THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF ILLINOIS 
 LIBRARY 
 
 From the Library 
 of the 
 
 Diocese of Springfield 
 Protestant Episcopal 
 Church 
 
 Presented 1917 
 
 208 
 
 N48w 
 
 1846 
 

NEWTON’S WORKS. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2016 
 
 https ://archive,org/details/worksofrevjohnneOOnewt 
 
THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILUifliS 
 
 
 
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THE 
 
 WORKS 
 
 OF 
 
 THE REV. JOHN NEWTON, 
 
 l ff 
 
 LATE RECTOR OF THE UNITED PARISHES OF 
 ST. MARY WOOLNOTH AND ST. MARY WOOLCHIJRCH-HAW, 
 LOMBARD STREET, LONDON. 
 
 TO WHICH ARE PREFIXED, 
 
 MEMOIRS OF HIS LIFE, 
 
 BY 
 
 THE REV. R. CECIL, A. M. 
 
 COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME. 
 
 THOMAS NELSON, EDINBURGH; 
 
 AND VIII. PATERNOSTER ROW, 
 
 LONDON. 
 
 MDCCCXLVl, 
 
The bodies of John Newton, formerly rector 
 of St. Mary Woolaoth, Lombard-street, and previously 
 vicar of Olney, Buckinghamshire, and that of his 
 wife were re-interred in Olney churchyard yesterday. 
 Two new oak coffirte, -ronraininjgv old^kadenrjshells 
 removed from the ^cnurch crypt/Avere conveyed by 
 train from St. Pancras to Olney onxuesday evening, 
 and were taken from the railway station to Olney 
 Church, where they remained for the night. The 
 original plates from the old coffins were placed 
 on the new ones, each accompanied by a small 
 brass plate, bearing the inscription, “ Removed 
 from St. Mary Woolnoth, Lombard-street, to Olney 
 Churchyard, Januar y, 1895. ” The re-interment cere- 
 mony was attendSd'by'aJarge number of Olney people, 
 who still hold the memory of their* former vicar in 
 great veneration. The large and handsome church was 
 crowded. The Rev. J. P. Langley, vicar of Olney, 
 conducted the service, assisted by his son, the Rev. E. 
 Langley, of Ramsgate, and the Rev. W. F. Whitchurch, 
 curate of Olney. The Order for the Burial of the 
 Dead was the only service used, and there was no ser- 
 mon or address. The former part of the service was 
 conducted in the church. After the hymn commencing 
 “ How sweet the name of Jesus sounds,” one of New- 
 ton s own, the bodies were moved one by one into the 
 churchyard, the organist, Mr. W. Wright, meanwhile 
 playing the “Dead March” in Saul. The vicar con- 
 cluded the service in the churchyard in the presence of 
 about 2000 people. The coffins were placed in a brick 
 grave, in which already reposed the remains of George 
 i Catlett, of Chatham, who was father of Mrs.Jsevvton, 
 and who died in 1777. — VJfr , 
 
 STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY STEVENSON k CO. 
 
 THISTLE STREET, EDINBURGH. 
 
2 0 % 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 Page 
 
 Preface 1 
 
 Memoirs, &c 3 
 
 Review of his Character 67 
 
 Remarks in Familiar Conversation 73 
 
 General Observations 82 
 
 AN AUTHENTIC NARRATIVE, &c. 
 
 Page 
 
 LF.T. I. — Introductory Observations 1 
 
 LET. II. — Occurrences in early Life 3 
 
 LET. III. — Journey to Kent, Voyage to Venice, 
 
 &c 5 
 
 LET. IV. — Voyage to Madeira, Entry on board a Gui- 
 
 neaman, and Voyage to Africa 9 
 
 LET. V. Hardships endured in Africa 11 
 
 LEI'. VI. — Enlargement in Africa 14 
 
 LET. VII. — Voyage from Cape Lopez to England, 
 
 &c. 16 
 
 Page 
 
 LET. VIII —Danger, &c. in the Voyage from Cape 
 
 Lopez 18 
 
 LET. IX.— Events in Ireland, and Arrival in Eng- 
 land - 20 
 
 LET. X.— Voyage to Africa 2 if 
 
 LET. XI.— Voyage to Antigua, Return to England, 
 
 and Marriage 24 
 
 LET. XII.— Another Voyage to Africa 27 
 
 LET. XIII — Last Voyage to Africa, &c 29 
 
 LET. XIV. — Conclusion of the Narrative 31 
 
 \ 
 
 LETTERS ON RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 LET. I— On Trust in God ... 37 
 
 LET. II.— To a Student of Divinity 39 
 
 LET. III.— On 2 Cor. V. 10, and Rom. xiv. 12, 42 
 
 LET. IV. — On Family-worship 43 
 
 LET. V. — On the Difficulties attending the Minis- 
 try 45 
 
 LET. VI.— On the Influence of Faith 47 
 
 LET. VII. — On a Ministerial Address to the Uncon- 
 verted 49 
 
 LET. VIII.—‘ On the Inward Witness 52 
 
 LET. IX. — On Election and Perseverance 54 
 
 LET. X. — On Grace in the Blade 57 
 
 L'-T. XI. — On Grace in the Ear 59 
 
 LET. XII. — On Grace in the Full Corn 61 
 
 LET. XIII.— On Hearing Sermons 63 
 
 LET. XIV. — On Temptation 66 
 
 LET. XV. — A Plan ot a Christian Library 69 
 
 LET. XVI. — On the Inefficacy of Knowledge 72 
 
 LET. XVII. — On a Believer’s Frames — 74 
 
 LET. XVI 11 — On Social Prayer 76 
 
 LET. XIX. — On Controversy, _.... 79 
 
 LET. XX. — On Conformity to the World 81 
 
 LET. XXL — On Spiritual Blindness 83 
 
 Page 
 
 LE P. XXII.— On a State of Poverty 85 
 
 LET. XXi II — On Simplicity and Sincerity 88 
 
 LET. XXIV. — On Communion with God 90 
 
 LET. XXV.— On Faith, and the Communion of 
 
 Saints - 92 
 
 LET. XXVI. — On Gospel Illumination 94 
 
 LET. XXVII.— On Union with Christ 95 
 
 LET. XXVIII.— On the Divine Guidance 96 
 
 LET. XXIX — On Rom. viii. 19, 20, 21, 98 
 
 LET. XXX — On the Right Use of the Law 100 
 
 LET. XXXI.— On Love to the Brethren 104 
 
 LET. XXXII.— On Candour 16 
 
 LET. XXXIII — (1) On Man in his Fallen Estate 108 
 LET. XXXIV.— (2) On Man in his Fallen Estate 110 
 
 LET. XXXV.— On Phil. iv. 8 112 
 
 LET. XXXVI.— To a Friend on his Recovery from 
 
 Illness 114 
 
 LET. XXXVII. — On Christian Experience 116 
 
 LET. XXXVIII — On Religion as being necessary 
 
 to the Enjoyment of Life 118- 
 
 LET. XXXIX.— A W’ord in Season 120 
 
 LET. XL. — To Professors in Trade 122 
 
 LEl. XLI.— On the Ministry of Angels 123 
 
 CARDIPHONIA. 
 
 TWENTY -SIX LETTERS TO A NOBLEMAN. 
 
 Page 
 
 LET. I 129 
 
 LET. II 130 
 
 LET. Ill 13-2 
 
 LET. IV 133 
 
 LET. V 
 
 LET. VI... 
 LET. VII.. 
 LET. VIII. 
 LET. IX .. 
 
 Page 
 
 . 134 
 .. 155 
 . 13 7 
 „ 139 
 . ib. 
 
 601537 
 
CONTENTS, 
 
 fi 
 
 LET. X 
 
 LET. XI 
 
 LET. XII 
 
 LET. XIII... 
 LET. XIV.... 
 
 LET. XV 
 
 LET. XVI. .. 
 LET. XVII.. 
 LET. XVIII. 
 LET. XIX.... 
 
 LET. XX 
 
 LET. XXI..., 
 LET. XXII. 
 LET. XXIII. 
 LET XXIV. 
 LET. XXV.. 
 LET XXVI. 
 
 '•age 
 
 140 
 
 142 
 
 143 
 
 144 
 
 146 
 
 147 
 
 149 
 
 150 
 
 151 
 
 153 
 
 154 
 
 156 
 
 157 
 159 
 161 
 165 
 167 
 
 Page 
 
 FOUR LETTERS TO MRS T- 
 
 LET. I 230 
 
 LET. II 231 
 
 LET. Ill 232 
 
 LET. IV 233 
 
 FIVE LETTERS TO MR — 
 
 LET. I 
 
 LET. II 
 
 LET. Ill 
 
 LET. IV 
 
 LET. V 
 
 235 
 
 236 
 
 237 
 
 238 
 
 239 
 
 EIGHT LETTERS TO THE REV. MR 
 
 
 EIGHT LETTERS TO THE REV. MR 
 
 LET. I 
 
 LET. II 
 
 LET. Ill 
 
 LET. IV 
 
 LET. V 
 
 LET. VI 
 
 LET. VII 
 
 LET. VIII 
 
 169 
 
 172 
 
 174 
 
 177 
 
 178 
 ib. 
 180 
 184 
 
 LET. 1 241 
 
 LET. II ib. 
 
 LET. Ill 242 
 
 LET. IV 243 
 
 LET. V ib. 
 
 LET. VI * 244 
 
 LET. VII ib. 
 
 LET. VIII 245 
 
 FOUR LETTERS TO MRS P 
 
 ELEVEN LETTERS TO MR B , &C. 
 
 LET. I 
 
 LET. II 
 
 LET. Ill 
 
 LET. IV 
 
 LET. V 
 
 LET. VI 
 
 LET. VII 
 
 LET. VIII 
 
 LET. IX 
 
 LET. X 
 
 LET. XI 
 
 189 
 
 190 
 
 ib. 
 
 191 
 ib. 
 
 192 
 
 193 
 ib 
 
 194 
 
 195 
 
 196 
 
 LET. I 
 
 LE r. II 
 
 LET. Ill 
 
 LET. IV 
 
 248 
 
 249 
 . ib. 
 
 251 
 
 SIX LETTERS TO THE REV. MR B 
 
 LET. I 
 
 LET. II 
 
 LET. Ill 
 
 LET. IV 
 
 LET. V 
 
 LET. VI 
 
 253 
 
 254 
 
 255 
 
 256 
 
 257 
 
 258 
 
 FOUR LETTERS TO THE REV. MR R- 
 
 NINE LETTERS TO THE REV. MR R 
 
 LET. I..., 
 
 LET. II.. 
 
 LET. III. 
 
 LET. IV. 
 
 A LETTER TO THE REV. MR O . 
 
 SEVEN LETTERS TO THE REV. MR P- 
 
 LET. I 
 
 LET. II 
 
 LET. Ill 
 
 LET. IV 
 
 LET. V 
 
 LET. VI - 
 
 LET. VII 
 
 198 
 
 199 
 ib. 
 
 200 
 
 202 
 
 204 
 ib. 
 
 205 
 
 206 
 
 207 
 ■ ib. 
 
 208 
 
 LET. I 
 
 LET. II 
 
 LET. Ill 
 
 LET. IV 
 
 LET. V 
 
 LET. VI 
 
 LET. VII 
 
 LET. VIII 
 
 LET. IX 
 
 THREE LETTERS TO MISS TH- 
 
 LET. I..., 
 LET. II.. 
 LET. III. 
 
 260 
 261 
 . ib. 
 262 
 263 
 ib. 
 . ib. 
 265 
 ib. 
 
 267 
 
 268 
 
 . ib. 
 
 THREE LETTERS TO MRS G 
 
 LET. 1 210 
 
 LET. II 211 
 
 LET. Ill 213 
 
 TWO LETTERS TO MISS F 
 
 LET. 1 215 
 
 LET. II 216 
 
 SEVEN LETTERS TO 
 
 LET. 1 270 
 
 LET. II ib. 
 
 LET. Ill 271 
 
 LET. IV 272 
 
 LET. V ib. 
 
 LET. VI 273 
 
 LET. VII ib. 
 
 FIVE LETTERS TO MR C 
 
 FOUR LETTERS TO THE REV. DR 
 
 LEI. 1 217 
 
 LET. II ib. 
 
 LET. Ill 218 
 
 LET. IV ib. 
 
 SEVEN LETTERS TO MRS 
 
 LET. I 220 
 
 LET. 11 222 
 
 LET. III.... 224 
 
 LET. IV 225 
 
 LET. V 226- 
 
 LET. VI 227 
 
 LET. VII 228 
 
 LET. 1 275 
 
 LET. II 276 
 
 LET. Ill 277 
 
 LET IV 278 
 
 LET. V 279 
 
 EIGHT LETTERS TO MRS 
 
 LET. 1 281 
 
 LET. II 282 
 
 LET. Ill 284 
 
 LET. IV 285 
 
 LET. V 2Se 
 
 LET. VI 288 
 
 LET. VII 289 
 
 LET. VIII 290 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 iii 
 
 FIVE LETTERS TO MJ3S 
 
 FOURTEEN LETTERS TO TIIE REV. MR B 
 
 LET. I.... 
 LET. II.. 
 LET. Ill 
 LET. IV., 
 LET. V... 
 
 Page 
 
 292 
 
 293 
 
 294 
 ib. 
 
 293 
 
 THREE LETTERS TO MRS H 
 
 LET. 1 • 
 
 LET. II 
 
 LET. Ill 
 
 297 
 
 298 
 
 299 
 
 TWO LETTERS TO MISS P 
 
 LET. I.. 
 LET. II. 
 
 300 
 
 301 
 
 LET. I 
 
 LET. II 
 
 LET. III..-. 
 
 LET. IV 
 
 LET. V 
 
 LET. VI 
 
 LET. VII.... 
 LET. VIII.. 
 
 LET. IX 
 
 LET. X 
 
 LET. XI 
 
 LET. XII..., 
 LET. XIII.. 
 LET. XIV... 
 
 Page 
 . 302 
 . 303 
 ... ib. 
 ... lb. 
 . 304 
 . 305 
 .. ib. 
 . 306 
 . 307 
 ... ib. 
 . 308 
 ... ib. 
 . 309 
 ... ib. 
 
 DISCOURSES INTENDED FOR THE PULPIT. 
 
 Page 
 
 SERMON I.— On the Deceit fulness of the Heart. 
 
 — “ The heart is deceitful above all things, 
 and desperately wicked ; who can know it ? I 
 the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even 
 to give every man according to his ways, and ac- 
 cording to the fruit of his doings,” Jer. xvii. 9, 
 
 10, 313 
 
 SERMON II. — On the Saviour and his Salvation. 
 
 — “ This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all 
 acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the 
 world to save sinners, of whom I am chief,” 1 
 Tim. i. 15, .318 ' 
 
 Page 
 
 SERMON III.— On the Christian Name.—" And 
 the disciples were called Christians first at An- 
 tioch,” Acts xi. 26, 323 
 
 SERMON IV — On All Things being given us with 
 Christ.—" He that spared not his own son, but de- 
 livered him up for us all, how shall he not with 
 him also freely give us all things ?” Rom. viii. 32, 328 
 SERMON V. — On Searching the Scriptures . — 
 
 “ Search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye 
 have eternal life, and they are they which testify 
 
 of me,” John v. 39, 35 3 
 
 SERMON VI— The same subject continued 538 
 
 SERMONS 
 
 PREACHED IN THE PARISH CHURCH OF OLNEY. 
 
 Page 
 
 SERMON I. — The small Success of a Gospel Mi- 
 nistry. — " At that time Jesus answered and said, 
 
 I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and 
 earth, because thou hast hid these things from 
 the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them un- 
 to babes,” Matth. x;i. 25, 347 
 
 SERMON II. — The Mysteries of the Gospel hid 
 
 from many ■ — Same text, 350 
 
 SERMON III. — Of those from whom the Gospel- 
 
 Doctrines are hid.— Same text, 354 
 
 SERMON IV. — The Nature of Spiritual Revela- 
 tion, and who are favoured with it . — Same text. 357 
 SERMON V. — The Sovereignty of Divine Grace 
 asserted and illustrated — “ Even so, Father, for 
 so it seemed good in thy sight,” Matth. xi. 26.... 361 
 SERMON VI— Of the Person of Christ.—" All 
 things are delivered unto me of my Father : and 
 no man knoweth the Son but the Father; nei- 
 ther knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, 
 and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him,” 
 
 Matth. xi. 27, 364 
 
 SERMON VII.— Of the Authority of Christ . — 
 
 Same text,.... 367 
 
 SERMON VIII. — The Glory and Grace of God re- 
 vealed in Jesus Christ. — Same text, 371 
 
 SERMON IX — Labouring and heavy-laden Sin- 
 ners described . — “ Come unto me, all ye that la- 
 bour. and are heavy laden, and I will give you 
 
 rest,” Matth. xi. 28, 374 
 
 SERMON X.— Of Coming to Christ . — Same text, 377 
 SERMON XI — Of Believers Rest in Christ . — 
 
 Same text, 380 
 
 SERMON XII— Of the Yoke of Christ.—" Take 
 my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am 
 meek and lowly in heart : and ye shall find rest 
 for your souls," Matth. xi. 29, 585 
 
 Page 
 
 SERMON XIII — The Service of Christ easy and 
 pleasant — “ For my yoke is easy, and my burden 
 
 is light,” Matth. xi. 30, 387 
 
 SERMON XIV. — Believers cautioned against Mis- 
 conduct in their Profession. — “ Let not your 
 
 good be evil spoken of,” Rom. xiv. 16, 390 
 
 SERMON XV. — The Extent and Sanction of the 
 Third Commandment.—" Thou shalt not take 
 the name of the Lord thy God in vain ; for the 
 Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his 
 
 name in vain,” Exod. xx. 7, 391 
 
 SERMON XVI. — The Christian Life compared to 
 a Race. — “ So run that ye may obtain,” 1 Cor. 
 
 iv. 24, 398 
 
 SERMON XVII. — No Access to God but by the 
 Gospel of Christ —" Wherewith snail I come be- 
 fore the Lord, and bow myself before the high 
 God ? Shall I come before him with burnt- offer- 
 ings, with calves of a year old ? Will the Lord 
 be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten 
 thousands of rivers of oil ? Shall I give my first- 
 born for my transgression, the fruit of my body 
 for the sin of my soul ? He hath shewed thee, O 
 man, what is good ; and what doth the Lord re- 
 quire of thee, Dut to do justly, and to love mer- 
 cy, and to walk humbly with thy God ?” Micah 
 
 vi. 6—8 - 101 
 
 SERMON XVIII — Of a Living and a Dead Faith. 
 
 — “ For as the body without the spirit is dead, so 
 faith without works is dead also,” James ii. 26, 404 
 
 SERMON XIX — Guilt removed, and Peace restor- 
 ed . — " O Lord, open thou my lips, and my 
 mouth shall shew forth thy praise,” Psalm li. 15, 40S 
 SERMON XX. — Of the Assurance of Faith — 
 
 " And we know that we are of God,” 1 John v. 
 
 19 41 
 
IV 
 
 CONTENTS, 
 
 A REVIEW OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 
 
 Page 
 
 INTRODUCTION, 1x3 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 OF THE FIRST PERIOD OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 Chap. 
 
 1. The general State of the Heathens and Jews be- 
 
 fore and at the Time of our Lord’s Incarna- 
 tion, 429 
 
 2. The Character and Genius of the Gospel, as 
 
 taught and exemplified by Christ, 433 
 
 3. The true Grounds of the Opposition he met 
 
 with in the Course of his Ministry, and the Ob- 
 jections and Artifices his Enemies employed to 
 prejudise the People against him, ana prevent 
 the Reception of his Doctrine, 439 
 
 Chap. p a ge 
 
 4. On the Calling and Characters of the Apostles 
 and Disciples previous to our Lord’s Ascen- 
 sion, • r 444 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 OF THE SECOND PERIOD OF CHRISTIANITY 
 
 1. Of the Progress of the Gospel from our Lord’s 
 
 Ascension to the Close of the first Century,... 450 
 
 2. Of the Life and Character of St Paul, consider- 
 
 ed as an Exemplar or Pattern of a Minister of 
 Jesus Christ, 494 
 
 3. Of the Irregularities and Offences which ap- 
 
 peared m the Apostolical Churches, 505 
 
 4. Of the Heresies propagated by false Teachers in 
 
 the Apostles days, 511 
 
 OLNEY HYMNS. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 ON SELECT PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 Hymn 
 
 34. The Queen of Sheba, 
 
 55. Elijah fed by Ravens, 
 
 Chap. 
 
 17.... 
 
 Page 
 ib. 
 
 36. The Meal and Cruse of Oil,.... 
 
 17.... 
 
 
 Hymn GENESIS. Chap. 
 
 1. Adam, 3 
 
 2. Cain and Abel, 4 
 
 J } Walking with God, 5 
 
 5. Lot in Sodom, 13 
 
 6. \ Jehovah Jireh; or. The Lord will 
 
 7- f provide, 22 
 
 8. Esau, 25 
 
 9. Jacob's Ladder, 2S 
 
 10. My Name is Jacob, 32 
 
 11. Plenty in Dearth, 41 
 
 12. Joseph made known to his Brethren, 45 
 
 EXODUS. 
 
 13. The bitter Waters, 15....... 
 
 14. Jehovah Rophi; or. The Lord my 
 
 Healer, 15 
 
 15. Manna, 16 
 
 16. Manna hoarded 16 
 
 17. Jehovah Nissi ; or. The Lord my Ban- 
 
 ner, 17 
 
 18. The Golden Calf, 32 
 
 LEVITICUS. 
 
 19. The true Aaron, 8 
 
 NUMBERS. 
 
 20. Balaam’s Wish, 23 
 
 JOSHUA. 
 
 21. Gibeon, 10 
 
 JUDGES. 
 
 22. Jehovah Shallom; or. The Lord is 
 
 Peace, 6...... 
 
 23. Gideon’s Fleece, 6 
 
 24. Sampson’s Lion 14 
 
 I. SAMUEL. 
 
 25. Hannah ; or, The Throne of Grace, 1 
 
 26. Dagon before the Ark, 5 
 
 27- Milch Kine drawing the Ark, 5 
 
 28. Saul’s Armour, 17 
 
 II. SAMUEL. 
 
 29. David’s Fall, 12. 
 
 30. Is this thy Kindness to thy Friend ? 16. 
 
 Page 
 
 525 
 
 ,. ib. 
 
 ,. 526 
 
 .. ib. 
 
 ,. 527 
 .. ib. 
 ,. 528 
 .. ib. 
 .. ib. 
 ,. 529 
 
 ib. 
 
 ib. 
 
 530 
 
 ib. 
 
 ib. 
 
 531 
 
 ib. 
 
 ib. 
 
 532 
 
 ib. 
 
 ib. 
 
 533 
 
 ib. 
 
 ib. 
 
 531 
 
 ib. 
 
 ib. 
 
 535 
 
 II. KINGS. 
 
 37. Jericho; or. The Waters healed, 
 
 38. Naaman, 
 
 2 
 
 5 
 
 538 
 
 39. The borrowed Axe, 
 
 40. More with us than with them, 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 .... ib. 
 .... ib. 
 
 I. CHRONICLES. 
 
 41. Faith’s Review and Expectation, 
 
 17 
 
 .... ib. 
 
 NEHEMIAH. 
 
 42. The Joy of the Lord is your Strength 
 
 , 9 
 
 .... 539 
 
 JOB. 
 
 43. O that I were as in months past ! 
 
 44. The Change, 
 
 29 
 
 29 
 
 
 PSALMS. 
 
 45. Pleading for Mercy, 
 
 46. None upon earth besides thee, 
 
 The Believer’s Safety, 
 
 49. He led them by a right Way, 
 
 50. What, shall I render, Ac.... 
 
 6 
 
 75 
 
 91 
 
 107 
 
 116 
 
 f ib. 
 
 .... ib. 
 .... ib. 
 
 5 1. Dwelling in Meshech, 
 
 120 
 
 
 PROVERBS. 
 
 52. Wisdom, 
 
 g 
 
 5<1 > 
 
 53. A Friend that sticketh closer than a 
 Brother, 
 
 18 
 
 
 ECCLESIASTES. 
 
 54. Vanity of Life, 
 
 55. Vanity of the World, 
 
 I 
 
 
 56. Vanity of Creatures sanctified, 
 
 1 
 
 .... ib. 
 
 SOLOMON’S SONG. 
 57. The Name of Jesus...... 
 
 1 
 
 ib. 
 
 ISAIAH. 
 
 58. O Lord, I will praise thee, 
 
 12 
 
 .... 544 
 
 59. The River, Refuge, and Rock of the 
 Church, 
 
 
 
 60. Zion, or the City of God, 
 
 61. Look unto me, and be ye saved, 
 
 62. The Good Physician, 
 
 63. To the afflicted. &c 
 
 33 
 
 45 
 
 45 
 
 54 
 
 .... ib. 
 .... 545 
 .... ib. 
 .... 546 
 
 64. The contrite Heart, 
 
 57 
 
 
 65. The future Peace and Glory of the 
 Church, 
 
 60 
 
 
 I. KINGS. 
 
 31. ) 
 
 32. >Asl; what I shall give thee, 
 
 33. J 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 66. Trust of the Righteous and Wicked, 17 
 
 67. Jehovah Tsidkenu ; or. The Lord our 
 
 Righteousness, 25 
 
 ib. 
 
 547 
 
Hymn Chap. 
 
 68. Ephraim repenting, 31 
 
 LAMENTATIONS. 
 
 69. The Lord is my Portion, 3 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 70. Humbled and silenced by Mercy, 16. 
 
 7>. Ttie Covenant, 36.. 
 
 72. Jehovah Shammah ; or The Lord is 
 
 there, 48.. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Hymn 
 
 Page 
 . 517 
 
 ib. 
 
 548 
 
 ib. 
 
 74. Belshazzar, 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 JONAH. 
 
 75 The Gourd, .... 
 
 ZECHARIAH. 
 
 76. Prayer for the Lord’s Presence, 
 
 77. A Brand plucked out of the Fire, .. 
 
 78. On one Stone shall be seven Eyes, 
 
 MALACHI. 
 
 80. They shall be mine, saith the Lord, 
 
 The Beggar, 
 The Leper,.. 
 
 r»1 T 
 
 MATTHEW. 
 
 81. 
 
 82. 
 
 83. 
 
 84. Satan returning, 
 
 85. The Sower, 
 
 86. Wheat and Tares 
 
 87. Peter walking on the Waters, 
 
 88. The Woman of Canaan, 
 
 Peter sinning and repenting . 
 
 MARK. 
 
 94. But one Loaf, 
 
 LUKE. 
 
 98. The two Debtors, 
 
 99. The good Samaritan, 
 
 100. Martha and Mary, 
 
 101. The Heart taken, 
 
 102. The Worldling, 
 
 103. The barren Fig-tree, 
 
 104. ’ The Prodigal, 
 
 1 05. The Rich Man and Lazarus,.... 
 
 106. The importunate Widow, 
 
 107. Zaccheus, 
 
 108. The Believer’s Danger and Safei 
 
 109. Father, forgive them, 
 
 110. The two Malefactors 
 
 JOHN. 
 
 llli } Po °* cf Bet hesda, ; 5 1 
 
 114. The Disciples at Sea r ^ 
 
 118.' 
 
 119. 
 
 120 . 
 
 121 . 
 
 122 . 
 
 123. 
 
 124. 
 
 125. 
 
 ACTS. 
 
 Oy O... 
 
 5... 
 
 594 
 
 .... 4.... 
 
 ib. 
 
 .... 2.... 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 550 
 
 .... 3..., 
 
 ib. 
 
 ... 13... 
 
 
 ... 3..., 
 
 lb. 
 
 
 
 
 552 
 
 
 
 
 
 ... 13 
 
 
 
 
 ... 14... 
 
 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 
 .. 25 ... 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . ... ib. 
 
 .... 8.... 
 
 556 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ib. 
 
 .... 7—. 
 
 7 
 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 558 
 
 ... u... 
 
 
 
 ib. 
 
 ... 13... 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 559 
 
 ... 16... 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 560 
 
 .... 19... 
 
 
 r, 22... 
 
 
 
 561 
 
 
 ib. 
 
 4... 
 
 ib. 
 
 
 
 
 ” t 562 
 
 
 
 
 563 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 T _ 
 
 C ib. 
 
 
 
 7- 
 
 ib. 
 
 9... 
 
 , ib. 
 
 ... 12... 
 
 565 
 
 Chap. 
 
 V 
 
 Page 
 . 568 
 
 The Exorcist, 19* 
 
 Paul’s Voyage, !"..!!*.!""." 27! 
 
 The Good that I would, I do not, ... 7. 
 salvation drawing nearer, 13. 
 
 T . D . *• CORINTHIANS. 
 
 The Rock was Christ, 10. 
 
 II. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 My Grace is sufficient for thee, 12. 
 
 ™ GALATIANS. 
 
 130. The inward Warfare, 5. 
 
 126. 
 
 127. 
 
 128. 
 
 129. 
 
 ib. 
 
 ib. 
 
 566 
 
 PHILIPPIANS. 
 
 131- Contentment, 4. 
 
 HEBREWS. 
 
 132. Old Testament Gospel, 4 ib. 
 
 133. The Word quick and powerful, 4 59 
 
 134. Looking unto Jesus, 12 ib. 
 
 135. Love Tokens, 12 ib. 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 136. Ephesus, » 2 573 
 
 137. Smyrna, ...» 2 ib. 
 
 138. Sardis, 3 ib. 
 
 139. Philadelphia, 3 ib. 
 
 140. Laodicea 3 571 
 
 141. The Little Book, 10 ib. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 ON OCCASIONAL SUBJECTS. 
 
 I. SEASONS. 
 
 Hymn 
 
 New-Year Hymns. 
 
 1. Time how swift, 572 
 
 2. Time how short, ib. 
 
 3. Uncertainty of Life - 573 
 
 4. A New-year’s Thought and Prayer, ib. 
 
 5. Death and War, ib 
 
 6. Earthly Prospects deceitful, 574 
 
 Before Annual Sermons. 
 
 7. Prayer for a Blessing, ib. 
 
 8. Another, ib. 
 
 9. Another — 575 
 
 10. Casting the Gospel-net, ib. 
 
 11. Pleading for and with Youth, ib. 
 
 12. Prayer for Children, ib. 
 
 13. The Shunamitc, 576 
 
 14. Elijah’s Prayer ib. 
 
 15. Preaching to the dry Bones, ib. 
 
 16. The Rod of Moses, 577 
 
 17. God speaking from Mount Zion, ib. 
 
 18. Prayer for Power on the Means, ib. 
 
 19. Elijah’s Mantle, ib. 
 
 After Annual Sermons. 
 
 20. David’s Charge to Solomon, 578 
 
 21. The Lord’s Call to his Children, ib. 
 
 22. The Prayer of Jabez, ib. 
 
 23. Waiting at Wisdom’s Gates, 579 
 
 24. Asking the Way to Zion ffi. 
 
 25. We were Pharaoh’s Bondmen, ib. 
 
 26. Travailing in Birth for Souls, 580 
 
 27. We are Ambassadors for Christ, ib. 
 
 28. Paul’s farewell Charge, ib 
 
 29. How shall I put thee among the Children, ib 
 
 30. Winter, 58 
 
 31. Waiting for Spring, ib 
 
 32. Spring, ib 
 
 33. Another, 582 
 
 34. Summer Storms, ib. 
 
 35. Hay-Time, 583 
 
 36. Harvest, ib. 
 
 Christmas. 
 
 37. Praise for the Incarnation, ib. 
 
 38. Jehovah Jesus, ib. 
 
 39. Man honoured above Angels, 584 
 
 40. Saturday Evening, ib. 
 
 41. Close of the Year, Ebenezer, ib. 
 
 42. Another, 585 
 
 II. ORDINANCES. 
 
 43. Opening a Place for social Prayer, ib. 
 
 44. Another, „ 533 
 
 45. The Lord’s Day, jb. 
 
 46. Gospel-privileges, ib! 
 
 47. Another, ib, 
 
 48. Praise for their Continuance, 58” 
 
 49. A Famine of the Word, ib, 
 
 50. Prayer for Ministers, ib. 
 
 51. Prayer for a Revival, 588 
 
 52. Hoping for a Revival, ib. 
 
 Sacramental Hymns. 
 
 53. Welcome to the Table, ib. 
 
 54. Christ crucified, 5^9 
 
 55. Jesus hasting to suffer, !”".! ib. 
 
 56. It Is good to be here, !.., p,! 
 
 57. Looking at the Cross, ... ib! 
 
 58. Supplies in the Wilderness 59G 
 
VI 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Hymn Page 
 
 59. Communion with Saints in Glory, 590 
 
 Prayer. 
 
 60. Exhortation to Prayer, ib. 
 
 61. Power of Prayer, ib. 
 
 Scripture. 
 
 62. Light and Glory of the Word, 591 
 
 65. Word more precious than Gold, ib. 
 
 III. PROVIDENCES. 
 
 64. On the Commencement of Hostilities, 592 
 
 Fast-Day Hymns. 
 
 65. Confession and Prayer, ib. 
 
 66. Moses and Amalek, ib. 
 
 67. The Hiding Place, 593 
 
 68. On the Earthquake, 1775, ib. 
 
 69. Fire at Olney, 1777, - ib. 
 
 70. Welcome to Christian Friends, 594 
 
 71. At Parting, ~ ib. 
 
 Funeral Hymns. 
 
 72. On the Death of a Believer, ib. 
 
 73. Death of a Minister, 595 
 
 74. i he Tolling Bell, ib. 
 
 75. Hope beyond the Grave, ib. 
 
 76. There the weary are at rest, ib. 
 
 77. The Day of Judgment, .. 596 
 
 78. The Day of the Lord, ib. 
 
 79. The Great Tribunal, ib. 
 
 IV. CREATION 
 
 80. The old and new Creation, 597 
 
 81. Book of Creation, ib. 
 
 82. The Rainbow, ib. 
 
 83. Thunder, 598 
 
 84 Lightning in the Night, ib. 
 
 85. Eclipse of the Moon, 1776, ib. 
 
 86. Moon-Light, 599 
 
 87. The Sea, ib, 
 
 88. The Flood, ib. 
 
 89. The Thaw, ib, 
 
 90. The Loadstone, 60C 
 
 91. The Spider and Bee ib, 
 
 92. The Bee saved from the Spider, ib. 
 
 93. The tamed Lion, 
 
 96. For a Garden -Seat, or Summer-House, 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 ON THE RISE, FROGRESS, CHANGES, AN 
 FORTS OF THE SPIRITUAL LIFE. 
 
 Hymn 
 
 5. We were once as you are, , 
 
 4. Prepare to meet God, 
 
 5. Invitation, 
 
 vile. 
 
 10. The waiting Soul, 
 
 1!, 12. The Effort, 
 
 13. Seeking the Beloved, .... 
 
 1 4. Rest for weary Souls, .. 
 
 HI. CONFLICT. 
 
 17- Afflictions sanctified by the Word* 
 
 
 DU. 
 
 61. 
 
 
 62. 
 
 
 63. 
 
 
 64. 
 
 
 65. 1 
 
 
 66. 
 
 
 67. 
 
 
 68. 
 
 
 69. 
 
 
 70. 
 
 COM- 
 
 71. 
 
 
 72. 
 
 
 73. 
 
 Page 
 
 74. 
 
 
 75. 
 
 
 76. 
 
 
 77. 
 
 
 78. 
 
 
 79. 
 
 
 
 G. 
 
 80. 
 
 
 81. 
 
 
 82. 
 
 ... ib. 
 
 83. 
 
 
 84. 
 
 
 85. 
 
 ... ib. 
 
 86. 
 
 
 87. 
 
 
 88. 
 
 
 89- 
 
 
 96- 
 
 .. ib. 
 
 104- 
 
 Hymn Page 
 
 IK. Temptation * - ib. 
 
 19. Looking Upwards in a Storm, ib. 
 
 20. Valley of the Shadow of Death, gn 
 
 21. The Storm Hushed, ib 
 
 . Help in Time of Need, ib. 
 
 23. Peace after a Storm, 612 
 
 24. Mourning and Longing, ib. 
 
 25. Rejoice the Soul of thy Servant, ib. 
 
 26. Self-acquaintance, 613 
 
 27. Bitter and Sweet, ib. 
 
 . Prayer for Patience, ib. 
 
 . Submission, ib. 
 
 30. Why should I complain ? 614 
 
 31. Return, O Lord ! how long ! ib. 
 
 32. Cast down, but not destroyed, ib. 
 
 33. The benighted Traveller, 615 
 
 34. The Prisoner, ib. 
 
 35. Perplexity relieved, ib. 
 
 36. Prayer answered by Crosses, 616 
 
 37. I will trust and not be afraid, ib. 
 
 58. Questions to Unbelief, ib. 
 
 39. Great Effects by small Means, 617 
 
 40 Why art thou cast down ? &c. ib. 
 
 41. The Way of Access, ib. 
 
 42. The Pilgrim’s Song, 618 
 
 IV. COMFORT. 
 
 43. Faith a new Sense, ib. 
 
 44. The happy Change, ib. 
 
 45. Retirement 619 
 
 46. Jesus my All, ib. 
 
 47. The hidden Life, ib. 
 
 48. Joy and Peace in Believing, ib. 
 
 49. True Pleasure, 620 
 
 50. The Christian, ib. 
 
 51. Lively Hope and gracious Fear, ib. 
 
 52. Confidence, ib. 
 
 53. Peace restored, 621 
 
 54. Hear what he has done, ib. 
 
 55. Freedom from Care, ib. 
 
 56. Humiliation and Praise, 62? 
 
 57. For the Poor, ib. 
 
 58. Home in View, .. ib. 
 
 V. DEDICATION AND SURRENDER. 
 
 59. Old things passed away, 623 
 
 True Happiness, 625 
 
 The happy Debtor, ib. 
 
 VI. CAUTIONS. 
 
 The new Convert, „ ib. 
 
 True and False Comforts, 626 
 
 True and False Zeal, ib. 
 
 Living and Dead Faith, ib. 
 
 Abuse of the Gospel, ib. 
 
 The Narrow Way, 627 
 
 Dependence, ib. 
 
 Not of Works, ib. 
 
 Sin’s Deceit, ib. 
 
 Are there few saved ? .’ 628 
 
 The Sluggard, ib. 
 
 Not in Word but in Power, ib. 
 
 VII. PRAISE. 
 
 VIII. SHORT HVMNS. 
 
CONTENTS, 
 
 VII 
 
 P O E M S. 
 
 Page I ^ a Sf 
 
 The Paper Kite; or, Pride must have a Fall, 635 I The Spider and the Toad, 636 
 
 A Thought on the Sea-shore, ib. | 
 
 A TABLE 
 
 BY WHICH TO FIND ANY HYMN FROM THE FIRST LINE. 
 
 A 
 
 A Believer free from care, 
 
 Afflictions do not come alone, 
 
 Afflictions, though they seem severe, 
 
 A garden contemplation suits, ••• 
 
 A glance from heaven, with sweet effect,.. 
 
 A shelter from the rain or wind, 
 
 Ah ! what can I do 
 
 Alas ! Elisha’s servant cried, 
 
 Alas ! by nature how deprav’d, 
 
 A lion, though by nature villi, . 
 
 Almighty King ! whose wondrous hand, 
 
 Although on massy pillars built, 
 
 Amazing grace ! (how sweet the sound !) 
 
 Approach, my soul, the mercy-seat, 
 
 As birds their infant brood protect, 
 
 As needles point towards the pole, ... 
 
 As once for Jonah, so the Lord, 
 
 As parched in the barren sands, 
 
 As some tall rock amidst the waves, 
 
 As the serpent raisd by Moses, 
 
 As the surfs enliv’ning eye, 
 
 As when the weary traveller gains, 
 
 A word from Jesus calms the sea, .» 
 
 A worldling spent each day, 
 
 B 
 
 Before Elisha’s gate, 
 
 Begone, unbelief, 
 
 Behold the throne of grace ! 
 
 Beneath the tyrant Satan’s yoke, 
 
 Beside the gospel-pool, . 
 
 Bestow, dear Lora, upon our youth, ' 
 
 Be still, my heart ! these anxious cares,... 
 
 Bitter, indeed, the waters are, 
 
 Bleak winter is subdu’d at length, 
 
 Blinded in youth by Satan’s arts, 
 
 Breathe from the gentle south, O Lord,.. 
 By various maxims, forms, and rules, .... 
 
 By faith in Christ, I walk with God, 
 
 By the poor widow’s oil and meal, 
 
 By whom was David taught, 
 
 C 
 
 Cheer up, my soul, there is a mercy -seat. 
 
 Chief shepherd of thy chosen sheep, 
 
 Come, my soul, thy suit prepare, 
 
 Confirm the hope thy word allows, 
 
 Constrain’d by their Lord to embark, 
 
 Could the creatures help or ease us, 
 
 Courage, my soul! behold the prize, 
 
 D 
 
 Darkness overspreads us here, 
 
 Day of judgment, day of wonders ! 
 
 Dear Lord ! acoept a sinful heart, 
 
 Destruction’s dangerous road, 
 
 Does it not grief and wonder move, 
 
 Does the gospel word proclaim, 
 
 E 
 
 Elijah’s example declares, 
 
 Elisha, struck with grief and awe, 
 
 Encourag’d by thy word, 
 
 Ensnar’d too long my heart has been, 
 
 Ere God had built the mountains, 
 
 F 
 
 Far from the world, O Lord, I flee, 
 
 Father, forgive (the Saviour said,) 
 
 Father of angels and of men, 
 
 Fervent persevering prayers, 
 
 Fierce passions discompose the mind,...., 
 
 Fix my heart and eyes on thine ! 
 
 Forest beasts, that live by prey, 
 
 For mercies countless as the sands, 
 
 Page 
 
 • 565 
 
 • 569 
 
 • 559 
 . 601 
 
 • 598 
 . 602 
 
 • 60 6 
 . 538 
 . 580 
 . 601 
 . 629 
 . 593 
 . 538 
 . 608 
 .. 518 
 ,. 600 
 . 549 
 . 546 
 .. 564 
 . 545 
 . 594 
 . 622 
 . 553 
 . 559 
 
 . 538 
 . 616 
 . 536 
 . 579 
 . 561 
 ,. 574 
 ,. 617 
 ,. 529 
 ,. 581 
 ,. 663 
 ,. 608 
 .. 569 
 526 
 ,. 537 
 550 
 
 5 87 
 535 
 652 
 562 
 555 
 595 
 
 566 
 
 596 
 
 613 
 
 628 
 
 576 
 
 609 
 
 536 
 
 577 
 
 551 
 
 579 
 
 542 
 
 .. 619 
 .. 561 
 .. 634 
 „. 565 
 ... 568 
 ... 625 
 ... 615 
 .. 541 
 
 From Egypt lately freed, 
 
 From pole to pole let others roam, - 
 
 From Sheba a distant report, 
 
 G 
 
 Gladness was spread through Israel’s host, 
 
 Glorious things of thee are spoken, 
 
 Glory to God the Father’s name, 
 
 God gives his mercies to be spent......... •••• 
 
 God, with one piercing glance, looks through, 
 
 God moves in a mvsterlous way, 
 
 God of my life, to Thee I call, 
 
 Grace triumphant in the throne, 
 
 Gracious Lord, our children see, 
 
 H 
 
 Page 
 . 618 
 „ 547 
 ,. 536 
 
 • 587 
 .. 544 
 .. 634 
 .. 543 
 - 596 
 .. 6n9 
 . 610 
 .. 627 
 .. 575 
 
 Happy are they, to whom the Lord, 586 
 
 Hark, my soul ! it is the Lord, • ~ 5f.3 
 
 Hark! how time’s wide-sounding bell, 573 
 
 Happy the birth where grace presides, 623 
 
 Heal us, Emmanuel, here we are, — 529 
 
 Hear what God the Lord hath spoken, 546 
 
 Hear what the Lord, the great Amen, 571 
 
 He who on earth as man was known, 544 
 
 Here at Bethesda’s pool, the poor, 562 
 
 His master taken from his head, 595 
 
 Holy Lord God ! I love thy truth,.... 624 
 
 Honour and happiness unite, 620 
 
 Honey though the bee prepares, 543 
 
 How blest the righteous are, - 531 
 
 How blest thy creature is, O God, 618 
 
 How David, when by sin deceiv’d, 554 
 
 How hurtful was the choice of Lot, 526 
 
 How kind the good Samaritan, 557 
 
 How lost was my condition, 545 
 
 How soon the Saviour’s gracious call, 628 
 
 How sweet the name of Jesus sounds, 543 
 
 How tedious and tasteless the hours, 540 
 
 How welcome to the saints when press’d, 586 
 
 Hungry, and faint, and poor, 632 
 
 I am, saith Christ, your glorious head, 
 
 I ask’d the Lord that I might grow, 
 
 If for a time the air be calm, 
 
 If Paul in CassaFs court must stand, .... 
 
 If Solomon for wisdom prayed, 
 
 If the Lord our leader be, 
 
 If to Jesus for relief, 
 
 Incarnate God ! the soul that knows, .. 
 
 In evil long I took delight, 
 
 In mercy, not in wrath, rebuke 
 
 In themselves, as weak as worms, 
 
 In vain my fancy strives to paint, 
 
 Israel in ancient days, 
 
 I thirst, but not as once I did, 
 
 I was a grov’lling creature once, 
 
 I will praise thee ev’ry day, 
 
 I would, but cannot sing, 
 
 Jesus Christ, the Lord’s anointed, 
 
 Jesus, to what didst thou submit, 
 
 Jesus, who bought us with his blood, .. 
 Jesus, whose blood so freely stream’d, 
 
 Jesus, where’er thy people meet, 
 
 Jesus is mine ! I’m now prepar’d, 
 
 John, in a vision, saw the day, 
 
 Joy is a fruit that will not grow, 
 
 563 
 
 616 
 
 599 
 
 566 
 
 535 
 
 5-8 
 
 616 
 
 540 
 
 589 
 540 
 
 590 
 594 
 568 
 623 
 620 
 544 
 566 
 550 
 561 
 
 586 
 
 633 
 
 596 
 
 559 
 
 Kindle, Saviour, in my heart, 613 
 
 Kindred in Christ, for his dear sake, 594 
 
 L 
 
 Legion was my name by nature, 555 
 
 Let hearts and tongues unite, 585 
 
 Let us adore the grace that seeks, 58 
 
viii 
 
 Let me dwell on Golgotha, 
 
 Let us love, and sing, and wonder, 
 
 Let worldly minds the world pursue, 
 
 Lord, my soul with pleasure springs, 
 
 Lord, thou hast won, at length I yield, 
 
 Lord, who hast suffer’d all for me, 
 
 Lord, what is man ! extremes how wide, .... 
 
 M 
 
 Manna to Israel well supplied, 
 
 Martha her love and joy express’d, 
 
 Mary to her Saviour’s tomb, 
 
 May the grace of Christ our Saviour, 
 
 Mercy, O thou Son of David ! 
 
 My bams are full, my stores increase, 
 
 My former hopes are dead, 
 
 My God ! how perfect are thy ways ! 
 
 My God ! till I receiv’d thy stroke, 
 
 My harp untun’d, and laid aside, 
 
 My song shall bless the Lord of all, 
 
 My soul once had its plenteous years, 
 
 My soul this curious house of clay, 
 
 My soul is beset 
 
 My soul is sad and much dismayed, 
 
 N 
 
 Nay, I cannot let thee go, 
 
 No strength of nature can suffice, 
 
 No words can declare, 
 
 Not to Sinai’s dreadful blaze, 
 
 Now, gracious Lord, thine arm reveal, 
 
 Now let us join with hearts and tongues, .... 
 
 Now may fervent prayer arise, 
 
 Now may the Lord reveal his face, 
 
 Now, Lord, inspire the preacher’s heart,.... 
 
 Now may He who from the dead,. 
 
 O 
 
 Of all the gifts thine hand bestows, 
 
 Often thy public means of grace, 
 
 Oft as the bell, with solemn toll, 
 
 Oft as the leper’s case I read, 
 
 Oft in vain the voice of truth, 
 
 O God, whose favourable eye, 
 
 O David’s Son, and David’s Lord ! 
 
 O Lord, our languid souls inspire, 
 
 O Lord, how vile am I ! 
 
 O Lord, my best desire fulfil, 
 
 O thou, at whose almighty word, 
 
 O happy they who know the Lord, 
 
 O speak that gracious word again 
 
 Oh ! for a closer walk with God, 
 
 Oh ! may the power which melts the roek, 
 
 O how I love thy holy word, 
 
 Once a woman silent stood, ..... 
 
 Once perishing in blood I lay, 
 
 Once, while we aimed at Zion’s songs, 
 
 On man, in his own image made, 
 
 On the same flower we often see, 
 
 One awful word which Jesus spoke, 
 
 One glance of thine, eternal Lord, 
 
 One there is above all others, 
 
 Oppress’d with unbelief and sin, 
 
 Our Lord, who knows full well, ' 
 
 P 
 
 Pensive, doubting, fearful heart, 
 
 'Physician of my sin-sick soul, 
 
 Pleasing spring again is here, 
 
 Poor Esau repented too late, 
 
 Poor sinners ! little do they think, 
 
 Poor, weak, and worthless though I am, .. 
 
 Prayer an answer wifi obtain 
 
 Preachers may, from Ezekiel’s case, 
 
 Precious Bible ! what a treasure, 
 
 Prepare a thankful song, 
 
 Q 
 
 Quiet, Lord, my froward heart, 
 
 R 
 
 Refresh’d by the bread and wine, 
 
 Rejoice, believer, in the Lord, 
 
 Remember us we pray thee, Lord, 
 
 Return to bless my waiting eyes, 
 
 S 
 
 Safely through another week 
 
 Salvation ! what a glorious plan, 
 
 Sav’d by blood, I live to tell, 
 
 Saviour, shine, and cheer my soul, 
 
 Saviour, visit thy plantation, 
 
 See Aaron, God’s anointed priest, 
 
 See ! another year is gone, 
 
 See ! how rude winter’s icy hand, 
 
 See ! the corn again in ear, 
 
 See the gloomy gath’ring cloud 
 
 See the world for youth prepares, 
 
 Shall men pretend to pleasure, ; 
 
 Sight, hearing, feeling, taste and smell, .. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 .. 589 
 .. 629 
 ... 623 
 ... 620 
 ... 564 
 ...613 
 ... 631 
 
 .530 
 ,558 
 .563 
 . 633 
 .556 
 .558 
 607 
 547 
 ib. 
 588 
 583 
 528 
 595 
 607 
 611 
 
 .. 528 
 .. 624 
 .. 604 
 .. 632 
 .. 574 
 .. 584 
 .. 575 
 .. 630 
 .. 632 
 .. 633 
 
 ... 629 
 .. 632 
 .. 595 
 ... 552 
 
 ... 574 
 ... 626 
 ... 578 
 ... 58 5 
 ... 607 
 ... 613 
 ... 577 
 ... 586 
 .... 621 
 ... 526 
 ... 592 
 ... 610 
 ... 557 
 ... 548 
 .... 587 
 ... 525 
 .... 600 
 ... 556 
 ... 617 
 .... 542 
 .... 567 
 .... 560 
 
 ... 546 
 ... 552 
 ... 582 
 ... 527 
 ... 549 
 ... 535 
 ... 553 
 .... 576 
 ... 591 
 ... 631 
 
 624 
 
 590 
 
 630 
 
 632 
 
 614 
 
 584 
 
 630 
 
 621 
 
 539 
 
 588 
 
 531 
 
 573 
 
 581 
 
 583 
 
 593 
 
 603 
 
 605 
 
 618 
 
 Simon, beware ! the Saviour said, ........... .... 
 
 Sin, when view’d by scripture-light, 
 
 Sinner, art thou still secure ? 
 
 Sinners, hear the Saviour’s call, 
 
 Sin enslav’d me many years, 
 
 Sin has undone our wretched race, 
 
 Sometimes a light surprises, 
 
 Son of God ! thy people shield, 
 
 Sov’reign grace nas power alone, 
 
 Stop, poor sinner ! stop and think, 
 
 Strange and mysterious is my life, 
 
 Supported by the word, 
 
 Sweet was the time when first I felt, 
 
 Sweeter sounds than music knows, 
 
 T 
 
 Ten thousand talents once I ow’d, 
 
 That was a wonder-working word, 
 
 That man no guard or weapons needs, 
 
 The church a garden is, 
 
 The God who once to Israel spoke, 
 
 The grass, and flowers which clothe the field, 
 
 The Lord, our salvation and light, 
 
 The Spirit breathes upon the word, 
 
 The gath’ring clouds with aspect dark, 
 
 The book of nature open lies, 
 
 The moon in silver glory shone, 
 
 The moon has but a borrow’d light, 
 
 The ice and snow we lately saw, 
 
 The subtle spider often weaves, 
 
 The Saviour calls his people sheep, 
 
 The water stood like walls of brass, 
 
 The billows swell, the winds are high, 
 
 The Saviour hides his face, 
 
 The new-born child of gospel-grace, 
 
 The Lord receives his highest praise, 
 
 The wishes that the sluggard frames, 
 
 The saints Emmanuel’s portion are, 
 
 The peace which God alone reveals, 
 
 The Father we adore, 
 
 The castle of the human heart, 
 
 The evils that beset our path, 
 
 The kine unguided went, 
 
 The Lord will happiness divine, 
 
 The Lord proclaims his grace abroad, 
 
 The lion that on Samson roar’d, 
 
 The manna, favour’d Israel’s meat, 
 
 The message first to Smyrna sent, 
 
 The prophets sons, in times of old, 
 
 The Saviour 1 what a noble flame, 
 
 The saints should never be dismayed, 
 
 The Shunamite oppress’d with grief, 
 
 The signs which God to Gideon gave, 
 
 The word ot Christ our Lord, 
 
 There is a fountain fill’d with blood, 
 
 This is the feaj* of heavenly wine, 
 
 Though Jericho pleasantly stood, 
 
 Though in the outward church below 
 
 Though cloudy skies, and northern blasts, .. 
 
 Though troubles assail, 
 
 Though the morn may be serene, 
 
 Though small the drops of falling rain, 
 
 Though sore beset with guilt and fear, 
 
 Thus saith the Lord to Ephesus, 
 
 Thus saith the Holy One and true, 
 
 Thy mansion is the Christian’s heart, 
 
 Thy message, by the preacher, seal, 
 
 Thy promise, Lord, and thy command, 
 
 Time, with an unwearied hand, „ 
 
 Time, by moments, steals away, 
 
 ’Tis a point I long to know, 
 
 ’Tis my happiness below, 
 
 ’Tis past, — the dreadful stormy night, 
 
 To keep the lamp alive,. 
 
 To tell the Saviour all my wants, 
 
 To thee our wants are known, 
 
 To those who know the Lord I speak , ....... 
 
 Too many. Lord, abuse thy grace, 
 
 U 
 
 Unbelief the soul dismays, 
 
 Uncertain how the way to find, 
 
 Unless the Lord had been my stay, ” 
 
 W 
 
 Wearied by day with toils and cares, 
 
 We seek a rest beyond the skies, 
 
 What a mournful life is mine, 
 
 What contradictions meet, 
 
 What thousands never knew the road 
 
 What think you of Christ ? is the test, 
 
 What various hindrances we meet, 
 
 When Adam fell he quickly lost,.. 
 
 When first to make my heart his own, 
 
 When first my soul enlisted, 
 
 When Hannah, press’d with grief, 
 
 When Jesus claims the sinner’s heart,. ........ 
 
 Pagt 
 
 .. 560 
 .. 627 
 .. 605 
 .. 606 
 .. 624 
 ., 675 
 .. 619 
 ... 549 
 .. 561 
 .. 604 
 
 583 
 
 - 625 
 ••• 597 
 ••• 541 
 ••• 558 
 •••• 577 
 
 - 583 
 
 - 584 
 ••• 591 
 ••• 592 
 ••• 697 
 •••• 598 
 .... 599 
 
 ib. 
 
 ••• 600 
 ■ ••• 601 
 •••• 602 
 .... 610 
 .... 612 
 
 625 
 
 .... 616 
 .... 628 
 
 633 
 
 .... ib. 
 
 634 
 
 •••• 558 
 •••• 543 
 •••• 534 
 .... 546 
 — • 548 
 -. 533 
 .... 550 
 .... 570 
 .... 538 
 .... 589 
 
 527 
 .... 576 
 .... 532 
 .... 569 
 .... 551 
 .... 588 
 .... 537 
 .... 553 
 .... 581 
 .... 527 
 .... 582 
 .... 599 
 .... 614 
 
 570 
 
 ib. 
 
 556 
 
 580 
 
 632 
 
 572 
 
 57 ? 
 
 564 
 
 610 
 
 611 
 
 627 
 
 619 
 
 633 
 
 609 
 
 626 
 
 617 
 
 615 
 
 ..... 611 
 
 593 
 
 ..... 653 
 
 541 
 
 580 
 
 627 
 
 554 
 
 590 
 
 525 
 
 533 
 
 534 
 
 533 
 
 552 
 
CONTENTS, 
 
 lx 
 
 Page 
 
 When Joseph his brethren beheld, 529 
 
 When Israel, by divine command , r >90 
 
 When Israel’s tribes were parch’d with thirst, 567 
 
 When Israel heard the fiery law,.. 531 
 
 When Israel was from Egypt freed, 541 
 
 W hen Joshua, by God’s command, 532 
 
 When Peter boasted, soon he fell, 554 
 
 When sinners utter boasting words, 551 
 
 When the disciples cross’d the lake, 556 
 
 When the apostles wonders wrought, 565 
 
 When descending from the sky, 554 
 
 When any turn from Zion’s way, 563 
 
 When the belov’d disciple took, 571 
 
 When Peter through the tedious night, 575 
 
 When Moses waved his mystic rod, 577 
 
 When Paul was parted from his friends 580 
 
 When on the eross my Lord I see, 589 
 
 When the sun with cheerful beams, 597 
 
 When a black o’erspreading cloud, 598 
 
 When slumber seals our weary eyes, 602 
 
 When darkness long has veil’d my mind, 612 
 
 When my prayers are a burden and task, 
 
 When my Saviour my Shepherd, is near, 
 
 When the poor pris’ner through a grate, 
 
 When the wounded spirit hears, 
 
 Page 
 
 When H agar found the bottle spent, 
 
 While with ceaseless course the sun, 
 
 While Joshua led the armed bands, 
 
 572 
 
 While I liv’d without the Lord 
 
 
 Why should I fear the darkest hour, 
 
 
 Winter has a joy for me, 
 
 
 With Satan, my accuser near, 550 
 
 With Israel’s God who can compare? 633 
 
 Write to Sardis, saith the Lord, 570 
 
 Y 
 
 Ye saints on earth, ascribe with heaven’s high host, 634 
 
 Ye sons of earth, prepare the plough, 5 55 
 
 Yes ! since God himself has said it, 62 0 
 
 Z 
 
 Zaecheus climb’d the tree, 560 
 
 Zeal is that pure and heavenly flame, 636 
 
 Zion ! the city of our God, 579 
 
 MESSIAH, &c. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 Page 
 
 SERMON I. — The Consolation . — “ Comfort ye, 
 comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak 
 ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, 
 that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniqui- 
 ty is pardoned : for she hath received at the 
 Lord’s hand double for all her sins,” Isaiah xl. 
 
 1, 2 643 
 
 SERMON II. — The Harbinger. — “ The voice of 
 him that crieth in the wilderness. Prepare ye the 
 way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a high- 
 way for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, 
 and every mountain and hill shall be made low', 
 and the crooked shall be made straight, and the 
 rough places plain. And the glory of the Lord 
 shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it to- 
 gether, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken 
 
 it,” Isaiah xl. 3—5, 648 
 
 SERMON III. — The Shaking of the Heavens and 
 the Earth — “ Thus saith the Lord of hosts. Yet 
 once, it is a little while, and I will shake the hea- 
 vens and the earth, and the sea, and the dry 
 land : And I will shake all nations, and the de- 
 sire of all nations shall come, and I will fill this 
 house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts,” Hag- 
 
 gai ii. 6, 7, 652 
 
 SERMON IV. — The Lord coming to his Temple.— 
 
 “ The Lord whom ye seek, shall suddenly come 
 to his temple; even the messenger of the cove- 
 nant in whom ye delight : Behold, he shall come 
 saith the Lord of hosts. But who may abide the 
 day of his coming ? and who shall stand when he 
 appeareth ? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like 
 fuller’s soap— and he shall purify the sons of Le- 
 vi— that they may offer unto the Lord an offering 
 
 in righteousness,” Malachi iii. 1 — 3, 655 
 
 SERMON V. — Immanuel. — “ Behold a virgin shall 
 conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name 
 Immanuel” (God with us), Isaiah vii. 14, 660 
 
 SERMON VI . — Salvation published fronn the 
 Mountains . — “ O Zion, that bringest good tid- 
 ings, get thee up into the high mountains. O 
 Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy 
 voice with strength, lift it up, be not afraid ; say 
 unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God !” Is- 
 aiah xl. 9, 664 
 
 SERMON VII . — The Morning Light.—" Arise, 
 shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the 
 Lord is risen upon thee. For behold, the dark- 
 ness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the 
 people ; but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and 
 Iiis glory shall be seen upon thee, and the Gen- 
 tiles sh;dl come to thy light, and kings to the 
 
 brightness of thy rising,” Isaiah lx. 1—3, 667 
 
 SERMON VIII . — The Sun rising upon a dark 
 World . — “ The people that walked in darkness 
 have seen a great light ; they that dwell in the 
 land of the shadow of death, upon them hath 
 
 the light shined,” Isaiah ix. 2, 671 
 
 SERMON I X.— Characters and Names qf Mes- 
 
 Pagt 
 
 siah. — “ For unto us a child is born, unto us a 
 son is given ; and the government shall be upon 
 his shoulder : and his name shall be called Won- 
 derful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Ever- 
 lasting Father, the Prince of peace,” Isaiah ix. 6, 674 
 SERMON IX. — The Angel's Message and Song . — 
 
 “ There were in the same country shepherds, 
 abiding in the field, keeping waten over their 
 flocks by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord 
 came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone 
 round about them, and they were sore afraid. 
 
 And the angel said unto them. Fear not: for be- 
 hold I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, 
 which shall be unto all people. For unto you is 
 born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, 
 which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a 
 sign unto you : Ye shall find the babe wrapped 
 in swaddling-clothes, lying in a manger. And 
 suddenly there was with the angel a multitude 
 of the heavenly host, praising God, and say- 
 ing, Glory be to God in the highest, on earth 
 peace, good-will towards men,” Luke ii. 8 — 14, 678 
 
 SERMON XI — Messiah's Entrance into Jerusa- 
 lem — “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; 
 shout, O daughter of Jerusalem, behold thy King 
 cometh unto thee : he is just and having salva- 
 tion, lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a 
 colt the foal of an ass. — And he shall speak peace 
 
 unto the heathen,” Zech. ix. 9, 10, . 681 
 
 SERMON XII. — Effects of Messiah's Appearance. 
 
 — “ Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, 
 and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped : Then 
 shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the 
 
 tongue of the dumb sing,” Isaiah xxxv. 5, 6, 685 
 
 SERMON XIII. — The Great Shepherd “ He shall 
 
 feed his flock like a shepherd ; he shall gather 
 the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bo- 
 som ; and shall gently lead those that are with 
 
 young,” Isaiah xl. 11, 688 
 
 SERMON XIV. — Rest for the Weary. — “ Come 
 unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, 
 
 and I will give you rest,” Matt. xi. 28, 692 
 
 SERMON XV. — Messiah's easy Yoke. — “ Take 
 my yoke upon you, and leam of me, for I am 
 meek and lowly m heart; and ye shall find rest to 
 your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my bur- 
 den is light,” Matt. xi. 29, 30, - 695 
 
 PART II. 
 
 SERMON XVI .— The Lamb of God, the Great 
 Atonement . — “ Behold the Lamb of God, which 
 taketh away the sins of the world !” John i. 29, 698 
 
 SERMON XVII . — Messiah despised and rejected of 
 Men . — “ He is despised and rejected of men : a 
 man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief,” Is- 
 aiah liii. 5, 702 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 SERMON XVIII. — Voluniaty Suffering . — " I 
 gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to 
 them that plucked off the hair; 1 hid not my 
 face from shame and spitting,” Isaiah 1.6, .... 706 
 SERMON XIX. — Messiah suffering and wounded 
 for us. — “Surely he hath borne our grief and car- 
 ried our sorrows. — He was wounded for our trans- 
 gressions, he was bruised for our iniquities ; the 
 chastisement of our peace was upon him, and 
 with his stripes we are healed,” Isaiah liii. 4, 5, 709 
 SERMON XX.— -Sin charged upon the Surety — 
 “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have 
 turned every one to his own way, and the Lord 
 hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all,” Is- 
 aiah liii. 6 712 
 
 SERMON XXI — Messiah derided upon the Cross. 
 
 — “All they that see me, laugh me to scorn; 
 they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, say- 
 ing, He trusted in the Lord that he would de- 
 liver him ; let him deliver him, seeing he delight- 
 ed in him,” Psalm xxii. 7, 8, 7lfi 
 
 SERMON XXII. — Messiah unpitied and without 
 comforter. — “ Reproach (rebuke) hath broken 
 my heart, and I am full of heaviness: and I look- 
 ed for some to take pity, but there was none ; 
 and for comforters, but I found none,” Psal. lxix. 
 
 20 718 
 
 SERMON XXIII. — No Sorrow like Messiah’s Sor- 
 
 row. — “ Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? 
 Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto 
 
 mv sorrow,” Lam. i. 12, 721 
 
 SERMON XXIV. — Messiah's Innocence vindicat- 
 ed. — “ He was taken from prison and from judg- 
 ment, and who shall declare his generation ? For 
 he was cut off out of the land of the living ; for 
 the transgression of my people was he stricken,” 
 
 Isaiah liii. 8 724 
 
 SERMON XXV. — Messiah rising from the Dead . — 
 
 “ For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, nei- 
 ther wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see cor- 
 ruption,” Psalm xvi. 10, 727 
 
 SERMON XXVI. — The Ascension of Messiah to 
 Glory. — “ Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be 
 ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, and the King 
 of Glory shall come in. Who is this King of 
 Glory ? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord 
 mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye 
 gates, even lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the 
 King of Glory shall come in. Who is this King 
 of Glory ? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of 
 
 ^ n in 771 
 
 Glory,” Psalm xxiv. 7—10, 731 
 
 SERMON XXVII — Messiah the Son of God— 
 
 “ For unto which of the angels said he at any 
 time. Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten 
 
 thee?” Heb. i.5/ 734 
 
 SERMON XXVIII .— Messiah worshipped by An- 
 
 * // T .,11 nwn.nL f Tvr/w^ki v\ n I I ^ 
 
 gels.—“ Let all the angels of God worship him,” 
 
 Heb. i. 6, - 737 
 
 SERMON XXIX. — Gifts received for the Rebel- 
 lious.— “ Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast 
 led captivity captive; Thou hast received gifts 
 for men ; yea, for the rebellious also, that the 
 Lord God might dwell among them,” Psalm 
 
 ixviii. 18, 740 
 
 CRMON XXX.— The Publication of the Gospel. 
 
 The Lord gave the word, great was the 
 company of those that published it,” (or of the 
 
 preachers ,) Psalm Ixviii. 11, 744 
 
 SERMON XXXI.— The Gospel Message, glad Tid- 
 ings.— [As it is written], “ How beautiful are 
 the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, 
 and bring glad tidings of good things !” Rom. x. 
 
 747 
 
 SERMON XXXII . — The Progress of the Gospel— 
 
 “ Their sound went into all the earth, and then- 
 words unto the end of the world,” Rom. x. 18, 750 
 
 SERMON XXXIII .— Opposition to Messiah un- 
 reasonable .— “ Why do the heathen rage, and the 
 people imagine a vain thing ? The kings of the 
 earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel 
 together, against the Lord, and against his A- 
 nointed ; saying. Let us break their bands asun- 
 der, and cast away their cords from us,” Psalm 
 ii. 1-3, ... - - 754 
 
 Page 
 
 SERMON XXXI \— Opposition to Messiah in 
 vain. — “ He that sitteth in the heavens shall 
 laugh : the Lord shall have them in derision,” 
 
 Psalm ii. 4, 7,37 
 
 SERMON XXXV —Opposition to Messiah ruin- 
 ous,. — “ Thou shalt break them with a rod of 
 iron, thou shalt dash them in pieces like a pot- 
 ter’s vessel,” Psalm ii. 9, 760 
 
 SERMON XXXXl.— l'he Lord reigveth. — “ Halle- 
 lujah, for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth,” 
 
 Rev. xix. 6, 765 
 
 SERMON XXXVII. — The Extent of Messiah’s 
 Spiritual Kingdom. — “ The kingdoms of this 
 world are become the kingdoms oF our Lord, and 
 of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and 
 
 ever,” Rev. xi. 15, 766 
 
 SERMON XXXVIII. — King of Kings and Lord 
 of Lords. — [And he hath on his vesture, and on 
 thigh, a name written]. Kino of Kings and 
 Lord of Lords,” Rev. xix. 16, 77- 
 
 PART III. 
 
 SERMON XXXI X— Job’s Faith and Expecta- 
 tion . — “ I know that my Redeemer liveth, and 
 that he shall stand in the latter day upon the 
 earth. And though after my skin, worms de- 
 stroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God,” 
 
 Job xix. 25, 26, 774 
 
 SERMON XL . — The Lord is risen indeed—" But 
 now is Christ risen from the dead, and become 
 the first-fruits of them that slept,” 1 Cor. xv. 2c, 777 
 SERMON XLI . — Death by Adam, Life by Christ. 
 
 — “ For since by man came death, by man came 
 also the resurrection of the dead. For as in 
 Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made 
 
 alive,” 1 Cor. xv. 21, 22,. 780 
 
 SERMON XLII . — The General Resurrection— 
 
 “ Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not 
 all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a mo- 
 ment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, 
 for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be 
 raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 
 
 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, 
 and this mortal must put on immortality, 1 Cor. 
 
 xv. 51, 52, 783 
 
 SERMON XLIII —Death swallowed up in Victory. 
 
 — “ Then shall be brought to pass the saying that 
 is written. Death is swallowed up in victory !” 
 
 1 Cor. xv. 54, 787 
 
 SERMON X LI V. — Triumph over Death and the 
 Grave. — “ O death, where is thy sting ? O grave, 
 where is thy victory ? The sting of death is sin ; 
 and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be 
 to God, which giveth us the victory, through our 
 
 Lord Jesus Chnst,” 1 Cor. xv. 55—57, 790 
 
 SERMON XLV. — Divine Support and Protection. 
 
 — “ What shall we say then to these things ? If 
 God be for us, who can be against us ?” Rom. 
 
 viii. 31, 794 
 
 SERMON XLVI. —Accusers challenged—" Who 
 shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect ? 
 
 It is God that justifieth,” Rom. viii. 33, 797 
 
 SERMON XLVII. — The Intercession of Christ— 
 
 “ Who is he that condemneth ? It is Christ that 
 died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even 
 at the right hand of God, who also maketh inter- 
 cession for ns,” Rom. viii. 34, 801 
 
 SERMON XLVIII . — The Song of the Redeemed— 
 
 “ Thou— hast redeemed us to God, by thy 
 blood” [out of every kindred, and tongue, and 
 
 people, and nation], Rev. v. 9, .. 804 
 
 SERMON XLI X— The Chorus of Angels— " Wor- 
 thy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power, 
 and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and ho- 
 nour, and glory, and blessing !” Rev. v. 12, 810 
 
 SERMON L —The Universal Chorus .— [And ev- 
 ery creature which is in heaven, and on the 
 earth, and under the earth, and such as are in 
 the sea, and all that are in them, heard I, say- 
 ing,] “Blessing, and honour, and glory, and pow- 
 er, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and 
 unto the Lamb for ever and ever,” Rev. v. 13, ... 813 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 X! 
 
 OCCASIONAL SERMONS. 
 
 Page 
 
 The Subject and Temper of the Gospel Ministry . — 
 
 — . — “ Speaking the truth in love,” 
 
 Ephesians iv. 15, 821 
 
 The Guilt and Danger of such a Nation as this — 
 
 “ Shall I not visit for these things, saith the 
 Lord ? And shall not my soul be avenged on 
 such a nation as this ?” Jeremiah v. 29, 821 
 
 On the Death of Dr Conyers.—" So being affection- 
 ately desirous of you, we were willing to have 
 imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, 
 but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto 
 us,” 1 These, ii. 8, 833 
 
 The Best Wisdom. — “ He that winncth souls is 
 wise,” Proverbs xi. 30, 840 
 
 The Great Advent. — “ For the Lord himself shall 
 descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice 
 
 cf the archangel, and with the trump of God : and 
 the dead in Christ shall rise first : then we which 
 are alive and remain, shall be caught up together 
 in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air ; and 
 so shall we ever be with the Lord,” 1 Thess. iv. 
 
 16, 17, - 85) 
 
 The imminent Danger, and only sure Resource of 
 this Nation. — “Who can teli if God will turn 
 and repent, and turn away from his fieroe anger, 
 that we perish not?” Jonah iii. 9, 85 
 
 Motives to Humiliation and Praise — “ How shall I 
 give thee up, Ephraim? How shall I deliver 
 thee Israel? How shall I make thee as Admah ? 
 How shall I set thee as Zeboim? My heart is 
 turned within me, my repentings are kindled to- 
 gether. I will not execute the fierceness of mine 
 anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim ; for 
 I am God, and not man, the Holy One in the 
 midst of thee,” Hosea xi. 8—9, 864 
 
 TRACTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 APOLOGIA ; 
 TER, &C. 
 
 OR FOUR LETTERS TO A MINIS- 
 
 ~ET. I 
 
 LET. II. 
 
 877 
 
 881 
 
 LET. III. 
 
 885 
 
 LET. IV 
 
 
 Page 
 
 A PLAN OF ACADEMICAL PREPARATION 
 FOR THE MINISTRY, 897 
 
 A MONUMENT TO THE LORD’S GOODNESS, 
 
 AND TO THE MEMORY OF MISS ELIZA 
 CUNNINGHAM, 913 
 
MEMOIRS 
 
 OF 
 
 THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 The Memoirs of the Hon. and Rev. William Bromley Cado- 
 gan, and those of John Bacon, Esq. were written at the parti- 
 cular request of their relations. But in publishing these of the 
 late Rev. John Newton, I profess myself a volunteer ; and 
 my motives were the following : — When I perceived my vene- 
 rable friend bending under a weight of years, and considered 
 how soon, from the very course of nature, the world must lose 
 so valuable an instructor and example ; when I reflected how 
 common it is for hasty and inaccurate accounts of extraordinary 
 characters to be obtruded on the public by venal writers, when- 
 ever more authentic documents are wanting ; above all, when 
 I considered how striking a display such a life affords of the 
 nature of true religion, of the power of divine grace, of the 
 mysterious but all-wise course of divine providence, and of the 
 encouragement afforded for our dependence upon that provi- 
 dence in the most trying circumstances ; I say, on these ac- 
 counts I felt, that the leading features of such a character should 
 not be neglected, whilst it was easy to authenticate them cor- 
 rectly. 
 
 Besides which, I have observed a want of books of a certain 
 class for young people ; and have often been inquired of by 
 Christian parents for publications that might amuse their fami- 
 lies, and yet tend to promote their best interests. The num- 
 ber, however, of this kind which I have seen, and that appear- 
 
 B 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 o 
 
 ed unexceptionable, is but small : For, as the characters and 
 sentiments of some men become moral blights in society, men 
 whose mouths seldom open but, like that of sepulchres, they 
 discover the putridity they contain, and infect more or less 
 whoever ventures within their baneful influence ; so the re- 
 formed subject of these Memoirs was happily a remarkable in- 
 stance of the reverse. The change that took place in his heart, 
 after such a course of profligacy, affords a convincing demon- 
 stration of the truth and force of Christianity. Instead of pro- 
 ceeding as a blight in society, he became a blessing ; his future 
 course was a striking example of the beneficial effects of the 
 Gospel ; and that, not only from the pulpit and by his pen, but 
 also by his conversation in the large circle of his acquaintance, 
 of which there is, yet living, a multitude of witnesses. 
 
 Impressed, therefore, with the advantages which I conceived 
 would result from the publication of these Memoirs, I commu- 
 nicated my design some years ago to Mr N. Whatever tend- 
 ed to promote that cause in which his heart had been long en- 
 gaged, I was sure would not fail to obtain his concurrence. 
 He accordingly promised to afford whatever materials might be 
 necessary, beyond those which his printed Narrative contained. 
 He promised also to read over and revise whatever was added 
 from my own observation ; and he soon after brought me an 
 Account in writing, containing every thing memorable which 
 he recollected before the commencement of his Narrative. I 
 shall, therefore, detain the reader no longer than to assure 
 him, that the whole of the following Memoirs (except what re- 
 lates to Mr N.’s character) was submitted to him in MS., while 
 he was capable of correcting it, and received his sanction. 
 
MEMOIRS, 
 
 $C. $' c - 
 
 1 hese Memoirs seem naturally to commence with the Account men- 
 tioned in the Preface, and which I here transcribe : — 
 
 44 I was born in London, the 24th of July, 1725, old style. My pa- 
 rents, though not wealthy, were respectable. My father was many 
 years master of a ship in the Mediterranean trade. In the year 1748 
 ho went Governor of York Fort, in Hudson’s Bay, where he died in the 
 year 1750. 
 
 44 My mother was a Dissenter, a pious woman, and a member of the 
 late Dr Jenning’s church. She was of a weak, consumptive habit, and 
 loved retirement ; and as I was her only child, she made it the chief bu- 
 siness and pleasure of her life to instruct me, and bring me up in the 
 nurture and admonition of the Lord. I have been told, that from my 
 birth she had, in her mind, devoted me to the ministry ; and that, had 
 she lived till I was of a proper age, I was to have been sent to St An- 
 drews, in Scotland, to be educated. But the Lord had appointed other- 
 wise. My mother died before I was seven years of age. 
 
 44 1 was rather of a sedentary turn, not active and playful, as boys 
 commonly are, but seemed as willing to learn as my mother was to teach 
 me. I had some capacity, and a retentive memory. When I was four 
 years old, I could read (hard names excepted) as well as I can now ; 
 and could likewise repeat the answers to the questions in the Assem- 
 bly’s Shorter Catechism, with the proofs ; and all Dr Watts’ smaller 
 Catechisms, and his Children’s Hymns. 
 
 44 When my father returned from sea, after my mother’s death, he 
 married again. My new mother was the daughter of a substantial gra- 
 zier at Aveley in Essex. She seemed willing to adopt and bring me 
 up ; but, after two or three years, she had a son of her own, who en- 
 grossed the old gentleman’s notice. My father was a very sensible and 
 a moral man, as the wwld rates morality, but neither he nor my step- 
 mother were under the impressions of religion ; I was, therefore, much 
 left to myself, to mingle with idle and wicked boys, and soon learnt 
 their ways. 
 
4 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 e£ I never was at school but about two years (from my eighth to my 
 tenth year) ; it was a boarding-school at Stratford in Essex. Though 
 my father left me much to run about the streets, yet, when under his 
 eye, he kept me at a great distance. I am persuaded he loved me, but 
 he seemed not willing that I should know it. I was with him in a state 
 of fear and bondage. His sternness, together with the severity of my 
 schoolmaster, broke and overawed my spirit, and almost made me a 
 dolt; so that part of the two years I was at school, instead of making 
 progvess, I nearly forgot all my good mother had taught me. 
 
 ££ The day I was eleven years old, I went on board my father’s ship 
 in Longreach. I made five voyages with him to the Mediterranean. 
 In the course of the last voyage, he left me some months at Alicant in 
 Spain, with a merchant, a particular friend of his, with whom I might 
 have done well, if I had behaved well. But by this time my sinful 
 propensities had gathered strength by habit : I was very wicked, and 
 therefore very foolish ; and, being my own enemy, I seemed determin- 
 ed that nobody should be my friend. 
 
 <£ My father left the sea in the year 1742. I made one voyage after- 
 wards to Venice before the mast ; and soon after my return, was im- 
 pressed on board the Harwich. Then began my awfully mad career, 
 as recorded in the Narrative; to which, and to the Letters to a Wife, 
 I must refer you for any farther dates and incidents. 
 
 “ I am truly yours, 
 
 ££ JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 ££ Dfx. 19, 1795” 
 
 A few articles may be added to this account from the Narrative, 
 where we find, that his pious mother ££ stored his memory with whole 
 chapters, and smaller portions of Scripture, catechisms, hymns, and 
 poems ; and often commended him with prayers and tears to God 
 also, that in his sixth year he began to learn Latin, though the intend- 
 ed plan of his education was soon broken ; and that he lost this valua- 
 ble parent, July 11, 1732. 
 
 We also find, that, after his father’s second marriage, he was sent to 
 the school above mentioned, and in the last of the two years he spent 
 there, a new usher came, who, observing and suiting his temper, he 
 prosecuted Latin with great eagerness, and before he was ten years 
 old, he had reached and maintained the first post in the second class, 
 which, in that school, was Tully and Virgil. But by being pushed for- 
 ward too fast, and not properly grounded (a method too common in 
 inferior schools), he soon lost all he had learned. 
 
 In the next and most remarkable period of Mr N.’s life, we must be 
 conducted by the Narrative above mentioned. It has been observed, 
 that at eleven years of age he was taken by his father to sea. His fa- 
 ther was a man of remarkably good sense, and great knowledge of the 
 world ; he took much care of his son’s morals, but could not supply a 
 mother’s part. The father had been educated at a Jesuits’ college, near 
 Seville in Spain, and had an air of such distance and severity in his 
 carriage as discouraged his son, who always was in fear, when before 
 
MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 5 
 
 him, and which deprived him of that influence he might otherwise have 
 had. 
 
 From this time to the year 1742, Mr N. made several voyages, hut 
 at considerable intervals : these intervals were chiefly spent in the coun- 
 try, excepting a few months in his fifteenth year, when he was placed, 
 with a very advantageous prospect, at Alicant, already mentioned. 
 
 About this period of his life, with a temper and conduct exceedingly 
 various, he was often disturbed with religious convictions; and being 
 from a child fond of reading, he met with Bennet’s 66 Christian Ora- 
 tory and though he understood little of it, the course of life it re- 
 commended, appeared very desirable. He therefore began to pray, to 
 read the Scriptures, to keep a diary, and thought himself religious ; 
 but soon became weary of it, and gave it up. He then learned to curse 
 and to blaspheme, and was exceedingly wicked when out of the view 
 of his parents, though at so early a period. 
 
 Upon his being thrown from a horse near a dangerous hedge-row, 
 
 , newly cut, his conscience suggested to him the dreadful consequences 
 of appearing in such a state before God. This put him, though but 
 for a time, upon breaking off his profane practices; but the consequence 
 of these struggles between sin and conscience was, that on every relapse 
 he sunk into still greater depths of wickedness. He was roused again 
 by the loss of a companion, who had agreed to go with him one Sunday 
 on board a man-of-war. Mr N. providentially coming too late, the 
 boat had gone without him, and was overset, by which his companion 
 and several others were drowned. He was exceedingly affected at the 
 funeral of this companion, to think, that by the delay of a few minutes 
 (which at the time occasioned much anger) his life had been preserved : 
 but this also was soon forgotten. The perusal of the “ Family Instruc- 
 tor” produced another temporary reformation. In short, he took up 
 and laid aside a religious profession three or four different times before 
 he was sixteen years of age. 
 
 “ All this while,” says he, <c my heart was insincere ; I often saw the 
 necessity of religion, as a means of escaping hell, but I loved sin, and 
 was unwilling to forsake it. I was so strangely blind and stupid, that 
 sometimes, when I have been determined upon things, which I knew 
 were sinful, I could not go on quietly till I had first dispatched my or- 
 dinary task of prayer, in which I have grudged every moment of the 
 time ; when this was finished, my conscience was in some measure paci- 
 fied, and I could rush into folly with little remorse.” 
 
 But his last reform was the most remarkable. “ Of this period,” 
 says he, at least of some part of it, I may say in the apostle’s words, 
 6 After the strictest sect of our religion, I lived a Pharisee.’ I did 
 every thing that might be expected from a person entirely ignorant 
 of God’s righteousness, and desirous to establish his own. I spent the 
 greatest part of every day in reading the Scriptures, and in meditation 
 and prayer. I fasted often : I even abstained from all animal food for 
 three months. I would hardly answer a question, for fear of speaking 
 an idle word. I seemed to bemoan my former miscarriages very ear- 
 nestly, and sometimes with tears : in short, I became an ascetic, and 
 
6 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 and endeavoured, as far as my situation would permit, to renounce so- 
 ciety, that I might avoid temptation.” 
 
 This reformation, it seems, continued for more than two years. 
 44 But,” he adds, 44 it was a poor religion ; it left me in many respects 
 under the power of sin ; and, so far as it prevailed, only tended to 
 make me gloomy, stupid, unsociable, and useless.” 
 
 That it was a poor religion, and quite unlike that which he after- 
 wards possessed, will appear from what immediately follows : for had 
 it been taken up upon more scriptural ground, and been attended with 
 that internal evidence and satisfaction, which true religion only brings, 
 he could not so soon have fallen a dupe to such a writer as Shaftesbury. 
 It was at a petty shop at Middleburgh, in Holland, that he first met 
 with a volume of the Characteristics. The declamation, called by his 
 Lordship a Rhapsody, suited the romantic turn of his mind. Unaware 
 of its tendency, he imagined he had found a valuable guide. This book 
 was always in his hand, till he could nearly repeat the Rhapsody. 
 Though it produced no immediate effect, it operated like a slow poison, 
 and prepared the way for all that followed. 
 
 About the year 1742, having lately come from a voyage, his father, 
 not intending to return to sea, was contriving for Mr N.’s settlement 
 in the world. But to settle a youth, who had no spirit for business, 
 who knew but little of men or things, who was of a romantic turn — 
 a medley, as he expressed it, of religion, philosophy, and indolence, 
 and quite averse to order — must prove a great difficulty. At length a 
 merchant in Liverpool, an intimate friend of the father, and after- 
 wards a singular friend to the son, offered to send him for some years 
 to Jamaica, and undertook the charge of his future welfare. This was 
 consented to, and preparation made for the voyage, which was to be 
 prosecuted the following week. In the mean time, he was sent by his 
 father, on some business, to a place, a few miles beyond Maidstone in 
 Kent. But the journey, which was designed to last but three or four 
 days, gave such a turn to his mind as roused him from his habitual in- 
 dolence, and produced a series of important and interesting occur- 
 rences. 
 
 A few days before this intended journey, he received an invitation 
 to visit some distant relations in Kent. They were particular friends 
 of his mother, who died at their house ; but a coolness having taken 
 place upon his father’s second marriage, all intercourse between them 
 had ceased. As his road lay within half a mile of the house, and he 
 obtained his father’s leave to call on them, he went thither, and met 
 with the kindest reception from these friends. They had two daugh- 
 ters : it seems the elder had been intended, by both the mothers, for 
 his future wife. Almost at the first sight of this girl, then under four* 
 teen years of age, he was impressed with such an affection for her, as 
 appears to have equalled all that the writers of romance have imagi- 
 ned. 
 
 44 I soon lost,” says he, 44 all sense of religion, and became deaf to 
 the remonstrances of conscience and prudence, but my regard for her 
 was always the same.; and I may, perhaps, venture to say, that none 
 
MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 7 
 
 of the scenes of misery and wickedness I afterwards experienced, ever 
 banished her a single hour together from my waking thoughts for the 
 seven following years.” 
 
 His heart being now riveted to a particular object, every thing with 
 which he was concerned appeared in a new light. He could not now 
 bear the thought of living at such a distance as Jamaica, for four or 
 five years, ancl therefore determined not to go thither. He dared not 
 communicate with his father on this point, but, instead of three days, 
 he staid three weeks in Kent, till the ship had sailed, and then he re- 
 turned to London. His father, though highly displeased, became re- 
 conciled, and in a little time he sailed with a friend of his father’s to 
 Venice. 
 
 In this voyage, being a common sailor, and exposed to the company 
 of his comrades, he began to relax from the sobriety which he had pre- 
 served, in some degree, for more than two years. Sometimes, pierced 
 with convictions, he made a few faint efforts, as formerly, to stop ; and 
 though not yet absolutely profligate, he was making large strides to- 
 wards a total apostacy from God. * At length he received a remark- 
 able check by a dream, which made a very strong, though not abiding, 
 impression upon his mind. 
 
 I shall relate this dream in his own words, referring to the Narrative 
 those who wish to know his opinion of dreams, and his application of 
 this one in particular to his own circumstances : — 
 
 “ The scene presented to my imagination was the harbour of Venice, 
 where we had lately been. I thought it was night, and my watch upon 
 the deck ; and that, as I was walking to and fro by myself, a person 
 came to me (I do not remember from whence) and brought me a ring, 
 with an express charge to keep it carefully ; assuring me, that while I 
 preserved that ring I should be happy and successful : but, if I lost or 
 parted with it, I must expect nothing but trouble and misery. I ac- 
 cepted the present and the terms willingly, not in the least doubting 
 my own care to preserve it, and highly satisfied to have my happiness 
 in my own keeping. I was engaged in these thoughts, when a second 
 person came to me, and, observing the ring on my finger, took occasion 
 to ask me some questions concerning it. I readily told him its vir- 
 tues; and his answer expressed a surprise at my weakness, in expect- 
 ing such effects from a ring. I think he reasoned with me some time, 
 upon the impossibility of the thing ; and at length urged me, in direct 
 terms to throw it away. At first I was shocked at the proposal, but 
 his insinuations prevailed. I began to reason and doubt, and at last 
 plucked it off my finger, and dropped it over the ship’s side into the 
 water, which it had no sooner touched than I saw, at the same instant, 
 a terrible fire burst out from a range of mountains (a part of the Alps), 
 which appeared at some distance behind the city of Venice. I saw the 
 hills as distinct as if awake, and that they were all in flames. I per- 
 ceived, too late, my folly; and my tempter, with an air of insult in- 
 formed me, that all the mercy God had in reserve for me was com- 
 prised in that ring, which I had wilfully thrown away. I understood, 
 that I must now go with him to the burning mountains, and that all 
 
8 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE IlEV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 the flames I saw were kindled on my account. I trembled, and was 
 in a great agony ; so that it was surprising I did not then awake : but 
 my dream continued, and when I thought myself upon the point of a 
 constrained departure, and stood self-condemned, without plea or hope, 
 suddenly either a third person, or the same who brought the ring at 
 first (I am not certain which), came to me, and demanded the cause 
 of my grief. I told him the plain case, confessing that I had ruined 
 myself wilfully, and deserved no pity. He blamed my rashness, and 
 asked if I should he wiser, supposing I had my ring again. I could 
 hardly answer to this, for I thought it was gone beyond recal. I be- 
 lieve, indeed, I had not time to answer, before I saw this unexpected 
 friend go down under the water, just in the spot where I had dropped 
 it, and he soon returned, bringing the ring with him : the moment he 
 came on board, the flames in the mountains were extinguished, and 
 my seducer left me. Then was ‘ the prey taken from the hand of the 
 mighty, and the lawful captive delivered/ My fears were at an end, 
 and with joy and gratitude I approached my kind deliverer to receive 
 the ring again ; but he refused to return it, and spoke to this effect • 
 i If you should be intrusted with this ring again, you would very soon 
 bring yourself into the same distress ; you are not able to keep it, hut 
 I will preserve it for you, and whenever it is needful will produce it 
 in your behalf/ Upon this I awoke, in a state of mind not to be de- 
 scribed : I could hardly eat, or sleep, or transact my necessary busi- 
 ness for two or three days ; but the impression soon wore off, and in a 
 little time I totally forgot it ; and I think it hardly occurred to my mind 
 again till several years afterwards.” 
 
 Nothing remarkable happened in the following part of that voyage. 
 Mr N. returned home in December, 1743, and, repeating his visit to 
 Kent, protracted his stay in the same imprudent manner he had done be- 
 fore. This so disappointed his father’s designs for his interest, as al- 
 most induced him to disown his son. Before any thing suitable offered 
 again, this thoughtless son, unmindful of the consequences of appearing 
 in a check shirt, was marked by a lieutenant of the Harwich man-of-war, 
 who immediately impressed and carried him on board a tender. This 
 was at a critical juncture, as the French fleets were hovering upon out 
 coast : so that his father was incapable of procuring his release. A 
 few days after, he was sent on board the Harwich at the Nore. Here 
 a new scene of life was presented, and for about a month much hard- 
 ship endured. As a war was daily expected, his father was willing he 
 should remain in the navy, and procured him a recommendation to 
 the captain, who sent him upon the quarter-deck as a midshipman. 
 He might now have had ease and respect, had it not been for his un- 
 settled mind and indifferent behaviour. The companions he met with 
 here completed the ruin of his principles ; though he affected to talk of 
 virtue, and preserved some decency, yet his delight and habitual prac- 
 tice was wickedness. 
 
 His principal companion was a person of talents and observation, an 
 expert and plausible infidel, whose zeal was equal to his address. “ I 
 have been told,” says Mr N., “ that afterwards he was overtaken in a 
 
MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 9 
 
 voyage from Lisbon in a violent storm ; the vessel and people escaped, 
 but a great sea broke on board, and swept him into eternity. ,, Being 
 fond of this man’s company, Mr N. aimed to discover what smattering 
 of reading he had : his companion, observing that Mr N. had not lost 
 all the restraints of conscience, at first spoke in favour of religion ; and 
 having gained Mr N.’s confidence, and perceiving his attachment to 
 the Characteristics, he soon convinced his pupil that he had never un- 
 derstood that book. By objections and arguments Mr N.’s depraved 
 heart was soon gained. He plunged into infidelity with all his spirit ; 
 and, like an unwary sailor, who quits his post just before a rising 
 storm, the hopes and comforts of the Gospel were renounced at the 
 very time when every other comfort was about to fail. 
 
 In December 1744, the Harwich was in the Downs, bound to the 
 East Indies. The captain gave Mr N. leave to go on shore for a day ; 
 but, with his usual inconsideration, and following the dictates of a rest- 
 less passion, he went to take a last leave of the object with which he 
 was so infatuated. Little satisfaction attended the interview in such 
 circumstances, and on new-year’s day he returned to the ship. The 
 captain was so highly displeased at this rash step, that it occasioned 
 ever after the loss of his favour. 
 
 At length they sailed from Spitliead, with a very large fleet. They 
 put into Torbay, with a change of wind, but sailed the next day, on its 
 becoming fair. Several of the fleet were lost at leaving the place, but 
 the following night the whole fleet was greatly endangered upon the 
 coast of Cornwall, by a storm from the southward. The ship on which 
 Mr N was aboard escaped unhurt, though several times in danger of 
 being run down by other vessels ; but many suffered much : this occa- 
 sioned their putting back to Plymouth. 
 
 While they lay at Plymouth, Mr N. heard that his father, who had 
 an interest in some of the ships lately lost, was come down to Torbay. 
 He thought, that, if he could see his father, he might easily be intro- 
 duced into a service which would be better than pursuing a long and 
 uncertain voyage to the East Indies. It was his habit in those un- 
 happy days, never to deliberate ; as soon as the thought occurred, he 
 resolved to leave the ship at all events : he did so, and in the worst 
 manner possible. He was sent one day in the boat to prevent others 
 from desertion, but betrayed his trust, and deserted himself. Not 
 knowing which road to take, and fearing to inquire, lest he should be 
 suspected, yet having some general idea of the country, he found, after 
 he had travelled some miles, that he was on the road to Dartmouth. 
 That day, and part of the next, every thing seemed to go on smoothly. 
 He walked fast, and thought to have seen his father in about two hours, 
 when he was met by a small party of soldiers, whom he could not avoid 
 or deceive : they brought him back to Plymouth, through the streets 
 of which he proceeded guarded like a felon. Full of indignation, 
 shame, and fear, he was confined two days in the guard-house, then 
 sent on ship-board, and kept a while in irons ; next he was publicly 
 stript and whipt, degraded from his office, and all his former compa- 
 nions forbidden to show him the least favour, or even to speak to him. 
 
10 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 As midshipman he had been entitled to command, in which (being 
 sufficiently haughty and vain) he had not been temperate; but was 
 now in his turn brought down to a level with the lowest, and exposed 
 to the insults of all. 
 
 The state of his mind at this time can only be properly expressed in 
 his own words : — 
 
 44 As my present situation was uncomfortable, my future prospects 
 were still worse ; the evils I suffered were likely to grow heavier every 
 day. While my catastrophe was recent, the officers and my quondam 
 brethren were somewhat disposed to screen me from ill usage; but 
 during the little time I remained with them afterwards, I found them 
 cool very fast in their endeavours to protect me. Indeed, they could 
 not avoid such conduct, without running a great risk of sharing with 
 me : for the captain, though in general a humane man, who behaved 
 very well to the ship’s company, was almost implacable in his resent- 
 ment, and took several occasions to show it, and the voyage was ex- 
 pected to be (as it proved) for five years. Yet nothing I either felt or 
 feared distressed me so much, as to see myself thus forcibly torn away 
 from the object of my affections, under a great improbability of seeing 
 her again, and a much greater, of returning in such a manner as would 
 give me hope of seeing her mine. 
 
 44 Thus I was as miserable on all hands, as could well be imagined. 
 My breast was filled with the most excruciating passions, eager desire, 
 bitter rage, and black despair. Every hour exposed me to some new 
 insult and hardship, with no hope of relief or mitigation ; no friend to 
 take my part, nor to listen to my complaint. Whether I looked in- 
 ward or outward, I could perceive nothing but darkness and misery. 
 I think no case, except that of a conscience wounded by the wrath of 
 God, could be more dreadful than mine. I cannot express with what 
 wishfulness and regret I cast my last looks upon the English shore ; I 
 kept my eyes fixed upon it, till, the ship’s distance increasing, it insen- 
 sibly disappeared ; and, when I could see it no longer, I was tempted 
 to throw myself into the sea, which (according to the wicked system I 
 had adopted) would put a period to all my sorrows at once. But the 
 secret hand of God restrained me.” 
 
 During his passage to Madeira, Mr N. describes himself as a prey 
 to the most gloomy thoughts; though he had deserved all, and more 
 than all he had met with from the captain, yet pride suggested that he 
 had been grossly injured ; 44 and this so far,” says he, 44 wrought upon 
 my wicked heart, that I actually formed designs against his life, and 
 that was one reason which made me willing to prolong my own. I 
 was sometimes divided between the two, not thinking it practicable to 
 effect both. The Lord had now to appearance given me up to judicial 
 hardness ; I was capable of any thing. I had not the least fear of God 
 before my eyes, nor (so far as I remember) the least sensibility of con- 
 science. I was possessed with so strong a spirit of delusion, that I be- 
 lieved my own lie, and was firmly persuaded, that after death I should 
 cease to be. Yet the Lord preserved me ! Some intervals of sober re- 
 flection would at times take place : when I have chosen death rather 
 
MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 11 
 
 than life, a ray of hope would come in (though there was little proba- 
 bility for such a hope) that I should yet see better days, that I might 
 return to England, and have my wishes crowned, if I did not wilfully 
 throw myself away. In a word, my love to Mrs N. was now the only 
 restraint I had left : though I neither feared God, nor regarded man, 
 1 could not bear that she should think meanly of me when I was 
 dead.” 
 
 Mr N. had been at Madeira some time ; and the business of the 
 fleet being now completed, they were to sail the following day. 
 On that memorable morning he happened to be late in bed, and 
 would have continued to sleep, but that an old companion, a midship- 
 man, came down, between jest and earnest, and bid him rise. As he 
 did not immediately comply, the midshipman cut down the hammock 
 in which he lay : this obliged him to dress himself ; and though very 
 angry, he durst not resent it, but was little aware that this person, 
 without design, was a special instrument of God’s providence. Mr N. 
 said little, but went upon deck, where he saw a man putting his 
 clothes into a boat, who informed him he was going to leave the ship. 
 Upon inquiry, he found that two men from a Guinea ship, which lay 
 near them, had entered on board the Harwich, and that the commo- 
 dore (the late Sir George Pocock) had ordered the captain to send two 
 others in their room. Inflamed with this information, Mr N. request- 
 ed that the boat might be detained a few minutes ; he then entreated 
 the lieutenants to intercede with the captain, that he might be dismis- 
 sed upon this occasion : though he had formerly behaved ill to these 
 officers, they were moved with pity, and were disposed to serve him. 
 The captain, who had refused to exchange him at Plymouth, though 
 requested by Admiral Medley, was easily prevailed with now. In lit- 
 tle more than half an hour from his being asleep in bed, he found him- 
 self discharged, and safe on board another ship. The events depend- 
 ing upon this change, will show it to have been the most critical and 
 important. 
 
 The ship he now entered was bound to Sierra Leone, and the adja- 
 cent parts of what is called the windward coast of Africa. The com- 
 mander knew his father — received him kindly — and made professions 
 of assistance ; and probably would have been his friend, if, instead of 
 profiting by his former errors, he had not pursued a course, if possible, 
 worse. He was under some restraint on board the Harwich, but be- 
 ing now among strangers, he could sin without disguise. 4 4 I well re- 
 member,” says he, 44 that while I was passing from the one ship to the 
 other, I rejoiced in the exchange, with this reflection, that I might now 
 be as abandoned as I pleased, without any control ; and from this time 
 I was exceedingly vile indeed, little, if any thing, short of that animat- 
 ed description of an almost irrecoverable state, which we have in 2 Pet. 
 ii. 14. I not only sinned with a high hand myself, but made it my 
 study to tempt and seduce others upon every occasion : nay, I eagerly 
 sought occasion, sometimes to my own hazard and hurt.” By this 
 conduct he soon forfeited the favour of his captain : for, besides being 
 careless and disobedient, upon some imagined affront, he employed his 
 
MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 12 
 
 mischievous wit in making a song to ridicule the captain as to his ship, 
 his designs, and his person ; and he taught it to the whole ship’s com- 
 pany. 
 
 He thus proceeded for about six months, at which time the ship was 
 preparing to leave the coast ; but, a few days before she sailed, the cap- 
 tain died. Mr N. was not upon much better terms with his mate, who 
 succeeded to the command, and upon some occasion had treated him ill. 
 He felt certain, that, if he went in the ship to the West Indies, the 
 mate would have put him on board a man-of-war, a consequence more 
 dreadful to him than death itself : to avoid this, he determined to re- 
 main in Africa, and pleased himself with imagining it would be an op- 
 portunity of improving his fortune. 
 
 Upon that part of the coast there were a few white men settled, whose 
 business it was to purchase slaves, &c., and sell them to the ships at an 
 advanced price : one of these, who had first landed in circumstances 
 similar to Mr N.’s, had acquired considerable wealth. This man had 
 been in England, and was returning in the same vessel with Mr N., of 
 which he owned a quarter part. His example impressed Mr N. with 
 hopes of the same success, and he obtained his discharge, upon condi- 
 tion of entering into the trader’s service, to whose generosity he trust- 
 ed without the precaution of terms. He received, however, no com- 
 pensation for his time on board the ship, but a bill upon the owners in 
 England, who failing before his return, the bill was never paid ; the 
 day, therefore, on which the vessel sailed, he landed upon the island of 
 Benanoes like one shipwrecked, with little more than the clothes upon 
 his back. 
 
 “ The two following years,” says he, “ of which I am now to give 
 some account, will seem as an absolute blank in my life : but I have 
 seen frequent cause since to admire the mercy of God in banishing me 
 to those distant parts, and almost excluding me from all society, at a 
 time when I was big with mischief, and, like one infected with a pesti- 
 lence, was capable of spreading a taint wherever I went. But the Lord 
 wisely placed me where I could do little harm. The few I had to con- 
 verse with were too much like myself ; and I was soon brought into 
 such abject circumstances that I was too low to have any influence. I 
 was rather shunned and despised than imitated, there being few, even 
 of the Negroes themselves, during the first year of my residence, but 
 thought themselves too good to speak to me. I was as yet an outcast 
 ready to perish, but the Lord beheld me with mercy — he even now bid 
 me live ; and I can only ascribe it to his secret upholding power, that 
 what I suffered, in a part of this interval, did not bereave me either of 
 my life or senses.” 
 
 The reader will have a better idea of the situation Mr N. was now ii 
 by his brief sketch of it. — 
 
 66 From Cape de Verd, the most western point of Africa, to Cape 
 Mount, the whole coast is full of rivers : the principal are the Gambia, 
 Rio Grande, Sierra Leone, and Sherbro. Of the former, as it is well 
 known, and as I was never there, I need say nothing. The Rio Gran- 
 de (like the Nile) divides into many branches near the sea. On the 
 
MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 13 
 
 most northerly, called Cacheo, the Portuguese have a settlement. The 
 most southern branch, known by the name of Rio Nuna, is, or was, the 
 usual boundary of the white men’s trade northward. Sierra Leone is 
 a mountainous peninsula, uninhabited, and I believe inaccessible, upon 
 account of the thick woods, excepting those parts which lie near the 
 water. The river is large and navigable. From hence about twelve 
 leagues to the south-east are three contiguous islands, called the Bena- 
 noes, twenty miles in circuit : this was about the centre of the white 
 men’s residence. Seven leagues farther, the same way, lie the Plan- 
 tanes, three small islands, two miles distant from the continent, at the 
 point which forms one side of the Sherbro. This river is more pro- 
 perly a sound, running within a long island, and receiving the conflu- 
 ence of several large rivers, 4 rivers unknown to song,’ but far more 
 deeply engraven in my remembrance than the Po or Tiber. The south- 
 ernmost of these has a very peculiar course, almost parallel to the 
 coast : so that in tracing it a great many leagues upwards, it will seldom 
 lead one above three miles, and sometimes not more than half a mile 
 from the sea shore.” 
 
 Mr N.’s new master had resided near Cape Mount, but at this time 
 had settled at the Plantanes, on the largest of the three islands. It is 
 low and sandy, about two miles in circumference, and almost covered 
 with palm-trees. They immediately began to build a house. Mr N. 
 had some desire to retrieve his time and character, and might have liv- 
 ed tolerably well with his master, if this man had not been much un- 
 der the direction of a black woman, who lived with him as a wife, and 
 influenced him against his new servant. She was a person of some 
 consequence in her own country, and he owed his first rise to her in- 
 terest. This woman, for reasons not known, was strangely prejudiced 
 against Mr N. from the first ; he also had unhappily a severe fit of ill- 
 ness, which attacked him before he had an opportunity to show what 
 he could or would do in the service of his master. Mr N. was sick 
 when his master sailed in a shallop to Rio Nuna, and was left in the 
 hands of this woman. He was taken some care of at first, but not 
 soon recovering, her attention was wearied, and she entirely neglected 
 him. Sometimes it was with difficulty he could procure a draught of 
 cold water when burning with a fever ! His bed was a mat, spread up- 
 on a board or chest, with a log for his pillow. Upon his appetite re- 
 turning, after the fever left him, he would gladly have eaten, but 44 no 
 one gave unto him.” She lived in plenty, but scarcely allowed him 
 sufficient to sustain life, except now and then, when in the highest goo l 
 humour, she would send him victuals in her own plate after she had 
 dined. And this (so greatly was he humbled) he received with thanhs 
 and eagerness, as the most needy beggar does an alms. 
 
 “ Once,” says he, 44 I well remember, I was called to receive this 
 bounty from her own hand, but, being exceedingly weak and feeble, I 
 dropped the plate. Those who live in plenty can hardly conceive how 
 this loss touched me : but she had the cruelty to laugh at my disap- 
 pointment, and though the table was covered with dishes (for she liv- 
 ed much in the European manner) she refused to give me any more- 
 
14 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 My distress has been at times so great as to compel me to go by night, 
 and pull up roots in the plantation (though at the risk of being punish- 
 ed as a thief), which I have eaten raw upon the spot for fear of disco- 
 very. The roots I speak of are very wholesome food, when boiled or 
 roasted, but as unfit to he eaten raw in any quantity as a potatoe. 
 The consequence of this diet, which after the first experiment I always 
 expected, and seldom missed, was the same as if I had taken tartar 
 emetic ; so that I have often returned as empty as I went, yet necessi- 
 ty urged me to repeat the trial several times. I have sometimes been 
 relieved by strangers ; yea, even by the slaves in the chain, who have 
 secretly brought me victuals (for they durst not be seen to do it) from 
 their own slender pittance. Next to pressing want, nothing sits harder 
 upon the mind than scorn and contempt, and of this likewise I had an 
 abundant measure.” 
 
 When slowly recovering, the same woman would sometimes pay Mr 
 N. a visit, not to pity or relieve, hut to insult him. She would call 
 him worthless and indolent, and compel him to walk ; which, when he 
 could scarcely do, she would set her attendants to mimic his motions, 
 to clap their hands, laugh, throw limes at him, and sometimes they 
 would even throw stones. But though her attendants were forced to 
 join in this treatment, Mr N. was rather pitied than scorned, by the 
 meanest of her slaves, on her departure. 
 
 Wlien his master returned from the voyage, Mr N. complained of ill 
 usage, hut was not credited, and as he did it in her hearing, he fared 
 worse for it. He accompanied his master in his second voyage, and 
 they agreed pretty well, till his master was persuaded by a brother 
 trader, that Mr N. was dishonest. This seems to be the only vice he 
 could not be charged with, as his honesty seemed to be the last re- 
 mains of a good education which he could now boast of : and though 
 his great distress might have been a strong temptation to fraud, it 
 seems he never once thought of defrauding his master in the smallest 
 matter. The charge, however, was believed, and he was condemned 
 without evidence. From that time he was used very hardly ; when- 
 ever his master left the vessel, he was locked upon deck with a 
 pint of rice for his day’s allowance, nor had he any relief till his mas- 
 ter’s return. “ Indeed,” says he, “ I believe I should have been near- 
 ly starved, but for an opportunity of catching fish sometimes. When 
 fowls were killed for my master’s own use, I seldom was allowed any 
 part but the entrails, to bait my hooks with : and at what we called 
 slack-water, that is, about the changing of the tides, when the current 
 was still, I used generally to fish (for at other times it was not practica- 
 ble), and I very often succeeded. If I saw a fish upon my hook, my 
 joy was little less than any other person would have found in the ac- 
 complishment of the scheme he had most at heart. Such a fish hasti- 
 ly broiled, or rather half burnt, without sauce, salt, or bread, has af- 
 forded me a delicious meal. If I caught none, I might, if I could, 
 sleep away my hunger till the next return of slack-water, and then try 
 again. 
 
 “ Nor did I suffer less from the inclemency of the weather, and the 
 
MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 15 
 
 want of clothes. The rainy season was now advancing ; my whole 
 suit was a shirt, a pair of trowsers, a cotton handkerchief instead of a 
 cap, and a cotton cloth about two yards long, to supply the want ot 
 upper garments : and thus accoutred, I have been exposed for twenty, 
 thirty, perhaps near forty hours together, in incessant rains, accompa- 
 nied with strong gales of wind, without the least shelter, when my 
 master was on shore. I feel to this day some faint returns of the vio- 
 lent pains I then contracted. The excessive cold and wet I endured 
 in that voyage, and so soon after I had recovered from a long sickness, 
 quite broke my constitution and my spirits ; the latter were soon re- 
 stored, but the effects of the former still remain with me, as a needful 
 memento of the service and the wages of sin.” 
 
 In about two months they returned, and the rest of the time Mi* N. 
 spent with his master was chiefly at the Plantanes, and under the same 
 regimen as has been mentioned. His heart was now bowed down, but 
 not at all to a wholesome repentance. While his spirits sunk, the lan- 
 guage of the prodigal was far from him : destitute of resolution, and 
 almost all reflection, he had lost the fierceness which fired him when 
 on board the Harwich, and rendered him capable of the most despe- 
 rate attempts, but he was no farther changed than a tiger tamed by 
 hunger. 
 
 However strange it may appear, he attests it as a truth, that though 
 destitute both of food and clothing, and depressed beyond common 
 wretchedness, he could sometimes collect his mind to mathematical 
 studies. Having bought Barrow’s Euclid at Plymouth, and it being 
 the only volume he brought on shore, he used to take it to remote cor- 
 ners of the island, and draw his diagrams with a long stick upon the 
 sand. “ Thus,” says he, “ I often beguiled my sorrows, and almost for- 
 got my feelings ; and thus without any other assistance, I made my- 
 self in a good measure master of the first six books of Euclid.” 
 
 “ With my staff I passed this Jordan, and now I am become two 
 bands.” These words of Jacob might well affect Mr N. when remem- 
 bering the days in which he was busied in planting some lime or 
 lemon trees. The plants he put into the ground were no higher than 
 a young gooseberry bush. His master and mistress, in passing the 
 place, stopped a while to look at him ; at length his master said, “ Who 
 knows but, by the time these trees grow up and bear, you may go 
 home to England, obtain the command of a ship, and return to reap 
 the fruits of your labours ? We see strange things sometimes happen.” 
 
 “ This,” says Mr Newton, <£ as he intended it, was a cutting sar- 
 casm. I believe he thought it full as probable that I should live to be 
 king of Poland ; yet it proved a prediction, and they (one ©f them at 
 least) lived to see me return from England, in the capacity he had 
 mentioned, and pluck some of the first limes from those very trees. 
 How can I proceed in my relation, till I raise a monument to the Di- 
 vine goodness, by comparing the circumstances in which the Lord has 
 since placed me with what I was in at that time ! Had you seen me, 
 sir, then go so pensive and solitary in the dead of night to wash my 
 one shirt upon the rocks, and afterwards put it on wet, that it might 
 
16 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 dry upon my back, while I slept — had you seen me so poor a figure, 
 that when a ship’s boat came to the island, shame often constrained me 
 to hide myself in the woods, from the sight of strangers ; especially, 
 had you known that my conduct, principles, and heart, were still dark- 
 er than my outward condition — how little would you have imagined, 
 that one who so fully answered to the <trvy?iroi [uaovvrzg* of the apos- 
 tle, was reserved to be so peculiar an instance of the providential care 
 and exuberant goodness of God. There was at that time but one ear- 
 nest desire of my heart, which was not contrary and shocking both to re- 
 ligion and reason; and that one desire, though my vile licentious life ren- 
 dered me peculiarly unworthy of success, and though a thousand diffi- 
 culties seemed to render it impossible, the Lord was pleased to gratify.” 
 
 Things continued thus nearly twelve months. In this interval Mr 
 N. wrote two or three times to his father, describing his condition, and 
 desiring his assistance : at the same time signifying, that he had re- 
 solved not to return to England unless his parent were pleased to send 
 for him. His father applied to his friend at Liverpool, who gave or- 
 ders accordingly to a captain of his, who was then fitting out for Gam- 
 bia and Sierra Leone. 
 
 Some time within the year, Mr N. obtained his master’s consent to 
 live with another trader, who dwelt upon the same island. This change 
 was much to his advantage, as he was soon decently clothed, lived in 
 plenty, was treated as a companion, and trusted with his effects to the 
 amount of some thousand pounds. This man had several factories, and 
 white servants in different places ; particularly one in Kittam, the 
 river already described as running so near along the sea coast. Mr N. 
 was soon appointed there, and had a share in the management of busi- 
 ness, jointly with another servant ; they lived as they pleased ; busi- 
 ness flourished, and their employer was satisfied. 
 
 “ Here,” says he, “ I began to be wretch enough to think myself 
 happy. There is a significant phrase frequently used in those parts, 
 that such a white man is grown black. It does not intend an altera- 
 tion of complexion, but disposition. I have known several, who sett- 
 ling in Africa after the age of thirty or forty, have at that time of life 
 been gradually assimilated to the tempers, customs, and ceremonies of 
 the natives, so far as to prefer that country to England ; they have even 
 become dupes to all the pretended charms, necromancies, amulets, and 
 divinations of the blinded Negroes, and put more trust in such things 
 than the wiser sort among the natives. A part of this spirit of infa- 
 tuation was growing upon me : in time, perhaps, I might have yielded 
 to the whole. I entered into closer engagements with the inhabitants, 
 and should have lived and died a wretch amongst them, if the Lord 
 had not watched over me for good. Not that I had lost those ideas 
 which chiefly engaged my heart to England ; but a despair of seeing 
 them accomplished, made me willing to remain where I was. I thought 
 I could more easily bear the disappointment in this situation than neai- 
 or home. But, as soon as I had fixed my connexions and plans with 
 
 4 Hateful and haling one another. 
 
MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 17 
 
 these Hews, the Lord providentially interposed to break them in pieces, 
 and save me from ruin in spite of myself.” 
 
 In the meantime, the ship that had orders to bring Mr N. home, ar- 
 rived at Sierra Leone. The captain made inquiry for Mr N. there, 
 and at the Benanoes; but finding he was at a great distance, thought 
 no more about him. A special providence seems to have placed him 
 at Kittam just at this time; for the ship coming no nearer the Bena- 
 noes, and staying but a few days, if he had been at the Plantanes, he 
 would not probably have heard of the ship till she had sailed : the same 
 must have certainly been the event had he been sent to any other fac- 
 tory, of which his new master had several. But though the place he 
 went to was a long way up a river, much more than a hundred miles 
 distant from the Plantanes, yet, by its peculiar situation already no- 
 ticed, he was still within a mile of the sea coast. The interposition 
 was also more remarkable, as at that very juncture he was going in 
 quest of trade, directly from the sea, and would have set out a day or 
 two before, but that they waited for a few articles from the next ship 
 that came, in order to complete the assortment of goods he was to take 
 Avith him. 
 
 They used sometimes to walk to the bench, in hopes of seeing a ves- 
 sel pass by ; but this was very precarious, as at that time the place was 
 not resorted to by ships of trade : many passed in the night, others 
 kept at a considerable distance from the shore, nor does he remember 
 that any one had stopped while he was there. 
 
 In Feb. 1747 his fellow-servant, walking down to the beach in the 
 forenoon, saw a vessel sailing by, and made a smoke in token of trade. 
 She was already beyond the place, and the wind being fair, the captain 
 demurred about stopping : had Mr N.’s companion been half an hour 
 later, the vessel would have been beyond recal. When he saw her 
 come to an anchor, he went on board in a canoe, and this proved the 
 very ship already spoken of, which brought an order for Mr N.’s re- 
 turn. One of the first questions the captain put was concerning Mr 
 N. ; and understanding he was so near, the captain came on shore to 
 deliver his message. 
 
 “ Had,” says he, <£ an invitation from home reached me when I was 
 sick and starving at the Plantanes, I should have received it as life 
 from the dead ; but now, for the reasons already given, I heard it at 
 first with indifference.” The captain, however, unwilling to lose him, 
 framed a story, and gave him a very plausible account of his having 
 missed a large packet of letters and papers, which he should have 
 brought with him ; but said he had it from his father’s own mouth, as 
 well as from his employer, that a person lately dead had left Mr N. 
 four hundred pounds per annum ; and added, that, if embarrassed in 
 his circumstances, he had express orders to redeem Mr N. though it 
 should cost one half of his cargo. Every particular of this was false ; 
 nor could Mr N. believe what was said about the estate, except that, as 
 he had some expectations from an aged relation, he thought a part of 
 it might be true. 
 
 But though his father’s care and desire to see him was treated so 
 
 C 
 
18 MEMOIRS OF TIIE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 lightly, and would have been insufficient alone to draw him from his 
 retreat, yet the remembrance of Mrs N., the hopes of seeing her, and 
 the possibility that his accepting this offer might once more put him in 
 the way of gaining her hand, prevailed over all other considerations. 
 
 The captain farther promised (and in this he kept his word), that 
 Mr N. should lodge in his cabin, dine at his table, and be his com- 
 panion, without being liable to service. Thus suddenly was he freed 
 from a captivity of about fifteen months. He had neither a thought 
 nor a desire of this change one hour before it took place ; but, embark- 
 ing with the captain, he in a few hours lost sight of Kittam. 
 
 The ship in which he embarked as a passenger, was on a trading 
 voyage for gold, ivory, dyers’ wood, and bees’ wax. Such a cargo re- 
 quires more time to collect than one of slaves. The captain began his 
 trade at Gambia, had been already four or five months in Africa, and, 
 during the course of a year after Mr N. had been with him, they rang- 
 ed the whole coast as far as Cape Lopez, which lies about a degree 
 south of the equinoxial, and more than a thousand miles farther from 
 England than the place from whence he embarked. 
 
 “ I have,” says he, “ little to offer worthy of notice, in the course 
 of this tedious voyage. I had no business to employ my thoughts, but 
 sometimes amused myself with mathematics ; excepting this, my whole 
 life, when awake, was a course of most horrid impiety and profaneness. 
 I know not that I have ever since met so daring a blasphemer. Not 
 content with common oaths and imprecations, I daily invented new 
 ones ; so that I was often seriously reproved by the captain, who was 
 himself a very passionate man, and not at all circumspect in his ex- 
 pressions. From the relation I at times made him of my past adven- 
 tures, and what he saw of my conduct, and especially towards the close 
 of the voyage, when we met with many disasters, he would often tell 
 me, that, to his great grief, he had a Jonah on board ; that a curse at- 
 tended me wherever I went; and that all the troubles he met with in 
 the voyage were owing to his having taken me into his vessel.” 
 
 Although Mr N. lived long in the excess of almost every other ex- 
 travagance, he was never, it seems, fond of drinking : his father was 
 often heard to say, that while his son avoided drunkenness, some hopes 
 might be entertained of his recovery. Sometimes, however, in a frolic, 
 lie would promote a drinking bout ; not through love of liquor, but dis- 
 position to mischief. The last proposal he made of this kind, and at 
 his own expense, was in the river Gabon, whilst the ship was trading 
 on the coast, as follows : — 
 
 Four or five of them sat down one evening, to try who could hold 
 out longest in drinking geneva and rum alternately ; a large sea-shell 
 supplied the place of a glass. Mr N. was very unfit for such a chal- 
 lenge, as his head was always incapable of bearing much liquor : he 
 began, however, and proposed, as a toast, some imprecation against the 
 person who should start first : this proved to be himself. Fired in his 
 brain, he arose and danced on the deck like a madman ; and while he 
 was thus diverting his companions, his hat went overboard. Seeing 
 the ship’s boat by moonlight, he endeavoured eagerly to throw himself 
 
MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 19 
 
 over the side into the boat, that he might recover his hat. His sight, 
 however, deceived him, for the boat was not (as he supposed), within 
 his reach, but perhaps twenty feet from the ship’s side. He was, how- 
 ever, half overboard, and would in the space of a moment have plung- 
 ed into the water, when somebody caught hold of his clothes, and pul 
 led him back. This was an amazing escape, as he could not swim, had 
 he been sober ; the tide ran very strong, his companions were too much 
 intoxicated to save him, and the rest of the ship’s company were asleep. 
 
 Another time, at Cape Lopez, before the ship left the coast, he went 
 with some others into the woods, and shot a buffalo, or wild cow : they 
 brought a part of it on board, and carefully marked the place (as he 
 thought) where the rest was left. In the evening they returned to 
 fetch it, but set out too late. Mr N. undertook to be their guide ; but 
 night coming on before they could reach the place, they lost their way. 
 Sometimes they were in swamps, and up to their middle in water ; and, 
 when they recovered dry land, they could not tell whether they were 
 proceeding towards the ship, or the contrary way. Every step increas- 
 ed their uncertainty — night grew darker — ana they were entangled in 
 thick woods, which perhaps the foot of man had never trodden, and 
 which abound with wild beasts ; besides which, they had neither light, 
 food, nor arms, while expecting a tiger to rush from behind every tree. 
 The stars were clouded, and they had no compass to form a judgment 
 which way they were going. But it pleased God to secure them from 
 the beasts ; and, after some hours perplexity, the moon arose, and point- 
 ed out the eastern quarter. It appeared then, that instead of proceed- 
 ing towards the sea, they had been penetrating into the country : at 
 length, by the guidance of the moon, they recovered the ship. 
 
 These, and many other deliverances, produced at that time no salu- 
 tary effect. The admonitions of conscience, which from successive re- 
 pulses had grown weaker and weaker, at length entirely ceased ; and 
 for the space of many months, if not for some years, he had not a 
 single check of that sort. At times he was visited with sickness, and 
 believed himself to be near death, but had not the least concern about 
 the consequences. 66 In a word,” says he, “ I seemed to have every 
 mark of final impenitence and rejection; neither judgments nor mer- 
 cies made the least impression on me.” 
 
 At length, their business being finished, they left Cape Lopez, and 
 after a few days stay at the island of Annabona, in order to lay in pro- 
 visions, they sailed homeward about the beginning of January, 1784. 
 From Annabona to England is perhaps more than seven thousand miles, 
 if the circuits are included, which are necessary to be made on account 
 of the trade winds. They sailed first westward, till near the coast of 
 Brazil, then northward, to the banks of Newfoundland, without meet- 
 ing any thing extraordinary. On these banks they stopped half a day 
 to fish for cod : this was then chiefly for diversion, as they had provi- 
 sion enough, and little expected those fish (as it afterwards proved), 
 would be all they would have to subsist on. They left the banks, 
 March 1st, with a hard gale of wind westerly, which pushed them fast 
 homewards. By the length of this voyage, in a hot climate, the vessel 
 
20 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 was greatly out of repair, aud very unfit to endure stormy weather 
 The sails and cordage were likewise very much worn, and many such 
 circumstances concurred to render what followed imminently danger- 
 ous. 
 
 Among the few books they had on board was Stanhope’s Thomas a 
 Kempis. Mr N. carelessly took it up, as he had often done before, to 
 pass away the time, but which he had read with the same indiffer- 
 ence as if it were a romance. But, in reading it this time, a thought 
 occurred, “ What if these things should be true ?” He could not bear 
 the force of the inference, and therefore shut the book, concluding that, 
 true or false, he must abide the consequences of his own choice, and 
 put an end to these reflections by joining in the vain conversation which 
 came in his way. 
 
 But now,” says he, C£ the Lord’s time was come, and the convic- 
 tion I was so unwilling to receive was deeply impressed upon me by an 
 awful dispensation.” 
 
 He went to bed that night in his usual carnal security, but was a- 
 waked from a sound sleep by the force of a violent sea which broke on 
 board : so much of it came down as filled the cabin with water in which 
 he lay. This alarm was followed by a cry from the deck, that the ship 
 was sinking. He essayed to go upon deck, but was met upon the lad- 
 der by the captain, who desired him to bring a knife. On his return- 
 ing for the knife, another person went up in his place who was instant- 
 ly washed overboard. They had no leisure to lament him, nor expect- 
 ed to survive him long, for the ship was filling with water very fast. 
 The sea had torn away the upper timbers on one side, and made it a 
 mere wreck in a few minutes ; so that it seems almost miraculous that 
 any survive to relate the story. They had immediate recourse to the 
 pumps, but the water increased against their efforts. Some of them 
 were set to bailing, though they had but eleven or twelve people to 
 sustain this service : but notwithstanding all they could do, the vessel 
 was nearly full, and with a common cargo must have sunk ; but hav- 
 ing a great quantity of bees’ wax and wood on board, which was speci- 
 fically lighter than water, and providentially receiving this shock in 
 the very crisis of the gale, towards morning, they were enabled to em- 
 ploy some means for safety, which succeeded beyond hope. In about 
 an hour’s time day began to break, and the wind abated : they expend- 
 ed most of their clothes and bedding to stop the leaks ; over these 
 they nailed pieces of boards, and at last perceived the water within to 
 subside. 
 
 At the beginning of this scene Mr N. was little affected : he pump- 
 ed hard, and endeavoured to animate himself and his companions. He 
 told one of them, that in a few days this distress would serve for a 
 subject over a glass of wine ; but the man being less hardened than 
 himself, replied, with tears, “ No ; it is too late now.” About nine 
 o’clock, being almost spent with cold and labour, Mr N. went to speak 
 with the captain, and, as he was returning, said, almost without mean- 
 ing, 4 4 If this will not do, the Lord have mercy upon us !” thus ex- 
 pressing, though with little reflection, his desire of mercy for the first 
 
MEMOJItS OF THE ItEV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 21 
 
 time within the space of many years. Struck with his own words, it di- 
 rectly occurred to him, “ What mercy can there be for me !” He was, 
 however, obliged to return to the pump, and there continued till noon, 
 almost every passing wave breaking over his head, being, like the rest, 
 secured by ropes, that they might not be washed away. He expected, 
 indeed, that every time the vessel descended in the sea, she would rise 
 no more ; and though he dreaded death now, and his heart foreboded 
 the worst, if the Scriptures, which he had long opposed, were true, yet 
 he was still but half convinced, and remained for a time in a sullen 
 frame, a mixture of despair and impatience. He thought, if the Chris- 
 tian religion were true, he could not be forgiven, and was therefore 
 expecting, and almost at times wishing, to know the worst of it. 
 
 The following part of his Narrative will, I think, be best expressed 
 in his own words : — “ The 10th, that is, in the present style, the 21st 
 of March, is a day much to be remembered by me, and 1 have never 
 suffered it to pass wholly unnoticed since the year 1746. On that day 
 the Lord sent from on high, and delivered me out of deep waters. I 
 continued at the pump from three in the morning till near noon, and 
 then I could do no more. I went and lay down upon my bed, uncer- 
 tain, and almost indifferent, whether I should rise again. In an hour’s 
 time I was called, and, not being able to pump, I went to the helm, and 
 steered the ship till midnight, excepting a small interval for refreshment. 
 
 1 had here leisure and convenient opportunity for reflection. I began 
 to think of my former religious professions — the extraordinary turns 
 of my life — the calls, warnings, and deliverances I had met with — the 
 licentious course of my conversation — particularly by unparalleled 
 effrontery, in making the Gospel history (which I could not be sure 
 was false, though I was not yet assured it was true) the constant sub- 
 ject of profane ridicule. I thought, allowing the Scripture premises, 
 there never was or could be such a sinner as myself ; and then com- 
 paring the advantages I had broken through, I concluded at first, that 
 my sins were too great to be forgiven. The Scripture likewise seemed 
 to say the same : for I had formerly been well acquainted with the Bi- 
 ble, and many passages upon this occasion returned upon my memory ; 
 particularly those awful passages, Prov. i. 24 — 31 ; Heb. vi. 4, 6; and 
 
 2 Pet. ii. 20 ; which seemed so exactly to suit my case and character, 
 as to bring with them a presumptive proof of a divine original. 
 
 “ Thus, as I have said, I have waited with fear and impatience to 
 receive my inevitable doom. Yet though I had thoughts of this kind, 
 they were exceeding faint and disproportionate ; it was not till after 
 (perhaps) several years, that I had gained some clear views of the infi- 
 nite righteousness and grace of Christ Jesus my Lord, that I had a 
 deep and strong apprehension of my state by nature and practice ; and 
 perhaps, till then, I could not have borne the sight : so wonderfully 
 does the Lord proportion the discoveries of sin and grace ; for he knows 
 our frame, and that if he were to put forth the greatness of his power, 
 a poor sinner would be instantly overwhelmed, and crushed as a moth. 
 
 “ But to return : when I saw beyond all probability, that there was 
 still hope of respite, and heard about six in the evening that the ship 
 
MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 22 
 
 was freed from water, there arose a gleam of hope. I thought I saw 
 the hand of God displayed in our favour. I began to pray : I could 
 not utter the prayer of faith : I could not draw near to a reconciled 
 God and call him Father : my prayer was like the cry of the ravens, 
 which yet the Lord does not disdain to hear. I now began to think of 
 that Jesus whom I had so often derided : I recollected the particulars 
 of his life and of his death ; a death for sins not his own, but, as I re- 
 membered, for the sake of those, who, in their distress, should put their 
 trust in him. And now I chiefly wanted evidence. The comfortless 
 principles of infidelity were deeply riveted, and I rather wished than 
 believed these things were real facts. You will please to observe, that 
 I collect the strain of the reasonings and exercises of my mind in one 
 view ; but I do not say that all this passed at one time. The great 
 question now was, how to obtain faith ? I speak not of an appropriating 
 faith (of which I then knew neither the nature nor necessity), but how 
 f should gain an assurance that the Scriptures were of divine inspira- 
 tion, and a sufficient warrant for the exercise of trust and hope in 
 God. 
 
 “ One of the first helps I received (in consequence of a determina- 
 tion to examine the New Testament more carefully) was from Luke 
 xi. 13. I had been sensible, that to profess faith in Jesus Christ, when, 
 in reality, I did not believe his history, was no better than a mockery 
 of the heart-searching God ; but here I found a Spirit spoken of, which 
 was to be communicated to those who ask it. Upon this I reasoned 
 thus : If this book be true, the promise in this passage must be true 
 likewise : I have need of that very Spirit, by which the whole was 
 written, in order to understand it aright. He has engaged here to 
 give that Spirit to those who ask : I must therefore pray for it, and if 
 it be of God he will make good his own word. My purposes were 
 strengthened by John vii. 17. I concluded from thence, that though I 
 could not say from my heaEt, that I believed the Gospel, yet I would, 
 for the present, take it for granted ; and that by studying it in this 
 light, I should be more and more confirmed in it. 
 
 “ If what I am writing could be perused by our modern infidels, they 
 would say (for I too well know their manner), that I was very desi- 
 rous to persuade myself into this opinion. I confess I was, and so 
 would they be, if the Lord should show them, as he was pleased to 
 show me at that time, the absolute necessity of some expedient to in- 
 terpose between a righteous God and a sinful soul : upon the Gospel 
 scheme I saw at least a peradventure of hope, but on every other side 
 I was surrounded with black, unfathomable despair.” 
 
 The wind being now moderate, and the ship drawing nearer to its 
 port, the ship’s company began to recover from their consternation, 
 though greatly alarmed by their circumstances. They found, that the 
 water having floated their moveables in the hold, all the casks of pro- 
 vision had been beaten to pieces by the violent motion of the ship. On 
 the other hand, their live stock had been washed overboard, in the 
 storm. In short, all the provisions they saved, except the fish lately 
 caught on the banks for amusement, and a little of the pulse kind 
 
MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 23 
 
 which used to be given to the hogs, would have supported them but a 
 week, and that at a scanty allowance. The sails, too, were mostly 
 blown away, so that they advanced but slowly even while the wind was 
 fair. They imagined they were about a hundred leagues from land, 
 but were in reality much farther. Mr N.’s leisure was chiefly employ- 
 ed in reading, meditation on the Scriptures, and prayer for mercy and 
 instruction. 
 
 Things continued thus for about four or five days, when they were a- 
 wakened one morning by the joyful shouts of the watch upon deck, 
 proclaiming the sight of land, with which they were all soon raised. 
 The dawning was uncommonly beautiful, and the light, just sufficient 
 to discover distant objects, presented what seemed a mountainous coast, 
 about twenty miles off, with two or three small islands ; the whole ap- 
 peared to be the north-west extremity of Ireland, for which they were 
 steering. They sincerely congratulated each other, having no doubt, 
 that, if the wind continued, they should be in safety and plenty the 
 next day. Their brandy, which was reduced to a little more than a 
 pint, was, by the captain’s orders, distributed among them ; who add- 
 ed, “We shall soon have brandy enough.” They likewise ate up the 
 residue of their bread, and were in the condition of men suddenly re- 
 prieved from death. 
 
 But while their hopes were thus excited, the mate sunk their spirits 
 by saying, in a graver tone, that “he wished it might prove land at 
 last.” If one of the common sailors had first said so, the rest would 
 probably have beaten him. The expression, however, brought on 
 warm debates, whether it was land or not ; but the case was soon de- 
 cided, for one of their fancied islands began to grow red from the ap- 
 proach of the sun. In a word, their land was nothing but clouds ; and 
 in half an hour more the whole appearance was dissipated. 
 
 Still, however, they cherished hope from the wind continuing fair, 
 but of this hope they were soon deprived. That very day, their fair 
 wind subsided into a calm, and the next morning the gale sprung up 
 from the south-east, directly against them, and continued so for more 
 than a fortnight afterwards. At this time the ship was so wrecked, 
 that they were obliged to keep the wind always on the broken side, 
 except when the weather was quite moderate ; and were thus driven 
 still farther from their port in the north of Ireland, as far as the Lewis, 
 or western isles of Scotland. Their station now was such as deprived 
 them of any hope of relief from other vessels. “ It may indeed be 
 questioned,” says Mr N., “ whether our ship was not the very first 
 that had been in that part of the ocean, at the same time of the year.” 
 
 Provisions now began to fall short , the half of a salted cod was a 
 day’s subsistence for twelve people : they had no stronger liquor than 
 water, no bread, hardly any clothes, and very cold weather. They had 
 also incessant labour at the pumps, to keep the ship above water. 
 Much labour and little food wasted them fast, and one man died under 
 the hardship. Yet their sufferings were light when compared with 
 their fears. Their bare allowance could continue but little longer, and 
 
24 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 a dreadful prospect appeared of their being either starved to death, or 
 reduced to feed upon one another. 
 
 At this time Mr N. had a farther trouble, peculiar to himself. The 
 captain, whose temper was quite soured by distress, was hourly re- 
 proaching him as the sole cause of the calamity, and was confident, that 
 his being thrown overboard would he the only means of preserving 
 them. The captain, indeed, did not intend to make the experiment, 
 hut “ the continued repetition of this in my ears,” says Mr N., “ gave 
 me much uneasiness ; especially as my conscience seconded his words ; 
 I thought it very probable, that all that had befallen us was on my ac- 
 count — that I was at last found out by the powerful hand of God — and 
 condemned in my own breast.” 
 
 While, however, they were thus proceeding, at the time when they 
 were ready to give up all for lost, and despair appeared in every coun- 
 tenance, they began to conceive hope, from the wind’s shifting to the 
 desired point, so as best to suit that broken part of the ship, which 
 must be kept out of the water, and so gently to blow as their few re- 
 maining sails could hear. And thus it continued, at an unsettled time 
 of the year, till they were once more called up 10 see land, and which 
 was really such. They saw the island of Tory, and the next day an- 
 chored in Lough Swilly, in Ireland, on the 8th of April, just four weeks 
 after the damage they had sustained from the sea. When they came into 
 this port, their very last victuals were boiling in the pot, and before 
 they had been there two hours, the wind, which seemed to have been 
 providentially restrained till they were in a place of safety, began to 
 blow with great violence ; so that, if they had continued at sea that 
 night, they must, in all human estimation, have gone to the bottom ! 
 <e About this time,” says Mr N., “ I began to know that there is a 
 God, who hears and answers prayer.” 
 
 Mr N.’s history is now brought down to the time of his arrival in Ire- 
 land, in the year 1748; and the progress he had hitherto made in re- 
 ligion will he best related in his own words. I shall, therefore, make 
 a longer extract than usual, because it is important to trace the ope- 
 ration of real religion in the heart. Speaking of the ship in which he 
 lately sailed, he says, £< There were no persons on board to whom I 
 could open myself with freedom, concerning the state of my soul ; none 
 from whom I could ask advice. As to books, I had a New Testament, 
 Stanhope, already mentioned, and a volume of Bishop Beveridge’s Ser- 
 mons, one of which, upon our Lord’s passion, affected me much. In 
 perusing the New Testament, I was struck with several passages, par- 
 ticularly that of the fig-tree, Luke xiii. the case of St Paul, 1 Tim. i 
 hut particularly that of the prodigal, Luke xv. I thought that had 
 never been so nearly exemplified as by myself. And then the goodness 
 of the father in receiving, nay, in running to meet such a son, and this 
 intended only to illustrate the Lord’s goodness to returning sinners ! 
 Such reflections gaining upon me, I continued much in prayer ; I saw 
 that the Lord had interposed so far to save me, and I hoped he would 
 do more. Outward circumstances helped in this place to make me 
 still more serious and earnest in crying to him, who alone could relieve 
 
MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 25 
 
 me ; and sometimes I thought I could be content to die even for want 
 of food, so I might but die a believer. 
 
 “ Thus far I was answered, that before we arrived in Ireland I had 
 a satisfactory evidence, in my own mind, of the truth of the Gospel, as 
 considered in itself, and of its exact suitableness to answer all my needs. 
 I saw, that, by the way they were pointed out, God might declare, not 
 his mercy only, but his justice also, in the pardon of sin, on account of 
 the obedience and sufferings of Jesus Christ. My judgment, at that 
 time, embraced the sublime doctrine of 4 God manifest in the flesh, re- 
 conciling the world unto himself.’ I had no idea of those systems, 
 which allow the Saviour no higher honour than that of an upper ser- 
 vant, or at the most a demi-god. I stood in need of an Almighty Sa- 
 viour, and such a one I found described in the New Testament. Thus 
 far the Lord had wrought a marvellous thing ; I was no longer an in- 
 fidel ; I heartily renounced my former profaneness, and Had taken up 
 some right notions; was seriously disposed, and sincerely touched with 
 a sense of the undeserved mercy I had received, in being brought safe 
 through so many dangers. I was sorry for my past mispent life, and 
 purposed an immediate reformation. I was quite freed from the habit 
 of swearing, which seemed to have been deeply rooted in me, as a se- 
 cond nature. Thus, to all appearance, I was a new man. 
 
 “ But though I cannot doubt that this change, so far as it prevail- 
 ed, was wrought by the Spirit and power of God, yet still I was great- 
 ly deficient in many respects. I was in some degree affected with a 
 sense of my enormous sins ; but I was little aware of the innate evils 
 of my heart. I had no apprehension of the spirituality and extent of 
 the law of God ; the hidden life of a Christian, as it consists in com- 
 munion with God by Jesus Christ ; a continual dependence on him for 
 hourly supplies of wisdom, strength, and comfort, was a mystery of 
 which I had as yet no knowledge. I acknowledged the Lord’s mercy 
 in pardoning what was past, but depended chiefly upon my own reso- 
 lution to do better for the time to come. I had no Christian friend or 
 faithful minister to advise me, that my strength was no more than my 
 righteousness ; and though I soon began to inquire for serious books, 
 yet, not having spiritual discernment, I frequently made a wrong 
 choice ; and I was not brought in the way of evangelical preaching or 
 conversation (except the few times when I heard but understood not) 
 for six years after this period. Those things the Lord was pleased to 
 discover to me gradually. I learnt them here a little, and there a lit- 
 tle, by my own painful experience, at a distance from the common 
 means and ordinances, and in the midst of the same course of evil 
 company, and bad examples, I had been conversant with for some 
 time. 
 
 “ From this period I could no more make a mock at sin, or jest 
 with holy things ; I no more questioned the truth of Scripture, or lost 
 a sense of the rebukes of conscience. Therefore I consider this as the 
 beginning of my return to God, or rather of his return to me ; but I 
 cannot consider myself to have been a believer (in the full sense of the 
 word) till a considerable time afterwards.” 
 
26 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 While the ship was refitting at Lough Swill y, Mr N. repaired to 
 Londonderry, where he soon recruited his health and strength. He 
 was now a serious professor, went twice a day to the prayers at church, 
 and determined to receive the sacrament the next opportunity. When 
 the day came, he arose very early, was very earnest in his private de- 
 votions, and solemnly engaged himself to the Lord ; not with a formal, 
 but sincere surrender, and under a strong sense of the mercies lately 
 received. Having, however, as yet but an imperfect knowledge of his 
 own heart, and of the subtlety of Satan’s temptations, he was after- 
 wards seduced to forget the vows of God that were upon him. Yet 
 he felt a peace and satisfaction in the ordinance of that day, to which 
 he had been hitherto an utter stranger. 
 
 The next day he went abroad with the mayor of the city, and some 
 gentlemen, shooting ; climbing up a steep bank, and pulling his fowl- 
 ing-piece in a perpendicular direction after him, it went olf so near his 
 face as to destroy the corner of his hat. The remark he makes on this 
 ought not to be omitted : “ Thus, when we think ourselves in the 
 greatest safety, we are no less exposed to danger, than when all the 
 elements seem conspiring to destroy us. The Divine Providence, which 
 is sufficient to deliver us in our utmost extremity, is equally necessary 
 to our preservation in the most peaceful situation.” 
 
 During their stay in Ireland, Mr N. wrote home. The vessel he was 
 in had not been heard of for eighteen months, and was given up for 
 lost. His father had no expectation of hearing that his son was alive, 
 but received his letter a few days before he embarked from Loudon to 
 become Governor of York Fort, in Hudson’s Bay, where he died. He 
 intended to take his son with him, had he returned to England in 
 time. Mr N. received two or three affectionate letters from his father ; 
 and hoped, that in three years more he should have had the opportuni- 
 ty of asking his forgiveness, for the uneasiness his disobedience had 
 occasioned ; but the ship that was to have brought his father home 
 came without him. It appears he was seized with the cramp, when 
 bathing, and was drowned before the ship arrived in the Bay. Be- 
 fore his father’s departure from England, he had paid a visit in Kent, 
 and gave his consent to the union that had been so long talked of. 
 
 Mr N. arrived at Liverpool the latter end of May 1748, about the 
 same day that his father sailed from the Nore. He found, however, 
 another father in the gentleman whose ship had brought him home. 
 This friend received him with great tenderness, and the strongest as- 
 surances of assistance ; yet not stronger than he afterwards fulfilled, 
 for to this instrument of God’s goodness he felt he owed every thing. 
 “ Yet,” as Mr N. justly observes, “ it would not have been in the 
 power even of this friend to have served me effectually, if the Lord had 
 not met me on my way home, as I have related. Till then, I was like 
 the man possessed with the legion. No arguments, no persuasion, no 
 views of interest, no remembrance of the past, nor regard to the fu- 
 ture, could have restrained me within the bounds of common prudence ; 
 but now I was in some measure restored to my senses.” 
 
 This friend immediately offered Mr N. the command of a ship, 
 
MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 «7 
 
 which, upon mature consideration, he for the present declined. He 
 prudently considered, that hitherto he had been unsettled and careless ; 
 and therefore that he had better make another voyage, and learn obe- 
 dience and acquire farther experience in business, before he ventured 
 to undertake such a charge. The mate of the vessel in which he came 
 home was preferred to the command of a new ship, and Mr N. engaged 
 to go in the station of mate with him. 
 
 There was something so peculiar in Mr N.’s case, after this extra- 
 ordinary deliverance, and because others in like circumstances might 
 be tempted to despair, that I think it proper to make another extract 
 from his Narrative, as such accounts cannot be well conveyed but in 
 his own words. 
 
 “ We must not make the experience of others in all respects a rule 
 to ourselves, nor our own a rule to others : yet these are common mis- 
 takes, and productive of many more. As to myself, every part of my 
 case has been extraordinary — I have hardly met a single instance re- 
 sembling it. Few, very few, have been recovered from such a dread- 
 ful state ; and the few that have been thus favoured, have generally 
 passed through the most severe convictions ; and, after the Lord has 
 given them peace, their future lives have been usually more zealous, 
 bright, and exemplary than common. Now, as, on the one hand, my 
 convictions were very moderate, and far below what might have been 
 expected from the dreadful review I had to make ; so, on the other, my 
 first beginnings in a religious course were as faint as can be well ima- 
 gined. I never knew that season alluded to, Jer. ii. 2 . ; Rev. ii. 4-., 
 usually called the time of the first love. Who would not expect to 
 hear, that, after such a wonderful and unhoped-for deliverance as I had 
 received, and after my eyes were in some measure enlightened to see 
 things aright, I should immediately cleave to the Lord and his ways 
 with full purpose of heart, and consult no more with flesh and blood ? 
 But, alas ! it was far otherwise with me : I had learned to pray : I set 
 some value upon the word of God ; and was no longer a libertine ; but 
 my soul still ‘cleaved to the dust/ Soon after my departure from Liver- 
 pool, I began to intermit and grow slack in waiting upon the Lord : I 
 grew vain and trifling in my conversation ; and though my heart smote 
 me often, yet my armour was gone, and I declined fast: and by the 
 time we arrived at Guinea, I seemed to have forgotten all the Lord’s 
 mercies, and my own engagements, and was (profaneness excepted) al- 
 most as bad as before. The enemy prepared a train of temptations, 
 and I became his easy prey ; for about a month he lulled me asleep in 
 a course of evil, of which, a few months before, I could not have sup- 
 posed myself any longer capable. How much propriety is there in the 
 apostle’s advice, ‘ Take heed lest any of you be hardened through the 
 deceitfulness of sin.’” 
 
 In this voyage Mr N.’s business, while upon the coast, was to sail in 
 the long boat, from place to place, in order to purchase slaves. The 
 ship, at this time, was at Sierra Leone, and he at the Plantanes, the 
 scene of his former captivity, and where every thing he saw tended to 
 remind him of his present ingratitude. He was now in easy circum- 
 
28 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 stances, and courted by those wlio had once despised him. The lime- 
 trees he had formerly planted, were growing tall and promised fruit, 
 upon his expected return with a ship of his own. Unaffected, however, 
 with these things, he needed another providential interposition to rouse 
 him ; and accordingly he was visited with a violent fever, which broke 
 the fatal chain, and once more brought him to himself. Alarmed at 
 the prospect before him, he thought himself now summoned away. 
 The dangers and deliverances through which he had passed — his ear- 
 nest prayers in the time of trouble — his solmn vows before the Lord at 
 his table — and his ungrateful returns for all his goodness — were pre- 
 sent at once to his mind. He began then to wish that he had sunk iu 
 the ocean, when he first cried for mercy. For a short time he con- 
 cluded that the door of hope was quite shut. Weak, and almost deli- 
 rious, he arose from his bed, crept to a retired part of the island, and 
 here found a renewed liberty in prayer : daring to make no more re- 
 solves, he cast himself upon the Lord, to do with him as he should 
 please. It does not appear that any thing new was presented to his 
 mind, but that, in general, he was enabled to hope and believe in a cru- 
 cified Saviour. 
 
 After this, the burthen was removed from his conscience, and not 
 only his peace, but his health was gradually restored, when he return- 
 ed to the ship. And though subject to the efforts and conflicts of sin, 
 dwelling in him, he was ever after delivered from the power and do- 
 minion of it. 
 
 His leisure hours in this voyage were chiefly employed in acquiring 
 Latin, which he had now almost forgotten. This desire took place 
 from an imitation he had seen of one of Horace’s Odes in a Magazine. 
 In this attempt at one of the most difficult of the poets, he had no 
 other help than an old English translation, with Castalio’s Latin Bible. 
 He had the edition in usum Delphini , and, by comparing the odes with 
 the interpretation, and tracing such words as he understood from place to 
 place by the index, together with what assistance he could get from the 
 Latin Bible, he thus, by dint of hard industry, made some progress. He 
 not only understood the sense of many odes, and some of the epistles, 
 but “ I began,” says he, “ to relish the beauties of the composition ; 
 acquired a spice of what Mr Law calls, 6 classical ethusiasm and, in- 
 deed, by this means I had Horace more ad unguem than some who are 
 masters of the Latin tongue ; for my helps were so few, that I general- 
 ly had the passage fixed in my memory before I could fully understand 
 its meaning.” 
 
 During the eight months they were employed upon the coast, Mr N.’s 
 business exposed him to innumerable dangers from burning suns, chil- 
 ling dews, winds, rains, and thunder storms, in an open boat ; and on 
 shore, from long journeys through the woods, and from the natives, 
 who in many places are cruel, treacherous, and watching opportunities 
 for mischief. Several boats, during this time, were cut off, several 
 white men poisoned, and from his own boat he buried six or seven 
 people, with fevers ; when going on shore, or returning, he was more 
 than once overset by the violence of the surf, and brought to land half 
 
MEMOIRS OF THE ltEV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 29 
 
 dead, as lie could not swim. Among a number of such escapes, which 
 remained upon his memory, the following will mark the singular pro- 
 vidence that was over him : — 
 
 On finishing their trade, and being about to sail to the West Indies, 
 the only service Mr N. had to perform in the boat, was to assist in 
 bringing the wood and water from the shore. They were then at Rio 
 Cestors. He used to go into the river, in the afternoon, with the sea- 
 breeze, to procure his lading in the evening, in order to return on board 
 in the morning with the land-wind. Several of these little voyages he 
 had made ; but the boat was grown old, and almost unfit for use ; this 
 service likewise was almost completed. One day, having dined on 
 board, he was preparing to return to the river as formerly — he had 
 taken leave of the captain — received his orders — was already in the 
 boat — and just going to put off ; in that instant the captain came up 
 from the cabin, and called him on board again. Mr N. went, expect- 
 ing farther orders, but the captain said, 44 he had taken it into his 
 head” (as he phrased it), that Mr N. should remain that day in the 
 ship, and accordingly ordered another man to go in his room. Mr N. 
 was surprised at this, as the boat had never been sent away without 
 him before. He asked the captain the reason of his resolution, but 
 none was assigned, except as above, that so he would have it. The 
 boat, therefore went without Mr N., but returned no more : it sunk 
 that night in the river ; and the person who supplied Mr N.’s place yL 
 was drowned ! Mr N. was much struck when news of the event was 
 received the next morning. The captain himself, though quite a stran- 
 ger to religion, even to the denying a particular providence, could not 
 help being affected ; but declared, that he had no other reason for coun- 
 termanding Mr N. at that time, but that it came suddenly into his 
 mind to detain him. 
 
 A short time after he was thus surprisingly preserved, they sailed 
 for Antigua, and from thence to Charlestown, in South Carolina. In 
 that place there were many serious people ; but, at this time, Mr N. 
 was little capable of availing himself of their society, supposing that all 
 who attended public worship were good Christians, and that whatever 
 came from the pulpit must be very good. He had two or three oppor- 
 tunities, indeed, of hearing a minister of eminent character and gifts, 
 whom, though struck with his manner, he did not rightly understand. 
 Almost every day, when business would permit, he used to retire into 
 the woods and fields (being his favourite oratories), and began to taste 
 the delight of communion with God, in the exercises of prayer and 
 praise ; and yet so much inconsistency prevailed, that he frequently 
 spent the evening in vain and worthless company. His relish, indeed, 
 for worldly diversions was much weakened ; and he was rather a spec- 
 tator than a sharer in their pleasures ; but he did not as yet see the 
 necessity of absolutely relinquishing such society. It appears, that 
 compliances of this sort, in his present circumstances, were owing ra- 
 ther to a want of light than to any obstinate attachment : as he was 
 kept from what he knew to be sinful, he had, for the most part, peace 
 of conscience ; and his strongest desires were towards the things of 
 
80 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 God. He did not as yet apprehend the force of that precept, “ Abstain 
 from all appearance of evil but he very often ventured upon the 
 brink of temptation. He did not break with the world at once, as 
 might have been expected, but was gradually led to see the inconve- 
 nience and folly of first one thing and then another, and as such to 
 give them up. 
 
 They finished their voyage, and arrived in Liverpool. When the 
 ship’s affairs were settled, Mr N. went to London, and from thence he 
 soon repaired to Kent. More than seven years had now elapsed since 
 his first visit : no views of the kind seemed more chimerical than his, 
 or could subsist under greater discouragements ; yet while he seemed 
 abandoned to his passions, he was still guided, by a hand that he knew 
 not, to the accomplishment of his wishes. Every obstacle was now re- 
 moved — he had renounced his former follies — his interest was establish- 
 ed — and friends on all sides consenting. The point was now entirely 
 between the parties immediately concerned, and, after what had pass- 
 ed, was easily concluded ; accordingly their hands were joined, Febru- 
 ary the 1st, 1750. 
 
 “ But, alas !” says he, “ this mercy, which raised me to all I could 
 ask or wish in a temporal view, and which ought to have been an ani- 
 mating motive to obedience and praise, had a contrary effect : I rested 
 in the gift and forgot the giver. My poor narrow heart was satisfied. 
 A cold and careless frame as to spiritual things, took place, and gained 
 ground daily. Happy for me, the season was advancing ; and in June 
 I received orders to repair to Liverpool. This roused me from my 
 dream ; and 1 found the pains of absence and separation fully propor- 
 tioned to my preceding pleasure.* Through all my following voy- 
 ages, my irregular and excessive affections were as thorns in my eyes, 
 and often made my other blessings tasteless and insipid. But he, who 
 doth all things well, overruled this likewise for good : it became an 
 occasion of quickening me in prayer, both for her and myself ; it in- 
 creased my indifference for company and amusement ; it habituated me 
 to a kind of voluntary self-denial, which I was afterwards taught to 
 improve to a better purpose.” 
 
 Mr N. sailed from Liverpool, in August 1750, commander of a good 
 ship. He had now the command and care of thirty persons : he en- 
 
 * In writing to Mrs Newton from St Alban’s, he inserts a prayer for his own health and that of 
 Mrs N., upon which he remarks as follows : — 
 
 “ This prayer includes ail that I at that time knew how to ask for ; and had not the Lord 
 given me more than I then knew how to ask or think, I should now be completely miserable. The 
 prospect of this separation was terrible to me as death : to avoid it, I repeatedly purchased a ticket 
 in the lottery ; thinking, ‘ Who knows but I may obtain a considerable prize, and be thereby 
 saved from the necessity of going to sea ?’ Happy for me, the iot, which I then considered as ca 
 sual, was at thy disposal. The money, which I could not with prudence have spared at the time, 
 was lost : all my tickets proved blanks, though I attempted to bribe thee, by promising, if I suc- 
 ceeded, to give a considerable part to the poor. But these blanks were truly prizes. Thy mercy 
 sent me to sea against my own will. To thy blessing, and to my solitary sea-hours, I was indebt- 
 ed for all my temporal comforts and future hopes. 
 
 “ Thou wert pleased likewise to disappoint me, by thy providence, of some money, which I ex- 
 pected to receive on my marriage; so that, excepting our apparel, when I sailed from Liverpool oh 
 my first voyage, the sum total of my worldly inven ory was — seventy pounds in debt.” 
 
MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 31 
 
 deavoured to treat them with humanity, and to set them a good exam- 
 ple.* He likewise established public worship, according to the Litur- 
 gy of the Church of England, officiating himself twice every Lord’s 
 day. He did not proceed farther than this while he continued in that 
 occupation. 
 
 Having now much leisure, he prosecuted the study of Latin with 
 good success. He remembered to take a Dictionary this voyage, and 
 added Juvenal to Horace; and, for prose authors, Livy, Csesar, and 
 Sallust. He was not aware of the mistake of beginning with such dif- 
 ficult writers ; but, having heard Livy highly commended, he was re- 
 solved to understand him : he began with the first page, and made it 
 a rule not to proceed to a second till he understood the first. Often 
 at a stand, but seldom discouraged, here and there he found a few fines 
 quite obstinate, and was forced to give them up, especially as his edi- 
 tion had no notes. Before, however, the close of that voyage, he in- 
 forms us, that he could, with a few exceptions, read Livy, almost as 
 readily as an English author. Other prose authors, he says, cost him 
 but little trouble, as in surmounting the former difficulty he had mas- 
 tered all in one. In short, in the space of two or three voyages, ho 
 became acquainted with the best classics. He read Terence, Virgil, 
 several pieces of Cicero, and the modern classics, Buchanan, Erasmus, 
 and Casimir ; and made some essays towards writing elegant Latin. 
 
 “ But by this time,” he observes, “ the Lord was pleased to draw 
 me nearer to himself, and to give me a fuller view of the pearl of great 
 price, the inestimable treasure hid in the field of the Holy Scriptures ; 
 and for the sake of this I was made willing to part with all my newly- 
 acquired riches. I began to think, that life was too short (especially 
 my life) to admit of leisure for such elaborate trifling. Neither poet 
 nor historian could tell me a word of Jesus ; and I therefore applied 
 myself to those who could. The classics were at first restrained to 
 one morning in the week, and at length laid aside.” 
 
 This his first voyage after his marriage lasted the space of fourteen 
 months, through various scenes of danger and difficulty ; but nothing 
 very remarkable occurred; and, after having seen many fall on his 
 right hand and on his left, he was brought home in peace, Nov. 2, 
 1751 . 
 
 In the interval, between his first and second voyage, he speaks of 
 the use he found in keeping a sort of diary, of the unfavourable ten- 
 dency of a life of ease among his friends, and of the satisfaction of his 
 wishes proving unfavourable to the progress of grace ; upon the whole, 
 however, he seems to have gained ground, and was led into farther 
 views of Christian doctrine and experience by Scougal’s Life of God 
 in the Soul of Man, Hervey’s Meditations, and the Life of Colonel 
 Gardiner. He seems to have derived no advantages from the preach- 
 
 * I have heard Mr Newton observe, that, as the commander of a slave-ship, he had a number of 
 women under his absolute command : and knowing the danger of his situation on that account, he 
 resolved to abstain from flesh in his food, and to drink nothing stronger than water, during the 
 voyage ; that, by abstemiousness, he might subdue every improper emotion : and that, upon his 
 setting sail, the sight of a certain point of land was the signal for his beginning a rule, which he 
 was enabled to keep. 
 
32 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 ing he heard, or the Christian acquaintance he made ; and though he 
 could not live without prayer, he durst not propose it, even to his wife, 
 till she first urged him to the mutual practice of it. 
 
 In a few months, the returning season called him abroad again, and 
 he sailed from Liverpool, in anew ship, July 1752*. “ I never knew,” 
 says he, 66 sweeter or more frequent hours of Divine communion than 
 in my two last voyages to Guinea, when I was either almost secluded 
 from society on shipboard, or when on shore among the natives. I 
 have wandered through the woods, reflecting on the singular goodness 
 of the Lord to me, in a place where, perhaps there was not a person 
 who knew me for some thousand miles round. Many a time, upon 
 Jhese occasions, I have restored the beautiful lines of Propertius to the 
 right owner; lines full of blasphemy and madness when addressed to 
 a creature, but full of comfort and propriety in the mouth of a be- 
 liever. 
 
 Sic ego desertis possim bene vivere sylvis, 
 
 Quo nulla humano sit via trita pede ; 
 
 Tu inihi curarum requies, in nocte vel artra 
 Lumen, et in solis tu mihi turba locis. 
 
 PARAPHRASED. 
 
 In desert woods, with thee, my God, 
 
 Where human footsteps never trod, 
 
 How happy could I be ! 
 
 Thou my repose from care, my light 
 
 Amidst the darkness of the night, 
 
 In solitude my company.” 
 
 In the course of this voyage, Mr N. was wonderfully preserved 
 through many unforeseen dangers. At one time there was a conspi- 
 racy among his own people to become pirates, and take possession ot 
 the ship. When the plot whs nearly ripe, they watched only for op- 
 portunity : two of them were taken ill in one day ; one of them died. 
 This suspended the affair, and opened a way to its discovery. The 
 slaves on board frequently plotted insurrections, and were sometimes 
 upon the very brink of one when it was disclosed. When at a place 
 called Mana, near Cape Mount, Mr N. intended to go on shore the 
 next morning to settle some business ; but the surf of the sea ran so 
 high, that he was afraid to attempt landing. He had often ventured 
 at a worse time, but then feeling a backwardness which he could not 
 account for, the high surf furnished a pretext for indulging it : he 
 therefore returned to the ship without doing any business. He after- 
 wards found, that, on the day he intended to land, a scandalous and 
 groundless charge had been laid against him, which greatly threatened 
 his honour and interest, both in Africa and England, and would per- 
 haps have affected his life, had he landed. The person most concern- 
 ed in this affair owed him about a hundred pounds, which he sent 
 in a huff, and otherwise, perhaps, would not have paid it at all. Mr 
 
 * Mr N. had had an unexpected call to London ; and, on his return, when within a few miles 
 of Liverpool, he mistook a marl-pit for a pond, and, in attempting to water his horse, both the 
 horse and the rider plunged into it overhead. He was afterwards told, that, near that time, three 
 oersons had lost their lives bv a mistake of die same kind. 
 
MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 S3 
 
 N. heard no more of this accusation till the next voyage, and then it 
 was publicly acknowledged to have been a malicious calumny, without 
 the least shadow of a ground. 
 
 But, as these things did not occur every day, Mr N. prosecuted his 
 Latin, being very regular in the management of his time. He allotted 
 about eight hours for sleep and meals, eight hours for exercise and de- 
 votion, and eight hours to his books ; and thus, by diversifying his en- 
 gagements, the whole day was agreeably filled up. 
 
 From the coast he went to St. Christopher’s, where he met with a 
 great disappointment : for the letters, which he expected from Mrs N., 
 were by mistake forwarded to Antigua. Certain of her punctuality in 
 writing, if alive, he concluded by not hearing from her, that she was 
 surely dead. This fear deprived him of his appetite and rest, caused 
 an incessant pain in his stomach, and, in the space of three weeks, he 
 was near sinking under the weight of an imaginary stroke. u I felt,” 
 says he, “ some severe symptoms of that mixture of pride and mad- 
 ness, commonly called a broken heart ; and, indeed, I wonder that this 
 case is not more common. How often do the potsherds of the earth 
 presume to contend with their Maker ! and what a wonder of mercy 
 is it that they are not all broken ! This was a sharp lesson, but I hope 
 it did me good ; and when I had thus suffered some weeks, I thought 
 of sending a small vessel to Antigua. I did so, and she brought me 
 several packets, which restored my health and peace, and gave me a 
 strong contrast of the Lord’s goodness to me, and of my unbelief and 
 ingratitude towards him.” 
 
 In August, 1753, Mr N. returned to Liverpool : after that voyage, 
 he continued only six weeks at home, and, in that space, nothing A ery 
 memorable occurred. 
 
 We now follow Mr N. in his third voyage to Guinea: it seems to be 
 the shortest of any that he had made, and which is principally marked 
 by an account of a young man, who had formerly been a midshipman, 
 and his intimate companion on board the Harwich. This youth, at the 
 time Mr N. first knew him, was sober, but afterwards sadly infected 
 with Mr N.’s then libertine principles. They met at Liverpool, and 
 renewed their former acquaintance : as their conversation frequently 
 turned upon religion, Mr N. was very desirous to reco\ r er his compa- 
 nion, to whom he gave a plain account of the manner and reasons of 
 his own change, and used e\ r ery argument to induce him to relinquish 
 his infidelity. When pressed very close, his usual reply was, that Mr 
 N. was the first person who had given him an idea of his liberty, which 
 naturally occasioned many mournful reflections in the mind of his pre- 
 sent instructor. This person was going master to Guinea himself ; 
 but, meeting with a disappointment, Mr N. offered to take him as a 
 companion, with a view of assisting him in gaining future employment ; 
 but principally, that his arguments, example, and prayers, might be 
 attended with good effect. But his companion was exceedingly pro- 
 fane ; grew worse and worse ; and presented a lively, but distressing 
 picture, continually before Mr N.’s eyes, of Avhat he himself had once 
 been. Besides this, the man was not only deaf to remonstrance him- 
 
 D 
 
34 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 self, but laboured to counteract Mr N.’s influence upon others : his 
 spirit and passions were likewise so exceedingly high, that it required 
 all Mr N.’s prudence and authority to hold him in any degree of re- 
 straint. 
 
 At length Mr N. had an opportunity of buying a small vessel, which 
 he supplied with a cargo from his own ship : he gave his companion 
 the command of it ; and sent him away to trade on the ship’s account. 
 When they parted, Mr N. repeated and enforced his best advice : it 
 seemed greatly to affect his companion at the time ; but when he found 
 himself released from the restraint of his instructor, he gave a loose to 
 every appetite ; and his violent irregularities, joined to the heat of the 
 climate, soon threw him into a malignant fever, which carried him off 
 in a few days. He seems to have died convinced, but not changed : 
 his rage and despair struck those who were about him with horror ; 
 and he pronounced his own fatal doom before he expired, without any 
 sign, that he either hoped or asked for mercy. — I trust the reader will 
 deem the features of this awful case (though a digression from the 
 principal subject) too instructive to be omitted. 
 
 Mr N. left the coast in about four months, and sailed for St. Chris- 
 topher’s. Hitherto, he had enjoyed a perfect and equal state of health 
 in different climates for several years. But in this passage he was vi- 
 sited with a fever, which gave him a very near prospect of eternity : 
 he was, however, supported in a silent composure of spirit by the faith 
 of Jesus, and found great relief from those words, t£ He is able to save 
 to the uttermost.” He was for a while troubled, whether by a temp- 
 tation, or by the fever disordering his faculties, that he should be lost 
 or overlooked amidst the myriads, that are continually entering the 
 unseen world; but the recollection of that Scripture, 6i the Lord know* 
 eth them that are his,” put an end to his doubts. After a few days, 
 however, he began to amend, and by the time they arrived in the West 
 Indies, he was perfectly recovered. 
 
 In this way he was led for about the space of six years : he had learnt 
 something of the evil of his heart — had read the Bible over and over — 
 had perused several religious books — and had a general view of Gospel 
 truth : but liis conceptions still remained confused in many respects, 
 not having in all this time met with one acquaintance qualified to as- 
 sist his inquiries. 
 
 On his arrival at St. Christopher’s he found a captain of a ship from 
 London, a man of experience in the things of God. For near a month, 
 they spent every evening together on board each other’s ship alternate- 
 ly : prolonging their visits till near day-break. While Mr N. was an 
 eager recipient, his companion’s discourse not only informed his under- 
 standing, but inflamed his heart — encouraged him in attempting social 
 prayer — taught him the advantage of Christian converse — put him ujh 
 on an attempt to make his profession more public, and to venture to 
 speak for God. His conceptions now became more clear and evange- 
 lical ; he was delivered from a fear, which had long troubled him, of 
 relapsing into his former apostacy ; and taught to expect preservation, 
 not from his own power and holiness, but from the power and promise 
 
MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 35 
 
 of God. From this friend he likewise received a general view of the 
 present state of religion, and of the prevailing errors and controversies 
 of the times, and a direction where to inquire in London for farther in- 
 struction. Mr N.’s passage homewards gave him leisure to digest 
 what he had received: and he arrived safely at Liverpool, August 
 1754 .* 
 
 His stay at home, however, was intended to he but short; and by 
 the beginning of November he was ready again for the sea. But the 
 Lord saw fit to overrule his design. It seems, from the account he 
 gives, that he had not had the least scruple as to the lawfulness of the 
 slave-trade : he regarded it as the appointment of Providence : he con- 
 sidered this employment as respectable and profitable ; , yet he could 
 not help thinking himself a sort of gaoler, and was sometimes shocked 
 with an employment so conversant with chains, bolts, and shackles. 
 On this account he had often prayed, that he might be fixed in a more 
 humane profession, where he might enjoy more frequent communion 
 with the people and ordinances of God ; and be freed from those long 
 domestic separations, which he found so hard to hear. His prayers 
 were now answered, though in an unexpected way. 
 
 Mr N. was within two days of sailing, and in apparent good health ; 
 but as he was one afternoon drinking tea with Mrs N. he was seized 
 with a fit, which deprived him of sense and motion. When he had 
 recovered from this fit, which lasted about an hour, it left a pain and 
 dizziness in his head, which continued, with such symptoms, as indu- 
 ced the physicians to judge it would not be safe for him to proceed on 
 the voyage. By the advice of a friend, therefore, to whom the ship be- 
 longed, he resigned the command on the day before she sailed ; and thus 
 he was not only freed from that service, but from the future conse- 
 quences of a voyage which proved extremely calamitous. The person 
 who went in his room, died ; as did most of the officers, and many 
 the crew. 
 
 As Mr N. was now disengaged from business, he left Liverpool, and 
 spent most of the following year in London, or in Kent. Here he en- 
 tered upon a new trial, in a disorder that was brought upon Mrs N. 
 from the shock she received in his late illness ; as he grew better, she 
 became worse with a disorder, which the physicians could not define, 
 
 * In a MS. note on a letter from sea, Mr Newton remarks : — “ I now enter my 70th year. 
 Still thou art singularly bountiful to me : still I have reason to think myself favoured, as to exter- 
 nals, beyond the common lot of mortals. Thou didst bear me above the removal of her I most 
 valued, to the admiration of all who knew me. The best part of my childhood and youth was va- 
 nity and folly i but, before I attained the age of man, I became exceedingly vile indeed ; and was 
 seated in the chair of the scorner in early life. The troubles and miseries I for a time endured were 
 my own. I brought them upon myself, by forsaking thy good and pleasant paths ; and choosing 
 the way of transgressors, which I found very hard ; they led to slavery, contempt, famine, and 
 despair. 
 
 “ But my recovery from that dreadful state was wholly of thee. Thou didst prepare the. means, 
 unthought of and undesired by me. How nice were the turns upon which my delivery from Africa 
 depended ! Had the ship passed one quarter of an hour sooner, I had died there a wretch, as I had 
 lived. But thou didst pity and hear my first lispings in prayer, at the time the storm fell upon me. 
 Thou didst preserve me from sinking and starving. Thus I returned home, and thou didst provide 
 me friends, when I was destitute and a stranger.” 
 
36 MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 nor medicines remove. Mr N. was therefore placed for about eleven 
 months in what Dr Young calls the 
 
 Dreadful post of observation, 
 
 Darker every hour. 
 
 The reader will recollect, that Mr N.’s friend at St. Christopher’s 
 had given him information for forming a religious acquaintance in Lon- 
 don ; in consequence of which, he became intimate with several per- 
 sons eminent for that character ; and profited by the spiritual advan- 
 tages, which a great city affords with respect to means. When he was 
 in Kent, his advantages were of a different kind ; most of his time he 
 passed in the fields and woods. “ It has been my custom,” says he, 
 4£ for many years, to perform my devotional exercises sub dio when I 
 have opportunity, and I always find these scenes have some tendency 
 both to refresh and compose my spirits. A beautiful, diversified pros- 
 pect gladdens my heart. When I am withdrawn from the noise and 
 petty works of men, I consider myself as in the great temple, which 
 the Lord has built for his own honour.” 
 
 During this time he had to weather two trials, the principal of which 
 was Mrs N.’s illness. She still grew worse, and he had daily more 
 reason to fear that hour of separation, which appeared to be at hand. 
 He had likewise to provide some future settlement ; the African trade 
 was overdone that year, and his friends did not care to fit out another 
 ship till that which had been his returned. Though a provision of food 
 and raiment had seldom been with him a cause of great solicitude, yet 
 he was some time in suspense on this account ; but, in August follow- 
 ing, he received a letter, that he was nominated to a post, which afford- 
 ed him a competency, both unsought and unexpected. 
 
 When he had gained this point, his distress respecting Mrs N. was 
 doubled ; he was obliged to leave her in the greatest extremity of pain 
 and illness ; and when he had no hope that he should see her again a- 
 live. He was, however, enabled to resign her and himself to the divine 
 disposal ; and, soon after he was gone, she began to amend, and reco- 
 vered so fast, that in about two months he had the pleasure to meet her 
 at Stone, on her journey to Liverpool. 
 
 From October 1755, he appears to have been comfortably settled at 
 Liverpool, and mentions his having received, since the year 1757, much 
 profit from his acquaintance in the West Riding of Yorkshire. “ I have 
 conversed,” says he, “ at large, among all parties, without joining any ; 
 and in my attempts to hit the golden mean, I have been sometimes 
 drawn too near the different extremes ; yet the Lord has enabled me 
 to profit by my mistakes.” Being at length placed in a settled habita- 
 tion, and finding his business would afford him much leisure, he con- 
 sidered in what manner he could improve it. Having determined, with 
 the apostle “ to know nothing but Jesus Christ, and him crucified,” 
 he devoted his life to the prosecution of spiritual knowledge, and re- 
 solved to pursue nothing but in subservience to this design. But as 
 what follows will appear most natural, and must be better expressed in 
 
MEMOIRS O F THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 37 
 
 his own words, I shall transcribe them from the conclusion of his Nar- 
 rative. 
 
 44 This resolution,” says Mr N., 44 divorced me (as I have already 
 hinted) from the classics and mathematics. My first attempt was to 
 learn so much Greek as would enable me to understand the New Tes- 
 tament and Septuagint ; and when I had made some progress this way, 
 I entered upon the Hebrew the following year ; and two years after- 
 wards, having surmised some advantages from the Syriac version, I 
 began with that language. You must not think that I have attained, 
 or even aimed at a critical skill in any of these ; I had no business 
 with them, but as in reference to something else. I never read one 
 classic author in the Greek ; I thought it too late in life to take such a 
 round in this language as I had done in the Latin. I only wanted the 
 signification of scriptural words and phrases, and for this I thought I 
 might avail myself of Scapula, the Synopsis, and others, who had sus- 
 tained the drudgery before me. In the Hebrew, I can read the histo- 
 rical books and Psalms with tolerable ease ; but in the prophetical and 
 difficult parts, I am frequently obliged to have recourse to Lexicons, 
 &c. However, I know so much as to be able, with such helps as are 
 at hand, to judge for myself the meaning of any passage I have occa- 
 sion to consult. 
 
 44 Together with these studies, I have kept up a course of reading 
 the best writers in Divinity, that have come to my hand, in tlje Latin 
 and English tongues, and some French, for I picked up the French at 
 times while I used the sea. But within these two or three years, I 
 ■diave accustomed myself chiefly to writing, and have not found time to 
 read many books besides the Scriptures. 
 
 44 I am the more particular in this account, as my case has been 
 something singular ; for in all my literary attempts I have been obliged 
 to strike out my own path by the light I could acquire from books, as 
 I have not had a teacher or assistant since I was ten years ©f age. 
 
 44 One word concerning my views to the ministry, and I have done. 
 I have told you, that this was my dear mother’s hope concerning me ; 
 but her death, and the scenes of life in which I afterwards engaged, 
 seemed to cut off the probability. The first desires of this sort in my 
 own mind, arose many years ago, from reflection on Gal. i. 23, 24. I 
 could but wish for such a public opportunity to testify the riches of 
 Divine grace. I thought I was, above most living, a fit person to pro- 
 claim that faithful saying, 4 that Jesus Christ came into the world to 
 save the chief of sinners and as my life had been full of remarkable 
 turns, and I seemed selected to show what the Lord could do, I was 
 in some hopes, that perhaps, sooner or later, he might call me into his 
 service. 
 
 44 I believe it was a distant hope of this that determined me to study 
 the original Scriptures ; but it remained an imperfect desire in my 
 own breast, till it was recommended to me by some Christian friends. 
 I started at the thought when first seriously proposed to me : but, af- 
 terwards, set apart some weeks to consider the case, to consult my 
 friends, and to entreat the Lord’s direction. The judgment of my 
 
38 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 friends, and many things that occurred, tended to engage me. My 
 first thought was to join the Dissenters, from a presumption that I 
 
 could not honestly make the required subscriptions ; but Mr C , 
 
 in a conversation upon these points, moderated my scruples ; and, pre- 
 ferring the Established Church in some respects, I accepted a title from 
 him some months afterwards ; and solicited ordination from the late 
 Archbishop of York. I need not tell you I met a refusal, nor what 
 steps I took afterwards to succeed elsewhere. At present I desist from 
 any applications. My desire to serve the Lord is not weakened ; but 
 I am not so hasty to push myself forward as I was formerly. It is suf- 
 ficient that he knows how to dispose of me, and that he both can and 
 will do what is best. To him I commend myself : I trust that his will 
 and my true interest are inseparable. To his name be glory for ever : 
 and with this I conclude my story.” 
 
 A variety of remarks occurred to me while abridging the Narrative, 
 but I refrained from putting them down, lest, by interrupting its course, 
 and breaking the thread of the history, I should rather disgust than 
 profit the reader. I have heard Mr N. relate a few additional particu- 
 lars, but they were of too little interest to be inserted here ; they went, 
 however, like natural incidents, to a farther authentication of the above 
 account, had it needed any other confirmation than the solemn decla- 
 ration of the pious relator. Romantic relations, indeed, of unprinci- 
 pled travellers, which appear to have no better basis than a disposition 
 to amuse credulity, to exhibit vanity, or to acquire gain, may naturally 
 raise suspicion, and produce but a momentary effect at most on the 
 mind of the reader ; but facts, like the present, manifest such a display 
 of the power, providence, and grace of God ; and at tlte same time 
 such a deep and humbling view of human depravity, when moved and 
 brought forth by circumstances, as inexperience can scarcely credit, 
 but which must interest the eye of pious contemplation, and open a 
 new world of wonders. 
 
 I must now attempt to conduet the reader without the help of Mr 
 N.’s Narrative, finished Feb. 2, 1763 ; to which, as I have already ob- 
 served, he referred me for the former and most singular part of his 
 life. When I left the above account with him for revision, he express- 
 ed full satisfaction as to all the facts related ; but said, he thought I 
 had been too minute even in the abridgment, since the Narrative itself 
 had been long before the public. I remarked, in reply, that the Nar- 
 rative contained a great variety of facts — that these Memoirs might 
 fall into the hands of persons who had not seen the Narrative — but 
 that, without some abridgment of it, no clear view could be formed of 
 the peculiarity of his whole dispensation and character — and, therefore, 
 that such an abridgment appeared to be absolutely necessary, and that 
 he had recommended it at my first undertaking the work. With these 
 reasons he was well satisfied. I now proceed to the remaining, though 
 less remarkable, part of his life. 
 
 Mr Manesty, who had long been a faithful and generous friend of 
 Mr N. having procured him the place of tide-surveyor in the port of 
 Liverpool, Mr N. gives the following account of it : — “ I entered upon 
 
MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 39 
 
 business yesterday. I find my duty is to attend the tides one week, 
 and visit the ships that arrive, and such as are in the river ; and the 
 other week to inspect the vessels that are in the docks ; and thus al- 
 ternately the year round. The latter is little more than a sinecure, 
 but the former requires pretty constant attendance, both by day and 
 night. I have a good office, with fire and candle, and fifty or sixty 
 people under my direction ; with a handsome six-oared boat and a cox- 
 swain to row me about in form.” * 
 
 We cannot wonder that Mr N. latterly retained a strong impression 
 of a particular providence, superintending and conducting the steps of 
 man ; since he was so often reminded of it in his own history. The 
 following occurrence is one of many instances. Mr N. after his refor- 
 mation, was remarkable for his punctuality : I remember his often 
 sitting with his watch in his hand lest he should fail in keeping his 
 next engagement. This exactness with respect to time, it seems, was 
 his habit while occupying his post at Liverpool. One day, however, 
 some business had so detained him, that he came to his boat much 
 later than usual, to the surprise of those who had observed his former 
 punctuality. He went out in the boat as heretofore, to inspect a ship, 
 but the ship blew up just before he reached her : it appears, that if he 
 had left the shore a few minutes sooner, he must have perished with 
 the rest on board. 
 
 This anecdote I had from a clergyman, upon whose word I can de- 
 pend, who had been long in intimate habits with Mr N., and who had 
 it from Mr N. himself : the reason of its not appearing in his letters 
 from Liverpool to Mrs N. I can only suppose to be, his fearing to 
 alarm her with respect to the dangers of his station. But another 
 providential occurrence, which he mentions in those letters, I shall 
 transcribe. 
 
 “ When I think of my settlement here, and the manner of it, I see 
 the appointment of Providence so good and gracious, and such a plain 
 answer to my poor prayers, that I cannot but wonder and adore. 1 
 I think I have not yet told you, that my immediate predecessor in of- 
 fice, Mr C — , had not the least intention of resigning his place on the 
 occasion of his father’s death ; though such a report was spread about 
 the town without his knowledge, or rather in defiance of all he could 
 say to contradict it. Yet to this false report I owe my situation. For 
 it put Mr M — upon an application to Mr S — , the member for the 
 town ; and, the very day he received the promise in my favour, Mr 
 C — was found dead in his bed, though he had been in company, and 
 in perfect health, the night before. If I mistake not, the same messen- 
 ger who brought the promise, earned back the news of the vacancy to 
 Mr S — , at Chester. About an hour after, the mayor applied for a 
 nephew of his ; but, though it was only an hour or two, he was too 
 late. Mr S — had already written, and sent off the letter ; and I was 
 appointed accordingly. These circumstances appear to me extraordi- 
 nary, though of a piece with many other parts of my singular history. 
 
 * Letters to a Wife, vol. ii. p. 7. 
 
40 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 And the more so, as by another mistake I missed the land-waiter’s 
 place, which was my first object, and which I now see would not have 
 suited us nearly so well. I thank God I can now look through instru- 
 ments, and second causes, and see his wisdom and goodness immediate- 
 ly concerned, in fixing my lot.” 
 
 Mr N. having expressed, near the end of his Narrative, the motives 
 which induced him to aim at a regular appointment to the ministry in 
 the church of England, and of the refusal he met with in his first 
 making the attempt, the reader is father informed, that, on Dec. 16, 
 1758, Mr N. received a title to a curacy from the Rev. Mr C — , and 
 applied to the archbishop of York, Dr Gilbert, for ordination. The 
 bishop of Chester having countersigned his testimonials, directed him 
 to Dr Newton, the archbishop’s chaplain. He was referred to the se- 
 cretary, and received the softest refusal imaginable. The secretary in- 
 formed him, that he had “ represented the matter to the archbishop, 
 but his Grace was inflexible in supporting the rules and canons of the 
 church,” &c. 
 
 Travelling to Loughborough, Mr N. stopped at Welwyn, and send- 
 ing a note to the celebrated Dr Young, he received for answer, that 
 the doctor would be glad to see him. He found the doctor’s conversa- 
 tion agreeable, and to answer his expectation respecting the author of 
 the Night Thoughts. The doctor likewise seemed pleased with Mr N. 
 He approved Mr N.’s design of entering the ministry, and said many 
 encouraging things upon the subject : and when he dismissed Mr N. 
 desired him never to pass near Welwyn without calling upon him. 
 
 Mr N. it seems, had made some small attempts at Liverpool, in a 
 way of preaching or expounding. Many wished him to engage more 
 at large in those ministerial employments, to which his own mind was 
 inclined : and he thus expresses liis motives in a letter to Mrs N. in 
 answer to the objections she had formed. “ The late death of Mr 
 Jones, of St Saviour’s, has pressed this concern more closely upon my 
 mind. I fear it must be wrong, after having so solemnly devoted my- 
 self to the Lord for his service, to wear away my time, and bury my 
 talents in silence (because I have been refused orders in the church) 
 after all the great things he has done for me.”* 
 
 In a note annexed, he observes, that “ the influence of his judicious 
 and affectionate counsellor moderated the zeal which dictated this let- 
 ter, written in the year 1762, that had it not been for her, he should 
 probably have been precluded from those important scenes of service, 
 to which he was afterwards appointed but he adds, “ The exercises 
 of my mind upon this point, I believe, have not been peculiar to my- 
 self. I have known several persons, sensible, pious, of competent abi- 
 lities, and cordially attached to the established church ; who, being 
 wearied out with repeated refusals of ordination, and perhaps, not hav- 
 ing the advantage of such an adviser as I had, have at length struck 
 into the itinerant path, or settled among the Dissenters. Some of 
 these, yet living, are men of respectable characters, and useful in their 
 
 * Letters to a Wife, vol. ii. p. 79. 
 
MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 41 
 
 ministry ; but their influence, which would once have been serviceable 
 to the true interests of the Church of England, now rather operates a- 
 gainst it.” 
 
 In the year 1764, Mr N. had the curacy of Olney proposed to him, 
 and was recommended by Lord D — to Dr Green, bishop of Lincoln ; 
 of whose candour and tenderness he speaks with much respect. The 
 bishop had admitted him as a candidate for orders. 44 The examina- 
 tion,” says he, 44 lasted about an hour, chiefly upon thd principal heads 
 of Divinity. As I resolved not to be charged hereafter with dissimula- 
 tion, I was constrained to differ from his lordship in some points : but 
 he was not offended ; he declared himself satisfied, and has promised 
 to ordain me, either next Sunday, in town, or the Sunday following, 
 at Buckden. Let us praise the Lord !”* 
 
 Mr N. was ordained deacon at Buckden, April 29, 1764, and priest 
 in June the following year. In the parish of Olney, lie found many, 
 who not only had evangelical views of the truth, but had also long 
 walked in the light and experience of it. The vicarage was in the gift 
 of the Earl of D — , the nobleman to whom Mr N. addressed the first 
 twenty-six letters in his Cardiphonia. The earl was a man of real pie- 
 ty, and most amiable disposition ; he had formerly appointed the Rev. 
 Moses Brown vicar. Mr Brown was an evangelical minister, and a good 
 man ; of course he had afforded wholesome instruction to the parishio- 
 ners of Olney, and had been the instrument of a sound conversion in 
 many of them. He was the author of a poetical piece entitled Sunday 
 Thoughts, a translation of Professor Zimmerman’s Excellency of the 
 Knowledge of Jesus Christ, &c. 
 
 But Mr Brown had a numerous family, and met with considerable 
 trials in it ; he too much resembled Eli in his indulgence of his chil- 
 dren. He was also under the pressure of pecuniary difficulties, and 
 had therefore accepted the chaplaincy of Morden College, Blackheath, 
 while vicar of Olney. Mr N. in these circumstances, undertook the 
 curacy of Olney, in which he continued near sixteen years, previous to 
 his removal to St Mary Woolnoth, to which he was afterwards present- 
 ed, by the late John Thornton, Esq. 
 
 As Mr N. was under the greatest obligations to Mr Thornton’s friend- 
 ship while at Olney, and had been enabled to extend his own useful- 
 ness by the bounty of that extraordinary man, it may not be foreign to 
 our subject to give some general outline of Mr Thornton’s character in 
 this place. 
 
 It is said of Solomon, that 44 the Lord gave him largeness of heart, 
 even as the sand on the sea-shore such a peculiar disposition foi 
 whatever was good or benevolent was also bestowed on Mr Thornton. 
 He differed as much from rich men of ordinary bounty, as they do from 
 others that are parsimonious. Nor was this bounty the result of occa- 
 sional impulse, like a summer shower, violent and short ; on the con- 
 trary, it proceeded like a river pouring its waters through various coun- 
 tries, copious and inexhaustible. Nor could those obstructions of im- 
 
 * Letters to a Wife, voi. ii. p. 89. 
 
42 MEMOIRS OF THE REV, JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 posture and ingratitude, which have often been advanced as the cause 
 of damming up other streams, prevent or retard the course of this. 
 The generosity of Mr Thornton, indeed, frequently met with such liin- 
 derances, and led him to increasing discrimination, but the stream of 
 his bounty never ceased to hold its course. Deep, silent, and over- 
 whelming, it still rolled on, nor ended even with his life. 
 
 But the fountain from whence this beneficence flowed, and by which 
 its permanency and direction were maintained, must not be concealed. 
 Mr Thornton was a Christian. Let no one, however, so mistake me 
 here, as to suppose, that I mean nothing more by the term Christian, 
 than the state of one, who, convinced of the truth of revelation, gives as- 
 sent to its doctrines — regularly attends its ordinances — and maintains 
 an external moral and religious deportment. Such a one may have 
 a name to live while he is dead ; he may have a form of godliness 
 without the power of it ; he may even be found denying and ridicul- 
 ing that power — till at length he can only be convinced of his error at 
 an infallible tribunal ; where a widow, that gives but a mite, or a pub- 
 lican, that smites on his breast, shall be preferred before him. 
 
 Mr Thornton was a Christian indeed; that is, he was alive to God 
 by a spiritual regeneration. With this God he was daily and earnest- 
 ly transacting that infinitely momentous affair — the salvation of his 
 own soul ; and, next to that, the salvation of the souls of others. Tem- 
 perate in all things, though mean in nothing, he made provision for do- 
 ing good with his opulence, and seemed to be most in his element when 
 appropriating a considerable part of his large income to the necessities 
 of ofhers. 
 
 But Mr Thornton possessed that discrimination in his attempts to 
 serve his fellow-creatures, which distinguishes an enlightened mind : 
 he habitually contemplated man, as one, who has not only a body, sub- 
 ject to want, affliction, and death, but also a spirit, which is immortal, 
 and must be happy or miserable for ever. He therefore felt, that the 
 noblest exertions of charity are those which are directed to the relief of 
 the noblest part of our species. Accordingly, he left no mode of exer- 
 tion untried to relieve man under his natural ignorance and depravity. 
 To this end, he purchased advowsons and presentations, with a view to 
 place in parishes the most enlightened, active and useful ministers. He 
 employed the extensive commerce in which he was engaged, as a pow- 
 erful instrument for conveying immense quantities of Bibles, prayer- 
 books, and the most useful publications, to every place visited by our 
 trade. He printed, at his own sole expense, large editions of the latter 
 for that purpose ; and it may safely be affirmed, that there is scarcely 
 a part of the known world, where such books could be introduced, 
 which did not feel the salutary influence of this single individual. 
 
 Nor was Mr Thornton limited in his views of promoting the interests 
 of real religion, with what sect soever it was connected. He stood rea- 
 dy to assist a beneficial design in every party, but would be the crea- 
 ture of none. General good was his object, and wherever or however 
 it made its way, his maxim seemed constantly to be, “ valent quantum , 
 mlere potest ” 
 
MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 43 
 
 But tlie nature and extent of his liberality will be greatly miscon- 
 ceived, if any one should suppose it confined to moral and religious ob- 
 jects, though the grandest and most comprehensive exertions of it. Mr 
 Thornton was a philanthropist on the largest scale — the friend of man 
 under all his wants. His manner of relieving his fellow-men was prince- 
 ly ; instances might be mentioned of it, were it proper to particularize, 
 which would surprise those who did not know Mr Thornton. They 
 were so much out of ordinary course and expectation, that I know 
 some, who felt it their duty ‘to inquire of him, whether the sum they 
 had received was sent by his intention, or by mistake ? To this may be 
 added, that the manner of presenting his gifts was as delicate and con- 
 cealed, as the measure was large. 
 
 Besides this constant course of private donations, there was scarcely 
 a public charity, or occasion of relief to the ignorant or necessitous, 
 which did not meet with his distinguished support. His only question 
 was, “ May the miseries of man, in any measure, be removed or alle- 
 viated?” Nor was he merely distinguished by stretching out a liberal 
 hand : his benevolent heart was so intent on doing good, that he was 
 ever inventing and promoting plans for its diffusion at home or abroad. 
 
 He that wisely desires any end, will as wisely regard the means ; in 
 this Mr Thornton was perfectly consistent. In order to execute his 
 beneficent designs, he observed frugality and exactness in his personal 
 expenses. By such prospective methods, he was able to extend the in- 
 fluence of his fortune far beyond those, who, in still more elevated sta- 
 tions, are slaves to expensive habits. Such men meanly pace in tram- 
 mels of the tyrant custom , till it leaves them scarcely enough to pre- 
 serve their conscience, or even their credit, much less to employ their 
 talents in Mr Thornton’s nobler pursuits. He, however, could afford 
 to be generous ; and, while he was generous, did not forget his duty in 
 being just. He made ample provision for his children : and though, 
 while they are living, it would be indelicate to say more, I am sure of 
 speaking truth when I say, they are so far from thinking themselves 
 impoverished by the bounty of their father, that they contemplate with 
 the highest satisfaction the fruit of those benefits to society, which he 
 planted, which it may be trusted will extend with time itself, and which, 
 after his example, they still labour to extend. 
 
 But, with all the piety and liberality of his honoured character, no 
 man had deeper views of his own unworthiness before his God. To the 
 Redeemer’s work alone he looked for acceptance of his person and ser- 
 vices : he felt, that all he did, or could do, was infinitely short of that 
 which had been done for him, and of the obligations that were thereby 
 laid upon him. It was this abasedness of heart towards God, combin- 
 ed with the most singular largeness of heart toward his fellow-crea- 
 tures, which distinguished John Thornton among men. 
 
 To this common patron of every useful and pious endeavour, Mr N. 
 sent the Narrative, from which the former part of these Memoirs is 
 extracted. Mr Thornton replied in his usual manner, that is, by ac- 
 companying his letter with a valuable bank note; and, some months 
 after, he paid Mr N. a visit at Olney. A closer connexion being now 
 
44 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 formed between friends, who employed their distinct talents in promot- 
 ing the same benevolent cause, Mr Thornton left a sum of money with 
 Mr N. to be appropriated to the defraying his necessary expenses, and 
 relieving the poor. “ Be hospitable,” said Mr Thornton, “ and keep 
 an open house for such as are worthy of an entertainment : help the 
 poor and needy: I will statedly allow you L.200 a-year, and readily 
 send whatever you have occasion to draw for more.” Mr N. told me, 
 that he thought he had received of Mr Thornton upwards of L.3000 in 
 this way, during the time he resided at Olney. 
 
 The case of most ministers is peculiar in this respect : some among 
 them may be looked up to, on account of their publicity and talents ; 
 they may have made great sacrifices of their personal interest, in order 
 to enter on their ministry, and may be possessed of the strongest bene- 
 volence ; but, from the narrowness of their pecuniary circumstances, 
 and from the largeness of their families, they often perceive, that an 
 ordinary tradesman in their parishes, can subscribe to a charitable or 
 popular institution much more liberally than themselves. This would 
 have been Mr N.’s case, but for the above-mentioned singular patron- 
 age. 
 
 A minister, however, should not be so forgetful of his dispensation, 
 as to repine at his want of power in this respect. He might as justly 
 estimate his deficiency by the strength of the lion, or the flight of the 
 eagle. The power communicated to him is of another kind ; and power 
 of every kind belongs to God, who gives gifts to every man severally 
 sis he will. The two mites of the widow were all the power of that 
 kind which was communicated to her, and her bestowment of her two 
 mites was better accepted than the large offerings of the rich man. The 
 powers, therefore, of Mr Thornton, and of Mr N., though of a different 
 order, were both consecrated to God ; and each might have said, “ Of 
 thine own have we given thee.” 
 
 Providence seems to have appointed Mr N.’s residence at Olney, a- 
 mong other reasons, for the relief of the depressed mind of the poet 
 Cowper. There has gone forth an unfounded report, that the deplor- 
 able melancholy of Cowper was, in part, derived from his residence 
 and connexions in that place. The fact, however, is the reverse of 
 this ; and as it may be of importance to the interests of true religion 
 to prevent such a misrepresentation from taking root, I will present 
 the real state of the case, as I have found it attested by the most re- 
 spectable living witnesses ; and more especially as confirmed by a MS., 
 written by the poet himself, at the calmest period of his life ; with the 
 perusal of which I was favoured by Mr N. 
 
 It most evidently appears, that symptoms of Mr Cowper’s morbid 
 state began to discover themselves in his earliest youth. He seems to 
 have been at all times disordered, in a greater or less degree. He was 
 sent to Westminster school at the age of nine years, and long endured 
 the tyranny of an elder boy, of which he gives a shocking account in 
 the paper above-mentioned ; and which “ produced,” as one of his bio- 
 graphers observes, who had long intimacy with him, “ an indelible ef- 
 fect upon his mind through life.” A person so naturally bashful and 
 
MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 4 5 
 
 depressed as Cowper, must needs find the profession of a barrister a 
 farther occasion of anxiety : the post obtained for him by his friends 
 in the House of Lords, overwhelmed him ; and the remonstrances 
 which those friends made against his relinquishing so honourable and 
 lucrative an appointment (but which soon after actually took place), 
 greatly increased the anguish of a mind already incapacitated for busi- 
 ness. To all this were added events, which of themselves have been 
 found sufficient to overset the minds of the strongest ; namely the de- 
 cease of his particular friend and intimate, Sir William Russel ; and 
 his meeting with a disappointment in obtaining a lady, upon whom his 
 affections were placed. 
 
 But the state of a person, torn and depressed, not by his religious 
 connexions, hut by adverse circumstances, and these meeting a natural- 
 ly morbid sensibility, long before he knew Olney, or had formed any 
 connexion with its inhabitants, will best appear from some verses which 
 he sent at this time to one of his female relations, and for the commu- 
 nication of which we are indebted to Mr Hayley : — 
 
 “ Doom’d, as I am, in solitude to waste 9k 
 
 The present moments, and regret the past ; 
 
 Depriv’d of every joy I valued most — 
 
 My friend torn from me, and my mistress lost : 
 
 Call not this gloom I wear, this anxious mien, 
 
 The dull effect of humour or of spleen ; 
 
 Still, still I mourn, with each returning day, 
 
 Him — snatch’d by fate, in early youth, away ; 
 
 And her, through tedious years of doubt and pain, 
 
 Fix’d in her choice, and faithful — but in vain. 
 
 See me, ere yet my destin’d course half done, 
 
 Cast forth a wand’rer on a wild unknown ! 
 
 See me, neglected on the world’s rude coast, 
 
 Each dear companion of my voyage lost ! 
 
 Nor ask, why clouds of sorrow shade my brow, 
 
 And ready tears wait only leave to flow : 
 
 Why all that soothes a heart, from anguish free, 
 
 All that delights the happy — palls with me ? 
 
 That any man, under such pressures, should at first turn his mind 
 to those resources, which religion alone can afford, is both natural and 
 rational. But Mr Cowper was like a person looking from a high 
 tower, who perceives only the danger of falling, but neither the secu- 
 rity nor prospect it presents ; and therefore it is no wonder, with so 
 melancholy, morbid, and susceptible a mind, that his unhappiness 
 should be increased. And yet this very mind of Cowper, when put 
 under the care of Dr Cotton, of St Alban’s (a physician as capable of 
 administering to the spiritual as to the natural maladies of his patients), 
 received the first consolation it ever tasted, and that from evangelical 
 truths. It was under the care of this physician, that Mr Cowper first 
 obtained a clear view of those sublime and animating truths, which so 
 distinguished and exalted his future strains as a poet. Here also he 
 received that settled tranquillity and peace, which he enjoyed for seve- 
 ral years afterwards. So far, therefore, was his constitutional malady 
 from being produced or increased by his evangelical connexions, either 
 at St Alban’s or at Olney, that he seems never to have had any settled 
 
46 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 peace but from the truths he learned in these societies. It appears, 
 that among them alone he found the only sunshine he ever enjoyed, 
 through the cloudy day of his afflicted life. 
 
 It appears also, that, while at Dr Cotton’s, Mr Cowper’s distress was, 
 for a long time entirely removed, by marking that passage in Rom. iii. 
 25 : “ Him hath God set forth to be a propitiation, through faith in his 
 blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are 
 past.” In this scripture he saw the remedy, which God provides for 
 the relief of a guilty conscience, with such clearness, that, for several 
 years after, his heart was filled with love, and his life occupied with 
 prayer, praise, and doing good to his needy fellow-creatures. 
 
 Mr N. told me, that from Mr Cowper’s first coming to Olney, it was 
 observed he had studied his Bible with such advantage, and was so well 
 acquainted with its design, that not only his troubles were removed, 
 but that to the end of his life he never had clearer views of the pecu- 
 liar doctrines of the gospel than when he first became an attendant 
 upon them; that (short intervals excepted) Mr Cowper enjoyed a 
 course of peace for several successive years : that, during this period, 
 the inseparable attendants of a lively faith appeared, by Mr Cowper’s 
 exerting himself to the utmost of his power in every benevolent service 
 he could render to his poor neighbours : and that Mr N. used to consi- 
 der him as a sort of curate, from his constant attendance upon the sick 
 and afflicted, in that large and necessitous parish. 
 
 But the malady, which seemed to be subdued by the strong consola- 
 tions of the gospel, was still latent ; and only required some occasion 
 of irritation to break out again, and overwhelm the patient. Any ob- 
 ject of constant attention, that shall occupy a mind previously disor- 
 dered, whether fear, or love, or science, or religion, will not be so much 
 the cause of the disease, as the accidental occasion of exciting it. Cow- 
 per’s Letters will show us how much his mind was occupied at one 
 time by the truths of the Bible, and at another time by the fictions of 
 Homer ; but his melancholy was originally a constitutional disease, a 
 physical disorder, which, indeed, could be affected either by the Bible 
 or by Homer, but was utterly distinct in its nature from the mere mat 
 ter of either. And here I cannot but mark this necessary distinction , 
 having often been witness to cases where religion has been assigned as 
 the proper cause of insanity, when it has been only an accidental occa- 
 sion, in the case of one already affected.* Thus Cowper’s malady, like 
 
 * I have been an eye-witness of several instances of this kind of misrepresentation, but will de- 
 tain the reader with mentioning only one I was called to visit a woman whose mind was disor- 
 dered, and on my observing, that it was a case which required the assistance of a physician rather 
 than that of a clergyman, her husband replied : “ Sir, we sent to you, because it is a religious case 
 — her mind has been injured by constantly reading the Bible.” “ I have known many instances,” 
 said I, “ of persons brought to their senses by reading the Bible ; but it is possible, that too in- 
 tense an application to that, as well as to any other subject, may have disordered your wife.” “There 
 is every proof of it,” said he ; and was proceeding to multiply his proofs, till his brother interrupt- 
 ed him by thus addressing me : — 
 
 “•Sir, I have no longer patience to stand by and see you imposed on. The truth of the matter is 
 this : my brother has forsaken his wife, and been long connected with a loose woman. He had the 
 best of wives in her, and one who was strongly attached to him : but she has seen his heart and 
 property given to another, and in her solitude and distress, went to the Bible, as the only consola- 
 tion left her. Her health and spirits at length sunk under her troubles; and there she lies dis- 
 
MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 47 
 
 a strong current, breaking clown the banks which had hitherto sustain- 
 ed the pressure and obliquity of its course, prevailed against the sup- 
 ports he had received, and precipitated him again into his former dis- 
 tress. 
 
 I inquired of Mr N. as to the manner in which Mr Cowper’s disor- 
 der returned, after an apparent recovery of nearly nine years continu- 
 ance : and was informed, that the first symptoms were discovered one 
 morning, in his discourse, soon after he had undertaken a new engage- 
 ment in composition. 
 
 As a general and full account of this extraordinary genius is already 
 before the public, such particulars would not have occupied so much 
 room in these Memoirs, but with the view of removing the false state- 
 ments that have been made. 
 
 Of great importance also was the vicinity of Mr N.’s residence to 
 that of the Rev. Mr Scott, then curate of Ravenstone and Weston Un- 
 derwood, and now ^rector of Aston Sandford ; a man whose ministry 
 and writings have since been so useful to mankind. This clergyman 
 was nearly a Socinian : he was in the habit of ridiculing evangelical 
 religion, and laboured to bring over Mr N. to his own sentiments. Mr 
 Scott had married a lady from the family of a Mr Wright, a gentleman 
 in his parish, who had promised to provide for him. But Mr Scott’s 
 objections to subscription arose so high, that he informed his patron it 
 would be in vain to attempt providing for him in the Church of England, 
 as he could not conscientiously accept a living, on the condition of sub- 
 scribing its Liturgy and Articles. “ This,” said Mr N., “ gave me hopes 
 of Mr Scott’s being sincere, however wrong in his principles.” 
 
 But the benefit which Mr Scott derived from his neighbour, will 
 best appear in his own words : — * 
 
 “ I was,” says he, t£ full of proud self-sufficiency, very positive, and 
 very obstinate ; and being situated in the neighbourhood of some of 
 those whom the world calls Methodists, I joined in the prevailing sen- 
 timent ; held them in sovereign contempt ; spoke of them with deri- 
 sion ; declaimed against them from the pulpit, as persons full of bigo- 
 try, enthusiasm, and spiritual pride ; laid heavy things to their charge ; 
 and endeavoured to prove the doctrine, which I supposed them to hold 
 (for I had never read their books), to be dishonourable to God, and de- 
 structive of morality ; and though in some companies I chose to con- 
 ceal part of my sentiments, and in all affected to speak as a friend to 
 universal toleration, yet scarcely any person could be more proudly and 
 violently prejudiced against both their persons and principles than I 
 then was. 
 
 “ In January 1774, two of my parishioners, a man and his wife, lay 
 at the point of death. I had heard of the circumstance, but, according 
 to my general custom, not being sent for, I took no notice of it ; till one 
 evening, the woman being now dead, and the man dying, I heard that 
 
 tracted, not from leading her Bible, but from the infidelity and cruelty of her husband/’ Does the 
 reader wish to know what reply the husband. made to this? He made no reply at all, but left the 
 room with confusion of face. 
 
 * Scott’s Force of Truth, p. 11, fifth edition. 
 
48 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 my neighbour Mr N. had been several times to visit them. Immedi- 
 ately my conscience reproached me with being shamefully negligent, 
 in sitting at home within a few doors of dying persons, my general 
 hearers, and never going to visit them. Directly it occurred to me, 
 that whatever contempt I might have for Mr N.’s doctrines, I must ac- 
 knowledge his practice to be more consistent with the ministerial cha- 
 racter than my own. He must have more zeal and love for souls than 
 I had, or he would not have walked so far to visit and supply my lack 
 of care to those, who, as far as I was concerned, might have been left 
 to perish in their sins. 
 
 “ This reflection affected me so much, that without delay, and very 
 earnestly, yea, with tears, I besought the Lord to forgive my past ne- 
 glect ; and I resolved thenceforth to be more attentive to this duty : 
 which resolution, though at first formed in ignorant dependence on my 
 own strength, I have by divine grace been enabled hitherto to keep. 
 I went immediately to visit the survivor ; and the affecting sight of 
 one person already dead, and another expiring in the same chamber, 
 served more deeply to impress my serious convictions. 
 
 “ It was at this time that my correspondence with Mr N. commenc- 
 ed. At a visitation, May 1775, we exchanged a few words on a con- 
 troverted subject, in the room among the clergy, which I believe drew 
 many eyes upon us. At that time he prudently declined the discourse ; 
 hut a day or two after he sent me a short note, with a little book for 
 my perusal. This was the very thing I wanted ; and I gladly embraced 
 the opportunity, which, according to my wishes, seemed now to offer ; 
 God lmoweth, with no inconsiderable expectations, that my arguments 
 would prove irresistibly convincing, and that I should have the honour 
 of rescuing a well-meaning person from his enthusiastical delusions. 
 
 “ I had, indeed, by this time conceived a very favourable opinion of 
 him, and a sort, of respect for him, being acquainted with the charac- 
 ter he sustained even among some persons, who expressed a disappro- 
 bation of his doctrines. They were forward to commend him as a be- 
 nevolent, disinterested, inoffensive person, and a laborious minister. 
 But, on the other hand, I looked upon his religious sentiments as rank 
 fanaticism ; and entertained a very contemptible opinion of his abilities, 
 natural and acquired. Once I had had the curiosity to hear him preach ; 
 and, not understanding his sermon, I made a very great jest of it, where 
 I could do it without giving offence. I had also read one of his publi- 
 cations ; but for the same reason I thought the greater part of it whim - 
 sical, paradoxical, and unintelligible. 
 
 “ Concealing, therefore, the true motives of my conduct, under the 
 offer of friendship, and a professed desire to know the truth (which, 
 amidst all my self-sufficiency and prejudice, I trust the Lord had even 
 then given me), with the greatest affectation of candour, and of a mind 
 open to conviction, I wrote him a long letter ; purposing to draw from 
 him such an avowal and explanation of his sentiments, as might intro- 
 duce a controversial discussion of our religious differences. 
 
 u The event by no means answered my expectation. He returned 
 a very friendly and long answer to my letter, in which he carefully 
 
MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 49 
 
 avoided the mention of those doctrines which he knew would offend 
 me. He declared, that he believed me to be one who feared God, and 
 was under the teaching of his Holy Spirit ; that he gladly accepted my 
 offer of friendship, and was no ways inclined to dictate to me ; but that, 
 leaving me to the guidance of the Lord, he would be glad, as occasion 
 served, from time to time, to bear testimony to the truths of the gos- 
 pel, and to communicate his sentiments to me on any subject with all 
 the confidence of friendship. 
 
 “ In this manner our correspondence began ; and it was continued, 
 in the interchange of nine or ten letters, till December in the same 
 year. Throughout I held my purpose, and he his. I made use of eve- 
 ry endeavour to draw him into controversy, and filled my letters with 
 definitions, inquiries, arguments, objections, and consequences, requir- 
 ing explicit answers. He, on the other hand, shunned every thing con- 
 troversial as much as possible, and filled his letters with the most use- 
 ful and least offensive instructions ; except that now and then he drop- 
 ped his hints concerning the necessity, the true nature, and the effica- 
 cy of faith, and the manner in which it was to be sought and obtained , 
 and concerning some other matters, suited, as he judged, to help me 
 forward in my inquiry after truth. But they much offended my pre- 
 judices, afforded me matter of disputation, and at that time were of lit- 
 tle use to me. 
 
 “ When I had made this little progress in seeking the truth, my ac- 
 quaintance with Mr N. was resumed. From the conclusion of our cor- 
 respondence in December 1775, till April 1777, it had been almost 
 wholly dropped. To speak plainly, I did not care for his company : I 
 did not mean to make any use of him as an instructor, and I was un- 
 willing the world should think us in any way connected. But, under 
 discouraging circumstances, I had occasion to call upon him ; and his 
 discourse so comforted and edified me, that my heart, being by his 
 means relieved from its burden, became susceptible of affection for him. 
 From that time I was inwardly pleased to have him for my friend ; 
 though not, as now, rejoiced to call him so. I had, however, even at 
 that time no thoughts of learning doctrinal truth from him, and was 
 ashamed to be detected in his company; but I sometimes stole away to 
 spend an hour with him. About the same period I once heard him 
 preach ; but still it was foolishness to me, his sermon being principally 
 upon the believer’s experience, in some particulars with which I was 
 unacquainted ; so that, though I loved and valued him, I considered 
 him as a person misled by enthusiastical notions, and strenuously in- 
 sisted, that we should never think alike till we met in heaven.” 
 
 Mr Scott, after going on to particularize his progress in the disco- 
 very of truth, and the character of Mr N. as its minister, afterwards 
 adds : — 
 
 “ The pride of reasoning, and the conceit of superior discernment, 
 had all along accompanied me ; and though somewhat broken, had yet 
 considerable influence. Hitherto, therefore, I had not thought of hear- 
 ing any person preach ; because I did not think any one in the circle 
 of my acquaintance capable of giving me such information as I wanted. 
 
 E 
 
50 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 But being at length convinced, that Mr N. had been right, and that I 
 had been mistaken, in the several particulars in which we had differed, 
 it occurred to me, that, having preached those doctrines so long, he 
 must understand many things concerning them to which I was a stran- 
 ger. Now, therefore, though not without much remaining prejudice, 
 and not less in the character of a judge than of a scholar, I condescend- 
 ed to be his hearer, and occasionally to attend his preaching, and that 
 of some other ministers. I soon perceived the benefit ; for from time 
 to time the secrets of my heart were discovered to me, far beyond what 
 I had hitherto noticed ; and I seldom returned from hearing a sermon 
 without having conceived a meaner opinion of myself — without having 
 attained to a farther acquaintance with my deficiencies, weaknesses, cor- 
 ruptions, and wants — or without being supplied with fresh matter for 
 prayer, and directed to greater watchfulness. I likewise learned the 
 use of experience in preaching ; and was convinced that the readiest 
 way to reach the hearts and consciences of others was to speak from 
 my own. In short, I gradually saw more and more my need of in- 
 struction, and was at length brought to consider myself as a very no- 
 vice in religious matters. Thus I began experimentally to perceive our 
 Lord’s meaning, when he says, 4 Except ye receive the kingdom of 
 heaven as a little child, ye shall in nowise enter therein.’ ” 
 
 If I have seemed to digress in dwelling so long on these three cha- 
 racters, let the reader consider the importance of the facts — their inti- 
 mate connexion with Mr N.’s history — and let me inform him, that the 
 author has something much nearer his heart than that of precision in 
 setting forth the history of an individual ; namely, that of exhibiting 
 the nature and importance of vital and experimental religion : he there- 
 fore gladly brings forward any fact found in his way, which may tend 
 to illustrate it. 
 
 But to return to the more immediate subject of these Memoirs. In 
 the year 1776, Mr N. was afflicted with a tumour, or wen, which had 
 formed on his thigh ; and on account of its growing more large and 
 troublesome, he resolved to undergo the experiment of extirpation. 
 This obliged him to go to London for the operation, which was suc- 
 cessfully performed, October 10th, by the late Mr Warner, of Guy’s 
 Hospital. I remember hearing him speak several years afterwards of 
 this trying occasion ; but the trial did not seem to have affected him as 
 a painful operation, so much as a critical opportunity in which he might 
 fail in demonstrating the patience of a Christian under pain. 44 I felt,” 
 said he, 44 that being enabled to bear a very sharp operation, with toler- 
 able calmness and confidence, was a greater favour granted to me than 
 the deliverance from my malady.* 
 
 * His reflections upon the occasion, in his diary, are as follow : — " Thou didst support me, and 
 make this operation very tolerable. The cure, by thy blessing, was happily expedited : so that, on 
 
 Sunday the 27th, I was enabled to go to church and hear Mr F , and the Sunday following, 
 
 to preach for him. The tenderness and attention of Dr and Mrs F — , with whom we were, 
 
 cannot sufficiently describe ; nor, indeed, the kindness of many other friends. To them I would 
 oe thankful, my Lord, but especially to thee ; for what are creatures bat instruments in thy hand, 
 fulfilling thy pleasure ? At home all was preserved quiet, and I met with no incident to distress or 
 disturb me while absent. The last fortnight I preached often, and was hurried about in seeing my 
 
MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 51 
 
 While Mr N. thus continued faithfully discharging the duties of his 
 station, and watching for the temporal and eternal welfare of his flock, 
 a dreadful fire broke out at Olney, October 1777. Mr N. took an ac- 
 tive part in comforting and relieving the sufferers : he collected upwards 
 of L.200 for them ; a considerable sum of money, when the poverty 
 and late calamity of the place are regarded. Such instances of bene- 
 volence towards the people, with the constant assistance he afforded 
 the poor, by the help of Mr Thornton, naturally led him to expect that 
 he should have so much influence as to restrain gross licentiousness on 
 particular occasions. But, to use his own expression, he had 44 lived 
 to bury the old crop on which any dependence could be placed.” He 
 preached a weekly lecture, which occurred that year on the 5th of No- 
 vember ; and, as he feared that the usual way of celebrating it at Ol- 
 ney might endanger his hearers in their attendance at the church, he 
 exerted himself to preserve some degree of quiet on that evening. In- 
 stead, however, of hearkening to his entreaties, the looser sort exceed- 
 ed their former extravagance, drunkenness, and rioting, and even oblig- 
 ed him to send out money, to preserve his house from violence. This 
 happened but a year before he finally left Olney. When he related 
 this occurrence to me, he added, that he believed he should never have 
 left the place while he lived, had not so incorrigible a spirit prevailed 
 in a parish he had long laboured to reform. 
 
 But I must remark here, that this is no solitary fact, nor at all unac- 
 countable. The gospel, we are informed, is not merely 44 a savour of 
 life unto life,” hut also 44 of death unto death.” Those whom it does 
 not soften it is often found to harden. Thus we find St Paul 44 went 
 ; nto the synagogue and spake boldly for the space of three months, dis- 
 puting and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God. 
 But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of 
 that way before the multitude, he departed from them.” 
 
 44 The strong man armed,” seeks to keep his 44 house and goods in 
 peace,” and, if a minister is disposed to let this sleep of death remain, 
 that minister’s own house and goods may be permitted to remain in 
 peace also. Such a minister may be esteemed by his parish as a good 
 kind of man — quiet, inoffensive, candid, &c. ; and if he discover any 
 zeal, it is directed to keep the parish in the state he found it ; that is, 
 in ignorance and unbelief, worldly-minded and hard-hearted — the very 
 state of peace in which the strong man armed seeks to keep his palace 
 or citadel, the human heart. 
 
 But if a minister, like the subject of these Memoirs, enters into the 
 design of his commission — if he be alive to the interest of his own soul, 
 and that of the souls committed to his charge ; or, as the apostle ex- 
 presses it, 44 to save himself and those that hear him,” he may depend 
 upon meeting in his own experience the truth of that declaration, 
 44 Yea, all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution,” 
 in one form of it or another. One of the most melancholy sights we 
 
 friends. But though I had a little leisure or opportunity for retirement, and my heart, alas ! as 
 usual, sadly reluctant and dull in secret, yet in public thou wert pleased to favour me with li- 
 berty ” 
 
32 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 behold is when any part of the church, through prejudice, joins the 
 world in throwing the stone. There is, however such a determined en- 
 mity to godliness itself, in the breast of a«c£rtain class of men existing 
 in most parishes, that whatever learning and good sense are found in 
 their teacher — whatever consistency of character, or blameless deport- 
 ment he exhibits — whatever benevolence or bounty (like that which 
 Mr N. exercised at Olney) may constantly appear in his character — 
 such men remain irreconcilable. They will resist every attempt made 
 to appease their enmity. God alone, who changed the hearts of Paul 
 and of Newton, can heal these bitter waters. 
 
 I recollect to have heard Mr N. say on such an occasion, “ When 
 God is about to perform any great work, he generally permits some 
 great opposition to it. Suppose Pharaoh had acquiesced in the depar- 
 ture of the children of Israel, or that they had met with no difficulties 
 in the way, they would, indeed, have passed from Egypt to Canaan 
 with ease ; but they, as well as the church in all future ages, would 
 have been great losers. The wonder-working God would not have 
 been seen in those extremities, which make his arm so visible. A smooth 
 passage, here, would have made but a poor story.” 
 
 But, under such disorders, Mr N., in no one instance that I ever 
 heard of, was tempted to depart from the line marked out by the pre- 
 cept and example of his Master. He continued to “ bless them that 
 persecuted him,” knowing that “ the servant of the Lord must not 
 strive, but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient.” To the last 
 day he spent among them, he went straight forward, 4 4 in meekness 
 instructing those that opposed, if God peradventure might give them 
 -epentance to the acknowledging the truth.” 
 
 But, before we take a final leave of Olney, the reader must be in- 
 formed of another part of Mr N.’s labours. He had published a volume 
 of Sermons before he took orders, dated Liverpool, January 1, 1760. 
 In 1762 he published his Omicron, to which his letters, signed Vigil, 
 were afterwards annexed. In 1764 appeared his Narrative. In 1767, 
 a volume of Sermons, preached at Olney. In 1769 his Review of Ec- 
 clesiastical History: and in 1779, a volume of Hymns, of which some 
 were composed by Mr Cowper, and distinguished by a C. To these 
 succeeded, in 1781, his valuable work, Cardiphonia; but more will be 
 said of these in their place. 
 
 From Olney Mr N. was removed to the rectory of the united parishes 
 of St Mary Woolnoth, and St Mary Woolchurch Haw, Lombard Street, 
 on the presentation of his friend Mr Thornton. 
 
 It is remarkable, that these parishes had been favoured with two 
 very eminent pastors, before Mr N. appeared ; namely, the Rev. Josias 
 Shute, B.D., archdeacon of Colchester, and rector of St Mary Wool- 
 noth who died 1643 — and the Rev. Ralph Robinson, who died in 
 1655. There is a well written account of Mr Shute in the Christian 
 Observer of January 1804 ; from which it appears, that his piety, mi- 
 nisterial talents, and moderation in those difficult times, were very 
 much distinguished during the thirty-three years he continued rec- 
 
MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 53 
 
 tor.* Mr Robinson died young, but has left a volume of truly evan- 
 gelical discourses preached at St Mary’s. 
 
 Some difficulty arose on lVJr N.’s being presented, by Mr Thornton’s 
 right of presentation being claimed by a nobleman; the question was, 
 therefore, at length brought before the House of Lords, and determin- 
 ed in favour of Mr Thornton. Mr N. preached his first sermon in these 
 parishes, Dec. 19, 1779, from Eph. iv. 15. “ Speaking the truth in 
 love.” It contained an affectionate address to his parishioners, and was • 
 directly published for their use. 
 
 Here a new and very distinct scene of action and usefulness was set 
 before him. Placed in the centre of London — in an opulent neigh- 
 bourhood — with connexions daily increasing, he had now a course of 
 service to pursue, in several respects different from his former at Ol- 
 ney. Being, however, well acquainted with the word of God, and the 
 heart of man, he proposed to himself no new weapons of warfare, for 
 pulling down the strong holds of sin and Satan around him. He per- 
 ceived, indeed, most of his parishioners too intent upon their wealth 
 and merchandise to pay much regard to their new minister; but, since 
 they would not come to him, he was determined to go, as far as he 
 could, to them ; and, therefore, soon after his institution, he sent a 
 printed address to his parishioners : he afterwards sent them another 
 address, on the usual prejudices that are taken up against the gospel. 
 What effects these attempts had then upon them does not appear ; cer- 
 tain it is, that these, and other acts of his ministry, will be recollected 
 by them, when the objects of their present pursuits are forgotten or la- 
 mented. 
 
 I have heard Mr N. speak with great feeling on the circumstances 
 of his last important station. “ That one,” said he, “ of the most ig- 
 norant, the most miserable, and the most abandoned of slaves, should 
 be plucked from his forlorn state of exile on the coast of Africa, and at 
 length be appointed minister of the parish of the first magistrate of the 
 first city in the world — that he should there not only testify of such 
 grace, but stand up as a singular instance and monument of it — that 
 he should be enabled to record it in his history, preaching, and writings 
 to the world at large — is a fact I can contemplate with admiration, but 
 never sufficiently estimate.” This reflection, indeed, was so present to 
 his mind on all occasions, and in all places, that he seldom passed a 
 single day anywhere, but he was found referring to the strange event, 
 in one way or other. 
 
 It may be necessary to add, that the latter part of these Memoirs 
 leads me to speak so personally of my friend, that any farther inspec- 
 tion from his own eye was deemed improper. 
 
 When Mr N. came to St Mary’s, he resided for some time in Charles’ 
 
 * Granger, in his Biographical History of England, says, that “ His learning in divinity and ec- 
 clesiastical history was extensive, indeed almost universal.” And even Walker, in his Account of 
 the Clergy, says, that, “ In the beginning of the troubles, he was molested and harassed to death, 
 and denied a funeral sermon to.be preached for him by Dr Holdsworth, as he desired — that he was 
 a person of great piety, charity, and gravity, and of a most sweet and affable temper ” It farther 
 appears, that, like his successor Mr N., he preached twice on the Sunday, and had a lecture in his 
 church every Wednesday. 
 
MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 Square, Hoxton ; afterwards he removed to Coleman Street Buildings, 
 where he continued till his death. Being of the most friendly and com- 
 municative disposition, his house was open to Christians of all ranks 
 and denominations. Here, like a father among his children, he used 
 to entertain, encourage, and instruct his friends, especially younger 
 ministers, or candidates for the ministry. Here also the poor, the af- 
 flicted, and the tempted, found an asylum and a sympathy, which they 
 could scarcely find, in an equal degree, anywhere besides. 
 
 His timely hints were often given with much point, and profitable 
 address, to the numerous acquaintance which surrounded him in this 
 public station. Some time after Mr N. had published his Omicron, 
 and described the three stages of growth in religion, from the blade, 
 the ear, and the full corn in the ear, distinguishing them by the letters 
 A, B, and C, a conceited young minister wrote to Mr N., telling him, 
 that he read his own character accurately drawn in that of C. Mr 
 N. wrote in reply, that in drawing the character of C, or full maturi- 
 ty, he had forgotten to add, till now, one prominent feature of C’s cha- 
 racter, namely, that C never knew his own face. 
 
 44 It grieves me,” said Mr N., 44 to see so few of my wealthy pa- 
 rishioners come to church. I always consider the rich as under greater 
 obligations to the preaching of the gospel than the poor. For at church, 
 the rich must hear the whole truth as well as others. There they have 
 no mode of escape. But let them once get home, you will be troubled 
 to get at them ; and, when you are admitted, you are so fettered with 
 punctilio, so interrupted and damped with the frivolous conversation 
 of their friends, that, as Archbishop Leighton says, 4 it is well if your 
 visit does not prove a blank or a blot.’ ” 
 
 Mr N. used to improve every occurrence which he could with pro- 
 priety bring into the pulpit. One night he found a bill put up at St 
 Mary Woolnoth’s, upon which he commented a great deal when he 
 came to preach. The bill was to this effect : 44 A young man, having 
 come to the possession of a very considerable fortune, desires the 
 prayers of the congregation, that he may be preserved from the snares 
 to which it exposes him .” — 44 Now, if the man,” said Mr N., 44 had lost 
 a fortune, the world would not have wondered to have seen him put up 
 a bill ; but this man has been better taught.” 
 
 Coming out of his church, on a Wednesday, a lady stopped him on 
 the steps, and said, 44 The ticket, of which I held a quarter, is drawn 
 a prize of ten thousand pounds : I know you will congratulate me up- 
 on the occasion.” 44 Madam,” said he, 44 as for a friend under tempta- 
 tion, I will endeavour to pray for you.” 
 
 Soon after he came to St Mary’s, I remember to have heard him say, 
 in a certain company, 44 Some have observed, that I preach shorter ser- 
 mons on a Sunday morning, and with more caution : but this I do up- 
 on principle. I suppose I may have two or three of my bankers pre- 
 sent, and some others of my parish, who have hitherto been strangers 
 to my views of truth. I endeavour to imitate the apostle. 4 I became,’ 
 says he, 4 all things to all men but observe the end, it was in order 
 to gain some. The fowler must go cautiously to meet shy birds, but 
 
MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 55 
 
 he will not leave his powder and shot behind him. 4 I have fed you 
 with milk,’ says the apostle ; but there are some, that are not only for 
 forcing strong meat, hut bones too, down the throat of the child. — We 
 must have patience with a single step in the case of an infant ; and 
 there are one-step books and sermons, which are good in their place. 
 Christ taught his diciples as they were able to bear ; and it was upon 
 the same principle that the apostle accommodated himself to prejudice. 
 — Now,” continued he, 44 what I wish to remark on these considera- 
 tions is, that this apostolical principle, steadily pursued, will render a 
 minister apparently inconsistent — superficial hearers will think him a 
 trimmer. On the other hand, a minister, destitute of the apostolical 
 principle and intention, and directing his whole force to preserve the 
 appearance of consistency, may thus seem to preserve it ; but, let me 
 tell you, here is only the form of faithfulness, without the spirit.” 
 
 I could not help observing one day, how much Mr N. was grieved 
 with the mistake of a minister, who appeared to pay too much atten- 
 tion to politics. 44 For my part,” said he, 44 I have no temptation to 
 turn politician, and much less to inflame a party, in these times. When 
 a ship is leaky, and a mutinous spirit divides the company on board, a 
 wise man would sav, 4 My good friends, while we are debating, the wa- 
 ter is gaining on us — we had better leave the debate, and go to the 
 pumps.’ — I endeavour,” continued he, 44 to turn my people’s eyes 
 from instruments to God. I am continually attempting to show them, 
 how far they are from knowing either the matter of fact, or the matter 
 of right. I inculcate our great privileges in this country, and advise 
 a discontented man to take a lodging for a little while in Russia or 
 Prussia.” 
 
 Though no great variety of anecdote is to be expected in a course so 
 stationary as this part of Mr N.’s life and ministry ; for sometimes the 
 course of a single day might give the account of a whole year ; yet that 
 day was so benevolently spent, that he was found in it 44 not only re- 
 joicing with those that rejoiced,” but literally 44 weeping with those 
 that wept.” The portrait which Goldsmith drew from imagination, 
 fllr N. realized in fact, insomuch that had Mr N. sat for KisT picture to 
 the poet, it could not have been more accurately delineated than by 
 the following lines in his Deserted Village : — 
 
 “ Unskilful he to fawn, or seek for power, 
 
 By doctrines fashion’d to the varying hour ; 
 
 Far other aims his heart had learn’d to prize. 
 
 More bent to raise the wretched than to rise. 
 
 Thus to relieve the wretched was his pride, 
 
 And even his failings lean’d to virtue’s side ; 
 
 But in his duty prompt at every call, 
 
 He watch’d and wept, he prayed and felt, for all : 
 
 And as a bird each fond endearment tries. 
 
 To tempt its new-fledg’d offspring to the skies. 
 
 He tried each art, reprov’d each dull delay, 
 
 Allur’d to brighter worlds, and led the way.” 
 
 I remember to have heard him say, when speaking of his continual 
 interruptions, 44 I see in this world two heaps of human happiness and 
 misery ; now if I can take but the smallest bit from one heap and add 
 
56 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 to the other, I carry a point. — If, as I go home, a child has dropped a 
 halfpenny, and if, hy giving it another, I can wipe away its tears, I 
 feel I have done something. I should he glad indeed to do greater 
 things, but I will not neglect this. When I hear a knock at my study 
 door, I hear a message from God ; it may he a lesson of instruction, 
 perhaps a lesson of patience ; but, since it is his message, it must be in- 
 teresting.” 
 
 But it was not merely under his own roof that his benevolent aims 
 were thus exerted ; he was found ready to take an active part in re- 
 lieving the miserable, directing the anxious, or recovering the wanderer, 
 in whatever state or place he discovered such : of which, take the fol- 
 lowing instance : — 
 
 Mr , who is still living, and who holds a post of great import- 
 
 ance abroad, was a youth of considerable talents, and who had had a 
 respectable education. I am not informed of his original destination 
 in point of profession ; but certain it is, that he left his parents in Scot- 
 land, with a design of viewing the world at large, and that without 
 those pecuniary resources, which could render such an undertaking con- 
 venient, or even practicable. Yet having the sanguine expectations of 
 youth, together with its inexperience, he determinately pursued his plan. 
 I have seen an account from his own hand, of the strange, but hy no 
 means dishonourable resources to which he was reduced in the pursuit 
 of this scheme ; nor can romance exceed the detail. But the particu- 
 lars of his long journey, till he arrived in London, and those which 
 have since occurred, would not be proper, at present, for any one to 
 record except himself ; and I cannot but wish he would favour the 
 world with them, on the principle which led Mr N. to write his Nar- 
 rative. To London, however, he came ; and then he seemed to come 
 to himself. He had heard Mr N.’s character, and on a Sunday even - 
 ing he came to St Mary Woolnoth, and stood in one of the aisles while 
 Mr N. preached. In the course of that week he wrote Mr N. some 
 account of his adventure, and state of mind. Such circumstances 
 could be addressed to no man more properly. Mr N.’s favourite max- 
 im was often in his mouth, more often in his actions, and always in his 
 heart : 
 
 “ Haud ignara mali, miseris succurrere disco.” 
 
 Mr N. therefore gave notice from the pulpit on the following Sunday 
 evening, that, if the person was present who had sent him such a let- 
 ter, he would he glad to speak with him. 
 
 Mr gladly accepted the invitation, and came to Mr N.’s house, 
 
 where a friendship began, which continued till Mr N.’s death. Mr N. 
 not only afforded this youth the instruction, which he, at this period, 
 so deeply needed ; but marking his fine abilities and corrected inclina- 
 tion, he introduced him to Henry Thornton, Esq. ; who, inheriting his 
 father’s unbounded liberality and determined adherence to the cause of 
 real religion, readily patronized the stranger. Mr was, by the mu- 
 
 nificence of this gentleman, supported through a university education, 
 and was afterwards ordained to the curacy of . It was, however. 
 
MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 57 
 
 thought expedient, that his talents should be employed in an important 
 station abroad, which he readily undertook, and in which he now main- 
 tains a very distinguished character. 
 
 It ought not to be concealed, that Mr , since his advancement, 
 
 has not only returned his patron the whole expense of his university 
 education, but has also placed in his hands an equal sum, for the edu- 
 cation of some pious youth, who might be deemed worthy of that as- 
 sistance once afforded to himself ! 
 
 Mr N. used to spend a month or two, annually, at the house of some 
 friend in the country ; he always took an affectionate leave of his con- 
 gregation before he departed, and spake of his leaving town as quite 
 uncertain of returning to it, considering the variety of incidents which 
 might prevent that return. Nothing was more remarkable than his 
 constant habit of regarding the hand of God in every event, however 
 trivial it might appear to others. On every occasion — in the concerns 
 of every hour — in matters public or private, like Enoch, he “ walked 
 with God.” Take a single instance of his state of mind in this respect.. 
 In walking to his church he would say, “ c The way of man is not in 
 himself,’ nor can he conceive what belongs to a single step. When I 
 go to St Mary Woolnoth, it seems the same whether I turn down Lotli- 
 bury or go through the Old Jewry ; but the going through one street 
 and not another, may produce an effect of lasting consequences. A 
 man cut down my hammock in sport, but had he cut it down half-an- 
 hour later, I had not been here ; as the exchange of crew was then 
 making. A man made a smoke on the sea-shore at the time a ship 
 passed, which was thereby brought to, and afterwards brought me to 
 England.” 
 
 Mr N. had experienced a severe stroke soon after he came to St 
 Mary’s, and while he resided in Charles’ Square, in the death of his 
 niece, Miss Eliza Cunningham. He loved her with the affection of a 
 parent, and she was, indeed, truly lovely. He had brought her up, and 
 had observed, that, with the most amiable natural qualities, she pos- 
 sessed a real piety. With every possible attention from Mr and Mrs 
 Newton and their friends, they saw her gradually sink into the arms 
 of death; but fully prepared to meet him as a messenger sent from a 
 yet kinder Father, to whom she departed, October 6th, 1785, aged 
 fourteen years and eight months. On this occasion Mr N. published 
 some brief memoirs of her character and death. 
 
 In the year 1784 and 1785 Mr N. preached a course of sermons, on 
 an occasion, of which he gives the following account in his first dis- 
 course : “ Conversation in almost every company, for some time past, 
 has much turned upon the commemoration of Handel, and particular- 
 ly on his Oratorio of the Messiah. I mean to lead your meditations to 
 the language of the oratorio, and to consider, in their order (if the 
 Lord, on whom our breath depends, shall be pleased to afford life, abi- 
 lity, and opportunity), the several sublime and interesting passages of 
 Scripture, which are the basis of that admired composition.’" In the 
 year 1786 he published these discourses, in two volumes octavo. There 
 is a passage so original, at the beginning of his fourth sermon, from 
 
58 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 Mai. iii. 1-3, “ The Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his 
 temple,” &c. that I shall transcribe it for the use of such as have not 
 seen these discourses ; at the same time, it will, in a few words, con- 
 vey Mr N.’s idea of the usual performance of this oratorio, or attend- 
 ing its performance, in present circumstances. 
 
 “ 4 Whereunto shall we liken the people of this generation, and to 
 what are they like ?’ I represent to myself a number of persons, of 
 various characters, involved in one common charge of high treason. 
 They are already in a state of confinement, but not yet brought to theii 
 trial. The facts, however, are so plain, and the evidence against them 
 so strong and pointed, that there is not the least doubt of their guilt 
 being fully proved, and that nothing but a pardon can preserve them 
 from punishment. In this situation, it should seem their wisdom to 
 avail themselves of every expedient in their power for obtaining mercy. 
 But they are entirely regardless of their danger, and wholly taken up 
 with contriving methods of amusing themselves, that they may pass a- 
 way the term of their imprisonment with as much cheerfulness as pos- 
 sible. Among other resources, they call in the assistance of music. 
 And amidst a great variety of subjects in this way, they are particular- 
 ly pleased with one. They choose to make the solemnities of their im- 
 pending trial, the character of their Judge, the methods of his proce- 
 dure, and the awful sentence to which they are exposed, the ground- 
 work of a musical entertainment. And, as if they were quite uncon- 
 cerned in the event, their attention is chiefly fixed upon the skill of the 
 composer, in adapting the style of his music to the very solemn lan- 
 guage and subject with which they are trifling. The king, however, 
 out of his great clemency and compassion towards those who have no 
 pity for themselves, prevents them with his goodness. Undesired by 
 them, he sends them a gracious message. He assures them, that he is 
 unwilling they should suffer: he requires, yea, he entreats them to sub- 
 mit. He points out a way in which their confession and submission 
 shall be certainly accepted ; and in this way, which he condescends to 
 prescribe, he offers them a free and a full pardon. But instead of tak- 
 ing a single step towards a compliance with his goodness, they set his 
 message likewise to music : and this, together with a description of 
 their present state, and of the fearful doom awaiting them, if they con- 
 tinue obstinate, is sung for their diversion ; accompanied with the sound 
 of cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of in- 
 struments. Surely, if such a case as I have supposed could be found 
 in real life, though I might admire the musical taste of these people, I 
 should commiserate their insensibility !” 
 
 But <fi clouds return after the rain a greater loss than that of Miss 
 C. was to follow. Enough has been said in these Memoirs already, to 
 show the more than ordinary affection Mr N. felt for her who had been 
 so long his idol, as he used to call her ; of which I shall add but one 
 nore instance, out of many that might easily be collected. 
 
 Being with him at the house of a lady at Blackheatli, we stood at a 
 window, which had a prospect of Shooter’s Hill. “ Ah,” said Mr N., 
 “ I remember the many journeys I took from London to stand at the 
 
MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 59 
 
 top of that hill, in order to look towards the part in which Mrs N. then 
 lived : not that I could see the spot itself, after travelling several miles, 
 for she lived far beyond what I could see, when on the hill ; but it gra- 
 tified me even to look towards the spot : and this I did always once, 
 and sometimes twice a week.” 66 Why,” said I, “ this is more like one 
 of the vagaries of romance than of real life.” “ True,” replied he, “ but 
 real life has extravagancies, that would not be admitted to appear in 
 a well-written romance — they would be said to be out of nature.” 
 
 In such a continued habit of excessive attachment, it is evident how 
 keenly Mr N. must have felt, while he observed the progress of a 
 threatening induration in her breast. This tumour seemed to have 
 arisen from a blow she received before she left Liverpool. The pain it 
 occasioned at the time soon wore off, but a small lump remained in the 
 part affected. In October 1788, on the tumour’s increasing, she applied 
 to an eminent surgeon, who told her it was a cancer, and now too large 
 for extraction, and that he could only recommend quiet. As the spring 
 of 1789 advanced, her malady increased ; and though she was able to 
 bear a journey to Southampton, from which she returned, in other re- 
 spects, tolerably well ; she grew gradually worse with the cancer, till 
 she expired, December 15, 1790. 
 
 Mr N. made this remark on her death, <£ Just before Mrs N.’s dis- 
 ease became so formidable, I was preaching on the waters of Egypt be- 
 ing turned into blood. The Egyptians had idolized their river, and 
 God made them loathe, it. I was apprehensive it would soon be a si- 
 milar case with me.” During the very affecting season of Mrs N.’s 
 dissolution, Mr N., like David, wept and prayed ; but the desire of his 
 eyes being taken away by the stroke, he too, like David, “ arose from 
 the earth, and came into the temple of the Lord, and worshipped,” and 
 that in a manner which surprised some of his friends. 
 
 I must own I was not one of those who saw any thing that might 
 not be expected from such a man, surrounded with such circumstances. 
 I did not wonder at his undertaking to preach Mrs N.’s funeral Ser- 
 mon, on the following Sunday, at St Mary’s : since I always consider- 
 ed him as an original, and his case quite an exception to general habits 
 in many respects. There also could be no question as to the affection 
 he had borne to the deceased : it had even prevailed, as he readily al- 
 lowed, to an eccentric and blameable degree ; and indeed after her re- 
 moval, he used to observe an annual seclusion, for a special recollection 
 of her, whom through the year he had never forgotten, and from which 
 proceeded a sort of little elegies or sonnets to her memory. But he 
 clearly recognized the will of God in the removal of his idol, and rea- 
 soned as David did on the occasion : “ While she was yet alive I fast- 
 ed and wept : for I said, Who can tell whether God will be gracious to 
 me, that she may live ? But, now she is dead, wherefore should I fast ? 
 Can I bring her back again ? I shall go to her, but she shall not return 
 to me.” 
 
 Besides which, Mr N. had a favourite sentiment, which I have heard 
 him express in different ways, long before he had so special an occasion 
 for illustrating it in practice. “ God in his providence,” he used to 
 
60 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 say, “ is continually bringing about occasions to demonstrate charac- 
 ters.” He used to instance' the case of Achan and Judas among bad 
 men ; and that of St Paul, Acts xxvii. among good ones. “ If any 
 one,” said he, “ had asked the centurion, who Paul the prisoner was, 
 that sailed with them on board the ship — it is probable he would have 
 thus replied, c He is a troublesome enthusiast, who had lately joined 
 himself to a certain sect. These people affirm, that a Jewish malefac- 
 tor, who was crucified some years ago at Jerusalem, rose the third day 
 from the dead; and this Paul is mad enough to assert, that Jesus, the 
 leader of their sect, is not only now alive, but that he himself has seen 
 him, and is resolved to live and die for him — Poor crazy creature !’ 
 But God made use of this occasion to discover the real character of 
 Paul, and taught the centurion, from the circumstances which fol- 
 lowed, to whom it was he owed his direction in the storm, and for 
 whose sake he received his preservation through it.” 
 
 In all trying occasions, therefore, Mr N. was particularly impressed 
 with the idea of a Christian, and especially of a Christian minister, be- 
 ing called to stand forward as an example to his flock — to feel himself 
 placed in a post of honour — a post in which he may not only glorify 
 God, but also forcibly demonstrate the peculiar supports of the gospel. 
 More especially, when this could be done (as in his own case) from no 
 doubtful motive ; then it may be expedient to leave the path of ordina- 
 ry custom, for the greater reason of exhibiting both the doctrines of 
 truth, and the experience of their power. 
 
 Though I professedly publish none of Mr N.’s letters, for reasons 
 hereafter assigned, yet I shall take the liberty to insert part of one, 
 
 with which I am favoured by J. F , Esq. of Stanmore Hill, written 
 
 to him while at Rome, and dated December 5th, 1796. It shows the 
 interest which the writer took in the safety of his friend, and his ad- 
 dress in attempting to break the enchantments with which men of taste 
 are surrounded, when standing in the centre of the fine arts. 
 
 “ The true Christian, in strict propriety of speech, has no home here ; 
 he is, and must be, a stranger and a pilgrim upon earth : his citizen- 
 ship, treasure, and real home are in a better world ; and every step he 
 takes, whether to the east, or to the west, is a step nearer to his Fa- 
 ther’s house. On the other hand, when in the path of duty, be is al- 
 ways at home * for the whole earth is the Lord’s : and as we see the 
 same sun in England or Italy, in Europe or Asia, so wherever he is, 
 he equally sets the Lord always before him ; and finds himself equally 
 near the throne of grace at all times, and in all places. God is every- 
 where, and, by faith in the great Mediator, he dwells in God, and 
 God in him ; to him that line of Horace may be applied in the best 
 sense, 
 
 “ Coelum, non animum mutant, qui trans mare currunt.” 
 
 “ I trust, my dear Sir, that you will carry out and bring home with 
 you, a determination similar to that of the patriarch Jacob ; who vow- 
 ed a vow, saying, ‘ If God will be with me, and will keep me in the 
 way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on. 
 
MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 6l 
 
 so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then shall the Lord 
 be my God !’ May the Lord himself write it on your heart ! 
 
 “You are now at Rome, the centre of the fine arts ; a place abound- 
 ing with every thing to gratify a person of your taste. Athens had the 
 pre-eminence in the apostle Paul’s time ; and I think it highly proba- 
 ble, from many passages in his writings, that he likewise had a taste 
 capable of admiring and relishing the beauties of painting, sculpture, 
 and architecture, which he could not but observe during his abode in 
 that city : but then he had a higher, a spiritual, a divine taste, which 
 was greatly shocked and grieved by the ignorance, idolatry, and wick- 
 edness, which surrounded him, insomuch that he could attend to no- 
 thing else. This taste, which cannot be acquired by any effort or stu- 
 dy of ours, but is freely bestowed on all who sincerely ask it of the 
 Lord, divests the vanities, which the world admire, of their glare ; and 
 enables us to judge of the most splendid and specious works of men, 
 who know not God, according to the declaration of the prophet, 6 They 
 hatch cockatrice eggs, and weave the spider’s web.’ Much ingenuity 
 is displayed in the weaving of a cobweb, but when finished it is worth- 
 less and useless : incubation requires close diligence and attention ; if 
 the hen is too long from her nest, the egg is spoiled ; but why should 
 she sit at all upon the egg, and watch it, and warm it night and day, 
 if it only produce a cockatrice at last ? Thus vanity or mischief are the 
 chief rulers of unsanctified genius ; the artists spin webs, and the phi- 
 losophers, by their learned speculations, hatch cockatrices, to poison 
 themselves and their fellow-creatures : few of either sort have one se- 
 rious thought of that awful eternity, upon the brink of which they stand 
 for a while, and into the depth of which they successively fall. 
 
 “ A part of the sentence denounced against the city, which once 
 stood upon seven hills, is so pointed and graphical, that I must tran- 
 scribe it : ‘ And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and pipers, and 
 trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee ; and no craftsman, 
 of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee, and the 
 light of a candle shall no more be seen in thee.’ Now, I am informed, 
 that, upon certain occasions, the whole cupola of St Peter’s is covered 
 with lamps, and affords a very magnificent spectacle : if I saw it, it 
 would remind me of that time when there will not be the shining of a 
 single candle in the city ; for the sentence must be executed, and the 
 hour may be approaching : — 
 
 Sic transit gloria mundi ! 
 
 “ You kindly inquire after my health : myself and family are, 
 through the divine favour, perfectly well ; yet, healthy as I am, I la- 
 oour under a growing disorder, for which there is no cure — I mean 
 old age. I am not sorry it is a mortal disease, from which no one re- 
 covers ; for who would live always in such a world as this, who has a 
 scriptural hope of an inheritance in the world of light ? I am now in my 
 seventy-second year, and seem to have lived long enough for myself ; 
 I have known something of the evil of life, and have had a large share 
 of the good. I know what the world can do, and what it cannot do • 
 
MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 62 
 
 it can neither give nor take away that peace of God, which passeth all 
 understanding ; it cannot soothe a wounded conscience, nor enable us to 
 meet death with comfort. That you, my dear sir, may have an abid- 
 ing and abounding experience that the gospel is a catholicon, adapted 
 to all our wants and all our feelings, and a suitable help when every 
 other help fails, is the sincere and ardent prayer of 
 
 u Your affectionate friend, 
 
 “ JOHN NEWTON.” 
 
 But in proportion as Mr N. felt the vanity of the pursuits he endea- 
 voured to expose in the foregoing letter, he was as feelingly alive to 
 whatever regarded eternal concerns. Take an instance of this, in a 
 visit which he paid to another friend. This friend was a minister, 
 who affected great accuracy in his discourses, and who, on that Sun- 
 day, had nearly occupied an hour in insisting on several laboured and 
 nice distinctions made in his subject. As he had a high estimation of 
 Mr N.’s judgment, he inquired of him, as they walked home, whether 
 he thought the distinctions just now insisted on were full and judicious? 
 Mr N. said he thought them not full, as a very important one had been 
 omitted. (i What can that be ?” said the minister, £< for I had taken 
 more than ordinary care to enumerate them fully.” “ I think not,” re- 
 plied Mr N. ; “ for when many of your congregation had travelled se- 
 veral miles for a meal, I think you should not have forgotten the im- 
 portant distinction which must ever exist between meat and bones.” 
 
 In the year 1*790, Mr N. had the honorary degree of D.D. conferred 
 upon him by the University of New Jersey in America, and the diplo- 
 ma sent him. He also received a work in two volumes, dedicated to 
 him with the above title annexed to his name. Mr N. wrote the au- 
 thor a grateful acknowledgment for the work, but begged to decline an 
 honour which he never intended to accept. “ I am (said he) as one 
 born out of due time. I have neither the pretension nor wish to ho- 
 nours of this kind. However, therefore, the University may over-rate 
 my attainments, and thus show their respect, I must not forget myself : 
 It would he both vain and improper were I to concur in it.” 
 
 But Mr N. had yet another storm to weather. While we were con- 
 templating the long and rough voyage he had passed, and thought he 
 had only now to rest in a quiet haven, and with a fine sunsetting at 
 the close of the evening of his life ; clouds began to gather again, and 
 seemed to threaten a wreck at the very entry of the port.* 
 
 He used to make excursions in the summer to different friends in 
 
 * In a MS. note on a letter, dated 15th Dec. 1797, he writes, “ Though I am not so sensibly af 
 fected as I could wish, I hope I am truly affected by the frequent reviews I make of my past life. 
 Perhaps the annals of thy church scarcely afford an instance in ail respects so singular. Perhaps 
 thy grace may have recovered some from an equal degree of apostacv, infidelity, and profligacy ; 
 but few of them have been redeemed from such a state of misery and depression as I was in, upon 
 the coast of Africa, when thy unsought mercy wrought for my deliverance : but that such a wretch 
 should not only be spared and pardoned, but reserved to the honour of preaching thy gospel, which 
 he had blasphemed and renounced, and at length be placed m a very public situation, and favoured 
 with acceptance and usefulness, both from the pulpit and the press : so that my poor name is known 
 in most parts of the world, where there are any who know thee — this is wonderful indeed ! The 
 more thou hast exalted me, the more I ought to abase myself.” 
 
MEMOIRS OF THE ItEV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 63 
 
 the country, endeavouring to make these visits profitable to them and 
 their neighbours, by his continual prayers, and the expositions lie gave 
 of the scriptures read at their morning and evening worship. I have 
 heard of some, who were first brought to the knowledge of themselves 
 and of God by attending his exhortations on these occasions ; for, in- 
 deed, besides what he undertook in a more stated way at the church, 
 he seldom entered a room, but something both profitable and entertain- 
 ing fell from his lips. After the death of Miss Cunningham and Mrs 
 N., his companion in these summer excursions was his other niece, 
 Miss Elizabeth Catlett. This young lady had also been brought up by 
 Mr and Mrs N. with Miss Cunningham, and on the death of the two 
 latter, she became the object of Mr N.’s naturally affectionate disposi- 
 tion. She also became quite necessary to him by her administrations 
 in his latter years ; she watched him, walked with him, visited where- 
 cver he went; when his sight failed, she read to him, divided his food, 
 and was unto him all that a dutiful daughter could be. 
 
 But, in the year 1801, a nervous disorder seized her, by which Mr 
 N. was obliged to submit to her being separated from him. During 
 the twelvemonth it lasted, the weight of the affliction, added to his 
 weight of years, seemed to overwhelm him. I extracted a few of his 
 reflections on the occasion, written on some blank leaves in an edition 
 of his Letters to a Wife, which he lent me on my undertaking these 
 Memoirs, and subjoin them in a note.* It may give the reader plea- 
 sure to be informed, that Miss Catlett returned home — gradually re- 
 covered — and afterwards married a worthy man of the name of Smith. 
 
 It was with a mixture of delight and surprise, that the friends and 
 hearers of this eminent servant of God beheld him bringing forth such 
 a measure of fruit in extreme age. Though then almost eighty years 
 old, his sight nearly gone, and incapable, through deafness, of joining 
 in conversation, yet his public ministry was regularly continued, and 
 maintained with a considerable degree of his former animation. His 
 memory, indeed, was observed to fail, but his judgment in divine things 
 still remained; and though seme depression of spirits was observed, 
 which he used to account for from his advanced age, his perception, 
 
 * “ August 1, 1801. I now enter my 77th year. I have been exercised this year with a try- 
 ing and unexpected change ; but it is by thy appointment, my gracious Lord ; and thou art un- 
 changeably wise, good, and merciful. Thou gavest me my dear adopted child. Thou didst own 
 my endeavours to bring her up for thee. I have no doubt that thou hast called her by thy grace. 
 I thank the for the many years comfort (ten) I have had in her, and for the attention and affection 
 she has always shown me, exceeding that of most daughters to their own parents. Thou hast now 
 tried me, as thou didst Abraham, in my old age ; when my eyes are failing, and my strength de- 
 clines. Thou hast called for my Isaac, who had so long been my chief stay and staff, but it was 
 thy blessing that made her so. A nervous disorder has seized her, and I desire to leave her under 
 thy care ; and chiefly pray for myself, that I may be enabled to wait thy time and will, without be- 
 traying any signs of impatience or despondency unbecoming my profession and character. Hither- 
 to thou hast helped me ; and to thee I look for help in future. Let all issue in thy glory, that my 
 friends and hearers may be encouraged by seeing how I am supported : let thy strength be mani- 
 fested in my weakness, and thy grace be suflleent for me, and let all finally work together for our 
 good. Amen. I aim to say from my heart, not my will, but thine be done. But though thou 
 hast in a measure made my spirit willing, thou knowest, and I feel, that the flesh is weak. Lord, 1 
 believe, help thou my unbelief. Lord, I submit, subdue every rebellious thought that dares arise 
 against thy will. Spare my eyes, if it please thee ; but, above all, strengthen my faith and 
 love.” 
 
6f MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON 
 
 taste, and zeal for the truths he had long received and taught, were 
 evident. Like Simeon, having seen the salvation of the Lord, he now 
 only waited and prayed to depart in peace. 
 
 After Mr N was turned of eighty, some of his friends feared he 
 might continue his public ministrations too long ; they marked not on- 
 ly his infirmities in the pulpit, but felt much on account of the de- 
 crease of his strength, and of his occasional depressions. Conversing 
 with him in January 1806 on the latter, he observed, that he had ex- 
 perienced nothing which in the least affected the principles he had felt 
 and taught ; that his depressions were the natural result of fourscore 
 years, and that, at any age, we can only enjoy that comfort from our 
 principles which God is pleased to send. 44 But (replied I) in the ar- 
 ticle of public preaching, might it not be best to consider your work 
 as done, and stop before you evidently discover you can speak no long- 
 er ?” 44 I cannot stop,” said he, raising his voice ; What ! shall the old 
 African blasphemer stop while he can speak ?” 
 
 In every future visit I perceived old age making rapid strides. At 
 length his friends found some difficulty in making themselves known 
 to him : his sight, his hearing, and his recollection exceedingly failed ; 
 but, being mercifully kept from pain, he generally appeared easy and 
 cheerful. Whatever he uttered was perfectly consistent with the prin- 
 ciples he had so long and so honourably maintained. Calling to see 
 him a few days before he died, with one of his most intimate friends, 
 we could not make him recollect either of us ; but seeing him after- 
 wards, when sitting up in his chair, I found so much intellect remain- 
 ing as produced a short and affectionate reply, though he was utterly 
 incapable of conversation. 
 
 Mr N. declined in this very gradual way, till at length it was pain- 
 ful to ask him a question, or attempt to rouse faculties almost gone 
 still his friends were anxious to get a word from him, and those friends 
 who survive him will be as anxious to learn the state of his mind in 
 his latest hours. It is quite natural thus to inquire, though it is not 
 important, how such a decided character left this world. I have heard 
 Mr N. say, when he has heard particular inquiry made about the last 
 expressions of an eminent believer, 44 Tell me not how the man died, 
 but how he lived.” 
 
 Still I say it is natural to inquire, and I will meet the desire, not by 
 trying to expand uninteresting particulars, but as far as I can collect 
 encouraging facts; and I learn from k paper, kindly sent me by his 
 family, all that is interesting and authentic. 
 
 About a month before Mr N.’s death, Mr Smith’s neice was sitting 
 by him, to whom he said, 44 It is a great thing to die ; and when flesh 
 and heart fail, to have God for the strength of our heart, and our por- 
 tion for ever : I know whom I have believed, and he is able to keep 
 that which I have committed, against that great day. Henceforth 
 there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the 
 righteous judge, shall give me at that day.” 
 
 When Mrs Smith came into the room, he said, 44 I have been medL 
 
MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 65 
 
 tating on a subject, 4 Come, and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will 
 declare what he hath done for my soul.’ ” 
 
 <\t another time he said, 44 More light, more love, more liberty — 
 Hereafter I hope, when I shut my eyes on the things of time, I shall 
 open them in a better world. What a thing it is to live under the 
 shadow of the wings of the Almighty ! I am going the way of all flesh.” 
 And when one replied, 44 The Lord is gracious,” he answered, 44 If it 
 w ere not so, how could I dare to stand before him ?” 
 
 The Wednesday before he died, Mrs G — asked him if his mind was 
 comfortable ; he replied, 44 I am satisfied with the Lord’s will.” 
 
 Mr N. seemed sensible to his last hour, but expressed nothing re- 
 markable after these words. He departed on the 21st, and was buried 
 in the vault of his church the 31st of December 1807, having left the 
 following injunction, in a letter for the direction of his executors. 
 
 44 I propose writing an epitaph for myself, if it may be put up, on a 
 plain marble tablet, near the vestry door, to the following purpprt 
 
 John Newton, Clerk, 
 
 Once an infidel and libertine, 
 
 A servant of slaves in Africa, 
 
 Was by the rich mercy of our Lord and Saviour 
 Jesus Christ, 
 
 Preserved, restored, pardoned, 
 
 And appointed to preach the faith he 
 Had long laboured to destroy. 
 
 Near 16 years at Olney in Bucks *, 
 
 And — years in this church. 
 
 On Feb. 1, 1750, he married 
 Mary, 
 
 Daughter of the late George Catlett, 
 
 Of Chatham, Kent. 
 
 He resigned her to the Lord who gave her, 
 On the 15th of December 1790. 
 
 PA 
 
 
 44 And I earnestly desire, that no other monument, and no inscrip- 
 tion but to this purport, may be attempted for me.” 
 
 The following is a copy of the exordium of Mr Newton’s will, dated 
 June 13, 1803 : — 
 
 44 In the name of God, amen. I John Newton, of Coleman Street 
 Buildings, in the parish of St Stephen, Coleman Street, in the city of 
 London, Clerk, being through mercy in good health and of sound and 
 disposing mind, memory, and understanding, although in the seventy- 
 eighth year of my age, do, for the settling of my temporal concerns, 
 and for the disposal of all the worldly estate which it hath pleased the 
 Lord in his good providence to give me, make this my last Will and 
 Testament as follows. I commit my soul to my gracious God and 
 Saviour, who mercifully spared and preserved me, when I was an a- 
 
6f) MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 postate, a blasphemer, and an infidel, and delivered me from that state 
 of misery on the coast of Africa into which my obstinate wickedness 
 had plunged me ; and who has been pleased to admit me (though most 
 unworthy) to preach his glorious gospel. I rely with humble confi- 
 dence upon the atonement and mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 God and Man, which I have often proposed to others as the only foun- 
 dation whereon a sinner can build his hope ; trusting that he will guard 
 and guide me through the uncertain remainder of my life, and that he 
 will then admit me into his presence in his heavenly kingdom. 1 
 would have my body deposited in the vault under the parish church of 
 St Mary Woolnoth, close to the coffins of my late dear wife and my 
 dear niece Elizabeth Cunningham ; and it is my desire, that my fune- 
 ral may be performed with as little expense as possible, consistent with 
 decency.” — — 
 
REVIEW 
 
 OF 
 
 MR NEWTON’S CHARACTER. 
 
 There seems to be little need of giving a general character of Mi* N. 
 after the particulars which appear in the foregoing Memoirs. He un- 
 questionably was the child of a peculiar providence, in every step of 
 his progress ; and his deep sense of the extraordinary dispensation 
 through which he had passed, was the prominent topic in his conver- 
 sation. Those who personally knew the man, could have no doubt of 
 the probity with which his Narrative (singular as it may appear) was 
 written. They, however, who could not view the subject of these Me- 
 moirs so nearly as his particular friends did, may wish to learn some- 
 thing farther of his character with respect to his literary attain- 
 ments — his ministry — his family habits — his writings — and liis 
 
 FAMILIAR CONVERSATION. 
 
 Of his literature, we learn from his Narrative what he attained 
 in the learned languages, and that by almost incredible efforts. Few 
 men have undertaken such difficulties, under such disadvantages. It, 
 therefore, seems more extraordinary that he should have attained so 
 much, than that he should not have acquired more. Nor did he quit 
 his pursuits of this kind, but in order to gain that knowledge which he 
 deemed much more important. Whatever he conceived had a tenden- 
 cy to qualify him as 64 a scribe well instructed in the kingdom of God, 
 bringing out of his treasury things new and old” — I say, in pursuit of 
 this point, he might have adopted the apostle’s expression, 44 One thing 
 I do.” By a principle so simply and firmly directed, he furnished his 
 mind with much information : he had consulted the best old divines ; 
 had read the moderns of reputation with avidity ; and was continually 
 watching whatever might serve for analogies or illustrations, in the ser- 
 vice of religion. 44 A minister,” he used to say, 44 wherever he is, 
 should be always in his study. He should look at every man, and at 
 every thing, as capable of affording him some instruction.” His mind, 
 therefore, was ever intent on his calling— ever extracting something, 
 even from the basest materials, which he could turn into gold. 
 
68 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 Ill consequence of this incessant attention to his object, while many, 
 whose early advantages greatly exceeded his, were found excelling Mr 
 N. in the knowledge and investigation of some curious abstract, but 
 very unimportant points ; he was found vastly excelling them in points 
 of infinitely higher importance to man. In the knowledge of God, of 
 his word, and of the human heart, in its wants and resources, Newton 
 would have stood among mere scholars as his name-sake the philoso- 
 pher stood in science among ordinary men. I might say the same of 
 some others who have set out late in the profession, but who, with a 
 portion of Mr N.’s piety and ardour, have greatly outstripped those who 
 have had every early advantage and encouragement. Men with spe- 
 cious titles and high connexions have received the rewards ; while men, 
 like Newton, without them, have done the work. 
 
 With respect to his ministry, he appeared, perhaps, to least advan- 
 tage in the pulpit ; as he did not generally aim at accuracy in the com- 
 position of his sermons, nor at any address in the delivery of them. 
 His utterance was far from clear, and his attitudes ungraceful. He 
 possessed, however, so much affection for his people, and zeal for their 
 best interests, that the defect of his manner was of little consideration 
 with his constant hearers : at the same time, his capacity, and habit of 
 entering into their trials and experience, gave the highest interest to 
 his ministry among them. Besides which, he frequently interspersed 
 the most brilliant allusions, and brought forward such happy illustration 
 of his subject, and those with so much unction on his own heart, as 
 melted and enlarged theirs. The parent-like tenderness and affection 
 which accompanied his instruction, made them prefer him to preachers 
 who, on other accounts, were much more generally popular. It ought 
 also to be noted, that, amidst the extravagant notions and unscriptural 
 positions, which have sometimes disgraced the religious world, Mr N. 
 never departed, in any instance, from soundly and seriously promulgat- 
 ing the “ faith once delivered to the saints,” of which his writings will 
 remain the best evidence. His doctrine was strictly that of the Church 
 of England, urged on the consciences of men in the most practical and 
 experimental manner. <e I hope,” said he one day to me, smiling, “ I 
 hope I am upon the whole a scriptural preacher : for I find I am con- 
 sidered as an Arminian among the high Calvinists, and as a Calvinist 
 among the strenuous Arminians.” 
 
 I never observed any thing like bigotry in his ministerial character, 
 though he seemed at all times to appreciate the beauty of order, and 
 its good effects in the ministry. He had formerly been intimately con- 
 nected with some highly respectable ministers among the Dissenters, 
 and retained a cordial regard for many to the last. He considered the 
 strong prejudices which attach to both Churchmen and Dissenters, as 
 arising more from education than from principle. But being himself 
 both a clergyman and an incumbent in the Church of England, he 
 wished to be consistent. In public, therefore, he felt he could not act 
 wdth some ministers, whom he thought truly good men, and to whom 
 be cordially wished success in their endeavours ; and he patiently met 
 
MEMOIRS OF THlE REV. JOHN NEWTON. (>9 
 
 the consequence. They called him a bigot, and he in return prayed 
 for them, that they might not be really such. 
 
 He had formerly taken much pains in composing his sermons, as I 
 could perceive in one MS. which I looked through ; and even latterly, 
 I have known him, whenever he felt it necessary, produce admirable 
 plans for the pulpit. I own I thought his judgment deficient in not 
 deeming such preparation necessary at all times. I have sat in pain 
 when he has spoken unguardedly in this way before young ministers : 
 men, who, with but comparatively slight degrees of his information and 
 experience, would draw encouragement to ascend the pulpit with but 
 little previous study of their subject. A minister is not to be blamed, 
 who cannot rise to qualifications which some of his brethren have at- 
 tained ; but he is certainly bound to improve his own talent to the ut- 
 most of his power : he is not to cover his sloth, his love of company, or 
 his disposition to attend a wealthy patron, with the pretence of depend- 
 ing entirely on divine influence. Timothy had at least as good ground 
 for expecting such influence as any of his successors in the ministry ; 
 and yet the apostle admonishes him to “ give attendance to reading, 
 to exhortation, and to doctrine — not to neglect the gift that was in him 
 — to meditate upon these things — to give himself wholly to them, that 
 his profiting might appear to all.” 
 
 Mr N. regularly preached on the Sunday morning and evening at 
 St Mary Woolnoth, and also on the Wednesday morning. After he 
 was turned of seventy, he often undertook to assist other clergymen, 
 sometimes even to the preaching six sermons in the space of a week 
 What was more extraordinary, he continued his usual course of preach- 
 ing at his own church after lie was fourscore years old, and that, when 
 he could no longer see to read his text ! His memory and voice some- 
 times failed him ; but it was remarked, that, at this great age, lie was 
 nowhere more collected or lively than in the pulpit. He was punc- 
 tual as to time with his congregation ; and preached every first Sunday 
 evening in the month on relative duties. Mr Alderman Lea regularly 
 sent his carriage to convey him to the church, and Mr Bates sent his 
 servant to attend him in the pulpit ; which friendly assistance was con- 
 tinued till Mr N. could appear no longer in public. 
 
 His ministerial visits were exemplary. I do not recollect one, though 
 favoured with many, in which his general information and lively genius 
 did not communicate instruction, and his affectionate and condescend- 
 ing sympathy did not leave comfort. 
 
 Truth demands it should be said, that he did not always administer 
 consolation, nor give an account of characters, with sufficient discri- 
 mination. His talent did not lie in “ discerning of spirits.” I never 
 saw him so much moved as when any friend endeavoured to correct his 
 errors in this respect. His credulity seemed to arise from the con- 
 sciousness he had of his own integrity, and from that sort of parental 
 fondness which he bore to all his friends, real or pretended. I knew 
 one, since dead, whom he thus described, while living — “ He is cer- 
 tainly an odd man, and has his failings ; but he has great integrity, 
 
70 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 and I hope is going to heaven.” Whereas almost all who knew him 
 thought the man should go first into the pillory ! 
 
 In his family Mr N. might be admired more safely than imitated. 
 His excessive attachment to Mrs N. is so fully displayed in his Narra- 
 tive, and confirmed in the two volumes he thought proper to publish, 
 entitled, “ Letters to a Wife,” that the reader will need no informa- 
 tion on this subject. Some of his friends wished this violent attach- 
 ment had been cast more into the shade, as tending to furnish a spur, 
 where human nature generally needs a curb. He used, indeed, to speak 
 of such attachments, in the abstract, as idolatry ; though his own was 
 providentially ordered to be the main hinge on which his preservation 
 and deliverance turned, while in his worst state. Good men, however, 
 cannot be too cautious how they give sanction, by their expressions or 
 example, to a passion, which, when not under sober regulation, has 
 overwhelmed not only families, but states, with disgrace and ruin. 
 
 With his unusual degree of benevolence and affection, it was not ex- 
 traordinary that the spiritual interests of his servants were brought 
 forward, and examined severally every Sunday afternoon ; and that, 
 being treated like children, they should grow old in his service. In 
 short, Mr N could live no longer than he could love ; it is no wonder, 
 therefore, if his nieces had more of his heart than is generally afforded 
 to their own children by the fondest parents. It has already been men- 
 tioned, that his house was an asylum for the perplexed or afflicted. 
 Young ministers were peculiarly the objects of his attention : he in- 
 structed them, he encouraged them, he warned them ; and might truly 
 be said to be a father in Christ, “ spending and being spent” for the 
 interest of his church. In order thus to execute the various avocations 
 of the day, he used to rise early ; he seldom was found abroad in the 
 evening, and was exact in his appointments. 
 
 Of his writings, I think little need be said here ; they are in wide 
 circulation, and best speak for themselves. What I shall observe upon 
 them, therefore, will be general and cursory. 
 
 The Sermons Mr N. published at Liverpool, after being refused on 
 his first application for Orders, were intended to show what he would 
 have preached, had he been admitted ; they are highly creditable to his 
 understanding and to his heart. The facility with which he attained 
 so much of the learned languages, seems partly accounted for, from his 
 being able to acquire, so early, a neat and natural style in his own lan- 
 guage, and that under such evident disadvantages. His Review of Ec- 
 clesiastical History, so far as it is proceeded, has been much esteemed, 
 and, if it had done no more than excite the Rev. J. Milner (as that 
 most valuable and instructive author informs us it did) to pursue Mr 
 N/s idea more largely, it was sufficient success. Before this, the world 
 seems to have lost sight of a history of real Christianity, and to have 
 been content with what, for the most part, was but an account of the 
 ambition and politics of secular men, assuming the Christian name. 
 
 It must be evident to any one, who observes the spirit of all his ser- 
 mons, hymns, tracts, &c. that nothing is aimed at which should be 
 met by critical investigation. In the preface to his Hymns, he remarks, 
 
MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 71 
 
 li Though I would not offend readers of taste by a wilful coarseness 
 and negligence, I do not write professedly for them. I have simply de- 
 clared my own views and feelings, as I might have done if I had com- 
 posed hymns in some of the newly discovered islands in the South Sea, 
 where no person had any knowledge of the name of Jesus but myself.” 
 
 To dwell, therefore, with a critical eye on this part of his public cha- 
 racter, would be absurd and impertinent, and to erect a tribunal to 
 which he seems not amenable. He appears to have paid no regard to 
 a nice ear, or an accurate reviewer ; but, preferring a style at once 
 neat and perspicuous, to have laid out himself entirely for the service 
 of the church of God, and more especially for the tried and experienced 
 part of its members. 
 
 His chief excellence seemed to lie in the easy and natural style of 
 his epistolary correspondence. His letters will be read while real re- 
 ligion exists ; and they are the best draught of his own mind. 
 
 He had so largely communicated to his friends in this way, that I 
 have heard him say, 66 he thought, if his letters were collected, they 
 would make several folios.” He selected many of these for publication, 
 and expressed a hope, that no other person would take that liberty with 
 the rest, which were so widely spread abroad. In this, however, he 
 was disappointed and grieved, as he once remarked to me ; and for 
 which reason I do not annex any letters that I received from him. He 
 esteemed that collection published under the title of “ Cardiphonia” 
 as the most useful of his writings, and mentioned various instances of 
 the benefits which he heard they had conveyed to many. 
 
 His Apologia, or defence of conformity, was written on occasion of 
 some reflections (perhaps only jocular) cast on him at that time. His 
 Letters to a Wife, written during his three voyages to Africa, and pu- 
 blished 1793, have been received with less satisfaction than most of his 
 other wri tings. While, however, his advanced age and inordinate fond • 
 ness may be pleaded for this publication, care should be taken lest men 
 fall into a contrary extreme ; and suppose that temper to be their wis- 
 dom, which leads them to avoid another, which they consider as his 
 weakness. But his Messiah, before mentioned, his Letters of the Rev. 
 Mr Yanlier, chaplain at the Cape, his Memoirs of the Rev. John Cow- 
 per (brother to the poet), and those of the Rev. Mr Grimshaw of York- 
 shire, together with his single sermons and tracts, have been well re- 
 ceived, and will remain a public benefit. 
 
 I recollect reading a MS. which Mr N. lent me, containing a cor- 
 respondence that had passed between himself and the Rev. Dr Dixon, 
 principal of St Edmund Hall, Oxford ; and another MS. of a corres- 
 pondence between him and the late Rev. Martin Madan. They would 
 have been very interesting to the public, particularly the latter, and 
 were striking evidences of Mr N.’s humility, piety, and faithfulness ; 
 but reasons of delicacy led him to commit the whole to the flames. 
 
 To speak of his writings in the mass, they certainly possess what 
 many have aimed at, but very few attained, namely, originality. 
 They are the language of the heart ; they show a deep experience of 
 
MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 72 
 
 its religious feelings, a continual anxiety to sympathize with man in his 
 wants, and to direct him to his only resources. 
 
 His conversation, and familiar habits with his friends, were more 
 peculiar, amusing, and instructive, than any I ever witnessed. It is 
 difficult to convey a clear idea of them by description. I venture, 
 therefore, to add a few pages of what I may call his table-talk , which I 
 took down at different times, both in company and in private, from his 
 lips. Such a collection of printed remarks will not have so much point 
 as when spoken in connexion with the occasion that produced them r 
 they must appear to considerable disadvantage thus detached, and can- 
 did allowance should be made by the reader on this account. They, 
 however, who had the privilege of Mr N.’s conversation when living, 
 cannot but recognize the speaker in most of them, and derive both pro- 
 fit and pleasure from these remains of their late valuable friend ; and 
 such as had not, will (if I do not mistake) think them the most valua- 
 ble part of this book. 
 
REMARKS 
 
 MADE BY MR NEWTON 
 
 IN FAMILIAR CONVERSATION 
 
 W hile the mariner uses the loadstone, the philosopher may attempt 
 to investigate the cause ; but after all, in steering through the ocean, 
 he can make no other use of it than the mariner. 
 
 If an angel were sent to find the most perfect man, he would proba- 
 bly not find him composing a body of divinity, but perhaps a cripple in 
 a poor-house, whom the parish wish dead, and humbled before God 
 with far lower thoughts of himself than others think of him. 
 
 When a Christian goes into the world, because he sees it is his call, 
 yet, while he feels it also his cross, it will not hurt him. 
 
 Satan will seldom come to a Christian with a gross temptation : a 
 green log and a candle may be safely left together ; but bring a few 
 shavings, then some small sticks, and then larger, and you may soon 
 bring the green log to ashes. 
 
 If two angels came down from heaven to execute a divine command, 
 and one was appointed to conduct an empire, and the other to sweep 
 a street in it, they would feel no inclination to choose employments. 
 
 The post of honour in an army is not with the baggage, nor with 
 the women. 
 
 What some call providential openings are often powerful tempta- 
 tions ; the heart, in wandering, cries, Here is a way opened before me ; 
 but, perhaps, not to be trodden, but rejected. 
 
 Young people marry as others study navigation, by the fire-side. If 
 they marry unsuitably, they can scarcely bring things to rule, but, like 
 sailors, they must sail as near the wind as they can. I feel myself like 
 a traveller with his wife in his chaise and one ; if the ground is smooth, 
 and she keep the right pace, and is willing to deliver the reins when 1 
 ask for them, I am always willing to let her drive. 
 
 I should have thought mowers very idle people; but they work 
 while they whet their scythes. Now devotedness to God, whether it 
 mows or whets the scythe, still goes on with the work. 
 
7 * 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 A Christian should never plead spirituality for being a sloven; if he 
 be but a shoe-cleaner, he should be the best in the parish. 
 
 In choosing my text, I feel myself like a servant to whom a key has 
 been given, which opens a particular drawer, but who has not the bunch 
 of keys, which open all the drawers. I therefore expect to be helped 
 to only one text at a time. 
 
 My course of study, like that of a surgeon, has principally consisted 
 in walking the hospital. 
 
 In divinity, as well as in other professions, there are the little artists. 
 A man may be able to execute the buttons of a statue very neatly, but 
 I could not call him an able artist. There is an air, there is a taste, 
 to which his narrow capacity cannot reach. Now in the church, there 
 are your dexterous button-makers. 
 
 My principal method for defeating heresy, is by establishing truth. 
 One proposes to fill a bushel with tares ; now if I can fill it first with 
 wheat, I shall defy his attempts. 
 
 When some people talk of religion, they mean they have heard so 
 many sermons, and performed so many devotions, and thus mistake 
 the means for the end. But true religion is an habitual recollection of 
 God and intention to serve him, and thus turns every thing into gold. 
 We are apt to suppose that we need something splendid to evince our 
 devotion, but true devotion equals things — washing plates, and clean- 
 ing shoes, is a high office, if performed in a right spirit. If three au- 
 gels were sent to earth, they would feel perfect indifference who should 
 perform the part of prime-minister, parish-minister, or watchman. 
 
 When a ship goes to sea, among a vast variety of its articles and cir- 
 cumstances, there is but one object regarded, namely, doing the busi- 
 ness of the voyage : every bucket is employed with respect to that. 
 
 Many have puzzled themselves about the origin of evil ; I observe 
 there is evil, and that there is a way to eseape it, and with this I begin 
 and end. 
 
 Consecrated things under the law were first sprinkled with blood, 
 and then anointed with oil, and thenceforward were no more com- 
 mon. Thus under the gospel, every Christian has been a common ves- 
 sel for profane purposes ; but, when sprinkled and anointed, he be- 
 comes separated and consecrated to God. 
 
 I would not give a straw for that assurance, which sin will not 
 damp. If David had come from his adultry, and had talked of his as- 
 surance at that time, I should have despised his speech. 
 
 A spirit of adoption is the spirit of a child ; he may disoblige his fa- 
 ther, yet he is not afraid of being turned out of doors. The union is 
 not dissolved, though the communion is. He is not well with his fa- 
 ther, therefore must be unhappy, as their interests are inseparable. 
 
 We often seek to apply cordials when the patient is not prepared for 
 them, and it is the patient’s advantage, that lie cannot take a medicine 
 when prematurely offered. When a man comes to me, and says, “ I 
 am quite happy,” I am not sorry to find him come again with some 
 fears. I never saw a work stand well without a check. “ I only want,” 
 
MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 7 5 
 
 says one, “ to be sure of being safe, and then I will go on.” No ; per- 
 haps, then you will go off. 
 
 For an old Christian to say to a young one, “ Stand in my evidence,” 
 is like a man, who has with difficulty climbed by a ladder or scaffolding 
 to the top of the house, and cries to one at the bottom, “ This is the 
 place for a prospect — come up at a step.” 
 
 A Christian, like a miser, will ask the price of his pleasures : the mi- 
 ser has no objection to go to Brighton, but always asks what it will 
 cost? The miser, indeed, has this advantage, that he is always in the 
 same frame. 
 
 A Christian in the world is like a man, who has had a long intimacy 
 with one, whom at length he finds out was the murderer of a kind fa- 
 ther ; the intimacy, after this, will surely be broken. 
 
 “ Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 
 A man may live in a deep mine in Hungary, never having seen the 
 light of the sun ; he may have received accounts of prospects, and by 
 the help of a candle, may have examined a few engravings of them * 
 but let him be brought out of the mine, and set on the mountain, what 
 a difference appears ! 
 
 In our fallen state, we are a sort of solecism in the universe : other 
 animals are faithful to their instincts; lambs do not wish to swim, nor 
 fish to feed in a meadow. If the sun were a rational creature he would 
 delight to shine, otherwise he ought to be extinguished. 
 
 Candour will always allow much for inexperience. I have been 
 thirty years forming my own views, and in the course of this time 
 some of my hills have been sinking, and some of my valleys have 
 risen ; but how unreasonable would it be to expect all this should take 
 place in another person, and that in the course of a year or two. 
 
 Candour forbids us to estimate a character from its accidental blots. 
 Yet it is thus that David, and others have been treated. 
 
 Apollos met with two candid people in the church : they neither ran 
 away because he was legal, nor were carried away because he was elo- 
 quent. 
 
 There is the analogy of faith ; it is a master-key, which not only 
 opens particular doors, but carries you through the whole house ; but 
 an attachment to a rigid system is dangerous. Luther once turned 
 out the epistle of St James, because it disturbed his system. Dr Owen 
 will be ashamed of his wisdom and clearness, five minutes after he has 
 been in heaven. I shall preach, perhaps, very usefully upon two op- 
 posite texts, while kept apart ; but if I attempt nicely to reconcile 
 them, it is ten to one if I don’t begin to bungle. 
 
 I can conceive a living man without an arm or a leg, but not with- 
 out a head or a heart : so there are some truths essential to vital reli- 
 gion, and which all awakened souls are taught. 
 
 Apostacy, in all its branches, takes its rise from atheism. “ I have 
 set the Lord always before me,” &c. The doctrine of omnipresence 
 is universally allowed. 
 
 We are surprised at the fall of a famous professor; but, in the sight 
 of God, the man was gone before ; it is only we that have now first 
 
MEMOIRS 'OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 76 
 
 discovered it. 44 He that despiscth small things, shall fall by little and 
 little.” 
 
 There are critical times of danger. After great services, honours, 
 and consolations, we should stand upon our guard. Noah, Lot, David, 
 and Solomon, fell in these circumstances. Satan is a footpad : a foot- 
 pad will not attack a man in going to the bank, but in returning with 
 his pocket full of money. 
 
 A Christian is like a young nobleman, who, on going to receive his 
 estate, is at first enchanted by its prospects ; this in a course of time 
 may wear off, but a sense of the value of the estate grows daily. 
 
 When we first enter into the divine life, we propose to grow rich ; 
 God’s plan is to make us feel poor. 
 
 Good men have need to take heed of building upon groundless im- 
 pressions. Mr Whitefield had a son, which he imagined was born to be 
 a very extraordinary man : but the son soon died, and the father was 
 cured of his mistake. 
 
 I remember, in going to undertake the care of a congregation, I was 
 reading, as I walked in a green lane, 44 Fear not, Paul, I have much 
 people in this city but I soon afterwards was disappointed in find- 
 ing that Paul was not John, and that Corinth was not Warwick. 
 
 Christ has taken our nature into heaven to represent us ; and has left 
 us on earth, with his nature, to represent him. 
 
 Worldly men will be true to their principles ; and if we were as true 
 to ours, the visits between the two parties would be short and seldom. 
 
 A Christian in the world is like a man transacting his affairs in the 
 rain. He will not suddenly leave his client, because it rains; but the 
 moment the business is done, he is off : as it is said in the Acts, 44 Be- 
 ing let go, they went to their own company.” 
 
 When a man is joined to Christ, Christ says to him, as it was once 
 said to the Levite, 44 Let all thy wants lie upon me, only abide not in 
 the street.” 
 
 God’s word is certainly a restraint ; but it is such a restraint as 
 the irons which prevent children from getting into the fire. 
 
 The scriptures are so full, that every case may be found in them. 
 A rake went into a church, and tried to decoy a girl by saying, 44 Why 
 do you attend to such stuff as these scriptures?” 44 Because,” said she, 
 44 they tell me, that in the last days there shall come such scoffers as 
 you.”. 
 
 God deals with us as we do with our children : lie first speaks, then 
 gives a gentle stroke, at last a blow. 
 
 The religion of a sinner stands on two pillars ; namely, what Christ 
 did for us in his flesh, and what he performs in us by his Spirit. Most 
 errors arise from an attempt to separate these two. 
 
 ! We blame an Arminian for his want of submission to divine sove- 
 reignty ; yet let a shower of rain fall on a suit of new clothes, and we 
 cannot submit ourselves. 
 
 Man is not taught any thing to purpose till God becomes his teach- 
 er, and then the glare of the world is put out, and the value of the soul 
 rises in full view A man’s present sentiments may not be accurate. 
 
MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 77 
 
 but we make too much of sentiments. We pass a field with a few 
 blades, we call it a field of wheat ; but here is no wheat; no, not in 
 perfection, but wheat is sown, and full ears may be expected. 
 
 The word temperance, in the New Testament, signifies self-posses- 
 sion ; it is a disposition suitable to one who has a race to run, and 
 therefore will not load his pockets with lead. 
 
 One reason why we must not attempt to pull up the tares which 
 grow among the wheat is, that we have not skill for the work ; like a 
 weeder, whom Mrs N. employed in my garden at Olney, who for weeds 
 pulled up some of her favourite flowers. 
 
 Contrivers of systems on earth are like contrivers of systems in the 
 heavens; where the sun and moon keep the same course, in spite of 
 the philosophers. 
 
 I endeavour to walk through the world as a physician goes through 
 Bedlam : the patients make a noise, pester him with impertinence, and 
 hinder him in his business ; but he does the best he can, and so gets 
 through. 
 
 A man always in society, is one always on the spend : on the other 
 hand, a mere solitary is at his best but a candle in an empty room. 
 
 If we were upon the watch for improvement, the common news of 
 the day would furnish it : the falling of the tower of Siloam, and the 
 slaughter of the Galileans, were the news of the day, which our Lord 
 improved. 
 
 The generality make out their righteousness by comparing them- 
 selves with some others whom they think worse : thus, a woman of 
 the town, who was rotting in the Lock Hospital, was offended at a 
 minister speaking to her as a sinner, because she had never picked a 
 pocket. 
 
 Take away a toy from a child, and give him another, and he is sa- 
 tisfied ; but if he be hungry, no toy will do. Thus, as new-born babes, 
 true believers desire the sincere milk of the word ; and the desire of 
 grace, in this way, is grace. 
 
 One said, that the great saints in the calendar were many of them 
 poor sinners ; Mr N. replied, they were poor saints indeed, if they did 
 not feel that they were great sinners. 
 
 A wise man looks upon men as he does upon horses ; and considers 
 their caparisons of title, wealth, and place, but as harness. 
 
 The force of what we deliver from the pulpit is often lost by a starch- 
 ed, and what is often called a correct style, and especially by adding 
 meretricious ornaments. I called upon a lady who had been robbed, 
 and she gave me a striking account of the fact ; but had she put it in 
 heroics, I should neither so well have understood her, nor been so well 
 convinced that she was robbed. 
 
 When a man says lie received a blessing under a sermon, I begin to 
 inquire who this man is, that speaks of the help he has received. The 
 Roman people proved the effect they received under a sermon of An- 
 tony when they flew to avenge the death of Caesar. 
 
 The Lord has reasons, far beyond our ken, for opening a wide door, 
 while he stops the mouth of a useful preacher. John Bunyan would 
 
78 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 not have done half the good he did, if he had remained preaching in 
 Bedford, instead of being shut up in Bedford prison. 
 
 If I could go to France, and give every man in it a right and peace- 
 able mind by my labour, I should have a statue ; but to produce such 
 an effect in the conversion of one soul would be a far greater achieve- 
 ment. 
 
 Ministers would over-rate their labours, if they did not think it worth 
 while to he born and spend ten thousand years in labour and contempt, 
 to recover one soul. 
 
 Don’t tell me of your feelings. A traveller would be glad of fine 
 weather, but, if he be a man of business, he will go on. Bunyan says, 
 You must not judge of a man’s haste by his horse ; for when the horse 
 can hardly move, you may see by the rider’s urging him, what a hurry 
 he is in. 
 
 A man and a beast may stand upon the same mountain, and even 
 touch one another ; yet they are in two different worlds : the beast per- 
 ceives nothing but the grass ; but the man contemplates the prospect, 
 and thinks of a thousand remote things. Thus a Christian may be so- 
 litary at a full Exchange ; he can converse with the people there upon 
 trade, politics, and the stocks ; hut they cannot talk with him upon the 
 peace of God, which passeth all understanding. 
 
 Love and fear are like the sun and moon, seldom seen together. 
 
 Two men go into a wood with their guns, and one fires as often as 
 the other : but one kills a great quantity of game, because he fires with 
 shot. Some, like Zacclieus, think they sit very snug in a corner, and 
 are brought down much before they expect it. 
 
 I dreamt one night that I saw Matthew Henry lay open at this text, 
 £t Let your women keep silence in the churches,” and thought I read 
 the following note at bottom : 6i Note — We see the reason why women 
 are forbid to preach the gospel, for they would persuade without argu- 
 ment, and reprove without giving offence.” 
 
 It is a mere fallacy to talk of the sins of a short life. The sinner is 
 always a sinner. Put a pump into a river, you may throw out some 
 water, but the river remains. 
 
 Professors, who own the doctrines of free grace, often act inconsist- 
 ently with their own principles, when they are angry at the defects of 
 others. A company of travellers fall into a pit, one of them gets a 
 passenger to draw him out : now he should not be angry with the rest 
 for falling in, nor because they are not yet out, as he is. He did not 
 pull himself out ; instead, therefore, of reproaching them, he should 
 show them pity ; he should avoid at any rate going down upon their 
 ground again, and show how much better and happier he is upon his 
 own. We should take care that we do not make our profession of re- 
 ligion a receipt in full for all other obligations. A man, truly illumi- 
 nated, will no more despise others, than Bartimeus, after his own eyes 
 were opened, would take a stick, and beat every blind man he met. 
 
 We are much mistaken in supposing, that the removal of a particu- 
 lar obstruction would satisfy the objector. Suppose I am in bed, and 
 
 * 
 
MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 79 
 
 want to know whether it be light, it is not enough if I draw the cur- 
 tain ; for if there be light, I must have eyes to see it. 
 
 Too deep a consideration of eternal realities might unfit a man for 
 his present circumstances. Walking through St Bartholomew’s Hos- 
 pital or Bedlam must deeply affect a feeling mind, but in reality this 
 world is a far worse scene ; it has but two wards, in the one, men are 
 miserable, in the other mad. 
 
 Some preachers near Olney dwelt on the doctrine of predestination ; 
 an old woman said — 44 Ah ! I have long settled that point ; for if God 
 had not chosen me before I was born, 1 am sure he would have seen 
 nothing in me to have chosen me for afterwards.” 
 
 Law has swept away Warburton’s cobweb, with a single brush. Abel 
 pleased God, but Cain killed him ; therefore, it was a dangerous thing 
 to please God, if there were no future state. 
 
 I see the unprofitableness of controversy in the case of Job and his 
 friends ; for if God had not interposed, and they had lived to this day, 
 they would have continued the dispute. 
 
 It is pure mercy that negatives a particular request. A miser would 
 pray very earnestly for gold, if he believed prayer would gain it; 
 whereas, if Christ had any favour to him, he would take his gold away. 
 A child walks in the garden in spring, and sees cherries ; he knows 
 they are good fruit, and therefore asks for them. 44 No, my dear,” says 
 the father, 44 they are not yet ripe : stay till the season.” 
 
 If I cannot take pleasure in infirmities, I can sometimes feel the pro- 
 fit of them. I can conceive a king to pardon a rebel, and take him 
 into his family, and then say, 44 I appoint you for a season to wear a 
 fetter. At a certain season I will send a messenger to knock it off. 
 In the mean time this fetter will serve to remind you of your state ; it 
 may humble you, and restrain you from rambling.” 
 
 Some Christians, at a glance, seem of a superior order, and are not ; 
 they want a certain quality. At a florist’s feast the other day, a cer- 
 tain flower was determined to bear the bell, but it was found to be an 
 artificial flower ; there is a quality called growth, which it had not. 
 
 Doctor Taylor of Norwich said to me, 44 Sir, I have collated every 
 w ord in the Hebrew Scriptures seventeen times ; and it is very strange, 
 if the doctrine of atonement you hold should not have been found by 
 me.” I am not surprised at this : I once went to light my candle with 
 the extinguisher on it. Now, prejudices from education, learning, &c. 
 often form an extinguisher. It is not enough that you bring the can- 
 dle, you must remove the extinguisher. 
 
 I measure ministers by square measure. I have no idea of the size 
 of a table, if you only tell me how long it is ; but if you also say how 
 broad, I can tell its dimensions. So when you tell me what a man is 
 in the pulpit, you must also tell me what he is out of it, or I shall not 
 know his size. 
 
 If Nebuchadnezzar’s image was of solid gold, and every worshipper 
 was to have a bit of it, I fear our nation, as well as his, would be ready 
 to fall down before it. 
 
so 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 There were two sorts of Calvinists at Olney, and they always re- 
 minded me of the two baskets of Jeremiah’s figs. 
 
 A man should be born to high things not to lose himself in them 
 Slaters will walk on the ridge of a house with ease, which would turn 
 our heads. 
 
 Much depends on the way we come into trouble. Paul and Jonah 
 were both in a storm, but in very different circumstances. 
 
 I have read of many wicked Popes, but the worst Pope I ever met 
 with is Pope Self. 
 
 The men of this world are children. Offer a child an apple and a 
 bank-note, he will doubtless choose the apple. 
 
 A pious gentlewoman told me of her pottery being burnt. “ I con- 
 gratulate you, madam,” said I, “ in possessing something you cannot 
 lose.” 
 
 The heir of a great estate, while a child, thinks more of a few shil- 
 lings in his pocket, than of his inheritance. So a Christian is often 
 more elated by some frame of heart, than by his title to- glory. 
 
 A dutiful child is ever looking forward to the holidays, when he 
 shall return to his father ; but he does not think of running from school 
 before. 
 
 The gospel is a proclamation of free mercy to guilty creatures — an 
 act of grace to rebels. Now, though a rebel should throw away his 
 pistols, and determine to go into the woods, and make his mind better 
 before he goes to court and pleads the act ; he may, indeed not be found 
 in arms, yet, being taken in his reforming scheme, he will be hanged. 
 
 The devil told a lie when he said, “ All these things are mine, and 
 to whomsoever I will I give them :” for if he had the disposal of prefer- 
 ments, since he knows the effect of them, you and I, brother C — , 
 should soon be dignitaries. 
 
 Man is made capable of three births — by nature he enters the present 
 world — by grace into spiritual light and life — by death into glory. 
 
 In my imagination, I sometimes fancy I could make a perfect mini* 
 
 stcr. I take the eloquence of - — •, the knowledge of , the zeal of 
 
 , and the pastoral meekneti, tenderness, and piety of ; then put- 
 ting them all together into one man, I say to myself, this would be a 
 perfect minister. Now, there is One who, if he chose it, could actual- 
 *y do this, but he never did ; he has seen fit to do otherwise, and to 
 divide these gifts to every man severally as he will. 
 
 I feel like a man, who has no money in his pocket, but is allowed 
 to draw for all he wants upon one infinitely rich : I am, therefore, at 
 once both a beggar and a rich man. 
 
 I went one day to Mrs G ’s, just after she had lost all her for- 
 
 tune ; I could not be surprised to find ber in tears, but she said, “ I 
 suppose you think I am crying for my loss : but that is not the case — 
 I am now weeping to think I should feel so much uneasiness on the 
 account.” After that, I never heard her speak again upon the subject 
 as long as she lived. — Why, now, this is just as it should be. — Suppose 
 a man was going to York to take possession of a large estate, and his 
 chaise should break down a mile before he got to the city, which oblig- 
 
MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 81 
 
 ed him to walk the rest of the way ; what a fool we should think him 
 if we saw him wringing his hands, and blubbering out all the remain- 
 ing mile, “ My chaise is broken ! my chaise is broken ! 
 
 I have many books that I cannot sit down to read ; they are, indeed, 
 good and sound ; but, like halfpence, there goes a great quantity to a 
 little amount. There are silver books, and a very few golden books ; 
 but I have one book worth more than all, called the Bible, and that is 
 a book of bank-notes. 
 
 I conclude these remarks, not because my memorandum-book is ex- 
 hausted, but lest the reader should think I forget the old maxim, ne quid 
 nimis. No undue liberty, however, has been taken in publishing Mi* 
 N.’s private conversation ; since all the above remarks were submitted 
 to him, as intended for this publication, and were approved. 
 
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 1 he difference of mental improvement, among men, seems very much 
 to depend on their capacity and habit of gathering instruction from the 
 objects which are continually presented to their observation. Two 
 men behold the same fact : one of them is in the habit of drawing such 
 remarks and inferences as the fact affords, and learns something from 
 every thing he sees ; while the other sees the same fact, and perhaps 
 with a momentary admiration, but lets it pass without making so much 
 as one profitable reflection on the occasion. The excursions of the be* 
 and the butterfly present an exact emblem of these two characters. 
 
 I have present to my mind an acquaintance, who has seen more of the 
 outside of the world than most men : he has lived in most countries of 
 the civilized world ; yet I scarcely know a man of a less improved 
 mind. With every external advantage, he has learned nothing to any 
 useful purpose. He seems to have passed from flower to flower with- 
 out extracting a drop of honey ; and now he tires all his friends with 
 the frivolous garrulity of a capricious, vacant, and petulant old age. 
 
 I wish the reader of these Memoirs may avoid such an error in pas- 
 sing over the history here laid before him. An extraordinary train of 
 facts is presented to his observation ; and if “ the proper study of man- 
 kind is man,” the history before us will surely furnish important mat- 
 ter of the kind, to the eye of every wise moral traveller. 
 
 I would here call the attention of three classes of men to a single 
 point of prime importance ; namely, to the efficacy and excellency of 
 real Christianity, as exhibited in the principles and practice of the 
 subject of these Memoirs. 
 
 I. Suppose the reader to be so unhappy (though his misfortune may 
 be least perceived by himself) as to be led astray by bad society, in 
 conjunction with “ an evil heart of unbelief.” I will suppose him to 
 be now in the state in which Mr N. describes himself formerly to have 
 been, and in which also the writer of these Memoirs once was. I will 
 suppose him to be given up to <fi believe his own lie and that he may 
 be in the habit of thinking, that God, when he made man, left him to 
 find his way, without any express revelation of the mind and will of 
 his Maker and Governor ; or, at most, that he is left to the only rule 
 in morals, which nature may be supposed to present. What that way 
 is, which such a thinker will take, is sufficiently evident from the ge- 
 
MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 83 
 
 neral course and habits of unbelievers. — But there is a conscience in 
 man. Conscience, in sober moments, often alarms the most stout- 
 hearted. When such an unbeliever meets an overwhelming providence, 
 or lies on a death-bed, he will probably awake to a strong sense of his 
 real condition. He will feel, if not very hardened indeed, in what a 
 forlorn, unprovided, and dangerous state he exists. Life is the mo- 
 ment in which only this sceptical presumption can continue ; and, 
 when it is terminating, where is he to set the sole of his foot? He 
 wildly contemplates the book of nature, in which he may have been 
 persuaded, that man may read all he needs to know ; but the forlorn 
 outcast sees nothing there to meet his case as a sinner. Infinite power, 
 wisdom, contrivance, general provision alone appear ; but nothing of 
 that further and distinct information, which a dying offender needs. 
 He wants footing, and finds none. He needs the hand of a friend to 
 grasp, but none is seen. Possibilities shock his apprehension. He 
 may, perhaps, discern, that the present system has a moral government, 
 which frowns upon guilt ; and, for aught he knows to the contrary, 
 the next scene may present a Judge upon his throne of justice — this 
 world, his present idol, vanished like smoke — and quick and dead cal- 
 led to give their account. Where then is he ? — an atom of guilt and 
 wretchedness ! All this, I say, may be, for aught he knows to the con- 
 trary. But the express and well-authenticated revelation, which that 
 Judge hath sent to man, tells us plainly that all this shall be, and that 
 every eye shall behold it ! 
 
 66 Be it so,” such a reader may reply, “ still I am what I am. My 
 habits of thinking are fixed ; and I perceive my habits of life can only 
 be decently borne out by my profession of unbelief. Both are now in- 
 veterate. Nor do I see, all things considered, what can be done in my 
 case. How can I adopt the Christian revelation ? and what could it 
 do for me if I could ?” I answer by calling your attention to the fact 
 before us. What was the case of John Newton ? 
 
 Could any one be more deeply sunk in depravity, in profligacy, in 
 infidelity, than he ? Can you even conceive, a rational creature more de- 
 graded, or more hardened in his evil habits ? Would you attempt to 
 recover such a mind by arguments, drawn from the advantage which 
 virtue has over vice ? or by rousing his attention to the duties of natu- 
 ral religion ? or the possible consequences of a future retribution ? He 
 would have gone on thinking he had made the most of his circum- 
 stances, in his practice of catching fish, and eating them almost raw — 
 He would sullenly have proceeded to sleep through the drying of his 
 one shirt, which he had just washed on the rock, and put on wet — 
 He would, with a savage ferocity, have watched an opportunity for 
 murdering his master — He would have drowned all reflection in a 
 drunken revel, and overwhelmed all remonstrance by belching out 
 newly-invented blasphemies ; and then sought to rush headlong, in a 
 drunken paroxysm, into the ocean. 
 
 Here is certainly presented the utmost pitch of a depraved and a de- 
 graded nature, nor does it seem possible for Satan to carry his point 
 
8 4 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE FvEV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 \ 
 
 1 
 
 \ 
 
 \ 
 
 I 
 
 farther with a man — except in one single instance, namely, by the fi- 
 nal disbelief of a remedy. 
 
 Now. by God’s help, this divine remedy was applied, and its efficacy 
 demonstrated, of which there are thousands of living witnesses. A 
 plain matter of fact is before us. It pleased God, by a train of dis- 
 pensations, that this prodigal should “ come to himself.” He is made 
 to feel his wants and misery. He follows the “ light shining in a 
 dark place.” He calls for help. He is made willing to follow his 
 guide. He proceeds with implicit confidence : and now let us examine 
 to what, at length, he is brought ; and also by what means. 
 
 I speak of a matter of fact — whither is he brought ? He is brought 
 from the basest, meanest, under-trodden state of slavery — from a state 
 of mind still more degraded, being “ foolish, disobedient, deceived, 
 serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful 
 and hating” — wanting nothing of a complete devil but his powers. 
 This man is brought, I say, to be a faithful and zealous servant of his 
 God; an able and laborious minister of Christ ; a useful and benevolent 
 friend to his neighbour ; wise to secure the salvation of his own soul, 
 and wise to win the souls of others. 
 
 Consider also the means by which he was brought. It was not by the 
 arguments of philosophers, or the rational considerations of what is 
 called natural religion. Mr N.’s own account informs us, that the pe- 
 culiar discoveries of revealed truth gradually broke in upon his mind ; 
 till, at length, he was made sensible that there was a remedy provided 
 in the gospel, and which was fully sufficient to meet even his case, and 
 he found that, and that only, to be “ the power of God unto salvation.” 
 
 The result, therefore, which should be drawn from these premises is 
 the following : — There exists a desperate disorder in the world, called 
 sin. Heathens as well as Christians have marked its malignant influ- 
 ence ; they have tried various expedients, which have been prescribed 
 for its cure, or at least its mitigation ; but no means, except God’s own 
 appointed means, have been discovered, that have been able to relieve 
 so much as a single individual. Yet, strange to say, this medicina mentis 
 of God’s own appointment, to which only he has promised a peculiar 
 blessing, and by which he is daily recovering men in the most despe- 
 rate circumstances, who actually employ it : strange to say, this reme- 
 dy still remains a stumbling block — is counted foolishness — insomuch, 
 that many will rather dash this cup of salvation from the lips of a pro- 
 fligate, like Newton, when disposed to receive it, than he should obtain 
 relief that way. Their conduct seems to say, “ Rather let such a 
 wretch go on in his profligacy, than the gospel be acknowledged to be 
 the wisdom and the power of God.” 
 
 Not that the case of Mr N., here presented to the consideration of an 
 unbeliever, is brought forward as if the gospel needed any farther evi- 
 dence, or has occasion for facts of our own time to give it additional 
 authenticity ; but we are directed to regard the “ cloud of witnesses,” 
 among which our departed brother was distinguished; “and though 
 now dead, yet speaketh.” May the reader have ears to hear the im- 
 portant report ! 
 
MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 85 
 
 Does the question return, therefore, as to what the unbeliever should 
 do ? Let him, after seriously considering what is here advanced, con- 
 sider also what conduct is becoming a responsible, or at least a rational 
 creature ? Surely it becomes such a one to avoid all means of stifling 
 the voice of conscience whenever it begins to speak ; to regard the 
 voice of God yet speaking to him in the revelation of his grace, and 
 that much more humbly and seriously than such persons are wont to 
 do. It becomes him, if he have any regard to the interest of his own 
 soul, or the souls of his fellow-creatures, to give no countenance, by 
 his declarations or example, to the senseless cavils, and indecent scoffs, 
 by which the profligate aim to cloak the disorders of their hearts ; by 
 which vanity aims at distinction, and half-thinkers affect depth. The 
 person I am now speaking to cannot but observe how much the judg- 
 ment becomes the dupe of the passions. 44 If the veil be upon the 
 heart, it will be upon every thing.” We need not only an object pre- 
 sented, but an organ to discern it. Now the gospel, only, affords both 
 these. Mr N. becomes an instructive example in this respect to the 
 unbeliever. 44 One of the first helps,” says he, 4 4 I received (in con- 
 sequence of a determination to examine the New Testament more care- 
 fully) was from Luke vi. 13, 4 If ye then, being evil, know how to 
 give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heaven- 
 ly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him ?’ I had been sen- 
 sible, that to profess faith in Jesus Christ, when, in reality, I did not 
 believe his history, was no better than a mockery of the heart-search- 
 ing God ; but here I found a Spirit spoken of, which was to be com- 
 municated to those who ask it. Upon this I reasoned thus : if this 
 book be true, the promise in this passage must be true likewise. I 
 have need of that very Spirit by which the whole was written, in or- 
 der to understand it aright. He has engaged here, to give that Spi- 
 rit to those who ask ; and if it be of God, he will make good his own 
 word.” 
 
 A man, therefore, who is found in this unhappy state, but not judi- 
 cially hardened in it, should mark this stage of Mr N.’s recovery, and 
 attend to the facts and evidences of the power and excellency of real 
 religion, such as this before him. He should appreciate that gospel, 
 which it has pleased God to employ as his instrument for displaying 
 the wonders of his might in the moral world. He should pray that he 
 may experience the power of it in his own heart, and thus not lose the 
 additional benefit of the cases presented to him in Memoirs like these ; 
 a case probably far exceeding his own in the malignity of its symp- 
 toms. Let him also consider, that, while such convictions can pro- 
 duce no real loss to him, they may secure advantages beyond calcula- 
 tion. He may not be able at present to comprehend how 44 godliness 
 is profitable for all things, in having not only the promise of the life 
 that now is, but that which is to come ;” but he may see, as a rational 
 creature, that, at the very lowest estimation, he has taken a safe side, 
 by embracing the only hope set before him : and on this ground it is 
 clearly demonstrable, that not only the grossest folly must attach to 
 
86 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 the rejector of a revelation attended with such accumulated evidences, 
 but also actual guilt, and the highest ingratitude and presumption. 
 
 II. But there is another class of men, to whom I would recommend 
 a serious consideration of Mr N.’s religious character and principles. 
 The persons whom I am now addressing are convinced of the truth of 
 revelation, and some of them ably contend for it against unbelievers. 
 They are also conscientious — they are often useful in society — and are 
 sometimes found amiable and benevolent : they are even religious, ac- 
 cording to their views of religion ; and some of them are exact in their 
 devotions. Yet from certain morbid symptoms, they appear not to re- 
 ceive the grace of God in truth, nor to be cordially disposed to the 
 spirit of the gospel. So much apparent right intention and exemplary 
 conduct seems, indeed, to demand respect ; and a respect which some, 
 who possess more zeal than judgment, do not duly pay them. 
 
 Ardelio despises his neighbour Eusebius’s religious views and ha- 
 bits ; and not only deems him a blind Pharisee, but has sometimes ex- 
 pressed the sentiment in the rudest terms. This reminds me of the 
 old story of Diogenes’ walking on the costly carpet of his brother phi- 
 losopher, saying, 44 I trample on the pride of Plato.” 44 Yes,” said Pla- 
 to, 44 but with greater pride, Diogenes.” 
 
 If it be asked, Why should any one judge unfavourably of such a 
 character as Eusebius ? I answer, we may charitably seek to convince 
 one whom we have reason to think under fatal mistakes, without any 
 disposition to judge or condemn him. I meet a traveller who is confi- 
 dently pursuing a path, which I have reason to believe is both wide of 
 his mark, and dangerous to his person : I may charitably attempt to 
 direct his steps, without thinking ill of his intention. It is recorded of 
 our Lord, that he even loved a young man, who went away sorrowful 
 on having his grand idol exposed. But why, it is asked, should you 
 suspect any thing essentially wrong in such characters as you describe ? 
 I reply, for the following reasons : — 
 
 I have observed with much concern, when God hath wrought such 
 a mighty operation of grace in the heart of a man, like Newton, that 
 this man has not, upon such a saving change being wrought, suited the 
 religious taste of the persons just mentioned. They will, indeed, com- 
 mend his external change of conduct ; but by no means relish his broken 
 and contrite spirit, or his ascribing the change to free and unmerited 
 favour, and his 44 counting all things but loss for the excellency of the 
 knowledge of Christ Jesus,” as that Lord who has thus called him 
 44 from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God.” 
 They will not relish the zeal and evangelical strain of his preaching, 
 his endeavouring to alarm a stupid sleeping conscience, to probe a de- 
 ceitful heart, to expose the wretchedness of the world, and to rend the 
 veil from formality and hypocrisy ; nay, they will rather prefer some 
 dry moralist, or mere formalist, who, instead of having experienced 
 any such change of heart, will rather revile it. 
 
 Again, I have observed a lamentable disposition of mind in such 
 persons to form false and unfavourable associations. They will pay 
 too much attention to injurious representations, true or false, of a re- 
 
MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 £7 
 
 ligious class of mankind, whom the world has branded with some ge- 
 neral term of reproach. Two or three ignorant or extravagant fa- 
 natics shall be admitted to represent the religions world at large, not 
 considering how much such offensive characters are actually grieving 
 those whose cause 1 am pleading. No one, indeed, can have lived long 
 in society, but he must needs have met the counterfeit of every excel- 
 lence. In the article of property, for instance, who is not on the watch 
 lest he should be imposed on ? And, while the love of property is so 
 general, who is not studious to discover the difference between the true 
 and the false? It will be so in religion, wherever there is the attention 
 which its worth so imperiously demands. Love has a piercing eye, 
 which will discover its object in a crowd. But, if there be this dispo- 
 sition to confound in the lump the precious with the vile, it is sympto- 
 matic of something morbid in the heart. We have reason to fear a la- 
 tent aversion from vital and spiritual religion, notwithstanding all the 
 allowance that can be made for the prevailing prejudices of their edu- 
 cation and circumstances, in the persons offended. And here, also, we 
 cannot but lament the effect of such a disposition in those perverse con- 
 clusions these persons are often observed to draw from a sermon. Of 
 the two handles which attach to every thing, what must we think of 
 that mind which is ever choosing the wrong? Jesus Christ, for in- 
 stance, shows how much the farm, the oxen, and the wife became im- 
 pediments in the way of those who refused his invitation. But a per- 
 verse conclusion would infer that he was, therefore, an enemy to law- 
 ful engagements. Candour, however, sees at a glance, that this was 
 not his design in speaking the parable. His drift was evidently to mark 
 the state and spirit of the recusants, and not to discountenance their 
 lawful occupations. He meant to show, that even lawful pursuits may 
 be unlawfully pursued, when they become sole objects, and are thus 
 preferred to his inestimable proposal. It is thus the well-disposed 
 hearer will mark the design of his minister, and draw wholesome nou- 
 rishment from that discourse, which another will turn to poison, by 
 stopping to cavil at the letter. 
 
 Another objection arises from the affinity which characters of this 
 class have with a 44 world which lieth in wickedness.” In this instance 
 of their worldly attachments, their charity will readily 44 cover a mul- 
 titude of sins,” and form excuses for serious breaches of both tables of 
 the law, in their worldly friends. They appear in their element while in 
 the society of these friends, especially if wealthy and accomplished. If 
 any person’s ear is wounded with a profane expression from one of their 
 rich or fashionable aquaintance, they are ready to whisper,' that, 4 4 not- 
 withstanding his unguarded language, he has yet upon the whole one 
 of the best of hearts.” 
 
 Yet an infallible monitor has said, 44 Know ye not, that the friend- 
 ship of the world is enmity with God ?” If the old maxim does not 
 always hold good, that, 44 A man is known by the company he keeps,” 
 it will infallibly stand good if we add one word to it, namely, 44 that a 
 man is known by the company he chooses to keep.” The physician may 
 be detained in an infectious chamber, and the lawyer be found convers 
 
88 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 ing with his client in a shower of rain ; but nobody will infer from 
 thence, that the one chooses to breathe foul air; or that the other 
 chooses to be wet to the skin. While the true Christian, therefore, 
 will avoid inurbanity, fanaticism, or becoming the dupe of any religious 
 party, he will also join the Psalmist in declaring, “ I am a companion 
 of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts.” 
 
 Again, these moral and religious characters, whom I am labouring 
 to convince of their errors, have been observed to be more disposed to 
 nurse, than to examine their prejudices against a minister of Mr N.’s 
 principles. “ His teaching,” say they, “ tends to divide a parish, or a 
 family.” But why do they not examine the reason? Why do they not 
 consider, that introducing good has ever been the occasion of disturb- 
 ing evil ? I recollect a great family, whose servants were in a ferment, 
 because one truly conscientious man was found among them. “ He 
 will spoil the place,” was their term, because he would not connive at 
 their iniquity. But let me ask, what was to be blamed in this affair ? 
 His integrity or their corruption ? The master understood the case, and 
 valued his servant in proportion as he marked the division. And thus 
 it is in religion, while moving in a blind and corrupt world. Christ, 
 though the Prince of Peace, expressly declared, that his doctrine would 
 be the occasion of much division in the world ; that “ he came not to 
 send peace, but a sword ;” that he should be the occasion of family va- 
 riance, &c. Matt. x. 34, 35; and warns his disciples of what they 
 must expect while they endeavour faithfully to conduct his interests. 
 Plain matter of fact declares, that to maintain truth has been the oc- 
 casion of the suffering state of the true church in all ages, and that of- 
 ten unto the death of its innumerable martyrs. But, should a man 
 who reads his Bible, or has any regard for the interests of truth, need 
 to have this explained ? 
 
 Another mistake might be exposed in the stale objection, that such 
 principles as Mr N.’s tend to injure the interests of morality, from his 
 strictly adhering to the doctrine of our eleventh article, on justification 
 by faith. I would hope that this objection, in many, arises from a very 
 slight acquaintance with the subject. It requires, indeed, but little at- 
 tention to mark how expressly the Scriptures maintain our justifica- 
 tion on the sole merit of our Redeemer, while they as fully maintain 
 the necessity of our sanctification, or holiness, by, bis Spirit. It has 
 been proved over and over, by sound and incontestable arguments, that 
 these two grand fundamentals of our religion are so far from opposing 
 each other, either in Scripture or experience, that, when real, they are 
 found inseparable. But, because this is not the place to either state or. 
 defend this doctrine at large, it may help such as have hitherto stum- 
 bled respecting it, to observe an illustration and proof of this position, 
 in the matter of fact just now presented to our view. 
 
 To one willing to learn, I would say, what proof would you require 
 of the practical tendency of principles like Mr N.’s ? We bring you, in 
 his history, a most deplorable instance of human depravity and deep 
 moral disorder. What experiment shall be tried to recover this wretch- 
 ed creature to God and to himself? Regard, I say, the fact in this 
 
MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 89 
 
 man’s history. You will find, that his recovery was not brought about 
 by such considerations as are urged in what are termed moral or ra- 
 tional discourses ; but, on the contrary, by such truths as he laboured 
 throughout his ministry to establish, not only from the Scriptures, but 
 from bis own experience of their efficacy. He dwelt on truths, which 
 are essential and peculiar to Christianity; such as the guilt and utter 
 depravity of our fallen nature, whereby man is become an alien and 
 apostate from his God ; his inability to recover himself without the 
 grace of the Holy Spirit ; the necessity of regeneration by the same 
 Spirit, and of faith in the Redeemer, not only as the only ground of 
 his justification before God, but as the root and motive of all accepta- 
 ble obedience and good works. 44 If I wanted a man to fly,” said Mr 
 N., 44 I must contrive to find him wings ; and thus, if I would success- 
 fully enforce moral duties, I must advance evangelical motives.” He 
 preached truths like these constantly and fervently, and he lived a con- 
 sistent example of them. 
 
 Thus in all things approving himself a true disciple and minister of 
 Christ, those who knew him, know, without making any odious com- 
 parison, it might be literally affirmed of Mr N., that 44 by pureness, by 
 knowledge, by long-suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love 
 unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour 
 of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,” his mouth was 
 opened and his heart enlarged towards men. 
 
 I trust it is from a pure motive that I am endeavouring to convince 
 persons of the class I am addressing of their mistake. And I am the 
 more induced to bring a case in point before them, because I think it 
 cannot be paralleled as an instance of the power of religion among those 
 who labour to keep up prejudices against ministers of Mr N.’s character ; 
 or who, by unfair or partial statements, strive to subvert the doctrines 
 he preached, and the great end to which all his labours were directed, 
 namely, the life of God in the soul of man. 
 
 If indeed any one 44 is willing to be deceived, let him be deceived.” 
 At least such an one wiii not be addressed here. But if a man has any 
 serious sense of the value of his soul — of its lost condition by sin, and 
 of recovering the friendship of his God — if he feel the express declara- 
 tion in the Scriptures of an eternity of happiness or misery to be of in- 
 finite importance, and to which the weightiest concern in this perish- 
 ing world is but as the 44 dust on the balance” — let such an one con- 
 sider these things. Let him inquire, whether those who object to the 
 character and views of such a minister as Mr N. labour first to probe 
 the state of their own hearts deeply, as he did ? When he was no lon- 
 ger an infidel, had renounced his grosser habits, and was to all appear- 
 ance a new man ; 44 Yet,” says he, 44 though I cannot doubt that this 
 change, so far as it prevailed, was wrought by the Spirit and power of 
 God, still I was greatly deficient in many respects. I was in some de- 
 gree affected with a sense of my more enormous sins, but I was little 
 aware of the innate evils of my heart. I had no apprehension of the 
 spirituality and extent of the law of God. The hidden life of a Chris- 
 tian, as it consists in communion with God by Jesus Christ, and aeon- 
 
90 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 tinual dependence upon him for hourly supplies of wisdom, strength, 
 and comfort, was a mystery of which I had as yet no knowledge. I 
 acknowledged the Lord’s mercy in pardoning what was past, hut de- 
 pended chiefly upon my own resolution to do better for the time to 
 come.” 
 
 Let the honest inquirer also consider, whether the objectors just 
 spoken of are observed to he as anxious in their pursuits to serve God 
 and propagate his will, to glorify his Son, and to save the souls of men ? 
 Whether they have experienced the force of truth in the conversion of 
 their own hearts and lives ? “ Conformed to the world,” as he once 
 was, have they been since “ transformed by the renewing of their 
 minds,” as he at length became ? A few such questions as these, well 
 considered, would lead to important discoveries. Such an inquiry 
 would show, that, however some persons may be able to treat of the 
 outworks of revelation, as they may of any other science they have 
 studied ; yet for such to dogmatize on religion, as it consists in a vital, 
 spiritual, and experimental principle, would be as absurd as for a man 
 originally deprived of one of the five senses, to deny the perceptions of 
 those who possess them all. In short, it is as ridiculous as it is pro- 
 fane, for men rashly to assert on religious points, who evidently appear 
 to have nothing so little at heart as the real influence and actual in- 
 terests of religion. 
 
 Lastly, let nominal Christians seriously consider whether our im- 
 mortal interests are not much too important to be staked upon a mere 
 prejudice of education — an old unrevised habit of thinking — a taking it 
 for granted that they are right, when the event may awfully prove the 
 reverse ; and that too, when such errors can never be rectified ? The 
 persons with whom I have been pleading would pity the Jew or the 
 Pagan in such an error : I earnestly pray that they may be enabled to 
 see as clearly their own mistake, and not resent the admonition of a 
 real friend now seeking to prevent it. 
 
 III. But there yet remains a class of persons, found in the religious 
 world, who entertain a high regard for Mr N.’s character, and who 
 should gather that instruction from it of which they appear to stand in 
 great need. “ They should all take care,” as he expresses it, “ that 
 they do not make their profession of religion a receipt in full for all 
 other obligations.” I do not regard this class as hypocrites, so much 
 as self-deceivers. They have a zeal for the gospel ; but without a com- 
 prehensive view of its nature. They do not consider, that, in avoid- 
 ing error on the one hand, they are plunging into a contrary mistake. 
 Like a child crossing a bridge, they tremblingly avoid the deep water 
 which they perceive is roaring on one side ; and recede from it till they 
 are ready to perish, from not perceiving the danger of that which lies 
 on the other side. 
 
 The class of which I am here speaking are defective in the grand 
 article of a humble and contrite spirit. I remember Mr N. used to re- 
 mark, that “ if any one criterion could be given of a real work of grace 
 begun in the heart of a sinner, it would be found in his contrite spirit.” 
 Nothing is more insisted on in Scripture, as esseutial to real religion 
 
MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 91 
 
 I never knew any truly serious Christian but would readily join in ac- 
 knowledging, that “ the religion of a sinner,” as Mr N. expresses it, 
 “ stands on two pillars ; namely, what Christ did for us in his flesh, and 
 what he performs in us by his Spirit. Most errors,” says he, “ arise 
 from an attempt to separate these two.” But as it was in the begin- 
 ning, so it is now ; the enemy comes and sows tares among the wheat ; 
 and a sort of loose profession has obtained, which has brought much 
 reproach on religion, and become a cause of stumbling to many, who 
 perceive a class of Christians contending for only a part of Christi- 
 anity. 
 
 You can prevail little with a professor of this description, in exhort- 
 ing him by “ the meekness and gentleness of Christ,” to self-denying, 
 patient, or forbearing habits. If you state the genius of Christ’s reli- 
 gion as it relates to the returning good for evil ; in blessing them 
 that curse, and praying for such as revile and persecute ; in showing, 
 out of a good conversation, their works with meekness of wisdom ; or 
 in having a fervent charity towards all men, &c. he is ready to kindle, 
 and to cover his conduct by a crude system of mere doctrinal points, 
 ill understood. It is well if your charitable remonstrance does not lead 
 him to ask, Whether you mean to bring him back to the Whole Duty 
 of Man, or to Nelson’s Festivals and Fasts ? He laments that you your- 
 self are not clear in the gospel, because you maintain the whole of it ; 
 and that you are not faithful, if you maintain the whole of it in a pa- 
 tient, forbearing spirit. 
 
 The views of such persons, and the evil tempers to which they give 
 place in their spiritual warfare, have often reminded me of the shrewd 
 answer which our Richard I. sent the Pope ; who was angry because 
 a certain warlike bishop had fallen by Richard in battle, and whom, be- 
 ing an ecclesiastic, the Pope called his son. Richard sent the bishop’s 
 armour to the Pope, with the words of Joseph’s brethren, “ Know now, 
 whether this be thy son’s coat or not.” 
 
 Nothing, however, could be more opposed to the spirit and character 
 of our departed friend than the temper that has just been described. 
 His zeal in propagating the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the 
 truth, was not more conspicuous than the tenderness of his spirit as to 
 the manner of his maintaining and delivering it. He was found con- 
 stantly “ speaking the truth in love, and in meekness instructing those 
 that oppose themselves, if God peradventure would give them repen- 
 tance to the acknowledging the truth.” There was a gentleness, a can- 
 dour, and a forbearance in him, that I do not recollect to have seen in 
 an equal degree among his brethren ; and which had so conciliating an 
 effect, that even the enemies of truth often spoke loudly in praise of his 
 character. On the other hand, it generated such an affection in his 
 friends, that, had he attempted to preach longer than he did, a great 
 part of his congregation would have gathered, were it only for the plea- 
 sure they had in seeing his person. 
 
 That this account is not panegyric, is clear to all who personally 
 knew Mr N. But as many who may read these Memoirs had not that 
 
92 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 pleasure, I will add the testimony of one, whose nice discernment of cha- 
 racter will admit of no question : — 
 
 66 A people will love a minister, if a minister seems to love his 
 people ; the old maxim, simile agit in simile , is in no case more exactly 
 verified ; therefore you were beloved at Olney ; and, if you preached 
 to the Chickesaws and Chactaws, would be equally beloved by them.”* 
 As this spirit of Christian benevolence and charity seems not to have 
 been sufficiently cultivated among us, while a furious and often abusive 
 zeal for certain points, as Cowper remarks, has been substituted for the 
 whole truth, I am led to dwell longer than I intended in enforcing this 
 amiable feature of Mr N.’s character ; especially on account of those 
 Christians, who have imbibed a false taste in their religion, from such 
 teachers, or books, as have fallen in their way. I therefore earnestly 
 request those persons to weigh well the inquiries which follow : — 
 
 Have you ever sufficiently considered the evil of divisions and heart- 
 burnings in a church ; and what interest that enemy, who comes to 
 sow tares among the wheat, takes in promoting them ? Do you reflect, 
 that another Christian may be doing God’s work, though his mode of 
 doing it may not meet your taste, any more than your taste meets his ? 
 Do you consider how much greater evil a wrong spirit and temper pro- 
 duce than the things you object against? Do you weigh the conse- 
 quences of your haste in weakening the hands and grieving the heart 
 of any godly minister, whom you constantly or occasionally attend 
 and in actually laying a stumbling-block in the way of the ungodly, 
 while you depreciate him and his services ? Nothing affected that emi- 
 nent character, Mr Cadogan, like what he met from some religious 
 persons of this kind, as I have related from his own lips, in his Me- 
 moirs. f 
 
 Let me farther exhort such as are in danger from this un chastised 
 spirit to consider, how much corrupt nature is at the bottom of this 
 error. Corrupt nature frets and rages at any supposed contradiction 
 or restraint ; it would substitute the work of the tongue for that of the 
 heart : in the mean time, real religion is scorned by the world, which 
 cannot distinguish between a thing so deformed, and the thing as it 
 ought to appear. 
 
 Consider, also, whether there needs any grace at all in order to 
 maintain such a sort of profession. We require only to christen 
 the evil passions of corrupt nature, and then may call names, hate, 
 boast, and give ourselves the preference, as much as any ungodly man 
 whatever ! A zealot at an election can fight and strive for his favou- 
 rite candidate ; with inflamed zeal he can cause divisions, exhibit pride, 
 self-will, and impatience of subordination : but, let me ask, will the 
 same evil tempers change their nature because they are employed about 
 spiritual objects ? 
 
 Much blame attaches, too, respecting certain disputable points for 
 which such persons strive. It seems as if some, who are otherwise 
 good men, did not relish the Bible till they had garbled and selected 
 
 * Hayley’s Life of Cowper. Letter xxvii. 
 f See Memoirs of Cadogan, p. 39. 
 
MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 93 
 
 it ; anti that, if the whole were not of acknowledged authority, they 
 would condemn it as it now stands. They speak as if it were not ac- 
 curate in its terms, or sufficiently express or decisive in confirming 
 their fond opinions. This leads them to he shy of some parts of reve- 
 lation, and to distort others, in order to fit them for their system ; and 
 while contending for that system, they appear to forget the stress 
 which the apostle lays upon the holy, humble, self-denying, affec- 
 tionate spirit of Christianity, in 1 Cor. xiii ; how gentle it is, how 
 easy to be entreated, how it hopeth and endureth all things, &c. 
 While, on the contrary, they who can speak with the tongues of 
 men and of angels, who have all knowledge, who can work miracles, 
 and even die martyrs, would, without this distinguishing characte- 
 ristic of Christianity, be considered of God as nothing. The Old 
 Testament dispensation, it is granted, had a severe aspect, and special 
 occasions may be pleaded for special expressions of holy indignation 
 under any dispensation ; but when the prophet describes the brightei 
 day, he foretels, that then 44 the wolf shall dwell with the lamb,” &c., 
 as emblematical of the prevalence of that grace described by the apostle, 
 in the chapter just quoted. Hold, therefore, the faith once delivered 
 to the saints as firmly as possible, but hold it in love. 44 Buy the truth 
 and sell it not rather die for it, than part with it ; but 44 speak it in 
 love and walk in it 44 as Christ also walked,” ever remembering, that 
 44 the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.” 
 
 I feel conscious that it is simply with a view to convince many well- 
 meaning Christians of their error (and I have found more or less of 
 this class in almost every place where I have been), that I thus speak. 
 If a gross superstition, arising in the church, perverted the Christiani- 
 ty of former ages ; I wish I may mistake in supposing, that a loose and 
 unscriptural profession is widely spreading as the bane of our age. A- 
 gainst such a departure from the true genius of Christianity, I certain- 
 ly, as a minister of Christ, ought to bear my feeble testimony. Con- 
 sider, therefore, that what is said is with a single view to your best in- 
 terests ; and the Lord give you understanding in all things. 
 
 As I referred the Christians who were last addressed, to the charac- 
 ter of Mr N. as an example, so I never knew a more perfect one to my 
 purpose. When any person depreciated the ministry of a good man, 
 who, by advancing important truths, was opposing the reigning errors 
 of the times ; but who, from timidity or prejudice, was shy of Mr N., 
 he would imitate his Divine Master by saying, 44 Let him alone ; he 
 that is not against us is on our side. Make no man an offender for a 
 word. He is doing good, according to his views. Let us pray for 
 him, and by no means weaken his hands. Who knows but God may 
 one day put him far above our heads, both in knowledge and useful- 
 ness ?” 
 
 His grand point, in a few words, as he used to express it, was, 44 to 
 BREAK A HARD HEART, AND TO HEAL A BROKEN HEART.” To implant 
 the life of God in the soul of man, he would sacrifice every subordi- 
 nate consideration. He felt every other consideration comparatively 
 insignificant. He saw the spirit of ancient Pharisaism working among 
 
94 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 those who cry out the most against it ; who exact to a scruple, in the 
 tythe of mint, anise, and cummin of their own peculiarities, while they 
 pass over the weightier matters of unity and love; straining at the 
 gnat of a private opinion, and swallowing the camel of a deadly dis- 
 cord. On the contrary, as far as order and circumstances would ad- 
 mit, Mr N. clave to every good man, and endeavoured to strengthen 
 his hands, in whatever denomination of Christians he was found. His 
 character well illustrated the Scripture, that though 44 scarcely for a 
 righteous (or just) man would one die, yet for a good man (i. e. one 
 eminent for his candour and benevolence) some would even dare to 
 die.” However they admired some ministers, they all loved him ; and 
 saw exemplified in him that 44 wisdom which is from above, which is 
 first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mer- 
 cy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.” 
 
 I conclude these Memoirs with a word to such as are endeavouring 
 to follow the steps of their late faithful friend, as he followed Christ. 
 We cannot but lament the errors just described. We cannot, if we 
 have any zeal for the gospel, but protest against them. But let us re- 
 collect, that they are not the only errors, which are found in the 
 church ; and therefore let us watch, lest any other 44 root of bitterness 
 spring up to trouble us, and defile many.” While you lament with 
 me the removal of ministers like Mr N., let us recollect that Eternal 
 Friend, who will never leave his church without witnesses to the 
 truth ; and who, among other reasons for removing earthly helps, 
 teaches us thereby to rest only upon that help which cannot be remov- 
 ed. Let us take comfort too in recollecting, that, spotted as the church 
 may appear from the inconsistencies of many of its members, yet all 
 the real good that is to be found in this corrupt world, is to be found 
 in that church. God saw seven thousand true believers in Israel while 
 his prophet could see but one. Where some Jehu is sounding a trum- 
 pet before him, many are quietly passing to heaven without any such 
 clamour. As a great writer remarks, 4 4 Because half a dozen grass 
 hoppers under a fern make the field ring with their importunate chink, 
 while thousands of great cattle chew the cud and are silent, pray do 
 not imagine that those, who make the noise, are 4 the only inhabitants 
 of the field.’ ” 
 
 But I must remark, that nothing has been more profitable to myself 
 in considering Mr N.’s life, than the exhibition it makes of a particular 
 providence. If the church be not conducted by such visible signs now, 
 as formerly, it is found to be as actually conducted. We read of a Di- 
 vine hand concerned in the fall of sparrows, in numbering the hairs of 
 our head, and in raising our dust to life ; but with what little interest 
 we read this, appears by our distrust in the first trial we meet. If we 
 do not dare to join the sentiments of some, who regard such expres- 
 sions as purely figurative and hyperbolical, yet our imagination is so 
 overwhelmed with the difficulty of the performance, that we are apt to 
 turn from the subject with some general hope, but with a very indis- 
 tinct and vague idea of 44 a God at hand,” faithful to his promise, and 
 almighty to deliver. Yet how many cases occur in the history of eve- 
 
MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 95 
 
 ry one of us, where nothing short of an Almighty arm could prove “ a 
 present help in the time of trouble.” 
 
