh, what an event 
 will that be ! How do the scriptures describe 
 it to us ! " All that are in the graves shall 
 " hear his voice, and shall come forth ; they 
 " that have done good, unto the resurrection 
 " of life, and they that have done evil, unto 
 " the resurrection of damnation." " Before 
 " him shall be gathered all nations, and he 
 " shall separate them one from another, as a 
 " shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats. 
 " — Then shall the King say unto them on 
 " his right hand, ' Come, ye blessed of my 
 " Father, inherit, the kingdom prepared for 
 " you from the foundation of the world.' 
 " And unto them on his left hand, ' Depart 
 " from n:e, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, 
 
72 VOWS OF BAPTISM [SF.RM. 
 
 " prepared for the devil and his angels.' — And 
 ** these shall go away into everlasting punish- 
 " ment, but the righteous into life eternal." 
 " We must all appear before the judgment 
 " seat of Christ, that every one may receive 
 " the things done in his body, according to 
 " that he hath done, whether it be good or 
 "bad." 1 Do we believe these things, and 
 live without thought of them ? without pre- 
 paration for "judgment to come? - ' Be 
 astonished, O heavens, at the stupidity and 
 hardness of human hearts, which are proof, 
 alike, against " the terrors of the Lord," and 
 " the tender mercies of our God !" O ye 
 sons of men, w ho in vain ' profess and call 
 ' yourselves Christians,' how long will ye 
 satisfy and deceive your own souls, with a 
 " dead faith,'' '* with a name to live, while 
 " ye are dead V " Awake, ye thai sleep" in 
 fa e security, " and arise from the dead, and 
 " Christ shall give you light !"' 
 
 Lastly, " we learn to believe in God the 
 Holy Ghost, as the only Sanctifitr of fallen 
 men ; as ' the Lord and giver of spiritual 
 ' life.' His it is to " quicken" the sinner who 
 was "dead in trespasses and sins:" to " con- 
 " vince him of sin :" to " renew him unto 
 " repentance :" to lead him unto faith in 
 Christ : to " shed abroad the love of God in 
 ' his heart :" and then, through the use of 
 
 : Johnv, 88,59; Mall, xxv, II, Ac. ; 2 Cor. v, 10. 
 
IV.J AND CONFIRMATION. 73 
 
 the various ' means of grace,' to form him to 
 all Christian tempers and practices, and to 
 preserve him unto God's eternal kingdom 
 and glory. " The fruit of the Spirit is love, 
 joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, good- 
 ness, faith, meekness, temperance." 3 This 
 is sunctificat ion : one of those two great 
 blessings (forgiveness of sins, and " the new 
 " heart,") which, as you have often heard it 
 repeated, are indispensably necessary to our 
 salvation. 
 
 You avow the hope and belief that God 
 the Holy Ghost ' sanctifieth you,' in common 
 with ' all the elect people of God,' — all those 
 to whom the redemption of Christ is effec- 
 tually applied, and who shall attain unto 
 everlasting life. Where then are the happy 
 proofs, that this is indeed the case? Are 
 you brought decidedly " to seek first the 
 "kingdom of God and his righteousness?" 
 to be all alive to the concerns of your ever- 
 lasting salvation, as the " one thing need- 
 " ful ?" Have you been made to feel the 
 guilt of your sins, as a ' burden too heavy for 
 ' you to bear?' 4 Do you "count all but loss 
 " for Christ," as your only hope, your only 
 Saviour, " that you may be found in him, 
 " not having your own righteousness, but that 
 " which is by the faith of Christ?'' Is the 
 world become, through him, " crucified unto 
 
 » Gal. v,S«, S3. 
 * See the Confession In the Office for the Holy Communion. 
 G 
 
74 
 
 VOWS OF BAPTISM [sEUM. 
 
 "you?" Do you "live the life which you 
 " now live in the flesh, by the faith of the 
 " son of God," maintaining continual " coni- 
 " munion" with him, and deriving from " his 
 " fulness" all grace and strength, peace and 
 consolation? Have you begun to hale and 
 shun every sin, " to cease to do evil and 
 " learn to do well ?" Do you lament un- 
 feignedly the imperfection and sin which still 
 cleave to all you do ? Are you continually, 
 in the exercise of humble prayer, imploring the 
 presence and aid of the Holy Spirit of God, 
 *' to fulfil in you all the good pleasure of his 
 " goodness?" Do you love the holy word of 
 God? Do you meditate thereon daily ? Do 
 you take it for " the light of your feet, and 
 " the lamp of your paths ? ' Are you con- 
 stantly aiming- to rule yourselves according 
 to its directions ? to cultivate whatever it 
 enjoins? to avoid whatever it condemns? 
 Such are the aims and characteristic marks 
 of the ' elect people of God,' whom the Holy 
 Ghost ' sanctifieth.' Only by such evidences 
 can it be known that, we belong to that num- 
 ber. 5 But if we bear no such characters, 
 if we be strangers to such a purification of 
 heart and life, in vain do we flatter ourselves 
 that he 'sanctifieth us:' in vain do we hope, 
 in our present state, or without a thorough 
 and radical conversion, to attain the heavenly 
 inheritance. " Marvel not that we say unto 
 
 I See 1 Tlies*.i,4,5, &e. 
 
IV.] AND CONFIRMATION. 75 
 
 " you, Ye must be bom again." " Except a 
 " man be born of water and of the Spirit, he 
 " cannot enter into the kingdom of God." 5 
 
 III. We come now, finally, to the vow by 
 which we engage ' to keep God's holy will 
 1 and commandments, and to walk in the 
 ' same all the days of our life.' 
 
 This follows, we should observe, what is 
 said of the Christian faith. It is the obedi- 
 ence of the sincere Christian believer, per- 
 formed not as the ground of his confidence, 
 or the condition of his justification before 
 God, but springing from faith, and love for 
 his Redeemer, (in whom alone he trusts,) 
 that is here promised. And indeed this is 
 the only obedience that will be rendered con- 
 scientiously, cheerfully, and unreservedly by 
 fallen man : or which can be accepted at his 
 hands by a just and holy God. It cannot 
 put away his siu, or contribute any thing 
 towards his justification. Whoever expects 
 his obedience and good works to answer any 
 such end, is so far building upon a wrong 
 foundation, and, it may be feared, has as yet 
 rendered no Christian obedience, and per- 
 formed no works truly good and acceptable 
 to God. 7 All right obedience follows after, 
 not precedes, our justification, 8 and at the 
 
 6 John iii. 7 See Church Article xiii. 
 » Ibid, xl, kit, This is not merely a doctrine laiil down in our 
 Articles : it is a principle which pervades the prayers of onr 
 G 2 
 
in 
 
 VOWS OF BAPTISM [SERM. 
 
 very best its imperfection needs forgiveness 
 through the atonement of Christ. Yet is 
 unreserved obedience absolutely necessary 
 as the fruit of the renewed mind, and the 
 evidence of our faith and love. 
 
 The divine commandments are dispersed 
 throughout the scriptures, but the decalogue 
 is given us as a concise summary of them all ; 
 and they are still further abridged in those 
 two great precepts, of " loving God with all 
 " our heart," and " our neighbour as our- 
 " selves." 
 
 Let us observe, first, That our duty to- 
 wards God is at least as much insisted on, 
 as our duty towards our neighbour. This is 
 manifestly just and right. Yet many, very 
 many persons, almost wholly overlook this 
 branch of their duty : and, in estimating then- 
 own character and conduct, inquire only how 
 far they have performed their external social 
 duties to mankind. 
 
 Secondly, The law of God is " spiritual," 
 and "exceeding broad." They are not only 
 outward actions which it forbids or com- 
 mands : it extends to the whole state of the 
 heart ; to the thoughts, imaginations, desires, 
 and all the dispositions, which work within 
 us. The true rule of interpretation is fur- 
 nished by our blessed Saviour's comment on 
 
 cliurcb. See, for example, the confession, where we |T.iy for 
 obedience as following oar forgiveness, not as preceding, and 
 contributing lo procure it. 
 
.v.] 
 
 AND CONFIRMATION. 
 
 77 
 
 the sixth and seventh commandments, in his 
 sermon on the mount :9 where he teaches us, 
 that undue anger violates the law which says, 
 " Thou shalt do no murder ;" and a wanton 
 desire, or unclean thought, that which en- 
 joins, " Thou shalt not commit adultery." 
 Indeed, in one instance, the very letter of 
 the decalogue exhibits all this strictness and 
 spirituality. The seventh commandment pro- 
 hibits impurity, and the eighth, injustice, 
 but the tenth goes directly to the source of 
 unholy and unjust actions, the concupiscence 
 of the heart, and pronounces, " Thou shalt 
 " not covet ihy neighbour's house ; thou shalt 
 " not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his man- 
 " servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, 
 " nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy 
 " neighbour's." Deeply had this command- 
 ment impressed the mind of St. Paul. It 
 brought home to his conscience conviction of 
 sin, as even abounding where he had not 
 suspected it to exist: and went far towards 
 overthrowing the whole fabric of his self- 
 righteous confidence.' 0 And deeply ought 
 the consideration, which we are now urging, 
 to impress us all, causing us from the heart 
 to adopt, and most earnestly offer up that 
 petition, which our church puts into our 
 mouths after the recital of each command- 
 ment, and by which we acknowledge ourselves 
 guilty under every one, imploring forgiveness 
 o Malt, v, 21, Sic. '0 Rom. Til, T, 8, 9, 10. 
 
 G 3 
 
78 
 
 VOWS OF BAPTISM [sERM. 
 
 for the past, and grace for the future; — 
 ' Lord have mercy upon us ! and incline our 
 ' hearts to keep this law !' 
 
 Thirdly, It is an established rule of inter- 
 pretation, that wherever any practice is for- 
 bidden in these laws, the contrary practice 
 is enjoined. " Thou shalt have none other 
 " gods but me," is not only a prohibition of 
 idolatry, but a positive injunction, to take 
 the Lord for our God, to submit to him, and 
 to bear all those regards towards him, to 
 which, in that character of unrivalled majesty, 
 and most intimate relation to us, he is so 
 justly intilled. And, in like manner, uilli 
 respect to our neighbour, " Thou shalt not 
 " kill," is an injunction to promote; bj all 
 means in our power, the personal safety, 
 well-being, and comfort of every fellow-crea- 
 ture. 
 
 Upon these principles of interpretation do 
 those excellent little summaries of duty to 
 God and to our neighbour proceed, which, 
 in the catechism, follow the commandments, 
 and furnish a concise commentary upon them. 
 Let me recal these to your remembrance, 
 pointing out to you the explanation which 
 they give of each commandment. 
 
 As we are here taught, the first command- 
 ment requires, that we ' believe in God, fear 
 ' him, and lo\e him with all our heart, with 
 ' all our mind, with all our soul, and with all 
 1 our strengih.' The second, that we ' wor- 
 
1V.J AND CONFIRMATION. 79 
 
 ' ship him, give him thanks, put our whole 
 ' trust him, and call upon him,' not with 
 superstitious, not with merely external and 
 formal worship, but " in spirit, and in truth." 
 The third, that we ' honour his holy name, 
 ' and his word,' and treat every thing which 
 relates to God and religion, with profound 
 reverence. The fourth, prescribes the duties 
 of the sabbath, and virtually en joins us ' to 
 ' serve God truly all the days of our life.' 
 The six following commandments relate to 
 our neighbour, and require us ' to love him 
 ' as ourselves, and to do unto all men, as we 
 ' would they should do unto us.' The fifth, 
 in particular, commands us, ' to love, honour, 
 ' and succour our father and mother ; to 
 ' honour and obey the king, and all that are 
 ' put in authority under him ; to submit our- 
 ' selves to our governors, teachers, spiritual 
 ' paslors, and masters ; and to order ourselves 
 ' lowly and reverently to all our betters.' 
 The sixth, ' to hurt nobody by word or deed,' 
 and to « bear no malice or hatred in our 
 ' hearts.' The seventh, ' to keep our bodies 
 ' in soberness, temperance, and chastity,' and 
 duly to govern all our animal appetites and 
 passions, and the thoughts of our hearts with 
 respect to them. The eighth, ' to keep our 
 ' hands from picking and stealing,' and ' to 
 ' be true and just in all our dealings.' The 
 ninth, ' to keep our tongues from evil-speak - 
 * inc, lyhg and slandering." The tenth, 
 
80 
 
 VOWS OF BAPTISM [sERM. 
 
 ' not to covet nor desire other men's goods, 
 ' but to learn and labour truly to get our 
 ■ own living, and to do our duty in that state 
 • of life unto which it shall please God to 
 ' call us.' 
 
 Now, not to burden your memories with 
 any more elaborate explanation of your duty, 
 let me intreat you only to bear in mind these 
 short summaries : and, whenever you would 
 form a judgment of your own characters, or 
 estimate the number of your sins, to judge 
 by these rules. Compare yourselves day by 
 day with them. Surely such a practice would 
 soon dissipate the delusions under which 
 many labour. Surely it must soon convince 
 you, that your iniquities are not few or small, 
 counterbalanced by your virtues and good 
 works; but that they are " more in number 
 " than the hairs of your head. - ' How have 
 you forgotten God, and neglected or violated 
 the duties which you owed to him ! How 
 far have you been from "setting him always 
 " before you :" " from loving him with all 
 " your hearts ;" from choosing him, and not 
 the world, for your portion ; from devoting 
 your lives to his glory, and serving him with 
 all the powers you possess ! How little have 
 you delighted in prayer, and praise, and 
 devout meditation ; in hallowing the sabbath, 
 and studying the word of God ! How far 
 have you been from submitting patiently and 
 
) V.J AND CONFIRMATION. 81 
 
 thankfully to all the dispensations of his pro- 
 vidence, and yielding a cheerful obedience 
 to all his commands ! On the contrary, have 
 not your hearts often fretted against both the 
 one and the other? Have you not thought 
 his laws too strict ; their penalty too severe ; 
 the duties of religion burdensome ; the ser- 
 vice of God " a hard service ?" Nay, if you 
 will honestly examine, will you not find that 
 the character of God itself, as delineated 
 in the Scriptures, — a God of justice and 
 holiness, as well as goodness, — of " purer 
 " eyes than to look upon iniquity," and deter- 
 mined to cast the impenitent sinner into hell, 
 — has been offensive to you? Has not your 
 heart revolted at it? Have you not been 
 unwilling to believe that such was indeed the 
 character of God ? You have wished the 
 Most High other than he is ; that he would 
 connive at sin ; that he would forbear to 
 punish it ; that he would indulge you in your 
 favourite transgression. Have you not thus 
 proved, that what the Scriptures assert of the 
 " carnal mind" is true of your mind, — that 
 " it is enmity against God ?" Oh awful 
 thought ! Nothing is more rare among men 
 than the true love of God. It has been, 
 naturally, wanting in you ? Have you not 
 need " to abhor yourselves and repent in 
 " dust and ashes V Have you not need 
 to pray, " Create in me a clean heart, O 
 " (iod, and renew a right spirit within me !" 
 
32 
 
 VOWS OF BAPTISM [SERM. 
 
 Cau you, without being made " new croa- 
 " tures," ever be fit for the kingdom of God ? 
 
 In like manner if you will examine your- 
 selves respecting your tempers and conduct 
 towards your fellow creatures, how far will 
 you find that you have been removed from 
 ' original righteousness !' How much pride, 
 how much selfishness, anger, en\y, resent- 
 ment, coveting, impurity, will you find has 
 prevailed in your hearts ! How much unkind- 
 ness has often been shewn iu your words and 
 actions ! How far have you been from " do- 
 " ing unto all men as you would they should 
 " do to you !" Oh know yourselves, and 
 confess the truth, that you are " all as an 
 " unclean thing, and all your righteousness," 
 your supposed good works, so defective in 
 their measure, so impure in their principle, 
 as to be but " as filthy rags." Feel and 
 acknowledge that there is ' no health in you.' 
 The conviction may be painful, but it will be 
 salutary. It need not lead you to despair. 
 By no means. It should only lead you to 
 value Jesus Christ, the Saviour of " lost" 
 sinners, as you ought to do ; to renounce all 
 trust in yourselves, that you may be " justi- 
 " fied by faith in his blood," which " cleanseth 
 " from all sin ;" and sanctified by his Spirit, 
 who alone can restore you to the image of 
 God. It will cause you to believe in him 
 with a living, not a dead faith : and thus 
 prove the first step in your way to everlast- 
 ing life. 
 
IV.] AND CONFIRMATION. 83 
 
 Such, then, are the vows by which all are 
 hound, and which many of you have renewed, 
 since you came ' to years of discretion.' 
 Once more I ask, how have you kept them ? 
 May not this question well cover many of 
 you with shame and confusion of face ? many, 
 who have not only failed, as every humble 
 mind must confess that it still does, of keep- 
 ing them perfectly, but who have never tried 
 to keep them at all ! Oh dreadful impiety 
 and mockery of God ! If a man thus " sin," 
 presumptuously, " against the Lord, who 
 " shall intreat for him ?" " Be afflicted, and 
 " mourn, and weep," for your horrible guilt 
 and danger. Yet know that there is still for- 
 giveness for you, if you earnestly seek it, in 
 the Saviour's name. " Repent, and be con- 
 " verted, that your sins may be blotted out." 
 But, " to-day, if ye will hear the voice of 
 " God, harden not your hearts." " He that 
 '* being often reproved, hardeneth his neck, 
 " shall suddenly be destroyed, and that with- 
 " out remedy." 
 
 Such, again, are the vows, which many of 
 you are now about 'to ratify and confirm.' 
 Oh surely you have need to be serious in 
 such a transaction ! " Better is it that thou 
 " shouldst not vow, than that thou shouldst 
 " vow and not pay." We say it for the 
 warning of all. But we say it not to discou- 
 rage and alarm the conscientious, the humble, 
 
04 
 
 VOWS OF BAPTISM [SEIlM. 
 
 those who feel the seriousness of the duty 
 before them, their own weakness and the 
 deceitfulness of their hearts : who desire to 
 devote themselves to God, but are ready 
 perhaps, to tremble at the apprehension that 
 they may not keep their vows. No : such 
 are the very persons who ought to " join 
 " themselves to the Lord in a perpetual core- 
 " nant, which shall not be forgotten." They 
 alone are in the proper state of mind to make 
 these vows. And let me remind all such 
 persons, for their encouragement, that they 
 are to make their vows, not in dependence 
 upon their own strength for the keeping of 
 them, but in humble dependence on God to 
 enable them: and, while "even the youths 
 " shall faint and be weary, aud the young 
 " men shall utterly fall, they that wait upon 
 " the Lord shall renew their strength ; they 
 " shall mount up with wings as eagies ; they 
 *' shall run and not be weary, they shall walk 
 " and not faint." " 
 
 He who makes these vows lightly, and in 
 self-confidence, "offers the sacrifice of fools." 
 But he who feels the justness of the admo- 
 nition, ' Know that thou art not able,' of 
 thyself, ' to do these things, neither to walk 
 ' in the commandments of God, and to serve 
 * him;' and who therefore obeys the exhorta- 
 tion, ' at all times to call upon God for his 
 ' special grace, by diligent prayer ;' may 
 
 1' Is. xl, 86— 31. 
 
IV.] AND CONFIRMATION. 
 
 85 
 
 draw near with faith, not doubling that God 
 will " accept his work," and pardon its 
 imperfections, for the Redeemer's sake: that 
 he will ' lighten his darkness,' will strengthen 
 his weakness, and will " confirm him unto 
 " the end.'' 
 