 Now, this short history before us is admirably calculated to encou- 
 rage our faith and hope, when we are called to pass through those deep 
 waters, that seem to bid defiance to human strength and contrivance. 
 What, for instance, but a Divine interference caused Mi* N. to be rous- 
 ed from sleep on board the Harwich at the moment of exchanging men, 
 and thereby effected his removal ? What placed him in a situation so 
 remarkably suited to his recovering the ship, which had already passed 
 the place of his station in Africa, and brought him back to his country ? 
 What kept him from returning in the boat, that was lost at Rio Ces- 
 tors ? or from the ship that was blown up near Liverpool ? not to 
 mention many other of his special deliverances. 
 
 “ I am a wonder unto many,” says he, in the motto of his Narrative ; 
 and if we as distinctly considered the strange methods of mercy which 
 have occurred in our own cases, we should at least be a wonder to our- 
 selves. But my aim is to point out the use we should make of these 
 Memoirs in this respect. We should, as Christians, mark the error of 
 despair. We should see, that the case of a praying man cannot be des- 
 perate ; that if a man be out of the pit of hell, he is on the ground of 
 mercy. We should recollect, that God sees a way of escape when we 
 see none ; that nothing is too hard for him ; that he warrants our de- 
 pendence, and invites us to call on him in the day of trouble, and gives 
 a promise of deliverance. We should, therefore, in every trial, adopt 
 the language of Mr N.’s favourite Herbert : 
 
 “ Away, despair ; my gracious Lord doth hear ; 
 
 Though winds and waves assault my keel, 
 
 He doth preserve it ; he doth steer, 
 
 Ev’n when the boat seems most to reel. 
 
 Storms are the triumph of his art : 
 
 Well may he close his eyes, but not his heart.” 
 
 From these facts we should see, that Christ is able, not only “ to 
 save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him but also that 
 he is able to bring the most hardened blasphemer and abject slave from 
 his chains of sin and misery, to stand in the most honourable and use- 
 ful station, and proclaim to the wretched and to the ruined the exceed- 
 ing riches of his grace. I have observed, from my own experience as 
 well as from that of others, how strong a hold Satan builds by despair. 
 The pressing fascinations of the world, the secret invitations of sensu- 
 ality, and the distant prospect of eternal things, form a powerful cur- 
 rent against vital religion. The heart of a Christian is ready to sink 
 whenever these proud waters rise. Let him, therefore, recollect, that 
 his hope, his only hope, is in pressing right onward through a world of 
 lies and vanity ; that his present dispensation is the walk of faith and 
 not of sight ; and that 6C by two immutable things, in which it is im- 
 possible for God to lie, he has given strong consolation to such as flee 
 for refuge to the hope set before them.” 
 
 One could, indeed, scarcely conjecture, that cases like Mr N.’s 
 should he so perverted by any of our children, as that they should take 
 
96 MEMOIRS OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 confidence in their sins from liis former course of life , hut, because 
 such facts, as I am credibly informed, do exist, let us be upon the watch 
 to counteract this deep device of the great enemy. 
 
 My dear young friends, who may have read these Memoirs, perhaps 
 merely for your amusement, consider with what a contrary design St 
 Paul states his former unrenewed condition : 44 I was,” says he, 44 be- 
 fore a blasphemer, a persecutor, and injurious; but for this cause I 
 obtained mercy.” For what cause ? Was it that men should continue 
 in sin, because a miracle of special grace had been wrought ? To 44 do 
 evil that good may come” is the black mark of a reprobate mind. 
 But 44 for this cause,” saith the apostle, 44 I obtained mercy ; that in 
 me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering, for a pattern 
 to them who should hereafter believe in him to life everlasting.” The 
 same caution is necessary whenever you may be tempted to hope for 
 such a recovery as Mr N.’s, after erring like him. To proceed upon 
 such a hope, is a gross presumption. Thousands perish in wrong 
 courses, for one who escapes from their natural consequences. Pray, 
 therefore, that you may be enabled to resist the temptation of pervert- 
 ing such extraordinary cases. God affords them to be 44 a savour of 
 life unto life,” while Satan would employ them to be 44 a savour of 
 death unto death.” One almighty to save affords you here, indeed, an 
 instance of special mercy, which gives you the strongest encourage- 
 ment in setting your faces towards his kingdom ; and this is the pro- 
 per use to be made of such a case. 
 
 Your parents, your most disinterested friends, are anxiously watch- 
 ing for your good : and they, perhaps, have put this book into your 
 hand with a view of promoting it. The author has cause to thank 
 God, who put it into the heart of his pious parent to make a similar 
 attempt, and bless it with success ; and he could tell of more such in- 
 stances. May it please God that you may be added to the number ! 
 Worldly prosperity would rather hurt than help you before your minds 
 become rightly directed. Mr N. shows us,* that his firmest friend could 
 not have served him effectually had not God first prepared his mind 
 for the advancement. An enemy would occupy your minds with pe- 
 rishing objects ; but God calls you to cultivate nobler views. He pro- 
 poses glory, honour immortality, and eternal life by the gospel. 
 44 Seek,” therefore, 44 first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, 
 and all other things shall be added to you.” 
 
 * Memoirs, page 26 
 
 THE END OF THE MEMOIRS. 
 
AN 
 
 AUTHENTIC NARRATIVE, &c. 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 REVEREND AND DEAR SIR, 
 
 X make no doubt but you have at times had 
 pleasing reflections upon that promise made 
 to the Israelites, Deut. viii. 2. They were 
 then in the wilderness, surrounded with dif- 
 ficulties, which were greatly aggravated by 
 their own distrust and perverseness : they had 
 experienced a variety of dispensations, the 
 design of which they could not as yet under- 
 stand; they frequently lost sight of God’s 
 gracious purposes in their favour, and were 
 much discouraged by reason of the way. To 
 compose and animate their minds, Moses here 
 suggests to them, that there was a future 
 happy time drawing near, when their journey 
 and warfare should be finished; that they 
 should soon be put in possession of the pro- 
 noised land, and have rest from all their fears 
 and troubles; and then it would give them 
 pleasure to look back upon what they now 
 found so uneasy to bear : — “ Thou shale re- 
 member all the way, by which the Lord thy 
 God led thee through this wilderness.” 
 
 But the importance and comfort of these 
 words is still greater, if we consider them in 
 a spiritual sense, as addressed to all who are 
 passing through the wilderness of this world 
 to a heavenly Canaan ; who by faith in the 
 promises and power of God are seeking eter- 
 nal rest in that kingdom which cannot be 
 shaken. The hope of that glorious inheri- 
 tance inspires us with some degree of courage 
 and zeal to press forward, to where Jesus has 
 already entered as our forerunner ; and when 
 our eye is fixed upon him, we are more than 
 conquerors over all that would withstand our 
 progress. But we have not yet attained it ; 
 we still feel the infirmities of a fallen nature : 
 through the remains of ignorance and unbe- 
 
 lief, we often unsure the Lord’s dealings 
 with us, and are ready to complain, when, if 
 we knew all, we should rather rejoice. But 
 to us likewise there is a time coming, when 
 our warfare shall be accomplished, our views 
 enlarged, and our light increased : then, with 
 what transports of adoration and love shall 
 we look back upon the way, by which the 
 Lord led us! We shall then see and ac- 
 knowledge, that mercy and goodness directed 
 every step ; we shall see, that what our igno- 
 rance once called adversities and evils, were 
 in reality blessings which we could not have 
 done well without : that nothing befel us 
 without a cause : that no trouble came upon 
 us sooner, or pressed us more heavily, or 
 continued longer, than our case required : in 
 a word, that our many afflictions were each 
 in their place among the means employed by 
 divine grace and wisdom, to bring us to the 
 possession of that exceeding and eternal 
 weight of glory, which the Lord has prepar- 
 ed for his people. And even in this imper- 
 fect state, though we are seldom able to judge 
 aright of our present circumstances, yet, if 
 we look upon the years of our past life, and 
 compare the dispensations we have been 
 brought through, with the frame of our minds 
 under each successive period ; if we consider, 
 how wonderfully one thing has been connect- 
 ed with another; so that what we now num- 
 ber amongst our greatest advantages, perhaps, 
 took their first rise from incidents which we 
 thought hardly worth our notice ; and that 
 we have sometimes escaped the greatest dan- 
 gers that threatened us, not by any wisdom 
 or foresight of our own, but by the interven- 
 tion of circumstances, which we neither de- 
 ll 
 
2 INTRODUCTORY 
 
 sired nor thought of ; — I say, when we com- 
 pare and consider these tilings by the light 
 afforded us in the holy scriptures, we may 
 collect indisputable proof, from the narrow 
 circle of our own concerns, that the wise and 
 good providence of God watches over his peo- 
 ple from the earliest moment of their life, 
 over-rules and guards them through all their 
 wanderings in a state of ignorance, leads 
 them in a way they know not, till at length 
 his providence and grace concur in those 
 events and impressions, which bring them to 
 the knowledge of him and themselves. 
 
 I am persuaded that every believer will, 
 upon due reflection, see enough in his own 
 case to confirm this rema-rk ; but not all in 
 the same degree. The outward cricumstances 
 of many have been uniform ; they have known 
 but little variety in life ; and with respect to 
 their inward change, it has been effected in a 
 secret way, unnoticed by others, and almost 
 unperceived by themselves. The Lord has 
 spoken to them, not in thunder and tempest, 
 but with a still small voice he has drawn them 
 gradually to himself ; so that, though they 
 have a happy assurance of the thing, that they 
 know and love him, and are passed from 
 death unto life ; yet of the precise time and 
 manner, they can give little account. Others 
 he seems to select, in order to shew the ex- 
 ceeding riches of his grace, and the greatness 
 of his mighty power : he suffers the natural 
 rebellion and wickedness of their hearts to 
 have full scope ; while sinners of less note are 
 cut off with little warning, these are spared, 
 though sinning with a high hand, and, as it 
 were, studying their own destruction. At 
 length, when all that knew them are perhaps 
 expecting to hear, that they are made signal 
 instances of divine vengeance, the Lord 
 (whose thoughts are high above ours, as the 
 heavens are higher than the earth) is pleased 
 to pluck them as brands out of the fire, and 
 to make them monuments of his mercy, for 
 the encouragement of others ; they are, be- 
 yond expectation, convinced, pardoned, and 
 changed. A case of this sort indicates a di- 
 vine power no less than the creation of a 
 world : it is evidently the Lord’s doing, and 
 it is marvellous in the eyes of all those, who 
 are not blinded by prejudice and unbelief. 
 
 Such was the persecuting Saul : his heart 
 was full of enmity against Jesus of Nazareth, 
 and therefore he persecuted and made havock 
 of his disciples. He had been a terror to the 
 church of Jerusalem, and was going to Da- 
 mascus with the same views. He was yet 
 breathing out threatenings and slaughter 
 against all that loved the Lord Jesus. He 
 thought little of the mischief he had hitherto 
 done. He was engaged for the suppression 
 of the whole sect ; and hurrying from house 
 to house, from place to place, he carried me- 
 naces in his look, and repeated threatenings 
 with every breath. Such was his spirit and 
 
 OBSERVATIONS. LET. I. 
 
 temper, when the Lord Jesus, whom he hated 
 and opposed, checked him in the height of 
 his rage, called this bitter persecutor to the 
 honour of an apostle, and inspired him with 
 great zeal and earnestness, to preach that 
 faith which he had so lately attempted to de- 
 stroy. 
 
 Nor are we without remarkable displays of 
 the same sovereign, efficacious grace in our 
 own times ; — I may particularly mention the 
 instance of the late colonel Gardiner. If any 
 real satisfaction could be found in a sinful 
 course, he would have met with it ; for he 
 pursued the experiment with all possible ad- 
 vantages. He was habituated to evil ; and 
 many uncommon, almost miraculous deliver- 
 ances, made no impression upon him. Yet 
 he was likewise made willing in the day of 
 God’s power : and the bright example of his 
 life, illustrated and diffused by the account 
 of him, published since his death, has afford- 
 ed an occasion of much praise to God, and 
 much comfort to his people. 
 
 After the mention of such names, can you 
 permit me, Sir, to add my own ? If I do, 
 it must be with a very humbling distinction. 
 These once eminent sinners, proved sincere 
 Christians : much had been forgiven them, 
 therefore they loved much. St Paul could 
 say, “ The grace bestowed upon me was not 
 in vain ; for I laboured more abundantly than 
 they all.” Colonel Gardiner likewise was as 
 a city set upon a hill, a burning and a shining 
 light : the manner of his conversion w as hard- 
 ly more singular, than the whole course of his 
 conversation from that time to his death. 
 Here, alas ! the parallel greatly fails. It has 
 not been thus with me ; — I must take deserv- 
 ed shame to myself, that I have made very 
 unsuitable returns for what I have received. 
 But, if the question is only concerning the 
 patience and long-suffering of God, the won- 
 derful interposition of his providence in fa- 
 vour of an unworthy sinner, the power of his 
 grace in softening the hardest heart, and the 
 riches of his mercy in pardoning the most 
 enormous and aggravated transgressions ; in 
 these respects, I know no case more extraor- 
 dinary than my own. And indeed many per- 
 sons, to whom I have related my story, have 
 thought it -worthy of being preserved. 
 
 I never gave any succinct account in writ- 
 ing, of the Lord’s dealing with me, till very 
 lately ; for I was deterred, on the one hand, 
 by the great difficulty of writing properly 
 where self is concerned ; on the other, by the 
 ill use which persons of corrupt and perverse 
 minds are often known to make of such in- 
 stances. The Psalmist reminds us that a re- 
 serve in these things is proper, when he says, 
 “ Come unto me, all you that fear God, and 
 I will tell you what he hath done for my 
 soul j” and our Lord cautions us not to “ cast 
 our pearls before swine.” The pearls of a 
 Christian are, perhaps, his choice experiences 
 
LET. II. OCCURRENCES 
 
 of the lord’s power and love in the concerns 
 of his soul ; and these should not be at all 
 adventures made public, lest we give occa^ 
 sion to earthly and grovelling souls, to pro- 
 fane what they cannot understand. These 
 were the chief reasons of my backwardness ; 
 but, a few weeks since, I yielded to the judg- 
 ment and request of a much respected friend, 
 and sent him a relation at large, in a series 
 of eight letters. The event has been, what 
 I little expected ; I wrote to one person, but 
 my letters have fallen into many hands : 
 amongst others, I find they have reached 
 your notice ; and instead of blaming me for 
 being too tedious and circumstantial, which 
 was the fault I feared I had committed, you 
 are pleased to desire a still more distinct de- 
 tail. As you and others of my friends appre- 
 hend my compliance with this request may 
 be attended with some good effect, may pro- 
 mote the pleasing work of praise to our ador- 
 able Redeemer, to confirm the faith of some 
 or other of his people, I am willing to obey ; 
 I give up my own reasonings upon the inex- 
 pediency of so inconsiderable a person as my- 
 self adventuring in so public a point of view. 
 If God may be glorified on my behalf, and 
 his children in any measure comforted or in- 
 structed by what I have to declare of his 
 goodness, I shall be satisfied ; and am con- 
 tent to leave all other possible consequences 
 of this undertaking in his hands, who does all 
 things well. 
 
 I must again have recourse to my memory, 
 as I retained no copies of the letters you saw. 
 So far as I can recollect what I then wrote, I 
 will relate, but shall not affect a needless va- 
 riety of phrase and manner, merely because 
 those have been already perused by many. 
 1 may, perhaps in some places, when repeat- 
 ing the same facts, express myself in nearly 
 the same words ; yet I propose, according to 
 your desire, to make this relation more ex- 
 plicit and particular than the former, especi- 
 ally towards the close, which I wound up hasti- 
 ly, lest my friend should be wearied. I hope 
 you will likewise excuse me, if I do not strictly 
 confine myself to narration, but now and then 
 intersperse such reflections as may offer, while 
 I am writing : and though you have signified 
 your intentions of communicating what I send 
 you to others, I must not, on this account, 
 affect a conciseness and correctness which is 
 not my natural talent, lest the whole should 
 appear dry and constrained. I shall there- 
 fore (if possible) think only of you, and 
 write with that confidence and freedom which 
 your friendship and candour deserve. This 
 sheet may stand as a preface, and I purpose, 
 as far as I can, to intermit many other en- 
 gagements, until I have completed the task 
 you have assigned me. In the mean time, I 
 entreat the assistance of your prayers, that in 
 this, and all my poor attempts, I may have a 
 single eye to his glory, who was pleased to 
 
 IN EARLY LIFE. 3 
 
 call me out of horrid darkness, into the mar- 
 vellous light of his gospel. 
 
 1 am, with sincere respect, 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 Your obliged and affectionate servant. 
 January 12* 1763. 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 REVEREND SIR, 
 
 I can sometimes feel a pleasure in repeat- 
 ing the grateful acknowledgment of David, 
 “ O Lord, I am thy servant, the son of thine 
 handmaid; thou hast loosed my bands.” 
 The tender mercies of God towards me were 
 manifest in the first moment of my life ; — I 
 was born as it were in his house, and dedicat- 
 ed to him in my infancy. My mother (as 1 
 have heard from many) was a pious experi- 
 enced Christian ; she was a dissenter, in com- 
 munion with the late Dr. Jennings. I was 
 her only child, and as she was of a weak con- 
 stitution and a retired temper, almost her 
 whole employment was the care of my educa- 
 tion. I have some faint remembrance of her 
 care and instructions. At a time when I 
 could not be more than three years of age, 
 she herself taught me English, and with so 
 much success (as I had something of a for- 
 ward turn), that when I was four years old I 
 could read with propriety, in any common 
 book that offered. She stored my memory, 
 which was then very retentive, with many 
 valuable pieces, chapters, and portions of 
 scripture, catechisms, hymns, and poems. 
 My temper, at that time, seemed quite suit- 
 able to her wishes : I had little inclination to 
 the noisy sports of children, but was best 
 pleased when in her company, and always as 
 willing to learn as she was to teach me. How 
 far the best education may fall short of reach- 
 ing the heart, will strongly appear in the se- 
 quel of my history : yet, I think, for the en- 
 couragement of pious parents to go on in the 
 good way of doing their part faithfully to 
 form their children’s minds, I may properly 
 propose myself as an instance. Though in 
 process of time, I sinned away all the advan- 
 tages of these early impressions, yet they were 
 for a great while a restraint upon me ; they 
 returned again and again, and it was very 
 long before I could wholly shake them off’; 
 and when the Lord at length opened my eyes, 
 I found a great benefit from the recollection 
 of them. Further, my dear mother, besides 
 the pains she took with me, often commended 
 me with many prayers and tears to God ; and 
 I doubt not but I reap the fruits of these 
 prayers to this hour. 
 
 My mother observed my early progress with 
 peculiar pleasure, and intended from the first 
 to bring me up with a view to the ministry, if 
 the Lord should so incline my heart. In my 
 
4 OCCURRENCES ] 
 
 sixth year I began to learn Latin ; but, before 
 I had time to know much about it, the intend- 
 ed plan of my education was broke short. — 
 The Lord’s designs were far beyond the views 
 of an earthly parent ; he was pleased to reserve 
 me for an unusual proof of his patience, pro- 
 vidence, and grace, and therefore over-ruled 
 the purpose of my friends, by depriving me of 
 this excellent parent, when I was something 
 under seven years old. I was born the 24th 
 of July, 1725, and she died the 11th of that 
 month, 1732. 
 
 My father was then at sea (he was a com- 
 mander in the Mediterranean trade at that 
 time) : he came home the following year, and 
 soon after married again. Thus I passed into 
 different hands. I was well treated in all 
 other respects ; but the loss of my mother’s 
 instructions was not repaired. I was now 
 permitted to mingle with careless and profane 
 children, and soon began to learn their ways. 
 Soon after my father’s marriage, I was sent to 
 a boarding school in Essex ; where the impru- 
 dent severity of the master almost broke my 
 spirit and relish for books. With him I for- 
 got the first principles and rules of arithmetic, 
 which my mother had taught me years before. 
 I staid there two years ; in the last of the two 
 a new usher coming, who observed and studied 
 my temper, I took to the Latin with great 
 eagerness ; so that before I was ten years old, 
 I reached and maintained the first post in the 
 second class, which in that school read Tully 
 and Virgil. I believe I was pushed forward 
 too fast, and therefore not being grounded, I 
 soon lost all I had learned (for I left school in 
 my tenth year), and when I long afterwards 
 undertook the Latin language from books, I 
 think I had little, if any advantage, from what 
 I had learned before. 
 
 My father’s second marriage was from a 
 family in Essex ; and when I was eleven years 
 old, he took me with him to sea. He was a 
 man of remarkable good sense, and great know- 
 ledge of the world ; he took great care of my 
 morals, but could not supply my mother’s 
 part. Having been educated himself in Spain, 
 he always observed an air of distance and se- 
 verity in his carriage, which overawed and 
 discouraged my spirit. I was always in fear 
 when before him, and therefore he had the less 
 influence. From that time to the year 1 742, 
 I made several voyages, but with considerable 
 intervals between, which were chiefly spent in 
 the country, excepting a few months in my 
 fifteenth year, when I was placed upon a very 
 advantageous prospect at Alicant in Spain; 
 but my unsettled behaviour and impatience of 
 restraint rendered that design abortive. 
 
 In this period my temper and conduct were 
 exceedingly various. At school, or soon after, 
 I had little concern about religion, and easily 
 received very ill impressions. But I was 
 often disturbed with convictions ; I was fond 
 of reading from a child ; among other books, 
 
 N EARLY LIFE. let. n. 
 
 Bennet’s Christian Oratory often came in my 
 way ; and though I understood but little of 
 it, the course of life therein recommended ap- 
 peared very desirable, and I was inclined to 
 attempt it. I began to pray, to read the 
 scriptures, and to keep a sort of dairy ; I was 
 presently religious in my own eyes ; but, 
 alas ! this seeming goodness had no solid 
 foundation, but passed away like a morning 
 cloud, or early dew. I was soon weary, gra- 
 dually gave it up, and became worse than 
 before : instead of prayer, I learned to curse 
 and blaspheme, and was exceedingly wicked, 
 when from under my parent’s view. All this 
 was before I was twelve years old. About 
 that time I had a dangerous fall from a horse ; 
 I was thrown, I believe, within a few inches 
 of a hedge-row newly cut down; I got no 
 hurt ; but could not avoid taking notice of a 
 gracious providence in my deliverance; for 
 had I fallen upon the stakes, I had inevitably 
 been killed ; my conscience suggested to me 
 the dreadful consequences, if in such a state I 
 had been summoned to appear before God. 
 I presently broke off from my profane prac- 
 tices, and appeared quite altered ; but was not 
 long before I declined again. These struggles 
 between sin and conscience were often repeat- 
 ed ; but the consequence was, that every relapse 
 sunk me into still greater depths of wicked- 
 ness. I was once roused by the loss of an 
 intimate companion. We had agreed to go 
 on board a man-of-war (I think it was on a 
 Sunday), but I providentially came too late ; 
 the boat was overset, and he and several others 
 were drowned. I was invited to the funeral 
 of my play-fellow, and was exceedingly affec- 
 ted, to think that by a delay of a few minutes 
 (which had much displeased and angered me 
 till I saw the event), my life had been pre- 
 served. However, this likewise was soon 
 forgot. At another time, the perusal of the 
 Family Instructor put me upon a partial and 
 transient reformation. In brief, though I 
 cannot distinctly relate particulars, I think, I 
 took up and laid aside a religious profession 
 three or four different times before I was 
 sixteen years of age ; but all this while my 
 heart was insincere. I often saw a necessity 
 of religion as a means of escaping hell ; but I 
 loved sin, and was unwilling to forsake it. 
 Instances of this, I can remember, were fre- 
 quent in the midst of all my forms ; I was so 
 strangely blind and stupid, that sometimes 
 when I have been determined upon things, 
 which I knew were sinful and contrary to my 
 duty, I could not go on quietly, till I had 
 first dispatched my ordinary task of prayer, in 
 which I have grudged every moment of my 
 time ; and when this was finished, my con- 
 science was in some measure pacified, and I 
 could rush into folly with little remorse. 
 
 My last reform was the most remarkable 
 both for degree and continuance. Of this 
 period, at least of some part of it, I may say. 
 
let. HI. JOURNEY TO KENT, &C. 5 
 
 in the apostle’s words, “ After the strictest 
 sect of our religion, 1 lived a pharisee.” I 
 did every thing that might be expected from a 
 person entirely ignorant of God’s righteous- 
 ness, and desirous to establish his own, I 
 spent the greatest part of every day in reading 
 the scriptures, meditation, and prayer ; I fasted 
 often ; I even abstained from all animal food 
 for three months ; I would hardly answer a 
 question, for fear of speaking an idle word. I 
 seemed to bemoan my former miscarriages 
 very earnestly, sometimes with tears. In 
 short, I became an ascetic, and endeavoured, 
 so far as my situation would permit, to re- 
 nounce society, that I might avoid temptation. 
 I continued in this serious mood (I cannot 
 give it a higher title) for more than two years, 
 without any considerable breaking off. But 
 it was a poor religion ; it left me in many re- 
 spects under the power of sin, and so far as it 
 prevailed, only tended to make me gloomy, 
 stupid, unsociable, and useless. 
 
 Such was the frame of my mind, when I be- 
 came acquainted with Lord Shaftesbury. I 
 saw the second volume of his Characteristics 
 in a petty shop at Middleburgh in Holland. 
 The title allured me to buy it, and the style 
 and manner gave me great pleasure in reading, 
 especially the second piece, which his lord- 
 ship, with great propriety, has entitled, a 
 Rhapsody. Nothing could be more suited to 
 the romantic turn of my mind, than the ad- 
 dress of this pompous declamation ; of the de- 
 sign and tendency I was not aware ; I thought 
 the author a most religious person, and that I 
 had only to follow him, and be happy. Thus, 
 with fine words and fair speeches, my simple 
 heart was beguiled. This book was always 
 in my hand ; I read it, till I could very nearly 
 repeat the Rhapsody verbatim from beginning 
 to end. No immediate effect followed, but it 
 operated like a slow poison, and prepared the 
 way for all that followed. 
 
 This letter brings my history down to De- 
 cember, 1742. I was then lately returned 
 from a voyage, and my father, not intending 
 for the sea again, was thinking how to settle 
 me in the world ; but I had little life or spirit 
 for business : I knew but little of men or 
 things. I was fond of a visionary scheme of 
 contemplative life ; a medley of religion, phi- 
 losophy, and indolence ; and was quite averse 
 to the thoughts of an industrious application 
 to business. At length a merchant in Liver- 
 pool, an intimate friend of my father (to whom, 
 as the instrument of God’s goodness, I have 
 since been chiefly indebted for all my earthly 
 comforts), proposed to send me for some years 
 to Jamaica, and to charge himself with the 
 care of my future fortune. I consented to 
 this, and every thing was prepared for my 
 voyage. I was upon the point of setting out 
 the following week. In the meantime, my 
 father sent me on some business to a place a 
 few miles beyond Maidstone in Kent; and 
 
 this little journey, which was to have been 
 only for three or four days, occasioned a sud- 
 den and remarkable turn, which roused mo 
 from the habitual indolence I had contracted, 
 and gave rise to the series of uncommon dis- 
 pensations, of which you desire a more parti- 
 cular account. So true it is, “ that the way 
 of man is not in himself ; it is not in man that 
 walketh to direct his steps.” 
 
 I am affectionately 
 
 Your’s in the best bonds. 
 
 January 13, 1763. 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 A few days before my intended journey 
 into Kent, I received an invitation to visit a 
 family in that country. They were distant 
 relations, but very intimate friends of my dear 
 mother : she died in their house ; but a cool- 
 ness took place upon my father’s second mar- 
 riage, and I had heard nothing of them for many 
 years. As my road lay within half a mile of 
 their house, I obtained my father’s leave to 
 call on them. I was, however, very indif- 
 ferent about it, and sometimes thought of 
 passing on : however I went. I was known 
 at first sight, before I could tell my name, 
 and met with the kindest reception, as the 
 child of a dear deceased friend. My friends 
 had two daughters. The eldest (as I under- 
 stood some years afterwards) had been often 
 considered, by her mother and mine, as a 
 future wife for me from the time of her birth. 
 I know indeed, that intimate friends frequently 
 amuse themselves with such distant prospects 
 for their children, and that they miscarry 
 much oftener than succeed. I do not say that 
 my mother predicted what was to happen, yet 
 there was something remarkable in the manner 
 of its taking place. All intercourse between 
 the families had been long broken off ; I was 
 going into a foreign country, and only called 
 to pay a hasty visit ; and this I should not 
 have thought of, but for a message received 
 just at that crisis (for I had not been invited 
 at any time before). Thus the circumstances 
 were precarious in the highest degree, and the 
 event was as extraordinary. Almost at the 
 first sight of this girl (for she was then under 
 fourteen), I was impressed with an affection 
 for her, which never abated or lost its influence 
 a single moment in my heart from that hour. 
 In degree, it actually equalled all that the 
 writers of romance have imaged ; in duration, 
 it was unalterable. I soon lost all sense of 
 religion, and became deaf to the remonstrances 
 of conscience and prudence ; but my regard 
 for her was always the same ; and I may per- 
 haps venture to say, that none of the scenes of 
 misery and wickedness I afterwards experienc- 
 ed. ever banished her a single hour together 
 
LET. III. 
 
 G JOURNEY TO 
 
 from my waking thoughts, for the seven fol- 
 lowing years. 
 
 Give me leave, Sir, to reflect a little upon 
 this unexpected incident, and to consider its 
 influence upon my future life, and how far it 
 was subservient to the views of divine pro- 
 vidence concerning me, which seem to have 
 been twofold ; that by being given up, for a 
 while, to the consequences of my own wilful- 
 ness, and afterwards reclaimed by a high hand, 
 my case, so far as it should be known, might 
 be both a warning and an encouragement to 
 others. 
 
 In the first place, hardly any thing less than 
 this violent and commanding passion would 
 have been sufficient to awaken me from the 
 dull melancholy habit I had contracted. I 
 was almost a misanthrope, notwithstanding I 
 so much admired the pictures of virtue and 
 benevolence as drawn by lord Shaftesbury : 
 but now my reluctance to active life was over- 
 powered at once, and I was willing to be or 
 to do any thing, which might subserve the 
 accomplishment of my wishes at some future 
 time. 
 
 Farther, when I afterwards made shipwreck 
 of faith, hope, and conscience, my love to this 
 person was the only remaining principle, 
 which in any degree supplied their place ; and 
 the bare possibility of seeing her again was 
 the only present and obvious means of re- 
 straining me from the most horrid designs 
 against myself and others. 
 
 But then the ill effects it brought upon me 
 counterbalanced these advantages. The in- 
 terval, usually styled the time of courtship, is 
 indeed a pleasing part of life, where there is 
 a mutual affection, the consent of friends, a 
 reasonable prospect as to settlement, and the 
 whole is conducted in a prudential manner, 
 and in subordination to the will and fear of 
 God. When things are thus situated, it is a 
 blessing to be susceptive of the tender pas- 
 sions ; but when these concomitants are 
 wanting, what we call love is the most tor- 
 menting passion in itself, and the most de- 
 structive in its consequences, that can be 
 named: and they were all wanting in my 
 case. I durst not mention it to her friends, 
 or to my own, nor indeed for a considerable 
 time to herself, as I could make no propo- 
 sals : it remained as a dark fire, locked up in 
 my own breast, which gave me a constant 
 uneasiness. By introducing an idolatrous 
 regard to a creature, it greatly weakened my 
 sense of religion, and made farther way for 
 the entrance of infidel principles : and though 
 it seemed to promise great things, as an incen- 
 tive to diligence and activity in life, in reality 
 it performed nothing. I often formed mighty 
 projects in my mind, of what I would willingly 
 do or suffer, for the sake of her I loved ; yet, 
 while I could have her company, I was inca- 
 pable of forcing myself away, to improve op- 
 portunities that offered : still less could it do 
 
 KENT, AND 
 
 :n regulating my manners. It did not prevent 
 me from engaging in a long train of excess 
 and riot, utterly unworthy the honourable 
 pretensions I had formed. And though 
 through the wonderful interposition of divine 
 goodness, the maze of my follies was at length 
 unravelled, and my wishes crowned in such a 
 manner as overpaid my sufferings ; yet, I am 
 sure, I would not go through the same series 
 of trouble again, to possess all the treasures 
 of both the Indies. I have enlarged more 
 than I intended on this point, as perhaps these 
 papers may be useful to caution others against 
 indulging an ungovernable passion by my 
 painful experience. How often may such 
 headstrong votaries be said “ to sow the wind, 
 and reap the whirlwind.” 
 
 My heart being now fixed and riveted to a 
 particular object, I considered every thing I 
 was concerned with in a new light. I con- 
 cluded it would be absolutely impossible to 
 live at such a distance as Jamaica, for a term 
 of four or five years, and therefore determined 
 at all events that I would not go. I could 
 not bear either to acquaint my father with the 
 true reason, or to invent a false one ; therefore, 
 without taking any notice to him why I did 
 so, I staid three weeks instead of three days 
 in Kent, till I thought (as it proved) the op- 
 portunity would be lost, and the ships sailed. 
 I then returned to London. I had highly 
 displeased my father by this disobedience; 
 but he was more easily reconciled than I could 
 have expected. In a little time I sailed with 
 a friend of his to Venice. In this voyage, I 
 was exposed to the company and ill example 
 of the common sailors among whom I ranked. 
 Importunity and opportunity presenting every 
 day, I once more began to relax from the 
 sobriety and order which I had observed, in 
 some degree, for more than two years. I was 
 sometimes pierced with sharp convictions ; 
 but though I made a few faint efforts to stop, 
 as I had done from several before ; I did not, 
 indeed, as yet turn out profligate ; but I was 
 making large strides towards a total apostacy 
 from God. The most remarkable check and 
 alarm I received (and, for what I know, the 
 last), was by a dream, which made a very 
 strong, though not any abiding impression 
 upon my mind. 
 
 The consideration of whom I am writing to 
 renders it needless for me either to enter upon 
 a discussion of the nature of dreams in gene- 
 ral, or to make an apology for recording my 
 own. Those who acknowledge scripture will 
 allow that there have been monitory and su- 
 pernatural dreams, evident communications 
 from heaven, either directing or foretelling 
 future events : and those who are acquainted 
 with the history and experience of the people 
 of God are well assured, that such intimations 
 have not been totally withheld in any period 
 down to the present times. Reason, far from 
 contradicting this supposition, strongly pleads 
 
LET. III. 
 
 for it, where the process of reasoning is rightly 
 understood, and carefully pursued. So that 
 a late eminent writer,* who, I presume, is not 
 generally charged with enthusiasm, undertakes 
 to prove, that the phenomenon of dreaming is 
 inexplicable at least, if not absolutely impos- 
 sible, without taking in the agency and inter- 
 vention of spiritual beings, to us invisible. 
 
 I would refer the incredulous to him. For 
 my own part, I can say, without scruple, 
 “ The dream is certain, and the interpretation 
 thereof sure.” I am sure I dreamed to the 
 following effect, and I cannot doubt, from 
 what I have seen since, that it had a direct 
 and easy application to my ow n circumstances, 
 to the dangers, into which I was about to 
 plunge myself, and to the unmerited deliver- 
 ance and mercy which God would be pleased 
 to offer me in the time of my distress. 
 
 Though I have wrote out a relation of this 
 dream more than once for others, it has hap- 
 pened that I never reserved a copy ; but the 
 principal incidents are so deeply engraven in 
 my memory, that I believe I am not liable to 
 any considerable variations in repeating the 
 account. The scene presented to my imagi- 
 nation was the harbour of Venice, where we 
 had lately been. I thought it was night, and 
 my watch upon the deck ; and that, as I was 
 walking to and fro by myself, a person came 
 to me (I do not remember from whence), 
 and brought me a ring, with an express charge 
 to keep it carefully ; assuring me that while I 
 preserved that ring, I should be happy and 
 successful : but, if I lost, or parted with it, 
 I must expect nothing but trouble and misery. 
 I accepted the present and the terms willing- 
 ly, not in the least doubting my own care to 
 preserve it, and highly satisfied to have my 
 happiness in my own keeping. I was engag- 
 ed in these thoughts, when a second person 
 came to me, and observing the rng on my 
 finger, took occasion to ask me some ques- 
 tions concerning it. I readily told him its 
 virtues, and his answer expressed a surprise 
 at my weakness, in expecting such effects 
 from a ring. I think he reasoned with me 
 some time upon the impossibility of the 
 thing, and at length urged me in direct terms 
 to throw it away. At first, I was shocked 
 at the proposal ; but his insinuations prevail- 
 ed. I began to reason and doubt myself, and 
 at last plucked it off my finger, and dropped 
 it over the ship’s side into the water, which 
 it had no sooner touched, than I saw, the 
 same instant, a terrible fire burst out from a 
 range of mountains (a part of the Alps), 
 which appeared at some distance behind the 
 city of Venice. I saw the hills as distinct as 
 if awake, and they were all in flames. I 
 perceived too late my folly ; and my tempter, 
 with an air of insult, informed me, that all 
 the mercy God had in reserve for me, was 
 
 7 
 
 comprised in that ring, which I had wilfully 
 thrown away. I understood that 1 must now 
 go with him to the burning mountains, and 
 that all the flames I saw were kindled upon 
 my account. I trembled, and was in a great 
 agony ; so that it was surprising I did not 
 then awake : but my dream continued, and 
 when I thought myself upon the point of a 
 constrained departure, and stood self-con- 
 demned, without plea or hope ; suddenly, 
 either a third person, or the same who brought 
 the ring at first (I am not certain which), 
 came to me, and demanded the cause of my 
 grief. I told him the plain case, confessing 
 that I had ruined myself wilfully, and de- 
 served no pity. He blamed my rashness, and 
 asked if I should be wiser, supposing I had 
 my ring again. I could hardly answer to 
 this ; for I thought it was gone beyond re- 
 cal. I believe, indeed, I had not time to 
 answer, before I saw this unexpected friend 
 go down under the water, just in the spot 
 where I dropped it ; and he soon returned, 
 bringing the ring with him. The moment he 
 came on board, the flames in the mountains 
 were extinguished, and my seducer left me. 
 Then was “ the prey taken from the hand of 
 the mighty, and the lawful captive delivered.’ 
 My fears were at an end, and with joy and 
 gratitude I approached my kind deliverer to 
 receive the ring again , but he refused to re- 
 turn it, and spoke to this effect : “ If you 
 should be entrusted with this ring again, you 
 would very soon bring yourself into the same 
 distress ; you are not able to keep it ; but I 
 will preserve it for you, and whenever it is 
 needful, will produce it in your behalf.” — 
 Upon this I awoke, in a state of mind not to 
 be described : I could hardly eat, or sleep, or 
 transact my necessary business fijft 1 two or 
 three days ; but the impression soon wore off', 
 and in a little time I totally forgot it ; and I 
 think it hardly occurred to my mind again, 
 till several years afterwards. It will appear, 
 in the course of these papers, that a time 
 came, when I found myself in circumstances 
 very nearly resembling those suggested by 
 this extraordinary dream, when I stood help- 
 less and hopeless upon the brink of an awful 
 eternity : and I doubt not, but had the eyes 
 of my mind been then opened, I should have 
 seen my grand enemy, who had seduced me, 
 wilfully to renounce and cast away my religi- 
 ous profession, and to involve myself in the 
 most complicated crimes ; I say, I should 
 probably have seen him pleased with my ago- 
 nies, and waiting for a permission to seize 
 and bear away my soul to this place of tor- 
 ment. I should perhaps have seen likewise 
 that Jesus, whom I had persecuted and defied, 
 rebuking the adversary, challenging me for 
 his own, as a brand plucked out of the fire, 
 and saying, “ Deliver him from going down 
 into the pit ; I have found a ransom.” 
 However, though I saw not these things, 1 
 
 VOYAGE TO VENICE, &C. 
 
 * Baxter on the Via Inertia*. 
 
LET. III. 
 
 8 JOURNEY TO 
 
 found the benefit ; 1 obtained mercy. The 
 Lord answered for me in the day of my dis- 
 tress ; and, blessed be his name, he who re- 
 stored the ring (or what was signified by it), 
 vouchsafes to keep it. O what an unspeak- 
 able comfort is this, that I am not in mine 
 own keeping. “ The Lord is my shepherd 
 I have been able to trust my all in his hands, 
 and I know in whom I have believed. Satan 
 still desires to have me, that he might sift me 
 as wheat ; but my Saviour has prayed for me, 
 that my faith may not fail. Here is my se- 
 curity and power ; a bulwark, against which 
 the gates of hell cannot prevail. But for 
 this, many a time and often, if possible, I 
 should have ruined myself, since my first de- 
 liverance ; nay, I should fall, and stumble, 
 and perish still, after all that the Lord has 
 done for me, if his faithfulness was not en- 
 gaged in my behalf, to be my sun and shield 
 even unto death. — “ Bless the Lord, O my 
 soul.” 
 
 Nothing very remarkable occured in the 
 following part of that voyage. I returned 
 home in December, 1743, and soon after re- 
 peated my visit to Kent, where I protracted 
 my stay in the same imprudent manner I 
 had done before, which again disappointed 
 my father’s designs in my favour, and almost 
 provoked him to disown me. Before any 
 thing suitable offered again I was impressed 
 (owing entirely to my own thoughtless con- 
 duct which was all of a piece), and put on 
 board a tender : it was a critical juncture, when 
 the French fleets were hovering upon our coast, 
 so that my father was incapable to procure 
 my release. In a few days I was sent on 
 board the Harwich man-of-w r ar, at the Nore. 
 I entered here upon quite a new scene of life, 
 and endured much hardship for about a month. 
 My father was then willing that I should re- 
 main in the navy, as a war was daily expected, 
 and procured me a recommendation to the 
 captain, who took me upon the quarter deck 
 as a midshipman. I had now an easy life, as 
 to externals, and might have gained respect ; 
 but my mind was unsettled, and my behaviour 
 very indifferent. I here met with companions 
 who completed the ruin of my principles ; and 
 though I affected to talk of virtue, and was 
 not utterly abandoned as afterwards, yet my 
 delight and habitual practice was wickedness : 
 my chief intimate was a person of exceeding 
 good natural talents, and much observation ; 
 he was the greatest master of what is called the 
 free-thinking scheme, I remember to have met 
 with, and knew how to insinuate his senti- 
 ments in the most plausible way. And his 
 zeal was equal to his address ; he could hardly 
 have laboured more in the cause, if he had ex- 
 pected to gain heaven by it. Allow me to 
 add, w r hile I think of it, that this man, w'hom 
 1 honoured as my master, and whose practice 
 I adopted so eagerly, perished in the same 
 w-ay as I expected to have done. I have been 
 
 KENT, &C. 
 told, that he was overtaken in a voyage from 
 Lisbon with a violent storm ; the vessel and 
 people escaped, but a great sea broke on board 
 and swept him into eternity. Thus the Lord 
 spares or punishes according to his sovereign 
 pleasure ! But to return : — I was fond of his 
 company, and having myself a smattering of 
 books, was eager enough to show my reading. 
 He soon perceived my case that I had not 
 wholly broke through the restraints of con- 
 science, and therefore did not shock me at 
 first with too broad intimations of his design ; 
 he rather, as I thought, spoke favourably of 
 religion ; but when he had gained my confi- 
 dence he began to speak plainer ; and per- 
 ceiving my ignorant attachment to the Cha- 
 racteristics, he joined issue with me upon that 
 book, and convinced me that I had never un- 
 derstood it. In a word, he so plied me with 
 objections and arguments, that my depraved 
 heart was soon gained, and I entered into his 
 plan with all my spirit. Thus, like an unwary 
 sailor, who quits his port just before a rising 
 storm, I renounced the hopes and comforts of 
 the gospel at the very time when every other 
 comfort was about to fail me. 
 
 In December, 1744, the Harwich was in 
 the Downs, bound to the East Indies. The 
 captain gave me liberty to go on shore for a 
 day ; but, without consulting prudence, or 
 regarding consequences, I took horse, and 
 followed the dictates of my restless passion ; 
 I went to take a last leave of her I loved. I 
 had little satisfaction in the interview, as I 
 was sensible that I was taking pains to mul- 
 tiply my own troubles. The short time I 
 could stay passed like a dream, and on new- 
 year’s day, 1745, I took my leave to return to 
 the ship. The captain was prevailed on to 
 excuse my absence ; but this rash step (es- 
 pecially as it was not the first step of the kind 
 I had taken) highly displeased him, and lost 
 me his favour, which I never recovered. 
 
 At length we sailed from Spithead w'ith a 
 very large fleet. We put into Torbay with a 
 change of wind ; but it returning fair again, 
 we sailed the next day. Several of our fleet 
 were lost in attempting to leave that place; 
 and the following night the whole fleet was 
 greatly endangered upon the coast of Corn- 
 wall, by a storm from the southward. The 
 darkness of the night, and the number of the 
 vessels, occasioned much confusion and da- 
 mage. Our ship, though several times in 
 imminent danger of being run dow n by other 
 vessels, escaped unhurt; but many suffered 
 much, particularly the admiral. This occa- 
 sioned our putting back to Plymouth. 
 
 While we lay at Plymouth, I heard that my 
 father, who had interest in some of the ships 
 lately lost, was come down to Torbay. He 
 had a connection at that time with the African 
 company. I thought if I could get to him, 
 he might easily introduce me into that service, 
 which would be better tlran pursuing a long 
 
LBT. IV VOYAGE TO MADEIRA, &C. 9 
 
 uncertain voyage to the East Indies. It was 
 a maxim with me in those unhappy days, never 
 to deliberate ; the thought hardly occured to 
 me before I was resolved to leave the ship at 
 all events : I did so, and in the wrongest 
 
 manner possible. I was sent one day in the 
 boat, to take care that none of the people 
 deserted ; but I betrayed my trust, and went 
 off myself. I knew not what road to take, 
 and durst not ask for fear of being suspected ; 
 yet having some general idea of the country, 
 I guessed right ; and, when I had travelled 
 some miles, I found upon inquiry, that I was 
 on the road to Dartmouth. All went 
 smoothly that day, and part of the next : I 
 walked apace, and expected to have been with 
 my father in about two hours, when I was 
 met by a small party of soldiers ; I could not 
 avoid or deceive them. They brought me 
 back to Plymouth : I walked through the 
 
 streets guarded like a felon. My heart was 
 full of indignation, shame, and fear. I was 
 confined two days in the guard house, then 
 sent on board my ship, and kept awhile in 
 irons, then publicly stripped and whipped ; 
 after which I was degraded from my office, 
 and all my former companions forbidden to 
 show me the least favour, or even to speak to 
 me. As midshipman, I had been entitled to 
 some command, which (being sufficiently 
 haughty and vain) I had not been backward 
 to exert. I was now in my turn brought 
 down to a level with the lowest, and exposed 
 to the insults of all. 
 
 And as my present situation was uncom- 
 fortable, my future prospects were still worse; 
 the evils I suffered were likely to grow heavier 
 every day. While my catastrophe was recent, 
 the officers and my quondam brethren were 
 something disposed tp screen me from ill 
 usage ; but, during the little time I remained 
 with them afterwards, I found them cool very 
 fast in their endeavours to protect me. Indeed 
 they could not avoid it without running a 
 great risk of sharing with me : for the captain, 
 though in general a humane man, who behaved 
 very well to the ship’s company, was almost 
 implacable in his resentment, when he had 
 been greatly offended, and took several occa- 
 sions to show himself so to me ; and the voyage 
 was expected to be, as it proved, for five 
 years. Yet I think nothing I either felt or 
 feared distressed me so much, as to see myself 
 thus forcibly torn away from the object of my 
 affections, under a great improbability of see- 
 ing her again, and a much greater of returning 
 in such a manner as would give me hopes of 
 seeing her mine. Thus I was as miserable on 
 all hands as could well be imagined. My 
 breast was filled with the most excruciating 
 passions, eager desire, bitter rage, and black 
 despair. Every hour exposed me to some 
 new insult and hardship, with no hope of 
 relief or mitigation, no friend to take my part, 
 or to listen to my complaint. Whether I 
 
 looked inward or outward, 1 could perceive 
 nothing but darkness and misery. I think 
 no case, except that of a conscience wounded 
 by the wrath of God, could be more dreadful 
 than mine. I cannot express with what wisli- 
 fulness and regret I cast my last looks upon 
 the English shore ; I kept my eyes fixed upon 
 it till, the ship’s distance increasing, it sen- 
 sibly disappeared ; and when I could see it 
 no longer, I was tempted to throw myself 
 into the sea, which (according to the wicked 
 system I had adopted) would put a period to 
 all my sorrows at once. But the secret hand 
 of God restrained me. — Help me to praise 
 him, dear Sir, for his wonderful goodness to 
 the most unworthy of all creatures. 
 
 I am, 
 
 Your most obliged servant. 
 January 15, 1763. 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 Though I desired your instructions as to 
 the manner and extent of these memoirs, I 
 began to write before I received them, and 
 had almost finished the preceding sheet when 
 your favour of the eleventh came to hand. I 
 shall find another occasion to acknowledge my 
 sense of your kind expressions of friendship, 
 which, I pray the Lord, I may never give 
 you cause to repent or withdraw ; at present 
 I shall confine myself to what more particu- 
 larly relates to the task assigned me. I shall 
 obey you, Sir, in taking notice of the little 
 incidents you recal to my memory, and of 
 others of the like nature, which, without your 
 direction, I should have thought too trivial, 
 and too much my own to deserve mentioning. 
 When I began the eighth letter, I intended to 
 say no more of myself than might be necessary 
 to illustrate the wonders of divine providence 
 and grace in the leading turns of my life ; 
 but I account your judgment a sufficient 
 warrant for enlarging my plan. 
 
 Amongst other things, you desired a more 
 explicit account of the state and progress of 
 my courtship, as it is usually phrased. This 
 was the point in which I thought it especially 
 became me to be very brief ; but I submit to 
 you ; and this seems a proper place to resume 
 it, by telling you how it stood at the time of 
 my leaving England. — When my inclinations 
 first discovered themselves, both parties were 
 so young, that no one but myself considered 
 it in a serious view. It served for tea-table 
 talk amongst our friends, and nothing further 
 was expected from it. But afterwards, when 
 my passion seemed to have abiding effects, so 
 that in an interval of two years it was not at 
 all abated, and especially as it occasioned me 
 to act without any regard to prudence or 
 interest, or mv father’s designs, and as there 
 
LET. IV. 
 
 10 VOYAGE TO MADEIRA. &C. 
 
 was a coolness between him and the family, 
 her parents began to consider it as a matter 
 of consequence ; and when I took my last 
 leave of them, her mother (at the same time 
 she expressed the most tender affection for 
 me, as if I had been her own child) told me, 
 that though she had no objections to make, 
 upon a supposition that, at a maturer age, 
 there should be a probability of our engaging 
 upon a prudent prospect, yet, as things then 
 stood, she thought herself obliged to interfere ; 
 and therefore desired I would no more think 
 of returning to their house, unless her daugh- 
 ter was from home, till such time as I could 
 either prevail with myself entirely to give up 
 my pretensions, or could assure her that I 
 had my father’s express consent to go on. 
 Much depended upon Mrs, ]S*****’s part in 
 this affair ; it was something difficult ; but 
 though she was young, gay, and quite un- 
 practised in such matters, she was directed to 
 a happy medium. A positive encouragement, 
 or an absolute refusal, would have been at- 
 tended with equal, though different disadvan- 
 tages. But without much studying about it, 
 
 I found her always upon her guard : she had 
 penetration to see her absolute power over 
 me, and prudence to make a proper use of 
 it ; she would neither understand my hints, 
 nor give me room to come to a direct ex- 
 planation- She has said since, that from the 
 first discovery of my regard, and long before 
 die thought was agreeable to her, she had 
 often an unaccountable impression upon her 
 mind, that sooner or later she should be mine. 
 Upon these terms we parted. 
 
 I now return to my voyage. During our 
 passage to Madeira, I was a prey to the most 
 gloomy thoughts. Though I had well de- 
 served all I met with, and the captain might 
 have been justified if he had carried his re- 
 sentment still farther ; yet my pride at that 
 time suggested that I had been grossly injur- 
 ed, and this so far wrought upon my wicked 
 heart, that I actually formed designs against 
 his life ; and this was one reason that made 
 me willing to prolong my own. I was 
 sometimes divided between the two, not think- 
 ing it practicable to effect both. The Lord 
 had now to appearance given me up to judicial 
 blindness ; I was capable of any thing. 1 had 
 not the least fear of God before my eyes, nor 
 (so far as I remember) the least sensibility of 
 conscience. I was possessed of so strong a 
 spirit of delusion, that I believed my own lie, 
 and was firmly persuaded that after death I 
 should cease to be : yet the Lord preserved 
 me ! Some intervals of sober reflection would 
 at times take place: when I have chosen 
 death rather than life, a ray of hope would 
 come in (though there was little probability 
 for such a hope) that I should yet see better 
 days, that I might again return to England, 
 and have my wishes crowned, if I did not 
 wilfully throw myself away. In a word, my 
 
 love to Mrs. N***** ,was now the only re- 
 straint I had left ; though I neither feared 
 God, nor regarded men, I could not bear 
 that she should think meanly of me when I 
 was dead. As in the outward concerns of 
 life, the weakest means are often employed 
 by divine providence to produce great effects, 
 beyond their common influence (as when a 
 disease, for instance, has been removed by a 
 fright), so I found it then : this single 
 
 thought, which had not restrained me from a 
 thousand smaller evils, proved my only and 
 effectual barrier against the greatest and most 
 fatal temptations. How long I could have 
 supported this conflict, or what, humanly 
 speaking, w r ould have been the consequence 
 of my continuing in that situation, I cannot 
 say ; but the Lord, whom I little thought ofj 
 knew my danger, and was providing for my 
 deliverance. 
 
 Two things I had determined when at Ply- 
 mouth, that I would not go to India, and that 
 I would go to Guinea ; and such, indeed, 
 was the Lord’s will concerning me ; but they 
 were to be accomplished in his way, not in 
 my own. We had been now at Madeira some 
 time ; the business of the fleet was completed, 
 and we were to sail the following day. On 
 that memorable morning I was late in bed, 
 and had slept longer, but that one of the mid 
 shipmen (an old companion) came dow n, and, 
 between jest and earnest, bade me rise ; and 
 as I did not immediately comply, he cut 
 down the hammock or bed in which I lay, 
 which forced me to dress myself. I was very 
 angry, but durst not resent it. I was little 
 aware how much his caprice affected me, and 
 that this person, who had no design in what 
 he did, was the messenger of God’s provi- 
 dence. I said little, but went upon deck, 
 where I that moment, saw a man putting his 
 clothes into a boat, w ho told me he was going 
 to leave us. Upon inquiring, I was inform- 
 ed that two men from a Guinea ship, which 
 lay near us, had entered on board the Har- 
 wich, and that the commodore (the present 
 Sir George Pocock) had ordered the captain 
 to send tw o others in their room. My heart 
 instantly burned like fire. I begged the boat 
 might be detained a few minutes ; I ran to 
 the lieutenants, and intreated them to intercede 
 with the captain that I might be dismissed. 
 Upon this occasion, though I had been for- 
 merly on ill terms with these officers, and had 
 disobliged them all in their turns, yet they 
 had pitied my case, and were ready to serve 
 me now. The captain, w'ho, when w r e were 
 at Plymouth, had refused to exchange me, 
 though at the request of admiral Medley, was 
 now easily prevailed on. I believe, in little 
 more than half an hour from my being asleep 
 in my bed, I saw myself discharged, and safe 
 on board another ship. This was one of the 
 many critical turns of my life, in which the 
 Lord was pleased to display his providence 
 
LET. V. 
 
 HARDSHIPS ENDURED IN AFRICA. 11 
 
 and care, by causing many unexpected cir- 
 cumstances to concur in almost an instant of 
 time. These sudden opportunities were se- 
 veral times repeated : each of them brought 
 me into an entire new scene of action ; and 
 they were usually delayed to almost the last 
 moment, in which they could have taken place. 
 
 The ship I went on board of was bound to 
 Sierra Leon, and the adjacent parts of what 
 is called the Windward Coast of Africa. 
 The commander 1 found, was acquainted 
 with my father : he received me very kindly, 
 and made fair professions of assistance, and 
 I believe he would have been my friend ; but 
 without making the least advantage of former 
 mistakes and troubles, I pursued the same 
 course ; nay, if possible, I acted much worse. 
 On board the Harwich, though my principles 
 were totally corrupted, yet, as upon my first 
 going there I was in some degree staid and 
 serious, the remembrance of this made me 
 ashamed of breaking out in that notorious 
 manner I could otherwise have indulged. 
 But now, entering amongst strangers, I 
 could appear without disguise; and I well 
 remember, that while I was passing from the 
 one ship to the other, this was one reason 
 why I rejoiced in the exchange, and one re- 
 flection I made upon the occasion, viz. that 
 I now might be as abandoned as I pleased, 
 without any controul : and, from this time, 
 
 1 was exceedingly vile indeed, little if any 
 thing short of that animated description of an 
 almost irrecoverable state, which we have in 
 
 2 Peter ii. 14. I not only sinned with a high 
 hand myself, but made it my study to tempt 
 and seduce others upon every occasion : nay, 
 I eagerly sought occasion sometimes to my 
 own hazard and hurt. One natural conse- 
 quence of this carriage was, a loss of the fa- 
 vour of my new captain ; not that he was at all 
 religious, or disliked my wickedness, any fur- 
 ther than it affected his interest ; but I be- 
 came careless and disobedient : I did not 
 please him, because I did not intend it ; and, 
 as he was a man of an odd temper likewise, 
 we the more easily disagreed. Besides, I had 
 a little of that unlucky wit, which can do lit- 
 tle more than multiply troubles and enemies 
 to its possessor; and upon some imagined af- 
 front, I made a song, in which I ridiculed 
 his ship, his designs, and his person, and soon 
 taught it to the whole ship’s company. Such 
 was the ungrateful return I made for his of- 
 fers of friendship and protection. I had 
 mentioned no names, but the allusion was 
 plain, and he was no stranger either to the 
 
 intention or the author. 1 shall say no 
 
 more of this part of my story ; let it be buried 
 in eternal silence. But let me net be silent 
 from the praise of that grace which could 
 pardon, that blood which could expiate such 
 sins as mine ; yea, “ the Ethiopian may 
 change his skin, and the leopard his spots,” 
 since I, who was the willing slave of every 
 
 evil, possessed with a legion of unclean spirits, 
 have been spared, and saved, and changed, to 
 stand as a monument of his almighty power 
 for ever. 
 
 Thus I went on for about six months, by 
 which time the ship was preparing to leave 
 the coast. A few days before she sailed the 
 captain died. I was not upon much better 
 terms with his mate, who now succeeded to 
 the command, and had upon some occasion 
 treated me ill : I made no doubt, but, if I 
 went with him to the West Indies, he would 
 put me on board a man-of-war; and this, 
 from what I had known already, was more 
 dreadful to me than death. To avoid it, I 
 determined to remain in Africa, and amused 
 myself with many golden dreams, that here I 
 should find an opportunity of improving my 
 fortune. 
 
 There are still upon that part of the coast a 
 few white men settled (and there were many 
 more at the time I was first there), whose bu- 
 siness it was to purchase slaves, &c. in the 
 rivers and country adjacent, and sell them to 
 the ships at an advanced price. One of these, 
 who at first landed in my indigent circum- 
 stances, had acquired considerable wealth : 
 he had lately been in England, and was re- 
 turning in the vessel I was in, of which he 
 owned a quarter part. His example impres- 
 sed me with hopes of the same success ; and 
 upon condition of entering into his service, I 
 obtained my discharge. I had not the pre- 
 caution to make any terms, but trusted to his 
 generosity. I received no compensation for 
 my time on board the ship, but a bill upon 
 the owners in England, which was never 
 paid ; for they failed before my return. The 
 day before the vessel sailed I landed upon the 
 island of Benanoes, with little more than the 
 clothes upon my back, as if I had escaped 
 shipwreck. 
 
 I am, dear Sir, 
 
 Your’s, &c. 
 
 January 17, 1763. 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 There seems an important instruction, and 
 of frequent use, in these words of our dear 
 Lord, “Mine hour is not yet come.” The 
 two following years, of which I am now to 
 give some account, will seem as an absolute 
 blank in a very short life : but as the Lord’s 
 hour of grace was not yet come, and I was 
 to have still deeper experience of the dreadful 
 state of the heart of man, when left to itself ; 
 I have seen frequent cause since, to admire 
 the mercy of the Lord in banishing me to 
 those distant parts, and almost excluding me 
 from human society, at a time when I was 
 big with mischief, and, like one infected with 
 
12 
 
 a pestilence, was capable of spreading a taint 
 wherever I went. Had my affairs taken a 
 different turn ; had I succeeded in my designs, 
 and remained in England, my sad story 
 would probably have been worse. Worse in 
 myself, indeed, I could have hardly been; 
 but my wickedness would have had greater 
 6cope ; I might have been very hurtful to 
 others, and multiplied irreparable evils, but 
 the Lord wisely placed me where I could do 
 little harm. The few I had to converse with 
 were too much like myself, and I was soon 
 brought into such abject circumstances, that I 
 was too low to have any influence. I was 
 rather shunned and despised than imitated ; 
 there being few even of the negroes them- 
 selves, during the first year of my residence 
 amongst them, but thought themselves too 
 good to speak to me. I was as yet an “ out- 
 cast lying in my blood” (Ezek. xvi. ), and to all 
 appearance exposed to perish. But the Lord 
 beheld me with mercy, — he did not strike me 
 to hell, as I justly deserved ; “ he passed by 
 me when I was in my blood, and said unto me 
 live.” But the appointed time for the mani- 
 festation of his love, to cover all my iniquities 
 with the robe of his righteousness, and to ad- 
 mit me to the privileges of his children, was 
 not till long afterwards ; yet even now he bade 
 me live ; and I can only ascribe it to his se- 
 cret upholding power, that what I suffered in 
 a part of this interval, did not bereave me 
 either of my life or senses ; yet as by these 
 sufferings the force of my evil example and 
 inclinations was lessened, I have reason to 
 account them amongst my mercies. 
 
 It may not, perhaps, be amiss to digress 
 for a few lines, and give you a very brief 
 sketch of the geography of the circuit I was 
 now confined to, especially as I may have 
 frequent occasion to refer to places I shall 
 now mention ; for my trade afterwards when 
 the Lord gave me to see better days, was 
 chiefly to the same places, and with the same 
 persons, where and by whom I had been con- 
 sidered as upon a level with their meanest 
 slaves. From Cape de Verd, the most wes- 
 tern point of Africa, to Cape Mount, the 
 whole coast is full of rivers : the principal are 
 Gambia, Rio Grande, Sierra Leon, and Sher- 
 bro. Of the former, as it is well known, and 
 I was never there, I need say nothing. The 
 Rio Grande, like the Nile, divides into many 
 branches near the sea. On the most norther- 
 ly, called Cacheo, the Portuguese have a set- 
 tlement. The most southern branch, known 
 by the name of Rio Nuna, is, or then was, 
 the usual boundary of the white men’s trade 
 northward. Sierra Leon is a mountainous 
 peninsula, uninhabited, and I believe inacces- 
 sible, upon account of the thick woods, ex- 
 cepting those parts which lie near the water. 
 The river is large and navigable. From 
 hence, about twelve leagues to the south-east, 
 are tliree contiguous islands, called the Bena- 
 
 LET. V. 
 
 noes, about twenty miles in circuit : this was 
 about the centre of the white men’s residence. 
 Seven leagues farther the same way, lie the 
 Plantanes, three small islands, two miles dis- 
 tant from the continent at the point which 
 forms one side of the Sherbro. This river is 
 more properly a sound, running within a long 
 island, and receiving the confluence of several 
 large rivers, “ rivers unknown to song,” but 
 far more deeply engraven in my remem- 
 brance than the Po or Tyber. The south- 
 ernmost of these has a very peculiar course, 
 almost parallel to the coast ; so that in tracing 
 it a great many leagues upwards, it will sel- 
 dom lead one above three miles, and some- 
 times not more than half a mile from the 
 sea-shore. Indeed I know not, but that all 
 these rivers may have communications with 
 each other, and with the sea in many places, 
 which I have not remarked. If you cast 
 your eyes upon a large map of Africa, while 
 you are reading this, you will have a general 
 idea of the country I was in ; for though the 
 maps are very incorrect, most of the places I 
 have mentioned are inserted, and in the same 
 order as I have named them. 
 
 My new master had formerly resided near 
 Cape Mount, but he now settled at the Plan- 
 tanes, upon the largest of the three islands. 
 It is a low sandy island, about two miles 
 in circumference, and almost covered with 
 palm-trees. We immediately began to build 
 a house, and to enter upon trade. I had now 
 some desire to retrieve my lost time, and to 
 exert diligence in what was before me ; and 
 he was a man with whom I might have lived 
 tolerably well, if he had not been soon influ- 
 enced against me : but he was much under 
 the direction of a black woman, who lived 
 with him as a wife. She was a person of 
 some consequence in her own country, and 
 he owed his first rise to her interest. This 
 woman (I know not for what reason) was 
 strangely prejudiced against me from the first ; 
 and what made it still worse for me, was a 
 severe fit of illness, which attacked me very 
 soon, before I had opportunity to show what 
 I could or would do in his service. I was 
 sick when he sailed in a shallop to Rio Nuna, 
 and he left me in her hands. At first I was 
 taken some care of ; but, as I did not recover 
 very soon, she grew weary, and entirely ne- 
 glected me. I had sometimes not a little dif- 
 ficulty to procure a draught of cold water, 
 when burning with a fever. My bed was a 
 mat, spread upon a board or chest, and a log 
 of wood my pillow. When my fever left me, 
 and my appetite returned, I would gladly 
 have eaten, but there was no one gave unto 
 me. She lived in plenty herself, but hardly 
 allowed me sufficient to sustain life, except 
 now and then, when in the highest good hu- 
 mour, she would send me victuals in her own 
 plate, after she had dined ; and this (so great- 
 ly was my pride humbled) T received with 
 
 HARDSHIPS ENDURED IN AFRICA. 
 
l,et. V. HARDSHIPS ENDURED IN AFRICA. 13 
 
 thanks and eagerness, as the most needy beg- 
 ger does an alms. Once, I well remember, 
 I was called to receive this bounty from her 
 own hand ; but, being exceedingly weak and 
 feeble, I dropped the plate. Those who live 
 in plenty can bwdly conceive how this loss 
 touched me ; but she had the cruelty to laugh 
 at my disappointment ; and though the table 
 was covered with dishes (for she lived much 
 in the European manner), she refused to give 
 me any more. My distress has been at times 
 so great, as to compel me to go, by night, 
 and pull up roots in the plantation (though 
 at the risk of being punished as a thief), which 
 I have eaten raw upon the spot, for fear of 
 discovery. The roots I speak of are very 
 wholesome food, when boiled or roasted, but 
 as unfit to be eaten raw in any quantity, as a 
 potatoe. The consequence of this diet, 
 which, after the first experiment, I always 
 expected, and seldom missed, was the same 
 as if I had taken tartar emetic ; so that I 
 often returned as empty as I went : yet ne- 
 cessity urged me to repeat the trial several 
 times. I have sometimes been relieved by 
 strangers ; nay, even by the slaves in the 
 chain, who secretly brought me victuals (for 
 they durst not be seen to do it) from their 
 own slender pittance. Next to pressing want, 
 nothing sits harder upon the mind than scorn 
 and contempt : and of this likewise I had an 
 abundant measure. When I was very slowly 
 recovering, this woman would sometimes pay 
 me a visit, not to pity or relieve, but to insult 
 me. She would call me worthless and indo- 
 lent, and compel me to walk, which when I 
 could hardly do, she would set her attendants 
 to mimic my motions, to clap their hands, 
 laugh, throw limes at me ; or, if they chose 
 to throw stones (as I think was the case once 
 or twice), they were not rebuked : but, in 
 general, though all who depended on her fa- 
 vour must join in her treatment, yet, when 
 she was out of sight, I was rather pitied than 
 scorned, by the meanest of her slaves. At 
 length my master returned from his voyage ; 
 I complained of ill usage, but he could not 
 believe me ; and, as I did it in her hear- 
 ing, I fared no better for it. But in his se- 
 cond voyage he took me with him. We did 
 pretty well for a while, till a brother trader he 
 met in the river, persuaded him that I was un- 
 faithful, and stole his goods in the night, or 
 when he was on shore. This was almost the 
 only vice I could not be justly charged with : 
 the only remains of a good education I could 
 boast of, was what is commonly called ho- 
 nesty : and, as far as he had entrusted me, I 
 had always been true ; and though my great 
 distress might, in some measure, have excus- 
 ed it, I never once thought of defrauding 
 him in the smallest matter. However, the 
 charge was believed, and I condemned with- 
 out evidence. From that time he likewise 
 used me very hardly ; whenever he left the 
 
 vessel I was locked upon deck, with a pint of 
 rice for my day’s allowance ; and if he staid 
 longer, I had no relief till his return. In- 
 deed, I believe I should have been nearly 
 starved, but for an opportunity of catching 
 fish sometimes. When fowls were killed for 
 his own use, I seldom was allowed any part 
 but the entrails, to bait my hooks with : and, 
 at what we call slack water , that is, about the 
 changing of the tides, when the current was 
 still, I used generally to fish (for at other 
 times it was not practicable), and I very often 
 succeeded. If I saw a fish upon my hook, 
 my joy was little less than any other person 
 may have found, in the accomplishment of 
 the scheme he had most at heart. Such a 
 fish, hastily broiled, or rather half burned, 
 without sauce, salt, or bread, has afforded me 
 a delicious meal. If I caught none, I might, 
 if I could, sleep away my hunger till the next 
 return of slack water, and then try again. 
 Nor did I suffer less from the inclemency of 
 the weather and the want of clothes. The 
 rainy season was now advancing ; my whole 
 suit was a shirt, a pair of trowsers, a cotton 
 handkerchief instead of a cap, and a cotton 
 cloth about two yards long, to supply the 
 want of upper garments : and thus accoutred, 
 I have been exposed for twenty, thirty, per- 
 haps near forty hours together, in incessant 
 rains, accompanied with strong gales of wind, 
 without the least shelter, when my master 
 was on shore. I feel to this day some faint 
 returns of the violent pains I then contract- 
 ed. The excessive cold and wet I endured 
 in that voyage, and soon after I had recover- 
 ed from a long sickness, quite broke my con- 
 stitution and my spirits ; the latter were soon 
 restored, but the effects of the former still 
 remain with me, as a needful memento of 
 the service and the wages of sin. 
 
 In about two months we returned, and then 
 the rest of the time I remained with him was 
 chiefly spent at the Plantanes under the same 
 regimen as I have already mentioned. My 
 haughty heart was now brought down, not to 
 a wholesome repentance, not to the language 
 of the prodigal ; this was far from me ; but 
 my spirits were sunk ; I lost all resolution, 
 and almost all reflection. I had lost the 
 fierceness which fired me when on board the 
 Harwich, and which made me capable of the 
 most desperate attempts; but I was no fur- 
 ther changed than a tyger tamed by hunger 
 — remove the occasion and he will be as wild 
 as ever. 
 
 One thing, though strange, is most true. 
 Though destitute of food and clothing, de- 
 pressed to a degree beyond common wretched- 
 ness, I could sometimes collect my mind to 
 mathematical studies. I had bought Barrow’s 
 Euclid at Portsmouth ; it was the only vo- 
 lume I brought on shore ; it was always with 
 me, and I used to take it to remote corners 
 of the island by the sea side, and draw mi- 
 
14 
 
 diagrams with a long stick upon the sand. 
 Thus I often beguiled my sorrows, and al- 
 most forgot my feeling : and thus, without 
 any other assistance, I made myself, in a 
 good measure, master of the first six books of 
 Euclid. 
 
 I am, 
 
 Your’s as before. 
 
 January 17, 1763. 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 There is much piety and spirit in the 
 grateful acknowledgment of Jacob, “ With 
 my staff I passed this Jordan, and now I am 
 become two bands.” They are words which 
 ought to affect me with a peculiar emotion. 
 I remember that in some of those mournful 
 days, to which my last letter refers, I was 
 busied in planting some lime or lemon trees. 
 The plants I put into the ground were no 
 longer than a young gooseberry bush ; my 
 master and his mistress passing by the place, 
 stopped a while to look at me ; at last, “ Who 
 knows,” says he, “ who knows but by the 
 the time these trees grow up and bear, you 
 may go home to England, obtain the com- 
 mand of a ship, and return to reap the fruits 
 of your labours ; we see strange things some- 
 times happen.” This, as he intended it, was 
 a cutting sarcasm. I believe he thought it 
 full as probable, that I should live to be king 
 of Poland ; yet it proved a prediction, and 
 they (one of them at least) lived to see me re- 
 turn from England in the capacity he had 
 mentioned, and pluck some of the first limes 
 from those very trees. How can I proceed 
 in my relation, till I raise a monument to the 
 divine goodness, by comparing the circum- 
 stances in which the Lord has since placed 
 me, with what I was at that time ! Had you 
 seen me, Sir, then go so pensive and solitary 
 in the dead of night to wash my one shirt up- 
 on the rocks, and afterwards put it on wet, 
 that it might dry upon my back, while I 
 slept ; had you seen me so poor a figure, that 
 when a ship’s boat came to the island, shame 
 often constrained me to hide myself in the 
 woods, from the sight of strangers ; especially, 
 had you known that my conduct, principles, 
 and heart, were still darker than my outward 
 condition, how little would you have imagin- 
 ed, that one, who so fully answered to the 
 rnrynros xai /utrauvr i;* of the apostle, was re- 
 served to be so peculiar an instance of the 
 providential care and exuberant goodness of 
 God. There was, at that time, but one ear- 
 nest desire in my heart, which was not con- 
 trary and shocking both to religion and rea^ 
 son ; that one desire, though my vile licen- 
 
 * Hateful, and hating one another. 
 
 LET. VI. 
 
 tious life rendered me peculiarly unworthy of 
 success, and though a thousand difficulties 
 seemed to render it impossible, the Lord was 
 pleased to gratify. But this favour, though 
 great, and greatly prized, was a small thing 
 compared to the blessings of his grace : he 
 spared me, to give me the knowledge of 
 himself, in the person of -Jesus Christ; in 
 love to my soul he delivered me from the pit 
 of corruption, and cast all my aggravated sins 
 behind his back. He brought my feet into 
 the paths of peace. This is indeed the chief 
 article, but it is not the whole. When he 
 made me acceptable to himself in the beloved, 
 he gave me favour in the sight of others. He 
 raised me new friends, protected and guided 
 me through a long series of dangers, and 
 crowned every day with repeated mercies. 
 To him I owe it that I am still alive, and that 
 I am not still living in hunger, and in thirst, 
 and in nakedness, and the want of all things : 
 into that state I brought myself, but it was he 
 who delivered me. He has given me an easy 
 situation in life, some experimental knowledge 
 of his gospel, a large acquaintance amongst 
 his people, a friendship and correspondence 
 with several of his most honoured servants. 
 But it is as difficult to enumerate my pre- 
 sent advantages, as it is fully to describe the 
 evils and miseries of the preceding contrast. 
 
 I know not exactly how long things con- 
 tinued with me thus, but I believe near a 
 twelvemonth. In this interval I wrote two 
 or three times to my father ; I gave him an 
 account of my condition, and desired his as 
 sistance, intimating at the same time, that I 
 had resolved not to return to England, unless 
 he was pleased to send for me ; I have like- 
 wise letters by me wrote to Mrs. N***** in 
 that dismal period ; so that at the lowest ebb, 
 it seems I still retained a hope of seeing her 
 again. My father applied to his friend in 
 Liverpool, of whom I have spoken before, 
 who gave orders accordingly to a captain of 
 his, who was then fitting out for Gambia and 
 Sierra Leon. 
 
 Some time within the year, as I have said, 
 I obtained my master’s consent to live with 
 another trader, who dwelt upon the same 
 island. Without his consent, I could not be 
 taken, and he was unwilling to do it sooner, 
 but it was then brought about. This was an 
 alteration much to my advantage ; I was soon 
 decently clothed, lived in plenty, was consi- 
 dered as a companion, and trusted with the 
 care of all his domestic effects, which were to 
 the amount of some thousand pounds. This 
 man had several factories and white servants 
 in different places, particularly one in Kittam, 
 the river I spoke of which runs so near along 
 the sea coast. I was soon appointed to go 
 there, where I had a share in the management 
 of business, jointly with another of his ser- 
 vants : we lived as we pleased, business flou- 
 rished, and our employer was satisfied. Here 
 
 ENLARGEMENT IN AFRICA. 
 
t.ET. VI. 
 
 ENLARGEMENT IN AFRICA. 15 
 
 I began to be wretch enough to think myself 
 happy. There is a significant phrase fre- 
 quently used in those parts, that such a white 
 man is grown black. It does not intend an 
 alteration of complexion, but disposition. I 
 have known several, who, settling in Africa 
 after the age of thirty or forty, have at that 
 time of life been gradually assimilated to the 
 tempers, customs, and ceremonies of the na- 
 tives, so far as to prefer that country to Eng- 
 land ; they have even become dupes to all 
 the pretended charms, necromances, amulets, 
 and divinations of the blinded negroes, and 
 put more trust in such things than the wiser 
 sort among the natives. A part of this spirit 
 of infatuation was growing upon me ; in 
 time perhaps I might have yielded to the 
 whole : I entered into closer engagements 
 
 with the inhabitants, and should have lived 
 and died a wretch amongst them, if the Lord 
 had not watched over me for good. Not that 
 I had lost those ideas which chiefly engaged 
 my heart to England, but despair of seeing 
 them accomplished made me willing to re- 
 main where I was. I thought I could more 
 easily bear the disappointment in this situa- 
 tion, than nearer home. But, so soon as I 
 had fixed my connections and plans with 
 these views, the Lord providentially interposed 
 to break them in pieces, and save me from 
 ruin in spite of myself. 
 
 In the mean time, the ship that had orders 
 to bring me home arrived at Sierra Leon : the 
 captain made inquiry for me there and at the 
 Benanoes ; but understanding that I was at a 
 great distance in the country, he thought no 
 more about me. Without doubt the hand of 
 God directed my being placed at Kittam just 
 at this time ; for, as the ship came no nearer 
 than the Benanoes, and staid but a few days, 
 if I had been at the Plantanes, I could not 
 perhaps have heard of her till she had been 
 sailed. The same must have certainly been 
 the event, had I been sent to any other fac- 
 tory, of which my new master had several 
 upon different rivers. But though the place 
 I was at, was a long way up a river, much 
 more than a hundred miles distant from the 
 Plantanes, yet, by the peculiar situation which 
 I have already noticed, I was still within a 
 mile of the sea coast. To make the interpo- 
 sition more remarkable, I was at that very 
 juncture going in quest of trade to a place at 
 some distance directly from the sea, and 
 should have set out a day or two before, but 
 that we waited for a few articles from the 
 next ship that offered, to complete the assort- 
 ment of goods I was to take with me. We 
 used sometimes to walk to the beach, in expec- 
 tation of seeing a vessel pass by, but this was 
 very precarious, as at that time the place was 
 not at all resorted to by ships for trade. 
 Many passed in the night, others kept at a 
 considerable distance from the shore. In a 
 
 word, I do not know that any one had stopped 
 while I was there, though some had before, 
 upon observing a signal made from the shore. 
 In February, 1747 (I know not the exact day), 
 my fellow servant walking down to the beach 
 in the forenoon, saw a vessel sailing past, and 
 made a smoke in token of trade. She was 
 already a little beyond the place, and, as the 
 wind was fair, the captain was in some demur 
 whether to stop or not : however, had my 
 
 companion been half an hour later, she would 
 have gone beyond recal ; but he soon saw 
 her come to anchor, and went on board in a 
 canoe : and this proved the very ship I have 
 spoken of. One of the first questions he was 
 asked, was concerning me; and when the 
 captain understood I was so near, he came on 
 shore to deliver his message. Had an invita- 
 tion from home reached me, when I was sick 
 and starving at the Plantanes, I should have 
 received it as life from the dead ; but now, 
 for the reasons already given, I heard it at 
 first with indifference. The captain, unwil- 
 ling to lose me, told a story altogether of his 
 own framing : he gave me a very plausible 
 account, how he had missed a large packet of 
 letters and papers, which he should have 
 brought with him ; but this, he said, he was 
 sure of, having had it from my father’s own 
 mouth, as well as from his employer, that a 
 person lately dead had left me L.400 per 
 annum ; adding further, that if I was any 
 way embarrassed in my circumstances, he 
 had express orders to redeem me, though it 
 should cost one half of his cargo. Every 
 particular of this was false ; nor could I 
 myself believe what he said about the estate ; 
 but, as I had some expectations from an 
 aged relation, I thought a part of it might be 
 true. But I was not long in suspense : for 
 though my father’s care and desire to see me 
 had too little weight with me, and would 
 have been insufficient to make me quit my 
 retreat, yet the remembrance of Mrs. N* *** *, 
 the hopes of seeing her, and the possibility, 
 that accepting this offer might once more put 
 me in a way of gaining her hand, prevailed 
 over all other considerations. The captain 
 further promised (and in this lie kept his 
 word), that I should lodge in his cabin, dine 
 at his table, and be his constant companion, 
 without expecting any service from me. And 
 thus I was suddenly freed from a captivity of 
 about fifteen months. I had neither a 
 thought nor a desire of this change one hour 
 before it took place. I embarked with him, 
 and in a few hours lost sight of Kittam. 
 
 How much is their blindness to be pitied, 
 who can see nothing but chance in events of 
 this sort ! So blind and stupid was I at that 
 time, I made no reflection. I sought no di- 
 rection in what had happened ; like a wave 
 of the sea driven with the wind, and tossed, 
 I was governed by present appearances and 
 
LET. VII. 
 
 VOYAGE FROM CAPE LOPEZ FOR ENGLAND. 
 
 16 
 
 looked no further. But he, who Is eyes to 
 the blind, was leading me in a way that I 
 knew not. 
 
 Now I am in some measure enlightened, I 
 can easily perceive that it is in the adjustment 
 and concurrence of these seemingly fortuitous 
 circumstances, that the ruling power and 
 wisdom of God is most evidently displayed in 
 human affairs. How many such casual events 
 may we remark in the history of Joseph, 
 which had each a necessary influence in his 
 ensuing promotion ! If he had not dreamed, 
 or if he had not told his dream ; if the Mi- 
 dianites had passed by a day sooner or a day 
 later ; if they had sold him to any person but 
 Potiphar; if his mistress had been a better 
 woman ; if Pharaoh’s officers had not dis- 
 pleased their lord; or if any, or all these 
 things had fallen out in any other manner or 
 time than they did, all that followed had been 
 prevented : the promises and purposes of 
 God concerning Israel, their bondage, deli- 
 verances, polity, and settlement, must have 
 failed ; and, as all these things tended to, and 
 centred in Christ, the promised Saviour, the 
 desire of all nations would not have appeared ; 
 mankind had been still in their sins, without 
 hope, and the counsels of God’s eternal love 
 in favour of sinners defeated. Thus we may 
 see a connection between Joseph’s first dream, 
 and the death of our Lord Christ, with all its 
 glorious consequences. So strong, though 
 secret, is the concatenation between the 
 greatest and the smallest events ! What a 
 comfortable thought is this to a believer to 
 know, that amidst all the various interfering 
 designs of men, the Lord has one constant 
 design which he cannot, will not miss, namely, 
 his own glory in the complete salvation of his 
 people ; and that he is wise, and strong, and 
 faithful, to make even those things, which 
 seem contrary to this design, subservient to 
 promote it. You have allowed me to com- 
 ment upon my own text, yet the length of 
 this observation may need some apology. 
 Believe me to be, with great respect. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 Your affectionate and obliged servant. 
 
 January 18, 1763. 
 
 LETTER VII. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 The ship I was now on board as a passen- 
 ger, was on a trading voyage for gold, ivory, 
 dyers wood, and bees wax. It requires 
 much longer time to collect a cargo of this 
 sort than of slaves. The captain began his 
 trade at Gambia, had been already four or 
 five months in Africa, and continued there a 
 year, or thereabouts, after I was with him ; 
 in which time we ranged the whole coast, as 
 far as Cape Lopez, which lies about a degree 
 
 south of the Equinoctial, and more than a 
 thousand miles farther from England than 
 the place where I embarked. I have little 
 to offer worthy your notice, in the course of 
 this tedious voyage. I had no business to 
 employ my thoughts, but sometimes amused 
 myself with mathematics: excepting this, my 
 whole life, when awake, was a course of most 
 horrid impiety and profaneness. I know not 
 that I have ever since met so daring a blas- 
 phemer : not content with common oaths and 
 imprecations, I daily invented new ones ; so 
 that I was often seriously reproved by the 
 captain, who was himself a very passionate 
 man, and not at all circumspect in his ex- 
 pressions. From the relation I at times 
 made him of my past adventures, and what 
 he saw of my conduct, and especially towards 
 the close of the voyage when we met with 
 many disasters, he would often tell me that, ' 
 to his great grief he had a Jonah on board ; 
 that a curse attended me wherever I went ; 
 and that all the troubles he met with in the 
 voyage, were owing to his having taken me 
 into the vessel. I shall omit any further 
 particulars, and after mentioning an instance 
 or two of the Lord’s mercy to me, while I 
 was thus defying his power and patience, I 
 shall proceed to something more worthy your 
 perusal. 
 
 Although I lived long in the excess of al- 
 most every other extravagance, I never was 
 fond of drinking ; and my father has often 
 been heard to say, that while I avoided 
 drunkenness, he should still entertain hopes 
 of my recovery. But sometimes I would 
 promote a drinking-bout for a frolic’s sake, as 
 I termed it : for though I did not love the 
 liquor, I was sold to do iniquity, and delight- 
 ed in mischief. The last abominable frolic 
 of this sort I engaged in, was in the river 
 Gabon ; the proposal and expense were my 
 own. Four or five of us one evening sat 
 
 down upon deck, to see who could hold 
 out longest in drinking geneva and rum al- 
 ternately ; a large sea-shell supplied the place 
 of a glass. I was very unfit for a challenge 
 of this sort, for my head was always incapable 
 of bearing much strong drink. However, I 
 began and proposed the first toast, which, I 
 well remember, was some imprecation against 
 the person who should start first. This prov- 
 ed to be myself. My brain was soon fired : 
 
 I arose, and danced about the deck like a 
 madman ; and while I was thus diverting 
 my companions, my hat went overboard. 
 By the light of the moon, I saw the ship’s 
 boat, and eagerly threw myself over the side 
 to get into her, that I might recover my hat. 
 My sight in that circumstance deceived me, 
 for the boat was not within my reach, as I 
 had thought, but perhaps twenty feet from 
 the ship’s side. I was, however, half over 
 board, and should in one moment more have 
 plunged myself into the water, when some- 
 
LET. VII. VOYAGE FROM CAPE 
 
 body catched hold of my clothes behind, and 
 pulled me back. This was an amazing es- 
 cape ; for I could not swim if I had been so- 
 ber; the tide ran very strong; my companions 
 were too much intoxicated to save me ; and 
 the rest of the ship’s company were asleep. 
 So near I w'as, to appearance, of perishing in 
 that dreadful condition, and sinking into eter- 
 nity under the weight of my own curse ! 
 
 Another time, at Cape Lopez, some of us 
 had been in the woods, and shot a buffalo or 
 wild cow. We brought a part of it on board, 
 and carefully marked the place (as I thought) 
 where we left the remainder. In the evening 
 we returned to fetch it ; but we set out too 
 late. I undertook to be their guide ; but 
 night coming on before we could reach the 
 place, we lost our way. Sometimes we were 
 in swamps up to the middle in water, and 
 when we recovered dry land, we could not 
 tell whether we were walking towards the 
 ship, or wandering farther from her. Every 
 step increased our uncertainty. The night 
 grew darker, and we were entangled in inex- 
 tricable woods, where, perhaps, the foot of 
 man had never trod before. That part of the 
 country is entirely abandoned to wild beasts, 
 with which it prodigiously abounds. We were 
 indeed in a terrible case, having neither light, 
 food, nor arms, and expecting a tiger to rush 
 from behind every tree. The stars were 
 clouded, and we had no compass to form a 
 judgment which way we were going. Had 
 things continued thus, we had probably pe- 
 rished; but it pleased God, no beast came 
 near us ; and, after some hours perplexity, 
 the moon arose, and pointed out the eastern 
 quarter. It appeared then, as we had ex- 
 pected, that instead of drawing near to the 
 sea side, we had been penetrating into the 
 country ; but, by the guidance of the moon, 
 we at length came to the water side, a consi- 
 derable distance from the ship. We got safe 
 on board, without any other inconvenience 
 than what we suffered from fear and fatigue. 
 
 Those and many other deliverances were 
 all, at that time, entirely lost upon me. The 
 admonitions of conscience, which, from suc- 
 cessive repulses, had grown weaker and weak- 
 er, at length entirely ceased ; and for a space 
 of many months, if not for some years, I can- 
 not recollect, that I had a single check of that 
 sort. At times I have been visited with sick- 
 ness, and have believed myself near to death, 
 but I had not the least concern about the 
 consequences. In a word, I seemed to have 
 every mark of final impenitence and rejection ; 
 neither judgments nor mercies made the least 
 impression on me. 
 
 At length, our business finished, we left 
 Cape Lopez, and after a few days stay at the 
 island of Annabona, to lay in provisions, we 
 sailed homeward about the beginning of Ja- 
 nuary 1748. From Annabona to England, 
 without touching at any intermediate port, is 
 
 LOFEZ FOR ENGLAND. 17 
 
 a very long navigation, perhaps more than 
 seven thousand miles, if we include the cir- 
 cuits necessary to be made on account of the 
 trade-winds. We sailed first westward, till 
 near the coast of Brazil, then northward, to 
 the banks of Newfoundland, with the usual 
 variations of wind and weather, and without 
 meeting any thing extraordinary. On these 
 banks we stopped half a day to fish for cod ; 
 this was then chiefly for diversion ; we had 
 provisions enough, and little expected those 
 fish (as it afterwards proved) would be all we 
 should have to subsist on. We left the banks 
 on the first of March, with a hard gale of wind, 
 westerly, which pushed us fast homewards. 
 I should here observe, that, with the length 
 of this voyage, in a hot climate, the vessel was 
 greatly out of repair, and very unfit to sup- 
 port stormy weather ; the sails and cordage 
 were likewise very much worn out, and many 
 such circumstances concurred to render what 
 followed more dangerous. I think it was on 
 the ninth of March, the day before our catas- 
 trophe, that I felt a thought pass through my 
 mind, which I had long been a stranger to. 
 Among the few books we had on board, one 
 was Stanhope’s Thomas a Kempis ; I care- 
 lessly took it up, as I had often done before, 
 to pass away the time ; but I had 3till read it 
 with the same indifference as if it was entirely 
 a romance. However, while I was reading 
 this time, an involuntary suggestion arose in 
 my mind : What if these things should be 
 true ? I could not bear the force of the in- 
 ference, as it related to myself: and there- 
 fore shut the book presently. My conscience 
 witnessed against me once more, and I con- 
 cluded that, true or false, I must abide the 
 consequences of my own choice. I put an 
 abrupt end to these reflections, by joining in 
 with some vain conversation or other that 
 came in my way. 
 
 But now the Lord’s time was come, and 
 the conviction I was so unwilling to receive, 
 was deeply impressed upon me by an awful 
 dispensation. I went to bed that night in my 
 usual security and indifference, but was awa- 
 kened from a sound sleep by the force of a 
 violent sea which broke on board us ; so much 
 of it came down below as filled the cabin I 
 lay in with water. This alarm was followed 
 by a cry from the deck, that the ship was go- 
 ing down or sinking. As soon as I could reco- 
 ver myself, I essayed to go upon deck ; but 
 was met upon the ladder by the captain, who 
 desired me to bring a knife with me. While I 
 returned for the knife, another person went up 
 in my room, who was instantly washed over- 
 board. We had no leisure to lament him, 
 «ior did we expect to survive him long ; for 
 we soon found the ship was filling with water 
 very fast. The sea had torn away the uppei 
 timbers on one side, and made a mere wreck 
 in a few minutes. I shall not affect to de- 
 
 *be this disaster in the marine dialect, which 
 I 
 
I.IT. VIII 
 
 DANGER, &C. IN THE 
 
 18 
 
 would be understood by few ; and therefore 
 I can give you but a very inadequate idea of 
 it. Taking in all circumstances, it was asto- 
 nishing, and almost miraculous, that any of 
 us survived to relate the story. We had im- 
 mediate recourse to the pumps ; but the water 
 increased against our efforts. Some of us were 
 set to baling in another part of the vessel ; 
 that is, to lade it out with buckets and pails. 
 We had but eleven or twelve people to sus- 
 tain this service ; and, notwithstanding all we 
 could do, she was full, or very near it : and 
 then, with a common cargo, she must have 
 sunk of course ; but we had a great quantity 
 of bees wax and wood on board, which were 
 specifically lighter than the water ; and as it 
 pleased God that we received this shock in 
 the very crisis of the gale, towards morn- 
 ing we were enabled to employ some means 
 for our safety, which succeeded beyond hope. 
 In about an hour’s time, the day began to 
 break, and the wind abated. We expended 
 most of our clothes and bedding to stop the 
 leaks (though the weather was exceedingly 
 cold, especially to us, who had so lately left 
 a hot climate) ; over these we nailed pieces 
 of boards, and at last perceived the water 
 abate. At the beginning of this hurry, I was 
 little affected. I pumped hard, and endea- 
 voured to animate myself and companions : 
 I told one of them, that in a few days this 
 distress would serve us to talk of over a glass 
 of wine ; but he being a less hardened sinner 
 than myself, replied, with tears, “ No ; it is 
 too late now.” About nine o’clock, being 
 almost spent with cold and labour, I went to 
 speak with the captain, who was busied else- 
 where, and just as I was returning from him, 
 I said, almost without any meaning, “ If this 
 will not do, the Lord have mercy upon us.” 
 This (though spoken with little reflection) 
 was the first desire I had breathed for mercy 
 for the space of many years. I was instantly 
 struck with my own words; and, as Jehu 
 said once, “ What hast thou to do with peace?” 
 so it directly occurred, “ What mercy can there 
 be for me ?” I was obliged to return to the 
 pump, and there I continued till noon, al- 
 most every passing wave breaking over my 
 head ; but we made ourselves fast with ropes, 
 that we might not be washed away. Indeed, 
 I expected that every time the vessel de- 
 scended in the sea, she would rise no more ; 
 and though I dreaded death now, and my 
 heart foreboded the worst, if the scriptures, 
 which I had long since opposed, were indeed 
 true ; yet still I was but half convinced, and 
 remained for a space of time in a sullen 
 frame, a mixture of despair and impatience. 
 I thought, if the Christian religion was true, 
 I could not be forgiven ; and was, therefore, 
 expecting, and almost at thnes wishing, to 
 know the worst of it. I am, 
 
 * Your’s, &c. 
 
 January 19, 1763. 
 
 LETTER VIII. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 The tenth (that is, in the present style, the 
 twenty-first) of March, is a day much to be 
 remembered by me, and I have never suffered 
 it to pass wholly unnoticed since the year 
 1748. On that day the Lord sent from on 
 high, and delivered me out of the deep wa- 
 ters. I continued at the pump from three in 
 the morning till near noon, and then I could 
 do no more. I went and lay down upon my 
 bed, uncertain, and almost indifferent, whe- 
 ther I should rise again. In an hour’s time 
 I was called, and not being able to pump, I 
 went to the helm, and steered the ship till 
 midnight, excepting a small interval for re- 
 freshment. I had here leisure and conve- 
 nient opportunity for reflection. I began to 
 think of my former religious professions ; the 
 extraordinary turns in my life; the calls, 
 warnings, and deliverances I had met with ; 
 the licentious course of my conversation, par- 
 ticularly my unparalleled effrontery in mak- 
 ing the gospel history (which I could not now 
 be sure was false, though I was not yet as- 
 sured it was true) the constant subject of 
 profane ridicule. I thought, allowing the 
 scripture premises, there never was nor could 
 be such a sinner as myself ; and then, com- 
 paring the advantages I had broken through, 
 
 1 concluded, at first, that my sins were too 
 great to be forgiven. The scripture likewise 
 seemed to say the same ; for I had formerly 
 been well acquainted with the Bible, and many 
 passages, upon this occasion, returned upon 
 my memory, particularly those awful pas- 
 sages, Prov. i. 24 — 31, Heb. vi. 4, 6, and 
 
 2 Pet. ii. 20, which seemed so exactly to suit 
 my case and character, as to bring with them 
 a presumptive proof of a divine original. Thus, 
 as I have said, I waited with fear aud impa- 
 tience to receive my inevitable doom. Yet, 
 though I had thoughts of this kind, they were 
 exceeding faint and disproportionate. It was 
 not till long after (perhaps several years), till 
 I had gained some clear views of the infinite 
 righteousness and grace of Christ Jesus, my 
 Lord, that I had a deep and strong apprehen- 
 sion of my state by nature and practice ; and, 
 perhaps, till then, I could not have borne the 
 sight. So wonderfully does the Lord propor- 
 tion the discoveries of sin and grace ; for he 
 knows our frame, and that, if he was to put 
 forth the greatness of his power, a poor sin- 
 ner would be instantly overwhelmed, and 
 crushed as a moth. But to return : when I 
 saw, beyond all probability, there was still 
 hope of respite, and heard, about six in the 
 evening, that the ship was freed from water, 
 there arose a gleam of hope. I thought I 
 saw the hand of God displayed in our favour ; 
 I began to pray ; I could not utter the prayer 
 
LET. VIII. VOYAGE FROM CAPE LOPEZ. 19 
 
 of faith ; I could not draw near to a recon- 
 ciled God, and call him father : my prayer 
 was like the cry of the ravens, which yet the 
 Lord does not disdain to hear. I now began 
 to think of that Jesus whom I had so often 
 derided : 1 recollected the particulars of his 
 life and of his death ; a death for sins not his 
 own, but, as I remembered, for the sake of 
 those who, in their distress, should put their 
 trust in him. And now I chiefly wanted evi- 
 dence. The comfortless principles of infide- 
 lity were deeply riveted, and I rather wished 
 than believed these things were real facts. 
 You will please to observe, Sir, that I collect 
 the strain of the reasonings and exercises of 
 my mind in one view ; but I do not say that 
 all this passed at one time. The great ques- 
 tion now was, how to obtain faith. I speak 
 not of an appropriating faith (of which I 
 then knew neither the nature nor necessity), 
 but how I should gain an assurance that the 
 scriptures were of divine inspiration, and a 
 sufficient warrant for the exercise of trust and 
 hope in God. One of the first helps I receiv- 
 ed (in consequence of a determination to exa- 
 mine the New Testament more carefully) was 
 from Luke xi. 13. I had been sensible, that 
 to profess faith in Jesus Christ, when in rea- 
 lity I did not believe his history, was no 
 better than a mockery of the heart-searching 
 God; but here I found a Spirit spoken of, 
 which was to be communicated to those who 
 ask it. Upon this I reasoned thus : If this 
 book is true, the promise in this passage must 
 be true likewise ; I have need of that very 
 Spirit, by which the whole was written, in or- 
 der to understand it aright. He has engaged 
 here to give that Spirit to those who ask. I 
 must therefore pray for it, and, if it is of God, 
 he will make good his own word. My pur- 
 poses were strengthened by John vii. 17. I 
 concluded from thence, that though I could 
 not say from my heart, that I believed the 
 gospel, yet I would, for the present, take it 
 for granted ; and that, by studying it in this 
 light, I should be more and more confirmed 
 in it. If what I am writing could be perused 
 by our modern infidels, they would say (for 
 I too well know their manner), that I was 
 very desirous to persuade myself into this 
 opinion. I confess I was, and so would they 
 be, if the Lord should shew them, as he was 
 pleased to shew me at that time, the absolute 
 necessity of some expedient to interpose be- 
 tween a righteous God and a sinful soul. 
 Upon the gospel scheme I saw, at least, a 
 perad venture of hope, but on every other side 
 I was surrounded with black unfathomable 
 despair. 
 
 The wind was now moderate, but continued 
 fair, and we were still drawing nearer to our 
 port. We began to recover from our conster- 
 nation, though we were greatly alarmed by 
 our circumstances. We found that, the water 
 having floated all our moveables in the hold, 
 
 all the casks of provision had been beaten to 
 pieces by the violent motion of the ship : on 
 the other hand, our live stock, such as pigs, 
 sheep, and poultry, had been washed over- 
 board in the storm. In effect, all the provi- 
 sions we saved, except the fish I had men- 
 tioned, and some food of the pulse kind, 
 which used to be given to the hogs (and there 
 was but little of this left), all our other provi- 
 sions would have subsisted us but a week, at 
 scanty allowance. The sails, too, were mostly 
 blown away, so that we advanced but slowly, 
 even while the wind was fair. We imagined 
 ourselves about a hundred leagues from the 
 land, but were in reality much further. Thus 
 we proceeded with an alternate prevalence of 
 hope and fear. My leisure time was chiefly 
 employed in reading and meditating on the 
 scriptures, and praying to the Lord for mercy 
 and instruction. 
 
 Things continued thus for four or five days, 
 or perhaps longer, till we were awakened one 
 morning, by the joyful shouts of the watch 
 upon deck, proclaiming the sight of land. 
 We were all soon raised at the sound. The 
 dawning was uncommonly beautiful, and the 
 light (just strong enough to discover distant 
 objects) presented us with a gladdening pro- 
 spect : it seemed a mountainous coast, about 
 twenty miles from us, terminating in a cape 
 or point, and a little farther, two or three 
 small islands, or hummocks, as if just rising 
 out of the water ; the appearance and position 
 seemed exactly answerable to our hopes, re- 
 sembling the north-west extremity of Ireland, 
 which we were steering for. We sincerely 
 congratulated each other, making no doubt, 
 but that if the wind continued, we should be 
 in safety and plenty the next day. The small 
 remainder of our brandy (which was reduced 
 to little more than a pint) was, by the captain’s 
 orders, distributed amongst us ; he adding at 
 the same time, “We shall soon have brandy 
 enough.” We likewise eat up the residue of 
 our bread for joy of this welcome sight, and 
 were in the condition of men suddenly re- 
 prieved from death. While we were thus 
 alert, the mate, with a graver tone than the 
 rest, sunk our spirits by saying, that, “ he 
 wished it might prove land at last.” If one 
 of the common sailors had first said so, I 
 know not but the rest would have beat him 
 for raising such an unreasonable doubt. It 
 brought on, however, warm debates and dis- 
 putes whether it was land or no ; but the case 
 was soon unanswerably decided ; for the day 
 was advancing fast, and in a little time, one 
 of our fancied islands began to grow red, from 
 the approach of the sun, which soon arose just 
 under it. In a word, we had been prodigal 
 of our bread and brandy too hastily ; our land 
 was literally in nubibus, nothing but clouds, 
 and in half an hour more the whole appear 
 ance was dissipated. Seamen have often 
 known deceptions of this sort, but in our ex- 
 
20 
 
 LET. IX 
 
 EVENTS IN IRELAND, &C. 
 
 tremity we were loath to be undeceived. How- 
 ever, we comforted ourselves, that though we 
 could not see the land, yet we should soon, 
 the wind hitherto continuing fair ; but, alas ! 
 we were deprived of this hope likewise. That 
 very day our fair wind subsided into a calm, 
 and the next morning the gales sprung up 
 from the south-east, directly against us, and 
 continued so for more than a fortnight after- 
 wards. The ship was so wrecked, that we 
 were obliged to keep the wind always on the 
 broken side, unless the weather was quite mo- 
 derate : thus we were driven, by the wind fix- 
 ing in that quarter, still further from our port, 
 to the northward of all Ireland, as far as the 
 Lewis or western islands of Scotland, but a 
 long way to the westward. In a word, our 
 station was such as deprived us of any hope 
 of being relieved by other vessels : it may, 
 indeed, be questioned, whether our ship was 
 not the very first that had been in that part 
 of the ocean, at the same season of the year. 
 
 Provisions now began to grow very short ; 
 the half of a salted cod was a day’s subsis- 
 tence for twe» je people ; we had plenty of 
 fresh water, but not a drop of stronger liquor ; 
 no bread, hardly any clothes, and very cold 
 weather. We had incessant labour with the 
 pumps, to keep the ship above water. Much 
 labour and little food wasted us fast, and one 
 man died under the hardship. Yet our suf- 
 ferings were light in comparison of our just 
 fears ; we could not afford this bare allowance 
 much longer, but had a terrible prospect of 
 being either starved to death, or reduced to 
 feed upon one another. Our expectations 
 grew darker every day, and I had a further 
 trouble peculiar to myself. The captain, 
 whose temper was quite soured by distress, 
 was hourly reproaching me (as I formerly ob- 
 served) as the sole cause of the calamity, and 
 was confident that if I was thrown overboard, 
 and not otherwise, they should be preserved 
 from death. He did not intend to make the 
 experiment, but continual repetition of this in 
 my ears gave me much uneasiness, especially 
 as my conscience seconded his words. I 
 thought it very probable, that all that had be- 
 fallen us was on my account. I was, at last, 
 found out by the powerful hand of God, and 
 condemned in my own breast. However, 
 proceeding in the method I have described, 
 we began to conceive hopes greater than all 
 our fears, especially, when at the time we 
 were ready to give up all for lost, and despair 
 was taking place in every countenance, we 
 saw the wind come about to the very point we 
 wished it, so as best to suit that broken part 
 of the ship which must be kept out of the 
 water, and to blow so gently as our few re- 
 maining sails could bear ; and thus it con- 
 tinued without any observable alteration or 
 increase, though at an unsettled time of the 
 year, till we once more were called up to see 
 the land, and were convinced that it was land 
 
 indeed. We saw the island Tory, and the 
 next day anchored in Lough Swilly, in Ire- 
 land ; this was the eighth of April, just four 
 weeks after the damage was sustained from 
 the sea. When we came into this port our 
 very last victuals were boiling in the pot j and 
 before we had been there two hours, the wind, 
 which seemed to have been providentially re- 
 strained till we were in a place of safety, be- 
 gan to blow with great violence, so that if we 
 had continued at sea that night in our shatter- 
 ed, enfeebled condition, we must, in all hu- 
 man appearance, have gone to the bottom. 
 About this time I began to know that there is 
 a God that hears and answers prayer. How 
 many times has he appeared for me since this 
 great deliverance : — yet, alas ! how distrust- 
 ful and ungrateful is my heart unto this hour. 
 
 I am, dear Sir, 
 
 Your obliged humble servant. 
 
 January 19, 1763. 
 
 LETTER IX. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 I have brought my history down to the 
 time of my arrival in Ireland, 1748 ; but be- 
 fore I proceed, I would look back a little, to 
 give you some farther account of the state of 
 my mind, and how far I was helped against 
 inward difficulties, which beset me, at the time 
 I had many outward hardships to struggle 
 with. The straits of hunger, cold, w eariness, 
 and the fears of sinking, and starving, I shar- 
 ed in common with others ; but besides these, 
 I felt a heart-bitterness, which was properly 
 my own ; no one on board, but myself, being 
 impressed with any sense of the hand of God 
 in our danger and deliverance, at least not 
 awakened to any concern for their souls. No 
 temporal dispensations can reach the heart, 
 unless the Lord himself applies them. My 
 companions in danger were either quite un- 
 affected, or soon forgot it all, but it was not 
 so with me : not that I was any wiser or bet- 
 ter than they, but because the Lord w r as pleas- 
 ed to vouchsafe me peculiar mercy, otherwise 
 I was the most unlikely person in the ship to 
 receive an impression, having been often be- 
 fore quite stupid and hardened in the very 
 face of great dangers, and always to this time 
 had hardened my neck still more and more 
 after every reproof. I can see no reason why 
 the Lord singled me out for mercy, but this, 
 “ that so it seemed good to him unless it 
 was to show, by one astonishing instance, that 
 with him “ nothing is impossible.” 
 
 There were no persons on board to whom I 
 could open myself with freedom, concerning 
 the state of my soul, none from whom I could 
 ask advice. As to books, I had a New Tes- 
 tament, Stanhope, already mentioned, and a 
 volume of bishop Beveridge’s sermons, one of 
 
LET. IX. EVENTS IN IRELAND, &C. 21 
 
 which, upon our Lord’s passion, affected me 
 much. In perusing the New Testament, I 
 was struck with several passages, particularly 
 that of the fi'g-tree, Luke xiii. The case of 
 St. Paul, 1 Tim. i. but particularly the pro- 
 digal, Luke xv. a case, I thought, that had 
 never been so nearly exemplified, as by my- 
 self ; and then the goodness of the father in 
 receiving, nay, in running to meet such a son, 
 and this intended only to illustrate the Lord’s 
 goodness to returning sinners, — this gained 
 upon me. I continued much in prayer ; I 
 saw that the Lord had interposed so far to 
 save me, and I hoped he would do more. 
 The outward circumstances helped in this 
 place to make me still more serious and ear- 
 nest in crying to him, who alone could re- 
 lieve me ; and sometimes I thought I could 
 be content to die, even for want of food, so I 
 might but die a believer. Thus far I was an- 
 swered, that before we arrived in Ireland, I had 
 a satisfactory evidence in my own mind of the 
 truth of the gospel, as considered in itself, and 
 its exact suitableness to answer all my needs. 
 I saw that, by the way they are pointed out, 
 God might declare not his mercy only, but his 
 justice also, in the pardon of sin, on the ac- 
 count of the obedience and sufferings of Jesus 
 Christ. My judgment, at that time, embrac- 
 ed the sublime doctrine of “ God manifest in 
 the flesh, reconciling the world to himself.” I 
 had no idea of those systems which allow the 
 Saviour no higher honour than that of an up- 
 per servant, or, at the most, a demi-god. I 
 stood in need of an Almighty Saviour, and 
 such a one I found described in the New Tes- 
 tament. Thus far the Lord had wrought a 
 marvellous thing : I was no longer an infidel ; 
 I heartily renounced my former profaneness, 
 and I had taken up some right notions, was 
 seriously disposed, and sincerely touched with 
 a sense of the undeserved mercy I had receiv- 
 ed, in being brought safe through so many 
 dangers. I was sorry for my mis-spent life, 
 and purposed an immediate reformation : I 
 was quite freed from the habit of swearing, 
 which seemed to have been deeply rooted in 
 me, as a second nature. Thus, to all appear- 
 ance, I was a new man. 
 
 But though I cannot doubt that this change, 
 so far as it prevailed, was wrought by the Spirit 
 and power of God, yet still I was greatly de- 
 ficient in many respects. I was in some de- 
 gree affected with a sense of my more enor- 
 mous sins, but I was little aware of the innate 
 evils of my heart. I had no apprehension of 
 the spirituality and extent of the law of God ; 
 the hidden life of a Christian, as it consists in 
 communion with God by Jesus Christ, and a 
 continual dependence on him for hourly sup- 
 plies of wisdom, strength, and comfort, was a 
 mystery of which I had as yet no knowledge. 
 I acknowledged the Lord’s mercy in pardon- 
 ing what was past, but depended chiefly upon 
 my own resolution to do better for the time 
 
 to come. I had no Christian friend or faithful 
 minister to advise me, that my strength was 
 no more than my righteousness ; and though 
 I soon began to inquire for serious books, yet, 
 not having spiritual discernment, I frequent- 
 ly made a wrong choice, and I was not 
 brought in the way of evangelical preaching 
 or conversation (except a few times when I 
 heard but understood not) for six years after 
 this period. Those things the Lord was 
 pleased to discover to me gradually. I learnt 
 them here a little and there a little, by my 
 own painful experience, at a distance from 
 the common means and ordinances, and in the 
 midst of the same course of evil company and 
 bad examples I had been conversant with for 
 some time. From this period I could no 
 more make a mock at sin, or jest with holy 
 things; I no more questioned the truth of 
 scripture, or lost a sense of the rebukes of 
 conscience. Therefore I consider this as the 
 beginning of my return to God, or rather of 
 his return to me ; but I cannot consider my- 
 self to have been a believer (in the full sense 
 of the word) till a considerable time after- 
 wards. 
 
 I have told you that, in the time of our dis- 
 tress, we had fresh water in abundance ; this 
 was a considerable relief to us, especially as 
 our spare diet was mostly salt fish, without 
 bread. We drank plentifully, and were not 
 afraid of wanting water ; yet our stock of this 
 likewise was much nearer to an end than we 
 expected ; we supposed that we had six large 
 butts of water on board, and it was well that 
 we were safe arrived in Ireland, before we 
 discovered that five of them were empty, hav- 
 ing been removed out of their places and 
 stove by the violent agitation, when the ship 
 was full of water. If we had found this out 
 while we were at sea, it would have greatly 
 heightened our distress, as we must have drank 
 more sparingly. 
 
 While the ship was refitting at Lough Swil- 
 ly, I repaired to Londonderry. I lodged at 
 an exceeding good house, where I was treat- 
 ed with much kindness, and soon recruited 
 my health and strength. I was now a serious 
 professor, went twice a day to the prayers at 
 church, and determined to receive the sacra- 
 ment the next opportunity. A few days be- 
 fore, I signified my intention to the minister, 
 as the rubric directs ; but I found this prac- 
 tice was grown obsolete. At length the day 
 came ; I arose very early, was very particular 
 and earnest in my private devotion ; and, 
 with the greatest solemnity, engaged myself to 
 be the Lord’s for ever, and only his. This 
 was not a formal, but a sincere surrender, 
 under a warm sense of mercies recently re- 
 ceived ; and yet, for want of a better know- 
 ledge of myself and the subtilty of Satan’s 
 temptations, I was seduced to forget the vows 
 of God that were upon me. Upon the whole, 
 though my views of the gospel salvation were 
 
22 ARRIVAL IN 
 
 very indistinct, I experienced a peace and sa- 
 tisfaction in the ordinance that day, to which 
 I had been hitherto a perfect stranger. 
 
 The next day I was abroad with the mayor 
 of the city and some other gentlemen a-shoot- 
 ing ; I climbed up a steep bank, and pulling 
 my fowling-piece after me, as I held it in a 
 perpendicular direction, it went off so near 
 my face, as to burn away the comer of my 
 hat. Thus, when we think ourselves in the 
 greatest safety, we are up less exposed to dan- 
 ger than when all the elements seem conspir- 
 ing to destroy us. The divine providence, 
 which is sufficient to deliver us in our utmost 
 extremity, is equally necessary to our preser- 
 vation in the most peaceful situation. 
 
 During our stay in Ireland I wrote home. 
 The vessel I was in had not been heard of for 
 eighteen months, and was given up for lost 
 long before. My father had no more expec- 
 tation of hearing that I was alive, but he re- 
 ceived my letter a few days before he left 
 London. He was just going out governor of 
 York Fort, in Hudson’s Bay, from whence he 
 never returned. He sailed before I arrived 
 in England, or he had purposed to take me 
 with him ; but God designing otherwise, one 
 hindrance or other delayed us in Ireland till 
 it was too late. I received two or three af- 
 fectionate letters from him, but I never had 
 the pleasure of seeing him more. I had hopes, 
 that in three years more, I should have had 
 an opportunity of asking his forgiveness for 
 the uneasiness my disobedience had given 
 him ; but the ship that was to have brought 
 him home, came without him. According to 
 the best accounts we received, he was seized 
 with the cramp when bathing, and drowned a 
 little before her arrival in the Bay. — Excuse 
 this digression^ 
 
 My father, willing to contribute all in his 
 power to my satisfaction, paid a visit before his 
 departure to my friends in Kent, and gave 
 his consent to the union which had been so 
 long talked of. Thus, when I returned to 
 . — , I found I had only the consent of 
 
 one person to obtain •. with her I as yet stood 
 at as great an uncertainty as on the first day 
 I saw her. 
 
 I arrived at in the latter end of May, 
 
 1748, about the same day that my father sail- 
 ed from the Nore, but found the Lord had 
 provided me another father, in the gentleman 
 whose ship had brought me home. He re- 
 ceived me with great tenderness, and the 
 strongest expressions of friendship and assist- 
 ance : yet not more than he has since made 
 good ; for to him, as the instrument of God’s 
 gooodness, I owe my all. Yet it would not 
 have been in the power, even of this friend, to 
 have served me effectually, if the Lord had 
 not met with me on my way home, as I have 
 related. Till then I was like the man posses- 
 sed with the legion. No arguments, no per- 
 suasion, no views of interest, no remembrance 
 
 ENGLAND. LET. IX. 
 
 of the past, or regard to the future, could 
 have constrained me within the bounds of 
 common prudence. But now I was in some 
 measure restored to my senses. My friend 
 immediately offered me the command of a 
 ship ; but, upon mature consideration, I de- 
 clined it for the present. I had been hitherto 
 always unsettled and careless, and therefore 
 thought I had better make another voyage 
 first, and learn to obey, and acquire a farther 
 insight and experience in business, before I 
 ventured to undertake such a charge. The 
 mate of the vessel I came home in, was pre- 
 ferred to the command of a new ship, and 1 
 engaged to go in the station of mate with him. 
 I made a short visit to London, &c. which 
 did not fully answer my views. I had but 
 one opportunity of seeing Mrs. N*** # *, of 
 which I availed myself very little, for I was 
 always exceeding awkward in pleading my 
 own cause, viva voce. But after my return to 
 L , I put the question in such a man- 
 
 ner, by letter, that she could not avoid (unless I 
 had greatly mistaken her) coming to some sort 
 of an explanation. Her answer, though penned 
 with abundance of caution, satisfied me ; as I 
 collected from it, that she was free from any 
 other engagement, and not unwilling to wait 
 the event of the voyage I had undertaken. I 
 should be ashamed to trouble you with these 
 little details, if you had not yourself desired 
 me. 
 
 I am, 
 
 Your’s &c. 
 
 January 20, 1763. 
 
 LETTER X. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 My connections with sea affairs have often 
 led me to think, that the varieties observable 
 in Christian experience may be properly illus- 
 trated from the circumstances of a voyage. 
 Imagine to yourself a number of vessels, at 
 different times, and from different places, bound 
 to the same port ; there are some things in 
 which all these would agree, — the compass 
 steered by, the port in view, the general rules 
 of navigation, both as to the management of 
 the vessel and determining their astronomical 
 observations, would be the same in all. In 
 other respects they would differ ; perhaps no 
 two of them would meet with the same distri- 
 bution of winds and weather. Some we see 
 set out with a prosperous gale; and, when 
 they almost think their passage secured, they 
 are checked by adverse blasts ; and, after en- 
 during much hardship and danger, and fre- 
 quent expectations of shipwreck, they just 
 escape and reach the desired haven. Others 
 meet the greatest difficulties at first; they put 
 forth in a storm, and are often beaten back ; at 
 length their voyage proves favourable, and they 
 
LET. X. 
 
 VOYAGE TO AFRICA. 
 
 enter the port with a irXnfoQofia, a rich and a- 
 bundant entrance. Some are hard beset with 
 cruisers and enemies, and obliged to fight their 
 way through ; others meet with little remarka- 
 ble in their passage. Is it not thus in the spi- 
 ritual life ? All true believers walk by the 
 same rule, and mind the same things. The 
 word of God is their compass ; Jesus is both 
 their polar star and their sun of righteousness ; 
 their hearts and faces are all set Sion-ward. 
 Thus far they are as one body, animated by 
 one spirit ; yet their experience, formed upon 
 these common principles, is far from being 
 uniform. The Lord, in his first call, and his 
 following dispensations, has a regard to the 
 situation, temper, and talents of each, and to the 
 particular services or trials he has appointed 
 them for. Though all are exercised at times, 
 yet some pass through the voyage of life much 
 more smoothly than others. But he “ who 
 walketh upon the wings of the wind, and mea- 
 sures the waters in the hollow of his hand,” 
 will not suffer any, of whom he has taken 
 charge, to perish in the storms, though, for a 
 season, perhaps, many of them are ready to 
 give up all hopes. 
 
 We must not, therefore, make the experi- 
 ence of others, in all respects, a rule to our- 
 selves, nor our own, a rule to others ; yet, these 
 are common mistakes, and productive of many 
 more. As to myself, every part of my case 
 has been extraordinary. I have hardly met a 
 single instance resembling it. Few, very few, 
 have been recovered from such a dreadful 
 state ; and the few that have been thus favour- 
 ed, have generally passed through the jcost 
 severe convictions; and after the Lord has 
 given them peace, their future lives have been 
 usually more zealous, bright, and exemplary, 
 than common. Now, as on the one hand, my 
 convictions were very moderate, and far below 
 what might have been expected from the dread- 
 ful review I had to make ; so, on the other, my 
 first beginnings in a religious course were as 
 faint as can be well imagined. I never knew 
 that season alluded to, Jer. ii. 2. Rev. ii. 
 4. usually called the time of the first love. 
 Who would not expect to hear, that, after such 
 a wonderful unhoped-for deliverance, as I had 
 received, and, after my eyes were in some 
 measure enlightened to see things aright, I 
 should immediately cleave to the Lord and 
 his ways, with full purpose of heart, and con- 
 sult no more with flesh and blood? But, alas ! 
 it was far otherwise with me : I had learned to 
 pray ; I set some value upon the word of God, 
 and was no longer a libertine ; but my soul 
 still cleaved to the dust. Soon after my de- 
 parture from L— , I began to intermit, and 
 
 grow slack in waiting upon the Lord ; I grew 
 vain and trifling in my conversation ; and 
 though my heart smote me often, yet my ar- 
 mour was gone, and I declined fast ; and by 
 the time I arrived at Guinea, I seemed to 
 havo forgotten all the Lord’s mercies, and my 
 
 23 
 
 own. engagements, and was (profaneness ex- 
 cepted) almost as bad as before. The enemy 
 prepared a train of temptations, and I became 
 his easy prey ; and, for about a month, he 
 lulled me asleep in a course of evil, of which, 
 a few months before, I could not have sup- 
 posed myself any longer capable. How much 
 propriety is there in the apostle’s advice, 
 “ Take heed lest any of you be hardened 
 through the deceitfulness of sin.” O, who 
 can be sufficiently upon their guard ? Sin 
 first deceives, and then it hardens. I was 
 now fast bound in chains; I had little de- 
 sire, and no power at all to recover myself. 
 I could not but at times reflect how it was 
 with me : but, if I attempted to struggle with 
 it, it was in vain. I was just like Samson, 
 when he said, “ I will go forth and shake my- 
 self as at other times;” but the Lord was de- 
 parted, and he found himself helpless in the 
 hands of his enemies. By the remembrance 
 of this interval, the Lord has often instructed 
 me since, what a poor creature I am in my- 
 self, incapable of standing a single hour with- 
 out continual fresh supplies of strength and 
 grace from the fountain head. 
 
 At length the Lord, whose mercies are in- 
 finite, interposed in my behalf. My business 
 in this voyage, while upon the coast, was to 
 sail from place to place in the long-boat to 
 purchase slaves. The ship was at Sierra 
 Leone, and I then at the Plantanes, the scene 
 of my former captivity, where every thing I saw 
 might seem to remind me of my ingratitude. 
 I was in easy circumstances, courted by those 
 who formerly despised me. The lime trees I 
 had planted were grown tall, and promised 
 fruit the following year ; against which time I 
 had expectations of returning with a ship of 
 my own. But none of these things affected 
 me, till, as I have said, the Lord again inter- 
 posed to save me. He visited me with a vio- 
 lent fever, which broke the fatal chain, and 
 once more brought me to myself. But, O 
 what a prospect ! I thought myself now sum- 
 moned away. My past dangers and deliver- 
 ances, my earnest prayers in the time of trou- 
 ble, my solemn vows before the Lord at his 
 table, and my ungrateful returns for all his 
 goodness were all present to my mind at once. 
 Then I began to wish that the Lord had suf- 
 fered me to sink into the ocean, when I first 
 besought his mercy. For a little while I con- 
 cluded the door of hope to be quite shut ; but 
 this continued not long. Weak, and almost 
 delirious, I arose from my bed, and crept to a 
 retired part of the island ; and here I found a 
 renewed liberty to pray. I durst make no 
 more resolves, but cast myself before the Lord, 
 to do with me as he should please. I do not 
 remember that any particular text, or re- 
 remarkable discovery, was presented to my 
 mind ; but in general I was enabled to hope 
 and believe in a crucified Saviour. The bur- 
 den was removed from my conscience, and 
 
LET. X 
 
 VOYAGE TO AFRICA. 
 
 24 
 
 not only my peace, but my health was restored ; 
 I cannot say instantaneously, but I recovered 
 from that hour ; and so fast, that when I re- 
 turned to the ship, two days afterwards, I 
 was perfectly well before I got on board. And 
 from that time, I trust, I have been delivered 
 from the power and dominion of sin ; though, 
 as to the effects and conflicts of sin dwelling 
 in me, I still “ groan, being burdened.” I now 
 began again to wait upon the Lord ; and 
 though I have often grieved his Spirit, and 
 foolishly wandered from him since, (when, 
 alas ! shall I be more wise ?) yet his power- 
 ful grace ha8 hitherto preserved me from such 
 black declensions as this I have last recorded ; 
 and I humbly trust in his mercy and promises, 
 that he will be my guide and guard to the 
 end. 
 
 My leisure hours in this voyage were chiefly 
 employed in learning the Latin language, 
 which I had now entirely forgot. This de- 
 sire took place from an imitation I had seen of 
 one of Horace’s odes in a magazine. I began 
 the attempt under the greatest disadvantages 
 possible ; for I pitched upon a poet, perhaps the 
 most difficult of the poets, even Horace him- 
 self, for my first book. I had picked up an old 
 English translation of him, which, with Cas- 
 talio’s Latin Bible, were all my helps. I forgot 
 a Dictionary ; but I would not therefore give 
 up my purpose. I had the edition in usum 
 Delphini , and by comparing the Odes with the 
 interpretation, and tracing the words, I could 
 understand from one place to another, by the 
 index, with the assistance I could get from 
 the Latin Bible; in this way, by dint of hard 
 industry, often waking when I might have 
 slept, I made some progress before I returned, 
 and not only understood the sense and mean- 
 ing of many Odes, and some of the Epistles, 
 but began to relish the beauties of the compo- 
 sition, and acquire a spice of what Mr. Law 
 calls classical enthusiasm. And, indeed, by 
 this means, I had Horace more ad unguent 
 than some who are masters of the Latin tongue ; 
 for my helps were so few, that I generally had 
 the passage fixed in my memory, before I 
 could fully understand its meaning. 
 
 My business in the long-boat, during the 
 eight months we were upon the coast, exposed 
 me to innumerable dangers and perils, from 
 burning suns, and chilling dews, winds, rains, 
 and thunder-storms, in the open boat ; and on 
 shore, from long journeys through the woods, 
 and the temper of the natives, who are, in 
 many places, cruel, treacherous, and watching 
 opportunities for mischief. Several boats in 
 the same time were cut off ; several white 
 men poisoned, and, in my own boat, I buried 
 six or seven people with fevers. When going 
 on shore, or returning from it, in their little 
 canoes, I have been more than once or twice 
 overset by the violence of the surf, or break of 
 the sea, and brought to land half dead (for 
 I could not swim). An account of such es- 
 
 capes as I still remember, would swell to seve- 
 ral sheets, and many more I have perhaps for- 
 got; I shall only select one instance, as a 
 specimen of that wonderful providence which 
 watched over me for good, and which, I doubt 
 not, you will think worthy of notice. 
 
 When our trade was finished, and we were 
 near sailing to the West Indies, the only re- 
 maining service I had to perform in the boat, 
 was to assist in bringing the wood and water 
 from the shore. We were then at Rio Ces- 
 tors. I used to go into the river in the after- 
 noon, with the sea breeze, procure my load- 
 ing in the evening, and return on board in 
 the morning, with the land wind. Several of 
 these little voyages I had made ; but the boat 
 was grown old, and almost unfit for use. This 
 service likewise was almost completed. One 
 day, having dined on board, I was preparing 
 to return to the river, as formerly ; I had ta- 
 ken leave of the captain, received his orders, 
 was ready in the boat, and just going to put 
 off, as we term it ; that is, to let go our ropes, 
 and sail from the ship. In that instant, the 
 captain came up from the cabin, and called 
 me on board again. I went, expecting fur- 
 ther orders ; but he said he had “ taken it in 
 his head” (as he phrased it), that I should re- 
 main that day in the ship, and accordingly 
 ordered another man to go in my room. I 
 was surprised at this, as the boat had never 
 been sent away without me before ; and ask- 
 ed him the reason. He could give me no rea- 
 son, but as above, that so he would have it. 
 Accordingly, the boat went without me, but 
 returned no more. She sunk that night in 
 the river, and the person who had supplied my 
 place was drowned. I was much struck when 
 we received news of the event the next morn- 
 ing. The captain himself, though quite a 
 stranger to religion, so far as to deny a par. 
 ticular providence, could not help being af- 
 fected ; but he declared, that he had no other 
 reason for countermanding me at that time, 
 but that it came suddenly into his mind to 
 detain me. 1 wonder I omitted this in my 
 eight letters, as I have always thought it one 
 of the most extraordinary circumstances of 
 my life. 
 
 I am, dear Sir, 
 
 Your humble servant 
 
 Januaiy , 21, 1763. 
 
 LETTER XI. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 A few days after I was thus wonderfully 
 saved from an unforeseen danger, we sailed 
 for Antigua, and from thence proceeded to 
 Charleston, in South Carolina. In this place 
 there are many serious people ; but I knew 
 not how to find them out. Indeed, I was not 
 aware of a difference ; but supposed that all 
 
LET. XI. RETURN TO ENGLAND, &C. 25 
 
 who attended public worship were good Chris- 
 tians. I was as much in the dark about 
 preaching, not doubting but whatever came 
 from the pulpit must be very good. I had 
 two or three opportunities of hearing a dis- 
 senting minister, named Smith, who, by what 
 I have known since, I believe to have been 
 an excellent and powerful preacher of the 
 gospel ; and there was something in his man- 
 ner that struck me ; but I did not rightly un- 
 derstand him. The best words that men can 
 speak are ineffectual, till explained and ap- 
 plied by the Spirit of God, who alone can 
 open the heart. It pleased the Lord for some 
 time, that I should learn no more than what 
 he enabled me to collect from my own expe- 
 rience and reflection. My conduct was now 
 very inconsistent. Almost every day, when 
 business would permit, I used to retire into 
 the woods and fields (for these, when at hand, 
 have always been my favourite oratories) ; and 
 I trust I began to taste the sweets of commu- 
 nion with God, in the exercises of prayer and 
 praise, and yet I frequently spent the even- 
 ing in vain and worthless company. Indeed, 
 my relish for worldly diversions was much 
 weakened, and I was rather a spectator than 
 a sharer in their pleasures ; but I did not as 
 yet see the necessity of an absolute forbear- 
 ance. Yet, as my compliance with custom 
 and company was chiefly owing to want of 
 light, rather than to an obstinate attachment, 
 and the Lord was pleased to preserve me from 
 what I knew was sinful, I had, for the most 
 part, peace of conscience, and my strongest 
 desires were towards the things of God. As 
 yet I knew not the force of that precept, 
 “ Abstain from all appearance of evil,” but 
 very often ventured upon the brink of temp- 
 tation ; but the Lord was gracious to my 
 weakness, and would not suffer the enemy to 
 prevail against me. I did not break with 
 the world at once (as might, in my case, have 
 been expected), but I was gradually led to 
 see the inconvenience and folly of one thing 
 after another, and, when I saw it, the Lord 
 strengthened me to give it up. But it was 
 some years before I was set quite at liberty 
 from occasional compliance in many things 
 in which, at this time, I dare by no means al- 
 low myself. 
 
 We finished our voyage, and arrived in 
 L . When the ship’s affairs were set- 
 
 tled, I went to London, and from thence (as 
 you may suppose) I soon repaired to Kent. 
 More than seven years were now elapsed since 
 my first visit. No views of the kind could 
 seem more chimerical, or could subsist under 
 greater discouragements, than mine had done; 
 yet, through the over-ruling goodness of God, 
 while I seemed abandoned to myself, and 
 blindly following my own passions, 1 was guid- 
 ed, by a hand that I knew not, to the accom- 
 plishment of my wishes. Every obstacle was_ 
 
 now removed. I had renounced my former 
 follies, my interest was established, and friends 
 on all sides consenting, the point was now 
 entirely between ourselves, and, after what 
 had passed, was easily concluded. Accord- 
 ingly, our hands were joined on the first of 
 February 1750. 
 
 The satisfaction I have found in this union, 
 you will suppose, has been greatly heightened 
 by reflections on the former disagreeable con- 
 trasts I had passed through, and the views I 
 have had of the singular mercy and providence 
 of the Lord in bringing it to pass. If you 
 please to look back to the beginning of my 
 sixth letter, I doubt not but you will allow 
 that few persons have known more, either 
 of the misery or happiness, of which human 
 life (as considered in itself) is capable. How 
 easily, at a time of life when I was so little 
 capable of judging (but a few months more 
 than seventeen), might my affections have 
 been fixed where they could have met with 
 no return, or where success would have been 
 the heaviest disappointment. The long delay 
 I met with was likewise a mercy ; for, had I 
 succeeded a year or two sooner, before the 
 Lord was pleased to change my heart, we 
 must have been mutually unhappy, even as 
 to the present life. Surely goodness and mer- 
 cy have followed me all my days. 
 
 But alas ! I soon began to feel that my 
 heart was still hard and ungrateful to the God 
 of my life. This crowning mercy, which rais- 
 ed me to all I could ask or wish in a tempo- 
 ral view, and which ought to have been an 
 animating motive to obedience and praise, had 
 a contrary effect. I rested in the gift, and 
 forgot the giver. My poor narrow heart was 
 satisfied. A cold and careless frame, as to 
 spiritual things, took place, and gained ground 
 daily. Happy for me, the season was ad- 
 vancing, and in June I received orders to re- 
 pair to L . This roused me from my 
 
 dream. I need not tell you, that I found 
 the pains of absence and separation fully pro- 
 portioned to my preceding pleasure. It was 
 hard, very hard, to part, especially as con- 
 science interfered, and suggested to me how 
 little I deserved that we should be spared to 
 meet again. But the Lord supported me. I 
 was a poor faint idolatrous creature ; but I 
 had now some acquaintance with the way of 
 access to a throne of grace, by the blood of 
 Jesus, and peace was soon restored to my 
 conscience. Yet, through all the following 
 voyage, my irregular and excessive affections 
 were as thorns in my eyes, and often made 
 my other blessings tasteless and insipid. But 
 He, who doth all things well, over-ruled this 
 likewise for good. It became an occasion of 
 quickening me in prayer, both for her and 
 myself ; it increased my indifference for com- 
 pany and amusement; it habituated me to 
 a kind of voluntary self-denial, which I was 
 
26 VOYAGE TO AFRICA* let. XI. 
 
 afterwards taught to improve to a better pur- 
 pose. 
 
 While I remained in England, we corre- 
 sponded every post ; and all the while I used 
 the sea afterwards, I constantly kept up the 
 practice of writing two or three times a-week 
 (if weather and business permitted), though 
 no conveyance homeward offered for six or 
 eight months together. My packets were usu- 
 ally heavy ; and as not one of them at any 
 time miscarried, I have to the amount of 
 nearly two hundred sheets of paper now lying 
 in my bureau of that correspondence. I men- 
 tion this little relief I had contrived to soften 
 the intervals of absence, because it had a good 
 effect beyond my first intention. It habituated 
 me to think and write upon a great variety of 
 subjects ; and I acquired, insensibly, a greater 
 readiness of expressing myself, than I should 
 have otherwise attained. As I gained more 
 ground in religious knowledge, my letters 
 became more serious, and, at times, I still 
 find an advantage in looking them over, es- 
 pecially as they remind me of many provi- 
 dential incidents, and the state of my mind 
 at different periods in these voyages, which 
 would otherwise have escaped my memory. 
 
 I sailed from L in August 1750, 
 
 commander of a good ship. I have no very 
 extraordinary events to recount from this pe- 
 riod, and shall, therefore, contract my me- 
 moirs, lest I become tedious ; yet I am will- 
 ing to give you a brief sketch of my history 
 down to 1755, the year of my settlement in 
 my present situation. I had now the com- 
 mand and care of thirty persons ; I endea- 
 voured to treat them with humanity, and to 
 set them a good example. I likewise esta- 
 blished public worship, according to the li- 
 turgy, twice every Lord’s day, officiating my- 
 self. Farther than this I did not proceed, 
 while I continued in that employment. 
 
 Having now much leisure, I prosecuted the 
 study of the Latin with good success. I re- 
 membered a dictionary this voyage, and pro- 
 cured two or three other books; but still it 
 was my hap to choose the hardest. I added 
 Juvenal to Horace ; and, for prose authors, I 
 nitched upon Livy, Caesar, and Sallust. You 
 will easily conceive, Sir, that I had hard 
 work to begin (where I should have left off ) 
 with Horace and Livy. I was not aware of 
 the difference of style ; I had heard Livy 
 highly commended, and was resolved to un- 
 derstand him. I began with the first page, 
 and laid down a rule, which I seldom depart- 
 ed from, not to proceed to a second period till 
 I understood the first, and so on. I was often 
 at a stand, but seldom discouraged ; here and 
 there I found a few lines quite obstinate, and 
 was forced to break in upon my rule, and gave 
 them up, especially as my edition had only the 
 text, without any notes to assist me. But 
 there were not many such; for, before the 
 
 close of that voyage, I could (with a few ex- 
 ceptions) read Livy from end to end, almost as 
 readily as an English author. And I found, 
 in surmounting this difficulty, I had sur- 
 mounted all in one. Other prose authors, when 
 they came in mv way, cost me little trouble. 
 In short, in the space of two or three voyages, 
 I became tolerably acquainted with the best 
 classics (I put all I have to say upon this sub- 
 ject together) ; I read Terence, Virgil, and 
 several pieces of Cicero, and the modern clas- 
 sics, Buchanan, Erasmus, and Cassimir. At 
 length I conceived a design of becoming Ci- 
 ceronian myself, and thought it would be a 
 fine thing indeed to write pure and elegant 
 Latin. I made some essays towards it, but 
 by this time the Lord was pleased to draw me 
 nearer to himself, and to give me a fuller view 
 of the “ pearl of great price,” the inestimable 
 treasure hid in the field of the holy scriptures; 
 and, for the sake of this, I was made willing 
 to part with all my newly acquired riches. I 
 began to think that life was too short (espe- 
 cially my life) to admit of leisure for such 
 elaborate trifling. Neither poet nor historian 
 could tell me a word of Jesus, and I therefore 
 applied myself to those who could. The clas- 
 sics were at first restrained to one morning in 
 the week, and at length quite laid aside. I 
 have not looked into Livy these five years, 
 and I suppose I could not well understand 
 him. Some passages in Horace and Virgil I 
 still admire, but they seldom come in my 
 way. I prefer Buchanan’s Psalms to a whole 
 shelf of Elzevirs. But thus much I have 
 gained, and more than this I am not solicitous 
 about, so much of the Latin as enables me to 
 read any useful or curious book that is pub- 
 lished in that language. About the same time, 
 and for the same reason that I quarrelled with 
 Livy, I laid aside the mathematics. I found 
 they not only cost me much time, but engros- 
 sed my thoughts too far ; my head was liter- 
 ally full of schemes. I was weary of cold 
 contemplative truths, which can neither warm 
 nor amend the heart, but rather tend to ag- 
 grandize self. I found no traces of this wis- 
 dom in the life of Jesus, or the writings of 
 Paul. I do not regret that I have had some 
 opportunities of knowing the first principles of 
 these things ; but I see much cause to praise 
 the Lord, that he inclined me to stop in time ; 
 and that whilst I was “ spending my labour 
 for that which is not bread,” he was pleased 
 to set before me “ wine and milk, without 
 money and without price.” 
 
 My first voyage was fourteen months, 
 through various scenes of danger and difficulty, 
 but nothing very remarkable ; and as I in- 
 tend to be more particular with regard to the 
 second, I shall only say that I was preserved 
 from every harm ; and having seen many fall 
 on my right hand and on my left, I was brought 
 home in peace- and restored to where inv 
 
LET. XII. 
 
 thoughts had been often directed, 
 2, 1751. 
 
 I am, 
 
 January 22, 1763. 
 
 LETTER XII. 
 
 DEAR RIB, 
 
 I almost wish I could recal my last sheet, 
 and retract my promise. I fear I have en- 
 gaged too far, and shall prove a mere egotist. 
 What have I more that can deserve your no- 
 tice ? However, it is some satisfaction that I 
 am now writing to yourself only ; and I be- 
 lieve, you will have candour to excuse, what 
 nothing but a sense of your kindness could 
 extort from me. 
 
 Soon after the period where my last closes, 
 that is, in the interval between my first and 
 second voyage after my marriage, I began to 
 keep a sort of diary, a practice which I have 
 , found of great use. I had, in this interval, 
 repeated proofs of the ingratitude and evil of 
 my heart. A life of ease, in the midst of my 
 friends, and the full satisfaction of my wishes, 
 was not favourable to the progress of grace, 
 and afforded cause of daily humiliation. Yet, 
 upon the whole, I gained ground. I became 
 acquainted with books, which gave me a fur- 
 ther view of Christian doctrine and experience, 
 particularly Scougal’s Life of God in the Soul 
 of Man, Hervey’s Meditations, and the Life 
 of Colonel Gardiner. As to preaching, I 
 heard none but of the common sort, and had 
 hardly an idea of any better; neither had I 
 the advantage of Christian acquaintance; I 
 was likewise greatly hindered by a cowardly 
 reserved spirit ; I was afraid of being thought 
 precise ; and, though I could not live without 
 prayer, I durst not propose it, even to my 
 wife, till she herself first put me upon it; so far 
 was I from those expressions of zeal and love, 
 which seemed so suitable to the case of one 
 who has had much forgiven. In a few months 
 the returning season called me abroad again, 
 
 and I sailed from L in a new ship, 
 
 July 1752. 
 
 A sea-faring life is necessarily excluded 
 from the benefit of public ordinances and 
 Christian communion ; but, as I have observed, 
 my loss upon these heads was at this time but 
 small. In other respects, I know not any 
 calling that seems more favourable, or affords 
 greater advantages to an awakened mind, for 
 promoting the life of God in the soul, espe- 
 cially to a person who has the command of a 
 ship, and thereby has it in his power to re- 
 strain gross irregularities in others, and to dis- 
 pose of his own time ; and still more so in 
 African voyages, as these ships carry a double 
 proportion of men and officers to most others, 
 which made my department very easy ; and, 
 
 27 
 
 excepting the hurry of trade, &c. upon the 
 coast, which is rather occasional than constant, 
 afforded me abundance of leisure. To be at 
 sea in these circumstances, withdrawn out of 
 the reach of innumerable temptations, with 
 opportunity and a turn of mind disposed to 
 observe the wonders of God in the great deep, 
 with the two noblest objects of sight, the ex- 
 panded heavens, and the expanded ocean, con- 
 tinually in view; and where evident interpo- 
 sitions of Divine Providence, in answer to 
 prayer, occur almost every day ; these are helps 
 to quicken and confirm the life of faith, which, 
 in a good measure, supply to a religious sailor 
 the want of those advantages which can be 
 only enjoyed upon the shore. And, indeed, 
 though my knowledge of spiritual things (as 
 knowledge is usually estimated) was, at this 
 time, very small, yet I sometimes look back 
 with regret upon those scenes. I never knew 
 sweeter or more frequent hours of divine com- 
 munion than in my two last voyages to Guinea, 
 when I was either almost secluded from so- 
 ciety on ship-board, or when on shore among 
 the natives. I have wandered through the 
 woods, reflecting on the singular goodness of 
 the Lord to me, in a place where, perhaps, 
 there was not a person who knew him for some 
 thousand miles round me. Many a time, 
 upon these occasions, I have restored the 
 beautiful lines of Propertius to the right own 
 er ; lines full of blasphemy and madnes: 
 when addressed to a creature, but full of com- 
 fort and propriety in the mouth of a believer 
 
 Sic ego desertis possim bene vivere sylvis 
 Quo nulla humano sit via trita pede ; 
 
 Tu mihi curarum requles , in node velatra 
 Lumen, et in soli a tu mihi turba locis. 
 
 PARAPHRASED. 
 
 In desert woods with thee, my God, 
 
 Where human footsteps never trod. 
 
 How happy could I be ! 
 
 Thou my repose from care, my light 
 Amidst the darkness of the night. 
 
 In solitude my company. 
 
 In the course of this voyage I was wonder- 
 fully preserved in the midst of many obvious 
 unforeseen dangers. At one time there was a 
 conspiracy amongst my own people to turn 
 pirates, and take the ship from me. When 
 the plot was nearly ripe, and they only 
 waited a convenient opportunity, two of those 
 concerned in it were taken ill one day ; one 
 of them died, and he was the only person I 
 buried while on board. This suspended the 
 affair, and opened a way to its discovery, or 
 the consequence might have been fatal. The 
 slaves on board were likewise frequently plot- 
 ting insurrections, and were sometimes upon 
 the very brink of mischief ; but it was always 
 disclosed in due time. When I have thought 
 myself most secure, I have been suddenly a- 
 larmed with danger ; and when I have almost 
 despaired of life, as sudden a deliverance has 
 been vouchsafed me. My stay upon the coast 
 
 ANOTHER VOYAGE TO AFRICA. 
 November 
 
 Your’a &c. 
 
LET. XII. 
 
 ANOTHER VOYAGE TO AFRICA. 
 
 28 
 
 was long, and the trade very precarious ; 
 and, in the pursuit of my business, both on 
 board and on shore, I was in deaths often. 
 Let the following instance serve as a speci- 
 men. 
 
 I was at a place called Mana, near Cape 
 Mount, where I had transacted very large con- 
 cerns ; and had, at the time I am speaking of, 
 some debts and accounts to settle, which re- 
 quired my attendance on shore, and I intend- 
 ed to go the next morning. When I arose, 
 I left the ship according to my purpose ; but 
 when I came near the shore, the surf, or break 
 of the sea, ran so high, that I was almost a- 
 fraid to attempt landing. Indeed, I had often 
 ventured at a worse time, but I felt an in- 
 ward hindrance and backwardness, which I 
 could not account for ; the surf furnished a 
 pretext for indulging it, and after waiting and 
 hesitating for about half an hour, I returned 
 to the ship, without doing any business ; 
 which I think I never did, but that morning, 
 in all the time I used that trade. But I soon 
 perceived the reason of all this. It seems, the 
 day before I intended to land, a scandalous 
 and groundless charge had been laid against 
 me (by whose instigation I could never learn), 
 which greatly threatened my honour and inter- 
 est, both in Africa and England, and would per- 
 haps, humanly speaking, have affected my life, 
 if I had landed according to my intention. 
 I shall, perhaps, inclose a letter, which will 
 give a full account of this strange adventure ; 
 and therefore shall say no more of it here, any 
 further than to tell you, that an attempt, aimed 
 to destroy either my life or my character, and 
 which might very probably, in its consequences 
 have ruined my voyage, passed off without the 
 least inconvenience. The person most con- 
 cerned owed me about a hundred pounds, 
 which he sent me in a huff; and otherwise, 
 perhaps, would not have paid me at all. I 
 was very uneasy for a few hours, but was soon 
 afterwards comforted. I heard no more of 
 my accusation, till the next voyage, and then 
 it was publicly acknowledged to have been a 
 malicious calumny, without the least shadow 
 of a ground. 
 
 Such were the vicissitudes and difficulties 
 through which the Lord preserved me. Now 
 and then both faith and patience were sharply 
 exercised, but suitable strength was given ; 
 and as those things did not occur every day, 
 the study of the Latin, of which I gave a ge- 
 neral account in my last, was renewed, and 
 carried on from time to time, when business 
 would permit. I was mostly very regular in 
 the management of my time. I allotted about 
 eight hours for sleep and meals, eight hours 
 for exercise and devotion, and eight hours to 
 my books ; and thus, by diversifying my en- 
 gagements, the whole day was agreeably filled 
 up, and I seldom found a day too long, or an 
 hour to spare. My studies kept me employ- 
 
 ed, and so far it was well; otherwise they 
 were hardly worth the time they cost, as they 
 led me to an admiration of false models and 
 false maxims ; an almost unavoidable conse- 
 quence, I suppose, of an admiration of classic 
 authors. Abating what I have attained of 
 the language, I think I might have read Cas- 
 sandra or Cleopatra to as good purpose as I 
 read Livy, whom I now account an equal ro- 
 mancer, though in a different way. 
 
 From the coast, I went to St. Christopher’s ; 
 and here my idolatrous heart was its own pun- 
 ishment. The letters I expected from Mrs. 
 N *** ** were, by mistake, forwarded to An- 
 tigua, which had been at first proposed as our 
 port. As I was certain of her punctuality in 
 writing, if alive, I concluded, by not hearing 
 from her, that she was surely dead. This fear 
 affected me more and more ; I lost my appe- 
 tite and rest ; I felt an incessant pain in my 
 stomach, and in about three weeks time I was 
 near sinking under the weight of an imagi- 
 nary stroke. I felt some severe symptoms of 
 that mixture of pride and madness, which is 
 commonly called a broken heart; and, indeed, 
 I wonder that this case is not more common 
 than it appears to be. How often do the pot- 
 sherds of the earth presume to contend with 
 their Maker ! and what a wonder of mercy is 
 it, that they are not all broken ! However, my 
 complaint was not all grief ; conscience had a 
 share. I thought my unfaithfulness to God 
 had deprived me of her, especially my back- 
 wardness in speaking of spiritual things, which 
 I could hardly attempt even to her. It was 
 this thought, that I had lost invaluable, irre- 
 coverable opportunities, which both duty and 
 affection should have engaged me to improve, 
 that chiefly stung me ; and I thought I could 
 have given the world to know she was living, 
 that I might at least discharge my engagements 
 by writing, though I were never to see her 
 again. This was a sharp lesson, but I hope it 
 did me good ; and when I had thus suffered 
 some weeks, I thought of sending a small 
 vessel to Antigua. I did so, and she brought 
 me several packets, which restored my health 
 and peace, and gave me a strong contrast of 
 the Lord’s goodness to me, and my unbelief 
 and ingratitude towards him. 
 
 In August, 1753, I returned to L . 
 
 My stay was very short at home that voyage, 
 only six weeks ; in that space nothing very 
 remarkable occurred j I shall therefore begin 
 my next with an account of my third and last 
 voyage. And thus I give both you and my- 
 self hopes of a speedy period to these memoirs, 
 which begin to be tedious and minute, even 
 to myself ; only I am animated by the thought 
 that I write at your request, and have there- 
 fore an opportunity of shewing myself. 
 
 Your obliged servant. 
 
 January 31, 1763. 
 
let. XIII. LAST VOYAGE TO AFRICA. 29 
 
 LETTER XIII. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 My third voyage was shorter and less perplex- 
 ed than either of the former. Before I sail- 
 ed, I met with a young man, who had former- 
 ly been a midshipman and my intimate com- 
 panion, on board the Harwich. He was, at 
 the time I first knew him, a sober youth, but 
 I found too much success in my unhappy at- 
 tempts to infect him with libertine principles. 
 
 When we met at L , our acquaintance 
 
 renewed upon the ground of our former inti- 
 macy. He had good sense, and had read 
 many books. Our conversation frequently 
 turned upon religion, and I was desirous to 
 repair the mischief I had done him. I gave 
 him a plain account of the manner and reason 
 of my change, and used every argument to 
 persuade him to relinquish his infidel schemes ; 
 and when I sometimes pressed him so close, 
 that he had no other reply to make, he would 
 remind me that I was the very first person 
 who had given him an idea of his liberty. 
 This occasioned me many mournful reflec- 
 tions. He was then going master to Guinea 
 himself, but before his ship was ready, his 
 merchant became a bankrupt, which discon- 
 certed his voyage. As he had no further ex 
 pectations for that year, I offered to take him 
 with me as a companion, that he might gain a 
 knowledge of the coast ; and the gentleman 
 who employed me promised to provide for him 
 upon his return. My view in this was not so 
 much to serve him in his business, as to have 
 opportunity of debating the point with him at 
 leisure ; and I hoped, in the course of my 
 voyage, my arguments, example, and prayers, 
 might have some good effect on him. My in- 
 tention in this step was better than my judg- 
 ment, and I had frequent reason to repent it. 
 He was exceedingly profane, and grew worse 
 and worse : I saw in him a most lively picture 
 of what I had once been, but it was very in- 
 convenient to have it always before my eyes. 
 Besides, he was not only deaf to my remon- 
 strances himself, but laboured all that he 
 could to counteract my influence upon others. 
 His spirit and passions were likewise exceed- 
 ing high, so that it required all my prudence 
 and authority to hold him in any degree of 
 restraint. He was as a sharp thorn in my 
 side for some time ; but at length I had an 
 opportunity upon the coast of buying a small 
 vessel, which I supplied with a cargo from my 
 own, and gave him the command, and sent 
 him away to trade on the ship’s account. 
 When we parted, I repeated and enforced my 
 best advice. I believe his friendship and re- 
 gard were as great as could be expected, where 
 principles were so diametrically opposite. He 
 seemed greatly affected when I left him, but 
 my words had no weight with him. When he 
 found himself at liberty from under my eye, 
 
 he gave a hasty loose to every appetite ; and 
 his violent irregularities, joined to the heat of 
 the climate, soon threw him into a malignant 
 fever, which carried him off in a few days. 
 He died convinced, but not changed. The 
 account I had from those who were with him 
 was dreadful ; his rage and despair struck 
 them all with horror, and he pronounced his 
 own fatal doom before he expired, without any 
 appearance that he either hoped or asked for 
 mercy. I thought this awful contrast might 
 not be improper to give you, as a stronger 
 view of the distinguishing goodness of God to 
 me, the chief of sinners. 
 
 I left the coast in about four months, and 
 sailed for St. Christopher’s. Hitherto I had 
 enjoyed a perfect state of health, equally in' 
 every climate, for several years ; but, upon 
 this passage, I was visited with a fever, which 
 gave me a very near prospect of eternity. I 
 have obtained liberty to inclose you three or 
 four letters, which will more clearly illustrate 
 the state and measure of my experience, at 
 different times, than any thing I can say at 
 present. One of them you will find was writ- 
 ten at this period, when I could hardly hold a 
 pen, and had some reason to believe 1 should 
 write no more. I had not that <rXn^o<pe^ut* , 
 which is so desirable at a time when flesh and 
 heart fail ; but my hopes were greater than my 
 fears, and I felt a silent composure of spirit, 
 which enabled me to wait the event without 
 much anxiety. My trust, though weak in de- 
 gree, was alone fixed upon the blood and 
 righteousness of Jesus ; and those words, “ he 
 is able to save to the uttermost,” gave me 
 great relief. I was for a while troubled with 
 a very singular thought. Whether it was a 
 temptation, or that the fever disordered my 
 faculties, I cannot say, but I seemed not so 
 much afraid of wrath and punishment, as of 
 being lost and overlooked amidst the myriads 
 that are continually entering the unseen world. 
 What is my soul, thought I, among such an 
 innumerable multitude of beings ? And this 
 troubled me greatly. Perhaps the Lord will 
 take no notice of me. I was perplexed thus 
 for some time, but at last a text of scripture, 
 very apposite to the case, occured to my mind, 
 and put au end to the doubt : “ The Lord 
 knoweth them that are his.” In about ten 
 days, beyond the hopes of those about me, I 
 began to amend, and by the time of our arrival 
 in the West Indies, I was perfectly recover- 
 ed. — I hope this visitation was made useful 
 to me. 
 
 Thus far, that is, for about the space of six 
 years, the Lord was pleased to lead me in a 
 secret way. I had learned something of the 
 evil of my heart ; I had read the Bible over 
 and over, with several good books, and had a 
 general view of gospel truths. But my con- 
 ceptions were, in many respects, confused; 
 
 * Full assurance. 
 
30 LAST VOYAGE TO AFRICA, &C. LET. XIII. 
 
 not having, in all this time, met with one ac- 
 quaintance who could assist my inquiries. 
 But upon my arrival at St. Christopher’s, this 
 voyage, I found a captain of a ship from Lon- 
 don, whose conversation was greatly helpful 
 to me. He was, and is a member of Mr. 
 
 B r’s church, a man of experience in the 
 
 things of God, and of a lively, communicative 
 turn. We discovered each other by some ca- 
 sual expressions in mixed company, and soon 
 became (so far as business would permit) in- 
 separable. For near a month, we spent every 
 evening together, on board each other’s ship 
 alternately, and often prolonged our visits till 
 towards day-break. I was all ears ; and what 
 was better, he not only informed my under- 
 standing, but his discourse inflamed my heart. 
 He encouraged me to open my mouth in so- 
 cial prayer; he taught me the advantage of 
 Christian converse ; he put me upon an attempt 
 to make my profession more public, and to 
 venture to speak for God. From him, or ra- 
 ther from the Lord, by his means, I received 
 an increase of knowledge ; my conceptions 
 became clearer and more evangelical, and I 
 was delivered from a fear which had long trou- 
 bled me, the fear of relapsing into my former 
 apostacy. But now I began to understand 
 the security of the covenant of grace, and to 
 expect to be preserved, not by my own power 
 and holiness, but by the mighty power and 
 promise of God, through faith in an unchange- 
 able Saviour. He likewise gave me a gene- 
 ral view of the state of religion, with the errors 
 and controversies of the times (things to 
 which I had been entirely a stranger), and fi- 
 nally directed me where to apply in London 
 for further instruction. With these newly ac- 
 quired advantages, I left him, and my passage 
 homewards gave me leisure to digest what I 
 had received. I had much comfort and free- 
 dom during those seven weeks, and my sun 
 was seldom clouded. I arrived safe in L— — , 
 August, 1754. 
 
 My stay at home was intended to be but 
 short, and by the beginning of November, I 
 was again ready for the sea : but the Lord saw 
 fit to over-rule my design. During the time I 
 was engaged in the slave trade, I never had 
 the least scruple as to its lawfulness. I was, 
 upon the whole, satisfied with it, as the ap- 
 pointment Providence had marked out for me ; 
 yet it was, in many respects, far from eligible. 
 It is, indeed, accounted a genteel employ- 
 ment, and is usually very profitable, though 
 to me it did not prove so, the Lord seeing 
 that a large increase of wealth could not be 
 good for me. However, I considered myself 
 as a sort of gaoler or turnkey ; and I was 
 sometimes shocked with an employment that 
 was perpetually conversant with chains, bolts, 
 and shackles. In this view I had often peti- 
 tioned, in my prayers, that the Lord, in his 
 
 own time, would be pleased to fix me in a 
 more humane calling, and, if it might be, 
 place me where I might have more frequent 
 converse with his people and ordinances, and 
 be freed from those long separations from 
 home, which very often were hard to bear. 
 My prayers were now answered, though in a 
 way I little expected. I now experienced ano- 
 ther sudden, unforeseen change of life. I was 
 within two days of sailing, and, to all appear- 
 ance in good health as usual ; but in the after- 
 noon, as I was sitting with Mrs. N*****, by 
 ourselves, drinking tea, and talking over past 
 events, I was in a moment seized with a fit, 
 which deprived me of sense and motion, and 
 left me no other sign of life than that of 
 breathing. I suppose it was of the apoplectic 
 kind. It lasted about an hour, and when I 
 recovered, it left a pain and dizziness in my 
 head, which continued with such symptoms, 
 as induced the physicians to judge it would 
 not be safe or prudent for me to proceed on 
 the voyage. Accordingly, by the advice of 
 my friend, to whom the ship belonged, I re- 
 signed the command the day before she sailed ; 
 and thus I was unexpectedly called from that 
 service, and freed from a share of the future 
 consequences of that voyage, which proved ex- 
 tremely calamitous. The person who went in 
 my room, most of the officers, and many of the 
 crew, died, and the vessel was brought home 
 with great difficulty. 
 
 As I was now disengaged from business, 1 
 left L — , and spent most of the following 
 year at London, and in Kent. But I entered 
 upon a new trial. You will easily conceive 
 that Mrs. N***** was not an unconcerned 
 spectator, when I lay extended, and, as she 
 thought, expiring upon the ground. In effect, 
 the blow that struck me reached her in the 
 same instant : she did not, indeed, immediate- 
 ly feel it, till her apprehensions on my account 
 began to subside; but as I grew better, she 
 became worse : her surprise threw her into a 
 disorder, which no physicians could define, or 
 medicines remove. Without any of the ordi- 
 nary symptoms of a consumption, she decay 
 ed almost visibly, till she became so weak that 
 she could hardly bear any one to walk across 
 the room she was in. I was placed for about 
 eleven months in what Dr. Young calls the 
 «* —dreadful post of observation. 
 
 Darker every hour.” 
 
 It was not till after my settlement in my 
 present station, that the Lord was pleased to 
 restore her by his own hand, when all hopes 
 from ordinary means were at an end. But 
 before this took place, I have some other par- 
 ticulars to mention, which must be the sub- 
 ject of the following sheet, which I hope will 
 be the last on this subject, from 
 
 Your affectionate servant. 
 
 February 1, 1764. 
 
LET. XIV. 
 
 CONCLUSION OF 
 
 LETTER XIV. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 By the directions I had received from my 
 friend at St. Kitt’s, I soon found out a religi- 
 ous acquaintance in London. I first applied 
 
 to Mr. B , and chiefly attended upon his 
 
 ministry, when in town. From him I receiv- 
 ed many helps both in public and private ; for 
 he was pleased to favour me with his friend- 
 ship from the first. His kindness and the in- 
 timacy between us have continued and increas- 
 ed to this day ; and of all my many friends, I 
 am most deeply indebted to him. The late 
 
 Mr. H d was my second acquaintance ; a 
 
 man of a choice spirit, and an abundant zeal 
 for the Lord’s service. I enjoyed his corre- 
 spondence till near the time of his death. Soon 
 after, upon Mr. W— d’s return from Ame- 
 rica, my two good friends introduced me to 
 him ; and though I had little personal ac- 
 quaintance with him till afterwards, his mini- 
 stry was exceeding useful to me. I had like- 
 wise access to some religious societies, and be- 
 came known to many excellent Christians, in 
 private life. Thus, when at London, I lived 
 at the fountain-head, as it were, for spiritual 
 advantages. When I was in Kent, it was 
 very different, yet I found some serious per- 
 sons there ; but the fine variegated woodland 
 country afforded pie advantages of another 
 kind. Most of my time, at least some hours 
 every day, I passed in retirement, when the 
 weather was fair ; sometimes in the thickest 
 woods, sometimes on the highest hills, where 
 almost every step varied the prospect. It has 
 been my custom for many years, to perform 
 my devotional exercises sub dio , when I have 
 opportunity, and I always find these rural 
 scenes have some tendency both to refresh 
 and compose my spirits. A beautiful diver- 
 sified prospect gladdens my heart. When I 
 am withdrawn from the noise and petty works 
 of men, I consider myself as in the great tem- 
 ple, which the Lord has built for his own 
 honour. 
 
 The country between Rochester and Maid- 
 stone, bordering upon the Medway, was well 
 suited to the turn of my mind ; and was I to 
 go over it now, I could point to many a place 
 where I remember either to have earnestly 
 sought, or happily found, the Lord’s com- 
 fortable presence with my soul. And thus I 
 lived, sometimes at London, and sometimes 
 in the country, till the autumn of the follow- 
 ing year. All this while I had two trials, 
 more or less, upon my mind ; the first aiid 
 principal was Mrs. N*****’s illness; she still 
 grew worse, and I had daily more reason to 
 fear that the hour of separation was at hand. 
 When faith was in exercise, I was in some 
 measure resigned to the Lord’s will ; but too 
 
 THE NARRATIVE. 31 
 
 often my heart rebelled, and I found it hard 
 either to trust or to submit. I had likewise 
 some care about my future settlement ; the 
 African trade was overdone that year, and my 
 friends did not care to fit out another ship till 
 mine returned. I was some time in suspense ; 
 but, indeed, a provision of food and raiment 
 has seldom been a cause of great solicitude to 
 me. I found it easier to trust the Lord in 
 this point than in the former, and accordingly 
 this was first answered. In August I receiv- 
 ed an account that I was nominated to the 
 office of — — . These places are usually ob- 
 tained, or at least sought, by dint of much 
 interest and application ; but this came to me 
 unsought and unexpected. I knew, indeed, 
 
 my good friend in L had endeavoured 
 
 to procure another post for me, but found it 
 pre-engaged. I found afterwards, that the 
 place I had missed would have been very un- 
 suitable for me, and that this, which I had no 
 thought of, was the very thing I could have 
 wished for, as it afforded me much leisure, 
 and the liberty of living in my own way. Se- 
 veral circumstances, unnoticed by others, con- 
 curred, to shew me that the good hand of 
 the Lord was as remarkably concerned in 
 this event as in any other leading turn of my 
 life. 
 
 But when I gained this point, my distress 
 in the other was doubled ; I was obliged to 
 leave Mrs.N*****, in the greatest extremity 
 of pain and illness, when the physicians could 
 do no more, and I had no ground of hope 
 that I should see her again alive, but this, 
 that nothing is impossible with the Lord. I 
 had a severe conflict ; but faith prevailed. 
 I found the promise remarkably fulfilled, of 
 strength proportioned to my need. The day 
 before I set out, and not till then, the burden 
 was entirely taken from my mind. I was 
 strengthened to resign both her and myself 
 to the Lord’s disposal, and departed from 
 her in a cheerful frame. Soon after I was 
 gone, she began to amend, and recovered so 
 fast, that in about two months I had the plea- 
 sure to meet her at Stone, on her journey to 
 L . 
 
 And now, I think, I have answered, if not 
 exceeded, your desire. Since October 1755, 
 we have been comfortably settled here, and all 
 my circumstances have been as remarkably 
 smooth and uniform as they were various in 
 former years. My trials have been light and 
 few, not but that I still find, in the experi- 
 ence of every day, the necessity of a life of 
 faith. My principal trial is, the body of sin 
 and death, which makes me often to sigh 
 out the apostle’s complaint, “ O wretched 
 man, &c.” But with him likewise I can say, 
 “ I thank God through Jesus Christ my 
 Lord.” I live in a barren land, where the 
 knowledge and power of the gospel is very 
 low ; yet here are a few of the Lord’s peo- 
 
82 
 
 pie; and this wilderness has been a useftil 
 school to me, where I have studied more 
 leisurely the truths which I gathered up in 
 London. I brought down with me a consi- 
 derable stock of notional truth ; but I have 
 since found, that there is no effectual teacher 
 but God ; that we can receive no further than 
 he is pleased to communicate ; and that no 
 knowledge is truly useful to me, but what is 
 made my own by experience. Many things, 
 I thought I had learned, would not stand in 
 an hour of temptation, till I had in this way 
 learned them over again. Since the year 
 1757, I have had an increasing acquaintance 
 in the West Riding of Yorkshire, where the 
 gospel flourishes greatly. This has been a 
 good school to me. I have conversed at large 
 among all parties, without joining any ; and 
 in my attempts to hit the golden mean, I have 
 sometimes been drawn too near the different 
 extremes; yet the Lord has enabled me to 
 profit by my mistakes. In brief, I am still a 
 learner, and the Lord still condescends to 
 teach me. I begin at length to see that I 
 have attained but very little ; but I trust in 
 him to carry on his own work in my soul, and, 
 by all the dispensations of his grace and pro- 
 vidence, to increase my knowledge of him and 
 of myself. 
 
 When I was fixed in a house, and found 
 my business would afford me much leisure 
 time, I considered in what manner I should 
 improve it. And now, having reason to close 
 with the apostle’s determination, “ to know 
 nothing but Jesus Christ, and him crucified,” 
 I devoted my life to the prosecution of spiritual 
 ltnowledge, and resolved to pursue nothing 
 but in subservience to this main design. This 
 resolution divorced me, as I have already 
 hinted, from the classics and mathematics. 
 My first attempt was to learn so much Greek 
 as would enable me to understand the New 
 Testament and Septuagint ; and when I had 
 made some progress this way, I entered upon 
 the Hebrew the following year ; and two years 
 afterwards, having surmised some advantages 
 from the Syriac version, I began with that 
 language. You must not think that I have 
 attained, or ever aimed at, a critical skill in 
 any of these. I had no business with them, 
 but as in reference to something else. I ne- 
 ver read one classic author in the Greek. I 
 thought it too late in life to take such a round 
 in this language as I had done in the Latin. 
 I only wanted the signification of scriptural 
 words and phrases ; and for this I thought I 
 might avail myself of Scapula, the Synopsis, 
 and others, who had sustained the drudgery 
 before me. In the Hebrew, I can read the 
 historical books and psalms with tolerable ease; 
 but in the prophetical and difficult parts, I am 
 frequently obliged to have recourse to lexi- 
 cons, &c. However, I know so much as to 
 be able, with such helps as are at hand, to 
 
 LET. XIV 
 
 judge for myself the meaning of any passage 
 I have occasion to consult. Beyond this I do 
 not think of proceeding, if I can find better 
 employment ; for I would rather be some way 
 useful to others, than die with the reputation 
 of an eminent linguist. 
 
 Together with these studies, I have kept 
 up a course of reading of the best writers in 
 divinity that have come to my hand, in the 
 Latin and English tongues, and some French ; 
 for I picked up the French at times while I 
 used the sea. But within these two or three 
 years I have accustomed myself chiefly to 
 writing, and have not found time to read 
 many books besides the scriptures. 
 
 I am the more particular in this account, as 
 my case has been somewhat singular ; for, in 
 all my literary attempts, I have been obliged 
 to strike out my own path, by the light I 
 could acquire from books, as I have not had 
 a teacher or assistant since I was ten years of 
 age. 
 
 One word concerning my views to the mi- 
 nistry, and I have done. I have told you, 
 that this was my dear mother’s hope concern- 
 ing me ; but her death, and the scenes of life 
 in which I afterwards engaged, seemed to cut 
 off the probability. The first desires of this 
 sort in my own mind, arose many years ago, 
 from a reflection on Gal. i. 23, 24. I could 
 not but wish for such a public opportunity to 
 testify the riches of divine grace. I thought 
 I was, above most living, a fit person to pro- 
 claim that faithful saying, “ That Jesus Christ 
 came into the world to save the chief of sin- 
 ners ;” and as my life had been full of re- 
 markable turns, and I seemed selected to show 
 what the Lord could do, I was in some hopes 
 that, perhaps, sooner or later, he might call 
 me into his service. 
 
 I believe it was a distant hope of this that 
 determined me to study the original scrip- 
 tures ; but it remained an imperfect desire in 
 my own breast, till it was recommended to 
 me by some Christian friends. I started at 
 the thought, when first seriously proposed to 
 me ; but afterwards set apart some weeks to 
 consider the case, to consult my friends, and 
 to intreat the Lord’s direction. The judg- 
 ment of my friends, and many things that 
 occurred, tended to engage me. My first 
 thought was to join the dissenters, from a 
 presumption that I could not honestly make 
 
 the required subscriptions ; but Mr. C , 
 
 in a conversation upon these points, mode- 
 rated my scruples; and preferring the esta- 
 blished church in some other respects, I ac- 
 cepted a title from him, some months after- 
 wards, and solicited ordination from the late 
 archbishop of York. I need not tell you I 
 met a refusal, nor what steps I took after- 
 wards to succeed elsewhere. At present I 
 desist from any applications. My desire to 
 serve the Lord is not weakened ; but I ana 
 
 CONCLUSION OF THE NARRATIVE. 
 
 / 
 
LET. XIV. 
 
 CONCLUSION OF 
 
 not so hasty to push myself forward as I was 
 formerly. It is sufficient that he knows how 
 to dispose of me, and that he both can and 
 will do what is best. To him I commend 
 myself: I trust that his will and my true in- 
 terest are inseparable. To his name be glory 
 for ever. And thus I conclude my story, and 
 
 THE NARRATIVE. 88 
 
 presume you will acknowledge I have been 
 particular enough. I have room for no more, 
 but to repeat that 
 
 I am, Sir, 
 
 Your’s, &c. 
 
 February 2 , 1764 . 
 
 K 
 

 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 
 
I 
 
 FORTY-ONE LETTERS 
 
 ON 
 
 RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS. 
 
 ORIGINALLY 
 
 PUlJLlSilED UNDER THE SIGNATURES 
 
 OF 
 
 OMICRON AND VIGIL, 
 

L, E T TERS 
 
 ON 
 
 RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS. 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 ON TRUST IN THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD, AND BENEVOLENCE TO HI8 POOR. 
 
 MY DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 The more I think of the point you proposed 
 to me, the more I am confirmed to renew the 
 advice I then gave. There is doubtless such 
 a thing as Christian prudence ; but, my ffiend, 
 beware of counterfeits. Self-love, and the 
 evil heart of unbelief, will endeavour to ob- 
 trude upon us a prudence so called, which is 
 as opposite to the former as darkness to light. 
 I do not say that, now you have a wife, and 
 the prospect of a family, you are strictly bound 
 to communicate with the poor in the same 
 proportion as formerly. I say, you are not 
 bound ; for every thing of this sort should 
 proceed from a willing mind. But if you 
 should tell me, the Lord has given you such 
 a zeal for his glory, such a concern for the 
 honour of the gospe 1 , such a love to his mem- 
 bers, such a grateful sense of his mercies (es- 
 pecially by granting you, in this late instance 
 of your marriage, the desire of your heart), 
 and. such an affiance in his providence and 
 promises, that you find yourself very unwill- 
 ing to be one sixpence in the year less useful 
 than you was before, I could not blame you, 
 or dissuade you from it. But I do not abso- 
 lutely advise it ; because I know not the state 
 of your mind, or what measure of faith the 
 Lord has given you. Only this I believe, 
 that when the Lord gives such a confidence, 
 he will not disappoint it. 
 
 When I look among the professors, yea, 
 among the ministers of the gospel, there are 
 few things I see a more general want of, than 
 duch a tru9t in God as to temporals, and such 
 
 a sense of the honour of being permitted to 
 relieve the necessities of his people, as might 
 dispose them to a more liberal distribution of 
 what they have at present in their power, and 
 to a reliance on him for a sufficient supply in 
 future. Some exceptions there are. Some 
 persons I have the happiness to know, whose 
 chief pleasure it seems to be, to devise liberal 
 things. For the most part, we take care, first, 
 to be well supplied, if possible, with all the 
 necessaries, conveniencies, and not a few of 
 the elegancies of life ; then to have a snug 
 fund laid up against a rainy day, as the phrase 
 is (if this is in an increasing way, so much 
 the better), that when we look at children and 
 near relatives, we may say to our hearts, 
 “ Now they are well provided for.” And 
 when we have gotten all this, and more, we 
 are, perhaps, content, for the love of Christ, 
 to bestow a pittance of our superfluities, a 
 tenth or a twentieth part of what we spend or 
 hoard up for ourselves, upon the poor. But, 
 alas ! what do we herein more than others ? 
 Multitudes, who know nothing of the love 
 of Christ, will do thus much, yea, perhaps, 
 greatly exceed us, from the mere feelings of 
 humanity. 
 
 But it may be asked, Would you show no 
 regard to the possibility of leaving your wife 
 or children unprovided for ? Quite the re- 
 verse. I would have you attend to it very 
 much, and behold the scriptures show you 
 the more excellent way. If you had a little 
 money to spar&, would you not lend it to me 
 
33 
 
 ON TRUST IN GOD. 
 
 if I assured you it should be repaid when 
 wanted ? I can point out to you better inte- 
 rest and better security than I could possibly 
 give you : Prov. xix. 17, “ He that hath pity 
 upon the poor, lendeth unto the Lord ; and 
 that which he hath given will he pay him 
 again.” What think you of this text ? Is it 
 the word of God or not ? Is he worthy of be- 
 lief, or not ? Is he able to make good his 
 word, or is he not ? I dare stake all my in- 
 terest in your friendship (which I should be 
 very loath to forfeit), that if you act upon this 
 maxim, in a spirit of prayer and faith, and 
 with a single eye to his glory, you shall not 
 be disappointed. Read over Mat vi. 26 — 34. 
 Shall we confine that reasoning and those pro - 
 mises to the primitive times ? Say not, “ If 
 the Lord would make windows in heaven, 
 this thing might be.” He has more ways to 
 bless and prosper those who trust in hrm, than 
 we are able to point out to him. But I tell 
 you, my friend, he will sooner make windows 
 in heaven, turn stones into bread, yea, stop 
 the sun in his course, than he will suffer those 
 who conscientiously serve him, and depend 
 upon him, to be destitute. 
 
 Some instances we have had of ministers, 
 who have seemed to transgress the bounds of 
 strict prudence in their attention to the poor. 
 But if they have been men of faith, prayer, 
 and zeal ; if they did it, not from a caprice 
 of humour, or a spirit of indolence, but from 
 such motives as the scripture suggests and re- 
 commends, I believe their families have sel- 
 dom suffered for it. I wish you to consult, 
 upon this head, what Mrs. Alleine says, in 
 the affecting account she has given of that 
 honoured and faithful servant of God, her 
 hasband, Joseph Alleine. Besides, you know 
 not what you may actually save in a course 
 of years by this method. The apostle, speak- 
 ing of some abuses that obtained in the church 
 of Corinth, says, “ For this cause many are 
 sick among you.” If prudence should shut 
 up the bowels of your compassion (which 1 
 trust it never will), the Lord might quarter 
 an apothecary upon your family, which would, 
 perhaps, cost you twice the money that would 
 have sufficed to refresh his people, and to 
 commend your ministry and character. 
 
 But if, after all, prudence will be heard, I 
 counsel you to do these two things. First, 
 Be very certain that you allow yourselves in 
 nothing superfluous. You cannot, I trust, in 
 conscience think of laying out one penny more 
 than is barely decent, unless you have an- 
 other penny to help the poor. Then, secondly, 
 Let your friends, who are in good circum- 
 stances, be plainly told, that, though you love 
 them, prudence, and the necessary charge of 
 a family, will not permit you to entertain 
 them ; no, not for a night. What ! say you, 
 shut my door against my friends? Yes, by 
 all means, rather than against Christ. If the 
 Lord Jesus was again upon earth in a state of 
 
 LET. I. 
 
 humiliation, and he, and the best friend you 
 have, standing at your door, and your provi- 
 sion so strait, that you could not receive both, 
 which would you entertain ? Now, he says 
 of the poor, “ Inasmuch as you did it to the 
 least of these my brethren, you did it unto 
 me.” Your friends have houses of their own, 
 and money to pay at an inn, if you do not 
 take them in ; but the poor need relief. One 
 would almost think that passage, Luke xiv. 
 12, 13, 14, was not considered as a part of 
 God’s word ; at least I believe there is no one 
 passage so generally neglected by his own 
 people. I do not think it unlawful to enter- 
 tain our friends ; but if these words do not 
 teach us, that it is in some respects our duty 
 to give a preference to the poor, I am at a 
 loss to understand them. 
 
 I was enabled to set out upon the plan I 
 recommend to you, at a time when my cer- 
 tain income was much too scanty for my own 
 provision, and before I had the expectation or 
 promise of assistance from any person upon 
 earth. Only I knew that the Lord could 
 provide me with whatever he saw needful ; 
 and I trusted, that if he kept me dependent 
 upon himself, and desirous to live for his ser- 
 vice only, he assuredly would do so. I have 
 as yet seen no cause to repent it. I live upon 
 his promise ; for as to any present ways or 
 means, every thing here below is so uncertain, 
 that I consider myself in the s§me situation 
 with the birds of the air, who have neither 
 storehouse nor barn. To-day I have enough 
 for myself, and something to impart to them 
 that need ; as to futurity, the Lord must pro- 
 vide ; and for the most part I can believe he 
 will. I can tell you, however, that now and 
 then my heart is pinched ; unbelief creeps in, 
 and self would much rather choose a strong 
 box, or what the world calls a certainty, than 
 a life of absolute dependence upon the provi- 
 dence of God. However, in my composed 
 hours I am well satisfied. Hitherto he has 
 graciously taken care of me ; therefore may 
 my heart trust in him, and not be afraid. 
 
 Consider, my friend, the Lord has done 
 well for you likewise. He has settled you 
 peaceably in a good and honourable interest ; 
 lie has now answered your prayers, in giving 
 you a partner, w ith whom you may take sw eet 
 counsel, one that will help and strengthen you 
 in your best desires. Bew r are, therefore, of 
 that reasoning which might lead you to dis- 
 trust the Lord your God, or to act as if you 
 did. You complain that there is too much of 
 an expensive taste among some persons in 
 your congregation. If you set yourself to 
 discountenance this, and should at the same 
 time too closely shut up your hands, they will 
 be ready to charge you with being governed 
 by the same wordly spirit, though in another 
 form. If you have been hitherto tender anil 
 bountiful to the poor, and should make too 
 great and too sudden an alteration in this re- 
 
LET. II. 
 
 spcct, if the blame should not fall upon you, 
 it probably would upon your wife, who, I be- 
 lieve, would be far from deserving it. If the 
 house which had been open to the poor in 
 former times, should be shut against them, 
 now you live in it, would it not lead the peo- 
 ple’s thoughts back ? Would it not open the 
 mouths of those who do not love your minis- 
 try, to say, That, notwithstanding all your 
 zeal about doctrines, you know how to take 
 care of your own interest, as well as those 
 whom you have thought indifferent and luke- 
 warm in the cause of the gospel ? Would it 
 not? But I forbear. I know you need no 
 such arguments. Yet consider how many 
 eyes are upon you, watching for your halting. 
 Now, at your first setting out, is the proper 
 time seriously to seek the Lord’s direction, 
 that you may, from the beginning, adopt such 
 a plan as may be most for your own comfort, 
 the honour of your character as a minister, 
 the glory of him who has called you, and the 
 edification of your people. It is easier to be- 
 gin well, than to make alterations afterwards. 
 I trust the Lord will guide and bless you in 
 your deliberations. And, for my own part, 
 I am not in the least afraid, that you will 
 ever have cause to blame me for the advice I 
 have given, if you should be disposed to fol- 
 low it. 
 
 I have given you my opinion freely, and 
 perhaps with an appearance of more strict- 
 ness than is necessary. But I would apply 
 our Lord’s words in another case to this : 
 “ All men cannot receive this saying; he that 
 is able to receive it, let him receive it.” If 
 the Lord has given you this confidence in 
 his word, you are happy. It is better than 
 the possession of thousands by the year. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 EXTRACT OF A LETTER TO A STUDENT IN DI- 
 VINITY. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 The subject of your last is important. I can 
 sympathise with your anxiety, having known 
 much of it myself, and therefore willingly de- 
 vote my first leisure to your service. But 
 shall I indeed condole with you ? or shall I 
 rather congratulate you on the perplexity you 
 complain of? I know it is not pleasing ; but 
 I hope it will be sanctified and profitable to 
 you. 
 
 Though I am no enemy to the acquisition 
 of useful knowledge, 1 have seen many in- 
 stances of young men who have been much 
 hurt by what they expected to reap advantage 
 from. They have gone to the academy hum- 
 ble, peaceable, spiritual, and lively ; but 
 have come out self-wise, dogmatical, censo- 
 
 S9 
 
 rious, and full of a prudence founded upon 
 the false maxims of the world. I have been 
 ready to address them with that line of Mil- 
 ton : 
 
 “ If thou art he— But ah I how fall’n J» 
 
 I do not mention this as the necessary fault 
 of the institution, but as the frequent effect of 
 notions too hastily picked up, when not sanc- 
 tified by grace, nor balanced by a propor- 
 tionable depth of spiritual experience. I am 
 therefore glad to hear, that notwithstanding 
 the advantages you have had in the pursuit of 
 your studies, you feel an inward conviction, 
 that you still need something which you can- 
 not receive from men, or books, in order to 
 complete your fitness for the ministry; that 
 you may be “ a workman that needs not to be 
 ashamed,” and enabled rightly to divide (to 
 distinguish and distribute) the word of truth. 
 
 It seems to me a point of more curiosity 
 than use, to inquire too nicely into the modus 
 of the Holy Spirit’s assistance in the com- 
 posure and delivery of sermons. If we can- 
 not exactly state the boundaries between what 
 we may deem the result of our own thoughts, 
 and the needful influence of the Holy Spirit, 
 it seems a safe way to give him the honour of 
 the whole, and to attribute nothing to our- 
 selves but our infirmities. If we have a ca- 
 pacity, means for improvement, diligence to 
 make use of those means, and if that diligence 
 is attended with any degree of success ; may 
 we not acknowledge, that the former links of 
 this chain are the effect of his goodness and 
 favour, no less than the latter ? 
 
 To the question, How far is it lawful to 
 expect this assistance ? I answer, It is law- 
 ful very far, even to lay the whole stress up- 
 on it, so as to be firmly persuaded that we 
 can neither meditate nor speak to purpose 
 without it ; that if we have not this assist- 
 ance, whatever else we have, or may think we 
 have, we shall but “ darken counsel by words 
 without knowledge.” For this, I think, I 
 have warrant in John xv. 5. If any person 
 supposes he has so far mastered a system of 
 divinity, that though he can indeed do better 
 with the Spirit’s assistance, yet he can make 
 a tolerable shift without it, I envy him not 
 this attainment. 
 
 But if the question intends, How far a de- 
 pendence upon the Holy Spirit may lawfully 
 supersede the use of means ? I answer, Not 
 in the least. The blessing and the means are 
 so closely united, that they cannot be sepa- 
 rated. The blessing may be surely expect- 
 ed, if diligently sought in the use of proper 
 means ; and we have no just reason to expect 
 it without them. But to clear up the whole, 
 let it be considered, What may deserve the 
 name of diligence in this matter ? and what 
 are the proper means ? 
 
 By diligence, I understand spiritual dili- 
 gence ; such an active, improving, industrious 
 
 TO A STUDENT IN DIVINITY. 
 
40 
 
 habit, as is peculiar to a heart impressed with 
 some real abiding sense of the love of God, 
 the worth of souls, the shortness of time, and 
 the importance of eternity. Without this turn 
 of mind, though a man should spend sixteen 
 hours every day in his study, he may be a 
 mere trifler. The greatest part of his appli- 
 cation will be spent on what is least neces- 
 sary, and his knowledge will chiefly prove of 
 that sort which puffeth up, without commu- 
 nicating any real benefit. Gen. xli. 21. Psal. 
 cxxvii. 2. 
 
 The chief means for attaining wisdom, and 
 suitable gifts for the ministry, are, the holy 
 scriptures and prayer. The one is the foun- 
 tain of living water, the other the bucket 
 with which we are to draw. And I believe 
 you will find, by observation, that the man 
 who is most frequent and fervent in prayer, 
 and most devoted to the word of God, will 
 shine and flourish above his fellows. Next 
 to these, and derived from them, is medita- 
 tion. By this I do not mean a stated exercise 
 upon some one particular subject, so much 
 as a disposition of mind to observe carefully 
 what passes within us and around us; what 
 we see, hear, and feel ; and to apply all for 
 the illustration and confirmation of the writ- 
 ten word to us. In the use of these means, 
 and an humble dependence upon the Lord in 
 all the changing dispensations we pass through, 
 our spiritual experience will enlarge ; and this 
 experience is the proper fund of our ministe- 
 rial capacity, so far as it may be considered 
 inherent in us. Prov. xvi. 23. Mat. xiii. 52. 
 
 1 John i. 3. 
 
 These means are of universal importance. 
 The wisest can do nothing without them ; the 
 weakest shall not use them in vain. There 
 are likewise subordinate means, which may be 
 helpful, and should in general be attended 
 to. Yet they oughL not, I apprehend, to be 
 considered as a sine qua non in a minister’s 
 call and fitness. The first preachers had them 
 not, and some in the present day are enabled to 
 do well without them. Under this head, I prin- 
 cipally intend all that comes under the usual 
 denomination of literature. A competent ac- 
 quaintance with the learned languages, history, 
 natural philosophy, &c. is very desirable. If 
 these things are held in a proper subserviency, 
 if they do not engross too much of our time, 
 nor add fuel to the fire of that self-import- 
 ance which is our great snare, they may con- 
 tribute to increase and enlarge our ideas, and 
 facilitate our expressing ourselves with pro- 
 priety. But these attainments, like riches, 
 are attended with their peculiar temptations ; 
 and unless they are under the regulation of a 
 sound judgment, and spiritual frame of mind, 
 will prove, like Saul’s armour to David, ra- 
 ther cumbersome than useful in preaching. 
 The sermons of preachers thus qualified are 
 often more ingenious than edifying, and ra- | 
 
 LET. II. 
 
 ther set off the man, than commend <iie gos- 
 pel of Christ. 
 
 As you desire my advice with respect to 
 your future studies, I shall comply, without 
 hesitation or ceremony. 
 
 The original scriptures well deserve your 
 pains, and will richly repay them. There is, 
 doubtless, a beauty, fulness, and spirit, in the 
 originals, which the best translations do not 
 always express. When a word or phrase ad- 
 mits of various senses, the translators can only 
 preserve one ; and it is not to be supposed, 
 unless they were perfectly under the influence 
 of the same infallible Spirit, that they should 
 always prefer the best. Only be upon your 
 guard, lest you should be tempted to think, 
 that because you are master of the grammati- 
 cal construction, and can tell the several ac- 
 ceptations of the words in the best authors, 
 you are therefore and thereby master of the 
 spiritual sense likewise. This you must de- 
 rive from your experimental knowledge, and 
 the influence and teaching of the Spirit of 
 God. 
 
 Another thing which will much assist you 
 in composing, and speaking properly and ac- 
 ceptably, is logic. This will teach you what 
 properly belongs to your subject, and what 
 may be best suppressed ; and likewise to ex- 
 plain, divide, enumerate, and range your ideas 
 to advantage. A lax, immethodical, dispro- 
 portionate manner is to be avoided ; yet be- 
 ware of the contrary extreme. An affected 
 starchness and over-accuracy will fetter you, 
 will make your discourse lean and dry, pre- 
 clude an useful variety, and savour more of 
 the school-lamp, than of that heavenly fire, 
 which alone can make our meditations efiica- 
 cacious, and profitable either to ourselves or 
 our hearers. The proper medium can hardly 
 be taught by rule ; experience, observation, 
 and prayer, are the best guides. 
 
 As your inquiry seems chiefly to be, How 
 to fill up your outlines ? I would advise you 
 to study the living, as well as the dead, or ra- 
 ther more. Converse much with experienced 
 Christians, and exercised souls. You will find 
 advantage in this respect, not only from the 
 wise, but from the weak of the flock. In the 
 course of your acquaintance, you will meet 
 with some in a backsliding state, some under 
 temptations, some walking in darkness, others 
 rejoicing in the light, &c. Observe how their 
 spirits work, what they say, and how they 
 reason in their several cases ; what methods 
 and arguments you find most successful in 
 comforting the feeble-minded, raising up those 
 who are cast down, and the like ; and what 
 answers they return. Compare these with the 
 word of God, and your own heart. What you 
 observe of ten persons in these different situa- 
 tions, may be applied to ten thousand. For 
 though some circumstances vary, the heart of 
 man, the aids of grace, and the artifices of 
 
 TO A STUDENT IN DIVINITY. 
 
list. II. TO A STUDEN 
 
 Satan, in general, are universally the same. 
 And whenever you are to preach, remember 
 that some of all these sorts will probably be 
 before you, and each should have something 
 said to their own peculiar case. 
 
 The tempted and distressed will be most 
 probably relieved, by opening the various 
 states and exercises of the heart, and by show- 
 ing, from scriptural and other examples, that 
 no new thing has befallen them. The care- 
 less and backsliders, who have made a pro- 
 fession, should be reminded of that blessed- 
 ness they once spoke of, and warned of their 
 danger. Those who are now upon the mount 
 should be cautioned to expect a change, and 
 to guard against security and spiritual pride. 
 To the dead in trespasses and sins (some such 
 will be always present), it is needful to preach 
 the spirituality and sanction of the law, that 
 they may be stirred up to seek Jesus. Of 
 him all awakened souls love to hear much. 
 Let him, therefore, be your capital subject. 
 If you discuss some less essential topic, or 
 bend all your strength to clear up some dark 
 text, though you should display much learn- 
 ing and ingenuity, you will probably fall 
 short of your main design, which, I dare say, 
 will be to promote Jie glory of God, and the 
 good of souls. 
 
 You will likewise find advantage, by at- 
 tending as much as you can on thoSfe preach- 
 ers, whom God has blessed with much power, 
 life, and success in their ministry ; and in this 
 you will do well not to confine yourself to 
 any denomination or party ; for the Spirit of 
 the Lord is not confined. Different men have 
 different gifts and talents. I would not wish 
 you to be a slavish admirer of any man. 
 Christ alone is our Master and Teacher. But 
 study the excellencies of each ; and if you 
 observe a fault in any (for no human models 
 are perfect), you will see what you are your- 
 self to avoid. 
 
 Your inquiries respecting my own experi- 
 ence on this subject, must be answered very 
 briefly. I have long since learned, that if I 
 was ever to be a minister, faith and prayer 
 must make me one. I desire to seek the Lord’s 
 direction, both in the choice and management 
 of subjects ; but I do not expect it in a way 
 of extraordinary impulse, but in endeavouring 
 to avail myself, to the best of my judgment, 
 of present circumstances. The converse I 
 have with my people usually suggests what I 
 am to preach to them. At first, my chief so- 
 licitude used to be, what I should find to 
 say ; I hope it is now, rather that I may not 
 speak in vain. For the Lord has sent me 
 here, not to acquire the character of a ready 
 
 T IN DIVINITY. 4.1 
 
 speaker, but to win souls to Christ, and to 
 edify his people. As to preparation, I make 
 little use of books, excepting the Bible and 
 Concordance. Though I preach without notes, 
 I must frequently write more or less upon the 
 subject. Often, when I begin, I am at a loss 
 how I shall proceed; but one thing insen- 
 sibly offers after another, and, in general, I 
 believe, the best and most useful parts of my 
 sermon occur de novo , while I am preaching. 
 This reminds me of Luther’s maxim. “ Bene 
 precasse est bene studuisse .” When I can find 
 my heart in frame and liberty for prayer, every 
 thing else is comparatively easy. 
 
 I should be very glad if any thing I have 
 offered may afford you satisfaction. The sum 
 of my advice is this : Examine your heart 
 
 and views. Can you appeal to him who knows 
 all tilings concerning the sincerity of your 
 aim, that you devote yourself to the work of 
 the ministry, not for worldly regards, but with 
 an humble desire to promote the Redeemer’s 
 kingdom. If so, and his providence has thus 
 far concurred with you, trust him for your 
 sufficiency of every kind, and he will not dis- 
 appoint you, but will be near to strengthen 
 you according to your day. Depend not up- 
 on any cisterns you can hew out for your- 
 self, but rejoice that you have liberty to 
 come to the fountain that is always full, and 
 always flowing. You must not expect a me- 
 chanical sufficiency, such as artificers acquire 
 by habit and exercise in their business. When 
 you have preached well nineteen times, this 
 will be no security for the twentieth. Yea, 
 when you have been upheld for twenty years, 
 should the Lord with-hold his hand, you 
 would be as much at a loss as at first. 
 
 If you lean upon books or men, or upon 
 your own faculties and attainments, you will 
 be in fear and in danger of falling continu- 
 ally. But if you stay yourself upon the Lord, 
 he will not only make good your expectations, 
 but in time will give you a becoming confi- 
 dence in his goodness, and free you from your 
 present anxiety. 
 
 One thing more I must mention as be- 
 longing to the subject : That a comfortable 
 freedom for public service depends much up- 
 on the spirituality of our walk before God 
 and man. Wisdom will not dwell with a trif- 
 ling, an assuming, a censorious, or a worldly 
 spirit. But if it is our business, and our plea- 
 sure, to contemplate Jesus, and to walk in 
 his steps, he will bless us ; we shall be like 
 trees planted by a constant stream, and he 
 will prosper the work of our hands. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
42 
 
 LET. III. 
 
 ON 2 COR. V. 10, AND ROM. XIV. 12. 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 A LETTER TO A FRIEND, ON THE QUESTION, 
 WHETHER THE SINS OF BELIEVERS SHALL BE 
 PUBLICLY DECLARED AT THE GREAT DAY ? 
 OR, HOW ARE WE TO UNDERSTAND THE APOS- 
 TLE’S ASSERTION, “ 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?” 2 COR. V. 10, COMPARED WITH ROM. 
 XIV. 12. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, 
 
 My heart congratulates you. What changes 
 and events many, in younger life, may be re- 
 served to see, who can tell ? But your pil- 
 grimage is nearly finished ; you stand upon 
 the river’s brink, with the city full in view, 
 waiting and wishing for the appointed hour. 
 You need not be anxious concerning your 
 passage ; for every circumstance attending it 
 is already adjusted by infinite wisdom and 
 love, and the King himself will be ready to 
 receive you. While you continue here, I am 
 glad to hear from you, and should be glad to 
 contribute in any way or degree to your sa- 
 tisfaction, or even to shew my willingness, if 
 I can do no more. I can propose little more 
 than the latter, by offering my thoughts on the 
 subject you propose from 2 Cor. v. 10, and 
 the apparent difficulty of understanding that 
 passage, in full harmony with the many texts 
 which seem expressly to assert, that the sins 
 of believers are so forgiven as to be remem- 
 bered no more. 
 
 There is doubtless, as you observe, a perfect 
 consistence in every part of the word of God ; 
 the difficulties we meet with are wholly owing 
 to the narrowness of our faculties, and the 
 ignorance which, in some degree, is insepar- 
 able from our present state of imperfection. 
 And we may, in general, rest satisfied with 
 the thought, that there is a bright moment 
 approaching, when the veil shall be wholly 
 taken away. It is the part of faith to rest 
 upon the plain declarations of scripture, with- 
 out indulging a blameable curiosity of know- 
 ing more than is clearly revealed ; yet, while 
 we humbly depend upon divine teaching, it is 
 right to aim at as enlarged a sense of what is 
 revealed as we can attain to. Every acquisi- 
 tion of this kind is more valuable than gold, 
 especially respecting those points which have 
 an immediate tendency to comfort and sup- 
 port us under the view of an approaching dis- 
 solution. The question you have proposed is 
 undoubtedly of this nature. 
 
 May the Lord direct my thoughts and pen, 
 that I may not “ darken counsel by words 
 without knowledge !” I have been looking 
 over the passage you refer to in Dr. Ridgley, 
 
 and think I might be well excused from saying 
 any thing further on the subject, as he hath 
 briefly and fully stated all the arguments that 
 have occured to me on either side of the ques- 
 tion, and closes with a proper caution not to 
 be peremptory in determining, lest by attempt- 
 ing to be wise above what is written, I should 
 betray my own folly. Yet, as you desire to 
 have my thoughts, I must say something. I 
 wish I may not give you reason to think that 
 this caution has been lost upon me. 
 
 I think all the great truths in which we are 
 concerned, are clearly, and expressly laid down, 
 not only in one, but in many places of scrip- 
 ture ; but it sometimes happens, that here and 
 there we meet with a text, which, in the first 
 and obvious sound of the words, seems to 
 speak differently from what is asserted more 
 largely elsewhere ; which texts, singly taken, 
 afford some men their only ground for the 
 hypothesis they maintain. Thus the Arians 
 lay a great stress on John xiv. 28, and the 
 Arminians on James ii. 24, &c. But their 
 true interpretation is to be sought according 
 to the analogy of faith. They are capable of 
 a sense agreeable to the others, though the 
 others are not intelligible in the sense they 
 would fix upon these. In like manner, I 
 would say, whatever maybe the precise mean- 
 ing of 2 Cor. v. 10, we are sure it cannot be 
 designed to weaken what we are taught in al- 
 most every page, of the free, absolute, and 
 unalterable nature of a believer’s justification ; 
 the benefit of which, as to the forgiveness of 
 sin, is signified by the phrases of “ blotting 
 out,” — “not remembering,” — “casting behind 
 the back,” — and “into the depths of the 
 sea.” The sins of a believer are so effectually 
 removed, that even when, or if they are sought 
 for, they cannot be found ; for Jesus has 
 borne them away : believers are complete in 
 him, and clothed in his righteousness. They 
 shall stand before God without spot or wrin- 
 kle. Who shall lay any thing to their charge ? 
 
 But it is probable that those stray expres- 
 sions chiefly, if not entirely, respect the guilt, 
 imputation, and deserved consequences of sin. 
 
 None can suppose that the Lord will, or 
 can forget the sins of his people, or that they 
 can ever be hid from his all-comprehending 
 view. Neither can I think they themselves 
 will forget them. Their song is founded up- 
 on a recollection of their sins and their cir- 
 cumstances in this life, Rev. v. 9 ; and their 
 love, and consequently, their happiness, seems 
 inseparably connected with the consciousness 
 of what they were, and what they had done, 
 Luke vii. 47. And I think those are the 
 sweetest moments in this life, when we have 
 the clearest sense of our own sins, provided 
 the sense of our acceptance in the Beloved is 
 proportionably clear, and we feel the consola- 
 tions of his love, notwithstanding all our trans- 
 gressions. When we arrive in glory, unbelief 
 and fear will cease for ever; our nearness to 
 
LET. IV. ON FAMILY- 
 
 God, and communion with him, will be un- 
 speakable beyond what we can now conceive. 
 Therefore, the remembrance of our sins will 
 be no abatement of our bliss, but rather the 
 contrary. When Pharaoh and his host were 
 alive, and pursuing them, the Israelites were 
 terrified ; but afterwards, when they saw their 
 enemies dead upon the shore, their joy and 
 triumph were not abated, but heightened, by 
 the consideration of their number. 
 
 With respect to our sins being made known 
 to others, I acknowledge with you, that I 
 could not now bear to have any of my fellow- 
 creatures made acquainted with what passes 
 in my heart for a single day ; but, I appre- 
 hend it is a part, and a proof of my present 
 depravity, that I feel myself disposed to pay 
 so great a regard to the judgment of men, 
 while I am so little affected with what I am 
 in the sight of a pure and holy God. But 
 I believe that hereafter, when self shall be en- 
 tirely rooted out, and my will perfectly united 
 to the divine will, I should feel no reluctance, 
 supposing it for the manifestation of his glo- 
 rious grace, that men, angels, and devils, 
 should know the very worst of me. Whether 
 it will be so or no, I dare not determine. 
 Perhaps the difficulty chiefly lies in the neces- 
 sity of our being at present taught heavenly 
 things by earthly. In the descriptions we 
 have of the great day, allusion is made to 
 what is most solemn in human transactions. 
 The ideas of the judgment-seat, the great 
 trumpet, of the books being opened, and the 
 pleadings, Matth. xxv. 37 — 44, seem to be 
 borrowed from the customs that obtain 
 amongst men, to help our weak conceptions, 
 rather than justly and fully to describe what 
 will be the real process. Now, when we at- 
 tempt to look into the unseen world, we carry 
 our ideas of time and place, and sensible ob- 
 jects, along with us ; and we cannot divest 
 ourselves of them, or provide ourselves with 
 better ; yet, perhaps, they have as little rela- 
 tion to the objects we aim at, as the ideas 
 which a man born blind acquires from what 
 he hears and feels, have to the true nature of 
 light and colours. Mr. Locke mentions one, 
 who, after much thought and conversation, 
 supposed he had got a tolerable notion of 
 scarlet, and that it was something nearly re- 
 sembling the sound of a trumpet. Perhaps, 
 this is no improper emblem of the utmost we 
 can attain to, when we are endeavouring to 
 realize the solemnities of the judgment-day. 
 What me mean by memory and reasoning, 
 may possibly have no place in the world of 
 spirits. We guess at something more suit- 
 able, perhaps, when we use the term intuition. 
 But I apprehend we must die before we can 
 fully understand what it signifies : perhaps, 
 thoughts may be as intelligible there as words 
 are here. 
 
 In a word, my dear Sir, if I have not given 
 you satisfaction (I am sure I have not satis- 
 
 -WORSHIP. 43 
 
 fied myself), accept my apology In the words 
 of a much wiser, and an inspired man : “ Such 
 knowledge is too wonderful for me: it is 
 high, I cannot attain unto it.” Ere long we 
 shall know : in the mean while our cause is 
 in sure hands, we have a Shepherd who will 
 guide us below, an Advocate who will receive 
 and present us before the throne above. I 
 trust we meet daily before the throne of grace, 
 hereafter we shall meet in glory. The paper 
 will allow no more. Believe me yours in the 
 Lord, &c. 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 TO THERON, ON FAMILY- WORSHIP. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 A NEGLECT of family-prayer is, I am afraid, 
 too common amongst professors in this day. 1 
 am glad that you consider it both as a duty 
 and a privilege, and are by grace determined, 
 that when you shall commence master of a 
 family, you will worship God with all your 
 house. It was Abraham’s commendation, 
 that he not only served the Lord himself, but 
 was solicitous that his children and household 
 might serve him likewise. I trust that he 
 who inclines your heart to walk in the foot- 
 steps of faithful Abraham will bless you in 
 the attempt, and give you peace in your dwel- 
 ling ; a mercy which is seldom enjoyed, 
 which, indeed, can hardly be expected, by 
 those families which call not upon the Lord. 
 
 Though I readily comply with your request, 
 and should be glad if I can offer any thing 
 that may assist or animate you in your good 
 purpose ; I am afraid I shall not answer your 
 expectations with regard to the particulars of 
 your inquiry, concerning the most proper me 
 thod of conducting family- worship. The cir- 
 cumstances of families are so various, that no 
 determinate rules can be laid down, nor has 
 the word of God prescribed any ; because, 
 being of universal obligation, it is wisely and 
 graciously accommodated to suit the different 
 situations of his people. You must, there- 
 fore, as to circumstantials, judge for yourself. 
 You will do well to pursue such a method as 
 you shall find most convenient to yourself and 
 family, without scrupulously binding yourself, 
 when the scripture has left you free. 
 
 We have no positive precept enjoining us 
 any set time for prayer, nor even how often 
 we should pray, either in public or private ; 
 though the expressions of, “ continuing in- 
 stant in prayer,” “ praying without ceasing,” 
 and the like, plainly intimate that prayer 
 should be frequent. Daniel prayed three 
 times a-day ; which the Psalmist speaks of as 
 his practice likewise ; and in one place de- 
 clares his purpose of praising God seven times 
 a-day. This last expression is perhaps, inde- 
 
LET IV. 
 
 44 ON FAMILY- 
 
 finite, not precisely seven times, but very 
 often. Indeed, a person who lives in the 
 exercise of faith and love, and who finds, by 
 experience, that it is good for him to draw 
 nigh to God, will not want to be told how 
 often he must pray, any more than how often 
 he must converse with an earthly friend. 
 Those whom we love, we love to be much 
 with. Love is the best casuist, and either re- 
 solves or prevents a thousand scruples and 
 questions, which may perplex those who only 
 serve God from principles of constraint and 
 fear. And a believer will account those his 
 happiest days, when he has most leisure, and 
 most liberty of spirit, for the exercise of 
 prayer. However, I think family-prayer can- 
 not be said to be stated, unless it be performed 
 at least daily, and, when unavoidable hinder- 
 ances do not prevent, twice a-day. Though 
 all times and seasons are alike to the Lord, 
 and his ear is always open, whenever we have 
 a heart to call upon him ; yet to us there is a 
 peculiar suitableness in beginning and closing 
 the day with prayer ; in the morning, to ac- 
 knowledge his goodness in our preservation 
 through the night, and entreat his presence 
 and blessing on our persons and callings in 
 the course of the day ; and at night, to praise 
 him for the mercies of the day past, to humble 
 ourselves before him for what has been amiss, 
 to wait on him for a renewed manifestation of 
 his pardoning love, and to commit ourselves 
 and our concerns to his care and protection 
 while we sleep. You will of course chuse 
 those hours when you are least liable to be 
 incommoded by the calls of business, and 
 when the family can assemble with the most 
 convenience ; only I would observe, that it 
 greatly preserves regularity and good order in 
 a house, to keep constantly to the same hours 
 when it is practicable ; and likewise, that it is 
 best not to defer evening-prayer till late, if it 
 can be well avoided, lest some who join in 
 the exercise, and perhaps the person himself 
 who leads in it, should be too weary or sleepy 
 to give a due attention. On this account, I 
 should advise to have family-prayer before 
 supper, where people have the choice and dis- 
 posal of their own hours. 
 
 I think, with you, that it is very expedient 
 and proper that reading a portion of the word 
 of God should be ordinarily a part of our fa- 
 mily-worship ; so likewise, to sing a hymn or 
 psalm, or part of one, at discretion, provided 
 there are some persons in the family who 
 have enough of a musical ear and voice to 
 conduct the singing in a tolerable manner ; 
 otherwise, perhaps, it may be better omitted. 
 If you read and sing, as well as pray, care 
 should be taken that the combined services do 
 not run into an inconvenient length. 
 
 The chief tiling to be attended to is, that it 
 may be a spiritual service ; and the great evil 
 to be dreaded and guarded against in the ex- 
 ercise of every duty that returns frequently 
 
 WORSHIP. 
 
 upon us, is formality. If a stated course of 
 family-prayer is kept up as constantly in its 
 season as the striking of the clock, it may come 
 in time to be almost as mechanically perform- 
 ed, unless we are continually looking to the 
 Lord to keep our hearts alive. It most fre- 
 quently happens, that one or more members 
 of a family are unconverted persons. When 
 there are such present a great regard should be 
 had to them, and every thing conducted with 
 a view to their edification, that they may not be 
 disgusted, or wearied, or tempted, to think 
 that it is little more than the fashion or cus- 
 tom of the house ; which will probably be the 
 case, unless the master of the family is lively 
 and earnest in the performance of the duty, and 
 likewise circumspect and consistent in every 
 part of his behaviour at other times. By 
 leading in the worship of God before children, 
 servants, or strangers, a man gives bond, as 
 it were, for his behaviour, and adds strength 
 to every other motive which should engage 
 him to abstain from all appearance of evil. It 
 should be a constant check upon our language 
 and tempers in the presence of our families, to 
 consider that we began the day, and propose to 
 end it with them in prayer. The Apostle Peter 
 uses this argument to influence the conduct 
 of husbands and wives towards each other ; 
 and it is equally applicable to all the members 
 of a family ; “ That your prayers be not hin- 
 dered:” that is, either prevented and cut off, 
 or despoiled of all life and efficacy, by the fer- 
 ment of sinful passions. On the other hand, 
 the proper exercise of family-prayer, when re- 
 commended by a suitable deportment, is a 
 happy means of instructing children and ser- 
 vants in the great truths of religion, of soften- 
 ing their prejudices, and inspiring them with 
 a temper of respect and affection, which will 
 dispose them to cheerful obedience, and make 
 them unwilling to grieve or offend. In this 
 instance, as in every other, we may observe, 
 that the Lord’s commands to his people are 
 not arbitrary appointments, but that, so far as 
 they are conscientiously complied with, they 
 have an evident tendency and suitableness to 
 promote our own advantage. He requires us to 
 acknowledge him in our families, for our own 
 sakes ; not because he has need of our poor 
 services, but because we have need of his bles- 
 sing, and without the influence of his grace 
 (which is promised to all who seek it) are sure 
 to be unhappy in ourselves and in all our 
 connections. 
 
 When husband and wife are happily par- 
 takers of the same faith, it seems expedient, 
 and for their mutual good, that besides their 
 private devotions, and joining in family-prayer, 
 they should pray together. They have many 
 wants, mercies, and concerns, in common with 
 each other, and distinct from tl c rest of the 
 family. The manner in which they should 
 improve a little time in tills joint exercise can- 
 not well* be prescribed by a third person ; yet 
 
LET. V. 
 
 I will venture to suggest one thing ; and the 
 rather, as I do not remember to have met with 
 it in print. I conceive that it may prove 
 much to their comfort to pray alternately, not 
 only the husband with and for the wife, but 
 the wife with and for the husband. The Spirit 
 of God by the apostle, has expressly restrained 
 women from the exercise of spiritual gifts in 
 public, but I apprehend the practice I am 
 speaking of can no way interfere with that re- 
 striction. I suppose them in private together, 
 and then I judge it to be equally right and pro- 
 per for either of them to pray with the other. 
 Nor do I meet with any thing in St Paul’s 
 writings to prevent my thinking, that if he 
 had been a married man, he would, though an 
 apostle, have been glad of the prayers of his wife. 
 If you ask, how often they should pray togeth- 
 er ? I think the oftener the better, provided it 
 does not break in upon their duties ; once a- 
 day at least ; and if there is a choice of hours, 
 it might be as well at some distance from their 
 other seasons of worship. But I would ob- 
 serve, as before, that in matters not expressly 
 commanded, prudence and experience must 
 direct. 
 
 I have written upon the supposition that you 
 use extempore prayer ; but as there are many 
 Aeads of families who fear the Lord, and have 
 not yet attained liberty to pray extempore before 
 others, I would add, that their inability in this 
 respect, whether real, or whether only pro- 
 ceeding from fear, and an undue regard to self, 
 will not justify them in the omission of family - 
 prayer. Helps may be procured. Mr. Jenk’s 
 Devotions are in many hands, and I doubt not 
 but there are other excellent books of the same 
 kind, with which I am not acquainted. If 
 they begin with a form, not with a design to 
 confine themselves always to one, but make it 
 a part of their secret pleading at the throne of 
 grace, that they may be favoured with the gift 
 and spirit of prayer ; and accustom themselves 
 while they use a form, to intersperse some pe- 
 titions of their own ; there is little doubt but 
 they will in time find a growth in liberty and 
 ability, and at length lay their book entirely 
 aside. For it being every believer’s duty to 
 worship God in his family, his promise may 
 be depended upon, to give them a sufficiency 
 in all things, for those services which he re- 
 quires of them. 
 
 Happy is that family where the worship of 
 God is constantly and conscientiously main- 
 tained. Such houses are temples, in which 
 the Lord dwells, and castles garrisoned by a 
 divine power. I do not say, that, by honour- 
 ing God in your house, you will wholly es- 
 cape a share in the trials incident to the pre- 
 sent uncertain state of things. A measure of 
 such trials will be necessary for the exercise 
 and manifestation of your graces, to give you a 
 more convincing proof of the truth and sweet- 
 ness of the promises made to a time of afflic- 
 tion, to mortify the body of sin and to wean 
 
 45 
 
 you more effectually from the world. But 
 this I will confidently say, that the Lord will 
 both honour and comfort those who thus ho- 
 nour him. Seasons will occur in which you 
 shall know, and probably your neighbours 
 shall be constrained to take notice, that he has 
 not bid you seek him in vain. If you meet 
 with troubles, they shall be accompanied by 
 supports, and followed by deliverance; and 
 you shall upon many occasions experience, 
 that he is your protector, preserving you and 
 yours from the evils by which you will see 
 others suffering around you. 
 
 I have rather exceeded the limits I proposed, 
 and therefore shall only add a request, that in 
 your addresses at the throne of grace you will 
 remember, &c. 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 ON THE SNARES AND DIFFICULTIES ATTENDING 
 THE MINISTRY OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 I AM glad to hear that you are ordained, and 
 that the Lord is about to fix you in a place 
 where there is a prospect of your being great- 
 ly useful. He has given you the desire of 
 your heart ; and I hope he has given you 
 likewise a heart to devote yourself, without 
 reserve, to his service, and the service of souls 
 for his sake. I willingly comply with your 
 request ; and shall without ceremony, offer you 
 such thoughts as occur to me upon this occa- 
 sion. 
 
 You have, doubtless, often anticipated in 
 your mind the nature of the service to which 
 you are now called, and made it the subject of 
 much consideration and prayer. But a dis- 
 tant view of the ministry is generally very dif- 
 ferent from what it is found to be when we 
 are actually engaged in it. The young sol- 
 dier, who has never seen an enemy, may form 
 some general notions of what is before him ; 
 but his ideas will be much more lively and 
 diversified when he comes upon the field of bat- 
 tle. If the Lord was to shew us the whole 
 before hand, who that has a due sense of his 
 own insufficiency and weakness, would ven- 
 ture to engage ? But he first draws us by a 
 constraining sense of his love, and by giving 
 us an impression of the worth of souls, and 
 leaves us to acquire a knowledge of what is 
 difficult and disagreeable by a gradual expe- 
 rience. The ministry of the gospel, like the 
 book which the apostle John ate, is a bitter 
 sweet ; but the sweetness is tasted first, the bit- 
 terness is usually known afterwards when we 
 are so far engaged that there is no going 
 back. 
 
 Yet I would not discourage you ; it is a 
 good and noble cause, and we serve a good 
 and gracious Master; who, though he will 
 
 ON THE SNARES AND DIFFICULTIES, &C. 
 
LET. V 
 
 46 
 
 make us feel our weakness and vileness, will 
 not suffer us to sink under it. His grace is 
 sufficient for us ; and if he favours us with 
 an humble and dependant spirit, a single eye 
 and a simple heart, he will make every diffi- 
 culty give way, and mountains will sink into 
 plains before his power. 
 
 You have known something of Satan’s de- 
 vices while you were in private life : how he 
 has envied your privileges, assaulted your 
 peace, and laid snares for your feet : though 
 the Lord would not suffer him to hurt you, 
 he has permitted him to sift and tempt, and 
 shoot his fiery arrows at you. Without some 
 of this discipline, you would have been very 
 unfit for that part of your office which consists 
 in speaking a word in season to weary and 
 heavy-laden souls. But you may now expect 
 to hear from him, and to be beset by his power 
 and subtilty in a different manner. You are 
 now to be placed in the forefront of the battle, 
 and to stand as it were, for his mark : so far 
 as he can prevail against you now, not your- 
 self only, but many others, will be affected : 
 many eyes will be upon you ; and if you take 
 a wrong step, or are ensnared into a wrong 
 spirit, you will open the mouths of the adver- 
 saries wider, and grieve the hearts of believers 
 more sensibly than if the same things had 
 happened to you while you was a layman. 
 The work of the ministry is truly honourable ; 
 but, like the post of honour in a battle, it is 
 attended with peculiar dangers ; therefore 
 the apostle cautions Timothy, “ Take heed 
 to thyself, and to thy doctrine.” To thyself 
 in the first place, and then to thy doctrine ; 
 the latter without the former would be imprac- 
 ticable and vain. 
 
 You have need to be upon your guard in 
 whatever way your first attempts to preach the 
 gospel may seem to operate. If you should (as 
 may probably be the case, where the truth has 
 been little known) meet with much opposition, 
 you will perhaps find it a heavier txial than 
 you are aware of ; but I speak of it only as it 
 might draw forth your corruptions, and give Sa- 
 tan advantage against you, and this may be two 
 ways : first, by embittering your spirit against 
 opposers, so as to speak in anger, to set them 
 at defiance, or retaliate upon them in their own 
 way ; which, besides bringing guilt upon your 
 conscience, would of course increase your dif- 
 ficulties, and impede your usefulness. A vio- 
 lent opposition against ministers and profes- 
 sors of the gospel is sometimes expressed by 
 the devil’s roaring, and some people think no 
 good can be done without it. It is allowed, 
 that men who love darkness will shew their 
 dislike of the light ; but, I believe, if the wis- 
 dom and meekness of the friends of the gos- 
 pel had been always equal to their good inten- 
 tions and zeal, the devil would not have had 
 opportunity of roaring so loud as he has some- 
 times done. The subject-matter of the gos- 
 pel is offence enough to the carnal heart ; wo 
 
 must therefore expect opposition ; but we 
 should not provoke or despise it, or do any 
 thing to aggravate it. A patient continuance 
 in well-doing, a consistency in character, and 
 an attention to return kind offices for hard 
 treatment, will, in course of time, greatly sof- 
 ten the spirit of opposition ; and instances are 
 to be found of ministers, who are treated with 
 some respect, even by those persons in their pa- 
 rishes who are most averse to their doctrine. 
 When the apostle directs us, “ If it be possible, 
 and as much as in us lies, to live peaceably with 
 all men,” he seems to intimate, that though 
 it be difficult, it is not wholly impractible. We 
 cannot change the rooted prejudices of their 
 hearts against the gospel ; but it is possible, 
 by the Lord’s blessing, to stop their mouths 
 and make them ashamed of discovering it, 
 when they behold our good conversation in 
 Christ. And it is well worth our while to 
 cultivate this outward peace, provided we do 
 not purchase it at the expense of truth and 
 faithfulness; for ordinarily we cannot hope 
 to be useful to our people, unless we give 
 them reason to believe that we love them, and 
 have their interest at heart. Again, opposition 
 will hurt you, if it should give you an 'idea of 
 your own importance, and lead you to dwell 
 with a secret self-approbation upon your 
 own faithfulness and courage in such circum- 
 stances. If you are able to stand your 
 ground uninfluenced either by the favour or 
 the fear of men, you have reason to give glory to 
 God ; but remember, that you cannot thus 
 stand an hour, unless he upholds you. It 
 shews a strong turn of mind, when we are very 
 ready to speak of our trials and difficulties of 
 this kind, and of our address and resolution in 
 encountering them. A natural stiffness of 
 spirit, with a desire to have self taken notice 
 of, may make a man willing to endure those 
 kind of hardships, though he has but little grace 
 in exercise ; but true Christian fortitude, from 
 a consciousness that we speak the truths of 
 God, and are supported by his power is a very 
 different thing. 
 
 If you should meet with but little opposi- 
 tion, or if the Lord should be pleased to make 
 your enemies your friends, you will probably 
 be in danger from the opposite quarter. If 
 opposition has hurt many, popularity has 
 wounded more. To say the truth, I am in 
 some pain for you. Your natural abilities 
 are considerable ; you have been diligent in 
 your studies ; your zeal is warm, and your 
 spirit is lively. With these advantages, I ex- 
 pect to see you a popular preacher. The 
 more you are so, the greater will your field of 
 usefulness be : but, alas ! you cannot yet 
 know to what it will expose you. It is like 
 walking upon ice. When you shall see an at- 
 tentive congregation hanging upon your words ; 
 when you shall hear the well-meant, but often 
 injudicious, commendations of those to whom 
 the Lord shall make you useful ; w hen you 
 
 ON THE SNARES AND DIFFICULTIES, &C. 
 
 I 
 
LET. VI. 
 
 shall find, upon an intimation of your preach- 
 ing in a strange place, people thronging from 
 all parts to hear you, how will your heart feel ? 
 It is easy for me to advise you to be humble, 
 and for you to acknowledge the propriety of 
 the advice ; but while human nature remains 
 in its present state, there will be almost the 
 same connection between popularity and pride, 
 as between fire and gunpowder ; they cannot 
 meet without an explosion , at least, not un- 
 less the gunpowder is kept very damp. So 
 unless the Lord is constantly moistening our 
 hearts (if I may so speak) by the influences 
 of his Spirit, popularity will soon set us in a 
 blaze. You will hardly find a person, who 
 has been exposed to this fiery trial, without 
 suffering loss. Those whom the Lord loves, 
 he is able to keep, and he will keep them upon 
 the whole ; yet by such means, and in a course 
 of such narrow escapes, that they shall have 
 reason to look upon their deliverance as no less 
 than miraculous. Sometimes, if his ministers 
 are not watchful against the first impressions 
 of pride, he permits it to gather strength ; and 
 then it is but a small thing, that a few of their 
 admirers may think them more than men in 
 the pufpit, if they are left to commit such mis- 
 takes when out of it, as the weakest of the 
 flock can discover and pity. And this will 
 certainly be the case, while pride and self-suf- 
 ficiency have the ascendant. Beware, my 
 friend, of mistaking the ready exercise of gifts 
 for the exercise of grace. The minister may 
 be assisted in public for the sake of his hear- 
 ers ; and there is something in the nature of 
 our public work, when surrounded by a con- 
 course of people, that is suited to draw forth 
 the exertion of our abilities, and to engage 
 our attention in the outward services, when 
 the frame of the heart may be far from being 
 right in the sight of the Lord. When Moses 
 smote the rock, the water followed; yet he 
 spoke unadvisedly with his lips, and greatly 
 displeased the Lord. However, the congre- 
 gation was not disappointed for his fault, nor 
 was he put to shame before them ; but he was 
 humbled for it afterwards. They are happy 
 whom the Lord preserves in some degree hum- 
 ble, without leaving them to expose them- 
 selves to the observation of men, and to re- 
 ceive such wounds as are seldom healed with- 
 out leaving a deep scar. But even these have 
 much to suffer. Many distressing exercises 
 you will probably meet with, upon the best 
 supposition, to preserve in you a due sense of 
 your own unworthiness, and to convince you, 
 that your ability, your acceptance, and your 
 usefulness, depend upon a power beyond your 
 own. Sometimes, perhaps, you will feel such 
 an amazing difference between the frame of 
 your spirit in public and in private, when the 
 eyes of men are not upon you, as will make 
 you almost ready to conclude, that you are no 
 better than a hypocrite, a mere stage-player, 
 who derives all his pathos and exertion from 
 
 47 
 
 At other times, 
 you will find such a total emptiness and indis- 
 position of mind, that former seasons of liber- 
 ty in preaching will appear to you like the 
 remembrance of a dream, and you will hardly 
 be able to persuade yourself, you shall ever 
 be capable of preaching again ; the scriptures 
 will appear to you like a sealed book, and no 
 text or subject afford any light or opening to 
 determine your choice ; and this perplexity 
 may not only seize you in the study, but ac- 
 company you to the pulpit. If you are en- 
 abled at some times to speak to the people with 
 power, and to resemble Samson, when, in the 
 greatness of his strength, he bore away the 
 gates of the city, you will, perhaps, at others, 
 appear before them like Samson, when his 
 locks were shorn, and he stood in fetters. So 
 that you need not tell the people you have no 
 sufficiency in yourself ; for they will readily 
 perceive it without your information. These 
 things are hard to bear ; yet successful popu- 
 larity is not to be preserved upon easier terms ; 
 and if they are but sanctified to hide pride 
 from you, you will have reason to number 
 them amongst your choicest mercies. 
 
 I have but just made an entrance upon the 
 subject of the difficulties and dangers attend- 
 ing the ministry. But my paper is full. If 
 you are willing I should proceed, let me know, 
 and I believe I can easily find enough to fill 
 another sheet. May the Lord make you wise 
 and watchful ! That he may be the light of 
 your eye, the strength of your arm, and the 
 joy of your heart, is the sincere prayer of, 
 &c. 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 ON THE PRACTICAL INFLUENCE OF FAITH. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 The use and importance of faith, as it respects 
 a sinner’s justification before God, has been 
 largely insisted on ; but it is likewise of great 
 use and importance in the daily concerns of 
 life. It gives evidence and subsistence to 
 things not seen, and realizes the great truths 
 of the gospel, so as that they become abiding 
 and living principles of support and direction, 
 while we are passing through this wilderness. 
 Thus, it is as the eye and the hand, without 
 which we cannot take one step with certainty, 
 or attempt any service with success. It is to 
 be wished, that this practical exercise of faith 
 were duly attended to by all professors. We 
 should not then meet with so many cases that 
 put us to a stand, and leave us at a great 
 difficulty to reconcile, what we see in some, of 
 whom we would willingly hope well, with 
 what we read in scripture, of the inseparable 
 concomitants of a true and lively faith. For 
 how can we but be staggered, when we hear 
 
 ON THE INFLUENCE OF FAITH. 
 
 the sight of the audience. 
 
LET. VI. 
 
 ON THE INFLUENCE OF FAITH. 
 
 48 
 
 persons speaking the language of assurance, 
 that they know their acceptance with God 
 through Christ, and have not the least doubt 
 of their interest in all the promises ; while, at 
 the same time, we see them under the influ- 
 ence of unsanctified tempers, of a proud, pas- 
 sionate, positive, worldly, selfish, or churlish 
 carriage ? 
 
 It is not only plain from the general tenure 
 of scripture, that a covetous, a proud, or a cen- 
 sorious spirit, are no more consistent with the 
 spirit of the gospel, than drunkenness or whore- 
 dom ; but there are many express texts direct- 
 ly pointed against the evils which too often are 
 found amongst professors. Thus the apostle 
 James assures us, “ That if any man seemeth 
 to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, 
 his religion is vain ;” and the apostle John, 
 “ That if any man love the world, the love of 
 the Father is not in him ;” and he seems to 
 apply this character to any man, whatever his 
 profession or pretences may be, “ who having 
 this world’s goods, and seeing his brother 
 have need, shutteth up his bowels of compas- 
 sion from him.” Surely these texts more than 
 intimate, that the faith which justifies the 
 soul, does likewise receive from Jesus grace 
 for grace, whereby the heart is purified, and 
 the conversation regulated as becomes the gos- 
 pel of Christ. 
 
 There are too many who would have the mi- 
 nistry of the gospel restrained to the privileges 
 of believers ; and when the fruits of faith, and 
 the tempers of the mind, which should be 
 manifest in those who have “ tasted that the 
 Lord is gracious,” are inculcated, think they 
 sufficiently evade all that is said, by calling it 
 legal preaching. I would be no advocate for 
 legal preaching ; but we must not be deterred 
 by the fear of a hard word, from declaring 
 the whole counsel of God ; and we have the 
 authority and example of St. Paul, who was 
 a champion of the doctrines of free grace, to 
 animate us in exhorting professors to “ walk 
 worthy of God, who has called them to his 
 kingdom and glory.” And indeed the ex- 
 pression of a believer’s privilege is often mis- 
 understood. It is a believer’s privilege to 
 walk with God in the exercise of faith, and, 
 by the power of his Spirit, to mortify the 
 whole body of sin ; to gain a growing victory 
 over the world and self, and to make daily 
 advances in conformity to the mind that was in 
 Christ. And nothing that we profess to know, 
 believe, or hope for, deserves the name of a 
 privilege, farther than we are influenced by it 
 to die unto sin, and to live unto righteous- 
 ness. Whosoever is possessed of true faith, 
 will not confine his inquiries to the single point 
 of his acceptance with God, or be satisfied 
 with the distant hope of heaven hereafter. 
 He will likewise be solicitous how he may 
 glorify God in the world, and enjoy such fore- 
 tastes of heaven as are attainable while he is 
 yet upon earth. 
 
 Faith, then, in its practical exercise, has 
 for its object the whole word of God, and 
 forms its estimate of all things with which 
 the soul is at present concerned, according to 
 the standard of scripture. Like Moses, it 
 “ endures, as seeing him who is invisible.” 
 When our Lord was upon earth, and con- 
 versed with his disciples, their eyes and hearts 
 were fixed upon him. In danger he was their 
 defender; their guide when in perplexity; 
 and to him they looked for the solution of all 
 their doubts, and the supply of all their wants. 
 He is now withdrawn from our eyes ; but 
 faith sets him still before us for the same pur- 
 poses, and, according to its degree, with the 
 same effects, as if we actually saw him. His 
 spiritual presence, apprehended by faith, is a 
 restraint from evil, an encouragement to every 
 service, and affords a present refuge and help 
 in every time of trouble. To this is owing 
 the delight a believer takes in ordinances, be- 
 cause there he meets his Lord ; and to this 
 likewise it is owing, that his religion is not con- 
 fined to public occasions ; but he is the same 
 person in secret as he appears to be in the 
 public assembly ; for he worships him who 
 sees in secret, and dares appeal to his all-see- 
 ing eye for the sincerity of his desires and in- 
 tentions. By faith he is enabled to use pros- 
 perity with moderation ; and knows and feels, 
 that what the world calls good is of small va- 
 lue, unless it is accompanied with the pre- 
 sence and blessing of Him whom his soul lov- 
 eth. And his faith upholds him under all 
 trials, by assuring him that every dispensation 
 is under the direction of his Lord ; that chas- 
 tisements are a token of his love ; that the 
 season, measure, and continuance of his suf- 
 ferings, are appointed by infinite wisdom, and 
 designed to work for his everlasting good ; 
 and that grace and strength shall be afforded 
 him, according to his day. Thus, his heart 
 being fixed, trusting in the Lord, to whom he 
 has committed all his concerns, and knowing 
 that his best interests are safe, he is not greatly 
 afraid of evil tidings, but enjoys a stable peace 
 in the midst of a changing world. For though 
 he cannot tell what a day may bring forth, he 
 believes that He, who has invited and enabled 
 him to cast all his cares upon him, will suffer 
 nothing to befall him but what shall be made 
 subservient to his chief desires, the glory of 
 God, in the sanctification and final salvation 
 of his soul. And if, through the weakness 
 of his flesh, he is liable to be startled by the 
 first impression of a sharp and sudden trial, 
 he quickly flees to his strong refuge, remem- 
 bers it is the Lord’s doing, resigns himself 
 to his will, and patiently expects a happy is- 
 sue. 
 
 By the same principle of faith, a believer’s 
 conduct is regulated towards his fellow-crea- 
 tures ; and in the discharge of the several du- 
 ties and relations of life, his great aim is to 
 please God, and to let his light shine in the 
 
LET. VI. 
 
 world. He believes and feels his own weak- 
 ness and unworthiness, and lives upon the 
 grace and pardoning love of his Lord. This 
 gives him an habitual tenderness and gentle- 
 ness of spirit. Humbled under a sense of 
 much forgiveness to himself, he finds it easy 
 to forgive others, if he has ought against any. 
 A due sense of what he is in the sight of the 
 Lord, preserves him from giving way to anger, 
 positiveness, and resentment. He is not ea- 
 sily provoked, but is “ swift to hear, slow to 
 speak, slow to wrath j” and if offended, easy 
 to be intreated, and disposed, not only to yield 
 to a reconciliation, but to seek it. As Jesus 
 is his life, and righteousness, and strength, so 
 he is his pattern. By faith he contemplates 
 and studies this great exemplar of philan- 
 thropy. With a holy ambition, he treads in 
 the footsteps of his Lord and Master, and 
 learns of him to be-ineek and lowly, to requite 
 injuries with kindness, and to overcome evil 
 with good. From the same views, by faith 
 he derives a benevolent spirit, and, according 
 to his sphere and ability, he endeavours to 
 promote the welfare of all around him. The 
 law of love being thus written in his heart, 
 and his soul set at liberty from the low and 
 narrow dictates of a selfish spirit, his language 
 will be truth, and his dealings equity His 
 promise may be depended on, without the in- 
 terposition of an oath, bond, or witness ; and the 
 feelings of his own heart, under the direction 
 of an enlightened conscience, and the pre- 
 cepts of scripture, prompt him to do unto 
 others as he would desire they, in the like 
 circumstances, should do unto him. If he 
 is a master, he is gentle and compassionate ; 
 if a servant, he is faithful and obedient ; for 
 in either relation he acts by faith, under the 
 eye of his Master in heaven. If he is a trader, 
 he neither dares nor wishes to take advantage, 
 either of the ignorance or the necessities of 
 those with whom he deals. And the same 
 principle of love influences his whole conver- 
 sation. A sense of his own infirmities makes 
 him candid to those of others. Pie will not 
 readily believe reports to their prejudice, with- 
 out sufficient proof ; and even then, he will not 
 repeat them, unless he is lawfully called to it. 
 He believes that the precept, “ Speak evil of 
 no man,” is founded upon the same autho- 
 rity with those which forbid committing adul- 
 tery or murder, and therefore he “ keeps his 
 tongue as with a bridle.” 
 
 Lastly, faith is of daily use as a preserva- 
 tive from a compliance with the corrupt cus- 
 toms and maxims of the world. The believer, 
 though in the world, is not of it. By faith he 
 triumphs over its smiles and enticements ; he 
 sees that all that is in the world, suited to gra- 
 tify the desires of the flesh or the eye, is not only 
 to be avoided as sinful, but as incompatible 
 with his best pleasures. He will mix with 
 the world so far as is necessary, in the dis- 
 charge of the duties of that station of life in 
 
 4-9 
 
 which the providence of God has placed him, 
 but no farther. His leisure and inclinations 
 are engaged in a different pursuit. They who 
 fear the Lord are his chosen companions ; and 
 the blessings he derives from the word, and 
 throne, and ordinances of grace, make him 
 look upon the poor pleasures and amusements 
 of those who live without God in the world 
 with a mixture of disdain and pity ; and by 
 faith he is proof against its frowns. Pie will 
 obey God rather than man. He will “ have 
 no fellowship with the unfruitful works of 
 darkness, but will rather reprove them.” And 
 if, upon this account, he should be despised 
 and injuriously treated, whatever loss he suf- 
 fers in such a cause, he accounts his gain, and 
 esteems such disgrace his glory. 
 
 I am not aiming to draw a perfect charac- 
 ter, but to shew the proper effects of that faith 
 which justifies, which purifies the heart, which 
 worketh by love, and overcomes the world. 
 An habitual endeavour to possess such a frame 
 of spirit, and thus to adorn the gospel of 
 Christ, and that with growing success, is what 
 I am persuaded you are not a stranger to ; 
 and I am afraid that they who can content 
 themselves with aiming at any thing short of 
 this in their profession are too much strangers 
 to themselves, and to the nature of that li- 
 berty wherewith Jesus has promised to make 
 his people free. That you may go on from 
 strength to strength, increasing in the light 
 and image of our Lord and Saviour, is the 
 sincere prayer of, &c. 
 
 LETTER VII. 
 
 ON THE PROPRIETY OF A MINISTERIAL AD- 
 DRESS TO THE UNCONVERTED. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 In a late conversation, you desired my 
 thoughts concerning a scriptural and consis- 
 tent manner of addressing the consciences of 
 unaw r akened sinners in the course of your mi- 
 nistry. It is a point on which many eminent 
 ministers have been, and are not a little di- 
 vided ; and it therefore becomes me to pro- 
 pose my sentiments with modesty and cau- 
 tion, so far as I am constrained to differ from 
 any, from whom, in general, I would be glad 
 to learn. 
 
 Some think that it is sufficient to preach 
 the great truths of the word of God in their 
 hearing ; to set forth the utterly ruined and 
 helpless state of fallen man by nature, and 
 the appointed method of salvation by grace, 
 through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ ; and 
 then to leave the application entirely to the, 
 agency of the Holy Spirit, who alone can en- 
 lighten the dark understandings of sinners, 
 and enable them to receive, in a due manner, 
 the doctrines either of the law or the gospel. 
 L 
 
 ON THE INFLUENCE OF FAITH. 
 
Let. vii 
 
 5U 
 
 ON MINISTERIAL ADDRESS. 
 
 And they apprehend, that all exhortations, ar- 
 guments, and motives, addressed to those who 
 are supposed to be still under the influence 
 of a carnal mind, are inconsistent with the 
 principles of free grace, and the acknowledg- 
 ed inability of such persons to perform any 
 spiritual acts ; and that, therefore, the preach- 
 ers who, avowing the doctrines of free grace, 
 do, notwithstanding, plead and expostulate 
 with sinners, usually contradict themselves, 
 and retract in their application what they had 
 laboured to establish in the course of their 
 sermons. 
 
 There are others, who, though they would 
 be extremely unwilling to derogate from the 
 free grace and sovereign power of God in the 
 great work of conversion, or in the least de- 
 gree to encourage the mistaken notion which 
 every unconverted person has of his own pow- 
 er ; yet think it their duty to deal with sin- 
 ners as rational and moral agents ; and as 
 such, besides declaring the counsel of God in 
 a doctrinal way, to warn them by the terrors 
 of the Lord, and to beseech them, by his ten- 
 der mercies, that they receive not the grace of 
 God in a preached gospel in vain. Nor can 
 it be denied, but that some of them, when 
 deeply affected with the worth of souls, and 
 the awful importance of eternal things, have 
 sometimes, in the warmth of their hearts, 
 dropped unguarded expressions, and such as 
 have been justly liable to exception. 
 
 If we were to decide to which of these dif- 
 ferent methods of preaching the preference is 
 due, by the discernable effects of each, it will, 
 perhaps, appear in fact, without making any 
 invidious comparisons, that those ministers 
 whom the Lord has honoured with the great- 
 est success in awakening and converting sin- 
 ners, have generally been led to adopt the 
 more popular way of exhortation or address ; 
 while they who have been studiously careful 
 to avoid any direct application to sinners, as 
 unnecessary and improper, if they have not 
 been altogether without seals to their minis- 
 try, yet their labours have been more owned 
 in building up those who have already received 
 the knowledge of the truth, than in adding 
 to their number. Now, as “ he that winn- 
 eth souls is wise,” and as every faithful la- 
 bourer has a warm desire of being instrumen- 
 tal in raising the dead in sin to a life of righ- 
 teousness, this seems at least a presumptive 
 argument in favour of those who, besides 
 stating the doctrines of the gospel, endeavour, 
 by earnest persuasions and expostulations, to 
 impress them upon the hearts of their hearers, 
 and intreat and warn them to consider “ how 
 they shall escape, if they neglect so great sal- 
 vation.” For it is not easy to conceive, that 
 the Lord should most signally bear testimony 
 in favour of that mode of preaching which 
 is least consistent with the truth, and with 
 itself. 
 
 But not to insist on this, nor to rest the 
 
 cause on the authority or examples of men, 
 the best of whom are imperfect and fallible, 
 let us consult the scriptures, which, as they 
 furnish us with the whole subject-matter 
 of our ministry, so they afford us perfect 
 precepts and patterns for its due and order- 
 ly dispensation. With respect to the sub- 
 ject of our inquiry, the examples of our Lord 
 Christ, and of his authorised ministers, the 
 apostles, are both our rule and our warrant. 
 The Lord Jesus was the great preacher of 
 free grace, “ who spake as never man spake ;” 
 and his ministry, while it provided relief for 
 the weary and heavy-laden, was eminently de- 
 signed to stain the pride of all human glory. 
 He knew what was in man, and declared, 
 that none could come unto him, unless 
 drawn and taught of God ; John vi. 44 — 46. 
 And yet he often speaks to sinners in terms, 
 which, if they were not known to be his, might 
 perhaps, be censured as inconsistent and legal ; 
 John vi. 27. ; Luke xiii. 24 — 27. ; John xii. 
 35.— -It appears, both from the context and 
 the tenor of these passages, that they were im- 
 mediately spoken not to his disciples, but to 
 the multitude. The apostles copied from their 
 Lord : they taught, that we have no sufficiency 
 of ourselves, even to think a good thought, and 
 that “ it is not of him that willeth, or of him 
 that runneth, but of God who sheweth mer- 
 cy;” yet they plainly call upon sinners (and that 
 before they had given evident signs that they 
 were pricked to the heart, as Acts iii. 31.) “ to 
 repent, and to turn from their vanities to 
 the living God;” Acts iii. 19. and xiv. 15. 
 and xvii. 30. — Peter’s advice to Simon Ma- 
 gus is very full and express to this point : For 
 though he perceived him to be “ in the very 
 gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity,” 
 he exhorted him “ to repent, and to pray, if 
 perhaps the thought of his heart might be 
 forgiven.” It may be presumed, that we 
 cannot have stronger evidence, that any of our 
 hearers are in a carnal and unconverted state, 
 than Peter had in the case of Simon Magus ; 
 and therefore there seems no sufficient reason 
 why we should hesitate to follow the apostle’s 
 example. 
 
 You have been told, that repentance and 
 faith are spiritual acts, for the performance of 
 which, a principle of spiritual life is absolutely 
 necessary : and that therefore, to exhort an 
 unregenerate sinner to repent or believe, must 
 be as vain and fruitless as to call a dead per- 
 son out of his grave. To this it may be an 
 swered, that we might cheerfully and confi- 
 dently undertake even to call the dead out 
 of their graves, if we had the command and 
 promise of God to warrant the attempt ; for 
 then we might expect his power would ac- 
 company our word. The vision of Ezekiel, 
 chap, xxxvii. may be fitly accommodated to 
 illustrate both the difficulties and the en- 
 couragement of a gospel minister. The de- 
 plorable state of many of our hearers may 
 
1XT. VII. 
 
 often remind us of the Lord’s question to the 
 prophet, “ Can these dry bones live?” Our 
 resource, like that of the prophet, is entirely in 
 the sovereignty, grace, and power of the Lord •. 
 
 “ O Lord, thou knowest, impossible as it is 
 to us, it is easy for thee to raise them unto 
 life ; therefore we renounce our own reason- 
 ings ; and though we see that they are dead, 
 we call upon them at thy bidding, as if 
 they were alive, and say, O ye dry bones, hear 
 the word of the Lord ! The means is our part, 
 the work is thine, and to thee be all the praise.” 
 The dry bones could not hear the prophet ; 
 but while he spoke, the Lord caused breath 
 to enter into them, and they lived, but the 
 word was spoken to them considered as dry 
 and dead; 
 
 It is true the Lord can, and I hope he of- 
 ten does make that preaching effectual to the 
 conversion of sinners, wherein little is said 
 expressly to them, only the truths of the gos- 
 pel are declared in their hearing ; but he who 
 knows the frame of the human heart, has pro- 
 vided us with a variety of the topics which 
 have a moral suitableness to engage the facul- 
 ties, affections, and consciences of sinners, so 
 far at least as to leave themselves condemned 
 if they persist in their sins, and by which he 
 often effects the purposes of his grace ; though 
 none of the means of grace by which he or- 
 dinarily works, can produce a real change in 
 the heart, unless they are accompanied with 
 the efficacious power of his Spirit. Should we 
 admit, that an unconverted person is not a 
 proper subject of ministerial exhortation, be- 
 cause he has no power in himself to comply, 
 the just consequence of this position would, 
 perhaps, extend too far, even to prove the 
 impropriety of all exhortation universally : 
 For when we invite the weary and heavy- 
 laden to come to Jesus, that they may find 
 rest ; when we call upon backsliders to 
 remember from whence they are fallen, “ to 
 repent and to do their first works;” yea, 
 when we exhort believers “ to walk worthy 
 of God, who has called them to his kingdom 
 and glory in each of these cases we press 
 them to acts for which they have no inherent 
 power of their own ; and Unless the Lord the 
 Spirit is pleased to apply the word to their 
 hearts, we do but speak to the air ; and our 
 endeavours can have no more effect in these 
 instances, than if we were to say to a dead 
 body, “ Arise, and walk.” For an exertion 
 of divine power is no less necessary to the 
 healing of a wounded conscience, than to the 
 breaking of a hard heart ; and only he who 
 has begun the good work of grace, is able ei- 
 ther to revive or to maintain it. 
 
 Though sinners are destitute of spiritual 
 life, they are not therefore mere machines. 
 They have a power to do many things, which 
 they may be called upon to exert. They are 
 capable of considering their ways ; they know 
 
 r>i 
 
 they are mortal ; and the bulk of them are 
 persuaded in their consciences, that after death 
 there is an appointed judgment. They are not 
 under an inevitable necessity of living in 
 known and gross sins ; that they do so, is not 
 for want of power, but for want of will. The 
 most profane swearer can refrain from his 
 oaths, while in the presence of a person whom 
 he fears, and to whom lie knows it would be 
 displeasing. Let a drunkard see poison put 
 into his liquor, and it may stand by him un- 
 tasted from morning to night. And many 
 would be deterred from sins to which they are 
 greatly addicted, by the presence of a child, 
 though they have no fear of God before their 
 eyes. They have a power likewise of attend- 
 ing upon the means of grace ; and though the 
 Lord only can give them true faith and evan- 
 gelical repentance, there seems no improprie- 
 ty to invite them, upon the ground of the gos- 
 pel-promises, to seek to him who is exalted to 
 bestow these blessings, and who is able to do 
 that for them, which they cannot do for them- 
 selves, and who has said, “ Him, that com- 
 eth unto me, I will in no wise cast out.” 
 Perhaps it will not be easily proved, that in- 
 treaties, arguments, warnings, formed upon 
 these general principles, which are in the main 
 agreeable and adequate to the remaining light 
 of natural conscience, are at all inconsistent 
 with those doctrines which ascribe the whole 
 of a sinner’s salvation, from first to last, to 
 the free sovereign grace of God. 
 
 We should, undoubtedly, endeavour to 
 maintain a consistency in our preaching ; but 
 unless we keep the plan and manner of the 
 scripture constantly in view, and attend to 
 every part of it, a design of consistency may 
 fetter our sentiments, and greatly preclude 
 our usefulness. We need not wish to be more 
 consistent than the inspired writers, nor be 
 afraid of speaking, as they have spoken be- 
 fore us. We may easily perplex ourselves, 
 and our hearers, by nice reasonings on the na- 
 ture of human liberty, and the divine agency 
 on the hearts of men ; but such disquisitions 
 are better avoided. We shall, perhaps, never 
 have full satisfaction on these subjects, till we 
 arrive in the world of light. In the mean 
 time, the path of duty, the good old way, lies 
 plain before us. If when you are in the pul- 
 pit, the Lord favours you with a lively sense 
 of the greatness of the trust, and the worth of 
 the souls committed to you'* charge, and fills 
 your heart with his constraining love, many lit- 
 tle curious distinctions, which amused you at 
 other times, will be forgotten. Your soul will 
 go forth with your words ; and while your 
 bowels yearn over poor sinners, you will not 
 hesitate a moment, whether you ought to warn 
 them of their danger or not. That great 
 champion of free grace, Dr. Owen, has a very 
 solemn address to sinners, the running title to 
 which is, “ Exhortations unto believing.” It 
 
 ON MINISTERIAL ADDRESS. 
 
52 
 
 ON THE INWARD WITNESS OF FAITH. 
 
 LET. VIII. 
 
 the Spirit, the water, and the blood, not by 
 hearsay only, but in himself. According to 
 the measure of his faith (for faith has various 
 degrees) he has a living proof that the wit- 
 ness is true, by the effects wrought in his own 
 heart. 
 
 These things, which God has joined toge- 
 ther, are too often attempted to be separated. 
 Attempts of this kind have been a principal 
 source and cause of most of the dangerous 
 errors and mistakes which are to be found 
 among professors of religion. Some say 
 much concerning the Spirit, and lay claim to 
 an inward light, whereby they think they 
 know the things of God. Others lay great 
 stress upon the water ; maintaining a regular 
 conversation, abstaining from the defilements 
 of the world, and aiming at a mastery over 
 their natural desires and tempers ; but neither 
 the one nor the other appear to be duly sen- 
 sible of the value of the blood of atonement, as 
 the sole ground of their acceptance, and the 
 spring of their life and strength. Others, a- 
 gain, are all for the blood ; can speak much 
 of Jesus, and his blood and righteousness ; 
 though it does not appear that they are truly spi- 
 ritually enlightened to perceive the beauty and 
 harmony of gospel-truths, or that they pay a due 
 regard to that holiness without which no man 
 can see the Lord. But Jesus came, not by 
 water only, or by blood only, but by water 
 and blood ; and the Spirit bears witness to 
 both, because the Spirit is truth. The water 
 alone affords but a cold starched form of god- 
 liness, destitute of that enlivening power which 
 is derived from a knowledge of the precious- 
 ness of Jesus, as the Lamb that was slain. 
 And if any talk of the blood without the wa- 
 ter, they do but turn the grace of God into 
 licentiousness ; so, likewise, to pretend to the 
 Spirit, and at the same time to have low 
 thoughts of Jesus, is a delusion and vanity ; 
 for the true Spirit testifies and takes of his 
 glory, and presents it to the soul. But the 
 real believer receives the united testimony, 
 and has the witness in himself that he does 
 so. 
 
 To have the witness in ourselves, is to have 
 the truths that are declared in the scripture 
 revealed in our hearts. This brings an ex- 
 perimental conviction, which may be safely 
 depended on, that “ we have received the 
 grace of God in truth.” A man born blind 
 may believe that the sun is bright upon the 
 testimony of another; but if he should ob- 
 tain his sight, he would have the witness in 
 himself. Believing springs from a sense and 
 perception of the truths of the gospel ; and 
 whoever hath this spiritual perception is a be- 
 liever. He has the witness in himself. He 
 has received the Spirit ; his understanding is 
 enlightened, whereby he sees things to be as 
 they are described, in the word of God, re- 
 that believeth hath this united testimony of specting his own state by sin, and the utter 
 
 is in his Exposition of the 130th Psalm, from 
 p. 242, to 247. London edition, 1609, which 
 I recommend to your attentive consideration. 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER VIII. 
 
 ON THE INWARD WITNESS TO THE GROUND AND 
 REALITY OF FAITH. 
 
 I readily offer you my thoughts on 1 John 
 v. 10, “ Fie that believeth on the Son of 
 God, hath the witness in himself;” though, 
 perhaps, you will think I am writing a sermon 
 rather than a letter. If we believe in the Son 
 of God, whatever trials we may meet with in 
 the present life, our best concerns are safe, and 
 our happiness is sure. If we do not, what- 
 ever else we have, or seem to have, we are in 
 a state of condemnation ; and living and dy- 
 ing so, must perish. Thousands, it is to be 
 feared, persuade themselves that they are be- 
 lievers, though they cannot stand the test of 
 scripture. And there are many real believers, 
 who, through the prevalence of remaining un- 
 belief and the temptations of Satan, form hard 
 conclusions against themselves though the 
 scripture speaks peace to them. But how 
 does this correspond with the passage before us 
 which asserts universally, “ He that be- 
 lieveth, hath the witness in himself?” for can 
 a man have the witness in himself and yet not 
 know it ? It may be answered, The evidence, 
 in its own nature, is sufficient and infallible ; 
 but we are very apt, when we would form a 
 judgment of ourselves, to superadd rules and 
 marks of trial which are not given us, for that 
 purpose, in the Bible. That the word and 
 Spirit of God do witness for his children, is a 
 point in which many are agreed, who are far 
 from being agreed, as to the nature and man- 
 ner of that witness. It is, therefore, very de- 
 sirable rightly to understand the evidence by 
 which we are to judge whether we are be- 
 lievers or not. 
 
 The importance and truth of the gospel- 
 salvation is witnessed to in heaven, by “ the 
 Father, the Word, and the Spirit.” It is 
 witnessed to on earth, by “ the Spirit, the 
 ■water, and the blood,” verses 7 and 8. The Spi- 
 rit, in verse 8, I apprehend, denotes a divine 
 light in the understanding, communicated by 
 the Spirit of God, enabling the soul to per- 
 ceive and approve the truth. The water 
 seems to intend the powerful influence of this 
 knowledge and light, in the work of sanctifi • 
 cation. And the blood, the application of the 
 blood of Jesus to the conscience, relieving it 
 from guilt and fear, and imparting a peace 
 which passes all understanding.” And he 
 
LET. VIII. 
 
 impossibility of his obtaining relief by any 
 other means than those proposed in the gos- 
 pel. These things are hidden from us by na- 
 ture. He has likewise received the blood. 
 The knowledge of sin, and its demerits, if 
 alone, would drive us to despair ; but by the 
 same light of the Spirit, Jesus is apprehended 
 as a suitable and all-sufficient Saviour. All 
 that i°. declared concerning his person, offices, 
 love, sufferings, and obedience, is understood 
 and approved. Here the wounded and 
 weary soul, finds healing and rest. Then the 
 apostle’s language is adopted, “ Yea, doubt- 
 less, and I count all things but loss for the 
 excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus 
 my Lord.” He has likewise received the 
 water, considered as the emblem of sanctifica- 
 tion. To a believer, all that the scripture 
 teaches concerning the nature, beauty, and 
 necessity of holiness, as a living principle in 
 the heart, carries conviction and evidence. 
 A deliverance from the power, as well as 
 from the guilt of sin, appears to be an im- 
 portant, and essential part of salvation. He 
 sees his original and his proper happiness, 
 that nothing less than communion with God 
 and conformity to him, is worth his pursuit. 
 And therefore he can say, “ My soul thirsteth 
 for thee ; I delight in the law of God after 
 the inward man.” In a word, his judgment 
 and his choice are formed upon a new spiri- 
 tual taste, derived from the written word, and 
 correspondent with it, as the musical ear is 
 adapted to relish harmony : so that what God 
 has forbidden, appears hateful ; what he has 
 commanded, necessary ; what he has promis- 
 ed, desirable ; and what he has revealed, glo- 
 rious. Whoever has these perceptions, has 
 the witness in himself, that he has been taught 
 of God, and believes in his Son. 
 
 If you think this explanation is agreeable to 
 the scripture, you will be satisfied that the 
 witness spoken of in this passage, is very dif- 
 ferent from what some persons understand it 
 to be. It is not an impulse, or strong per- 
 suasion impressed upon us in a way of which 
 we can give no account, that “ we are the 
 children of God,” and that our sins are free- 
 ly forgiven ; nor is the powerful application 
 of a particular text of scripture necessary to 
 produce it ; neither is it always connected 
 with a very lively, and sensible comfort. These 
 things, in some persons, and instances, may 
 accompany the witness or testimony we are 
 speaking of, but do not properly belong to it ; 
 and they may be, and often have been, coun- 
 terfeited. But what I have described is inimi- 
 table and infallible ; it is undubitably, as the 
 magicians confessed of the miracles of Moses, 
 the finger of God, as certainly the effect of 
 his divine power as the creation of the world. 
 It is true, many who have this witness walk 
 in darkness, and are harassed with many 
 doubts and perplexities concerning their state ; 
 but this is not because the witness is not suf- 
 
 53 
 
 ficient to give them satisfaction, but because 
 they do not account it so ; being misled by 
 the influence of self-will and a legal spirit, 
 they overlook this evidence as too simple, and 
 expect something extraordinary ; at least, they 
 think they cannot be right, unless they are led 
 in the same way in which the Lord has been 
 pleased to lead others, with whom they may 
 have conversed. But the Lord the Spirit is 
 sovereign and free in his operations ; and 
 though he gives to all who are the subjects of 
 his grace, the same view's of sin, of themselves, 
 and of the Saviour ; yet with respect to the 
 circumstantials of his work, there is, as in the 
 features of our faces, such an amazing va- 
 riety, that perhaps no two persons can be 
 found whose experiences have been exactly 
 alike : but, as the apostle says, that “ he that 
 believeth,” that is, whosoever believeth, with- 
 out exception, “has the witness in himself;” 
 it must, consequently, arise from what is com- 
 mon to them all, and not from what is pecu- 
 liar to a few. 
 
 Before I conclude, I would make two or 
 three observations. In the first place, I think 
 it is plain, that the supposition of a real be- 
 liever’s living in sin, or taking encouragement 
 from the gospel so to do, is destitute of the 
 least foundation in truth, and can only pro- 
 ceed from an ignorance of the subject. Sin 
 is the burden under which he groans ; and he 
 would account nothing short of a deliverance 
 from it worthy the name of salvation. A 
 principal part of his evidence, that he is a be- 
 liever, arises from that abhorrence of sin which 
 he habitually feels. It is true, sin still dwel- 
 leth in him ; but he loaths and resists it : up- 
 on this account he is in a state of continual 
 warfare ; if he was not so, he could not have 
 the witness in himself, that he is born of 
 God. 
 
 Again, from hence arises a solid evidence, 
 that the scripture is indeed the word of God, 
 because it so exactly describes what is exem- 
 plified in the experience of all who are sub- 
 jects of a w'ork of grace. While we are in a 
 natural state, it is to us as a sealed book ; 
 though we can read it, and perhaps assent to 
 the facts, we can no more understand our own 
 concernments in what we read, than if it was 
 written in an unknown tongue. But when 
 the mind is enlightened by the Holy Spirit, 
 the scripture addresses us as it were by name, 
 explains every difficulty under which we la- 
 boured, and proposes an adequate and effec- 
 tual remedy for the relief of all our wants and 
 fears. 
 
 Lastly, it follows, that the hope of a be- 
 liever, is built upon a foundation that cannot 
 be shaken, though it may, and will be, assault- 
 ed. It does not depend upon occasional and 
 changeable frames, upon any that is preca. 
 rious and questionable, but upon a correspon- 
 dence and agreement with the written word. 
 Nor does this agreement depend upon a train 
 
 ON THE INWARD WITNESS OF FAITH. 
 
54 ON ELECTION AND 
 
 of laboured arguments and deductions, but is 
 self-evident, as light is to the eye, to every per- 
 son who has a real participation of the grace 
 of God It is equally suited to all capacities ; 
 by this the unlearned are enabled to know 
 their election of God, and to “ rejoice with a 
 joy unspeakable and full of glory.” And the 
 wisest, if destitute of this perception, though 
 they may be masters of all the external evi- 
 dences of Christianity, and able to combat the 
 cavils of infidels, can see no real beauty in the 
 truths of the gospel, nor derive any solid com- 
 fort from them. 
 
 I have only sent you a few hasty hints : it 
 would be easy to enlarge ; but I sat down, 
 not to write a book, but a letter. May this 
 inward witness preside with power in our 
 hearts, to animate our hopes, and to mortify 
 our corruptions ! 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER IX. 
 
 i 
 
 ON THE DOCTRINES OF ELECTION AND FINAL 
 PERSEVERANCE. 
 
 1)FAR SIR, 
 
 Your letter breathes the spirit of a Christian, 
 though you say you are not a Calvinist. I 
 should have still confined myself, in my letters, 
 to the great truths in which we are agreed, if 
 you had not invited me to touch upon the 
 points wherein we differ. If you were posi- 
 tive and peremptory in your present senti- 
 ments, I should not think it my duty to de- 
 bate with you ; in that case, we might contend 
 as much for victory as for truth. But as you 
 profess yourself an inquirer, and are desirous 
 of forming your judgment agreeable to the 
 word of God, without being influenced by the 
 authority of names and parties, I willingly 
 embrace the occasion you offer me. You 
 say, that though you are not prejudiced against 
 the doctrines of election, and perseverance of 
 the saints, they appear to you attended with 
 such difficulties, that you cannot yet heartily 
 and fully assent to them. May the Lord 
 the Spirit, whose office it is to guide his peo- 
 ple into all truth, dictate to my pen, and ac- 
 company what I shall write with his blessing. 
 
 It is not my intention to prove and illus- 
 trate these doctrines at large, or to encounter 
 the various objections that have been raised 
 against them. So much has been done in 
 this way already, that I could only repeat 
 what has been said to greater advantage by 
 others. Nor need I refer you to the books 
 w hich have been professedly w ritten upon this 
 argument. In a letter to a friend, I shall not 
 aim at the exactness of a disputant, but only 
 oiler a few unpremeditated hints, in the same 
 
 PERSEVERANCE. let. ix. 
 
 manner as if I had the pleasure of personally 
 conversing with you. 
 
 Permit me to remind you, in the first place, 
 of that important aphorism, John iii. 27. 
 (which, by the bye, seems to speak strongly 
 in favour of the doctrines in question) : “ A 
 man can receive nothing, except it be given 
 him from heaven.” If you should accede to 
 my opinions upon my persuasion only, you 
 would be little benefited by the exchange. 
 The Lord alone can give us the true, vital, 
 comfortable, and useful knowledge of his own 
 truths. We may become wise in notions, 
 and so far masters of a system or scheme of 
 doctrines, as to be able to argue, object, and 
 fight, in favour of our own hypothesis, by dint 
 of application, and natural abilities ; but we 
 rightly understand what we say, and whereof 
 we affirm, no farther than we have a spiritual 
 perception of it wrought in our hearts by the 
 power of the Holy Ghost. It is not, there- 
 fore, by noisy disputation, but by humble 
 waiting upon God in prayer, and a careful 
 perusal of his holy word, that we are to expect 
 I a satisfactory, experimental, and efficacious 
 knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus. I 
 am persuaded, that you are seeking in this 
 way j if so, I am confident, you shall not seek 
 in vain. The Lord teaches effectually, though 
 for the most part gradually. The path of the 
 just is compared to the light, which is very 
 faint at the early dawn, but shineth more and 
 more to the perfect day. 
 
 If you sincerely seek the Lord’s direction 
 by prayer, you will of course make use of his 
 appointed means of information, and search 
 the scriptures. Give me leave to offer you 
 the following advices, while you are reading 
 and comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 
 First, not to lay too great stress upon a few 
 detached texts, but seek for that sense which 
 is most agreeable to the general strain of the 
 scriptura. The infallible word of God must 
 doubtless be consistent with itself. If it 
 does not appear so to us, the obscurity and 
 seeming inconsistency must be charged to the 
 remaining darkness and ignorance of our 
 minds. As many locks, whose wards differ, are 
 opened with equal ease by one master-key ; so 
 there is a certain comprehensive view of scrip- 
 tural truth, which opens hard places, solves 
 objections, and happily reconciles, illustrates, 
 and harmonizes many texts, which, to those 
 who have not this master-key, frequently styl- 
 ed the analogy of faith, appear little less than 
 contradictory to each other. When you ob- 
 tain this key, you will be sure that you have 
 the right sense. 
 
 Again, you will do well to consult experi- 
 ence as you go along. For though this is not 
 to be depended upon in the first instance, but 
 must itself be subjected to the rule of the 
 written word, yet it is a good subordinate 
 
LET. IX. 
 
 ON ELECTION AND PERSEVERANCE. 
 
 help. Consider which sense is most agree- 
 able to what passes within you and around 
 you, and which best answers to the dealings 
 of God with yourself, and to what you can 
 observe of his dealings with others. 
 
 Farther, when you are led (as I think you 
 will be, if you are not already) to view the 
 Calvinist doctrines in a favourable light, be 
 not afraid of embracing them, because there 
 may be, perhaps, some objections, which, 
 for want of a full possession of the key I 
 mentioned, you are not able to clear up ; but 
 consider if there are not as strong or stronger 
 objections against the other side. We are 
 poor weak creatures : and the clearing up of 
 every difficulty is not what we are immediate- 
 ly called to, but rather to seek that light which 
 may strengthen and feed our souls. 
 
 Lastly, compare the tendency of different 
 opinions. This is an excellent rule, if we can 
 fairly apply it. Whatever is from God has a 
 sure tendency to ascribe glory to him, to ex- 
 clude boasting from the creature, to promote 
 the love and practice of holiness, and increase 
 our dependence upon his grace and faithful- 
 ness. The Calvinists have no reason to be 
 afraid of resting the merits of their cause up- 
 on this issue ; notwithstanding the unjust 
 misrepresentations which have been often 
 made of their principles, and the ungenerous 
 treatment of those who would charge the mis- 
 carriages of a few individuals, as the neces- 
 sary consequence of embracing those princi- 
 ples. 
 
 But I must check myself, or I shall finish 
 my letter before I properly begin my subject. 
 You have objections to the doctrine of elec- 
 tion. You will, however, agree with me, 
 that the scripture does speak of it, and that in 
 very strong and express terms, particularly 
 St Paul. I have met with some sincere peo- 
 ple, as I believe, who have told me that they 
 could not bear to read his 8th chapter to the 
 Romans, but always passed it over ; so that 
 their prejudices against election, prejudiced 
 them against a part of the scripture likewise. 
 But why so, unless because the dreaded doctri lie 
 is maintained too plainly to be evaded ? But 
 you will say, that some writers and preachers 
 attempt to put an easier sense upon the a- 
 postle’s words. Let us judge then, as I late- 
 ly proposed, from experience. Admitting, 
 what I am sure you will admit, the total de- 
 pravity of human nature, how can we account 
 for the conversion of a soul to God, unless 
 we likewise admit an election of grace? The 
 work must begin somewhere. Either the sin- 
 ner first seeks the Lord, or the Lord first 
 seeks the sinner. The former is impossible, 
 if by nature we are dead in trespasses and 
 sins ; if the God of this world has blinded 
 our eyes, and maintains the possession of our 
 hearts ; and if our carnal minds, so far from 
 being disposed to seek God, are enmity against 
 him. Let me appeal to yourself. 1 think 
 
 55 
 
 you know yourself too well to say, that you 
 either sought or loved the Lord first ; per- 
 haps you are conscious, that for a season, and 
 so far as in you lay, you even resisted his 
 call ; and must have perished, if he had not 
 made you willing in the day of his power, and 
 saved you in defiance of yourself. In your 
 own case, you acknowledge that he began 
 with you ; and it must be the case universal- 
 ly with all that are called, if the whole race of 
 mankind are by nature enemies to God. 
 Then farther, there must be an election, un- 
 less all are called. But we are assured that 
 the broad road which is thronged with the 
 greatest multitudes, leads to destruction. 
 Were not you and I in this road ? Were we 
 better than those who continue in it still ? 
 What has made us differ from our former 
 selves ? Grace. What has made us differ 
 from those who are now as we once were ? 
 Grace. Then this grace, by the very terms, 
 must be differencing, or distinguishing grace ; 
 that is, in other words, electing grace. And 
 to suppose, that God should make this election 
 or choice only at the time of our calling, is 
 not only unscriptural, but contrary to the dic- 
 tates of right reason, and the ideas we have of 
 the divine perfections, particularly those of 
 omniscience and immutability. They who 
 believe there is any power in man by nature, 
 whereby he can turn to God, may contend for 
 a conditional election upon the foresight of 
 faith and obedience ; but while others dispute, 
 let you and me admire; for we know that the 
 Lord foresaw us (as we were) in a state ut- 
 terly incapable either of believing or obeying, 
 unless he was pleased to work in us to will 
 and to do according to his own good plea- 
 sure. 
 
 As to final perseverance, whatever judg- 
 ment we form of it in a doctrinal view, unless 
 we ourselves do so persevere, our profession 
 of religion will be utterly vain ; for only 
 “ they that endure to the end shall be saved.” 
 It should seem, that whoever believes this^ 
 and is duly apprised of his own weakness, the 
 number and strength of his spiritual enemies, 
 and the difficulties and dangers arising from 
 his situation in this evil world, will at least be 
 desirous to have, if possible, some security, 
 that his labour and expectation shall not be 
 in vain. To be at an uncertainty in a point 
 of so great importance, to have nothing to 
 trust to for our continuance in well-doing, but 
 our own feeble efforts, our partial diligence, 
 and short-sighted care, must surely be distres- 
 sing, if we rightly consider how unable we 
 are in ourselves to withstand the forces of the 
 devil, the world, and the flesh, which are com- 
 bined against our peace. In this view I 
 should expect, that the opposers of this doc- 
 trine, if thoroughly sensible of their state and 
 situation, upon a supposition that they should 
 be able to prove it unscriptural and false, 
 would weep over their victory, and be sorr* 
 
56 ON ELECTION AND 
 
 that a sentiment, so apparently suited to en- 
 courage and animate our hope, should not be 
 founded in truth. It is not to be wondered 
 at, that this doctrine, which gives to the 
 Lord the glory due to his name, and provides 
 so effectually for the comfort of his people, 
 should be opposed and traduced by men of 
 corrupt hearts. But it may well seem strange, 
 that they who feel their need of it, and can- 
 not be comfortable without it, should be afraid 
 or unwilling to receive it. Yet many a child 
 of light is walking in darkness upon this ac- 
 count. Either they are staggered by the sen- 
 timents of those whom they think wiser than 
 themselves, or stumbled by the falls of pro- 
 fessors who were once advocates for this doc- 
 trine, or perplexed because they cannot right- 
 ly understand those passages of scripture 
 which seem to speak a different language. 
 But as light and knowledge increase, these dif- 
 ficulties are lessened. The Lord claims the 
 honour, and he engages for the accomplish- 
 ment of a complete salvation, that no power 
 shall pluck his people out of his hand, or se- 
 parate them from his love. Their perseve- 
 rance in grace, besides being asserted in many 
 express promises, may be proved with the ful- 
 lest evidence from the unchangeableness of 
 God, the intercession of Christ, the union 
 which subsists between him and his people, 
 and from the principle of spiritual life he has 
 implanted in their hearts, which, in its own 
 nature, is connected with everlasting life - 
 for grace is the seed of glory. I have not 
 room to enlarge on these particulars, but re- 
 fer you to the following texts, from which 
 various strong and invincible arguments might 
 be drawn for their confirmation ; Luke xiv. 
 28 — 30, compared with Phil. i. 6. ; Heb. vii. 
 24. with Rom. viii. 34 — 39. ; John xiv. 19. 
 with John xv. 1, 2. ; John iv. 14. Upon 
 these grounds, my friend, why may not you, 
 who have fled for refuge to the hope set before 
 you, and committed your soul to Jesus, re- 
 joice in his salvation ; and say, “ While Christ 
 is the foundation, root, head, and husband of 
 his people, while the word of God is Yea and 
 Amen, while the counsels of God are un- 
 changeable, while we have a Mediator and 
 High Priest before the throne, while the Holy 
 Spirit is willing and able to bear witness to 
 the truths of the gospel, while God is wiser 
 than men, and stronger than Satan, so long 
 the believer in Jesus is and shall be safe. 
 Heaven and earth may pass away, but the 
 promise, the oath, and the blood, on which my 
 soul relics, afford me a security which can 
 never fail.” 
 
 As the doctrines of election and persever- 
 ance are comfortable, so they cut off all pre- 
 tence of boasting and self-dependence, when 
 they are truly received in the heart, and there- 
 fore tend to exalt the Saviour. Of course 
 they stain the pride of all human glory, and 
 leave us nothing to glory in but the Lord. 
 
 PERSEVERANCE. LET. IX 
 
 The more we are convinced of our utter de- 
 pravity and inability from first to last, the 
 more excellent will Jesus appear. The whole 
 may give the physician a good word, but the 
 sick alone know how to prize him. And here 
 I cannot but remark a difference between those 
 who have nothing to trust to but free grace, 
 and those who ascribe a little at least to some 
 good disposition and ability in man. We as- 
 sent to whatever they enforce from the word 
 of God on the subject of sanctification. We 
 acknowledge its importance, its excellency, its 
 beauty ; but we could wish they would join 
 more with us in exalting the Redeemer’s 
 name. Their experience seems to lead them 
 to talk of themselves, of the change that is 
 wrought in them, and the much that depends 
 upon their own watchfulness and striving. We 
 likewise would be thankful if we could per- 
 ceive a change wrought in us by the power of 
 grace. We desire to be found watching like- 
 wise. But when our hopes are most alive, it 
 is less from a view of the imperfect begin- 
 nings of grace in our hearts, than from an ap- 
 prehension of him who is our all in all. His 
 person, his love, his sufferings, his interces- 
 sion, compassion, fulness, and faithfulness, — 
 these are our delightful themes, which leave 
 us little leisure, when in our best frames, to 
 speak of ourselves. How do our hearts 
 soften, and our eyes melt, when we feel some 
 liberty in thinking and speaking of him! For 
 we had no help in time past, nor can have 
 any in time to come, but from him alone. If 
 any persons have contributed a mite to their 
 own salvation, it was more than we could <£o. 
 If any were obedient and faithful to the first 
 calls and impressions of his Spirit, it was not 
 our case. If any were prepared to receive 
 him before hand, we know that we were in a 
 state of alienation from him. We needed so- 
 vereign irresistible grace to save us, of we 
 had been lost for ever. If there are any who 
 have a power of their own, we must confess 
 ourselves poorer than they are. We cannot 
 watch, unless he watches with us ; we cannot 
 strive, unless he strives with us j we cannot 
 stand one moment, unless he holds us up ; 
 and we believe we must perish after all, un- 
 less his faithfulness is engaged to keep us. 
 But this, we trust, he will do, not for our 
 righteousness, but for his own name’s sake, 
 and because, having loved us with an ever- 
 lasting love, he has been pleased, in loving- 
 kindness, to draw us to himself, and to be 
 found of us when we sought him not. 
 
 Can you think, dear Sir, that a person who 
 lives under the influence of these sentiments, 
 will desire to continue in sin, because grace 
 abounds ? No ; you are too candid an ob- 
 server of men and manners, to believe the ca- 
 lumnies which are propagated against us. It 
 is true, there are too many false and empty 
 professors amongst us ; but are there none 
 amongst those who hold the opposite senti- 
 
LET. X. 
 
 ON GRACE IN THE BLADE. 
 
 57 
 
 ments ? And I would observe, that the ob- 
 jection d^awn from the miscarriages of re- 
 puted Calvinists is quite beside the purpose. 
 We maintain, that no doctrines or means can 
 change the heart, or produce a gracious con- 
 versation, without the efficacious power of 
 almighty grace; therefore, if it is found to 
 be so in fact, it should not be charged against 
 our doctrine, but rather admitted as a proof 
 and confirmation of it. We confess, that we 
 fall sadly short in every thing, and have rea- 
 son to be ashamed and amazed that we are so 
 faintly influenced by such animating prin- 
 ciples ; yet, upon the whole, our consciences 
 bear us witness, and we hope we may declare 
 it both to the church and to the world, with- 
 out just fear of contradiction, that the doc- 
 trines of grace are doctrines according to god- 
 liness. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER X. 
 
 A ; OR, GRACE IN THE BLADE. MARK IV. 28. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 According to your desire, I sit down to give 
 you my general views of a progressive work 
 of grace, in the several stages of a believer’s 
 experience, which I shall mark by the differ- 
 ent characters, A, B, C, answerable to the 
 distinctions our Lord teaches us to observe 
 from the growth of the corn, Mark iv. 28. 
 “ First the blade, then the ear, after that the 
 full corn in the ear.” The Lord leads all his 
 people effectually and savingly to the know- 
 ledge of the same essential truths, but in such 
 a variety of methods, that it will be needful, 
 in this disquisition, to set aside, as much as 
 possible, such things as may be only per- 
 sonal and occasional in _ the experience of 
 each, and to collect those only which, in a 
 greater or less degree, are common to them 
 all. I shall not, therefore, give you a copy 
 of my own experience, or of that of any indi- 
 vidual ; but shall endeavour, as clearly as I 
 can, to state what the scripture teaches us 
 concerning the nature and essentials of a work 
 of grace, so far as it will bear a general appli- 
 cation to all those who are the subjects of gra- 
 cious operations. 
 
 By nature we are all dead in trespasses and 
 sins, not only strangers to God, but in a state 
 of enmity and opposition to his government 
 and grace. In this respect, whatever differ- 
 ence there may be in the characters of men as 
 members of society, they are all, whether wise 
 or ignorant, whether sober or profane, equally 
 incapable of receiving or approving divine 
 truths, 1 Cor. ii. 14. On this ground our 
 Lord declares, “ No man can come unto me, 
 except the Father who has sent me draws 
 him.” Though the term Father most fre- 
 
 quently expresses a known and important dis- 
 tinction in the adorable Trinity, I apprehend 
 our Lord sometimes uses it, to denote God, 
 or the Divine Nature, in contradistinction 
 from his humanity, as in John xiv. 9. And 
 this I take to be the sense here : “No man 
 can come unto me, unless he is taught of 
 God,” and wrought upon by a divine power. 
 The immediate exertion of this power, ac 
 cording to the economy of salvation, is ra- 
 ther ascribed to the Holy Spirit than to the 
 Father, John xvi. 8 — 11. But it is the 
 power of the God and Father of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ; and therefore severally attri- 
 buted to the Father, Son, and Spirit, John v. 
 21, and ch. vi. 44, 63; 2 Cor. iii. 18; 2 
 
 Thes. iii. 5. 
 
 By A, I would understand a person who 
 is under the drawings of God, which will in- 
 fallibly lead him to the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 for life and salvation. The beginning of this 
 work is instantaneous. It is effected by a 
 certain kind of light communicated to the 
 soul, to which it was before an utter stranger. 
 The eyes of the understanding are opened 
 and enlightened. The light at first afforded 
 is weak and indistinct, like the morning 
 dawn ; but when it is once begun, it will cer- 
 tainly increase and spread to the perfect day. 
 We commonly speak as if conviction of sin 
 was the first work of God upon the soul that 
 he is in mercy about to draw unto himself. 
 But I think this is inaccurate. Conviction is 
 only a part, or rather an immediate effect of 
 that first work; and there are many convic- 
 tions which do not at all spring from it, and 
 therefore are only occasional and temporary, 
 though for a season they may be very sharp, 
 and put a person upon doing many things. 
 In order to a due conviction of sin, we must 
 previously have some adequate conceptions of 
 the God with whom we have to do. Sin 
 may be feared as dangerous without this ; but 
 its nature and demerit can only be understood 
 by being contrasted with the holiness, ma- 
 jesty, goodness, and truth, of the God against 
 whom it is committed. No outward means, 
 no mercies, judgments, or ordinances, can 
 communicate such a discovery of God, or pro- 
 duce such a conviction of sin, without the 
 concurrence of this divine light and power to 
 the soul. The natural conscience and pas- 
 sions may indeed be so far wrought upon by 
 outward means, as to stir up some desires and 
 endeavours ; but if these are not founded in 
 a spiritual apprehension of the perfections of 
 God, according to the revelation he has made 
 of himself in his word, they will sooner or 
 later come to nothing; and the person affect- 
 ed will either return by degrees to his former 
 ways, 2 Peter ii. 20, or he will sink into a 
 self-righteous form of godliness, destitute 
 of the power, Luke xviii. 11. And there- 
 fore, as there are so many things in the dis- 
 pensation of the gospel suited to work upon 
 
58 
 
 tiie natural passions of men, the many woeful 
 miscarriages and apostacies amongst profes- 
 sors are more to be lamented than wondered 
 at. For though the seed may seem to spring 
 up, and look green for a season, if there be 
 not depth for it to take root, it will surely 
 wither away. We may be unable to judge 
 with certainty upon the first appearance of a 
 religious profession, whether the work be 
 thus deep and spiritual, or not ; but “ the 
 Lord knows them that are his and where- 
 ever it is real, it is an infallible token of sal- 
 vation. Now, as God only thus reveals him- 
 self by the medium of scripture-truth, the 
 light received this way leads the soul to the 
 scripture from whence it springs, and all the 
 leading truths of the word of God soon begin 
 to be perceived and assented to. The evil of 
 sin is acknowledged, the evil of the heart is 
 felt. There may be for a while some efforts 
 to obtain the favour of God by prayer, re- 
 pentance, and reformation ; but for the most 
 part it is not very long before these things are 
 proved to be vain and ineffectual. The soul, 
 like the woman mentioned Mark v. 26, wear- 
 ied with vain expedients, finds itself worse 
 and worse, and is gradually brought to see 
 the necessity and sufficiency of the gospel- 
 salvation. A may soon be a believer thus 
 far : That he believes the word of God, sees 
 and feels things to be as they are thus de- 
 scribed, hates and avoids sin, because he 
 knows it is displeasing to God, and contrary 
 to his goodness ; he receives the record which 
 God has given of his Son ; has his heart af- 
 fected and drawn to Jesus by views of his 
 glory, and of his love to poor sinners ; ven- 
 tures upon his name and promises as his only 
 encouragement to come to a throne of grace ; 
 waits diligently in the use of all means ap- 
 pointed for the communion and growth of 
 grace ; loves the Lord’s people, accounts them 
 the excellent of the earth, and delights in their 
 conversation. He is longing, waiting, and 
 praying for a share in those blessings which 
 he believes they enjoy, and can be satisfied 
 with nothing less. He is convinced of the 
 power of Jesus to save him ; but, through re- 
 maining ignorance and legality, the remem- 
 brance of sin committed, and the sense of pre- 
 sent corruption, he often questions his will- 
 ingness ; and, not knowing the abounding 
 of grace, and the security of the promises, he 
 fears lest the compassionate Saviour should 
 spurn him from his feet. 
 
 While he is thus young in the knowledge 
 of the gospel, burdened with sin, and, per- 
 haps, beset with Satan’s temptations, the Lord, 
 “ who gathers the lambs in his arms, and car- 
 ries them in his bosom,” is pleased, at times, ! 
 to favour him with cordials, that he may not ^ 
 be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow. Per- 
 haps his heart is enlarged in prayer, or under J 
 hearing, or some good promise is brought ' 
 home to his mind, and applied with power 
 
 ON GRACE IN THE BLADE. let. x. 
 
 and sweetness. He mistakes the nature and 
 
 design of these comforts, which are not given 
 him to rest in, but to encourage him to press 
 forward. He thinks he is then right, be- 
 cause he has them, and fondly hopes to have 
 them always. Then his mountain stands 
 strong. But ere long he feels a change ; his 
 comforts are withdrawn ; he finds no heart to 
 pray ; no attention in hearing ; indwelling sin 
 revives with fresh strength, and, perhaps, Sa- 
 tan returns with redoubled rage. Then he is 
 at his wit’s end : thinks hi-s hopes were pre- 
 sumptuous, and his comforts delusions. He 
 wants to feel something that may give him a 
 warrant to trust in the free promises of Christ. 
 His views of the Redeemer’s gracefulness are 
 very narrow ; he sees not the harmony and 
 glory of the divine attributes in the salvation 
 of a sinner; he sighs for mercy, but fears 
 that justice is against him. However, by these 
 changing dispensations, the Lord is training 
 him up, and bringing him forward. He re- 
 ceives grace from Jesus, whereby he is en- 
 abled to fight against sin ; his conscience is 
 tender ; his troubles are chiefly spiritual trou- 
 bles ; and he thinks, if he could but attain a 
 sure and abiding sense of his acceptance in 
 the Beloved, hardly any outward trial would 
 be capable of giving him much disturbance. 
 Indeed, notwithstanding the weakness of his 
 faith, and the prevalence of a legal spirit, 
 which greatly hurts him, there are some things 
 in his present experience which he may, per- 
 haps, look back upon with regret hereafter, 
 when his hope and knowledge will be more 
 established. Particularly that sensibility and 
 keenness of appetite with which he now at- 
 tends the ordinances, desiring the sincere milk 
 of the word with earnestness and eagerness as 
 a babe does the breast. He counts the hours 
 from one opportunity to another ; and the at- 
 tention and desire with which he hears may 
 be read in his countenance. His zeal is like- 
 wise lively ; and may be for want of more ex- 
 perience, too importunate and forward. He 
 has a love for souls, and a concern for the 
 glory of God, which, though it may at some 
 times create him trouble, and at others be mix- 
 ed with some undue motions of self, yet in its 
 principle is highly desirable and commend- 
 able, John xviii. 10. 
 
 The grace of God influences both the un- 
 derstanding and the affections. Warm affec- 
 tions, without knowledge can rise no higher 
 than superstition ; and that knowledge which 
 does not influence the heart and affections, 
 will only make a hypocrite. The true be- 
 liever is rewarded in both respects ; yet we 
 may observe, that though A is not without 
 knowledge, this state is more usually remark- 
 able for the warmth and liveliness of the 
 affections. On the other hand, as the work 
 advances, though the affections are not left 
 out, yet it seems to be carried on principally 
 in the understanding. The old Christian has 
 
ON GRACE IN THE EAR. 
 
 LET. XI. 
 
 more solid, judicious, and connected views of 
 the Lord Jesus Christ, and the glories of his 
 person and redeeming love ; hence his hope 
 is more established, his dependence more 
 simple, and his peace and strength, cceteris 
 paribus, more abiding and uniform, than in 
 the case of a young convert ; but the latter 
 has, for the most part, the advantage in point 
 of sensible fervency. A tree is most valuable 
 when laden with ripe fruit ; but it has a pe- 
 culiar beauty when in blossom. It is spring- 
 time with A ; he is in bloom, and, by the 
 grace and blessing of the heavenly husband- 
 man, will bear fruit in old age. His faith is 
 weak, but his heart is warm. He will seldom 
 venture to think himself a believer ; but he 
 sees and feels, and does those things which 
 no one could, unless the Lord was with him. 
 The very desire and bent of his soul is to 
 God, and to the word of his grace. His 
 knowledge is but small; but it is growing 
 every day. If he is not a father or a young 
 man in grace, he is a dear child. The Lord 
 has visited his heart, delivered him from the 
 love of sin, and fixed his desires supremely 
 upon Jesus Christ. The spirit of bon- 
 dage is gradually departing from him, and 
 the hour of liberty, which he longs for is ap- 
 proaching, when, by a further discovery of 
 the glorious gospel, it shall be given him to 
 know his acceptance, and to rest upon the 
 Lord’s finished salvation. We shall then take 
 notice of him by the name of B in a second 
 letter, if you are not unwilling that I should 
 prosecute the subject. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER XI. 
 
 B ; OR, GRACE IN THE EAR. MARK IV. 28. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 The manner of the Lord’s work in the hearts 
 of his people is not easily traced, though the 
 fact is certain, and the evidence demonstrable 
 from scripture. In attempting to explain it, 
 we can only speak in general, and are at a 
 loss to form such a description as shall take 
 in the immense variety of cases which occur 
 in the experience of believers. I have already 
 attempted such a general delineation of a 
 young convert, under the character of A, 
 and am now to speak of him by the name 
 of B. 
 
 This state I suppose to commence when the 
 soul, after an interchange of hopes and fears, 
 according to the different frames it passes 
 through, is brought to rest in Jesus, by a spi- 
 ritual apprehension of his complete suitable- 
 ness and sufficiency, as the wisdom, right- 
 eousness, sanctification, and redemption of all 
 who trust in him, and is enabled, by an ap- 
 propriating faith, to say, “ He is mine, and 
 
 59 
 
 I am his.” There are various degrees of this 
 persuasion ; it is of a growing nature, and is 
 capable of increase so long as we remain in 
 this world. I call it assurance, when it arises 
 from a simple view of the grace and glory of 
 the Saviour, independent of our sensible frames 
 and feelings, so as to enable us to answer all 
 objections from unbelief and Satan, with the 
 apostle’s words, “ Who is he that condemn- 
 ed ? It is Christ that died, yea, rather, that 
 is risen again ; who is even at the right hand 
 of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” 
 Rom. viii. 34. This, in my judgment, does 
 not belong to the essence of faith, so that 
 B should be deemed more truly a believer 
 than A, but to the establishment of faith. And 
 now faith is stronger, it has more to grapple 
 with. I think the characteristic of the state 
 of A is desire, and of B is conflict. Not that 
 B’s desires have subsided, or that A was a 
 stranger to conflict ; but as there was a sen- 
 sible eagerness and keenness in A’s desires, 
 which, perhaps, is seldom known to be equally 
 strong afterwards ; so there are usually trials 
 and exercises in B’s experience, something 
 different in their kind, and sharper in their 
 measure, than what A was exposed to, or in- 
 deed had strength to endure. A, like Israel, 
 has been delivered from Egypt by great power 
 and a stretched-out arm, has been pursued and 
 terrified by many enemies, has given himself 
 up for lost again and again. He has at last 
 seen his enemies destroyed, and has sung the 
 song of Moses and the Lamb upon the banks 
 of the Red Sea. Then he commences B. 
 Perhaps, like Israel, he thinks his difficulties 
 are at an end, and expects to go on rejoicing 
 till he enters the promised land. But alas ! 
 his difficulties are in a manner but begin- 
 ning ; he has a wilderness before him, of 
 which he is not aware. The Lord is now 
 about to suit his dispensations to humble and 
 to prove him, and to shew him what is in his 
 heart, that he may do him good at the latter 
 end, and that all the glory may redound to his 
 own free grace. 
 
 Since the Lord hates and abhors sin, and 
 teaches his people, whom he loves, to hate it 
 likewise; it might seem desirable (and all 
 things are equally easy to him), that at the 
 same time they are delivered from the guilt 
 and reigning power of sin, they should like- 
 wise be perfectly freed from the defilertient of 
 indwelling sin, and be made fully conforma- 
 ble to him at once. His wisdom has, how- 
 ever, appointed otherwise. But from the 
 above premises of his hatred of sin, and his 
 love to his people, I think we may certainly 
 conclude, that he would not suffer sin to re- 
 main in them, if he did not purpose to over- 
 rule it, for the fuller manifestation of the 
 glory of his grace and wisdom, and for the 
 making his salvation more precious to then 
 souls. It is, however, his command, and there- 
 fore their duty ; yea, further, from the new 
 
LET. XI. 
 
 ON GRACE IN THE EAR. 
 
 60 
 
 nature he has given them, it is their desire, to 
 watch and strive against sin ; and to propose 
 the mortification of the whole body of sin, and 
 the advancement of sanctification in their 
 hearts, as their great and constant aim, to 
 which they are to have an habitual persever- 
 ing regard. Upon this plan B sets out. The 
 knowledge of our acceptance with God, and 
 of our everlasting security in Christ, has, in 
 itself, the same tendency upon earth as it will 
 have in heaven, and would, in proportion to 
 the degree of evidence and clearness, produce 
 the same effects, of continual love, joy, peace, 
 gratitude, and praise, if there was nothing to 
 counteract it. But B is not all spirit. A 
 depraved nature still cleaves to him, and he 
 has the seeds of every natural corruption yet 
 remaining in his heart. He lives likewise in 
 a world that is full of snares, and occasions, 
 suited to draw forth those corruptions ; and 
 he is surrounded by invisible spiritual enemies, 
 the extent of whose power and subtilty he is 
 yet to learn by painful experience. B knows, 
 in general, the nature of his Christian warfare, 
 and sees his right to live upon Jesus for right- 
 eousness and strength. He is not unwilling 
 to endure hardships as a good soldier of Jesus 
 Christ ; and believes, that though he may be 
 sore thrust at that he may fall, the Lord 
 will be his stay. He knows, that his heart is 
 “ deceitful and desperately wicked j” but he 
 does not, he cannot know at first, the full 
 meaning of that expression. Yet it is for the 
 Lord’s glory, and will, in the end, make his 
 grace and love still more precious, that B 
 should find new and mortifying proofs of an 
 evil nature as he goes on, such as he could not 
 once have believed, had they been foretold to 
 him, as in the case of Peter, Mark xiv. 29. 
 And in effect, the abominations of the heart 
 do not appear in their full strength and ag- 
 gravation, but in the case of one, who, like B, 
 has tasted that the Lord is gracious, and re- 
 ioiced in his salvation. The exceeding sin- 
 fulness of sin is manifested, not so much by 
 its breaking through the restraint of threaten- 
 ings and commands, as by its being capable of 
 acting against light find against love. Thus it 
 was with Hezekiah. He had been a faithful and 
 zealous servant of the Lord for many years ; 
 but I suppose he knew more of God, and of 
 himself, in the time of his sickness, than he 
 had ever done before. The Lord, who had 
 signally defended him from Sennacherib, was 
 pleased likewise to raise him from the borders 
 of the grave by a miracle, and prolonged the 
 time of his life in answer to prayer. It is 
 plain from the song which he penned upon 
 his recovery, that he was greatly affected with 
 the mercies he had received ; yet still there 
 was something in his heart which he knew not, 
 and which it was for the Lord’s glory he should 
 be made sensible of ; and therefore he was 
 pleased to leave him to himself. It is the only 
 instance in which he is said to have been left, 
 
 to himself, and the only instance in which his 
 conduct is condemned. I apprehend, that in 
 the state of B, that is, for a season after we 
 have known the Lord, we have usually the 
 most sensible and distressing experience of 
 our evil natures. I do not say, that it is 
 necessary that we should be left to fall into 
 gross outward sin, in order to know what is 
 in our hearts ; though I believe many have 
 thus fallen, whose hearts, under a former sense 
 of redeeming love, have been as truly set 
 against sin, as the hearts of others who 
 have been preserved from such outward 
 falls. The Lord makes some of his children 
 examples and warnings to others, as he pleases. 
 They who are spared, and whose worst devia- 
 tions are only known to the Lord and them- 
 selves, have great reason to be thankful. I 
 am sure I have : the merciful Lord has not 
 suffered me to make any considerable blot in 
 my profession during the time I have been 
 numbered amongst his people. But I have no- 
 thing to boast of herein. It has not been ow- 
 ing to my wisdom, watchfulness, or spirituali- 
 ty, though in the main he has not suffered me 
 to live in the neglect of his appointed means. 
 But I hope to go softly all my days under the 
 remembrance of many things, for which I have 
 as great cause to be abased before him, as 
 if I had been left to sin grievously in the sight 
 of men. Yet, with respect to my acceptance 
 in the Beloved, I know not if I have had a 
 doubt of a quarter of an hour’s continuance 
 for many years past. But, oh ! the multi- 
 plied instances of stupidity, ingratitude, im- 
 patience, and rebellion, to which my consci- 
 ence has been witness ! And as every heart 
 knows its own bitterness, I have generally 
 heard the like complaints from others of the 
 Lord’s people with whom I have conversed, 
 even from those who have appeared to be 
 eminently gracious and spiritual. B does not 
 meet with these things perhaps at first, nor 
 every day. The Lord appoints occasions and 
 turns in life, which try our spirits. There 
 are particular seasons, when temptations are 
 suited to our frames, tempers, and situations ; 
 and there are times when he is pleased to with- 
 draw, and to permit Satan’s approach, that 
 we may feel how vile we are in ourselves. 
 We are prone to spiritual pride, to self-de- 
 pendence, to vain confidence, to create attach- 
 ments, and a train of evils. The Lord often 
 discovers to us one single disposition by ex- 
 posing us to another. He sometimes shows 
 us what he can do for us and in us ; and at 
 other times how little we can do, and how un- 
 able we are to stand without him. By a variety 
 of these exercises, through the over-ruling and 
 edifying influences of the Holy Spirit, B is 
 trained up in a growing knowledge of him- 
 self and of the Lord. He learns to be more 
 distrustful of his own heart, and to suspect a 
 snare in every step he takes. The dark and 
 disconsolate hours which he has brought upon 
 
LET. XII. ON GRACE IN ' 
 
 himself in times past, make him doubly prize 
 the light of God’s countenance, and teach him 
 to dread whatever might grieve the Spirit of 
 God, and cause him to withdraw again. The 
 repeated and multiplied pardons which he has 
 received, increase his admiration of, and the 
 sense of his obligations to the rich, sovereign 
 abounding mercy of the covenant. Much 
 has been forgiven him, therefore he loves 
 much, and therefore he knows how to forgive 
 and to pity others. He does not call evil 
 good, or good evil ; but his own experiences 
 teach him tenderness and forbearance. He 
 experiences a spirit of meekness towards those 
 who are overtaken in a fault, and his attempts 
 to restore such, are according to the pattern of 
 the Lord’s dealings with himself. In a word, 
 B’s character, in my judgment, is complete, 
 and he becomes a C when the habitual frame 
 of his heart answers to that passage in the 
 prophet Ezekiel, chap. xvi. 63. “ That thou 
 
 mayest remember, and be confounded, and 
 never open thy mouth any more (to boast, 
 complain, or censure), because of thy shame, 
 when I am pacified towards thee for all that 
 thou hast done, saith the Lord God.” 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER XII. 
 
 C ; OR, GRACE IN THE FULL CORN IN THE EAR. 
 
 MARK iv. 28. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 By way of distinction, I assigned to A the 
 characteristic of desire, to B that of conflict. 
 I can think of no single word more descrip- 
 tive of the state of C than contemplation. His 
 eminence, in comparison of A, does not consist 
 in the sensible warmth and fervency of his 
 affections : in this respect many of the most 
 exemplary believers have looked back with a 
 kind of regret upon the time of their espousals, 
 when, though their judgments were but im- 
 perfectly formed, and their views of gospel- 
 truths were very indistinct, they felt a fervour 
 of spirit, the remembrance of which is both 
 humbling and refreshing ; and yet they can- 
 not recall the same sensations. Nor is he 
 properly distinguished from B by a conscious- 
 ness of his acceptance in the Beloved, and an 
 ability of calling God his father ; for this I have 
 supposed B has attained to. Though as there 
 is a growth in every grace, C having had his 
 views of the gospel, and of the Lord’s faithful- 
 ness and mercy, confirmed by a longer expe- 
 rience, his assurance is of course more stable 
 and more simple, than when he first saw 
 himself safe from all condemnation. Neither 
 has C, properly speaking, any more strength 
 or stock of grace inherent in himself than 
 B, or even than A. He is in the same 
 state of absolute dependence, as incapable of 
 
 61 
 
 performing spiritual acts, or of resisting temp- 
 tations, by his own power, as he was at the 
 first day of his setting out. Yet, in a sense, 
 he is much stronger, because he has a moro 
 feeling and constant sense of his own weak- 
 ness. The Lord has been long teaching him 
 this lesson by a train of various dispensations ; 
 and through grace he can say, He has not 
 suffered so many things in vain. His heart 
 has deceived him so often, that he is now in a 
 good measure weaned from trusting to it ; and 
 therefore he does not meet with so many disap- 
 pointments. And having found again and 
 again the vanity of all other helps, he is now 
 taught to go to the Lord at once for “ grace 
 to help in every time of need.” Thus he is 
 strong not in himself, but in the grace that is 
 in Christ Jesus. 
 
 But C’s happiness and superiority to B lies 
 chiefly in this, that by the Lord’s blessing on 
 the use of means, such as prayer, reading, 
 and hearing of the word, and by a sanctified 
 improvement of what he has seen of the Lord, 
 and of his own heart, in the course of his ex- 
 perience, he has attained clearer, deeper, and 
 more comprehensive views of the mystery of 
 redeeming love ; of the glorious excellency of 
 the Lord Jesus, in his person, offices, grace, 
 and faithfulness ; of the harmony and glory of 
 all the divine perfections manifested in and by 
 him to the church ; of the stability, beauty, 
 fulness, and certainty of the holy scriptures, 
 and of the heights, depths, lengths, and 
 breadths of the love of God in Christ. Thus, 
 though his sensible feelings may not be so 
 warm as when he was in the state of A, his 
 judgment is more solid, his mind more fixed, 
 his thoughts more habitually exercised upon 
 the things within the vail. His great busi- 
 ness is to behold the glory of God in Christ ; 
 and by beholding, he is changed into the 
 same image, and brings forth, in an eminent and 
 uniform manner, the fruits of righteousness, 
 which are by Jesus Christ to the glory and 
 praise of God. His contemplations are not 
 barren speculations, but have a real influence, 
 and enable him to exemplify the Christian cha- 
 racter to more advantage, and with more con- 
 sistence, than can, in the present state of 
 things, be expected either from A or B. The 
 following particulars may illustrate my mean- 
 ing. 
 
 1. Humility. A measure of this grace is 
 to be expected in every true Christian ; but it 
 can oixly appear in px'oportion to the know- 
 ledge they have of Christ, and of their own 
 hearts. It is a part of C’s daily employment 
 to look back upon the way by which the Lord 
 has led him : and while he reviews the Ebe- 
 nezers he has set up all along the road, he 
 sees, in almost an equal number, the monu- 
 ments of his own pei*verse returns, and how 
 he has, in a thousand instances, rendered to 
 the Lord evil for good. Comparing these 
 things together, he can, without affectation, 
 
 HIE FULL CORN. 
 
62 
 
 LET. XII. 
 
 ON GRACE IN THE FULL CORN. 
 
 adopt the apostle’s language, and style him- 
 self “ less than the least of all saints, and of 
 sinners the chief.” A and B know that they 
 ought to be humbled ; but C is truly so, and 
 feels the force of that text which I mentioned 
 in my last, Ezek. xvi. 63. Again, as he 
 knows most of himself, so he has seen most 
 of the Lord. The apprehension of infinite 
 majesty combined with infinite love, makes 
 him shrink into the dust. From the exercise 
 of this grace he derives two others, which 
 are exceedingly ornamental, and principal 
 branches of the mind which was in Christ. 
 
 The one is, submission to the will of God. 
 The views he has of his own vileness, unwor- 
 thiness, and ignorance, and of the divine so- 
 vereignty, wisdom, and love, teach him to be 
 content in every state, and to bear his appoint- 
 ed lot of suffering with resignation, according 
 to the language of David in a time of afflic- 
 tion, “ I was dumb, and opened not my 
 mouth, because thou didst it.” 
 
 The other is, tenderness of spirit towards 
 his fellow Christians. He cannot but judge 
 of their conduct according to the rule of the 
 word. But his own heart, and the knowledge 
 he has acquired of the snares of the world, 
 and the subtilty of Satan, teach him to make 
 all due allowances, and qualify him for ad- 
 monishing and restoring, in the spirit of meek- 
 ness, those who have been overtaken in a fault. 
 Here A is usually blameable ; the warmth of 
 his zeal, not being duly corrected by a sense 
 of his own imperfections, betrays him often 
 into a censorious spirit. But C can bear 
 with A likewise, because he hath been so him- 
 self, and he will not expect green fruit to be 
 ripe. 
 
 2. Spirituality. A spiritual taste, and a 
 disposition to account all things mean and 
 vain, in comparison of the knowledge and 
 love of God in Christ, are essential to a true 
 Christian. The world can never be his pre- 
 vailing choice, 1 John ii. 13. Yet we are re- 
 newed but in part, and are prone to an undue 
 attachment to worldly things. Our spirits 
 cleave to the dust, in defiance of the dictates 
 of our better judgments ; and I believe the 
 Lord seldom gives his people a considerable 
 victory over this evil principle, until he has let 
 them feel how deeply it is rooted in their 
 hearts. We may often see persons entangled 
 and clogged in this respect, of whose sincerity 
 in the main we cannot justly doubt ; espe- 
 cially upon some sudden and unexpected turn 
 in life, which brings them into a situation 
 they have not been accustomed to. A consi- 
 derable part of our trials are mercifully ap- 
 pointed to wean us from this propensity ; and 
 it is gradually weakened by the Lord’s shew- 
 ing us at one time the vanity of the creature, 
 and at another his own excellence and all- 
 sufficiency. Even C is not perfect in this 
 respect ; but he is more sensible of the evil of 
 t'uch attachments, more humbled for them 
 
 moro watchful against them, and more deli- 
 vered from them. He still feels a fetter, but 
 he longs to be free. His allowed desires are 
 brought to a point ; and he sees nothing 
 worth a serious thought, but communion with 
 God and progress in holiness. Whatever 
 outward changes C may meet with, he will, in 
 general, be the same man still. Fie has learn- 
 ed, with the apostle, not only to suffer want, 
 but, which is perhaps the harder lesson, how 
 to abound. A palace would be a prison to 
 him, without the Lord’s presence, and with 
 this a prison would be a palace. From hence 
 arises a peaceful reliance upon the Lord : he 
 has nothing which he cannot commit into 
 his hands, which he is not habitually aiming 
 to resign to his disposal. Therefore, he is 
 not afraid of evil tidings ; but when the hearts 
 of others shake like the leaves of a tree, he is 
 fixed, trusting in the Lord, who, he believes, 
 can and will make good every loss, sweeten 
 every bitter, and appoint all things to work 
 together for his advantage. He sees that 
 the time is short, lives upon the foretastes of 
 glory, and, therefore, accounts not his life, 
 or any inferior concernment dear, so that he 
 may finish his course with joy. 
 
 3. A union of heart to the glory and will 
 of God, is another noble distinction of C’s 
 spirit. The glory of God and the good of 
 his people are inseparably connected: But 
 
 of these great ends, the first is unspeakably 
 the highest and most important, and into 
 which every thing else will be finally resolv- 
 ed. Now, in proportion as we advance nearer 
 to him, our judgment, aim, and end, will be 
 conformable to his, and his glory will have the 
 highest place in our hearts. At first it is not 
 so, or but very imperfectly. Our concern is 
 chiefly about ourselves ; nor can it be other- 
 wise. The convinced soul inquires, What 
 shall I do to be saved ? The young convert 
 is intent upon sensible comforts ; and in the 
 seasons when he sees his interest secure, the 
 prospect of the troubles he may meet with in 
 life makes him often wish for an early dis- 
 mission, that he may be at rest, and avoid the 
 heat and burden of the day. But Q has at- 
 tained to more enlarged views ; he has a de- 
 sire to depart and to be with Christ, which 
 would be importunate, if he considered only 
 himself ; but his chief desire is, that God 
 may be glorified in him, whether by his life or 
 by his death. He is not his own ; nor does 
 he desire to be his own ; but so that the pow- 
 er of Jesus may be manifested in him, he will 
 take pleasure in infirmities, in distresses, in 
 temptations ; and though he longs for heaven, 
 would be content to live as long as Methuse- 
 lah upon earth, if by any thing he could do 
 or suffer, the will and glory of God might be 
 promoted. And though he loves and adores 
 the Lord for what he has done and suffered 
 for him, delivered him from, and appointed 
 him to ; yet he loves and adores him likewise, 
 
l£i. XHI. 
 
 with a more simple and direct love, in which 
 self is in a manner forgot, from the consider- 
 ation of his glorious excellence and perfec- 
 tions, as he is in himself. That Godin Christ 
 is glorious over all, and blessed for ever, is 
 the very joy of his soul ; and his heart can 
 frame no higher wish, than that the sovereign, 
 wise, holy will of God, may be accomplished in 
 him, and all his creatures. Upon this grand 
 principle his prayers, schemes, and actions are 
 formed. Thus C is already made like the 
 angels, and, so far as consistent with the in- 
 separable remnants of a fallen nature, the will 
 of God is regarded by him upon earth, as it 
 is by the inhabitants of heaven. 
 
 The power of divine grace in C may be 
 exemplified in a great variety of situations. 
 C may be rich or poor, learned or illiterate, of 
 a lively natural spirit, or of a more slow and 
 phlegmatical constitution. He may have a 
 comparatively smooth, or a remarkably thorny 
 path in life ; he may be a minister or a lay- 
 man : these circumstances will give some 
 tincture and difference in appearance to the 
 work; but the work itself is the same; and 
 we must, as far as possible, drop the consi- 
 deration of them all, or make proper allow- 
 ances for each, in order to form a right judg- 
 ment of the life of faith. The outward ex- 
 pression of grace may be heightened and set 
 off to advantage by many things which are 
 merely natural, such as evenness of temper, 
 good sense, a knowledge of the world, and 
 the like : and it may be darkened by things 
 which are not properly sinful, but unavoid- 
 able, such as lowness of spirits, weak abilities, 
 and pressure of temptations, which may have 
 effects that they who have not had experience 
 in the same things, cannot properly account 
 for. A double quantity of real grace, if I 
 may so speak, that has a double quantity of 
 hinderances to conflict with, will not be easily 
 observed, unless these hinderances are likewise 
 known and attended to ; and a smaller mea- 
 sure of grace may appear great when its exer- 
 cise meets with no remarkable obstruction. 
 For these reasons we can never be competent 
 judges of each other, because we cannot be 
 competently acquainted with the whole com- 
 plex case. But our great and merciful High- 
 priest knows the whole ; he considers our 
 frame, “remembers that we Are but dust:” 
 makes gracious allowances, pities, bears, ac- 
 cepts, and approves, with unerring judgment. 
 The sun, in his daily course, beholds nothing 
 so excellent and honourable upon earth as C, 
 though perhaps he may be confined to a cot- 
 tage and is little known or noticed by men. 
 But he is the object and residence of divine 
 love, the charge of angels, and ripening for 
 everlasting glory. Happy C ! his toils, suf- 
 ferings, and exercises will be soon at an end ; 
 soon his desires will be accomplished ; and he 
 who has loved him, and redeemed him with 
 his own blood, will receive him to himself* 
 
 63 
 
 with a “ Well done, good and faithful ser- 
 vant ; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” 
 If this representation is agreeable to the 
 scriptures, how greatly are they mistaken, and 
 how much to be pitied, who, while they make 
 profession of the gospel, seem to have no idea 
 of the effects it is designed to produce upon 
 the hearts of believers, but either allow them- 
 selves in a worldly spirit and conversation, or 
 indulge their unsanctified tempers, by a fierce 
 contention for names, notions, and parties. 
 May the Lord give to you and to me daily 
 to grow in the experience of that wisdom which 
 “ is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and 
 easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good 
 works, without partiality, and without hypo- 
 crisy.” 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER XIII. 
 
 ON HEARING SERMONS. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 I AM glad to find that the Lord has at length 
 been pleased to fix you in a favoured situation, 
 where you have frequent opportunities of hear- 
 ing the gospel. This is a great privilege; 
 but, like all other outward privileges, it re- 
 quires grace and wisdom to make a due im- 
 provement of it : and the great plenty of or- 
 dinances you enjoy, though in itself a bles- 
 sing, is attended with snares, which, unless 
 they are carefully guarded against, may hin- 
 der, rather than promote, your edification. 
 I gladly embrace the occasion you afford me, 
 of offering you my advice upon this subject. 
 A remembrance of the mistakes I have my- 
 self formerly committed, and the observations 
 I have made upon the conduct of professors, 
 considered as hearers, will, perhaps, in some 
 measure qualify me for the task you have as- 
 signed me. 
 
 The faithful ministers of the gospel, are all 
 the servants and ambassadors of Christ ; they 
 are called and furnished by his Holy Spirit ; 
 they speak in his name ; and their success in 
 the discharge of their office, be it more or less, 
 depends entirely upon his blessing : so far 
 they are all upon a par. But in the measure of 
 their ministerial abilities, and in the peculiar 
 turn of their preaching, there is a great va- 
 riety. There are “ diversities of gifts from 
 the same Spirit ; and he distributes to every 
 man severally according to his own will.” 
 Some are more happy in alarming the care- 
 less, others in administering consolation to the 
 wounded conscience. Some are set more es- 
 pecially for the establishment and confirma- 
 tion of the gospel -doctrines ; others are skil- 
 ful in solving casuistical points ; others are 
 more excellent in enforcing practical godli- 
 ness ; and others again, having been led 
 
 ON HEARING SERMONS. 
 
LET. XIII. 
 
 ON HEARING SERMONS. 
 
 64 
 
 through. depths of temptation and spiritual dis- 
 tress, are best acquainted with the various 
 workings of the heart, and know best how to 
 speak a word in season to weary and exercis- 
 ed souls. Perhaps no true minister of the 
 gospel (for all such are taught of God) is 
 wholly at a loss upon either of these points ; 
 but few, if any, are remarkably and equally 
 excellent in managing them all. Again, as 
 to their manner, some are more popular and 
 pathetic, but at the same time more general 
 and diffuse ; while the want of that life and 
 earnestness in delivery is compensated in 
 others, by the closeness, accuracy, and depth 
 of their compositions. In this variety of gifts, 
 the Lord has a gracious regard to the different 
 tastes and dispositions, as well as to the wants 
 of his people ; and by their combined effects, 
 the complete system of his truth is illustrated, 
 and the good of his church promoted with the 
 highest advantage; while his ministers, like 
 officers assigned to different stations in an 
 army, have not only the good of the whole in 
 view, but each one his particular post to main- 
 tain. This would be more evidently the case, 
 if the remaining depravity of our hearts did 
 not afford Satan but too much advantage in 
 his subtile attempts to hurt and ensnare us. 
 Rut alas ! how often has he prevailed to in- 
 fuse a spirit of envy or dislike in ministers to- 
 wards each other, to withdraw hearers from 
 their proper concernment, by dividing them in- 
 to parties and stirring them up to contend for 
 a Paul, an Apollos, or a Cephas, for their own 
 favourites, to the disparagement of others who 
 are equally dear to the Lord, and faithful in 
 his service? You may think my preamble 
 long : but I shall deduce my advices chiefly 
 from it; taking it for granted, that to you I 
 may have no need of proving at large what I 
 have advanced. 
 
 As the gifts and talents of ministers are dif- 
 ferent, I advise you to chuse for your stated 
 pastor and teacher, one whom you find most 
 suitable, upon the whole, to your own taste, 
 and whom you are likely to hear with the 
 most pleasure and advantage. Use some de- 
 liberation and, much prayer in this matter. 
 Intreat the Lord, who knows better than you 
 do yourself, to guide you where your soul 
 may be best fed ; and when your choice is 
 fixed, you will do well to make a point of at- 
 tending his ministry constantly, I mean, at 
 least the stated times of worship on the Lord’s 
 day. I do not say, that no circumstance will 
 justify your going elsew’here at such times oc- 
 casionally ; but I think the seldomer you are 
 absent the better. A stated and regular at- 
 tendance encourages the minister, affords a 
 good example to the congregation; and a 
 hearer is more likely to meet with what is 
 directly suited to his own case, from a mini- 
 ster who knows him, and expects to see him, 
 than he can be from one who is a stranger. 
 Especially, I would not wish you to be absent 
 
 for the sake of gratifying your curiosity, to 
 hear some new r preacher, wiio you have, per- 
 haps, been told, is a very extraordinary man. 
 For in your way such occasions .might pos- 
 sibly offer almost every week. What I have 
 observed of many, w r ho run about unseason- 
 ably after new preachers, has reminded me of 
 Prov. xxvii. 8. “ As a bird that wandereth 
 from her nest, so is the man that w-anderetli 
 from his place.” Such unsettled hearers sel- 
 dom thrive, they usually grow wise in their 
 own conceits, have their heads filled with 
 notions, acquire a dry, critical, and censorious 
 spirit ; and are more intent upon disputing 
 who is the best preacher, than upon obtaining 
 benefit to themselves from what they hear. 
 If you could find a man, indeed, w r ho had a 
 power in himself of dispensing a blessing to 
 your soul, you might follow him from place 
 to place ; but as the blessing is in the Lord’s 
 hand, you will be more likely to receive it 
 by waiting where his providence has placed 
 you, and where he has met with you before. 
 
 But as human nature is prone to extremes, 
 permit me to give you a caution on the other 
 hand. If the minister under whom you statedly 
 attend, is made very acceptable to you, you will 
 be in the less danger of slighting him. But 
 be careful that you do not slight any other mi 
 nister of Christ. If, therefore, when you come 
 to hear your own preacher, you find another 
 in the pulpit, do not let your looks tell him, 
 that if you had known he had been there 
 you would not have come. I wish indeed 
 you may never think so in your heart ; but 
 though we cannot prevent evil thoughts from 
 rising in our minds, we should endeavour to 
 combat and suppress them. Some persons 
 are so curious, or rather so weak, that if their 
 favourite minister is occasionally absent, they 
 hardly think it worth their while to hear a- 
 nother. A judicious and faithful minister, in 
 this case, instead of being delighted with such 
 a mark of peculiar attachment to himself, wdll 
 be grieved to think that they have profited no 
 more by his labours ; for it is his desire to 
 win souls, not to himself, but to Jesus Christ. 
 I hope you, my friend, will alw r ays attend the 
 ordinances w'ith a view to the Lord’s presence ; 
 and when you are in your proper place, con- 
 sider the preacher (if he preaches the truth) 
 as one providentially and expressly sent by the 
 Lord to you at that time ; and that you could 
 not chuse better for yourself, all things con- 
 sidered, than he has chosen for you. Do not 
 limit the Almighty, by confining your expec- 
 tations to a single instrument. If you do, 
 you will probably procure your own disap- 
 pointment. If you fix your hopes upon the 
 man, the Lord may with-hold his blessing, 
 and then the best men and the best sermons 
 will prove to you but as clouds without 
 w^ater. But, besides the more stated seasons 
 of worship on the Lord’s day, you have many 
 opportunities of hearing sermons occasionally 
 
LET. XIII. 
 
 in the course of the week ; and thus you may 
 partake of that variety of gifts which I have 
 already spoken of. This will be either a bene- 
 fit, or otherwise, according to the use you 
 make of it. I would recommend to you to 
 improve these occasions, but under some re- 
 strictions. 
 
 In the first place, be cautious that you do not 
 degenerate into the spirit of a mere hearer, so 
 as to place the chief stress of your profession 
 upon running hither and thither after preach- 
 ers. There are many who are always upon 
 the wing : and, without a due regard to what 
 is incumbent upon them in the shop, in the 
 family, or in the closet, they seem to think 
 they were sent into the world only to hear 
 sermons, and to hear as many in a day as they 
 possibly can. Such persons may be fitly com- 
 pared to Pharaoh’s lean kine ; they devour a 
 great deal ; but for want of a proper diges- 
 tion, they do not flourish ; their souls are lean ; 
 they have little solid comfort ; and their 
 profession abounds more in leaves than in 
 fruit. If the twelve apostles were again upon 
 earth, and you could hear them all every 
 week ; yet if you were not attentive to the 
 duties of the closet, if you did not allow your- 
 self time for reading, meditation, and prayer ; 
 and if you did not likewise conscientiously 
 attend to the concernments of your particular 
 calling, and the discharge of your duties in 
 relative life, I should be more ready to blame 
 your indiscretion, than to admire your zeal. 
 Every thing is beautiful in its season ; and if 
 one duty frequently jostle out another, it is a 
 sign either of a weak judgment, or of a wrong 
 turn of mind. No public ordinances can 
 make amends for the neglect of secret prayer ; 
 nor will the most diligent attendance upon 
 them justify us in the neglect of those duties, 
 which, by the command and appointment of 
 God, we owe to society. 
 
 Again, as it is our trial to live in a day 
 wherein so many contentions and winds of 
 strange doctrines abound, I hope you will 
 watch and pray that you may not have itch- 
 ing ears, inclining you to hearken after novel 
 and singular opinions, and the erroneous sen- 
 timents of men of unstable minds, who are 
 not sound in the faith. I have known per- 
 sons, who, from a blameable curiosity, have 
 gone to hear such, not for the sake of edifi- 
 cation, which they could not expect, but to 
 know what they had to say, supposing that 
 they themselves were too well established in 
 the truth to be hurt by them. But the expe- 
 riment (without a just and lawful call) is pre- 
 sumptuous and dangerous. In this way many 
 nave been hurt, yea, many have been over- 
 thrown. Error is like poison ; the subtilty, 
 quickness, and force of its operation, is often 
 amazing. As we pray not to be led into 
 temptation, we should take care not to run 
 into it wilfully. If the Lord has shewn you 
 what is right, it is not worth your while to 
 
 fi.5 
 
 know (if you could know it) how many ways 
 there are of being wrong. 
 
 Farther, I advise you, when you hear a 
 gospel sermon, and it is not in all respects to 
 your satisfaction, be not too hasty to lay the 
 whole blame upon the preacher. The Lord’s 
 ministers have not much to say in their own 
 behalf. They feel (it is to be hoped) their own 
 weakness and defects, and the greatness and 
 difficulty of their work. They are conscious 
 that their warmest endeavours to proclaim the 
 Saviour’s glory are too cold ; and their most 
 importunate addresses to the consciences of 
 men are too faint ; and sometimes they are 
 burdened with such discouragements, that 
 even their enemies would pity them, if they 
 knew their case. Indeed, they have much to 
 be ashamed of ; but it will be more useful for 
 you, who are a hearer, to consider whether the 
 fault may not possibly be in yourself. Per- 
 haps you thought too highly of the man, and 
 expected too much from him ; or perhaps you 
 thought too meanly of him, and expected too 
 little. In the former case, the Lord justly dis- 
 appointed you ; in the latter, you received ac- 
 cording to your faith. Perhaps you neglected 
 to pray for him ; and then, though he might 
 be useful to others, it is not at all strange 
 that he was not so to you. Or possibly you 
 have indulged a trifling spirit, and brought 
 a dearth and dcadness upon your own soul, 
 for which you had not been duly humbled, 
 and the Lord chose that time to rebuke you. 
 
 Lastly, as a hearer, you have a right to try 
 all doctrines by the word of God ; and it is 
 your duty so to do. Faithful ministers will 
 remind you of this ; they will not wish to hold 
 you in an implicit and blind obedience to 
 what they say upon their own authority, nor 
 desire that you should follow them farther 
 than they have the scriptures for their war- 
 rant. They would not be lords over your con- 
 science, but helpers of your joy. Prize this 
 gospel-liberty, which sets you free from the 
 doctrines and commandments of men ; but do 
 not abuse it to the purposes of pride and 
 self. There are hearers who make themselves, 
 and not the scripture, the standard of their 
 judgment. They attend not so much to be 
 instructed, as to pass their sentence. To them 
 the pulpit is the bar at which the minister 
 stands to take his trial before them, — a bar at 
 which few escape censure, from judges at 
 once so severe and inconsistent. For as these 
 censors are not all of a mind, and, perhaps, 
 agree in nothing so much as in the opinion 
 they have of their own wisdom, it has often 
 happened, that, in the course of one and the 
 same sermon, the minister has been condemn- 
 ed as a legalist, and an antinomian ; as too 
 high in his notions, and too low ; as having 
 too little action, and too much. Oh ! this is 
 a hateful spirit, that prompts hearers to pro- 
 nounce ex cathedra, as if they were infallible, 
 breaks in upon the rights of private judg- 
 M 
 
 ON HEARING SERMONS. 
 
66 
 
 ment, even in matters not essential, and makes 
 a man an offender for a word. This spirit is 
 one frequent unhappy evil, which springs from 
 the corruption of the heart, when the Lord af- 
 fords the means of grace in great abundance. 
 How highly would some of the Lord’s hidden 
 ones, who are destitute of the ordinances, prize 
 the blessing of a preached gospel, with which 
 too many professors seem to be surfeited. I 
 pray God to preserve you from such a spirit 
 (which, I fear, is spreading, and infects us 
 like the pestilence), and to guide you in all 
 things. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER XIV. 
 
 ON TEMPTATION. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 What can you expect from me on tho sub- 
 ject of temptation, with which you have been 
 so much more conversant than myself? On 
 this point I am more disposed to receive in- 
 formation from you, than to offer my advice. 
 You, by the Lord’s appointment, have had 
 much business and exercise on these great 
 waters ; whereas the knowledge I have of 
 what passes there, I have gained more from 
 observation than from actual experience. I 
 shall not wonder, if you think I write like a 
 novice ; however, your request has the force 
 of a command with me. I shall give you my 
 thoughts, or rather shall take occasion to 
 write, not so much to you as to others, who, 
 though they may be plunged in the depths 
 of temptation, have not yet seen so much of 
 the wisdom and power of God in these dis- 
 pensations as yourself. I shall first inquire, 
 why the Lord permits some of his people to 
 suffer such violent assaults from the powers of 
 darkness ; and then suggest a few advices to 
 tempted souls. 
 
 The temptations of Satan (which, though 
 not the most painful, are in reality the most 
 dangerous) do not directly belong to my pre- 
 sent design. I mean those by which he is too 
 successful in drawing many professors from 
 the path of duty, in filling them with spiritual 
 pride, or lulling them into carnal security. In 
 these attempts, he is often most powerful and 
 prevalent when he is least perceived. He sel- 
 dom distresses those whom he can deceive. 
 It is chiefly when these endeavours fail, that 
 he fights against the peace of the soul. He 
 hates the Lord’s people, grudges them all 
 their privileges and all their comforts ; and 
 will do what he can to disquiet them, because 
 he cannot prevail against them. And though 
 the Lord sets such bounds to his rage as he 
 cannot pass, and limits him both as to man- 
 ner and time, he is often pleased to suffer him 
 to discover his malice to a considerable de- 
 
 LET. XIV. 
 
 gree ; not to gratify Satan, but to humble and 
 prove them ; to shew them what is in their 
 hearts, to make them truly sensible of their im- 
 mediate and absolute dependence upon him- 
 self, and to quicken them to watchfulness and 
 prayer. Though temptations, in their own 
 nature, are grievous and dreadful, yet, when, 
 by the grace of God, they are productive of 
 these effects, they deserve to be numbered 
 among the “ all things/’ which are appointed 
 to work together for' the good of those who 
 love him. The light carriage, vain confi- 
 dence, and woeful backslidings of many pro- 
 fessors, might, perhaps (speaking after the 
 manner of men), have been in some measure 
 prevented, had they been more acquainted 
 with this spiritual warfare, and had they drunk 
 of the cup of temptation, which but few of 
 those who walk humbly and uprightly are 
 exempted from tasting of, though not all in 
 the same degree. One gracious end, there- 
 fore, that the Lord has in permitting his peo- 
 ple to be tempted, is for the prevention of 
 greater evils, that they may not grow proud 
 or careless, or be ensnared by the corrupt 
 customs of the world. In this view, I doubt 
 not, however burdensome your trials may at 
 some seasons prove, you are enabled, by your 
 composed judgment, to rejoice in them, and 
 be thankful for them. You know what you 
 suffer now ; but you know not what might 
 have been the consequence, if you had never 
 smarted by the fiery darts of the wicked one. 
 You might have been taken in a more fatal 
 snare, and been numbered with those who, 
 by their grievous declensions and falls, have 
 caused the ways of truth to be evil spoken 
 of. 
 
 Another design is, for the manifestation of 
 his power, and wisdom, and grace, in sup- 
 porting the soul under such pressures as are 
 evidently beyond its own strength to sustain. 
 A bush on fire, and not consumed, engaged 
 the attention of Moses. This emblem is ge- 
 nerally applicable to the state of a Christian in 
 the present life ; but never more so than when 
 he is in the fire of temptation. And though 
 his heaviest sufferings of this kind are usually 
 hidden from the notice of his fellow-creatures, 
 yet there are other eyes always upon him. 
 “ We are,” says the apostle, “ a spectacle 
 to the world not only to men, but to an- 
 gels also. Many things probably pass in the 
 invisible state, in which we have a nearer con- 
 cernment than we are ordinarily aware of. 
 The beginning of the book of Job throws 
 some light upon this point, and informs us 
 (of which we should have been otherwise to- 
 tally ignorant) of the true source of his un- 
 common sufferings. Satan had challenged 
 him, charged him as a hypocrite, and thought 
 he was able to prove him one, if he could have 
 permission to attack him. The Lord, for the 
 vindication of Job’s integrity, and for the ma- 
 nifestation of his own faithfulness and power 
 
 ON TEMPTATION. 
 
LET. XIV. 
 
 ON TEMPTATfON. 
 
 in favour of Iris servant, was pleased to give 
 Satan leave to try what he could do. The ex- 
 periment answered many good purposes; Job 
 was humbled, yet approved ; his friends were 
 instructed ; Satan was confuted and disap- 
 pointed ; and the wisdom and mercy of the 
 Lord, in his darkest dispensations towards his 
 people, were gloriously illustrated. This con- 
 test, and the event, were recorded for the di- 
 rection and encouragement of his church to 
 the end of time. Satan’s malice is not abated ; 
 and though he has met with millions of dis- 
 appointments, he still, like Goliah of old, de- 
 fies the armies of God’s Israel ; he challenges 
 the stoutest, and “ desires to have them, that 
 he may sift them as wheat.” Indeed, he is 
 far an overmatch for them, considered as in 
 themselves ; but though they are weak, their 
 Redeemer is mighty, and they are for ever 
 secured by his love and intercession. ** The 
 Lord knows them that are his,” and no wea- 
 pon formed against them can prosper. That this 
 may appear with the fullest evidence, Satan is 
 allowed to assault them. We handle vessels 
 of glass or china with caution, and endeavour 
 to preserve them from falls and blows, be- 
 cause we know they are easily broken. Rut 
 if a man had the art of making glass malle- 
 able, and, like iron, capable of bearing the 
 stroke of a hammer without breaking, it is 
 probable, that instead of locking it carefully 
 up, he would rather, for the commendation of 
 his skill, permit many to attempt to break it, 
 when he knew their attempts would be in 
 vain. Believers are compared to earthen ves- 
 sels, liable in themselves to be destroyed by a 
 small blow; but they are so strengthened and 
 tempered by the power and supply of divine 
 grace, that the fiercest efforts of their fiercest 
 enemies against them may be compared to the 
 dashing of waves against a rock. And that 
 this may be known and noticed, they are ex- 
 posed to many trials ; but the united and re- 
 peated assaults of the men of the world, and 
 the powers of darkness, afford but the more 
 incontestible demonstration, that the Lord is 
 with them of a truth, and that his strength is 
 made perfect in their weakness. Surely this 
 thought, my friend, will afford you consola- 
 tion ; and you will be content to suffer, if 
 God may be glorified by you and in you. 
 
 Farther, by enduring temptation, you, as a 
 living member of the body of Christ, have 
 the honour of being conformed to your head. 
 He suffered, being tempted ; and because he 
 loves you, he calls you to a participation of 
 his sufferings, and to taste of his cup ; not 
 the cup of the wrath of God ; this he drank 
 alone, and he drank it all. But in afflic- 
 tion he allows his people to have fellow- 
 ship with him. Thus they fill up the mea- 
 sure of his sufferings, and can say, “ As he 
 was, so are we in the world.” Marvel not 
 that the world hates you, neither marvel that 
 Satan rages against vou. Should not the dis- 
 
 67 
 
 ciple be as his Lord ? Can the servant expect 
 or desire peace from the avowed enemies of 
 his Master ? We are to follow his steps ; and 
 can we wish, if it were possible, to walk in a 
 path strewed with flowers, when his was strew- 
 ed with thorns ? Let us be in nothing terri- 
 fied by the power of our adversaries, which is 
 to them an evident token of perdition, but to 
 us of salvation, and that of God. To us it is 
 given, not only to believe in Christ, but also 
 to suffer for his sake. If we would make 
 peace with the world, the world would let us 
 alone ; if we would be content to walk in the 
 ways of sin, Satan would give us no disturb- 
 ance ; but because grace has rescued us from 
 his dominion, and the love of Jesus constrains 
 us to live to him alone, therefore the enemy 
 like a lion robbed of his prey, roars against 
 us. He roars, but he cannot devour ; he 
 plots and rages, but he cannot prevail ; he 
 disquiets, but he cannot destroy. If we suf- 
 fer with Christ, we shall also reign with him. 
 In due time he will bruise Satan under our 
 feet, make us more than conquerors, and place 
 us where we shall hear the voice of war no 
 more for ever. 
 
 Again, as by temptations we are conform- 
 ed to the life of Christ, so likewise, by the 
 sanctifying power of grace, they are made 
 subservient to advance our conformity to his 
 image; particularly as we thereby acquire a 
 sympathy and fellow-feeling with our suffer- 
 ing brethren. This is eminently a branch of 
 the mind that was in Christ. He knows how” 
 to pity and help those who are tempted, be- 
 cause he has been tempted himself. He knows 
 what temptations mean, not only with that 
 knowledge whereby he knows all things, but 
 by experience. He well remembers what he 
 endured in the wilderness and in the garden ; 
 and though it is for his glory and our com- 
 fort that he suffered temptation without sin, 
 yet, for that very reason, and because he was 
 perfectly holy, the temptations of Satan were 
 unspeakably more bitter to him than they can 
 be to us. The great duty and refuge of the 
 tempted now is, to apply to him, and they 
 have the highest encouragement to do so, in 
 that they are assured he is touched with a feel- 
 ing of our infirmities. And, for the like rea- 
 son, they find some consolation in applying to 
 those of their brethren who have suffered the 
 same things. None but these can either un- 
 derstand or pity their complaints. If the 
 Lord has any children who are not exercised 
 with spiritual temptations, I am sure they are 
 but poorly qualified to “ speak a word in sea- 
 son to them that are weary. 1 '’ In this school 
 you have acquired the tongue of the learned ; 
 and let it not seem a small thing to you, if 
 the Lord has given you wisdom and ability to 
 comfort the afflicted ones. If your prayers, 
 your conversation, and the knowledge they 
 have of your trials, afford them some relief in 
 a dark hour, this is an honour and a privi- 
 
63 ON TEMPTATION. LET. xlV. 
 
 lege which I am persuaded you will think 
 you have not purchased too dear by all that 
 you have endured. 
 
 Once more, temptations, by giving us a 
 painful sensibility of the weakness of our 
 graces, and the strength of our inward cor- 
 ruptions, tend to mortify the evil principles of 
 self-dependence- and self-righteousness, which 
 are so deeply rooted in our fallen nature ; to 
 make Christ, in all his relations, offices, and 
 characters, more precious to us ; and to con- 
 vince us, that without him we can do no- 
 thing. It would be easy to enlarge upon these 
 and other advantages which the Lord enables 
 his people to derive from the things which 
 they suffer ; so that they may say, with Sam- 
 son, “ Out of the eater comes forth meat ;” 
 and that what their adversary designs for their 
 overthrow, contributes to their establishment. 
 But I have already exceeded my limits. 
 Enough I hope has tyeen said to prove, that 
 he has wise and gracious ends in permitting 
 them, for a season, to be tossed with tempest, 
 and not comforted. Ere long these designs 
 will be more fully unfolded to us ; and we 
 shall be satisfied that he has done all things 
 well. In the mean while it is our duty, and 
 will be much for our comfort, to believe it 
 upon the authority of his word. 
 