 That you may all thus feel the humility, 
 exercise the repentance and faith, and yield 
 the obedience of the gospel, and, ' finally, 
 ' attain unto everlasting life,' may God of his 
 infinite mercy grant, through Jesus Christ, 
 our Lord. Amen. 
 
SERMON V. 
 
 ON THE LORD'S SUPPER: ITS NATURE 
 AND INTENTION. 
 
 1 CORINTHIANS, X, 16. 
 Tlie cup of blessing which we bkss, is it not the commu- 
 nion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we 
 break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ ! 
 
 SlJCH is the constitution of man, in his 
 present state, that his mind is accessible to 
 external things only by the intervention, di- 
 rect or indirect, of his bodily senses. Nay, 
 so much are we conversant with material 
 objects, and so little with those which arc 
 purely intellectual, that we are apt to ascribe 
 corporeal forms and qualities to spiritual 
 beings. We have no names for the opera- 
 tions of our own minds, but what are derived 
 from bodily actions : and we find it extremely 
 difficult to conceive or retain lively impres- 
 sions of any thing which is not, in some way, 
 presented to our senses. 
 
 Sacred scripture condescends to this weak- 
 ness of our nature, by representing to us 
 spiritual subjects under sensible images. In 
 
HE LORDS SUITER. 
 
 81 
 
 the infancy of the church, under the old 
 dispensation, almost every thing belonging 
 to religion was taught by type, and figure, 
 and visible representation : and, under the 
 New Testament itself, the great mysteries of 
 our redemption are exhibited, and impressed 
 upon our minds, by the like means, in the 
 two sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's 
 Sapper. And, though the application of the 
 baptismal water to our persons, and the 
 offering of the symbols of the body and blood 
 of Christ to our sight, our touch, and our 
 taste, would be nothing, apart from the 
 explanation which the word of God furnishes 
 of the truths and blessings represented by 
 these rites ; yet, accompanied by those ex- 
 planations, and coming in aid of them, these 
 symbols are well suited to assist our con- 
 ceptions, and awaken our feelings. 
 
 As, before the confirmation took place, I 
 endeavoured to explain to you the sacrament 
 of Baptism, I shall proceed now to treat of 
 the Lord's Supper, to which confirmation is 
 intended to introduce you. I shall, in the 
 present discourse, speak of the nature and 
 intention of this sacrament ; and, in a subse- 
 quent one, of the benefits sought, the pro- 
 fessions made, and the dispositions required, 
 in attending upon it. 
 
 I. In speaking of the nature and intention 
 of the Lord's Supper, we may, 
 H 2 
 
88 
 
 THE LOKD'S SUPfER. 
 
 [SERM. 
 
 1st, Consider it simply as a commemoration 
 of the death of Christ. E\en iu this view 
 alone it is highly interesting and important. 
 
 It was instituted under circumstances as 
 affecting as can well be conceived. " The 
 " Lord Jesus, the same night in ivhick he was 
 " betrayed, took bread, and, when he had 
 " given thanks, he brake it, and said, 'Take, 
 " eat, this is my body, which is broken for 
 " you: this do in remembrance of me.' After 
 " the same manner also he took the cup, 
 " when he had supped, saying, ' This cup is 
 " the new testament in my blood : this do, 
 " as oft as ye shall drink it, in rememtn ance 
 " of vie." As the apostle observes, there- 
 fore, " As often as we eat this bread, and 
 " drink this cup, we do shew forth the Lord's 
 " death until he come." 1 
 
 When we approach the sacred table, and 
 see there the consecrated elements placed 
 before us, we should carry back our thoughts 
 to the " upper room" at Jerusalem, and to 
 all which passed there at the last paschal 
 supper. We should realize the blessed Re- 
 deemer, w hose heavenly discourses and bene- 
 ficent actions we have traced with delight in 
 the pages of the evangelists, now retired to 
 take his last social meal (which was also a 
 solemn religious feast,) with his disciples. 
 He is surrounded only by his confidential 
 friends, the partners of his labours and 
 
 > 1 Cor. xi, 83—20. 
 
THE LORDS SUPPlilt. 
 
 " temptations." 1 A solemn impression of 
 what was so nearly approaching evidently 
 rests upon his mind. He foresees it all. He 
 alludes to it in no equivocal language : yet 
 declares that he had looked forward to the 
 time then arrived, with expectation and de- 
 sire. " With desire have I desired to eat this 
 " passover with you be/ore I suffer." 3 Hear 
 him, " as they sat and did eat," after a so- 
 lemn pause, utter the heart-piercing sentences, 
 " Verily, I say unto you, one of you, that 
 cateth with me, shall betray me!" "Ye are 
 clean, but not all." " The hand of him that 
 " betrayeth me is with me on the table." — 
 Hear him forewarn another of his disciples, 
 " Verily, I say unto thee, that this night, 
 " before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me 
 " thrice :" and declare to them all, " All ye 
 " shall be offended because of me this night, 
 " for it. is written, ' I will smile the shepherd, 
 " and the sheep of the flock shall be scal- 
 " tered abroad.'" Yet see him, " having 
 " loved his ow n which were in the world, still 
 " love them unto the end."* Listen to his 
 divine discourse, addressed to his disciples 
 to prepare them for all that was before them, 
 as recorded by St. John ; and to his heavenly 
 intercession for them, and for all who, to the 
 end of time, " should believe on him through 
 " their word." s Then follow him to Geth- 
 
 3 Luke xxii, 2U. 5 Luke xxii, 15. * John xiii, 1. 
 > John xiv — xvli. 
 H 3 
 
90 
 
 the lord's buffer. [sfbm. 
 
 seroane. Witness his agony in the garden — 
 a scene to which no words, nor any human 
 conceptions, can do justice. See him '* begin 
 " to be sorrowful," and " sore amazed hear 
 him exclaim, " My soul is exceeding sorrow- 
 " ful, even unto dcatli !" and then, withdrawn 
 from his disciples, while his " sweat is like 
 " great, drops of blood, falling to the ground," 
 thrice reiterate the ardent supplication, "Fa- 
 " ther, if it be possible, let this cup pass 
 " from me ! nevertheless not my will but thine 
 " be done." Behold this awful scene broken 
 in upon, and the Son of Man " betrayed with 
 " a kiss," by Judas, " one of the twelve." 
 Attend him to the palace of Caiaphas, to the 
 judgment seat of Pilate, to the court of Herod, 
 and finally to Golgotha. See him there nailed 
 to the accursed tree, suspended between hea- 
 ven and earth, " a spectacle to the world, to 
 "angels, and to men;" 6 uttering the " ex- 
 " ceeding great and bitter cry," " My God, 
 " my God, why hast thou forsaken me ?" 
 and at length "yielding up the ghost," amid 
 the taunts and revilings of all orders of men. 
 All this is what we commemorate in the Lord's 
 supper. With all thi> before his eyes it was 
 that the blessed Redeemer, " the same night 
 " in which he was betrayed," with such calm- 
 ness, such simplicity ami affection, took the 
 bread and wine in his sacred hands, and said, 
 " This is my body — This is my blood— This 
 6 lCor. iv,9; and I Tim ill, 16. 
 
III. LORDS SUPPER. 
 
 ax 
 
 " do in remembrance of me." Most affecting 
 subject of commemoration must this be, to 
 ever} sincere Christian ! The bread and wine, 
 set forth on the sacramental tabic, should 
 bring all these transactions fresh to our 
 thoughts; should impress them all anew upon 
 ouv hearts. Never would that bread and that 
 wine nave stood before us, had not our Sa- 
 viour suffered : had he not, the very night in 
 which his sufferings began, given the com- 
 mand, " This do in remembrance of me." — 
 In this ordinance, especially, " Jesus Christ 
 " is evidently set: forth crucified amongst us." 
 Surely as a mere commemoration, it is suited 
 powerfully to affect our hearts. 
 
 2. " Rut there is something in this ordi- 
 nance much beyond mere commemoration. 
 Let us next consider it as giving evidence to 
 Christianitj at large, and particularly to Cer- 
 tain important parts of that divine system." 
 
 Institutions like that of the Lord's supper, 
 it has often been shewn, are of much impor- 
 tance in confirming those facts which consti- 
 tute the evidence of revelation. Purporting 
 to have taken their rise from the very period 
 of the eveits which they commemorate, they 
 could never be introduced in after ages, 
 because mankind, at the same time that they 
 admitted them, must have been induced to 
 believe that they had always observed (hem j 
 and, in the age to which they arc referred, 
 
92 
 
 T1JE LORD'S SUPPER. [SERM. 
 
 the commemoration could never liave taken 
 place, had not the event commemorated 
 occurred. Accordingly, in this light, of an 
 evidence to the truth of the gospel, the two 
 sacraments seem to be viewed by St. John in 
 his first Epistle : " There are three that bear 
 " record on earth, the Spirit," (the author of 
 the miracles) " and the water," or baptism, 
 " and the blood," or the Lord's supper : " and 
 " these three agree in one." 
 
 Hut as was shewn in a former discourse 
 respecting baptism, so it is easy to shew here 
 concerning the Lord's supper, that it not 
 only bears witness to the truth of Christianity 
 generally, but that it affords a very striking 
 confirmation to certain fundamentafdoctrines 
 of the gospel. 
 
 For what reason, it may fairly be asked, 
 did our blessed Redeemer so particularly 
 distinguish the sad and mournful scene of 
 his sufferings, above all other events of his 
 history, by an institution designed to keep it 
 ever fresh in our remembrance ? Why should 
 not his followers rather celebrate his miracu- 
 lous birth, Jiis triumphant resurrection from 
 the dead, or his glorious ascension into 
 heaven, than his ignominious death ? The 
 inquiry, I conceive, would not readily receive 
 a satisfactory answer from those, who see 
 nothing i„ J| 1P d es jg„ 0 f Christ's death, 
 beyond " bearing witness to the truth:" for 
 
v.] the lord's supper. 9* 
 
 certain it is, that his resurrection from the 
 dead, rather than his crucifixion, is the event 
 constantly and naturally appealed to, as the 
 great proof of his di\ine mission. But, 
 admit our Lord's own explanation of the 
 design of his death, and of the view with 
 which it is to be commemorated, and all is 
 easy, all is reasonable. " This is my body," 
 he said, " which is given," and " broken for 
 " you." " This is my blood of the new cove- 
 " nant which is shed for you," and "for 
 "many, for the remission of sins." 7 
 Only consider our blessed Saviour as, what 
 all the sacrifices of the law prefigured, and 
 what the forerunner who was sent expressly 
 " to prepare his way," and proclaim his 
 character, declared him to be, " the Lamb 
 " of God that taketh away the sin of the 
 " world :" Consider him as, what all the 
 prophets " bore witness" that he would be, 
 " wounded for our transgressions, bruised for 
 " our iniquities," having the iniquity " of us 
 " all," and " the chastisement by which our 
 " peace" is effected, " laid upon him," and 
 " making his soul an offering for sin :" Con- 
 sider him as, what he declared of himself, 
 " giving his life A ransom for many," his 
 blood to be " shed for the remission of sins ;" 
 and \\hat his apostles, after they were en- 
 dowed with the abundant gifts and influence 
 
 1 Matt. XX vi, 26 — 2B; Lnl;c xxii, ly, 20; lCor.xi,C3 — 25. 
 
D4 
 
 THE LOim's SUITER. [SERM- 
 
 of the Holy Spirit, ever preached him, 8 "suf- 
 " fering for sins, the just for the unjust, 
 that he might bring us to God;" though he 
 " knew no sin" of his own, yet made " sin," 
 or a sin-offering, " for us, that we might be 
 " made the righteousness of God in him :" as 
 " bearing our sins in his own body on the tree :" 
 as, " by his one offering" of " himself," " for 
 " ever" " putting away sin :" "asthepropitia- 
 " tion for the sins of the whole world," and 
 " washing us from our sins in his own blood :"9 
 — Consider the death of Christ in this light, 
 and the reason why " Christ and him cru- 
 " cified" should be the great theme of inspired 
 apostles on earth, and of glorified saints in 
 heaven, nay, the grand central subject of 
 divine revelation — why his death, especially, 
 should be appointed to be had in constant 
 and everlasting "remembrance," — is too ob- 
 vious to need pointing out. The sacrifice of 
 the death of Christ is the most stupendous 
 
 » If any reader is staggered by the confident tone in which 
 the authority of the Apostolic Epistles is now disparaged, in 
 comparison with that of the Gospels, let him carefully consider 
 our Lord's words iu his parting discourse with his disciples, John 
 xiv, 16,17: xvi,12 — 14, and compare with them such passages 
 aslCor. ii.1,7.10, 12, 13, 16; t Then, iv, 1,8; 2 Pet. Iii, 15, 
 16, (** other scriptures,") 4c. 4c. 
 
 9 Seels, liii; Dan. is, 21 — 27; Zech. xii.10 J xiii, 1,7; John 
 
 i, 89 ; iii. 1*, 15; vi,51 — 56; Matt, xx, 28; xxvi,t6 — 28 ; Acts 
 x,41; Rom. iii, 25, 26; v, 6 — 10; 1 Cor. i, 18,23 ; ii, 2; xv, 
 3; 2Cor.v,Sl; Gal. iii, 13; vi,14; Eph.i,7;v,2; I Tim. 
 
 ii. fi; Tit. ii, 14; Hcb. i.S; ii, 9, 17; vii.27; ix.U— 14, 15. 
 •;C — 28; x, 4, 10, 12, 14, ly, 29; lPet.i.2: ii,24; iii, 18; 1 
 John i, 7; it, 1,2; iv, y, 10; Rev. i, J ; v.fj— 14; vii, 9— 17. 
 
v.] the lord's SUPPER. 95 
 
 and interesting, the most awful, most delight- 
 ful, and every way most memorable, event 
 that ever occurred in the world, or of which 
 any intimation is given to us. It, at once, 
 brings " glory to God in the highest, and 
 " on earth peace, good-will towards men." 
 Herein the evil of sin is displayed to the 
 whole universe, and yet the firmest founda- 
 tion laid for the hopes of all penitent sinners: 
 herein God appears to be " a just God and" 
 yet "a Saviour:" and even "to the princi- 
 " palities and powers in heavenly places," 
 new views of the "wisdom" and manifold 
 glories of God are disclosed, in the redemp- 
 tion of " the church" by the death of Christ. 
 " Into these things angels desire to look 
 down :" well, therefore, may we who are so 
 much more nearly interested, dwell on them 
 with delight, and keep them ever in our 
 humble, affectionate, and devout remem- 
 brance. 
 
 3. But we may, further, consider this as a 
 social ordinance, in which Christians hold 
 " communion one with another." It is so in 
 a much higher degree than baptism, which, 
 being administered but once to the same 
 individual, can in general be joined in by 
 only a very small number at a time. But the 
 Lord's supper is a standing ordinance in 
 which Christians are continually to meet and 
 profess their faith, present their united wor- 
 
96 
 
 tub loiid's si' iter, [serm. 
 
 ship, receive tlie pledges of tbeir Redeemer s 
 love, and bind themselves one to another, in 
 the closest and most endearing ties. And 
 hence, in part, it derives its common name 
 of ' the holy communion.' 
 
 In this view, also, it is a delightful insti- 
 tution ; calculated to cherish every " fruit of 
 " the Spirit," and to extirpate every "root 
 " of bitterness," in the soul. How is it pos- 
 sible for Christian believers, meeting around 
 the sacred board ; together confessing their 
 sins with contrite hearts ; together acknow- 
 ledging, and afresh applying for, all the 
 infinite blessings of redemption ; together 
 commemorating their Saviour's dying love: — 
 naturally companions in ruin, and now, by 
 divine grace, raised and uuited in one com- 
 mon and glorious salvation : partners of the 
 same cares, sorrows, couflicts, temptations, 
 hopes, joys ; having the same infinite objects 
 at stake, and the same enemies of their suc- 
 cess to contend against ; destined, if only 
 they be preserved " faithful unto death," to 
 spend an eternity of bliss together: — how is 
 it possible for us to look round upon men, 
 and to consider them, as, in any sense, asso- 
 ciates and fellow candidates with us in such 
 a cause, and not to feel for them ;i heart 
 overflowing with tenderness? not to find 
 every rugged, resentful, selfish passion, gra- 
 dually melting away, and giving place to 
 sympathy, benevolence, and intercession ? 
 
the lord's SUPPEU. 
 
 !>7 
 
 Surelj it is a most invaluable legacy, which 
 our dyiug Redeemer hath bequeathed to his 
 disciples, in this ordinance! one which most 
 directly tends to bring about that blessed 
 consummation, for which he poured forth 
 such fervent supplication in his last prayer : 
 " That they all may be one ! As Thou, Fa- 
 " ther, art in me, and I in thee, that they 
 " also may be one in us ! — that the world 
 " may believe that thou hast sent me." 10 
 
 4. But the highest character of this ordi- 
 nance remains yet to be considered. It is a 
 medium of communion not only with our 
 fellow Christians here upon earth, but with 
 heaven itself, with God and our glorified Re- 
 deemer. And this it is, especially, in virtue 
 of its nature as a sacrament. 
 
 A sacrament as our church teaches us, is 
 ' an outward and visible sign of an inward 
 ' and spiritual grace given unto us ; which 
 outward and visible sign is ' ordained by 
 ' Christ himself, as a means whereby we receive' 
 the inward and spiritual grace, ' and a pledge 
 ' to assure us thereof.' — • The outward part, 
 ' or sign, in the Lord's supper,' as she fur- 
 ther observes, 'is bread and wine, which the 
 ' Lord hath commanded to be received. The 
 ' inward part, or thing signified, is the body 
 ' and blood of Christ, which are verily and 
 ' indeed taken and received by the faithful, in 
 ' the Lord's Supper:' but, in what sense, she 
 
 ' r John ivii, 11,31 i Compare xiii, 3*, 35. 
 I 
 
08 
 
 THE LORD'S SUPPER. 
 
 [SERM. 
 
 is careful to explain to us in her Article on 
 the subject. ' The body of Christ is given, 
 • taken, and eaten, in the Supper, only after 
 ' a heavenly and spiritual manner. And the 
 ' mean whereby the body of Christ is received 
 ' and eaten, in the Supper, is faith." " 
 
 Before we proceed to the further explana- 
 tion of this part of the ordinance, ' the inward 
 ' and spiritual grace,' let me once more call 
 your attention to the rite itself, * the outward 
 ' and visible sign.' I have before noticed it 
 as remarkable that so particular a celebration 
 of Christ's death, rather than of any other 
 event in his history, should be appointed. But 
 certainly the mode of celebration is yet more 
 surprising. 
 
 In the first place, it is by a feast, not by a 
 fast. It is a celebration of praise and thanks- 
 giving, Hot of mourning. This is remarkable, 
 if the death of our Saviour carried in it no- 
 thing of a higher nature, than the death of 
 any other holy martyr. 
 
 But, secondly, of what kind is this feast? 
 Of what nature is this celebration ? It pur- 
 ports to be a feast upon the body and blood 
 of Him, whose death is commemorated ! 
 " This is my body: Take, eat. This is my 
 " blood : Drink ye all of this." " The cup 
 " of blessing which we bless, is it not the 
 " communion of the blood of Christ?'' The 
 bread which we break, is it not " the Mh 
 
 " Art. xxviii. 
 
THE LORD'S SUPPER. 
 
 00 
 
 " munion of the body of Christ ?" This, 
 assuredly, is the most singular commemora- 
 tion of a highly venerated deceased character, 
 that was ever heard of in the world, much 
 more that was ever practised among the civi- 
 lized part of mankind ! Familiarity with the 
 ceremony has laid our attention to it asleep : 
 otherwise it must certainly appear most ex- 
 traordinary. Deny the great doctrines of the 
 atonement, and of the communion of the soul 
 with the Saviour by faith, and I conceive, 
 such an observance is absolutely inexplicable. 
 But admit these doctrines, and all is easy, 
 all is natural, all is, in the highest degree, 
 significant. Admit that Christ hath "made 
 " reconciliation for iniquity," by " the sacri- 
 " fice of himself," and " brought in everlasting 
 "righteousness," 11 for the justification of 
 every penitent believing sinner; and we may 
 well celebrate his death, though with con- 
 trition for our sins, yet with everlasting joy, 
 and praises to him " who hath loved us," 
 " and redeemed us to God with his blood." 
 " Christ our passover is sacrificed for us, 
 " therefore let us keep the feast." ' 3 — Admit 
 that the spiritual life of our souls is derived 
 entirely from " Christ and him crucified," 
 
 "2 Dan. is, 84, 20. 
 13 f Cor. v, 7, 3. The Lord's supper, i! will be remembered, 
 was instituted ,f *M ibe paschal supper, and superseded the Jew- 
 ish passover. Both represented, — the one pref;°urin£;, the other 
 roimmtnoratiiig, — "the Lamb of God," " slain from the fotinda- 
 " lion of the world," " to lake away the sins" of mankind. 
 John i, 2iJ ; Rev. xiii, 8 ; I Pet. i, 19, 20. 
 
 I 2 
 
LOO 
 
 THE LORD'S SUPPER. [&ERM. 
 
 and lhat it can be supported only by com- 
 munion with him, and the supply of his 
 Spirit;'* only ' by feeding on him in our 
 ' hearts by faith ;' and the figurative eating of 
 his body and blood, is a most striking illus- 
 tration of spiritual blessings by means of 
 external signs. 
 
 And that this figure of " eating the flesh 
 " of Christ and drinking his blood," is no 
 merely incidental one, but possesses all that 
 significancy, which we might expect from its 
 being, by express appointment, continually 
 held up to our view in this most solemn 
 sacrament, is made incontrovertibly evident 
 by the whole of that remarkable discourse, 
 delivered by our Lord in the synagogue of 
 Capernaum, and recorded by St. John in the 
 sixth chapter of his Gospel. The divine 
 preacher there assumes the same figure, and 
 presses it, and the truths intended by it, 
 upon the attention of his hearers, with the 
 utmost earnestness, and even with unwearied 
 repetition. He speaks of himself as *' the 
 " living bread which came down from heaven, 
 " and giveth life unto the world :" and de- 
 clares, "If any man eat of this bread he 
 " shall live for ever : and the bread that 1 
 " will give is my flesh, which I will give for 
 " the life of the world. — Verily, verily, I 
 " say unto you, Except ye eat the flrsh of the 
 " Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have 
 
 H Sec John xv, (parable of the vine -iinl (he branches.) 
 
the lord s surrr.it. 
 
 101 
 
 " no life in you. Whoso eatelh my flesh, and 
 " drinketh my blood, hath eternal life ; and I 
 " will raise him up at the last day. For my 
 " flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink 
 " indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drink- 
 " eth my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. 
 " As the living Father hath sent me, and I 
 " live by the Father, so he that eateth me 
 " shall live by me.'" 5 
 
 It must be nearly superfluous to shew, 
 that all this could not be spoken of merely 
 
 15 See John vi, 27, to the end. In interpreting this discourse 
 of our Lord's, we should set out w ith paying particular attention 
 to the remark which he himscll makes upon it : " It is the spirit 
 " that quickenelh, the flesh profited] nothing: the words that I 
 " speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life." The 
 language which he uses, is figurative in the highest degree: how- 
 ever significant the figure may be. By his own declaration, it is 
 not any literal eating of his llesh and blood (such as the Papists 
 suppose in the Lord's supper,) that is intended. Even it this 
 were possible, it alone would " profit ns nothing." (ver. 63.) 
 The substance of the instruction contained in this passage may, 
 perhaps, be comprised in three or four particulars. 1. That all 
 salvaiion is from Christ alone " coming down from heaven" to 
 be our Saviour : 2. That it is from him in this particular way, of 
 his " Riving himself for the lite of the world;" his body to be 
 broken, and his blood shell, as an atoning sacrifice for sin: 
 .3. That in order to our partaking of his salvation, we must be 
 interested in him by a living faith : 4. That the communion 
 established and carried on between the soul of the believer and 
 his Saviour, by means ol this faith, is of the most intimate and 
 substantial kind. " He dwelleth in me and I in him." (ver. 50.) 
 II is such that the soul is made alive and supported in (spiritual) 
 life by virtue of this its union with Christ; (ver. 57.) and con- 
 tinually derives from him grace anil strength for its support, as 
 truly as the body derives nourishment and sustenance from its 
 food. The same is implied in the parable of the vine and the 
 branches, ( lolin xv.) and is, no doubt, what is meant by St. 
 Paul, Gal. ii, 20. 
 
 I 3 
 
102 
 
 THE LORD'S SUITER. 
 
 [s EUM. 
 
 receiving the Lord's supper. That sacrament 
 was not then instituted. And, further, such a 
 supposition would imply, not only that all 
 who should partake of that ordinance, what- 
 ever their state and character might be, should 
 " have eternal life ;" but also that every one, 
 who, by whatever means, failed of partaking 
 of it, remained destitute of spiritual life, and 
 would be excluded from heaven ! 
 
 But the Lord's supper, in order indelibly 
 to impress upon our minds the doctrine in- 
 tended to be taught, embodies, if I may so 
 speak, and gives .substance to, the Jlgure em- 
 ployed throughout the discourse referred to. 
 It presents to all our other senses what that 
 discourse addresses to our ears. The sermon 
 and the sacrament both set btfore us the 
 same thing : the one by description, the 
 other by visible representation. — But what 
 it is, that is thus proposed to us, requires to 
 be more particularly explained. 
 
 This figure, then, draws our most marked 
 attention to the doctrine of the atonement. 
 But it does more. It implies and supposes, ra- 
 ther than directly teaches, that doctrine : and, 
 the atonement being supposed, it goes on to 
 instruct ns concerning the effectual application 
 of that and every other part of Christ's " great 
 " salvation" to our souls. The ottering up of 
 the human nature (the " body and blood") of 
 Him, who was both God and man, as a 
 sacrifice for the sins <>!' the world, is rather 
 
THE LORD'S SUPPER. 
 
 LOS 
 
 the preparation of the heavenly feast : " eat- 
 " ing and drinking his flesh and blood" 
 represents our participation of it : it is a 
 figurative description (but, doubtless, from 
 all that we have seen, a description by a 
 most proper and expressive figure,) of the 
 means by which we must, individually, be- 
 come interested in "the salvation which is by 
 " Christ," and receive all the ' benefits of his 
 ' death and passion,' and of the whole of his 
 mediation. — In short, it is the communion of 
 I In tout with the Saviour, by which it actually 
 receives the blessings which he died to obtain, 
 :ind is now exalted to bestow upon every one 
 " that cometh to God by him," that is in- 
 tended by " eating the flesh of the Son of 
 " man, and drinking his blood ;" and which 
 constitutes ' the inward and spiritual grace of 
 ' the Lord's supper.' 
 
 And this communion is maintained "by 
 " faith." Faith, or a reception of the Saviour 
 in those characters which he sustains, and 
 for those purposes for which he came into 
 the world ; a humble reliance upon him, 
 upon his promises, his atonement, and inter- 
 cession, accompanied by earnest, persevering 
 application to him for all the blessings of 
 salvation : 16 — this is, as a late eminent pre- 
 late has described it, ' the first principle of 
 ' our communion' with God : 17 it is the great 
 
 ,e See Ihe lexis referred to al the tool of page 18. 
 
104 THE LOIID'S SL'PPER. [sF.RM. 
 
 and exclusive medium of our justification, 
 and that by means of which our spiritual life, 
 through the whole of its progress, is to be 
 sustained, and our souls preserved unto ever- 
 lasting life. " We are kept," saith St. Peter, 
 " by the power of God, through faith, unto 
 " salvation." And St. Paul declares, " I am 
 " crucified w ith Christ : nevertheless I live ; 
 " yet not I, but Christ Uveth in me. And 
 " the life which I now liv e in the flesh, I live 
 " by the faith of the Son of God, who loved 
 " me and gave himself for me." And so our 
 Lord affirms : "He that eateth me shall live 
 " by me." " He that eateth my flesh and 
 " drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I 
 " in him." 18 
 
 But let us not so leave this subject. Let 
 us not content ourselves with a bare abstract 
 account of w hat, however it may be regarded, 
 not only by the profane, but even by many 
 who " seem to be religious," is as serious and 
 practical, and, we will be bold to add, as 
 sober and rational an exercise of the mind, 
 as any w hich comes within the c ircle of Chris- 
 tian duty. Let us attempt to describe this 
 communion of the soul with its Saviour, this 
 
 * oar works, that we are justified. That we are justified by faith 
 » is not on account of any merit in our faith, but because failh is 
 ' the first principle of that communion be/ueen the believer's 
 ' soul ami the Divine Spirit, on uhich the whole of our spi- 
 
 • ritual life depends. — Bishcp Horsley'l primary charge. 
 
 i» 1 Pet. i, 5 ; Gal. ii, '.'0 ; John vi, 56, 57. 
 
THE LORDS SUPPER. 
 
 KV> 
 
 " coming unto Christ," this 'feeding upon 
 ' hfm in our hearts by faith with thanks- 
 ' giving,' from its first origin, anil as it is 
 actually maintained by the true Christian 
 believer. 
 
 Take then a poor sinner (we are all na- 
 turally such) living "according to the course 
 of this world," and consequently " dead in 
 " trespasses and sins."' 9 We need not as- 
 sume him to be a vicious character. Let 
 him be supposed a character respectable in 
 society : but as, alas ! many such characters 
 are, lamentably forgetful of God, and of his 
 high duties to him ; occupied with the pur- 
 suits of the present life, and unsolicitous 
 about the life to come. At length, however, 
 by hearing or reading the word of God, or 
 by means of some affliction, or other affecting 
 occurrence, his attention is roused to things 
 of everlasting importance: his mind is seri- 
 ously impressed ; his conscience is awakened 
 to a before unknown sense of sin ; of its 
 intrinsic evil, and the misery which must 
 follow it ; and of the criminality of that 
 worldly, careless life which he has hitherto 
 led, and even of that merely outward religion 
 which is all that he has hitherto possessed. 
 He finds himself guilty, and condemned by 
 the holy law of God. He begins anxiously 
 to inquire, " What must I do to be saved V 
 He seriously studies the sacred scriptures for 
 
 " F.ph. ii, !— 1, &c. 
 
106 THE LORDS SUPPER. [SERM. 
 
 an answer to that question. He hears them 
 reply to it, " Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 " and thou shalt be saved :" " Behold the 
 " Lamb of God that taketh away ihe sin of 
 " the world :" He hath died, " to make 
 " reconciliation for iniquity ;" and he inviteth 
 poor sinners unto him : " Come unto me all 
 " ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I 
 " will give you rest:" " Whosoever believeth 
 " in him is justified from all things :" " Re- 
 " pent and be converted that your sins may 
 " be blotted out." The humbled sinner ac- 
 cepts the invitation, and obeys the command. 
 He " flees for refuge to lay hold on the hope 
 " set before him" in Christ. He comes unto 
 God " through him :" he confesses his sins, 
 he implores mercy. His earnest prayer is, 
 " create in me a clean heart, O God !" 
 no less than, " Blot out all mine iniqui- 
 " ties !" He " commits" his soul into the 
 hands of his Saviour : he places all his trust 
 in him. He perseveres in this course. He 
 finds " rest" and peace to his soul : he receives 
 the sanctifying grace of the Holy Spirit : and 
 becomes "in Christ a new creature;" he 
 " walks in newness of life :" he " ceases to 
 " do evil, he learns to do well." " The life 
 " which he lives in the flesh, he lives by the 
 " faith of the Son of God :" and the change 
 actually and evidently produced, by divine 
 grace, in his dispositions and conduct, proves, 
 that he deceives not himself with unfounded 
 
v.] the lord's SUPPEIt. 107 
 
 hopes when he concludes, that he " has 
 " passed from death unto life,"" and che- 
 rishes the humble confidence, that his " end 
 " shall be everlasting life" — " the gift of God, 
 " through Jesus Christ our Lord." 
 
 Such is the nature, and such as this the 
 usual commencement, of that communion of 
 the soul with its Saviour which constitutes 
 ' the inward part, or thing signified' in the 
 Lord's Supper: the ' eating of the body, and 
 ' drinking of the blood of Christ,' whereby 
 the soul is ' strengthened and refreshed as our 
 ' bodies are by bread and wine.' It is con- 
 tinued by the Christian, the same in substance, 
 during all the remainder of his life. He daily 
 needs, and, in the use of the various ' means 
 ' of grace,' he daily seeks, and daily finds, 
 pardon and peace, wisdom and strength, and 
 consolation. But among these ' means of 
 ' grace,' the Lord's supper itself holds a most 
 distinguished place, being at once a means, 
 a representation, and a most solemn pledge 
 and assurance, given by Christ himself almost 
 in his dying moments, of such communion 
 with him, and of the certainty of our receiv- 
 ing those blessings which we thus seek from 
 him. — I earnestly exhort you all, most seri- 
 ously to enquire whether you are, by your 
 own experience, acquainted with the prac- 
 tice of thus " coming unto Christ ;" and 
 whether you make your approaches to the 
 
 *> 1 John v, 24. 
 
the lord's supper, [sf.km. 
 
 Lord s table for the purpose of thus, ' after 
 ' a heavenly and spiritual manner,' eating his 
 flesh and drinking his blood. 
 
 In the progress of this discourse, our atten- 
 tion has, naturally, been much drawn to the 
 great doctrine of the atonement: and I will 
 here once more advert to it. Hardly any 
 doctrine, I must confess, appears to me to 
 stand upon firmer grounds of scriptural 
 authority : none to be more uniformly inter- 
 woven with the whole system of revealed 
 truth : nor any suited to raise in the mind 
 more devout sentiments of reverence and holy 
 awe, of admiration, gratitude, and humble 
 confidence, towards God. I know , the num- 
 berless objections which are urged against it ; 
 the scorn and virulence with w hich it is often 
 treated. But these objections appear to me 
 complete/// irrelevant. They apply only to a 
 distortion, a misrepresentation of the doc- 
 trine. Only let the atonement of Christ be 
 considered in its true light, not as first dis- 
 posing the eternal Father to shew mercy to 
 us, but as, what it is in fact, the great fruit 
 of his love and compassion for us, *' and only 
 designed (as far as we are acquainted with 
 its design,) to shew his hatred of sin, and to 
 assert the honour of his law and go\ernment, 
 while he should exercise unbounded mercy 
 towards a world of sinners — designed to 
 
 »' John iii, 16 ; » John iv, o, 10. 
 
THE LORDS SUPPER. 
 
 ioy 
 
 render the exercise of mercy consistent with 
 the display of justice:" only let the doctrine 
 be thus considered, and every notion of its 
 presenting an unumiabh view of the divine 
 character must vanish from the rightly dis- 
 posed mind, — the mind to which the honour 
 of the divine perfections is dear as it ought to 
 be, and to which sin appears in its true co- 
 lours, deserving every stigma - that can be 
 fixed upon it. Only, again, let the blessed 
 Redeemer be considered as " suffering for oui 
 "sins" in such a sense, as to open the way for 
 the pardon of every penitent sinner, consist- 
 t-ritlv with the honour of the divine character ; 
 not in such a sense, as to rescue one impeni- 
 tent transgressor from the just penalty of his 
 offences : and all idea of men being by this 
 means emboldened to continue in sin, must in 
 like manner vanish, or rather give way to the 
 conviction, that, while this doctrine holds 
 forth the most inviting encouragement to sin- 
 ners " to forsake their evil ways and Jive," it 
 displays, more awfully than even the torments 
 of hell itself, the intrinsic evil of sin, and the 
 vengeance which Almighty God will inflict on 
 every impenitent sinner. 
 
 With regard to the connexion between this 
 doctrine and the Lord's supper, or eucharist, 
 I adopt the words of the excellent Doddridge : 
 ' I apprehend this ordinance of the eucharist 
 ' to have so plain a reference to the atone- 
 
 « Rom. iii, tb, 26. 
 K 
 
110 
 
 THE LORD'S SUPPER. [SERM. 
 
 ' ment or satisfaction of Christ, and to do so 
 ' solemn an honour to that fundamental doc- 
 ' trine of the gospel, that I cannot but believe, 
 
 • that, while this sacred institution continues 
 ' in the church, (as it will undoubtedly do to 
 ' the end of the world,) it will be impossible 
 ' to root that doctrine out of the minds of 
 ' plain hi. 4)le Christians, by all the little 
 ' artifices of such forced and unnatural criti- 
 ' cisms, as those are by which it has been 
 ' attacked. Unprejudiced and honest sim- 
 ' plicity will always see the analogy this ordi- 
 ' nance has, to " eating the flesh" of the Son 
 ' of God, " and drinking his blood;" and will 
 
 • be taught by it to feed on him, as " the 
 ' " lamb" that was slain by the gracious ap- 
 ' pointment of God, " to take away the sins 
 
 • " of the world." The enemies of this heart- 
 
 • reviving truth might as well hope to pierce 
 
 • through a coat of mail with a straw, as to 
 ' reach such a truth, defended by such an or- 
 
 • dinaace as this, by any of their trifling so- 
 ' phistries." 3 
 
 I conclude then, with pressing upon all se- 
 rious Christians the duty of constantly attend- 
 ing upon that solemn and delightful ordinance 
 which we have been considering. — How just 
 a subject of lamentation is it, that such an 
 ordinance, instituted under such affecting cir- 
 cumstances, and for such gracious purposes, 
 
 « Family Expositor, on Mall, ixvi, -18. 
 
V.] THE LORD'S SUPPER. Ill 
 
 should be so commonly neglected as it is ! 
 That multitudes, ' professing and calling 
 ' themselves Christians,' should be content to 
 live almost all their days, without observing 
 the express, the dying command of Him 
 whom they call their Saviour ! without ever 
 coming to receive the gracious pledges of his 
 love, or to apply for the 'inestimable benefits' 
 of his death and passion ! Are they conscious 
 that they have no true faith in, no love to- 
 wards, the Redeemer? And does conscience 
 compel them to avow this awful truth to the 
 world ?-— How strangely does it evince custom 
 to be the great director of human passions, 
 that, while almost all young persons are eager 
 for confirmation, and their friends anxious to 
 have them confirmed, so few, comparatively, 
 have any inclination to partake of the Lord's 
 supper; though the same professions, and the 
 same vows, for substance, are made, and the 
 same blessings sought, in the one ordinauce 
 as in the other ! 
 
 Far be it from me to recommend an indis- 
 criminate attendance at the Lord's table. 
 Far be it from me to exhort all persons who 
 have been confirmed to attend, without fur- 
 ther inquiry. No : but I condemn the pro- 
 fane indifference with which the great mass of 
 people absent themselves : their unconcern, 
 their insensibility, their satisfaction with 
 themselves, while they are living in the neg- 
 lect of an acknowledged Christian duty, and 
 K 2 
 
112 THE LORD'S SIPPER. 
 
 the contempt of an invaluable Christian pri- 
 vilege. What I urge is, not that any should 
 presume to come without preparation, but 
 that none should dare to lice unprepared; and 
 that none, who possess the requisite prepara- 
 tion of a truly Christian state of mind, should 
 ever, without a weighty reason, omit the per- 
 formance of so delightful and beneficial a 
 service. What I say is, in the language of 
 St. Paul, " Examine yourselves, and so eat of 
 " that bread, and drink of that cup." 
 