 I should now proceed to offer some advices 
 to those who are tempted; but I am ready to 
 say, To what purpose ? When the enemy 
 comes in like a flood ; when the very founda- 
 tions of hope are attacked ; when suspicions 
 are raised in the mind, not only concerning 
 an interest in the promises, but concerning 
 the truth of the scripture itself ; when a dark 
 cloud blots out, not only the sense, but al- 
 most the remembrance of past comforts ; when 
 the mind is overwhelmed with torrents of 
 blasphemous, unclean, or monstrous imagina- 
 tions, things horrible and unutterable ; when 
 the fiery darts of Satan have set the corrup- 
 tions of the heart in a flame ; at such a sea- 
 son a person is little disposed or able to listen 
 to advice. I shall, however, Liention some 
 things by w'hich ordinarily Satan maintains his 
 advantage against them in these circumstances, 
 that they may be upon their guard as much as 
 possible. 
 
 His principal devices are : 
 
 1. To hide from them the Lord’s designs, in 
 permitting him thus to rage. Some of these 
 I have noticed ; and they should endeavour to 
 keep them upon their minds. It is hard for 
 them, during the violence of the storm, to 
 conceive that any good can possibly arise from 
 the experience of so much evil. But when 
 the storm is over, they find that the Lord is 
 still mindful of them. Now, though a young 
 soldier may well be startled at the first onset 
 in tlie field of battle, it seems possible, that 
 those who have been often engaged, should at 
 length gain confidence from the recollection 
 of the many instances in which they have: 
 
 formerly found, by the event, that the Lord 
 was surely with them in the like difficulties, 
 and that their fears were only groundless and 
 imaginary. When the warfare is hottest, 
 they have still reason to say, “ Hope thou in 
 God; for I shall yet praise him.” 
 
 2. To make them utter impatient speeches, 
 which do but aggravate their distress. It is 
 said of Job, under his first trials, “ In all 
 this he sinned not with his lips, nor charged 
 God foolishly.” So long Satan was unable 
 to prevail. Afterwards he opened his mouth, 
 as Jeremiah did likewise, and cursed the day 
 of his birth. When he once began to com- 
 plain, his causes of complaint increased. We 
 cannot prevent dreadful thoughts from aris- 
 ing in our hearts ; but we should be cautious 
 of giving them vent, by speaking unadvised- 
 ly. This is like letting in wind upon a smo- 
 thering fire, which will make it burn more 
 fiercely. 
 
 3. To persuade them that all they feel and 
 tremble at, arises immediately from their own 
 hearts. Indeed, it is a most awful proof of 
 our depravity, that we feel something within 
 ready to close with the suggestions of the 
 enemy, in defiance of our better judgment 
 and desires. But it is not so in all cases. It 
 is not always easy, nor is it needful, exactly 
 to draw the line between the temptations of 
 Satan and our own corruptions; but some- 
 times it is not impossible to distinguish them. 
 When a child of God is tempted to blaspheme 
 the name that he adores, or to commit such 
 evils as even unsanctified nature would recoil 
 at ; the enemy has done it, and shall be an- 
 swerable for the whole guilt. The soul, in 
 this case, is passive, and suffers with extreme 
 reluctance, what it more dreads than the 
 greatest evils which can affect the body. 
 Nor do the deepest wounds of this kind leave 
 a scar upon the conscience, when the storm is 
 over ; which is a proof that they are not our 
 own act. 
 
 4. To drive them from the throne of grace. 
 Prayer, which is at all times necessary, is es- 
 pecially so in a time of temptation. But how 
 hard is it to come boldly, that we may obtain 
 help in this time of need ! But, however hard, 
 it must be attempted. By discontinuing 
 prayer, we give the enemy the greatest en- 
 couragement possible ; for then he sees that 
 his temptations have the effect which he in- 
 tends by them, to intercept us from our strong- 
 hold. When our Lord was in an agony, he 
 prayed the most earnestly ; the ardour of his 
 prayer increased with the distress of his soul. 
 It would be happy if we could always imitate 
 him in this ; but too often temptations and 
 difficulties, instead of rousing our applica- 
 tion, disheartens and enfeebles us ; so that 
 our cries are the faintest when we stand most 
 in need of assistance. But, so long as prayer 
 is restrained, our burden is increased, Psalm 
 xxxii. 3, 5. If he cannot make them omit 
 
LET. XV. 
 
 praying, he will repeatedly endeavour to weary 
 them, by working upon the legality which 
 cleaves so close to the heart. Satan is a hard 
 task-master, when he interferes in the perfor- 
 mance of our spiritual duties. This he does, 
 perhaps, more frequently than we think of; 
 for he can, if it serves his purpose, appear as 
 an angel of light. When the soul is in a 
 tempest, and attempts to pray, he will sug- 
 gest, that prayer on these occasions should be 
 protracted to such a length, and performed 
 with such steadiness, as is found to be at that 
 season quite impracticable. Such constrain- 
 ed efforts are wearisome ; and from the man- 
 ner of the performance, he takes occasion to 
 fix fresh guilt upon the conscience. Short, 
 frequent, and fervent petitions, which will al- 
 most necessarily arise from what is felt when 
 temptation is violent, are best suited to the 
 case ; and we need not add to the burden, by 
 tasking ourselves beyond our power, as if we 
 expected to be heard for our much speaking. 
 Blessed be God, that we fight with an enemy 
 already vanquished by our Lord, and that we 
 have a sure promise of victory. The Lord is 
 our banner. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER XV. 
 
 A PLAN OF A COMPENDIOUS CHRISTIAN*! LI- 
 BRARY. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 An eager desire of reading many books, though 
 it is often supposed to be the effect of a taste 
 for knowledge, is perhaps a principal cause of 
 detaining multitudes in ignorance and per- 
 plexity. When an unexperienced person thus 
 ventures into the uncertain tide of opinions, 
 he is liable to be hurried hither and thither 
 with the changing stream ; to fall in with 
 every new proposal, and to be continually em- 
 barrassed with the difficulty of distinguishing 
 between probability and truth. Or if, at last, 
 he happily finds a clue to lead him through 
 the labyrinth wherein so many have been lost, 
 he will acknowledge, upon a review, that 
 from what he remembers to have read (for, 
 perhaps, the greater part he has wholly for- 
 gotten) he has gained little more than a dis- 
 covery of what mistakes, uncertainty, insig- 
 nificance, acrimony, and presumption, are 
 often obtruded on the world under the dis- 
 guise of a plausible title-page. 
 
 It is far from my intention to depreciate the 
 value, or deny the usefulness of books, with- 
 out exception: a few well chosen treatises, 
 carefully perused, and thoroughly digested, 
 will deserve and reward our pains ; but a mul- 
 tiplicity of reading is seldom attended with a 
 good effect. Besides the confusion it often 
 brings upon the judgment and memory, it 
 
 69 
 
 occasions a vast expense of time, indisposes 
 for close thinking, and keeps us poor, in the 
 midst of seeming plenty, by reducing us to 
 live upon a foreign supply, instead of labour- 
 ing to improve and increase the stock of our 
 own reflections. 
 
 Every branch of knowledge is attended with 
 this inconvenience ; but it is in no one more 
 sensibly felt than when the inquiry is directed 
 to the subject of religion. Perhaps no coun- 
 try has abounded so much with religious books 
 as our own ; many of them are truly excel- 
 lent ; but a very great number of those which 
 are usually more obvious to be met with, as 
 they stand recommended by great names, and 
 the general taste of the public, are more like- 
 ly to mislead an inquirer, than to direct him 
 into the paths of true peace and wisdom. 
 
 And even in those books which are in the 
 main agreeable to the word of God, there is 
 often so great a mixture of human infirmity, 
 so much of the spirit of controversy and par- 
 ty, such manifest defects in some, and so 
 many unwarrantable additions to the simple 
 truth of the gospel in others, that, unless a 
 person’s judgment is already formed, or he 
 has a prudent friend to direct his choice, he 
 will probably be led into error or prejudice 
 before he is aware, by his attachment to a fa- 
 vourite author. 
 
 Allowing, therefore, the advantage of a dis- 
 creet and seasonable use of human writings, 
 I would point out a still more excellent way 
 for the acquisition of true knowledge: a me- 
 thod, which, if wholly neglected, the utmost 
 diligence in the use of every other means will 
 prove ineffectual; but which, if faithfully 
 pursued in an humble dependence upon the 
 divine blessing, will not only of itself lead us 
 by the straightest path to wisdom, but will also 
 give a double efficacy to every subordinate 
 assistance. 
 
 If I may be allowed to use the term book 
 in a metaphorical sense, I may say, that the 
 most high God, in condescension to the weak- 
 ness of our faculties, the brevity of our lives, 
 and our many avocations, has comprised all 
 the knowledge conducive to our real happiness 
 in four comprehensive volumes. The first, 
 which may be considered as the text, is cheap, 
 portable, and compendious, so that hardly any 
 person in our favoured land, who is apprised 
 of its worth, need be without it ; and the other 
 three, which are the best and fullest commen- 
 taries upon this, are always at hand for our 
 perusal, and pressing upon our attention in 
 every place and circumstance of our lives. 
 
 It will be easily apprehended, that, by the 
 first book, or volume, I mean that perfect and 
 infallible system of truth, the Bible. The 
 internal characters of this book, arising from 
 its comprehensiveness, simplicity, majesty, and 
 authority, sufficiently prove to every enlight- 
 ened mind, that it is given by inspiration of 
 God. They who are competent judges of this 
 
 ON A CHRISTIAN LIBRARY. 
 
LET. XV. 
 
 ON A CHRISTIAN LIBRARY. 
 
 70 
 
 evidence, are no more disturbed by the sug- 
 gestions of some men reputed wise, that it is 
 of human composition, than if they were told 
 that men had invented the sun, and placed it 
 in the firmament. Its fulness speaks its au- 
 thor. No case has yet occurred, or ever will, 
 for which there is not a sufficient provision 
 made in this invaluable treasury. Here we 
 may seek (and we shall not seek in vain) 
 wherewith to combat and vanquish every error, 
 to illustrate and confirm every spiritual truth. 
 Here are promises suited to every want, di- 
 rections adapted to every doubt that can pos- 
 sibly arise. Here is milk for babes, meat for 
 strong men, medicines for the wounded, re- 
 freshment for the weary. The general his- 
 tory of all nations and ages, and the particu- 
 lar experience of each private believer, from 
 the beginning to the end of time, are wonder- 
 fully comprised in this single volume ; so that 
 whoever reads and improves it aright, may 
 discover his state, his progress, his tempta- 
 tions, his danger, and his duty, as distinctly 
 and minutely marked out, as if the whole had 
 been written for him alone. In this respect, 
 as well as in many others, great is the mystery 
 of godliness. 
 
 The simplicity, as well as the subject-mat- 
 ter of the Bible, evinces its divine original. 
 Though it has depths sufficient to embarrass 
 and confound the proudest efforts of unsancti- 
 fied reason, it does not, as to its general im- 
 port, require an elevated genius to understand 
 it, but is equally addressed to the level of 
 every capacity. As its contents are of uni- 
 versal concernment, they are proposed in such 
 a manner as to engage and satisfy the inqui- 
 ries of all ; and the learned, with respect to 
 their own personal interest, have no advantage 
 above the ignorant. That it is in fact read by 
 many who receive no instruction or benefit 
 from it, is wholly owing to their inattention 
 or vanity. This event may rather excite grief 
 than wonder. The Bible teaches us to ex- 
 pect it. It forewarns us that the natural man 
 cannot receive the things of God, can neither 
 understand nor approve them. It points out 
 to us the necessity of a heavenly teacher, the 
 Holy Spirit, who has promised to guide those 
 who seek him by prayer, into all necessary 
 truth. They who implore his assistance, 
 find the seals opened, the vail taken away, 
 and the way of salvation made plain before 
 them. 
 
 The language of the Bible is likewise 
 clothed with inimitable majesty and authority. 
 God speaks in it, and reveals the glory of his 
 perfections, his sovereignty, holiness, justice, 
 goodness, and grace, in a manner worthy of 
 himself, though, at the same time, admirably 
 adapted to our weakness. The most laboured 
 efforts of human genius are flat and languid, 
 in comparison of those parts of the Bible which 
 are designed to give us due apprehensions of 
 the God with whom we have to do. Where 
 shall wc find such instances of the true 
 
 sublime, the great, the marvellous, the beau- 
 tiful, the pathetic, as in the holy scriptures ? 
 Again, the effects which it performs, demon - 
 strate it to be the word of God. With a 
 powerful and penetrating energy, it alarms 
 and pierces the conscience, discovers the 
 thoughts and intents of the heart, convinces 
 the most obstinate, and makes the most careless 
 tremble. With equal authority and efficacy, 
 it speaks peace to the troubled mind, heals the 
 wounded spirit, and can impart a joy unspeak- 
 able and full of glory, in the midst of the 
 deepest distress. It teaches, persuades, com- 
 forts, and reproves with an authority that can 
 neither be disputed nor evaded; and often 
 communicates more light, motives, and influ- 
 ence, by a single sentence, to a plain unletter- 
 ed believer, than he could derive from all the 
 voluminous commentaries of the learned. In a 
 word, it answers the character the apostle gives 
 of it : “ It is able to make us wise unto salva- 
 tion ; it is completely and alone sufficient to 
 make the man of God perfect, thoroughly 
 furnished for every good work.” The doc- 
 trines, histories, prophecies, promises, precepts, 
 exhortations, examples, and warnings, con- 
 tained in the Bible, form a perfect whole, a 
 complete summary of the will of God con- 
 cerning us, in which nothing is wanting, no- 
 thing is superflous. 
 
 The second volume which deserves our 
 study is the book of Creation. “ The hea- 
 vens declare the glory of God, and the firma- 
 ment sheweth his handy- work nor can we 
 
 cast our eyes any where, without meeting in- 
 numerable proofs of his wisdom, power, good- 
 ness, and presence. God is revealed in the 
 least, as well as in the greatest of his works. 
 The sun and the glow-worm, the fabric of the 
 universe, and each single blade of grass, are 
 equally the effects of divine power. The 
 lines of this book, though very beautiful and 
 expressive in themselves, are not immediately 
 legible by fallen man. The works of creation 
 may be compared to a fair character in cypher, 
 of which the Bible is the key : and without 
 this key they cannot be understood. This 
 book was always open to the Heathens ; but 
 they could not read it, nor discern the proofs of 
 his eternal power and godhead which it affords. 
 “ They became vain in their own imaginations, 
 and worshipped the creature more than the 
 Creator.” The case is much the same at this 
 day with many reputed wise, whose hearts 
 are not subjected to the authority of the Bible. 
 The study of the works of God, independent 
 of his word, though dignified with the name 
 of philosophy, is no better than an elaborate 
 trifling and waste of time. It is to be feared 
 none are more remote from the true knowledge 
 of God, than many of those who value them- 
 selves most upon their supposed knowledge of 
 his creatures. They may speak in general 
 terms of his wisdom ; but they live without 
 him in the world ; and their philosophy can- 
 not teach them either to love, or serve, to fear, 
 
LET. XV. ON A CHRISTIAN LIBRARY. 71 
 
 or trust him. They who know God in his 
 word, may find both pleasure and profit 
 tracing his wisdom in his works, if their 
 inquiries are kept within due bounds, and in 
 a proper subservience to things of greater im- 
 portance ; but they are comparatively few 
 who have leisure, capacity, or opportunity, for 
 these inquiries. But the book of creation is 
 designed for the instruction of all believers. 
 If they are not qualified to be astronomers or 
 anatomists, yet, from a view of the heavens, 
 the work of God’s fingers, the moon and the 
 stars, which he hath created, they learn to 
 conceive of his condescension, power, and 
 faithfulness. Though they are unacquainted 
 with the theory of light and colours, they can 
 see in the rainbow a token of God’s covenant- 
 love. Perhaps they have no idea of the mag- 
 nitude or distance of the sun ; but it reminds 
 them of Jesus the Sun of righteousness, the 
 source of light and life to their souls. The 
 Lord has established a wonderful analogy be- 
 tween the natural and the spiritual world. 
 This is a secret only known to them that fear 
 him ; but they contemplate it with pleasure ; 
 and almost every object they see, when they 
 are in a right frame of mind, either leads 
 their thoughts to Jesus, or tends to illustrate 
 some spiritual truth or promise. This is the 
 best method of studying the book of Nature, 
 and for this purpose it is always open and 
 plain to those who love the Bible, so that he 
 who runs may read. 
 
 The book of Providence is the third volume, 
 by which those who fear the Lord are instruc- 
 ted. This likewise is inextricable and unin- 
 telligible to the wisest of men who are not 
 governed by the word of God. But when 
 the principles of scripture are admitted and 
 understood, they throw a pleasing light upon 
 the study of divine providence, and, at the 
 same time, are confirmed and illustrated by 
 it. What we read in the Bible of the sove- 
 reignty, wisdom, power, omniscience, and om- 
 nipresence of God, of his over-ruling all events 
 to the accomplishment of his counsels, and the 
 manifestation of his glory, of the care he main- 
 tains of his church and people, and of his at- 
 tention to their prayers, is exemplified by the 
 history of nations and families, and the daily 
 occurrences of private life. The believer re- 
 ceives hourly and indubitable proofs that the 
 Lord reigns ; that verily there is a God that 
 judges in the earth. Hence arises a solid con- 
 fidence : he sees that his concerns are in safe 
 hands ; and he needs not be afraid of evil tid- 
 ings. His heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord ; 
 while others live at an uncertainty, exposed to 
 the impressions of every new appearance ; and, 
 like a ship in a storm, without rudder or pilot, 
 abandoned to the power of the winds and 
 waves. In the history of Joseph, and in the 
 book of Esther, and indeed throughout the 
 Bible, we have specimens of the wise unerring 
 providence of God ; what important conse- 
 
 quences depend, under his management, upon 
 the smallest events ; and with what certainty 
 seeming contingencies are directed to the issue 
 which he has appointed. By these authentic 
 specimens we learn to judge of the whole ; 
 and with still greater advantage by the light 
 of the New Testament, which shews us, that 
 the administration of all power in heaven and 
 earth is in the hands of Jesus. The govern- 
 ment is upon his shoulders : The King of 
 saints is King of nations, King of kings, and 
 Lord of lords. Not a sparrow falls to the 
 ground, nor a hair from our heads, without 
 his cognizance. And though his w r ays are 
 higher than our ways, and his thoughts than 
 our thoughts ; though his agency is vailed 
 from the eye of sense by the intervention of 
 second causes ; yet faith perceives, acknow- 
 ledges, admires, and trusts his management. 
 This study, like the former, does not require 
 superior natural abilities, but is obvious to the 
 weakest and meanest of his people, so far as 
 their own duty and peace are concerned. 
 
 The fourth volume is the book of the Heart, 
 or of Human Nature, comprehending the ex 
 perience of what passes within our own breasts, 
 and the observations we make upon the prin- 
 ciples and conduct of others, compared witli 
 what we read in the word of God. The 
 heart of man is deep ; but all its principles 
 and workings in every possible situation, and 
 the various manners in which it is affected by 
 sin, by Satan, by worldly objects, and by grace, 
 in solitude and in company, in prosperity and 
 in affliction, are disclosed and unfolded in the 
 scriptures. Many who are proud of their 
 knowledge of what they may be safely ignorant 
 of, are utter strangers to themselves. Having 
 no acquaintance with the scriptures, they have 
 neither skill nor inclination to look into their 
 own hearts, nor any certain criterion whereby 
 to judge of the conduct of human life. But 
 the Bible teaches us to read this mysterious 
 book also ; shews us the source, nature, and 
 tendency of our hopes, fears, desires, pursuits, 
 and perplexities ; the reasons why we cannot 
 be happy in ourselves, and the vanity and in- 
 sufficiency of every thing around us to help 
 us. The rest and happiness proposed in the 
 gospel, is likewise found to be exactly suitable 
 to the desires and necessities of the awakened 
 heart ; and the conduct of those who reject this 
 salvation, as well as the gracious effects produ- 
 ced in those who receive it, prove to a demon- 
 stration, that the w'ord of God is indeed a dis- 
 cern er of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 
 
 My limits will admit but of a few hints 
 upon these extensive subjects. I shall only 
 observe that whoever is well read in these four 
 books, is a wise person, how little soever he 
 may know of what the men of the world call 
 science. On the other hand, though a man 
 should be master of the whole circle of classi- 
 cal, polite, and philosophical knowledge, if he 
 has no taste for the Bible, and has no ability to 
 
LET. XVI 
 
 ON THE INEFFICACY OF OUR KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 72 
 
 apply it to the works of creation and provi- 
 dence, and his own experience, he knows no- 
 thing yet as he ought to know. I have point- 
 ed out a treasure of more worth than all the 
 volumes in the Vatican. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER XVI. 
 
 ON THE IN EFFICACY OF OUR KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 To be enabled to form a clear, consistent, and 
 comprehensive judgment of the truths reveal- 
 ed in the scriptures, is a great privilege : but 
 they who possess it are exposed to the tempta- 
 tion of thinking too highly of themselves, and 
 too meanly of others, especially of those, who 
 not only refuse to adopt their sentiments, but 
 venture to oppose them. We see few con- 
 troversial writings, however excellent in other 
 respects, but are tinctured with this spirit of 
 self-superiority; and they who are not called 
 to this service, if they are attentive to what 
 passes in their hearts, may feel it working 
 within them, upon a thousand occasions ; 
 though, so far as it prevails, it brings forcibly 
 home to ourselves the charge of ignorance 
 and inconsistence, which we are so ready to 
 fix upon our opponents. I know nothing as 
 a means more likely to correct this evil, than 
 a serious consideration of the amazing dif- 
 ference between our acquired judgment, and 
 our actual experience ; or, in other words, 
 how little influence our knowledge and judg- 
 ment have upon our own conduct. This 
 may confirm to us the truth and propriety of 
 the apostle’s observation, “ If any man think 
 that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth no- 
 thing yet as he ought to know.” Not that 
 we are bound to be insensible that the Lord 
 has taught us what we were once ignorant of ; 
 nor is it possible that we should be so, but, 
 because, if we estimate our knowledge by its 
 effects, and value it no farther than it is ex- 
 perimental and operative (which is the proper 
 standard whereby to try it), we shall find it 
 so faint and feeble as hardly to deserve the 
 name. 
 
 How firmly, for instance, are we persuad- 
 ed, in our judgments, that God is omnipre- 
 sent. Great as the difficulties may be which 
 attend our conceptions of this point, the truth 
 itself is controverted by few. It is generally 
 acknowledged by unawakened persons ; and, 
 I may add, too frequently known even by be- 
 lievers, as if they knew it not. If the eyes of 
 the Lord are in every place, how strong a 
 guard should this thought be upon the con- 
 duct of those who profess to fear him ! We 
 know how we are often affected when Tn the 
 presence of a fellow- worm; if he isoneonwhom 
 we depend, or who is considerably our su- 
 
 perior in life, how careful are we to compose 
 our behaviour, and to avoid whatever might 
 be deemed improper or offensive ! Is it not 
 strange, that those who have taken their ideas 
 of the divine majesty, holiness, and purity 
 from the scriptures, and are not wholly insen- 
 sible of their inexpressible obligations to re- 
 gulate all they say or do by his precepts, 
 should, upon many occasions, be betrayed 
 into improprieties of behaviour, from which 
 the presence of a nobleman, or a prince, 
 would have effectually restrained them, yea, 
 sometimes, perhaps, even the presence of a 
 child ? Even in the exercise of prayer, by 
 which we profess to draw near the Lord, the 
 consideration that his eye is upon us, has lit- 
 tle power to engage our attention, or prevent 
 our thoughts from wandering, like the fool’s 
 eyes, to the ends of the earth. What should 
 we think of a person, who, being admitted 
 into the king’s presence upon business of the 
 greatest importance, should break off in the 
 midst of his address, to pursue a butterfly ? 
 Could such an instance of weakness be met 
 with, it would be but a faint emblem of the 
 inconsistencies which they who are acquaint- 
 ed with their own hearts, can often charge 
 themselves with in prayer. They are not 
 wholly ignorant in what a frame of spirit it 
 becomes a needy, dependent sinner to approach 
 that God, before whom the angels are repre- 
 sented as vailing their faces ; yet, in defiance 
 of their better judgment, their attention is 
 diverted from him with whom they have to 
 do, to the merest trifles ; they are not able to 
 realize that presence with which they believe 
 themselves to be surrounded, but speak as if 
 they were speaking to the air. Further, if 
 our sense that God is always present, was in 
 any good measure answerable to the convic- 
 tion of our judgment, would it not be an ef- 
 fectual preservative from the many importu- 
 nate, though groundless fears, with which we 
 are harassed ! He says, “ Fear not, I am with 
 thee he promises to be a shield and a guard 
 to those who put their trust in him; yet 
 though we profess to believe his word, and to 
 hope that he is our protector, we seldom think 
 ourselves safe, even in the path of duty, a 
 moment longer than danger is kept out of our 
 view. Little reason have we to value our- 
 selves upon our knowledge of this indisputa- 
 ble truth, when it has no more effective and 
 habitual influence upon our conduct. 
 
 The doctrine of God’s sovereignty likewise 
 though not so generally owned as the former, 
 is no less fully assented to by those who are 
 called Calvinists. We zealously contend for 
 this point in our debates with the Arminians, 
 and are ready to wonder that any should be 
 hardy enough to dispute the Creator’s right 
 to do what he will with his own. While we 
 are only engaged in defence of the election of 
 grace, and have a comfortable hope that we 
 are ourselves of that number, we seem so con- 
 
LET. XVI. ON THE INEFFICACY 
 
 vinced, by the arguments scripture affords us 
 in support of this truth, that we can hardly 
 forbear charging our adversaries with per- 
 verse obstinacy and pride for opposing it. 
 Undoubtedly the ground of this opposition 
 lies in the pride of the human heart ; but this 
 evil principle is not confined to any party ; 
 and occasions frequently arise, when they who 
 contend for the divine sovereignty are little 
 more practically influenced by it than their 
 opponents. This humiliating doctrine con- 
 cludes as strongly for submission to the will 
 of God, under every circumstance of life, as 
 it does for our acquiescing in his purpose to 
 have mercy upon whom he will have mercy. 
 But alas ! how often do we find ourselves ut- 
 terly unable to apply it, so as to reconcile our 
 spirits to those afflictions which he is pleased 
 to allot us So far as we are enabled to say, 
 when we are exercised with poverty, or heavy 
 losses or crosses, “ I was dumb, and opened 
 not my mouth, because thou didst it,” so far, 
 and no farther, are we truly convinced that 
 God has a sovereign right to dispose of us, 
 and all our concernments, as he pleases. How 
 often, and how justly, at such seasons, might 
 the argument we offer to others, as sufficient 
 to silence all their objections, be retorted up- 
 on ourselves: “ Nay, but who art thou, O 
 man, who repliest against God ! Shall the 
 thing formed say unto him that formed it, 
 Why hast thou made me thus?” — a plain proof 
 that our knowledge is more notional than ex- 
 perimental. What an inconsistence, that while 
 we think God is just and righteous in with- 
 holding from others the things which pertain 
 to their everlasting peace, we should find it 
 so hard to submit to his dispensations to our- 
 selves in matters of unspeakably less import- 
 ance ! 
 
 But the Lord’s appointments, to those who 
 fear him, are not only sovereign, but wise and 
 gracious. He has connected their good with 
 his own glory, and is engaged, by promise, to 
 make all things work together for their ad- 
 vantage. He chooses for his people better 
 than they could choose for themselves. If they 
 are in heaviness, there is a need-be for it, and 
 he withholds nothing from them but what, 
 upon the whole, it is better they should be 
 without. Thus the scriptures teach, and thus 
 we profess to believe. Furnished with these 
 principles, we are at no loss to suggest motives 
 of patience and consolation to our brethren 
 that are afflicted. We can assure them, without 
 hesitation, that if they are interested in the 
 promises, their concerns are in safe hands; 
 that the things which at present are not joyous, 
 but grievous, shall in due season yield the 
 peaceful fruits of righteousness, and that their 
 trials are as certainly mercies as their com- 
 forts. We can prove to them, from the his- 
 tory of Joseph, David, Job, and other in- 
 stances recorded in scripture, that, notwith- 
 standing any present dark appearances, it shall 
 
 OF OUIi KNOWLEDGE, 73 
 
 certainly be well with the righteous ; that God 
 can and will make crooked things straight ; 
 and that he often produces the greatest good 
 from those events which we are apt to look 
 upon as evil. From hence we can infer, not 
 only the sinfulness, but the folly of finding 
 fault with any of his dispensations. We can 
 tell them, that at the worst, the sufferings of 
 the present life are not worthy to be compared 
 with the glory that shall be revealed ; and 
 that, therefore, under the greatest pressures, 
 they should so weep as those who expect, in a 
 little time, to have all their tears wiped away. 
 But when the case is our own, when we are 
 troubled ©n every side, or touched in the ten- 
 derest part, how difficult is it to feel the force 
 of these reasonings, though we know they are 
 true to a demonstration ? Then, unless we 
 are endued with fresh strength from on high, 
 we are as liable to complain and despond, as 
 if we thought our afflictions sprung out of the 
 ground, and that the Lord had forgotten to be 
 gracious. 
 
 I might proceed to shew the difference be- 
 tween our judgment, when most enlightened, 
 and our actual experience with respect to every 
 spiritual truth. We know there is no propor- 
 tion between time and eternity, between God 
 and the creature, the favour of the Lord and 
 the favour or the frowns of men ; and yet of- 
 ten, when these things are brought into close 
 competition, we are sorely put to it to keep 
 stedfast in the path of duty; nay, without 
 new supplies of grace, we should certainly 
 fail in the time of trial, and our knowledge 
 would have no other effect than to render our 
 guilt more inexcusable. We seem to be as 
 sure that we are weak, sinful, fallible crea- 
 tures, as we are that we exist ; and yet we are 
 prone to act as if we were wise and good. In 
 a word, we cannot deny that a great part of 
 our knowledge is, as 1 have described it, like 
 the light of the moon, destitute of heat and 
 influence ; and yet we can hardly help think- 
 ing of ourselves too highly upon the account 
 of it. 
 
 May we not say with the psalmist, “ Lord, 
 what is man !” yea, what an enigma, what a 
 poor inconsistent creature, is a believer? In 
 one view, how great are his character and pri- 
 vileges ! He knows the Lord ; he knows him- 
 self. His understanding is enlightened • to 
 apprehend and contemplate the great myste- 
 ries of the gospel. He has just ideas of the 
 evil of sin, the vanity of the world, the beau- 
 ties of holiness, and the nature of true happi- 
 ness. He was once darkness, but now he 
 is light in the Lord. He has access to God 
 by Jesus Christ, to whom he is united, and 
 in whom he lives by faith. While the prin- 
 ciples he has received are enlivened by the 
 agency of the Holy Spirit, he can do all 
 things. He is humble, gentle, patient, watch- 
 ful, faithful. He rejoices in afflictions, tri- 
 umphs over temptation, lives upon the for© 
 
74 
 
 tastes of eternal glory, and counts not his life 
 dear, so he may glorify God his Saviour, and 
 finish his course with joy. But his strength 
 is not his own ; he is absolutely dependent, 
 and is still encompassed with infirmities, and 
 burdened with a depraved nature. If the 
 Lord withdraws his power, he becomes weak 
 as another man, and drops, as a stone sinks 
 to the earth by its own weight. His inhe- 
 rent knowledge may be compared to the win- 
 dows of a house, which can transmit the light, 
 but cannot retain it. Without renewed and 
 continual communications from the Spirit of 
 grace, he is unable to withstand the smallest 
 temptation, to endure the slightest trial, to 
 perform the least service in a due manner, or 
 even to think a good thought. He knows 
 this, and yet he too often forgets it. But the 
 Lord reminds him of it frequently, by sus- 
 pending that assistance, without which he can 
 do nothing. Then he feels what he is, and 
 is easily prevailed upon to act in contradic- 
 tion to his better judgment. Thus repeated 
 experience of his own weakness teaches him, 
 by degrees, where his strength lies : that it is 
 not in any thing that he has already attained, 
 or can call his own, but in the grace, power, 
 and faithfulness of his Saviour. He learns 
 to cease from his own understanding, to be 
 ashamed of his best endeavours, to abhor him- 
 self in dust and ashes, and to glory only in 
 the Lord. 
 
 From hence we may observe, that believers 
 who have most knowledge, are not, therefore, 
 necessarily the most spiritual. Some may, and 
 do walk more honourably and more comfort- 
 ably with two talents, than others with five. 
 He who experimentally knows his own weak- 
 ness, and depends simply upon the Lord, will 
 surely thrive, though his acquired attainments 
 and abilities may be but small ; and he who 
 has the greatest gifts, the clearest judgment, 
 and the most extensive knowledge, if he in- 
 dulges high thoughts of his advantages, is in 
 imminent danger of mistaking and falling at 
 every step ; for the Lord will suffer none 
 whom he loves to boast in themselves. He 
 will guide the meek with his eye, and fill the 
 hungry with good things; but the rich he 
 sendeth empty away. It is an invariable 
 maxim in his kingdom, that whosoever ex- 
 alteth himself shall be aliased ; but he that 
 humbleth himself shall be exalted. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER XVII. 
 
 ON A BELIEVER’S FRAMES. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 You ask me, in your letter, What one should 
 do when he finds himself always still, quiet, 
 <»ud stupid, except in the pulpit ; when he is 
 
 LET. XVII 
 
 made useful there, but cannot get either com- 
 fort or sorrow out of it, or but very rarely ? 
 You describe a case which my own experi- 
 ence has made very familiar to me : 1 shall 
 therefore take the occasion to offer you a few 
 miscellaneous thoughts upon the subject of a 
 believer’s frames; and I send them to you, 
 not by post, but from the press ; because I 
 apprehend the exercise you speak of is not 
 peculiar to you or to me, but is, in a greater 
 or less degree, the burden of all who are spi- 
 ritually minded, and duly attentive to what 
 passes in their own hearts, whether they are 
 in the ministry or not. 
 
 As you intimate that you are, in the main, 
 favoured with liberty and usefulness in the 
 pulpit, give me leave to ask you, What you 
 would do, if you did not find yourself occa- 
 sionally poor, insufficient, and, as you express 
 it, stupid, at other times ? Are you aware of 
 what might be the possible, the probable, the 
 almost certain consequences, if you always 
 found your spirit enlarged, and your frames 
 lively and comfortable ? Would you not be 
 in great danger of being puffed up with spi- 
 ritual pride ? Would you not be less sensible 
 of your absolute dependence upon the power 
 of Christ, and of your continual need of his 
 blood, pardon, and intercession ? Would you 
 not be quite at a loss to speak suitably and 
 feelingly to the case of many gracious souls, 
 who are groaning under those effects of a de- 
 praved nature, from which, upon that suppo- 
 sition, you would be exempted ? How could 
 you speak properly upon the deceitfulness 
 of the heart, if you did not feel the deceit- 
 fulness of your own, or adapt yourself to 
 the changing experiences through which your 
 hearers pass, if you yourself were always alike 
 or nearly so ? Or how could you speak perti- 
 nently of the inward warfare, the contrary 
 principles of flesh and spirit fighting one 
 against another, if your own spiritual desires 
 were always vigorous and successful, and met 
 with little opposition or controul ? 
 
 The apostle Paul, though favoured with a 
 singular eminency in grace, felt at times that 
 he had no sufficiency in himself, even so much 
 as to think a good thought ; and he saw there 
 was a danger of his being exalted above mea- 
 sure, if the Lord had not wisely and gracious- 
 ly tempered his dispensations to prevent it. 
 By “being exalted above measure,” perhaps, 
 there may be a reference, not only to his spirit, 
 lest he should think more highly of himself 
 than he ought, but likewise to his preaching, 
 lest, not having the same causes of complaint 
 and humiliation in common with others, he 
 should shoot over the heads of his hearers, 
 confine himself chiefly to speak of such com- 
 forts and privileges as he himself enjoyed, 
 and have little to say for the refreshment of 
 those who were discouraged and cast down by 
 continual conflict with indwelling sin. The 
 angel who appeared to Cornelius, did not 
 
 ON A BELIEVER’S FRAMES. 
 
LET. XVII. 
 
 preach the gospel to him, but directed him to 
 send for Peter; for, though the glory and 
 grace of the Saviour seems a fitter subject for 
 an angel’s powers, than for the poor, stam- 
 mering tongues of sinful men, yet, an angel 
 could not preach experimentally, nor describe 
 the warfare between grace and sin from his 
 own feelings. And if we could suppose a 
 minister as full of comforts, and as free from 
 failings as an angel, though he would be a 
 good and happy man, I cannot conceive that 
 he would be a good or useful preacher ; for 
 he would not know how to sympathize with 
 the weak and afflicted of the flock, or to com- 
 fort them under their difficulties with the con- 
 solations wherewith he himself, in similar cir- 
 cumstances, had been comforted of God. It 
 belongs to your calling of God as a minister, 
 that you should have a taste of the various 
 spiritual trials which are incident to the Lord’s 
 people, that thereby you may possess the 
 tongue of the learned, and know how to speak 
 a word in season to them that are weary ; and 
 it is likewise needful to keep you perpetually 
 attentive to that important admonition, “With- 
 out me ye can do nothing.” 
 
 Thus much, considering you as a minister. 
 But we may extend the subject so as to make 
 it applicable to believers in general. I would 
 observe, therefore, that it is a sign of a sad 
 declension, if one, who has tasted that the 
 Lord is gracious, should be capable of being 
 fully satisfied with any thing short of the 
 light of his countenance, which is better than 
 life. A resting in notions of gospel-truth, or 
 in the recollection of past comforts, without a 
 continual thirst for fresh communications from 
 the fountain of life, is, I am afraid, the can- 
 ker which eats away the beauty and fruitful- 
 ness of many professors in the present day ; 
 and, which, if it does not prove them to be 
 absolutely dead, is, at least, a sufficient evi- 
 dence that they are lamentably sick. But, if we 
 are conscious of the desire, if we seek it care- 
 fully in the use of all appointed means, if we 
 willingly allow ourselves in nothing which has 
 a known tendency to grieve the Spirit of God, 
 and to damp our sense of divine things ; then, 
 if the Lord is pleased to keep us short of 
 those comforts which he has taught us to 
 prize, and, instead of lively sensations of joy 
 and praise, we feel a languor and deadness of 
 spirit, provided we do indeed feel it, and are 
 humbled for it, we have no need to give way 
 to despondency or excessive sorrow ; still the 
 foundation of our hope, and the ground of 
 our abiding joys, is the same ; and the heart 
 may be as really alive to God, and grace as 
 truly in exercise, when we walk in compara- 
 tive darkness and sec little light, as when the 
 frame of our spirits is more comfortable. 
 Neither the reality nor the measure of grace 
 can be properly estimated by the degree of 
 our sensible comforts. The great question 
 is, How are we practically influenced by the [ 
 
 75 
 
 word of God as the ground of our hope, ana 
 as the governing rule of our tempers and con- 
 versation ? The apostle exhorts believers to 
 rejoice in the Lord always. He well knew 
 that they were exposed to trials and tempta- 
 tions, and to much trouble, from an evil heart 
 of unbelief ; and he prevents the objections 
 we might be ready to make, by adding, “ And 
 again, I say, Rejoice !” As if he had said, I 
 speak upon mature consideration ; I call up- 
 on you to rejoice, not at some times only, but 
 at all times ; not only when upon the mount, 
 but when in the valley ; not only when you 
 conquer, but while you are fighting; not 
 only when the Lord shines upon you, but 
 when he seems to hide his face. When he 
 enables you to do all things, you are no bet- 
 ter in yourselves than you were before ; and 
 when you feel you can do nothing, you are 
 no worse. Your experiences will vary ; but 
 his love and promises are always unchange- 
 able. Though our desires of comfort, and 
 what we call lively frames, cannot be too im- 
 portunate, while they are regulated by a due 
 submission to his will, yet they may be inor- 
 dinate for want of such submission. Sinful 
 principles may, and too often do, mix with 
 and defile our best desires. I have often de- 
 tected the two vile abominations self-will and 
 self-righteousness, insinuating themselves into 
 this concern ; like Satan, who works by them, 
 they can occasionally assume the appearance 
 of an angel of light. I have felt an impa- 
 tience in my spirit, utterly unsuitable to my 
 state as a sinner and a beggar, and to my pro- 
 fession of yielding myself and all my con- 
 cerns to the Lord’s disposal. He has merci- 
 fully convinced me that I labour under a 
 complication of disorders, summed up in the 
 word sin ; he has graciously revealed himseli 
 to me as the infallible Physician, and has 
 enabled me to commit myself to him, as such, 
 and to expect my cure from his hand alone. 
 Yet how often, instead of thankfully accept- 
 ing his prescriptions, have I foolishly and pre- 
 sumptuously ventured to prescribe to him, 
 and to point out how I would have him deal 
 with me ? How often have I thought some- 
 thing was necessary, which he saw best to 
 deny, and that I could have done better with- 
 out those dispensations which his wisdom ap- 
 pointed to work for my good ? He is God, 
 and not man, or else he would have been 
 weary of me, and left me to my own manage- 
 ment long ago. How inconsistent ! to ac- 
 knowledge that I am blind, to intreat him to 
 lead me, and yet to want to chuse my own 
 way, in the same breath. I have limited the 
 Holy One of Israel, and not considered, that 
 he magnifies his wisdom and grace in work- 
 ing by contraries, and bringing good out of 
 seeming evil. It has cost me something to 
 bring myself to confess that he is wiser than I ; 
 but I trust, through his blessing, I have not 
 suffered wholly in vain. My sensible cora- 
 
 ON A BELIEVER’S FRAMES. 
 
LET. XVII 
 
 ON A BELIEVER’S FRAMES. 
 
 76 
 
 forts have not been great ; the proofs I have 
 had of the evils of my sinful nature, my in- 
 capacity and aversion to good, have neither 
 been few nor small ; but by these unpromis- 
 ing means, I hope, he has made his grace and 
 salvation precious to my soul, and in some 
 measure, weaned me from leaning to my own 
 understanding. 
 
 Again, self-righteousness has had a consi- 
 derable hand in dictating many of my desires 
 for an increase of comfort and spiritual 
 strength. I have wanted some stock of my 
 own. I have been wearied of being so per- 
 pertually beholden to him, and necessitated to 
 come to him always in the same strain, as a 
 poor, miserable sinner. I could have liked to 
 have done something for myself in common, 
 and to have depended upon him chiefly upon 
 extraordinary occasions. I have found, in- 
 deed, that I could do nothing without his 
 assistance, nor any thing, even with it, but 
 what I have reason to be ashamed of. If this 
 had only humbled me, and led me to rejoice 
 in his all -sufficiency, it would have been well. 
 But it has often had a different effect, to make 
 me sullen, angry, and discontented; as if it 
 was not best and most desirable, that he 
 should have all the glory of his own work, 
 and I should have nothing to boast of, but 
 that in the Lord I have righteousness and 
 strength. I am now learning to glory only in 
 my infirmities, that the power of Christ may 
 rest upon me ; to be content to be nothing, 
 that he may be all in all. But I find this a 
 hard lesson ; and when I seem to have made 
 some proficiency, a slight turn in my spirit 
 throws me back, and 1 have to begin all a- 
 gain. 
 
 This is an inseparable connection between 
 causes and effects. There can be no effect 
 without a cause, no active cause without a 
 proportionable effect. Now indwelling sin is 
 an active cause ; and, therefore, while it re- 
 mains in our nature, it will produce effects 
 according to its strength. Why then should 
 I be surprised, that if the Lord suspends his 
 influence for a moment, in that moment sin 
 ■wall discover itself? Why should I wonder 
 that I can feel no lively exercise of grace, no 
 power to raise my heart to God any farther 
 than he is pleased to work in me mightily, — 
 any more than wonder that I do not find fire 
 in the bottom of a well, or that it should not 
 be day when the sun is withdrawn from the 
 earth ? Humbled I ought to be, to find I 
 am so totally depraved ; but not discouraged, 
 sinee Jesus is appointed to me of God, wis- 
 dom, righteousness, sanctification, and re- 
 demption ; and since I find that, in the midst 
 of all this darkness and deadness, he keeps 
 alive the principle of grace which he has im- 
 planted in my heart. 
 
 As to Mr. Rutherford’s expression which 
 you mention, that “ there is no temptation like 
 being without temptation 1 allow it in a 
 
 qualified sense, that is, it is the better of the 
 two, to suffer from Satan’s fiery darts, than to 
 be lulled asleep, and drawn into a careless se- 
 curity, by his more subtle, though less percep- 
 tible devices ; so as to grow indifferent to the 
 means of grace, and sink into a worldly spirit, 
 or, like the church of Laodicea, to imagine 
 ourselves rich, and increased in goods, and 
 that we have need of nothing. But I am 
 persuaded this is not your case ; the deadness 
 you complain of, and which is a burden you 
 groan under, is a very different thing. And 
 I advise you to be cautious how you indulge 
 a desire to be exercised with Satan’s tempta- 
 tions, as supposing they would be conducive 
 to make you more spiritual, or would, of 
 course, open you a way to greater consolations. 
 If you have such a desire, I may say to you, 
 in our Lord’s words, “ You know not what 
 you ask.” He who knows our weakness, and 
 the power of our adversary, has graciously 
 directed us to pray, that we enter not into 
 temptation. Have you considered what the 
 enemy can do, if he is permitted to come in 
 like a flood ? In one hour he could raise such 
 a storm, as would put you to your wit’s end. 
 He could bring such a dark cloud over your 
 mind, as would blot out all remembrance of 
 your past comforts, or at least prevent you 
 from deriving the least support from them. 
 He could not only fight against your peace, 
 but shake the very foundations of vour hope, 
 and bring you to question, not only your in- 
 terest in the promises, but even to doubt of 
 the most important and fundamental truths 
 upon which your hopes have been built. Be 
 thankful, therefore, if the Lord restrains his 
 malice. -A young sailor is often impatient of 
 a short calm; but the experienced mariner, 
 who has been often tossed with tempests, and 
 upon the point of perishing, will seldom 
 wish for a storm. In a word, let us patient- 
 ly w ait upon the Lord, and be content to fol- 
 low as he leads, and he will surely do us 
 good. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER XVIII. 
 
 THOUGHTS ON THE EXERCISE OF SOCIAL TRAYER 
 SIR, 
 
 I account it a great mercy, that, at this time, 
 when iniquity so generally abounds, there is a 
 number, I hope a growing number, whose 
 eyes affect their hearts, and who are stirred 
 up to unite in prayer for the spreading of 
 gospel-knowledge, and a blessing upon our 
 sinful land. Meetings for social prayer are 
 frequent in different parts of the kingdom, and 
 amongst various denominations of Christians. 
 As the Lord has promised, that when he pre- 
 pares the heart to pray, he will graciously iu- 
 
LET. XVIII. ON SOCIAL PRAYER. 77 
 
 cline his ear to hear, who can tell but he 
 may yet be intreated for us, and avert the 
 heavy and justly-deserved judgments which 
 seem to hang over us ? 
 
 It is much to be desired, that our hearts 
 might be so affected with a sense of divine 
 things, and so closely engaged when we are 
 worshipping God, that it might not be in the 
 power of little circumstances to interrupt and 
 perplex us, and to make us think the service 
 wearisome, and the time which we employ in 
 it tedious. But as your infirmities are many 
 and great, and the enemy of our souls is 
 watchful to discompose us, if care is not taken 
 by those who lead in social prayer, the exer- 
 cise which is approved by the judgment, may 
 become a burden, and an occasion of sin. Com- 
 plaints of this kind are frequent, and might 
 perhaps be easily rectified, if the persons chief- 
 ly concerned were spoken to in love. But as 
 they are usually the last who hear of it, it may 
 perhaps be of service to communicate a few 
 remarks on a subject of such general concern. 
 
 The chief fault of some good prayers is, 
 that they are too long ; not that I think we 
 should pray by the clock, and limit ourselves 
 precisely to a certain number of minutes ; but it 
 is the better of the two, that the hearers should 
 wish the prayer had been longer, than spend 
 half or a considerable part of the time in wish- 
 ing it was over. This is frequently owing to 
 an unnecessary enlargement upon every cir- 
 cumstance that offers, as well as to the repeti- 
 tion of the same things. If we have been 
 copious in pleading for spiritual blessings, it 
 may be best to be brief and summary in the 
 article of intercession for others; or if the 
 frame of our spirits, or the circumstances of 
 affairs, lead us to be more large and particu- 
 lar in laying the cases of others before the 
 Lord, respect should be had to this intention 
 in the former part of the prayer. There are, 
 doubtless, seasons when the Lord is pleased to 
 favour those w ho pray with a peculiar liberty ; 
 they speak because they feel; they have a 
 wrestling spirit, and hardly know how to leave 
 off. When this is the case, they who join 
 with them are seldom wearied, though the 
 prayer should be protracted something beyond 
 the usual limits. But I believe it sometimes 
 happens, both in praying, and in preaching, 
 that we are apt to spin out our time to the 
 greatest length, when we have, in reality, the 
 least to say. Long prayers should in general 
 be avoided, especially where several persons 
 are to pray successively ; or else even spiritual 
 hearers will be unable to keep up their atten- 
 tion. And here I would just notice an im- 
 propriety we sometimes meet with, that when 
 a person gives expectation that he is just go- 
 ing to conclude his prayer, something not 
 thought of in its proper place occurring that 
 instant to his mind, leads him as it were to 
 begin again. But unless it is a matter of sin- 
 
 gular importance, it would be better omitted 
 for that time. 
 
 The prayers of some good men are more 
 like preaching than praying. They rather 
 express the Lord’s mind to the people, than 
 the desires of the people to the Lord. In- 
 deed this can hardly be called prayer. It 
 might, in another place, stand for a part of 
 a good sermon ; but will afford little help to 
 those who desire to pray with their hearts. 
 Prayer should be sententious, and made up 
 of breathings to the Lord, either of confes- 
 sion, petition, or praise. It should be, 
 not only scriptural and evangelical, but experi- 
 mental, a simple and unstudied expression 
 of the wants and feelings of the soul. It 
 will be so if the heart is lively and affected in 
 the duty ; it must be so if the edification of 
 others is the point in view. 
 
 Several books have been written to assist in 
 the gift and exercise of prayer, as by Dr Watts, 
 and others ; and many useful hints may be 
 borrowed from them ; but a too close atten- 
 tion to the method and transitions therein re- 
 commended, gives an air of study and formali- 
 ty, and offends against that simplicity which 
 is so essentially necessary to a good prayer, 
 that no degree of acquired abilities can com- 
 pensate for the want of it. It is possible to 
 learn to pray mechanically, and by rule ; but 
 it is hardly possible to do so with acceptance, 
 and benefit to others. When the several parts 
 of invocation, adoration, confession, petition, 
 See. follow each other in a stated order, the 
 hearer’s mind generally goes before the speak- 
 er’s voice, and we can form a tolerable con- 
 jecture what is to come next. On this ac- 
 count we often find, that unlettered people, 
 who have had little or no help from books, or 
 rather have not been fettered by them, can 
 pray with an unction and savour in an un- 
 premeditated way, while the prayers of per- 
 sons of much superior abilities, perhaps even 
 of ministers themselves, are, though accurate 
 and regular, so dry and starched, that they af- 
 ford little either of pleasure or profit to a spi- 
 ritual mind. The spirit of prayer is the truth 
 and token of the spirit of adoption. The 
 studied addresses with which some approach 
 the throne of grace, remind us of a stranger’s 
 coming to a great man’s door ; he knocks and 
 waits, sends in his name, and goes through a 
 course of ceremony before he gains admit- 
 tance ; while a child of the family uses no 
 ceremony at all, but enters freely when he 
 pleases, because he knows he is at home. It 
 is true we ought always to draw near the 
 Lord with great humiliation of spirit, and a 
 sense of our unworthiness. But this spirit is 
 not always best expressed or promoted by a 
 pompous enumeration of the names and titles 
 of the God with whom we have to do, or by 
 fixing in our minds before hand, the exact 
 order in which we propose to arrange the se* 
 
LET. XVIII. 
 
 78 ON SOCIAL r 
 
 veral parts of our prayer. Some attention to : 
 method may be proper, for the prevention of 
 repetitions ; and plain people may be a little 
 defective in it sometimes ; but this defect will 
 not be half so tiresome and disagreeable as a 
 studied and artificial exactness. 
 
 Many, perhaps most people, who pray in 
 public, have some favourite word or expres- 
 sion which recurs too often in their prayers, 
 and is frequently used as a mere expletive, 
 having no necessary connection with the sense 
 of what they are speaking. The most dis- 
 agreeable of these is, when the name of the 
 blessed God, with the addition of perhaps 
 one or more epithets, as Great, Glorious, 
 Holy, Almighty, &c. is introduced so often, 
 and without necessity, as seems, neither to in- 
 dicate a due reverence in the person who uses 
 it, or suited to excite reverence in those who 
 hear. I will not say, that this is taking the name 
 of God in vain, in the usual sense of the 
 phrase ; it is, however, a great impropriety, 
 and should be guarded against. It would be 
 well if they who use redundant expressions, 
 had a friend to give them a caution, as they 
 might, with a little care, be retrenched ; and 
 hardly any person can be sensible of the little 
 peculiarities he may inadvertently adopt, un- 
 less he is told of it. 
 
 There are several things likewise respecting 
 the voice and manner of prayer, which a per- 
 son may, with due care, correct in himself, 
 and which, if generally corrected, would make 
 meetings for prayer more pleasant, than they 
 sometimes are. These I shall mention by 
 pairs, as the happy and agreeable way is a me- 
 dium between two inconvenient extremes. 
 
 Very loud speaking is a fault, when the 
 size of the place, and the number of hearers 
 do not render it necessary. The end of speak- 
 ing is to be heard j and, when that end is 
 attained, a greater elevation of the voice is 
 frequently hurtful to the speaker, and is more 
 likely to confuse a hearer than to fix his at- 
 tention. I do not deny but allowance must 
 be made for constitution, and the warmth 
 of the passions, which dispose some persons 
 to speak louder than others. Yet such will 
 do well to restrain themselves as much as they 
 can. It may seem indeed to indicate great 
 earnestness, and that the heart is much affect- 
 ed ; yet it is often but false fire. It may be 
 thought speaking with power ; but a person 
 who is favoured with the Lord’s presence may 
 pray with power in a moderate voice ; and 
 there may be very little power of the Spirit, 
 though the voice should be heard in the street 
 and neighbourhood. 
 
 The other extreme, of speaking too low, is 
 not so frequent ; but if we are not heard, 
 we might as well altogether hold our peace. 
 It exhausts the spirits, and wearies the atten- 
 tion, to be listening for a length of time to a 
 very low voice. Some words or sentences will 
 be lost, which will render what is heard less 
 
 ’ItAYER. 
 
 intelligible and agreeable. If the speaker can 
 be heard by the person farthest distant from 
 him the rest will hear of course. 
 
 The tone of the voice is likewise to be re- 
 garded. Some have a tone in prayer, so very 
 different from their usual way of speaking, that 
 their nearest friends, if not accustomed to them, 
 could hardly know them by their voice. Some- 
 times the tone is changed, perhaps more than 
 once, so that if our eyes did not give us more 
 certain information than our ears, we might 
 think two or three persons had been speaking 
 by turns. It is pity that when we approve 
 what is spoken, we should be so easily dis- 
 concerted by an awkwardness of delivery ; yet 
 so it often is, and probably so it will be, in 
 the present weak and imperfect state of hu- 
 man nature. It is more to be lamented than 
 wondered at, that sincere Christians are some- 
 times forced to confess, “ He is a good man, 
 and his prayers, as to their substance, are spiri- 
 tual and judicious ; but there is something so 
 displeasing in his manner, that I am always 
 uneasy when T hear him.” 
 
 Contrary to this, and still more offensive, is 
 a custom that some have of talking to the 
 Lord in prayer. It is their natural voice, in- 
 deed, but it is that expression of it which they 
 use upon the most familiar and trivial occa- 
 sions. The human voice is capable of so 
 many inflexions and variations, that it can 
 adapt itself to the different sensations of our 
 mind, as joy, sorrow, fear, desire, &c. If a 
 man was pleading for his life, or expressing his 
 thanks to the king for a pardon, common 
 sense and decency would teach him a suitable- 
 ness of manner ; and any one who could not 
 understand his language, might know, by the 
 sound of his words, that he was not making a 
 bargain, or telling a story. How much more, 
 when we speak to the King of kings, should 
 the consideration of his glory, and our own 
 vileness, and of the important concerns we 
 are engaged in before him, impress us with an 
 air of seriousness and reverence, and prevent 
 us from speaking to him as if he was altoge- 
 ther such a one as ourselves ? The liberty to 
 which we are called by the gospel, does not 
 at all encourage such a pertness and familiari- 
 ty as would be unbecoming to use towards a 
 fellow-worm who was a little advanced above 
 us in worldly dignity. 
 
 I shall be glad if these hints may be of any 
 service to those who desire to worship God in 
 spirit and in truth, and who wish that what- 
 ever has a tendency to damp the spirit of de- 
 votion, either in themselves or in others, might 
 be avoided. It is a point of delicacy and 
 difficulty to tell any one what we wish could 
 be altered in his manner of prayer, but it can 
 give no just offence to ask a friend, if he has 
 read a letter on this subject, in “ A Collection 
 of Twenty-six Letters,” published in 1775. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
LET. XIX. 
 
 ON CONI 
 
 LETTER XIX. 
 
 ON CONTROVERSY 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 As you are likely to be engaged in controver- 
 sy, and your love of truth is joined with a na- 
 tural warmth of temper, my friendship makes 
 me solicitous on your behalf. You are of 
 the strongest side; for truth is great, and 
 must prevail ; so that a person of abilities, in- 
 ferior to yours, might take the field with a 
 confidence of victory. I am not therefore 
 anxious for the event of the battle ; but I 
 would have you more than a conqueror, and 
 to triumph not only over your adversary, but 
 over yourself. If you cannot be vanquished, 
 you may be wounded. To preserve you from 
 such wounds as might give you cause of 
 weeping over your conquests, I would pre- 
 sent you with some considerations, which, if 
 duly attended to, will do you the service of a 
 coat of mail ; such armour, that you need not 
 complain, as David did of Saul’s, that it will 
 be more cumbersome than useful ; for you 
 will easily perceive it is taken from that great 
 magazine provided for the Christian soldier, 
 the word of God. I take it for granted, that 
 you will not expect any apology for my free- 
 dom, and therefore I shall not offer one. For 
 method’s sake, I may reduce my advice to three 
 heads, — respecting your opponent, the public, 
 and yourself. 
 
 As to your opponent, 1 wish, that before 
 you set pen to paper against him, and during 
 the whole time you are preparing your an- 
 swer, you may commend him by earnest 
 prayer to the Lord’s teaching and blessing. 
 This practice will have a direct tendency to 
 conciliate your heart to love and pity him ; 
 and such a disposition will have a good in- 
 fluence upon every page you write. If you 
 account him a believer, though greatly mis- 
 taken in the subject of debate between you, 
 the words of David to Joab, concerning Ab- 
 salom, are very applicable : “ Deal gently 
 with him for my sake.” The Lord loves 
 him and bears with him ; therefore you must 
 not despise him, or treat him harshly. The 
 Lord bears with you likewise, and expects 
 that you should show tenderness to others, 
 from a sense of the much forgiveness you 
 need yourself. In a little while you will 
 meet in heaven ; he will then be dearer to you 
 than the nearest friend you have upon earth 
 is to you now. Anticipate that period in 
 your thoughts ; and though you may find it 
 necessary to oppose his errors, view him per- 
 sonally as a kindred soul, with whom you are 
 to be happy in Christ for ever. But if you 
 look upon him as an unconverted person, in 
 a state of enmity against God and his grace 
 (a supposition which, without good evidence, 
 
 TIlOVEItSY. 79 
 
 you should be very unwilling to admit), he is 
 a more proper object of your compassion than 
 of your anger. Alas ! he knows not what 
 he does : but you know who has made you 
 to differ. If God, in his sovereign pleasure, 
 had so appointed, you might have been as he 
 is now ; and he, instead of you, might have 
 been set for the defence of the gospel. You 
 were both equally blind by nature. If you 
 attend to this, you will not reproach or hate 
 him, because the Lord has been pleased to 
 open your eyes, and not his. Of all people 
 who engage in controversy, we, who are call- 
 ed Calvinists, are most expressly bound by 
 our own principles to the exercise of gentle- 
 ness and moderation. If, indeed, they who 
 differ from us have a power of changing 
 themselves, if they can open their own eyes, 
 and soften their own hearts, then we might 
 with less inconsistence be offended at their 
 obstinacy ; but if we believe the very contrary 
 to this, our part is, not to strive, but in meek- 
 ness to instruct those who oppose, “ if perad- 
 venture God will give them repentance to the 
 acknowledgment of the truth.” If you write 
 with a desire of being an instrument of cor- 
 recting mistakes, you will of course be cau- 
 tious of laying stumbling-blocks in the way 
 of the blind, or of using any expressions that 
 may exasperate their passions, confirm them 
 in their prejudices, and thereby make their 
 conviction, humanly speaking, more imprac- 
 ticable. 
 
 By printing, you will appeal to the public, 
 where your readers may be ranged under 
 three divisions. First, such as differ from 
 you in principle. Concerning these I may 
 refer you to what I have already said. 
 Though you have your eye upon one person 
 chiefly, there are many like-minded with him 
 and the same reasoning will hold, whether as 
 to one or to a million. There will be like- 
 wise many who pay too little regard to re- 
 ligion, to have any settled system of their 
 own, and yet are pre-engaged in favour of 
 those sentiments which are least repugnant to 
 the good opinion men naturally have of them- 
 selves. These are very incompetent judges 
 of doctrines, but they can form a tolerable 
 judgment of a writer’s spirit. They know 
 that meekness, humility, and love, are the 
 characteristics of a Christian temper; and 
 though they affect to treat the doctrines of 
 grace as mere notions and speculations, which, 
 supposing they adopted them, would have no 
 salutary influence upon their conduct; yet 
 from us, who profess these principles, they al- 
 ways expect such dispositions as correspond 
 with the precepts of the gospel. They are 
 quick-sighted to discern when we deviate from 
 such a spirit, and avail themselves of it to 
 justify their contempt of our arguments. The 
 scriptural maxim, That “ the wrath of man 
 worketh not the righteousness of God,” is 
 verified by daily observation. If our zeal is 
 
LET. XIX. 
 
 ON CONTROVERSY. 
 
 80 
 
 embittered by expressions of anger, invective, 
 or scorn, we may think we are doing service 
 to the cause of truth, when in reality we shall 
 only bring it into discredit. The weapons of 
 our warfare, and which alone are powerful to 
 break down the strong holds of error, are not 
 carnal, but spiritual ; arguments fairly drawn 
 from scripture and experience, and enforced 
 by such a mild address, as may persuade our 
 readers, that, whether we can convince them 
 or not, we wish well to their souls, and con- 
 tend only for the truth’s sake : if we can satis- 
 fy them that we act up to these motives, our 
 point is half gained ; they will be more dis- 
 posed to consider calmly what we offer ; and 
 if they should still dissent from our opi- 
 nions, they will be constrained to approve of 
 our intentions. 
 
 You will have a third class of readers, who, 
 being of your own sentiments, will readily 
 approve of what you advance, and may be fur- 
 ther established and confirmed in their views 
 of scripture doctrines, by a clear and mas- 
 terly elucidation of your subject. You may 
 be instrumental to their edification, if the law 
 of kindness, as well as of truth, regulates your 
 pen, otherwise you may do them harm. There 
 is a principle of self, which disposes us to de- 
 spise those who differ from us ; and we are 
 often under its influence, when we think we 
 are only shewing a becoming zeal in the cause 
 of God. I readily believe, that the leading 
 points of Arminianism spring from, and are 
 nourished by, the pride of the human heart ; 
 but I should be glad if the reverse was always 
 true ; and that to embrace what are called the 
 Calvinistic doctrines was an infallible token 
 of an humble mind. I think I have known 
 some Arminians, that is, persons who, for 
 want of clearer light, have been afraid of re- 
 ceiving the doctrines of free grace, who yet 
 have given evidence that their hearts were in 
 a degree humbled before the Lord. And, I 
 am afraid, there are Calvinists, who, while 
 they account it a proof of their humility, that 
 they are willing, in words, to debase the crea- 
 ture, and to give all the glory of salvation to 
 the Lord, yet know not what manner of spi- 
 rit they are of. Whatever it be that makes 
 us trust in ourselves that we are compara- 
 tively wise or good, so as to treat those with 
 contempt who do not subscribe to our doc- 
 trines, or follow our party, is a proof and 
 fruit of a self-righteous spirit. Self-righteous- 
 ness can feed upon doctrines, as well as upon 
 works ; and a man may have the heart of a 
 Pharisee, while his head is stored with ortho- 
 dox notions of the unworthiness of the crea- 
 ture, and the riches of free grace. Yea, I 
 would add, the best of men are not wholly 
 free from this leaven ; and therefore a^e too 
 apt to be pleased with such representations as 
 hold up our adversaries to ridicule, ai d, by 
 consequence flatter our own superior judg- 
 ments. Controversies, for the most part, are 
 
 so managed as to indulge, rather than to re- 
 press this wrong disposition ; and, therefore, 
 generally speaking, they are productive of 
 little good. They provoke those whom they 
 should convince, and puff up those whom 
 they should edify. I hope your performance 
 will savour of a spirit of true humility, and 
 be a means of promoting it in others. 
 
 This leads me, in the last place, to consider 
 your own concern in your present undertak- 
 ing. It seems a laudable service to defend 
 the faith once delivered to the saints ; we are 
 commanded to contend earnestly for it, and 
 to convince gainsayers. If ever such defences 
 were seasonable and expedient, they appear to 
 be so in our day, when errors abound on all 
 sides, and every truth of the gospel is either 
 directly denied, or grossly misrepresented. 
 And yet we find but very few writers of con- 
 troversy who have not been manifestly hurt 
 by it. Either they grow in a sense of their 
 own importance, or imbibe an angry, conten- 
 tious spirit, or they insensibly withdraw their 
 attention from those things which are the 
 food, and immediate support of the life of 
 faith, and spend their time and strength upon 
 matters, which at most, are but of a secondary 
 value. This shews, that if the service is ho- 
 nourable, it is dangerous. What will it pro- 
 fit a man, if he gain his cause, and silence 
 his adversary, if, at the same time, he loses 
 that humble, tender frame of spirit in which 
 the Lord delights, and to which the promise 
 of his presence is made ? Your aim, I doubt 
 not, is good ; but you have need to watch and 
 pray, for you will find Satan at your right 
 hand, to resist you. He will try to debase 
 your views ; and though you set out in de- 
 fence of the cause of God, if you are not con- 
 tinually looking to the Lord to keep you, it 
 may become your own cause, and awaken in 
 you those tempers which are inconsistent with 
 true peace of mind, and will surely obstruct 
 communion with God. Be upon your guard 
 against admitting any thing personal into the 
 debate. If you think you have been ill 
 treated, you will have an opportunity of 
 shewing that you are a disciple of Jesus, who, 
 “ when he was reviled, reviled not again ; 
 when he suffered, he threatened not.” This 
 is our pattern, thus we are to speak and write 
 for God, “ not rendering railing for railing, 
 but contrariwise, blessing; knowing that here- 
 unto we are called.” The wisdom that is 
 from above is not only pure, but peaceable 
 and gentle ; and the want of these qualifica- 
 tions, like the dead fly in the pot of ointment, 
 will spoil the savour and efficacy of our la- 
 bours. If we act in a wrong spirit, we shall 
 bring little glory to God, do little good to our 
 fellow- creatures, and procure neither honour 
 nor comfort to ourselves. If you can be 
 content with shewing your wit, and gaining 
 the laugh on your side, you have an easy task ; 
 but I hope you have a far nobler aim, and 
 
LET. XX. 
 
 that, sensible of the solemn importance of 
 gospel-truths, and the compassion due to the 
 souls of men, you would rather be a means of 
 removing prejudices in a single instance, than 
 obtain the empty applause of thousands. Go 
 forth, therefore, in the name and strength of 
 the Lord of Hosts, speaking the truth in love ; 
 and may he give you a witness in many 
 hearts, that you are taught of God, and fa- 
 voured with the unction of his Holy Spirit. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER XX. 
 
 ON CONFORMITY TO THE WORLD. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 You will, perhaps, be surprised to see my 
 thoughts on your query in print, rather than 
 to receive them by post, as you expected. 
 But as the subject of it is of general concern, 
 I hope that you will not be displeased that I 
 have taken this method. It would do honour 
 to the pen of an able casuist, and might be of 
 considerable service in the present day, clear- 
 ly to explain the force of the apostle’s precept, 
 t: Be not conformed to this world and to 
 state the just boundary between a sinful com- 
 pliance with the world, and that scrupulous 
 singularity which springs from a self-right- 
 eous principle, and a contracted view of the 
 spirit and liberty of the gospel. To treat this 
 point accurately, would require a treatise, ra- 
 ther than a letter ; I only undertake to offer 
 you a few hints ; and, indeed, when the mind 
 is formed to a spiritual taste, a simple desire 
 to be guided by the word and Spirit of God, 
 together with a due attention to our own ex- 
 perience, will, in most practical cases, super- 
 sede the necessity of long and elaborate dis- 
 quisitions. 
 
 By the world, in the passage alluded to, 
 Rom. xii. 2. I suppose the apostle means the 
 men of the world, in distinction from believ- 
 ers ; these, not having the love of God in 
 their hearts, or his fear before their eyes, are, 
 of course, engaged in such pursuits and prac- 
 tices as are inconsistent with our holy calling, 
 and in which we cannot imitate or comply 
 with them, without hurting our peace and our 
 profession. We are, therefore, bound to 
 avoid conformity to them in all such instances ; 
 but we are not obliged to decline all intercourse 
 with the world, or to impose restraints upon 
 ourselves, when the scriptures do not restrain 
 us, in order to make us as unlike the world 
 as possible. To instance in a few particu- 
 lars : 
 
 It is not necessary, perhaps, it is not law- 
 ful, wholly to renounce the society of the 
 world. A mistake of this kind took place in 
 the early ages of Christianity, and men (at 
 first, perhaps, with a sincere desire of serving 
 
 81 
 
 God without distraction) withdrew into de 
 serts and uninhabited places, and wasted theii 
 lives at a distance from their fellow-creatures. 
 But unless we could flee from ourselves like- 
 wise, this would afford us no advantage ; so 
 long as we carry our own wicked hearts with 
 us, we shall be exposed to temptation, go 
 where we will. Besides, this would be 
 thwarting the end of our vocation. Christians 
 are to be the salt and the light of the world, 
 conspicuous as cities set upon a hill ; they are 
 commanded to “ let their light shine before 
 men, that they, beholding their good works, 
 may glorify their Father who is in heaven.” 
 This injudicious deviation from the paths of 
 nature and providence, gave occasion, at 
 length, to the vilest abominations ; and men, 
 who withdrew from the world under the pre- 
 tence of retirement, became the more wicked 
 and abandoned, as they lived more out of pub- 
 lic view and observation. 
 
 Nor are we at liberty, much less arc we en- 
 joined, to renounce the duties of relative life, 
 so as to become careless in the discharge of 
 them. Allowances should, indeed, be made 
 for the distresses of persons newly awakened, 
 or under the power of temptation, which may, 
 for a time, so much engross their thoughts, as 
 greatly to indispose them for their bounden 
 duty. But in general, the proper evidence of 
 true Christians, is, not merely that they can 
 talk about divine things, but that, by the 
 grace of God, they live and act agreeable to 
 the rules of his word, in the state in which 
 his providence has placed them, whether as 
 masters or servants, husbands or wives, par- 
 ents or children : bearing rule, or yielding 
 
 obedience, as in his sight. Diligence and fi- 
 delity in the management of temporal con- 
 cernments, though observable in the practice 
 of many worldly men, may be maintained 
 without a sinful conformity to the world. 
 
 Neither are we required to refuse a mode- 
 rate use of the comforts and conveniencies of 
 life, suitable to the station which God has 
 appointed us in the world. The spirit of self- 
 righteousness and will-worship works much 
 in this way, and supposes that there is some- 
 thing excellent in long fastings, in abstaining 
 from pleasant food, in wearing meaner clothes 
 than is customary with those in the same rank 
 of life, and in many other austerities and sin- 
 gularities not commanded by the word of 
 God. And many persons, who are in the 
 main sincere, are grievously burdened with 
 scruples respecting the use of lawful things. 
 It is true, there is need of a constant watch, 
 lest what is lawful in itself become hurtful to 
 us by its abuse. But these outward strict- 
 nesses may be carried to great lengths, with- 
 out a spark of true grace, and even without 
 the knowledge of the true God. The morti- 
 fications and austerities practised by the Bra- 
 mins in India (if the accounts we have of 
 them be true) are vastly more severe than the 
 N 
 
 ON CONFORMITY TO THE WORLD. 
 
82 ON CONFORMITY TO THE WORLD. let. xx 
 
 most zealous effects of modern superstition in 
 our country. There is a strictness which 
 arises rather from ignorance than knowledge, 
 is wholly conversant about externals, and gra- 
 tifies the spirit of self as much in one way as 
 it seems to retrench it in another. A man 
 may almost starve his body to feed his pride ; 
 but to those w-ho fear and serve the Lord, 
 every creature of God is good, and nothing to 
 be refused, if it be received with thanksgiv- 
 ing, for it is sanctified by the word of God 
 and prayer. 
 
 Notwithstanding these limitations, the pre- 
 cept is very extensive and important. “ Be 
 not conformed to the world.” As believers, 
 w T e are strangers and pilgrims upon earth. 
 Heaven is our country, and the Lord is our 
 King. We are to be known and noticed as 
 his subjects, and, therefore, it is his pleasure, 
 that w r e do not speak the language, or adopt 
 the customs of the land in which we sojourn. 
 We are not to conform to the world, as we 
 did in the days of our ignorance. And 
 though we have received the principles of 
 grace, and have tasted of the goodness of the 
 Lord, the admonition is still needful ; for we 
 are renewed but in part, and are liable to be 
 drawn aside to our hurt, by the prevalence of 
 evil examples and customs around us. 
 
 We must not conform to the spirit of the 
 world. As members of society, we have a 
 part to act in it, in common with others. But 
 if our business is the same, our principles and 
 ends are to be entirely different. Diligence 
 in our respective callings is, as I have already 
 observed, commendable, and our duty ; but not 
 with the same views which stimulate the activity 
 of the men of the world. If they rise early, and 
 take rest late, their endeavours spring from, 
 and terminate in self, to establish and increase 
 their own importance, to add house to house, 
 and field to field, that, like the builders of 
 Babel, they may get themselves a name, or 
 provide means for the gratification of their 
 sinful passions. If they succeed, they sacri- 
 fice to their own net ; if they are crossed in 
 their designs, they are filled with anxiety and 
 impatience ; they either murmur or despond. 
 But a Christian is to pursue his lawful calling 
 with an eye to the providence of God, and 
 with submission to his wisdom. Thus, so 
 far as he acts in the exercise of faith, he can- 
 not be disappointed. He casts his care upon 
 his heavenly Father, who has promised to take 
 care of him. What he gives, he receives with 
 thankfulness, and is careful, as a faithful 
 steward, to improve it for the furtherance of 
 the cause of God, and the good of mankind ; 
 and if he meets with losses and crosses, he is 
 not disconcerted, knowing that all his con- 
 cerns are under a divine direction ; that the 
 Lord, whom he serves, chuses for him better 
 than he could chuse for himself: and that his 
 best treasure is safe, out of the reach of the. 
 
 various changes to which all things in the pre- 
 sent state are liable. 
 
 We must not conform to the maxims of the 
 world. The world, in various instances, calls 
 evil good, and good evil. But we are to have 
 recourse to the law and to the testimony, and 
 to judge of things by the unerring w r ord of 
 God, uninfluenced by the determination of 
 the great, or the many. We are to obey God 
 rather than man, though, upon this account, 
 we may expect to be despised or reviled, to 
 be made a gazing-stock or a laughing-stock 
 to those who set his authority at defiance. 
 We must bear our testimony to the truth as it 
 is in Jesus, avow the cause of his despised 
 people, and walk in the practice of universal 
 obedience, patiently endure reproaches and 
 labour to overcome evil with good. Thus we 
 shall shew that we are not ashamed of him. 
 And there is an hour coming, when he will 
 not be ashamed of us, who have followed him, 
 and borne his cross, in the midst of a per- 
 verse generation, but will own our worthless 
 names before the assembled world. 
 
 We must not conform to the world in their 
 amusements and diversions. We are to mix 
 with the world so far as our necessary and 
 providential connections engage us ; so far as 
 we have a reasonable expectation of doing, or 
 getting good, and no further. “ What fellow- 
 ship hath light with darkness, or what con- 
 cord hath Christ with Belial ?” What call can 
 a believer have into those places and compa- 
 nies, where every thing tends to promote a 
 spirit of dissipation ; where the fear of God 
 has no place ; where things are purposely dis- 
 posed to inflame, or indulge corrupt and sin- 
 ful appetites and passions, and to banish all 
 serious thoughts of God and ourselves ? If 
 it is our duty to redeem time, to w’alk with 
 God, to do all things in the name of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, to follow the example which he 
 set us w'hen he was upon earth, and to work 
 out our salvation with fear and trembling ; it 
 must of course be our duty to avoid a confor- 
 mity with the world in those vain and sensual 
 diversions, which stand in as direct contradic- 
 tion to a spiritual frame of mind as darkness 
 to light. 
 
 The leading desires of every person under 
 the influence of gospel-principles, will be to 
 maintain a habitual communion with God in 
 his own soul, and to manifest the power of his 
 grace in the sight of men. So far as a Chris- 
 tian is infected by a conformity to the spirit, 
 maxims, and sinful customs of the world, 
 these desires will be disappointed. Fire and 
 water are not more opposite than that peace 
 of God which passeth all understanding, and 
 that poor precarious pleasure which is sought 
 in a compliance with the world ; a pleasure (if 
 worthy the name) which grieves the Spirit oi 
 God and stupifies the heart. Whoever, after 
 having tasted that the Lord is gracious, has been 
 
LET. XXI. 
 
 ON SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS. 
 
 prevailed on to make the experiment, and to 
 mingle with the world’s vanities, has certainly 
 thereby brought a damp upon his experience, 
 and indisposed himself for the exercise of 
 prayer, and the contemplation of divine 
 truths. And if any are not sensible of a dif- 
 ference in this respect, it is because the poison 
 has taken a still deeper effect, so as to be- 
 numb their spiritual senses. Conformity to 
 the world is the bane of many professors iri 
 this day. They have found a way, as they 
 dunk, to serve both God and mammon. But 
 because they are double-minded, they are un- 
 stable ; they make no progress ; and notwith- 
 standing their frequent attendance upon ordi- 
 nances, they are lean from day to day ; a form 
 of godliness, a scheme of orthodox notions 
 they may attain to, but they will remain des- 
 titute of the life, power, and comfort of re- 
 ligion, so long as they cleave to those things 
 which are incompatible with it. 
 
 Conformity to the world is equally an 
 obstruction in the way of those who pro- 
 fess a desire of glorifying God in the sight of 
 men. Such professors do rather dishonour 
 him ; by their conduct, as far as in them 
 lies, they declare, that they do not find the 
 religion of the gospel answer their expecta- 
 tions ; that it does not afford them the satis- 
 faction they once hoped for from it ; and that 
 therefore they are forced to seek relief from 
 the world. They grieve the people of God 
 by their compliances, and ofttimes they mis- 
 lead the weak, and, by their examples encou- 
 rage them to venture upon the like liberties, 
 which otherwise they durst not have attempt- 
 ed. They embolden the wicked likewise in 
 their evil ways, while they see a manifest in- 
 consistence between their avowed principles 
 and their practice ; and thus they cause the 
 ways of truth to be evil spoken of. — The pa- 
 per constrains me to conclude abruptly. May 
 the Lord enable you and me to lay this sub- 
 ject to heart, and to pray that we may, on the 
 one hand, rightly understand and prize our 
 Christian liberty; and, on the other hand, be 
 preserved from that growing evil, a conformity 
 to the world. 
 
 I am, fkc. 
 
 LETTER XXL 
 
 “i WAS ONCE BLIND, BUT NOW I SEE.” 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 The question, What is the discriminating cha- 
 racteristic nature of a work of grace upon the 
 soul ? has been upon my mind ; if I am able 
 to give you satisfaction concerning it, I shall 
 think my time well employed. 
 
 The reason why men in a natural state are 
 utterly ignorant of spiritual truths, is, that they 
 are wholly destitute of a faculty suited to their 
 
 83 
 
 perception. A remarkable instance we have 
 in the absurd construction which Nicodemus 
 put upon what our Lord had spoken to him 
 concerning the new birth. And in the su- 
 pernatural communication of this spiritual fa- 
 culty, by the agency of the Holy Spirit, I ap- 
 prehend the inimitable and abiding criterion, 
 which is the subject of our inquiry, does, pri- 
 marily consist. Those passages of scripture 
 wherein the gospel-truth is compared to light, 
 lead to a familiar illustration of my meaning. 
 Men, by nature, are stark blind w ith respect to 
 this light; by grace the eyes of the under- 
 standing are opened. Among a number of 
 blind men, some may be more ingenious and 
 of better capacity than others. They may be 
 better qualified for such studies and employ- 
 ments which do not require eye-sight, than 
 many who can see, and may attain to considera- 
 ble skill in them ; but w ith respect to the true 
 nature of light and colours, they are all exact- 
 ly upon a level. A blind man, if ingenious 
 and inquisitive, may learn to talk about the 
 light, the sun, or the rainbow, in terms bor- 
 rowed from those who have seen them ; but it 
 is impossible that he can have (I mean a man 
 born blind) a just idea of either ; and what- 
 ever hear-say knowledge he may have acquir- 
 ed, he can hardly talk much upon these sub- 
 jects without betraying his real ignorance. The 
 case of one mentioned by Mr. Locke has been 
 often quoted. He believed, that after much 
 inquiry and reflection, he had at last found out 
 what scarlet was ; and being asked to explain 
 himself, “ I think,” says he, “ scarlet has 
 something like the sound of a trumpet.” This 
 man had about the same knowledge of natu- 
 ral light as Nicodemus had of spiritual. Nor 
 can all the learning or study in the world en- 
 able any person to form a suitable judgment 
 of divine truth, till the eyes of his mind are 
 opened, and then he w'ill perceive it at once. 
 
 Indeed this comparison is well suited to shew 
 theventire difference between nature and grace, 
 and to explain the ground of that enmity and 
 scorn which fills the hearts of blinded sinners, 
 against those who profess to have been en- 
 lightened by the Spirit of God. The reason 
 w hy blind men are not affronted when we tell 
 them they cannot see, seems to be, that they 
 are borne down by the united testimony of all 
 w'ho are about them. Every one talks of see- 
 ing; and they find by experience, that those who 
 say they can see cau do many things which thu 
 blind cannot. Some such conviction as tin's 
 many have, who live where the gospel is 
 preache^ and is made the powder of God to the 
 salvation of others. The conversation and 
 conduct of the people of God convinces them, 
 that there is a difference, though they cannot 
 tell, wherein it consists. But if wew r ould sup- 
 pose it possible, that there was a whole nation 
 of blind men, and one or two persons should go 
 amongst them, and profess that they could see, 
 while they could not offer them such a proof 
 
LET. XXI 
 
 ON SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS. 
 
 84 
 
 of their assertion as they were capable of re- 
 ceiving, nor even explain, to their satisfaction, 
 what they meant by sight ; what may we 
 imagine would be the consequence ? I think 
 there is little doubt but these innovators would 
 experience much the same treatment as the 
 believers of Jesus often meet with from a 
 blind world. The blind people would certain- 
 ly hate and despise them for presuming to 
 pretend to what they had not. They would 
 try to dispute them out of their senses, and 
 bring many arguments to prove, that there 
 could be no such thing as either light or sight. 
 They would say, as many say now, How is it 
 if these things are so, that we should know 
 nothing of them ? Yea, I think it probable, 
 they would rise against them as deceivers and 
 enthusiasts, and disturbers of the public peace, 
 and say, “ Away with such fellows from the 
 earth ; it is not fit that they should live.” But 
 if we should suppose further, that during the 
 heat of the contest, some of these blind men 
 should have their eyes suddenly opened, the 
 lispute as to them would be at an end in a mi- 
 nute : they would confess their former igno- 
 rance and obstinacy, confirm the testimony of 
 those whom they had before despised, and of 
 eourse share in the same treatment from their 
 blind brethren, perhaps be treated still worse, 
 as apostates from the opinion of the public. 
 
 If this illustration is justly applicable to our 
 subject, it may lead us to several observations, 
 or inferences, which have a tendency to confirm 
 what we are elsewhere expressly taught by the 
 word of God. 
 
 In the first place, it shews, that regenera- 
 tion, or that great change without which a man 
 cannot see the kingdom of God, is the effect of 
 almighty power. Neither education, endea- 
 vours, or arguments, can open the eyes of the 
 blind. It is God alone, who at first caused 
 light to shine out of darkness, who can shine 
 into our hearts “ to give us the light of the 
 knowledge of the glory of God in the face of 
 Jesus Christ.” People may attain some na- 
 tural ideas of spiritual truths by reading books, 
 or hearing sermons, and may thereby become 
 wise in their own conceits : they may learn to 
 imitate the language of an experienced Chris- 
 tian ; but they know not what they say, nor 
 whereof they affirm, and are as distant from the 
 true meaning of the terms, as a blind man who 
 pronounces the words blue or red, is from the 
 ideas which those words raise in the mind of 
 a person who can distinguish colours by his 
 sight. And from hence we may infer the 
 sovereignty as well as the efficacy of grace ; 
 since it is evident, not only that the objective 
 light, the word of God, is not afforded uni- 
 versally to all men ; but that those who en- 
 joy the same outw r ard means have not all the 
 same perceptions. There are many who 
 stumble in the noon-day, not for want of light 
 but for want of eyes ; and they who now see, 
 were once blind even as others, and had nei- 
 
 ther power nor will to enlighten their own 
 minds. It is a mercy, however, when people 
 are so far sensible of their own blindness as to 
 be willing to wait for the manifestation of the 
 Lord’s power, in the ordinances of his own 
 appointment. He came into the world, and he 
 sends forth his gospel, that those who see not 
 may see ; and when there is a desire raised in 
 the heart for spiritual sight, it shall in his due 
 time be answered. 
 
 From hence likewise we may observe the 
 proper use and value of the preaching of the 
 gospel, which is the great instrument by which 
 the Holy Spirit opens the blind eyes. Like 
 the rod of Moses, it owes all its efficacy to the 
 appointment and promise of God. Minister., 
 cannot be too earnest in the discharge * 
 their office ; it behoves them to use all dif. 
 gence to find out acceptable words, and fc. 
 proclaim the whole counsel of God. Yet 
 when they have done all, they have done no- 
 thing, unless their word is accompanied to 
 the heart by the power and demonstration of 
 the Spirit. Without this blessing, an apostle 
 might labour in vain : but it shall be in a 
 measure afforded to all who preach the truth 
 in love, in simplicity, and in an humble de- 
 pendence upon him who alone can give suc- 
 cess. This, in a great measure, puts all faith- 
 ful ministers on a level, notwithstanding any 
 seeming disparity in gifts and abilities. Those 
 who have a lively and pathetic talent may en- 
 gage the ear, and raise the natural passions of 
 their hearers ; but they cannot reach the 
 heart. The blessing may be rather expected 
 to attend the humble than the voluble speak- 
 er. 
 
 Further we may remark, that there is a dif- 
 ference in kind, between the highest attain- 
 ments of nature, and the effects of grace in the 
 lowest degree. Many are convinced, who are 
 not truly enlightened ; are afraid of the con- 
 sequences of sin, though they never saw its 
 evil ; have a seeming desire of salvation, which 
 is not founded upon a truly spiritual discovery 
 of their own wretchedness, and the excellency 
 of Jesus. These may, for a season, hear the 
 word with joy, and walk in the way of pro- 
 fessors ; but we need not be surprised if they 
 do not hold out, for they have not root. 
 Though many shall fall, the foundation of 
 God still standeth sure. We may confident- 
 ly affirm, upon the warrant of scripture, that 
 they who, having for a while escaped the pol- 
 lutions of the world, are again habitually en- 
 tangled in them, or who, having been distres- 
 ed upon the account of sin, can find relief in 
 a self-righteous course, and stop short of 
 Christ, “ who is the end of the law for right- 
 eousness to every one that believeth we 
 may affirm, that these, whatever profession 
 they may have made, were never capable of 
 receiving the beauty and glory of the gospel- 
 salvation. On the other hand, though where 
 the eyes are divinely enlightened, the soul’s 
 
ON THE ADVANTAGES OF POVERTY. 
 
 LET. XXII. 
 
 first views of itself and of the gospel may be 
 confused and indistinct, like him who saw 
 men as it were trees walking ; yet this light 
 is like the dawn, which, though weak and 
 faint at its first appearance, shineth more and 
 more unto the perfect day. It is the work of 
 God ; and his work is perfect in kind, though 
 progressive in the manner. He will not des- 
 pise or forsake the day of small things. When 
 he thus begins, he will make an end; and 
 such persons, however feeble, poor, and worth- 
 less, in their own apprehensions, if they have 
 obtained a glimpse of the Redeemer’s glory, 
 as he is made unto us, of God, wisdom, right- 
 eousness, sanctification, and redemption, so 
 that his name is precious, and the desire of 
 their hearts is towards him, have good reason 
 to hope and believe, as the wife of Manoah 
 did in a similar case, that if the Lord had 
 been pleased to kill them, he would not have 
 shewed them such things as these. 
 
 Once more, this spiritual sight and facul- 
 ty is that which may be principally consider- 
 ed as inherent in a believer. He has no stock 
 of grace, or comfort, or strength, in himself. 
 He needs continual supplies ; and if the Lord 
 withdraws from him, he is as weak and un- 
 skilful, after he has been long engaged in the 
 Christian warfare, as he was when he first en- 
 tered upon it. The eye is of little present use 
 in the dark ; for it cannot see without light. 
 But the return of light is no advantage to a 
 blind man. A believer may be much in the 
 dark ; but his spiritual sight remains. Though 
 the exercise of grace may be low, he knows 
 himself, he knows the Lord, he knows the way 
 of access to a throne of grace. His frames and 
 feelings may alter; but he has received such 
 a knowledge of the person and offices, the 
 power and grace, of Jesus the Saviour, as can- 
 not be taken from him ; and could withstand 
 *ven an angel that should preach another gos- 
 pel, because he has seen the Lord. — The pa- 
 per constrains me to break off. May the Lord 
 increase his light in your heart, and in the 
 heart of, &c. 
 
 85 
 
 LETTER XXII. 
 
 ON THE ADVANTAGES OF A STATE OF PO- 
 VERTY. 
 
 MY DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 I CONFESS myself almost ashamed to write to 
 you. You are pinched by poverty, suffer the 
 want of many things ; and your faith is often 
 sharply tried, when you look at your family, 
 and, perhaps, can hardly conceive how you 
 shall be able to supply them with bread to 
 the end of the week. The Lord has appoint- 
 ed me a different lot. I am favoured, not 
 only with the necessaries, but with the com- 
 forts of life. Now, I could easily give you 
 
 plenty of good advice ; I could tell you, it 
 is your duty to be patient, and even thankful, 
 in the lowest state ; that if you have bread 
 and water, it is more than you deserve at the 
 Lord’s hands ; and that, as you are out of 
 hell, and made a partaker of the hope of the 
 gospel, you ought not to think any thing hard 
 that you meet with in the way to heaven. If 
 I should say thus, and say no more, you 
 would not dispute the truth of my assertions ; 
 but, as coming from me, who live at ease, to 
 you, who are beset with difficulties, you might 
 question their propriety, and think that I know 
 but little of my own heart, and could feel but 
 little for your distress. You would probably 
 compare me to one who should think himself 
 a mariner, because he had studied the art of 
 navigation by the fireside, though he had ne- 
 ver seen the sea. Yet I hope, by my frequent 
 converse with the Lord’s poor (for I live in 
 the midst of an afflicted and poor people), I 
 have made some observations, which, though 
 not strictly the fruit of my own experience, 
 may not be wholly unseasonable or unaccept- 
 able to you. 
 
 Whether the rich or the poor, who live 
 without God in the world, are most to be pi- 
 tied, is not easy to determine. It is a dread- 
 ful case to be miserable in both worlds ; but 
 yet the parade and seeming prosperity in which 
 some live for a few years, will be no abate- 
 ment, but rather a great aggravation, of their 
 future torment. A madman is equally to be 
 pitied, whether he is laid upon a bed of state 
 or a bed of straw. Madness is in the heart of 
 every unregenerate sinner ; and the more he 
 possesses of this world’s goods, he is so much 
 the more extensively mischievous. Poverty is 
 so far a negative good to those who have no 
 other restraint, that it confines the effects ot 
 the evil heart within narrower bounds, and 
 the small circle of their immediate connec- 
 tions ; whereas the rich, who live under the 
 power of sin, are unfaithful stewards of a 
 larger trust, and, by their pernicious influ- 
 ence, are often instrumental in diffusing pro- 
 faneness and licentiousness through a country 
 or a kingdom, besides the innumerable acts of 
 oppression, and the ravages of war, which are 
 perpetrated to gratify the insatiable demands 
 of luxury, ambition, and pride. But to leave 
 this, if we turn our eyes from the false max- 
 ims of the world, and weigh things in the ba- 
 lance of the sanctuary, I believe we shall find 
 that the believing poor, though they have many 
 trials which call for our compassion, have some 
 advantages above those of the Lord’s people 
 to whom he has given a larger share of the 
 good things of the present life. Why else 
 does the apostle say, “ God hath chosen the 
 poor ?” or why do we see, in fact, that so few 
 of the rich, or wise, or mighty, are called ? 
 Certainly he does not chuse them because they 
 are poor ; for “ he is no respecter of per- 
 sons rather, I think, we may say, that know- 
 
LET. XXII. 
 
 ON THE ADVANTAGES OF POVERTY. 
 
 86 
 
 ing what is in their hearts, the nature of the 
 world through which they are to pass, and 
 what circumstances are best suited to manifest 
 the truth and efficacy of his grace, he has, in 
 the general, chosen poverty as the best state 
 for them. Some exceptions he has made, that 
 his people may not be wholly without support 
 and countenance, and that the sufficiency of 
 his grace may be made known in every state 
 of life ; but, for the most part, they are a 
 poor and afflicted people; and in this ap- 
 pointment he has had a regard to their honour, 
 their safety, and their comfort. 1 have room 
 for but a very brief illustration of these parti- 
 culars. 
 
 Sanctified poverty is an honourable state ; 
 not so, indeed, in the judgment of the world. 
 The rich have many friends ; the poor are 
 usually despised. But I am speaking of that 
 honour which cometh from God only. The 
 poor, who are “ rich in faith, and heirs of the 
 kingdom,” are honoured with the nearest ex- 
 ternal conformity to Jesus, their Saviour, who, 
 though he was Lord of all, was pleased, for 
 our sakes, to make himself so poor, that he 
 had not where to lay his head, and submitted 
 to receive assistance from the contributions of 
 his followers, Luke viii. 3. By this asto- 
 nishing humiliation, he poured contempt up- 
 on all human glory, and made the state of 
 poverty honourable ; and now, “ he that re- 
 proacheth the poor despiseth his Maker.” 
 And as he was, so were his apostles in this 
 world. They were not only destitute of rank, 
 titles, and estates, but were often in hunger 
 and nakedness, and had no certain dwelling- 
 place. To infer from hence, as some have 
 done, that riches, and the accommodations of 
 life, are unsuitable to the state of a Christian, 
 is the mark of a superstitious and legal spi- 
 rit. There were, in those days, several be- 
 lievers that were in a state of affluence, as, for 
 instance, Theophilus, whom Luke addresses 
 by a title of honour, K^atr/trri (most noble, 
 or excellent), the same which St. Paul ascribes 
 to the Roman governor. But we may safely 
 infer, that that state of life in which our Lord 
 was pleased to converse with men, and which 
 was the lot of his apostles, and most favour- 
 ed servants, is honourable in the sight of 
 God. 
 
 Again, poverty is honourable, because it 
 affords a peculiar advantage for glorifying 
 God, and evidencing the power of his grace, 
 and the faithfulness of his promises, in the 
 sight of men. A believer, if rich, lives by 
 faith, and his faith meets with various trials. 
 Fie himself knows by whom he stands ; but it | 
 is not ordinarily so visible to others, as in the 
 case of the poor. When ministers speak of 
 the all-sufficiency of God to those who trust j 
 in him, and the certain effect of the principles 
 of the gospel, in supporting, satisfying, and re- J 
 gulating the mind of man, the poor are the best 
 and most unsuspected witnesses for the truth 
 
 of their doctrine. If we are asked. Where do 
 these wonderful people live, who can delight 
 themselves in God, esteem a day in his courts 
 better than a thousand, and prefer the light 
 of his countenance to all earthly joy ? we 
 can confidently send them to the poor of the 
 flock. Amongst the number who are so call- 
 ed, there are some who will not disappoint 
 our appeal. Let the world, who refuse to be- 
 lieve the preachers, believe their own eyes ; 
 and when they see a poor person content, 
 thankful, rejoicing, admiring the Lord’s good- 
 ness for affording him what they account hard 
 fare, and, in the midst of various pressures, 
 incapable of being bribed by offers, or terri- 
 fied by threats, to swerve a step from the path 
 of known duty, let them acknowledge that 
 this is the finger of God. If they harden 
 themselves against this evidence, “ neither 
 would they be persuaded, though one should 
 arise from the dead.” 
 
 And as poverty is an honourable, so it is 
 comparatively a safe state. True, it is at- 
 tended with its peculiar temptations ; but it 
 is not near so suitable to draw fortli and nou- 
 rish the two grand corruptions of the heart, 
 self-importance, and an idolatrous cleaving 
 to the world, as the opposite state of riches. 
 They who are rich in this world, and who 
 know the Lord and their own hearts, feel the 
 wisdom and propriety of the apostle’s charge, 
 “ Not to be high-minded, nor to trust in un- 
 certain riches.” If poor believers consider 
 the snares to which their rich brethren are ex- 
 posed, they will rather pray for and pity, than 
 envy them. Their path is slippery ; they have 
 reason to cry continually, “ Hold thou me 
 up, and I shall be safe ;” for they live in 
 the midst of the hurries and vanities of the 
 world, are engaged in a large sphere of ac- 
 tion, and are incessantly exposed to interrup- 
 tions and snares. The carriage of all around 
 them reminds them of their supposed conse- 
 quence ; and, by the nature of their situation, 
 they are greatly precluded from plain dealing 
 and friendly advice. But the poor are not 
 surrounded with flatterers, nor teazed with 
 impertinencies. They meet with little to sti- 
 mulate their pride, or to soothe their vanity. 
 They not only believe in their judgments, but 
 are constrained to feel, by the experience of 
 every day, that this world cannot afford them 
 rest. If they have food and raiment, and 
 grace therewith to be content, they have rea- 
 son to be thankful for an exemption from 
 those splendid cares and delusive appearances, 
 which are the inseparable attendants of wealth 
 land worldly distinction, - and which, if not 
 more burdensome, are, humanly speaking, 
 much more dangerous, and greater impedi- 
 j ments to the progress of a spiritual life, than 
 : the ordinary trials of the poor. 
 
 The believing poor have likewise, for the 
 most part, the advantage in point of spiritual 
 comfort, and that principally in two respects. 
 
LET. XXQ. ON THE ADVANT^ 
 
 Fiist, As they arc called to a life of more im- 
 mediate dependence upon the promise and 
 providence of God (having little else to trust 
 to), they have a more direct and frequent ex- 
 perience of his interposition in their favour. 
 Obadiah was a servant of God, though he lived 
 in the court of Ahab. He, doubtless, had 
 his difficulties in such a situation ; but he 
 was not in want. He had not only enough 
 for himself in a time of dearth, but was 
 able to impart to others. We may believe 
 that he well knew he was indebted to the 
 Lord’s goodness for his provision ; but he 
 could hardly have so sweet, so strong, so sen- 
 sible an impression of God’s watchful care 
 over him as Elijah had, who, when he was 
 deprived of all human support, was statedly 
 fed by the ravens. Such of the Lord’s people 
 who have estates in land, or thousands in the 
 bank, will acknowledge, that even the bread 
 they eat is the gift of the Lord’s bounty; v et, 
 having a moral certainty of a provision for 
 life, I should apprehend that they cannot ex - 
 ercise faith in the divine providence, with re- 
 spect to their temporal supplies, so distinctly 
 as the poor, who, having no friend or resource 
 upon earth, are necessitated to look immedi- 
 ately to their Father, who is in heaven, for 
 their daily bread. And though it is not given 
 to the world to know what an intercourse is 
 carried on between heaven and earth, nor 
 with what acceptance the prayers of the poor 
 and afflicted enter into the ears of the Lord 
 of hosts ; yet many of them have had such 
 proofs of his attention, wisdom, faithfulness, 
 power, and love, in supplying their wants, 
 and opening them a way of relief, when they 
 have been beset with difficulties on all sides, 
 as have been, to themselves at least, no less 
 certain and indisputable, I had almost said, 
 no less glorious, than the miracles which he 
 wrought for Israel, when he divided the Red 
 Sea before them, and gave them food from 
 the clouds. Such evidences of the power of 
 faith, the efficacy of prayer, and the truth of 
 the scriptures (preferable to mountains of gold 
 and silver, and for which the state of poverty 
 furnishes the most frequent occasions), are a 
 rich overbalance for all its inconveniencies. 
 But, 
 
 Secondly, I apprehend that the humble and 
 believing poor have, in general, the greatest 
 share of those consolations, which are the ef- 
 fect of the light of God’s countenance lifted 
 up upon the soul, of his love shed abroad in 
 the heart, Or of a season of refreshment from 
 his presence. By such expressions as these, 
 the scriptures intimate that “joy unspeakable 
 and full of glory a description of which, 
 those who have tasted it will not require, and 
 those who are strangers to it, could not un- 
 derstand. This joy is not always the com- 
 panion of faith, not even of strong faith ; but 
 it is that which a believer, whether rich or 
 poor, incessantly thirsts after ; and, in com- 
 
 GES OF POVERTY. 87 
 
 parison whereof, all worldly good is but vanity 
 and disappointment. The Lord imparts this 
 joy to his people, in season and measure, as 
 he sees fit ; but his poor people have the largest 
 share. They have little comfort from the 
 world, therefore, he is pleased to be their 
 comforter. They have many trials and suf- 
 ferings ; and he with whom they have to do, 
 knows their situation and pressures : he has 
 promised to make their strength equal to their 
 day, and to revive their fainting spirits with 
 heavenly cordials. When it is thus with them, 
 they can say with Jacob, “ I have enough 
 or, as it is in the orginal, “ I have all.” This 
 makes hard things easy, and the. burden light, 
 which the flesh would otherwise complain of 
 as heavy. This has often given a sweeter re- 
 lish to bread and water, than the sensualist 
 ever found to be in the most studied and ex- 
 pensive refinements of luxury. Blessed are 
 the poor, who are rich in faith, and heirs of 
 the kingdom which God has promised to 
 them that love him. They often enjoy the most 
 lively foretastes of the glory which shall be 
 revealed. 
 
 Have not you, my friend, found these things 
 true in your own experience? Yes ; the Lord 
 has sanctified your crosses, and supported you 
 under them. Hitherto he has helped you, 
 and he will be with you to the end. As you 
 have followed him upon earth, you will ere 
 long follow him to heaven. You are now 
 called to sow in tears ; there you shall reap in 
 joy, and God shall wipe away all tears from 
 your eyes. In the mean time, be thankful that 
 he honours you, in appointing you to be a 
 witness for the truth and power of his grace, 
 in the midst of an unbelieving world. 
 
 It is true, that even where the spirit is wil- 
 ling, the flesh is weak. You have sharp trials, 
 which, for the present, cannot be joyous, but 
 grievous ; and you have doubtless felt the 
 depravity of your nature, and the subtilty of 
 Satan, at some times prompting you to impa- 
 tience, envy, and distrust. But these evils 
 are not peculiar to a state of poverty ; you 
 would have been exposed to the same had you 
 lived in affluence, together with many others, 
 from which you are now exempted ; for riches 
 and poverty are but comparative terms, and it 
 is only the grace of God that can teach us to be 
 content in any possible situation of life. The 
 rich are as prone to desire something which 
 they have not as the poor ; and they who have 
 most to lose have most to fear. That a man’s 
 life (the happiness of his life) “ consisteth not 
 in the abundance of the things which he pos- 
 sesseth,” is an aphorism founded upon the 
 highest authority, and confirmed by universal 
 experience and observation. 
 
 In a word, you are not poor, but rich. The 
 promises are your inheritance ; heaven is your 
 home ; the angels of the Lord are minister- 
 ing spirits, who rejoice to watch over you for 
 good ; and the Lord of angels himself is your 
 
LET. XXI II. 
 
 88 ON SIMPLICITY AND SINCERITY. 
 
 sun, and shield, and everlasting portion. It 
 is impossible that you, to whom he has given 
 Himself, his Son, his Spirit, his grace, his 
 kingdom, can want any thing that is truly 
 good for you. If riches were so, he could 
 pour them upon you in abundance, as easily 
 as he provides you your daily bread. But 
 these, for the most part, he bestows on those 
 who have no portion but in the present life. 
 You have great reason to rejoice in the lot he 
 has appointed for you, which secures you 
 from numberless imaginary wants and real 
 dangers, and furnishes you with the fairest 
 opportunities for the manifestation, exercise, 
 and increase of the graces he has implanted 
 in you. — Influenced by these views, I trust 
 you can cheerfully say, 
 
 What others value I resign : 
 
 Lord, ’tis enough that thou art mine. 
 
 I commend you to the blessing of our co- 
 venant God, and to Jesus our Saviour, who, 
 when he was rich, made himself poor for our 
 sakes, that we through his poverty might be 
 rich. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER XXIII. 
 
 ON SIMPLICITY AND GODLY SINCERITY. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 It would be a happy time if all professors of 
 the gospel could, with the apostle, rejoice in 
 the testimony of their consciences, that they 
 walked in simplicity and godly sincerity. 
 How many evils and scandals would be then 
 prevented ! But, alas ! too many who name 
 the name of Christ, seem to have hardly any 
 idea of this essential part of the Christian cha- 
 lacter. A few thoughts upon a subject so 
 little attended to, may not be unseasonable. 
 The most advanced in the Christian life have 
 something of this lesson yet to learn ; and the 
 greater proficiency we make in it, the greater 
 will be our inward peace, and the more will 
 our light shine before men, to the glory of our 
 heavenly Father. 
 
 Simplicity and sincerity, though inseparable, 
 may be distinguished. The former is the 
 principle from which the latter is derived. 
 Simplicity primarily respects the frame of our 
 spirit in the sight of God ; sincerity more di- 
 rectly ragards our conduct as it falls under 
 the observation of men. It is true, the terms 
 are frequently used indifferently for each 
 other, and may be so without occasioning any 
 considerable mistake ; but as they are not 
 precisely the same, it may be proper, if we 
 would speak accurately, to keep this distinc- 
 tion in view. 
 
 Some persons, who have been more ena- 
 moured with the name of simplicity, than ac- 
 
 quainted with its nature, have substituted in 
 its stead a childishness of language and man- 
 ners, as if they understood the word simple 
 only in the mere vulgar sense, as equivalent 
 to foolish. But this infantine softness gives 
 just disgust to those who have a true taste and 
 judgment of divine things ; not only as it is 
 an unnecessary deviation from the common 
 usages of mankind, but because, being the 
 effect of art and imitation, it palpably defeats 
 its own pretences. An artificial, or affected 
 simplicity, is a contradiction in terms, and 
 differs as much from the simplicity of the gos- 
 pel, as paint does from beauty. 
 
 The true simplicity, which is the honour 
 and strength of a believer, is the effect of a 
 spiritual perception of the truths of the gos- 
 pel. It arises from, and bears a proportion 
 to, the sense we have of our own unworthi- 
 ness, the power and grace of Christ, and the 
 greatness of our obligations to him. So far 
 as our knowledge of these tilings is vital and 
 experimental, it will make us simple-hearted. 
 This simplicity may be considered in two re- 
 spects, — a simplicity of intention, and a sim- 
 plicity of dependence. The former, stands in 
 opposition to the corrupt workings of self, 
 the latter to the false reasonings of unbelief. 
 
 Simplicity of intention implies, that we have 
 but one leading aim, to which it is our deli- 
 berate and unreserved desire, that every thing 
 else in which we are concerned may be subor- 
 dinate and subservient ; in a word, that we 
 are devoted to the Lord, and have, by grace, 
 been enabled to chuse him, and to yield our- 
 selves to him, so as to place our happiness in 
 his favour, and to make his glory and will 
 the ultimate scope of all our actions. He well 
 deserves this from us. He is the all-sufficient 
 good. He alone is able to satisfy the vast 
 capacity he has given us ; for he formed us for 
 himself : and they who have tasted that he is 
 gracious, know that his “ loving-kindness is 
 better than life;” and that his presence and 
 fulness can supply the w ant, or make up the 
 loss of all creature-comforts. So likewise, he 
 has a just claim to us that we should be whol- 
 ly his ; for besides that, as his creatures, we 
 are in his hand as clay in the hands of the 
 potter, he has a redemption title to us. He 
 loved us, and bought us with his own blood. 
 He did not hesitate or halt between two o- 
 pinions, when he engaged to redeem our souls 
 from the curse of the law, and the power of 
 Satan. He could, in the hour of his distress, 
 have summoned legions of angels, had that 
 been needful, to his assistance, or have de- 
 stroyed his enemies with a w’ord or a look ; 
 he could easily have saved himself: but how 
 then could his people have been saved, or the 
 promises of the scriptures have been fulfilled ? 
 Therefore he willingly endured the cross, he 
 gave his back to the smiters, he poured out 
 his blood, he laid dow n his life. Here was an 
 adorable simplicity of intention in him ; and 
 
LET. XXIII. ON SIMPLICITY 
 
 shall we not, O thou lover of souls, be simply, 
 heartily, and wholly thine ? Shall we refuse 
 the cup of affliction from thy hand, or for thy 
 sake ? Or shall we desire to drink of the cup 
 of sinful pleasure, when we remember what 
 our sins have cost thee ? Shall we wish to be 
 loved by the world that hated thee, or to be 
 admired by the world that despised thee? 
 Shall we be ashamed of professing our attach- 
 ment to such a Saviour ? Nay, Lord forbid 
 it. Let thy love constrain us, let thy name 
 be glorified, and thy will be done by us and 
 in us. Let us count all things loss and 
 dung for the excellency of the knowledge of 
 Christ Jesus our Lord. Let us not desire 
 any thing thou seest fit to withhold, nor re- 
 pine to part with what thou callest for ; nor 
 even take pleasure in what thou bestowest, 
 unless we can improve it for thee, and ever 
 prefer thy love above our chief temporal joy ! 
 Such is the language of the heart that is 
 blessed with gospel-simplicity. It was once 
 the stronghold of sin, the throne of self: but 
 now self is cast down, and Jesus rules by the 
 golden sceptre of love. This principle pre- 
 serves the soul from low, sordid, and idola- 
 trous pursuits, will admit of no rival near the 
 Beloved, nor will it yield either to the bribes 
 or threats of the world. 
 
 There is likewise a simplicity of dependence. 
 Unbelief is continually starting objections, 
 magnifying and multiplying difficulties. But 
 faith in the power and promises of God, in- 
 spires a noble simplicity, and casts every care 
 upon him, who is able, and has engaged to 
 support and provide. Thus, when Abraham, 
 at the Lord’s call, forsook his country and 
 his father’s house, the apostle observes, “ He 
 went out, not knowing whether he went.” It 
 was enough that he knew whom he followed. 
 The all-sufficient God was his guide, his shield, 
 and his exceeding great reward. So, when 
 exercised with long waiting for the accom- 
 plishment of the promise, he staggered not, 
 o'v he did not dispute or question, but 
 
 simply depended upon God, who had spoken 
 and was able also to perform. So likewise, 
 when he received that hard command, to offer 
 up his son, of whom it was said, “ In Isaac 
 shall thy seed be called,” he simply obeyed, 
 and depended upon the Lord to make good his 
 own word, Heb. xi. 17, 18, 19. In this spirit 
 David went forth to meet Goliah, and over- 
 came him ; and thus the three worthies were 
 unawed by the threats of Nebuchadnezzar, 
 and rather chose to be cast into a burning fur- 
 nace, than to sin against the Lord. And thus 
 Elijah, in a time of famine, was preserved 
 from anxiety and want, and supported by ex- 
 traordinary methods, 1 Kings xvii. 4, 6, 14. 
 In these times we do not expect miracles, in the 
 strict sense of the word, but they who simply 
 depend upon the Lord, will meet with such 
 tokens of his interposition in a time of need, 
 as will, to themselves at least, be a satisfying] 
 
 AND SINCERITY. 89 
 
 proof that he careth for them. How comfort- 
 able is it to us, as well as ornamental to our 
 profession, to be able to trust the Lord in the 
 path of duty ; to believe that he will supply 
 our wants, direct our steps, plead our cause, 
 and controul our enemies ! Thus he has pro- 
 mised, and it belongs to gospel-simplicity to 
 take his word against all discouragements. 
 This will animate us in the use of all lawful 
 means, because the Lord has commanded us 
 to wait upon him in them ; but it will like- 
 wise inspire confidence and hope when all 
 means seem to fail, Hab. iii, 17, 18. For 
 want of this dependence, many dishonour their 
 profession, and even make shipwreck of the 
 faith. Their hearts are not simple ; they do 
 not trust in the Lord, but lean unto their own 
 understandings, and. their hopes or fears 
 are influenced by worms like themselves. 
 This causes a duplicity of conduct. They fear 
 the Lord and serve other gods. By their 
 language, at some times, one would suppose, 
 they desire to serve the Lord only ; but, as if 
 they feared that he was not able to protect or 
 provide for them, they make a league with 
 the world, and seek either security or advan- 
 tage from sinful compliances. These cannot 
 rejoice in the testimony of a good conscience. 
 They must live miserably. They are attempt- 
 ing to reconcile what our Lord has declared 
 to be utterly incompatible, the service of God 
 and mammon. They have so much sense 
 of religion as embitters their worldly pursuits ; 
 and so much regard to the world as prevents 
 their receiving any real comfort from reli- 
 gion. These are the lukewarm professors, 
 neither hot nor cold ; neither approved of 
 men nor accepted of God. They can attend 
 upon ordinances, and speak like Christians ; 
 but their tempers are unsanctitied, and their 
 conduct irregular and blameable. They are 
 not simple ; and therefore they cannot be 
 sincere. 
 
 I need not take time to prove, that the ef- 
 fect of simplicity will be sincerity. For they 
 who love the Lord above all, who prefer the 
 light of his countenance to thousands of gold 
 and silver, who are enabled to trust him with 
 all their concerns, and would rather be at his 
 disposal than at their own, will have but little 
 temptation to insincerity. The principles and 
 motives upon which their conduct is formed, 
 are the same in public as in private. Their 
 behaviour will be all of a piece, because they 
 have but one design. They will speak the 
 truth in love, observe a strict punctuality in 
 their dealings, and do unto others as they 
 would others should do unto them ; because 
 these things are essential to their great aim ot 
 glorifying and enjoying their Lord. A fear 
 of dishonouring his name, and of grieving 
 his Spirit, will teach them not only to avoid 
 gross and known sins, but to abstain from all 
 appearance of evil. Their conduct will there- 
 fore be consistent ; and they will be enabled 
 
LET. XXIV 
 
 ON COMMUNION WITH GOD. 
 
 90 
 
 to appeal to all who know them, “ that in sim- 
 plicity and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wis- 
 dom, but by the grace of God, they have had 
 their conversation in the world.” 
 
 To a sincere Christian, that craft and cun- 
 ning which passes for wisdom in the world, 
 appears to be not only unlawful but unneces- 
 sary. He has no need of the little reserves, 
 evasions, and disguises, by which designing 
 men endeavour (though often in vain) to con- 
 ceal their proper characters, and to escape de- 
 served contempt. He is what he seems to 
 be, and therefore is not afraid of being found 
 out. He walks by the light of the wisdom 
 that is from above, and leans upon the arm of 
 almighty power: therefore he walks at liber- 
 ty, trusting in the Lord, whom he serves with 
 his spirit in the gospel of his Son. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER XXIV. 
 
 ON COMMUNION WITH GOD. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 Though many authors have written largely 
 and well concerning communion with God, I 
 shall not refer you to books, or have recourse 
 to them myself ; but in compliance with your 
 request, shall simply offer you what occurs to 
 my thoughts upon the subject. I propose 
 not to exceed the limits of a sheet of paper, 
 and must therefore come immediately to the 
 point. 
 
 That God is to be worshipped, is generally 
 acknowledged; but that they who worship 
 him in spirit and in truth, have real fellowship 
 and communion with him, is known only to 
 themselves. The world can neither understand 
 nor believe it. Many who w r ould not be 
 thought to have cast off all reverence for the 
 scriptures, and therefore do not chuse flatly to 
 contradict the apostle’s testimony, 1 John i. 
 3. attempt to evade its force by restraining it 
 to the primitive times. They will allow that 
 it might be so then ; but they pretend that 
 circumstances with us, are greatly altered. 
 Circumstances are, indeed, altered with us, 
 so far, that men may now pass for Christians 
 who confess and manifest themselves strangers 
 to the Spirit of Christ : but who can believe 
 that the very nature and design of Christianity 
 should alter in the course of time ? And that 
 communion with God, which w'as essential to 
 it in the apostles days, should now be so un- 
 necessary and impracticable, as to expose all 
 who profess an acquaintance with it, to the 
 charge of enthusiasm and folly ? However, 
 they who have tasted that the Lord is gracious, 
 will not be disputed out of their spiritual 
 senses. If they are competent judges whether 
 they ever saw the light, or felt the beams of 
 the sun, they are no less certain that, by the 
 
 know ledge of the gospel, they are brought in- 
 to a state of communion with God. 
 
 Communion presupposes union. Bv nature 
 we are strangers, yea, enemies to God ; but 
 w r e are reconciled, brought nigh, and become 
 his children by faith in Christ Jesus. We can 
 have no true knowledge of God, desire to- 
 wards him, access unto him, or gracious com- 
 munications from him, but in and through 
 the Son of his love. He is the medium of 
 this inestimable privilege ; for he is the way, 
 the only way of intercourse between heaven 
 and earth ; the sinner’s way to God, and God’s 
 way of mercy to the sinner. If any pretend 
 to know God, and to have communion with 
 him, otherwise than by the knowledge of Je- 
 sus Christ, whom he hath sent, and by faith in 
 his name, it is a proof that they neither know' 
 God nor themselves. God, if considered ab- 
 stracted from the revelation of himself in the 
 person of Jesus, is a consuming fire ; and if 
 he should look upon us without respect to his 
 covenant of mercy established in the Mediator, 
 w r e could expect nothing from him but indig- 
 nation and wrath. But when his Holy Spi- 
 rit enables us to receive the record which he 
 has given of his Son, we are delivered and se- 
 cured from condemnation : we are accepted 
 in the Beloved ; we are united to him in whom 
 all the fulness of the Godhead substantially 
 dwells, and all the riches of divine wisdom, 
 power, and love, are treasured up. Thus, 
 in him, as the temple w'herein the glory of 
 God is manifested, and by him, as the repre- 
 sentative and high priest of his people, and 
 through him, as the living head of his mystical 
 body the church, believers maintain commu- 
 nion with God. They have meat to eat which 
 the w'orld knows not of, honour which com- 
 eth of God only, joy which a stranger inter- 
 meddleth not with. They are, for the most 
 part, poor and afflicted, frequently scorned and 
 reproached, accounted hypocrites or visionaries, 
 knaves or fools ; but this one thing makes a- 
 mends for all, “ They have fellowship with 
 the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ.” 
 
 I would observe further, that as the incar- 
 nation of that mighty One, on whom our help 
 is laid, was necessary, that a perfect obedience 
 to the law, and a complete and proper atone- 
 ment for sin, might be accomplished in the 
 human nature that had sinned, and fallen 
 short of the glory of God ; so in another view 
 it affords us unspeakable advantage for our 
 comfortable and intimate communion with God 
 by him. The adorable and awful perfections 
 of Deity are softened, if I may so speak, and 
 rendered more familiar and engaging to our 
 apprehensions, when we consider them as re- 
 sident in him, who is very bone of our bone, 
 and flesh of our flesh ; and who, having by 
 himself purged our sins, is now seated on the 
 right hand of the Majesty on high, and reigns, 
 in the nature of man, over all, God blessed 
 for ever. Tlius, he who kuows our frame by 
 
L ET. XXIV. 
 
 ON COMMUNION WITH GOD. 
 
 becoming man like ourselves, is the supreme 
 and ultimate object of that philanthropy, that 
 human affection which he originally implant- 
 ed in us. He has made us susceptive of the 
 endearments of friendship and relative life ; 
 and he admits us to communion with himself 
 under the most engaging characters and re- 
 lations, as our friend, our brother, and our 
 husband. 
 
 They who, by that faith which is of the 
 operation of God, are thus united to him in 
 Christ, are brought thereby into a state of real 
 habitual communion with him. The degree 
 of its exercise and sensible perception on our 
 parts, is various in different persons, and in 
 the same person at different times ; for it de- 
 pends upon the communications we receive 
 from the Lord the Spirit, who distributes to every 
 man severally according to his will, adjusting 
 his dispensations with a wise and merciful re- 
 spect to our present state of discipline. If we 
 were wholly freed from the effects of a de- 
 praved nature, the snares of an evil world ; 
 and the subtle temptations of Satan, our ac- 
 tual communion with God would be always 
 lively, sensible, and fervent. It will be thus 
 in heaven : there its exercise will be without 
 obstruction, abatement, or interruption. But 
 so long as we are liable to security, spiritual 
 pride, indolence, an undue attachment to 
 worldly things, and irregular distempered 
 passions, the Lord is pleased to afford, in- 
 crease, suspend, or renew the sensible im- 
 pressions of his love and grace, in such sea- 
 sons and measures as he sees most suitable to 
 prevent or controul these evils, or to humble us 
 for them. We grieve his Spirit, and he with- 
 draws; but, by his secret power over our 
 hearts, he makes us sensible of our folly and 
 loss, teaches us to mourn after him, and to 
 entreat his return. These desires, which are 
 the effects of his own grace, he answers in his 
 own time, and shines forth upon the soul with 
 healing in his beams. But such is our weak- 
 ness, and so unapt are we to retain even those 
 lessons which we have learned, by painful expe- 
 rience, that we are prone to repeat our former 
 miscarriages, and to render a repetition of the 
 same changes necessary. From hence it is, 
 that what we call our frames are so very va- 
 riable, and our comfortable sense of divine 
 communion is rather transient than abiding. 
 But the communion itself, upon which the 
 life and safety of our souls depend, is never 
 totally obstructed ; nor can it be, unless God 
 should be unmindful of his covenant, and for- 
 sake the work of his own hands. And w'hen 
 it is not perceptible to sense, it may ordinari- 
 ly be made evident to faith, by duly compar- 
 ing what we read in the scriptures with what 
 passes in our hearts. I say ordinarily, be- 
 cause there may be some excepted cases. If 
 a believer is unhappily brought under the 
 power of some known sin, or has grievously 
 and notoriously declined from his profession, 
 
 91 
 
 it is possible that the Lord may hide himself 
 behind so dark a cloud, and leave him for a 
 while to such hardness of heart, as that he shall 
 seem to himself to be utterly destitute and 
 forsaken. And the like apprehensions may 
 be formed under some of Satan’s violent temp- 
 tations, when he is permitted to come in as a 
 flood, and to overpower the apparent exercise 
 of every grace by a torrent of blasphemous 
 and evil imaginations. Yet the Lord is still 
 present with his people in the darkest hours, 
 or the unavoidable event of such cases would 
 be apostasy or despair. Psalm xli. 11. 
 
 The communion we speak of comprises a 
 mutual intercourse and communication in love, 
 in counsels, and in interests. 
 
 In love. — The Lord, by his Spirit, mani- 
 fests and confirms his love to his people. For 
 this purpose he meets them at his throne of 
 grace, and in his ordinances. There he makes 
 himself known unto them, as he does not un- 
 to the world : causes his goodness to pass be- 
 fore them ; opens, applies, and seals to them 
 his exceeding great and precious promises ; 
 and gives them the Spirit of adoption, where- 
 by, unworthy as they are, they are enabled to 
 cry, “ Abba, Father.” He causes them to 
 understand that great love wherewith he has 
 loved them, in redeeming them by price and 
 by power, washing them from their sins in 
 the blood of the Lamb, recovering them from 
 the dominion of Satan, and preparing for 
 them an everlasting kingdom, where they 
 shall see his face, and rejoice in his glory. 
 The knowledge of this his love to them, pro- 
 duces a return of love from them to him. 
 They adore him and admire him ; they make 
 an unreserved surrender of their hearts to him. 
 They view him, and delight in him as their 
 God, their Saviour, and their portion. They 
 account his favour better than life. He is the 
 sun of their souls : if he is pleased to shine 
 upon them, all is well, and they are not great- 
 ly careful about other things ; but if he hides 
 his face, the smiles of the whole creation can 
 afford them no solid comfort. They esteem 
 one day or hour spent in the delightful con- 
 templation of his glorious excellencies, and in 
 the expression of their desires towards him, 
 better than a thousand ; and when their love 
 is most fervent, they are ashamed that it is 
 so faint, and chide and bemoan themselves, 
 that they can love him no more. This often 
 makes them long to depart, willing to leave 
 their dearest earthly comforts, that they may 
 see him as he is, without a vail or cloud ; for 
 they know that then, and not till then, they 
 shall love him as they ought. 
 
 In counsels. — The secret of the Lord is 
 with them that fear him. He deals familiarly 
 with them. He calls them not servants only, 
 but friends ; and he treats them as friends. 
 He affords them more than promises ; for he 
 opens to them the plan of his great designs 
 from everlasting to everlasting ; shews them 
 
92 ON FAITH, AND THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS, let. XXV. 
 
 the strong foundations and inviolable securi- 
 ties of his favour towards them, the height, 
 and depth, and length, and breadth of his love, 
 which passeth knowledge, and the unsearch- 
 able riches of his grace. He instructs them 
 in the mysterious conduct of his providence, 
 the reasons and ends of all his dispensations 
 in which they are concerned ; and solves a 
 thousand hard questions to their satisfaction, 
 which are inexplicable to the natural wisdom 
 of man. He teaches them likewise the beauty 
 of bis precepts, the path of their duty, and the 
 nature of their warfare. He acquaints them 
 with the pilots of their enemies, the snares and 
 dangers they are exposed to, and the best me- 
 thods of avoiding them. And he permits and 
 enables them to acquaint him with all their 
 cares, fears, wants, and troubles, with more 
 freedom than they can unbosom themselves to 
 their nearest earthly friends. His ear is al- 
 ways open to them ; he is never weary of 
 hearing their complaints, and answering their 
 petitions. The men of the world would ac- 
 count it a high honour and privilege to have 
 an unrestrained liberty of access to an earthly 
 king ; but what words can express the privi- 
 lege and honour of believers, who, whenever 
 they please, have audience of the King of 
 kings, whose compassion, mercy, and power, 
 are like his majesty, infinite. The world 
 wonders at their indifference to the vain pur- 
 suits and amusements by which others are en- 
 grossed ; that they are so patient in trouble, 
 so inflexible in their conduct, so well satisfied 
 with that state of poverty and obscurity which 
 the Lord, for the most part, allots them ; but 
 the wonder would cease if what passes in se- 
 cret were publicly known. They have obtain- 
 ed the pearl of great price ; they have com- 
 munion with God : they derive their wisdom, 
 strength, and comfort, from on high, and cast 
 all their cares upon him who, they assuredly 
 know, vouchsafes to take care of them. This 
 reminds me of another branch of their com- 
 munion, namely, 
 
 In interests. — The Lord claims them for 
 his portion ; he accounts them his jewels; and 
 their happiness in time and eternity is the great 
 end which, next to his own glory, and in inse- 
 parable connection with it, he has immediately 
 and invariably in view. In this point all his 
 dispensations of grace and providence shall 
 finally terminate. He himself is their guide 
 and their guard : he keeps them as the apple 
 of his eye ; the hairs of their heads are num- 
 bered ; and not au event in their lives takes 
 place but in an appointed subserviency to their 
 final good. And as he is pleased to espouse 
 their interest, they, through grace, are de- 
 voted to his. They are no longer their own; 
 they would not be their own ; it is their de- 
 sire, their joy, their glory, to live to him who 
 died for them. He has won their hearts by 
 his love, and made them a willing people in 
 the day of his power. The glory of his name, j 
 
 the success of his cause, the prosperity of his 
 people, the accomplishment of his will, these 
 are the great and leading objects which are 
 engraven upon their hearts, and to which all 
 their prayers, desires, and endeavours, are di- 
 rected. They would count nothing dear, 
 not even their lives, if set in competition with 
 these. In the midst of their afflictions, if the 
 Lord is glorified, if sinners are converted, if 
 the church flourishes, they can rejoice. But 
 when iniquity abounds, when love waxes cold, 
 when professors depart from the doctrines of 
 truth and the power of godliness, then they 
 are grieved and pained to the heart ; then they 
 are touched in what they account their nearest 
 interest, because it is their Lord’s. 
 
 This is the spirit of a true Christian. May 
 the Lord increase it in us, and in all who 
 love his name. I have room only to sub- 
 scribe myself, &c. 
 
 LETTER XXV. 
 
 ON FAITH, AND THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 In compliance with your request, I freely 
 give you my sentiments on the particulars you 
 desired. Your candour will pass over all in- 
 advertencies, when I give you such thoughts 
 as offer themselves spontaneously, and with- 
 out study. If the Lord is pleased to bring 
 any thing valuable to my mind, I shall be 
 glad to send it to you ; and I am willing to 
 believe, that when Christians, in his name and 
 fear, are writing to one another, he does of- 
 ten imperceptibly guide us to drop “ a word 
 in season,” which, I hope, will be the case at 
 present. 
 
 The first object of solicitude to an awaken- 
 ed soul, is safety. The law speaks, the sinner 
 hears and fears. A holy God is revealed, the 
 sinner sees and trembles. Every false hope 
 is swept away ; and an earnest inquiry takes 
 place, “ What shall I do to be saved ?” In 
 proportion as faith is given, Jesus is disco- 
 vered as the only Saviour, and the question is 
 answered ; and as faith increases, fear sub- 
 sides, and a comfortable hope of life and im- 
 mortality succeeds. 
 
 When we have thus “ a gooa hope through 
 grace,” that heaven shall be our home, I 
 think the next inquiry is, or should be, Flow 
 we may possess as much of heaven by the way 
 as is possible ? in other words, How a life of 
 communion with our Lord and Saviour may 
 be maintained in the greatest power, and with 
 the least interruption that is consistent with 
 the present imperfect state of things ? I am 
 persuaded, dear Sir, this is the point that lies 
 nearest your heart ; and, therefore, I shall 
 speak freely my mind upon it. 
 
 In the first place, it is plain from scripture 
 
LET. XXV. ON FAITH, AND THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS. 
 
 and experience, that all our abatements, de- 
 clensions, and languors, arise from a defect 
 of faith ; from the imperfect manner in which 
 we take up the revelation of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ in the scriptures. If our apprehensions 
 of him were nearly suitable to the characters 
 which he bears in his own word ; if we had a 
 strong and abiding sense of his power and 
 grace always upon our hearts, doubts and 
 complaints would cease. This would make 
 hard things easy, and bitter things sweet, and 
 dispose our hearts with cheerfulness to do and 
 suffer the whole will of God ; and living upon 
 and to him, as our wisdom, righteousness, sane - 
 tification, joy, and supreme end, we should live 
 a heaven upon earth. The face of the ques- 
 tion is, therefore, a little changed, and amounts 
 to this, What are the means to increase and 
 strengthen our faith ? 
 
 I apprehend that the growth of faith, no 
 less than of all other graces, of which faith is 
 the root, is gradual, and ordinarily effected in 
 the use of appointed means ; yet not altogether 
 arbitrary, but appointed by him who knows 
 our frame, and therefore works in us, in a 
 way suited to those capacities he has endued 
 us with. 
 
 1. If faith arises from the knowledge of 
 Christ, and this knowledge is only contained 
 in the word of God, it follows, that a careful 
 and frequent perusal of the scriptures, which 
 testify of him, is a fit and a necessary means 
 of improving our faith. 
 
 2. If, besides the outward revelation of 
 the word, there must be a revelation of the 
 Spirit of God likewise, whose office it is to 
 take of the things of Jesus, and shew them to 
 the soul, by and according to the written 
 word, John xvi. 14; 2 Cor. iii. 18; and if 
 this Spirit is promised and limited to those who 
 ask it ; then it follows likewise, that secret 
 prayer is another necessary means of strength- 
 ening faith. Indeed, these two I account the 
 prime ordinances. If we were providentially, 
 and not wilfully restrained from all the rest, 
 the word of grace, and the throne of grace, 
 would supply their wants. With these we 
 might be happy in a dungeon or in a desert ; 
 but nothing will compensate the neglect of 
 these. Though we should be engaged in a 
 course of the best conversation, and attend upon 
 sermons from one end of the week to the other, 
 we would languish and starve in the midst of 
 plenty ; our souls would grow dry and lean, 
 unless these secret exercises are kept up with 
 some degree of exactness. 
 
 3. Another means to this purpose, is 
 faithfulness to light already received, John 
 xiv. 1 5- — 24, especially ver. 21. It is worth 
 observation, that faith and fidelity, the act of 
 dependence, and the purpose of obedience, 
 are expressed in the Greek by the same word. 
 Though the power is all of God, and the 
 blessing of mere free grace ; yet, if there 
 is any secret reserve, any allowed evil con- 
 
 93 
 
 nived at in the heart and life, this will shut 
 up the avenues to comfort, and check the 
 growth of faith. I lay very little stress upon 
 that faith or comfort which is not affected by 
 unsteady walking. 
 
 The experience of past years has taught me 
 to distinguish between ignorance and disobe- 
 dience. The Lord is gracious to the weak- 
 ness of his people : many involuntary mis- 
 takes will not interrupt their communion with 
 him ; he pities their infirmity, and teaches 
 them to do better. But if they dispute his 
 known will, and act against the dictates of 
 conscience, they will surely suffer for it. This 
 will weaken their hands, and bring distress 
 into their hearts. Wilful sin sadly perplexes 
 and retards our progress. May the Lord keep 
 us from it ! It raises a dark cloud, and hides 
 the Sun of righteousness from our view ; 
 and till he is pleased freely to shine forth 
 again, we can do nothing; and for this, per- 
 haps, he will make us wait, and cry out often, 
 “ How long, O Lord ! how long ?” 
 
 Thus, by reading the word of God, by fre- 
 quent prayer, by a simple attention to the 
 Lord’s will, together with the use of pub- 
 lic ordinances, and the observations we are 
 able to make upon what passes within us and 
 without us, which is what we call experience, 
 the Lord watering and blessing with the in- 
 fluence of his Holy Spirit, may we grow in 
 grace, and the knowledge of our Lord and 
 Saviour, be more humbled in our own eyes, 
 more weaned from self, more fixed on him as 
 our all in all, till at last we shall meet before 
 his throne. 
 
 The communion of saints, another point 
 you desire my thoughts upon, is the great 
 privilege of all the children of God : they may 
 be separate from each other in body, and yet 
 may daily meet at the throne of grace. This is 
 one branch of the communion of saints, to be 
 present in spirit to each other ; sharing in com- 
 mon of the influences of the same Spirit, they 
 feel the same desires, aim at the same objects, 
 and, so far as they are personally acquainted, 
 are led to bear each other upon their hearts in 
 prayer. It has often been an encouragement 
 to me in a dark and dull hour, when rather 
 the constraint of duty, than the consideration 
 of privilege, has brought me upon my knees, 
 to reflect how many hearts, and eyes, aiid 
 hands, have been probably lifted up in the 
 same moment with mine. This thought has 
 given me new courage. O what a great fa- 
 mily has our Father ! and what David says 
 of the natural, is true of the spiritual life, 
 Psalm civ. “ These all wait upon thee, that 
 thou mayest give them their meat in due sea- 
 son. That thou givest them, they gather: 
 thou openest thine hand, and they are filled 
 with good.” Then I particularly think of 
 those who have been helpful to me in time 
 past; the seasons of sweet communion we 
 have enjoyed together, the subjects of our 
 
LET. XXVI. 
 
 ON GOSPEL-ILLUMINATION. 
 
 94 
 
 mutual complaints, &c. Where are they, or 
 how engaged, now ? Perhaps this moment 
 praying, or thinking about me. Then I am 
 roused to make their cases my own, and by 
 attempting to plead for them, I get strength 
 to pray for myself. It is an encouragement, 
 no doubt, in a field of battle, to know that 
 the army we belong to is large, unanimous, all 
 in action, pressing on from every side against 
 the common enemy, and gaining ground in 
 every attack. But if we derive fresh spirits 
 from considering our friends and associates on 
 earth, how should we take fire, if we could 
 penetrate within the vail, and take a view of 
 the invisible world ! We should not then com- 
 plain that we were serving God alone. O the 
 numbers, the voices, the raptures, ‘of that hea- 
 venly host ! Not one complaining note, not 
 one discordant string. How many thousand 
 years has the harmony been strengthening, by 
 the hourly accession of new voices ! 
 
 I sometimes compare this earth to a tem- 
 porary gallery or stage, erected for all the 
 heirs of glory to pass over, that they may join 
 in the coronation of the Great King ! a solem- 
 nity in which they shall not be mere specta- 
 tors, but deeply interested parties ; for he is 
 their husband, their Lord ; they bear his name, 
 and shall share in all his honours. Right- 
 eous Abel led the van ; the procession has been 
 sometimes broader, sometimes narrowed to 
 almost a single person, as in the days of Noah. 
 After many generations had successively en- 
 tered and disappeared, the King himself pass- 
 ed on in person, preceded by one chosen har- 
 binger. He received many insults on hi& 
 passage ; but he bore all for the sake of those 
 he loved, and entered triumphant into his 
 glory. 
 
 He was followed by twelve faithful ser- 
 vants, and after them the procession became 
 wider than ever. There are many yet unborn 
 who must, as we do now, tread in the steps 
 of those gone before ; and when the whole 
 company is arrived, the stage shall be taken 
 down and burnt. 
 
 Then all the faithful, chosen race 
 Shall meet before the throne, 
 
 Shall bless the conduct of his grace. 
 
 And make its wonders known. 
 
 Let us then, dear Sir, be of good courage ; 
 all the saints on earth, all the saints in hea- 
 ven, the angels of the Lord, yea, the Lord of 
 angels himself, all are on our side. Though 
 the company is large, yet there is room; 
 there are many mansions ; — a place for you ; 
 a place, I trust, for worthless me. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER XXVI. 
 
 ON THE GRADUAL INCREASE OF GOSPEL-ILLU- 
 MINATION. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 The day is now breaking : how beautiful its 
 appearance ! how welcome the expectation of 
 the approaching sun ! It is this thought 
 makes the dawn agreeable, that it is the pre- 
 sage of a brighter light ; otherwise, if we ex- 
 pect no more day than it is this minute, we 
 should rather complain of darkness, than re- 
 joice in the early beauties of the morning. 
 Thus the life of grace is the dawn of immor- 
 tality; beautiful beyond expression, if com- 
 pared with the night and thick darkness which 
 formerly covered us, yet faint, indistinct, and 
 unsatisfying, in comparison of the glory which 
 shall be revealed. 
 
 It is, however, a sure earnest. So surely as 
 we now see the light of the Sun of right- 
 eousness, so surely shall we see the Sun him- 
 self, Jesus the Lord, in all his glory and 
 lustre. In the mean time, we have reason to 
 be thankful for a measure of light to walk 
 and work by, and sufficient to shew us the 
 pits and snares by which we might be endan- 
 gered ; and we have a promise, that our pre- 
 sent light shall grow stronger and stronger, 
 if we are diligent in the use of the appointed 
 means, till the messenger of Jesus shall lead 
 us within the vail, and then farewell shades 
 and obscurity for ever ! 
 
 I can now almost see to write, and shall 
 soon put the extinguisher over my candle. I 
 do this without the least reluctance, when I 
 enjoy a better light ; but I should have been 
 unwilling half an hour ago. Just thus, me- 
 thinks, when the light of the glorious gospel 
 shines into the heart, all our former feeble 
 lights, our apprehensions, and our contri- 
 vances, become at once unnecessary and un- 
 noticed. How cheerfully did the apostle put 
 out the candle of his own righteousness, at- 
 tainments, and diligence, when the true Sun 
 arose upon him ? Phil. iii. 7, 8. Your last 
 letter is as a comment upon his determination. 
 Adored be the grace that has given us to be 
 like-minded, even to “ account all things but 
 loss for the excellency of the knowledge of 
 Christ Jesus our Lord.” 
 
 While I am writing, a new lustre, which 
 gilds the house on the hill, opposite to my 
 study- window, informs me that the sun is now 
 rising : he is rising to others, but not yet to 
 me ; my situation is lower, so that they enjoy 
 a few gleams of sunshine before me ; yet this 
 momentary difference is inconsiderable, when 
 compared to the duration of a whole day. 
 Thus, some are called by grace earlier in life, 
 and some later ; but the seeming difference 
 will be lost and vanish when the great day of 
 
LET. XXVII. ON UNION W 
 
 eternity comes on. There is a time, the 
 Lord’s best appointed time, when he will a- 
 rise and shine upon many a soul that now- sits 
 “ in darkness, and in the region of the shadow 
 of death.” 
 
 I have been thinking on the Lord’s confer- 
 ence with Nicodemus : it is a copious subject, 
 and affords room, in one part or other, for the 
 whole round of doctrinal or experimental to- 
 pics. Nicodemus is an encouraging example 
 to those who are seeking the Lord’s salvation. 
 He had received some favourable impressions 
 of Jesus; but he was very ignorant, and much 
 under the fear of man. He durst only come 
 by night, and at first, though he heard, he 
 understood not ; but he, who opens the eyes 
 of the blind, brought him surely, though gent- 
 ly, forward. The next time we hear of him, 
 he durst put in a word in behalf of Christ, 
 even in the midst of his enemies, John vii; 
 and at last, he had the courage openly and 
 publicly to assist in preparing the body of his 
 Master for its funeral, at a time when our 
 Lord’s more avowed followers had all forsaken 
 him, and fled. So true is that, “ Then shall 
 ye know, if ye follow on to know the Lord 
 and again, “ He giveth power to the faint ; 
 and to them that have no might, he increaseth 
 strength.” 
 
 Hope then, my soul, against hope: though 
 thy graces are faint and languid, he who plant- 
 ed them, will water his own work, and not 
 suffer them wholly to die. He can make a 
 little one as a thousand ; at his presence 
 mountains sink into plains, streams gush out 
 of the flinty rock, and the wilderness blossoms 
 as the rose. He can pull down what sin 
 builds up, and build up what sin pulls down ; 
 that which was impossible to us, is easy to 
 him, and he has bid us expect seasons of re- 
 freshment from his presence. Even so, come, 
 Lord Jesus. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER XXVII. 
 
 ON UNION WITH CHRIST. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 The union of a believer with Christ is so in- 
 timate, so unalterable, so rich in privilege, so 
 powerful in influence, that it cannot be fully 
 represented by any description or similitude 
 taken from earthly things. The mind, like 
 the sight, is incapable of apprehending a great 
 object, without viewing it on different sides. 
 To help our weakness, the nature of this 
 union is illustrated in the scriptures, by four 
 comparisons, each throwing additional light 
 on the subject, yet all falling short of the thing 
 signified. 
 
 In our natural state, we are x\vSwvi£opivot *«< 
 driven and tossed about by the 
 
 ITH CHRIST. 95 
 
 changing winds of opinion, and the waves of 
 trouble, which hourly disturb and threaten us 
 upon the uncertain sea of human life. But 
 faith, uniting us to Christ, fixes us upon a 
 sure foundation, the Rock of Ages, where we 
 stand immoveable, though storms and floods 
 unite their force against us. 
 
 By nature we are separated from the divine 
 life, as branches broken off, withered and 
 fruitless. By grace, through faith, unites us 
 to Christ the living vine, from whom, as the 
 root of all fulness, a constant supply of sap 
 and influence is derived into each of his my- 
 stical branches, enabling them to bring forth 
 fruit unto God, and to persevere and abound 
 therein. 
 
 By nature we are orvynroi x.a.i /curevvrts , 
 hateful and abominable in the sight of a holy 
 God, and full of enmity and hatred towards 
 each other. By faith uniting us to Christ, 
 we have fellowship with the Father and the 
 Son, and joint communion among ourselves ; 
 even as the members of the same body have 
 each of them union, communion, and sympa- 
 thy with the head, and with their fellow- 
 members. 
 
 In our natural estate, we were cast out 
 naked and destitute, without pity, and with- 
 out help, Ezek. xvi. ; but faith uniting us to 
 Christ, interests us in his righteousness, his 
 riches, and his honours. Our Redeemer is 
 our husband ; our debts are paid, our settle- 
 ment secured, and our names changed. 
 
 Thus the Lord Jesus, in declaring himself 
 the foundation, root, head, and husband of his 
 people, takes in all the ideas we can frame of 
 an intimate, vital, and inseparable union. 
 Yet all these fall short of truth ; and he has 
 given us one farther similitude, of which we 
 can by no means form a just conception, till 
 we shall be brought to see him as he is in his 
 kingdom, John xvii. 21. “ That they all may 
 be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in 
 thee ; that they also may be one in us.” 
 
 Well may we say, What hath God wrought ! 
 How inviolable is the security, how inestim- 
 able the privilege, how inexpressible the hap- 
 piness, of a believer ! How greatly is he in- 
 debted to grace ! He was once afar off, but 
 he is brought nigh to God by the blood of 
 Christ ; he was once a child of wrath, but is 
 now an heir of everlasting life. How strong 
 then are his obligations to walk worthy of 
 God, who has called him to his kingdom and 
 glory ! 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
96 
 
 IN WIIAT MANNER WE ARE 
 
 LETTER XXVIII. 
 
 ANSWER TO THE QUESTION, IN WHAT MANNER 
 
 ARE WE TO EXPECT THE LORD’S PROMISED 
 
 GUIDANCE, TO INFLUENCE OUR JUDGMENTS, 
 
 AND DIRECT OUR STEPS IN THE PATH OF 
 
 DUTY ? 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 It is well for those who are duly sensible of 
 their own weakness and fallahility, and of the 
 difficulties with which they are surrounded in 
 life, that the Lord has promised to guide his 
 people with his eye, and to cause them to 
 hear a word behind them, saying, “ This is 
 the way, walk ye in it,” when they are in dan- 
 ger of turning aside either to the right hand 
 or to the left. For this purpose he has given 
 us the written word to be a lamp to our feet ; 
 and encouraged us to pray for the teaching of 
 his Holy Spirit, that we may rightly under- 
 stand and apply it. It is, however, too often 
 seen, that many widely deviate from the path 
 of duty, and commit gross and perplexing 
 mistakes, while they profess a sincere desire 
 to know tfcie will of God, and think they have 
 his warrant aud authority. This must cer- 
 tainly be owing to misapplication of the rule 
 by which they judge, since the rule itself is 
 infallible, and the promise sure. The scrip- 
 tures cannot deceive us, if rightly understood ; 
 but they may , if perverted, prove the occasion 
 of confirming us in a mistake. The Holy 
 Spirit cannot mislead those who are under his 
 influence ; but we may suppose that we are so, 
 when we are not. It may not be unseason- 
 able to offer a few thoughts upon a subject of 
 great importance to the peace of our minds, 
 and to the honour of our holy profession. 
 
 Many have been deceived as to what they 
 ought to do, or in forming a judgment before- 
 hand of events in which they are nearly con- 
 cerned, by expecting direction in ways which 
 the Lord has not warranted. — I shall men- 
 tion some of the principal of these, for it is not 
 easy to enumerate them all. 
 
 Some persons, when two or more things 
 have been in view, and they could not imme- 
 diately determine which to prefer, have com- 
 mitted their case to the Lord by prayer, and 
 have then proceeded to cast lots ; taking it for 
 granted, that after such a solemn appeal, the 
 turning up of the lot might be safely rested in 
 as an answer from God. It is true, the scrip- 
 tures, and indeed, right reason assures us, that 
 the Lord disposes the lot ; and there are seve- 
 ral cases recorded in the Old Testament, in 
 which lots were used by divine appointment ; 
 but I think neither these, nor the chusing 
 Matthias by lot to the apostleship, are proper 
 precedents for our conduct. In the division of 
 the land of Canaan, in the affair of Achan, and 
 
 LET. XXVIII. 
 
 in the nomination of Saul to the kingdom, re- 
 course was had to lots by God’s express com- 
 mand. The instance of Matthias likewise 
 was singular, such as can never happen again, 
 namely, the choice of an apostle, who would 
 not have been upon a par with the rest, who 
 were chosen immediately by the Lord, unless 
 He had been pleased to interpose in some ex- 
 trordinary way ; and all these were before the 
 canon of scripture was completed, and before 
 the full descent and communication of the 
 Holy Spirit, who was promised to dwell with 
 the church to the end of time. Under the 
 New-Testament dispensation, we are invited to 
 come boldly to the throne of grace, to make 
 our request known to the Lord, and to cast 
 our cares upon him : but we have neither 
 precept nor promise, respecting the use of 
 lots ; and to have recourse to them without his 
 appointment, seems to be tempting him rather 
 than honouring him, and to savour more of 
 presumption than dependence. The effects 
 likewise of this expedient, have often been un- 
 happy and hurtful. A sufficient proof how 
 little it is to be trusted to as a guide of our 
 conduct, 
 
 Others, when in doubt, have opened the 
 Bible at a venture, and expected to find some- 
 thing to direct them, in the first verse they 
 should cast their eye upon. It is no small 
 discredit to this practice, that the heathens 
 who knew not the Bible, used some of their 
 favourite books in the same way ; and ground- 
 ed their persuasions of what they ought to do, 
 or of what should befal them, according to the 
 passage they happened to open upon. Among 
 the Romans, the writings of Virgil were fre- 
 quently consulted upon these occasions ; which 
 gave rise to the well-knowm expression of the 
 Sortes Virgiliance. And indeed Virgil is as 
 well adapted to satisfy inquirers in this way, 
 as the Bible itself ; for if people will be go- 
 verned by the occurrence of a single text of 
 scripture, without regarding the context, or 
 duly comparing it with the general tenor of 
 the w T ord of God, and with their own circum- 
 stances, they may commit the greatest extrava- 
 gances, expect the greatest impossibilities, and 
 contradict the plainest dictates of common 
 sense, while they think they have the word of 
 God on their side. Can the opening upon 2 
 Samuel vii. S. when Nathan said unto David, 
 “ Do all that is in thine heart, for the Lord is 
 with thee,” be sufficient to determine the law- 
 fulness or expediency of actions? Or can a 
 glance of the eye upon our Lord’s words to the 
 woman of Canaan, Matthew xv. 28. “ Be it un- 
 to thee even as thou wilt,” amount to a proof, 
 that the present earnest desire of the mind 
 (whatever it may be) shall be surely accom- 
 plished ? Yet it is certain that matters, big 
 with important consequences, have been en- 
 gaged in, and the most sanguine expecta- 
 tions formed, upon no better warrant than 
 
LET. XXVIII. 
 
 dipping (as it is called) upon a text of scrip- 
 ture. 
 
 A sudden strong impression of a text, that 
 seems to have some resemblance to the concern 
 upon the mind, has been accepted by many as 
 an infallible token that they were right, and 
 that things would go just as they would have 
 them ; or, on the other hand, if the passage 
 bore a threatening aspect, it has filled them 
 with fears and disquietudes, which they have 
 afterwards found were groundless and unne- 
 cessary. These impressions, being more out 
 of their power than their former method, have 
 been more generally regarded and trusted 
 to, but have frequently proved no less de- 
 lusive. It is allowed, that such impressions 
 of a precept or a promise, as humble, ani- 
 mate, or comfort the soul, by giving it a 
 lively sense of the truth contained in the 
 words, are both profitable and pleasant ; and 
 many of the Lord’s people have been in- 
 structed and supported (especially in a time of 
 trouble) by some seasonable word of grace ap- 
 plied and sealed by his Spirit with power to 
 their hearts. But if impressions or impulses 
 are received as a voice from heaven, directing 
 to such particular actions as could not be 
 proved to be duties without them, a person 
 may be unwarily misled into great evils, and 
 gross delusions ; and many have been so. 
 There is no doubt but the enemy of our souls, 
 jf permitted, can furnish us with scriptures in 
 abundance in this way, and for these pur- 
 poses. 
 
 Some persons judge of the nature and event 
 of their designs, by the freedom which they 
 find in prayer. They say, they commit their 
 ways to God, seek his direction, and are fa- 
 voured with much enlargement of spirit ; and 
 therefore they cannot doubt but what they 
 have in view is acceptable in the Lord’s sight. 
 I would not absolutely reject every plea of this 
 ki nd, yet without other corroborating evidence 
 I could not admit it in pi*oof of what it is 
 brought for. It is not always easy to deter- 
 mine when we have spiritual freedom in pray- 
 er. Self is deceitful ; and when our hearts 
 are much fixed and bent upon a thing, this 
 may put words and earnestness into our 
 mouths. Too often we first secretly deter- 
 mine for ourselves, and then come to ask 
 counsel of God ; in such a disposition we are 
 ready to catch at every thing that may seem 
 to favour our darling scheme : and the Lord, 
 for the detection and chastisement of our hy- 
 pocrisy (for hypocrisy it is, though perhaps 
 hardly perceptible to ours.elves), may answer 
 us according to our idols ; see Ezekiel xiv. 3, 
 4. Besides, the grace of prayer may be in 
 exercise, when the subject-matter of the pray- 
 er may be founded upon a mistake, from the 
 intervention of circumstances which we are 
 unacquainted with. Thus, I may have a 
 friend in a distant country : I hope he is alive, 
 l pray for him, and it is my duty so to do. 
 
 97 
 
 The Lord, by his Spirit, assists his people in 
 what is their present duty. If I am enabled 
 to pray with much liberty for my distant 
 friend, it may be a proof that the Spirit of the 
 Lord is pleased to assist my infirmities, but 
 it is no proof that my friend is certainly 
 alive at the time I am praying for him . 
 and if the next time I pray for him I should 
 find my spirit straitened, I am not to conclude 
 that my friend is dead, and therefore the 
 Lord will not assist me in praying for him any 
 longer. 
 
 Once more, a remarkable dream has some- 
 times been thought as decisive as any of the 
 foregoing methods of knowing the will of God. 
 That many wholesome and seasonable admo- 
 nitions have been received in dreams, I willing- 
 ly allow ; but though they may be occasionally 
 noticed, to pay a great attention to dreams, es- 
 pecially to be guided by them, to form our 
 sentiments, conduct our expectations upon 
 them, is superstitious and dangerous. The 
 promises are not made to those who dream, 
 but to those who watch. 
 
 Upon the whole, though the Lord may give 
 to some persons, upon some occasions, a hint 
 or encouragement out of the common way, 
 yet expressly to look for and seek his direction 
 in such things as I have mentioned is unscrip- 
 tural and ensnaring. I could fill many sheets 
 with a detail of the inconveniences and evils 
 which have followed such a dependence, within 
 the course of my own observation. I have 
 seen some presuming they were doing God’s 
 service while acting in contradiction to his ex- 
 press commands. I have known others, in- 
 fatuated to believe a lie, declaring themselves 
 assured, beyond the shadow of a doubt, of 
 things which, after all, never came to pass ; 
 and, when at length disappointed, Satan has 
 improved the occasion to make them doubt of 
 the plainest and most important truths, and to 
 account their whole former experience a de- 
 lusion. By these things weak believers have 
 been stumbled, cavils and offences against the 
 gospel multiplied, and tne ways of truth evil 
 spoken of. 
 
 But how, then, may the Lord’s guidance' 
 be expected ? After what has been premised 
 negatively, the question may be answered in a 
 few words. In general, he guides and di- 
 rects his people by affording them, in answer 
 to prayer, the light of his Holy Spirit, which 
 enables them to understand and to love the 
 scriptures. The word of God is not to be 
 used as a lottery, nor is it designed to instruct 
 us by shreds and scraps, which, detached from 
 their proper places, have no determined im- 
 port, but it is to furnish us with just princi- 
 ples, right apprehensions, to reguLte our 
 judgments and affections, and thereby to in- 
 fluence and direct our conduct. They who 
 study the scriptures, in an humble dependence 
 upon divine teaching, are convinced of their 
 own weakness, are taught to make a tripe ps 
 0 
 
 TO EXPECT THE DIVINE GUIDANCE. 
 
LET. XXIX. 
 
 93 ON ROM. VIII 
 
 timate of every thing around them, are gra- 
 dually formed into a spirit of submission to the 
 will of God, discover the nature and duties of 
 their several situations and relations in life, 
 and the snares and temptations to which they 
 are exposed. The word of God dwells richly 
 in them, is a preservative from error, a light 
 to their feet, and a spring of strength and 
 consolation. By treasuring up the doctrines, 
 precepts, promises, examples, and exhorta- 
 tions of scripture in their minds, and daily 
 comparing themselves with the rule by which 
 they walk, they grow into a habitual frame 
 of spiritual wisdom, and acquire a gracious 
 taste, which enables them to judge of right 
 and wrong with a degree of readiness and 
 certainty, as a musical ear judges of sounds ; 
 and they are seldom mistaken, because they 
 are influenced by the love of Christ which 
 rules in their hearts, and a regard to the glory 
 of God, which is the great objects they have 
 in view. 
 
 In particular cases the Lord opens and 
 shuts for them, breaks down walls of difficulty 
 which obstruct their path, or hedges up their 
 way with thorns, when they are in danger of 
 going wrong, by the dispensations of his pro- 
 vidence. They know that their concernments 
 are in his hands ; they are willing to follow 
 whither and when he leads, but are afraid of 
 going before him. Therefore they are not 
 impatient. Because they believe, they will 
 not make haste, but wait daily upon him in 
 prayer ; especially when they find their hearts 
 most engaged in any purpose or pursuit, they 
 are most jealous of being deceived by appear- 
 ances, and dare not move farther or faster than 
 they can perceive his light shining upon their 
 paths. I express at least their desire, if not 
 their attainment : thus they would be. And 
 though there are seasons when faith languishes, 
 and self too much prevails, this is their ge- 
 neral disposition, and the Lord, whom they 
 serve, does not disappoint their expectations ; 
 he leads them by a right way, preserves them 
 from a thousand snares, and satisfies them 
 that he is and will be their guide even unto 
 death. 
 
 1 am, &c. 
 
 LETTER XXIX. 
 
 THOUGHTS ON ROM. VIII. 19, 20, 21. 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 The apostle evidently introduces this passage 
 in confirmation of what he had said before, 
 ver. 17, 18. The privileges of the children of 
 God are not only great, but sure. Every 
 thing we see confirms our expectation of 
 what God has promised. The whole frame 
 of nature, in its present state of imperfection, 
 
 . 19 , 20 , 21 . 
 
 strongly pleads for a future and better dispen- 
 sation, as necessary to vindicate the wisdom, 
 goodness, and justice of God ; and this shall 
 take place when the sons of God shall be ma- 
 nifested, and shall shine forth in the kingdom 
 of their Father. It would be injurious to 
 the honour of God to suppose that things 
 were at first created in the state they are 
 now in, or that they will always continue so, 
 and therefore the creature, which was origi- 
 nally designed to show forth the glory of God, 
 is represented as burdened and groaning till 
 those impediments are removed which prevent 
 it from fully answering its proper end. 
 
 Dr. Guyse’s proposal of reading the 20th 
 verse (the words in hope excepted) in a pa- 
 renthesis, seems greatly to free the sense from 
 embarrassment. Then the proposition in the 
 19th and 21st verses will be, “ The earnest 
 expectation, of the creature waiteth in hope 
 for the manifestation of the sons of God ; be- 
 cause then the creature also shall be delivered 
 from the bondage of corruption,” &c. The 
 20th verse expresses the creature’s present 
 state, “ It is subject to vanity and intimates 
 the cause, “ Not willingly, but by reason of 
 him who hath subjected the same.” 
 
 By the creature some understand mankind, 
 as the word is used Mark xvi. 1 5 ; and it is 
 certain that, partly from imperfect tradition, 
 and partly from a general rumour of the pro- 
 phecies extant among the Jews, the heathens 
 had some confused apprehension of a deliverer 
 from misery ; agreeably to which, or rather on 
 account of their need of a saviour, whether 
 they knew it or not, Christ is styled the de- 
 sire of all nations.” But this does not seem to 
 be the sense ; because the creature here is said 
 to be subject to vanity, not willingly, and is 
 represented as groaning, travailing, and long- 
 ing (ver. 22.) for deliverance. But it is so 
 far from being the concurrent desire of all 
 mankind, or indeed the desire of any single 
 person, to obtain freedom from the bondage 
 of sin, that we are naturally pleased with it, 
 and yield a willing subjection. Besides, the 
 period referred to is beyond the present life, 
 and intends not a partial relief here, but a 
 full deliverance hereafter. It seems, there- 
 fore, that creature, in these verses, and crea- 
 tion, in ver. 22, as they are both expressed by 
 the same word in the Greek, are to be taken 
 in the same sense. The whole frame of this 
 lower world, which is now subject to vanity on 
 account of the sin of man, is represented as 
 longing and waiting for deliverance. 
 
 The word uroxugitZaitit*, which we render 
 “ earnest expectation,” is very emphatical ; it 
 imports a raising up or thrusting forward the 
 head, as persons who are in suspense for the 
 return of a messenger, or the issue of some in- 
 teresting event. Compare Judges v. 28, Luke 
 xxi. 28. It occurs but once more in the New 
 Testament, Phil, i, 20, where the apostle is 
 describing, in one view, the confidence of hi* 
 
let. xxix. ON ROM. VIII. 19, 20, 21. 99 
 
 hope and the many conflicts and oppositions 
 which were the daily exercise of his faith. 
 
 Now it is a frequent beauty in the scripture 
 language to apply human affections to the in- 
 animate creation, and these expressions are to 
 be taken in a figurative sense, as denoting the 
 importance and evidence of what is said. See 
 Gen. iv. 11, Is. i. 2, Luke xix. 40. The 
 “ earnest expectation of the creature,” there - 
 fore, teaches us two things, the weight and 
 burden of the evils under which the world 
 groans, and the sure purpose of God to re- 
 store all things by Jesus Christ. There is a 
 period approaching when all that is now rough 
 and crooked shall be made plain and straight. 
 The Lord has promised it, and therefore all 
 his works are represented as expecting and 
 waiting for it. 
 
 This shall be at “the manifestation of the sons 
 of God.” They are now hidden, unknown, 
 unnoticed, and misrepresented, for the most 
 part. Their life is in many respects hidden 
 from themselves, and their privileges altoge- 
 ther hidden from the world ; but ere long 
 they will be manifested, their God will openly 
 acknowledge them, every cloud by which they 
 are now obscured shall be removed, and they 
 shall shine like the sun in the kingdom of 
 their Father. They have now a gracious li- 
 berty ; they are freed from condemnation, 
 from the power of sin, from the law as a co- 
 venant of works, from the yoke of carnal or- 
 dinances, from the traditions and inventions 
 of men, and from the spirit of bondage ; yet 
 they suffer much from indwelling sin, the 
 temptations of Satan, and their situation in a 
 wicked and ensnaring world. But they are 
 animated with the hope of a glorious liberty, 
 when every evil, imperfection, and abatement 
 shall cease, when they shall be put in the full 
 possession of a happiness answerable to the 
 riches of divine love and the efficacy of the 
 blood and mediation of Jesus, and then the 
 curse shall be fully removed from the creation ; 
 the Lord shall create all things new, and again 
 pronounce all things good. When they are 
 thus manifested, the creature’s expectation 
 shall be answered ; it shall be restored to its 
 honour and use. Under what circumstances, 
 and to what particular purposes, this change 
 will take place we know not, but a change 
 worthy of divine wisdom, though beyond the 
 limits of our weak apprehensions, we are war- 
 ranted from scripture to expect. It is as- 
 serted in this passage, to which, perhaps, we 
 may properly add 2 Pet. iii. 13, Rev. xxi. 1. 
 It would be easy to indulge in vain conjec- 
 tures upon this subject, but it is more safe to 
 restrain them, and to content ourselves with 
 what is clearly revealed. The hour is coming 
 when all difficulties shall be explained, when 
 the mysterious plan of divine providence shall 
 be unfolded, vindicated, and completed ; then 
 it shall appear that the Lord Jesus Christ is 
 the head and restorer of the creation, and how 
 
 fully, in every sense, he has repaired the ruin 
 brought into the world by sin, and destroyed 
 the works of the devil. 
 
 In the meantime, the sons of God groan, 
 waiting for their adoption, and the creation 
 groans with them At present it is subject 
 to vanity. Its original design was to fulfil 
 the will, and to set forth the glory of God ; 
 but, by the sin of man, it is disappointed with 
 respect to these ends, not absolutely, for still 
 the heavens declare his glory and the earth is 
 full of his goodness, but, with regard to out- 
 ward appearances, there is a great abatement 
 in both these respects. We may instance a 
 few particulars in which the creature is abused 
 and oppressed, contrary to the design of its 
 creation. 
 
 The creature was intended to show forth 
 the glory of God ; but here it has been dis* 
 appointed, and has groaned, being burdened 
 in all ages. Vain man has always been dis- 
 posed to serve and worship the creature morn 
 than the Creator. The whole world formerly, 
 except the Jews, were sunk in idolatry, pay- 
 ing divine honours to the sun and moon, yea, 
 to stocks and stones ; and a great part of the 
 earth is to this moment covered with the same 
 darkness. When this is the case, the creature 
 groans under vanity, being perverted directly 
 contrary to its proper end ; and there is an- 
 other idolatry, if not so gross, yet in us more 
 inexcusable, by which the generality of those 
 who bear the name of Christians are no less 
 alienated from the knowledge and love of the 
 true God, than the heathens themselves. 
 
 Again, the creatures, as the servants of 
 God, are properly designed to promote the 
 welfare of his children, 1 Cor. iii. 22, Job v, 
 23. This great end is indeed finally secured 
 by the promise, that all shall work together 
 for their good ; but at present they are ex- 
 posed to great sufferings ; all things seem to 
 come alike to all. This, on the Lord’s part, 
 is a wise and gracious appointment for the 
 exercise of faith, the mortification of sin, and 
 the advancement of sanctification ; but still, 
 in itself, it is a vanity under which the crea T 
 tion groans. When Jesus was crucified in per,, 
 son, the sun withdrew his light, rocks rent, and 
 the earth quaked. There is a proportionable 
 constraint upon nature when he suffers in his 
 members. Sometimes this part of the vanity 
 has been suspended, as in the case of Daniel 
 and his companions ; and, doubtless, the crea=- 
 tures would in general reverence the Heir of 
 glory, were not the effects of sin upon them 
 continued for wise reasons. They were subject 
 to man, when man was subject to his Maker, 
 At present there is an apparent inconsistence, 
 when beasts, and storms, and seas rage against 
 those whom the Creator is pleased to favour. 
 
 Once more, the creatures of God might be 
 expected to engage in his behalf against his 
 enemies ; but it is subject to vanity here likes- 
 wise. The earth is the Lord’s, yet the chief 
 
LET. XXIX* 
 
 100 ON ROM. VIII, 19. 20, 21. 
 
 parts and possessions of it are in the hands of 
 those who hate him ; yea, his enemies employ 
 his creatures against his own friends. Surely, if 
 the secret powerful restraint of his providence 
 were taken off, it would be otherwise. How 
 ready all the creatures are to fight in the 
 Lord’s cause, if he please to employ them, we 
 may learn from the history of Egypt, in Exo- 
 dus, from the death of Dathan and Abiram, 
 and the destruction of Sennacherib’s army. 
 It is therefore a bondage introduced by sin, 
 and under which they groan, that they are 
 compelled to prolong the lives and serve the 
 occasions of ungodly sinners. 
 
 The effect being manifest, that the creature 
 is subject to vanity, the apostle briefly inti- 
 mates the cause : “ Not willingly.” The 
 creature, considered in itself, is not in fault. 
 All things were created good in the beginning, 
 and in themselves are good still. Not the 
 fault, but the perversion and subjection of the 
 creature, are here complained of. A beauty, 
 variety, and order in the works of God are 
 still discernible, sufficient to fill an attentive 
 and enlightened mind with wonder, love, and 
 praise ; though it must be allowed, that sin 
 has not only alienated our hearts, and disabled 
 our faculties, so that we cannot rightly con- 
 template God and his works, but has likewise 
 occasioned a considerable alteration in the vi- 
 sible state of things. One instance is expressly 
 specified, Gen. iii. 16. 
 
 The positive cause is ascribed to “ him who 
 has subjected the same.” These words may 
 bear three different senses in agreement with 
 the current doctrine of the scriptures. The 
 prime author of the mischief was Satan. Full 
 of malice and enmity against God and his 
 creatures, he attempted to bring evil into this 
 lower world, and was permitted to succeed ; 
 the Lord purposing to over -rule it to his own 
 glory. But, for a season, the work of the de- 
 vil has been to introduce and maintain a sad 
 scene of vanity and misery. Our first father 
 Adam was the direct and immediate cause of 
 the entrance of sin and vanity into the crea- 
 tion. He was created upright, and all things 
 good about him ; but he listened to Satan, 
 and sinned, and by his sin 
 
 Brought death into the world, and all our woe ; 
 
 for we were concerned in his transgression, as 
 he was our head, both in nature and law. 
 But we may refer the him to God ; and 
 this seems best to suit the apostle’s design 
 here. God, the righteous judge, subjected 
 the creature to vanity, as the just consequence 
 and desert of man’s disobedience. But he 
 has subjected it in hope ; with a reserve in fa- 
 vour of his own people, by which, though they 
 are liable to trouble, they are secured from 
 the penal desert of sin, and the vanity of the 
 creature is, by his wisdom, over-ruled to wise 
 and gracious purposes. The earth, and all in 
 it, was made for the sake of man ; for his sin 
 it was first cursed, and afterwards destroyed 
 
 by water ; and sin at last shall set it on fire. 
 But God, who is rich in mercy, appointed a 
 people to himself out of the fallen race. Foi 
 their sakes, and as a theatre whereon to dis- 
 play the wonders of his providence and grace, 
 it was renewed after the flood, and still con- 
 tinues, but not in its original state ; there are 
 marks of the evil of sin, and of God’s displea- 
 sure against it, wherever we turn our eyes. 
 This truth is witnessed to by every thing with . 
 out us, and within us. But there shall be a 
 deliverance to those who fear him ; and by his 
 word and Spirit, he teaches them to receive 
 instruction and benefit even from this root of 
 bitterness. Even now they are the sons of 
 God ; but it doth not yet appear what they 
 will be when he shall appear, and be admired 
 in all them that believe. Then they shall be 
 manifested, and then the creature also shall 
 be delivered from the bondage of corruption.: 
 How blind, then, are they who expect hap- 
 piness from the creature, which is itself sub- 
 ject to vanity, and who are meanly content 
 with the present state of things ? It is because 
 they are estranged from God, have no sense 
 of his excellency, no regard for his glory, no 
 knowledge of their own proper good. They 
 are farther removed from the desires they 
 ought to have, in their present circumstances, 
 than the brute creation, or the very ground 
 they walk on ; for all things but man have an 
 instinct, or natural principle to answer the 
 end for which they were appointed. Fire 
 and hail, wind and storm, fulfil the word of 
 God, though we poor mortals dare to disobey 
 it. But if the secret voice of the whole crea- 
 tion desires the consummation of all things, 
 surely they w ho have the light of God’s word 
 and Spirit will look forward, and long for 
 that glorious day. Amen, even so, come. 
 Lord Jesus ! 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER XXX. 
 
 ON THE RIGHT USE OF THE LAW'. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 You desire my thoughts on 1 Tim. i. 8. “ We 
 know the law is good if a man use it lawful- 
 ly,” and I willingly comply. I do not mean 
 to send you a sermon on the text ; yet a little 
 attention to method may not be improper up- 
 on this subject, though in a letter to a friend. 
 Ignorance of the nature and design of the 
 law r is at the bottom of most religious mis- 
 takes. This is the root of self-righteousness, 
 the grand reason why the gospel of Christ is 
 no more regarded, and the cause of that un- 
 ci rtainty and inconsistency in many, who, 
 though they profess themselves teachers, un- 
 derstand not what they say, nor whereof they 
 affirm. If we previously state what is meant 
 by the law, and by what means we know the 
 
LET. XXX. 
 
 law to be good, I think it will, from these pre- I 
 mises, be easy to conclude what it is to use 
 the law lawfully. 
 
 The law, in many passages of the Old Tes- 
 tament, signifies the whole revelation of the 
 will of God, as in Psalm i. 2. and xix. 7. 
 But the law, in a strict sense, is contradis- 
 tinguished from the gospel. Thus, the apos- 
 tle considers it at large in his epistle to the 
 Romans and Galatians. 7 think it is evident, 
 that, in the passage you have proposed, the 
 apostle is speaking of the law of Moses. 
 But, to have a clearer view of the subject, it 
 may be proper to look back to a more early 
 period. 
 
 The law of God, then, in the largest sense, 
 •is that rule, or prescribed course, which he has 
 appointed for his creatures, according to their 
 several natures and capacities, that they may 
 answer the end for which he has created them. 
 Thus it comprehends the inanimate creation : 
 the wind and storm fulfil his word, or law. He 
 hath appointed the moon for seasons • and the 
 sun knoweth his time of going down, and go- 
 ing forth, and performs all his revolutions ac- 
 cording to his Maker’s pleasure. If we could 
 suppose the sun was an intelligent being, and 
 should refuse to shine, or should wander from 
 the station in which God had placed him, he 
 would then be a transgressor of the law. But 
 there is no such disorder in the natural world. 
 The law of God in this sense, or what many 
 chuse to call the law of nature, is no other 
 than the impression of God’s power, whereby 
 all things continue and act according to his will 
 from the beginning; for “he spake, and it 
 was done ; he commanded, and it stood fast.” 
 
 The animals, destitute of reason, are like- 
 wise under a law; that is, God has given 
 them instincts according to their several kinds, 
 for their support and preservation, to which 
 they invariably conform. A wisdom un- 
 speakably superior to all the contrivance of 
 man disposes their concernments, and is visi- 
 ble in the structure of a bird’s nest, or the 
 economy of a bee-hive. But this wisdom is 
 lestrained within narrow limits; they act 
 without any remote design, and are incapable 
 either of good or evil in a moral sense. 
 
 When God created man, he taught him 
 more than the beasts of the earth, and made 
 him wiser than the fowls of heaven. He 
 formed him for himself, breathed into him a 
 spirit immortal and incapable of dissolution, 
 gave him a capacity not to be satisfied with 
 any creature-good, endued him with an under- 
 standing, will, and affections, which qualified 
 him for the knowledge and service of his Ma- 
 ker, and a life of communion with him. The 
 law of God, therefore, concerning man, is that 
 rule of disposition and conduct to which a 
 creature so constituted ought to conform ; so 
 that, the end of his creation might be answered 
 and the wisdom of God be manifested in him 
 and by him. Man’s continuance in this re- 
 
 101 
 
 | gular and happy state was not necessary as it 
 is in the creatures, who, having no rational 
 faculties, have properly no choice, but act un- 
 der the immediate agency of divine power. 
 As man Was capable of continuing in the state 
 in which he was created, so he was capable of 
 forsaking it. He did so, and sinned, by eat- 
 ing the forbidden fruit. We are not to sup- 
 pose that this prohibition was the whole of the 
 law of Adam, so that if he had abstained from 
 the tree of knowledge, he might, in other re- 
 spects, have done (as we say) what he pleased. 
 This injunction was the test of his obedience ; 
 and while he regarded it, he could have no 
 desire contrary to holiness, because his nature 
 was holy. But when he broke through it, he 
 broke through the whole law, and stood guilty 
 of idolatry, blasphemy, rebellion, and murder. 
 The divine light in his soul was extinguished, 
 the image of God defaced ; he became like 
 Satan, whom he had obeyed, and lost his 
 power to keep that law which was connected 
 with his happiness. Yet, still the law re- 
 mained in force : the blessed God could not 
 lose his right to that reverence, love, and o- 
 bedience, which must always be due to him 
 from his intelligent creatures. Thus Adam 
 became a transgressor, and incurred the pen- 
 alty, death. But God, who is rich in mercy, 
 according to his eternal purpose, revealed the 
 promise of the seed of the woman, and insti- 
 tuted sacrifices as types of that atonement for 
 sin, which He, in the fulness of time, should 
 accomplish by the sacrifice of himself. 
 
 Adam, after his fall, was no longer a pub- 
 lic person ; he was saved by grace through 
 faith ; but the depravity he had brought upon 
 human nature remained. His children, and 
 so all his posterity, were born in his sinfu' 
 likeness, without either ability or inclination 
 to keep the law. The earth was soon filled 
 with violence. But a few in every successive 
 age were preserved by grace, and faith in 
 the promise. Abraham was favoured with a 
 more full and distinct revelation of the cove- 
 nant of grace ; he saw the day of Christ, and 
 rejoiced. In the time of Moses, God was 
 pleased to set apart a peculiar people to him- 
 self, and to them he published his law with 
 great solemnity at Sinai. This law consisted of 
 two distinct parts, very different in their scope 
 and design, though both enjoined by the same 
 authority. 
 
 The decalogue, or ten commandments, ut 
 tered by the voice of God himself, is an abstract 
 of that original law under which man was cre- 
 ated ; but published in a prohibitory form, the 
 Israelites, like the rest of mankind, being de- 
 praved by sin, and strongly inclined to the 
 commission of every evil. This law could not 
 be designed as a covenant, by obedience to 
 which man should be justified ; for long be- 
 fore its publication, the gospel had beet! 
 preached to Abraham, Galatians iii. 8. But 
 the law entered that sin might abound* thut 
 
 ON THE RIGHT USE Of THE LAW* 
 
ilog 
 
 the' extent, the evil, and the desert of sin 
 might be known j for it reaches to the most 
 hidden thoughts of the heart, requires abso- 
 lute and perpetual obedience, and denounces 
 a curse upon all who continue not therein. 
 
 To this Was superadded the ceremonial or 
 levitical law, prescribing a variety of institu- 
 tions, purifications, and sacrifices, the obser- 
 vance of which were, during that dispensa- 
 tion, absolutely necessary to the acceptable 
 worship of God. By obedience to these pre- 
 scriptions, the people of Israel preserved their 
 legal right to the blessings promised to them 
 as a nation, and which were not confined to 
 spiritual worshippers only; and they were 
 likewise ordinances and helps to lead those 
 Who truly feflred God, and had conscience of 
 Sin, to look forvVard, by faith, to the great sa- 
 crifice* the Lamb of God, who* in the fulness 
 Of time* Was to take away sin by the sacrifice 
 of himself. In both these respects, the ceremo- 
 nial law Was abrogated by the death of Christ. 
 The Jews then ceased to be God’s peculiar 
 people; and Jesus havfng expiated sin, and 
 brought in an everlasting righteousness, by his 
 Obedience unto death, all other sacrifices be- 
 came unnecessary and vain. The gospel sup- 
 plies the place of the ceremonial law, to the 
 Same advantage as the sun abundantly compen- 
 sates for the twinkling of the stars, and the fee- 
 ble glimmering of moon-light, which are con- 
 cealed by its glory. Believers of old were re- 
 lieved from the strictness of the moral law by 
 the sacrifices which pointed to Christ. Believers 
 under the gospel are relieved by a direct ap- 
 plication to the blood of the covenant. Both 
 renounce any dependence on the moral lavv 
 for justification, and both accept it as a rule 
 Of life in the hands of the Mediator, and are 
 enabled to yield it a sincere, though not a per- 
 fect obedience. 
 
 If an Israelite, trusting in his obedience to 
 the moral law, had ventured to reject the or- 
 dinances of the ceremonial, he would have 
 been cut off. In like manner, if any who 
 are called Christians are so well satisfied with 
 their moral duties, that they see no necessity 
 of making Christ their only hope, the law, 
 by which they seek life, will be to them a mi- 
 nistration unto death. Christ, and he alone, 
 delivers us, by faith in his name, from the 
 curse of the law, having been made a curse 
 for us; 
 
 A second inquiry is, How we cbme to know 
 the law to be good ? for naturally we do not, 
 tve cannot, think so. We cannot be at enmity 
 with God, and at the satne time approve of 
 his law ; rather this is the ground of our dis- 
 like to hitn, that we conceive the law, by 
 Which We are to be judged, is too strict in its 
 precepts, and too severe in its threatenings ; 
 and therefore men, so far as in them lies, are 
 for altering this law; They think it would be 
 better if it required nO more than we can per- 
 form ; if it allowed us more liberty ; and es- 
 
 LET. XX3G 
 
 pecially if it was not armed against transgres- 
 sors with the penalty of everlasting punish* 
 ment. This is evident from the us-ual pleas 
 of unawakened sinners. Some think, “ I am 
 not so bad as some others ;” by which they 
 mean, God will surely make a difference, 
 and take favourable notice of what they sup- 
 pose good in themselves. Others plead, “ If 
 I should not obtain mercy, what will become 
 of the greater part of mankind ?” by which 
 they plainly intimate, that it would be hard 
 and unjust in God to punish such multitudes. 
 Others endeavour to extenuate their sins, a9 
 Jonathan once said, “ I did but taste a little 
 honey, and I must die “ These passions are 
 natural to me, and must I die for indulging 
 them !” In short, the spirituality and strict* 
 ness of the law, its severity, and its levelling 
 effect, confounding all seeming differences in 
 human characters, and stopping every mouth 
 without distinction, are three properties of the 
 law, which the natural man cannot allow to 
 be good. 
 
 These prejudices against the law can only 
 be removed by the power of the Holy Spirit. 
 It is his office to enlighten and convince the 
 conscience ; to communicate an impression of 
 the majesty, holiness, justice, and authority of 
 the God with whom we have to do, whereby 
 the evil and desert of sin are apprehended* 
 The sinner is then stript of all his vain pre- 
 tences, is compelled to plead guilty, and must 
 justify his Judge, even though he should con* 
 demn him. It is his office likewise to dis* 
 cover the grace and glory of the Saviour, as 
 having fulfilled the law for us, and as enga* 
 ged, by promise, to enable those who believe 
 in him to honour it with a due obedience in 
 their own persons. Then a change of judg* 
 ment takes place, and the sinner consents to 
 the law, that it is holy, just, and good. Then 
 the law is acknowledged to be holy ; it ma* 
 nifests the holiness of God ; and a conformity* 
 to it is the perfection of human nature. There 
 can be no excellence in man, but so far as he 
 is influenced by God*s law ; without it, the 
 greater his natural powers and abilities are, 
 he is but so much the more detestable and 
 mischievous. It is assented to as just, spring* 
 ing from his indubitable right and authority 
 over his creatures, and suited to their depend- 
 ence upon him, and the abilities with which 
 he originally endowed them. And though 
 we, by sin, have lost those abilities, hfs right 
 remains unalienable ; and therefore he can 
 justly punish transgressors. And as it is just 
 in respect to God, so it is good for man ; his 
 obedience to the law, and the favour of God 
 therein, being his proper happiness, and it is 
 impossible for him to be happy in any other 
 way. Only, as I have hinted, to sinners 
 these things must be applied according to the 
 gospel, and to their new relation, by faith, to 
 the Lord Jesus Christ, who has obeyed the 
 law, and made atonement for sin on their be- 
 
 ON THE III GUI' USE OE THE LAW. 
 
LET. xxx. ON THE RIGHT USE OF THE LAW. 103 
 
 half ; so that through him they are delivered 
 From condemnation, and entitled to all the 
 benefits of his obedience. From him likewise 
 they receive the law, as a rule enforced by his 
 own example, and their unspeakable obliga- 
 tions to his redeeming love. This makes obe- 
 dience pleasing, and the strength they derive 
 from him makes it easy. 
 
 We may now proceed to inquire, in the 
 last place, What it is to use the law lawfully ? 
 The expression implies, that it may be used 
 unlawfully ; and it is so by too many. It is 
 not a lawful use of the law to seek justifica- 
 tion and acceptance with God by our obedi- 
 ence to it ; because it is not appointed for 
 this end, or capable of answering it, in our 
 circumstances. The very attempt is a daring 
 impeachment of the wisdom and goodness of 
 God ; for if righteousness could come by the 
 law, then Christ has died in vain, Gal. ii. 21, 
 iii. 21; so that such a hope is not only ground- 
 less, but sinful ; and, when persisted in un- 
 der the light of the gospel, is no less than a 
 wilful rejection of the grace of God. Again, 
 it is an unlawful use of the law, that is, an 
 abuse of it, an abuse both of law and gospel, 
 to pretend that its accomplishment by Christ 
 releases believers from any obligation to it as 
 a rule. Such an assertion is not only wicked, 
 but absurd and impossible in the highest de- 
 gree ; for the law is founded in the relation 
 between the Creator and the creature, and 
 must unavoidably remain in force so long as 
 that relation subsists. While he is God, and 
 we are creatures, in every possible or suppos- 
 able change of state or circumstances, he must 
 have an unrivalled claim to our reverence, 
 love, trust, service, and submission. No true 
 believer can deliberately admit a thought or a 
 wish of being released from his obligation of 
 obedience to God, in whole or in part; he 
 will rather start from it with abhorrence. But 
 Satan labours to drive unstable souls from 
 one extreme to the other, and has too often 
 succeeded. Wearied with vain endeavours to 
 keep the law, that they might obtain life by 
 it, and afterwards taking up with a notion of 
 the gospel devoid of power, they have at 
 length despised that obedience which is the 
 honour of a Christian, and essentially belongs 
 to his character, and have abused the grace of 
 God to licentiousness. But we have not so 
 learned^ Christ. 
 
 To speak affirmatively, the law is lawfully 
 used as a means of conviction of sin. For 
 this purpose it was promulgated at Sinai. 
 The law entered, that sin might abound : not 
 to make men more wicked, though occasion- 
 ally, and by abuse, it has that effect, but to 
 make them sensible how wicked they are. 
 Having God’s law in our hands, we are no 
 longer to form our judgments by the maxims 
 and customs of the world, where evil is called 
 good, and good evil; but are to try every 
 principle, temper, and practice by this stand- 
 
 ard. Could men be prevailed Upon to do 
 this, they would soon listen to the gospel with 
 attention. On some the Spirit of God does 
 thus prevail ; then they earnestly make the 
 jailor’s inquiry, “ What must I do to be sav- 
 ed ?” Here the work of grace begins ; and 
 the sinner, condemned in his own conscience, 
 is brought to Jesus for life. 
 
 Again, when we use the law as a glass, to 
 behold the glory of God, we use it lawfully. 
 His glory is eminently revealed in Christ j 
 but much of it is with a special reference to 
 the law, and cannot be otherwise discerned. 
 We see the perfection and excellence of the 
 law in his life. God was glorified by his obe- 
 dience as a man. What a perfect character 
 did he exhibit ! yet it is no other than a tran- 
 script of the law. Such would have been the 
 character of Adam and all his race, had the 
 law been duly obeyed. It appears, therefore, 
 a wise and holy institution, fully capable of 
 displaying that perfection of conduct by which 
 man would have answered the end of his crea- 
 tion. And we see the inviolable strictness of 
 the law in his death. There the glory of God 
 in the law is manifested. Though he was the 
 beloved Son, and had yielded personal obe- 
 dience in the utmost perfection, yet, when he 
 stood in our place, to make atonement for 
 sin, he was not spared. From what he en- 
 dured in Gethsemane and upon the cross, we 
 learn the meaning of that awful sentence, 
 “ The soul that sinneth shall die.” 
 
 Another lawful use of the law is, to con- 
 sult it as a rule and pattern, by which to re- 
 gulate our spirit and conversation. The grace 
 of God, received by faith, will dispose us to 
 obedience in general ; but through remaining 
 darkness and ignorance, we are much at a loss 
 as to particulars. We are, therefore, sent to 
 the law, that we may learn how to walk worthy 
 of God, who has called us to his kingdom and 
 glory ; and every precept has its proper place 
 and use. 
 
 Lastly, we use the law lawfully when we 
 improve it as a test whereby to judge of the 
 exercise of grace. Believers differ so much 
 from what they once were, and from what 
 many still are, that without this right use of 
 the law, comparing themselves with their for- 
 mer selves, or with others, they would be 
 prone to think more highly of their attain- 
 ments than they ought. But when they re- 
 cur to this standard, they sink into the dust, 
 and adopt the language of Job, “ Behold, 1 
 am vile : I cannot answer thee one of a thou, 
 sand.” 
 
 From hence we may collect, in brief, how 
 the law is good to them that use it lawfully. 
 It furnishes them with a comprehensive and 
 accurate view of the will of God, and the 
 path of duty. By the study of the law, they 
 acquire an habitual spiritual taste of what is 
 right or wrong. The exercised believer, like 
 a skilful workman, has a rule in his hand, 
 
L£ t. XXXI 
 
 ON LOVE TO TffE BRETHREN. 
 
 104 
 
 whereby he can measure and determine with 
 certainty ; whereas others judge as it were by 
 the eye, and can only make a random guess, 
 in which they are generally mistaken. It like- 
 wise, by reminding them of their deficiencies 
 and short-comings, is a sanctified means of 
 making and keeping them humble ; and it 
 exceedingly endears Jesus, the law-fulfiller, to 
 their hearts, and puts them in mind of their 
 obligations to him, and of their absolute de- 
 pendence upon him every moment. 
 
 If these reflections should prove acceptable 
 to you, I have my desire ; and I send them 
 to you by the press, in hopes that the Lord 
 may accompany them, with his blessing to 
 others. The subject is of great importance, and, 
 were it rightly understood, might conduce to 
 settle some of the angry controversies which 
 have been lately agitated. Clearly to under- 
 stand the distinction, connection, and harmo- 
 ny between the law and the gospel, and their 
 mutual subserviency to illustrate and establish 
 each other, is a singular privilege, and a happy 
 fneans of preserving the soul from being en- 
 tangled by errors on the right hand or the 
 left; 
 
 I am } &e. 
 
 LETTER XXXI. 
 
 ON LOVE TO THE BRETHREN. 
 liEAR SIR, 
 
 The apostle having said, “ Marvel not, my 
 brethren, if the world hate you,” immediate- 
 ly subjoins, “ We know that we have passed 
 from death unto life, because we love the 
 brethren.” By the manner of his expression, 
 he sufficiently intimates, that the want of this 
 love is so universal, till the Lord plants it in 
 the heart, that if we possess it, we may there- 
 by be sure he has given us of his Spirit, and 
 delivered us from condemnation. But as the 
 heart is deceitful, and people may be awfully 
 mistaken in the judgment they form of them- 
 selves, we have need to be very sure that 
 Vve rightly understand what it is to love the 
 brethren, before we draw the apostle’s con- 
 clusion from it, and admit it as an evidence 
 in our own favour, that we have passed from 
 death unto life. Let me invite you, reader, 
 to attend with me a little to this subject. 
 
 There are some counterfeits of this love to 
 the brethren, which* it is to be feared, have 
 often been mistaken for it, and have led people 
 to think themselves something, when, indeed, 
 they were nothing. For instance : 
 
 There is a natural love of the brethren. 
 People may sincerely love their relations, 
 friends, and benefactors, who are of the breth- 
 ren, and yet be utter strangers to the spiritual 
 love the apostle speaks of. So Orpali had a 
 great affection for Naomi, though it was not 
 
 strong enough to make her willing, with Ruth, 
 to leave her native country, and her idol-gods 
 Natural affection can go no farther than to a 
 personal attachment ; and they who thus love 
 the brethren, and upon no better ground, are 
 often disgusted with those things in them, for 
 which the real brethren chiefly love one another. 
 
 There is likewise a love of convenience. 
 The Lord’s people are gentle, peaceable, bene- 
 volent, swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to 
 wrath. They are desirous of adorning the 
 doctrine of God their Saviour, and approving 
 themselves followers of him who pleased not 
 himself, but spent his life in doing good to 
 others. Upon this account they who are full 
 of themselves, and love to have their own way, 
 may like their company, because they find 
 more compliances, and less opposition from 
 them, than from such as themselves. For a 
 while Laban loved Jacob : he found him dili- 
 gent and trust-worthy, and perceived that the 
 Lord had prospered him upon Jacob’s ac- 
 count ; but when he saw that Jacob flourish- 
 ed, and apprehended he was likely to do with- 
 out him, his love was soon at an end ; for it 
 was only founded in self-interest. 
 
 A party-love is also common* The object# 
 of this are those who are of the same senti- 
 ment, who worship in the same way, or are at- 
 tached to the same minister. They who are 
 united in such narrow and separate associa- 
 tions, may express warm affections, without 
 giving any proof of true Christian love ; for, 
 upon such grounds as these, not only profes- 
 sed Christians, but Jews and Turks, may be 
 said to love one another. Though it must be 
 allowed, that believers being renewed but in 
 part, the love which they bear to the brethren 
 is too often debased and allayed by a mixture 
 of selfish affections. 
 
 The principle of true love to the brethren, is 
 the love of God, that love which produceth 
 obedience, 1 John v. 2. “ By this we know that 
 we love the children of God, if we love God, 
 and keep his commandments.” When people 
 are free to form their connections and friend- 
 ships, the ground of their communion is in a 
 sameness of inclination* The love spoken of 
 is spiritual* The children of God, who there* 
 fore stand in the relation of brethren to each 
 other, though they have too many unhappy 
 differences in points of smaller importance, 
 agree in the supreme love they bear, to their 
 heavenly Father, and to Jesus their Saviour; of 
 course they agree in disliking and avoiding 
 sin, which is contrary to the will and com- 
 mand of the God whom they love and wor- 
 ship. Upon these accounts they love one 
 another, they are like-minded; and they live 
 in a world where the bulk of mankind are 
 against tbem, have no regard to their Beloved, 
 and live in the sinful practices which his grace 
 has taught them to hate. Their situation, 
 therefore, increases their affection to each 
 other. They are washed by the same blood, 
 
LEt. XXXI* 
 supplied by the same grace, opposed by the I 
 same enemies, and have the same heaven in 
 view ; therefore they love one another with a 
 pure heart fervently. 
 
 The properties of this love, where its exer- 
 cise is not greatly impeded by ignorance and 
 bigotry, are such as prove its heavenly origi- 
 nal. It extends to all who love the Lord 
 Jesus Christ in sincerity, cannot be confined 
 Within the pale of a denomination, nor re- 
 strained to those with whom it is more imme- 
 diately connected* It is gentle, and not easi- 
 ly provoked ; hopes the best, makes allow- 
 ances for infirmities, and is easily intreated. 
 It is kind and compassionate ; and this, not 
 in words only, but sympathizes with the af- 
 flicted, and relieves the indigent, according to 
 its ability ; and as it primarily respects the 
 .'mage of Christ in its objects, it feels a more 
 peculiar attachment to those whom it judges 
 to be the most spiritual, though without un- 
 , dervaluing or despising the weakest attain- 
 ments in the true grace of the gospel. 
 
 They are happy who thus love the brethren. 
 They have passed from death unto life ; and 
 may plead this gracious disposition, though 
 not before the Lord as the ground of their 
 hope, yet against Satan, when he would tempt 
 them to question their right to the promises. 
 But, alas ! as I before hinted, the exercise of 
 this love, when it really is implanted, is great- 
 ly obstructed through the remaining depra- 
 vity which cleaves to believers. We cannot 
 be too watchful against those tempers which 
 weaken the proper effects of brotherly love, 
 and thereby have a tendency to darken the 
 evidence of our having passed from death unto 
 life. We live in a day, when the love of 
 many (of whom we w r ould hope the best) is, 
 at least, grown very cold. The effects of a 
 narrow, suspicious, a censorious, and a selfish 
 spirit, are but too evident amongst professors 
 of the gospel. If I were to insist at large 
 upon the offences of this kind which abound 
 amongst us, I should seem almost reduced to 
 the necessity, either of retracting what I have 
 advanced, or of maintaining, that a great part 
 (if not the greatest part) of those who profess 
 to know the Lord, are deceiving themselves 
 with a form of godliness, being destitute of 
 its power : for though they may abound in 
 knowledge and gifts, and have much to say 
 upon the subject of Christian experience, they 
 appear to want the great, the inimitable, the 
 indispensible criterion of true Christianity, a 
 love to the brethren ; without which all other 
 seeming advantages and attainments are of no 
 avail. How is this disagreeable dilemma to 
 be avoided ? 
 
 I believe they who are most under the in- 
 fluence of divine love, will join with me in 
 lamenting their deficiency. It is well that we 
 are not under the law, but under grace ; for 
 en whatever point we try ourselves by the stan- 
 
 105 
 
 dard of the sanctuary, we shall find reason to 
 say, “ Enter not into judgment with thy ser- 
 vant, O Lord.” There is an amazing and 
 humbling difference between the conviction 
 we have of the beauty and excellence of divine 
 truths, and our actual experience of their 
 power ruling in our hearts. In our happiest 
 hours, when we are most affected with the 
 love of Jesus, we feel our love fervent to- 
 wards his people. We wish it were always 
 so ; but we are poor, inconsistent creatures, 
 and find we can do nothing as we ought, but 
 as we are enabled by his grace. But we trust 
 we do not allow ourselves in what is wrong ; 
 and, notwithstanding, we may, in particular 
 instances, be misled by ignorance and preju- 
 dice, we do in our hearts love the brethren, 
 account them the excellent of the earth, and 
 desire to have our lot and portion with them 
 in time and in eternity. We know that the 
 love we bear them is for his sake ; and when 
 we consider his interest in them, and our ob- 
 ligations to him, we are ashamed and grieved 
 that we love them no better. 
 
 If we could not conscientiously say thus 
 much, we should have just reason to question 
 our sincerity, and the safety of our state ; for 
 the scriptures cannot be broken ; nor can the 
 grace of God fail of producing, in some de- 
 gree, its proper fruits. Our Saviour, before 
 whom we must shortly appear as our judge, 
 has made love the characteristic of his disci- 
 ples ; and without some evidence that this is 
 the prevailing disposition of our hearts, we 
 could find little comfort in calling him God. 
 Let not this be accounted legality, as if our 
 dependence was upon something in ourselves. 
 The question is not concerning the method of 
 acceptance with God, but concerning the 
 fruits or tokens of an accepted state. The 
 most eminent of these, by our Lord’s express 
 declaration, is brotherly love. “ By this shall 
 all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye 
 love one another.” No words can be plain- 
 er ; and the consequence is equally plain, how- 
 ever hard it may bear upon many professors, 
 that though they could speak with the tongues 
 of angels, had the knowledge of all mysteries, 
 a power of working miracles, and a zeal 
 prompting them to give their bodies to be 
 burned in defence of the truth ; yet if they 
 love not the brethren, they are but as sound- 
 ing brass or tinkling cymbals : they may 
 
 make a great noise in the church and in the 
 world • they may be wise and able men, as 
 the words are now frequently understood; 
 they may pray or preach with great fluency j 
 but in the sight of God their faith is dead, and 
 their religion is vain. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 ON LOVE TO THE BRETHREN. 
 
106 
 
 ON CANDOUR. 
 
 LET. XXXII. 
 
 LETTER XXXII. 
 
 ON CANDOUR. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 I am with you an admirer of candour, but let 
 us beware of Counterfeits. True candour is a 
 Christian grace, and will grow in no soil but a 
 believing heart. It is an eminent and ami- 
 able property of that love which beareth, be- 
 lieveth, hopeth, and endureth all things. It 
 forms the most favourable judgment of per- 
 sons and characters, and puts the kindest con- 
 struction upon the conduct of others that it 
 possibly can, consistent with the love of truth. 
 It makes due allowances for the infirmities of 
 human nature, will not listen with pleasure to 
 what is said to the disadvantage of any, nor 
 repeat it without a justifiable cause. It will 
 not be confined within the walls of a party, 
 nor restrain the actings of benevolence to 
 those whom it fully approves ; but prompts 
 the mind to an imitation of Him who is kind 
 to the evil and the unthankful, and has taught 
 us to consider every person we see as our 
 neighbour. 
 
 Such is the candour which I wish to derive 
 from the gospel : and I am persuaded, they 
 who have imbibed most of this spirit, will ac- 
 knowledge that they are still defective in it. 
 There is an unhappy propensity, even in good 
 men, to a selfish, narrow, censorious turn of 
 mind ; and the best are more under the power 
 of prejudice than they are aware. A want of 
 candour among the professors of the same 
 gospel, is too visible in the present day. A 
 truly candid person will acknowledge what is 
 right and excellent in those from whom he 
 may be obliged to differ ; he will not charge 
 the faults or extravagancies of a few upon a 
 whole party or denomination. If he thinks it 
 his duty to point out or refute the errors of 
 any persons, he will not impute to them such 
 Consequences of their tenets as they expressly 
 disavow ; he will not wilfully misrepresent or 
 aggravate their mistakes, or make them of- 
 fenders for a word : he will keep in view the 
 distinction between those things which are 
 fundamental and essential to the Christian life, 
 and those concerning which, a difference of 
 sentiment may, and often has, obtained among 
 true believers. Were there more candour 
 among those who profess to love the Lord 
 Jesus Christ in sincerity, the emotions of an- 
 ger or scorn would not be so often felt or ex- 
 cited, by pronouncing or hearing the words, 
 churchman, or dissenter, or Calvinist, or even 
 Arminian. Let us, my friend, be candid ; let 
 us remember how totally ignorant we our- 
 selves once were, how often we have changed 
 our sentiments in one particular or other, 
 since we first engaged in the search of truth ; 
 how often we have been imposed upon by ap- 
 
 pearances ; and to how many different per- 
 sons and occurrences we have been indebted, 
 under God, for the knowledge which we have 
 already attained. Let us likewise consider 
 what treatment we like to meet with from 
 others ; and do unto them as we would they 
 should do unto us. These considerations 
 will make the exercise of candour habitual 
 and easy. 
 
 But there is a candour, falsely so called, 
 which springs from an indifference to the 
 truth, and is governed by the fear of men and 
 the love of praise. This pretended candour 
 depreciates the most important doctrines of 
 the gospel, and treats them as points of spe- 
 culation and opinion. It is a temporizing 
 expedient to stand fair with the world, and to 
 avoid that odium which is the unavoidable 
 consequence of a steadfast, open, and hearty 
 adherence to the truth as it is in Jesus. It 
 aims to establish an intercommunity between 
 light and darkness, Christ and Belial ; and, 
 under a pretence of avoiding harsh and un- 
 charitable judgments, it introduces a mutual 
 connivance in principles and practices, which 
 are already expressly condemned by clear de- 
 cisions of scripture. Let us not listen to the 
 advocates for a candour of this sort; such a 
 lukewarm temper in those, who would be 
 thought the friends of the gospel, is treason 
 against God and treachery to the souls of 
 men. It is observable that they who boast 
 most of this candour, and pretend to the most 
 enlarged and liberal way of thinking, are ge- 
 nerally agreed to exclude from their compre- 
 hension all whom they call bigots ; that is, in 
 other words, those who, having been led by 
 divine grace to build their hopes upon the 
 foundation which God has laid in Zion, are 
 free to declare their conviction that other foun- 
 dation can no man lay ; and who, having seen 
 that the friendship of the world is enmity with 
 God, dare no longer conform to its leading 
 maxims or customs, nor express a favourable 
 judgment of the state or conduct of those 
 who do. Candour itself knows not how to 
 be candid to these : their singularity and im- 
 portunity are offensive ; and it is thought no 
 way inconsistent with the specious boast of 
 benevolence and moderation to oppose, hate, 
 and revile them. A sufficient proof that the 
 candour which many plead for is only a softer 
 name for that spirit of the world which op- 
 poses itself to the truth and obedience of the 
 gospel. 
 
 If a person be an avowed Socinian or deist, 
 I am still to treat him with candour ; he has 
 a right from me, so far as he comes in my 
 way, to all the kind offices of humanity. I 
 am not to hate, reproach, or affront him, or 
 to detract from what may be valuable in his 
 character, considered as a member of society. 
 I may avail myself of his talents and abilities 
 in points where I am not in danger of being 
 misled by him. He may be a good lawyer, 
 
LE r. xxxlt* 
 
 or historian, or physician ; and I am not to 
 lessen him in these respects because I cannot 
 commend him as a divine. I am bound to 
 pity his errors, and to pray if peradventure 
 God will give him repentance to the acknow- 
 ledgment of the truth ; and, if I have a Call 
 to converse with him, I should speak with all 
 gentleness and meekness, remembering that 
 grace alone has made me to differ. But I am 
 not to compliment him, to insinuate, or even 
 to admit, that there can be any safety in his 
 principles. Far be that candour from us, 
 Which represents the scriptures as a nose of 
 wax, so that a person tnay reject or elude the 
 testimonies there given to the deity and atone- 
 ment of Christ, and the all-powerful agency 
 of the Holy Spirit, with impunity. 
 
 On the other hand, they who hold the Head, 
 Who have received the record which God hath 
 given of his Son ; who have scriptural views 
 of sin and grace, and fix their hopes for time 
 and eternity upon the Saviour ; in a word, all 
 Who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity ; 
 — these, I apprehend, if they are prevented 
 from receiving, acknowledging, and loving 
 each other, as he has received, owned, and 
 loved them, are justly chargeable with a want 
 of candour. Shall I be cold to those whom 
 Jesus loves? Shall I refuse them whom he 
 has accepted ? I find, perhaps, that they can- 
 not rightly understand, and therefore cannot 
 readily embrace* some points of doctrine in 
 which the Lord has been pleased to enlighten 
 me ; that is, I (supposing my knowledge to 
 be real and experimental) have received five 
 talents, and they have as yet obtained but 
 two : must I for this estrange myself from 
 them? Rather let me be careful, lest they be 
 found more faithful and exemplary in the im- 
 provement of two talents than I am in the ma- 
 nagement of five. Again, why should some 
 of those who know, or might know, that my 
 hope, my way, my end, and my enemies are 
 the same with theirs, stand aloof from me, and 
 treat me with coldness and suspicion because 
 I am called a Calvinist ? I was not born a 
 Calvinist, and possibly they may not die as 
 they are. However that may be, if our hearts 
 are fixed upon the same Jesus, we shall be 
 perfectly of one mind ere long : why should 
 » We not encourage and strengthen one another 
 now ? O that the arm of the Lord might be 
 revealed, to revive that candour which the 
 apostle so strongly enforces both by precept 
 and example ! Then the strong would bear 
 the infirmities of the weak, and believers would 
 receive each other without doubtful disputa- 
 tion. 
 
 Once more, however sound and orthodox 
 (as the phrase is) professors may be in their 
 principles, though true candour will make 
 tender allowances for the frailty of nature and 
 the power of temptation, yet neither candour 
 hor charity will require us to accept them as 
 teal believers, unless the general strain and 
 
 107 
 
 tenor of their deportment be as becometh the 
 gospel of Christ. It is to be lamented that 
 too many judge rather by the notions which 
 people express than by the fruits which they 
 produce, and, as they judge of others, so 
 they often judge of themselves. We cannot 
 have opportunity to say all we could wish, 
 and to all to whom we would wish to say it, 
 upon this subject, in private life; therefore 
 it is the wisdom and duty of those who preach 
 and of those who print, to drop a word of cau- 
 tion in the way of their hearers and readers, 
 that they may not mistake notion for life, nor 
 a form of godliness for the power. The grace 
 of God is an operative principle, and, where 
 it really has place in the heart, the effects will 
 be seen (Actsxi. 23.) ; effects so uniform and 
 extensive that the apostle James makes one 
 single branch of conduct, and that such a one 
 as is not usually thought the most important, 
 a sufficient test of our state before God, for he 
 affirms universally, that if any man seem to 
 be religious, and “ bridleth not his tongue, 
 his religion is vain and again he assures us, 
 that ‘ ‘ whoever will be a friend of the world is 
 the enemy of God and to the same purpose, 
 Paul expresses himself on the subject of love 
 (that love which he describes so accurately 
 that none can mistake it unless they willingly 
 deceive themselves) : he declares that, without 
 this love, the brightest knowledge, the warm* 
 est zeal, and the most splendid gifts, are no- 
 thing worth. It is to be feared these deci- 
 sions will bear hard upon many who have a 
 name to live among the churches of Christ. 
 They are hearers and approvers of the gos- 
 pel, and express a regard for those who preach 
 it : they will stickle and fight for the doc- 
 trines, and know not how to bear those who 
 fall a hair’s breadth short of their standard, 
 and yet there is so much levity or pride, cen- 
 soriousness or worldliness, discoverable in their 
 general behaviour, that their characters ap- 
 pear very dubious ; and, though we are bound 
 to wish them well, candour will not oblige 
 or warrant us to judge favourably of such 
 conduct, for the unerring word of God is the 
 standard to which our judgments are to be 
 referred and conformed. 
 
 In the sense, and under the limitations 
 which I have expressed, we ought to cultivate 
 a candid spirit, and learn from the experience 
 of Our own weakness to be gentle and tender 
 to others, avoiding, at the same time, that in- 
 difference and cowardice which, under the 
 name of candour, countenances error, exte- 
 nuates sin, and derogates from the authority 
 of scripture. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 ON CANDOUR. 
 
108 
 
 LE,T. XXXI II, 
 
 (1*) ON MAN IN HIS FALLEN ESTATE. 
 
 LETTER XXXIII. 
 
 ( ] . ) ON MAN IN HIS FALLEN ESTATE. 
 
 “ Lord, what is Man!" 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 We hear much in the present day of the 
 dignity of human nature, and it is allowed 
 that man was an excellent creature as he came 
 out of the hands of God ; but, if we consider 
 this question with a view to fallen man as de- 
 praved by sin, how can we but join with the 
 psalmist in wonder that the great God should 
 make any account of him. 
 
 Fallen as man is from his original state of 
 happiness and holiness, his natural faculties 
 and abilities afford sufficient evidence that the 
 hand which made him is divine. He is ca- 
 pable of great things : his understanding, will, 
 affections, imagination, and memory are noble 
 and amazing powers. But view him in a mo- 
 ral light, as an intelligent being, incessantly 
 dependent upon God, accountable to him, and 
 appointed by him to a state of existence in an 
 unchangeable world. Considered in this re- 
 lation, man is a monster, a vile, base, stupid, 
 obstinate, and mischievous creature : no words 
 can fully describe him. Man, with all his 
 boasted understanding and attainments is a 
 fool. So long as he is destitute of the saving 
 grace of God, his conduct, as to his most im- 
 portant concernments, is more absurd and in- 
 consistent than that of the meanest idiot ; with 
 respect to his affections and pursuits, he is 
 degraded far below the beasts ; and, for the 
 malignity and wickedness of his will, can be 
 compared to nothing so properly as the devil. 
 
 The question here is not concerning this or 
 that man, a Nero or a Heliogabulus, but con- 
 cerning human nature, the whole race of man- 
 kind, the few excepted who are born of God. 
 There is indeed a difference among men, but 
 it is owing to the restraints of divine provi- 
 dence, without which earth would be the very 
 image of hell. A wolf or a lion, while chained, 
 cannot do so much mischief as if they were 
 loose, but the nature is the same in the whole 
 species. Education and interest, fear and 
 shame, human laws and the secret power of 
 God over the mind, combine to form many 
 characters that are externally decent and re- 
 spectable, and even the most abandoned are 
 under a restraint which prevents them from 
 manifesting a thousandth part of the wicked- 
 ness which is in their hearts ; but the heart 
 itself is universally deceitful and desperately 
 wicked. 
 
 Man is a fool. — He can, indeed, measure 
 tne earth, and almost count the stars : he 
 abounds in arts and inventions, in science and 
 policy ; and shall he then be called a fool ? 
 The ancient heathens, the inhabitants of JSgypt, 
 
 Greece,' and Rome, were eminent for this kind 
 of wisdom. They are to this day studied as 
 models by those who aim to excel in history, 
 poetry, painting, architecture, and other ex- 
 ertions of human genius, which are suited to 
 polish the manners without improving the 
 heart ; but their most admired philosophers, 
 legislators, logicians, orators, and arti >ts, were 
 as destitute, as infants or idiots, of that know- 
 ledge which alone deserves the name of true 
 wisdom. Professing themselves to be wise, 
 they became fools. Ignorant and regardless 
 of God, yet conscious of their weakness and 
 of their dependence upon a power above their 
 own, and stimulated by an inward principle 
 of fear, of which they knew neither the ori- 
 gin nor right application, they worshipped 
 the creature instead of the Creator; yea, 
 placed their trust in stocks and stones, in the 
 work of men’s hands, in nonentities and chi 
 meras. An acquaintance with their mytho- 
 logy, or system of religious fables, passes with 
 us for a considerable branch of learning, be- 
 cause it is drawn from ancient books written 
 in languages not known to the vulgar ; but, 
 in point of certainty or truth, we might re- 
 ceive as much satisfaction from a collection of 
 dreams, or from the ravings of lunatics. If, 
 therefore, we admit these admired sages as a 
 tolerable specimen of mankind, must we not 
 confess that man in his best estate, while un- 
 instructed by the Spirit of God, is a fool ? 
 But are we wiser than they ? Not in the 
 least, till the grace of God makes us so. Our 
 superior advantages only show our folly in a 
 more striking light. Why do we account any 
 persons foolish ? A fool has no sound judg- 
 ment : he is governed wholly by appearances, 
 and would prefer a fine coat to the writings 
 of a large estate : he pays no regard to con- 
 sequences. Fools have sometimes hurt or 
 killed their best friends, and thought that they 
 did no harm. A fool cannot reason, there- 
 fore arguments are lost upon him. At one 
 time, if tied with a straw, he dares not stir ; 
 at another time, perhaps, he can hardly be 
 persuaded to move, though the house were on 
 fire. Are these the characteristics of a fool ? 
 Then there is no fool like the sinner, who pre- 
 fers the toys of earth to the happiness of hea- 
 ven ; who is held in bondage by the foolish 
 customs of the world, and is more afraid of 
 the breath of man than of the wrath of God. 
 
 Again, man in his natural state is a beast, 
 yea, below the beasts that perish. In two 
 things he strongly resembles them ; in looking 
 no higher than to sensual gratifications, and 
 in that selfishness of spirit which prompts him 
 to propose himself and his own interest as his 
 proper and highest end. But in many respects 
 lie sinks sadly beneath them. Unnatural lusts, 
 and the want of natural affection towards 
 their offspring, are abominations not to be 
 found among the brute creation. What shall 
 we say of mothers destroying their children 
 
LET. XXXIII. ( !•) ON Man in his fallen estate. 
 
 with their own hands, or of the horrid act of 
 self-murder ! Men are worse than beasts, like- 
 wise, in their obstinacy ; they will not be 
 warned. If a beast escapes from a trap, he 
 will be cautious how he goes near it again, 
 and in vain is the net spread in the sight of 
 any bird : but man, though he be often re- 
 proved, hardens his neck ; he rushes upon his 
 ruin with his eyes open, and can defy God 
 to his face, and dare damnation. 
 
 Once more, let us observe how man re- 
 sembles the devil. There are spiritual sins, 
 and from these in their height the scriptures 
 teach us to judge of Satan’s character. Every 
 feature in this description is strong in man ; 
 so that what our Lord said to the Jews is of 
 general application, “ Ye are of your father 
 the devil, and the lust of your father that you 
 will do.” Man resembles Satan in pride. This 
 stupid, wicked creature values himself upon 
 his wisdom, power, and virtue, and will talk 
 of being saved by his good works ; though, if 
 he can, Satan himself need not despair. He 
 resembles him in malice ; and this diabolical 
 disposition often proceeds to murder, and 
 would daily, if the Lord did not restrain it. 
 He derives from Satan the hateful spirit of 
 envy : he is often tormented beyond expres- 
 sion, by beholding the prosperity of his neigh- 
 bours ; and proportionably pleased with their 
 calamities, though he gains no other advan- 
 tage from them than the gratification of this 
 rancorous principle. He bears the image 
 likewise of Satan in his cruelty. This evil is 
 bound up in the heart even of a child. A 
 disposition to take pleasure in giving pain to 
 others appears very early. Children, if left 
 to themselves, soon feel a gratification in tor- 
 turing insects and animals. What misery 
 does the wanton cruelty of men inflict upon 
 cocks, dogs, bulls, bears, and other creatures, 
 which, they seem to think, were formed for no 
 other end than to feast their savage spirits 
 with their torments ! If we form our judg- 
 ment of men, when they seem most pleased, 
 and have neither anger nor resentment to plead 
 in their excuse, it is too evident, even from 
 the nature of their amusements, whose they 
 are, and whom they serve; and they are the 
 worst of enemies to each other. Think of 
 the horrors of war, the rage of duellists, of the 
 murders and assassinations with which the 
 world is filled, and then say, “ Lord, what is 
 man !” Farther, if deceit and treachery be- 
 long to Satan’s character, then surely man re- 
 sembles him. Is not the universal observa- 
 tion, and complaint of all ages, an affecting 
 comment upon the prophet’s w'ords, “ Trust 
 ye not in a friend, put not confidence in a 
 guide, keep the doors of thy mouth from her 
 that lieth in thy bosom, for they hunt every 
 man his brother with a net !” How many 
 have at this moment cause to say with David, 
 “ The words of his mouth were smoother than 
 butter, but war was in his heart ; his words 
 
 109 
 
 were softer than oil, yet were they drawn 
 swords!” Again, like Satan, men are eager 
 in tempting others to sin. Not content to 
 damn themselves, they employ all their arts 
 and influence to draw as many as they can 
 with them into the same destruction. Lastly, 
 in direct opposition to God and goodness, in 
 contemptuous enmity to the gospel of his 
 grace, and a bitter persecuting spirit against 
 those who profess it, Satan himself can hard- 
 ly exceed them. Herein, indeed, they are 
 his agents and willing servants ; and because 
 the blesssd God is himself out of their reach, 
 they labour to shew their despite to him in 
 the persons of his people. 
 
 I have drawn but a sketch, a few outlines, 
 of the picture of fallen man. To give an 
 exact copy of him, to charge every feature 
 with its full aggravation of horror, and to 
 paint him as he is, would be impossible. 
 Enough has been observed to illustrate the 
 propriety of the exclamation, “ Lord, what 
 is man !” Perhaps some of my readers may 
 attempt to deny or extenuate the charge, and 
 may plead, that I have not been describing 
 mankind, but some of the most abandoned of 
 the species, who hardly deserve the name of 
 men. But I have already provided against 
 this exception. It is human nature I de- 
 scribe ; and the vilest and most profligate in- 
 dividuals cannot sin beyond the powers and 
 limits of that nature which they possess in 
 common with the more mild and moderate. 
 Though there may be a difference in the 
 fruitfulness of trees, yet the production of 
 one apple decides the nature of the tree upon 
 which it grew, as certainly as if it had pro- 
 duced a thousand ; so in the present case, 
 should it be allowed that these enormities 
 cannot be fpund in all persons, it would be a 
 sufficient confirmation of what I have advanc- 
 ed, if they can be found in any; unless it 
 could be likewise proved, that those who ap- 
 peared more wicked than others were of a 
 different species from the rest. But I need 
 not make this concession ; they must be in- 
 sensible indeed, who do not feel something 
 within them so very contrary to our common 
 notions of goodness, as would perhaps make 
 them rather submit to be banished from hu- 
 man society, than to be compelled bona fide 
 to disclose to their fejlow-creatures every 
 thought and desire which arises in their 
 hearts. 
 
 Many useful reflections may be drawn from 
 this unpleasing subject. We cannot at pre- 
 sent conceive how much we owe to the guar- 
 dian care of divine providence, that any of us 
 are preserved in peace and safety for a single 
 day, in such a world as this. Live where we 
 will, we have those near us, who, both by na- 
 ture, and by Le power which Satan has over 
 them, are capable of the most atrocious 
 crimes. But he whom they know not, re- 
 strains them, so that they cannot do the things 
 
 
LET. XXXIV 
 
 I!0 (2.) ON MAN IN HIS 
 
 that they would. When he suspends the re- 
 straint, they act immediately ; then we hear 
 of murders, rapes, and outrages. But did 
 not the Lord reign with a strong hand, such 
 evils would be perpetrated every hour, and 
 no one would be safe in the house or in the 
 field. His ordinance of civil government is 
 one great means of preserving the peace of 
 society ; but this is in many cases inadequate. 
 The heart of man, when fully bent upon evil, 
 will not be intimidated or stopt by gibbets or 
 racks. 
 
 How wonderful is the love of God in giv- 
 ing his Son to die for such wretches ! And 
 how strong and absolute is the necessity of a 
 new birth if we would be happy ! Can beasts 
 and devils inherit the kindom of God ! The 
 due consideration of this subject is likewise 
 needful, to preserve believers in an humble, 
 thankful, watchful frame of spirit. Such we 
 once were, and such, with respect to the na- 
 tural principle remaining in us, which the 
 apostle calls the flesh, or the old man, we still 
 are. The propensities of fallen nature are 
 not eradicated in the children of God, though 
 by grace, they are made partakers of a new 
 principle, which enables them, in the Lord’s 
 strength, to resist and mortify the body of 
 sin, so that it cannot reign in them. Yet 
 they are liable to sad surprisals ; and the his- 
 tories of Aaron, David, Solomon, and Peter, 
 are left on record, to teach us what evil is la- 
 ent in the hearts of the best men, and what 
 they are capable of doing, if left but a little 
 to themselves. “ Lord, what is man !” 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER XXXIV. 
 
 (2.) ON MAN IN HIS FALLEN ESTATE. 
 
 ** Lord, what is man ! ” 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 The nature of fallen man agrees to the de- 
 scription the apostle has given us of his boast- 
 ed wisdom : it is earthly, sensual, devilish. I 
 have attempted some general delineation of it 
 in the preceding letter ; but the height of its 
 malignity cannot be properly estimated, un- 
 less we consider its actings with respect to the 
 light of the gospel. The Jews were extremely 
 wicked at the time of our Lord’s appearance 
 upon earth ; yet he said of them, “ If I had 
 not come and spoken to you, ye had not 
 had sin that is, as the light and power of 
 his ministry deprived them of all excuse for 
 continuing in sin, so it proved the occasion of 
 shewing their wickedness in the most aggra- 
 vated manner; and all their other sins were 
 but faint proofs of the true state of their hearts, 
 if compared with the discovery they made of 
 themselves, by their pertinacious opposition to 
 
 FALLEN ESTATE. 
 
 him. In this sense, what the apostle has ob- 
 served of the law of Moses, may be applied 
 to the gospel of Christ : it entered, that sin 
 might abound. If we would estimate the ut- 
 most exertions of human depravity, and the 
 strongest effects it is capable of producing, we 
 must select our instances from the conduct of 
 those to whom the gospel is known. The 
 Indians, who roast their enemies alive, give 
 sufficient proof that man is barbarous to his 
 own kind ; which may likewise be easily de- 
 monstrated without going so far from home * 
 but the preaching of the gospel discovers the 
 enmity of the heart against God, in ways and 
 degrees, of which unenlightened savages and 
 heathens are not capable. 
 
 By the gospel, I now mean, not merely the 
 doctrine of salvation, as it lies in the holy 
 scriptures, but that public and authoritative 
 dispensation of this doctrine which the Lord 
 Jesus Christ has committed to his true mini- 
 sters, who, having been themselves, by the 
 power of his grace, brought out of darkness 
 into marvellous light, are, by his Holy Spirit, 
 qualified and sent forth to declare to their 
 fellow-sinners, what they have seen, and felt, 
 and tasted, of the word of life. Their com- 
 mission is, to exalt the Lord alone, to stain 
 the pride of all human glory. They are to 
 set forth the evil and demerit of sin, the strict- 
 ness, spirituality, and sanction of the law of' 
 God, the total apostacy of mankind ; and from 
 these premises to demonstrate the utter im- 
 possibility of a sinner’s escaping condemna- 
 tion by any works or endeavours of his own ; 
 and then to proclaim a full and free salvation 
 from sin and wrath, by faith in the name, 
 blood, obedience, and mediation of God ma- 
 nifest in the flesh ; together with a denuncia- 
 tion of eternal misery to all who shall finally 
 reject the testimony which God has given of 
 his Son. Though these several branches of 
 the will of God respecting sinners, and other 
 truths in connection with them, are plainly 
 revealed, and repeatedly inculcated in the 
 Bible, and though the Bible is to be found in 
 almost every house, yet we see, in fact, it is 
 as a sealed book, little read, little understood, 
 and, therefore, but little regarded, except in 
 those places which the Lord is pleased to fa- 
 vour with ministers who can confirm them 
 from their own experience, and who, by a 
 sense of his constraining love, and the worth 
 of souls, are animated to make the faithful 
 discharge of their ministry the one great busi- 
 ness of their lives; who aim not to possess 
 the wealth, but to promote the welfare, of 
 their hearers ; are equally regardless of the 
 frowns or smiles of the world, and count not 
 their lives dear, so that they may be wise and 
 successful in winning souls to Christ. 
 
 When the gospel, in this sense of the word, 
 first comes to a place, though the people are 
 going on in sin, they may be said .to sin igno- 
 rantly ; they have not yet been warned pf their 
 
LET. XXXIV. (2.) ON MAN IN IIIS FALLEN ESTATE. Ill 
 
 danger. Some are drinking down iniquity like 
 water; others more soberly burying themselves 
 alive in the cares and business of the world ; 
 others find a little time for what they call re- 
 ligious duties, which they persevere in, though 
 they are utter strangers to the nature or the 
 pleasure of spiritual worship ; partly, as there- 
 by they think to bargain with God, and to 
 make amends for such sins as they do not 
 chuse to relinquish ; and partly because it 
 gratifies their pride, and affords them (as they 
 think) some ground for saying, “ God, I thank 
 thee, I am not as other men.” The preached 
 gospel declares the vanity and danger of these 
 several ways which sinners chuse to walk in. 
 It declares and demonstrates, that, different as 
 they appear from each other, they are equally 
 remote from the path of safety and peace, and 
 all tend to the same point, the destruction of 
 those who persist in them. At the same time, 
 it provides against that despair into which 
 men would be otherwise plunged, when con- 
 vinced of their sins, by revealing the im- 
 mense love of God, the glory and grace of 
 Christ, and inviting all to come to him, that 
 they may obtain pardon, life, and happiness. 
 In a word, it shews the pit of hell under men’s 
 feet, and opens the gate, and points out the 
 way to heaven. Let us now briefly observe 
 the effects it produces in those who do not re. 
 eeive it as the power of God unto salvation. 
 These effects are various, as tempers and cir- 
 cumstances vary ; but they may all lead us to 
 adopt the psalmist’s exclamation, “ Lord, 
 what is man !” 
 
 Many who have heard the gospel once or a 
 few times, will hear it no more ; it awakens 
 their scorn, their hatred, and rage. They pour 
 contempt upon the wisdom of God, despise 
 his goodness, defy his power; and their very 
 looks express the spirit of the rebellious Jews, 
 who told the prophet Jeremiah to his face, 
 “ As to the word which thou hast spoken to 
 us in the name of the Lord, we will not hear- 
 ken to thee at all.” The ministers who preach 
 it are accounted men that turn the world up- 
 side down ; and the people who receive it, 
 fools or hypocrites. The word of the Lord 
 is a burden to them, and they hate it with a 
 perfect hatred. How strongly is the disposi- 
 tion of the natural heart manifested, by the 
 confusion which often takes place in families, 
 where the Lord is pleased to awaken one or 
 two in a house, while the rest remain in their 
 sins ! To profess, or even to be suspected of 
 an attachment to the gospel of Christ, is fre- 
 quently considered and treated as the worst 
 of crimes, sufficient to cancel the strongest 
 obligations of relation or friendship. Parents, 
 upon such a provocation, will hate their child- 
 ren, and children ridicule their parents. Many 
 find, agreeably to our Lord’s declaration, that 
 from the time a sense of his love engaged 
 their hearts to love him again, their worst foes 
 have been those of their own household ; and 
 
 ihat they who expressed the greatest love and 
 tenderness for them before their conversion, 
 can now hardly bear to see them. 
 
 The bulk of a people will perhaps continue 
 to hear, at least now and then ; and to those 
 who do, the Spirit of God usually, at one time 
 or other, bears testimony to the truth. Their 
 consciences are struck, and for a season they 
 believe and tremble. But what is the con- 
 sequence ? No man who has taken poison 
 seeks more earnestly or speedily for an an- 
 tidote, than those do for something to stifle 
 and smother their convictions. They run to 
 company, to drink, to any thing, for relief 
 against the unwelcome intrusion of serious 
 thoughts ; and when they succeed, and reco- 
 ver their former indifference, they rejoice, as 
 if they had escaped some great danger. The 
 next step is, to ridicule their own convic- 
 tions; and next to that, if they see any of their 
 acquaintance under the like impressions, to 
 use every art, and strain every nerve, that 
 they may render them as obstinate as them- 
 selves. For this purpose, they watch as a 
 fowler for the bird, flatter or revile, tempt or 
 threaten ; and if they can prevail, and are the 
 occasion of hardening any in their sins, they 
 rejoice and triumph, as if they accounted it 
 their interest and their glory to ruin the souls 
 of their fellow-creatures. 
 
 By frequent hearing, they receive more 
 light. They are compelled to know, whether 
 they will or not, that the wrath of God hangs 
 over the children of disobedience. They carry 
 a sting in their consciences, and at times feel 
 themselves most miserable, and cannot but 
 wish they had never been born, or that they 
 had been dogs or toads, rather than rational 
 creatures. Yet they harden themselves still 
 more. They affect to be happy and at ease, 
 and force themselves to wear a smile, when 
 anguish preys upon their hearts. They blas- 
 pheme the way of truth, watch for the faults 
 of professors, and, with a malicious joy, 
 publish and aggravate them. They see, per- 
 haps, how the wicked die, but are not alarm- 
 ed ; they see the righteous die, but are not 
 moved. Neither providences nor ordinances, 
 mercies nor judgments, can stop them ; for 
 they are determined to go on, and perish with 
 their eyes open, rather than submit to the 
 gospel. 
 
 But they do not always openly reject the 
 gospel-truths. Some who profess to approve 
 and receive them, do thereby discover the evils 
 of the heart of man if possible in a yet strong- 
 er light. They make Christ the minister of 
 sin, and turn his grace into licentiousness. 
 Like Judas, they say, Hail Master ! and be- 
 tray him. This is the highest pitch of ini- 
 quity. They pervert all the doctrines of the 
 gospel. From election they draw an excuse 
 for continuing in their evil ways ; and con- 
 tend for salvation without works, because they 
 love not obedience. They extol the right- 
 
LET. XXXV 
 
 112 ON SOME BLEMISHES 
 
 eousness of Christ, but hold it in opposition 
 to personal holiness. In a word, because they 
 hear that God is good, they determine to per- 
 sist in evil. “ Lord, what is man !” 
 
 Thus wilful and impenitent sinners go on 
 from bad to worse, deceiving and being de- 
 ceived. The word which they despise, be- 
 comes to them a savour of death unto death. 
 They take different courses, but all are tra- 
 velling down to the pit; and, unless sove- 
 reign mercy interpose, will soon sink to rise 
 no more. The final event is usually twofold. 
 Many, after they have been more or less sha- 
 ken by the word, settle in formality. If hear- 
 ing would supply the place of faith, love, and 
 obedience, they would do well ; but by de- 
 grees they become sermon-proof. The truths 
 which once struck them, lose their power by 
 being often heard ; and thus multitudes live 
 and die in darkness, though the light has long 
 shone around them. Others are more openly 
 given up to a reprobate mind. Contempt of 
 the gospel makes infidels, deists, and atheists. 
 They are filled with a spirit of delusion to be- 
 lieve a lie. These are scoffers, walking after 
 their own lusts ; for where the principles of 
 religion are given up, the conduct will be 
 vile and abominable. Such persons sport 
 themselves with their own deceivings, and 
 strongly prove the truth of the gospel, while 
 they dispute against it. We often find that 
 people of this cast have formerly been the sub- 
 jects of strong convictions ; but when the evil 
 spirit has seemed to depart for a season, and 
 returns again, the last state of that person is 
 worse than the first. 
 
 It is not improbable that some of my read- 
 ers may meet with their own characters under 
 one or other of the views I have given of the 
 desperate wickedness of the heart, in its act- 
 ings against the truth. May the Spirit of God 
 constrain them to read with attention. Your 
 case is dangerous, but I would hope not ut- 
 terly desperate. Jesus is mighty to save. His 
 grace can pardon the most aggravated offences, 
 and subdue the most inveterate habits of sin. 
 The gospel you have hitherto slighted, resist- 
 ed, or opposed, i9 still the power of God unto 
 salvation. The blood of Jesus, upon which 
 you have hitherto trampled, speaks better 
 things than the blood of Abel, and is of vir- 
 tue to cleanse those whose sins are scarlet and 
 crimson, and to make them white as snow. 
 As yet you are spared ; but it is high time to 
 stop, to throw down your arms of rebellion, 
 and humble yourselves at his feet. If you do, 
 you may yet escape ; but if not, know assured- 
 ly that wrath is coming upon you to the ut- 
 termost : and you will shortly find, to your 
 unspeakable dismay, that it is a fearful thing 
 to fall into the hands of the living God. 
 
 J am, &c. 
 
 LETTER XXXV. 
 
 WHATSOEVER THINGS ARE LOVELY, WHATSO- 
 EVER THINGS ARE OF GOOD REPORT,— 
 
 THINK ON THESE THINGS. Phil. iv. 8. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 The precept which I have chosen for my mot- 
 to is applicable to many particulars, which are 
 but seldom and occasionally mentioned from 
 the pulpit. There are improprieties of con- 
 duct, which, though usually considered as 
 foibles that hardly deserve a severe censure, 
 are properly sinful ; for though some of them 
 may not seem to violate any express command 
 of scripture, yet they are contrary to that ac- 
 curacy and circumspection which become 
 our profession. A Christian, by the tenor of. 
 his high calling, is bound to avoid even the 
 appearance of evil ; and his deportment should 
 not only be upright as to his leading princi- 
 ples, but amiable and engaging, and as free as 
 possible from every inconsistence and blemish. 
 The characters of some valuable persons are 
 clouded ; and the influence they might other- 
 wise have, greatly counteracted by compara- 
 tively small faults ; yet faults they certainly 
 are ; and it would be well if they could be 
 made so sensible of them, and of their ill ef- 
 fects, as that they might earnestly watch, 
 and strive, and pray against them. I know 
 not how to explain myself better than by at- 
 tempting the outlines of a few portraits, to 
 each of which I apprehend some strong re- 
 semblances may be found in real life. I do 
 not wish to set my readers to work to find out 
 such resemblances among their neighbours ; 
 but would advise them to examine carefully, 
 whether they cannot, in one or other of them, 
 discover some traces of their own features. 
 And though I speak of men only, counters, 
 parts to the several characters, may, doubt- 
 less, be found here and there among the wo- 
 men : for the imperfections and evils of a fal- 
 len nature are equally entailed upon both 
 sexes. 
 
 Austerus is a solid and exemplary Chris- 
 tian. He has a deep, extensive, and experi- 
 mental knowledge of divine things. Inflexi- 
 bly and invariably true to his principles, he 
 stems with a noble singularity the torrent of 
 the world, and can neither be bribed nor in . 
 timidated from the path of duty. He is a 
 rough diamond of great intrinsic value, and 
 would sparkle, with a distinguished lustre, if 
 he were more polished. But though the word 
 of God is his daily study, and he prizes the 
 precepts, as well as the promises, more than 
 thousands of gold and silver, there is one 
 precept he seems to have overlooked : I mean 
 that of the apostle, be courteous. Instead 
 of that gentleness and condescension which 
 wijl gl.ways.be expected from a professed fol- 
 
LET. XXXV. IN CHRISTIAN 
 
 lower of the meek and lowly Jesus; there is a 
 harshness in his manner, which makes him 
 more admired than beloved; and they who 
 truly love him, often feel more constraint than 
 pleasure when in his company. His intimate 
 friends are satisfied that he is no stranger to 
 true humility of heart : but these are few. By 
 others he is thought proud, dogmatic, and self- 
 important ; nor can this prejudice against him 
 be easily removed, until he can lay aside that 
 cynical air which he has unhappily contract- 
 ed. 
 
 Humanus is generous and benevolent. His 
 feelings are lively, and his expressions of them 
 strong. No one is more distant from sordid 
 views, or less influenced by a selfish spirit. 
 His heart burns with love to Jesus, and he is 
 ready to receive, with open arms, all who love 
 his Saviour. Yet, with an upright and friend- 
 ly spirit, which entitles him to the love and 
 esteem of all who know him, he has not 
 every thing we would wish in a friend. In 
 some respects, though not in the most crimi- 
 nal sense, hebridleth not his tongue. Should 
 you, without witness or writing, intrust him 
 with untold gold, you would run no risk of 
 loss ; but if you intrust him with a secret, you 
 thereby put it in the possession of the public. 
 Not that he would wilfully betray you, but it 
 is his infirmity. He knows not how to keep 
 a secret ; it escapes from him before he is 
 aware. So, likewise, as to matters of fact: 
 in things which are of great importance, and 
 where he is sufficiently informed, no man has 
 a stricter regard to truth ; but in the smaller 
 concerns of common life, whether it be from 
 credulity, or from a strange and blameable in - 
 advertency, he frequently grieves and sur- 
 prises those who know his real character, by 
 saying the thing that is not. Thus they to 
 whom he opens his very heart, dare not make 
 him returns of equal confidence ; and they 
 who, in some cases, would venture their lives 
 upon his word, in others are afraid of telling 
 a story after him. How lamentable are such 
 blemishes in such a person ! 
 
 Pbudens, though not of a generous natural 
 temper, is a partaker of that grace which opens 
 the heart, and inspires a disposition to love 
 and to good works. He bestows not his alms 
 to be seen of men ; but they who have the 
 best opportunities of knowing what he does 
 for the relief of others, and of comparing it 
 with his ability, can acquit him in good mea- 
 sure of the charge which another part of his 
 conduct exposes him to. For Prudens is a 
 great economist; and though he would not 
 willingly wrong or injure any person, yet the 
 meanness to which he will submit, either to 
 save or gain a penny, in what he accounts an 
 honest way, are a great discredit to his profes- 
 sion. He is punctual in fulfilling his engage- 
 ments ; but exceedingly hard, strict, and sus- 
 picious in making his bargains. And in his 
 dress, and every article of his personal con- 
 
 CIIARACTERS. 113 
 
 cerns, he is content to be so much below 
 the station in which the providence of God has 
 placed him, that to those who are not ac- 
 quainted with his private benefactions to the 
 poor, he appears under the hateful character of 
 a miser, and to be governed by that love of 
 money which the scriptures declare to be the 
 root of all evil, and inconsistent with the true 
 love of God and of the saints. 
 
 Volatilis is sufficiently exact in performing 
 his promises in such instances as he thinks of 
 real importance. If he bids a person depend 
 upon his assistance he will not disappoint his 
 expectations. Perhaps he is equally sincere 
 in all his promises at the time of making them ; 
 but for want of method in the management of 
 his affairs, he is always in a hurry, always too 
 late, and has always some engagement upon 
 his hands with which it is impossible he can 
 comply. Yet he goes on in this way, expos- 
 ing himself and others to continual disappoint- 
 ments. He accepts, without a thought, pro- 
 posals which are incompatible with each other, 
 and will perhaps undertake to be at two or 
 three different and distant places at the same 
 hour. This has been so long his practice that 
 nobody now expects him till they see him. In 
 other respects he is a good sort of man ; but 
 this want of punctuality, which runs through 
 his whole deportment, puts every thing out of 
 course in which he is concerned, abroad and 
 at home. Volatilis excuses himself as well 
 as he can, and chiefly by alledging, that the 
 things in which he fails are of no great conse- 
 quence. But he would do well to remember, 
 that truth is a sacred thing, and ought not to 
 be violated in the smallest matters, without an 
 unforeseen and unavoidable prevention. Such 
 a trifling turn of spirit lessens the weight of a 
 person’s character, though he makes no pre- 
 tensions to religion, and is still a greater ble- 
 mish in a professor. 
 
 Cessator is not chargeable with being bu- 
 ried in the cares and business of the present 
 life, to the neglect of the one thing needful ; 
 but he greatly neglects the duties of his sta- 
 tion. Had he been sent into the world only 
 to read, pray, hear sermons, and join in reli- 
 gious conversation, he might pass for an emi- 
 nent Christian. But though it is to be hoped, 
 that his abounding in these exercises springs 
 from a heart-attachment to divine things, his 
 conduct evidences that his judgment is weak, 
 and his views of his Christian calling are very 
 narrow and defective. He does not consider 
 that waiting upon God in the public and 
 private ordinances, is designed, not to excuse 
 us from a discharge of the duties of civil life, 
 but to instruct, strengthen, and qualify us for 
 their performance. His affairs are in disor- 
 der, and his family and connections are likely 
 to suffer by his indolence. He thanks God 
 that he is not worldly-minded ; but he is an 
 idle and unfaithful member of society, and 
 causes the way of truth to be evil spoken of. 
 P 
 
LET. XXXVI. 
 
 114 TO A GAY FRIEND, ON 
 
 Of such the apostle has determined, that “ if 
 any man will not work, neither should he 
 eat.” 
 
 Curiosus is upright and unblameable in his 
 general deportment, and no stranger to the 
 experiences of a true Christian. His conver- 
 sation upon these subjects is often satisfactory 
 and edifying. He would be a much more 
 agreeable companion, were it not for an im- 
 pertinent desire of knowing every body’s 
 business, and the grounds of every hint that 
 is occasionally dropped in discourse where he is 
 present. This puts him upon asking a mul- 
 tiplicity of needless and improper questions, 
 and obliges those who know him, to be con- 
 tinually upon their guard, and to treat him 
 with reserve. He catechises even strangers, 
 and is unwilling to part with them till he is 
 punctually informed of all their connections, 
 employments, and designs. For this idle 
 curiosity he is marked and avoided as a busy- 
 body ; and they who have the best opinion of 
 him cannot but wonder, that a man, who ap- 
 pears to have so many better things to em- 
 ploy his thoughts, should find leisure to amuse 
 himself with what does not at all concern him. 
 Were it not for the rules of civility he would 
 be affronted every day : and if he would at- 
 tend to the cold and evasive answers he re- 
 ceives to his inquiries, or even to the looks 
 with which they are accompanied, he might 
 learn, that, though he means no harm, he 
 appears to a great disadvantage, and that this 
 prying disposition is very unpleasing. 
 
 Querulus wastes much of his precious time 
 in declaiming against the management of 
 public affairs ; though he has neither access 
 to the springs which move the wheels of go- 
 vernment, nor influence either to accelerate 
 or retard their motions. Our national con- 
 cerns are no more affected by the remon- 
 strances of Querulus, than the heavenly bo- 
 dies are by the disputes of astronomers. 
 While the newspapers are the chief sources 
 of his intelligence, and his situation precludes 
 him from being a competent judge, either of 
 matters of fact, or matters of right, why 
 should Querulus trouble himself with poli- 
 tics ? This would be a weakness, if we con. 
 sider him only as a member of society j but 
 if we consider him as a Christian, it is worse 
 than weakness ; it is a sinful conformity to 
 the men of the world, who look no farther 
 than to second causes, and forget that the 
 Lord reigns. If a Christian be placed in a 
 public sphere of action, he should undoubted- 
 ly be faithful to his calling, and endeavour, 
 by all lawful methods, to transmit our privi- 
 leges to posterity ; but it would be better for 
 Querulus to let the dead bury their dead. 
 There are people enough to make a noise 
 about political matters, who know not how 
 to employ their time to better purpose. Our 
 Lord’s kingdom is not of this world ; and 
 most of his people may do their country much 
 
 more essential service by pleading for it in 
 prayer, than by finding fault with things 
 which they have no power to alter. If Que- 
 rulus had opportunity of spending a few 
 months under some of the governments upon 
 the continent, I may indeed say, under any 
 of them, he would probably bring home with 
 him a more grateful sense of the Lord’s good- 
 ness to him, in appointing his lot in Britain. 
 As it is, his zeal is not only unprofitable to 
 others, but hurtful to himself. It embitters 
 his spirit, it diverts his thoughts from things 
 of greater importance, and prevents him from 
 feeling the value of those blessings, civil and 
 religious, which he actually possesses ; and 
 could he, as he wishes, prevail on many to 
 act in the same spirit, the governing powers 
 might be irritated to take every opportunity 
 of abridging that religious liberty which we 
 are favoured with, above all the nations upon 
 earth. Let me remind Querulus, that the 
 hour is approaching, when many things, which 
 at present too much engross his thoughts 
 and inflame his passions, will appear as fo- 
 reign to him, as what is now transacting among 
 the Tartars or Chinese. 
 
 Other improprieties of conduct, which les- 
 sen the influence and spot the profession of 
 some who wish well to the cause of Christ, 
 might be enumerated, but these may suffice 
 for a specimen. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER XXXVI. 
 
 TO A GAY FRIEND, ON HIS RECOVERY FROM 
 ILLNESS. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 I suppose you will receive many congratula- 
 tions on your recovery from your late dan- 
 gerous illness ; most of them, perhaps, more 
 sprightly and better turned, but none, I per- 
 suade myself, more sincere and affectionate 
 than mine. I beg you would prepare your- 
 self by this good opinion of me, before you 
 read further ; and let the reality of my regard 
 excuse what you may dislike in my manner of 
 expressing it. 
 
 When a person is returned from a doubtful, 
 distant voyage, we are naturally led to in- 
 quire into the incidents he has met with, and 
 the discoveries he has made. Indulge me in 
 a curiosity of this kind, especially as my af 
 fection gives me an interest and concern in 
 the event. You have been, my friend, upon 
 the brink, the very edge of an eternal state ; 
 but God has restored you back to the world 
 again. Did you meet with, or have you 
 brought back, nothing new ? Did nothing 
 occur to stop or turn your usual train of 
 thought? Were your apprehensions of invi- 
 sible things exactly the same in the height of 
 
let. xxxvl 
 
 your disorder, when you were cut off from 
 the world and all its engagements, as when 
 you were in perfect health, and in the highest 
 enjoyment of your own inclinations ? If you 
 answer me, “ Yes, all things are just the same 
 as formerly, the difference between sickness 
 and health only excepted I am at a loss 
 how to reply. I can only sigh and wonder : 
 sigh, that it should be thus with any, that it 
 should be thus with you, whom I dearly 
 love ; and wonder, since this unhappy case, 
 strange as it seems in one view, is yet so fre- 
 quent, why it was not always thus with my- 
 self ; for long and often it was just so. Many 
 a time, when sickness had brought me, as we 
 say, to death's door, I was as easy and insen- 
 sible as the sailor, who, in the height of a 
 storm, should presume to sleep upon the top 
 of the mast, quite regardless, that the next 
 tossing wave might plunge him into the rag- 
 ing ocean, beyond all possibility of relief. 
 But at length a day came, which, though the 
 most terrible day 1 ever saw, I can now look 
 back upon with thankfulness and pleasure ; I 
 say, the time came, when, in such a helpless 
 extremity, and under the expectation of im- 
 mediate death, it pleased God to command 
 the vail from my eyes, and I saw things in 
 some measure as they really were. Imagine 
 with yourself, a person trembling upon the 
 point of a dreadful precipice, a powerful and 
 inexorable enemy eager to push him down, 
 and an assemblage of all that is horrible wait- 
 ing at the bottom for his fall ; even this will 
 give you but a faint representation of the 
 state of my mind at that time. Believe me, 
 it was not a whim, or a dream, which changed 
 my sentiments and conduct, but a powerful 
 conviction, which will not admit the least 
 doubt ; an evidence which, like that I have 
 of my own existence, I cannot call in ques- 
 tion, without contradicting all my senses. 
 And though my case was in some respects 
 uncommon, yet something like it is known by 
 one and another every day ; and I have my- 
 self conversed with many, who, after a course 
 of years spent in defending deistical princi- 
 ples, or indulging libertine practices, when 
 they have thought themselves confirmed in 
 their schemes by the cool assent of what they 
 then deemed impartial reason, have been, like 
 me, brought to glory in the cross of Christ, 
 and to live by that faith which they had before 
 slighted and opposed. By these instances, I 
 know that nothing is too hard for the Al- 
 mighty. The same power which humbled 
 me, can undoubtedly bring down the most 
 haughty infidel upon earth. And as I like- 
 wise knew, that, to shew his power, he is 
 often pleased to make use of weak instru- 
 ments, I am encouraged, notwithstanding 
 the apparent difficulty of succeeding, to warn 
 those, over whom friendship or affection gives 
 me any influence, of the evil and the danger 
 of a course of life formed upon the prevailing 
 
 115 
 
 maxims of the world. So far as I neglect 
 this, I am unfaithful in my professions, both 
 to God and man. 
 
 I shall not at present trouble you in an ar- 
 gumentative way. If by dint of reasoning I 
 could effect some change in your notions, my 
 arguments, unless applied by a superior 
 power, would still leave your heart unchanged 
 and untouched. A man may give his assent 
 to the gospel, and be able to defend it against 
 others, and yet not have his own spirit truly 
 influenced by it. This thought I shall leave 
 with you, that if your scheme be not true to 
 a demonstration, it must necessarily be false ; 
 for the issue is too important to make a doubt 
 on the dangerous side tolerable. If the 
 Christian could possibly be mistaken, he is 
 still upon equal terms with those who pro- 
 nounce him to be so : but if the deist be 
 wrong (that is, if we are in the right), the 
 consequence to him must be unavoidable and 
 intolerable. This, you will say, is a trite 
 argument : I own it ; but, beaten as it is, it 
 will never be worn out or answered. 
 
 Permit me to remind you that the points in 
 debate between us are already settled in them- 
 selves, and that our talking cannot alter or 
 affect the nature of things, for they will be as 
 they are, whatever apprehensions we may form 
 of them ; and remember, likewise, that we 
 must all, each one for himself, experience on 
 which side the truth lies. I used a wrong 
 word when I spoke of your recovery : my dear 
 friend, look upon it only as a reprieve , for you 
 carry the sentence of death about with you still, 
 and, unless you should be cut off (which God 
 of his mercy forbid !) by a sudden stroke, you 
 will as surely lie upon a deathbed as you have 
 been now raised from a bed of sickness ; and 
 remember likewise (how can I bear to write 
 it !) that should you neglect my admonitions, 
 they will, notwithstanding, have an effect upon 
 you, though not such an effect as I could wish : 
 they will render you more inexcusable. I 
 have delivered my own soul by faithfully warn- 
 ing you : but if you will not examine the mat- 
 ter with that seriousness it calls for ; if you 
 will not look up to God, the former of your 
 body and the preserver of your spirit, for di- 
 rection and assistance how to please him ; if 
 you will have your reading and conversation 
 only on one side of the question ; if you de- 
 termine to let afflictions and dangers, mercies 
 and deliverances, all pass without reflection 
 and improvement ; if you will spend your life 
 as though you thought you were sent into the 
 world only to eat, sleep, and play, and, after 
 a course of years, be extinguished like the 
 snuff of a candle ; — why, then, you must abide 
 the consequences. But assuredly, sooner or 
 later, God will meet you. My hearty daily 
 prayer is, that it may be in a way of mercy, 
 and that you may be added to the number of 
 the trophies of his invincible grace. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 RECOVERY FROM ILLNESS. 
 
116 
 
 LET. XXXVII. 
 
 ON CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE. 
 
 LETTER XXXVII. 
 
 SOME POINTS OF CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE CON- 
 SIDERED. 
 
 TO A FRIEND. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 I trust the difference of our sentiments, 
 since we are agreed in the one thing needful, 
 will no more interrupt our union and fellow- 
 ship than the difference of our features or the 
 tone of our voices. I wish you to believe that 
 I would be no advocate for carelessness or 
 formality. I hope my conscience bears me 
 witness that, besides trusting in the letter of 
 scripture, I likewise desire an increase of that 
 inward and comfortable sense of divine things, 
 in which I believe you are happy ; and that I 
 wish not only to be a subject of the kingdom 
 of Jesus, but likewise to have that kingdom 
 powerfully set up in my heart, which consists of 
 righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. 
 Indeed I see not how these can be distinguished, 
 or what ground I could have to think myself 
 a subject of his kingdom, unless I earnestly de- 
 sired to have that kingdom in all its branches 
 and blessings flourishing in my soul. I do 
 not know that I live in the neglect of any 
 means appointed of God for my growth in 
 these blessings, or willingly allow myself in 
 what is inconsistent with them : I think my 
 heart is habitually in the pursuit of them, and 
 that there is seldom an hour in any day when 
 lively communion with my God, in Christ, is 
 not present to my view as the chief good. To 
 this purpose, through grace, I can venture 
 to express myself to man, though still it is 
 true, when I come before the Lord, notwith- 
 standing the diligence and circumspection I 
 would aim at, I see myself a poor inconsist- 
 ent creature, that my strength is perfect weak- 
 ness, and all I have is sin. I confess I am 
 afraid of fixing the criterion of a work of 
 grace too high, lest the mourners in Zion 
 should be discouraged ; because I find it is 
 the will of God that such should not be dis- 
 couraged, but comforted, and because it ap- 
 pears to me that the scriptural marks have re- 
 spect rather to desires, if real, than to attain- 
 ments, or at least to those attainments which 
 are often possessed by persons who are kept 
 very short of sensible comforts, Math. v. 3—9, 
 Luke xviii. 12. 13, 1 Pet. ii. 7. 
 
 The points between you and me seem chiefly 
 the following : 1. When may a person be pro- 
 perly denominated a believer ? 2. What are 
 the proper evidences and necessary concomi- 
 tants of a lively, thriving frame of spirit? 
 3. Whether such a degree of faithfulness to 
 light received as is consistent with the rem- 
 nant of a depraved nature in our present state 
 will certainly and always preserve our souls 
 
 from declensions and winter-seasons? 4. Whe- 
 ther that gracious humility which arises from 
 a due sense of our own vileness and of the 
 riches of divine grace be ordinarily attainable 
 without some mortifying experience of the 
 deceitfulness and desperate wickedness of our 
 own hearts ? A few lines upon each of these 
 particulars will, I think, take in the chief parts 
 of your letter. 
 
 1. We differ something with respect to what 
 constitutes a believer. I own nothing has sur- 
 prised me more, in the course of our friendly 
 debate, than your supposing that a person 
 should date his conversion and his commen- 
 cing a believer from the time of his receiving 
 the gospel-truths with that clearness and powder 
 as to produce in him an abiding assurance. 
 The apostle, in Eph. i. 13, makes a plain dis- 
 tinction between believing and being sealed 
 with the Holy Spirit of promise. By the ex- 
 perience and observation of many years, I 
 have been more and more persuaded, that 
 to represent assurance as being of the es- 
 sence of faith, is not agreeable to scripture, 
 which, in many places, either expressly as- 
 serts or strongly intimates the contrary, John 
 i. 50, and xx. 29, Rom. x. 9, 1 John v. 1 
 Whoever is not a believer must be an unbe- 
 liever ; there can be no medium. Either 
 there are many believers who have not as- 
 surance, or else there are many unbelievers 
 who love the Lord Jesus, hate sin, are poor 
 in spirit, and adorn the doctrine of the gos- 
 pel by their temper and conversation ; and 
 I doubt not but those who now have assur- 
 ance, had, before they attained it, a some- 
 thing which wrought by love, and overcame 
 the world. I know no principle capable of 
 these effects but faith, which, though at first 
 it be like a grain of mustard-seed, is the seed 
 of God : though it be faint, it is genuine, as 
 the-dawning of light is of the same nature 
 with that w'hich flows from the noon-day sun. 
 I allow that, while faith is weak, there may 
 be little solid comfort, if by that expression 
 abiding comfort be meant. Faith gives safety 
 and spiritual life ; abiding peace and establish - 
 ment follow the sealing of the Spirit. But 
 though an infant has not the strength, acti- 
 vity, and understanding, which he will attain 
 when he arrives to the age of manhood, he is 
 as fully possessed of a principle of life while 
 he is an infant as at any time afterwards. 
 
 2. We seem to differ likewise as to the 
 marks of a lively, thriving spirit ; at least if 
 any are supposed to be better or. surer than 
 those to which our Lord has promised blessed- 
 ness, Matth. v. 3—9. He has said, “ Blessed 
 are they that mourn but he has not said, 
 More blessed are they that are comforted. 
 They are, to be sure, more happy at present ; 
 but their blessedness consists not in their pre- 
 sent comforts, but in those perceptions of gos- 
 pel-truths which form them to that contrite 
 spirit in which God delighteth, Is. lvii. 1&, 
 
LET. XXXVII. 
 
 and which make them capable of divine com- 
 forts, and spiritual hungering and thirsting 
 after them. Perhaps we do not argue ad 
 idem; we may mean different things. I 
 would not represent myself as a stranger to 
 peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. In the 
 midst of all my conflicts I have a heartfelt sa- 
 tisfaction from the gospel, which nothing else 
 could give. But I mean, though this be 
 with me as an abiding principle, it rarely af- 
 fords me what I think you intend when you 
 speak of sensible comforts. I cannot feel 
 that warmth of heart, that glowing of love, 
 which the knowledge of such a Saviour should 
 inspire. I account it my sin, and I feel it 
 my burden, that I cannot. And when I 
 truly do this, when I can abhor myself for 
 my stupidity, mourn over it, and humbly look 
 up to the Lord for relief against it, I judge 
 my soul to be at such times as much alive to 
 God as it would be if he saw fit to increase 
 my comfort. Let me always either rejoice in 
 him or mourn after him : I would leave the 
 alternative to him, who knows best how to 
 suit his dispensations to my state ; and 1 
 trust he knows that I do not say this because 
 I set a small value upon his presence. As to 
 the experience of the apostles, I believe they 
 were patterns to all succeeding believers : 
 but, with some regard to the several trials and 
 services to which we may be Called in this 
 world, he distributes severally to all his peo- 
 ple according to his own will, yet with a wise 
 and gracious accommodation to the circum- 
 stances and situations of each. The apostle 
 Paul connects the abounding of his console 
 tions with the abounding of his afflictions, 
 and with the state of the people to whom he 
 preached, 2 Cor. i 4 — 7 ; and if, instead of 
 preaching the gospel from Jerusalem to Illy- 
 ricum in the face of persecution, he had lived 
 in a land of liberty, and been confined to a 
 parochial cure, for aught I know, his cup 
 might not have run over so often. Succeed- 
 ing ministers of the gospel, when called to 
 very laborious and painful services, have, for 
 the like reasons, been often favoured with a 
 double portion of that joy which makes hard 
 things easy and bitter things sweet ; and, in 
 general, all the Lord’s people who walk hum- 
 bly before him, may expect that in, or after 
 seasons of great trial, and in proportion to 
 their pressures, he will favour them with pe- 
 culiar comforts. It is in this way he, in a 
 great measure, fulfils his promise of making 
 their strength equal to their day ; and I am 
 enabled to trust him in this matter, that if 
 he should, at any time, see fit to call me to 
 a more difficult and dangerous sphere of ser- 
 vice, or lead me into the furnace of affliction, 
 he would, if he saw it needful, support and 
 refresh me by such manifestations of his glory 
 and love, as I know but little of at present. 
 In a word, an humble, dependent frame of 
 spirit, perseverance in the use of appointed 
 
 117 
 
 means, care to avoid all occasions of sin, an 
 endeavour to glorify God in our callings, and 
 an eye to Jesus as our all in all ; — these things 
 are to me sure indications that the soul is 
 right, that the Lord is present, and that grace 
 is thriving and in exercise, whether sensible 
 consolations abound or not. 
 
 3. I propose the third question, concerning 
 such a degree of faithfulness to light received, 
 as is consistent with the remnants of a deprav- 
 ed nature, because I apprehend one effect of 
 indwelling sin is, to render it morally impos- 
 sible for us to be entirely faithful to that light 
 and power which God has given us. It may 
 sound like a contradiction, to say we cannot do 
 what we can do ; but there are many enigma?, 
 in a believer’s experience, at least in mine ; 
 and I never expect to meet the man that 
 knows his own heart, that will say he is al- 
 ways faithful, diligent, and obedient, to the full 
 extent of his ability ; I rather expect he would 
 confess with me, that he feels a need of more 
 ability, and fresh supplies of grace, to enable 
 him to make a better improvement of w hat he 
 had already received. If some, as you sup- 
 pose, in their dullest frames can read the 
 Bible, go to the throne of grace, and mourn 
 (as they ought) over what is amiss, I must say 
 for myself, I can, and I cannot. Without 
 doubt I can take the Bible in my hand, and 
 force myself to read it; I can kneel down, 
 and I can see I ought to mourn ; but to un- 
 derstand and attend to what I read, to en- 
 gage my heart in prayer, or to be duly hum- 
 bled under the sense of so dark and dissipated 
 a state of mind ; these things at some seasons, 
 I can no more do than I can raise the dead, 
 and yet I cannot plead positive inability ; I 
 am satisfied that what prevents me is my sin, 
 but it is the sin of my nature, the sin that 
 dwelletfh in me : and I expect it w r ill be thus 
 with me at times, in a greater or less degree, 
 till this body of sin shall be wholly destroyed. 
 Yet I believe the Lord is with me, even when 
 he seems to be absent, otherwise my corrup- 
 tions, at such seasons, might easily prevail to 
 betray me into open or allowed sin, which, 
 blessed be the grace and care of my good 
 Shepherd, is not the case. I know not if I 
 rightly understand the expression, “We may 
 humbly hope, that those things we fall into, 
 which are not in our power to prevent, wdll 
 not be set to our account.” The least of the 
 evils I feel, and which seem most involuntary, 
 if set to my account, w r ould ruin me ; and I 
 trust, that even my worst deviations shall not 
 appear against me, because I am a believer in 
 Jesus ; and I know, and am sure, that I do 
 not wish to continue in sin that grace may 
 abound. My conscience bears me witness, 
 that I would not desire the rule of duty to be 
 narrowed or accommodated to my imperfections 
 in a single instance. If the expression only 
 means, that these unavoidable effects of out 
 evil nature should n«t break our peace of con* 
 
 ON CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE. 
 
118 ON RELIGION AS NECESSARY TO LET. xxxvm 
 
 science, or discourage us in our approaches 
 to God, I am of the same mind ; through 
 mercy I have seldom any more doubt of my 
 acceptance in the Beloved, when in a dark 
 frame than when I am most favoured with 
 liberty. 
 
 4. Whether true evangelical humility, and 
 an enlarged view of the grace of God in 
 Christ, triumphing over all obstacles, be ordi- 
 narily attainable without an experience of de- 
 clensions, backslidings, and repeated forgive- 
 ness, is the last question I shall consider. I 
 dare say you will do me the justice to believe, 
 that I would not advise any one to run into 
 sin in order to get a knowledge of his own 
 heart. David broke his bones thereby : he 
 obtained an affecting proof of his inability of 
 standing in his own strength, and of the skill 
 and goodness of his Physician who healed 
 him ; yet no man in his wits would break his 
 bones for the sake of making experiments, if 
 he were ever so sure they would be well set 
 again. You think that a believer is never 
 more humble in his own eyes, or admires Jesus 
 more, than when he is filled with joy and peace. 
 I readily allow, that the present impressions 
 of divine love are humbling : however, the di- 
 rect tendency of gracious consolations in them- 
 selves is one thing ; what evils they may after- 
 wards occasion through the desperate depravity 
 of our hearts, is another. We have a memora- 
 ble case in point to explain my meaning. The 
 apostle Paul’s recollection of his course while 
 in a natural state, and the singular manner of 
 his conversion, were evidently suited to make 
 him an humble Christian, and he was so. By 
 an especial favour of the Lord, he was after- 
 wards taken up into the third heaven ; what 
 he saw or heard there he has not told us, but 
 surely he met with nothing that could have 
 a tendency to make him proud ; doubtless he 
 saw Jesus in his glory, and the humble spiri- 
 tual worship of heaven ; a sight which we 
 might deem sufficient to make him walk in 
 self-abasement all the days of his life: but 
 Paul, though an eminent saint, was still liable 
 to the effects of indwelling sin ; he was in 
 danger of being exalted through the abund- 
 ance of revelations, and the Lord, his wise 
 and gracious keeper, saw fit, in order to pre- 
 vent it, that a messenger from Satan should 
 be given him to buffet him. Pride is so sub- 
 tle, that it can gather strength, even from 
 those gracious manifestations which seem di- 
 rectly calculated to mortify it ; so dangerous, 
 that a messenger from Satan himself may be 
 esteemed a mercy, if over-ruled and sanctified 
 by the Lord, to make or keep us more hum- 
 ble ; therefore, though we can never be too 
 earnest in striving against sin, too watchful in 
 abstaining from all appearance of evil, and 
 though they who wait upon the Lord may 
 comfortably hope, that he will preserve them 
 from such things as would dishonour their 
 profession in the sight of men, yet I appre- 
 
 hend they who appear most to adorn the gos- 
 pel in their outward conversation, are consci- 
 ous of many things between the Lord and 
 their own souls, which covers them with shame, 
 and that his tenderness and mercy to them, 
 notwithstanding their perverseness, constrains 
 them with admiration to adopt the language 
 of Micah, “ Who is a God like unto thee, 
 that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the 
 transgression of the remnant of his heri- 
 tage ?” and I believe likewise, that, without 
 such striking and repeated proofs of what is 
 in their hearts, they would not so feelingly 
 enter into the spirit of Job’s confession, “ Be- 
 hold, I am vile!” nor would they have such 
 a lively sense of their obligations to the mer- 
 ciful care and faithfulness of their great Shep- 
 herd, or of their entire and absolute depend- 
 ence upon him, for wisdom, righteousness, 
 sanctification, and redemption. I find these 
 considerations useful and necessary to recon- 
 cile me to my lot. The Lord knows what I 
 need, and what I can bear : gladly would I 
 receive, earnestly would I desire, more of 
 comforts while here ; but if I mourn now, I 
 hope to be comforted in heaven. In the mean 
 time it is more immediately necessary for me, 
 both as a Christian and as a minister, that I 
 should be humbled ; the Lord’s will be done. 
 I cannot pretend to determine what ministers, 
 or what body of people come nearest the cha- 
 racter of the primitive times, but in my judg- 
 ment they are the happiest who have the low- 
 est thoughts of themselves, and in whose eyes 
 Jesus is most glorious and precious. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER XXXVIII. 
 
 THAT TRUE RELIGION IS NECESSARY, IN ORDER 
 TO THE BEST ENJOYMENT OF THE PLEA- 
 SURES OF THE PRESENT LIFE. 
 
 TO A GAY FRIEND. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 Though I truly love you, and have no reason 
 to doubt of the reality of your friendship to 
 me ; yet I cannot but apprehend, that not- 
 withstanding our mutual regard, and my fre- 
 quent attempts to be witty, if I could, for 
 your diversion, there is a something in most 
 of my letters (which I cannot, dare not, wholly 
 suppress), that disgusts and wearies you, and 
 makes you less inclined to keep up a frequent 
 intercourse than you would otherwise be. Ra- 
 ther than lose you quite, I will in general 
 spare you as much as I can ; but at present 
 you must bear with me, and allow me full 
 scope. You have given me a challenge, which 
 I know not how to pass over ; and since you 
 so far justify my preaching, as to condescend 
 to preach (in your way) yourself, permit me, 
 
LET. XXXVIII. 
 
 for this time, to preach again, and to take 
 some passages in your letter for my text. 
 
 In the present debate, I will accept your 
 compliment, and suppose myself to be, as you 
 say, a man of sense. You allow, then, that 
 all the sense is not on your side. This, in- 
 deed, you cannot deny ; for whatever becomes 
 of me, it is needless to tell you, that Hale, 
 Boyle, and other great names I could men- 
 tion, were men of as great penetration and 
 judgment, had as good opportunities, and 
 took as much pains to be informed of the 
 truth, as any of the advocates for infidelity 
 can pretend to. And you cannot, with any 
 modesty or consistence, absolutely determine, 
 that they had not as good grounds for think- 
 ing themselves right, as you can have for con - 
 eluding they were wrong. 
 
 But, declining the advantage of human au- 
 thority, I am content the point should rest be- 
 tween you and me. And here I beg you to 
 observe, that I have one evident advantage over 
 you in judging, namely, that I have experi- 
 enced the good and evil on both sides, and 
 you only on one. If you were to send me an 
 inventory of your pleasures, how charmingly 
 your time runs on, and how dexterously it is 
 divided between the coffee-houses, play-house, 
 the card-table, and tavern, with intervals of 
 balls, concerts, &c. ; I could answer, that most 
 of these I have tried, and tried again, and know 
 the utmost they can yield, and have seen en- 
 ough of the rest, most heartily to despise them 
 all. Setting religion entirely out of the ques- 
 tion, I profess I had rather be a worm to crawl 
 upon the ground, than to bear the name of 
 Man upon the poor terms of whiling away my 
 life in an insipid round of such insignificant 
 and unmanly trifles. I will return your own 
 expression, — I believe you to be a person of 
 sense ; but alas ! how do you prostitute your 
 talents and capacity ; how far do you act be- 
 low yourself, if you know no higher purpose 
 of life than these childish dissipations, toge- 
 ther with the more serious business of rising 
 early and sitting up late, to amass money, 
 that you may be able to enlarge your expenses ! 
 I am sure, while I lived in these things, I 
 found them unsatisfying and empty to the last 
 degree ; and the only advantage they afforded 
 (miserable are they who are forced to deem it 
 an advantage) w r as, that they often relieved 
 me from the trouble and burden of thinking. 
 If you have any other pleasures than these, 
 they are such as must be evil and inconve- 
 nient, even upon your own plan ; and, there- 
 fore, my friendship will not allow me to bring 
 them into the account. I am willing to hope 
 you do not stoop still lower in pursuit of sa- 
 tisfaction. Thus far we stand upon even 
 ground. You know all that a life of pleasure 
 can give, and I know it likewise. 
 
 On the other hand, if I should attempt to 
 explain to you the source and streams of my 
 best pleasures, such as a comfortable assur- 
 
 119 
 
 ance of the pardon of my sins, an habitual 
 communion with the God who made heaven 
 and earth, a calm reliance on the divine pro- 
 vidence, the cheering prospect of a better life 
 in a better world, with the pleasing foretastes 
 of heaven in my own soul ; should I, or could 
 I, tell you the pleasure I often find in read- 
 ing the scriptures, in the exercise of prayer, 
 and in that sort of preaching and converse 
 tion which you despise ; I doubt not but you 
 would think as meanly of my happiness as I 
 do of yours. But here lies the difference, my 
 dear friend, you condemn that which you 
 have never tried. You know no more of these 
 things than a blind man does of colours ; and, 
 notwithstanding all your flourishes, I defy 
 you to be at all times able to satisfy yourself, 
 that things may not possibly be as I have re- 
 presented them. 
 
 Besides, what do I lose upon my plan, that 
 should make me so worthy of your pity ? 
 Have you a quicker relish in the prudent use 
 of temporal comforts ? Do you think I do 
 not eat my food with as much pleasure as you 
 can do, though, perhaps, with less cost and 
 variety ? Is your sleep sounder than mine ? 
 Have not I as much satisfaction in social life? 
 It is true, to join much with the gay flutter- 
 ing tribe, who spend their days in laugh and 
 sing-song, is equally contrary to my duty and 
 inclination. But I have friends and acquaint- 
 ance as well as you. Among the many who 
 favour me with their esteem and friendship, 
 there are some who are persons of sense, 
 learning, wit, and (what, perhaps, may weigh 
 as much with you) of fortune and distinction. 
 And if you should say, “ Ay, but they are 
 all enthusiasts like yourself,” you would say 
 nothing to the purpose, since, upon your 
 maxim, that “ happiness is according to opi- 
 nion,” it cannot be an objection, but the con- 
 trary, to have my acquaintance to my own 
 taste. Thus much for the brighter side of 
 your situation ; or, let me add one thing more. 
 I know you have thoughts of marriage ; do 
 you think, if you should enter into this rela- 
 tion, your principles are calculated to make 
 you more happy in it than I am ? You are 
 well acquainted with our family-life. Do you 
 propose to know more of the peace and heart- 
 felt joy of domestic union than I have known, 
 and continue to know to this hour ? I wish 
 you may equal us; and if you do, we shall 
 still be as before, but upon even ground. I 
 need not turn deist, to enjoy the best and the 
 most that this life can afford. 
 
 But I need not tell you, that the present 
 life is not made up of pleasureable incidents 
 only. Pain, sickness, losses, disappointments, 
 injuries, and affronts with men, will more or 
 less, at one time or other be our lot. And 
 can you bear these trials better than I ? You 
 will not pretend to it. Let me appeal to 
 yourself : How often do you toss and dis- 
 
 quiet yourself, like a wild bull in a net, when 
 
 THE ENJOYMENT OF LIFE. 
 
LET. XXXIX 
 
 A WORD IN SEASON. 
 
 120 
 
 things cross your expectations ? As your 
 thoughts are more engrossed by what you 
 see, you must be more keenly sensible of 
 what you feel. You cannot view these trials 
 as appointed by a wise and heavenly Father, 
 in subservience to your good : you cannot 
 taste the sweetness of his promises, nor feel the 
 secret supports of his strength, in an hour of 
 affliction ; you cannot so cast your burden 
 and care upon him, as to find a sensible relief 
 to your spirit thereby ; nor can you see his 
 hand engaged and employed in effecting your 
 deliverance. Of these tilings you know no 
 more than of the art of flying ; but I seriously 
 assure you, and I believe my testimony will 
 go farther with you than my judgment, that 
 they are realities, and that I have found them 
 to be so. When my worldly concerns have 
 been most thorny and discouraging, I have 
 once and again felt the most of that peace 
 which the world can neither give nor take 
 away. However, I may state the case still 
 lower. You do pretty well among your 
 friends ; but how do you like being alone ? 
 Would you not give something for that happy 
 secret, which could enable you to pass a 
 rainy day pleasantly, without the assistance of 
 business, company, or amusement ? Would 
 it not mortify you greatly to travel for a week 
 in an unfrequented road, where you should 
 meet with no lively incidents to recruit and 
 raise your spirits ? Alas ! what a poor scheme 
 of pleasure is yours, that will not support an 
 interval of reflection ! 
 
 What you have heard is true : I have a 
 few friends, who meet at my house once a- 
 fortnight, and we spend an hour or two in 
 worshipping the God who made us. And can 
 this move your indignation or your com pas- 
 sion ? Does it shew a much nobler spirit, a 
 more refined way of thinking, to live altoge- 
 ther without God in the world ? If I kept a 
 card-assembly at those times, it would not dis- 
 please you. How can you, as a person of 
 sense, avoid being shocked at your own un- 
 happy prejudice ? But I remember how it 
 was once with myself, and forbear to wonder. 
 May He who has opened my eyes, open yours. 
 He only can do it. I do not expect to con- 
 vince you by any thing I can say as of myself ; 
 but if He is pleased to make use of me as his 
 instrument, then you will be convinced. How 
 should I then rejoice ! I should rejoice to be 
 useful to any one, but especially to you, whom 
 I dearly love. May God shew you your true 
 self, and your true state; then you will at- 
 tentively listen to what you now disdain to 
 hear of, his goodness in providing redemption 
 and pardon for the chief of sinners, through 
 him who died upon the cross for sins not his 
 own. - Keep this letter by you at my request ; 
 and when you write, tell me that you receive 
 it in good part, and that you still believe me 
 to be, &c. 
 
 LETTER XXXIX. 
 
 A WORD IN SEASON. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 In this dark and declining day, when ini- 
 quity abounds, the awful tokens of God’s 
 displeasure are multiplying around us, and 
 too many professors, not duly sensible of the 
 real cause of all the evils we either feel, or 
 have reason to fear, are disputing, instead of 
 praying, may the Lord bestow upon you and 
 me, and upon all who fear his name, a spirit 
 suited to the times ; that the words of David, 
 “ I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved,” 
 may express the very sensation and frame of 
 our hearts. Permit me to keep this expres- 
 sion in my view while I write, though it may 
 perhaps give my letter something of the air 
 of a sermon. 
 
 The Hebrew word answering to “ I was 
 grieved,” signifies such a kind of grief as is 
 mixed with dislike ; such a grief as a believer 
 must feel when he has a sense of his own cor- 
 ruptions. It is frequently rendered, as in 
 Ezek. xx. 43. to loathe : “ You shall loathe 
 yourselves in your own sight.” We are not 
 required strictly to hate ourselves, but the 
 evil that is in us. So, when we look at trans- 
 gressors, we are not to hate, but to pity them, 
 mourn over them, and pray for them ; nor 
 have we any right to boast over them ; for by 
 nature, and of ourselves, we are no better 
 than they. But their sinfulness should cause 
 a dislike, an holy indignation ; as it is re- 
 corded of our Lord, who, though full of com- 
 passion and tenderness, so that he wept over 
 his enemies, and prayed for his actual mur- 
 derers, yet looked upon transgressors with 
 anger, being grieved for the hardness of their 
 hearts. 
 
 A feeling of this kind seems essential to 
 that new nature which characterises the child- 
 ren of God ; and, where it is not in habitual 
 exercise, it is a sufficient evidence that the soul, 
 if truly alive to God at all, is at least in a 
 lean and distempered state. Who can avoid 
 being grieved and hurt by that which is in di- 
 rect opposition to what he most loves ? Be- 
 lievers love holiness, and, unless when stupi- 
 fied by the arts of Satan, can hardly bear them- 
 selves for what they find contrary to it within 
 their own breasts, and must therefore, of 
 course, be grieved with the sins of others. 
 Like righteous Lot, and from his principles, 
 they are “ vexed with the conversation of the 
 wicked.” Can they who reverence the name 
 of God be easy and unconcerned when they 
 hear it blasphemed ? No : their ears are 
 wounded, and their hearts are pained. Can 
 they who are followers of peace and purity be- 
 hold unmoved the riots, licentiousness, and 
 
LET. XXXIX. 
 
 daring wickedness of those who have cast off 
 both shame and fear ? Can they who have 
 oowels of mercy and compassion, be unaf- 
 fected when they see the iron hand of oppres- 
 sion grinding the faces of the poor ? Or can 
 any wjro love the songs of Zion, help being 
 shocked with the songs of drunkards ? 1 
 
 trust there are many, who, upon these ac- 
 counts, are daily crying, “ My soul is among 
 lions “ Wo is me that I dwell in Meshech !” 
 “ O gather not my soul with sinners.” The 
 thought of being shut up for ever with the 
 ungodly would be terrible as hell to a gracious 
 soul, though there were no devouring fire, no 
 keen sense of the wrath of God to be feared. 
 
 They are grieved likewise upon their Lord’s 
 account, for they have obtained a spark of 
 zeal for his honour and glory. With Elijah, 
 they are “ very jealous for the Lord of hosts.” 
 They feel their obligations to him, and know 
 he well deserves to reign in every heart. But 
 when, on the contrary, they see almost every 
 one in a conspiracy against him, despising 
 him to his face, trampling upon his laws, re- 
 jecting his authority, and abusing his patience, 
 their eyes affect their hearts. What man of 
 sensibility could brook to see every one about 
 him contriving how to affront and injure the 
 person whom he most loved ? Now the Lord 
 is the believer’s best friend, the beloved of 
 his soul ; and therefore he is grieved and 
 troubled when he “ beholds the transgres- 
 sors.” 
 
 This emotion is likewise heightened by com- 
 passion to souls. Grace gives some view of 
 the evil of sin, the dreadfulness of the wrath 
 of God, and the vast importance of that word 
 eternity. Thus instructed in the sanctuary 
 of God, they would be stocks and stones, 
 were they capable of beholding sinners rush- 
 ing upon destruction without being grieved 
 for them. But they cannot bear it : they 
 cannot but give and repeat a faithful warn- 
 ing, though they have little reason to expect 
 any better return than scorn and ill-treatment 
 for what the world accounts an impertinent 
 officiousness. 
 
 But who then are believers ? Who are thus 
 “ on the Lord’s side ?” If these sentiments 
 are common and radical to all who are born 
 of God, can we make no abatement ? Or 
 must we unchristian perhaps the greater part 
 of professors at this time ? for it is too evi- 
 dent that many, who bear the name of gospel- 
 professors, discover but little of this concern. 
 In general, I think this subject affords no 
 improper test for the trial of our spirits. The 
 effects of grace, in similar circumstances, are 
 uniform ; but if any, who think themselves 
 possessors of it, feel no grief for the abound- 
 ing of sin and the obstinacy of sinners, they 
 differ from the saints recorded both in the 
 Old and New Testament, and it will be their 
 wisdom to examine and take heed lest they be 
 deceived. It is easy to call Christ, Lord, 
 
 121 
 
 Lord ; but a criminal lukewarmness of spirit, 
 where his cause, honour, and gospel are in 
 question, will one day meet with an awful re- 
 buke, and be treated, in those who make men- 
 tion of his name, as high treason against his 
 person and government. 
 
 But if we allow that, through the conta- 
 gion of the times and the power of Satan, it 
 is possible for true Christians to sink into this 
 indifference, and for the wise, as well as the 
 foolish virgins, to sleep, when they should be 
 watching unto prayer; even these have much 
 to fear, lest they should largely participate in 
 the sufferings which the provocations they 
 connive at have a direct tendency to bring 
 upon a sinful people. When national sins 
 draw down national judgments, the Lord has 
 given us a hope, that he will fix a mark of pro- 
 tection upon them who sigh and mourn in se- 
 cret before him, for the evils which they are 
 unable to prevent. To these he will be a 
 sanctuary; he will either preserve them un- 
 hurt in the midst of surrounding calamities, 
 or he will support them with consolations su- 
 perior to all their troubles, when the hearts of 
 others are shaken like leaves in a storm. But 
 none have reason to expect to be thus pri- 
 vileged, who have not a heart given them to 
 lament their own sins and the sins of those 
 among whom they live. 
 
 Surely the Lord has a controversy with this 
 land ; and there hardly can be a period as- 
 signed in the annals of ages, when it was 
 more expedient or seasonable for those who 
 fear him to stir up each other to humiliation 
 and prayer than at present. What is com- 
 monly called our national debt is swelled to 
 an enormous greatness. It may be quickly 
 expressed in figures ; but a person must be 
 something versed in calculation to form a tole- 
 rable idea of accumulated millions. But what 
 arithmetic is sufficient to compute the immen- 
 sity of our national debt in a spiritual sense ? 
 or, in other words, the amount of our national 
 sins ? The spirit of infidelity, which, for a 
 time, distinguished comparatively a few, and, 
 like a river, was restrained within narrow 
 bounds, has of late years broken dowm its 
 banks and deluged the land. This wide- 
 spreading evil has, in innumerable instances, 
 as might be expected, emboldened the natu- 
 ral heart against the fear of God, hai-dened it 
 to an insensibility of moral obligation, and 
 strengthened its prejudices against the gospel. 
 The consequence has been, that profligate 
 wickedness is become almost as universal as 
 the air we breathe, and is practised with little 
 more reserve or secrecy than the transactions 
 of common business, except in such instances 
 as would subject the offender to the penalty of 
 human laws. O the unspeakable patience of 
 God ! The multiplied instances of impiety, 
 blasphemy, cruelty, adultery, villany, and abo- 
 minations not to be thought of without hor- 
 ror, under which this land groans, are only 
 
 A WORD IN SEASON. 
 
LET. XL. 
 
 TO PROFESSORS IN TRADE. 
 
 122 
 
 known to him who knoweth all things. There 
 are few sins which imply greater contempt of 
 God, or a more obdurate state of mind in the 
 offender, than peijury, yet the guilt of it is so 
 little regarded, and temptations to it so very 
 frequent, that perhaps I do not go too far in 
 supposing there are more deliberate acts of 
 perjury committed amongst us than among 
 all the rest of mankind taken together. Though 
 some of the Roman poets and historians have 
 given very dark pictures of the times they lived 
 in, their worst descriptions of this kind would 
 hardly be found exaggerated if applied to our 
 own. But what are the sins of heathens, if 
 compared with the like evils perpetrated in a 
 land bearing the name of Christian, favoured 
 with the word of God, the light of the gos- 
 pel, and enjoying the blessings of civil and 
 religious liberty and peace in a higher degree, 
 and for a longer continuance, than was af- 
 forded to any people of whose history we have 
 heard ? 
 
 The state of the churches of Christ at this 
 time affords likewise ample cause for humilia- 
 tion and grief. The formality, conformity to 
 the world, the want of love, the intemperate, 
 and unprofitable contentions, which prevail 
 among us, shew how faintly the power of the 
 gospel is felt, even by many who profess to 
 have embraced it. The true and undefiled 
 doctrine of Jesus is not only opposed by its 
 declared enemies, but wounded and disho- 
 noured in the house of its friends. And 
 though the sins of those who avow subjection 
 to the institutions of Christ, may not have so 
 gross a stamp of profligacy and immorality, 
 as of those who set him openly at defiance ; 
 yet they have, in some respects, an aggrava- 
 tion, of which the others are not capable ; as 
 being committed against clearer light, and 
 peculiar acknowledged obligations. From 
 the consideration of both taken together, who, 
 that has a spark of seriousness and attention, 
 and that has learned from scripture and his- 
 tory the sure connection between sin and 
 trouble, can forbear trembling at that alarm- 
 ing question, so often proposed to the con- 
 sciences of ungrateful Israel of old, “ Shall 
 not I visit for these things ? saith the Lord : 
 and shall not my soul be avenged on such a 
 nation as this ?” especially when we see the 
 dispensations of God’s providence so awfully 
 corresponding with the threatenings in his 
 word. 
 
 How much is it to be desired, then, that 
 all who truly fear the Lord, instead of wast- 
 ing their time in useless squabbles, may unite 
 in earnest prayer ; and, with deep compunc- 
 tion of heart, bemoan those evils, which, un- 
 less repented of and forsaken, may bring up- 
 on us, as a people, such distress as neither we, 
 nor our fathers have known ! If he is pleased 
 thus to give us a heart to seek him, he will 
 yet be found of us ; but if, when his hand is 
 lifted up, we cannot, or will not see, nor re • 
 
 gard the signs of the times, there is great 
 reason to fear, that our case is deplorable in- 
 deed. 
 
 A few, however, there will be, who will lay 
 these things suitably to heart ; and whom the 
 Lord will favour and spare, as a man spareth 
 his only son that serveth him. That you and 
 I may be of this happy number, is the sincere 
 prayer of, &c. 
 
 LETTER XL. 
 
 A WORD TO PROFESSORS IN TRADE. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 It is suspected, or rather it is too certainly 
 known, that, among those who are deemed 
 gospel-professors, there are some persons who 
 allow themselves in the practice of dealing in 
 prohibited, uncustomed, or, as the common 
 phrase is, smuggled goods, to the prejudice of 
 the public revenue, and the detriment of the 
 fair trader. 
 
 The decisions of the word of God upon this 
 point, are so plain and determinate, that it is 
 rather difficult to conceive how a sincere mind 
 can either overlook or mistake them. The 
 same authority which forbids us to commit 
 adultery, or murder, requires us to “ render 
 unto Cesar the things that are Cesar’s ;** to 
 render unto all their dues : tribute to whom 
 tribute, custom to whom custom. These pre- 
 cepts enjoin no more than what the common 
 sense of mankind pronounces to be due from 
 subjects and members of society, to the go- 
 vernments they live under, and by which they 
 are protected. But the obligation is greatly 
 enforced upon those who acknowledge them- 
 selves the disciples of Christ, since he has 
 been pleased to make their compliance herein 
 a part of the obedience they owe to himself. 
 And it is plain, that these injunctions are 
 universal and binding, under all civil govern- 
 ments, as such ; for none can justly suppose 
 that tributes exacted by the Roman emperors, 
 (under whose dominion the first Christians 
 lived) such as Tiberius or Nero, had the 
 sanction of our Lord and his apostles on ac- 
 count of their peculiar equity. 
 
 The vending smuggled goods, or the buying 
 them, if known to be so, is likewise injurious 
 to the fair trader, who, conscientiously paying 
 the prescribed duties, cannot afford to sell so 
 cheap as the smuggler ; and, therefore, must 
 expect the fewer customers. In this view, it 
 offends the royal law, of “ doing to others as 
 we would they should do unto us.” The 
 force of this argument may be easily felt by 
 any one who will honestly make the case his 
 own. Without any nice reasoning, people 
 may know in a moment, that they should not 
 like to be put to this disadvantage. It is, 
 therefore, unjust, (i. e. sinful, and utterly un 
 
LET. XL. 
 
 becoming a professor of religion) to purchase 
 smuggled goods, even in small quantities, and 
 for family-use. As for those who, being in 
 trade themselves, make this practice a branch 
 of their business, and, under the semblance of 
 a fair reputation, are doing things in secret, 
 which they would tremble to have discovered, 
 being afraid of the exchequer, though not of 
 God, I can only pray, that God may give 
 them repentance j for it is a work of dark- 
 ness, and needs it. Transactions of this kind 
 cannot be carried on for a course of time, 
 without such a series and complication of 
 fraud and meanness*, and, for the most part, 
 of perjury likewise, as would be scandalous, 
 not only in a professed Christian, but in an 
 avowed infidel. 
 
 It should be observed likewise, that there is 
 hardly any set of men more lost to society, or 
 in a situation more dangerous to themselves 
 and others, than the people who are called 
 smugglers. Frequent fightings, and some- 
 times murder itself, are the consequence of 
 their illicit commerce. Their money is ill 
 gotten, and it is generally ill spent. They 
 are greatly to be pitied. The employment 
 they are accustomed to has a direct tendency 
 to deprive them of character, and the privi- 
 leges of social life, and to harden their hearts, 
 and stupify their consciences, in the ways of 
 sin. But for whom are they risking their 
 lives, and ruining their souls ? I would hope, 
 reader, not for you, if you account yourself 
 a Christian. If you, for the sake of gain, en- 
 courage and assist them, by buying or selling 
 their goods, you are so far responsible for the 
 consequences. You encourage them in sin ; 
 you expose them to mischief. And have you 
 so learned Christ ? Is this the testimony you 
 give of the uprightness of your hearts and 
 ways ? Is it thus you shew your compassion 
 for the souls of men ? Ah * shake your 
 hands from gain so dearly earned. Think 
 not to support the cause of God with such 
 gain ; he hates robbery for burnt-offering. 
 Think it not lawful, or safe, to put a farthing 
 of it into your treasury, lest it secretly com- 
 municate a moth and a curse to all that you 
 possess ; for it is the price of blood, the blood 
 of souls. If you are indeed a child of God, 
 and will persist in this path after admonition 
 received, be assured your sin will find you 
 out. If the Lord loves you, he will not suf- 
 fer you to prosper in your perverseness. You 
 may rather expect, that as a little damaged 
 corn is sufficient to spoil the whole heap to 
 which it is laid, so money, thus obtained, will 
 deprive you of the blessing and comfort you 
 might otherwise expect from your lawful ac- 
 quisitions. 
 
 If you are determined to persist in opposi- 
 tion to scripture, to law, to equity and hu- 
 
 * Dr Johnson, defining a smuggler, says, he is “a 
 
 wretch who imports or exports goods without payment 
 of the customs. ’’ 
 
 123 
 
 manity, you have, doubtless, as I suppose you 
 a professor, some plea or excuse with which 
 you attempt to justify yourself and to keep 
 your conscience quiet. See to it, that it be 
 such a one as will bear the examination of a 
 dying hour. You will not surely plead that 
 “ things are come to such a pass, there is no 
 carrying on business upon other terms to ad- 
 vantage !** Will the practice of the world, 
 who know not Christ, be a proper precedent 
 for you who call yourself by his name ? That 
 cannot be, since his command is, “ Thou shalt 
 not follow a multitude to do evil.’* That the 
 truth and power of his grace may be manifest- 
 ed, he is pleased to put his servants into such 
 situations, that they must forego some seeming 
 advantages, and suffer some seeming hardships, 
 in their worldly connections, if they will approve 
 themselves faithful to him, and live in the ex- 
 ercise of a good conscience. He promises, 
 that his grace shall be sufficient for them. It 
 is the blessing of the Lord that maketh rich ; 
 and, for want of this, we see many rise early, 
 take late rest, and eat the bread of careful- 
 ness, to no purpose. And I believe, integri- 
 ty and diligence in business, with a humble 
 dependence upon his providence, are the best 
 methods of thriving even in temporals. How- 
 ever, they who lose for him are in no danger 
 of losing by him. They may he confident of 
 so much as he sees best for them ; and they 
 shall have his peace and blessing with it. But 
 if, when you are placed in a state of trial, 
 the love of the world is so powerful in your 
 heart, that you cannot resist the temptation 
 of enriching yourself by unlawful means, you 
 have great reason to fear you have not his 
 Spirit, and are therefore none of his. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER XLL 
 
 ON THE MINISTRY OF ANGELS. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 The saints on earth, though exposed to many 
 sufferings, and assaulted by many enemies, are 
 as safe as the saints in glory. They have 
 been enabled, in the day of God’s power to 
 commit themselves to the care of Jesus, the 
 great shepherd, who is faithful to his trust, 
 and able to save them to the uttermost. His 
 eye is always upon them, his everlasting arms 
 are underneath them, and no power, or policy, 
 can separate them from his love. 
 
 The apostle, in the name and behalf of the 
 church militant, having taking a leisurely and 
 distinct survey of all the difficulties and op- 
 position they can possibly meet with, in life 
 or in death, from the visible or invisible worlds, 
 triumphs in an assurance, that none of these 
 things singly, nor all of them together, shall 
 prevail ; but that, on the contrary, believers 
 
 TO PROFESSORS IN TRADE. 
 
124 . 
 
 shall be made conquerors, yea, more than 
 conquerors, through him who has loved them. 
 
 In the course of his enumeration of the 
 real or supposed dangers to which the people 
 of Christ are exposed, he particularly men- 
 tions, angels, principalities, and powers, in- 
 timating to us a subject of great importance, 
 though too seldom and too faintly attended to 
 by us ; I mean the part which the inhabitants 
 of the unseen world take in our concerns. 
 Angel is a general name ; the terms, prin- 
 cipalities and powers, and elsewhere, thrones 
 and dominions, applied to them, we shall not, 
 perhaps, clearly understand, till we mingle 
 with the world of spirits. These different 
 names seem, however, to imply that some dif- 
 ference of degree, and possibly some subor- 
 dination of rule, obtains among them. But 
 they shall not be able either singly or collec- 
 tively to separate believers from the love of 
 God which is in Christ Jesus. 
 
 The general distribution of angels, princi- 
 palities, and powers, is into good and evil. 
 They were all created glorious and excellent 
 creatures ; for nothing but good could origi- 
 nally proceed from God, the fountain of good- 
 ness. But some of them “ kept not their 
 first estate.” Sin despoiled them of their 
 glory, and changed them from angels of light 
 into powers of darkness. And though they 
 have a permissive liberty, subservient to the 
 limitations and designs of divine wisdom, to 
 influence the minds, and to interfere in the 
 affairs of mankind ; yet they are confined in 
 chains of darkness which they cannot break, 
 and are reserved to the judgment of the great 
 day. 
 
 There are likewise an innumerable company 
 of elect or good angels, Rev. iii. 11. who were 
 preserved by sovereign grace, and are now es- 
 tablished (together with believers) in Christ 
 Jesus, the great head of the whole family of 
 God, in heaven and in earth. From these, 
 we may be sure, belivers have nothing to fear. 
 They are our brethren and fellow-servants. 
 They join in the song of the redeemed before 
 the throne ; and rejoice in the conversion of a 
 sinner upon earth. We cannot include these 
 in the apostle’s challenge, any farther than by 
 way of supposition ; as he expresses himself 
 upon another occasion, Gal. i. 8. It is not 
 possible that an angel from heaven should 
 preach, if he came to preach, any other gospel 
 than that which is revealed in scripture j but if 
 such a thing could be supposed, we ought not 
 to regard him. So it is not to be thought 
 that the elect angels of God should wish to 
 hinder the salvation of a sinner. But if you 
 conceive for a moment, that any, or all of 
 them could form such a design, they would 
 not be able to succeed ; for they are all sub- 
 ject to him who loved us, and washed us from 
 our sins in his own blood. So far, however, 
 are the holy angels from designing us harm, 
 that they are greatly instrumental in promot- 
 
 LET. XLI. 
 They are w ministering spi- 
 rits, sent forth to minister to the heirs of sal- 
 vation and they rejoice in the service, and 
 account it their honour to be thus employed. 
 
 I propose, in this paper, briefly to consider 
 the ministry of good angels ; and may, per- 
 haps, hereafter offer a few thoughts on the in- 
 fluence and interference of evil angels, who 
 are continually labouring to disturb and 
 trouble those whom they are not permitted to 
 destroy. And I shall not attempt to amuse 
 the reader with new and strange conjec- 
 tures upon these subjects, or to intrude into 
 those things which are not revealed, but shall 
 confine myself to the express declarations of 
 the word of God. 
 
 The great God works all in all, in both 
 worlds. It is he who filleth the earth with 
 good things, causes the grass to grow for the 
 cattle, and provides corn for the food of man. 
 But in thus spreading a table for us he makes 
 use of instruments. He commands his sun 
 to shine, and his rain to descend. So he is 
 the life, strength, and comfort of the renewed 
 soul. All the streams of grace flow from 
 Christ, the fountain. But, from the analogy 
 observable in his works, we might reasonably 
 suppose, that, on many occasions, he is pleas- 
 ed to use means and instruments, and parti- 
 cularly the ministry of his angels, to com 
 municate good to his children. Scripture 
 expressly confirms this inference, and leaves 
 it no longer a point of mere conjecture. He 
 gives his angels charge over them, and they 
 encamp round about them that fear him. In 
 this way honour is given to Jesus, as the Lord 
 both of angels and men ; and a sweet inter 
 course is kept up between the different parts 
 of the household of God. That angels have 
 been thus employed in fact, is plain from the 
 history both of the Old and New Testament. 
 They have often made themselves visible 
 when sent to declare the will of God ; as to 
 Jacob, Elijah, and David. Gabriel appeared 
 to Zacharias and Mary ; and a multitude 
 joined in ascribing “ glory to God in the 
 highest ” when they brought to the shepherds 
 the joyful news of a Saviour’s birth. An 
 angel delivered Peter from prison, and com- 
 forted Paul when tossed by a tempest upon 
 the sea. How far the visible ministration of 
 angels is continued in these days is not 
 easy to determine. Many persons have been 
 imposed upon by Satan, through such expec- 
 tations ; and it is not safe to look for extra- 
 ordinary things ; yet I do not know that we 
 have warrant from scripture to limit the 
 Lord, so far as to affirm, that he dotli not, 
 nor ever will, upon any occasion, permit his 
 angels to be seen by men, as in former times. 
 The apostle, pressing believers to exercise 
 hospitality, uses this argument, that “ thereby 
 some have entertained angels unawares 
 which would hardly seem to be a pertinent 
 motive, if it were absolutely certain that an- 
 
 ON THE MINISTRY OF ANGELS. 
 
 ing our good. 
 
LET. XLI. 
 
 gels would never offer themselves as visitants 
 to the servants of God in future times as they 
 had formerly done. But, waving specula- 
 tions as to their visible appearance, it is suf- 
 ficient to know that they are really, though 
 invisibly, near us, and mindful of us. 
 
 May we not receive assistance from the an- 
 gels in our spiritual warfare ? That evil an- 
 gels have an influence and power to distress 
 and disquiet us, is well known to exercised 
 souls ; and it seems quite reasonable to believe, 
 that the good angels are as willing and as 
 able to communicate helpful and encouraging 
 impressions. As it is not always easy to dis- 
 tinguish between the temptations of Satan and 
 the workings of our own evil hearts ; so it 
 may be equally or more difficult to distinguish 
 these assistances from the effects of gracious 
 principles abiding in us, or from the leadings 
 and motions of the Holy Spirit. Nor need 
 we be anxious about it. We cannot err in 
 ascribing all to the Lord. Yet there is some- 
 thing cheering in the thought that we are ac- 
 companied and surrounded by these blessed 
 spirits, who have both inclination and ability 
 to relieve, strengthen, and admonish us, in 
 ways which we cannot fully understand. Who 
 can tell how often, and how seasonably, a 
 promise, a caution, a direction, from or agree- 
 able to the word of God, is darted upon our 
 minds by these kind messengers of our Fa- 
 ther’s love ? 
 
 We may warrantably think they are em- 
 ployed in restraining, over-ruling, and con- 
 trouling the designs of Satan and his angels. 
 The power, malice, and subtilty of our enemy 
 are very great. We may learn what he would 
 do to us all, if he could, from the instance of 
 Tob. But the Lord rebukes him, and that most 
 probably by the ministry of unfallen angels, 
 who are said to encamp round his people to 
 deliver them ; and doubtless their care is es- 
 pecially employed where the greatest danger 
 lies. Much to this purpose seems to be im- 
 plied in the following passages, Dan. x. 13, 
 Rev. xii. 7, Jude 9. 
 
 They are witnesses to the sufferings and to 
 the worship of his people, 1 Cor. iv. 9. Though 
 they do not show themselves to us, as hereto- 
 fore to Peter or Paul, they are still near and 
 attentive, are interested in the conflicts and 
 rejoice in the victories of a poor believer. 
 They are present likewise in our solemn as- 
 semblies; therefore the apostle charges Ti- 
 mothy, as “ before the elect angels,” and 
 seems to refer to them in 1 Cor. xi. 10. This 
 reflection should enliven and regulate our 
 thoughts when we come together ; for, though 
 the presence of our Lord and Saviour is the 
 great consideration, yet this likewise may, in 
 its proper place, have some influence to com- 
 pose our behaviour, Heb. xii. 22. 
 
 The ministry of angels preserves us from 
 innumerable dangers and alarms which await 
 us in our daily path. This is expressly taught 
 
 125 
 
 When we receive little or no 
 harm from a fall, or when a sudden motion of 
 our minds leads us to avoid a danger which 
 we were not aware of, perhaps the angels of 
 God have been the means of our preservation ; 
 nay, it may be owing to their good offices 
 that we ever perform a journey in safety, or 
 are preserved from the evils we are liable to 
 when sleeping upon our beds, and incapable 
 of taking any care of ourselves. 
 
 Finally, they are appointed to attend the 
 saints in their last hours, and, in a manner 
 beyond our present apprehension, to keep off 
 the powers of darkness, and bear the children 
 of God safely home to their Father’s house, 
 Luke xvi. 22. 
 
 The limits of a sheet will not admit of en- 
 largement upon these particulars. The sub- 
 ject is pleasing and comfortable, and well 
 suited to encourage believers under two very 
 common trials. 
 
 1. We are often cast down to think how 
 few there are who worship God in spirit and 
 in truth, and are ready to complain, with Eli- 
 jah, that we are almost left to serve him alone. 
 But Jesus is not slighted and despised in yon- 
 der world as he is in this. If, like the servant 
 of Elisha, our eyes were supernaturally opened 
 to take a glance within the vail, what a glorious 
 and astonishing prospect would the innume- 
 rable host of angels afford us ! Then we 
 should be convinced that, far from being a- 
 lone, there are unspeakably more for us than 
 against us. Faith supplies the want of sight, 
 is the evidence of things not seen, and, upon 
 the authority of the word of God, is as well 
 satisfied of their existence and employment as 
 if they were actually in our view. 
 
 Again, 2. Many of the Lord’s people are 
 tempted to think themselves neglected by their 
 fellow-christians because they are poor, a dis- 
 couragement for which there is often too much 
 occasion given. But, poor believer, be not 
 greatly distressed upon this account. If your 
 brethren upon earth are too prone to slight you, 
 your heavenly friends are not so proud and 
 foolish. The angels will attend and assist you, 
 though you live in a poor mud- walled cottage, 
 as willingly as if you were lodged in the pa- 
 lace of a king. They are not affected, one 
 way or the other, with those trivial distinc- 
 tions which are so apt to bias the judgment 
 and regard of mortals. 
 
 May we take a pattern from the angels ! 
 Their whole desire is to fulfil the will of God, 
 and they account no service mean in which he 
 is pleased to employ them, otherwise, great and 
 holy as they are, they might disdain to wait 
 upon sinful worms. Our vanity prompts us 
 to aim at something great, and to wish for 
 such services as might make us known, talked 
 of and regarded. But a child of God, if in 
 the way of duty, and in the place which the 
 Lord’s providence has allotted him, is well 
 employed, though he should have no highet 
 
 ON THE MINISTRY OF ANGELS. 
 
 in Psalm xci. 
 
LET. XLI. 
 
 ON THE MINISTRY OF ANGELS. 
 
 126 
 
 service than to sweep the streets, provided he 
 does it humbly, thankfully, and heartily, as 
 to the Lord. An angel so placed could do 
 no more. 
 
 This paper will doubtless fall into the hands 
 of some who are not believers, but are spend- 
 ing their days in sin. With a word to such 
 as these, I would conclude. To you this is 
 but a dark subject. You have reason to be 
 alarmed ; for, be assured, the whole host of 
 heaven is against you, while they consider you 
 
 in a state of rebellion against their Lord. They 
 burn with an holy zeal to avenge his cause, 
 and only wait his command to smite you as 
 one of them smote Herod, for not giving 
 glory to God. Pray for faith and repentance. 
 If you believe in Jesus, and turn from your 
 evil ways, the angels will love you, rejoice 
 over you, watch over you, fight for you, and 
 at last convey you into his glorious presence. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 March 5, 1777. 
 
CARDIPHGNIA; 
 
 on, 
 
 THE UTTERANCE OF THE HEART 
 
 IN THE COURSE OF 
 
 A REAL CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 Haec res et jungit, junctos et servat amicos. 
 
 Hnr. Lib. i • Sat, 3. 
 
 As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man. 
 
 Prov. xxtii. I9t 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 * 
 
 ' 
 
 , . i Still 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 
 ' 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
LETTERS TO A NOBLEMAN 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 March— 1765. 
 
 MY LORD, 
 
 I remember, when I once had the pleasure 
 of waiting on you, you were pleased to begin 
 an interesting conversation, which, to my con- 
 cern, was soon interrupted. The subject was 
 concerning the causes, nature, and marks of 
 a decline in grace ; how it happens that we 
 loose that warm impression of divine things, 
 which in some favoured moments we think it 
 almost impossible to forget ; how far this 
 change of frame is consistent with a spiritual 
 growth in other respects ; how to form a com- 
 parative judgment of our proficiency upon the 
 whole ; and by what steps the losses we sus- 
 tain from our necessary connection with a sin- 
 ful nature and a sinful world may be retrieved 
 from time to time. I beg your Lordship’s 
 permission to fill up the paper with a view to 
 these inquiries. I do not mean to offer a la- 
 boured essay on them, but such thoughts as 
 shall occur while the pen is in my hand. 
 
 The awakened soul (especially when, after 
 a season of distress and terror, it begins to 
 taste that the Lord is gracious) finds itself as 
 in a new world. No change in outward life 
 can be so sensible, so affecting. No wonder, 
 then, that, at such a time, little else can be 
 thought of. The transition from darkness 
 to light, from a sense of wrath to a hope of 
 glory, is the greatest ^that can be imagined, 
 and is oftentimes as sudden as wonderful. 
 Hence the general characteristics of young 
 converts are zeal and love. I. ike Israel at the 
 Red Sea, they have just seen the wonderful 
 works of the Lord, and they cannot but sing 
 his praise ; they are deeply affected with the 
 danger they have lately escaped, and with the 
 case of multitudes around them, who are se- 
 cure and careless in the same alarming situa- 
 tion ; and a sense of their own mercies, and 
 a compassion for the souls of others, is so 
 
 transporting, that they can hardly forbear 
 preaching to every one they meet. 
 
 This emotion is highly just and reasonable, 
 with respect to the causes from whence it 
 springs ; and it is doubtless a proof, not only 
 of the imperfection, but the depravity of our 
 nature, that we are not always thus affected. 
 Yet it is not entirely genuine. If we exa- 
 mine this character closely, which seems, at 
 first sight, a pattern and a reproof to Christi- 
 ans of longer standing, we shall, for the 
 most part, find it attended with considerable 
 defects. 
 
 1. Such persons are very weak in faith. 
 Their confidence arises rather from the lively 
 impressions of joy within, than from a distinct 
 and clear apprehension of the work of God in 
 Christ. The comforts which are intended as 
 cordials, to animate them against the opposi- 
 tion of an unbelieving world, they mistake 
 and rest in as the proper evidences of their 
 hope. And hence it comes to pass, that when 
 the Lord varies his dispensations, and hides 
 bis face, they are soon troubled, and at their 
 wits end. 
 
 2. They who are in this state of their first 
 love, are seldom free from something of a 
 censorious spirit. They have not yet felt all 
 the deceitfulness of their own hearts; they 
 are not well acquainted with the devices or 
 temptations of Satan ; and therefore know not 
 how to sympathize or make allowances where 
 allowances are necessary and due, and can 
 hardly bear with any who do not discover the 
 same earnestness as themselves. 
 
 3. They are likewise more or less under 
 the influence of self-righteousness and self- 
 will. They mean well ; but not being as yet 
 well acquainted with the spiritual meaning 
 and proper use of the law, nor established in 
 the life of faith, a part (oftentimes a very 
 considerable part) of their zeal spends itself in 
 externals and non-essentials, prompts them 
 
 Q 
 
LET. I 
 
 LETTERS TO A NOBLEMAN. 
 
 130 
 
 to practise what is not commanded, to refrain 
 from what is lawful, and to observe various 
 and needless austerities and singularities, as 
 their tempers and circumstances differ. 
 
 However, with all their faults, metliinks 
 there is something very beautiful and enga- 
 ging in the honest vehemence of a young con- 
 vert. Some cold and rigid judges are ready 
 to reject these promising appearances on ac- 
 count of incidental blemishes. But would a 
 gardener throw away a fine nectarine, because 
 it is green, and has not yet attained all that 
 beauty and flavour which a few more showers 
 and suns will impart? Perhaps it will hold, 
 for the most part, in grace as in nature ; some 
 exceptions there are : if there is not some fire 
 in youth, we can hardly expect a proper 
 warmth in old age. 
 
 But the great and good Husbandman 
 watches over what his own hand has planted, 
 and carries on his work by a variety of differ- 
 ent, and even contrary dispensations. While 
 their mountain stands thus strong, they think 
 they shall never be moved; but at length 
 they find a change. Sometimes it comes on 
 by insensible degrees. That part of their af- 
 fection, which was purely natural, will abate, 
 of course, when the power of novelty ceases : 
 they will begin, in some instances, to per- 
 ceive their own indiscretions ; and an endea- 
 vour to correct the excesses of imprudent zeal 
 .will often draw them towards the contrary 
 extreme of remissness : the evils of their hearts, 
 which, though overpowered, were not eradi- 
 cated, will revive again : the enemy will watch 
 .his occasions to meet them with suitable temp- 
 tations ; and as it is the Lord’s design that 
 they should experimentally learn and feel their 
 own weakness, he will, in some instances, be 
 permitted to succeed. When guilt is thus 
 .brought upon the conscience, the heart grows 
 hard, the hands feeble, and the knees weak ; 
 then confidence is shaken, the spirit of prayer 
 interrupted, the armour gone, and thus things 
 grow worse and worse, till the Lord is pleased 
 to interpose ; for though we can fall of our- 
 selves, we cannot rise without his help. In- 
 deed, every sin, in its own nature, has a ten- 
 dency towards a final apostacy ; but there is 
 a provision in the covenant of grace, and the 
 Lord, in his own time, returns to convince, 
 humble, pardon, comfort, and renew the soul. 
 He touches the rock, and the waters flow. 
 By repeated experiments and exercises of this 
 sort (for this wisdom is seldom acquired by 
 one or a few lessons), we begin at length to 
 learn that we are nothing, have nothing, can 
 do nothing but sin. And thus we are gra- 
 dually prepared to live more out of ourselves, 
 and to derive all our sufficiency of every kind 
 from Jesus, the fountain of grace. We learn 
 to tread more warily, to trust less to our own 
 strength, to have lower thoughts of ourselves, 
 and higher thoughts of him; in whic'i two 
 last particulars, I apprehend, what the scrip- 
 
 tures mean by a growth of grace does pro- 
 perly consist. Both are increasing in the 
 lively Christian, every day shew him more 
 of his own heart, and more of the powe„, suf- 
 ficiency, compassion, and grace of his ador- 
 able Redeemer ; but neither will be complete 
 till we get to heaven. 
 
 I apprehend, therefore, that though we find 
 an abatement of that sensible warmth of af- 
 fection which we felt at first setting out ; 
 yet, if our views are more evangelical, our 
 judgment more ripened, our hearts more ha- 
 bitually humbled under a sense of inward 
 depravity, our tempers more softened into sym- 
 pathy and tenderness ; if our prevailing desires 
 are spiritual, and we practically esteem the 
 precepts, ordinances, and people of God ; we 
 may warrantably conclude, that his good work 
 of grace in us is, upon the whole, on the in- 
 crease. 
 
 But still it is to be lamented, that an in- 
 crease of knowledge and experience should be 
 so generally attended with a decline of fervour. 
 If it was not for what has passed in my own 
 heart, I should be ready to think it impossible. 
 But this very circumstance gives me a still 
 more emphatical conviction of my own vile- 
 ness and depravity. The want of humiliation 
 humbles me, and my very indifference rouses 
 and awakens me to earnestness. There are, 
 however, seasons of refreshment, ineffable 
 glances of light and power upon the soul, 
 which, as they are derived from clearer displays 
 of divine grace, if not so tumultuous as the 
 first joys, are more penetrating, transforming, 
 and animating. A glance of these, when 
 compared with our sluggish stupidity when 
 they are withheld, weans the heart from this 
 wretched state of sin and temptation, and 
 makes the thoughts of death and eternity de- 
 sirable. Then this conflict shall cease : I 
 shall sin and wander no more, see him as he is, 
 and be like him for ever. 
 
 If the question is, How are these bright 
 moments to be prolonged, renewed, or retriev- 
 ed ? We are directed to faith and diligence. 
 A careful use of the appointed means of grace, 
 a watchful endeavour to avoid the occasions 
 and appearances of evil, and especially assi- 
 duity in secret prayer, will bring as much as 
 the Lord sees good for us. He knows best why 
 we are not to be trusted with them continually. 
 Here we are to walk by faith, to be exercised 
 and tried ; by and by we shall be crowned, 
 and the desires he has given shall be abun- 
 dantly satisfied. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 April — 1766. 
 
 MY LORD, 
 
 I shall embrace your permission to fill 
 my paper. — As to subject, that which has 
 
LET. i. LETTERS TO 
 
 been a frequent theme of my heart of late, I 
 shall venture to lay before your Lordship : I 
 mean the remarkable and humbling difference 
 which I suppose all who know themselves 
 may observe, between their acquired and their 
 experimental knowledge, or, in other words, 
 between their judgment and their practice. 
 To hear a believer speak his apprehensions of 
 the evil of sin, the vanity of the world, the 
 love of Christ, the beauty of holiness, or the 
 importance of eternity, who would not sup- 
 pose him proof against temptation ? To hear 
 with what strong arguments lie can recom- 
 mend watchfulness, prayer, forbearance, and 
 submission, when he is teaching or advising 
 others, who would not suppose but he could 
 also teach himself, and influence his own con- 
 duct ? Yet, alas ! quam dispar sibi ! The per- 
 son who rose from his knees, before he left 
 his chamber, a poor, indigent, fallible, de- 
 pendent creature, who saw and acknowledged 
 that he was unworthy to breathe the air, or to 
 see the light, may meet with many occasions, 
 before the day is closed, to discover the cor- 
 ruptions of his heart, and to show how weak 
 and faint his best principles and clearest con- 
 victions are in their actual exercise. And in 
 this view, how vain is man ! what a contra- 
 diction is a believer to himself ! He is called 
 a believer emphatically, because he cordially 
 assents to the word of God ; but, alas ! how 
 often unworthy of the name ! If I was to de- 
 scribe him from the scripture-character, I 
 should say, he is one whose heart is athirst for 
 God, for his glory, his image, his presence ; 
 his affections are fixed upon an unseen Sa- 
 viour ; his treasures, and consequently his 
 thoughts, are on high, beyond the bounds of 
 sense. Having experienced much forgive- 
 ness, he is full of bowels of mercy to all around ; 
 and having been often deceived by his own 
 heart, he dares trust it no more, but lives, by 
 faith in the Son of God, for wisdom, right- 
 eousness, and sanctification, and derives from 
 him grace for grace ; sensible that without him 
 he has not sufficiency even to think a good 
 thought. In short, he is dead to the world, 
 to sin, to self, but alive to God, and lively in 
 his service. Prayer is his breath, the word of 
 God his food, and the ordinances more pre- 
 cious to him than the light of the sun. Such 
 is a believer — in his judgment and prevailing 
 desires. 
 
 But was I to describe him from experience, 
 especially at some times, how different would 
 the picture be ! Though he knows that com- 
 munion with God is his highest privilege, 
 he too seldom finds it so ; on the contrary, if 
 duty, conscience, and necessity, did not com- 
 pel, he would leave the throne of grace un- 
 visited from day to day. He takes up the 
 Bible, conscious that it is the fountain of life 
 and true comfort ; yet, perhaps, while he is 
 making the reflection, he feels a secret dis- 
 taste, which prompts him to lay it down, and 
 
 A NOBLEMAN, 131 
 
 ' give his preference to a newspaper. He needs 
 not to be told of the vanity and uncertainty of 
 all beneath the sun ; and yet is almost as 
 much elated or cast down by a trifle, as those 
 who have their portion in this world. He be- 
 lieves that all things shall work together for 
 his good, and that the most high God ap- 
 points, adjusts, and over-rules all his concerns ; 
 yet he feels the risings of fear, anxiety, and 
 displeasure, as though the contrary was true. 
 He owns himself ignorant, and liable to be 
 deceived by a thousand fallacies ; yet is easily 
 betrayed into positiveness and self-conceit. He 
 feels himself an unprofitable, unfaithful, un- 
 thankful servant, and therefore blushes to har- 
 bour a thought of desiring the esteem and com- 
 mendations of men; yet he cannot suppress 
 it. Finally (for I must observe some bounds), 
 on account of these, and many other inconsis- 
 tencies, he is struck dumb before the Lord, 
 stripped of every hope and plea, but what is 
 provided in the free grace of God, and yet 
 his heart is continually leaning and returning 
 to a covenant of works. 
 
 Two questions naturally arise from such a 
 view of ourselves. First, Flow can these 
 things be, or why are they permitted ? Since 
 the Lord hates sin, teaches his people tb hate 
 it and cry against it, and has promised to hear 
 their prayers, how is it that they go thus bur- 
 dened ? Surely if he could not or would not 
 over-rule evil for good, he would not permit 
 it to continue. By these exercises he teaches 
 us more truly to know and feel the utter de- 
 pravity and corruption of our whole nature, 
 that we are indeed defiled in every part. His 
 method of salvation is likewise hereby exceed- 
 ingly endeared to us : we see that it is and 
 must be of grace, wholly of grace ; and that 
 the Lord Jesus Christ, and his perfect right- 
 eousness, is and must be our all in all. His 
 power likewise in maintaining his own work, 
 notwithstanding our infirmities, temptations, 
 and enemies, is hereby displayed in the clear- 
 est light, his strength is manisfested in our 
 weakness. Satan likewise is more remarkably 
 disappointed and put to shame, when he finds 
 bounds set to his rage and policy, beyond 
 which he cannot pass ; and that those in whom 
 he finds too much to work upon, and over 
 whom he so often prevails for a season, escape 
 at last out of his hands. He casts them down, 
 but they are raised again ; he wounds them, 
 but they are healed : he obtains his desire 
 to sift them as wheat, but the prayer of their 
 great Advocate prevails for the maintenance 
 of their faith. Farther, by what believers feel 
 in themselves they learn by degrees how to 
 warn, pity, and bear with others. A soft, 
 patient, and compassionate spirit, and a readi- 
 ness and skill in comforting those who are 
 cast down, is not perhaps attainable in any other 
 way. And lastly, I believe nothing more ha- 
 bitually reconciles a child of God to the 
 thought of death, than the wearisomeness of this 
 
LET. III. 
 
 132 LETTERS TO A 
 
 warfare. Death is unwelcome to nature : but 
 then, and not till then, the conflict will cease. 
 Then we shall sin no more. The flesh, with all 
 its attendant evils, will be laid in the grave : 
 then the soul, which has been partaker of a 
 new and heavenly birth, shall be freed from 
 every incumbrance, and stand perfect in the 
 Redeemer’s righteousness before God in glo- 
 ry. 
 
 But though these evils cannot be wholly re- 
 moved, it is w'orth while to inquire, Secondly, 
 How they may be mitigated. This w^e are 
 encouraged to hope for. The w’ord of God 
 directs and animates to a growth in grace. 
 And though we can do nothing spiritually of 
 ourselves, yet there is a part assigned us. 
 We cannot conquer the obstacles in our way 
 by our own strength, yet we can give way 
 to them ; and if we do, it is our sin, and wdll 
 be our sorrow. The disputes concerning in- 
 herent power in the creature, have been car- 
 ried to inconvenient lengths : for my own 
 part, I think it safest to use scriptural lan- 
 guage. The apostles exhort us, to give all 
 diligence, to resist the devil, to purge our- 
 selves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, 
 to give ourselves to reading, meditation, and 
 prayer, to watch, to put on the whole armour 
 of God, and to abstain from all appearance 
 of evil. Faithfulness to fight received, and a 
 sincere endeavour to conform to the means 
 prescribed in the word of God, with an hum- 
 ble application to the blood of sprinkling, and 
 the promised Spirit, will undoubtedly be an- 
 swered by increasing measures of light, faith, 
 strength, and comfort ; and we shall know, if 
 we follow on to know the Lord. 
 
 I need not tell your Lordship that I am an 
 extempore writer. I dropt the consideration 
 of whom I was addressing from the first para- 
 graph ; but I now return, and subscribe my- 
 self, with the greatest deference, &c. 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 April — 1770. 
 
 MY LORD, 
 
 I have a desire to fill the paper, and must 
 therefore betake myself to the expedient I 
 lately mentioned. Glorious things are spoken 
 of the city of God, or (as I suppose) the state 
 of glory, in Rev. xxi. from verse 10. adji- 
 nem . The description is doubtless mystical, 
 and, perhaps, nothing short of a happy ex- 
 perience and participation will furnish an 
 adequate exposition. One expression, in par- 
 ticular, has, I believe, puzzled wiser heads 
 than mine to explain. “ The street of the 
 city was pure gold, as it were transparent 
 glass.” The construction likewise in the 
 Greek is difficult. Some render it pure gold 
 transjmrent as glass : this is the sense, but 
 then it should be neuter, «vty, to agree with 
 
 NOBLEMAN. 
 
 %(>v<no". If our reading is right, we must 
 understand it either of gold pure, bright, and 
 perspicuous as the finest transparent glass 
 (for all glass is not transparent) ; or else, as 
 two distinct comparisons, splendid and durable 
 as the purest gold, clear and transparent as the 
 finest glass. In that happy world the beauties 
 and advantages which here are divided anti 
 incompatible, will unite and agree. Our 
 glass is clear, but brittle ; our gold is shining 
 and solid, but it is opaque, and discovers oniy 
 a surface. And thus it is with our minds. 
 The powers of the imagination are lively and 
 extensive, but transient and uncertain. The 
 powers of the understanding are more solid 
 and regular, but at the same time more slow 
 and limited, and confined to the outside pro- 
 perties of the few objects around us. But 
 when we arrive within the vail, the perfec- 
 tions of the glass and the gold will be com- 
 bined, and the imperfections of each will en- 
 tirely cease. Then we shall know more than 
 we can now imagine. The glass will be all 
 gold. And then we shall apprehend truth in 
 its relations and consequences ; not (as at 
 present) by that tedious and fallible process 
 which we call reasoning, but by a single 
 glance of thought, as the sight pierces in an 
 instant through the largest transparent bodies. 
 The gold will be all glass. 
 
 I do not offer this as the sense of the pas- 
 sage, but as a thought which once occurred to 
 me while reading it. I daily groan under a 
 desultory, ungovernable imagination, and a 
 palpable darkness of understanding, which 
 greatly impede me in my attempts to con- 
 template the truths of God. Perhaps these 
 complaints, in a greater or less degree, are 
 common to all our fallen race, and exhibit 
 mournful proofs that our nature is essentially 
 depraved. The grace of God affords some 
 assistance for correcting the wildness of the 
 fancy, and enlarging the capacity of the 
 mind : yet the cure at present is but palliative ; 
 but ere long it shall be perfect, and our com- 
 plaints shall cease for ever. Now it costs us 
 much pains to acquire a pittance of solid and 
 useful knowledge ; and the ideas we have col- 
 lected are far from being at the disposal of 
 judgment, and, like men in a crowd, are per- 
 petually clashing and interfering with each 
 other. But it will not be so, when we are 
 completely freed from the effects of sin. Con- 
 fusion and darkness will not follow us into 
 the world where fight and order reign. Then, 
 and not till then, our knowledge will be per- 
 fect, and our possession of it uninterrupted 
 and secure. 
 
 Since the radical powers of the soul are thus 
 enfeebled and disordered, it is not to be won- 
 dered at, that the best of men, and under their 
 highest attainments, have found cause to 
 make the acknowdedgement of the apostle, 
 “ When I would do good, evil is present with 
 me.” But, blessed be God, though we must 
 
Let. IV. LETTERS TO 
 
 feel hourly cause for Shame and humiliation 
 for what we are in ourselves, we have cause 
 to rejoice continually in Christ Jesus, who, 
 as he is revealed to us under the various 
 names, characters, relations, and offices, which 
 he bears in the scriptures, holds out to our 
 faith a balin for every wound, a cordial for 
 every discouragement, and a sufficient answer 
 to every objection which sin or Satan can sug- 
 gest against our peace. If we are guilty, he 
 is our righteousness ; if we are sick, he is 
 our infallible physician ; if we are weak, 
 helpless, and defenceless, he is the compas- 
 sionate and faithful shepherd, who has taken 
 charge of us, and will not suffer any thing to 
 disappoint our hopes, or to separate us from 
 his love. He knows our frame, he remem- 
 bers that we are but dust, and has engaged to 
 guide us by his counsel, support us by his 
 power, and at length to receive us to his glory, 
 that we may be with him for ever. 
 
 I am, with the greatest deference, &c. 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 February — 1772. 
 
 MY LORD, 
 
 I HAVE been sitting, perhaps a quarter of an 
 hour, with my pen in my hand, and my finger 
 upon my upper lip, contriving how I should 
 begin my letter. A detail of the confused, 
 incoherent thoughts which have successively 
 passed through my mind, would have more 
 than filled the sheet ; but your Lordship’s pa- 
 tience, and even your charity for the writer, 
 would have been tried to the uttermost, if I 
 could have penned them all down. At length 
 my suspense reminded me of the apostle’s 
 words, Gal. v. 17. “ Ye cannot do the things 
 that ye would.” This is an humbling, but a 
 just account of a Christian’s attainments in the 
 present life, and is equally applicable to the 
 strongest and to the weakest. The weakest 
 need not say less, the strongest will hardly ven- 
 ture to say more. The Lord has given his people 
 a desire and will aiming at great things : with- 
 out this they would be unworthy the name of 
 Christians ; but they cannot do as they would. 
 Their best desires are weak and ineffectual, 
 not absolutely so (for he who works in them 
 to will, enables them in a measure to do like- 
 wise), but in comparison with the mark at 
 which they aim. So that while they have 
 great cause to be thankful for the desire he 
 has given them, and for the degree in which 
 it is answered, they have equal reason to be 
 ashamed and abased under a sense of their 
 continual defects, and the evil mixtures which 
 taint and debase their best endeavours. It 
 would be easy to make out a long list of par- 
 ticulars which a believer would do if he could, 
 but in which, from first to last, he finds a 
 mortifying inability. Permit me to mention 
 
 A NOBLEMAN. 133 
 
 a few, which I need not transcribe from 
 books, for they are always present to my 
 mind. 
 
 He would willingly enjoy God in prayer 
 He knows that prayer is his duty ; but, in 
 his judgment, he considers it likewise as his 
 greatest honour and privilege. In this light 
 he can recommend it to others, and can tell 
 them of the wonderful condescension of the 
 great God, who humbles himself to behold 
 the things that are in heaven, that, he should 
 stoop so much lower, to afford his gracious 
 ear to the supplications of sinful worms upon 
 earth. He can bid them expect a pleasure in 
 waiting upon the Lord, different in kind, and 
 greater in degree, than all that the world can 
 afford. By prayer, he can say, You have li- 
 berty to cast all your cares upon him that 
 careth for you. By one hour’s intimate ac- 
 cess to the throne of grace, where the Lord 
 causes his glory to pass before the soul that 
 seeks him, you may acquire more true spiri- 
 tual knowledge and comfort, than by a day 
 or a week’s converse with the best of men, or 
 the most studious perusal of many folios : 
 and in this light he would consider it and 
 improve it for himself. But, alas ! how sel- 
 dom can he do as he would ! How often 
 does he find this privilege a mere task, which 
 he would be glad of a just excuse to omit ! 
 and the chief pleasure he derives from the per- 
 formance, is to think that his task is finished : 
 he has been drawing near to God with his 
 lips, while his heart was far from him. Sure- 
 ly this is not doing as he would, when (to 
 borrow the expression of an old woman here) 
 he is dragged before God like a slave, and 
 comes away like a thief. 
 
 The like may be said of reading the scrip- 
 tures. He believes them to be the word of 
 God; he admires the wisdom and grace of 
 the doctrines, the beauty of the precepts, the 
 richness and suitableness of the promises ; and 
 therefore, with David, he accounts it prefer- 
 able to thousands of gold and silver, and 
 sweeter than honey or the honeycomb. Yet 
 while he thus thinks of it, and desires that it 
 may dwell in him richly, and be his medita- 
 tion night and day, he cannot do as he would. 
 It will require some resolution to persist in 
 reading a portion of it every day ; and even 
 then his heart is often less engaged than when 
 reading a pamphlet. Here again his privilege 
 frequently dwindles into a task. His appetite 
 is vitiated, so that he has but little relish for 
 the food of his soul. 
 
 He would willingly have abiding, admiring 
 thoughts of the person and love of the Lord 
 Jesus Christ. Glad is he, indeed, of those 
 occasions which recal the Saviour to his mind ; 
 and, with this view, notwithstanding all dis- 
 couragements, he perseveres in attempting to 
 pray and read, and waits upon ordinances. 
 Yet he cannot do as he would. Whatever 
 claims he may have to the exercise of gratitude 
 
LET. V. 
 
 134 LETTERS TO 
 
 and sensibility towards his fellow-creatures, he 
 must confess himself mournfully ungrateful 
 and insensible towards his best Friend and Be- 
 nefactor. Ah ! what trifles are capable of shut- 
 ting Him out of our thoughts, of whom we 
 say, he is the beloved of our souls, who loved 
 us, and gave himself for us, and whom we 
 have deliberately chosen as our chief good 
 and portion. What can make us amends for 
 the loss we suffer here ? Yet surely if we 
 could we would set him always before us ; 
 his love should be the delightful theme of our 
 hearts, 
 
 From morn to noon, from noon to dewy eve. 
 
 But though we aim at this good, evil is pre- 
 sent with us ; we find we are renewed but in 
 part, and have still cause to plead the Lord’s 
 promise, to take away the heart of stone, and 
 give us a heart of flesh. 
 
 He would willingly acquiesce in all the 
 dispensations of divine providence. He be- 
 lieves that all events are under the direction 
 of infinite wisdom and goodness, and shall 
 surely issue in the glory of God and the good 
 of those who fear him. He doubts not but 
 the hairs of his head are all numbered ; — that 
 the blessings of every kind which he possesses 
 were bestowed upon him, and are preserved 
 to him, by the bounty and special favour of the 
 Lord whom be serves ; — that afflictions spring 
 not out of the ground, but are fruits and 
 tokens of divine love, no less than his com- 
 forts ; — that there is a need-be, whenever for 
 a season he is in heaviness. Of these princi- 
 ples he can no more doubt than of what he 
 sees with his eyes, and there are seasons when 
 he thinks they will prove sufficient to recon- 
 cile him to the sharpest trials. But often 
 when he aims to apply them in an hour of pre- 
 sent distress, he cannot do what he would. 
 He feels a law in his members warring against 
 the law in his mind ; so that, in defiance of 
 the clearest convictions, seeing as though lie 
 perceived not, he is ready to complain, mur- 
 mur, and despond. Alas ! how vain is man in 
 his best estate ! How much weakness and in- 
 consistency, even in those whose hearts are 
 right with the Lord ! And what reason have 
 we to confess that we are unworthy, unpro- 
 fitable servants ! 
 
 It were easy to enlarge in this way, would 
 paper and time permit. But, blessed be God, 
 we are not under the law, but under grace ; 
 and even these distressing effects of the rem- 
 nants of indwelling sin are over-ruled for 
 good. By these experiences the believer is 
 weaned more from self, and taught more 
 highly to prize and more absolutely to rely on 
 him, who is appointed unto us of God, wis- 
 dom, righteousness, sanctification, and re- 
 demption. The more vile we are in our own 
 eyes, the more precious he will be to us ; and 
 a deep, repeated sense of the evil of our hearts 
 is necessary to preclude all boasting, and to 
 
 A NOBLEMAN. 
 
 make us willing to give- the whole glory of 
 our salvation where it is due. Again, a sense 
 of these evils will, when hardly any thing else 
 can do it, reconcile us to the thoughts of 
 death, yea make us desirous to depart that we 
 may sin no more, since we find depravity so 
 deep rooted in our nature, that, like the le- 
 prous house, the whole fabric must be taken 
 down before we can be freed from its defile- 
 ment. Then, and not till then, we shall be 
 able to do the thing that we would : when we see 
 Jesus we shall be transformed into his image, 
 and have done with sin and sorrow for ever 
 I am, with great deference, Sec. 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 March — 1772. 
 
 My lord, 
 
 I think my last letter turned upon the apos- 
 tle’s thought. Gal. v. 17. “ Ye cannot do the 
 things that ye would.” In the parallel place, 
 Rom. vii. 19, there is another clause sub- 
 joined, * { The evil which I would not, that I 
 do.” This, added to the former, would com- 
 plete the dark side of my experience. Per- 
 mit me to tell your Lordship a little part (for 
 some things must not, cannot be told,) not of 
 what I have read, but of what I have felt, in 
 illustration of this passage. 
 