 On the proper subjects of self-examination, 
 and the state of mind which constitutes the 
 proper preparation for this sacrament, I pur- 
 pose to speak more at large in another dis- 
 course. In the mean time, let me press the 
 subject upon the serious attention of you, in 
 particular, my dear young friends, who have 
 been lately confirmed. Fain would we in- 
 dulge the hope, that many of your u umber 
 will henceforth enrol themselves among our 
 communicants, not as mere receivers of the 
 consecrated bread and wine," 4 but as sincere 
 and devout believers in Christ, ' feeding upon 
 ' him in their hearts, by faith, with thauks- 
 ' giving.' 
 
 « Chnrcli Arliclcs, xxix. 
 
SERMON VI. 
 
 ON THE LORD'S SUPPER: BENEFITS 
 SOUGHT — PROFESSIONS MADE-— DIS- 
 POSITIONS REQUIRED. 
 
 1 CORINTHIANS, xi, 28. 
 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of 
 that bread, and drink of that cup. 
 
 jf RIDE," the wise king of Israel admo- 
 nishes us, " goeth before destruction, and a 
 " haughty spirit before a fall:" and the his- 
 tory of mankind bears ample testimony to 
 the truth of the observation. When men, and 
 particularly when men " seeming to be reli- 
 " gious," grow " wise in their own conceits," 
 there are no errors or follies too gross for 
 them to run into. Of this the church of Co- 
 rinth afforded a mournful example. 
 
 Soon after St. Paul had left that Christian 
 society, (whicli had been formed by his mi- 
 nistry,) certain false teachers insinuated 
 themselves into it, who undermined the apos- 
 tle's authority, flattered the pride of the 
 people, and professed to advance them in the- 
 knowledge of their Christian privileges, and 
 
 K 3 
 
L14 
 
 BENEFITS OF 
 
 of the sublime mysteries of the gospel, much 
 beyond what he had done. The consequence 
 was, that, while they were led to conceive of 
 themselves as " full," as " rich," as " reign- 
 " ing as kings without" the apostle, 1 they 
 were betrayed into errors of judgment and 
 vices of practice, which would have disgraced 
 those, who had been taught only " the first 
 " principles of the oracles of God." 
 
 Let us " not be high-minded, but fear." 
 Let us " walk humbly with our God ;" and, 
 while we think we stand, " take heed lest we 
 " fell." 
 
 Amongst the disorders of which the Co- 
 rinthian church had been guilty, one was, such 
 a profanation of the holy sacrament of the 
 Lord's supper, as we should have thought 
 incredible, if we had not had the authority of 
 the apostle, for ascribing it to them. " In 
 " eating," he says, " every one of you taketh 
 " before other his own supper: and one is 
 " hungry, and another is drunken !" 
 
 In opposition to so impious an abuse, he 
 delivers a very simple, but affecting account 
 (which we have already considered,) of the 
 institution of this sacrament: and then, in 
 the text and some adjoining verses, ur^es the 
 necessity of self-examination, and of the ut- 
 most seriousness, humility, and devoutness, 
 in our attendance upon it. 
 
 1 Cbap. iv, S — 10. 
 
VI.] THE LORD'S SUPPER. 
 
 Having, in my last discourse, spoken of the 
 nature and intention of the Lord's supper, I 
 shall proceed, in the present, to speak more 
 particularly of the benefits sought, the pro- 
 fessions made, and the dispositions required, 
 in it. 
 
 II. The Benefits sought in the Lord's sup- 
 per are indeed implied in " the inward and 
 spiritual ' grace' of the ordinance : and have 
 been, already, in some degree, considered in 
 speaking on that subject. They are, how 
 ever, mentioned separately in our catechism,* 
 and we may here advantageously introduce a 
 more distinct, though brief, notice of them. 
 
 The Lord's supper, saith the catechism, 
 was 'ordained for the continual remembrance 
 ' of the sacrifice of the death of Christ, and 
 ' of the benefits which we receive thereby.' 
 And accordingly, in the prayer immediately 
 after communicating, we implore, ' that we, 
 ' and all God's whole church, may obtain re- 
 ' mission of our sins, and all other benefits of 
 ' Christ's passion.' 
 
 It is, then, for the ' innumerable benefits, 
 ' which, by his precious blood shedding, 
 ' Christ hath obtained' for all those who truly 
 believe in him, that we apply in this sacra- 
 ment. 
 
 They are such as these: the forgiveness of 
 all our sins— that great 'preliminary hlessing' 
 
 2 lfllh ami 11th Qneetions on the Sacramenli. 
 
116 BENEFITS OF [SERM. 
 
 to fallen man ; reconciliation and peace with 
 God ; " the adoption of children" unto him ; 
 the gift of his Holy Spirit to " dwell in us," 
 as our teacher, comforter, and sanctifier; as 
 " the Spirit of adoption," inspiring us with 
 filial confidence, and all the dispositions of 
 dutiful children towards our heavenly Father, 
 and thus " bearing witness with our spirits 
 " that we are the children of God." Finally, 
 all the inconceivable blessings of " everlast- 
 " ing life :" for, " if we be children, then are 
 " we heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with 
 " Christ : if so be we suffer with him, that 
 " we may be also glorified together." 3 What 
 astonishing language is this ! What blessings 
 are these to be conferred on ' us miserable 
 ' sinners, who lay in darkness and the sha- 
 ' dow of death,'— that we should be ' made 
 * the children of God, and exalted to ever- 
 ' lasting life !' What other account can we 
 give of them than this, " He that spared not 
 " his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, 
 " how shall he not with him freely give us all 
 "things'?" All consideration of the merits, 
 say rather the demerits, of the receivers, must 
 utterly vanish from the mind when such bless- 
 ings are contemplated. They are worthy of 
 the end they are destined to answer, which is, 
 to glorify " the riches of god's grace ;" 
 to reward the " obedience unto death "of his 
 " only-begotten Son;" and to do honour to 
 
 » See Rom. v, «nd viit. 
 
VI.] THE LORD'S SUPPER. 117 
 
 the mediation of him, in whom the Father is 
 " always well pleased." 
 
 These ' inestimable benefits,' so surely pro- 
 mised in the word of God to every penitent 
 believing sinner, are in this sacrament ' visibly 
 ' signed and sealed,' yea, actually conveyed, 
 to all such characters. It is ' a means where- 
 ' by we receive the same, and a pledge to as- 
 ' sure us thereof :' to engage to us, that, as 
 surely as we eat that bread, and drink of that 
 cup, so surely, if we place a true, lively faith 
 in Christ, we shall receive remission of our 
 sins, and obtain everlasting salvation through 
 his name. Herein, therefore, the soul of the 
 believer is ' strengthened and refreshed :' his 
 faith, his hope, his love, and all his Christian 
 graces are exercised and increased. 
 
 IIL Such being the blessings sought, let us 
 next consider the Professions made, and the 
 Dispositions required in this sacrament: — for 
 we may unite these two branches of our sub- 
 ject together. 
 
 It is evident that in this, as well as in the 
 other sacrament, we profess our belief of the 
 gospel, and of all its great fundamental truths. 
 But on this consideration we will not further 
 insist. 
 
 More particularly, then, he who approaches 
 the Lord's table, to commemorate his Sa- 
 viour's death, ami to seek all ' the benefits of 
 iiis passion,' acknowledges himself a miserable 
 sinner, justly exposed to perdition, and hav- 
 
118 
 
 PROfESSIONS OF [sERM. 
 
 ing no hope towards God, but through the 
 mediation and atonement of Christ. He pro- 
 fesses to " receive" Christ as his Lord aud 
 Saviour, in all those characters which he sus- 
 tains for our benefit. 
 
 Consequently, he professes to return unto 
 God, and yield up himself to the service of 
 God through him, as " no longer his own," 
 but " bought with a price to glorify God with 
 " his body and spirit which are His." 
 
 Further : he, who joins in this ordinance of 
 Christian communion and fellowship, pro- 
 fesses " to come out from" an evil \v«rld and 
 " be separate;" to unite himself to " the peo- 
 " pie of God ;" to cast in his lot among 
 " them, being ready to suffer affliction with 
 '* them "in this life, so that he may be ' num- 
 ' bered with them in glory everlasting.' 
 
 Finally, he professes to look for the second 
 coming of his Lord ; to live in expectation of 
 that great event, and to be making continual 
 preparation for it. " As often as ye eat this 
 " bread and drink this cup, ye do shew the 
 " Lord's death, until he come." 
 
 What Dispositions of mind should charac- 
 terise him who seeks such benefits, and makes 
 such professions, it will not be difficult to de- 
 termine. 
 
 He who seeks the forgiveness of his sins, 
 must necessarily do it in a spirit of humility 
 and repentance. — He who seeks that blessing 
 through ' the sacrifice of the death of Christ," 
 
VI.] THE LORD'S SUPPER. 119 
 
 must have a lively "faith in his blood," and 
 trust to his atonement alone to put away his 
 sin, to his intercession as his only recommen- 
 dation to the favour of God. He must 
 " count all things but loss for Christ, that he 
 " may win Christ, and be found in him." — He 
 who professes that all his hopes arise from 
 this source; that his sins are such as justly 
 expose him to the wrath of God and everlast- 
 ing damnation, and could never have been 
 put away by any means which he himself 
 could have devised or adopted ; ought cer- 
 tainly to renounce, from his heart, all confi- 
 dence in his own righteousness, and every 
 attempt to palliate his sins, to excuse his 
 conduct, or to justify himself before God.— 
 He who believes that blessings of infinite va- 
 lue have been procured for him by Christ, and 
 that, at the price of his own most precious 
 blood, should certainly come entertaining a 
 deep sense of his obligations, and with a 
 heart overflowing with lively gratitude. — He 
 who believes himself to have been involved 
 with his fellow-communicants in one common 
 ruin, and now to be associated with them in 
 one common salvation; redeemed by the same 
 Saviour ; sanctified by the same divine Spi- 
 rit; engaged in the service of the same God ; 
 and tending with them to the same heaven ; 
 should certainly feel his heart knit to them, 
 and to all his fellow Christians in love. He, 
 who hopes for so great forgiveness from God, 
 
120 
 
 DISPOSITIONS rOK [SERM. 
 
 should certainly be found " from his heart 
 "forgiving" every man his trespasses against 
 him. 
 
 Accordingly these are the dispositions, of 
 the necessity of which our church admonishes 
 us. In answer to the question, * What is re- 
 ' quired of them who come to the Lord's sup- 
 per?' she replies in her catechism: 'To 
 ' examine themselves whether they repent 
 ' them truly of their former sins, steadfastly 
 ' purposiug to lead a new life ; have a lively 
 ' faith in God's mercy through Christ, with a 
 
 * thaukful remembrance of his death ; and be 
 
 * in charity with all men.' 
 
 And, brethren, it is in this state of mind, in 
 these dispositions, implanted and cherished 
 in our hearts by the grace of the Holy Spirit, 
 that the true preparation for receiving fhe 
 holy commuuion consists. He, who is habi- 
 tually exercising such dispositions, and ex- 
 pressing them before God in his prayers, and 
 before men in his actions, is ready, even at 
 the most unexpected opportunity, to ap- 
 proach the Lord's table with propriety and 
 benefit: though he will find it highly expe- 
 dient, on all ordinary occasions, to take time, 
 previously, to examine into the state of his 
 soul, to search out his sins that he may exer- 
 cise explicit repentance of them, aud that he 
 may, with fresh zeal and gratitude, renew his 
 acceptance of Christ and his salvation. But 
 vain indeed is it for the man who is a stranger 
 
THE LORD'S SUPPER. 
 
 12 i 
 
 to all right knowledge of himself, to all just 
 sense of his sins, and of his need of that 
 "great salvation" which the gospel proposes; 
 for the man who is living habitually devoted 
 to the world, destitute of deep repentance, of 
 lively faith in Christ, of real love to God and 
 his service ; and who entertains no sincere 
 ' purpose of leading a new life,' nor indeed 
 any conviction of the necessity of so doing; — 
 vain beyond expression is it, for such a man 
 to think of becoming prepared for the sacra- 
 ment, by a temporary abstinence from some 
 customary indulgences, after which his heart 
 slill hankers; and by going through a pre- 
 scribed course of devotion, in which he takes 
 no pleasure, unless from the prospect of its 
 termination. No: he forgets that God must 
 be worshipped " in spirit and in truth :" that 
 nothing which is a mere force put upon na- 
 ture, and against which the heart revolts, can 
 be pleasing to Him: and that all religious or- 
 dinances are valuable only as the means of 
 leading us to serve God habitually, and, if 
 used as substitutes for a devout temper, and 
 for unreserved obedience, become abomina- 
 tion in his sight. No: (lie preparation which 
 such a man wants is, " a new heart and a 
 " right spirit." He " must be born again," 
 or he can neither worship God acceptably in 
 this life, nor " see the kingdom of heaven" 
 hereafter. 
 
 But 1 propose to illustrate to you the pro- 
 
132 
 
 COMMUNION 
 
 [SERHi 
 
 fessions made, and the dispositions required, 
 in the Lord's supper, more at large, from the 
 service provided by our church for the occa- 
 sion. This I the rather do, first, because it 
 is the service which is in use among us ; and 
 therefore it ought to be attended to, and well 
 understood : secondly, because it is so excel- 
 lent that I cannot convey to you the senti- 
 ments which I wish you to entertain, so well 
 as by its words : and, thirdly, because you 
 all have this service in your prayer-books, and 
 by reviewing it at home, may refresh your re- 
 membrance of what you hear. And this I 
 earnestly recommend it to you all to do. I 
 cannot give a better direction to any person, 
 who would learn the nature of the Lord's 
 supper, and would properly prepare for it, 
 than that he should carefully study the Com- 
 munion Service of our church, comparing the 
 sentiments and desires of his own heart, with 
 those which are there expressed. It is much 
 indeed to be preferred to any of those prepa- 
 ratory formularies which are in use ; and 
 some of which, I fear, proceed upon princi- 
 ples even incompatible with those of this ser- 
 vice. — He whose feelings are in unison with 
 the prayers and professions here put into his 
 mouth, is a proper person to communicate at 
 the Lord's table. He who is a stranger to 
 such desires and purposes, whatever other 
 preparation he may have made, is not an ac- 
 ceptable communicant. 
 
VI.] SERVICE. 123 
 
 1st, Then, as Repentance is so essential, 
 the church leads us up to the altar with con- 
 fession of sin in our mouths. ■ Ye that do 
 ' truly and earnestly repent you of your sins 
 ' — draw nigh— and make your humble con- 
 ' fession to Almighty God.' — And here let it 
 be observed, that we are taught not only to 
 confess, in general, that we have sinned, 
 (such confessions the most impenitent sinners 
 will readily make,) but ' to acknowledge and 
 ' bewail our manifold sins:' to confess that 
 they ' most justly provoke God's wrath 
 ' against us :' and to express our sense of 
 them as, in the highest degree, ' grievous 
 ' unto us.' ' We acknowledge and bewail 
 ' our manifold sins and wickedness, which we 
 
 * from time to time most grievously have com- 
 
 * mitted, by thought, word, and deed, against 
 ' thy divine Majesty, provoking most justly 
 ' thy wrath and indignation against us. We 
 ' do earnestly repent, and are heartily sorry 
 
 * for these our misdoings ; the remembrance 
 ' of them is grievous unto us, the burden of 
 ' them is intolerable. Have mercy upon us, 
 ' have mercy upon us, most merciful Father; 
 ' for thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ's sake, 
 ' forgive us all that is past ; and grant that 
 ' we may ever hereafter serve and please 
 ' thee, in newness of life.' 
 
 2. In the next place, as Faith is requisite, 
 she exhorts us to ' draw near with faith :' as- 
 sures us, in the Absolution, of the mercy of 
 
 L 3 
 
124 
 
 COM Ml'N ION 
 
 [9ER.M. 
 
 God to all such as truly turn to him ;' and, 
 to confirm her doctriue, and the faith of all 
 humble and contrite spirits, she recites seve- 
 ral most comfortable promises of God's word. 
 " Come unto me, all ye that travail and are 
 " heavy laden, and I will refresh you. — So 
 " God loved the world, that he gave his only- 
 " begotten Son, to the end that all that be- 
 " lieve in him should not perish, but have 
 " everlasting life." 
 
 3. Further, as it is necessary that we re- 
 nounce all confidence in ourselves, our own 
 virtues, or merits, or righteousness, she 
 teaches us to come solemnly declaring before 
 Almighty God, ' We do not presume to come 
 ' to this thy table, O merciful Lord, trusting 
 ' in our own righteousness, but in thy mani- 
 ' fold and great mercies. We are not worthy 
 ' so much as to gather up the crumbs under 
 ' thy table. But thou art the same Lord, 
 ' whose property is always to have mercy.' 
 And again, after we have communicated : ' O 
 ' Lord and heavenly Father, we thy humble 
 ' servants entirely desire thy fatherly good- 
 ' ness, mercifully to accept this our sacrifice 
 ' of praise and thanksgiving. — And, although 
 ' we be unworthy through our manifold sins 
 ' to offer unto thee any sacrifice, yet we be- 
 ' seech thee to accept this our bounden duty 
 ' and service, not weighing our merits, but 
 ' pardoning our offences, through Jesus Christ 
 ' our Lord.' 
 
VI.] 
 
 SERVICE. 
 
 t25 
 
 4thly, As praise and thanksgiving are pecu- 
 liarly proper for the occasion, (which is a joy- 
 ful as well as a solemn one,) she teaches us 
 to acknowledge this, and to express our gra- 
 titude, saying, ' It is very meet, right, and 
 ' our bounden duty, that we should at all 
 ' times, and in all places, give thanks unto 
 ' thee, O Lord, holy Father, almighty, ever- 
 ' lasting God. Therefore, with angels and 
 ' archangels, and with all the company of 
 ' heaven, we laud and magnify thy glorious 
 ' name, evermore praising thee, and saying, 
 ' Holy, holy, holy Lord God of hosts, heaven 
 ' and earth are full of thy glory : Glory be to 
 ' thee, O Lord most high.' And, after the 
 communion, ' Glory be to God on high, and 
 ' in earth peace, good will towards men. We 
 ' praise thee, we worship thee, we glorify thee, 
 ' we give thanks to thee for thy great glory, 
 * O Lord God, heavenly King, God the Fa- 
 ' ther Almighty.' 
 
 5. And, again, as love and charity for men 
 are tempers most becoming this service, she 
 teaches us repeatedly to pray for our fellow- 
 worshippers, for our fellow Christians at 
 large, and for all mankind : particularly in 
 the prayer ' for the whole state of Christ's 
 ' church militant here on earth.' 
 
 «>. Finally, as it is most necessary, that, 
 trusting to the grace of God to enable us, we 
 ' steadfastly purpose to lead a new life, keep- 
 ' ing the commandments of God, and walking 
 
 L 3 
 
126 
 
 the lord's supper. [serm. 
 
 ' from henceforth in his holy ways,' she leads 
 us, in the concluding prayer, to avow such a 
 purpose ; to devote ourselves to God's ser- 
 vice; and to seek his grace that we may keep 
 our vows, ' Here we offer and present unto 
 ' thee, O Lord, ourselves, our souls and 
 ' bodies, to be a reasonable, holv, and lively 
 ' sacrifice unto thee ; humbly beseeching 
 ' thee, that all we who are partakers of this 
 1 holy communion may be fulfilled with thy 
 ' grace and heavenly benediction !' 
 
 Having thus reviewed the benefits sought, 
 the professions made, and the dispositions 
 required in the Lord's supper, I shall now 
 notice some improper purposes for which 
 many persons receive this sacrament, and 
 some improper reasons for which others ab- 
 stain from it. 
 
 1. It would seem that some persons, from 
 time to time, attend the Lord's supper, and 
 other religious ordinances, and join in the 
 confessions and prayers there used, as a sort 
 of compensation for their sins; for the care- 
 less, negligent, worldly life which they habi- 
 tually lead. These persons confess their 
 sins instead of forsaking them. They " make 
 " Christ the minister of sin:" hoping to be 
 saved by him from the punishment of trans- 
 gressions, in which they still allow themselves 
 to live. The gross self-delusion implied in 
 such conduct needs hardly to be shewn. It 
 
VI.] the lord's supper. 127 
 
 may deserve, however, to be remarked, that 
 more persons are guilty of it, than suspect 
 themselves to be so. In fact, all those per- 
 sons are guilty of this siu and folly, who quiet 
 their conscience* by occasional religious acts, 
 while they are strangers to true repentance 
 and faith, to the love of God, and unreserved 
 obedience to his will. 
 
 In like manner many who have lived irre- 
 ligiously, send for a minister at the approach 
 of death, anxious to receive the sacrament 
 from his hands, putting, it. is to be feared, 
 the ' outward and visible sign,' in the place 
 of the ' inward and spiritual grace,' and of 
 that " repentance toward God, and faith to- 
 " ward our Lord Jesus Christ," without which 
 it can profit them nothing. Thus does" their 
 " very table become a snare to them, and that 
 " which should have been for their health an 
 " occasion of falling." 
 
 •2. Hut where the Lord's supper is not so 
 grossly abused, yet to make it one means 
 among many of supporting a self-righteous 
 confidence is a fatal perversion of it. The 
 hopes of many persons rest upon such a basis 
 as this : They lead a better life than many 
 around them: they flatter themselves that 
 they ' do nobody any harm :' they give alms : 
 they pray: they attend the church: they re- 
 ceive the sacrament : they trust they are, at 
 least, comparatively ' innocent' characters: 
 00 these grounds they expect eternal life. 
 
123 
 
 THE LORD'S SUPPER. [sERM. 
 
 But these persons have never yet attained any 
 just knawledge of themselves: they under- 
 stand not the strictness of the law of God ; 
 and they totally misapprehend the gospel of 
 Christ, and the way of salvation. Indeed, 
 they feel no need of salvation for themselves. 
 They are " the whole," who have " no need 
 " of the physician." They are in their own 
 esteem " rich and increased with goods:" and 
 " know not that they are," indeed, " poor, 
 " and miserable, and wretched, and blind, 
 " and naked." With what sincerity can they 
 use the humble confessions which the church 
 puts into their mouths ? — ' We acknowledge 
 ' and bewail our manifold sins and wicked- 
 * ness,' which 'mostjustly provoke thy wrath 
 ' and indignation against us !' ' The remem- 
 ' brance of our sins is grievous unto us : the 
 ' burden of them is intolerable!' With what 
 truth can they declare, that ' they do not pre- 
 ' sume to come' before God, ' trusting in their 
 ' own righteousness V No : were they really 
 the characters they suppose themselves to be, 
 Christ need never have died for them. With 
 their present sentiments, their communicating 
 at the Lord's table is inconsistent and impro- 
 per : it is an addition to the number of their 
 sins, not of their righteous deeds. 
 
 3. There is another case to which it may 
 be proper to advert. The reception of this 
 sacrament, according to the rites of the 
 church of England, is the ttst required in or- 
 
vi.] the lord's supper. 129 
 
 tier to our admission to various offices: but 
 t lie test of what? Of our attachment at once 
 to the Christian faith, and to the civil and re- 
 ligious establishments of our country. And, 
 to testify such an attachment, by communi- 
 cating at the Lord's table, with a proper state 
 of mind in other respects, cannot be wrong : 
 but to use this sacrament as a mere qualifica- 
 tion for office, " not discerning the Lord's 
 " body" — not regarding the solemn transac- 
 tions commemorated, nor possessing the re- 
 pentance, the faith, the piety, professed in 
 it, — is an impious profanation, and heinous 
 wickedness. It comes nearer, probably, to 
 the criminal conduct of the Corinthians, than 
 any thing else that exists amongst us. 
 
 But as many persons come to the Lord's 
 supper for wrong purposes, so others absent 
 themselves from it for improper reasons. 
 
 1. Some, who would gladly communicate, 
 think themselves • unworthy.' — Nothing can 
 be a more insufficient reason for abstaining, 
 than this. We read, indeed, of ' eating and 
 'drinking tvorthily or unworthily:' but this 
 means no more than suitably or unsuitably ; 
 with reverence, penitence, faith, love; or the 
 contrary. This sacrament itself, is the strong- 
 est possible confession of utter unworthiness 
 of the least of God's mercies, on the part of 
 those who receive it. Like the salvation of 
 which it is a means and a pledge, it is calcu- 
 
130 
 
 THE LORD'S SUPPER. [sERM. 
 
 lated entirely for the relief and benefit of 
 those, who feel themselves to be unworthy 
 and miserable sinners. If any man is not of 
 this character, he needs it not. If any man 
 imagine himself possessed of merit before 
 God, he is, in the worst sense of the word, an 
 unworthy communicant : he is not only a 
 sinner, but an impenitent sinner. He who 
 most deeply feels his own unworthiness, and 
 most earnestly desires the blessings of Christ's 
 salvation, will be the most acceptable com- 
 municant. 
 
 2. Some persons fear, lest by a well-meant, 
 but unsuitable approach to the Lord's table, 
 they should ' eat and drink their ow n damna- 
 ' tion,' and be guilty of an ' unpardonable sin.' 
 Persons of this humble, timid character, cer- 
 tainly will not commit such a sin. But their 
 fears are raised by the misapprehension of a 
 word. — No doubt any unrepented sin will ex- 
 pose us to damnation: but not an improper 
 reception of the sacrament more than other 
 sins. But let such persons carefully observe 
 the passage in which the alarming term oc- 
 curs. It is that from which our text is taken. 
 They will find, that even the Corinthians, who 
 so impiously profaned this ordinance, and of 
 whom the expression is used, are declared, so 
 far from having their eternal damnation sealed, 
 to be " chastened of the Lord," and wsited 
 with temporal judgments, to prevent their 
 being " condemned with the world." — We may 
 
VI.] THE LORD'S SUPPER. 131 
 
 also remark, that the word rendered damna- 
 iion, in the twenty-ninth verse, is radically the 
 same with that rendered judged in the thirty- 
 second : while another, in the 3ame verse, 
 translated condemned, is a compound of it, 
 bearing a stronger meaning. 
 
 3. Others again fear, lest, by falling into 
 sin, after receiving the Lord's supper, they 
 should be involved in hopeless ruin. Let 
 theim watch and pray that they may be pre- 
 serv.ed from sin : but let them chase away 
 their groundless apprehensions, by reflecting, 
 that, though the dreadful fall of Peter almost 
 immediately succeeded his reception of the 
 Lord's supper, from the hands of Christ him- 
 self, yet he repented, and was restored both 
 as a Christian, and an apostle. 
 
 4. Some sincere Christians omit their ac- 
 customed attendance, from time to time, be- 
 cause they are not in what they term ' a good 
 ' frame of mind.' Do they then come to the 
 sacrament, because they have grace, or that 
 they may receive grace? because they are what 
 they should be, or that they may be made so? 
 Will they shun the physician because they 
 are diseased? Let them draw near with faith, 
 that they may "obtain mercy, and find grace 
 " to help them in the time of need." 
 
 5. Finally, some persons decline to com- 
 municate because they are unwilling to bind 
 themselveu to a strict and holy life, a life of 
 
132 the lord's supper. [serm. 
 
 true religion ; which they do not intend, at 
 present, to lead! This is infinitely the worst 
 case, and, though, alas! a very sufficient rea- 
 son, yet infinitely the worst reason, of all. 
 But, let me ask these persons, Can they sup- 
 pose that, by not obeying this command of 
 Christ, they in any degree release themselves 
 from their obligation to obey all his other 
 commands? that, by this instance of disobe- 
 dience, they at all excuse their disobedience 
 in other particulars ? 
 
 Further, it seems that they only decline, 
 for the present, to bind themselves to a holy 
 life. They dure not but purpose and pro- 
 mise sometime to lead such a life. But how 
 often, do they suppose, are such purpose* 
 and promises of future obedience fulfilled ! 
 They are nothing more than the impositions 
 by which a wicked heart attempts to silence 
 an accusing conscience. They have little 
 other effect than to smooth the down-hill 
 " road which leadeth to destruction." "To- 
 " day, if ever ye will hear the voice of God, 
 " harden not your hearts, lest he swear in his 
 " wrath, that ye shall never enter into his 
 " rest !" 
 
 Let then sincere Christians consider their 
 dying Saviour's command, " This do in re- 
 " niembrance of me." 
 
 Let all who would come to the Lord's table, 
 
VI.] THE LORD'S SUPPER. 
 
 19& 
 
 " use self-examination." Let them pray for 
 repentance and faith, and to be taught and 
 enubled to come aright. Let them study 
 our Communion service, as well as the sa- 
 cred scriptures : and, if they feel the need 
 of further assistance, let them have recourse 
 to some truly ' discreet and learned minis- 
 ' ter of God's word,' who will find greater 
 pleasure in nothing, than in leading forward 
 the humble and conscientious mind, by the 
 divine blessing, to establishment, " peace, 
 " and joy in believing." 
 
 But let those who still turn their backs 
 upon the table of the Lord, conscious that 
 they are unprepared for it, remember, that, 
 if they are unprepared for the Lord's sap- 
 per, they are unprepared to " eat bread 
 " in the kingdom of God" — unprepared 
 for heaven — unprepared for death. Alas! 
 my friends, by your own confession, you 
 are unconverted, impenitent, unpardoned. 
 " The wrath of God abideth on you !" 
 But oh ! will you continue in so sad a 
 state? The mercy of God invites you to 
 receive deliverance. The dying Saviour 
 stretches forth the arms of his grace to 
 welcome you, if you will come unto him. 
 He cries, " Turn ye at my reproof, I will 
 " pour out my Spirit unto you !" Oh hear 
 ye his voice and live ! Remember his dying 
 love, and be ino\ed by it to repentance: 
 M 
 
134 the lord's #upper. 
 
 — " Seek ye the Lord while he may be 
 " found : call ye upon him while he is near ! 
 " Let the wicked forsake his way, and the 
 " unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him 
 " return unto the Lord, for he will have mercy 
 I upon him, and to our God, for he will abun- 
 " dantly pardon !" 
 
SERMON VII. 
 
 ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 St. Mark, ii, 27. 
 
 And he said unto them, The Sabbath was made for man. 
 
 Une important work which our blessed 
 Saviour had to perform, in his capacity of "a 
 " teacher sent from God," was, to restore to 
 the divine law that extensive meaning, and 
 that paramount authority, of which it had 
 been despoiled by the manners of a corrupt 
 age, and the doctrines of corrupt inter- 
 preters. 
 
 In doing this, it was necessary to rescue it 
 from the mass of pernicious or frivolous 
 " commandments of men,"* with which it had 
 
 1 Matt, xv, 1—g. Take an example of their frivolous reason- 
 ings concerning the sabbath. ' It is not lawful to sow, and 
 * therefore neither is it, to walk in ground newly sown: becaof* 
 ' the seed may stick to the feet, and so be carried from place to 
 ' place, which is in some sort sowing.' Beausobre's Intro- 
 duction. 
 
 M 2 
 
L36 
 
 THE SABBATH. 
 
 [sERM • 
 
 been blended and overwhelmed, by the punc- 
 tilious diligence of the Jewish elders, scribes, 
 and pharisees. By these, amongst other evils 
 which they produced, the wise and beneficent 
 institution of the sabbath had been trans- 
 formed into a burdensome observance, "griev- 
 " ous to be borne." 
 
 The traces of this fact are often apparent 
 in the histories of our Lord. His disciples 
 following him through the corn-fields, rub out 
 some grains with their hands, to satisfy the 
 cravings of hunger: the pharisees exclaim, 
 " Behold, thy disciples do that which is not 
 " lawful to do upon the sabbath-day I" 1 not 
 in taking the corn, (for this the law expressly 
 allowed to one passing through a field, 3 ) but 
 in the labour of gathering and rubbing it. 
 Nay, did Jesus himself, but by a word spoken, 
 on that day miraculously invigorate a wither- 
 ed hand, restore a decrepit woman, or give 
 sight to a man who had been born blind, im- 
 mediately he was reproached and persecuted 
 as a sabbath-breaker.* 
 
 Such a censorious scrupulosity about trifles 
 is but too sure an indication of hypocrisy, 
 and can often combine w ith the grossest wick- 
 edness. These men, whose strictness was so 
 much offended by our Lord's exertions in 
 " saving meu's lives," on the day of sacred 
 
 ' Matt, xii, 1 — 8. 9 Deut. liiii, S5. 
 
 ♦Mall, xii, 10 — 13; Luke xiii, 11 — 17; xit, 1 — 0; 
 John v, 15, 16; vii, 51 — 23; ix, IV— 16. 
 
VII.] THE SABBATH. 137 
 
 rest, hesitated not, at the very same moment, 
 to be plotting his destruction. 5 
 
 Their perverse inconsistency appeared, 
 likewise, in numberless inferior instances. 
 As our Lord reminded them, none of them 
 would scruple " to loose his ox or his ass 
 " from the stall, and to lead him away to 
 " watering," or to raise a poor sheep out of 
 a pit, on the sabbath day. How much more 
 then was it fit, that the sons of men should 
 be " loosed from their infirmities" on that 
 day? 
 
 It is highly requisite that we bear in mind 
 this overstrained scrupulosity of the pharisees 
 and their adherents, when we read the re- 
 marks which our Lord addressed to them re- 
 lative to the present subject. It has very 
 commonly been taken for granted, that, in re- 
 plying to their cavils, he took occasion to in- 
 timate a design of relaxing the divine law of 
 the sabbath, under the Christian dispensa- 
 tion. But this must appear very improbable 
 in itself, when we reflect on the important 
 nature of the institution, and especially when 
 we consider what anxious care our Lord ma- 
 nifested, in precluding the idea that he came 
 to destroy even " one jot or one tittle" of the 
 law. 6 And how little ground his replies ac- 
 
 3 Mall, xii, 14; John v, 16. 
 
 6 Mall, v, 17, 18, 19. That ilie moral law, as cor.taiue<l in the 
 ten Commandments, was intended, appears clear from ilie exam- 
 ples in the following verses, 21, ST. 4*. 
 
 M 3 
 
138 
 
 THE SABBATH. 
 
 [SERM. 
 
 tually furnish for the supposition, must be- 
 come evident, if we carefully consider their 
 nature, and the circumstances under which 
 they were delivered. The conduct, which he 
 undertook to vindicate, was that of persons 
 placed under the Jewish, not under the Chris- 
 tian dispensation. He speaks of what was 
 then, and at all times, lawful ; not of what 
 was to be so only at a future period. And 
 his appeal is made expressly to the Jewish 
 law, — to the labours of the priests in the 
 temple, to the case of circumcision on the 
 sabbath-day, and to the history of David, 
 — not to some new law afterwards to be pro- 
 mulgated. 
 
 No : what he would correct is, not any ex- 
 cessive strictness of the divine law itself, but 
 the self-righteous follies of men, who preferred 
 insignificant ceremonies before moral duties ; 
 who sacrificed the spirit to the letter of divine 
 commands; who reversed the maxims of 
 scripture ; and made " the law of God of 
 none effect " through their traditions." 7 He 
 reminded them, therefore, that God would 
 
 7 As " Lord of the sabbath," • 1. He rectified the supersti- 
 ' thus abuse of Ihe ' institution, * and reduced it to the original 
 ' standard. — He reformed the traditionary corru|,tion« of many 
 ' of the commandments of moral and eternal obligation. Bnt of 
 1 all others most singly, remarkably, and constantly, by words 
 • and by deeds, at Ihe hazard of his life, he reformed the abuse 
 ' of the fourth commandment : which he never would have 
 ' done, bad the sabbath been an ordinance that waa to die in a 
 ' little time, with the Jewish dispensation. On Ihe contrary, this 
 ' demonstrates, that he regarded tlx just sanclificatioo of the 
 
VU.J THE SABBATH. 130 
 
 have " mercy rather than sacrifice :" that 
 works of necessity, of real necessity, and of 
 charity, were perfectly allowable, as well as 
 works of piety, on the holy day. In short, he 
 admonished them, " The sabbath was made for 
 " man, and not man for the sabbath:" it was 
 appointed to advance all his best interests ; 
 not to engage and engross him in an unmean 
 ing, unprofitable, and even injurious, service. 
 
 In interpreting this large and liberal prin- 
 ciple of our Lord's, let us, however, be care- 
 ful not ungratefully to abuse it. Let us not 
 suppose that it authorizes our employing the 
 sacred hours in whatever manner a perverse 
 and wayward inclination may dictate, or even 
 as a petty temporal interest may seem to re- 
 quire. No: but let us ever remember, that 
 man, for whose benefit the sabbath is " made," 
 is an immortal and accountable being, and 
 that nothing can really be his interest, which 
 obstructs his preparation for heavenly bliss. 
 
 It is not my intention to enter, at all at 
 large, into the question concerning the per 
 petual and universal obligation of the sab- 
 bath, as founded on express divine appoint- 
 ment. I trust the institution is still generally 
 acknowledged to possess this authority. In- 
 deed, the very writer 8 who, while he himself 
 
 ■ sabbath as of perpetual obligation, and ai of very great impor- 
 ' tance in religion. — g. He removed tbe sabbath from the sevenH 
 • to the first day of the week.' Dr. John Taylor. 
 ' Dr. Paley. 
 
140 
 
 THE SABBATH. 
 
 [SERM. 
 
 maintains the observation of the day to be a 
 duty ' binding upon the conscience of every 
 ' individual, of a country in which a weekly 
 ' sabbath is established,' has, I fear, done 
 much, to unsettle the minds of others upon 
 the subject, — expressly acknowledges, that, 
 if the command, in the second chapter of 
 Genesis, (verses 2 and 3,) ' was actually deli- 
 ' vered at the creation, it was addressed, no 
 ' doubt, to the whole hnman species alike ; 
 ' and continues, unless repealed by some 
 1 subsequent revelation, binding upon all who 
 ' come to the knowledge of it.' 
 