 I would not be the sport and prey of wild, 
 vain, foolish, and worse imaginations, but this 
 evil is present with me j my heart is like a 
 highway, like a city without walls or gates. 
 Nothing so false, so frivolous, so absurd, so 
 impossible, or so horrid, but it can obtain ac- 
 cess, and that at any time, or in any place ; 
 neither the study, the pulpit, nor even the 
 Lord’s table, exempt me from their intrusion. 
 I sometimes compare my words to the treble 
 of an instrument, which my thoughts accom- 
 pany with a kind of bass, or rather anti-bass, 
 in which every rule of harmony is broken, 
 every possible combination of discord and con- 
 fusion is introduced, utterly inconsistent with, 
 and contradictory to, the intended melody. 
 Ah ! what music would my praying and 
 preaching often make in the ear of the Lord 
 of Hosts, if he listened to them as they are 
 mine only ! By men, the upper part only 
 (if I may so speak) is heard ; and small cause 
 there is for self gratulation, if they should 
 happen to commend, when conscience tells me 
 they would be struck with astonishment and 
 abhorrence could they hear the whole. 
 
 But if this awful effect of heart-depravity 
 cannot be wholly avoided in the present state 
 of human nature, yet at least I would not al- 
 low and indulge it; yet this .1 find I do. In 
 defiance of my best judgment and best wishes, 
 I find something within me which cherishes 
 and cleaves to those evils, from which I ought 
 to start and flee, as I should if a toad or a ser- 
 
T.ET. V. 
 
 pent was put in my food or in my bed. Ah ! 
 how vile must the heart, at least my heart, be, 
 that can hold a parley with such abominations, 
 when 1 so well know their nature and their 
 tendency. Surely he who finds himself ca- 
 pable of this, may, without the least affecta- 
 tion of humility (however fair his outward 
 conduct appears), subscribe himself less than 
 the least of all saints, and of sinners the very 
 chief. 
 
 I would not be influenced by a principle of 
 self on any occasion ; yet this evil I often do. 
 
 I see the baseness and absurdity of such 
 conduct as clearly as I see the light of the 
 day. I do not affect to be thought ten feet 
 high, and I know that a desire of being thought 
 wise or good is equally contrary to reason and 
 truth. I should be grieved or angry if my 
 fellow-creatures supposed I had such a de- 
 sire ; and therefore I fear the very principle 
 of self, of which I complain, has a considerable 
 share in prompting my desires to conceal it. 
 The pride of others often offends me, and 
 makes me studious to hide my own, because 
 their good opinion of me depends much upon 
 their not perceiving it. But the Lord knows 
 how this dead fly taints and spoils my best 
 services, and makes them no better than spe- 
 cious sins. 
 
 I would not indulge vain reasonings con- 
 cerning the counsels, ways, and providence 
 of God, yet I am prone to do it. That the 
 Judge of all the earth will do right, is to me 
 as evident and necessary as that two and two 
 make four. I believe that he has a sovereign 
 right to do what he will with his own, and 
 that his sovereignty is but another name for 
 the unlimited exercise of wisdom and good- 
 ness. But my reasonings are often such as if 
 I had never heard of these principles, or had 
 formally renounced them. I feel the work- 
 ings of a presumptuous spirit, that would ac- 
 count for every thing, and venture to dispute 
 whatever it cannot comprehend. What an 
 evil is this, for a potsherd of the earth to con- 
 tend with its maker ! I do not act thus to- 
 wards my fellow-creatures ; I do not find 
 fault with the decisions of a judge, or the dis- 
 positions of a general, because, though I know 
 they are fallible, yet I suppose they are wiser 
 in their respective departments than myself. 
 But I am often ready to take this liberty when 
 it is most unreasonable and inexcusable. 
 
 I would not cleave to a covenant of works. 
 It should seem from the foregoing particulars, 
 and many others which I could mention, that 
 I have reasons enow to deter me from this : 
 yet even this I do. Not but that I say, and 
 I hope from my heart, “ Enter not into 
 judgment with thy servant, O Lord.” I em- 
 brace it as a faithful saying, and worthy of all 
 acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the 
 world to save sinners ; and it is the main plea- 
 sure and business of my life to set forth the 
 necessity and all-sufficiency of the Mediator 
 
 135 
 
 between God and man, and to make mention 
 of his righteousness, even of his only. But 
 here, as in every thing else, I find a vast dif- 
 ference between my judgment and my expe- 
 rience. I am invited to take the water of life 
 freely, yet I am often discouraged, because I 
 have nothing wherewith to pay for it. If I 
 am at times favoured with some liberty from 
 the above mentioned evils, it rather gives me 
 a more favourable opinion of myself than 
 increases my admiration of the Lord’s good- 
 ness to so unworthy a creature ; and when the 
 returning tide of my corruptions convinces me 
 that I am still the same, an unbelieving legal 
 spirit would urge me to conclude that the 
 Lord is changed : at least, I feel a weariness 
 of being beholden to him for such continued 
 multiplied forgiveness, and I fear that some 
 part of my striving against sin, and my de- 
 sires after an increase of sanctification arise 
 from a secret wish that I might not be so ab- 
 solutely and entirely indebted to him. 
 
 This, my Lord, is only a faint sketch of my 
 heart, but it is taken from the life : it would 
 require a volume rather than a letter to fill up 
 the outlines. But I believe you will not re- 
 gret that I chuse to say -no more upon such a 
 subject. But though my disease is grievous, 
 it is not desperate ; I have a gracious and in- 
 fallible Physician. I shall net die, but live, 
 and declare the works of the Lord. 
 
 I remain, my Lord, &c. 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 April — 1772. 
 
 MY LORD, 
 
 My two last letters turned upon a mourn- 
 ful subject, the depravity of the heart, which 
 impedes us when we would do good, and pol- 
 lutes our best intended services with evil. 
 We have cause, upon this account, to go soft- 
 ly all our days ; yet we need not sorrow as 
 those who have nO hope. The Lord has pro - 
 vided his people relief under those complaints, 
 and teaches us to draw improvement from 
 them. If the evils we feel were not capable 
 of being over-ruled for good, he would not 
 permit them to remain in us. This we may 
 infer from his hatred to sin, and the love which 
 he bears to his people. 
 
 As to the remedy, neither our state nor his 
 honour are affected by the workings of in- 
 dwelling sin, in the hearts of those whom he 
 has taught to wrestle, strive, and mourn, on 
 account of what they feel. Though sin wars, 
 it shall not reign : and though it breaks our 
 peace, it cannot separate from his love. Nor 
 is it inconsistent with his holiness and per- 
 fection, to manifest his favour to such poor 
 defiled creatures, or to admit them to com- 
 munion with himself ; for they are not consi- 
 dered as in themselves, but as one witl Jo- 
 
 LETTERS TO A NOBLEMAN. 
 
136 LETTERS TO 
 
 »us, to whom they have fled for refuge, and 
 by whom they live a life of faith. They are 
 accepted in the Beloved, they have an Advo- 
 cate with the Father, who once made an a- 
 tonement for their sins, and ever lives to make 
 intercession for their persons. Though they 
 cannot fulfil the law, he has fulfilled it for 
 them ; though the obedience of the members 
 is defiled and imperfect, the obedience of the 
 Head is spotless and complete ; and though 
 there is much evil in them, there is something 
 good, the fruit of his own gracious Spirit. 
 They act from a principle of love, they aim 
 at no less than his glory, and their habitual 
 desires are supremely fixed upon himself. 
 There is a difference in kind between the 
 feeblest efforts of faith in a real believer, 
 while he is covered with shame at the thought 
 of his miscarriages, and the highest and most 
 specious attainments of those who are wise in 
 their own eyes, and prudent in their own 
 sight. Nor shall this conflict remain long, or 
 the enemy finally prevail over them. They 
 are supported by almighty power, and led on 
 to certain victory. They shall not always be 
 as they are now ; yet a little while, and they 
 shall be freed from this vile body, which, like 
 the leprous house, is incurably contaminated, 
 and must be entirely taken down. Then they 
 shall see Jesus as he is, and be like him, and 
 with him for ever. 
 
 The gracious purposes to which the Lord 
 makes the sense and feeling of our depravity 
 subservient, are manifold. Hereby his own 
 power, wisdom, faithfulness, and love, are 
 more signally displayed : His power,— in 
 
 maintaining his own work in the midst of 
 much opposition, like a spark burning in the 
 water, or a bush unconsumed in the flames : 
 His wisdom,— in defeating and controuling 
 all the devices which Satan, from his know- 
 ledge of the evil of our nature, is encouraged 
 to practise against us. He has overthrown 
 many a fair professor, and, like Goliah, he 
 challenges the whole army of Israel ; yet he 
 finds there are some against whom, though he 
 thrusts sorely he cannot prevail ; notwith- 
 standing any seeming advantage he gains at 
 some seasons, they are still delivered, for the 
 Lord is on their side. The unchangeableness 
 of the Lord’s love, and the riches of his mercy, 
 are likewise more illustrated by the multiplied 
 pardons he bestows upon his people, than if 
 they needed no forgiveness at all. 
 
 Hereby the Lord Jesus Christ is more en- 
 deared to the soul ; all boasting is effectually 
 excluded, and the glory of a full and free sal- 
 vation*is ascribed to him alone. If a mariner 
 is surprised by a storm, and after one night 
 spent in jeopardy, is presently brought safe 
 into port ; though he may rejoice in his deli- 
 verance, it will not affect him so sensibly, as 
 if, after being tempest-tossed for a long sea- 
 son, and experiencing a great number and va- 
 riety of hair-breadth escapes, he at last gains 
 
 A NOBLEMAN. LET. VI. 
 
 the desired haven. The righteous are said to 
 be scarcely saved, not with respect to the cer- 
 tainty of the event, for the purpose of God in 
 their favour cannot be disappointed, but in 
 respect of their own apprehensions, and the 
 great difficulties they are brought through. 
 But when, after a long experience of their 
 own deceitful hearts, after repeated proofs of 
 their weakness, wilfulness, ingratitude, and in- 
 sensibility, they find that none of these things 
 can separate them from the love of God in 
 Christ, Jesus becomes more and more pre- 
 cious to their souls. They love much, be- 
 cause much has been forgiven them. They 
 dare not, they will not, ascribe any thing to 
 themselves, but are glad to acknowledge, that 
 they must have perished, if possible, a thou- 
 sand times over, if Jesus had not been their 
 Saviour, their shepherd, and their shield. 
 When they were wandering, he brought them 
 back ; when fallen, he raised them ; when 
 wounded, he healed them ; when fainting, he 
 revived them. By him out of weakness they 
 have been made strong ; he has taught their 
 hands to war, and covered their heads in the 
 day of battle. In a word, some of the clearest 
 proofs they have had of his excellence, have 
 been occasioned by the mortifying proofs they 
 have had of their own vileness. They would 
 not have known as much of him, if they had 
 not known so much of themselves. 
 
 Farther, a spirit of humiliation, which is 
 both decus et tutamen, the strength and beauty 
 of our profession, is greatly promoted by our 
 feeling, as well as reading, that when we 
 would do good, evil is present with us. A 
 broken and a contrite spirit is pleasing to the 
 Lord : he has promised to dwell with those 
 who have it; and experience shews, that the 
 exercise of all our graces is in proportion to 
 the humbling sense we have of the depravity 
 of our nature. But that we are so totally de- 
 praved, is a truth which no one ever truly 
 learned by being only told it. Indeed, if we 
 could receive, and habitually maintain a right 
 judgment of ourselves, by what is plainly de- 
 clared in the scriptures, it would probably 
 save us many a mournful hour ; but experi- 
 ence is the Lord’s school, and they who are 
 taught by him usually learn, that they have no 
 wisdom by the mistakes they make, and that 
 they have no strength by the slips and falls 
 they meet with. Every day draws forth some 
 new corruption, which before was little ob- 
 served, or at least discovers it in a stronger 
 light than before. Thus, by degrees, they are 
 weaned from leaning to any supposed wis- 
 dom, power, or goodness in themselves ; they 
 feel the truth of our Lord’s words, “ With- 
 out me ye can do nothing;” and the necessity 
 of crying, with David, “ O lead me and 
 guide me, for thy name’s sake.” It is chiefly 
 by this frame of mind that one Christian is 
 differenced from another ; for though it is an 
 inward feeling, it has very observable outward 
 
LET. VII. 
 
 LETTERS TO 
 
 effects, which are expressively intimated, Ezek. 
 xvi. 63 , “ Thou shalt be dumb, and not open 
 thy mouth, in the day when I am pacified to- 
 wards thee, saith the Lord God.” The know- 
 ledge of my full and free forgiveness, of thy 
 innumerable backslidings and transgressions, 
 shall make thee ashamed, and silence the un- 
 ruly workings of thine heart. Thou shalt 
 open thy mouth in praise ; but thou shalt no 
 more boast in thyself, or censure others, or 
 repine at my dispensations. In these respects 
 we are exceedingly prone to speak unadvis- 
 edly with our lips. But a sense of great un- 
 worthiness and much forgiveness checks these 
 evils. Whoever is truly humbled will not be 
 easily angry, will not be positive and rash, 
 will be compassionate and tender to the infir- 
 mities of his fellow-sinners, knowing, that if 
 there be a difference, it is grace that has made 
 it, and that he has the seeds of every evil in his 
 own heart ; and, under all trials and afflic- 
 tions, he will look to the hand of the Lord, 
 and lay his mouth in the dust, acknowledg- 
 ing that he suffers much less than his iniqui- 
 ties have deserved. These are some of the 
 advantages and good fruits which the Lord 
 enables us to obtain from that bitter root in- 
 dwelling sin. 
 
 I am, with deference, &c. 
 
 LETTER VII. 
 
 September — 1772. 
 
 My lord, 
 
 Weak, unskilful, and unfaithful as I am in 
 practice, the Lord has been pleased to give me 
 some idea of what a Christian ought to be, and 
 of what is actually attainable in the present 
 life, by those whom he enables earnestly to 
 aspire towards the prize of their high calling. 
 They who are versed in mechanics can, from 
 a knowledge of the combined powers of a 
 complicated machine, make an exact calcula- 
 tion of what it is able to perform, and what 
 resistance it can counteract ; but who can com- 
 pute the possible effects of that combination 
 of principle and motives revealed in the gos- 
 pel, upon a heart duly impressed with a sense 
 of their importance and glory ? When I was 
 lately at Mr. Cox’s museum, while I was fix- 
 ing my attention upon some curious move- 
 ments, imagining that I saw the whole of the 
 artist’s design, the person who showed it 
 touched a little spring, and suddenly a thou- 
 sand new and unexpected motions took place, 
 and the whole piece seemed animated from 
 the top to the bottom. I should have formed 
 but a very imperfect judgment of it, had I 
 seen no more than what I saw at first. I 
 thought it might in some measure illustrate 
 the vast difference that is observable amongst 
 professors, even amongst those who are, it 
 is to be hoped, sincere. There are persons, 
 who appear to have a true knowledge, in part, 
 
 NOBLEMAN. 137 
 
 of the nature of gospel religion, but seem not 
 to be apprised of its properties, in their com- 
 prehension and extent. If they have attained 
 to some hope of their acceptance, if they find 
 at seasons some communion with God in the 
 means of grace, if they are in measure de- 
 livered from the prevailing and corrupt cus- 
 toms of the world, they seem to be satisfied, 
 as if they were possessed of all. These are 
 indeed great things ; sed meliora latent. The 
 profession of too many, whose sincerity cha- 
 rity would be unwilling to impeach, is greatly 
 blemished, notwithstanding their hopes and 
 their occasional comforts, by the breakings 
 forth of unsanctified tempers, and the indul- 
 gence of vain hopes, anxious cares, and selfish 
 pursuits. Far, very far, am I from that unscrip- 
 tural sentiment of sinless perfection in fallen 
 man. To those who have a due sense of the 
 spirituality and ground of the divine precepts, 
 and of what passes in their own hearts, there 
 will never be wanting causes of humiliation 
 and self-abasement on the account of sin ; 
 yet still there is a liberty and privilege at- 
 tainable by the gospel, beyond what is ordi- 
 narily thought of. Permit me to mention 
 two or three particulars, in which those who 
 have a holy ambition of aspiring to them shall 
 not be altogether disappointed. 
 
 A delight in the Lord’s all-sufficiency, to 
 be satisfied in him as our present and eternal 
 portion. This, in the sense in which I under- 
 stand it, is not the effect of a present warm 
 frame, but of a deeply-rooted and abiding 
 principle, the habitual exercise of which is to 
 be estimated by the comparative indifference 
 with which other things are regarded. The 
 soul, thus principled, is not at leisure to take 
 or to seek satisfaction in any thing but what 
 has a known subserviency to this leading taste. 
 Either the Lord is present, and then he is to 
 be rejoiced in ; or else he is absent, and then 
 he is to be sought and waited for. They are 
 to be pitied, who, if they are some times happy 
 in the Lord, can at other times be happy with- 
 out him, and rejoice in broken cisterns, when 
 their spirits are at a distance from the foun- 
 tain of living waters. I do not plead for an 
 absolute indifference to temporal blessings: 
 he gives us all things richly to enjoy, and a 
 capacity of relishing them is his gift likewise ; 
 but then the consideration of his love in be- 
 stowing should exceedingly enhance the va- 
 lue, and a regard to his will should regulate 
 their use. Nor can they all supply the want 
 of that which we can only receive immediately 
 from himself. This principle likewise mode- 
 rates that inordinate fear and sorrow t© which 
 we are liable upon the prospect or the occur- 
 rence of great trials for which there is a sure 
 support and resource provided in the all-suffi- 
 ciency of infinite goodness and grace. What 
 a privilege is this, to possess G>^d in all things 
 while we have them, and all things in God 
 when they are taken from us l 
 
LET. VII. 
 
 138 LETTERS TO A 
 
 An acquiescence in the Lord’s will, founded 
 in a persuasion of his wisdom, holiness, sove- 
 reignty, and goodness. This is one of the 
 greatest privileges and brightest ornaments of 
 our profession. So far as we attain to this, we 
 are secure from disappointment. Our own li- 
 mited views and short-sighted purposes and de • 
 sires, may be, and will be often over-ruled, 
 but then our main and leading desire, that the 
 will of the Lord may be done, must be accom- 
 plished. How highly does it become us, both 
 as creatures and as sinners, to submit to the 
 appointments of our Maker ! and how neces- 
 sary is it to our peace ! This great attainment 
 is too often unthought of, and overlooked ; we 
 are prone to fix our attention upon the se- 
 cond causes and immediate instruments of 
 events ; forgetting that whatever befals us is 
 according to his purpose, and therefore must 
 be right and seasonable in itself, and shall, 
 in the issue, be productive of good. From 
 hence arise impatience, resentment, and secret 
 repinings, which are not only sinful, but tor- 
 menting ; whereas, if all things are in his 
 hand ; if the very hairs of our head are num- 
 bered ; if every event, great and small, is un- 
 der the direction of his providence and pur- 
 pose ; and, if he has a wise, holy, and gra- 
 cious end in view, to which every thing that 
 happens is subordinate and subservient ; — 
 then we have nothing to do but, with patience 
 and humility, to follow as he leads, and cheer- 
 fully to expect a happy issue. The path of 
 present duty is marked out ; and the concerns 
 of the next and every succeeding hour are in 
 his hands. How happy are they who can re- 
 sign all to him, see his hand in every dispen- 
 sation, and believe that he chuses better for 
 them than they possibly could for themselves ! 
 
 A single eye to his glory, as the ultimate 
 scope of all our undertakings. The Lord can 
 design nothing short of his own glory ; nor 
 should we. The constraining love of Christ 
 has a direct and marvellous tendency, in pro- 
 portion to the measure of faith, to mortify the 
 corrupt principle, self, which, for a season, is 
 the grand spring of our conduct, and by 
 which we are too much biassed after we know 
 the Lord. But as grace prevails, self is re- 
 nounced. We feel that we are not our own, 
 that we are bought with a price ; and that it 
 is our duty, our honour, and our happiness, 
 to be the servants of God, and of the Lord 
 Jesus Christ. To devote soul and body, 
 every talent, power, and faculty, to the ser- 
 vice of his cause and will ; to let our light 
 shine (in our several situations) to the praise 
 of his grace ; to place our highest joy in the 
 contemplation of his adorable perfections ; 
 to rejoice even in tribulations and distresses, 
 in reproaches and infirmities, if thereby the 
 power of Christ may rest upon us, and be 
 magnified in us; to be content, yea, glad to 
 be nothing, that he may be all in all ; to obey 
 him, in opposition to the threats or solicita- 
 
 NOBLEMAN. 
 
 tions of men ; to trust him, though all out- 
 ward appearances seem against us ; to re- 
 joice in him, though we should (as will sooner 
 or later be the case) have nothing else to re- 
 joice in ; to live above the, world, and to have 
 our conversation in heaven, to be like the 
 angels, finding our own pleasure in perform- 
 ing his. This, my Lord, is the prize, the 
 mark of our high calling, to which we are en- 
 couraged, with a holy ambition, continually 
 to aspire. It is true, we shall still fall short ; 
 we shall find, that when we would do good, 
 evil will be present with us. But the attempt 
 is glorious, and shall not be wholly in vain. 
 He that gives us thus to will, will enable us 
 to perform with growing success, and teach 
 us to profit even by our mistakes and imper- 
 fections. 
 
 0 blessed man ! that thus fears the Lord, 
 that delights in his word, and derives his prin- 
 ciples, motives, maxims, and consolations, 
 from that unfailing source of light and 
 strength ! He shall be like a tree planted by 
 the rivers of water, whose leaf is always green, 
 and fruit abundant. The wisdom that is 
 above shall direct his plans, inspire his coun- 
 sels ; and the power of God shall guard him 
 on every side, and prepare his way through 
 every difficulty lie shall see mountains sink 
 into plains, and streams spring- up in the dry 
 wilderness. The Lord’s enemies will be his ; 
 and they may be permitted to fight against 
 him, but they shall not prevail, for the Lord 
 is with him to deliver him. The conduct of 
 such a one, though in a narrow and retired 
 sphere of life, is of more real excellence and 
 importance, than the most splendid actions of 
 kings and conquerors, w-hich fill the annals of 
 history, Prov. xvi. 32. And if the God 
 whom he serves is pleased to place him in a 
 more public light, his labours and cares will 
 be amply compensated, by the superior op- 
 portunities afforded him of manifesting the 
 power and reality of true religion, and pro- 
 moting the good of mankind. 
 
 1 hope I may say, that I desire to be thus 
 entirely given up to the Lord ; I am sure, I 
 must say, that what I have written is far from 
 being my actual experience. Alas ! I might 
 be condemned out of my own mouth, were 
 the Lord strict to mark what is amiss. 
 But, O the comfort ! we are not under the 
 law, but under grace. The gospel is a dis- 
 pensation for sinners, and we have an advo- 
 cate with the Father. There is the unshaken 
 ground of hope ; a reconciled Father, a pre- 
 vailing advocate, a powerful shepherd, a com- 
 passionate friend, a Saviour, who is able and 
 willing to save to the uttermost. He knows 
 our frame ; he remembers that we are but 
 dust : and he has opened for us a new and 
 blood-besprinkled way of access to the throne 
 of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find 
 grace to help in every time of need, 
 
 I am, &«. 
 
LET. VIII. 
 
 LETTERS TO A NOBLEMAN. 
 
 LETTER VIII. 
 
 April — 1772. 
 
 MY LORD, 
 
 For five or six weeks past, I have been a good 
 deal indisposed. The ground of my complaint 
 was a cold, attended with a slight fever, and for 
 some time with a cough, which made me feel 
 some inconvenience in preaching. To this suc- 
 ceeded a deafness, so great as to cut me off from 
 conversation ; for I could not hear the sound 
 of a voice, unless it was spoken loud in my 
 ear. But the Lord has mercifully removed 
 the fever and cough, opened my ears, and I 
 am now nearly as well as usual. I had cause 
 to be thankful, especially for two things, un- 
 der this dispensation : First, that I was en- 
 
 abled, though sometimes with a little difficul- 
 ty, to go on with my public work. It is a sin- 
 gular favour I have to acknowledge, that for 
 the space of almost nine years, since I have 
 been in the ministry, our sabbath and weekly 
 opportunities have not been once suspended ; 
 whereas I have seen many of the Lord’s ser- 
 vants laid by for a considerable space within 
 that time.' My other great mercy was, that 
 the Lord was pleased to preserve me in a 
 peaceful resigned frame ; so that, when I was 
 deaf, and could not be certain that I should 
 recover my hearing any more, I was in gene- 
 ral as cheerful and easy as at other times. 
 This was the effect of his goodness : for 
 though I know enough of his sovereignty, 
 wisdom, and faithfulness, of his right to do 
 what he pleases, and the certainty that he does 
 all things well, to furnish me with arguments 
 enough to prove that submission to his will 
 is our absolute duty ; yet I am sensible, that 
 when the trial actually comes, notwithstand- 
 ing all the advice I may have offered to others, 
 I should myself toss like a wild bull in a net ; 
 rebel and repine ; forget that I am a sinner, 
 and that he is a sovereign : this, I say, would 
 always and invariably be the case, unless he 
 was graciously pleased to fulfil his word, that 
 strength shall be according to the day. I 
 hope my deafness has been instructive to me. 
 The exercise of our senses is so easily and 
 constantly performed, that it seems a thing of 
 course ; but I was then reminded how preca- 
 rious the tenure is by which we hold those 
 blessings which seem most our own, and which 
 are most immediately necessary to the com- 
 fortable enjoyment of life. Outward senses, 
 mental faculties, health of body, and peace of 
 mind, are extremely valuable ; but the con- 
 tinuance of them for a single moment depends 
 upon him, who, if he opens, none can shut, 
 and when he shuts, none can open. A minute 
 is more than sufficient to deprive us of what 
 we hold most dear, or to prevent us from de- 
 riving the least comfort from it, if it is not 
 taken away. I am not presuming to give 
 
 139 
 
 your Lordship information ; but only men- 
 tioning the thoughts that were much upon 
 my mind while I was incapable of conversa- 
 tion. These are indeed plain and obvious 
 truths, which I have long acknowledged as 
 indisputable ; but I have reason to be thank- 
 ful when the Lord impresses them with fresh 
 power upon my heart, even though he sees 
 fit to do it through the medium of afflictions. 
 I have seen, of late, something of the weight 
 and importance of that admonition, Jer. ix. 
 23, 24; a passage which, though addressed 
 to the wise, the mighty, and the rich, is of 
 universal application ; for self, unless cor- 
 rected and mortified by grace, will find some- 
 thing whereof to glory, in the meanest cha- 
 racters and the lowest situations. And indeed, 
 when things come to be weighed in the ba- 
 lance of the sanctuary, the lunatics in bed- 
 lam, some of whom glory in their straw or 
 their chains, as marks of splendour or ensigns 
 of royalty, have as much reason on their side 
 as any persons upon earth who glory in them- 
 selves. This alone is the proper ground of 
 glory and joy, if we know the Lord. Then 
 all is safe at present, and all will be happy 
 for ever. Then, whatever changes may af- 
 fect our temporal concernments, our best in- 
 terests and hopes are secured beyond the 
 reach of change ; and whatever we may lose 
 or suffer during this little span of time, will 
 be abundantly compensated in that glorious 
 state of eternity, which is just at hand. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER IX. 
 
 December — 1772. 
 
 MY LORD, 
 
 I LATELY employed some of my leisure hours 
 (which, when I am not indolent, are but few) 
 in reading the Memoirs of the duke of Sully', 
 which occasionally came in my way. It af- 
 forded me matter for variety of reflections. 
 I pity the duke of Sully, whose attachment 
 to the name of Protestant seems to have been 
 little more than a point of honour, who drew 
 all his resources from himself, and whose chief 
 aim seems to have been, to approve himself 
 faithful to an earthly master. He acted as. 
 well as could be expected from natural prin- 
 ciples ; and the Lord, who employed him as 
 an instrument in his providence, rewarded his 
 fidelity with success, honour, and riches : a 
 reward which, though in itself a poor one, is 
 suited to the desires of men who place their 
 happiness in worldly things, and is so far a 
 compensation of their services. It is given 
 to your Lordship to act from nobler principles, 
 and with more enlarged views. You serve a 
 Master, of whose favour, protection, and as- 
 sistance you cannot be deprived, who will not 
 overlook or misconstrue the smallest services 
 
LET. IX 
 
 LETTERS TO A NOBLEMAN. 
 
 HO 
 
 you attempt for him, who will listen to no in- 
 sinuations against you, who is always near, 
 to comfort, direct, and strengthen you, and 
 who is preparing for you such honours and 
 blessings as he only can give, an inheritance 
 (the reverse of all earthly good) u,<p6ee.^ro », 
 upiarrovy xai aftugetvrov.* Thus animated, and 
 thus supported, assisted likewise by the pray- 
 ers of thousands, may we not warrantably 
 hope that your Lordship will be an instrument 
 of great good, and that both church and state 
 will be benefited by your example, counsels, 
 and care. 
 
 In another view, the duke of Sully’s history 
 exhibits a comment upon the psalmist’s words, 
 “ Surely man in his best estate is altogether 
 vanity.” View him in one light, he seems to 
 have possessed all that the most aspiring mind 
 could aim at — the favour and confidence of 
 his prince, accumulated wealth, great honours, 
 and such powers by his offices and influence 
 with the king, that he could almost do what 
 he pleased. Yet he had so much to suffer 
 from the fatigues and difficulties of his sta- 
 tion, and the cabals and malice of his ene- 
 mies, that, in the midst of all his grandeur, a 
 dispassionate mind would rather pity than en- 
 vy him. And how suddenly were his schemes 
 broken by the death of the king ? Then he 
 lost his friend, his protector, his influence. 
 The remainder of his days were embittered by 
 many inquietudes. He lived indeed, if that 
 could afford any consolation, in much state 
 and pageantry afterwards; but after having 
 toiled through more than fourscore years, died 
 at last almost of a broken heart, from domes- 
 tic uneasiness. And is this all that the world 
 can do for those who are accounted most suc- 
 cessful ? Alas ! 
 
 Too low they build who build below the skies. 
 
 And what a picture of the instability of 
 human things have w r e in his master, Henry ! 
 Admired, beloved, dreaded, full of vast de- 
 signs, fondly supposing himself born to be the 
 arbiter of Europe, in an awful moment, and in 
 the midst of his friends, suddenly struck from 
 the height of his grandeur, and snatched into 
 the invisible, unchangeable world. In that 
 moment all his thoughts perished. 
 
 How unspeakably awful such a transition ! 
 How remarkable were his own forebodings of 
 the approaching hour ! O Lord, how dost 
 thou pour contempt upon princes, and teach 
 us that the great and the mean are equally in 
 thy hands, and at thy disposal, as clay in the 
 hands of the potter ! Poor king ! while he 
 expected obedience to his own commands, he 
 lived in habitual defiance of the commands 
 of God. Men may respect his memory, for 
 his sincerity, benevolence, and other amiable 
 qualities ; but, besides, that he was engrossed 
 by a round of sensual pleasure (when busi- 
 
 * Incorruptible, undefiled, unfading 
 
 ness of state did not interfere), his life was 
 stained with adultery. Happy, if, in the 
 hours he spent in retirement, when the pre- 
 intimation of his death hung heavy upon his 
 mind, the Lord humbled and softened his 
 heart, and gave him repentance unto life ! 1 
 wish the history afforded a proof of this. 
 However, in his death, we see an affecting 
 proof, that no human dignity or powei can 
 ward off the stroke of the Almighty, who by 
 such sudden and unexpected dispensations 
 often shews himself terrible to the princes and 
 great men of the earth. O ! that they could 
 see his hand, and wisely consider his doing in 
 them ! 
 
 But happy is the man who fears the Lord, 
 and delights in his commandments : who sets 
 God always before him, and acts under the 
 constraining influence of redeeming love. He 
 is the real friend, and the best champion of 
 his country, who makes not the vague no- 
 tions of human wisdom and honour, but the 
 precepts and example of the blessed Jesus, 
 the model and the motive of his conduct. 
 He inculcates, as occasion offers, the great 
 truths of religion in his conversation, and 
 demonstrates them by his practice ; yet the 
 best part of his life is known only to God 
 and himself. His time is divided between 
 serving his country in public, and wrestling 
 for it in private. Nor shall his labours or 
 his prayers be lost. Either he shall have 
 the desire of his heart, and shall see the reli- 
 gion and the liberty he so highly values trans- 
 mitted to posterity ; or, if he should live 
 when wrath is decreed, and there is no re- 
 medy, the promise and the providence of 
 God shall seal him as the peculiar charge of 
 angels, in the midst of public calamity. And 
 when all things are involved in confusion, 
 when the hearts of the wicked shall shake 
 like the leaves of the forest, he shall be kept 
 in perfect peace, trusting in the Lord. 
 
 I am, with the greatest deference, &c. 
 
 LETTER X. 
 
 March — 1773. 
 
 MY LORD, 
 
 Usually for some days before I purpose 
 writing to your Lordship my thoughts are 
 upon the stretch for a subject ; I do not mean 
 all day long, but it is so more or less : but I 
 might as well spare my inquiries, I can come 
 to no determination, and, for the most part, 
 begin to write at an absolute uncertainty how 
 I am to proceed. Since I cannot pre-medi- 
 tate, my heart prays that it may be given me 
 in the same hour w hat I shall offer. A sim- 
 ple dependence upon the teaching and influ- 
 ence of the good Spirit of God, so as not to 
 supersede the use of appointed means, would, 
 if it could be uniformly maintained, make 
 
LET.x. letters to a 
 
 every part of duty easy and successful. It 
 would free us from much solicitude, and pre- 
 vent many mistakes. Methinks I have a 
 subject in view already, a subject of great im- 
 portance to myself, and whichf perhaps, will 
 not be displeasing to your Lordship, viz. how 
 to walk with God in the daily occurrences of 
 life, so as to do every thing for his sake and 
 by his strength. 
 
 When we are justified by faith, and accept- 
 ed in the Beloved, we become heirs of ever- 
 lasting life : but we cannot know the full 
 value of our privileges till we enter upon the 
 state of glory. For this, most who are con- 
 verted, have to w'ait some time after they are 
 partakers of grace. Though the Lord loves 
 them, hates sin, and teaches them to hate it, 
 he appoints them to remain a while in a sin- 
 ful world, and to groan under the burden of 
 a depraved nature. He could put them in 
 immediate possession of the heaven for which 
 he has given them a meetness, but he does not. 
 He has a service for them here, an honour 
 which is worth all they can suffer, and for which 
 eternity will not afford an opportunity, name- 
 ly, to be instruments of promoting his designs, 
 and manifesting his grace in the world. Strict- 
 ly speaking, this is the whole of our business 
 here, the only reason why life is prolonged, 
 or for which it is truly desirable, that we may 
 fill up our connections and situations, im- 
 prove our comforts and our crosses, in such a 
 manner as that God may be glorified in us 
 and by us. As he is a bountiful Master and 
 a kind Father, he is pleased to afford a variety 
 of temporal blessings, which sweeten our ser- 
 vice, and as coming from his hand are very 
 valuable, but are by no means worth living 
 for, considered in themselves, as they can nei- 
 ther satisfy our desires, nor preserve us from 
 trouble or support us under it. That light 
 of God’s countenance which can pervade the 
 walls and dissipate the gloom of a dungeon, 
 is unspeakably preferable to all that can be 
 enjoyed in a palace without it. The true end 
 of life is, to live not to ourselves, but to him 
 who died for us ; and while we devote our- 
 selves to his service upon earth, to rejoice in 
 the prospect of being happy with him for ever 
 in heaven. These things are generally known 
 and acknowledged by professors ; but they are 
 a favoured few who act consistently with their 
 avowed principles ; who honestly, diligently, 
 and without reserve, endeavour to make the 
 most of their talents and strength in promo- 
 ting the Lord’s service, and allow themselves 
 in no views or designs, but what are plainly 
 subordinate and subservient to it. Yea, I be- 
 lieve, the best of the Lord’s servants see cause 
 enough to confess, that they are not only un- 
 profitable in comparison of what they wish to 
 be, but in many instances unfaithful likewise. 
 They find so many snares, hindrances, and 
 temptations, arising from without, and so much 
 embarrassment from sin which dwells within, 
 
 NOBLEMAN. Ill 
 
 that they have more cause for humiliation than 
 self-complacence, when they seem most earnest 
 and most useful. However, we have no scrip- 
 tural evidence that we serve the Lord at all, 
 any further than we find an habitual desire 
 and aim to serve him wholly. Fie is gracious 
 to our imperfections and weakness ; yet he re- 
 quires all the heart, and will not be served by 
 halves, nor accept what is performed by a di- 
 vided spirit. I lately met with some profane 
 scoffs of Voltaire upon the sentiment of doing 
 all to the glory of God (such as might be 
 expected from such a man) ; however, this is 
 the true alchymy which turns every thing to 
 gold, and ennobles the common actions of 
 life into acts of religion, 1 Cor. x. 31. Nor 
 is there a grain of real goodness in the most 
 specious actions which are performed without 
 a reference to God’s glory. This the world 
 cannot understand ; but it will appear highly 
 reasonable to those who take their ideas of 
 God from the scriptures, and who have felt 
 the necessity, and found the benefits of re- 
 demption. We are debtors many ways. The 
 Lord has a right to us by creation, by redemp- 
 tion, by conquest, when he freed us from Sa- 
 tan’s power, and took possession of our hearts 
 by his grace ; and lastly, by our own volun- 
 tary surrender in the day when he enabled us 
 to fix our choice on himself, as our Lord and 
 our portion. Then we felt the force of our 
 obligations, we saw the beauty and honour of 
 his service, and that nothing was worthy to 
 stand in the least degree of competition with 
 it. This is always equally true, though our 
 perceptions of it are not always equally strong. 
 But where it has been once really known, it 
 cannot be wholly forgotten, or cease to be the 
 governing principle of life ; and the Lord has 
 promised to revive the impression in those who 
 wait upon him, and thereby to renew their 
 strength. For in proportion as we feel by 
 what ties we are his, vve shall embrace his 
 service as perfect freedom. 
 
 Again when the eye is thus single, the 
 whole body will be full of light. The princi- 
 ple, of acting simply for God, will in general 
 make the path of duty plain, solve a thousand 
 otherwise dubious questions, lead to the most 
 proper and obvious means, and preclude that 
 painful anxiety about events, which upon no 
 other plan can be avoided. The love - of 
 God is the best casuist ; especially as it leads 
 us to a careful attendance to his precepts, 
 a reliance on his promises, and a submission 
 to his will. Most of our perplexities arise 
 from an undue, though perhaps unperceived, 
 attachment to self. Either we have some 
 scheme of our own too closely connected with 
 our general view of serving the Lord, or lay 
 some stress upon our own management, which, 
 though we suspect it may possibly fail us, we 
 cannot entirely help trusting to. In these re- 
 spects, the Lord permits his servants occasion- 
 ally to feel their own weakness j but if they aro 
 
l.ET. XI 
 
 LETTERS TO A NOBLEMAN. 
 
 142 
 
 sincerely devoted to him, he will teach them to 
 profit by it, and bring them by degrees to a sim- 
 plicity of dependence, as well as of intention. 
 Then all things are easy. Acting from love, 
 and walking by faith, they can neither be dis- 
 appointed nor discouraged. Duty is their part, 
 care is his, and they are enabled to cast it up- 
 on him. They know that when their expe- 
 dients seem to fail, he is still all-sufficient. 
 They know that, being engaged in his cause 
 they cannot miscarry ; and that though in 
 some things they may seem to fall short of 
 success, they are sure of meeting acceptance, 
 and that he will estimate their services, not 
 by their actual effects, but according to the 
 gracious principle and desire he has put into 
 their hearts, 2 Chron. vi. 7. 8. 
 
 I am, with the greatest respect, &e. 
 
 LETTER XI. 
 
 June — 1773. 
 
 my lord, 
 
 My old cast-off acquaintance, Horace, occa- 
 sionally came in my way this morning. I open- 
 ed it upon lib. 3. od. 29. Did I not know the 
 proposal to be utterly impracticable, how 
 gladly should I imitate it, and send your 
 Lordship, in honest prose, if not in elegant 
 verse, an invitation. But I must content my- 
 self with the idea of the pleasure it would 
 give me to sit with you half a day under my 
 favourite great tree, and converse with you, 
 not concerning the comparatively petty affairs 
 of human governments, but of the things per- 
 taining to the kingdom of God. How many 
 delightful subjects would suggest themselves 
 in a free and retired conversation ! The ex- 
 cellency of our King, the permanency and glo- 
 ry of his kindom, the beauty of his adminis- 
 tration, the privileges of his subjects, the re- 
 view of what he has done for us, and the pros- 
 pect of what he has prepared for us in future ; 
 and if, while we were conversing, he should be 
 pleased to join us (as he did the disciples 
 when walking to Emmaus), how would our 
 hearts burn within us ! Indeed, whether wo 
 are alone, or in company, the most interest- 
 ing topics strike us but faintly, unless he is 
 pleased to afford his gracious influence ; but 
 when be is present, light, love, liberty, and 
 joy, spring up in the hearts that know him. 
 This reminds me (as I have mentioned Ho- 
 race) to restore some beautiful lines to their 
 proper application. They are impious and 
 idolatrous as he uses them, but have an ex- 
 pressive propriety in the mouth of a bsliev. 
 er - 
 
 Lucem redde tuae dux bone, patrirc : 
 
 Instar veris eniii vultus ubi tuus 
 Affulsit populo, gi.icior it dies, 
 
 Et soles meliuj .litent. 
 
 me is to use the liberty you allow me of offer- 
 ing a few hints upon these subjects by letter, 
 not because you know' them not, but because 
 you love them. The hour is coming when all 
 impediments shall be removed. All distinc- 
 tions shall cease that are founded upon sublu- 
 nary things, and the earth and all its works 
 shall be burnt up. Glorious day ! May our 
 souls be filled with the thought, and learn to 
 estimate all things around us now by the 
 view in which they will appear to us then ! Then 
 it will be of small moment who was the prince 
 and who was the beggar in this life, but who, 
 in their several situations, sought, and loved, 
 and feared, and honoured the Lord. Alas ! 
 how many of the kings of the earth, and the 
 rich men and the chief captains, and the mighty 
 men will then say, in vain, to the mountains 
 and the rocks, “ Fall on us and hide us !” 
 In this world they are for the most part too 
 busy to regard the commands of God, or too 
 happy to seek his favour : they have their 
 good things here ; they please themselves for 
 a while, and in a, moment they go down to 
 the grave. In that moment their thoughts pe- 
 rish, their schemes are left unfinished, they are 
 torn from their possessions, and enter upon a 
 new, an untried, an unchangeable, a never- 
 ending state of existence. Alas ! is this all 
 the world can afford ! I congratulate you, 
 my Lord, not because God has appointed you 
 to appear in an elevated rank (this, abstracted 
 from the opportunity it affords you of greater 
 usefulness, w'ould perhaps be a more proper 
 subject for condolence) ; but that he has ad- 
 mitted you to those honours and privileges 
 which come from him only, and which so few 
 in the superior ranks of life think worthy of 
 their attention. I doubt not but you are of- 
 ten affected with a sense of this distinguishing 
 mercy. But though we know that we are 
 debtors, great debtors to the grace of God, 
 which alone has made us to differ, we know it 
 but imperfectly at present. It doth not yet 
 appear what we shall be, nor can we form a 
 just conception of the misery from which we 
 are redeemed, much less of the price paid for 
 our redemption. How little do w r e know of 
 the Redeemer’s dignity, and of the unutter- 
 able distress he endured when his soul was 
 made an offering for sin, and it pleased the 
 Father to bruise him, that by his stripes we 
 might be healed. These things will strike us 
 quite in another manner, when we view them 
 in the light of eternity. Then, to return to 
 the thought from which I have rambled, then 
 and there I trust w'e shall meet to the highest 
 advantage, and spend an everlasting day to- 
 gether in happiness and praise. With this 
 thought I endeavour to comfort myself, under 
 the regret I sometimes feel that I can have 
 so little intercourse with you in this life. 
 
 May the cheering contemplation of the hope 
 set before us, support and animate us to im- 
 prove the interval and fill us with a holy am* 
 
 But w r e cannot meet. All that is left for 
 
I.ET. XII. LETTERS TO 
 
 bition of sinning as lights in the world, to 
 the praise and glory of his grace who has 
 called us out of darkness. Encompassed as 
 we are with s’nares, temptations, and infirmi- 
 ties, it is possible, by his promised assistance, 
 to live in some good measure above the world 
 while we are in it ; above the influence of its 
 cares, its smiles, or its frowns. Our conver- 
 sation, <roXt<ru>fAii, our citizenship, is in heaven. 
 We are not at home, but only resident here 
 for a season, to fulfil an appointed service ; 
 and the Lord, whom we serve, has encouraged 
 us to hope that he will guide us by his wis- 
 dom, strengthen us by his power, and com- 
 fort us with the light of his countenance, 
 which is better than life. Every blessing we 
 receive from him is a token of his favour, and 
 a pledge of that far more exceeding and eter- 
 nal weight of glory which he has reserved for 
 us. O ! to hear him say at last, “ Well done, 
 good and faithful servant, enter thou into the 
 joy of thy Lord !” will be a rich amends for 
 all that we can lose, suffer, or forbear, for his 
 sake. 
 
 I subscribe myself, with great sincerity, &c. 
 
 LETTER XII. 
 
 February — 1774. 
 
 My lord, 
 
 The first line of Horace’s epistle to Augustus, 
 when rightly applied, suggests a grand and 
 cheering idea. As addressed by the poet, no- 
 thing can be more blasphemous, idolatrous, 
 and absurd ; but with what comfort and pro- 
 priety may a Christian look up to him to whom 
 all power is committed in heaven and earth, 
 and say, Cum tot sustineas et tanta negotia 
 solus / Surely a more weighty and compre- 
 hensive sentence never dropped from an un- 
 inspired pen. And how beautifully and ex- 
 pressively is it closed by the word solus / the 
 government is upon his shoulders : and though 
 ne is concealed by a veil of second causes from 
 common eyes, so that they can perceive only 
 the means, instruments, and contingencies by 
 which he works, and therefore think he does 
 nothing, yet in reality he does all, according 
 to his own counsel and pleasure, in the armies 
 of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the 
 earth. 
 
 Who can enumerate the tot et tanta nego- 
 tia, which are incessantly before his eye, ad- 
 justed by his wisdom, dependent on his will, 
 and regulated by his power, in his kingdoms 
 of providence and grace ? If we consider the 
 heavens, the work of his fingers, the moon 
 and the stars which he has ordained ; if we 
 call in the assistance of astronomers and 
 glasses, to help us in forming a conception of 
 the number, distances, magnitudes, and mo- 
 tions of the heavenly bodies ; the more we 
 search, the more we shall be confirmed, that 
 
 A NOBLEMAN. 143 
 
 these are but a portion of his ways. But he 
 calls them all by their names, upholds them 
 by his power, and without his continual energy 
 they would rush into confusion, or sink into 
 nothing. If we speak of intelligences, he is 
 the life, the joy, the sun of all that are capa- 
 ble of happiness. Whatever may be signified 
 by the thrones, principalities, and powers in 
 the world of light, they are all dependent up- 
 on his power, and obedient to his command ; 
 it is equally true of angels as of men, that 
 without him they can do nothing. The po- 
 wers of darkness are likewise under his sub- 
 jection and controul. Though but little is 
 said of them in scripture, we read enough to 
 assure us that their number must be immense- 
 ly great, and that their strength, subtilty, and 
 malice, are such, as we may tremble to think 
 of them as our enemies, and probably should, 
 but for our strange insensibility to whatever 
 does not fall under the cognizance of our out- 
 ward senses. But he holds them all in a 
 chain, so that they can do or attempt nothing 
 but by his permission ; and whatever he per- 
 mits them to do (though they mean nothing ' 
 less) has its appointed subserviency in ac- 
 complishing his designs. 
 
 But to come nearer home, and to speak of 
 what seems more suited to our scanty appre- 
 hensions ; still we may be lost in wonder. 
 Before this blessed and only Potentate, all 
 the nations of the earth are but as the 
 dust upon the balance and the small drop of 
 a bucket, and might be thought (if compared 
 with the immensity of his works) scarcely 
 worthy of his notice ; yet here he presides, 
 pervades, provides, protects, and rules. In 
 him his creatures live, move, and have their 
 being ; from him is their food and preserva- 
 tion. The eyes of all are upon him ; what 
 he gives they gather, and can gather no more j 
 and at his word they sink into the dust. 
 There is not a worm that crawls upon the 
 ground, or a flower that grows in the pathless 
 wilderness, or a shell upon the sea-shore, but 
 bears the impress of his wisdom, power, and 
 goodness. With respect to men, he reigns 
 with uncontrouled dominion over every king- 
 dom, family, and individual. Here we may 
 be astonished at his wisdom, in employing 
 free agents, the greater part of whom are his 
 enemies, to accomplish his purposes. But, 
 however reluctant, they all serve him. His 
 patience, likewise, is wonderful. Multitudes, 
 yea nearly our whole species, spend the life 
 and strength which he affords them, and 
 abuse all the bounties he heaps upon them, 
 in the ways of sin. His commands are dis- 
 regarded, his name blasphemed, his mercy dis- 
 dained, his power defied ; yet still he spares. 
 It is an eminent part of his government, to 
 restrain the depravity of human nature, and 
 in various ways to check its efforts which, if, 
 left to itself, without his providential controul, 
 would presently make earth the very image of 
 
144 
 
 hell. For the vilest men are not suffered to 
 perpetrate a thousandth part of the evil which 
 their hearts would prompt them to. The 
 earth, though lying in the wicked one, is fil- 
 led with the goodness of the Lord. He pre- 
 serveth man and beast, sustains the young 
 lions in the forest, feeds the birds of the air, 
 which have neither store-house nor barn, and 
 adorns the insects and the flowers of the field 
 with a beauty and elegance, far beyond what 
 can be found in the courts of kings. 
 
 Still more wonderful is his administration 
 in his kingdom of grace. He is present with 
 all his creatures, but in a peculiar manner 
 with his own people. Each of these are mo- 
 numents of a more illustrious display of po- 
 wer, than that which spread abroad the hea- 
 vens like a curtain, and laid the foundations 
 of the earth ; for he finds them all in a state 
 of rebellion and enmity, and makes them a 
 willing people ; and from the moment he 
 reveals his love to them, he espsuses their 
 cause, and takes all their concerns into his 
 own hands. He is near and attentive to every 
 one of them, as if there was only that one. 
 This high and lofty One, who inhabits e- 
 ternity, before whom the angels vail their 
 faces, condescends to hold communion with 
 those whom men despise. He sees not as 
 man seeth — rides on a cloud, disdainful by a 
 sultan or a czar, to manifest himself to an 
 humble soul in a mud-walled cottage. He 
 comforts them when in trouble, strengthens 
 them when weak, makes their beds in sick- 
 ness, revives them when fainting, upholds 
 them when failing, and so seasonably and ef- 
 fectually manages for them, that though they 
 are persecuted and tempted, though their 
 enemies are many and mighty, nothing that 
 they feel or fear is able to separate them from 
 his love. 
 
 And all this he does solus. All the abili- 
 ties, powers, and instincts, that are found 
 amongst creatures, are emanations from his 
 fulness. All changes, successes, disappoint- 
 ments, all that is memorable in the annals of 
 history, all the risings and falls of empires, 
 all the turns in human life, take place accord- 
 ing to his plan. In vain men contrive and 
 combine to accomplish their own counsels ; 
 unless they are parts of his counsel likewise, 
 the efforts of their utmost strength and wis- 
 dom are crossed and reversed by the feeblest 
 and most unthought-of circumstances. But 
 when he has a work to accomplish, and his 
 time is come, however inadequate and weak 
 the means he employs may seem to a carnal 
 eye, the success is infallibly secured ; for all 
 things serve him, and are in his hands as 
 clay in the hands of the potter. Great and 
 marvellous are thy works, Lord God Al- 
 mighty ! just and true are thy ways, thou 
 King of saints ! 
 
 This is the God whom we adore. This is 
 he who invites us to lean upon his almighty 
 
 LET. XIII. 
 
 arm, and promises to guide us with his un- 
 erring eye. He says to you, my Lord, and 
 even to me, “ Fear not, I am with thee ; be 
 not dismayed, I am thy God : I will 
 
 strengthen thee, yea I will help thee, yea 1 
 will uphold thee with the right hand of my 
 righteousness.” Therefore, while in the path 
 of duty, and following his call, we may cheer- 
 fully pass on*, regardless of apparent difficul- 
 ties ; for the Lord, whose we are, and who 
 has taught us to make his glory our highest 
 end, will go before us, and at his word crook- 
 ed things become straight, light shines out of 
 darkness, and mountains sink into plains. 
 Faith may, and must be exercised, experience 
 must, and will confirm what his word de- 
 clares, that the heart is deceitful, and that man 
 in his best estate is vanity. But his pro- 
 mises to them that fear him shall be confirm- 
 ed likewise, and they shall find him, in all 
 situations, a sun, a shield, and an exceeding 
 great reward. 
 
 I have lost another of my people, a mother 
 unto our Israel ; a person of much experience, 
 eminent grace, wisdom, and usefulness. She 
 walked with God forty years : she was one of 
 the Lord’s poor ; but her poverty was decent, 
 satisfied, and honourable ; she lived respect- 
 ed, and her death is considered as a public 
 loss. It is a great loss to me ; I shall miss 
 her advice and example, by which I have been 
 often edified and animated. But Jesus still 
 lives. Almost her last words were, The 
 Lord is my portion, saith my soul. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER XIII. 
 
 March 10, 1774. 
 
 MY LORD, 
 
 For about six weeks past I have had occa- 
 sion to spend several hours of almost every 
 day with the sick and the dying. These 
 scenes are to a minister like walking the hos- 
 pitals to a young surgeon. The various cases 
 which occur, exemplify, illustrate, and ex- 
 plain, with a commanding energy, many truths, 
 which may be learned indeed at home, but 
 cannot be so well understood, or their force so 
 sensibly felt, without the advantage of expe- 
 rience and observation. As physicians, be- 
 sides that competent general knowledge of 
 their profession which should be common to 
 them all, have usually their several favourite 
 branches of study, some applying themselves 
 more to botany, others to chemistry, others to 
 anatomy; so ministers as their inclinations 
 and gifts differ, are led more closely to con- 
 sider some particular branch of the system of 
 divine truth. Some are directed to state and 
 defend the doctrines of the gospel ; some have 
 a talent for elucidating difficult texts of scrip- 
 ture ; somv have a turn for explaining the 
 
 LETTERS TO A NOBLEMAN. 
 
LET. XIII. LETTERS TO t 
 
 prophetical parts, and so of the rest. For 
 myself, if it be lawful to speak of myself, and 
 so far as I can judge, anatomy is my favour- 
 ite branch ; I mean the study of the human 
 heart, with its workings and counter-work- 
 ings, as it is differently affected in a state of 
 nature or of grace in the different seasons of 
 prosperity, adversity, conviction, temptation, 
 sickness, and the approach of death. The Lord, 
 by sending me hither, provided me a good 
 school for these purposes. I know not where 
 I could have had a better, or one affording a 
 greater variety of characters, in proportion to 
 the number of people ; and as they are mostly 
 poor people, and strangers to that address 
 which is the result of education and converse 
 with the world, there is a simplicity in what 
 they say or do, which gives me a peculiar ad- 
 vantage in judging of their cases. 
 
 But I was about to speak of death. Though 
 the grand evidence of those truths upon which 
 our hopes are built, arises from the authority 
 of God speaking them in his word, and re- 
 vealing them by his Spirit, to the awakened 
 heart (for till the heart is awakened it is in- 
 capable of receiving this evidence) ; yet some 
 of these truths are so mysterious, so utterly 
 repugnant to the judgment of depraved na- 
 ture, that, through the remaining influence 
 of unbelief and vain reasoning, the temptations 
 of Satan, and the subtle arguments with 
 which some men reputed wise, attack the 
 foundations of our faith, the minds even of 
 believers are sometimes capable of being shak- 
 en. I know no better corroborating evidence 
 for the relief of the mind under such assaults 
 than the testimony of dying persons, especial- 
 ly of such as have lived out of the noise of 
 controversy, and who perhaps never heard a 
 syllable of what has been started in these evil 
 days against the deity of Christ, his atonement, 
 and other important articles. Permit me, my 
 Lord, to relate, upon this occasion, some 
 things which exceedingly struck me in the 
 conversation I had with a young woman whom 
 I visited in her last illness about two years 
 ago. She was a sober, prudent person, of 
 plain sense, could read her Bible, but had 
 read little besides. Her knowledge of the 
 world was nearly confined to the parish ; for 
 I suppose she was seldom, if ever, twelve 
 miles from home in her life. She had known 
 the gospel about seven years before the Lord 
 visited her with a lingering consumption, 
 which at length removed her to abetter world. 
 A few days before her death, I had been pray- 
 ing by her bed-side, and in my prayer, I 
 thanked the Lord, that he gave her now to 
 see that she had not followed cunningly-de- 
 vised fables. When I had finished, she re- 
 peated that word, “ No,” she said “ not cun- 
 ningly-devised fables; these are realities in- 
 deed : I feel their truth, I feel their comfort. 
 O, tell my friends, tell my acquaintance, tell 
 enquiring souls, tell poor sinners, tell all the 
 
 L NOBLEMAN. 145 
 
 daughters of Jerusalem (alluding to Solo- 
 mon’s Song, v. 16. from which she had just 
 before desired me to preach at her funeral), 
 what Jesus has done for my soul. Tell them 
 that now in the time of need I find him my 
 beloved and my friend, and as such I com- 
 mend him to them.” She then fixed her eyes 
 steadfastly upon me, and proceeded, as well 
 as I can recollect, as follows : “ Sir, you are 
 highly favoured in being called to preach the 
 gospel. I have often heard you with pleasure ; 
 but give me leave to tell you, that I now see 
 all you have said, or can say, is comparative- 
 ly but little. Nor till you come into my 
 situation, and have death and eternity full in 
 your view, will it be possible for you to con- 
 ceive the vast weight and importance of the 
 truths you declare. Oh ! Sir, it is a serious 
 thing to die ; no words can express what is 
 needful to support the soul in the solemnity 
 of a dying hour.” 
 
 I believe it was the next day when I visited 
 her again. After some discourse, as usual, 
 she said, with a remarkable vehemence of 
 speech, “ Are you sure I cannot be mis- 
 taken ?” I answered, without hesitation, Yes, 
 I am sure ; I am not afraid to say, my soul 
 for your’s that you are right. She paused a 
 little, and then replied, “ You say true, I 
 know I am right. I feel that my hope is 
 fixed upon the Rock of ages ; I know in whom 
 I have believed. Yet if you could see with 
 my eyes, you would not wonder at my ques- 
 tion. But the approach of death presents a 
 prospect, which is till then hidden from U9, 
 and which cannot be described.” She said 
 much more to the same purpose ; and in all 
 she spoke there was a dignity, weight, and 
 evidence which I suppose few professors ol 
 divinity, when lecturing from the chair, have 
 at any time equalled. We may well say, with 
 Elihu, “ Who teacheth like him?” Many in- 
 stances of the like kind I have met with here 
 I have a poor girl near me who looks like aa 
 idiot, and her natural capacity is indeed very 
 small, but the Lord has been pleased to make 
 her acquainted alternately with great tempta- 
 tions and proportionably great discoveries of 
 his love and truth. Sometimes, when her 
 heart is enlarged, I listen to her with astonish- 
 ment. I think no books or ministers I ever 
 met with have given me such an impression 
 and understanding of what the apostle styles 
 to, (}>a.6n rou Osov,* as I have upon some occa- 
 sions received from her conversation. 
 
 But I am rambling again. My attendance 
 upon the sick is not always equally comfort- 
 able, but, could I learn aright, it might be 
 equally instructive. Some confirm the pre- 
 ciousness of a Saviour to me, by the cheer- 
 fulness with which, through faith in his name, 
 they meet the king of terrors. Others no les3 
 confirm it, by the terror and reluctance they 
 
 * The deep things of God. 
 
 R 
 
LET. XIV. 
 
 146 LETTERS TO A 
 
 discover when they find they must die ; for j 
 though there are too many who sadly slight | 
 the blessed gospel while they are in health, 
 yet in this place most are too far enlightened 
 to be quite thoughtless about their souls, if 
 they retain their senses in their last illness. 
 Then, like the foolish virgins, they say, “ Give 
 us of your oil.” Then they are willing that mi- 
 nisters and professors should pray with them I 
 and speak to them. Through the Lord’s 
 goodness, several whom I have visited in 
 these circumstances have afforded me good 
 hope; they have been savingly changed by 
 his blessing upon what has passed at the ele- 
 venth hour. I have seen a marvellous and 
 olessed change take place in their language, 
 views, and tempers, in a few days. I now 
 visit a young person, who is cut short in her 
 nineteenth year by a consumption, and I think 
 cannot live many days. I found her very ig- 
 norant and insensible, and she remained so a 
 good while ; but of late I hope her heart is 
 touched. She feels her lost state, she seems 
 to have some right desires, she begins to 
 pray, and in such a manner as I cannot but 
 hope the Lord is teaching her, and will re- 
 veal himself to her before she departs. But 
 it is sometimes otherwise. I saw a young wo- 
 man die last week : I had been often with 
 her ; but the night she was removed she could 
 only say, “ O, I cannot live, I cannot live!” 
 She repeated this mournful complaint as long 
 as she could speak ; for, as the vital powers 
 were more oppressed, her voice was changed in- 
 to groans ; her groans grew fainter and fainter, 
 and, in about a quarter of an hour after she 
 had done speaking, she expired. Poor thing, 
 I thought, as I stood by her bed-side, if you 
 were a duchess, in this situation, what could 
 the world do for you now ! I thought like- 
 wise how many things are there that now t eve 
 us pleasure or pain, and assume a mighty im- 
 portance in our view, which, in a dying hour, 
 will be no more to us than the clouds which 
 fly unnoticed over our heads. Then the truth 
 of our Lord’s aphorism will be seen, felt, 
 and acknowledged, “ One thing is needful j” 
 and we shall be ready, to apply Grotius’s dy- 
 ing confession, to, alas ! a great part of our 
 lives ! Ah vitam perdidi, nihil agendo labo- 
 riose. *■ 
 
 Your Lordship allows me to send unpre- 
 meditated letters. I need not assure you this 
 is one. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 * 1 have lost a life in laborious trifling. 
 
 NOBLEMAN. 
 
 LETTER XIV. 
 
 March 24 , 1774 . 
 
 MY LORD, 
 
 What a mercy is it to be separated in spirit, 
 conversation, and interest from the world that 
 knows not God ! where all are alike by na- 
 ture. Grace makes a happy and unspeakable 
 difference. Believers were once under the 
 same influence of that spirit who still worketh 
 in the children of disobedience, pursuing dif- 
 ferent paths, but all equally remote from truth 
 and peace ; some hatching cockatrice eggs, 
 others w eaving spiders webs. These two gene- 
 ral heads of mischief and vanity include all the 
 schemes, aims, and atchievements of which man 
 is capable, till God is pleased to visit the heart 
 with his grace. The busy part of mankind are 
 employed in multiplying evils and miseries ; 
 the more retired, speculative, and curious are 
 amusing themselves with what will hereafter 
 appear as unsubstantial, unstable, and useless 
 as a cobweb. Death will soon sweep away all 
 that the philosophers, the virtuosi, the mathe- 
 maticians, the antiquarians, and other learned 
 triflers are now weaving with so much self- 
 applauded address. Nor will the fine-spun 
 dresses in which the moralist and the self- 
 righteous clothe themselves, be of more ad- 
 vantage to them, either for ornament or de- 
 fence, than the produce of a spider. But it 
 is given to a few to know their present state 
 and future destination. These build upon 
 the immoveable rock of ages for eternity. 
 These are trees springing from a living root, 
 and bear the fruits of righteousness, which 
 are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise 
 of God. These only are awake, while the 
 rest of the world are in a sleep, indulging in 
 vain dreams, from which likewise they will 
 shortly awake ; but, O, with what consterna- 
 tion, when they shall find themselves irre- 
 coverably divorced from all their delusive at- 
 tachments, and compelled to appear before 
 that God to whom they have lived strangers, 
 and to whom they must give an account ! O 
 for a thousand tongues to proclaim in the 
 ears of thoughtless mortals that important 
 aphorism of our Lord, “ One thing is need- 
 ful !” Yet a thousand tongues would be, and 
 are employed in vain, unless so far as the Lord 
 is pleased to send the watchman’s warning, 
 by the power and agency of his own Spirit. 
 I think the poet tells us, that Cassandra had 
 the gift of truly foretelling future events ; 
 but she was afterwards laid under a painful 
 embarrassment, that nobody should believe her 
 words. Such, with respect to the bulk of 
 their auditories, is the lot of gospel-minis- 
 ters : they are enlightened to see, and sent 
 forth to declare, the awful consequences or 
 sin ; but, alas ! how few believe their report ! 
 To illustrate our grief and disappointment, I 
 
LET. XIV. LETTERS TO 
 
 sometimes suppose a dangerous water to be 
 in the way of travellers, over which there is a 
 bridge, which those who can be prevailed upon 
 may pass with safety. By the side of this 
 bridge watchmen are placed, to warn passen- 
 gers of the danger of the waters ; to assure 
 them, that all who attempt to go through 
 them must invevitably perish ; to invite, en- 
 treat, and beseech them, if they value their 
 lives, to cross the bridge. Methinks this 
 should be an easy task : yet if we should see 
 in fact the greater part stopping their ears to 
 the friendly importunity ; many so much of- 
 fended by it, as to account the watchman’s 
 care impertinent, and only deserving of scorn 
 and ill treatment ; hardly one in fifty betaking 
 themselves to the friendly bridge, the rest 
 eagerly plunging into the waters, from which 
 none return, as if they were determined to 
 try who should be drowned first. This spec- 
 tacle would be no unfit emblem of the recep- 
 tion the gospel meets with from a blinded 
 world. The ministers are rejected, opposed, 
 vilified ; they are accounted troublers of the 
 world, because they dare not, cannot stand 
 silent, while sinners are perishing before their 
 eyes : and if, in the course of many sermons, 
 they can prevail but on one soul to take timely 
 warning, and to seek to Jesus, who is the way, 
 the truth, and the life, they may account it a 
 mercy and an honour, sufficient to overbalance 
 all the labour and reproaches they are called 
 to endure. From the most they must expect 
 no better reception than the Jews gave to Je- 
 remiah, who told the prophet to his face, " As 
 to the word thou hast spoken to us in the 
 name of the Lord, we will not hearken to thee 
 at all ; but we will certainly do whatsoever 
 thing goeth forth out of our own mouth.” 
 Surely, if the Lord has given us any sense of 
 the worth of our souls, any compassion to- 
 wards them, this must be a painful exercise ; 
 and experience must teach us something of the 
 meaning of Jeremiah’s pathetic exclamation, 
 “ O that my head were waters, and mine eyes 
 fountains of tears ! that I might weep day 
 and night for the slain of the daughters of my 
 people.” It is our duty to be thus affected. 
 Our relief lies in the wisdom and sovereignty 
 of God. He reveals his salvation to whom 
 he pleases, for the most part to babes ; from 
 the bulk of the wise and the prudent it is hid- 
 den. Thus it hath pleased him, and therefore 
 it must be right. Yea, he will one day con- 
 descend to justify the propriety and equity of 
 his proceedings to his creatures : then every 
 mouth will be stopped, and none will be able 
 to reply against his judge. Light is come into 
 the world, but men prefer darkness. They 
 hate the light, resist it, and rebel against it. 
 It is true, all do so ; and therefore, if all were 
 to perish under the condemnation, their ruin 
 would be their own act. It is of grace that 
 any are saved, and in the distribution of that 
 grace, he does what he will with his own j a 
 
 A NOBLEMAN. 147 
 
 right which most are ready enough to clniiri in 
 their own concerns, though they are so unwil- 
 ling to allow it to the Lord of all. Many 
 perplexing and acrimonious disputes have been 
 started upon this subject ; but the redeemed 
 of the Lord are called, not to dispute, but 
 to admire and rejoice ; to love, adore, and 
 obey. To know that he loved us, and gave 
 himself for us, is the constraining argument 
 and motive to love him, and surrendei our- 
 selves to him ; to consider ourselves as no 
 longer our own, but to devote ourselves, with 
 every faculty, power, and talent to his ser 
 vice and glory. He deserves our all ; for he 
 parted with all for us. He made himself 
 pbor ; he endured shame, torture, death, and 
 the curse for us, that we, through him, might 
 inherit everlasting life. Ah ! the hardness 
 of my heart, that I am no more affected, as- 
 tonished, overpowered, with this thought ! 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER XV. 
 
 April 20, 1774. 
 
 MY LORD, 
 
 I Have been pondering a good while for a 
 subject, and at last I begin without one, hop- 
 ing that, as it has often happened, while I ar- 
 writing one line, something will occur to fill 
 up another. Indeed, I have an inexhaustible 
 fund at hand ; but it is to me often like a 
 prize in the hand of a fool ; I want skill to 
 improve it. O for a warm, a suitable, a sea- 
 sonable train of thought, that might enliven my 
 own heart, and not be unworthy your Lord- 
 ship’s perusal ! Methinks the poets can have 
 but cold comfort, when they invocate a fabled 
 Muse * but we have a warrant, a right, to look 
 up for the influence of the Holy Spirit, who 
 ordains strength for us, and has promised to 
 work in us. What a comfort, what an honour 
 is this, that worms have liberty to look up to 
 God ! and that He, the high and holy One who 
 inhabiteth eternity, is pleased to look down 
 upon us, to maintain our peace, to supply our 
 wants, to guide us with his eye, to inspire us 
 with wisdom and grace suitable to our occa- 
 sions ! They who profess to know something 
 of this intercourse, and to depend upon it, 
 are by the world accounted enthusiasts, who 
 know not what they mean, 6r perhaps hypo- 
 crites, who pretend to what they have not, in 
 order to cover some base designs. But we 
 have reason to bear their reproaches with pa- 
 tience. Could the miser say, 
 
 Populus me sibilat, at mihi plaudo 
 
 Ipse domi, simul ac nummos contemplor in area. 
 
 Well, then, may the believer say, let them 
 laugh, let them rage, let them, if they please, 
 point at me for a fool, as I walk the streets ; 
 if I do but take up the Bible, or run over in 
 
LETTERS TO A NOBLEMAN. 
 
 LET. XV 
 
 148 
 
 my mind the inventory of the blessings with 
 which the Lord has enriched me, I have suf- 
 ficient amends. Jesus is mine ; in him I 
 have wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and 
 redemption, an interest in all the promises, 
 and in all the perfections of God ; he will 
 guide me by his counsel, support me by his 
 power, comfort me with his presence, while I 
 am here, and afterwards, when flesh and heart 
 fail, he will receive me to his glory. 
 
 Let them say what they will, they shall not 
 dispute or laugh us out of our spiritual senses. 
 If all the blind men in the kingdom should 
 endeavour to bear me down, that the sun is 
 not bright, or that the rainbow has no colours, 
 I would still believe my own eyes. I have 
 seen them both, they have not. I cannot 
 prove to their satisfaction what I assert, be- 
 cause they are destitute of sight, the necessary 
 medium ; yet their exceptions produce no un- 
 certainty in my mind ; they would not, they 
 could not hesitate a moment, if they were 
 not blind. Just so, they who have been 
 taught of God, who have tasted that the Lord 
 is gracious, have an experimental perception 
 of the truth, which renders them proof against 
 all the sophistry of infidels. I am persuaded 
 we have many plain people here, who, if a 
 wise man of the world was to suggest that 
 the Bible is a human invention, would be 
 quite at a loss how to answer him, by argu- 
 ments drawn from external evidences; yet 
 they have found such effects from this blessed 
 book, that they would be no more moved by 
 the insinuation, than if they were told, that a 
 cunning man, or set of men, invented the 
 sun, and placed it in the firmament. So if a 
 wise Socinian was to tell them, that the Sa- 
 viour was only a man like themselves, they 
 would conceive just such an opinion of his 
 skill in divinity, as a philosopher would do of 
 a clown’s skill in astronomy, who should af- 
 firm that the sun was no bigger than a cart- 
 wheel. 
 
 It remains therefore a truth, in defiance of 
 all the cavils of the ignorant, that the Holy 
 Spirit does influence the hearts of all the 
 children of God, or, in other words, they are 
 inspired, not with new revelations, but with 
 grace and wisdom to understand, apply, and 
 feed upon the great things already revealed 
 in the scriptures, without which the scriptures 
 are as useless as spectacles to the blind. Were 
 it not so, when we become acquainted with 
 the poverty, ignorance, and wickedness of our 
 hearts, we must sit down in utter despair of 
 being ever able to think a good thought, to 
 offer a single petition aright in prayer, or to 
 take one safe step in the path of life. But 
 now we may be content with our proper 
 weakness, since the power and spirit of Christ 
 are engaged to rest upon us ; and while we 
 arc preserved in a simple dependence upon 
 this help, though unable of ourselves to do 
 any thing, \ye shall find an ability to do every 
 
 thing that our circumstances and duty call 
 for. What is weaker than a worm 5 Yet the 
 Lord’s worms shall in his strength, thrash the 
 mountains, and make the hills as chaff. But 
 this life of faith, this living and acting by a 
 power above our own, is an inexplicable mys- 
 tery, till experience makes it plain. I have 
 often wondered that St. Paul has obtained so 
 much quarter at the hands of some people, as 
 to pass with them for a man of sense ; for 
 surety the greatest part of his writings must 
 be to the last degree absurd and unintelligible 
 upon their principles. How many contra- 
 dictions must they find, for instance, if they 
 give any attention to what they read in that 
 one passage, Gal. ii. 20, “ I am crucified 
 with Christ : Nevertheless I live ; yet not I, 
 but Christ liveth in me : and the life which I 
 now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son 
 of God, who loved me, and gave himself for 
 me.” 
 
 And as believers are thus inspired by the 
 Holy Spirit, who furnishes them with desires, 
 motives, and abilities, to perform what is 
 agreeable to his will ; so I apprehend, that 
 they who live without God in the world, whom 
 the apostle styles sensual, not having the Spirit, 
 are in a greater or less degree ad captum red - 
 pientis, under vrhat I may call a black inspir 
 ation. After making the best allowances I 
 can, both for the extent of human genius and 
 the deplorable evil of the human heart, I can- 
 not suppose that one half of the wicked wit, 
 of which some persons are so proud, is pro- 
 perly their own. Perhaps such a one as Vol- 
 taire would neither have written, nor have been 
 read or admired so much, if he had not been 
 the amanuensis of an abler hand in his own 
 way. Satan is always near when the heart is 
 disposed to receive him ; and the Lord with- 
 draws his restraints, to heighten the sinner’s abi- 
 lity of sinning with an eclat, and assisting him 
 with such strokes of blasphemy, malice, and 
 falsehood, as perhaps he could not otherwise 
 have attained. Therefore, I do not wondei 
 that they are clever and smart, that they raise 
 a laugh, and are received with applause among 
 those who are like-minded with themselves. 
 But unless the Lord is pleased to grant them 
 repentance though it is rather to be feared 
 some of them are given up to judicial hard- 
 ness of heart, how much better would it have 
 been for them, had they been born idiots or 
 lunatics, than to be distinguished as the will- 
 ing, industrious, and successful instruments 
 of the powers of darkness, in beguiling, per- 
 verting, and ruining the souls of men! Alas, 
 what are parts and talents, or any distinctions 
 which give pre-eminence in life, unless they 
 are sanctified by the grace of God, and di- 
 rected to the accomplishment of his will and 
 glory ! From the expression, “ Bind them in 
 bundles, and burn them,” I have been led to 
 think, that the deceivers and the deceived, 
 they who have prostituted their gifts or in- 
 
LET. XVI. LETTERS TO 
 
 fluence to encourage others in sin, and they 
 who have perished by their means, may in 
 another world have some peculiar and inse- 
 parable connection, and spend an eternity in 
 fruitless lamentation that ever they were con- 
 nected here. 
 
 Your Lordship, I doubt not feels the force 
 of that line, 
 
 O, to grace how great a debtor ! ■ 
 
 Had not the Lord separated you for him- 
 self, your rank, your abilities, your influence, 
 which now you chiefly value as enlarging your 
 opportunities of usefulness, might, nay cer- 
 tainly would, have been diverted into the op- 
 posite channel. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER XVI. 
 
 November 5, 1774. 
 
 MY LORD, 
 
 I have not very lately had recourse to the 
 expedient of descanting upon a text, but I 
 believe it the best method I can take to avoid 
 ringing changes upon a few obvious topics, 
 which I suppose uniformly present themselves 
 to my mind when I am about to write to your 
 Lordship. Just now, that sweet expression 
 of David occurred to my thoughts, “ The 
 Lord is my shepherd.” Permit me, without 
 plan or premeditation, to make a few obser- 
 vations upon it ; and may your Lordship feel 
 the peace, the confidence, the blessedness, 
 which a believing application of the words is 
 suited to inspire. 
 
 The Socinians, and others, in their unhappy 
 laboured attempts to darken the principal glory 
 and foundation-comfort of the gospel, employ 
 their critical sophistry against those texts which 
 expressly and doctrinally declare the Re- 
 deemer’s character, and affect to triumph, if 
 in any manuscript or ancient version they can 
 find a variation from the received copies which 
 seems to favour their cause. But we may 
 venture to wave the authority of every dis- 
 puted or disputable text, and maintain the 
 truth against their cavils from the current 
 language and tenor of the whole scripture. 
 David’s words, in Psal. xxiii, are alone a de- 
 cisive proof that Jesus is Jehovah, if they 
 will but allow two things, which I think they 
 cannot deny : — 1. That our Saviour assumes 
 to himself the character of the Shepherd of 
 his people; — and, 2. That he did not come 
 into the world to abridge those advantages 
 which the servants of God enjoyed before his 
 incarnation. Upon these premises, which 
 cannot be gainsaid without setting aside the 
 whole New Testament, the conclusion is un- 
 deniable: for if Jehovah was David’s Shep- 
 herd, unless Jesus be Jehovah, we who live 
 under the gospel have an unspeakable disad- 
 
 \ NOBLEMAN. 149 
 
 vantage, in being entrusted to the care of 
 one who, according to the Socinians, is a 
 mere man ; and, upon the Arian scheme, is 
 at the most a creature, and infinitely short of 
 possessing those perfections which David con- 
 templated in his Shepherd. He had a Shep- 
 herd whose wisdom and power were infinite, 
 and might therefore warrantably conclude he 
 should not want, and need not fear. And 
 we also may conclude the same, if our Shep- 
 herd be the Lord or Jehovah, but not other- 
 wise. Besides, the very nature of the Shep- 
 herd’s office respecting the state of such frail 
 creatures as we are, requires those attributes 
 for the due discharge of it which are incom- 
 municably divine. He must intimately know 
 every individual of the flock : his eye must 
 be upon them every one, and his ear open to 
 their prayers, and his arm stretched out for 
 their relief, in all places and in all ages : every 
 thought of every heart must be open to his 
 view, and his wisdom must penetrate, and his 
 arm controul and over-rule, all the hidden 
 and complicated machinations of the powers 
 of darkness : he must have the administration 
 of universal providence over all the nations, 
 families, and persons upon earth, or he could 
 not effectually manage for those who put their 
 trust in him, in that immense variety of cases 
 and circumstances in which they are found. 
 Reason, as well as scripture, may convince us, 
 that he who gathereth the outcasts of Israel, 
 who healeth' the broken in heart, who up- 
 holdeth all that fall, raiseth up all that are 
 bowed down, and upon whom the eyes of all 
 wait for their support, can be no other than 
 he who telleth the number of the stars, and 
 calleth them all by their names, who is great 
 in power, and whose understanding is infinite. 
 To this purpose likewise the prophet Isaiah 
 describes this mighty Shepherd, chap. xl. 9 — 
 17, both as to his person and office. 
 
 But is not this indeed the great mystery of 
 godliness ! How just is the apostle’s obser- 
 vation, that no man can say Jesus Christ is 
 Lord, but by the Holy Ghost ! How astonish- 
 ing the thought, — that the Maker of heaven 
 and earth, the Holy One of Israel, before 
 whose presence the earth shook, the heavens 
 dropped, when he displayed a faint emblem of 
 his majesty upon Sinai, should aftc*wards ap- 
 pear in the form of a servant, and hang upon 
 a cross, the sport and scorn of wicked men ! 
 I cannot wonder that to the wise men of the 
 world this appears absurd, unreasonable, and 
 impossible ; yet to right reason, to reason en- 
 lightened, and sanctified, however amazing 
 the proposition be, yet it appears true and 
 necessary, upon a supposition that a holy God 
 is pleased to pardon sinners in a way suited 
 to display the awful glories of his justice. 
 The same arguments which prove the blood 
 of bulls and goats insufficient to take away 
 sin, will conclude against the utmost doings 
 or sufferings of men or angels. The Ro 
 
150 LETTERS TO 
 
 deemer of sinners must be mighty ; he must 
 have a personal dignity, to stamp such a value 
 upon his undertakings as that thereby God 
 may appear just as well as merciful in justify- 
 ing the ungodly for his sake ; and he must 
 be all-sufficient to bless, and almighty to pro- 
 tect those who come unto him for safety and 
 life. 
 
 Such a one is our Shepherd. This is he 
 of whom we, through grace, are enabled to 
 say, we are his. people, and the sheep of his 
 pasture. We are his by every tie and right; 
 lie made us, he redeemed us, he reclaimed 
 us from the hand of our enemies, and we are 
 his by our own voluntary surrender of our- 
 selves ; for, though we once slighted, despised, 
 and opposed him, he made us willing in the 
 day of his power : he knocked at the door of 
 our hearts ; but we, at least I, barred and fas- 
 tened it against him as much and as long as 
 possible. But when he revealed his love we 
 could stand out no longer. Like sheep, we 
 are weak, destitute, defenceless, prone to wan- 
 der, unable to return, and always surrounded 
 with wolves. But all is made up in the ful- 
 ness, ability, wisdom, compassion, care, and 
 faithfulness of our great Shepherd. He 
 guides, protects, feeds, heals, and restores, 
 and will be our guide and our God even un- 
 til death. Then he will meet us, receive us, 
 and present us unto himself, and we shall be 
 near him, and like him, and with him for 
 ever. 
 
 Ah ! my Lord, what a subject is this ! I 
 trust it is the joy of your heart. Placed, as 
 you are by his hand in a superior rank, you 
 see and feel that the highest honours, and the 
 most important concernments that terminate 
 with the present life, are trivial as the sports 
 of children in comparison with the views and 
 the privileges you derive from the glorious 
 gospel ; and your situation in life renders the 
 grace bestowed upon you the more conspi- 
 cuous and distinguishing. I have somewhere 
 met with a similar reflection of Henry IV. of 
 France, to this purpose, that, though many 
 came into the world the same day with him, 
 he was probably the only one among them that 
 was born to be a king. Your Lordship is 
 acquainted with many, who, if not born on 
 the same day with you, were born to titles, 
 estates, and honours; but how few of them 
 were born to the honour of making a public 
 and consistent profession of the glorious gos- 
 pel ! The hour is coming, when all honours 
 and possessions, but this which cometh of God 
 only, will be eclipsed and vanish, and, like 
 the baseless fabric of a vision, leave not a 
 wreck behind. How miserable will they then 
 be who must leave their all ! What a mor- 
 tifying thought does Horace put in the way 
 of those who disdain to read the scriptures ! 
 
 Linquenda tellus, et domus, et placens 
 
 Uxor : neque harum, quas colis, arborum 
 Te, prastcr invisas cupressos, 
 
 Ulla brcvem dominum sequctur. 
 
 A NOBLEMAN. LET. XVII. 
 
 But grace and faith can make the lowest 
 state of life supportable, and make a dismis- 
 sion from the highest desirable. Of the for- 
 mer I have many living proofs and witnesses 
 around me. Your Lordship, I trust, will 
 have sweet experience of the latter, when, 
 after having fulfilled the will of God in your 
 generation, you shall be called (I hope in 
 some yet distant day) to enter into your Mas- 
 ter’s joy. In the meantime, how valuable 
 are life, talents, influence, and opportunities 
 of every kind, if we are enabled to improve 
 and lay out all for him who hath thus loved 
 us, thus provided for us? As to myself, I 
 would hope there are few who have so clear 
 a sense of their obligations to him, who make 
 such unsuitable and languid returns as I do. 
 I think I have a desire to serve him better ; 
 but, alas ! evil is present with me. Surely I 
 shall feel something like shame and regret 
 for my coldness, even in heaven, for I find I 
 am never happier than when I am most a- 
 shamed of myself upon this account here. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER XVII. 
 
 December 8, 1774. 
 
 MY LORD, 
 
 How wonderful is the patience of God 1 to- 
 wards sinful men! In him they, live, and 
 move, and have their being, and. if he were 
 to withdraw his support for a single moment, 
 they must perish. He maintains their lives, 
 guards their persons, supplies their wants, 
 while they employ the powers and faculties 
 they receive from him in a settled course of 
 opposition to his will. They trample upon 
 his laws, affront his government, and despise 
 his grace ; yet still he spares. To silence all 
 his adversaries in a moment would require no 
 extraordinary exertion of his power ; but his 
 forbearance towards them manifests his glory, 
 and gives us cause to say, Who is a God like 
 unto thee ? 
 
 Sometimes, however, there are striking in- 
 stances of his displeasure against sin. When 
 such events take place, immediately upon a 
 public and premeditated contempt offered to 
 Him that sitteth in the heavens, I own they 
 remind me of the danger- of standing, if I 
 may so speak, in the Lord’s way ; for though 
 his long-suffering is astonishing, and many 
 dare him to his face daily, with seeming im- 
 punity, yet he sometimes strikes an awful 
 and unexpected blow, and gives an illustra- 
 tion of that solemn word, “ Who ever har- 
 dened himself against the Lord and pros- 
 pered ?” But how am I to make this ob- 
 servation? I ought to do it with the deepest 
 humiliation, remembering that I once stood, 
 according to my years and ability, in the fore, 
 most rank of his avowed opposers, and, with a 
 
LET. XVII. 
 
 LETTERS TO A NOBLEMAN. 
 
 determined and unwearied enmity renounced, 
 defied, and blasphemed him. “ But he will 
 have mercy on whom he will have mercy 
 and therefore I was spared, and reserved to 
 speak of his goodness. 
 
 Josephus, when speaking of the death of 
 Herod Agrippa, ascribes it to a natural cause, 
 and, says he was seized with excruciating 
 pains in his bowels. But Luke informs us 
 of the true cause : an angel of the Lord smote 
 him. Had we a modern history, written by 
 an inspired pen, we should probably often be 
 reminded of such an interposition where we 
 are not ordinarily aware of it. For though 
 the springs of actions and events are conceal- 
 ed from us for the most part, and vain men 
 carry on their schemes with confidence, as 
 though the Lord had forsaken the earth, yet 
 they are under his eye and controul ; and 
 faith, in some measure, instructed by the 
 specimens of his government recorded in the 
 scriptures, can trace and admire his hand, and 
 can see how he takes the wise in their own 
 craftiness, stains the pride of human glory ; 
 and that when sinners speak proudly, he is 
 above them, and makes every thing bend or 
 break before him. 
 
 While we lament the growth and perni- 
 cious effects of infidelity, and see how wicked 
 men and seducers wax worse and worse, de- 
 ceiving, and being deceived ; what gratitude 
 should fill our hearts to him, who has been 
 pleased to call us out of the horrid darkness in 
 which multitudes are bewildered and lost, 
 into the glorious light of his gospel ! Faint 
 are our warmest conceptions of this mercy. 
 In order to understand it fully, we should 
 have a full and adequate sense of the evil from 
 which we are delivered; the glory to which 
 we are called ; and especially, of the astonish- 
 ing means to which we owe our life and hope, 
 the humiliation, sufferings, and death of the 
 Son of God. But our views of these points, 
 while in our present state, are and must be 
 exceedingly weak and disproportionate. We 
 know them but in part, we see them vrovroov, 
 
 by reflection , rather the images than the things 
 themselves ; and though they are faithfully 
 represented in the mirror of God’s word, to 
 us they appear indistinct, because we see 
 them through a gross medium of ignorance 
 and unbelief. Hereafter every vail shall be 
 removed ; we shall know, in another manner 
 than we do now, the unspeakable evil of sin, 
 and the insupportable dreadfulness of God’s 
 displeasure against it, when we see the world 
 in flames, and hear the final sentence de- 
 nounced upon the ungodly. We shall have 
 far other thoughts of Jesus when we see him 
 as he is : and shall then be able to make a 
 more affecting estimate of the love which 
 moved him to be made a substitute and a 
 curse for us : and we shall then know what 
 great things God has prepared for them that 
 love him. Then with transport, we shall a- 
 
 151 
 
 dopt the queen of Sheba’s language, It was 
 a true report we heard in yonder dark world ; 
 but, behold, the half, the thousandth part, 
 was not told us ! In the mean time, may 
 such conceptions as we are enabled to form of 
 these great truths, fill our hearts, and be 
 mingled with all our thoughts, and all our 
 concerns ; may the Lord, by faith, give us an 
 abiding evidence of the reality and impor- 
 tance of the things which cannot yet be seen ; 
 so shall we be enabled to live above the world 
 while we are in it, uninfluenced either by its 
 blandishments or its frowns; and, with a 
 noble simplicity and singularity, avow and 
 maintain the cause of God in truth, in the 
 midst of a crooked and perverse generation. 
 He whom we serve is able to support and 
 protect us ; and he well deserves at our hands, 
 that we should be willing to endure, for his 
 sake, much more than he will ever permit us 
 to be exercised with. The believer’s call, 
 duty, and privilege, is beautifully and forci- 
 bly set forth in Milton’s character of Abdiel, 
 at the end of the fifth book : 
 
 Faithful found 
 
 Among the faithless, faithful only he. 
 
 Among innumerable false ; unmov'd. 
 
 Unshaken, unseduc'd, unterrified, 
 
 His loyalty he kept, his love, his zeal : 
 
 Nor number, nor example, with him wrought 
 To swerve from truth, or change his constant mind 
 Though singl e 
 
 Methinks your Lordship’s situation parti- 
 cularly resembles that in which the poet has 
 placed Abdiel. You are not, indeed, called 
 to serve God quite alone ; but amongst those 
 of your own rank, and with whom, the sta- 
 tion in which he has placed you, necessitates 
 you to converse, how few are there who can 
 understand, second, or approve, the principles 
 upon which you act, or easily bear a conduct 
 which must impress conviction, or reflect dis- 
 honour upon themselves ! But you are not 
 alone; the Lord’s people (many of whom 
 you will not know till you meet them in 
 glory) are helping you here with their prayers ; 
 his angels are commissioned to guard and 
 guide your steps; yea, the Lord himself fixes 
 his eye of mercy upon your private and your 
 public path, and is near you at your righ< 
 hand, that you may not be moved. That he 
 may comfort you with the light of his coun- 
 tenance, and uphold you with the arm of- his 
 power, is my frequent prayer. 
 
 I am, &c* 
 
 LETTER XVIII. 
 
 January 20, 1775. 
 
 MY LORD, 
 
 W E have entered upon another year. So have 
 thousands, perhaps millions, who w ill not see 
 it close. An alarming thought to the world- 
 ling ! at least it should be so- I have an im- 
 
LET. XVIII 
 
 152 LETTERS TO 
 
 perfect remembrance of an account I read 
 when I was a boy, of an ice-palace, built one 
 winter at Petersburgh. The walls, the roof, 
 the floors, the furniture, were all of ice, but fi- 
 nished with taste ; and every thing that might 
 be expected in a royal palace was to be found 
 there; the ice, while in the state of water, 
 being previously coloured, so that to the eye 
 all seemed formed of proper materials : but 
 all was cold, useless, and transient. Had the 
 frost continued till now, the palace might have 
 been standing ; but with the returning spring 
 it melted away, like the baseless fabric of a 
 vision. Methinks there should have been 
 one stone in the building, to have retained 
 the inscription, Sic transit gloria mundi ! for 
 no contrivance could exhibit a fitter illustra- 
 tion of the vanity of human life. Men build 
 and plan as if their works were to endure for 
 ever ; but the wind passes over them, and 
 they are gone. In the midst of all their pre- 
 parations, or at farthest, when they think they 
 have just completed their designs, their breath 
 goeth forth, they return to their earth ; in that 
 very day their thoughts perish. 
 
 How many sleep who kept the world awake ! 
 
 Yet this ice-house had something of a leisure- 
 ly dissolution, though, when it began to de- 
 cay, all the art of man was unable to prop 
 it : but often death comes hastily, and, like 
 the springing of a mine, destroys to the very 
 foundations, without previous notice. Then 
 all we have been concerned in here (all but 
 the consequences of our conduct, which will 
 abide to eternity) will be no more to us than 
 the remembrance of a dream. This truth is 
 too plain to be denied ; but the greater part 
 of mankind apt as if they were convinced it 
 was false : they spend their days in vanity, 
 and in a moment they go down to the grave. 
 What cause of thankfulness have they who 
 are delivered from this delusion, and who, by 
 the knowledge of the glorious gospel, have 
 learned their true state and end, are saved 
 from the love of the present world, from the 
 heart-distressing fear of death ; and know, 
 that if their earthly house were dissolved, like 
 the ice-palace, they have a house not made 
 with hands, eternal in the heavens ! 
 
 Yet even these are much concerned to rea- 
 lize the brevity and uncertainty of their pre- 
 sent state, that they may be stimulated to 
 make the most and the best of it $ to redeem 
 their time, and manage their precarious op- 
 portunities, so as may most tend to the praise 
 and glory of him who has called them out of 
 darkness into marvellous light. Why should 
 any that have tasted that the Lord is gracious 
 wish to live another day, but that they may 
 have the honour to be fellow-workers with 
 him, instrumental in promoting his designs, 
 and of laying themselves out to the utmost of 
 their abilities and influence in his service ? 
 To enjoy a sense of his lovingkindness, and 
 
 A NOBLEMAN. 
 
 to have the light of his countenance lifted up 
 upon our souls, is indeed, respecting ourselves, 
 the best part of life, yea, better than life it- 
 self; but this we shall have to unspeakably 
 greater advantage, when we have finished our 
 course, and shall be wholly freed from the 
 body of sin. And therefore, the great desir- 
 able while here, seems to be grace, that we 
 may serve him and suffer for him in the world. 
 Though our first wish immediately upon our 
 own accounts might be, to depart and be with 
 Jesus, which is vroXXep fixXXev x^i nrtrov, yet a 
 lively thought of our immense obligations to 
 his redeeming love, may reconcile us to a 
 much longer continuance here, if we may by 
 any means be subservient to diffuse the glory 
 of his name, and the blessings of his salva- 
 tion, which is God’s great and principal end 
 in preserving the world itself. When histo- 
 rians and politicians descant upon the rise and 
 fall of empires, with all their professed saga- 
 city, in tracing the connection between causes 
 and effects, they are totally unacquainted with 
 the great master-wheel which manages the 
 whole movement, that is, the Lord’s design 
 in favour of his church and kingdom. To 
 this every event is subordinate ; to this every 
 interfering interest must stoop. How easily 
 might this position be proved, by reviewing 
 the history of the period about the Reforma- 
 tion. Whether Dr. Robertson considers 
 things in this light, in his history of Charles 
 V. I know not, as I have not seen his books ; 
 but if not, however elaborate his performance 
 may be in other respects, I must venture to 
 say, it is essentially defective, and cannot give 
 that light and pleasure to a spiritual reader of 
 which the subject is capable. And I doubt 
 not, that some who are yet unborn will here- 
 after clearly see and remark, that the present 
 unhappy disputes between Great Britain and 
 America, with their consequences, whatever 
 they may be, are part of a series of events, of 
 which the extension and interests of the church 
 of Christ were the principal final causes. In 
 a word, that Jesus may be known, trusted, 
 and adored, and sinners, by the power of his 
 gospel, be rescued from sin and Satan, is 
 comparatively, the ro b, the one great busi- 
 ness, for the sake of which the succession of 
 day and' night, summer and winter, is still 
 maintained ; and when the plan of redemp- 
 tion is consummated, sin, which now almost 
 fills the earth, will then set it on fire ; and 
 the united interest of all the rest of mankind, 
 when detached from that of the people of 
 God, will not plead for its preservation a sin- 
 gle day. In this view, I congratulate your 
 Lordship, that however your best endeavours 
 to serve the temporal interests of the nation 
 may fall short of your wishes ; yet, so far as 
 your situation gives you opportunity of sup- 
 porting the gospel-cause, and facilitating its 
 progress, you have a prospect both of a more 
 certain and more important success. Fot 
 
LET. XIX. 
 
 LETTERS TO ^ 
 
 instance, it was, under God, your Lordship’s 
 favour and influence that brought me into 
 the ministry. And though I be nothing, yet 
 he who put it into your heart to patronize 
 me, has been pleased not to suffer what you 
 then did for his sake to be wholly in vain. He 
 has been pleased, in a course of years, by so 
 unworthy an instrument as I am, to awaken 
 a number of persons, who were at that time 
 dead in trespasses and sins ; but now some of 
 them are pressing on to the prize of their high 
 calling in Christ Jesus; and some of them 
 are already before the throne. Should I sug- 
 gest in some companies, that the conversion of 
 a hundred sinners (more or less) to God, is 
 an event of more real importance than the 
 temporal prosperity of the greatest nation up- 
 on earth, I should be charged with ignorance 
 and arrogance; but your Lordship is skilled 
 in scriptural arithmetic, which alone can teach 
 us to estimate the value of souls, and will agree 
 with me, that one soul is worth more than the 
 whole world, on account of its redemption- 
 price, its vast capacities, and its duration. 
 Should we suppose a nation to consist of forty 
 millions, the whole and each individual to en- 
 joy as much good as this life can afford, with- 
 out abatement, for a term of fifty years each ; 
 all this good, or an equal quantity, might be 
 exhausted by a single person in two thousand 
 millions of years, which would be but a mo- 
 ment in comparison of the eternity which 
 would still follow : and if this good were mere- 
 ly temporal good, the whole aggregate of it 
 would be evil and misery, if compared with 
 that happiness in God, of which only they 
 who are made partakers of a divine life are 
 capable. On the other hand, were a whole 
 nation to be destroyed by such accumulated 
 miseries as attended the siege of Jerusalem, 
 the sum-total of these calamities would be but 
 trifling, if set in competition with what every 
 single person that dies in sin has to expect, 
 when the sentence of everlasting destruction 
 from the presence of the Lord, and the glory 
 of his power, shall be executed. 
 
 What an unexpected round have my thoughts 
 taken since I set out from the ice-palace ? It 
 is time to relieve your Lordship, and to sub- 
 scribe myself, &c. 
 
 LETTER XIX. 
 
 February 23, 1775. 
 
 MY LORD, 
 
 I assent to our Lord’s declaration, “ With- 
 out me ye can do nothing,” not only upon the 
 authority of the speaker, but from the same 
 irresistible and experimental evidence, as if 
 he had told me, that I cannot make the sun 
 to shine, or change the course of the seasons. 
 Though my pen and my tongue sometimes 
 move freely, yet the total incapacity and stag- 
 nation of thought I labour under at other 
 
 l NOBLEMAN. 153 
 
 times, convinces me, that, in myself, I have 
 not sufficiency to think a good thought ; and, 
 I believe the case would be the same, if that 
 little measure of knowledge and abilities, 
 which I am too prone to look upon as my 
 own, were a thousand times greater than it is. 
 For every new service I stand in need of a 
 new supply, and can bring forth nothing of 
 my supposed store into actual exercise, but 
 by his immediate assistance. His gracious 
 influence is that to those who are best fur- 
 nished with gifts, which the water is to the mill, 
 or the wind to the ship, without which the 
 whole apparatus is motionless and useless. 
 I apprehend that we lose much of the com- 
 fort which might arise from a sense of our 
 continual dependence upon him, and of course 
 fall short of acknowledging, as we ought, 
 what we receive from him, by mistaking the 
 manner of his operation. Perhaps we take it 
 too much for granted, that communications 
 from himself must bear some kind of sensible 
 impression that they are his, and therefore 
 are ready to give our own industry or in- 
 genuity credit for those performances in 
 which we can perceive no such impres. 
 sion ; yet it is very possible that we may be 
 under his influence when we are least aware 
 of it ; and though what we say, or write, or 
 do, may seem no way extraordinary, yet that 
 we should be led to such a particular turn of 
 thought at one time rather than at another, 
 has, in my own concerns, often appeared to 
 me remarkable, from the circumstances which 
 have attended, or the consequences which 
 have followed. How often, in the choice of 
 a text, or in the course of a sermon, or in a 
 letter to a friend, have I been led to speak a 
 word in season ! and what I have expressed 
 at large, and in general, has been so exactly 
 suited to some case which I was utterly un- 
 acquainted with, that I could hardly have hit 
 it so well, had I been previously informed of 
 it. Some instances of this kind have been so 
 striking, as hardly to admit a doubt of supe- 
 rior agency. And indeed, if believers in Je- 
 sus, however unworthy in themselves, are the 
 temples of the Holy Ghost ; if the Lord lives, 
 dwells, and walks in them ; if he is their life 
 and their light ; if he has promised to guide 
 them with his eye, and to work in them both 
 to will and to do of his own good pleasure,— 
 methinks what I have mentioned, and more, 
 may be reasonably expected. That line in the 
 hymn, 
 
 Help I every moment need, 
 
 is not a hyperbolical expression, but strictly 
 and literally true, not only in great emergen- 
 cies, but in our smoother hours, and most fa- 
 miliar paths. This gracious assistance is af- 
 forded in a way imperceptible to ourselves, 
 to hide pride from us, and to prevent us 
 from being indolent and careless with re- 
 spect to the use of appointed means; and it 
 
154 LETTERS TO A 
 
 would be likewise more abundantly, and 
 perhaps more sensibly afforded, were our 
 spirits more simple in waiting upon the Lord. 
 But, alas ! a divided heart, an undue attach- 
 ment to some temporal object, sadly deaden 
 our spirits (I speak for myself), and grieves 
 the Lord’s Spirit ; so that we walk in dark- 
 ness and at a distance, and though called to 
 great privileges, live far below them. But 
 inethinks the thought of him who is always 
 near, and upon whom we do and must inces- 
 santly depend, should suggest a powerful 
 motive for the closest attention to his revealed 
 will, and the most punctual compliance with 
 it ; for so far as the Lord withdraws we be- 
 come as blind men, and with the clearest light, 
 and upon the plainest ground, we are liable, 
 or rather sure, to stumble at every step. 
 
 Though there is a principle of consciousness, 
 and a determination of the will, sufficient to 
 denominate our thoughts and performances 
 our own, yet I believe mankind in general are 
 more under an invisible agency than they ap- 
 prehend. The Lord, immediately from him- 
 self, and perhaps by the ministry of the holy 
 angels, guides, prompts, restrains, or warns his 
 people. So there undoubtedly is what I may 
 call a black inspiration, the influence of the 
 evil spirits who work in the hearts of the dis- 
 obedient, and not only excite their wills, but 
 assist their faculties, and qualify as well as 
 incline them to be more assiduously wicked, 
 and more extensively mischievous, than they 
 could be of themselves. I consider Voltaire, 
 for instance, and many writers of the same 
 stamp, to be little more than secretaries and 
 amanuenses of one who has unspeakably more 
 wit and adroitness in promoting infidelity and 
 immorality, than they of themselves can just- 
 ly pretend to. They have, for a while, the 
 credit (if I may so call it) of the fund from 
 whence they draw ; but the world little ima- 
 gines who is the real and original author of 
 that philosophy and poetry, of those fine turns 
 and sprightly inventions, which are so gene- 
 rally admired. Perhaps many, now applaud- 
 ed for their genius, would have been compara- 
 tively dolts, had they not been engaged in 
 a cause which Satan has so much interest in 
 supporting. 
 
 But to return to the more pleasing subject. 
 How great and honourable is the privilege of 
 a true believer ! That he has neither wisdom 
 nor strength in himself is no disadvantage ; 
 for he is connected with infinite wisdom and 
 almighty power. Though weak as a worm, 
 his arms are strengthened by the mighty God 
 of Jacob, and all things become possible, yea 
 easy, to him, that occur within the compass of 
 his proper duty and calling. The Lord, whom 
 he serves, engages to proportion his strength 
 to his day, whether it be a day of service or 
 of suffering ; and though he be fallible and 
 short-sighted, exceeding liable to mistake and 
 imposition, yet, while he retains a sense that 
 
 NOBLEMAN. LET. XIX. 
 
 he is so, and, with the simplicity of a child, 
 asks counsel and direction of the Lord, he 
 seldom takes a wrong step, at least not in 
 matters of consequence, and even his inadvert- 
 encies are over-ruled for good. If he forgets 
 his true state, and thinks himself to be some- 
 thing, he presently finds he is indeed nothing ; 
 but if he is content to be nothing, and to have 
 nothing, he is sure to find a seasonable and 
 abundant communication of all that he wants. 
 Thus he lives, like Israel in the wilderness, 
 upon mere bounty ; but then it is a bounty 
 unchangeable, unwearied, inexhaustible, and 
 all-sufficient. Moses, when speaking of the 
 methods the Lord took to humble Israel, men- 
 tions his feeding them with manna as one me- 
 thod. I could not understand this for a time. 
 
 I thought they were rather in danger of be- 
 ing proud, when they saw themselves provid- 
 ed for in such an extraordinary way. But the 
 manna would not keep ; they could not hoard 
 it up, and were therefore in a state of abso- 
 lute dependence from day to day. This ap- 
 pointment was well suited to humble them. 
 Thus it is with us in spirituals. We should 
 be better pleased, perhaps, to be set up with a 
 stock or sufficiency at once, — such an inhe 
 rent portion of wisdom and power, as we 
 might depend upon, at least for common oc- 
 casions, without being constrained by a sense 
 of indigence, to have continual recourse to 
 the Lord for every thing we want. But his 
 way is best. His own glory is most displayed, 
 and our safety most secured, by keeping us 
 quite poor and empty in ourselves, and sup- 
 plying us from one minute to another, accord- 
 ing to our need. This, if any thing, will pre- 
 vent boasting, and keep a sense of gratitude 
 awake in our hearts. This is well adapted to 
 quicken us in prayer, and furnishes us with a 
 thousand occasions for praise, which would 
 otherwise escape our notice. 
 
 But who or what are we, that the Most 
 High should thus notice us ! should visit us 
 every morning, and water us every moment ! 
 It is an astonishing thought, that God should 
 thus dwell with men ! that he, before whom 
 the mightiest earthly potentates are less than 
 nothing, and vanity, should thus stoop and 
 accommodate himself to the situation, wants, 
 and capacities of the weakest, meanest, and 
 poorest of his children ! But so it hath pleas- 
 ed him. He seeth not as man seeth. 
 
 I am, /fee. 
 
 LETTER XX. 
 
 August — 1775. 
 
 MY LOUD, 
 
 I have no apt preface or introduction at 
 hand ; and as I have made it almost a rule 
 not to study for what I should offer your Lord- 
 ship, I therefore beg leave to begin abruptly. 
 
LET. XX. 
 
 LETTERS TO A NOBLEMAN. 
 
 It is the future promised privilege of be- 
 lievers in Jesus, that they shall be as the an- 
 gels ; and there is a sense in which we should 
 endeavour to be as the angels now. This is 
 intimated to us where we are taught to pray, 
 
 “ Thy will be done on earth, as it is in hea- 
 ven.” I have sometimes amused myself with 
 supposing an angel should be appointed to 
 reside a while upon earth in a human body ; 
 not in sinful flesh, like ours, but in a body 
 free from infirmity, and still preserving an 
 unaoated sense of his own happiness in the 
 favour of God, and of his unspeakable obli- 
 gation to his goodness; and then I have tried 
 to judge, as well as I could, how such an an- 
 gel would comport himself in such a situa- 
 tion. I know not that I ever enlarged upon 
 the thought, either in preaching or writing. 
 Permit me to follow it a little in this paper. 
 
 Were I acquainted with this heavenly visit- 
 ant, I am willing to hope I should greatly reve- 
 rence him ; and, if permitted, be glad, in some 
 cases, to consult him : in some, but not in all ; 
 for I think my fear would be equal to my 
 love. Methinks I could never venture to open 
 my heart freely to him, and unfold to him my 
 numberless complaints and infirmities; for, as 
 ne could have no experience of the like things 
 himself, I should suppose he would not know 
 now fully to pity me, indeed hardly how to 
 bear with me, if I told him all. Alas ! what 
 a preposterous, strange, vile creature should I 
 appear to an angel, if he knew me as I am ! 
 It is well for me that Jesus was made lower 
 than the angels, and that the human nature 
 he assumed was not distinct from the common 
 nature of mankind, though secured from the 
 common depravity ; and because he submit- 
 ted to be under the law in our name and 
 stead, though he was free from sin himself, 
 yet sin and its consequences being, for our 
 sakes, charged upon him, he acquired, in the 
 days of his humiliation, an experimental sym- 
 pathy with his poor people. He knows the 
 effects of sin and temptation upon us, by that 
 knowledge whereby he knows all things ; but 
 he knows them likewise in a way more suit- 
 able for our comfort and relief, by the suffer- 
 ings and exercises he passed through for us. 
 Hence arises encouragement. We have not 
 an high priest who cannot be touched with a 
 feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points 
 tempted even as we are. When I add to this, 
 the consideration of his power, promises, and 
 grace, and that he is exalted on purpose to 
 pity, relieve, and save, I gather courage. With 
 him I dare be free, and am not sorry, but 
 glad, that he knows me perfectly, that not a 
 thought of my heart is hidden from him. For 
 without this infinite and exact knowledge of 
 my disease, how could he effectually admini- 
 ster to my cure ? — But whither am I ram- 
 bling ? I seem to have lost sight of the angel 
 already. I am now coming back, that if he 
 
 155 
 
 cannot effectually pity me, he may at leas 
 animate and teach me. 
 
 In the first place, I take it for granted this 
 angel would think himself a stranger and pil- 
 grim upon earth. He would not forget that 
 his Jto'kiTivfjt.a.* was in heaven. Surely he would 
 look upon all the bustle of human life (far- 
 ther than the design of his mission might con- 
 nect him with it) with more indifference than 
 we look upon the sports of children, or the 
 amusements of idiots and lunatics, which give 
 us an uneasiness, rather than excite a desire 
 of joining in them. He would judge of every 
 thing around him, by the reference and ten- 
 dency it had to promote the will of him that 
 sent him ; and the most specious or splen- 
 did appearances, considered in any other view, 
 would make no impression upon him. 
 
 Consequently, as to his own concernment, 
 all his aim and desire would be, to fulfil the 
 will of God. All situations would be alike to 
 him; whether he was commanded, as in the 
 case of Sennacherib, to destroy a mighty army 
 with a stroke ; or, as in the case of Hagar, 
 to attend upon a woman, a servant, a slave; 
 both services would be to him equally ho- 
 nourable and important, because he was in 
 both equally pleasing his Lord, which would 
 be his element and his joy, whether he was 
 appointed to guide the reins of empire, or to 
 sweep the streets. 
 
 Again, the angel would doubtless exhibit a 
 striking example of benevolence ; for, being 
 free from selfish bias, filled with a sense of 
 the love of God, and a knowledge of his ador- 
 able perfections, his whole heart, and soul, 
 and strength, would be engaged and exerted, 
 both from duty and inclination, to relieve the 
 miseries, and advance the happiness of all 
 around him : and in this he would follow the 
 pattern of him who doth good to all, com- 
 manding his sun to rise, and his rain to fall, 
 upon the just and the unjust ; though, from 
 the same pattern, he would shew an especial 
 regard to the household of faith. An angel 
 would take but little part in the controver- 
 sies, contentions, and broils, which might hap- 
 pen in the time of his sojourning here, but 
 would be a friend to all, so far as consistent 
 with the general good. 
 
 The will and glory of God being the an- 
 gel’s great view, and having a more lively 
 sense of the realities of an unseen world than 
 we can at present conceive, he would cer- 
 tainly, in the first and chief place, have the 
 success and spread of the glorious gospel at 
 heart. Angels, though not redeemed with 
 blood, yet feel themselves nearly concerned in 
 the work of redemption. They admire its 
 mysteries. We may suppose them well in- 
 formed in the works of creation and provi- 
 dence. But, unlike to many men, who are 
 
 * 
 
 Citizenship, or conversation. 
 
J56 
 
 satisfied with the knowledge of astronomy, 
 mathematics, or history, they search and pry 
 into the counsels of redeeming love, rejoice at 
 the conversion of a sinner, and think them- 
 selves well employed to be ministering spirits, 
 to minister to the heirs of salvation. It would 
 therefore be his chief delight to espouse and 
 promote their cause, and to employ all his 
 talents and influence in spreading the favour 
 and knowledge of the name of Jesus, which 
 is the only and effectual means of bringing 
 sinners out of bondage and darkness into the 
 glorious liberty of the sons of God. 
 
 Lastly, though his zeal for the glory of his 
 Lord would make him willing to continue 
 here till he had finished the work given him 
 to do, he would, I am persuaded, look for- 
 ward with desire to the appointed moment of 
 his recal, that he might be freed from behold- 
 ing and mixing with the sin and vanity of 
 those who know not God, render his account 
 with joy, and be welcomed to heaven with a 
 “ Well done, good and faithful servant.” 
 Surely he would long for this, as a labourer 
 for the setting sun ; and would not form any 
 connection with the things of time, which 
 should prompt him to wish his removal pro- 
 tracted for a single hour beyond the period of 
 his prescribed service. 
 
 Alas, why am I not more like an angel ? 
 My views, in my better judgment, are the 
 same. My motives and obligations are even 
 stronger : an angel is not so deeply indebted 
 to the grace of God, as a believing sinner, 
 who was once upon the brink of destruction, 
 who has been redeemed with blood, and might 
 justly have been, before now, shut up with 
 the powers of darkness, without hope. Yet 
 the merest trifles are sufficient to debase my 
 views, damp my activity, and impede my en- 
 deavours in the Lord’s service, though I pro- 
 fess to have no other end or desire which 
 can make a continuance in life worthy my 
 wish. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER XXL 
 
 November — 1775. 
 
 MY LORD, 
 
 Dum loquimur temjnis J'ugit. In the midst 
 of the hurries and changes of this unsettled 
 state, we glide along swiftly towards an un- 
 changeable world, and shall soon have as lit- 
 tle connection with the scenes we are now 
 passing through as we have with what hap- 
 pened before the flood. All that appears 
 great and interesting in the present life, ab- 
 stracted from its influence upon our internal 
 character, and our everlasting allotment, will 
 soon be as unreal as the visions of the night. 
 This wc know and confess; but though our 
 
 LET. XXI. 
 
 judgments are convinced, it is seldom our 
 hearts are duly affected by the thought. And 
 while I find it easy to write in this moralizing 
 strain, I feel myself disposed to be seriously 
 engaged about trifles, and trifling in the most 
 serious concerns, as if I believed the very con 
 trary. It is with good reason the Lord chal- 
 lenges as his own prerogative the full know- 
 ledge of the deceitfulness, desperate wicked- 
 ness, and latent depths of the human heart, 
 which is capable of making even his own peo- 
 ple so shamefully inconsistent with themselves 
 and with their acknowledged principles. 
 
 I find that, when I have something agree . 
 able in expectation (suppose, for instance, i 
 were a few hours conversation with your Lord- 
 ship), my imagination paints and prepares the 
 scene beforehand ; hurries me over the inter 
 vening space of time, as though it were a 
 useless blank, and anticipates the pleasure 
 I propose. Many of my thoughts of this 
 kind are mere waking dreams ; for perhaps 
 the opportunity I am eagerly waiting for ne- 
 ver happens, but is swallowed up by some 
 unforeseen disappointment ; or if not, some- 
 thing from within or without prevents its an- 
 swering the idea I had formed of it. Nor 
 does my fancy confine itself within the nar- 
 row limits of probabilities ; it can busy itself 
 as eagerly in ranging after chimeras and im- 
 possibilities, and engage my attention to the 
 ideal pursuit of things that are never likely to 
 happen. In these respects my imagination 
 travels with wings ; so that if the wildness, 
 the multiplicity, the variety of the phantoms 
 which pass through my mind in the space of 
 a winter’s day were known to my fellow- 
 creatures, they would probably deem me, as 
 I am often ready to deem myself, but a more 
 sober and harmless kind of lunatic. But if 1 
 endeavour to put this active roving power in 
 a right track, and to represent to myself those 
 scenes which, though not yet present, I know 
 will soon be realised, and have a greatness 
 which the most enlarged exercise of my powers 
 cannot comprehend : if I would fix my thoughts 
 upon the hour of death, the end of the world, 
 the coming of the Judge, or similar subjects ; 
 then my imagination is presently tame, cold, and 
 jaded, travels very slowly, and is soon wearied 
 in the road of truth ; though in the fairy fields 
 of uncertainty and folly it can skip from moun- 
 tain to mountain. Mr. Addison supposes, 
 that the imagination alone, as it can be dif- 
 ferently affected, is capable of making us ei- 
 ther inconceivably happy or miserable. I am 
 sure it is capable of making us miserable, 
 though I believe it seldom gives us much 
 pleasure, but such as is to be found in a 
 fool’s paradise. But I am sure, were my 
 outward life and conduct perfectly free from 
 blame, the disorders and defilement of my 
 imagination are sufficient to constitute me a 
 chief sinner in the sight of him to whom th**- 
 
 LL ITERS TO A NOBLEMAN. 
 
LET. XXII. 
 
 157 
 
 LETTERS TO 
 
 thoughts and intents of the heart are conti- 
 nually open, and who is of purer eyes than 
 to behold iniquity. 
 
 Upon this head I cannot but lament how 
 universally almost education is suited, and as 
 it were designed, to add to the stimulus of 
 depraved nature. A cultivated imagination 
 is commended and sought after as a very de- 
 sirable talent, though it seldom means more 
 than the possession of a large stock of other 
 people’s dreams and fables, w'ith a certain 
 quickness in compounding them, enlarging 
 upon them, and exceeding them by inven- 
 tions of our own. Poets, painters, and even 
 historians are employed to assist us from our 
 early years in forming an habitual relish for 
 shadows and colourings, which both indispose 
 for the search of truth and even unfit us for its 
 reception, unless proposed just in our own way. 
 The best effect of the belles lettres upon the 
 imagination seems generally expressed by the 
 word taste. And what is this taste, but a 
 certain disposition which loves to be humoured, 
 soothed, and flattered, and which can hardly 
 receive or bear the most important truths, if 
 they be not decorated and set off with such a 
 delicacy and address as taste requires ? I say 
 the most important truths ; because truths of 
 a secular importance strike so closely upon 
 the senses, that the decision of taste perhaps 
 is not waited for. Thus, if a man be in- 
 formed of the birth of his child, or that his 
 house is on fire, the message takes up his 
 thoughts, and he is seldom much disgusted 
 with the manner in which it is delivered. 
 But what an insuperable bar is the refined 
 taste of many to their profiting by the preach- 
 ing of the gospel, or even to their hearing 
 it. Though the subject of a discourse be 
 weighty, and some just representation given 
 of the evil of sin, the worth of the soul, and 
 the love of Christ ; yet, if there be something 
 amiss in the elocution, language, or manner 
 of the preacher, people of taste must be pos- 
 sessed, in a good measure, of grace likewise, 
 if they can hear him with tolerable patience. 
 And perhaps three-fourths of those who are 
 accounted the most sensible and judicious in 
 the auditory, will remember little about the 
 sermon, but the tone of the voice, the awk- 
 wardness of the attitude, the obsolete expres- 
 sions, and the like ; while the poor and sim- 
 ple, not being incumbered with this hurtful 
 accomplishment, receive the messenger as the 
 Lord’s servant, and the truth as the Lord’s 
 word, and are comforted and edified. — But I 
 stop. Some people would say, that I must 
 suppose your Lordship to have but little taste, 
 or else much grace, or I should not venture 
 to trouble you with such letters as mine. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 A NOBLEMAN. 
 
 LETTER XXII. 
 
 MY LORD, 
 
 The apostle speaks of a blessedness which it 
 is the design of the gospel to impart to those 
 who receive it. The Galatians once had it, 
 and spoke of it. The apostle reminds them 
 of their loss, which is left upon record as a 
 warning to us. His expression has led me 
 sometimes to consider wherein a Christian’s 
 present blessedness consists ; I mean, that 
 which is attainable in this state of trial, and 
 the sense and exercise of which may be, and 
 too often is, suspended and taken from us. 
 It is a blessedness which, if we speak of man 
 in a natural state, his eye hath not seen, nor 
 his ear heard so as to understand it, nor can 
 the idea of it arise in his heart. It is no way 
 dependent upon outward circumstances. Pros- 
 perity cannot impart it, preserve or supply 
 the want of it; nor can adversity put it out 
 of our reach. The wise cannot acquire it by 
 dint of superior abilities ; nor shall the sim- 
 ple miss it for want of capacity. 
 
 The state of true believers, compared with 
 that of others, is always blessed. If they are 
 born from above, and united to Jesus, they 
 are delivered from condemnation, and are 
 heirs of eternal life, and may therefore well 
 be accounted happy. But I consider now, 
 not their harvest, but their first fruits ; not 
 their portion in reversion, but the earnest at- 
 tainable in this life ; not what they shall be 
 in heaven, but what, in an humble attendance 
 upon the Lord, they may be while upon earth . 
 There is even at present a prize of our high 
 calling set before us. It is much to be de- 
 sired, that we had such a sense of its value as 
 might prompt us so to run that we might ob- 
 tain. I have thought this blessedness may 
 be comprised in five particulars, though, in 
 order to take a succinct view of the subject, 
 some of these might be branched out into se- 
 veral others ; but I would not by too many 
 subdivisions give my letter the air of a ser- 
 mon. 
 
 In the first place, a clear, well grounded, 
 habitual persuasion of our acceptance in the 
 Beloved is attainable; and though we may 
 be safe, we cannot be said to enjoy blessed- 
 ness without it. To be in a state of suspense 
 and uncertainty in a point of so great import- 
 ance is painful ; and the Lord has accordingly 
 provided that his people may have strong con- 
 solation on this head. They are blessed there- 
 fore w'ho have such views of the power, grace, 
 and suitableness of Jesus, and the certainty 
 and security of redemption in him, together 
 with such a consciousness that they have an- 
 chored their hopes and ventured their all upon 
 his person, work, and promise, as furnishes 
 them with a ready answer to all the cavils of 
 unbelief and Satan, in the apostle’s manner. 
 
LET. XXII 
 
 LETTERS TO A NOBLEMA^. 
 
 158 
 
 Rom. viii. 31 — 37. That Paul could thus 
 
 challenge and triumph over all charges and 
 enemies, was not an appendage of his office 
 as an apostle, but a part of his experience 
 as a believer; and it lies equally open to 
 us, for we have the same gospel and the same 
 promises as he had : nor is the efficacy of the 
 Holy Spirit’s teaching a whit weakened by 
 length of time. But many stop short of this. 
 They have a hope, but it rather springs from 
 their frames and feelings than from a spiri- 
 tual apprehension of the Redeemer’s engage- 
 ments and fulness, and therefore fluctuates 
 and changes like the weather. Could they 
 be persuaded to pray with earnestness and 
 importunity, as the apostle prays for them, 
 Ephes. i. 17,18. andiii. 16, 19. they would find 
 a blessedness which they have not yet known ; 
 for it is said, “ Ask, and ye shall receive.” 
 And it is said likewise, “ Ye receive not, be- 
 cause ye ask not.” 
 
 Could this privilege be enjoyed singly, the 
 natural man would have no objection to it. 
 He would (as he thinks) be pleased to know 
 he should be saved at last, provided that 
 while here he might live in his sins. But 
 the believer will not, cannot think himself 
 blessed, unless he has likewise a conscience 
 void of offence. This was the apostle’s daily 
 exercise, though no one was further from a 
 legal spirit, or more dependent upon Jesus 
 for acceptance. But if we live in any known 
 sin, or allow ourselves in the customary omis- 
 sion of any known duty, supposing it pos- 
 sible in such a case to preserve a sense of 
 our acceptance (which can hardly be supposed; I 
 for if the Spirit be grieved, our evidences de- 
 cline of course) yet we could not be easy. If 
 a traveller was absolutely sure of reaching 
 his journey’s end in safety, yet if he walked 
 with a thorn in his foot, he must take every 
 step in pain. Such a thorn will be felt in 
 the conscience till we are favoured with a sim- 
 plicity of heart, and made willing in all things, 
 great or small, to yield obedience to the au- 
 thority of the Lord’s precepts, and make them 
 the standing rule of our conduct, without wil- 
 fully admitting a single exception. At the 
 best, we shall be conscious of innumerable 
 shortcomings, and shameful defilements ; but 
 these things will not break our peace, if our 
 hearts are upright. But if we trifle with light, 
 and connive at what we know to be wrong, 
 we shall be weak, restless, and uncomfortable. 
 How many who, we would hope, are the child- 
 ren of the King, are lean from day to day, 
 because some right-hand or right-eye evil, 
 which they cannot persuade themselves to 
 part with, keeps them halting between two 
 opinions ! and they are as distant from happi- 
 ness, as they are from the possibility of recon- 
 ciling the incompatible services of God and 
 the world. But happy indeed is he who con- 
 demneth not himself in that thing which he 
 alloweth. 
 
 Real communion with the Lord, in his ap- 
 pointed means of grace, is likewise an import- 
 ant branch of this blessedness. They were in- 
 stituted for this end, and are sufficient, by vir- 
 tue of his power and Spirit, to answer it. I 
 do not believe this enjoyment will be always 
 equal. But I believe a comfortable sense of 
 it, in some measure, is generally attainable. 
 To read the scriptures, not as an attorney may 
 read a will, merely to know the sense, but as 
 the heir reads it, as a description and proof of 
 his interest ; to hear the gospel, as the voice 
 of our Beloved, so as to have little leisure ei- 
 ther for admiring the abilities or censuring the 
 defects of the preacher ; and, in prayer, to feel 
 a liberty of pouring out our hearts before the 
 Lord, to behold some glances of his goodness 
 passing before us, and to breathe forth before 
 him the tempers of a child, the spirit of adop- 
 tion ; — and thus, by beholding his glory, to 
 be conformed more and more to his image, 
 and to renew our strength, by drawing water 
 out of the wells of salvation : Herein is bles- 
 sedness. They who have tasted it can say, 
 it is good for me to draw nigh to God. The 
 soul, thus refreshed by the water of life, is 
 preserved from thirsting after the vanities of 
 the world, thus instructed in the sanctuary, 
 comes down from the mount filled with hea- 
 venly wisdom, anointed with a holy unction, 
 and therefore qualified to judge, speak, and 
 act in character, in all the relations and oc- 
 casions of secular life. In this way, besides 
 the pleasure, a spiritual taste is acquired, some- 
 thing analogous to the meaning of the word 
 taste when applied to music or good breed- 
 ing, by which discords and improprieties are 
 observed and avoided, as it were by instinct, 
 and what is right is felt and followed, not so 
 much by the force of rules, as by a habit insen- 
 sibly acquired, and in which the substance of 
 all necessary rules are, if I may so say, di- 
 gested. O that I knew more of this blessed- 
 ness, and more of its effects ! 
 
 Another branch of blessedness is a power 
 of reposing ourselves and our concerns upon 
 the Lord’s faithfulness and care, and may be 
 considered in two respects. A reliance upon 
 him that he will surely provide for us, guide 
 us, protect us, be our help in trouble, our 
 shield in danger ; so that, however poor, 
 weak, and defenceless in ourselves, we may 
 rejoice in his all-sufficiency as our own ; — and 
 farther, in consequence of this, a peaceful, 
 humble submission to his will, under all events, 
 which, upon their first impression, are con- 
 trary to our own views and desires. Surely, 
 in a world like this, where every thing is un- 
 certain, where we are exposed to trials on 
 every hand, and know not but a single hour 
 may bring forth something painful, yea dread- 
 ful to our natural sensations, there can be no 
 blessedness but so far as we are thus enabled 
 to entrust and resign all to the direction and 
 faithfulness of the Lord our Shepherd. For 
 
LET. XXI I r. 
 
 LETTERS TO 
 
 want of more of this spirit, multitudes of pro- 
 fessing Christians perplex and wound them- 
 selves, and dishonour their high calling, by 
 continual anxieties, alarms, and complaints. 
 They think nothing safe under the Lord’s 
 keeping, unless their own eye is likewise upon 
 it, and are seldom satisfied with any of his 
 dispensations ; for, though he gratify their 
 desires in nine instances, a refusal in the tenth 
 spoils the relish of all, and they shew the 
 truths of the gospel can afford them little com- 
 fort, if self is crossed. But, blessed is the 
 man who trusteth in the Lord, and whose 
 hope the Lord is ! He shall not be afraid of 
 evil tidings : he shall be kept in perfect peace, 
 though the earth be moved, and the moun- 
 tains cast into the midst of the sea. 
 
 The paper admonishes me it is time to re- 
 lieve your Lordship. And I have not room 
 to detain you long upon the fifth particular. 
 It belongs to a believer’s blessedness to feel 
 his spirit cheerful and active for the Lord’s 
 service in the world. For to what other end 
 should he wish to live ? If he thought of 
 himself only, it would be better to depart and 
 be with Jesus immediately. But he is a debtor 
 to his grace and love ; and, though strictly 
 he can make no returns, yet he longs to shew 
 his thankfulness ; and, if the Lord give him a 
 heart to redeem his time, to devote his strength 
 and influence, and lay himself out for his ser- 
 vice, — that he may be instrumental in promot- 
 ing his cause, in comforting his people, — or 
 enable him to let his light shine before men, that 
 his God and his Father may be honoured ; — 
 he will account it blessedness. This is indeed 
 the great end of life, and he knows it will 
 evidently appear so at the approach of death ; 
 and therefore, while others are cumbered 
 about many things, he esteems this the one 
 thing needful. 
 
 I remain, my Lord, &c, 
 
 LETTER XXIII. 
 
 July — • 177©. 
 
 MY LORD, 
 
 That I may not weary you by a preamble, 
 I oblige myself to take the turn of my letter 
 from some passage of scripture; and I fix 
 upon that which just now occurred to my 
 thoughts, a clause in that pattern of prayer 
 which he who best knows our state has been 
 pleased to leave for the instruction of his 
 people, in their great concern of waiting at 
 his throne of grace, Matth. vi. 13. “ Lead us 
 not into temptation.” This petition is sea- 
 sonable at all times, and to all persons who 
 have any right knowledge of themselves, or 
 their spiritual calling. 
 
 The word temptation, taken at large, in- 
 cludes every kind of trial. To tempt, is to try 
 or prove. In this sense, it is said, the Lord 
 
 A NOBLEMAN. 159 
 
 tempted Abraham, that is, he tried him ; foi 
 God cannot tempt to evil. He proposed 
 such an act of obedience to him, as was a 
 test of his faith, love, dependence, and in- 
 tegrity. Thus, all our afflictions, under his 
 gracious management, are appointed to prove, 
 manifest, exercise, and purify the graces of his 
 children. And not afflictions only ; prosperity 
 likewise is a state of temptation : and many who 
 have endured sharp sufferings, and came off 
 honourably, have been afterwards greatly hurt 
 and ensnared by prosperity. To this pur- 
 pose the histories of David and Hezekiah are 
 in point. But by temptation we more fre- 
 quently understand the wiles and force which 
 Satan employs in assaulting our peace, or 
 spreading snares for our feet. He is always 
 practising against us, either directly and from 
 himself, by the access he has to our hearts, or 
 mediately, by the influence he has over the 
 men and the things of this world. The words 
 which follow confirm this sense, — “ Lead us 
 not into temptation; but deliver us from evil,” 
 cm rou •xow^ov, from the evil one, as it might 
 be properly rendered here, and in 1 John v. 
 19. The subtilty and power of this adversary 
 are very great : he is an over-match for us ; 
 and we have no hope of safety but in the 
 Lord’s protection. Satan’s action upon the 
 heart may be illustrated by the action of the 
 wind upon the sea. The sea sometimes ap- 
 pears smooth, but it is always disposed to 
 swell and rage, and to obey the impulse of 
 every storm. Thus the heart may be some- 
 times quiet ; but the wind of temptation will 
 awaken and rouse it in a moment : for it is 
 essential to our depraved nature to be un- 
 stable and yielding as the water ; and when it 
 is under the impression of the enemy, its vio- 
 lence can only be controuled by him who says 
 to the raging sea, “ Be still ; here shall thy 
 proud waves be stayed.” The branches of 
 temptation are almost innumerable ; but the 
 principal may be reduced to the several facul- 
 ties of the soul (as we commonly speak) to 
 which they are more directly suited. 
 
 He has temptations for the understanding. 
 He can blind the mind with prejudices and 
 false reasonings, and ply it with arguments 
 for infidelity, till the most obvious truths be- 
 come questionable. Even where the gospel 
 has been received, he can insinuate error, 
 which, for the suddenness and malignity of its 
 effects, may be properly compared to poison. 
 A healthy man may be poisoned in a mo- 
 ment ; and, if he be, the baneful drug is u- 
 sually mixed with his food. Many, who for a 
 while seemed to be sound in the faith, have 
 had their judgments strongly and strangely 
 perverted, and prevailed upon to renounce and 
 oppose the truths they once prized and de- 
 fended. Such instances are striking proofs 
 of human weakness, and loud calls to watch- 
 fulness and dependence, and to beware of 
 leaning to our own understandings. For 
 
LET. XXIII. 
 
 160 LETTERS TO A 
 
 these purposes he employs both preachers and 
 authors, who, by fine words and fair speeches, 
 beguile the hearts of the unwary. And, by 
 his immediate influence upon the mind, he is 
 able, if the Lord permits him, to entangle 
 those who are providentially placed out of the 
 reach of corrupt and designing men. 
 
 He tempts the conscience. By working 
 upon the unbelief of our hearts, and darken- 
 ing the glory of the gospel, he can hold down 
 the soul to the number, weight, and aggrava- 
 tion of its sins, so that it shall not be able 
 to look up to Jesus, nor draw any comfort 
 from his blood, promises, and grace. How 
 many go burdened in this manner, seeking re- 
 lief from duties, and perhaps spending their 
 strength in things not commanded, though 
 they hear, and perhaps acknowledge the gos- 
 pel ? Nor are the wisest and most established 
 able to withstand his assaults, if the Lord with- 
 draw, and give him leave to employ his power 
 and subtilty unrestrained. The gospel af. 
 fords sufficient ground for an abiding assur- 
 ance of hope ; nor should we rest satisfied with- 
 out it. However, the possession and preser- 
 vation of this privilege depends upon the Lord’s 
 presence with the soul, and his shielding us 
 from Satan’s attacks ; for I am persuaded he 
 is able to sift and shake the strongest believer 
 upon earth. 
 
 He has likewise temptations suited to the 
 will. Jesus makes his people willing in the 
 day of his power ; yet there is a contrary prin- 
 ciple remaining within them, of which Satan 
 knows how to avail himself. There are occa- 
 sions in which he almost prevails to set self 
 again upon the throne, as Dagon was raised 
 after he had fallen before the ark. How else 
 should any who have tasted that the Lord is 
 gracious, give way to a repining spirit, account 
 his dispensations hard, or his precepts too strict, 
 so as to shrink from their observance through 
 the fear of men, or a regard to their wordly 
 interest ? 
 
 Farther, he has snares for the affections. In 
 managing these, he gains a great advantage 
 from our situation in a world that knows not 
 God. The scriptures give Satan the title of god 
 of this world ; and believers learn, by painful 
 experience, how great his power is in and over 
 the persons and things of it. So that to be 
 stedfast in wisdom’s ways, requires unremitted 
 efforts, like pressing through a crowd, or swim- 
 ming against a stream. How hard is it to 
 live in the midst of pitch and not to be de- 
 filed ? The air of the world is infectious. 
 Our business and unavoidable connections are 
 so interwoven with occasions of sin, and there 
 is so much in our hearts suited to them, that 
 unless we are incessantly upheld by almighty 
 strength, we cannot stand a day or an hour. 
 Past victories afford us no greater security 
 than they did Samson, who was shamefully 
 surprised by enemies whom he had formerly 
 conquered. Nor are we only tempted by com- 1 
 
 NOBLEMAN. 
 
 pliances that are evil in themselves. With 
 respect to these, perhaps, conscience may be 
 awake, and we stand upon our guard ; but 
 w-e are still upon Satan’s ground, and while 
 he may seem to allow himself defeated, he 
 can dexterously change his method, and come 
 upon us where we do not suspect him : for, 
 perimns i?i iicitis ; perhaps our greatest dan. 
 ger arises from things in themselves lawful. 
 He can tempt us by our nearest and dearest 
 friend, and pervert every blessing of a kind 
 providence into an occasion of drawing our 
 hearts from the Giver ; yea spiritual blessings, 
 gifts, comforts, and even graces, are some- 
 times the engines by which he practises against 
 us, to fill us with vain confidence and self- 
 sufficiency, or to lull us into formality and 
 indolence. 
 
 That wonderful power which we call the 
 imagination, is, I suppose rather the medium 
 of the soul’s perceptions during its present 
 state of union with the body, than a spiritual 
 faculty, strictly speaking ; but it partakes 
 largely of that depravity which sin has brought 
 upon our whole frame, and affords Satan an 
 avenue for assaulting us with the most terri- 
 fying, if not the most dangerous of his temp- 
 tations. At the best, we have but an indif- 
 ferent command over it. We cannot, by an 
 act of our own will, exclude a thousand pain- 
 ful, wild, inconsistent, and hurtful ideas, which 
 are ever ready to obtrude themselves upon our 
 minds ; and a slight alteration in the animal 
 system, in the motion of the blood or nervous 
 spirit, is sufficient to withdraw it wholly from 
 our dominion, and to leave us like a city with- 
 out walls or gates, exposed to the incursion 
 of our enemy. We are fearfully and won- 
 derfully made ; and, with all our boasted 
 knowledge of other tilings, can form no con 
 ception of what is so vastly interesting to us, 
 the mysterious connection between soul and 
 body, and the manner in which they are mu- 
 tually affected by each other. The effects we 
 too sensibly feel. The wisest of men would 
 be accounted fools or mad, were they to ex- 
 press in words a small part of what passes 
 within them ; and it would appear that much 
 of the soberest life is little better than a wak- 
 ing dream ; but how dreadful are the conse- 
 quences when the Lord permits some hidden 
 pin in the human machine to be altered ! Im- 
 mediately a door flies open, which no hand but 
 his can shut, and the enemy pours in, like a 
 flood, falsehood and horror, and the blackness 
 of darkness ; the judgment is borne down and 
 disabled, and the most distressing illusions 
 seize us with all the apparent force of evidence 
 and demonstration. When this is the case in 
 a certain degree, we call it distraction ; but 
 there are various degrees of it, which leave a 
 person in the possession of his senses as to the 
 tilings of common life, and yet are sufficient, 
 with respect to his spiritual concerns, to shake 
 j the very foundations of his hope and deprive 
 
LET. XXIV. 
 
 LETTERS TO 
 
 him of all peace and comfort, and make him a 
 terror to himself. All the Lord’s people are 
 not called to navigate in these deep waters of 
 soul distress ; but all are liable. Ah ! if we knew 
 what some suffer, the horribilia de Deo , and the 
 terribilia de Jide, which excruciate the minds of 
 those over whom Satan is permitted to tyran- 
 nize in this way, surely we should be more ear- 
 nest and frequent in praying, “ Lead us not 
 into temptation.” From some little sense I 
 have of the malice and subtilty of our spi- 
 ritual enemies, and the weakness of those bar- 
 riers which we have to prevent their assaults, 
 
 1 am fully persuaded that nothing less than 
 the continual exertion of that almighty power 
 which preserves the stars in their orbits, can 
 maintain our peace of mind for an hour or a 
 minute. In this view, all comparative dif- 
 ference in external situations seems to be an- 
 nihilated ; for, as the Lord’s presence can 
 make his people happy in a dungeon, so 
 there are temptations which, if we felt them, 
 would instantly render us incapable of re- 
 ceiving a moment’s satisfaction from an as- 
 semblage of all earthly blessings, and make 
 the company of our dearest friends tasteless, 
 if not insupportable. 
 
 Ah ! how little do the gay and the busy 
 think of these things ! How little indeed 
 do they think of them who profess to believe 
 them ! How faint is the sense of our obli- 
 gations to him, who freely submitted to the 
 fiercest onsets of the powers of darkness, to 
 free us from the punishment due to our sins ! 
 otherwise we must have been for ever shut 
 up with those miserable and merciless spirits 
 who delight in our torment, and who, even 
 in the present state, if they get access to our 
 minds, can make our existence a burden. 
 
 But our Lord, who knows and considers 
 our weakness, of which we are so little aware, 
 allows and directs us to pray, “ Lead us not 
 into temptation.” We are not to expect an 
 absolute freedom from temptation ; we are 
 called to be soldiers, and must sometimes 
 meet with enemies, and perhaps with wounds ; 
 yet, considering this prayer as provided by him 
 who knows what we are, and where we are, it 
 may afford us both instruction and consolation. 
 
 It calls to a constant reflection upon our 
 own weakness. Believers especially young 
 ones, are prone to rest too much in grace re- 
 ceived. They feel their hearts warm, and, 
 like Peter, are ready to please themselves with 
 thinking how they would act in such or such 
 a state of trial. It is as if the Lord had said, 
 ** Poor worms, be not high minded ; but fear ; 
 and pray, that if it may be, you may be kept 
 from learning, by bitter experience, how weak 
 your supposed strength is.” It sweetly inti- 
 mates, that all our ways, and all our enemies, 
 are in the hands of our great Shepherd. He 
 knows our path. We are short-sighted, and 
 cannot tell what an hour may bring forth ; 
 but we are under his protection, and, if we 
 
 A NOBLEMAN. 161 
 
 depend upon him, we need not be anxiously 
 afraid. lie will be faithful to the trust we 
 repose in him, and will suffer no temptation 
 to overtake us, but what he will support us 
 under and bring us through. But it becomes 
 us to beware of security and presumption, to 
 keep our eyes upon him, and not to think our- 
 selves safe a moment longer than our spirits 
 feel and breathe the meaning of this petition. 
 
 It implies, likewise, the duty of watchful- 
 ness on our part, as our Lord joins them else- 
 where, “ Watch and pray.” If we desire 
 not to be led into temptation, surely we are 
 not to run into it. If we wish to be preserved 
 from error, we are to guard against a curious 
 and reasoning spirit. If we would preserve 
 peace of conscience, we must beware of trif- 
 ling with the light and motions of the Holy 
 Spirit ; for without his assistance we cannot 
 maintain faith in exercise. If we would not 
 be ensnared by the men of the world, we are 
 to keep at a proper distance from them. The 
 less we have to do with them, the better, ex- 
 cepting so far as the providence of God makes 
 it our duty in the discharge of our callings and 
 relations, and taking opportunities of doing 
 them good. And though we cannot wholly 
 shut Satan out of our imaginations, we should 
 be cautious that we do not wilfully provide 
 fuel for his flame ; but entreat the Lord to 
 set a watch upon our eyes and our ears, and 
 to teach us to reject the first motions and the 
 smallest appearance of evil. 
 
 I have been so intent upon my subject, that 
 I have once and again forgot I was writing to 
 your Lordship, otherwise I should not have 
 let my lucubration run to so great a length, 
 which I certainly did not intend when I be- 
 gan. I shall not add to this fault, by making 
 an apology. I have touched upon a topic of 
 great importance to myself. I am one among 
 many who have suffered greatly for want of 
 paying more attention to my need of this 
 prayer. O that I could be wiser hereafter, 
 and always act and speak as knowing'that I 
 am always upon a field of battle, and beset 
 by legions ! 
 
 I am, with great respect, &c. 
 
 LETTER XXIV. 
 
 September — 1776 
 
 MY LORD, 
 
 Without any preamble, I purpose now to 
 wait on your Lordship, with a few thoughts 
 on the meaning of that name which first ob- 
 tained at Antioch ; in other words, what it is 
 to be a Christian ? What are the effects which, 
 making allowance for the unavoidable infir- 
 mities attending upon the present state of 
 mortality, may be expected from a real expe- 
 rimental knowledge of the gospel ? I would 
 not insinuate that none are Christians who do 
 S 
 
LET. XXIV 
 
 LETTERS TO A NOBLEMAN. 
 
 J 62 
 
 not come up to the character I would de- 
 scribe; for then I fear I should unchristian 
 myself ; but only to consider what the scrip- 
 tures encourage us to aim at, as the prize of 
 our high calling in this life. It is generally 
 allowed and lamented, that we are too apt to 
 live below our privileges, and to stop short of 
 what the spirit and the promises of the gospel 
 point out to us as attainable. 
 
 Mr Pope’s admired line, “ An honest man’s 
 the noblest work of God,” may be admitted 
 as a truth, when rightly explained. A Chris- 
 tian is the noblest work of God in this visible 
 world, and bears a much brighter impres- 
 sion of his glory and goodness than the sun 
 in the firmament ; and none but a Christian 
 can be strictly and properly honest : all others 
 are too much under the power of self, to 
 do universally to others as they would .others 
 should do unto them ; and nothing but a 
 uniform conduct upon this principle deserves 
 the name of honesty. 
 
 The Christian is a new creature, born and 
 taught from above. He has been convinced 
 of his guilt' and misery as a sinner, has fled for 
 refuge to the hope set before him, has seen 
 the Son, and believed on him. His natural 
 prejudices against the glory and grace of God’s 
 salvation have been subdued and silenced by 
 almighty power: he has accepted the Beloved, 
 and is made acceptable in him. He now knows 
 the Lord : he has renounced the confused, 
 distant, and uncomfortable notions he once 
 formed of God ; and beholds him in Christ, 
 who is the way, the truth, and the life, the 
 only door by which we can enter to any 
 true satisfying knowledge of God, or commu- 
 nion with him. But he sees God in Christ 
 reconciled, a Father, a Saviour, and a Friend, 
 who has freely forgiven him all his sins, and 
 given him the spirit of adoption. He is 
 now no longer a servant, much less a stran- 
 ger, but a son ; and because a son, an heir, 
 already interested in all the promises, admit- 
 ted to the throne of grace, and an assured ex- 
 pectant of eternal glory. The gospel is de- 
 signed to give us not only a peradventure or 
 a probability, but a certainty, both of our ac- 
 ceptance and our perseverance, till death shall 
 be swallowed up in life. And though many 
 are sadly fluctuating and perplexed upon this 
 head, and perhaps all are so for a season, yet 
 there are those who can say, we know that 
 we are of God ; and therefore they are sted- 
 fast and immoveable in his way, because they 
 are confident that their labour shall not be in 
 vain, but that, when they shall be absent from 
 the body, they shall be present with the Lord. 
 This is the state of the advanced experienced 
 Christian, who, being enabled to make his pro- 
 fession the chief business of his life, is strong 
 in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 
 Every one who has this hope in Christ, puri- 
 fieth himself even as he is pure. I would 
 now attempt a sketch of the Christian’s tem- 
 
 per, formed upon these principles and hopes, 
 under the leading branches of its exercises, 
 respecting God, himself, and his fellow-crea- 
 tures. 
 
 The Christian’s temper God-ward is eviden- 
 ced by humility He has received from Geth- 
 semane and Golgotha such a sense of the evil 
 of sin, and of the holiness of God, combined 
 with his matchless love to sinners, as has deeply 
 penetrated his heart : he has an affecting re- 
 membrance of the state of rebellion and en- 
 mity in which he once lived against this holy 
 and good God; and he has a. quick percep- 
 tion of the defilements and defects which still 
 debase bis best services. His mouth is there- 
 fore stopped as to boasting ; he is vile in his 
 own eyes, and is filled with wonder that the 
 Lord should visit such a sinner with such a 
 salvation. He sees so vast a disproportion 
 between the obligations he is under to gi’ace, 
 and the returns he makes, that he is disposed, 
 yea constrained, to adopt the apostle’s words 
 without affectation, and to account himself 
 less than the least of all saints ; and knowing 
 his own heart, while he sees only the outside 
 of others, he is not easily persuaded there can 
 be a believer upon earth so faint, so unfruit- 
 ful, so unworthy as himself. Yet, though 
 abased, he is not discouraged, for he enjoys 
 peace. The dignity, offices, blood, righteous- 
 ness, faithfulness, and compassion of the Re- 
 deemer, in whom he rests, trusts, and lives, 
 for wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and 
 redemption, are adequate to all his wants and 
 wishes, provide him with an answer to every 
 objection, and give him no less confidence in 
 God, than if he were sinless as an angel : for 
 he sees, that though sin has abounded in him, 
 grace has much more abounded in Jesus. 
 With respect to the past, all things are be- 
 come new ; with respect to the present and 
 future, he leans upon an almighty arm, and 
 relies upon the word and power which made 
 and upholdstheheavensand the earth. Though 
 he feels himself unworthy of the smallest 
 mercies, he claims and expects the greatest 
 blessings that God can bestow; and being 
 rooted and grounded in the knowledge and 
 love of Christ, his peace abides, and is not 
 greatly affected, either by the variation of his 
 own frames, or the changes of God’s dispen- 
 sations towards him while here. With such a 
 sense of himself, such a heartfelt peace and hea- 
 venly hope, how can his spirit but breathe love 
 to his God and Saviour ? It is indeed the per- 
 fection of his character and happiness, that 
 his soul is united by love to the chief good. 
 The love of Christ is the joy of his heart, and 
 the spring of his obedience. With his Sa- 
 viour’s presence, he finds a heaven begun up- 
 on earth ; and without it, all the other glories 
 of the heavenly state would not content him. 
 The excellence of Christ, his love to sinners, 
 especially his dying love; his love to himself 
 in seeking and saving him when, lost, saving 
 
l.ET. xxiv. LETTERS TO A NOBLEMAN. 163 
 
 him to the utmost — But I must stop. —Your 
 Lordship can better conceive than I can de- 
 scribe, ‘how and why Jesus is dear to the heart 
 that knows him. That part of the Christian’s 
 life which is not employed in the active ser- 
 vice of his Lord, is chiefly spent in seeking 
 and maintaining communion with him. For 
 this he plies the throne, and studies the word 
 of grace, and frequents the ordinances, where 
 the Lord has promised to meet with his peo- 
 ple. These are his golden hours ; and when 
 thus employed, how poor and trivial does all 
 that the world calls great and important ap- 
 pear in his eyes ! Yea, he is solicitous to keep 
 up an intercourse of heart with his Beloved 
 in his busiest scenes ; and so far as he can 
 succeed, it alleviates all his labours, and 
 sweetens all his troubles. And when he is 
 neither communing with his Lord, nor acting 
 for him, he accounts his time lost, and is a- 
 shamed and grieved. The truth of his love 
 is manifested by submission. This is two- 
 fold and absolute, and without reserve in each. 
 He submits to his revealed will, as made 
 known to him by precept and by his own ex- 
 ample. He aims to tread in all his Saviour’s 
 footsteps, and makes conscience of all his 
 commandments, without exception and with- 
 out hesitation. Again, he submits to his 
 providential will : he yields to his sove- 
 reignty, acquiesces in his wisdom ; he knows 
 he has no right to complain of any thing, be- 
 cause he is a sinner ; and he has no reason, 
 because he is sure the Lord does all things 
 well. Therefore this submission is not forced, 
 but is an act of trust. He knows he is not 
 more unworthy than he is unable to chuse for 
 himself, and therefore rejoices that the Lord 
 has undertaken to manage for him ; and were 
 he compelled to make his own choice, he 
 could only chuse, that all his concerns should 
 remain in that hand to which he has already 
 committed them. And thus he judges of 
 public as well as of his personal affairs. He 
 cannot be an unaffected spectator of national 
 sins, nor without apprehension of their de- 
 served consequences. He feels, and almost 
 trembles for others, but he himself dwells 
 under the shadow of the Almighty, in a 
 sanctuary that cannot be forced ; and there- 
 fore, should he see the earth shaken, and the 
 mountains cast into the midst of the sea, his 
 heart would not be greatly moved, for God is 
 his refuge. The Lord reigns. He sees his 
 Saviour’s hands directing every dark appear- 
 ance, and over-ruling all to the accomplish- 
 ment of his own great purposes : this satisfies 
 him, and though the winds and waves should 
 be high, he can venture his own little bark in 
 the storm, for he has an infallible and almighty 
 pilot on board with him. And indeed, why 
 should he fear when he has nothing to lose? 
 His best concerns are safe ; and other things 
 he holds as gifts from his Lord, to whose call 
 he is ready to resign them, in w hatever way 
 
 he pleases ; well knowing, that creatures and 
 instruments cannot of themselves touch a hair 
 of his head without his Lord’s permission, and 
 that if he does permit them, it must be for the 
 best. 
 
 I might enlarge farther. — But I shall pro- 
 ceed to consider the Christian’s temper respect- 
 ing himself. He lives godly and soberly. 
 By sobriety we mean more than that he is 
 not a drunkard ; his tempers towards God of 
 course form him to a moderation in all tempo- 
 ral things. He is not scrupulous or supersti- 
 tious ; he understands the liberty of the gos- 
 pel, that every creature of God is good if it 
 be received with thanksgiving. He does not 
 aim at being needlessly singular, nor practise 
 self-devised austerities. The Christian is nei- 
 ther a Stoic nor a Cynic ; yet he finds daily 
 cause for watchfulness and restraint. Satan 
 will not often tempt a believer to gross crimes : 
 our greatest snares and sorest conflicts are 
 usually found in things lawful in themselves, 
 but hurtful to us by their abuse, engrossing 
 too much of our time, or of our hearts, or 
 somehow indisposing us for communion with 
 the Lord. The Christian will be jealous of 
 any thing that might entangle his affections, 
 damp his zeal, or straiten him in his opportu- 
 nities of serving his Saviour. He is likewise 
 content with his situation, because the Lord 
 chuses it for him ; his spirit is not eager for 
 additions and alterations in his circumstances. 
 If divine providence points out and leads to a 
 change, he is ready to follow, though it should 
 be what the world would call from a better to 
 a worse ; for he is a pilgrim and a stranger 
 here, and a citizen of heaven. As people 
 of fortune sometimes, in travelling, submit 
 cheerfully to inconvenient accommodations, 
 very different from their homes, and comfort 
 themselves with thinking they are not always 
 to live so ; so the Christian is not greatly soli- 
 citous about externals. If he has them, he 
 will use them moderately. If he has but little 
 of them, he can make a good shift without 
 them : he is but upon a journey, and will soon 
 be at home. If he be rich, experience confirms 
 our Lord’s words, Luke xii. 1 5. ; and satisfies 
 him, that a large room, a crowd of servants, 
 and twenty dishes upon his table, add nothing 
 to the real happiness of life. Therefore he 
 will not have his heart set upon such things. 
 If he be in a humbler state, he is more disposed 
 to pity than to envy those above him ; for he 
 judges they must have many encumbrances 
 from which he is freed. However, the will 
 of God, and the light of his countenance, are 
 the chief things the Christian, whether rich or 
 poor, regards ; and therefore his moderation 
 is made known unto all men. 
 
 A third branch of the Christian’s temper 
 respects his fellow-creatures. And here, me- 
 thinks, if I had not filled a sheet already, I 
 could enlarge with pleasure. We have in this 
 degenerate day, among those who claim and 
 
LET. XXIV 
 
 164 LETTERS TO 
 
 are allowed the name of Christian, too many 
 of a narrow, selfish, mercenary spirit; but in 
 the beginning it was not so. The gospel is 
 designed to cure such a spirit, but gives no 
 indulgence to it. A Christian has the mind 
 of Christ, who went about doing good, who 
 makes his sun to shine upon the good and the 
 evil, and sendeth rain on the just and the 
 unjust. His Lord’s example forms him to 
 the habit of diffusive benevolence ; he breathes 
 a spirit of good will to mankind, and rejoices 
 in every opportunity of being useful to the 
 souls and bodies of others, without respect to 
 parties or interests. He commiserates, and 
 would if possible alleviate the miseries of all 
 around him ; and if his actual services are re- 
 strained by want pf ability, yet all share in 
 his sympathy and prayers. Acting in the 
 spirit of his Master, he frequently meets with 
 a measure of the like treatment : but if his 
 good is requited with evil, he labours to over- 
 come evil with good. He feels himself a sin- 
 ner, and needs much forgiveness : this makes 
 him ready to forgive. He is not haughty, 
 captious, easily offended, or hard to be recon- 
 ciled ; for at the feet of Jesus he has learned 
 meekness. And when he meets with unkind- 
 ness or injustice, he considers, that though he 
 has not deserved such things from men, they 
 are instruments employed by his heavenly 
 Father (from w r hom he has deserved to suffer 
 much more), for his humiliation and chastise- 
 ment; and is therefore more concerned for 
 their sins than for his own sufferings, and 
 prays, after the pattern of his Saviour, “ Fa- 
 ther, forgive them, for they know not what 
 they do.” He knows he is fallible; there- 
 fore cannot be positive. He knows he is 
 frail ; and therefore dares not be censorious. 
 As a member of society, he is just, punctual 
 in the discharge of every relative duty, faith, 
 ful to his engagements and promises, render- 
 ing to all their dues, obedient to lawful au- 
 thority, and acting to all men according to the 
 golden rule, of doing as he would be done by. 
 His conduct is simple, devoid of artifice, and 
 consistent, attending to every branch of duty : 
 and in the closet, the family, the church, and 
 the transactions of common life, he is the same 
 man ; for in every circumstance he serves the 
 Lord, and aims to maintain a conscience void 
 of offence in his sight. No small part of the 
 beauty of his profession in the sight of men, 
 consists in the due government of his tongue. 
 The law of truth, and kindness, and puri- 
 ty, is upon his lips. He abhors lying ; and 
 is so far from inventing a slander, that he 
 will not repeat a report to the disadvantage 
 of his neighbour, however true, without a 
 proper call. His converse is cheerful, but 
 inoffensive ; and he will no more wound a- 
 r.other with his wit (if he has a talent that 
 way) than with a knife. His speech is with 
 grace, seasoned with salt, and suited to pro- 
 
 A NOBLEMAN. 
 
 mote the peace and edification of all around 
 him. 
 
 Such is the Christian in civil life; but though 
 he loves all mankind, he stands in a nearer 
 relation, and bears an especial brotherly love, 
 to all who are partakers of the faith and hope 
 of the gospel. This regard is not confined 
 within the pale of a denomination, but ex- 
 tended to all w r ho love the Lord Jesus Christ 
 in sincerity. He calls no man master him- 
 self ; nor does he wish to impose a Shibboleth 
 of his own upon others. He rejoices in the 
 image of God, wherever he sees it, and in the 
 work of God, wherever it is carried on. 
 Though tenacious of the truths which the 
 Lord has taught him, his heart is open to 
 those who differ from him in less essential 
 points, and allows to others that right of pri- 
 vate judgment which he claims for himself, 
 and is disposed to hold communion in love 
 with all who hold the Head. He cannot, 
 indeed, countenance those who set aside the 
 one foundation which God has laid in Zion, 
 and maintain errors derogatory to the honour 
 of his Saviour, or subversive of the faith and 
 experience of his people ; yet he wishes well 
 to their persons, pities and prays for them, 
 and is ready in meekness to instruct them 
 that oppose : but there is no bitterness in his 
 zeal, being sensible that raillery and invective 
 are dishonourable to the cause of truth, and 
 quite unsuitable in the mouth of a sinner, 
 who owes all that distinguishes him from the 
 vilest of men to the free grace of God. In 
 a word, he is influenced by the wisdom from 
 above, which, as it is pure, is likewise peace- 
 able, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full ot 
 mercy and good works, without partiality, 
 and without hypocrisy. 
 
 I must just recur to my first head, and ob- 
 serve, that with this spirit and deportment, 
 the christain, while he is enabled to maintain 
 a conscience void of offence towards God and 
 man, is still sensible and mindful of indwel- 
 ling sin. He has his eye more upon his rule 
 than upon his attainments ; and therefore finds 
 and confesses, that in every thing he comes 
 exceedingly short, and that his best services 
 are not only defective, but defiled. He ac- 
 counts himself an unprofitable servant, is abas- 
 ed in his own eyes, and derives all his hope 
 and comfort, as well as his strength, from Jesus, 
 whom he has known, received, and trusted, to 
 whom he has committed his soul, in whom he 
 rejoices, and worships God in the spirit, re- 
 nouncing all confidence in the flesh, and es- 
 teeming all things as loss, for the excellency 
 of the knowedge of Christ Jesus his Lord. 
 
 If I have lately been rather tardy in making 
 my payments to your Lordship, I have pro- 
 portionably increased the quantity. It is high 
 time I should now relieve your patience. I 
 hope I long to be a Christian indeed ; and I 
 hope this hasty exemplification of my wishes 
 
LET. XXV. 
 
 LETTERS TO A NOBLEMAN. 
 
 will answer to your Lordship’s experience 
 better than I fear it does to my own. May 
 I beg a remembrance in your prayers, that 
 he who has given me to will and desire, may 
 work in me to be and to do according to his 
 own good pleasure. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER XXV. 
 
 November — 1776. 
 
 MY LORD, 
 
 My London journey, which prevented my 
 writing in October, made me amends by an 
 opportunity of waiting upon your Lordship in 
 person. Such seasons are not only pleasant 
 at the time, but afford me pleasure in the re- 
 view. I could have wished the half-hour we 
 were together by ourselves prolonged to half 
 a day. The subject your Lordship was 
 pleased to suggest has been often upon my 
 mind ; and glad should I be, were I able to 
 offer you any thing satisfactory upon it. 
 There is no doubt but first religious impres- 
 sions are usually mingled with much of a le- 
 gal spirit ; and that conscience at such a time 
 is not only tender, but misinformed and scru- 
 pulous ; and I believe, as your Lordship in- 
 timated, that when the mind is more enlighten- 
 ed, and we feel a liberty from many fetters 
 we had imposed upon ourselves, we are in 
 danger of verging too far towards the other 
 extreme. It seems to me that no one person 
 can adjust the medium, and draw the line 
 exactly for another. There are so many par- 
 ticulars in every situation, of which a stranger 
 cannot be a competent judge, and the best 
 human advices and models are mixed with 
 such defects, that it is not right to expect 
 others to be absolutely guided by our rules, 
 nor is it safe for us implicitly to adopt the 
 decisions or practices of others. But the 
 scriptures undoubtedly furnish sufficient and 
 infallible rules for every person, however cir- 
 cumstanced ; and the throne of grace is ap- 
 pointed for us to wait upon the Lord for the 
 best exposition of his precepts. Thus David 
 often prays to be led in the right way, in the 
 path of judgment. By frequent prayer, and 
 close acquaintance with the scriptures, and an 
 habitual attention to the frame of our hearts, 
 there is a certain delicacy of spiritual taste 
 and discernment to be acquired, which ren- 
 ders a nice disquisition concerning the nature 
 and limits of the adiaphora, as they are called, 
 or how near we may go to the utmost bounds 
 of what is right, without being wrong, quite 
 unnecessary. Love is the clearest and most 
 persuasive casuist ; and when our love to the 
 Lord is in lively exercise, and the rule of his 
 word is in our eye, we seldom make great 
 mistakes. And I believe the overdoings of a 
 young convert, proceeding from an honest 
 
 1 65 
 
 simplicity of heart, and a desire of pleasing 
 the Lord, are more acceptable in his sight, 
 than a certain coolness of conduct which fre- 
 quently takes place afterwards, when we are 
 apt to look back with pity upon our former 
 weakness, and secretly to applaud ourselves 
 for our present greater attainments in know- 
 ledge, though perhaps (alas that it should ever 
 be so !) we may have lost as much in warmth 
 as we have gained in light. 
 
 From the time we know the Lord, and are 
 bound to him by the cords of love and grati- 
 tude, the two chief points we should have in 
 our view, I apprehend, are, to maintain com- 
 munion with him in our own souls, and to 
 glorify him in the sight of men. Agreeably 
 to these views, though the scriptures do not 
 enumerate or decide, totidem verbis , for or 
 against many things which some plead for, 
 and others condemn ; yet they furnish us with 
 some general canons, which, if rightly applied, 
 will perhaps go a good way towards settling 
 the debate, at least to the satisfaction of those 
 who would rather please God than man. 
 Some of these canons I will just mark to your 
 Lordship : — Rom. xii. 1, 2. ; 1 Cor. viii. 
 13. and x. 31. ; 2 Cor. vi. 17. ; Ephes. iv. 
 30. ; Ephes. v. 11, 15, 16. ; 1 Thes. v. 22. ; 
 Ephes. vi. 18. ; to which I may add, as suit- 
 able to the present times, Isa. xxii. 12. Luke 
 xxi. 34. I apprehend the spirit of these and 
 similar passages of scripture (for it would be 
 easy to adduce a larger number) will bring a 
 Christian under such restrictions as follow : 
 
 To avoid and forbear, for his own sake, 
 whatever has a tendency to damp and indis- 
 pose his spirit in attendance upon the means 
 of grace; for such things, if they be not 
 condemned as sinful per se, if they be not 
 absolutely unlawful, yea though they be, when 
 duly regulated, lawful and right (for often 
 our chief snares are entwined with our bles- 
 sings) ; yet if they have a repeated and evi- 
 dent tendency to deaden our hearts to divine 
 things, of which each person’s experience must 
 determine, there must be something in them, 
 either in season, measure, or circumstance, 
 wrong to us ; and let them promise what they 
 w ill, they do but rob us of our gold to pay us 
 with counters. For the light of God’s coun- 
 tenance, and an open cheerfulness of spirit in 
 walking with him in private, is our chief joy; 
 and we must be already greatly hurt, if any 
 thing can be pursued, alknved, or rested in, 
 as a tolerable substitute for it. 
 
 For the sake of the church, and the in- 
 fluence example may have upon his fellow- 
 christians, the law of charity and prudence 
 will often require a believer to abstain from 
 some things, not because they are unlawful, 
 but inexpedient. Thus the apostle, though 
 strenuous for the right of his Christian liberty, 
 would have abridged himself of the use, so as 
 to eat no flesh, rather than offend a weak 
 brother, rather than mislead him to act against 
 
166 LETTERS TO 
 
 the present light of his conscience. Upon 
 this principle, if I could, without hurt to my- 
 self, attend some public amusements, as a 
 concert or oratorio, and return from thence 
 with a warm heart to my closet (the possibi- 
 lity of which in my own case I greatly ques- 
 tion) ; yet I should think it my duty to for- 
 bear, lest some weaker than myself should be 
 encouraged by me to make the like experi- 
 ment, though in their own minds they might 
 fear it was wrong, and have no other reason 
 to think it lawful but because I did it ; in 
 which case, I should suspect, that though I 
 received no harm, they would. And I have 
 known and conversed with some, who I fear 
 have made shipwreck of their profession, who 
 have dated their first decline from imitating 
 others, whom they thought wiser and better 
 than themselves, in such kind of compliances. 
 And it seems that an obligation to this sort of 
 self-denial rises and is strengthened in pro- 
 portion to the weight and influence of our 
 characters. Were I in private life, I do not 
 know that I should think it sinful to kill a 
 partridge or a hare ; but, as a minister, I no 
 more dare do it than I dare join in a drun- 
 ken frolic, because I know it would give 
 offence to some, and be pleaded for as a li- 
 cence by others. 
 
 There is a duty, and a charity likewise, 
 which we owe to the world at large, as well as 
 a faithfulness to God and his grace, in our ne- 
 cessary converse among them. This seems 
 to require, that though we should not be need- 
 lessly singular, yet, for their instruction, and 
 for the honour of our Lord and Master, we 
 should keep up a certain kind of singularity, 
 and shew ourselves called to be a separated 
 people ; — that though the providence of God 
 has given us callings and relations to fill up 
 (in which we cannot be too exact), yet we are 
 not of the world, but belong to another com- 
 munity, and act from other principles, by 
 other rules, and to other ends, than the gene- 
 rality of those about us. I have observed, 
 that the world will often leave professors in 
 quiet possession of their notions and senti- 
 ments, and places of worship, provided they 
 will not be too stiff in the matter of confor- 
 mity with their more general customs and 
 amusements. But I fear many of them have 
 had their prejudices strengthened against our 
 holy religion by such compliances, and have 
 thought, that if there were such joy and com- 
 fort to be found in the ways of God as they 
 hear from our pulpits, professors would not, 
 in such numbers, and so often, run amongst 
 them, to beg a relief from the burden of time 
 hanging upon their hands. As our Lord 
 Jesus is the great representative of his people 
 in heaven, he does them the honour to con- 
 tinue a succession of them as his representa- 
 tives upon earth. Happy are they who are 
 favoured with most of the holy unction, ana 
 best enabled to manifest to all around them, 
 
 A NOBLEMAN. let. xxv 
 
 by their spirit, tempers, and conversation, 
 what is the proper design and genuine effect 
 of his gospel upon the hearts of sinners. 
 
 In our way of little life in the country, 
 serious people often complain of the snare? 
 they meet with from worldly people, and yU J 
 they must mix with them to get a livelihood. 
 
 I advise them, if they can, to do their busi- 
 ness with the world as they do it in the rain. S 
 If their business calls them abroad, they will 
 not leave it undone for fear of being a little 
 wet ; but then, when it is done, they present- 
 ly seek shelter, and will not stand in the rain 
 for pleasure : so providential and necessary 
 calls of duty, that lead us into the world, will 
 not hurt us, if we find the spirit of the world 
 unpleasant, and are glad to retire from it, and 
 keep out of it as much as our relative duties 
 will permit. That which is our cross is not 
 so likely to be our snare ; but if that spirit, 
 which we should always watch and pray 
 against, infects and assimilates our minds to 
 itself, then we are sure to suffer loss, and act 
 below the dignity of our profession. 
 
 The value of time is likewise to be taken 
 into the account. It is a precious talent, and 
 our Christian profession opens a wide field for 
 the due improvement of it. Much of it has 
 been already lost, and therefore we are ex- 
 horted to redeem it. I think many things 
 which custom pleads for will be excluded 
 from a suitableness to a Christian, for this 
 one reason, that they are not consistent with 
 the simplest notion of the redemption of time. 
 
 It is generally said, we need relaxation: I 
 allow it in a sense : the Lord himself has pro- 
 vided it ; and because our spirits are too 
 weak to be always upon the wing in medi- 
 tation and prayer, he has appointed to all 
 men, from the king downwards, something to 
 do in a secular way. The poor are to labour, 
 the rich are not exempted from something 
 equivalent. And when every thing of this 
 sort in each person’s situation is properly at- 
 tended to, I apprehend, if the heart be alive 
 and in a right state, spiritual concernments 
 will present themselves, as affording the no- 
 blest, sweetest, and most interesting relaxa- 
 tion from the cares and business of life ; as 
 on the other hand, that business will be the 
 best relaxation and unbending of the mind 
 from religious exercises ; and between the 
 two, perhaps there ought to be but little mere 
 leisure time. A life in this sense, divided 
 between God and the w orld, is desirable ; 
 when one part of it is spent in retirement, 
 seeking after and conversing with him whom 
 our souls love ; and the other part of it em. 
 ployed in active services for the good of our 
 family, friends, the church, and society, for 
 his sake. Every hour which does not fall in 
 with one or other of these view's, I apprehend 
 is lost time. 
 
 The day in which we live seems likewise to 
 call for something of a peculiar spirit in the 
 
LET. XXVI. LETTERS TO i 
 
 Lord’s people. It is a day of abounding sin, 
 and, I fear, a day of impending judgment. 
 The world, as it was in the days of Noah and 
 Lot, is secure. We are soon to have a day 
 of apparent humiliation; but the just causes 
 for it are not confined to one day, but will 
 subsist, and too probably increase, every day. 
 If I am not mistaken in the signs of the times, 
 there never was, within the annals of the Eng- 
 lish history, a period in which the spirit and 
 employment described, Ezek. ix. 4, could be 
 more suitable than the present. The Lord 
 calls for mourning and weeping ; but the 
 words of many are stout against him. New 
 species of dissipation are invented almost 
 daily, and the language of those who bear the 
 greatest sway in what is called the polite cir- 
 cle, I mean the interpretative language of their 
 hearts, is like that of the rebellious Jews, 
 Jer. xliv. 16, 17, &c. “ As for the word which 
 thou hast spoken, we will not hearken unto 
 thee at all.” In short, things are coming to a 
 point, and it seems to be almost putting to 
 the vote, whether the Lord or Baal be God. 
 In this state of affairs, methinks, we cannot 
 be too explicit in avowing our attachment to 
 the Lord, nor too careful in avoiding an im- 
 proper correspondence with those who are in 
 confederacy against him. We know not how 
 soon we may greatly need that mark of pro- 
 vidential protection which is restrained to 
 those who sigh and cry for our abominations. 
 Upon the whole, it appears to me, that it is 
 more honourable, comfortable, and safe (if 
 we cannot exactly hit the golden mean), to 
 be thought hy some too scrupulous and pre- 
 cise, than actually to be found too compliant 
 with those things which, if not absolutely con- 
 trary to a divine commandment, are hardly 
 compatible with the genius of the gospel, or 
 conformable to the mind that was in Christ 
 Jesus, which ought also to be in his people. 
 The places and amusements which the world 
 frequent and admire, where occasions and 
 temptations to sin are cultivated, where the 
 law of what is called good breeding is the 
 only law which may not be violated with im- 
 punity, where sinful passions are provoked 
 and indidged, where the fear of God is so 
 little known or regarded, that those who do 
 fear him must hold their tongues, though they 
 should hear his name blasphemed, can hardly 
 be a Christian’s voluntary chosen ground. Yet 
 I fear these characters will apply to every 
 kind of polite amusement or assembly in the 
 kingdom. 
 
 As to family connexions, I cannot think we 
 are bound to break or slight them. But as 
 believers and their friends often live as it were 
 in two elements, there is a mutual awkward- 
 ness, which makes their interviews rather dry 
 and tedious. But, upon that account, they 
 are less frequent than they would otherwise 
 be, which seems an advantage. Both sides 
 keep up returns of civility and affection; but 
 
 A NOBLEMAN. 1G7 
 
 as they cannot unite in sentiment and leading 
 inclination, they will not contrive to be very 
 often together, except there is something con- 
 siderable given up by one «r the other ; and 
 I think Christians ought to be very cautious 
 what concessions they make upon this ac- 
 count. But, as I said at the beginning, no 
 general positive rules can be laid down. 
 
 I have simply given your Lordship such 
 thoughts as have occurred to me while writ- 
 ing, without study, and without coherence. 
 I dare not be dogmatical ; but I think what 
 I have written is agreeable both to particular 
 texts, and to the general tenor of scripture. 
 I submit it to your judgment. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER XXVI. 
 
 July — 1777. 
 
 MY LORD, 
 
 I OWE your Lordship a quire of letters for the 
 favour and pleasure of your late visit ; and 
 therefore I must -begin and w'rite away. 
 
 I have lately read Robertson’s History of 
 Charles V., which, like most other histories, 
 I consider as a comment upon those passages 
 of scripture which teach us the depravity of 
 man, the deceitfulness of the heart, the ruin- 
 ous effects of sin, and the powerful, though 
 secret rule of divine providence, moving, di- 
 recting, and controuling the designs and ac- 
 tions of men, with an unerring hand, to the 
 accomplishment of his own purposes, both of 
 mercy and judgment. Without the clue and 
 the light which the word of God affords, the 
 history of mankind, of any, of every age, only 
 presents to view a labyrinth and a chaos; a 
 detail of w ickedness and misery to make us 
 tremble, and a confused jumble of interfering 
 incidents, as destitute of stability, connection, 
 or order, as the clouds which fly over our 
 heads. In this view, Delirant reges, plectun- 
 tur Achivi , may serve as a motto to all the 
 histories I have seen ; but, with the scripture 
 key, all is plain, all is instructive. Then I 
 see verily there is a God, who governs the 
 earth, who pours contempt upon princes, takes 
 the wise in their own craftiness, over-rules the 
 wrath and pride of man, to bring his owm de- 
 signs to pass, and restrains all that is not ne- 
 cessary to that end ; blasting the best con- 
 certed enterprizes at one time, by means ap- 
 parently slight, and altogether unexpected, 
 and at other times producing the most impor- 
 tant events, from instruments and circum. 
 stances which are, at first thought, too feeble 
 and trivial to deserve notice. I should like 
 to see a writer of Dr. Robertson’s abilities 
 give us a history upon this plan ; but I think 
 his reflections of this sort are too general, too 
 cold, and too few. What an empty phantom 
 do tire great men of the world pursue, while 
 
LET. XXVI 
 
 168 LETTERS TO A 
 
 they wage war with the peace of mankind, 
 and butcher, in the course of their lives, per- 
 haps hundreds of thousands, to maintain the i 
 shadow of authority over distant nations, whom 
 they can reach with no other influence than 
 that of oppression and devastation ! But when 
 we consider those who are sacrificed to their 
 ambition, as justly suffering for their sins, 
 then heroes and conquerors appear in their 
 proper light, and worthy to be classed with 
 earthquakes and pestilences, as instruments 
 of divine vengeance. So many cares, so much 
 pains, so many mischiefs,— merely to support 
 the idea a worm has formed of his own gran- 
 deur, is a proof that man, by nature, is not 
 only depraved, but infatuated. Permit me to 
 present my thoughts to more advantage in 
 the words of M. Nicole : 
 
 “ Un grand dans son idee n’est pas un seul 
 homme; c’est un homme environ de tous 
 ceux qui sont a lui, et qui s’imagine avoir au- 
 tant de bras qu’ils en ont tous ensemble, parce 
 qu’il en dispose et qu’il les remue. Un ge- 
 neral d’armee se represente toujours a lui- 
 meme au milieu de tous ses soldats. Ainsi 
 chacun tache d’occuper le plus de place qu’il 
 peut dans son imagination, et l’on ne se 
 pousse, et ne s’aggrandit dans le monde, que 
 pour augmenter l’idee que chacun se forme de 
 soi-meme. Voila le but de tous les desseins 
 ambitieux des hommes ! Alexandre et Caesar 
 n’ont point eu d’ autre vue dans toutes leurs 
 batailles que celle-la. Et si l’on demande 
 pourquoi le Grand Seigneur a fait depuis 
 peu perir cent mille hommes devant Candie, 
 on peut repondre surement, que ce n’est que 
 
 NOBLEMAN. 
 
 pour attacher encore A cette image interieure 
 qu’il a de lui-meme, le titre de conquer- 
 ant.” * 
 
 How awful is the case of those who live 
 and die in such a spirit, and who have multi- 
 plied miseries upon their fellow-creatures, in 
 order to support and feed it ! Perhaps they 
 may, upon their entrance on another state, be 
 accosted by multitudes, to the purport of that 
 sarcastical language in the prophet’s sublime 
 ode of triumph over the king of Babylon, Is. 
 xiv. 5—17. 
 
 Hie est, quern fuga, quern pavor 
 Prsecessit ? hie, quem terricolis gravis 
 Strages secuta est, vastitasque? hie 
 Attoniti spoliator orbis ? 
 
 But though the effects of this principle of 
 self are more extensive and calamitous, in 
 proportion as those who are governed by it 
 are more elevated, the principle itself is deep- 
 rooted in every heart, and is the spring of 
 every action, till grace infuses a new prin- 
 ciple, and self, like Dagon, falls before the 
 Lord of Hosts. Great and small are but re- 
 lative terms ; and the passions of discontent, 
 pride, and envy, which, in the breast of a po- 
 tentate, are severely felt by one half of Eu- 
 rope, exert themselves with equal strength in 
 the heart of a peasant, though, for want of 
 materials and opportunities, their operations 
 are confined within narrow bounds. We are 
 fallen into a state of gross idolatry, and self is 
 the idol we worship. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 * Essais de Morale, vol. i. 
 
-LETTERS 
 
 TO 
 
 THE REVEREND MR. S 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 June 23, 1775. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 I have met with interruptions till now or 
 you would have heard from me sooner. My 
 thoughts have run much upon the subject of 
 your last, because I perceive it has a near con- 
 nection with your peace. Your integrity 
 greatly pleases me ; far be it from me to shake 
 the principle of your conduct, yet in the ap- 
 plication I think there is a possibility of car- 
 rying your exceptions too far. 
 
 From the account you give me of your sen- 
 timents, I cannot but wonder you find it so 
 difficult to accede to the Athanasian Creed, 
 when it seems to me you believe and avow 
 what that Creed chiefly sets forth. The doc- 
 trine of the Trinity, some explication of the 
 terms being subjoined, is the catholic faith, 
 without the belief of which a man cannot be 
 saved. This damnatory clause seems to me 
 proved by Mark xvi. 16, “ He that believeth 
 shall be saved,” &c. The object of faith must 
 be truth. The doctrine of the deity of Christ, 
 and of the Holy Spirit, in union with the Fa- 
 ther, so that they are not three Gods, but one 
 God, is not merely a proposition expressed in 
 words, to which our assent is required, but is 
 absolutely necessary to be known, since with- 
 out it no one truth respecting salvation can be 
 rightly understood, no one promise duly be- 
 lieved, no one duty spiritually performed. I 
 take it for granted, that this doctrine must 
 appear irrational and absurd in the eye of rea- 
 son, if by reason we mean the reason of man 
 in his fallen state, before it is corrected and 
 enlightened by a heavenly teacher. No man 
 can say Jesus is Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. 
 I believe, with you, that a man may be saved 
 who never heard of the Creed, who never read 
 any book but the New Testament, or perhaps 
 a single Evangelist ; but he must be taught 
 
 of God the things that accompany salvation, 
 or 1 do not think he can be saved. The mer- 
 cies of God in Christ will not save any, as I 
 apprehend, but according to the method re- 
 vealed in his word, that is, those who are 
 truly partakers of faith and holiness. For, 
 as the religion of the New Testament ascribes 
 all power to God, and considers all goodness 
 in us as the effect of his communication, we 
 being by nature destitute of spiritual life or 
 light, so those whom God himself is pleased 
 to teach, will infallibly attain the knowledge 
 of all that they are concerned to know. This 
 teaching you are waiting for, and it shall be 
 given you ; yea the Lord, I trust, has begun 
 to teach you already ; but if you consider 
 yourself as a learner, and that it is possible, 
 under the Spirit’s increasing illumination, you 
 may hereafter adopt some things which at pre- 
 sent you cannot approve, I should think it too 
 early as yet to prescribe to yourself rules and 
 determinations for the government of your 
 future life. Should the will of God appoint 
 you a new path for service, he may, sooner 
 than you are aware, quiet your mind, and 
 enable you to subscribe with as full a persua- 
 sion of mind as you now object to subscrip- 
 tion. If it depended upon me, I could be 
 content that the Creed should rest at the bot- 
 tom of the sea, rather than embarrass a single 
 person of your disposition. Nor am I a warm 
 stickler for subscription in itself ; but some- 
 thing of this kind seems necessary, upon the 
 supposition of an establishment. 
 
 When I think of an inclosure, some hedge, 
 wall, bank, ditch, &c is of course included 
 in my idea ; for who can conceive of an in- 
 closure without a boundary ? So, in a na- 
 tional church, there must be, I apprehend, 
 something marked out, the approbation or re- 
 fusal of which will determine who do or do 
 
LET. I. 
 
 LETTERS TO THE REV. MR. S- 
 
 170 . 
 
 not belong to it ; and for this purpose arti- 
 cles of some kind seem not improper. You 
 think it would be better to have these articles 
 in scriptural expressions. But if it be law- 
 ful to endeavour to exclude from our pulpits 
 men who hold sentiments the most repugnant 
 to the truth, I wish you to consider, whether 
 this can be in any measure secured by articles 
 in which the scripture-doctrines are not ex- 
 plained and stated, as well as expressed. This 
 proposal is strenuously pleaded for by many in 
 our day, upon views very different from yours. 
 The Socinians, for instance, would readily 
 subscribe a scriptural declaration of the high 
 priesthood, atonement, and intercession of 
 Christ (while they are allowed to put their 
 own sense upon the terms), though the sense 
 they maintain be utterly inconsistent with 
 what those who are enlightened by the Holy 
 Spirit learn from the s:;me expressions. 
 
 I acknowledge, indeed, that the end is not 
 answered by the present method ; since there 
 are too many, like the person you mention, 
 who would easily subscribe nine hundred ar- 
 ticles, rather than baulk his preferment : yet 
 the profligacy of some seems to he no just 
 reason why the church, why any church, 
 should not be at liberty to define the terms 
 upon which they w’ill accept members or teach- 
 ers, or why conscientious persons should ob- 
 ject to these terms (if they think them agree- 
 able to the truth), merely because they are 
 not expressed in the precise words of scrip- 
 ture. If allowance may be made for human 
 infirmity in the Liturgy, I see not why the 
 Articles may not be entitled to the same pri- 
 vilege. For it seems requisite that we should 
 be as well satisfied with the expressions we 
 use with our lips, in frequent solemn prayer 
 to God, as in what w r e subscribe with our 
 hands. I am persuaded that the leaders of 
 the Association at the Feathers Tavern, some 
 of them at least, though they begin with the 
 affair of subscription, would not (if they might 
 have their wish) stop there, but would go on 
 with their projected reform, till they had 
 overturned the Liturgy also, or at least weed- 
 ed it from every expression that bears testi- 
 mony to the deity of the Saviour, and the 
 efficacious influence of the Holy Spirit. I 
 bless God that you are far otherwise minded. 
 
 I hope, however, though you should not 
 think yourself at liberty to repeat your sub- 
 scription, the Lord will make you comforta- 
 ble and useful in your present rank as a cu- 
 rate. Preferment is not necessary, either to 
 our peace or usefulness. We may live and 
 die contentedly, without the honours and e- 
 moluments which aspiring men thirst after, 
 if he be pleased to honour us with a dispen- 
 sation to preach his gospel, and to crown our 
 endeavours with a blessing. He that w’in- 
 neth souls is wise ; wise in the choice of the 
 highest end he can propose to himself in this 
 life; w ise in the improvement of the only means 
 
 by which this desireable end can be attained. 
 Wherever we cast our eyes, the bulk of the 
 people are ignorant, immoral, careless. They 
 live without God in the world ; they are nei- 
 ther awed by his authority, nor affected by 
 his goodness, nor enabled to trust to his pro- 
 mises, nor disposed to aim at his glory. If, 
 perhaps, they have a serious interval, or some 
 comparative sobriety of character, they ground 
 their hopes upon their own doings, endeavours, 
 or purposes ; and treat the inexpressible love 
 of God revealed in Christ, and the gospel- 
 method of salvation by faith in his name, with 
 neglect, often with contempt. They have 
 preachers, whom perhaps they hear w ith some 
 pleasure, because they neither alarm their 
 consciences by insisting on the spirituality and 
 sanction of the divine law, nor offend their 
 pride by publishing the humiliating doctrines 
 of that gospel, which is the power of God 
 through faith unto salvation. Therefore 
 w'hat they do speak, they speak in vain ; the 
 world grows worse and w’orse under their in- 
 structions ; infidelity and profligacy abound 
 more and more ; for God will own no 
 other doctrine but what the apostle calls the 
 truth as it is in Jesus ; that doctrine which 
 drives the sinner from all his vain pleas, and 
 points out the Lord Jesus Christ as the only 
 ground of hope, the supreme object of desire, 
 as appointed of God to be wisdom, righteous- 
 ness, sanctification, and redemption, to all 
 who believe in his name. When ministers 
 themselves are convinced of sin, and feel the 
 necessity of an almighty Saviour, they pre- 
 sently account their former gain but loss, and 
 determine, with the apostle, to know nothing 
 but Jesus Christ, and him crucified. In pro- 
 portion as they do this, they are sure to be 
 wondered at, laughed at, and railed at, if the 
 providence of God and the constitution of 
 their country, secure them from severer treat- 
 ment. But they have this invaluable com- 
 pensation, that they no longer speak without 
 effect. In a greater or less degree a change 
 takes place in their auditories ; the blind re- 
 ceive their sight, the deaf hear, the lepers are 
 cleansed ; — sinners are turned from darkness 
 to light, and from the power of Satan to God ; 
 — sinful practices are forsaken ; and a new 
 course of life in the converts, evidences that 
 they have not followed cunningly-devised 
 fables, or taken up with uncertain notions ; 
 but that God has indeed quickened them by 
 his Spirit, and given them an understanding 
 to know him that is true. The preachers, 
 likewise, while they attempt to teach others, 
 are taught themselves : a blessing descends 
 upon their studies and labours, upon their 
 perusal of the scriptures, upon their attention 
 to w’hat passes within them and around them. 
 The events of every day contribute to throw 
 light upon the word of God : their view's of 
 divine truth grow more enlarged, connected, 
 and comprehensive ; many difficulties, w hich 
 
jlet. I. LETTERS TO THE 
 
 perplexed them at their first setting out, trou- 1 
 ble them no more ; the God whom they serve, 
 and on whom they wait, reveals to them 
 those great things, which, though plainly ex- 
 pressed in the letter of scripture, cannot be 
 understood and realized without divine teach - 
 ing, 1 Cor. ii. 9. to 15. Thus they go on 
 from strength to strength ; hard things become 
 easy, and a divine light shines upon their 
 paths. Opposition from men perhaps may 
 increase ; they may expect to be represented, 
 as those who turn the world upside down ; 
 the cry, /u,tyx\t j b Agripis*, will be raised a- 
 gainst them, the gates of the temple of pre- 
 ferment will be seldom open to them; but 
 they will have the unspeakable consolation of 
 applying to themselves those lively words of 
 the apostle, u( Xuvrot/fitm, xxi 
 vrro%oty vroXXovg T\ourt%o*rt$, u>f'/unhv t%evnt, 
 xxi vuvrx xxrt%ovrss.f 
 
 It is the strain of evident sincerity which 
 runs through your letters, that gives me a 
 pleasing confidence the Lord is with you. 
 A disinterested desire of knowing the truth, 
 with a willingness to follow it through all 
 disadvantages, is a preparation of the heart 
 which only God can give. He has directed 
 you to the right method, searching the scrip- 
 tures, with prayer. Go on, and may his 
 blessing attend you. You may see, from 
 what I have written above, what is the desire 
 of my heart for you. But I am not impa- 
 tient. Follow your heavenly leader, and in 
 his own time and manner he will make your 
 M ay plain. I have travelled the path before 
 you, I see what you yet want ; I cannot im- 
 part it to you, but he can, and I trust he will. 
 It will rejoice my soul to be any w'ay assistant 
 to you ; but I am afraid I should not afford 
 you much, either profit or satisfaction, by 
 entering upon a dry defence of creeds and 
 articles. 
 
 The truths of scripture are not like mathe- 
 matical theorems, which present exactly the 
 same ideas to every person who understands 
 the terms. The word of God is compared to 
 a mirror, 2 Cor. iii. 18. : but it is a mirror 
 in which the longer we look the more we see ; 
 the view will be still growing upon us ; and 
 still we shall see but in part M-hile on this side 
 eternity. When our Lord pronounced Peter 
 blessed, declaring he had learnt that which 
 flesh and blood could not have taught him, 
 yet Peter was at that time much in the dark. 
 The sufferings and death of Jesus, though 
 the only and necessary means of his salvation, 
 were an offence to him. But he lived to 
 glory in what he once could not bear to hear 
 of. Peter had received grace to love the 
 Lord Jesus, to follow him, to venture all, 
 and to forsake all for him ; these first good 
 dispositions were of God, and they led to fur- 
 ther advances. So it is still. By nature, self 
 
 REV. MR. S- . 171 
 
 I rules in theheart • when this idol is brought low, 
 and we are truly willing to be the Lord’s, and 
 to apply to him for strength and direction, that 
 we may serve him, the good work is begun; for 
 it is a truth that holds universally and without 
 exception, a man can receive nothing except 
 it be given him from heaven. The Lord first 
 finds us when we are thinking of something 
 else, Isaiah Ixv. 1. ; and then we begin to 
 seek him in good earnest, and he has promis- 
 ed to be found of us. People may, by in- 
 dustry and natural abilities, make themselves 
 masters of the external evidences of Chris- 
 tianity, and have much to say for and against 
 different schemes and systems of sentiments ; 
 but all this while the heart remains untouch- 
 ed. True religion is not a science of the 
 head, so much as an inward and heartfelt 
 perception, which casts down imaginations, 
 and every vyj/u/xx that exalteth itself in the 
 mind, and brings every thought into a sweet 
 and willing subjection to Christ by faith. 
 Here the learned have no real advantage above 
 the ignorant ; both see when the eyes of the 
 understanding are enlightened ; till then both 
 are equally blind. And the first lesson in 
 the school of Christ is to become a little child, 
 sitting simply at his feet, that we may be made 
 wise unto salvation. 
 
 I was not only prevented beginning my let- 
 ter so soon as I wished, but have been un- 
 usually interrupted since I began it. Often, 
 as soon as I could well take the pen in hand, 
 I have been called away to attend company 
 and intervening business. Though I per- 
 suade myself, after what I have formerly said, 
 you will put a favourable construction upon 
 my delay, yet it has given me some pain. I 
 set a great value upon your offer of friend- 
 ship, which, I trust, will not be interrupted 
 on either side, by the freedom with which we 
 mutually express our difference of sentiments, 
 when M r e are constrained to differ. You 
 please me with entrusting me with the first 
 rough draught of your thoughts ; and you 
 may easily perceive by my manner of writing, 
 that I place equal confidence in your candour. 
 I shall be glad to exchange letters as often as 
 it suits us, without constraint, ceremony, oi 
 apology ; and may he who is always present 
 with our hearts make our correspondence use- 
 ful. I pray God to be your sun and shield,, 
 your light and strength, to guide you with 
 his eye, to comfort you with his gracious 
 presence in your own soul, and to make you 
 a happy instrument of comforting many. 
 
 I am, fkc. 
 
 * Great is Diana. 
 
 f 2 Cor. vi. 10. 
 
172 
 
 LET. II. 
 
 LETTERS TO THE 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 July 14, 1775. 
 
 MY DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 I gladly adopt your address, and can assure 
 you that the interchange of every letter unites 
 my heart more closely to you. I am glad to 
 find that your views of articles and creeds 
 are not likely to hinder you from going for- 
 ward in your present situation ; and if, with- 
 out contracting your usefulness, they only 
 prove a bar to your preferment, I am sure it 
 will be no grief of mind to you at the hour 
 of death, or the day of judgment, that you 
 were enabled to follow the dictates of con- 
 science, in opposition to all the pleas of cus- 
 tom or interest. Since, therefore, I have no 
 desire of shaking your resolves, may we not 
 drop this subject entirely? For, indeed, I 
 act but an awkward part in it, being by no 
 means myself an admirer of articles and 
 creeds, or disposed to be a warm advocate for 
 church-power. The propriety of our national 
 establishment, or of any other, is what I have 
 not much to do with ; I found it as it is, nor 
 have I influence to alter it were I willing. 
 The question in which I was concerned was 
 simply, Whether I, rebus sic stantibus , could 
 submit to it, so as conscientiously to take a 
 designation to the ministry under it? I 
 thought I could ; I accordingly did, and I 
 am thankful that I never have seen cause to 
 repent it. 
 
 You seem gently to charge me with a want 
 of candour in what I observed or apprehended 
 concerning the gentlemen of the Feathers 
 Tavern. If I mistake not (for I retain no 
 copies of my letters), I expressed myself with a 
 double restriction, by first saying “ the leaders 
 of that society,” and then adding, “ or some of 
 them at least.” I apprehend your candour 
 will hardly lead you to suppose that there are 
 none amongst them who would pull down 
 the whole fabric, that is, I mean so far as it 
 crosses the Socinian scheme, if it w as left to 
 their choice. I apprehend, I may, without the 
 least breach of candour, suppose that the ex- 
 ceptions which Mr. Lindsay has made to the 
 Liturgy are not peculiar to himself. It seems 
 plain in his case, and from his own writings, 
 that the mere removal of subscriptions, which 
 is the immediate and ostensible object of the 
 clerical petition, could not have satisfied him ; 
 and it is past a doubt with me, that there are 
 others of the clergy like minded with him. In- 
 deed, I could wish to be thought candid by you; 
 though, I confess, I am not a friend to that 
 lukewarmness and indifference for truth, 
 which bears the name of candour among 
 many in the present day. I desire to main- 
 tain a spirit of candour and benevolence to all 
 men, to wish them well, to do them every 
 good office in my power, and to commend 
 
 REV. MR. S . 
 
 what appears to me commendable in a Soci- 
 nian, as readily as in a Calvinist. But with 
 some people I can only go usque ad aras. I 
 must judge of principles by the word of God, 
 and of the tree by its fruit. I meddle with 
 no man’s final state ; because I know that he 
 who is exalted to give repentance and remis- 
 sion of sins, can do it whenever, and to w r ho TV v 
 soever he is pleased : yet I firmly believe, and 
 I make no scruple of proclaiming it, that 
 sw r earers, drunkards, adulterers, continuing 
 such, cannot inherit the kingdom of God ; 
 and I look with no less compassion upon 
 some persons, whose characters in common 
 life may be respectable, when I see them un- 
 happily blinded by their own wisdom ; and 
 while they account themselves, and are ac- 
 counted by many others, master-builders in 
 Zion, rejecting the only foundation upon 
 which a sinner’s hope can be safely built. 
 
 I am far from thinking the Socinians all hy 
 pocrites, but I think they are all in a most 
 dangerous error ; nor do their principles ex- 
 hibit to my view a whit more of the genuine 
 fruits of Christianity than deism itself. You 
 say, “If they be sincere, and fail not for want 
 of diligence in searching, I cannot help think- 
 ing, that God will not condemn them for an 
 inevitable defect in their understandings.” 
 Indeed, my friend, I have such a low opi- 
 nion of man in his depraved state, that I be- 
 lieve no one has real sincerity in religious mat- 
 ters till God bestows it ; and when he makes 
 a person sincere in his desires after truth, he 
 will assuredly guide him to the possession of it 
 in due time, as our Lord speaks, John vi. 44, 
 45. To suppose that any persons can sin- 
 cerely seek the way of salvation, and yet miss 
 it through an inevitable defect of their under- 
 standings, would contradict the plain promises 
 of the gospel, such as Matth. vii. 7, 8, John 
 vii. 16, 17; but to suppose that nothing is 
 necessary to be known which some persons 
 who profess sincerity cannot receive, would be 
 in effect to make the scriptures a nose of wax, 
 and open a wide door for scepticism. I am 
 not a judge of the heart ; but I may be sure, 
 that w’hoever makes the foundation-stone a 
 rock of offence cannot be sincere in his in- 
 quiries. He may study the scriptures accu- 
 rately, but he brings his own preconceived 
 sentiments with him, and, instead of sub- 
 mitting them to the touchstone of truth, he 
 makes them a rule by which he interprets. 
 That they who lean to their own understand- 
 ings should stumble and miscarry, I cannot 
 wonder; for the same God who has promised 
 to fill the hungry with good things, has threat- 
 ened to send the rich empty away. So Matth. 
 xi. 25. It is not through defect of under- 
 standing, but a want of simplicity and hu- 
 mility, that so many stumble like the blind 
 at noon-day, and can see nothing of those 
 great truths which are written in the gospel 
 as with a sun-beam. 
 
I/ET. II. 
 
 LETTERS TO THE RE 
 
 You wish me to explain myself concerning 
 the doctrine of the Trinity. I will try ; yet 
 I know I cannot, any farther than as he who 
 taught me shall be pleased to bear witness in 
 your heart to what 1 say. My first principle 
 in religion is what the scriptures teach me 
 of the utter depravity of human nature, in 
 connection with the spirituality and sanction 
 of the law of God. I believe we are by na- 
 ture sinners, by practice universally trans- 
 gressors ; that we are dead in trespasses and 
 sins ; and that the bent of our natural spirit 
 is enmity against the holiness, government, 
 and grace of God. Upon this ground, I see, 
 feel, and acknowledge the necessity of such a 
 salvation as the gospel proposes, which, at the 
 same time that it precludes boasting, and 
 stains the pride of all human glory, affords 
 encouragement to those who may be thought, 
 or who may think themselves, the weakest or 
 the vilest of mankind. I believe, that what- 
 ever notions a person may take up from edu- 
 cation or system, no one ever did, or ever 
 will feel himself and own himself to be such 
 a lost, miserable, hateful sinner, unless he be 
 powerfully and supernaturally convinced by 
 the Spirit of God. There is, when God 
 pleases, a certain light thrown into the soul, 
 which differs, not merely in degree but in 
 kind, toto genere, from any thing that can be 
 effected or produced by moral suasion or ar- 
 gument. But (to take in another of your 
 queries) the Holy Spirit teaches or reveals no 
 new truths, either of doctrine or precept, but 
 only enables us to understand what is already 
 revealed in the scriptures. Here a change 
 takes place; the person that was spiritually 
 blind begins to see. The sinner’s character, 
 as described in the word of God, he finds to 
 be a description of himself ; that he is afar off*, 
 a stranger, a rebel ; that he has hitherto lived 
 in vain. Now he begins to see the necessity 
 of an atonement, an advocate, a shepherd, 
 a comforter ; he can no more trust to his own 
 wisdom, strength, and goodness, but, account- 
 ing all his former gain but loss, for the ex- 
 cellency of the knowledge of Christ, he re- 
 nounces every other refuge, and ventures his 
 all upon the person, work, and promise of the 
 Redeemer. In this way, I say he will find 
 the doctrine of the Trinity not only a propo- 
 sition but a principle ; that is, from his own 
 wants and situation he will have an abiding 
 conviction that the Son and Holy Spirit are 
 God, and must be possessed of the attributes 
 and powers of Deity, to support the offices 
 the scriptures assign them, and to deserve 
 the confidence and worship the scriptures re- 
 quire to be placed in them, and paid to 
 them. Without this awakened state of mind, 
 a divine, reputed orthodox, will blunder 
 wretchedly even in defending his own opi- 
 nions. I have seen laboured defences of the 
 Trinity, which have given me not much more 
 satisfaction than I should probably receive 
 
 IVEREND MR. S . 173 
 
 from a dissertation upon the rainbow, com- 
 posed by a man blind from his birth. In ef- 
 fect, the knowledge of God cannot be at- 
 tained by studious discussion on our parts ; 
 it must be by a revelation on his part, Matth. 
 xi. 27. and xvi. 17 ; a revelation, not object- 
 ively of new truth, but subjectively of new 
 light in us. Then he that runs may read. 
 Perhaps you may not quite understand my 
 meaning, or not accede to my sentiments at 
 present ; I have little doubt, however, but 
 the time is coming when you will. I believe 
 the Lord God has given you that sincerity 
 which he never disappoints. 
 
 Far be it from me to arrogate infallibility 
 to myself, or to any writer or preacher ; yet. 
 blessed be God, I am not left to float up ana. 
 down the uncertain tide of opinion, in those 
 points wherein the peace of my soul is near/' 
 concerned. I know, yea I infallibly know 
 whom I have believed. I am under no more 
 doubt about the way of salvation than of the 
 way to London. I cannot be deceived, be 
 cause the word of God cannot deceive me. 
 It is impossible, however, for me to give you, 
 or any person, full satisfaction concerning my 
 evidence, because it is of an experimental 
 nature, Rev. ii. 17. In general, it arises 
 from the views I have received of the power, 
 compassion, and grace of Jesus, and a con- 
 sciousness that I, from a conviction of my 
 sin and misery, have fled to him for refuge; 
 entrusted and devoted myself and my all to 
 him. Since my mind has been enlightened, 
 every thing within me, and every thing around 
 me, confirms and explains to me what I read 
 in scripture ; and though I have reason enough 
 to distrust my own judgment every hour, yet 
 I have no reason to question the great essen- 
 tials, which the Lord himself hath taught 
 me. 
 
 Besides a long letter, I send you a great 
 book. A part of it, for I do not ask you to 
 read the whole, may perhaps explain my mean- 
 ing better than I have leisure to do myself. I 
 set a high value upon this book of Mr. Haly- 
 burton’s ; so that, unless I could replace it 
 with another, I know not if I would part with 
 it for its weight in gold. The first and long- 
 est treatise is, in my judgment a masterpiece ; 
 but I would chiefly wish you to peruse the 
 Essay concerning Faith, towards the close of 
 the book. I need not beg you to read it 
 carefully, and to read it all. The import- 
 ance of the subject, its immediate connection 
 with your inquiries, and the accuracy of the 
 reasoning, will render the motive of my re- 
 quest unnecessary. I cannot style him a very 
 elegant writer; and, being a Scotchman, he 
 abounds with the Scottish idiom ; but you 
 will prefer truth to ornament. I long to hear 
 your opinion of it. It seems to me so adapted 
 to some things that have passed between us 
 as if written on purpose. 
 
 The Inquiry concerning Regeneration and 
 
LET. Ill 
 
 174 LETTERS TO THE 
 
 Justification, which stands last in the book, I 
 do not desire, or even wish you to read ; but 
 if you should, and then think that you have 
 read a speculation more curious than useful, 
 I shall not contradict you. I think it must 
 appear to you in that light ; but it was bound 
 up with the rest, and therefore could not stay 
 behind ; but 1 hope the Essay on Faith will 
 please you. 
 
 I take great pleasure in your correspond- 
 ence, still more in the thought of your friend- 
 ship, which I hope to cultivate to the utmost, 
 and to approve myself sincerely and affection- 
 ately yours. 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 August 11, 1775. 
 
 MY DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 Next week I go to London, where I pur- 
 pose, if nothing unforeseen prevents, to stay 
 a month. Many things, which must neces- 
 sarily be attended to before my departure, 
 abridge me of that leisure which I could wish 
 to employ in answering your last. However, 
 I will spare you what I can. I thank you for 
 yours. Your objections neither displease nor 
 weary me. While truth is the object of your 
 inquiry, the more freedom you use with me 
 the better. Nor do they surprise me ; for I 
 have formerly made the like objections my- 
 self. I have stood upon your ground, and I 
 continue to hope you will one day stand up- 
 on mine. As I have told you more than once, 
 I do not mean to dictate to you, or wish you to 
 receive any thing upon my ipse dixit ; but, in 
 the simplicity of friendship, I will give you my 
 thoughts from time to time upon the points 
 you propose, and leave the event to the divine 
 blessing. 
 
 I am glad you do not account the Socinians 
 master-builders. However, they esteem them- 
 selves so, and are so esteemed, not only by a 
 few, as you think, but by many. I fear So- 
 cinianism spreads rapidly amongst us, and bids 
 fair to be the prevailing scheme in this land, 
 especially with those who profess to be the 
 thinking part. The term Arminian, as at pre- 
 sent applied, is very indiscriminate, and takes 
 in a great variety of persons and sentiments, 
 amongst whom, I believe, there are many who 
 hold the fundamental truths of the gospel, 
 and live a life of faith in the Son of God. I 
 am far from supposing that God will guide 
 every sincere person exactly to adopt all mv 
 sentiments. But there are some sentiments 
 which I believe essential to. the very state and 
 character of a true Christian. And these make 
 him a Christian, not merely by being his ac- 
 knowledged sentiments, but by a certain pe- 
 culiar manner in which he possesses them. 
 There is a certain important change takes 
 place in the heart, by the operation of the 
 
 REV. MR. S- 
 
 Spirit of God, before the soundest and most 
 orthodox sentiments can have their proper in- 
 fluence upon us. This work, or change, the 
 scriptures describe by various names, each of 
 which is designed to teach us the marvellous 
 effects it produces, and the almighty power 
 by which it is produced. It is sometimes 
 called a new birth, John iii. 3 ; sometimes a 
 new creature, or a new creation, as 2 Cor. v. 
 17 ; sometimes the causing light to shine out 
 of darkness, 2 Cor. iv. 6 ; sometimes the 
 opening the eyes of the blind, Acts xxvi. 18 ; 
 sometimes the raising the dead to life, Ephes. 
 ii. 5. Till a person has experienced this 
 change, he will be at a loss to form a right 
 conception of it : but it means, not being pro- 
 selyted to an opinion, but receiving a prin- 
 ciple of divine life and light in the soul. And 
 till this is received, the things of God, the 
 truths of the gospel cannot be rightly discern- 
 ed or understood by the utmost powers of fal- 
 len man, who, with all his wisdom, reason, 
 and talents, is still but what the apostle calls 
 the natural man, till the power of God visits 
 his heart, 1 Cor. ii. 14. This work is some- 
 times wrought suddenly, as in the case of 
 Lydia, Acts xvi. 14 ; at other times very gra- 
 dually. A person who before was a stranger 
 even to the form of godliness, or, at best, con- 
 tent with a mere form, finds new thoughts 
 arising in his mind, feels some concern about 
 his sins, some desire to please God, some sus- 
 picions that all is not right. He examines his 
 views of religion, hopes the best of them, and 
 yet cannot rest satisfied in them. To-day, 
 perhaps, he thinks himself fixed ; to-morrow 
 he will be all uncertainty. He inquires of 
 others; weighs, measures, considers, meets 
 with sentiments which he had not attended to, 
 thinks them plausible ; but is presently shock- 
 ed with objections or supposed consequences, 
 which he finds himself unable to remove. As 
 he goes on in his inquiry, his difficulties in- 
 crease. New doubts arise in his mind ; even 
 the scriptures perplex him, and appear to as- 
 sert contrary things. He would sound the 
 depths of truth by the plummet of his reason ; 
 but he finds his line is too short. Yet even 
 now the man is under a guidance, which will 
 at length lead him right. The importance of 
 the subject takes up his thoughts, and takes 
 off the relish he once had for the things of 
 the world. He reads, he prays, he strives, he 
 resolves ; sometimes inward embarrassments 
 and outward temptations bring him to his 
 wits end. He almost wishes to stand where 
 he is, and inquire no more ; but he cannot 
 stop. At length he begins to feel the inward 
 depravity, which he had before owned as an 
 opinion ; a sense of sin and guilt cuts him out 
 new work. Here reasoning will stand him in 
 no stead. This is a painful change of mind ; 
 but it prepares the way for a blessing. It 
 silences some objections better than a thou- 
 sand arguments, it cuts the comb of his own 
 
LET. III. LETTERS TO THE 
 
 wisdom and attainments, it makes him weary 
 of working for life, and teaches him, in God’s 
 due time, the meaning of that text, “ To him 
 that worketh not, but believeth in him who 
 justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for 
 righteousness.” Then he learns that scriptural 
 faith is a very different thing from a rational 
 assent to the gospel, — that it is the imme- 
 diate gift of God (Ephes. ii. 8) ; the operation 
 of God (Col. ii. 12); that Christ is not only 
 the object, but the author and finisher of 
 faith (Heb. xii. 2); and that faith is not so 
 properly a part of that obedience we owe to 
 God, as an inestimable benefit, we receive 
 from him, for Christ’s sake (Phil. i. 29), which 
 is the medium of our justification ( Rom. v. 1 ), 
 and the principle by which we are united to 
 Christ, as the branch to the vine (John xvii. 
 21). I am well aware of the pains taken to 
 put a different sense upon these and other 
 seemingly mysterious passages of scripture ; 
 but thus far we speak that which we know, 
 and testify that which we have seen. I have 
 described a path in which I have known many 
 led, and in which I have walked myself. 
 
 The gospel, my dear Sir, is a salvation ap- 
 pointed for those who are ready to perish, and 
 is not designed to put them in a way to save 
 themselves by their own works. It speaks to 
 us as condemned already, and calls upon us 
 to believe in a crucified Saviour, that we may 
 receive redemption through his blood, even 
 the forgiveness of our sins. And the Spirit of 
 God, by the gospel, first convinces us of un- 
 belief, sin, and misery ; and then, by reveal- 
 ing the things of Jesus to our minds, enables 
 us, as helpless sinners, to come to Christ, to 
 receive him, to behold him, or, in other words, 
 to believe in him, and expect pardon, life, and 
 grace from him ; renouncing every hope and 
 aim in which we once rested, and accounting 
 all things loss and dung for the excellency of 
 the knowledge of Christ, John vi. 35 ; Is. xlv. 
 22, with John vi. 40 ; Col. ii. 6. In some 
 of Omicron’s letters you will find my thoughts 
 more at large upon these subjects than I have 
 now time to write them. For a farther illus- 
 tration, I refer you to the MSS. sent here- 
 with. The first part, written in short hand, 
 does not so immediately concern our present 
 point as the second, which you may read with- 
 out a key. It relates to a matter of indis- 
 putable fact, concerning a person with whom, 
 as you will perceive, I was well acquainted. 
 You may depend upon the truth of every 
 tittle. I entrust it to you in the confidence 
 of friendship, and beg that it may not go out 
 of your hands, and that, when you have per- 
 used it, you will return it, sealed up, by a 
 safe conveyance, to my house. You will see 
 in it the sentiments of a man of great learn- 
 ing, sound reasoning, an amiable and irre- 
 proachable character, and how little he ac- 
 counted of all these advantages, when the 
 Lord was pleased to enlighten his mind. 
 
 REV. MR. S . 175 
 
 Though we have not exactly the same views 
 of human depravity, yet- as we both agree to 
 take our measure of it from the word of God, 
 I trust we shall not always differ about it. 
 Adam was created in the image of God, in 
 righteousness and true holiness, Ephes. iv. 24. 
 This moral image, I believe, was totally lost 
 by sin. In that sense he died the day, the 
 moment, he ate the forbidden fruit. God 
 was no longer his joy and delight ; he was 
 averse from the thoughts of his presence, and 
 would, if possible, have hid himself from him. 
 His natural powers, though doubtless im- 
 paired, were not destroyed. Man, by nature, 
 is still capable of great things. His under- 
 standing, reason, memory, imagination, &c. 
 sufficiently proclaim that the hand that made 
 him is divine. He is, as Milton says of Beel- 
 zebub, majestic, though in ruins. He can 
 reason, invent, and, by application, attain a 
 considerable knowledge in natural things. 
 The exertions of human genius, as specified 
 in the characters of some philosophers, poets, 
 orators, &c. are wonderful. But man cannot 
 know, love, trust, or serve his Maker, unless 
 he be renewed in the spirit of his mind. God 
 has preserved in him likewise some feelings of 
 benevolence, pity, some sense of natural jus- 
 tice and truth, &c. without which there could 
 be no society : but these, I apprehend, are 
 little more than instincts, by which the world 
 is kept in some small degree of order ; but, 
 being under the direction of pride and self, 
 do not deserve the name of virtue and good- 
 ness ; because the exercise of them does not 
 spring from a principle of love to God, nor is 
 directed to his glory, or regulated by the rule 
 of his word, till a principle of grace is super- 
 added. You think I will not say, “ that God 
 judicially, in punishment of one man’s sin, 
 added these corruptions to all his posterity.’ 
 Let us suppose, that the punishment annexed 
 to eating the forbidden fruit had been the loss 
 of Adam’s rational powers, and that he should 
 be degraded to the state and capacity of a 
 brute. In this condition, had he begotten 
 children, after the fall, in his own likeness, 
 his nature being previously changed, they 
 must have been of course brutes like himself; 
 for he could not convey to them those origi- 
 nal powers which he had lost. Will this il- 
 lustrate my meaning? Sin did not deprive 
 him of rationality, but of spirituality. His 
 nature became earthly, sensual, yea devilish ; 
 and this fallen nature, this carnal mind, which 
 is enmity against God, which is not subject 
 to his law, neither indeed can be (Rom. viii. 
 7), we universally derive from him. Look 
 upon children ; they presently shew themselves 
 averse from good, but exceedingly propense 
 to evil. This they can learn .even without a 
 master; but tefi thousand instructors and in- 
 structions cannot instil good into them, so as 
 to teach them to love their Creator, unless a 
 divine power co-operates. Just as it is with 
 
176 LETTERS TO THE REV. MR. S . LET.Jii 
 
 the earth, which produces weeds spontane- 
 ously ; but if you see a cabbage, or an apple- 
 tree, you are sure it was planted or sown 
 there, and did not spring from the soil. I 
 know many hard questions may be started 
 upon this subject ; but the Lord, in due time, 
 will clear his own cause, and vindicate his 
 own ways. I leave all difficulties with him. 
 It is sufficient for me that scripture asserts, 
 and experience proves, that it is thus in fact, 
 Rom. iii. 9 — 21 ; Job. xiv. 4. Thus we have 
 not only forfeited our happiness by transgres- 
 sion, but are, by our depravity, incapable of 
 it, and have no more desire or taste for such 
 a state as the scriptures describe heaven to be, 
 than a man born deaf can have for a concert 
 of ar.usic. And therefore our Lord declares, 
 that except a mq.n be born again, he not only 
 shall not, but cannot, see the kingdom of 
 God. Hence a twofold necessity of a Sa- 
 viour — his blood for the pardon of our sins, and 
 his life, spirit, and grace, to quicken our souls, 
 and form us anew for himself, that we may 
 feel his love, and shew forth his praise. 
 
 St. Paul, before his conversion, was not sin- 
 cere, in the sense I hope you to be. He thought 
 himself in the right, without doubt, as many 
 have done when they killed God’s servants, 
 John xvi. 2. He was blindly and obstinately 
 zealous. I think he did not enter into the me- 
 rits of the cause, or inquire into facts with that 
 attention which sincerity would have put him 
 upon. You think that his sinceri'ty and zeal 
 were the very things that made him a chosen 
 instrument ; he himself speaks of them as the 
 very things that made him peculiarly unworthy 
 of that honour (1 Cor. xv. 9.); and he tells 
 us, that he was set forth as a pattern of the 
 Lord’s long-suffering and mercy, that the 
 very chief of sinners might be encouraged, 
 1 Tim. i. 15, 16. Had he been sincerely de- 
 sirous to know whether Jesus was the Mes- 
 siah, there was enough in his character, doc- 
 trines, miracles, and the prophecies concern- 
 ing him, to have cleared up the point ; but he 
 took it for granted he was right in his opinion, 
 and hurried blindly on, and was, as he said 
 himself, exceedingly mad against them. Such 
 a kind of sincerity is common enough. Peo- 
 ple believe themselves right, and therefore 
 treat others with scorn or rage, appeal to the 
 scriptures, but first lay down their own pre- 
 conceived sentiments for truths, and then ex- 
 amine what scriptures they can find to coun- 
 tenance them. Surely a person’s thinking 
 himself right, will not give a sanction to all 
 that he does under that persuasion. 
 
 Ignorance and obstinacy are in themselves 
 sinful, and no plea of sincerity will exempt 
 from the danger of being under their influ- 
 ence, Is. xxvii. 11, Luke vi. 39. It appears 
 to me, that, though you will not follow any 
 man implicitly, you are desirous of discover- 
 ing your mistakes, supposing you are mis- 
 taken in any point of importance. You read 
 
 and examine the word of God, not to find 
 arms wherewith to defend your sentiments at 
 all events, but to know whether they are de- 
 fensible or not. You pray for God’s light 
 and teaching, and in this search you are wil- 
 ling to risk what men are commonly much 
 afraid of hazarding — character, interest, pre- 
 ferment, favour, &c. A sincerity of this kind 
 I too seldom meet with : when I do, I ac- 
 count it a token for good, and am ready to 
 say, “ No man can do this, except God be 
 with him.’’ However, sincerity is not con- 
 version ; but I believe it is always a fore- 
 runner of it. 
 
 I would not be uncharitable and censorious, 
 hasty and peremptory in judging my fellow- 
 creatures. But if I acknowledge the word of 
 God, I cannot avoid forming my judgment 
 upon it. It is true, I cannot look into peo- 
 ple’s hearts ; but hearts and principles are de- 
 lineated to my hand in the scriptures. I read, 
 that no murderer has eternal life in him ; I 
 read likewise, “ if any man love not the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, let him be anathema and 
 therefore I conclude, that there are speculative 
 errors, as heinous in their guilt, as destruc- 
 tive in their effects, as murder ; and that the 
 most moral, regular man, as to social life, if 
 he loves not the Lord Jesus Christ, is in the 
 sight of God, the judge of all, as displeasing 
 as a murderer. It has pleased God, for the 
 peace and support of society, to put a black 
 mark upon those sins which affect the peace 
 and welfare of our neighbour, such as adul- 
 tery and murder. But undoubtedly the sins 
 committed immediately against himself must 
 be more heinous than any which offend our 
 fellow-creatures. The second command- 
 ment (Matth. xxii. 39.), is like the first ; but 
 it depends upon it, and is therefore inferior 
 to it. Men ordinarily judge otherwise. To 
 live regardless of God and the gospel is looked 
 upon as a mere pecadillo in comparison with 
 offences against society. But sooner or later it 
 will appear otherwise to all. A parcel of rob- 
 bers may pique themselves upon the justice, 
 honour, and truth they observe towards one 
 another ; but, because they set up a petty in- 
 terest, which is inconsistent with the public 
 good, they are deservedly accounted villains, 
 and treated as such, notwithstanding their 
 petty morality among themselves. Now such 
 a company of robbers bears a much greater 
 proportion to a whole nation, than a nation, 
 or all the nations of the earth, bears to the 
 great God. Our dependence upon him is ab- 
 solute, our obligations to him infinite. In 
 vain shall men plead their moral discharge of 
 relative duties to each other, if they fail in 
 the unspeakably greater relation under which 
 they stand to God; and therefore, when I see 
 people living without God in the world, as all 
 do till they are converted, I cannot but judge 
 them in a dangerous state ; — not because I 
 take pleasure in censuring, or thiuk myself 
 
LET. IV. LETTERS TO THE 
 
 authorised to pass sentence upon my fellow- 
 creatures, but because the scriptures decide 
 expressly on the case, and I am bound to take 
 my sentiments from thence. 
 
 The jailor was certainly a Christian when 
 baptised, as you observe. He trembled ; he 
 cried out, “ What must I do to be saved ?” 
 Paul did not bid him amend his life, but be- 
 lieve in the Lord Jesus. He believed and re- 
 joiced. But the Lord blessed the apostle’s 
 words, to produce in him that saving faith 
 which filled him with joy and peace. It was, 
 as I observed before, something more than an 
 assent to the proposition, that Jesus is the 
 Christ ; a resting in him for forgiveness and 
 acceptance, and a cleaving to him in love. 
 No other faith will purify the heart, work by 
 love, and overcome the world. 
 
 I need not have pleaded want of leisure as 
 an excuse for a short letter, for I have writ- 
 ten a long one. I feel myself much inte- 
 rested in your concerns ; and your unex- 
 pected frank application to me (though you 
 well know the light in which I appear to 
 some people) I consider as a providential call, 
 which binds me to your service. I hope our 
 correspondence will be productive of happy 
 effects, and that we shall both one day rejoice 
 in it. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 September 6, 1775. 
 
 MY DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 I BEGIN to fear I shall fall under a suspicion 
 of unkindness and forgetfulness towards you, 
 and therefore I am willing to write a line by 
 way of prevention, though I have not leisure 
 to attempt any thing like an answer to the 
 letter you put into my hand the evening be- 
 fore I left O ; I must therefore content 
 
 myself with a tender of affection and respect, 
 and an inquiry after your welfare. 
 
 Your letter will give me an opportunity of 
 saying something farther when time shall ad- 
 mit ; but an endeavour to answer all the ob- 
 jections that may be started between us, in a 
 way of reasoning, would require a volume, 
 and would likewise interfere with the leading- 
 principle upon which my hope of giving you 
 satisfaction in due time is grounded. You 
 seem to expect that I should remove your 
 difficulties ; but it is my part only to throw 
 in a word occasionally, as a witness of what 
 the Lord has been pleased to teach me from 
 the scriptures, and to wait for the rest till he 
 (who alone is able) shall be pleased to com- 
 municate the same views to you : for, till we see 
 and judge by the same medium, and are 
 agreed in the fundamental point, that faith 
 is not the effect of reasoning, but a special 
 gift of God, which he bestows when and to 
 
 REV. MR. S . 177 
 
 whom he pleases, it will not be possible for 
 me to convince you by dint of argument. I 
 believe, as I have observed before, that he 
 has already given you a desire to know his 
 will, and therefore I trust he will not disap- 
 point your search. At present I think you 
 want one thing, which it is not in my power 
 to impart, I mean, such a sense of the de- 
 pravity of human nature, and the state of 
 all mankind considered as sinners, as may 
 make you feel the utter impossibility of at- 
 taining to the peace and hope of the gospel 
 in any other way, than by renouncing all 
 hope of succeeding by any endeavours of 
 your own, farther than by humbly waiting 
 at the throne of grace, for power to cast 
 yourself, without terms and conditions, upon 
 him who is able to save to the uttermost. 
 We must feel ourselves sick, before we can 
 duly prize the great Physician, and feel a 
 sentence of death in ourselves, before we can 
 effectually trust in God, who raiseth the dead. 
 
 1 have not brought your sermons w ith me, 
 for I thought I should not have time to read 
 them attentively while in this hurrying place. 
 I purpose to consider them with care, and to 
 give you my thoughts with frankness, when 
 I return. However, if they are upon the plan 
 intimated in your letter, I will venture to say 
 one thing beforehand, that they will not an- 
 swer your desired end. I am persuaded you 
 wish to be useful — to reclaim sinners from 
 their evil ways — to inspire them with a love 
 to God, and a sincere aim to walk in obe- 
 dience to his will. May I not venture to ap- 
 peal to yourself, that you meet with little suc- 
 cess, — that the people to whom you preach, 
 though they perhaps give you a patient hear- 
 ing, yet remain as they were, unchanged, 
 and unholy ? It must be so : there is but 
 one sort of preaching which God blesses to 
 these purposes, that which makes all the world 
 guilty before God, and sets forth Jesus Christ, 
 as the brazen serpent was proposed by Moses, 
 that guilty and condemned sinners, by look- 
 ing to him, and believing on his name, may 
 be healed and saved. The most pressing ex- 
 hortations to repentance and amendment of 
 life, unless they are enforced in a certain way, 
 which only God can teach, will leave our 
 hearers much as they find them. When we 
 meet, or when I have leisure to write from 
 home, I will trouble you with my thoughts 
 more at large. Till then, permit me to as- 
 sure you of my sincere regard and best 
 wishes, and that 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
178 
 
 LETTERS TO THE REV. MR. S 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 October 21, 1775. 
 
 MY DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 The calls and engagements which I told you 
 engrossed and anticipated my time when I 
 wrote las't, have continued without any inter- 
 mission hitherto, and I am still far behind 
 hand with my business. I am willing to hope, 
 that the case has been much the same with 
 you, and that want of leisure has been the 
 only cause of my not having been pleasured 
 with so much as a note from you since my 
 return from London. 
 
 I am loath, for my own sake, to charge 
 your silence to any unwillingness of continu- 
 ing that intercourse which I have been, and 
 still find myself, desirous to improve on my 
 part. For though we are not agreed in 
 our views ; yet, while our preliminary agree- 
 ment, to allow mutual freedom, and to exer- 
 cise mutual, candour, in expressing our senti- 
 ments, subsists, we may, and I hope shall be 
 glad to hear from each other. It may seem 
 to intimate I have a better opinion of myself 
 than of you, that while I seem confident your 
 freedom will not offend me, I feel now and 
 «fhen a fear, lest mine should prove displeas- 
 ing to you. But friendship is a little suspi- 
 cious when exercised with long silence, and a 
 plain declaration of my sentiments has more 
 than once put amiable and respectable persons 
 to the full trial of their patience. 
 
 I now return your sermons ; I thank you 
 for the perusal ; I see much in them that I 
 approve, and nothing in them but what I for- 
 merly espoused. But in a course of years, a 
 considerable alteration has taken place in my 
 judgment and experience, I hope, yea, I may 
 boldly say, I am sure, not for the worse. 
 Then I was seeking, and now, through mer. 
 cy, I have found, the pearl of great price. It 
 is both the prayer and the hope of my heart, 
 that a day is coming when you shall make 
 the same acknowledgement. From your let- 
 ters and sermons, I am encouraged to address 
 you in our Lord’s words, “ Thou art not far 
 from the kingdom of God.” I am persuad- 
 ed the views you have received will not suffer 
 you to remain where you are. But fidelity 
 obliges me to add, “ Yet one thing thou lack- 
 est.” That one thing, I trust the Lord will 
 both shew you, and bestow upon you, in his 
 due time. You speak somewhere of “ aton- 
 ing for disobedience by repentance.” Ah! 
 my dear Sir, when we are brought to estimate 
 our disobedience, by comparing it with such 
 a sense of the majesty, holiness, and authority 
 of God, and the spirituality, extent, and 
 sanction of his holy law, as he, and he only, 
 can impress upon the heart of a sinner, we 
 shall be convinced, that nothing but the blood 
 
 LET. V, 
 
 of the Son of God can atone for the smallest 
 instance of disobedience. 
 
 I intimated, in my letter from London, one 
 defect of your scheme, which will probably be 
 the first to engage your notice. I am sure 
 you have a desire to be useful to the souls of 
 men, to be an instrument of reclaiming them 
 from that course of open wickedness, or life- 
 less formality, in which you see them enslav- 
 ed ; and, in a word, to prevail with them to 
 live soberly, righteously, and godly, accord- 
 ing to the just and comprehensive sense you 
 have given of those words, in your sermon on 
 Tit. ii. 11, 12. Now, inward experience, 
 and a pretty extensive observation of what 
 passes abroad, have sc perfectly convinced me 
 there is but one mode of preaching which the 
 Holy Spirit owns to the producing of these ef- 
 fects, that I am not afraid to pronounce con- 
 fidently, you will not have the desires of your 
 heart gratified upon your present plan. The 
 people will give you a hearing, and remain 
 just as they are, till the Lord leads you to 
 speak to them as criminals condemned already, 
 and whose first essential step it is, to seek 
 forgiveness by the blood of Jesus, and a 
 change of heart and state by his grace, before 
 thev can bring forth any fruit acceptable to 
 God. 
 
 As I have little time for writing, and little 
 hope of succeeding in a way of argumenta- 
 tion, I have substituted, instead of a longer 
 letter, the heads of some sermons I preached 
 nine or ten years ago, on our Lord’s dis- 
 course with Nicodemus. However, when I 
 have heard that you are well, and that you 
 are still disposed to correspond with me, I 
 shall be ready to give a more particular an- 
 swer to the subjects you pointed out to me in 
 the letter you favoured me with the day before 
 I left London. I pray God to bless you in 
 all your ways, and beg you to believe, that I 
 am, with sincerity, &c. 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 October 28. 
 
 MY DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 It never entered my pericranium, that you 
 expected I should fully and directly answer 
 your letter while I was in London ; and yet 
 you reasonably might, as you knew nothing 
 of my engagements : but, indeed, it was im- 
 practicable ; I could only send you a hasty 
 line, as a token that I remembered you. I 
 informed you, when I returned, that I was 
 just going out again. Since I came home the 
 second time, I have been engrossed by things 
 that would admit of no delay ; and, at length, 
 not having so much as a note from you, I 
 thought I would wait till I heard farther. 
 But, from first to last it was my intention. 
 
I.ET. VI. LETTERS TO THE 
 
 and I think, my promise, to answer in- the 
 manner you proposed, as soon as I could. 
 And even now I must beg a little longer 
 time. Believe me, that as the wise and good 
 providence of God brought us together, with- 
 out any expectation of mine, I will do all in 
 my power to preserve the connection, and 
 particularly by giving my thoughts on such 
 questions as you propose. And though, to 
 consider your questions in the manner you 
 wish, and to point out the agreement of de- 
 tached texts (as they occur) with my views, 
 seems, in prospect, to require a volume rather 
 than a sheet, yet I am not discouraged ; only 
 I beg you to make allowances for other things, 
 and to be assured, that before I had the plea- 
 sure of corresponding with you, I had very 
 little spare time. Expect then the best satis- 
 faction I am able to give you, as soon as pos- 
 sible. To prepare the way, I will try hard 
 for a little leisure, to give you a few thoughts 
 upon yours, which came last night. 
 
 You complain that I have hitherto disap- 
 pointed your expectations. If you have pre- 
 served my first papers, I believe you will find, 
 that I apprised you this might probably be 
 the event, and certainly must, unless it should 
 please God to make what I should write a 
 means of giving you the same views with my- 
 self. I only proposed, as a witness, to bear 
 a simple testimony to what I have seen and 
 known. So far as you believed me sincere 
 and unwilling to impose upon you, I thought 
 you might admit, there was perhaps some 
 weight in what I advanced, though for the 
 present, you could not see things in the same 
 light. And if you allowed a possibility, that 
 my changing the sentiments which I once 
 neld in common with yourself, might be upon 
 sufficient, grounds, you would, as I trust you 
 do, wait upon the great Teacher for his in- 
 struction ; otherwise I did not expect to con- 
 vince you, nor do I yet, only I am glad to 
 put myself in his hands as an instrument. 
 
 You quite misunderstood what I spoke of 
 the light and influence of the Spirit of God. 
 He reveals to me no new truths, but has only 
 shown me the meaning of his own written 
 word ; nor is this light a particular revelation, 
 it is common to all who are born again. And 
 thus, though you and I cannot fully agree 
 about it, yet I almost daily meet with persons 
 from the east, west, north, and south, whom, 
 though I never saw them before, I find we 
 understand each other at once. This (as you 
 bid me be explicit) is the one thing which I 
 think you at present lack. And I limited 
 my expression to one thing, because it is our 
 Lord’s expression, and because that one thing 
 includes many. As I said before, I cannot 
 give it you ; but' the Lord can : and from the 
 desire he has raised in your heart, I have a 
 warm hope that he will. You place the whole 
 stress of your inquiries upon reason : I am 
 ; far from discarding reason, when it is en- 
 
 REV. MR. S . 179 
 
 lightened and sanctified ; but spiritual things 
 must be spiritually discerned, and can be re- 
 ceived and discerned no other way ; for to our 
 natural reason they are foolishness, 1 Cor. ii. 
 14, 15.; Matth. xi. 25. This certain some- 
 thing I can no more describe to those who 
 have not experienced it, than I could describe 
 the taste of a pine-apple to a person who had 
 never seen one. But scriptural proofs might 
 be adduced in abundance, yet not so as to 
 give a solid conviction of it, till we actually 
 experience it. Thus it was with my friend, 
 whose case I sent you. When God gave 
 him the key, as he expressed it, then the 
 scriptures were unlocked. His wishing him- 
 self a deist some time before, was not from 
 any libertine exceptions he made to the pre- 
 cepts of the gospel, but from the perplexing 
 embarrassments he had found, by endeavour- 
 ing to understand the doctrines by dint of 
 reason, though reason in him was as strong 
 and penetrating as in most men I ever met 
 with. Upon your present plan, how can I 
 hope to satisfy you, though even St. Paul as- 
 serts it, that the carnal mind is enmity against 
 God ? You will readily agree with me to the 
 proposition as it stands in St. Paul’s words, 
 but I think you will not so readily assent to 
 what I have no more doubt than of my own 
 existence, is the sense of it, That the heart of 
 man, of any man, every man, however appa- 
 rently amiable in his outward conduct, how 
 ever benevolent to his fellow-creatures, how 
 ever abundant and zealous in his devotions 
 is by nature enmity against God ; not indeed 
 against the idea he himself forms of God, but 
 against the character which God has revealed 
 of himself in the scriptures. Man is an e- 
 nemy to the justice, sovereignty, and law of 
 God, and to the alone method of salvation he 
 has appointed in the gospel by faith only; 
 by such a faith, as it is no more in his power 
 to contribute to the production of in himself, 
 than he can contribute to raising the dead, or 
 making a world. Whatever is of the flesh is 
 flesh, and can rise no higher than its princi- 
 ple ; but the Lord could convince you of this 
 by a glance of thought. 
 
 But I must break off, for want both of room 
 and time. Let me remind you of our agree- 
 ment, to use and to allow the greatest free- 
 dom, and not to be offended with what is 
 meant well on either side. Something in 
 your last letter made me apprehensive you 
 were a little displeased with me. He that 
 knows my heart, knows that I wish you well 
 as my own soul. 
 
 The expression, of atoning for disobedience 
 by repentance, was in one of your sermons. 
 I considered it as unguarded^ but on my 
 view of things, it were in a manner impos- 
 sible I could use that expression, though per- 
 haps, too often unguarded myself. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
180 
 
 LET. VII 
 
 LETTERS TO THE REV. MR. S 
 
 LETTER VII. 
 
 November 17, 1775. 
 
 MY DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 At length I take up your favour of August 
 14, with design to give it a more explicit an- 
 swer. My delaying hitherto has been una- 
 voidable ; I am sorry to have your patience put 
 to so long a trial, and should be more sorry, 
 but that I consider, that in my former papers, 
 sermons, Omi cron’s letters, &c. you already 
 possess the whole (in substance) of what I 
 have to offer. My present part is but actum 
 agere , to repeat what I have elsewhere ex- 
 pressed, only with some variety and enlarge- 
 ment. You yourself well state the situation 
 of our debate, when you say, “ Nor in truth 
 do you offer any arguments to convince me, 
 nor does it seem very consistent on your 
 grounds so to do. And if this important 
 change is to be brought about by the inter- 
 vention of some extraordinary impulse of the 
 Holy Spirit, and cannot be brought about 
 without it; I do not see any thing farther 
 that I have to do, than to keep my mind as 
 much unbiased as I can, and to wait and pray 
 for it.” I think my letter from London was 
 to the purport of these your own words, 
 though you seemed dissatisfied with it. While 
 we see through a different medium, it will be 
 easy for you to answer every text I might 
 adduce in support of my sentiments, as you 
 have those I have already brought, “ That 
 you understand them otherwise.” In order 
 to support my sense of one text, I should per- 
 haps quote and argue from twenty more, and 
 still “ you would understand them other- 
 wise.” The life of man, yea, of Methuselah, 
 would hardly suffice to prove, object, and de- 
 fend, all that might be alledged on both sides 
 in this way; and at last we should leave off 
 as we began, more fully confirmed in our 
 own opinions, unless the Lord, by his Holy 
 Spirit, should be pleased to shew the person 
 who maintained the wrong side of the argu- 
 ment where his mistake lay. However, I 
 mean to take some notice of your queries as 
 they offer themselves. 
 
 The first which occurs is complicated. 
 The substance I think is, Whether such be- 
 lief and aims as you possess, will stand you in 
 no stead unless you likewise believe grace ir- 
 resistible, predestination absolute, faith in su- 
 pernatural impulses, &c. ? You may have ob- 
 served, I have several times waved speaking 
 about predestination or election, not that I 
 am ashamed of the doctrine; because, if it 
 be indeed absurd, shocking, and unjust, the 
 blame will not deservedly fall upon me, for I 
 did not invent it, but upon the scriptures, 
 where I am sure it is laid down in as plain 
 terms, as that God created the heavens and 
 the earth. I own I cannot but wonder, that 
 
 persons professing any reverence for the Bibk 
 should so openly and strongly declare their 
 abhorrence of what the Bible so expressly 
 teaches ; namely, that there is a discrimina- 
 tion of persons by the grace and good plea- 
 sure of God, where by nature there is no dif- 
 ference ; and that all things respecting the 
 salvation of these persons is infallibly secured 
 by a divine predestination. 
 
 I do not offer this as a rational doctrine, 
 though it be highly so to me ; but it is scrip- 
 tural, or else the scriptures are a mere nose 
 of wax, and without a determinate meaning. 
 What ingenuity is needful to interpret many 
 passages in a sense more favourable to our 
 natural prejudices against God’s sovereignty ! 
 Matth. xi. 25, 26, and xiii. 10 — 17; Mark 
 xiii. 20, 22 ; John xvii. passim ; John x. 26 ; 
 Rom. viii. 28 — 30, and ix. 13 — 24, and xi. 
 7 ; Eph. i. 4, 5 ; 1 Pet. 1, 2. Were I fond 
 of disputing, as I am not, I think I could put 
 a close reasoner hard to it, to maintain the 
 truth of scripture-prophecies, or the belief 
 of a particular providence, unless he would 
 admit a divine predestination of causes and 
 events as the ground of his arguments. How- 
 ever, as I said, I have chosen to waive the 
 point; because, however true and necessary 
 in itself, the knowledge and comprehension 
 of it is not necessary to the being of a true 
 Christian, though I can hardly conceive he can 
 be an established consistent believer without it. 
 This doctrine is not the turning point between 
 you and me ; the nature of justification, and 
 the method of a sinner’s acceptance with God, 
 are of much more immediate importance; 
 and therefore, if I am to speak plainly, I must 
 say, that I look upon your present senti- 
 ments, attainments, and advances, as you de- 
 scribe them, to constitute that kind of gain 
 the apostle speaks of, and concerning which I 
 hope you will one day be of his mind, and be 
 glad to account it all loss, that you may win 
 Christ, and be found in him, “ not having 
 your own righteousness, which is of the law, 
 but the righteousness which is of God by 
 faith,” Phil. iii. 4, 7 — 10. For, as you tell 
 me, you never remember a time when you 
 were not conscious before God of great un- 
 worthiness, and intervals of earnest endeavours 
 to serve him, though not with the same suc- 
 cess, yet something in the same way, as at 
 present ; this is but saying, in other words, 
 you never remember a time when old things 
 passed away, and all things became new ; and 
 yet the apostle insists much upon this, 2 Cor. 
 iv. 6, and v. 1 7. The convictions of natural 
 conscience, and those which are wrought in 
 the heart by the Holy Spirit, are different, not 
 only in degree, but in kind; the light of a 
 glow-worm and of the sun do not more essen- 
 tially differ. The former are partial and su- 
 perficial, leave us in possession of a supposed 
 power of our own, are pacified by some ap- 
 pearances of an outward change, and make 
 
LET. VII. 
 
 LETTERS TO THE 
 
 us no farther sensible of the necessity of a 
 Saviour, than to make our doings and duties 
 (if I may so express myself) full weight, 
 which perhaps might otherwise be a little de- 
 ficient when brought to the balance of the 
 sanctuary. But truly spiritual convictions 
 give us far other views of sin ; they lead us to 
 a deep and awful consideration of the root, 
 our total absolute depravity, and our utter apos- 
 tacy from God by which we are as incapable 
 of doing good, as a dead man is of perform- 
 ing the functions of life. They lead us to the 
 rule and standard, the strict, holy, inflexible 
 law of God, which reaches to the thoughts 
 and intents of the heart ; requires perfect, 
 universal, persevering obedience ; denounces 
 a curse upon every failure (Gal. iii. 10), and 
 affords neither place nor strength for repent- 
 ance. Thus they sweep away every hope and 
 refuge we had before, and fix upon us a sense 
 of guilt and condemnation, from which there 
 is no relief, till we can look to Jesus, as the 
 wounded Israelites did to the brazen serpent; 
 which was not to give efficacy to medicines, 
 and plasters of their own application, but to 
 heal them completely of itself by looking at 
 it. John iii. 14, 15, and vi. 40; Isaiah xliii. 
 22 . 
 
 You wish me to explain my distinction be- 
 tween faith and rational assent; and though 
 I know no two things in the world more 
 clearly distinct in themselves, or more express- 
 ly distinguished in scripture, yet I fear I may 
 not easily make it appear to you. You allow 
 faith, in your sense, to be the gift of God ; 
 but in my sense, it is likewise wrought by the 
 operation of God, Col. ii. 12, to vort^xXXov p - 
 yidos t*is ^uvctfitws aurou — xarx mv evtgytixv rov 
 xgaTov; tvs urjcvos xutov;* that same energy of 
 the power of his strength, by which the dead 
 body of Jesus was raised from the dead. Can 
 these strong expressions intend no more than a 
 rational assent, such as we give to a proposition 
 in Euclid? I believe fallen reason is, of it- 
 self, utterly incapable even of assenting to the 
 great truths of revelation ; it may assent to 
 the terms in which they are proposed, but it 
 must put its own interpretation upon them, 
 or it would despise them. The natural man 
 can neither receive nor discern the things of 
 God; and if any one would be wise, the 
 apostle’s first advice to him is, Let him be- 
 come a fool, that he may be wise ; for the 
 wisdom of the world is foolishness with God. 
 
 Indeed when the heart is changed, and the 
 mind enlightened, than reason is sanctified, 
 and if I may so say, baptized, renounces its 
 curious disquisitions, and is content humbly 
 to tread in the path of revelation. This is 
 one difference ; assent may be the act of our 
 natural reason ; faith is the effect of imme- 
 diate almighty power. Another difference is, 
 faith is always efficacious, “ it worketh by 
 
 REV. MR. S . 181 
 
 love ;” whereas assent is often given where it 
 has little or no influence upon the conduct. 
 Thus, for instance, every one will assent to 
 this truth, All men are mortal. Yet the great- 
 est part of mankind, though they readily as- 
 sent to the proposition, and it would be highly 
 irrational to do otherwise, live as they might 
 do if the reverse were true. But they who 
 have divine faith feel, as well as say, they are 
 pilgrims and sojourners upon earth. Again, 
 faith gives peace of conscience, access to God, 
 and a sure evidence and subsistence of things 
 not seen (Rom. v. 1, 2 ; Heb. xi. l); where- 
 as a calm dispassionate reasoner may be com- 
 pelled to assent to the external arguments in 
 favour of Christianity, and yet remain a total 
 stranger to that communion with God, that 
 spirit of adoption, that foretaste of glory, which 
 is the privilege and portion of believers. So 
 likewise faith overcomes the world, which ra- 
 tional assent will not do. Witness the lives 
 and tempers of thousands, who yet would be 
 affronted, if their assent to the gospel should 
 be questioned. To sum up all in a word, “ He 
 that believes shall be saved.” But surely 
 many who give a rational assent to the gospel 
 live and die in those sins which exclude from 
 the kingdom of God, Gal v. 19 — 21. Faith 
 is the effect of a principle of new life im- 
 planted in the soul, that was before dead in 
 trespasses and sins ; and it qualifies not only 
 for obeying the Saviour’s precepts, but chiefly 
 and primarily for receiving from and rejoicing 
 in his fulness, admiring his love, his work, 
 his person, his glory, his advocacy. It makes 
 Christ precious, enthrones him in the heart, 
 presents him as the most delightful object to 
 our meditations; as our wisdom, righteous- 
 ness, sanctification, and strength ; our root, 
 head, life, shepherd, and husband. These are 
 all scriptural expressions and images, setting 
 forth, so far as words can declare, what Jesus 
 is in himself and to his believing people. But 
 how cold is the comment which rational as- 
 sent puts upon very many passages wherein 
 the apostle Paul endeavours, but in vain, to 
 express the fulness of his heart upon this sub- 
 ject. A most valued friend of mine, a cler- 
 gyman, now living, had for many years given 
 a rational assent to the gospel. He laboured 
 with much earnestness upon your plan, was 
 very exemplary in his whole conduct, preach- 
 ed almost incessantly (two or three times every 
 day in the week for years), having a parish in 
 the remote parts of Yorkshire, of great extent, 
 and containing five or six different hamlets at 
 some distance from each other. He succeeded 
 likewise with his people, so far as to break 
 them off from outward irregularities ; and was 
 mentioned in a letter to the Society for propa- 
 gating the Gospel, which I have seen in print, 
 as the most perfect example of a parish-priest 
 which this nation, or perhaps this age, has 
 produced. Thus he went on for many years 
 teaching his people what he knew, for he 
 
 Ephcs i. 19. 
 
LET. VII. 
 
 182 LETTERS TO THE 
 
 could teach them no more. He lived in such 
 retirement and recess, that he was unac- 
 quainted with the persons and principles of 
 any who are now branded as enthusiasts and 
 methodists. One day, reading Ephes. iii. 
 in his Greek Testament, his thoughts were 
 stopped by the word in verse 8. 
 
 He was struck, and led to think with him- 
 self to this purpose: — “ The apostle, when 
 speaking of the love and riches of Christ, 
 uses remarkable expressions; he speaks of 
 heights, depths, and lengths, and breadths, 
 and unsearchableness, where I seem to find 
 every thing plain, easy, and rational. He 
 finds mysteries where 1 can perceive none. 
 Surely, though I use the words gospel, faith, 
 and grace with him, my ideas of them must 
 be different from his.” This led him to a 
 close examination of all his epistles, and, by 
 the blessing of God, brought on a total change 
 in his views and preaching. He no longer 
 set his people to keep a law of faith, to trust 
 in their sincerity and endeavours upon some 
 general hope that Christ would help them out 
 where they came short; but he preached 
 Christ himself, as the end of the law for right- 
 eousness to every one that believeth. He 
 felt himself, and laboured to convince others, 
 that there is no hope for a sinner, but merely 
 in the blood of Jesus, and no possibility of 
 his doing any works acceptable to God, till 
 he himself be first made accepted in the Be- 
 loved. Nor did he labour in vain. Now his 
 preaching effected not only an outward re- 
 formation, but a real change of heart, in very 
 many of his hearers. The word was received, 
 as Paul expresses it, not with a rational assent 
 only, but with demonstration and power in 
 the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; and 
 their endeavours to observe the gospel pre- 
 cepts were abundantly more extensive, uni- 
 form, and successful, when they were brought 
 to say, with the apostle, “ I am crucified 
 with Christ : nevertheless I live, yet not I, 
 but Christ liveth in me ; and the life I live 
 in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of 
 God.” 
 
 Such a change of views and sentiments I 
 pray God my friend may experience. These 
 things may appear uncouth to you at present, 
 as they have done to many, who now bless 
 God for shewing them what their reason could 
 never have taught them. My divinity is un- 
 fashionable enough at present, but it was not 
 so always ; you will find few books written 
 from the era of the Reformation till a little 
 before Laud’s time, that set forth any other. 
 There were few pulpits till after the Restora- 
 tion from which any other was heard. A la- 
 mentable change has indeed since taken place ; 
 but God has not left himself without wit- 
 nesses. You think, though I disclaim infal- 
 libility, i arrogate too much, in speaking with 
 so much certainty. I am fallible, indeed ; but 
 I am sure of the main points of doctrine I 
 
 REV. MR. S . 
 
 hold. I am not in the least doubt, whether 
 salvation be of faith or of works; whether 
 faith be of our own power, or of God’s ope- 
 ration ; whether Christ’s obedience or our 
 own be the just ground of our hope; whether 
 a man can truly call Jesus Lord, but by the 
 teaching of the Holy Ghost. I have no more 
 hesitation about these points than I should 
 have, were I asked, Whether it was God oi 
 man that created the heavens and the earth ? 
 Besides, as I have more than- once observed, 
 your sentiments were once my own ; so that 
 I, who have travelled both roads, may have, 
 perhaps, some stronger reason to determine 
 me which is the right, than you can have, who 
 have only travelled one. 
 
 Your two sheets may lead me to write as 
 many quires, if I do not check myself I 
 now come to the two queries you propose, 
 the solution of which, you think, will clearly 
 mark the difference of our sentiments. The 
 substance of them is, 1st, Whether I think 
 any sinner ever perished in his sins (to whom 
 the gospel has been preached), because God 
 refused to supply him with such a proportion 
 of his assistance as was absolutely necessary 
 to his believing and repenting, or without his 
 having previously rejected the incitements of 
 his Holy Spirit ? A full answer to this would 
 require a sheet. But briefly, I believe, that 
 all mankind being corrupt and guilty before 
 God, he might, without impeachment to his 
 justice, have left them all to perish, as we are 
 assured he did the fallen angels. But he was 
 pleased to shew mercy, and mercy must be 
 free. If the sinner has any claim to it, so far 
 it is justice, not mercy. He who is to be our 
 Judge assures us, that few find the gate that 
 leadeth to life, while many throng the road to 
 destruction. Your question seems to imply, 
 that you think God either did make salvation 
 equally open to all, or that it would have 
 been more becoming his goodness to have 
 done so. 
 
 But he is the potter, we are the clay ; his 
 ways and thoughts are above ours, as the hea- 
 vens are higher than the earth. The Judge 
 of all the earth will do right. He has ap- 
 pointed a day, when he will manifest, to the 
 conviction of all, that he has done right. 
 Till then, I hold it best to take things upon 
 his word, and not too harshly determine what 
 it becomes Jehovah to do. Instead of say- 
 ing what I think, let it suffice to remind you 
 of what St. Paul thought, Rom. ix. 15 — 21. 
 But farther, I say, that unless mercy were af- 
 forded to those who are saved, in a way pe- 
 culiar to themselves, and which is not afforded 
 to those who perish, I believe no one soul 
 could be saved. For I believe fallen man, 
 universally considered as such, is as incapable 
 of doing the least thing towards his salvation, 
 till prevented by the grace of God (as our 
 Article speaks), as a dead body is of restoring 
 itself to life. Whatever difference takes place 
 
LET. VII 
 
 between men in this respect is of grace, that 
 is, of God, undeserved. Yea, his first ap- 
 proaches to our hearts are undesired too; for, 
 till he seeks us, we cannot, we will not, seek 
 him, Psalm cx. 3. It is in the day of his 
 power, and not before, his people are made 
 willing. But I believe, where the gospel is 
 preached, they who do perish, do wilfully re- 
 sist the light, and chuse and cleave to dark- 
 ness, and stifle the convictions which the truths 
 of God, when his true gospel is indeed preach- 
 ed, will, in one degree or other, force upon 
 their minds. The cares of this world, the de- 
 ceitfulness of riches, the love of other things, 
 the violence of sinful appetites, their preju- 
 dices, pride, and self-righteousness, either 
 prevent the reception, or choke the growth, of 
 the good seed : thus their own sin and ob- 
 stinacy is the proper cause of their destruc- 
 tion : they will not come to Christ, that they 
 may have life. At the same time, it is true 
 that they cannot, unless they are supernatu- 
 rally drawn of God, John v. 40, vi. 44. They 
 will not, and they cannot come. Both are 
 equally true, and they are consistent. For a 
 man’s cdnnot is not a natural, but a moral 
 inability : not an impossibility in the nature 
 of things, as it is for me to walk upon the 
 water, or to fly in the air ; but such an ina- 
 bility as, instead of extenuating, does exceed- 
 ingly enhance and aggravate his guilt. He is 
 so blinded by Satan, so alienated from God 
 by nature and wicked works, so given up to 
 sin, so averse from that way of salvation, 
 which is contrary to his pride and natural 
 wisdom, that he will not embrace it, or seek 
 after it; and therefore he cannot, till the 
 grace of God powerfully enlightens his mind, 
 and overcomes his obstacles. But this brings 
 me to your second query : 
 
 2. Do I think that God, in the ordinary 
 course of his providence, grants this assist- 
 ance in an irresistible manner, or effects faith 
 and conversion without the sinner’s own 
 hearty consent and concurrence ? I rather 
 chose to term grace invincible than irresisti- 
 ble : for it is too often resisted even by those 
 who believe ; but because it is invincible, it 
 triumphs over all resistance when He is pleased 
 to bestow it. For the rest, I believe no sin- 
 ner is converted without his own hearty will 
 and concurrence. But he is not willing till 
 he is made so. Why does he at all refuse ? 
 Because he is insensible of his state ; because 
 he knows not the evil of sin, the strictness 
 of the law, the majesty of God whom he 
 has offended, nor the total apostacy of his 
 heart ; because he is blind to eternity, and 
 ignorant of the excellency of Christ ; because 
 he is comparatively whole, and sees not his 
 need of this great physician ; because he relies 
 upon his own wisdom, power, and supposed 
 righteousness. Now, in this state of things, 
 when God comes with a purpose of mercy, he 
 begins by convincing the person of sin, judg- 
 
 183 
 
 ment, and righteousness, causes him to feel 
 and know that he is a lost, condemned, help- 
 less creature, and then discovers to him the 
 necessity, sufficiency, and willingness, of 
 Christ to save them that are ready to perish, 
 without money or price, without doings or de- 
 servings. Then he sees faith to be very dif- 
 ferent from a rational assent, finds that noth- 
 ing but the power of God can produce a well 
 grounded hope in the heart of a convinced 
 sinner ; therefore looks to Jesus, who is the 
 author and finisher of faith, to enable him to 
 believe. For this he waits in what we call 
 the means of grace ; he prays, he reads the 
 word, he thirsts for God, as the hart pants for 
 the water brooks ; and though, perhaps, for a 
 while he is distressed with many doubts and 
 fears, he is encouraged to wait on, because 
 Jesus has said, “ Him that cometh unto me, I 
 will in no wise cast out.” The obstinacy of 
 the will remains while the understanding is 
 dark, and ceases when that is enlightened. 
 Suppose a man walking in the dark, where 
 there are pits and precipices of which he is not 
 aware. You are sensible of his danger, and 
 call after him : but he thinks he knows better 
 than you, refuses your advice, and is perhaps 
 angry with you for your importunity. He 
 sees no danger, therefore, will not be persuaded 
 there is any; but if you go with a light, get 
 before him, and show him plainly, that if he 
 takes another step he falls beyond the power of 
 recovery ; then he will stop of his own ac- 
 cord, blame himself for not minding you be- 
 fore, and be ready to comply with your far- 
 ther directions. In either case man’s will acts 
 with equal freedom ; the difference of his con- 
 duct arises from conviction. Something like 
 this is the case of our spiritual concerns. Sin- 
 ners are called and warned by the word ; but 
 they are wise in their own eyes, and take but 
 little notice till the Lord gives them light, 
 which he is not bound to give to any, and 
 therefore cannot be bound to give to all. They 
 who have it have reason to be thankful, and 
 subscribe to the apostle’s words, “ By grace 
 are ye saved, through faith ; and that not of 
 yourselves, it is the gift of God.” 
 
 I have not yet half done with the first sheet : 
 I shall consider the rest at leisure, but send 
 this as a specimen of my willingness to clear 
 my sentiments to you as far as I can. Unless 
 it should please God to make what I offer sa- 
 tisfactory, I well know beforehand what ob- 
 jections and answers will occur to you, for 
 these points have been often debated ; and, 
 after a course of twenty-seven years, in which 
 religion has been the chief object of my 
 thoughts and inquiries, I am not entirely a 
 stranger to what can be offered on either 
 side. What I write, I write simply and in 
 love, beseeching him who alone can set a seal 
 to his own truth to guide you and bless you. 
 This letter has been more than a w r eek in 
 hand : I have been called from it, I suppose, 
 
 LETTERS TO THE REV. MR. S . 
 
LETTERS TO THE REV. MR. S . 
 
 LET. vm. 
 
 184 * 
 
 ten times, frequently in the middle of a pe- 
 riod or a line. My leisure, which before was 
 small, is now reduced almost to a nothing. 
 But I am desirous to keep up my correspond- 
 ence with you, because I feel an affectionate 
 interest in you, and because it pleased God 
 to put it into your heart to apply to me. You 
 cannot think how your first letter struck me : 
 it was so unexpected, and seemed so impro- 
 bable that you should open your mind to me, 
 I immediately conceived a hope it would prove 
 for good. Nor am I yet discouraged. 
 
 When you have leisure and inclination, 
 write ; I shall always be glad to hear from 
 you, and I will proceed in answering what I 
 have already by me as fast as I can. But I 
 have many letters now waiting for answers, 
 which must be attended to. 
 
 I recommend you to the blessing and care 
 of the great Shepherd, and remain, Sec. 
 
 LETTER VIII. 
 
 December 8, 1775. 
 
 MY DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 Are you willing I should still call you so, or 
 are you quite weary of me ? Your silence 
 makes me suspefct the latter. However, it is 
 my part to fulfil my promise, and then leave 
 the event to God. As I have but an imper- 
 fect remembrance of what I have already 
 written, I may be liable to some repetitions. 
 I cannot stay to comment upon every line in 
 your letter, but I proceed to notice such pas- 
 sages as seem most to affect the subject in de- 
 bate. When you speak of the scriptures 
 maintaining one consistent sense, which, if the 
 word of God, it certainly must do, you say 
 you read and understand it in this one con- 
 sistent sense ; nay, you cannot remember the 
 time when you did not. It is otherwise with 
 me and with multitudes ; we remember when 
 it was a sealed book, and we are sure it would 
 have been so still, had not the Holy Spirit 
 opened our understandings. But when you 
 add, though I pretend not to understand the 
 whole, yet what I do understand appears per. 
 fectly consistent, I know not how far this ex- 
 ception may extend, for perhaps the reason 
 why you allow you do not understand some 
 parts, is because you cannot make them con- 
 sistent with the sense you put upon other 
 parts. You quote my words, “ That when 
 we are conscious of our depravity, reason- 
 ing stands us in no stead.” Undoubtedly 
 reason always will stand rational creatures in 
 some stead ; but my meaning is, that when 
 we are deeply convinced of sin, all our for- 
 mer reasonings upon the ways of God, while 
 we made our conceptions the standard by 
 which we judge what is befitting him to do, 
 as if he were altogether such an one as our- 
 selves, — all those cobweb reasonings are swept 
 
 away, and we submit to his uvros t<pv without 
 reasoning, though not without reason. For 
 we have the strongest reason imaginable to 
 acknowledge ourselves vile and lost without 
 righteousness and strength, when we actually 
 feel ourselves to be so. You speak of the 
 gospel terms of justification. This term is 
 faith. Mark xvi. 16, Acts xiii. 39. The 
 gospel propounds, admits no other term. But 
 this faith, as I endeavoured to show in my 
 former letter, is very different from rational 
 assent. You speak likewise of the law of 
 faith, by which, if you mean what some call 
 the remedial law, which we are to obey as 
 well as we can, and such obedience, together 
 w’ith our faith, will entitle us to acceptance 
 with God, I am persuaded the scriptures 
 speak of no such thing. Grace and works 
 of any kind, in the point of acceptance with 
 God, are mentioned by the apostle not only 
 as opposites or contraries, but as absolutely 
 contradictory to each other, like fire and w r a- 
 ter, light and darkness ; so that the affirma- 
 tion of one is the denial of the other. Rom. 
 iv. 5. and xi. 6. God justifies freely, justi- 
 fies the ungodly, and him that worketh not. 
 Though justifying faith be indeed an active 
 principle, it worketh by love, yet not for ac- 
 ceptance. Those whom the apostle exhorts 
 “ to work out their own salvation with fear 
 and trembling,” he considers as justified al- 
 ready ; for he considers them as believers, 
 in whom he supposed God had already be- 
 gun a good work ; and if so, was confident 
 he would accomplish it, Phil. i. 6. To them, 
 the consideration that God, who dwells in 
 the heart of believers, wrought in them to 
 will and to do, was a powerful motive and 
 encouragement to them to work, that is, to 
 give all diligence in his appointed means, as 
 a right sense of the sin that dwelleth in us, 
 and the snares and temptations around us, 
 will teach us still to work with fear and trem- 
 bling. You suppose a difference between 
 Christians (so called) who are devoted to God 
 in baptism, and those who in the first ages 
 were converted from abominable superstitions 
 and idolatrous vices. It is true in Christian 
 countries we do not worship heathen divinities 
 eo nomine ; and this is the principal difference 
 I can find. Neither reason nor observation 
 will allow me to think, that human nature is a 
 whit better now than it was in the apostles time. 
 I know no kinds or degrees of wickedness 
 which prevailed among heathens which are 
 not prevalent among nominal Christians, who 
 have perhaps been baptized in their infancy ; 
 and therefore, as the streams in the life are 
 equally worldly, sensual, devilish, I doubt not 
 but the fountain of the heart is equally pol- 
 luted and poisonous ; and that is as true, as 
 in the days of Christ and his apostles, that 
 unless a man be born again, he cannot see 
 the kingdom of God. You sent me a ser- 
 mon upon the new birth, or regeneration. 
 
let. viii. LETTERS TO THE 
 
 and you have several of mine on the same 
 subject. I wish you to compare them with 
 each other, and with scripture ; and I pray 
 God to shew you wherein the difference con- 
 sists, and on which side the truth lies. 
 
 When you desire me to reconcile God’s 
 leing the author of sin with his justice, you 
 shew that you misunderstand the whole strain 
 of my sentiments ; for I am persuaded you 
 would not misrepresent them. It is easy to 
 charge harsh consequences, which I neither 
 allow, nor indeed do they follow from my sen- 
 timents. God cannot be the author of sin 
 in that sense you would fix upon me ; but is 
 it possible that upon your plan you find no 
 difficulty in what the scriptures teach us upon 
 this subject ? I conceive that those who were 
 concerned in the death of Christ were very 
 great sinners, and that in nailing him to the 
 cross they committed atrocious wickedness ; 
 yet, if the apostle may be believed, all this 
 was according to the determinate counsel and 
 foreknowledge of God, Acts ii. 23 ; and they 
 did no more than what his hand and pur- 
 pose had determined should be done, chap. iv. 
 28. And you will observe that this wicked 
 act (wicked with respect to the perpetrators) 
 was not only permitted, but fore-ordained in 
 the strongest and most absolute sense of the 
 word. The glory of God and the salvation 
 of men depended upon its being done, and 
 just in that manner, and with all those circum- 
 stances which actually took place, and yet 
 Judas and the rest acted freely, and their 
 wickedness was properly their own. Now, 
 my friend, the arguments which satisfy you 
 that the scriptures do not represent God as 
 the author of this sin in this appointment, will 
 plead for me at the same time ; and when 
 you think you easily overcome me by asking, 
 “ Can God be the author of sin ?” your im- 
 putation falls as directly upon the word of 
 God himself. God is no more the author of 
 sin than the sun is the cause of ice ; but it 
 is in the nature of water to congeal into ice 
 when the sun’s influence is suspended to a 
 certain degree. So there is sin enough in 
 the hearts of men to make the earth the very 
 image of hell, and to prove that men are no 
 better than incarnate devils, were he to sus- 
 pend his influence and restraint. Sometimes, 
 and in some instances, he is pleased to sus- 
 pend it considerably ; and, so far as he does, 
 human nature quickly appears in its true co- 
 lours. Objections of this kind have been re- 
 peated and refuted before either you or I were 
 born ; and the apostle evidently supposes 
 they would be urged against his doctrine, 
 when he obviates the question, Why doth 
 he yet find fault ; who hath resisted his will ?” 
 To which he gives no other answer than by 
 * referring it to God’s sovereignty, and the 
 power which a potter has over the clay. I 
 think I have in a former letter made some 
 reply to the charge of positiveness in my own 
 
 REV. MR. & . 185 
 
 opinion. I acknowledge that I am fallible, 
 yet I must again lay claim to a certainty 
 about the way of salvation. I am as sure 
 of some things as of my own existence: I 
 should be so if there was no human creature 
 upon earth but myself. However, my senti- 
 ments are confirmed by the suffrages of thou- 
 sands who have lived before me, of many 
 with whom I have personally conversed in 
 different places and circumstances, unknown 
 to each other ; yet all have received the same 
 views, because taught by the same Spirit. And 
 I have likewise been greatly confirmed by the 
 testimony of many with whom I have con- 
 versed in their dying hours. I have seen 
 them rejoicing in the prospect of death, free 
 from fears, breathing the air of immortality ; 
 heartily disclaiming their duties and perform- 
 ances; acknowledging that their best actions 
 were attended with evil sufficient to condemn 
 them ; renouncing every shadow of hope, but 
 what they derived from the blood of Christ,, 
 as the sole cause of their acceptance ; yet tri- 
 umphing in him over every enemy and fear, 
 and as sure of heaven as if they were already 
 there. And such were the apostle’s hopes, 
 wholly founded on knowing w hom he had be- 
 lieved, and his persuasion of his ability to keep 
 that which he had committed unto him. This 
 is faith, a renouncing of every thing we are 
 apt to call our own, and relying wholly upon 
 the blood, righteousness, and intercession of 
 Jesus. However, I cannot communicate 
 this my certainty to you ; I only tell you 
 there is such a thing, in hopes, if you do 
 not think I wilfully lie both to God and man, 
 you w'ill be earnest to seek it from him who 
 bestowed it on me, and who will bestow it 
 upon all who will sincerely apply to him, and 
 patiently wait upon him for it. 
 
 I cannot but wonder, that while you pro- 
 fess to believe the depravity of human na- 
 ture, you should speak of good qualities in- 
 herent in it. The word of God, describes it 
 as evil, only evil, and that continually. That 
 there are such qualities as Stoics and infidels 
 call virtue, I allow. God has not left man 
 destitute of such dispositions as are neces- 
 sary to the peace of society ; but I deny there 
 is any moral goodness in them, unless they 
 are founded in a supreme love to God, have 
 his glory for their aim, and are produced by 
 faith in Jesus Christ. A man may give all 
 his goods to feed the poor, and his body to 
 be burned, in zeal for the truth, and yet be 
 a mere nothing, a tinkling cymbal, in the 
 sight of him who seeth not as man seeth, but 
 judgeth the heart. Many infidels and avowed 
 enemies to the grace and gospel of Christ, 
 have made a fair shew of what the world call 
 virtue ; but Christian virtue is grace, the ef 
 feet of a new nature and new life ; and works 
 thus wrought in God are as different from the 
 faint, partial imitations of them which fallen 
 nature is capable of producing, as a living 
 
LETTERS TO THE REV. MR. S , 
 
 LET. vni. 
 
 186 
 
 man is from a statue. A statue may express 
 the features and lineaments of the person 
 whom it represents, but there is no life. 
 
 Your comment on the seventh to the Ro- 
 mans, latter part, contradicts my feelings. You 
 are either of a different make and nature from 
 me, or else you are not rightly apprised of 
 your own state, if you do not find the apos- 
 tle’s complaint very suitable to yourself. I 
 believe it applicable to the most holy Christian 
 upon earth. But controversies of this kind 
 are worn thread-bare. When you speak of 
 the spiritual part of a natural man, it sounds 
 to me like the living part of a dead man, or 
 the seeing part of a blind man. Paul tells 
 me, that the natural man, whatever his spi- 
 ritual part may be, can neither receive nor 
 discern the things of God. What the apostle 
 speaks of himself (Rom. vii.) is no more, 
 when rightly understood, than what he affirms 
 of all who are partakers of a spiritual life, 
 or who are true believers, Gal. v. 17. The 
 carnal natural mind is enmity against God, 
 not subject to the law of God, neither indeed 
 can be. When you subjoin, “ Till it be set 
 at liberty from the law of sin,” you do not 
 comment upon the text, but make an addition 
 of your own, which the text will by no means 
 bear. The carnal mind is enmity. An enemy 
 may be reconciled, but enmity itself is incur- 
 able. This carnal mind, natural man, old 
 man, flesh (for the expressions are all equi- 
 valent, and denote and include the heart of 
 man as he is by nature), may be crucified, 
 must be mortified, but cannot be sanctified. 
 All that is good or gracious, is the effect of 
 a new creation, a supernatural principle, 
 wrought in the heart by the gospel of Christ, 
 and the agency of his Spirit ; and, till that is 
 effected, the ro vyf/ttkov, the highest attain- 
 ment, the finest qualifications in man, how- 
 ever they may exalt him in his own eyes, or 
 recommend him to the notice of his fellow- 
 worms, are but abomination in the sight of 
 God, Luke xvi. 15. The gospel is calcu- 
 lated and designed to stain the pride of hu- 
 man glory. It is provided, not for the wise 
 and the righteous, for those who think they 
 have good dispositions and good works to 
 plead, but for the guilty, the helpless, the 
 wretched, for those who are ready to perish ; 
 it fills the hungry with good things, but it 
 sends the rich empty away. See Rev. iii. 
 17, 18. 
 
 You ask, If man can do nothing without 
 an extraordinary impulse from on high, is he 
 to sit still and careless ? By no means — I am 
 far from saying man can do nothing, though 
 I believe he cannot open his own eyes, or give 
 himself faith. I wish every man to abstain 
 carefully from sinful company, and sinful ac- 
 tions, to read the Bible, to pray to God for 
 his heavenly teaching. For this waiting up- 
 on God he has a moral ability ; and if he 
 persevere thus in seeking, the promise is sure, 
 
 that he shall not seek in vain. But I would 
 not have him mistake the means for the end ; 
 think himself good because he is preserved 
 from gross vices and follies, or trust to his 
 religious course of duties for acceptance, nor 
 be satisfied till Christ be revealed in him, 
 formed within him, dwell in his heart by faith, 
 and till he can say upon good grounds, “ I 
 am crucified with Christ ; nevertheless I live ; 
 yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” I need 
 not tell you, these are scriptural expressions ; 
 
 I am persuaded, if they were not, they would 
 be exploded by many as unintelligible jargon. 
 True faith, my dear Sir, unites the soul to 
 Christ, and thereby gives access to God, and 
 fills it with a peace passing understanding, a 
 hope, a joy unspeakable and full of glory: 
 teaches us that we are weak in ourselves, but 
 enables us to be strong in the Lord, and in 
 the power of his might. To those who thus 
 believe, Christ is precious, their beloved ; they 
 hear and know his voice : the very sound of 
 his name gladdens their hearts, and he mani- 
 fests himself to them as he does not to the 
 world. Thus the scriptures speak, thus the 
 first Christians experienced ; and this is pre- 
 cisely the language, which, in our days, is 
 despised as enthusiasm and folly. For it is 
 now as it v/as then, though these things are 
 revealed to babes, and they are as sure of 
 them as they that see the noon-day sun, they 
 are hidden from the wise and prudent, till the 
 Lord makes them willing to renounce their 
 own wisdom, and to become fools, that they 
 may be truly wise, 1 Cor. i. 18, 19. ; iii. 8. ; 
 viii. 2. Attention to the education of chil- 
 dren is an undoubted duty ; and it is a mercy 
 when it so far succeeds as to preserve them 
 from gross wickedness ; but it will not change 
 the heart. They who receive Christ are born, 
 not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, 
 nor of the will of man, but of God, John 
 i. 13. 
 
 If a man professes to love the Lord Jesus, 
 
 I am willing to believe him, if he does not 
 give me proof to the contrary ; but I am sure, 
 at the same time, no one can love him in the 
 scriptural sense, w'ho does not know the need 
 and the w'orth of a Saviour ; in other words, 
 who is not brought, as a ruined, helpless sin- 
 ner, to live upon him for wisdom, righteous- 
 ness, sanctification, and redemption. They 
 who love him thus will speak highly of him, 
 and acknowledge that he is their all in all. 
 And they who thus love him, and speak of 
 him, will get little thanks for their pains in 
 such a world as this : “ All that live godly in 
 Christ Jesus must suffer persecution ;” the 
 world, that hated him, will hate them. And 
 though it is possible, by his grace to put to 
 silence, in some measure, the ignorance of 
 foolish men ; and though his providence can » 
 protect his people, so that not a hair of their 
 heads can be hurt without his permission : yet 
 the world will shew their teeth, if they are not 
 
LET. VIII. 
 
 LETTERS TO THE IlEV. MR. S- 
 
 suffered to bite. The apostles were account- 
 ed babblers, us vrtf>iKx0ag/xxTx rov xo<ry.ou xai 
 vxvruv nt£t‘^Y)fjt.x. I need not point out to 
 you the force of these expressions. We are 
 no better than the apostles ; nor have we rea- 
 son to expect much better treatment, so far as 
 we walk in their steps. On the other hand, 
 there is a sober, decent way of speaking of 
 God, and goodness, and benevolence, and so- 
 briety, which the world will bear well enough ; 
 nay, we may say a little about Jesus Christ, 
 as ready to make up the deficiencies of our 
 honest and good endeavours, and this will 
 not displease them. But if we preach him as 
 the only foundation, lay open the horrid evils 
 of the human heart, tell our hearers that they 
 are dead in trespasses and sins, and have no 
 better ground of hope in themselves than the 
 vilest malefactors, in order to exalt the glory 
 of Jesus, as saving those who are saved wholly 
 and freely for his own name’s sake ; if we tell 
 the virtuous and decent, as well as the pro- 
 fligate, that unless they are born again, and 
 made partakers of living faith, and count all 
 things loss for the excellency of the know- 
 ledge of Christ, they cannot be saved : this 
 the world cannot bear. We shall be called 
 knaves or fools, uncharitable bigots, and 
 twenty hard names. If you have met with 
 nothing like this, I wish it may lead you to 
 suspect whether you have yet received the 
 right key to the doctrines of Christ : for de- 
 pend upon it, the offence of the cross is not 
 ceased. 
 
 I am grieved and surprised that you seem 
 to take little notice of any thing in the account 
 of my deceased friend, but his wishing him- 
 self to be a deist, and his having play-books 
 about him in his illness. As to the plays, 
 they were Shakespeare’s, which, as a man of 
 taste, it is no great wonder he should some- 
 times look in. Your remark on the other 
 point shews that you are not much acquainted 
 with the exercises of the human mind under 
 certain circumstances. I believe I observed 
 formerly, that it was not a libertine wish. 
 Had you known him, you would have known 
 one of the most amiable and unblemished 
 characters. Few were more beloved and ad- 
 mired for an uniform course of integrity, mo- 
 deration, and benevolence ; but he was dis- 
 couraged. He studied the Bible, believed it 
 in general to be the word of God ; but his 
 wisdom, his strong turn for reasoning, stood 
 so in his way, that he could get no solid com- 
 fort from it. He felt the vanity of the schemes 
 proposed by many rnen admired in the world 
 as teachers of divinity ; and he felt the vanity 
 likewise of his own. He was also a minister, 
 and had a sincere design of doing good. He 
 wished to reform the profligate, and comfort 
 the afflicted by his preaching ; but as he was 
 not acquainted with that one kind of preach- 
 ing which God owns to the edification of the 
 hearers, he found he could do neither. A 
 
 187 
 
 sense of disappointments of this kind distress- 
 ed him. Finding in himself none of that 
 peace which the scriptures speak of, and none 
 of the influence he hoped for attending his 
 ministry, he was led sometimes to question 
 the truth of the scriptures. We have a spi- 
 ritual enemy always near, to press upon a 
 mind in this desponding situation ; nor am I 
 surprised that he should then wish himself a 
 deist ; since, if there were any hope for a 
 sinner but by faith in the blood of Jesus, he 
 had as much of his own goodness to depend 
 upon as most I have known. As for the rest, 
 if you could see nothing admirable and won- 
 derful in the clearness, the dignity, the spi- 
 rituality of his expressions, after the Lord re- 
 vealed the gospel to him, 1 can only say, I 
 am sorry for it. This I know, that some per- 
 sons of sense, taste, learning, and reason, and 
 far enough from my sentiments, have been 
 greatly struck with them. You say, a death- 
 bed repentance is what you would be sorry to 
 give any hope of. My dear friend, it is well 
 for poor sinners that God’s thoughts and ways 
 are as much above men’s, as the heavens are 
 higher than the earth. We agreed to commu- 
 nicate our sentiments freely, and promised 
 not to be offended with each other’s freedom, 
 if we could help it. I am afraid of offending 
 yon by a thought just now upon my mind, 
 and yet I dare not in conscience suppress it: 
 
 I must therefore venture to say, that I hope 
 they who depend upon such a repentance as 
 your scheme points out, will repent of their re- 
 pentance itself upon their death-bed at least, if 
 not sooner. You and I, perhaps, should have 
 encouraged the fair-spoken young man, who 
 said he had kept all the commandments from 
 his youth, and rather have left the thief upon 
 the cross to perish like a villain, as he lived. 
 But Jesus thought differently. I do not en- 
 courage sinners to defer their repentance to 
 their death-beds. I press the necessity of a 
 repentance this moment. But then I take 
 care to tell them, that repentance is the gift 
 of God ; that Jesus is exalted to bestow it ; 
 and that all their endeavours that way, unless 
 they seek to him for grace, will be vain as 
 washing a blackmoor, and transient as wash- 
 ing a sow which will soon return to the 
 mire again. I know the evil heart will abuse 
 the grace of God ; the apostle knew this like- 
 wise, Rom. iii. 8, and vi. 3. But this did 
 not tempt him to suppress the glorious grace 
 of the gospel, the power of Jesus to save to 
 the uttermost, and his merciful promise, that 
 whosoever cometh unto him, he will in no wise 
 cast him out. The repentance of a natural 
 heart, proceeding wholly from fear, like that of 
 some malefactors, who are sorry, not that they 
 have committed robbery or murder, but that 
 they must be hanged for it ; this undoubtedly 
 is nothing worth, whether in time of health, 
 or in a dying hour. But that /tsravo/a, that 
 gracious change of heart, views, and disposi- 
 
LETTERS TO THE REV. MR. S 
 
 LET. VIII 
 
 188 
 
 tions, which always takes place when Jesus is 
 made known to the soul as having died, that 
 the sinner might live, and been wounded, that 
 he might be healed ; this, at whatever period 
 God is pleased to afford and effect it by his 
 Spirit, brings a sure and everlasting salvation 
 with it. 
 
 Still I find I have not done : you ask my 
 exposition of the parables of the talents and 
 pounds ; but at present I can write no more. 
 I have only just time to tell you, that when I 
 begged your acceptance of Omicron, nothing 
 was farther from my expectation than a cor- 
 respondence with you. The frank and kind 
 manner in which you wrote presently won 
 upon my heart. In the course of our letters 
 upon Subscription, I observed an integrity and 
 disinterestedness in you, which endeared you 
 to me still more. Since that, our debates 
 have taken a much more interesting turn ; I 
 have considered it as a call, and an opportu- 
 nity put in my hand, by the special provi- 
 dence of him who ruleth over all. I have 
 embraced the occasion, to lay before you sim- 
 ply, and rather in a way of testimony than 
 argumentation, what, in the main, I am sure 
 is truth. I have done enough to discharge 
 my conscience, but shall never think I do 
 enough to answer the affection I bear you. 
 I have done enough likewise to make you 
 weary of my correspondence, unless it should 
 please God to fix the subject deeply upon your 
 mind, and make you attentive to the possibi- 
 
 lity and vast importance of a mistake in mat- 
 ters of everlasting concernment. I pray tha 
 the good Spirit of God may guide you into 
 all truths. He only is the effectual teacher. 
 I still retain a cheerful hope, that some things 
 you cannot at present receive, will hereafter 
 be the joy and comfort of your heart : but I 
 know it cannot be till the Lord’s own time. 
 I cannot promise to give such long answers 
 as your letters require, to clear up every text 
 that may be proposed, and to answer every 
 objection that may be started ; yet I shall be 
 glad to change a letter now and then. At 
 present, it remains with you whether our cor- 
 respondence continues or not, as this is the 
 third letter I have written since I heard from 
 you, and therefore must be the last till I do. 
 I should think what remains might be better 
 settled viva voce ; for which purpose I shall 
 be glad to see you, or ready to wait on you 
 when leisure will permit, and when I know it 
 will be agreeable : but if (as life and all its 
 affairs are precarious) we should never meet 
 in this world, I pray God w r e may meet at the 
 right hand of Jesus, in the great day when he 
 he shall come to gather up his jewels, and to 
 judge the world. There is an endless diver- 
 sity of opinions in matters- of religion ; which 
 of them are right and safe, and will lead to 
 eternal glory, dies iste indicabit. I am still in 
 a manner lost amidst more engagements than 
 I have time to comply with ; but I feel and 
 know that I am, &c. 
 
LETTERS 
 
 TO MR. B , &c. 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 September 28, 1774. 
 
 MY DEAREST SIR, 
 
 I SEE the necessity of having, if possible, my 
 principles at my fingers ends, that I may ap- 
 ply them as occasions arise every hour. Cer- 
 tainly if my ability was equal to my inclination, 
 I would remove your tumour with a word or 
 a touch ; I would exempt you instantly and 
 constantly from every inconvenience and pain : 
 but you are in the hands of one who could do 
 all this and more, and who loves you infinitely 
 better than I can do, and yet he is pleased to 
 permit you to suffer. What is the plain in- 
 ference ? Certainly, that at the present junc- 
 ture, he to whom all the concatenations and 
 consequences of events are present in one 
 view, sees it better for you to have this tu- 
 mour than to be without it ; for I have no 
 more idea of a tumour rising, or any other 
 incidental trial befalling you, without a cause, 
 without a need-be, without a designed advan- 
 tage to result from it, than I have of a moun- 
 tain or pyramid rising up of its own accord 
 in the middle of Salisbury Plain. The pro- 
 mise is express, and literally true, that all 
 things, universally and without exception, 
 shall work together for good to them that love 
 God. But they work together ; the smallest 
 as well as the greatest events have their place 
 and use, — like the several stones in the arch 
 of a bridge, where no one would singly be 
 useful, but every one in its place is necessary 
 to the structure and support of the arch ; or 
 rather like the movement of a watch, where 
 though there is an evident subordination of 
 parts and some pieces have a greater compara- 
 tive importance than others, yet the smallest 
 pieces have their place and use, and are so far 
 equally important, that the whole design of 
 the machine would be obstructed for want of 
 them. Some dispensations and turns of di- 
 vine providence may be compared to the main 
 
 spring or capital wheels which have a more 
 visible, sensible, and determining influence 
 upon the whole tenor of our lives : but the 
 more ordinary occurrences of every day are at 
 least pins and pivots, adjusted, timed, and 
 suited with equal accuracy, by the hand of 
 the same great Artist who planned and exe- 
 cutes the whole ; and we are sometimes sur- 
 prised to see hoV much more depends and 
 turns upon them than we were aware of. 
 Then we admire his skill, and say he has done 
 all things well. Indeed, with respect to his 
 works of providence, as well as of creation, he 
 well deserves the title of Maximus in minimis. 
 Such thoughts as these, when I am enabled to 
 realize them, in some measure reconcile me to 
 what he allots for myself or my friends, and 
 convince me of the propriety of that expos- 
 tulation, which speaks the language of love 
 as well as of authority, “ Be still, and know 
 that I am God.” I sympathize with you in 
 your trial, and pray and trust that your Shep- 
 herd will be your Physician ; will superintend 
 and bless the use of means ; will give you in 
 his good time health and cure, and at all times 
 reveal unto you abundance of peace. His 
 promises and power are necessary for our pre - 
 servation in the smoother scenes he has allot- 
 ted for us, and they are likewise sufficient for 
 the roughest. We are always equally in dan- 
 ger in ourselves, and always equally safe under 
 the shadow of his wings. No storms, as- 
 saults, sieges, or pestilences can hurt us, till 
 we have filled .up his appointed measure of 
 service ; and when our work is done, and he 
 has ripened us for glory, it is no great matter 
 by what means he is pleased to call us home 
 to himself. 
 
 I have only room to present our joint and 
 sincerest respects. The Lord bless you all- 
 I am, &c. 
 
190 
 
 LETTERS TO MR. B 
 
 let. HI 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 October 15, 1774. 
 
 MY DEAREST SIR, 
 
 I think the greatness of trials is to be estimat- 
 ed, rather by the impression they make upon 
 our spirits, than by their outward appearance. 
 The smallest will be too heavy for us if we 
 are left to grapple with it in our own strength, 
 or rather, weakness ; and if the Lord is pleas- 
 ed to put forth his power in us, he can make 
 the heaviest light. A lively impression of his 
 love, or of his sufferings for us, or of the 
 glories within the vail, accompanied with a 
 due sense of the misery from which we are 
 redeemed ; these thoughts will enable us to 
 oe not only submissive, but even joyful in 
 tribulations. When faith is in exercise, 
 though the flesh will have its feelings, the 
 spirit will triumph over them. But it is 
 needful we should know that we have no suf- 
 ficiency in ourselves, and in order to know it, 
 we must feel it ; and therefore, the Lord 
 sometimes withdraws his sensible influence, 
 and then the buzzing of a fly. will be an over, 
 match for our patience; at other times, he 
 will shew us what he can do in us and for us ; 
 then we can adopt the apostle’s words, and 
 say, I can do and suffer all things through 
 Christ strengthening me. He has said, My 
 grace is sufficient for thee. It is observable, 
 that the children of God seldom disappoint 
 our expectations under great trials ; if they 
 show a wrongness of spirit, it is usually in 
 such little incidents, that we are ready to 
 wonder at them : for which, two reasons may 
 be principally assigned. When great trials 
 are in view, we run simply and immediately 
 to our all-sufficient friend, feel our depen- 
 dence, and cry in good earnest for help ; but 
 if the occasion seems small, we are too apt 
 secretly to lean to our own wisdom and 
 strength, as if in such slight matters we could 
 make shift without him. Therefore, in these 
 we often fail. Again, the Lord deals with us 
 as we sometimes see mothers with their chil- 
 dren. When a child begins to walk, he is 
 often very self-important ; he thinks he needs 
 no help, and can hardly bear to be supported 
 by the finger of another. Now, in such a 
 case, if there is no danger of harm from a 
 fall, as if he is on a plain carpet, the mother 
 will let him alone to try how he can walk. He 
 is pleased at first, but presently down he comes ; 
 and a few experiments of this kind convince 
 him he is not so strong and able as he thought, 
 and make him willing to be led. But was 
 he upon the brink of a river or a precipice, 
 from whence a fall might be fatal, the tender 
 mother would not trust him to himself, no 
 not for a moment. I have not room to make 
 the application, nor is it needful. It requires 
 the same grace to bear with a right spirit a 
 
 crossword, as a cross injury; or the breaking 
 of a china-plate, as the death of an only son. 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 November 23, 1774. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, 
 
 I hope to be informed in due time, that the 
 Lord has given you full health and cure. He 
 has preserved me hitherto from the hands of 
 surgeons ; but I feel as if my flesh would 
 prove, as you say, a very coward, were it need- 
 ful to submit to a painful operation. Yet I 
 observe, when such operations are necessary, 
 if people are satisfied of a surgeon’s skill and 
 prudence, they will not only yield to be cut 
 at his pleasure, without pretending to direct 
 him where, or how long he shall make the 
 incision, but will thank and pay him for put- 
 ting them to pain, because they believe it for 
 their advantage. I wish I could be more like 
 them in my concerns. My body, as I said, 
 is, through mercy, free from considerable ail- 
 ments, but I have a soul that requires sur, 
 geon’s work continually ; there is some tumor 
 to be discussed or laid open, some dislocation 
 to be reduced, some fracture to be healed, al- 
 most daily. It is my great mercy, that one 
 who is infallible in skill, who exercises inces- 
 sant care, and boundless compassion towards 
 all his patients, has undertaken my case ; and 
 complicated as it is, I dare not doubt his 
 making a perfect cure. Yet, alas ! I too 
 often discover such impatience, distrust^ and 
 complaining, when under his hand, am so 
 apt to find fault with the instruments he is 
 pleased to make use of, so ready to think the 
 salutary wounds he makes, unnecessary or too 
 large ; in a word, I shew such a promptness 
 to controul, were I able, or to direct his opera- 
 tions, that, were not his patience beyond ex- 
 pression, he would before now have given me 
 up. I am persuaded, no money would induce 
 
 Mr. to attend upon a patient who should 
 
 act towards him as I have done towards my 
 best Physician. Sometimes I indulge a hope 
 that I am growing wiser, and think surely, 
 after such innumerable proofs as I have had, 
 that he does all things well, I shall now be 
 satisfied to leave myself quietly and without 
 reserve to his disposal. A thousand such 
 surrenders I have made, and a thousand times 
 I have interpretatively retracted them. Yet 
 still he is gracious. O, how shall I praise 
 him at last ! 
 
 I thank you for your letter ; I never receive 
 one from you without pleasure, and, I be- 
 lieve, seldom without profit, at least for the 
 time. I believe, with you, that there is much 
 of the proper and defined efficacy of the gos- 
 pel-mystery which I have not yet experienced. 
 And 1 suppose they who are advanced far 
 
LET. IV. 
 
 LETTERS '10 MR. B 
 
 beyond me in the divine life, judge the same 
 of their utmost present attainments. Yet I 
 have no idea of any permanent state in this 
 life, that shall make my experience cease to 
 be a state of warfare and humiliation. At 
 my first setting out, indeed, I thought to be 
 better, and to feel myself better from year to 
 year ; I expected by degrees to attain every 
 thing which I then comprised in my idea of a 
 saint. I thought my grain of grace, by much 
 diligence and careful improvement, would in 
 time amount to a pound, that pound in a far- 
 ther space of time to a talent, and then I 
 hoped to increase from one talent to many ; 
 so that supposing the Lord should spare me 
 a competent number of years, I pleased my- 
 self with the thoughts of dying rich. But, 
 alas ! these my golden expectations have been 
 like South Sea dreams ; I have lived hitherto 
 a poor sinner, and I believe I shall die one. 
 Have I then gained nothing by waiting upon 
 the Lord ? Yes, I have gained that, which I 
 once would rather have been withput, such 
 accumulated proofs of the deceitfulness and 
 desperate wickedness of my heart, as I hope, 
 by the Lord’s blessing, has in some measure 
 taught me to know what I mean, when I say, 
 Behold, I am vile ! And in connection with 
 this, I have gained such experience of the 
 wisdom, power, and compassion of my Re- 
 deemer, the need, the worth of his blood, 
 righteousness, attention, and intercession — the 
 glory that he displays in pardoning iniquity and 
 sin, and passing by the transgression of the 
 remnant of his heritage, that my soul cannot 
 but cry out, Who is a God like unto thee ! 
 Thus, if I have any meaner thoughts of my- 
 self (Ezek. xvi. 63), and any higher thoughts 
 of him than I had twenty years ago, I have 
 reason to be thankful ; every grain of this 
 experience is worth mountains of gold. And 
 if, by his mercy, I shall yet sink more in my 
 own esteem, and he will he pleased to rise 
 still more glorious to my eyes, and more pre- 
 cious to my heart ; I expect it will be much 
 in the same way. I was ashamed when I 
 began to seek him, I am more ashamed now ; 
 and I expect to be most of all ashamed when 
 he shall appear to destroy my last enemy. 
 But, O ! I may rejoice in him, to think that 
 he will not be ashamed of me. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 May 19, 1775. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, 
 
 I HOPE you will find the Lord present at all 
 times, and in all places. When it is so, we 
 are at home everywhere ; when it is otherwise, 
 home is a prison, and abroad a wilderness. 
 1 know what I ought to desire, and what I 
 do desire. I point him out to others as the 
 
 191 
 
 all in all ; I esteem him as such in my own 
 judgment ; but, alas ! my experience abounds 
 with complaints. He is my sun ; but clouds, 
 and sometimes walls, intercept him from my 
 view. He is my strength ; yet I am prone to 
 lean upon reeds. He is my friend; but on 
 my part there is such coldness and ingratitude 
 as no other friend could bear. But still he 
 is gracious, and shames me with his repeated 
 multiplied goodness. O for a warmer heart, 
 a more simple dependence, a more active zeal, 
 a more sensible deliverance from the effects 
 of this body of sin and death ! He helps me 
 in my endeavours to keep the vineyards of 
 others ; but, alas ! my own does not seem to 
 flourish as some do around me. However, 
 though I cannot say I labour more abundantly 
 than they all, I have reason to say with thank- 
 fulness, “ By the grace of God, I am what I 
 am.” My poor story would soon be much 
 worse, did not he support, restrain, and watch 
 over me every minute. Let me intreat your 
 praises and prayers on the behalf of me and 
 mine, and may the Lord bless you and yours 
 with an increase in every good. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER V 
 
 September 2, 1776. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, 
 
 The young woman I spoke of is still living, 
 and not much weaker than when I left her. 
 The Lord was pleased to relieve her on Tues- 
 day evening, and she was comfortable the re- 
 mainder of the week. But yesterday her con- 
 flicts returned, and she was in great distress 
 The enemy who always fights against the 
 peace of the Lord’s children, finds great ad- 
 vantage against them when their spirits are 
 weakened and worn down by long illness, and 
 is often permitted to assault them. The rea- 
 sons are hidden from us, but they are doubt- 
 less worthy of his wisdom and love, and they 
 terminate in victory, to the praise of his glo- 
 rious grace, which is more signally manifested 
 by his leading them safely through fire and 
 water, than if their path was always smooth. 
 He is sovereign in hfo dispensations, and ap- 
 points some of his people to trials and exer- 
 cises to which others, perhaps, are strangers 
 all their days^ Believers are soldiers: all sol- 
 diers, by their profession, are engaged to fight, 
 if called upon, but who shall be called to sus- 
 tain the hottest service, and be most frequently 
 exposed upon the field of battle, depends upon 
 the will of the general or king. Some of our 
 soldiers are now upon hard service in Ame- 
 rica, while others are stationed round the pa- 
 lace, see the King’s face daily, and have no 
 dangers or hardships to encounter. These, 
 however, are as liable to a call as the others ; 
 but, if not called upon, they may enjoy w ; th 
 
LET. VI, 
 
 192 LETTERS TO 
 
 thankfulness the more easy post assigned them. 
 Thus, the Captain of our salvation allots to 
 his soldiers such stations as he thinks proper. 
 He has a right to employ whom he will, and 
 where he will. Some are comparatively at 
 ease ; they are not exposed to the fiercest on- 
 sets, but live near his presence : others are, 
 to appearance, pressed above measure, beyond 
 strength, so that they despair even of life ; 
 yet they are supported, and in the end made 
 more than conquerors, through him that hath 
 loved them. Long observation convinces me, 
 that the temptations which some endure are 
 not chastisements brought upon them by un- 
 faithfulness, or for anything remarkably wrong 
 in their spirit or walk ; I often rather consi- 
 der that in this warfare, as in worldly wars, the 
 post of danger and difficulty is the post of 
 honour, and as such assigned to those whom 
 he has favoured with a peculiar measure of 
 his grace. This young woman, in particular, 
 was always from her first awakening remark- 
 ably humble and spiritual, and possessed of a 
 broken and contrite spii'it. I never saw her 
 in a wrong spirit, or heard her speak an un- 
 advised word ; yet I believe it is impossible 
 to express the agonies she has endured. The 
 effect of them is visible. Her animal frame 
 was unable to sustain the burden. I believe 
 they were the immediate cause of that illness 
 which is now bringing her down to the grave. 
 
 I doubt not but these cases depend in a great 
 measure upon constitution ; but then the tem- 
 perament of our bodies depends upon his plea- 
 sure, for, if the very hairs of our head are 
 numbered, it is impossible that those circum- 
 stances of our frame which, by the near con- 
 nection between body and soul, have a power- 
 ful influence upon the state of our minds, can 
 escape his notice. He could cure such bo- 
 dily disorders as affect the peace of his peo- 
 ple in a moment, yet he does not, though he 
 loves them. There must be therefore wise 
 reasons why he does not ; and, though we 
 know them not now, we shall know them 
 hereafter. Possibly some suffer for the in- 
 struction of the rest, that we may learn to be 
 more thankful to him for the peace we enjoy, 
 and to be more humbly dependent upon him 
 for the continuance of it. The Lord’s way 
 is in the deep, and his path in the great wa- 
 ters, untraceable by our feeble reasonings, 
 but faith brings in a good report. We need 
 not doubt but he does all things well, and in 
 due time we shall see it. In the meanwhile 
 he checks our vain inquiries, and calls upon 
 us to be still, and know that he is God. 
 
 I brought home with me a thankful sense 
 of the kindness and friendship I am favoured 
 with from you and all yours. I account this 
 connection one of the great comforts of my 
 life, and I hope it has been, and will be, not 
 only pleasant but profitable to me. Though | 
 I am but an unapt scholar, I hope I am not I 
 unwilling to learn, and the Lord, in his mer- j 
 
 MR. B . 
 
 ciful providence, appoints me many teachers. 
 There is little praise due to us, if we either 
 communicate or receive benefit in our inter- 
 course with our fellow-disciples. In both we 
 are but instruments under the influence of a 
 higher hand. Were Christians to meet toge- 
 ther without their Lord, they would either 
 trifle or quarrel their time away. But as he 
 has said, where two or three are met, there 
 am I in the midst of them, we may well be 
 glad of opportunities of coming together. And 
 though, for my own part, I am so poor an im- 
 prover of such seasons, that the recollection 
 of them, when past, is generally accompanied 
 with shame and regret, yet he is gracious and 
 merciful, and seldom leaves me to complain 
 that they were wholly in vain. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 July 22, 1777 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, 
 
 The complaints you make of what passes 
 within, encourage me under what I feel my- 
 self. Indeed, if those whom I have reason 
 to believe are more spiritual and humble than 
 I am, did not give some testimony that they 
 find their hearts made of the same materials 
 as mine is, I should be sometimes hard put 
 to it to believe that I have any part or lot in 
 the matter, or any real knowledge of the life 
 of faith. But this concurrent testimony of 
 many witnesses confirms me in what I think 
 the scriptures plainly teach, that the soil of 
 human nature, though many spots are cer- 
 tainly better weeded, planted, and manured 
 than others, is everywhere the same, univer- 
 sally bad ; so bad that it cannot be worse, and 
 of itself is only capable of producing noxious 
 weeds and nourishing venomous creatures. 
 We often see the effects of culture, skill, and 
 expense will make a garden where all was de- 
 sert before. When Jesus, the good husband- 
 man, incloses a soil, and separates it from the 
 waste of the world, to make it a residence for 
 himself, a change presently takes place ; it is 
 planted and watered from above, and visited 
 with beams infinitely more cheering and fer- 
 tilizing than those of the material sun. But 
 its natural propensity to bring forth weeds 
 still continues, and one half of his dispensa- 
 tions may be compared to a company of weed- 
 ers, whom he sends forth into his garden to 
 pluck up all which he has not planted with 
 his own hand, and which, if left to grow, 
 would quickly overpower and overtop the rest. 
 But, alas ! the ground is so impregnated with 
 j evil seeds, and they shoot in such quick suc- 
 I cession, that, if this weeding work were not 
 J constantly repeated, all former labour would 
 
LET. VIII. 
 
 be lost. Hinc ilia lachryma ! hence arises 
 the necessity of daily crosses and disappoint- 
 ments, daily changes of frame, and such mul- 
 tiplied convictions that we are nothing and 
 can do nothing of ourselves ; all are needful, 
 and barely sufficient to prevent our hearts 
 from being over- run with pride, self-depend- 
 ence, and security. Yours, &c. 
 
 LETTER VII. 
 
 November 6, 1777. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, 
 
 You say you are more disposed to cry mise- 
 rere than hallelujah. Why not both together ? 
 When the treble is praise, and heart-humilia- 
 tion for the bass, the melody is pleasant, and 
 the harmony good. However, if not both to- 
 gether, we must have them alternately ; not 
 all singing, not all sighing, but an interchange 
 and balance, that we may be neither lifted 
 too high, nor cast down too low, which would 
 be the case if we were very comfortable or 
 very sorrowful for a long continuance. But 
 though we change, the Saviour changes not. 
 All our concerns are in his hands, and there- 
 fore safe. His path is in the deep waters, his 
 thoughts and methods of conduct are as high 
 above ours as the heavens are high above the 
 earth ; and he often takes a course for accom- 
 plishing his purposes directly contrary to what 
 our narrow' view's would prescribe. He wounds 
 in order to heal, kills that he may make alive, 
 casts down when he designs to raise, brings 
 a death upon our feelings, wishes, and pros- 
 pects, when he is about to give us the desire 
 of our hearts. These things he does to prove 
 us ; but he himself knows, and has determined 
 beforehand, what he will do. The proof in- 
 deed usually turns out to our shame. Impa- 
 tience and unbelief shew their heads, and 
 prompt us to suppose this and the other thing, 
 yea perhaps all things are agarnst us, to ques- 
 tion whether he be with us and for us, or not. 
 But it issues likewise in the praise of his 
 goodness, when we find that, maugre all our 
 unkind complaints and suspicions, he is still 
 working wonderfully for us, causing light to 
 shine out of darkness, and doing us good in 
 defiance of ourselvps. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER VIII. 
 
 TO MR. B , JUN. 
 
 August 24, 1774. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 The lowness of your voice, and a blameable 
 absence of mind on my part, prevented me 
 
 193 
 
 from understanding what you said when you 
 took your leave of me ; nor did I just at that 
 instant recollect that you were so soon going 
 away. I could not otherwise have parted 
 with you, without a particular expression of 
 my warmest wishes for your welfare, and com- 
 mending you with an emotion which my heart 
 always feels for you to our God and the word 
 of his grace. Permit me therefore, by writ- 
 ing, to assure you, so far as I can answer for 
 myself, that the request you were pleased to 
 make for my remembrance will not be for- 
 gotten by me. 
 
 You are going abroad : you will carry with 
 you, I doubt not, the best advice, strength- 
 ened by the authority and affection of parents, 
 whom you greatly love and greatly reverence. 
 This may seem to make anything a stranger 
 can offer unnecessary, if not impertinent; 
 yet, confiding in your candour and in your 
 good opinion of my intention, I shall ven- 
 ture to let my pen run on a little longer. Not 
 only my wishes, but my hopes are strong in 
 your behalf. Perhaps there is hardly a young 
 man in the kingdom, born to a fortune, who 
 is setting out in life upon equal advantages 
 with yourself. How many, at your years, 
 who have been brought up in affluence, are 
 unprincipled, uninstructed, and have already 
 entered upon a course of dissipation and folly, 
 in which it is impossible they themselves cai. 
 find satisfaction, and which, unless they are 
 reclaimed from it by an almighty arm, will 
 infallibly preclude them from usefulness and 
 esteem ; whereas your early years have been 
 successfully employed in the pursuit of know- 
 ledge, and your education formed under the 
 most animating and endearing influence ; and 
 the Lord has furnished you with every natu- 
 ral ability of body and mind, which may qua- 
 lify you to serve him in that situation of life 
 which his providence has allotted you. 
 
 "What may I not, then, further hope from 
 these beginnings, especially as it is easy to 
 observe, that he has given you an amiable and 
 promising disposition of spirit, and has not 
 only preserved you from being hurried dowrn 
 the stream of a giddy world, but enabled you 
 to account the tender restraint under which 
 you have been educated, not a yoke, but a 
 privilege. 
 
 I sympathize with you at what you will feel 
 when you are first separated from your happy 
 family. But the Lord God, who is the sun 
 and shield of those who fear him, will be al- 
 ways near you ! His favour is the one thing 
 needful, which no outward advantages can 
 compensate the w'ant of ; and the right know- 
 ledge of him is the one thing needful, which 
 no human teaching can communicate. 
 
 Were I more intimate with you, I could 
 have asked the question, and perhaps received 
 the satisfaction to know, that you have al- 
 ready begun to consider him in this light ; 
 that you feel a vanity in science, an emptiness 
 
 LETTERS TO MR. B . 
 
LET. IX. 
 
 194) LETTERS TO MISS M B* 
 
 m creatures, and find that you have desires, 
 which only He who gave them can satisfy. 
 
 I trust it either is, or will be thus. As to 
 learning, though it is useful when we know 
 bow to make a right use of it, yet, considered 
 as in our own power, and to those who trust 
 to it, without seeking a superior guidance, it 
 is usually the source of perplexity, strife, 
 scepticism, and infidelity. It is indeed like 
 a sword in a madman’s hands, which gives 
 him the more opportunity of hurting himself 
 and others. As to what the world calls plea- 
 sure, there is so little in it, that even the phi- 
 losophers of old, or many of them, though 
 they had little of value to substitute in its 
 room, could despise it. You will perhaps 
 meet with some, who will talk another lan- 
 guage, who will pretend to be too wise to 
 submit to the Bible, and too happy in world- 
 ly things, to expect or desire any happiness 
 besides ; but I trust you have seen enough to 
 enable you to treat such persons with the pity, 
 and such pretensions with the contempt, they 
 deserve. 
 
 Should we set our concerns with an eternal 
 world aside for a moment, it would be easy 
 to demonstrate that religion is necessary, in 
 order to make the most of this life, and to 
 enjoy temporal good with the highest relish. 
 In such a world as this, where we are every 
 moment liable to so many unforeseen and un- 
 avoidable contingencies, a man without reli- 
 gion may be compared to a ship in a storm, 
 without either rudder, anchor, or pilot. But 
 then, the religion which only deserves the 
 name, must come from above : it must be 
 suited to the state and wants of a sinner, it 
 must be capable of comforting the heart, it 
 must take away the sting and dread of death, 
 and fix our confidence upon one who is al- 
 ways able to help us. Such is the religion of 
 Jesus, such are its effects, and such are the 
 criteria whereby we are to judge of the va- 
 rious forms and schemes under which it is 
 proposed to us. But I forbear ; I am only 
 reminding you of what you know, and what 
 you have known to be verified by living and 
 dying examples. This happiness, my dear 
 Sir, is open to you, to all who seek. He is 
 enthroned in heaven, but prayer will bring 
 him down to the heart. Indeed, he is always 
 beforehand with us ; and if we feel one de- 
 sire towards him, we may accept it as a token 
 that he gave it us to encourage us to ask for 
 more. 
 
 May he be your guide and guard, be with 
 you at all times, and in all places, and bring 
 you back to your father’s house in peace. 
 Should I live to see that day, you have few 
 friends whose congratulations would be warmer 
 or more sincere than mine ; and if, when you 
 are settled and at leisure, you will afford me 
 a letter, it will be both a pleasure and a fa- 
 vour to, deal- Sir, 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 LETTER IX. 
 
 TO MISS M B . 
 
 November 11, 1775. 
 
 MY DEAR MISS M , 
 
 Our late visit to was very pleasant to 
 
 myself; if any thing passed that was of ser- 
 vice to you, we know to whom the thanks are 
 due ; for we can neither communicate nor 
 receive any thing, but so far as he is pleased 
 to enable us. One reason why he often dis- 
 appoints us is, that we may learn to depend 
 on him alone. We are prone, as you observe, 
 to rest too much upon sensible comforts, yet 
 they are very desirable ; only as to the measure 
 and seasons, it is well to be submissive to his 
 will, to be thankful for them when we have 
 them, and humbly waiting for them when we 
 have them not. They are not, however, the 
 proper ground of our hope; a good hope 
 springs from such a sense of our wants, and 
 such a persuasion of his power and grace, as 
 engages the heart to venture, upon the war- 
 rant of his promises, to trust in him for sal- 
 vation. In a sense, we are often hindering 
 him by our impatience and unbelief ; but, 
 strictly speaking, when he really begins the 
 good work, and gives us a desire which will be 
 satisfied with nothing short of himself, he will 
 not be hindered from carrying it on ; for he 
 has said, I will work, and none shall let it. 
 Ah ! had it depended upon myself, upon my 
 wisdom or faithfulness, I should have hinder- 
 ed him to purpose, and ruined myself long 
 ago. How often have I grieved and resisted 
 his Spirit ! but hereby I have learned more 
 of his patience and tenderness than I could 
 otherwise have known. He knows our frame, 
 and what effects our evil nature, fomented by 
 the artifices of Satan, will have ; he sees us 
 from first to last. A thousand evils arise in 
 our hearts. A thousand wrongnesses in our 
 conduct, which, as they do arise, are new to 
 ourselves, and perhaps, at some times, we 
 were ready to think we were incapable of 
 such tilings ; but none of them are new to 
 him, to whom past, present, and future are 
 the same. The foresight of them did not 
 prevent his calling us by his grace. Though 
 he knew we were vile, and should prove un- 
 grateful and unfaithful, yet he would be found 
 of us ; he would knock at the door of our 
 hearts, and gain himself an entrance. Nor 
 shall they prevent his accomplishing his gra- 
 cious purpose. It is our part to be abased 
 before him, and quietly to hope and wait for 
 his salvation, in the use of his appointed 
 means. The power, success, and blessing, 
 are wholly from himself. To make us more 
 sensible of this, he often withdraws from our 
 perceptions; and as, in the absence of the 
 sun, the wild beasts of the forest roam abroad; 
 
LET. X. 
 
 LETTERS TO MISS M B . 
 
 so, when Jesus hides himself, we presently 
 perceive what is in our hearts, and what a 
 poor shift we can make without him ; when 
 he returns, his light chaces the evils away, 
 and we are well again. However, they are 
 not dead when most controuled by his pre- 
 sence. 
 
 It is your great and singular mercy, my 
 dear Miss, that he has taught you to seek him 
 so early in life. You are entered in the way 
 of salvation, but you must not expect all at 
 once. The work of grace is compared to the 
 corn, and to a building ; the growth of the 
 one, and the carrying forward of the other, 
 are gradual. In a building, for instance, if 
 it be large, there is much to be done in pre- 
 paring and laying the foundation, before the 
 walls appear above ground ; much is doing 
 within, when the work does not seem, per- 
 haps, to advance without; and when it is 
 considerably forward, yet being encumbered 
 with scaffolds and rubbish, a byestander sees 
 it at a great disadvantage, and can form but 
 an imperfect judgment of it. But all this 
 while the architect himself, even from the lay- 
 ing of the first stone, conceives of it accord- 
 ing to the plan and design he has formed ; he 
 prepares and adjusts the materials, disposing 
 each in its proper time and place, and views 
 it in idea as already finished. In due season 
 it is completed, but not in a day. The top- 
 stone is fixed, and then, the scaffolds and rub- 
 bish being removed, it appears to others as he 
 intended it should be. Men indeed often 
 plan what, for want of skill or ability, or from 
 unforeseen disappointments, they are unable 
 to execute. But nothing can disappoint the 
 heavenly Builder; nor will he ever be re- 
 proached with forsaking the work of his own 
 hands, or beginning that which he could not 
 or would not accomplish, Phil. i. 6. Let us 
 therefore be thankful for beginnings, and pa- 
 tiently wait the event. His enemies strive to 
 retard the work, as they did when the Jews, 
 by his order, set about rebuilding the temple, 
 \et it was finished in defiance of them all. 
 
 Believe me to be, &c. 
 
 LETTER X. 
 
 April 29, 1776. 
 
 MY DEAR MISS M , 
 
 I thank you for your last ; and I rejoice in 
 the Lord’s goodness to you. To be drawn 
 by love, exempted from those distressing ter- 
 rors and temptations which some are beset 
 with ; to be favoured with the ordinances and 
 means of grace, and connected with those, 
 and with those only, who are disposed and 
 qualified to assist and encourage you in seek- 
 ing the Saviour ; these are peculiar privileges, 
 which all concur in your case ; he loves you, 
 he deals gently with you, he provides well 
 
 195 
 
 for you, and accompanies every outward pri- 
 vilege with his special blessing ; and I trust he 
 will lead you on from strength to strength, 
 and shew you still greater things than you 
 have yet seen. They whom he teaches are al- 
 ways increasing in knowledge, both of them- 
 selves and of him. The heart is deep, and, 
 like Ezekiel’s vision, presents so many cham- 
 bers of imagery, one within another, that it 
 requires time to get a considerable acquaint- 
 ance with it, and we shall never know it tho- 
 roughly. It is now more than twenty-eight 
 years since the Lord began to open mine to 
 my own view ; and from that time to this, al- 
 most every day has discovered to me some- 
 thing which till then was unobserved ; and 
 the farther I go, the more I seem convinced 
 that I have entered but a little way. A per- 
 son that travels in some parts of Derbyshire 
 may easily be satisfied that the country is ca- 
 vernous ; but how large, how deep, how nu- 
 merous, the caverns may be, which are hidden 
 from us by the surface of the ground, and 
 what is contained in them, are questions which 
 our nicest inquiries cannot fully answer. Thus 
 I judge of my heart, that it is very deep and 
 dark, and full of evil ; but as to particulars, 
 
 I know not one of a thousand. 
 
 And if our own hearts are beyond our com • 
 prehension, how much more incomprehensible 
 is the heart of Jesus ! If sin abounds in us, 
 grace and love superabound in him ; his ways 
 and thoughts are higher than ours, as the 
 heavens are higher than the earth ; his love 
 has a height, and depth, and length, and 
 breadth, that passeth all knowledge ; and his 
 riches of grace are unsearchable riches, Eph. 
 iii. 8, 18, 19. All that we have received or 
 can receive from him, or know of him in this 
 life, compared with what he is in himself, or 
 what he has done for us, is but as the drop of a 
 bucket compared with the ocean, or a single 
 ray of light in respect of the sun. The waters 
 of the sanctuary flow to us at first almost 
 upon a level, ankle deep, so graciously does 
 the Lord condescend to our weakness : but 
 they rise as we advance, and constrain us to 
 cry out with the apostle, O the depth ! We 
 find before us, as Dr. Watts beautifully ex- 
 presses it, 
 
 A sea of love and grace unknown. 
 
 Without a bottom or a shore. 
 
 0 the excellency of the knowledge of Christ ! 
 It will be growing upon us through time, yea, 
 
 1 believe through eternity. What an astonish- 
 ing and what a cheering thought, that this 
 high and lofty One should unite himself to 
 our nature, that so, in a way worthy of his a- 
 dorable perfections, he might by his Spirit, 
 unite us to himself! Could such a thought 
 have arisen in our hearts, without the war- 
 rant of his word (but it is a thought which 
 no created mind was capable of conceiving 
 till he revealed it), it would have been jure- 
 
LET. XI 
 
 19? LETTERS TO MISS 
 
 sumption and blasphemy ; but now he has 
 made it known, it is the foundation of our 
 hope, and an exhaustible spring of life and 
 joy. Well may we say, Lord, what is man 
 that thou shouldst thus visit him ! 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER XI. 
 
 September 3, 1776. 
 
 MY DEAR MISS M , 
 
 We saw no danger upon the road homeward : 
 but my judgment tells me we are always up- 
 on the brink of danger, though we see it not ; 
 and that, without the immediate protection 
 and care of him who preserveth the stars in 
 their courses, there could be no travelling 
 safely a few miles, nor even sitting in safety 
 by the fire-side. But with him we are safe 
 in all places and circumstances, till our race 
 is done, and his gracious purposes concern- 
 ing us, in the present life, are completely 
 answered ; then he will call us home, that we 
 may see his face, and be with him for ever, 
 and then it will not much signify what mes- 
 senger he shall be pleased to send for us. 
 
 While he took care of us abroad, he 
 watched over our concerns at home likewise ; 
 so that we found all well upon our return, 
 and met with nothing to grieve us. Many 
 go out and return home no more, and many 
 find distressing things have happened in their 
 absence ; but we have to set up our Ebenezer, 
 and to say, Hitherto he has helped us. As- 
 sist me to praise him. The Lord is leading 
 you in the good old way, in which you may 
 perceive the footsteps of his flock who have 
 gone before you. They had in their day the 
 same difficulties, fears, and complaints, as we 
 have, and through mercy we partake of the 
 same consolation which supported and re- 
 freshed them ; and the promises which they 
 trusted and found faithful, are equally sure 
 to us. It is still true, that they who believe 
 shall never be confounded. If left to our- 
 selves, we should have built upon sand : but 
 he has provided and revealed a sure founda- 
 tion, removed our natural prejudices against 
 it ; and now, though rains, and floods, and 
 storms assault our building, it cannot fall, for 
 it is founded upon a rock. The suspicions 
 and fears which arise in an awakened mind, 
 proceed, in a good measure, from remaining 
 unbelief ; but not wholly so, for there is a 
 jealousy and diffidence of ourselves, a wari- 
 ness owing to a sense of the deceitfulness of 
 our hearts, which is a grace and a gift of the 
 Lord. Some people who have much zeal, 
 but are destitute of this jealous fear may be 
 compared to a ship that spreads a great deal 
 of sail, but is not properly ballasted, and is 
 therefore in danger of being overset whenever 
 
 M B 
 
 a storm comes. A sincere person has many 
 reasons for distrusting his own judgment ; is 
 sensible of the vast importance of the case, and 
 afraid of too hastily concluding in his own 
 favour, and therefore not easly satisfied. How- 
 ever, this fear, though useful especially to 
 young beginners, is not comfortable; and they 
 who simply wait upon Jesus, are gradually 
 freed from it, in proportion as their know- 
 ledge of him, and their experience of his good- 
 ness, increases. He has a time for settling 
 and establishing them in himself, and his 
 time is best. We are hasty, and would be 
 satisfied at once, but his word is, Tarry thou 
 the Lord’s leisure. The work of grace is not 
 like Jonah’s gourd, which sprang up and 
 flourished in a night, and as quickly withered, 
 but rather like the oak, which, from a little 
 acorn and a tender plant, advances with an 
 almost imperceptible growth from year to 
 year, till it becomes a broad spreading and 
 deep-rooted tree, and then it stands for ages. 
 The Christian oak shall grow and flourish for 
 ever. When I see any soon after they appear 
 to be awakened, making a speedy profession 
 of great joy, before they have a due acquain- 
 tance with their own hearts, I am in pain for 
 them. I am not sorry to hear them afterwards 
 complain that their joys are gone, and they are 
 almost at their wits end ; for without some 
 such check, to make them feel, their weak- 
 ness and dependence, I seldom find them turn 
 out well ; either their fervour insensibly abates 
 till they become quite cold, and sink into 
 the world again, (of which I have seen many 
 instances), or if they do not give up all, their 
 walk is uneven, and their spirit has not that 
 savour of brokenness and true humility which 
 is a chief ornament of our holy profession. 
 If they do not feel the plague of their hearts 
 at first, they find it out afterwards, and too 
 often manifest it to others. Therefore though 
 I know the Spirit of the Lord is free, and 
 will not be confined to our rules, and there 
 may be excepted cases ; yet, in general, I be- 
 lieve the old proverb, “ Soft and fair goes 
 far,” will hold good in Christian experience. 
 Let us be thankful for the beginnings of 
 grace, and wait upon our Saviour patiently for 
 the increase. And as we have chosen him 
 for our physician, let us commit ourselves to 
 his management, and not prescribe to him 
 what he shall prescribe for us. He knows us 
 and he loves us better than we do ourselves, 
 and will do all things well. 
 
 You say, It never came with power and 
 life to my soul, that he died for me.” If you 
 mean, you never had any extraordinary sud- 
 den manifestation, something like a vision or a 
 voice from heaven, confirming it to you, I 
 can say the same. But I know he died for 
 sinners; I know I am a sinner: I know he 
 invites them that are ready to perish ; I am 
 such a one : I know, upon his own invitation, 
 I have committed myself to him ; and I 
 
LET. XI. 
 
 LETTEtfS TO MISS M 
 
 B , 
 
 know, by the effects, that he has been with me 
 hitherto, otherwise I should have been an a- 
 postate long ago ; and therefore I know that 
 he died for me ; for had he been pleased to 
 kill me (as he justly might have done), he 
 would not have shewn me such things as 
 these. 
 
 If I must perish, would the Lord 
 Have taught my heart to love his word ? 
 
 Would he have given me eyes to see 
 My danger and my remedy ? 
 
 Reveal’d his name, and bid me pray, 
 
 Had he resolv’d to say me nay ? 
 
 I know that I am a child, because he teach- 
 es me to say, Abba, Father. I know that I 
 am his, because he has enabled me to choose 
 
 19 V 
 
 him for mine. For such a choice and desire 
 could never have taken place in my heart, if 
 he had not placed it there himself. By na- 
 ture I was too blind to know him, too proud 
 to trust him, too obstinate to serve him, too 
 base-minded to love him ; the enmity I was 
 filled with against his government, righteous- 
 ness, and grace, was too strong to be subdued 
 by any power but his own. The love I bear 
 to him is but a faint and feeble spark, but it 
 is an emanation from himself. He kindled 
 it, and he keeps it alive ; and because it is his 
 work, I trust many waters shall not quewch 
 it. 
 
 I have only loom to assure you, that I am, 
 &c. 
 
LETTERS 
 
 TO 
 
 THE REVEREND Mr. R 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 April 15, 1776. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, 
 
 I OFTEN rejoice on your behalf. Your call 
 out of the world was a singular and comfort- 
 able instance of the power of grace. And 
 when I consider the difficulties and snares of 
 your situation, and that you have been kept 
 in the middle path, preserved from undue 
 compliances on the one hand, and unneces- 
 sary singularities on the other, I cannot doubt 
 but the Lord has hitherto helped and guided 
 you. Indeed, you have need of his guidance. 
 At your years, and with your expectations in 
 life, your health firm, and your natural spi- 
 rits lively, you are exposed to many snares ; 
 yet, if the Lord keeps you sensible of your 
 danger, and dependent upon him, you will 
 walk safely. Your security, success, and 
 comfort, depend upon him ; and in the way 
 of means, chiefly upon your being preserved 
 in an humble sense of your own weakness. 
 It is written, “ Fear not, I am with thee.” 
 It is written again, “ Blessed is the man who 
 feareth always.” There is a perfect harmony 
 in those seemingly different texts. May the 
 wisdom that cometh from above teach you 
 and me to keep them both united in our view. 
 If the Lord be with us, we have no cause of 
 fear. His eye is upon us, his arm over us, 
 his ear open to our prayer ; his grace suffi- 
 cient, his promise unchangeable. Under his 
 protection, though the path of duty should 
 lie through fire and water, we may cheerfully 
 and confidently pursue it. On the other 
 hand, our hearts are so deceitful, fallible, and 
 frail ; our spiritual enemies so subtle, watch- 
 ful, and powerful ; and they derive so many 
 
 advantages from the occasions of every day, in 
 which we are unavoidably and unexpectedly 
 concerned ; there is so much combustible 
 within, and so many temptations arising from 
 without, capable of setting all in a flame ; that 
 we cannot be too jealous of ourselves and our 
 circumstances. The duke of Devonshire’s 
 motto, if I mistake not, well suits the Chris- 
 tian, Cavendo tutus. When we can say, in 
 the psalmist’s spirit, “ Hold thou me up,’ 
 we may warrantably draw his conclusion, 
 “ and I shall be safe;” but the moment we 
 lean to our own understanding, we are in im- 
 minent danger of falling. The enemy who 
 wars against our souls is a consummate master 
 in his way, fertile in stratagems, and equally 
 skilful in carrying on his assaults by sap or 
 by storm. He studies us, if I may so say, all 
 around, to discover our weak sides ; and he 
 is a very Proteus for changing his appear- 
 ances, and can appear as a sly serpent, a roar- 
 ing lion, or an angel of light, as best suits his 
 purpose. It is a great mercy to be in some 
 measure acquainted with his devices, and a- 
 ware of them. They who wait humbly upon 
 the Lord, and consult carefully at his word 
 and throne of grace, are made wiser than 
 their enemy, and enabled to escape and with- 
 stand his wiles. I know you will not expect 
 me to apologise for putting you in mind of 
 these things, though you know them. I have 
 a double warrant ; the love I bear you, and 
 the Lord’s command, Heb. iii. 13. Use the 
 like freedom with me ; I need it, and hope to 
 be thankful for it, and accept it as one of the 
 best proofs of friendship. 
 
 The Lord bless and keep you. Pray foi 
 us, and believe me to be sincerely yours* 
 
LET. II. 
 
 LETTERS TO THE REV. MR. R . 199 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 July IS, 1776. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, 
 
 The Lord, who mercifully called you out of 
 a state of thoughtless dissipation, and has hi- 
 therto been with you, will, I trust, sweeten all 
 your trials, and cause his light to shine upon 
 your paths. It seems probable, that if you 
 pay a just regard to your father’s negative, 
 which I really think he has a right to expect 
 from you, and, at the same time, make a 
 steady and conscientious use of that negative, 
 which he generously allows you to put upon 
 his proposals, to which I think you have an 
 equal right; I say, while things remain in 
 this situation, and you continue to think dif- 
 ferently, it seems probable that the hour of 
 your exchanging a single for the marriage state 
 is yet at some distance. But let not this 
 grieve you. The Lord is all-sufficient. A 
 lively sense of his love, a deep impression of 
 eternity, a heart filled with zeal for his cause, 
 and a thirst for the good of souls, will, I 
 hope, enable you to make a cheerful sacri- 
 fice of whatever has no necessary connection 
 with your peace and his service. And you 
 may rest assured, that whenever he, who loves 
 you better than you do yourself, sees it best 
 for you, upon the whole, to change your con- 
 dition, he will bring it about, he will point 
 Qut the person, prepare the means, and secure 
 the success, by his providence, and the power 
 he has over every heart. And you shall see 
 that all previous difficulties were either gra- 
 cious preventions, which he threw in the way 
 to prevent your taking a wrong step, or tem- 
 porary bars, which, by his removing them af- 
 terwards, should give you opportunity of more 
 clearly perceiving his care and interposition 
 in your favour. In the mean time, remember 
 your high calling. You are a minister and an 
 ambassador of Christ ; you are entrusted with 
 the most honourable and important employ- 
 ment that can engage and animate the heart 
 of man. Tavra fitkiru, tv rovroi; itrllt, tvrifttvi 
 awrois.* 
 
 Filled and fired with a constraining sense 
 of the love of Jesus, and the worth of souls ; 
 impressed with an ardour to carry war into 
 Satan’s kingdom, to storm his strongholds, 
 and rescue his captives ; you will have little 
 leisure to think of any thing else. How does 
 the love of glory stimulate the soldier, make 
 him forget and forego a thousand personal ten- 
 dernesses, and prompt him to cross oceans, to 
 traverse deserts, to scale mountains, and plunge 
 into the greatest hardships and the thickest 
 dangers ! He does it for a corruptible crown, 
 a puff of breath, an empty fame ; his highest 
 prospect is the applause and favour of his 
 
 prince. We likewise are soldiers ; we have 
 a Prince and Captain who deserves our all. 
 They who know him, and have hearts to con- 
 ceive of his excellence, and to feel their obli 
 gations to him, cannot indeed seek their own 
 glory, but his glory is dearer to them than a 
 thousand lives. They owe him their souls, 
 for he redeemed them with blood, his own 
 blood ; and by his grace he subdued and par- 
 doned them when they were rebels, and in 
 arms against him. Therefore they are not 
 their own, they would not be their own. 
 When his standard is raised, when his ene- 
 mies are in motion, when his people are to be 
 rescued ; they go forth clothed with his pano- 
 ply, they fight under his eye, they are sure of 
 his support, and he shews them the conqueror’s 
 crown. O, when they think of that tv lovlt 
 ctyahyf with which he has promised to wel- 
 come them home, when the campaign is over, 
 hard things seem easy, and bitter things sweet ; 
 they count nothing, not even their own lives, 
 dear, so that they may finish their course with 
 joy. May the Lord make us thus minded ; 
 give us a hearty concern for his business, and 
 he has engaged to take care of ours ; and no- 
 thing that can conduce to our real comfort 
 and usefulness shall be withheld. 
 
 Believe me to be sincerely yours. 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 December 21, 1776. 
 
 MY DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 Your letter brought me tidings of joy, and 
 then furnished me with materials for a bon- 
 fire upon the occasion. It was an act of 
 passive obedience to burn it, but I did obey. 
 I congratulate you upon the happy issue to 
 which the Lord has brought your affairs. I 
 see that his good Spirit and good providence 
 have been and are with you. I doubt not 
 but your union with Miss will be a mu- 
 
 tual blessing, and, on your part, heightened 
 by being connected with such a family. I 
 could enlarge upon this head, if my letter 
 likewise was to be burnt as soon as you have 
 read it. I look upon the friendship the Lord 
 has given me there as one of my prime privi- 
 leges, and I hope I shall always be thankful 
 that it proved a means of introducing you 
 into it. 
 
 I congratulate you likewise upon your ac- 
 cession to , not because it is a good liv- 
 
 ing, in a genteel neighbourhood, and a fine 
 country, but because I believe the Lord sends 
 you there for fulfilling the desires he has given 
 you of being useful to souls. Church-pre- 
 ferment, in any other view, is dreadful ; and 
 I would as soon congratulate a man upon 
 seeing a millstone tied about his neck, to sink 
 
 Tim. iv. 15, 16. 
 
 Well done, good servant. 
 
LET. IV. 
 
 LETTERS TO THE REV. MR. R 
 
 200 
 
 him into the depths of the sea, as upon his 
 obtaining what is called a good living, except 
 I thought him determined to spend and be 
 spent in the cause of the gospel. A parish 
 is an awful millstone indeed to those who see 
 nothing valuable in the flock but the fleece ; 
 but the Lord has impressed your heart with a 
 sense of the glory and importance of his truth, 
 and the worth of souls, and animated your 
 zeal by the most powerful motive, the know- 
 ledge of his constraining love. Your case is 
 extraordinary. Perhaps, when you review in 
 your mind the circle of your former gay ac- 
 quaintance, you may say, with Job’s servant, 
 
 I only am escaped alive:” The rest are ei- 
 ther removed into an eternal state, or are 
 still hurrying down the stream of dissipation, 
 and living without God in the world. Yet 
 there was a time when there seemed no more 
 probability on your side than on theirs, that 
 you should obtain mercy, and be called to the 
 honour of preaching the glorious gospel. You 
 are setting out wdth every possible advantage. 
 In early life, with a cheerful flow of spirits, 
 affluent circumstances, and now, to crown all, 
 the Lord gives you the very choice of your 
 heart in a partner ; one who, besides deserv- 
 ing and meeting your affection, will, I am 
 persuaded, be a real help-meet to you in your 
 spiritual walk. How much is here to be 
 thankful for ! 
 
 I trust the Lord has given you, and will 
 maintain in you, a right spirit, so as not to 
 rest in his gifts, but to hold them in connec- 
 tion with the love and favour of the giver. 
 It is a low time with us, when the greatest 
 assemblage of earthly blessings can seem to 
 satisfy us without real communion with him. 
 His grace is sufficient for you ; but undoubt- 
 edly such a scene of prosperity as seems to 
 lie before you, is full of snares, and calls for 
 a double effort of watchfulness and prayer. 
 Your situation will fix many eyes upon you, 
 and Satan will doubtless watch you, and ex- 
 amine every corner of the hedge around you, 
 to see if he can find a gap by which to enter. 
 We have but few rich gospel-ministers ; but 
 it is too evident that he has found a way to 
 damp the zeal and hurt the spirits of some of 
 those few, who for a time acted nobly, and 
 seemed to walk out of the reach of the allure- 
 ments of the world. I am not jealous of you ; 
 I feel a comfortable persuasion, that the Lord 
 has taken a fast hold of your heart, and given 
 you a fast hold of his almighty arm ; yet I 
 believe you will not be displeased with me 
 for dropping a hint of this kind, and at this 
 time. 
 
 You have heard of the trial with which the 
 Lord has been pleased to visit us : it still con- 
 tinues, though considerably alleviated. It is 
 tempered with many mercies, and I hope he 
 disposes us in a measure to submission. I 
 trust it will be for good. My dear friend you 
 are now coming into my school, where you 
 
 will learn, as occasions offer, to feel more in 
 the person of another than in your own. But 
 be not discouraged, the Lord only afflicts for 
 our good. It is necessary that our sharpest 
 trials should sometimes spring from our dear- 
 est comforts, else we should be in danger of 
 forgetting ourselves, and setting up our rest 
 here. In such a world, and with such hearts 
 as we have, we shall often need something to 
 prevent our cleaving to the dust, to quicken 
 us to prayer, and to make us feel that our 
 dependence for one hour’s peace is upon the 
 Lord alone. I am ready to think I have 
 known as much of the good and happiness 
 which this world can afford, as most people 
 who live in it. I never saw the person with 
 whom 1 wished to exchange in temporals. 
 And for many years past I have thought my 
 trials have been light and few, compared 
 with what many, or most of the Lord’s peo- 
 ple have endured. And yet, though in the 
 main possessed of my own wishes, when I 
 look back upon the twenty-seven years past, 
 I am ready to style them, with Jacob, few' and 
 evil ; and to give the sum-total of their con- 
 tents in Solomon’s words, — all is vanity'. If 
 I take these years to pieces, I see a great 
 part of them was filled up with sins, sorrows, 
 and inquietudes. The pleasures too are gone, 
 and have no more real existence than the base- 
 less fabric of a dream. The shadows of the 
 evening will soon begin to come over us; 
 and if our lives are prolonged, a thousand 
 pains and infirmities, from which the Lord 
 has in a remarkable measure exempted us 
 hitherto, will probably overtake us, and at 
 last we must feel the parting pang. Sic tran- 
 sit gloria mundi. Sin has so envenomed the 
 soil of this earth, that the amaranth will not 
 grow u*pon it. But we are hasting to a better 
 world, and to bright unclouded skies, where 
 our sun will no more go down, and where all 
 tears shall be wiped from our eyes. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 September 27, 1777. 
 