 On the ground of this concession, I feel 
 convinced, every advocate for the divine au- 
 thority of the Sabbath may boldly take his 
 stand. For could it ever enter into the mind 
 of any man of plain sense, that when, after 
 reading of the works performed on each of 
 the six days of creation, in their order, he 
 went on to read, " And on the seveuth day 
 " God ended his work which he had made, 
 " and he rested on the seventh day from 
 " all his work which he had made: and God 
 " blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it', 
 
 9 ' Sanctified it . that is, he set it apart for holy purposes ; 
 • for such is the meaning of the word sanctified in the Old Testa- 
 ' ment, when applied to inanimate things;' anil ' in no othei 
 « sense can it be understood with relation to the seventh day, 
 ' without forsaking the scriptural meaning of the term, and fall- 
 ' Sng into absurdity.' Christian Obterver. — I gladly embrace 
 the opportunity of directing the reader's attention to four very 
 valuable papers, on the subject of the sahhaih, from the pen of 
 
VII. J THE SABBATH. 141 
 
 " because that in it he had rested from all his 
 "work, which God created and made:" — 
 could any intelligent and unprejudiced reader 
 of this narrative, I ask, ever suppose it to be 
 meant, that the sanctitication of the seventh 
 day did not take place till ftve-and-twenty 
 hundred years afterwards, when the law was 
 delivered at mount Sinai 1 Yet such is the 
 hypothesis of those who deny that it took 
 place at the creation ! IO 
 
 Still less could this be believed, when evi- 
 dent traces are discovered of the division of 
 time into terms of seven days, at the period 
 of the deluge, and on other occasions prior, 
 by several hundreds of years, to the giving of 
 the law:" and when, in particular, the law 
 
 the late William Hey, E«q. of Leeds, which appeared in the 
 Christian Observer for Jane, July, Augnst, and September, 180'.', 
 pp. 351, 417, 48<J, 559. The last of them has a particular claim 
 to the study of every person who has read Dr. Paley's chapters 
 on Sabbatical Institutions. 
 
 10 The supposition that Moses, in Gen. ii, 2, 3, * speaks by an- 
 ' tioipation, is a fiction without any foundation in the text.' 
 Dr. Taylor- 
 
 "Gen. vii, 4,10; viii, 8 — 12; xxix, «T, 88; 1, 10. — 
 ' This septenary division of time has been, from the earliest ages, 
 
 • uniformly observed over all the eastern world. The Israelites, 
 ' Assyrians, Egyplians, Indians, Arabians, and Persians, have 
 
 • always made use of a week, consisting of seven days. Many 
 ' vain attempts have been made to account for this uniformity ; 
 1 but a practice so general and prevalent could never have taken 
 ' place, bad not the septenary distribution of time been Instituted 
 1 from the begiunlng, and handed down by tradition.' Homer, 
 Hesiod, and Linns, among the Greeks, all allude to somewhat 
 sacred as characterising the seventh day. • The knowledge of 
 ' the transactions at the creation, though much perverted, was 
 ' never entirely lost' among the heathen. Encycl. Britanaica. 
 
14-2 
 
 THE SABBATH. [SERM. 
 
 of the sabbath is found to have existed among 
 the Israelites, and to have been observed by 
 them in the wilderness, some time before 
 their arrival at Sinai. 11 
 
 The appointment of the sabbath, then, 
 from the beginning of the world, being estab- 
 lished, no serious reader can fail to be struck 
 with the immense importance given to this 
 institution throughout the scriptures. It 
 holds a most prominent place, and is enforced 
 with peculiar energy, among the ten com- 
 mandments of the moral law, engraven by the 
 finger of God on the two tables. Through- 
 out the writings of Moses and the Jewish pro- 
 phets, no precept is more frequently brought 
 forward, or more earnestly enforced ; with 
 their observation of none is the welfare of the 
 people of Israel, as well as the blessing of 
 God upon individuals, represented as more 
 inseparably connected. 13 
 
 n Exod. xvi, 5, 22 — 30. ' The incidental manner,' in which 
 the sabbath is here mentioned, ' is a convincing proof that the 
 ' Israelites were no strangers to the institution : for bad it been a 
 
 ■ new one, it most have been enjoined in a positive and particn- 
 ' lar manner, and the natnre of it most have been laid open and 
 ' explained, otherwise the term would have conveyed no mean* 
 ' ing.' Encycl. Britannica. 
 
 ' Note — The restoring and ascertaining the sabbath was the 
 
 < first point of religion that was settled after the children of Israel 
 
 < came out of Egypt, as being of tbe greatest moment ; and Ibis 
 ' in relation to the original institution, for the law at mount Sinai 
 
 ■ was not then given.' Dr. Taylor. 
 
 1' It may not be useless, perhaps, to subjoin a reference to the 
 principal passages of the Old Testament relating to the sabbath, 
 from which may be seen the importance given to it. Gen. ii, 
 v, 3 ; and Exod, xvi, 22 — 30, above referred to. 
 
TII.J 
 
 TH X SABBATH. 
 
 143 
 
 And how pure and spiritual, how every 
 way worthy of the gospel itself, are the illus- 
 trations which we may derive from these 
 scriptures, of the duty of " hallowing the 
 
 Esoil.su, 8 — 11. " Remember the sabbath-day to keep it 
 " holy ;" &c. — the fourth commandment, — Repeated Deut. v, 
 1* — 15, with another reason for the observation of it, appropriate 
 lo the Israelites. 
 
 — xxiii, 12; and xxsiv, 21." Six days shalt thou do tby work, 
 « and on the seventh day shall thon rest, that thine ox and 
 " thine ass may rest, and the son of thine handmaid and the 
 •• stranger may be refreshed :" even '* in earing time and in 
 " harvest sbalt thou rest." 
 
 — xxxi, 14 — 18 ; xxxv, 2. " The seventh day is the sabbath, 
 •' holy to the Lord," " every one that deSleth it shall snrely be 
 " put to death.'' " It is a sign between me and the children of 
 " Israel for ever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and 
 " earth, Sec." 
 
 Lev. xix, .1,30. " Ye shall fear every man his mother and 
 " his lather, and keep my sabbaths." 
 
 Lev. xxiii, 3. " A holy convocation" tbat day. 
 
 Norn, xv, 32 — 36. The sabbath-breaker put to death. 
 
 — ■ — xxviii, 9,10. Peculiar sacrifices appointed for the day. 
 
 Nebem. ix, 13, 14. " Thou earnest down upon mount Sinai — 
 '* and madest known unto them thy holy sabbath." 
 
 x, 31 ; xiii, 15 — 23. His zeal against the profanation of 
 
 the sabbath — " There dwelt men of Tyre therein, which " brought 
 " fish, and alt manner of ware, and sold onthe sabbathanto 
 " the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem. Then I contended 
 " with the nobles of Judah, and said unto them, — Did not our 
 " fathers thus, and did not God bring all this evil upon us, 
 " and upon this city t Yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel 
 " by profaning the sabbath." He commanded the gales to be 
 shot, and threateued those who still lodged about them with mer 
 chandise. 
 
 Pi. xcii, inlitled," A Psalm or Song for the sabbath-day." 
 
 Is. Ivi, 2, 4, 5, C, 7, " Blessed Is the man — that keepeth the 
 " sabbath from polluting it." " Thus saith the Lord to the 
 " ennnchs tbat keep my sabbaths, &c. to them will I give in my 
 " boose — a place and a name better than of sons and of daugh- 
 " tera,&c. Also the sons of the stranger— every one that keep- 
 
1 14 
 
 the sabbath! 
 
 [SERM. 
 
 sabbath," and of the temper with which it 
 should be performed ! Take for an example 
 the following passage of Isaiah : (ch. lviii.) 
 " If thou turn away thy foot from the sab- 
 " bath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy 
 " day, and call the sabbath a delight, the holy 
 " of the Lord, honoxirable, and s/ialt honour 
 " him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding 
 " thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own 
 "woids; then shalt thou delight thyself in 
 " the Lord, and I will — feed thee with the 
 " heritage of Jacob thy father. As we 
 have received no new instructions upon the 
 subject from the gospel, so neither are we left 
 in want of any. 
 
 Under the New Testament, indeed, we are 
 released from the prescriptions of the Jewish 
 
 " elh the sabbath from polluting it, &c. even tliem will I bring to 
 " my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of 
 " prayer," &c. 
 
 —lviii, 13, 1*, above quoted. 
 
 Jer. xvii, 19 — 27. A very striking passage, ascribing God's 
 vengeance upon the Jews mainly to their neglect and violation 
 of the sabbath, (as the inlet of all other crimes,) and promising 
 preservation and prosperity to them in case they would duly ob- 
 serve it. 
 
 Ezek. xx, 12 — 14. in like manner lays great stress upon it. 
 
 xxii, 8, 26 ; xxiii, 38. *' Thou hast profaned my sab- 
 
 *' bath," &c. 
 
 Amos viii, 5. " When will — the sabbath — be gone, that we 
 may set forlh wheat?" (The demand of the wicked.) 
 
 The observation of the day by our Lord, and those with whom 
 h< associated, is obvious in the Gospel. 
 
 i«See also Psalm xcii, entitled, ' A rsalm cr Song for the 
 ' sabbath-day.' 
 
VII.] THE SABBATH. 145 
 
 ceremonial law, and from the refutations of 
 their civil code, which punished the profana- 
 tion of the sabbath with death. A change 
 has also been introduced of the day, from the 
 seventh to the first ; in honour, no doubt, of 
 our Lord's resurrection from the dead, and of 
 the blessings, superior to those of creation, 
 sealed to us by that event. But this change 
 is merely circumstantial : it affects not the 
 substance of the institution, which consists in 
 the more especial consecration of the seventh 
 part of our time to God.' 5 
 
 15 * The last day ofthe week, was, undoubtedly, appropriated 
 
 • by Ihe fourlb Commandment j but it is remarkable, that the 
 ' words may be applied to any of the seven.' Christian Ob- 
 server lor 1802, p. 409. 
 
 That the observation of one day of the week, rather than of 
 another, concerned only the circumstances and not the essence 
 
 left extremely douhiinl whether the day observed by the Jews 
 
 demption Iroiu F.g> pti.tn bou-laje, or even from some other era. 
 See Scott on Esod. xvi, 4, v. — Dr. Taylor remarks, < The Is- 
 
 * raelites indeed, daring their long continuance and servitude in 
 ' Egypt, upwards of two hundred years, seem to have lost their 
 ' reckoning of the sabbath, when they were constrained by per- 
 ' petnal and most servile labour to neglect the observance of it, 
 ' However it certainly was the appointment of God, that they 
 ' should begin a new reckoning of the day, and form a new 
 'epocl.a, namely, (lie falling of the manna.' Some have been of 
 opinion, that one day was dropped in this reckoning, and is re- 
 placed by the substitution of the first day tor the seventh, under 
 the Christian dispensation; and that, consequently, we do now 
 actually observe the seventh day computed from the creation. 
 But no certainty is, 1 apprehend, either attainable or at all ne- 
 cessary upon tiiese points. 
 
 The appropriation of some part of our time to the worship of 
 God is, undoubtedly, of moral and indispensable obligation ; tbe 
 
 N 
 
146 
 
 THE SABBATH. 
 
 |SERM. 
 
 Accordingly we rind the apostles, and the 
 primitive Christians of all countries, holding 
 their assemblies for religious worship on the 
 first day of the week, and devoting it to works 
 of piety and charity. 16 St John, in particu- 
 lar, dignifies it with the title of " the Lord's 
 day," '7 — the day dedicated to God our Sa- 
 viour: and Irenaeus, one of the earliest and 
 most venerable of the Fathers still applies to 
 it the original appellation of the sabbath, 
 and, in forcible language, describes the man- 
 ner in which it was observed by the primitive 
 Christians. ' Each of us,' saith he, ' spends 
 ' the sabbath in a spiritual manner, meditat- 
 ' ing on the law of God with delight, and con- 
 ' templattng his workmanship with admira- 
 ' tion." 8 
 
 But the principal view which I would take 
 of the sabbath, in this discourse, and that to 
 which the text more especially directs our 
 attention, regards the benevolence and utility 
 
 proporiion and the exact period must necessarily be of positive 
 institution. But the seventh pan is that which it hath pleased 
 the wisdom of God, under ail dispensations, to appouit. 
 
 >« John xx, 19, 26 : Acta xx, f>, 7 ; 1 Cor. xvi, 1, & — This 
 universal observation of the first day of the week, at H eaily a 
 period, can be accounted for only upon the supposition of (he 
 apostles, and first preachers of the gospel, having prescribed or 
 introduced it wherever they went. 
 
 H Kev.j, 10. It admits not, I conceive, of a doubt what day 
 he means. 
 
 18 Unusquisquc nostrum sabbatical spiritualiter, mcdiuticne 
 legie gaudeus, opincium Dei adnnrans. — lrcnasus was instructed 
 by Polycarp, the disciple ol St. John. 
 
VII.] 
 
 THE SABBATH. 
 
 147 
 
 of tlic institution, -■ its importance to mankind. 
 " The sabbath," we are ready to imagine, 
 " was made" for God, for his service and 
 glory. And this is true : but it is not the 
 whole truth. It was made, not less, " for 
 " man ;" for his comfort and benefit. 
 
 Let me call your attention to the great 
 benefits which it is calculated to produce. 
 
 First, as a day of rest. " Six days shalt 
 " thou labour, and do all thy work : but the 
 " seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy 
 " God: in it thou shalt not do any work, 
 " thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor 
 " thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor 
 " thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cat- 
 " tie, nor thy stranger that is within thy 
 " gates; that thy man-servant and thy maid- 
 " servant may rest as well as thou." — Even 
 in this view, though but a subordinate one, 
 the sabbath is a most merciful institution. 
 Without some such interruption of their toil, 
 without some such opportunity of reposing in 
 the bosom of their families, there to repair 
 their broken strength, to recruit iheir ex- 
 hausted spirits, anil to cherish some of the 
 best affections of our nature, the. sympathies 
 of domestic life, the labouring classes would 
 pass their days in one unvaried scene of 
 abject drudgery : " their spirit would be lost, 
 
 W Hail, tabbalh I thee I hail, the poor man't day: 
 On other city*, the man of toil is (loomed 
 
 N 2 
 
148 
 
 HE SABBATH. 
 
 and they would be prepared to receive again, 
 from any, or from every hand, the yoke of 
 bondage. 
 
 Men of business, too, would be debased in 
 mind, and wholly swallowed up in ' low- 
 ' thoughted cares.' 
 
 And the Sabbath is infinitely preferable to 
 any other of those holidays, which have been 
 devised to prevent such effects. By con- 
 stantly recurring, it ' relieves the six (lays' 
 ' labour with the prospect of a day of rest 
 ' always approaching.' Other holidays com- 
 ing seldom and irregularly, come ' unprovided 
 ' with any duty or employment; and the man- 
 
 * ner of spending them being regulated by no 
 ' public decency or established usage, they 
 
 * are commonly consumed in rude, if not cri- 
 ' minal, pastimes; in stupid sloth, or brutish 
 ' intemperance.' " J But the sabbath, while it 
 releases from fatiguing labour, and oppressive 
 care, leaves not the mind unoccupied : it 
 brings with it its proper employments, every 
 way suited to benefit and bless the well-dis- 
 posed spirit, and to restore it, refreshed and 
 invigorated, not relaxed and unsettled, to the 
 duties of the succeeding week. 
 
 To eat his joyless bread, lonely, ite Rroond 
 
 Both seat and board, screened Ironi llie winter's cold, 
 
 And summer's heal, by neighbouring hedge or Iree; 
 
 But on this day, embosomed in his home, 
 
 He shares the frugal meal with those he loves; 
 
 With those he loves he shares the heart-fell joy 
 
 Of giving tlotnli to God . Grahame's • Sahbath.' 
 
 » P»ley. 
 
VII.J 
 
 THE SABBATH. 
 
 149 
 
 The sabbath should ever be, in an especial 
 manner, dear to the poor, the laborious, and 
 the busy. Nor should such persons ever 
 imagine, that it obstructs their interest. If, 
 indeed, one man should labour, while his 
 neighbours rested, he might earn another day's 
 wages: but, if the sabbath were abolished, 
 and all worked, the consequence would be, 
 that, there being the same work to be done, 
 and more time to do it in, labour would be- 
 come cheaper, and for seven days' work no 
 more than the present six days' wages could 
 be paid. 11 
 
 But, secondly, the sabbath is supremely 
 valuable, as a day of moral and spiritual im- 
 provement. 
 
 The great mass of mankind are, necessarily, 
 so much occupied with the business of the 
 world, that, even if desirous of doing it, they 
 can find, during the six days of the week, but 
 little opportunity, in proportion to the mag- 
 nitude of the object, for sober thought, and 
 serious reflection ; for acquiring, what it is 
 of so much importance that all should possess, 
 
 31 ' Nor is there any thing lost to the community by thy inter- 
 ' mission of public industry one day in the week. For. in conn- 
 ' tries tolerably advanced in population and the arts of civil life, 
 
 ' difficulty is mil so much to piucuro ns to employ it. The addi- 
 
 ' have no other effect than lo reduce the price. The labourer 
 
 * himself, who deserved and suffered most by the change, would 
 
 • gain nothing.' — Patty, 
 
 N 3 
 
150 
 
 THE SABBATH. 
 
 [sERM. 
 
 the knowledge of themselves, the knowledge 
 of God, and the knowledge ot" their duty. 
 
 But the sabbath comes in to their relief. 
 On that day, at least, undisturbed by the fear 
 that they may be neglecting any duties which 
 have a more immediate claim to their atten- 
 tion, they may suspend their worldly occupa- 
 tions, banish their worldly cares, and apply 
 their minds to what concerns them as rational^ 
 and immortal creatures. 
 
 And that they should do this, is, in all 
 views, of the highest importance. 
 
 It is important to society — A people sunk 
 in ignorance, swallowed up in the pursuit of 
 private interest, insensible of moral obligation, 
 uninformed in their duty, unacquainted with 
 whatever has a tendency to humanize, and 
 purify, and elevate the mind, can never be 
 expected to prove other than a vicious and 
 untraceable people; a people not to be trusted; 
 tickle, headstrong, and ungovernable but by 
 the iron hand of force. 
 
 It is impossible to express, how much so- 
 ciety owes to the Bible, (hated and despised 
 although it be by modern pretenders to wis- 
 dom,) for the light and knowledge, suited to 
 the capacity and the situation of every man, 
 which it has so widely diffused among all 
 ranks of the community. 2 " But this could 
 
 » In all Protestant and in most Christian countries the ' tie- 
 ' mcnts of natnral religion, and the important part! of the e»an- 
 ' gelic history are familiar to the lowest of the people. Thi» — 
 
VII.] 
 
 THE SABBATH. 
 
 LSI 
 
 not have been effected, without the aid of 
 i hose opportunities which the sabbath affords. 
 And therefore, observes the eminent writer 
 before alluded to, ' Whoever considers how 
 ' much sabbatical institutions conduce — to 
 ' the happiness and civilization of the labour- 
 ' rhg classes of mankind, and reflects how 
 ' great a majority of the human species these 
 ' Classes compose, — will perceive it to be 
 
 • every mini's duty to uphold the observance 
 ' of Sunday, when once established.' 23 
 
 But it would be very unworthy in one, 
 speaking from this place, and bearing the 
 office of a Christian minister, to rest the im- 
 portance of the sabbath, considered as afford- 
 ing t he opportunity and the means of moral 
 and spiritual improvement, solely or mainly 
 on any temporal effects, however great and 
 good, which it may produce. It is as condu- 
 cive and as requisite to the salvation of the 
 soul, that such improvement is supremely 
 important, and the sabbath superlatively va- 
 luable. 
 
 On this ground Christianity herself founds 
 her sovereign claim to our regard, and we are 
 faithless advocates of her cause if we are con- 
 tent to found it, ultimately, on any lower 
 
 ' general diffusion of religions knowledge amongst all orders of 
 
 • Christians, will appear a great thing when compared with the 
 
 • intellectual condition of barbarous/ and it may be added, of all 
 other than Christian c nations/ — Paley. 
 
 " Idem. 
 
152 
 
 TUT. SABBATH. 
 