 MY DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 Mr. called upon us on Thursday even- 
 
 ing, and from that hour my thoughts, when 
 
 awake, have seldom been absent from . 
 
 Few' people are better qualified to feel for 
 you, yourself and the family excepted ; per- 
 haps there is no person living more nearly 
 
 interested in what concerns Mrs. than 
 
 myself. I could not therefore, at such a 
 time as this, refrain from writing ; and glad 
 should I be, if the Lord may help me to 
 drop a suitable word, and accompany it with 
 a blessing to you in the reading. 
 
 I am glad to be assured, though I ex- 
 pected no less, that Mrs. happily feels 
 
LET. IV. 
 
 LETTERS TO THE 
 
 herself safe in the Lord’s hand, and under 
 the care of the Good Shepherd and Saviour, 
 to whom she has often committed herself ; 
 and finds him faithful to his promise, giving 
 her strength in her soul according to her day, 
 and enabling her quietly to submit to his holy, 
 wise, and gracious will. And it is my prayer, 
 that he may strengthen you likewise, and re- 
 veal his own all-sufficiency so clearly and 
 powerfully to your heart, that you may not 
 be afraid of any event, but cheerfully rely 
 upon him, to be all that to you, in every 
 circumstance and change, which his promise 
 warrants you to expect. 
 
 I am willing to hope, that this is but a 
 short season of anxiety, appointed for the ex- 
 ercise of your faith and patience, and to give 
 you, in his good time, a signal proof of his 
 power and goodness in answering prayer. He 
 sometimes brings us into such a situation that 
 the help of creatures is utterly unavailing, 
 that we may afterwards be more clearly sen- 
 sible of his interposition. Then we experi- 
 mentally learn the vanity of all things here 
 below, and are brought to a more immediate 
 and absolute dependence upon himself. We 
 have need of having these lessons frequently 
 inculcated upon us ; but when his end is an- 
 swered, how often, after he has caused grief, 
 does he shew his great compassions, and save 
 us from our fears by an outstretched arm, 
 and such a seasonable and almost unexpected 
 relief, as constrains us to cry out, What has 
 God wrought ? and who is a God like unto 
 thee ? Such, I hope, will be the issue of 
 your present trial, and that he who gave her 
 to you at first will restore her to you again. 
 I see you in the furnace ; but the Lord is 
 sitting by it as a refiner of silver, to mode- 
 rate the fire, and manage the process, so that 
 you shall lose nothing but dross, and be 
 brought forth refined as gold, to praise his 
 name. Apparent difficulties, however great, 
 are nothing to him. If he speaks it is done ; 
 for to God the Lord belong the issues from 
 ’eath. Should his pleasure be otherwise, 
 
 REV. MR. R . 201 
 
 and should he call your dear partner to a 
 state of glory before you, still I know he is 
 able to support you. What he does, however 
 painful to the flesh, must be right, because 
 he does it. Having bought us with his blood, 
 and saved our souls from hell, he has every 
 kind of right to dispose of us and ours as 
 he pleases ; and this we are sure of, he will 
 not lay so much upon us as he freely endured 
 for us, and he can make us amends for all 
 we suffer, and for all we lose, by the light 
 of his countenance. A few years will set all 
 to rights ; and they who love him and are be- 
 loved by him, though they may suffer as others, 
 shall not sorrow as others, for the Lord will 
 be with them here, and he will soon have 
 them with him ; there all tears shall be wiped 
 from their eyes. 
 
 Perhaps I know as well how to calculate 
 the pain of such a separation as any one 
 who has not actually experienced it. Many 
 a time the desire of my eyes has been threat- 
 ened, many a time my heart has been brought 
 low ; but from what I have known at such 
 seasons, I have reason to hope, that had it 
 been his pleasure to bring upon me the thing 
 that I feared, his everlasting arm would have 
 upheld me from sinking under the stroke. As 
 ministers, we are called to comfort the Lord’s 
 afflicted people, and to tell them, the know- 
 ledge of his love is a cordial able to keep the 
 soul alive under the sharpest trials. We must 
 not wonder that he sometimes put us in a 
 way of showing that we do not deal in unfelt 
 truths, but that we find ourselves that solid 
 consolation in the gospel which we encou- 
 rage others to expect from it. You have 
 now such an occasion of glorifying the Lord, 
 I pray he may enable you to improve it, and 
 that all around you may see that he is with 
 you, and that his good word is the support 
 and anchor of your soul. Then I am sure, 
 if it upon the whole is best for you, he will 
 give you the desire of your heart, and you 
 shall yet live to praise him together. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
LETTER 
 
 TO 
 
 THE REVEREND Mr. O 
 
 April 3, 1759. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 You see I have prevented you in your pro- 
 mise of writing first ; and, having found a 
 
 pretext for troubling Mr. , I was willing 
 
 to venture upon you without any, unless you 
 will let me plead a desire of shewing you how 
 welcome your correspondence vrould be to 
 me. 1 know not if my heart was ever more 
 mited to any person, in so short a space of 
 time, than to you ; and what engaged me so 
 much was, the spirit of meekness and of love 
 (that peculiar and inimitable mark of true 
 Christianity) which I observed in you. I 
 mean it not to your praise. May all the 
 praise be to him, from whom every good and 
 perfect gift cometh, who alone maketh the 
 best to differ from the worst ; but I think I 
 may well mention, to your encouragement, 
 that all who conversed with you greatly re- 
 gret your speedy departure ; and I am per- 
 suaded the same temper, the same candour, 
 will make you acceptable, honourable, and 
 useful, wherever you go. Blessed are the 
 poor in spirit, the meek, the merciful, and the 
 peace-makers ; they shall obtain the mercy 
 they want, and possess the peace they love. 
 They shall inherit the earth. The earth, sin- 
 ful and miserable as it is, shall be worthy to 
 be called an inheritance to them, for they shall 
 enjoy a comparative heaven in it. They shall 
 be called the children of God, though digni- 
 fied with no title among men. Alas, how 
 much are these things overlooked, even by 
 many who, I would hope, are real believers ! 
 Methinks a very different spirit from that of 
 the church of Laodicea, is to be seen amongst 
 us, though perhaps it is not easy to say which 
 is the best of the two. That was neither cold 
 nor hot, this ( mirabile dictu ) is both cold and 
 hot at once, and both to the extreme. Hot, 
 hasty, and arbitrary in those few things where 
 
 mediocrity is a virtue ; but cool and remiss 
 in those great points, where the application 
 of the whole heart, and soul, and mind, and 
 strength, is so absolutely necessary, and so 
 positively enjoined. Surely there is too much 
 room for this observation, and I perhaps stand 
 self-condemned in making it. 
 
 I hope you will take opportunity to im- 
 prove your interest in Mr. by letter. He 
 
 expressed much satisfaction in the hour he 
 spent with you before you sailed, and a great 
 regard for you ; therefore would, I doubt 
 not, give you a fair hearing ; and the phrase 
 litera scripta manet is true in more senses than 
 one. He makes such large concessions some- 
 times, that I am apt to think he is conscious 
 of the weakness of his ow n argument ; and 
 then he is as so.on angry with himself for com- 
 plying so far, and flies off to the other ex- 
 treme. Yet, for the most part, wdien he speaks 
 plain, and is not restrained by complaisance 
 for particular persons, he appears not only a 
 stranger to experimental religion, but averse 
 to the notion, and generally inclined to treat 
 it with levity. His obstacles are very many 
 and very great ; his reputation as a learned 
 man, his years, his regular life, and perhaps, 
 above all, his performances in print, especially 
 his last book, are so many barriers that must 
 be broke through before conviction can reach 
 him. But the grace of God can do all this 
 and more ; and indeed, when I think of the 
 many truly valuable parts of his character, 
 and the indefatigable pains he has taken in 
 his researches after truth, I am willing to 
 hope, that the Lord will at length teach him 
 the true wisdom, and enable him, however 
 hard it may seem, to give up his own attain- 
 ments, and sit down like a little child at the 
 feet of Jesus. 
 
 I hope to hear soon and often from you. 1 
 number my Christian correspondents among 
 
LETTER TO THE REV. MR. O . 
 
 my principal blessings, a few judicious pious 
 friends, to whom, when I can get leisure to 
 write, I send my heart by turns. I can trust 
 tliem with my inmost sentiments, and can write 
 with no more disguise than I think. I shall 
 rejoice to add you to the number, if you can 
 agree to take me as I am, as I think you will, 
 and suffer me to commit my whole self to 
 paper, without respect to names, parties, and 
 sentiments. I endeavour to observe my Lord’s 
 commands, to call no man master upon earth ; 
 yet I desire to own and honour the image of 
 God wherever I find it. I dare not say I 
 have no bigotry, for I know not myself ; and 
 remember, to my shame, that formerly, 
 when I ignorantly professed myself free from 
 it, I was indeed over-run with it ; but this I 
 can say, I allow it not : I strive and pray 
 
 against it ; and thus far, by the grace of God, 
 I have attained, that I find my heart as much 
 united to many who differ from me in some 
 points, as to any who agree with me in all. 
 I set no value upon any doctrinal truth, far- 
 ther than it has a tendency to promote practi - 
 cal holiness. If others should think those 
 things hinderances which I judge to be helps 
 in this respect, I am content they should go 
 on in their own way, according to the light 
 God has given them, provided they will agree 
 with me *» ru rretvuyxu. If it should be ask- 
 ed, which are the necessary things ? I answer, 
 Those in which the spiritual worshippers of 
 all ages and countries have been agreed. 
 Those, on the contrary, are mere subordinate 
 matters, in which the best men, those who 
 have been the most eminent for faith, prayer, 
 humility, and nearness to God, always have 
 been, and still are, divided in their judg- 
 ments. Upon this plan I should think it 
 no hard matter to draw up a form of sound 
 words (whether dignified with the name of a 
 creed or no, I care not), to which true be- 
 lievers of all sorts and sizes would unani- 
 mously subscribe. Suppose it ran something 
 
 203 
 
 in the following manner : — I believe that sin 
 is the most hateful thing in the world ; that I 
 and all men are by nature in a state of wrath 
 and depravity, utterly unable to sustain the 
 penalty, or to fulfil the commands of God’s 
 holy law ; and that we have no sufficiency of 
 ourselves to think a good thought. I believe 
 that Jesus Christ is the chief among ten 
 thousands ; that he came into the world to 
 save the chief of sinners, by making a propi- 
 tiation for sin by his death, by paying a per- 
 fect obedience to the law in our behalf ; and 
 that he is now exalted on high, to give re- 
 pentance and remission of sins to all that be- 
 lieve ; and that he ever liveth to make inter- 
 cession for us. I believe that the Holy Spi- 
 rit (the gift of God through Jesus Christ) is 
 the sure and only guide into all truth, and 
 the common privilege of all believers ; and 
 under his influence, I believe the holy scrip- 
 tures are able to make us wise unto salvation, 
 and to furnish us thoroughly for every good 
 work. I believe that love to God, and to 
 man, for God’s sake, is the essence of re- 
 ligion, and the fulfilling of the law ; that 
 without holiness no man shall see the Lord ; 
 that those who, by a patient course in well- 
 doing, seek glory, honour, and immortality, 
 shall receive eternal life ; and I believe that 
 this reward is not of debt, but of grace, even 
 to the praise and glory of that grace where- 
 by he has made us accepted in the Beloved. 
 Amen. 
 
 I pretend not to accuracy in this hasty 
 draught ; they are only outlines, which, if 
 you please to retouch, and fill up at your lei- 
 sure, I hope you will favour me with a sight 
 of it. I fear I have tired you, and shall only 
 add my prayers, that the Lord may be with 
 you, and crown your labours of love with suc- 
 cess, that you may hereafter shine among those 
 who have been instrumental in turning many 
 to righteousness. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
LETTERS 
 
 TO 
 
 THE REVEREND Mr. P 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 The account which I received by Mr. C , 
 
 and by the letter which he brought from you, 
 of your welfare and the welfare of your peo- 
 ple, was very pleasing, though indeed no more 
 than I expected. I believed, from the first of 
 
 your going to S , that you would like the 
 
 people, and I believed the Lord had given 
 you that frame of spirit which he has promis- 
 ed to bless. What reason have we to praise 
 him for the knowledge of his gospel, and for 
 the honour of being called to preach it to 
 others ! and likewise that he has been pleased 
 to cast your lot and mine amongst a people 
 who value it, and to crown our poor labours 
 with some measure of acceptance and useful- 
 ness. How b’ttle did we think, in the un- 
 awakened part of our life, to what it was his 
 good pleasure to reserve us ! 
 
 The Lord is pleased, in a measure, to show 
 me the suitableness and necessity of an hum- 
 ble dependent frame of heart, a ceasing from 
 self, and a reliance upon him in the due use 
 of appointed means ; I am far from having 
 attained, but I hope I am pressing, at least 
 seeking after it. I wish to speak the word 
 simply and experimentally, and to be so en- 
 gaged with the importance of the subject, the 
 worth of souls, and the thought that I am 
 speaking in the name and presence of the 
 Most High God, as that I might, if possible, 
 forget every thing else. This would be an 
 attainment indeed ! More good might be ex- 
 pected from a broken discourse, delivered in 
 such a frame, than from the most advanta- 
 geous display of knowledge and gifts with- 
 out it. Not that I would undervalue pro- 
 priety and pertinence of expression ; it is our 
 duty to study to find out acceptable words, 
 
 and to endeavour to appear as workmen that 
 need not be ashamed ; but those who have 
 most ability in this way, have need of a dou- 
 ble guard of grace and wisdom, lest they be 
 tempted to trust in it, or to value themselves 
 upon it. They that trust in the Lord shall 
 never be moved ; and they that abase them- 
 selves before him, he will exalt. I am well 
 persuaded that your conduct and views have 
 been agreeable to these sentiments ; and there- 
 fore the Lord has supported, encouraged, and 
 owned you ; and I trust he will still bless 
 you, and make you a blessing to many. He 
 that walketh humbly walketh surely. 
 
 Believe me to be, &c. 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 August 14, 1770. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, 
 
 Your letter did me good when I received it, 
 at least gave me much pleasure ; and I think 
 it has given me a lift while I have been just 
 now reading it. I know not that I ever had 
 those aw'fui views of sin which you speak of ; 
 and though I believe I should be better for 
 them, I dare not seriously wish for them. 
 There is a petition w'hich I have heard in 
 public prayer, “ Lord, show us the evil of our 
 hearts.” To this petition I cannot venture to 
 set my Amen, at least not without a quali- 
 fication. Shew me enough of thyself to ba- 
 lance the view, and then show' me what thou 
 pleasest. I think I have a very clear and 
 strong conviction in my judgment, that I am 
 vile and worthless, that my heart is full of 
 evil, only evil, and that continually. I know 
 
205 
 
 LETTERS TO THE REV. MR. P- 
 
 LET. III. 
 
 something of it too experimentally ; and there- 
 fore, judging of the whole by the sample, 
 though I am not suitably affected with what 
 I do see, I tremble at the thought of seeing 
 more. A man may look with some pleasure 
 upon the sea in a storm, provided he stands 
 safe upon the land himself ; but to be upon 
 the sea in a storm, is quite another thing. 
 And yet surely the coldness, worldliness, 
 pride, and twenty other evils under which I 
 groan, owe much of their strength to the want 
 of that feeling sense of my own abominations 
 with which you have been favoured : — I say 
 favoured ; for I doubt not but the Lord gave 
 it you in mercy, and that it has proved, and 
 will prove, a mercy to you, to make you 
 more humble, spiritual, and dependent, as 
 well as to increase your ability for preaching 
 the gospel of his grace. Upon these accounts, 
 I can assure you, that upon a first reading, 
 and till I stopped a moment to count the 
 cost, I was ready to envy you all that you 
 had felt. I often seem to know what the 
 scriptures teach, both of sin and grace, as 
 if I knew them not : so faint and languid are 
 my perceptions, I often seem to think and 
 ralk of sin without any sorrow, and of grace 
 without any joy. 
 
 I have had some people awakened by dreams, 
 as you had by streamers ; but, for ought I 
 know, we are no less instrumental to the good 
 of these, than to any other person, upon whom, 
 when we look, our hearts are ready to exult, 
 and say, See what the Lord has done by me. 
 
 I do not think that, strictly speaking, all the 
 streamers of the north are able to awaken a 
 dead soul. I suppose people may be terrified 
 by them, and made thoughtful, but awakened 
 only by the word. The streamers either sent 
 them to hear the gospel, or roused them to at- 
 tend to it ; but it was the knowledge of the 
 truth brought home to the heart, that did the 
 business. Perhaps the streamers reminded 
 them of what they had heard from you before. 
 Two persons here, who lived like heathens, 
 and never came to church, were alarmed bv 
 some terrifying dreams, and came out to hear- 
 ing forthwith. There the Lord was pleased 
 to meet with them. One of them died tri- 
 umphing ; the other, I hope, will do so when 
 her time comes. Whatever means, instru- 
 ments, or occasions he is pleased to employ, 
 ti e work is all his own ; and I trust you and 
 I are made willing to give him all the glory, 
 and to sink into the dust at the thought that 
 he should ever permit us to take his holy name 
 in our polluted lips. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 June 13, 1772. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, 
 
 You say that your experience agrees with mine. 
 It must be so, because our hearts are alike. 
 The heart is deceitful and desperately wick- 
 ed, destitute of good, and prone to evil. This 
 is the character of mankind universally, and 
 those who are made partakers of grace are re- 
 newed but in part ; the evil nature still cleaves 
 to them, and the root of sin, though mortifi- 
 ed, is far from being dead. While the cause 
 remains it will have its effects, and while we 
 are burdened with the body of this death, we 
 must groan under it. But we need not be 
 swallowed up with overmuch sorrow, since 
 we have in Jesus, a Saviour, a righteousness, 
 an advocate, a shepherd. “ He knows our 
 frame, and remembers that we are but dust.” 
 If sin abounds in us, grace abounds much 
 more in him ; nor would he suffer sin to re - 
 main in his people, if he did not know how 
 to over-rule it, and make it an occasion o, 
 endearing his love and grace so much the 
 more to their souls. The Lord forbid that 
 we should plead his goodness as an encourage- 
 ment to sloth and indifference. Humilia- 
 tion, godly sorrow, and self-abasement become 
 us ; but at the same time, we may rejoice in 
 the Lord. Though sin remains, it shall not 
 have dominion over us ; though it wars in us, 
 it shall not prevail against us. We have a 
 mercy-seat sprinkled with blood, we have an 
 advocate with the Father, we are called to 
 this warfare, and we fight under the eye of 
 the Captain of our salvation, who is always 
 near to renew our strength, to heal our 
 wounds, and to cover our heads in the heat 
 of battle. As ministers, we preach to those 
 who have like passions and infirmities with 
 ourselves, and by our own feelings, fears, and 
 changes, we learn to speak a word in season 
 to them that are weary, to warn those who 
 stand, and to stretch out a hand of compas- 
 sion towards them that are fallen ; and to 
 commend it to others, from our own experi- 
 ence, as a faithful saying, that Jesus came to 
 save the chief of sinners. Besides, if the 
 Lord is pleased to give us some liberty, ac- 
 ceptance, and success in preaching the gospel, 
 we should be in great danger of running mad 
 with spiritual pride, if the Lord did not per- 
 mit us to feel the depravity and vileness of 
 our hearts, and thereby keep us from forget- 
 ting what we are in ourselves. 
 
 With regard to your young people, you 
 must expect to meet with some disappoint- 
 ment. Perhaps not every one of whom you 
 have conceived hopes will stand, and some 
 who do belong to the Lord are permitted to 
 make sad mistakes for their future humilia- 
 tion. It is our part to watch, warn, and ad- 
 
LET. IV 
 
 206 LETTERS TO THE 
 
 monish, and we ought likewise to be concern- 
 ed for those slips and miscarriages which we 
 cannot prevent. A minister, if faithful, and 
 of a right spirit, can have no greater joy than 
 to see his people walking honourably and 
 steadily in the truth ; and hardly any thing 
 will give him more sensible grief, than to see 
 any of them taken in Satan’s wiles. Yet still 
 the gospel brings relief here. He is wiser 
 than we are, and knows how to make those 
 things subservient to promote his work, which 
 we ought to guard against as evils and hin- 
 drances. We are to use the means. He is 
 to rule the whole. If the faults of some are 
 made warnings to others, and prove in the 
 end occasions of illustrating the riches of di- 
 vine grace, this should reconcile us to what 
 we cannot help, though such considerations 
 should not slacken our diligence in sounding 
 an alarm, and reminding our hearers of their 
 continual danger. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER IV 
 
 Jan. 26, 1775. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 I LATELY read, in the fifth volume of the 
 Morning Exercises, a sermon of Mr. Baxter’s, 
 on Matth. v. 1 6. My mind is something im- 
 pressed with the subject, and with his manner 
 of treating it. Some of Mr. Baxter’s senti- 
 ments in divinity are rather cloudy, and he 
 sometimes, upon that account, met with but 
 poor quarter from the staunch Calvinists of 
 his day. But, by what I have read of him, 
 where he is quiet, and not ruffled by contro- 
 versy, he appears to me, notwithstanding some 
 mistakes, to have been one of the greatest 
 men of his age, and perhaps in fervour, spiri- 
 tuality, and success, more than equal, both as a 
 minister and a Christian, to some twenty taken 
 together, of those who affect to undervalue 
 him in this present day. There is a spirit in 
 some passages of his “ Saints Rest,” his 
 “ Dying Thoughts,” and other of his practical 
 treatises, compared with which, many modern 
 compositions, though well written and well 
 meant, appear to me to great disadvantage. 
 But I was speaking of his sermon. He points 
 out the way at which we should aim to let 
 our light shine in the world, for the glory of 
 God, and the conviction and edification of 
 men. I have mentioned where it is to be 
 found, that, if you have the Morning Exer- 
 cises, or if they should come in your way, 
 you may look at it. I think you would like 
 it. The perusal suggested to me some in- 
 struction, and much reproof. Alas ! my 
 friend, are we not too often chargeable with a 
 sad, shameful selfishness and narrowness of 
 spirit, far, very far different from that acti- 
 vity, enlargement, and generosity of soul, 
 
 REV. MR. P 
 
 which such a gospel as we have received 
 might be expected to produce ? For myself 
 I must plead guilty. It seems as if my heart 
 was always awake, and keenly sensible to my 
 own concernments, while those of my Lord 
 and Master affect me much less forcibly, at 
 least only by intervals. Were a stranger to 
 judge of me by what I sometimes say in the 
 pulpit, he might think that, like the angels, I 
 had but two things in view — to do the will of 
 God, and to behold his face. But, alas ! 
 would he not be almost as much mistaken, 
 
 as if, seeing Mr. G in the character of a 
 
 tragedy-hero, he should suppose him to be 
 the very person whom he only represents ? I 
 hope Satan will never be able to persuade me 
 that I am a mere hypocrite and stage-player ; 
 but sure I am, that there is so much hypo- 
 crisy in me, so many littlenesses and self- 
 seekings insinuating into my plan of conduct, 
 that I have humbling cause to account my- 
 self unworthy and unprofitable, and to say, 
 “ Enter not into judgment with thy servant, 
 O Lord,” I have some tolerable idea of 
 what a Christian ought to be, and it is, I hope, 
 what I desire to be. A Christian should be 
 conformable to Christ in his spirit and in his 
 practice; that is, he should be spiritually- 
 minded, dead to the world, filled with zeal for 
 the glory of God, the spread of the gospel, 
 and the good of souls. He should be hum. 
 ble, patient, meek, cheerful, thankful under 
 all events and changes. He should account 
 it the business and honour of his life to imi- 
 tate him, who pleased not himself, who went 
 about doing good, and has expressed to us 
 the very feelings of his heart, in that divine 
 aphorism, which surpasses all the fine admir- 
 ed sayings of the philosophers, as much as 
 the sun outshines a candle, “ It is more bles- 
 sed to give than to receive.” The whole de- 
 portment of a Christian should shew that the 
 knowledge of Jesus, which he has received 
 from the gospel, affords him all he could ex- 
 pect from it, — a balm for every grief, an a- 
 mends for every loss, a motive for every duty, 
 a restraint from every evil, a pattern for every 
 thing which he is called to do or suffer, and 
 a principle sufficient to constitute the actions 
 of every day, even in common life, acts of 
 religion. He should (as the children of 
 this world are wise to do in their generation) 
 make every occurrence through which he 
 passes subservient and subordinate to his 
 main design. Gold is the worldly man’s 
 god, and his worship and service are uni 
 form and consistent, not by fits and starts, 
 but from morning to night, from the begin- 
 ning to the end of the year, he is the same 
 man. He will not slip an opportunity of 
 adding to his pelf to-day, because he may 
 have another to-morrow, but he heartily and 
 eagerly embraces both ; and so far as he car- 
 ries his point, though his perseverance may 
 expose him to the ridicule or reproach of his 
 
LET. V. 
 
 LETTERS TO THE REV. MR. P . 207 
 
 neighbours, he thinks himself well paid, and 
 says, 
 
 Populus me sibilat ; at mihi plaudo 
 
 Ipse domi, simul nummus contemplor in acra. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER V 
 
 Jan. — 1776 . 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 I MAY learn, only I am a sad dunce, by small 
 and common incidents, as well as by some 
 more striking and important turns in life, 
 that it is not in man that walketh to direct 
 his steps. It is not for me to say, To-day 
 or to-morrow I will do this or that. I can- 
 not write a letter to a friend without leave or 
 without help, for neither opportunity nor abi- 
 lity are at my own disposal. It is not need- 
 ful that the Lord should raise a mountain in 
 my way to stop my purpose ; if he only with- 
 draw a certain kind of imperceptible support, 
 which in general I have, and use without duly 
 considering whose it is, then, in a moment, 
 I feel myself unstrung and disabled, like a 
 ship that has lost her masts, and cannot pro- 
 ceed till he is pleased to refit me and re- 
 new my strength. My pride and propensity 
 to self-dependence render frequent changes 
 of this kind necessary to me, or I should 
 soon forget what I am, and sacrifice to my 
 own drag. Therefore, upon the whole, I 
 am satisfied, and see it best, that I should 
 be absolutely poor and pennyless in myself, 
 and forced to depend upon the Lord for the 
 smallest things as well as the greatest. And 
 if, by his blessing, my experience should at 
 length tally with my judgment in this point, 
 that without him I can do nothing, then I 
 know I shall find it easy, through him, to 
 do all things, for the door of his mercy is 
 always open, and it is but Ask and have. 
 But, alas ! a secret persuasion (though con- 
 trary to repeated convictions) that I have 
 something at home, too often prevents me 
 from going to him for it, and then no wonder 
 I am disappointed. The life of faith seems so 
 simple and easy in theory, that I can point 
 it out to others in few words ; but in prac- 
 tice it is very difficult, and my advances are 
 so slow that I hardly dare say I get forward 
 at all. It is a great thing indeed to have 
 the spirit of a little child, so as to be habi- 
 tually afraid of taking a single step without 
 leading. 
 
 I have heard of you more than once since 
 I heard from you, and am glad to know the 
 Lord is still with you ; I trust he has not 
 withdrawn wholly from us. We have much 
 call for thankfulness and much for humilia- 
 tion. Some have been removed, some are 
 evidently ripening for glory, and now and 
 then we have a new' inquirer. But the pro- 
 
 gress of wickedness amongst the unconverted 
 here is awful. Convictions, repeatedly stifled 
 in many, have issued in a hardness and bold- 
 ness in sinning which I believe is seldom 
 found but in those places where the light of 
 the gospel has been long resisted and abused. 
 If my eyes suitably affected my heart, I 
 should weep day and night upon this account, 
 but, alas ! I am too indifferent. I feel a 
 woeful defect in my zeal for God and com- 
 passion for souls ; and when Satan and con- 
 science charge me with cowardice, treachery, 
 and stupidity, I know not what to reply. I 
 am generally carried through my public work 
 with some liberty; and, because I am not put 
 to shame before the people, I seem content and 
 satisfied. I wish to be more thankful for 
 what the Lord is pleased to do amongst us, 
 but, at the same time, to be more earnest 
 with him for a farther out-pouring of his Spi- 
 rit. Assist me herein with your prayers. 
 
 As to my own private experience, the ene- 
 my is not suffered to touch the foundation of 
 my faith and hope: thus far I have peace. 
 But my conflicts and exercises with the ef- 
 fects of indwelling sin are very distressing. 
 I cannot doubt of my state and acceptance, 
 and yet it seems no one can have more cause 
 for doubts and fears than myself, if such 
 doubtings were at all encouraged by the gos- 
 pel : but I see they are not ; I see that what 
 I want and hope £or, the Lord promises to 
 do, for his own name’s sake, and with a non 
 obstante to all my vileness and perversion ; 
 and I cannot question but he has given me 
 (for how else could I have it ?) a thirst for 
 that communion with him, in love and con- 
 formity to his image, of which, as yet, I 
 have experienced but very faint and imperfect 
 beginnings. But if he has begun, I venture, 
 upon his word, that he will not forsake the 
 work of his own hands. 
 
 On public affairs I say but little. Many 
 are censuring men and measures, but I would 
 lay all the blame upon sin. It appears plain 
 to me that the Lord has a controversy with us, 
 and therefore I fear what we have yet seen is 
 but the beginning of sorrows. I am ready to 
 dread the event of this summer ; but I re- 
 member the Lord reigns. He has his own 
 glory and the good of his church in view, and 
 will not be disappointed. He knows how 
 likewise to take care of those who fear him. 
 I wish there was more sighing and mourning 
 amongst professors, for the sins of the nation 
 and the churches. But I must conclude, and 
 am, &c. 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 No very considerable alteration has taken place 
 since I wrote, except the death of Mrs. L . 
 
LET. VII. 
 
 208 LETTERS TO THE 
 
 who was removed to a better world in Sep- 
 tember last. The latter part of her course 
 was very painful ; but the Lord made her 
 more than conqueror, and she had good cause 
 to apply the apostle’s words, 2 Tim. iv. 7, 8. 
 She repeated that passage in her last illness, 
 and chose it for her funeral text. She was a 
 Christian indeed. Her faith was great, and 
 so were her trials. Now she is above them 
 all, now she is before the throne. The good 
 Lord help us to be followers of those who, 
 through faith and patience, have attained to 
 the hope set before them. 
 
 The number of professors still increases with 
 us, and a greater number of persons affords a 
 greater variety of cases, and gives greater scope 
 to observe the workings of the heart and Sa- 
 tan. For seven years I had to say, that I 
 had not seen a person of whom I had con- 
 ceived a good hope go back, but I have 
 met with a few disappointments since. How- 
 ever, upon the whole, I trust the Lord is still 
 with us. The enemy tries to disturb and de- 
 file us, and if the Lord did not keep the city, 
 the poor watchman would wake in vain. But 
 the eye that never slumbereth nor sleepeth has 
 been upon us for good ; and, though we have 
 cause of humiliation and complaint, we have 
 likewise much cause of thankfulness. My 
 health is still preserved ; and I hope that the 
 Lord does not suffer my desires of personal 
 communion with him, and of usefulness in 
 the ministry, to decline. He supplies me 
 with fresh strength and matter in my public 
 work : I hear now and then of one brought 
 to inquire the way ; and his presence is at 
 times made known to many in the ordi- 
 nances. 
 
 To combine zeal with prudence is indeed 
 difficult There is often too much self in our 
 zeal, and too much of the fear of man in our 
 prudence. However, what we cannot attain 
 by any skill or resolution of our own, we may 
 hope in measure to receive from him who giv- 
 eth liberally to those who seek him, and de- 
 sire to serve him. Prudence is a word much 
 abused, but there is a heavenly wisdom which 
 the Lord has promised to give to those who 
 humbly wait upon him for it. It does not 
 consist in forming a bundle of rules and 
 maxims, but in a spiritual taste and discern- 
 ment, derived from an experimental know- 
 ledge of the truth, and of the heart of man 
 as described in the word of God ; and its ex- 
 ercise consists much in a simple dependence 
 upon the Lord, to guide and prompt us in 
 every action. We seldom act wrong when we 
 truly depend upon him, and can cease from 
 leaning to our own understanding. When 
 the heart is thus in a right tune and frame, 
 and his word dwells richly in us, there is a 
 kind of immediate perception of what is pro- 
 per for us to do in present circumstances, 
 without much painful inquiry : a light shines 
 before us upon the path of duty ; and, if he 
 
 REV. MR. P . 
 
 permits us in such a spirit to make some mis- 
 takes, he will likewise teach us to profit by 
 them, and our reflections upon what was 
 wrong one day will make us to act more 
 wisely the next. At the best we must always 
 expect to meet with new proofs of our own 
 weakness and insufficiency, otherwise how 
 should we be kept humble, or know how to 
 prize the liberty he allows us of coming to 
 the throne of grace for fresh forgiveness and 
 direction every day ? But if he enables us 
 to walk before him with a single eye, he will 
 graciously accept our desire of serving him 
 better if we could, and his blessing will make 
 our feeble endeavours in some degree suc- 
 cessful, at the same time that we see defects 
 and evils attending our best services, suffi 
 cient to make us ashamed of them. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER VII. 
 
 January 11, 1777. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 We all need, and at the seasons the Lord 
 sees best we all receive chastisement. I hope 
 you likewise have reason to praise him, for 
 supporting, sanctifying, and delivering mercy. 
 The coward flesh presently shrinks under the 
 rod, but faith need not fear it, for it is in the 
 1 hand of one who loves us better than we dc 
 ourselves, and who knows our frame, that we 
 are but dust, and therefore will not suffer us 
 to be overdone and overwhelmed. 
 
 I feel as a friend should feel for Mr. B ; 
 
 were I able I would soon send him health. 
 If the Lord, who is able to remove his illnesa 
 in a minute, permits it to continue, we may 
 be sure, upon the whole, it will be better for 
 him. It is, however, very lawful to pray 
 that his health may be restored and his use- 
 fulness prolonged. I beg you to give my 
 love to him, and tell him that my heart bears 
 him an affectionate remembrance ; and I 
 know the God whom he serves will make 
 every dispensation supportable and profitable 
 to him. 
 
 If, as you observe, the Song of Solomon 
 describes the experience of his church, it shews 
 the dark as well as the bright side. No one 
 part of it is the experience of every individual 
 at any particular time. Some are in his ban- 
 queting-house, others upon their beds. Some 
 sit under his banner, supported by his arm, 
 •while others have a faint perception of him at 
 a distance, with many a hill and mountain 
 between. In one thing, however, they all 
 agree, tnat he is the leading object of their 
 desires, and that they have had such a disco- 
 very of his person, work, and love, jis makes 
 him precious to their hearts. Their judgment 
 of him is always the same, but their sensibi- 
 
LET. VII. 
 
 lity varies. The love they bear him, though 
 rooted and grounded in their hearts, is not 
 always equal in exercise, nor can it be so. We 
 are like trees, which, though alive, cannot 
 put forth their leaves and fruit without the 
 influence of the sun. They are alive in win- 
 ter as well as in summer ; but how different 
 is their appearance in these different seasons ! 
 Were we always alike, could we always be- 
 lieve, love, and rejoice, we should think the 
 power inherent, and our own ; but it is more 
 for the Lord’s glory, and more suited to form 
 us to a -temper becoming the gospel, that we 
 should be made deeply sensible of our own 
 inability and dependence, than that we should 
 be always in a lively frame. I am persuaded 
 a broken and a contrite spirit, a conviction of 
 our vileness and nothingness, connected with 
 a cordial acceptance of Jesus as revealed in 
 the gospel, is the highest attainment we can 
 reach in this life. Sensible comforts are de- 
 sireable, and we must be sadly declined when 
 they do not appear so to us; but I believe 
 there may be a real exercise of faith and 
 growth in grace, when our sensible feelings 
 
 209 
 
 are faint and low. A soul may be in as 
 thriving a state, when thirsting, seeking, and 
 mourning after the Lord, as when actually 
 rejoicing in him, as much in earnest when 
 fighting in the valley as when singing upon 
 the mount ; nay, dark seasons afford the surest 
 and strongest manifestations of the power of 
 faith. To hold fast the word of promise, to 
 maintain a hatred of sin, to go on steadfastly 
 in the path of duty, in defiance both of the 
 frowns and the smiles of the world, when we 
 have but little comfort, is a more certain evi- 
 dence of grace than a thousand things which 
 we may do or forbear when our spirits are 
 warm and lively. I have seen many who 
 have been upon the whole but uneven walkers, 
 though at times they seemed to enjoy, at least 
 have talked of great comforts. I have seen 
 others, for the most part, complain of much 
 darkness and coldness, who have been re- 
 markably humble, tender, and exemplary in 
 their spirit and conduct. Surely, were I to 
 chuse my lot, it should be with the latter. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTERS TO THE REV. MR. P 
 
LETTERS 
 
 TO MRS. G 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 June 20, 1776. 
 
 MADAM, 
 
 It would be both unkind and ungrateful in 
 me, to avail myself of any plea of business, for 
 delaying the acknowledgment I owe you for 
 
 your acceptable favour from , which, 
 
 though dated the 6th instant, I did not re- 
 ceive till the 10th. 
 
 Could I have known in time that you were 
 
 at Mr. ’s, I should have endeavoured to 
 
 have called upon you while there ; and very 
 glad should I have been to have seen you with 
 us. But they who fear the Lord may be 
 sure, that whatever is not practicable is not 
 necessary. He could have over-ruled every 
 difficulty in your way, had he seen it expe- 
 dient; but he is pleased to shew you, that 
 you depend not upon men, but upon himself : 
 and that, notwithstanding your connections 
 may exclude you from some advantages in 
 point of outward mfeans, he who has begun a 
 good work in you, is able to carry it on, in 
 defiance of all seeming hindrances, and make 
 all things (even those which have the most un- 
 favourable appearances) work together for 
 your good. 
 
 A sure effect of his grace, is a desire and 
 longing for gospel-ordinances ; and when they 
 are afforded, they cannot be neglected with- 
 out loss. But the Lord sees many souls who 
 are dear to him, and whom he is training up 
 in a growing meetness for his kingdom, who 
 are by his providence so situated, that it is not 
 in their power to attend upon gospel preach- 
 ing; and perhaps they have seldom either 
 Christian minister or Christian friend to assist 
 or comfort them. Such a situation is a state 
 of trial ; but Jesus is all-sufficient, and he is 
 always near. They cannot be debarred from 
 his word of grace, which is every where at 
 hand, nor from his throne of grace ; for they 
 who feel their need of him, and whose hearts are 
 
 drawn towards him, are always at the foot ol 
 it. Every room in the house, yea, every spot 
 they stand on, fields, lanes, and hedge-rows, 
 all is holy ground to them ; for the Lord is 
 there. The chief difference between us, and 
 the disciples when our Saviour was upon 
 earth, is in this : They then walked by sight, 
 and we are called to walk by faith. They 
 could see him with their bodily eyes, we can- 
 not ; but he said before he left them, “ It is 
 expedient for you that I go away.” How 
 could this be, unless that spiritual commun- 
 ion which he promised to maintain with his 
 people after his ascension, were preferable to 
 that intercourse he allowed them whilst he was 
 visibly with them ? But we are sure it is pre- 
 ferable, and they who had tried both were well 
 satisfied he had made good his promise ; so 
 that though they had known him after the 
 flesh, they were content not to know him so 
 any more. Yes, Madam, though we cannot 
 see him, he sees us ; he is nearer to us than we 
 are to ourselves. In a natural state, we have 
 very dark, and indeed dishonourable thoughts 
 of God : we conceive of him as at a distance ; 
 but when the heart is awakened, we begin to 
 make Jacob’s reflection, “ Surely the Lord 
 is in this place, and I knew it not.” And 
 when we receive faith, we begin to know that 
 this ever present God is in Christ ; that the go- 
 vernment of heaven and earth, the dispensa- 
 tions of the kingdom of nature, providence, 
 and grace, are in the hands of Jesus, that it is 
 he with whom we have to do, who once suffer- 
 ed agony and death for our redemption, and 
 whose compassion and tenderness are the 
 same, now he reigns over all blessed for ever, 
 as when he conversed amongst men in the days 
 of his humiliation. Thus God is made known 
 to us by the gospel, in the endearing views of 
 a Saviour, a Shepherd, a Husband, a Friend ; 
 and a way of access is opened for us through 
 
let. I. 
 
 LETTERS TO MRS. G 
 
 the vail, that is, the human nature, of our Re- 
 deemer, to enter, with humble confidence, 
 into the holiest of all, and to repose all our 
 cares and concerns upon the strength of that 
 everlasting arm which upholds heaven and 
 earth, and upon that infinite love which sub- 
 mitted to the shame, pain, and death of the 
 cross, to redeem sinners from wrath and mi- 
 sery. 
 
 Though there is a height, a breadth, a 
 length, and a depth, in this mystery of re- 
 deeming love, exceeding the comprehension 
 of all finite minds ; yet the great and leading 
 principles which are necessary for the support 
 and comfort of our souls, may be summed up 
 in a very few words. Such a summary we 
 are favoured with in Titus ii. 11 — 14, where 
 the whole of salvation, all that is needful to be 
 known, experienced, practised, and hoped for, 
 is comprised within the compass of four verses. 
 If many books, much study, and great discern- 
 ment, were necessary in order to be happy, what 
 must the poor and simple do? Yet for them 
 especially is the gospel designed ; and few 
 but such as these attain the knowledge and 
 comfort of it. The Bible is a sealed book 
 till the heart be awakened, and then he that 
 runs may read. The propositions are few : I am 
 a sinner, therefore I need a Saviour, one who 
 is able and willing to save to the uttermost : 
 such a one is Jesus ; he is all that I want, 
 wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and re- 
 demption. But will he receive me ? Can I 
 answer a previous question ? Ami will- 
 ing to receive him ? If so, and if his word 
 may be taken, if he meant what he said, and 
 promised no more than he can perform, I may 
 be sure of a welcome. He knew long before, 
 the doubts, fears, and suspicions, which would 
 arise in my mind when I should come to 
 know what I am, what I have done, and what 
 I have deserved ; and therefore he declared, 
 before he left the earth, “ Him that cometh to 
 me, I will in no wise cast out.” I have no 
 money or price in my hand, no worthiness to 
 recommend me; and I need none, for he 
 saveth freely for his own name’s sake. I have 
 only to be thankful for what he has already 
 shewn me, and to wait upon him for more. 
 It is my part to commit myself to him as the 
 physician of sin-sick souls, not to prescribe to 
 him how he shall treat me. To begin, carry 
 on, and perfect the cure, is his part. 
 
 The doubts and fears you speak of, are, in 
 a greater or less degree, the common experi- 
 ence of all the Lord’s people, at least for a 
 time. Whilst any unbelief remains in the heart, 
 and Satan is permitted to tempt, we shall feel 
 these things. In themselves they are ground- 
 less and evil ; yet the Lord permits and over- 
 rules them for good. They tend to make us 
 know more of the plagues of our own hearts, 
 and feel more sensibly the need of a Saviour, 
 and make his rest (when we attain it) doubly 
 sweet and sure. And they likewise qualify 
 
 211 
 
 us for pitying and comforting others. Fear 
 not ; only believe, wait, and pray. Expect 
 not all at once. A Christian is not of hasty 
 growth, like a mushroom, but rather like the 
 oak, the progress of which is hardly percepti- 
 ble, but which in time becomes a great deep- 
 rooted tree. If my writings have been useful 
 to you, may the Lord have the praise. To 
 administer any comfort to his children is the 
 greatest honour and pleasure I can receive in 
 this life. I cannot promise to be a very 
 punctual correspondent, having many engage- 
 ments ; but I hope to do all in my power to 
 shew myself, Madam, 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 August 20, 1776. 
 
 MADAM, 
 
 Though in general I think myself tolerably 
 punctual when I can answer a letter in six or 
 seven weeks after the receipt, yet I feel some 
 pain for not having acknowledged yours soon- 
 er. A case like that which you have favour- 
 ed me with an account of, deserved an imme- 
 diate attention, and when I read it, I proposed 
 writing within a post or two, and I can hard- 
 ly allow any plea of business to be a sufficient 
 excuse for delaying it so long ; but our times 
 are in the Lord’s hands. May he now ena- 
 ble me to send you what may prove a word in 
 season. 
 
 Your exercises have been by no means sin- 
 gular, though they may appear so to yourself ; 
 because, in your retired situation, you have 
 not (as you observe) had much opportunity 
 of knowing the experience of other Christians ; 
 nor has the guilt with which your mind has 
 been so greatly burdened been properly your 
 own. It was a temptation forced upon you by 
 the enemy, and he shall answer for it. Un- 
 doubtedly it is a mournful proof of the depra- 
 vity of our nature, that there is that within us 
 which renders us so easily susceptive of his 
 suggestions ; a proof of our extreme weak- 
 ness, that after the clearest and most satisfy- 
 ing evidences of the truth, we are not able ttf 
 hold fast our confidence, if the Lord permits 
 Satan to sift and shake us. But I can assure 
 you these changes are not uncommon. I have 
 known persons, who, after walking with God 
 comfortably in the main for forty years, have 
 been at their wits end from such assaults as 
 you mention, and been brought to doubt, not 
 only of the reality of their own hopes, but of 
 the very ground and foundation upon which 
 their hopes were built. Had you remained, 
 as it seems you once were, attached to the 
 vanities of a gay and dissipated life, or could 
 you have been content with a form of godli- 
 ness, destitute of the power, it is probable you 
 would have remained a stranger to these 
 
LET. II. 
 
 212 LETTERS TO 
 
 troubles. Satan would have employed his 
 arts in a different and less perceptible way, 
 to have soothed you into a false peace, 
 and prevented any thought or suspicion of 
 danger from arising in your mind. But when 
 he could no longer detain you in his bondage, 
 or seduce you back again into the world, then 
 of course he would change his method, and 
 declare open war against you. A specimen 
 of his power and malice you have experienced ; 
 and the Lord whom you loved, because he 
 first loved you, permitted it, not to gratify 
 Satan, but for your benefit — to humble and 
 prove you, to shew you what is in your heart, 
 and to do you good in the issue. These 
 things, for the present, are not joyous but 
 grievous ; yet, in the end, they yield the peace- 
 able fruits of righteousness. In the mean 
 time his eye is upon you : he has appointed 
 bounds both to the degree and duration of 
 the trial ; and he does and will afford you 
 such supports, that you shall not be tried 
 beyond w'hat you are able to bear. I doubt 
 not but your conflicts and sorrows will, in due 
 time, terminate in praise and victory, and be 
 sanctified to your fuller establishment in the 
 truth. 
 
 I greatly rejoice in the Lord’s goodness to 
 your dying parent. How wisely timed, and how 
 exactly suited, was that affecting dispensation, 
 to break the force of those suggestions with 
 which the enemy was aiming to overwhelm 
 your spirit ! He could not stand against such 
 an illustrious demonstrative attestation, that 
 the doctrines you had embraced were not cun- 
 ningly devised fables. He could proceed no 
 farther in that way ; but he is fruitful in re- 
 sources. His next attempt, of course, was to 
 fix guilt upon your conscience, as if you had 
 yourself formed and willingly entertained 
 those thoughts, which, indeed, you suffered 
 with extreme reluctance and pain. Here 
 likewise I find he succeeded for a time ; but he 
 who broke the former snare, will deliver you 
 from this likewise. 
 
 The dark and dishonourable thoughts of 
 God, which I hinted at as belonging to a na- 
 tural state, are very different from the thoughts 
 of your heart concerning him. You do not 
 conceive of him as a hard master, or think 
 you could be more happy in the breach than 
 in the observance of his precepts. You do 
 not prefer the world to his favour, or think 
 you can please him, and make amends for 
 your sins, by an obedience of your own. 
 These, and such as these, are the thoughts of 
 the natural heart, — the very reverse of yours. 
 C'ne thought, however, I confess you have 
 indulged, which is no less dishonourable to 
 the Lord than uncomfortable to yourself. 
 You say, “ 1 dare not believe that God will 
 not impute to me as sin, the admission of 
 thoughts which my soul ever abhorred, and to 
 which my will never consented.” Nay, you 
 fear lest they should not only be imputed, but 
 
 MRS. G — . 
 
 unpardonable. But how can this be possi- 
 ble ! Indeed, I will not call it your thought, 
 it is your temptation. You tell me you have 
 children. Then you will easily feel a plain 
 illustration, which just now occurs to me. 
 Let me suppose a case which has sometimes 
 happened ; a child, three or four years of age 
 we will say, while playing incautiously at a 
 little distance from home, should be suddenly 
 seized and carried away by a gipsey. Poor 
 thing ! how terrified, how distressed must it 
 be ! Methinks I hear its cries. The sight and 
 violence of the stranger, the recollection of its 
 dear parents, the loss of its pleasing home, 
 the dread and uncertainty of what is yet to 
 befal it. Is it not a wonder that it does not 
 die in agonies ? But see, help is at hand ! 
 the gipsey is pursued, and the child reco- 
 vered. Now, my dear Madam, permit me to 
 ask you, if this were your child, how would 
 you receive it ? Perhaps, when the first trans- 
 ports of your joy for its safety would permit 
 you, you might gently chide it for leaving 
 your door. But would you disinherit it? 
 Would you disown it? Would you deliver it 
 up again to the gipsey with your own hands, 
 because it had suffered a violence which it 
 could not withstand, w'hich it abhorred and 
 to w hich its will never consented ? And yet 
 what is the tenderness of a mother, of ten 
 thousand mothers, to that which our compas- 
 sionate Saviour bears to every poor soul that 
 has been enabled to flee to him for salvation ! 
 Let us be far from charging that to him, of 
 which we think we are utterly incapable our- 
 selves. Take courage, Madam ; resist the 
 devil and he will flee from you. If he w r ere 
 to tempt you to any thing criminal, you w'ould 
 start at the thought, and renounce it with ab- 
 horrence. Do the same when he tempts you 
 to question the Lord’s compassion and good - 
 ness. But there he imposes upon us with a 
 shew of humility, and persuades us that we 
 do well to oppose our unworthiness as a suf- 
 ficient exception to the many express promises 
 of the word. It is said, the blood of Jesus 
 cleanseth from all sin : that all manner of sin 
 shall be forgiven for his sake ; that w'lioso- 
 ever cometh to him, he will in no wise cast 
 him out ; and that he is able to save to the 
 uttermost. Believe his word, and Satan shall 
 be found a liar. If the child had deliberate- 
 ly gone away with the gipsey, had preferred 
 that wretched way of life, and had refused to 
 return, though frequently and tenderly invited 
 home ; perhaps a parent’s love might, in time, 
 be too weak to plead for the pardon of such 
 continued obstinacy. But, indeed, in this 
 manner we have all dealt with the Lord ; and 
 yet, whenever we are willing to return, he is 
 willing to receive us with open arms, and 
 without an upbraiding word, Luke xv. 20, 
 22. Though our sins have been deep-dyed 
 like scarlet and crimson, enormous as moun- 
 tains, and countless as the sands, the sum 
 
LET. III. 
 
 LETTERS TO MRS. G . 213 
 
 total is only this, Sin has abounded ; but where 
 sin has abounded, grace has much more a- 
 bounded. After all, I know the Lord keeps 
 the key of comfort in his own hands, yet he 
 has commanded us to attempt comforting one 
 another. I should rejoice to be his instru- 
 ment of administering comfort to you. I 
 shall hope to hear lrom you soon ; and that 
 you will then be able to inform me he has re- 
 stored to you the joys of his salvation. But 
 if not, yet wait for him, and you shall not 
 wait in vain. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 June — 1777. 
 
 MY DEAR MADAM, 
 
 Temptations may be compared to the wind, 
 which, when it has ceased raging from one 
 point, after a short calm, frequently renews its 
 violence from another quarter. The Lord si- 
 lenced Satan’s former assaults against you, 
 but he is permitted to try you again in another 
 way. Be of good courage. Madam, wait 
 upon the Lord, and the present storm shall 
 likewise subside in good time. You have an 
 infallible pilot, and are embarked in a bottom 
 against which the winds and waves cannot 
 prevail. You may be tossed about, and think 
 yourself in apparent jeopardy ; but sink you 
 shall not, except the promises and faithfulness 
 of God can fail. Upon an attentive consi- 
 deration of your complaint, it seems to me to 
 amount only to this, that though the Lord 
 has done great things for you, he has not yet 
 brought you to a state of independence on him- 
 self, nor released you from that impossibility 
 which all his people feel, of doing any thing 
 without him. And is this indeed a matter of 
 complaint ? Is it not every way better, more 
 for his glory, and more suited to keep us 
 mindful of our obligations to him, and in the 
 event, more for our safety, that we should be 
 reduced to a happy necessity of receiving dai- 
 ly out of his fulness (as the Israelites receiv- 
 ed the manna), than to be set up with some- 
 thing of a stock of wisdom, power, and good- 
 ness of our own ? Adam was thus furnished 
 at the beginning with strength to stand ; yet, 
 mutability being essential to a creature, he 
 quickly fell and lost all. We, who are by 
 nature sinners, are not left to so hazardous an 
 experiment. He has himself engaged to keep 
 us, and treasured up all fulness of grace for 
 our support in a Head who cannot fail. Our 
 gracious Saviour will communicate all need- 
 ful supplies to his members, yet in such a 
 manner, that they shall feel their need and 
 weakness, and have nothing to boast of from 
 first to last, but his wisdom, compassion, and 
 care. We are in no worse circumstances than 
 the apostle Paul, who, though eminent and 
 
 exemplary in the Christian life, found, and 
 freely confessed, that he had no sufficiency in 
 himself to think a good thought. Nor did 
 he wish it otherwise ; he even gloried in his 
 infirmities, that the power of Christ might 
 rest upon him. Unbelief, and a thousand 
 evils, are still in our hearts ; though their 
 reign and dominion is at an end, they are not 
 slain or eradicated ; their effects will be felt 
 more or less sensibly, as the Lord is pleased 
 more or less to afford or abate his gracious 
 influence. When they are kept down, we are 
 no better in ourselves, for they aie not kept 
 down by us : but we are very prone to think 
 better of ourselves at such a time, and there- 
 fore, he is pleased to permit us at seasons to 
 feel a difference, that we may never forget 
 how weak and how vile we are. We cannot 
 absolutely conquer these evils, but it becomes 
 us to be humbled for them ; and we are to 
 fight, and strive, and pray against them. 
 Our great duty is to be at his footstool, and 
 to cry to him who has promised to perform 
 all things for us. Why are we called sol- 
 diers, but because we are called to a warfare . 
 And how could we fight, if there were no 
 enemies to resist? The Lord’s soldiers are 
 not merely for shew, to make an empty pa- 
 rade in a uniform, and to brandish their arms 
 when none but friends and spectators are a- 
 round them. No, we must stand upon the 
 field of battle ; we must face the fiery darts ; 
 we must wrestle (which is the closest and 
 most arduous kind of fighting) with our 
 foes: nor can we well expect wholly to es- 
 cape wounds ; but the leaves of the tree of life 
 are provided for our healing. The Captain 
 of our salvation is at hand, and leads us on 
 with an assurance, which might make even a 
 coward bold, — that in the end we shall be 
 more than conquerors through him who has 
 loved us. 
 
 I am ready to think, that some of the senti- 
 ments in your letters are not properly yours, 
 such as you yourself have derived from the 
 scriptures, but rather borrowed from authors or 
 preachers, whose judgment your humility has 
 led you to prefer to your own. At least, I 
 am sure the scriptures do not authorise the 
 conclusion which distresses you, that if you 
 were a child of God, you should not feel such 
 changes and oppositions. Were I to define a 
 Christian, or rather to describe him at large, 
 I know no text I would choose sooner, as a 
 ground for the subjeet, than Gal. v. 17. A 
 Christian has noble aims, which distinguish 
 him from the bulk of mankind. His leading 
 principles, motives, and desires, are all super- 
 natural and divine. Could he do as he would, 
 there is not a spirit before the throne should 
 excel him in holiness, love, and obedience. 
 He would tread in the very footsteps of his 
 Saviour, fill up every moment in his service, 
 and employ every breath in his praise. This he 
 would do, but alas ! he cannot. Against this 
 
LET. Ill 
 
 214 LETTERS TO 
 
 desire of the spirit, there is a contrary desire 
 and working of a corrupt nature, which meets 
 him at every turn. He has a beautiful copy 
 set before him ; he is enamoured with it ; and 
 though he does not expect to equal it, he writes 
 carefully after it, and longs to attain to the 
 nearest possible imitation. But indwelling sin 
 and Satan continually jog his hand, and spoil 
 his strokes. You cannot, Madam, form a 
 right judgment of yourself, except you make 
 due allowance for those things which are not 
 peculiar to yourself, but common to all who 
 liave spiritual perception, and are indeed the 
 inseparable appendages of this mortal state. 
 If it were not so, why should the most spi- 
 ritual and gracious people be so ready to con- 
 fess themselves vile and worthless ? One emi- 
 nent branch of our holiness, is a sense of 
 shame and humiliation for those evils which 
 are only known to ourselves, and to him who 
 searches cur hearts, joined with an acquies- 
 cence in Jesus, who is appointed of God, wis- 
 dom, righteousness, sanctification, and re- 
 demption. I will venture to assure you, that 
 though you will possess a more stable peace, 
 in proportion as the Lord enables you to live 
 more simply upon the blood, righteousness, 
 and grace of the Mediator, you will never 
 grow into a better opinion of yourself than 
 you have at present. The nearer you are 
 brought to him, the quicker sense you will 
 have of your continual need of him, and there- 
 by your admiration of his power, love, and 
 compassion, will increase likewise from year to 
 year. 
 
 I would observe farther, that our spiritual 
 exercises are not a little influenced by our 
 constitutional temperament. As you are only 
 an ideal correspondent, I can but conjecture 
 about you upon this head. If your frame is 
 delicate, and your nervous system very sen- 
 sible and tender, I should probably ascribe 
 
 MRS. G 
 
 some of your apprehensions to this cause. It 
 is an abstruse subject, and I will not enter 
 into it ; but, according to the observations I 
 have made, persons of this habit seem to live 
 more upon the confines of the invisible world, 
 if I may so speak, and to be more susceptive 
 of impressions from it, than others. That 
 complaint, which, for want of a better name, 
 we call lowness of spirits, may probably af- 
 ford the enemy some peculiar advantages and 
 occasions of distressing you. The mind then 
 perceives objects as through a tinctured me- 
 dium, which gives them a dark and discou- 
 raging appearance ; and I believe Satan has 
 more influence and address than we are aware 
 of in managing the glass. And when this is 
 not the case at all times, it may be so occa- 
 sionally, from sickness, or other circumstances. 
 You tell me that you have lately been ill, 
 which, together with your present situation, 
 and the prospect of your approaching hour, 
 may probably have such an effect as I have 
 hinted. You may be charging yourself with 
 guilt, for what springs from indisposition, 
 in which you are merely passive, and which 
 may be no more properly sinful than the head- 
 ache, or any of the thousand natural shocks 
 the flesh is heir to. The enemy can take no 
 advantage but what the Lord permits him; 
 and he will permit him none but what he de- 
 signs to over-rule for your greater advantage 
 in the end. He delights in your prosperity ; 
 and you should not be in heaviness for an 
 hour, were there not a need-be for it. Not- 
 withstanding your fears, I have a good hope, 
 that he who you say has helped you in six 
 troubles, will appear for you in the seventh ; 
 that you will not die, but live, and declare 
 the works of the Lord, and come forth to 
 testify to his praise, that he has turned your 
 mourning into joy. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
LETTERS 
 
 TO MISS F 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 October 3, 1778. 
 
 DEAR MADAM, 
 
 You would have me tell you what are the 
 best means to be used by a young person, to 
 prevent the world, with all its opening and 
 ensnaring scenes, from drawing the heart 
 aside from God. It is an important question : 
 but I apprehend your own heart will tell you, 
 that you are already possessed of all the in- 
 formation concerning it which you can well 
 expect from me. I could only attempt to 
 answer it from the Bible, which lies open to 
 you likewise. If your heart is like mine, it 
 must confess, that when it turns aside from 
 God, it is seldom through ignorance of the 
 proper means or motives which should have 
 kept us near him, but rather from an evil 
 principle within, which prevails against our 
 better judgment, and renders us unfaithful to 
 light already received. 
 
 I could offer you rules, cautions, and ad- 
 vices in abundance ; for I find it compara- 
 tively easy to preach to others. But if you 
 should farther ask me, How you shall effec- 
 tually reduce them to practice? I feel that I 
 am so deficient, and so much at a loss in this 
 matter myself, that I know not well what to 
 say to you. Yet something must be said. 
 
 In the first place, then, I would observe, 
 that though it be our bounden duty, and the 
 highest privilege we can propose to ourselves, 
 to have our hearts kept close to the Lord ; 
 yet we must not expect it absolutely or per- 
 fectly, much less all at once •, we shall keep 
 close to him, in proportion as we are solidly 
 convinced of the infinite disparity between 
 him and the things which would presume to 
 stand in competition with him, and the folly, 
 as well as ingratitude, of departing from him. 
 But these points are only to be learned by ex- 
 perience, and by smarting under a series of 
 
 painful disappointments in our expectations 
 from creatures. Our judgments may be 
 quickly satisfied, that his favour is better than 
 life, while yet it is in the power of a mere trifle 
 to turn us aside. The Lord permits us to 
 feel our weakness, that we may be sensible of 
 it; for though we are ready, in words, to 
 confess that we are weak, we do not so pro- 
 perly know it, till that secret, though unal- 
 lowed dependence we have upon some strength 
 in ourselves, is brought to the trial, and fails 
 us. To be humble, and like a little child, 
 afraid of taking a step alone, and so conscious 
 of snares and dangers around us, as to cry to 
 him continually to hold us up, that we may 
 be safe, is the sure, the infallible, the only 
 secret of walking closely with him. 
 
 But how shall we attain this humble frame 
 of spirit? It must be, as I said, from a real 
 and sensible conviction of our weakness and 
 vileness, which we cannot learn (at least I 
 have not been able to learn it) merely from 
 books or preachers. The providence of God 
 concurs with his Holy Spirit in his merciful 
 design of making us acquainted with ourselves. 
 It is indeed a great mercy to be preserved 
 from such declensions as might fall under the 
 notice of our fellow-creatures ; but when they 
 can observe nothing of consequence to object 
 to us, things may be far from right with us 
 in the sight of him who judges not only ac- 
 tions, but the thoughts and first motions of 
 the heart. And indeed, could we for a sea- 
 son so cleave to God, as to find little or no- 
 thing in ourselves to be ashamed of, we are 
 such poor creatures, that we should presently 
 grow vain and self-sufficient, and expose our- 
 selves to the greatest danger of falling. 
 
 There are, however, means to be observed 
 on our part ; and though you know them, I 
 will repeat the principal, because you desire 
 
LET. II. 
 
 LETTERS TO MISS F- . 
 
 216 
 
 me. The first is Prayer; and here, above all 
 things, we should pray for humility. It may 
 be called both the guard of all other graces, 
 and the soil in which they grow. The second, 
 Attention to the scriptures. Your question 
 is directly answered in Psalm cxix. 9. The 
 precepts are our rule and delight, the pro- 
 mises our strength and encouragement : the 
 good recorded of the saints is proposed for 
 our encouragement ; their miscarriages are as 
 land-marks set up to warn us of the rocks 
 and shoals which lie in the way of our pas- 
 sage. The study of the whole scheme of gos- 
 pel-salvation, respecting the person, life, doc- 
 trine, death and glory of our Redeemer, is 
 appointed to form our souls to a spiritual and 
 divine taste ; and so far as this prevails and 
 grows in us, the trifles that would draw us 
 from the Lord will lose their influence, and 
 appear, divested of the glare with which they 
 strike the senses, mere vanity and nothing. 
 The third grand means is, Consideration or 
 Recollection ; a careful regard to those temp- 
 tations and snares, to which, from our tem- 
 pers, situations, or connections, we are more 
 immediately exposed, and by which we have 
 been formerly hindered. It may be well in 
 the morning, ere we leave our chambers, to 
 forecast, as far as we are able, the probable 
 circumstances of the day before us. Yet the 
 observance of this, as well as of every rule 
 that can be offered, may dwindle into a mere 
 form. However, I trust the Lord, who has 
 given you a desire to live to him, will be your 
 guard and teacher. There is none teacheth 
 like him. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 March — 1779. 
 
 DEAR MADAM, 
 
 Our experiences pretty much tally ; they may 
 be drawn out into sheets and quires, but the 
 sum-total may be comprised in a short sen- 
 tence, “ Our life is a warfare.” For our en- 
 couragement, the apostle calls it a good war- 
 fare. We are engaged in a good cause, fight 
 under a good Captain, the victory is sure be- 
 forehand, and the prize is a crown, a crown 
 of life. Such considerations might make 
 even a coward bold. But then we must be 
 content to fight; and considering the na- 
 ture, number, situation, and subtilty of our 
 enemies, we may expect sometimes to receive 
 a wound ; but there is a medicinal tree, the 
 leaves of which are always at hand to heal 
 us. We cannot be too attentive to the evil 
 which is always working in us, or to the stra- 
 tagems which are employed against us; yet 
 our attention should not be wholly confined 
 to these things. We are to look upwards like- 
 wise to him, who is our head, our life, our 
 
 strength. One glance of Jesus will convey 
 more effectual assistance than poring upon 
 our own hearts for a month. The one is to 
 be done ; but the other should upon no ac- 
 count be omitted. It was not by counting 
 their wounds, but by beholding the brazen 
 serpent, the Lord’s instituted means of cure, 
 that the Israelites were healed. That was 
 an emblem for our instruction. One great 
 cause of our frequent conflicts is, that we 
 have a secret desire to be rich, and it is the 
 Lord’s design to make us poor : we want to 
 gain an ability of doing something ; and he 
 suits his dispensations, to convince us that 
 we can do nothing : we want a stock in our- 
 selves, and he would have us absolutely depen- 
 dent upon him. So far as we are content to 
 be weak, that his power may be magnified in 
 us, so far we shall make our enemies know 
 that we are strong, though we ourselves shall 
 never be directly sensible that we are so ; only 
 by comparing what we -are with the opposi- 
 tion we stand against, we may come to a com- 
 fortable conclusion, that the Lord worketn 
 mightily in us, Psal. xli. 11. 
 
 If our views are simple, and our desires to- 
 wards the Lord, it may be of use to consider 
 some of your faults and mine, not as the faults 
 of you and me in particular, but as the fault 
 of that depraved nature which is common with 
 us to all the Lord’s people, and which made 
 Paul groan as feelingly and as heartily as we 
 can do. But this consideration, though true 
 and scriptural, can only be safely applied when 
 the mind is sincerely and in good earnest de- 
 voted to the Lord. There are too many un- 
 sound and half professors, who eagerly catch 
 at it as an excuse for those evils they are un- 
 willing to part with. But I trust I may 
 safely recommend it to you. This evil na- 
 ture, this indwelling sin, is a living principle, 
 an active, powerful cause ; and a cause that 
 is active will necessarily produce an effect. 
 Sin is the same thing in believers as in the 
 unregenerate : they have indeed a contrary 
 principle of grace, which counteracts and re- 
 sists it, which can prevent its outbreakings, 
 but will not suppress its risings. As grace 
 resists sin, so sin resists grace, Gal. v. 17. 
 The proper tendency of each is mutually 
 weakened on both sides ; and, between the 
 two, the poor believer, however blameless 
 and exemplary in the sight of men, appears 
 in his own view the most inconsistent cha- 
 racter under the sun. He can hardly think 
 it is so with others ; and, judging of them by 
 what he sees, and of himself by what he feels, 
 in lowliness of heart he esteems others better 
 than himself. This proves him to be right, 
 for it is the will of God concerning him, Phil, 
 ii. 3. This is the warfare. But it shall not 
 always be so. Grace shall prevail. The evil 
 nature is already enervated, and ere long it 
 will die the death. Jesus wall make us more 
 than conquerors. I am, Sec. 
 
LETTERS 
 
 TO 
 
 THE REV. DR. 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 April 17 , 1776 . 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 By this time I hope you are both returned in 
 peace, and happy together in your stated fa- 
 voured tract ; rejoicing in the name of Jesus 
 yourselves, and rejoicing to see the savour of 
 it spreading like a precious perfume among 
 the people. Every day I hope you find pre- 
 judices wearing off, and more disposed to hear 
 the words of life. The Lord has given you a 
 fine first-fruits, which I trust will prove the 
 earnest of a plentiful harvest. In the mean- 
 time he will enable you to sow the seed in 
 patience, leaving the event in his hands. 
 Though it does not spring up visibly at once, 
 it will not be lost. I think he would not 
 have sent you if he had not a people there to 
 call ; but they can only come forth to view as 
 he is pleased to bring them. Satan will try 
 to hinder and disturb you, but he is in a 
 chain which he cannot break, nor go a step 
 farther than he is permitted. And if you 
 have been instrumental to the conversion of 
 but a few, in those few you have an ample 
 reward already for all the difficulties you have 
 or can meet with. It is more honourable and 
 important to be an instrument of saving one 
 soul than to rescue a whole kingdom from 
 temporal ruin. Let us therefore, while we 
 earnestly desire to be more useful, not forget 
 to be thankful for what the Lord has been 
 pleased already to do for us ; and let us ex- 
 pect, knowing whose servants we are, and 
 what a gospel we preach, to see some new mi- 
 racles wrought from day to day, for indeed 
 every real conversion may be accounted mi- 
 raculous, being no less than an immediate 
 exertion of that power which made the hea- 
 
 vens and commanded the light to shine out 
 of darkness. Your little telescope is safe. 
 I wish I had more of that clear air and sun- 
 shine you speak of, that with you I might 
 have more distinct views of the land of pro- 
 mise. I cannot say my prospect is greatly 
 clouded by doubts of my reaching it at last ; 
 but then there is such a langour and deadness 
 hanging upon my mind, that it is almost amaz- 
 ing to me how I can entertain any hopes at 
 all. It seems, if doubting could ever be rea- 
 sonable, there is no one who has greater rea- 
 son for doubting than myself. But I know 
 not how to doubt, when I consider the faith- 
 fulness, grace, and compassion of him who 
 has promised. If it could be proved that 
 Christ had not died, or that he did not speak 
 the words which are ascribed to him in the 
 gospel, or that he is not able to make them 
 good, or that his word cannot safely be taken ; 
 in any of these cases I should doubt to pur- 
 pose, and lie down in despair. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 July 15, 1776. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, 
 
 I begin with congratulations first to you and 
 Mrs. , on your safe journey and good pas- 
 
 sage over the formidable Humber. Mrs. ■ 
 has another river to cross (may it be many 
 years before she approaches the bank) over 
 which there is no bridge. Perhaps at seasons 
 she may think of it with that reluctance which 
 she felt before she saw the Humber ; but as 
 
LET III. 
 
 218 LETTERS TO THE 
 
 her fears were then agreeably disappointed, 
 and she found the experiment, when called 
 to make it, neither terrifying nor dangerous, 
 so I trust she will find it in the other case. 
 Did not she think, The Lord knows where 
 I shall be, and he will meet me there with a 
 storm, because I am such a sinner ? Then 
 how the billows will foam and rage at me, 
 and what a long passage I shall have, and 
 perhaps I shall sink in the middle, and never 
 set my foot in Hull. It is true, I am not 
 so much afraid of the journey I go by land, 
 though I know that every step of the way the 
 horses or the chaise may fall, and I be killed ; 
 but how do I know but he may preserve me 
 on the road on purpose to drown me in the 
 river? But behold, when she came to it all 
 was calm, or, what was better, a gentle, fair 
 breeze, to waft her pleasantly over before she 
 was aware. Thus we are apt perversely to 
 reason : he guides and guards me through 
 life ; he gives me new mercies, and new 
 proofs of his power and care every day ; and 
 therefore, when I come to die, he will for- 
 sake me, and let me be the sport of winds 
 and waves. Indeed the Lord does not de- 
 serve such hard thoughts at our hands as we 
 are prone to form of him. But notwith- 
 standing we make such returns, he is and 
 will be gracious, and shame us out of our 
 unkind, ungrateful, unbelieving fears at last. 
 If, after my repeated kind reception at your 
 
 house, I should always be teasing Mrs. 
 
 with suspicions of her good-will, and should 
 tell every body I saw, that I verily believed 
 the next time I went to see her she would 
 shut the door in my face, and refuse me ad- 
 mittance, would she not be grieved, offended, 
 and affronted ? Would she not think, What 
 reason can he assign for this treatment ? He 
 knows I did every thing in my power to as- 
 sure him of a welcome, and told him so over 
 and over again. Does he count me a de- 
 ceiver? Yes he does: I see his friendship 
 is not worth preserving ; so, farewell. I will 
 seek friends among such as believe my words 
 and actions. Well, my dear madam, I am 
 clear I always believed you ; I make no doubt 
 but you will treat me kindly next time, as 
 you did the last. But pray, is not the Lord 
 as worthy of being trusted as yourself, and 
 are not his invitations and promises as hearty 
 and as honest as yours? Let us therefore 
 beware of giving way to such thoughts of 
 him as we could hardly forgive in our dear- 
 est friends, if they should harbour the like of 
 us. 
 
 I have heard nothing of Mr. P yet, 
 
 but that he is in town, very busy about that 
 precious piece of furniture called a wife. May 
 the Lord direct and bless his choice. In 
 Captain Cook’s voyage to the South Sea, some 
 fish were caught which looked as well as others, 
 but those who ate of them were poisoned : 
 alas for the poor man who catches a poisonous 
 
 REV. DR. 
 
 wife ! There are such to be met with in the 
 matrimonial seas, that look passing well to 
 the eye, but a connexion with them proves 
 baneful to domestic peace, and hurtful to the 
 life of grace. I know two or three people, 
 perhaps a few more, who have great reason 
 to be thankful to him who sent the fish, with 
 the money in its mouth, to Peter’s hook. 
 He secretly instructed and guided us where 
 to angle, and, if we have caught prizes, we 
 owe it not to our own skill, much less to our 
 deserts, but to his goodness. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 September 4, 17 76. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, 
 
 — — POOR little boy, it is a mercy indeed 
 that he recovered from such a formidable hurt. 
 The Lord wounded, and the Lord healed 
 I ascribe, with you, what the world calls acci 
 dent to him, and believe that without his per- 
 mission for wise and good ends, a child can 
 no more pull a bowl of boiling water on itself 
 than it could pull the moon out of her orbit. 
 And why does he permit such things ? One 
 reason or two is sufficient for us : it is to re- 
 mind us of the uncertainty of life and all 
 creature -comforts ; to make us afraid of cleav- 
 ing too close to pretty toys, which are so pre- 
 carious, that often while we look at them 
 they vanish, and to lead us to a more entire 
 dependence upon himself ; that we might 
 never judge ourselves or our concerns safe 
 from outward appearances only, but that the 
 Lord is our keeper, and were not his eye 
 upon us, a thousand dangers and painful 
 changes, which we can neither foresee nor pre- 
 vent, are lurking about us every step, ready 
 to break in upon us every hour. Men are 
 but children of a larger growth. How many 
 are labouring and planning in the pursuit of 
 things, the event of which, if they obtain them 
 will be but like pulling scalding water upon 
 their own heads. They must have the bowl 
 by all means, but they are not aware what is 
 in it till they feel it. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 July 7, 1777. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 I have had a letter from your minister since 
 his arrival at . I hope he will be restor- 
 
 ed to you again before long, and that he and 
 many of your place will rejoice long in each 
 other. Those are favoured places which 
 are blessed with a sound and faithful gospel- 
 ministry, if the people know and consider the 
 
LETTERS TO THE REV. DR, 
 
 LET. IV. 
 
 value of their privileges, and are really desi- 
 rous of profiting by them ; but the kingdom 
 of God is not in word, but in power. I hope 
 those who profess the gospel with you will 
 wrestle in prayer for grace to walk worthy of 
 it. A minister’s hands are strengthened, 
 when he can point to his people, as so many 
 living proofs, that the doctrines he preaches 
 are doctrines according to godliness ; when 
 they walk in mutual love ; when each one, 
 in their several places, manifests an humble, 
 spiritual, and upright, conduct ; when they are 
 Christians, not only at church, but in the fa- 
 mily, the shop, and the field ; when they fill 
 up their relations in life, as husbands or wives, 
 masters or servants, parents or children, ac- 
 cording to the rule of the word ; when they 
 are evidently a people separated from the 
 world while conversant in it, and are careful 
 to let their light shine before men, not only 
 by talking, but by acting as the disciples of 
 
 219 
 
 Christ, when they go on steadily, not by fits 
 and starts, prizing the means of grace, with- 
 out resting in them : when it is thus, we can 
 say, Now we live, if you stand fast in the 
 Lord. Then we come forth with pleasure, 
 and our service is our delight, and we are en- 
 couraged to hope for an increasing blessing. 
 But if the people in whom we have rejoiced 
 sink into formality or a worldly spirit ; if they 
 have dissentions and jealousies among them- 
 selves; if they act improperly, and give the 
 enemies occasion to say, There, there, so 
 would we have it : then our hearts are wound- 
 ed and our zeal damped, and we know not 
 how to speak with liberty. It is my heart’s 
 desire and prayer for you, that whether I see 
 you, or else be absent from you, I may know 
 that you stand fast in one spirit and one mind, 
 striving together for the faith of the gospel. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
LETTERS 
 
 TO MRS. 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 Nov. — 1775. 
 
 MY DEAR MADAM, 
 
 TOO much of that impatience which you 
 speak of, towards those who differ from us in 
 some religious sentiments, is observable on all 
 sides. I do not consider it as the fault of a 
 few individuals, or of this or that party, so 
 much as the effect of that inherent imperfec- 
 tion which is common to our whole race. 
 Anger and scorn are equally unbecoming in 
 those who profess to be followers of the meek 
 and lowly Jesus, and who acknowledge them- 
 selves to be both sinful and fallible ; but too 
 often something of this leaven will be found 
 cleaving to the best characters, and mixed 
 with honest endeavours to serve the best cause. 
 But thus it was from the beginning ; and we 
 have reason to confess that we are no better 
 than the apostles were, who, though they 
 meant well, manifested once and again a 
 wrong spirit in their zeal, Luke ix. 54. Ob- 
 servation and experience contribute, by the 
 grace of God, gradually to soften and sweet- 
 en our spirits ; but then there will always be 
 ground for mutual forbearance and mutual 
 forgiveness on his head. However, so far as 
 I may judge of myself, I think this hastiness 
 is not my most easily besetting sin. I am not 
 indeed an advocate foe that indifference and 
 lukewarmness to the truths of God, which 
 *eem to constitute the candour many plead 
 for in the present day. But while I desire 
 to hold fast the sound doctrines of the gospel, 
 towards the persons of my fellow creatures 
 I wish to exercise all moderation and benevo- 
 lence. Protestants or Papists, Socinians or 
 Deists, Jews, Samaritans, or Mahometans, 
 all are my neighbours, they have all a claim 
 upon me for the common offices of humanity. 
 As to religion, they cannot all be right ; nor 
 may I compliment them by allowing the dif- 
 
 ferences between us are but trivial, when I 
 believe and know they are important ; but I 
 am not to expect them to see with my eyes. 
 I am deeply convinced of the truth of John 
 Baptist’s aphorism, John, iii. 27. “ A man 
 
 can receive nothing, except it be given him 
 from heaven.” I well know, that the little 
 measure of knowledge I have obtained in the 
 things of God, has not been owing to my 
 own wisdom and docility, but to his goodness. 
 Nor did 1 get it all at once ; he has been 
 pleased to exercise much patience and long- 
 suffering towards me, for about twenty-seven 
 years past, since he first gave me a desire of 
 learning from himself. He has graciously ac- 
 commodated himself to my weakness, borne 
 with mistakes, and helped me through in- 
 numerable prejudices, which, but for his 
 mercy, would have been insuperable hindran- 
 ces : I have therefore no right to be angry, 
 impatient, or censorious, especially as I have 
 still much to learn, and am so poorly influ. 
 enced by what I seem to know. I am w eary of 
 controversies and disputes, and desire to chuse 
 for myself, and to point out toothers, Mary’s 
 part, to sit at Jesus’ feet, and to hear his 
 words. And, blessed be his name ! so far as 
 I have learned from him, I am favoured 
 with a comfortable certainty : I know whom I 
 have believed, and am no longer tossed about 
 by the various winds and tides of opinions, by 
 which I see many are dashed one against the 
 other. But I cannot, I must not, I dare not 
 contend ; only, as a witness for God, I am 
 ready to bear my simple testimony to what I 
 have known of his truth, whenever I am pro- 
 perly called to it. 
 
 I agree with you, that some accounted evan- 
 gelical teachers have too much confined them- 
 selves to a few leading and favourite topics. 
 I think this a fault ; and believe, when it is 
 
LET. I. 
 
 LETTERS TO MRS, 
 
 2M 
 
 constantly so, the auditories are deprived of that the blood shed upon the cross is a pro 
 
 much edification and pleasure, which they 
 might receive fri m a more judicious and com- 
 prehensive plan. The whole scripture, as it 
 consists of histories, prophecies, doctrines, 
 precepts, promises, exhortations, admonitions, 
 encouragements, and reproofs, is the proper 
 subject of the gospel-ministry ; and every part 
 should in its place and course be attended to ; 
 yet, so as that, in every compartment we ex- 
 hibit, Jesus should be the capital figure ; in 
 whom the prophecies are fulfilled, the pro- 
 mises established ; to whom, in a way of type 
 and emblem, the most important parts of 
 scripture history have an express reference ; 
 and from whom alone we can receive that 
 life, strength, and encouragement, which are 
 necessary to make obedience either pleasing 
 or practicable. And where there is true spi- 
 ritual faith in the heart, and in exercise, I 
 believe a person will not so much need a de- 
 tail of what he is to practice, as to be often 
 greatly at a loss without it. Our Saviour’s 
 commandments are plain and clear in them- 
 selves ; and that love which springs from faith, 
 is the best casuist and commentator to apply 
 and enforce them. 
 
 You are pleased to say, “ Forgive me if I 
 transgress ; I know the place whereon I stand 
 is holy ground.” Permit me to assure you, 
 my dear Madam, that were I, which I am 
 not, a person of some importance, you would 
 run no hazard of offending me by controvert- 
 ing any of my sentiments : I hold none 
 (knowingly) which I am not willing to sub- 
 mit to examination ; nor am I afraid of of- 
 fending you by speaking freely, when you 
 point out my way. I should wrong you, if 
 I thought to please you by palliating or dis- 
 guising the sentiments of my heart ; and if I 
 attempted to do so, you would soon see through 
 the design, and despise it. There may per- 
 haps be an improper manner of chiming upon 
 the name of Jesus, and I am not for vindicat- 
 ing any impropriety ; yet, could I feel what I 
 ought to mean when I pronounce that name, 
 I should not fear mentioning it too often. I 
 am afraid of no excess in thinking highly of 
 it, because I read it is the will of God that 
 all men should honour the Son as they ho- 
 nour the Father. Laboured explications of 
 the Trinity I always avoid. I am afraid of 
 darkening counsel by words without know- 
 ledge. Scripture, and even reason, assures 
 me, there is but one God, whose name alone 
 is Jehovah. Scripture likewise assures me 
 that Christ is God, that Jesus is Jehovah. I 
 cannot say that reason assents with equal rea- 
 diness to this proposition as to the former. 
 But, admitting what the scriptures teach con- 
 cerning the evil of sin, the depravity of hu- 
 man nature, the method of salvation, and the 
 offices of the Saviour ; admitting that God 
 
 per, adequate satisfaction for sin ; and that 
 the Redeemer is at present the Shepherd of 
 those who believe in him, and will hereafter 
 be the Judge of the world ; that, in order to 
 give the effectual help which we need, it is 
 necessary that he be always intimately with 
 those who depend upon him, in every age, 
 in every place ; must know the thoughts and 
 intents of every heart ; must have his eye al- 
 ways upon them, his ear always open to them, 
 his arm ever stretched out for their relief; 
 that they can receive nothing but what he be- 
 stows, can do nothing but as he enables them, 
 nor stand a moment but as he upholds them : 
 admitting these and the like promises, with 
 which the word of God abounds, reason must 
 allow, whatever difficulties may attend the 
 thought, that only he who is God over all, 
 blessed for ever, is able or worthy to execute 
 this complicated plan, every part of which re- 
 quires the exertion of infinite wisdom and al- 
 mighty power ; nor am I able to form any 
 clear, satisfactory, or comfortable thoughts of 
 God, suited to awaken my love or engage my 
 trust, but as he has been pleased to reveal 
 himself in the person of Jesus Christ, I be- 
 lieve, with the apostle, that God was once 
 manifested in the flesh upon earth, and that 
 he is now manifested in the flesh in heaven ; 
 and that the worship, not only of redeemed 
 sinners, but of the holy angels, is addressed 
 to the Lamb that was slain, and who, in that 
 nature in which he suffered, now exercises 
 universal dominion, and has the government 
 of heaven, earth, and hell upon his shoulders. 
 This truth is the foundation upon which my 
 hope is built, the fountain from whence I de- 
 rive all my strength and consolation, and my 
 only encouragement for venturing to the throne 
 of grace, for grace to help in time of need. 
 
 Till God in human flesh I see, 
 
 My thoughts no comfort find ; 
 
 The holy, just, and sacred Three, 
 
 Are terrors to my mind. 
 
 But if Immanuel’s face appear, 
 
 My hope, my joy begins ; 
 
 His name forbids my slavish fear. 
 
 His grace removes my sins. 
 
 I am, however, free to confess to you, that, 
 through the pride and unbelief remaining in 
 my heart, and the power of Satan’s tempta- 
 tions, there are seasons when I find no small 
 perplexity and evil reasonings upon this high 
 point ; but it is so absolutely essential to my 
 peace that I cannot part with it, for I can- 
 not give it up without giving up all hope of 
 salvation on the one hand, and giving up the 
 Bible, as an unmeaning, contradictory fable, 
 on the other ; and, through mercy, for the 
 most part, when I am in my right mind, I 
 am as fully persuaded of this truth as I am of 
 my own existence ; but, from the exercises I 
 have had about it, I have learned to subscribe 
 
 has purposed to glorify, not his mercy only, 
 
 to the apostle’s declaration, that “ no man can 
 
 but his justice, in the work of redemption ; say that Jesus Christ is Lord, but by the 
 
LET. II 
 
 222 LETTERS TO 
 
 Holy Ghost.” I am well satisfied it will 
 not be a burden to me at the hour of death, 
 nor be laid to my charge at the day of judg- 
 ment, that I have thought too highly of Je- 
 sus, expected too much from him myself, or 
 laboured too much in commending and set- 
 ting him forth to others as the Alpha and 
 Omega, the true God and eternal life. On 
 the contrary, alas ! alas ! my guilt and grief 
 are, that my thoughts of him are so faint, so 
 infrequent, and my commendations of him so 
 lamentably cold and disproportionate to what 
 they ought to be. 
 
 I know not whose letters are rapturous, 
 but I wish mine were more so ; not that I am 
 a friend to ungrounded sallies of imagination, 
 flights of animal passions, or heat without 
 light. But it would be amazing to me, were 
 I not aware of human depravity, of which I 
 consider this as one of the most striking proofs, 
 that they who have any good hope of an in- 
 terest in the gospel salvation do not find their 
 hearts (as Dr. Watts expresses it) all on fire, 
 and that their very looks do not express a 
 transport of admiration, gratitude, and love, 
 when they consider from what misery they are 
 redeemed, to what happiness they are called, 
 and what a price was paid for their souls. I 
 wish to be more like the apostle Paul in this 
 respect, who, though he often forms and com- 
 pounds new words, seems at a loss for any 
 that could suitably describe the emotions of 
 his heart. But I am persuaded you would 
 not object to the just fervour of scriptural de- 
 votion. But this holy flame can seldom be 
 found unsullied in the present life. The tem- 
 per, constitution, and infirmities of individuals 
 will mix more or less with what they say or 
 do. Allowances must be made for such things 
 in the present state of infirmity, for who can 
 hope to be perfectly free from them ? If the 
 heart is right with God, and sincerely affected 
 with the wonders of redeeming love, our gra- 
 cious High- Priest, who knows our weakness, 
 pities and pardons what is amiss, accepts our 
 poor efforts, and gradually teaches us to dis- 
 cern and avoid what is blameable. The work 
 of grace, in its first stages, I sometimes com- 
 pare to the lighting of a fire, where for a while 
 there is abundance of smoke, but by and by it 
 burns clearer and clearer. There is often, 
 both in letters and books, what might be very 
 well omitted ; but if a love to God and souls 
 be the leading principle, I pass as gentle cen- 
 sure upon the rest as I can, and apply to some 
 eccentric expressions, what Mr. Prior some- 
 where says of our civil dissensions in this land 
 of liberty, 
 
 A bad effect, but from a noble cause. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 MRS. 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 February 16, 1776. 
 
 MY DEAR MADAM, 
 
 It gave me great comfort to find, that what I 
 wrote concerning the divine character of Je- 
 sus, as God manifest in the flesh, met with 
 your approbation. This doctrine is, in my 
 view, the great foundation-stone upon which 
 all true religion is built ; but, alas ! in the 
 present day, it is the stumbling-stone and rock 
 of offence, upon which too many, fondly pre- 
 suming upon their own wisdom, fall and are 
 broken. I am so far from wondering that 
 any should doubt of it, that I am firmly per- 
 suaded none can truly believe it, however 
 plainly set forth in scripture, unless it be re- 
 vealed to them from heaven, or, in the apos- 
 tle’s words, that “ no one can call Jesus 
 Christ Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.” I be- 
 lieve there are many who think they believe 
 it, because they have taken it for granted, 
 and never attentively considered the difficul- 
 ties with which it is attended in the eye of 
 fallen reason. Judging by natural light, it 
 seems impossible to believe that the title of 
 the true God and eternal life should properly 
 belong to that despised man who hung dead 
 upon the cross, exposed to the insults of his 
 cruel enemies. I know nothing that can ob- 
 viate the objections the reasoning mind is 
 ready to form against it, but a real conviction 
 of the sinfulness of sin, and the state of a 
 sinner as exposed to the curse of the holy 
 law, and destitute of every plea and hope in 
 himself. Then the necessity of a Redeemer, 
 and the necessity of this Redeemer’s being 
 almighty, is seen and felt, with an evidence 
 which bears down all opposition ; for neither 
 the efficacy of his atonement and intercession, 
 nor his sufficiency to guide, save, protect, and 
 feed those who trust in him, can be conceived 
 of without it. When the eyes of the under- 
 standing are opened, the soul made acquaint- 
 ed with and attentive to its own state and 
 wants, he that runs may read this truth, not 
 in a few detached texts of a dubious import, 
 and liable to be twisted and tortured by the 
 arts of criticism, but as interwoven in the 
 very frame and texture of the Bible, and writ- 
 ten, as with a sun -beam, throughout the prin- 
 cipal parts both of the Old and New Testa- 
 ment. If Christ be the shepherd and the hus- 
 band of his people under the gospel, and if 
 his coming into the world did not abridge 
 those who feared God of the privileges they 
 were entitled to before his appearance, it fol- 
 lows, by undeniable consequence, “ that he is 
 God over all, blessed for ever.” For David 
 tells us, that his shepherd was Jehovah ; and 
 the husband of the Old Testament church was 
 the Maker and God of the whole earth, the 
 Holy One of Israel, whose name is the Lord 
 
LET. II. 
 
 LETTERS TO MRS. — 
 
 of Hosts, Psalm xxiii. 1 ; Is. liv. 8, with xlvii. 
 4. I agree with you, Madam, that among 
 the many attempts which have been made to 
 prove and illustrate the scripture doctrine, 
 that the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spi- 
 rit, are one God, there have been many inju- 
 dicious, unwarrantable things advanced, which 
 have perplexed, instead of instructing, and of 
 which the enemies of the truth have known 
 how to make their advantage. However, there 
 have been tracts upon these sublime subjects, 
 which have been written with judgment and 
 an unction, and, I believe, attended with a 
 blessing. I seem to prefer Mr. Jones’s book 
 on the Trinity to any I have seen, because he 
 does little more than state some of the scrip- 
 ture evidence for it, and draws his inferences 
 briefly and plainly ; though even he has ad- 
 mitted a few texts, which may, perhaps, be 
 thought not quite full to the point ; and he 
 has certainly omitted several of the most ex- 
 press and strongest testimonies. The best 
 and happiest proof of all, that this doctrine is 
 true in itself, and true to us, is the experi- 
 ence of its effects. They who know his name 
 will put their trust in him: they who are 
 rightly impressed with his astonishing conde- 
 scension and love, in emptying himself, and 
 submitting to the death of the cross for our 
 sakes, will find themselves under a sweet con- 
 straint to love him again, and will feel a little 
 of that emotion of heart which the apostle 
 expresses in that lively passage, Gal. vi. 14. 
 The knowledge of Christ crucified, like Ithu- 
 riel’s spear, removes the false appearances by 
 which we have been too long cheated, and 
 shews us the men and the things, the spirit, 
 customs, and maxims of the world, in their 
 just light. Were I perfectly master of my- 
 self and my subject, I would never adduce any 
 text in proof of a doctrine or assertion from 
 the pulpit, which was not direct and conclu • 
 sive; because, if a text is pressed into an ar- 
 gument to which it has no proper relation, it 
 rather encumbers than supports it, and raises 
 a suspicion that the cause is weak, and better 
 testimonies in its favour cannot be obtained. 
 Some misapplications of this kind have been 
 so long in use, that they pass pretty current, 
 though, if brought to the assay, they would 
 be found not quite sterling : but I endeavour 
 to avoid them to the best of my judgment. 
 Thus, for instance, I have often heard (Rom. 
 xiv. 23), “ Whatever is not of faith is sin,” 
 quoted to prove, that without a principle of 
 saving faith, we can perform nothing accept- 
 able to God : whereas it seems clear from the 
 context, that faith is there used in another 
 sense, and signifies a firm persuasion of mind 
 respecting the lawfulness of the action. How- 
 ever, I doubt not but the proposition in itself 
 is strictly true in the other sense, if consi- 
 dered detached from the connexion in which 
 it stands j but I should rather chuse to prove 
 it from other passages, where it is directly 
 
 223 
 
 affirmed, as Heb. xi. 6; Matth. xii. S3. In 
 such cases, I think hearers should be careful 
 not to be prejudiced against a doctrine, merely 
 because it is not well supported ; for perhaps 
 it is capable of solid proof, though the preacher 
 was not so happy as to hit upon that which 
 was most suitable ; and extempore preachers 
 may sometimes hope for a little allowance upon 
 this head from the more candid part of their 
 auditory, and not be made offenders for an in- 
 advertence, which they cannot perhaps always 
 avoid in the hurry of speaking. With re- 
 spect to the application of some passages in 
 the Old Testament to our Lord and Saviour, 
 I hold it safest to keep close to the specimens 
 the apostles have given us, and I would ven- 
 ture with caution, if I go beyond their line ; 
 yet it is probable they have only given us a 
 specimen ; and that there are a great number 
 of passages which have a direct reference to 
 gospel-truths, though we may run some ha- 
 zard in making out the allusion. If St. Paul 
 had not gone before me, I should have hesi- 
 tated to assert, that the prohibition, “ Thou 
 shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out 
 the corn,” was given, not upon the account 
 of oxen, but altogether for our sakes : nor 
 should I, without his assistance, have found 
 out that the history of Sarah and Hagar was a 
 designed allegory, to set forth the difference 
 between the law and gospel covenants. There- 
 fore, when I hear ministers tracing some other 
 allusions, I cannot be always sure that they 
 push them too far, though perhaps they are 
 not quite satisfactory to my judgment ; for it 
 may be, they have a farther insight into the 
 meaning of these places than myself. And I 
 think scriptures may be sometimes used to 
 advantage, by way of accommodation, in po- 
 pular discourses, and in something of a dif- 
 ferent sense from what they bear in the place 
 where they stand, provided they are not al- 
 leged as proofs, but only to illustrate a truth 
 already proved or acknowledged. Though 
 Job’s friends and Job himself were mistaken, 
 there are many great truths in their speeches, 
 which, as such, may, I think, stand as the 
 foundation of a discourse. Nay, I either 
 have, or have often intended, to borrow a 
 truth even from the mouth of Satan, “ Hast 
 thou not set a hedge about him ?” Such a 
 confession extorted from our grand adversary 
 placing the safety of the Lord’s people, un- 
 der his providential care, in a very striking 
 light. 
 
 I perfectly agree with you, Madam, that 
 our religious sensations and exercises are much 
 influenced and tinctured by natural constitu- 
 tion ; and that, therefore, tears and warm emo- 
 tions on the one hand, or a comparative dry- 
 ness of spirit on the other, are no sure indica- 
 tions of the real state of the heart. Appear- 
 ances may agree in different persons, or vary in 
 the same person, from causes merely natural : 
 even a change of weather may have some in- 
 
LET. Ill, 
 
 LETTERS TO MRS. . 
 
 224 
 
 fluence in raising or depressing the spirits, 
 where the nerves are very delicate ; And I 
 think such persons are more susceptive of im- 
 pressions from the agency of invisible powers, 
 Doth good and evil ; an agency which, though 
 we cannot explain, experience will not permit 
 us to deny. However, though circumstan- 
 tials rise and fall, the real difference between 
 nature and grace remains unalterable. That 
 work of God upon the heart, which is some- 
 times called a new birth, at others a new crea- 
 tion, is as distant from the highest effects of 
 natural principles, or the most specious imi- 
 tations which education or resolutions can pro- 
 duce, as light is from darkness, or life from 
 death. Only he who made the world can ei- 
 ther make a Christian, or support and carry on 
 his own work. A thirst after God as our por- 
 tion, a delight in Jesus, as the only way and 
 door ; a renunciation of self and of the world, 
 so far as it is opposite to the spirit of the 
 gospel : these, and the like fruits of that grace 
 which bringeth salvation, are not only be- 
 yond the power of our fallen nature, but con- 
 trary to its tendency ; so that we can have 
 no desires of this kind till they are given us 
 from above, and can for a season hardly bear 
 to hear them spoken of, either a& excellent or 
 necessary. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 September 17, 1776. 
 
 MY DEAR MADAM, 
 
 We are much indebted to you for your kind 
 thoughts of us. Hitherto I feel no uneasi- 
 ness about what is before me ; but I am afraid 
 my tranquillity does not wholly spring from 
 trust in the Lord, and submission to his will, 
 but that a part of it at least is derived from 
 the assurances Mr W. gave me, that the ope- 
 ration would be neither difficult nor danger- 
 ous. I have not much of the hero in my 
 constitution : if in great pains or sharp trials 
 I should ever shew a becoming fortitude, it 
 must be given me from above. I desire to 
 leave all with him, in whose hands my ways 
 are, and who has promised me strength ac- 
 cording to my day. 
 
 I rejoice that the Lord has not only made 
 you desirous of being useful to others in their 
 spiritual concerns, but has given you, in some 
 instances, to see that your desires and at- 
 tempts have r.Jt oeen in vain. I shall thank- 
 fully accept of the commission you are pleas- 
 ed to offer me, and take a pleasure in per- 
 using any papers you may think proper to put 
 into my hands, and offer you my sentiments 
 with that simplicity which I am persuaded will 
 be much more agreeable to you than compli- j 
 ments. Though I know there is in general a i 
 delicacy and difficulty in services of this kind, I 
 
 yet, with respect to yourself, I seem to have 
 nothing to fear. 
 
 I have often wished we had more female 
 pens employed in the service of the sanctuary 
 Though few ladies encumber themselves with 
 the apparatus of Latin or Greek, or engage in 
 voluminous performances, yet, in the article ol 
 essay-writing, I think many are qualified to sue 
 ceed better than most men, having a peculiai 
 easiness of style, which few of us can imitate. 
 
 I remember you once shewed me a paper, to- 
 gether with the corrections and alterations pro- 
 posed by a gentleman whose opinion you 
 had asked. I thought his corrections had in- 
 jured it, and given it an air of stiffness, which 
 is often observable when learned men write 
 in English. Grammatical rules, as they are 
 called, are wholly derived from the mode of 
 speaking or writing which obtains amongst 
 those who best understand the language, for 
 the language must be supposed established 
 before any grammar can be made for it ; and 
 therefore women, who, from the course of 
 their education and life, have had an oppor- 
 tunity of reading the best-written books, and 
 conversing with those who speak well, though 
 they do not burden themselves with the for- 
 mality of grammar, have often more skill in 
 the English language than the men who can 
 call every figure of speech by a Latin or 
 Greek name. You may be sure, Madam, I 
 shall not wish your papers suppressed, merely 
 because they were not written by a learned 
 man. Language and style, however, are but 
 the dress. Trifles, however adorned, are 
 trifles still. A person of spiritual discern 
 ment would rather be the author of one page 
 written in the humble garb of Bunyan, upon 
 a serious subject, than to be able to rival the 
 sprightliness and elegance of Lady M. W. 
 Montague, unless it could be with a view to 
 edification. The subjects you propose are im- 
 portant ; and, with respect to sacramental me- 
 ditations, and all devotional exercises so called, 
 I perfectly agree with you, that, to be affect- 
 ing and useful, they must be dictated rather 
 by the heart than by the head, and are most 
 likely to influence others when they are the 
 fruits and transcripts of our own experience. 
 So far as I know, we are but scantily pro- 
 vided with specimens of this sort in print, 
 and therefore I shall be glad to see an acces- 
 sion to the public stock. Your other thought 
 of helps to recollection on Saturday evenings 
 is, I think, an attempt in which none have 
 been beforehand with you. So that, accord- 
 ing to the general appearance, I feel myself 
 disposed to encourage you to do as you have 
 purposed. On the other hand, if I meet 
 with any thing, on the perusal of the papers, 
 which in my view may seem to need altera- 
 tion, I will freely and faithfully point it out. 
 
 I can almost smile now, to think you once 
 classed me amongst the Stoics. If I dare 
 speak with confidence of myself in any thing. 
 
LEI. IV. 
 
 LETTERS TO MRS. 
 
 I think I may lay claim to a little of that pleas- 
 ing, painful thing, sensibility. I need not 
 boast of it, for it has too often been my snare, 
 my sin, and my punishment. Yet I would be 
 thankful for a spice of it, as the Lord’s gift, and 
 when rightly exercised, it is valuable; and I 
 think I should make but an awkward minister 
 without it, especially here. Where there is this 
 sensibility in the natural temper, it will give 
 a tincture or cast to our religious expression. 
 Indeed I often find this sensibility weakest 
 where it should be strongest, and have reason 
 to reproach myself that I am not more af- 
 fected by the character, love, and sufferings 
 of my Lord and Saviour, and my own pecu- 
 liar personal obligations to him. However, 
 my views of religion have been such for many 
 years, as I supposed more likely to make me 
 be deemed an enthusiast than a Stoic. A 
 moonlight head-knowledge derived from a 
 system of sentiments, however true in them- 
 selves, is in my judgment a poor thing ; nor, 
 on the other hand, am I an admirer of those 
 rapturous sallies, which are more owing to a 
 warm imagination than to a just perception 
 of the power and importance of gospel-truth. 
 The gospel addresses both head and heart ; 
 and, where it has its proper effect, where it is 
 received as the word of God, and is clothed 
 with the authority and energy of the Holy 
 Spirit, the understanding is enlightened, the 
 affections awakened and engaged, the will 
 brought into subjection, and the whole soul 
 delivered to its impression, as wax to the seal. 
 When this is the case, when the affections do 
 not take the lead, and push forward with a 
 blind impulse, but arise from the principles of 
 scripture, and are governed by them, the more 
 warmth the better. Yet in this state of infir- 
 mity nothing is perfect, and our natural tem- 
 perament and disposition will have more in- 
 fluence upon our religious sensations than we 
 are ordinarily aware. It is well to know how 
 to make proper allowances and abatements 
 upon this head, in the judgment we form both 
 of ourselves and of others. Many good peo- 
 ple are distressed and alternately elated by 
 frames and feelings, which perhaps are more 
 constitutional than properly religious experi- 
 ences. I dare not tell you, Madam, what I 
 am, but I can tell you what I wish to be. 
 The love of God, as manifested in Jesus 
 Christ, is w r hat I would wish to be the abiding 
 object of my contemplation ; not merely to spe- 
 culate upon it as a doctrine, but so to feel it, 
 and my own interest in it, as to have my heart 
 filled with its effects, and transformed into its 
 resemblance ; that with this glorious exemplar 
 in my view, I may be animated to a spirit of 
 benevolence, love and compassion to all around 
 me ; that my love may be primarily fixed upon 
 him who has so loved me, and then, for his 
 sake, diffused to all his children, and to all 
 his creatures. Then, knowing that much is 
 forgiven to me, I should be prompted to the 
 
 225 
 
 ready exercise of forgiveness, if I have aught 
 against any. Then I should be humble, pa- 
 tient, and submissive under all his dispensa- 
 tions, meek, gentle, forbearing, and kind to 
 my fellow- worms. Then I should be active 
 and diligent in improving all my talents and 
 powers in his service, and for his glory, and 
 live not to myself, but to him who loved me, 
 and gave himself for me. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 November 29, 1776. 
 
 MY DEAR MADAM, 
 
 I AM persuaded you need not be told, that 
 though there are perhaps supposeable extre- 
 mities, in which self would prevail over all 
 considerations, yet in general it is more easy 
 to suffer in our own persons than in the per- 
 sons of those whom we dearly love ; for through 
 such a medium our apprehensions possibly re- 
 ceive the idea of the trouble enlarged beyond 
 its just dimensions, and it would sit lighter 
 upon us if it were properly our own case, for 
 then we should feel it all, and there would be 
 no room for imagination to exaggerate. 
 
 But though I feel grief, I trust the Lord 
 has mercifully preserved me from impatience 
 and murmuring, and that, in the midst of 
 all the pleadings of flesh and blood, there is 
 a something within me that aims to say, with- 
 out reserve or exception, *• Not my will, but 
 thine be done.” 
 
 It is a comfortable consideration, that he 
 with whom we have to do, our great High- 
 Priest, who once put away our sins by the 
 sacrifice of himself, and now for ever appears 
 in the presence of God for us, is not only 
 possessed of sovereign authority and infinite 
 power, but wears our very nature, and feels 
 and exercises in the highest degree those ten- 
 dernesses and commiserations which I con- 
 ceive are essential to humanity in its perfect 
 state. The whole history of his wonderful 
 life is full of inimitable instances of this 
 kind. His bowels were moved before his 
 arm was exerted : he condescended to mingle 
 tears with mourners, and wept over distresses 
 which he intended to relieve. He is still the 
 same in his exalted state : compassions dwell 
 within his heart. In a way inconceivable to 
 us, but consistent with his supreme dignity 
 and perfection of happiness and glory, he still 
 feels for his people. When Saul persecuted 
 the members upon earth, the Head com- 
 plained from heaven ; and sooner shall the 
 most tender mother sit insensible and inat- 
 tentive to the cries and wants of her infant, 
 than the Lord Jesus be an unconcerned spec- 
 tator of his suffering children. No ! with 
 the eye, and the ear, and the heart of a friend, 
 he attends to their sorrows ; he counts their 
 Y 
 
LET. V 
 
 226 LETTERS TO 
 
 sighs, puts their tears in his bottle ; and, 
 when our spirits are overwhelmed within us, 
 he knows our path, and adjusts the time, the 
 measure of our trials, and every thing that is 
 necessary for our present support and season- 
 able deliverance, with the same unerring wis- 
 dom aad accuracy as he weighed the moun- 
 tains in scales, and hills in a balance, and 
 meted out the heavens with a span. Still 
 more, besides his benevolent, he has an expe- 
 rimental sympathy. He knows our sorrows, 
 not merely as he knows all things, but as 
 one who has been in our situation, and 
 who, though without sin himself, endured, 
 when upon earth, inexpressibly more for us 
 than he will ever lay upon us. He has 
 sanctified poverty, pain, disgrace, temptation 
 and death, by passing through these states ; 
 and, in whatever states his people are, they 
 may by faith have fellowship with him in their 
 sufferings, and he will, by sympathy and love, 
 have fellowship and interest with them in 
 theirs. What, then, shall we fear, or of what 
 shall we complain, when all our concerns are 
 written upon his heart, and their manage- 
 ment, to the very hairs of our head, are un- 
 der his care and providence ; when he pities 
 us more than we can do ourselves, and has 
 engaged his almighty power to sustain and 
 relieve us. However, as he is tender, he is 
 wise also ; he loves us, but especially with re- 
 gard to our best interests. If there were not 
 something in our hearts and our situation 
 that required discipline and medicine, he so 
 delights in our prosperity that we should ne- 
 ver be in heaviness. The innumerable com- 
 forts and mercies with which he enriches even 
 those we call our darker days, are sufficient 
 proofs that he does not willingly grieve us ; 
 but when he sees a need-be for chastisement, 
 he will not with-hold it because he loves us ; 
 on the contrary, that is the very reason why 
 he afflicts. He will put his silver into the 
 fire to purify it ; but he sits by the furnace as 
 a refiner, to direct the process, and to secure 
 the end he has in view, that we may neither 
 suffer too much, nor suffer in vain. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER V 
 
 December — , 1776. 
 
 MY DEAR MADAM, 
 
 I have often preached to others of the bene- 
 fit of affliction, but my own path for many 
 years has been so smooth, and my trials, 
 though I have not been without trials, compa- 
 ratively so light and few, that I have seemed 
 to myself to speak by rote upon a subject of 
 which I had not a proper feeling. Yet the 
 many exercises of my poor afflicted people, 
 and the sympathy the Lord lias given me 
 
 MRS. . • 
 
 with them in their troubles, has made this a 
 frequent and favourite topic of my ministry 
 among them. The advantages of afflictions, 
 when the Lord is pleased to employ them for 
 the good of his people, are many and great. 
 Permit me to mention a few of them, and 
 the Lord grant that we may all find those 
 blessed ends answered to ourselves, by the 
 trials he is pleased to appoint us. 
 
 Afflictions quicken us to prayer. It is a 
 pity it should be so. Experience, however, 
 testifies that a long course of ease and pros- 
 perity, without painful changes, has an un- 
 happy tendency to make us cold and formal 
 in our secret worship, but troubles rouse our 
 spirits, and constrain us to call upon the 
 Lord in good earnest, when we feel a need 
 of that help which we only can have from 
 him. 
 
 They are useful, and in a degree neces- 
 sary, to keep alive in us a conviction of the 
 vanity and unsatisfying nature of the present 
 world and all its enjoyments, to remind us 
 that this is not our rest, and to call our 
 thoughts upwards, where our true treasure is, 
 and where our conversation ought to be. 
 When things go on much to our wish, our 
 hearts are too prone to say, “ It is good to be 
 here.” It is probable, that had Moses, when 
 he came to invite Israel to Canaan found them 
 in prosperity, as in the days of Joseph, they 
 would have been very unwilling to remove ; 
 but the afflictions they were previously brought 
 into made his message welcome. Thus the 
 Lord, by pain, sickness, and disappointments, 
 by breaking our cisterns, and withering our 
 gourds, weakens our attachment to this world, 
 and makes the thought of quitting it more 
 familiar and more desirable. 
 
 A child of God cannot but greatly desire 
 a more enlarged and experimental acquaint- 
 ance with his holy word, and this attainment 
 is greatly promoted by our trials. The far 
 greater part of the promises in scripture are 
 made and suited to a state of affliction ; and 
 though we may believe they are true, we can- 
 not so well know their sweetness, power, and 
 suitableness, unless we ourselves are in a state 
 to which they refer. The Lord says, ' “ Call 
 upon me in the day of trouble, and I will 
 deliver.” Now till the day of trouble comes, 
 such a promise is like a city of refuge to an 
 Israelite, who, not having slain a man, was 
 in no danger of the avenger of blood. He 
 had a privilege near him, of which he knew 
 not the use and value, because he was not in 
 the case for which it w r as provided. But 
 some can say, I not only believe this pro- 
 mise upon the authority of the speaker, but 
 I can set my seal to it ; I have been in trou- 
 ble ; I took this course for relief, and I was 
 not disappointed. The Lord verily heard and 
 delivered me. Thus afflictions likewise give 
 occasion of our knowing and noticing more 
 
LET. VI. 
 
 of the Lord’s wisdom, power, and goodness, 
 in supporting and relieving, than we should 
 otherwise have known. 
 
 I have not time to take another sheet, and 
 must therefore contract my homily. Afflictions 
 evidence to ourselves, and manifest to others, 
 the reality of grace. And when we suffer as 
 Christians, exercise some measure of that pa- 
 tience and submission, and receive some mea- 
 sure of these supports and supplies, which the 
 gospel requires and promises to believers, we 
 are more confirmed that we have not taken 
 up with mere notions ; and others may be 
 convinced, that we do not follow cunningly 
 devised fables. They likewise strengthen by 
 exercise our graces. As our limbs and na- 
 tural powers would be feeble if not called to 
 daily exertion ; so the graces of the Spirit 
 would languish, unless something was pro- 
 vided to draw them out to use. And, to say 
 no more, they are honourable as they advance 
 our conformity to Jesus our Lord, who was 
 a man of sorrows for our sakes. Methinks, if 
 we might go to heaven without suffering, 
 we should be unwilling to desire it. Why 
 should we ever wish to go by any other path 
 than that which he has consecrated and endear- 
 ed by his own example ? especially as his peo- 
 ple’s sufferings are not penal ; there is no wrath 
 in them ; the cup he puts in their hands is very 
 different from that which he drank for their 
 sakes, and is only medicinal to promote their 
 chief good. Here I must stop ; but the sub- 
 ject is fruitful, and might be pursued through 
 a quire of paper. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 August — 1778. 
 
 MY DEAR MADAM, 
 
 Your obliging favour of the 22d from B , 
 
 which I received last night, demands an im- 
 mediate acknowledgement. Many things 
 which would have offered by way of answer, 
 must for the present be postponed ; for the 
 same post brought an information which turns 
 my thoughts to one subject. What shall I 
 say ? Topics of consolation are at hand in 
 abundance ; they are familiar to your mind ; 
 and were I to fill the sheet with them I could 
 suggest nothing but what you already know. 
 Then are they consolatory indeed, when the 
 Lord himself is pleased to apply them to the 
 heart. This he has promised, and therefore, 
 we are encouraged to expect it. This is my 
 prayer for you : I sincerely sympathize with 
 you ; I cannot comfort you ; but he can ; and 
 I trust he will. How impertinent would it 
 be to advise you to forget or suspend the feel- 
 ings which such a stroke must excite ! Who 
 can help feeling ! nor is sensibility in itself 
 sinful. Christian resignation is very different 
 
 227 
 
 from that stoical stubbornness, which is most 
 easily practised by those unamiable characters 
 whose regards centre wholly in self; nor 
 could we in a proper manner exercise sub- 
 mission to the will of God under our trials, if 
 we did not feel them. He who knows our 
 frame is pleased to allow, that afflictions for 
 the present are not joyous, but grievous. But 
 to them that fear him he is near at hand, to 
 support their spirits, to moderate their grief, 
 and in the issue to sanctify it ; so that they 
 shall come out of the furnace refined, more 
 humble, and more spiritual. There is, how- 
 ever, a part assigned us ; we are to pray for 
 the help in need ; and we are not wilfully to 
 give way to the impression of overwhelming 
 sorrow. We are to endeavour to turn our 
 thoughts to such considerations as are suited 
 to alleviate it; our deserts as sinners, the 
 many mercies we are still indulged with, the 
 still greater afflictions which many of our fel- 
 low-creatures endure, and, above all, the suf- 
 ferings of Jesus, that man of sorrows, who 
 made himself Intimately acquainted with grief 
 for our sakes. 
 
 When the will of the Lord is manifested to us 
 by the event, we are to look to him for grace 
 and strength, and to be still and know that 
 he is God, that he has a right to dispose of us 
 and ours as he pleases, and that in the exer- 
 cise of this right he is most certainly good 
 and wise. We often complain of losses ; but 
 the expression is rather improper. Strictly 
 speaking, we can lose nothing, because we 
 have no real property in any thing. Our 
 earthly comforts are lent us, and when re- 
 called, we ought to return and resign them 
 with thankfulness to him who has let them 
 remain so long in our hands. But, as I said 
 above, I do not mean to enlarge in this strain ; 
 I hope the Lord, the only Comforter will 
 bring such thoughts with warmth and efficacy 
 upon your mind. Your wound, while fresh, 
 is painful ; but faith, prayer, and time, will, 
 I trust, gradually render it tolerable. There 
 is something fascinating in grief : painful as 
 it is, we are prone to indulge it, and to brood 
 over the thoughts and circumstances which 
 are suited (like fuel to fire) to heighten and 
 prolong it. When the Lord afflicts, it is his 
 design that we should grieve; but in this, as 
 in all other things, there is a certain modera- 
 tion which becomes a Christian, and which 
 only grace can teach ; and grace teaches us, 
 not by books or by hearsay, but by experi- 
 mental lessons : all beyond this should be a- 
 voided and guarded against as sinful and 
 hurtful. Grief, when indulged and excessive, 
 preys upon the spirits, injures health, indis- 
 poses us for duty, and causes us to shed tears 
 which deserve more tears. This is a weeping 
 world. Sin has filled it with thorns and 
 briars, with crosses and calamities. It is a 
 great hospital, resounding with groans in 
 every quarter. It is as a field of battle. 
 
 LETTERS TO MRS. 
 
228 LETTERS TO 
 
 where many are falling around us continual- 
 ly : and it is more wonderful that we escape 
 so well, than that we are sometimes wounded. 
 We must have some share; it is the unavoida- 
 ble lot of our nature and state. It is like- 
 wise needful in point of discipline : the Lord 
 will ceitainly chasten those whom he loves, 
 though others may seem to pass for a time 
 with impunity. That is a sweet, instructive, 
 and important passage, Heb. xii. 5, 11. It 
 is so plain, that it needs no comment ; so full, 
 that a comment would but weaken it. May 
 the Lord inscribe it upon your heart, my dear 
 Madam, and upon mine. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER VII. 
 
 November — 1778. 
 
 MY DEAR MADAM, 
 
 Your obliging favour raised in me a variety 
 of emotions when I first received it, and has 
 revived them this morning while perusing it 
 again. I have mourned and rejoiced with 
 you, and felt pain and pleasure in succession, 
 as you diversified the subject. However, the 
 weight of your grief I was willing to consider 
 as a thing that is past ; and the thought that 
 you had been mercifully supported under it, 
 and brought through it, that you were restor- 
 ed home in safety, and that at the time of 
 writing you were tolerably well and compos- 
 ed, made joy upon the whole preponderate ; 
 and I am more disposed to congratulate you, 
 and join you in praising the Lord for the 
 mercies you enumerate, than to prolong my 
 condolence upon the mournful parts of your 
 letter. Repeated trying occasions have made 
 me well acquainted with the anxious inquiries 
 with which the busy poring mind is apt to 
 pursue departed friends. It can hardly be 
 otherwise under some circumstances. I have 
 found prayer the best relief. I have thought 
 it very allowable to avail myself to the utmost 
 of every favourable consideration ; but I have 
 had the most comfort, when I have been ena- 
 bled to resign the whole concern into his 
 hands, whose thoughts and ways, whose power 
 and goodness, are infinitely superior to our 
 conceptions. I consider, in such cases, that 
 the great Redeemer can save to the uttermost, 
 and the great teacher can communicate light, 
 and impress truth, when and how he pleases. 
 I trust the power of his grace and compassion 
 will hereafter triumphantly appear, in many 
 instances, df persons, who, on their dying 
 beds, and in their last moments, have been, 
 by his mercy, constrained to feel the import- 
 ance and reality of truths, which they did not 
 properly understand and attend to in the 
 hour of health and prosperity. Such a salu- 
 tary change I have frequently, or at least 
 mo rp than once, twice, or thrice, been an eye- 
 
 MRS. . LET. VII. 
 
 witness to, accompanied with such evidence 
 as, I think, has been quite satisfactory. And 
 who can say such a change may not often take 
 place, when the person who is the subject of 
 it is too much enfeebled to give an account to 
 by-standers of what is transacting in his 
 mind ! Thus I have encouraged my hope. 
 But the best satisfaction of all is, to be duly 
 impressed with the voice that says, “ Be still, 
 and know that I am God.” These words 
 direct us, not only to his sovereignty, his un- 
 doubted right to do what he will with his own, 
 but to all his adorable and amiable perfections, 
 by which he has manifested himself to us in 
 the Son of his love. 
 
 As I am not a Sadducee: the account you 
 give of the music which entertained you on the 
 road does not put my dependence either up- 
 on your veracity or your judgment to any trial. 
 We live upon the coniines of the invisible 
 world, or rather perhaps in the midst of it. 
 That unseen agents have a power of operating 
 upon our minds, at least upon that mysterious 
 faculty we call the imagination, is with me 
 not merely a point of opinion, or even of 
 faith, but of experience. That evil spirits can, 
 when permitted, disturb, distress, and defilfe us, 
 I know, as well as I know that the fire can 
 burn me. And though their interposition is 
 perhaps more easily and certainly distinguish- 
 able, yet, from analogy, I conclude that good 
 spirits are equally willing, and equally able, 
 to employ their kind offices for our relief and 
 comfort. I have formed in my mind a kind 
 of system upon this subject, which, for the 
 most part, I keep pretty much to myself ; but 
 I can entrust my thoughts to you as they oc- 
 casionally offer. I apprehend that some per- 
 sons (those particularly who rank under the 
 class of nervous) are more open and acces- 
 sible to these impressions than others, and 
 probably the same person more so at some 
 times than others. And though we frequently 
 distinguish between imaginary and real (which 
 is one reason why nervous people are so sel- 
 dom pitied), yet an impression upon the ima- 
 gination may, as to the agent that produces it, 
 and to the person that receives it, be as much 
 a reality as any of the sensible objects around 
 him ; though a bye-stander, not being able to 
 share in the perception, may account it a mere 
 whim, and suppose it might be avoided or re- 
 moved by an act of the will. Nor have any 
 a right to with-hold their assent to what the 
 scriptures teach, and many sober persons de- 
 clare, of this invisible agency, merely because 
 we cannot answer the questions, How ? or 
 Why ? The thing may be certain, though we 
 cannot easily explain it ; and there may be 
 just and important reasons for it, though we 
 should not be able to assign them. If what 
 you heard, or which, in my view, is much the 
 same, what you thought you heard, had a 
 tendency to compose your spirit, and to encou- 
 rage your application to the Lord for help, at 
 
LET. VII. 
 
 LETTERS TO MRS, 
 
 the time when you were about to stand in need 
 of especial assistance, then there is a sufficient 
 and suitable reason assigned for it at once, 
 without looking any farther. It would be 
 dangerous to make impressions a rule of duty ; 
 but if they strengthen us, and assist us in 
 the performance of what we know to be our 
 duty, we may be thankful for them. 
 
 You have taken leave of your favourite 
 trees, and the scenes of your younger life, 
 but a few years sooner than you must have 
 done, if the late dispensation had not taken 
 place. All must be left soon ; for all below 
 is polluted, and, in its best state, is too scanty 
 to afford us happiness. If we are believers 
 
 229 
 
 in Jesus, all we can quit is a mere nothing, 
 • compared with what we shall obtain. To ex- 
 change a dungeon for a palace, earth for hea- 
 ven, will call for no self-denial when we stand 
 upon the threshold of eternity, and shall have 
 a clearer view than we have now of the va- 
 nity of what is passing from us, and the glory 
 of what is before us. The partial changes we 
 meet with in our way through life are design- 
 ed to remind us of, and prepare us for, the 
 great change which awaits us at the end of it. 
 The Lord grant that we may find mercy of 
 the Lord in that solemn hour. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
LETTERS 
 
 TO MRS. T 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 March 12, 1774. 
 
 MY DEAR MADAM, 
 
 My heart is full, yet I must restrain it. Many 
 thoughts which crowd my mind, and would 
 have vent, were I writing to another person, 
 would to you be unseasonable. I write, not 
 to remind you of what you have lost, but of 
 what you have, which you cannot lose. May 
 the Lord put a word into my heart that may 
 be acceptable, and may his good Spirit ac- 
 company the perusal, and enable you to say, 
 with the apostle, that as sufferings abound, 
 consolations also abound by Jesus Christ. In- 
 deed, I can sympathize with you. I remem- 
 ber, too, the delicacy of your frame, and the 
 tenderness of your natural spirits; so that, 
 were you not interested in the exceeding great 
 and precious promises of the gospel, I should 
 be ready to fear you must sink under your 
 trial. But I have some faint conceptions of 
 the all-sufficiency and faithfulness of the Lord, 
 and may address you in the king’s words to 
 Daniel, “ Thy God, whom thou servest con- 
 tinually, he will deliver thee.” Motives for 
 resignation to his will abound in his word ; 
 but it is an additional and crowning mercy, 
 that he has promised to apply and enforce 
 them in time of need. He has said, “ My 
 grace shall be sufficient for thee and “ as 
 thy day is, so shall thy strength be.” This, 
 I trust, you have already experienced. The 
 Lord is so rich and so good, that he can, by 
 a glance of thought, compensate his children 
 for whatever his wisdom sees fit to deprive 
 them of. If he gives them a lively sense of 
 what he has delivered them from, and pre- 
 pared for them, or of what he himself submit- 
 ted to endure for their sakes, they find at once 
 light springing up out of darkness, hard things 
 become easy, and bitter sweet. I remember 
 to have read of a good man in the last cen- 
 tury (probably you may have met with the 
 
 story), who, when his beloved and only son 
 lay ill, was for some time greatly anxious 
 about the event. One morning he staid longer 
 than usual in his closet; while he was there, 
 his son died. When he came out, his family 
 were afraid to tell him, but, like David, he 
 perceived it by their looks, and when, upon 
 inquiry, they said it was so, he received the 
 news with a composure that surprised them. 
 But he soon explained the reason, by telling 
 them, that for such discoveries of the Lord’s 
 goodness as he had been favoured with that 
 morning, he could be content to lose a son 
 every day. Yes, Madam, though every stream 
 must fail, the fountain is still full, and still 
 flowing. All the comfort you ever received 
 in your dear friend was from the Lord, who 
 is abundantly able to comfort you still ; and 
 he is gone but a little before you. May your 
 faith anticipate the joyful and glorious meet- 
 ing you will shortly have in a better world. 
 Then your worship and converse together will 
 be to unspeakable advantage, without imper- 
 fection, interruption, abatement, or end. Then 
 all tears shall be wiped away, and every cloud 
 removed ; and then you will see, that all your 
 concernments here below (the late afflicting 
 dispensation net excepted), were appointed 
 and adjusted by infinite wisdom and infinite 
 love. 
 
 The Lord, who know’s our frame, does not 
 expect or require that we should aim at a 
 stoical indifference under his visitations. He 
 allows, that afflictions are at present not joy- 
 ous, but grievous ; yea, he was pleased, when 
 upon earth, to weep with his mourning friends 
 when Lazarus died. But he has graciously 
 provided for the prevention of that anguish 
 and bitterness of sorrow, which is, upon such 
 occasions, the portion of such as live without 
 God in the world ; and has engaged that all 
 shall work together for good, and yield the 
 
LET. II. 
 
 LETTERS TO 
 
 peaceable fruits of righteousness. May he 
 bless you with a sweet serenity of spirit, and 
 a cheerful hope of the glory that shall shortly 
 be revealed. 
 
 I intimated that I would not trouble you 
 with my own sense and share of this loss. If 
 you remember the great kindness I always 
 
 received from Mr. T and yourself, as 
 
 often as opportunity afforded, and if you will 
 believe me possessed of any sensibility or gra- 
 titude, you will conclude that my concern is 
 not small. I feel likewise for the public. 
 Will it be a consolation to you, Madam, to 
 know that you do not mourn alone ? A cha- 
 racter so exemplary as a friend, a counsellor, 
 a Christian, and a minister, will be long and 
 deeply regretted ; and many will join with 
 me in praying, that you, who are most nearly 
 interested, may be signally supported, and 
 feel the propriety of Mrs. Rowe’s acknow- 
 ledgment, 
 
 Thou dost but take the dying lamp away, 
 
 To bless me with thine own unclouded day. 
 
 We join in most affectionate respects and 
 condolence. May the Lord bless you and 
 keep you, lift up the light of his countenance 
 upon you, and give you peace. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 April 3, 1775. 
 
 MY DEAR MADAM, 
 
 I have long and often purposed waiting up- 
 on you with a second letter, though one thing 
 or other still caused delay ; for though I 
 could not but wish to hear from you, I was 
 far from making that a condition of my writ- 
 ing. If you have leisure and spirits to fa- 
 vour me with a line now and then, it will 
 give us much pleasure ; but if not, it will be 
 a sufficient inducement with me to write, to 
 know that you give me liberty, and that you 
 will receive my letters in good part. At the 
 same time, I must add, that my various en- 
 gagements will not permit me to break in up- 
 on you so often as my sincere affection would 
 otherwise prompt me to do. 
 
 I heartily thank you for yours, and hope 
 my soul desires to praise the Lord on your 
 behalf. I am persuaded that his goodness to 
 you, in supporting you under a trial so sharp 
 in itself, and in the circumstances that at- 
 tended it, has been an encouragement and 
 comfort to many. It is in such apparently 
 severe times that the all-sufficiency and faith- 
 fulness of the Lord, and the power and pro- 
 per effects of his precious gospel, are most 
 eminently displayed. I would hope, and I 
 do believe, that the knowledge of your case 
 has animated some of the Lord’s people a- 
 gainst those anxious fears, which they some- 
 
 MRS. T . 231 
 
 times feel when they look upon their earthly 
 comforts with too careful an eye, and their 
 hearts are ready to sink at the thought. What 
 should I do, and how should I behave, were 
 the Lord pleased to take away my desire with 
 a stroke ? But we see he can supply their ab- 
 sence, and afford us superior comforts without 
 them. The gospel reveals one thing need- 
 ful, the pearl of great price ; and supposes 
 that they who possess this are provided for 
 against all events, and have ground of un- 
 shaken hope, and a source of never -failing 
 consolation under every change they can meet 
 with during their pilgrimage state. When 
 his people are enabled to set their seal to this, 
 not only in theory, when all things go smooth, 
 but practically, when called upon to pass 
 through the lire and water, then his grace is 
 glorified in them and by them : then it ap. 
 pears both to themselves and to others, that 
 they have neither followed cunningly devised 
 fables, nor amused themselves with empty no- 
 tions ; then they know in themselves, and it 
 is evidenced to others, that God is with them 
 of a truth. In this view a believer, when in 
 some good measure divested from that nar- 
 row selfish disposition which cleaves so close 
 to us by nature, will not only submit to trials, 
 but rejoice in them, notwithstanding the feel- 
 ings and reluctance of the flesh. For if I am 
 redeemed from misery by the blood of Jesus, 
 and if he is now preparing me a mansion near 
 himself, that I may drink of the rivers of 
 pleasure at his right hand for evermore ; the 
 question is not (at least ought not to be), How 
 may I pass through life with the least in- 
 convenience ? but, How may my little span 
 of life be made most subservient to the praise 
 and glory of him who loved me, and gave 
 himself for me ? Where the Lord gives this 
 desire, he will gratify it; and as afflictions 
 for the most part afford the fairest opportuni- 
 ties of this kind, therefore it is, that those 
 whom he is pleased eminently to honour are 
 usually called, at one time or another, to the 
 heaviest trials ; not because he loves to grieve 
 them, but because he hears their prayers, and 
 accepts their desires of doing him service in 
 the world. The post of honour in wars is 
 so called because attended with difficulties and 
 dangers which but few are supposed equal to ; 
 yet generals usually allot these hard services 
 to their favourites and friends, who, on their 
 parts, eagerly accept them as tokens of favour 
 and marks of confidence. Should we, there- 
 fore, not account it an honour and a privilege, 
 when the Captain of our salvation assigns us 
 a difficult post ? since he can and does (which 
 no earthly commander can) inspire his soldiers 
 with wisdom, courage, and strength, suitable 
 to their situation, 2 Cor. xii. 9. 10. I am 
 acquainted with a few who have been led thus 
 into the fore-front of the battle : they suffered 
 much ; but I have never heard them say they 
 suffered too much ; for the Lord stood by 
 
LET. III. 
 
 LETTERS TO MRS. T . 
 
 232 
 
 them and stregtliened. them. Go on, my dear 
 Madam ; yet a little while, Jesus will wipe 
 away all tears from your eyes ; you will see 
 your beloved friend again, and he and you 
 will rejoice together for ever. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 October 24 1775. 
 
 MY DEAR MADAM, 
 
 The manner in which you mention Omicron’s 
 letters, I hope, will rather humble me than 
 puff me up. Your favourable acceptance of 
 them, if alone, might have the latter effect ; 
 but alas ! I feel myself so very defective in 
 those things, the importance of which I en- 
 deavoured to point out to others, that I al- 
 most appear to myself to be one of those who 
 say, but do not. I find it much easier to 
 speak to the hearts of others than to my own. 
 Yet I have cause beyond many to bless God, 
 that he has given me some idea of what a 
 Christian ought to be, and I hope a real de- 
 sire of being one myself ; but verily I have 
 attained but a very little way. A friend hint- 
 ed to me, that the character I have given of 
 C, or Grace in the full ear, must be from my 
 own experience, or I could not have written 
 it. To myself, however, it appears otherwise; 
 but I am well convinced, that the state of C 
 is attainable, and more to be desired than 
 mountains of gold and silver. But I find 
 you complain likewise ; though it appears to 
 me, and I believe to all who know you, that 
 the Lord has been peculiarly gracious to you, 
 in giving you much of the spirit in which he 
 delights, and by which his name and the power 
 of his gospel are glorified. It seems, there- 
 fore, that we are not competent judges either 
 of ourselves or of others. I take it for grant- 
 ed, that they are the most excellent Christians 
 who are most abased in their own eyes : but 
 lest you think upon this ground that I am 
 something, because I can say so many hu- 
 miliating things of myself, I must prevent 
 your overrating me, by assuring you, that 
 my confessions rather express what I know I 
 ought to think of myself, than what I actually 
 do. Naturalists suppose, that if the matter 
 of which the earth is formed were condensed 
 as much as it is capable of, it would occupy 
 but a very small space ; in proof of which they 
 observe, that a cubical pane of glass, which ap- 
 pears smooth and impervious to us, must be 
 exceedingly porous in itself ; since in every 
 assignable point it receives and transmits the 
 rays of light ; and yet gold, which is the most 
 solid substance we are acquainted with, is but 
 about eight times heavier than glass which is 
 made up (if I may say so) of nothing but 
 pores. In like manner, I conceive, that in- 
 herent grace, when it is dilated, and appears to 
 
 the greatest advantage in a sinner, would be 
 found to be very small and inconsiderable, if it 
 were condensed, and absolutely separated from 
 every mixture. The highest attainments in 
 this life are very inconsiderable, compared 
 •with what should properly result from our re- 
 lation and obligations to a God of infinite ho- 
 liness. The nearer we approach to him, the 
 more we are sensible of this. While we only 
 hear of God as it were by the ear, we seem to 
 be something ; but when, as in the case of 
 Job, he discovers himself more sensibly to us, 
 Job’s language becomes ours, and the height 
 of our attainment is, to abhor ourselves in 
 dust and ashes. 
 
 I hope I do not write too late to meet you 
 at Bath. I pray that your health may be 
 benefited by the waters, and your soul com- 
 forted by the Lord’s blessing upon the ordi- 
 nances, and the converse of his children. If 
 any of the friends you expected to see are 
 still there, to whom we are known, and my 
 name should be mentioned, I beg you to say, 
 we desire to be respectfully remembered to 
 them. Had I wings, I would fly to Bath 
 while you are there. As it is, I endeavour to 
 be with you in spirit. There certainly is a 
 real, though secret, a sweet, though mysterious 
 communion of saints, by virtue of their com- 
 mon union with Jesus. Feeding upon the 
 same bread, drinking of the same fountain, 
 waiting at the same mercy-seat, and aiming at 
 the same ends, they have fellowship one with 
 another, though at a distance. Who can tell 
 how often the Holy Spirit, who is equally 
 present with them all, touches the hearts of 
 two or more of his children at the same in- 
 stant, so as to excite a sympathy of pleasure, 
 prayer, or praise, on each other’s account ? It 
 revives me sometimes in a dull and dark hour 
 to reflect, that the Lord has in mercy given 
 me a place in the hearts of many of his 
 people ; and perhaps some of them may be 
 speaking to him on my behalf, when I have 
 hardly power to utter a word for myself. For 
 kind services of this sort, I persuade myself I 
 am often indebted to you. O that I were 
 enabled more fervently to repay you in the 
 same way ! I can say, that I attempt it ; I 
 love and honour you greatly, and your con- 
 cernments are often upon my mind. 
 
 We spent most of a week with Mr. B 
 
 since we returned from London, and he has 
 been once here. We have reason to be very 
 thankful for his connexion ; I find but few 
 like-minded with him, and his family is filled 
 with the grace and peace of the gospel. I 
 never visit them but I meet with something to 
 humble, quicken and edify me. Oh ! what 
 will heaven be, where there shall be all who 
 love the Lord Jesus, and they only ; where all 
 imperfection, and whatever now abates or in- 
 terrupts their joy in their Lord and in each 
 other, shall cease for ever. There at least I 
 hope to meet you, and spend ail eternity with 
 
LET. IV. 
 
 LETTERS TO MRS. T . 233 
 
 vou, in admiring the riches and glory of re- 
 deeming love. 
 
 We join in a tender of the most affection- 
 ate respects. 
 
 1 am, &c. 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 October 28, 1777. 
 
 MY DEAR MADAM, 
 
 What can I say for myself, to let your oblig- 
 ing letter remain so long unanswered, when 
 your kind solicitude for us induced you to 
 write? I am ashamed of the delay. You 
 would have heard from me immediately, had 
 I been at home. But I have reason to be 
 thankful that we were providentially called to 
 London a few days before the fire ; so that 
 
 Mrs. was mercifully preserved from the 
 
 alarm and shock she must have felt, had she 
 been upon the spot. Your letter followed 
 me hither, and was in my possession more 
 than a week before my return. I purposed 
 writing every day, but indeed 1 was much 
 hurried and engaged. Yet I am not ex- 
 cused : I ought to have saved time from my 
 meals or my sleep, rather than appear negli- 
 gent or ungrateful. I now seize the first post 
 1 could write by since I came home. The 
 lire devoured twelve houses; and it was a 
 mercy, and almost a miracle, that the whole 
 town was not destroyed, which must, hu- 
 manly speaking, have been the case, had not 
 the night been calm, as two-thirds of the 
 buildings were thatched. No lives were lost, 
 no person considerably hurt , and I believe 
 the contributions of the benevolent will pre- 
 vent the loss from being greatly felt. It was 
 at the distance of a quarter of a mile from 
 my house. 
 
 Your command limits my attention at pre- 
 sent to a part of your letter, and points me 
 out a subject. Yet, at the same time, you 
 lay me under a difficulty. I would not wil- 
 lingly offend you, and I hope the Lord has 
 taught me not to aim at saying handsome 
 things. I deal not in compliments, and reli- 
 gious compliments are the most unseemly of 
 any. But why might I not express my sense 
 of the grace of God manifested in you as 
 well as in another ? I believe our hearts are 
 all alike destitute of every good, and prone 
 to every evil. Like money from the same 
 mint, they bear the same impression of total 
 depravity ; but grace makes a difference, and 
 grace deserves the praise. Perhaps it ought 
 not greatly to displease you, that others do, 
 and must, and will think better of you than 
 you do of yourself. If I do, how can I help 
 it, when . I form my judgment entirely from 
 what you say and write ? I cannot consent 
 that you should seriously appoint me to ex- 
 amine and judge of your state. I thought 
 
 you knew, beyond the shadow of a doubt, 
 what your views and desires are ; yea, you 
 express them in your letter, in full agree 
 ment with what the scriptures declare of the 
 principles, desires, and feelings of a Chris- 
 tian. It is true that you feel contrary prin- 
 ciples, that you are conscious of defects and 
 defilements ; but it is equally true that you 
 could not be right if you did not feel these 
 things. To be conscious of them, and hum- 
 bled for them, is one of the surest marks 
 of grace ; and to be more deeply sensible of 
 them than formerly is the best evidence of 
 growth in grace. But when the enemy would 
 tempt us to doubt and distrust, because we 
 are not perfect, then he fights, not only against 
 our peace, but against the honour and faith- 
 fulness of our dear Lord. Our righteousness 
 is in him, and our hope depends, not upon 
 the exercise of grace in us, but upon the ful- 
 ness of grace and love in him, and upon his 
 obedience unto death. 
 
 There is, my dear Madam, a difference be- 
 tween the holiness of a sinner and that of an 
 angel. The angels have never sinned, nor 
 have they tasted of redeeming love : they have 
 no inward conflicts, no law of sin warring in 
 their members ; their obedience is perfect ; 
 their happiness is complete. Yet if I be found 
 among redeemed sinners, I need not wish to 
 be an angel. Perhaps God is not less glori- 
 fied by your obedience, and, not to shock you, 
 I will add by mine, than by Gabriel’s. It is 
 a mighty manifestation of his grace indeed, 
 when it can live, and act, and conquer in such 
 hearts as ours ; when, in defiance of an evil 
 nature and an evil world, and all the force 
 and subtilty of Satan, a weak worm is still 
 upheld, and enabled not only to climb, but 
 to thresh the mountains ; when a small spark 
 is preserved through storms and floods. In 
 these circumstances, the work of grace is to 
 be estimated, not merely from its imperfect 
 appearance, but from the difficulties it has to 
 struggle w ith and overcome ; and therefore 
 our holiness does not consist in great attain- 
 ments, but in spiritual desires, in hungerings, 
 thirstings, and mournings ; in humiliation of 
 heart, poverty of spirit, submission, meekness ; 
 in cordial admiring thoughts of Jesus, and de- 
 pendence upon him alone for all we want. 
 Indeed these may be said to be great attain- 
 ments ; but they who have most of them are 
 most sensible that they, in and of themselves, 
 are nothing, have nothing, can do nothing, 
 and see daily cause for abhorring themselves, 
 and repenting in dust and ashes. 
 
 Our view of death will not always be alike, 
 but in proportion to the degree in which the 
 Holy Spirit is pleased to communicate his 
 sensible influence. We may anticipate the 
 moment of dissolution with pleasure and de- 
 sire in the morning, and be ready to shrink 
 from the thought of it before night. But 
 though our frames and perceptions vary, the 
 
LETTERS TO MRS. T- 
 
 LET. IV 
 
 234 . 
 
 report of faith concerning it is the same. The 
 Lord usually reserves dying strength for a dy- 
 ing hour. When Israel was to pass Jordan, 
 the ark was in the river ; and though the rear 
 of the host could not see it, yet as they suc- 
 cessively came forward and approached the 
 banks, they all beheld the ark, and all went 
 safely over. As you are not weary of living, 
 if it be the Lord’s pleasure, so I hope, for 
 the sake of your friends and the people whom 
 you love, he will spare you amongst us a little 
 longer ; but when the time shall arrive which 
 he has appointed for your dismission, I make 
 no doubt but he will overpower all your tears, 
 silence all your enemies, and give you a com- 
 fortable, triumphant entrance into his king- 
 dom. You have nothing to fear from death ; 
 for Jesus, by dying, has disarmed it of its 
 sting, has perfumed the grave, and opened | 
 
 the gates of glory for his believing people, 
 Satan, so far as he is permitted, will assaul 
 our peace, but he is a vanquished enemy ; 
 our Lord holds him in a chain, and sets him 
 bounds which he cannot pass. He provides 
 for us likewise the whole armour of God, and 
 has promised to cover our heads himself in 
 the day of battle, to bring us honourably 
 through every skirmish, and to make us more 
 than conquerors at last. If you think my 
 
 short unexpected interview with Mr. C 
 
 may justify my wishing he should know that 
 I respect his character, love his person, and 
 rejoice in wtiat the Lord has done and is doing 
 for him and by him, I beg you tell him so ; 
 but I leave it entirely to yourself. 
 
 We join in most affectionate respects. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 I 
 
LETTERS 
 
 TO MR. 
 
 LETTER L 
 
 March 7, 1765. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 Your favour of the 19th February came to 
 my hand yesterday. I have read it with at- 
 tention, and very willingly sit down to offer 
 you my thoughts. Your case reminds me of 
 my own : my first desires towards the mini- 
 stry were attended with great uncertainties 
 and difficulties, and the perplexity of my own 
 mind was heightened by the various and oppo- 
 site judgments of my friends. The advice I 
 have to offer is the result of painful experi- 
 ence and exercise, and for this reason, per- 
 haps, may not be unacceptable to you. I 
 pray our gracious Lord to make it useful. 
 
 I was long distressed, as you are, about what 
 was Or was not a proper call to the ministry. 
 It now seems to me an easy point to solve ; 
 but, perhaps, it will not be so to you, till the 
 Lord shall make it clear to yourself in your 
 own case. I have not room to say so much 
 as I could. In brief, I think it principally 
 includes three things : 
 
 1. A warm and earnest desire to be employ- 
 ed in this service. I apprehend the man who 
 is once moved by the Spirit of God to this 
 work, will prefer it, if attainable, to thousands 
 of gold and silver : so that, though he is at 
 times intimidated by a sense of its importance 
 and difficulty, compared with his own great 
 insufficiency (for it is to be presumed a call 
 of this sort, if indeed from God, will be ac- 
 companied with humility and self-abasement), 
 yet he cannot give it up. I hold it a good 
 rule to inquire in this point, whether the de- 
 sire to preach is most fervent in our most 
 lively and spiritual frames, or when we are 
 most laid in the dust before the Lord ? If so, 
 h is a good sign. But if, as is sometimes 
 
 I the case, a person is very earnest to be a 
 preacher to others, when he finds but little 
 hungerings and thirstings after grace in his 
 own soul, it is then to be feared, his zeal 
 springs rather from a selfish principle than 
 from the Spirit of God. 
 
 2. Besides this affectionate desire and rea- 
 diness to preach, there must in due season ap- 
 pear some competent sufficiency as to gifts, 
 knowledge, and utterance. Surely, if the 
 Lord sends a man to teach others, he will fur- 
 nish him with the means. I believe many 
 have intended well in setting up for preachers, 
 who yet went beyond or before their call in so 
 doing. The main difference between a mi- 
 nister and a private Christian, seems to consist 
 in these ministerial gifts, which are imparted 
 to him, not for his own sake, but for the edi- 
 fication of others. But then I say, these are 
 to appear in due season ; they are not to be 
 expected instantaneously, but gradually, in 
 the use of proper means. They are necessary 
 for the discharge of the ministry, but not ne- 
 cessary as pre-requisites to warrant our desires 
 after it. In your case, you are young, and 
 have time before you ; therefore, I think you 
 need not as yet perplex yourself with inquir- 
 ing if you have these gifts already. It is suf- 
 ficient if your desire is fixed, and you are 
 willing, in the way of prayer and diligence, to 
 wait upon the Lord for them ; as yet you 
 need them not. 
 
 3. That which finally evidences a proper 
 call, is a correspondent opening in providence, 
 by a gradual train of circumstances pointing 
 out the means, the time, the place, of actually 
 entering upon the work. And till this coin- 
 cidence arrives, you must not expect to be al- 
 ways clear from hesitation in your own mind. 
 
LET. II 
 
 LETTERS 10 MR. 
 
 236 
 
 The principal caution on this head is, not to 
 be too hasty in catching at first appearances. 
 If it be the Lord’s will to bring you into his 
 ministry, he has already appointed your place 
 and service ; and though you know it not at 
 present, you shall at a proper time. If you 
 had the talents of an angel, you could do no 
 good with them till his hour is come, and till 
 he leads you to the people whom he has de- 
 termined to bless by your means. It i$ very 
 difficult to restrain ourselves within the bounds 
 of prudence here, when our zeal is warm : a 
 sense of the love of Christ upon our hearts, 
 and a tender compassion for poor sinners, is 
 ready to prompt us to break out too soon ; — 
 but he that believeth shall not make haste. I 
 was about five years under this constraint : 
 sometimes I thought I must preach, though 
 it was in the streets. I listened to every thing 
 that seemed plausible, and to many things 
 which were not so. But the Lord graciously, 
 and as it were insensibly, hedged up my way 
 with thorns ; otherwise, if I had been left to 
 my own spirit, I should have put it quite out 
 of my power to have been brought into such a 
 sphere of usefulness, as he in his good time 
 has been pleased to lead me to. And I can 
 now see clearly, that at the time I would first 
 have gone out, though my intention was, I 
 hope, good in the main, yet I over-rated my- 
 self, and had not that spiritual judgment and 
 experience, which are requisite for so great a 
 service. I wish you therefore to take time ; 
 and if you have a desire to enter into the esta- 
 blished church, endeavour to keep your zeal 
 within moderate bounds, and avoid every thing 
 that might unnecessarily clog your admission 
 with difficulties. I would not have you hide 
 your profession, or to be backward to speak 
 for God ; but avoid what looks like preach- 
 ing, and be content with being a learner in 
 the school of Christ for some years. The de- 
 lay will not be lost time ; you will be so much 
 the more acquainted with the gospel, with 
 your own heart, and with human nature : the 
 last is a necessary branch of a minister’s 
 knowledge, and can only be acquired by com- 
 paring what passes within us, and around us, 
 with what we read in the word of God. 
 
 I am glad to find you have a distaste both 
 for Arminian and Antinomian doctrines ; but 
 let not the mistakes of others sit too heavy 
 upon you. Be thankful for the grace that 
 has made you to differ ; be ready to give a 
 reason of the hope that is in you with meek- 
 ness and fear : but beware of engaging in dis- 
 putes, without evident necessity, and some 
 probable hope of usefulness. They tend to 
 eat out the life and savour of religion, and to 
 make the soul lean and dry. Where God 
 has begun a real work of grace, incidental 
 mistakes will be lessened by time and expe- 
 rience ; where he has not, it is of little sig- 
 nification what sentiments people hold, or 
 
 whether they call themselves Arminians 01 
 Calvinists. 
 
 I agree with you, it is time enough for you 
 to think of Oxford yet ; and that if your pur- 
 pose is fixed, and all circumstances render it 
 prudent and proper to devote yourself to the 
 ministry, you will do well to spend a year or 
 two in private studies. It would be further 
 helpful, in this view, to place yourself where 
 there is gospel-preaching, and a lively people. 
 If your favourable opinion of this place 
 should induce you to come here, I shall be 
 very ready to give you every assistance in my 
 power. As I have trod exactly the path you. 
 seem to be setting out in, I might so far, per- 
 haps, be more serviceable than those who are 
 in other respects much better qualified to as- 
 sist you. I doubt not but in this, and every 
 other step, you will intreat the Lord’s direc- 
 tion ; and I hope you will not forget to pray 
 for, Sir, 
 
 Your affectionate friend, fkc. 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 January 7, 1767. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 I must beg you, once for all, to release me 
 from any constraint about the length or fre- 
 quency of my letters. Believe that I think 
 of you, and pray for you, when you do not 
 hear from me. Your correspondence is not 
 quite so large as mine, therefore you may 
 write the oftener. Your letters will be always 
 welcome ; and I will write to you when I find 
 a leisure hour, and have any thing upon my 
 mind to offer. 
 
 You seem sensible where your most observa- 
 ble failing lies, and to take reproof and ad- 
 monition concerning it in good part ; I there- 
 fore hope and believe the Lord will give you 
 a growing victory over it. You must not ex- 
 pect habits and tempers will be eradicated in- 
 stantaneously ; but by perseverance in prayer, 
 and observation upon the experiences of every 
 day, much may be done in time. Now and 
 then you will (as is usual in the course of 
 war) lose a battle ; but be not discouraged, 
 but rally your forces, and return to the fight. 
 There is a comfortable word, a leaf of the tree 
 of life, for healing the wounds we receive, in 
 1 John ii. 1. If the enemy surprises you, 
 and your heart smites you, do not stand as- 
 tonished as if there was no help, nor give way 
 to sorrow, as if there was no hope, nor at- 
 tempt to heal yourself ; but away immediately 
 to the throne of grace, to the great physician, 
 to the compassionate High-priest, and tell 
 him all. Satan knows, that if he can keep us 
 from confession, our wounds will rancle ; but 
 do you profit by David’s experience, Psal. 
 xxxii. 3—5. When we are simple and open- 
 
LET. III. 
 
 237 
 
 LETTERS TO MR. 
 
 hearted in abasing ourselves before the Lord, 
 though we have acted foolishly and ungrate- 
 fully, he will seldom let us remain long, with- 
 out affording us a sense of his compassion ; 
 for he is gracious ; he knows our frame, and 
 how to bear with us, though we can hardly 
 bear with ourselves or with one another. 
 
 The main thing is to have the heart right 
 with God : this will bring us in the end safely 
 through many mistakes and blunders ; but a 
 double mind, a selfish spirit, that would halve 
 things between God and the world, the Lord 
 abhors. Though I have not yet had many 
 opportunities of commending your prudence, 
 I have always had a good opinion of your 
 sincerity and integrity ; if I am not mistaken 
 in this, I make no doubt of your doing well. 
 If the Lord is pleased to bless you, he will 
 undoubtedly make you humble ; for you can- 
 not be either happy or safe, or have any pro- 
 bable hope of abiding usefulness, without it. 
 I do not know that I have had any thing so 
 much at heart in my connections with you, as 
 to impress you with a sense of the necessity 
 and advantages of an humble frame of spirit ; 
 I hope it has not been in vain. O, to be lit- 
 tle in our own eyes ! This is the ground- work 
 of every grace; this leads to a continual de- 
 pendence upon the Lord Jesus ; this is the 
 spirit which he has promised to bless ; this 
 conciliates us good will and acceptance a- 
 mongst men : for he that abaseth himself is 
 sure to be honoured. And that this temper 
 is so hard to attain and preserve, is a striking 
 proof of our depravity. For are we not sin- 
 ners? Were we not rebels and enemies be- 
 fore we knew the gospel ? and have we not 
 been unfaithful, backsliding, and unprofitable 
 ever since ? Are we not redeemed by the 
 blood of Jesus ? and can we stand a single 
 moment except he upholds us ? Have we any 
 thing which we have not received ? or have 
 we received any thing which we have not a- 
 bused ? Why then is dust and ashes proud ? 
 
 I am glad you have found some spiritual 
 acquaintance in your barren land. I hope 
 you will be helpful to them, and they to you. 
 You do well to guard against every appear- 
 ance of evil. If you are heartily for Jesus, 
 Satan owes you a grudge. One way or other, 
 he will try to cut you out work, and the Lord 
 may suffer him to go to the length of his 
 chain. But though you are to keep your eye 
 upon him, and expect to hear from him at 
 every step, you need not be slavishly afraid 
 of him ; for Jesus is stronger and wiser than 
 he, and there is a complete suit of armour 
 provided for all who are engaged on the Lord’s 
 side. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 Oct. 20, 1767. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 A concern for the perplexity you have met 
 with, from the objections which have been 
 made against some expressions in my printed 
 sermons, and, in general, against exhorting 
 sinners to believe in Jesus, engages me to 
 write immediately: otherwise I should have 
 waited a little longer ; for we are now upon 
 the point of removing to the vicarage, and I 
 believe this will be the last letter I shall write 
 from the old house. I shall chiefly confine 
 myself at present to the subject you propose. 
 
 In the first place, I beg you to be upon 
 your guard against a reasoning spirit. Search 
 the scriptures ; and where you can find a plain 
 rule or warrant for any practice, go boldly 
 on ; and be not discouraged because you may 
 not be clearly able to answer or reconcile 
 every difficulty that may either occur to your 
 own mind, or be put in your way by others. 
 Our hearts are very dark and narrow, and the 
 very root of all aposlacy is a proud disposi- 
 tion, to question the necessity or propriety of 
 divine appointments. But the child-like sim- 
 plicity of faith is to follow God without rea- 
 soning ; taking it for granted, a tiling must 
 be right if he directs it, and charging all 
 seeming inconsistencies to the account of our 
 own ignorance. 
 
 I suppose the people that trouble you upon 
 this head, are those who preach upon Armi- 
 nian principles, and suppose a free will in 
 man, in a greater or less degree, to turn to 
 God when the gospel is proposed. These, if 
 you speak to sinners at large, though they 
 will approve of your doing so, will take oc- 
 casion, perhaps, to charge you with acting in 
 contradiction to your own principles. So, it 
 seems, Mr. has said. I love and ho- 
 
 nour that man greatly, and I beg you will 
 tell him so from me; and tell him farther, 
 that the reason why he is not a Calvinist, is 
 because he misapprehends our principles. If 
 I had a proper call, I would undertake to 
 prove the direct contrary ; namely, that to ex- 
 hort and deal plainly with sinners, to stir them 
 up to flee from the wrath to come, and to lay 
 hold of eternal life, is an attempt not recon- 
 cileable to sober reason, upon any other grounds 
 than those doctrines which we are called Cal- 
 vinists for holding ; and that all the absurdi- 
 ties which are charged upon us, as conse- 
 quences of what we teach, are indeed truly 
 chargeable upon those who differ from us in 
 these points. I think this unanswerably prov- 
 ed by Mr. Edwards, in his Discourse on the 
 Freedom of the Will, though the chain of 
 reasoning is so close, that few will give atten- 
 tion or take pains to pursue it. As to myself, 
 if I was not a Calvinist, I think I should have 
 
LET. IV. 
 
 238 IETTERS TO 
 
 no more hope of success in preaching to men, 
 than to horses or cows. 
 
 But these objections are more frequently 
 urged by Calvinists themselves ; many of them, 
 I doubt not, good men, but betrayed into a 
 curiosity of spirit, which often makes their 
 ministry (if ministers) dry and inefficacious, 
 and their conversation sour and unsavoury. 
 Such a spirit is too prevalent in many profes- 
 sors, that if a man discovers a warm zeal for the 
 glory of God, and is enabled to bear a faithful 
 testimony to the gospel-truths ; yea, though 
 the Lord evidently blesses him, they overlook 
 all, and will undervalue a sermon, which, up- 
 on the whole, they cannot but acknowledge 
 to be scriptural, if they meet with a single 
 sentence contrary to the opinion they have 
 taken up. I am sorry to see such a spirit 
 prevailing. But this I observe, that the mi- 
 nisters who give into this way, though good 
 men and good preachers in other respects, are 
 seldom very useful or very zealous ; and those 
 who are in private life, are more ready for 
 dry points of disputation, at least harping up- 
 on a string of doctrines, than for experimen- 
 tal and heart-searching converse, whereby one 
 may warm and edify another. Blessed be 
 God, who has kept me and my people from 
 this turn : if it should ever creep in or spread 
 among us, I should be ready to write Ichabod 
 upon our assemblies. 
 
 I advise you, therefore, to keep close to the 
 Bible and prayer : bring your difficulties to 
 the Lord, and entreat him to give you, and 
 maintain in you, a simple spirit. Search the 
 scriptures. How did Peter deal with Simon 
 Magus ? We have no right to think worse of 
 any who can hear us, than the apostle did of 
 him. He seemed almost to think his case 
 desperate, and yet he advised him to repent- 
 ance and prayer. Examine the same apostle’s 
 discourse, Actsiii., and the close of St. Paul’s 
 sermon, Acts xiii. The power is all of God ; 
 the means are likewise of his appointment ; 
 and he always is pleased to work by such 
 means as may shew that the power is his. 
 What was Moses’s rod in itself, or the trum- 
 pets that threw down Jericho ? What influ- 
 ence could the pool of Siloam have, that the 
 eyes of the blind man, by washing in it, should 
 be opened ? or what could Ezekiel’s feeble 
 breath contribute to the making dry bones 
 live? All these means were exceedingly dis- 
 proportioned to the effect ; but he who order- 
 ed them to be used, accompanied them with 
 his power. Yet, if Moses had gone without 
 his rod, if Joshua had slighted the rams 
 horns, if the prophet had thought it foolish- 
 ness to speak to dry bones, or the blind 
 man refused to wash his eyes, nothing could 
 have been done. The same holds good in the 
 present subject: I do not reason, expostu- 
 late, and persuade sinners, because I think I 
 can prevail with them, but because the Lord 
 has commanded it. He directs me to address 
 
 MR. — 
 
 them as reasonable creatures ; to take them 
 by every handle ; to speak to their con- 
 sciences; to tell them of the terrors of the 
 Lord,, and of his tender mercies ; to argue 
 with them what good they And in sin ; whe 
 ther they do not need a Saviour ; to put them 
 in mind of death, judgment, and eternity, &c. 
 When I have done all, I know it is to little 
 purpose, except the Lord speaks to their hearts ; 
 and this to his own, and at his own time, I 
 am §ure he will, because he has promised it. 
 See Isaiah lv. 10, 11; Matth. xxviii. 20. 
 Indeed, I have heard expressions in the warmth 
 of delivery which I could not wholly approve, 
 and therefore do not imitate. But, in gene- 
 ral, I see no preaching made very useful for 
 the gathering of souls, where poor sinners are 
 shut out of the discourse. I think one of the 
 closest and most moving addresses to sinners 
 I ever met with, is in Dr. Owen’s Exposition 
 of the cxxxth Psalm, from p. 243 to 276 (in 
 my edition). If you get it, and examine 
 it, I think you will find it all agreeable to 
 scripture; and he was a steady, deep-sighted 
 Calvinist. I wish you to study it well, and 
 make it your pattern. He handles the same 
 point likewise in other places, and shews the 
 weakness of the exceptions taken, somewhere 
 at large, but I cannot just now find the pas 
 sage. Many think themselves quite right, be- 
 cause they have not had their thoughts exer- 
 cised at large, but have confined themselves 
 to one track. There are extremes in every 
 thing. I pray God to shew you the golden 
 mean. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 Aug. 30, 177a 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 I would steal a few minutes here to write, 
 lest I should not have leisure at home. I 
 have not your letter with me, and therefore 
 can only answer so far as I retain a general 
 remembrance of the contents. 
 
 You will, doubtless, find rather perplexity 
 than advantage from the multiplicity of ad- 
 vice you may receive, if you endeavour to re- 
 concile and adopt the very different sentiments 
 of your friends. I think it will be best tc 
 make use of them in a full latitude ; that is, 
 to correct and qualify them one by another, 
 and to borrow a little from each, without con- 
 fining yourself entirely to any. You will 
 probably be advised to different extremes : it 
 will then be impossible to follow both ; but it 
 may be practicable to find a middle path be- 
 tween them ; and I believe this will generally 
 prove the best and safest method. Only con- 
 sult your own temper, and endeavour to in- 
 cline rather to that side to which you are the 
 least disposed, by the ordinary strain of your 
 own inclination ; for on that side you will be 
 
LET. V. 
 
 LETTERS TO MR, 
 
 
 in the least danger of erring. Warm and 
 hasty dispositions will seldom move too slow, 
 and those who are naturally languid and cool 
 are as little liable to over- act their part. 
 
 With respect to the particulars you instance, 
 I have generally thought you warm and en- 
 terprising enough, and therefore thought it 
 best to restrain you ; but I meant only to 
 hold you in, till you had acquired some far- 
 ther knowledge and observation both of your- 
 self and of others. I have the pleasure to 
 hope (especially of late) that you are become 
 more self-diffident and wary than you were 
 some time ago. And therefore, as your years 
 and time are advancing, and you have been 
 for a tolerable space under a probation of si- 
 lence, I can make no objection to your at- 
 tempting sometimes to speak in select societies; 
 but let your attempts be confined to such, I 
 mean where you are acquainted with the peo- 
 ple, or the leading part of them, and be upon 
 your guard against opening yourself too much 
 among strangers. And again, I earnestly 
 desire you would not attempt any thing of 
 this sort in a very public way, which may per- 
 haps bring you under inconveniences and will 
 be inconsistent with the part you ought to act 
 (in my judgment) from the time you receive 
 Episcopal ordination. You may remember 
 a simile I have sometimes used of green fruit ; 
 children are impatient to have it while it is 
 green, but persons of more judgment will 
 wait till it is ripe. Therefore I would wish 
 your exhortations to be brief, private, and not 
 very frequent. Rather give yourself to read- 
 ing, meditation, and prayer. 
 
 As to speaking without notes, in order to 
 do it successfully, a fund of knowlege should 
 be first possessed. Indeed, in such societies 
 as I hope you will confine your attempts to, 
 it would not be practicable to use notes ; but 
 I mean, that if you design to come out as a 
 preacher without notes from the first, you 
 must use double diligence in study ; your 
 reading must not be confined to the scriptures; 
 you should be acquainted with church history, 
 have a general view of divinity as a system, 
 know something of the state of controversies 
 in past times and at present, and indeed of the 
 general history of mankind. I do not mean 
 that you should enter deeply into these 
 things: but you will need to have your mind 
 enlarged, your ideas increased, your style and 
 manner formed ; you should read, think, 
 write, compose, and use all diligence to exer- 
 cise and strengthen your faculties. If you 
 would speak extempore as a clergyman, you 
 must be able to come oft' roundly, and to fill 
 up your hour with various matter, in tolera- 
 ble coherence, or else you will not be able to 
 overcome the prejudice which usually prevails 
 amongst the people. Perhaps it may be as 
 well to use some little scheme in the note- way, 
 especially at the beginning ; but a little trial 
 will best inform you what is most expedient. 
 
 239 
 
 Let your backwardness to prayer and read- 
 ing the scriptures be ever so great, you must 
 strive against it. This backwardness, with 
 the doubts you speak of, are partly from your 
 own evil heart, but perhaps chiefly tempta- 
 tions of Satan : he knows, if he can keep you 
 from drawing water out of the wells of salva- 
 tion, he will have much advantage. My soul 
 goes often mourning under the same com- 
 plaints, but at times the Lord gives me a lit- 
 tle victory. I hope he will over-rule all our 
 trials, to make us more humble, dependent, 
 and to give us tenderness of spirit towards the 
 distressed. The exercised and experienced 
 Christian, by the knowledge he has gained of 
 his own heart, and the many difficulties he 
 has had ta struggle with, acquires a skill and 
 compassion in dealing with others ; and with- 
 out such exercise, all our study, diligence, and 
 gifts in other ways, would leave us much at a 
 loss in some of the most important parts of 
 our calling. 
 
 You have given yourself to the Lord for 
 the ministry his providence has thus far 
 favoured your views ; therefore harbour not a 
 thought of flinching from the battle, because 
 the enemy appears in view, but resolve to en- 
 dure hardship as a good solidier of Jesus 
 Christ. Lift up your banner in his name; 
 trust in him, and he will support you ; but, 
 above aU things, be sure not to be either en- 
 ticed or terrified from the privilege of a throne 
 of grace. 
 
 Who your enemies are, or what they say, I 
 know not ; for l never conversed with them. 
 Your friends here have thought you at times 
 harsh and hasty in your manner, and rather 
 inclining to self-confidence. These things I 
 have often reminded you of ; but I consider, 
 ed them as blemishes usually attendant upon 
 youth, and which experience, temptation, and 
 prayer would correct. I hope and believe 
 you will do well. You will have a share in 
 my prayers and best advice : and when I see 
 occasion to offer a word of reproof, I shall 
 not use any reserve. 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 LETTER V 
 
 July 25, 1772. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 I AM glad to hear you are accommodated at 
 D ■, where I hope your best endeavours 
 will not be wanting to make yourself agree- 
 able, by an humble, inoffensive, and circum- 
 spect behaviour. 
 
 I greatly approve of your speaking from 
 one of the lessons in the afternoon ; you will 
 find it a great help to bring you gradually to 
 that habit and readiness of expression which 
 you desire ; and you will perhaps find it make 
 more impression upon your hearers than 
 
T,ET. V 
 
 240 LETTERS TO 
 
 what you read to them from the pulpit. 
 However, I would not discourage or dissuade 
 you from reading your sermons for a time. 
 The chief inconvenience respecting yourself 
 is that which you mention. A written ser- 
 mon is something to lean upon ; but it is 
 best for a preacher to lean wholly upon the 
 Lord. But set off gradually ; the Lord will 
 not despise the day of small things ; pray 
 heartily that your spirit may be right with 
 him, and then all the rest will be well. And 
 keep on writing; if you compose one ser- 
 mon, and should find your heart enlarged to 
 preach another, still your labour of writing 
 will not be lost. If your conscience bears 
 you witness that you desire to serve the Lord, 
 his promise (now he has brought you into 
 the ministry) of a sufficiency and ability for 
 the work, belongs to you as much as to ano- 
 ther. Your borrowing help from others may 
 arise from a diffidence of yourself, which is 
 not blameable ; but it may arise in part like- 
 wise from a diffidence of the Lord, which is 
 hurtful. I wish you may get encouragement 
 from that word, Exodus iv. 11, 12. It was 
 a great encouragement to me. While I would 
 press you to diligence in every rational means 
 for the improvement of your stock in know- 
 ledge, and your ability of utterance, I would 
 have you remember that preaching is a gift. 
 It cannot be learned by industry and imita- 
 tion only, as a man may learn to make a chair 
 or a table : it comes from above ; and if you 
 patiently wait upon God, he will bestow this 
 
 MR. 
 
 gift upon you, and increase it in you. It 
 will grow by exercise. To him that hath shall 
 be given, and he shall have more abundantly. 
 And be chiefly solicitous to obtain an unction 
 upon what you do say. Perhaps those ser 
 mons in which you feel yourself most defi - 
 cient, may be made most useful to others. 1 
 hope you will endeavour likewise, to be plain 
 and familiar in your language and manner 
 (though not low or vulger), so as to suit 
 yourself as much as possible to the apprehen- 
 sions of the most ignorant people. There are 
 in all congregations some persons exceeding- 
 ly ignorant ; yet they have precious souls, and 
 the Lord often calls such. I pray the Lord 
 to make you wise to win souls. I hope he 
 will. You cannot be too jealous of your 
 own heart : but let not such instances as Mr. 
 
 M discourage you. Cry to hirn who is 
 
 able to hold you up, that you may be safe, and 
 you shall not cry in vain. It is, indeed, an 
 alarming thought, that a man may pray and 
 preach, be useful and acceptable for a time, 
 and yet be nothing. But still the foundation 
 of God standeth sure. I have a good hope, 
 that I shall never have cause to repent the 
 part I have taken in your concerns. While 
 you keep in the path of duty, you will find it 
 the path of safety. Be punctual in waiting 
 upon God in secret. This is the life of every 
 thing, the only way, and the sure way, of 
 maintaining and renewing your strength. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
LETTERS 
 
 THE REVEREND Mr. 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 June 29, 1757. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 I ENDEAVOURto be mindful of you in my pray- 
 ers, that you may find both satisfaction and 
 success, and that the Lord himself may be 
 your light, to discover to you every part of 
 your duty. I would earnestly press you and 
 myself to be followers of those who have been 
 followers of Christ ; to aim at a life of self- 
 denial; to renounce self-will, and to guard 
 against self-wisdom. The less we have to do 
 with the world the better ; and, even in con- 
 versing with our brethren, we have been, and 
 unless we watch and pray, shall often be, en- 
 snared. Time is precious, and opportunities 
 once gone, are gone for ever. Even by read- 
 ing, and what we call studying, we may be 
 comparatively losers. The shorter way is to 
 be closely waiting upon God in humble, se- 
 cret, fervent prayer. The treasures of wis- 
 dom and knowledge aie in his hands; and he 
 gives bountifully, without upbraiding. On 
 the other hand, whatever we may undertake 
 with a sincere desire to promote his glory, we 
 may comfortably pursue : nothing is trivial 
 that is done for him. In this view, I would 
 have you, at proper intervals, pursue your 
 studies, especially at those times when you 
 are unfit for better work. Pray for me, that 
 I may be enabled to break through the snares 
 of vanity that lie in my way ; that I may be 
 crucified with Christ, and live a hidden life 
 by faith in him who loved me and gave him - 
 self for me. 
 
 Adieu. 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 August 31, 1757. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 I wish you much of that spirit which was in 
 the apostle, which made him content to become 
 all things to all men, that he might gain some. 
 I am persuaded that love and humility are the 
 highest attainments in the school of Christ, 
 and the brightest evidences that he is indeed 
 our master. If any should seem inclined to 
 treat you with less regard, because you are or 
 have been a Methodist teacher, you will find 
 forbearance, meekness, and long-suffering, the 
 most prevailing means to conquer their pre- 
 judices. Our Lord has not only taught us 
 to expect persecution from the world, though 
 this alone is a trial too hard for flesh and 
 blood ; but we must look for what is much 
 more grievous to a renewed mind, to be in 
 some respects slighted, censured, and misun- 
 derstood, even by our Christian brethren, and 
 that, perhaps, in cases where we are really 
 striving to promote the glory of God and the 
 good of souls, and cannot, without the re- 
 proach of our consciences, alter our conduct, 
 however glad we should be to have their ap- 
 probation. Therefore, we are required, not 
 only to resist the world, the flesh, and the 
 devil, but likewise to bear one another’s bui- 
 dens : which plainly intimates there will be 
 something to be borne with on all hands ; and 
 happy indeed is he that is not offended. You 
 may observe what unjust reports and surmises 
 were received, even at Jerusalem, concerning 
 the apostle Paul : and it seems he was con- 
 demned unheard, arid that by many thousands 
 too, Acts xxi. 20, 21 : but we do not find 
 that he was at all ruffled, or that he sought 
 to retort any thing upon them, though doubt- 
 less, had he been so disposed, he might havw 
 
 Z 
 
LET. Ill 
 
 LETTERS TO THE REV. MR. 
 
 242 
 
 found something to have charged them with 
 in his turn ; but he calmly and willingly com- 
 plied with every thing in his power to soften 
 and convince them. Let us be followers of 
 this pattern, so far as he was a follower of 
 Christ ; for even Christ pleased not himself. 
 How did he bear with the mistakes, weak- 
 ness, intemperate zeal and imprudent propo- 
 sals of his disciples, while on earth ; and how 
 does he bear with the same things from you 
 and me, and every one of his followers now ? 
 and do we, can we, think much to bear with 
 each other for his sake ? Have we all a full 
 remission of ten thousand talents, which we 
 owed him, and were utterly unable to pay, and 
 do we wrangle amongst ourselves for a few 
 pence ? God forbid ! 
 
 If you should be numbered among the re- 
 gular Independents, I advise you not to of- 
 fend any of them by unnecessary singularities. 
 I wish you not to part with any truth, or 
 with any thing really expedient ; but if the 
 omitting any thing of an indifferent nature 
 will obviate prejudices, and increase a mutual 
 confidence, why should not so easy a sacrifice 
 be made ? Above all, my dear friend, let us 
 keep close to the Lord in a way of prayer : 
 he giveth wisdom that is profitable to direct ; 
 he is the Wonderful Counsellor; there is no 
 teacher like him. Why do the living seek to 
 the dead ? Why do we weary our friends 
 and ourselves in running up and down, and 
 turning over books for advice ? If we shut 
 our eyes upon the world and worldly things, 
 and raise our thoughts upwards in humility 
 and silence, should we not often hear the se- 
 cret voice of the Spirit of God whispering to 
 our hearts, and pointing out to us the way of 
 truth and peace ? Have we not often gone 
 astray, and hurt either ourselves or our breth- 
 ren, for want of attending to this divine in- 
 struction ? Have we not sometimes mocked 
 God, by pretending to ask direction from 
 him, when we had fixed our determination 
 before-hand ! It is a great blessing to know 
 that we are sincere ; and next to this, to be 
 convinced of our insincerity, and to pray 
 against it. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 November 21, 1757. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 Can you forgive so negligent a correspond- 
 ent ? I am indeed ashamed ; but (if that is 
 any good excuse) I use you no worse than 
 my other friends. Whenever I write, 1 am 
 obliged to begin with an apology ; for, what 
 with business and the incidental duties of 
 every day, my time is always mortgaged be- 
 fore it comes into my hands, especially as I 
 have so little skill in redeeming and improv- 
 
 ing it. I long to hear from you, and I long 
 to see you ; and indeed, from the terms of 
 yours, I expected you here before this ; which 
 has been partly a cause of my delay. I have 
 mislaid your letter, and cannot remember the 
 particulars ; in general, I remember you were 
 well, and going on comfortably in your work ; 
 which was matter of joy to me ; and my poor 
 prayers are for you, that the Lord may own 
 and prosper you more and more. The two 
 great points we are called to pursue in this 
 sinful divided world, are peace and holiness ; I 
 hope you are much in the study of them. These 
 are the peculiar characteristics of a disciple of 
 Jesus ; they are the richest part of the enjoy- 
 ments of heaven ; and so far as they are re- 
 ceived into the heart, they bring down heaven 
 upon earth ; and they are more inseparably 
 connected between themselves than some of us 
 are aware of. The longer I live, the more I see 
 of the vanity and the sinfulness of our un- 
 christian disputes; they eat up the very vitals 
 of religion. I grieve to think how often I have 
 lost my time and my temper that way, in pre- 
 suming to regulate the vineyards of others, 
 when I have neglected my o^vn ; when the 
 beam in my own eye has so contracted my 
 sight, that I could discern nothing but the 
 mote in my neighbour’s. I am now desirous 
 to chuse a better part. Could I speak the 
 publican’s word with a proper feeling, I wish 
 not for the tongue of men or angels to fight 
 about notions or sentiments. I allow that 
 every branch of gospel-truth is precious, that 
 errors are abounding, and that it is our duty 
 to bear an honest testimony to what the Lord 
 has enabled us to find comfort in, and to in- 
 struct with meekness such as are willing to be 
 instructed ; but I cannot see it my duty, nay, 
 I believe it would be my sin, to attempt to beat 
 my notions into other people’s heads. Too 
 often I have attempted it in time past; but 
 now I judge, that both my zeal and my wea- 
 pons were carnal. When our dear Lord 
 questioned Peter, after his fall and recovery, 
 he said not, Art thou w’ise, learned, and elo - 
 quent ? Nay, he said not, Art thou clear, and 
 sound, and orthodox ? But this only, “ Lovest 
 thou me?” An answer to this was sufficient 
 then, why not now? Any other answer, we 
 may believe, would have been insufficient then. 
 If Peter had made the most pompous confes- 
 sion of his faith and sentiments, still the first 
 question would have recurred, “ Lovest thou 
 me ? This is a scripture precedent. Happy 
 the preacher, whoever he be, my heart and my 
 prayers are w r ith him, who can honestly and 
 steadily appropriate Peter’s answer. Such a 
 man, I say, I am ready to hear, though he 
 should be as much mistaken in some points 
 as Peter afterwards appears to have been in 
 others. What a pity is it, that Christians in 
 succeeding ages should think the constraining 
 force of the love of Christ too weak, and sup- 
 pose the end better answered by forms, sub- 
 
LE r. V. LETTERS TO THE REV. MR. . 243 
 
 scriptions, and questions of their own devis- 
 ing ? I cannot acquit even those churches who 
 judge themselves nearest the primitive rule in 
 this respect : alas ! will- worship and presump- 
 tion may creep into the best external forms. 
 But the misfortune both in churches and pri- 
 vate Christians is, that we are too prone rather 
 to compare ourselves with others, than to judge 
 by the scriptures ; and while each can see that 
 they give not into the errors and mistakes of 
 the opposite party, both are ready to conclude 
 that they are right : and thus it happens, that 
 an attachment to a supposed gospel-order will 
 recommend a man sooner and farther to some 
 churches, than an eminency of gospel-prac- 
 tice. I hope you will beware of such a spi- 
 rit, whenever you publicly assume the Inde- 
 pendent character : this, like a worm at the 
 root, has nipt the graces, and hindered the 
 usefulness, of many a valuable man ; and 
 those who change sides and opinions are the 
 most liable to it. For the pride of our heart 
 insensibly prompts us to cast about far and 
 near for arguments to justify our own beha- 
 viour, and makes us too ready to hold the o- 
 pinions we have taken up to the very extreme, 
 that those amongst whom we are newly come 
 may not suspect our sincerity. In a word, let 
 us endeavour to keep close to God, to be much 
 in prayer, to watch carefully over our hearts, 
 and leave the busy warm spirits to make the 
 best of their work. The secret of the Lord is 
 with them that fear him, and that wait on 
 him continually ; to these he will shew his 
 covenant, not notionally, but experimentally. 
 A few minutes of the Spirit’s teaching will 
 furnish us with more real useful knowledge, 
 than toiling through whole folios of commen- 
 tators and expositors. They are useful in their 
 places and are not to be undervalued by those 
 who can perhaps in general do better without 
 them ; but it will be our wisdom to deal less 
 with the streams, and be more close in apply- 
 ing to the fountain-head. The scripture 
 itself, and the Spirit of God, are the best and 
 the only sufficient expositors of scripture. 
 Whatever men have valuable in their writings, 
 they got it from hence ; and the way is as 
 open to us as to any of them. There is no- 
 thing required but a teachable humble spirit ; 
 and learning, as it is commonly called, is not 
 necessary in order to this. I commend you 
 to the grace of God, and remain 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 Jan. 10 , 1760 . 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 I have procured Cennick’s sermons; they 
 are, in my judgment, sound and sweet. O 
 that you and I had a double portion of that 
 spirit and unction which is in them. Come, 
 
 let us not despair ; the fountain is as full and 
 as free as ever ; — precious fountain, ever 
 flowing with blood and w'ater, milk and wine. 
 This is the stream that heals the wounded, 
 refreshes the weary, satisfies the hungry, 
 strengthens the weak, and confirms the strong ; 
 it opens the eyes of the blind, softens the 
 heart of stone, teaches the dumb to sing, and 
 enables the lame and paralytic to walk, to 
 leap, to run, to fly, to mount up with eagles 
 wings : a taste of this stream raises earth to 
 heaven, and brings down heaven upon earth. 
 Nor is it a fountain only ; it is a universal 
 blessing, and assumes a variety of shapes to 
 suit itself to our wants. It is a sun, a shield, a 
 garment, a shade, a banner, a refuge : it is 
 bread, the true bread, the very staff' of life : it 
 is life itself, immortal, eternal life ! 
 
 The cross of Jesus Christ my Lora, 
 
 Is food and med’cine, shield and sword. 
 
 Take that for your motto ; wear it in your 
 heart ; keep it in your eye ; have it often in 
 your mouth till you can find somet ‘ling better. 
 The cross of Christ is the tree of life and the 
 tree of knowledge combined. Blessed be 
 God, there is neither prohibition nor flaming 
 sword to keep us back, but it stands like a 
 tree by the highway-side, which affords its 
 shade to every passenger without distinction. 
 Watch and pray. We live in a sifting time : 
 error gains ground every day. May the name 
 and love of our Saviour Jesus keep us and all 
 Iiis people. Either write or come very soon to, 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 November 15 , 1760 . 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 If your visit should be delayed, let me have 
 a letter. I want either good news or good 
 advice ; to hear that your soul prospers, or to 
 receive something that may quicken my own. 
 The apostle says, “ Ye know the grace of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ:” alas! we know how to 
 say something about it, but how faint and 
 feeble are our real perceptions of it ! Our love 
 to him is the proof and measure of what we 
 know of his love to us. Surely then, we are 
 mere children in this kind of knowledge, and 
 every other kind is vain. What should we 
 think of a man who should neglect his busi- 
 ness, family, and all the comforts of life, that 
 he might study the Chinese language ; though 
 he knows before-hand he should never be able 
 to attain it, nor ever find occasion or opportu- 
 nity to use it ? The pursuit of every branch 
 of knowledge that is not closely connected 
 with the one thing needful, is no less redicu- 
 lous. 
 
 You know something of our friend Mrs. 
 B . She has been more than a month 
 
LET. VII. 
 
 244 LETTERS TO THE 
 
 confined to her bed, and I believe her next re- 
 move will be to her coffin. The Lord has 
 done great things for her. Though she has 
 been a serious exemplary person all her life, 
 when the prospect of death presented, she be- 
 gan to cry out earnestly, “ What shall I do 
 to be saved ?” But her solicitude is at an end ; 
 she has seen the salvation of God, and now for 
 the most part rejoices in something more than 
 hope. This you will account good news, I 
 am sure. Let it be your encouragement and 
 mine. The Lord’s arm is not shortened, nor 
 is his presence removed ; he is near us still, 
 though we perceive him not. May he guide 
 you with his eye in all your public and pri- 
 vate concerns, and may he in particular bless 
 our communications to our mutual advan- 
 tage. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 July *29, 1761. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 Are the quarrels made up ? Tell those who 
 know what communion with Jesus is worth, 
 that they will never be able to maintain it, if 
 they give way to the workings of pride, jea- 
 lousy, and anger. This will provoke the Lord 
 to leave them dry, to command the clouds of 
 his grace that they rain no rain upon them. 
 These things are sure signs of a low frame, 
 and a sure way to keep it so. Could they be 
 prevailed upon, from a sense of the pardoning 
 love of God to their own souls, to forgive 
 each other, as the Lord forgives us, freely, 
 fully, without condition and without reserve, 
 they would find this like breaking down a 
 stone-wall, which has hitherto shut up their 
 prayers from the Lord’s ears, and shut out his 
 blessing from filling their hearts. Tell them, 
 I hope to hear that all animosities, little and 
 big, are buried, by mutual consent, in the 
 Redeemer’s grave. Alas ! the people of God 
 have enemies enough : Why, then, will they 
 weaken their own hands ? Why will they help 
 their enemies to pull down the Lord’s work ? 
 Why will they grieve those that wish them 
 well, cause the weak to stumble, the wicked 
 to rejoice, and bring a reproach upon their 
 holy profession? Indeed, this is no light 
 matter ; I wish it may not lead them to some- 
 thing worse ; I wish they may be wise in 
 time, lest Satan gains further advantage over 
 them, and draw them to something that shall 
 make them (as David did) roar under the 
 pains of broken bones. But I must break off. 
 May God give you wisdom, faithfulness, and 
 patience. Take care that you do not catch 
 an angry spirit youreslf, while you aim to 
 suppress it in others ; this will spoil all, and 
 you will exhort, advise, and weep in vain. 
 May you rather be an example and pattern to 
 
 REV. MR. . 
 
 the flock ; and in this view, be not surprised 
 if you yourself meet some hard usage ; rather 
 rejoice that you will thereby have an oppor- 
 tunity to exemplify your own rules, and to 
 convince your people, that what you recom- 
 mend to them you do not speak by rote, but 
 from the experience of your heart. One end 
 why our Lord was tempted, was for the en- 
 couragement of his poor followers, that they 
 might know him to be a High-Priest suited 
 to them, having had a fellow-feeling in their 
 distresses. For the like reason, he appoints 
 his ministers to be sorely exercised, both from 
 without and within, that they may sympa- 
 thize with their flock, and know in their own 
 hearts the deceitfulness of sin, the infirmi- 
 ties of the flesh, and the way in which the 
 Lord supports and bears with all that trust 
 him. Therefore be not discouraged ; useful- 
 ness and trials, comforts and crosses, strength, 
 and exercise, go together. But remember he 
 has said, “ I will never leave thee nor for- 
 sake thee ; be thou faithful unto death, and 
 I will give thee a crown of life.” When you 
 get to heaven, you will not complain of the 
 way by which the Lord brought you. Fare- 
 well. Pray for us. 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 LETTER VII. 
 
 Bee. 14, 1761. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 I pray the Lord to accompany you ; but can- 
 not help fearing you go on too fast. If you 
 have not (as I am sure you ought not) made 
 an absolute promise, but only conditional, 
 you need not be so solicitous ; depend upon 
 it, when the Lord is pleased to remove you, 
 he will send one to supply your place. I am 
 grieved that your mind is so set upon a step, 
 which, I fear, will occasion many inconveni- 
 encies to a people who have deserved your 
 best regard. Others may speak you fairer, 
 but none wishes you better than myself ; 
 therefore I hope you allow me to speak my 
 mind plainly, and believe that it is no plea- 
 sure to me to oppose your inclinations. As 
 to your saying they will take no denial, it has 
 no weight with me. Had they asked what 
 you were exceedingly averse to, you would 
 soon have expressed yourself so as to con- 
 vince them it was to no purpose to urge you ; 
 but they saw something in your manner or 
 language that encouraged them; they saw 
 the proposal was agreeable to you, that you 
 were not at all unwilling to exchange your 
 old friends for new ones ; and this is the rea- 
 son they would take no denial. If you should 
 live to see those who are most forward in 
 pressing you become the first to discourage 
 you, you will think seriously of my words. 
 
 If I thought my advice would prevail, it 
 
bET. VIII. 
 
 LETTERS TO THE REV. MR. . 
 
 should be this : Call the people together, and 
 desire them, if possible, to forget you ever in- 
 tended to depart from them; and promise not 
 to think of a removal, till the Lord shall make 
 your way so clear, that even they shall have 
 nothing reasonable to object against it. You 
 may keep your word with your other friends 
 too ; for when a proper person shall offer, as 
 likely to please and satisfy the people as your- 
 self, I will give my hearty consent to your 
 removal. 
 
 Consider what it is you would have in your 
 office, but maintenance, acceptance, and suc- 
 cess. Have you not these where you are ? 
 Are you sure of having them where you are 
 going? Are you sure the Spirit of God 
 (without which you will do nothing) will be 
 with you there, as he has been with you hither- 
 to ? Perhaps, if you act in your own spirit, 
 you may find as great a change as Samson. 
 I am ready to weep when I think what diffi- 
 culties were surmounted to accomplish your 
 ordination ; and now, when the people thought 
 themselves -fixed, that you should so soon dis- 
 appoint them. 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 LETTER VIII. 
 
 Feburary .5, 1762. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 I have oeen often thinking of you since your 
 removal, and was glad to receive your letter to- 
 day. I hope you will still go on to find more 
 and more encouragement to believe, that the 
 Lord has disposed and led you to the step 
 you have taken. For though I wrote with 
 the greatest plainness and earnestness, and 
 would, if in my power, have prevented it 
 while under deliberation, yet, now it is done 
 and past recall, I would rather help than dis- 
 hearten you. Indeed, I cannot say that my 
 view of the affair is yet altered. The best 
 way not to be cast down hereafter, is not to 
 be too sanguine at first. You know there is 
 something pleasing in novelty; as yet you 
 are new to them, and they to you : I pray 
 God, that you may find as cordial a regard 
 from them as at present, when you have been 
 with them as many years as in the place you 
 came from. And if you have grace to be 
 watchful and prayful, all will be well ; for 
 we serve a gracious Master, who knows how 
 to over-rule even our mistakes to his glory 
 and our own advantage. Yet I observe, that 
 when we do wrong, sooner or later we smart 
 for our indiscretion, perhaps many years 
 afterwards. After we have seen and confes- 
 sed our fault, and received repeated proofs of 
 pardoning love, as to the guilt, yet chastise- 
 ment, to remind us more sensibly of our 
 having done amiss, will generally find us out. 
 So it w as with David in the matter of Uriah ; 
 
 24.') 
 
 the Lord put away his sin, healed his broken 
 bones, and restored unto him the light of his 
 countenance; yet many troubles, in conse- 
 quence of this affair, followed one upon ano- 
 ther, till at length (many years afterwards) he 
 was driven from Jerusalem by his own son. 
 So it was with Jacob : he dealt deceitfully 
 with his brother Esau ; notwithstanding this 
 the Lord appeared to him and blessed him, 
 gave him comfortable promises, and revealed 
 himself to him from time to time ; yet after 
 an interval of twenty years, his fault was 
 brought afresh to his remembrance, and his 
 heart trembled within him, when he heard his 
 brother was coming with armed men to meet 
 him. And thus I have found it in my own 
 experience : things which I had forgotten a 
 long while have been brought to my mind by 
 providential dispensations which I little ex- 
 pected ; but the first rise of which I have 
 been able to trace far back, and forced to con- 
 fess, that the Lord is indeed He that judgeth 
 the heart and trieth the reins. I hint this for 
 your caution ; you know best upon what 
 grounds you have proceeded ; but if (though 
 I do not affirm it, I hope otherwise), I say, if 
 you have acted too much in your own spirit, 
 been loo hasty and precipitate ; if you have 
 not been sufficiently tender of your people, 
 nor thoughtful of the consequences which 
 your departure will probably involve them in ; 
 if you were impatient under the Lord’s hand, 
 and, instead of waiting his time and way of 
 removing the trials and difficulties you found, 
 you have ventured upon an attempt to free 
 and mend yourself ; I say, if any of these 
 things have mixed with your determinations, 
 something will fall out to shew you your 
 fault : either you will not find the success you 
 hope for, or friends will grow cold, or enemies 
 and difficulties you dream not of, will present 
 themselves ; or your own mind will alter, so 
 as what seems now most pleasant will afford 
 you little pleasure. Yet, though I write thus, 
 I do not mean, as I said before, to discourage 
 you, but that you may be forewarned, hum- 
 ble, and watchful. If you should at any time 
 have a different view of things, you may take 
 comfort from the instances I have mentioned. 
 The trials of David and Jacob were sharp, 
 but they were short; and they proved to their 
 advantage, put them upon acts of humiliation 
 and prayer, and ended in a double blessing. 
 Nothing can harm us that quickens our ear- 
 nestness and frequency in applying to a throne 
 of grace : only trust the Lord, and keep close 
 to him, and all that befalls you shall be for 
 good. Temptations end in victory ; troubles 
 prove an increase of consolation ; yea, our 
 very falls and failings tend to increase our 
 spiritual wisdom, to give us a greater know- 
 ledge of Satan’s devices, and make us more 
 habitually upon our guard against them. Hap 
 py case of the believer in Jesus ! when bitten 
 by the fiery serpent he needs not go far for a 
 
LETTERS TO THE REV. MR. 
 
 LET. VIII. 
 
 216 
 
 remedy ; he has only to look to a bleeding 
 Saviour, and be healed. 
 
 I think one great advantage that attends a 
 removal into a new place is, that it gives an 
 easy opportunity of forming a new plan, and 
 breaking off any little habits which we have 
 found inconvenient, and yet, perhaps could not 
 so readily lay aside, where our customs and ac- 
 quaintance had been long formed. I earnest- 
 ly recommend to you to reflect, if you can- 
 not recollect some things which you have 
 hitherto omitted, which may properly be now 
 taken up ; some things formerly allowed, 
 which may now with ease and convenience be 
 laid aside. 1 only give the hint in general ; 
 for I have nothing in particular to charge you 
 with. I recommend to you to be very choice 
 of your time, especially the fore part of the 
 day. Let your morning hours be devoted to 
 prayer, reading, and study ; and suffer not 
 the importunity of friends to rob you of the 
 hours before noon, without a just necessity : 
 and if you accustom yourself to rise early in 
 the morning, you will find a great advantage. 
 Be careful to avoid losing your thoughts, 
 whether in books or otherwise, upon any sub- 
 jects which are not of a direct subserviency 
 to your great design, till towards dinner-time. 
 The afternoon is not so favourable to study : 
 Jiis is a proper time for paying and receiving 
 visits, conversing among your friends, or un- 
 bending with a book of instructive entertain- 
 ment, such as history, &c. which may increase 
 your general knowledge, without a great con- 
 finement of your attention ; but let the morn- 
 ing-hours be sacred. I think you would 
 likewise find advantage in using your pen 
 more. Write short notes upon the scriptures 
 you read, or transcribe the labours of others ; 
 make extracts from your favourite authors, 
 especially those who, besides a fund of spiri- 
 tual and evangelical matter, have a happy ta- 
 lent of expressing their thoughts in a clear 
 and lively, or pathetic manner. You would 
 rind a continued exercise in this way would 
 be greatly useful to form your own style, and 
 help your delivery and memory ; you would 
 become insensibly master of their thoughts, 
 and find it more easy to express yourself just- 
 ly and clearly : what we read we easily lose, 
 but what we commit to paper is not so soon 
 forgot. Especially remember (what you well 
 know, but we cannot too often remind each 
 other), that frequent secret prayer is the life 
 of all we do. If any man lack wisdom, let 
 I im ask of God, and it shall be given ; but 
 .Ml our diligence will fail, if we are remiss in 
 this particular. I am glad it is not thought 
 necessary for you to go to London on this 
 occasion. I hope you will not think it neces- 
 sary upon any other account. Rather keep 
 close to the work you have undertaken, and 
 endeavour to avoid any thing that looks like 
 ostentation, or a desire to be taken notice of. 
 You 6ee I advise you with the freedom of a 
 
 friend who loves you, and longs to see your 
 work and your soul prosper. 
 
 You will, I doubt not, endeavour to pro- 
 mote the practice of frequent prayer in the 
 houses that receive you. I look upon prayer- 
 meetings as the most profitable exercises (ex- 
 cepting the public preaching) in which Chris- 
 tians can engage : they have a direct tendency 
 to kill a wordly, trifling spirit, to draw down 
 a divine blessing upon all our concerns, com- 
 pose differences, and enkindle (at least to 
 maintain) the flame of divine love amongst 
 brethren. But I need not tell you the ad- 
 vantages; you know them: I only would ex- 
 hort you, and the rather as I find in my own 
 case the principal cause of my leanness and 
 unfruitfulness is owing to an unaccountable 
 backwardness to pray. I can write, or read, 
 or converse, or hear, with a ready will; but 
 prayer is more spiritual and inward than any 
 of these, and the more spiritual any duty is 
 the more my carnal heart is apt to start from 
 it. May the Lord pour forth his precious 
 spirit of prayer and supplication in both our 
 hearts ! 
 
 I am not well pleased with the account you 
 give of so many dry bones. It increases my 
 wonder, that you could so readily exchange so 
 much plump flesh and blood as you had about 
 you for a parcel of skeletons. I wish they 
 may not haunt you and disturb your peace. 
 I wish these same dry bones do not prove 
 thorns in your sides and in your eyes. You 
 say, now you have to pray, and prophecy, and 
 wait for the four winds to come and put life 
 into these bones. God grant that your prayers 
 may be answered : but if I knew a man who 
 possessed a field in a tolerable soil, which had 
 afforded him some increase every year, and if 
 this man, after having bestowed seven years 
 labour in cultivating, weeding, manuring, 
 fencing, &c., just when he has brought his 
 ground (in his neighbour’s judgment) into 
 good order, and might reasonably hope for 
 larger crops than he had ever yet seen, should 
 suddenly forego all his advantages, leave his 
 good seed for the birds to eat, pull up the 
 young fences which cost him so much pains 
 to plant, and all this for the sake of making 
 a new experiment upon the top of a moun- 
 tain ; though I might heartily wish him great 
 success I could not honestly give him great 
 encouragement. You have parted with that 
 for a trifle which in my eyes seems an ines- 
 timable jewel, I mean the hearts and affec- 
 tions of an enlightened people. This appears 
 to me one of the greatest honours and greatest 
 pleasures a faithful minister can possess, and 
 which many faithful and eminent ministers 
 have never been able to obtain. This gave 
 you a vast advantage ; your gift was more 
 acceptable there than that of any other per- 
 son, and more thap you will probably find 
 elsewhere. For I cannot make a comparison 
 between the hasty approbation of a few, whose 
 
LET. VIII. 
 
 LETTERS TO THE REV. MR. . 
 
 eyes are but beginning to open, and their af- 
 fections and passions warm, so that they must, 
 if possible, have the man that first catches 
 their attention : I say, I cannot think this 
 worthy to be compared to the regard of a 
 people who understood the gospd, were able 
 to judge of men and doctrines, and had trial 
 of you for so many years. It is, indeed, much 
 to your honour (it proves that you were faith- 
 ful, diligent, and exemplary), that the people 
 proved so attached to you ; but that you should 
 force yourself from them, when they so dearly 
 loved you, and so much needed you, this has 
 made all your friends in these parts to won- 
 der, and your enemies to rejoice ; and I, alas ! 
 know not what to answer in your behalf to 
 either. Say not, “ I hate this Micaiah, for 
 he prophesies not good of me, but evil,” but 
 
 247 
 
 allow me the privilege of a friend. My heart 
 is full when I think what has happened, and 
 what will probably be the consequence. In a 
 few words, I am strongly persuaded you have 
 taken an unadvised step, and would therefore 
 prepare you for the inconvenience and un- 
 easiness you may probably meet with. And 
 if I am (as I desire I may prove) mistaken, 
 my advice will do no harm ; you will want 
 something to balance the caresses and success 
 you meet with. 
 
 We should be very glad to see you, and 
 hope you will take your measures, when you 
 do come, to lengthen your usual stay, in pro- 
 portion to the difference of the distance. Pray 
 for us. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
LETTERS 
 
 TO MRS. P 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 May — , 1774. 
 
 MY DEAR MADAM* 
 
 I have had sudden notice that I may send 
 you a hasty line, to express our satisfaction 
 in hearing that you had a safe though peri- 
 lous journey. I hope I shall be always mind- 
 ful to pray that the Lord may guide, bless, 
 and comfort you, and give you such a mani- 
 festation of his person, power, and grace, as 
 may set you at liberty from all fear, and fill 
 you with abiding peace and joy in believing. 
 Remember that Jesus has all power, the ful- 
 ness of compassion, and embraces with open 
 arms all that come to him for life and salvation. 
 
 I know not whether Mrs. ’s illness 
 
 was before or since my last. Through mercy 
 she is better again ; and I remain so, though 
 death and illness are still walking about the 
 town. O for grace to take warning by the 
 suffering of others, to sit loose to the world, 
 and so to number our days, as to incline our 
 hearts to the one thing needful ! Indeed that 
 one thing includes many things sufficient to 
 engage the best of our thoughts and the most 
 of our time, if we were duly sensible of their 
 importance ; but I may adopt the psalmist’s 
 expression, “ My soul cleaveth to the dust.” 
 How is it that the truths of which I have the 
 most undoubted conviction, and which are 
 of all others the most weighty, should make 
 so little impression upon me ? O I know the 
 cause ! it is deeply rooted. An evil nature 
 cleaves to me ; so that when I would do good, 
 evil is present with me. It is, however, a 
 mercy to be made sensible of it, and in any 
 measure humbled for it. Ere long it will be 
 dropped in the grave ; then all compliments 
 shall cease. That thought gives relief. 1 shall 
 not always live this poor dying life . I hope 
 one day to be all ear, all heart, all tongue; 
 wheu I shall see the Redeemer as he is, I 
 shall be like him. This will be a heaven 
 
 indeed, to behold his glory without a vail, to 
 rejoice in his love without a cloud, and to 
 sing his praises, without one jarring or wan- 
 dering note, for ever. In the mean time, 
 may he enable us to serve him with our best. 
 O that every power, faculty, and talent, were 
 devoted to him ! he deserves all we have, and 
 ten thousand times more if we had it ; for he 
 has loved us, and washed us from our sins in 
 his own blood. He gave himself for us. In 
 one sense we are well suited to answer his 
 purpose ; for if we were not vile and worthless 
 beyond expression, the exceeding riches of his 
 grace would not have been so gloriously dis- 
 played. His glory shines more in redeeming 
 one sinner, than in preserving a thousand 
 angels. Poor Mr. ■ is still in the dark 
 
 valley, but we trust prayer shall yet bring him 
 out. Mighty things have been done in an- 
 swer to prayer ; and the Lord’s arm is not 
 shortened, neither is his ear heavy. It is our 
 part to wait till we have an answer. One of 
 his own hymns says, 
 
 The promise may be long deferr’d. 
 
 But never comes too late. 
 
 I suppose you have heard of the death of 
 
 Mr. T of R . This is apparently a 
 
 heavy blow. He was an amiable, judicious, 
 candid man, and an excellent preacher in a 
 great sphere of usefulness ; and his age and 
 constitution gave hopes that he might have 
 been eminently serviceable for many years. 
 How often does the Lord write Vanity upon 
 all our expectations from men. He visited a 
 person ill of a putrid fever, and carried the 
 seeds of infection with him to London, where 
 
 he died. Mrs. is a very excellent and 
 
 accomplished woman, but exceedingly delicate 
 in her frame and spirits. How can she bear so 
 sudden and severe a stroke ! But yet I hope she 
 will afford a proof of the Lord’s all-sufficiency 
 and faithfulness. O Madam, the Lord our God 
 
let. II. LETTERS TO 
 
 is a great God ! If he frowns, the smiles 
 of the whole creation can afford no com- 
 fort ; and if he i$ pleased to smile, he can 
 enable the soul under the darkest dispen- 
 sations to say, All is well. Yet the flesh will 
 feel, and it ought : otherwise the exercise of 
 faith, patience, and resignation, would be im- 
 practicable. I have lost in him one of my 
 most valued and valuable friends ; but what 
 is my loss to that of his people ? 
 
 The Lord bless you and keep you. The 
 Lord increase you more and more, you and 
 your children. The Lord lift up the light of 
 his countenance, upon you, and give you his 
 peace. I thank him for leading you to us, 
 but especially for making your visit there in 
 any measure agreeable and profitable to your- 
 self. If I have been an instrument in his 
 hand for your comfort, I have reason to re- 
 member it among the greatest favours he has 
 conferred upon me. And now, dear Madam, 
 once more farewell. If the Lord spares eur 
 lives, I hope we shall see each other again 
 upon earth. But above ?11, let us rejoice in 
 the blessed gospel, by which immortality is 
 brought to light, and a glorious prospect o- 
 pened beyond the grave. 
 
 There sits our Saviour thron’d in light. 
 
 Cloth ’d with a body like our own. 
 
 There at least, after all the changes and trials 
 of this state, we shall meet to part no more. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 1775 . 
 
 MY DEAR MADAM, 
 
 I should have been more uneasy at being pre- 
 vented writing immediately, had I any reason 
 to apprehend my advice necessary upon the 
 point you propose, which, by this time, I sup- 
 pose is settled as it should be without me. I 
 
 smiled at Miss M ’s disappointment. 
 
 However, if the Lord favours her with a taste 
 for the library of my proposing, she will be 
 like the merchant-man seeking goodly pearls, 
 and will count all other books but pebbles 
 in comparison of those four volumes, which 
 present us with spmething new and important 
 whenever we look into them. I shall be much 
 obliged to her if she will commit the third 
 chapter of Proverbs to her memory, and I shall 
 pray the Lord to write it in her heart. 
 
 You surprise me when you tell me, the in- 
 cident of my birth-day was noticed by those 
 I never saw. Be so good as to return my 
 thanks to my unknown friends, and tell them, 
 that I pray our common Lord and Saviour to 
 bless them abundantly. His people while 
 here are scattered abroad, separated by hills 
 and rivers, and too often by names and pre- 
 judices ; but by and bye we shall all meet, 
 
 MRS. P . 249 
 
 where we shall all know and acknowledge eacli 
 other, and rejoice together for evermore. I have 
 lately read with much pleasure, and I hope with 
 some profit, the history of the Greenland Mis- 
 sion. Upon the whole, it is a glorious work. 
 None who love the Lord will refuse to say, it 
 is the finger of God indeed. For my own 
 part, my soul rejoices in it : and I honour the 
 instruments, as men who have hazarded their 
 lives in an extraordinary manner for the sake 
 of the Lord Jesus. Sure I am that none 
 could have sustained such discouragements at 
 first, or have obtained such success afterwards, 
 unless the Lord had sent, supported, and 
 owned them. 
 
 I hope we shall have an interest in your 
 prayers. I trust the Lord is yet with us. 
 We have some ripe for the sickle, and some 
 just springing up ; some tokens of his gracious 
 presence amongst us; but sin and Satan cut 
 us out abundance of work as individuals, 
 though, through mercy as a society, we walk.in 
 peace. 
 
 The toad and spider is an exhibition of my 
 daily experience. I am often wounded, but 
 the Lord is my health : still I am a living 
 monument of mercy ; and I trust that word, 
 “ Because I live, you shall live also,” will car- 
 ry me to the end. I am poor, weak, and fool- 
 ish ; but Jesus is wise, strong, and abounding 
 in grace. He has given me a desire to trust 
 my all in his hands, and he will not disap- 
 point the expectation which he himself has 
 raised. At present I have but little to say, 
 and but little time to say it in. When you 
 think of this place, I hope you will think and 
 believe, that you have friends here most cor- 
 dially interested in your welfare, and often re- 
 membering you in prayer. May the Lord be 
 your guide and shield, and give you the best 
 desires of your heart. I pray him to establish 
 and settle you in the great truths of his word. 
 I trust he will. We learn more, and more 
 effectually, by one minute’s communication 
 with him through the medium of his written 
 word, than we could from an assembly of di - 
 vines, or a library of books. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 August — , 1775. 
 
 MY DEAR MADAM, 
 
 It is not owing to forgetfulness that your let- 
 ter has been thus long unanswered. It has 
 lain within my view this fortnight, demand- 
 ing my first leisure hour ; but affairs of daily 
 occurrence have been so many and so pressing, 
 that I have been constrained to put it off till 
 now. I trust the Lord, by his Spirit and provi- 
 dence, will direct and prosper the settlement 
 of your children. I desire my love to Miss 
 M . My idea of her enlarges. Methinks 
 
LET. IV 
 
 250 LETTERS TO 
 
 I see her aspiring to be as tall as her mamma. 
 
 I hope likewise that she increases in grace 
 and wisdom as in years and stature ; and that 
 hearing our Lord’s flock is a little flock, she 
 feels an earnest thirst to be one of the happy 
 number which constitutes his fold. 
 
 There the Lord dwells amongst them upon his own hill, 
 With the flocks all around him, a-waiting his will. 
 
 If she has such a desire, I can tell who gave it 
 her, for I am persuaded it was not born with 
 her : and where the good husbandman sows, 
 there will he also reap. Therefore, dear Miss 
 
 M , press forward : knock and it shall be 
 
 opened unto you, for yet there is room. O 
 what a fold ! O what a pasture ! O what a 
 shepherd ! Let us love, and sing, and won- 
 der. 
 
 I hope the good people at Bristol, and 
 everywhere else, are praying for our sinful, 
 distracted land, in this dark day. The Lord 
 is angry, the sword is drawn, and I am afraid 
 nothing but the spirit of wrestling prayer can 
 prevail for the returning it into the scabbard. 
 Could things have proceeded to these extre- 
 mities, except the Lord had withdrawn his 
 salutary blessing from both sides ? It is a 
 time of prayer. We see the beginning of 
 trouble, but who can foresee the possible con- 
 sequences ? The fire is kindled, but how 
 far it may spread, those who are above may 
 perhaps know better than we. I meddle not 
 with the disputes of party, nor concern myself 
 about any political maxims, but such as are 
 laid down in scripture. There I read, that 
 righteousness exalteth a nation, and that sin 
 is the reproach, and if persisted in, the ruin 
 of any people. Some people are startled at 
 the enormous sum of our national debt : they 
 who understand spiritual arithmetic, may well 
 be startled if they sit down and compute the 
 debt of national sin. Imprimis , Infidelity ; 
 Item, Contempt of the gospel j Item, The pro- 
 fligacy of manners ; Item, Perjury ; Item, 
 The cry of blood, the blood of thousands, per- 
 haps millions, from the East Indies. It would 
 take sheets, yea quires, to draw out the parti- 
 culars under each of these heads, and then 
 much would remain untold. What can we 
 answer, when the Lord saith, “ Shall not I 
 visit for these things ? shall not my soul be 
 avenged on such a nation as this ?” Since we 
 received the news of the first hostilities in A- 
 merica, we have had an additional prayer- 
 meeting. Could I hear that professors in 
 general, instead of wasting their breath in 
 censuring men and measures, were plying the 
 throne of grace, I should still hope for a re- 
 spite. Poor New England ! once the glory 
 of the earth, now likely to be visited with fire 
 and sword ! They have left their first love, | 
 and the Lord is sorely contending with them. 
 Yet surely their sins as a people are not to 
 be compared with ours. I am just so much 
 affected with these things, as to know that I 
 
 MRS. P 
 
 am not affected enough. Oh ! my spirit is 
 sadly cold and insensible, or I should lay 
 them to heart in a different manner ; yet I 
 endeavour to give the alarm as far as I can. 
 There is one political maxim which comforts 
 me, “ The Lord reigns.” His hand guides 
 the storm ; and he knows them that are his, 
 how to protect, support, and deliver them. 
 He will take care of his own cause, yea, he 
 will extend his kingdom, even by these for- 
 midable methods. Men have one thing in 
 view, he has another, and his counsel shall 
 stand. 
 
 'J’he chief piece of news since my last is 
 concerning B. A. She has finished her 
 course, and is now with the great multitude 
 who have overcome by the blood of the Lamb, 
 and by the word of his testimony. Tuesday, 
 the 1st of February, she was in our assembly, 
 was taken ill the next day, and died while we 
 were assembled the Tuesday following. She 
 had an easy dissolution, retained her senses 
 and her speech to the last minute, and went 
 without a struggle or a sigh. She was not 
 in raptures during her illness, but was com- 
 posed, and maintained a strong and lively 
 faith. She had a numerous levee about her 
 bed daily, w’ho were all witnesses to the power 
 of faith, and to the faithfulness of the Lord, 
 enabling her to triumph over the approaches 
 of death ; for she was well known and well 
 respected. She will be much missed ; but I 
 hope he will answer the many prayers she put 
 up for us, and raise up others in her room. 
 “ Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.” 
 Blessed are they who know whom they have 
 believed, and when death comes, can cheer- 
 fully rest their hopes on him who died that 
 we might live. B had been long a pre- 
 
 cious and honourable woman ; but her hope 
 in the trying hour rested not in what she had 
 done for the Lord, but upon what he had 
 done for her ; not upon the change his grace 
 had wrought in her, but upon the righteous- 
 ness he had wrought out for her by his obe- 
 dience unto death. This supported her, for 
 she saw nothing in herself but what she was 
 ashamed of. She saw reason to renounce her 
 own goodness, as well as her own sins, as to 
 the point of acceptance with God, and died, 
 as St. Paul lived, determined to know nothing 
 but Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 
 
 The time when Mr. and Mrs. C re- 
 move to Scotland drawing near, Mrs. is 
 
 gone to spend a week or two with them, and 
 take her leave. She feels something at part- 
 ing with a sister, who is indeed a valuable 
 person ; and from children they have always 
 lived in the most tender intimacy and unin- 
 terrupted friendship. But all beneath the 
 J moon (like the moon itself) is subject to in- 
 cessant change. Alterations and separations 
 are graciously appointed of the Lord, to re- 
 mind us that this is not our rest, and to pre- 
 pare our thoughts for that approaching change 
 
LET. IV. 
 
 LETTERS TO MRS. V 
 
 which shall fix us for ever in an unchange- 
 able state. O Madam ! what shall we poor 
 worms render to him who has brought life 
 and immortality to life by the gospel, taken 
 away the sting of death, revealed a glorious 
 prospect beyond the grave, and given us eyes 
 to see it? Now the reflection, that we must 
 ere long take a final farewell of what is most 
 capable of pleasing us upon earth, is not only 
 tolerable, but pleasant. For we know we 
 cannot fully possess our best friend, our chief 
 treasure, till we have done with all below ; 
 nay, we cannot till then properly see each 
 other. We are cased up in vehicles of clay, 
 and converse together as if we were in differ- 
 ent coaches, with the blinds close drawn round. 
 We see the carriage, and the voice tells us 
 that we have a friend within ; but we shall 
 know each other better, when death shall open 
 the coach doors, and hand out the company 
 successively, and lead them into the glorious 
 apartments which the Lord has "appointed to 
 be the common residence of them that love 
 him. What an assembly will there be ! 
 What a constellation of glory, when each in- 
 dividual shall shine like the sun in the king- 
 dom of their Father ! No sins, sorrows, temp- 
 tations ; no vails, clouds, or prejudices, shall 
 interrupt us then. All names of idle distinc- 
 tion (the fruits of present remaining darkness, 
 the channels of bigotry, and the stumbling- 
 block of the world) will be at an end. 
 
 The description you give of your present 
 residence pleases me much, and chiefly because 
 it describes and manifests to me something 
 still more interesting, I mean the peaceable 
 situation of your mind. Had he placed you 
 in an Eden some months ago, it would hardly 
 have awakened your descriptive talent. But 
 he whom the wind and seas obey has calmed 
 your mind, and I trust will go on to fill you 
 with all joy and peace in believing. It is no 
 great matter where we are, provided we see 
 that the Lord has placed us there, and that 
 he is with us. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 1776 . 
 
 So, my dear Madam, I hope we have found 
 you out, and that this letter will reach you in 
 good time to welcome you in our names to 
 London. We are ready to take it for granted 
 that you will now most certainly make us a 
 visit. Do come as soon, and stay as long, as 
 you possibly can. Methinks you will be glad 
 to get out of the smell and noise as soon as 
 possible. If we did not go to London now 
 and then, we should perhaps forget how peo- 
 ple live there. Especially I pity professors ; 
 they are exposed to as many dangers as peo- 
 ple who live in mines ; chilling damps, scorch- 
 ing blasts epidemical disorders, owing to the 
 
 251 
 
 impure air. Such are the winds of false doc- 
 trines, the explosions of controversy, the 
 blights of worldly conversation, the Contagion 
 of evil custom. In short, a person had need 
 have a good constitution of grace, and like- 
 wise to be well supplied with antidotes, to pre- 
 serve a tolerable share of spiritual health in 
 such a situation. 
 
 And now, how shall I fill up the rest of 
 the paper ? It is a shame for a Christian and 
 a minister to say he has no subject at hand, 
 when the inexhaustible theme of redeeming 
 love is ever pressing upon our attention. I 
 will tell you, then, though you know it, that 
 the Lord reigns. He who once bore our sins, 
 and carried our sorrows, is seated upon a 
 throne of glory, and exercises all power in 
 heaven and on earth. Thrones, principalities, 
 and powers, bow before him. Every event in 
 the kingdoms of providence and of grace are 
 under his rule. His providence pervades and 
 manages the whole, and is as minutely atten- 
 tive to every part, as if there were only that 
 single object in his view. From the highest 
 archangel to the meanest ant or fly, all de- 
 pend on him for their being, their preserva- 
 tion, and their powers. He directs the spar- 
 rows where to build their nests, and to find 
 their food. He over-rules the rise and fall of 
 nations, and bends, with an invincible energy 
 and unerring wisdom, all events ; so that, 
 while many intend nothing less, in the issue 
 their designs all concur and coincide in the 
 accomplishment of his holy will. He restrains 
 with a mighty hand the still more formidable 
 efforts of the powers of darkness ; and Satan, 
 with all his hosts, cannot exert their malice a 
 hair’s breadth beyond the limits of his per- 
 mission. This is he who is the head and hus- 
 band of his believing people. How happy are 
 they whom it is his good pleasure to bless ! 
 How safe are they whom he has engaged to 
 protect ! How honoured and privileged are 
 they to whom he is pleased to manifest him- 
 self, and whom he enables and warrants to 
 claim him as their friend and their portion f 
 Having redeemed them by his own blood, he 
 sets a high value upon them: he esteems them 
 his treasure, his jewels, and keeps them as the 
 pupil of his eye. They shall not want ; they 
 need not fear ; his eye is upon them in every 
 situation, his ear is open to their prayers, and 
 his everlasting arms are under them for their 
 sure support. On earth he guides their steps, 
 controuls their enemies, and directs all his 
 dispensations for their good ; while in hea- 
 ven, he is pleading their cause, preparing them 
 a place, and communicating down to them 
 the reviving foretastes of the glory that shall 
 be shortly revealed. O how is this mystery 
 hidden from an unbelieving world ! Who can 
 believe it, till it is made known by experience, 
 what an intercourse is maintained in this land 
 of shadows between the Lord of glory and 
 sinful worms ! How should we praise him. 
 
LET. IV. 
 
 252 LETTERS TO MRS. P . 
 
 that he has visited us ; for we were once 
 blind to his beauty, and insensible to his 
 love, and should have remained so to the 
 last, had he not prevented us with his good- 
 ness, and been found of us when we sought 
 him not. 
 
 Mrs. presents her love. The bite of 
 
 the leech which I mentioned to you has con- 
 fined her to the house ever since ; but I hope 
 she will be able to go out to-morrow. We 
 were for a while apprehensive of worse con- 
 sequences; but the Lord is gracious: he 
 shews us, in a variety of instances, what de- 
 pendent creatures we are, how blind to events, 
 and how easily the methods which we take to 
 relieve ourselves from a small inconvenience 
 may plunge us into a greater. Thus we learn 
 
 (happy, indeed, if we can effectually learn it), 
 that there is no safety but in his protection, 
 and that nothing can do us good but by his 
 blessing. As for myself, I see so many rea- 
 sons why he might contend with me, that I 
 am amazed he affords me and mine so much 
 peace, and appoints us so few trials. We 
 live as upon a field of battle ; many are>hourly 
 suffering and falling around us, and I can 
 give no reason why we are preserved, but that 
 he is God, and not man. What a mercy that 
 we are only truly known to him, who is alone 
 able to bear us ! 
 
 May the Lord bless you and yours ; may 
 he comfort you, guide you, and guard you. 
 Come quickly to. 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
LETTERS 
 
 TO 
 
 THE REVEREND MR. B 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 September 14, 1765. 
 
 REV. AND DEAR SIR, 
 
 When I was at London, in June last, your 
 name first reached me, and from that time I 
 have been desirous to wish you success in the 
 name of the Lord. A few weeks ago, I re- 
 ceived a farther account from Mrs. , with 
 
 a volume of your sermons : she likewise gave 
 me a direction where to write, and an encou- 
 ragement that a letter would not be unaccept- 
 able. The latter, indeed, I did not much 
 need, when I had read your book. Though we 
 have no acquaintance, we are already united 
 in the strictest ties of friendship, partakers of 
 the same hope, servants of the same Lord, 
 and in the same part of his vineyard : I there- 
 fore hold all apologies needless. I rejoice in 
 the Lord’s goodness to you ; I pray for his 
 abundant blessing upon your labours ; I need j 
 an interest in your prayers : I have an affec- 
 tionate desire to know more concerning you : 
 these are my motives for writing. 
 
 Mrs. tells me that you have read my 
 
 Narrative : I need not tell you, therefore, 
 that I am one of the most astonishing in- 
 stances of the forbearance and mercy of God 
 upon the face of the earth. In the close of 
 it, I mention a warm desire I had to the mi- 
 nistry : this the Lord was pleased to keep 
 alive for several years, through a succession 
 of views and disappointments. At length his 
 hour came, and my way was made easy. I 
 have been here about fifteen months. The 
 Lord has led me, by a way that I little ex- 
 pected, to a pleasant lot, where the gospel has 
 been many years known, and is highly valued 
 by many. We have a large church and con- 
 gregation, and a considerable number of lively 
 
 thriving believers, and in general go on with 
 great comfort and harmony. I meet with less 
 opposition from the world than is usual where 
 the gospel is preached. This burden was borne 
 
 by Mr. B for ten years, and in that course 
 
 of time, some of the fiercest opposers were re- 
 moved, some wearied, and some softened ; so 
 that we are now remarkably quiet in that re- 
 spect. May the Lord teach us to improve the 
 privilege, and preserve us from indifference. 
 How unspeakable are our obligations to the 
 grace of God ! What a privilege is it to be a 
 believer ! They are comparatively few, and 
 we by nature were no nearer than others ; it 
 was grace, free grace, that made the differ- 
 ence. What an honour to be a minister of 
 the everlasting gospel ! These, upon compa- 
 rison, are perhaps fewer still. How wonder- 
 ful that one of these few should be sought for 
 among the wilds of Africa, reclaimed from 
 the lowest state of impiety and misery, and 
 brought to assure other sinners, from his own 
 experience, that “ there is forgiveness with 
 him, that he may be feared.” And you, Sir, 
 though not left to give such flagrant proofs 
 of the wickedness of the heart and the power 
 of Satan, yet owe your present views to the 
 same almighty grace. If the Lord had not 
 distinguished you from your brethren, you 
 would have been now in the character of a 
 minister misleading the people, and opposing 
 those precious truths you are now labouring 
 to establish. Not unto us, O Lord ! but un- 
 to thy name be the glory. I shall be thank- 
 ful to hear from you at your leisure. Be 
 pleased to inform me, whether you received 
 the knowledge of the truth before or since 
 you were in orders; how long you have preach- 
 
LFT. n 
 
 LETTERS TO THE REV. MR. B . 
 
 254 
 
 ed the joyful sound of salvation by Jesus, 
 and what is the state of things in your parts. 
 
 We are called to an honourable service, 
 but it is arduous. What wisdom does it re- 
 quire to keep the middle path in doctrines, 
 avoiding the equally dangerous errors on the 
 right hand and the left ! What steadiness, to 
 speak the truth boldly and faithfully in the 
 midst of a gainsaying world ! What humility, 
 to stand against the tide of popularity ! What 
 meekness, to endure all things for the elect’s 
 sake, that they may be saved ! “ Who is suf- 
 ficient for these things ?” We are not in our- 
 selves, but there is an all-sufficiency in Jesus. 
 Our enemy watches us close ; he challenges 
 and desires to have us, that he may sift us as 
 wheat ; he knows he can easily shake us, if 
 we are left to ourselves ; but we have a Shep- 
 herd, a Keeper, who never slumbers nor 
 sleeps. If he permits us to be exercised, it is 
 for our good ; he is at hand to direct, mode- 
 rate, and sanctify every dispensation ; he has 
 prayed for us, that our faith may not fail, 
 and he has promised to maintain his fear in 
 our hearts, that we may not depart from him. 
 When we are prone to wander, he calls us 
 back ; when we say, My feet slip, his mercy 
 holds us up ; when we are wounded, he heals ; 
 when we are ready to faint, he revives. The 
 people of God are sure to meet with enemies, 
 but especially the ministers : Satan bears them 
 a double grudge ; the world watches for their 
 halting, and the Lord will suffer them to be 
 afflicted, that they may be kept humble, that 
 they may acquire a sympathy witli the suffer- 
 ings of others, that they may be experiment • 
 ally qualified to advise and help them, and 
 to comfort them with the comforts with which 
 they themselves have been comforted of God. 
 But the Captain of our salvation is with us ; 
 his eye is upon us, his everlasting arms be- 
 neath us ; in his name, therefore, we may go 
 on, lift up our banners, and say, “ If God be 
 for us, who can be against us ? Nay, in all 
 these things we are more than conquerors, 
 through him that loved us.” The time is 
 short : yet a little while, and he will wipe all 
 tears from our eyes, and put a crown of life 
 upon our head with his own gracious hand. 
 In this sense, how beautiful are those lines : 
 
 Temporls illius 
 
 Me consolor imagine ; 
 
 Festis quum populus me reducem choris, 
 Faustisque excipiet vocibus* et Dei 
 l'ompa cum celebri, me comitabitur 
 Augusta ad penetralia 
 
 Buck, in Psal. xlii. 
 
 If any occasions should call you into these 
 parts, my house and pulpit will be glad to 
 receive you. Pray for us, dear Sir, and be- 
 lieve me to be. 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 November 2, 1765. 
 
 VERY DEAR SIR, 
 
 Your letter of the 4th ult. gave me great plea- 
 sure. I thank you for the particular account 
 you have favoured me with. I rejoice with 
 you, sympathize with you, and find my heart 
 opened to correspond with unreserved free- 
 dom. May the Lord direct our pens, and 
 help us to help each other. The work you 
 are engaged in is great, and your difficulties 
 many ; but faithful is he that hath called you, 
 who also will do it. The weapons which he 
 has now put in your hands are not carnal, 
 but mighty through God to the pulling down 
 of strong holds. Men may 'fight, but they 
 shall not prevail against us, if we are but ena- 
 bled to put our cause simply into the Lord’s 
 hands, and keep steadily on in the path of 
 duty. He will plead our cause, and fight our 
 battles ; he will pardon our mistakes, and 
 teach us to do better. My experience as a 
 minister is but small, having been but about 
 eighteen months in the vineyard; but for 
 about twelve years I have been favoured with 
 an increasing acquaintance among the people 
 of God, of various ranks and denominations, 
 which, together with the painful exercises of 
 my own heart, gave me opportunity of mak- 
 j ing observations w r hich were of great use to 
 me when I entered upon the work myself; 
 and ever since, 1 have found the Lord graci- 
 ously supplying new lights and new strength 
 as new occurrences arise. So, I trust it will 
 be with you. I endeavour to avail myself of 
 the examples, advice, and sentiments of my 
 brethren, yet at the same time to guard a- 
 gainst calling any man master. This is the 
 peculiar of Christ. The best are but men : 
 j the wisest may be mistaken ; and that which 
 j may be right in another, may be wrong in 
 ' me, through a difference of circumstances. 
 The Spirit of God distributes variously, both 
 in gifts and dispensations ; and I would no 
 more be tied to act strictly by others rules, 
 than to walk in shoes of the same size. My 
 shoes must fit my own feet. 
 
 I endeavour to guard against extremes ; our 
 nature is prone to them ; and we are liable 
 likewise, when we have found the inconven- 
 ience of one extreme, to revert insensibly 
 (sometimes to fly suddenly) to the other. I 
 pray to be led in the midst of the path. I 
 am what they call a Calvinist ; yet there are 
 flights, niceties, and hard sayings, to be found 
 among some of that system, which I do not 
 chuse to imitate. I dislike those sentiments 
 against which you have borne your testimony 
 in the note at the end of your preface; but 
 having known many precious souls in that 
 party, I have been taught, that the kingdom 
 | of God is not in names and sentiments, but 
 
LET. III. LETTERS TO THE 
 
 in righteousness, faith, love, peace, and joy in 
 the Holy Ghost. I should, however, upon 
 some occasions, oppose those tenets, if they 
 had any prevalence in my neighbourhood ; 
 but they have not ; and in general, I believe, 
 the surest way to refute or prevent error, is 
 to preach the truth. I am glad to find you 
 are aware of that spirit of enthusiasm which 
 has so often broken loose and blemished hope- 
 ful beginnings, and that the foundation you 
 build upon is solid and scriptural : this will, 
 I hope, save you much trouble, and prevent 
 many offences. Let us endeavour to make 
 our people acquainted with the scriptures, and 
 
 thority, excellence, and sufficiency. Satan 
 seldom remarkably imposes on ministers or 
 people, except where the word of God is too 
 little consulted or regarded. Another point 
 in which I aim at a medium, is in what is 
 called prudence. There is certainly such a 
 thing as Christian prudence, and a remarkable 
 deficiency of it is highly inconvenient. But 
 caution too often degenerates into cowardice ; 
 and if the fear of man, under the name of 
 prudence, gets within our guard, like a chil- 
 ling frost, it nips every thing in the bud. 
 Those who trust the Lord, and act openly 
 with an honest freedom and consistence, I ob- 
 serve, he generally bears them out, smoothes 
 their way, and makes their enemies their 
 friends, or at least restrains their rage ; while 
 such as halve things, temporise, and aim to 
 please God and man together, meet with 
 double disappointment, and are neither useful 
 nor respected. If we trust to him, he will 
 stand by us ; if we regard men, he will leave 
 us to make the best we can of them. 
 
 I have set down hastily what occured to my 
 pen, not to dictate to you, but to tell you how 
 I have been led, and because some expressions 
 in your letter seemed to imply that you would 
 not be displeased with me for so doing. As 
 to books, I think there is a medium here like- 
 wise. I have read too much in time past ; 
 yet I do not wholly join with some of our 
 brethren, who would restrain us entirely to 
 the word of God. Undoubtedly this is the 
 fountain ; here we should dwell : but a mo- 
 derate and judicious perusal of other authors 
 may have its use ; and I am glad to be be- 
 holden to such helps, either to explain what I 
 do not understand, or to confirm me in what 
 I do. Of these, the writings of the last age 
 affbrd an immense variety. 
 
 But above all, may we, dear Sir, live and 
 feed upon the precious promises, John xiv. 
 16, 17, 26. and xvi. 13 — 15. There is no 
 
 teacher like Jesus, who, by his Holy Spirit, 
 reveals himself in his word to the understand- 
 ing and affections of his children. When we 
 thus behold his glory in the gospel-glass, we 
 are changed into the same image. Then our 
 hearts melt, our eyes flow, our stammering 
 tongues are unloosed. That this may be 
 
 REV. MR. B . 255 
 
 your increasing experience is the prayer of, 
 dear Sir, 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 January 21, 1766. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 Your letters give me the sincerest pleasure. 
 Let us believe that we are daily thinking of 
 and praying for each other, and write when 
 opportunity offers without apologies. I praise 
 the Lord he has led you so soon to a settled 
 judgment in the leading truths of the gospel. 
 For want of this, many have been necessitated 
 with their own hands to pull down what, in 
 the first warm emotions of their zeal, they 
 had laboured hard to build. It is a mercy 
 likewise, to be enabled to acknowledge what 
 is excellent in the writings or conduct of 
 other's, without adopting their singularities, 
 or discarding the whole on account of a few 
 blemishes. We should be glad to receive in- 
 struction from all, and avoid being led by the 
 ipse dixit of any. Nullius jurare in verbum, is 
 a fit motto for those who have one master, 
 even Christ. We may grow wise apace in 
 opinions, by books and men ; but vital, ex- 
 perimental knowledge, can only be received 
 from the Holy Spirit, the great instructor, 
 and comforter of his people. And there are 
 two things observable in his teaching: 1. 
 
 That he honours the means of his own ap- 
 pointment, so that w^e cannot expect to make 
 any great progress without diligence on our 
 parts. 2. That he does not teach all at once, 
 but by degrees. Experience is his school ; 
 and by this I mean the observation and im. 
 provement of what passes wdthin us and a- 
 round us in the course of every day. The 
 word of God affords a history in miniature of 
 the heart of man, the devices of Satan, the 
 state of the world, and the method of grace. 
 And the most instructing and affecting com- 
 mentary on it to an enlightened mind, may 
 be gathered from what we see, feel, and hear, 
 from day to day. Res, cetas, usus, semper 
 aliquid apportent novi ; and no knowledge in 
 spiritual things but what we acquire in this 
 way is properly our own, or will abide the 
 time of trial. This is not always sufficiently 
 considered : we are ready to expect that 
 
 others should receive upon our word, in half 
 an hour’s time, those views of things which 
 have cost us years to attain. But none can 
 be brought forward faster than the Lord is 
 pleased to communicate inward light Upon 
 this ground controversies have been multipli- 
 ed among Christians to little purpose, for 
 plants of different standings will be ( ceteris 
 paribus) in different degrees of forwardness. 
 A young Christian is like a green fruit ; it 
 has perhaps a disagreeable austerity, which . 
 
LET. IV 
 
 256 LETTERS lO THE 
 
 cannot be corrected out of its proper course ; 
 it wants time and growth : wait a while, and 
 by the nourishment it receives from the root, 
 together with the action of the sun, wind, 
 and rain, in succession from without, it will 
 insensibly acquire that flavour and maturity, 
 for the want of which an unskilful judge would 
 be ready to reject it as nothing worth. We 
 are favoured with many excellent books in our 
 tongue ; but I, with you, agree in assigning 
 one of the first places, as a teacher, to Dr. 
 Owen. I have just finished his discourse on 
 the Holy Spirit, which is an epitome, if not 
 the master-piece, of his writings. I should 
 be glad to see the re-publication you speak 
 of : but I question if the booksellers will ven- 
 ture upon it. I shall perhaps mention it to my 
 London friends. As to archbishop Leighton, 
 besides his select works, there are two octavo 
 volumes published at Edinburgh, in the year 
 1748, and since reprinted at London. They 
 contain a valuable commentary on St. Peter’s 
 First Epistle, and lectures on Isa. vi. ; Psal. 
 xxxix., cxxx. ; Rom. iv. and a partof chap. xii. 
 
 I have likewise a small quarto in Latin, of his 
 Divinity Lectures, when professor at Edin- 
 burgh ; the short title is, Prcelectiones Theo- 
 logize. Mine was printed in London, 1698. 
 I believe this book is scarce ; I set the high- 
 est value upon it. He has wonderfully unit- 
 ed the simplicity of the gospel, with all the 
 captivating beauties of style and language. 
 Bishop Burnet says, he was the greatest mas- 
 ter of the Latin tongue he ever knew, of 
 which, together with his compass of learning, 
 he has given proof in his lectures : yet in his 
 gayer dress, his eminent humility and spiri- 
 tuality appear to no less advantage than when 
 clad in plain English. I think it may be 
 said to be a diamond set in gold. I could 
 wish it translated, if it was possible (which I 
 almost question) to preserve the beauty and 
 spirit of the original. 
 
 Edwards on Free-will I have read with plea- 
 sure, as a good answer to the proud reasoners 
 in their own way ; but a book of that sort can- 
 not be generally read : where the subject-mat- 
 ter is unpleasing, and the method of treating 
 it requires more attention than the Athenian 
 spirit of the times will bear, I wonder not if 
 it is uncalled for, and am afraid we shall not 
 see him upon Original Sin, if it depends upon 
 the sale of the other. His answer to Dr. 
 Taylor, which you speak of, is not a MS. but 
 has been already printed at Boston. 
 
 You send us good news indeed, that two 
 more of your brethren are declaring on the 
 gospel side. The Lord confirm and strengthen 
 them, add yet to your numbers, and make 
 you helps and comforts to each other. Surely 
 he is about to spread his work. Happy those 
 whom he honours to be fellow- workers with 
 him. Let us account the disgrace we suffer 
 for his name’s sake to be our great honour. 
 Many will be against us, but there are more 
 
 REV. MR. B . 
 
 for us. All the praying souls on earth, al. 
 the glorified saints in heaven, all the angels 
 of God, yea the God of angels himself, all 
 are on our side. Satan may rage, but he is 
 a chained enemy. Men may contradict and 
 fight, but they cannot prevail. Two things 
 we shall especially need, courage and patience, 
 that we neither faint before them, nor upon 
 any provocation act in their spirit. If we 
 can pity and pray for them, return good for 
 evil, make them sensible that we bear them a 
 hearty 1 good-will, and act as the disciples oi 
 him who wept for his enemies and prayed for 
 his murderers ; in this way we shall find the 
 Lord will plead our cause, soften opposers, 
 and by degrees give us a measure of outward 
 peace. Warmth and imprudence have often 
 added to the necessary burden of the cross. 
 I rejoice that the Lord has led you in a dif- 
 ferent way, and I hope your doctrine and ex- 
 ample will make your path smoother every 
 day : you find it so in part already. As the 
 Lord brings you out a people witnesses for 
 you to the truth of his word, you will find 
 advantage in bringing them often together. 
 The interval from Sabbath to Sabbath is a 
 good while, and affords time for the world and 
 Satan to creep in. Intermediate meetings for 
 prayer, &c. when properly conducted, are 
 greatly useful. I could wish for larger sheets 
 and longer leisure, but I am constrained to 
 say adieu, in our dear Lord and Saviour 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 December 12 , 1767. 
 
 DEAR SIB, 
 
 This is not intended as an answer to your last 
 acceptable letter, but an occasional line, in 
 
 consequence of the account Mr. T has 
 
 given me of your late illness. I trust this dis- 
 pensation will be useful to you, and I wish 
 the knowledge of it may be so to me. I am 
 favoured with an unusual share of health and 
 an equal flow of spirits. If the blow you have 
 received should be a warning to me, I shall 
 have cause to be thankful. I am glad to 
 hear you are better: I hope the Lord has no 
 design to disable you from service, but ra- 
 ther (as he did Jacob) to strengthen you by 
 wounding you ; to maintain and increase in 
 you that conviction which, through grace, 
 you have received, of the vanity and uncer- 
 tainty of every thing below ; to give you a 
 lively sense of the value of health and op- 
 portunities, and to add to the treasury of 
 your experience new proofs of his power and 
 goodness in supporting, comforting, and heal- 
 ing you, and likewise to quicken the prayers 
 of your people for you, and to stir them up 
 to use double diligence in the present im- 
 provement of the means of grace, while by 
 
LET. V 
 
 LETTERS TO THE REV. MR. B- 
 
 this late instance they see how soon and sud- 
 denly you might have been removed from 
 them. 
 
 I understand you did not feel that lively 
 exercise of faith and joy which you would 
 have hoped to have found at such a sea- 
 son ; but let not this discourage you from a 
 firm confidence that, when the hour of dismis- 
 sion shall come, the Lord will be faithful to 
 his gracious promise, and give you strength 
 sufficient to encounter and vanquish your last 
 enemy. You had not. this strength lately, 
 because you needed it not ; for, though you 
 might think yourself near to death, the Lord 
 intended to restore you, and he permitted you 
 to feel weakness, that you might know your 
 strength does not consist in grace received, 
 but in his fulness, and his promise to commu- 
 nicate from himself as your occasions require. 
 O, it is a great thing to be strong in the grace 
 that is in Christ Jesus ! but it is a hard les- 
 son : it is not easy to understand it in theory, 
 but when the Lord has taught us so far, it is 
 still more difficult to reduce our knowledge 
 to practice. But this is one end he has in 
 view in permitting us to pass through such a 
 variety of inward and outward exercises, that 
 we may cease from trusting in ourselves, or 
 in any creature, or frame, or experiences, and 
 be brought to a state of submission and de- 
 pendence upon him alone. I was once vi- 
 sited something in the same way, seized with 
 a fit of the apoplectic kind, which held me 
 near ar hour, and left a disorder in my head, 
 which q rite broke the scheme of life I was 
 then in, and was consequently one of the 
 means the Lord appointed to bring me into 
 the ministry ; but I soon perfectly recovered. 
 
 From the remembrance Mrs. has of 
 
 what she then suffered, she knows how to 
 
 sympathize with Mrs. B in her share of 
 
 your trial. And I think dear Mr. some 
 
 years since had a sudden stroke on a Christ- 
 mas day, which disabled him from duty for a 
 time. To him and to me these turns were 
 only like the caution which Philip of Macedon 
 ordered to be repeated to him every morning, 
 “ Remember thou art a man.” I hope it 
 will be no more to you, but that you shall 
 live to praise him, and to give many cause to 
 praise him on your behalf. Blessed be God 
 we are in safe hands : the Lord himself is our 
 keeper; nothing befals us but what is ad- 
 justed by his wisdom and love. Health is his 
 gift, and sickness, when sanctified is a token 
 of love likewise. Here we may meet with 
 many things which are not joyous but grievous 
 to the flesh ; but he will, in one way or other, 
 sweeten every bitter cup, and ere long he will 
 wipe away all tears from our eyes. O that 
 joy, that crown, that glory which awaits the 
 believer ! Let us keep the prize of our high 
 calling in view, and press forward in the name 
 of Jesus the Redeemer, and he will not dis- 
 appoint our hopes. 
 
 257 
 
 I am but just come off from a journey, am 
 weary, and it grows late ; I must therefore 
 break off. When you have leisure and strength 
 to write, oblige me with a confirmation of 
 your recovery, for I shall be something anx- 
 ious about you. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 March 14, 1775. 
 
 MY DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 I THOUGHT you long in writing, but am afraid 
 I have been longer. A heavy family afflic- 
 tion called me from home in December, 
 which put me out of my usual course, and 
 threw me beliind-hand in my correspondence; 
 yet I did not suspect the date of your last 
 letter was so old by two months as I find it. 
 Whether I write more frequently or more sel- 
 dom, the love of my heart to you is the same, 
 and I shall believe the like of you ; yet, if it 
 can be helped, I hope the interval will not be 
 so long again on either side. I am glad that 
 the Lord’s work still flourishes in your parts, 
 and that you have a more comfortable pros- 
 pect at home than formerly ; and I was pleased 
 
 with the acceptance you found at S— , 
 
 which I hope will be an earnest of greater 
 things. I think affairs in general, with re- 
 spect to this land, have a dark appearance ; 
 but it is comfortable to observe, that, amidst 
 the aboundings of iniquity, the Lord is spread- 
 ing his gospel, and that though many oppose, 
 yet in most places whither the word is sent, 
 great numbers seem disposed to hear. I am 
 going (if the Lord please) into Leicestershire 
 on Friday. This was lately such a dark place 
 as you describe your country to be, and much 
 of it is so still ; but the Lord has visited three 
 of the principal towns with gospel-light. I 
 have a desire of visiting these brethren in 
 the vineyard, to bear my poor testimony to 
 the truths they preach, and to catch, if I may, 
 a little fire and fervour among them. I do 
 not often go abroad ; but I have found a lit- 
 tle excursion now and then (when the way 
 is made plain) has its advantages, to quicken 
 the spirits and enlarge the sphere of observa- 
 tion. On these accounts the recollection of 
 
 my N journey gives me pleasure to this 
 
 day ; and very glad should I be to repeat it, 
 but the distance is so great that I consider it 
 rather as desirable than practicable. 
 
 My experiences vary as well as yours : but 
 possibly your sensations, both of the sweet 
 and of the bitter, may be stronger than mine. 
 The enemy assaults me more by sap than 
 storm, and I am ready to think I suffer more 
 by languor than some of my friends do by 
 the sharper conflicts to w r hich they are called. 
 So likewise in these seasons, which compara- 
 tively I call my best hours, my sensible com- 
 2 A 
 
LETTERS TO THE REV. MR. IS- 
 
 LET. VI 
 
 258 
 
 forts are far from lively. But I am in gene- 
 ral enabled to hold fast my confidence, and 
 to venture myself upon the power, faithful- 
 ness, and compassion of that adorable Savibur, 
 to whom my soul has been directed and en- 
 couraged to flee for refuge. I am a poor, 
 changeable, inconsistent creature; but he deals 
 graciously with me ; he does not leave me 
 wholly to myself ; but I have such daily 
 proofs of the malignity and efficacy of the sin 
 that dwelleth in me, as ought to cover me 
 with shame and confusion of face and make me 
 thankful if I am permitted to rank with the 
 meanest of those who sit at his feet. That I 
 was ever called to the knowledge of his salva- 
 tion, was a singular instance of his sovereign 
 grace ; and that I am still preserved in the 
 way, in defiance of all that has arisen from 
 within and from without to turn me aside, 
 must be wholly ascribed to the same sove- 
 reignty : and if, as I trust, he shall be pleas- 
 ed to make me a conqueror at last, I shall 
 have peculiar reason to say, Not unto me, not 
 unto me, but unto thy name, O Lord, be the 
 glory and the praise ! 
 
 How oft have sin and Satan strove 
 
 To rend my soul from thee, my God ! 
 
 But everlasting is thy love, 
 
 And Jesu9 seals it with his blood. 
 
 The Lord leads me in the course of my 
 preaching to insist much on a life of commu- 
 nion with himself, and of the great design of 
 the gospel to render us conformable to him in 
 love ; and as by his mercy nothing appears in 
 my outward conduct remarkably to contra- 
 dict what I say, many who only can judge by 
 what they see, suppose I live a very happy 
 life. But, alas ! if they knew what passes 
 in my heart, how dull my spirit is in se- 
 cret, and how little I am myself affected by 
 the glorious truths I propose to others, they 
 would form a different judgment. Could I 
 be myself what I recommend to them, I should 
 be happy indeed. Pray for me, my dear 
 friend, that now the Lord is bringing forward 
 the pleasing spring, he may favour me with a 
 spring-season in my soul ; for indeed I mourn 
 under a long winter. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 April 16, 1772. 
 
 MY DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 I HOPE the Lord has contracted my desires 
 and aims almost to the one point of study, the 
 knowledge of his truth. All other acquisi- 
 tions are transient and comparatively vain. 
 And yet, alas ! I am a slow scholar ; nor can 
 I see in what respect I get forward, unless 
 that every day I am more confirmed in the 
 conviction of my own emptiness and inabili- 
 
 ty to all spiritual good. And as, notwith- 
 standing this, I am still enabled to stand my 
 ground, I would hope, since no effect can be 
 without an adequate cause, that I have made 
 some advance, though in a manner impercep- 
 tible to myself, towards a more simple depen- 
 dence upon Jesus as my all in all. It is given 
 me to thirst and to taste, if it is not given me 
 to drink abundantly ; and I would be thank- 
 ful for the desire. I see and approve the wis- 
 dom, grace, suitableness, and sufficiency of 
 the gospel-salvation ; and since it is for sin- 
 ners, and I am a sinner, and the promises are 
 open, I do not hesitate to call it mine. I am a 
 weary, laden soul ; Jesus has invited me to 
 come, and has enabled me to put my trust in 
 him. I seldom have an uneasy doubt, at least 
 not of any continuance, respecting my pardon, 
 acceptance, and interest in all the blessings of 
 the New Testament. And, amidst a thou- 
 sand infirmities and evils under which I groan, 
 I have the testimony of my conscience when 
 under the trial of his word, that my desire is 
 sincerely towards him, that I choose no other 
 portion, that I allowedly serve no other master. 
 
 When I told our friend lately to this 
 
 purpose, he wondered and asked, “ How is 
 it possible that if you can say these things, you 
 should not be always rejoicing ?” Undoubted- 
 ly I derive from the gospel a peace at bottom 
 which is worth more than a thousand worlds ; 
 but so it is, I can only speak for myself, 
 though I rest and live upon the truths of the 
 gospel, they seldom impress me with a warm 
 and lively joy. In public, indeed, I some- 
 times seem in earnest and much affected, but 
 even then it appears to me rather as a part of 
 the gift intrusted to me for the edification of 
 others, than as a sensation which is properly 
 my own. For when I am in private, I am 
 usually dull and stupid to a strange degree, 
 or the prey to a wild and un governed ima- 
 gination ; so that I may truly say, when I 
 would do good, evil, horrid evil, is present 
 with me. Ah, how different is this from sen- 
 sible comfort ! and if I was to compare myself 
 with others, to make their experience my stand- 
 ard, and was not helped to retreat to the sure 
 word of God as my refuge, how hard should 
 I find it to maintain a hope that I had either 
 part or lot in the matter. What I call my 
 good times are, when I can find my attention 
 in some little measure fixed to what I am 
 about, which, indeed, is not always nor fre- 
 quently my case in prayer, and still seldomer 
 in reading the scriptures. My judgment em- 
 braces these means as blessed privileges, and 
 Satan has not prevailed to drive me from them ; 
 but in the performance, I too often find them 
 tasks, feel a reluctance when the seasons return 
 and am glad when they are finished. O what 
 a mystery is the heart of man ! What a war- 
 fare is the life of faith, at least in the path the 
 Lord is pleased to lead me ! What reason 
 have I to lie in the dust as the chief of sinners 1 
 
LET. VI. 
 
 LETTERS TO THE REV. MR. B . 
 
 and what cause for thankfulness that salvation 
 is wholly of grace. Notwithstanding all my 
 complaints, it is still true that Jesus died and 
 rose again, that he ever liveth to make inter- 
 cession, and is able to save to the uttermost. 
 But, on the other hand, to think of that joy of 
 heart in which some of his people live, and to 
 compare it with that apparent deadness and 
 want of spirituality which I feel, this makes 
 me mourn. However, I think there is a 
 scriptural distinction between faith and feel- 
 
 259 
 
 ing, grace and comfort ; they are not insepa- 
 rable, and perhaps when together, the degree 
 of the one is not often the just measure of 
 the other. But though I pray that I may be 
 ever longing and panting for the light of his 
 countenance, yet I would be so far satisfied, 
 as to believe the Lord has wise and merciful 
 reasons for keeping me so short of the com . 
 forts which he has taught me to desire and 
 value more than the light of the sun. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
LETTERS 
 
 TO 
 
 THE REVEREND Mr. R 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 January 16, 1772. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 It is true, I was apprehensive from your si- 
 lence that I had offended you ; but when your 
 letter came, it made me full amends ; and 
 now I am glad I wrote as I did, though I am 
 persuaded I shall never write to you again in 
 the same strain. I am pleased with the spirit 
 you discover; and your bearing so well to 
 be told of the mistakes I pointed out to you, 
 endears you more to me than if you had not 
 made them. Henceforward I can converse 
 freely with you, and shall be glad when I have 
 the opportunity. 
 
 As to your view of justification, I did not 
 oppose it ; I judge for myself, and I am wil- 
 ling others should have the same liberty. If 
 we hold the Head, and love the Lord, we agree 
 in him, and I should think my time ill em- 
 ployed in disputing the point with you. I 
 only meant to except against the positive man- 
 ner in which you had expressed yourself. 
 My end is answered, and I am satisfied. In- 
 deed, I believe the difference between a. judi- 
 cious Supra-lapsarian, and a sound Sub-lapsa- 
 rian, lies more in a different way of expres- 
 sing their sentiments than is generally thought. 
 At the close of Halyburton’s Insufficiency of 
 Natural Religion, he has an Inquiry into the 
 Nature of Regeneration and Justification, 
 wherein he promises a scheme, in which, if 
 I mistake not, the moderate of both parties 
 might safely unite. I have used the epithets 
 judicious and sound , because, as I acknow- 
 ledge, some of the one side are not quite 
 sound , so I think some on the other side are 
 not so judicious as I could wish ; that is, I 
 think they do not sufficiently advert to the 
 present state of human nature, and the dan- 
 ger which may arise from leading those who 
 are weak in faith and judgment, into inquiries 
 and distinctions, evidently beyond the line of 
 
 their experience, and which may be hurtful : 
 because, admitting them to be true when pro- 
 perly explained, they are very liable to be 
 misunderstood. To say nothing of Hr. Hus- 
 sey (in whose provisions I have frequently 
 found more bones than meat, and seasoned 
 with much of an angry and self-important 
 spirit), I have observed passages in other 
 writers, for whom I have a higher esteem, 
 which, to say the least, appear to me paradoxi- 
 cal, and hard to be understood ; though, per- 
 haps, I can give my consent to them, if I had 
 such restrictions and limitations as the authors 
 would not refuse. But plain people are easi- 
 ly puzzled. And though I know several in 
 the Supra-lapsarian scheme, at whose feet I 
 am willing to sit and learn, and have found 
 their preaching and conversation savoury and 
 edifying ; yet I must say, I have met with 
 many, who have appeared to be rather wise 
 than warm, rather positive than humble, ra- 
 ther captious than lively, and more disposed 
 to talk of speculations than experience. 
 However, let us give ourselves to the study 
 of the word and to prayer : and may the 
 great Teacher make every scriptural truth food 
 to our souls. I desire to grow in knowledge, 
 but I want nothing which bears that name, 
 that has not a direct tendency to make sin 
 more hateful, Jesus more precious to my 
 soul; and at the same time to animate me 
 to a diligent use of every appointed means, 
 and an unreserved regard to every branch of 
 duty. I think the Lord has shewn me in a 
 measure, there is a consistent sense running 
 through the whole scriptures, and I desire to 
 be governed and influenced by it all : doc- 
 trines, precepts, promises, warnings, all have 
 their proper place and use ; and I think many 
 of the inconveniencies which obtain in the 
 present day, spring from separating those 
 things which God hath joined together, and 
 
LET. ill. LETTERS TO THE 
 
 insisting on some parts of the word of God, 
 almost to the exclusion of the rest. 
 
 I have filled my paper with what I did not 
 intend to say a word of when I began, and I 
 must leave other things which were more up- 
 on my mind for another season. I thank 
 you for saying you pray for me. Continue 
 that kindness ; I both need it and prize it. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 July SI, 1773. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 I received your sorrowful epistle yesterday, 
 and in order to encourage you to write, I 
 answer it to-day. 
 
 The ship was safe when Christ was in her, 
 though he was really asleep. At present I 
 can tell you good news, though you know it ; 
 he is wide awake, and his eyes are in every 
 place. You and I, if we could be pounded 
 together, might perhaps make two tolerable 
 ones. You are too anxious, and I am too 
 easy in some respects. Indeed, I cannot be 
 too easy, when I have a right thought that 
 all is safe in his hands ; but if your anxiety 
 makes you pray, and my composure makes 
 me careless, you have certainly the best of it. 
 However, the ark is fixed upon an immove- 
 able foundation ; and if we think we see it 
 totter, it is owing to a swimming in our heads. 
 Seriously, the times look dark and stormy, 
 and call for much circumspection and prayer ; 
 but let us not forget that we have an infallible 
 pilot, and that the power, and wisdom, and 
 honour of God, are embarked with us. At 
 Venice they have a fine vessel, called the 
 Bucentaur, in which, on a certain day of the 
 year, the Doge and nobles embark, and go a 
 little way to sea, to repeat the foolish cere- 
 mony of marriage between the Republic and 
 the Adriatic (in consequence of some lying, 
 antiquated Pope’s bull, by which the banns 
 of matrimony between Venice and the Gulf 
 were published in the dark ages), when, they 
 say, a gold ring is very gravely thrown over- 
 board. Upon this occasion, I have been told, 
 when the honour and government of Venice 
 are shipped on board the Bucentaur, the pilot 
 is obliged by his office to take an oath, that he 
 will bring the vessel safely back again, in de- 
 fiance of wind and weather. Vain mortals ! 
 If this be true, what an instance of God’s 
 long-suffering is it, that they have never yet 
 sunk as lead in the mighty waters ! But my 
 story will probably remind you, that Jesus 
 has actually entered into such an engagement 
 in behalf of his church. And well he may, for 
 both wind and weather are at his command ; 
 and he can turn the storm into a calm in a 
 moment. We may therefore safely and con- 
 
 REV. MR. R . 261 
 
 fidently leave the government upon his shoul- 
 ders. Duty is our part, the care is his. 
 
 A revival is wanted with us as well as with 
 you, and I trust some of us are longing for 
 it. We are praying and singing for one ; and 
 I send you, on the other side, a hymn, that 
 you (if you like it) may sing with us. Let 
 us take courage ; though it may seem marvel- 
 lous in our eyes, it is not so in the Lord’s. 
 He changes the desert into a fruitful field, 
 and bids dry bones live. And if he prepare 
 our hearts to pray, he will surely incline his 
 ear to hear. 
 
 The miscarriages of professors are grievous ; 
 yet such things must be ; how else could the 
 scriptures be fulfilled ? But there is one who 
 is able to keep us from falling. Some who 
 have distressed us, perhaps never were truly 
 changed; how then could they stand? We 
 see only the outside. Others who are sincere 
 are permitted to fall for our instruction, that 
 we may not be high-minded, but fear. How- 
 ever, he that walketh humbly, walketh surely. 
 
 Believe me, &c. 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 February 22, 1774. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 Your letter by last post surprised and grieved 
 me. We knew nothing of the subject, though 
 
 Mrs. remembers, when — was 
 
 here, a hint or two were dropped which she 
 did not understand, but no name was men- 
 tioned. 
 
 This instance shews the danger of leaning 
 to impressions. Texts of scripture, brought 
 powerfully to the heart, are very desirable and 
 pleasant, if their tendency is to humble us, 
 to give us a more feeling sense of the pre- 
 ciousnesss of Christ, or of the doctrines of 
 grace, if they make sin more hateful, enliven 
 our regard to the means, or increase our con- 
 fidence in the power and faithfulness of God. 
 But if they are understood as intimating our 
 path of duty in particular circumstances, or 
 confirming us in purposes we may have al- 
 ready formed, not otherwise clearly warranted 
 by the general strain of the word, or by the 
 leadings of Providence, they are for the most 
 part ensnaring, and always to be suspected. 
 Nor does their coming into the mind at the 
 time of prayer give them more authority in 
 this respect. When the mind is intent upon 
 any subject the imagination is often watchful 
 to catch at any thing which may seem to 
 countenance the favourite pursuit. It is too 
 common to ask counsel of the Lord when we 
 have already secretly determined for ourselves; 
 and in this disposition we may easily be deceiv- 
 ed by the sound of a text of scripture, which, 
 detached from the passage in which it stands 
 
LET. IV 
 
 LETTERS TO THE REV. MR. R . 
 
 262 
 
 maj seem remarkably to tally with our wishes. 
 Many have been deceived this way ; and some- 
 times, when the event has shewn them they 
 were mistaken, it has opened a door for great 
 distress, and Satan has found occasion to 
 make them doubt even of their most solid 
 experiences. 
 
 I have sometimes talked to upon 
 
 this subject, though without the least suspi- 
 cion of any thing like what has happened. 
 As to the present case, it may remind us all 
 of our weakness. I would recommend prayer, 
 patience, much tenderness towards her, joined 
 with faithful expostulation. Wait a little 
 while, and I trust the Lord who loves her 
 will break the snare. I am persuaded, in her 
 better judgment, she would dread the thoughts 
 of doing wrong ; and I hope and believe the 
 good Shepherd, to whom she has often com- 
 mitted her soul and her ways, will interpose 
 to restore and set her to rights. - - - - 
 
 - - - I am sorry you think any of whom 
 
 you have hoped well are going back ; but be 
 not discouraged. 1 say again, pray and wait, 
 and hope the best. It is common for young 
 professors to have a slack time ; it is almost 
 necessary, that they may be more sensible of 
 the weakness and deceitfulness of their hearts, 
 and be more humbled in future, when the 
 Lord shall have healed their breaches, and re- 
 stored their souls. We join in love to you 
 and yours. Pray for us. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 February 3, 1775. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 It would be wrong to make you wait long 
 for an answer to the point you propose in 
 your last. It is an important one. I am 
 not a casuist by profession, but I will do my 
 best. Suppose I imitate your laconic manner 
 of stating the question and circumstances. 
 
 I doubt not but it is very lawful at your 
 age to think of marriage, and, in the situa- 
 tion you describe, to think of money likewise. 
 I am glad you have no person, as you say, 
 fixedly in view; in that case advice comes a 
 post or two too late. But your expression 
 seems to intimate that there is one transiently 
 in view. If it be so, since you have no set- 
 tlement, if she has no money, I cannot but 
 wish she may pass on till she is out of sight 
 and out of mind. I see this will not do ; I 
 must get into my own grave way about this 
 grave business. I take it for granted that 
 my friend is free from the love of filthy lucre, 
 and that money will never be the turning 
 point with you in the choice of a wife. Me- 
 thinks I hear you think, if I wanted money, 
 I would either dig or beg for it ; but to preach 
 
 or marry for money, that be far from me. I 
 commend you. However, though the love 
 of money be a great evil, money itself, ob- 
 tained in a fair and honourable way, is de- 
 sirable upon many accounts, though not for 
 its own sake. Meat, clothes, fire, and books, 
 cannot easily be had without it ; therefore, 
 if these be necessary, money, which procures 
 them, must be a necessary likewise. If 
 things were otherwise than you represent 
 them, if you were able to provide for a wife 
 yourself, then I would say, Find a gracious 
 girl (if she be not found already), whose per- 
 son you like, whose temper you think will 
 suit, and then, with your father and mother's 
 consent (without which I think you would be 
 unwilling to move), thank the Lord for her, 
 marry her, and account her a valuable por- 
 tion, though she should not have a shilling. 
 But, while you are without income or settle- 
 ment, if you have thoughts of marriage, I 
 hope they will be regulated by a due regard 
 to consequences. They who set the least va- 
 lue upon money have in some respects the 
 most need of it. A generous mind will feel 
 a thousand pangs in straitening circumstances, 
 which some unfeeling hearts would not be 
 sensible of. You could perhaps endure hard- 
 ships alone, yet it might pinch you to the 
 very bone to see the person you love exposed 
 to them. Besides, you might have a John, 
 a Thomas, and a William, and perhaps half a 
 dozen more to feed (for they must all eat) ; and 
 how this could be done without a competency 
 on one side or the other, or so much on both 
 sides as will make a competency when united, 
 I see not. Besides, you would be grieved 
 not to find an occasional shilling in your 
 pocket to bestow upon one or other of the 
 Lord’s poor, though you should be able to 
 make some sort of a shift for those of your 
 own house. 
 
 But is it not written, “ The Lord will pro- 
 vide ?” It is ; but it is written again, “ Thou 
 shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” Hastily 
 to plunge ourselves into difficulties upon a 
 persuasion that he will find some way to ex- 
 tricate us, seems to me a species of tempting 
 him. 
 
 Therefore I judge, it is so far lawful for 
 you to have a regard to money in looking out 
 for a wife, that it would be wrong, that is, in 
 other words, unlawful for you to omit it, sup- 
 posing you have a purpose of marrying in youi 
 present situation. 
 
 Many serious young women have a predi- 
 lection in favour of a minister of the gospel ; 
 and I believe among such one or more may 
 be found as spiritual, as amiable, as suitable 
 to make you a good wife, with a tolerable for- 
 tune to boot, as another who has not a penny. 
 If you are not willing to trust your own judg- 
 ment in the search, entreat the Lord to find 
 her for you. He chose well for Isaac and 
 Jacob; and you, as a believer, have warrant 
 
ET. VI. 
 
 LETTERS TO THE REV. MR. R 
 
 203 
 
 to commit your way to him, and many more 
 express promises than they had for your en- 
 couragement. He knows your state, your 
 wants, what you are at present, and what use 
 he designs to make of you. Trust in him, 
 and wait for him ; prayer and faith, and pa- 
 tience, are never disappointed. I commend 
 you to his blessing and guidance. Remember 
 us to all in your house. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 May 28, 1775. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 ----- You must not expect 
 a long letter this morning ; we are just going 
 to court, in hopes of seeing the King, for he 
 has promised to meet us. We can say he is 
 mindful of his promises ; and yet is it not 
 strange, that though we are all in the same 
 place, and the King in the midst of us, it is 
 but here and there one (even of those who 
 love him) can see him at once ! However, in 
 our turns, we are all favoured with a glimpse 
 of him, and have had cause to say, How great 
 is his goodness ! How great is his beauty ! 
 We have the advantage of the queen of Sheba, 
 a more glorious object to behold, and not so 
 far to go for the sight of it. If a transient 
 glance exceeds all that the world can afford 
 for a long continuance, what must it be to 
 dwell with him ! If a day in his courts be 
 better than a thousand, what will eternity be 
 in his presence ! I hope the more you see, 
 the more you love ; the more you drink, the 
 more you thirst ; the more you do for him, 
 the more you are ashamed you can do so lit- 
 tle ; and that the nearer you approach to your 
 journey’s end, the more your pace is quick- 
 ened. Surely the power of spiritual attrac- 
 tion should increase as the distance lessens. 
 O that heavenly load-stone ! may it so draw us, 
 that we may not creep, but run. In common 
 travelling, the strongest become weary, if the 
 journey be very long; but in the spiritual 
 journey, we are encouraged with a hope of 
 going on from strength to strength. Instau- 
 rabit iter vires , as Johnson expresses it. No 
 road but the road to heaven can thus commu- 
 nicate refreshment to those who walk in it, 
 and make them more fresh and lively when 
 they are just finishing their course, than when 
 they first set out. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 April 18, 1767. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 Are you sick, or lame of your right hand, ox 
 are you busy in preparing a folio for the press, 
 that I hear nothing from you ? You see, by 
 the excuses I would contrive, I am not will- 
 ing to suppose you have forgotten me, but 
 that your silence is rather owing to a cannot 
 than a will not. 
 
 I hope your soul prospers. I do not ask 
 you, if you are always filled with sensible 
 comfort : but do you find your spirit more 
 bowed down to the feet and will of Jesus, so 
 as to be willing to serve him for the sake of 
 serving him, and to follow him, as we say, 
 through thick and thin ; to be willing to be 
 any thing or nothing, so that he may be glo- 
 rified ? I could give you plenty of good ad- 
 vice upon this head ; but I am ashamed to do 
 it, because I so poorly follow it myself. I 
 want to live with him by the day, to do all 
 for him, to receive all from him, to possess 
 all in him, to live all to him, to make him my 
 hiding-place and my resting-place. I want 
 to deliver up that rebel self to him in chains; 
 but the rogue, like Proteus, puts on so many 
 forms, that he slips through my fingers : but 
 I think I know what I would do, if I could 
 fairly catch him. 
 
 My soul is like a besieged city ; a legion 
 of enemies without the gates, and a nest of 
 restless traitors within, that hold a correspon- 
 dence with them without; so that I am de- 
 ceived and counteracted continually. It is a 
 mercy that I have not been surprised and 
 overwhelmed long ago ; without help from on 
 high, it would soon be over with me. How 
 often have I been forced to cry out, O God, 
 the heathen are got into thine inheritance ; 
 thy holy temple have they defiled, and de» 
 faced all thy work ! Indeed, it is a miracle 
 that 1 still hold out. I trust, however, I 
 shall be supported to the end, and that my 
 Lord wall at length raise the siege, and cause 
 me to shout deliverance and victory. 
 
 Pray for me, that my walls may be strength- 
 ened, and wounds healed. We are all pretty 
 well as to the outward man, and join in love 
 to all friends. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER VII. 
 
 July 6, 1776. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 I was abroad when your letter came, but em 
 ploy the first post to thank you for your con- 
 fidence. My prayers (when I can pray) you 
 may be sure of. As to advice, I see not that the 
 
LET. VII 
 
 LETTERS TO THE REV. MR. R- 
 
 264 . 
 
 case requires much. Only be a quiet child, 
 and lie patiently at the Lord’s feet. He is 
 the best friend and manager in these matters, 
 for he has a key to open every heart 
 
 I should not have taken 
 
 Mr. Z ’s letter for a denial, as it seems 
 
 you did. Considering the years of the parties, 
 and other circumstances, a prudent parent 
 could hardly say more, if he were inclined to 
 favour your views. To me you seem to be 
 in a tolerable fair way ; but I know, in af- 
 fairs of this kind, Mr. Self does not like sus- 
 pense, but would willingly come to the point 
 at once: but Mr. Faith, when he gets liberty 
 to hold up his head, will own, that in order 
 to make our temporal mercies wear well, and 
 to give us a clearer sense of the hand that 
 bestows them, a waiting and a praying time 
 are very seasonable. Worldly people expect 
 their schemes to run upon all-fours, as we 
 say, and the objects of their wishes to drop 
 into their mouths without difficulty ; and if 
 they succeed, they of course burn incense to 
 their own drag, and say, This was my doing; 
 but believers meet with rubs and disappoint- 
 ments, which convince them, that if they ob- 
 tain any thing, it is the Lord must do it for 
 them. For this reason, I observe, that he 
 usually brings a death upon our prospects, 
 even when it is his purpose to give us success 
 in the issue. Thus we become more assured 
 that we did not act in our own spirits, and 
 have a more satisfactory view, that his provi- 
 dence has been concerned in filling up the ri- 
 vers and removing the mountains that were 
 in our way. Then, when he has given us our 
 desire, how pleasant is it to look at it, and 
 say, This I got not by my own sword, and 
 my own bow, but I wrestled for it in prayer, 
 I waited for it in faith, I put it into the Lord’s 
 hand, and from his hand I received it ? 
 
 You have met with the story of one of our 
 kings (if I mistake not), who wanted to send 
 a nobleman abroad as his ambassador, and he 
 desired to be excused on account of some af- 
 fairs which required his presence at home : 
 the king answered, “ Do you take care of my 
 business, and I will take care of yours.” I 
 would have you think the Lord says thus to 
 you. You were sent into the world for a 
 nobler end than to be pinned to a girl’s ap- 
 ron-string ; and yet, if the Lord sees it not 
 good for you to be alone, he will provide you 
 a help-mate. I say, if he sees the marriage- 
 state best for you, he has the proper person 
 already in his eye, and though she were in 
 Peru or Nova Zembla, he knows how to bring 
 you together. In the mean time, go thou 
 and preach the gospel. Watch in all things ; 
 endure afflictions : do the work of an evan- 
 gelist ; make full proof of your ministry : 
 and when other thoughts rise in your mind 
 (for you have no door to shut them quite out), 
 run with them to the throne of grace, and 
 
 commit them to the Lord. Satan will per- 
 haps try to force them upon you unseasonably 
 and inordinately ; but if he sees they drive you 
 to prayer, he will probably desist, rather than 
 be the occasion of doing you so much good. 
 Believe likewise, that as the Lord has the ap- 
 pointment of the person, so he fixes the time. 
 His time is like the time of the tide ; all the 
 art and power of man can neither hasten nor 
 retard it a moment : it must be waited for ; 
 nothing can be done without it, and when it 
 comes, nothing can resist it. It is unbelief that 
 talks of delays ; faith knows that properly 
 there can be no such thing. The only reason 
 why the Lord seems to delay what he after- 
 wards grants, is, that the best hour is not yet 
 come. I know you have been enabled to 
 commit and resign your all to his disposal. 
 You did well. May he help you to stand to 
 the surrender. Sometimes he will put us to 
 the trial, whether we mean what we say. He 
 takes his course in a way we did not ex- 
 pect ; and then, alas ! how often does the 
 trial put us to shame ! Presently there is an 
 outcry raised in the soul against his manage- 
 ment ; this is wrong, that unnecessary, the 
 Other has spoiled the whole plan : in short, 
 all these things are against us. And then we 
 go into the pulpit, and gravely tell the people 
 how wise and how good he is ; and preach 
 submission to his will, not only as a duty, but 
 a privilege. Alas ! how deceitful is the heart ! 
 Yet, since it is, and will be so, it is necessary 
 we should know it by experience. We have 
 reason, however, to say, He is good and wise ; 
 for he bears with our perverseness, and in the 
 event shews us, that if he had listened to 
 our murmurings, and taken the methods we 
 would have prescribed to him, we should have 
 been ruined indeed, and that he has been all 
 the while doing us good in spite of ourselves. 
 
 If I judge right, you will find your way 
 providentially opened more and more; and 
 yet it is possible, that when you begin to think 
 yourself sure, something may happen to put 
 you in a panic again. But a believer, like a 
 sailor, is not to be surprised if the wind cnanges, 
 but to learn the art of suiting himself to all 
 winds for the time ; and though many a poor 
 sailor is shipwrecked, the poor believer shall 
 gain his port. O, it is good sailing with an 
 infallible pilot at the helm, who has the wind 
 and weather at his command ! 
 
 I have been much abroad, which of course 
 puts things at sixes and sevens at home. If I 
 did not love you well, I could not have spared 
 so much of the only day I have had to my- 
 self for this fortnight past. But I was will- 
 ing you should know that I think of you, and 
 feel for you, if I cannot help you. 
 
 I have read Mr. ’s book. Some 
 
 things I think strongly argued ; in some he 
 has laid himself open to a blow, and 1 doubt 
 not but he will have it. I expect answers, 
 replies, rejoinders, &c. &c. and say, with 
 
NET. VIII. 
 
 LETTERS TO THE REV. MR. R* 
 
 Leah, Gad, a troop cometh. How the wolf 
 will grin to see the sheep and the shepherds 
 biting and worrying one another ! And well 
 he may. He knows that contentions are a 
 surer way to weaken the spirit of love, and 
 stop the progress of the gospel, than his old 
 stale method of fire and sword. Well, I trust 
 we shall be of one heart and one mind when 
 we get to heaven at last. 
 
 Let who will fight, I trust neither water nor 
 fire shall set you and me at variance. We u- 
 nite in love to you. The Lord is gracious to 
 us, &c. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER VIII. 
 
 1776. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 I DO not often serve your letters so, but this 
 last I burnt, believing you would like to have 
 it out of danger of falling into improper hands. 
 When I saw how eagerly the flames devoured 
 the paper, how quickly and entirely every 
 trace of the writing was consumed, I wished 
 that the fire of the love of Jesus might as com- 
 pletely obliterate from your heart every uneasy 
 impression which your disappointment has 
 given you - - - ------ 
 
 Surely when he crosses our 
 wishes, it is always in mercy, and because we 
 short-sighted creatures often know not what 
 we ask nor what would be the consequences 
 if our desires were granted. 
 
 Your pride, it seems, has received a fall, 
 by meeting a repulse. I know self does not 
 like to be mortified in these affairs ; but if you 
 are made successful in wooing souls for 
 Christ, I hope that will console you for meet- 
 ing a rebuff when only wooing for yourself. 
 Besides, I would have you pluck up your 
 spirits. I have two good old proverbs at your 
 service : “ There is as good fish in the sea as 
 any that are brought out of it:” and, “ If one 
 won’t, another will, or wherefore serves the mar - 
 ket ?” Perhaps all your difficulties have arisen 
 from this, that you have not yet seen the right 
 person ; if so, you have reason to be thankful 
 that the Lord would not let you take the 
 wrong, though you unwittingly would have 
 done it if you could. Where the right one 
 lies hid I know not, but upon a supposition 
 that it will be good for you to marry, I may 
 venture to say, 
 
 Ubi ubi est, diu celari non potest. 
 
 The Lord in his providence will disclose her, 
 put her in your way, and give you to under- 
 stand, This is she. Then you will find your 
 business go forward with wheels and wings, 
 and have cause to say, His choice and time 
 were better than your own. 
 
 265 
 
 Did I not tell you formerly, that if you 
 would take care of his business, he will take 
 care of yours ? I am of the same mind still. 
 He will not suffer them who fear him and de- 
 pend upon him to want any thing that is truly 
 good for them. In the mean while, I advise 
 you to take a lodging as near as you can to 
 Gethsemane, and to walk daily to mount Gol- 
 gotha, and borrow (which may be had for 
 asking) that telescope which gives a prospect 
 into the unseen world. A view of what is 
 passing within the vail has a marvellous effect 
 to compose our spirits, with regard to the 
 little things that are daily passing here. Praise 
 the Lord, who has enabled you to fix your 
 supreme affection upon him, who is alone the 
 proper and suitable object of it, and from 
 whom you cannot meet a denial, or fear a 
 change. He loved you first, and he will love 
 you for ever ; and if he be pleased to arise 
 and smile upon you, you are in no more ne- 
 cessity of begging for happiness to the pret- 
 tiest creature upon earth, than of the light of 
 a candle on midsummer noon. 
 
 Upon the whole, I pray and hope the Lord 
 will sweeten your cross, and either in kind or 
 in kindness make you good amends. Wait, 
 pray, and believe, and all shall be well. A 
 cross we must have somewhere; and they 
 who are favoured with health, plenty, peace, 
 and a conscience sprinkled with the blood 
 of Jesus, must have more causes for thank- 
 fulness than grief. Look round you, and 
 take notice of the very severe afflictions which 
 many of the Lord’s own people are groaning 
 under, and your trials will appear compara- 
 tively light. Our love to all friends. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER IX. 
 
 June 3, 1777. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 It seems I must write something about the 
 small-pox, but I know not well what ; having 
 had it myself, I cannot judge how I should 
 feel if I were actually exposed to it. I am 
 not a professed advocate for inoculation ; but 
 if a person who fears the Lord should tell me, 
 “ I think I can do it in faith, looking upon 
 it as a salutary expedient, which he in his pro- 
 vidence has discovered, and which, therefore, 
 appears my duty to have recourse to, so that 
 my mind does not hesitate with respect to the 
 lawfulness, nor am I anxious about the event ; 
 being satisfied, that whether I live or die, I 
 am in that path in which I can cheerfully ex- 
 pect his blessing,” I do not know that I could 
 offer a word by way of dissuasion. 
 
 If another person should say, “ My times 
 are in the Lord’s hands ; I am now in health, 
 and am not willing to bring upon myself a 
 disorder, the consequences of which I cannot 
 
LET. IX 
 
 266 LETTERS TO THE 
 
 possibly foresee : If I am to have the small- 
 pox, I believe he is the best judge of the sea- 
 son and manner in which I shall be visited, 
 so as may be most for his glory and my own 
 good: and therefore I chuse to wait his ap- 
 pointment, and not to rush upon even the pos- 
 sibility of danger without a call. If the very 
 hairs of my head are numbered, I have no 
 reason to fear, that, supposing I receive the 
 small-pox in a natural way, I shall have a 
 single pimple more than he sees expedient ; 
 and why should I wish to have one less? 
 Nay, admitting, which, however, is not al- 
 ways the case, that inoculation might exempt 
 me from some pain and inconvenience, and 
 lessen the apparent danger, might it not like- 
 wise, upon that very account, prevent my re- 
 ceiving some of those sweet consolations, 
 which I humbly hope my gracious Lord 
 would afford me, if it were his pleasure to call 
 me to a sharp trial. Perhaps the chief de- 
 sign of this trying hour if it comes, may be 
 to shew me more of his wisdom, power, and 
 love, than I have ever yet experienced. If I 
 could devise a mean to avoid the trouble, I 
 know not how great a loser I may be in point 
 of grace and comfort. Nor am I afraid of my 
 face ; it is now as the Lord has made it, and 
 it will be so after the small-pox. If it pleases 
 him, I hope it will please me. In short, though 
 I do not censure others, yet, as to myself, 
 inoculation is w'hat I dare not venture upon. 
 If I did venture, and the issue should not 
 be favourable, I should blame myself for hav- 
 ing attempted to take the management out of 
 the Lord’s hand into my own, which I never 
 did yet fn other matters, without finding I am 
 no more able than I am worthy to choose for 
 myself. Besides, at the best, inoculation 
 would only secure me from one of the innu- 
 merable natural evils the flesh is heir to ; I 
 should still be as liable as I am at present to a 
 putrid fever, a bilious cholic, an inflammation 
 
 REV. MR. R 
 
 in the bowels or in the brain, and a thousand 
 formidable diseases which are hovering round 
 me, and only wait his permission to cut me 
 oft' in a few days or hours : and therefore I 
 am determined, by his grace, to resign myself 
 to his disposal. Let me fall into the hands 
 of the Lord (for his mercies are great), and 
 not into the hands of men.” 
 
 If a person should talk to me in this strain, 
 most certainly I could not say, Notwithstand- 
 ing all this, your safest way is to be inocula- 
 ted. 
 
 We preach and hear, and I hope we know 
 something of faith, as enabling us to intrust 
 the Lord with our souls : I wish we had all 
 more faith to intrust him with our bodies, our 
 health, our provision, and our temporal com- 
 forts likewise. The former should seem to 
 require the strongest faith of the two. How 
 strange is it, that when we think we can do 
 the greater, we should be so awkward and un- 
 skilful when we aim at the less ! Give my 
 love to your friend. I dare not advise : but 
 if she can quietly return at the usual time, 
 and neither run intentionally into the way of 
 the small-pox, nor run out of the way, but 
 leave it simply with the Lord, I shall not 
 blame her. And if you will mind your praying 
 and preaching, and believe that the Lord can 
 take care of her without any of your contri- 
 vances, I shall not blame you : nay, I shall 
 praise him for you both. My prescription is, 
 to read Dr. Watts’ cxxist Psalm every morn- 
 ing before breakfast, and pray it over till the 
 cure is effected. Probatum est. 
 
 Hast thou not given thy word. 
 
 To save my soul from death ? 
 
 And I can trust my Lord 
 To keep my mortal breath. 
 
 I’ll go and come, 
 
 Nor fear to die, 
 
 Till from on high 
 Thou call me home. 
 
 Adieu. Pray for your’s. 
 
LETTERS 
 
 TO MISS TH 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 MY DEAR MADAM, 
 
 Let what has been said on the subject of ac- 
 quaintance, &c. suffice. It was well meant 
 on my side and well taken on yours. You 
 may, perhaps, see that my hints were not 
 wholly unnecessary, and I ought to be satisfied 
 with your apology and am so. The circum- 
 stance of your being seen at the play-house 
 has nothing at all mysterious in it : as you 
 say you have not been there these six or seven 
 years, it was neither more nor less than a mis- 
 take. I heard you had been there within 
 these two years : I am glad to find I was mis- 
 infcarned. I think there is no harm in your 
 supposing, that of the many thousands who 
 frequent public diversions some may in other 
 respects be better than yourself; but I hope 
 your humble and charitable construction of 
 their mistake will not lead you to extenuate 
 the evil of those diversions in themselves. 
 For though I am persuaded, that a few, who 
 Know better what to do with themselves, are, 
 for want of consideration, drawn in to expose 
 themselves in such places ; yet I am well sa- 
 tisfied that, if there is any practice in this 
 land sinful, attendance on the playhouse is 
 properly and eminently so. The theatres are 
 fountains and means of vice ; I had almost 
 said, in the same manner and degree as the 
 ordinances of the gospel are the means of 
 grace : and I can hardly think there is a Chris- 
 tian upon earth who would dare to be seen 
 there, if the nature and effects of the theatre 
 were properly set before them. Dr. Wither- 
 spoon of Scotland has written an exellent piece 
 upon the stage, or rather against it, which I 
 wish every person who makes the least pre- 
 tence to fear God had an opportunity of per- 
 using. I cannot judge much more favourably 
 of Ranelagh, Vauxhall, and all the innume- 
 rable train of dissipations by which the god 
 of this world blinds the eyes of multitudes, 
 
 lest the light of the glorious gospel should 
 shine in upon them. What an awful aspect 
 upon the present times have such texts as 
 Isa. xxii. 12 — 14, iii. 12, Amos, vi. 3, 6, 
 James, iv. 4. I wish you, therefore, not to 
 plead for any of them, but use all your in- 
 fluence to make them shunned as pest-houses, 
 and dangerous nuisances to precious souls ; 
 especially, if you know any who, you hope, 
 in the main are seriously disposed, who yet 
 venture themselves in those purlieus of Satan, 
 endeavour earnestly and faithfully to unde- 
 ceive them. 
 
 The time is short, eternity at the door : and 
 was there no other evil in these vain amuse- 
 ments than the loss of precious time (but, 
 alas ! their name is legion), we have not lei- 
 sure in our circumstances to regard them. 
 But, blessed be God ! we need them not. 
 The gospel opens a source of purer, sweeter, 
 and more substantial pleasures: we are in- 
 vited to communion with God; we are called 
 to share in the theme of angels, the songs of 
 heaven, and the wonders of redeeming love 
 are laid open to our view. The Lord him- 
 self is waiting to be gracious, waiting with 
 promises and pardons in his hands. Well, 
 then, may we bid adieu to the perishing plea- 
 sures of sin ; well may we pity those who 
 can find pleasure in those places and parties 
 where he is shut out ; where his name is only 
 mentioned to be profaned; where his com- 
 mandments are not only broken but insulted ; 
 where sinners proclaim their shame as in So- 
 dom, and attempt not to hide it ; where at 
 best wickedness is wrapt up in a disguise of 
 delicacy, to make it more insinuating, and 
 nothing is offensive that is not grossly and un- 
 politely indecent. 
 
 I sympathize with all your complaints ; 
 but if the Lord is pleased to make them sub- 
 servient to the increase of your sanctification 
 
LET. Ill 
 
 268 LETTERS TO MISS TH 
 
 to wean you more and more from this world, 
 and to draw you nearer to himself, you will 
 one day see cause to be thankful for them, 
 and to number them amongst your choicest 
 mercies. A hundred years hence it will sig- 
 nify little to you whether you were sick or 
 well the day I wrote this letter. 
 
 We thank you for your kind condolence. 
 There is a pleasure in the pity of a friend ; but 
 the Lord alone can give true comfort. I hope 
 he will sanctify the breach, and do us good. 
 Mrs. ■ exchanges forgivenness with you 
 about your not meeting in London ; that is, 
 you forgive her not coming to you, and she 
 forgives you entertaining a suspicious thought 
 of her friendship (though but for a minute) 
 on account of what she was really unable to 
 do. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 Sept ember 1, 1767. 
 
 MY DEAR MADAM, 
 
 I shall not study for expressions to tell my 
 dear friend how much we were affected by the 
 news that came last post. We had, however, 
 the pleasure to hear that your family was safe. 
 I hope this will find you recovered from the 
 hurry of spirits you must have been thrown 
 into, and that both you and your papa are 
 composed under the appointment of him who 
 has a right to dispose of his own as he pleases ; 
 for we know, that whatever may be the se- 
 cond causes and occasions, nothing can hap- 
 pen to us but according to the will of our hea- 
 venly Father. Since what is past cannot be 
 recalled, my part is now to pray, that this, 
 and every other dispensation you meet with, 
 may be sanctified to your soul’s good, that 
 you may be more devoted to the God of your 
 life, and have a clearer sense of your interest 
 in that kingdom which cannot be shaken, that 
 treasure which neither thieves nor flames can 
 touch, that better and more enduring sub- 
 stance which is laid up for believers, where 
 Jesus their Head and Saviour is. With this 
 view you may take joyfully the spoiling of 
 your goods. 
 
 I think I can feel for my friends; but for 
 such as I hope have a right to that promise, 
 that all things shall work together for their 
 good, I soon check my solicitude, and ask 
 myself, Do I love them better, or could I 
 manage more wisely for them, than the Lord 
 does ? Can I wish them to be in safer or 
 more compassionate hands than in his? Will 
 he who delights in the prosperity of his ser- 
 vants, afflict them with sickness, losses, and 
 alarms, except he sees there is need of these 
 things ? Such thoughts calm the emotions 
 of my mind. I sincerely condole you ; but 
 the command is, to rejoice always in the Lord. 
 
 The visitation was accompanied with mercy. 
 Not such a case as that of the late Lady 
 Molesworth’s, which made every one’s ears 
 to tingle that heard it. Nor is yours such a 
 case as of some, who, in almost every great 
 fire lose their all, and perhaps have no know- 
 ledge of God to support them. 
 
 Though our first apprehensions were for 
 you, we almost forgot you for a moment, 
 when we thought of your next-door neigh- 
 bour, and the circumstance she was in, so un- 
 fit to bear either a fright or a removal. We 
 shall be in much suspense till we hear from 
 you. God grant that you may be able to 
 send us good news, that you are all well, 
 at least as well as can be expected after such 
 a distressing scene. If what has happened 
 should give you more leisure, or more incli- 
 nation, to spend a little time with us, I think 
 I need not say we shall rejoice to receive you 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 September 17, 1767 
 
 MY DEAR MADAM, 
 
 The vanity of all things below is confirmed 
 to us by daily experience. Amongst other 
 proofs, one is, the precariousness of our inti- 
 macies, and what little things, or rather what 
 nothings will sometimes produce a coolness, 
 or at least a strangeness between the dearest 
 friends. How is it that our correspondence 
 has been dropt, and that, after having written 
 two letters since the fire, which removed you 
 from your former residence, I should be still 
 disappointed in my hopes of an answer ? On 
 our parts I hope there has been no abatement 
 of regard ; nor can I charge you with any 
 thing but remissness. Therefore, waving the 
 past, and all apologies on either side, let me 
 beg you to write soon, to tell us how it is 
 with you, and how you have been supported 
 under the various changes you have met with 
 since we saw you last. I doubt not but you 
 have met with many exercises. I pray that they 
 may have been sanctified to lead you nearer 
 to the Lord, the foundation of all consola- 
 tion, who is the only refuge in time of trou- 
 bles, and whose gracious presence is abun- 
 dantly able to make up every deficiency and 
 every loss. Perhaps the reading of this may 
 recal to your mind our past conversations, 
 and the subjects of the many letters we have 
 exchanged. I know not in what manner to 
 write after so long an interval. I would hope 
 your silence to us has not been owing to any 
 change of sentiments, which might make such 
 letters as mine less welcome to you. Yet 
 when you had a friend, who I think you 
 believed very nearly interested himself in your 
 welfare, it seems strange that in a course of 
 two years you should have nothing to coin- 
 
LETTERS TO MISS TH 
 
 LET. III. 
 
 municate. I cannot suppose you have for- 
 gotten me ; I am sure I have not forgotten 
 you ; and therefore I long to hear from you 
 soon, that I may know how to write ; and 
 should this likewise pass unanswered, I must 
 sit down and mourn over my loss. 
 
 As to our affairs, I can tell you the Lord 
 lias been and is exceedingly gracious to us : 
 our lives are preserved, our healths continued, 
 an abundance of mercies and blessings on 
 every side ; but especially we have to praise 
 him that he is pleased to crown the means 
 and ordinances of his grace with tokens of his 
 presence. It is my happiness to be fixed 
 amongst an affectionate people, who make an 
 
 269 
 
 open profession of the truth as it is in Jesus, 
 and are enabled, in some measure, to shew 
 forth its power in their lives and conversation. 
 We walk in peace and harmony. I have 
 reason to say the Lord Jesus is a good master, 
 and that the doctrine of free salvation, by 
 faith in his name, is a doctrine according to 
 godliness ; for through mercy I find it daily 
 effectual to the breaking down the strongholds 
 of sin, and turning the hearts of sinners from 
 dead works to serve the living God. May 
 the Lord give my dear friend to live in the 
 power and consolation of his precious truth ! 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
LETTERS 
 
 TO 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 March 18, 1767. 
 
 fc CAN truly say, that I bear you upon my 
 heart and in my prayers. I have rejoiced to 
 see the beginning of a good and gracious work 
 in you ; and I have confidence in the Lord 
 Jesus, that he will carry it on and complete 
 it, and that you will be amongst the number 
 of those who shall sing redeeming love to eter- 
 nity. Therefore, fear none of the things ap- 
 pointed for you to suffer by the way ; but gird 
 up the loins of your mind, and hope to the 
 end. Be not impatient, but wait humbly up- 
 on the Lord. You have one hard lesson 
 to learn, that is, the evil of your own heart : 
 you know something of it, but it is needful 
 that you should know more ; for the more we 
 know of ourselves, the more we shall prize and 
 love Jesus and his salvation. I hope what 
 you find in yourself by daily experience will 
 humble you, but not discourage you ; hum- 
 ble you it should, and I believe it does. Are 
 not you amazed sometimes that you should 
 have so much as a hope, that, poor and needy 
 as you are, the Lord thinketh of you ? But 
 let not all you feel discourage you ; for if our 
 Physician is almighty, our disease cannot be 
 desperate ; and if he cast none out that come 
 to him, why should you fear? Our sins are 
 many, but his mercies are more : our sins are 
 great, but his righteousness is greater : we 
 are weak, but he is power. Most of our 
 complaints are owing to unbelief, and the re- 
 mainder of a legal spirit ; and these evils are 
 not removed in a day. Wait on the Lord, 
 and he will enable you to see more and more 
 of the power and grace of our High- Priest. 
 The more you know him, the better you will 
 trust him : the more you trust him, the better 
 you will love him ; the more you love him, 
 the better you will serve him. This is God’s 
 way : you are not called to buy, but to beg ; 
 not to be strong in yourself, but in the grace 
 
 that is in Christ Jesus. He is teaching you 
 these things, and I trust he will teach you to 
 the end. Remember the growth of a belie- 
 ver is not like a mushroom, but like an oak, 
 which increases slowly indeed, but surely. 
 Many suns, showers, and frosts, pass upon it 
 before it comes to perfection ; and in winter, 
 when it seems dead, it is gathering strength at 
 the root. Be humble, watchful, and diligent 
 in the means, and endeavour to look through 
 all, and fix your eye upon Jesus, and all shall 
 be well. I commend you to the care of the 
 good Shepherd, and remain, for his sake, 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 May 31, 1769. 
 
 I was sorry I did not write as you expected, 
 but I hope it will do now. Indeed, I have 
 not forgotten you ; you are often in my 
 thoughts, and seldom omitted in my prayers 
 I hope the Lord will make what you see and 
 hear while abroad profitable to you, to increase 
 your knowledge, to strengthen your faith, and 
 to make you from henceforth well satisfied 
 with your situation. If I am not mistaken, 
 you will be sensible, that though there are 
 some desirable things to be met with in Lon- 
 don preferable to any other place, yet upon 
 the whole, a quiet situation in the country, 
 under one stated ministry, and in connection 
 with one people, has the advantage. It is 
 pleasant now and then to have opportunity of 
 hearing a variety of preachers, but the best 
 and greatest of them are no more than instru- 
 ments; some can please the ear better than 
 others, but none can reach the heart any far- 
 ther than the Lord is pleased to open it. 
 This he shewed you upon your first going 
 
LETTERS TO 
 
 LET. III. 
 
 up, and I doubt not but your disappointment 
 did you more good than if you had heard 
 with all the pleasure you expected. 
 
 The Lord was pleased to visit me with a 
 slight illness in my late journey. I was far 
 from well on the Tuesday, but supposed it 
 owing to the fatigue of riding, and the heat of 
 the weather ; but the next day I was taken 
 with a shivering, to which a fever succeeded. 
 1 was then near sixty miles from home. The 
 Lord gave me much peace in my soul, and I 
 was enabled to hope he would bring me safe 
 home, in which I was not disappointed ; and 
 though I had the fever most part of the way, 
 my journey was not unpleasant. He likewise 
 strengthened me to preach twice on Sunday ; 
 and at night I found myself well, only very 
 weary, and I have continued well ever since. 
 I have reason to speak much of his goodness, 
 and to kiss the rod, for it was sweetened with 
 abundant mercies. I thought that, had it 
 been his pleasure I should have continued 
 sick at Oxford, or even have died there, I had 
 no objection. Though I had not that joy 
 and sensible comfort which some are favoured 
 with, yet I was quite free from pain, fear, and 
 care, and felt myself sweetly composed to his 
 will, whatever it might be. Thus he fulfils 
 his promise in making our strength equal to 
 our day ; and every new trial gives us a new 
 proof how happy it is to be enabled to put our 
 trust in him. 
 
 I hope, in the midst of all your engage- 
 ments, you find a little time to read his good 
 word, and to wait at his mercy-seat. It is 
 good for us to draw nigh to him. It is an 
 honour that he permits us to pray ; and we 
 shall surely find he is a prayer-hearing God. 
 Endeavour to be diligent in the means ; yet 
 watch and strive against a legal spirit, which 
 is always aiming to represent him as a hard 
 master, watching as it were to take advantage 
 of us. But it is far otherwise. His name is 
 Love ; he looks upon us with compassion ; 
 he knows our frame, and remembers that we 
 are but dust ; and when our infirmities pre- 
 vail, he does not bid us despond, but reminds 
 us that we have an advocate with the Father, 
 who is able to pity, to pardon, and to save to 
 the uttermost. Think of the names and re- 
 lations he bears. Hoes he not call himself a 
 Saviour, a shepherd, a friend, and a husband ? 
 Has he not made known unto us his love, 
 his blood, his righteousness, his promises, his 
 power, and his grace, and all for our encou- 
 ragement ? Away, then, with all doubting, 
 unbelieving thoughts ; they will not only dis- 
 tress your heart, but weaken your hands. 
 Take it for granted, upon the warrant of his 
 word, that you are his and he is yours ; that 
 he has loved you with an everlasting love, and 
 therefore in loving-kindness has drawn you 
 to himself ; that he will surely accomplish that 
 which he has begun, and that nothing which 
 can be named or thought of shall ever be able 
 
 271 
 
 to separate you from him. This persuasion 
 will give you strength for the battle ; this is 
 the shield which will quench the fiery darts of 
 Satan; this is the helmet jvhich the enemy 
 cannot pierce. Whereas, if we go forth doubt- 
 ing and fearing, and are afraid to trust any 
 farther than we can feel, we are weak as wa- 
 ter, and easily overcome. Be strong, there- 
 fore, not in yourself, but in the grace that is 
 in Christ Jesus. Pray for me, and believe 
 me to be, 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 March 14, 
 
 I THINK you would hardly expect me to write 
 if you knew how I am forced to live in Lon- 
 don. However, I would have you believe I 
 am as willing to write to you as you are to 
 receive my letters. As a proof, I try to send 
 you a few lines now, though I am writing to 
 
 you and talking to Mrs. both at once ; 
 
 and this is the only season I can have to change 
 a few words with her. She is a woman of a 
 sorrowful spirit ; she talks and weeps. I be- 
 lieve she would think herself happy to be si- 
 tuated as you are, notwithstanding the many 
 advantages she has at London. I see daily, 
 and I hope you have likewise learned, that 
 places and outward circumstances cannot of 
 themselves either hinder or help us in walking 
 with God. So far as he is pleased to be with 
 us, and teach us by his Spirit, wherever we 
 are we shall get forward ; and if he does not 
 bless us and w r ater us every moment, the more 
 we have of our own wishes and wills, the 
 more uneasy we shall make ourselves. 
 
 One thing is needful ; an humble, dependent 
 spirit, to renounce our own wills, and give 
 up om-selves to his disposal without reserve. 
 This is the path of peace, and it is the path of 
 safety ; for he has said, The meek he will teach 
 his way, and those who yield up themselves 
 to him he will guide with his eye. I hope 
 you will fight and pray against every rising of 
 a murmuring spirit, and be thankful for the 
 great things which he has already done for 
 you. It is good to be humbled for sin, but 
 not to be discouraged; for though we are 
 poor creatures, Jesus is a complete Saviour ; 
 and we bring more honour to God, by believ- 
 ing in his name, and trusting his word of pro- 
 mise, than we could do by a thousand out- 
 ward works. 
 
 I pray the Lord to shine upon your soul, 
 and to fill you with alt joy and peace in be- 
 lieving. Remember to pray for us, that we 
 may be brought home to you in peace. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
272 
 
 LETTERS TO 
 
 LET. IV 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 London , August 19, 1775. 
 You see I am mindful of my promise, and 
 glad should I be to write something that the 
 Lord may be pleased to make a word in sea- 
 son. I went yesterday into the pulpit very 
 dry and heartless. I seemed to have fixed 
 upon a text, but when I came to the pinch, it 
 was so shut up that I could not preach from 
 it. I had hardly a minute to choose, and 
 therefore was forced to snatch at that which 
 came first upon my mind, which proved 2 
 Tim. i. 12. Thus I set off at a venture, 
 having no resource but in the Lord’s mercy 
 and faithfulness ; and, indeed, what other 
 can we wish for ? Presently my subject open- 
 ed, and I know not when I have been favour- 
 ed with more liberty. Why do I tell you 
 this ? Only as an instance of his goodness, to 
 encourage you to put your strength in him, 
 and not to be afraid, even when you feel your 
 own weakness and insufficiency most sensibly. 
 We are never more safe, never have more rea- 
 son to expect the Lord’s help, than when we 
 are most sensible that we can do nothing 
 without him. This was the lesson Paul 
 learned, to rejoice in his own poverty and 
 emptiness, that the power of Christ might rest 
 upon him. Could Paul have done any thing, 
 Jesus would not have had the honour of doing 
 all. This way of being saved entirely by 
 grace, from first to last, is contrary to our na- 
 tural wills ; it mortifies self, leaving it nothing 
 to boast of, and through the remains of an 
 unbelieving, legal spirit, it often seems dis- 
 couraging. When we think ourselves so ut- 
 terly helpless and worthless, we are too ready 
 to fear that the Lord will therefore reject us ; 
 whereas, in truth, such a poverty of spirit is 
 the best mark we can have of an interest in 
 his promises and care. 
 
 How often have I longed to be an instru- 
 ment of establishing you in the peace and 
 hope of the gospel ! and I have but one way 
 of attempting it, by telling you over and over 
 of the power and grace of Jesus. You want 
 nothing to make you happy, but to have the 
 eyes of your understanding more fixed upon 
 the Redeemer, and more enlightened by the 
 Holy Spirit to behold his glory. O ! he is a 
 suitable Saviour ! He has power, authority, 
 and compassion, to save to the uttermost. He 
 has given his word of promise to engage our 
 confidence, and he is able and faithful to 
 make good the expectations and desires he 
 has raised in us. Put your trust in him ; be- 
 lieve, as we say, through thick and thin, in 
 defiance of all objections from within and 
 without. For this Abraham is recommended 
 as a pattern to us. He overlooked all diffi- 
 culties, he ventured and hoped even against 
 hope, in a case which, to appearance, was des- 
 
 perate ; because he knew that he who had 
 promised was able to perform. 
 
 Your sister is much upon my mind ; her 
 illness grieves me ; were it in my power, 1 
 would quickly remove it. The Lord can, and 
 I hope he will, when it has answered the end 
 for which he sent it. I trust he has brought 
 her to us for good, and that she is chastised 
 by him, that she may not be condemned with 
 the world. I hope, though she says little, 
 she lifts up her heart to him for a blessing. I 
 wish you may be enabled to leave her and 
 yourself, and all your concerns, in his hands. 
 He has a sovereign right to do with us as he 
 pleases ; and if we consider what we are, 
 surely we shall confess we have no reason to 
 complain; and to those who seek him, his 
 sovereignty is exercised in a way of grace. 
 All shall work together for good ; every thing 
 is needful that he sends ; nothing can be 
 needful that he with-holds. Be content to 
 bear the cross ; others have borne it before 
 you. You have need of patience ; and if you 
 ask, the Lord will give it; but there can be 
 no settled peace till our will is in a measure 
 subdued. Hide yourself under the shadow 
 of his wings ; rely upon his care and power ; 
 look upon him as a physician who has graci- 
 ously undertaken to heal your soul of the 
 worst of sicknesses, sin. Yield to his pre- 
 scriptions, and fight against every thought that 
 would represent it as desirable to be permit- 
 ted to choose for yourself. When you cannot 
 see your way, be satisfied that he is your leader. 
 When your spirit is overwhelmed within you, 
 he knows your path ; he will not leave you to 
 sink. He has appointed seasons of refresh- 
 ment, and you shall find he does not forget 
 you. Above -all, keep close to the throne ot 
 grace. If we seem to get no good by at- 
 tempting to draw near him, we may be sure 
 we shall get none by keeping away from 
 him. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 I promised you another letter, and now for 
 the performance. If I had said, it may be, 
 or, perhaps I will, you would be in suspense ; 
 but if I promise, then you expect that I will 
 not disappoint you, unless something should 
 render it impossible for me to make my word 
 good. I thank you for your good opinion of 
 me, and for thinking I mean what I say ; and 
 I pray that you may be enabled moie and 
 more. to honour the Lord, by believing his 
 promise; for he is not a man that he should 
 fail or change, or be prevented by any thing 
 unforeseen from doing what he has said. And 
 yet we find it easier to trust to worms than to 
 the God of truth. Is it not so with you ? 
 And I can assure you it is often so with me. 
 
LET. VI. 
 
 LETTERS 
 
 But here is the mercy, that his ways are a- 
 bove ours, as the heavens are higher than the 
 earth. Though we are foolish and unbeliev- 
 ing, he remains faithful ; he will not deny 
 himself. I recommend to you especially that 
 promise of God, which is so comprehensive, 
 that it takes in all our concernments, I mean, 
 that all things shall work together for good. 
 How hard is it to believe, that not only those 
 things which are grievous to the flesh, but 
 even those things which draw forth our cor- 
 ruptions, and discover to us what is in our 
 hearts, and fill us with guilt and shame, should 
 in the issue work for our good ! Yet the Lord 
 has said it. All your pains and trials, all 
 that befals you in your own person, or that 
 affects you upon the account of others, shall 
 in the end prove to your advantage. And 
 your peace does not depend upon any change 
 of circumstances which may appear desirable, 
 but in having your will bowed to the Lord’s 
 will, and made willing to submit all to his 
 disposal and management. Pray for this, 
 and wait patiently for him, and he will do it. 
 Be not surprised to find yourself poor, help- 
 less, and vile ; all whom he favours and 
 teaches will find themselves so. The more 
 grace increases, the more we shall see to a- 
 base us in our own eyes ; and this will make 
 the Saviour and his salvation more precious 
 to us. He takes his own wise methods to 
 humble you, and to prove you, and I am sure 
 he will do you good in the end. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 September 16, 1775. 
 
 When you receive this, I hope it will give 
 you pleasure to think, that if the Lord be 
 pleased to favour us with health, we shall all 
 meet again in a few days. I have met with 
 much kindness at London, and many com- 
 forts and mercies ; however, I shall be glad 
 to return home. There my heart lives, let 
 my body be where it will. I long to see all 
 my dear people, and I shall be glad to see 
 you. I steal a little time to write another 
 line or two, more to satisfy you, than for any 
 thing particular I have to say. I thank you 
 for your letter. I doubt not but the Lord is 
 bringing you forward, and that you have a 
 good right to say to your soul, Why art thou 
 cast down and disquieted ? Hope thou in 
 God; for I shall yet praise him. An evil 
 heart, an evil temper, and the many crosses 
 we meet with in passing through an evil 
 world, will cut us out trouble . but the 
 Lord has provided a balm for every wound, 
 a cordial for every care ; the fruit of all is to 
 take away sin, and the end of all will be eter- 
 nal life in glory. Think of these words; put 
 them in the balance of the sanctuary ; and 
 
 TO . 273 
 
 then throw all your trials into the opposite 
 scale, and you will find there is no proportion 
 between them. Say then, “ Though he slay 
 me, I will trust in him ;” for when he has 
 fully tried me, I shall come forth like gold. 
 You would have liked to have been with me 
 last Wednesday. I preached at Westminster 
 bridewell. It is a prison and house of cor- 
 rection. The bulk of my congregation were 
 housebreakers, highwaymen, pickpockets, and 
 poor unhappy women, such as infest the streets 
 of this city, sunk in sin, and lost to shame. 
 I had a hundred or more of these before me. 
 I preached from 1 Tim. i. 15, and began with 
 telling them my own story : this gained their 
 attention more than I expected. I spoke to 
 them near an hour and a half. I shed many 
 tears myself, and saw some of them shed tears 
 likewise. Ah ! had you seen their present 
 condition, and could you hear the history of 
 some of them, it would make you sing, 
 
 O to grace how great a debtor 1 
 
 By nature they were no worse than the most 
 sober and modest people. And there was 
 doubtless a time when many of them little 
 thought what they should live to do and suf- 
 fer. I might have been, like them, in chains, 
 and one of them have come to preach to me, 
 had the Lord so pleased. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER VII. 
 
 Oct. 10, 1777 
 
 I AM just come from seeing A N 
 
 The people told me she is much better than 
 she was, but she is far from being well. She 
 was brought to me into a parlour, which saved 
 me the painful task of going to inquire and 
 seek for her among the patients. My spirits 
 always sink when I am within those mourn- 
 ful walls, and I think no money could prevail 
 on me to spend an hour there every day. Yet 
 surely no sight upon earth is more suited to 
 teach one thankfulness and resignation. Sure- 
 ly I have reason, in my worst times, to be 
 thankful that I am out of hell, out of bedlam, 
 out of Newgate. If my eyes were as bad as 
 yours, and my back worse, still I hope I 
 should set a great value upon this mercy, that 
 my senses are preserved. I hope you will 
 think so too. The Lord afflicts us at times ; 
 but it is always a thousand times less than we 
 deserve, and much less than many of our fel- 
 low-creatures are suffering around us. Let 
 us therefore pray for grace to be humble, 
 thankful, and patient. 
 
 This day twelvemonth I was under Mr. 
 
 W ’s knife; there is another cause for 
 
 thankfulness, that the Lord inclined me to 
 submit to the operation, and brought me hap- 
 pily through it. In short, I have so many rea- 
 2 B 
 
274 LETTERS TO 
 
 sons for thankfulness, that I cannot count 
 them. I may truly say, they are more in 
 number than the hairs of my head. And yet, 
 alas ! how cold, insensible, and ungrateful ! 
 
 I could make as many complaints as you ; 
 but I find no good by complaining, except 
 to him who is able to help me. It is better 
 for you and me to be admiring the compas- j 
 
 LET. VII. 
 
 sion and fulness of grace that is in our Sa- 
 viour, than to dwell and pore too much up- 
 on our own poverty and vileness. He is able 
 to help and save to the uttermost : there I 
 desire to cast anchor, and wish you to do so 
 likewise. Hope in God, for you shall yet 
 praise him. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
LETTERS 
 
 TO MR. C 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 January 16, 1775. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 The death of a near relative called me from 
 home in December, and a fortnight’s absence 
 threw me so far behind-hand in my course, 
 that I deferred acknowledging your letter 
 much longer than I intended. I now thank 
 you for it. I can sympathize with you in 
 your troubles; yet knowing the nature of our 
 calling, that, by an unalterable appointment, 
 the way to the kingdom lies through many 
 tribulations, I ought to rejoice rather than 
 otherwise, that to you it is given, not only to 
 believe, but also to suffer. If you escaped 
 these things, whereof all the Lord’s children 
 are partakers, might you not question your 
 adoption into his family? How could the 
 power of grace be manifest, either to you, in 
 you, or by you, without afflictions ? How 
 could the corruptions and devastations of the 
 heart be checked without a cross ? How could 
 you acquire a tenderness and skill in speak- 
 ing to them that are weary, without a taste 
 of such trials as they also meet with ? You 
 could only be a hearsay witness to the truth, 
 power, and sweetness of the precious pro- 
 mises, unless you have been in such a situa- 
 tion as to need them, and to find their suit- 
 ableness and sufficiency. The Lord has given 
 you a good desire to serve him in the gos- 
 \ pel, and he is now training you for that ser- 
 \ vice. Many things, yea, the most important 
 , things belonging to the gospel-ministry, are 
 not to be learned by books and study, but 
 by painful experience. You must expect a 
 i variety of exercises ; but two things he has 
 | promised you, that you shall not be tried 
 I above what he will enable you to bear, and 
 that all shall work together for your good. 
 We read somewhere of a conceited orator, 
 who declaimed upon the management of war 
 in the presence of Hannibal, and of the con- 
 
 tempt with which Hannibal treated his per 
 formance. He deserved it ; for how should 
 a man who had never seen a field of battle 
 be a competent judge of such a subject ? Just 
 so, were we to acquire no other knowledge of 
 the Christian warfare than what we could de- 
 rive from cool and undisturbed study, instead 
 of coming forth as able ministers of the New 
 Testament, and competently acquainted with 
 the r • nan/umrx, with the devices, the deep- 
 laid counsels and stratagems of Satan, we 
 should prove but mere declaimers. But the 
 Lord will take better care of those whom he 
 loves and designs to honour. He will try, 
 and permit them to be tried in various ways. 
 He will make them feel much in themselves, 
 that they may know how to feel much for 
 others ; according to that beautiful and ex- 
 pressive line, 
 
 Haud ignara mali, miseris succurrere disco. 
 
 And as this previous discipline is necessary 
 to enable us to take the field in a public ca- 
 pacity with courage, wisdom, and success, that 
 we may lead and animate others in the fight, 
 it is equally necessary, for our own sakes, 
 that we may obtain and preserve the grace ot 
 humility, which I perceive with pleasure he 
 has taught you to set a high value upon. In- 
 deed we cannot value it too highly ; for we 
 can be neither comfortable, safe, nor habitu- 
 ally useful, without it. The root of prido 
 lies deep in our fallen nature, and, where the 
 Lord has given natural and acquired abilities, 
 it would grow apace if he did not mercifully 
 watch over us, and suit his dispensations to 
 keep it down. Therefore I trust he will 
 make you willing to endure hardships, as a 
 good soldier of Jesus Christ. May he enable 
 you to behold him with faith holding out the 
 prize, and saying to you, Fear none of these 
 things that thou shalt suffer : be thou faithful 
 
LEI If. 
 
 276 LETTERS TO 
 
 unto death, and I will give thee a crown of 
 life. 
 
 We sail upon a turbulent and tumultuous 
 sea; but we are embarked on a good bottom, 
 and in a good cause, and we have an infal- 
 lible and almighty pilot, who has the winds 
 and weather at his command, and can silence 
 the storm into a calm with a word whenever 
 he pleases. We may be persecuted, but we 
 shall not be forsaken : we may be cast down, 
 but we cannot be destroyed. Many will 
 thrust sore at us that we may fall, but the 
 Lord will be our stay. 
 
 1 am sorry to find you are quite alone at 
 Cambridge, for I hoped there would be a 
 succession of serious students to supply the 
 place of those who are transplanted to shine 
 as lights in the world. Yet you are not alone ; 
 for the Lord is with you, the best counsellor 
 and the best friend. There is a strange back- 
 wardness in us, at least in me, fully to im- 
 prove that gracious intimacy to which he in- 
 vites us. Alas ! that we so easily wander 
 from the fountain of life to hew out cisterns 
 for ourselves, and that we seem more at- 
 tached to a few drops of his grace in our 
 fellow-creatures, than to the fulness of grace 
 that is in himself. I think nothing gives me 
 a more striking sense of my depravity than 
 my perverseness and folly in this respect ; 
 yet he bears with me, and does me good con- 
 tinually. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 March — , 1776. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 I KNOW not the length of your college-terms, 
 but hope this may come time enough to find 
 you still resident. I shall not apologise for 
 writing no sooner, because I leave other let- 
 ters of much longer date unanswered that I 
 may write so soon. It gave me particular j 
 pleasure to hear that the Lord helped you 
 through your difficulties, and succeeded your 
 desires. And I have sympathized with you 
 in the complaints you make of a dark and 
 mournful frame of spirits afterwards. But 
 is not this upon the whole right and salutary, 
 that if the Lord is pleased at one time to 
 strengthen us remarkably in answer to prayer, 
 he should leave us at another time, so far as 
 to give us a real sensibility that we were sup- 
 ported by his power and not our own ? Be- 
 sides, as you feel a danger of being elated by 
 the respect paid you, was it not a merciful 
 and seasonable dispensation that made you 
 feel your own weakness, to prevent your being 
 exalted above measure ? The Lord, by with- 
 drawing his smiles from you, reminded you 
 that the smiles of men are of little value, 
 otherwise perhaps you might have esteemed J 
 
 MR. C . 
 
 them too highly. Indeed you scholars that 
 know the Lord are singular instances of the 
 power of his grace ; for (like the young men 
 in Dan. iii.) you live in the very midst of 
 the fire. Mathematical studies, in particular, 
 have such a tendency to engross and fix the 
 mind to the contemplation of cold and unin- 
 teresting truth, and you are surrounded with 
 so much intoxicating applause if you succeed 
 in your researches, that for a soul to be kept 
 humble and alive in such a situation, is such 
 a proof of the Lord’s presence and power 
 as Moses had when he saw the bush uncon- 
 sumed in the midst of the flames. I believe 
 I had naturally a turn for the mathematics 
 myself, and dabbled in them a little way ; 
 and though I did not go far, my head, sleep- 
 ing and waking, was stuffed with diagrams 
 and calculations. Every thing I looked at, 
 that exhibited either a right line or a curve, 
 set my wits a wool-gathering. What, then, 
 must have been the case, had I proceeded to 
 the interior arcana of speculative geometry ? 
 I bought my namesake’s Principia, but I have 
 reason to be thankful that I left it as I found 
 it, a sealed book, and that the bent of my mind 
 was drawn to something of more real import- 
 ance before I understood it. I say not this 
 to discourage you in your pursuits ; they lie 
 in your line and path of duty, in mine they 
 did not. As to your academics, I am glad 
 that the Lord enables you to shew those among 
 whom you live, that the knowledge of his gos- 
 pel does not despoil you either of diligence 
 or acumen. However, as I said, you need a 
 double guard of grace, to preserve you from 
 being either puffed up or deadened by those 
 things, which, considered in any other view 
 than quoad hoc, to preserve your rank and 
 character in the university while you remain 
 there, are, if taken in the aggregate, little 
 better than a splendidum nihil. If my poor 
 people at could form the least concep- 
 
 tion of what the learned at Cambridge chiefly 
 admire in each other, and what is the intrinsic 
 j reward of all their toil, they would say (sup - 
 posing they could speak Latin), Quam suave 
 istis suavitatibus carere ! How gladly would 
 some of them, if such mathematical and me- 
 taphysical lumber could by any means get 
 into their heads, how gladly would they drink 
 at Lethe’s stream to get it out again ! How 
 many perplexities are they freed from by their 
 happy ignorance, which often pester those to 
 their lives end who have had their natural prone- 
 ness to vain reasoning sharpened by acade- 
 mical studies. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
LET. III. 
 
 LETTERS TO MR. C— 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 May 18, 1776. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 Though I wished to hear from you sooner, I 
 put a candid interpretation upon your silence, 
 was something apprehensive for your health, 
 but felt no disposition to anger. Let your 
 correspondence be free from fetters. Write 
 when you please, and w’hen you can : I will 
 do the like. Apologies may be spared on both 
 sides. I am not a very punctual correspon • 
 dent myself, having so many letters to write, 
 and therefore, have no right to stand upon 
 punctilios with you. 
 
 I sympathize with you in your sorrow for 
 your friend’s death. Such cases are very dis- 
 tressing ! But such a case might have been 
 our own. Let us pray for grace to be thank- 
 ful for ourselves, and submit every thing in 
 humble silence to the sovereign Lord, who has 
 a right to do as he pleases with his own. We 
 feel what happens in our own little connec- 
 tions ; but, O the dreadful mischief of sin ! 
 Instances of this kind are as frequent as the 
 hours, the minutes, perhaps the moments of 
 every day : and though we know but one in 
 a million, the souls of others have an equal 
 capacity for endless happiness or misery. In 
 this situation the Lord has honoured us with 
 a call to warn our fellow-sinners of their dan- 
 ger, and to set before them his free and sure 
 salvation ; and if he is pleased to make us 
 instrumental of snatching but one as a brand 
 out of the fire, it is a service of more impor- 
 tance than to be the means of preserving a 
 whole nation from temporal ruin. I congra- 
 tulate you upon your admission into the mi- 
 nistry, and pray him to favour you with a 
 single eye to his glory, and a fresh anointing 
 of his Holy Spirit, that you may come forth 
 as a scribe well instructed in the mysteries of 
 his kingdom, and that his word in your mouth 
 may abundantly prosper. 
 
 I truly pity those who rise early and take 
 late rest, and eat the bread of carefulness, 
 with no higher prize and prospect in view 
 than the obtaining of academical honours. 
 Such pursuits will, ere long, appear (as they 
 really are) vain as the sports of children. May 
 the Lord impress them with a noble ambition 
 of living to and for him. If these adventur- 
 ers, who are labouring for pebbles under the 
 semblance of goodly pearls, had a discovery 
 of the pearl of great price, how quickly and 
 gladly would they lay down their admired 
 attainments, and become fools that they 
 might be truly wise ! What a snare have you 
 escaped ! You would have been poorly con- 
 tent with the name of a mathematician or a 
 poet, and looked no farther, had not he visited 
 your heart, and enlightened you by his grace. 
 Now I trust you account your former gain 
 
 277 
 
 but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge 
 of Jesus Christ the Lord. What you have 
 attained in a way of literature will be useful 
 to you if sanctified, and chiefly so by the 
 knowledge you have of its insufficiency to any 
 valuable purpose, in the great concerns of 
 walking with God, and winning souls. 
 
 I am pleased with your fears lest you should 
 not be understood in your preaching. Indeed, 
 there is a danger of it. It is not easy for 
 persons of quick parts duly to conceive how 
 amazingly ignorant and slow of apprehension 
 the bulk of our congregations generally are. 
 When our own ideas are clear, and our expres- 
 sions proper, we are ready to think we have suf- 
 ficiently explained ourselves ; and yet, perhaps, 
 nine out of ten (especially of those who are 
 destitute of spiritual light) know little more 
 of what we say than if we were speaking 
 Greek. A degree of this inconvenience is 
 always inseparable from written discourses. 
 They cast our thoughts into a style which, 
 though familiar to ourselves, is too remote 
 from common conversation to be comprehend- 
 ed by narrow capacities ; which is one chief 
 reason of the preference I give ( cceteris pari- 
 bus ) to extempore preaching. When we read 
 to the people, they think themselves less con- 
 cerned in what is offered, than w hen we speak 
 to them point-blank. It seems a good rule, 
 which I have met with somewhere, and-. which, 
 perhaps, 1 have mentioned to you, to fix our 
 eyes upon some one of the auditory whom we 
 judge of the least capacity; if we can make 
 him understand, we may hope to be under- 
 stood by the rest. Let those who seek to be 
 admired for the exactness of their composi- 
 tions, enjoy the poor reward they aim at. It 
 is best for gospel-preachers to speak plain 
 language. If we thus singly aim at the glory 
 of our Master and the good of souls, we may 
 hope for the accompanying power of his 
 Spirit, which will give our discourses a weight 
 and energy that Demosthenes had no concep- 
 tion of. 
 
 I can give you no information of a curacy 
 in a better situation. But either the Lord 
 will provide you one, or I trust he will give 
 you usefulness, and a competency of health 
 and spirits where you are. He who caused 
 Daniel to thrive upon pulse, can make you 
 strong and cheerful even in the Fens, if he 
 sees that best for you. All things obey him, 
 and you need not fear but lie will enable you 
 for whatever service he has appointed you to 
 perform. 
 
 This letter has been a week in hand, owing 
 to a variety of interruptions from without, and 
 indispositions within. I seem to while away 
 my life, and shall be glad to be saved upon 
 the footing of the thief upon the cross, with- 
 out any hope or plea but the power and grace 
 of Jesus, who has said, I will in no wise cast 
 out. Adieu. 
 
 Pray for your’s, &c. 
 
*273 
 
 LET. IV. 
 
 LETTERS TO 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 Sqdember 10, 1777. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 I was glad to hear from you at last, not being 
 willing to think myself forgotten. I suppos- 
 ed you were ill. It seems, by your account, 
 that you are far from being well ; but I hope 
 you are as well as you ought to be, that is, as 
 well as the Lord sees it good for you to be. I 
 say, I hope 60 ; for I am not sure that the 
 length and Yehemence of your sermons, which 
 you tell me astonish many people, may not be 
 rather improper and imprudent, considering 
 the weakness of your constitution ; at least, 
 if this expression of your’s be justly expound- 
 ed by a report which has reached me, that the 
 length of your sermons is frequently two 
 hours, and the vehemence of your voice so 
 great, that you may be heard far beyond the 
 church-walls. Unwilling should I be to damp 
 your zeal ; but I feel unwilling likewise, that 
 by excessive, unnecessary exertions, you 
 should wear away at once, and preclude your 
 own usefulness. This concern is so much 
 upon my mind, that I begin with it, though it 
 makes me skip over the former part of your 
 letter; but when I have relieved myself upon 
 this point, I can easily skip back again. I 
 am perhaps the more ready to credit the re- 
 port, because I know the spirits of you ner- 
 vous people are highly volatile. I consider 
 you as mounted upon a fiery steed ; and pro- 
 vided you use due management and circum- 
 spection, you travel more pleasantly than we 
 plodding folks upon our sober, phlegmatic 
 nags ; but then, if, instead of pulling the rein 
 you plunge in the spurs, and add wings to the 
 wind, I cannot but be in pain for the conse- 
 quences. Permit me to remind you of the 
 Terentian adage, Ne quid nimis. The end of 
 speaking is to be heard, and if the person 
 farthest from the preacher can hear, he speaks 
 loud enough. Upon some occasions, a few 
 sentences of a discourse may be enforced with 
 a tone of voice still more elevated ; but to be 
 uncommonly loud from beginning to end, is 
 hurtful to the speaker, and, I apprehend, no 
 way useful to the hearer. It is a fault which 
 many inadvertently give into at first, and 
 which many have repented of too late ; when 
 practice has rendered it habitual it is not easi- 
 ly corrected. I know some think, that preach- 
 ing very loudly, and preaching with power, 
 are synonymous expressions, but your judg- 
 ment is too good to fall in with that prejudice. 
 If I were a good Grecian, I would send you a 
 quotation from Homer, where he describes 
 the eloquence of Nestor, and compares it, if I 
 remember right, not to a thunder-storm or a 
 hurricane, but to a fall of snow, which, though 
 pressing, insinuating, and penetrating, is soft 
 
 MR. C 
 
 and gentle. You know the passage ; I think 
 the simile is beautiful and expressive. 
 
 Secondly (as we say), as to long preaching, 
 there is still in being an old-fashioned instru- 
 ment, called an hour-glass, which, in days of 
 yore, before clocks and watches abounded, 
 used to be the measure of many a good sermon, 
 and I think it a tolerable stint. I cannot wind 
 up my ends to my own satisfaction in a much 
 shorter time, nor am I pleased with myself if 
 I greatly exceed it. If an angel was to preach 
 for two hours, unless his hearers were angels 
 likewise, I believe the greater part of them 
 would wish he had done. It is a shame it 
 should be so j but so it is, partly through 
 the weakness, and partly through the wicked- 
 ness of the flesh, we can seldom stretch our 
 attention to spiritual things for two hours 
 together without cracking it, and hurting 
 its spring ; and when weariness begins, edi- 
 fication ends. Perhaps it is better to feed 
 our people like chickens, a little and often, 
 than to cram them like turkeys, till they can- 
 not hold one gobbet more. Besides, over- 
 long sermons break in upon family con- 
 cerns, and often call off the thoughts from the 
 sermon to the pudding at home, which is in 
 danger of being over-boiled. They leave like- 
 wise but little time for secret or family reli- 
 gion, which are both very good in their place, 
 and are entitled to a share in the Lord’s day. 
 Upon the preacher they must have a bad effect 
 and tend to wear him down before his time : 
 and I have known some, by over-acting at first, 
 have been constrained to sit still and do little 
 or nothing for months or years afterwards. I 
 rather recommend to you the advice of your 
 brother Cantab, Hobson the carrier, so to set out 
 as that you may hold out to your journey’s end. 
 
 Now, if Fame, with her hundred mouths, 
 has brought me a false report of you, and you 
 are not guilty of preaching either too long or 
 too loud, still I am not willing my remons- 
 trance may stand for nothing. I desire you 
 will accept it, and thank me for it, as a proof 
 of my love to you, and likewise of the sincerity 
 of my friendship ; for if I had wished to flat- 
 ter you, I could easily have called another 
 subject. 
 
 I have one more report to trouble you with, 
 because it troubles me; and therefore you 
 must bear a part of my burden. Assure me it 
 is false, and I will send you one of the hand- 
 somest letters I can devise by way of thanks. 
 It is reported, then (but I will not believe it 
 till you say I must), that you stand upon your 
 tiptoes, upon the point of being whirled out 
 of our vortex, and hurried away, comet-like, 
 into the regions of eccentricity ; in plain Eng- 
 lish, that you have a hankering to bean itine- 
 rant. If this be true, I will not be the first 
 to tell it in St John’s College, or to publish it 
 on the banks of Cam, lest the mathematicians 
 rejoice, and the poets triumph. But, to be 
 
LET. V. 
 
 serious, for it is a serious subject, let me beg 
 you to deliberate well, and to pray earnestly 
 before you take this step. Be afraid of acting 
 in your own spirit, or under a wrong impres- 
 sion ; however honestly you mean, you may 
 be mistaken. The Lord has given you a 
 little charge; be faithful in it, and in his 
 good time he will advance you to a greater : 
 but let his providence evidently open the door 
 for you, and be afraid of moving one step be- 
 fore the cloud and pillar. I have had my 
 warm fits and desires of this sort in my time ; 
 but I have reason to be thankful that I was 
 held in with a strong hand. I wish there 
 were more itinerant preachers. If a man has 
 grace and zeal, and but little fund, let him go 
 and diffuse the substance of a dozen sermons 
 over as many counties ; but you have natural 
 and acquired abilities, which qualify you 
 for the more difficult, and, in my judgment, 
 not less important station of a parochial mi- 
 nister. I wish you to be a burning, shining, 
 steady light. You may perhaps have less 
 popularity, that is, you will be less exposed to 
 workings of self and the snares of Satan, if 
 you stay with us ; but I think you may live in 
 the full exercise of your gifts and graces, 
 be more consistent with your voluntary en- 
 gagements, and have more peace of mind, and 
 humble intercourse with God, in watching 
 over a flock which he has committed to you, 
 than, by forsaking them, to wander up and 
 down the earth without a determined scope. 
 
 Thus far I have been more attentive to the 
 utile than the dulce. I should now return to 
 join you in celebrating the praises of poetry, 
 and the other subjects of your letter; but 
 time and paper fail together. Let me hear 
 from you soon, or I shall fear I have displeas- 
 ed you, which, fond as I am of poetry, would 
 give me more pain than I ever found pleasure 
 in reading Alexander’s Feast. Indeed I love 
 you ; I often measure over the walks we have 
 taken together ; and when I come to a favour- 
 ite stile, or such a favourite spot upon the hill- 
 top, I am reminded of something that passed, 
 and say, or at least think, Hie stetit C . 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 By your flying letter from London, as well as 
 by your more particular answer to my last, I 
 judge that what I formerly wrote will answer 
 no other end than to be a testimony of my 
 fidelity and friendship. I am ready to think 
 you were so far determined before you ap- 
 plied to the Bishop, as to be rather pleased 
 than disappointed by a refusal which seemed 
 to afford you liberty to preach at large. As 
 your testimonium was not countersigned, the 
 consequence was no other than might have 
 
 279 
 
 been expected ; yet I have been told (how 
 true I know not), that the Bishop would have 
 passed over the informality, if you had not, 
 unasked by him, avowed yourself a Methodist. 
 I think, if you had been unwilling to throw 
 hindrances in your own way, the most perfect 
 simplicity would have required no more of 
 you than to have given a plain and honest 
 answer to such questions as he might think 
 proper to propose. You might have assisted 
 
 Mr. for a season without being in full 
 
 orders ; and you may still, if you are not re- 
 solved at all events to push out. He wrote to 
 me about you, and you may easily judge What 
 answer I gave. I have heard from him a se- 
 cond time, and he laments that he cannot 
 have you. I likewise lament that you cannot 
 be with him. I think you would have loved 
 him ; and I hoped his acquaintance might not 
 have proved unuseful to you. 
 
 If you have not actually passed the Rubi- 
 con ; if there be yet room for deliberation, I 
 once more intreat you to pause and consider. 
 In many respects I ought to be willing to learn 
 from you ; but in one point I have a little ad- 
 vantage of you : I am some years older, both 
 in life and in profession ; and in this differ- 
 ence of time perhaps I have learned something 
 more of the heart, the world, and the devices 
 of Satan, than you have had an opportunity 
 for. I hope I would not damp your zeal, 
 but I will pray the Lord to direct it into the 
 best channel for permanent usefulness. I say 
 permanent: I doubt not that you would be 
 useful in the itinerant way ; but I more and 
 more observe great inconveniences follow in 
 that way. Where you make a gathering of 
 people, others will follow you ; and if they 
 all possessed your spirit, and had your disin- 
 terested views it might be well. But gene- 
 rally an able preacher only so far awakens 
 people to a desire to hear, as exposes them to 
 the incursions of various winds of doctrine 
 and the attempts of injudicious pretenders, 
 who will resemble you in nothing but your 
 eagerness to post from place to place. From 
 such measures in time proceed errors, parties, 
 contentions, offences, enthusiasm, spiritual 
 pride, and a noisy ostentatious form of godli- 
 ness, but little of that power and life of faith 
 which shews itself by humility, meekness, and 
 love. 
 
 A parochial minister, who lives among his 
 people, who sees and converses with them fre- 
 quently, and exemplifies his doctrine in their 
 view by his practice, having knowledge of 
 their states, trials, growth, and dangers, suits 
 himself to their various occasions, and, by the 
 blessing of God, builds them up, and brings 
 them forward in faith and holiness. He ia 
 instrumental in forming their experience ; he 
 leads them to a solid, orderly, and scriptural 
 knowledge of divine things. If his name is 
 not in so many mouths as that of the itinerant, 
 it is upon the hearts of the people of his charge. 
 
 LETTERS TO MR. C- 
 
LETTERS TO MR. C . 
 
 280 
 
 He lives with them as a father with his child- 
 ren. His steady consistent behaviour silences 
 in some measure the clamours of his enemies; 
 and the Lord opens him doors of occasional 
 usefulness in many places, without provoking 
 our superiors to discountenance other young 
 men who are seeking orders. 
 
 I now wish I had taken larger paper, for I 
 have not room for all I would say. I have 
 no end to serve. I am of no party. I wish 
 well to irregulars and itinerants who love and 
 preach the gospel. I am content that they 
 should labour that way, who have not talents 
 
 LET. VII. 
 
 nor fund to support the character and fill up 
 the office of a parochial minister. But I think 
 you are qualified for more important service. 
 If you had patient faith to wait a while for the 
 Lord’s opening, I doubt not but you might yet 
 obtain Priest’s orders. We are hasty like child- 
 ren ; but God often appoints us a waiting 
 time. Perhaps it requires as much or more 
 grace to wait than to be active ; for it is more 
 trying to self. After all, whatever course 
 you take, I shall love you, pray for you, and 
 be glad to see you. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
LETTERS 
 
 TO Mrs. 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 July — , 1764. 
 
 MY DEAE MADAM, 
 
 The complaints you make are inseparable from 
 a spiritual acquaintance with our own hearts : 
 I would not wish you to be less affected with 
 a sense of indwelling sin. It becomes us to 
 be humbled unto the dust; yet our grief, 
 though it cannot be too great may be under a 
 wrong direction ; and if it leads us to impa- 
 tience or distrust, it certainly is so. 
 
 Sin is the sickness of the soul, in itself 
 mortal and incurable, as to any power in hea- 
 ven or earth but that of the Lord Jesus only. 
 But he is the great, the infallible Physician. 
 Have we the privilege to know his name ? 
 Have we been enabled to put ourselves into 
 his hand ? We have then no more to do but to 
 attend to his prescriptions, to be satisfied with 
 his methods, and to wait his time. It is law- 
 ful to wish we were well ; it is natural to 
 groan, being burdened ; but still he must and 
 will take his own course with us ; and, how- 
 ever dissatisfied with ourselves, we ought still 
 to be thankful that he has begun his work in 
 us, and to believe that he will also make an 
 end. Therefore, while we mourn, we should 
 likewise rejoice ; we should encourage our- 
 selves to expect all that he has promised ; and 
 we should limit our expectations by his pro- 
 mises. We are sure that when the Lord de- 
 livers us from the guilt and dominion of sin, 
 he could with equal ease free us entirely from 
 sin if he pleased. The doctrine of sinless per- 
 fection is not to be rejected, as though it were 
 a thing simply impossible in itself, for no- 
 thing is too hard for the Lord, but because it 
 is contrary to that method which he has chosen 
 to proceed by. He has appointed that sancti- 
 fication should be effected, and sin mortified, 
 not at once completely, but by little and 
 little ; and doubtless he has wise reasons for 
 it. Therefore, though we are to desire a 
 
 growth in grace, v/e should at the same time 
 acquiesce in his appointment, and not to be 
 discouraged or despond, because we feel that 
 conflict which his word informs us will only 
 terminate with our lives. 
 
 Again, some of the first prayers which the 
 Spirit of God teaches us to put up, are for a 
 clearer sense of the sinfulness of sin, and our 
 vileness on account of it. Now, if the Lord 
 is pleased to answer your prayers in this re- 
 spect, though it will afford you cause enough 
 for humiliation, yet it should be received 
 likewise with thankfulness, as a token for 
 good. Your heart is not worse than it was 
 formerly, only your spiritual knowledge is 
 increased ; and this is no small part of the 
 growth in grace which you are thirsting after, 
 to be truly humbled, and emptied, and made 
 little in your own eyes. 
 
 Farther, the examples of the saints record- 
 ed in scripture (and indeed of the saints in ge- 
 neral) prove, that the greater measure any 
 person has of the grace of God in truth, the 
 more conscientious and lively they have been ; 
 and the more they have been favoured with 
 assurances of the divine favour, so much the 
 more deep and sensible their perception of 
 indwelling sin and infirmity has always been : 
 so it was with Job, Isaiah, Daniel, and Paul. 
 It is likewise common to overcharge our- 
 selves. Indeed we cannot think ourselves 
 worse than we really are ; yet some things 
 which abate the comfort and alacrity of our 
 Christian profession are rather impediments 
 than properly sinful, and will not be imputed 
 to us by him who knows our frame, and re- 
 members that we are but dust. Thus, to 
 have an infirm memory, to be subject to dis- 
 ordered, irregular, or low spirits, are faults 
 of the constitution, in which the will has no 
 share, though they are all burdensome and 
 oppressive, and sometimes needlessly so, by 
 
282 LETTERS TO 
 
 our charging ourselves with guilt on their ac- 
 count. The same may be observed of the 
 unspeakable and fierce suggestions of Satan 
 with which some persons are pestered, but 
 which shall be laid to him from whom they 
 proceed, and not to them who are troubled 
 and terrified because they are forced to feel 
 them. 
 
 Lastly, it is by the experience of these 
 evils within ourselves, and by feeling our ut- 
 ter insufficiency, either to perform duty, or 
 to withstand our enemies, that the Lord takes 
 occasion to shew us the suitableness, the suf- 
 ficiency, the freeness, the unchangeableness 
 of his power and grace. This is the inference 
 St. Paul draws from his complaints, Rom. vii. 
 25., and he learned it upon a trying occasion 
 from the Lord’s own mouth, 2 Cor. xii. 8, 9. 
 
 Let us, then, dear Madam, be thankful and 
 cheerful, and, while we take shame to our- 
 selves, let us glorify God by giving Jesus the 
 honour due to his name. Though we are 
 poor, he is rich ; though we are weak, he is 
 strong ; though we have nothing, he pos- 
 sesses all things. He suffered for us ; he 
 calls us to be conformed to him in sufferings. 
 He conquered in his own person, and he will 
 make each of his members more than con- 
 querors in due season. It is good to have one 
 eye upon ourselves, but the other should ever 
 be fixed on him who stands in the relation of 
 Saviour, Husband, Head, and Shepherd. In 
 him we have righteousness, peace, and power. 
 He can controul all that we fear ; so that, if 
 our path should be through the fire or through 
 the water, neither the flood shall drown us 
 nor the flame kindle upon us, and ere long 
 he will cut short our conflicts, and say, Come 
 up hither. “ Then shall our grateful songs 
 abound, and every tear be wiped away.” 
 Having such promises and assurances, let us 
 lift up our banner in his name, and press on 
 through every discouragement. 
 
 With regard to company that have not a 
 savour of the best things, as it is not your 
 choice, I would advise you (when necessary) 
 to bear it as a cross. We cannot suffer by 
 being where we ought to be, except through 
 our own impatience; and I have an idea, 
 that when we are providentially called among 
 such (for something is due to friends and re- 
 lations, whether they walk with us or no), that 
 the hours need not be wholly lost. Nothing 
 can pass but may be improved : the most tri- 
 vial conversation may afford us new views of 
 the heart, new confirmations of scripture, and 
 renew a sense of our obligations to distin- 
 guishing grace, which has made us in any de- 
 gree to differ. I would wish, when you go 
 amongst your friends, that you do not con- 
 fine your views to getting safe away from 
 them without loss, but entertain a hope that 
 you may be sent to do some of them good. 
 You cannot tell what effect a word or a look 
 may have, if the Lord is pleased to bless it. 
 
 MRS. • LET. I 
 
 I think we may humbly hope, that while we 
 sincerely desire to please the Lord, and to be 
 guided by him in all things, he will not suf- 
 fer us to take a journey, or hardly to make a 
 short visit, which shall not answer some good 
 purpose to ourselves or others, or both. While 
 your gay friends affect an air of raillery, the 
 Lord may give you a secret witness in their 
 consciences ; and something they observe in 
 you, or hear from you, may set them on think- 
 ing, perhaps after you are gone, or after the 
 first occasion has entirely slipped your me- 
 mory, Eccles. xi. 1. For my own part, when 
 I consider the power, the freedom of divine 
 grace, and how sovereign the Lord is in the 
 choice of the instruments and means by which 
 he is pleased to work, I live in hopes from 
 day to day of hearing of wonders of this sort. 
 
 I despair of nobody ; and if I sometimes am 
 ready to think such or such a person seems 
 more unlikely than others to be brought in, 
 I relieve myself by a possibility that that very 
 person, and for that very reason, may be the 
 first instance. The Lord’s thoughts are not 
 like ours : in his love and in his ways there 
 are heights which we cannot reach, depths 
 which we cannot fathom, lengths and breadths 
 beyond the ken of our feeble sight. Let us, 
 then, simply depend upon him, and do our 
 little best, leaving the event in his hand. 
 
 I cannot tell if you know any thing of Mrs. 
 
 . In a letter I received yesterday, she 
 
 writes thus : — “ I am at present very ill with 
 some disorder in my throat, which seems to 
 threaten my life ; but death or life, things 
 present or things to come, all things are mine, 
 and I am Christ’s, and Christ is God’s. O 
 glorious privilege ! precious foundation of 
 soul-rest and peace, when all things about 
 us are most troublous ! Soon we shall be at 
 home with Christ, where sin, sorrow, and 
 death have no place ; and in the meantime 
 our Beloved will lead us through the wilder- 
 ness. How safe, how joyous are we, may we 
 be, in the most evil case!” If these should 
 be some of the last notes of this swan, 1 
 think them worth preserving. May we not 
 with good reason say, Who would not be a 
 Christian ? The Lord grant that you and I, 
 Madam, and yours and mine, may be happy 
 in the same assurance, when we shall have 
 death and eternity near in view 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 September — , 1764. 
 
 MY DEAR MADAM, 
 
 Your welfare I rejoice in; your warfare I 
 understand something of. St. Paul describes 
 his own case in few words, “ Without were 
 fightings, within were fears.” Does not this 
 comprehend all you would say ? And how 
 are you to know experimentally either youf 
 
LET. II. LETTERS TO 
 
 own weakness, or the power, wisdom, and 
 grace of God, seasonably and sufficiently af- 
 forded, but by frequent and various trials ? 
 How are the graces of patience, resignation, 
 meekness, and faith, to be discovered and in- 
 creased, but by exercise? The Lord has 
 chosen, called, and armed us for the fight ; 
 and shall we wish to be excused ? Shall we 
 not rather rejoice that we have the honour to 
 appear in such a cause, under such a captain, 
 such a banner, and in such company? A 
 complete suit of armour is provided, weapons 
 not to be resisted, and precious balm to heal 
 us if haply we receive a wound, and precious 
 ointment to revive us when we are in danger 
 of fainting. Further, we are assured of the 
 victory beforehand ; and O what a crown is 
 prepared for every conqueror, which Jesus, 
 the righteous Judge, the gracious Saviour, 
 shall place upon every faithful head with his 
 own hand ! Then let us not be weary and 
 faint, for in due season we shall reap. The 
 lime is short ; yet a little while, and the strug- 
 gle of indwelling sin, and the contradiction of 
 surrounding sinners, shall be known no more. 
 You are blessed, because you hunger and thirst 
 after righteousness : he whose name is Amen 
 has said you shall be filled. To claim the 
 promise is to make it our own ; yet it is be- 
 coming us to practise submission and patience, 
 not in temporals only, but also in spirituals. 
 We should be ashamed and grieved at our 
 slow progress, so far as it is properly charge- 
 able to our remissness and miscarriages ; yet 
 we must not expect to receive every thing at 
 once, but wait for a gradual increase ; nor 
 should we forget to be thankful for what we 
 may account a little in comparison of the 
 much we suppose others have received. A 
 little grace, a spark of true love to God, a 
 grain of living faith, though small as mus- 
 tard-seed, is worth a thousand worlds. One 
 draught of the water of life gives interest in 
 and earnest of the whole fountain. It be- 
 cometh the Lord’s people to be thankful ; and 
 to acknowledge his goodness in what we have 
 received, is the surest as well as the pleasant- 
 est method of obtaining more. Nor should 
 the grief arising from what we know and feel 
 of our own hearts, rob us of the honour, com- 
 fort, and joy which the word of God designs 
 us, in what is there recorded of the person, 
 offices, and grace of Jesus, and the relations 
 he is pleased to stand in to his people, Psal. 
 xxiii, 1, Isa. liv. 5, Cant. v. 16, John xv. 15, 
 1 John, ii. 1, John xv. 1, Jer. xxiii. 5, 1 Cor. 
 i. 30, Matth. i. 21 — 23. Give me leave to re- 
 commend to your consideration Psal. lxxxix. 
 15 — 18. These verses may be called the Be- 
 liever’s Triumph : though they are nothing in 
 themselves, yet having all in Jesus, they may 
 rejoice in his name all the day. The Lord 
 enable us so to do ! The joy of the Lord is 
 the strength of his people ; whereas unbe- 
 lief makes our hands hang down, and our 
 
 MRS. . 283 
 
 knees feeble, dispirits ourselves, and discou- 
 rages others ; and though it steals upon us 
 under a semblance of humility, it is indeed 
 the very essence of pride. By inward and 
 outward exercises the Lord is promoting the 
 best desire of your heart, and answering your 
 daily prayers. Would you have assurance ? 
 The true solid assurance is to be obtained 
 no other way. When young Christians are 
 greatly comforted with the Lord’s love and 
 presence, their doubts and fears are for that 
 season at an end. But this is not assurance : 
 so soon as the Lord hides his face, they are 
 troubled, and ready to question the very foun- 
 dation of hope. Assurance grows by repeated 
 conflicts, by our repeated experimental proof 
 of the Lord’s power and goodness to save : 
 when we have been brought very low and 
 helped, sorely wounded and healed, cast down 
 and raised again, have given up all hope, and 
 been suddenly snatched from danger, and 
 placed in safety, and when these things have 
 been repeated to us and in us a thousand times 
 over, we begin to learn to trust simply to the 
 word and power of God, beyond and against 
 appearances ; and this trust, when habitual > 
 and strong, bears the name of assurance, for 
 even assurance has degrees. 
 
 You have good reason, Madam, to suppose 
 that the love of the best Christians to an un- 
 seen Saviour is far short of what it ought to 
 be. If your heart be like mine, and you ex- 
 amine your love to Christ by the warmth and 
 frequency of your emotions towards him, you 
 will often be in a sad suspense whether or no 
 you love him at all. The best mark to judge, 
 and which he has given us for that purpose, 
 is to inquire if his word and will have a pre- 
 vailing, governing influence upon our lives 
 and temper. If we love him, we do endea- 
 vour to keep his commandments ; and it will 
 hold the other w r ay, if we have a desire to 
 please him we undoubtedly love him. Obe- 
 dience is the best test ; and when, amidst all 
 our imperfections, we can humbly appeal con- 
 cerning the sincerity of our views, this is a 
 mercy for which we ought to be greatly thank- 
 ful. He that has brought us to will, will 
 likewise enable us to do according to his good 
 pleasure. I doubt not but the Lord whom 
 you love, and on whom you depend, will lead 
 you in a sure way, and establish and strengthen, 
 and settle you in his love and grace. Indeed 
 he has done great things for you already. The 
 Lord is your Shepherd ; — a comprehensive 
 word. The sheep can do nothing for them- 
 selves ; the shepherd must guide, guard, feed, 
 heal, recover. Well for us that our Shepherd 
 is the Lord Almighty. If his power, care, 
 compassion, fulness, were not infinite, the poor 
 sheep would be forsaken, starved, and wor- 
 ried. But we have a Shepherd full of care, 
 full of kindness, full of power, who has said, 
 I will seek that which is lost, and bind up 
 that which was broken, and bring again that 
 
LET. III. 
 
 28\> LETTERS TO 
 
 which was driven away, and will strengthen 
 that which was sick. How tender are these 
 expressions, and how well fulfilled ! His 
 sheep feed in the midst of w’olves, yet are pre- 
 served safe ; for though they see him not, his 
 eyes and his heart are upon them. Do we 
 wonder that Daniel was preserved in the lions 
 den ? Why, it is a common case. Which of 
 God’s children have not cause to say, “ My 
 soul is among lions ?” But the Angel of the 
 covenant stops their mouths, or only permits 
 them to gape and roar, to shew their teeth, 
 and what they would do if they might ; but 
 they may not, they shall not bite and tear us 
 at their own will. Let us trust him, and all 
 shall be well. 
 
 As to daily occurrences, it is best to be- 
 lieve that a daily portion of comforts and 
 crosses, each one the most suitable to our 
 case, is adjusted and appointed by the hand 
 which was once nailed to the cross for us ; 
 that where the path of duty and prudence 
 leads, there is the best situation we could pos- 
 sibly be in at that juncture. We are not 
 required to afflict ourselves immoderately for 
 what is not in our power to prevent, nor 
 should any thing that affords occasions for 
 mortifying the spirit of self be accounted un- 
 necessary. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 1768. 
 
 I HAVE been for some time hoping to hear from 
 
 you, but Mr. was here last Saturday, 
 
 and informed me that you were ill, or had 
 been so very lately. This intelligence prompted 
 me to write as soon as I could find leisure. I 
 think the Lord has seen fit to visit you with 
 much indisposition of late ; I say he has seen 
 fit, for all our trials are under his immediate 
 direction, and we are never in heaviness with- 
 out a need be. I trust he does and will give 
 you strength equal to your day, and sweeten 
 what would be otherwise bitter with the es- 
 sence of his precious love. I hope soon to 
 hear that you are restored to health, and that 
 you have found cause to praise him for the 
 rod. 
 
 How happy is the state of a believer, to 
 have a sure promise that all shall work to- 
 gether for good in the end, and in the mean 
 time a sure refuge where to find present re- 
 lief, support, and protection ! How comfort- 
 able is it, when trouble is near, to know that 
 the Lord is near likewise, and to commit our- 
 selves and all our cares simply to him, be- 
 lieving that his eye is upon us, and his ear 
 open to our prayers. Under the conduct of 
 such a Shepherd we need not fear ; though we 
 are called to pass through fire and water, 
 through the valley of the shadow of death, 
 
 MRS. 
 
 he will be with us, and will shew’ himself 
 mighty on our behalf. It seems almost need- 
 less to say, that we were very happy in the 
 
 company of : the only inconvenience 
 
 w r as, that it renewed the pain it always gives 
 me to part with them. Though the visit was 
 full as long as I could possibly expect, it 
 seemed very short. This must be the case 
 while we are here : our pleasures are short, 
 interrupted, and mixed with troubles : this is 
 not, cannot be our rest. But it will not be 
 always the case ; we are travelling to a better 
 world, w'liere every evil and imperfection shall 
 cease ; then we shall be for ever w r ith the 
 Lord and with each other. May the pros- 
 pect of this blessed hope set before us revive 
 our fainting spirits, and make us willing to 
 endure hardships as good soldiers of Jesus 
 Christ. Here we must often sow in tears, 
 but there w’e shall reap in joy, and all tears 
 shall be wiped from our eyes for ever. 1 
 hope the conversation of friends whom I so 
 greatly love and honour afforded me not only 
 pleasure but profit ; it left a savour upon my 
 mind, and stirred up my languid "desires after 
 the Lord. I wish I could say the good effect 
 has remained with me to this hour ; but, alas ! 
 I am a poor creature, and have had many 
 causes of humiliation since. But, blessed be 
 God, amidst all my changes I find the foun- 
 dation stands sure, and I am seldom or never 
 left to doubt either of the Lord’s love to me 
 or the reality of the desires he has given me 
 towards himself; though, when I measure 
 my love by the degrees of its exercise, or the 
 fruits it produceth, I have reason to sit down 
 ashamed, as the chief of sinners and the least 
 of all saints. But in him I have righteous- 
 ness and peace, and in him I must and will 
 rejoice. 
 
 I would willingly fill up my sheet, but feel 
 a straitness in my spirit, and know not what 
 farther to say. O for a ray of divine light to 
 set me at liberty, that I might write a few 
 lines worth reading, something that might 
 warm my heart, and comfort yours. Then 
 the subject must be Jesus ; but of him what 
 can I say that you do not know ? Well, 
 though you know him, you are glad to hear 
 of him again and again. Come, then, mag- 
 nify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his 
 name together. Let us adore him for his 
 love, that love w'hich has a height, and depth, 
 and length, and breadth, beyond the grasp of 
 our poor conceptions ; a love that moved 
 him to empty himself, to take on him the 
 form of a servant, and to be obedient unto 
 death, even the death of the cross ; a love 
 that pitied us in our lost estate, that found 
 us when w r e sought him not, that spoke peace 
 to our souls in the day of our distress ; a 
 love that bears with all our present weak- 
 ness, mistakes, backslidings, and shortcom- 
 ings ; a love that is always watchful, always 
 ready to guide, to comfort, and to heal ; a 
 
LET. IV 
 
 LETTERS TO MRS. . 
 
 love that will not be wearied, cannot be con- 
 quered, and is incapable of changes ; a love 
 that will, in the end, prevail over all oppo- 
 sition, will perfect that which concerns us, 
 and will not leave us till it has brought us 
 perfect in holiness and happiness, to rejoice in 
 his presence in glory. The love of Christ ! 
 it is the wonder, the joy, the song, of angels, 
 and the sense of it shed abroad in our hearts, 
 makes life pleasant, and death welcome. — 
 Alas ! what a heart have I, that I love him 
 no better ! But I hope he has given me a 
 desire to make him my all in all, and to ac- 
 count every thing loss and dross that dares to 
 stand in competition with him. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER. IV. 
 
 1769. 
 
 I FOUND, this morning, among my unanswer- 
 ed letters, one from you, but I hope I left it 
 among them by mistake. I am willing, how- 
 ever, to be on the sure side, and would ra- 
 ther write twice- than be too long silent. I 
 heard of your being laid on the bed of afflic- 
 tion, and of the Lord’s goodness to you there, 
 and of his raising you up again. Blessed be 
 his name ! he is all-sufficient and faithful ; 
 and though he cause grief, he is sure to shew 
 compassion in supporting and delivering. 
 Ah ! the evil of our nature is deeply rooted 
 and very powerful, or such repeated, conti- 
 nual corrections and chastisements would not 
 be necessary, and were they not necessary 
 we should not have them. But such we 
 are, and therefore such must be our treat- 
 ment ; for though the Lord loves us with 
 a tenderness beyond what the mother feels 
 for her sucking child, yet it is a tenderness 
 directed by infinite wisdom, and very different 
 from that weak indulgence which in parents 
 we call fondness, which leads them to comply 
 with their children’s desires and inclinations, 
 rather than to act with a steady view to their 
 true welfare. The Lord loves his children, 
 and is very indulgent to them, so far as they 
 can safely bear it, but he will not spoil them. 
 Their sin-sickness requires medicines, some 
 of which are very unpalatable ; but when the 
 case calls for such, no short-sighted entrea- 
 ties of ours can excuse us from taking what 
 he prepares for our good. But every dose is 
 prepared by his own hand, and not one is ad- 
 ministered in vain, nor is it repeated any of- 
 tener than is needful to answer the proposed 
 end. Till then, no other hand can remove 
 what he lays upon us ; but when his merciful 
 design is answered, he will relieve us himself, 
 and in the mean time, he will so moderate 
 the operation, or increase our ability to bear, 
 that we shall not be overpowered. It is true, 
 without a single exception, that all his paths 
 
 285 
 
 are mercy and truth to them that fear him. 
 His love is the same when he wounds as when 
 he heals, when he takes away as when he 
 gives : we have reason to thank him for all, 
 but most for the severe. 
 
 I received a letter from you, which men- 
 tions dear Mrs. 's case, a very trying 
 
 one ; but in this likewise we see the Lord’s 
 faithfulness. Our own experience, and all 
 that we observe of his dealings with others, 
 may convince us that we need not be afraid 
 to entrust ourselves and our dearest concerns 
 in his hands ; for he can and will make every 
 thing work for good. 
 
 How little does the world know of that in- 
 tercourse w'hich is carried on between heaven 
 and earth ! what petitions are daily presented, 
 and what answers are received, at the throne 
 of grace ! O the blessed privilege of prayer ! 
 O the wonderful love, care, attention, and 
 power of our great Shepherd ! His eye is al- 
 ways upon us ; when our spirits are almost 
 overwhelmed within us, he knoweth our path. 
 His ear is always open to us ; let who will over- 
 look and disappoint us, he will not. When 
 means and hope fail, when every thing looks 
 dark upon us, when we seem shut up on every 
 side, when we are brought to the lowest ebb, 
 still our help is in the name of the Lord who 
 made heaven and earth. To him all things 
 are possible; and before the exertion of his 
 power, when he is pleased to arise and work, 
 all hindrances give way, and vanish like a 
 mist before the sun. And he can so manifest 
 himself to the soul, and cause his goodness to 
 pass before it, that the hour of affliction shall 
 be the golden hour of the greatest consolation. 
 He is the fountain of life, strength, grace, 
 and comfort, and of his fulness his children 
 receive according to their occasions : but this 
 is all hidden from the world ; they have no 
 guide in prosperity, but hurry on as they are 
 instigated by their blinded passions, and are 
 perpetually multiplying mischiefs and mise- 
 ries to themselves ; and in adversity they have 
 no resource, but must feel all the evil of af- 
 fliction, without inward support, and without 
 deriving any advantage from it. We have, 
 therefore, cause for continual praise. The 
 Lord has given us to know his name, as a 
 resting-place and a hiding-place, a sun and 
 a shield. Circumstances and creatures may 
 change ; but he will be an unchangeable 
 friend. The way is rough, but he trod it 
 before us, and is now with us in every 
 step we take ; and every step brings us nearer 
 to our heavenly home. Our inheritance is 
 surely reserved for us, and we shall be kept 
 for it by his power through faith. Our pre- 
 sent strength is small, and, without a fresh 
 supply, would be quickly exhausted ; but he 
 has engaged to renew it from day to day ; 
 and he will soon appear, to wipe all tears from 
 our eyes ; and then we shall appear with him 
 in glorv 
 
LETTERS TO MRS, 
 
 286 
 
 1 am very sorry if our friend Mr. ap- 
 
 pears to be aiming to reconcile things that are 
 incompatible. I am, indeed, afraid that he 
 has been for some time under a decline ; and, 
 as you justly observe, we meet with too many 
 instances to teach us, that they who express 
 the warmest zeal at their first setting out, do 
 not always prove the most steady and thriving 
 afterwards ; yet I am willing to hope in this case, 
 that he will revive and flourish again. Some- 
 times the Lord permits those whom he loves 
 to wander from him for a season ; and when 
 his time comes to heal their backslidings, they 
 walk more humbly, thankfully, and fruitfully 
 afterwards, from a sense of his abounding 
 mercy, and the knowledge they have by expe- 
 rience acquired of the deceitfulness and in- 
 gratitude of their hearts. I hope and pray it 
 will be so with him. However, these things 
 for the present are grievous ; and usually be- 
 fore the Lord heals such breaches, he makes his 
 people sensible, that it is an evil thing and a 
 bitter, to forsake him when he led them by 
 the way. 
 
 Indeed, London is a dangerous and ensnar- 
 ing place to professors. I account myself 
 happy that my lot is cast at a distance from 
 it. It appears to me like a sea, wherein most 
 are tossed by storms, and many suffer ship 
 wreck. In this retired situation, I seem to 
 stand upon a cliff* ; and while I pity those 
 whom I cannot help, I hug myself in the 
 thoughts of being safe upon the shore. Not 
 that we are without our trials here ; the evil 
 of our own hearts, and the devices of Satan, 
 cut us out work enough ; but we are happily 
 screened from many things which must be 
 either burdensome or hurtful to those who 
 live in the way of them ; such as, political 
 disputes, winds of doctrine, scandals of false 
 professors, parties for and against particular 
 ministers, and fashionable amusements, in 
 some measure countenanced by the presence 
 of persons in other respects exemplary. In 
 this view, I often think of our dear friend’s 
 expression, upon a certain occasion, of the 
 difference between London and country grace. 
 I hold it in a twofold sense. By London 
 grace, when genuine, I understand grace in a 
 very advanced degree. The favoured few 
 who are kept alive to God, simple-hearted, 
 and spiritually-minded (I mean especially in 
 genteel life), in the midst of such snares and 
 temptations, appear to me to be the first rate 
 Christians of the land : I adore the power of 
 the Lord in them, and compare them to the 
 young men who walked unhurt in the midst 
 of the fire. In another sense, the phrase 
 London grace conveys no great idea to me. I 
 think there is no place in the kingdom where 
 a person may set up for a professor upon a 
 smaller stock. If people can abstain from open 
 immoralities, if they will fly to all parts of the 
 town to hear sermons, if they can talk about 
 the doctrines of the gospel, if they have some- 
 
 LET. V 
 
 thing to say upon that useless question, Who 
 is the best preacher? if they can attain to a 
 speaking acquaintance with some of an acknow- 
 ledged character, then they expect to pass 
 muster. I am afraid there are many who, up- 
 on no better evidences than these, deceive both 
 themselves and others for a course of years. 
 Though I feel not in a writing cue to-day, I 
 have almost filled the sheet somehow ; and if 
 a line or a word may be a means of suggest- 
 ing a seasonable and comfortable thought 
 to you, I have my end. Through mercy we 
 are all pretty well. My soul is kept alive, as 
 it were, by miracle. I feel much inward 
 warfare : the enemy thrusts sore at me, that I 
 may fall ; and I have abundant experience of 
 the evil and deceitfulness of my heart ; but 
 the Lord is gracious, and, in the midst of all 
 conflicts, I have a peace springing from the 
 knowledge of his power and grace, and a con- 
 sideration that I have been helped to commit 
 myself to him. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 1769 
 
 We are much obliged to you for your late vi- 
 sit ; and I am glad to find that the Lord is 
 pleased to give you some tokens of his pre- 
 sence when you are with us, because I hope 
 it will encourage you to come again. I ought 
 to be very thankful that our Christian friends 
 in general are not wholly disappointed of a 
 blessing when they visit us. 
 
 I hope the Lord will give me an humble 
 sense of what I am, and that broken and con- 
 trite frame of heart in which he delights. This 
 is to me the chief thing. I had rather have 
 more of the mind that was in Christ, more of 
 a meek, quiet, resigned, peaceful, and loving 
 disposition, than to enjoy the greatest measure 
 of sensible comforts, if the consequence should 
 be (as perhaps it would) spiritual pride, self- 
 sufficiency, and a want of that tenderness to 
 others which becomes one who has reason to 
 style himself the chief of sinners. 1 know, 
 indeed, that the proper tendency of sensible 
 consolations is to humble ; but I can see, 
 that, through the depravity of human nature, 
 they have not always that effect. And I have 
 been sometimes disgusted with an apparent 
 want of humility, an air of self-will and self- 
 importance, in persons of whose sincerity I 
 could not at all doubt. It has kept me from 
 envying them those pleasant frames with which 
 they have sometimes been favoured ; for I be- 
 lieve Satan is never nearer us than at some 
 times when we think ourselves nearest the 
 Lord. 
 
 What reason have we to charge our souls 
 in David’s words, “ My soul, wait thou only 
 upon God.” A great stress should be laid 
 
l.ET. V. 
 
 upon that word only. We dare not entirely 
 shut him out of our regards but we are too apt 
 to suffer something to share with him. This 
 evil disposition is deeply fixed in our hearts ; 
 and the Lord orders all his dispensations to- 
 wards us with a view to rooting it out ; that, 
 being wearied with repeated disappointments, 
 we may at length be compelled to betake our- 
 selves to him alone. Why else do we expe- 
 rience so many changes and crosses ? why are 
 we so often in heaviness ? We know that 
 he delights in the pleasure and prosperity of 
 his servants ; that he does not willingly afflict 
 or grieve his children ; but there is a necessity 
 on our parts, in order to teach us that we 
 have no stability in ourselves, and that no 
 creature can do us good but by his appoint- 
 ment. While the people of Israel depended 
 upon him for food, they gathered up the man- 
 na every morning in the field ; but when they 
 would hoard it up in their houses, that they 
 might have a stock within themselves, they 
 had it without his blessing, and it proved good 
 for nothing ; it soon bred worms, and grew 
 offensive. We may often observe something 
 like this occur both in our temporal and spi- 
 ritual concerns. The Lord gives us a dear 
 friend to our comfort ; but ere long we for- 
 get that the friend is only the channel of con. 
 veyance, and that all the comfort is from him- 
 self. To remind us of this, the. stream is dried 
 up, the friend torn away by death, or removed 
 far from us, or perhaps the friendship ceases, 
 and a coolness insensibly takes place, we know 
 not how or why : the true reason is, that when 
 we rejoice amiss in our gourd, the Lord, 
 for our good, sends a worm to the root of it. 
 Instances of this kind are innumerable ; and 
 the great inference from them all is. Cease from 
 man, cease from creatures, for wherein are 
 they to be accounted of ? My soul, wait thou 
 only, only upon the Lord, who is (according 
 to the expressive phrase, Heb. iv. 13 .) he 
 with whom we have to do for soul and body, 
 for time and eternity. What thanks do we 
 owe, that though we have not yet attained 
 perfectly this great lesson, yet we are admit- 
 ted into that school where alone it can be 
 learned ! and though we are poor, slow scho- 
 lars, the great and effectual Teacher to whom 
 we have been encouraged and enabled to ap- 
 ply, can and will bring us forward ! He com- 
 municates not only instructions, but capacities 
 and powers. There is none like him ; he can 
 make the blind to see, the deaf to hear, and the 
 dumb to speak : and how great is his conde- 
 scension and patience ! how does he accommo- 
 date himself to our weakness, and teach us as we 
 are able to bear. Though all are very dunces 
 when he first receives them, not one was ever 
 turned out as incapable, for he makes them 
 what he would have them to be. O that we 
 may set him always before us, and consider 
 every dispensation, person, thing, we meet in 
 the course of every day, as messengers from 
 
 287 
 
 him, each bringing us some line of instruction 
 for us to copy into that day’s experience. 
 Whatever passes within us or around us may 
 be improved (when he teaches us how) as a 
 perpetual commentary upon his good word. 
 If we converse and observe with this view, 
 we may learn something every moment, where- 
 ever the path of duty leads us, in the streets 
 as well as in the closet, and from the conver- 
 sation of those who know not God (when we 
 cannot avoid being present at it), as well as 
 from those who do. 
 
 Separation of dear friends is, as you ob- 
 served, hard to flesh and blood ; but grace 
 can make it tolerable. I have an abiding 
 persuasion, that the Lord can easily give more 
 than ever he will take away. Which part of 
 the alternative must be my lot, or when, he 
 only knows ; but in general I can rely on 
 him to appoint the time, the manner ; and I 
 trust his promise of strength suited to the day 
 shall be made good. Therefore I can for the 
 most part rejoice, that all things are in the hand 
 and under the direction of Him who knows 
 our frame, and has himself borne our griefs 
 and carried our sorrows in his own body. A 
 time of weeping must come, but the morning 
 of joy will make amends for all. Who can 
 expound the meaning of that one expression, 
 “ an exceeding and eternal weight of glory ?’* 
 The case of unconverted friends is still more 
 burdensome to think of ; but we have encour 
 agement and warrant to pray and to hope 
 He who called us can easily call others ; and 
 he seldom lays a desire of this sort very closely 
 and warmly upon the hearts of his people, but 
 when it is his gracious design sooner or later 
 to give an answer of peace. However, it be- 
 comes us to be thankful for ourselves, and to 
 bow our anxieties and reasonings before his 
 sovereign will, who doth as he pleases with 
 his own. 
 
 Methinks winter is your summer. You 
 have been, like the bee, collecting from 
 many flowers; I hope you will carry good 
 store of honey home with you. May you find 
 the Lord there, and he can easily supply the 
 failure of means and creatures. We cannot 
 be in any place to so much advantage as where 
 the call of duty leads. What we cannot a- 
 void, may we cheerfully submit to, and not 
 indulge a vain thought, that we could chuse a 
 better situation for ourselves (all things con- 
 sidered) than he has chosen for us. 
 
 When we have opportunity of enjoying 
 ma«y ordinances, it is a mercy to be able to 
 prize and improve them ; but when he cuts 
 us short for a season, if we wait upon him, 
 we shall do well without them. Secret pray- 
 er, and the good word, are the chief wells from 
 whence we draw the water of salvation. These 
 will keep the soul alive when creature-streams 
 are cut off ; but the richest variety of public 
 means, and the closest attendance upon them 
 will leave us lean and pining in the midst of 
 
 LETTERS TO MRS. 
 
283 
 
 LETTERS TO MRS. Jet. VI 
 
 plenty, if we are remiss and formal in the 
 other two. I think David never appears in 
 a more lively frame of mind than when he 
 wrote the 42d, 63d, and 84th Psalms, which 
 were all penned in a dry land, and at a dis- 
 tance from the public ordinances. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 1772. 
 
 I HAD been wishing to hear from you, that I 
 might know where to write. I hope I can 
 assure you of a friendly sympathy with you 
 in your trials. I can, in some measure, guess 
 at what you feel, from what I have seen and 
 felt myself in cases where I have been nearly 
 concerned. But my compassion, though sin- 
 cere, is ineffectual : if I can pity, I cannot 
 relieve. All I can do is, as the Lord enables 
 me, to remember you both before him. But 
 there is one whose compassion is infinite. 
 The love, and tenderness of ten thousand 
 earthly friends, of ten thousand mothers to- 
 wards their sucklings, if compared with his, 
 are less than a drop of water to the ocean ; 
 and his power is infinite too. Why then do 
 our sufferings continue, when he is so com- 
 passionate, and could remove them with a 
 word ? Surely, if we cannot give the parti- 
 cular reasons (which yet he will acquaint us 
 with hereafter, John xiii. 7.), the general 
 reason is at hand ; he afflicts not for his own 
 pleasure, but for our profit ; to make us par- 
 takers of his holiness, and because he loves 
 us. 
 
 Judge not the Lord by feeble sense. 
 
 But trust him for his grace ; 
 
 Pehind a frowning providence 
 He hides a smiling face. 
 
 I wish you much comfort from David’s 
 thought, Psal. cxlii. 3. “ When my spirit 
 was overwhelmed within me, thou knewest 
 my path.” The Lord is not withdrawn to a 
 great distance, but his eye is upon you, and 
 he sees you not with the indifference of a mere 
 spectato 1 , but he observes with attention ; he 
 knowp, he considers your path ; yea, he ap- 
 points it, and every circumstance about it is 
 under his direction. Your trouble began at 
 the hour he saw best; it could not come 
 before, and he has marked the degeee of it to 
 a hair’s-breadth and the duration to a minute. 
 He knows likewise how your spirit is affect- 
 ed ; and such supplies of grace and strength, 
 and in such seasons as he sees needful, he 
 will afford. So that when things appear dark- 
 est, you shall still be able to say. Though 
 chastened, not killed. Therefore hope in 
 God, for you shall yet praise him. 
 
 I shall pray that the Bath waters may be 
 beneficial ; and that the waters of the sanc- 
 tuary there may be healing and enlivening to 
 
 you all. Our all-sufficient God can give 
 seasons of refreshment in the darkest hours, 
 and break through the thickest clouds of out- 
 ward affliction or distress. To you it is given, 
 not only to believe in Jesus, but to suffer for 
 his sake : for so we do, not only when we are 
 called to follow him to imprisonment or death, 
 but when he enables us to bear afflictive dis- 
 pensations with due submission and patience. 
 Then he is glorified; then his grace and 
 power are manifested in us. The world, so far 
 as they know our case, have a proof before 
 them, that our religion is not merely notional, 
 but that there is a power and reality in it. 
 And the Lord’s people are encouraged by what 
 they see of his faithfulness to ourselves. And 
 there are more eyes upon us still. We are a 
 spectacle to the universe, to angels as well as 
 to men. Cheer up : the Lord hath put you 
 in your present trying situation, that you may 
 have the fairer opportunity of adorning your 
 profession of the gospel ; and though you 
 suffer much, ho is able to make you abundant 
 amends. Nor need I remind you, that he 
 has suffered unspeakably more for you ; he 
 drank for your sakes a cup of unmixed wrath, 
 and only puts into your hand a cup of afflic- 
 tion mixed with many mercies. 
 
 The account you gave of the poor man de- 
 tained in the inn was very affecting. Such 
 scenes are, or should be instructive, to teach 
 us resignation under the trials we must meet 
 with every day. For not only are we visited 
 less than our iniquities have deserved, but 
 much less than many of our fellow-creatures 
 daily meet with. We need not look about 
 for, or long to find, others in a worse situation 
 than ourselves. If a fit of the gout or cho- 
 lic is so grievous and so hard to bear, what do 
 we owe to him w'ho delivered us from that 
 place of unutterable torment, where there is 
 weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth for 
 ever, without hope or respite ? And if we 
 cannot help interesting ourselves in the groans 
 of a stranger, how ought the groans of Jesus to 
 be, as it w^ere, continually sounding in our 
 ears ? What are all other sufferings compared 
 to his ? and yet he endured them freely. He 
 needed not to have borne them, if he would 
 have left us to perish; but such was his love, 
 he died that we might live, and endured the 
 fiercest agonies, that he might open to us the 
 gate of everlasting peace and happiness. How 
 amazingly perverse is my heart, that I can be 
 more affected with a melancholy story in a 
 newspaper concerning persons I never saw, 
 than with all that I read of his bitter passion 
 in the garden and on the cross, though I 
 profess to believe he endured it all for me ! 
 O ! if we could alw r ays behold him by faith as 
 evidently crucified before our eyes, how would 
 it compose our spirits as to all the streets and 
 bitters of this poor life ! What a barrier would 
 it prove against all the snares and temptations 
 w’hercby Satan would draw us into evil ; and 
 
LET. VII. LETTERS T< 
 
 what firm ground of confidence would it af- 
 ford us amidst the conflicts we sustain from 
 the workings of unbelief and indwelling sin ! 
 
 I long for more of that faith which is the 
 substance of things hoped for, and the evi- 
 dence of things not seen, that I may be pre- 
 served humble, thankful, watchful, and de- 
 pendent. To behold the glory and the love 
 of Jesus, is the only effectual way to partici- 
 pate of his image. 
 
 We are to set out to-night from the inter- 
 preter’s house towards the hill difficulty, and 
 h ope to be favoured with a sight of the cross 
 by the way. To stand at the foot of it, with 
 a softened heart and melting eyes ; to forget 
 our sins, sorrows, and burdens, while we are 
 wholly swallowed up in the contemplation of 
 him who bore our sins in his own body upon 
 the tree, is certainly the most desirable situa- 
 tion on this side the grave. To speak of it, 
 and to see it by the light of the Spirit, 
 are widely different things ; and though we 
 cannot always enjoy this view, yet the remem- 
 brance of what we have seen is an excellent 
 means of encouragement to mount the hill, 
 and to face the lions. 
 
 I believe I shall hardly find leisure to fill 
 my paper this time. It is now Saturday even- 
 ing, and growing late. I am just returned 
 from a serious walk, which is my usual man- 
 ner of closing the week, when the weather is 
 fine. I endeavour to join in heart with the 
 Lord’s ministers and people, who are seeking 
 a blessing on to-morrow’s ordinances. At 
 such times I especially remember those friends 
 with whom I have gone to the house of the 
 Lord in company, consequently you are not 
 forgot. I can venture to assure you, that if 
 you have a value for our prayers, you have a 
 frequent share in them, yea, are loved and re- 
 membered by many here ; but as we are for- 
 getful creatures, I hope you will always re- 
 fresh our memory, and quicken our prayers, 
 by a yearly visit. In the morning I shall 
 think of you again. What a multitude of 
 eyes and hearts will be directed to our Re- 
 deemer to-morrow j He has a numerous and 
 necessitous family, but he is rich enough to 
 supply them all, and his tender compassions 
 extend to the meanest and most unworthy. 
 Like the sun, he can cheer and enlighten 
 thousands and millions at once, and give to 
 each as bountifully as if there were no more 
 to partake of his favour. His best blessings 
 are not diminished by being shared among 
 many. The greatest earthly monarch would 
 soon be poor if he was to give a little (though 
 but a little) to all his subjects ; but Jesus has 
 unsearchable, inexhaustible riches of grace to 
 bestow. The innumerable assembly before 
 the throne have been all supplied from his 
 fulness, and yet there is enough and to spare 
 for us also, and for all that shall come after 
 us. May he give us an eager appetite, a 
 hunger and thirst that will not be put off 1 
 
 ) MRS. . 289 
 
 with any thing short of the bread of life ; and 
 then we may confidently open our mouths 
 wide, for he has promised to fill them. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER VII. 
 
 1773. 
 
 Since I wrote last, the Lord has been gracious 
 to us here. He crowned the last year with 
 his goodness, and renews his benefits to us 
 every day. He has been pleased to bless the 
 preaching of his gospel amongst us, both to 
 consolation and conviction ; and several are, 
 I hope, earnestly seeking him, who were late- 
 ly dead in trespasses and sins. Dear Mr. 
 
 was released from all his complaints on the 25th 
 of November. A few days before his death 
 he was enabled to speak more intelligibly than 
 usual for about a quarter of an hour, and ex- 
 pressed a comfortable hope, which was a great 
 satisfaction to us ; for though we had not the 
 least doubt of his being built upon the Rock, 
 it was to us an answer to prayer that he could 
 again speak the language of faith ; and much 
 prayer had been made on this account, espe- 
 cially that very evening. After that night 
 he spoke little, and hardly took any notice, 
 but continued chiefly drowsy till he died. I 
 preached his funeral sermon, from Lam. iii. 
 
 31 — 33. Mrs. L ’s complaint grows 
 
 worse and worse ; she suffers much in her 
 body, and has much more perhaps to suffer : 
 but her consolations in the Lord abound. 
 He enables her to maintain faith, patience, 
 and submission, in an exemplary manner, and 
 shews us, in his dealings with her, that he is 
 all-sufficient and faithful to those who put 
 their trust in him. I am glad to hear that 
 you had comfortable seasons while at Bath. 
 It is, indeed, a great mercy that God’s ordi - 
 nances are established in that place of dissi- 
 pation ; and I hope many who go there with 
 no higher view than to drink the Bath waters, 
 will be brought to draw with joy the waters 
 of life from those wells of salvation. He 
 does nothing in vain, and when he affords the 
 means, we may confidently hope he will be- 
 stow the blessing. The dissipation of spirit 
 you complain of, when you are in a strange 
 place, is, I suppose, felt by most, if not by 
 all, who can be satisfied in no place without 
 some token of the Lord’s presence. I con- 
 sider it rather as an infirmity than a sin, 
 strictly speaking ; though all our infirmities 
 are sinful, being the effects of a depraved na- 
 ture. In our present circumstances new things 
 excite new ideas, and when our usual course 
 of life is broken in upon, it disjoints and un- 
 settles our thoughts. It is a proof of our 
 weakness ; it may, and ought to be, lamented ; 
 but I believe we shall not get the better of it, 
 till we leave the mortal body to moulder into 
 2 C 
 
290 LETTERS TO 
 
 dust. Perhaps few suffer more inconveniences 
 from this article than myself, which is one 
 reason why I love home, and seldom leave it 
 without some reluctance ; and it is one rea- 
 son why we should love heaven, and long for 
 the hour when, at liberty from all incum- 
 brance, we shall see the Lord without a vail, 
 and serve him without distraction. The 
 Lord, by his providence, seconds and con- 
 firms the declarations of his word and mini- 
 stry. Much we read and much we hear con- 
 cerning the emptiness, vanity, and uncertainty 
 of the present state. When our minds are 
 enlightened by his Holy Spirit, we receive 
 and acknowledge what his word declares to 
 be truth ; yet if we remain long without 
 changes, and our path is very smooth, we are 
 for the most part but faintly affected with 
 what we profess to believe. But when some 
 of our dearest friends are taken from us, the 
 lives of others threatened, and we ourselves 
 are brought low with pain and sickness, then 
 we not only say, but feel, that this must not, 
 cannot, be our rest. You have had several 
 exercises of this kind of late in your family, 
 and I trust you will be able to set your seal 
 to that gracious word, That though afflictions 
 in themselves are not joyous, but grievous, 
 yet in due season they yield the peaceful 
 fruits of righteousness. Various and blessed 
 are the fruits they produce. By affliction pray- 
 er is quickened, for our prayers are very apt to 
 grow languid and formal in a time of ease. 
 Affliction greatly helps us to understand the 
 scriptures, especially the promises, most of 
 which being made to times of trouble, we 
 cannot so well know their fulness, sweetness, 
 and certainty, as when we have been in the 
 situation to which they are suited, have been 
 enabled to trust and plead them, and found 
 them fulfilled in our own case. We are 
 usually indebted to affliction as the means or 
 occasion of the most signal discoveries we are 
 favoured with of the wisdom, power, and 
 faithfulness of the Lord. These are best ob- 
 served by the evident proofs we have that he 
 is near to support us under trouble, and that 
 he can, and does, deliver us out of it. Israel 
 would not have seen so much of the Lord’s 
 arm outstretched in their behalf, had not Pha- 
 raoh oppressed, opposed, and pursued them. 
 Afflictions are designed likewise for the mani- 
 festation of our sincerity to ourselves and to 
 others. When faith endures the fire, we 
 know it to be of the right kind ; and others, 
 who see we are brought safe out, and lose no- 
 thing but the dross, will confess that God is 
 with us of a truth, Dan. iii. 27, 28. Surely 
 this thought should reconcile us to suffer, not 
 only with patience, but with cheerfulness, if 
 God may be glorified in us. This made the 
 apostle rejoice in tribulation, that the power 
 of Christ might be noticed, as resting upon 
 him, and working mightily in him. Many 
 of our graces, likewise, cannot thrive or shew 
 
 MRS. . r.ET. vri. 
 
 themselves to advantage without trials, such as 
 resignation, patience, meekness, long-suffer- 
 ing. I observe some of the London porters 
 do not appear to be very strong men, yet they 
 will trudge along under a burden which some 
 stouter people could not carry so well ; the 
 reason is, that they are accustomed to carry 
 burdens, and by continual exercise their 
 shoulders acquire a strength suited to their 
 work. It is so in the Christian life ; activity 
 and strength of grace is not ordinarily acquir- 
 ed by those who sit still and live at ease, but 
 by those who frequently meet with something 
 which requires a full exertion of what pow er 
 the Lord has given them. So again, it is by 
 our own sufferings we learn to pity and sym- 
 pathize with others in their sufferings ; such a 
 compassionate disposition, which excites our 
 feelings for the afflicted, is an eminent branch 
 of the mind which was in Christ. But these 
 feelings would be very faint, if we did not in 
 our experience know what sorrows and temp- 
 tations mean. Afflictions do us good like- 
 wise, as they make us more acquainted with 
 what is in our own hearts, and thereby pro- 
 mote humiliation and self-abasement. There 
 are abominations which, like nests of vipers, 
 lie so quietly within, that we hardly suspect 
 they are there, till the rod of affliction rouses 
 them : then they hiss and shew their venom. 
 This discovery is, indeed, very distressing ; 
 yet, till it is made, we are prone to think our- 
 selves much less vile than we really are, and 
 cannot so heartily abhor ourselves, and repent 
 in dust and ashes. 
 
 But I must write a sermon rather than a 
 letter, if I would enumerate all the good fruits 
 which, by the powder of sanctifying grace, are 
 produced from this bitter tree. May we, 
 under our several trials, find them all reveal- 
 ed in ourselves, that we may not complain ol 
 having suffered in vain. While w r e have such 
 a depraved nature, and live in such a pollut- 
 ed world ; while the roots of pride, vanity, 
 self-dependence, self-seeking, are so strong 
 within us, we need a variety of sharp dispen- 
 sations to keep us from forgetting ourselves, 
 and from cleaving to the dust. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER VIII. 
 
 1774. 
 
 The very painful illness which Mrs. 
 
 so long endured, had, doubtless, not only pre- 
 pared you to expect the news of her dismission, 
 but made you more willing to resign her. You 
 are bereaved of a valuable friend ; but life in 
 her circumstances was burdensome ; and who 
 can be sorry to consider her now as freed from 
 all suffering, and possessed of all happiness ? 
 But, besides this, I trust the Lord has favour- 
 ed you with an habitual sense of the wisdom 
 
LET. VIII. 
 
 LETTERS TO MRS. 
 
 and propriety of all his appointments ; so that 
 when his will is manifested by the event, you 
 are enabled to say, “ All is well.” “ I was 
 dumb, and opened not my mouth, because 
 thou didst it.” She is but gone a little be- 
 fore you ; and after a few more changes, you 
 w ill meet her again to unspeakable advantage, 
 and rejoice together before the throne for ever. 
 There every tear will be wiped away, and you 
 shall weep no more. The Lord could have 
 prevented the cause of her great sufferings ; 
 but I doubt not he afflicted her in wisdom and 
 mercy : he could easily have restored her to 
 health ; but the time was hastening when he 
 purposed to have her with him where he is, 
 that she might behold his glory, and have all 
 the desires he put into her heart abundantly 
 satisfied. Precious in his sight is the death of 
 his saints, and every circumstance is under the 
 direction of infinite wisdom. His sovereign- 
 ty forbids us to say, Why hast thou done this ? 
 and his love assures us that he does all things 
 well. I have lost a friend likewise. I believe 
 I may say few persons not immediately relat- 
 ed to her, could value her more highly than 
 myself ; and though of late years I could not 
 have the pleasure of her company, it was a 
 constant satisfaction to me to know I had 
 such a friend. 
 
 Mr. T *s sickness and death follow- 
 
 ed immediately upon this stroke. I doubt 
 not but you have been much affected with this 
 dispensation likewise. But here again we 
 have the same stronghold to retreat to : The 
 Lord has done it. What a pleasing prospect 
 of increasing usefulness is now interrupted ! 
 How many will mourn his loss ! Yet we are 
 sure the work which the Lord had appointed 
 him was finished. They who loved his mi- 
 nistry, and were profited by it, are left appa- 
 rently destitute ; but Jesus, the good Shep- 
 herd, is able to take care of his own, and will 
 fulfil his promise to them all. He has said, 
 Verily they shall be fed. 
 
 We have had trying and dying times here ; 
 half my time almost has been taken up with 
 visiting the sick. I have seen death in a variety 
 of forms, and have had frequent occasion of 
 observing how insignificant many things which 
 are now capable of giving us pain or plea- 
 sure, will appear, when the soul is brought 
 near to the borders of eternity. All the con- 
 cerns which relate solely to this life, will then 
 be found as trivial as the traces of a dream 
 from which we are awakened. Nothing will 
 then comfort us but the knowledge of Jesus 
 and his love ; nothing grieve us but the re- 
 membrance of our unfaithful carriage to him, 
 
 291 
 
 and what poor returns we made to his abund- 
 ant goodness. The Lord forbid that tins 
 thought should break our peace ! No, faith in 
 his name may forbid our fear, though we shall 
 see and confess we have been unprofitable ser- 
 vants. There shall be no condemnation to them 
 that are in him ; but surely shame and humi- 
 liation will accompany us to the very threshold 
 of heaven, and ought to do so. I surely shall 
 then be more affected than I am now with the 
 coolness of my love, the faintness of my zeal, 
 the vanity of my heart, and my undue attach- 
 ment to the things of time. O these clogs, 
 fetters, vales, and mountains, which obstruct 
 my course, darken my views, slacken my pace, 
 and disable me in service. Well it is for me 
 that I am not under the law, but under grace. 
 
 To-morrow is the Sabbath. I am usually 
 glad when it returns, though it seldom finds 
 me in that frame of mind which I would de- 
 sire. But it is my happiness to live amongst 
 many who count the hours from one ordinance 
 to another. I know they pray that I may be 
 a messenger of peace, and an instrument of 
 good to their souls ; and I have cause to hope 
 their prayers are in a measure answered. For 
 their sakes, as much as my own, I am glad to 
 go up to the house of the Lord. O that in 
 watering others, I may be also watered my- 
 self ! I have been praying that to-morrow may 
 be a day of power with you and with us, and 
 with all that love Jesus in sincerity ; that we 
 may see his glory, and taste his love in the 
 sanctuary. When it is thus, the Sabbath is a 
 blessed day indeed, an earnest of heaven. 
 There they keep an everlasting Sabbath, 
 and cease not night or day admiring the 
 riches of redeeming love, and adoring him 
 who washed his people from their sins in his 
 own blood. To have such imperfect commu- 
 nion with them as is in this state attainable in 
 this pleasing exercise, is what alone can make 
 life worth the name. For this I sigh and 
 long, and cry to the Lord to rend the vail of 
 unbelief, scatter the clouds of ignorance, and 
 break down the walls which sin is daily build- 
 ing up to hide him from my eyes. I hope I 
 can say, my soul is athirst for God, and no- 
 thing less than the light of his countenance 
 can satisfy me. Blessed be his name for the 
 desire ; it is his own gift, and he never gives 
 it in vain. He will afford us a taste of the 
 water of life by the way ; and ere long we 
 shall drink abundantly at the fountain head, 
 and have done with complaint for ever. May 
 we be thankful for what we receive, and still 
 earnestly desirous of more. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
LETTERS 
 
 TO MISS D- 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 August — , 1772. 
 
 MY DEAR MISS, 
 
 The Lord brought us home in peace. My 
 visit to was agreeable, and I shall of- 
 
 ten think of it with pleasure, though the dead- 
 ness and dryness of my own spirit a good part 
 of the time I was there proved a considerable 
 abatement. I am eager enough to converse 
 with the Lord’s people, when at the same time 
 I am backward and indisposed to communion 
 with the Lord himself. The two evils charged 
 upon Israel of old, a proneness to forsake the 
 fountain of living waters and to trust to broken 
 cisterns (which can do me no good unless he 
 supplies them), run through the whole of my 
 experience abroad and at home. A few drops of 
 grace in my fellow-worms endear them to me 
 exceedingly. If I expect to see any Christian 
 friends, I count the hours till we meet, and 
 promise myself great benefit ; but if the Lord 
 withdraws his influence, the best of them prove 
 to me but clouds without water. It was not, 
 however, wholly so with me all the time I staid 
 with my friends, but I suffer much in learning 
 to depend upon the Lord alone. I have been 
 at this lesson many a long year, but am so 
 poor and dull a scholar, that I have not yet 
 made any tolerable progress in it. I think 
 I received some instruction and advantage 
 where I little expected it; I mean at Mr. 
 Cox’s Museum. The efforts of his ingenuity 
 amazed me, while at the same time I was 
 struck with their insignificance. His fine 
 things were curious beyond all I had any idea 
 of ; and yet, what are they better than toys 
 and amusement, suited to the taste of child- 
 ren ! And notwithstanding the variety of their 
 motions they w’ere all destitute of life. There 
 is unspeakably more wisdom and contrivance 
 in the mechanism of a butterfly or a bee, that 
 flies unnoticed in the fields, than in all his ap- 
 paratus put together. But the works of God 
 
 are disregarded, while the feeble imitations of 
 them which men can produce gain universal 
 applause. 
 
 If you and I could make self-moving dra- 
 gons and elephants, what would it profit us ? 
 Blessed be God, that he has given us some 
 glimpses of his wisdom and love, by which 
 our hearts, more hard and lifeless by nature 
 than the stones in the streets, are constrained 
 and enabled to move upwards, and to seek 
 after the Lord. He has given us in his word 
 a greater treasure than all that we ever be- 
 held with our eyes, and a hope which shall flou- 
 rish when the earth and all its works shall be 
 burnt up. What will all the fine things of 
 men’s device be worth in that day ? 
 
 I think the passage you refer to in Mr. 
 
 justly exceptionable. His intention is 
 
 good, and the mistake he would censure very 
 dangerous, but he might have explained him- 
 self more clearly. I apprehend he and you 
 do not mean the same thing by being in the 
 dark. It is not an uncomfortable, but a 
 careless frame wdiich he w r ould censure. They 
 who walk in darkness and see no light, and 
 yet are exhorted to stay themselves upon God 
 (Isa. 1. 10), are said to hearken to the voice 
 of his servant. Though they cannot see the 
 Lord, they are seeking and mourning after 
 him, and waiting in the use of means, and 
 
 warring against sin. Mr. had another 
 
 set of people in view, who trust in the no- 
 tions of gospel-truth, or some past convictions 
 and comforts, though at present they give no 
 evidence of spiritual desires, but are worldly 
 in their spirit and conversation ; talk of trust- 
 ing in the Lord ; account it a weakness to 
 doubt of their state, and think all is well be- 
 cause they profess to believe the doctrines of 
 grace. In a word, it is the darkness of sin 
 and sloth against which his observation is 
 pointed. Or if, indeed, he meant more than 
 
LET. II. 
 
 LETTERS TO 
 
 this, we are not obliged to believe him. Re- 
 member your privilege ; you have the Bible 
 in your hands, and are not bound to follow 
 books or preachers any farther than what they 
 deliver agrees with the oracles of truth. We 
 have great reason to be thankful for the in- 
 structions and writings of spiritual men, but 
 they are all fallible even as ourselves. One 
 is our master, even Christ : what he says we 
 are to receive implicitly ; but we do not owe 
 implicit subjection to the best of our fellow- 
 creatures. The Bereans were commended 
 that they would not take even the apostle 
 Paul upon trust, but searched the scriptures 
 to see whether these things were so. May 
 the Lord give us a spirit of humility and dis- 
 cernment in all things ! 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 May 4, 1773. 
 
 Methinks it is high time to ask you how you 
 do, to thank you for your last letter, and to 
 let you know, that though necessity makes 
 me slack in writing, yet I can and do often 
 think of you. My silence has sometimes been 
 owing to want of leisure; and sometimes 
 when I could have found leisure, my harp 
 has been out of tune, and I had no heart to 
 write. Perhaps you are ready to infer, by 
 my sitting down to write at last, that my harp 
 is now well tuned, and I have something ex- 
 traordinary to offer : beware of thinking so, 
 lest you should be sadly disappointed. Should 
 I make myself the subject, I could give you 
 at present but a mournful ditty. I suppose 
 you have heard I have been ill : through mercy 
 I am now well. But indeed I must farther 
 tell you, that when I was sick I was well ; 
 and since the Lord has removed my illness, I 
 have been much worse. My illness was far 
 from violent in itself, and was greatly sweet- 
 ened by a calm submissive frame the Lord 
 gave me under it. My heart seemed more 
 alive to him then than it has done since my 
 cough, fever, and deafness have been removed. 
 Shall I give you another bit of a riddle, that, 
 notwithstanding the many changes I pass 
 through, I am always the same ? This is the 
 very truth : “ In me, that is, in my flesh, 
 dwelleth no good thing so that, if some- 
 times my spirit is in a measure humble, lively, 
 and dependent, it is not because I am grown 
 better than I was, but the Lord is pleased to 
 put forth his gracious power in my weakness; 
 and when my heart is dry and stupid, when I 
 can find no pleasure in waiting upon God, 
 it is not because I am worse than I was be- 
 fore, but only the Lord sees it best that I 
 should feel as well as say what a poor creature 
 I am. My heart was once like a dungeon, I 
 out of the reach of day, and always dark : 
 the Lord, by his grace, has been pleased to ‘ 
 
 MISS D . 293 
 
 make this dungeon a room, by putting win- 
 dows in it ; but I need not tell you, that 
 though windows will transmit the day-light 
 into a room, they cannot supply the want of it. 
 When the day is gone, windows are of little use : 
 when the day returns, the room is enlightened 
 by them again. Thus, unless the Lord shines, 
 I cannot retain to-day the light I had yesterday ; 
 and though his presence makes a delightful 
 difference, I have no more to boast of in my- 
 self at one time than another ; yet when it is 
 dark, I am warranted to expect the return of 
 light again. When he is with me, all goes 
 on pleasantly ; when he withdraws, I find I 
 can do nothing without him. I need not 
 wonder that I find it so, for it must be so 
 of course, if I am what I confess myself to 
 be, a poor, helpless, sinful creature in myself. 
 Nor need I be over-much discouraged, since 
 the Lord has promised to help those who can 
 do nothing without him, not those who can 
 make a tolerable shift to help themselves. 
 Through mercy he does not so totally with- 
 draw, as to leave me without any power or 
 will to cry for his return. I hope he main- 
 tains in me at all times a desire of his pre- 
 sence; yet it becomes me to wait for him 
 with patience, and to live upon his faithful- 
 ness, when I can feel nothing but evil in my- 
 self. 
 
 In your letter, after having complained of 
 your inability, you say, you converse with 
 many who find it otherwise, who can go when- 
 ever they will to the Father of mercies with a 
 child-like confidence, and never return with- 
 out an answer, an answer of peace. If they 
 only mean that they are favoured with an es- 
 tablished faith, and can see that the Lord is 
 always the same, and that their right to the 
 blessings of the covenant is not at all affected 
 by their unworthiness, I wish you and I had 
 more experience of the same privilege. In 
 general, the Lord helps me to aim at it, though 
 I find it sometimes difficult to hold fast my 
 confidence. But if they speak absolutely with 
 respect to their frames, that they not only 
 have something to support them under their 
 changes, but meet with no changes that require 
 such support, I must say, it is well that they 
 do not live here ; if they did, they would not 
 know how to pity us, and we should not know 
 how to understand them. We have an enemy 
 
 at — that fights against our peace, and 
 
 I know not one amongst us but often groans 
 under the warfare. I advise you not to be 
 troubled by what you hear of other folk’s ex- 
 perience, but keep close to the written word, 
 where you will meet with much to encourage 
 you, though you often feel yourself weary and 
 heavy laden. For my own part, I likp that 
 path best which is well beaten by the foot, 
 steps of the flock, though it is not always 
 pleasant, and strewed with flowers. In our 
 way, we find some hills, from whence we can 
 ' cheerfully look about us ; but we meet with 
 
294 
 
 deep valleys likewise, and seldom travel long 
 upon even ground. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 1775. 
 
 I AM satisfied with your answer to my ques- 
 tion : we are not proper judges of each other’s 
 circumstances, and I am in some measure 
 .weaned from judging hastily, that what would 
 not be convenient for me, must therefore ne- 
 cessarily be wrong for another. However, 
 my solicitude for your welfare made me ven- 
 ture to drop a hint, as I was persuaded you 
 would take it in good part. Indeed, all situ- 
 ations and circumstances (supposing them not 
 sinful in themselves, and that we are lawfully 
 placed in them) are nearly alike. In Lon- 
 don I am in a crowd ; in the country I am 
 sure there is a crowd in me. To what pur- 
 pose do I boast of retirement, when I am 
 pestered by a legion in every place ? How 
 often, when I am what I call alone, may my 
 mind be compared to a puppet-show, a fair, a 
 Newgate, or any of those scenes where folly, 
 noise, and wickedness most abound ? On the 
 contrary, sometimes I have enjoyed sweet re- 
 collection and composure where I could have 
 hardly expected it. But still, though the 
 power be all of the Lord, and we of ourselves 
 can do nothing, it is both our duty and our 
 wisdom to be attentive to the use of appointed 
 ;neans on the one hand, and on the other, 
 watchful against those things which we find, 
 by experience, have a tendency to damp our 
 fervour, or to dissipate our spirits. A com- 
 fortable intimacy with a fellow-worm cannot 
 be maintained without a certain delicacy and 
 circumspection, a studiousness in improving 
 opportunities of pleasing, and in avoiding 
 what is known to be offensive. For though 
 love will make large allowances for involun- 
 tary mistakes, it cannot easily brook a slight. 
 We act thus as it were by instinct towards 
 those whom we dearly love, and to whom 
 we feel ourselves greatly obliged : and happy 
 are they who are most influenced by this sen- 
 timent in their walk before the Lord. But, 
 alas ! here we are chargeable with such in- 
 consistencies as we should be greatly ashamed 
 of in common life. And well it is for us 
 that the Lord’s thoughts and ways are above 
 ours, and that he is infinite in mercy as well 
 as in power ; for surely our dearest friends 
 would have been weary of us, and have re- 
 nounced us long ago, had we behaved to them 
 as we have too often done to him. He is 
 God, and not man, and therefore he still waits 
 to be gracious, though we have so often trifled 
 with him. Surely we may well say with the 
 prophet, “ Who is a God like unto thee, that 
 pardoneth iniquity !” His tenderness and for- 
 
 LET. III. 
 
 bearance towards his own people (whose sins 
 being committed against love, and light, and 
 experience, are more aggravated than others) 
 is astonishing indeed. But oh ! may the times 
 past suffice to have grieved his Spirit, and 
 may we be enabled from henceforth to serve 
 him with a single eye and a simple heart, to 
 be faithful to every intimation of his will, and 
 to make him our all in all ! 
 
 Mr. has been here, and I have been 
 
 with him at since his return. We seem 
 
 glad to be together when we can. When I 
 am with him, I feel quite at home and at 
 ease, and can tell him (so far as I dare tell a 
 creature) all that is in my heart ; a plain proof 
 that union of spirit depends no more upon an 
 exact uniformity of sentiment than on a uni- 
 formity of prayers ; for in some points of 
 doctrine we differ considerably ; but 1 trust 1 
 agree with him in the views I have of the ex- 
 cellency, suitableness, and sufficiency of the 
 Saviour, and of his right to reign without a 
 rival in the hearts of his redeemed people. 
 An experimental knowledge of Jesus, as the 
 deliverer from sin and wrath, and the author 
 of eternal life and salvation to all who are en- 
 abled to believe, is a sufficient ground for 
 union of heart. In this point all who are 
 taught of God are of one mind. But an ea- 
 ger fighting for or against those points which 
 are usually made the subject of controversy, 
 tends to nourish pride and evil tempers in 
 ourselves, and to alienate our hearts from 
 those we hope to spend an eternity with. In 
 heaven, we shall neither be Dissenters, Mora- 
 vians, nor Methodists ; neither Calvinists nor 
 Arminians ; but followers of the Lamb, and 
 children of the kingdom. There we shall 
 hear the voice of war no more. 
 
 We are still favoured w ith health and many 
 temporal blessings. My spiritual walk is not 
 so smooth as my outward path. In public I 
 am mercifully supported; in secret I most 
 sensibly feel my own vileness and w eakness ; 
 but through all the Lord is gracious. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 January 10, 1775. 
 
 There is hardly any thing in which the Lord 
 permits me to meet w’ith more disappointment, 
 than in the advantage I am ready to promis* 
 myself from creature-converse. When I ex- 
 pect to meet any of my Christian friends, my 
 thoughts usually travel much faster than my 
 body ; I anticipate the hour of meeting, and 
 my imagination is warmed with the expecta- 
 tion of what I shall say and what I shall hear ; 
 and sometimes I have had seasons for which 
 I ought to be more thankful than I am. It 
 is pleasant, indeed, when the Lord favours us 
 with a happy hour, and is pleased to cause 
 
 LETTERS TO MISS D . 
 
LET. IV. 
 
 LETTERS TO 
 
 our hearts to burn within us while we are 
 speaking of his goodness. But often it is 
 far otherwise with me : I carry with me a 
 dissipation of spirit, and find that I can nei- 
 ther impart nor receive. Something from 
 within or from without crosses my schemes ; 
 and when I retire I seem to have gained no- 
 thing but a fresh conviction, that we can nei- 
 ther help nor be helped, unless the Lord him- 
 self is pleased to help us. With his presence 
 in our hearts, we might be comfortable and 
 happy though shut up in one of the cells of 
 Newgate : without it, the most select com- 
 pany, the most desirable opportunities, prove 
 but clouds without water. 
 
 I have sometimes thought of asking you, 
 whether you find that difference between being 
 abroad and at home that I do ? But I take it 
 for granted that you do not : your connec- 
 tions and intimacies are, I believe, chiefly 
 with those who are highly favoured of the 
 Lord, and if you can break through or be 
 upon your guard against the inconveniencies 
 which attend frequent changes and much com- 
 pany, you must be very happy in them. 
 But, I believe, considering my weakness, the 
 Lord has chosen wisely and well for me, in 
 placing me in a state of retirement, and not 
 putting it in my power, were it ever so much 
 my inclination, to be often abroad. As I 
 stir so seldom, I believe, when I do, it is not 
 upon the whole to my disadvantage ; for I 
 meet with more or less upon which my reflec- 
 tions afterwards may, by his blessing, be use- 
 ful to me, though at the time my visits most 
 frequently convince me, how little wisdom or 
 skill I have in improving time and opportu- 
 nities. But were I to live in London, 1 
 know not what might be the consequence. 
 Indeed, I need not puzzle myself about it, as 
 my call does not lie there ; but I pity and 
 pray for those who do live there, and I admire 
 such of them as, in those circumstances which 
 appear so formidable to me, are enabled to 
 walk simply, humbly, and closely with the 
 Lord. They remind me of Daniel, unhurt in 
 the midst of lions, or of the bush which Moses 
 saw surrounded with flames, yet not consum- 
 ed, because the Lord was there. Some such 
 I do know, and I hope you are one of the 
 number. 
 
 This is certain, that if the light of God’s 
 countenance, and communion with him in 
 love, afford the greatest happiness we are ca- 
 pable of, then whatever tends to indispose us 
 for this pursuit, or to draw a vail between 
 him and our souls, must be our great loss. 
 If we walk with him, it must be in the path 
 of duty, which lies plain before us when our 
 eye is single, and we are waiting with atten- 
 tion upon his word, Spirit, and providence. 
 Now, wherever the path of duty leads we are 
 safe ; and it often does lead and place us in 
 such circumstances as no other consideration 
 Would make us chuse« We were not desjgn- 
 
 MISS D . 295 
 
 ed to be mere recluses, but have all a part to 
 act in life. Now, if I find myself in the 
 midst of things disagreeable enough in them- 
 selves to the spiritual life, yet — if, when the 
 question occurs, What dost thou here? my 
 heart can answer, I am here by the will of 
 God, — I believe it to be, all things considered, 
 my duty to be here at this time rather than 
 elsewhere. If, I say, I am tolerably satisfied 
 of this, then I would not burden and grieve 
 myself about what I cannot avoid or alter, 
 but endeavour to take all such things up with 
 cheerfulness, as a part of my daily cross ; 
 since I am called, not only to do the will of 
 God, but to suffer for it : but if I am doing my 
 own will rather than his, then I have reason 
 to fear, lest I should meet with either a snare 
 or a sting at every step. May the Lord Jesus 
 be with you. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 April 13 , 1776 . 
 
 DEAR MADAM, 
 
 I AM rather of the latest to present my con- 
 gratulations to you and Mr. on your 
 
 marriage, but I have not been unmindful of 
 you. My heart has repeatedly wished you all 
 that my pen can express, that the new rela- 
 tion in which the providence of God has 
 placed you may be blessed to you in every 
 respect, may afford you much temporal com- 
 fort, promote your spiritual progress, and en- 
 large your sphere of usefulness in the world 
 and in the church. 
 
 By this time I suppose visits and ceremonies 
 are pretty well over, and you are beginning 
 to be settled in your new situation. What 
 an important period is a wedding-day ! What 
 an entire change of circumstances does it pro- 
 duce ! What an influence it has upon every 
 day of future life ! How many cares, in- 
 quietudes, and trials, does it expose us to, 
 which we might otherwise have avoided ! 
 But they who love the Lord, and are guided 
 by his word and providence, have nothing to 
 fear ; for in every state, relation, and circum- 
 stance in life, he will be with them, and will 
 surely do them good. His grace, which is 
 needful in a single, is sufficient for a married 
 
 life. I sincerely wish Mr. and you 
 
 much happiness together ; that you may be 
 mutually helps meet, and assist each other in 
 walking as fellow-heirs of the hope of eternal 
 life. Your cares and trials, I know, must be 
 increased ; may your comforts be increased 
 proportionally! They will be so, if you are 
 enabled heartily and simply to entreat the 
 Lord to keep your heart fixed near to himself. 
 All the temporal blessings and accommoda- 
 tions he provides to sweeten life, and make 
 our passage through this wilderness more a- 
 
LETTERS TO MISS D — 
 
 LET. V. 
 
 296 
 
 greeable, will fail and disappoint us, and pro- 
 duce us more thorns than roses, unless we 
 can keep sight of his hand in bestowing them, 
 and hold and use the gifts in some due sub- 
 serviency to what we owe to the giver. But 
 alas ! we are poor creatures, prone to wander, 
 prone to admire our gourds, cleave to our 
 cisterns, and think of building tabernacles, 
 and taking our rest in this polluted world. 
 Hence the Lord often sees it necessary, in 
 mercy to his children, to embitter their sweets, 
 to break their cisterns, to send a worm to their 
 gourds, and to draw a dark cloud over their 
 most pleasing prospects. His word tells us, 
 that all here is vanity, compared with the light 
 of his countenance ; and if we cannot, or will 
 not, believe it upon the authority of his word, 
 we must learn it by experience. May he 
 enable you to settle it in your hearts, that 
 creature-comforts are precarious, insufficient, 
 and ensnaring ; that all good comes from his 
 hand, and that nothing can do us good, but 
 so far as he is pleased to make it the instru- 
 ment of communicating, as a stream, that 
 goodness which is in him as a fountain. Even 
 the bread which we eat, without the influence 
 of his promise and blessing, would no more 
 support us than a stone ; but his blessing 
 makes every thing good, gives a tenfold value 
 to our comforts, and greatly diminishes the 
 weight of every cross. 
 
 The ring upon your finger is of some val- 
 ue as gold, but this is not much ; what makes 
 it chiefly va 1 uable to you is, that you consider 
 
 it as a pledge and token of the relation you 
 bear to him who gave it you. I know no 
 fitter emblem of the light in which we should 
 consider all those good things which the Lord 
 gives us richly to enjoy. When every thing 
 we receive from him is received and prized as 
 a fruit and a pledge of his covenant-love, then 
 his bounties, instead of being set up as 
 rivals, and idols to draw our hearts from him, 
 awaken us to fresh exercises of gratitude, and 
 furnish us with fresh motives of cheerful obe- 
 dience every hour. 
 
 Time is short, and we live in a dark and 
 cloudy day. When iniquity abounds, the love 
 of many waxes cold ; and we have reason to 
 fear the Lord’s hand is lifted up in displeasure 
 at our provocations. May he help us to sit 
 loose to all below, to watch unto prayer for 
 grace to keep our garments clean, and to be 
 faithful witnesses for him in our several 
 places ! O, it is my desire for myself and 
 for all my dear friends, that whilst too many 
 seem content with a half profession, a name 
 to live, an outward attachment to ordinances, 
 and sentiments, and parties, we may be am- 
 bitious to experience what the glorious gospel 
 is capable of effecting, both as to sanctifica- 
 tion and consolation, in this state of infirmi- 
 ty ; that we may have our loins girded, and 
 our lamps burning, and by our simplicity 
 and snirituality constrain those who know us 
 to acknowledge that we have been with Jesus, 
 have sat at his feet, and drank of his Spirit. 
 
 1 am, &c. 
 
LETTERS 
 
 TO MRS. II 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 Long and often have I thought of writing to 
 you ; now the time is come. May the Lord 
 help me to send a word in season ! I know 
 not how it may be with you, but he does, and 
 to him I look to direct my thoughts accord- 
 ingly. I suppose you are still in the school 
 of the cross, learning the happy art of extract- 
 ing real good out of seeming evil, and to grow 
 tall by stooping. The flesh is a sad unto- 
 ward dunce in this ■school ; but grace makes 
 the spirit willing to learn by suffering ; yea it 
 cares not what it endures, so sin may be mor- 
 tified, and a conformity to the image of Jesus 
 oe increased. Surely when we see the most 
 and the best of the Lord’s children so often in 
 heaviness, and when we consider how much 
 he loves them, and what he has done and pre- 
 pared for them, we may take it for granted 
 that there is a need-be for their sufferings. 
 For it would be easy to his power, and not a 
 thousandth part of what his love intends to do 
 for them, should he make their whole life here, 
 from the hour of their conversion to their death, 
 a continued course of satisfaction and com- 
 fort, without any thing to distress them from 
 within or without. But -were it so, should we 
 not miss many advantages ? In the first place, 
 we should not then be very conformable to 
 our Head, nor be able to say, As he was, so 
 are we in this world. Methinks a believer 
 would be ashamed to be so utterly unlike his 
 Lord. What ! the master always a man of 
 sorrows and acquainted with grief, and the ser- 
 vant always happy and full of comfort ! Jesus 
 despised, reproached, neglected, opposed, and 
 betrayed, and his people admired and cares- 
 sed ; he living in the want of all things, and 
 they filled with abundance ; he sweating blood 
 for anguish, and they strangers to distress : 
 how unsuitable would these things be ! how 
 much better to be called to the honour of fill- 
 ing up the measure of his sufferings ! A cup 
 
 was put into his hand on our account, and his 
 love engaged him to drink it for us. The 
 wrath which it contained he drank wholly him- 
 self, but he left us a little affliction to taste, 
 that we might pledge him, and remember how 
 he loved us, and how much more he endured 
 for us than he will ever call us to endure for 
 him. Again, how could we, without suffer- 
 ings, manifest the nature and truth of gospel- 
 grace ? What place should we then have for 
 patience, submission, meekness, forbearance, 
 and a readiness to forgive, if we had nothing 
 to try us either from the hand of the Lord, or 
 from the hand of men. A Christian without 
 trials would be like a mill without wind or 
 water; the contrivance and design of the 
 wheel-work within side would be unnoticed 
 and unknown, without something to put it in 
 motion from without. Nor would our graces 
 grow, unless they were called out to exercise : 
 the difficulties we meet with riot only prove 
 but strengthen the graces of the Spirit. If a 
 person was always to sit still, without making 
 use of legs or arms, he would probably wholly 
 lose the power of moving his limbs at last ; 
 but by walking and working he becomes 
 strong and active. So, in a long course of 
 ease, the powers of the new man would cer- 
 tainly languish : the soul would grow soft, 
 indolent, cowardly, and faint ; and therefore 
 the Lord appoints his children such dispensa 
 tions as make them strive, and struggle, and 
 pant. They must press through a crowd, swim 
 against a stream, endure hardships, run, wrestle, 
 and fight; and thus their strength grows in the 
 using. 
 
 By these things, likewise, they are made more 
 willing to leave the present world, to which we 
 are prone to cleave too closely in our hearts 
 when our path is very smooth. Had Israel 
 enjoyed their former peace and prosperity in 
 Egypt, when Moses came to invite them to 
 
LET. II 
 
 LETTERS TO MRS. H . 
 
 298 
 
 Canaan, I think they would hardly have list- 
 ened to him. But the Lord suffered them to 
 be brought into great trouble and bondage, 
 and then the news of deliverance was more wel- 
 come ; yet still they were but half willing, and 
 they carried a love to the flesh-pots of Egypt 
 with them into the wilderness. We are like 
 them : though we say this world is vain and 
 sinful, we are too fond of it ; and though we 
 hope for true happiness only in heaven, we are 
 often well content to stay longer here. But 
 the Lord sends afflictions one after another to 
 quicken our desires, and to convince us that 
 this cannot be our rest. Sometimes, if you 
 drive a bird from one branch of a tree, he will 
 hop to another a little higher, and from thence 
 to a third ; but if you continue to disturb 
 him, he will at last take wing and fly quite 
 away. Thus we, when forced from one 
 creature-comfort, perch upon another, and so 
 on ; but the Lord mercifully follows us with 
 trials, and will not let us rest upon any. By 
 degrees our desires take a nobler flight, and 
 can be satisfied with nothing short of himself ; 
 and we say, To depart and be with Jesus is 
 best of all. 
 
 I trust you find the name and grace of Jesus 
 more and more precious to you ; his promises 
 more sweet, and your hope in them more a- 
 biding ; your sense of your own weakness and 
 unworthiness daily increasing ; and your per- 
 suasion of his all-sufficiency to guide, sup- 
 port, and comfort you, more confirmed. You 
 owe your growth in these respects in a great 
 measure to his blessing upon those afflictions 
 which he has prepared for you, and sanctified 
 to you. May you praise him for all that is 
 past, and trust him for all that is to come. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 Though I have the pleasure of hearing of 
 you, and sending a remembrance from time to 
 time, I am willing, by this opportunity, to di- 
 rect a few lines to you, as a more express tes- 
 timony of my sincere regard. 
 
 I think your experience is generally of the 
 fearful, doubting cast. Such souls, however, 
 the Lord has given particular charge to his 
 ministers to comfort. He knows our infir- 
 mities, and what temptations mean, and as a 
 good shepherd he expresses a peculiar care and 
 tenderness for the weak of the flock, Isaiah 
 xl. 4. But how must I attempt your com- 
 fort ? Surely not by strengthening a mistake 
 to which we are all too liable, by leading you 
 to look into your own heart for (what you will 
 never find there) something in yourself where- 
 on to ground your hopes, if not wholly, yet at 
 least in part. Rather let me endeavour to 
 lead you out of yourself ; let me invite you to 
 look unto Jesus. Should we look for light 
 
 in our own eyes, or in the sun ? Is it indwel 
 ling sin distresses you ? Then I can tell you 
 (though you know it) that Jesus died for sin 
 and sinners. I can tell you, that his blood 
 and righteousness are of infinite value ; that 
 his arm is almighty, and his compassions in- 
 finite ; yea, you yourself read his promises 
 every day, and why should you doubt their 
 being fulfilled? If you say you do not 
 question their truth, or that they are accom- 
 plished to many, but that you can hardly be- 
 lieve they belong to you ; I would ask, what 
 evidence you would require ? A voice or an 
 angel from heaven you do not expect. Con- 
 sider, if many of the promises are not ex- 
 pressly directed to those to whom they belong. 
 When you read your name on the super- 
 scription of this letter, you make no scruple 
 to open it : why, then, do you hesitate at 
 embracing the promises of the gospel, where 
 you read that they are addressed to those who 
 mourn, who hunger and thirst after right- 
 eousness, who are poor in spirit, &c. and can- 
 not but be sensible that a gracious God has 
 begun to work these dispositions in your 
 heart? If you say, that though you do at 
 times mourn, hunger, &c. you are afraid you 
 do it not enough, or not aright ; consider, that 
 this sort of reasoning is very far from the 
 spirit and language of the gospel; for it is 
 grounded on a secret supposition, that in the 
 forgiveness of sin God has a respect to some- 
 thing more than the atonement and mediation 
 of Jesus ; namely, to some previous good 
 qualifications in a sinner’s heart, which are to 
 share with the blood of Christ in the honour 
 of salvation. The enemy deceives us in this 
 matter the more easily, because a propensity 
 to the covenant of works is a part of our na- 
 tural depravity. Depend upon it, you will 
 never have a suitable and sufficient sense of 
 the evil of sin, and of your share in it, so long 
 as you have any sin remaining in you. We 
 must see Jesus as he is, before our apprehen- 
 sions of any spiritual truth will be complete. 
 But if we know that we must perish without 
 Christ, and that he is able to save to the ut- 
 termost, we know enough to warrant us to 
 cast our souls upon him, and we dishonour 
 him by fearing that when we do so he will 
 disappoint our hope. But if you are still 
 perplexed about the high points of election, 
 &c. I would advise you to leave the disposal 
 of others to the great Judge ; and as to your- 
 self, I think I need not say much to persuade 
 you, that if ever you are saved at all, it must 
 be in a way of free and absolute grace. Leave 
 disputes to others ; wait upon the Lord, and 
 he will teach you all things, in such degree 
 and time as he sees best. Perhaps you have 
 suffered for taking things too much upon trust 
 from men. Cease from man, whose breath is 
 in his nostrils. One is your master, even 
 Christ. Study and pray over the Bible ; and 
 you may take it as a sure rule, that whatever 
 
LET. ill. LETTERS TO 
 
 sentiment makes any part of the word of God 
 unwelcome to you, is justly to be suspected. 
 Aim at a cheerful spirit. The more you 
 trust God, the better you will serve him. 
 While you indulge unbelief and suspicion, you 
 weaken your own hands, and discourage others. 
 Be thankful for what he has shewn you, and 
 wait upon him for more ; you shall find he 
 has not said, “ Seek ye my face in vain.” I 
 heartily commend you to his grace and care, 
 and am, &c. 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 At length, and without farther apology for 
 my silence, I sit down to ask you, how you 
 fare ? Afflictions I hear have been your lot ; 
 and if I had not heard so, I should have 
 taken it for granted, for I believe the Lord 
 loves you, and as many as he loves he chas- 
 tens. I think you can say afflictions have 
 been good for you, and I doubt not but you 
 have found strength according to your day ; 
 so that though you may have been sharply 
 tried, you have not been overpowered. For 
 the Lord has engaged his faithfulness for this 
 to all his children, that he will support them 
 in all their trials, so that the fire shall not con- 
 sume them nor the floods drown them, 1 Cor. 
 x. 13, Isa xliii. 2. 
 
 If you can say thus much, cannot you go a 
 little further, and add, in the apostle’s words, 
 “ None of these things move me, neither count 
 I my life dear. I rather glory in my infir- 
 mities, that the power of Christ may rest upon 
 me ; yea, doubtless, I count all things loss and 
 of no regard, for the excellency of the know- 
 ledge of Christ Jesus my Lord ; for when I 
 am weak, then am I strong.” Methinks I 
 hear you say, “ God, who comforteth those 
 who are cast down, has comforted my soul ; 
 and as my troubles have abounded, my con- 
 solations in Christ have abounded also. He 
 has delivered, he does deliver, and in him I 
 trust that he will yet deliver me.” Surely 
 you can set your seal to these words. The 
 Lord help you, then, to live more and more 
 a life of faith, to feed upon the promises, 
 and to rejoice in the assurance that all things 
 
 MRS. H . 299 
 
 are yours, and shall surely work for your 
 good. 
 
 If I guess right at what passes in your 
 heart, the name of Jesus is precious to you ; 
 and this is a sure token of salvation, and that 
 of God. You could not have loved him if 
 he had not loved you first. He spoke to 
 you, and said, “ Seek my face,” before your 
 heart cried to him “ Thy face, O Lord, will 
 I seek.” But you complain, Alas! I love 
 him so little.” That very complaint proves 
 that you love him a great deal, for if you 
 loved him but a little, you would think you 
 loved him enough. A mother loves her child 
 a great deal, yet does not complain for not 
 loving it more, nay, perhaps, she hardly thinks 
 it possible. But such an infinite object is 
 Jesus, that they who love him better than pa- 
 rents or child, or any earthly relation or com- 
 fort, will still think they hardly love him at 
 all, because they see such a vast dispropor- 
 tion between the utmost they can give him 
 and what in himself he deserves from them. 
 But I can give you good advice and good 
 news : love him as well as you can now, and 
 ere long you shall love him better. O, when 
 you see him as he is, then I am sure you 
 will love him indeed ! If you want to love 
 him better now while you are here, I believe 
 I can tell you the secret how this is to be at- 
 tained : trust him. The more you trust him 
 the better you will love him. If you ask far- 
 ther, How shall I do to trust him? I an- 
 swer, Try him. The more you make trial of 
 him, the more your trust in him will be 
 strengthened. Venture upon his promises; 
 carry them to him, and see if he will not 
 be as good as his word. But, alas ! Satan 
 and unbelief work the contrary way. We 
 are unwilling to try him, and therefore un- 
 able to trust him ; and what wonder, then, 
 that our love is faint, for who can love at 
 uncertainties ? 
 
 If you are in some measure thankful for 
 what you have received, and hungering and 
 thirsting for more, you are in the frame I 
 would wish for myself, and I desire to praise 
 the Lord on your behalf. Pray for us. We 
 join in love to you. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
/ 
 
 LETTERS 
 
 TO MISS P 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 August 17, 1776. 
 
 It is indeed natural to us to wish and to 
 plan, and it is merciful in the Lord to dis- 
 appoint our plans, and to cross our wishes. 
 For we cannot be safe, much less happy, but 
 in proportion as we are weaned from our own 
 wills, and made simply desirous of being di- 
 rected by his guidance. This truth, when we 
 are enlightened by his word, is sufficiently fa- 
 miliar to the judgment, but we seldom learn 
 to reduce it into practice, without being 
 trained a while in the school of disappoint- 
 ment. The schemes we form look so plau- 
 sible and convenient, that when they are 
 broken we are ready to say, What a pity ! 
 We try again, and with no better success ; 
 we are grieved, and perhaps angry, and plan 
 out another, and so on : at length, in a course 
 of time, experience and observation begin to 
 convince us that we are not more able than 
 we are worthy to chuse aright for ourselves. 
 Then the Lord’s invitation to cast our cares 
 upon him, and his promise to take care of us, 
 appear valuable ; and when we have done 
 planning, his plan in our favour gradually 
 opens, and he does more and better for us 
 than we could either ask or think. I can 
 hardly recollect a single plan of mine of w hich 
 I have not since seen reason to be satisfied, 
 that had it taken place in season and circum- 
 stance just as I proposed, it would, humanly 
 speaking, have proved my ruin, or at least it 
 would have deprived me of the greater good 
 the Lord had designed for me. We judge of 
 things by their present appearances, but the 
 Lord sees them in their consequences. If we 
 could do so likewise, we should be perfectly 
 of his mind, but as we cannot, it is an un- 
 speakable mercy that he will manage for us, 
 whether w-e are pleased with his management 
 or not ; and it is spoken of as one of his 
 heaviest judgments, when he gives any person 
 
 or people up to the w ay of their own hearts, 
 and to w r alk after their own counsels. 
 
 Indeed, we may admire his patience to- 
 wards us. If we were blind, and reduced to 
 desire a person to lead us, and should yet 
 pretend to dispute with him, and direct him 
 at every step, we should probably soon weary 
 him, and provoke him to leave us to find the 
 way by ourselves if we could. But our gra- 
 cious Lord is long-suffering and full of com- 
 passion : he bears w r ith our frowardness, yet 
 he will take methods both to shame and to 
 humble us, and to bring us to a confession 
 that he is w r iser than we. The great and un- 
 expected benefit he intends us, by all the dis- 
 cipline we meet with, is to tread down our 
 wills, and bring them into subjection to his. 
 So far as we attain to this, we are out of the 
 reach of disappointment, for when the w'ill 
 of God can please us, we shall be pleased 
 every day, and from morning to night, I 
 mean with respect to his dispensations. O 
 the happiness of such a life ! I have an idea 
 of it : I hope I am aiming at it, but surely I 
 have not attained it. Self is active in my 
 heart, if it does not absolutely reign there. I 
 profess to believe that one thing is needful 
 and sufficient, and yet my thoughts are prone 
 to wander after a hundred more. If it be 
 true that the light of his countenance is bet- 
 ter than life, why am I solicitous about any 
 thing else ? If he be all sufficient, and gives 
 me liberty to call him mine, why do I go a- 
 begging to creatures for help ? If he be 
 about my path and bed ; if the smallest, as 
 well as the greatest events in w'hich I am con- 
 cerned are under his immediate direction ; 
 if the very hairs of my head are numbered ; 
 then my care (any farther than a care to walk 
 in the paths of his precepts, and to follow the 
 openings of his providence) must be useless 
 and needless, yea indeed sinful and heathen- 
 
301 
 
 LET. II. LETTERS TO 
 
 ish, burdensome to myself and dishonourable 
 to my profession. Let us cast down the 
 load we are unable to carry, and if the Lord 
 be our shepherd, refer all and trust all to 
 him. Let us endeavour to live to him and 
 for him to-day, and be glad that to morrow, 
 with all that is behind it, is in his hands. 
 
 It is storied of Pompey, that when his 
 friends would have dissuaded him from put- 
 ting to sea in a storm, he answered, It is 
 necessary for me to sail, but it is not neces- 
 sary for me to live. O pompous speech, in 
 Pompey’s sense ! He was full of the idea of 
 his own importance, and would rather have 
 died than have taken a step beneath his sup- 
 posed dignity. But it may be accommodated 
 with propriety to a believer’s case. It be- 
 comes us to say, it is not necessary for me to 
 be rich, or what the world accounts wise ; to 
 be healthy, or admired by my fellow- worms ; 
 to pass through life in a state of prosperity 
 and outward comfort; — these things may be, 
 or they may be otherwise, as the Lord in his 
 wisdom shall appoint, but it is necessary for 
 me to be humble and spiritual, to seek com- 
 munion with God, to adorn my profession of 
 the gospel, and to yield submissively to his 
 disposal, in whatever way, whether of ser- 
 vice or suffering, he shall be pleased to call 
 me to glorify him in the world : it is not ne- 
 cessary for me to live long, but highly expe- 
 dient that whilst I do live I should live to 
 him. Here, then, I would bound my de- 
 sires, and here, having his word both for my 
 rule and my warrant, I am secured from ask- 
 ing amiss. Let me have his presence and his 
 Spirit, wisdom to know my calling, and op- 
 portunities and faithfulness to improve them ; 
 and as to the rest, Lord, help me to say, What 
 thou wilt, when thou wilt, and how thou wilt. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 DEAR. MADAM, 
 
 What a poor, uncertain, dying world is this ! 
 What a wilderness in itself ! How dark, how 
 desolate, without the light of the gospel and 
 the knowledge of Jesus ! It does not ap- 
 pear so to us in a state of nature, because we 
 are then in a state of enchantment, the ma- 
 gical lantern blinding us with a splendid de- 
 lusion. 
 
 MISS P . 
 
 Thus in the desert’s dreary waste, 
 
 By magic power produced in haste, 
 
 As old romances say, 
 
 Castles and groves, and music sweet. 
 
 The senses of the trav’ller cheat. 
 
 And stop him in his way. 
 
 But while he gazes with surprise, 
 
 The charm dissolves, the vision dies, 
 
 ’Twas but enchanted ground : 
 
 Thus, if the Lord our spirit touch, 
 
 The world, which promised us so much, 
 
 A wilderness is found. 
 
 It is a great merjcy to be undeceived in time ; 
 and though our gay dreams are at an end, 
 and we awake to every thing that is disgust- 
 ful and dismaying, yet we see a highway 
 through the wilderness, a powerful guard, an 
 infallible guide at hand to conduct us through ; 
 and we can discern, beyond the limits of the 
 wilderness, a better land, where we shall be 
 at rest and at home. What will the difficul- 
 ties we meet by the way then signify ? The 
 remembrance of them will only remain to 
 heighten our sense of the love, care, and 
 power of our Saviour and leader. O how 
 shall we then admire, adore, and praise him, 
 vrhen he shall condescend to unfold to us the 
 beauty, propriety, and harmony of the whole 
 train of his dispensations towards us, and give 
 us a clear retrospect of all the way, and all the 
 turns of our pilgrimage ! 
 
 In the mean while, the best method of a- 
 dorning our profession, and of enjoying peace 
 in our souls, is simply to trust him, and ab- 
 solutely to commit ourselves and our all to 
 his management. By casting our burdens 
 upon him, our spirits become light and cheer- 
 ful ; we are freed from a thousand anxieties 
 and inquietudes, which are wearisome to our 
 minds, and which, with respect to events, are 
 needless for us, yea, useless. But though it 
 may be easy to speak of this trust, and it ap- 
 pears to our judgment perfectly right and 
 reasonable, the actual attainment is a great 
 thing ; and especially so to trust the Lord, no* 
 by fits and starts, surrendering one day, and 
 retracting the next, but to abide by our sur- 
 render, and go habitually trusting through all 
 the changes we meet, knowing that his love, 
 purpose, and promise, are unchangeable. 
 Some little faintings perhaps none are freed 
 from ; but I believe a power of trusting the 
 Lord in good measure at all times, and living 
 quietly under the shadow of his wing, is what 
 the promise warrants us to expect, if we seek 
 it by diligent prayer ; if not all at once, yet 
 by a gradual increase. May it be your ex- 
 perience and mine. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
LETTERS 
 
 TO 
 
 THE REVEREND Mr. B 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 January 27, 1778. 
 
 DEAR AND REVEREND SIR, 
 
 1 CAiX you Dear because I love you, and I 
 shall continue to stile you Reverend as long as 
 you dignify me with that title. It is, indeed, 
 a pretty sounding epithet, and forms a strik- 
 ing contrast in the usual application. The in- 
 habitants of the moon (if there be any) have 
 perhaps no idea how many Reverend, Right 
 Reverend, and Most Reverend, sinners we 
 have in Europe. And yet you are reverend , 
 and I revere you, because I believe the Lord 
 liveth in you, and has chosen you to be a tem- 
 ple of' his presence, and an instrument of his 
 grace. 
 
 I hope the two sermons you preached in 
 London were made useful to others, and the 
 medicines you took there were useful to your- 
 self. I am glad to hear you are safe at home, 
 and something better. Cheerful spring is 
 approaching : then I hope the barometer of 
 your spirits will rise. But the presence of 
 the Lord can bring a pleasanter spring than 
 April, and even in the depth of winter. 
 
 At present it is January with me, both with- 
 in and without. The outward sun shines and 
 looks pleasant, but his beams are faint, and 
 too feeble to dissolve the frost. So is it in 
 my heart ; I have many bright and pleasant 
 beams of truth in my view, but cold predo- 
 minates in my frost-bound spirit, and they 
 have but little power to warm me. I could 
 tell a stranger something about Jesus that 
 would perhaps astonish him : such a glorious 
 person ! such wonderful love ! such humilia- 
 tion ! such a death ! and then what he is 
 now himself, and what he is to his people ! 
 What a sun ! what a shield ! what a root ! 
 what a life ! what a friend ! My tongue can 
 run on upon these subjects sometimes ; and 
 could my heart keep pace with it I should be 
 the happiest fellow in the country. Stupid 
 
 creature ! to know these things so well, and 
 yet be no more affected with them ! Indeed, 
 I have reason to be upon ill terms with my- 
 self ! It is strange that pride should ever 
 find any thing in my experience to feed up- 
 on ; but this completes my character for folly, 
 vileness, and inconsistence, that I am not only 
 poor, but proud ; and though I am convinced 
 I am a very wretch, a nothing before the 
 Lord, I am prone to go forth among my fel- 
 low-creatures as though I were wise and 
 good. 
 
 You wonder what I am doing ; and well 
 you may : I am sure you would, if you lived 
 with me. Too much of my time passes in 
 busy idleness, too much in waking dreams. 1 
 aim at something ; but hindrances from with- 
 in and without make it difficult for me to ac- 
 complish any thing. I dare not say I am ab- 
 solutely idle, or that I wilfully waste much 
 of my time. I have seldom one hour free 
 from interruption. Letters come that must 
 be answered, visitants that must be received, 
 business that must be attended to. I have a 
 good many sheep and lambs to look after, 
 sick and afflicted souls, dear to the Lord ; 
 and therefore, whatever stands still, these 
 must not be neglected. Amongst these va- 
 rious avocations, night comes before I am 
 ready for noon ; and the week closes, when, 
 according to the state of my business, it should 
 not be more than Tuesday. O precious, ir- 
 recoverable time ! O that I had more wisdom 
 in redeeming and improving thee ! Pray for 
 me, that the Lord may teach me to serve him 
 better. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
L.ET. III. 
 
 LETTERS TO THE REV. MR. B 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 April 28, 1778. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 I was not much disappointed at not meeting 
 you at home ; I know how difficult it is to get 
 away from ■ - , if you are seen in the 
 
 street after breakfast. The horse-leech has 
 two daughters, saying, Give, give : the cry 
 there is, Preach, preach. When you have 
 told them all, you must tell them more, or 
 tell it them over again. Whoever will find 
 tongue, they will engage to find ears. Yet I 
 do not blame this importunity, I wish you 
 were teased more with it in your own town ; 
 for though, undoubtedly, there are too many, 
 both at N and here, whose religion lies 
 
 too much in hearing, yet in many it proceeds 
 from a love to the truth, and to the ministers 
 who dispense it. And I generally observe, 
 that they who are not willing to hear a stran- 
 ger (if his character is known), are indiffer- 
 ent enough about hearing their own minister. 
 
 I beg you to pray for me. I am a poor 
 creature, full of wants. I seem to need the 
 wisdom of Solomon, the meekness of Moses, 
 and the zeal of Paul, to enable me to make 
 full proof of my ministry. But, alas ! you 
 may guess the rest. 
 
 Send me “ The way to Christ.” I am wil- 
 ling to be a debtor to the wise and unwise, to 
 doctors and shoemakers, if I can get a hint, or 
 a Nota Bene , from any one, without respect 
 to parties. When a house is on fire, Church- 
 men, Dissenters, Methodists, Papists, Mora- 
 vians, and Mystics, are all welcome to bring 
 water. At such times, nobody asks, Pray, 
 friend, whom do you hear ? or, What do you 
 think of the five points? &c. &c. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER. III. 
 
 July 7, 1778. 
 
 MY DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 I know not that I have any thing to say worth 
 postage, though perhaps, had I seen you be- 
 fore you set off, something might have oc- 
 curred which will not be found in my letter. 
 Yet I write aline, because you bid me, and are 
 now in a far, foreign country. You will find 
 
 Mr. a man to your tooth, but he is in 
 
 Mr. W ’s connection. So I remember 
 
 venerable Bede, after giving a high character 
 of some contemporary, kicks his full pail of 
 milk down, and reduces him almost to no- 
 thing, by adding, in the close, to this purpose : 
 “ but, unhappy man, he did not keep Easter 
 our way.” A fig for all connections, say I, 
 and say you, but that which is formed by the 
 bands, joints, and ligaments, the apostle speaks 
 
 303 
 
 of, Eph. iv. 16, et alibi. Therefore, I ven- 
 ture to repeat it, that Mr. , though he 
 
 often sees and hears Mr. W , and I be- 
 
 lieve loves him well, is a good man ; and you 
 will see the invisible mark upon his forehead, 
 if you examine him with your spiritual spec- 
 tacles. 
 
 Now, methinks I do pity you : I see you 
 melted with heat, sti filed with smoke, and 
 stunned with noise. Ah ! what a change 
 from the brooks, and bushes, and birds, and 
 green fields, to which you had lately access ! 
 Of old they used to retire into the deserts for 
 mortification. If I was to set myself a mo- 
 derate penance, it might be to spend a fort- 
 night in London in the height of summer. 
 But I forget myself : — I hope the Lord is with 
 you, and then all places are alike. He makes 
 the dungeon and the stocks comfortable (Acts 
 xvi.); yea, a fiery furnace, or a lion’s den. 
 A child of God in London seems to be in all 
 these trying situations : but Jesus can pre- 
 serve his own. I honour the grace of God in 
 those few (comparatively few, 1 fear) who pre- 
 serve their garments undefiled in that Sardis. 
 The air is filled with infection, and it is by 
 special power and miraculous preservation 
 they enjoy spiritual health, when so many 
 sicken and fall around them on the right hand 
 and on the left. May the Lord preserve you 
 from the various epidemical soul-diseases which 
 abound where you are, and be your comfort 
 and defence from day to day. 
 
 Last week we had a lion in town. I went 
 to see him. He was wonderfully tame ; as 
 familiar with his keeper, as docile and obe- 
 dient, as a spaniel. Yet the man told me he 
 had his surly fits, when they durst not touch 
 him. No looking-glass could express my 
 face more justly than this lion did my heart. 
 I could trace every feature : as wild and fierce 
 by nature, yea, much more so ; but grace has 
 in some measure tamed me. I know and 
 love my Keeper, and sometimes watch his 
 looks that I may learn his will. But, oh ! I 
 have my surly fits too ; seasons when I re- 
 lapse into the savage again, as though I had 
 forgotten all. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 July 13, 1778. 
 
 MY DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 As we are so soon to meet, and as I have no 
 thing very important to communicate, and 
 many things occur which might demand my 
 time, I have no other plea to offer, either to 
 you or myself, for writing again, but because 
 I love you. 
 
 I pity the unknown considerable minister, 
 with whom you smoked your morning-pipe. 
 But we must take men and things as we find 
 them : and when we fall in company with 
 
S04 
 
 those from whom we can get little other good, 
 it is likely we shall at least find occasion for 
 the exercise of patience and charity towards 
 them, and of thankfulness to Him who hath 
 made us to differ. And these are good things, 
 though, perhaps, the occasion may not be 
 pleasant. Indeed, a Christian, if in a right 
 spirit, is always in his Lord’s school, and may 
 learn either a new lesson, or how to practise 
 an old one, by every thing he sees or hears, 
 provided he does not wilfully tread upon for- 
 bidden ground. If he were constrained to 
 spend a day with the poor creatures in the 
 common side of Newgate, though he could 
 not talk with them of what God has done for 
 his soul, he might be more sensible of his 
 mercy by the contrast he would observe a- 
 round him. He might rejoice for himself, 
 and mourn over them, and thus perhaps get 
 as much benefit as from the best sermon he 
 ever heard. 
 
 It is necessary, all things taken together, to 
 have connection more or less with narrow- 
 minded people. If they are, notwithstanding 
 their prejudices, civil to us, they have a right 
 to some civility from us. We may love them, 
 though we cannot admire them, and pick 
 something good from them, notwithstanding 
 we see much to blame. It is, perhaps, the 
 highest triumph we can obtain over bigotry, 
 when we are able to bear with bigots them- 
 selves. For they are a set of troublesome 
 folks, whom Mr. Self is often very forward to 
 exclude from the comprehensive candour and 
 tenderness which he professes to exercise to- 
 wards those who differ from him. 
 
 I am glad your present home (a believer 
 should be always at home) is pleasant ; the 
 rooms large and airy ; your host and hostess 
 kind and spiritual ; and, upon the whole, all 
 things as well as you could expect to find 
 them, considering where you are. I could 
 give you much such an account of my usual 
 head-quarters in the city ; but still London is 
 London. I do not wish you to live there, for 
 my own sake as well as yours ; but if the Lord 
 should so appoint, I believe he can make you 
 easy there, and enable me to make a tolerable 
 shift without you. Yet I certainly should 
 miss you ; for I have no person in this neigh- 
 bourhood with whom my heart so thoroughly 
 unites in spirituals, though there are many 
 whom I love. But conversation with most 
 Christians is something like going to court ; 
 where, except you are dressed exactly accord- 
 ing to a prescribed standard, you will either 
 not be admitted, or must expect to be hearti- 
 ly stared at. But you and I can meet and 
 converse, sans contrainte , in an undress, with- 
 out fear of offending, or being accounted of- 
 fenders for a word out of place, and not exact- 
 ly in the pink of the mode. 
 
 I know not how it is : I think my senti- 
 ments and experience are as orthodox and 
 Calvinistical as need be ; and yet I am a sort 
 
 LET. IV. 
 
 of speckled bird among my Calvinist brethren. 
 I am a mighty good Churchman, but pass 
 amongst such as a Dissenter in prunello. 
 On the other hand, the Dissenters (many of 
 them I mean) think me defective, either in 
 understanding or in conscience, for staying 
 where I am. Well, there is a middle party, 
 called Methodists, but neither do my dimen- 
 sions exactly fit with them. I am somehow 
 disqualified for claiming a full brotherhood 
 with any party. But there are a few among 
 all parties who bear with me and love me, 
 and with this I must be content at present. 
 But so far as they love the Lord Jesus, I de- 
 sire, and by his grace 1 determine (with or 
 without their leave) to love them all. Party 
 walls, though stronger than the walls of Baby- 
 lon, must come down in the general ruin, 
 when the earth and all its works shall be burnt 
 up, if not sooner. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER V 
 
 July — , 1778. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, 
 
 I was glad to hear that you were again within 
 a few miles of me ; and I would praise the 
 Lord, who led you out, and brought you 
 home in safety, and preserved all in peace 
 while you were abroad, so that you found 
 nothing very painful to embitter your return. 
 Many go abroad well, but return no more. 
 The affectionate wife, the prattling children, 
 listen for the well-known sound of papa’s 
 foot at the door ; but they listen in vain : a 
 fall or a fever has intercepted him, and he is 
 gone far, far away. Some leave all well when 
 they go from home ; but how changed, how 
 trjing the scene when they come back! In 
 their absence, the Lord has taken away the 
 desire of their eyes with a stroke, or perhaps 
 ruffians have plundered and murdered their 
 family in the dead of the night, or the fire 
 devoured their habitation. 
 
 Ah ! how large and various is the list of 
 evils and calamities with which sin has filled 
 the w'orld ! You and I and ours escape 
 them : w r e stand, though in a field of battle, 
 where thousands fall around us, because the 
 Lord is pleased to keep us. May he have 
 the praise, and may we only live to love and 
 serve him. 
 
 Mrs. has been very ill, and my heart 
 
 often much pained while you have been ab- 
 sent. But the Lord has removed bis hand ; 
 she is much better, and I hope she will be 
 seen in his house to-morrow r . I have few 
 trials in my own person ; but when the 
 Lord afflicts her, I feel it. It is a mercy 
 that he has made us one ; but it exposes 
 us to many a pain, which we might have 
 missed, if w e cared but little for each other 
 
 LETTERS TO THE REV. MR. B . 
 
LET. VII. 
 
 Alas ! there is usually an ounce of the golden 
 calf, of idolatry and dependence, in all the 
 warm regard we bear to creatures. Hinc il- 
 lee lachrymce ! For this reason, our sharpest 
 trials usually spring from our most valued 
 comforts. 
 
 I cannot come to you : therefore you must 
 come hither speedily. Be sure to bring Mr. 
 
 B with you. I shall be very glad to see 
 
 him, and I long to thank him for clothing 
 my book. It looks well on the outside, and 
 I hope to find it sound and savoury. I love 
 the author, and that is a step towards liking 
 the book. For where we love, we are gene- 
 rally tender, and favourably take every thing 
 by the best handle, and are vastly full of can- 
 dour : but if we are prejudiced against the 
 man, the poor book is half condemned before 
 we open it. It had need be written well, for 
 it will be read with a suspicious eye, as if we 
 wished to find treason in every page. I am 
 glad I diverted and profited you by calling 
 you a speckled bird. I can tell you, such a 
 bird in this day, that wears the full colour 
 of no sect or party, is rara avis ; if not quite 
 so scarce as the phoenix, yet to be met with 
 but here and there. It is impossible I should 
 be all of a colour, when I have been a debtor 
 to all sorts ; and, like the jay in the fable, 
 have been beholden to most of the birds in the 
 air for a feather or two. Church and Meet- 
 ing, Methodist and Moravian, may all per- 
 ceive something in my coat taken from them. 
 None of them are angry with me for borrow- 
 ing from them ; but then, why could not I 
 be content with their colour, without going 
 amongst other flocks and coveys, to make my- 
 self such a motley figure ? Let them be an- 
 gry ; if I have culled the best feathers from 
 all, then surely I am finer than any. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 August — , 1778. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 If the Lord affords health, if the weather be 
 tolerable, if no unforeseen change takes place, 
 if no company comes in upon me to-night 
 (which sometimes unexpectedly happens), — 
 
 with these provisos, Mr. S and I have 
 
 engaged to travel to on Monday next, 
 
 and hope to be with you by or before eleven 
 o’clock. 
 
 In such a precarious world, it is needful 
 to form our plans at two days distance, with 
 precaution and exceptions, James iv. 13. 
 However, if it be the Lord’s will to bring us 
 together, and if the purposed interview be for j 
 bis glory and our good, then I am sure no- 
 thing shall prevent it. And who in his right 
 wits would wish either to visit or be visited j 
 upon any other terms ? O ! if we could but 
 
 305 
 
 be pleased with his will, we might be pleased 
 from morning to night, and every day in the 
 year. 
 
 Pray for a blessing upon our coming to- 
 gether. It would be a pity to walk ten miles 
 to pick straws, or to come with our empty- 
 vessels upon our heads, saying, we have found 
 no water. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER VII. 
 
 October — , 1778. 
 
 MY DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 Your letters are always welcome ; the last 
 doubly so, for being unexpected. If you ne- 
 ver heard before of a line of yours being use- 
 ful, I will tell you for once, that I get some 
 pleasure and instruction whenever you write 
 to me. And I see not but your call to let- 
 ter-writing is as clear as mine, at least when 
 you are able to put pen to paper, 
 
 I must say something to your queries about 
 2 Sam. xiv. I do not approve of the scho- 
 lastic distinctions about inspiration, which 
 seem to have a tendency to explain away the 
 authority and certainty of one half of the 
 Bible at least. Though the penmen of the 
 scriptures were ever so well informed of 
 some facts, they would, as you observe, 
 need express, full, and infallible inspiration, 
 to teach them what the Lord would have se- 
 lected and recorded for the use of the church, 
 amongst many others which to themselves 
 might appear equally important. 
 
 However, with respect to historical pass- 
 ages, I dare not pronounce positively that 
 any of them are, even in the literal sense, un- 
 worthy of the wisdom of the Holy Ghost, and 
 the dignity of inspiration. Some, yea many 
 of them, have often appeared trivial to me ; 
 but I check the thought, and charge it to my 
 own ignorance and temerity. It must-have 
 some importance, because I read it in God’s 
 book. On the other hand, though I will not 
 deny that they all may have a spiritual and 
 mystical sense (for I am no more qualified to 
 judge of the deep things of the Spirit, than 
 to tell you what is passing this morning at 
 the bottom of the 'Sea) ; yet if, with my pre- 
 sent modicum of light, I should undertake to 
 expound many passages in a mystical sense, I 
 fear such a judge as you would think my in- 
 terpretations fanciful, and not well supported. 
 I suppose I should have thought the Bible 
 complete, though it had not informed me of 
 the death of Rebekah’s nurse, or where she 
 was buried. But some tell me that Deborah 
 is the law, and that by the oak I am to un- 
 derstand the cross of Christ : and I remem- 
 ber to have heard of a preacher who discover- 
 ed a type of Christ crucified in Absalom hang- 
 ing by the hair on another oak. I am quite 
 2 D 
 
 LETTERS TO THE REV. MR. B 
 
LET. VIII 
 
 306 LETTERS TO THE 
 
 a mole when compared with these eagle-eyed 
 divines, and must often content myself with 
 plodding upon the lower ground of accom- 
 modation and allusion, except when the New- 
 Testament writers assure me what the mind 
 of the Holy Ghost was. I can find the gospel 
 with more confidence in the history of Sarah 
 and Hagar, than in that of Leah and Rachel ; 
 though, without Paul’s help, I should have 
 considered them both as family-squabbles, re- 
 corded chiefly to illustrate the general truth, 
 that vanity and vexation of spirit are incident 
 to the best men, in the most favoured situa- 
 tions. And I think there is no part of Old- 
 Testament history from which I could not 
 (the Lord helping me) draw observations that 
 might be suitable to the pulpit, and profitable 
 to his people : so I might, perhaps, from 
 
 Livy or Tacitus. But then, with the Bible 
 in my hands, I go upon sure grounds: I am 
 certain of the facts I speak from, that they 
 really did happen. I may likewise depend 
 upon the springs and motives of actions, and 
 not amuse myself and my hearers with speeches 
 which were never spoken, and motives which 
 were never thought of, till the historian rum- 
 maged his pericranium for something to em- 
 bellish his work. I doubt not but, were you 
 to consider Joab’s courtly conduct only in a 
 literal sense, how it tallied with David’s de- 
 sire, and how gravely and graciously he grant- 
 ed himself a favour while he professed to ob- 
 lige Joab : I say, in this view you would be 
 able to illustrate many important scriptural 
 doctrines, and to shew that the passage is im- 
 portant to those w'ho are engaged in studying 
 the anatomy of the human heart. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER VIII. 
 
 October 27, 1778. 
 
 MY DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 I HAVE been witness to a great and important 
 revolution this morning, which took place 
 while the greatest part of the world was a- 
 sleep. Like many state revolutions, its first 
 beginnings were almost undiscernable ; but 
 the progress, though gradual, was steady, and 
 the event decisive. A while ago darkness 
 reigned. Had a man then dropped, for the 
 first time, into our world, he might have 
 thought himself banished into a hopeless dun- 
 geon. How could he expect light to rise out 
 of such a state? And when he saw the first 
 glimmering of dawn in the east, how could he 
 promise himself that it was the forerunner of 
 such a glorious sun as has since arisen. With 
 what wonder would such a new comer ob- 
 serve the bounds of his view enlarging, and 
 the distinctness of objects increasing from one 
 minute to another ; and how well content 
 would he be to part with the twinklings of the 
 
 REV. MR. B- 
 stars, when he had the broad day all around him 
 in exchange ! I cannot say this revolution is 
 extraordinary, because it happens every morn- 
 ing; but surely it is astonishing, or rather it 
 would be so, if man was not astonishingly 
 stupid. 
 
 Such strangers once were we. Darkness, 
 gross darkness, covered us. How confined 
 were our views ! And even the things which 
 were within our reach we could not distin- 
 guish. Little did we then think what a glo- 
 rious day we were appointed to see; what an 
 unbounded prospect would ere long open be- 
 fore us. We knew not that there was a 
 Sun of righteousness, and that he would dawn, 
 and rise, and shine upon our hearts. And as 
 the idea of what we see now was then hidden 
 from us, so at present we are almost equally 
 at a loss how to form any conception of the 
 stronger light and brighter prospects which 
 we wait and hope for. Comparatively we are 
 in the dark still : at the most, we have but a 
 dim twilight, and see nothing clearly; but it 
 is the dawn of immortality, and a sure pre- 
 sage and earnest of glory. 
 
 Thus, at times, it seems, a darkness that 
 may be felt broods over your natural spirits : 
 but when the day-star rises upon your heart, 
 you see and rejoice in his light. You have 
 days as well as nights ; and after a few more 
 vicissitudes, you will take your flight to the 
 regions of everlasting light, where your sun 
 will go down no more. Happy you, and 
 happy I, if I shall meet you there, as I trust 
 I shall. How shall w*e love, and sing, and 
 wonder, and praise the Saviour’s name. 
 
 Last Sunday a young man died here of ex- 
 treme old age, at twenty-five. He laboured 
 hard to ruin a good constitution, and un- 
 happily succeeded ; yet amused himself with 
 the hopes of recovery almost to the last. We 
 have a sad knot of such poor creatures in this 
 place, who labour to stifle each other’s con- 
 victions, and to ruin themselves and associ- 
 ates, soul and body. How industriously is 
 Satan served ! I was formerly one of his mos 
 active under-tempters. Not content with run- 
 ning the broad way myself, I was indefatiga- 
 ble in enticing others; and had my influence 
 been equal to my wishes, I tvould have car- 
 ried all the human race with me. And, doubt- 
 less, some have perished, to whose destruction 
 I was greatly instrumental, by tempting them 
 to sin, and by poisoning and hardening them 
 with principles of infidelity ; and yet l wa' 
 spared. When I think of the most with whom 
 I spent my unhappy days of ignorance, I am 
 ready to say, I only am escaped alive to tell 
 thee. Surely I have not half the activity and 
 zeal in the service of him who snatched me as 
 a brand out of the burning, as I had in the 
 service of his enemy. Then the whole stream 
 of my endeavours and affections went one way ; 
 now my best desires are continually crossed, 
 counteracted, and spoiled, by the sin which 
 
let. x. LETTERS TO THE 
 
 dwelleth in me ; then the tide of a corrupt 
 nature bore me along, now I have to strive and 
 swim against it. The Lord cut me short of 
 opportunities, and placed me where I could 
 do but little mischief ; but had my abilities 
 and occasions been equal to my heart, I should 
 have been a Voltaire and a Tiberius in one 
 character, a monster of profaneness and licen- 
 tiousness. “ O to grace how great a debtor !” 
 A common drunkard or profligate is a petty 
 sinner to what I was. I had the ambition of 
 a Caisar or an Alexander, and wanted to rank 
 in wickedness among the foremost of the hu- 
 man race. When you have read this, praise 
 the Lord for his mercy to the chief of sinners, 
 and pray that I may have grace to be faithful. — 
 But I have rambled. I meant to tell you, that 
 on Sunday afternoon I preached from Ezekiel 
 xxxiii. 10, 11, “ Why will ye die?” &c. I 
 endeavoured to shew poor sinners, that if they 
 died, it was because they would, and if they 
 would they must. I was much affected for a 
 time : I could hardly speak for weeping, and 
 some wept with me. From some, alas ! I can 
 no more draw a tear, or a relenting thought, 
 than from a mill -stone. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER IX. 
 
 November 27, 1778. 
 
 MY DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 You are a better expositor of scripture than 
 of my speeches, if you really inferred from my 
 last that I think you shall die soon. I cannot 
 say positively you will not die soon, because 
 life at all times is uncertain ; however, ac- 
 cording to the doctrine of probabilities, I think, 
 and always thought, you bid fair enough to 
 outlive me. The gloomy tinge of your weak 
 spirits led you to consider yourself much 
 worse in point of health than you appear to 
 me to be. 
 
 In the other point I dare be more positive, 
 that die when you will, you will die in the 
 Lord. Of this I have not the least doubt ; 
 and I believe you doubt of it less, if possible, 
 than I, except in those darker moments when 
 the atrabilious humour prevails. 
 
 I heartily sympathize with you in your com- 
 plaints; but I see you in safe hands. The 
 Lord loves you, and will take care of you. He 
 who raises the dead, can revive your spirits 
 when you are cast down. He who sets bounds 
 to the sea, and says, “ Hitherto shalt thou 
 come, and no further,” can limit and moder- 
 ate that gloom which sometimes distresses 
 you. He knows why he permits you to be 
 thus exercised. I cannot assign the reasons, 
 but I am sure they are worthy of his wisdom 
 and love, and that you will hereafter see, and 
 sav, He has done all things well. If I was as 
 wise as your philosopher, 1 might say a great 
 
 REV. MR. B 307 
 
 deal about a melancholy complexion ; but I 
 love not to puzzle myself with second causes, 
 while the first cause is at hand, which suffi- 
 ciently accounts for every phenomenon in a 
 believer’s experience. Your constitution, your 
 situation, your temper, your distemper, all 
 that is either comfortable or painful in your 
 lot, is of his appointment. The hairs of your 
 head are all numbered : the same power which 
 produced the planet Jupiter is necessary to 
 the production of a single hair, nor can one 
 of them fall to the ground without his notice, 
 any more than the stars can fall from their 
 orbits. In providence, no less than in crea- 
 tion, he is Maximus in minimis. Therefore 
 fear not ; only believe. Our sea may some- 
 times be stormy, but we have an infallible 
 pilot, and shall infallibly gain our port. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER X. 
 
 February 23. 1779. 
 
 MY DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 On Saturday, and not before, 1 heard you 
 had been ill. Had the news reached me 
 sooner, I should have sent you a line sooner. 
 I hope you will be able to inform me that 
 you are now better, and that the Lord con- 
 tinues to do you good by every dispensation 
 he allots you. Healing and wounding are 
 equally from his hand, and equally tokens of 
 his love and care over us. I have but little 
 affliction in my own person, but I have been 
 often chastened of late by proxy. The Lord, 
 for his people’s sake, is still pleased to give 
 me health and strength for public service, 
 but when I need the rod he lays it upon 
 
 Mrs. . In this way I have felt much, 
 
 without being disabled or laid aside. But 
 he has heard prayer for her likewise, and for 
 more than a fortnight past she has been com- 
 fortably well. I lay at least one half of her 
 sicknesses to my own account : she suffers 
 for me, and I through her. It is indeed 
 touching me in a tender part. Perhaps if I 
 could be more wise, watchful, and humble, 
 it might contribute more to the re-establish- 
 ment of her health than all the medicines she 
 takes. 
 
 I somehow neglected to confer with you 
 about the business of the Fast-day. The 
 last of my three sermons, when I had, as I 
 expected, the largest congregation, was a 
 sort of historical discourse, from Deut. xxxii. 
 1 5, in which, running over the leading na- 
 tional events from the time of Wickliff, I en- 
 deavoured to trace the steps and turns by 
 w'hich the Lord has made us a fat and thriv- 
 ing people, and in the event blessed us be- 
 yond his favourite Jeshurun of old, with civil 
 and religious liberty, peace, honour, and pros- 
 perity, and gospel-privileges : How fat w« 
 
LET. XII. 
 
 308 LETTERS TO THE 
 
 were when the wai terminated in the year 
 1 763, and how we have kicked, and forsaken 
 the Rock of our salvation of late years. Then 
 followed a sketch of our present state and spi- 
 rit as a people, both in a religious and poli- 
 tical view. I started at the picture while I 
 drew it, though it was a very inadequate re- 
 presentation. We seemed willing to afflict our 
 souls, for one day, as Dr. Lowth reads Isa. 
 lviii. 5. But the next day, things returned 
 into their former channel : the fast and the 
 occasion seemed presently forgotten, except 
 by a few simple souls, who are despised and 
 hated by the rest for their preciseness, because 
 they think sin ought to be lamented every 
 day in the year. 
 
 Who would envy Cassandra her gift of 
 prophecy upon the terms she had it, that her 
 declarations, however true, should meet with 
 no belief or regard ? It is the lot of gos- 
 pel-ministers, with respect to the bulk of 
 4heir hearers. But blessed be the grace 
 which makes a few exceptions. Here and 
 there one will hear, believe, and be saved. 
 Every one of these is worth a world, and our 
 success with a few should console us for all 
 our trials. 
 
 Come and see us as soon as you can, only 
 
 not to-morrow, for I am then to go to T . 
 
 My Lord, the great Shepherd has one sheep 
 there, related to the fold under my care. I 
 can seldom see her, and she is very ill. I 
 expect she will be soon removed to the pas- 
 ture above. Our love to Mrs. B . 
 
 Believe me yours, &c. 
 
 LETTER XI. 
 
 April 23, 1779. 
 
 MY DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 May I not style myself a friend, when I re- 
 member you after an interval of several weeks 
 since I saw you, and through a distance of 
 threescore miles ? But the truth is, you have 
 been neither absent nor distant from my heart 
 a day. Your idea has travelled with me : 
 you are a kind of familiar, very often before 
 the eye of my mind. This, I hope, may be 
 admitted as a proof of friendship. 
 
 I know the Lord loves you, and you know 
 it likewise : every affliction affords you a fresh 
 proof of it. How wise his management in 
 our trials ! How wisely adjusted in season, 
 weight, and continuance, to answer his gracious 
 purposes in sending them ! How unspeakably 
 better to be at his disposal than at our own ! 
 So you say, so you think, so you find. You 
 trust in him, and shall not be disappointed. 
 Help me with your prayers, that I may trust 
 him too, and be at length enabled to say 
 without reserve, What thou wilt, when thou 
 wilt, how thou wilt. I had rather speak 
 these three sentences from my heart, in my 
 
 REV. MR. B . 
 
 mother-tongue, than be master of all the lan- 
 guages in Europe. 
 
 I am yours, &c. 
 
 LETTER XII. 
 
 August 19, 1779. 
 
 MY DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 Among the rest of temporal mercies, I would 
 be thankful for pen, ink, and paper, and the 
 convenience of the post, by wdiich means we 
 can waft a thought to a friend when we can- 
 not get at him. My will has been good to 
 see you, but you must accept the will for the 
 deed. The Lord has not permitted me. 
 
 I have been troubled of late with the rheu- 
 matism in my left arm. Mine is a sinful, 
 vile body, and it is a mercy that any part of 
 it is free from pain. It is virtually the seat 
 and subject of all diseases ; but the Lord 
 holds them like wild beasts in a chain, under 
 a strong restraint : were that restraint taken 
 off, they would rush upon their prey from 
 every quarter, and seize upon every limb, 
 member, joint, and nerve, at once. Yet, 
 though I am a sinner, and though my whole 
 texture is so frail and exposed, I have en- 
 joyed for a number of years an almost per- 
 fect exemption both from pain and sickness. 
 This is wonderful indeed, even in my own 
 eyes. 
 
 But my soul is far from being in a healthy 
 state. There I have laboured, and still la- 
 bour, under a complication of diseases ; and, 
 but for the care and skill of an infallible Phy- 
 sician, I must have died the death long ago. 
 At this very moment my soul is feverish, drop- 
 sical, paralytic. I feel a loss of appetite, a 
 disinclination both to food and to medicine : 
 so that I am alive by miracle : yet I trust I 
 shall not die, but live, and declare the works 
 of the Lord. When I faint, he revives me 
 again. I am sure he is able, and I trust he 
 has promised to heal me ; but how inveterate 
 must my disease be, that is not yet subdued, 
 even under his management ! 
 
 Well, my friend, there is a land where the 
 inhabitants shall no more say, I am sick 
 Then my eyes will not be dim, nor my ea> 
 heavy, nor my heart hard. 
 
 One sight of Jesus as he is 
 Will strike all sin for ever dead. 
 
 Blessed be his name for this glorious hope! 
 May it cheer us under all our present uneasy 
 feelings, and reconcile us to every cross. The 
 way must be right, however rough, that leads 
 to such a glorious end. 
 
 O for more of that gracious influence, 
 which in a moment can make the wilderness- 
 soul rejoice and blossom like the rose ! I 
 want something which neither critics nor com- 
 mentators can help me to. The scripture it- 
 
LET. XIV. 
 
 LETTERS TO THE 
 
 self, whether I read it in Hebrew, Greek, 
 French, or English, is a sealed book in all 
 these languages, unless the Spirit of the Lord 
 is present to expound and apply. Pray for me. 
 No prayer seems more suitable to me than 
 that of the psalmist : “ Bring my soul out of 
 prison, that I may praise thy name.” 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER XIII. 
 
 August 28, 1779. 
 
 MY DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 I want to hear how you are. I hope your 
 complaint is not worse than when I saw you. 
 I hope you are easier, and will soon find 
 yourself able to move about again. I should 
 be sorry, if to the symptoms of the stone you 
 should have the gout superadded in your right 
 hand, for then you would not be able to write 
 to me. 
 
 We go on much as usual, sometimes very 
 poorly, sometimes a little better : the latter is 
 the case to-day. My rheumatism continues, 
 but it is very moderate and tolerable. The 
 Lord deals gently with us, and gives us many 
 proofs that he does not afflict willingly. 
 
 The days speed away apace : each one 
 Dears away its own burden with it, to return 
 no more. Both pleasures and pains that are 
 past are gone for ever. What is yet future 
 will likewise be soon past. The end is com- 
 ing. O, to realize the thought, and to judge 
 of things now in some measure suitable to 
 the judgment we shall form of them when we 
 are about to leave them all ! Many things 
 which now either elate or depress us, will then 
 appear to be trifles light as air. 
 
 One thing is needful : to have our hearts 
 united to the Lord in humble faith j to set 
 him always before us ; to rejoice in him as 
 our shepherd and our portion ; to submit to 
 all his appointments, not of necessity, because 
 he is stronger than we, but with a cheerful 
 acquiescence, because he is wise and good, 
 and loves us better than we do ourselves ; to 
 feed upon his truth ; to have our understand- 
 ings, wills, affections, imaginations, and me- 
 mory, all filled and impressed with the great 
 mysteries of redeeming love ; to do all for him, 
 to receive all from him, to find all in him. 
 I have mentioned many things, but they are 
 all comprised in one, a life of faith in the Son 
 of God. We are empty vessels in ourselves, 
 hut we cannot remain empty. Except Jesus 
 dwells in our hearts, and fills them with his 
 
 REV. MR. B 309 
 
 power and presence, they will be filled with 
 folly, vanity, and vexation. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER XIV. 
 
 October 26, 1779. 
 
 MY DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 Being to go out of town to-day, I started up 
 before light to write to you, and hoped to 
 have sent you a long letter ; when, behold ! 
 I could not get at any paper. I am now 
 waiting for a peep at Mr. B at his lodg- 
 
 ings, who came to town last night ; and I 
 shall write as fast as 1 can till I see him. 
 
 I feel for you a little in the same way as 
 you feel for yourself. I bear a friendly sym- 
 pathy in your late sharp and sudden trial. I 
 mourn with that part of you which mourns ; 
 but at the same time I rejoice in the proof 
 you have, and which you give, that the Lord 
 is with you of a truth, I rejoice on your ac- 
 count, to see you supported and comforted, 
 and enabled to say, He has done all things 
 well. I rejoice on my own account. Such 
 instances of his faithfulness and all-sufficiency 
 are very encouraging. We must all expeci 
 hours of trouble in our turn. We must all 
 feel in our concernments the vanity and un- 
 certainty of creature-comforts. What a mercy 
 is it to know from our own past experience, 
 and to have it confirmed to us by the expe- 
 rience of others, that the Lord is good, a 
 stronghold in the day of trouble, and that 
 he knoweth them that trust in him. Crea- 
 tures are like candles, they waste while they 
 afford us a little light, and we see them ex- 
 tinguished in their sockets one after another. 
 But the light of the sun makes amends for 
 them all. The Lord is so rich that he ea- 
 sily can, so good that he certainly will give 
 his children more than he ever will take away. 
 When his gracious voice reaches the heart, It 
 is I, be not afraid ; be still, and know that 
 I am God : when he gives us an impression 
 of his wisdom, pow'er, love, and care, then 
 the storm which attempts to rise in our na- 
 tural passions is hushed into a calm ; the 
 flesh continues to feel, but the spirit is made 
 willing. And something more than submis. 
 sion takes place, — a sweet resignation and 
 acquiescence, and even a joy that we have any 
 thing which we value, to surrender to his 
 call. 
 
 I am yours, &c. 
 
 END OF CAiiDI PIIONI A. 
 
DISCOURSES, 
 
 SERMONS, 
 
 AS INTENDED FOR THE PULPIT. 
 
 Z Tv).c>i y.eci tbex.eo/ua. rnf aXr,9u»i. K«/ u/u.oXoyov/u.tvwf ufya lari ro tjjj il/rt^nxf 
 &io{ bpavigufn tv o-ugx.4 — 1 i'l.M. iii. 15, 16. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The following Discourses were drawn up about twelve months since, when 
 I expected a speedy opportunity of delivering them from the pulpit. As 
 tha views I then had are now over-ruled, I take this method of laying them 
 before the public ; that those who have thought proper to foretell the part I 
 would have acted, and the doctrine I would have taught, if my desires had 
 taken place, may be either satisfied or silenced. 
 
 Yet I should not have thought it worth my while, to give either myself 
 or others this trouble, merely for my own vindication. Attempts of this 
 kind usually imply too much of a man’s importance to himself, to be either 
 acceptable or successful. Or, at best, it can be a point of no great moment 
 to my real happiness, what the few persons to whom my little name is known, 
 are pleased to say or think of me. Nothing but great inattention to our 
 true circumstances, can afford us leisure either to censure others, or to justi- 
 fy ourselves ; unless when the interests of religion or morality are evidently 
 concerned. A few years will fix and determine our characters beyond all 
 possibility of mistake ; and till then it would be vain to hope for it. 
 
 The true reasons, therefore, of this publication are, the importance of the 
 subjects treated of ; and the probability that, upon this occasion, many per- 
 sons who have not yet considered them with the attention they deserve, may 
 be induced (some from a motive of friendship, and others from curiosity) to 
 read what might appear in my name, the rather for being mine. 
 
 Had I written with a design to print, I should have chosen to put my sen- 
 timents in another form ; and perhaps a desire to avoid the censure of severe 
 critics, would have made me more solicitous about expression and method. 
 But as I profess to publish not what I might, but what I really would have 
 spoken, I could not allow myself to deviate from my first draught, except 
 in a few places where I thought the sense entangled, ambiguous, or de- 
 fective. For the same reason, I am forced to decline the judgment and cor- 
 rection of my friends, the advantages of which, as well as my own great 
 need of them, I have more than once experienced. 
 
 If there is found in some places a coincidence of thought or expression, 
 I hope it will be excused ; as I had not the least apprehension, at the time 
 of composing, that what I designed for distinct and separate occasions, 
 would ever appear abroad in one view. 
 
 In a word, so far as these Essays are mine, I entreat a candid perusal ; 
 and that those who read them in order to form their judgment of the author, 
 do not make their estimate from a sentence here and there, but have the pa- 
 tience to read them throughout. So far as what they contain is agreeable to 
 scripture, reason, and experience, any apology would be impertinent. In this 
 case they deserve attention. Every particle of truth is valuable in itself, by 
 whatever means or instruments it may be conveyed to us ; and, like a torch, 
 displays itself by its own light, without any relation to the hand that bears it. 
 
 Liverpool , January 1 , 1760. 
 
DISCOURSES, &c. 
 
 AS INTENDED FOR THE PULPIT. 
 
 SERMON I. 
 
 ON THE DECEITFULNESS OF THE HUMAN HEART. 
 
 The heart is deceitful above all things , and desperately wicked : who can know it ? I the Lord 
 search the heart , T try the reins , even to give every man according to his ways , and according 
 to the fruit of his doings. Je». xvii 9, 10. 
 
 The prophet Jeremiah had a hard task. He 
 was appointed to inculcate unwelcome truths 
 upon a vain, insensible people. He had the 
 grief to find all his expostulations and warn- 
 ings, his prayers and tears, had no other effect 
 than to make them account him their enemy, 
 and to draw reproach and persecution upon 
 himself. He lived to see the accomplishment 
 of his own predictions ; to see the land of his 
 nativity desolated, the city destroyed, the peo- 
 ple almost extirpated, and the few who remain- 
 ed, transported into a distant country, to end 
 their days in captivity. 
 
 Those who have resolved, honestly and 
 steadily, to declare the word of the Lord, have, 
 in all ages, found a part of his trial : the mes- 
 sage they have had to deliver has been disa- 
 greeable and disregarded. It is no hard mat- 
 ter to frame discourses that shall meet with 
 some degree of general approbation ; nor is it 
 difficult to foresee the reception which plain 
 truth must often meet with : but those who 
 undertake a charge must perform it ; and mi- 
 nisters are bound to declare to the people 
 every thing that regards their welfare, whether 
 they will hear, or whether they will forbear. 
 If the watchman sees the danger coming, and 
 does not blow the trumpet, to give the most 
 
 public notice possible, he is answerable for all 
 the evils that may follow. This is applied as 
 a caution to the prophet Ezekiel : and un- 
 doubtedly, every one who administers in holy 
 things is concerned in it. “ So thou, O son 
 of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the 
 house of Israel ; therefore, thou shall hear 
 the word at my mouth, and warn them 
 from me. When I say unto the wicked, O 
 wicked man, thou shalt surely die ; if thou 
 dost not speak to warn the wicked from his 
 way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, 
 but his blood will I require at thine hand,” 
 Ezek. xxxiii. Let this awful passage plead 
 our excuse, if at any time we seem too urgent, 
 or too plain, in our discourses. Too plain oi 
 urgent we cannot be. Our business is most 
 important ; opportunities are critical and pre 
 cious. It is at the hazard of our souls if w& 
 speak deceitfully ; and at the hazard of yours 
 if we speak in vain. 
 
 In the preceding verses, the prophet gives 
 us a striking image of the opposition between 
 the righteous and the wicked, in their present 
 state, their hopes, and their end. The one is 
 compared to a tree ; the other to heath and 
 stubble : the one planted by streams of wa- 
 ter ; the other, exposed on the salt burning 
 
SER. I. 
 
 ON THE DECEITFULNESS 
 
 314 - 
 
 desert : the one, green, flourishing, all full of | 
 fruit ; the other, parched and withering. The 
 hope of the one is fixed on the Lord, the all- j 
 sufficient, the almighty God ; the rash de- ! 
 pendence of the other, on a frail, feeble arm of i 
 flesh. Suitable to this difference is their end : 
 the one, blessed, provided against all evil, so 
 that he shall not be careful in the year of 
 drought ; the other, cursed, and cut off' from 
 the expectations of any amendment. “ He 
 shall not see when good cometh.” The im- 
 mediate design was perhaps to shew the Jews, 
 that there was no way to avert the judgments 
 of God, and to avoid the impending evils 
 which threatened them, but by returning to 
 the Lord, who had begun to smite, and who 
 alone was able to heal them. But this they 
 refused. They preferred their own contri- 
 vances : they leaned upon an arm of flesh ; 
 sometimes upon Egypt, sometimes upon As- 
 syria : one while presuming upon force ; ano- 
 ther while upon cunning. They were fruit- 
 ful in expedients, and when one broken cis- 
 tern failed them, they had recourse to another. 
 But the prophet denounces the curse of God 
 both on them and their supports ; subjoining 
 the words of my text, which may be under- 
 stood, either as a farther proof of what he had 
 said, or an assigned cause of that obstinacy 
 and perverseness he had complained of; 
 “ The heart is deceitful above all things, and 
 desperately wicked ; who can know it ?” 
 
 But, without confining the words to the 
 first occasion of their delivery, I shall consi- 
 der them, as teaching us a doctrine abundant- 
 ly confirmed by mony other passages of scrip- 
 ture, “ that the heart is deceitful and des- 
 perately wicked w hich I shall endeavour to 
 illustrate in a plain familiar way. I shall, 
 secondly, from tire next verse, enforce this 
 observation, that the heart (bad as it is) is 
 incessantly under the divine inspection and 
 examination : “ I the Lord search the heart, 
 
 I try the reins.” I shall, thirdly, consider 
 the issue and design of this inquest; that 
 every man may, in the end, receive accord- 
 ing to his ways, and according to the fruit of 
 his doings. And may the Lord enable us 
 so to try and examine ourselves here, that here- 
 after we may be found unblameable and with- 
 out rebuke before him, through Jesus Christ 
 our Lord. 
 
 I. The heart is here characterised, first, As 
 deceitful, and that above, or in all things : 
 secondly, As desperately wicked ; in so dan- 
 gerous, so deplorable a state, as is not to be 
 conceived or found out. “ Who can know 
 it?” The word in the original w'hich 
 
 we translate desperately wicked, signifies a 
 mortal, incurable disease : a disease which, 
 seizing on the vitals, affects and threatens the 
 whole frame ; and which no remedy can reach. 
 This idea leads us to that first transgression, 
 whereby man departing from God, fatally de- 
 stroyed his soul’s health, and sunk into that 
 
 | state so pathetically described by Isaiah, chap, 
 i. “ The whole head is sick,” all the powers 
 | of the understanding disordered ; “ and the 
 | whole heart faint,” all the springs of the af- 
 i fections enfeebled. “ From the sole of the 
 foot, even unto the head, there is no sound- 
 ness, but wounds, bruises, and putrifying 
 sores:” the evil growing worse continually, 
 and no help or helper at hand : “ they have 
 not been closed nor bound up, nor mollified 
 with ointment.” In consequence of this 
 deep-rooted disorder, the heart is deceitful ; 
 that is, it deceives and fails us in every in- 
 stance ; it promises more than it can perform ; 
 it misleads us with vain desires ; and mocks 
 us with unsuccessful efforts; like the faint at- 
 tempts of a sick man, to perform those actions 
 which require a state of sound health and 
 strength. That this is indeed the case, will 
 (I think) appear from the following particu- 
 lars ; to which I intreat your attention. 
 
 Scripture and reason do jointly assure us, 
 that all we see is the work of an Almighty 
 Being. — The heavens and the earth, the sun, 
 moon, and stars, and even the grass and 
 flowers of the field, loudly proclaim the pre- 
 sence, the power, the wisdom, and the good- 
 ness of God : yet behold the extreme insen- 
 sibility of man ! The wisest of our species, 
 in those places where divine revelation was 
 not known, ever mistook the effect for the 
 cause, and ascribed that honour to the crea- 
 ture which is due only to the Creator. This 
 was the very best of the case ; for, in general, 
 they sunk still lower, to worship stocks and 
 stones : nay, to the eternal reproach of the 
 natural understanding in the things of God, 
 the more civilized any nation was, the more 
 renowned for arts and arms, the farther they 
 were removed from those they termed barba- 
 rians ; so much the more vile and contempti- 
 ble the idolatry they established generally 
 proved. The wisdom of the Egyptians paid 
 divine honours to cats, monkies, and the vilest 
 reptiles. The fine taste of the Greeks conse- 
 crated those for gods, who, if they had lived 
 amongst men, would have been deemed the 
 pests of society ; gods who were, professedly, 
 both patterns and patrons of the most shame- 
 ful vices. The prowess of the Romans esta- 
 blished altars to fear and paleness. So deep- 
 ly were they infatuated, so totally lost to com- 
 mon sense, that the apostle Paul’s worst ene- 
 mies could find no more plausible accusation 
 against him, in one of the politest cities then 
 in the world, than that he had ventured to 
 affirm, “ they were no gods who were made 
 with hands.” 
 
 Thus stood the case with heathens : let us 
 now come nearer home. It is to be feared, 
 the greatest difference between them and the 
 generality of us called Christians is, that we 
 do not partake in their gross outward idola- 
 try. In other respects, our insensibility is 
 perhaps as much greater than theirs, as our 
 
SEK. I. 
 
 OF THE HUMAN HEART. 
 
 superior knowledge renders it more inexcuse- 
 able. We acknowledge a God : that there is 
 but one ; that he is the cause of all things ; 
 that in him we live, and move, and have our 
 being. Had the poor heathens known this, 
 we may judge by their application to their mis- 
 taken worship, it would have had some influ- 
 ence on their practice. But what numbers of 
 us live altogether as “ without God in the 
 world.” I come not here to make invectives ; 
 let conscience judge and give evidence accord- 
 ingly. What do we think of the perpetual 
 presence of God around us, and within us ? 
 We know that he is acquainted with all our 
 thoughts, words, and actions ; yet are we not 
 more effectually restrained and awed by the 
 presence of our fellow-worms, than by the 
 regard of that eye which is ten thousand times 
 brighter than the sun ? How are we affected 
 by the works of God ? Has not the appear- 
 ance of a fine day, or the beauty of an exten- 
 sive prospect, a force to extort a sense of sa- 
 tisfaction from every one ? but how few are 
 there of us that can realize and acknowledge 
 the hand of the glorious author <}f these 
 things ? How seldom, and how faintly, do we 
 adopt the reflection of David ? “ When I 
 
 consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, 
 the moon and the stars which thou hast or- 
 dained ; What is man, that thou art mind- 
 ful of him ? and the son of man, that thou 
 visitest him ?” Psal. viii. What is our 
 judgment of the word of God, that glorious 
 message of love, in which he has pointed out 
 to us the way of salvation ? Is not this book 
 the least read, the least admired, and the least 
 understood of any ? We are presently affected, 
 we enter with all our spirit into the moving 
 incidents (as we term them) of a romance or 
 tragedy, though we know they are not founded 
 on truth, nor have any relation to ourselves j 
 but we can read the history of Jesus Christ, 
 his life and doctrines, his death and passion, 
 with indifference, though we say, all he spoke, 
 or did, or suffered, was for our sakes. What 
 are our thoughts of that eternity to which we 
 are posting, and to which, for aught we know, 
 a few hours may introduce us ? Is it not in 
 the power of the merest trifle that occurs to 
 hide this important point from our view? It 
 were easy to multiply particulars : but are 
 not these sufficient to shew the deceitfulness, 
 the desperate wickedness of the heart ? Let 
 me add one more : the judgments of God are 
 now abroad in the world for these things. We 
 have warnings all around us. We know that 
 many fruitful lands in our neighbourhood are 
 in a manner turned into a wilderness, for the 
 sins of the inhabitants. Every post brings 
 us tidings of some new desolation, and we 
 cannnot tell how soon the case may be our 
 own ; but we have neither sympathy for our 
 fellow-creatures nor concern for ourselves. 
 We hear, we pity, we forget in the same in- 
 stant : but these things are remote. Is, then, 
 
 315 
 
 what we see and feel more laid to heart ? 
 Our friends and acquaintance are taken from 
 amongst us daily, some of them suddenly, in 
 the midst of their warmest pursuits, or just 
 upon the accomplishment of their most fa- 
 vourite schemes : we drop an unmeaning tear, 
 and fly to every officious vanity for relief. 
 Perhaps we are visited ourselves, and brought 
 down to the borders of the grave ; but even 
 against this we are, for the most part, proof, 
 or, if we feel a slight impression, it gradually 
 wears off with the disease, and we return as 
 soon as we recover to our former follies with 
 redoubled ardour. 
 
 This is a slight view of the insensibility of 
 the human heart : let us now consider its in- 
 gratitude. The Israelites were a sample of 
 all mankind in this respect. God visited them 
 in Egypt in the midst of their affliction. 
 Without any application on their part, lie 
 undertook and effected their deliverance : 
 he brought them from among their enemies 
 “ with a high hand, and a stretched-out arm 
 he led them safely through the wilderness ; he 
 screened them with a cloud, from the piercing 
 beams of the sun ; he gave them light by night, 
 in a pillar of fire ; he fed them with bread 
 from heaven, and caused streams to flow in 
 the sandy desert ; he made a covenant with 
 them, and chose them for his peculiar people ; 
 he destroyed all their enemies before them ; 
 and, at length, put them in the full and peace- 
 able possession of a land flowing with milk 
 and honey. Interwoven with the history-of 
 God’s gracious dealings with them, we have 
 an account of their behaviour towards him, 
 which was a continual series of rebellion, per- 
 verseness, murmuring, and disobedience. And 
 are we better than they? In no wise. If 
 we had leisure to consider the natural, civil, 
 and religious advantages we enjoy as a nation, 
 it would appear that we likewise have long 
 been a peculiarly favoured people. The eye 
 of the Lord our God has been upon us con- 
 tinually for good, and we have reason to say, 
 “ He has not dealt so with any nation.” The 
 history of all ages and countries affords us no 
 instance of national prosperity that can be 
 compared, either for degree or continuance, 
 with what we have enjoyed since the Revolu- 
 tion : nor would it be easy, I fear, to find a 
 parallel in any history of our great ingrati- 
 tude. What I have said in the former ar- 
 ticle will necessarily infer this ; for it is impos- 
 sible that those who have so little sensibility, 
 either of the value of the gifts of God, or ot 
 his hand in bestowing them, can be grateful. 
 The seat of ingratitude is in the heart : the 
 proof appears in words and actions. Now, 
 what are the prevailing subjects of conversa- 
 tion amongst us ? Are the great things that 
 God has done for us, the high obligations Ave 
 are under to him, the comforts of our holy 
 religion, and the nature of that blessed hope 
 set before us by the gospel, in the number ? 
 
316 ON THE DECEITFULNESS ser I. 
 
 On the contrary, is not the least hint of 
 these things in company, for the most part, 
 received with reserve, if not with contempt 
 and disgust ? “ Out of the abundance of the 
 heart the mouth speaketh.” God, and the 
 things of God, have little place there ; but 
 levity, detraction, ill-temper, and, not seldom, 
 profaneness and obscenity, in our discourses, 
 too plainly discover the nature of the fountain 
 from whence they flow. And if we look upon 
 the actions of men in general, they are but 
 of a piece with their words ; engrossed by 
 business, or enslaved to pleasure, for a season 
 ail upon the stretch in amassing treasures, 
 and then perhaps as restless and eager to dis- 
 sipate them. Whatever passion rules them 
 for the time, or whatever changes they may 
 admit in their schemes, it is too plain, that 
 a principle of gratitude to God, and a con- 
 scious desire to please him, have little influence 
 either in forming or executing their plans. 
 If these things are so, we have another in- 
 stance of the deceitfulness and desperate 
 wickedness of the heart: it is full of the 
 blackest ingratitude. 
 
 Need any thing be added to these two 
 charges ? Have we not said enough to con- 
 firm the prophet’s assertion ? If not, we can 
 name a third particular, if possible, more ab- 
 surd and inexcusable than either of the former. 
 Man is not only insensible of the greatest 
 part of those things which most concern him, 
 and ungrateful and disobedient to his maker 
 and preserver, his best and only friend, but 
 he is proud too. Though he has nothing 
 but what he has received, has received no- 
 thing but what he has perverted and misma. 
 naged, and must render a strict account of 
 his mismanagement, yet he is proud. We 
 have already seen his blindness and baseness ; 
 there wanted only pride to make him a mon- 
 ster indeed. And need we spend time to 
 prove this ? No. This at least is an univer- 
 sal evil. Any man may easily perceive it in 
 every man but himself ; and every thinking 
 man may perceive it working within himself 
 incessantly. Whether we are alone or in com- 
 pany, whether with friends or enemies, with 
 those above us or those below' us, pride will 
 insinuate. Nay, in the immediate presence 
 of God, when we come together to implore 
 his mercy, while the most humbling confes- 
 sions are upon our lips, and we are charging 
 ourselves as most miserable, helpless sinners, 
 even here pride will find us out. Those must 
 be great strangers to themselves, who are not 
 sensible of this. Now, why is dust and ashes 
 proud ? proud of our failings ! proud of our 
 infirmities ! Is it not from hence, because the 
 heart is deplorably diseased, desperately w'ick- 
 ed, and deeply deceitful ? 
 
 I shall pursue this point no farther. I shall 
 not attempt to enumerate, at present, those 
 “ evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, forni- 
 cations, thefts, and blasphemies” ( Mark vii. 
 
 21), which, our Lord assures us, do perpe- 
 tually “ proceed from the heart.” I chose 
 to insist on insensibility, ingratitude, and 
 pride, because these are the vices w'hich, in 
 common life, we most condemn, are will- 
 ing to think ourselves most free from, and 
 can the least bear to be charged with. And 
 it must be allowed, that between man and 
 man there is often the appearance of much 
 generosity, gratitude, and condescension ; but 
 what will it avail us, that we stand upon some 
 tolerable terms towards each other in these re- 
 spects, if we are guilty before God ? “ The 
 
 Lord seeth not as man seeth” (1 Sam. xvi. 7) : 
 he cannot be deceived or put off with a fair 
 appearance ; for he searcheth the heart and 
 trieth the reins. This is the next point to 
 be considered. 
 
 II. That the heart, with all its workings, 
 and all its faults, is incessantly under the di- 
 vine inspection and examination : “ I the 
 Lord search the heart, I try the reins.” 
 The heart and reins, as distinguished in scrip- 
 ture-phrase, signify those different powers of 
 the mind, the affections and the thoughts. 
 The words search and try have an emphasis 
 in the original, which cannot be reached with- 
 out a paraphrase, if at all. 
 
 The Loid searches ["IplT] the heart : he 
 traces, investigates the inmost principle of our 
 souls to its first rise, with, if I may so speak, 
 a mathematical accuracy. He tries [IJID] 
 the reins : he w atches every rising thought ; he 
 brings it to the test of his most pure law ; he 
 examines it with the utmost exactness, as a 
 refiner assays his metals, w’ith a purpose to re- 
 ject whatever is inferior to the prescribed 
 standard. To form a more just idea of this 
 scrutiny, let us ask ourselves how we could 
 bear to be obliged to declare aloud, in full 
 company, every thought which passes through 
 our minds, every wish and desire of which we 
 are conscious, without the least reserve or ex- 
 ception ? I am persuaded there are few peo- 
 ple so lost to shame, but, if they w'ere brought 
 to this trial, they w'ould rather chuse to die 
 than comply with it. Some things they would 
 perceive, especially upon such a provocation, 
 w'hich they could hardly, upon any terms, 
 prevail with themselves to express. The Lord 
 has mercifully kept us from the knowledge of 
 each other’s hearts, any farther than we are 
 willing to disclose ourselves ; for, were every 
 man compelled to speak all he thinks, there 
 would be an end of society ; and man would 
 no more venture to dwell with man than with 
 tigers and bears. We know wdiat mischief one 
 ungoverned tongue may sometimes occasion : 
 now, the tongue can do no evil, any farther than 
 as it is an instrument of disclosing the hidden 
 things of the heart ; yet it is but a small part 
 of these the worst tongue is capable of dis- 
 closing. What, then, would be the case, if 
 all our hearts w-ere open, all our desires known 
 to one another? What a mixture of confusion 
 
SER. I. 
 
 OF THE HUMAN HEART. 
 
 3J7 
 
 and defiance, shame, rage, fear, and con- 
 tempt, would overspread every countenance ! 
 and yet thus we are exposed to the searching 
 eye of a pure and holy God ! The Lord 
 knows the thoughts of man’s heart, that they 
 are vain. He long ago declared the result of his 
 observation : “ God saw that the wickedness 
 of man was great in the earth ; and that every 
 imagination of the thoughts of his heart was 
 only evil continually,” Gen. vi. And though 
 the world was drowned for this, matters were 
 not mended afterwards; for, upon a second 
 survey, the judgment amounts to the same : 
 “ The Lord looked down from heaven upon 
 the children of men, to see if there were any 
 that did understand, and seek God. They 
 are all gone aside ; they are altogether be- 
 come filthy ; there is none that doeth good, no, 
 not one. Their th-roat is an open sepulchre ; 
 with their tongues they have used deceit, the 
 poison of asps is under their lips.” Psal. xiv. 
 Is. liv. Compare Rom. iii. How it was in 
 our blessed Saviour’s time, we have already 
 observed ; and neither scripture nor experi- 
 ence gives us reason to hope it has been better 
 since, or is now. The apostle Paul has as- 
 sured us, “ That, in the last days” (a charac- 
 ter which, it is likely, coincides with our days) 
 ‘ perilous times shall come. For men shall 
 be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boast- 
 ers, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to pa- 
 rents, unthankful, unholy, without natural 
 affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, in- 
 continent, fierce, despisers of those that are 
 good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of 
 pleasure more than lovers of God : having a 
 form of godliness, but denying the power 
 thereof,” 2 Tim. iii. — Surely, I say, if these 
 are marks of the last days, they must be al- 
 ready commenced. However, we see, upon 
 the whole, how vile and hateful our hearts 
 must appear in the sight of a heart-searching 
 God. 
 
 III. One thing more we have to consider: 
 That the Lord does not observe the heart of 
 man with the indifference of a mere spectator, 
 but as an impartial and an inflexible judge ; 
 “ that he may give every man according to 
 his ways, and according to the fruit of his do- 
 ings.” This was the third particular to be 
 spoken to. 
 
 But, alas ! what can be said to this ? Is it 
 not sufficient to fill our souls with astonish- 
 ment, and to cause all faces to gather black- 
 ness, to hear, that the Lord has purposed to 
 render to every man according to his works ; 
 and that he sits judge, not only upon out- 
 ward actions, but examines the very thoughts 
 and intents of the heart ? Dare any of us abide 
 the issue of such a trial ? Which of us will pre- 
 sume to say, I am clean ? To what purpose 
 can any of us plead, I have not committed a- 
 dultery, if God charges us with every inordinate 
 desire, with every offence of the eye ? What will 
 it avail, that we he-'e never assaulted the life of 
 
 our neighbour, if every angry word, every de- 
 gree of ill-will or revenge, is considered as 
 murder in God’s sight ? It will not suffice to 
 say, I am no thief or extortioner, unless we 
 can clear ourselves of the most distant wish of 
 possessing what was the property of another. 
 If we are sure that we have not forsworn 
 ourselves, but have performed to the Lord 
 our oaths, it is only thus far well, that we shall 
 not be condemned for open and actual perjury : 
 but if we have at any time mentioned, or even 
 thought of the name of God, without the high- 
 est habitual reverence, we have taken his name 
 in vain ; and he has declared he will not hold 
 us guiltless. That this is no gloss of my in- 
 venting but the very words of truth, the decla- 
 ration of him by whom we must be one day 
 judged, the 5th chapter of Matthew will in- 
 form you. There a wanton glance is styled 
 adultery; an angry expression censured as 
 murder ; and to speak unadvisedly even of the 
 hairs of our head, is deemed a branch of pro- 
 fane swearing. And why ? because all these 
 spring from the heart, which is “ naked and 
 open,” without either covering or concealment, 
 “ in the sight of him with whom we have to 
 do,” Heb. iv. This is thought uncomfortable 
 doctrine ; and not without reason, could we go 
 no farther. For there is nothing in heaven or 
 in earth, in time or eternity, that affords the 
 least glimpse of comfort to fallen man, if ei- 
 ther God is strict to mark what is amiss, or 
 if he, trusting in himself, presumes to plead 
 with his Maker. The divine law requires 
 perfect, unremitted, unsinning obedience ; it 
 denounces a curse upon the least failure ; 
 “ Cursed is every one that continueth not in 
 all things which are written in the book of the 
 law to do them” (Gal. iii. 10.); every one, 
 without exception of person or circumstance, 
 that continueth not, from the beginning to the 
 end of life, in all things, great and small, to 
 do them, rou •nowou aura, to finish them, to do 
 them completely, without any defect either in 
 matter or manner. Most uncomfortable doc- 
 trine indeed, were there no remedy provided. 
 For the law of God is as eternal and un- 
 changeable as his nature : it must not, it can- 
 not be attempered or brought down to our ca- 
 pacities ; neither can the penalty be evaded : 
 for the God of truth has said, has sworn, that 
 “ the soui that sinneth shall die,” Ezek. xviii. 
 4. Here, then, we must receive “ a sentence 
 of death in ourselves,” 2 Cor. i. 9. Here, 
 “ every mouth must be stopped, and all the 
 world become guilty before God,” Rom. iii 
 19. Here we must say, with the apostle, 
 “ Therefore, by the deeds of the law, there 
 shall be no flesh justified in his sight” (Gal. ii. 
 16.): “ for by the la w is the knowledge of sin, ” 
 Rom. iii. 20. O that we could all sincerely 
 say so ; that we were brought to this, to feel 
 and confess our lost, undone estate, and our ut- 
 ter inability to save ourselves ! then with joy 
 should I proceed to what I have had in my 
 
SER. I 
 
 S18 ON THE DECEITFULNESS, &C. 
 
 eye all along. For with what view have I 
 said so much upon so disagreeable a sub- 
 ject ? why have I attempted to lay open some 
 of the depths of the heart ? but that I might 
 more fully illustrate the wonderful grace and 
 goodness of God, vouchsafed to us in the 
 gospel ; and at the same time shew the utter 
 impossibility, not of being saved at all, but 
 of finding salvation in any other way than in 
 that which God has appointed. For, be- 
 hold ! God so loved the world (John iii.), 
 that he sent his Son to accomplish that for 
 us, which the law could not do through the 
 weakness of our flesh, Rom. viii. Jesus 
 Christ performed perfect obedience to the law 
 of God in our behalf ; he died, and satisfied 
 the penalty due to our sins ; he rose from the 
 grave as our representative ; he is entered in- 
 to heaven as our forerunner. “ He has re- 
 ceived gifts for men, even for the rebellious,” 
 Psalms lxviii. He is “ exalted” on high 
 “ to bestow repentance and remission of sins” 
 (Acts v.) on all that seek to him. He has 
 established his ordinances for this purpose : he 
 has commanded his people not to neglect the 
 assembling of themselves together. He has 
 charged his ministers at such seasons to de- 
 clare first the guilty, deplorable condition of 
 mankind, and then to proclaim the glad 
 tidings of salvation, by faith which is in him. 
 He has promised to be with them in this 
 work to the end of the world. He has pro- 
 mised, that where his word is faithfully preach- 
 ed, he will accompany it with a spirit and 
 power that will bear down all opposition. 
 He has promised, that while we are speaking 
 to the ear, he will, by his secret influence, ap- 
 ply it to the heart, and open it to receive and 
 embrace the truth spoken, as in the case of 
 Lydia. Who would venture to preach a doc- 
 trine so unpalatable to the carnal mind, as Je- 
 sus Christ, and him crucified? Who would 
 undertake so ungrateful a task as to depreci- 
 ate that noble creature man, and arraign him 
 publicly of insensibility, ingratitude, pride, 
 and deceit ; were it not that we have, first, a 
 command, and that, at our peril, to speak 
 plain, and, secondly, a promise that we shall 
 not speak in vain ? Not that we can expect to 
 be universally received : The time is come, 
 when many “will not endure sound doctrine” 
 (2 Tim. iv. 3.) ; but some there will be, w'hom 
 God is pleased to save by the foolishness of 
 preaching, so called. Some such I would 
 hope are in this assembly. To such I say, 
 think not to satisfy the divine justice by any 
 poor performances of your own ; think not to 
 cleanse or expiate the evil of your hearts by 
 any of your own inventions ; but, “ behold 
 the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins 
 of the world,” John i. 29. He died, that 
 you may live : he lives, that you may live for 
 ever. Put, therefore, your trust in the Lord ; 
 for w-ith him is plenteous redemption. His 
 sufferings and death are a complete final pro- 
 
 pitiation for sin. “ He is able to save to the 
 uttermost ;” and he is as willing as he is able. 
 It was this brought him down from heaven ; 
 for this he emptied himself of all glory, and 
 submitted to all indignity. His humiliation, 
 expiates our pride ; his perfect love atones for 
 our ingratitude ; his exquisite tenderness 
 pleads for our insensibility. Only believe ; 
 commit your cause to him by faith and pray- 
 er. As a Priest, he shall make atonement 
 for your sins, and present your persons and 
 your services acceptable before God. As a 
 Prophet, he shall instruct you in the true 
 wisdom, which maketh wise to salvation ; he 
 shall not only cause you to know his com- 
 mandments, but to love them too : he shall 
 write them in your hearts. As a King, he 
 shall evermore mightily defend you against 
 all your enemies. He shall enable you to 
 withstand temptations, to support difficulties, 
 to break through all opposition. He shall 
 supply you with every thing you need, for this 
 life or a better, out of the unsearchable riches 
 of his grace. He shall strengthen you to over- 
 come all things ; to endure to the end ; and 
 then he shall give you a place in his kingdom ; 
 a seat near his throne ; a crown of life ; a crown 
 of glory, incorruptible, undefiled, and that 
 fadeth not away. 
 
 SERMON II. 
 
 ON THE SAVIOUR AND HIS SALVATION. 
 
 This is a faith ful saying, and worthy of all ac- 
 ceptalion , that Christ Jesus came into Ike 
 world to save sinners ; if whom I am chief. 
 
 1 Tim i 15. 
 
 Though the apostle Paul has written largely 
 and happily upon every branch of Christian 
 doctrine and practice ; and with respect to his 
 writings, as well as his preaching could justly 
 assert, that he had not shunned to declare the 
 whole counsel of God ; yet there are two 
 points which seem to have been (if I may so 
 speak) his favourite topics, which he most fre- 
 quently repeats, most copiously insists on, and 
 takes every occasion of introducing. The 
 one is, to display the honours, powers, and 
 faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ; the 
 other, to make known the great things God 
 had done for his own soul. How his heart 
 was filled and fired with the first of these, is 
 evident from almost every chapter of his Epis- 
 tles. When he speaks of the mystery of god- 
 liness, “ God manifested in the flesh,” and 
 the exceeding grace and love declared to a 
 lost world through him, the utmost powers of 
 language fall short of his purpose. With a 
 noble freedom he soars beyond the little 
 bounds of criticism; and, finding the most 
 expressive words too weak and faint for his 
 
SER. TI. 
 
 ON THE SAVIOUR AND HIS SALVATION. 
 
 ideas, he forms and compounds new ones, 
 heaps one hyperbole upon another ; yet, after 
 his most laboured essays to do justice to his 
 subject, he often breaks off in a manner that 
 shews he was far from being satisfied with all 
 he could say. This reflection is most obvious 
 to those who can read him in the original : 
 but no disadvantages of a translation can 
 wholly confine that inimitable ardour with 
 which he seems to pour his whole soul into 
 his words, when he is speaking of his Lord 
 and Saviour. And he who can read the first 
 chapters of his epistles to the Ephesians, Co- 
 losians, and Hebrews, the second to the Phi- 
 lippians, or many similar passages, with in- 
 difference, must be, I say, not merely a per- 
 son of small devotion, but of little taste and 
 sensibility. 
 
 And how deeply his mind was impressed 
 with the mercies he had received in his con- 
 version and call, is equally conspicuous. He 
 takes every occasion to aggrandize the good- 
 ness of God to himself ; to exaggerate and 
 deplore the guilt and misery of his former 
 life, in which he once trusted ; and to lament 
 the small returns he was able to make for such 
 blessings ; even when he could say, without 
 boasting, that he had “ laboured more abund- 
 antly” than the most diligent and zealous of 
 his fellow-servants. 
 
 A powerful abiding sense of these two points 
 upon the apostle’s mind, have given rise to 
 many sudden, lively, and beautiful digressions 
 in the course of his writings. The context to 
 the passage I have read is of this kind. Hav- 
 ing incidentally spoken of the gospel in the 
 11th verse, he is suddenly struck with the re- 
 flection of his own misery while ignorant of 
 it, and the wonderful goodness of God, in 
 affording him the knowledge of salvation, and 
 honouring him, who was before a blasphemer, 
 with a commission to publish the same glad 
 tidings to others. This thought suspends his 
 argument, and fills his heart and mouth with 
 praise. And having acknowledged, that “the 
 grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant” 
 towards himself, he subjoins the words of the 
 text, for an encouragement to others ; assur- 
 ing us, that his case was not so peculiar, but 
 that multitudes might be partakers with him 
 in the same hope of mercy. 
 
 The words easily resolve into two parts : 
 
 1st, A short, but comprehensive proposi- 
 tion, including the purport of the whole gos- 
 pel, “ That Jesus Christ came into the world 
 to save sinners.” 
 
 2d, A commendation of this doctrine in a 
 twofold respect, “ as a faithful saying,” and 
 as “ worthy of all acceptation ;” each of these 
 illustrated by the instance of himself, when he 
 adds, “of whom I am chief.” 
 
 I. The apostle well knew the different recep- 
 tion the gospel would meet in the world ; that 
 many poor, guilty souls, trembling under a 
 sense of sin and unworthiness, would very 
 
 319 
 
 hardly be persuaded, that such sinners as the* 
 could be saved at all. To these he recom- 
 mends it as “ a faithful s ying ” founded up- 
 on the immutable counsel, promise, and oath of 
 God, “ that Jesus Christ came into the world 
 to save sinners ;” sinners in general ; “ the 
 chief of sinners;” such as he represents himself 
 to have been. He knew likewise, that many 
 others, from a mistaken opinion of their own 
 goodness, or a mistaken dependence on some- 
 thing of their own chusing, would be liable 
 to undervalue this faithful saying. For the 
 sake of these he adds, “ it is worthy of all ac- 
 ceptation.” None are so bad but the gospel 
 affords them a ground of hope ; none are so 
 good as to have any just ground of hope with- 
 out it. There was a time when St. Paul 
 could have made a fair profession of himself 
 likewise ; he could say, “ circumcised on the 
 eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe 
 of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews, as 
 to the law a Pharisee, as to the righteousness 
 which is by the law, blameless,” Phil. iii. 
 But he has been since taught, “to count all 
 things but loss for the excellency of the know- 
 ledge of Christ ;” and is content to style him- 
 self the chief of sinners. 
 
 Having thus attempted to shew the design 
 and meaning of the words, I propose, some- 
 what more at large, to unfold the proposition, 
 and point out some of those important and 
 extensive truths it contains. I say some of 
 them ; for it is not possible that either men or 
 angels can fully sound the depth of this one 
 sentence, “ that Jesus Christ came into the 
 world to save sinners.” I shall afterwards 
 infer, and enforce the other part of the text, 
 “ that it is indeed a faithful saying, and wor- 
 thy of all acceptation.” And may He, who 
 came into the world to procure salvation for 
 sinners, and is now exalted on high to bestow 
 it, accompany the whole with his promised 
 blessing. 
 
 The tenor of the proposition readily suggests 
 three inquiries: 1st, Who this person is, here 
 spoken of, Jesus Christ? 2d, What is meant 
 by the salvation he is said to have undertaken ? 
 3d, By what means he effected it ? 
 
 Let us, first, speak of this gracious, this 
 wonderful person, Jesus Christ. We already 
 bear his name as professed Christians ; and we 
 speak of him as our Master, and our Lord ; 
 and so far we say well. But, as he has told 
 us, many will call him Lord at the great day, 
 to whom he will profess, “ I never knew you 
 whence you are, depart j” so it is to be fear- 
 ed there are many now, that outwardly ac- 
 knowledge him, who neither know whence he 
 is, nor who he is. Though we have Moses 
 and the prophets, the apostles and evangelists, 
 continually with us ; though it is the immedi- 
 ate aim and intent of all their writings, in every 
 history, promise, prophecy, type, ceremony, and 
 law, to set him before our eyes ; and though 
 there is hardly an image in the material crea. 
 
320 ON THE SAVIOUR AND HIS SALVATION. ser. II. 
 
 tion but is adopted by the scriptures to sha- 
 dow forth his excellency ; ignorance of Jesus 
 Christ, and what he has done for his people, 
 is the great cause that religion appears so low 
 and contemptible to some, and is found so 
 tedious and burdensome by others. Let us, 
 therefore, attend to the record God has given 
 of his Son ; for I propose in this article to 
 say little of my own, but to lay before you the 
 express, powerful, indubitable testimony of 
 holy scripture. 
 
 And here we are taught, first, That Jesus 
 Christ is God. The first words of St. John’s 
 Gospel are full to this point: “ In the be- 
 ginning” (that is, at the commencement of 
 time and things, when as yet nothing else 
 existed) “ was the Word, and the Word was 
 with God, and the Word was God.” To 
 prevent a possibility of mistake, and to con- 
 firm the eternity of this divine Word in the 
 strongest manner, it is immediately added, 
 “ The same was in the beginning with God : 
 all things were made by him.” And lest this 
 likewise should either be contested or mis- 
 understood, it is guarded by an universal ne- 
 gative, “ without him was not any thing made 
 that was made.” Farther, to prevent, if pos- 
 sible, the surmise that, in these glorious works, 
 the eternal Word acted with a deputed power 
 only, the apostle subjoins, ** In him was life,” 
 life essentially ; and from him, as the fountain, 
 life and light proceeded to his creatures : “ In 
 him was life, and that life was the light of 
 men.” To this agrees the declaration of St. 
 Paul, “ For by him were all things created 
 that are in heaven, and that are in earth, vi- 
 sible and invisible, whether thrones, or domi- 
 nions, or principalities, or powers ; all things 
 were created by him and for him by his 
 power and wisdom, and for his glory and plea- 
 sure. “ And he is before all things, and by 
 him all things consist,” Col. i. Elsewhere 
 he speaks of him expressly, as “ over all God 
 blessed for ever ; w r ho upholdeth all things 
 by the word of his power ; the same yester- 
 day, to-day, and for ever.” It were easy to 
 enlarge this way ; but I shall content myself 
 with observing this general proof of the di- 
 vinity of Christ, that the scriptures, which 
 were given to make us wise to salvation, do 
 ascribe to him the names of God, particularly 
 Jehovah ; the essential attributes of God, such 
 as eternity, omnipresence, omnipotence ; the 
 peculiar works of God, as creation, provi- 
 dence, redemption, and forgiveness of sin ; 
 and, finally, commands us to pay him those 
 divine honours, and to rely on him with that 
 absolute dependence, which would be idolatry 
 if referred anywhere below the Supreme Ma- 
 jesty of heaven and earth. 
 
 Again, we learn from scripture, that Christ 
 is truly and properly Man. This is indeed 
 wonderful ! therefore styled, “ the great mys- 
 tery of godliness,” 1 Tim. iii. But that he 
 of whom we have begun to speak is the very 
 
 person who came into the world to save sin- 
 ners, we have abundant proof. The apostle 
 John, whose testimony we have already cited, 
 says, a few verses lower (John i. 14 .), “ And 
 the Word” (that glorious Word, which was 
 God with God) “ was made flesh, and dwelt 
 among us, and we beheld his glory ;” (that 
 is, we his disciples, whose eyes were spiritually 
 enlightened, for the world in general saw no- 
 thing of it ;) “ as the glory of the only-be- 
 gotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” 
 In other places it is said, “ Himself took our 
 infirmities, and bore our sicknesses (Matth. 
 viii 16), and “ was in all points tempted 
 as we are, yet without sin,” Heb. iv. 15 . 
 “ As the children are partakers of flesh and 
 blood, he also himself likewise took part of 
 the same,” Heb. ii. 14 . “ In the fulness of 
 
 time, God sent forth his Son, made of a wo- 
 man,” Gal. iv. Many are the mistakes of 
 mortals, and wide the extremes into which 
 mistaken mortals run. Some have rashly ven- 
 tured to deny our Lord’s divinity ; some have 
 wildly and fancifully explained away his hu- 
 manity ; but may we, through grace, abide by 
 the scriptural truth, and be directed in the 
 midst of the path of judgment. 
 
 From this mystical union of the divine and 
 human nature in one person, the scriptures 
 speak of him, thirdly, under the character of 
 a Mediator, the “ one mediator between God 
 and man.” To this idea the names Jesus 
 Christ, which are as ointment poured forth, 
 direct us in their original import. The for- 
 mer, which signifies the Saviour, pointing out 
 the success and efficacy of his undertaking ; 
 the latter, which is the same with Messiah or 
 the Anointed, expressing both his divine ap- 
 pointment thereto, and the complete supply 
 of all grace and power, wherewith he was 
 filled for the discharge of it. Thus much for 
 the person spoken of. 
 
 We proceed, in the next place, to consider 
 the design of his appearance in the world, 
 “ to save sinners.” And as the idea of deli- 
 verance presupposes a state of distress, it will 
 be necessary previously to inquire into the 
 condition of those whom he came to save, 
 which is indeed emphatically implied in the 
 appellation given them, sinners. Man having 
 broken that law under which he was created, 
 and with which his happiness was closely con- 
 nected, fe 1 under accumulated ruin. The 
 image of God, in which he was formed, w r as 
 defaced, aad a far different image set up in 
 his heart, even of him w'ho had seduced him 
 from his allegiance ; darkness in the under- 
 standing, rebellion in the will, sensuality in 
 the affections ; the justice of God threatening 
 a penalty he could neither satisfy nor sus- 
 tain ; the commandments of God still chal- 
 lenging an obedience he had no longer any 
 power to yield. The very gifts and bounties 
 of God, with which he was encompassed, de- 
 signed not only for his comfort, but his in- 
 
oEK. II. 
 
 ON 
 
 THE SAVIOUR AND HIS SALVATION. 
 
 321 
 
 struction, to lead him, as by so many steps, 
 to their gracious author, became eventually 
 the occasions of withdrawing him farther from 
 his duty, and increasing as well as aggravating 
 his ingratitude. Thus stood rnan towards his 
 Maker. With regard to his fellow -creatures, 
 self-love and inordinate desires having raised 
 a variety of interfering interests in the breasts 
 of all, peace withdrew from the earth. Every 
 man’s heart and hand was set against his 
 neighbour, and violence, rage, envy, and con- 
 fusion overspread the world. Nor could he 
 be easier in himself : hurried by restless de- 
 sires towards things either unsatisfying or un- 
 attainable, haunted with cares, tortured with 
 pains, tired with opposition, shocked with dis- 
 appointment; conscience, like the hand that 
 appeared at Belshazzar’s feast (Daniel, v.), 
 writing bitter things against him, when out- 
 ward circumstances allowed a short repose, and 
 vanity, like a worm, destroying the root of 
 every flower that promised the fairest bloom 
 of success. Behold a few outlines of the pic- 
 ture of fallen man ! miserable in his life, 
 more miserable in the continual dread of 
 losing such a life, miserable most of all, that 
 neither his fancy can feign, nor his fear con- 
 ceive, the consequences of the death he dreads, 
 which will introduce him to the immediate 
 presence, to the tribunal, of an incensed, al- 
 mighty, ever-living God ! 
 
 Such was the state from which Jesus Christ 
 came to save us. He came to restore us to 
 the favour of God ; to reconcile us to our- 
 selves and to each other ; to give us peace 
 and joy in life, hope and triumph in death, 
 and after death, glory, honour, and immorta- 
 lity. For he came not merely to repair, and 
 to restore, but to exalt ; not only “ that we 
 might have life,” the life we had forfeited, 
 but “ that we might have it more abundantly” 
 (John, x.) ; that our happiness might be more 
 exalted, our title more f rm, and our posses- 
 sion more secure, than the state of Adam in 
 paradise could boast, or than his posterity 
 could have attained unto, if he had continued 
 unsinning upon the tenor of the first cove- 
 nant. 
 
 Now, could we suppose it possible that a 
 
 nishing instance of divine goodness leaves u* 
 cold and unimpressed ; especially if to this 
 we join the consideration of the third point 
 I proposed to speak of, By what means Je- 
 sus Christ affected this salvation for sinners. 
 
 In the passage before us, it is only said, that 
 he came into the world on this account ; which 
 teaches us, this was the sole design of his ad- 
 vent ; and that, coming on set purpose for 
 this, he would leave nothing undone that was 
 necessary to accomplish it. He emptied him- 
 self of that divine glory and honour he pos- 
 sessed with the Father from eternity. “ He 
 bowed the heavens, and came down” to our 
 earth ; and that not with an external glory, 
 as a celestial messenger, to constrain the at- 
 tention and homage of mankind, “ but was 
 made of a woman” ( Gal. iv. ) ; not of high and 
 noble extraction in the judgment of men, 
 “ but in the form of a servant ;” born in a 
 stable, laid in a manger, brought up in an 
 obscure and contemptible place, and reputed 
 no higher than the son of a carpenter. “ He 
 was despised and rejected of men ; there was 
 no form or comeliness in him” (Isa. liii.), to 
 attract a general regard ; on the contrary, 
 “ he came to his own, and his own received 
 him not,” John i. Farther, as he was made 
 of a woman, he was “ made under the law 
 the one in order to the other ; for this was 
 the way divine wisdom had appointed, and 
 which divine justice required, to make salva- 
 tion possible to sinners. Eternal truth had 
 pronounced tribulation, wrath, and anguish 
 upon every soul of man that doth evil. All 
 men, in every age and place, had corrupted 
 their ways before God ; yet his mercy had 
 designed, that where sin had abounded, 
 grace should much more abound, Rom. viii. 
 Jesus Christ was the grand expedient, in 
 whom mercy and truth met togelher (Psal. 
 lx xxv.), and the inflexible righteousness of 
 God was brought to correspond and harmon- 
 ize with the peace of sinful man. That jus- 
 tice might be satisfied, truth vindicated, and 
 sinners saved, God so loved a lost world, 
 that, when no inferior means could avail, 
 when none in heaven or earth were willing, 
 or worthy, or able, to interpose, “ he gave 
 
 set of innocent beings, without any default of his only-begotten Son,” John iii. Jesus 
 their own, had sunk into a state of misery, | Christ, the brightness of the Father’s glory, 
 we must confess it would have been great ! and the express image of his person, “ so lov- 
 grace and favour in the Lord Jesus to save J ed the world,” that he assumed our nature, 
 them. But let us not forget the stress laid undertook our cause, bore our sins, sustained 
 in the text upon the word sinners. He came our deserved punishment ; and having done 
 to save, not the unfortunate, but the ungodly, ! and suffered all that the case required, he is 
 Rom. v. How, then, should every heart j now gone before, “ to prepare a place” (Johr 
 glow with love to him, who hath thus loved iv. ) for all that believe in him and obey him. 
 us ! If any of us can hear or speak of this j Man lay under a double incapacity for happi- 
 subject with indifference or disgust, it is to ness; he could neither keep the law of God 
 be feared we are quite strangers to the nature in future, nor satisfy for his past breach and 
 or the necessity of that salvation with which contempt of it. To obviate the former, Jesus 
 God has graciously visited his people. Let ! Christ performed a perfect, unsinning obe- 
 us no more usurp the sacred words of gene- dience in our stead. To remove the latter 
 rosity, sensibility, or gratitude, if this asto- he became “ the propitiation for our sins 
 
 2 E 
 
322 
 
 ON THE SAVIOUR AND HIS SALVATION. 
 
 SER. II. 
 
 yielded up his life, as a prey, into the hands 
 of murderers, and poured forth his precious 
 blood, in drops of sweat in the garden, in 
 streams from his side upon the cross. For 
 this he endured the fiercest temptations of the 
 devil, the scorn, rage, and malice of men, and 
 drank the bitter cup of the wrath of God, 
 when it pleased the Father to bruise him, and 
 make his soul an offering for sin. His love 
 carried him through all ; and when he had 
 finally overcome the sharpness of death, he 
 opened the kingdom of heaven to all believ- 
 ers. In few words, he lived and died for us 
 when upon earth ; nor is he unmindful of us 
 in heaven, but lives and intercedes on our be- 
 half. He continually executes the offices of 
 prophet, priest, and king, to his people ; in- 
 structing them by his word and Spirit ; pre- 
 senting their persons and prayers, acceptable 
 to God through his merits ; defending them 
 by his power, from all their enemies, ghostly 
 and bodily ; and ordering, by his providence, 
 all things to work together for their good, 
 till at length they are brought home, to be 
 with him where he is, and to behold his 
 glory. 
 
 II. From what has been said, we may just- 
 ly infer, in the first place “ that this is,” as 
 the apostle styles it, “a faithful saying.” 
 When man first fell, God, in the midst of 
 judgment remembering mercy, declared, un- 
 sought and undesired, that the seed of the 
 woman should bruise the serpent’s head, 
 Gen. iii. In every succeeding age, he con- 
 firmed his purpose by types, promises, pro- 
 phecies, and oaths. At length, in the fulness 
 of time, Christ, the desire of all nations, came 
 into the world, fulfilled all that had been fore- 
 told, and encouraged every humble penitent 
 sinner to come unto him, that they might 
 have life, pardon, and peace. To doubt, or 
 to deny, his readiness to save, is, so far as in 
 us lies, to make the word of God of none ef- 
 fect ; it is, to charge God foolishly, as though, 
 like the heedless unskilful builder in the gos- 
 pel, hq had begun to build that which was not 
 to be finished. If, after all that is set before 
 us, it is possible for any soul to miss salva- 
 tion, that sincerely desires it, and seeks it in 
 God’s appointed way, it must be because the 
 Lord Jesus Christ either cannot or will not 
 save them. That he cannot, is flatly false ; 
 for, “ all power is his in heaven and in earth” 
 (Matth. xxviii) ; and it is particularly said, 
 “ that he is able to save unto the uttermost 
 all that come unto God by him” (Heb. 
 vii. ) : and that he will not, is as false ; for 
 he himself hath said, “ Whosoever cometh 
 unto me, I will in no wise cast out,” John, vi. 
 
 We may infer, 2 dly, That this doctrine is 
 not only faithful, but “ worthy of all accepta- 
 tion.” And here, methinks, I could begin 
 anew. A point so much mistaken by some, 
 and neglected by most, rather requires a whole, 
 
 or many discourses, than to be passed over in 
 few words. The most high and wise God 
 has esteemed the redemption of mankind so 
 precious, “ that he spared not his only Son,” 
 Rom. viii. And are there any amongst us, 
 in a land of gospel-light and liberty, where 
 the words of wisdom are sounding in our ears 
 every day, that dare make light of this mes- 
 sage, just give it a hearing, and return to their 
 farms, their merchandise, and their diversions, 
 as though this unspeakable grace of God cal- 
 led for no return ? Alas ! “ How shall we 
 escape if we neglect this salvation ?” Heb. ii. 
 He that despised Moses’ law died without 
 mercy. It was dangerous, it was destructive, 
 to refuse him that spoke upon earth; take 
 heed how you trifle with him that speaketh 
 from heaven ! To such as neglect this, “ there 
 remains no other sacrifice for sin, but a cer- 
 tain fearful looking for of fiery indignation 
 that shall devour his adversaries,” Heb. x. 
 Let none of us think it is well with us, mere- 
 ly because we were born and educated in a 
 Christian country, have means of instruction 
 in our hands, and enjoy frequent opportuni- 
 ties of presenting ourselves before God in 
 public worship. To thousands these, so far 
 from being advantages, will greatly aggravate 
 their condemnation, and point the sting of the 
 never dying worm. Better were it for us to 
 have been inhabitants of Tyre and Sidon 
 (Luke x.), yea, of Sodom and Gomorrah, 
 than to appear in judgment with no better 
 plea than this. Neither let us speak peace to 
 ourselves, because we are not so bad as others, 
 but perhaps live decently and comfortably, 
 are useful in society, and perform many 
 things that are commonly called good works. 
 If these works spring from a true love of God, 
 if they are framed according to the rule of 
 his word, if they are performed by faith in 
 Christ Jesus our Lord, they are undoubtedly 
 good, and shall be rewarded before men and 
 angels ; if otherwise, you have already your 
 reward, in the complaisance of your own 
 minds, and the approbation of friends and ac- 
 quaintance. The Christianity of the New Tes- 
 tament imports more than all this. It is, to 
 believe in Jesus Christ ; so to believe in him, 
 j as to obey him in all his commands, to trust 
 j him in all his dispensations, to walk in his 
 ' steps, copying out the bright example of his 
 love, meekness, patience, self-denial, and ac- 
 tive zeal for the glory of God and the good of 
 mankind. It is, from a consciousness of our 
 utter inability to perform these great things, 
 to depend continually upon the promised aid 
 and direction of his Holy Spirit, to seek this 
 j assistance by frequent fervent prayer, to offer 
 up ourselves daily as living sacrifices unto 
 ■ God ; and, finally, when we have done all, to 
 ' be deeply sensible of our unworthiness of the 
 least of his mercies, to confess ourselves un- 
 | profitable servants, and to place all our hopes 
 
SER. III. 
 
 ON THE CHRISTIAN NAME, 
 
 upon this faithful saying, “ That Jesus Christ 
 came into the world to save sinners.” 
 
 Thus, from the consideration of the person 
 of the Lord Jesus Christ, the greatness of 
 our misery by nature, and the wonderful 
 things he has done and suffered for our re- 
 demption, we may learn the complete security' 
 of that salvation he has provided, the extreme 
 danger of neglecting it, and the folly and pre- 
 sumption of attempting to establish a right- 
 eousness of our own, independent of him who 
 is appointed of God unto us, wisdom, right- 
 eousness, sanctification, and redemption, 1 
 Cor. i. In setting these things before you 
 plainly and faithfully, I trust I have deliver- 
 ed my own soul. Time is short, life is preca- 
 rious, and perhaps to some this may be the last 
 opportunity of the kind that may be afforded 
 them. God grant we may be wise in time, 
 that, to-day, while it is called to-day, we 
 may hear his voice. Then we shall under- 
 stand more of the text than words can teach 
 us ; then tve shall experience “ a peace which 
 passeth all understanding” (Phil. iv. ) ; “ a 
 joy” which “ a stranger intermeddleth not 
 with” (Prov. xvi. ); and a hope “ full of glo- 
 ry,” which shall be completed in the end- 
 less possession of those “ pleasures which are 
 at the right hand of God” (Psal. xvi.) ; where 
 sin, and its inseparable attendant sorrow, shall 
 cease for ever; where “ there shall be no more 
 grief, or pain, or fear” (Rev. xxi. ); but every 
 tear shall be wiped from every eye. 
 
 SERMON III. 
 
 ON THE CHRISTIAN NAME. 
 
 And the disciples were called Christians 
 
 jirsl at Antioch . — Acts xi. 26. 
 
 The evangelist Luke having contributed his 
 appointed part to the history of our Lord and 
 Saviour Jesus Christ, proceeds, in the book 
 we style the Acts of the Apostles, to inform us 
 of the state and behaviour of those faithful 
 followers he left behind him on earth, when 
 he ascended in the name and behalf of his 
 people, to that heaven from whence his love 
 had brought him down. We are informed, 
 that the gracious promises he had made while 
 he was yet with them, began soon to take 
 place ; for, when the day of Pentecost was 
 fully come (Acts ii. ), the Holy Spirit de- 
 scended powerfully upon them, qualified them 
 for preaching the gospel to the whole world, 
 and gave them an earnest of success in mak- 
 ing their first essay the happy means of con- 
 verting about three thousand souls. 
 
 The first belieyers, who were of one heart 
 and one soul, who continued st^dfast in the 
 apostles doctrine, and had all things in com- 
 mon, would probably have been well content 
 
 323 
 
 to have lived together in Jerusalem, till death 
 had successively transplanted them to the Je- 
 rusalem which is above. But this was not to 
 be their rest ; and their Lord, who had ap- 
 pointed them to be “ the salt of the earth,” 
 and “ the light of the world” (Matth. v.), 
 made use of the rage of their enemies to effect 
 that separation which those who are united 
 by the grace of God are often so loath to yield 
 to. Little did Herod and the Jews consider 
 what would be the consequence of the persecu- 
 tion they raised against the church of Christ : 
 but persecutors are always blind, and counter 
 act their own designs. So here ; for we are 
 told,- that those whom they scattered abroad 
 “ went every where preaching the word.” 
 Thus the word of the Lord “ ran and was 
 glorified ;” their bitterest enemies contribut- 
 ing to push it forward, till, in a few years, 
 it was published “ from sea to sea,” and 
 “ from the river to the ends of the earth,” 
 Psal. lxxii. 
 
 For a while these faithful followers of the 
 Lamb were known only by particular names, 
 according to the different humours of differ- 
 ent places, — Nazarenes, Galileans , the people 
 of that way, pestilent fellows, and the like ; 
 but at length, when they grew more numer- 
 ous, when their societies were regularly form- 
 ed, and their enemies universally alarmed, 
 they began to bear a more general and em- 
 phatical name. St. Luke has informed us, 
 that this was the case in fact, and has like- 
 wise told us where it first obtained ; and as I 
 suppose he did not this without some design, 
 I shall endeavour to draw some observations 
 for our use and direction, from this remark in 
 the text, That “ the disciples were called 
 Christians first at Antioch,” which I shall di- 
 vide into two : thus, — That the first general 
 name by which the disciples were distinguish- 
 ed from the world, and united among them- 
 selves, was that of Christians ; and, secondly. 
 That this took place first at Antioch. Thus 
 the propositions lie in the text ; but, in treat- 
 ing of each, it may be more convenient to in- 
 vert this order, and consider the latter as 
 previous to the former. 
 
 Now, if we consider the state of the city of 
 Antioch, before, at the time, and since the 
 event which is here recorded ; from each of 
 these views we may gather some lesson of in- 
 struction for ourselves, which ought to be our 
 view in all we read, but especially when we 
 read those books “ which are able to make us 
 wise unto salvation,” and where no one sen. 
 tence is insignificant. But let us not forget, 
 with all we read and hear concerning reli- 
 gion, to mingle our frequent prayers to the 
 great Author and Fountain of all grace, for 
 that aid and assistance of his Holy Spirit, 
 without which we can do nothing to advan- 
 tage. 
 
 Antioch, the capital of Syria, built about 
 three hundred years before Christ, had been 
 
324 
 
 long the most flourishing city of the East. 
 The most remarkable circumstance of its an- 
 cient state, as suiting our present purpose, 
 was its having been the seat and residence of 
 Antioch us, the most cruel and inveterate ene- 
 my of the church and people of God ; the 
 most direct and eminent type of that Anti- 
 christ who was afterwards to appear in the 
 world ; spoken of expressly by prophecy in 
 Daniel, chap. xi. ; the completion of which 
 you may see at large in the first book of Mac- 
 cabees, in Josephus, and more briefly in the 
 79th and 80th Psalms. But behold the wis- 
 dom, the power, and the providence of God ! 
 when his people were brought low, he helped 
 them ; he set those bounds to the rage of the 
 adversary which could not be broken through; 
 and, at length, in his appointed time, he erect- 
 ed this first general standard of the gospel 
 upon the very spot where his grand enemy 
 had so long encamped, and from whence bis 
 pernicious counsels and enterprizes had so 
 far proceeded. The application of this is 
 very suitable to the times in which we now 
 live. We see a powerful combination against 
 the Protestant interest. Our enemies are 
 many and mighty : their designs, we have 
 reason to believe, are deep laid, and their ef- 
 forts unwearied. Once and again our hopes 
 have been almost swallowed up ; and though 
 we, through the singular goodness of God, 
 have hitherto escaped, the storm has fallen 
 heavy upon our brethren abroad. What may 
 be the immediate issue of the present threat- 
 ening appearances, we know not ; but we 
 may encourage ourselves, from the experience 
 of past ages, as well as from the sure promises 
 of scripture, that however the kings of the 
 earth may assemble, and the rulers take coun • 
 sel together (Psal. ii. ), God has a hook in 
 their nose, and a bridle in their jaws (Isa. 
 xxxvii.); and all their force and policy shall 
 at last bring about what they least desire 
 and intend, — the welfare and glory of God’s 
 church. He that caused the Christian name 
 go forth first at Antioch, where the truth of 
 God had been most eminently and success- 
 fully opposed, can likewise introduce a tem- 
 per and worship truly Christian, in those 
 places which at present seem destitute of ei- 
 ther. And for this it is our duty continually 
 to pray. 
 
 Again, if we consider the state of Antioch 
 at the time the disciples were first called 
 Christians there, we may learn how to form a 
 judgment of our profession. This city was 
 then luxurious and dissolute to a proverb, even 
 in Asia, where luxury and effeminacy were 
 universally prevalent. Whether this name j 
 was assumed by the disciples, or imposed by 
 their enemies, we cannot doubt but that, in 
 common repute, it was a term of the most ex- 
 treme reproach and ignominy. Nor can I 
 suppose the worst appellations any sect in suc- 
 ceeding ages has been doomed to bear, have 
 
 SER. Ill 
 
 implied half of that contempt which an inhabi- 
 tant of Antioch or Daphne expressed when he 
 called a man a Christian. If we imagine a sect 
 of people, who, at this time, in France, should 
 style themselves the disciples of the late Da- 
 mien, and be called after his name, we may 
 perhaps form some idea of what the people of 
 Antioch understood by the word Christian. 
 The apostle assures us, that he and his breth- 
 ren were “ accounted the filth and offscouri'ng 
 of all things” (1 Cor. iv.), us •ngixcc0x£fta,"n rov 
 xotrpou — KCivrcov ‘riPiiptifAct. He has chosen two 
 words of the most vile and despicable signifi- 
 cation ; which, I believe, no two words iu our 
 language will fully express. The outward 
 state of things is since changed, and the ex- 
 ternal profession of Christianity is now no re- 
 proach ; but let us not imagine the nature of 
 things is changed too. It was then received 
 as a maxim, That “ all who will live godly in 
 Christ Jesus, must, suffer persecution” (2 Tim. 
 iii.) : and it is a truth still founded upon scrip- 
 ture, and confirmed by experience. If we 
 know nothing of it in our own cases, it is be- 
 cause our tempers and manners have hitherto 
 been too conformable to that wicked world 
 which in our baptisms we were engaged to re- 
 nounce. I shall have occasion to speak farther 
 upon this point before I close ; in the mean 
 time, here is a test to examine ourselves by. 
 If we could not glory in the Christian name, 
 under the same circumstances as the disciples 
 bore it at Antioch, we are yet unworthy of it. 
 Let conscience judge. 
 
 Once more, Antioch, the city where the 
 gospel once so flourished, that from thence 
 the whole Christian church received that 
 name by which it is still called, is now no 
 more. It has been a heap of ruins more than 
 five hundred years. The light of the gospel 
 has been long withdrawn ; gaiety and festivi- 
 ty are likewise forgot. Slavery, imposture, 
 and barbarism, have blotted out the resem- 
 blance, and even the remembrance of what it 
 once was. O that our yet happy land could 
 from hence take a timely warning ! Our pri- 
 vileges are great ; perhaps greater, all things 
 considered, than any nation has possessed since 
 the days of Solomon. Our preservation hith- 
 erto has been wonderful ; often have we been 
 in extreme danger, but have always found de- 
 liverance at hand. Yet let us not be high- 
 minded ; our sins and aggravations (it is to 
 be feared) have been, and still are, very great 
 likewise ; and God, we see, is no more a re- 
 specter of places than of persons. Antioch 
 is ruined; Philadelphia, which received so ho- 
 nourable a testimony from the mouth of the 
 i Lord himself (Rev. iii.), has been long since 
 destroyed. Let us beware of boasting ; let 
 us not presume too much on what we are ; 
 nor say, “ The temple of the Lord, the tem- 
 ple of the Lord are these.” Jer. vii. We are 
 the bulwark of the Protestant interest, and 
 non 4 * can hurt us. If the Lord is with us, it 
 
 ON THE CHRISTIAN NAME. 
 
SEK. III. 
 
 ON THE CHRISTIAN NAME. 
 
 is true ; if we walk worthy of the vocation 
 wherewith we are called, we are safe ; but, if 
 otherwise, we know not how soon God may 
 visit us with his heavy judgments, war, famine, 
 discord, or pestilence ; till we become a warn- 
 ing to others, as others are now proposed 
 warnings to us. Our liberties, our proper- 
 ties, our religion, are in God’s hands ; may 
 he incline our hearts to true repentance, lest 
 at length these blessings should be taken from 
 us, and given to a people that will bring forth 
 more fruit. 
 
 There is an ambiguity in the original word 
 XZny.a.rurMt, which our translation renders 
 called ; for, though that is the more general 
 sense it bears in Heathen writers, wherever it 
 occurs in the New Testament, except in this 
 passage, and in Rom. vii. 3, it signifies to be 
 taught or warned by a revelation from heaven. 
 Thus it is spoken of Joseph and the wise men 
 (Matth. ii.) ; Simeon (Luke ii.); Cornelius) 
 (Actsx.); Noah (Heb. xi.); and elsewhere. 
 It does not therefore appear quite certain from 
 the text, whether the disciples chose this name 
 for themselves, or the wits of the time fixed it 
 upon them as a mark of infamy; or, lastly, 
 whether it was by the special direction of the 
 Spirit of God that they assumed it. But I 
 incline to the latter supposition ; partly, be- 
 cause, in those happy days, it was the practice 
 and the privilege of the disciples to ask, and 
 to receive, direction from on high in almost 
 every occurrence ; but, chiefly, on account of , 
 the excellent instructions couched under this 
 emphatical name, sufficient to direct and to 
 animate those who were to be known by it, in 
 their duty to each other, to God, and to the 
 world. Some of these I propose to infer from 
 the other proposition contained in the text, 
 That the first name by which the followers 
 of the gospel were generally known, was that 
 of Christians. 
 
 Hitherto, as they were separated from the 
 world, so they had been divided among them- 
 selves ; and so strong were the prejudices sub- 
 sisting between the members of the same 
 body, that we find, in the beginning of this 
 chapter, some of one party contended with the 
 apostle Peter only for eating with those of 
 another. Hence we read the phrases, “ We of 
 the Jews,” “ They of the Gentiles. ” But hence- 
 forward they are taught to blend and lose the 
 greater distinction of Jew and Gentle, and the 
 lesser divisions of Paul, Apollos, and Cephas, 
 in a denomination derived from him who alone 
 was worthy to be their head, and who was e- 
 qually “ rich in mercy to all that call upon 
 him” in every place. 
 
 And, as they thus were taught union and 
 affection among themselves, so their relation 
 to God, the way of their access to him, and 
 their continual dependence upon him, were 
 strongly implied in this name. A Christian 
 is the child of God by faith in Christ ; he 
 draws near to God in the name of Christ ; 
 
 325 
 
 he is led and supported by the spirit of Christ ! 
 Christ is the Alpha and the Omega, the be- 
 ginning and the ending, of the faith, hope, and 
 love of every believer. From him alone every 
 good desire proceeds : by him alone every 
 good purpose is established : in him alone any 
 of our best performances are acceptable. Let 
 us beware (it is a necessary caution in these 
 days) of a Christianity without Christ. I tes- 
 tify to you in plain words, that this is no bet- 
 ter than a house without a foundation, a tree 
 without a root, a body without a head, a hope 
 without hope ; a delusion, which, if persisted 
 in, will end in irremediable destruction : “ For 
 other foundation can no man lay, than that 
 which is laid, Christ Jesus :” he is the corner- 
 stone, “ chosen of God and precious.” Alas 
 for those who are offended with him in whom 
 God is well pleased ! but those who trust in 
 him shall never be ashamed. This is another 
 important lesson comprised in the word Chris- 
 tian. 
 
 Nor is this all: in the name of Christian 
 they might, and we may, read the terms up- 
 on which we are to stand with the world. 
 If I were asked what the words Platonist or 
 Pythagorean signified, I should say they ex- 
 pressed certain persons who embraced the sen- 
 timents, submitted to the institutions, and imi- 
 tated the conduct of Pythagoras and Plato ; 
 and, in order to describe them farther, I need 
 do no more than give an account of the lives 
 and writings of their respective masters. Could 
 I thus, in some distant, unknown country, 
 where the name of Christianity had been ojily 
 heard of, have an opportunity of declaring the 
 history, the doctrines, and the laws of Jesus 
 Christ ; how he lived, how he taught, how he 
 died, and upon what account ; what usage he 
 himself received from the world, and what he 
 taught his followers to expect after he should 
 leave them ; if I should then describe the 
 lives and the treatment of his most eminent 
 servants, who lived immediately after him, and 
 shew, “ that as he was, so were they in the 
 world” ( 1 John iv. ) ; that pursuing his pattern, 
 they found exactly the same opposition ; — 
 would not the inhabitants of such a country 
 conclude, even as the scripture has assured us, 
 that the temper of Christianity, and the temper 
 of the world, must be exactly opposite; and 
 that, as it is said, “ Whoever will be a friend 
 of the world is an enemy of God” (James iv.), 
 so, whoever had boldness to profess himself a 
 friend of God, must necessarily be an enemy 
 to the world; and would be sure to find the 
 world, and all in it, at sworn enmity with 
 him ? But if I should farther tell them, 
 that though the same laws, the same warnings, 
 and the same examples, still subsist, yet that 
 fierce opposition I have spoken of is at length 
 nearly over, so that none are better pleased 
 with the world, or more agreeable to it, than 
 many of those who speak most honourably of 
 the Christian name : would not these people 
 
SER. Ill 
 
 ON THE CHRISTIAN NAME. 
 
 326 
 
 immediatly infer, that one of these contend- 
 ing powers must have yielded to the trium- 
 phant genius of the other? that either the 
 whole world were become such Christians as 
 those who were first styled so at Antioch, or 
 that modern Christians must be, for the most 
 part, so only by profession, and have neither 
 right nor pretence to their ancient spirit ? And 
 could we suppose farther, that after this infor- 
 mation, some of these remote people were to 
 land at Dover, and make the tour of this 
 kingdom, can you think they would be long 
 in determining which of these is indeed the 
 case? 
 
 Numbers are deceived by restricting many 
 passages in the New Testament to the times 
 in which they were delivered, though it seems 
 to have been the great care of the apostles to 
 prevent, if possible, our making this mistake. 
 St. John, having expressly said, “ if any man 
 love the world, the love of the Father is not 
 in him,” immediately explains what he means 
 by the world, namely, “ the lust of the flesh, 
 the lust of the eye, and the pride of life,” 
 
 1 John ii. If high distinction, vain shew, 
 and sensual pleasure, make no part of the 
 world at this day, I must allow that we have 
 no part in the apostle’s decision, nor any 
 cause to observe his caution; but if these 
 things are as highly prized, as eagerly, and 
 almost as universally pursued now in Bri- 
 tain as they were sixteen hundred years 
 since at Rome and Antioch, surely we bear 
 the name of Christians in vain ; if our hopes 
 and fears, our joys and sorrows, our com- 
 forts and our cares, are not very different 
 from those of the generality among whom we 
 live. “ If any man,” says St. Paul, “ have 
 not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his,” 
 Rom. viii. Now, whatever more is meant 
 by the phrase of having the spirit of Christ, 
 it must certainly mean thus much at least, a 
 disposition and turn of mind in some degree 
 conformable to the mind that was in Christ 
 Jesus, to be evidenced by a life and conver- 
 sation suitable to his precepts and example : 
 “ He was holy, harmless, undefiled, and se- 
 parate from sinners ; he went about doing 
 good,” Heb. vii. He was gentle and com- 
 passionate, meek and patient under the great- 
 est provocations ; so active for the glory of 
 God, that his zeal, by a strong and lively fi- 
 gure, is said to have eaten him up (John ii.) ; 
 so affected with the worth of souls, that he 
 wept over his bitterest enemies ; so intent on 
 his charitable designs towards men, that an 
 opportunity of helping or instructing them 
 was as meat and drink when he was hungry 
 (John, iv.), and made him forget weariness 
 and pain ; so full of devotion towards God, 
 that when the day had been wholly consumed 
 in his labours of love, he would frequently 
 redeem whole nights for prayer, Luke vi. 
 But I must stop.' No pen can describe, 
 no heart conceive, the life of the Son of God 
 
 in the flesh : yet, in all these things he was 
 our great exemplar ; and no profession or ap- 
 pellation can benefit us, unless we are of 
 those who copy closely and carefully after 
 him. For thus saith the beloved apostle, “ He 
 that saith he abideth in him, ought himself so 
 to walk even as he walked. He that saith I 
 know him, and keepeth not his command- 
 ments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him,’ 
 
 1 John ii. 
 
 I shall conclude with a short address to 
 three sorts of persons. And, first, If there 
 are any such here (would to God this part of 
 my labour may provte needless !) I would re- 
 commend this subject to the consideration of 
 those who have almost, if not altogether, cast 
 off the honourable name into which they were 
 baptized, who, trusting to what they call the 
 light of nature, and the powers of human rea- 
 son, venture to determine the fitness of things 
 by their own standard, and declare in their 
 words, as well as by their actions, “ they will 
 not have this man to rule over them,” Luke, 
 xix. Is not this an unaccountable event upon 
 your plan, that the name which first went out 
 from Antioch, under the greatest disadvan- 
 tages, should so soon overspread the world, 
 without arts or arms, without any force, or 
 any motive of any external kind ? Is it pos- 
 sible that any kind or degree of enthusiasm 
 could influence, not a few, at one time, or in 
 one place, but multitudes, of all ages, sexes, 
 tempers, and circumstances, to embrace a pro- 
 fession which, in proportion to the strictness 
 wherewith it was followed, was always at- 
 tended with reproach and suffering ? Those 
 places which were most noted for opposition 
 to this way, have been long since buried in 
 the dust ; but a succession of those whom the 
 world counted “ not worthy to live, and of 
 whom the world was not worthy” (Acts xxv. 
 Heb. xi.), has always subsisted, and still sub- 
 sists. Had you lived in those days when Je- 
 sus Christ assured a company of poor disre- 
 garded fishermen, that neither the power nor 
 the policy of the world, nor the gates of hell, 
 should ever prevail against them (Matth. xvi.), 
 you might have been less inexcusable in re- 
 fusing to believe him. But now, when you 
 have the accomplishment of this promise be- 
 fore your eyes, and well know (for you are 
 book-read) what various attempts have been 
 made, with what steadiness and formidable 
 appearances they have been for a while car- 
 ried on, to render these words vain, but how 
 at length such attempts have totally failed, 
 and ended in the confusion and ruin of those 
 who engaged in them, — what tolerable reason 
 can you assign for the part you act ? Does 
 the tendency of the gospel displease you ? Is 
 it an enemy to that virtue you are so fond of 
 talking of? On the contrary, we are ready 
 to put it to the proof, that here are not only 
 the sublimest maxims of true virtue, but that 
 the practice, or even the real love of virtue. 
 
ser. III. ON THE CHRISTIAN NAME. 327 
 
 are quite unattainable upon any other scheme, 
 and that the most specious pretences, independ- 
 ent of this, are no more than great “ swelling 
 words of vanity,” 2 Pet. ii. I speak the 
 more freely upon this point, because I speak 
 from experience. I was once as you are. I 
 verily thought that I “ ought to do” (or at 
 least that I might do) “ many things against 
 Jesus of Nazareth,” Acts xxvi. None even 
 went farther than me, according to the limits 
 of my years and capacity, in opposing the 
 truths of the gospel. But the mercy of God 
 spared me ; and his providence having led me 
 through various changes and circumstances 
 of life, in each of which I have had a still 
 deeper conviction of my former errors, has at 
 length given me this opportunity to tell you, 
 ( O that I could speak it to your hearts ! ) 
 “ that at the name of Jesus every knee” 
 (sooner or later) “must bow” (Phil, ii.) ; be- 
 tore him every heart must either bend or 
 break ; that he is full of mercy, love, and par 
 don, to all that submit themselves to him ; 
 but that, ere long, he shall be “ revealed 
 from heaven in flaming fire, to execute judg- 
 ment, and to convince ungodly sinners of all 
 the hard speeches they have spoken against 
 him,” Jude. 
 
 I would, 2dly, address those who, while 
 they profess to believe in the Lord Jesus, do 
 in their works manifestly deny him, Tit. i. 
 This is, if possible, a worse case than the 
 other, yet how frequent ! You believe that 
 Jesus Christ came into the world both to be a 
 propitiation for sin and also to give us an ex- 
 ample of a godly life, and yet continue con- 
 tentedly in the practice of those sins for which 
 he poured forth his soul, in the pursuit of 
 those vices which the gospel disallows, and in 
 the indulgence of those desires which your 
 own consciences condemn. Think, I entreat 
 you of these words in the 50th psalm ; unto 
 the wicked God saith, “ What hast thou to 
 do, that thou shouldst take my covenant into 
 thy mouth : seeing thou hatest instruction, 
 and castest my words behind thee ?” This 
 question is now proposed to our consciences, 
 that we may be aware in time of the danger 
 of insincerity, and not “ perish with a lie in 
 our right hands,” Is. xliv. If we cannot an- 
 swer it now, what shall we say in that awful 
 hour when God shall speak in ten thou- 
 sand thunders to all who, in this life, pre- 
 sumed to mock him with an empty outside 
 worship ? “ drawing near him with their lips, 
 when their hearts were far from him,” Is. xxix. 
 For the day is at hand, the day of the Lord, 
 when God shall bring every hidden thing to 
 light, when every man’s works shall be tried 
 and weighed ; tried in the fire of his purity, 
 weighed in the balance of his righteousness ; 
 and as the issue proves, so must the conse- 
 quence abide to all eternity : a trial and a 
 scrutiny which no flesh could abide, were it 
 not for the interposing merits of Jesus Christ, 
 
 our Saviour and our Judge. But he has al- 
 ready told us that he will then own none but 
 those who were faithfully devoted to his ser- 
 vice here. To the urgent cries and strongest 
 pleas of others, he will give no other answer, 
 but “ I know you not, I never knew you, ’ 
 Matth. vii. “ Depart from me ye cursed, 
 
 into everlasting fire,” Matth. xxv. What 
 
 will it then avail to plead our privileges, when, 
 if this be all, we may read our doom already ? 
 “ And that servant who knew his master’s 
 will, and prepared not himself, neither did 
 according to his will, shall be beaten with 
 many stripes ; for unto whomsoever much is 
 given, of him much shall be required ; and to 
 whom men have committed much, of him 
 they will ask the more,” Luke xii. O con- 
 sider this, ye that forget God, lest he tear 
 you in pieces, and there be none to deliver. 
 
 Finally, let those who through grace have 
 attained to worship God in spirit and in truth, 
 be careful to adorn and hold fast their pro- 
 fession. You see your calling brethren : let 
 the name of Christian always remind you of 
 your high obligation to, and continual depen- 
 dence upon, the author of your faith. Use it 
 as a means to animate and regulate your whole 
 behaviour. And if upon some occasions, you 
 find undeserved ill offices, or unkind^con- 
 structions, wonder not at it : thus it must and 
 will be, more or less, to all who would exer- 
 cise themselves in keeping a conscience void 
 of offence, Acts xxiv. Yet be careful to mo- 
 del your actions by the rule of God’s word. 
 Our Lord says, “ Blessed are ve when men 
 revile you, and say all manner of evil against 
 you falsely, for my sake,” Matth. v. Ob- 
 serve, first, the evil spoken of you must be 
 false and groundless ; and, 2dly, the cause 
 must be for the sake of Christ, and not for 
 any singularities of your own, either in senti- 
 ment or practice, which you cannot clearly 
 maintain from scripture. It is a great bles- 
 sing when the innocence and simplicity of the 
 dove is happily blended with true wisdom. It 
 is a mercy to be kept from giving unnecessary 
 offence, in these times of division and dis- 
 cord. Endeavour that a principle of love to 
 God, and to mankind for his sake, may have 
 place in all your actions : this will be a secret, 
 seasonable, and infallible guide, in a thousand 
 incidents, where particular rules cannot reach. 
 “ Be sober, be vigilant, continue instant in 
 prayer j” and in a little while all your con- 
 flicts shall determine in conquest, faith shall 
 give place to sight, and hope to possession. 
 Yet a little w-hile, and “ Christ, who is our 
 life, shall appear” (Col. iff.), to vindicate his 
 truth, to put a final end to all evil and of- 
 fence ; and then we also, even all who have 
 loved him, and waited for him, “ shall appear 
 w'ith him in glory,” Is. xxv 
 
328 
 
 SER. IV 
 
 ON ALL THINGS BEING 
 
 SERMON IV. 
 
 ON ALL THINGS BEING GIVEN US WITH CHRIST. 
 
 Jle that spared not lus own Son, but delivered 
 him up for us all, how shall he not with him 
 also freely give us all things ? Roji. viii. 52 
 
 Various have been the disputes, and various 
 the mistakes of men, concerning the things of 
 God. Too often, amidst the heat of fierce 
 contending parties, truth is injured by both 
 sides, befriended by neither. Religion, the 
 pretended cause of our many controversies, is 
 sometimes wholly unconcerned in them : I 
 mean, that pure religion and undefiled, that 
 wisdom which cometh from above, abounds 
 with proof of its divine original, being “ pure, 
 peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, 
 full of mercy and good works, without par- 
 tiality, and without hypocrisy,” James iii. 
 Religion is a serious and a personal concern. 
 It arises from a right knowledge of God and 
 ourselves ; a sense of the great things he has 
 done for fallen man ; a persuasion, or at least 
 a well-grounded hope, of our own interest in 
 his favour ; and a principle of unbounded 
 love to him who thus first loved us. It con- 
 sists in an entire surrender of ourselves, and 
 our all to God ; in setting him continually 
 before us, as the object of our desires, the 
 scope and inspector of our actions, and our 
 only refuge and hope in every trouble : final- 
 ly, in making the goodness of God to us the 
 motive and model of our behaviour to our fel- 
 low-creatures, to love, pity, relieve, instruct, 
 forbear, and forgive them, as occasions offer ; 
 because we ourselves both need and experience 
 these things at the hand of our heavenly Father. 
 The two great points to which it tends, and 
 to which it urges the soul, where it has taken 
 place, incessantly to press after, are, com- 
 munion with God, and conformity to him : 
 and as neither of these can be fully attained 
 in this life, it teaches us to pant after abetter; 
 to withdraw our thoughts and affections from 
 temporal things, and fix them on that eternal 
 state, where we trust our desires shall be a- 
 bundantly satisfied ; and the work begun by 
 grace shall be crowned with glory. 
 
 Such is the religion of the gospel. This 
 the life and doctrine of our Lord, and the 
 writings of his apostles, jointly recommend. 
 An excellent abridgement of the whole we 
 have in this 8th chapter to the Romans, de- 
 scribing the state, temper, practice, privileges, 
 and immoveable security of a true Christian. 
 Every verse is rich in comfort and instruc- 
 tion, and might, without violence, afford a 
 theme for volumes ; particularly that which I 
 have read, may be styled evangelium evange- 
 lii • a complete and comprehensive epitome 
 of whatever is truly worthy of our knowledge , 
 
 and our hope. The limits of our time are too 
 narrow to admit any previous remarks on the 
 context, or indeed to consider the subject ac- 
 cording to the order of an exact division ; 
 therefore, I shall not at present use any arti- 
 ficial method ; but, taking the words as they 
 lie, I shall offer a few practical observations, 
 which seem naturally and immediately to arise 
 from the perusal of them, making such im- 
 provement as may occur as I go along. And 
 may the Father of mercies, who has put this 
 treasure into our hands, favour us with his 
 gracious presence and blessing ! 
 
 I. From the words, “ He spared not his 
 own Son,” we may observe in one view, the 
 wonderful goodness and the inflexible severi 
 ty of God. So great was his goodness, that 
 when man was by sin rendered incapable of 
 any happiness, and obnoxious to all misery ; 
 incapable of restoring himself, or of receiving 
 the least assistance from any power in heaven 
 or in earth ; God spared not his only-begotten 
 Son, but in his unexampled love to the world, 
 gave him, who alone was able to repair the 
 breach. Every gift of God is good : the boun - 
 ties of his common providence are very valua- 
 ble : that he should continue life, and supply 
 that life with food, raiment, and a variety of 
 comforts, to those who by rebellion had forfeit- 
 ed all, was wonderful : but what are all inferior 
 blessings, compared to this unspeakable gift of 
 the Son of his love? Abraham had given 
 many proofs of his love and obedience before 
 he was commanded to offer up Isaac upon the 
 altar ; but God seems to pass by all that went 
 before, as of small account in comparison of 
 this last instance of duty: “ Now I know 
 that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast no 
 with-held thy son, thine only son from me,” 
 Gen. xxii. Surely we likewise must say, 
 “ In this was manifested the love of God to us, 
 because he gave his Son, his only Son, to be the 
 life of the world.” But all comparison fails . 
 Abraham was bound in duty, bound by gra- 
 titude ; neither was it a free-will offering, but 
 by the express command of God : but to us 
 the mercy was undesired, as well as undeserved. 
 “ Herein is love, not that we loved God;” on 
 the contrary, we were enemies to him, and in 
 rebellion against him ; “ but that he loved us, 
 and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our 
 sins,” the sins we had committed against him- 
 self. My friends, ought not this love to meet a 
 return ? Is it not most desireable to be able to 
 say with the apostle, upon good grounds, “ We 
 love him, because he first loved us?” Should 
 it not be our continual inquiry, “ What shall 
 we render to the Lord for all his benefits ?” 
 especially for this, which is both the crown 
 and the spring of all the rest ? Are we cold 
 and unaffected at this astonishing proof of 
 divine love, and are our hearts not grieved 
 and humbled at our own ingratitude ? then 
 are we ungrateful and insensible indeed ! 
 
 The justice and severity of God is no less 
 
ser. IV GIVEN US W 
 
 conspicuous than his goodness in these words . 
 as he spared not to give his Son for our sakes, 
 so, when Christ appeared in our nature, un- 
 dertook our cause, and was charged with our 
 sins, though he was the Father’s well-beloved 
 Son, he was not spared. He drank the bit- 
 ter cup of the wrath of God to the very dregs : 
 he bore all the shame, sorrow, and pain, all 
 the distress of body and mind, that must oth- 
 erwise have fallen upon our heads. His 
 whole life, from the manger to the cross, was 
 one series of humiliation and suffering, John 
 xviii. Observe him in the world, despised, 
 vilified, persecuted even to death, by unrea- 
 sonable and wicked men ; ridiculed, buffeted, 
 spit upon ; and at length nailed to the accur- 
 sed tree ! Consider him in the wilderness 
 (Lukeiv.), given up to the power and assault- 
 ed by the temptations of the devil ! Behold 
 him in the garden (Luke xxii.), and say, “Was 
 ever sorrow like unto his sorrow, wherewith 
 the Lord afflicted him in the day of his fierce 
 anger ?” How inconceivable must that agony 
 have been, which caused his blood to forsake 
 its wonted channels, and start from every pore 
 of his body ! Behold him, lastly, upon the 
 cross (Matth. xxvii.), suffering the most painful 
 and ignominious death : suspended between 
 two thieves ; surrounded by cruel enemies, who 
 made sport of his pangs ; derided by all that 
 passed by ! Attend to his dolorous cry, ex- 
 pressive of an inward distress beyond all we 
 have yet spoken of, “ My God, my God, why 
 hast thou forsaken me ?” St. Paul reminds the 
 Galatians, that, by his preaching among them, 
 Jesus Christ had “ been evidently set forth 
 crucified before their eyes,” Gal. iii. Would 
 it please God to bless my poor words to the 
 like purpose, you would see a meaning you 
 never yet observed in that awful passage, 
 “ Tribulation, and wrath, and anguish, upon 
 every soul of man that doth evil” (Rom. ii.) ; 
 for the punishment due to the sins of all that 
 shall stand at the last day on the right hand of 
 God, met and centered in Christ, the Lamb 
 of expiation ; nor was the dreadful weight re- 
 moved, till he, triumphant in death, pronoun- 
 ced, “ It is finished,” John xix. Let us not 
 think of this as a matter of speculation only ; 
 our lives, our precious souls, are concerned in 
 it. Let us infer from hence, how fearful a 
 thing it is to fall into the hands of the living 
 God, Heb. x. The apostle Peter (2 Peter 
 ii. ) admonishes those to whom he wrote, from 
 the fearful example of the angels who sinned, 
 and of the old world ; where the same word 
 is used as in my text, ovk t<pu<roiro : “ He spa- 
 red them not:” that is, he punished them to 
 the utmost ; he did not afford them the least 
 mitigation. It is a frequent figure of speech, 
 by which much more is understood than is or 
 can be expressed. Much more, then, may we 
 say, if God spared not his own Son, “ what 
 shall be the end of those who obey not the 
 gospel ?” 1 Peter iv. If the holy Jesus was 
 
 ITII CHRIST. 329 
 
 thus dealt with, when he was only accounted 
 a sinner by imputation, where shall the im- 
 penitent and the ungodly appear? “ If these 
 things were done in the green tree, what shall 
 be done in the dry ?” Luke xxiii. The pu- 
 nishment of sin in the soul in a future state 
 is twofold : the wrath of God in all its dread- 
 ful effects, typified by fire unquenchable (Mark 
 ix.), and the stings of conscience, represent- 
 ed by a worm that never dies. Our Lord en- 
 dured the former; but the other perhaps could 
 have no place in him, who was absolutely per- 
 fect and sinless. But if the prospect of one 
 made him amazed and sorrowful beyond mea- 
 sure, what consternation must the concur- 
 rence of both raise in the w'icked, when they 
 shall hear and feel their irrevocable doom . 
 May we have grace to reflect on these things, 
 that we may flee for safety to the hope set be- 
 fore us, to Jesus Christ, the only, and the 
 sure refuge from that approaching storm, which 
 shall sweep away all the workers of iniquity 
 as a flood, Isa. xxiii. 
 
 II. Here, as in a glass, we may see the 
 evil of sin. The bitter fruits of sin are in. 
 deed visible every where. Sin is the cause of 
 all the labour, sickness, pain, and grief, under 
 which the whole creation groans. Sin often 
 makes man a terror and a burden, both to 
 himself and those about him. Sin occasions 
 discord and confusion in families, cities, and 
 kingdoms. Sin has always directed the march, 
 and ensured the success, of those instrument* 
 of divine vengeance w r hom we style Mighty 
 Conquerors. Those ravagers of mankind, 
 who spread devastation and horror far and 
 wide, and ruin more in a few days than ages 
 can repair, have only afforded so many mel- 
 ancholy proofs of the malignity of sin. For 
 this, a shower of flaming brimstone fell upon 
 a whole country ; for this, an overwhelming 
 deluge destroyed a whole world ; for this, prin- 
 cipalities and powers were cast from heaven, 
 and are reserved under chains of darkness (2 
 Peter ii. ) to a more dreadful doom. But none 
 of these things, nor all of them together, afford 
 such a conv ctionof the heinous nature, and de- 
 structive effects of sin, as we may gather from 
 these words, “ He spared not his own Son.” 
 
 III. Here we may likewise see the value 
 of the human soul. We ordinarily judge of 
 the worth of a thing by the price which a wise 
 man, who is acquainted with its intrinsic ex- 
 cellency, is willing to give for it. Now, the 
 soul of a man was of such estimation in the 
 sight of God, who made it, that, when it was 
 sinking into endless ruin, he spared not his 
 own Son, but freely delivered him up for our 
 ransom. Two things especially render the 
 soul thus important in the view of infinite 
 wisdom : 1st, The capacity he had given it : 
 for “ he formed it for himself” (Isa. xliii. ), 
 capable of knowing, serving, and enjoying 
 God ; and by consequence, incapable of hap- 
 piness in any thing beneath him ; for nothing 
 
SER. IV 
 
 ON ALL THINGS BEING 
 
 330 
 
 can satisfy any being but the attainment of j 
 its proper end : and, 2dly, The duration he j 
 had assigned it, beyond the limits of time, ! 
 and the existence of the material world. The 
 most excellent and exalted being, if only the 
 creature of a day, would be worthy of little 
 regard. * On the other hand, immortality it- 
 self would be of small value to a creature that 
 could rise no higher than the pursuits of ani- 
 mal life : But in the soul of man, the capa- 
 bility of complete happiness or exquisite mi- 
 sery, and that for ever, makes it a prize wor- 
 thy the contention of different worlds. For 
 this an open intercourse was maintained be- 
 tween heaven and earth, till at length the 
 Word of God appeared “ in the likeness of 
 sinful flesh,” that, in our nature, he might 
 encounter and subdue the sworn enemy of our 
 species. All that has been transacted in the 
 kingdoms of providence and grace, from the 
 beginning of the world, has been in subser- 
 viency to this grand point, the redemption of 
 the deathless soul. And is it so ? And shall 
 there be found amongst us numbers utterly 
 insensible of their natural dignity, that dare 
 disparage the plan of infinite wisdom, and 
 stake those souls for trifles, which nothing less 
 than the blood of Christ could redeem ! There 
 is need to use great plainness of speech ; the 
 matter is of the utmost weight ; be not, there- 
 fore, offended that I would warn you against 
 the deceitfulness of sin. Suffer not your 
 hearts to be entangled in the vanities of the 
 world : either they will fail, and disappoint 
 you in life, or at least you must leave them 
 behind you when you die. You must en- 
 ter an invisible, unknown state, where you 
 cannot expect to meet any of those amuse- 
 ments or engagements which you here find so 
 necessary to pass away the tedious load of time 
 that hangs upon your hands. You, to whom 
 a few hours of leisure are so burdensome, have 
 you considered how you shall be able to sup- 
 port an eternity? You stand upon a brink, 
 and all about you is uncertainty. You see, 
 of your acquaintance, some or other daily cal- 
 led away, some who were as likely to live as 
 yourselves. You know not but you may be 
 the very next. You cannot be certain but 
 this very night your soul may be required of 
 you, Luke, xii. Perhaps a few hours may 
 introduce you into the presence of that God 
 whom you have been so little desirous to 
 please. And can you, in such a situation, 
 sport and play, with as little concern as the 
 lamb, already marked out to bleed to-mor- 
 row? Oh! it is strange! How fatally has 
 the god of this world blinded your eyes ! and 
 how dreadful must your situation be in death, 
 if death alone can undeceive you 1 
 
 IV. Lastly, we may gather from these 
 words the certainty of the gospel-salvation. 
 God himself delivered up his Son for us all. 
 
 * Vide Young’s Night Thoughts, 7th Night. 
 
 j He declared himself well pleased with him 
 j (Matth. iii.) as our Surety, upon his first en- 
 ! trance upon his work ; and testified his ac 
 ceptance of his undertaking, in that he raised 
 him from the dead, and received him into 
 heaven as our Advocate. Now, “ if God him- 
 self be thus for us, who can be against us ?” 
 Rom. viii. If he who only has a right to judge 
 us, is pleased to justify us, “ who can lay any 
 thing to our charge? If Christ who died” for 
 our sins, and is risen on our behalf, has engaged 
 to “ intercede for us, who shall condemn ?” 
 “ There is now no condemnation to them that 
 are in Christ Jesus.” Nor is this all; but 
 every thing we stand in need of is fully pro- 
 vided ; and we may well argue, as the apostle 
 has taught us elsewhere, “ If, when we were 
 enemies, we were reconciled to God by the 
 death of his Son, much more, being recon- 
 ciled, we shall be saved by his life” (Rom. v.) : 
 or, as in the passage before us, “ He that 
 spared not his own Son, but delivered him up 
 for us all,” when we were alienated from him, 
 “ how shall he not with him freely give us all 
 things,” now he has taught us to pray, and 
 given us his own promises to plead for all we 
 ask ? — This brings me to the second clause of 
 the text ; only it may be proper, before I enter 
 upon it, to subjoin two cautions, to prevent 
 mistakes from what has been already said. 
 
 1st, Let us remember that all is a free gift. 
 He gave his Son : he gives all things with 
 him. The gospel allows no place for merit 
 of our own in any respect, there was no mov- 
 ing cause in us, unless our misery may be 
 deemed such. Our deliverance, in its rise, 
 progress, and accomplishment, must be as- 
 cribed to grace alone; and he that would 
 glory, must glory only in the Lord, 1 Cor. i. 
 
 2dly, Let us observe the apostle’s phrase. 
 He says not absolutely for all, but for us all ; 
 that is, those who are described in the former 
 part of the chapter, “ who are led by the 
 Spirit of God, who walk not after the flesh, 
 who are delivered from the bondage of cor- 
 ruption,” who have liberty to call God “ Ab- 
 ba, father,” and prove their relation by fol- 
 lowing him as “ dear children.” Christ is 
 “ the author of eternal salvation to those only 
 w ho obey him,” Heb. v. It cannot be other- 
 wise, since a branch of that salvation is to de- 
 liver us “ from our sins,” and “ the present 
 evil w r orkl” (Gal. i.) ; to “ purify us from 
 dead works, to serve the living God.” “ Be 
 not deceived, God will not be mocked ; what- 
 soever a man soweth, that shall he reap. He 
 that soweth to the flesh, shall,” notwithstand- 
 ing all that Christ has done or suffered, yea 
 so much the rather, “ of the flesh reap cor- 
 ruption,” Gal. vi. 
 
 The text having declared, that God spared 
 not his Son for our sakes, proceeds to infer, 
 that “with him he w-ill assuredly give us all 
 things.” Here we may take notice, first, that 
 the words all things must be limited to such 
 
SER. IV. GIVEN US WI 
 
 as are needful and good for us. It may be 
 said of many of our desires, “ ye know not 
 what ye ask” (Matth. xx.): in such cases, 
 the best answer we can receive is a denial. 
 For those blessings which God has promised 
 absolutely to give, such as pardon, grace, 
 and eternal life, we cannot be too earnest or 
 explicit in our prayers ; but in temporal things 
 we should be careful to ask nothing but with 
 submission to the divine will. The promises, 
 it is true, appertain to “ the life that now is, 
 as well as that which is to come,” 1 Tim. iv. 
 
 “ Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or 
 life, or death, or things present, or things to 
 come : all are ours, if we are Christ’s,” 1 
 Cor. iii. But the particular modus of these 
 things God has reserved in his own hands, to 
 bestow them as best shall suit our various tem- 
 pers, abilities, and occasions. And it is well 
 for us that it is so; for we should soon ruin 
 ourselves if left to our own choice : like child- 
 ren who are fond to meddle with what would 
 hurt them, but refuse the most salutary me- 
 dicines, if unpalatable ; so we often pursue, 
 with earnestness and anxiety, those things, 
 which, if we could obtain them, would great- 
 ly harm, if not destroy us. Often, too, with 
 a rash and blind impatience, we struggle to 
 avoid or escape those difficulties which God 
 sees fit to appoint for the most gracious and 
 merciful purposes, — to correct our pride and 
 vanity, to exercise and strengthen our faith, 
 to wean us from the world, to teach us a clo- 
 ser dependence upon himself, and to awaken 
 our desires after a better inheritance. 
 
 Again, as God, by his promise freely to give 
 us all things, has not engaged to comply with 
 the measure of our unreasonable, short-sight- 
 ed wishes : so neither has he confined himself 
 as to the time or manner of bestowing his 
 gifts. The blessing we seek, though perhaps 
 not wholly improper, may be at present un- 
 seasonable ; in this case, the Lord will sus- 
 pend it, till he sees it will afford us the com- 
 fort and satisfaction he intends us by it : and 
 then we shall be sure to have it. Sometimes 
 it is with-held, to„stir us up to fervency and 
 importunity in our prayers, sometimes to make 
 it doubly welcome and valuable when it 
 comes. So likewise as to the manner : w r e 
 ask one good thing, and he gives an equiva- 
 lent in something else ; and when we come to 
 weigh all things, we see cause to say his choice 
 w r as best. Thus David acknowledges : “ In 
 the day that I called, thou didst answer me, 
 and strengthenedst me with strength in my 
 soul,” Psal. cxxxviii. David asked for de- 
 liverance from trouble ; the Lord gave him 
 strength to bear it ; and he allows his prayer 
 was fully answered. A parallel case the a- 
 postle records : he besought the Lord thrice 
 (2 Cor. xii.) for the removal of that trial 
 which he calls “ a thorn in the flesh the 
 answer he received was, “ My grace is suffi - 
 cient for thee.’ Such an assurance was more 
 
 TH CHRIST. 331 
 
 valuable than the deliverance he sought could 
 be. Sometimes we seek a thing in a way of 
 our own, by means and instruments of oui 
 own devising. God crosses our feeble pur 
 poses, that he may give us the pleasure of re- 
 ceiving it immediately from himself. It were 
 easy to enlarge on this head ; let it suffice to 
 know, our concerns are in his hands who does 
 all things well ; and who will, and does, ap- 
 point all to work together for our good. 
 
 From the latter clause, thus limited and 
 explained, many useful directions might be 
 drawn. I shall only mention two or three, 
 and conclude. 
 
 1st, Since we are told, that God freely gives 
 us all things, let us learn to see and acknow- 
 ledge his hand in all we have, and in all we 
 meet with. When Jacob was returning to 
 Canaan after a long absence (Gen. xxxii.), 
 the fear of his brother Esau occasioned him 
 to divide his family and substance into separ- 
 ate companies ; and, comparing his present 
 situation with the poor condition in which he 
 had been driven from home twenty years be- 
 fore, he breaks out into this act of praise : “ I 
 am not worthy, O Lord, of all thy mercies ; 
 for with my staff I passed over this Jordan, 
 and now I am become two hands !” How 
 pious and how cheering was this reflection ! 
 And afterwards (Gen. xxxiii.), when his bro- 
 ther Esau asked him concerning his sons, 
 “ They are the children (said he), which God 
 has graciously given thy servant.” Such a 
 deep and abiding persuasion of the most high 
 God ordering and over-ruling all our con- 
 cerns, would, like the light, diffuse a lustre 
 and a beauty upon every thing around us. 
 To consider every comfort of life as an effect 
 and proof of the divine favour towards us, 
 would, like the feigned alchymist’s stone, 
 turn all our possessions into gold, and stamp a 
 value upon things which a common eye might 
 judge indifferent. Nor is this more than the 
 truth : “ The hairs of our head are all num- 
 bered,” Matth. x. The eye of divine provi- 
 dence is upon every sparrow of the field ; nor 
 can we properly term any circumstance of 
 our lives small, since such as seem most trifl- 
 ing in themselves do often give birth to those 
 which we judge most important. On the 
 other hand, to be able to discover the wisdom 
 and goodness of our heavenly Father through 
 th? darkest cloud of troubles and afflictions, 
 to see all our trials appointed to us, in number, 
 weight, and measure ; nothing befalling us by 
 chance, nothing without need, nothing without 
 a support, nothing without a designed advan- 
 tage; — what a stay must these apprehensions 
 be to the soul ! Take away these, and man is 
 the most forlorn, helpless, miserable object in 
 the world; pining for every thing he has not, 
 trembling for every thing he has ; equally suf- 
 fering under the pressure of what does happen, 
 and the fear of what may : liable to thousands 
 of unsuspected dangers, yet unable to guard 
 
SER. IV 
 
 ON ALL THINGS BEING, &C. 
 
 33 % 
 
 against those which are most obvious. Were 
 there no future life, it would be our interest 
 to be truly and uniformly religious, in order 
 to make the most of this. How unhappy 
 must they be, to whom the thoughts of a God 
 ever-present is a burden they strive, in vain, 
 to shake off! But let us learn to acknowledge 
 him in all our ways, and then he will direct 
 and bless our paths, Prov. iii. 
 
 2d, Since all we have is the gift of God, 
 let this teach us, in whatever state we are, 
 therewith to be content. Our heavenly Fa- 
 ther knoweth what we have need of before 
 we ask him, Matth. vi. The earth is his, and 
 the fulness thereof (Psal. xxiv.); and his good- 
 ness is equal to his power, a proof of which 
 we have in the text. He has already given 
 us more than ten thousand worlds. Are you 
 poor ? Be satisfied with the Lord’s appoint- 
 ment. It were as easy to him to give you 
 large estates as to supply you with the bread 
 you eat, or to continue your breath in your 
 nostrils : but he sees poverty best for you ; 
 he sees prosperity might prove your ruin ; 
 therefore he has appointed you the honour of 
 being in this respect conformable to your 
 Lord, who when on earth had not where to 
 lay his head, Matth. viii. Have any of you 
 lost a dear friend or relative, in whose life 
 you thought your own lives bound up ? Be 
 still, and know that he is God, Psal. xlvi. It 
 was he who gave you that friend ; his blessing 
 made your friend a comfort to you ; and 
 though the stream is now cut off, the foun- 
 tain is still full. Be not like a wild bull in 
 a net ; the Lord has many ways to turn your 
 mourning into joy. Are any of you sick ? 
 Think how the compassionate Jesus healed 
 diseases with a word, in the days of his flesh. 
 Has he not the same power now as then ? 
 Has he not the same love ? Has he, in his 
 exalted state, forgot his poor languishing mem- 
 bers here below ? No, verily : he still re- 
 tains his sympathy ; he is touched with a 
 feeling of our infirmities ; he knows our 
 frame; he remembers we are but dust, Psal. 
 ciii. It is because sickness is better for you 
 than health, that he thus visits you. He 
 dealt in the same manner with Lazarus, whom 
 he loved, John xi. Resign yourselves, there- 
 fore to his wisdom, and repose in his love. 
 There is a land where the blessed inhabitant 
 shall no more say, “ I am sick” (Isa. xxxiii.) ; 
 and there all that love the Lord Jesus shall 
 shortly be. Are any of you tempted ? “ Bles- 
 sed is the man that endureth temptation ; 
 for when he is tried, he shall receive the 
 crown of life, which the Lord has promised 
 to them that love him,” James, i. Sure, you 
 need no other argument to be content, shall 
 I say, or to rejoice and be exceeding glad ? 
 ** My son, despise not thou the chastening of 
 the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of 
 him,” Heb. xii. Be it in poverty or losses, 
 in body or mind, in your own person or an- 
 
 other’s it is all appointed by God, and shall 
 issue in your great benefit, if you are of the 
 number of those that love him. 
 
 3d, Once more, since it is said that ah 
 things are freely given us in and together with 
 Christ, let us “ give all diligence to make our 
 calling and election sure” (2 Pet. i.); to 
 know that we have an interest in him and his 
 mediation ; and then (if I may borrow a com- 
 mon expression) we are made for ever. The 
 Lord Jesus Christ, sent from God on a mer- 
 ciful errand to a lost world, did not come 
 empty : no ; he is fraught with all blessings, 
 suitable to all persons, extending to all times, 
 enduring to all eternity. O make it your 
 great care to know him and to please him j 
 study his word, call upon his name, frequent 
 his ordinances, observe his sayings, seek to 
 know him as the only way to God (John, 
 xiv.) ; the way to pardon, peace, and divine 
 communion here, and to complete happiness 
 hereafter. When once you can say, “ My 
 Beloved is mine” (Song ii. ), I account all his 
 interest my own ; “ and I am his,” I have 
 given myself up to him without reserve,— 
 you will, you must be happy. You will be 
 interested in all his attributes and communi- 
 cable perfections. His wisdom will be your 
 high tower, his providence your constant 
 shield, his love your continual solace. “ He 
 will give his angels charge over you, to keep 
 you in all your ways,” Psal. xci. In times of 
 difficulty he will direct your counsels; in 
 times of danger he will fill you with comfort, 
 and “ keep you in perfect peace” (Isa. xxvi.), 
 when others quake for fear. He will bless 
 your basket and your store, your substance 
 and your families : your days shall happily 
 pass in doing your Father’s will, and receiv- 
 ing renewed tokens of his favour ; and at 
 night you shall lie down, and your sleep shall 
 be sweet. When afflictions befal you (for 
 these likewise are the fr-uits of love'), you shall 
 see your God near at hand, “ a very present 
 help in trouble (Psal. xlvi.) ; you shall find 
 your strength increased in proportion to your 
 trial ; you shall in due time be restored, as 
 gold from the furnace, purified sevenfold, to 
 praise your great deliverer. Every thing you 
 meet in life shall yield you profit ; and death, 
 which puts a fatal period to the hope of the 
 wicked ; death, at whose name thousands turn 
 pale, shall to you be an entrance into a new 
 and endless life. He who tasted death for 
 you (Heb. ii.), and sanctified it to you, shall 
 lead and support you through that dark val- 
 ley : you shall shut your eyes upon the things 
 of time, to open them the next moment in the 
 blissful presence of your reconciled God. 
 You that a minute before were surrounded 
 by weeping, helpless friends, shall, in an in. 
 stant, be transported and inspired to join that 
 glorious song, “ To him who loved us, and 
 washed us from Our sins in his own blood, 
 and hath made us priests and kings to God 
 
SER. V. 
 
 ON SEARCHING MIL SCRIPTURES. 
 
 and his Father ; to him be glory and strength 
 for ever and ever. Worthy is the Lamb that 
 was slain, to receive power and riches, and 
 wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, 
 and blessing,” Rev. v. Thus “ blessed shall 
 the man be that fears the Lord, - ’ Psal. cxxviii. 
 “ Thus shall it be done to him whom the 
 King delighteth to honour,” Esth. vi. Amen. 
 
 SERMON V. 
 
 ON SEARCHING THE SCRIPTURES. 
 
 Search the scriptures , for in them ye think ye 
 have eternal life , and they are they wtiich 
 testify of me. John v. 39. 
 
 The phrase in the Greek is ambiguous, and 
 may be either rendered, according to our read- 
 ing, as a command, search the scriptures ; or 
 else as simply affirming, ye do search the scrip- 
 tures. And as the words were spoken to the 
 Scribes and Pharisees, who were exceedingly 
 studious in the letter of the scriptures, this 
 may perhaps have been their first design. 
 The difference is not material ; and either 
 sense will afford us. instruction. If we re- 
 ceive it as a command, we should consider it 
 as given by the Lord himself, whose disciples 
 we profess to be, as bound on us by our own 
 acknowledgement, since in them we think and 
 say we have eternal life ; and as absolutely 
 necessary to be complied with, since it is these, 
 and these only, which testify of Christ, in the 
 knowledge of whom our eternal life consists. 
 If we should understand it in the latter sense, 
 as spoken to the Scribes and Pharisees, it may 
 give us a useful caution not to lay too much 
 stress either on what we think or on what we 
 do. For these persons, we find, had in some 
 respects a right sentiment of the holy scrip- 
 tures : they believed that in them there was 
 eternal life ; and, in a sense likewise, they 
 made this an inducement to read, yea, to 
 search them. But though they thus thought 
 and thus acted, and though the scriptures, 
 from the first page to the last, do testify of 
 Christ, yet they could not understand or re- 
 ceive this testimony, but rejected the Messiah 
 whom they professed to hope for, and took all 
 their pains in searching the scriptures to no 
 purpose. 
 
 In what I am about to lay before you, I 
 propose the following order : 1st, To men- 
 tion a few requisites, without which it is im- 
 possible rightly to understand the scriptures : 
 2d, To shew how the scriptures testify of 
 Christ: 3d, To consider what the import of their 
 testimony is : 4th, To press the practice of 
 searching the scriptures, from the argument 
 used in the text, which is equally applicable to 
 us as to the Jews of old, that in them we think 
 we have eternal life. 
 
 333 
 
 I. The first requisite I shall mention is Sin- 
 cerity : 1 mean a real desire to be instructed 
 by the scriptures, and to submit both our sen- 
 timents and our practices to be controuled 
 and directed by what we read there. Without 
 this, our reading and searching will only issue 
 in our greater condemnation, and bring us 
 under the heavy doom of the servant that knew 
 his master’s will and did it not. A remark- 
 able instance of this we have in the 42d and 
 two following chapters of Jeremiah. After 
 the destruction of Jerusalem, and the death 
 of Gedaliah, the people that were left intreated 
 the prophet to inquire of the Lord for them, 
 concerning their intended removal into Egypt. 
 Their request was fair : “ That the Lord thy 
 God may shew us the way wherein we may 
 walk, and the thing that we may do.” Their 
 engagement was very solemn : “ The Lord 
 be a true and faithful witness between us, if 
 we do not even according to all things for the 
 which the Lord thy God shall send to us. 
 Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, 
 we will obey the voice of the Lord our God, 
 to whom we send thee.” But their hypocrisy 
 was most detestable. The Lord, who seeth 
 the inmost purposes of the soul, could not be 
 put off with their fair pretences. He sent 
 them in answer an express prohibition to go 
 into Egypt ; assuring them that his curse 
 should follow them, and that there they should 
 certainly perish. Yet they went, and verified 
 what the prophet had told them : “ For ye 
 dissembled in your hearts, when you sent me 
 to the Lord your God, saying, Pray for us 
 unto the Lord our God, and according to all 
 that the Lord our God shall say, so declare 
 unto us, and we will do it.” Then they 
 spoke out, and like themselves, when they 
 told him, “ As for the word which thou hast 
 spoken unto us, in the name of the Lord, we 
 will not hearken unto thee, but we will cer- 
 tainly do whatever thing goeth forth out of 
 our own mouth.” None of us dare speak 
 thus in express terms ; but if we bring our pre- 
 conceived opinions or purposes, not in order 
 to examine them strictly by the test of scrip- 
 ture, but to find or wrest some passages in 
 the word of God to countenance or justify 
 ourselves ; if our desire is not simply to 
 be led in the very way of God’s command- 
 ments; if we are not really willing to dis- 
 cover every error and evil that may be in us, 
 in order to forsake them, — we closely imitate 
 these deceitful, obstinate, insolent Jews, be 
 our pretences ever so fair, and are liable to 
 the like dreadful judgment for our hypocrisy; 
 the curse of God upon our devices here, and 
 the portion of his enemies hereafter. 
 
 Where this sincerity is wanting, every thing 
 is wrong ; neither praying, nor hearing, nor 
 reading, can profit. The scriptures abound 
 with the severest threatenings against those 
 who presume to mock the all-seeing God. 
 I shall only produce one passage, from Ezekiel 
 
SER. V 
 
 ON SEARCHING THE SCRIPTURES. 
 
 334 
 
 xiv. 5. '* Son of man, these men have set 
 
 up their idols in their hearts, and put the 
 stumbling-block of iniquity before their faces : 
 should I be inquired of at all by them ? — 
 Every man of the house of Israel that setteth 
 up his idols in his heart, and putteth the 
 stumbling-block of iniquity before his face, 
 and cometh to the prophet, I the Lord will 
 answer him that cometh, according to the mul- 
 titude of his idols.” I say not this, that I 
 would have any one throw aside the ordi- 
 nances of God, especially his public worship. 
 These are the means which God has appointed, 
 in which he has commanded us to wait, and 
 where he is often pleased to be found, even 
 by those who seek him not. But I would 
 intreat such persons seriously to consider the 
 dreadful condition they would be in, if death 
 should surprise them in such a state of insin- 
 cerity as renders their very prayers and sacri- 
 fices “ an abomination to the Lord,” and per- 
 verts those things which are designed for their 
 advantage into an occasion of their falling. 
 
 A second thing necessary is Diligence. This, 
 with the former, is finely described in the book 
 of Proverbs. “ My son, if thou wilt receive 
 my words, and hide my commandment with- 
 in thee ; so that thou incline thine ear to wis- 
 dom, and apply thine heart to understanding : 
 yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and lift- 
 est up thy voice for understanding ; if thou 
 seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as 
 hid treasures : then shalt thou understand the 
 fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of 
 God,” Prov. ii. The wisdom of God, in 
 which we are concerned, is contained in his 
 word. The best understanding is to keep his 
 commandments (Psal. cxi.) : but as we can- 
 not keep them unless we know them, neither 
 can we know them without a diligent inquiry. 
 The word which is rendered search, i£iv\au, 
 is borrowed from the practice of miners : it 
 implies two things, to dig, and to examine. 
 First, with much labour they pierce the earth 
 to a considerable depth ; and when they have 
 thus found a vein of precious ore, they then 
 break and sift it, and suffer no part to escape 
 their notice. Thus must we join frequent 
 assiduous reading, with a close and awakened 
 meditation ; comparing spiritual things with 
 spiritual, carefully taking notice of the cir- 
 cumstances, occasion, and application of what 
 we read ; being assured, that there is a trea- 
 sure of truth and happiness under our hands, 
 if we have but skill to discover and improve 
 it. Only let us be mindful that we have the 
 same views in reading the scriptures, that God 
 has in revealing them to us, which the apostle 
 thus enumerates : — “ All scripture,” or the 
 whole scripture, voi va. “ is given by 
 
 inspiration of God, and is profitable for doc- 
 trine, for reproof, for correction, for instruc- 
 tion in righteousness ; that the man of God 
 may be perfect, thoroughly furnished to every 
 good work.” 2 Tim. iii. And elsewhere it is, 
 
 said to be able to make us ** wise unto salva- 
 tion.” How absurd would it be for a man to 
 read a treatise of husbandry with a design of 
 learning navigation, or to seek the principles 
 of trade and commerce in an essay on music ? 
 No less absurd is it to read or study the scrip- 
 tures with any other view than to receive its 
 doctrines, submit to its reproofs, and obey its 
 precepts, that we may be made “ wise unto 
 salvation.” All disquisitions and criticisms 
 that stop short of this, that do not amend the 
 heart, as well as furnish the head, are empty 
 and dangerous, at least to ourselves, what- 
 ever use they may be of to others. An ex- 
 perience of this caused a learned critic and 
 eminent commentator ( Grotius), to confess, to - 
 wards the close of his life, Ah ! vitarn prorsus 
 perdidi, laboriose nihil agendo ! “ Alas ! I have 
 wasted my life in much labour to no purpose !” 
 But, on the contrary, w'hen we are diligent 
 and studious, that we may be better acquaint- 
 ed with the divine precepts and promises, and 
 better inclined to observe and trust them, then 
 we may hope for happy success ; for, “ bless- 
 ed is the man whose delight is in the law of 
 the Lord, and who meditates therein day and 
 night: for he shall be like a tree planted by the 
 rivers of water, which bringeth forth its fruit 
 in due season ; his leaf also shall not wither, 
 and whatsoever he doth * under this influence 
 “ shall prosper,” Psal. i. Thus God has 
 promised, and thus many have found it, and 
 been enabled to adopt the words of David, 
 “ Thou, through thy commandments, hast 
 made me wiser than my enemies, for they are 
 ever w r ith me : I have more understanding 
 than all my teachers, for thy testimonies are 
 my meditation,” Psal. cxix. 
 
 Humility is a third thing very necessary to 
 a profitable perusal of the scriptures. “ God 
 giveth his grace to the humble,” James iv. 
 “ He will guide the meek in judgment, he 
 will enlighten the simple in his way,” Psal. 
 xxv. The proud he resisteth, u¥Ttra.srvrut, 
 he draws up against him; he prepares him- 
 self, as it were, with his whole force to op- 
 pose his progress. A most formidable ex- 
 pression ! If God only leaves us to ourselves, 
 w r e are all ignorance and darkness ; and what 
 must be the dreadful case of those against 
 whom he appears in arms ? This has been a 
 principal source of those various and opposite 
 heresies and mistakes, which are the reproach 
 of our holy profession, that vain man, though 
 born a mere “ wild ass’s colt” (Job, xi.), has 
 undertaken, by his own strength and wisdom, 
 to decide authoritatively on the meaning of 
 scripture, without being aware of the igno- 
 rance, prejudice, and weakness which influ- 
 ence his judgment in religious matters, with- 
 out knowing the utter inability of the natural 
 man to discern the things of God, and with- 
 out attending to those means the scriptures 
 themselves have appointed for the redress of 
 these evils. But would we not lose our time 
 
SER. V. 
 
 and pains ; would we wish not to be misled 
 ourselves, or not to mislead others? Let us aim 
 at a humble spirit : let us reflect much on 
 the majesty and grandeur of the God we 
 serve : let us adore his condescension in fa- 
 vouring us with a revelation of his will : let 
 us learn to consider the word of God, and 
 the wisdom of God, as terms of the same im- 
 port : in a word, let us study to know our- 
 selves, our sinfulness and ignorance ; then we 
 shall no longer read the scriptures with indif- 
 ference or prepossession, but with the greatest 
 reverence and attention, and with the most 
 enlarged expectation. 
 
 I shall mention but one thing more upon 
 this head, which is as necessary in itself as 
 anv of the preceding, and likewise necessary 
 in order to obtain them, and that is Prayer. 
 Sincerity, diligence, and humility, are the 
 gifts of God ; the blessing we seek in the ex- 
 ercise of them is in his hand ; and he has pro- 
 mised to bestow all good things, even “ his 
 Holy Spirit, upon those who ask him.’ 
 Prayer is indeed the best half of our busi- 
 ness while upon earth, and that which gives 
 spirit and efficacy to all the rest. Prayer is 
 not only our immediate duty, but the highest 
 dignity, the richest privilege we are capable 
 of receiving on this side eternity ; and the 
 neglect of it implies the deepest guilt, and 
 includes the heaviest punishment. A stranger 
 to prayer, is equally a stranger to God and 
 to happiness, “ like a wave of the sea, driven 
 with the wind and tossed,” James, i. Are 
 any of you, my friends, unacquainted with 
 prayer ? Then are you without God in the 
 world, without a guide in prosperity, without 
 resource in distress, without true comfort in 
 life, and while you continue so, without hope 
 in death. But, especially, you are utterly 
 unqualified to search the scriptures. There 
 is a veil upon the mind and heart of every 
 man (as the apostle assures us, 2 Cor. iii. ), so 
 that he can neither see nor embrace heavenly 
 truths, till this impediment is removed the 
 means of this is prayer. Therefore David says, 
 u Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold 
 wondrous things out of thy law” (Psal. cxix.). 
 He knew there were wonderful things con- 
 tained in the law, but confesses himself inca- 
 pable of discerning them till the Lord should 
 interpose. This he has promised to do in 
 behalf of all vrho call upon him. But those 
 who seek not assistance from God, can find 
 it no where else : “ for every good and per- 
 fect gift is from above, and cometh down from 
 the Father of lights,” who hath said, “ If any 
 man lack wisdom, let him ask of God,” 
 James i. A critical knowledge of the origi- 
 nal languages, a skill in the customs and 
 manners of the ancients, an acquaintance with 
 the Greek and Roman classics, a perusal of 
 councils, fathers, scholiasts, and commenta- 
 tors, a readiness in the subtleties of logical dis- 
 putation; — these, in their proper place and sub- 
 
 335 
 
 serviency, may be of considerable use to clear, 
 illustrate, or enforce the doctrines of scripture : 
 but unless they are governed by a temper of 
 humility and prayer ; unless the man that 
 possesses them accounts them altogether as 
 nothing, without that assistance of the Spirit 
 of God which is promised to guide believers 
 into all truth ; unless he seeks and prays for 
 this guidance no less earnestly than those who 
 understand nothing but their mother-tongue; 
 I make no scruple to affirm, that all his ap- 
 paratus of knowledge only tends to lead him 
 so much the farther astray ; and that a plain 
 honest ploughman, who reads no book but 
 his Bible, and has no teacher but the God to 
 whom he prays in secret, stands abundantly 
 fairer for the attainment of true skill in divini- 
 ty. But happy he, who by faith and prayer can 
 realize the divine presence always with him ! 
 who is sincere in his intentions, diligent in 
 the use of means, diffident of himself, yet full 
 of trust and hope, that God, whom he desires 
 to serve, will lead and guide him in the paths 
 of peace and righteousness for his mercies 
 sake, Psal. xxxi. Those things which are ne- 
 cessary for him to know, shall be made so plain, 
 that he shall not mistake them ; and those 
 things with which he is not so immediately 
 concerned, shall at least teach him humility ; 
 teach him to adore the depths of divine wisdom, 
 and to long for that happy hour, when all 
 that is imperfect shall be done away ; when 
 we shall no more see in part, but shall know 
 even as we are known, 1 Cor. xiii. 
 
 II. I proceed to the second thing proposed : 
 To shew how the scriptures testify of Christ. 
 In general, it may be said, that he is the 
 main design and subject, both of the whole 
 scripture, and of each particular book. This 
 will be easily allowed of the New Testament, 
 but it is not so obvious with regard to several 
 parts of the Old : I hope, therefore, it will 
 not be unacceptable to those who love the 
 word of God, if I consider this point some- 
 thing at large, and help them to discover the 
 Lord Jesus Christ in almost every page of the 
 Bible. This will be a new inducement to 
 them to search the scriptures, when they shall 
 perceive that many passages which they were 
 accustomed to read with indifference, as hardly 
 able to discern any wisdom or meaning in 
 them, do directly testify of Christ. 
 
 What is expressed in the Old Testament 
 (for of this I am now to speak) concerning 
 Christ, may be reduced to three heads, — pro- 
 phecies, types, and ceremonies. To open and 
 trace these in their proper extent, would re- 
 quire volumes ; but it is only a hint of each 
 that the bounds of our present meeting will 
 permit me to offer. 
 
 The first glimmering of light which dawmed 
 upon a lost world was that promise (for I con- 
 sider the promises as a branch of prophecy) 
 which God (who, in the midst of judgment, 
 remembers mercy) made to the woman, that 
 
 ON SEARCHING THE SCRIPTURES. 
 
336 
 
 ON SEARCHING THE SCRIPTURES. 
 
 SER. V 
 
 her seed should bruise the serpent’s head, 
 Gen. iii. This was absolute and general, 
 giving hopes of a recovery, but no informa- 
 tion of person, time, or place : but the path 
 of this just one was as the light, which sliin- 
 eth more and more to the perfect day, Prov. 
 iv. In the time of Noah, the hope and de- 
 sire of all nations was restrained to the line 
 of Shem (Gen. ix.), and afterwards more ex- 
 pressly to the family of Abraham : when this 
 divided into two branches, God, to shew 
 that his purpose is of himself, and that he 
 will do as pleaseth him with his own, set a- 
 side the elder, and confirmed to Jacob, the 
 younger, “ that in his seed all the families of 
 the earth should he blessed,” Gen. xxviii. 
 Jacob had twelve sons, which made a still 
 more explicit restriction necessary. Accord- 
 ingly, the patriarch, before his death, decla- 
 red that this high privilege, of perpetuating 
 the line of the Messiah, was fixed in the tribe 
 of Judah (Gen. xlix.), and the time of his 
 advent was obscurely marked out, by the pro- 
 mise “ that the sceptre should not depart 
 from Judah till the Shiloh came.” The last 
 personal limitation was to David (1 Chron. 
 xvii.) that of his family God would raise up 
 the King, who should reign for ever, and over 
 all. Succeeding prophets gradually foretold 
 the time, place, and circumstances of his birth, 
 the actions of his life, the tenor of his doctrine, 
 the success Ke met with, and the cause, de- 
 sign, and manner of his sufferings and death ; 
 in short, to almost every thing that we read in 
 the gospel, we may annex the observation that 
 the evangelists have made upon a few instances 
 (in order, as it may be presumed, to direct us 
 in searching out the rest), “ then was fulfilled 
 that which * was spoken by the prophets.’ 
 From them we learn, that the Messiah should 
 be born of a virgin, in Bethlehem of Judah, 
 four hundred and ninety years after the com- 
 mandment given to rebuild Jerusalem ; that 
 he should begin his ministry in Galilee ; that 
 he should be despised and rejected of men, 
 betrayed by one of his disciples, sold for thirty 
 pieces of silver, with which money the potters 
 field should be afterwards purchased ! “ that 
 he should be cut off, but not for himself; ’ 
 and that his death should be followed by the 
 sudden and total ruin of the Jewish govern - 
 ment. To compare these promises and pro- 
 phecies, among themselves, and with their exact 
 accomplishment recorded in the New Testa- 
 ment, — this alone would engage us in a close 
 and profitable search into the scriptures, and 
 would afford us the most convincing proofs 
 of their divine original and excellence. 
 
 The types of Christ in the Old Testament 
 may be considered as two-fold, personal and 
 relative. The former describing under the 
 vail of history, his character and offices as 
 considered in himself ; the latter teaching 
 under a variety of metaphors, the advantages 
 those who believe in him should receive ft«>m 
 
 him. Thus Adam, Enoch, Melchizedek, 
 Isaac, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, Joshua, Samp- 
 son, David, Solomon and others, were in dif- 
 ferent respects types or figures of Christ.' 
 ; Some more immediately represented his per- 
 ! son ; others prefigured his humiliation ; others 
 ' referred to his exaltation, dominion, and glo- 
 ry. So, in the latter sense, the ark of Noah, 
 
 ! the rainbow, the manna, the brazen serpent, 
 the cities of refuge, were so many emblems 
 pointing out the nature, necessity, means, and 
 security of that salvation which the Messiah 
 was to establish for his people. Nor are these 
 fanciful allusions of our own making, but 
 J warranted and taught in scripture, and easily 
 | proved from thence, would time permit ; for 
 indeed, there is not one of these persons or 
 things which I have named, but would fur- 
 nish matter for a long discourse, if closely con- 
 sidered in this view, as typical of the promis- 
 ed Redeemer. 
 
 The like may be said of the Levitical cere- 
 monies. The law of Moses is, in this sense, 
 a happy schoolmaster to lead us unto Christ 
 (Gal. iii.) : and it may be proved beyond 
 contradiction, that in these the gospel was 
 preached of old to all those Israelites indeed, 
 whose hearts were right with God, and whose 
 understandings were enlightened by his Spirit. 
 The ark of the covenant, the mercy- seat, the 
 tabernacle, the incense, the altar, the offerings, 
 the high-priest with his ornaments and gar- 
 ments, the laws relating to the leprosy, the 
 Nazarite, and the redemption of lands ; — all 
 these, and many more, which I have not time 
 to mention, have a deep and important mean- 
 ing beyond their outward appearance ; each, 
 in their place, pointed to the Lamb of God 
 who was to take away the sins of the world 
 (John i.), derived their efficacy from him, 
 and received their full accomplishment in 
 him. 
 
 Thus the Old and New Testaments do mu- 
 tually illustrate each other ; nor can either be 
 well understood singly. The Old Testa- 
 ment, in histories, types, prophecies, and ce- 
 remonies, strongly delineates him, who, in the 
 fulness of time, was to come into the world to 
 effect a reconciliation between God and man. 
 The New Testament shews that all these cha- 
 racters and circumstances were actually fulfil- 
 led in Jesus of Nazareth ; and that it was he 
 of whom “ Moses in the law, and the pro- 
 phets did write;” and that we are not to look 
 for another. 
 
 We read in Genesis (chap, xxi.), that Abra- 
 ham had two sons, — Isaac, the child of the 
 promise, the son of his old age, by his wife 
 Sarah, — and Ishmael, born some years before, 
 of Hagar, the handmaid and servant of Sa- 
 rah ; and that the latter, with his mother, 
 were cast out of the family. The occasion 
 some would think trivial, namely, the anger 
 and jealousy of Sarah, because Ishmael had 
 mocked her son ; but when it was grievous to 
 
S!£R. V. 
 
 ON SEARCHING THE SCRIPTURES. 
 
 Abraham to put them away upon so slight a 
 ground, God himself interposed and com- 
 manded him to comply with her desire. Had 
 we heard no more of this, it is likely we 
 should have considered it as a piece of family- 
 history, of no very great importance but to 
 those who were immediately concerned in it. 
 We should perhaps have wondered to find so 
 much said upon such a subject, in a book 
 which we profess to believe was written by 
 divine inspiration ; we should probably have 
 presumed to arraign the divine wisdom, in 
 descending to particulars, in which, according 
 to our views of the fitness of things, we could 
 discern nothing either interesting or instruc- 
 tive. To guard us from these rash mistakes, 
 to explain the true meaning of this particular 
 transaction, and at the same time to furnish 
 us with a key for understanding many pas- 
 sages of the like nature, in which human 
 wisdom can discover neither beauty nor be- 
 nefit, — it has pleased God to favour us with 
 an infallible exposition of the whole matter. 
 Not for the sake of Abraham, or Isaac, or 
 Ishmael, or Hagar, was this recorded ; much 
 less merely to gratify our curiosity. No : 
 “ These things,” saith the apostle Paul, “are 
 an allegory : for these are the two covenants ; 
 the one from the mount Sina, which gendereth 
 to bondage, which is Agar. For this Agar is 
 mount Sina in Arabia, and answereth to Je- 
 rusalem which now is, and is in bondage with 
 her children. But Jerusalem which is above 
 is free, which is the mother of us all. — Now 
 we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children 
 of promise. But as then he that was born 
 after the flesh persecuted him that was born 
 after the Spirit, even so it is now'. Never- 
 theless, what saith the scripture? Cast out the 
 bond-woman and her son : for the son of the 
 bond-woman shall not be heir with the son of 
 the free-woman. So then, brethren, we are 
 not the children of the bond- woman, but of 
 the free,” Gal. iv. I must not detain you by 
 shewing at large how the apostle teaches us to 
 discover the spirit and privileges of the gos- 
 pel, together with what all who truly receive 
 it must expect to encounter, in a passage 
 which we might otherwise have thought su- 
 perfluous, if not impertinent. Keep this in 
 your mind when you read the scriptures. As- 
 sure yourselves, that there is nothing vain or 
 useless in the word of God. Compare one place 
 with another, the law with the gospel, the 
 prophets with the evangelists ; pray unto God 
 that he would open your understandings to 
 understand the scriptures, as he did for the 
 disciples (Lukexxiv.); and in a little time 
 you will find, that Christ is not only spoken 
 of in a few verses, here and there, but that, 
 as I said before, he is the main scope and 
 subject of every book, and almost of every 
 chapter. 
 
 I would add an instance or two of the mean- 
 ing of the ceremonies, to what I have observ- 
 
 337 
 
 ed of Hagar in reference to the types. In the 
 law of the Passover, it w r as especially enjoin- 
 ed (Exod. xii.), that not a bone of the pas- 
 chal lamb should be broken. Now, who 
 would have thought that this referred to 
 Christ ! yet we see the evangelist expressly 
 applies it to him, and is filled with wonder at 
 the accomplishment. The legs of those who 
 w'ere crucified at the same time were purpose- 
 ly broken (Johnxix.), but our Lord was pas- 
 sed by ; and that it should be so, was inti- 
 mated near fifteen hundred years before, in 
 this charge concerning the lamb. Again, we 
 find, that in several places where a bullock 
 was commanded to be slain for a sin-offering, 
 it was enjoined, that the flesh and the skin 
 should be burnt without the camp ; and from 
 the epistle to the Hebrews (chap, xiii.), we 
 learn, that this was not a slight or arbitrary 
 circumstance. We have there this explica- 
 tion : “ For the bodies of those beasts whose 
 blood is brought into the sanctuary, by the 
 high-priest, for sin, w’ere burnt without the 
 camp. Wherefore Jesus also, that he might 
 sanctify the people with his own blood, suf- 
 fered without the gate. Let us go forth, 
 therefore, without the camp, bearing his re- 
 proach.” I must not enlargd any farther, or 
 it were easy, by the clue the apostles in their 
 writings have given us, to trace the important 
 meaning of many of those institutions, which 
 scoffers, who are wise in their own conceits, 
 though neither acquainted with themselves 
 nor the subject, presume to censure as frivo- 
 lous. The sense of the sacred writings lies 
 too deep for a captious, superficial, volatile 
 survey ; it must be a search, a scrutiny ; a 
 humble, diligent, sincere, and persevering in- 
 quiry, or no satisfaction can be expected. 
 
 The import of the scripture testimony con- 
 cerning Christ, which was the third thing I 
 proposed to speak of, must be deferred to 
 another opportunity. I hope what has been 
 already said, may, through the divine bles- 
 sing, engage you to search the scriptures. 
 Remember it is the command of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ : it is the only appointed way to 
 the knowledge of him, whom to know, so as 
 to love, serve, and obey him, is both the foun- 
 dation and the sum of our happiness, here and 
 hereafter. We, as well as the Jews, think we 
 have eternal life in the scriptures, and shall, 
 like them, be inexcuseable and self-condemn- 
 ed if we neglect it. Let us not be like fools, 
 with a prize, an inestimable prize, in our 
 hands, but without heart or skill to use it. 
 Better would it have been for us to have lived 
 j and died in the wilds of America, without 
 either means of grace or hopes of glory, than 
 to slight this record which God has been 
 pleased to give us of his Son. But happy the 
 man whose delight is in the law of his God ! 
 He has sure direction in every difficulty, cer- 
 tain comfort in every distress. The beauty 
 of the precepts is preferable in his eye to 
 2 F 
 
338 
 
 “ thousands of gold and silver,” Psal. cxix. 
 The comforts of the promises are sweeter to 
 his taste, “ than honey or the honey-comb,” 
 Psal. xix. He is happy in life ; for the 
 word of God is to him as a “ fountain of liv- 
 ing water.” He shall be happy in death ; 
 the promises of his God shall support him 
 through that dark valley ; and he shall be 
 happy for ever in the presence and love of 
 him for whose sake he now searches the scrip- 
 tures; “Whom, having not seen,” yet, from 
 the testimony there given of him, “ he loves ; 
 in whom, though now he sees him not, yet 
 believing, he rejoices with joy unspeakable 
 and full of glory,” 1 Pet. i. 
 
 Pleraque autem (si detur libere loquendi 
 venia) quae etiam in Theologicis scholis trac- 
 tantur, et magno cum apparatu et strepitu 
 docentur et disputantur, spinosum forte acu- 
 men habent, sed simul certe spinosum sterili- 
 tatem : lacerare et pungere possunt, animos 
 pascere non possunt : “ Nemo enim ex spinis 
 uvas coliigit unquam, aut ex tribulis ficus.” 
 “ Quorsum alta (inquit quidam) de Trinitate 
 disputare, si careas humilitate, etsic Trinitati 
 displiceas?” Et apte S. Augustinus ad illud 
 Esaiae, “ Ego Deus tuus docens te utilia ;” 
 “ utilia (inquit) docens, non subtilia .” Et hoc 
 est quod opto et oro ; ut nobis pro modulo 
 nostro subdocentibus, ille efficaciter vos per- 
 doceat, qui cathedram in coelo habens, corda 
 docet in terris. 
 
 Archiep. Leighton, Prelect. Theol. 
 pag. 4. edit. 4to. Lond. 1693. 
 
 SERMON VI. 
 
 THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. 
 
 Search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye 
 have eternal life , and they are they which 
 testify of me. John v. 59. 
 
 In a former discourse on these words, I men- 
 tioned four things as highly requisite, if we 
 would acquire an useful knowledge of the 
 scriptures, — sincerity with respect to the end, 
 diligence in the use of means, a humble sense 
 of our own weakness, and earnest prayer to 
 God for the assistance of his grace and Spirit. 
 To engage us to this practice, and perseve- 
 rance therein, I next considered how the 
 scriptures when properly searched into and 
 compared, do clearly, and in every part, tes- 
 tify of Christ, that he is the end of the law, 
 the sum of the prophets, the completion of the 
 promises, the scope of the types and ceremo- 
 nies, and the great object of the whole Old- 
 Testament dispensation. I am now to say 
 sometlring to the third point I proposed. 
 
 SER. VI. 
 
 III. Concerning the import of the testi- 
 mony which the scriptures bear to Christ. 
 
 The principal difficulties on this head are, 
 where to begin on a subject absolutely bound- 
 less, and what to select that may be most 
 suitable and useful to this assembly, from the 
 immense variety of topics that offer. For this 
 being the great end and design of the scrip- 
 tures, to proclaim the excellency of Christ 
 Jesus our Lord, “ that we, through him, 
 may have strong consolation” (Heb. xii.), it 
 is inculcated in so many places, set in such a 
 diversity of views, and couched under such 
 deep and comprehensive expressions, that not 
 only our present opportunity, but my whole 
 future life, would be too short, if I would 
 collect, state, and explain all that properly 
 belongs to this single article. For order’s 
 sake, I shall reduce the little I must say at 
 this time to three or four distinct particulars, 
 — what the scriptures testify of Christ, as 
 to his person, his offices, his power, and his 
 love. 
 
 When we hear of some great undertaking 
 to be performed, we inquire of course about 
 the person who is chiefly concerned in it ; so, 
 when we are told of the mighty works Jesus 
 Christ engaged to perform, to redeem a lost 
 world, to satisfy divine justice, to make an 
 end of sin, to abolish death, and to bring life 
 and immortality to light ; the first question 
 that occurs is, Who is he ? Search the scrip- 
 tures, and you will have a clear and decisive 
 answer. The prophet Isaiah, “ rapt into 
 future times,” describes him thus : “ Unto 
 us a child is born, unto us a Son is given, and 
 the government shall be upon his shoulder : 
 and he shall be called Wonderful, Counsel- 
 lor, the Mighty God, the everlasting Father, 
 the Prince of Peace,” Isaiah ix. 6. The 
 union of the divine and human natures in the 
 Messiah is so strongly asserted, the names and 
 attributes of God are so clearly ascribed, in 
 this passage to one who should be born into 
 the world, that he who runs may read ; the 
 way-faring man, though a fool, must under- 
 stand it; and it requires a considerable share of 
 unhappy ingenuity, to wrest the words to any 
 other than their obvious meaning. This text, 
 though it stood alone in the Bible (supposing 
 the scriptures to be a revalation from God), 
 would be a full warrant, and a firm founda- 
 tion, for that great point of Christian faith and 
 doctrine, That Jesus Christ is very God, and 
 very man ; or, as the apostle better expresses 
 it, “ God manifest in the flesh.” But it is not 
 alone : on the contrary, the Messiah is seldom 
 mentioned, but something is either said of 
 him, or referred to him, which teaches us the 
 same important truth. “ Behold the days 
 come, saith the Lord (by Jeremiah, chap, 
 xxiii.), that I will raise unto David a right- 
 eous Branch, and a King shall reign and 
 prosper, and shall execute judgment and jus- 
 tice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be 
 
 ON SEARCHING THE SCRIPTURES. 
 
seii. vr. 
 
 ON SEARCHING 1 
 
 saved, and Israel shall dwell safely : and this 
 is his name whereby he shall be called, THE 
 LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. ” Isaiah in general 
 styles him, “ A child to be born Jeremiah 
 more particularly, a “ Branch of David:” 
 Isaiah ascribes to him the name of “ The 
 Mighty God Jeremiah says, he shall be 
 called “ The Lord our righteousness.” You 
 have the word lord in capital letters here, as 
 in other places, where it is in the original JE- 
 HOVAH. Some of the names of God are occa- 
 sionally applied to inferior subjects, to angels, 
 to magistrates, and sometimes to idols. But 
 Jehovah is allowed by all to signify the essen- 
 tial and incommunicable name of the Most 
 High God. Yet this is not the only place 
 where it is expressly and directly applied to 
 the Messiah. David himself speaks to the same 
 purpose : “ The Lord said unto my Lord, 
 Sit thou at my right hand,” Psalm cx. That 
 the Messiah was to be David’s son, was known 
 and acknowledged by the Jews in our Savi- 
 our’s time ; but how he could be the son of 
 David, and yet his Lord, was a difficulty that 
 utterly posed and silenced the most learned 
 Rabbis and Scribes among them ; because, 
 being destitute of that sincerity and humility 
 we have before spoken of, they could not 
 understand the scriptures, which were read in 
 their synagogues every day. 
 
 Now, although this important doctrine was 
 not to be discovered by the light of nature, or 
 the powers of human reason, yet, since it has 
 pleased God to make it known to us, our rea- 
 son, humbly tracing the steps of divine reve- 
 lation, can easily prove the expediency, and 
 even the necessity that it should be so. When 
 we are informed from scripture, that all man- 
 kind being sunk into a state of sin and mi- 
 sery, God had in great mercy appointed a 
 person to atone for the one, and deliver them 
 from the other ; we may safely, from these 
 principles, infer, by our own reason, 1st, That 
 this person cannot be mere man : for as the 
 whole human race, and consequently every 
 individual, is supposed to be previously in- 
 volved in the same circumstances of guilt and 
 condemnation, it is impossible that any one of 
 these should be able either to answer or sa- 
 tisfy for himself, much less be qualified to in- 
 terpose in behalf of another. From hence 
 reason may ascend a step higher, and con- 
 elude, 2d, That no mere creature, however 
 great and excellent, can undertake this part ; 
 for the two great points necessary in order to 
 our redemption, to satisfy the justice of God, 
 and to restore the divine image in man, are 
 either of them beyond the sphere of finite 
 power. We read in the scriptures of angels, 
 archangels, thrones, principalities, and pow- 
 ers; and from several texts we may collect, 
 that their number and excellencies are beyond 
 any conceptions we can form. Could we sup- 
 pose that the virtues and endowments of all 
 these various and exalted beings were united 
 
 FHE SCRIPTURES. 339 
 
 and centered in one of them ; however glo- 
 rious this being would be in other respects, 
 when we consider him as a creature of the 
 divine power, he will be found to be as unfit, 
 and as unable, to interfere in the behalf of 
 sinful man, as the meanest worm that crawls 
 upon the earth. It is the duty of every being, 
 great and small, to be entirely devoted, ac- 
 cording to the extent of its capacity, to the ser- 
 vice and glory of its great Creator ; therefore 
 an angel is no more capable than a man of per- 
 forming the smallest work of supererogation. 
 The highest archangel could not magnify the 
 law of God, and make it honourable on the 
 behalf of man, being already bound thereto 
 for himself: much less can we suppose such 
 a being capable of expiating the sins of man- 
 kind by suffering. If divine justice insisted 
 on a propitiation, it must follow, that nothing 
 less than an equivalent could be accepted. 
 But what would be the temporary sufferings 
 of a creature, or of all creatures, in this view ? 
 A finite satisfaction, however heightened and 
 exaggerated, would at last be infinitely short 
 of the demand. As to the other branch of 
 redemption, the restoration of the image of 
 God in the soul, I need only mention it; for 
 it appears, at> first glance, that this must be 
 the prerogative of divine power alone to effect. 
 It remains, therefore, that the deliverance of 
 mankind could only be attempted by him, 
 who, we are assured by the apostle, agree- 
 able to the passages already cited, is over all, 
 God blessed for ever. 
 
 That the Son of God should take upon him 
 the nature and circumstances of our human- 
 ity, sin excepted, in order to atone for our 
 transgressions, is indeed such an instance of 
 condescension and love, as must for ever daz- 
 zle and astonish the brightest understandings. 
 It is true, some persons in these refined times 
 affect to speak of this point with admirable 
 coolness and precision. But in the beginning 
 it was not so. Either the apostle Paul was 
 less master of his temper, or more unequal to 
 sublime speculations, than these gentlemen, or 
 else we must allow he had a very different 
 view of the subject : for he cannot mention it 
 without appearing to be transported, and (if 
 I may use the expression) swallowed up by 
 the thought ; his ideas seem too great for 
 words ; and it is well if his best attempts to 
 explain himself have not exposed him, in the 
 judgment of some of his readers to the charge 
 of solecism. However, though this doctrine, 
 above any other, is a proof that God “is able 
 to do for us exceeding abundantly beyond all 
 we could ask or think,” it is not, upon the 
 premises I before mentioned, in the least re- 
 pugnant to right reason ; rather it is exactly 
 calculated to remove all those surmises which 
 would rise in the mind of a reasonable sinner 
 upon the first intimation of possible forgive- 
 ness. In our nature Christ fulfilled the law 
 which we had broken : he sustained the pe- 
 
SEIl. VJ 
 
 ON SEARCHING THE SCRIPTURES. 
 
 340 
 
 nalty we had incurred : he vanquished the 
 enemies we had to encounter ; he trod the path 
 which he Has marked out for us ; he is entered 
 in our name into that heaven he has promised 
 us ; and retains a sympathy with us in all our 
 sufferings and temptations, “ in as much as he 
 himself has suffered, being tempted,” Heb. ii. 
 
 I am next to consider the testimony of 
 scripture concerning the offices of Christ. 
 These are, in general, included in the cha- 
 racter of Mediator. “ There is one God, and 
 one mediator between God and man, the man 
 Christ Jesus,” 1 Tim. ii. In this word is 
 summed up all that Christ has already done, 
 now does, or will hereafter do, either on the 
 part of God or on that of man. But for our 
 better apprehension, it is proposed to us under 
 three distinct and principal views, answerable 
 to the three particulars in which the misery of 
 fallen man does principally consist. 
 
 And, first, man, having departed from God, 
 “became vain in his imaginations, and his 
 foolish heart was darkened” (Rom. i.), so that 
 he totally lost the knowledge of his Creator, 
 and how entirely his happiness depended 
 thereon. He forgot God and himself, and 
 sunk so low as to worship the work of his 
 own hands. His life became vain and miser- 
 able : in prosperity, without security or satis- 
 faction ; in adversity, without support or re- 
 source : his death dark and hopeless ; no 
 pleasing reflection on the past, no ray of light 
 on the future. Such was the unhappy case 
 when Christ undertook the office of a Pro- 
 phet : in which character, under various dis- 
 pensations, first by his servants inspired of 
 old, and afterwards more clearly in his own 
 person, and by his apostles, he has instructed 
 us in the things pertaining to our peace ; not 
 only renewing in us the knowledge of the 
 true God, which, where revelation prevailed 
 not, was universally lost out of the world, but 
 disclosing to us the counsels of divine love and 
 wisdom in our favour, those great things which 
 eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, and which 
 never could have entered into the heart of 
 man to conceive, had not he who dwelt in 
 the bosom of the Father declared them to us. 
 We can now give a sufficient answer to that 
 question, which must have for ever overwhelm- 
 ed every serious awakened mind, “ Where- 
 withal shall I appear before the Most High 
 God?” Mic. vi. We have now learned how 
 God can declare and illustrate his righteous- 
 ness and truth, by that very act which, with- 
 out respect to satisfaction given, would seem 
 the highest impeachment of both, I mean his 
 justifying the ungodly. We have now a glass 
 by which we can discover the presence of the 
 Creator in every part of his creation, and a 
 clue to lead us through the mysterious mazes 
 of divine providence. But who can enumer- 
 ate the various, the important, the interest- 
 ing lessons we receive from this heavenly 
 Teacher, when, by the influence of his Holy 
 
 Spirit he powerfully applies his written word 
 to the hearts of his real disciples, who search 
 the scriptures with a sincere desire to be made 
 wise unto salvation ! Whatever is necessary 
 to make life useful and comfortable, and to 
 gild the gloom of death with the bright pros- 
 pect of a glorious immortality, is there con- 
 tained : so that, instructed, by these writings 
 alone, a poor illiterate mechanic has been 
 often enabled to converse upon a dying-bed 
 with more dignity, certainty, and influence, 
 than any, or all the philosophers, ancient or 
 modern, could attain. 
 
 But, besides the natural ignorance of fallen 
 man, he was chargeable with aggravated guilt. 
 Guilt and ignorance are reciprocally causes 
 and consequences of each other. Every ad- 
 ditional guilt tends to increase the stupidity 
 of the human soul, and every increase of this 
 increases in the same proportion the natural 
 indisposition for the practice or the love of 
 virtue, makes the soul more blind to conse- 
 quences, more base in its pursuits, and thus to 
 become a more willing and assiduous servant 
 of iniquity. No wonder, therefore, that when 
 the understanding was totally darkened as to 
 the knowledge of God, the will and affections 
 became wholly disobedient to his law. Rut 
 when a divine light has in some measure dis- 
 covered the heart to itself, and at the same time 
 set an offended God in view, every such sen- 
 sible sinner would undoubtedly imitate our 
 first parents, and flee (were it possible) from 
 the presence of his Maker and his Judge. 
 “ I heard thy voice,” says Adam, “ and I hid 
 myself, for I was afraid,” Gen. iii. Vain at- 
 tempt ! and, if it were practicable, a dreadful 
 alternative ! since absence from God imports 
 the utmost misery to a creature who can be 
 happy only in his favour. But here the scrip- 
 tures bring us unspeakable comfort, testifying 
 of Christ as our great High- Priest. To point 
 
 out and illustrate this part of his character is 
 the chief end and design of the whole Levi- 
 tical law, the main points of which are ex- 
 plained, and applied to our blessed Lord, 
 throughout the epistle to the Hebrews. The 
 principal parts of the priests office were, to 
 sacrifice in behalf of the people, to make atone- 
 ment, to pray for them, and to bless them in 
 the name of the J^ord. No sacrifices could 
 be offered or accepted, no blessings expected, 
 but through the hands of the priests whom 
 God had appointed. Thus Christ, the High- 
 Priest of our profession, offered himself a sa- 
 crifice without either spot or blemish : he en- 
 tered with his own blood within the vail, to 
 the immediate presence of our offended God, 
 and through him peace and good-will is pro- 
 claimed to sinful men. He continues still 
 to exercise the other part of his appointment : 
 he makes continual intercession for his peo- 
 ple ; he presents their prayers and impel feet 
 services acceptable before the throne ; he gives 
 them confidence and access to draw nigh to 
 
SER. VI. ON SEARCHING T 
 
 God ; and he bestows upon them those gifts 
 and blessings which are the fruits of his suf- 
 ferings and obedience. The Levitical priests 
 were, like their people, sinners, and were 
 therefore constrained first to make atonement 
 for themselves ; they were mortal, therefore 
 *their service passed from hand to hand ; their 
 sacrifices were imperfect, therefore needed con- 
 tinual repetition, and had at last only a typi- 
 cal and ceremonial efficacy; for it was not 
 possible that the blood of bulls and goats 
 (Heb. ix. and x.) could remove either the 
 guilt or pollution of sin. “ The law made 
 nothing perfect.” But Jesus, “ the Media- 
 tor of the new covenant,” is “ such a High- 
 Priest as became us ; holy, harmless, unde- 
 filed, separate from sinners ; who needeth not 
 (as those of old) to offer sacrifice, first for his 
 own sins and then for the people ; for this he 
 did once, when he offered up himself,” Heb. 
 vii. The great inference from this doctrine, 
 several times repeated by the apostle in a va- 
 riety of phrase, is, that we may now have bold- 
 ness to appear before God, that our prayers 
 and services are pleasing in his sight, and all 
 the blessings of grace and glory ready to be 
 bestowed on us, if we faithfully apply for 
 them, through the merits of his Son. 
 
 Once more, man is not only ignorant of 
 God and himself, and too full of guilt to plead 
 in his own name, but he is likewise weak and 
 defenceless ; unable to make his way through 
 the opposition that withstands his progress to 
 eternal life, or to secure him from the many 
 enemies “ that rise up against him,” Psal. iii. 
 We read, that when the Gibeonites made a 
 league with Joshua (Jos. ix.), which was the 
 only step that could save them from utter 
 ruin, the neighbouring states and cities all 
 united to destroy them : so the soul that is de- 
 sirous to submit to Jesus Christ, immediately 
 finds itself in the midst of war ; the world, 
 the flesh, and the devil, unite their forces, ei- 
 ther to recal such a one to the practice and 
 service of sin, or to distress him to the utter- 
 most for forsaking it. And none could sup- 
 port this conflict, if not themselves supported 
 by a higher hand. But Jesus, the antitype 
 of Joshua, the true Captain of the Lord’s 
 hosts, reveals himself in his word as the King 
 of his church. He can inspire the fainting 
 soul with unseen supplies : he, when the ene- 
 my comes in like a flood (Isa. lix.), can, by 
 his Spirit, lift up a standard against him ; he 
 can take the prey even out of the hand of the 
 mighty. He has said it of his church in ge- 
 neral, and he will make it good to every indi- 
 vidual that trusts in him, that the gates of hell 
 shall never prevail against them. What though 
 a sense of the guilt and remaining power of sin 
 often fills the humble soul with inexpressible 
 distress ! He that stills the raging of the sea, 
 and the violence of the winds, with a word, 
 can with equal ease calm all the unruly mo- 
 tions of the mind. What though the world 
 
 •HE SCRIPTURES. 341 
 
 opposes in every quarter, and presents snares 
 and terrors all around ! What though rage 
 or contempt, threats or allurements, are by 
 turns, or altogether, employed to ruin us ; 
 behold, greater is he that is in us, than he 
 that is in the world” (1 John iv.) ; “ Chris* 
 has overcome the world for us” (John xvi.), 
 and has promised to make us conquerors, yoa, 
 more than conquerors, in our turn. What 
 though “ the devil goes about like a roaring 
 lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet. 
 vi.) ; it is an argument of the strongest kind 
 for watchfulness and prayer. But we need 
 not fear him : The “ beloved of the Lord 
 shall dwell in safety” (Deut. xxxiii.): The 
 
 “ Lord shall cover him all the day long ; he 
 shall deliver him from the snare of the fowler” 
 (Psal. xci.) ; “ his truth shall be a shield and 
 buckler” to all who enlist under his banner ; 
 and at length, yea, shortly, “ the God of 
 peace shall bruise Satan under our feet,” 
 Rom. xvi. 
 
 It is thus the scriptures, to help the weak- 
 ness of our apprehensions, testify of Christ, 
 under the threefold view of Prophet, Priest, 
 and King of his people. These are his prin- 
 cipal and leading characters, which include 
 and imply the rest ; for the time would fail 
 to speak of him, as he is declared to be their 
 head, husband, root, foundation, sun, shield, 
 shepherd, lawgiver, exemplar, and forerun- 
 ner. In brief, there is hardly any comfort- 
 able relation or useful office amongst men, 
 hardly any object in the visible creation, which 
 either displays beauty or produces benefit, but 
 what is applied in the word of God, to illus-* 
 trate the excellence and sufficiency of the 
 Lord Jesus Christ. The intent of all is, that 
 we may learn to trust him, and delight to 
 serve him ; for these must go together. Who- 
 ever would be benefited by his mediation as a 
 Priest, must submit to his instructions as a 
 Prophet, and yield him universal obedience 
 as a King. Fatal are the mistakes in this 
 matter now in the world. Some talk highly 
 of the death and sufferings of Christ, who are 
 little solicitous to keep his commandments : 
 others labour in the very fire to observe his 
 law r ; but “ being ignorant of God’s righteous- 
 ness, and going about to establish their own” 
 (Rom. x.), they labour to no purpose. De- 
 pendence on the merits of Christ, and obedi- 
 ence to his commands, are inseparably united ; 
 and only the man who aims at both, can at- 
 tain to either. 
 
 I should now lay before you some scrip- 
 ture testimonies of the power and love of 
 Christ ; but I have anticipated this part ot 
 mv subject in what I have already said. His 
 divine nature proclaims his power, his offices 
 display his love. We have seen, that he emp- 
 tied himself of his eternal glories; that he 
 bowed the heavens, and came down in the 
 form of a servant ; that he submitted to all 
 imaginable sufferings ; all that the malice of 
 
SER. vr. 
 
 ON SEARCHING THE SCRIPTURES. 
 
 342 
 
 men, all that the avenging justice of God 
 could inflict ; and having by this means open- 
 ed the kingdom of heaven, and taken posses- 
 sion there, in behalf of all believers, he has 
 caused the glad tidings of salvation to be pub- 
 lished through the world ; declaring, “ that 
 whosoever cometh to him (without one ex- 
 ception), he will in no wise cast out,” John 
 vi. Are not these proofs of unspeakable, un- 
 exampled love ? We have seen, that he fully 
 performed the work he undertook ; that he 
 has made an end of sin (Dan. ix.); brought 
 in an everlasting righteousness, spoiled prin- 
 cipalities and powers (Eph. ii.) ; triumphed 
 over all our enemies, broke down the parti- 
 tion-wall, and brought life and immortality to 
 light by his gospel, 1 Tim. i. We read, that 
 he is highly exalted ; “ that God has given 
 him a name that is above every name” (Phil, 
 ii.); that he is “far above all principality, 
 and might, and dominion;” and what more 
 can be said of his power ? Read his own de- 
 claration, “ All power is given me in heaven 
 and in earth,” Matth. xxviii. Were these 
 two points, the power and the love of Christ, 
 rightly understood, and fully believed, earth 
 would be full of heaven. But, alas ! we are 
 fools, and slow of heart to receive all that 
 Moses and the prophets (Luke, xxiv.), the 
 evangelists and apostles, have written for our 
 instruction. From hence proceeds our indif- 
 ference, and that we need so much to be press- 
 ed to search the scriptures, though we readily 
 acknowledge that in them we have the words 
 of eternal life. 
 
 IV. It remains, therefore, in the fourth 
 and last place, that I add a few words to re- 
 commend and enforce the command in the 
 text, “ Search the scriptures,” from the ar- 
 gument there subjoined, “ for in them ye 
 think ye have eternal life ;” and we think 
 right; for it “ is eternal life to know the only 
 true God, and Jesus Christ, whom he hath 
 sent” (John xvii.) : and every article of this 
 knowledge is contained in the Old and New 
 Testament; nor can any part of it be met 
 with any where else. Yet let conscience 
 judge this day, as in the presence of the liv- 
 ing God, the searcher of hearts, before whom 
 our private judgments must shortly come un- 
 der a review : has any book a smaller share 
 of the time, the memory, or the affections of 
 many of us, than this book of God ? Do not 
 the successive returns of business and amuse- 
 ment so far engross our time and our thoughts, 
 that we have either no leisure, or no disposi- 
 tion, to attend to the things which pertain 
 to our peace ? Consider, “ in them we think 
 we have eternal life.” We know w'e are post- 
 ing to eternity as fast as the w-ings of time can 
 carry us ; we know that the consequences of 
 our behaviour in this span of life will attend 
 us into an invisible unalterable state ; and we 
 confess, that the necessary directions for our 
 conduct in these most important and preca- 
 
 rious circumstances, are to be found only in 
 the Bible ; what words then can describe our 
 fatal insensibility, if, all this acknowledged, we 
 have no heart to consult, or to value, this in- 
 estimable treasure put into our hands ? 
 
 Many inquiries, more curious than useful, 
 have been started concerning the divine pro- 
 cedure with the Heathen nations, and those 
 who never heard of the gospel of peace. 
 “ The Judge of all the earth will (undoubted- 
 ly) do right” (Gen. xviiL), and will be justi- 
 fied at the great day, when every man shall 
 receive according to their w’orks. Till then 
 we must wait for the knowledge of what he 
 has not seen fit to reveal. But thus much he 
 has already told us, that however it may go 
 with those who know not the gospel, dreadful 
 will be the doom of those who, having it pub- 
 lished among them, refuse to obey it. “ The 
 servant who knew not his master’s will shall 
 be beaten with few stripes,” Luke xii. But 
 this will not be our case ; at least -our igno- 
 rance w'ill be rather an aggravation than an 
 excuse; a wilful, obstinate, infatuated igno- 
 rance. We have the words of eternal life in 
 our hands ; “ line upon line, precept upon 
 precept : ” but how do we imitate those (whom 
 perhaps we have been ready to blame) spoken 
 of in the parable, who, when they received a 
 kind and gracious invitation to a royal feast, 
 made light of it, and “all with one consent 
 began to make excuse !” Luke xiv. It is 
 easy to apply this to the Jews of old ; so Da- 
 vid could clearly judge in the case of the rich 
 man who killed his poor neighbour’s lamb (2 
 Sam. xii.), but had not the prophet helped 
 him, he w’ould not have collected that he him- 
 self was the person intended. But to bring 
 the general truths of scripture home to the 
 heart is the work of God ; and, perhaps, while 
 I am speaking at random, he may rouse the 
 consciences of some to say in particular, Thou 
 art the man. Then they will soon see how 
 much it behoves them to search the scriptures, 
 when they understand the weighty meaning 
 of the words, eternal life. 
 
 Some of us, I hope, do already make con- 
 science of frequent reading the scriptures ; 
 but let us remember the force of the word 
 search. It is not a careless superficial read- 
 ing, or dispatching such a number of chapters 
 in a day, as a task, that will answer the end. 
 I have already reminded you, that it is a bus- 
 iness will need your best application ; a se- 
 rious, impartial, humble, persevering inquiry, 
 accompanied with earnest prayer for the light 
 and assistance of God’s Holy Spirit. When 
 we set about it in this method, we shall soon 
 find happy effects ; pleasure and instruction 
 will go hand in hand ; and our knowledge 
 advance as the growing light. The precepts 
 shall inspire us with true wisdom ; teach us 
 how to order all our affairs, respecting both 
 worlds; to fill up our several stations in life 
 with propriety, usefulness, and comfort ; and 
 
SER. VI. 
 
 ON SEARCHING THE SCRIPTURES, 
 
 to avoid the numerous evils and distresses 
 which those who live by no rule, or by any 
 other rule than God’s word, are perpetually 
 running into. The promises shall be a sup- 
 port in every trouble, a medicine in every sick- 
 ness, a supply in every need. Above all, the 
 scriptures will repair our trouble, as they tes- 
 tify of Christ. The more we read of his per- 
 son, offices, power, love, doctrine, life, and 
 death, the more our hearts will cleave to him : 
 we shall, by insensible degrees, be transform- 
 ed into his image. We shall, with the apos- 
 
 343 
 
 tie, say, “ I know in whom I have believed,” 
 2 Tim. i. Every thing we see shall be at once 
 a memorial to remind us of our Redeemer, 
 and a motive to animate us in his service. 
 And at length we shall be removed to see him 
 as he is, without a cloud, and without a vail ; 
 to be for ever with him ; to behold and to 
 share the glories of that heavenly kingdom 
 “ which (Matth. xxv.) he has prepared (foi 
 his followers) from before the foundation o? 
 the world.” Amen. 
 

 
 
SERMONS 
 
 PREACHED IN THE PARISH-CHUItCH OF OLNEY, 
 BUCKINGHAMSHIRE. 
 
 Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound : they shall walk, O Lord, in the light 
 of thy countenance. In thy name shall they rejoice all the day ; and in thy righteousness 
 shall they be exalted. PsaL. lxxxix. 15, 15. 
 
TO THE INHABITANTS OF THE PARISH OF OLNEY. 
 
 MY DEAR FRIENDS, 
 
 I have principally two motives for publishing these Discourses. The one is, 
 to exhibit a specimen of the doctrine that is taught and most surely believed 
 amongst us, to satisfy those who desire information, and to stop, if possible, 
 the mouth of Slander. I cheerfully submit them to examination, in full con- 
 fidence that they contain nothing of moment which is not agreeable to the 
 general strain of the word of God, and to the principles of the church whereof 
 I am a minister, as specified in the Articles, Liturgy, and Homilies. And 
 that what I now print is to the same purport with the usual course of my preach- 
 ing, I doubt not but all who statedly hear me, will do me the justice to ac- 
 knowledge. 
 
 My other motive is, a desire of promoting your edification. It is my com- 
 fort that many of you live by the truths of the gospel, and highly prize them. 
 You will not, therefore, be unwilling to view the substance of what you once 
 heard with acceptance. But it is to be feared, that the far greater part of the 
 congregation have need to have the things pertaining to their peace pressed 
 upon them again and again, for a different reason ; not because they know 
 them, and therefore love to have them brought to their remembrance, but be- 
 cause they have hitherto heard them without effect. For the sake of both, 
 therefore, I am willing to leave an abiding testimony amongst you. I hereby 
 take each of your consciences to witness, that I am clear of your blood ; and 
 that, to the best of my knowledge and ability, I have not shunned to declare 
 the whole counsel of God. 
 
 In the choice of the subjects I have selected for publication, I have not been 
 solicitous to comprise a succinct scheme of gospel-doctrine, but have given 
 the preference to such topics, which the peculiar circumstances of the times, 
 and of my hearers, make me desirous might be had in continual remem- 
 brance. 
 
 The exposition of the third commandment, which was first delivered in 
 your hearing, I afterwards preached (nearer the form in which it now appears) 
 at London ; and as it led me to touch on some particulars of a very public 
 and interesting concern, I have given it a place in this volume. And I shall 
 think myself happy indeed, if it may please God to give weight to the testi- 
 mony of so obscure a person, with respect to a grievance under which the 
 nation groans. 
 
 As long discourses are in many respects inconvenient, I have chosen to 
 publish no more than a brief summary of what you heard more at large from 
 the pulpit. And as I aim to speak plain truths to a plain people, I have pur- 
 posely avoided any studied ornaments in point of expression, being desirous 
 to accommodate myself to the apprehensions of the most ignorant. 
 
 May it please the God of all grace to accompany my feeble endeavours to 
 promote the knowledge of his truth with the powerful influence of his Holy 
 Spirit ! And I earnestly entreat all who know how to draw near to a throne 
 of grace by Jesus Christ, to strive mightily in prayer for me, that I may stand 
 fast in the faith, and increase in the knowledge of Jesus the Saviour, and that, 
 for his sake, I may labour, without fear of fainting, in the service to which he 
 has been pleased to call me. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be 
 with you all ! 
 
 I am your affectionate friend, and servant in the gospel of Christ, 
 
 John Newton. 
 
 Olney, January 20, 1767. 
 
SERMONS 
 
 PREACHED IN THE PARISH-CHUIICH OP OLNEY. 
 
 SERMON I. 
 
 THE SMALL SUCCESS OF A GOSPEL-MINISTRY 
 
 At that lime Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, 0 Father, Lord of heaven and earth, 
 because thou hast hid these things from the ivise ana prudent, and hast revealed them unto 
 babes. Matth. xi. 25. 
 
 Our blessed Lord perfectly knew beforehand 
 the persons who would profit by his ministry : 
 but his observations, conduct, and discourses, 
 were intended as a pattern and instruction to 
 his followers. He is said to have marvelled 
 at the unbelief of some, and at the faith of 
 others ; not as though either was strange to 
 him, who was acquainted with all hearts, and 
 always knew what he himself could do ; but 
 it is spoken of him as a man, and to shew 
 how his ministers and people should be af- 
 fected upon the like occasions. In the preced- 
 ing verses he had been speaking of Caper- 
 naum, and other places, where his mighty 
 works had been performed in vain. He had de- 
 nounced a sentence against them • and fore- 
 told that their punishment would be heavier in 
 proportion to the greatness of the privileges 
 they had abused. But this was not his pleas- 
 ing work. Mercy and grace were his delight, 
 and he usually expressed sorrow and pain for 
 the obstinacy of sinners. He wept for his a- 
 vowed enemies, and prayed for the mur- 
 derers w'ho nailed him to the cross. It w r as 
 not without grief that he declared the ap- 
 proaching doom of these cities ; yet raising 
 his thoughts from earth to heaven, he acqui- 
 esced in the will of his heavenly Father, and 
 
 expressed the highest satisfaction in his ap- 
 pointment. He knew, that, however some 
 would harden themselves, there was a rem- 
 nant who would receive the truth, and that 
 the riches and glory of the divine sovereignty 
 and grace would be magnified. Before I en- 
 ter upon the particulars, this connection of 
 the wmrds will afford us ground for some ob- 
 servations. 
 
 I. That the small success and efficacy of 
 the preached gospel upon multitudes who hear 
 it, is a subject of wonder and grief to the 
 ministers and people of God. It was so to 
 our Lord Jesus, considered as a preacher and 
 messenger ; and they, so far as they have re- 
 ceived his Spirit, judge and act as he did. 
 
 1. Those who have indeed tasted that the 
 Lord is gracious, have had such a powerful 
 experience in their own souls of the necessity 
 and value of the gospel, that in their first 
 warmth, and till painful experience has con- 
 vinced them of the contrary, they can hardly 
 think it possible that sinners should stand out 
 against its evidence. They are ready to say, 
 “ Surely it is because they are ignorant; they 
 have not had opportunity of considering the 
 evil of sin, the curse of the law, and the im- 
 mense goodness of God manifested in his Son ; 
 
348 
 
 but when these things shall be plainly and 
 faithfully set before them, surely they will 
 submit, and thankfully receive the glad tid- 
 ings.” Vfith such sanguine hopes Melanc- 
 thon entered the ministry at the dawn of the 
 Reformation : he thought he had only to 
 speak and to be heard, in order to convince ; | 
 but he soon found himself mistaken, and that 
 the love of sin, the power of prejudice, and 
 the devices of Satan, were such obstacles in 
 his way, as nothing less than the mighty oper- 
 ations of the Spirit of God could break through. 
 And all who preach upon his principles, and 
 with his views, have known something of his 
 disappointment. Speaking from the feelings 
 of a full heart, they are ready to expect that 
 others should be no less affected than them- 
 selves. But when they find that they are heard 
 with indifference, perhaps with contempt; that 
 those whose salvation they long for, are en- 
 raged against them for their labour of love ; 
 and that they cannot prevail upon even their 
 dearest friends, and nearest relatives, — this 
 grieves and wounds them to the heart. 
 
 2. They have been convinced themselves, 
 that unbelief was the worst of all their sins : 
 and therefore, though they pity all who live 
 in the practice of sin, yet they have a double 
 grief to see them reject the only means of sal- 
 vation : and that this contempt will lie more 
 heavily upon them, than any thing they can be 
 charged with besides. It gladdens the heart 
 of a minister to see a large and attentive as- 
 sembly ; but how is this joy damped by a just 
 fear, lest any, lest many of them should re- 
 ceive this grace of God in vain, and have 
 cause at last to bewail the day when the name 
 of Jesus was first sounded in their ears ! 
 
 It seems plain then, that those who are in- 
 different about the event of the gospel, who 
 satisfy themselves with this thought, that the 
 elect shall be saved, and feel no concern 
 for unawakened sinners, make a wrong in- 
 ference from a true doctrine, and know not 
 what spirit they are of. Jesus wept for those 
 who perished in their sins. St. Paul had 
 great grief and sorrow of heart for the Jews, 
 though he gave them this character, “ That 
 they pleased not God, and were contrary to 
 all men.” It well becomes us, while we admire 
 distinguishing grace to ourselves, to mourn 
 over others : and inasmuch as secret things be- 
 long to the Lord, and we know not but some 
 of whom we have at present but little hopes, 
 may at last be brought to the knowledge of 
 the truth, we should be patient and forbear- j 
 ing, after the pattern of our heavenly Father, 
 and endeavour, by every probable and pru- 
 dent means, to stir them up to repentance, re- 
 membering that they cannot be more distant 
 from God, than by nature we were ourselves. 
 
 II. The best relief against those discour- 
 agements we meet with from men, is to raise 
 our thoughts to God and heaven. For this the 
 Lord Jesus is our precedent here. He said, 
 
 SER. I 
 
 “ I thank thee, O Father.” The word * sig- 
 nifies, to confess, to promise, or consent, and 
 to praise. As if it had been said, “ I glori- 
 fy thy wisdom in this respect, I acknowledge, 
 and declare that it is thy will, and I express my 
 own consent and approbation.” Our Lord’s 
 | views of the divine counsels were perfect, and 
 therefore his satisfaction was complete. It is 
 said, “ He rejoiced in spirit” (Luke x. 21.), 
 when he uttered these words. And the more we 
 increase in faith and in the knowledge of God, 
 the more we shall be satisfied in his appoint- 
 ments, and shall see and say, “ He hath done 
 all things well.” It is needful for our com- 
 fort to be well established in the truth sug- 
 gested in my text, That the Lord hath pro- 
 vided for the accomplishment of his own 
 purposes, and that his counsels shall surely 
 stand. From this doctrine we may infer, 
 
 1. That where the faithful labours and en- 
 deavours of ministers and others, to promote 
 the knowledge of grace and the practice of ho- 
 liness, fail of success, yet they shall be accept- 
 ed. The servants of Christ may in their 
 humble measure adopt the words of their 
 Lord and Master, in the prophet : “ Though 
 Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious 
 in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be 
 my strength,” Isaiah xlix. 5. When he sent 
 forth his first disciples, he directed them, 
 whenever they entered, to say, “Peace be to 
 this house ! and if a son of peace be there,” 
 if there be any who thankfully accept your 
 salutation and message, “ your peace shall 
 rest upon it ; if not, it shall return to you a- 
 gain,” Luke x. 6. That is, your good 
 wishes and endeavours shall not be lost for 
 want of proper objects, but, when they seem 
 to be without effect on others, shall be pro- 
 ductive of the happiest consequences to your- 
 selves : you shall receive all you were de- 
 sirous to communicate. Thus his ministers 
 are to declare his whole will, whether men 
 will hear, or whether they shall forbear. And 
 if they do this with a single eye to his glory, 
 and in humble dependence upon his bles- 
 sing, they are not answerable for the event ; 
 they shall in no wise lose their reward. 
 
 2. Faithful endeavours in the service of 
 the gospel shall not wholly fail. Though 
 all will not hear, some certainly shall both 
 hear and obey. Though all are by nature 
 equally averse and incapable, yet there shall 
 be “ a willing people in the day of God’s 
 
 “ powder,” Psalm ex. 3. If the wise and pru- 
 j dent turn away from the truth, there are babes 
 to whom it shall be revealed. The Lord re- 
 news unto us a pledge of his faithfulness in 
 this concern every time the rain descends. 
 
 ! For thus he has promised, “ As the rain 
 cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and 
 returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, 
 and makelh it bring forth and bud, that it may 
 
 * The original word, ilou.oXoyiofjMt, occurs Matth. iii 
 6 Luke xXii. 6. and Horn. xv. 9. 
 
 THE SMALL SUCCESS 
 
SER. 1. 
 
 OF A GOSPEL MINISTRY. 
 
 give seed to the sower, and bread to the eat- 
 er : so shall my word be that goeth forth out 
 of my mouth : it shall not return unto me 
 void, but it shall accomplish that which I 
 please, and it shall prosper in the thing where- 
 to I sent it,” Isaiah lv. 10. 
 
 3. The divine sovereignty is the best thought 
 we can retreat to for composing and strength- 
 ening our minds under the difficulties, discou- 
 ragements, and disappointments, which attend 
 the publication of the gospel. The more we 
 give way to reasonings and curious inquiries, 
 the more we shall be perplexed and baffled. 
 When Jeremiah had been complaining of some 
 things that were too hard for him, the Lord 
 sent him to the potter’s house, and taught him 
 to infer, from the potter’s power over the clay, 
 the just right which the Lord of all hath to do 
 what he will with his own, Jer. xviii. 6. It is 
 only the pride of our own hearts that prevents 
 this consideration from being perfectly con- 
 clusive and satisfactory. How many schemes 
 derogatory from the free grace of God, tend- 
 ing to darken the glory of the gospel, and to 
 depreciate the righteousness of the Redeemer, 
 have taken their rise from vain unnecessary 
 attempts to vindicate the ways of God ; or ra- 
 ther to limit the actings of Infinite Wisdom 
 to the bounds of our narrow understandings, 
 to sound the depths of the divine counsels 
 with our feeble plummets, and to say to Om - 
 nipotence, “ Hitherto shalt thou go, and no 
 farther.” But upon the ground of the divine 
 sovereignty, we may rest satisfied and stable : 
 for if God appoints and over-rules all accord- 
 ing to the purpose of his own will, we have 
 sufficient security, both for the present and 
 the future. 
 
 1st, For the present. We may firmly ex- 
 pect, what scripture and reason concur to as- 
 sure us, that “ the Judge of all the earth 
 will do right.” Whatever to us appears 
 otherwise in his proceedings, should be 
 charged to the darkness and weakness of our 
 minds. We know, that in every point of sci- 
 ence, difficulties and objections occur to young 
 beginners, which, at first view, may seem al- 
 most unanswerable ; but as knowledge increas- 
 es, the difficulties gradually subside, and at 
 last we perceive they were chiefly owing to 
 the defects of our apprehension. In divinity 
 it is wholly so ; “ God is light, and in him is 
 no darkness at all;” his revealed will is, like 
 himself, just, holy, pure in the whole, and 
 perfectly consistent in every part. We may 
 safely rest upon this general maxim, that 
 “ the Judge of all the earth shall do right.” 
 Though he does not give us a particular ac- 
 count of his dealings, and we are not fully 
 able to comprehend them ; yet we ought, a- 
 gainst all appearances and proud reasonings, 
 to settle it firmly in our minds, that every 
 thing is conducted w'orthy the view's which 
 God has given us of himself in his holy word, 
 
 349 
 
 as a being of infinite justice, w’isdom, good- 
 ness, and truth. And farther, 
 
 2dly, For the future. He has appointed a 
 day w'hen he will make it appear that he has 
 done right. Though clouds and darkness are 
 now upon his proceedings, they shall ere long 
 be removed. When all his designs in provi- 
 dence and grace are completed ; when the pre- 
 sent imperfect state of things shall be finished ; 
 when the dead, small and great, are sum- 
 moned to stand before him, — then the great 
 Judge will condescend to unfold the whole 
 train of his dispensations, and will justify his 
 proceedings before angels and men. Then 
 every presumptuous cavil shall be silenced, 
 and every difficulty solved. His people shall 
 admire his wisdom, his enemies shall confess 
 his justice. The destruction of those who 
 perish shall be acknowledged deserved, and ot 
 themselves ; and the redeemed of the Lord 
 shall ascribe all the glory of their salvation to 
 him alone. What we shall then see, it is now 
 our duty and our comfort assuredly to believe. 
 
 The great subject of our Saviour’s joy, and 
 which, so far as it is apprehended, will bear 
 up his servants above all their difficulties and 
 disappointments, I mean the consideration of 
 the sovereign hand of God directing the suc- 
 cess of his word when and where he pleases, 
 we must defer speaking of till the next oppor- 
 tunity ; and we shall close at present with a 
 few inferences from what has been said thus 
 far, by way of introduction. 
 
 1 . Take heed how' you hear. The gospel 
 of salvation, which is sent to you, will be ei . 
 ther “ a savour of life unto life, or of death 
 unto death,” to every soul of you. There is 
 no medium. Though, in a common and fa- 
 miliar way of speaking, we sometimes com- 
 plain that the gospel is preached without ef- 
 fect, there is in reality no possibility that it 
 can be without effect : an effect it must and 
 will have upon all who hear it. Happy they 
 who receive and embrace it as a joyful sound, 
 the unspeakable gift of God’s love. To these 
 it w'ill be “ a savour of life unto life.” It 
 will communicate life to the soul at first, and 
 maintain that life, in defiance of all opposi- 
 tion, till it terminates in glory. But w'oe, 
 woe to those who receive it not. It will be 
 to them l< a savour of death unto death.” It 
 will leave them under the sentence of death, 
 already denounced against them by the law 
 w’hich they have transgressed, and it will con- 
 sign them to eternal death, under th^. hea- 
 viest aggravations of guilt and misery. Re- 
 member the doom of Capernaum, and why it 
 was denounced. Jesus preached amongst 
 them the w'ords of eternal life, and they re- 
 jected him. This w'as all. In other things, 
 perhaps, they were no w'orse than their neigh- 
 bours, and probably disdained to hear them- 
 selves judged w'orthy of a heavier punishment 
 than Sodom, and those cities which, for their 
 
SER. II. 
 
 THE MYSTERIES OF THE 
 
 350 
 
 abominations, were consumed with fire from 
 heaven. But our Lord assures us, it shall 
 be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah 
 in the day of judgment, than for those who 
 slight his word. For this guilt and condem- 
 nation was not confined to the Jews who re- 
 jected his person, but extends to all who 
 shall at any time treat his gospel with con- 
 tempt. However inconsiderable his ministers 
 are in other respects, if they faithfully deliver 
 his message, he has declared himself closely 
 interested in the reception they meet with : 
 “ He that receiveth you, receiveth me; and 
 he that despiseth you, despiseth both me and 
 him that sent me,” Matth. x. 40. It is there- 
 fore at your peril to treat what we say with in- 
 difference (if we speak agreeably to the scrip- 
 tures) : the word of God which we preach 
 will judge you at the last day. 
 
 2. Be afraid of being wise in* your own 
 eyes, lest you should approach to the charac- 
 ters of those fi'om whom the righteous God 
 sees fit to hide the knowledge of those truths, 
 without which they cannot be saved. The 
 gospel is not proposed to you to ask your 
 opinion of it, that it may stand or fall ac- 
 cording to your decision, but it peremptorily 
 demands your submission. If you think your- 
 selves qualified to judge and examine it by that 
 imperfect and depraved light which you call 
 your reason, you will probably find reasons 
 enow to refuse your assent. Reason is pro- 
 perly exercised in the ordinary concerns of 
 life, and has so far a place in religious in- 
 quiries, that none can or do believe the gos- 
 pel without having sufficient reasons for it. 
 But you need a higher light, the light of 
 God’s Spirit, without which the most glorious 
 displays of his wisdom will appear foolishness 
 to you. If you come simple, dependent, and 
 teachable ; if you pray from your heart, with 
 David, “ open thou mine eyes, that I may 
 see wondrous things in thy law (Psal. cxix. 
 18), — you will be heard and answered ; you 
 will grow in the knowledge and grace of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ; but if you neglect this, 
 and trust in yourselves, as supposing this 
 promised assistance of the Holy Spirit unne- 
 cessary, the glorious light of the gospel will 
 shine upon you in vain ; for Satan will main- 
 tain such hold of you by this pride of your 
 hearts, as still to keep you in bondage and 
 darkness, that you shall neither see it, nor 
 desire to see it. 
 
 3. Those of you who have some spiritual 
 apprehensions of these things, have reason to 
 praise God that you see a little. You were 
 once quite blind ; you neither saw your dis- 
 ease nor your remedy. You could discern 
 nothing of the excellence of Christ, or the 
 beauty of holiness. But now the eyes of 
 your understanding are in some measure en- 
 lightened. It is the grace of God has made 
 von thus far to differ from what you once 
 were, and from what multitudes around you 
 
 still are. Be thankful. Accept it as a token 
 for good. Be not discouraged that the be- 
 ginnings are small, but wait on the Lord, 
 and they shall be increased. Seek him by 
 prayer. Converse with your Bibles. Attend 
 upon the public ordinances. In the humble 
 use of these means (while you endeavour to 
 act faithfully according to the light you have 
 already received), you shall gradually advance 
 in wisdom and comfort. The Christian growth 
 is not instantaneous but by degrees, as the 
 early dawn increases in brightness till the 
 perfect day (Prov. iv. 18), and as the corn 
 comes forward surely, though unperceived, 
 Matth. xiii. 31, 32. In this manner your 
 views of gospel-truth shall increase in clear- 
 ness, evidence, and influence, till you are re- 
 moved from this land of shadows to the re- 
 gions of perfect light, to behold the truth as 
 it shines in the person of Jesus, without a vail, 
 and without a cloud for ever 
 
 SERMON II. 
 
 THE MYSTERIES OF THE GOSPEL HID FROM 
 MANY. 
 
 At that time Jesus answered and said , I thank 
 thee, 0 Father, Lord of heaven and earth , 
 because thou hast hid these things from the 
 wise and prudent , and hast revealed them 
 unto babes. Matth. xi. 25. 
 
 When our Lord appeared upon earth, though 
 he came on the most gracious and important- 
 business, displayed the perfection of holiness 
 in his conduct, and performed innumerable 
 acts of kindness and love, he met with little 
 regard. He found many enemies, but few 
 hearty friends. Especially those who were 
 most eminent for riches, learning, power, or 
 reputed goodness, disdained him ; and most 
 of those who followed him were either people 
 in low circumstances, or whose character had 
 been offensive. Publicans and sinners, fisher- 
 men, unlearned and obscure persons, were 
 almost the only friends he had. The Lord 
 Jesus, who was infinitely above the selfish 
 view's which are too apt to influence our lit- 
 tle minds, was well satisfied with this event. 
 He did not desire honour from men. “ The 
 souls of the poor w'ere precious in his sight,” 
 Psal. lxxii. 13, 14. He spoke kindly to 
 those whom men abhorred ; and if he mourned 
 over the obstinacy of the chiefs of the people, 
 it w r as for their own sakes. Yet (as I ob- 
 served formerly) when he considered the ap- 
 pointment and will of God in this dispensa- 
 tion, he was not only content, but he rejoiced. 
 
 ! He expressed his approbation in these w'ords : 
 j “ I thank thee, O Father,” &c. There is 
 something observable in this passage which 
 | will be of continual use and application, so 
 
SER. II. 
 
 GOSPEL HID 
 
 long as the gospel shall be preached. For as 
 it was then, so is it still ; the things that are 
 hid from the wise and prudent, are revealed 
 unto babes. Five particulars offer from the 
 words for our consideration : 
 
 1. What may be intended by these things ? 
 
 2. Where and in what sense they are hid ? 
 
 3. From whom ? The wise and prudent. 
 
 4. How the knowledge of them is to be 
 obtained ? By revelation : Thou hast revealed. 
 
 5. Who are thus favoured ? Babes. 
 
 I. By the things which it pleases God 
 should be hid from the wise, and revealed to 
 babes, we may understand, 
 
 1. In general, the things pertaining to sal- 
 vation. That most men are ignorant of them, 
 and careless about them, is too plain. Out 
 of the abundance of the heart the mouth 
 speaketh, and the tree is known by its fruits. 
 Men speak as though their tongues were their 
 own ; they act as though they were to give no 
 account ; they live as though they were to 
 live here for ever. The way of truth is hid 
 from their eyes, and the fear of God has no 
 place in their hearts. 
 
 2. More particularly, those doctrines which 
 are in an especial sense peculiar to the gos- 
 pel, seem here to be intended. If the prin- 
 ciples of what some call natural religion, 
 though agreeable to the light of natural con- 
 science, are little regarded, the more spiritual 
 truths of the Bible are not only neglected 
 but scorned and opposed. The same spirit 
 which shewed itself under our Lord’s per- 
 sonal ministry still subsists. The chief doc- 
 trines he taught, and for which he met with 
 the fiercest opposition, were precisely the same 
 w ith those which have awakened the scorn and 
 rage of the world ever since, and which mul- 
 titudes who bear the name of Christians in this 
 day oppose w r ith all their strength. Such as, 
 
 1st, The divinity of Christ. When he 
 
 spoke of himself as existing before Abraham, 
 and said that God w'as his own Father,* the 
 Jews took up stones to stone him. And this 
 mystery is still hid from the natural man. No 
 one can say, acknowledge, and believe that 
 Jesus Christ is Lord or Jehovah ; that he who 
 once hung upon the cross, bleeding to death, 
 is God the maker of all things, the rightful 
 object of the supreme love, trust, and homage 
 of men and angels, but by the Holy Ghost, 
 1 Cor. xii. 3. 
 
 2dly, Distinguishing grace. — When Jesus 
 first preached at Nazareth, the eyes of all were 
 fixed upon him (Luke iv. 16, 20) ; but when, 
 
 * John v. 18. Uart^ct I'Siov iXtyt. “ He said that God 
 was his own Father,” in a sense peculiar to himself, and 
 exclusive of all others. The Jews well understood the 
 meaning of this assertion, that thereby he made himself 
 equal with God ; and therefore, as they did not believe 
 in him, they charged him with blasphemy. It would 
 indeed have been blasphemy in a mere man, or in the 
 highest archangel, to have spoken of himself in these 
 terms. But tire force of the expression is lost in our 
 version of the New Testament, through the omission of 
 the word Ihiov, his own, which seems one of the most 
 important mistakes to be found in that translation. 
 
 FROM MANY. 351 
 
 making application to themselves, he touch- 
 ed upon this point, from the examples of 
 Naaman the Syrian, and the widow of Sa- 
 repta, who w r ere released when many lepers 
 and widows in Israel were passed by ; they 
 were filled with indignation, and would have 
 thrown him headlong down the rock. And 
 it is to this hour an offensive doctrine to all 
 who do not know the value and the need 
 of it. 
 
 3dly, The new birth. — When this was pro- 
 posed to a master in Israel, he cried out, 
 “ How can these things be?” John iii. 9. 
 And by many who are wise and prudent in 
 their own sight, it is at this day accounted 
 nonsense. A small acquaintance with the 
 general strain of what is published either from 
 the pulpit or the press, may prove that mo- 
 dern divinity has, for the most part, found a 
 smoother path to tread than that by which 
 Nicodemus w-as conducted to the knowledge 
 of himself and his Saviour. Such a doubt- 
 ful inquirer might now be entertained wkh 
 many ingenious essays on the beauty of vir- 
 tue, the efficacy of benevolence, the excel- 
 lency of the human mind, and other favourite 
 topics. He would find teachers enow to en- 
 courage and improve the idea he has of his 
 own importance, but he would hardly meet 
 with any who w'ould speak to him in our 
 Lord's language, and refer him to the bra- 
 zen serpent, and a new' birth, in order to learn 
 the means and the nature of the gospel-sal- 
 vation. 
 
 4thly, The nature of the life of faith. — 
 When our Lord spoke of this, under the me- 
 taphor of eating his flesh and drinking his 
 blood, many who till then had professed them- 
 selves his disciples, “ turned back, and walk- 
 ed no more with him,” John, vi. 66. And 
 none can bear it now who are not taught of 
 God, to see such an excellency and sufficiency 
 in Jesus, and such emptiness in themselves, 
 as constrains them to cry out with Peter, 
 “ Lord, to whom shall we go ?” John, vi. 68. 
 These things are hid from the w’ise and pru- 
 dent. But, 
 
 II. Where, and in what sense, are these 
 things hid ? 
 
 1 . Where are they hid ? 
 
 1st, They are hid in Christ. “ In him are 
 hid all the treasures of wisdom and know- 
 ledge,” Col. ii. 3. He is the great reposi- 
 tory qf truth. “ It pleased the Father that in 
 him should all fulness dwell,” Col. i. 19. 
 And he is the messenger by whom the will of 
 God is made known to man, Luke, ix. 35 ; 
 John, i. 18. From hence observe, 
 
 (1.) You can attain to no saving truth, but 
 in and by the knowledge of Jesus Christ. If 
 they are hid in him, it can be but lost labour 
 to seek them elsewhere. 
 
 (2.) Whatever seeming knowledge you 
 have, if it does not endear him to you, it is 
 nothing worth. It is science falsely so called^, 
 
352 THE MYSTERIES OF THE SETi. it 
 
 and can do you no good ; for in the know- 
 ledge of him, and of him alone, is eternal life, 
 John xvii. 3. 
 
 2dly, They are hid in the word of God. 
 
 (1.) They are contained there. “ The 
 whole scripture is given by inspiration of 
 God, and is able to make us wise unto salva- 
 tion” (2 Tim. iix. 16.): to furnish us with 
 a sufficiency of knowledge and motives for 
 every good work. The word of God is per- 
 fect. 
 
 (2.) Yet though contained there, they are 
 not plain to every eye. Though they are re- 
 vealed in the letter, they are still hid from 
 the wise and prudent. Something more is 
 necessary than barely to read, in order to un- 
 derstand them ; otherwise all who can read, 
 and have the Bible, would be equally enlight- 
 ened with equal application. But experience 
 shews it far otherwise. This leads me farther 
 to inquire. 
 
 2. In what sense they are hid ? 
 
 1st, They are not hid as if it were on pur- 
 pose that those who sincerely seek them should 
 be disappointed in their search. Far be it 
 from us to think so hardly of the Lord. We 
 have express promises to the contrary, that 
 all who earnestly seek shall find. Fear not, 
 you that sincerely desire an experimental and 
 practical knowledge of the truths of God, and 
 are willing to be taught in his appointed way: 
 though many things appear difficult to you 
 at present, the Lord will gradually increase 
 your light, and crown your endeavours with 
 success. 
 
 2dly, But from some persons they are hid, 
 even from the wise and prudent, whom we 
 are to speak of hereafter. Suffer me to of- 
 fer a familiar illustration of the Lord’s wis- 
 dom and justice in this procedure. Let me 
 suppose a person to have a curious cabinet, 
 which is opened at his pleasure, and not 
 exposed to common view : he invites all to 
 come and see it, and offers to shew it to any 
 one who asks him. It is hid, because he 
 keeps the key ; but none can complain, be- 
 cause he is ready to open it whenever he is 
 desired. Some, perhaps, disdain the offer, 
 and say, Why is it locked at all ? Some think 
 it not worth seeing, or amuse themselves with 
 guessing at the contents. But those who are 
 simply desirous for themselves, leave others 
 disputing, go according to appointment, and 
 are gratified. These have reason to be thank- 
 ful for the favour; and the others have no 
 just cause to find fault. Thus the riches of 
 divine grace may be compared to a richly- 
 furnished cabinet, to which Christ is the door. 
 The word of God likewise is a cabinet gene- 
 rally locked up ; but the key of prayer will 
 open it. The Lord invites all ; but he keeps 
 the dispensation in his own hand. They can- 
 not see these things except he shews them ; 
 but then he refuses none that sincerely ask 
 him. The wise men of the world can go no 
 
 farther than the outside of this cabinet ; they 
 may amuse themselves and surprise others 
 with their ingenious guesses at what is with- 
 in : but a babe that has seen it opened, can 
 give us more satisfaction, without studying or 
 guessing at all. If men will presume to aim 
 at the knowledge of God, without the know- 
 ledge of Christ, who is the way and the door ; 
 if they have such a high opinion of their own 
 wisdom and penetration, as to suppose they 
 can understand the scriptures without the as- 
 sistance of his Spirit ; or if their worldly wis- 
 dom teaches them, that these things are not 
 worth their inquiry ; what wonder is it that 
 they should continue to be hid from their 
 eyes ? They will one day be stript of all their 
 false pleas, and condemned out of their own 
 mouths. 
 