 [sEKM. 
 
 ground than this, that she, and she alone, 
 " shews unto us the way of everlasting salva- 
 " tion." " There is no other name given 
 " under heaven, whereby we may be saved, 
 " than that of Jesus Christ." Only " his 
 " blood cleanseth from sin." 
 
 But that our sins may be washed away by 
 him, it is absolutely necessary that we, per- 
 sonally and individually, " believe in his 
 " name," with a penitent and living faith. In 
 order to our being saved by him, we must 
 become thoroughly acquainted with ourselves 
 and with the Redeemer; we must " come 
 " unto God by him ;" " the life which we live 
 " in the flesh," we must " live by the Faith of 
 " the Son of God;" continually deriving from 
 him pardon, peace, and grace, — all our 
 strength, and all our consolation. By the 
 aids and influence of his Spirit, we must fully 
 inform ourselves in the truths and duties of 
 his religion ; must heartily embrace it, and 
 give up ourselves to live according to its 
 blessed rules. We must have our hearts 
 drawn oft' from the present world, and learn 
 " to set our affections upon things above :" 
 we must mortify our sins, and cultivate Chris- 
 tian graces : we must " put off the old man," 
 and " be renewed in the spirit of our minds:" 
 we must become humble, and meek, and pa- 
 tient, and contented, and disinterested, and 
 kind, and useful, as well as pure and devout: 
 we must, on earth, acquire " a meetnCBS t"i 
 
vn. j hie sabbath. 153 
 
 " the inheritance of the saints in light." And 
 t an all this be done without any pains? with- 
 out any cost of time and labour? without any 
 diligence in using ' the means of grace?' 
 Can it be done, if all our days and all our 
 hours be spent in hurry and bustle ? Can we 
 become " dead to the world," while we live 
 only to the pursuits of the world? 7 ' 4 No: it 
 is impossible. We must take time : w e must 
 reflect : we must meditate on " the word of 
 " God :" we must pray : we must examine 
 into the state of our souls. We must do 
 these things in some degree every day, if we 
 would maintain any pretensions to " seeking 
 " first the kingdom of God and his righteous- 
 " ness ;" any, to being true Christians. 
 
 But the sabbath, the blessed sabbath, is 
 the especial opportunity which God himself, 
 in compassionate regard to our situation and 
 our wants, has given us for performing these 
 great works, in the most deliberate manner, 
 and with diligence proportioned to their im- 
 portance. And, duly improved, not only shall 
 it conduce, eminently, to our future salvation, 
 but it shall -bring down a present blessing 
 upon our souls, and even upon all our affairs, 
 beyond what he who has not proved its 
 
 2* ■ We (nil on in the vain pursuits and frivolous occupations 
 ' of the world, die in oor harness, and llien expect, if no gigantic 
 * crime stands in the way, to step immediately into the kingdom 
 ■ of heaven : but this is impossible.' Soame Jenyns : Internal 
 
154 
 
 THE SABBATH. 
 
 [SERM. 
 
 effects can conceive. ' I ha\e ever found, by 
 ' a strict aud diligent observation,' says the 
 great Lord Chief Justice Hale, ' that a due 
 ' observance of Sunday has ever had joined 
 ' to it a blessing upon the rest of my time ; 
 ' and the week that has been so begun has 
 ' been blessed and prosperous to me: and, 
 ' on the other side, when I have been negli- 
 ' gent of the duties of this day, the rest of the 
 ' week has been unsuccessful and unhappy 
 ' to my own secular employments. So that I 
 ' could easily make an estimate of my suc- 
 * cesses the week following, by the manner of 
 ' my passing this day. And (he adds) / do 
 ' not write l/iis lightly, but by long and sound 
 ' experience.' 
 
 A well-spent sabbath has a natural tendency 
 to moderate our eager desires of the world ; 
 to calm the passions, to cheer the spirits, to 
 sweeten the temper: while it solemnizes the 
 mind to piety, it softens and expands the 
 heart to pure and benevolent affections. Aud 
 that a peculiar blessing of heaven should at- 
 tend the observance, aud a peculiar curse the 
 profanation, of the sabbath," 5 will not even in 
 
 23 It is a fact which challenge* serious consideration, IhaV so 
 many, who have paid their lives a foileil to the injured justice of 
 their country, have, iu their last moments, expressly traced back 
 their career of vice to its commencement in the neglect and 
 profanation of the sabbath. The extraordinary number of 
 fatal accidents also, which hefal persons engaged in pursuing 
 " their own pleasure on God's holy day," will not escape Ibe 
 observation of him who " wisely considcretu of God's doings." 
 — Nor ought il at all to weaken the impression of the fact, that 
 
VII.] THE SABBATH. 155 
 
 this age of unbelief, appear the sentiment of 
 weakness and superstition, to any one who 
 lias justly appreciated the importance of the 
 institution. 
 
 To the last view of its importance we pro- 
 ceed : namely, as it is necessary to the due 
 celebration of public worship ; which cannot 
 take place without the general intermission 
 of labour and business, during times previ- 
 ously set apart. And the importance of such 
 worship, I presume, none will call in ques- 
 tion. It is expressly appointed by God him- 
 self: it is but rendering him " the honour 
 " due unto his name:" it forms a noble and 
 animating avowal of that faith, which is dearer 
 to ever) true Christian than his life: it affords 
 an invaluable opportunity of instruction : lb 
 
 certain natural causes may contribute tit it, Mich as the intoxica- 
 tion of the parlies, their trusting themselves to vehicles, whether 
 by laud or water, which they are not competent to manage, &e. 
 &c. Natural causes are the order which the God of nature has 
 established, and by which, rather than by direct interpositions, 
 he commonly executes his purposes, whether of mercy or of 
 judgment. 
 
 36 ji te * general diffusion of religious knowledge amongst all 
 ' orders of Christians,* mentioned in a former note, ' can fairly, 
 
 •' blishment of 'assemblies for divine worship ; in which either 
 1 portions of scripture are lecitcd ami explained, or the principles 
 • of Christian erudition are so constantly taught in sermons, m- 
 ' corporated with liturgies, or expressed in extempore prayer, as 
 ' to imprint, by the very repetition, some memory of these lub- 
 ' jects upon the most unqualified and careless hearer.' t'tiley. 
 
 1 cannot but remark, that it must appear, to every considerate 
 and Impartial observer, a slion L : iccomuicndation ol the services 
 
1.30 
 
 HE SABBATH. 
 
 [SERM. 
 
 and it is necessary to the preservation of any 
 remembrance of God, and any regard for re- 
 ligion among men, — ' the greater part of 
 
 * whom would exercise no religious worship at 
 ' all without it.'" 
 
 The same eminent writer, whom I have be- 
 fore quoted, has some reflections upon the 
 benefits, even temporal benefits, ot public 
 worship, so beautiful that I cannot deny my- 
 self the pleasure of reciting them. 
 
 • So many pathetic affections,' he says, 
 ' are awakened by every exercise of social 
 ' devotion, that most men, I believe, carry 
 ' away from public worship a better temper 
 ■ towards the rest of mankind, than they 
 ' brought with them. Sprung from the same 
 « extraction, preparing together for the period 
 ' of all worldly distinctions, reminded of their 
 4 mutual infirmities and common dependency, 
 ' imploring and receiving support and supplies 
 ' from the same great source of power and 
 ' bounty ; having all one interest to secure, 
 ' one Lord to serve, one judgment, the su- 
 ' preme object of all their hopes and fears, 
 ' to look towards; it is hardly possible, in 
 
 * this position, to behold mankind as stran- 
 
 * gers, competitors, or enemies : or not to 
 
 of the established church, that such large portions of the sacred 
 scriptures are interwoven and publicly recited io tbem. Multi- 
 tudes owe more to this circumstance, than they will ever, in this 
 world, be aware of. 
 
 » Paley. 
 
VII.] THE SABBATH. 157 
 
 ■ regard them as children of the same faintly 
 ' assembled before their common parent, and 
 ' with some portion of the tenderness which 
 ' belongs to the most endearing of our domes- 
 ' tic relations. It is not to be expected that 
 ' any single effect of this kind should be con- 
 ' Biddable or lasting: but the frequent re- 
 ' turn of such sentiments, as the presence of 
 ' a devout congregation naturally suggests, 
 ' will gradually melt down the ruggedness of 
 ' many unkind passions, and may,' with the 
 blessing of God, ' generate in time a perma- 
 ' nent and productive benevolence.' 
 
 And again : ' If ever the poor man holds up 
 ' his head' — not with the pride of insubordi- 
 nation, but with the elevation of cheerfulness 
 and hope — ' it is at church : if ever the rich 
 ' man views him w ith respect, it is there : and 
 ' both w ill be the better, and the public pro- 
 ' fited, the oftcner they meet in a situation in 
 ' which the consciousness of dignity in the 
 ' one is tempered and mitigated, and the spi- 
 ' rit of the other erected and confirmed.' 
 
 In fine, then, the sabbath is an institution 
 emphatically " made for man ;" fraught with 
 the richest blessings, temporal and eternal, 
 to the human race. The comforts, the liber- 
 ties, the civilization of the world are influ- 
 enced by it, more than can be described : 
 the very existence of true religion among 
 men, and, by consequence, the salvation of 
 O 
 
1 58 
 
 THE SABBATH. 
 
 [SERM. 
 
 their immortal souls, seems essentially to de- 
 pend upon it. 
 
 The infidel philosophers of modern times, 
 who have with so much subtiltv plotted, and 
 with such malignant confidence anticipated, 
 the extirpation of the religion of Jesus from 
 the earth, have duly estimated its importance. 
 The sabbath, they have pronounced, is the 
 
 PALLADIUM OF CHRISTIANITY: the t\VO 
 
 must subsist or perish together. Accordingly 
 they have laboured, by new divisions of time, 
 and the introduction of novel calendars, to 
 obliterate the remembrance of it from the 
 world. But here, as in other instances of 
 their hostility to religion, " He that sitteth in 
 " heaven hath laughed them to scorn." By a 
 series of crimes and miseries, worthy to mark 
 the age and nation which had disavowed all 
 faith in God, they have been compelled to 
 proclaim anew to all the world, the old, but 
 by them exploded, truth, that society cannot 
 subsist without religion; to restore a form, 
 though alas ! a corrupted form, of Christiani- 
 ty ; and, with it, to revive the sabbath. 13 
 
 And oh let us never forget of u/tat a reli- 
 gion it is, that the sabbath is made, and by 
 its enemies thus acknowledged to be, the 
 
 28 See Porlalis' ofiici.it speech on presenting llie Concordat to 
 llie Legislative buily. — I intend not to represent Ibc destruction 
 ol the sabbath as the until reason loi the adoption of the new 
 calendnj in France; that this was one great object in view li 
 ■nfficient lor iuy purpose. 
 
VII. J THE SABBATH. 159 
 
 impregnable bulwark. It is a religion which 
 brings " glory to God in the highest," and 
 diffuses on earth "peace, goodwill among 
 " men." It ' insures respect and obedience 
 ' to the civil magistrate. It will have a good 
 ' influence on those who govern, and on those 
 ' who obey. It will teach the former to rule 
 ' over men in the fear of God : it will teach 
 ' the latter to obey not only for wrath, but 
 
 • for conscience' sake. Parents, instructed 
 ' in this religion, will bring up their children 
 
 * in the nurture and admonition of the Lord : 
 ' and children, thus brought up, will honour 
 'their fathers and their mothers. Servants 
 
 • will obey their masters, and masters will 
 ' give unto their servants that which is just 
 
 * and equal. Christianity strengthens ' the 
 ' bonds of civil society and social order : it 
 ' humanizes our nature, and cherishes all 
 ' those charities of life which endear us to 
 ' each other ; and, finally, it opens to our 
 ' view the boundless prospects of eternity.' 
 It discloses the way of everlasting salvation : 
 it pacifies the conciencc, and purifies the 
 heart: it cheers the righteous, it awes the 
 wicked, it supports the afflicted, it exhilarates 
 the dying saint with " a hope full of iminor- 
 " tality." 
 
 From this review, then, of the importance 
 and the proper uses of the sabbath, it will be 
 easy to discern both what practices arc in- 
 O 2 
 
L60 
 
 THE SABBATH. 
 
 [SKK.Ha 
 
 consistent with the due sanclification of the 
 day, and the high degree of criminality, w hich 
 attaches to every disrespect shewn to so sa- 
 cred and invaluable an institution. 
 
 And here I must remark, that, in estimating 
 the evil of any profanation of the sabbath, we 
 are not to contemplate the act simply in it- 
 self, and merely as it effects the immediate 
 perpetrator: we must take into the account 
 all the tendency it may have to destroy in 
 others also a proper reverence for the day ; 
 and must allow for the depression which the 
 public regard for it must actually have suf- 
 fered, before that particular abuse could be 
 tolerated and esteemed venial. 
 
 That all transaction of worldly business, 
 not only openly with others, but privately in 
 the retirement of the closet, in writing letters, 
 arranging accounts, or forming plans, is a 
 violation of the sacred rest, need not be said. 
 The express design of the day is, to call off 
 our minds from worldly cares, that they may 
 be occupied, without distraction, in higher 
 pursuits. 
 
 Traveling on the sabbath is proclaiming 
 our disregard, if not contempt, for the day, 
 through whole districts, to every village that 
 we pass, to every rustic whom we meet. It is 
 contriving to violate every branch of the 
 divine precept at once, as it respects " our- 
 " selves, our serv ants, and our cattle." 
 
 That the indolent and trifling waste of the 
 
VII.] 
 
 THE SABBATH. 
 
 Kil 
 
 sacred hours is an inexcusable profanation of 
 them, must be very obvious. What, do six 
 days afford time little enough, in our esteem, 
 lor the pursuit of the world, for makiug pro- 
 vision for our bodies, and is one day so far 
 too much for the service of God, for the care 
 of our souls, and for preparation for an ever- 
 lasting existence, that we must pass away its 
 tedious hours in listless inactivity, in vacuity 
 of thought, in sordid sloth, and sensual indul- 
 gence, or complain of the sabbath, " What a 
 " weariness is it !" Oh deplorable contempt 
 of whatever is most sacred ! *9 
 
 ' But,' it is asked, ' is it inconsistent with 
 ' the duties of the sabbath, c heerfully to en- 
 ' tertain our friends on that day? — Answer 
 the question to yourselves. — Is your inter- 
 course with your friends, on these occasions, 
 such as promotes the great end for which the 
 sabbath was instituted, the religious improve- 
 
 29 I cannot refrain from here remarking upon a practice com- 
 mon, 1 tear, even among families " professing godliness," ami 
 which, though I by no means intend to apply to it the strong 
 terms of the above passage, cannot be considered as consistent 
 with duly honouring and improving the sacred rest of the sab- 
 bath. The practice I mean is that of rising late on the Lord's 
 day — much later perhaps than on the other days of the week. 
 This is meting out our lime to God with a M scant measure it 
 looks not like counting " the sabbath a delight :" ami particular ly 
 it is sacrificing, in a very unworthy way, the opportunity of call- 
 ing down the blessing of God, in private devotion; without 
 which the other services of the day are not likely to be attended 
 with either comfort or profit. Let me earnestly recommend to 
 
 shipping God, in their closets, and with their lauiilies. 
 O 3 
 
162 the SABBATH. [sERM. 
 
 meut of all parties? Need I urge the enquiry 
 any further ? What, is your conversation, ye 
 who make the sabbath the leisure-day for the 
 entertainment of your friends, is your conver- 
 sation with them suited " to minister grace 
 " unto the hearers ?" Is it studiously calculated 
 to cherish devout and holy affections in your 
 minds? to raise you above the present world, 
 to strengthen your faith, and hope, and love 
 of God, and to advance vour preparation for 
 eternity? What, do you recur to your Bibles, 
 and unite your prayers to God, on these oc- 
 casions ? Are the hopes, the doctrines, the 
 promises, and the duties of Christianity, the 
 delightful subjects of your communications 
 together? Do you converse upon what you 
 have heard at the church in the morning, and 
 then " go up again to the house of God in 
 " company" in the afternoon ?— Go on, then, 
 to enjoy your Sunday parties, " no man for- 
 *' bidding you," if they are thus conducted ! 
 This is indeed maintaining " the communion 
 " of the saints" here upon earth, and grow- 
 ing up together for the inheritance of the 
 heavenly bliss! One caution only let me 
 just hint to you,— that you remember vour 
 domestics. Be careful that what conduces 
 so much to your own edification, as well as 
 pleasure, may not encroach upon that relaxa- 
 tion and those religious privileges, which it 
 was designed that they should enjoy on this 
 day ; may not. prevent the repeated attendance 
 
VII.J THE SABBATH. 163 
 
 of your servants upon public worship, or in- 
 terfere with your diligent care in instructing 
 them at home. 
 
 But if it be another sort of entertainment 
 of vour friends which you intend, you cannot 
 surely mean to ask, whether what keeps your 
 servants from church, occupied and hurried 
 in their common employments ; what excludes 
 all family religion, and consigns one half of 
 your sabbath to luxury and animal indul- 
 gence, or at best to ordinary conversation ; 
 whether this be compatible with the sanctili- 
 cation of the day, you can never seriously 
 mean to ask. 
 
 In the same manner would I treat the sub- 
 ject of Sunday exclusions. If our situation 
 be such as to admit of a retired and contem- 
 plative walk, it is a happy circumstance, and 
 a portion of the SablnUh m.'v lie profitably 
 employed in taking advantage of it. 30 But 
 
 "> Mail, sabbath! thee I hail, the poor man's day: 
 The pale mechanic now has leave to breathd 
 The morning air, pure from the city's smoke, 
 While, wandering slowly up the river rifle, 
 He meditates on Ilim, whose power, &c. 
 
 and while he thns snrveys, 
 
 With elevated joy, earn rora! charm, 
 
 He hopes, yet fears presumption in the hope, 
 
 That Heaven may be one sabbath without end. 
 
 Bnt now his steps a welcome sound recalls: 
 Solemn the knell, from yonder anricnt pile, 
 Fills all the air, inspiring joyful awe; &c. 
 
104 
 
 THE SAUBATH. 
 
 [SEIIM. 
 
 if we caunot go forth from our doors unless 
 mingled with the crowds of the gay, the 
 thoughtless, and the giddy, what might other- 
 wise well subserve the purposes of the sab- 
 bath, becomes a dissipation directly obstruct- 
 ing them. 
 
 Again, the neglect of public worship, when 
 we can possibly attend upon it, is a violation 
 of the duties of the sabbath. What has al- 
 ready been said of the importance of public 
 worship must sufficient!) evince this; and, at 
 ♦he same time, expose the extreme futility of 
 the plea which is sometimes urged for neglect- 
 ing it, ' that our prayers will be equally ac- 
 ceptable and efficacious at home, and that 
 we already know, or can more advantageously 
 learn from books, the truths which the ser- 
 mon will inculcate.' Both parts of this posi- 
 tion, when all circumstances are taken into 
 
 ■ much 1 Jove tliy tranquil dales; 
 
 But most on Sabbath eve when low the sun 
 
 Slants through the upland copse, 'tis my delight, 
 
 Wandering and stopping oft, to hear the song 
 
 Of kindred praise arise from humble roofs * 
 
 Or, when the simple service ends, to hear 
 
 The lifted latch, and mark the grey-haired man, 
 
 The father and the priest, walk forth alone 
 
 Into his garden-plat, or little field, 
 
 To commune with his God in secret prayer: 
 
 To bless the Lord that in his downward years 
 
 Mis children are about him-— — 
 
 Nor is the contrast between youth and age 
 
 To him a painfnl thought ; he joys lo tbink 
 
 His journey near a close ; heaven is his home, 
 
 More happy far thai man, though b-jwed down, &c. &c. 
 