 3dly, The expression, “ Thou hast hid,” 
 may perhaps farther imply, that those whr 
 seek occasion to cavil shall meet with some 
 thing to confirm their prejudices. When peo 
 pie examine the doctrines or profession of the 
 gospel, not with a candid desire to learn, imi- 
 tate, and practise, but in order to find some 
 plausible ground for misrepresentation, they 
 frequently have their wish. The wisdom of 
 God has appointed, that difficulties, offences, 
 objections, and stumbling-blocks, should at- 
 tend, to exercise and manifest the spirits of 
 these wise ones. How largely do they expa- 
 tiate on the divisions and difference of senti- 
 ments which too much prevail among those 
 who are united in the same leading truths. 
 If they can discover an instance of error, 
 folly, or wickedness, of a single person who 
 professes to adhere to the gospel-doctrine, 
 how do they rejoice as if they had found great 
 spoil, charge the faults of a few indiscrimi- 
 nately upon the whole, and labour to shew 
 that every mistake and inadvertence is a ne- 
 cessary consequence of the principles which 
 those maintain who commit it. We do not 
 plead for mistakes and errors of any sort, for 
 weakness in judgment, or inconsistence in 
 practice. But as these things are more or 
 less inseparable from the present state of hu- 
 man nature, they necessarily increase and 
 strengthen the prepossessions of scorners a- 
 gainst the truth, and are so far a means of 
 hiding it from their eyes. Yet here again 
 the fault is wholly in themselves ; for they 
 seek and desire such occasions of stumbling, 
 and would be disappointed and grieved, if 
 they could not meet with them. But those 
 who are babes in their own eyes, humble, sin- 
 cere, and teachable, are brought safe through, 
 by a simple dependant spirit, and are made 
 wiser every day by their observation of what 
 passes around them. 
 
 Many inferences and advices might be de- 
 duced from what has been said. I shall con- 
 tent myself with three. 
 
 J . Examine yourselves what understanding 
 and experience you have of the things I men* 
 
SER. II. 
 
 GOSPEL HID 1 
 
 tioned under the first head. So much as you 
 know of these, so far you are Christians, and 
 no farther. “ A form of godliness without 
 the power” (2 Tim. iii. 5.), is one of the 
 worst characters of the worst times ; yet how 
 common in the present day ? How many who 
 chuse to be called Christians, reject the testi- 
 mony which God has given of his Son, deny 
 the efficacy of his grace, speak of the new' 
 birth with disdain, as unintelligible and un- 
 necessary, and account all that can be said of 
 the life of faith (though founded upon express 
 scripture, and attested by many witnesses) no 
 better than enthusiastic jargon ! But if you 
 are thus minded, however sober your deport- 
 ment, of professedly benevolent your disposi- 
 tion, though you may be applauded as a pat- 
 tern of generosity, a philosopher, or a saint, 
 by your acquaintance and neighbours, if the 
 scriptures are true, you can be but as a sound- 
 ing brass and tinkling cymbal in the sight of 
 God. You would have despised Thomas in 
 your heart, if you had been witness to his 
 joyful exclamation when he worshipped Jesus, 
 and cried, “ My Lord, and my God !” John 
 xx. 28. You w-ould have despised Paul as a 
 dark enthusiast, had you heard him say, “ The 
 life which I now live in the flesh, I live by 
 faith in the Son of God, who loved me and 
 gave himself for me,” Gal. ii. 20. Yea, you 
 must have despised Jesus himself, if you had 
 been present at his conference with Nicode- 
 mus. Our Lord Jesus is now in heaven, 
 Thomas and Paul have been long dead ; you 
 cannot reach them ; nor do they stand in 
 your way j therefore, perhaps you are content 
 to speak w r ell of them in general terms. But 
 those who come nearest to their language and 
 spirit are the objects of your scorn and ha- 
 tred. How then can you pretend to love 
 him, or presume that he loves you ? Jesus is 
 worshipped in heaven ; how then can you ex- 
 pect to come there ? or what pleasure could 
 you find there in your present turn of mind ? 
 O, kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you 
 perish ; for in a little time his wrath will burn 
 like fire. 
 
 But to every one who understands, em- 
 braces, and lives under the influence of these 
 truths, I may safely apply our Lord’s words, 
 “ Blessed art thou” (Matth. xvi. 17.), how- 
 ever despised by men, or chastened of the 
 Lord ; for “ flesh and blood hath not reveal- 
 ed these things to thee thou hast assuredly 
 received them from God by his Spirit. He 
 alone is able to cause the light to shine into 
 our dark hearts, “ to give us the knowledge of 
 the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ,” 
 2 Cor. iv. 6. 
 
 2. Do not entertain hard and perplexing 
 thoughts about the counsels of God, either 
 respecting others or yourselves. 
 
 1st, With regard to others. It is a fre- 
 quent difficulty, either thrown in the way of 
 inquirers after truth by the subtilty of Satan 
 
 FROM MANY. 353 
 
 or perhaps arising from the natural pride of 
 the human heart, that would be thought able 
 to account for every thing. I say, when they 
 begin to apprehend the gospel-way of salva- 
 tion, this perplexing question arises, If things 
 are so, what will become of multitudes ? 
 What ! are all the Heathens, Mahometans, 
 Papists, and even all the Protestants, except 
 the few w'ho adopt these singular sentiments, 
 to be lost? I shall not attempt to conquer 
 this objection by dint of reasoning, but would 
 rather persuade you to direct your reasonings 
 another way. When the same question, for 
 substance, w r as proposed to our Lord, his an- 
 swer to those who asked him was, “ Strive 
 (each one for yourselves) to enter in at the 
 strait gate,” Luke xiii. 23, 24. Take care of 
 yourselves, and leave the cases of others to the 
 Lord. Remember he is God, and therefore 
 just and good. 
 
 2dly, With regard to yourselves. Secret 
 things belong to God ; your business is w ith 
 w'hat is revealed. Some put the word of sal- 
 vation from them perversely, and think, if the 
 Lord designs me for eternal life, he will call 
 me in his own time ; till then I will go on in 
 my sins. Those who can reason thus, and 
 take encouragement to persist in wickedness, 
 from the consideration of the power and effi- 
 cacy of God’s grace, do thereby avow them- 
 selves to be Satan’s willing servants. But he 
 terrifies many on whom he cannot thus pre- 
 vail, with representing to them, that, let them 
 do what they will, it is all in vain ; unless the 
 Lord has chosen them, notwithstanding any 
 good beginnings they may hope he has 
 wrought in them, they will come to nothing 
 at last. It is your business to give all dili- 
 gence to make your calling sure. If, by a 
 humble waiting upon God, you are enabled 
 to have your conversation according to the 
 gospel, listen not to vain and perplexing rea- 
 sonings, but commit yourself to the mercy 
 and guidance of the Lord ; and he, in his 
 good time, will enable you to see, and to say, 
 that it is not in vain to trust in him. Your 
 path shall be like the advancing light, that 
 shineth more and more unto the perfect day. 
 The Lord has already provided all that you 
 can reasonably desire. 
 
 (1.) The means are pointed out, in the use 
 of which you are to be found, and wherein 
 you may expect his blessing. These are 
 chiefly secret prayer, the study of his written 
 word, an attendance on the preached gospel, 
 and free converse (as proper opportunities are 
 afforded) w'ith his believing people. If you 
 continue in the observance of these, and act 
 faithfully to the light you have already re- 
 ceived, by breaking off from the evil practices 
 of the world, and watching against those things 
 which you yourselves know to be evil, you 
 w'ill certainly gain ground in light, strength, 
 and comfort. You will see more and more 
 of the glory of the Lord in the glass of the 
 2 G 
 
354 OF THOSE FROM WHOM SER. HI, 
 
 gospel ; and in proportion to your views, you 
 shall be “ changed into the same image from 
 glory to glory.” For, 
 
 (2.) The promise is sure. What God has 
 said you may assuredly depend on. And what 
 has he said ? What, indeed, has he not said 
 for the encouragement of those who are sin- 
 cerely desirous to seek and serve him ? “ They 
 that seek shall find,” Matth. vii. 7, 8. “ He 
 
 giveth power to the faint ; and to them that 
 have no might he increaseth strength,” Is. xl. 
 29. “ They that wait on the Lord shall re- 
 
 new their strength,” Is. xl. 31. “I will pour 
 water upon him that is thirsty, and floods up- 
 on the dry ground,” Is. xliv. 3. 
 
 If, therefore, you feel yourself a lost sin. 
 ner, see a beauty and sufficiency in Jesus, 
 have a hunger and thirst after his righteous- 
 ness, and are made willing to expect the bles- 
 sing in his way ; you may look upon this as 
 a token for good. Such views and desires as 
 these never are found in any heart till he 
 communicates them. By nature we are averse 
 and contrary to them. Give him the glory 
 of what he has begun ; and oppose your temp- 
 tations, fears, and doubts, with this argument, 
 drawn from your own experience, as the wife 
 of Manoah formerly reasoned : “ If the Lord 
 had been pleased to kill us, he would not 
 have enabled and encouraged us to call upon 
 him ; neither would he at this time have 
 shewn us such things as these,” Judges xiii. 
 23. 
 
 SERMON III. 
 
 OF THOSE FROM WHOM THE GOSPEL-DOCTRINES 
 ARE HID. 
 
 At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank 
 thee , 0 Father, Lord of heaven and earth , 
 because thou hast hid these things from the 
 wise and prudent, and hast revealed them un- 
 to babes Matth. xi. 25. 
 
 The judgments of God are a great deep. He 
 does not give us a full account of his matters ; 
 much less can we by searching find out him 
 to perfection ; yet if we carefully attend to 
 what he has revealed, and apply his written 
 word with humility and caution to what pas- 
 ses in ourselves, and around us, we may by his 
 grace attain to some considerable satisfaction 
 in things which at first view seem hard to be 
 understood. The subject of my text is of this 
 nature. That God should hide things of 
 everlasting consequence from any person, 
 sounds very harsh ; but I hope, when the 
 words are explained, we shall see, that though 
 he acts as a sovereign in his dispensations, 
 his ways are just, and good, and equal. 
 
 We have already made an entrance upon 
 this attempt. Besides some general observa 
 
 tions in my first discourse, I endeavoured to 
 shew you, in the second, 1. What the things are 
 to which our Lord refers; 2. Where, and 
 in what sense they are hid. I proceed now 
 to consider, 
 
 III. From whom they are hid, — the wise 
 and prudent. It will, I think, be readily 
 supposed, that the expression does not mean 
 those who are truly so, and in God’s account. 
 He esteems none to be wise and prudent but 
 those who are enlightened with his spiritual 
 wisdom, who now serve and love him in Christ. 
 “ The fear of the Lord is the beginning (or, 
 as the word likewise signifies, the head or 
 principal part) of wisdom” (Psalm cxi. 10) ; 
 and from such as these he hides or keeps back 
 nothing that is profitable for them : on the 
 contrary, that promise is sure, “ The secret 
 of the Lord is with them that fear him ; and 
 he will shew them his covenant,” Psalm xxv. 
 14. When our Lord said, “ The children of 
 this world are wiser in their generation than 
 the children of light” (Luke xvi. 8.), he did 
 not mean they were so absolutely, for their 
 boasted wisdom is the merest folly, but only 
 that they acted consistently with their own prin- 
 ciples. The wise and prudent here are either 
 those who are wise in their own eyes, and 
 prudent in their own sight, or those who are 
 generally so reputed by the bulk of mankind. 
 And these two amount to the same : for as 
 the natural wisdom of man springs from the 
 same fountain, self, and is confined to the 
 same bounds, the things of time and sense, in 
 all alike (though there is variety of pursuits 
 within these limits, as tempers and situations 
 differ), men are generally prone to approve 
 and applaud those who act upon their own 
 principles. 
 
 We may take notice, then, as a key to this 
 inquiry, that what is accounted wisdom by the 
 world, is not only different from the wisdom 
 of God, but inconsistent with it, and oppo- 
 site to it. They differ as fire and water, light 
 and darkness ; the prevalence of the one ne- 
 cessarily includes the suppression of the 
 other. See this at large insisted on by St. 
 Paul, in the beginning of his first epistle to 
 the Corinthians, the first, second, and third 
 chapters. 
 
 Who, then, are the wise and prudent in- 
 tended in my text ? May the Holy Spirit en- 
 able every conscience to make faithful appli- 
 cation of what shall be offered upon tin's 
 head. 
 
 1. In the judgment of the world, those are 
 wise and prudent persons who are very 
 thoughtful and diligent about acquiring 
 wealth, especially if their endeavours are 
 crowned with remarkable success. If a man 
 thrives (as the phrase is) from small begin- 
 nings, and joins house to house, and field to 
 fielu, so that he has lands to call after his 
 own name, and large possessions to leave 
 to his children, how is he applauded (though 
 
SER. III. 
 
 at the same time envied) by the most who 
 know him ! I do not deny, that a proper con- 
 cern and industry in our secular calling, is 
 both lawful and our duty ; and I allow, that 
 the providence of God does sometimes re- 
 markably prosper those who depend on him 
 in the management of their business ; but I 
 make no scruple to affirm, that where this is 
 the main concern (as some call it), such wis- 
 dom is madness. Such persons are no less 
 idolaters than those who worship stocks and 
 stones. And if the things of God are hid 
 from them, it is surely their own fault : they 
 do not even complain of it as a hardship ; 
 they have their choice, their reward, and are 
 satisfied. They are told that these things are 
 in Christ, and there they are content that 
 they should remain : they see no beauty nor 
 suitableness in them, they have no desire after 
 him ; he might keep his heaven and truths to 
 himself, if they could always have their fill of 
 the world. They are told that these things 
 are hid in the scriptures, but they have neith- 
 er leisure nor inclination to search there for 
 them. Their time is taken up with buying 
 and selling, building and planting, &c. O, 
 beware of this wisdom ! “ What will riches 
 profit you in the day of wrath” (Prov. xi. 4), 
 at death, or judgment ? If you live and die 
 in this spirit, you will bemoan your choice 
 when it is too late. 
 
 2. Those are accounted wise and prudent, 
 
 who think they have found a way to re- 
 concile God and the world together. If a 
 man should attempt to fly, or to walk upon the 
 water, he would be deemed a fool. How is it 
 that this endeavour, which is equally impossi- 
 ble (and expressly declared so by our Lord), 
 should be more favourably thought of? The 
 deceitfulness of the heart and the subtilty of 
 Satan concur in this point. You will have a 
 sort of religion, but then you take care not to 
 carry things too far. You are governed by 
 the fear and regard of men. Something you 
 w ill do to satisfy conscience, but not too much, 
 lest you hurt your interest, disoblige your 
 friends, or draw on yourselves reproach, or a 
 hard name. I must tell you from the word 
 of God, your attempt to halve things is an a- 
 bomination in his sight. Would it not be 
 treason by the law, to pay the king an out- 
 ward respect, and yet hold secret correspond- 
 ence with his enemies ? The decisions of the 
 word of God are to the same effect in this 
 instance. “ Love not the world, neither the 
 things that are in the world. If any man love 
 the world, the love of the Father is not 
 in him,” 1 John ii. 15. “ Know ye not, 
 
 that the friendship of the world is enmity with 
 God ? Whosoever, therefore, will be a friend 
 of the world, is the enemy of God,” James 
 iv. 4. 
 
 3. A man is deemed wise, who has con- 
 siderable knowledge and curiosity about na- 
 tural things, and all those subjects which 
 
 355 
 
 usually bear the name of science ; if he can 
 talk of the magnitudes, distances, and mo- 
 tions of the heavenly bodies, can foretell an 
 eclipse, has skill in mathematics, is well read 
 in the history of ancient times, and can inform 
 you what is found in books concerning the 
 folly and wickedness of mankind who lived 
 some thousands of years ago ; or if he under- 
 stands several languages, and can call a thing 
 by twenty different names. It is true, when 
 these attainments are sanctified by grace, they 
 may, in some respects, have their use. But, 
 in general, the best use a believer will or can 
 make of them, is to lay them down at the foot 
 of the cross. When a man, possessed of a 
 great quantity of these pebbles, has his con- 
 science awakened, and his understanding 
 enlightened, he is glad to renounce them all 
 for the pearl of great price, and to adopt the 
 apostle’s determination, u to know nothing 
 but Jesus Christ, and him crucified,” 1 Cor. 
 ii. 2. This was the effect when the word of 
 God mightily grew and prevailed, Acts xix. 
 19. We may at least say, that this kind of 
 wisdom is for the most part dangerous and 
 blinding to the soul. 
 
 1st, It tends to feed and exalt self, to make 
 a person something in his own eyes. This 
 we are prone enough to by nature. An in- 
 crease of unsanctified knowledge adds fuel to 
 the fire. 
 
 2dly, It engrosses the time and thoughts. 
 Our minds are narrow, capable of attending 
 to but few things at once ; and our span is 
 short, and will hardly admit of many excursions 
 from the main concern. If we were to live 
 to the age of Methuselah, we might pursue 
 some things which at present are highly im- 
 proper and impertinent, from this considera- 
 tion alone. A man that is upon an urgent 
 affair of life and death, has no leisure for 
 amusement. Such is our situation. We are 
 creatures of a day. Time is vanishing, and 
 eternity is at stake. 
 
 3dly, The delusion here is specious, and 
 not easily discovered. A person with these 
 accomplishments is not always enslaved to 
 money or to sensual pleasures : he therefore 
 pities those who are, and comparing himself 
 with others, supposes he is well employed be- 
 cause his favourite studies are a check upon 
 his appetites, and prevents his selling himself 
 for gold, or running into riot with the thought- 
 less. Yet an attachment of this sort equally 
 blinds him with respect to his true interest. 
 Will the knowledge of books, or men, or stars, 
 or flowers, purify the conscience from dead 
 works, to serve the living God ? It is too 
 plain, that the truths of the gospel are hid 
 from none more effectually than from many 
 of this character. None cast a more daring 
 or public slight upon the revealed will of God 
 than some who are admired and applauded on 
 account of their knowledge and learning. 
 
 4. Your nice and curious reasoners and 
 
 THE GOSPEL-DOCTRINES ARE HID. 
 
SER. nr. 
 
 OF THOSE FROM WHOM 
 
 356 
 
 disputers, that will see ^as they profess) the 
 bottom of every thing, and trust to their own 
 judgment and inquiries, independent of the 
 Spirit of God, are another sort of wise per- 
 sons from whom these things are often and 
 justly hid. And this character may be found 
 in many, both learned and unlearned ; for 
 many have good natural faculties, who have 
 not had the advantages of learning and edu- 
 cation. But this spirit is directly contrary 
 to that simplicity, dependence, and obedience 
 of faith, which the scriptures exhort us to 
 6eek after. Its effects are various: 
 
 1st, Some (and those not a few) are led to 
 reject the word of God altogether, because 
 it evidently contains many things above and 
 contrary to their vain imaginations. And 
 herein they contradict the most obvious prin- 
 ciples of that reason which they lay claim to. 
 A revelation from God can only be thought 
 necessary or probable, but on the supposition 
 that it is to inform us of something which we 
 could not have known without it. There- 
 fore, to pretend to try the scripture-claim to 
 this character by such criteria or marks as we 
 possess beforehand, is the same thing in ef- 
 fect as to determine to reject it without any 
 trial at all. 
 
 2dly, When the scriptures, as to the letter, 
 are acknowledged to be true, persons of this 
 turn, presuming themselves sufficient judges 
 of the sense, are helped by their ingenuity 
 to explain away all the sublime doctrines of 
 truth, so as to suit the prejudices and appre- 
 hensions of their own carnal minds. This.', 
 especially when joined with a smattering of 
 learning, has been the chief source of all the 
 errors and heresies which have pestered the 
 church of God in all ages. This is a prin- 
 cipal cause why the depravity of man by na- 
 ture, the deity and atonement of Christ, the 
 operations of the Holy Spirit, and all the doc- 
 trines of grace, have been denied by men wise 
 in their own eyes, and prudent in their own 
 sight, though evidently contained in the book 
 which they profess to receive as of divine in- 
 spiration. 
 
 3dly, Even where the doctrines of grace 
 have been notionally received, the same spirit 
 of wisdom can still find occasion to work. 
 When there is more knowledge in the head 
 than experience in the heart, many and va- 
 rious are the evils that often ensue. Disputes 
 and hard questions aie started, contentions 
 and divisions multiplied, and people are more 
 eager to perplex others than to edify them- 
 selves. Thus the name and counsels of God 
 are profaned by an irreverent curiosity, and 
 the clear, express declarations of his will dark- 
 ened by words without knowledge. When 
 thi^ natural wisdom puts on a spiritual ap- 
 pearance, no persons are more fatally deceived, 
 or more obstinately hardened. They think 
 they can learn no more, but are wise enough 
 to teach every one : they neglect the use of 
 
 God’s appointed means themselves, and de- 
 spise them in others : they are proud, censo- 
 rious, obstinate, and full of conceit. Take 
 care of Satan at all times, but especially when 
 he would transform himself into an angel of 
 light. There is reason to think the things of 
 God are entirely hid, as to their power and 
 excellence, from some who fondly dream that 
 none are acquainted with them but them- 
 selves. 
 
 The consideration of this subject may lead 
 to a variety of improvement. It may teach 
 you, 
 
 1. What to fear, — A ^worldly spirit. This 
 
 in a prevailing degree is inconsistent with a 
 work of grace, and, in whatever degree it 
 obtains, or is indulged, will proportionably 
 retard and abate the light and comfort of 
 our souls. The cares and pleasures of this 
 life are by our Lord compared to thorns 
 (Matthew xiii. 22), unprofitable and pain- 
 ful ; they produce no fruit, but they wound 
 and tear. Yea, they are thorns in the eyes 
 (Josh, xxiii. 13), which will prevent the great 
 things of God from being perceived. — A spi- 
 rit of self-dependence. “ Be not wise in 
 your own conceits,” Rom. xii. 16. “ If any 
 
 man think that he knoweth any thing, he 
 knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know,” 
 1 Cor. viii. 2. God giveth wisdom to the 
 lowly, but he confounds the devices of the 
 proud. His promises of teaching, leading, 
 and guiding, are made to the meek, the sim- 
 ple, and those who are little in their own 
 eyes. 
 
 2. What to pray for, — A simple, child-like 
 temper, that you may come to the word as to 
 the light, and look beyond yourselves for the 
 assistance of the Holy Spirit, without which 
 your most laboured inquiries will only mis- 
 lead you farther and farther from the truth. 
 
 3. How to examine yourselves, — Not by 
 your notions and attainments in knowledge, 
 for these you may have in a considerable de- 
 gree, and be wholly destitute of true grace* 
 The word of God supposes it possible that 
 persons may have great gifts (1 Cor. xiii. 
 1 — 3), flaming zeal, and much success, and 
 yet, having no true love to God, be in his 
 sight no better than sounding brass or a tink- 
 ling cymbal. But if you would know your 
 state, examine by your prevailing desires. 
 Are your notions of grace effectual to lead 
 you in the path of duty ? Do you hunger 
 and thirst for an increase of holiness ? Does 
 the knowledge you have of Christ lead you to 
 love and trust him ? Are you poor in spirit ? 
 You know nothing aright if you know not 
 yourselves. 
 
 4. Ye that are believers may see cause to 
 praise the Lord for his dispensations towards 
 you. 
 
 1st, Had you been wise in men’s esteem, 
 you might have continued fools to the end of 
 your lives. If the Lord has taught you th« 
 
SER. III. THE GOSPEL-DOC 
 
 secret of them that fear him ; if he has shown 
 you the way of salvation ; if he has directed 
 your feet in the paths of his commandments ; 
 — then you have the true wisdom, which shall 
 oe your light through life, and in death your 
 glory. Therefore, 
 
 2dly, Be not grieved that ye are strangers 
 to human wisdom and glory. These things 
 which others so highly prize, you may resign 
 contentedly, and say, Lord, it is enough if 
 thou art mine. Nay, you have good reason 
 to praise his wisdom and goodness for pre- 
 serving you from those temptations which 
 have ensnared and endangered so many. 
 
 3dly, Do you desire more of this true wis- 
 dom ? Seek it in the same way in which you 
 have received the first beginnings. Be fre- 
 quent and earnest in secret prayer. Study 
 the word of God, and study it not to recon- 
 cile and make it bend to your sentiments, 
 but to draw all your sentiments from it, to 
 copy it in your heart, and express it in your 
 conduct. Be cautious of paying too great a 
 regard to persons and parties. One is your 
 master, even Christ. Stand fast in the liberty 
 with which he has made you free, and while 
 you humbly endeavour to profit by all, do not 
 resign your understanding to any* but to him 
 who is the only wise God, the only effectual 
 and infallible teacher. Compare the expe- 
 rience of what passes within your own breast 
 with the observations you make of what daily 
 occurs around you, and bring all your re- 
 marks and experiences to the touch-stone of 
 God’s holy word. Thus shall you grow in 
 knowledge and in grace ; and, amidst the va- 
 rious discouragements which may arise from 
 remaining ignorance in yourselves or others, 
 take comfort in reflecting that you are draw- 
 ing near to the land of light, where there will 
 be no darkness at all. Then you shall know 
 as you are known ; your love and your joy 
 shall likewise be perfect, and you shall be sa- 
 tisfied with the rivers of pleasure which are be- 
 fore the throne of God, world without end. 
 
 SERMON IV. 
 
 1 HE NATURE OF SPIRITUAL REVELATION, AND 
 WHO ARE FAVOURED WITH IT. 
 
 At that time Jesus answered and said , I thank 
 thee, 0 Father , Lord of heaven and earth, 
 because thou hast hid these things from the 
 t vise and prudent , and hast revealed them 
 unto babes. Matth. xi. 25 
 
 We proceed now to the more pleasing part of 
 our subject. The great things of the gospel, 
 though hid, are not lost : not hid as in the 
 bottom of the sea; but he who hides them 
 from the wise and prudent, is ready and wi 11- 
 
 TRINES ARE HID. 357 
 
 ing to make them known to every sincere in- 
 quirer. This discovery, on the Lord’s part, 
 is a revelation, and the character of those who 
 obtain it is expressed by the word babes. Of 
 the five particulars I proposed to consider 
 from the text, these two yet remain to be spo- 
 ken to. 
 
 IV. The saving knowledge of divine truth 
 is a revelation. Our Lord uses a parallel 
 expression, when he commends Peter’s con- 
 fession of his faith, “ Blessed art thou, Si- 
 mon Bar-jona : for flesh and blood hath not 
 revealed this unto thee, but my Father which 
 is in heaven,” Matth. xvi. 17. Peter had 
 Moses and the prophets, so had the scribes 
 and the Pharisees ; and after their manner 
 they were diligent in reading and searching 
 them. But that he could acknowledge Jesus 
 to be the Messiah, when they rejected him, 
 was because the Father had revealed this truth 
 to him, and given him a clearer knowledge of 
 it than he could have received from the writ- 
 ten word alone. But it may be proper to in- 
 quire into the meaning of this term. What 
 are we here to understand by revelation ? 
 
 Sometimes revelation is used in an extra- 
 ordinary sense, as when of old the Lord made 
 known to his servants, the prophets, those doc- 
 trines and events, which till then were nei- 
 ther heard nor thought of. Of this we are 
 not now to speak, but of that which is corn- 
 mom to all believers, and necessary to salva- 
 tion. 
 
 Now this revelation supposes the things to 
 be revealed were real and certain before, but 
 unknown, and not to be found out any other 
 way. 
 
 Revelation is not the creation or invention 
 of something new, but the manifestation o 
 what was till then unknown. The great 
 things of eternity, the glorious truths of the 
 gospel, are real and certain in themselves al- 
 ready, and do not begin to be when we begin 
 to be acquainted with them : yet till God is 
 pleased to reveal them to the heart, we have 
 no more spiritual and effective knowledge of 
 them than if they were not. Ignorance of 
 things very near to us, and in which we are 
 nearly concerned, may be from two causes : 
 
 1. From a want of light. Nothing can 
 be perceived in the dark. If you are in a 
 dark room, though it is richly adorned and 
 furnished, all is lost to you. If you stand in 
 a dark night upon the top of a hill that com- 
 mands a fine prospect, still you are able to 
 see no more than if you were in a valley. 
 Though you were in a dangerous place, with 
 pitfalls and precipices, and thieves and mur- 
 derers all around you, still you might ima- 
 gine yourself in safety, if you had no light 
 with you. 
 
 2. It may be from some hindrance or ob- 
 struction between you and the object. Thus 
 your dearest friend, or greatest enemy, might 
 
SER. IV 
 
 THE NATURE OF SPIRITUAL REVELATION, 
 
 358 
 
 be within a few yards of you, and you know 
 nothing of it, if there was a wall between 
 you. 
 
 These comparisons may in some measure 
 represent our case by nature. God is near ; 
 
 <{ in him we live, move, and have our being.” 
 Eternity is near ; we stand upon the brink of 
 it. Death is near, advancing towards us with 
 liasty strides. The truths of God’s word are 
 most certain in themselves, and of the utmost 
 consequence to us. But we perceive none of 
 these things ; we are not affected by them, 
 because our understandings are dark, and be- 
 cause thick walls of ignorance, prejudice, and 
 unbelief, stand before the eyes of the mind, 
 and keep them from our view. Even those 
 notions of truth which we sometimes pick up 
 by hearing and reading, are but like windows 
 in a dark room ; they are suited to afford an 
 entrance to the light when it comes, but can 
 give no light of themselves. 
 
 I think, therefore, we may conclude, that 
 God’s revealing these things to us only signi- 
 fies his effecting such a change in us by his 
 Holy Spirit, as disposes and enables us to be- 
 hold them. He sends a divine light into the 
 soul ; and things begin to appear so plain, 
 we wonder at our former stupidity, that we 
 could not perceive them before. By the power 
 of his Spirit, he breaks down the walls which 
 prevented and confined our views ; and a new 
 unthought-of prospect suddenly appears be- 
 fore us. Then the soul sees its danger i “ I 
 thought myself secure ; but I find I am in 
 the midst of enemies. Guilt pursues me be- 
 hind ; fear, and the snare, and the pit, are be- 
 fore me; which way shall I turn?” Then 
 it perceives its mistake : “ While my views 
 were confined, I thought there was nothing 
 but the span of life to take care of ; but now 
 I see a boundless eternity beyond it.” It 
 obtains a glimpse likewise of the glories of 
 the better world, of the beauties of holiness, 
 of the excellency of Jesus. This light is at 
 first faint and imperfect, but grows stronger 
 by the use of appointed means ; and as it is 
 increased, every thing appears with a stronger 
 evidence. 
 
 We may more particularly illustrate this 
 work of the Holy Spirit, as it influences those 
 leading faculties of the soul, the understand- 
 ing, affections, and will. By nature, the will 
 is perverse and rebellious, and the affections 
 alienated from God : the primary cause of 
 these disorders lies in the darkness of the un- 
 derstanding. Here, then, the change begins. 
 The Spirit of God enlightens the understand- 
 ing, by which the sinner perceives things to 
 be as they are represented in the word of 
 God ; that he is a transgressor against the 
 divine law, and on this account obnoxious to 
 wrath ; that he is not only guilty, but de- 
 praved and unclean, and utterly unable either 
 to repair past evil, or to amend his own 
 heart and life. He sees that the great God 
 
 might justly refuse him mercy ; and that he 
 has no plea to offer in arrest of judgment. 
 This discovery would sink him into despair, 
 if it went no farther ; but, by the same light 
 which discovers him to himself, he begins to 
 see a suitableness, wisdom, and glory, in the 
 method of salvation revealed in the gospel. 
 He reads and hears concerning the person, 
 sufferings, and offices of Christ, in a very 
 different manner from what he did before : and 
 as, by attending to the word and ministry, his 
 apprehensions of Jesus and his understand- 
 ing become more clear and distinct, a spi- 
 ritual hope takes place and increases in his 
 soul ; and the sure effects of this is, he feels 
 his love drawn forth to him, who so loved 
 him as to die for his sins. Beholding, by 
 faith, the Lord Jesus Christ, as bleeding and 
 dying upon the cross ; and knowing for 
 whom, and on what account, he suffered, he 
 learns to hate, with a bitter hatred, those sins 
 which nailed him there. The amazing love 
 of Christ constrains him to account all things 
 which he formerly valued, as dross and dung, 
 for the excellency of the knowledge of his 
 Saviour. Nor does his faith stop here ; he 
 views him who once suffered and died, rising 
 triumphant/rom the tomb, and ascending into 
 heaven in the character of the representative, 
 friend, and forerunner of his people. Having 
 such a High- Priest, he is encouraged to draw 
 near to God, to claim an interest in the pro- 
 mises, respecting the life that now is, and that 
 which is to come. Thus possessing, in the 
 beginnings of grace, an earnest of the glory 
 that shall be revealed, a real, universal, abid- 
 ing change necessarily takes place in the af- 
 fections. Now old things are passed away, 
 and all things become new : the soul no longer 
 cleaves willingly to the dust, or can be satis- 
 fied with earthly things, but thirsts for com- 
 munion with God, and an increase of holi- 
 ness. Sin is no longer consented to, or de- 
 lighted in, but is opposed and watched a- 
 gainst ; and every unallowed deviation from 
 the will of God excites the sincerest grief and 
 humiliation, and leads to renewed application 
 to the blood and grace of Jesus for pardon 
 and strength. Thus the will likewise is 
 brought into an unreserved subjection and 
 surrender to the power of Christ, and acts as 
 freely in his service as it once did against him. 
 For that what is termed the freedom of the 
 human will should consist in a suspended in- 
 difference between good and evil, is a refine- 
 ment, which, however admired and applaud- 
 ed by many, is equally contrary both to sound 
 reasoning and to universal experience. The 
 will, in all persons and cases, is determined 
 by the present dictates of the understanding, 
 and the bent of the affections. 
 
 By ascribing so much to the Spirit of God, 
 I do not mean, as you may perceive by what 
 I have just now said, to exclude his holy word, 
 or preached gospel. All these truths and 
 
SER. IV 
 
 prospects are already contained in the word 
 of God ; but without the light of the Spirit 
 they are not discerned. They are propound- 
 ed to you in the public ministry. We testify 
 again and again the things which we have seen 
 and heard of the word of life : and when we 
 are in some measure affected with their evi- 
 dence, we are ready to wonder how any of you 
 can possibly avoid perceiving them ; till we 
 remember how it was with ourselves, and then 
 we know, by our own experience, that we 
 must preach, and you hear in vain, unless the 
 Lord is pleased to open your hearts. But 
 observe, 
 
 1. The Spirit of God teaches and enlightens 
 by his word as the instrument. There is no 
 revelation from him, but what is (as to our 
 perception of it) derived from the scriptures. 
 There may be supposed illuminations, and 
 strong impressions upon the mind, in which 
 the word of God has no place or concern ; 
 but this alone is sufficient to discountenance 
 them, and to prove that they are not from the 
 Holy Spirit. For, 
 
 2. The scriptures are the appointed rule and 
 test, by which all our searches and discoveries, 
 all our acquisitions in religious knowledge, 
 must be tried. If they are indeed from God, 
 they will stand this trial, and answer to the 
 word as face answers to face in a glass, but 
 not otherwise. “ To the law and to the testi- 
 mony : if they speak not according to this 
 word, it is because there is no light in them,” 
 Isa. viii. 20. If those who despise all claims to 
 the influence of the Spirit of God, as enthu- 
 siasm, had not been frequently informed, that 
 we expect, we acknowledge, no internal revela- 
 tion, but by the medium of the word of God, 
 and agreeable to it, they would be less in- 
 excuseable in repeating the charges of folly 
 and infatuation, which they ignorantly fix 
 upon the work of the Spirit, and all who pro- 
 fess a dependence on it. To those who are 
 indeed candid and sincere inquirers after 
 truth, what has been said upon this part of 
 our subject, will, I hope, suggest the propriety 
 of two directions. From hence learn, 
 
 1st, To set a high value upon the word of 
 God. All that is necessary to make you wise 
 to salvation is there, and there only. In this 
 precious book you may find a direction for 
 every doubt, a solution of every difficulty, a 
 promise suited to every circumstance you can 
 be in. There you may be informed of your 
 disease by sin, and the remedy provided by 
 grace. You may be instructed to know 
 yourselves, to know God and Jesus Christ, in 
 the knowledge of whom standeth eternal life. 
 The wonders of redeeming love, the glories 
 of the Redeemer’s person, the happiness of 
 the redeemed people, the power of faith, and 
 the beauty of holiness, are here represented 
 to the life. Nothing is wanting to make life 
 useful and comfortable, death safe and desir- 
 able, and to bring down something of heaven 
 
 359 
 
 upon earth. But this true wisdom can be 
 found no where else. If you wander from 
 the scriptures, in pursuit either of present 
 peace, or future hope, your search will end in 
 disappointment. This is the fountain of liv- 
 ing waters : if you forsake it, and give the 
 preference to broken cisterns of your own de- 
 vising, they will fail you when you most need 
 them. Rejoice, therefore, that such a trea- 
 sure is put into your hand : but rejoice with 
 trembling. Remember this is not all you 
 want : unless God likewise gives you a heart 
 to use it aright, your privilege will only aggra- 
 vate your guilt and misery. Therefore re- 
 member, 
 
 2dly, The necessity of prayer. For though 
 the things of nearest consequence to you are 
 in the Bible, and you should read it over and 
 over, till you commit the whole book to your 
 memory ; yet you will not understand, or 
 discern the truth as it is in Jesus, unless the 
 Lord the Spirit shews it to you. The dis- 
 pensation of the truth is in his hand ; and 
 without him all the fancied advantages of su- 
 perior capacity, learning, criticism, and books, 
 will prove as useless as spectacles to the blind. 
 The great encouragement is, that this infalli- 
 ble Spirit, so necessary to guide us into the 
 way of peace, is promised to all who sincere- 
 ly ask it. This Spirit Jesus is exalted to be- 
 stow : and he has said, “ Whosoever cometh to 
 me, I will in no wise cast him out.” There- 
 fore water your reading with frequent prayer. 
 We proceed to, 
 
 V. The characters of those persons who 
 succeed in their inquiries, and have the things 
 of God savingly revealed to them ; they are 
 called babes. 
 
 1 . They are for the most part babes in the 
 world’s esteem. They are despised by the 
 wise and prudent for their weak capacities, 
 small attainments, and their seeming insig- 
 nificance in common life. But the Lord does 
 not overlook any on these accounts. He is 
 no respecter of persons. In the blessings of 
 his common providence, those which are more 
 immediately from his own hand, such as air 
 and light, health and strength, the faculties of 
 sight and hearing, &c. he bestows as freely, 
 and in as great perfection, to the poor as to 
 the rich, to the ignorant as to the learned. 
 And thus it is with respect to his grace. 
 Our incapacity is founded in our nature, and 
 is common to all, and not in any particular 
 circumstances. He is as ready to save the 
 mean as the noble. Many of the great and 
 wise are offended at this. As they engross the 
 earth, they would willingly engross heaven 
 also to themselves. But the Lord has ap- 
 pointed otherwise ; and it has been one re- 
 proach constantly attending the gospel, that 
 few but the common people (Mark xii. 37. 
 John vii. 48, 49.) have thought it worth their 
 notice. 
 
 2. They are babes in their own esteem. 
 
 AND WHO ARE FAVOURED WITH IT. 
 
SER. IV 
 
 380 THE NATURE OF SPIRIT 
 
 Not that some are more humble than others 
 by nature, and therefore the Lord gives them 
 a preference on that account, for by nature 
 we are all alike, equally destitute of the small- 
 est good ; but the expression teaches us, that 
 those to whom the Lord is pleased to reveal 
 these things, he first empties and humbles, 
 strips them of all ground of boasting, and 
 brings them to a dependence on himself. The 
 true believer is frequently compared to a little 
 child ; and it is easy to trace an instructive 
 resemblance. 
 
 1st, A child or babe has little knowledge, 
 and its capacity and powers are as yet very 
 feeble. All whose understandings have been 
 spiritually enlightened will acknowledge them- 
 selves children in this respect. The little they 
 know convinces them of their ignorance. 
 They are convinced that their views of things 
 are faint, partial, confused ; that their judg- 
 ments are weak ; that if the Lord prevents it 
 not, they are very liable to be imposed on by 
 the subtilty of Satan, and the treachery of 
 their own hearts. They feel that they have 
 not in themselves sufficiency to think a good 
 ♦bought. 
 
 2dly, A child is teachable. Conscious of 
 their own ignorance, they listen to all about 
 them, and think every one is qualified to teach 
 them something. Among men none are 
 truly teachable, but those who know they 
 need to be taught. The natural man, if pos- 
 sessed of any advantages, thinks every one 
 needs his help. The humble Christian gives 
 this proof, that the confession he is ready to 
 make of his ignorance is genuine, and from 
 his heart, that he is desirous to learn from all. 
 He is swift to hear, slow to speak, and open 
 to conviction. Though he will not assent to 
 every thing he hears without proof or exami- 
 nation, yet he is disposed to receive instruc- 
 tion, and thankful to those by whom he is 
 profited. He is fearful of being mistaken, 
 of giving way to prejudices, and therefore 
 gladly improves every means of information. 
 
 3dly, A child is simple and dependent. He 
 does not reason, but implicitly receives what 
 he is told by his parents, or those whom he 
 thinks wiser than himself. Such a resigna- 
 tion, indeed, the believer dares not make of 
 his understanding to any men, however high- 
 ly he may esteem them in the main ; for he 
 has learned from the word of God, not to put 
 his trust in man : but this is the desire of the 
 renewed heart, with respect to the teaching of 
 God’s word and Spirit. He allows no rea- 
 soning or questioning here ; nor will he say 
 with Nicodemus, “ How can these things 
 be ?” It is enough for him that God has 
 said it, and is able to make it good. This is 
 a happy temper. In this way innumerable 
 difficulties that arise from appearances and 
 sophisms are avoided ; and the mind, by faith, 
 steers in safety across the immense ocean of 
 conjectures and opinions, which disputants 
 
 [’UAL REVELATION, &C. 
 
 and reasoners, essaying to do, are sunk and 
 overpowered. It is true, there are various 
 degrees of this simplicity ; and in those who 
 possess it in a larger measure, there is a re- 
 maining principle of pride and unbelief, which 
 costs them much prayer and many conflicts to 
 •subdue. But this, in some degree, is essen- 
 tial to the character of those who are taught 
 of God ; they desire and endeavour to sub- 
 mit wholly to his guidance and will in all 
 things. 
 
 Here, then, is a proper topic for self-exami- 
 nation. Let each one ask his heart, Have I 
 this simple, child-like disposition ? 
 
 If you have, if it is the desire of your sou . 
 to be taught of God, if his word is your rule, 
 if you depend on his Spirit to teach you all 
 things, and to lead you as it were by the hand, 
 sensible that, unless you are thus led and 
 guided, you shall certainly go astray ; be 
 thankful for this, accept it as a token for 
 good. You were not always so : there was a 
 time when you were wise in your own eyes, 
 and prudent in your own sight. You have 
 good warrant to hope that the Lord, who has 
 already taught you to depend on himself, will 
 shew you all that is necessary for you to 
 know. 
 
 But if this is not the case, if you lean to 
 your own understanding, what wonder is it 
 that you are still walking in darkness and un- 
 certainty ? Will you say, I have read the 
 Bible diligently ; I have taken no small pains 
 to examine tilings, to see which of the many 
 divisions that obtain among Christians is pos- 
 sessed of the truth ; but I am still at a loss : 
 surely, if the tenets some plead for had been in 
 the scriptures, I should have found them there ? 
 I answer, without detracting from your saga- 
 city or your sincerity, your case is easily ac- 
 counted for from the verse which we are upon, 
 if your inquiries are not conducted in a hum- 
 ble dependence upon the Spirit of God. Too 
 many instances we could produce of men, 
 who having laboured for years in what seems 
 one of the most laudable undertakings, the ex 
 plaining the scriptures for the use of others, 
 have at last been in a remarkable degree unset- 
 tled themselves ; and the only visible fruits their 
 reading and industry have afforded, have been 
 error, invective, and dissatisfaction ; so that 
 their labours have been an exemplification of 
 the former part of our text, a proof in point 
 how entirely the things of God are often hid 
 from the wise and prudent. 
 
 You that are seeking the Lord, and are lit- 
 tle in your own eyes, rojoice that the dispen- 
 sation of grace is in his hands. If men had 
 the disposal cf it, you might perhaps have 
 been overlooked. We should have been ready 
 to have accepted the fair-spoken young man 
 who accosted our Lord with so much outward 
 respect, and had so much to say in his own 
 behalf (Mark x. 20) ; and probably we should 
 have left the thief upon the cross to perish like 
 
SER. V. 
 
 THE SOVEREIGNTY C 
 
 a wretch as he deserved. “ But the Lord 
 seeth not as man seeth,” 1 Sam. xvi. 7. “ His 
 ways are higher than our ways, and his thoughts 
 than our thoughts,” Isa. Iv. 7, 9. Therefore 
 there is encouragement for the meanest and 
 the vilest. He has excluded none but those 
 who exclude themselves. “ Behold, now is 
 the accepted time ; behold, now is the day of 
 salvation ! Let the wicked forsake his ways, 
 and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and 
 let him return unto the Lord, for he will have 
 mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will 
 abundantly pardon. 
 
 SERMON V. 
 
 THE SOVEREIGNTY OF DIVINE GRACE ASSERTED 
 AND ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy 
 sight. Matth. xi. 2(5. 
 
 That the doctrine in the preceding verse is 
 true in fact, is sufficiently evident from com- 
 mon observation. The greatest part of those 
 whom the world esteems wise and prudent, 
 and all to a man who think themselves so, 
 pay but small regard to the truths of the gos- 
 pel. They are hid from their eyes, and re- 
 vealed to babes, to those whom they despise 
 on account of their ignorance and insignifi- 
 cance. And if a few who are favoured with 
 considerable advantages in point of genius, 
 education, or rank, do receive the truth in the 
 love of it, they have been at least taught that 
 they are no better than babes, and are glad to 
 count all outward things but loss for the ex- 
 cellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus the 
 Lord. 
 
 If we could give no other reason for this 
 dispensation of grace than that which is as- 
 signed in our text, it ought to be satisfactory, 
 and would be so, if it was not for the pride 
 of our hearts. Surely that which seems good 
 in the sight of God, must be holy, and wise, 
 and good in itself. How vain and presumpt- 
 uous is blinded man, who would dare to reply 
 against his Maker, to charge his holiness with 
 injustice, his wisdom with mistake, his good- 
 ness with partiality ! All their vain cavils will 
 be silenced at the great day, when the secrets 
 of all hearts are opened, and God will be jus- 
 .ified when he condemns. However, though 
 we dare not venture too far into the depths of 
 the divine counsels, yet, from the light he has 
 afforded us in his word, we may, in our feeble 
 manner, assert and prove that his ways are 
 just and equal ; and, besides the argument of 
 his sovereignty, that so it has pleased him, he 
 has been pleased to favour us with some of the 
 reasons why it has so pleased him. And this 
 is the subject I propose to lead your medita- 
 tions to from these words. May his Spirit 
 
 F DIVINE GRACE, &C. 361 
 
 assist me, that I may not darken counsel by 
 words without knowledge ! 
 
 Let us begin with inquiring, What might 
 be his principal ends in sending his Son into 
 the world, that we might have life through 
 him ? These, I apprehend, were chiefly tv/o : 
 
 1. The redemption and complete salvation 
 of all who believe. All mankind are by na- 
 ture in the same state of sin and misery. 
 But we are told, that at the great day there 
 will be an unspeakable difference in the cir- 
 cumstances between some and others. Many 
 will then stand trembling at his left hand, to 
 whom the King shall say, “ Depart.” But 
 those on the right hand will hear those joyful 
 words, “ Come, ye blessed of my Father, in- 
 herit the kingdom prepared for you from the 
 foundation of the world.” If you ask, To 
 what is this difference primarily owing ? The 
 answer is provided : “ Jesus loved them, and 
 washed them from their sins in his own blood ; 
 he redeemed them out of every nation, and 
 people, and language ; they came out of great 
 tribulation, and washed their robes, and made 
 them white in the blood of the Lamb : there- 
 fore are they before the throne.” It was then 
 for their sakes, who should be hereafter found 
 at the right hand of God, that “ God sent forth 
 his Son, made of a woman, made under the 
 law, to redeem them that were under the law, 
 that we might receive the adoption of sons.” 
 
 2. But besides this, God had another and a 
 still higher end in the work of redemption, 
 namely, the manifestation of his own glcry. 
 It was unspeakable love to us that he provid- 
 ed the means of salvation at all ; and we can- 
 not wonder, much less ought we to complain, 
 that in justice to himself he appointed such 
 means, and such a way, as that all the praise 
 and glory of the contrivance should in the 
 end redound to himself alone. In order to 
 this, it was necessary that the following things 
 should be manifested with the fullest evi- 
 dence. 
 
 1st, The greatness of man’s depravity, guilt, 
 and misery ; that it was not a small thing, 
 but a case worthy the interposition of al- 
 mighty power and infinite grace. 
 
 2dly, The utter insufficiency of man to re- 
 lieve himself; that so God might have the 
 whole honour of his recovery, and we might 
 be for ever debtors to his free undeserved 
 mercy. 
 
 3dly, That whereas there are, to outward 
 appearance, a great variety of characters a- 
 mong mankind, it was necessary the dispen- 
 sation of his grace should be so conducted as 
 to shew, that no case was too hard for his 
 power, or too low and miserable for his com- 
 passion and condescension. 
 
 Upon these grounds we may see something 
 of his wisdom in the methods he has appoint- 
 ed, and in the subjects of his choice; why it has 
 seemed good in his sight, to hide these things 
 from the wise and prudent, and to reveal 
 
3ER. V. 
 
 THE SOVEREIGNTY OF DIVINE GRACE 
 
 362 
 
 them unto babes ; for such reasons as these : 
 — 1. To stain the pride of all human glory ; 
 2. To exclude every pretence of boasting ; 3. 
 That there might be a ground of hope pro- 
 vided for the vilest and meanest ; and, 4. That 
 the salvation of believers might be sure, and 
 not subject to miscarry. 
 
 I. In the first place, then, the Lord of 
 hosts hath proposed it, “ to stain the pride of 
 all human glory,” Isaiah xxiii. 9. How much 
 men are disposed to admire their own wisdom, 
 learning, and fancied accomplishments, is suf- 
 ficiently obvious. But now the pride of all this 
 glory is stained, inasmuch as it is proved by 
 experience to be utterly useless in the most 
 important concerns. One man has talents to 
 rule a kingdom, but is himself a slave to the 
 vilest lusts and passions. Another has cour- 
 age to face death in a field of battle, yet, with 
 regard to religion, is a mere coward : over- 
 awed by the feeble breath of the multitude, 
 he is both ashamed and afraid to practise what 
 his conscience convinces him is his duty. A- 
 nother almost pretends to count the number 
 of the stars, and to call them all by their 
 names ; yet has no more thought of the God 
 that made the heavens and the earth, than 
 the beasts that perish. Another delights in 
 books and languages which few can under- 
 stand but himself ; nothing so false or fool- 
 ish but he accounts it worth his study, if it 
 has but the stamp of antiquity to recommend 
 it ; only the book of God (though much more 
 ancient than all his fables), because it may be 
 read in plain English, is thrown by as un- 
 worthy his notice. Another, who professes to 
 be scripture-wise, perverts the scriptures, and 
 abuses his own reason, to establish the most ab- 
 surd errors, or to overturn the plainest truths. 
 Another amuses himself with setting forth the 
 praises of virtue and morality, while his own 
 conduct furnishes a standing proof, either of 
 the weakness of his scheme, or the insin- 
 cerity of his heart. Time would fail to re- 
 count all the achievements of these wise and 
 prudent men. But behold the pride of them 
 all stained ! In the midst of all their acquisi- 
 tions and inventions, they are strangers to 
 God, to themselves, and to peace ; they are 
 without Christ, and without hope : those 
 things which alone are of real importance, are 
 hid from their eyes. Here the desperate de- 
 pravity and deceitfulness of the heart are 
 manifested, to the glory of God; and it is 
 clearly seen, that if he does not interpose to 
 save, men are wholly unable to save them- 
 selves. 
 
 II. To exclude boasting. “ Where is boast- 
 ing then ? It is excluded.” As the apostle 
 speaks in another place, “If Abraham was 
 justified by works, he hath whereof to glory” 
 (Rom. iv. 2.) : so, if men w-ere saved, either 
 in whole or in part, by their own wisdom and 
 prudence, they might in the same degree a- 
 scribe the glory and praise to themselves. 
 
 They might say, My own power and wisdom 
 gave me this ; and thus God would be robbed 
 of the honour due to his name. But now this 
 is prevented. The word of the Lord is, 
 “ Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, 
 neither let the mighty man glory in his might ; 
 let not the rich man glory in his riches ; but 
 let him that glorieth glory in this, that he 
 understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the 
 Lord,” Jeremiah ix. 23, 24. For whatever 
 outward advantages some may seem to pos- 
 sess, as to the things of God, they stand al- 
 together upon a level with the meanest. These 
 things cannot be understood by any sagacity 
 on our parts, but must be revealed by the 
 Father of lights. What could be done in 
 this way, you may collect from St. Paul’s re- 
 presentation in the first chapter of his epistle 
 to the Romans. Many of the Heathens 
 were eminent for wisdom and abilities, and 
 made great proficiency in science ; but with 
 regard to the knowledge of God, the result 
 of all their researches was error, superstition, 
 and idolatry : professing themselves to be wise 
 they became fools, and their disquisitions had 
 no other effect than to leave them without ex - 
 cuse. Their practice (as will always be the 
 case) was correspondent to their principles ; 
 and in the midst of a thousand refinements 
 in theory, they were abandoned to the gros- 
 sest and most detestable vices. If it be said, 
 These had not the light of revelation, we may 
 observe the same or similar effects w'here the 
 gospel is known. With this superior light, 
 men are still equally vain in their imagina- 
 tions ; and though they do not pay an out- 
 ward and formal worship to stocks and stones, 
 they are gross idolaters ; for they serve, love, 
 and trust the creature more than the Creator. 
 When there is a difference, it is owing to grace, 
 and grace is acknowledged. Such will readi- 
 ly say, “ Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, 
 but unto thy name be the praise,” Psal. cxv. 
 1 . Thus all pretence to boasting is effectual- 
 ly excluded ; and he that can glory upon 
 good grounds, must glory only in the Lord. 
 
 If it should be supposed that this repre- 
 sentation of things tends to discourage a 
 diligent and serious inquiry after truth, I 
 answer, When rightly understood, it will have 
 just the contrary effect. What can be more 
 suited to excite diligence, than to point out 
 the method in which it will assuredly be 
 crowned with success ? You cannot succeed 
 without the light and assistance of the Holy 
 Spirit ; but if conscious of this, and aware 
 of your own insufficiency, you will seek his 
 direction and guidance by humble prayer, it 
 shall be afforded you. If you know not this, 
 you will certainly be wearied in the end 
 by repeated disappointments ; but if you 
 depend upon his teaching and co-operation in 
 the use of the means he has appointed, your 
 knowledge shall advance as the growing 
 light.” 
 
ser. V. ASSERTED AND ILLUSTRATED. 3G3 
 
 III. This method of the divine procedure 
 opens a door of hope to the vilest and the 
 meanest. Let not any be cast down on ac- 
 count of any peculiar incapacity or* difficulty 
 in their case. If none but the wise and the 
 learned, the rich, and those who are esteemed 
 well-behaved and virtuous, could be saved, 
 or if these stood in a fairer way for it than 
 others, the greatest part of mankind might 
 give up hope, and sit down in despair at once. 
 But the case is exactly the reverse. It is 
 true, the persons I am speaking of are not the 
 worse for these distinctions, whenever they are 
 sensible how vain and insufficient they are, and 
 betake themselves as poor, helpless, miserable, 
 blind, and naked, to flee for refuge to the 
 mercy of God in Christ. But, alas! their 
 supposed qualifications too often harden them 
 to reject the counsel of God against them- 
 selves. They think themselves whole, and 
 therefore see not the necessity or value of the 
 physician. You who are sensible you have 
 nothing of your own to trust to, take en- 
 couragement ; the Lord has suited his gospel 
 to your circumstances. 
 
 1. Are ye poor? The Lord Jesus Christ 
 has sanctified the state of poverty by taking it 
 on himself. He had not where to lay his head. 
 He will not therefore despise you on this ac- 
 count. Only pray that you may likewise be 
 poor in spirit. He looks through all outward 
 distinctions, and often passes by a palace to 
 make his presence and power known in a mud- 
 walled cottage. Perhaps he appointed this 
 state in mercy to your souls, that you might 
 not be distracted with many things, nor take 
 up with a portion in this world. You can- 
 not be in a lower or more afflicted state than 
 Lazarus, who, while he lay neglected at the 
 rich man’s gate, oppressed with want, and 
 full of sores, was a child of God, and the 
 charge of angels. 
 
 2. Are you ignorant ? If you cannot read, 
 you miss indeed a considerable advantage 
 which you might derive from the perusal of 
 his good word, and I would wish you to attain 
 it if practicable. If not, give so much more 
 diligent attention to the preaching of the gos- 
 pel ; entreat others to read the scriptures to 
 you ; but especially pray. The Lord can 
 teach you without a book, and make up for 
 every defect. It is very possible for you to 
 attain to know and love God, to love your 
 neighbour, to rejoice in Christ, to keep his 
 precepts, to be content with your station, to 
 live by faith, and to die with comfort, though 
 you cannot distinguish one letter from another. 
 The prophet Isaiah, in the prospect of gospel- 
 times, gives a description of the way of salva- 
 tion, which is peculiarly suited for your com- 
 fort.. “ And a high way shall be there, and 
 it shall be called the way of holiness ; the way- 
 faring men, though fools, shall not err there- 
 in,” Isa. xxxv. 8. 
 
 3. Have you been notorious, open sinners ? 
 
 Then you are in the less danger of trusting 
 to your own righteousness. And as to the 
 rest, if you are sick of sin, if you sincerely 
 desire to be freed, as well from the power 
 as from the guilt of it, you stand as fair for 
 salvation as the most sober and regular per- 
 son upon the earth. St. Paul, speaking to 
 those who had been partakers of the saving 
 grace of God, after he had made an enumera- 
 tion of the blackest sins which man can be 
 guilty of, adds, “ And such were some of you ; 
 but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but 
 ye are justified, in the name of the Lord Je- 
 sus, and by the Spirit of our God,” I Cor. 
 vi. 11. 
 
 IV. In this way the salvation of believers 
 is sure. If it depended on any thing in man, 
 it might miscarry. Man’s boasted wisdom is 
 soon changed. A few hours of a fever, a 
 small blow on the head, may change a wise 
 man into a fool. “ But it is of grace, to the 
 end that the promise might be sure to all the 
 seed.” Rom. iv. 16. Adam had a stock of 
 wisdom, yet when he was trusted with his own 
 happiness, he could not preserve it. But the 
 second Adam is all-sufficient. Our depend- 
 ence is upon him. To those who are babes, 
 he is wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and 
 all that they want. If this concern had been 
 left to the wisdom of man, it is most probable 
 that Christ would have lived and died in vain, 
 without a single real disciple. But now the 
 dispensation of grace is in his hands, we arc 
 sure that some will believe in him ; and we 
 are likewise sure, that those who truly do so 
 shall never be ashamed of their hope. 
 
 Now, from what has been said, 
 
 1. Inquire what is the temper of your minds 
 with regard to this appointment. Our Lord 
 rejoiced in it as the wise and holy will, the 
 good pleasure of his heavenly Father. If 
 you are displeased at it, is it not a proof that 
 you have not the mind which was in Christ 
 Jesus ? If God wills one thing, and you will 
 another, where must the contention end ? To 
 what purpose, or with what pretence can you 
 use that expression in the Lord’s prayer, “ Thy 
 will be done,” when in effect your hearts rise 
 with enmity against it ? This is one topic from 
 whence we may confirm the declaration of scrip- 
 ture, that man by nature is not only a trans- 
 gressor of the law, but an enemy, yea enmity 
 itself, against God, Rom. viii. 7. They mav 
 pay some profession of regard to the power 
 that made the heavens and the earth, the sea, 
 and the fountains of water, while they wor- 
 ship they know not what, according to their 
 own vain and dark imaginations. But the at- 
 tributes and characters of God revealed in scrip- 
 ture, his holiness, justice, truth, and sove- 
 reignty, they cannot bear. They are enemies 
 to the declared strictness of his moral govern- 
 ment, and enemies to the methods by which 
 he has proposed to communicate his grace. 
 But he is God, and who can controul him ? 
 
SER. VI. 
 
 36* OF THE PERSON OF CHRIST. 
 
 Who can say unto him, What hast thou done ? 
 You must either submit to his golden sceptre 
 in time, or his rod of iron will fall upon you 
 for ever. 
 
 2. Does it not appear from hence, that the 
 doctrine of free sovereign grace is rather 
 an encouragement to awakened and broken- 
 hearted sinners than otherwise ? If you are 
 most unworthy of mercy, and destitute of 
 every plea, should you not be glad to hear, 
 that the Lord does not expect worthiness in 
 those whom he saves, but that he himself has 
 provided the only plea which he will accept, 
 and a plea which cannot be over-ruled, the 
 righteousness and mediation of his well-be- 
 loved Son ? 
 
 SERMON VI. 
 
 OF THE PERSON OF CHRIST. 
 
 All things are delivered unto me of my Fa- 
 ther : and no man knoweth the Son, but the 
 Father ; neither knoweth any man the Fa- 
 ther, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the 
 Son will reveal him. Matth xi. 27. 
 
 The two preceding verses have led us to con- 
 sider grace (if I may so speak) in the unfa- 
 thomable depths of the sovereign will and good 
 pleasure of God. In this verse our Lord 
 calls us to the contemplation of his own glo- 
 rious person, authority, and fulness. In him 
 grace is treasured up as in a repository for com- 
 munications, to be dispensed to needy perish- 
 ing sinners. 
 
 When an ambassador is deputed from an 
 earthly prince, to transact some business of 
 great importance, he produces his commission 
 and authority, without which all he could pro- 
 pose would be little regarded ; and those who 
 are most honoured and attended to are en- 
 trusted with full powers, that is, with a liberty 
 to act and propose as occasions offer, without 
 farther instructions, and with full security that 
 the king will ratify and confirm whatever they 
 agree to, in the same manner as if he had done 
 it in his own person. Thus (if we may pre- 
 sume to compare small things with great) our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, the great messenger of the 
 Father’s love, before he invites every weary, 
 heavy-laden sinner to come to him, with a 
 gracious assurance that he will receive, and 
 pardon, and save them all, he condescends in 
 this verse (as it were) to open his commission, 
 to instruct us in his own personal dignity, 
 and to communicate to us the example and 
 unlimited authority which he has received from 
 God to treat with rebels. He knows what hearts 
 of unbelief we have ; how greatly an awaken- 
 ed conscience is terrified with guilt ; how busy 
 Satan is to urge us to question either his abi- 
 lity or his willingness to save.* and thereXore 
 
 he would leave nothing undone that might 
 encourage us to come to him, and find rest for 
 our souls. May his gracious Spirit enable me 
 to speak aright, and so open your hearts to un- 
 derstand what may be said upon this high sub- 
 ject, that we may have joy and peace in believ- 
 ing ! 
 
 The words contain a threefold declaration : 
 
 1. Of his person : “ No man knoweth the 
 Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any 
 man the Father, save the Son.” 
 
 2. Of his authority : “ All things are de- 
 livered to me of my Father.” 
 
 3. Of his office, summarily intimated in the 
 expression, “ He to whomsoever the Son will 
 reveal him.” 
 
 To treat these points in their proper extent 
 would be a subject more than equal to the abi- 
 lities and life of man. Much would be left 
 unsaid at last. We cannot order our speech 
 by reason of darkness. This is a theme fit. for 
 an angel’s tongue : the most exalted angel, or 
 all the angels in heaven, would be unable to 
 comprehend it, for it is infinite, as our text 
 declares : “ None knows the Son, but the Fa- 
 ther.” Here we are too prone to think highly 
 of our own knowledge ; but when we arrive 
 in yonder world of light, to see him as he is, 
 we shall be ashamed of the highest conceptions 
 we had of him, and of our most laboured at- 
 tempts to express them, while we were impri- 
 soned in this distant land. Then we shall say, 
 with the queen of Sheba, “ Behold, the half 
 (the thousandth part) was not told us.” In 
 the mean time he is pleased to accept our im- 
 perfect stammerings, to assist our feeble in- 
 quiries, and does not disdain (as he justly 
 might) to hear us take his name into our pol- 
 luted lips. 
 
 I. The inconceivable dignity of his person 
 is pointed out by two expressions : 
 
 1. “ No man” (or rather, as it might be 
 rendered here and in many other places. No 
 one*) knoweth the Father, but the Son.” No 
 one — 
 
 1st, Not the wisest man in a state of na- 
 ture. Various degrees of knowledge there are 
 amongst the sons of men. There is a great 
 difference between man and man ; between one 
 who knows not his letters, or any thing beyond 
 the bounds of his own village, and another who 
 has a large acquaintance with arts and sciences, 
 history and languages, and has surveyed the 
 manners and boundaries of many nations. But 
 with regard to the knowledge of Christ, the 
 philosopher and the shepherd, the king and the 
 beggar, are just upon a level. Of two blind 
 men, one may know many things more than 
 the other, but with regard to the knowledge 
 of light and colours, they will be both igno- 
 rant alike. 
 
 Some of you perhaps think yourselves wiser 
 than many of your neighbours. But I cam 
 
 * Qulut> 
 
SER. VI. 
 
 OF THE PERSON OF CHRIST. 
 
 not too often remind you, that if you know 
 not Christ, all your wisdom is folly, and you 
 will find it so at last. 
 
 2dly, Neither do his own people know him 
 in the sense of the text. Some knowledge of 
 him indeed they have, which is their differ- 
 encing character from the world. But how 
 small a portion ! That they know him a lit- 
 tle is plain, because they love him and trust 
 him ; but how little, is plain likewise, because 
 their love is so faint, and their trust so feeble. 
 Their doubts, fears, complaints, and back- 
 slidings, are so many mournful proofs that 
 they are but poorly acquainted with him, and 
 sufficiently evidence that a great part of what 
 we account our knowledge, is not real and ex- 
 perimental, but notional only. The literal 
 sense of what we read concerning Jesus is at- 
 tainable by study and human teaching; but 
 the spiritual import can only be received from 
 him who teaches the heart, who increases it in 
 us by the various exercises^ and dispensations 
 we pass through ; and the best have much more 
 to learn than they have already attained. There 
 are indeed happy moments when he manifests 
 himself to the eye of faith, in his glory and in 
 his love, as he did to Peter on the mount, and 
 to Thomas, when a sight of his wounds con- 
 quered his unbelief, and made him, in a trans- 
 port of joy, cry out, “ My Lord, and my God.” 
 But these visits, though they have a powerful 
 influence to conquer sin and fear, are tran- 
 sient ; and when the cause is withdrawn, there 
 is a proportionable abatement in the effect. The 
 knowledge of Christ, in the present life, may 
 be compared to the knowledge which a shep- 
 herd has of the sea, from having viewed it from 
 the top of a cliff. In a sense, it may be said 
 he has seen the sea ; but how little has he seen 
 in comparison of what lies beyond the reach 
 of his eye ! Flow inadequate is such a prospect 
 to give him an idea answerable to the length, 
 and breadth, and depth of the immense ocean ! 
 Nay, farther, 
 
 3dly, The glorified saints and holy angels, 
 who behold as much of his glory as creatures 
 can bear, do not know him as he is. They 
 are filled with his power and love. Fie com- 
 prehends them, but they cannot him. A ves- 
 sel cast into the sea, can but receive accor- 
 ding to its capacity. Thus are they filled 
 with his fulness till they can hold no more ; 
 but his glory still remains infinite and bound- 
 less. The glorious seraphim, therefore, are 
 represented as hiding their faces with their 
 wings, unable to bear the splendour of his 
 presence. For, 
 
 4 thhj, “ None knows the Son but the Fa- 
 ther.” This proves his divinity. God only 
 knows himself. The Son is his eternal Word, 
 his eternal Wisdom, and therefore beyond the 
 highest reach of finite understanding. 
 
 2. “ None knows the Father but the Son.” 
 Here I might repeat the former particulars. 
 God has made something known of himself in 
 
 3G5 
 
 his works, much in his word, more still in his 
 grace. All men have some faint perceptions 
 of his power and presence. He manifests 
 himself to his own family below, still more to 
 his family above; yet, after all, he is said to 
 dwell in light which no man can approach. 
 None knows him but the Son, and he knows 
 him perfectly, knows the incomprehensible 
 God ; therefore he is God himself. As he 
 said to Philip, “ He that hath seen me, hath 
 seen the F'ather,” John xvi. 9. 
 
 Now, if we had no other proof of this doc- 
 trine but the passage before us, since this is 
 the declaration of the true and faithful wit- 
 ness, it should be accepted as decisive. But 
 as this is the great mystery of godliness, the 
 pillar and ground of truth, the foundation of 
 all our hopes, I shall take this opportunity to 
 confirm it more largely from other concurrent 
 testimonies of scripture. 
 
 By the Son, I mean the person who spake 
 these words : he who was foretold by the pro- 
 phets : who in the fulness of time came into 
 the world ; who, with respect to his divine 
 nature, is called “the Word” (John i. 1.), 
 and, with respect to his human nature, was 
 born of the Virgin Mary : he who was known 
 upon earth by the name of Jesus; whose his- 
 tory is related by the evangelists ; who suffer- 
 ed a shameful and accursed death upon the 
 cross, without the gates of Jerusalem. Of 
 him we affirm, “ That he was, and is, the true 
 God, and eternal life,” 1 John v. 20. In proof 
 of this, besides what has been already said, let 
 the following particulars be considered, 
 
 1st, That the proper and peculiar titles of 
 God are attributed to him frequently in the 
 scriptures ; so frequently, that it would be a 
 very long task to transcribe them all. Let a 
 few, the application of which to Christ is ex- 
 press and indisputable, suffice fora specimen : 
 “ The Word was God” (John i. 1 ) : “ His 
 name shall be called Emmanuel, that is, God 
 with us” (Matth.i. 23) : “Jehovah our Right- 
 eousness” (Jer. xxiii. 6) : “ The mighty God,” 
 Isa. ix. 6. In the same style he speaks of 
 himself by his servants the prophets and a- 
 postles : “ Thy maker is thine husband, the 
 Lord of hosts is his name ; and thy Redeem- 
 er the Holy One of Israel ; the God of the 
 whole earth shall he be called” (Is. liv. 5) : 
 
 “ Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the 
 ends of the earth ; for I am God, and there 
 is none else” (Is. xlv. 22) : “ I am Alpha 
 and Omega, the beginning and the end, the 
 first and the last, the Almighty,” Rev. i. 8, 
 11 . 
 
 Amidst the variety of testimonies which 
 might be adduced to this purpose, there are 
 two which are peculiarly observable. The 
 Psalmist expresses the majesty, power, and 
 immutability of God, in these sublime terms : 
 “ Of old thou hast laid the foundations of 
 the earth, and the heavens are the work of 
 'thine hands. They shall perish* but thou 
 
SEIt. VI 
 
 OF THE PERSON OF CHRIST. 
 
 366 
 
 shalt endure ; yea all of them shall wax old 
 like a garment : as a vesture thou shalt change 
 them, and they shall be changed : but thou 
 art the same, and thy years shall have no end,” 
 Psal. cii. 25 — 27. Surely none can deny 
 
 but this ascription must be incommunicably 
 due to the Almighty ; yet the author of the 
 epistle to the Hebrews (Heb. i. 10 — 12.) ap- 
 plies these words directly to the Son of God. 
 The other passage I intend is the vision of 
 Isaiah, recorded in the sixth chapter; which 
 not only proves the point in hand, but irre- 
 fragably establishes the doctrine of the Tri- 
 nity. For the Lord of hosts, whom Isaiah 
 saw and heard, is affirmed by St. John to 
 have been the Son (John xii. 41.), by St. 
 Paul to have been the Holy Ghost, Acts 
 xxviii. 25. Isaiah, therefore, had a manifesta- 
 tion of what was afterwards in explicit words 
 set forth to the faith of the church, “ that 
 there are three that bear record in heaven, the 
 Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost ; and 
 that these three are one,” 1 John v. 7. 
 
 2dly, His works upon earth were such as 
 necessarily suppose a divine power. Who can 
 controul the elements (Mark iv. 39.), raise 
 the dead (John xi. 43.), command the devils 
 (Luke iv. 36.), search the heart, and forgive 
 sin (Mark ii.), but God alone? If it should 
 be said, that many of his servants and follow- 
 ers wrought miracles equal to his by a dele- 
 gated power, and therefore this argument is 
 not conclusive ; I answer, There is an appar- 
 ent difference in the manner of their working, 
 which proves the disparity between them and 
 him. They could do nothing but in his name, 
 and by his power ; they usually addressed 
 themselves to him by prayer, and always as- 
 cribed the praise and glory to him, Acts iii. 
 12 — 16. But his power was independent, 
 
 sovereign, and unlimited : “he spake, and it 
 was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.” 
 At the breath of his rebuke, the raging tem- 
 pest and the boisterous seas were instantly 
 hushed into a perfect calm. The deaf heard 
 his voice, and the dead came forth from their 
 graves, at the first call. 
 
 3dly, His works of office can be performed 
 by none but God. This might be proved 
 concerning each of the offices he exercises in 
 consequence of his high character as Media- 
 tor between God and man ; but I shall speak 
 only of two. 
 
 (1.) It is his office to keep his believing 
 people in this present evil world. To act 
 the part of a shepherd (Matth. ii. 6. napam) 
 towards them, to supply their wants of every 
 kind, to direct their steps, to controul their 
 enemies, to over-rule all things for their good, 
 and to be a very present help in every time 
 of trouble ; to execute this important charge, 
 it is necessary that his knowledge, his com- 
 passion, his power, and his patience, must be 
 boundless. His eye must be every moment 
 upon all their cases at once ; his ear must be 
 
 incessantly open to receive the prayers of all 
 people, nations, and languages ; his arm must 
 be continually stretched out to support so many 
 that stand, to raise up so many that fall, to af- 
 ford seasonable and suitable supplies, at the 
 same instant, to the distresses and temptations 
 of millions. If this is the office he has under- 
 taken, and if he is acknowledged sufficient 
 and faithful in the discharge of it, what more 
 undeniable evidence can be given, that he has 
 all the attributes we can conceive as essential 
 and peculiar to the Godhead ? The provoca- 
 tions, defects, and backslidings, of his people, 
 are likewise so numerous, so often repeated, and 
 attended with such black aggravations, that if 
 he was not God, invincible in goodness, un- 
 changeable in purpose, if his mercy was not, as 
 is his majesty, infinite, he would be wearied 
 out, and provoked to cast them off for ever. 
 The great reason why he bore with his people 
 of old, holds equally strong with respect to us : 
 
 “ I am the Lord, I change not, therefore ye 
 sons of Jacob are not consumed,” Mai. iii. 
 6 . 
 
 (2.) The like may be said of the high office, 
 character, and appointment, he has received, to 
 be the Judge of the world, of angels, and of 
 men. For, besides that it is quite incredible, 
 that God, who is jealous of his glory, should 
 intrust this most illustrious prerogative to any 
 mere creature, it seems evident at first sight, 
 that no creature can be possibly qualified for 
 the discharge of it. To the great and final 
 Judge all hearts must be open, all desires 
 known, and every secret disclosed. He must 
 be intimately acquainted with the counsels 
 and plans that lay hid in God from eternity ; 
 he must have a sovereign, comprehensive, in- 
 tuitive view of every event, of every design, 
 that took place within the limits of time and 
 creation ; he must have unlimited authority to 
 pronounce the decisive sentence which will 
 fix the everlasting state of all intelligent be- 
 ings, and uncontrouled power for the immedi- 
 ate and irrevocable execution of his supreme 
 decree. And what higher than this can our 
 most laboured conceptions reach of the Al- 
 mighty God ! If it be said, that Christ will 
 act by a delegated authority, we answer, It is 
 a contradiction to say, that God can delegate 
 his omniscience to a creature ; and without 
 this attribute, any assignable measure of wis- 
 dom or power would be insufficient. The 
 power and fulness of the Godhead must so re- 
 side in the Judge, as justly to denominate him 
 to be “ God over all blessed for ever,” Rom. 
 ix. 5. And this the scriptures assure us is 
 the case in fact. The man, Christ Jesus, who 
 is appointed the Judge of quick and dead, is 
 so intimately and essentially united to, and in- 
 habited by the Deity (Col. ii. 9.), that he is 
 the proper object of our faith, as the true God, 
 and eternal life. 
 
 4thly, The honours he claims from us af- 
 ford a further argument for his proper divini- 
 
SEIt. VII. 
 
 OF THE AUTHORITY OF CHRIST. 
 
 ty. He challenges our supreme love, obe- 
 dience, trust, and worship : “ Ye believe in 
 God, believe also in me” (John xiv. 1.) ; 
 “ Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, 
 and drink his blood, ye have no life in you” 
 (John vi. 23.) ; “ That all men should hon- 
 our the Son even as they honour the Father” 
 (John v. 23.); “ My sheep know my voice, 
 and I know them, and they follow me ; and 
 I give unto them eternal life” (John x. 27, 
 28.) ; “I am the light of the world” (John viii. 
 12.) ; “ I am the resurrection and the life” 
 (John xi. 25). If we could suppose an apostle 
 or an angel speaking of himself in terms like 
 these, requiring our unlimited dependence, 
 and directing our hope and love to centre 
 wholly on him, we might justly reject him as 
 a blasphemer. How the apostles understood 
 these expressions, and that they did not mis- 
 take our Lord’s meaning, is evident from 
 the behaviour of Thomas. He saluted his 
 risen Saviour, “ My Lord and my God,” 
 John xx. 28. Had his transport of joy car- 
 ried him too far in giving this ascription to 
 Jesus, he would, doubtless, have corrected 
 him, and provided us with a caution against 
 committing the like fault. For who that has 
 tasted his love, and been made partaker of the 
 power of his resurrection, can avoid adoring 
 him with the utmost homage their words can 
 express, or their hearts conceive ! 
 
 From hence we may take occasion to ob- 
 serve, 
 
 1. His wonderful condescension, that for 
 us, and our salvation, he stooped so low, drew 
 a vail over his eternal glories, and appeared in 
 the form of a servant, to suffer, and to die : 
 “ Though he was rich, for our sakes he be- 
 came poor, that we through his poverty might 
 be made rich,” 2 Cor. viii. 9. This was love 
 passing knowledge, to pour out his blood, his 
 life, his soul, for those, who by nature and 
 practice, were enemies and rebels, disobedient 
 to his government, and averse to his grace. 
 
 2. What a blessed and glorious hope is set 
 before awakened sinners ! Add to the con- 
 sideration of his person, what we have yet to 
 offer from the word of God concerning his 
 authority and purpose, and say if these truths 
 do not give sufficient encouragement to be- 
 lieve and be saved. 
 
 3. How awful must be the case of those 
 
 who shall be found in final rebellion against 
 him, and die in a state of impenitence and 
 unbelief ! Alas ! poor obstinate sinners, that 
 have stood out so long, will you still harden 
 your hearts, and stop your ears, and rush (like 
 the thoughtless horse in the battle) upon your 
 own destruction ? Do you consider whom 
 you are opposing ? “ Did ever any harden 
 himself against the Lord and prosper ?” Job 
 ix. 4. “ Have you an arm like God, or can 
 
 you thunder with a voice like him?” Job xl. 
 Where will you stand, or what will you say, 
 “ when he shall arise to shake terribly the 
 
 sg*; 
 
 earth ? when he shall be revealed in fire, to 
 take vengeance on all that know not God, 
 and obey not the gospel ?” 2 Thess. i. 8. O, 
 kiss the Son, throw down your arms, and fall 
 prostrate at his footstool, lest his anger awake, 
 and you perish without hope ; for in a little 
 time the great day of his wrath will be reveal- 
 ed, which will burn like “ a furnace, and all 
 the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall 
 be stubble ; and the day that cometh shall 
 burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that 
 it shall leave them neither root nor branch,” 
 Mai. iv. 1. Then will it appear, that those, 
 and those only are blessed, who put their 
 trust in him : “ For those who trust in him 
 shall never be ashamed : but when Christ who 
 is their life shall appear, they also shall ap- 
 pear with him in glory,” Col. iii. 4. 
 
 SERMON VII. 
 
 OF THE AUTHORITY OF CHRIST. 
 
 All things are delivered unto me of my Father : 
 and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father ; 
 neither knoweth any man the Father , save 
 the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will 
 reveal him. Matth. xi. 27. 
 
 We have spoken something of the dignity 
 and excellence of that Mighty One on whom 
 our help is laid ; and are now to consider, 
 
 II. The covenant-authority he is intrusted 
 with to manage the great concerns of man’s 
 salvation. He is not only infinitely sufficient, 
 but divinely appointed for this great work. 
 
 Of this covenant there is express mention 
 in many parts of scripture, to some of which 
 I have referred in the note *. It is styled the 
 covenant of peace, the everlasting, ordered, 
 and sure covenant. The power and efficacy 
 of this covenant respected the future incarna- 
 tion of our Saviour. He asserted his right, 
 while in the form of a servant, in the words 
 of my text ; and to the same purpose are the 
 words of John the Baptist : “ The Father 
 loveth the Son, and hath delivered all things 
 into his hands,” John iii. 35. But the full 
 manifestation of it was deferred to the time 
 of his resurrection, when, and by which, he 
 was declared to be the Son of God with power, 
 Rom. i. 4. Hence, before he left his dis- 
 ciples, he assured them, “ All power is com- 
 mitted to me in heaven and in earth,” Matth. 
 xxviii. 18. 
 
 The sum is, that our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 by virtue of his divine nature, and his volun- 
 tary undertaking in our flesh, to fulfil all 
 righteousness for us, both as to obedience and 
 satisfaction, is exalted in that nature wherein 
 
 * Psal. lxxxix. 3. 19. ; Prov. viii. 23. ; Isaiah xlii. 1. 
 6. compared with Matth. xii. 18. £1 j Isaiah xlix. 8. 9 • 
 Zech. vi. 13, 
 
SER. VII. 
 
 OF THE AUTHORITY OF CHRIST. 
 
 368 
 
 he suffered, to be the sovereign Judge and 
 Lord of all, Phil. ii. 6, 11. He it is now 
 with whom we have to do. The holy God, 
 considered without respect to the covenant of 
 grace, is a consuming fire to sinners ; and we 
 cannot stand before him. But now he re- 
 veals himself, he dwells as in his temple, in the 
 man Christ Jesus. He has entrusted all his 
 glory, and all grace in his hands : and to him 
 we are to look, on him we are to depend, for 
 all the blessings we need for time and eternity. 
 For “ all things are delivered to him of the Fa- 
 ther.” Ail things is a most comprehensive ex- 
 pression. We may distribute it as referring to 
 all persons, all blessings, and all dispensations. 
 
 1. All persons are in his hands. Hence his 
 sublime title, “ King of Kings, and Lord of 
 lords,” Rev. xix. 16. He doth what he will 
 among the armies of heaven, and the inhabi- 
 tants of the earth, Dan. iv. 35- Thus Isaiah 
 saw his glory, and spake of him, Isaiah vi. 
 compared with John 12. 41. 
 
 1st, He is Lord over his enemies, and those 
 that hate him. He rules them with a rod of 
 iron, and so disposes their designs as to make 
 them (though against their wills) the means 
 and instruments of promoting his own pur- 
 poses and glory, Psalm ii. 9. They are his 
 servants, even when they rage most against 
 him. He has a bridle in their mouths to 
 check and turn them at his pleasure. He can 
 and often does controul them when they seem 
 most sure of success, and always sets them 
 bounds, which they cannot pass. So he shewed 
 his power over Pharoah of old ; that haughty 
 king’s resistance only gave occasion for a more 
 glorious display of the greatness and goodness 
 of the God of Israel. So he humbled the 
 pride of Herod, and gave him up, in the 
 midst of his guards, a prey to worms, Acts 
 xii. 23. And thus, sooner or later, all his ene- 
 mies are brought to lick the dust before him. 
 
 2dly, But especially he is Lord of his own 
 people. By nature, indeed, they likewise are 
 his enemies, but he knows them all by name. 
 They have been in a peculiar manner given 
 him by the Father (John xvii. 6.) ; he ac- 
 counts them his portion, and he will not lose 
 his own, John x. 15, 16. He knows where 
 to find them, and when to call them ; and 
 "when his time is come, one word or look from 
 him can disarm them in a moment, and bring 
 them humbly to his feet. How soon did he 
 stop and change the persecuting Saul ! Acts 
 ix. When they are thus made willing in the 
 day of his power, he takes them under his 
 special care ; and whoso toucheth them, touch- 
 eth the apple of his eye. Fie guides, and 
 guards, and feeds, and strengthens them : he 
 keeps them night and day, waters them every 
 moment, and will not suffer any to pluck 
 them out of his hand, nor will he himself 
 leave them or forsake them, till he has done 
 all that he has spoken to them of. He gives 
 them likewise a new heart and gracious dis- 
 
 positions, suited to the honourable relation he 
 has brought them into : so that they delight 
 in his precepts, and yield him a cheerful, ha- 
 bitual, and universal obedience, from the con- 
 straining sense they have received of his in- 
 expressible love. 
 
 2. All blessings are at his disposal. Is not 
 this a welcome declaration to awakened souls ? 
 What is the blessing you want ? Seek to 
 Jesus, and you shall not be disappointed. 
 Hear his gracious invitation, “ Ho, every one 
 that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he 
 that hath no money : come ye, buy and eat ; 
 yea, come, buy wine and milk without mo- "" 
 ney, and without price. — Incline your ear, 
 and come unto me : hear, and your soul shall 
 live,” Is. lv. 1, 3. The promised blessings 
 which he holds in his hands, are the very same 
 that the awakened enlightened conscience must 
 have, and can have only from him. 
 
 1st, Pardon. How needful, how valuable 
 is the pardon of sin to those who know what 
 sin is, what it deserves, and what a share they 
 have in it ! Such are incapable of taking 
 comfort till they know how God may be re- 
 conciled and sin forgiven. These are the per- 
 sons to whom Jesus says, “ Look unto me, 
 and be ye saved,” Isa. xlv. 22. “I, even I, 
 
 am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for 
 mine own sake, and will not remember thy 
 sins,” Is. xliii. 25. 
 
 2dly, Righteousness. By believing in him 
 sinners are not only pardoned, but justified. 
 They are accepted in the beloved, and ac- 
 counted righteous by his righteousness im 
 puted to them, which we are assured is unto 
 all, and upon all that believe, without any 
 difference or exception, Rom. iii. 22. Hence 
 his people adore him, and glory in him by his 
 name, The Lord our Righteousness. In him 
 they possess a righteousness answerable to the 
 demands of the holy law, have confidence and 
 liberty of access to God at present, though 
 conscious of innumerable deficiencies in them- 
 selves, and they shall stand with boldness be- 
 fore him in this righteousness, and not be 
 ashamed in the great day of his appearance, 
 when he shall come to judge the world. 
 
 3dlv, Strength. The forgiveness of sin 
 that is past would little avail, unless there was 
 provision made for a continual supply of need- 
 ful grace. Without this we shall quickly 
 grow weary, yield to the force of surrounding 
 temptations, till at length the latter end would 
 be worse than the beginning. But now every 
 sincere soul may be freed from this fear. The 
 way of prevention is pointed out, and the suc- 
 cess infallibly secured by that one promise, 
 though there are many to the same effect, 
 
 “ They that wait on the Lord shall renew their 
 strength,” Is. xl. 31. 
 
 4th ly, Healing. This is often necessary ; 
 for the spiritual warfare is not to be main- 
 tained long without wounds. Our great ene- 
 my is so subtle, so watchful, so well provided 
 
SER. vil. UF THE AUTHORITY OF CHRIST. 369 
 
 with temptations adapted to every temper and 
 circumstance ; and we are so weak, unprac- 
 tised, and so often remiss and off our guard, 
 jhat he will at times prevail to bring us into a 
 dark, barren, backsliding state, despoiled of 
 comfort, and oppressed with fears. But see 
 what a good and gracious shepherd we have : 
 hear his comfortable words, “ I will seek that 
 which was lost, and bring again that which 
 was driven away, and will bind up that which 
 was broken, and will strengthen that which 
 was sick,’* Ezek. xxxiv. 16. 
 
 5thly, Support under trouble. He has en- 
 gaged to lead his people safely through fire 
 and through water, Is. xliii. 2. He gives them 
 leave to cast all their care upon him, with an 
 assurance that he careth for them, 1 Pet. v. 7. 
 He has said, All things shall work together 
 for their good (Rom. viii. 28) ; that his grace 
 shall be sufficient for them (2 Cor. xii. 9) ; 
 and that in good time he will bruise Satan un- 
 der their feet (Rom. xvi. 20) ; make them 
 more than conquerors (Rom. viii. 37), and 
 place them out of the reach of sin and sorrow 
 for ever. Besides the habitual peace which 
 arises from the believing consideration of these 
 truths, he has likewise peculiar seasons of re- 
 freshment, when he manifests himself to the 
 soul in a way the world knows not of, and 
 often makes the hour of their sharpest trials 
 the time of their sweetest and highest conso- 
 lations. “ As the sufferings of Christ abound 
 in us, so our consolation aboundetli by Christ,” 
 2 Cor. i. 5. 
 
 3. All dispensations are under his direc- 
 tion. He is Lord of all, and does according 
 to his pleasure among the armies of heaven, 
 and the inhabitants of the earth. He is the 
 supreme disposer, 
 
 1st, Of these external dispensations which 
 are distinguished by the name of providential. 
 
 (1.) Those that are welcome and prosper- 
 ous are both his gifts and his purchase. To 
 his people they come free ; but he paid dear 
 for them. And this gives them their chief 
 value in the judgment of those who know 
 him, to receive them as the pledges and fruits 
 of his redeeming love. When the blessings 
 of common providence are received and en- 
 joyed as the gifts of God reconciled in Christ, 
 they are then, and not otherwise, truly com- 
 fortable. It is this thought enables the poor 
 believer often to taste a sweeter relish and fla- 
 vour in bread and water, than the voluptuary 
 ever knew in the wasteful profusion and stu- 
 died refinements of luxury. To be able to 
 look back and see how the hand of our gra- 
 cious Lord has led us from our childhood, 
 chose and managed better for us than we 
 could have done, corrected our mistakes, and 
 in many things exceeded our desires j to look 
 around and see all our concerns in his sure 
 keeping, who delights in our prosperity, and 
 will suffer nothing to grieve us, but what he 
 intends to employ as means for our greater 
 
 advantage ; and to look forward and see, that 
 he has prepared still better things for us than 
 ever our eyes beheld, or our hearts conceived, 
 — how cheering are these views ! Those who 
 are thus stayed upon the Lord Jesus, as over- 
 ruling and managing all our concerns, are 
 not terrified with every shaking leaf: “ their 
 hearts are fixed, trusting in the Lord.” 
 
 (2.) Afflictive dispensations are likewise of 
 his sending. And the consideration of his 
 hand in them, the good he designs us by them, 
 the assurance we have of being supported un- 
 der them, and brought through them ; accor- 
 ding to the degree in which these things are 
 apprehended by faith, and accompanied with 
 a humbling sense of their own demerits, his 
 people submit to his appointment with patience 
 and thankfulness, and say, after the pattern 
 which he has left them, The cup which my Sa- 
 viour puts into my hand, shall I not drink it ? 
 
 In brief, it is he who appointed the time 
 and place of our birth, and all the successive 
 connections of our lives. Our civil and our 
 religious liberties are both owing to his fa- 
 vour ; and in these he has been peculiarly fa- 
 vourable to us. “ He has not dealt so with 
 every nation,” Psal. cxlvii. 20. 
 
 2dly, Of the dispensation of grace. It is he 
 who raises up instruments to preach his gos- 
 pel, appoints them their places, furnishes them 
 with that measure of gifts and sufficiency which 
 he sees requisite and best. And it is he only 
 that makes their poor labours successful. He 
 sends his word to some, and brings others to 
 his word ; and in both cases, he so makes use 
 of ordinary means, that to a common eye he 
 seems to do nothing, when in reality he does 
 all. He brought St. Paul to Corinth, and main- 
 tained him there a considerable time against 
 all the efforts of his enemies, Acts xviii, 10. 
 He over-ruled the thoughtless rambling of 
 Onesimus (Phil, ll), and led him, by a way 
 which he knew not, to the means by which he 
 had appointed to bring him to the knowledge 
 of himself. And these instances are recorded 
 for our instruction, as specimens of what he 
 does in the same kind every day. 
 
 Sdly, Of the dispensation of death. Our 
 times are in his hands. He claims it as his 
 own prerogative that he keeps the keys of death 
 and the invisible state, Rev. i, 18. None 
 can remove us sooner, none can detain us a 
 moment longer, than his call. In this like- 
 wise he is little observed. We charge death 
 to fevers, frights, and falls ; but these are only 
 the messengers which he sends. Sin has 
 brought us all under a sentence of death ; but 
 the moment and the manner of the execution 
 befal us according to his good pleasure. Till 
 then, though his providence leads us through 
 fire and water, though we walk upon the brink 
 of a thousand apparent, and a million of un - 
 seen dangers, we are in reality in perfect safety. 
 Having appointed St. Paul to stand before 
 Caesar, though the tempest greatly assaulted, 
 2 H 
 
SER. VII. 
 
 OF THE AUTHORITY OF CHRIST. 
 
 370 
 
 and seemingly overpowered the ship he was in, 
 St. Paul was as safe on the stormy sea, when 
 all probable hope of being saved (Acts xxvii. 
 24) was taken away, as Caesar himself upon 
 his throne. But when his time is come, in 
 vain are all the assistance of friends, the skill 
 of the physician, or the power of medicines, 
 to procure the smallest respite. 
 
 4thly, Of the dispensation of judgment. 
 “ The Father hath committed all judgment to 
 the Son” (John v. 22) ; and has especially ap- 
 pointed a day wherein he will judge the world 
 in righteousness by the man Christ Jesus whom 
 he hath ordained, Acts xvii. 31. Then his 
 glory shall be confessed by all. Every eye 
 shall see him, and they also that pierced him. 
 Awful will that day be to those who hate him, 
 when he shall appear in flaming fire, to con- 
 vince sinners of all their ungodly deeds which 
 they have committed, and of all their hard 
 speeches which they have spoken against him, 
 Jude 15. They must give an account of 
 all. Account, did I say ? They can give 
 none, but will be struck dumb before him, 
 and hear with horror their dreadful doom, 
 “ Depart from me ye cursed, into everlasting 
 fire, prepared for the devil and his angels,” 
 Matth. xxv. 41. 
 
 But it will be a joyful time to his own 
 people. The clouds of infirmity, affliction, 
 and reproach, under which they are now ob- 
 scured, shall vanish away, and they shall shine 
 forth like the sun in the presence of their Fa- 
 ther. God, even their own God, shall wipe 
 away all tears from their eyes. They shall be 
 glorified, and their enemies ashamed. What 
 joy will fill their hearts when Jesus the Judge 
 shall own his relation to them before assem- 
 bled worlds, and shall say, “ Come, ye blessed 
 of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared 
 for you from the foundation of the world.” 
 Then sorrow and sighing shall be heard no 
 more ; but songs of triumph and shouts of 
 everlasting joy shall take place ; and so shall 
 they be ever with the Lord. 
 
 How are your hearts affected with this sub- 
 ject ? Do you not expect that I should close 
 it with a suitable word of application ? 
 
 1. To those who are as yet in their sins. 
 Will you not tremble before this great Lord 
 God ? If these things are not so, if you can 
 prove that we have followed cunningly-de- 
 vised fables, go on secure. But have I not 
 your consciences on my side ? Do you not 
 feel a secret foreboding that these are the 
 truths of God? And dare you still persist? 
 Do you not see that you are already in his 
 hands ? In a moment he could break you in 
 pieces, yet he spares. He affords you one 
 opportunity more. To-day, while it is called 
 to-day, hear his voice, lest to-morrow should 
 surprise you into eternity, and the weight of 
 unpardoned sins should sink you into the low- 
 est hell. As he has power to punish, so like- 
 wise he is mighty to save. Believe his word 
 
 and live. His obedience unto death is a plea 
 with which you may approach the mercy-seat. 
 He has power to take away your heart of 
 stone, to subdue your enmity, to forgive your 
 sins ; and what he does he does freely, with- 
 out money and without price. You need not, 
 you cannot mend yourselves before you come 
 to him. If you seek him, he will be found of 
 you ; but if you obstinately reject him, you 
 will perish under the most aggravated guilt, 
 as sinners against the light and grace of the 
 gospel. 
 
 2. You that see your need of a Saviour, lift 
 up your heads and rejoice. Is he not, thus 
 qualified, able to save to the uttermost ? Why 
 should you keep back, when he bids you come 
 unto him that you may find rest ? Could yoi 
 invent any invitations more free, more full than 
 those that are recorded in the gospel ? Can you 
 desire any stronger security than the blood of 
 Jesus and the oath of him that liveth for ever ? 
 Do you wish to know how other great sinners 
 have succeeded in their application to him ? 
 Search the scriptures, and read how he saved 
 Mary Magdalene, the dying thief, the cruel 
 jailor, the persecuting Saul, and many of those 
 who were actually concerned in nailing him to 
 the cross. Be patient, continue waiting on 
 him in prayer, and you shall find he has not 
 inclined you to seek his face in vain. 
 
 3. To believers I hope this is a comfortable 
 theme. You see all your concerns are in safe 
 hands. Fie to whom you have committed 
 your souls is able to keep them. Jesus, who 
 has all authority and power in heaven and in 
 earth, vouchsafes to be your Shepherd. What 
 then can you want, who are at his providing ? 
 What have you to fear, who are under his 
 protection ? Why then do you so often dis- 
 trust, so often complain ? It is because your 
 faith is weak. Are you tempted to think you 
 could place yourselves to more advantage than 
 he has placed you, that you could do better 
 without the afflictions he is pleased to send 
 you, that you cannot spare what he takes 
 away, nor do well without something which 
 he with-holds ? Reject all such thoughts ; 
 they are highly dishonourable to your Saviour, 
 and to your profession. Those who know not 
 God must reason thus ; but you have a cove- 
 nant-promise, that all things are working to- 
 gether for your good. “ This is not your 
 rest, it is polluted.” But you will soon be 
 at home ; and then, when, by a clearer light, 
 you look back upon the way by which the 
 Lord led you through the wilderness, you will 
 be ashamed (if shame is compatible with the 
 heavenly state) of your misapprehensions while 
 in this dark world, and will confess to his 
 praise, that mercy and goodness surrounded 
 you in every step, and that the Lord did all 
 things well. What you will then see, it is 
 now your duty and your privilege to believe. 
 If you sincerely desire his guidance in all 
 things, labour to submit to it. The path 
 
SER. VIII. 
 
 THE GLORY AND GRACE OF GOD, &C. 371 
 
 which he has marked out for you is difficult, 
 but he has trod it before you, and it leads to 
 glory. The time is short. Yet a little while, 
 and you shall receive the end of your faith, 
 even the salvation of your souls. 
 
 SERMON VIII. 
 
 THE GLORY AND GRACE OF GOD REVEALED IN 
 JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 All things are delivered unto me of my Father : 
 and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father ; 
 neither knoweth any man the Father , save 
 the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son ivill 
 reveal him. Matth. xi. 27. 
 
 The love we bear to the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 and the confidence we place in him, will al- 
 ways be exactly proportioned to the appre- 
 hensions we form of him. Therefore, to 
 “ grow in grace, and in the knowledge of 
 him” (2 Pet. ii. 18.), are spoken of as inse- 
 parably connected. On this account the scrip- 
 tures are frequent and full in describing him 
 to us, that we may have a large acquaintance 
 with his all-sufficiency, and be delivered from 
 our sins and fears. An awakened conscience, 
 that sees the need of a Saviour, well knows 
 that the person who can deservedly lay claim 
 to its trust, must have these three properties, 
 power, authority, and intention to save. How 
 these eminently belong to Jesus, we learn 
 from his own words here. Power belongeth 
 to him, for he is a divine person, the Creator, 
 Possessor, and Upholder of all things. Au- 
 thority is his, for all things are delivered to 
 him. Thus far we have proceeded, and are 
 now to speak of his intention or office, the 
 design of his appearance, and for which he is 
 authorised. This is intimated in the close of 
 my text. We are therefore now to speak, 
 III. Of his office, summarily included in 
 this one thing, To reveal the knowledge of God. 
 “ Neither knoweth any man the Father, save 
 the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will 
 reveal him.” 
 
 The knowledge of God here spoken of, in- 
 tends something more than merely to know 
 that there is a God. Some faint apprehen- 
 sions of this all men have by nature. This 
 great truth is so clearly manifested in the 
 works of creation and providence, that any 
 man would be greatly offended, if he was sup- 
 posed to be ignorant of it. But as it is one 
 thing to know that there is a king over the 
 nation, and quite another thing to know the 
 king, so as to have liberty of access to him, 
 and an interest in his favour ; so is it in the 
 case before us. Our Lord did not come to 
 tell us that there is a God (the devils know 
 this, and tremble), but to reveal to us such a 
 knowledge of God as may stand with our 
 
 comfort, to teach us how poor, guilty, hell- 
 deserving sinners may draw near to God with 
 hopes in his mercy, and call him their Father 
 and their friend. 
 
 Now, besides the revelation of this know- 
 ledge in the Old Testament, which may be 
 properly ascribed to Christ, inasmuch as he was 
 the Lord, the guide, and teacher of his church 
 from the beginning, and instructed Moses 
 and the prophets in the things concerning 
 himself, — I say, besides this (which was made 
 at sundry times, and in divers manners, in a 
 more dark and imperfect way), our Lord Je- 
 sus, through his incarnation, has vouchsafed 
 us a twofold revelation of that knowledge of 
 God in which standeth our eternal life,— 1. 
 In his Person ; and, 2. By his Spirit. 
 
 I. In his Person. In this respect he is 
 said to be “ the brightness of the Father’s 
 glory, and the express image of his * sub- 
 stance,” Heb. i. 3. That God is great, and 
 good, and wise, appears in part from his 
 works ; but it is only a small portion of these 
 attributes we can spell out in this way ; and 
 there are other perfections in God, of which 
 we can gain no certain knowledge, without a 
 farther revelation. But would we see a glo- 
 rious display of the great God, let us turn 
 our eyes to Jesus, and behold him by faith in 
 two principal views : 
 
 1. As hanging upon the cross. Could we 
 have seen this awful transaction, and been in 
 a right frame of mind, we should naturally 
 have asked such questions as these : Who is 
 he ? What has he done ? Had we been told, 
 This person, thus destitute and tormented, is 
 the beloved Son of God, who knew no sin, 
 neither was guile found in his mouth ; we 
 must have farther asked. Why then was he 
 scourged, wounded, and nailed to the tree ? 
 Why are those barbarous men permitted to 
 mock his sufferings ? Why does he not deli- 
 ver himself, and destroy his enemies ? The 
 proper answer to these questions includes a 
 revelation of the divine perfections. 
 
 1st, Wisdom. We had deserved to perish, 
 but his mercy designed to save us with an 
 everlasting salvation. Yet this must be in a 
 way worthy of himself. Sin must be punish- 
 ed, and the honour of his broken law vindi- 
 cated.. How could this be done, and the righ- 
 teousness of God made to harmonize with our 
 peace? A wisdom astonishing to angels is 
 manifested in devising this wonderful means. 
 No sacrifices (Heb. x. 4 — 7.) or offerings, no 
 acts of obedience or mediation, which crea- 
 tures could supply, would have been of the 
 least ava-il when the injured majesty of God 
 demanded a satisfaction. But the eternal 
 Word, united to our nature, afforded a pro- 
 pitiation worthy of God, and suitable for us. 
 Jesus, by his obedience unto death, has made 
 an end of sin (Dan. ix. 24), and brought in 
 
 T tjs vrorrota'ius. 
 
SER. VIII 
 
 372 THE GLORY AND 
 
 an everlasting righteousness, available for all 
 those who flee to him as the hope set before 
 them, for refuge from approaching wrath. 
 
 2dly, Love. “ God so loved the world.” — 
 If you ask, How ? judge from this instance ; 
 words cannot express it. He so loved sin- 
 ners, enemies, rebels, that for their sakes he 
 abandoned and delivered up his belov-ed Son 
 into the hands of wicked men, permitted him 
 to be assaulted by the powers of darkness ; 
 yea, it pleased the Father himself to bruise 
 him, and to make his soul an offering for sin. 
 This is love without parallel, and beyond con- 
 ception. We can only admire, and say, “ Be- 
 hold what manner of love the Father hath be- 
 stowed on us,” 1 John, iii. 1. When Jesus 
 Christ, as crucified, is clearly apprehended by 
 faith, then we have the most convincing, the 
 most affecting proof, that God is love. 
 
 3dly, Justice. Wonder not that God’s own 
 Son is thus treated. He stands in the place of 
 sinners, and therefore he is not, he cannot be, 
 spared. The words his enemies use (Matth. 
 xxvii. 42.) to his reproach, will, in the lips of 
 his redeemed people, be an expression of his 
 highest praise. Having undertaken to save 
 others, and being determined not to give up 
 their cause, it is, in that respect, absolutely 
 impossible for him to save himself. 
 
 Again, this justice, which was once as a 
 flaming sword, to forbid and exclude every 
 hope of salvation to fallen man, is now en- 
 gaged in our behalf. For since it has pleased 
 the Father to charge sin upon his own Son, 
 his wrath will turn away from all who be- 
 lieve. The immense debt is already paid, and 
 justice will not exact it twice. From hence- 
 forth God is not only gracious and merciful, 
 but (1 John, i. 9.) just and faithful, in the 
 forgiveness of sin, and declares his own right- 
 eousness in justifying the believer in Jesus, 
 Rom. iii. 26. 
 
 2. The knowledge of God is made known 
 in the person of Christ, if we contemplate 
 him as reigning in glory. He is no longer a 
 man of sorrows, oppressed and despised. He 
 is now upon the throne. In him the fulness 
 of the Godhead dwells, and from him, as light 
 from the sun, the unsearchable riches of his 
 goodness are communicated to indigent, un- 
 worthy sinners. All the divine perfections 
 shine gloriously in him, as the God-man, the 
 Mediator, who is exalted above all conception 
 and praise, and doth according to his will in 
 the armies of heaven, and among the inhabit- 
 ants of the earth. 
 
 1st, Grace. The great God is pleased to 
 manifest himself in Christ as the God of 
 grace. This grace is manifold, pardoning, 
 converting, restoring, persevering grace, be- 
 stowed upon the miserable and worthless. 
 Grace finds the sinner in a hopeless, helpless 
 state, sitting in darkness, and in the shadow 
 of death. Grace pardons the guilt, cleanses 
 the pollution, and subdues the power of sin. 
 
 GRACE OF GOD 
 
 Grace sustains the bruised reed, binds up the 
 broken heart, and cherishes the smoking flax 
 into a flame. Grace restores the soul from 
 wandering, revives it when fainting, heals it 
 when wounded, upholds it when ready to fall, 
 teaches it to fight, goes before it in the bat. 
 tie, and at last makes it more than conqueror 
 over all opposition, and then bestows a crown 
 of everlasting life. But all this grace is es- 
 tablished and displayed by covenant in the 
 Man Christ Jesus, and without respect to him 
 as living, dying, rising, reigning, and inter- 
 ceding in the behalf of sinners, would never 
 have been known. 
 
 2dly, Power. The whole creation proclaims 
 that power belongs unto God. But in no- 
 thing will his power be more illustriously dis- 
 played than in the wonders of redeeming love ! 
 What; power is necessary to raise those who are 
 spiritually dead in sin, to soften the heart of 
 stone, to bring light out of darkness, and or- 
 der out of confusion ? Wherever his gospel is 
 faithfully preached, it is always confirmed by 
 this accompanying power. How quickly, 
 how easily, did he change Saul from a perse- 
 cutor to an apostle ? Again, how is his power 
 illustrated by the care he takes of all who be- 
 lieve in his name, affording to every one of 
 them seasonable, suitable, and sufficient sup- 
 plies in every time of need ? So that his weak, 
 helpless, and opposed people, are supported, 
 strengthened, and enabled, to hold on, and to 
 hold out, against all the united efforts of the 
 world, sin, and Satan. 
 
 3dly, Bounty. How glorious is Jesus in 
 his kingdom ! Exalted beyond all conception 
 and praise ; wearing upon his vesture, and 
 upon his thigh, the name that is above every 
 name ; and having all thrones, principalities, 
 and powers, obedient to his will, and adoring 
 at his feet. But all his riches and honours 
 (so far as their capacities can receive) he con- 
 descends to share with his people. He owns 
 their worthless names, he permits them to 
 claim the most tender relation to him, and to 
 call him their brother, their friend, and their 
 husband. Yea, he says concerning them, 
 “ To him that overcometh will I grant to sit 
 with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, 
 and am set down with my Father in his throne,” 
 Rev. iii. 21. To him therefore we must look 
 for the most astonishing and affecting display 
 of the divine bounty. 
 
 Thus the knowledge of God is revealed in 
 the person of Christ by the word. But great 
 and important as these truths are, we cannot 
 receive and understand them merely by read- 
 ing. The Lord Jesus therefore has favoured 
 his church with a farther revelation. That is, 
 
 II. By his Spirit. This was one principal 
 fruit of his ascension and intercession, Acts 
 ii. 33. With the promise of his Spirit he 
 cheered his disciples when sorrowing under 
 the apprehension of his departure : “ It is ex- 
 pedient for you that I go away : for if 1 go 
 
SER. VIII. REVEALED IN 
 
 not away, the Comforter will not come to 
 you ; but if I depart, I will send him unto 
 you,” John xvi. 7. The offices of the Holy 
 Spirit are various as our wants ; he teaches, 
 comforts, sanctifies, and seals the children of 
 God ; but he affects all these benefits by re- 
 vealing the knowledge of God, as manifested 
 in Christ, reconciling the world unto him- 
 self. 
 
 1. In convincing sinners of their lost estate, 
 which is absolutely necessary to their deliver- 
 ance. None will prize the Saviour but those 
 who feel their need of him. Two things are 
 necessary to convince a man of his lost condi- 
 tion by nature and practice as a sinner, — the 
 spirituality of the law, and the sufferings of 
 Christ : the one shews the universality of sin, 
 the other its demerit. But these can only be 
 truly discerned by the light of the Spirit of 
 Christ. While St. Paul (who was never ab- 
 solutely without the law) was ignorant of the 
 law’s spirituality, “ I was (says he) alive,” 
 Rom. vii. 9. I had so little knowledge, both 
 of the law and of myself, that I trusted to it 
 for righteousness, and vainly thought that I 
 yielded it obedience, and grounded my hopes 
 of salvation thereon. t! But when the com- 
 mandment came,” when the Spirit explained 
 and enforced it in its full extent, as reaching 
 to the very thoughts of the heart, and requir- 
 ing an obedience absolutely perfect, “ then 
 sin revived, and I died.” All my hopes 
 vanished ; I saw every principle, affection, and 
 action, polluted, and the corruptions which 
 I supposed were tamed, broke forth with re- 
 doubled vigour. Again, though sin is de- 
 clared to be displeasing to God, and destruc- 
 tive to man, by all the evils and miseries with 
 which the world is filled, and all the punish- 
 ments which the righteous Judge of all the 
 earth has inflicted on the account of it ; yet 
 the just demerit of sin is not to be learned 
 by the destruction of Sodom or of the old 
 world, but only from the sufferings of Christ, 
 who has borne the curse for sinners. Nor is it 
 sufficient to know historically that he did suf- 
 fer, and how he suffered. Where these things 
 are not known by the light of the Spirit, they 
 are no more regarded than a worn-out tale. 
 But where the Spirit of Christ reveals by the 
 word, the nature, cause, and end of his suffer- 
 ings, then sin appears exceedingly sinful. No- 
 thing less than this can make the soul abhor it. 
 
 2. The Spirit produces faith in Jesus, as 
 having once suffered, and now mighty to save. 
 His blood, his righteousness, his intercession, 
 compassion, and power, are presented to the 
 soul in a light which bears down the objec- 
 tions of guilt, unbelief, and Satan. Then the 
 wounds made by sin are healed. Then old 
 things pass away, all things become new, all 
 difficulties are solved, and God is revealed 
 experimentally to the soul, as holy, righteous, 
 and true, in justifying the believer in Jesus. 
 
 3. Those whom the Spirit thus comforts. 
 
 JESUS CHRIST. 373 
 
 he also seals, Ephes. i. 13. He impresses 
 the image of Christ upon them. Such is the 
 power of the views he gives them of his glory, 
 that they are transformed into the resemblance 
 of their Lord, 2 Cor. iii. 1 8. Though the first 
 traces of this delineation are faint and indi- 
 stinct in the sight of men, yet they are per- 
 fect in kind. The Spirit impresses feature 
 for feature, and grace for grace (John i. 16.) 
 and in the chief thing he designs and effects bj 
 all his subsequent dispensations while the soul 
 remains in the body, is to heighten and finish 
 the heavenly signature. Together with this, 
 and in the same degree, he seals and ratifies to 
 their consciences an interest in all the promises 
 of the gospel ; and by infusing into their 
 hearts the temper of children, he gives them 
 confidence at the throne of grace, enables 
 them to cry, Abba, Father, and bears witness 
 with their spirits that they are born of God. 
 Thus God is revealed not only to them, but in 
 them ; and they are made conformable to him 
 in whom they believe, in all righteousness, 
 goodness, and truth. 
 
 Let me once more address, 
 
 1. Poor mourning souls. Are you seek- 
 ing to Jesus ? you have good reason ; you 
 see he is a mighty Saviour. He is furnished 
 with full authority, and came expressly on 
 purpose to save such as you. He assures you 
 that none shall sincerely seek him in vain. Be- 
 lieve his word, and dismiss your fears. He 
 has begun his good work, by revealing to you 
 your misery, danger, and helplessness, by lead- 
 ing your thoughts to himself. He will not 
 stop here ; he will, in due time, accomplish 
 his whole commission, by revealing to you that 
 knowledge of God in which standeth your 
 present peace and eternal life. 
 
 2. Careless sinners. How greatly will 
 your guilt be aggravated if you receive this 
 grace of God, the gospel of salvation, in vain ? 
 Do not your hearts tremble when you think 
 of meeting the Lord Jesus in glory ? Have 
 you an answer ready, when he shall ask you 
 why you refused his instruction, and cast his 
 words behind you? The light of truth has 
 visited you : how long will you resist it ? how 
 long will Satan blind your eyes ? To those 
 who accept not his revelation of grace, he will 
 be ere long revealed in flaming fire. O hum- 
 ble yourselves before him, while the hope of 
 mercy is yet afforded ; and pray for the Spi- 
 rit we have been speaking of, that you may 
 be recovered out of the snare of the devil, and 
 made partakers of the knowledge and image 
 of God. 
 
 3. Believers. This subject is the food of 
 your souls. You remember when you had 
 dark, hard, and uncomfortable thoughts of 
 God ; but you have seen his glory in the per- 
 son of Christ, you have received not the spi- 
 rit of the world, but the Spirit of God (1 Cor. 
 ii. 1 2. ), that you may know the things that 
 are freely given you of God. You were once 
 
SER. IX 
 
 LABOURING AND HEAVY-LADEN 
 
 374 
 
 darkness, but now you are light in the Lord, 
 Eph. v. 8. Walk then as children of the 
 light ; remember your calling, your privileges, 
 your obligations, your engagements. Let 
 these all animate you to press forward, to en- 
 dure the cross, to despise the shame. Let it 
 not grieve you to suffer with Christ here, for 
 hereafter you shall reign with him. The hour 
 is swiftly approaching, when you shall be out 
 of the reach of changes and sorrow for ever. 
 Then “ thy sun shall no more go down ; nei- 
 ther shall thy moon withdraw itself : for the 
 Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the 
 days of thy mourning shall be ended,” Isaiah 
 lx. 20. 
 
 SERMON IX. 
 
 LABOURING AND HEAVY-LADEN SINNERS DE- 
 SCRIBED. 
 
 Come unto me, all ye that labour, and are heavy 
 laden, and I will give you rest . Matth. 
 xi. 28 
 
 We read that when David was withdrawn into 
 the wilderness from the rage of Saul, every 
 one that was in distress, or in debt, or discon- 
 tented, gathered themselves unto him, and he 
 became their captain, 1 Sam. xxii. 2. This 
 would be reckoned but small honour in the 
 judgment of Saul and his court, to be the 
 head of a company of fugitives. Those who 
 judge by outward appearances, and are go- 
 verned by the maxims of worldly wisdom, 
 cannot have much more honourable thoughts 
 of the present state of Christ’s mystical king- 
 dom and subjects upon earth. The case of 
 David was looked upon as desperate by those 
 who, like Nabal(l Sam. xxv. 10.), lived at 
 their ease. They did not know, or would 
 not believe, the promise of God, that he should 
 be king over Israel ; and therefore they pre- 
 ferred the favour of Saul, whom God had re- 
 jected. In like manner, though our Lord 
 Jesus Christ was a divine person, invested 
 with all authority, grace, and blessings, and 
 declared the purpose of God concerning him- 
 self, and all who should obey his voice, that 
 he would be their King, and they should be 
 his happy people ; yet the most that heard 
 him saw no excellence in him, or nead of 
 him ; their portion and their hearts were in 
 this world, therefore they rejected him, and 
 treated him as a blasphemer and a madman. 
 A few, however, there were who felt their 
 misery, and desired to venture upon his word. 
 To these he gave the freest invitation. Those 
 who accepted it, found his promise made 
 good, and rejoiced in his light. Thus it is 
 still : he is no longer upon earth to call us ; 
 but he has left these gracious words for an 
 encouragement to all who need a Saviour. 
 
 The greatest part of mankind, even in Chris- 
 tian countries, are too happy, or too busy to 
 regard him. They think they deserve some 
 commendation, if they do not openly mock 
 his messengers, disdain his message, and offer 
 abuse to all who would press them to-day, 
 while it is called to-day, to hear his voice. 
 Even this treatment his servants must expect 
 from many. But there are a few, like Da- 
 vid’s men, distressed in conscience, deeply in 
 debt to the law of God, and discontented with 
 the bondage of sin, who see and believe that 
 He, and He only, is able to save them. To 
 these labouring and heavy-laden souls, he still 
 says, “ Come unto me, and I will give you 
 rest.” May his gracious Spirit put life and 
 power into his own words, and into what he 
 shall enable me to speak from them, that they 
 may at this time receive a blessing and peace 
 from his hands ! 
 
 The text readily points out three inquries : 
 
 1. Who are the persons here invited ? 
 
 2. What is it to come to Christ ? 
 
 3. What is implied in the promised rest ? 
 
 I. The persons are those who labour (the 
 
 Greek expresses toil with weariness*) and are 
 heavy-laden. This must, however, be limit- 
 ed to spiritual concerns, otherwise it will take 
 in all mankind, even the most hardened and 
 obstinate opposers of Christ and the gospel. 
 For let your consciences speak, you that ac- 
 count the yoke of Christ a heavy burden, and 
 judge his people to be miserable and melan- 
 choly, are not you wearied and burdened in 
 your own way ? Surely you are often tired 
 of your drudgery. Though you are so wed- 
 ded and sold to your hard master, that you 
 cannot break loose ; though you are so mad as 
 to be fond of your chains ; yet you know, and 
 I know (for I remember the gall and worm- 
 wood of that state), that you do not find all 
 that pleasure in your wickedness which you 
 pretend to. So much as you affect to despise 
 hypocrisy, you are great hypocrites yourselves. 
 You often laugh when you are not pleased ; 
 you roar out your boisterous mirth some- 
 times, when you are almost ready to roar 
 i with anguish and disquiet of spirit. You 
 court the friendship of those whom in your 
 heart you despise ; and though you would be 
 thought to pay no regard at all to the word 
 of God, there are seasons when (like him you 
 serve) you believe and tremble. And far 
 ther, what visible burdens do you bring upon 
 yourselves P “ The way of transgressors is 
 hard,” Prov. xiii. 15. Your follies multiply 
 your troubles every day. Confusion and un 
 easiness in your families, waste of substance, 
 loss of health and reputation, discord, strife, 
 sorrow, and shame; these are the bitter fruits 
 of your evil ways, which prey on your present 
 hohrs, and make your future prospects darker 
 
 * Compare Luke v. 5. John iv. 6. where the original 
 word is the same. 
 
SER. IX. 
 
 every day. Surely you are weary and heavy 
 laden beyond expression. 
 
 But this is not the case with others. You 
 avoid gross vices, you have perhaps a form of 
 godliness. The worst, you think, that can 
 be said of you is, that you employ all your 
 thoughts, and every means that will not bring 
 you under the lash of the law, to heap up 
 money, to join house to house, and field to 
 field ; or you spend your days in a thought- 
 less indolence, walk in the way of your own 
 hearts, and look no farther : and here you 
 will say you find pleasure, and insist on it, 
 that you are neither weary nor heavy laden. 
 I might enlarge on your many disappoint- 
 ments, the vain fears which are inseparable 
 from those who live without God in the world, 
 and the trouble we find from disorderly, rest- 
 less, and unsatisfied passions. But, to wave 
 these things, I say briefly, that if you are not 
 labouring and heavy laden, then it is plain 
 that you are not the persons whom Christ here 
 invites to partake of his rest. And though 
 you can rest without him now, think, O think, 
 what rest you will find without him hereaf- 
 ter? If you now say, Depart, he will then 
 say, Depart. And who will smile upon you 
 when he frowns ? To whom will you then 
 flee for help ? or where will you leave your 
 glory ? O that it would please him to touch 
 your hearts, that, as weary and heavy-laden 
 sinners, you might fall humbly at his feet, 
 before his wrath burn like fire, and there be 
 none to quench it ! 
 
 But to proceed : let us, 
 
 1. Explain the terms, what it is to labour 
 and be heavy laden. 
 
 2. Shew who are the persons that answer 
 this description. 
 
 First, the persons are said to be, 
 
 1. Labouring, toiling, weary. This is not 
 hard to be understood. Weariness proceeds 
 either from labour or from weakness; and 
 when these are united, when a person has 
 much to do, or to bear, and but little strength, 
 he will soon be weary. The case of some, 
 however, is, that when they are tired, they 
 can lay down their burden, or leave off their 
 work. But these are not only labouring, 
 fainting, weary, but, 
 
 2. Heavy laden, likewise. As if a man had 
 a burden which he was unable to bear a sin- 
 gle minute, so fastened upon him, that he 
 could not by any means be freed from it ; but 
 it must always press him down, night anci 
 day, abroad or at home, sleeping (if sleep in 
 such a circumstance was possible) and wak- 
 ing. How would the poor creature be weari- 
 ed ! How could you comfort or give him 
 ease, unless you could rid him of his burden ? 
 How desirable would the prospect of liberty 
 be to such a one ! and how great his obliga- 
 tions and acknowledgments to his deliverer ! 
 
 Secondly, This representation is an emblem 
 of the distresses, and burdens of those who 
 
 375 
 
 seek to Jesus, that they may have rest in their 
 souls; nor can any truly seek him till they 
 feel themselves in such a state. They may 
 be generally comprised under three classes : 
 
 1. Awakened sinners. None but those 
 who have felt it can conceive how sinners la- 
 bour, toil, and faint, under their first convic- 
 tions. They are burdened, 
 
 1st, With the guilt of sin. This is a heavy 
 load. When Jesus bore it, it made him sweat 
 great drops of blood. It is true, he bore the 
 weight of all his people’s sins ; but the weight 
 of one sin is sufficient to press us down, if God 
 permits it to lie heavy upon us. I suppose 
 the best of us can remember some action, some 
 incident or other, in our past lives, which we 
 would wish to forget if we could. Now, how 
 would you be distressed to have a person sound, 
 ing in your ears, from morning till night, an 
 every day of your lives, that worst thing that 
 ever you did? Would it not weary you ? This 
 is a faint image of the convinced sinner’s state. 
 When conscience is truly awakened, it acts this 
 officious and troublesome part ; but its remon- 
 strances are not confined to one sin, it renews 
 the remembrance and the aggravations of mul- 
 titudes. Nor is this the voice of a man, but 
 indeed of God, who speaks in and by the con- 
 science. The poor sinner hears and trem- 
 bles : then the complaint of Job is under- 
 stood : ** Thou writest bitter things against 
 me, and makest me to possess the iniquities of 
 my youth,” Job xiii. 26. Do you wonder 
 that such a one can no longer take pleasure in 
 worldly things? It is impossible, unless you 
 could silence this importunate voice, that they 
 can bear themselves at all. Nay, often it is so 
 strong and urgent, gives them such a lively 
 sense of what sin is, and what it deserves from 
 a righteous God, that they are almost afraid or 
 ashamed to see any person that knows them. 
 They are ready to think, that people can read, 
 in their faces what passes in their hearts, and 
 almost expect that the ground should open 
 under their feet. O how wearisome is it to be 
 continually bowed down with such a burden 
 as this ? 
 
 2dly, With the power of sin. Perhaps they 
 were once in some measure at ease in this re- 
 spect ; they saw others whom they supposed to 
 be worse ; and therefore trusted in themselves 
 that they were righteous. But convictions 
 rouse and inflame our sinful natures. St Paul 
 exemplifies this by his own case before con- 
 version : “ I was alive without the law once, 
 but when the commandment came, sin revived, 
 and I died,” Rom. vii. 9. He never was 
 strictly without the law, for he expected sal- 
 vation by obeying it; but he was without the 
 knowledge of its spirtuality, demands, and 
 sanction ; and while he remained thus, he was 
 alive, that is, his hope remained good, and he 
 was satisfied with his obedience. But when 
 the commandment came, when its extent, pu- 
 rity, and penalty were brought home to his 
 
 SINNERS DESCRIBED. 
 
SEK. IX. 
 
 LABOURING AND HEAVY-LADEN, &C. 
 
 37G 
 
 conscience, sin revived, and he died. He 
 found all his pretensions to liberty, obedience, 
 and comfort were experimentally confuted by 
 what he felt in himself. The more an awak- 
 ened sinner strives against his corruptions, 
 the more they seem to increase. This wearies 
 him ; for, besides the greatness of the toil it- 
 self, he finds himself weak, weak as water, 
 ■weaker and weaker. And he is not only 
 weary, but heavy laden ; for this likewise is a 
 burden which he cannot shake off. He sees 
 that he cannot succeed, yet he dares not de- 
 sist. 
 
 2. Those who are seeking salvation by the 
 works of the law are labouring and heavy laden, 
 engaged in what is beyond their strength, and 
 baffles all their endeavours. This may appear 
 from what has been already said. It is a hard 
 task to keep the whole law; and nothing else 
 will either please God, if made the ground 
 of justification, or satisfy the conscience that 
 has any true light. Those declarations of the 
 word, that “ cursed is the man who conti- 
 nueth not in all things written in the book of 
 the law to do them” (Gal. iii. 10), and “ who- 
 so keepeth the whole law, and yet offendeth in 
 one point, he is guilty of all” (James ii. 10), 
 keep them in continual anxiety and servitude. 
 The wickedness of their flesh makes it impos- 
 sible for the law to give a ground of hope ; 
 yet they cannot lay down their burden, but are 
 compelled to renew the fruitless task. I speak 
 not of mere formalists, who go through a round 
 of external services without meaning or de- 
 sign ; but all who are in a measure sincere, 
 find themselves still followed with a restless 
 inquiry, “ What lack I yet ?” Mattli. xix. 20. 
 Endless are the shifts and contrivances they are 
 put to, but all in vain ; for, what makes it 
 worse, they always add to this burden many 
 inventions of their own, as though the de- 
 mands of the law were too few. 
 
 3. Those who are under temptation. It 
 is a hard and wearisome service to be in close 
 conflict with the powers of darkness. The 
 leading branches of this exercise are, 
 
 1st, When the soul is assaulted, and, as it 
 were, filled with insufferable blasphemies. 
 When Satan is permitted to shoot these fiery 
 darts, none can express (not even those who 
 have felt them) the amazement and confusion 
 that fills the mind. For a person who has 
 received a reverence for the name and attri- 
 butes of God to be haunted from morning to 
 night, from day to day, with horrid impreca- 
 tions, so strongly impressed, that he often 
 starts and trembles with an apprehension that 
 he has certainly consented, and spoken them 
 aloud with his lips, — this is irksome and ter- 
 rifying beyond description. 
 
 2dly, When the foundations of faith and 
 experience are attacked. Many who have 
 thought themselves grounded in the truth, 
 who have hoped that they had surely tasted 
 that the Lord is gracious, and have in their 
 
 first comforts been ready to say, “ I shall 
 never be moved (Psal. xxx. 6), thou, Lord, 
 of thy goodness hast made my mountain so 
 strong,” have found themselves afterwards at 
 their wuts end, when the enemy has been per- 
 mitted to come in upon them like a flood, 
 Isa. lix. 19. One black cloud of temptation 
 has blotted out all their comfortable evidences ; 
 and they have been left to question, not only 
 the justness of their own hopes, but even the 
 first and most important principles on which 
 their hopes were built. 
 
 3dly, When the hidden corruptions and a- 
 bominations of the heart are stirred up. And 
 perhaps there is no other way but this of com- 
 ing to the knowledge of what our depraved na- 
 tures are capable. Such things a season of 
 temptation has discovered to some, which 1 
 believe no rack nor tortures could constrain 
 them to disclose, though but to their dearest 
 friend. This subject, therefore, will not bear 
 a particular illustration. The Lord’s people 
 are not all acquainted w’ith these depths of 
 Satan. As people w’lio live on shore have a 
 variety of trials, dangers, and deliverances, yet 
 know but little of the peculiar exercises of 
 those who go dowm to the sea in ships ; so, in 
 the present case there are great waters (Psal. 
 evii. 24), depths of temptation, known com- 
 paratively to few. Those who are brought 
 through them, have more to say of the win- 
 ders of God in the great deep than others ; 
 and this is his design in permitting it, that 
 they may know more of him and more of 
 themselves. But while they are under these 
 trials, they are weary and heavy laden ; and 
 this burden they must bear till the Lord re- 
 moves it. The help of men, books, and or- 
 dinances, is sought and tendered in vain, till 
 his appointed hour of deliverance draw’s near. 
 
 These, therefore, convinced, striving, and 
 tempted souls, are the persons to whom Jesus 
 says, “ Come to me, and I will give you rest.’ 
 The purport of this gracious invitation we are 
 to consider hereafter. In the meantime re- 
 joice in this, Jesus has foreseen your cases, 
 and provided accordingly. He says, Come; 
 that is, believe , as he himself expounds it : 
 “ He that cometh unto me, shall never hun- 
 ger ; and he that believeth on me shall never 
 thirst,” John vi. 35. See how his promises 
 suit the state you are in. 
 
 1. Are you heavy laden with guilt? The 
 gospel-message is, “ The blood of Jesus Christ 
 his Son, cleanseth us from all sin,” 1 John i. 7. 
 
 2. Are you groaning under the pow’er of 
 indwelling sin? Hear his gracious words: 
 “ I am the resurrection and the life : he that 
 believeth in me, though he were dead, yet 
 shall he live,” John xi. 25. And to the same 
 purpose his prophet : “ He giveth power to 
 the faint ; and to them that have no might, 
 he increases strength,” Is. xl. 29. 
 
 3. Are you striving in the fire to keep the 
 
 J law ? “ Wherefore will you spend your mo- 
 
SER. X. 
 
 ney for that which is not bread, and your la- 
 bour for that which satisfieth not ?” Forego 
 the vain attempt. Is it not written, “ Christ 
 is the end of the law for righteousness to every 
 one that believeth ?” Rom. x. 4. 
 
 4. Are you in temptation ? He that says, 
 “ Come unto me,” has been tempted himself 
 (Heb. ii. 18), and knows how to pity you. 
 He has power over your enemy, and can deli- 
 ver you with a word, Mark i. 27. Did he not 
 thus dispossess Satan in the days of his humi- 
 liation ? And if then, surely he is no less able 
 now ; for since that time he has gloriously 
 triumphed over the powers of darkness,” Col. 
 
 ii. 15. And as his arm is not shortened, nei- 
 ther is his ear heavy ; he has said, without ex- 
 ception, “ Whosoever cometh unto me I will 
 in no wise cast him out” (John vi. 37); and 
 thousands who have been in your distress, 
 have successively found that promise fulfilled : 
 “ The God of peace shall bruise Satan un- 
 der your feet shortly,” Rom. xvi. 20; Zech. 
 
 iii. 2. 
 
 SERMON X. 
 
 OF COMING TO CHRIST. 
 
 Come unto me all ye that labour, and, are heavy 
 laden , and I will give you rest. Matth. 
 xi. 28. 
 
 The dispensation of the gospel may be com- 
 pared to the cities of refuge in Israel. It was 
 a privilege, an honour to the nation in ge- 
 neral, that they had such sanctuaries of divine 
 appointment ; but the real value of them was 
 known to few. Those only who found them- 
 selves in that case for which they were pro- 
 vided could rightly prize them. In like man- 
 ner, the gospel of Christ is the highest privi- 
 lege and honour of which a professing nation 
 can boast ; but it can be truly esteemed and 
 understood by none but weary and heavy, 
 laden souls, who have felt their misery by na- 
 ture, are tired of the drudgery of sin, and have 
 seen the curse of the broken law pursuing them 
 like the avenger of blood of old. This is the 
 only consideration that keeps them from de- 
 spair, that God has provided a remedy by the 
 gospel ; and Jesus has said, “ Come unto me, 
 and 1 will give you rest.” If they could re- 
 ceive the full comfort of these words, and 
 heartily obey the call, their complaints would 
 be at an end ; but remaining ignorance, un- 
 belief, and Satan, combine in various ways to 
 keep them back. Some will say, “ O that I 
 could come ! but, alas! I cannot.” Others, 
 “ I fear I do not come aright.”— —Having, 
 therefore, endeavoured to shew r you the persons 
 chiefly intended here under the character of 
 those who labour and are heavy laden, I pro- 
 ceed to consider, 
 
 377 
 
 II. What it is to come to Christ. I have 
 observed in general, that it appears to have the 
 same signification with believing in him. But 
 that we may understand it the more clearly, 
 let us inquire, 
 
 1. H&w those to whom he personally spoke 
 these words, in all probability, understood 
 them ? 
 
 2. How far their apprehensions of them are 
 applicable and suitable to our circumstances ? 
 
 3. Whether, as we have the same necessity, 
 we have not likewise equal encouragement to 
 come to him with those who were conversant 
 with him upon earth ? 
 
 1. It does not appear, that those to whom 
 our Lord spoke in person, were so much per- 
 plexed as many are now, to know what com- 
 ing or believing should mean ; he seems to 
 have been understood (John vi. 30, and xix. 
 36.), both by friends and enemies. Many 
 questioned his authority and right to exact a 
 dependence on himself ; but they seemed to be 
 at no difficulty about his meaning. It certain- 
 ly implied more than a mere bodily coming 
 into his presence. He was surrounded, and 
 even followed, by multitudes, who never came 
 to him in the sense of his invitation. To such 
 while standing about him, he complained, 
 “ Ye will not come unto me, that ye may 
 have life,” John v. 40. Therefore, if we con- 
 sult what is written of those who came to 
 Jesus for relief, and obtained it, we may con- 
 clude, that coming to him implies, 
 
 1st, A persuasion of his power, and of 
 their own need of his help. They knew that 
 they wanted relief, and conceived of him as an 
 extraordinary person, empowered and able to 
 succour them. This persuasion of Christ’s suf- 
 ficiency and willingness was then, as it is now, 
 afforded in different degrees. The centurion 
 spoke with full assurance ; “ Speak the word 
 only, and my servant shall be healed,” Matth. 
 viii. 8. The leper more dubiously : “ Lord, if 
 thou wilt, thou canst make me clean,” Matth. 
 viii. 2. Another, in still fainter language: 
 “ If thou canst do any thing, have compassion, 
 and help us,” Mark ix. 22. The faith of this 
 last was, as the man himself acknowledged, 
 mixed with much unbelief and fear ; yet Je- 
 sus did not despise the day of small things ; 
 he pardoned his suspicions, confirmed his 
 fluctuating mind, granted him his request ; 
 and his case is recorded as an instance how 
 graciously he accepts and cherishes the feeblest 
 effects of true faith : “ He will not break the 
 bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax.” 
 2dly, An actual application. This evi- 
 denced their faith to be right. They did not 
 sit content with having heard of him, but im- 
 proved it : they went to him, told him their 
 cases, and implored his compassion. Their 
 faith prevailed against all discouragements. In 
 vain the multitude charged them to hold their 
 peace (Mark x. 48.); knowing that he only 
 was able to relieve them, they cried so much 
 
 OF COMING TO CHRIST. 
 
SER. X 
 
 OF COMING TO CHRIST. 
 
 378 
 
 the more a great deal. Even when he seem- 
 ed to discover a great reserve (Matth. xv. 27.) 
 they still waited, and knew not how to depart 
 without an answer. Nor could a sense of un- 
 worthiness, fear, or shame, keep them back, 
 (Mark v. 27.), when once they had a strong 
 persuasion of his power to save. 
 
 3dly, When he was sought to as a soul-phy- 
 sician, as was the case with many whose bodi - 
 ly diseases he healed, and with others who were 
 not sick, those who came to him, continued 
 with him, and became his followers. They 
 depended on him for salvation, received him 
 as their Lord and Master, professed an obe- 
 dience to his precepts, accepted a share in his 
 reproach, and renounced every thing that was 
 inconsistent with his will, Luke ix. 23, 60. 
 Some had a more express and open call to 
 this, as Matthew, who was sitting at the re- 
 ceipt of custom, regardless of Jesus, till he 
 passed by him, and said, “ Follow me,” Matth. 
 ix. 9. That word, accompanied with the power 
 of his love, won his heart, and diverted him 
 from worldly pursuits in an instant. Others 
 were more secretly drawn by his Spirit and 
 providence, as Nathaniel, and the weeping 
 penitent (John i. 46. ; Luke vii. 38.), who 
 silently washed his feet with her tears : and 
 this was the design and effect of many of their 
 bodily and family afflictions. The man who 
 was brought to be healed of the palsy (Mark ii. 
 5. ) received the forgiveness of his sins ; and 
 the ruler, who first came to Jesus with no other 
 view than to obtain the life of his son (John 
 iv. 53.), obtained much more than he asked 
 or expected. The Lord afforded such an af- 
 fecting sense of his power and goodness upon 
 that occasion, that he from henceforth believed, 
 with all his house. 
 
 2. These things are applicable to us. Jesus 
 is no longer visible upon earth ; but he has 
 promised his spiritual presence to abide with 
 his word, ordinances, and people, to the end 
 of time. Weary and heavy-laden souls have 
 now no need to take a long journey to seek 
 him ; for he is always near them, and in a 
 spiritual manner, where his gospel is preached. 
 Poor and inconsiderable as we are in the judg- 
 ment of the world, I trust we have a right to 
 claim his promise (Matth. xviii. 20), and to 
 believe that he is even now in the midst of us. 
 Therefore come unto him ; that is, 
 
 1st, Raise your hearts and breathe forth 
 your complaints to him. Do you see your 
 need of him ? Be persuaded, and pray to him 
 to assure you more strongly of his power and 
 goodness. He is just such a Saviour as your 
 circumstances require, as you yourself could 
 wish for ; and he is able to convince you in a 
 moment that he is so. If he is pleased to cause 
 a ray of his glory to break in upon your mind, 
 your fears, and doubts, and griefs, would in- 
 stantly give place. 
 
 2dly, Persevere in this application to him. 
 Set a high value upon these his public ordi- 
 
 nances, and be constant in attending them. 
 His eye is fixed upon us ; his arm is revealed 
 amongst us. I trust it is a time of his grace, 
 and that every day we meet he does some- 
 thing for one or another in the assembly. He 
 has a fixed time for every one whom he re- 
 lieves. He knew how long the poor man had 
 waited at the pool- side (John v. 6.); and 
 when his hour came, he spake and relieved 
 him. So do you endeavour to be found in 
 his w r ay ; and not here only, but in whatever 
 he has made your duty. Read his word ; be 
 frequent in secret prayer. You will find many 
 things arising from within and without to dis- 
 courage and weary you in this course ; but 
 persist in it, and in good time you shall find 
 rest for your souls. These are the means 
 which the Lord has appointed you. Converse 
 likewise at proper opportunities with his peo- 
 ple ; perhaps he may unexpectedly join you, 
 as he did the two disciples when walking to 
 Emmaus (Luke xxiv. 32.), and cause your 
 hearts to burn within you. Further, 
 
 3dly, You are to follow him, to take up 
 his cross, to make a profession of his name 
 and gospel, to bear contentedly a share in the 
 reproach and scorn which is the usual lot of 
 those who will live godly in Christ Jesus, in 
 the midst of an unbelieving and perverse ge- 
 neration. You are not only to trust in him 
 as a priest to atone for your sins, but to re- 
 ceive and obey him as your teacher and your 
 Lord. If you are truly weary and heavy 
 laden, you will be glad to do this, and are 
 crying to him to enable you i and you are 
 likewise willing to forsake every thing that is 
 inconsistent with his will and service. If you 
 are desirous to come to Christ, it is not griev- 
 ous to you to think of parting with your sin- 
 ful pleasures and vain companions. Rather 
 these are a part of the burden from which you 
 long to be freed. 
 
 Come in this way, and you shall find rest 
 for your souls. Are any of you thinking,— 
 O that I could ! Surely if I had seen him, 
 and heard him, I should have- ventured. But 
 now unbelief and fear keep me back. I ob • 
 serve, therefore, 
 
 3. That as we have no less need of Jesus 
 than those of old, who saw him and conversed 
 with him ; so we have at least equal encov. 
 ragement to come unto him. This, I think 
 will appear, if we consider that, 
 
 On the one hand, the bodily presence oi 
 Christ, considered in itself, had no peculiar or 
 extraordinary influence upon those who saw 
 him, but all was wrought by be power X 
 his Spirit ; the same Spirit wbi<^ i is promised 
 to abide with his church for ever. 
 
 1st, Multitudes who saw and heard him 
 were unmoved and unconvinced by all th» 
 wonders of his love. Though he spake a 
 never man spake, and went about doing good, 
 he was slighted, opposed, and hated, even to 
 the death. And those who know the heart of 
 
SER. X. OF COMING 
 
 man, and believe that the carnal mind is en- 
 mity against God, will allow it highly pro- 
 bable, that upon a supposition he should ap- 
 pear again in the same circumstances of hu- 
 miliation, and to use the same authoritative 
 freedom in vindicating the commands of God 
 from the vain figments, traditions, and cus- 
 toms of men, he would meet with little bet- 
 ter treatment, even in those countries which 
 are called by his name, than he did from the 
 proud, self-righteous, unbelieving Jews. We 
 may warrantably suppose there were many 
 more lepers, blind, &c. in the places where 
 he resorted, than those who came to him to 
 be healed. 
 
 2dly, Many of his professed disciples, even 
 after they had followed him for a while, turn- 
 ed back, and forsook him, John, vi. 66. We 
 have, therefore, the less reason to wonder, 
 when w r e see any give up the profession of 
 the gospel, and return to the world again. It 
 was thus from the beginning, ahd those who 
 do so now, would have done so if they had 
 lived then. His looks, his voice, his gesture, 
 and even his discourses and miracles, could 
 not engage a single person to cleave to him 
 with full purpose of heart, unless he was 
 likewise spiritually revealed to the eye of their 
 faith, as the image of the invisible God, the 
 brightness of the Father’s glory, full of grace 
 and truth. 
 
 3dly, Even his true disciples, who were 
 constantly with him, to whom lie had per- 
 sonally made the most express and endearing 
 promises, and who sometimes thought them- 
 selves assured beyond £he power of a doubt, 
 yet could not maintain their confidence longer 
 than his Spirit upheld them. To them ex- 
 pressly, though not to them exclusively, Je- 
 sus had said, “ I go to prepare a place for 
 you” (John, xiv. 2.), and I will come again 
 to receive you to myself, that “ where I am, 
 there ye may be also,” John xiv. 3. When 
 he had concluded that affectionate discourse, 
 their doubts and fears were dissipated, and 
 they could confidently say, “ Now we be- 
 lieve” (John, xvi. 30.); yet it was not long 
 before they found his reply fulfilled. Jesus 
 said unto them, “ Do you now believe ? The 
 hour is coming, when you shall be scattered 
 every man to his own, and shall leave me 
 alone,” John, xvi. 32. Will not this in- 
 stance convince you of your mistake, when 
 you think you could depend more on a voice 
 from heaven, than on the written word ? The 
 apostles had the strongest ground of assur- 
 ance imaginable, the word of the Lord Jesus 
 himself, face to face ; and yet this would not 
 support them, without renewed supplies of 
 strength. 
 
 On the other hand, consider if the loss of 
 his bodily presence is not more than made up 
 
 to us, 
 
 1st, By the fuller manifestation of the Holy ! 
 Spirit than was afforded before his ascension. [ 
 
 TO CHRIST. 379 
 
 The Holy Ghost was not then given in that 
 clear and abundant measure as afterwards 
 (John, vii. 39.), because Jesus was not yet 
 glorified. While he was with them, he was 
 their Comforter and Teacher ; but he told 
 them, “ When I depart, I will send you an- 
 other Comforter” (John, xiv. 16, and xvi. 7.), 
 whose office and abode with you will be in 
 many respects so much more advantageous, 
 that on this account it is expedient for you 
 that I go away. 
 
 2dly, By the greater number and variety of 
 promises which we enjoy. We have not only 
 the scriptures of the Old Testament in com- 
 mon with them, but to us the ancient revela- 
 tions of the will and love of God are en- 
 larged, explained, applied, and confirmed, by 
 the superaddition of the New, Ephes. iii. 5. 
 
 3dly, By the experience of multitudes of 
 all ages, people, and languages, who have 
 gone before us, since their time, the cloud of 
 witnesses to the truth and grace of God, the 
 reality of eternal things, and the victorious 
 power of faith, is now increased by the con- 
 current evidence of thousands and millions, 
 who have overcome all opposition by the 
 blood of the Lamb, and the word of his tes- 
 timony. 
 
 4thly, By the proofs and living witnesses 
 of his power and grace amongst ourselves. 
 Are there not many, with whom you worship 
 and converse from day to day, who can tell 
 you, they were even dead in trespasses and 
 sins, but he has quickened them ? They were 
 once as you are, labouring and heavy laden ; 
 they waited for him long, had a share in such 
 temptations and conflicts as you now feel, 
 were often at a stand, and upon the point of 
 concluding their case to be desperate, as you 
 may think yours at present ; but at length 
 they were enabled to come unto him, and they 
 have found rest. Every such instance should 
 encourage you to gird up the loins of your 
 minds ; to be patient, and hope to the end. 
 As they have known your troubles, so shall 
 you partake of their consolations in due time. 
 What is it then should hinder you from com- 
 ing to Jesus, that you may find rest ? What 
 exceptions can your unbelief devise against 
 the invitations, motives, and example, which 
 the Lord sets before you by his preached gos- 
 pel ? 
 
 (1.) Is it a sense of your load which makes 
 you say you are not able ? But consider that 
 this is not a work, but a rest. Would a man 
 plead, I am so heavy laden, that I cannot 
 consent to part with my burden ; so weary, 
 that I am not able either to stand still or lie 
 down, but must force myself farther ? The 
 greatness of your burden, so far from being 
 an objection, is the very reason why you should 
 instantly come to Christ, for he alone is able 
 to release you. 
 
 (2.) But perhaps you think you do not 
 | come aright. I ask, how would you come ? 
 
SEE. XI 
 
 380 OF BELIEVERS REST IN CHRIST. 
 
 If you can come as a helpless unworthy sinner, 
 without strength, without righteousness, with- 
 out any hope but what arises from the worth, 
 work, and word of Christ, this is to come a- 
 right. There is no other way of being ac- 
 cepted. Would you refresh and strengthen 
 yourself, wash away your own sins, free your- 
 self from your burden, and then come to him 
 to do these things for you ? May the Lord 
 help you to see the folly and unreasonableness 
 of your unbelief! 
 
 I have observed already, that coming to 
 Christ signified more at first than merely to 
 come into his presence : so likewise, it means 
 more now than to be found among his wor- 
 shippers. Let none of you be deceived with 
 a form of godliness. Examine your religious 
 profession by these tests : Have you laboured 
 under a sense of your misery ? Have you 
 known the burden of sin ? Has Jesus given 
 you rest? Or are you earnestly seeking to 
 him for it ? If you understand not the mean- 
 ing of these questions, you are not yet in that 
 state to which the promises are made. And 
 why are you not labouring and heavy laden ? 
 Are you not sinners ? Has not the righteous 
 God revealed a law ? Has he not guarded this 
 law with the sanction of a dreadful curse ? 
 Have you not transgressed this holy law in 
 thought, word, and deed, times without num- 
 ber ? If you have not, why do you join in the 
 public confession, and call for mercy when 
 the commandments are repeated ? If you 
 have, how will you escape the penalty ? How 
 indeed, if you dare to neglect this great sal- 
 vation ? The law condemns you already ; if 
 you receive not the gospel you must perish 
 without remedy ; for other name or means 
 whereby men can be saved there is none un- 
 der heaven. Once more you are warned of 
 danger ; once more the refuge is set before 
 you. We preach Jesus, who came to seek 
 and to save those who were lost ; Jesus, who 
 was wounded with whips, and thorns, and 
 nails, that his enemies might be healed. Does 
 not this thought affect you ? Will you slight 
 his love, despise his blood, and crucify him 
 afresh ? God forbid. Is there not some heart 
 now relenting, beginning to feel impressions 
 of fear, shame, and grief? Happy beginning ! 
 Obey the voice of God now opening in your 
 conscience ! Now is the time to pray ; before 
 you knew not what to pray for; but now 
 you see you want the blood of Christ, and the 
 teaching of his Spirit. “ Ask, and you shall 
 receive ; and seek, and you shall find.” Take 
 your warrant from my text ; Jesus has said, 
 “ Come unto me, and I will give you rest.” 
 Let your hearts answer, “ Take away our 
 iniquity, and receive us graciously : Behold, 
 we come unto thee, for thou art the Lord our 
 God ; and in thee the fatherless, the helpless, 
 the comfortless, find mercy.” 
 
 SERMON XI. 
 
 OF BELIEVERS REST IN CHRIST. 
 
 Come unto me, oil ye that labour and are heavy 
 laden, and I will give you rest. Mattk xi. 
 28. 
 
 The learned have a variety of argum its 
 whereby to prove the scriptures to be the 
 word of God. But though that kind of proof, 
 which may be brought in a way of reasoning 
 and external evidence, is doubtless useful up- 
 on proper occasions; yet I apprehend the 
 chief and most satisfactory argument to those 
 who are capable of receiving it, arises from 
 the correspondence between the subject-mat 
 ter of the scriptures and the state of an awa 
 kened mind. When the eyes of the under 
 standing are opened, we begin to see every 
 thing around us to be just so as the scriptures 
 have described them. Then, and not till then, 
 we perceive, that what we read in the Bible 
 concerning the horrid evil of sin, the vileness 
 of our fallen nature, the darkness and ignor- 
 ance of those who know not God, our own 
 emptiness, and the impossibility of finding re- 
 lief and comfort from creatures, is exactly 
 true. We cannot but apply the words of the 
 woman of Samaria, and say, Come and see 
 a book that has told roe all that ever I did 
 (John iv. 29.), the ground of all my com- 
 plaints, the true cause and nature of all the 
 evil I either see, hear, or feel, from day to 
 day. And as we find our disease precisely 
 described, so we perceive a suitableness in the 
 proposed remedy. We need a Saviour, and 
 he must be a mighty one ; but though our 
 wants and sins, our fears and enemies, are 
 great and numerous, we are convinced that 
 the character of Christ is sufficient to answer 
 them all. We need a rest, a rest which the 
 world cannot give. Inquire where we will 
 among the creatures, experience brings in the 
 same answer from all, “ It is not in me.” 
 This again confirms the word of God, which 
 has forewarned us that we shall meet nothing 
 but disappointment in such pursuits. But there 
 is a spiritual rest spoken of which we know 
 to be the verj thing we want, and all our re- 
 maining solicitude is how to attain it. From 
 hence, as I said, w r e may assuredly conclude, 
 that the book which gives us such just views 
 of every thing that passes, must be given by 
 inspiration from him who is the searcher of 
 hearts. This proof is equally plain and con 
 elusive to all capacities that are spiritually 
 enlightened, and such only are able to under- 
 stand it. We are now to speak, 
 
 III. Of this promised rest And here 
 two things offer to our consideration : 
 
 1. What this rest is ? 
 
 2. How it is obtained? 
 
SER. XI. 
 
 OF BELIEVERS REST IN CHRIST. 381 
 
 1. The Greek word* expresses something 
 more than rest, or a mere relaxation from toil ; 
 it denotes refreshment likewise. A person 
 weary with long bearing a heavy burden, will 
 need not only to have it removed, but like- 
 wise he wants food and refreshment, to restore 
 his spirits, and to repair his wasted strength. 
 Such is the rest of the gospel. It not only 
 puts a period to our fruitless labour, but it 
 affords a sweet reviving cordial. There is 
 not only peace, but joy in believing. Taken 
 at large, we may consider it as twofold : 
 
 1st, A present rest. So the apostle speaks, 
 “ We who have believed do enter into rest, 
 Heb. iv. 3. 
 
 (1.) The common, wearisome pursuit of 
 the world, is described as “ spending their 
 money for that which is not bread, and their 
 labour for that which satisfieth not” (Isa. lv. 
 2) ; wandering from object to object in quest 
 of good (Psal. iv. 6), but still mortified by 
 incessant and repeated disappointment. We 
 should pity a person whom we should see 
 seeking some necessary thing day after day, 
 which we knew was impossible to be found 
 there. It is, however, the case with all till 
 they come to Christ. Satisfaction is what 
 they profess to aim at, and they turn every 
 stone (as we say), try every expedient to meet 
 with it, but in vain. It is only to be found 
 in him. When they come to him their wishes 
 are answered. This is exemplified by our 
 Lord in the character of a merchant-man seek- 
 ing goodly pearls (Math. xiii. 46), who was still 
 upon the inquiry till he had found one pearl of 
 great price. This answered and exceeded his 
 desires : upon the discovery of this one, he re- 
 joiced to forego all his former acquisitions, and 
 to give up every other possession on purpose 
 that he might obtain it. 
 
 (2.) I have spoken something concerning 
 the wearisome exercise of a conscience bur- 
 dened with guilt ; but by coming to Jesus, 
 and believing in him, an end is put to this. 
 When we are enabled to view our sins as laid 
 upon Christ, that those who come are accepted 
 in the Beloved, that there is no more condem- 
 nation, but pardon, reconciliation, and adop- 
 tion are the sure privileges of all who trust in 
 him, — O the sweet calm that immediately takes 
 place in the soul ! It is something more than 
 deliverance. There is a pleasure more than 
 answerable to the former pain, a comfort 
 greater than all the trouble that went before 
 it. Yea, the remembrance of the former bit- 
 terness greatly enhances the present pleasure. 
 And the soul understands and experiences the 
 meaning of those scriptures : “ When the Lord 
 turned the captivity of Zion, then was our 
 mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue 
 with singing,” Psal. cxxvi. 1, 2. “ In that 
 
 day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee : 
 though thou wast angry with me, thine anger 
 
 [ is turned away, and thou comfortedst me. 
 j Behold, God is my salvation : I will trust, 
 i and not be afraid : for the Lord Jehovah is 
 my strength and my song ; he also is become 
 my salvation,” Isa. xii. 1, 2. 
 
 (3.) There is likewise a rest from the power 
 of sin. In vain is this sought from resolu- 
 tions and endeavours in our own strength. 
 Even after we are spiritually disposed, and 
 begin to understand the gospel-salvation, it is 
 usually, for a season, rather a fight than a 
 rest. But when we are brought nearer to 
 Christ, and taught to live upon him as our 
 sanctification, deriving all our strength and 
 motives from him by faith, we obtain a com- 
 parative rest in this respect also. We find 
 hard things become easy, and mountains sink 
 into plains, by his power displayed in our be- 
 half. Farther, 
 
 (4.) There is a rest from our own works. 
 The believer is quite delivered from the law 
 as a covenant, and owes it no longer service 
 in that view. His obedience is gracious, 
 cheerful, the effect of love, and therefore h> 
 is freed from those fears and burdens which 
 once disturbed him in the way of duty. At 
 first there was a secret, though unallowed de- 
 pendence on himself. When his frames were 
 lively he was strong, and thought he had some- 
 thing to trust to, but under a change (and 
 changes will happen) he was at his wits end. 
 But there is a promised, and therefore an at- 
 tainable rest in this respect, — a liberty and 
 power to repose on the finished work and un- 
 changeable word of Christ; to follow him 
 steadily through light and darkness ; to glory 
 in him only when our frames are brightest; 
 and to trust in him assuredly when we are at 
 our lowest ebb. 
 
 Such is the present rest ; different in de- 
 grees according to the proportion of faith, and 
 capable of increase even in those who have 
 attained most, so long as we remain in this 
 imperfect state. But there is, 
 
 2dly, A future rest, besides and beyond all 
 that can be experienced here : “ There rc- 
 mainetli yet a rest for the people of God,’ 
 Heb. iv. 9. Faint and imperfect are our most 
 enlarged ideas of that glory which shall be re- 
 vealed. “ It does not yet appear what we 
 shall be,” 1 John iii. 2. Who can describe 
 or conceive the happiness of heaven ? The 
 most we can clearly understand of it lies in 
 negatives. It will be as unlike as possible to 
 this wilderness of sin and sorrow where we 
 are now confined. Here we are in a warfare, 
 but then we shall enter into perfect rest. 
 
 ( 1 . ) A rest from all sin. There no un- 
 clean thing shall defile or disturb us for ever. 
 We shall be free from sin in ourselves. This 
 alone would be worth dying for Indwelling 
 sin is a burden under which even the redeem- 
 ed of the Lord must groan, whilst they so- 
 journ in the body ; and those who are most 
 spiritual are most deeply affected with shame. 
 
 * AvUTOUIff’O)' 
 
SERM. XI 
 
 382 OF BELIEVERS REST IN CHRIST. 
 
 humiliation, and grief, on this account, be- 
 cause they have the clearest views of the holi- 
 ness of God, the spirituality of the law, the love 
 of Christ, and the deceitfulness of their own 
 hearts. Therefore the apostle Paul, though 
 .perhaps in grace and talents, in zeal and use- 
 fulness, distinguished above all the children 
 of Adam, accounted himself the chief of sin- 
 ners (1 Tim. i. 15.), less than the least of all 
 saints (Eph. iii. 8.), and cried out, under the 
 disparity he felt between what he was and 
 what he would be, “ O wretched man that 
 I am ! who shall deliver me from the body 
 of this death ?” Rom. vii. 24. But we shall 
 not carry this burden beyond the grave. The 
 hour of dissolution shall free us from the in- 
 bred enemies (the inseparable concomitants of 
 this frail perishing nature) which now trouble 
 us, and we shall see them no more for ever. 
 
 Again, we shall be free from all the displeas- 
 ing effects of sin in others. Our hearts shall 
 be no more pained, nor our ears wounded, nor 
 our eyes filled with tears, by those evils which 
 fill the earth. Now, like Lot in Sodom, we 
 are grieved every day with the filthy conver- 
 sation of the wicked, 2 Pet. ii. 7. Who that 
 has any love to the Lord Jesus, any spark of 
 true holiness, any sense of the worth of souls 
 in his heart, can see what passes amongst us 
 without trembling ? How openly, daringly, 
 almost universally, are the commandments of 
 God broken, his gospel despised, his patience 
 abused, and his power defied ! To be a silent 
 spectator of these things is sufficiently griev- 
 ous ; but if (as we are in duty bound) we 
 dare to stand as witnesses for God in the 
 midst of a crooked and perverse nation, w r e 
 find the spirit of the first born. Cain instant- 
 ly takes fire, and denounces war against all 
 who should presume to say, that we ought to 
 obey and fear God rather than men. Invec- 
 tives and ill treatment, are the certain lot of 
 all who openly and consistently appear on the 
 Lord’s side ; and if they escape stripes and 
 bonds, imprisonment and death, it is to be a- 
 scribed to the restraints of divine providence, 
 and (as a means in our happy land) to the 
 temper of the laws, and to the clemency of the 
 powers under whom we live. These things 
 often constrain the believer to say, “ O that I 
 had wings like a dove ! for then would I flee a- 
 way, and be at rest,” Psal. lv. 6. Let us not 
 be weary or faint in our minds ; ere long this 
 wish shall be answered. A glorious rest a- 
 waits you, where sin and sinners shall have 
 no place, nor the alarms of war be heard any 
 more. 
 
 (2.) A rest from all outward afflictions, 
 which, though necessary, and, under the in- 
 fluence of divine grace, profitable, are griev- 
 ous to bear ; but then they will be necessary 
 no more. Where there is no sin, there shall 
 be no sorrow. Then, believers, God “ shall 
 wipe away all tears from your eyes ; and there 
 shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor 
 
 crying, neither shall there be any more pain : 
 for the former things are passed away,” Rev. 
 xxi. 4. 
 
 (3. ) A rest from Satan’s temptations. How 
 busy is this adversary of God and man ! what 
 various arts, what surprising force, what con- 
 stant assiduity, does he employ to ensnare, 
 distress, and terrify those who by grace have 
 escaped from his servitude ! He says, like 
 Pharoah of old, “ I will pursue, I will over- 
 take, I will destroy,” Exod. xv. 9. He fol- 
 lows them to the last stage of life, but he can 
 follow them no farther. The moment of their 
 departure out of the body, shall place them 
 beyond his reach for ever 
 
 (4.) A rest from unsatisfied desires. Here 
 the more we drink, the more we thirst ; but 
 there our highest wishes shall be crowned and 
 exceeded ; we shall rest in full communion 
 with him whom we love ; we shall no more 
 complain of interruptions and imperfections, 
 of an absent God, and a careless heart. Here, 
 when we obtain a little glimpse of his presence, 
 when he brings us into his banqueting-house, 
 and spreads his banner of love over us, how 
 gladly would we remain in such a desirable 
 frame ! How unwilling are we to come down 
 from the mount ! But these pleasing seasons 
 are quickly ended, and often give place tc 
 some sudden unexpected trial, which robs us 
 of all that sweetness in which we lately re- 
 joiced. But w'hen we ascend the holy hill of 
 God above, we shall come down no more ; we 
 shall be for ever with the Lord, never offend 
 him, never be separated from him again. 
 We shall likewise rest in full conformity to 
 him, Psal. xvii. 15. Here we find a mixture 
 of evil in our best moments : when we ap- 
 proach nearest to him, we have the quickest 
 sense of our defilement, and how much we 
 fall short in every branch of duty, in every 
 temper of our hearts ; but when we shall see 
 Jesus as he is, we shall be fully transformed 
 into his image, and be perfectly like him. 
 
 2. But how is this rest to be obtained ? 
 Blessed be God, in that way which alone can 
 render it attainable by such unworthy indi- 
 gent creatures. If it was to be bought, we 
 have nothing to offer for it ; if it was propos- 
 ed as a reward of merit, we can do nothing 
 to deserve it. But Jesus has said, “ I will give 
 you rest.” Our title to it cost him dear ; he 
 purchased it for us with his own blood ; but 
 to us it comes freely. Faith in his name puts 
 us in immediate possession of the first-fruits, 
 the earnest of this inheritance ; and faith will 
 lead us powerfully and safely through all hind- 
 rances and enemies to the full enjoyment of the 
 whole. Faith unites us to Christ; gives us an 
 immediate interest in all the benefits of his 
 life, death, and intercession ; opens the way 
 of communication for all needful supplies of 
 grace here, and insures to us the accomplish- 
 ment of all the Lord has spoken to us of, in 
 a state of glory. “ He that believeth shall be 
 
sen. xi. 
 
 01< BELIEVERS REST IN CHRIST. 
 
 saved* (Mark xvi. 1C.) ; saved in defiance of 
 all the opposition of earth and hell; saved 
 notwithstanding he is in himself unstable as 
 water, weak as a bruised reed, and helpless as 
 infancy. What Jesus will give, none can 
 take away. Only remember that it is a free 
 gift. Receive it thankfully, and rejoice in the 
 Giver. Let him have all the glory of his 
 own undertaking. Renounce every hope and 
 every plea, but his promise and mediation. 
 Commit your souls to him, and then fear no- 
 thing. “ The eternal God is your refuge, 
 and underneath are the everlasting arms,” 
 Dent, xxxiii 27. He will fight your battles, 
 heal your wounds, refresh your fainting spi- 
 rits, guide you by his counsel while here, and 
 at last receive you to himself. 
 
 May we not therefore say, Happy are the 
 people that are in such a case ! happy they, 
 who have been enabled to accept this gracious 
 invitation, who have already entered upon the 
 rest of grace, and have a well-grounded ex- 
 pectation that they shall rest in glory ! Be- 
 lievers, what should you fear, or why com- 
 plain ? Look back to where the Lord found 
 you sleeping in, helpless and hopeless, yet 
 insensible of your danger : look forward to 
 what he has provided for you, an inheritance 
 incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not 
 away ; a crown of life, a kingdom that can- 
 not be shaken ; think of the love, the suffer- 
 ing, the glory of him to whom you owe these 
 blessings ; and let these considerations ani- 
 mate you to run with patience and thankful- 
 ness the race that is set before you, Heb. 
 xii. 1. 
 
 Happy likewise are you, whose hearts are 
 fixed upon this rest, and this Saviour, though 
 as yet you are in heaviness through manifold 
 temptations. The Lord will give you rest. 
 Doubt it not; he cannot deny himself; wait 
 his hour ; though he seem to tarry long, yet 
 maintain your confidence in his promise. Re- 
 double your prayers, cry mightily to him, he 
 will not (as perhaps many around you do) re- 
 buke your importunity, and charge you to 
 hold your peace. Look at the generations of 
 old, and see ; did ever any trust in the Lord, 
 and was confounded ? or did any abide in his 
 fear, and was forsaken ? or whom did he ever 
 despise that called upon him ? 
 
 And you, who are yet strangers to rest, are 
 thus far happy, that you are still spared, and 
 have the gospel continued to you. The Lord 
 is still waiting to be gracious ; he says to all, 
 Come unto me, and ye shall find rest for your 
 souls. Do you not see this rest desirable ? 
 What rest, either here or hereafter, can you 
 expect, if you remain in the service of sin ? 
 Why may not you obtain your liberty ? You 
 are no worse than others, either by nature or 
 practice. Though you have been transgres- 
 sors from the womb, you are not excluded, if 
 you do not exclude yourselves : though your 
 sinful habits and inclinations are exceeding 
 
 38S 
 
 strong, he is able to subdue them. There is 
 a power in his blood, and in that Spirit which 
 he is exalted to bestow, sufficient to make the 
 Ethiopian change his skin, and the leopard 
 his spots (Jer. xiii. 23.), to soften the hardest 
 heart, and to pardon the most aggravated 
 guilt, and to enable those to do good who have 
 been accustomed to do evil. Arise, he call- 
 eth you. O may he accompany the outward 
 call of his word with the efficacious power of 
 his grace, that you may this instant obey his 
 voice, and flee to him for refuge ! Whi- 
 ther can you flee else ? Who but Jesus can 
 save you from the wrath to come ? Be wise, 
 and delay no longer. “ But if you will not 
 hear, mine eye shall weep for you in secret 
 places,” Jer. xiii. 17. If you will not come 
 to Jesus for life, you must die. If you are 
 out of Christ, God is angry with you every 
 day. The curse of his broken law lies heavy 
 upon you, whether you are asleep or awake, 
 abroad or at home, at the market or in the 
 church. The wrath of God is revealed against 
 you ; if you turn not, he will whet his sword 
 (Psal. vii. 12.); he hath bent his bow, and 
 made it ready : he hath prepared the instru- 
 ments of death to smite you ; he hath or- 
 dained the arrows of his vengeance against 
 you : And can you, dare you, go on in your 
 sins, and say, I shall have peace ? O may 
 you be wise in time ! “ It is a fearful thing 
 
 to fall into the hands of the living God,’ 
 Heb. x. 31. “ Consider this, ye that forget 
 
 him, lest he tear you in pieces, and there be 
 none to deliver,” Psal. 1. 22. 
 
 SERMON XII. 
 
 OF THE YOKE OF CHRIST. 
 
 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me : for 
 I am meek and lowly in heart : and ye shall 
 find rest to your souls. Matth. xi. 29. 
 
 Those who are enabled to come unto Christ, 
 not only experience a change of state, but of 
 character, disposition, and practice. They are 
 not only freed from condemnation, but they 
 are made partakers of a divine nature. They 
 are delivered from the slavery and yoke of 
 Satan, and made willing in the day of the 
 Lord’s power, to accept and embrace his 
 yoke, which is commended to us in the fol- 
 lowing verse, as easy and pleasant. Our Lord 
 speaks of his service as a yoke or burden, be- 
 cause it is so esteemed by all who know him 
 not. They account him a hard master, and 
 think his service wearisome ; but those who 
 have made the experiment, find it otherwise : 
 though, it must be confessed, it exposes to 
 some difficulties, calls for the daily exercise of 
 self-denial, and will not admit either of com 
 petition or composition with the world, nor 
 
SER. XII 
 
 OF THE YOKE OF CHRIST. 
 
 384 
 
 can be pleasing to the unrenewed part of our 
 nature. But the knowledge of his love, the 
 hope of glory, and those seasonable refresh ■ 
 ments with which he is pleased to favour 
 those who come unto him, sweeten every bit- 
 ter thing, and make them willing to bear his 
 yoke, and to prefer it to all that the world ac- 
 counts freedom. 
 
 Let us inquire, 
 
 1. What is meant by the yoke of Christ? 
 
 2. The proper means by which we are en- 
 abled to take it upon us ; that is, the believ- 
 ing consideration of him, as our effectual 
 teacher and perfect pattern. 
 
 3. The happy effect of bearing his yoke : 
 "We shall find rest to our souls. 
 
 I. The yoke of Christ, taken at large, in- 
 cludes all the dependence, obedience, and 
 submission which we owe him, as our right- 
 ful Lord and gracious Redeemer. He has 
 a double right to us ; “ he made us,” Psal. 
 c. 3. We are the creatures of his power : 
 he gave us our being, with all our capaci- 
 ties and enjoyments. And farther, “ he 
 bought us” (Acts, xx. 28.); he pitied us in 
 our low and fallen state, and gave his own 
 life, his precious blood, to ransom us from 
 that ruin and misery which was the just de- 
 sert of our sins. There is good reason, there - 
 fore, that we should be his, and live and cleave 
 to him in love alone ; that we should no longer 
 live to ourselves, but to him who died for 
 us, and rose again. In particular, we may 
 consider, 
 
 1. The yoke of his profession. This is very 
 pleasing to a gracious soul, so far as faith is 
 in exercise. Far from being ashamed of the 
 gospel of Christ, he is ready and willing to 
 tell all who will hear, what God has done for 
 his soul. Many young converts, in the first 
 warmth of their affection, have more need of 
 a bridle than of a spur in this concern. For 
 want of prudence to time things rightly, and 
 perhaps for want of more tenderness mixed with 
 their zeal, they are apt to increase their own 
 troubles, and sometimes, by pushing things 
 too far, to obstruct the success of their well- 
 meant endeavours to convince others. But 
 though this is a fault, it is a fault on the right 
 side, which time, experience, and observation, 
 will correct. And though w r e are hasty enough 
 to condemn the irregular overflowings of a 
 heart deeply impressed with a sense of eternal 
 things, I doubt not but the Lord, who owns 
 and approves the main principle from whence 
 they spring, beholds them with a far more 
 favourable eye than he does the cold, cau- 
 tious, temporizing conduct of some others, 
 who value themselves upon their prudence. 
 We should judge thus, if we had servants of 
 our own. If we had one who was heartily 
 and affectionately devoted to our interests, al- 
 ways ready to run by night or by day, refus- 
 ing no danger or difficulty, from a desire to 
 please us, though sometimes, through igno- 
 
 rance or inattention, he should make a mis- 
 take, we should prefer him to another of 
 greater knowledge and abilities, who was al- 
 ways slow and backward, and discovered at 
 least as much care to save himself from in- 
 conveniences as to promote our service. How- 
 ever, this warm zeal usually suffers abate- 
 ment ; we are flesh as well as spirit ; and 
 there are some circumstances attending a pro- 
 fession of the gospel, on the account of which 
 it may be with propriety termed a yoke to us, 
 who have so many remaining evils within us, 
 and so many outward temptations to call them 
 forth. It will certainly stir up opposition 
 from the world, and may probably break in 
 upon our dearest connections, and threaten 
 our most necessary temporal interests, 2 Tim. 
 iii. 1 2 ; Matth. x. 36. 
 
 2. The yoke of his precepts. These the 
 gracious soul approves and delights in ; but 
 still we are renewed but in part. And when 
 the commands of Christ stand in direct oppo- 
 sition to the will of man, or call upon us to 
 sacrifice a right hand or a right eye ; though 
 the Lord will surely make those who depend 
 upon him victorious at the last, yet it will cost 
 them a struggle ; so that, when they are sen- 
 sible how much they owe to his power work- 
 ing in them, and enabling them to overcome 
 they will, at the same time, have a lively con- 
 viction of their own weakness. Abraham be- 
 lieved in God, and delighted to obey ; yet when 
 he was commanded to sacrifice his only son, 
 this was no easy trial of his sincerity and obe- 
 dience ; and all who are partakers of his faith 
 are exposed to meet, sooner or later, with 
 some call of duty little less contrary to the 
 dictates of flesh and blood. 
 
 3. The yoke of his dispensations. This 
 none can bear as they ought, but those who 
 come to him. It is natural to us to repine, 
 to fret, and toss like a wild bull in a net (Isa. 
 li. 20.), when we are under afflictions. Be- 
 lievers likewise find their flesh weak, when 
 their spirits are willing ; yet they see sufficient 
 reasons to submission, and they know where 
 to apply for grace. Affliction is a touchstone 
 that discovers what spirit a man is of. The 
 hypocrite may keep up a fair semblance of 
 true piety, while all things go smooth and to 
 his wish ; but in sharp troubles the mask will 
 drop off. Satan proceeded upon this maxim 
 in his contest with Job ; and the maxim is a 
 truth, though Satan was mistaken in the appli- 
 cation. 
 
 II. The appointed means by which sinners 
 are enabled to bear this threefold yoke, is sug- 
 gested in the words, “ Learn of me, for I 
 am meek and lowly.” However amiable and 
 desirable the disposition I have described 
 may appear, you will never acquire it by any 
 strength, wisdom, or diligence of your own 
 Our Lord, to prevent you wearying yourselves 
 with unsuccessful efforts and needless disap- 
 pointments, has assured you beforehand. 
 
SER. XII. OF THE YOKE 
 
 “ Without me ye can do nothing ” John xv. 
 5. But here he graciously olfers you the as- 
 sistance you need. As if he had said, I know 
 you are unable of yourselves, but I will help 
 you. Be not afraid of the prospect, but con- 
 sider what I can do. To my power all things 
 are easy; I can make the crooked straight, 
 and the rough smooth ; I can sweetly engage 
 your affections, subdue your wills ; influence 
 your practice, and deliver you from your sin- 
 ful fears. Consider likewise what I have 
 done ; thousands, who by nature were as un- 
 skilful and impatient as yourselves, have been 
 made willing in the day of my power. 
 
 Therefore, Learn of me . — Be not afraid to 
 come to me, for I am meek and lowly of 
 heart. Great and mighty as I am, you may 
 l'reely apply to me in every doubt and diffi- 
 culty. Awakened souls, through a sense of 
 guilt, and the power of unbelief, are back- 
 ward and unwilling to come to Christ. They 
 think, surely he will take no notice of such a 
 one as I am. But observe how kind and 
 condescending is his invitation ; how graci- 
 ously suited to engage our confidence ! It 
 was said of a Roman emperor, that those who 
 durst speak to him were ignorant of his great- 
 ness, but those who durst not were still more 
 ignorant of his goodness. This was a false 
 and impious compliment when applied to a 
 sinful mortal; but it is justly applicable to 
 Jesus, the King of kings, and Lord of lords. 
 His glorious majesty may well fill our hearts 
 with awe, and humble us unto the dust before 
 him : but his immense compassions, tender- 
 ness, and love, are revealed, to overbalance 
 our fears, to give us confidence to draw nigh 
 to him, and an encouraging hope that he will 
 draw nigh to us. 
 
 Again, Learn of me . — I know the cause 
 why these things appear so hard. It is owing 
 to the pride and impatience of your hearts. 
 To remedy this, take me for your example ; 
 I require nothing of you but what I have per- 
 formed before you, and on your account : in 
 the path I mark out for you, you may per- 
 ceive my own footsteps all the way. This is 
 a powerful argument, a sweet recommenda- 
 tion of the yoke of Christ, to those who love 
 him, that he bore it himself. He is not like 
 the Pharisees, whom he censured (Matt, xxiii. 
 4.) on this very account, who bound heavy 
 burdens, and grievous to be borne, and laid 
 them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves 
 would not move them with one of their fin- 
 gers. 
 
 1. Are you terrified with the difficulties at- 
 tending your profession, disheartened by hard 
 usage, or too ready to shew resentment against 
 those who oppose you ? Learn of Jesus, imi- 
 tate and admire his constancy : “ Consider him 
 who endured the contradiction of sinners 
 against himself,” Heb. xii. 3. Make a com- 
 parison (so the word * imports) between your- 
 * A '•uX'y.sswdi. 
 
 Op CHRIST. 385 
 
 I self and him, between the contradiction which 
 he endured, and that which you are called to 
 struggle with, then surely you will be asham- 
 ed to complain. Admire and imitate his 
 meekness : when he was reviled, he reviled 
 not again ; when he suffered, he threatened 
 not ; he wept for his enemies, and prayed for 
 his murderers. Let the same mind be in you 
 which was also in Christ Jesus. 
 
 2. Do you find it hard to walk stedfastly 
 in his precepts, especially in some particular 
 instances, when the maxims of worldly pru- 
 dence, and the pleadings of flesh and blood, 
 are strongly against you? Learn of Jesus. 
 He pleased not himself (Rom. xv. 3.), he 
 considered not what was safe and easy, but 
 what was the will of his heavenly Father. In- 
 treat him to strengthen you with strength in 
 your soul, that as you bear the name of his 
 disciples, you may resemble him in every part 
 of your conduct, and shine as lights in a dark 
 and selfish world, to the glory of his grace. 
 
 3. Are you tempted to repine at the dis- 
 pensations of divine providence ? Take Jesus 
 for your pattern. Did he say, when the un- 
 speakable sufferings he was to endure for sin- 
 ners were just coming upon him, “ The cup 
 which my Father has put into my hands shall 
 I not drink it?” (John xviii. 11.) and shall 
 we presume to have a will of our own ? es- 
 pecially when we further reflect, that as his 
 sufferings were wholly on our account, so all 
 our sufferings are by his appointment, and all 
 designed by him to promote our best, that is, 
 our spiritual and eternal welfare ? 
 
 It is thus by looking to Jesus that the be- 
 liever is enlightened and strengthened, and 
 grows in grace and sanctification, according 
 to that passage of St. Paul, “ We all with 
 open face,” or unvailed face, “ beholding as 
 in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed 
 into the same image, from glory to glory, as 
 by the Spirit of the Lord,” 2 Cor. iii. 18. 
 The word of God is a glass in which the good- 
 ness and beauty of the Lord Jesus are mani- 
 fested to the eye of faith by the light of the 
 Holy Spirit. In this wonderful glass the 
 whole object is not seen at once, but every 
 view we take strengthens the sight to discover 
 something not perceived before. And the 
 prospect is not only affecting, but transform- 
 ing ; by beholding we are gradually formed 
 into the resemblance of him whom we see, 
 admire, and love. All those whom Jesus thus 
 teaches to bear his yoke, find his promise ful- 
 filled ; they obtain, 
 
 III. Rest to their souls. Those who are 
 truly awakened want nothing to make them 
 happy, but to be assured that they have 
 an interest in the Redeemer’s love. Now, 
 this satisfaction is peculiar to those who take 
 his yoke upon them, and are daily learning of 
 him, and copying after him. For, 
 
 1. This affords the best and most un 
 shaken evidence that he has begun a good 
 21 
 
OF THE YOKE OF CHRIST. 
 
 ser. xri 
 
 386 
 
 work of grace in our hearts: I say the best, 
 because the most unshaken. Many are greatly 
 perplexed to know if they are truly converted; 
 and are kept the longer in suspense, because they 
 overlook the ordinary scriptural method of con- 
 firmation. They expect to know it by some ex- 
 traordinary sensation suddenly impressed upon 
 their minds. But besides that there have been 
 many instances in which this expected evi- 
 dence has been counterfeited, and a ground- 
 less confidence has been placed in a delusion 
 or vain imagination (to the hurt of many, if 
 not to their overthrow), even when they are 
 from the gracious Spirit of God, they are for 
 the most part transient; and when a different 
 frame takes place, the believer is often tempt- 
 ed to question the reality of what went before. 
 I think therefore the testimony of an enlighten- 
 ed conscience, judging by the word of God, 
 and deciding in our favour, that by his grace 
 we have been enabled to take up the yoke of 
 Christ, is in some respects a more satisfactory 
 evidence, that we are his, and that he is ours, 
 than if an angel was sent from heaven to tell 
 us, that our names are written in the book 
 of life. 
 
 2. The promise of the peculiar manifesta- 
 tion of his love (John. xiv. 21.), is made 
 and restricted to those who walk in the path 
 of obedience. If the discoveries the Lord is 
 pleased sometimes to make of himself to the 
 soul, are not the proper and direct evidences of 
 a state of grace, they are however exceedingly 
 desirable. Whoever has tasted the sweets of 
 that water of life, cannot but long for repeated 
 draughts. When he lifts up the light of his 
 countenance upon the soul, then is love, joy, 
 and peace within, however dark and distress- 
 ing things may be without. But this desir- 
 able presence can only be expected, while we 
 bear his yokq, and walk in his steps. If we 
 turn aside into forbidden paths, if we decline 
 or dishonour the profession of his truth, we 
 grieve the Holy Spirit, on whose communica- 
 tions our comforts are suspended; we give the 
 enemies of our souls encouragement to assault 
 us, and are in danger of falling from one 
 wickedness to another, without the power of 
 withstanding either the greatest or the smallest 
 temptation, till the Lord is pleased to turn 
 again to our assistance. In such a situation 
 there can be no rest. “ But he that walketh 
 uprightly, walketh surely, and findeth rest,” 
 Prov. x. 9. 
 
 And true rest is no otherwise to be obtain- 
 ed. Those of you who refuse the yoke of 
 Christ, well know in yourselves that you are 
 far from rest. Your experience agrees with 
 this declaration in the prophet : ** There is no 
 peace, saith my God, to the wicked,” Isa. lvii. 
 21. In what respect will you dare to pretend 
 that you have the advantage of those who bear 
 the yoke of Christ? 
 
 We allow, the profession of the gospel is 
 subject to inconveniences, but surely not to so 
 
 many as you meet with who are ashamed, oi 
 afraid, or averse to maintain it. If those who 
 are of your household are not your foes on 
 this account, yet we can see how it fares with 
 those who live without the fear of God. How 
 many, and how r sharp are your trials from dis- 
 obedient children, unfaithful servants, false 
 friendships, ungoverned passions, and unsa- 
 tisfied desires ! Nor do you save anything in 
 point of character, not even with those by whom 
 you are most desirous to be esteemed. They 
 cannot indeed reproach you with being a be- 
 liever, but may they not, do they not reproach 
 and despise you for being a drunkard, or a 
 liar, or a miser, or an extortioner ? And is 
 this more honourable than to suffer shame for 
 the cause of Christ? 
 
 Do the precepts of Christ seem hard ? Cer- 
 tainly not so hard as that miserable bondage 
 you are under to Satan, the god of this world, 
 who works in you, and rules over you at his 
 will. He will not allow you to listen to the 
 united remonstrances of conscience, health, 
 interest, and reputation. But you are hurried 
 on in his drudgery, 1 constrained, like a mill- 
 horse, to toil in the same tedious round of 
 folly and sin, though you are aware of the 
 consequences and wages beforehand. How 
 absurd is it for you to boast of your freedom, 
 while you are compelled to rush into present 
 misery, and to dare your eternal ruin, with 
 your eyes open ! 
 
 And how greatly are you to be pitied under 
 the many unavoidable afflictions of life, to 
 which you are equally liable with the servants 
 of Christ ! When your idols are torn from 
 you, when sickness seizes you, or death stares 
 you in the face, then how do you fret and 
 pine ! how many are your fears and alarms r 
 Then you are your own tormentors. The re- 
 view of the past affords you only shame and 
 regret. If you look forward to the future, 
 you are filled with forboding fears and dis- 
 tressing apprehensions ; you are weary of liv- 
 ing and afraid to die. 
 
 Why then will you continue thus, when Je- 
 sus says, “ Come unto me, that you may have 
 rest ?” O may he incline your hearts this day 
 to hear his voice ! Have you been hardened 
 in your evil ways by a suspicion that your 
 case is desperate, that it is now too late, and 
 that he whom you have so often rejected will 
 refuse you mercy ? Beware of such a thought : 
 “ There is foregiveness with him,” Ps. exxx. 
 4. “ Behold, now is the accepted time ; be- 
 
 hold, now is the day of salvation.” He is 
 gracious to pardon and mighty to save ; only 
 acknowledge your offences, and throw down 
 the arms of your rebellion. He is mighty 
 to save, and no less willing than able. As 
 yet there is hope, but who can tell how long 
 his patience may bear with you ? Take no- 
 tice of that awful denunciation, “ He that 
 being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall 
 suddenly be destroyed, and that without re- 
 
SER. XIII. 
 
 THE SERVICE OF CHRIST, &C. 387 
 
 medy,” Prov. xxix. I. If you seek him to- 
 day with all your hearts, you shall find him. 
 But who can answer for to-morrow ? To- 
 morrow, or to-night, your souls may be re- 
 quired of you ; or, if your lives are spared, 
 you may be given up to judicial and incurable 
 hardness of heart. If his Spirit should cease 
 from striving with you, you are lost for ever. 
 
 SERMON XIII. 
 
 THE SERVICE OF CHRIST EASY AND PLEASANT. 
 
 For my yolte is easy, and my burden is light. 
 
 Matth. xi 30. 
 
 This verse alone, if seriously attended to, 
 might convince multitudes, that though they 
 bear the name of Christians, and are found 
 among the Lord’s worshipping people, they 
 are as yet entire strangers to the religion of 
 the gospel. Can it be supposed that our Lord 
 would give a false character of his yoke ? If 
 not, how can any dream that they are his fol- 
 lowers while they account a life of commu- 
 nion with God, and entire devotedness to his 
 service, to be dull and burdensome ? Those, 
 however, who have made the happy trial, find 
 it to be such a burden as wings are to a bird. 
 Far from complaining of it, they are con- 
 vinced that there is no real pleasure attainable 
 in any other way. 
 
 What the yoke of Christ is, we have already 
 considered. It includes the profession of his 
 gospel, obedience to his precepts, and submis- 
 sion to his will under every dispensation. But 
 since it is confessed that a sinful nature and a 
 sinful world will bring many difficulties, trials, 
 and temptations upon all who walk in this 
 way, it may be worth our while to inquire 
 more particularly what there is in the yoke of 
 Christ that overpowers all these hardships, 
 and makes such amends for every suffering, 
 that, upon the whole, every believer will sub- 
 scribe to this as a sure and experienced truth, 
 that the “ yoke is easy, and the burden light.” 
 
 I. Those who bear the yoke of Christ act 
 from a principle which makes all things easy. 
 This is love. It is said of Jacob, that when 
 he served a hard master seven years for Ra- 
 chel, they seemed to him but a few days, for 
 the love which he bare her, Gen. xxix. 20. 
 And many of you find it easy to do much for 
 your parents, children, and friends, because 
 you love them. But there is no love like 
 that which a redeemed sinner bears to him who 
 “ has loved him, and washed him from his sins 
 in his own blood.” Farther, love produces the 
 greatest effects when it is mutual. We are 
 willing to do and suffer much to gain the af- 
 fection of a person we regard, though we are 
 not sure of success ; but when the affection is 
 reciprocal, it adds strength to every motive. 
 
 Now, the believer does not love at uncertain- 
 ties : ne knows that Jesus loved him first, 
 loved him when he was in a state of enmity 
 (1 John iv. 19) ; and that nothing but the ma- 
 nifestation and power of this love could have 
 taught his hard, unfeeling heart to love hiir 
 whom he never saw, 1 Pet. i. 8. This love, 
 therefore, affords two sweet and powerful en- 
 couragements in service. 
 
 1. A cordial desire to please. Love does 
 what it can, and is only sorry that it can do 
 no more. We seldom think much, as I have 
 hinted already, either of time, pains, or ex- 
 pense, when the heart is warmly engaged. 
 The world, who understand not this heart- 
 felt spring of true religion, think it strange 
 that the believer will not run into the same 
 excess of riot with them, 1 Pet. iv. 4. They 
 wonder what pleasure he can find in secret 
 prayer, in reading and hearing the word of 
 God ; they pity the poor man who has such a 
 melancholy turn, and gravely advise him not 
 to carry things too far. But the believer can 
 give them a short answer in the apostle’s 
 words : “ The love of Christ constrains me,’ 
 
 2 Cor. v. 1 4. His ruling passion is the same 
 with theirs, which makes his pursuit no less 
 uniform and abiding ; but the objects are as 
 different as light from darkness. They love 
 the perishing pleasures of sin, the mammon 
 of unrighteousness, and the praise of men ; 
 but he loves Jesus. 
 
 2. A pleasing assurance of acceptance. If 
 we know not whether what we do will be fa- 
 vourably received or not, it makes us remiss 
 and indifferent. But this animates the Lord’s 
 people; they are assured, that he will not 
 overlook the smallest services or sufferings 
 they are engaged in for his sake. He has 
 told them in his word, That if they give 
 but a cup of cold water in his name, and on 
 his account, he will accept and acknowledge 
 it, as if it were done immediately to himself, 
 Mark ix. 41. 
 
 II. It makes a service still more easy and 
 pleasant, if besides acting from a principle of 
 love, the service itself is agreeable to our in- 
 clination. Esau would probably have done 
 any thing to please his father, in hopes of ob- 
 taining the blessing ; but no command could 
 please him more than to be sent for venison, 
 because he was a cunning hunter, and his 
 pleasure lay in that way, Gen. xxv. 27. and 
 xxvii. 3. Now, the believer has received a 
 new nature; so that the Lord’s command- 
 ments are not grievous to him, but he delights 
 in them with his whole heart. It is true, he 
 groans under remaining corruptions ; and this 
 is properly his burden, not the service of 
 Christ, which he approves and delights in, but 
 because he can serve him no better. So far as 
 faith is in exercise, he rejoices in every part of 
 the yoke of Christ. He glories in the profes 
 sion of his name. He has made Moses 
 choice ; he prefers even the reproach of Chris* 
 
SLR. XIII 
 
 THE SLRVICE OE CHRIST 
 
 388 
 
 to all the honours of the world (Heb. xi. 26.) ; [ 
 and has a measure of that spirit, by which the | 
 apostles were enabled to rejoice that they were 
 counted worthy to suffer shame for his name, 
 Acts v. 41. He heartily consents to the pre- 
 cepts ; he esteems them as a light to his feet ; 
 he makes them his meditation all the day. 
 Nothing pleases him more than to find an in- 
 creasing victory over the hindrances to his o- 
 bedience ; and the time of his greatest grief 
 is, when, through infirmity, or the prevalence 
 of temptation, he is seduced to neglect or 
 transgress them, though in the smallest in- 
 stance, and in what does not pass under hu- 
 man observation. Even afflictions, though 
 not joyous in themselves, but grievous, are 
 cheerfully submitted to, because the Lord has 
 appointed them, and is pleased to account 
 them a filling up of his sufferings, Col. i. 24. 
 
 HI. In other cases, even when there is a 
 principle of love, and the service not disagree- 
 able in itself, yet weakness may render it 
 wearisome or impracticable. Though perhaps 
 you w T ould willingly take a long journey to 
 serve a friend ; yet if you are sick or lame, 
 what could you do ? But the yoke of Christ 
 ib light and easy in this respect, that there is a 
 sufficiency of strength provided for the perfor- 
 mance. This consideration makes every dif- 
 ficulty vanish ; for though these should be in- 
 creased tenfold, yet if strength be increased in 
 an equal proportion, it amounts to the same 
 thing. What is hard or impossible to a child, 
 is easy to a man ; what is hard to flesh and 
 blood, is easy to faith and grace. The believer, 
 though weak in himself, is strong in the Lord. 
 The power on which he depends is not in his 
 own keeping ; but it is treasured up in the 
 covenant of grace, or in the Lord Jesus, in 
 whom all fulness dwells, and is always to be 
 obtained by prayer. Every child of God is 
 interested in the blessing of Asher : “ Thy 
 shoes shall be iron and brass ; and as thy day 
 is, so shall thy strength be,” Deut. xxxiii. 25. 
 By the day may be understood, 
 
 1. A day of service. Whatever the Lord 
 appoints for us to do, if we depend upon him 
 in the use of appointed means, he will certain- 
 ly qualify, furnish, and strengthen us, for the 
 accomplishment of it. If David is called out 
 to meet Goliah, though he is but a stripling 
 (1 Sam. xvii. 37.), and the other a practised 
 warrior from his youth, he shall not be dis- 
 heartened or overcome, but be made a conquer- 
 or though all appearances are against him. If 
 we are in the path of duty, and if our help 
 and hope is in the name of the Lord, we may 
 confidently expect that he will uphold us, 
 however faint and enfeebled we may seem to 
 be to ourselves or others. 
 
 2. A day ot suffering. If, like Daniel and 
 his companions, w’e should be threatened with 
 lions and flames, we may confidently commit 
 our w r ay to God ; he can controul the fire, and 
 stop the lions mouth, Dan. iii. 16. and vi. 
 
 | 22; Psal. xci. 13; 2 Tim. iv. 17 While 
 j all things are in his hands, whose we are, and 
 whom w r e serve, why should we fear that they 
 will act beyond the bounds of his permission, 
 or that he will permit them to do any thing 
 which is not his purpose to over-rule to his 
 advantage ? Such considerations in the hour 
 of need, seasonably impressed by his good 
 Spirit, together with a trust in his promises, 
 shall inspire us with new strength to meet the 
 greatest danger undismayed ; and with regard 
 to trials immediately from his own gracious 
 hand, he will so adjust them, in number, sea- 
 son, weight, and measure, to the ability he 
 communicates, that we both shall be able to 
 bear, and also find away made for us to escape. 
 With such assurances, we may boldly say, 
 “ The Lord is on my side, I will not fear 
 what man (or Satan) can do untome.” 
 
 IV. There is further, a consideration of 
 profit and advantage, which makes the yoke 
 of Christ easy. The believing soul is not 
 mercenary. He loves his master and his ser- 
 vice ; yet it is impossible to serve God for 
 nought. In the keeping of his command- 
 ments, there is a reward, though not of debt, 
 yet of grace (Psal. xix. II.): A great and 
 sure reward, respecting both the life that now 
 is, and that which is to come. 
 
 Those who sincerely take up the yoke of 
 Christ, and cleave to him in love alone, have 
 ample compensation in the present life for all 
 that their profession can cost them. They en- 
 joy the testimony of a good conscience, which 
 is compared to a continual feast. St. Paul, 
 though a champion for free grace, and deter- 
 mined to glory only in the excellency of the 
 knowledge of Christ Jesus (2 Cor. i. 12.), ex- 
 presses a high and just value for this privilege ; 
 and that it afforded comfort, yea joy, in a time 
 of trouble. Superadded to this, they are of- 
 ten favoured with the peculiar consolations of 
 the Holy Spirit, which, though slightly es- 
 teemed by those who know them not, satisfy 
 the soul as with marrow and fatness, and can 
 change the voice of mourning into songs of 
 praise in an instant, Psal- lxiii. 3. And though 
 these are not their constant food, yet they have 
 real and habitual communion with God, from 
 day to day, in his ordinances and providences. 
 They live in his presence ; they converse with 
 him, and he with them ; their good things are 
 doubly pleasing, because they receive them 
 from his hand ; and this thought likewise 
 sweetens every bitter cup of affliction which 
 he prepares for their good. The mutual in- 
 tercourse and communion his people have with 
 each other, is likewise a considerable branch 
 of their present reward. How pleasing is it, 
 when speaking to each other in his name, 
 they take sweet counsel together ! they are 
 confirmed in his way, by finding how their 
 experiences answer as face to face in a glass; 
 and he causes their hearts to burn within them, 
 while they are freely declaring what he has 
 
SEE. XIII. 
 
 EASY AND 
 
 done for their souls. Lastly, they are happy 
 in a comfortable expectation of a better world, 
 (Gen. xix. 18.); and when the appointed time 
 comes, death will put an end to all their 
 troubles ; and then shall they fully know and 
 possess the future reward which the Lord has 
 prepared and reserved for them that love him. 
 
 This is briefly summed up by the apostle : 
 They shall be absent from the body (2 Cor. v. 
 8), and all its inseparable evils; sin and sorrow, 
 want, pain, and every distress that bel-ongs to 
 this mortal state, shall affect them no more ; 
 and they shall be present with the Lord, whom 
 they love. Then they shall see his face with- 
 out a cloud, and share his joy without abate- 
 ment or interruption ; and all this shall be for 
 ever. When they are made pillars of the new 
 Jerusalem (Rev. iii. 12; 1 Thess. iv. 17.), 
 they shall come out no more. The pros- 
 pect of this makes them rejoice under all their 
 tribulations ; for they know whereto they lead, 
 and how they will end. “ These light and 
 momentary afflictions are working for them a 
 far more exceeding and eternal weight of 
 glory,” 2 Cor. iv. 17. 
 
 From these things I hope it will appear that 
 the yoke of Christ is easy. His people serve 
 him because they love him ; they love his ways : 
 he is their strength ; he comforts them now, 
 and will be their portion for ever. 
 
 But perhaps some, whom I would willingly 
 comfort, will rather be discouraged by this re- 
 presentation, and say, Alas ! if it is thus, I am 
 yet to seek. My love is so faint, my strength 
 so feeble, my consolations so small, my obe- 
 dience so imperfect, that I am afraid I have 
 not known the easy yoke of Christ. There 
 are therefore some other things to be taken 
 into the account, and which are no just ex- 
 ception to the character our Lord here gives 
 of his yoke. 
 
 1. The entrance, or first application of the 
 mind to the yoke, or profession of the gospel, 
 is seldom pleasant. Though the work of 
 grace leads to love, it usually begins in fear. 
 On this point we have already spoken at large. 
 It is no pleasing state to be weary and heavy 
 laden, to see ourselves obnoxious to a curse, 
 and unable to escape ; yet, by apprehensions 
 of this kind, the soul is prepared to embrace 
 the yoke of Christ ; and none but those who 
 have experienced the misery of a fallen state, 
 will be truly desirous of the gospel-rest. 
 
 2. The progress is gradual. The first dawn- 
 ings of grace in the heart are faint, and hardly 
 perceptible ; hence the whole process is com- 
 pared to things that are very inconsiderable in 
 their first principles. The kingdom of hea- 
 ven is like a grain of mustard seed, which is 
 hid and lost in the earth for a season ; it is 
 like leaven, which when cast into meal may 
 be concealed and unnoticed for a while, but 
 by degrees diffuses its influence through the 
 whole mass (Matth. xiii. 31, 33); it is like 
 the corn, which springs up and comt'« 
 
 PLEASANT. 389 
 
 ward night and day, a man knows not how» 
 Mark iv. 27. The growth in the Christian 
 life being thus slow and indistinct, many w r ho 
 aim to ascertain their interest rather by the 
 degree than the reality of grace, are often de- 
 jected to find their attainments proceed no 
 faster. It is indeed a humbling considera- 
 tion, but ought not to rob us of the comfort 
 arising from a believing view of what Jesus 
 has completely wrought out for us, and of 
 what he has promised he will infallibly per- 
 form in us, in his own good time. A deliver- 
 ance from this poring into ourselves for the 
 grounds of our hope, is a part, a considerable 
 part of the rest to which he invites us. 
 
 3. The difficulties attendant on that course 
 of faith and obedience, which is included in 
 taking his yoke upon us, are many and great. 
 While we sojourn in a wilderness-state, and 
 in a sinful nature, there will be fightings 
 without and fears within. It is the appointed 
 and necessary rule of our profession, that 
 “ through much tribulation we must enter 
 into the kingdom of God,” Acts xiv. 22. All 
 who are against him w ill be against us for his 
 sake, and the evil heart of unbelief will shew 
 itself in a variety of forms, as it is acted upon 
 by various impressions, from the things of 
 sense and the pow r ers of darkness. But these 
 troubles do not arise from the spiritual yoke 
 of Christ, but from our present situation and 
 circumstances, and shall therefore shortly 
 cease for ever. Ilis ways are ways of plea- 
 santness, though we are sure to meet with 
 perplexity and uneasiness, so far and so often 
 as we winder from them into our owm crooked 
 paths. But, 
 
 4. The end is sure. “ He that endureth 
 to the end shall be saved” (Matth. x. 22) ; 
 and all w r ho are in his w f ay, have his promise 
 and power engaged in their behalf, that they 
 shall certainly endure, that he will so lead, 
 guide, support, and strengthen them, that 
 neither life nor death, nor things present nor 
 things to come, shall separate them from his 
 love, Rom. viii. 38. Your complaints and 
 fears, therefore, are no proof that you are 
 not right. Go on, in his name. Trust in 
 him in whom you have believed, and be no- 
 thing terrified by your adversaries. The 
 longer you wear the yoke, the easier you will 
 find it. 
 
 Let each one examine himself by w-hat has 
 been offered. If you have not a principle of 
 true love to Christ, and a prevailing desire 
 to live in all holy obedience to his will, you 
 are no Christian ; and, though you may begin 
 warmly, you will not be able to hold out, but 
 your profession will wither away for want of 
 root and moisture. Nor is it difficult to know 
 w r hether you love him or no ; if you do, you 
 have seen your need of him, and abhor your- 
 self in dust and ashes. 
 
 From hence likewise you may discern the 
 difference between the religion of the gospel 
 
390 BELIEVERS CAUTIONED AGAINST SER. XIV 
 
 and the, formal worship that many are con- 
 tented with, in which the heart has no place. 
 Remember that “ God is a Spirit” (John iv. 
 24), and unless you love him, you cannot pos- 
 sibly please him. If a man would give all the 
 substance of his house for love, it would be 
 utterly contemned. His commandments like- 
 wise are spiritual ; they extend beyond the 
 surface of the outer conduct, and take cog- 
 nisance even of the retired thoughts and in- 
 tents of the heart. Many sins may be a- 
 voided, and many duties performed, from 
 motives and principles which, not being de- 
 rived from his word, or conformable to it, are 
 therefore sinful in themselves, and make every 
 thing proceeding from them defective and dis- 
 pleasing in his sight. If you are attempting 
 to serve him by your own natural strength and 
 understanding, be assured that you have not 
 yet taken up the yoke of Christ ; if you had, 
 you would find it answerable to the character 
 he has given of it, for his word is truth. But 
 your constrained obedience you know in your- 
 selves, far from being easy and light, is a heavy 
 burden, which you would be glad to cast off 
 if you durst. You serve the Lord as a slave 
 serves a hard master, not with a willing mind, 
 but of necessity, and from a dread of punish- 
 ment. But in vain do you draw near to him 
 with your lips while your heart is far from 
 him. Therefore spend no longer your labour 
 for that which is not bread, but come to Je- 
 sus, that you may find rest for your souls. He 
 is able to take away your heart of stone and 
 give you a heart of flesh, to put a new spirit 
 in you that shall delight in his yoke, to give 
 you strength and ability for every part of 
 your duty, and to make you a willing people 
 in the day of his power. 
 
 Believers, rejoice in your security. The 
 Lord has given you a never-dying principle 
 of love, and provided for you a never-failing 
 supply of grace. These will bear you up 
 through all your journey, and at last bring 
 you safely home to the mansions provided for 
 you in your Father’s house. Then shall you 
 praise him, world without end. 
 
 SERMON XIV. 
 
 BELIEVERS CAUTIONED AGAINST MISCONDUCT 
 IN THEIR PROFESSION. 
 
 Let not your good be evil spoken of 
 
 Rom. xiv. 16 . 
 
 The immediate occasion of this caution you 
 may learn from the context. It has pleased 
 God from the beginning, to permit his people, 
 who all agree in the great and essential truths 
 of the gospel, to differ in some things of less 
 importance. This difference of judgment 
 
 gives room for the mutual exercise of pa- 
 tience, forbearance, tenderness, and charity, 
 but, at the same time, too often affords op- 
 portunity for the remaining corruptions of the 
 heart to discover and exert themselves. The 
 Jewish converts were for some time attached 
 to the observance of that distinction in meats 
 and drinks which had been enjoyed by the law 
 of Moses : the Gentiles, on the contrary, claim- 
 ed a right to be free from this yoke, as a part 
 of the liberty which they had received from 
 Christ. The apostle does not in this place 
 blame either party with respect to their own 
 judgment and practice ; but he reproves them 
 for censuring and despising each other, and 
 he especially reproves those who understood 
 their liberty in the gospel, for not being pru- 
 dent in the use of it, but rather forward to 
 provoke and offend their weaker brethren. 
 He confirms their liberty, but admonishes 
 them not to abuse it, either by urging others 
 to act against their consciences, or by treating 
 them with contempt, because they had not en- 
 tirely laid aside these scruples and prejudices to 
 which they had been long accustomed. “ Let 
 not your good be evil spoken of.” Be thank- 
 ful for your liberty, but do not bring it into 
 discredit and reproach, by acting in an unbe- 
 coming spirit towards others. 
 
 The instruction in my text, understood in 
 this sense, has always been applicable and 
 seasonable in the Christian church, and per- 
 haps never more so than in our land and in 
 our times. While believers in Jesus, who are 
 led by the same Spirit into the same funda- 
 mental truths, and stand in the most endeared 
 relation to each other through their common 
 Head, place such undue stress upon lesser in- 
 cidental differences, and are professed parti- 
 sans for the little interests of systems, deno- 
 minations, and leaders, love, the grand cha- 
 racteristic of their profession, is hardly dis- 
 cernable ; they censure and grieve each other, 
 retard the success of the cause which they 
 would all be thought to have most at heart, 
 and open the mouths of the adversaries to re. 
 vile that which they understand not. The 
 prevalence of this wrong disposition calls for 
 the admonition in my^text. Be thankful for 
 your privileges ; you not only claim the rights 
 of private judgment and liberty of conscience, 
 as men and as Christians, but as Britons you 
 possess them. “ Let not then your good be 
 evil spoken of ;” allow to others that freedom 
 which you expect yourselves ; and, if you do 
 not suppose yourselves infallible, suppose it 
 possible that some maybe as near to the Lord 
 as yourselves, who cannot agree with you in 
 every sentiment you have adopted. 
 
 Bu»t this direction may be taken in a much 
 more general sense. It behoves all who ho- 
 nour the Lord Jesus Christ to be careful in 
 every part of their conduct, that they do not 
 give occasion for their good to be evil spoken 
 
SER. XIV. 
 
 MISCONDUCT IN 1 
 
 of. To make the subject as suitable as I can 
 to the different states and characters of all 
 present, I shall, 
 
 1. Inquire what is the believer’s good. 
 
 2. Explain and apply the advice here given, 
 
 “ Let not your good be evil spoken of.” 
 
 I. All mankind have something near at 
 heart, on which their dependence is placed, 
 and wherein they find their chief pleasure. 
 This (whatever it is) is their good ; and, ac- 
 cording to the object in which they delight, is 
 their proper character. By nature the world 
 and worldly things are the highest good we 
 seek after ; and these, in one view or other, as 
 tempers and situations vary, are pursued with 
 unwearied earnestness. Riches, honours, sin- 
 ful pleasures, are the poor things in view, 
 when the unrenewed heart cries out, in its 
 eager pursuits, “ Who will shew us any 
 good?” Psal. iv. 6 . If your strongest de- 
 sires tend this way, your good will not be evil 
 spoken of by many. Men will praise you 
 when you do well for yourself; you are not 
 therefore concerned in the admonition of my 
 text. Only take notice what the word of 
 God declares of your good, and of you for 
 accounting it so. Your good is vanity, your 
 fruit is vexation of spirit, and you who set 
 your hearts on such a good as the objects of 
 sense can furnish, are adjudged “enemies to 
 God,” James iv. 4. You yourselves will 
 speak evil of this good when you come to die, 
 if you die in your sins. Then you will see a 
 propriety in Esau’s words to your own case, 
 “ Behold, I am at the point to die, and what 
 profit shall this birthright do to me ?” Gen. 
 xxv. 23. 
 
 As the world is the good of the unconvert- 
 ed, so a covenant God in Christ is the good 
 and portion of all who are called by his grace. 
 They are ever looking to the obedience and 
 blood of Jesus, applied by the Spirit of grace, 
 as the sole foundation of their hope and com- 
 fort. God is their good in the highest sense, 
 and every thing else is good, so far as it leads 
 to him, and assists them in maintaining com- 
 munion with him. In this view we may men- 
 tion several particulars, each of which they ac- 
 count their good, because the means of enjoy- 
 ing and glorifying their God. 
 
 1. The gospel, that gracious revelation by 
 which they have been taught to know them- 
 selves, and to know Jesus, is their good. All 
 the doctrines, precepts, and promises, con- 
 tained in the scriptures, are a very precious 
 treasure, in which they rejoice more than those 
 who find great spoil. Each of them can say, 
 in the language of the Psalmist, “ The law of 
 thy mouth is dearer to me than thousands of 
 gold and silver How sweet are thy words unto 
 my taste, yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth! 
 O how love I thy law ! It is my meditation 
 all the day long,” Psal. cxix. 72, 97, 103. 
 By this word they are enlightened, quickened, 
 warned, comforted, and supported ; therefore 
 
 HEIR PROFESSION. 391 
 
 it is the joy and rejoicing of their hearts, and 
 more than their necessary food, Job xxiii. 1 2. 
 
 2. The ordinances make a part of their 
 good. A famine of the word of the Lord 
 would distress them greatly ; and if they may 
 but have frequent opportunities of this kind, 
 and meet with his gracious presence in them, 
 they can be content to be without many things 
 which the men of this world highly value. 
 When beset with many straits, and surround- 
 ed with troubles, they can find refreshment 
 in the Lord’s assurance by the prophet, “ And 
 though the Lord give you the bread of ad- 
 versity, and the water of affliction, yet shall 
 not thy teachers be removed into a corner any 
 more ; but thine eyes shall see thy teachers,” 
 Isa. xxx. 20. If this promise is fulfilled to 
 them, they will not greatly complain of the 
 bread of adversity, although that is joined 
 with it. But on the contrary, they find it a 
 hard trial to be deprived of lively ordinances 
 and faithful ministers, however advantageous 
 and pleasing their situation may be in tem- 
 poral things, because these are not their good. 
 
 3. They account their profession a part of 
 their good. They esteem it a high privilege to 
 bear the name of Christ, though it exposes 
 them to the reproach of the world. They ac- 
 count it a great and important trust to have 
 the honour of the gospel committed to them, 
 and in some measure dependent on their con- 
 duct. When they are in their right minds, 
 they would rather die than be guilty of any 
 thing that might bring it into discredit. Wil- 
 fully they cannot, they dare not do it; but 
 through ignorance and infirmity they are 
 prone to mistake, and therefore need, and are 
 desirous to observe, the caution in my text. 
 
 4. Their experiences are their good, their 
 choice pearls ; I mean, the inward dealings of 
 the Lord with their souls : the proofs they 
 have had of his power and wisdom in bring- 
 ing them thus far safely on their way to his 
 kingdom, the discoveries he has given them of 
 the deceitfulness of their own hearts, the 
 manifestations of his grace, love, and nearness 
 to them, notwithstanding all their unworthi- 
 ness and unfaithfulness. Some of these ex- 
 periences have cost them dear, have cost them 
 many a pang, trouble, and conflict ; yet they 
 would not be without them to avoid all that 
 they have suffered; and they are content to 
 suffer on, if by any means they may increase 
 this precious stock. They delight to recollect 
 how low they were brought, how wonderfully 
 delivered, what answers they have been fa- 
 voured with to their poor prayers ; and from 
 hence to collect the all-sufficiency and good- 
 ness of him to whom they have fled for re- 
 fuge, and to derive arguments wherewith to 
 combat their unbelieving fears in time to 
 come. Thus far their experiences are their 
 good ; not as the foundation of their hope, or 
 the source of their comfort, for these their 
 whole reliance is on the obedience and blood 
 
SEA. XIV 
 
 BELIEVERS CAUTIONED AGAINST 
 
 392 
 
 of Jesus the Saviour ; but as evidences, that 
 they have neither “ followed cunningly-devis- 
 ed fables, nor received the grace of God in 
 vain,” 2 Pet. i. 16. ; 2 Cor. vi. 1. 
 
 Thus much in general, that you may all 
 have something whereby to try your spirits, 
 and to know whether you have embraced the 
 good of the Lord’s chosen people, Psal. cvi. 
 4, 5. If your good does not lie in such 
 things as I have mentioned, you have no dur- 
 able riches, nothing but what you must soon 
 leave behind you. Can you be content to be 
 stript of all, and to enter poor, naked, and 
 friendless, into an eternal world ? O that you 
 would take our Lord’s advice ! He might 
 command, for he has all authority : but he 
 says, “ I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried 
 in the fire, that thou mayest be rich : and 
 white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, 
 and that the shame of thy nakedness do not 
 appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, 
 that thou mayest see,” Rev. iii. 18. 
 
 But some there are whose hearts can go 
 along with me in what I have said. The great 
 God himself is your good. His word and 
 ordinances, your profession of his name, and 
 your experience of his goodness, are what 
 you rejoice in. To you, then, I address the 
 rest of my discourse. “ Let not your good 
 be evil spoken of.” I am, 
 
 II. To explain and apply this advice. The 
 words plainly imply two things : 
 
 1. That there are many ready enough to 
 speak evil of your good : many who despise 
 the gospel, and you for professing it ; they 
 watch for your halting, and will be glad of 
 the smallest occasion to expose you. The 
 world, that loves its own, will make allow- 
 ances in other cases. Indiscretions, and even 
 vices, will be charged to the account of human 
 infirmity, and the amiable name of candour 
 shall be employed to conceal or palliate such 
 things as can by no means be justified. But 
 if you are a professed believer in Jesus, you 
 must not expect this candour will be extend- 
 ed to you ; rather, all your vrords and actions 
 will be sifted, your mistakes exaggerated ; 
 and if any part of your conduct will bear a 
 double construction, it will generally be view- 
 ed in the most unfavourable light. Nay, 
 even when there is no just occasion afforded, 
 falsehoods and calumnies have been, and will 
 be, industriously propagated against the ser- 
 vants of Christ, Matth. v. 11. That it must 
 be so, we are often warned by scripture, and 
 it is abundantly confirmed by experience. 
 
 2. That though it is impossible wholly to 
 stop the mouths of evil-minded men, yet they 
 would not be able to talk so fast if the impru- 
 dence of believers did not too often afford 
 them advantage. That such occasions should 
 sometimes be given by those whose hearts and 
 aims are in the main sincere, will not be 
 thought strange to any person who is ac- 
 quainted with the true state of human nature. 
 
 Through inadvertence, want of experience, 
 errors of judgment, sudden and unexpected 
 temptations, and other evils inseparable from 
 our present situation, persons, whose chief 
 desire is to adorn the doctrine of their God 
 and Saviour in all things, may, and do, in 
 some instances cause their good to be evil 
 spoken of. It is, however, our bounden 
 d -ty, as we regard the honour of God and his 
 truth, to endeavour as much as possible to 
 cut off occasion from them that seek occasion 
 in this respect, 2 Cor. xi. 12. . 1 Pet. ii. 
 12 . 
 
 In order to this, let us inquire, what are the 
 most common objections which are made a- 
 gainst the gospel preaching and profession, 
 not only by malicious enemies, but sometimes 
 by persons who discover no very bad inten- 
 tion, but are partly imposed upon by the mis- 
 representations of others, and partly stumbled 
 by the faults of professors ? 
 
 1st, It is objected, that our doctrine lays 
 no sufficient stress upon good works. We 
 dare not indeed recommend them out of their 
 proper place, or propose them as the ground 
 of our acceptance with God. But I hope 
 none who attend here will dare to say, that 
 they are not frequently reminded, that “ with- 
 out holiness no man shall see the Lord,” Heb. 
 xii. 14. However, the world will judge more 
 by what they see in you, than by what they 
 hear from me. Be upon your guard, there- 
 fore, lest by any instances of a trifling, fool- 
 ish, unkind, or unjust conduct, you let your 
 good be evil spoken of. It will not be a 
 sufficient apology to say, that your principles 
 do not allow of these things, if those who 
 know you can charge them upon your prac- 
 tice. 
 
 2dly, It is farther objected, that the evan- 
 gelical system is a scheme chiefly made up of 
 notions and subtle distinctions, and opens a 
 door to a thousand disputes. This is one un- 
 happy consequence of our many divisions and 
 subdivisions, and the heat with which they are 
 contended for by their respective partisans. 
 Let this engage you to avoid a disputing con- 
 tentious spirit. “ Be swift to hear, slow to 
 speak” (James i. 19.); and when a reason is 
 asked “ of the hope that is in you” (1 Pet. 
 iii. 15.), give your answers with meekness 
 and fear, lest you cause your good to be evil 
 spoken of. 
 
 3dly, It is likewise a very common objec- 
 tion, that an usual effect of this doctrine, is 
 to make people idle and careless with regard 
 to the necessary concerns and business of life. 
 Indeed I should not be unwilling to plead 
 with candid and fair reasoners, in behalf ct 
 young converts, on this point. At first set- 
 ting out, the change is so great, their views of 
 eternal things so strong and affecting, that, 
 considering human infirmity, it can hardly 
 be otherwise but that the attention will be al- 
 most entirely taken up with them for a season. 
 
SER. XIV. 
 
 MISCONDUCT IN THEIIt PROFESSION. 
 
 While a sense of unpardoned sin is fixed up- 
 on the conscience and a person now duly a- 
 ware of the uncertainty of life, is in suspence 
 about the greatest of all concerns, and knows 
 not how or whether he shall be able to flee 
 from the wrath to come, it is no wonder if this 
 solicitude should in a great measure swallow 
 up his thoughts, and leave him but little ei- 
 ther leisure or ability to attend to other con- 
 cerns, which, however proper in their respec- 
 tive places, are confessedly, in comparison of 
 this, of little or no importance. In like man- 
 ner, the removal of this burden is usually ac- 
 companied with such a lively sense of the wis- 
 dom, love, power, and grace of God, revealed 
 in Christ Jesus by the gospel, as may for a little 
 while almost overpower and extinguish the 
 apprehension of inferior things. But if this in- 
 difference about common duties continues very 
 long, or is indulged to an extreme, it gives 
 great and just offence. It causes the ways of 
 truth to be evil spoken of, and we hardly 
 know what to say, but this, That the fault is 
 not owing to the gospel, but to the neglect of 
 what the gospel teaches and enjoins. This is 
 no new inconvenience ; the apostles observed 
 and reproved it in their day. There were 
 such mistaken persons among the Thessalo- 
 nians, who supposed or pretended, that the 
 gospel exempted them from labour. Of these 
 he says, “ Now them that are such we exhort 
 and command, that with quietness they work, 
 and eat their own bread j” and farther directs, 
 “ that if they would not work, neither should 
 they eat,” 2 Thess. iii. 10. — 12. The Sab- 
 
 bath is the Lord’s ; and the same commmand' 
 which forbids us to do any work then, re- 
 quires us to labour on the other six days. 
 “ Let not your good be evil spoken of.” Be 
 faithful to your trust, diligent in your busi- 
 ness, do every thing heartily as unto the Lord, 
 and not unto men. Give no one just cause 
 to say, that since you have become religious, 
 you care not (as the phrase is) which end goes 
 foremost ; for this would be to put a stum- 
 bling-block in their way, and to increase their 
 prejudices against the truth. 
 
 4thly, Once more, the gospel-doctrine is 
 charged with weakening the bands of natural 
 and social relation ; that it makes children and 
 servants heady, high-minded, and disobedient, 
 so that they presently think themselves wiser 
 than all about them, and are obstinately bent 
 to have their own wills. This objection will 
 indeed cleave to the gospel, so long as the 
 spirit of the world and the spirit of God are 
 opposite to each other. For cases will inevi- 
 tably arise, where we must either displease 
 God or man, and then we ought not to hesi- 
 tate a moment. But professors should take 
 care to be assured that there is such a neces- 
 sity, before they act against lawful authority ; 
 and especially when the point in dispute lies 
 between children and parents. For though 
 we ought to disobey and forsake father and 
 
 393 
 
 mother when God’s commands require it ; 
 yet next, under God, parents are, above all, 
 to be honoured, consulted, and obeyed ; and 
 the excepted cases are not near so numerous 
 as persons in the warmth of their first zeal are 
 apt to suppose. The enemy suits his temp- 
 tations to occasions ; and it is r<o uncommon 
 thing to be drawn to act violently in our own 
 spirits, while we imagine we are striving in 
 the cause of God and truth. 
 
 In short, we are directed to examine our- 
 selves, and others are allowed to examine us 
 by our fruits. The people of the world are 
 not proper judges of spiritual experiences, 
 but they can judge tolerably right of tempers 
 and actions. Some will watch you out of ill- 
 will, and some will observe you for informa- 
 tion. If they hear you have begun to make 
 a religious profession, they will take notice, 
 to see if you are the better for it. They will 
 observe you not only in the church, but in 
 the shop and in the house ; and if they per- 
 ceive you are all of a piece, steady, quiet, 
 humble, diligent, who knows but this may be 
 a means in the hand of God to win upon 
 them, and to give them a more favourable re- 
 gard to the means which have wrought so ef- 
 fectually on you ? But, on the contrary, if 
 you are imprudent, rash, and careless, if you 
 either conform to the world, or neglect your 
 acknowledged duty in it, you will cause your 
 good to be evil spoken of, bring difficulties 
 upon yourselves, and put it out of your own 
 power to be useful to others. Pray, there 
 fore, for wisdom and grace, to make your 
 light so shine before men, that they, seeing 
 your good works, may glorify your Father 
 who is in heaven. This is the great design 
 and proper effect of the gospel, when rightly 
 understood. For as it is the grace of God 
 alone which bringeth salvation ; so this grace 
 not only enlightens the understanding, but 
 purifies the heart, regulates the conduct, works 
 by love, and overcomes the world. It effec- 
 tually teaches and enforces (what the best 
 schemes of morality and philosophy have al- 
 ways failed in) the denial of all ungodliness 
 and worldly lusts (Tit. ii. 11 — 15.) : and by 
 the motives it displays, and the strength it 
 communicates, enables the true Christian to 
 adorn his character in every relation, and to 
 fill up the whole circle of duty as it respects 
 himself, his neighbour, and the God with 
 whom he has to do. It teaches to live so- 
 berly, righteously, and godly ; to avoid what- 
 ever is contrary to the purity of the gospel ; 
 to practise moderation in the use even of law- 
 ful things ; and to do unto others as we would 
 they should do unto us. It teaches the rich 
 to be humble and bountiful, the poor to be 
 thankful and resigned. It teaches superiors 
 to be kind, inferiors to be faithful. Hus- 
 bands and wives, parents and children, mas- 
 ters and servants, magistrates and people, are 
 all instructed by this grace to a conduct an 
 
394 
 
 swerable to their high calling, and the com- 
 mon relation they stand in to him who has 
 loved them, and washed them from their sins 
 in his own blood. For the morality of the 
 gospel has a nobler spring, and a more exten- 
 sive scope, than the ties of social life. Their 
 sobriety and righteousness are not substituted 
 in the place of vital godliness, but are the 
 fruits derived from it. The grace of God 
 teaches them to live godly, to delight in him, 
 to obey him, to do every thing for his sake, 
 as under his eye, and to be continually go- 
 verned by a sense of his unspeakable love ma- 
 nifested in his Son, and “ an expectation of 
 the blessed hope set before us, the glorious 
 appearance of the great God, and our Saviour 
 Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that 
 by his blood and Spirit he might redeem us 
 from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a 
 peculiar people, zealous of good works.” La- 
 bour to shew, that you are not only called by 
 his name, but have sat at his feet, and drank of 
 his Spirit ; and if, after all, unreasonable and 
 wicked men will speak evil of you and your 
 good, be not moved at it, but pity and pray 
 for them. When he shall return to vindicate 
 your cause, and wipe away your reproach, 
 then “ every cloud shall be removed, and the 
 righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the 
 kingdom of their Father,” Matth. xiii. 43. 
 
 SERMON XV. 
 
 THE EXTENT AND SANCTION OF THE THIRD 
 COMMANDMENT. 
 
 Thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy 
 God in vain : far the Lord will not hold 
 him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. 
 Exod. xx. 7. 
 
 The foundation of true religion is laid in 
 a right knowledge of God and ourselves. 
 How deficient we are in each of these, how 
 far fallen from original righteousness, is 
 strongly implied in this prohibition, which 
 would be wholly unnecessary, if we were not 
 wholly sunk in stupidity and wickedness. 
 That such worms as we should be liable to 
 trifie with the Divine Majesty, whose pre- 
 sence fills the heavens and the earth, before 
 whom the angels hide their faces ; that such 
 frail dependent creatures have need to be cau- 
 tioned, that we do not profane the name of 
 the God in whom we live, and move, and have 
 our being, is a striking proof of our depravi- 
 ty ; and that we can dare to break through 
 this caution, and slight the awful threatening 
 with which it is closed, is a dreadful aggra- 
 vation of our guilt. 
 
 These words, when first spoken to the Is- 
 raelites, were delivered in flames and thun- 
 der. The mountain shook, the people trcm- 
 
 SER. XV, 
 
 bled ; and even Moses, who had been honour- 
 ed with peculiar freedom of access to God, 
 was constrained to cry, “ I exceedingly fear 
 and quake,” Heb. xii. 22. Such a scene, or 
 rather an infinitely more dreadful one, shall 
 hereafter take place, “ when the Lord him- 
 self shall again descend from heaven with a 
 shout, with the voice of the archangel, and 
 the trump of God” ( 1 Thess. iv. 16.) ; “ when 
 he shall be revealed in flaming fire, to take 
 vengeance on all who know him not, and obey 
 not his gospel” (2 Thess. i. 8.) : “ then shall 
 sinners be convinced not only of their ungod- 
 ly deeds, but of all their hard speeches which 
 they have spoken against him” (Jude, 15.); 
 and they shall know the full meaning of that 
 terrible exception which I have read, “ that 
 the Lord wall not hold him guiltless that tak- 
 eth his name in vain.” 
 
 The terms of my text require little expla- 
 nation. The name of God is in every one’s 
 mouth upon one occasion or other, in places 
 where his revealed will is known. In a more 
 eminent and peculiar sense, his name is dis- 
 covered to his believing people in Christ Je- 
 sus the Lord ; those who know the name of 
 God in Christ will put their trust in him 
 (Psal. ix. 10.); they dare not, they cannot, 
 blaspheme that holy name by which they are 
 called. But I shall take it more extensively 
 here ; for though but few understand the 
 name of God in an evangelical and saving 
 sense, there is not a person in this assembly 
 but knows and makes mention of his holy 
 name, so far as to render them transgressors 
 of this commandment. To take his name 
 in vain, is to use it falsely or profanely, in- 
 considerately, without due reverence, or un- 
 profitably, and without a suitable necessity. 
 The sanction, “ The Lord will not hold him 
 guiltless,” has indeed a meaning and empha- 
 sis beyond what is expressed. Similar forms 
 of speak 'ng are frequent in scripture, as, 
 “ The Lord will not spare that man” (Deut. 
 xxix. 20; 2 Pet. ii. 4, 5.); that is, he will 
 punish him to the utmost ; for it is immedi- 
 ately added, “ All the curses of this book 
 shall come upon him.” Again, “ He spared 
 not the angels ;” that is, he shewed them no 
 mercy, as the following words declare : “ He 
 spared not the old world, he visited them 
 with utter destruction, and swept them all 
 away w r ith a flood.” So “ he will not hold 
 him guiltless,” implies two things : 1st, That 
 the Lord God has appointed a day to call 
 sinners to an account for their words, as well 
 as their actions. 2dly, That whatever shall be- 
 come of others, those who have presumed to 
 take his name in vain, have their doom al- 
 ready determined. Whoever escapes, they 
 shall surely be punished; whomsoever he ac- 
 quits, he will certainly condemn them. 
 
 As the import of the expressions is not dif- 
 ficult, so likewise it will be far more easy 
 than agreeable to point out some of the many 
 
 THE EXTENT AND SANCTION 
 
SER. XV. 
 
 ways in which this commandment is custom- 
 arily and carelessly broken. The law is ge- 
 neral, and each particular precept is spiritual 
 ( Rom. vii. 14) ; and perhaps this will be found 
 of a more extensive signification than some of 
 you are aware. The delightful theme of a 
 minister of the gospel is to preach Jesus Christ, 
 and him crucified ; to open the treasures of 
 divine mercy, and to shew the grace, freeness, 
 and security of the promises ; to raise up them 
 that fall, to strengthen those that stand ; “ to 
 support the weak, to comfort the feeble-mind- 
 ed ; to preach deliverance to the captives, and 
 the opening of the prison to them that are 
 bound,” 1 Thess. v. 14.; Luke iv. 18. But 
 these subjects do not comprise the whole of 
 our message ; and in general we find that the 
 full soul loatheth the honey-comb (Prov. 
 xxvii. 7.) ; and multitudes, through ignorance 
 of the spirituality and purity of God’s holy 
 law, and a partial judgment of their own 
 hearts, can neither see the beauty nor the ne- 
 cessity of the gospel-salvation. We are there- 
 fore constrained frequently to insist on far 
 less pleasing subjects, to lift up our voices 
 like a trumpet (Is. lviii. l), to demand a ge- 
 neral attention, while we attempt to shew our 
 hearers their transgi-essions and their sins, that 
 they may thereby make the doctrine of the 
 cross of Christ welcome and desirable. It is 
 painful to the patient, and without doubt un- 
 pleasing to the human artist, to probe a deep 
 and dangerous wound ; but necessity com- 
 mands, and without it a complete and lasting 
 cure is not to be expected. 
 
 1. The first and most direct way in which 
 the name of God is taken in vain, is by per- 
 jury ; that is, when he is expressly appealed 
 to in confirmation of what is false, or when 
 engagements are made, as in his name and 
 presence, which are not strictly and literally 
 complied with. I need not take up your time 
 in proving that this is a sin of a deep dye in 
 itself, and attended with peculiar aggrava- 
 tions under the light of the gospel; and I 
 wish it was more difficult to prove the fre- 
 quency of it in our land, but this likewise is 
 as obvious as the light. I have sometimes 
 met with a random assertion, that though we 
 are wicked enough, we are not worse than 
 other countries. In other things I am con- 
 tent to wave the parallel ; but with respect to 
 the sin of perjury, I fear we are much worse 
 than any nation now under the sun, perhaps 
 w r orse than any that the sun ever saw. I am 
 afraid, there are more and more daring in- 
 stances of this wickedness amongst us than 
 in all the rest of Europe. By an unhappy 
 kind of necessity, it is interwoven, as it were, 
 with the very constitution of the body politic, 
 and diffuses itself like a deadly contagion 
 amongst all orders and ranks of people. Oaths 
 are so excessively multiplied, and so generally 
 neglected, that it is equally difficult and rare 
 for a person to engage through a course of j 
 
 395 
 
 years in any kind of employment, either civil 
 or commercial, (O that it stopped even here !) 
 without being ensnared. Some are so ex- 
 pressed, that it is morally impossible to com- 
 ply with them ; others so circumstanced, that 
 they are usually swallowed without the re- 
 motest design of regarding either in w'hole or 
 in part. If here and there a few make con- 
 science of their engagements, and are desirous 
 to perform to the Lord their oaths (Matth. v. 
 33), or decline taking such as open a door 
 either to honour or profit, so strong is the 
 torrent the other way, that it is well if they 
 escape the charge of singularity and precise- 
 ness. Though wickedness of every kind too 
 much abounds amongst us, perjury is perhaps 
 peculiarly and eminently our national sin ; 
 and I tremble to think it is so, for it gives 
 too just a ground to fear the approach of na- 
 tional judgments. Surely all who have any 
 regard for the honour of God, any sense of the 
 worth of souls, will pray earnestly that this 
 iniquity may not be our ruin, but that the 
 Lord would be pleased to inspire and succeed 
 the most proper means for the removal, or at 
 least the mitigation of this evil. This would 
 be an event worthy to stand in the annals of 
 the happy times and auspicious government 
 under which we live. 
 
 2. And though the matter of an oath be 
 strictly true, yet if it is not transacted with a 
 serious acknowledgment and homage of that 
 Divine Being to whom appeal is made, such 
 an oath, however lawful and necessary it may 
 be in itself, is, with regard to all such thought- 
 less triflers, no better than taking the name of 
 God in vain. It cannot but be grievous to 
 every serious mind, to observe the little re- 
 verence and solemnity, or rather the total want 
 of common decency, which too frequently pre- 
 vails among us in this respect, so that some- 
 times it is not easy to say whether those who 
 tender the oath, or those who take it, seem 
 least in earnest. Without doubt this indiffer- 
 ence may be assigned as one cause of the in- 
 crease and prevalence of perjury. If those 
 who are authorised to require or receive those 
 solemn appeals, were themselves impressed 
 with a due reverence of the awful majesty of 
 God, and were solicitous to inspire all who 
 came before them with the same sentiments, 
 and w'ould remind them (those especially who 
 appear very positive and unguarded) of the 
 impiety and danger of swearing falsely, it is 
 possible many mischiefs would be prevented. 
 Some persons would probably tremble and 
 start back from the first temptation to this 
 wickedness, and others might be deterred from 
 persisting in it, who, for want of such admo- 
 nitions and examples, and because they never 
 saw any solemnity observed, precipitately rush 
 upon this enormous evil, and are at length 
 given up to a dreadful habit of wilful and 
 corrupt perjury. 
 
 3. If an oath, lawful and necessary in itself. 
 
 OF THE THIRD COMMANDMENT. 
 
396 
 
 may thus become criminal through inconside- 
 ration, what shall we say of the throng of pro- 
 fane swearers, who wound our ears and pol- 
 lute our language, by a horrid mixture of exe - 
 crations and blasphemies in their common con- 
 versation ? “ Their throats are an open se- 
 
 pulchre : their mouths are full of cursing and 
 bitterness : the poison of asps is under their 
 lips,” Rom. iii. 13, 14. This I have to say 
 from the word of God, that the Lord will not 
 hold them guiltless. In vain their thought- 
 less plea, that they mean no harm : in vain 
 their presumptuous comparison of themselves 
 with others, as though these were trivial escapes 
 that did not affect the peace of society. If 
 these were small sins singly, their frequency 
 would swell to a vast amount ; but is it in- 
 deed a small sin, to rush against the thick 
 bosses of God’s buckler, and to despise so ter- 
 rible a threatening as this ? Surely “ the pla- 
 gue shall never depart from the house of the 
 swearer.” “ As he clotheth himself with 
 cursing like as with his garment ; so it shall 
 enter into his bowels like water, and like oil 
 into his bones,” Ps. cix. 17, 18. A habit of 
 swearing is a sure sign not only of an unsanc- 
 tified heart, but of a conscience hardened, and 
 as it were seared with a hot iron, callous, and 
 quite insensible. 
 
 4. Some persons who scruple expressly to 
 
 mention the name of God, accustom them- 
 selves to swear by his creatures, by the heavens, 
 by the light, or by their own souls, &c. But 
 that this likewise is a direct violation of the 
 law, and exposes to the same penalties, we 
 are assured by him who best knew how to ex- 
 plain his own commands. Our Lord de- 
 termines this point in his sermon on the 
 mount, so as not to leave the possibility of a 
 doubt. “ I say unto you, Swear not at all ; 
 neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne ; nor 
 by the earth, for it is his footstool. Nei- 
 
 ther shalt thou swear by thy head because 
 thou canst not make one hair thereof white or 
 black,” Matth. v. 34 — 36. “ And whoso 
 shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, 
 and by him that dwelleth therein ; and he 
 that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the 
 throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon,” 
 Matth. xxiii. 21, 22. “ But let your com- 
 
 munication be yea, yea ; nay, nay ; for what- 
 soever is more than these cometh of evil.” 
 This decision evidently condemns, not only 
 what is usually deemed swearing, but the 
 whole multitude of idle expletives, whether fa- 
 shionable or vulgar, which have the force of 
 affirmations in common discourse. Will any 
 who live in a Christian country, and have the 
 Bible at hand, think to plead ignorance of 
 these things in the great day ? 
 
 5 . If I should stop here, some of you would 
 applaud yourselves, and perhaps not be dis- 
 pleased with me for what I have hitherto said. 
 Some who think themselves clear thus far, 
 will join with me in saying, “ Because of 
 
 SER. XV 
 
 swearing, the land mourns,” Jer. xxiii. 10. 
 But are there no other ways of taking the 
 name of God in vain? Yes; many do it as 
 often as they pray ; and it is easily proved a- 
 gainst numbers who join in our established 
 worship. Let each one consider with what 
 dispositions and desires they have engaged in 
 the service we have already gone through 
 this day. Our mouths have all spoken the 
 same things ; but have they been the language 
 of our hearts? In the confession, we acknow- 
 ledge, that there is no health in us, and speak 
 as if we were true penitents. In the commu- 
 nion-service, we cry for mercy as miserable 
 sinners; we pray that the thoughts of our 
 heart may be cleansed by the inspiration of 
 God’s Holy Spirit; that we may perfectly 
 love him, at d worthily magnify his holy name ; 
 and for this we appeal to God, as to whom all 
 hearts are open, all desires known, and from 
 whom no secrets are hid. More than a few of 
 you, at certain seasons, publicly declare, that 
 the remembrance of your sins is grievous, and 
 the burden of them is intolerable. Now, what 
 apprehensions can such of you have of God 
 as can dare to use this solemn language when 
 your hearts meant no such thing ? Is not this 
 to take his name in vain in the grossest man- 
 ner ? Is it not plain that you think him alto- 
 gether such a one as yourselves (Psal. 1. 21.) ; 
 nay, more easily imposed upon, and more 
 safely to be trifled with, than a fallible mor- 
 tal ? Strange it is to think, that many can, 
 not only content themselves with this lip-ser- 
 vice, but make it the meritorious ground of 
 their hope, and conceit themselves religious 
 because they come so often to church to mock 
 the power that made them ! But hardly can 
 any wickedness be imagined more daring, and 
 more dreadfully provoking to the Most High, 
 than such a religion as this. To all such 
 worshippers I may address those striking words 
 of St. Peter to Ananias, “ Thou hast not lied 
 unto men, but unto God,” Acts v. 4. 
 
 6. The whole lives of those who live in the 
 allowed practice of known sin, under the pro- 
 fession of the Christian name, may be con- 
 sidered as one continual breach of this com- 
 mand. In all you say and do, you blaspheme 
 that holy name by which you are called ; and 
 still more so if you are declared friends and 
 favourers of evangelical preaching. By your 
 means, “the ways of truth are evil spoken of,” 
 2 Pet. ii. 2. You give occasion to those of- 
 fences of which it is said, “ Woe to that man 
 by whom the offence cometh,” Matth. xviii. 7. 
 You injure the cause of Christ, stumble the 
 weak in the faith, grieve the hearts of all who 
 love the Lord, and make his enemies rejoice. 
 “ Better it would have been for you never to 
 have known the ways of righteousness” (2 Pet. 
 ii. 21.), than thus to abuse your knowledge. 
 You are now mingled with his faithful servants, 
 as the chaff is blended with the wheat upon the 
 floor. But “ behold the Judge standeth a>. 
 
 THE EXTENT AND SANCTION 
 
3ER. XV. 
 
 OF THE THIRD COMMANDMENT. . 
 
 the door,” James v. 9. His fan is in his 
 hand, he will throughly purge his floor ; and 
 when he gathers the wheat into his garner, 
 you will be consumed like stubble before the 
 flame of his indignation, Matth. iii. 12. What 
 distress and remorse will seize your hearts, 
 when you shall see them with whom you have 
 often joined in the same ordinances, that 
 have lived with you under the same roof, 
 dined at the same table, perhaps slept in the 
 same bed, when you shall see them received in- 
 to the kingdom, and you yoursel ves excluded, 
 and thrust into that outer darkness, where there 
 is weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth 
 for ever ? Luke xiii. 28. 
 
 From this subject we may observe, by way 
 of inference and application, 
 
 1. The truth and propriety of that scrip- 
 ture, “We know that what things soever the 
 law saith, it saith to them that are under the 
 law ; that every mouth may be stopped, and 
 all the world may become guilty before God,” 
 Rom. iii. 1 9. What person in this assembly 
 can plead guiltless to every part of this charge ? 
 Must we not all stand silent and self-condemn- 
 ed ? And if you are a transgressor, what can 
 vou do, either to repair the dishonour you 
 have opened to the Divine Majesty, or to pre- 
 vent the contagious effects of your own evil 
 example ? Nothing can be more false, than a 
 too frequent form of speech amongst us ; when 
 a man of some amiable qualifications in social 
 life tramples without fear upon the laws of 
 God, how often is it said, by way of extenua- 
 tion, he is no one’s enemy but his own ! when 
 indeed his practice declares him to be an ene- 
 my of God, an enemy to his holiness and go- 
 vernment: and he is a most mischievous ene- 
 my to all who live under his influence, and 
 within the circle of his acquaintance, by tempt- 
 ing and encouraging them to sin to the hazard 
 of their souls. Things standing thus with all 
 men by nature, with what language can we 
 answer the law’s demands ? Must we not a- 
 dopt the pathetic confession of the prophet ? 
 “ For this our heart is faint ; for these things 
 our eyes are dim. The crown is fallen from 
 our heads ; woe unto us that we have sinned !” 
 Lam. v. 16. 
 
 2. The necessity and value of the gospel ; 
 otherwise how can you escape the penalty, and 
 stand acquitted before the supreme Judge? 
 If you refuse this, “ there remaineth no more 
 sacrifice for sins,” Heb. x. 26. But if you 
 humble yourself, and apply to Jesus, there is 
 yet hope. He died for sinners, the chief of 
 sinners, and the greatest of sins. For his 
 sake, all manner of sin and blasphemy is par- 
 donable : “ He is able to save to the utter- 
 most.” But he must do the whole, and have 
 all the glory. Believe in his name. This is 
 the first step; without grace derived from 
 him, you can do nothing. Remember his 
 agony and bloody sweat, his cross and pas- 
 sion; and that he is now exalted a Prince 
 
 397 
 
 and a Saviour, on the behalf of those who 
 are ready to perish. Let this be your plea 
 and encouragement to draw near to a throne 
 of grace. Pray for his Spirit to reveal his 
 righteousness, power, and love to your souls; 
 and as your knowledge of him increases, 
 your repentance will be more spiritual, evan- 
 gelical, and effectual. Entreat him to enable 
 you to forsake your former evils, to set a 
 guard upon the door of your lips, and to in- 
 spire you with an awful veneration of that 
 holy name which you have hitherto profaned. 
 He can teach your polluted lips to shew forth 
 his praise. 
 
 And let the redeemed of the Lord, whom 
 he has delivered from the guilt and power ot 
 this iniquity, adore the grace and mercy that 
 has saved them. Look back upon your past 
 lives, and rejoice with trembling. How often 
 have you defied his vengeance and power, and 
 perhaps madly uttered horrid imprecations a- 
 gainst yourselves ? Why have others been cut 
 off in these sins, and you spared? Yes; 
 “ such were some of you : but ye are washed, 
 ye are sanctified, ye are justified in the name 
 of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our 
 God,” 1 Cor. vi. 11. And now your tongues, 
 which once uttered blasphemies almost with 
 every breath, or, under a form of godliness, 
 pronounced a language foreign to your hearts, 
 delight in extolling the name of Jesus, and 
 celebrating the wonders of redeeming love. 
 Now, when you speak of the great God, your 
 hearts are awed with an apprehension of his 
 majesty, yet comforted with the thought that 
 this God is your God, your almighty friend, 
 your everlasting portion. Now you feel the 
 influence of the Spirit of adoption, whereby 
 you cry, “Abba, Father.” Little did you 
 think in the days of your ignorance, that the 
 God whom you was presumptuously offend- 
 ing, had, in the counsels of his everlasting 
 love, chosen you to salvation by Jesus Christ, 
 Eph. i. 4. But he was found of you when 
 you sought him not, Isa. lxv. 1. He passed 
 by you when you were lying in your blood, 
 and bade you live, Ezek. xvi. 6, 8. This was 
 the secret reason why you could not destroy 
 yourselves. And at length his time of love 
 came, the hour which he had appointed to 
 open your eyes, to shew you mercy, to deli- 
 ver you from the power of darkness, and to 
 translate you into the kingdom of his dear 
 Son, Col. i. 13. Do not your hearts glow 
 with a sense of your obligations to him who 
 hath loved you, and washed you from your 
 sins in his own blood ? Will you not live to 
 him who has saved you from so great a death ? 
 Yea, doubtless you will count all things but 
 loss for the excellency of the knowledge of 
 Christ Jesus the Lord. You will use all 
 your influence to diffuse the savour of his pre- 
 cious name. You will take shame to your- 
 selves, and ascribe glory to him. You will 
 be zealous for his cause, and have a tender 
 
SER. XVI 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN LIFE 
 
 398 
 
 compassion for poor sinners, who know not 
 what they do, remembering, from your past 
 experience, the misery and gall of an uncon- 
 verted state. Let as many of us as have re- 
 ceived mercy be thus minded ; let it be our 
 great study to shew forth the praises of him 
 who has called us out of darkness into his 
 marvellous light, till the welcome hour shall 
 arrive, when he will say to all who fear and 
 love him, and long for his appearance, “ Come, 
 ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom 
 prepared for you from the foundation of the 
 world,” Matth. xxv. 34. 
 
 SERMON XVI. 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN LIFE COMPARED TO A RACE. 
 
 — So run that ye may obtain. 1 Cor. ix. 24. 
 
 The scriptures teach us to derive profitable 
 lessons from common occurrences : and since 
 we cannot avoid seeing and hearing the vani- 
 ties of those who know not God, unless we 
 would go wholly out of the world, we may 
 learn some instruction from them at a dis- 
 tance. The country of Greece, and especial- 
 ly the neighbourhood of Corinth, was famous 
 for trials of skill in a variety of exercises, such 
 as racing, wrestling, fighting, and the like. 
 And because the children of the world are 
 very wise in their generation, and spare no 
 pains to accomplish the point they have in 
 view, the apostle would stir up believers to 
 diligence from their example ; and therefore, 
 in several places, compares the Christian life 
 to one or other of the contests which were ma- 
 naged in the public games, and here particu- 
 larly to a race. In those ancient races much 
 solemnity was observed. The ground or 
 course was exactly marked out; those who 
 were to run went through a strict regimen 
 and exercise beforehand ; a vast concourse of 
 people were assembled as spectators ; autho- 
 rised judges were appointed to award the 
 prize, which was a crown of laurel or oak 
 leaves, to the winner : and before they began, 
 a herald publicly proclaimed the rules to be 
 observed by the competitors ; which unless 
 strictly complied with, all their pains and en- 
 deavours issued only in disappointment and 
 shame. To each of these particulars the a- 
 postle alludes in different parts of his writ- 
 ings. 
 
 Let us, then, briefly consider wherein the al- 
 lusion holds, and take notice of some things 
 in which there is a remarkable difference. 
 
 I. That the Christian life is compared to a 
 race, may intimate to us, 
 
 1. That it is a laborious and strenuous ser- 
 vice, and incompatible with an indolent and 
 careless frame of spirit. Not that we can do 
 any thing of ourselves ; in this sense, “ it is 
 
 not of him that willeth, or of him that run- 
 neth,” Rom. ix. 16. But when a believer is 
 animated by a view of Jesus, and the prize 
 of the high calling, to run the race set before 
 him, he finds that it demands his utmost 
 strength, courage, and patience. A spectator 
 may divert himself with the prospect, or the 
 company ; he may make observations upon 
 what passes around him, and ride as softly as 
 he pleases; but then he has no pretensions to 
 the prize. But those who are actually can- 
 didates for it, may be easily distinguished 
 without being pointed out : they have no lei- 
 sure for amusement ; their eyes are fixed, and 
 their thoughts wholly engaged, upon what 
 they have in hand ; and they exert all their 
 powers, and strain every nerve, to reach the 
 goal. How inconsistent is the conduct of 
 many professors ! They enter the lists, they 
 inform themselves of the rules, they even pre- 
 sume to expect the prize, though they idle a- 
 way their whole lives, without once attempt- 
 ing to run in good earnest. Not so those 
 who are taught and called of God : a sense of 
 the worth of their souls, of the love of Christ, 
 of the glory that shall be revealed, of their 
 own weakness, and of the many obstacles that 
 withstand their progress, stirs them up to 
 watchfulness, diligence, and prayer, and ex- 
 cites a holy jealousy, “ lest a promise being 
 made of entering into his rest, any of them 
 should come short of it,” Heb. iv. 1. 
 
 2. That we should press forward, and not 
 rest in what we have received. If a man sets 
 out in a race with the greatest speed, and 
 seems to outstrip all his antagonists ; yet if 
 he does not persevere to the end, he will be 
 sure to lose. The apostle alludes to a race 
 in another place, where he says, “ Forgetting 
 the things that are behind, and reaching forth 
 to those that are before, I stretch forward,” 
 Phil. iii. 13, 14. The Greek wor.d beauti- 
 fully expresses the earnestness and energy of 
 those who run, and are determined to be first : 
 they make no account of the ground already 
 passed over, but exert themselves to the ut- 
 most, labour with their hands and feet, and 
 strain every joint to the utmost, as though the 
 whole success depended on each single step. 
 We see too many instances of persons who 
 begin warmly, and seem to run well for a 
 season ; but they are hindered in their pro- 
 gress, slacken their pace first, and then stop 
 short. Take notice of the exhortation in my 
 text: “ So run that you may obtain;” for it 
 will be a dreadful disappointment if you should 
 be set aside disapproved, when others receive 
 the prize. 
 
 II. The heralds or criers in the Christian 
 race are the ministers of the gospel, and their 
 proper name of office is expressed by the same 
 word. They have it in charge to invite all to 
 run, and to declare the prescribed rules ; and 
 these must be carefully attended to; for “ if,” 
 j or, as it might be rendered, “ although, a man 
 
SER. xvi. COMPARED 
 
 strive” (2 Tim. II. 5), although he wrestle, 
 and fight, and run, weary himself, and excel 
 others ; yet, after all, he loses the prize, “ he 
 is not crowned, unless he strive lawfully,” 
 unless he strictly conforms to the prescribed 
 regulations : he will be judged unqualified, 
 though in other respects skilful and diligent, 
 unless he runs in the limits marked out, fights 
 with the usual weapons, and observes in all 
 points the discipline of the place. We are 
 bound in duty, at the same time that we pro- 
 claim the race, and point out the prize to your 
 view, to tell you, that without faith and holi- 
 ness (Mark xvi. 16; Heb. xii. 14) there can 
 be no acceptance. And we cannot but be 
 grieved to see how little these cautions are re- 
 garded by multitudes. Some are labouring, 
 as it were in the fire, to establish a righteous- 
 ness by their own works, and refuse to believe 
 in Christ for salvation. Others who profess 
 indeed to believe in him, call themselves his 
 people, and affect to speak highly of his gos - 
 pel, yet eventually deny him by their works 
 and conversation. But unless you can alter 
 the sure determinations of the word of God, 
 there must be an alteration in yourselves, or else 
 when you think you have attained, and shall 
 confidently demand the prize, you will hear 
 him say, “ I know you not whence you are ; 
 depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity,” 
 Luke xiii. 27. 
 
 There is a circumstance in this resemblance 
 which I would not pass over, because it is pe- 
 culiar to the Christian race. The ministers or 
 heralds are not only to invite others, but are 
 likewise to run themselves. To this the apos- 
 tle alludes, when he says, u Lest, when I have 
 preached to others, 1 should be myself a cast- 
 away” (1 Cor. ix. 27), or be disapproved of 
 the Judge for breaking those regulations him- 
 self which he had been authorised to propound 
 to all. We have need to preach to ourselves 
 no less than to you, and to entreat your prayers 
 for us, that we may stand perfect and com- 
 plete in the whole will of God. And the cau- 
 tion may be proportionally extended to every 
 one that is entrusted with any measure 
 gifts for the edification of the people of God. 
 Keep close to his word ; pray for his Spirit ; 
 be diligent and temperate in all things ; and 
 maintain a watchful jealousy over your own 
 hearts ; — these are the means by which the 
 Lord keeps his people from falling. But 
 trust not to any outward talent, calling, or 
 usefulness ; for it is possible for a man to be 
 instrumental to the good of others in families 
 and societies, and yet to come short of the 
 kingdom himself at last. 
 
 III. I have observed that a great concourse 
 of spectators attended at the ancient games. 
 The Christian, in his race and warfare, has 
 likewise innumerable eyes upon him, a great 
 cloud of witnesses, Heb. xii. 1. We are ex- 
 hibited (says the apostle) as a spectacle to the 
 world, to the whole universe, both to angels 
 
 TO A RACE. 399 
 
 and to men, 1 Cor. iv. 9. Though he may be 
 placed in an obscure situation, yet his neigh- 
 bours at least will observe him, to see how his 
 profession and practice agree. Invisible beings 
 attend him in every step ; the good angels 
 (Luke xv. 10) rejoice over the returning sin- 
 ner, and it is probable, by God’s appoint- 
 ment, support and refresh him in ways which 
 are beyond our apprehension. The powers 
 of darkness watch him with subtilty and envy, 
 and go to the utmost bounds of their commis- 
 sion, in their endeavours either to divert him 
 from his course, or to make it uncomfortable 
 to him. How should this thought both ani- 
 mate and humble every sincere soul ! Be not 
 discouraged, because to appearance you are 
 almost left to serve God alone. If the vail 
 of flesh and blood could be drawn aside, you 
 would see you are not alone ; all the host of 
 heaven are on your side; the glorious com- 
 pany that are before the throne of God, day 
 without night, rejoicing, are engaged in your 
 cause, and drink of the same fountain from 
 which you are supplied. The spirits of just 
 men made perfect, who are now all eye, all 
 ear, all love, were once, as you are, partakers 
 of the same infirmities, sorrows, and cares ; 
 and you ere long shall be as they are, clothed 
 with light, and freed from every burden. 
 And Jesus, the Lord of angels, the King of 
 saints, beholds your toil and conflict with com- 
 placence, and says, “ Hold that fast which 
 thou hast, that no man take thy crown,” 
 Rev. iii. 11. He is always near to succour, 
 strengthen, and to save. Rejoice, therefore, 
 that you run not as unnoticed, but rejoice 
 with trembling. Be ashamed to think how 
 disproportionate your efforts are to the com- 
 pany that behold you, and to the prize that 
 awaits you. Remember likewise other eyes 
 are upon you ; Satan envies your privileges, 
 and scorns your profession : he is every mi- 
 nute waiting permission to sift you as wheat 
 (Luke, xxii. 81) ; he is incessantly spreading 
 snares for your feet, and preparing his arrows 
 against you ; therefore be not high-minded, 
 but fear, and give all diligence so to run that 
 you may obtain. 
 
 IV. The judge who presides at the end of 
 the race is Jesus, the Judge of all. He holds 
 forth the prize full in view to the eye of faith, 
 and shall shortly crown the conqueror with 
 his own hand. Hew sweetly does the apostle 
 spiritualize upon this circumstance ! “ I have 
 fought a good fight, I have finished my 
 course; I have kept the faith. Henceforth 
 there is laid up for me a crown of life, which 
 the Lord, the righteous Judge” (who does not 
 decide by appearances, nor can be influenced 
 by partiality, as is too frequent among men), 
 “ shall give me at that day ; and not to me 
 only, but to all who love his appearing,” 2 
 Tim. iv. 7, 8. Be of good cheer, believer ; 
 your case may be misrepresented or misun- 
 derstood by men, but the Lord, the righteous 
 
*00 
 
 and unerring Judge, will vindicate, approve, 
 and reward you in the great day, when he shall 
 come to be glorified in his saints, and ad- 
 mired in all them that believe. 
 
 Thus much concerning the resemblance of 
 the Christian life to a race, to which the apos- 
 tle alludes. I shall briefly take notice of some 
 particulars in which the resemblance fails ; 
 and a very interesting and important differ- 
 ence may be observed, 
 
 1. In the reward. The “ bodily exercise” 
 
 employed in the games (for 'to these the 
 apostle refers), “ profited little” ( 1 Tim. 
 iv. 8.) : a crown of oak or laurel, or some 
 such bauble, was their highest aim, and this 
 the most of the competitors came short of : 
 for though all ran, one only received the prize. 
 Of little more value, and equal uncertainty, 
 is the prize that has engaged the time and 
 thoughts of many. “ But godliness” (the whole 
 course and conflict in which the believer 
 is engaged) “ is profitable for all things,” or 
 in every view, having promises to support the 
 life that now is, and to crown that which is to 
 come. “ He that overcometh shall inherit 
 all things ; and I will be his God, and he 
 shall be my son,” Rev. xxi. 7. “ I will give 
 
 him to eat of the tree of life, which is in the 
 midst of the paradise of God,” Rev. ii. 7. “ I 
 will make him a pillar in the temple of my 
 God, and he shall go no more out ; yea, I will 
 grant him to sit down with me in my throne,” 
 Rev. iii. 12, 21. The Lord will give grace here, 
 and will with-hold no good thing from those 
 who walk uprightly (PsaL lxxxiv. 11.) ; and 
 hereafter he will crown grace with glory, and 
 place his servants out of the reach of every 
 trouble and enemy, in the kingdom which his 
 love has prepared for them from before the 
 foundation of the world. “ Having there- 
 fore these promises, dearly beloved, let us 
 cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the 
 flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear 
 of the Lord,” 2 Cor. vii. 1. 
 
 2. In races, though many run, one only can 
 receive the prize. But thanks be to God, it 
 is not so in the Christian race. All who run, 
 as the Lord has appointed, shall be sure to 
 win. No opposition can prevail against them, 
 nor will the number of candidates be any di- 
 minution to the happiness of each individual. 
 The inheritance of the saints in light, like the 
 light of the sun, is not diminished by being 
 shared amongst many ; each one possesses the 
 whole, in the same perfection as he could do, 
 if there was none to enjoy it but himself. 
 
 S. In the races the apostle alludes to, none 
 were compelled to run. The proclamation 
 was general ; but those who did not chuse to 
 engage, suffered no disadvantage. But it is not 
 so in the race to which you are invited by the 
 gospel. The Lord is greatly offended with 
 those who slight the message, and refuse to 
 enter the lists. If you only give his ministers 
 a hearing, and return to your farms and mer- 
 
 SER. XVI. 
 
 chandise, (Matth. xxii. 5 . ) forget the worth of 
 your precious souls, and suffer your thoughts 
 to be engrossed with the cares and pleasures 
 of this life, to the neglect of this one thing 
 needful, the Lord will account it a contempt 
 offered to himself, and will ere long call you 
 before his tribunal to answer for it. 
 
 4. Those who ran, and did not win the prize, 
 only 1< >st their labour, or at the worst were ex- 
 posed to shame ; but they were liable to no 
 positive punishment. But you who are pro- 
 fessors of the gospel, if you come short at 
 last, will be lost for ever. “ So run that you 
 may obtain.” Be not content with having 
 set out ; the promise is made to perseverance. 
 “ He that endureth to the end shall be saved” 
 (Matth. x. 22.) ; but if any draw back, or 
 stop short, the Lord will have no pleasure in 
 them, Heb. x. 38. They will not only lose 
 the prize, but will receive a heavy and aggra- 
 vated doom. It would have been better for 
 them not to have known the ways of right- 
 eousness, than after they have known it, to 
 turn from the holy commandment delivered to 
 them. If you were forced to run for your lives, 
 you wmuld be very thoughtful about the event. 
 But if you are not found amongst those who 
 come in for the prize of eternal life, you will 
 be cast into outer darkness, and sink under the 
 curse of God for ever. 
 
 Fain, therefore, would I persuade you to 
 address yourselves with earnestness to run the 
 race set before you. Flee from approaching 
 wrath. The wrath of God is already reveal- 
 ed against all unrighteousness, and soon it 
 will be poured forth upon the head of every 
 transgressor. Though God is patient and 
 forbearing, he is angry with the wicked every 
 day. If he turn not, he will whet his glitter- 
 ing sword ; he hath bent his bow, and made 
 it ready. He hath also prepared for him the 
 instruments of death ; he hath ordained his 
 arrow s against those who shall finally disobey 
 his great command, to receive the gospel of 
 his grace. It is impossible to elude his eye, 
 or to withstand his power. You are upon the 
 brink of danger, if you are not already en- 
 tered in this race ; you stand upon a preci- 
 pice, and hell from beneath has opened its 
 mouth to receive you. But a respite is still 
 afforded ; the Lord waits to be gracious ; and 
 as yet there is room. The gate of mercy is 
 not yet shut : “ turn therefore to the strong 
 hold, as prisoners of hope ;” no longer refuse 
 his gracious invitation, or trifle with your pre- 
 cious souls ; seek to Jesus that you may live ; 
 apply to him for faith and repentance ; and, 
 in his strength and name prepare to run this 
 important race. Meditate upon the glorious 
 prize, which is provided for all who endure to 
 the end ; it is freely proposed to all who run. 
 Pardon, grace, and eternal life, are promised 
 and bestow r ed, without money and without 
 price. If, after so many repeated calls, you 
 still harden your hearts, and stop your ears. 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN LIFE 
 
SF.R. XVI. 
 
 COMPARED TO A RACE. 
 
 401 
 
 and determine that ybu will not come unto 
 Jesus, that you may have life, you must as- 
 suredly perish, without mercy, and without 
 excuse. 
 
 But if you are desirous to run, remember 
 the admonition in my text, “ So run that you 
 may obtain.” Your steps must be regulated 
 by the word of God, or you w ill wander wide 
 from the good old way ; you must derive 
 your sufficiency and strength from Christ by 
 faith and prayer, or you will faint, and be 
 unable to endure to the end. We read of 
 some (Gal. v. 7.) that run well for a season, 
 but were afterwards hindered, and turned 
 aside. Be upon your guard ; for there are 
 many that will strive to divert you from your 
 course. Satan, the world, and your own evil 
 hearts, will combine, and form various at- 
 tempts to slacken your pace, and to withdraw 
 your attention from the one thing needful. 
 Dread the thoughts of stopping short, or 
 turning back ; and the more you meet w ith 
 opposition, be so much the more earnest to 
 redouble your diligence, and especially to cry 
 mightily to him who is able to keep you from 
 falling, to preserve you unblameable in love 
 while here, and at last to present you faultless 
 before the presence of his glory with exceed- 
 ing joy. 
 
 Believers, why are not we as wise in our 
 generation as the children of the world ? We 
 see how those who are fond of a common 
 horse-race are thinking and talking of it, and 
 preparing for it every day. Does not their 
 diligence shame us, who are so cold, faint, 
 and dilatory, in the most important, and ho- 
 nourable concerns ! Let us gird up the loins 
 of our mind : some of you have not far to run 
 now ; you have taken many a weary step since 
 you were first called ; but the end is at hand ; 
 the period of your complete salvation is now 
 much nearer than when you first believed, 
 Rom. xiii. 11. Think of Jesus, the forerunner 
 and the judge : he has already entered within 
 the vail for us, his eye is upon us, he is near 
 to assist, and waiting to receive us. May his 
 Spirit and his example animate us to press 
 forward to the prize of our high calling, to 
 tread down every difficulty, and to be faith- 
 ful unto death, that we may receive the crown 
 of life ! 
 
 SERMON XVII. 
 
 NO ACCESS TO GOD BUT BY THE GOSPEL OF 
 CHRIST. 
 
 Wherewith shall I come before the Lord , and 
 bon> myself before the high God ? Shall 1 
 come before him with burnt-offerings , with 
 calves of a year old ? Will the Lord be 
 pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten 
 thousands of rivers of oil ? Shall I give my 
 first-born for my transgression, the fruit of 
 my body for the sin of my soul ? He hath 
 shewed thee , 0 man, what is good, and what 
 doth the Lord require of thee, but to do just- 
 ly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly 
 with thy God ? Micah vi. 6, 7, 8. 
 
 There is no question that can arise in the 
 mind of man, that is of so high importance as 
 this in my text, and yet, alas ! how seldom is 
 it laid to heart ! May the Spirit of God im- 
 press it upon all your consciences ! You are 
 now come before God to worship ; ask your- 
 selves, wherewith ? On what do you ground 
 your hope, that you offer him acceptable ser- 
 vice ? You must shortly appear before him 
 in judgment. Are you prepa 1 -"! to meet 
 him ? Amos, iv. 12. What plea . ve you pro- 
 vided ? Take heed in time. Be sure that it 
 is such a one as he will admit, lest your 
 hopes should fail, and you perish in his pre- 
 sence as chaff before the devouring flame. 
 
 The passage plainly expresses the inquiry 
 of an awakened mind. It is to be feared 
 many of you have often read these words with- 
 out being suitably affected with their meaning. 
 But if you can indeed make them your own, 
 if you are truly solicitous how you are to 
 come before God both here and hereafter, I 
 hope his good Spirit will enable you to re- 
 ceive satisfaction from the answer given by 
 the prophet. 
 
 If you can speak these words from your 
 heart, you will readily acknowledge that they 
 imply the following things : 
 
 1. A sense of duty ; that you are under an 
 obligation to come and bow before the High 
 God. You are sensible that you ought not, 
 and you find that you cannot, live without 
 paying him homage and worship, but that he 
 has a right to your service, and expects it. 
 Too many shew, in this respect, that they are 
 dead while they live, dead to God, insensible 
 and regardless of their many obligations to him, 
 in whom they live, and move, and have their 
 being. They live without prayer ; they offer 
 no praises to the God of their lives, but rise 
 up and lie down, go out and come in, with- 
 out one reflection on his power, goodness, 
 and providence, even like the beasts that pe- 
 rish. But the awakened soul cannot do so. 
 He trembles to think that he once could ne- 
 2 K 
 
SER. XVII. 
 
 402 NO ACCESS TO GOD BUT 
 
 gleet that God, whom all the hosts of heaven 
 worship, and is convinced, that however fair 
 his character might have been amongst men, 
 he justly deserved to have been struck to hell 
 for so long restraining prayer before God. 
 
 2. A sense of the majesty and glory of God. 
 Whoever seriously asks this question, has an 
 awful view of the Lord as the High God. 
 Many, who do not wholly neglect prayer and 
 worship, yet have no spiritual and humbling 
 apprehensions of the God whom they profess 
 to serve. Their prayers, whether in public 
 or private, are only lip-service, as though they 
 thought him altogether such a one as them- 
 selves. Their petitions are not guided by 
 their desires, but they utter with their mouths 
 what they find in the book, though their hearts 
 have no love or relish of the things they ask 
 for. How often is God mocked by those 
 who join in our established worship ? Has 
 he not been so this morning by some of you ? 
 How little he is reverenced by many, is plain 
 from the little regard they pay to his com- 
 mands. They will break his Sabbaths, blas- 
 pheme his name, live in drunkenness, whore- 
 dom, anger, and malice, and yet pretend to 
 worship him. But those who rightly under- 
 stand the inquiry in my text, cannot do thus. 
 They consider him as the High God : they 
 know that he humbles himself to behold 
 even the worship of heaven, and are therefore 
 struck with this thought, Wherewith can I, a 
 poor worm, who am but dust and ashes, come 
 before this High God ? 
 
 3. A sense of guilt. Alas! says the soul 
 that is enlightened to see itself, I am not only 
 mean, but vile. “ I have sinned, but w hat 
 shall I do unto thee, O thou preserver of 
 men?” Job vii. 20. Wherewith shall such a 
 polluted, obnoxious creature as I am appear 
 before a holy God ? Can my services atone for 
 my sins, or what service can I perform that 
 is not defiled and rendered unworthy of ac- 
 ceptance by the evil of my heart ? But could 
 I perform ever so well from this day forward, 
 what would this avail for what is past ? If I 
 had offended a man like myself, I might think 
 of making some amends; but my sins are 
 against God. His justice, wisdom, holiness, 
 and truth, have all demands upon me. What 
 then can I bring ? Will sacrifices appease 
 him ? No ; these, though of his own appoint- 
 ment, are not of themselves sufficient. “ It 
 is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats 
 to take away sins,” Heb. x. 4. Though all 
 the beasts of the forest, and the cattle upon a 
 thousand hills were mine, though I should 
 offer all Lebanon, hills of frankincense, rivers, 
 yea, ten thousand rivers of oil, all would not 
 do. Or should I give my son, my only son, 
 the fruit of my body, neither would this atone 
 for the sin of my soul. 
 
 Here, then, you may see, that to an awa- 
 kened sinner sin is the heaviest burden ima- 
 ginable. He is willing, and would be glad 
 
 (if it might be), to purchase the pardon of 
 sin with the loss of every thing he accounts 
 most valuable. If he had the whole world, 
 he would freely part with it to be free from 
 guilt. But at the same time he finds it a 
 burden that he cannot shake off ; he knows 
 that he never can be delivered for any thing 
 he can do or propose, and therefore the great 
 subject of inquiry always upon his mind is, 
 Wherewith, or how shall I appear and stand 
 before the High God ? 
 
 I hope some of you are thus minded ; to 
 you I have a comfortable message from the 
 other part of my text. But as I cannot hope 
 thus of you all, I must previously take notice, 
 that there is hardly any one passage in the 
 Bible more generally misunderstood, and 
 which ignorant and careless men are more 
 prone to wrest to their own destruction, than 
 the verses under our present consideration. 
 Not a few, having their eyes blinded by the 
 god of this world, and their hearts enslaved 
 to the love and practice of sin, are content to 
 understand it as if it was rather a rebuke than 
 an encouragement to them, who, like the jai 
 lor (Acts xvi. 30.), are deeply affected with 
 a concern for the salvation of their souls. 
 Their comment is to this purpose, “ He hath 
 shewed thee, O man, what is good that is, 
 you need not terrify yourself at this rate ; 
 there is nothing so evil in sin, or so awful in 
 God’s threatenings as you suppose. He has 
 said, indeed, “the soul that sinneth shall 
 die” (Ezek. xviii. 4.); yet here you see an 
 easy way to escape, “ Do justly,” which is, 
 being interpreted, Do not grossly cheat and 
 injure your neighbour ; abstain from robbery, 
 extortion, and heavy oppression : and “ love 
 mercy;” that is, Be ready to do what are 
 commonly called good-natured offices, and to 
 give a shilling or a guinea (according to your 
 circumstances) now and then to the poor, and 
 you will be safe enough. How they explain 
 the other clause, “ walk humbly,” upon this 
 plan, I confess myself unable to conceive, and 
 therefore I believe they are glad to omit it ; 
 for I am sure light cannot be more contrary 
 to darkness, than such language as this is op- 
 posite to the idea of walking humbly with 
 God. 
 
 According to this opinion, “ to do justly, 
 and to love mercy,” are the whole of religion. 
 They are indeed essential parts of it; and 
 miserable will you be who talk in this strain, 
 if God, at the great day, should judge you by 
 this text to which you now so presumptuously 
 appeal. How wonderful is the pride and 
 arrogance of fallen man, who will dare to urge 
 a plea before God, which must issue in his 
 own confusion ! Do you indeed deal justly ? 
 It implies something more than not being an 
 arrant knave. Do you at all times, and in all 
 respects, behave to every person as you would 
 they should do unto you ? Did you never take 
 the least advantage of the ignorance or neces- 
 
SER. XVII. 
 
 BY THE GOSPEL 
 
 sity of your neighbour ? Did you never speak 
 or report any thing to his prejudice, without 
 sufficient warrant and sufficient cause ? You 
 feel how tender you are of your own chara- 
 cter and interests. Have you been eq-ually 
 tender of the interests of others, of all others 
 with whom you have had connections, with- 
 out being influenced in any instance or degree 
 by partiality or mercenary views ? If you can- 
 not appeal to the Searcher of hearts that you 
 have walked in this integrity, your pretence 
 that you have done justly is vile hypocrisy, 
 and you may tremble to think how easily you 
 may be condemned out of your own mouth. 
 Alas ! if God, to whom all your thoughts and 
 actions have been incessantly exposed, should 
 enter into judgment with you, how unable 
 would you be to answer him in one of a thou- 
 sand ! 
 
 Again, do you love mercy ? Do you love 
 it as a miser loves money ? Is it the pleasure 
 of your hearts to overcome evil with good ? 
 If your brother or neighbour offend you, not 
 seven times but seventy times seven (Matth. 
 xviii. 22.), do you find it delightful to repeat 
 your forgiveness, to bless them that curse 
 you, to pray for them that despitefully use 
 you, and to requite repeated injuries with re- 
 peated acts of kindness ? If not, what have 
 you to do with mercy, either to pretend that 
 you love mercy yourself, or to indulge a hope 
 of obtaining mercy from God, if you know 
 no better way of seeking it than by your own 
 works. But suppose you were less culpable 
 in these particulars, can you say that you walk 
 humbly with God ? Alas ! how impossible is 
 this, while you trust in your own righteous- 
 ness, while you slight and despise his threa- 
 tenings, while your hearts rise against his gos- 
 pel ! Are you not impatient under the afflic- 
 tions which he sends, and unthankful for in- 
 numerable mercies which he is daily bestow- 
 ing upon you ? And is this to walk humbly 
 with God ? Bear with me for a plain word, 
 which I purposely speak plainly that it may 
 not be forgot ; I say, that if any man or wo- 
 man can be saved in this way, that is, upon 
 the account of doing justly, loving mercy, and 
 walking humbly with God, then Satan him- 
 self has no cause to despair. 
 
 I return now to those who see and acknow- 
 ledge themselves to be sinners, without right- 
 eousness and strength, and are desirous to 
 appear before God with comfort. To you I 
 bring good tidings ; the Lord help you to 
 believe and rejoice ! He hath shewed you 
 that which is good, which is the only and 
 sufficient ground whereon to build your hopes; 
 he has shewed or revealed it, for otherwise 
 you could never have found it out. What 
 the law cannot do, in that it is weak and in- 
 effectual through the flesh, God has done by 
 sending his Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, 
 Rom. viii. 3. The Lord Jesus Christ is that 
 good to which the prophet refers : Moses and 
 
 OF JESUS CHRIST. 403 
 
 the prophets, and all the scriptures, testify of 
 him, and Micah among the rest. One of the 
 most illustrious testimonies to the person and 
 office of our Emmanuel in the Old Testa- 
 ment, is to be found in the chapter preceding 
 my text. “ But thou, Bethlehem-Ephratah, 
 though thou be little among the thousands of 
 Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth 
 unto me that is to be ruler in Israel, whose 
 goings forth have been from of old, from 
 everlasting. And he shall stand and feed in 
 the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the 
 name of the Lord his God ; and they shall a- 
 bide: for now shall he be great unto the ends 
 of the earth. And this man shall be the peace,’* 
 Micah v. 2 — 5. All other sacrifices and sa. 
 viours are insufficient ; but Jesus, by the 
 once offering up of himself hath made a 
 full, perfect, and everlasting atonement, and 
 now he reigns in our nature, possessed of all 
 the fulness of grace, exercising the power of 
 God in the salvation of men. Would you 
 then come before the High God? come in 
 the name of Jesus, and you shall find accep- 
 tance. In him God is well pleased (Matth. 
 iii. 17.) ; and for his sake he is well pleased 
 with all who honour his beloved Son, and put 
 their trust in him. He has authority and 
 compassion sufficient to save the most deplor- 
 able and the most unworthy. If you read the 
 history of his life and death, you will read of 
 a display of love and grace beyond expression ; 
 and he is the same still. Before he ascend- 
 ed, he left an assurance for your encourage- 
 ment, that whosoever cometh unto him he 
 will in no wise cast him out. If you say, I 
 want faith, remember it is his gift, and he has 
 promised to do whatever you ask in his name. 
 Therefore fight against unbelief, resist Satan 
 with the sword of the Spirit. If it is sug- 
 gested that you are a great sinner, you can- 
 not deny it, nor need you ; avow the charge, 
 take shame to yourselves, and give glory to 
 God ; but it is equally true, that Jesus is a 
 great Saviour, he is able to save to the utter- 
 most ; and though your iniquities are great, 
 yet cast not away your hope, for his mercy is 
 greater than the heavens. 
 
 When you come in this way, what does the 
 Lord require of you ? Is it to make your own 
 peace ? He would as soon require you to make 
 a new heaven and a new earth. Is it to keep 
 your own soul ? No more than he requires 
 you to keep the sun in its course. His own 
 arm has wrought salvation, and he will secure 
 it. He requires none of your help here; 
 nay, he disdains the thought : you might as 
 well offer to help him to govern the world. 
 But this he requires of you, “ to do justly, to 
 love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy 
 God ;” and the methods of his grace will ena- 
 ble you to do so. 
 
 1. “To do justly.” We are by nature at- 
 tached to worldly goods, and wholly influenced 
 by selfish principles. But fi ith in Jesus com- 
 
OF A LIVING AND A DEAD FAITH. 
 
 SEK. XVIII. 
 
 404 
 
 raunicates new motives, views, and aims to the 
 soul : it teaches us to have our treasure in 
 heaven ; to sit loose to the world ; to be satis- 
 fied with that station and competence which 
 Divine Providence has allotted us ; and to 
 love our neighbours as ourselves, because they 
 are our fellow-sinners, and are capable of being 
 called to a participation with us in the honour . 
 able relation and privilege of the children of 
 God. Upon these principles the practice of 
 justice is attainable, but upon no other ; for 
 though there are many characters honourable 
 and blameless in the outward concerns of life, 
 and in the judgment of men, there is no per- 
 son upon earth who does or can love or prac- 
 tise justice in its full extent, till he has re- 
 ceived the Spirit of Christ, and lives upon him 
 by faith, for wisdom and strengh from day to 
 day. 
 
 2. “ To love mercy.” None can truly love 
 it but those who have tasted it. When your 
 hearts feel the comforts of God’s pardoning 
 love, you will delight to imitate him. When 
 you can truly rejoice that he has freely forgiven 
 you that immense debt, which is expressed by 
 ten thousand talents (Matth. xviii. 24), you 
 will have no desire to take your fellow-servant 
 by the throat for a few pence. This sense of 
 God’s goodness, and the continual need you 
 find of his renewed mercy from day to day, 
 will soften your spirit (if you are a believer), 
 disarm and gradually weaken every proud 
 thought that would plead for the exercise of 
 anger and resentment towards those who have 
 offended you. You will be swift to hear, slow 
 to speak, slow to wrath ; you will put on (as 
 the beloved of God) bowels of meekness (Col. 
 iii. 12), long-suffering and compassion, forbear . 
 ing and forgiving, if you have ought against 
 any ; because God, for Christ’s sake, has freely 
 forgiven you. If you find this practice diffi- 
 cult, it is owing partly to the remaining depra- 
 vity of your nature, and partly because you 
 have had but a faint sense of his mercy. 
 Pray for a more powerful manifestation of it, 
 and you will do better ; mercy will be your 
 delight. 
 
 3. “ To walk humbly.” “ Can two walk 
 together except they are agreed?” Amos iii. 
 3. When Christ is your peace, you will de- 
 light in God ; you will set him before you, 
 commune with him, study to please him, and 
 to keep all his commandments. This is to 
 walk with God ; and you will walk humbly, 
 remembering how much you owe to free grace, 
 and how far you fall short in your best endea- 
 vours. These considerations, impressed by the 
 Holy Spirit, will humble you, will keep you 
 from being high in your own esteem, wise in 
 your own conceit, and from seeking great 
 things for yourself. You will be habitually 
 thankful when the Lord gives, content when 
 he with-holds, patient when he afflicts. You 
 will confess yourself unworthy of the smallest 
 mercies you possess, and acknowledge in your 
 
 heaviest trials, that he has laid far less upon 
 you than your iniquities have deserved. 
 
 This is the pattern we are to copy after, and 
 this is the certain tendency and effect of his 
 grace. A measure of this disposition is found 
 in all who are Christians indeed. Yet we may 
 take shame to ourselves that we are still so far 
 defective in every branch of our duty. Let 
 us stir up ourselves to greater diligence, watch- 
 fulness, and prayer, that we may obtain more 
 lively, abiding, and transforming views of that 
 which is our true good, that so w T e may be 
 enabled to glorify our heavenly Father, and 
 to adorn our profession, by doing justly, lov- 
 ing mercy, and walking humbly with our 
 God. 
 
 SERMON XVIII. 
 
 OF A LIVING AND A DEAD FAITH. 
 
 For as the body ivithoul the spirit is dead , so 
 
 faith without works is dead also. 
 
 James ii. 26. 
 
 Whoever has read the scriptures with atten- 
 tion, must have observed several passages, 
 which, at first view, and till throughly exa- 
 mined and compared, appear hard to reconcile 
 to each other. No instance of this sort is mo. 
 remarkable than the seeming difference of judg- 
 ment between St. Paul and St. James on the 
 point of justification. St. Paul having said, 
 “ That a man is justified by faith without the 
 deeds of the law” (Rom. iii. 28), produces 
 the example of Abraham to confirm his asser- 
 tion. St. James (in the chapter before us), 
 from the example of the same Abraham, draws 
 a conclusion which seems directly to contra- 
 dict this : “Ye see then how that by works a 
 man is justified, and not by faith only,” James 
 ii. 24. Can any two opinions be more oppo- 
 site in appearance ? How then can both be 
 true, or how can we believe both writers in- 
 fallible in their doctrine, and influenced by 
 the unerring Spirit of God ? Must we cleave 
 to the one, and reject the other ? and if so, 
 how shall we know which is the real truth ? 
 
 We may confidently answer, The apostles 
 are both right : their doctrine is equally from 
 God, and does not clash in any particular. 
 The darkness and difficulty is in the appre- 
 hensions of men, and not in the word of God. 
 Yet a difficulty there is, and I hope I shall 
 not detain you unprofitably at this time, by 
 endeavouring to clear it, and afterwards to 
 press upon you the words of my text as a 
 proper inference from the whole. 
 
 When men who are strangers to Christian 
 experience, and who trust more to their own 
 sagacity and learning than to the word and 
 Spirit of God, attempt to resolve cases of this 
 sort, they make strange work. And it is no 
 
SER. XVIII. OF A LIVING AN 
 
 wonder; for how can any one explain what 
 he does not understand ? It would tire you if 
 I should relate a tenth part of the conjectures 
 of learned men upon this very subject. I 
 shall mention one or two as a specimen. A 
 writer of some eminence in the world con- 
 fesses the difficulty I have noticed in its full 
 strength. He allows and affirms that it is not 
 only hard, but impossible, to reconcile the 
 apostles to each other, and concludes that, 
 since it is impossible to hold both their sen- 
 timents, we must abide by him who wrote the 
 last. This, from many arguments his learn- 
 ing furnished him with, he thinks to have been 
 St. James. Accordingly, he gives up the 
 other, and his doctrine of faith without works, 
 to shift for themselves. He supposes that St. 
 Paul, in the heat of his argument, carried the 
 matter a little too far, and that St. James 
 wrote afterwards to correct him. 
 
 But to shew you (excuse a familiar ex- 
 pression) how doctors differ, and at the same 
 time to w'arn even true believers against 
 hastily judging beyond the line of their ex- 
 perience, I would observe, that that great 
 servant of God, Luther, soon after he be- 
 gan to preach the gospel, made a mistake no 
 less bold and presuming on the other side of’ 
 the question. He had felt the power of St. 
 Paul’s doctrine in his own soul, and would 
 have defied an angel that would have dared 
 to oppose it ; therefore, when his adversaries 
 pressed him with the authority of St. James, 
 not having at that time light to give a more 
 solid answer, he ventured to deny the authen- 
 ticity of the w r hole epistle, and rashly insisted, 
 both in his sermons and books, that St. James 
 never wrote it. But Luther, though mistaken 
 in this point, was under the Lord’s teaching ; 
 he went on from strength to strength, increas- 
 ing in knowledge and grace ; and when his 
 iudgment w'as better informed, he publicly re- 
 tracted his former unguarded assertion. 
 
 Leaving, therefore, the authority of men, 
 let us betake ourselves to the word of God, 
 and humbly seek the light of his Spirit, who 
 is promised to guide his people in their sin- 
 cere inquiries after truth. 
 
 Now, if you consider the scope and design 
 of our apostles, and take in the context, I 
 hope this seeming opposition will be soon re- 
 moved. St. Paul is evidently treating on the 
 great point of a sinner’s justification in the 
 sight of God ; he shews that it cannot be of 
 the law, because by the law all men were al- 
 ready condemned, and because then boasting 
 could not be excluded, but that it w r as freely 
 by grace, through the redemption that is by 
 Christ Jesus. His reasoning will appear to 
 greater advantage by perusing the whole pas- 
 sage, than by producing a few detached sen- 
 tences. After he had summed up the evidence 
 with respect both to Jews and Gentiles, and 
 pronounced his verdict, that every mouth must 
 be stopped, and that the whole world stood , 
 
 D A DEAD FAITH. '405 
 
 guilty before God, he proceeds thus : “ There- 
 fore by the deeds of the law, there shall no 
 flesh be justified in his sight : for by the law 
 is the knowledge of sin. But now the right- 
 eousness of God without the law is manifested, 
 being witnessed by the law and the prophets ; 
 even the righteousness of God which is by 
 faith of Jesus Christ unto all, and upon all 
 them that believe ; for there is no difference : 
 For all have sinned and come short of the glo- 
 ry of God : Being justified freely by his grace, 
 through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus ; 
 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation, 
 through faith in his blood, to declare his right- 
 eousness for the remission of sins that are past, 
 through the forbearance of God ; to declare, 
 I say, at this time his righteousness ; that he 
 might be just, and thejustifier of him which 
 believeth in Jesus. Where is boasting then ? 
 It is excluded. By what law ? of works ? 
 Nay ; but by the law of faith. Therefore we 
 conclude, that a man is justified by faith with- 
 out the deeds of the law,” Rom. iii. 20 — 28. 
 And because the Jews had a high opinion of 
 Abraham, he proceeds in the next chapter 
 to shew that Abraham was justified in the 
 same w'ay. “ For what saith the scripture ? 
 Abraham believed God, and it was counted 
 unto him for righteousness. Now' to him 
 that worketh, is the reward not reckoned oi 
 grace, but of debt. But to him that w'orketh 
 not, but believeth on him that justiiieth the 
 ungodly, his faith is counted for righteous- 
 ness,” Rom. iv. 3 — 5. The circumstance in 
 Abraham’s life referred to is, when he be- 
 lieved the promise of God, that though he was 
 then childless, he should be the father of many 
 nations (Gen. xii. 3. ; xvii. 4.), and that par- 
 ticularly from him should proceed the Mes- 
 siah, the promised seed, in whom both he him- 
 self, and all the families of the earth should 
 be blessed. 
 
 St. James expressly treats of those who rested 
 in a notion which they called faith, and account- 
 ed sufficient for their salvation, though it had 
 no influence upon their hearts, tempers, and 
 conduct. He shews that their hope is vain, 
 because such a faith as this the devils have. 
 And he proves, by the example of Abraham, 
 that his faith was very different from theirs, 
 because it enabled him to perform the hardest 
 and most painful act of obedience the offering 
 up of his only son. “ What doth it profit, 
 my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, 
 and have not works ? can (this) * faith save 
 him? If a brother or a sister be naked, and 
 destitute of daily food ; and one of you say 
 unto them, Depart in peace, be you warmed, 
 and filled : notwithstanding ye give them not 
 those things which are needful to the body ; 
 what doth it profit ? Even so faith, if it hath 
 not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man 
 may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works : 
 shew me thy faith without thy works, and I 
 * '<? wifru, this faith. 
 
OF A LIVING AND A DEAD FAITH 
 
 SER. XVIII. 
 
 406 
 
 will shew thee my faith by my works. Thou profession was justified by receiving them into 
 believest that there is one God ; thou dost her house, concealing them from the search 
 well : the devils also believe and tremble, made after them, and sending them away in 
 
 But wilt thou know, O vain man ! that faith 
 without works is dead? Was not Abraham, 
 our father, justified by works, when he had 
 offered Isaac, his son, upon the altar ? Seest 
 thou how faith wrought with his works, and by 
 works was faith made perfect ? And the scrip - 1 
 ture was fulfilled (confirmed), which saith, 
 Abraham believed God, and it was imputed 
 unto him for righteousness ; and he was call- 
 ed the friend of God. Ye see then how that 
 by works a man is justified, and not by faith 
 only, James ii. 14 — 24. It is exceedingly 
 
 peace. Surely this conduct of Rahab will 
 be sufficient to condemn many who would be 
 thought Christians. 
 
 We may, therefore, deduce two propositions, 
 perfectly consistent with each other, from the 
 passage in question. 
 
 1 . That there is no acceptance for any of the 
 sons of Adam with the just and holy God, but 
 through Jesus Christ as our righteousness re- 
 ceived by faith ; and that in this concern works 
 of every kind are absolutely excluded. 
 
 This is the capital doctrine of the gospel ; 
 
 plain that he had not the same thing in view it is not only clearly asserted in innumerable 
 which St. Paul had ; for the incident to which passages both of the Old Testament and the 
 he here refers, happened a great many years ! New, but is St. Paul’s express subject and 
 after Abraham had been declared justified in ! design in his epistles to the Romans and the 
 the sight of God. Galatians. Though he was yielding and 
 
 The sum is, the one declares that nothing compliant in many things of less importance, 
 renders us acceptable to God but faith in the and was willing to become all things to all 
 
 Lord Jesus Christ ; the other, that such a 
 faith, when true and genuine, is not solitary, 
 but accompanied with every good work. The 
 one speaks of the justification of our persons ; 
 this is by faith only : the other, of the justi- 
 fication of our profession ; and this is by faith 
 also, but not alone, for it works by love, and 
 produces obedience. 
 
 St. James has the same view in speaking of 
 Rahab (James ii. 25.); and by producing 
 her as a confirmation, it is still more evident, 
 that he is only considering works as the proofs 
 of our sincerity. We have no sure ground to 
 conclude, that Rahab, in the act of receiving 
 the spies, and at that time, had any saving 
 faith, or any view to the Messiah and the co- 
 venant of grace ; though it is most probable 
 she had, after she was joined to the people of 
 Israel, and became acquainted with divine 
 revelation. But in Jericho her thoughts seem 
 to have been confined to a temporal deliver- 
 ance ; and the profession of faith which she 
 made to the spies implies no more. “ And 
 she said unto the men, I know that the Lord 
 .'iath given you the land, and that your terror 
 is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants 
 of the land faint because of you. For we 
 nave heard how the Lord dried up the waters 
 of the Red-sea for you, when you came out 
 of Egypt ; and what you did unto the two 
 kings of the Amorites. — And as soon as we 
 had heard these things, our hearts did melt; 
 neither did there remain any more courage in 
 any man, because of you : for the Lord your 
 God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth 
 beneath. Now, therefore, I pray you, swear 
 unto me by the Lord, since I have shewed 
 you kindness, that you will also shew kind- 
 ness unto my father’s house ; and give me a 
 true token,” Joshua ii. 9 — 12. Had she said 
 
 thus, and yet delivered the spies up to the 
 king of Jericho, it would have proved, that 
 die did not speak from her heart ; but her 
 
 men, yet he would not give place, no not for 
 an hour, to any who offered to invalidate this 
 foundation-truth. He declares, that to mix 
 any thing, to contend for any qualification or 
 observance, as of necessary influence, to con- 
 cur with the perfect work of Christ in the justi- 
 fication of a sinner, is to darken, alter, and de - 
 stroy the gospel which he preached ; and de- 
 nounces an anathema against every one who 
 should be guilty of this presumption, yea, 
 though he should be (if such a thing were 
 possible) an angel from heaven, Gal. i. 8. 9. 
 How cordially he rested his own hope upon 
 the truth which he proposed to others, he 
 declares elsewhere : “ Yea doubtless, and I 
 count all things but loss, for the excellency of 
 the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord : for 
 whom I have suffered the loss of all things, 
 and do count them but dung that I may win 
 Christ ; and be found in him, not having mine 
 own righteousness, which is of * the law, but 
 that which is through the faith of Christ, the 
 righteousness of God by faith,” Phil. iii. 8, 9. 
 
 If this is the scriptural doctrine, let each of 
 you examine on what ground you stand. Has 
 God appointed one way of salvation ? and 
 will any of you dare to propose another ? 
 This would be both wicked and dangerous : 
 “ Other foundation can no man lay than that 
 which is laid, which is Jesus Christ,” 1 Cor. 
 iii. 1 1 . You may please yourselves now with 
 what you account your good works ; but when 
 God shall “ lay judgment to the line, and 
 righteousness to the plummet” (Isa. xxviii. 
 1 7.), none will be able to abide his appearance, 
 but those who can plead a righteousness per- 
 fectly answerable to the law’s demands, which 
 can only be found in Jesus Christ, the right- 
 eous one. 
 
 And as this doctrine is of so great and es- 
 
 * Ex vo/ah, of law ; that is, of any law whatsoever, 
 not of the law, as if he only meant the Jewish law. The 
 article r# seems here to be purposely left out. 
 
SER. XV11I. 
 
 OF A LIVING AND A DEAD FAITH. 407 
 
 sential importance, beware how you listen to 
 any other. Take heed how you hear (Mark 
 iv. 24. ; Luke viii. 18.) ; be not influenced 
 by the names, characters, or stations of men, 
 when the salvation of your souls is at stake. 
 Prize the liberty, which as protestants and 
 Britons you enjoy, of bringing every doctrine 
 to the trial of God’s word, and freely use it. 
 I account it my honour and happiness that I 
 preach to a free people, who have the Bible 
 in their hands. To your Bibles I appeal. I 
 entreat, I charge you to receive nothing upon 
 my word, any farther than I prove it from the 
 word of God ; and bring every preacher, and 
 every sermon that you hear to the same stan- 
 dard. If this is the truth, you had need to 
 be well established in it ; for it is not the cur- 
 rent and fashionable doctrine of the times. 
 Let me then farther recommend to you (it is 
 a direction our Lord has given), to examine 
 doctrines by their effects : “ By their fruits 
 ye shall know them,” Matth. vii. 16. The 
 truths of God, when faithfully preached, in 
 numble dependence upon his blessing, will 
 be attested by his power. At such times, 
 and in such places, a visible change will soon 
 be observable in some one or other of the 
 hearers ; they cease to do evil, they learn to do 
 well ; they acknowledge God in all their ways, 
 and glorify him before men, by living accord- 
 ing to his precepts.- And if you ask them 
 the reason of this change, they will freely a- 
 scribe it to the blessing of God upon that sort 
 of preaching, which by too many is accounted 
 foolishness, 1 Cor. i. 21. 
 
 On the other h*md, we are not afraid to 
 challenge those who are most acquainted with 
 men and bcoks, to produce instances of the 
 same effects wrought by any other doctrine 
 than that which commends the Lord Christ in 
 his person, offices, and power, as the only ob- 
 ject of a sinner’s hope. How much is said 
 and wrote to tell people what they should be, 
 and what they should do 1 yet where these 
 principles are not enforced, there is nothing 
 effectually done, nothing indeed attempted, 
 beyond a formal round of dull and heartless 
 service ; a little something that looks like re- 
 ligion, on the Lord’s day to appear in church 
 at the summons of the bell, to repeat words 
 because other people do the same, to hear 
 what is delivered from the pulpit with little 
 attention or affection, unless something occurs 
 that is suited to exalt self, or to soothe con- 
 science, and then to run with eagerness into 
 the world again. 
 
 Or if here and there a person is truly 
 touched by the secret influence and guidance 
 of the Spirit of God, where this evangelical 
 doctrine is not publicly maintained, the con- 
 sequence always is, that they renounce the 
 things which they before held for truths, are 
 brought into that way of thinking which is 
 agreeable to St. Paul’s doctrine, and receive 
 it gladly whenever it comes in their way. 
 
 It must be allowed, however, at the same 
 time, that there are counterfeit professors, 
 whose religion lies in notions, and who, while 
 they profess to believe in God, in works deny 
 him ; by reason of whom the ways of truth 
 are evil spoken of, 2 Pet. ii. 2. This the 
 apostles have taught us to expect; nay, it was 
 so from the beginning, even while the apostles 
 were themselves personally with the churches. 
 To such St. James addresses the passage I 
 have been reading to you, of which my text 
 is the conclusion ; and as I dare not hope 
 that there are none such in this great assem- 
 bly, it is highly proper that, before I con- 
 clude, I should take notice of a second pro- 
 position which naturally offers from the sub- 
 ject we have had in hand ; and more espe- 
 cially from the reasoning of St. James, and 
 from the words of my text. 
 
 2. That true faith in the Lord Jesus Christ 
 has a prevailing and habitual influence upon 
 the hearts and lives of those who possess it ; 
 and that they are vain men, and deceivers of 
 themselves, who pretend to faith in him, while 
 their lives and conversations shew them to be 
 enslaved to the love of the world, and the do- 
 minion of sin. The apostle, to inspire us 
 with a just abhorrence of this false profession, 
 makes use of two comparisons, which are ex- 
 ceedingly striking. May God open the eyes 
 of those who are concerned in it, to perceive 
 and tremble at the justness and horror of the 
 resemblance ! 
 
 1st, He compares it to the faith of devils . 
 “ Thou believest there is one God ; thou dost 
 well. The devils also believe, and tremble, ” 
 James, ii. 10. Are there any here whom it is 
 needful to address in this harsh manner ? My 
 dear brethren, bear with me; I wish you well, 
 and would willingly rejoice in every good ap- 
 pearance ; but, alas ! how little does it signify 
 what you believe, or what you say, unless your 
 acknowledged principles have an effect upon 
 your conduct ! 
 
 Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ ? 
 so does Satan. Do ^ou believe the election 
 of God, the sovereignty of grace, the perse- 
 verance of the saints ? it is possible the devil 
 may have a more extensive knowledge in 
 these doctrines than the wisest of men ; yet 
 this benefits him not ; it is not want of know- 
 ledge, but want of love, that makes him what 
 he is. 
 
 The only effect mentioned of the faith of 
 devils is, that it increases their terror and ag- 
 gravates their guilt. They believe (there are 
 no sceptics in hell), and tremble. Is not 
 this too much the case of some of you ? If 
 you knew less, you would be easier at least, 
 and less inexcusable ; and yet perhaps you 
 mistake your state, and think yourselves, on 
 this account, far less blameable than you real- 
 ly are. Perhaps sometimes, when you reflect 
 sincerely on your ways, and how strangely 
 you are hurried to act contrary to the convic- 
 
SER. XIX. 
 
 GUILT REMO \ ED, 
 
 408 
 
 tions which the preaching of the gospel forces 
 upon you, you are ready to charge the Lord 
 and his dispensations hardly, and to say, O 
 that he would give me his grace ! but if not, 
 what can I do w r ithout it ? Let conscience 
 now speak faithfully, and it will tell you, that 
 if you are condemned, it will not be for what 
 you cannot do, but for wilfully refusing to 
 improve the power already given you. When 
 I tell you, that without holiness no man shall 
 see the Lord with comfort, and that you must 
 break off from your vain company and evil 
 practices, if you expect or desire to be saved, 
 you know that I speak the truth ; and your 
 looks often testify that you feel the force of 
 it. Now, while the word of God is sound- 
 ing in your ears, you perhaps are thinking, 
 
 “ It is time, high time indeed, to break off ; 
 though the Lord has forborne me long, he 
 will surely strike at last, if I go on thus.” 
 And yet, alas ! what I have formerly seen 
 gives me much cause to fear, that to-morrow, 
 or the next time they entice you, you will 
 consent again. But could I tell you, that 
 by going a different way, you might gain a 
 sum of money, or could I make it appear, 
 that the next time you went to such a place, 
 your house would certainly be robbed, I make 
 no doubt but you would forbear. And yet 
 gold is not grace. It is then plain that you 
 have power, but your will is in fault. God 
 has enlightened your conscience ; but you 
 rebel against it. O repent ! while there is yet 
 space afforded. Call upon the name of Je- 
 sus • who knows but he may even yet deliver 
 you . 
 
 2dly, He compares it to a dead carcase, 
 which is not only unprofitable, but loathsome 
 and offensive. May God shew you to-day, 
 how odious your profession is in his sight ! 
 for by assenting to the truths of the gospel, 
 and outwardly favouring the cause, and the 
 instruments which the Lord has raised up to 
 promote it, you are so far professors. May 
 he enable you to be, not only almost, but al- 
 together Christians ! For while you thus halt 
 between two opinions, and stand div.ded be- 
 tween God and the world, you are an abo- 
 mination to God, a grief to his people, a 
 stumbling block to the ignorant, and are (if 
 this was of any weight in comparison of what 
 I have already said) secretly despised by those 
 who pretend to court your acquaintance. Your 
 guilt is in some respects more aggravated, 
 and your example unspeakably more mis- 
 chievous, than either would be if you openly 
 rejected the truth. You stand in the rank of 
 those wicked servants who know their mas- 
 ter’s will, but do it not. , The great Judge 
 has determined concerning these, that they 
 shall be beaten with many stripes, Luke, xii. 
 48. Awake to righteousness, and sin not ; j 
 look up to Jesus, who is exalted to bestow- 1 
 uoth faith and repentance, that you may no I 
 longer be torn in pieces by those inward con-j 
 
 tentions, but experience that peace which 
 passes all understanding, Phil. iv. 7 
 
 SERMON XIX. 
 
 GUILT REMOVED, AND PEACE RESTORED. 
 
 0 Lord, open thou my lips, and my mouth 
 
 shall shew forth thy praise. Psalm li. 15. 
 
 The history of David is full of instruction 
 Every thing recorded of him affords us either 
 consolation or caution. In his example we 
 see much of the sovereign power and provi- 
 dence of God. When a youth, though the 
 least of his father’s house, he was singled out, 
 and called from following sheep, to rule a 
 kingdom. We see him supported through a 
 variety of difficulties, and at length established 
 in his throne, to the amazement and confu- 
 sion of his enemies. In him likewise we have 
 a striking proof of the evil that is in the heart 
 of man. Who would have thought it, that 
 David, the man so highly favoured, so won- 
 derfully preserved, the man after God’s ow-n 
 heart, who, in the time of his distress, could 
 say, “ My soul thirsteth for God, even for 
 the living God” (Psalm xlii. 2.), that he 
 should be, in an unguarded hour., seduced, 
 surprised, and led captive of the devil ! From 
 gazing he proceeds to adultery, from adultery 
 to murder, and at length sinks into such a 
 stupid frame of mind, that an express mes- 
 sage from God was needful to convince him 
 of his sin. And in this circumstance we far- 
 ther see the riches of divine grace and mercy, 
 how tenderly the Lord watches over his sheep,, 
 how carefully he brings them back when wan- 
 dering from him, and with what rich good- 
 ness he heals their backslidings, and loves 
 them freely. David was fallen, but not lost. 
 “ The thing which he had done displeased the 
 Lord” (2 Sam. xi. 27), yet his loving-kind- 
 ness and faithfulness were unalterable. He 
 was interested in that covenant, “ which is 
 well ordered in all things and sure” (2 Sam. 
 xxiii. 5. ) ; and therefore, when he confessed 
 his sin, the Lord assured him, by his servant 
 Nathan, that “ he had put aw-ay his sin, and 
 he should not die for it,” 2 Sam. xii. 13. 
 
 However, though the Lord is thus gracious 
 in passing by the iniquity of his children, yet 
 he will let them know, by sorrowful experi- 
 ence, that “ it is an evil and a bitter thing to 
 sin against him,” Jer. ii. 19. Though he 
 will not cast off, he will chasten ; he will 
 withdraw his presence, and suspend his gra- 
 cious influences ; and this to a sensible heart 
 is a heavy punishment. Though David was 
 J delivered from the fear of death and hell, he 
 j penned this psalm in the bitterness of his soul. 
 
 1 He did not consider the Lprd as his enemy, 
 j but as a friend and a father, whom he had 
 
SER. XIX. 
 
 AND PEACE RESTORED. 
 
 greatly offended. He longed to be reconcil 
 ed ; but could not as yet recover his former 
 confidence. He hoped, indeed, that a time 
 of refreshment would come from his presence ; 
 and therefore he continued waiting ; but for 
 the present he made heavy complaints, that 
 his bones were broken, and his mouth stop- 
 ped. He had lost his strength and life, and 
 found he could not restore himself. He was 
 struck dumb by his late fall ; and therefore 
 he breathes out this prayer, “ O Lord, open 
 thou my lips, and my mouth shall shew forth 
 thy praise.” 
 
 From these words I propose to consider 
 that mournful case, which too often happens 
 in the Christian life, when the believer’s mouth 
 is stopped, and his lips closed, so that he can- 
 not shew forth the praises of his God. And 
 in this view, 
 
 1 . I shall point out to you the persons who 
 have reason to make this complaint. 
 
 2. Explain what is implied in their lips 
 being thus shut up. 
 
 3. Shew you by what means the Lord opens 
 the closed lips. And, 
 
 4. I shall observe, that when a person’s lips 
 are thus opened, his mouth, and all that is 
 within him, will certainly shew forth the Lord’s 
 praise. May the Holy Spirit apply the word, 
 and command a blessing upon the whole ! 
 
 I. This petition especially suits two sorts 
 of persons : 
 
 1. The backsliding believer; one who has 
 formerly known the goodness of God; has 
 rested in his love, and rejoiced in his salva- 
 tion ; “ has tasted that the Lord is gracious” 
 (1 Pet. ii. 3), and walked with comfort in 
 the way of his commandment ; but at length, 
 by an unguarded conduct, or by building 
 wood, hay, and stubble upon the Lord’s foun- 
 dation (1 Cor. iii. 11 — 13), has grieved the 
 good Spirit of God, and he is withdrawn. 
 The Comforter and instructor of his soul is 
 far from him, and therefore he sits in dark- 
 ness and silence, Lam. i. 16. He only retains 
 a sense of his loss, and can do no more than 
 sigh out this prayer : “ O Lord, open thou my 
 lips.” 
 
 2. The doubting believer ; the unbelieving 
 believer (if I may be allowed the expression) : 
 — I mean one who has been deeply convinced 
 of sin, and taught by the Spirit of God that 
 there is no salvation but in the Lord Jesus 
 Christ ; one who loves the word, and ways, 
 and people of God, who is careful to the ut- 
 most of his power to abstain from the evil that 
 is in the world, and esteems “ the loving- 
 kindness of the Lord to be better than life” 
 (Psal. lxiii. 3) ; one at whom the enemy has of- 
 ten thrust sore that he might fall (Psal. cxviii. 
 13), but the Lord has secretly upheld him 
 through many a bitter hour, and he finds he 
 is not cut off yet, though he perhaps expects 
 it every day. Such as these have indeed suf- 
 ficient ground to say, “ If the I/Ord was not. 
 
 409 
 
 on my side, I had been swallowed up long 
 ago,” Psal. cxxiv. 3. They have reason to 
 conclude with David, “ By this, if by nothing 
 else, I know that thou favourest me, seeing 
 my enemies, who have assaulted me so conti- 
 nually, have not yet prevailed against me,” 
 Psal. xli. 11. But yet, through a sense of 
 past guilt, a sight of present corruptions, the 
 prevalence of unbelief, the workings of a le- 
 gal spirit, the want of a clear apprehension of 
 the Lord’s way of justifying the ungodly, and 
 from the force of Satan’s temptations, who is 
 exceeding busy to press all these things upon 
 the heart, their mouths are stopped likewise. 
 They cannot be'ieve, and therefore they can- 
 not speak. However, there are seasons and 
 intervals when they obtain a little glimpse of 
 hope, and then the whole desire of their souls 
 is expressed in the words of my text, “ O 
 Lord, open thou my lips, and my mouth shall, 
 shew forth thy praise.” 
 
 II. I proceed to consider what may be in- 
 eluded in this case, what it is to have the 
 mouth stopped. The persons I have men- 
 tioned have the same liberty of speech in com- 
 mon affairs as others ; but because they cannot 
 converse freely with him, who, notwithstanding 
 all their doubts and fears, and follies, still 
 maintains a secret hold of their souls they ac- 
 count themselves no better than dumb. They 
 cannot speak to the Lord, nor of him, nor 
 for him, as they wish and ought to do. These 
 are the three heads of their complaint, and 
 therefore they sigh and say, “ O Lord open 
 thou my lips !” 
 
 1. Alas ! says the believer that has sinned, and 
 lost his strength, “ O that it was with me as 
 in times past !” Job xxix. 2. I well remem - 
 ber when I had freedom of access, and found 
 it good to draw near to my God, when I 
 could pour out all my complaints and cares 
 before him, and leave them with him. I re- 
 member the time when my heart was over- 
 whelmed within me, and my spirit was burden- 
 ed, Psal. cxlii. 3. I saw myself a wretched, 
 helpless sinner. Innumerable evils took hold 
 of me. I thought I was marked out for de- 
 struction. I found Satan at my right hand, 
 waiting for a permission to seise my soul, and 
 make me his prey for ever, Zech. iii. 1. I 
 looked around, but saw no way to escape, and 
 gave up all for lost. But, O ! I remember, 
 when none in heaven or earth could help me, 
 how the Lord drew “ near to me in the day 
 of my distress, and said unto my soul, Fear 
 not, I am thy salvation,” Lam. iii. 57. He 
 revealed himself as an almighty, suitable 
 Saviour. He said, “ Deliver from going 
 down to the pit, I have found a ransom,” Job 
 xxxiii. 24. “ He brought me out of the hor- 
 rible pit and miry clay, and set my feet upon 
 a rock,” Psal. xl. 2. “ He brought me into 
 
 his banque ting-house, and his banner over me 
 was love. 1 sat under his shadow with great 
 delight, and his fruit was sweet unto my taste,” 
 
410 
 
 Cant. ii. 3, 4. This was the beginning, but 
 it was not all ; many a gracious visit he fa- 
 voured me with afterwards. O the sweet 
 hours of secret prayer ! O the happy commu- 
 nion in which I walked with him all the day 
 long ! “ Then in the multitude of thoughts 
 within me, his comforts refreshed my soul,” 
 Psal. xciv. 19. Then I could smile at Satan’s 
 rage, and face a frowning world. Every bles- 
 sing of common providence was doubly wel- 
 come, for I could txad his name of love writ- 
 ten upon it; and every affliction brought re- 
 signation and peace, because I saw my Fa- 
 ther’s hand in it, and found at a throne of 
 grace renewed strength always suited to my 
 need. Happy were those times ; but, alas ! 
 they are gone. I could hardly then persuade 
 myself that I should be moved any more. 1 
 little thought there was such desperate wicked- 
 ness in my heart, that, after so much experi- 
 ence of his goodness, I should foolishly wan- 
 der from him again. But, O ! what a change 
 have I lived to see ! I have grieved that good 
 Spirit of God by which I was sealed, and now 
 I find myself in the hands of my enemies. 
 The Lord hides himself and stands afar oflf, 
 and 1 have lost the power of prayer. Those 
 precious promises which once were the joy of 
 my soul, which I could boldly plead at the 
 throne of grace, and say All these are mine, 
 have no longer any power or sweetness ; I 
 read them, but I cannot feel them, and my 
 trials and sins, which once I could cast upon 
 my Saviour, and find instant relief, are now 
 a heavy burden, too great for me to bear. 
 Mercies have lost their relish, and afflictions 
 have lost their usefulness, since neither the 
 one nor the other are of force to stir up 
 my soul to prayer. “ O Lord, open thou my 
 lips.” 
 
 I remember likewise, when I had this free- 
 dom in speaking with God, how pleasing it 
 was to me to speak of him. My heart was 
 full, and running over with a sense of his 
 goodness, so that it was my meat and drink 
 to say, “ Come unto me, all you that fear God, 
 and I will tell you what he hath done for 
 my soul,” Psal. lxvi. 16. Then the company 
 of his people was delightful indeed. The 
 meanest of his children that would sit and 
 hear me speak of his loving-kindness, was 
 precious to me: I esteemed them the excel- 
 lent of the earth in whom was all my delight, 
 Psal. xvi. 3. and lv. 14. We took sweet 
 counsel together, and walked to the house of 
 God in company. And I thank God I love 
 them still ; but I can neither help them, nor 
 be helped by them, as in times past. In 
 vain they say unto me, Come, sing us one 
 of the songs of Zion. Alas ! how can I sing 
 the songs of the Lord in a strange land ? My 
 harp is hung upon the willows, my tongue 
 deaveth to the roof of my mouth, Psal. 
 cxxxvii. 3 — 5. I dwell in darkness and si- 
 
 SER. XIX 
 
 lence, as those who have been long dead. “ O 
 Lord, open thou my lips.” 
 
 And when I could thus speak to God, and 
 of him, I had likewise liberty to speak for 
 him. I was then very jealous for the Lord 
 of hosts, 1 Kings xix. 10. It wounded my 
 soul to hear his name profaned, to see his 
 commandments broken, and his gospel slight- 
 ed. 1 had a tender concern for poor sinners ; 
 
 I could not but wish, that, if possible, every 
 person I met might know what I knew, and 
 feel what I felt. And especially where I had 
 friendship and influence, I was ready to im- 
 prove it to the best purpose. The love of 
 Christ constrained me to lay myself out for 
 his service, 2 Cor. v. 14. I could not but op- 
 pose sin and self-righteousness, and plead the 
 cause of my Saviour upon every occasion. I 
 was not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for I 
 felt it to be the power of God unto salvation 
 in my own soul (Rom. i. 16.), and durst 
 recommend it to every one, as the only balm 
 for sin and sorrow. But now the crown 
 is fallen from my head : woe unto me that I 
 have sinned, Lam. v. 1 6. I am shut out from 
 the fountain, and all my streams are dried up. 
 My comforts and my usefulness are declined 
 together. “ O Lord, open thou my lips, and 
 my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.” 
 
 Such is the complaint of the backslider in 
 heart, when he is filled with his own ways. 
 And, 
 
 2. This, with a little variation, will suit the 
 doubting tempted soul too. These will con- 
 fess, that the experience I have described is 
 the desire of their hearts. Such communica- 
 tion with God, such a freedom in his ways, 
 such a zeal for his service, is the very thing 
 they mean, when they entreat the Lord to 
 open their lips. And indeed they cannot, 
 they dare not deny, but they have at times 
 had some little tastes of them, otherwise they 
 would not know what I mean. For these 
 things are to the natural man the merest 
 folly imaginable ; he understands them not, 
 therefore he despises them ; nay, he hates 
 them with a perfect hatred, and opposes 
 them with all his heart. But still they com- 
 plain under a present burden. One dark 
 hour of temptation blots out all the traces of 
 comfort they have known, and they refuse con- 
 solation. They will insist on it, I have nei- 
 ther part nor lot in the matter ; I cannot get 
 near him, and I fear I never shall. When I 
 attempt to pray, a sense of my sins and sin- 
 fulness stops my mouth. I see the Lord, 
 not upon the golden mercy-seat, but upon the 
 fiery throne of justice, and I am ready to 
 call upon the rocks and mountains to hide me 
 from his presence. When I would commune 
 with his people, I am silenced by that dreadful 
 word, “ What hast thou to do to declare my 
 statutes, or to take my covenant into thy 
 mouth?” Psal. I. 16. When I would bear 
 
 GUILT REMOVED, 
 
SER. XIX. 
 
 AND PEACE RESTORED. 
 
 my feeble testimony for him in the world, 
 conscience alarms me, and says, “ Thou that 
 teachest others, teachest thou not thyself?” 
 Rom. ii. 21. And then “ the enemy comes 
 in like a flood” (Isaiah lix. 19.), with “ God 
 has forsaken him ; persecute and take him, 
 for there i9 none to deliver him,” Psal. lxxi. 
 11. Thus I “spend my days in groaning 
 and water my couch with tears,” Psal. vi. 6. 
 
 This is a heavy case indeed ; and would be 
 insupportable, but that the faithful Shepherd, 
 in a secret unseen way, affords timely succour, 
 and sets bounds to the raging enemy, beyond 
 which he cannot pass. “ Hitherto shalt thou 
 come” (Job xxxviii. 11.); thus far thou art 
 permitted to vex, and wound, and tear, “ but 
 no farther.” The Lord knows our frame, and 
 has promised with every temptation to provide 
 either strength to endure, or a way to escape, 
 1 Cor. x. 13. Two things are proper to be 
 mentioned for the encouragement of such souls 
 to wait on, and expect deliverance. 
 
 The first is, The examples of the saints. 
 Think not your lot strange, as though some 
 new and unheard-of thing had befallen you. 
 Thousands, and ten thousands, now in glory, 
 have tasted, yea drank deeply of this cup before 
 you. And many yet upon earth, who are now 
 rejoicing in the light of God’s countenance, 
 have said in times past, as you say now, “ I 
 shall one day perish by the hand of these ene- 
 mies (1 Sam. xxvii. 1.) ; the Lord hath cast 
 me quite off, and I shall never live to see his 
 goodness in the land of the living,” Psal. 
 lxxiv. 1. Or if you choose scripture proofs, 
 you need only read the book of Job, the 
 Psalms, and the Lamentations of Jeremiah, 
 to be convinced that some whom you number 
 amongst the Lord’s most eminent and highly- 
 favoured servants have been reduced to use 
 such expressions as suit your case, no less than 
 if they had been wrote for you alone. Do 
 not they say, “ That they were broken with 
 breach upon breach (Job xvi. 14.) ; that the 
 arrows of God stuck fast in them (Psal. 
 xxxviii. 2.) ; that the Lord wrote bitter things 
 against them, and counted them his enemies 
 (Job xiii. 26. and xxxii. 10.) ; that he had 
 shut them up within stone walls, and covered 
 himself with a cloud, that their prayers might 
 not pass through?” Lam. iii. 9. 44. These 
 are but a ^mall part of their complaints ; and 
 what can you say more than this ? 
 
 Again, consider the precious promises of 
 the word. Are they not expressly directed to 
 you ? Do you account yourself a backslider ? 
 “ Return unto me, ye backsliding children, 
 and I will receive you, saith the Lord,” Jer. 
 iii. 14, 22. Do you think yourself a sinner 
 of uncommon size? yet, saith the Lord, 
 “ Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be 
 white as snow ; though they be red like crim- 
 son, they shall be as wool,” Isa. i. 18. Do 
 you say your neck is as an iron sinew, and 
 your brow brass ? yet hear the w.vd of the 
 
 411 
 
 Lord, “ Hearken unto me, ye stout-hearted 
 that are far from righteousness. I bring near 
 my righteousness ; it shall not be far off,” 
 Isa. xlvi. 12, 13. Is there something pecu- 
 liarly dreadful in your case, something that 
 you could hardly be prevailed on to intrust to 
 your dearest friend ? yet be not afraid ; for 
 Truth has said. “ All manner of sin and blas- 
 phemy shall be forgiven unto men,” Matth. 
 xii. 31. “ Let the wicked forsake his way, 
 
 and the unrighteous man his thoughts : and 
 let him return unto the Lord, and he will 
 have mercy upon him ; and to our God for he 
 will abundantly pardon,” Isa. lv. 7. But 
 still, when we have said all, we are but miser- 
 able comforters. Even with the word of God 
 in our mouths, we speak too often in vain. 
 It is the Lord alone that can open the lips. 
 And, O ! that this may be the happy oppor- 
 tunity of his gracious appearance in favour of 
 all here present, that our wounds may be heal- 
 ed, and our tongues unloosed to proclaim his 
 praise ! Lift up your hearts to him, while I en- 
 deavour to shew you by what means, or in 
 what manner, the Lord is pleased to open the 
 lips that have been long closed. This is the 
 third particular I proposed to consider from 
 my text. 
 
 III. I say then, that when the Lord is about 
 to open the lips, he proceeds by the following 
 steps : 
 
 1. “ He opens the eyes.” We are often in 
 a similar case with Hagar in the wilderness. 
 The water was spent in the bottle, and she sat 
 down in despair. There was a well or foun- 
 tain close to her, sufficient to have supplied 
 her with water to her life’s end ; but she saw 
 it not till God opened her eyes, Gen. xxi. 15 
 — 19. Just so, many a poor soul is distres- 
 sed, and says, My stock is spent; I had but 
 little grace at the best, and, alas ! that little is 
 gone. And now, if the Lord should ask some 
 hard thing, would you not do it to obtain a 
 supply ? You would willingly take a long 
 journey, or part with all your wealth, to have 
 grace abounding in your hearts; but you 
 know you cannot expect help in this way. It 
 is true, all contrivances of our own will have 
 no effect ; but, blessed be God, they are as 
 needless as they would be useless. We need 
 not dig in the earth, nor climb the skies, nor 
 cross the seas ; our remedy is near, Rom. x. 
 6 — 8. We need no costly offerings of silver 
 or gold ; our remedy is cheap. Come, pore 
 no longer upon your empty bottle, but look 
 to the fountain, the river, the ocean of all 
 grace. May the Lord open your eyes, as he 
 did the eyes of Elisha’s servant (2 Kings vi. 
 1 7. ), and I will undertake to point you to an 
 object that shall answer all your wants. Look 
 unto the Lord Jesus Christ; look unto him 
 as he hung naked, wounded, bleeding, dead, 
 and forsaken upon the cross. Look unto him 
 again as he now reigns in glory, possessed 
 of all power in heaven and in earth, with thou- 
 
SER. XIX 
 
 412 GUILT REMOVED, 
 
 sands of thousands of saints and angels wor- 
 shipping before him, and ten thousand times 
 ten thousand ministering unto him ; and then 
 compare your sins with his blood, your wants 
 with his fulness, your unbelief with his faith- 
 fulness, your weakness with his strength, your 
 inconstancy with his everlasting love. If the 
 Lord opens the eyes of your understanding, 
 you would be astonished at the comparison. 
 Would you compare a small grain of sand 
 upon the shore with the massy mountains 
 which hide their heads in the clouds, and 
 spread their roots frcm sea to sea ? or the 
 spark of a glow-worm with the noon-day’s 
 sun ? yet there is less disproportion between 
 these, than between the utmost capacity of 
 your desires and wants, and the immense re- 
 sources provided for you, in the righteousness, 
 compassion, and power of our dear Redeemer. 
 “ He is able to save to the uttermost” (Heb. 
 vii. 25. ) ; and all our trouble arises chiefly 
 from this, that our eyes are holden, so that 
 we do not know him, Luke xxiv. 16. There- 
 fore the first step towards opening the lips is 
 to open our eyes, that we may see him, and 
 look upon him by such a sight as unloosed 
 the tongue of unbelieving Thomas, and con- 
 strained him to cry out, “ My Lord, and my 
 God !” John xx. 28. 
 
 2. When the eyes are thus opened, the 
 Lord, in the next place, and by that as a 
 means, “ opens the ear.” When Christ is 
 out of sight, we are deaf to all the calls, in- 
 vitations, and promises of the scripture. But 
 i believing view of him who died that we 
 might live, rouses the attention, and makes 
 us willing and able to hear what the Lord will 
 speak to his people, Psal. lxxxv. 8. And 
 what does he say from the cross ? 44 Look 
 unto me, and be ye saved,” Isaiah xiv. 22. 
 “ If I be lifted up, I will draw all men to 
 me,” John xii. 32. 44 Behold my hands, my 
 
 feet, my pierced side ; all this I bore for you,” 
 John xx. 27. “ Be not afraid, only believe,” 
 
 Mark v. 36. 44 O thou of little faith, where- 
 
 fore dost thou doubt ?” Matth. xiv. 31. 44 See, 
 sinner, how I have loved thee, I have trodden 
 the wine-press alone,” Isaiah lxiii. 3. 44 I have 
 destroyed death, and him that had the power 
 of death,” Heb. ii. 14. “ There is hence- 
 
 forth no condemnation to them that believe in 
 me,” Rom. viii. 1. And what does he say 
 from his kingdom ? 44 I have prayed for thee 
 that thy faith fail not,” Luke xxii. 32. “ For 
 a season you have sorrow ; but I will see you 
 again, and your heart shall rejoice,” John xvi. 
 22. “ Him that cometh to me, I will in no 
 
 wise cast out,” John vi. 37. 44 1 am the first 
 
 and the last ; — that was dead and am alive. 
 I keep the keys of death and hell, and save 
 whom I will,” Rev. i. 17. 18. “ Cast thy 
 
 burden upon me, I will sustain thee,” Psal. 
 lv. 22. 4 ‘ I will take away thy iniquity,” 
 
 Micah vii. 1 9. “ Be of good cheer, thy sins 
 
 are forgiven thee,” Matth ix. 2 44 Go in 
 
 peace, and sin no more,” John viii. 1 1. My 
 sacrifice, my God, what words are these ! 
 
 3. By opening the eye to see his excellence 
 and power, and the ear to hear his gracious 
 words, he, in the next place, “opens the heart.” 
 He breaks the prison doors, forces for him- 
 self an entrance, and sets the prisoner at 
 liberty. He touches the rock, and the waters 
 flow, Psal. lxxviii. 20. Now a true and filial 
 repentance takes place ; now sin appears ex- 
 ceedingly sinful indeed. There was a sor- 
 row before, but it was fruitless and ineffec- 
 tual ; but the sight of him who was pierced 
 for our sins, and the welcome sound of par- 
 don proclaimed in the conscience, produce a 
 sorrow after a godly sort, a repentance never 
 to be repented of. Thus it was with the wo- 
 man who washed our Lord’s feet (Luke vii. 
 38. 47.) ; she had been a great sinner, much 
 was forgiven her, and therefore she loved 
 much. Thus it was with Peter : he had been 
 a grievous backslider; he had been with Je- 
 sus upon the mount, and saw the excel- 
 lent glory ; he was stout in his protestation, 
 “ Though all men deny thee, yet will not I 
 but he shrunk at the voice of a girl, and said, 
 44 I know not the man.” When the servants 
 spoke to him, he cursed and swore ; but when 
 Jesus looked upon him, he wept, Luke xxii. 
 61. 62. Do you think our Lord looked upon 
 him with disdain and indignation ? rather with 
 a look of love ; a look that at once convinced 
 him of his sin, and gave him to understanu 
 that the Lord pitied and forgave him. This 
 look broke his heart in pieces. He went out 
 and wept bitterly. And afterwards, though 
 greatly humbled as to confidence in himself, 
 yet, when asked the question, he could bold- 
 ly appeal to the Searcher of hearts, 44 Lord, 
 thou knowest all things, thou knowest that 
 I love thee,” John xxi. 17. 
 
 And when the eyes, the ears, the heart, are 
 thus opened ; when the understanding is en- 
 lightened, the will engaged, and the affections 
 inflamed, the cure is wrought. Then the lips 
 will open of course, and the mouth be filled 
 with thanksgiving and praise. O that it 
 would please the Lord to give to me, and to 
 each of you, a clearer knowledge of this bles- 
 sed change from heart-felt experience, than is 
 in the power of words (of my poor words es- 
 pecially) to describe : “ Come, my friends, 
 let us return unto the Lord : for he hath 
 wounded, and he will heal us ; he hath smit- 
 ten, and he will bind us up,” Hosea vi. 1. 
 Verily we are all guilty in this matter ; we 
 have all provoked him by unbelief, and wan- 
 dered from his good way ; and therefore we 
 live so far below our privileges, and are so 
 often heavy and sorrowful, when we have in 
 him grounds of continual joy. Now, let us 
 unite in this prayer, 44 O Lord, open thou our 
 lips, display thy power in the midst of us, 
 heal all our breaches, rend the vail of our un- 
 belief, blot out the thick clouds of our sins. 
 
SKR. XIX. 
 
 AND PEACE RESTORED. 
 
 413 
 
 cleanse us from all our iniquities and idols, 
 and teach our stammering tongues, and barren 
 hearts, to shew forth the praise of thy abun- 
 dant goodness.” 
 
 I proceed to observe, in the last place, 
 
 IV. That if the Lord is pleased to answer 
 our desire, and to open your lips in this man- 
 ner, then you will surely praise him. You 
 will praise him with your mouths, and in your 
 lives ; you will thankfully acknowledge his 
 mercy, his power, and his wisdom. 
 
 1. You will praise his mercy. Is the cool- 
 ing stream welcome to the thirsty soul ? is a 
 reprieve acceptable to a poor condemned male- 
 factor ? Still more welcome is a sense of par- 
 doning love to a soul that has felt the evil and 
 effects of sin. What ! to be taken from the 
 dunghill (1 Sam. ii. 8),. and made a compan- 
 ion with princes ! to have all our guilt and 
 complaints removed at once ! to be snatched 
 as it were from the brink of hell, and placed 
 in the very suburbs of heaven ! to be able to 
 say, “ O Lord, thou wast [justly] angry with 
 me [and I went mourning under a sense 
 of thy displeasure] ; but [now] thine anger is 
 turned away, and thou comfortedst me” (Isa. 
 xii. 1 .) ! is not this a mercy ? especially consi- 
 dering how undeserving we are of the smallest 
 favour ! And farther, the way in which it was 
 conveyed ! that the pardon, though free to us, 
 is a pardon “ bought with blood : ” that it 
 cost the Lord Jesus his life, his soul, to effect 
 that blessed reconciliation in which we are be- 
 ginning to rejoice ! still more, that all we can 
 now receive of his love is but a taste, a small 
 thing, in comparison of what he has reserved 
 for us ! O what mercy is here ! O what thanks 
 does it call for ! “ O Lord, open thou our lips, 
 and our mouth shall shew forth thy praise. ’ 
 
 2. You will praise his power. I thought 
 says the poor soul at such a time, I was fallen 
 so low that there was no help. The more I 
 toiled and laboured in my own strength, the 
 farther the blessing seemed from me. I know 
 from experience, that none but an almighty 
 arm could relieve me. Creatures, means, and 
 contrivances, I had tried, and tried again, 
 but found them all physicians of no value. 
 But now, “ The right hand of the Lord has 
 done wonderfully, the right hand of the Lord 
 has brought mighty things to pass,” Psal. 
 cxviii. 15, 16. What shall Isay ? “ He hath 
 both spoken himself, and also hath done it,” 
 Isa. xxxviii. 15. The work is his ; to him 
 be all the glory. I got not this victory by my 
 own bow (Psal. xliv. 6), neither did my own 
 arm save me ; “ but the Lord himself has 
 been pleased to shew the exceeding greatness 
 of his mighty power in my behalf,” Eph. i. 
 1 9. Therefore, “ not unto us, but unto thy 
 name, O Lord, be the glory and the praise,” 
 Psal. cxv. 1. 
 
 3. You will praise his wisdom. “ What I 
 do (said our Lord to Peter), thou knowest 
 not now, but thou shalt know hereafter,” 
 
 John xiii. 7. The mourning soul often asks 
 the question wit!) David, “ I will say unto 
 God my rock, Why hast thou forsaken me ? 
 why go I mourning because of the enemy ?” 
 Psal. xlii. 9. When the Lord turns your 
 mourning into joy, you shall know why. You 
 will then see that there was a need ( 1 Pet. i. 
 6.) of all these things. It is to shew you 
 what is in your hearts, to mortify the spirit 
 of self-righteousness, “ to teach you, that with- 
 out him you can do nothing” (John xv. 5.), 
 to make you wise and experienced against 
 Satan’s devices ; to give you a tender sympa- 
 thy and fellow-feeling in the sufferings and 
 infirmities of your brethren, and to enable 
 you to encourage and comfort others (2 Cor. 
 i. 4.) who shall be hereafter in your case, by 
 relating what you have seen and known your- 
 self in your various conflicts and strivings a- 
 gainst sin. These are some of the reasons 
 why the Lord suffers his dear children to 
 groan being burdened, and sometimes permits 
 their enemies to gain a short advantage over 
 them, that he may humble and prove then 
 (Deut. viii. 2 — 16), in order to do them 
 good in their latter end. And, O ! with 
 what wisdom is all this appointed ! A little 
 of it we may see at present, but we shall not 
 have a complete view till we get safe home. 
 Then to look back upon the Woiy by which he 
 led us through this wilderness, will furnish 
 matter for eternal praise. 
 
 Farther, not only your mouths, but your 
 lives shall praise him. What is the language 
 of a believing heart, when the Xord pardons 
 his sins, and binds up his wounds? It is this, 
 “ Now Lord, I am thine, thy vows are upon 
 me, for thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God 
 of truth,” Psal. cxvi. 14, 16. ; and xxxi. 5. 
 “ Shall I continue in sin because grace has 
 abounded? God forbid!” Rom. vi. 1. “I 
 am crucified with Christ, crucified to the 
 world, and the world to me,” Gal. ii. 20 ; and 
 vi. 14. “ The love of Christ constrains me,” 
 
 2 Cor. v. 14. ‘‘‘The time past is sufficient 
 to have lived in vanity ; henceforth I am the 
 Lord's,” 1 Pet. iv. 3. “ Has he bound me 
 
 by his tender mercies, to present myself, body 
 and soul to his service? (Rom. xii. 1.) here, 
 
 0 Lord, I offer my whole self, all that I am, 
 and all that I have, a living sacrifice, holy 
 and acceptable to thee. O let me never, 
 never, wander from thee again, but walk in 
 the light, as thou art in the light, and have 
 communion with thee here below, till thou 
 shalt remove me out of the reach of sin and 
 sorrow for ever,” 1 John i. 7. 
 
 If there are any here who have neither 
 known the loving-kindness of the Lord, nor 
 mourned under the sense of his displeasure, 
 
 1 am sure your lips are closed to this hour. 
 And should you die thus incapable of prais- 
 ing the God who made you, and the grace 
 which has brought the sound of the gospel to 
 your earg, it were better for you that you had 
 
SER. XX. 
 
 OF THE ASSURANCE OF FAITH. 
 
 414 
 
 never been born, Matth. xxvi. 24. You have 
 much reason to cry out, “ O Lord, open thou 
 my lips.” Open my eyes to see my danger, 
 to see the evil of my nature and life. Open 
 my lips to confess my wickedness. Open my 
 heart to receive thy word, that I likewise may 
 bear a part in the praises thy people pay thee, 
 and not perish (as without thy mercy I must 
 do) with a lie in my right hand, Isa. xliv. 20. 
 Consider, the time is short (1 Cor. vii. 29) ; 
 death is near and may be sudden. May the 
 Lord enable you to consider the things be- 
 longing to your peace, before they are hid 
 from your eyes ! Luke, xix. 42. 
 