 Crahmne's Sabbjth. 
 
VII.] THE SABBATH. 165 
 
 the account, may, lam confidently persuaded, 
 be denied. But waving that argument for 
 the present, I would say with the writer to 
 whom I have already repeatedly referred, 
 ' They whose qualifications and habits best 
 ' supply to themselves all the effect of public 
 ' ordinances, will be the last to prefer this 
 ' excuse, when they advert to the general con- 
 ' sequence of setting up such an exemption, 
 ' as well as when they consider the turn 
 ' which is sure to be given in the neighbour- 
 ' hood to their absence from public worship :' 
 and, surely we might add, when. they consider 
 the promises and express injunctions of scrip- 
 ture upon the subject. ' You stay from 
 « church,' we will suppose, ' to employ the 
 ' sabbath at home in exercises and studies 
 'suited to its proper business: your next 
 ' neighbour stays from church, to spend the 
 ' seventh day less religiously than he passed 
 
 • any of the six, in a sleepy, stupid rest, or at 
 ' some rendezvous of drunkenness and de- 
 ' bauchery ; and yet thinks that he is only 
 'imitating yon, because you both agree in 
 
 • not going to church.' 3 ' 
 
 Nor do these arguments apply less forcibly 
 to the neglect of public worship in the after- 
 noon, than in the forenoon. He, who has 
 any pioper love for the house and the service 
 of God, will never be content to attend them 
 
THE SABBATH. 
 
 [stRM. 
 
 once only, in the day, when another oppor- 
 tunity is afforded him. 
 
 But, finally, there, is much more to be 
 done, much more tor ourselves, and much 
 more for our families, than can be done in 
 public, if we would not grievously anil very 
 criminally fail of discharging the duties of 
 the sabbath. This too must sufficiently ap- 
 pear from what we have already said, in 
 speaking of the uses of the day, and I will not 
 enlarge upon it. I will only observe, that we 
 ought to make a conscience of consecrating 
 „ the whole day to devout and benevolent pur- 
 poses, to the glory of God, to the good of our 
 fellow creatures, and to the improvement of 
 our own hearts. 31 
 
 59 * Surely an entire (lay should not seem long amidst these 
 
 * various employments. It might well be deemed a privilege 
 ' thus to spend it in the more immediate presence of oor heavenly 
 ' Father, in the exercises of humble admiration, and gratefol 
 ' homage ; of the benovoleut, and domestic, and social feelings, 
 
 • and of al l the best affections of out nature, prompted by their 
 ' Irue motives, conversant abool their proper objects, and directed 
 ' to tbtir noblest end ; all sorrow mitigated, all cares suspended, 
 ' all fears repressed, every angry emotion softened, every en- 
 ' vions, or revengeful, or malignant passion expelled; and the 
 ' bosom, thus quieted, purified, enlarged, ennobled, partaking al- 
 ' most of a measure of the heavenly happiness, and become for a 
 ' vi-bile the seat of love, and joy, and confidence, and harmony.' 
 See an exquisite piece ou the Sabbath, the proper and the com- 
 mon modes of spending it, in Mr. Wilberjorce's Practical 
 View, p. KJ3 — -loy. — if we are disposed to complain of the 
 gloom and dulness of a sabbath spent as here recommended, let 
 us confess, and • tremble at Ihe confession,' that we have no 
 taste for spiritual pleasures, and are utterly unqualified for that 
 eternal sabbath, the keeping of which " rcmaineth for the peo- 
 " pie of God." See Ctwpip'f Sermons, vol. i, p. efili, 4tc. 
 
VII.] 
 
 THE SABBATH. 
 
 m 
 
 And here, I am afraid, even persons pro- 
 fessing greater religious strictness are often 
 much in fault ; either spending all their time 
 in public and social exercises, or wasting 
 large portions of it in unprofitable, even 
 though not, it may be, altogether irreligious 
 company ; doing little for their families, and 
 little in private for their own souls. 
 
 And, oh ! can even this cursory review be 
 taken of the sabbath, of its duties, and the 
 violations of them, without bringing home to 
 every heart the consciousness of guilt, of great 
 and heinous guilt? of transgressions "more 
 " in number than the hairs of our head ?" Oh 
 let us not stifle the conviction ! Let us not 
 call in, let us not admit, the aid of delusive 
 arguments, with which to persuade ourselves 
 that the rule of duty cannet be so strict, that 
 our offences cannot be so numerous. Let 
 conscience speak, and let her voice be heard, 
 if we would ever save our souls. The wounds 
 which she may inflict, though painful for the 
 time, will prove " the faithful wounds of a 
 " friend." She smites but to heal. To our 
 cordial, our effectual reception of the gospel, 
 that sense of our need of its remedies, is ab- 
 solutely requisite, which nothing but deep 
 conviction of guilt can produce. Without 
 this, Christ will remain to us as " the physi- 
 " cian to them that are whole;" " a Saviour" 
 to those who know not that they are "lost." 
 Let us welcome ami cherish whatever would 
 
1 08 
 
 THE SABBATH. 
 
 [sERM. 
 
 affect us with a humbling apprehension of 
 our sins, and excite us " to flee from the 
 " wrath to come." Let us know our guilt 
 and danger, that we may confess the one with 
 truly contrite hearts, and betake ourselves for 
 refuge from the other to " the hope set before 
 " us" in Christ. Without this we may ' pro- 
 ' fess and call ourselves Christians,' but we 
 shall continue strangers to the repentance, 
 the faith, the hope, and the salvation of the 
 gospel. 
 
 The subject of the sabbath is one, which 
 the circumstances of our times particularly 
 require to be brought forward. No one can 
 open his eyes to what is passing on every 
 side, without being witness to the great, the 
 growing, the unblushing profanation of the 
 Lord's day, which prevails amongst us. 
 
 Among remedies for the profanation of the 
 sabbath, and means of promoting a more just 
 regard for it, I would especially insist upon 
 the necessity of family religion, maintained 
 every day, but on this day above all others. 
 What can be so proper, so natural, (one 
 would think,) so evidently obligatory,, so ser- 
 viceable, as this, alas! neglected duty ? 
 
 Much has been done of late years, and 
 much is doing, for the better education of the 
 lower orders ; and, heedless of all the absurd 
 objections which are urged against the in- 
 struction of the poor, 1 must maintain that 
 
V,,.] 
 
 THE SABBATH* 
 
 the tendency of these efforts is eminently be- 
 neficial : I ever must maintain, that he who, 
 from his youth, is informed in his duty, and 
 taught to exercise his faculties, is vastly more 
 likely to prove a good member of the family 
 and the community, than he who wants these 
 advantages ; that the child who is " trained 
 " up in the way wherein he should go,'.' is 
 incomparably more likely to walk in il, than 
 one who grows up without instruction. 
 
 Yet, notwithstanding all that has been 
 done, it must be granted, I fear, that we are 
 not a more virtuous people than we were; and 
 one great reason, which, in connexion with 
 our national circumstances, I would assign 
 for this, is— the decline of family order and 
 family religion, throughout, I may say, all 
 classes of society. 
 
 Masters and Mistresses ! you complain of 
 your servants: but what have you done, what 
 are you doing, to improve those servants in 
 the knowledge of their duty, to instil into 
 their minds just principles, and a proper 
 sense of religion? Nay, is it not little indeed 
 that you do for your own children, beyond 
 sending them to school, and, perhaps once 
 only on the Sunday, to church ? What hear 
 they from you at home, what see they in your 
 example, that indicates the Christian parent 
 and head of a family? Honourable excep- 
 
 P 
 
170 
 
 THE SABBATH. 
 
 [SFKM. 
 
 tions, I know, there are to the censure here 
 conveyed : hut does not that censure too 
 justly apply to the great majority ! 
 
 There is one prevalent evil which belongs 
 to this head, so gross, and productive of such 
 fatal consequences, that I cannot but notice 
 it in the most serious and pointed manner. 
 The Sunday evening is very commonly allowed, 
 as if by common consent, to servants, appren- 
 tices, and young persons of every description, 
 as their time of visiting and amusement; and 
 the great bulk of them, as observation may 
 convince any one, spend the evening ; n the 
 streets ! Far, far be it from me to inculcate 
 any thing inconsistent with the liberal and 
 indulgent treatment of persons in the subor- 
 dinate situations of life. They, as well as 
 their superiors, ought to be allowed seasons 
 of relaxation, and opportunities of visiting 
 their friends. But thus to fix upon one time, 
 w hen such numbers shall together be released 
 from all restraint, is highly impolitic and 
 unwise ; and to make that one time the even- 
 ing of the Lord's day, is contrary to all 
 decency, good order, and religion. Let any 
 one look abroad into our streets on the Sun- 
 day evening, and say, whether that be the 
 season when any head of a family, who has 
 the least regard for the virtue and the safety 
 of his domestics, would choose to trust them 
 abroad. We complain of the corrupt state 
 of our female servants ; and no wonder, with 
 
VII.] THE SABBATH. 171 
 
 such a practice as this in existence. More 
 young women probably are ruined, first or 
 last, by this one cause, than by any other 
 that can be named. Not only for religion's 
 sake, but for the sake of good morals, yea, 
 for the sake of self-interest, let every house- 
 holder determine to put a stop to the custom 
 in bis own family: and, if the inveteracy of 
 the evil require, let all respectable persons 
 make a common cause, and hold themselves 
 pledged to one another to bring it to an 
 end. 
 
 But another means of the highest impor- 
 tance is, that our superior people, ' the 
 ' makers of our manners,' should consider it 
 as binding upon their consciences, to spend 
 the sabbath much more strictly than they 
 usually do. There is one law, both of God 
 and of man, to them and to their inferior 
 brethren. They have no exemptions to plead. 
 Rather, a greater responsibility lies upon 
 them, arising from the powerful influence 
 of their example : for in vain shall we 
 expect the lower orders of men to " hallow 
 " the sabbath," if the higher classes neglect 
 and profane it. 
 
 What then shall we say to the fact, that so 
 few of these classes are ever seen in our 
 churches on the Sunday afternoon 1 that so 
 many are seen hurrying into the country, as 
 soon as the morning service is over, to waste 
 the remainder of the day in self-indulgence, 
 P 2 
 
17-2 
 
 THE SABBATH. 
 
 [SERM. 
 
 in unprofitable conversation, and amusement ; 
 their closets forsaken, their Bibles neglected, 
 their families deserted ? that many more ha\e 
 no better method of employing their time at 
 home, than in learning and discussing the 
 news of the day, or in ' reading books which 
 ' bear no relation to the business of religion V u 
 Alas ! such persons may scorn the reproofs 
 of the pulpit: but let them know, that they 
 have to do with One who is " higher than 
 " they ;" and He will another day exact from 
 them an awful account of all their unhallowed 
 
 « * The doty of (he day is violated by applying ourselves 
 
 ' lo studies, or the reading of books, which bear no relation to 
 ' the business of religion.' Paley. — Surely uews-papers are books 
 of this description. — I subjoin from the same distinguished 
 writer some further remarks, well deserving attention. They ire 
 mule in reply lo the demauds of those who are prone to ask, 
 ' What harm in this or the other little deviation from strict rales?" 
 To this qneslion ' nnder a variety of forms,' says be, ' we return 
 ' the following answer: — That the religious observance of Son- 
 ' day, if it is to be retained at all, must be upheld by some pub- 
 ' lie and visible distinctions; that, draw the liue of distinction 
 ' where you will, many actions which are situate on the confines 
 ' ot the line, will differ very little, and yet lie on the opposite 
 ' sides of it ; that every trespass upon that reserve, which public 
 
 • decency has established, breaks down the fence by which the 
 
 • day is separated to the service of religioo ; — that these liberties, 
 ' however intended, will certainly be considered by those who 
 ' observe them, not only as disrespectful to the day and inslitn- 
 ' lion, but as proceeding from a secret contempt of the Christian 
 
 • faith; that consequently they diminish a reverence for religion 
 
 • in others, so far as the authority of our opinion, or the efficacy 
 1 of our example, reaches ; or rather, so far as either will 
 ' serve for an excuse of negligence to those uho are glad of 
 ' any.' 
 
VII.] THE SABBATH. 173 
 
 sabbaths, their wasted opportunities, their 
 misused talents. 
 
 In the third place, The laws against immo- 
 rality and profaneness should be more strictly 
 put in force : or, rather, it should be made 
 so certainly known that they would be put in 
 force against offenders, as to prevent the 
 commission of offences. 
 
 And here I would address myself rather to 
 the respectable part of the community, at 
 large, than to the magistrates, in particular. 
 We are often ready to complain of the remiss- 
 ness of those who are entrusted with the exe- 
 cution of the laws, when we should rather 
 chide our own. Our magistrates, I trust, are 
 ready to do their duty ; and they will, I hope, 
 increase their activity with the growing exi- 
 gencies of the times : but cases must be 
 brought before them : information must be 
 given them. And here, from negligence, from 
 love of ease, from the fear of odium, we shrink 
 from the part which properly devolves upon 
 us. To us, also, it belongs, therefore, to in- 
 crease our activity. 
 
 Finally, I will state my conviction, that 
 the establishing of Sunday Evening Lec- 
 tures, in our large towns, would be productive 
 of eminently good effects.— I know the objec- 
 tions which are urged against this measure. 
 If all, or if the greater part of our population, 
 
174 
 
 THE SABBATH. 
 
 [SERM. 
 
 uere able and willing to improve their Sunday 
 evenings at home, I would recommend no- 
 thing that should tempt them to do other- 
 wise. But this is the case w ith, comparatively, 
 very few. — To some persons such a measure 
 appears to approximate too much to the cus- 
 toms of dissenters and separatists. But 
 shall we never learn, that, if we would wish 
 our establishment to be utterly distanced by 
 her competitors in the race of public estima- 
 tion, the very plan to be pursued is, thus 
 haughtily and systematically to reject or 
 reverse every more popular and attractive 
 expedient, which they may have adopted? I 
 plead for none of the mean and unworthy 
 arts, by which the favour of the populace has 
 sometimes been courted: 1 recommend no 
 dereliction of the spirit or manners, much 
 less any deviation from the excellent pre- 
 scribed forms, of our church ; no accommo- 
 dations which can be shewn to be really ex- 
 ceptionable : but only such as, innocent or 
 laudable in themselves, and consonant to the 
 principles of the church, are called for by the 
 altered state of society. — Hundreds, and even 
 thousands, I am persuaded, who now spend 
 their Sunday evenings in idle company, and 
 in the streets, would, if the opportunity were 
 thus afforded them, spend it in the house of 
 God. Numbers also, who are detained from 
 public worship, during other parts of the 
 day, would then be able to attend upon it; 
 
VII.] THE SABBATH. 175 
 
 and not a few, who have too little regard for 
 divine ordinances, to sacrifice to them the 
 indulgences of the afternoon, would be pre- 
 sent at them in the evening, and might gra- 
 dually, perhaps, be recovered to more devout 
 habits. 
 
 It is said, indeed, that evening lectures 
 afford facilities to viciously disposed persons, 
 in the pursuit of their criminal gratifications. 
 But, not to urge how little regard is paid to 
 this consideration when other meetings, not 
 of a religious kind, are concerned, I am con- 
 vinced that, with proper precautions, the evil 
 would be found to a great degree imaginary. 
 Never, at least, let this objection be heard 
 from the mouth of any one man, who sends 
 forth his domestics, on the Sunday evening, 
 to seek their amusement wherever they may 
 think fit. 
 
 But, whatever may be thought of any par- 
 ticular provision which I have presumed to 
 recommend, I must earnestly call upon every 
 individual to cooperate, to the utmost of his 
 power, in promoting the great end in view — 
 the due observation of the Lord's day. Every 
 consideration demands it of yon. Regard for 
 the authority and the honour of God; regard 
 for the happiness of individuals; regard for 
 the interests of religion and good morals; re- 
 gard for the welfare of society; regard, in the 
 awful times in which we live, for the well- 
 
176 
 
 THE SABBATH. 
 
 [sERM. 
 
 being, for the safety, for the preservation of 
 our beloved country. If there be indeed " a 
 "God that judgeth the earth," that " ob- 
 " serveth the ways" of men, that " loveth 
 " righteousness and hateth iniquity," the 
 continuation of his favour to us, and the con- 
 sequent " prolongation of our tranquillity," 
 must stand in close connexion with our dis- 
 charge of this duty. It must do so, even 
 without supposing any extraordinary interpo- 
 sition of divine providence to punish our dis- 
 obedience,?* simply according to that settled 
 order of causes and effects which Goc! hath 
 established, and which we call the natural 
 course of things. This is such as makes it 
 the doctrine of reason and experience, no 
 less than of revelation, that " righteousness 
 " exalteth a nation, but sin is the reproach 
 ** of any people :" and the state of our public 
 morals, our righteousness or depravity as a 
 nation, is most essentially dependent upon 
 our observance or violation of the sabbath. 
 Improved, that sacred day powerfully pro- 
 motes every thing that is virtuous and good 
 among men : but abused, it becomes the oc- 
 casion of spreading vice and wickedness, w ith 
 tenfold rapidity, among those who are guilty 
 of the profanation. 
 
 n ' It is oflen ratber in Ibe way of a gradual decline, Iban of 
 1 violent anil sudden shocks, that nation*) crimes are punished.' 
 Vid. plura, Wilberfnrce's Letter an the Slan Trade, Con- 
 clusion. 
 
THE SABBATH. 
 
 177 
 
 I call then upon alJ orders of men, " Re- 
 " member the Sabbath-day to keep it holy." 
 I call upon the poor and the busy. It has 
 been shewn, how much your happiness is 
 consulted in this sacred institution: oh be 
 not so ungrateful as to despise, to reject, to 
 abuse the gracious boon of heaven ! Spend 
 not the day of God in business ; spend it not 
 in sloth, in disorder, and carnal pleasure. 
 Love and hallow the sabbath, that you may 
 reap the blessings which it was intended to 
 yield you. — I call upon the rich. Remember 
 your responsibility for your influence. You 
 too are deeply interested in the observation 
 of the sabbath, at once from its effects on 
 the behaviour of your dependents, and from 
 its connexion with your own eternal salvation. 
 — I call upon magistrates. Diligently use 
 your power in restraining the profanation of 
 the sabbath, and every other immorality. — I 
 call upon all the respectable part of society. 
 Render to the magistrate the aid that is indis- 
 pensably needful. Especially, Support the 
 laws by your manners. — I call upon heads of 
 families. Rule your households in the fear 
 of God. Enforce the sanctitication of the 
 Sabbath. Remember, the command is imme- 
 diately addressed to you, and with express 
 reference, through you, to '* your sons, and 
 " your daughters, your men-servants, and 
 " your maid-servants, and the stranger that is 
 " within your gate." — Finally, I call upon 
 
178 
 
 THE SABBATH. 
 
 young persons. Oh begin your days with 
 hallowing the Sabbath. Make a conscience 
 of this duty from your youth. It will bring 
 the blessing of God upon all your days. 
 Many of you have lately been solemnly 
 renewing and ratifying your vows to God, 
 ' that you will keep his holy will and eom- 
 ' mandnunts all the days of your life.' Oh 
 remember how prominent a place the law of 
 the Sabbath holds among ' the command- 
 ments of God.' By this then shall your 
 obedience, your regard to your vows, be 
 proved. Here you can plead no ignorance 
 of duty. Implore the grace of God to aid 
 you in performing it. Remember the 
 
 SABBATH DAY TO KEEP IT HOLY. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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