 And you, my friends, who at present en- 
 joy the light of God’s countenance, who know 
 your sins are forgiven (1 John, ii. 12.) for 
 his name’s sake, and have a happy freedom 
 of access at a throne of grace, O be mindful 
 of your privileges ; beware of sin, beware of 
 self, beware of Satan. Your enemy envies 
 you your liberty ; he watches you with sub- 
 tilty and malice ; he spreads snares for your 
 feet ; he desires to have advantage of you, 
 “ that he may sift you as wheat,” Luke xxii. 
 31. Therefore be upon your guard, be hum- 
 ble, make much of secret prayer, keep close 
 to the scriptures of God : by the w r ords of his 
 lips you shall be preserved from the paths of 
 the destroyer, Psalm xvii. 4. Attend dili- 
 gently upon the ordinances, and speak of- 
 ten one to another (Mai. iii. 16.), in love 
 and faithfulness, of what the Lord has done 
 and prepared for you, and of what manner of 
 persons you ought to be, in all holy conver- 
 sation and godliness, 2 Pet. iii. 11. Thus 
 you shall be kept safe from evil. Jesus has 
 prayed for you, that your faith may not fail, 
 Luke xxii. 32. Fix your eye (Heb. xii. 2) and 
 your heart upon him, as he that must do all 
 for you, all in you, and all by you. And he has 
 said, “ Yet a little while, and behold I come 
 quickly,” Rev. iii. 11. Hold fast that which 
 thou hast. “ Be thou faithful unto death, 
 and I will give thee a crown of life. Amen. 
 Even so, come, Lord Tesus,” Rev. ii. 10, 
 and xxii. 20, 
 
 SERMON XX. 
 
 OF THE ASSURANCE OF FAITH. 
 
 And we know that we are of God.— 
 
 1 John v. 19. 
 
 A well-grounded and abiding persuasion, 
 not only that the doctrines of the gospel are 
 true in themselves, but that we, through grace, 
 are surely and unchangeably interested in 
 them, is highly desirable. If we may be safe, 
 we cannot be happy and comfortable without 
 it, when once we have received an experi- 
 
 mental knowledge of the deceitfulness of our 
 own hearts, and the variety, subtilty, and force 
 of Satan’s temptations : and he who knows 
 our frame and situation has, in his holy word, 
 made a full provision for us in this respect, 
 and declared it to be his intention, that those 
 who flee for refuge to the hope he has set be- 
 fore them, might have strong consolation 
 (Heb. vi. 18.) ; not be left at an uncertainty 
 in a concern of the highest importance, but 
 be rooted, grounded, established, and settled 
 in the knowledge of his love, and be enabled 
 to maintain it as an unshaken principle through 
 every change of dispensation and frame, “ that 
 he who hath begun a good work in them will 
 perform it until the day of Jesus Christ,’ 
 Phil. i. 6. 
 
 This animating confidence, so well suited, 
 and so necessary to render the soul superior 
 to all the trials of life, to inspire a noble dis- 
 dain of the sinful pleasures and vain pursuits 
 of the present evil world, and to engage the 
 grateful exertion of every faculty and power 
 in the service of God, Is generally expressed 
 by the word Assurance. But though the 
 word is in frequent use, the thing itself has 
 been, and still is, a subject of much dispute 
 and controversy amongst professors of the 
 gospel. Many not being conscious of such a 
 cheering persuasion in themselves, and too 
 hasty in supposing their attainments must be 
 a standard to others, have ventured to deny 
 the possibility of such an assurance, and treat- 
 ed every claim to it as visionary and enthusi- 
 astic. On the other hand, some have main- 
 tained the opposite extreme, and held assur- 
 ance so essential to faith, that without it no 
 person has a scriptural warrant even to hope 
 that a work of grace is begun in his heart. 
 This sentiment, especially when asserted by 
 persons of undoubted character for gifts, graces, 
 and usefulness, has greatly startled and dis- 
 couraged weak and feeble-minded souls, and 
 been too often an occasion of adding to the 
 distress of those who rather ought to have 
 been comforted. 
 
 Great differences of judgment have like- 
 wise obtained concerning the means whereby, 
 the manner in which, and the persons to 
 whom, this assurance is communicated, sup- 
 posing it attainable. It is not needful to 
 insist on particulars. Perhaps the best way 
 to prevent or remove mistakes, is to propose 
 the truth simply, which, so far as it takes 
 place, will necessarily prevent the entertain- 
 ment of error. I only mention in general, 
 that there is a variety of sentiments on this 
 point, and the most of them supported by re- 
 spectable names, in order to caution you a- 
 gainst paying too great a deference to human 
 authority, and to urge you to praise God for 
 your Bibles, and to be diligent in the perusal 
 of them. If you search the scriptures, and 
 pray for the Spirit, you may arrive to a clear 
 
SER. XX. 
 
 OF THE ASSURANCE OF FAITH. 
 
 satisfaction for yourselves, no less than if all 
 the learned were of one mind, and all of your 
 side. 
 
 My text assures us that this assurance was 
 possessed in the first ages of the church. There 
 were some who could say without hesitation, 
 “ We know that we are of God;” and though 
 they are an apostle’s words, he uses them not 
 exclusively as an apostle, but generally as a 
 believer. The greatest part of the chapter, 
 and indeed of the epistle, shews that he consi- 
 ders those to whom he was writing as partak- 
 ers with him in the common privileges of Chris- 
 tians. So likewise St. Paul joins the believ- 
 ing Corinthians with himself, when he says, 
 “ We know, that if our earthly house of this 
 tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building 
 of God, an house not made with hands, eter- 
 nal in the heavens,” 2 Cor. v. 1. And else- 
 where he takes it for granted, that they (some 
 of them at least) had this assurance, and 
 presses them to a lively discharge of their duty 
 upon that consideration : “ for as much as ye 
 know that your labour is not in vain in the 
 Lord,” 1 Cor. xv. 58. 
 
 And we need make no scruple of affirming 
 from the fullest evidence, that this precious 
 privilege was not confined, or designed by God 
 to be so, to the first ages of the gospel. There 
 have been in all periods of the church, where 
 the word and ordinances of Christ have been 
 faithfully administered, many who could say, 
 “ We know that we are of God and we 
 trust there are more than a few who can say 
 so, and give a solid scriptural evidence of the 
 hope that is in them, even in this degenerate 
 day. But because arguments from facts, 
 which must depend upon persons testimony in 
 their own cases, are not allowed to be fully 
 conclusive ; and because the greater part of 
 those who we hope sincerely love the Lord 
 Jesus, live far below their just right and pri- 
 vilege, and are perplexed with doubts and 
 fears, which dishonour their profession, weak- 
 en their hands, and make their lives uncom- 
 fortable: I shall endeavour at this time to 
 state and explain the nature of assuxance, to 
 prove that it is attainable, to point out the 
 means by which we are to expect it, and to 
 take notice of the hindrances which keep so 
 many who are interested in the gospel-salva- 
 tion from enjoying their privilege, and make 
 them unwilling or afraid to say, “ We know 
 that we are of God.” What 1 have to offer 
 on these particulars, will occur under one or 
 other of the following propositions : — 
 
 I. Assurance is not essential to the being 
 of faith. It is a strong faith, but we read like- 
 wise of a weak faith (Rom. xiv. l), a little 
 faith (Matth. iv. 3l), and faith like a grain 
 of mustard-seed, Matth. xvii. 20. True sav- 
 ing faith in Jesus Christ is only distinguish- 
 able by its different degrees ; but in every de- 
 gree, and in every subject, it is universally of 
 the same kind, and produces (according to its 
 
 415 
 
 degree) the same uniform effects. It purifies 
 the heart from the love and practice of sin 
 (Acts xv. 9) ; it works by love to the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, his ordinances, ways, and peo- 
 ple (Gal. v. 6) ; and it enables the possessor 
 to overcome the world (1 John v. 4), to stand 
 fast against its frowns, and to resist the more 
 pleasing, but not less dangerous, influence of 
 its smiles. Each of these effects is beyond 
 the power, and contrary to the inclination of 
 the natural man. “ No man can say that Je- 
 sus Christ is the Lord” (1 Cor. xii. 3), that 
 is, can give him the honour due to his name, 
 renounce every other hope of salvation, and 
 count all things but loss and dung that he may 
 win Christ (Phil. iii. 8), “ but by the Holy 
 Ghost.” Yet thus far many have undoubtedly 
 attained, who have not assurance ; but while 
 they give sufficient evidence by their conduct 
 that they have received precious faith in their 
 hearts, they go mourning all the day long, 
 and almost pass sentence against themselves 
 as unbelievers. Now, what these mourners 
 want, in order to their establishment and as- 
 surance, is not some new principle, which they 
 have not yet received, but only a stronger de- 
 gree of that faith which they already possess. 
 Some good writers speak of a faith of reliance, 
 a faith of adherence, a faith of assurance, and 
 of the direct and reflex acts of faith, &c. ; but 
 these are not scriptural modes of expression, 
 nor do they appear to me to throw light upon 
 the subject, but rather to increase the per- 
 plexity of plain people, who are apt to ima- 
 gine these are so many different kinds of faith. 
 The scriptures mention only two kinds, a liv- 
 ing and a dead faith, James ii. 1 7. True faith 
 is faint and weak in its beginnings, like the 
 life of a new-born infant, but it is growing up 
 to maturity, and shall increase with the in- 
 crease of God, “ unto a perfect man, unto the 
 measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ,” 
 Eph. iv. 13. From thence it follows, 
 
 II. The grounds and principles of faith and 
 assurance are exactly the same. The first 
 and lowest act of saving faith necessarily in- 
 cludes three things : 
 
 1. An apprehension of the sufficiency and 
 authority of Christ to save. Men that live in 
 their sins will rest upon a slender hope ! but 
 a conscience truly awakened must have sure 
 grounds to go upon, and, wdthout the disco- 
 very of such a Saviour as is revealed in the 
 gospel, would sink into despair. It is afraid 
 of being deceived, and is so far enlightened 
 that it cannot be easily imposed upon ; a sense 
 of the sinfulness of sin, an impression of the 
 majesty of God, will not suffer it to rest in any 
 thing short of a perfect atonement and a per- 
 fect righteousness. But when the eyes of the 
 mind are opened, and Jesus is seen as revealed 
 by the word and Spirit of God, all scruples of 
 this sort are silenced, and the soul perceives 
 and feels, that he is fully equal to the mightv 
 undertaking. 
 
416 OF THE ASSURANCE OF FAITH. ser. xx 
 
 2. An application to him. This of course 
 follows a persuasion of his ability to save ; 
 for who will sit down and perish, when there 
 is a possibility of relief? There is, perhaps, 
 a great questioning of Christ’s willingness ; 
 but still, since there is a peradventure, a sense 
 of distress on the one hand, and a view of his 
 power and grace on the other, will extort a 
 cry, “ Lord, save me, or I perish” Mattb. 
 viii. 25 ; and xiv. 30. 
 
 3. From hence there arises a hope in his 
 mercy, which is fainter or stronger according 
 as the knowledge of Jesus is more or less dis- 
 tinct, and the surrender unto him more or less 
 simple and unreserved, and therefore, in ge- 
 neral, it is very faint at first; for the know- 
 ledge of Christ in a measure depends upon 
 our knowledge of the scriptures, w'hich testify 
 of him, and on the proofs we have had of his 
 wisdom, grace, and love to ourselves ; but the 
 young convert, in whom the seed of faith is 
 but lately sown, has but little acquaintance 
 with the word ; for he has but just begun to 
 know the value of it, and he has but little 
 experience ; though his eyes are opened, his 
 sight is not yet confirmed, nor his spiritual 
 senses exercised. 
 
 Farther, though he was sincerely convinced 
 of his need of a Saviour, there is still much 
 of a legal bias, and a principle of self-right- 
 eousness in his heart, which, so far from being 
 removed, is not yet discovered to himself ; 
 and while he thinks he looks to Christ alone, 
 he is looking in himself for qualifications to 
 recommend him, and afraid to draw near with 
 confidence, because he cannot find them. These 
 things discourage his hopes, and demonstrate 
 lis faith to be but weak. 
 
 But the strongest and most lively assurance 
 that we can conceive attainable in the present 
 life, is wrought and maintained by the very 
 same principles which have so faint an influ- 
 ence in the infancy of faith. Let us hear the 
 great champion St. Paul, in the close of an 
 exemplary, laborious life, giving an account 
 to a dear and intimate friend of the hope that 
 was in him. He had been honoured and dis- 
 tinguished for grace, gifts, and usefulness, in 
 a peculiar manner ; he had laboured more a- 
 bundantly than all the apostles ; he had fully 
 preached the gospel, and gathered churches 
 throughout a very large part of the Roman 
 empire (1 Cor. xv. 10; Rom. xv. 19); his 
 first call w’as extraordinary, by the Lord’s ap- 
 pearing to him in glory ; and some of his suc- 
 ceeding experiences had been no less singular, 
 for he had been caught up into the third hea- 
 Vens (Cor. xii. 2): finally, his suffering for 
 the gospel had been as great and remarkable 
 as his services. But wdien he expresses his 
 assurance of support and salvation, he says 
 not a syllable of these things, but rests the 
 whole upon such points as were common to him 
 with all believers : “ I know whom I have be- 
 lieved, and I am persuaded that he is able to 
 
 keep that which I have committed unto him 
 against that day,” 2 Tim. i. 12. We see 
 there St. Paul’s assurance was founded on, 
 1st, A knowledge of Jesus Christ, the object 
 of his faith ; 2dly, A consciousness of trans- 
 actions which had passed between him and 
 his Saviour, — he had committed something to 
 him, that was, his soul with all its interests ; 
 3dly, A persuasion of his ability, willingness, 
 and faithfulness, to secure and preserve what 
 he had taken charge of. And these are the 
 very same principles which are necessary to 
 the first act of weak faith, only here they ex- 
 ert themselves with their proper power and 
 efficacy. From hence, 
 
 III. Assurance is equally open to all be- 
 lievers. It is not the exclusive privilege of 
 great services or sufferings ; it is not confined 
 to apostles, ministers, or martyrs, but is a 
 prize set before all who love our Lord Jesus 
 Christ in sincerity, being no other than the 
 growth and establishment of that faith which 
 they have already received. The reasons why 
 all who believe are not happy in this assurance 
 of hope, are to be sought, not in the will of 
 God, who hath made abundant provision for 
 our comfort, but in the perverseness, ignorance, 
 and misapprehensions of our own hearts, and 
 from inattention to his revealed word. We 
 are not straitened in him, but in ourselves. 
 It is not easy to enumerate the many ways in 
 which our depravity works to keep this good 
 thing from us. A few of the principal are 
 these : — 
 
 1. Insincerity. Where grace is really im- 
 planted by the Holy Spirit, it will surely pre- 
 vail at length, and subdue the whole soul tc 
 the obedience of faith. But in too many there 
 is, for a long time, not only a great opposi- 
 tion from indwelling corruption, but a secret 
 cleaving of the will to evil; a double-minded 
 ness (James i. 8), a kind of halting between 
 two opinions (1 Kings xviii. 21), so that 
 while the desire and prayer of the soul seems 
 expressed against all sin universally (Prov. 
 xxiii. 26), there is still an allowed reserve of 
 something inconsistent with light received, 
 Psal. ix. 1. An habitual indulgence of known 
 or suspected evil, or an habitual neglect of any 
 known duty, will certainly prevent the growth 
 of grace and consolation. For the Lord claims 
 (what is his just due) the whole heart, and will 
 not afford the strengthening light of his coun- 
 tenance, while any idol is deliberately set up 
 in his presence. “ Then,” says David (and 
 not till then), “ shall 1 not be ashamed, when 
 I have respect unto all thy commandments,” 
 Psal. cxix. 6. And our Lord Jesus, when 
 asked, “ How wilt thou manifest thyself unto 
 us ?” answered, “ If a man love me, he will 
 keep my words, and my Father will love him, 
 and we will come unto him, and make our 
 abode with him,” John xiv. 22, 23. Till the 
 pride and naughtiness of our spirits are con- 
 quered, and we are made willing to give up 
 
SER. XX 
 
 all, to renounce whatever is contrary to his 
 precepts, though pleasing as a right eye, and 
 seemingly necessary as the right hand, it is in 
 vain to expect a full and abiding assurance of 
 his love. 
 
 2. Indolence. Witn respect to this valu- 
 able blessing, it may be often said, “ Ye re- 
 ceive not, because ye ask not,” James iv. 2. 
 It is too common for those who were earnest 
 in crying for mercy, while they thought them- 
 selves under the curse and power of the law, 
 to grow slack and remiss in prayer soon after 
 they obtain some hope of salvation from the 
 gospel, and particularly they do not “ give all 
 diligence to make their calling and election 
 sure” (2 Pet. i. 10), in the careful use of every 
 means appointed for their establishment in the 
 truth as it is in Jesus. Therefore that word 
 is fulfilled in them, “ The slothful soul de- 
 sireth, and hath nothing,” Prov. xiii. 4. They 
 go on for months or years in a complaining, 
 unsettled state, and deservedly, because they 
 are not earnest in seeking, asking, waiting, 
 knocking at the gate of wisdom, and at the 
 throne of grace, for that blessing which the 
 Lord has promised to those who persevere in 
 wrestling prayer, and will take no denial. 
 
 3. Misapprehensions. These arise from a 
 neglect of examining the scriptures, and an 
 undue deference to the decisions of men. If 
 assurance is supposed unattainable, it will con- 
 sequently not be sought after. If it is ex- 
 pected as an instantaneous impression of the 
 Spirit of God upon the mind, independent of 
 his word, or to arise from some sudden, power- 
 ful application of a particular text of scripture, 
 this persuasion will end in disappointment. 
 For, though it must be allowed that the Lord 
 does at times favour his people with peculiar 
 manifestations of his goodness, and perhaps 
 seal some promise especially suited to their pre- 
 sent circumstances, with a remarkable sweet- 
 ness and evidence upon their minds, yet these 
 do rarely produce the assurance we are speak- 
 r.g of. These are but visits seldom vouch- 
 safed, and quickly suspended ; and those who 
 depend chiefly on such impressions, instead 
 of endeavouring to grow in the scriptural 
 knowledge of Christ, are generally as change- 
 able in their hopes as in their frame. While 
 their affections are thus engaged, “ their moun- 
 tain stands strong, and they think they shall 
 never be moved (Psal. xxx. 7) ; but when 
 the cause is withdrawn, the effect ceases, and 
 they presently relapse into their former fears 
 and inquietudes : Not to say that expectations 
 of this sort have a tendency to great inconve- 
 niencies, and often open a door to the delu- 
 sions of enthusiasm and dangerous imposi- 
 tions ; for Satan, when permitted, knows how 
 to transform himself into an angel of light, 
 2 Cor. xi. 1 4. If inherent sanctification, or 
 a considerable increase of it, is considered as 
 the proper ground of assurance, those who are 
 most humble, sincere, and desirous of being 
 
 417 
 
 conformed to the will of God, w ill be the most 
 perplexed and discouraged in their search af- 
 ter it. For they of all others will be the least 
 satisfied w-ith themselves, and have the quick- 
 est sense of the innumerable defilements and 
 defects which the scriptures assure us are in- 
 separable from our best tempers and best ac- 
 tions. These mistakes, with others that might 
 be mentioned, prevent many from seeking af- 
 ter assurance at all, and bewilder many more, 
 by putting them upon a wrong pursuit. But 
 what then is assurance ? and how is it to be 
 attained ? I shall attempt an answer to these 
 questions together in the next proposition. 
 
 IV. “ Assurance is the result of a compe- 
 tent spiritual knowledge of the person and 
 work of Christ as revealed in the gospel, and 
 a consciousness of dependence on him and his 
 work alone for salvation.” What I appre- 
 hend necessary to make my meaning plain, 
 will occur from a brief explanation of the 
 terms I have made use of in this description. 
 
 1. By the term spiritual knowledge, I would 
 ascribe it to the influence and teaching of the 
 Holy Spirit of God, and distinguish it both 
 from that speculative knowledge of divine 
 things which natural men may acquire from 
 books and human instruction, and likewise 
 from that knowledge which a real believer 
 may obtain in the same way, beyond the li- 
 mits of his present experience. Those who 
 are favoured with great outward advantages 
 particularly the light of a clear gospel-mini- 
 stry, may very soon arrive to a notional ap- 
 prehension of the most important truths ; but 
 with respect to the spiritual and abiding per. 
 ception of those truths, there is no effectual 
 teacher but the Spirit of God ; and we often 
 find, that what we think we have learned of 
 men, we have occasion to be taught again by 
 the "Lord the Spirit, for our acquisitions fail 
 us when we have most need of them, and will 
 not stand the trial of an hour of temptation. 
 But, so far as we have received our views of 
 Jesus, his person, offices, mediation, and pro- 
 mises, from him, we possess them, and should 
 be able to defy an angel, if he were to pro- 
 pose to us any other doctrine than that which 
 we have surely known and believed, Gal. i. 8. 
 
 2. I use the word competent, because there 
 is not, that I know of, any determinate stan- 
 dard where to fix. When our knowledge is 
 so far increased as to overpower the objec- 
 tions arising from inward corruptions, defects 
 of obedience, unbelieving fears, and the tem- 
 ptations of Satan ; when we can cut them 
 short with that question of the apostle, “ Who 
 is he that condemneth ? it is Christ that died” 
 (Rom. viii. 34), assurance follows of course. 
 For I do not understand assurance in the 
 strictest sense for the highest degree of cer- 
 tainty imaginable. Assurance itself is capa- 
 ble of increase; and will be so continually, 
 while there is any darkness in our understand- 
 ings, or any remaining propensity to a self 
 
 2 L 
 
 OF THE ASSURANCE OF FAITH. 
 
418 
 
 righteous spirit. Then only will our assur- 
 ance be perfect, when we shall see Jesus as he 
 is, and be completely freed from all our in- 
 firmities. For these, in whatever degree they 
 prevail, will so far affect the strength and 
 steadiness of our confidence in God. 
 
 3. This knowledge is wrought in us by the 
 Spirit, through the medium of the written 
 word. He teaches no unrevealed truths. We 
 are not to expect that he will assure us by a 
 voice from heaven, or by a sudden impulse 
 upon our hearts, that our names in particular 
 are written in the book of life ; but he opens 
 our understandings to understand the scrip- 
 tures (Luke xxiv. 45), to assent to, and feel, 
 that we are such sinners as are there describ- 
 ed, to see the dignity and sufficiency of Christ 
 Jesus, as God-man, the Mediator, the suita- 
 bleness of his offices, the value of his atone- 
 ment and righteousness, and the harmony and 
 glory of the divine attributes, in the adorable 
 methods of redeeming love, which renders it 
 just, righteous, and worthy of God to justify 
 and save the believing sinner, Rom. iii. 26. 
 He likewise gives us to understand the free- 
 dom and security of the gospel-promises con- 
 firmed by the oath of God, and sealed with 
 the blood of his Son. He shews us the esta- 
 blishment and immutability of the covenant of 
 grace ; convinces us, that there is a fulness of 
 wisdom, grace, life and strength, treasured up 
 in Christ, for the use and support of those who 
 in themselves are poor, miserable, and help- 
 less, and to be freely communicated in mea- 
 sure and season, as he sees necessary to sup- 
 port, nourish, and revive the believing soul, 
 and to lead him in the path of perseverance 
 to everlasting life. Such a discovery of al- 
 mighty power, and unchangeable love, engag- 
 ed for the infallible salvation of every believer, 
 which they cannot lose by their own unwor- 
 thiness, nor be deprived of by all the opposi- 
 tion which earth or hell can raise against them 
 (John x. 28), produces a suitable assurance 
 in the soul that receives it. And we can con- 
 fidently say, “We know that we are of God,” 
 when we can in this manner know in whom 
 we have believed. 
 
 4. Such discoveries of the person and grace 
 of Christ are connected with a heart-felt con- 
 sciousness, that the believer’s dependence for 
 all the great hopes and ends of salvation are 
 fixed on him and his work alone. They draw 
 forth acts of surrender and trust, and keep the 
 mind from forming any vain scheme of hope 
 or refuge, either in whole or in part, from any 
 other quarter. Indeed, from the very first 
 dawnings of faith, as I have observed, the 
 soul is led to commit itself into the hands of 
 Jesus ; but while knowledge was weak, and 
 the heart very imperfectly humbled, there was 
 a secret, though unallowed, dependence upon 
 self, upon resolutions, frames, and duties. 
 But as Jesus rises more glorious in the eye 
 of faith, self is in the same degree depressed 
 
 SER. XX 
 
 and renounced ; and when we certainly see 
 that there is no safety or stability but in his 
 name, we as certainly feel that we expect 
 them from him, and from him only. .And 
 the Holy Spirit assists here likewise, bears a 
 comfortable witness with our spirits (Rom. 
 viii. 15, 16), by drawing us to a throne of 
 grace, pleading in us as a spirit of adoption, 
 and prompting us to renew the renunciation 
 of ourselves, and to glory in Jesus, as made 
 unto us, of God, wisdom, righteousness, 
 sanctification, and redemption ( 1 Cor, i. 30), 
 from day to day. And from hence arises a 
 solid, permanent assurance. The believer, 
 though weak and unstable as water in him- 
 self, and though continually assaulted by a 
 powerful combination against his peace, can 
 look through all to Jesus, and say, “ I am per- 
 suaded, that neither death, nor life, nor an- 
 gels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things 
 present, nor things to come, nor height, nor 
 depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to 
 separate me from the love of God which is 
 in Christ Jesus our Lord,” Rom. viii. 38, 39. 
 
 What remains then, but to animate and 
 press every sincere believer to strive, in God’s 
 appointed way, for a comfortable assurance, 
 that they are accepted in the Beloved, passed 
 from death unto life, and infallibly freed from 
 all condemnation. Though this knowledge 
 is not absolutely necessary to our safety, it is 
 exceeding useful to make us unwearied, cheer- 
 ful, and evangelical, in a course of holy obe- 
 dience, to the exertion of all our powers and 
 faculties in the service of him who has loved 
 us, and washed us from our sins in his own 
 blood, and to give us courage to endure and 
 surmount the many difficulties and opposi- 
 tions which we are sure to meet with in the 
 course of our profession. Unbelief and dis- 
 trust weaken our hands, “ and make our 
 knees feeble,” Heb. xii. 12. The more 
 steadily we confide in God, the better we shall 
 serve him ; we shall be enabled to cast all our 
 cares upon him, to rely on his promise, that he 
 will make our strength equal to our day ; and 
 having a well-grounded expectation of re- 
 ceiving the end of our hope, even the salva- 
 tion of our souls, we shall stand fast in the 
 evil day, and say, “ None of these things 
 move me; neither count I my life dear, so 
 that I may finish my course with joy,” Acts 
 xx. 24. I would only subjoin two cautions 
 to those who are thus minded. 
 
 1. Remember that the progress of faith to 
 assurance is gradual. Expect it not sud- 
 denly, but wait upon the Lord fox it in the 
 ways of his appointment. As it depends up- 
 on the manifestation of the Holy Spirit, let 
 this engage you to constancy and earnestness 
 in prayer ; and as it arises from a knowledge 
 of Jesus, be assiduous in searching the scrip- 
 tures, which testify of him. The blessing 
 of the Lord and the hand of the diligent con - 
 cur in the attainment of this benefit, Prov. x. 
 
 OF THE ASSURANCE OF FAITH. 
 
5JEtl. XX. 
 
 4. 22. If you persevere in this path, you will 
 be helped forward by the experience of every 
 day j and every dispensation of providence, 
 as well as every exercise and frame of mind 
 you pass through, will be sanctified, to give 
 you an increasing conviction, that you are 
 nothing, and that Jesus is all in all. 
 
 2. As you cannot see or maintain a sight 
 of your interest in the covenant, but by the 
 light of the Spirit, beware of grieving him, 
 Ephes. iv. 30. If you indulge a careless, 
 trifling disposition, or venture upon known 
 sin, you will find dark clouds raised be- 
 tween the Sun of righteousness and your 
 souls. Assurance is not so invariable, but 
 that it may be affected, weakened, and per- 
 haps for a season quite suspended, by un- 
 faithfulness and backsliding on our part. If 
 you have a persuasion of your interest in the 
 love of God, that remains always the same, 
 though prayer is restrained, the ordinances 
 slighted, and watchfulness intermitted ; take 
 heed, lest this instead of assurance, should be 
 vain confidence and presumption. The hope 
 that maketh not ashamed, endears every pre- 
 cept and ordinance to the soul, weans the af- 
 fections from low and trivial pursuits, and 
 strengthens the exercise of every gracious 
 principle. 
 
 As it is thus possible and desirable for a 
 believer to “ know that he is of God so a 
 concern for many here present will not suffer 
 me to close, without desiring you to consider 
 if you have not cause to conclude, from scrip- 
 ture-testimony, that you are not of God. See 
 
 419 
 
 the cause determined by an apostle : “ Whoso- 
 ever doeth not righteousness, is not of God,” 
 1 John iii. 10. And again, by another, “ If 
 any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is 
 none of his,” Rom. viii. 9. Are not these 
 decisions plain and absolute ? If your love 
 and dependence are not fixed on the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, if your tempers and practice 
 are not governed by his commands, you are 
 not of God. Who, then, do you belong to ? 
 The whole world is divided between two mas- 
 ters, and ranged under opposite banners. A 
 neutrality is impossible. If you are not of 
 God, you belong at present to Satan j you 
 are his captives (2 Tim. ii. 26.) ; he leads 
 you blindfold ; and he meditates your destruc- 
 tion, when you shall have worn out your 
 lives in his miserable service. And will you 
 continue fond of your bondage, and follow 
 him like an ox to the slaughter ? There is 
 a redemption-price paid, there is an arm 
 of power revealed in favour of such help- 
 less perishing prisoners. Jesus, whom we 
 preach, “ is able to take the prey out of the 
 hand of the mighty, and to deliver the law- 
 ful captive,” Isaiah xlix. 24. The Lord help 
 you to apply to him before iniquity is your 
 ruin. O may he incline you to believe and 
 be saved! Acts xvi. 81. If you reject him, 
 you seal yourself to an aggravated condem- 
 nation, and must perish without mercy : but 
 if you hear his voice, and call upon his name, 
 he is able to save to the uttermost, and to 
 bless you, in turning every one of you from 
 your iniquities,” Heb. vii. 25. ; Acts iii. 26 
 
 OF TIIE ASSURANCE OF FAITH. 
 
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REVIEW 
 
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 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY 
 

 
 
 
 
 
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INTRODUCTION 
 
 Though the actions of mankind appear greatly diversified from the influence 
 of particular circumstances, human nature has been always the same. The 
 history of all ages and countries uniformly confirms the scriptural doctrine, 
 that man is a depraved and fallen creature, and that some selfish temper, am- 
 bition, avarice, pride, revenge, and the like, are, in effect, the main springs 
 and motives of his conduct, unless so far, and in such instances, as they are 
 corrected and subdued by divine grace. 
 
 Therefore, when St. Paul speaks of the most dreadful degree of impiety 
 that can be imagined, enmity against God, he does not consider it as the 
 fault of the particular time in which he lived, or impute it singly either to the 
 idolatrous Heathens, or the obstinate Jews, but he affirms universally, that the 
 carnal mind (Vo (pgovrjfta, rr\g <fa gxog), the wisdom, the most spiritual and discerning 
 faculty of man, is enmity against God. Men differ considerably in capacity, 
 rank, education, and attainments ; they jar in sentiments and interests ; they 
 mutually revile, hate, and destroy one another : but in this point they all a- 
 gree ; whether Greeks or Barbarians, wise or ignorant, bond or free, the bent 
 and disposition of their minds, while unrenewed by grace, is black and impla- 
 cable enmity against the blessed God. 
 
 To those who acknowledge the authority of scripture, St. Paul’s express as- 
 sertion should be sufficient proof of this point, if we could produce no other ; 
 but besides the many other passages in the book of God to the same effect, 
 it may be demonstrated by the most obvious proofs, experience and matter of 
 fact. The history of the Old Testament from the death of Abel, the nature 
 and grounds of the opposition which Jesus and his apostles met with, and 
 the treatment of the most exemplary Christians that have lived in suc- 
 ceeding ages, are indisputable evidences of this offensive truth ; for what can 
 be stronger marks of enmity against God, than to despise his word, to scorn 
 his favour, to oppose his will, to carress his enemies, and to insult and abuse 
 his servants, for no other offence than their attachment to his service ? 
 
 But when, from these premises, the apostle infers, “ so then they that are in 
 the flesh cannot please God,” though the consequence is evident, it may seem 
 at first view unnecessary ; for can it be supposed that the carnal mind, which 
 breathes a spirit of defiance and enmity against God, will have any desire or 
 thought of pleasing him ? Yet thus it is The carnal mind is not only despe- 
 
 rately wicked, but deeply deceitful ; it deceives others, and often it deceives 
 itself. As the magicians of Egypt, though enemies to Moses, attempted to 
 counterfeit his miracles, and as Balaam could say, “ The Lord my God,” 
 though he was wickedly engaged against the Lord’s people ; so it has been 
 usual with many who have hated and denied the power of godliness, to value 
 themselves highly upon the form of it, and while they are alienated from the 
 life of God, through the ignorance that is in them, they affect to be thought 
 his best servants, and make the most confident claims to his favour 
 
424 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The pure religion of Jesus cannot but be despised and rejected by the car- 
 nal mind: the natural man receiveth not the things of God ; they are beyond 
 his sphere ; he does not apprehend them, and therefore cannot approve them ; 
 nay, he is averse and unwilling to meddle with them, and therefore it is im- 
 possible he should understand them. But the fiercest opposition arises from 
 the complication of presumption and hypocrisy we have spoken of ; when 
 men, destitute of the Spirit of God, from a vain conceit of their own wisdom 
 and goodness, arrogate to themselves an authoritative decision in religious 
 concerns, and would reduce the judgment and practice of others to their own 
 corrupt standard. 
 
 Such was eminently the character of the Scribes and Pharisees, who, with 
 unwearied malice, persecuted our Lord to the death of the cross ; and he for- 
 warned his disciples to expect the like treatment ; he sent them forth as lambs 
 in the midst of wolves, and assured them that their attachment to him would 
 draw on them the hatred of mankind, so far as even to deprive them of the 
 rights of civil society, and the pleasures of relative life. A man’s foes shall 
 be those of his own household : his parents shall forget their affection, his 
 children their duty, his servants their reverence, and even the wife of his bosom 
 shall despise him, when he boldly professes the gospel ; nay, the most amiable 
 qualities, joined to the most endearing connections, are not sufficient wholly 
 to suppress the enmity which fills the hearts of the unregenerate, against those 
 in whom they discern the image of Christ ; and that this enmity would some- 
 times assume a religious form, and under that appearance, proceed to the 
 greatest extremities, he informed them, in another place : “ The time Cometh 
 that whosoever killeth you, will think that he doeth God service.” 
 
 If a faith and practice, agreeable to the New Testament, were not always 
 attended with a measure of this opposition, we should want one considerable 
 evidence that the gospel is true ; and infidels would be possessed of one solid 
 objection against it, namely, That our Lord was mistaken when he predicted 
 the reception his doctrine would meet with. But the scriptures cannot be 
 broken : the word of Christ is fulfilling every day, and especially in this par- 
 ticular. Many, perhaps, will be ready to object here, and to maintain, that, 
 in our nation, and at this present time, the charge is invidious and false. It 
 will be pleaded, that when Christianity had to struggle with Jews and Pagans, 
 it could not but be opposed ; but that with us, under the guard of a national 
 establishment, an opposition to Christianity (unless by the feeble efforts of 
 Deists and Libertines) is impracticable and inconsistent by the very terms ; 
 and that if the delusions of a few visionary enthusiasts are treated with that 
 contempt and indignation which they justly deserve, this should not be styled 
 an opposition to Christianity, but rather a warrantable concern for its vindi- 
 cation, especially as no coercive methods are used ; for though some attempts 
 have been made to restrain the leaders from poisoning the minds of the peo- 
 ple, yet no person is injured, either in life or property, on account of his o- 
 pinions, how extravagant soever they may be. 
 
 To this extenuation it may be replied, 
 
 1. I do not assert, that persecution and reproach must necessarily attend 
 the name of a Christian, or that it is not possible to make a high profession 
 of religion under that name, and at the same time preserve or acquire a large 
 share of the honours, riches, and friendship of the world ; but I maintain with 
 the apostle, that “ all who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecu- 
 tion.” The distinction he makes in these words, is observable : — So much god- 
 liness as may be professed without a peculiar relation to Jesus, the world will 
 bear ; sobriety and benevolence they will applaud ; nay, even prayers, fast- 
 ings, and other external acts, may be commended : — but, to live godly in 
 
INTRODUCTION. 425 
 
 Christ Jesus, — so as to profess our whole dependence upon his free salvation 
 to seek all our strength from his grace ; to do all expressly for his sake ; and 
 then to renounce all trust or confidence in what we have done, and to make 
 mention of his righteousness only : — this the world cannot bear ; this will 
 surely provoke the contempt or hatred of all who have not the same spirit, 
 whether accounted Christians or Infidels, Papists or Protestants. That no- 
 thing less than what I have mentioned can be the import of living godly in 
 Christ Jesus, I shall in due time prove by a cloud of witnesses. 
 
 2. I acknowledge, with thankfulness to Godj and to those whom he has 
 placed in just authority over us, that the interposition of stripes, imprison- 
 ment, tortures, and death, in matters pertaining to conscience, has no place 
 in our happy land : 
 
 ■ ■ ■ jacet (semperque jaceat !) 
 
 Divini imago zeli et pestis. 
 
 The spirit of persecution is repressed by the wisdom of our laws and the 
 clemency of our princes, but we have no ground to believe it is extinct, or 
 rather we have sufficient evidence of the contrary. Not to mention some re- 
 cent instances in which power has been strained to its full extent, it is no- 
 torious that scorn, invective, and calumny (which can act unrestrained by 
 human laws), are employed for the same ends and purposes, which, in other 
 countries, are more speedily effected by anathemas and sanguinary edicts. 
 
 3. The opposition I am speaking of is not primarily between men and 
 men, simply considered, but between the spirit of the world and the Spirit 
 that is of God, and theicfore the manifestation of each will be in mutual pro- 
 portion. The Lord Jesus himself sustained the fiercest contradiction of sin- 
 ners, because his character was superlatively excellent : his apostles, though 
 far inferior to their Lord, expressed so much of his temper and conduct, that 
 they were counted worthy to suffer shame in the next degree to him : As he 
 was, so were they m the world. St. Paul, who laboured more abundantly 
 than his brethren, experienced a larger share of dishonour and ill treatment. 
 Though educated at the feet of Gamaliel, and no stranger to Grecian lite- 
 rature, when he shewed himself determined to know nothing but Jesus, and 
 to glory only in his cross, he was accounted by Jew and Gentile, as the 
 filth and off-scouring of all things ; and thus it will hold universally. If, 
 therefore, any who sincerely espouse the gospel, meet with little disturbance 
 or censure, it is not because the carnal mind is better reconciled to the truth 
 than formerly in the apostles days, Dut because our zeal, faith, and activity 
 are so much inferior to theirs, and our conduct more conformable to the pre 
 vailing taste around us. 
 
 4. I confess, that (as our Saviour has taught us to expect by the parable ot 
 the tares) revivals of religion have been generally attended with some inci- 
 dental offences, and counterfeited by many false appearances. It has been 
 so in times past ; it is so at present ; and we are far from justifying every 
 thing, and in every degree, that the world is ready to condemn. However, 
 we cannot but com; lain of a want of candour and ingenuousness in this re- 
 spect also. Many who bring loud charges against what is irregular and 
 blameable, are evidently glad of the opportunity to prejudice and alarm weak 
 minds. They do not confine their reproof to what is erroneous and unscrip- 
 tural, but endeavour, by ambiguous expressions, invidious names, and indis- 
 criminate censures, to obscure the state of the question, and to brand error 
 and truth with the same mark of infamy : they either cannot, or will not dis- 
 tinguish between evangelical principles and the abuse of them ; and when 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 $26 
 
 the distinction has been pointed out to them again and again, they refuse at 
 tention, and repeat the same stale misrepresentations which they know have 
 been often refuted : they will not allow a grain for infirmity or inadvertence 
 in those whom they oppose, while they demand the largest concessions for 
 themselves and their adherents : they expect strict demonstrations from others, 
 while, in their own cause, they are not ashamed to produce slanders for proofs, 
 and jests for arguments : — thus they triumph without a victory, and decide, 
 ex cathedra , without so much as entering upon the merits of the cause. These 
 methods, however successful, are not new inventions : by such arts and arms 
 as these, Christianity was opposed from its first appearance : in this way Lu- 
 cian, Celsus, and Julian employed their talents, and made themselves famous 
 to future times. 
 
 I judge it therefore a seasonable undertaking to attempt the apology of 
 Evangelical Christianity, and to obviate the sophistry and calumnies which 
 have been published against it ; and this I hope to do, without engaging in 
 any controversy, by a plain enumeration of facts. I propose to give a brief 
 delineation of Ecclesiastical History from our Saviour’s time, and, that the 
 reader may know what to expect, I shall here subjoin the principal points I 
 have in view. 
 
 1. I shall consider the genius and characteristic marks of the gospel which 
 Jesus taught, and shew that, so long as this gospel was maintained in its pu- 
 rity, it neither admitted or found a neutrality, but that all who were not 
 partakers of its benefits were exceedingly enraged against it. I shall make it 
 appear that the same objections which have attended any reformations in later 
 ages, were equally strong against Christianity, as taught by Christ and his first 
 disciples, and that the offences and irregularities which have been known to 
 attend a revival of evangelical doctrine in our time, were prevalent, to a con- 
 siderable degree, under the preaching and inspection of the apostles. 
 
 2. When I come to the lives and conduct of those called the Fathers , whose 
 names are held in ignorant admiration by thousands, I shall prove, on the one 
 hand, that the doctrines for which the fathers were truly commendable, and 
 by which many were enabled to seal their profession with their blood, were 
 the same which are now branded with the epithets of absurd and enthusiastic ; 
 and, on the other hand, that the fathers, however venerable, were men like 
 ourselves, subject to mistakes and infirmities, and began very soon to depart 
 from the purity and simplicity of the gospel. 
 
 3. The progress of our history will manifest that the accession of wealth 
 and power to the Christian profession proved greatly detrimental to the faith, 
 discipline, and manners of the churches ; so that, after the emperors publicly 
 espoused the cause of Christ, the power and beauty of the gospel was gra- 
 dually eclipsed. Yet, in the most degenerate times, God had a spiritual 
 people, who, though partaking in some degree of the general declension, re- 
 tained s<r much of the primitive truth and practice as to incur the hatred and 
 persecution of (what is called) the Christian world. 
 
 4. I shall treat of the means and instruments by which the Lord supported 
 and revived his declining cause during several centuries : — 1 . In the valleys 
 of Piedmont, Provence, &c. by Berengarius, Waldo, and others. 2. In 
 England, by Wickliff and his followers. 3. In Bohemia, by John Huss and 
 Jerome of Prague. 4. In Germany, by Luther. Here I shall take occasion 
 to observe, (1.) That these successive reformations were all projected and exe- 
 cuted, so far as God was pleased to give success, upon the same principles 
 which are now so industriously exploded by many who would be thought 
 champions of the Protestant faith ; and (2.) That Luther’s reformation, the most 
 extensive and successful, and of which we have the best accounts, was soon 
 
INTRODUCTION. 427 
 
 followed by errors, heresies, and a numerous train of abominations (as had 
 been the case with primitive Christianity) which the Romanists, in imitation 
 of their Pagan predecessors, joyfully laid to the charge of the doctrine which 
 Luther preached. 
 
 5. As it was not long before the reformed countries needed, a second re 
 formation, I shall give some account of the endeavours of many good men in 
 Germany and other places in this view, their principles, success, and the 
 treatment they met with from those who ought to have supported them, and 
 then I shall briefly take notice of the similar occurrences in our own country, 
 from the end of Queen Mary’s reign to the present time, together with what 
 has been most remarkable in the history of the gospel in our American set- 
 tlements. 
 
 6. I shall occasionally consider the character and conduct of those persons 
 whom God has honoured with eminent usefulness, in the different periods of 
 his church, point out the defects in their plan, and the mistakes which, through 
 infirmity, in some degree blemished their undertakings. 
 
 7. Finally, to make it evident that the spiritual worshippers of God have 
 always been a sect everywhere spoken against, I shall enumerate some of the 
 reproachful names that have been successively fixed on them, as the mark of 
 general contempt and abhorrence, such as Patarienes, Lollards, Huguenots, 
 Gospellers, Puritans, Pietists, &c. 
 
 These particulars will be illustrated in the course of our history, not exactly 
 in the order here laid down, but as the series of the narration shall require or 
 suggest. I shall not confine myself to a nice uniformity of method, or a dry 
 detail of facts, but shall endeavour to illustrate and apply the several inci- 
 dents to the use and edification of common readers, and with a view to my 
 primary design, which is (as I have already said) to vindicate the doctrines of 
 the Reformation, or in other words, the main doctrines taught in the Articles 
 and Homilies of the Church of England, from those unjust and disingenuous 
 invectives, which are every day cast upon them, by not a few who owe all 
 their distinction and authority to their having solemnly engaged to defend 
 them. 
 
 Whoever considers the intricacy and variety of ecclesiastical history, and that 
 the best collections of that sort have swelled to a number of folios, will not 
 expect to find every thing that might have deserved a place. The life of man 
 would hardly suffice to furnish a work of this sort in its just extent. 
 
 I must content myself with selecting a competent number of the most au • 
 thentic and interesting topics from the voluminous materials already publish- 
 ed, but which, either from the size or scarceness of the books, or the languages 
 in which they are written, are little more known to the generality of readers, 
 than if they had never appeared in print. 
 
 I shall avoid, as far as possible, interfering in the controversies on church- 
 government ; reserving to myself, and willingly leaving to others, the rights of 
 private judgment, the just privilege of Christians, Protestants, and Britons. 
 
 It must be confessed, that the bulk of ecclesiastical history, as it is gene- 
 rally understood, is little more than a history of what the passions, prejudices, 
 and interested views of men, have prompted them to perpetrate, under the 
 pretext and sanction of religion. Enough has been written in this way ; curio- 
 sity, nay, malice itself, need desire no more. I propose to open a more plea- 
 sing prospect ; to point out, by a long succession of witnesses, the native ten- 
 dency, and proper influence of the religion of Jesus ; to produce the concur- 
 ring suffrage of different ages, people, and languages, in favour of what 
 the wisdom of the world rejects and reviles ; to bring unanswerable proofs, 
 that the doctrine of grace is a doctrine according to godliness, that the con- 
 
428 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 straining love of Christ is the most powerful motive to obedience, that it is the 
 property of true faith to overcome the world, and that the true church and 
 people of Christ have endured his cross in every age. The enemy has thrust 
 sore at them that they might fall, but the Lord has been their refuge and 
 support ; they are placed upon a rock that cannot be shaken ; they are kept 
 (<p£ov%ov pivot), guarded and garrisoned by the power of God ; and therefore the 
 gates of hell have not, cannot, shall not, prevail against them. 
 
 Per damna, per cades, ab ipso 
 Ducit opes animumque ferro. 
 
 Olney , November , 1769. 
 
 *** A review of Ecclesiastical History, upon the plan proposed in this Introduction, was a 
 subject the Author had very much at heart ; so much so, that he had begun to prepare ma- 
 terials, and entered some little way upon it several years before his admission into the mini- 
 stry. From the extent, however, and unforeseen difficulties of the undertaking, as well as 
 from the many interruptions he met with in the discharge of his professional duties, and the 
 occasional occurrences of every day, he had proceeded only the length of the two first Books, 
 when he relinquished his design, and afterwards laid it entirely aside. However much the 
 prosecution of this subject might have been wished, either by his friends or the public at 
 large, it is presumed the omission will be the more readily excused, when it is considered, 
 that the observations made with respect to the first century, seem to have been originally in- 
 tended, and with very little variation will be found, to apply to every succeeding period. 
 
A 
 
 REVIEW 
 
 OF 
 
 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 OF THE FIRST PERIOD OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 THE WISDOM AND GOODNESS OF GOD CONSPI- 
 CUOUS IN THE PERIOD ASSIGNED FOR CHRIST’S 
 APPEARANCE. ILLUSTRATED BY A SUMMA- 
 RY VIEW OF THE STATE OF MANKIND, BEFORE 
 AND AT THE TIME OF HIS BIRTH. 
 
 When the first man had fallen from the hap- 
 piness and perfection of his creation, had ren- 
 dered himself corrupt and miserable, and was 
 only capable of transmitting depravity and 
 misery to his posterity, the goodness of God 
 immediately revealed a remedy adequate to 
 his distressed situation. The Lord Jesus 
 was promised under the character of the seed 
 of the woman, as the great deliverer, who 
 should repair the breach of sin, and retrieve 
 the ruin of human nature. From that hour, 
 he became the object of faith, and the author 
 of salvation, to every soul that aspired to com- 
 munion with God, and earnestly sought de- 
 liverance from guilt and wrath. This dis- 
 covery of a Saviour was, in the first ages, 
 veiled under types and shadows ; and, like the 
 advancing day, became brighter and brighter, 
 as the time of his manifestation drew near : 
 but it was always sufficient to sustain the hopes, 
 and to purify the hearts of the true worship- 
 pers of God. That the patriarchs and pro- 
 phets of old were, in this sense, Christians, 
 that is to say, that their joy and trust centred 
 »n the promised Messiah, and that the faith, 
 whereby they overcame the world, was the 
 same faith in the same Lord with ours, is un- 
 answerably proved by St. Paul in several pas- 
 sages (Rom. iv. ; Gal. iii. 16, 17.); particu- 
 larly in Heb. xi., where he at large insists on 
 
 the characters of Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abra- 
 ham, and Moses, to illustrate this very point. 
 
 At length, in the fulness of time, as the a- 
 postle speaks (Gal. iv. 4.), the time marked 
 out by the ancient prophecies, the time to 
 which all the previous dispensations of Divine 
 Providence had an express reference and subor- 
 dination, and which was peculiarly suited to 
 place the manifold wisdom of God, and the 
 truths of divine revelation, in the clearest light; 
 the long-expected Messiah appeared as the 
 surety and Saviour of sinners, to accomplish 
 the great work of redemption. For these 
 purposes, he was born of a virgin of the family 
 of David, at the town of Bethlehem, as the 
 prophets had foretold. This great event took 
 place in the twenty-seventh year of the reign 
 of Augustus Cassar, computing from the bat- 
 tle of Actium ; and, according to the most 
 received authorities *, almost 1920 years from 
 the calling of Abraham, and about 4000 from 
 the creation. 
 
 The pride and vanity of man, which prompt 
 him to cavil with his Maker, and to dispute 
 when he ought to obey, have often objected 
 to the expedience and propriety of this appoint- 
 ment. It has been asked, If Christ’s appear- 
 ance was so absolutely necessary, why was it so 
 long deferred ? Or, if mankind could do with- 
 out him for so many thousand years, why not 
 longer, or for ever ? In attempting a solution 
 of this difficulty, some well-meaning persons, 
 from a too earnest desire to render the coun- 
 sels of God more acceptable to the narrow ap- 
 prehensions of unsanctified reason, have given 
 up the ground they ought to have maintained, 
 
 * Bossuet. Univ. Hist. Prideaiix, Connect. 
 
430 STATE OF 
 
 and made such concessions, as (if extended 
 to their just consequence) would amount to 
 all that the most hardened infidel can desire. 
 The most direct and proper answer is suggest- 
 ed by St. Paul ( Rom. ix. 20. ) on a similar oc- 
 casion, Who art thou, O man, that repliest 
 against God ? * That the will and wisdom of 
 the Creator should direct and limit the inquir- 
 ies of his rational creatures, is a principle 
 highly consonant to right reason itself. And 
 there can hardly be a stronger proof of human 
 depravity, than that this argument is so gene- 
 rally esteemed inconclusive. But waving this, 
 a sufficient answer may be made from the pre- 
 mises already advanced. 
 
 God was not a debtor to sinful men. He 
 might have left them all to perish, as he left 
 the sinning angels, without the least impeach- 
 ment of his goodness ; but his mercy inter- 
 posed, and he spared not his own Son, that 
 sinners might be saved in a way consistent 
 with his perfections. But though, in com- 
 passion to us, he provided the means of sal- 
 vation, we cannot wonder that, in justice to 
 himself, he laid the plan in such a manner as 
 might most clearly illustrate the riches of his 
 own grace, and most effectually humble and 
 silence the pardoned offenders, to prevent their 
 boasting and trusting in themselves, and to 
 give them the most affecting views of his un- 
 merited goodness. We may therefore humbly 
 conceive one reason why Christ was no sooner 
 manifested in the flesh, to have been, that the 
 nature, effects, and inveteracy of sin, might be 
 more evidently known, and the insufficiency 
 of every other means of relief demonstrated 
 by the universal experience of many ages. 
 
 What is the history of mankind but a dif- 
 fusive exemplification of the scripture-doc- 
 trines concerning the dreadful nature and ef- 
 fects of sin, and the desperate wickedness of 
 the heart of man ? We are accustomed from 
 our infancy to call evil good and good evil. 
 We acquire an early prejudice in favour of 
 heroes, conquerors, and philosophers. But if 
 we consider the facts recorded in the annals 
 of antiquity, divested from the false glare and 
 studied ornaments with which the vanity of 
 writers has disguised them, they will afford 
 but a dark and melancholy review. The spi- 
 rit of the first-born Cain appears to have in- 
 fluenced the whole human race. The peace 
 of nations, cities, and families has been con- 
 tinually disturbed by the bitter effects of am- 
 bition, avarice, revenge, cruelty, and lust. 
 The general knowledge of God was soon lost 
 out of the world ; and when his fear was set 
 aside, the restraints, dictated by the interests 
 
 * It is observable in this passage, that the apostle fore- 
 sees and states the great objection which would be made 
 to his doctrine, but does not attempt to answer it any 
 farther, than bv referring all to the will of him who 
 formed the whole mass, and has a right to dispose of It. 
 Had succeeding writers and teachers imitated nis exam- 
 ple, declared the plain truth in plain words, and avoid- 
 ed vain and endless reasonings, how many offences would 
 have been prevented I 
 
 MANKIND BOOK 1 
 
 of civil society, were always too weak to pre- 
 vent the most horrid evils. In a word, the 
 character of all ages and .countries before the 
 coming of Christ (a few excepted, where the 
 light of revelation was afforded) is strongly, 
 though briefly, drawn by St. Paul : — Foolish 
 and infatuated to the highest degree, disobe - 
 dient to the plainest dictates of nature, rea. 
 son, and conscience, enslaved * * * § to divers disho- 
 nourable lusts and pleasures, livivg in malice 
 and envy, hateful and abominable in them- 
 selves, and incessantly hating and worrying 
 one another, Titus iii. 3. 
 
 It would be more easy than pleasant to make 
 out this charge by a long induction of parti- 
 culars ; and, without having recourse to the 
 most savage and uncultivated, the proof might 
 be rested on the character of the two most ce- 
 lebrated and civilized nations, and at the time 
 of their greatest refinement, the Greeks and 
 the Romans. St. Paul (Rom. i. 21 — 32; 
 has given us the result of their boasted im- 
 provements in arts and sciences, in war and 
 commerce, in philosophy and literature ; and 
 he says no more than is abundantly confirmed 
 by their own poets and historians. f Notwith- 
 standing the marks and fruits of fine taste 
 and exalted genius which were found amongst 
 them, they were habitually abandoned to the 
 grossest vices. Devoted to the most stupid 
 idolatry, they worshipped the works of their 
 own hands, nay, erected altars to their follies 
 and passions. Their moral characters were 
 answerable to their principles. Without na- 
 tural affection, they frequently exposed their 
 helpless infants to perish. They burned with 
 lusts, not to be named without horror, and this 
 not the meaner sort only, or in secret, but some 
 of their finest spirits and most admired writers^ 
 were sunk so low as to glory in their shame, 
 and openly avow themselves the disgrace of 
 humanity. In their public concerns, notwith- 
 standing their specious pretences, they were 
 Covenant-breakers, implacable, unmerciful, and 
 unjust. Guilty of the severest oppression, 
 while they boasted highly of equity and mo- 
 deration, § as was particularly manifested on 
 the destruction of Carthage and Corinth ; two 
 memorable instances of the spirit of a govern- 
 ment so undeservedly admired in after times. 
 And as the Roman power, so the Grecian elo- 
 quence, was perverted to the worst purposes, 
 
 * Enslaved. So the original term may be emphati- 
 cally rendered — At the controul of various and opposite 
 passions, hurried about by them all in their turns, and 
 incapable of resisting or refusing the motions of any. 
 
 f An affecting comment on this passage might be col- 
 lected from Horace, Juvenal, Sallust, and Suetonius. 
 
 X See Virgil, Eclog. 2. 
 
 § See Acts xxv ii. 42. The soldiers would have killed 
 all the prisoners, right or wrong, rather than one of 
 them should have a possibility of escaping ; and in this, 
 without doubt, they consulted their own safety, and the 
 spirit of their laws. Why, then, were the Romans so 
 much admired? Could there be a greater proof o* 
 cruelty and injustice found amongst the most barbarous 
 nations, than to leave prisoners, who might possibly be 
 innocent, exposed to the wanton caprice of their keep- 
 er*? 
 
CHAP. I. AT THE INCARNATION. 431 
 
 — to palliate crimes, to consecrate folly, and 
 to recommend falsehood under the guise and 
 semblance of truth. 
 
 Such was the character of the people re- 
 puted the wisest and the best of the heathens, 
 and particularly so at the birth of Christ, when 
 the Roman empire was at the summit of au- 
 thority and splendour. A long experience 
 had shewn the general depravity to be not 
 only inveterate, but incurable. For during 
 several preceding ages, a reformation had been 
 desired and attempted. The principal leaders 
 in this commendable design were called phi- 
 losophers, and many of their writings are still 
 extant. It must be acknowledged that some 
 of them had a faint view of several important 
 truths ; but as they neither knew the cause 
 and extent of the disorder, nor the only ef- 
 fectual remedy, they met with little success. 
 Their schemes were various, inconsistent, and 
 even opposite, and each party more successful 
 in opposing the fallacy of other sects than in 
 maintaining their own. Those who came near- 
 est the truth, and were in earnest to promote 
 it, were very few. Even these were ignorant 
 of some things absolutely necessary to the at- 
 tainment of the desired end. The best of 
 them were restrained by the fear of men and 
 a regard to established customs. What they 
 could and did propound, they had no suffi- 
 cient authority or influence to impress upon 
 the consciences of men. And if, in a few in- 
 stances, they seemed to succeed, the advan- 
 tage was only imaginary. Where they pre- 
 vailed on any to relinquish intemperance, they 
 made them full amends by gratifying their 
 pride. The business passed from hand to 
 hand, from sect to sect, but all to no pur- 
 pose. After innumerable disputations, and 
 volumes concerning the supreme good, the 
 beauty of virtue, the fitness of things, qnd 
 other high-sounding topics, they left matters 
 as bad or worse than they found them. They 
 could not effectually inculcate their doctrine 
 upon a single village or family. Nay, they 
 were but half persuaded themselves, and could 
 not act up to their own principles,* when they 
 most needed their support. 
 
 A still more affecting view of the degene- 
 racy of human nature we have in the history 
 of the Israelites, whom God was pleased to set 
 apart from the rest of mankind, for several 
 important purposes. He revealed himself to 
 this people when they were groaning under a 
 heavy bondage in Egypt, from which they had 
 neither spirit nor power to deliver themselves ; 
 he freed them from their captivity by a series 
 of illustrious miracles ; he led them through 
 the sea and the desert; he honoured them 
 with the symbols of his immediate presence ; 
 was a wall of fire round about them, and a 
 glory in the midst of them ; he spoke to them 
 with an audible voice, and fed them with manna 
 
 * Witness the prevarication of Socrates, and the ir- 
 resolution of Cicero, towards the close of their lives. 
 
 from heaven ; he put them in possession of a 
 good land, and fought against all their enemies. 
 Might it not have been expected that a people 
 so highly favoured and honoured, should have 
 been obedient and thankful ? Some of them 
 were so ; his grace always preserved a spiritual 
 people amongst them, whose faith in the Mes- 
 siah taught them the true meaning of the Levi- 
 tical law, and inspired them with zeal and sin 
 cerity in the service of God. But the bulk of 
 the nation was always refractory and disobe- 
 dient. While in the wilderness they mur 
 mured against the Lord upon every new dif- 
 ficulty. Within a few days after the law had 
 been delivered in flames and thunder from the 
 top of Sinai, they formed a molten calf to 
 worship, and would have made a captain who 
 might lead them back to Egypt- They de- 
 spised the good land, therefore their carcases 
 fell* in the wilderness, 1 Cor. x. 5. Their 
 posterity retained the same spirit ; they learned 
 the ways of the Heathen, whom the Lord cast 
 out before them ; they adopted °very idola- 
 trous practice ; they transgressed every divine 
 command. During a long succession of warn- 
 ings, chastisements, and deliverances, they be- 
 came worse and worse, so that, in Jeremiah’s 
 time, they equalled or exceeded the Heathens 
 around them in ignorance and wickedness. 
 They mocked the messengers of God, de- 
 spised his words, and misused his prophets, 
 till his wrath arose against them, and there 
 was no remedy. At length their land was 
 laid waste, Jerusalem burnt, the greater part 
 of the people destroyed, and the remainder 
 carried captives into Chaldea. 
 
 Upon their return from captivity, they 
 seemed for a little while to retain a sense of 
 their duty and of the judgments they hau 
 suffered. But all was soon forgot. Their 
 wickedness now put on a new form, and dis- 
 covered the evil of the heart of man in a new 
 point of view. They were no longer prone 
 to idolatry. They avoided the most distant 
 appearance of it with scrupulous exactness, 
 and professed the highest attachment to God. 
 They boasted themselves in his law ; and, from 
 a presumption that they were his peculiar 
 people, they despised and hated the rest of 
 mankind. It is not our present concern closely 
 to follow their history. Let it suffice to say 
 that, by substituting a regard to the letter of 
 the law in the place of spiritual obedience, 
 and by presuming to multiply their own in- 
 ventions and traditions, 4 and to hold them no 
 
 * They were overthrown (zxrtrreaiOyireip), they fell 
 in heaps, like grass before the scythe, in the wilderness ; 
 and this, after all the great things they had seen and 
 been partakers of. Of the many hundred thousands 
 who were above twenty years old when they were deli- 
 vered from Egypt, only two persons were spared to en- 
 ter the promised land ; a striking admonition to us not 
 to rest in the participation of external privileges of any 
 kind, for these people had seen the Lord’s wonders at 
 the Hed-Sea, had rejoiced in the destruction of the Egyp- 
 tians, and been fed with manna from heaven. 
 
 f See one instance, Matth. xv. 5. The expression is 
 vathar obscure, but the sense is : “ What you might ex 
 
BOOK I. 
 
 432 STATE OF MANKIND, &C. 
 
 Jess binding than the positive commands of 
 God ; they, by degrees, attained to a pitch of 
 impiety unknown to former times, and which 
 was so much the more offensive and abomi- 
 nable, as it was covered with the mask of re- 
 ligion, and accompanied with a claim to su- 
 perior sanctity. 
 
 Pride, hypocrisy, and interest, divided them 
 into sects ; and the contests of each party for 
 superiority threw the state into frequent com- 
 motions. Their intrigues at length brought 
 upon them the Roman power. The city was 
 taken by Pompey ; and though they after- 
 wards retained a shadow of liberty, their go- 
 vernment was determined from that time by 
 the will of the conquerors. At length He- 
 rod, a foreigner, obtained it. In his reign 
 Christ was born. 
 
 Thus the state of mankind, before the coming 
 of Christ, proved, with the fullest evidence, the 
 necessity of his interposition. And, in the mean 
 time, the world had not been left utterly help- 
 less and hopeless. His future advent had been 
 revealed from the beginning ; and by faith in 
 that revelation a remnant had subsisted in 
 every age, who had triumphed over the gene- 
 ral evil, and maintained the cause of God and 
 truth. It was not necessary to the salvation 
 of these, that he should have been manifested 
 sooner ; for they beheld his day afar off, and 
 rejoiced in his name. With respect to others, 
 destitute of divine faith, his incarnation would 
 have had the same effect at any period as it 
 had on multitudes who actually saw him in 
 the flesh, but, offended with the meanness of 
 his circumstances, and the great honours he 
 vindicated to himself, rejected him with dis- 
 dain. 
 
 But farther, the late appearance of Christ 
 in the world gave room for the full accom- 
 plishment of the prophecies concerning him, 
 which had been repeated at different times, 
 with increasing clearness and precision ; inso- 
 much that the time, place, and every circum- 
 stance of his birth, life, and death, had been 
 distinctly foretold.. Thus the truth and au- 
 thority of the Old Testament were confirmed, 
 and the wisdom, power, and providence of 
 God, overruling and directing the contingen- 
 cies of human affairs, to produce this grand 
 event in its determinate period, were display- 
 ed to the highest advantage. And as the state 
 of the moral world made his presence highly 
 necessary, so God, in due time, disposed the 
 political state of mankind in such a manner 
 as to prepare the way for a speedy and ge- 
 neral publication of the gospel through the 
 world. 
 
 pect from ine for your support, 1 have put out of my 
 own power; it is devoted to the service of God and the 
 temple.” And teachers allowed this to be a legal ex- 
 emption. Any man who would pay handsomely to the 
 priests and the temple, might treat his parents as he 
 pleased. Thus they set aside the express command of 
 God, by their own authority, and for their own advan- 
 tage. The same dispensing, commuting, engrossing spi- 
 rit has too often appeared'in the Christian church 
 
 It would be pleasing to consider how the 
 rise and fall and change of empires were made 
 successively subservient to introduce the king- 
 dom of Jesus. But this would lead me be- 
 yond my present bounds. I can only just 
 hint at two or three events, which had a more 
 general influence. The first is, The rapid 
 progress of Alexander, whose extensive con- 
 quests, divided amongst his successors, laid 
 the foundation of four powerful monarchies, 
 and opened an intercourse between countries 
 till then unknown to each other. By this 
 means the Greek tongue became familiar and 
 common to many nations ; and, soon after, 
 the Hebrew scriptures were translated into 
 that language, and the prophecies concerning 
 the Messiah were laid open to the Gentiles. 
 To this may be added the several dispersions 
 of the Jews, who, upon various occasions, had 
 been settled in almost every considerable city 
 under the heathen governments. By their 
 traditions and prophecies, imperfectly under- 
 stood, a general expectation had been raised 
 of some extraordinary deliverer, who would 
 shortly appear. Lastly, by the growth of the 
 Roman empire, many nations and people, who 
 were before acquainted by means of one com- 
 mon language, became more closely united 
 under one dominion. Every province had a 
 necessary connection with Rome, and Rome 
 was the centre and resort of the greatest part 
 of the then habitable world. 
 
 As to the Jews, many things concurred to 
 animate their wishes and expectations of the 
 Messiah’s approach. The prophecies were in 
 their hands. Many of their wise men were 
 apprised, that the term of seventy weeks, spo- 
 ken of by Daniel, was drawing to a period. 
 The sceptre seemed departing from Judah ; 
 they groaned under a foreign yoke, from which 
 they vainly imagined the Messiah would set 
 them free, and give them, in their turn, a 
 temporal dominion over the nations of the 
 earth. Though this mistake prompted them 
 to reject Christ, when he preached a deliver- 
 ance unsuitable to their worldly notions, yet 
 it made them solicitous and eager for the ap- 
 pearance of the person on whom their hopes 
 were fixed. A few amongst them, however, 
 better instructed in the true meaning of the 
 prophecies, were secretly waiting in the exer- 
 cises of faith and prayer for the consolation of 
 Israel, Luke, ii. 3. 
 
 From this general view of the moral and 
 political state of mankind, and the leading 
 designs of divine revelation and providence, 
 previous to the birth of Christ, we may con- 
 clude, that the tin.e fixed on, from before the 
 foundation of the world, for his actual exhi- 
 bition amongst men, was not an arbitrary, but 
 a wise and gracious appointment ; a determi- 
 nation admirably suited to place the most im- 
 portant truths in the strongest light. In this 
 way the depravity, misery, and helplessness 
 of man the mercy of God, and the truth of 
 
CHAP. II. 
 
 CHARACTER OF 
 
 the scriptures, were unquestionably proved to 
 all succeeding times. The necessity of a Sa- 
 viour was felt and acknowledged ; and the 
 suitableness, all-sufficiency, and condescen- 
 sion of Jesus, when he undertook and accom- 
 plished the great designs in which his love 
 engaged him, were more strongly illustrated 
 by the preceding contrast. He knew the 
 whole human race were sinners, rebels, ene- 
 mies against God. He knew the terms, the 
 price of our redemption, that he must obey, 
 suffer, weep, and die : Yet he came. He 
 ■emptied himself of his glory and honour, and 
 touk on him the form of a servant, to bring 
 the glad tidings of salvation to men. In ef- 
 fect, the gospel of Christ soon appeared to be 
 the great desideratum, and completely redress- 
 ed the evils which philosophy had given up as 
 desperate. The genius and characteristic 
 marks of this gospel will be considered in the 
 following chapter. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 THE CHARACTER AND GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL, 
 
 AS TAUGHT AND EXEMPLIFIED BY CHRIST. 
 
 A SUCCINCT history of the life of our Lord and 
 Saviour is no part of our plan. This the in- 
 spired evangelists have performed with the 
 highest advantage and authority ; and their 
 writings (through the mercy of God) are ge- 
 nerally known and read in our own tongue. 
 It will be sufficient for me to select a few 
 passages from them, to explain and confirm 
 the several points I have proposed to treat of 
 in this book, as principles whereon to ground 
 our observations on the spirit and conduct of 
 after-times. 
 
 At present I propose to state the true cha- 
 racter and genius of his doctrine. . This may 
 seem a digression from my main design. But 
 as I shall often have occasion to speak of the 
 gospel, and the opposition it has met with, it 
 will not be improper, in the first place, to ex- 
 hibit a general idea of what we mean by the 
 gospel, especially as the professed followers of 
 Christ have been, and still are, not a little di- 
 vided upon the point. 
 
 We may describe the gospel to be — “ A 
 divine revelation in the person of Jesus Christ, 
 discovering the misery of fallen man by sin, 
 and the means of his complete recovery by 
 the free grace of God, through faith, unto ho- 
 liness and happiness.” The explanation and 
 proof of these particulars, from our Lord’s 
 express declarations, and the tenor of his con- 
 duct, will sufficiently point out the principal 
 marks and characters of his gospel. But, be- 
 fore we enter upon this, two things may be 
 premised 
 
 1. Though I confine myself to the writings 
 of the evangelists in this disquisition, yet it 
 
 THE GSOPEL, tcc. 433 
 
 should be remembered, that whilst our Lord 
 was visibly conversant with men, he did not 
 ordinarily discover the whole system of his doc- 
 trine in express terms. He spoke to themul 
 titude, for the most part, in parables (Matth. 
 xiii. 10, 11.), and was not forward to pro- 
 claim himself the Messiah upon every occa- 
 sion, Matth xvi. 20. And even in his more 
 intimate discourses with his disciples (John, 
 xvi. 12 — 25.), he taught them with a wise and 
 gracious accommodation to their circumstances 
 and weakness. * The full explanation of many 
 things he referred to the time when, having 
 accomplished his wish, and returned victo- 
 rious and triumphant into heaven, he should 
 send down, according to his promise, the Holy 
 Spirit, to enlighten and comfort his people. 
 Then, and not before, they fully understood 
 the meaning of all they had seen and heard 
 while he was with them, Mark, ix. 10; John 
 ii. 22. 
 
 2. The doctrine of the gospel is not like a 
 mathematical problem, which conveys pre- 
 cisely the same degree of truth and cer- 
 tainty to every one that understands the terms. 
 If so, all believers would be equally enlight- 
 ened, who enjoy the common privilege of the 
 written word. But there is, in fact, an amaz- 
 ing variety in this respect. Where this doc- 
 trine is truly understood, though in the lowest 
 degree, it inspires the soul with a supreme 
 love to Jesus, and a trust in him for salva- 
 tion. And those who understand it best, have 
 not yet received all the evidence, comfort, and 
 influence from it, which it is capable of af- 
 fording. The riches of grace and wisdom in 
 this dispensation are unsearchable (Eph. iii. 
 8.) and immense, imparted in different mea- 
 sures, and increased from time to time, ac- 
 cording to the good pleasure (1 Cor. xii. 11.) 
 of the Spirit of God, who furnishes his people 
 with light and strength proportioned to their 
 exigencies, situation, and the services or trials 
 he calls them to ; not without respect to the 
 degree of their diligence, obedience, and sim- 
 plicity, in waiting upon him. For these rea- 
 sons, it is not to be expected, that every one 
 who serves God with his spirit in the gospel 
 of his Son, should have exactly the same views 
 of this sublime subject. Neither do I pre- 
 sume to think myself capable of displaying it 
 in its full light and beauty. I desire, there- 
 fore, to write with candour, and entreat a can- 
 did perusal, as conscious of my infirmities, 
 and the imperfections necessarily attending 
 the human mind, in this present state of 
 things. Yet I am not afraid to express my 
 
 * Our Lord taught his disciples gradually ; their know- 
 ledge advanced as the light, or (according to his own 
 beautiful simile) first the blade, then the ear ; first green 
 corn, then fully ripe. He considered their difficulties, 
 he made allowances for their infirmities. It is to be 
 wished his example was followed by all who teach in his 
 name. Some are so hasty, they expect to teach to others, 
 in one discourse or interview, all that they have attain- 
 ed themselves by the study and experience of many 
 years. 
 
 2 M 
 
CHARACTER OF THE GOSPEL 
 
 BOOK I 
 
 434 
 
 just confidence, that I shall advance no prin- 
 ciple, as a part of the gospel-doctrine, which 
 does not assuredly belong to it. 
 
 I now proceed to explain and confirm the 
 definition I have given of the gospel. 
 
 1. It is a divine revelation, a discovery of 
 truths, which, though of the highest moment, 
 could have been known no other way. That 
 God will forgive sin, is beyond the power of 
 unassisted reason to prove. The prevailing 
 custom of sacrifices, is indeed founded upon 
 such a hope ; but this practice was, without 
 doubt, derived from revelation, for reason 
 could not have suggested such an expedient. 
 And those among the Heathens, whether 
 priests or philosophers, who spoke of forgive- 
 ness of sin, knew but little what sin was. Re- 
 velation was needful to discover sin, in its 
 true nature and demerit ; and where this is 
 known, the awakened and wounded conscience 
 is not easily persuaded, that a just and holy 
 God will pardon iniquity ; so likewise the 
 immortality of the soul, after all the fine 
 things said upon the subject, remained a pro- 
 blematical point among the Heathens. Their 
 best arguments, though conclusive to us, were 
 not so to themselves. When they laid aside 
 their books, and returned to the common af- 
 fairs of life, they forgot the force of their own 
 demonstrations.* But the gospel of Christ is 
 an express, complete, and infallible revelation, 
 as he himself often assured his hearers, John 
 vii. 16. and viii. 26. 
 
 And as the subject-matter of the gospel 
 contained in the New Testamant is a revela- 
 tion from God, so it is only by a divine reve- 
 lation, that what is there read or heard, can 
 be truly understood. This is an offensive 
 assertion, but must not be omitted when the 
 question is concerning the marks and charac- 
 ters of Christ’s doctrine. Thus when Peter 
 made that noble confession, “ Thou art Christ, 
 the Son of the living God,” our Lord an- 
 swers, “ Blessed art thou Simon, for flesh 
 and blood hath not revealed this to thee, but 
 my Father which is in heaven,” Matth. xvi. 
 16, 17. If Peter could read, and had the 
 scriptures to peruse, these were advantages 
 derived from flesh and blood, from his birth, 
 parents, and teachers ; advantages which the 
 Scribes and Pharisees, our Lord’s most inve- 
 terate enemies, enjoyed in common with him. 
 The difference lay in a revelation of the truth 
 to his heart. As it is said in another place, 
 ** Thou hast hid these things from the wise 
 and prudent, and revealed them unto babes. ”f 
 
 2. It is a revelation in the person of Jesus 
 
 * Cicero frankly confesses this : “ Nescio quomodo, 
 dum lego, assentior ; cum posui librum, et mecum ipse 
 de immortalitate animorum coepi cogitare, assentio om- 
 nis ilia elabitur.” Tusc. Qaest. lib. 1. 
 
 f That babes should be admitted to this knowledge, 
 and express a certainty; where the wise are all perplexity 
 and darkness, is extremely mortifying to human pride. 
 But are not these the words of Christ? How arrogant, 
 how dangerous must it be to be displeased with that 
 dispensation at which he rejoicedl 
 
 Christ. As a revela ion, it stands distinguish- 
 ed from all false religions ; and as revealed in 
 the person of Jesus, it is distinguished from 
 all former dispensations of the true God, 
 who, in time past, had spoken by the pro- 
 phets, but was pleased in those last days to 
 speak unto us by his Son. The law was 
 given by Moses, both to enforce the necessity 
 of an universal sinless obedience, and to point 
 out the efficacy of a better Mediator; but 
 grace and truth, grace answerable to the sin- 
 ner’s guilt and misery, and truth, and the 
 full accomplishment of all its typical services, 
 came by Jesus Christ. All the grand pecu- 
 liarities of the gospel, centre in this point, the 
 constitution of the person of Christ, Col. ii. 
 3, 9. ; John xvii. 3. In the knowledge of 
 him standeth our eternal life. And though 
 our Lord, on some occasions, refused to an- 
 swer the captious questions of his enemies, 
 and expressed himself so as to leave his hear- 
 ers in suspense, yet at other times, he clearly 
 asserted his own just rights and honours, and 
 proposed himself as the supreme object of 
 love, trust, and worship, "the fountain of grace 
 and power, the resurrection, life, and happi- 
 ness of all believers. 
 
 That he vindicated to himself those chara- 
 cters and prerogatives which incommunicably 
 belong to God, is evident from the texts re- 
 ferred to. He w r as a judge of the thoughts 
 and intents of the heart (Matth. ix. 2, 3.) : 
 he forgave sins ; he adopted the style of Su- 
 preme Majesty* : his wonderful works were 
 proof of an almighty power ; he restored 
 sight, health, and life, with a word (Matth. 
 viii. 3, 9, 30. ; John iv. 53.); he controuled 
 the elements (Matth. xiv. 25.; Markiv. 39.), 
 and shewed himself Lord of quick and dead, 
 angels, and devils (John xi. 25, 44. ; Luke 
 iv. 34. ; Matth. iv. 11, 26, 53. ) ; and both 
 his enemies and his friends understood his 
 claim. The Jews attempted to stone him for 
 making himself equal to God (John v. 18. ; 
 x. 33. ) ; and he received from Thomas the 
 most express and solemn ascription of deity 
 that can be offered from a creature to his 
 Creator, John xx. 28. 
 
 Yet all this glory was vailed. The Word 
 was made flesh ; he assumed the human na- 
 ture, and shared in all its infirmities, sin ex- 
 cepted. He was born of a w oman ; he pas- 
 sed through the states of infancy, childhood, 
 and youth, and gradually increased in wis- 
 dom and stature, Luke ii. 52. He was often, 
 yea, always afflicted; he endured hunger, 
 thirst, and weariness (Mark xi. 12. ; Johniv. 
 
 * John viii. 38. ; xiv. 9. “He that hath seen me 
 hath seen my Father.” Which of all the creatures of 
 God dare use these words ? God, in the strict sense, is 
 invisible and inaccessible ; but he communicates with 
 his creatures, through Christ his Son, without whom 
 he cannot be seen, or known at all. We cannot enjoy 
 any spiritual, clear, and comfortable views of God, un- 
 less our thoughts fix upon the Man Christ Jesus; he is 
 the door and the vail to the holy of holies ; and there 
 J is no coming to the Father by any other way. 
 
CHAP. II. 
 
 AS TAUGHT BY OUR LORD. 
 
 6, 7) ; he sighed, he wept, he groaned, he bled, 
 he died (Mark vii. 34. ; John xi. 35, 38. ; 
 Luke xxii. 44) ; but, amidst all, he was spot- 
 less and undefiled. He repelled the temptations 
 of Satan (Matth. iv. 1, 12 ; he appealed to 
 his most watchful enemies for his integrity ; 
 he rendered universal, unceasing obedience to 
 the will of God, and completely fulfilled the 
 whole law, John viii. 46. ; xiv. 30. ; xvii. 4. 
 In him the perfection of wisdom and goodness 
 shined forth. He burned with love to God, 
 with compassion to men ; a compassion which 
 he freely extended to the most necessitous, 
 and the most unworthy. He returned good 
 for evil, wept for his enemies (Luke xix. 41), 
 prayed for his murderers, Luke xxiii. 34. 
 Such was his character, a divine person in the 
 human nature, God manifest in the flesh, 
 
 1 Tim. iii. 16. And from this union, all he 
 did, and all he said, derived a dignity, autho- 
 rity, and efficacy, which rendered him every 
 way worthy to be the Teacher, Exemplar, 
 Lord, and Saviour of mankind. 
 
 3. In the person and sufferings of Christ, 
 there is at once a discovery of the misery of 
 fallen man, and the means of his complete re- 
 covery. It has already been observed, that 
 the full explication of these truths was defer- 
 red till after his resurrection ; and the subse- 
 quent writings of his apostles are useful to 
 give us a complete view of the cause, design, 
 and benefits of his passion. At present we 
 confine ourselves to his own words. He fre- 
 quently taught the necessity and certainty of 
 his sufferings (Matth. xvi. 21. ; xx. 28.); he 
 spoke of them as the great design of his in- 
 carnation, that it was by this means he should 
 draw all unto himself (John xii. 32. ; t. 
 17.) ; that he was, on this account, espe- 
 cially, the object of his Father’s complacency, 
 because he voluntarily substituted himself to 
 die for his people. He enforced the necessity 
 of believing on him in this view (John iii. 
 14 — 18.) ; and applied to himself the prophe- 
 cies of the Old Testament (Luke xxiv. 25 — 
 27. ; Isa. liii. ), which speak to the same pur- 
 pose. Isaiah had foretold, that the Lord 
 would lay upon him the iniquities of us all ; 
 that he was to be wounded for our transgres- 
 sions, and by his stripes we should be healed. 
 Here then we see the manifold wisdom of 
 God ; his inexpressible love to us commend- 
 ed , his mercy exalted, in the salvation of sin- 
 ners ; his truth and justice vindicated, in the 
 full satisfaction for sin exacted from the Sure- 
 ty ; his glorious holiness, and opposition to all 
 evil : and his invariable faithfulness to his 
 threatenings and his promises. Considered 
 in this light, our Saviour’s passion is the most 
 momentous, instructive, and comfortable theme 
 that can affect the heart of man. But if his 
 substitution and proper atonement are denied, 
 the whole is unintelligible. We can assign 
 no sufficient reason why a person of his ex- 
 cellence was abandoned to such miseries and 
 
 435 
 
 indignities ; nor can we account for that ago- 
 ny and distress which seized him at the pros- 
 pect of what was coming upon him. It would 
 be highly injurious to his character to suppose 
 he was thus terrified by the apprehension of 
 death or bodily pain, when so many frail and 
 sinful men have encountered death, armed 
 with the severest tortures, with far less emo- 
 tion. 
 
 Here, as in a glass, we see the evil of sin, 
 and the misery of man. The greatness of 
 the disorder may be rationally inferred from 
 the greatness of the means necessary to re- 
 move it. Would we learn the depth of the 
 fall of man, let us consider the depth of the 
 humiliation of Jesus to restore him. Behold 
 the beloved of God, perfectly spotless and 
 holy, yet made an example of the severest ven- 
 geance ; prostrate and agonizing in the garden ; 
 enduring the vilest insults from wicked men ; 
 torn with whips, and nails, and thorns ; sus- 
 pended, naked, wounded, and bleeding up- 
 on the cross, and there heavily complaining, 
 that God had, fora season, forsaken him. Sin 
 was the cause of all his anguish. He stood 
 in the place of sinners ; and therefore was not 
 spared. Not any, or all the evils which the 
 world has known, afford such proof of the 
 dreadful effects, and detestable nature of sin, 
 as the knowledge of Christ crucified. Sin 
 had rendered the case of mankind so utterly 
 desperate, that nothing less than the blood 
 and death of Jesus could retrieve it. If any 
 other expedient could have sufficed, his pray- 
 er, that the bitter cup might pass from him, 
 would surely have been answered. But what 
 his enemies intended as the keenest reproach, 
 his redeemed people will forever repeat as the 
 expression of his highest praise : “ He saved 
 others, himself he cannot save,” Luke xxiii. 
 35. Justice would admit no inferior atone- 
 ment ; love would not give up the cause of 
 fallen ruined man. Being therefore deter- 
 mined to save others, he could not consistent- 
 ly, with this gracious design and undertaking, 
 deliver himself. 
 
 Again, the means and certainty of a salva- 
 tion proportioned to the guilt and misery or 
 sinners, and a happiness answerable to the 
 utmost capacity of the soul of man, are reveal- 
 ed in the same astonishing dispensation of di 
 vine love. When Jesus was baptized, he was 
 pointed out by a voice from heaven : “ This 
 is my beloved Son, in whom (or for whose 
 sake) I am well pleased,” Matth. iii. 17. He 
 afterwards proclaimed his own authority and 
 sufficiency, that all things were delivered into 
 his hands, and invited every weary, heavy- 
 laden soul to seek to him for refreshment and 
 peace, Matth. xi. 27 — 29. He gave the most 
 express assurances that whoever applied to 
 him should in no case be rejected, John vi. 37. 
 He mentioned his death and sufferings (John 
 xii. 32. 33.) as the principal circumstance that 
 should engage the hearts, and confirm the 
 
436 
 
 hopes of sinners. He gave repeated promises, 
 that those who believe in him shall never pe- 
 rish (John x. 38) ; that neither force nor fraud 
 should frustrate his intentions in their favour; 
 that after his ascension, he would send the Holy 
 Spirit (John xvi. 7, 13, 14.) to supply his 
 bodily presence ; and that his power, grace, 
 and providence, should be with his people to 
 the end of the world (Matth. xxviii. 20.) : 
 finally, that he would manage their concerns 
 in heaven (John xiv. 3, 13, 14), and at length 
 return to take them to himself, that they might 
 be with him for ever, to behold, and to share 
 his glory. 
 
 4. In this revelation, God has illustriously 
 displayed the glory of his free grace. The 
 miserable and guilty, who find themselves 
 without either plea or hope, but what the gos- 
 pel proclaims by Christ, are invited without 
 exception, and received without condition. 
 Though they have been the vilest offenders, 
 they are freely accepted in the Beloved ; and 
 none of their iniquities shall be remembered 
 any more ; on the contrary, the most respec- 
 table characters amongst men are declared to 
 be of no avail in point of acceptance with God ; 
 but, in this respect, all the race of Adam are 
 upon equal terms, and must be involved in the 
 same ruin, without an absolute dependence on 
 the great Mediator. This is an illustrious 
 peculiarity of the gospel, which the proud fal- 
 len nature of man cannot but resist and find 
 fault with, till the conscience is truly affected 
 with the guilt and demerit of sin. The whole 
 tenor of our Saviour’s ministry was suited to 
 depreciate the most specious attainments of 
 those who trusted in themselves that they were 
 righteous, and to encourage all who felt and 
 confessed themselves to be miserable sinners : 
 Parcere subjectis, et deballare superbos. This 
 was a chief cause of the opposition he met 
 with in his own person, and has awakened 
 the hatred and dislike of the bulk of mankind 
 against his doctrine ever since. It is ne- 
 cessary, therefore, to confirm it by proofs 
 which cannot be evaded by any who profess 
 to acknowledge him to be a teacher sent from 
 God. 
 
 He was daily conversant with many who 
 were wise and righteous in their own eyes : 
 and we find he omits no opportunity to expose 
 and condemn their pretensions. He spake 
 one parable purposely to persons of this stamp 
 (Luke xviii. 9 — 14.), and describes a Phari- 
 see boasting of his observance of the law : He 
 paid tithes, he fasted, he prayed ; he was not 
 chargeable with adultery or extortion ; he 
 could say more f6r himself than many can 
 who affect to be thought religious: but the 
 poor publican (though despicable in his sight), 
 who, conscious of his unworthiness, durst not 
 lift up his eyes to heaven, but smote upon his 
 breast, and cried for mercy, was in a happier 
 and safer condition than the other with all his 
 boasted obedience. 
 
 BOOK I, 
 
 Another remarkable instance is that of the 
 ruler (Matth. xix. 16. Luke xviii. 18.), who 
 accosted our Lord in a respectful manner, 
 asking him, WJiat he should do to inherit e- 
 ternal life ? His address was becoming : his 
 inquiry seemed sincere ; and the character he 
 gave of himself was such as men, who see not 
 the heart, might have judged exemplary and 
 praise-worthy. When our Lord referred him 
 to the precepts of the law, he answered that 
 he had kept them all from his youth. Yet 
 one thing, we read, was wanting. What 
 could this one thing be, which rendered so 
 fair a character of no value ? We may collect 
 it from the event : He wanted a deep sense 
 of his need of a Saviour. If he had been 
 possessed of this one thing, he would willing- 
 ly have relinquished all to follow Jesus. But, 
 ignorant of the spirituality of the law, he 
 trusted to a defective obedience : and the love 
 of the world prevailing in his heart, he chose 
 rather to part with Christ than with his pos- 
 sessions. 
 
 On the other hand, how readily our Lord 
 received sinners, notorious sinners, who were 
 vile to a proverb, appears from the remarka- 
 ble account given by St. Luke (chap. vii. 37), 
 of a woman whose character had been so in- 
 famous, that the Pharisee wondered that Jesus 
 could permit her to touch him. But though 
 a great sinner, she found great forgiveness ; 
 therefore she loved much, and wept much * 
 She had nothing to say for herself; but Je- 
 sus espoused her cause, and pronounced her 
 pardon. He likewise silenced the proud ca- 
 viller by a parable, that sweetly illustrates the 
 freeness and genuine effect of the grace of 
 God, which can only be possessed or prized 
 by those who see they must perish without it. 
 
 And this was the general effect of his 
 preaching. Publicans and sinners thronged 
 to hear him, received his doctrine, and found 
 rest for their souls. As this discrimination 
 gave a general offence, he took occasion to 
 deliver the parable of the prodigal (Luke, xv. 
 11.) ; in the former part of which he gives a 
 most endearing view of the grace of God, in 
 pardoning and accepting the most undeserv- 
 ing. He afterwards, in the close, shews the 
 pride, stubbornness, and enmity of the self, 
 righteous Pharisees, under the character of 
 the elder brother f . While his language and 
 deportment discovered the disobedience and 
 malice of his heart, he pretended that he had 
 
 * She washed his feet with tears ; t-far* /Sgeza*, she 
 began to rain tears upon his feet : her head was waters, 
 and her eyes fountains : to receive a free pardon of many 
 sins, a pardon bought with blood, — it is this causes the 
 heart to melt, and the eyes to flow. 
 
 + It may be objected to this interpretation, That the 
 father speaks to the elder brother in terms of compla- 
 cence: “Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I 
 have is thine.” But this is not the only place where our 
 Lord addresses the Pharisees in their own style, accord- 
 ing to the opinion they conceived of themselves. Thus 
 (Matth. viii. 12.), he says, “ The children of the king- 
 dom shall be cast out into outer darkness. — He does not 
 mean those who were truly the children of the kingdom, 
 but those who pretended to be so. 
 
 CHARACTER OF THE GOSPEL 
 
CHAP. II. 
 
 AS TAUGHT BY OUR LORD. 
 
 never broke his father’s commands. The self- 
 condemned sinner, when he first receives hope 
 of pardon, experiences a joy and peace in be- 
 lieving. This is represented by the feast and 
 fatted calf. But the religious orderly brother 
 had never received so much as a kid : he had 
 found no true comfort in all his formal round 
 of duties ; and therefore was exceedingly an- 
 gry that the prodigal should at once obtain 
 those marks of favour which he, who had re- 
 mained with his father, had always been a 
 stranger to. 
 
 But the capital exemplification of this, and 
 indeed of every doctrine of the gospel, is con- 
 tained in the account given of the thief upon 
 the cross (Luke, xxiii. 39 — 42.); a passage 
 which has perhaps been more mistaken and 
 misrepresented by commentators, than any 
 other in the New Testament. The grace of 
 God has shone so bright in this instance, that it 
 has dazzled the eyes even of good men. They 
 have attempted to palliate the offender’s crime, 
 or at least to suppose that this was the first 
 fault of the kind he had committed ; that per- 
 haps he had been surprised into it, and might, 
 in other respects, have been of a fairer cha- 
 racter. They conjecture, that this was the 
 first time he had heard of Jesus; and that 
 there was not only some sort of merit in his 
 faith and confession under these circumstances, 
 but that the death of Jesus happily coinciding 
 with his own, afforded him an advantage pe- 
 culiar to himself ; and that, therefore, this 
 was an exempt case, and not to be drawn into 
 a precedent to after times. 
 
 If it was my professed design to comment 
 upon this malefactor’s case, I should consider 
 it in a different light. The nature of his pu- 
 nishment, which was seldom inflicted but on 
 those who were judged the most atrocious 
 criminals, makes it more than probable that 
 he did not suffer for a first offence. Nor was 
 he simply a thief. The history of those times 
 abounds with the mischiefs committed by pub- 
 lic robbers, who used to join in considerable 
 bands, for rapine and murder, and commit 
 the greatest excesses. In all likelihood, the 
 malefactors crucified with Jesus were of this 
 sort, accomplices and equals in guilt ; and 
 therefore judged to die together, receiving (as 
 appears by the criminal’s own confession on 
 the cross) the just reward of their deeds.* 
 Here was indeed a fair occasion to shew the 
 sovereignty and triumph of grace, contrasted 
 with the most desperate pitch of obdurate 
 wickedness. To shew, on the one hand, that 
 the compassion and the power of Christ were 
 not diminished when his sufferings were at 
 the height, and he seemed abandoned to his 
 enemies ; and, on the other, the insufficiency 
 
 * It seems probable, from history, that these were of 
 Barabbas’s gang. They had made an insurrection, com- 
 mitted murder, and were, with their ringleader con- 
 victed and condemned. He, in dishonour to Jesus, was 
 spared, whilst these, his accomplices, wcra executed with 
 him. 1 
 
 437 
 
 of any means to change a sinner’s heart, with- 
 out the powerful efficacy of divine grace. The 
 one malefactor, brought at length to deserved 
 punishment, far from repenting of his crimes, 
 regardless of his immediate appearance be- 
 fore God, thought it some relaxation of his 
 torments, to join with the barbarous multi- 
 tude in reviling Jesus, who hung upon a cross 
 by his side. He was not ignorant that Jesus 
 was put to death for professing himself the 
 Messiah ; but he upbraided him with his cha- 
 racter, and treated him as an impostor. In 
 this man we see the progress, wages, and ef- 
 fects of sin. His wickedness brought him to 
 a terrible end, and sealed him up, under a fa- 
 tal hardness of heart : so that he died despe- 
 rate, though Jesus Christ was crucified be- 
 fore his eyes. • But his companion was im- 
 pressed by what he saw : his heart relented ; 
 he observed the patience of the divine suf- 
 ferer ; he heard him pray for his murderers ; 
 he felt himself miserable, and feared the God 
 with whom he had to do. In this distress he 
 received faith to apply to Jesus ; and his 
 prayer was granted, and exceeded. He who 
 sent the fair-spoken ruler away sorrowful, an - 
 swered the first desire of a malefactor at the 
 point of death : “ To-day shalt thou be with 
 me in paradise.” This certainly was an in. 
 stance of free distinguishing grace. Here 
 was salvation bestowed upon one of the vilest 
 sinners, through faith in Jesus, without pre- 
 vious works, or a possibility of performing 
 any. And as such, it is recorded for the en- 
 couragement of all who see themselves desti 
 tute of righteousness and strength, and that, 
 like the thief on the cross, they have no refuge 
 or hope, but in the free mercy of God through 
 Christ. 
 
 5. The medium by which the gospel be- 
 comes the power of God unto salvation, is 
 faith. By faith we do not mean a bare as- 
 sent, founded upon testimony and rational 
 evidence, that the facts recorded in the New 
 Testament are true. A faith of this sort ex- 
 perience proves to be consistent with a wick- 
 ed life ; whereas the gospel-faith purifies the 
 heart, and overcomes the world. Neither do 
 we mean a confidence of the forgiveness of 
 sin, impressed upon the mind in a sudden and 
 instantaneous manner. Faith is indeed found- 
 ed upon the strongest evidence, and may often 
 be confirmed by ineffable manifestations from 
 the fountain of light and comfort; but the 
 discriminating property of true faith is, “ a 
 reliance upon Jesus Christ for all the end* 
 and purposes for which the gospel reveals 
 him ;” such as, the pardon of sin, peace of 
 
 * Compare Matth. xxvn. 39. How can it be expect- 
 ed that no more than a constant repetition of Christ’* 
 death, should be an invincible means of changing the 
 heart, vdien the actual sight of his sufferings was attend- 
 ed with so little effect ! Sin must be felt as the disease 
 and ruin of the soul, and the sufferings of Jesus ac- 
 knowledged as the only possible remedy, before we can 
 truly sympathize with him, and say, “ I am crucifies 
 with Christ.” 
 
BOOK I, 
 
 438 CHARACTER OF THE GOSPEL, &C. 
 
 conscience, strength for obedience, and eter- 
 nal life. It is wrought by the operation of 
 the Holy Spirit, and presupposes a know- 
 ledge of him, and of ourselves ; of our indi- 
 gence, and his fulness ; our unworthiness, 
 and his merits ; our weakness, and his pow- 
 er. The true believer builds upon the per- 
 son and word of Christ (Matth. vii. 24.; xvi. 
 18.) as the foundation of his hope. He en- 
 ters by him as the only door (John x. 9.) to 
 the knowledge, communion, and love of God: 
 he feeds upon him by faith in his heart, with 
 thanksgiving, as the bread of life (John vi. 
 54 — 57.); he embraces his righteousness as 
 the wedding-garment (Matth. xxii. 11.; Rom. 
 xiii. 14.), whereby alone he expects admis- 
 sion to the marriage-feast of heaven : he de- 
 rives all his strength and comfort from his in- 
 fluence, as the branch from the root (John 
 xv. 4, 5. ) : he entrusts himself to his care, as 
 the wise and good shepherd of his soul, John 
 x. 14. Sensible of his own ignorance, de- 
 fects, and his many enemies, he receives 
 Christ as his teacher, priest, and king (John 
 vi. 68.) ; obeys his preceptor, confides in his 
 mediation, expects and enjoys his powerful 
 protection. In a word, he renounces all con- 
 fidence in the flesh ( Phil. iii. 3. ), and rejoices 
 in Christ Jesus as his Saviour ; and thus he 
 attains to worship God in spirit and in truth, 
 is supported through all the conflicts and 
 trials of life, possesses a stable peace in the 
 midst of a changing world, goes on from 
 strength to strength, and is at length made 
 more than conqueror, through him that has 
 loved him. This is the life of faith. The 
 degree and exercise of it is various in differ- 
 ent persons, and in the same person at dif- 
 ferent times, as has been already hinted ; but 
 the principle itself is universal, permanent, 
 and efficacious in all that truly believe ; and 
 nothing less than this faith is sufficient to 
 give any man a right to the name of a Chris- 
 tian. 
 
 6. The final cause or great ends of the gos- 
 pel, respecting man, are holiness and happi- 
 ness (Matth. i. 21. ; xxv. 34. ; John xvii. 
 24.) ; the complete restoration of the soul to 
 the favour and image of God, or eternal life 
 begun here, to be consummated in glory. 
 What has been already said renders it need- 
 less to enlarge upon this head ; nor shall we 
 concern ourselves here to vindicate the doc- 
 trine we have laid down from the charge of 
 licentiousness : because it is our professed de- 
 sign, in the progress of this work, to prove, 
 from the history of the church, not only that 
 these principles, when rightly understood, will 
 infallibly produce obedience and submission 
 to the whole will of God, but that these 
 pnly can do it. Wherever and whenever the 
 doctrines of free grace and justification by 
 faith have prevailed in the Christian church ; 
 and according to the degree of clearness with 
 which they have been enforced, the practical 
 
 duties of Christianity have flourished in the 
 same proportion. Wherever they have de- 
 clined, or been tempered with the reasonings 
 and expedients of men, either from a well 
 meant, though mistaken fear, lest they should 
 be abused, or from a desire to accommodate 
 the gospel, and render it more palatable to 
 the depraved taste of the world, the conse- 
 quence has always been, an equal declension 
 in practice. So long as the gospel of Christ 
 is maintained without adulteration, it is found 
 sufficient for every valuable purpose ; but 
 when the wisdom of man is permitted to add 
 to the perfect work of God, a wide door is 
 opened for innumerable mischiefs: — the di- 
 vine commands are made void, new inven- 
 tions are continually taking place, zeal is di- 
 verted into a wrong channel, and the greatest 
 stress laid upon things either unnecessary or 
 unwarrantable. Hence perpetual occasion is 
 given for strife, debates, and divisions, till at 
 length the spirit of Christianity is forgot, and 
 the power of godliness lost, amidst fierce con 
 tentions for the form. 
 
 To sum up this inquiry in a few words : the 
 gospel is a wise and gracious dispensation, 
 equally suited to the necessities of man, and 
 to the perfections of God : it proclaims relief 
 to the miserable, and excludes none but those 
 who exclude themselves : it convinces a sin- 
 ner, that he is unworthy of the smallest mer- 
 cy, at the same time that it gives him a confi- 
 dence to expect the greatest ; it cuts off all 
 pretence of glorying in the flesh, but it ena- 
 bles a guilty sinner to glory in God : to them 
 that have no might, it increases strength ; it 
 gives eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame ; 
 subdues the enmity of the heart ; shews the 
 nature of sin, the spirituality and sanction of 
 the law, with the fullest evidence ; and, by 
 exhibiting Jesus, as made of God, wisdom, 
 righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, 
 to all who believe, it makes obedience practi- 
 cable, easy, and delightful. The constraining 
 love of Christ engages the heart, and every 
 faculty in his service. His example illustra- 
 tes and recommends his precepts; his pre- 
 sence inspires courage and activity under 
 every pressure ; and the prospect of the glory 
 to be revealed is a continual source of joy 
 and peace, which passeth the understanding 
 of the natural man. Thus the gospel filleth 
 the hungry with good things ; but it sendeth 
 the rich and self-sufficient empty away, and 
 leaves the impenitent and believing in a state 
 of aggravated guilt and condemnation. 
 
CIIAP. III. 
 
 GROUNDS OF THE OPPOSITION TO, &C. 439 
 
 CHAF III. 
 
 CONCERNING THE TRUE GROUNDS OF THE OP- 
 POSITION OUR LORD MET WITH IN THE 
 COURSE OF HIS MINISTRY : AND THE OBJEC- 
 TIONS AND ARTIFICES HIS ENEMIES EMPLOY - 
 ED TO PREJUDICE THE PEOPLE AGAINST 
 HIM, AND PREVENT THE RECEPTION OF HIS 
 DOCTRINE. 
 
 If our knowledge of the history of Jesus was 
 confined to the excellence of his character, 
 and the diffusive goodness that shone forth in 
 all his actions, we should hardly conceive it 
 possible, that any people could be so lost to 
 gratitude and humanity as to oppose him. He 
 went about doing good : he raised the dead, 
 hea!ed every disease, and relieved the distres- 
 ses of all who applied to him, without any dif- 
 ference of cases, characters, or parties, as the 
 sun, with a rich and unwearied profusion, fills 
 every eye with his light. Wisdom flowed 
 from his lips, and his whole conduct was per- 
 fect and inculpable. How natural is it to 
 expect, that a person so amiable and benevo- 
 lent, so blameless and exemplary, should have 
 been universally revered. * 
 
 But we find in fact it was far otherwise. 
 Instead of the honours he justly deserved, the 
 returns he met with were reproach, persecu- 
 tion, and death. The wonders of his power 
 and goodness were maliciously ascribed to 
 Satan ; he was branded as an impostor, mad- 
 man, and demoniac ; he was made the sport 
 of servants and soldiers ; and, at length, pub- 
 licly executed with every possible circum- 
 stance of ignominy and torture, as a malefac- 
 tor of the worst sort. 
 
 What could be the cause and motives of such 
 injurious treatment ? This is the subject of 
 our present inquiry. It might indeed be an- 
 swered very briefly, as it has been, by ascrib - 
 ing it to the peculiar wickedness and perverse- 
 ness of the Jews. There is not a fallacy 
 more frequent or pleasing to the minds of 
 men, than, while they act contrary to present 
 duty, to please themselves with imagining how 
 well they would have behaved in another si- 
 tuation, or a different age. They think it a 
 mark of virtue to condemn the wickedness of 
 
 * The Heathen moralists have supposed, that there is 
 something so amiable in virtue, that could it be visible, 
 it would necessarily attract the love and admiration of 
 all beholders. This sentiment has been generally ad- 
 mired: and we need not wonder, since it flatters the 
 pride of man without thwarting his passions. In the 
 Lord Jesus this great desideratum was vouchsafed ; vir- 
 tue and goodness were pleased to become visible, were 
 manifest in the flesh. But did the experiment answer 
 to the ideas of the philosophers ? Alas ! to the reproach 
 of mankind, Jews and Gentiles conspired to treat him 
 with the utmost contempt. They loved darkness, and 
 therefore could not bear the light. They had more com- 
 passion and affection for the most infamous malefactor ; 
 therefore, when the alternative was proposed to them, 
 they released Barabbas, a robber and a murderer, and 
 nailed Jesus and virtue to the cross. 
 
 former times, not aware that they themselves 
 are governed by the same spirit. Thus these 
 very Jews spoke highly of the persons of the 
 prophets, while they rejected their testimony, 
 and blamed their forefathers for shedding in- 
 nocent blood, at the time they were thirsting 
 for the blood of Jesus, Matth. xxiii. 29, 30. 
 It is equally easy at present to condemn the 
 treachery of Judas, the cowardice of Pilate, 
 the blindness of the people, and the malice of 
 the priests, who were all personally concern- 
 ed in the death of Christ. It is easy to think, 
 that if we had seen his works, and heard his 
 words, we would not have joined with the 
 multitude in crying, Crucify him ; though, it 
 is to be feared, many who thus flatter them- 
 selves have little less enmity against his per- 
 son and doctrine than his actual murderers. 
 On this account, I shall give a detail of the 
 true reasons why Christ was opposed in the 
 flesh, and of the measures employed against 
 him, in order to shew, that the same grounds 
 of opposition are deeply rooted in the fallen 
 human nature ; and how probable it is, that 
 if he was to appear again in the same ob - 
 scure manner, in any country now called by 
 his name, he would meet with little better 
 treatment, unless when the constitution and 
 laws of a civil government might interpose to 
 prevent it. 
 
 But it may be proper, in the first place, 
 briefly to delineate the characters of the sects 
 or parties mentioned by the evangelists, whose 
 leaders, jointly and separately, both from com- 
 mon and distinct motives, opposed our Sa- 
 viour’s ministry, and cavilled at his doctrine. 
 These were the Pharisees, Sadducees, and He- 
 rodians. * 
 
 The Pharisees , including the Scribes (who 
 were chiefly of this sect), were professedly the 
 guardians of the law, and public teachers of 
 the people. They were held in high venera- 
 tion by the common people, for the austerity 
 of their deportment, the frequency of their 
 devotions, and their exactness in the less es- 
 sential parts of the law. They observed the 
 traditions of the elders, were still adding to 
 them ; and the consequence was (as it will 
 always be in such a case), that they were sc 
 pleased with their own inventions, as to pre- 
 fer them to the positive commands of God • 
 and their studious punctuality in trifles, with- 
 drew their regard from the most important 
 duties. Their specious shew of piety was a 
 fair outside, under which the grossest abomi- 
 nations were concealed and indulged. They 
 were full of pride, and a high conceit of their 
 own goodness : they fasted and prayed to be 
 seen and esteemed of men ; they expected re- 
 verence and homage from all, and challenged 
 the highest titles of respect, to be saluted as 
 doctors and masters, and to be honoured with 
 the principal seats in all assemblies. Many 
 
 * See Matth. xxiii. ; Mark vii. 13. ; and Luke xviii 
 9— H- 
 
440 GROUNDS OF THE OPPOSITION TO, book I 
 
 of them made their solemn exterior a cloak 
 for extortion and oppression ; and the rest, if 
 not hypocrites in the very worst sense, yet de- 
 ceived both themselves, and others, by a form 
 of godliness, when they were in effect enslav- 
 ed by their passions, and lived according to 
 the corrupt rule of their own imaginations. 
 
 The Sadducees , their antagonists and rivals, 
 were equally, though differently, remote from 
 the true knowledge and worship of God. 
 They not only rejected the tradition of the 
 elders, but a great part of the scriptures like- 
 wise ; and admitted only the five books of 
 Moses as of divine authority. From this cir- 
 cumstance, together with the difficulty (Matth. 
 xxii. 23) they proposed to our Lord, and the 
 answers he gave them, it appears, that they 
 were persons ,who, professing in general terms 
 to acknowledge a revelation from God, yet 
 made their own prejudices and mistakes, un- 
 der the dignified name of Reason, the stand- 
 ard to determine what books should be receiv- 
 ed as authentic, and in what sense they should 
 be understood. The doctrine of a resurrec- 
 tion did not accord with their notions ; there- 
 fore they rejected it (Acts xxiii. 8), toge- 
 ther * with those parts of scripture which 
 asserted it most expressly. Their question 
 concerning the seven brethren seems to have 
 been a trite objection, which they had often 
 made, and which had never been answered 
 to satisfaction till our Lord resolved it. But 
 the whole difficulty was founded upon false 
 principles ; and when these were removed, all 
 fell to the ground at once. From this, how- 
 ever, we may learn their characteristic ; they 
 were the cautious reasoners of those times, 
 who valued themselves on examining every 
 thing closely, refusing to be influenced by 
 the plausible sounds of antiquity and autho- 
 rity. 
 
 The Herodians (Matthew xxii. 16; Mark 
 iii. 6) were those who endeavoured to ingra- 
 tiate themselves with Herod. It is most pro- 
 bable that they received their name and dis- 
 tinction, not so much from any peculiar sen- 
 timents, as from attempting to accommodate 
 their religion to the circumstances of the 
 times. The Pharisees, boasting of their pri- 
 vileges as the children of Abraham, could 
 hardly brook a foreign yoke ; but the Hero- 
 dians, from motives of interest, were advo- 
 cates for Herod and the Roman power. Thus 
 they were opposite to the Pharisees in politi- 
 cal matters, as the Sadducees were in points of 
 doctrine ; and therefore the question concern- 
 ing tribute was proposed to our Lord jointly 
 by the Pharisees and Herodians, the former 
 
 * That the Sadducees received only the law of Moses, 
 is the general opinion ; though I do not say that it has 
 been either indubitably proved, or universally held. 
 That they put their own sense upon the scriptures (whe- 
 ther in whole or in part), which they did profess to re- 
 ceive, is manifest, from their asserting that there is no 
 resurrection, neither angel nor spirit. A tenet which 
 contradicts not one or a few texts, but the whole strain 
 und tenor both of the law and the prophets. 
 
 designing to render him obnoxious to the peo- 
 ple, if he allowed of tribute, the latter to ac- 
 cuse him to the government, if he refused it. 
 
 From what has been said, it is evident the 
 leading principles of these sects were not pe- 
 culiar to themselves. They may rather be con- 
 sidered universally as specimens of the differ- 
 ent appearances a religious profession assumes 
 where the heart is not divinely enlightened and 
 converted to the love of the truth. In all such 
 persons, however high the pretence of religion 
 may be carried, it cannot proceed from a no- 
 bler principle, or aim at a nobler object than 
 self. These dispositions have appeared in 
 every age and form of the Christian church, 
 and are always active to oppose the self-deny- 
 ing doctrines of the gospel upon different pre- 
 tences. The man who, fond of his fancied at- 
 tainments and scrupulous exactness in exter- 
 nals,, despises all who will not conform to his 
 rules, and challenges peculiar respect on ac- 
 count of his superior goodness, is a proud 
 Pharisee. His zeal is dark, envious, and hit- 
 ter ; his obedience partial and self-willed 
 and while he boasts of the knowledge of God 
 his heart rises with enmity at the grace of the 
 gospel, which he boldly charges with opening 
 a door to licentiousness. The modern Sad • 
 ducee (like those of old) admits of a revela- 
 tion, but then, full of his own wisdom and 
 importance, he arraigns even the revelation 
 he seems to allow at the bar of his narrow 
 judgment; and, as the sublime doctrines of 
 truth pass under his review, he affixes with- 
 out hesitation, the epithets of absurd, incon- 
 sistent, and blasphemous to whatever thwarts 
 his pride, prejudice, and ignorance, and those 
 parts of scripture which cannot be warped to 
 speak his sense, he discards from his canon as 
 interpolated and supposititious. The Hero- 
 dian is the man, however denominated or dig- 
 nified, who is governed by interest, as the others 
 by pride, and vainly endeavours to reconcile 
 the incompatible services of God and the world, 
 Christ and Belial. He avoids the excesses of 
 religious parties, speaks in terms of modera- 
 tion, and is not unwilling to be accounted the 
 pattern and friend of sobriety and religion. 
 He stands fair with all who would be religi- 
 ous upon cheap terms, and fair in his own 
 esteem, having numbers and authority on his 
 side. Thus he almost persuades himself he 
 has carried his point, and that it is not so im- 
 possible to serve two masters as our Lord’s 
 words seem to import ; but the preaching of 
 the pure gospel, which enforces the one thing 
 needful, and will admit of no compliances with 
 wordly interests, interferes with his plan, and 
 incurs his resentment likewise, though, per- 
 haps, he will shew his displeasure by more 
 refined and specious methods than the cla- 
 morous rage of hot bigotry has patience to 
 wait for. 
 
 We now proceed. — The first great cause 
 why Jesus was rejected by those to whom lie 
 
AND OFFENCES AGAINST OUR LORD. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 appealed, may be deduced from the tenor of 
 his doctrine, a summary of which has been 
 given in the former chapter. It offended the 
 pride of the Pharisees, was repugnant to the 
 wise infidelity of the Sadducees, and con- 
 demned the pliant temper of the Herodians. 
 The doctrines of free grace, faith, and spi- 
 ritual obedience were diametrically opposite 
 to their inclinations. They must have parted 
 with all they admired and loved if they had 
 complied with him ; but this is a sacrifice too 
 great for any to make who had not deeply felt 
 and known their need of a Saviour. These, 
 on the contrary, were the whole, who saw no 
 want of a physician, and therefore treated his 
 offers with contempt. 
 
 Besides, their dislike to his doctrine was in- 
 creased by his manner of enforcing it. He 
 spoke with authority, and sharply rebuked the 
 
 44 L 
 
 equal with God, to be encompassed with po- 
 verty and distress, seemed such profane con- 
 tradiction, as might justify every mark of in- 
 dignity they could offer him. And this dif- 
 ficulty must equally affect every unenlightened 
 mind. If man had been left to devise in 
 what manner the Lord of the universe would 
 probably descend to dwell a while with poor 
 mortals in a visible form, they would undoubt- 
 edly have imagined such a scene, if their 
 thoughts could have reached it, as is described 
 by the prophets on other occasions : the hea- 
 vens bowing, the earth shaking, the moun- 
 tains ready to start from their places, and all 
 nature labouring to do homage to her Creator. 
 Or, if he came in a milder way, they would 
 at least have contrived an assemblage of all 
 that we conceive magnificent, — a pomp and 
 splendour surpassing all the world ever saw. 
 
 hypocrisy, ignorance, ambition, and avarice of ! Expecting nations crowding to welcome his 
 those persons who were accounted the wise i arrival, and thrones of gold, and palaces of 
 
 and the good, who sat in Moses’s chair, and 
 had hitherto been heard and obeyed with re- 
 verence. But Jesus exposed their true cha- 
 racters : he spoke of them as blind guides ; 
 he compared them to painted sepulchres,* and 
 Cautioned the people against them, as dange- 
 rous deceivers, Matth. xxiii. 27. It is no 
 wonder, therefore, that on this account they 
 hated him with a perfect hatred. 
 
 Again, they were exceedingly offended with 
 the high character he assumed as the Son of 
 God, and the Messiah. On this account, they 
 condemned him to die for blasphemy. They 
 expected a Messiah indeed, who they pro- 
 fessed was spoken of in the scriptures ; but 
 they understood not what the scriptures had 
 revealed, either concerning his divine nature 
 or his voluntary humiliation, that he was to 
 be the Son and Lord of David, yet a man of 
 sorrows and acquainted with grief. They de- 
 nied his divinity, and themselves unwittingly 
 fulfilled the prophecies that spoke of his suf- 
 ferings; affording, by their conduct, a me- 
 morable proof how fatally persons may mis- 
 take the sense of the word of God, while they 
 profess highly to esteem it. 
 
 What farther increased their contempt of 
 his claims and contributed to harden their 
 hearts more implacably against him, was the 
 obscurity and poverty of his state. While 
 they were governed by wordly wisdom, and 
 sought not the teaching of God’s Spirit, they 
 could not but suppose an utter repugnance 
 between the meanness of his condition and 
 the honours he vindicated to himself. They 
 expected a Messiah to come in pomp and 
 power, to deliver them from the Roman yoke. 
 For a person truly divine, who made himself 
 
 * Nothing is more loathsome to our senses than a 
 corpse in the state of putrefaction, or a more striking 
 contrast to the outside of a sumptuous ornamented mo- 
 nument. Perhaps the visible creation does not afford any 
 other image that would so strongly express the true cha- 
 racter of hypocrisy, and how hateful it appears in the 
 sight of God, who is of purer eyes than to behold ini- 
 quity, and before whom all things are naked and open. 
 
 ivory, would have been judged too mean to 
 accommodate so glorious a guest. But the 
 Lord’s thoughts and ways are different from 
 man’s. The beloved son of God, by whom 
 all things were made, was born in a stable, 
 and grew up in an obscure and mean condi- 
 tion. He came to suffer and to die for sin, 
 to sanctify poverty and affliction to his peo- 
 ple, to set a perfect example of patience and 
 submission ; therefore he made himself of no 
 reputation, but took upon him the form and 
 offices of a servant. This was the appoint- 
 ment of divine wisdom ; but so incredible in 
 the judgment of blinded mortals, that the 
 apostle assures us, “ no man can say that Je- 
 sus is the Lord” (1 Cor. xii. 3), can perceive 
 and acknowledge his inherent excellence and 
 authority, through the disgraceful circum- 
 stances of his humiliation, “ but by the Holy 
 Ghost.” His enemies, therefore, thought they 
 sufficiently refuted his assertions by referring 
 to his supposed parents, and the reputed place 
 of his nativity. 
 
 Their envy and hatred w r ere still more en- 
 flamed, by observing the character of his fol- 
 lowers. These were chiefly poor and illiterate 
 persons, and many of them had been notorious- 
 ly w icked, or accounted so ; publicans and sin- 
 ners, w'hose names and professions were vile to 
 a proverb. And for such as these, and al- 
 most these only, to acknowledge the person 
 whom they refused, and by professing them- 
 selves his disciples (John vii. 49. ix. 34.), to 
 set up for being wiser than their teachers ; 
 this was a mortification to their pride, which 
 they could not bear, especially when they 
 found their number daily to increase, and 
 therefore could not but fear their ow n influ- 
 ence would proportionably decline. 
 
 Once more : Mistaking the nature of his 
 kingdom, which he often spoke of, they op- 
 posed him from reasons of state. They feared, 
 or pretended to fear, that if they suffered him 
 to go on, the increase of his disciples would 
 
442 GROUNDS OF THE OPPOSITION TO, BOOK I 
 
 give umbrage to the Romans, who would 
 come and take away both their places and their 
 nation, John xi. 49. Some perhaps really had 
 this apprehension ; but it was more generally 
 a pretence, which the leaders made use of to 
 alarm the ignorant. They were in truth im- 
 patient of the Roman yoke, prone to tumults, 
 and ready to listen to every deceiver who pro- 
 mised them deliverance, under pretence of 
 being their expected Messiah But from 
 enmity and opposition to Jesus, they became 
 loyal at once. So they might accomplish 
 their designs against him, they were content 
 to forget other grievances, and openly pro- 
 fessed, they would have no other king but 
 Caesar. 
 
 These were some of the chief motives which 
 united the opposite interests, and jarring sen- 
 timents of the Jewish sects against our blessed 
 Lord. We are next to consider the methods 
 they employed to prejudice the multitudes a- 
 gainst him. The bulk of the common peo- 
 ple seldom think for themselves in religious 
 concerns, but judge it sufficient to give up 
 their understandings and consciences to their 
 professed teachers *. They are, however, for 
 the most part, more unprejudiced and open 
 to conviction than their guides, whose repu- 
 tation and interest are more nearly concerned 
 to maintain every established error, and to 
 stop up every avenue by which truth and re- 
 formation might enter. The Jewish people, 
 uninfluenced by the proud and selfish views 
 of the priests and rulers, readily honoured the 
 ministry of Christ, and attended him in great 
 multitudes. If they did not enter into the 
 grand design of his mission, they at least gave 
 him testimonies of respect. When Jesus 
 caused (Matth. xv. 31. Luke vii. 16.) the 
 dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the 
 lame to walk, and the blind to see, they glo- 
 rified the God of Israel, saying, “ A great 
 prophet is risen up amongst us, God has vi- 
 sited hie people.” Now, what was to be done 
 in this case P would the Scribes and Phari- 
 sees stand unconcerned ? No ; it is said in 
 several places, they were filled with indigna- 
 tion f, and essayed every means to bring his 
 person and miracles into disrepute. The me- 
 thods they used are worthy of notice, having 
 been often repeated since (as to their sub- 
 stance) against the servants of Christ. 
 
 1. They availed themselves of a popular 
 mistake concerning his birth. Jesus was 
 born in Bethlehem, according to the scriptures ; 
 but being removed from thence in his infan- 
 cy to avoid Herod’s cruelty, and his parents 
 
 * This is much to be lamented ; for if the blind lead 
 the blind, shall they not both fall into the ditch ? Matth. 
 xv. 14. When the blind lead the blind, how indeed 
 can it be otherwise, if the former imagine they see, and 
 the latter are content to be led! Alas for the people 
 that are in such a case ! alas for their guides ! 
 
 f It is a strong symptom of hypocrisy and enmity to 
 the gospel, to be offended with any new and remarka- 
 ble displays of divine grace. 
 
 afterwards living at Nazareth in Galilee, he 
 was supposed by many, to have been born 
 there. Even Nathaniel was prejudiced by 
 this mistake, but happily yielded to Philip’s 
 advice to examine for himself. But it pre- 
 vented many from inquiring much about Jesus, 
 and therefore his enemies made the most of 
 it, and confidently appealed to the scripture, 
 when it seemed to decide in their favour. 
 Search and look (John vii. 42. 52.), for out 
 of Galilee ariseth no prophet. It is probable 
 many were staggered with this objection, and 
 thought it sufficient to invalidate all his dis- 
 courses and miracles ; since, let him say and 
 do what he would, he could not possibly be 
 the Messiah, if he was born in Galilee. 
 
 2. They urged, that he could not be of 
 God, because he infringed the law of Moses, 
 and broke the Sabbath, John ix. 16. This, 
 though it may seem a groundless objection to 
 us, was not so to many at that time, who 
 knew not the spiritual design and meaning of 
 the law, and perhaps had not the opportunity 
 to hear our Lord vindicate himself. They 
 urged this vehemently against the force of a 
 notorious miracle, and not without some co- 
 loui, from the words of Moses himself (Deut. 
 xiii. 2.) ; who had warned them to beware of 
 false teachers, though they should confirm 
 their doctrine by signs and wonders. 
 
 3. They reproached the freedom of his con- 
 versation. Jesus was of easy access, and 
 condescended to converse and eat with any 
 who invited him. He neither practised nor 
 enjoined the austerities, which carry the air of 
 superior sanctity in the judgment of weak and 
 superstitious minds. They therefore styled 
 him a glutton and wine-bibber (Luke vii. 34.), 
 a friend of publicans and sinners ; that is, as 
 they intended it, a companion with them, and 
 a conniver at their wickedness. Nothing 
 could be more false and slanderous than this 
 charge, or more easily refuted, if the people 
 would examine closely. But as it came from 
 teachers who were highly reverenced for mor- 
 tification, and as Jesus was usually attended 
 by many with whom it was thought infamous 
 to associate, it could not but have great weight 
 with the credulous and indolent. 
 
 4. They laid much stress upon the mean 
 condition of his followers. They were most- 
 ly Galileans, a people of small estimation, and 
 of the lowest rank, fishermen, or publicans ; 
 while, on the other hand, few or none of the 
 rulers or Pharisees, who were presumed to be 
 best qualified (John vii. 48.) to judge of his 
 pretensions, had believed on him. Those 
 who are aquainted with human nature, can- 
 not but know how strongly this appeal to the 
 judgment of persons eminent for their learn- 
 ing or station, operates upon minds who have 
 no better criterion of truth. How could a 
 Jew, who had been from his infancy supersti- 
 tiously attached to the Pharisees, suppose, that 
 
CHAP. III. 
 
 AND OFFENCES AGAINST OCR LORD. 
 
 these eminently devout men, who spent their 
 lives in the study of the law, would have re- 
 jected Jesus, if he had been a good man ? 
 
 5. When, notwithstanding all their surmises, 
 multitudes still professed high thoughts of Je- 
 sus, beholding his wonderful works, they pro- 
 ceeded with the most blasphemous effrontry to 
 defame the miracles they could not deny, and 
 maliciously ascribed them to the agency of the 
 devil, Matth. xii. 14. This pertinacious resist- 
 ance to the conviction, both of their senses and 
 consciences, was the highest stage of impiety, 
 and constituted their sin, as our Lord assured 
 them, unpardonable. Not that any sin, con- 
 sidered in itself, is too great for the blood of 
 Jesus to expiate ; but as they utterly renoun- 
 ced and scorned his mediation, there remained 
 no other sacrifice, but they were judicially 
 given up to incurable impenitence and hard- 
 ness of heart. Yet it is probable, that even 
 this black assertion was not without influence 
 upon some, who were wedded to their sins, 
 and therefore glad of any pretext, how un- 
 reasonable soever, to refuse the testimony of 
 truth. 
 
 6. Another means they made use of, the last 
 we shall enumerate, and not the least effectual 
 to intimidate the minds of the people from 
 acknowledging Jesus, was the convincing ar- 
 gument of violence and ill treatment. Hav- 
 ing the power in their hands they employed it 
 against his followers, and made an agreement, 
 that whoever confessed he was Christ, should 
 be put out of the synagogue (John ix. 22. ), 
 that is, excommunicated. This decree seems 
 to have been made by the Sanhedrim, or great 
 council, and to imply, not merely an exclu- 
 sion from the rights of public worship, but 
 likewise a positive punishment equivalent 
 to an outlawry with us. The fear of incur- 
 ring this penalty (John xii. 42.) restrained the 
 parents of the man born blind, and prevent- 
 ed many others who were in their hearts con- 
 vinced that he was the Messiah, from owning 
 him as such. They loved the world ; they 
 preferred the praise of men to the praise of 
 God ; and therefore remained silent and neu- 
 ter. 
 
 From such motives, and by such methods, 
 our Lord was resisted and opposed by the 
 heads of the Jewish nation. The scribes and 
 teachers, to whom the key of knowledge was 
 by authority committed, disdained to use it 
 themselves, and those who w r ere willing they 
 hindered. Had they been wise and faithful, 
 they would have directed the people to Christ ; 
 but, on the contrary, they darkened the plain- 
 est scriptures, and perverted the clearest facts, 
 to prevent, if possible, his reception. In vain 
 he spoke as never man spoke, and multiplied 
 the wonders of his power and love in their 
 presence. In vain to them. — They pursued him 
 with unwearied subtlety and malice*, traduced 
 
 * Mark xii. 13. They sent unto him certain of the 
 Pharisees to catch him. Ay^vu expresses the art and 
 
 443 
 
 him to the people and to the government, and 
 would be satisfied with nothing less than his 
 death ; so obstinate and wicked is the heart of 
 man, so fatal are the prejudices of pride and 
 worldly interest. For as we observed before, 
 these tempers were not peculiar to the Jews 
 they are essential to depraved nature and oper 
 ate universally, where the grace of God does not 
 make a difference. To this hour the gospel 
 of Christ is opposed upon the same grounds, 
 and by the like artifices, as were once employ- 
 ed against his person. 
 
 The doctrines which his faithful ministers 
 deduce and enforce from the written word, 
 are no other than what lie himself taught, 
 namely, a declaration of his personal honours 
 and authority, of the insufficiency of form- 
 al worship, in which the heart is not concern- 
 ed, of the extent and spirituality of the law of 
 God, and of salvation, freely proclaimed to the 
 miserable, through faith in his name. The 
 self-righteous, the self-wise, and all who are 
 devoted to the pleasures and honours of the 
 world, have each their particular exceptions 
 to these truths. The wisdom of God they 
 account foolishness ; and the language of their 
 hearts is, We will not have this man to reign 
 over us. And the success of these doctrines, 
 which is chiefly visible among such as they 
 have been accustomed to despise, is equally 
 offensive ; yet so inconsistent are they, that if 
 here and there a few persons, who were before 
 eminent for their rank, attainments, or morali- 
 ty, are prevailed on to account all things but 
 loss and dung, for the excellency of the know- 
 ledge of Christ Jesus their Lord, this, instead 
 of removing their first objection, excites their 
 rage and contempt still more. 
 
 And as the motives of their hatred, so their 
 methods of expressing it, are the same. They 
 are not ashamed to adopt and exaggerate the 
 most vulgar misconceptions; they set the 
 scripture at variance with itself ; and while 
 they pass over the plainest and most important 
 passages unnoticed, they dwell upon a few 
 texts of more dubious import, and therefore 
 more easily accommodated to their sense. 
 With these they flourish and triumph, and af- 
 fect an high zeal in defence of the word of 
 God. They reproach the pure gospel as li- 
 centious, because it exposes the vanity of 
 their singularities and will-worship, and are 
 desirous to bind heavier burdens upon men’ 
 shoulders, which few of themselves will touch 
 with one of their fingers. They enlarge on 
 the weakness and ignorance of those who 
 mostly receive the new doctrine, and entrench 
 themselves under the sanction of learned and 
 dignified names. They even venture to explode 
 and vilify the evident effects of God’s grace, 
 and ascribe the agency of his Spirit to enthu- 
 
 assiduity of sportsmen, in the various methods they use 
 to ensnare, entangle, or destroy their game. It well 
 suits the spirit and design of our Lord’s enemies in the 
 question proposed, and is finley contrasted by the meek- 
 ness and wisdom of his answer 
 
BOOK I* 
 
 444 STATE OF THE 
 
 siasm, infatuation, and madness, if not ex- 
 pressly to diabolical influence. And, lastly, 
 so far as divine providence permits, they shew 
 themselves actuated by the primitive spirit of 
 oppression and violence, in pursuing the faith- 
 ful followers of the truth with censures and 
 penalties. 
 
 But let who will rage and imagine vain 
 things, Jesus is the King in Zion. He is the 
 same, yesterday, to-day, and for ever. There 
 were a happy few in the days of his flesh, who 
 Deheld his glory, trusted on him for salva- 
 tion, and attended him amidst the many re- 
 proaches and sufferings he endured from sin- 
 ners. Of these his first witnesses, we are to 
 speak in the following chapter. His gospel 
 likewise, though opposed by many, and slight- 
 ed by more, is never preached in vain. To 
 some it will always be the power and wisdom 
 of God ; they know in whom they have be- 
 lieved, and therefore are not ashamed to ap- 
 pear in his cause against all disadvantages. 
 Supported and encouraged by his Spirit, they 
 go on from strength to strength, and are suc- 
 cessively made more than conquerors, by his 
 blood and the word of his testimony. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 OBSERVATIONS ON THE CALLING AND CHARAC- 
 
 TERS OF OUR LORD’S APOSTLES AND DISCI- 
 PLES PREVIOUS TO HIS ASCENSION. 
 
 From what has heen observed in the preced- 
 ing chapters, it is evident, that those who as- 
 sert a principle of free will in man, sufficient- 
 ly enabling him to chuse and determine for 
 himself, when the truths of the gospel are 
 plainly laid before him, do thereby (as far as 
 in them lies) render the salvation of mankind 
 highly precarious, if not utterly hopeless and 
 impracticable. Notwithstanding God was 
 pleased to send his own Son with a gracious 
 message ; notwithstanding his whole life was 
 a series of wonders, and all his actions dis- 
 covered a wisdom, power, and goodness an- 
 swerable to his high character ; notwithstand- 
 ing the time, manner, and design of his ap- 
 pearance and sufferings had been clearly fore- 
 told ; yet, so far as a judgment can be made 
 from the event, he would certainly have lived 
 and died in vain, without influence or honour, 
 without leaving a single disciple, if the same 
 grace that provided the means of redemption, 
 had not engaged to make them effectual, by 
 preparing and disposing the hearts of sinners 
 to receive him. 
 
 In the account given us by the evangelists 
 of those who professed themselves his dis- 
 ciples, we may discern, as in miniature, the 
 general methods of his grace ; and, compar- 
 ing his personal ministry with the effects of 
 his gospel in all succeeding times, we may be 
 
 : CHURCH 
 
 assured that the work and the power are still 
 the same. The choice he made of his dis- 
 ciples, the manner of their calling, their cha- 
 racters, and even their defects, and failings; 
 in a word, all that is recorded concerning 
 them, is written for our instruction, and is 
 particularly useful to teach us the true mean- 
 ing of what passes within our own observa- 
 tion. 
 
 1. Several things are worthy our notice, in 
 this view, with respect to the choice of his 
 disciples. 
 
 1st, They were comparatively very few. 
 He was, indeed, usually attended by muRi- 
 tudes in the different places where he preach- 
 ed, because he spoke with a power they had 
 never met with before, and because he healed 
 the sick, fed the hungry, and did good to all. 
 But he had very few constant followers. 
 Those who assembled at Jerusalem after his 
 ascension, are said to have been but about one 
 hundred and twenty (Acts, i. 15.) ; and when 
 he appointed his disciples a solemn meeting 
 in Galilee, informing them beforehand of the 
 time and place where he would come to them, 
 the number that then met here is expressed 
 by the apostle to have been more than five 
 hundred, 1 Cor. xv. 6.* We can hardly 
 suppose, that any who loved him, and were 
 able to travel, would have been absent upon 
 so interesting an occasion ; but how small a 
 company was this, compared with the many 
 thousands among whom he had conversed in 
 all the cities and villages through which he 
 had passed, preaching the gospel, and per- 
 forming innumerable miracles, for more than 
 three years ! Well might the prophet say, fore- 
 seeing the small success he would meet with, 
 ‘ Who hath believed our report, and to whom 
 hath the arm of the Lord been revealed ?” But 
 since he, in whom the fulness of grace resided, 
 had so few disciples, it may lessen our surprise, 
 that his gospel, though in itself the power and 
 wisdom of God, should meet with so cold a 
 reception amongst men, as it has in fact al- 
 ways done. 
 
 2dly, Of those few who professed a more 
 entire attachment to his person, a consider- 
 able part, after attending him for some time, 
 went back, and walked no more with him. 
 They were but superficially convinced, and ra- 
 ther struck with the power of his words and 
 works, than deeply sensible of their own need 
 of him. When, therefore, upon a certain oc- 
 casion, he spake of the more inward and ex- 
 perimental part of religion, the life of faith, 
 and the necessity of eating his flesh, and drink- 
 ing his blood, so many were offended at his 
 doctrine, and forsook him (John, vi. 66, 67.), 
 
 * The word brethren here used does not prove that 
 none but men were present at that time, any more than 
 that, because the apostles, in their public preaching, 
 addressed their hearers as men and brethren, there were 
 therefore no women amongst them, or that the women 
 were not considered as having any interest or concern 
 in the gospel-ministry. 
 
CHAP. IV. 
 
 that he said unto the twelve, “ Will ye also 
 go away?” which seems to imply, that there 
 were few but these remaining. Therefore, 
 though we see at present that where the sound 
 of the gospel brings multitudes together, 
 many, who for a season appeared in earnest, 
 gradually decline in their profession, and at 
 length wholly return to their former ways, 
 we have the less reason to wonder or be dis- 
 couraged, remembering that it was thus from 
 the beginning. 
 
 3dly, Those who believed in Christ then, 
 were chiefly (as we had occasion to observe 
 before) persons of low condition, and many 
 of them had been formerly vile and obnoxious 
 in their conduct. While the wise and learn- 
 ed rejected him, his more immediate followers 
 were Galileans, fishermen, publicans, and 
 sinners. This was observed, and urged to his 
 reproach and theirs ; and the like offence has 
 always attended his gospel. But what en- 
 raged his enemies, fills the hearts and mouths 
 of his poor people with praise. They adore 
 his condescension (Luke, i. 52, 53.) in tak- 
 ing notice of the most unworthy, and admire 
 the efficacy of his grace in making those who 
 were once wretched slaves to Satan, a free 
 and willing people in the day of his power. 
 
 4thly, But this was not universally the 
 case. Though not many wise, rich, or noble 
 were called, there were some even of these. 
 His grace triumphed over every circumstance 
 of life. Zaccheus was a rich man,* Nico- 
 demus a ruler of the Jews, Joseph an ho- 
 nourable counsellor. We also read of a no- 
 bleman or courtier, who believed, with all 
 his house. In every age, likewise, there have 
 been some persons of distinguished eminence 
 for birth, honours, and abilities, who have 
 cheerfully engaged in the profession of a de- 
 spised gospel, though they have thereby in- 
 curred a double share of opposition from the 
 men of the world, especially from those of 
 their own rank. The number of these has 
 been always sufficient to confute those who 
 would insinuate that the gospel is only suited 
 to the taste of the vulgar and ignorant ; yet 
 it has always been so small as to make it evi- 
 dent, that the truth is not supported by the 
 wisdom or influence of men, but by the 
 power and providence of God. 
 
 5thly, It was farther observable, that seve- 
 ral of our Lord’s few disciples were under 
 previous connections amongst themselves. 
 Peter and Andrew were brothers (John, i. 
 40.), as likewise James and John ; and these, 
 together with Philip, and perhaps Nathaniel, 
 seem to have been all of one town.f The 
 
 * Zaccheus was a chief or principal publican, to whom 
 ihe rest were accountable ; a commissioner of the pub- 
 lic revenue. And he was rich. The Greek is more ex- 
 ressive, And this teas a rich man, Luke, xix. 2, per- 
 aps alluding to what had passed a little before, chap, 
 xviih 25. This remark is added, to remind us, that 
 what is impossible with men, is easy to him who can 
 speak to the heart, and turn it as he will. I 
 
 1 Compare Mark, i. 16, Luke, v. 10, with John, u 
 
 445 
 
 other James and Jude were also brethren. 
 So it is said, Jesus loved Mary, and her 
 sister, and Lazarus, three in one house, when 
 perhaps the whole place hardly afforded a 
 fourth ; and more in a single village than 
 were to be found in many larger cities taken 
 together. This circumstance more strongly 
 marked the discrimination of his grace, in 
 making the means effectual where and to whoirt 
 he pleased. Such has been the usual event 
 of his gospel since. It is proclaimed to all, 
 but accepted by few ; and of these several are 
 often found in one family, while their next 
 door-neighbours account it a burden and of- 
 fence. It flourishes here and there in a few 
 places (Amos, iv. 7.), while those of the ad- 
 jacent country are buried in more than Egyp- 
 tian darkness, and resist the endeavours of 
 those who would invite them to partake of the 
 same benefits. Thus the Lord is pleased to 
 display his own sovereignty, in raising and 
 sending forth his ministers, when and where 
 he sees fit, and in determining the subjects 
 and measure of their success. If others dis- 
 pute and cavil against this procedure, f those 
 who believe have cause to adore his goodness 
 to themselves. And a day is at hand, when 
 every mouth shall be stopped that would con- 
 tend with the just Judge of all the earth. 
 The impenitent and unbelieving will not then 
 dare to charge him with injustice for dealing 
 with them according to their own counsels 
 and desires, inasmuch as when the light of 
 truth was ready to break upon them, they 
 chose darkness rather than light, because their 
 deeds were evil. 
 
 2. In the calling of our Lord’s disciples, 
 and the manner in which they were brought 
 to know and serve him, we may discover the 
 same variety as at this day appears in the 
 conversion of sinners by the preaching of the 
 gospel. 
 
 Some, from a religious education, an early 
 
 44, 45. These six, and more than these, were fisher- 
 men (John, xxi. 2), and such they continued, only their 
 net-success and capture were so much changed, that it 
 became a new calling : He made them fishers of men. 
 In the fishermen’s calling there is required a certain 
 dexterity, much patience, and a readiness to bear hard- 
 ships. Perhaps many observations they made in their 
 former business were useful to them afterwards. And 
 the Lord still brings up his servants so, that the remem- 
 brance of former years (the years of ignorance) becomes 
 a rule and encouragement in future and different scenes 
 of life. 
 
 t See R om. xi. 23. There are but few who dispute upon 
 the subject of the divine decrees with that reverence and 
 caution St. Paul expresses. In chap, ix., when an ob- 
 jection was started, he cuts it short with, “ But who art 
 thou, O man, that repliest against God ?” And here he 
 breaks off abruptly, with “ O the depth !” &c. He seems 
 I to have followed the narrow winding streams of human 
 reasoning, till he finds himself unawares upon the brink 
 of an ocean that has neither bounds nor bottom. And 
 every word expresses the reverence and astonishment 
 with which his mind was filled ; the wisdom of the di- 
 vine councils in their first plan ; the knowledge of their 
 extensive consequences in this world, in all worlds, in 
 time, and in eternity ; the riches of that wisdom and 
 knowledge; the depth of those riches; his counsels in- 
 accessible, his proceedings un traceable : All is wonder- 
 l ful in St. Paul’s view. How different this from the 
 , trilling, arrogant spirit of too many upon this topic 1 
 
 IMMEDIATELY BEFORE THE ASCENSION. 
 
BOOK I. 
 
 STATE OF THE CHURCH 
 
 446 
 
 acquaintance with the scriptures, and the se- 
 cret influence of the Spirit of God upon their 
 hearts, are gradually prepared for the recep- 
 tion of the truth. They read, and strive, and 
 pray ; they feel an uneasiness, and a want, 
 which they know not how to remedy ; they 
 are sincerely desirous to know and do the 
 will of God ; and yet, through misapprehen- 
 sion, and the influence of popular prejudice, 
 they are, for a season, with-held from the 
 means that would relieve them. But at length 
 the preaching of the gospel explains to them 
 the meaning of their former exercises, exactly 
 answers to the state of their minds, and there- 
 by brings its own evidence. Similar to this 
 was the case of Nathaniel. When our Lord 
 referred him to what had passed under the 
 fig-tree, where he had thought himself alone 
 and unobserved, his doubts and scruples va- 
 nished in an instant. There is little doubt 
 but Nathaniel had been praying under the fig- 
 tree, and probably desiring a farther know- 
 ledge of the prophecies, and their accomplish- 
 ment in the Messiah. He had heard of Je- 
 sus, but could not fully clear up the objec- 
 tions made against him ; but now he was con- 
 vinced and satisfied in a moment. 
 
 The attention of some is drawn by what 
 they see and hear around them. They form 
 a favourable opinion of the gospel from the 
 remarkable effects it produces ; but their first 
 inquiries are damped by difficulties which they 
 cannot easily get over, and they are ready to 
 say, How can these things be ? Their inter- 
 ests and connections in life are a farther hin- 
 drance ; the fear of man, which bringeth a 
 snare, is a great restraint upon their inquiries ; 
 but now and then, when they can venture 
 without being noticed, they seek farther in- 
 struction. Now, though this hesitating spirit, 
 which pays so much deference to worldly re- 
 gards in the search of truth, is highly blame- 
 able ; yet the Lord, who is rich in mercy, is 
 often pleased to produce a happy and abiding 
 change from such imperfect beginnings. As 
 they increase in knowledge, they gain more 
 courage, and in time arrive to a comfortable 
 experience and open profession of the truth. 
 Thus it was with Nicodemus : he was at first 
 ignorant and fearful ; but his interview with 
 Jesus by night, had a good effect. He after- 
 wards ventured to speak more publicly (John 
 vii. 50.) in his favour, though still he did not 
 join himself to the disciples: but the circum- 
 stances of Christ’s death freed him from all 
 fear, and inspired him to attempt the most 
 obnoxious service, when the apostles them- 
 selves were afraid to be seen, John xix. 39. 
 
 Others are first prompted to hear the 
 gospel from no higher motive than curio- 
 sity ; but going as mere spectators, they find 
 themselves retained as parties unawares. The 
 word of God, powerful and penetrating as a 
 two-edged sword, discovers the thoughts and 
 intents of their hearts, presses upon their con- 
 
 sciences, and seems addressed to themselves 
 alone. The sentiments they carry away with 
 them are far different from those they brought ; 
 and a change in their whole deportment im- 
 mediately takes place. Such was the case of 
 Zaccheus (Luke xix. 5.) : he had heard much 
 of Jesus, and desired to see him ; for this 
 end, he ran before, and climbed a tree, from 
 whence he purposed to behold him unob- 
 served. But how great must his surprise 
 and emotion have been, when Jesus, whom he 
 had considered as a stranger, looked up, called 
 him by his name, and invited himself to his 
 house. 
 
 Some are drawn by the report of others, 
 freely declaring what the Lord has done for 
 their souls. The relation awakens in them 
 desires after him which are not disappointed; 
 for he is rich enough to satisfy all who seek 
 to him. So the Samaritans, whose expecta- 
 tions were first raised by the woman’s decla- 
 ration, “ Come and see a man which told me 
 all things that ever I did ; is not this the 
 Christ?” (Johniv. 43.) had soon a more con- 
 vincing testimony, and could say, “ Now we 
 believe, not because of thy word, but we have 
 heard him - ourselves ; and know that this is 
 indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.” 
 
 To a few the first impulses of divine grace 
 come suddenly and unthought of, when their 
 hearts and hands are engaged quite another 
 way; as Saul, who was seeking his father’s 
 asses, received the unexpected news of a king- 
 dom. A ray of truth pierces their minds like 
 lightning, and disposes them to leave their 
 schemes unfinished, to seek the kingdom of 
 God and his righteousness only. Thus our 
 Lord passed by the sons of Zebedee when 
 mending their nets (Mark i. 16, 19), and 
 Matthew while busied at the receipt of cus- 
 tom, Mark ii. 14. He only said, Follow me j 
 he used no arguments, he proposed no re- 
 wards ; but he spoke to their hearts, and, 
 by the constraining power of his love, engag- 
 ed them to a cheerful and immediate obe- 
 dience. 
 
 Afflictions likewise are now, no less than 
 formerly, a happy means to bring many to 
 Jesus. He prepares them for heavenly bles- 
 sings, by embittering or removing their crea- 
 ture-comforts. Had they continued in pros- 
 perity, they would not have thought of him ; 
 but the loss of health, or friends, or substance, 
 disappointments in life, or a near prospect of 
 death, constrain them in good earnest to seek 
 for one able to deliver them. In the time of 
 their distress, they say, Arise, and save us ; 
 not that afflictions in themselves can produce 
 this turn of thought. Too many, in such cir- 
 cumstances, toss like a wild bull in a net ; 
 but when he sends afflictions for this purpose, 
 they accomplish that which he pleases. Thus, 
 when he was upon earth, many who came, or 
 were brought (Mark ii. 9.) to him for the re- 
 lief of bodily disorders, experienced a double 
 
CHAP. IV. 
 
 IMMEDIATELY BEFORE THE ASCENSION. 
 
 cure. He healed (John ix. 7, 36, 38.) their 
 diseases, and pardoned their sins. At the 
 same time that he restored the blind to sight 
 (John iv. 53), he opened the eyes of their 
 minds. He sometimes made the afflictions 
 of one the means to bring a whole family to 
 the knowledge of his grace. A considerable 
 part of his followers were such as these, 
 whom he had graciously relieved from dis- 
 tresses incurable by any hand but his. Some 
 had been long and grievously tormented ; 
 bad assayed every means, but found them- 
 selves worse and worse, till they applied to 
 him ; and having known the happy effects of 
 his power and compassion, they would leave 
 him no more. 
 
 Lastly, We sometimes meet with instances 
 of his mercy and ability to save even to the 
 uttermost, in the unhoped-for conversion of 
 desperate and hardened sinners, who have 
 gone on with a high hand, regardless of mer- 
 cies, warnings, and judgments, till they seem- 
 ed past conviction, and given up to a repro- 
 bate mind. Their state resembles that of the 
 demoniac, Luke viii. They are so entirely 
 under the power of the devil (though perhaps 
 they vainly boast of freedom), that no argu- 
 ments, no motives, no resolutions, can restrain 
 them within bounds ; but they break through 
 every tie of nature, conscience, and reason, 
 and are restless drudges in the service of sin, 
 though they feel themselves miserable at pre- 
 sent, and see inevitable ruin before their eyes. 
 Yet even this case is not too hard for him on 
 whom the sinner’s help is laid. He can dis- 
 possess the legion with a word ; he can take 
 the prey from the mighty, and deliver the law- 
 ful captive, bind the strong one armed, and 
 divide his spoil. Happy change ! when the 
 power of grace not only sets the soul at liberty 
 from sin and Satan, but puts it in possession 
 of what were lately the instruments of its sla- 
 very ! when all the powers and faculties of 
 body and mind are redeemed to the Lord’s 
 use, and the experience of past evil is made 
 conducive to future comfort and advantage ! 
 Such an instance was that great sinner, that 
 penitent, believing happy soul, of whom it is 
 emphatically remarked, “ She loved much, 
 because much had been forgiven her,” Luke 
 vii. 47. Sometimes the deliverance is deferred 
 till near the period of life. The poor wretch, 
 labouring under the pangs or dread of death, 
 and trembling at the apprehension of falling 
 into the hands of the living God, is snatched 
 as a brand out of the fire ; he receives faith 
 in a suffering Saviour, and feels the power of 
 atoning blood ; his terrors cease, and joy suc- 
 ceeds. a joy unspeakable and full of glory. 
 Thus the expiring malefactor was converted 
 upon the cross (Luke xxiii. 43), and receiv- 
 ed an infallible assurance of salvation. 
 
 3. The characters of our Lord’s disciples, 
 with the account we have of their defects and 
 failings, may farther illustrate the history of 
 
 44 ? 
 
 his church and gospel, and afford an apology 
 for the blemishes, which, through human in- 
 firmity, do more or less attend the prevalence 
 of his doctrines. 
 
 The grace of God has a real influence upon 
 the whole man. It enlightens the under- 
 standing, directs the will, purifies the affec- 
 tions, regulates the passions, and corrects the 
 different excesses to which different persons 
 are by constitution or habit inclined, yet it 
 seldom wholly changes the complexion or tem- 
 per of the animal frame. It does not impart 
 any new natural powers, though it teaches the 
 use and improvement of those we have re- 
 ceived. It will dispose us to seek instruction, 
 make us open to conviction, and willing to 
 part with our prejudices, so far and so soon 
 as we discover them, but it will not totally 
 and instantaneously remove them. Hence 
 there are a great variety of characters in the 
 Christian life ; and the several graces of the 
 Spirit, as zeal, love, meekness, faith, appear 
 with peculiar advantage in different subjects, 
 yet so that every commendable property is 
 subject to its particular inconvenience. Per- 
 fection cannot be found in fallen man. The 
 best are sometimes blameable, and the wisest 
 often mistaken. Warm and active tempers, 
 though influenced in the main by the noble 
 ambition of pleasing God in all things, are apt 
 to overshoot themselves, and to discover a re- 
 sentment and keenness of spirit which cannot 
 be wholly justified. Others of a more fixed 
 and sedate temper, though less subject to this 
 extreme, are prone to its opposite; their gentle- 
 ness degenerates into indolence, their caution 
 into cowardice. The principle of self, like- 
 wise, which, though subdued, is not eradi- 
 cated, will in some instances appear. Add to 
 this the unknown access and influence which 
 the evil spirits have upon our minds, the sud- 
 den and new emergencies which surprise us 
 into action before we have had time to deli- 
 berate, with many other considerations of a 
 like nature; and it will be no wonder that 
 some things are always amiss* in the best 
 and most successful attempts to promote the 
 glory of God and the good of souls. And it 
 is farther to be noted that some individuals 
 will be found who, though seemingly engaged 
 in the same good work, and for a time pre- 
 tending to much zeal, are essentially defective 
 in their hearts and views ; and when at length 
 their true characters are exposed, the world, 
 who either cannot, or will not distinguish, 
 charge the faults of a few upon a whole pro- 
 fession, as, in the former case, they wound 
 the character of a good man for unavoidable 
 and involuntary mistakes. We shall therefore 
 
 * A lukewarm, cautious spirit can easily avoid, and 
 readily censure the mistakes and faults of those who, 
 fired with an honest warmth for the honour of God and 
 the good of souls, are sometimes transported beyond the 
 bounds of strict prudence. But though the best inten- 
 tion cannot make that right which is wrong in itself, yet 
 the zeal, diligence, and disinterested aim of such persons 
 are worthy of our esteem. 
 
BOOK I 
 
 448 STATE OF Ti 
 
 shew, that either the exceptions made, and so 
 loudly reverberated in our ears, against the 
 gospel doctrine, on these accounts, are unjust, 
 or that there was sufficient cause to reject and 
 condemn our Lord and his apostles for the 
 same reasons. 
 
 The character of Peter is marked with ad- 
 mirable propriety and consistency by the evan- 
 gelists. He everywhere appears like himself. 
 Earnestly devoted to his Master’s person, and 
 breathing an honest warmth for his service, 
 he was in a manner the eye, the hand, the 
 mouth of the apostles : he was the first to ask, 
 to answer, to propose, and to execute : he 
 made a noble confession, for which our Lord 
 honoured him with a peculiar commendation : 
 he waited but for a command to walk to him 
 upon the water ; he was not afraid to expose 
 himself in his Lord’s defence, when he was 
 surrounded and apprehended by his enemies : 
 and though, in this last instance, his affection 
 was ill expressed, yet his motive was undoubt- 
 edly prajse -worthy. His heart flamed with 
 zeal and love, and therefore he was always 
 forward to distinguish himself. 
 
 But the warmth of Peter’s temper often 
 betrayed him into great difficulties, and shewed 
 that the grace he had received was consistent 
 with many imperfections. Though he sin- 
 cerely loved Christ, and had forsaken all for 
 him, he was at one time so ignorant of the 
 true design of his incarnation, that he was an- 
 gry and impatient to hear him speak of his 
 sufferings, and brought upon himself a most 
 severe rebuke. Not content with the ordinary 
 services allotted to him, he offered himself to 
 unnecessary trials, as in the above instance, 
 when he pressed to walk upon the water. The 
 event shewed him his own weakness and in- 
 sufficiency, yet his self-confidence revived and 
 continued. When our Lord warned him again 
 and again of his approaching fall, he thought, 
 and boldly affirmed that it was impossible. 
 He was sincere in his protestation ; but the 
 actual experiment was necessary to convince 
 and humble him. Accordingly, when left to 
 himself, he fell before the first temptation. 
 And here the impetuosity of his temper was 
 still manifest. He did not stop at a simple 
 denial of Jesus, he confirmed it by an oath,* 
 and at length proceeded to utter bitter impre- 
 cations against himself, if he so much as knew 
 him, whom he had seen transfigured in glory 
 upon the mount, and prostrate in an agony in 
 the garden. Such was the weakness and in- 
 consistency of this prince of the apostles. 
 
 None of these excesses appeared in the con- 
 duct of the traitor Judas. He was so circum- 
 spect and reserved, that we do not find any of 
 the disciples had the least suspicion of him. 
 
 * Mark. xiv. 71. “ He began to curse and swear”— 
 To imprecate the most dreadful curses upon himself, 
 and call solemnly on God to execute them. This was 
 indeed the most probable method to free himself from 
 the suspicion of being a disciple of Jesus, for no such 
 language had been till then heard among his follower* 
 
 HE CHURCH 
 But, whilst his heart was full of wickedness, 
 he could find fault with others, and charge 
 their best expressions of love with indiscre- 
 tion. When Mary anointed our Lord’s feet 
 with ointment (John xii. 5, 6), he was dis- 
 pleased at the waste, and professed a warm 
 concern for the poor ; b*ut we are told the 
 true reason of his economy : It was not be- 
 cause he cared for the poor, but because he 
 was a thief, and had the bag which contained 
 the common stock entrusted to him. The 
 charge of the bag is an office full of tempta- 
 tion, and an attachment to the bag has been 
 often at the bottom of many censures and mis- 
 representations which have been thrown out 
 against the people of God. It has been, and 
 it will be so ; but the Lord has appointed that 
 wherever the gospel should be preached, to 
 the end of the world, this action of Mary, 
 with the observation of Judas upon it, and the 
 motive from which he made it, should be 
 handed down together, that we may not be 
 discouraged at things of the same kind. With- 
 out doubt, the treason of Judas, and his un- 
 happy end, after having maintained a fair 
 character so long, and shared with the rest in 
 the honours of the apostleship, were to them 
 an occasion of grief, and afforded their ene- 
 mies a subject of reproach and triumph. But 
 we may believe one reason why our Lord 
 chose Judas, and continued him so long with 
 his disciples, to have been, that we might learn 
 by this awful instance not to be surprised if 
 some, who have made a shew in the church, 
 been chosen to important offices, and fur- 
 nished with excellent gifts, do in the end 
 prove hypocrites and traitors : “ Let him 
 that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he 
 fall.” 
 
 A desire of pre-eminence and distinction is 
 very unsuitable to the followers of Jesus, who 
 made himself the servant of all ; very unbe- 
 coming the best of the children of men, who 
 owe their breath to the mercy of God, have 
 nothing that they can call their own, and have 
 been unfaithful in the improvement of every 
 talent. We allow that every appearance of 
 this is a blemish in the Christian character, 
 and especially in a Christian minister ; but if, 
 on some occasions, and in some degree, hu- 
 man infirmity has wrought this w-ay, though 
 no example can justify it, yet those who, 
 through ignorance of their own hearts, are 
 too rigid censurers of others, may be reminded 
 that this evil frequently discovered itself in 
 the apostles. They often disputed who should 
 be the greatest; and, when our Lord was 
 speaking of his approaching sufferings, two of 
 them chose that unseasonable time to preclude 
 the rest, and petitioned that they might have 
 the chief seats in his kingdom. The first of- 
 fence was theirs ; but when the ten heard it, 
 they were all moved with indignation, and 
 shewed themselves equally desirous of supe- 
 riority It is plain, therefore, that unless the 
 
CHAP. iv. IMMEDIATELY BEFORE THE ASCENSION. 
 
 apostles were hypocrites and mercenaries, some 
 transient escapes of this sort (though confes- 
 sedly criminal and indecent) are no sure proofs 
 that such a person is not in the main sincere, 
 disinterested, arid truly devoted to the service 
 of God and his gospel. 
 
 No less contrary to the meek and gracious 
 Spirit of Jesus is an angry zeal, expressing it 
 self in terms of ill-will and bitterness to those 
 who oppose or injure us. One of the highest 
 attainments and brightest evidences of true 
 grace, is, from a sense of the love and exam- 
 ple of Christ, to shew bowels of mercy and 
 long suffering to all men, and by persever- 
 ance in well-doing to overcome evil with 
 good. And a contrary behaviour (if frequent, 
 and notorious) will, like a dead fly in preci- 
 ous ointment, destroy the savour, if not the 
 efficacy of all we can attempt for the service 
 of God in the world. However, if repeated 
 falsehoods, and studied provocations do some- 
 times, in an unguarded moment, extort from 
 the disciples of Christ such expressions and 
 marks of displeasure as in their cooler hours 
 they willingly retract and sincerely repent of 
 before God, this ought not to be exaggerated 
 beyond bounds, as an offence inconsistent 
 with their profession, at least not by any who 
 would be afraid to speak dishonourably of 
 the apostles James and John, who once went 
 so far in their anger* as to demand that fire 
 might be sent from heaven to devour their ad- 
 versaries, Luke ix. 54. 
 
 We might proceed to other particulars; 
 but enough has been said to shew the general 
 resemblance which the preaching of the gospel 
 in latter times bears to our Lord’s personal 
 ministry : The doctrine is the same, the ef- 
 fects the same. It was, and it is to many, “ a 
 stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence.” 
 The opposition it has met with has been al- 
 ways owing to the same evil principle of pride, 
 and the love of sin, which are latent in every 
 unrenewed heart : Though the pretexts are 
 various, they may be reduced to a few lead- 
 ing motives which are always at work. The 
 professors of this gospel have at no time been 
 very numerous, if compared with those who 
 have rejected it ; and of these, too many have 
 dishonoured or forsaken it. Neither have 
 those who have received it most cordially, and 
 been most desirous to adorn and promote it, 
 been wholly exempt from mistakes and im- 
 perfections. The tenor of their conduct has 
 
 * They thought they were influenced by a commend- 
 able zeal for their Master, and that their proposal was 
 warranted by an authorised precedent. We do not find 
 that they ever wished for fire to consume the Scribes 
 and Pharisees, who were Christ’s most inveterate ene- 
 mies. But when the Samaritans rejected him, the vile 
 Samaritans whom they, upon a national prejudice, had 
 neen accustomed to hate, then their hearts deceived 
 them, and they indulged their own corrupt passions, 
 while they supposed they were animated by a zeal for 
 Christ Are we not often deceived in the same way ? 
 Can we not silently bear, or ingenuously extenuate the 
 faults and mistakes of our own party, while we are all 
 zeal and emotion to expose, censure, and condemn what 
 is amiss in others ? 
 
 449 
 
 proved them partakers of a more excellent 
 spirit than others ; their faith in Jesus has not 
 been an empty notion, but fruitful of good 
 works, such as no man could do except God 
 was with him. They have been governed by 
 higher motives, and devoted to nobler aims, 
 than the world can either understand or bear ; 
 — yet they are deeply conscious of inherent 
 infirmity, and sometimes (to their great grief ) 
 they give too visible proofs of it, which their 
 watchful adversaries are glad to aggravate and 
 charge upon them as consequences of theii 
 doctrine. This should induce all who love 
 the Lord Jesus to redouble their guard, and 
 to pray with David that they may be led in 
 the right way because of their observers. If 
 the question is concerning the infirmities, or 
 even the vices of others, almost every one is 
 ready to plead in their behalf; allowances are 
 freely and largely made for human frailty, and 
 none are willing to be thought harsh or cen- 
 sorious. But the believer in Jesus must look 
 for no abatement or extenuation ; even the 
 professed admirers of candour and charity 
 will not hesitate to put the worst construction 
 upon all he says or does; for they are seek- 
 ing occasion to wound the gospel through his 
 misconduct. They are sensible that he is 
 generally above them ; and therefore rejoice to 
 find or pretend a flaw, on which they may ex- 
 patiate, to reduce him as near as possible to 
 their own level ; though, if their censures are 
 extended to their just consequence, they will 
 (as we have seen) fall hard upon the apostles 
 themselves. 
 
 I hope, that what I have said upon this sub- 
 ject will neither be misunderstood nor per- 
 verted. We do not defend even the infirmi- 
 ties of the best men; much less would we 
 provide a plea for persecution or ambition 
 Let not the man, who supposes gain to be 
 godliness, who makes the gospel a ladder 
 whereby to climb the heights of wordly pre- 
 ferment, whose heart, like the insatiable fire, 
 is craving more, and practising every art to 
 accumulate wealth and honour in the church ; 
 let not the proud man who would lord it over 
 conscience, and though unable to command 
 fire from heaven, would gladly prepare fire 
 and slaughter upon earth for all who will 
 not venture their souls upon his faith ; let 
 not these avail themselves of the examples 
 of James and John : but rather let them trem- 
 ble at the reflection, that while they manifest 
 no part of the apostles graces, they are entire- 
 ly possessed of those tempers, the smallest 
 traces of which our Lord so severely rebuked 
 in his disciples. 
 
 The first believers, though not faultless, were 
 sincere : The natural disposition of their hearts 
 was changed ; they believed in Jesus ; they 
 loved him ; they devoted themselves to his 
 service ; they submitted to his instructions, 
 shared in his reproach, and could not be either 
 enticed or intimidated to leave him. Their 
 2 N 
 
STATE OF THE CHURCH 
 
 BOOK I 
 
 450 
 
 gracious Master was their guide and guard, 
 their advocate and counsellor; when they 
 were in want, in danger, in trouble, or in 
 doubt, they applied to him, and found relief ; 
 hence they learned by degrees to cast all their 
 care upon him. He corrected every wrong 
 disposition ; he pardoned their failings, and 
 enabled them to do better. His precepts 
 taught them true wisdom ; and his own exam- 
 ple, which, to those who loved him, had the 
 force of a thousand precepts, was at once the 
 model and the motive of their obedience. To 
 make them ashamed of aspiring to be chief, 
 he himself, though Lord of . all, conversed a- 
 mong them as a servant, and condescended to 
 wash their feet ; to teach them forbearance and 
 gentleness to their opposers, they saw him 
 weep over his bitterest enemies, and heard him 
 pray for his actual murderers. 
 
 Thus they gradually advanced in faith, love, 
 and holiness, as the experience of every day 
 disclosed to them some new discovery of the 
 treasures of wisdom, grace, and power, resid- 
 ing in their Lord and Saviour : he explained 
 to them in private the difficulties which oc- 
 curred in his more public discourses ; by his 
 observations on the common occurrences of life 
 he opened to them the mysterious volumes of 
 creation and providence, which none but those 
 whom he vouchsafes to teach can understand 
 aright : he prayed for them, and with them, 
 and taught them to pray for themselves : he 
 revealed unto them the unseen realities of the 
 eternal world, and supported them under the 
 prospect of approaching trials; particularly 
 of his departure from them, by assuring 
 them that he was going on their behalf to 
 prepare them a place in his kingdom, and that 
 in a little time he would return to receive 
 them to himself, that they might dwell with 
 him for ever. 
 
 What he personally spoke to them, and act- 
 ed in their presence, was recorded by his di- 
 rection, and has been preserved by his provi- 
 dence, for the use and comfort of his church. 
 Though his enemies have raged horribly, they 
 have not been able to suppress the divine vol- 
 ume ; and, though invisible to mortal eyes, he 
 is still near to all that seek him ; and so sup- 
 plies the want of his bodily presence by the 
 secret communications of his Spirit, that his 
 people have no reason to complain of any dis- 
 advantage : Though they see him not, they 
 believe^ love, rejoice, and obey ; their atten- 
 tion and dependence are fixed upon him ; they 
 intrust him with all their concerns ; they 
 rely upon his promises ; they behold him as 
 their High-priest, Advocate, and Shepherd ; 
 they live upon his fulness, and plead his right- 
 eousness ; and they find and feel that their re- 
 liance is not in vain. 
 
 The disciples were content for his sake to 
 bear the scorn and injurious treatment of the 
 world : they expected no better usage, nor 
 
 desired an higher honour, tlum to be fellow- 
 sufferers with their Lord. When he proposed 
 returning to Judea, at a time they thought 
 dangerous, and they could not alter his pur- 
 pose, they did not wish to be left behind : 
 “ Let us go (says one of them to the rest), 
 “ that we may die with him.” It is true, when 
 he was actually apprehended, the first shock 
 of the trial was too strong : they forsook him 
 and fled. He permitted this, both to exempt 
 them from danger, and to let them know that 
 of themselves they could do nothing. But it 
 seems they did not go far. When Thomas 
 afterwards said, “ Except I shall see in his 
 hands the print of the nails, and put my fing- 
 er into the print of the nails, and thrust my 
 hand into his side, I will not believe,” he 
 spoke like one who had been an eye-witness 
 to his sufferings, and expresses an earnestness 
 as if he still saw him wounded and bleeding. 
 This catastrophe indeed almost disconcerted 
 them ; they had trusted it was he that should 
 deliver Israel ; but they saw him oppressed 
 and slain by wicked men. From that time to 
 his resurrection was a mournful interval, the 
 darkest and most distressing period his church 
 ever knew. 
 
 But the third day dispelled their grief : He 
 returned victorious from the grave, proclaim, 
 ing peace by the blood of the cross ; he de- 
 clared, and his appearance proved it, that the 
 ransom was paid and accepted ; and that hav- 
 ing now overcome the sharpness of death, he 
 had opened the kingdom of heaven to all be- 
 lievers. Then he spoke peace to their hearts : 
 he opened their understandings to know the 
 scriptures, and breathed upon them his Holy 
 Spirit : he conversed frequently with them 
 during forty days ; gave them a large com- 
 mission to preach his gospel, and an invalu- 
 able promise of his presence with them to the 
 end of the world. 
 
 When he had thus confirmed them by those 
 instructions and assurances, which his wisdom 
 saw necessary, he was received up to heaven. 
 They followed him with their hearts and eyes 
 a while, and then returned to Jerusalem re- 
 joicing. They were not ashamed of their cru- 
 cified Lord, or unwilling to bear the con- 
 temptuous names of Galileans or Nazarenes 
 for his sake. They were not afraid, as if left 
 like sheep without a shepherd in the midst oi 
 their enemies : they knew, that though they 
 could see him no more, his eye would be al- 
 ways upon them, and his ear open to their 
 prayer : they waited, according to his com- 
 mand, for a farther supply of his Spirit, to 
 qualify them for the important and difficult 
 services which were before them. Nor did 
 they wait long ; a few days after his ascen- 
 sion, while they were praying with one heart 
 and mind, the place where they were assem- 
 bled was shaken as with a mighty wind ; the 
 Spirit of power and wisdom was abundant lv 
 
CHAP. IV. 
 
 communicated to them ; they spoke with new 
 tongues, and immediately began to preach 
 boldly, in the name of the Lord Jesus. 
 
 With this solemn and memorable event, I 
 shall open the second book, and take up the 
 thread of the gospel history from that glo- 
 rious day of divine power. The contents of 
 this first book, namely, a brief view of the 
 necessity and nature of the gospel-dispensa- 
 tion, — the causes why it is and has been op- 
 posed, — and the circumstances of the first be- 
 lievers, — I have premised, as general prin- 
 ciples, for my own and the reader’s assistance 
 in the progress of the work. 
 
 It is much to be wished, that every reader 
 might be impressed with the importance of 
 our subject. It is not a point of curiosity, 
 but of universal concern, and that in the 
 highest and most interesting sense. Most of 
 the researches and disquisitions which employ 
 the time and talents of men, are of a trivial or 
 indifferent nature. We may range on dif- 
 ferent sides concerning them ; we may give 
 or refuse, or retract our assent, when and as 
 often as we please ; we may be totally igno- 
 rant of them without loss, or be skilled in 
 them all without deriving any solid comfort 
 or advantage from them : but the gospel of 
 Christ is not like the dry uninteresting theo- 
 ries of human wisdom ; it will either wound 
 
 451 
 
 or heal, be a savour of life or of death, a 
 source of endless comfort, or the occasion of 
 aggravated condemnation, to all that hear of it. 
 To receive it, is to receive the earnest and as- 
 surance of eternal happiness ; to reject it, or 
 remain wilfully ignorant of its characters and 
 properties, will leave the soul oppressed with 
 guilt, and exposed to the wrath of God for 
 ever. It highly concerns us, therefore, to in- 
 quire, Whether we believe the gospel or no. 
 whether what we call the gospel is the same that 
 Christ and his apostles taught, and whether 
 it has had the same or similar effects upon 
 our hearts ? We live where the gospel is ge- 
 nerally professed, and we are reputed Chris- 
 tians from our cradles ; but the word of God 
 cautions us to take heed, lest we be deceived. 
 We see Christianity divided into innumerable 
 sects and parties, each supported by names, 
 arguments, and books, and fighting for the 
 credit of a denomination : but how many for- 
 get, that in a little time all these divisions and 
 subdivisions will be reduced to two ; the only 
 real and proper distribution by which man- 
 kind, as to their religious character, ever was 
 or will be distinguished, and according to which 
 their final states will be speedily decided, — 
 The children of God, and the children of the 
 wicked one. 
 
 IMMEDIATELY BEFORE THE ASCENSION. 
 
BOOK II. 
 
 OF THE SECOND PERIOD OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 OF THE PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL FROM OUR 
 
 LORD’S ASCENSION TO THE CLOSE OF THE 
 
 FIRST CENTURY. 
 
 The natural weakness of man is conspicuous 
 in his most important undertakings : having 
 no fund of sufficiency in himself, he is forced 
 to collect all from without; and if the great- 
 ness of his preparations are not answerable to 
 the extent of his designs, he has little hopes 
 of success. Farther, when he has planned 
 and provided to the utmost of his power, he 
 is still subject to innumerable contingencies, 
 which he can neither foresee nor prevent ; 
 and has often the mortification to see his fair- 
 est prospects blasted, and the whole apparatus 
 of his labour and care only contribute to 
 make his disappointment more conspicuous 
 and painful. 
 
 The reverse of this is the character of the 
 wonder-working God. To his power every 
 thing is easy : he knows how to employ every 
 creature and contingence, as a means to ac - 
 complish his designs ; not a seeming difficulty 
 can intervene but by his permission ; and he 
 only permits it to illustrate his own wisdom 
 and agency, in making it subservient to his 
 will. Thus, having all hearts and events in 
 his hands, he fulfils his own counsels with the 
 utmost ease and certainty ; and to shew that 
 the work is his own, he often proceeds by 
 such methods as vain men account weak and 
 insignificant; producing the most extensive 
 and glorious consequences from small and in- 
 considerable beginnings. Thus the Lord of 
 hosts hath purposed to stain the pride of all 
 human glory. 
 
 This observation might be confirmed by in- 
 numerable examples taken from the common 
 history and experience of mankind ; but the 
 subject of our present undertaking exhibits 
 the most illustrious proof When the Jews 
 
 had seen Jesus crucified, dead, and buried, 
 they expected to hear no more of him : his 
 disciples were few, men of no authority, 
 learning, or influence ; and since their mas- 
 ter, who had made them such large promises, 
 was at last unable to save himself from death, 
 it was probably expected, that his followers 
 would disperse of course, forsake their sup- 
 posed delusions, and return to their fishing, 
 and other employments suited to their capa- 
 cities and talents. 
 
 They knew not that Jesus had arisen from 
 the dead, and had frequently shewn himself 
 to his servants, to comfort and confirm their 
 hearts. They little thought that he, whom 
 they had seen expire on the cross, was im- 
 moveably seated at the right hand of God, 
 possessed of all power in heaven and earth ; 
 but his disciples knew this, and therefore con- 
 tinued to assemble in his name. We do not 
 find that there was much notice taken of them 
 till the feast of Pentecost, which was about 
 ten days after his ascension. At this sea- 
 son,* by the Jewish law, the first fruits of 
 the earth were presented at the temple. An 
 appointment, typical of those more sublime 
 first fruits of spiritual gifts and graces with 
 which the Lord on this day enriched his dis- 
 ciples, according to his promise, enabling 
 them to preach his gospel, and make his word 
 effectual to the conversion of a large multi- 
 tude ; as an earnest of that divine power, by 
 which he would support and extend his church 
 and ministry to the end of the w r orld. 
 
 When the hearts of God’s people are united 
 in love, and pleading his promises in the fer 
 vent exercise of faith and prayer, great things 
 may be expected. Such was the happy state 
 of the disciples on this solemn day : they were 
 assembled with one accord ; no jars or divi- 
 
 * Tiberius, A. D. 35-1 In fixing the dates of our 
 history, I shall conform to what I think the most pro- 
 bable and authorised opinion, without perplexing ei- 
 ther myself or my readers with the niceties of critical 
 chronology. 
 
CHAP. I. PROGRESS OF 
 
 sions had as yet taken place among them ; 
 they were animated with one desire, and pray- 
 ing with one mind. Suddenly and wonder- 
 fully they obtained an answer : the place they 
 were in was shaken as by a mighty wind ( Acts 
 ii) ; their hearts were filled with the power- 
 ful energy of the Holy Spirit, and they were 
 instantaneously enabled to speak languages 
 which till then they were unacquainted with. 
 These inward powers were accompanied with 
 the visible symbols of fiery tongues, which sat 
 upon each of their heads : a fit emblem both 
 of the new faculties they had received, and of 
 the conquering, assimilating efficacy of the 
 Spirit by whom they spoke ; whose operations, 
 like the fire, are vehement, penetrating, trans- 
 forming, and diffusive ; spreading from heart 
 to heart, from place to place, till the flame, 
 which was now confined within a few breasts, 
 was communicated to many nations, people, 
 and languages. 
 
 The effects of this divine communication 
 were immediately manifest ; they were filled 
 with love, joy, and faith, and began boldly 
 and publicly to praise God. Their emotion 
 and zeal could not be long unnoticed : those 
 who first observed it, spoke of it to others, and 
 a rumour was spread abroad. Jerusalem was 
 at that time the occasional resort of the Jews 
 and Jewish proselytes, who were dispersed 
 throughout the known world, and multitudes 
 had come from different countries to celebrate 
 the feast. The promiscuous throng, who as- 
 sembled upon the report, and had been ac- 
 customed to different languages, were there- 
 fore greatly astonished to hear of the wonder- 
 ful works of God, every man in his own 
 tongue. While some expressed their surprise 
 at this, others ascribed it to the effects of wine, 
 and shewed their scorn and despite to the Spirit 
 of grace, by reviling the apostles as drunk- 
 ards. Thus they no sooner entered upon 
 their public service, than they began to find 
 the same treatment which their Lord had met 
 with, and were, for his sake, the subjects of 
 calumny and derision. This is a remarkable 
 instance of the sagacity and temper which 
 the men of the world discover in the judg- 
 ment they form of a work of God ; nor is it 
 probable, that our modern reasoners would 
 have judged more favourably, if they could 
 have been present at such a scene, where se- 
 veral persons were speaking loud at tire same 
 time, and each in a different language : since 
 they account the operations of the same Spirit, 
 madness, and folly, even where they are not 
 attended with such extraordinary circum- 
 stances. 
 
 This weak and perverse slander was imme- 
 diately refuted by the apostle Peter, who ad- 
 dressed the people in a grave and solemn dis- 
 course ; and, having in few words explain- 
 ed the nature of the fact, and shewn that it 
 was an accomplishment of ancient prophecies, 
 he proceeded to apply himself more closely to 
 
 [HE GOSPEL, &C. 453 
 
 their consciences. He assured them that, 
 what they saw and heard was wrought by the 
 power of Jesus of Nazareth, whom they had 
 rejected before Pilate. He informed them 
 of that honour and glory which he now pos- 
 sessed, and charged them as accomplices in 
 the murder of a person whose character and 
 dignity God had vindicated by raising him 
 from the dead. Though our Saviour had but 
 few disciples during his personal ministry, he 
 had doubtless left a deep impression of his 
 words and works in the hearts of many. This 
 discourse of Peter would naturally recal him 
 to the remembrance of those who had seen 
 him in the flesh, and lead them to reflect how 
 earnestly and unjustly they had, at the insti- 
 gation of their priests, compelled Pilate to put 
 him to death. These reflections, the close- 
 ness of Peter’s address, and the power of the 
 Spirit of God, concurred to give them a deep 
 conviction of their sin ; they were pierced to 
 the heart, they no longer wondered as curious 
 spectators, but were solicitous for themselves, 
 and cried out, Brethren, what shall we do ? 
 Peter then proceeded to open the treasure of 
 gospel-grace, and to direct them to Jesus, 
 whom they had Crucified, for salvation. The 
 effect of this day’s preaching (for though only 
 Peter is named, it is probable, there were 
 more than one preacher or one discourse) was 
 signally happy. Three thousand souls were 
 converted, and, professing their faith and re- 
 pentance, were by baptism publicly joined to 
 the church. 
 
 A further addition was soon after made : 
 Peter and John having recovered a man from 
 incurable lameness by faith in the name of 
 Jesus, the report of the miracle brought a 
 great concourse of people together a second 
 time, Acts iii. Peter improved the occasion 
 to preach to them at the temple gate, to the 
 purport of his former discourse. He had an 
 attentive auditory, and his word was made ef- 
 fectual to the conversion of many. But by 
 this time the enemies of Jesus were greatly 
 alarmed at the progress of his doctrine (Acts 
 iv. 16, 47.) ; and having * notice of what had 
 passed, the priests and Sadducees violently 
 apprehended Peter, with John, and put them 
 in prison. He had not finished his discourse ; 
 but he had said enough to be remembered ; 
 and this interruption, with the boldness of his 
 following defence, made his words more re- 
 garded. The next day they were brought 
 before the high-priest, rulers, and elders; 
 and being asked concerning the late miracle, 
 Peter, who once had trembled at the voice of 
 
 * Many consultations have been held, and devices 
 framed, to stop the progress of the gospel, as if it were a 
 dangerous infection. But all such attempts are vain ; 
 they may as easily restrain the dawning of the day as 
 suppress the spreading of the gospel. When the Lord 
 is pleased to raise up fit instruments to promote it, and 
 to vouchsafe a season of refreshment from his presence, 
 then its influence cannot be restrained ; a spark becomes 
 a flame, a little one a multitude, and opposition only 
 makes the effects more visible and noticed. 
 
PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL 
 
 hook u 
 
 46 fc 
 
 a girl, was not afraid to use the utmost free- 
 dom and plainness with the council and heads 
 of the Jewish nation. He confessed the 
 name and cause of Jesus, reminded them of 
 their wickedness in causing him to be crucifi- 
 ed, and in direct answer to their question, as- 
 sured them that the miracle was wrought in 
 his name, and by his power. Though the 
 council were highly offended with this lan- 
 guage, and the more so, as they observed the 
 persons who spoke were private and unletter- 
 ed men ; yet, being unable to deny the fact, 
 for the man who had been lame stood before 
 them, and unwilling to incur the odium of 
 punishing an action they were ashamed to 
 disapprove, they dissembled their rage, and 
 forbidding the apostles to speak any more to 
 the people, they dismissed them ; yet they did 
 not depart until they had protested against 
 tliis inhibition, and declared their resolution 
 to obey God rather than men. 
 
 The believers though numerous, amounting 
 to many thousands, lived in harmony and love, 
 as children of one family. The greater part 
 of them were poor ; those therefore who had 
 estates, or money, willingly put their all into 
 a common stock for the use of the whole, 
 which was entrusted to the care of the apos- 
 tles. This is recorded as an instance of the 
 benevolent and disinterested spirit with which 
 the gospel inspired them, but it is not enjoin- 
 ed as a precedent to be universally observed, 
 since we have many proofs, that the usual dis- 
 tinctions in civil life were retained in other 
 churches planted by the apostles ; and it soon 
 gave occasion to discover, that in the best so- 
 cieties there may be found some unworthy 
 intruders, and that very specious actions may 
 be performed from base and dishonourable 
 motives. Even under this richest dispensa- 
 tion of grace, there were some professors in- 
 fluenced by no higher motives than hypocrisy 
 and vain glory. Ananias (Acts v.), with 
 his wife Sapphira, attempted to impose on the 
 apostles by a concerted lie, and would have 
 had the praise of giving their whole substance, 
 when their avarice would only permit them 
 to spare a part. As a warning to all preten- 
 ders, who seek to join or serve the church 
 from sordid or selfish views, Peter, by the 
 direction of the Holy Ghost, denounced a 
 severe sentence against this unhappy pair, and 
 they both fell dead at his feet.* The cause 
 and suddenness of their death was a vindica- 
 tion of the apostles integrity and authority, 
 and a seasonable admonition to others, to de- 
 ter any from attempting to associate with the 
 disciples, who were not in heart devoted to the 
 Lord. 
 
 The numbers of the believers still increased, 
 and the report of the apostles doctrine and 
 miracles extended from Jerusalem to the ad- 
 
 * The apostolic censures were not like the papal ana- 
 themas, bruta fulmina, words without effect; they were 
 accomplished in an instant. — See Arts xiii. 12. 
 
 jacent parts. The priests and Saddticees there- 
 fore soon renewed their efforts to suppress 
 them : they apprehended the apostles again, 
 and put them in the common prison as male- 
 factors ; but the Lord, to confirm the faith and 
 courage of his people, and to shew how easily 
 he can protect those who serve him, delivered 
 them the same night by his angel. In the 
 morning, when their enemies were met, and 
 commanded them to be brought to their tri- 
 bunal, they were surprised to hear that the 
 prison-doors were found secure, and the pri- 
 soners all escaped. They were, however, 
 soon informed that they were not gone far, 
 but were preaching boldly to the people, as 
 the angel had directed them, regardless of 
 their adversaries designs against them. They 
 were alarmed at this notice, and began to be 
 apprenhensive of the event * ; yet, hurried on 
 by their enmity to Jesus and his gospel, they 
 once more sent their officers to take them, 
 which they attempted in the mildest manner 
 possible ; for, as the prosecution was ground- 
 less and malicious, they were not without 
 fear lest the multitude should interpose : but 
 they had to do with the followers of Jesus,' 
 who would countenance no tumult in their 
 own favour, and were neither afraid nor a- 
 shamed to confess his name in the face of 
 danger. The apostles, therefore, peaceably 
 yielded themselves, and being brought before 
 the council, were severely questioned for dis- 
 regarding the late prohibition they had re- 
 ceived. Peter and the rest answered with 
 their usual firmness; they avowed the fact, 
 and their determination to persevere j-, and 
 charged them as betrayers and murderers of 
 Jesus in stronger terms than before. The 
 majority of the council were exceedingly en- 
 raged at their boldness : they were cut to the 
 heart, and consulted to put them to death. 
 But the more moderate advice of Gamaliel 
 prevailed. He shewed them, from some re- 
 cent instances, that if this new sect was no 
 more than a human institution, they need 
 not give themselves trouble to suppress it, for 
 it would soon sink and disappear of itself ; 
 but if it was indeed of God, their opposition 
 would be not only in vain, but in effect a rebel- 
 lion against God himself : he therefore recom- 
 mended milder methods; and having con- 
 siderable repute among them for his wisdom, 
 the rest assented to him. In this manner the 
 
 * Acts v. 24. It is not only a fruitless, but a very un- 
 easy undertaking to fight against the truth, and those 
 who profess it. The boldest and wisest champions in 
 this desperate cause are often brought to their wits end, 
 and to foresee their own disappointment. 
 
 + Peter and the apostles answered, “ We ought to o- 
 bey God rather than men.” It should seem that this (if 
 any) may be called a natural maxim, and that the rudest 
 savage, or the least child that can be made to understand 
 the terms, must assent to the truth of the proposition, as 
 readily as they perceive that two and two make four ; 
 how strange then is it, that men of the greatest parts 
 and penetration in other things so seldom receive it ! 
 There are few periods to be found, even in the Chris- 
 tian church, in which those who steadily acted upon this 
 principle were not considered as heretics of th« worst 
 sort 
 
CHAP. I. AFTER THE 
 
 Lord, who has the hearts of all in his power, 
 delivered the apostles a third time by raising 
 them an advocate from amongst their enemies; 
 yet, to save appearances, and that it might not 
 be thought the council had proceeded so far 
 without good cause, they were not dismissed 
 till they had been scourged, and again enjoin- 
 ed silence. They departed, rejoicing that they 
 had the honour to suffer disgrace for the sake 
 of Christ*, and returned to encourage their 
 companions ; continuing still publicly, and 
 from house to house, to teach and preach in 
 the name of Jesus. 
 
 These were happy times (Acts vi.), when 
 the whole company of the faithful were of one 
 heart and mind, firmly united in affection, 
 sentiment, ordinance, and practice. Their ad- 
 versaries, though angry, and desirous to in- 
 jure them, were powerfully restrained by the 
 Divine Providence ; so that they enjoyed 
 peace in the midst of war, and were favoured 
 with much grace in their hearts, and a daily 
 increase in their numbers. Yet it was not 
 long before an occasion arose which might 
 have had unhappy effects, if the wisdom and 
 authority of the apostles had not provided an 
 early remedy. The church, as yet, consisted 
 only of Jewish believers; but these were 
 distinguished into Jews properly so called, 
 that is, natives and inhabitants of Judea, 
 and Hellenists or Grecians, the name given 
 to those of the Jewish race and profession who 
 had been dispersed and settled in the Heathen 
 countries. Many of these, as has been ob- 
 served, were at that time in Jerusalem, and 
 among the first converts of the gospel. As 
 the multitude who were supplied out of the 
 common stock was very great, it is no wonder 
 if a few individuals were overlooked : some 
 unavoidable instances of this sort gave rise to 
 a complaint, not only of negligence, but par- 
 tiality, in the distribution of the money ; and 
 the Hellenists, or strangers, thought the 
 others had an undue preference shewn them. 
 The apostles, though upright and impartial, 
 were unable to do every thing themselves; 
 and therefore, to prevent such mistakes and 
 suspicions, and that they might devote their 
 whole time and attention to the more import- 
 ant services of the ministry, they entirely di- 
 vested themselves of the pecuniary charge ; 
 and, by their advice seven men were chosen, 
 on whom, by prayer and imposition of hands, 
 they solemnly devolved this trust. Thus the 
 office of deacons was instituted. They were 
 
 * Here were faith and love in exercise: to suffer re- 
 proach for Christ was in their esteem an honour and pri- 
 vilege. It is mournful to observe how little of this spi- 
 rit is to be found amongst us. How soon are we offend- 
 ed and troubled when our names are reproached ! how 
 uneasy to lie under contempt ! how impatient to justify 
 ourselves, and to be thought well of by all persons ! Far 
 from accounting it an honour to be made conformable 
 to Jesus in this respect, we feel it a burden which we are 
 restless to shake off : yet it must be borne, or we must 
 give up profession and all ; for neither are our charac- 
 ters more respectable than the first Christians nor is the 
 world better reconciled to the things of God now than it 
 was then. 
 
 ASCENSION. 455 
 
 men full of wisdom and the Holy Ghost; and 
 to them the care of the public money, and the 
 support of the poor, was peculiarly confided. 
 Some of them, perhaps all, were occasionally 
 preachers ; but this was no part of their office 
 as deacons. By this expedient, the cause of 
 murmuring was taken away, and the peace 
 of the church confirmed. 
 
 Tiberius, a. p. 34.] Thus the gospel flou- 
 rished, in defiance of opposition. The Jews, 
 provoked more and more, began to lose all 
 patience ; the mild counsels of Gamaliel could 
 no longer restrain them, but their blinded pas- 
 sions hurried them to the last extremities. 
 Stephen, one of the seven deacons newly e~ 
 lected, was the first who received the honour 
 and crown of martyrdom. His zeal for the 
 truth did not begin with his new office, though 
 it is prdbable his undertaking that charge might 
 place him more in view, and expose him more 
 immediately to persecution. Promotions in 
 the world are attended with worldly advan- 
 tages ; but such promotions in the church as 
 are agreeable to the Spirit of God, will ra- 
 ther entitle a man to a larger share of labours 
 and sufferings, and the painful pre-eminence 
 of standing in the forefront of the battle, to 
 sustain the hottest brunt of every storm. Ste- 
 phen was no sooner a public person than he 
 became the mark of public opposition. At 
 first they pretended to dispute with him, but 
 when they were unable to resist the wisdom 
 and spirit by which he spake, they had re- 
 course to more effectual methods to silence 
 him ; they suborned false witnesses, a main 
 instrument of persecution, against him ; and 
 having framed such an accusation as was 
 most likely to alarm the prejudice, and in- 
 flame the rage of the people, they brought him 
 before the council, and charged him, that he 
 had spoken blasphemous words against Moses 
 and against God. Stephen, though alone, and 
 unsupported in the midst of furious enemies, 
 appeared firm and unmoved as a rock in the 
 midst of the waves : he was not only devoid 
 of fear, but filled with joy (Acts vii.) : the 
 testimony of a good conscience, the honour of 
 suffering for his Lord, and a sense of the 
 love of God shed abroad in his heart, not only 
 preserved his soul in peace, but spread a lus- 
 tre and glory upon his countenance, so tha* 
 all who sat in the council, looking upon him, 
 saw his face as it had been the face of an an- 
 gel. In such a disposition, he thought it 
 not worth while to attempt his own defence, 
 but employed the whole time allotted him in 
 behalf of his adversaries, that, if possible, 
 by a distinct view of God’s dealing with their 
 nation, and their behaviour towards him, he 
 might engage them to consider their ways, to 
 repent, and believe the gospel. While he 
 spake of the things that had been long since 
 transacted, and kept within the bounds of Mo- 
 ses, David, and Solomon, they had patience 
 to hear him; but when he began to maka ap- 
 
BOOK II 
 
 4 . 5(5 PROGRESS OF 
 
 plication to themselves, with that warmth and 
 plainness which the case required, they could 
 bear no more : his words cut them to the 
 heart: they no longer preserved the exterior 
 gravity of their stations and characters, but 
 gnashed at him with their teeth, as though 
 they would have devoured him alive. 
 
 But vain are the attempts of men to inti- 
 midate those whom the Lord is pleased to com- 
 fort. He is always near to support his faith- 
 ful servants, and can manifest himself in a 
 way which the world knows nothing of. Such 
 a seasonable and sufficient discovery he made 
 of himself to Stephen. As he looked stead- 
 fastly up to heaven, silently appealing from 
 the injustice of his judges, he saw the hea- 
 vens opened, and Jesus standing in glory at 
 the right hand of God, as attending to all 
 that passed, and ready to receive him to him- 
 self. Transported with this divine assurance, 
 he was not at leisure to drop a single word to 
 soften his incensed enemies ; he endeavoured 
 to communicate the glorious idea with which 
 his soul was filled, and, without regarding 
 the sure consequence of such a declaration, 
 he told them plainly what he saw\ This de- 
 termined their resolves. Hitherto they had 
 been willing to preserve the form at least of 
 a judicial process ; but now, renouncing every 
 restraint, and unmindful of their late ac- 
 knowledgment to Pilate, that it was not law- 
 ful for them to put any man to death, they 
 stopped their ears to shut out any remon- 
 strance that might be offered, dragged him 
 violently out of the city, and stoned him to 
 death. His dying deportment, which shewed 
 how eminently he was filled with the Spirit of 
 Jesus, whom he saw, is recorded as a fit pat- 
 tern for the imitation of all who should be 
 called to suffer for the truth in succeeding 
 times. He kneeled down with the sweetest 
 composure, and, having committed his depart- 
 ing soul into his Redeemer’s hands, his only 
 remaining concern was for his murderers, and 
 his last breath was a prayer that this sin might 
 not be laid to their charge. Such resolution 
 in the defence of truth, such calmness under 
 sufferings, such tenderness and compassion to- 
 wards those who oppose, are the surest marks 
 of a high attainment in Christianity. 
 
 The death of Stephen, far from satiating 
 the rage of the rulers (Acts viii. ), rather ani- 
 mated and excited them to new mischief. 
 They observed no farther measures, but gave 
 full vent to their cruelty, and raised a general 
 persecution against the church. A young man 
 named Saul, whom the Lord, from before his 
 birth, had designed for a nobler service, was 
 at this time one of their most zealous and ac- 
 tive instruments ; he had been a consenting 
 spectator of Stephen’s death, and kept the 
 raiment of those that slew him. Encouraged 
 by their example, he soon entered upon ac- 
 tion himself, and made havoc of the church, 
 forcibly entering into their houses, and drag- 
 
 THE GOSPEL 
 
 ging many to prison, both men and women. 
 The disciples, therefore, according to their 
 Lord’s direction (Matth. x. 23) gave way to 
 the storm, and dispersed themselves through- 
 out Judea and Samaria, spreading the know- 
 ledge of the gospel wherever they went. Thus 
 the methods taken to suppress the truth proved 
 (as they often have since) the means of pro- 
 moting its progress ; yet the Lord, who ap- 
 points limits beyond which the fiercest at- 
 tempts of men cannot pass, preserved the a- 
 postles in safety at Jerusalem, where he had 
 farther occasion for their service. Amongst 
 the many who left the city was Philip, another 
 of the deacons : he preached Christ and his 
 gospel in Samaria, performed many cures and 
 miracles among the people, and a great num- 
 ber received faith and were baptized. Here 
 the gospel triumphed over the illusions of Si- 
 mon, surnamed Magus, or the Sorcerer, who, 
 by his vain arts and arrogant pretensions, had 
 long held the people in subjection and asto- 
 nishment. But the superior power of truth 
 dispelled the charm ; his votaries forsook him ; 
 and even the impostor himself was so far con- 
 vinced, that Philip acted by that divine power 
 and authority to which he had only pretended, 
 that he professed himself a believer likewise, 
 and behaved so fairly, that Philip admitted 
 him to baptism without suspicion ; but when, 
 soon after, Peter* and John came to Samaria 
 to communicate the gifts of the Holy Ghost 
 to the new disciples by imposition of hands, 
 Simon discovered his true character • he of- 
 fered money for a power to impart the same 
 gifts ; a proposal which shewed his ignorance, 
 wickedness, and ambition in the strongest light, 
 and proved him an entire stranger to the grace 
 of God. From him the hateful practice of 
 merchandizing in spiritual concerns has de- 
 rived the name of Simony t a crime which, 
 though condemned by the laws of every Chris- 
 tian country, as highly injurious and re- 
 proachfulf to the gospel of Christ, no laws 
 or obligations have hitherto been able to sup- 
 press. Peter severely rebuked his hypocrisy, 
 yet exhorted him to repentance and prayer. 
 
 * Acts viii. 14. “ They sent Peter and John.” We 
 
 find nothing in this book to countenance the pre-emi- 
 nence which the Papists ascribe to Peter. He and John 
 were deputed by all the apostles, and went upon equal 
 terms. Peter did not send John, nor go himself, with- 
 out the advice and direction of the rest. John had once 
 desired to call for fire from heaven upon the Samaritans ; 
 but he was now better instructed, and gladly went to im- 
 part to them the best gifts he could bestow. If the 
 Lord is pleased to make any partakers of the same pre- 
 cious faith with ourselves, though they were once ene- 
 mies, we should gladly forget all that is past, and receive 
 them as dear brethren and intimate friends. 
 
 f In these abuses the church of Rome seems to derive 
 rather from Simon Magus than from Simon Peter ; yet 
 it is to be wished such practices were confined to the 
 church of Rome only. Our laws have guarded against 
 them by a very solemn and circumstantial oath ; but 
 that this oath, if not literally broken, is often scanda- 
 lously evaded, we need no other proof than the shame- 
 ful advertisements which frequently appear in our pub- 
 lic papers ; not to say, that though' there is no money 
 in the case, yet all presentations, exchanges, and ad- 
 vancements that are transacted upon interested view's, 
 arc so far simoniacal in the sight of him who judges the 
 heart. 
 
CHAP. I. 
 
 AFTER THE 
 
 His words seemed to have some weight with 
 Simon for the present ; but we hear no more 
 of him among the Believers : on the contrary, 
 he is recorded in history as an inveterate ene- 
 my to the faith and purity of the gospel, and 
 the author of those wild, absurd, and impure 
 heresies which disturbed the first ages of the 
 church. 
 
 About this time an eunuch, or great officer 
 of Candace, Queen of Ethiopia, who had been 
 worshipping at Jerusalem (which makes it pro- 
 bable that he was a proselyte to the faith of 
 the God of Israel) was returning homeward. 
 Though this nobleman had been at Jerusa- 
 lem, he had either not heard of the apostles 
 and their new doctrines, or, being influenced 
 by the priests and rulers, had not thought 
 them worthy his notice. He was going home 
 ignorant as he came ; but the Lord, who is 
 mindful of his peop.e when they think not of 
 him, appoints the time and the means of 
 bringing them to the knowledge of the truth ; 
 and these are often seemingly precarious and 
 contingent, that the work may more clearly 
 be known to be his, and the praise ascribed 
 to his power and providence. Philip, by the 
 direction of an angel, intercepted the Ethi- 
 opian upon the road : he found him well em- 
 ployed, reading the prophet Isaiah as he sat 
 in his chariot : he had a very confused idea 
 of the passage he was reading, but he knew 
 it contained an important meaning, and was 
 desirous to discover it. Those who have a 
 just sense of the excellence of the scripture, 
 and peruse it as he did with a sincere inten- 
 tion to be instructed by it, may be encouraged 
 from this instance to persevere, though they 
 find it at present hard to be understood : he 
 who gave them the desire will in due time 
 provide them a teacher, and make dark things 
 plain to them. When Philip drew near, and 
 asked him, without ceremony, if he under- 
 stood what he read, he was not offended with 
 the abruptness of his address, but courteously 
 invited him to sit with him, confessing his ig- 
 norance and the need he had of assistance. 
 The passage which had perplexed him afforded 
 Philip a fair opportunity of preaching Jesus : 
 the eunuch believed, and was baptised in a 
 water they were passing by. In this case 
 there seems to have been no exertion of an 
 outward miracle to confirm the word. Nor 
 was it necessary : the manner of Philip’s 
 meeting with him, the suitableness of the 
 question to the dubious state of his mind, 
 and the discovery he obtained, that the pro- 
 phetical marks of the Messiah exactly coin- 
 cided with the history of Jesus, afforded him 
 sufficient evidence. The only extraordinary 
 circumstance was the sudden disappearing of 
 Philip, who, having performed his service, 
 was removed by the power of the Spirit to 
 Azotus, a place thirty miles distant ; from 
 whence, proceeding along the sea-coast, he i 
 
 ASCENSION. 457 
 
 preached at Joppa, Lydda, and all the* inter- 
 mediate places, till he came to Caesarea. In 
 the meantime the eunuch, rejoicing in the 
 Lord’s goodness, pursued his journey to E- 
 thiopia. We have no farther account of him 
 in the New Testament; but some ancient 
 writers assure us that he was the means of 
 propagating the faith which he had received, 
 first in his own country, and afterwards in 
 places still more remote. 
 
 Tiberius, a.d. 35.] The church having 
 suffered much from the violence of the perse 
 cution, the Lord was pleased to afford them 
 intermission, and to give a remarkable proof 
 of the power of his grace (Acts ix.), by the 
 conversion of Saul, one of their fiercest op 
 posers. He had been educated a Pharisee, 
 in a zealous attachment to the law, and, from 
 a mistaken principle of conscience, thought it 
 his duty to suppress the followers of Jesus. 
 The warmth of his temper prompted him to 
 uncommon earnestness against them ; and as 
 he was a young man, he was probably farther 
 instigated by a desire to ingratiate himself with 
 the Jewish rulers. Not content with the mis- 
 chief he had done at Jerusalem, he still breath- 
 ed out threatenings and slaughter against 
 them, and meditated their destruction even in 
 distant places. With this view he obtained 
 letters of authority from the chief priests, 
 and set out for Damascus, that if he found any 
 disciples there, he might bring them bound 
 with him to Jerusalem. Little was he aware 
 of the event of his journey ! Little did the 
 believers imagine, that the man who now 
 thirsted for their blood, wmuld soon be their 
 companion and leader ! The Lord often per- 
 mits those to whom he show's mercy, to run 
 great previous lengths in their obstinacy and 
 ignorance: their subsequent change is hereby 
 more noticed, the riches of his grace are more 
 remarkably exemplified for the encouragement 
 of others; and such persons, from a lively 
 sense of their past wickedness, and the unde- 
 served favour they have received, are usually 
 more strongly impressed with a sense of di- 
 vine love, and more warmly devoted to his 
 service. Some such there have been in every 
 period of the church, and especially whenever 
 there has been a remarkable revival of the 
 power of godliness. When Saul was drawing 
 near to Damascus, perhaps within sight of the 
 city, anticipating his bloody designs, and exult- 
 ing in thought over the defenceless sheep of 
 Christ, w'hom he had been taught to consider 
 as schismatics and heretics, who deserved to 
 be extirpated from the face of the earth, he 
 was suddenly surrounded by a glorious light, 
 exceeding the brightness of the mid-day sun, 
 and heard a voice, not of uncertain applica- 
 tion, but expostulating with him by name, 
 “ Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me ?” If 
 he was alarmed at the question, he w-as much 
 i more so, when, upon asking, “ Who art thou. 
 
458 PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL book II 
 
 Lord ?” he was answered, “ I am Jesus the 
 Nazarene *, whom thou persecutest.” So 
 nearly is the Lord interested in his people, 
 and so dangerous is it to injure them • he ac- 
 counts their cause; their sufferings, their ene- 
 mies, his own. The Nazarene was an epithet 
 of contempt affixed to the name of Jesus by 
 those who hated him f ; and it is probable 
 that Saul had often spoke of him in these 
 terms ; but now he found himself in the Na- 
 zarene’s power, and unable either to escape or 
 to plead ; he fell to the earth trembling and 
 astonished beyond expression; he not only 
 heard his voice, but saw his person (Acts ix. 
 27. 1 Cor. xv. 9.); an interview which he 
 could not have sustained a moment, if the 
 glory of Jesus had not been tempered with the 
 milder beams of grace and love. The Lord 
 spared him, accepted his feeble surrender of 
 himself, moderated his fears, and dismissed 
 him to Damascus as a willing trophy of his 
 victorious grace, and a singular instance how 
 easily he can subdue the hardest hearts to 
 himself. The brightness of the vision had 
 overpowered his bodily eyes, so that he was 
 led by the hand ; but the eyes of his mind 
 were opened; his heart, his aims were changed; 
 he was become a new man, and, instead of 
 threatenings and slaughter, he now breathed 
 prayer and devotion to Jesus, and love to his 
 people. He remained at Damascus three 
 days without sight or food : but the Lord re- 
 membered his distress, and sent to him a disci- 
 ple name Ananias, who, from the character he 
 had heard of him, was at first greatly surprised 
 at the command he received to go to such a per- 
 son ; but the Lord condescended to acquaint 
 him, that Saul was a chosen instrument, whom 
 he had appointed to do and suffer great things 
 for his sake. When Ananias laid his hands 
 on him, a thick film, resembling scales, fell 
 from his eyes ; his sight was restored, his 
 mind composed, and he was immediately bap- 
 tized. Saul had several companions with him 
 in his journey, who saw the dazzling light, 
 heard the sound of the voice which spoke to 
 him, and fell to the ground with surprise as 
 he did ; they knew enough of the circumstan- 
 ces of the case to witness for him, that he nei- 
 ther imposed upon others nor himself ; but 
 we have no account that any of them were 
 converted, the most extraordinary occurrences 
 being insufficient to change the heart, without 
 the interposition of divine grace. 
 
 Thus the late persecuting Saul was num- 
 bered with the disciples, and soon distinguish- 
 ed himself amongst them : He now knew by 
 experience the wickedness and danger of op- 
 posing the gospel, and was desirous to repair 
 the mischief of his former rage and ill exam- 
 ple. A sense of the mercy he had received, 
 
 ■* This is the exact import of the Greek , ' 0 Na&y- 
 Acts xxii. 8. 
 
 f And for this reason inserted in the title which Pilate 
 put over his cross. 
 
 and compassion for the souls of others, made 
 him seek every opportunity to persuade and 
 convince the Jews, his former companions and 
 brethren ; but he soon found the same treat- 
 ment from them, which he himself had often 
 offered to the disciples. They opposed and 
 vilified him as an apostate, and at length con . 
 suited to kill him : his former zeal in their 
 cause was forgot, or, if remembered, it was an 
 argument suited to inflame their resentment. 
 But no counsel can prevail against those whom 
 the Lord protects. Saul had timely notice of 
 their designs, and because they watched the 
 gates of the city incessantly, he was let down 
 by a basket over the wall * ; for though he 
 neither distrusted his cause nor his protector, 
 he was not unmindful to employ prudent 
 means for his preservation. But before this 
 he had made some excursions from Damascus, 
 and visited Arabia ; for his own words assure 
 us, that it was not till the third year after his 
 conversion that he returned to Jerusalem. In 
 this interval the Lord, who had appeared to 
 him in the way, by subsequent revelations, 
 fully instructed him in the knowledge of his 
 will, and qualified him for the apostolical of- 
 fice ; so that he could afterwards say, that he 
 received neither his authority nor his informa- 
 tion from men. When he came to Jerusalem 
 he would have joined himself to the disciples ; 
 but they, remembering his former conduct, 
 and not clearly informed of the manner and 
 reality of his change, were at first afraid of 
 him. They had a right to be satisfied of his 
 sincerity. But being soon afterwards intro- 
 duced by Barnabas, he related to them the 
 means of his conversion, and the occasion of 
 his leaving Damascus. He continued for 
 some time in Jerusalem and the neighbour- 
 hood, preaching and disputing in the name 
 of the Lord Jesus. The Jews, who hated 
 all the servants of Christ, could not but be 
 particularly enraged at him, who had for- 
 saken their party ; against him, therefore, they 
 chiefly set themselves, and making repeated 
 attempts to kill him, he withdrew again from 
 Judea, and went through Syria to Tarsus, in 
 Cilicia, his native place. 
 
 Caligula, a.d. 38.] Upon his recess the 
 churches in Judea, Samaria, and Galilee, had 
 an interval of restj-. The Jews, about this 
 time, were taken up with their own affairs. 
 
 * 2 Cor. xi. 53. “ Through a window in a basket was 
 I let down by the wall.” The Lord often confounds the 
 pride of his enemies by the manner in which he delivers 
 his servants : he permits violent oppositions, and great 
 preparations, to be made against them, and then discon- 
 certs the combinations of the many and the mighty, by 
 feeble and unthought-of means. 
 
 f The churches had rest, and walked in the fear of the 
 Lord, and in the comforts of the Holy Ghost, and were 
 edified and multiplied. Acts ix. 51. Some well-mean- 
 ing persons seem to forget this passage, when they take 
 it for granted, that the work of God cannot flourish, ex- 
 cept there is a violent outward opposition against it. The 
 world will dislike the gospel ; but it is possible in some 
 measure to put to silence the ignorance of foolish men 
 by well-doing; and the Lord can, and often does, favour 
 his people with peace, and put their enemies under re- 
 straint. 
 
CHAP. I. 
 
 Caligula, who had lately succeeded Tiberius in 
 the empire, presumed to arrogate divine wor- 
 ship to himself, and commanded altars and 
 temples to be erected to his honour ; he was 
 readily obeyed in many places : but when he 
 required his statue to be put up in the tem- 
 ple at Jerusalem, the Jewish nation engaged 
 as one man to prevent it *. They had reject- 
 ed the Holy One and the true, and the troubles 
 were now beginning to take place, which end- 
 ed at length in their total ruin and extirpation. 
 Against this first affront and profanation in- 
 tended to their temple, they united in earnest 
 supplications to Petronius, the governor of 
 Syria, and with much entreaty, obtained per- 
 mission to send their deputies to the Emperor, 
 who was, though with great difficulty, prevail- 
 ed on to desist from his purpose as to the 
 temple; but at the same time, he forbade them, 
 under the severest penalties, to oppose the e- 
 rection or dedication of temples to him, in 
 any place without the city of Jerusalem. This 
 injunction encouraged their enemies to affront 
 their religion wherever they pleased, and laid 
 a foundation for innumerable disturbances 
 and dissensions, in which the Jews, whether 
 aggressors or not, were always the greatest 
 sufferers. While they were thus distracted 
 among themselves, the believers enjoyed a 
 favourable respite, and walking in the fear of 
 the Lord, and in the comforts of the Holy 
 Ghost, were edified and increased. 
 
 A. D. 39.] As Peter had formerly second- 
 ed the labours of Philip, the deacon, at Sama- 
 ria, he now visited those places w here he had 
 preached on his way to Caesarea, and strength- 
 ened the disciples he found there, by his doc- 
 trine and miracles. At Lyddaf he restored a 
 man to immediate health, who had been many 
 years ill of a dropsy. Being afterwards in- 
 vited to Joppa, he raised Tabitha, or Dorcas, 
 to life, to the great joy of the poor and the 
 widows, whom she had assisted by her alms 
 and labours. While he made some stay here, 
 his commission was enlarged, and he received 
 direction from the Lord to communicate the 
 gospel to the Gentiles, which had hitherto 
 been restrained to the Jews, except in the 
 case of the eunuch, for which Philip had been 
 authorised by the express command of an 
 angel. 
 
 When our Lord sent forth the apostles to 
 preach while he was yet upon earth, he ex- 
 
 * Josephus, de Bell. Jud. lib. 2. 
 
 f Acts ix. 32. “ He came to the saints at Lydda.” 
 
 The scriptures do not use the word saint in the narrow 
 and appropriate sense of some, or with that improper 
 extent which others have given to it in after times ; it is 
 neither peculiar to apostles and fathers, nor applicable 
 to all who bear it in the Roman calendar, but it is the 
 common appellation of all who believe in the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and are saved from sin and condemnation by his 
 grace. There have been saints in all ages, but real 
 saints (while living) have usually been branded with op- 
 probrious names. The world, which knows not Christ, 
 cannot distinguish his people, but will rather give the 
 title of saints to many who have hated and persecuted 
 the gospel. 
 
 459 
 
 pressly confined their mission to the house of 
 Israel ; and though, after his resurrection, he 
 commanded them to disciple all nations, they 
 did not immediately understand the extent of 
 his meaning ; though they were under an in- 
 fallible guidance, they w'ere not fully instruct- 
 ed at once, but received intimations of their 
 duty from time to time, as circumstances 
 varied, and as the designs of divine providence 
 were successively opening. The great Shep- 
 herd and Head of the church has an appoint- 
 ed time and manner for the accomplishment 
 of all his purposes ; nothing can be effectual- 
 ly done but when and where he pleases : but 
 when his hour is come, then hard things be- 
 come easy, and crooked things straight ; his 
 word, Spirit, and providence, then will all 
 concur to make the path of duty plain to those 
 who serve him, though perhaps, till this know 
 ledge is necessary, he permits them to remain 
 ignorant of what he has designed them for. 
 By this discipline they are taught to depend 
 entirely upon him, and are afterwards more 
 fully assured that he has sent and succeeded 
 them. Peter was not yet freed from the Jewish 
 prejudice, that all intercourse with the Hea- 
 thens was unlawful ; or if he had been so 
 himself, he could not have easily convinced 
 the many thousands of his brethren who la- 
 boured under the same mistake. This service 
 was therefore pointed out to him by means 
 which left no room for doubt in his own mind, 
 and enabled him fully to vindicate his conduct 
 to others. 
 
 Cornelius (Acts x.), a Roman centurion, or 
 captain, with his family and dependants, were 
 the first fruits of the Gentile converts. He 
 lived at Caesarea, a city not far from Joppa, 
 and which was the ordinary residence of the 
 Roman governors ; and therefore promiscu- 
 ously inhabited by Gentiles and Jew's. It is 
 not probable that he had never heard of 
 Christ, or the new institution that was spread- 
 ing under his name; but, without doubt, 
 what he knew of it was only from public ru- 
 mour, in which the misrepresentations of ma- 
 lice, and the surmises of ignorance, usually 
 so far prevail, that persons of the best dispo- 
 sitions are often deterred from making those 
 inquiries which the importance of truth de- 
 serves. But the Lord, whom he knew not, 
 had been gradually preparing him for the re- 
 ception of the gospel ; he was already re- 
 claimed from idolatry ; he was a devout wor- 
 shipper of God, exemplary in his family, just 
 in his dealings, and charitable to the poor. 
 How few of those now called Christians can 
 equal his character while a stranger to the 
 gospel, we may collect from daily observation ; 
 yet those who plead for the sufficiency of what 
 they style natural religion, would do well to 
 observe, that though he was in many respects 
 a good man, and his sincerity was approved 
 by God himself ; yet he lacked one thing. 
 But none w'ho are made sincerely desirous to 
 
 AFTER THE ASCENSION. 
 
BOOK II 
 
 460 PROGRESS OF 
 
 know the will of God, shall be left finally 
 destitute : he will find a way to give them 
 necessary information. Cornelius, who had 
 often waited upon God by fasting and prayer, 
 and had, doubtless, at times, felt that sus- 
 pense and anxiety which can only be entirely 
 removed by a clear knowledge of the gospel- 
 covenant, obtained at length an illustrious 
 answer; an angel appeared to him, assured 
 him that his prayer was heard, and directed 
 Idm to send for Peter, w ho should inform him 
 more fully of his duty. 
 
 It is observable, that though the angel was 
 so minutely exact in his directions, as to men- 
 tion the street and the very house where Peter 
 resided, he said not a word of the gospel to 
 Cornelius, but referred him wholly to Peter. 
 The wisdom and goodness of God is pleased 
 to make his people instrumental in teaching 
 each other. This not only secures the honour 
 of the success to him alone, but it conduces 
 to their comfort and advantage. An angel 
 could only speak historically, that the thing is 
 so ; but it comes nearer to our level when 
 delivered by men w'ho have been in the very 
 case of others, and can say experimentally, 
 that they have found it so. Who so fit to 
 commend the physician’s skill and tenderness 
 as those who have been themselves cured by 
 him of a desperate disease ? Peter had him- 
 self tasted that the Lord was gracious; he 
 had greatly sinned, yet had been freely for- 
 given ; he had seen his excellent glory upon 
 the mount, and had received an express com- 
 mission from his mouth. In these and other 
 respects, he was a proper person to proclaim 
 him to others, more so than an angel from 
 heaven. We may therefore safely infer, a 
 fortiori, that no man, however great his ta- 
 lents may otherwise be, can be qualified or fit 
 to preach the gospel, until he has known the 
 evil of sin himself, and been a partaker of the 
 pardoning grace of God through a crucified 
 Redeemer. 
 
 Cornelius was not disobedient to the hea- 
 venly vision : his example and instructions 
 had been a blessing to his household, so that 
 he had servants about him to whom he could 
 communicate this extraordinary event, and 
 depend on their fidelity. Having related his 
 vision to them, he sent them to Joppa to invite 
 Peter to his house. 
 
 When they departed from Caesarea, Peter 
 was under the influence of the national pre- 
 judice, which would hardly have permitted 
 him to have gone with them ; but, while they 
 were on the journey, the Lord prepared his 
 mind to comply. The time was now come,* 
 
 * In the Lord’s dispensations in favour of his people, 
 there is often a counterpart, resembling that which is re- 
 lated in this chapter. The minds of two or more per- 
 sons are inclined, by different means to concur in the 
 same design, though perhaps they are far asunder, and 
 know nothing of each other’s intentions: in time, cir- 
 cumstances fall out which connect their views, and 
 prove that the whole was from the Lord. 
 
 THE GOSPEL 
 
 when it was necessary he should know theexten 
 sive designs of God in favour of sinners of alt 
 nations, people, and languages ; and that the 
 partition w-all between Jews and Gentiles was 
 broken down and taken away by the death of 
 Christ. He received this intimation by a 
 vision, which exactly corresponded in its cir- 
 cumstances with the case in hand. About 
 noon the following day, when the messengers 
 were near to Joppa, he was retired to the top of 
 the house, for the convenient exercise of secret 
 prayer ; and having an appetite for food, he 
 saw, as it were, a large sheet or wrapper let 
 down from heaven, suspended by the four cor- 
 ners, containing all sorts of beasts, birds, and 
 reptiles, without any regard to the ceremonial 
 distinction of clean and unclean ; this appear- 
 ance was accompanied with a voice directing 
 him, To slay and eat. When he answered, 
 Thai he had never yet transgressed the law, 
 by eating unclean food ; the voice replied, 
 What God hath cleansed, that call not thou 
 common or unclean. To impress the whole 
 upon his mind, and to convince him that the 
 vision was real and significant, it was repeated 
 three times. When it was finally withdrawn 
 and while he was thinking what it might im- 
 port,* the men sent by Cornelius were in- 
 quiring for him at the door below : of which, 
 receiving previous notice by the secret sug- 
 gestion of the Spirit of God, and being direct- 
 ed to go with them without hesitation, he 
 went down and spoke to them before they had 
 time to send him word of their arrival by the 
 people of the house. When he had heard 
 their business, and compared the vision of 
 Cornelius with his own, he scrupled no long- 
 er ; but lodging the strangers that night, he 
 accompanied them the next day, taking with 
 him five of the brethren from Joppa, to be 
 witnesses of what the Lord intended to do. 
 Cornelius, who earnestly expected his arrival, 
 had assembled his friends and dependants 
 against his coming ; he received Peter before 
 them all with the greatest respect and cordia- 
 lity, and gave him a particular account of 
 what had passed, professing that both he and 
 his friends were ready to receive and obey his 
 instructions. Peter now perceived and ac- 
 knowledged the great truth the Lord had 
 pointed out by so many harmonising circum- 
 stances, that the blessings of the gospel w ere 
 no longer to be confined to the Jew-s, but that 
 Jesus was appointed to be a light to enlighten 
 the Gsntiles also, Acts x. 34.f In his dis- 
 
 * Peter was faithful to the light he had already re- 
 ceived, and did not hastily follow the first impulse up- 
 on his mind ; though the liberty seemed to be authorised 
 by a voice from heaven, he did not accept it without 
 consideration. His example should be considered by 
 those who give themselves dp to the influence of every 
 sudden impression, without taking time to consider its 
 nature and tendency, and how far it is consistent with 
 the revealed will of God. 
 
 f Few passages of scripture seem to have been more 
 misunderstood and misrepresented than this and the fol- 
 lowing verse. As some have presumed, tlrat St. Paul’s 
 doctrine c r justification is corrected if not confuted, by 
 
CHAP. I. AFTER THE 
 
 course to them, he declared the person, cha- 
 racter and offices of Jesus, who had been lately 
 crucified, affirming himself to have been an 
 eye-witness of what he related ; he assert- 
 ed his honour and authority as the Lord of 
 all, the sovereign judge of the living and the 
 dead ; that he was the divine Saviour spoken 
 of by the prophets, and that all who believed 
 in his name should receive the remission of 
 sin. Here we see the apostle’s doctrine to 
 the Gentiles was the same that he had preach- 
 ed at Jerusalem upon and after the day of 
 Pentecost, and the same with what our Lord 
 had declared concerning himself, a free and 
 complete salvation by faith. He did not in 
 the least attempt to accommodate his subject 
 to any supposed prejudices of his new hearers, 
 but faithfully acquitted himself of his mes- 
 sage, and left the event to God. The mys- 
 tery of Christ crucified, which was a stumbl- 
 ing-block to the Jews, was by many of the 
 Gentiles accounted foolishness and absurdity ; 
 but the apostles proposed it simply and in- 
 differently to all. In the present case, the 
 success was (what has perhaps seldom hap- 
 pened) universal; the whole company be- 
 lieved, and received the Holy Ghost imme- 
 diately, previous to baptism, and without the 
 usual imposition of the apostle’s hands. This 
 signal attestation, with which the Lord ho- 
 noured their faith, unanswerably removing 
 every doubt concerning their fitness, Peter 
 immediately directed them to be baptized in 
 the name of the Lord Jesus, through whom 
 they had already received that inward and 
 spiritual grace, of which baptism was the out- 
 ward and visible sign. 
 
 When this affair was reported in Judea, it 
 was not at first agreeable to those who knew 
 not the warrant and grounds on which Peter 
 had proceeded ; so that when he returned to 
 Jerusalem, he found himself under a neces- 
 sity of vindicating (Acts xi.) his conduct to 
 the Jewish converts ; a full proof that they did 
 not think him infallible, or possessed of that 
 superiority over the whole church which de- 
 signing men, for promoting their own ends, 
 have since ascribed to him. But though he 
 was an apostle, and had acted by the express 
 command of God, and though their expostu- 
 
 St. James ; so the apostle Peter has been supposed to 
 contradict both St. Paul and himself (see 1 Pet. i. 1, 2), 
 in another important truth of the gospel. This mistake 
 is more excuseable in those who do not understand the 
 original ; but those who do, ought not to avail themselves 
 of an ambiguous word. The Greek ngotraiTot, from 
 whence tr^oo-ouT oXyottys is derived, does not convey the 
 same idea that an English reader receives from the word 
 eison; it does not properly signify a personal identity, 
 ut the outward appearance and circumstance of a per- 
 son or thing. Thus it is sometimes rendered face, as 
 Matth. vi. It. and many other places; and is applied to 
 the sky or air, Matth. xvi. 3- ; countenance, Luke ix. 
 29. ; presence, 2 Cor. x. 1. : fashion, James i. 11. The 
 meaning here is the same as in Coloss. iii. 25. The Lord 
 is not moved by the outward distinctions and differences 
 amongst men, to which we often pay regard : compare 
 1 Sam. xvi. 7. He neither receives or rejects any for 
 being Jew or Gentile, rich or poor, bond or free, male 
 «r female, but is rich in mercy to all who call upon him. 
 
 ASCENSION. 461 
 
 lation seems to have been hasty and rough, 
 yet he did not think it beneath him to give an 
 orderly and circumstantial account of the 
 whole business : they, on the other hand, 
 were open to conviction ; and, when they had 
 heard his relation, they instantly acquiesced, 
 and glorified God for his grace given to the 
 Gentiles. This mutual condescension and in- 
 genuousness preserved the first Christians in 
 peace, though they were not always exempted 
 from mistakes and wrong impressions. 
 
 By this time the believers who had been dis - 
 persed by persecution had spread the gospel 
 beyond the bounds of Judea and Galilee into 
 Cyprus and Syria, and probably to more dis- 
 tant parts, particularly to Rome, which, being 
 the centre and conflux of the empire, would 
 hardly be long unvisited ; however, in all 
 places, the preaching of the word was con- 
 fined to the Jews till Peter’s mission to Cor . 
 nelius afforded an authorised precedent for 
 imparting it to the Heathens. 
 
 A. D. 40.] It was soon after publicly 
 preached in Antioch, the capital of Syria, 
 and no less eminent for luxury and depravity 
 of manners ; yet, amongst these dissolute and 
 enslaved people, the gospel of Christ, accom- 
 panied with a divine power, was suddenly and 
 remarkably prevalent to turn a great multi- 
 tude from darkness to light, and from the 
 power of Satan to God. The means of this 
 happy change are expressly mentioned : What 
 the philosophers had long attempted in vain, 
 by cold encomiums on the beauty of virtue, 
 was speedily effected by those who simply 
 preached the Lord Jesus as the author, finisher, 
 and fountain of salvation. When the news 
 of this good beginning was brought to Jeru- 
 salem, the apostles sent Barnabas to Antioch ; 
 who, being a good man, and full of the Holy 
 Ghost himself, was greatly rejoiced when he 
 saw the numbers and sincerity of the con- 
 verts, and animated them by his exhortations 
 to cleave to the Lord with steady resolution ; 
 for he was sensible of what they perhaps were 
 little aware of as yet, how many arts the enemy 
 of souls employs to discourage those who are 
 beginning to walk in Wisdom’s ways. He 
 afterwards went to Saul, and prevailed on 
 him to leave Tarsus, and join with him in 
 the service of the gospel at Antioch. By 
 the Lord’s blessing on the endeavours of these 
 faithful labourers, the church was so greatly 
 increased, that the believers there first received 
 the general denomination of Christians ; a sig- 
 nificant and instructive appellation, strongly 
 importing their duty and relation to Christ, 
 and to each other, and has therefore univer- 
 sally obtained, and will probably subsist to 
 the end of time. But though this name he 
 accounted honourable with us, and has al- 
 ways been deemed, by those who truly de- 
 serve it, the noblest title, the highest style 
 of man, it had not the same general estima- 
 tion when first imposed : in the mouth of 
 
BOOK II 
 
 462 PROGRESS OF 
 
 unbelievers, whether Jews or Heathens, it 
 was a term of infamy and reproach, and ex- 
 pressive of the highest contempt,* and may be 
 therefore ranked among the many opprobrious 
 epithets by which the Lord’s faithful followers 
 have been marked out to the rage and scorn 
 of the world. 
 
 Caligula having rendered himself univer- 
 sally odious by his inhumanity and caprice, 
 was assassinated in his palace, in the fourth 
 year of his reign.f 
 
 Claudius, a. d. 4 1 . ] He was succeeded by 
 Claudius, who, soon after his entrance on the 
 government, bestowed the kingdom of Judea on 
 Herod Agrippa, a grandson of Herod, styled 
 the Great (mentioned Matth. ii. ), and nephew 
 to Herod the Tetrarch, who put John the Bap- 
 tist to death. This prince experienced much 
 of that vicissitude which usually attends am- 
 bition : he had been detained in prison and 
 chains by Tiberius, greatly favoured and ad- 
 vanced by Caligula, and now seemed to have 
 attained the summit of his wishes ; but, em- 
 ploying his power to persecute the church 
 ( Actsxii.) he was suddenly cut off in the height 
 of his prosperity; for who can harden him- 
 self against the Lord and prosper ? Herod 
 was a professed zealot for the law of Moses 
 and the Jewish institutions, and studied by 
 every means to ingratiate himself with the 
 people. He first expended vast sums in the 
 defence and ornament of the city ; but it was 
 in his power to attempt a still more accept- 
 able service, by exerting his authority against 
 the people of Christ ; and the motives of va- 
 nity and popularity, by which he was governed, 
 prompted him to embrace the occasion. He 
 began by apprehending the apostle James, the 
 son of Zebedee, whom he hastily put to death ; 
 and, finding that the Jews were highly pleased 
 with this step, he proceeded to imprison Peter, 
 intending to delay his execution till after the 
 Passover [a. d. 44], that his zeal against these 
 innovators might be applauded by a greater 
 number of spectators. This stroke, though very 
 afflictive to the church, was wisely permitted, 
 to illustrate the courage and fidelity of the 
 apostles : it shewed that their miraculous 
 powers, and high office, afforded them no sure 
 exemption from persecution, but that they 
 ventured and acted upon the same principles 
 of faith and love to Jesus, in common with 
 other believers. Thus James finished his 
 course, and received the crown the first of the 
 apostles. But Peter, being designed for far- 
 ther services, was still safe, though to an eye 
 of sense he seemed marked out for a speedy 
 sacrifice : incessant prayer was made on his 
 behalf by the disciples; and the united pray- 
 ers of God’s people have an efficacy which 
 can be withstood by no human power : when 
 
 * Quos per fiagitia invisos vulgus Christianos ap- 
 
 pellabat : auctornorainis ejus Christus, qui, Tiberio ini- 
 perante, per procuratorem Pontium Pilatum suppliers 
 affectus erat. Tacitus, Ann 15. 
 
 f Josephus, Ant. lib. x. 
 
 THE GOSPEL 
 
 he inclines them to join with earnestness and 
 perseverance in prayer, it is because he has 
 already determined to grant their petition. 
 In this case the answer was signal, though not 
 immediate. The night before Peter was to 
 have been brought forth to suffer, he was 
 sleeping between his keeperswith that serenity 
 which is peculiar to those who have a good 
 cause, a good conscience, and a steady faith 
 in God. Neither the inconveniences of a 
 prison, nor the expectation of death, could 
 discompose him, for he knew in whom he had 
 believed ; but he was awakened by an angel, 
 who freed him from his chains, opened the 
 prison-doors, and brought him into the street, 
 unperceived by the guards. After the angel 
 had thus set him at liberty, and was departed 
 Peter went to the house where his friends 
 were at that instant praying for his deliver 
 ance. Thus they had a remarkable proof, that 
 the Lord is indeed a God that heareth prayer ; 
 and it is recorded for our encouragement. 
 
 In the morning, Herod found himself dis- 
 appointed of his prey. The guards, upon ex- 
 amination,* being unable to give an account 
 of their prisoner, he commanded them to be 
 put to death. It is probable that Herod, or 
 his advisers, might suspect a miraculous in- 
 terposition (as the apostles, had been deliver- 
 ed the same way a few years before) : but to 
 punish the keepers, as if they had been gqilty 
 of conniving at his escape, was the most likely 
 method to stop farther inquiry, and prevent 
 the people from supposing any thing extraor- 
 dinary in the affair. 
 
 Herod did not long survive this event. He 
 lived and died a monument of the instability 
 of human greatness. He was much devoted 
 to his Roman masters, and had a taste for 
 their magnificence. This induced him to ce- 
 lebrate games and shows at Caesarea, in ho- 
 nour of the emperor ; here he laboured to 
 display the utmost of his grandeur. His pride 
 was farther flattered by the arrival of an em- 
 bassy from Tyre and Sidon. These cities had 
 incurred his displeasure ; but as they chiefly 
 drew their subsistence from his dominions, 
 they were compelled to supplicate peace, 
 which, though they had highly offended him, 
 they obtained by their interest with Blastus 
 his chamberlain. The king appointed a day 
 to receive their submission, when he appeared 
 with a splendour that dazzled the eyes of the 
 spectators : he addressed himself to the am- 
 bassadors in a pompous oration, suited, we 
 may suppose, to give them the highest idea 
 both of his power and his clemency. When 
 he had ended, he heard his praises resound 
 from every quarter : the multitude shouted. 
 
 * Herod examined them himself. It is probable he 
 found strong reason to think Peter had been mira- 
 culously delivered ; but, like a wise politician, he dis- 
 sembled his conviction, and, to stifle all suspicion, 
 wreaked his resentment upon the soldiers. They, with- 
 out doubt, believed there was something extraordinary 
 in the case, and might have said so if they had lived 
 but dead men tell no tales.' 
 
CHAP. I. AFTER THE 
 
 It is the voice of a God, not of a man. His 
 vain heart was elated with this impious com- 
 pliment, which indeed was no more than had 
 often been used upon such occasions among 
 the Heathens ; but when it was now adopted 
 by those who professed a knowledge of the 
 true God, the proud worm, who durst be 
 pleased with it, was made a sudden and awful 
 example of the divine displeasure : the aven- 
 ging angel of the Lord smote him with an ir- 
 resistible, though invisible stroke ; and, while 
 surrounded with the fancied insignia of ma- 
 jesty, and in the midst of their idolatrous ac- 
 clamations, he found and confessed himself a 
 mortal. He was seized with excruciating 
 pains, and expired in a few days, being in a 
 manner devoured by vermin bred from his 
 bowels. With his death the persecution 
 ceased. He perished, and was quickly for- 
 got ; but the word of God, which he had 
 attempted to suppress, grew and multiplied 
 as before. 
 
 The church of Antioch during this time 
 greatly increased, and enjoyed the benefit of 
 many excellent teachers, some of whom were 
 endued with a prophetical spirit, by which 
 the Lord intimated his will to them in parti- 
 cular cases. In this way they had been in- 
 formed of an approaching dearth, and, as sea- 
 sons of scarcity would severely affect the dis- 
 ciples in Judea, who laboured under peculiai 
 difficulties, they cheerfully contributed to their 
 relief, and sent the collection to Jerusalem by 
 Saul and Barnabas, who, having fulfilled their 
 commission, returned to Antioch about this 
 time. [a. D. 45.] These two were soon after- 
 wards (Acts uiii.) appointed by an express re- 
 velation to propagate the knowledge of the 
 gospel in other countries : they were set apart 
 to this service by the solemn prayers of the 
 church, and attended by John, surnamed 
 Mark, who had accompanied them from Je- 
 rusalem. Thus they went forth, like A bra- 
 ham, uncertain whither they were to go, but 
 assured of an infallible guidance and power 
 to direct and prepare the way. 
 
 It is generally believed that, nearly about 
 the same time, the apostles at Jerusalem like- 
 wise separated, to preach the gospel in the 
 districts respectively allotted them by the di- 
 rection of the Holy Spirit ; and we have some 
 account from antiquity of their several pro- 
 vinces, according to which they divided among 
 them the greatest part of the known world, 
 from India to Barbary, and from Abyssinia 
 to Scythia. Indeed there is no doubt but 
 they executed their commission as apostles, 
 and spread the gospel far and wide; but the 
 particulars recorded of their labours, suffer- 
 ings, and circuits are not transmitted with 
 such authenticity and clearness as to give en- 
 tire satisfaction. The only certain history we 
 have of the apostolic age is that of Luke, 
 which we call the Acts of the Apostles ; and 
 this, from the period we are now come to, is 
 
 ASCENSION. 463 
 
 confined to those events in which Paul was 
 personally concerned, and does not even carry 
 on his history to the end of his life. The 
 wisdom of God having given us, both in the 
 life of Jesus and of his first servants, rather 
 a specimen sufficient for our instruction than 
 a complete history to gratify our curiosity, to 
 this plan we shall conform ; and, while we 
 have the light of an inspired writer, we shall 
 not wander after the glimmerings of tradi- 
 tion. I shall therefore, in the progress of 
 this chapter, confine myself to the Evan- 
 gelist’s narration, so far as it goes, and, when 
 he leaves us, it will be sufficient to comprise, 
 in a very narrow compass, the most certain 
 or most probable incidents which we can re- 
 cover to complete the records of the first cen- 
 tury. 
 
 S iul and Barnabas embarked at Seleucia, 
 a sea-port in the neighbourhood of Antioch, 
 and sailed to Cyprus : they landed at Sala- 
 mis, on the east side, and proceeded through 
 the island to Paphos, in the west, making the 
 first tender of the gospel in every place to the 
 Jews. At Paphos the Roman governor, Ser- 
 gius Paulus, was desirous to hear the apos- 
 tles doctrine : he was attended by Elymas, a 
 pretended magician and prophet, who fearing 
 the discovery of his impostures, laboured to 
 divert the governor from his purpose, and to 
 prejudice him against them. But Saul sharply 
 rebuked his wickedness, and, by the impulse 
 of the Holy Spirit,* denounced a sentence 
 against him, suitable to his crime ; he who 
 endeavoured to detain others in darkness and 
 ignorance, was suddenly struck blind himself. 
 This punishment, which he could neither fore- 
 see nor avoid, discovered the vanity of his 
 claims, and convinced the governor, that the 
 preachers spoke by an authority superior to 
 their own ; he therefore attended more care- 
 fully to their words, and became soon a par- 
 taker of their faith. 
 
 From Cyprus they sailed to Perga, in Pam- 
 phylia; where their attendant Mark, either 
 already wearied with fatigue, or apprehensive 
 of greater difficulties, or from a fickleness and 
 levity of temper, would proceed no farther 
 with them, but returned to Jerusalem. By 
 this indiscretion he not only lost many valu- 
 able opportunities, which he afterwards re- 
 gretted, but in the end gave occasion to a 
 great difference between Barnabas and Paul. 
 Such is the state of humanity, that those per- 
 sons in a society who cannot do much good, 
 are often, by their imprudence, the cause of 
 much harm, even where they intend other- 
 
 * It is expressly said, that Saul or Paul was filled 
 with the Holy Ghost , therefore the severe expressions 
 in his reprimand were not the effects of intemperate 
 anger, but a solemn declaration of the sorcerer’s true 
 character : yet it is safer to imitate the apostle in his pa- 
 tience and humility, than in this singular instance. The 
 ower of God, which accompanied his words, proved 
 y what impulse and authority he spoke. We, who are 
 not apostles, and who make no claim to apostolic power, 
 shall act more in character to conform to the general 
 rule St. Paul has given us, 2 I im. ii. 24, 25. 
 
BOOK II 
 
 464 PROGRESS OF 
 
 wise. From Perga they proceeded to An- 
 tioch, in Pisidia, and entered into the syna- 
 gogue. [a. D. 46.] Their habit and manners 
 bespoke them Jews, but, perhaps the rulers of 
 the synagogue were not apprised of their cha- 
 racter. When the ordinary service was fi- 
 nished, they were desired to propound their 
 sentiments. Paul, who was usually the speak- 
 er, addressed them in a long discourse, a va- 
 luable abstract of which is preserved to us. 
 In his introduction, he reminded them of their 
 ancient history and prophecies ; but the sum 
 and substance of his sermon was Jesus. He 
 proved from the scripture that he was the 
 Messiah, in whom the promises centred, and 
 proposed him to all as the great object of 
 faith, through whom, and by whom alone, 
 forgiveness of sin was to be obtained, and a 
 free justification from those offences for which 
 the law of Moses had made no provision. In 
 the close, he solemnly warned them of the 
 danger of rejecting this Saviour and his gos- 
 pel. His discourse made no great impres- 
 sion upon the Jews ; but some of the Hea- 
 thens, who had been occasionally present, de- 
 sired to hear the matter farther explained. 
 Accordingly, on the next Sabbath, almost the 
 whole city was collected to hear the gospel, 
 which exceedingly offended the Jews, and 
 prompted them to interpose with cavil and 
 abuse. The apostles then told them, in plain 
 terms, that though their message was first to 
 them, yet, since they refused to receive it, 
 they would henceforth freely proclaim it to 
 the Heathens, from whom they expected a 
 more favourable hearing ; nor were they dis- 
 appointed in their hope, for many of the lat- 
 ter received the word with joy, both in the 
 city and adjacent country.* The Jews, far- 
 ther exasperated by this success, so wrought 
 upon the passions and prejudices of some per- 
 sons of influence, both men and women, who 
 were probably proselytes, and superstitiously 
 devoted to their new profession, that Paul 
 and Barnabas were violently compelled to de- 
 part ; but they left behind them disciples, the 
 fruits of their ministry, who were filled with 
 joy and the Holy Spirit, and thereby enabled 
 to maintain the faith, though their teachers 
 «vere forced from them. 
 
 The apostles, shaking off the dust of their 
 feet (as our Lord had commanded), fora tes- 
 timony against the obstinate infidelity of the 
 Jews, went from thence to Iconium, the chief 
 city of Lycaonia, where they made many con- 
 verts, both Jews and Gentiles. But the Jews 
 who believed not, actuated by the same spirit 
 
 * When the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled 
 with envy. Among the clamours raised against persons 
 and doctrines in our own time, some have not been 
 ashamed to allege the great concourse of people usually 
 attending, as a sufficient objection, forgetting (as it 
 should seem), that this was one circumstance that pro- 
 voked and instigated the enemies of Christianity from 
 the beginning, John, vii 40, 48, ant* xi 48, and xii. 
 
 9 
 
 THE GOSPEL 
 
 in every place, opposed them earnestly * ; yet 
 they staid so long, and met with such success, 
 that the city was divided, a part holding with 
 them, and a part influenced by their enemies, 
 who from thence took occasion to represent 
 them to the magistrates as disturbers of the 
 public peace ; a charge which has often been 
 falsely urged against the ministers of the gos- 
 pel. At length their adversaries prevailed, 
 and violent measures were resolved on ; but 
 they, having notice of it, withdrew in time to 
 Lystra, in the same province, where they pur- 
 sued their ministry with their usual zeal and 
 firmness, without being deterred by the oppo- 
 sition they had already met with, or were like- 
 ly to meet in every place. Among their hear- 
 ers at Lystra, there was one who had been a 
 cripple from his birth. Paul, observing his 
 attention, and some indications of faith in his 
 behaviour, was directed to confirm the doc- 
 trine of Jesus by a signal miracle. He com- 
 manded the lame man to stand upright upon 
 his feet; and his word was accompanied with 
 immediate power : the man, who had never 
 walked, instantly sprang up, and possessed the 
 perfect use of his limbs. It appeared, from 
 this instance, that though miracles have a ten- 
 dency to rouse the attention, and are a proof 
 of a power beyond the ordinary course of 
 things, yet they cannot, of themselves, in- 
 form or convince the mind of truth : for the 
 ignorant multitude, though greatly struck 
 with what they saw, were so far from believ- 
 ing the apostles doctrine, on the evidence of 
 this miracle, ‘that they endeavoured to account 
 for it on their own idolatrous principles : 
 they forgot all they had heard of Jesus, and 
 cried out, The gods are come down to us in 
 the likeness of men. Agreeable to their 
 blinded notions, they called Barnabas, Jupiter 
 and Paul, Mercury i imagining something in 
 them peculiarly characteristic of those fabu- 
 lous deities. In the warmth of their super- 
 stition, they assembled with their high priest 
 and victims f , and would have offered sacrifices 
 to the men who came to turn them from dumb 
 idols to serve the living God. But nothing 
 gives the faithful ministers of Christ greater 
 pain, than to have any part of that honour or 
 dependence addressed to themselves, which 
 they are desirous wholly to engage for their 
 Lord and Master. Paul and Barnabas, who 
 
 * Acts xiv. 2. “ The Jews stirred up the people.” 
 
 There is a natural enmity in the hearts of some men, 
 but in many it is dormant ; they are engaged in business 
 and pleasure, and would be content to let the people of 
 God alone, as unworthy their notice; these must be 
 stirred up by the more zealous to join in the common 
 cause: and accordingly no pains of misrepresentations 
 are spared to rouse. them from their indolence. 
 
 f The high priest was probably willing to avail him- 
 self of the superstition of the people, and thought it a 
 favourable occasion to establish the belief of a peculiar 
 sanctity and virtue in the temple at Lystra, which might 
 increase the number of votaries and promote his own 
 wealth and influence, just asalegendary report of the ap- 
 pearance or miracles of some samt, or angel, has been 
 improved to procure a veneration for particular cities or 
 temples in Christian countries. 
 
CIIAP. I, 
 
 had suffered persecution and ill-treatment 
 with patience, were transported beyond their 
 usual bounds at these marks of ignorant ap- 
 plause ; they rushed in among the people, 
 confessed their own infirmities, boldly reprov- 
 ed their blind idolatry, and directed them 
 where alone their thanks and worship were 
 due ; yet, with all they could say, they hard- 
 ly prevailed on them to desist. It was happy 
 for them that they sought not their own glory, 
 and could not be elated with the applause of 
 men. Poor and precarious is the reward of 
 those who aim no higher than this ; for, as the 
 tide, after running a while violently one way, 
 soon afterwards by degrees reverts to the con- 
 trary extreme, so inconstant is the praise and 
 regard of the unthinking many, who are go- 
 verned by appearances, and susceptive of every 
 new. impression. Some of the restless Jews 
 followed the apostles from Iconium, and, by 
 their insinuations, prevailed on the same peo- 
 ple to treat those as malefactors, whom a little 
 before they had revered as deities: they tumul- 
 tuously assaulted Paul (who, being the chief 
 speaker, was usually the chief sufferer), 
 stoned him, and dragged him out of the city, 
 supposing they had killed him ; but the Lord, 
 to whom the issues of life and death belong, 
 restored him, and healed his bruises, so that 
 he rose up while the disciples were sorrowfully 
 standing round him ; and having entered into 
 the city, to shew that he was neither dead 
 nor intimidated, he was enabled to accompany 
 Barnabas the next day to Derbe. 
 
 Here they continued some time, and taught 
 many ; and this was the boundary of their 
 present progress. From hence they returned 
 regardless of their enemies, to the places they 
 had been at before, to Lystra, Iconium, An- 
 tioch, and Perga, confirming the believers, 
 forming them into societies, and constituting 
 elders and pastors, from amongst themselves, 
 in every church. In all places they took care 
 to instruct the believers in the nature of their 
 profession, and reminded them of an unalte- 
 rable necessity in the present constitution of 
 things, that through much tribulation we must 
 enter into the kingdom of God *, Acts xiv. 22. 
 After this, recommending the new converts 
 
 * That this was the case in the primitive times is gene- 
 rally allowed ; but we have been told by some, that 
 things are now greatly altered in this respect : they would 
 persuade us, that our Lord’s words (Matth. vii. 13.) are 
 no longer in force ; that the way to the kingdom, in our 
 happy days, is broad, spacious, smooth, and thronged by 
 multitudes, the very characters he has given us of the 
 road to destruction. Such teachers and writers are little 
 aware how they proclaim their own ignorance. If they 
 knew the spirit of enmity which the world bears to true 
 Christianity, — the trials with which the Lord visits his 
 people, to prove and exercise their faith,— the assaults 
 and temptations they endure from the powers of darkness, 
 •—the griefs they feel from a sense of their own unfaith- 
 fulness and unfruitfulness, — the fightings without, and 
 fears within, which are more or less experienced in the 
 Christian life — if they knew these things, they would speak 
 otherwise. The beaten way to honours and preferments 
 is, perhaps, free from these tribulations ; but not so the 
 way that will lead to the kingdom of God. 
 
 465 
 
 to the grace and care of the Lord, in whom 
 they had believed, they again took shipping, 
 and returned to Antioch in Syria. Upon their 
 arrival, they assembled the whole church, and 
 gave them a particular account of all that the 
 Lord had done for them, and by them, in their 
 late circuit. [A. D. 47.] This is the news 
 which believers delight to relate and hear : 
 the traverses of policy, or the events of war, 
 the usual topics of conversation, afford them 
 but little entertainment ; but it rejoices their 
 hearts to be informed of new accessions tothe 
 Redeemer’s kingdom, and to see how his wis- 
 dom and grace triumph over all opposition. 
 
 Hitherto the church had only to struggle 
 with outward difficulties ; but as human na- 
 ture is always the same, and the apostolical 
 times were to transmit instruction to the peo- 
 ple of God in every succeeding period, mis- 
 takes, disputes, and divisions were, by degrees 
 permitted to take place among professed be- 
 lievers. If it had not been so, we might not 
 only have been discouraged by the great dis- 
 parity between the first Christians, and those 
 who have lived since, but, for want of rules 
 and precedents of sufficient authority, we 
 should have been continually at a loss how 
 to oppose and confute the various errors 
 which have appeared and been revived during 
 so many centuries : the Divine Wisdom there- 
 fore thought fit to suffer every false and dan- 
 gerous notion, whereby the enemy of souls 
 would at any time attempt to corrupt the sim- 
 plicity of the faith, to make its first entrance 
 while the apostles were yet living, that we 
 might have their instructions and examples to 
 guide us in every emergency. However 
 paradoxical it may seem, we hope, in a pro- 
 per place, to shew, that no new opinion, 
 either right or wrong, respecting the faith in 
 Christ, has been started since the close of the 
 scriptural canon. As the gospel, that good 
 and perfect gift, came down from the Fa- 
 ther of lights complete, and has received no 
 amendment from the hands through which it 
 has successively passed, — so, on the other 
 hand, the grand deceiver exerted all his force 
 against it, and availed himself of all his in- 
 fluence on the ignorance and wickedness of 
 men from the very beginning, and has no sub- 
 | tie devices in reserve now, having tried his 
 utmost resources over and over. It is true, 
 length of time, and change of circumstances, 
 have afforded him opportunities of placing his 
 delusions in various lights, and have given 
 some of his schemes a seeming strength and 
 establishment which they had not at first , but 
 as a man attained to his full stature and vig- 
 our, is the same individual person that was 
 once an infant, unable to standalone, so there 
 neither is, nor has been, any erroneous prin. 
 ciple, however authorised or recommended, 
 or perhaps applauded as a new discovery, by 
 those who are ignorant of scripture and an- 
 2 O 
 
 AFTER THE ASCENSION. 
 
BOOK II 
 
 466 PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL 
 
 tiquity, but we can, from express passages in 
 the apostles writings, shew that the same ex- 
 isted in their time, though in a more feeble 
 and infantile state. This point we are to il- 
 lustrate more at large hereafter ; at present I 
 am only concerned to take notice of a dissen- 
 tion that arose among the believers at Anti- 
 och, not long after the return of Saul and 
 Barnabas, which made their presence there 
 particularly useful. This was occasioned by 
 some Judaising professors, who came down 
 ''from Judea, and taught the Gentile converts, 
 that except they were circumcised, and kept 
 the law of Moses, they could not be saved. 
 This dangerous position, arising from a mis- 
 apprehension of the righteousness of Christ, 
 as the only ground of a sinner’s acceptance 
 with God, and tending to substitute a quick- 
 sand for the foundation of hope, instead of the 
 immoveable rock which God has laid in Zion, 
 was w'armly opposed by these apostles of the 
 Gentiles ; they had a double conviction of its 
 falsehood, both from the nature of the faith 
 they had received themselves, and the effects 
 of the gospel they had imparted to others; but 
 many w r eaker minds, having less experience of 
 the work of grace in their own hearts, and 
 less acquaintance with what the Lord had 
 wrought in others, were staggered. When 
 therefore, after many debates, the point was 
 not settled to satisfaction, it was resolved to 
 depute Paul and Barnabas to consult the a- 
 postles and elders at Jerusalem, [a. d. 49.] 
 If this, as seems probable was the journey St. 
 Paul refers to in Gal. ii., they were directed 
 to take this step by the Spirit of God, since 
 he there says, that he went up to Jerusalem 
 by, or in consequence of, a revelation. They 
 were accompanied by some brethren ; and in 
 every place where they found believers, they 
 comforted them with the account of their late 
 progress. At Jerusalem they w r ere cordially 
 received ; and having declared the happy fruits 
 of their preaching to the Heathens, though 
 they had not attempted to bind them to the 
 Mosaic law, they proceeded to declare the 
 tenet which had been lately advanced, and their 
 motives for opposing it. They soon found 
 persons of the same legal spirit, who justified 
 and repeated the obligation of the ceremonial 
 law upon all who embraced the gospel. Up- 
 on this, a particular day was named for the 
 whole assembly to meet, and discuss the ques- 
 ^ tion. In this convention there was the high- 
 est room to expect, that the Spirit of God 
 would influence their resolves, and guard them 
 from giving their sanction to an error; and he 
 did so ; yet not by an audible voice or instan- 
 taneous impulse, but by presiding over their 
 debates, and enabling them, in the conclusion, 
 to collect and pronounce the true state of the 
 question with infallible evidence and certainty. 
 Here again it is plain, that Peter little thought 
 himself entitled to that supreme prerogative, 
 as the immediate vicar of Jesus Christ, which 
 
 his pretended successors falsely ascribe to him . 
 nor did his brethren remind him of his privi- 
 lege, otherwise there could have been no de- 
 bate, for his declaration would have been de- 
 cisive ; but waving the claim of authority, he 
 argued the insignificance of the Jewish rites as 
 to salvation, from the Lord’s conduct towards 
 Cornelius and his friends, by his ministry 
 These were the first Gentile converts ; and in 
 this instance, he said, the Lord had fully de- 
 clared his mind, making no difference between 
 Jew and Gentile, purifying their hearts by 
 faith in his blood, and imparting to them those 
 substantial blessings, of w hich the ceremonial 
 law exhibited no more than the shadow ; and 
 which, in comparison of the liberty of the gos- 
 pel, he termed an unnecessary yoke , too heavy 
 to be borne. The assembly then kept silence^ 
 while Paul and Barnabas related more at large 
 the fruits of their late mission among the Hea- 
 thens. The conference was closed, and the de- 
 termination given, not by Peter, but by James, 
 who asserted the Gentiles freedom from the 
 Jewish yoke, and enjoined them only to ab- 
 stain from fornication, from things offered to 
 idols, and from blood. The two latter points 
 were necessary to preserve a friendly inter- 
 course between the Gentile and Jewish con- 
 verts, so long as these were indulged in ob- 
 serving the Levitical institutions ; and the 
 prohibition from fornication, though immedi- 
 ately belonging to the moral law, which was of 
 universal obligation, was added to give the 
 Gentiles a deeper sense of the guilt and evil 
 of a practice, which the most civilized and vir- 
 tuous Heathens considered as almost, if not 
 wholly, innocent. 
 
 This sentence was generally embraced ; and 
 a letter to the same effect was w ritten to the 
 believers at Antioch, confirming them in their 
 Christian liberty. In this they thought it a 
 sufficient condemnation of the opposite opi- 
 nion to say, They had given no such com- 
 mandment : a protestation the apostles might 
 have often repeated had they lived to this 
 day ; but since their genuine writings still sub- 
 sist, we may, by parity of reason, still infer, 
 that we need not be afraid of rejecting a^y 
 thing that is enjoined as binding upon the 
 conscience, if we can be sure that the apostles, 
 who w’ere divinely inspired to explain the 
 Christian faith and practice, have given us no 
 precept in its favour. They likewise took 
 care to assert their firm persuasion, that their 
 decision was agreeable to the dictates of the 
 Holy Spirit. This convocation has generally 
 been styled the first Christian council ; but in - 
 deed, when we compare it with those which 
 bore the same name afterwards, and were pro- 
 fessedly formed upon this precedent, we shall 
 be almost tempted to say, that it was not only 
 the first, but the last. Here were no intrigues 
 practised, no temporal interests consulted, no 
 fierce and bloody anathemas issued, to give a 
 sanction to persecution, no uncertainty or 
 
i>H AP» I. AFTER THE 
 
 animosity in the issue; but the affair was 
 conducted with freedom and moderation, and 
 the conclusion made by general consent, and 
 to the satisfaction of both parties. How dif- 
 ferent in these respects from the spirit of after 
 times ! But though this answered the end 
 in the present case, the judgment of the apos- 
 tles was not entirely obeyed, even while they 
 lived. This debate was revived in other 
 places, and proved a frequent impediment to 
 the peace of the church, so long at least as 
 the temple and worship of Jerusalem continu- 
 ed, and gave St. Paul occasion to write his 
 epistle to the Galatians expressly on this sub- 
 ject ; nay, it seems the mistake still subsisted 
 in Judea, though none publicly ventured to 
 contradict the decree when it was made ; for 
 when, some time after, Peter went to Antioch, 
 and conversed ( Gal. ii. 11) freely with the Gen- 
 tile converts, living after their manner for a sea- 
 son, yet, when some brethren came down from 
 Jerusalem, he was so fearful to offend them 
 in this matter, that he separated himself again, 
 and, by his influence, prevailed on Barnabas 
 likewise to dissemble in favour of those of the 
 circumcision. For this weak compliance, 
 whereby he seemed to overthrow what he had 
 before established, St. Paul withstood him to 
 liis face : he did not detract from his charac- 
 ter by insinuations to his prejudice behind 
 his back, nor did he content himself with re- 
 proving him in secret ; but as the offence was 
 public, tending to confirm the Jews in their 
 bigotry, and to offend the weak on both sides, 
 he boldly and publicly rebuked him before 
 them all. Strange weakness, incident to the 
 best of men ! that Peter, who had first laid 
 aside his prejudices, who had visited the Gen- 
 tiles by divine direction, had seen the happy 
 effects of his compliance, and vindicated his 
 own conduct so unanswerably upon a late oc- 
 casion, should now shrink and trifle, expose 
 himself, and grieve his brethren, through fear 
 of those who came from Jerusalem ! To be 
 delivered from the fear of man is a deliver- 
 ance indeed ! It was happy for Peter that 
 he had, in his brother Paul, a faithful friend, 
 who, by a few well-timed words, broke the 
 chain, and set him at liberty. It is surpris- 
 ing that any who have read this passage should 
 dream of fixing on Peter, above any other of 
 the apostles, to be the supreme and infallible 
 head of the Christian church. 
 
 Justus and Silas, two of the brethren, were 
 sent with Barnabas and Paul to accompany 
 the letter, and to declare the purport of it 
 more at large. They were gladly received at 
 Antioch, and not only confirmed the peace of 
 the church, but were further helpful to their 
 faith, by the singular gifts with which the 
 Lord had honoured them. In a little time 
 Justus returned to Jerusalem, but Silas chose 
 to continue longer, and was afterwards the 
 constant companion of St. Paul in his travels. 
 
 a. D, 50. J This obstacle being temoved, 
 
 ASCENSION. 467 
 
 the gospel flourished greatly at Antioch. 
 But, amidst all their services and success 
 there, Paul and Barnabas could not forget 
 the converts they had left in Cyprus and Asia 
 Minor. They proposed therefore to make 
 them a second visit, to comfort them, and to 
 see how the work had prospered in their ab- 
 sence : but a difficulty was started concerning 
 John, surnamed Mark, who had formerly left 
 them at Perga ; and having probably repent- 
 ed of his irresolution, was now desirous to 
 proceed with them again. Paul warmly op- 
 posed this, thinking him highly culpable for 
 his inconstancy, and perhaps too much in- 
 fluenced against him by a spirit of resentment 
 not wholly excuseable. On the other hand, 
 Barnabas undertook his apology ; in which, 
 besides his tenderness to his fault, he seems to 
 have been moved by considerations which 
 ought to have no place where the service of 
 God is concerned. John was his sister’s son ; 
 and this led him to consider his conduct in 
 the most favourable light. Thus they were 
 both a little partial in the cause ; but much 
 more wrong in the issue ; for the contention 
 became so sharp between them, that it broke 
 their harmony. They determined to part. 
 Accordingly, Barnabas took Mark, whose 
 company he had dearly purchased by the loss 
 of Paul’s, and sailed to Cyprus, his native 
 place ; and Paul, chusing Silas in his room, 
 went through Syria and Cilicia, being recom- 
 mended to the Lord by the prayers of the 
 brethren. So that their former work was now 
 divided between them. 
 
 I must venture to digress here a little for 
 the sake of two remarks, of which the course 
 of our history may often remind the reader. 
 1. How small an occasion will discover hu- 
 man infirmity even in the brightest characters ! 
 Not all the graces of Paul and Barnabas, nor 
 the remembrance of the services and difficul- 
 ties they had jointly experienced, nor the im- 
 portance of the common cause in which they 
 were engaged, nor the fear of giving offence 
 to the world and to the church, could restrain 
 these dear friends, fellow-labourers, and fel- 
 low-sufferers, from contending and separating 
 about a trifle. 2. How wise is the over-rul- 
 ing providence of God, permitting such things 
 for the trial of some, the instruction of others, 
 and the better carrying on his own designs i 
 In succeeding revivals of religion, the like 
 differences* have sometimes taken place a- 
 mong the main instruments, and from as tri- 
 vial causes ; and though they have not ob- 
 tained without fault in some, and inconven- 
 I ience to many ; yet the event has proved them 
 | no hindrance upon the whole. The work 
 
 * To mention only one by anticipation,— the unhappy 
 dispute between Luther and Zuinglius, and their re- 
 spective followers, concerning the words, “ This is my 
 body.” The difference between them was little more 
 than imaginary ; but the mischiefs it occasioned were 
 real, important, and numerous, and would probably 
 have stifled the Reformation in its birth, if it had no*. 
 : been so remarkably under an almightv protection. 
 
BOOK II 
 
 PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL 
 
 468 
 
 has become more diffusive, and more incon- 
 testable, when persons of different tempers, 
 sentiments, and talents, who seemed to super- 
 ficial observers as the heads of different par- 
 ties, have laboured with equal zeal and suc- 
 cess in advancing the one great design of the 
 gospel. As a skilful gardener raises many 
 plants in a little spot of ground, and removes 
 them afterwards to places where they will 
 have more room to grow and flourish ; so 
 they who are designed for extensive useful- 
 ness, are often first reared within a little com- 
 pass, within the sight and knowledge of each 
 other, where they are sheltered and strength- 
 ened, while tender, by their mutual advices, 
 prayers and examples, and seem to have only 
 one heart and one mind. But were they al- 
 ways to continue thus closely connected, no 
 one would have room to expand according to 
 the measure of gifts and services which the 
 Lord has appointed them ; therefore they are 
 thinned and transplanted : either persecutions 
 from without, or weaknesses, mistakes, or 
 jealousies among themselves, scatter them afar, 
 to places and undertakings they had no thoughts 
 of, and which would not have been otherwise 
 attempted. 
 
 The apostle Paul, with his companion Silas 
 (Acts xvi.), proceeded, as has been mentioned, 
 through Syria and Cilicia, to the parts he 
 had formerly visited. When he came to Ly- 
 stra, he chose Timothy for his associate and 
 companion in his journey, who it is probable 
 had been converted by his ministry, and a wit- 
 ness to his suffering^ for the gospel when he 
 was there before. Timothy was of Jewdsh 
 extract by the mother’s side, and carefully 
 educated from his infancy in the knowledge 
 of the scriptures ; but his father was a Greek. 
 This circumstance being generally known to 
 the Jews, and likely to render him less ac- 
 ceptable among them, Paul, to obviate their 
 prejudices, directed him to be circumcised ; 
 thus shewing his readiness to become all 
 things to all men, so far as was consistent 
 with a good conscience, and conducive to edi- 
 fication : for though, when the observance of 
 the Mosaic law was insisted on as necessary 
 to salvation, he steadily opposed it, and would 
 not admit the least addition to the doctrine of 
 free justification by the blood of Christ, he 
 was willing to permit it to the Jewish con- 
 verts in their present situation, and to accom- 
 modate himself to their weakness, for their 
 advantage. He had before withstood the 
 circumcision of Titus, who was a Gentile 
 when it was urged as a necessary point ; but 
 now that debate was settled in favour of gos- 
 pel-liberty ; he proposed the circumcision of 
 Timothy himself. The seeming inconsistence 
 of his conduct vanishes, if the difference of 
 the two cases is rightly understood ; but those 
 who act from the most enlarged principles, 
 who know when and in what points resolu- 
 tion is necessary, and when and how far it is 
 
 expedient to yield to others, will always be 
 thought inconstant and inconsistent by the 
 zealots of parties. In the course of his pro- 
 gress, he delivered in every city, the decree 
 lately determined at Jerusalem, which, though 
 primarily directed to Antioch, was of equal 
 force, as a rule and bond of peace, in all 
 places where there were both Jewish and Gen- 
 tile converts. Thus, having watered his for- 
 mer planting, he proceeded to preach in 
 Phrygia and Galatia. The route of the gos- 
 pel was directed by the Spirit of God, who 
 restrained the apostle from entering the pro- 
 vince which is called, by way of distinction, 
 the Proconsular Asia, of which Ephesus was 
 the capital : not that this country was to be 
 excluded from the knowledge of Christ ; for 
 St. Paul preached in many parts of it after- 
 wards with great success (Acts xix. 10); 
 but the proper season was not yet come, the 
 Lord having an important service for them 
 first in another place. For the same reason, 
 and by the same influence, they were pre- 
 vented going into Bithynia, which they had 
 some thoughts of attempting. Thus, in a 
 manner undetermined where they were to la- 
 bour, they came to Troas, a sea-port in the 
 Archipelago; and when their journey was 
 now bounded by the sea, they received a fur- 
 ther intimation of the Lord’s will, and found 
 that he had been leading them in the right 
 way ; for they were brought to a port proper 
 for embarking to the place where the Lord 
 had designed to send them. 
 
 A. D. 51.] Here St. Paul had a vision by 
 night, of a man standing by him, whose garb 
 and expression intimated his country, and 
 entreating him, saying, “ Come over into 
 Macedonia, and help us.” This vision was 
 attended with such circumstances as left no 
 room to doubt either its origin or meaning ; 
 so that, when he had communicated it to his 
 companions, they assuredly collected, that the 
 Lord called them into Macedonia. Accord- 
 ingly they took shipping, and having a fa- 
 vourable wind, they soon arrived at Neapolis ; 
 from w’hence they proceeded by land to Phi- 
 lippi, a place of note, and a Roman colony. 
 Their preaching and continuance in this city, 
 which, in time, became the seat of a flourish- 
 ing church, was productive of certain interest- 
 ing and important events. 
 
 On the Sabbath-day they went out of the 
 city to a place by the river side (a usual re- 
 sort of the Jews for the exercise of public 
 prayer), where, meeting with some women, as 
 it should seem, before the rest were assem- 
 bled, they spake freely of the great subject 
 which was always uppermost in their hearts 
 and mouths. One of them, named Lydia, a 
 native of Thyatira, and then resident at Phi- 
 lippi, gave a peculiar attention to St. Paul’s 
 discourse : the reason is assigned, the Lord 
 opened her heart. The rest heard the same 
 words ; but the hearts of all are dull, con* 
 
CHAP. I. AFTER THE . 
 
 tracted, and averse to spiritual truths, so that, 
 without a divine interposition, the most power- 
 ful speakers speak in vain. Lydia heard to 
 good purpose : she believed, and was imme- 
 diately baptized, with her family, and gladly 
 received the messengers of gospel-grace into 
 her house. 
 
 Continuing to preach in this place so long 
 as they remained at Philippi, they were often 
 met by a young woman under the influence 
 of an evil spirit, who, as they passed by, cried 
 after them, These men are the servants of the 
 Most High God, who declare unto us the way 
 of salvation, in like manner as the demoniacs 
 had sometimes confessed our Saviour’s autho- 
 rity and mission. It may seem strange that 
 an evil spirit should testify in favour of the 
 preachers of the gospel ; but perhaps it was 
 either to make them suspected of a confede- 
 racy, or to draw them into a snare. How- 
 ever, when this had been often repeated, St. 
 Paul, who could not bear to be spoken well 
 of by a spirit which was not of God, com- 
 manded him, in the name of Jesus, to quit 
 his possession. The spirit, compelled to obey, 
 left the woman instantly. But this opened 
 a way to give them disturbance in another 
 manner. Her masters, to whom she had for- 
 merly brought great profit by her divining ta- 
 lent, finding she was no longer willing or able 
 to procure them advantage by that means, ap- 
 prehended Paul and Silas, as the chief instru- 
 ments of their loss, and brought them before 
 the magistrates with the heavy charge (which 
 is usually revived when the preaching of the 
 gospel interferes with the views of interest), 
 that they exceedingly disturbed the peace of 
 the city, by attempting innovations contrary 
 to the established religion : they styled them 
 Jews to the Romans, on account of their open 
 abhorrence of idol-worship, which was care- 
 fully supported by the Roman laws and cus- 
 toms. The unthinking multitude soon joined 
 in the alarm, and the magistrates, easily pre- 
 judiced by the terms of the accusation, in- 
 stead of acting as impartial judges, declared 
 themselves parties in the affair. Without ex- 
 amining into particulars, they violently tore 
 off the clothes of Paul and Silas ; and, hav- 
 ing caused them to be beat with many stripes, 
 they cast them into prison, giving the jailor 
 a particular charge to keep them safely. This 
 command was executed with severity. He 
 thrust them into the inner prison, and fas- 
 tened their feet in the stocks. But no walls 
 or dungeons can exclude those comforts of 
 God’s Spirit which are promised to those who 
 suffer for righteousness sake, and which are 
 able to overpower the sense of every incon- 
 venience. Paul and Silas were so little dis- 
 composed by this cruel treatment, that they 
 joyfully sung hymns of praise to God, and 
 were heard by the other prisoners, who proba- 
 bly were surprised at the cheerfulness they 
 expressed in such circumstances. But they 
 
 ASCENSION. 469 
 
 were surprised much more at the testimony 
 the Lord immediately gave in behalf of his 
 servants ; for, while they were thus engaged, 
 on a sudden the earth trembled ; the very 
 foundations of the prison were shaken, so that 
 all the doors flew open, and every one’s fet- 
 ters and bonds were instantly loosed. The 
 noise awakened the jailor, who, supposing the 
 prisoners were all escaped, and dreading the 
 consequences, in the first transports of his 
 terror, drew his sword to slay himself ; for 
 so the false wisdom of the Heathens, ignorant 
 of the awful realities beyond the grave, taught 
 men to avoid the pressure of present troubles 
 by desperately plunging themselves into an 
 unknown eternity. But St. Paul, though 
 in another part of the prison, and in the dark, 
 was made acquainted with his purpose, and 
 called out to him with a loud voice, “ Do 
 thyself no harm ; we are' all here.” It in- 
 creased his surprise to find that his design 
 was made known to them, and that those 
 whom he had treated so hardly should forget 
 all their wrongs and interest themselves in his 
 preservation. Such an instance of forgiveness 
 and tenderness to an enemy, deeply affected 
 him, and convinced him of the wrong he had 
 done them, more forcibly than the sharpest 
 expostulations could have done. This is in- 
 deed the peculiar triumph of a Christian, to 
 overcome evil with good. He immediately 
 called for a light, and, in an agonyof guilt and 
 terror, sprung in, and cast himself at the feet 
 of those over whom he had so lately tyrannized. 
 After this expression of his respect, and com- 
 punction for the injury he had done them, he 
 brought them out, and addressed them with 
 that question, of the last importance to every 
 awakened soul, “ Sirs, what must I do to be 
 saved ?” Paul and Silas, who had but one 
 answer to this question, suited to every rank 
 of life, and to sinners of every degree, di- 
 rected him to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ 
 as the only and infallible means of salvation. 
 This faith the Lord was pleased to give ; so 
 that, when he had brought them to his house, 
 and heard them explain the doctrine more at 
 large, he believed, and was baptized with all 
 his family. Upon this his sorrow was turned 
 into permanent joy, and now it appeared why 
 the Lord had permitted his servants to be thus 
 rudely handled. Amongst other reasons, it 
 was on the account of this jailor, who would 
 otherwise have remained a stranger to the gos- 
 pel, if the Lord, in the unsearchable riches of 
 his mercy, had not thus sent it to him, and, by 
 the concurrent dispensations of his providence, 
 disposed him to receive it with thankfulness, 
 as life from the dead. It likewise proved the 
 vanity of all attempts to suppress the truth. 
 The magistrates and people abused the preach- 
 ers, and put them in prison ; but the effect 
 was quite contrary to their intentions, for by 
 this means the jailor, the instrument of their 
 cruelty, with his household, were converted, 
 
BOOK II. 
 
 470 PROGRESS OF 
 
 and thus the apostle’s enemies, through the 
 over-ruling hand of God, became subservient 
 to his design, and helped him to some of the 
 first members of this new church. 
 
 The jailor, thus made partaker of the faith, 
 expressed his gratitude to his prisoners : he 
 washed their stripes, and set meat before them, 
 and was soon freed from any suspence on their 
 account ; for, in the morning, the magistrates 
 sent him orders to dismiss them from confine- 
 ment. But St. Paul was willing to let them 
 know that they had failed in their duty, and 
 acted against those very' laws and customs, of 
 which, as Romans, they professed to be so 
 tenacious. A citizen of Rome was not liable 
 to bonds or scourging, and a subject of Rome, 
 though not a citizen, could not be legally pu- 
 nished till he had been permitted to answer 
 his accusers face to face, Acts, xxv. 16. The 
 apostle was injured in both these respects; 
 they had punished him without trial, and they 
 had bound and beat him, though he was a 
 Roman : he therefore asserted his privilege. 
 He might have insisted on satisfaction ; but 
 he was a Christian, a willing disciple of a suf- 
 fering Saviour : he had been once a persecu- 
 tor himself, and had obtained forgiveness : 
 therefore he found it easy to forgive. His 
 remonstrance made the magistrates willing 
 to submit to his terms ; they came them- 
 selves, and honourably dismissed their pri- 
 soners, entreating them, that, to prevent far- 
 ther inconveniencies, they would withdraw 
 from the city ; which they did, after they 
 had taken leave of Lydia and the other dis- 
 ciples. 
 
 A. D. 52.] From hence, passing through 
 Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thes- 
 salonica, the residence of the Roman gover- 
 nor. Here Paul, according to his usual cus- 
 tom, applying himself first to the Jews, dis- 
 coursed and reasoned with them in their sy- 
 nagogues three successive Sabbaths, out of 
 their own scriptures, opening * the true sense 
 of the prophecies concerning the Messiah, 
 and then shewing their accomplishment in the 
 person of Jesus. His labour was not wholly 
 in vain ; some of them believed, and became 
 disciples ; but the rest, and the greater part, 
 discovered the indignation and enmity of their 
 hearts against the truth. Under such leaders, 
 the unthinking rabble are easily instigated to 
 do mischief ; so that they found no difficulty 
 to raise a tumultuous mob, who assaulted the 
 house of Jason, where Paul and Silas resided; 
 but not finding them there, they forced away 
 
 * Acts, xvii. 3. Opening and alleging ; first explain- 
 ing the true sense of the passage, and then laying down 
 plain and undeniable deductions from it, applicable to 
 the case in hand. Thus much is implied in the Greek 
 words hixvoiyui* xoli fra*ctTi6iutvos‘ A proper model for 
 preachers and writers in divinity. How many contro- 
 versies would cease, how much time would be redeem- 
 ed, how many offences would be avoided, if it was uni- 
 versally followed, if the scriptures were explained in 
 their true sense and connection, and nothing advanced 
 but what could be fairly deduced from such an explana- 
 tion. 
 
 THE GOSPEL 
 
 Jason, and some of the new believers, before 
 the magistrates. The accusation was, that 
 the preachers of the gospel, who, from the 
 effect of their doctrine in disturbing the false 
 peace* of sin, began to be sufficiently describ- 
 ed, when spoken of as men who turned the 
 world upside down, and threw all into con- 
 fusion wherever they appeared, were come 
 thither also ; that Jason had received and 
 countenanced them; and that their funda- 
 mental tenets were inconsistent with obedi- 
 ence to government, since they professed and 
 inculcated subjection to one Jesus, whom they 
 styled their King. By such misrepresenta- 
 tions, the enemies of the gospel-doctrine have 
 often aimed to render it obnoxious to the ci- 
 vil powers. The rulers were alarmed at this 
 accusation ; but being unwilling to proceed 
 to extremities, though obliged to take some 
 notice of what seemed to affect the interest of 
 Caesar, they took sufficient security of Jason 
 and the rest for their good behaviour, and dis- 
 missed them without farther trouble. In the 
 mean time, Paul and Silas, against whom the 
 violence had been chiefly intended, were sent 
 safely away by the brethren to Berea, where, 
 regardless of their past dangers and sufferings, 
 they pursued their endeavours to recommend 
 the gospel to the Jews; and, in this place, 
 they met with a friendly reception. It is said 
 the Bereans were more noble than those of 
 Thessalonica ; for to be open to conviction 
 and information is the mark of a noble mind : 
 they were of a more free and ingenuous tem- 
 per, not slaves to the fear of man, or the 
 power of prejudice : they heard with candour, 
 and examined the scriptures themselves to 
 find the truth. The gospel of Christ is suited 
 to give the fullest satisfaction to inquirers of 
 this spirit. Accordingly, many of them be- 
 lieved. But when the Jew's of Thessalonica 
 were informed of this, they followed Paul 
 thither, with a view to repeat the part they 
 had acted in their own city; but they came 
 too late : Paul had already planted the gos- 
 pel ; and, leaving Silas and Timothy, who 
 were less obnoxious, to remain a little longer 
 with the brethren, he was conducted first to- 
 wards the sea, to elude the attempts of his 
 enemies, and afterwards to Athens, a city 
 which, for its eminence in literature and all 
 the polite arts, was styled, by general consent, 
 the seat of the Muses. 
 
 While the apostle waited at Athens for the 
 arrival of Silas and Timothy, his . spirit was 
 inflamed with a lively concern for the honour 
 
 * It is still thought a sufficient and unanswerable ob- 
 jection against the preaching of the gospel, to say. These 
 opinions cause divisions ana separations, and break the 
 peace of families and communities. We may bring the 
 point to a short issue : Did our Lord foretell this as one 
 sure and perpetual consequence that would attend the 
 prevalence of his gospel, or did he not ? If he did not, 
 what is the meaning of Matth. xii. 54—36 ? If he did, 
 then bv what name are we to call that manner of preach- 
 ing, which has either no tendency, or no power, to dis- 
 turb the false and dangerous peace of a wicked world ? 
 
CHAP. I. 
 
 AFTER THE 
 
 of God, and the welfare of souls : it grieved 
 him to see a city, so famed for refinement and 
 philosophy, wholly given to idolatry, and, with 
 respect to the most important concerns of life, 
 quite upon a level with the most ignorant 
 barbarians. St. Paul is generally allowed, by 
 those who will allow him little else, to have 
 been a man of taste and letters. He was now 
 at Athens, the school of philosophy, and centre 
 of the fine arts : painting, statuary, architec- 
 ture, and elegance appeared in every quarter : 
 but the affecting observation he had made of 
 the state of the inhabitants, so filled his mind, 
 that he could take little notice of any thing 
 else. To those who understand the nearness 
 and importance of an eternal state, the high- 
 est improvements of unsanctified reason afford 
 little more entertainment than the trivial sports 
 of children, or the more wretched amusements 
 of lunatics. He was so struck with the ig- 
 norance, superstition, and wickedness of the 
 people, that he could relish none of the beau- 
 ties of the place; but, full of a different emo- 
 tion, compassionately laboured to inspire them 
 with true wisdom. He was soon encounter- 
 ed by the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers, 
 the respectable advocates for those principles 
 of pleasure and pride, to one or the other of 
 which all men are enslaved till the gospel sets 
 them free. Here, in some measure accom • 
 modating himself to the prevailing taste, he 
 reasoned with the reasoners, and silenced the 
 wise men of the world, in their own way, by 
 dint of argument ; but the contest was un- 
 equal ; their syllogisms soon failed them ; and 
 they were forced to retreat to their last re- 
 fuge, an affected wit and raillery. Unable to 
 answer the force of his discourses, they tri- 
 umphed without a victory, and expressed their 
 contempt of him and his doctrine by a word 
 of the lowest and most despicable significa- 
 tion, which our version not improperly ren- 
 ders a babler; but perhaps no term in our 
 language can sufficiently express the poign- 
 ancy of the original. Others so entirely mis- 
 took the state of the question, that they thought 
 he was a publisher or setter forth of strange 
 gods ; they thought that Jesus and the Re- 
 surrection were deities they had not before 
 heard oi ; and his discourse always turning 
 upon these topics, they concluded, indeed with 
 reason, that his only business and desire was 
 to proclaim to all the divinity whom Ijp wor- 
 shipped. And it is no wonder that, from a 
 half-attention to his words, they should be in- 
 duced to personify the Resurrection as a de- 
 ity, since the Heathens had altars erected, 
 not only to Honour, Virtue, and Liberty, 
 but to the vices and disorders of human na- 
 ture, such as Fear, Shame, Famine, and Fe- 
 vers. 
 
 This weak mistake gave occasion to sum- 
 mon him before the council, who bore the 
 name of Areopagus, or the Hill of Mars, 
 from the place where they met, an assembly 
 
 ASCENSION. 471 
 
 in high estimation for authority and wisdom, 
 and whose particular office it was to superin- 
 tend the public religion, and preserve it from 
 innovation. It does not appear, however, 
 that he underwent a formal trial before them. 
 His opponents seemed rather disposed to gra- 
 tify their curiosity than their malice : their 
 politeness, perhaps, made them something 
 averse to the severer forms of prosecution, 
 and content with the less invidious, though 
 to many not less formidable methods, of scorn 
 and ridicule. Their prevailing passion was 
 the love of novelty ; they spent their time in 
 telling or hearing some new, or, as the Greek 
 expresses it, some newer thing. The expected 
 news lost its relish the moment it was known : 
 and they were always in search for something 
 newer still ; therefore the gospel, though the 
 strongest, as well as the most important news 
 they had ever met with, could not engage such 
 volatile minds : while it was the newer thing, 
 the freshest news, they were content to listen ; 
 but as soon as they were satisfied what it was, 
 they wanted to hear something else. The 
 apostle no where met with so little success as 
 amongst this polite, learned, ignorant people 5 
 and wherever this Athenian spirit prevails, it 
 retards the success of the gospel more than all 
 the arts and violence of persecution. 
 
 The discourse of the apostle on this occa- 
 sion is equally a standard of fine address and 
 of just reasoning He had observed their reli- 
 gious rites and woiship with attention, and had 
 selected from among their numerous altars the 
 one which was most fit for his purpose. The 
 beauty of his exordium is obscured by the 
 expression, too superstitious , in our version : 
 the Greek word to which it answers is ambi- 
 guous, and suited to bespeak a favourable 
 hearing, rather than importing an abrupt re- 
 proof ; q, d. “ I perceive, indeed, Athenians, 
 that you are observant of the invisible powers 
 in an unusual manner ; for, besides the va- 
 riety of temples and altars which you have in 
 common with other cities of Greece, I ob- 
 served one with a peculiar inscription, TO THE 
 unknown GOD. This God, as yet unknown 
 to you, is he whom I serve ; and the new 
 doctrine, of which you ask me, relates to his 
 will and worship.” This was the most happy 
 and pertinent medium to enlarge from that 
 could be imagined. The Athenians, always 
 eager to hear some newer thing, expected an 
 account of new deities, but Paul referred them 
 to an altar and inscription among themselves, 
 which, merely by being obvious, had escaped 
 their reflection. It is to be feared that this 
 observation and inscription may suit the de- 
 votions of many who think themselves Chris- 
 tians. The same address is visible in his 
 whole argument. To the Jews he quoted 
 the books of the holy scriptures ; but with 
 these Heathens he appealed to the volume of 
 creation, and argued, from the impresses of 
 power, wisdom, and goodness everywhere dis- 
 
472 PROGRESS OF 
 
 played before their eyes, the excellence and 
 independence of their great Author, how lit- 
 tle he stood in need of men, and how un- 
 worthy of his divine majesty all their labo- 
 rious inventions were, while they thought to 
 honour him by worshipping the works of their 
 own hands : he asserted the providence and 
 omnipresence of God, that he was the foun- 
 tain of life and all its comforts, the supreme 
 disposer of all events, and the common Father 
 of mankind, confirming this part of his doc- 
 trine by a quotation from Aratus, one of their 
 own poets. He afterwards proceeded to the 
 topics of revelation, a resurrection to future 
 life, and a final judgment by the man Christ 
 Jesus. It would require too much room to 
 point out particularly the spirit, propriety, and 
 evidence of this short sermon. But no ora- 
 tory or reasoning can change the heart. The 
 effect was the same, as maybe observed amongst 
 ourselves, when much inferior instruments de- 
 clare the truths of God : some mocked, and 
 accounted this wisdom the merest folly; others, 
 pleased with his manner, and perhaps affected 
 with some transient emotions of mind, ex- 
 pressed a willingness to hear him again ; and 
 a few, a very few, believed, among whom was 
 Dionysius one of the Areopagite judges. 
 
 Having so little encouragement to prolong 
 his stay at Athens, the apostle proceeded to 
 Corinth, at that time accounted the chief city 
 of Greece. Here he unexpectedly found 
 companions prepared for him (Acts xviii.). 
 Aquila, a native of Pontus, by birth a Jew, 
 with Priscilla his wife, had received the faith 
 of the gospel in Italy, from whence they had 
 lately been constrained to remove by an edict 
 of the emperor, enjoining all Jews to depart 
 from Rome. Whether the Christians were 
 particularly aimed at by the name of Jews in 
 this decree is uncertain ; but as their Lord 
 and Master had lived in Judea, and the first 
 preachers and converts were generally of that 
 nation, perhaps, likewise, because they asserted 
 and proved their doctrines from those books 
 for which the Jews professed the highest ve- 
 neration, the Christians were for some time 
 considered as Jews by most of the Heathens. 
 This happy pair, partners in faith and affec- 
 tion, were led by that Divine Providence 
 which certainly, though secretly, guides the 
 steps of his servants, to seek a retreat in Co- 
 rinth, about the time St. Paul arrived there. 
 They soon became acquainted, and, of course, 
 intimate. He often mentions them in his 
 writings, as having, upon many occasions, af- 
 forded him help and comfort ; for, as in na- 
 ture so in grace, none are so sufficient to them- 
 selves but they may be glad of assistance from 
 others, even from such as are in many respects 
 their inferiors. They abode and wrought to- 
 gether, being of the same business ; for though 
 St. Paul well understood his liberty, and that, 
 as a preacher of the gospel, he had a right to 
 expect a maintenance from those to whom he 
 
 THE GOSPEL BOOK II. 
 
 ministered, yet he condescended to work as 
 a common handicraft, at the employment of 
 making tents. One reason of his submitting 
 to this, he informs us himself, was a prudent 
 precaution to obviate any insinuations that 
 might be raised or received against him of a 
 design to make gain of godliness, or to abuse 
 his influence to mercenary purposes. But his 
 example may farther teach us that secular 
 employments are not in themselves incompa- 
 tible with a faithful and regular discharge of 
 the gospel-ministry, when the circumstances 
 of the times may so require. But his main 
 and proper business, to which he always at- 
 tended, in season and out of season,* was 
 preaching the gospel of Christ. To this he 
 addressed himself at Corinth, first (as usual) 
 to the Jews, being pressed in spirit, borne on 
 by a constraining sense of the love of Christ 
 and the worth of souls, and probably more 
 confirmed and warmed by the accounts brought 
 him by Silas and Timothy, who rejoined him 
 here from Macedonia. Animated, rather than 
 discouraged, by the opposition he had formerly 
 met wdth, he strenuously urged to the Jews, 
 from their own scriptures, the proofs that 
 Jesus was the Messiah, with such evidence as 
 must have gained their assent, had they not 
 been hardened and obstinate ; but when they 
 persisted in returning contradiction and de- 
 spite to his repeated labours of love, he at 
 length gave them up, and told them, that 
 having discharged his duty and his conscience, 
 their blood would be upon their own heads ; 
 that their guilt was most aggravated, and 
 their destruction approaching : and that, for 
 the future, he would frequent their synagogues 
 no more, but address himself to the Gen- 
 tiles. He accordingly preached in the house 
 of one Justus, near the synagouge, and though 
 most of the Jews were hardened beyond the 
 reach of conviction, yet the Lord had a small 
 remnant amongst them here likewise. Cris- 
 pus, a chief ruler, or president of the syna- 
 gogue, believed with all his house ; and of 
 the Heathens many were converted and bap- 
 tized. 
 
 If Corinth was less celebrated than Athens 
 for philosophy and science, it was more so for 
 riches and luxury, which are no less powerful 
 hinderances to the reception of the truth. This 
 consideration, joined to the violent spirit of 
 his opposers, might perhaps have prompted 
 
 * 2 Tim. iv. 2. Be instant in season and out of sea- 
 son : not unseasonably, as supposing a time in which it 
 would be better to forbear, but in season, at set and 
 stated times, and out of season, that is occasionally. 
 Improve every opportunity that offers, noton the Lord’s 
 day only, but on any other ; not only in a solemn and 
 full discourse, but let the glory of God, and the good of 
 souls, be your scope in every conversation. It answers 
 to the account the apostle gives of his own conduct. 
 He preached publicly, and from house to house, by night 
 and by day, Acts xx. 20, 51. As a physician, besides his 
 ordinary round of practice, is ready to aflord his help 
 upon every sudden application, this should be the aim 
 of a gospel-minister ; he should be constant to all his 
 stated appointments, and willing to make the most ot 
 eveiy unexpected call to service. 
 
CHAP. I. AFTER THE 
 
 him to a speedy departure ; but the Lord, 
 whom he served, appeared to him in a vision, 
 and bid him not be afraid or discouraged, but 
 continue to preach, assuring him his labour 
 should not be in vain ; for, though present 
 appearances might promise but little success 
 [a. d. 53], he had many people known to 
 himself in that proud, sensual, idolatrous city. 
 It signifies but little what enemies or difficul- 
 ties a faithful minister may be threatened with, 
 if the Lord has many people in that place ; 
 he who sent him to call them out of darkness 
 into his marvellous light, will support and de- 
 fend him, so that either none shall rise against 
 him, or at least none be able to prevail to his 
 real harm. That the people, whom the Lord 
 here spoke of as his own, were no better, ei- 
 ther by nature or practice, than others, is 
 plain from what the apostle reminds them of 
 after their conversion, 1 Cor. vi. 9 — 11. We 
 learn from the same epistle (chap. ii. 3), 
 that his conflicts and exercises at this time 
 were very great. Supported, however, by 
 such a seasonable and gracious encourage- 
 ment, he remained there a year and a half ; 
 and all the efforts of his enemies were insuf- 
 ficient either to damp his zeal and activity, 
 or to prevent the success of his labours, 
 though the Lord permitted them to try what 
 they could do, and thereby more clearly shewed 
 that the safety of his servants depends on him- 
 self. 
 
 When Gallio was proconsul of Acliaia (who, 
 as it seems by Luke’s expression, entered up- 
 on his government during the apostle’s abode 
 at Corinth), the Jews appeared tumultuously 
 before the tribunal, with the old accusation, 
 that he subverted the laws of Moses. Gallio 
 prevented Paul’s intended defence, and refused 
 to interfere in points foreign to the Roman 
 laws : He said, that if their charge had been 
 laid for any trespass or immorality, he would 
 readily have taken cognizance of the affair, 
 but should leave them to settle their religious 
 disputes between themselves. With this re- 
 primand he dismissed, or rather drove them 
 from his presence. The conduct of Gallio 
 in this affair has been considered in differ- 
 ent lights, and praised or censured accord- 
 ingly. History gives him a fair character for e- 
 quity and moderation ; and it must be allow- 
 ed he judged right, in refusing to interpose 
 the civil authority to give sanction to perse- 
 cution : yet he seems, upon this occasion, to 
 have discovered that political indifference 
 which has prompted so many great and wise 
 men, in the world’s estimation, to treat the 
 gospel as a trivial scheme unworthy their no- 
 tice. He rather shewed contempt than impar- 
 nality : he would not hear either party, be- 
 cause he despised both, and therefore drove 
 them away with scorn. In fine, the Jews not 
 only failed in their design, but were themselves 
 assaulted by some of the inhabitants, who beat 
 Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the svnagogue. 
 
 ASCENSION. 473 
 
 even in the open court, and Gallio, though he 
 saw it, cared for none of these things ; which 
 is a further proof that he was influenced by 
 some other motives than impartiality and a re- 
 gard to justice, or he would not have suffered 
 his authority to be insulted, and a person (upon 
 his own principles innocent) abused before bis 
 face. I suppose (though it is a controverted 
 point) that the Sosthenes here mentioned was 
 at that time an enemy to Paul, and joined in 
 the prosecution attempted against him. Per- 
 haps he vras afterwards converted, and accom- 
 panied the apostle in his travels, as this name 
 is prefixed, with his own, to his first epistle 
 to the Corinthians. 
 
 Nero, a. d. 54.] St. Paul, after about 
 two years stay in Greece, from his first land- 
 ing at Macedonia, embarked at Cenchrea, the 
 port of Corinth, intending for Syria. In this 
 voyage they touched at Ephesus, the chief 
 city of the Proper or Proconsular Asia. Here, 
 as in other places, he entered into the Jews 
 synagogues, desirous, if possible, to lead them 
 to the knowlege of the Messiah. At this ci- 
 ty he left his dear companions Aquila and 
 Priscilla, who would willingly have detained 
 him longer ; but St. Paul having formed the 
 plan of his progress in such a manner as he 
 judged most suitable to his main design, 
 readily sacrificed the dictates of affection to the 
 calls of duty, and persisted in his purpose to 
 be at Jerusalem on the approaching passover : 
 he took leave of them therefore, with a pro- 
 mise of returning at a proper time, and pro- 
 ceeding on his voyage, landed at Caesarea, 
 from whence he went to Jerusalem. His stay 
 here was not long : having answered the design 
 of his journey, and conversed with the breth- 
 ren, he revisited the places where he had for- 
 merly preached, and went first to Antioch, 
 and from thence through the provinces of Ga- 
 latia and Phrygia. In this circuit he lost no 
 time, but published the glad tidings of salva- 
 tion, and confirmed the hearts of the disciples, 
 wherever he came. 
 
 While he was on this service, there came to 
 Ephesus a Jew of Alexandria, named Apol- 
 los : he had been as yet only instructed in the 
 rudiments of the faith, so far as was commu- 
 nicated by the teaching and baptism of John ; 
 but though his knowledge was not extensive, 
 his zeal was lively and fervent, and having a 
 prompt elocution, and great readiness in the 
 scriptures, he preached concerning Christ with 
 much freedom and earnestness, according to 
 the measure of light he had received. Aquila 
 and Priscilla were amongst his hearers ; and 
 having more experience and knowledge than 
 himself, they easily perceived wherein he was 
 deficient, and, with candour and tenderness, 
 instructed him farther. This passage is wor- 
 thy the notice both of preachers and hearers. 
 What Apollos had learned, he willingly com- 
 municated; what he was yet ignorant of, he 
 as willingly received 'when proposed to him 
 
474 
 
 his zeal and humility went hand in hand. | 
 This is an amiable and thriving character. 
 The man who is faithful to present light, and 
 open to farther conviction, will soon be wise 
 and successful; the Lord yvill provide him 
 both teachers and hearers ; he shall profit ' 
 others, and be profited himself every day. The 
 prudence and moderation of Aquila and Pris- 
 cilla are no less commendable ; they did not 
 acquiesce in all he said, because he was elo- 
 quent and mighty in the scriptures ; neither 
 did they reject and disdain him because they 
 knew more than he, much less expose and re- 
 vile him as a low ignorant preacher, but they 
 spoke to him in private : they approved what 
 was right, and shewed him mildly and faith- 
 fully wherein he was defective; they com- 
 mended his zeal, and improved his knowledge. 
 With these advantages, and letters of recom- 
 mendation to the brethren, he went from thence 
 to Corinth, where he was highly serviceable 
 to the church, publicly maintaining and prov- 
 ing against the Jews, with great earnestness 
 of spirit and strength of argument, that Jesus 
 was the Messiah. 
 
 Not long after his departure (Acts xix.), 
 Paul having completed his progress through 
 the upper or interior parts of Asia Minor, re- 
 turned, according to his promise, to Ephesus. 
 Here he found some more disciples, who, like 
 Apollos, though acquainted with the doctrine 
 and baptism of John, were hitherto strangers 
 to those peculiar gifts, graces, and comforts, 
 which, as the fruits of the Holy Spirit, were 
 bestowed on the believers in Jesus ; but, by 
 the imposition of the apostle’s hands, they 
 were immediately made partakers of the same 
 benefits. 
 
 a. D. 55.] The apostle, unwilling to give 
 up his own people, the Jews, continued his 
 labours of love among them for three months, 
 if, by any means, he might bring them to the 
 acknowledgement of the truth ; but at length 
 perceiving, that, instead of yielding, they 
 hardened themselves still more, and obstinate- 
 ly laboured to traduce and defame the author 
 and way of salvation before the people, he 
 finally desisted, and selecting those who had 
 received the gospel from the many who might 
 hinder and confuse them, he formed them in- 
 to a society among themselves. He continu- 
 ed daily to preach and defend the gospel, for 
 two years afterwards, in a public school, with 
 indefatigable zeal and diligence, seconding 
 his more stated services with occasional and 
 pressing exhortations from house to house, 
 and watering the seed with many prayers and 
 tears. His labours were not in vain ; he had 
 great success, not only in the city of Ephesus, 
 but amongst many, who, resorting thither 
 from other parts, and with different views, 
 were providentially led to hear him, and be- 
 ing divinely convinced themselves, earned 
 home the joyful tidings with them: so that 
 the knowledge of the gospel was generally 
 
 BOOK JI. 
 
 spread throughout the province. The atten- 
 tion of the people was still farther excited, and 
 their prejudices softened, by the numerous 
 displays and visible tendency of that divine 
 power by which the Lord confirmed the words 
 of his servant. Many striking miracles, em- 
 blematical of the healing efficacy of gospel- 
 grace, were wrought by the most inconsider- 
 able means ; so that persons afflicted with 
 various maladies, or possessed by evil spirits, 
 were perfectly restored to health, by the ap- 
 plication of handkerchiefs or aprons that had 
 touched his body. 
 
 Among the various methods by which the 
 gospel has been opposed, one is by a feeble 
 imitation and a pretended acknowledgement 
 of some of its principles, while the heart is 
 unacquainted or unaffected with the design 
 and scope of the whole doctrine. Enmity, 
 or, at best, interest, is often the spring of 
 many attempts that are veiled under a fair 
 profession of good words ; but such attempts 
 will always issue in the dissappointment or 
 confusion of those who venture on them. An 
 instance of this kind happened at Ephesus : 
 some vagrant Jews, who made claim to a 
 power of exorcising or dispossessing evil spi- 
 rits, struck with the miracles wrought in the 
 name of Jesus, presumed to adopt this sacred 
 name into the number of their professed mys- 
 teries ; and meeting with a fit subject for the 
 exercise of their art, they undertook to adjure 
 the evil spirit to depart from a man, by the 
 name of Jesus whom Paul preached. But 
 the man, under the influence of the evil spirit, 
 insulted and exposed them ; he acknowledged 
 the authority of Jesus, and the fidelity of 
 Paul ; but, demanding farther, who they were 
 that durst make free with these names ? far 
 from obeying their summons, he fiercely as 
 saulted them, and forced them, though seven 
 in number, to flee for their lives, naked, 
 wounded, and terrified. Great indeed is 
 the power of the name of Jesus ; but when 
 not pronounced by faith, it is spoken in vain : 
 Satan laughs at such vain pretenders, and pre- 
 vails against them. So, when those who are 
 destitute of faith, undertake to write or preach 
 concerning Jesus, it will seldom prove to 
 more purpose than if they attempted to exor- 
 cise the people ; instead of delivering others 
 from the power of Satan, they are more and 
 more subjected to him themselves ; and, un- 
 less the grace of God interposes to teach them 
 better, their latter end is usually worse than 
 their beginning. 
 
 This public defeat of the enemy added to 
 the triumph of the gospel and the honour of 
 the apostle, and produced a reverence and awe 
 in the hearts of many, convincing them of 
 the power of evil spirits when not restrained, 
 and the danger of trifling with the name or 
 ministry of Christ; and many who had been 
 addicted to the magic arts (for which Ephesus 
 was peculiarly infamous) renounced their de- 
 
 PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL 
 
CHAP. I. 
 
 AFTER THE ASCENSION. 
 
 lusions, confessed their folly and wickedness 
 to the apostle, made a public profession of the 
 gospel, and, in proof that their faith and re- 
 pentance were sincere, brought the books con- 
 taining the secrets and principles of their pre- 
 tended skill, and publicly committed them to 
 the flames. These were either so numerous 
 or so dear, that the value was computed at 
 fifty thousand pieces of silver. What this 
 sum might be in our money, the learned are 
 not agreed ; the lowest calculations fix it at 
 about fifteen hundred pounds, while some 
 compute it at more than seven thousand. We 
 are not, however, sure they were all on the 
 subject of magic ; a variety of other disquisi- 
 tions might possibly contribute to enlarge the 
 pile. Curious books and curious arts had 
 been multiplied ; but the one book of truth 
 now made the rest useless and tasteless ; they 
 had now found the pearl of great price, and 
 willingly parted with their once admired 
 pebbles : and we may believe, that if the 
 worth and power of the holy scriptures were 
 once generally known, many curious libraries 
 in our days, if they escaped unburnt, would at 
 least remain unread and unnoticed. When 
 the wise thus renounced their wisdom, and 
 the artful their gain, burnt their books with 
 their own hands, and devoted themselves to 
 the study of the scriptures alone, it is once 
 more observed, so mightly grew the word of 
 God, and prevailed ! 
 
 A. D. 57.] The apostle, of whom it may 
 be said with more propriety than of Caesar, 
 that he accounted nothing done while any 
 thing remained to do, in the midst of his im- 
 portant engagements at Ephesus, was still me- 
 ditating new services ; he retained a warm 
 affection and care for his friends in different, 
 distant, and opposite quarters ; he had thoughts 
 of revisiting Macedonia and Greece, and, 
 from thence, once more to go to Jerusalem ; 
 and, not content with reviewing his past la- 
 bours, he longed to preach in places he had 
 not yet seen, — saying, After I have been 
 there, I must also see Rome : nor was Rome 
 the boundary of his views ; for from thence 
 he proposed to proceed to Spain, Rom. xv. 
 24. We are taught from our infancy to ad- 
 mire those, who, in the language of the world, 
 are styled great captains and conquerors, be- 
 cause they burned with a desire to carry 
 slaughter and terror into every part of the 
 globe, and to aggrandize their names by the 
 depopulation of countries, and the destruction 
 of their species, while this generous spirit of 
 St. Paul is almost totally overlooked : un- 
 wearied by difficulties, undismayed by dan- 
 gers, unsatisfied with the greatest success, 
 unaffected with the justest applause, he seemed 
 to lay his benevolent schemes wide as the hu- 
 man race : he reaped no profit, he sought no 
 praise ; he rejected the allurements of plea- 
 sure, to which the greatest conquerors have 
 often been irresolute slaves; he endured the 
 
 475 
 
 reproach and contempt of the people, which 
 no hero, but the true Christian, was ever 
 strong enough to bear with patience ; and all 
 this only to make others partakers of the hap- 
 piness which he enjoyed himself. However, 
 finding it necessary to continue some time 
 longer where he was, he dispatched his be- 
 loved Timothy to Macedonia, to apprize his 
 friends of his intention, and to prepare diem 
 for his visit, when a proper opportunity should 
 permit. 
 
 In the mean time (Acts xix. 23), an inci- 
 dent fell out which well illustrates the causes 
 and genius of that opposition and outcry 
 which is usually made when the power of 
 gospel-truth interferes with the passions and 
 interests of designing men. St. Paul’s great 
 success and the additions daily made to the 
 church of Christ, had a visible tendency to 
 lessen the estimation and gain of those whose 
 chief resource was in the ignorance and wick- 
 edness of the people. These were not back- 
 ward to take the alarm, and had been waiting 
 an opportunity, to shew their resentment. 
 The Lord, who holds all hearts in his own 
 hands, had restrained them hitherto, that his 
 work of grace might not be disturbed ; but 
 when the apostle was upon the point of depar- 
 ture, this restraint was in some measure taken 
 off. The temple of Diana, at Ephesus, was 
 celebrated for its magnificence far and near ; 
 so that many shrines or models of it were 
 made for sale, and in much demand. This 
 branch of business brought^ in considerable 
 gain to the silversmiths, and other mechanics; 
 but if the gospel of Christ continued to 
 spread, it was highly probable that these, with 
 many other such toys, would be little inquired 
 after. Demetrius, a leading man amongst 
 them, convening his brethren and dependants, 
 and as many as he could, whose interest seem- 
 ed more immediately affected by this novel 
 doctrine, harangued them with much address 
 and influence on a point in which they had 
 so near and mutual a concern ; he reminded 
 them, with a seasonable frankness, that their 
 gain was at stake : * this was the main argu- 
 ment; yet, as one not wholly governed by 
 mercenary views, he expressed a Very tender 
 concern for the honour of Diana, lest her 
 worship, and their advantage, should cease 
 together, as they certainly would, if this Paul 
 should be peaceably suffered to persuade the 
 people, that they can be no gods which are 
 made with hands. An appeal to the tw o pre- 
 vailing passions of mankind, interest and su- 
 perstition, is seldom made in vain. The 
 arguments of Demetrius have been employed 
 a thousand times over against the gospel, 
 
 * This is the main objection against the gospel, though 
 pretexts are industriously sought to hide it ; it alarms 
 those who thrive by the ignorance or wickedness of the 
 times ; gain is the motive, the honour of Diana the 
 plea. But it may be easily proved, that such occupa- 
 tions as are endangered by the success of the gospel, are 
 in themselves injurious to the peace and good order of 
 civil society. 
 
BOOK II. 
 
 PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL 
 
 476 
 
 though all opposers have not had his honesty 
 in avowing their leading motive. The doc- 
 trine which discountenances folly and wicked- 
 ness, will certainly be defamed and resisted 
 by all who find their account in promoting 
 them ; but as this motive is rather invidious, 
 if insisted on alone, they express likewise an 
 earnest zeal for whatever tenets have the sanc- 
 tion of authority, antiquity, or custom, with 
 which their private interest is inseparably 
 connected. He had said enough to inflame 
 his hearers; and these were sufficiently nu- 
 merous to stimulate the unthinking rabble, 
 who, though quiet till they are headed by art- 
 ful leaders, are easily roused to rage and tu- 
 mult when thus influenced, as the sea that has 
 been long calm obeys the impulse of the rising 
 gale. The outcry began by Demetrius, and 
 his companions ; Great is Diana of the Ephe- 
 sians, was soon resounded through the city ; 
 and the multitude, being informed that their 
 established religion, their stately temple, and 
 costly rites, were all in danger, rushed from 
 all parts tumultuously into the public theatre, 
 dragging two of St. Paul’s dear companions, 
 Gaius and Aristarchus, along with them, per- 
 haps with a design to throw them to the wild 
 beasts, which were kept for the barbarous 
 diversion of the people at their public games. 
 The apostle, warmly concerned for his friends 
 safety, and confiding in the goodness of his 
 cause, and the providence of his God, w r as not 
 intimidated by this violent uproar, but pur- 
 posed to face the enraged mob ; but the ear- 
 nest solicitations of the disciples, who could 
 not but be anxious for the event, restrained 
 him : and even some who had not received 
 his doctrine, from a regard to w’hat they knew 
 of his character and conduct, employed their 
 endeavours to preserve him. These, in the 
 text, are styled Asiarchs, persons of note who 
 presided in the regulation of the games. 
 Some of them sent to inform him, that in the 
 present confusion, it was not in their power 
 to protect him from violence, and therefore 
 desired he would keep in safety. Though 
 his resolution was not shaken, yet judging 
 this might be a providential intimation, that 
 it was not his duty at that time to expose him- 
 self, he desisted. The mob, thus disappointed 
 with respect to him, and secretly restrained 
 from hurting the others, continued in the ut- 
 most confusion, though few knew why they 
 were assembled, unless it was to join in the 
 cry, Great is Diana of the Ephesians, which 
 they repeated without intermission for two 
 hours. When they had thus exhausted them- 
 selves, and their passions, through weariness, 
 began to subside, a public officer of the city 
 seized the favourable moment to expostulate 
 with them concerning their behaviour ; he 
 spoke with freedom and address, but with 
 that indifference which the wise men of the 
 world so frequently discover in religious con- 
 cerns. Many deserve commendation for their 
 
 readiness to allow others the peaceable pos- 
 session of their own sentiments, who, at the 
 same time, deserve our pity, that they have 
 no inclination or leisure to inquire for them- 
 selves. He allowed, in general terms, the 
 honours of Diana, and pleaded, in behalf of 
 the men, that they had not spoken against 
 Diana in particular, or intermeddled with her 
 temple,* Acts xix. 37. This was probably 
 true in fact : St. Paul declared the folly of 
 idolatry in general, but did not enter into 
 direct confutation of any detached part of the 
 Heathen mythology : he propossd the plain 
 truth of the gospel ; and when this was re- 
 ceived, the whole system of idol-wership fell 
 to the ground of itself. He farther reminded 
 them, that if they had any just cause of com- 
 plaint, they ought to seek redress in a course 
 of law ;-j* and then hinting at the consequences 
 they were liable to, if called to a strict ac- 
 count^ for their riot, he prevailed on them to 
 separate and depart quietly. Thus the apos- 
 tle, though threatened with a most imminent 
 and formidable danger, was preserved unhurt, 
 and suffered neither in his person nor charac- 
 ter. An encouraging proof that those who 
 act in the path of duty, and depend on the 
 power of God, are equally safe in all times 
 and circumstances; no less safe when sur- 
 rounded by enraged enemies, than when en- 
 circled by kind and assiduous friends. 
 
 He did not continue long at Ephesus after 
 this tumult ; but taking leave of the disciples, 
 went to Troas, and from thence (as he had 
 purposed) to Macedonia, Acts xx. We have 
 but little account of this progress in the 
 history of the Acts ; but from some passages 
 of his epistles (2 Cor. ii. 12. 13. and vii. 5.), 
 written about that time, we are informed, that 
 his exercises and trials, both inward and out- 
 ward, were very great. His solicitous affection 
 for the churches was far from being the smallest 
 source of his troubles, and cost him many a 
 pang.§ He loved them in the bowels of Je- 
 sus Christ ; he could willingly have devoted 
 
 * The words robbers of churches , should rather be 
 rendered robbers of temples ; for though the word church 
 is now expressive of some particular places of worship, 
 it is never in the New Testament applied to buildings, 
 but to persons only. 
 
 f The servants of Christ will seldom be compelled to 
 answer for themselves in a course of law, except in those 
 places where sanguinary laws are contrived purposely 
 against them. In default of these, their adversaries will 
 often stoop to appeal from the magistrate to the mob. 
 
 X It seems, however, there was no more said of it. It 
 had been a notorious breach of the peace, but then it 
 had been against St. Paul and his companions, who had 
 sufficient favour shewen them if they came off with 
 their lives. In any other case, such a tumult would 
 have been deemed a high offence. 
 
 § 2 Cor. xi. 28. “ That which cometh on me daily.” 
 The word is tviorvs-a.tns , — and gives the idea of a camp 
 or castle hard beset with continual onsets and assaults ; 
 or of a man who has his way to force through a great 
 crowd that are coming to meet him ; so that he must 
 not only be much encumbered and hindered, but unless 
 he exerts himself to the utmost, is in danger of being 
 trampled under their feet. By this lively figure, the 
 apostle describes the part he took in the welfare of all 
 the churches. His cares on tjieir behalf were so nume- 
 rous, urgent, and continual, that they found full em. 
 ployment for his prayers, his thoughts, and his time. 
 
CHAP. I. 
 
 AFTER THE 
 
 his labours and life to each of them, but he 
 could not be with them all ; and knowing the 
 weakness of the heart, the subtlety of Satan, 
 and the obvious temptations arising from the 
 fear of man, the love of the world, and the 
 arts of false teachers, he was jealous over those 
 from whom he was absent with a godly jea- 
 lousy, 2 Cor. xi. 2. At Troas he expected 
 to have met with Titus, on his return from 
 Macedonia ; but missing him, though he had 
 favourable opportunities of preaching the gos - 
 pel at Troas (2 Cor. ii. 12. 13.), his mind 
 was not at liberty to improve them ; but he 
 hasted to be in Macedonia, that he might the 
 sooner be satisfied. There, he tells us him- 
 self, he had no rest, but was troubled on every 
 side; without were fightings, within were 
 fears ; but he speaks of it as a seasonable and 
 gracious interposition of that God, whose cha- 
 racter and prerogative it is to be a comforter 
 of those that are cast down (2 Cor. vii. 6.), 
 that, in these circumstances, he was comfort- 
 ed by the coming of Titus, who relieved his 
 fears by the favourable account he brought 
 him from Corinth. 
 
 A. D. 58.] How long he staid in these 
 parts we are not told ; but, in general, that 
 he spent some time, and visited many places ; 
 and it seems to have been in this circuit that 
 he preached in Illyricum, a part of which 
 country borders upon Macedonia. He after- 
 wards proceeded to Greece, where he staid 
 three months; he intended to have embarked 
 from thence at some port, and to have pro- 
 ceeded immediately to Syria by sea ; but, up- 
 on information that his restless enemies, the 
 Jews, were plotting to intercept and kill him, 
 he determined to return through Macedonia. 
 Several of his friends offered to accompany 
 him through Asia, who, embarking before 
 him, waited for him at Troas, where he, at a 
 convenient time, joined them from Philippi, 
 and remained there seven days. 
 
 On the first day of the week, they had a 
 solemn assembly ; and St. Paul, who was to 
 take a long and last farewell of the disciples 
 there the next morning, indulged his own and 
 their affections, by protracting his discourses 
 and advices beyond the usual bounds ; he 
 spent the whole day, even till midnight, in 
 expatiating upon the pleasing topics of re- 
 deeming love. This does not, indeed, appear 
 to have been his usual practice ; but should a 
 company of believers now spend a night to- 
 gether in the exercises they best love, though 
 it were but once, and when they had no ex- 
 pectation of meeting again till they should 
 meet in glory, it would be sufficient to open 
 the mouths of prejudice and slander amongst 
 them, as regardless of the order of families, 
 and the duties of common life. Particular 
 notice is taken, that they had many lights in 
 the upper chamber, where they w'ere met, per- 
 haps to remind us, that the first Christians 
 were careful to conduct their assemblies with 
 
 ASCENSION. 477 
 
 order and propriety, so as to give no just 
 cause of offence; yet their enemies quickly 
 began to charge them with meeting in the 
 dark, and invented many false and wicked 
 slanders upon that supposition. The like 
 falsehoods have been often repeated. A young 
 man of the company, either less attentive, or 
 less warmly engaged than the rest, dropped 
 asleep, and not only lost much of an invalu- 
 able opportunity, but fell out of a window, 
 in which he was seated, from the third storey, 
 and was taken up to appearance dead ; an 
 incident which might have given those who 
 hated the apostle a farther occasion to cla- 
 mour, and to revile his unseasonable zeal ; 
 but he went down in the spirit of faith and 
 prayer, and embracing the young man, re- 
 stored him to his friends alive. After they 
 were recovered from the hurry of this event, 
 and had taken some refreshment, he resumed 
 his discourse, and continued in conference 
 with them till the break of day,* when he 
 bade them farewell. 
 
 His companions went along the coast by 
 shipping at Assos, a place not very distant, 
 and to which the apostle chose to go by land, 
 and on foot. Some think he did this by way 
 of self-denial ; but it is not likely that he, 
 who was the great asserter of evangelical and 
 filial liberty, would lay any stress upon such 
 singularities. Self may readily submit to 
 many things of this sort, and derive food, 
 complacence, and strength from them. It is 
 more probable he chose to walk, either that 
 he might embrace occasions of service by the 
 way, or for the advantage of leisure and re- 
 tirement ; for Christians engaged in a very 
 public sphere of life (as he was) are glad tc 
 redeem opportunities of being alone, at the 
 price of some inconveniences. But this cir- 
 cumstance is mentioned as characterising the 
 simplicity of his spirit; though greatly ho- 
 noured, and greatly beloved, he thought it not 
 beneath him to walk from place to place, like 
 an obscure person. 
 
 Embarking at Assos, and having touched 
 at Mitylene and Samos, intermediate places, 
 they arrived in a few days at Miletus. St. 
 Paul purposely passed Ephesus, that he might 
 not be detained or grieved by the many dear 
 friends he had in that city ; for he was resol- 
 ved, if possible, to be at Jerusalem on the ap- 
 proaching day of Pentecost ; but from Mile- 
 tus he sent for the elders or bishops of the 
 church at Ephesus, to receive his final charge 
 and benediction. When they came, he ad- 
 dressed them in a solemn and affectionate dis- 
 course. The substance of it, which is re- 
 
 * This, as we have observed, was upon a particular 
 occasion: they expected to see each other no more, and 
 hardly knew how to part. The like circumstances might 
 justify such protracted meetings of Christian friends 
 still; but, in general, they are to be avoided. If fre- 
 quently indulged, they would break in upon other things, 
 indispose those who attend for the ordinary duties of 
 their stations, be prejudicial to health, and, for thes» 
 and other reasons, prove a cause of offence. 
 
BOOK II 
 
 PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL 
 
 47 3 
 
 corded for our instruction, if considered only 
 as a piece of oratory, has been often admired 
 and celebrated by critics ; but there are strokes 
 in it, the force and beauty of which no critic 
 can truly relish, except he has tasted of the 
 same spirit which filled and animated the a- 
 postle’s heart when he spoke it. 
 
 He began with an appeal to themselves 
 concerning his conduct while resident among 
 them, and reminded them of the diligence, 
 fidelity, and tenderness which he had mani- 
 fested in the course of his ministry, how he 
 had seconded his public instructions with pri- 
 vate and repeated exhortations, watering them 
 both with many prayers and tears : he inform- 
 ed them of the object and service of his present 
 journey, and how uncertain he was what the 
 issue might prove to himself. But though he 
 had general intimations from the Spirit of 
 God, to expect afflictions and bonds in every 
 place, his determination was fixed ; v he had 
 counted the cost, and saw that nothing he 
 could meet with was worth his serious thought, 
 so that he might be able to fulfil his ministry 
 with honour, and to finish his course with 
 joy ; * but this he said, he was assured of, 
 that the pleasing opportunities he had enjoy- 
 ed with the believers at Ephesus, and in that 
 neighbourhood, were ended ; and that they 
 now saw and heard him for the last time. 
 Only those who know the endeared affection 
 that subsists between a minister of Christ and 
 those to whom God has made him the in- 
 strument of saving their souls, can judge of 
 the emotion with which he spoke, and his 
 friends heard, this part of his discourse. When 
 he had thus touched and engaged their ten- 
 derest passions, and prepared them to receive 
 his parting solemn charge with a due atten- 
 tion, he exhorted them, in the most animated 
 terms, to follow his example, in performing 
 the part of faithful overseers, or bishops, in 
 the church which he now committed to their 
 care ; suggesting two most powerful motives, 
 the consideration that they were appointed to 
 this office by the Holy Ghost, and that the 
 souls entrusted to them were the church of 
 God, which he had purchased with his own 
 blood. He likewise warned them, that the 
 utmost circumspection would be needful ; for 
 that he foresaw, that, after his departure, 
 grievous wolves would enter amongst them, 
 not sparing the flock; and also, that out of 
 their own number of professed disciples, men 
 should arise, speaking perverse things. This 
 
 * The state of obedience and service which we owe to 
 him who died for us, and rose again, is often compared 
 to a race or course ; by which is intimated, the assiduity 
 with which we ought to pursue our calling, the brevity 
 of our labours and sufferings, the little attention we 
 should pay to objects around us, and that our eye and 
 aim should be constantly directed to the prize set be- 
 fore us. Every step in this race is attended with trouble; 
 but the end will be unspeakable joy. Those to whom 
 the King shall say, “ Well done, good and faithful 
 servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord,” will not 
 then complain of the difficulties they met by the way. 
 
 double danger of false teachers from without 
 and a restless curious spirit within the fold, 
 all societies of Christians are exposed to; and 
 it is a strong call to ministers in all ages, to 
 be mindful of the apostle’s charge, and to 
 take heed to the flock over which the Holy 
 Ghost has made them overseers. He again 
 put them in remembrance of his own conduct, 
 his assiduity and disinterestedness; that he 
 had not sought his own advantage, but had 
 rather wrought with his own hands, that he 
 might not be chargeable to them : finally, 
 commending them to God, and the word o 1 
 his grace, he closed his discourse, with pro- 
 posing to their consideration an aphorism of 
 our Lord Jesus, and illustrated by the whole 
 tenor of his life, “ It is more blessed to give 
 than to receive.” This sentiment, so highly 
 expressive of the spirit of the divine author, 
 which had been hitherto preserved in the 
 hearts and mouths of his disciples, was upon 
 this occasion inserted into the written word, 
 and is the only authentic tradition concern- 
 ing him which has been transmitted to the 
 church. Having finished his pathetic address, 
 he kneeled down, and prayed with them. The 
 final farewell was very affecting ; for how 
 could those who owed him their souls, who 
 had been so often comforted and edified by 
 his instructions and example, consider that 
 they were to see him no more in this world, 
 without being greatly moved. They accom- 
 panied him to the ship, and then returned. 
 The word which Luke, the historian, makes 
 use of upon this occasion, intimates, that the 
 concern was mutual : it signifies, to draw 
 
 asunder by force, to separate things closely 
 joined together ; “ When we had gotten from 
 them,” or, as it might be rendered, “ When 
 we had torn ourselves from them,” well ex 
 presses the close union of their affections, and 
 the sorrow and reluctance which both sides 
 felt at parting. 
 
 When this struggle was over, St. Paul and 
 his company put to sea with a favourable 
 gale (Acts xxi.) ; and, having touched at Coos 
 and Rhodes, two islands of note in the iEgean 
 sea, continued their course to Patara in Lycia, 
 where they seasonably met with a ship upon 
 the point of departure for Phoenicia ; and, em- 
 barking in her, they passed on the south side 
 of Cyprus, and had a safe voyage to Tyre, 
 where, that being the destined port of the 
 vessel, they landed. As he was not now very 
 far distant from Jerusalem, and had finished 
 that part of his voyage in which he was most 
 exposed to unavoidable delays by the occur- 
 rences of winds and weather, so that he had a 
 fair probability of reaching Jerusalem within 
 his prescribed time, he consented to stay seven 
 days with some disciples* he found there, 
 
 * A.wj‘tvrii revs uetO'/iras might be rendered, finding 
 out the disciples . There seems no reason for suppres- 
 sing the article, and the verb is used for finding out, 
 in consequence of some description or inquiry, Luke ii 
 
CHAP. I. AFTER THE ASCENSION. 479 
 
 Acts xxi. 4. From some of these he received 
 an intimation, by a prophetic impulse, of the 
 dangers he would be exposed to if he went to 
 Jerusalem ; but he knew whom he had be- 
 lieved, and, being convinced that his duty 
 called him to persevere, he was not intimi- 
 dated by a prospect of suffering. At t*he ap- 
 pointed time he embarked again, the disciples, 
 with their families, accompanying him to the 
 water side, where he took leave of them in an 
 affectionate prayer upon the sea-shore. * He 
 landed next at Ptolemais, a city of Palestine, 
 and staid one day with the brethren there. 
 The next day he proceeded to Caesarea, and 
 lodged at the house of Philip, the deacon, 
 who had four daughters endued with the spi- 
 rit of prophecy. 
 
 Du ring his stay at Caesarea, a prophet, 
 named Agabus, came down from Jerusalem ; 
 and, agreeable to the manner of the ancient 
 prophets, who frequently enforced their de- 
 clarations by expressive signs and actions, he 
 bound his own hands and feet with the apos- 
 tle’s girdle, assuring them in the name of the 
 Holy Spirit, that in the same manner the Jews 
 would bind the hands and feet of the man to 
 whom that girdle belonged, and deliver him 
 up as a criminal to the Roman power. Upon 
 these repeated premonitions of wha.t he was to 
 expect, not only the disciples of Caesarea, but 
 those who had come with him, earnestly en- 
 treated him to desist from his purpose. We 
 may learn from this passage that the clearest 
 intelligence of approaching danger is not al- 
 ways a sufficient warrant to decline it, even 
 when, in the judgment of our brethren, we 
 might decline it without sin. St. Paul was 
 satisfied that, all circumstances considered, it 
 was right for him to proceed : he had taken 
 his determination upon good grounds, was 
 brought so far on his way in safety ; and 
 to be told (though from an infallible autho- 
 rity) that his views of service could not be 
 completed without great risk and trouble to 
 himself, did not discourage him in the least. 
 He was less affected by the prospect of suf- 
 ferings from the Jews than by the solicitations 
 of his friends, and told them, that though they 
 could not shake his resolution, their concern 
 and importunity exceedingly distressed him. 
 ** What mean you to weep, and to break my 
 heart ? I am ready, not to be bound only, 
 but also to die for the sake of the Lord Je- 
 sus.” In this short speech we may discern a 
 spirit which is indeed the honour of human 
 nature. Inflexibly firm to his character and 
 duty, yet expressing the most tender feelings 
 for his friends, while he contemplated the se- 
 verest trials that might affect himself unmoved, 
 
 16. We readily suppose, from the apostle’s character, 
 that his first inquiry, upon coming to any place where 
 the gospel had been preached, related to those who loved 
 the Lord Jesus, and how they were to be met with. 
 
 * Could many persons now living have seen this, with- 
 out doubt they would have said, they had seen a strange 
 company of enthusiasts and fanatics. 
 
 he was almost overpowered by what he felt for 
 others. But when they saw that he was not 
 to be dissuaded, they desisted from their suit, 
 and acquiesced in the will of the Lord. 
 
 A. D. 60.] Having staid some time at Cae- 
 sarea, he proceeded to Jerusalem, his friends, 
 who had crossed the sea with him, resolving 
 to expose themselves to a share of the dangers 
 from which they could not divert him. They 
 were accompanied likewise by an old disciple, 
 named Mnason, of Cyprus, who resided at 
 Jerusalem, and had offered his house for their 
 accommodation. Their arrival was welcome 
 to the brethren ; and the next day St. Paul 
 introduced his friends to St. James and the 
 elders, who seem to have met together on pur- 
 pose to receive him. To them he gave a suc- 
 cinct account of the success with which God 
 had honoured his ministry among the Gen- 
 tiles ; which, when they had heard, they una- 
 nimously glorified God on his behalf, and re- 
 joiced to hear of the accession of such num- 
 bers to the Christian faith, Acts xxi. But at 
 the same time they gave him to understand 
 that the bulk of the Jewish converts had re- 
 ceived no small prejudice against him ; that 
 there were even many thousands who had 
 heard and believed hard things of him, as one 
 who taught the Jews to apostatize from the 
 law of Moses, and forbade them to practise 
 circumcision, and the other rites and customs 
 of their forefathers. In order to shew them 
 that this charge was groundless, they advised 
 him to join himself publicly with four men 
 who were under a vow, and to attend with 
 them the prescribed course of purification in 
 the temple. 
 
 From this passage we are led to remark, 
 that, through the weakness of human nature, 
 the prejudices of education, and the arts of 
 Satan, many thousands of professed Christians, 
 in the first and purest period of the primitive 
 church, while under the care of the apostles, 
 had imbibed from hear-say,adegreeof coldness 
 and dislike towards one of the Lord’s most 
 faithful and most favoured servants. How far 
 the methods St. Paul was advised to pursue, 
 for the removal of this misapprehension, was 
 suited to his character and known integrity, 
 is a question not easily determined. The a- 
 postles, considered in one light, as the pen- 
 men of a large part of the sacred canon of 
 faith and practice, which the Lord was pleased 
 by them to communicate to his church, were, 
 doubtless, so far under the full direction and 
 inspiration of his Holy Spirit ; but we have 
 no reason to believe, that in every part of 
 their own personal conduct they were strictly 
 infallible ; nay, we have good warrant to con- 
 clude the contrary, as St. Paul himself as- 
 sures us, that, upon a certain occasion, al- 
 ready mentioned, he withstood Peter to his 
 face, because he was to be blamed. It is 
 therefore no way derogatory from the charac- 
 ter and authority of St. Paul, to inquire, 
 
480 PROGRESS OF 
 
 whether, upon this occasion, the tenderness of 
 his spirit towards weak believers, and his de- 
 sire of becoming all things to all men, when 
 the foundation-truths of the gospel were not 
 affected, might not carry him too far: for 
 though a reserve was made by James, in fa- 
 vour of the Gentile converts, that they should 
 not be burdened with the observance of Jew- 
 ish rites ; yet the express end and design for 
 which this step was proposed to him, and for 
 which he seems to have undertaken it, was 
 that all might know or believe, not only that 
 he was not against others adhering to the Jew- 
 ish ceremonies, but that he likewise orderly 
 and statedly practised them himself. A cir- 
 cumstance which is far from being clear, or in- 
 deed probable, if we consider the strain of his 
 epistle to the Galatians : which, though the 
 addition at the close of our copies, mentions 
 as sent from Rome, is generally allowed to 
 have been written during his stay at Ephesus 
 at the latest, if not sooner ; and further, 
 that, for some time past, his converse had been 
 almost wholly confined to the Gentile believ- 
 ers, or to those churches of which they form- 
 ed the largest part. If he became as a Jew 
 amongst the Jews, it was, as he says himself 
 (1 Cor. ix. 20.), only with the hope of gaining 
 the Jews : which motive could no longer take 
 place when he had finally withdrawn from 
 their synagogues. Those, therefore, who sup- 
 pose that, in this instance, lie was over-persua- 
 ded to deviate from that openness of conduct 
 which he generally maintained, seem to have 
 some ground for their suspicion. This, how- 
 ever, is certain, his temporising did not ans- 
 wer the proposed end ; but, instead of render- 
 ing him more acceptable, involved him in the 
 greatest danger : for when the seven days 
 were almost fulfilled, some Jews of Asia, see- 
 ing him in the temple, pointed him out to the 
 multitude as the dangerous man who had a- 
 postatized from his religion, and was using 
 his endeavours, wherever he went, to draw 
 neople from the worship of God according to 
 the law of Moses. To this they added, that 
 le had profaned the holy place, by bringing 
 Gentiles with him into the temple. This they 
 conjectured from having seen Trophymus, an 
 Ephesian, with him in the city. This part 
 of the charge was wholly false : he had not 
 brought his Gentile friends into the temple ; 
 but he appeared so publicly with them upon 
 other occasions, as to give some room for a 
 surmise of this sort. If he submitted to the 
 proposal of the elders, and attended in the 
 temple himself, for the satisfaction of the Jew- 
 ish converts, he would not go so far as to be 
 ashamed of his friends, to make himself more 
 acceptable to his enemies. It is our duty to 
 avoid giving just offence ; but if we boldly 
 and honestly avow the Lord’s people upon all 
 proper occasions, without regard to names and 
 parties, we must expect to suffer from the 
 zealots of all sides. 
 
 THE GOSPEL BOOR II. 
 
 Those who first laid hands on him were 
 soon assisted by great numbers ; for the whole 
 city was moved, and the people ran together 
 from all quarters. They dragged him out of 
 the temple, and were upon the point of kill- 
 ing him, without giving him time or leave to 
 speak a word for himself : they thought him 
 absolutely in their power ; but they were pre- 
 vented by the appearance of Lysias, a Roman 
 officer, who had a post near the temple to 
 prevent or suppress insurrections. Upon the 
 first notice he received of this disturbance, he 
 came down with a party of soldiers. The 
 evangelist observes, that when the Jews ran 
 to kill Paul, the Romans ran to save him. 
 Thus the succour the Lord provides for his 
 people is always proportioned to the case, and 
 effectual to the end. When danger is pres- 
 sing, relief is speedy. Lysias, though igno- 
 rant of the cause of this tumult, judging, by 
 its violence, that the apostle must have been 
 some great malefactor, commanded him to be 
 bound with two chains ; and when he could 
 obtain no satisfactory information from the 
 people, had him removed to the castle, or Ro- 
 man station. But such was the violence of 
 the incensed unmeaning multitude, that the 
 soldiers were constrained to carry him in their 
 arms up the steps, or stairs, which led thither 
 from the temple. Here Paul obtained leave to 
 speak for himself, the tribune inclining rather 
 to a more favourable opinion of him, when he 
 found he could speak Greek ; and the people 
 attended with some composure, when they 
 heard him address them in the Hebrew, or Sy- 
 riac language. 
 
 In his discourse (Acts xxii.) he told them, 
 that he had been brought up amongst them- 
 selves, and appealing to the high priest and 
 elders concerning the zeal and earnestness with 
 which he had formerly served their party, he 
 related the extraordinary dispensation by which 
 the Lord Jesus had conquered his heart. This 
 was St. Paul’s usual method of defence, and 
 though no means are sufficient to reach the 
 heart without a divine influence, yet humanly 
 speaking, a simple and faithful declaration of 
 what God has done for our souls, seems most 
 likely to convince, or at least to soften and 
 silence, those who oppose. Enraged as the 
 Jews had been, they listened with patience to 
 his relation, till he proceeded to intimate the 
 Lord’s designs in favour of the Gentiles, and 
 that he was appointed an apostle to them. 
 Accustomed to despise the rest of mankind, 
 and to deem themselves the only people of God, 
 they could not bear this ; they interrupted 
 him instantly, and, with one voice, declared 
 it was not fit such a fellow should live upon 
 the earth : they cast off their clothes, threw 
 dust in the air, and their fury seemed to de- 
 prive them of their reason. Lysias, the tri 
 bune, secured him from their violence, but 
 commanded him to be examined by scourg- 
 ing, that he might know his crime from his 
 
CIIAP. I. 
 
 461 
 
 AFTER THE 
 
 own mouth, according to a barbarous custom 
 of putting those to torture against whom there 
 was no sufficient evidence, that their own ex- 
 torted confession might furnish some grounds 
 of proceeding against them : a custom still 
 prevalent in most countries called Christian, 
 though contrary to religion, to reason, and to 
 the common sentiments of humanity. Our 
 Lord Jesus was examined in this manner be- 
 fore Pilate ; and though the apostle was ready 
 to follow the steps of his master in suffering, 
 yet, upon this occasion, he pleaded his right 
 of exemption from such treatment, as being a 
 native of Tarsus, a city honoured with the 
 freedom of Rome. A Roman citizen was not 
 legally liable either to be bound or scourged : 
 therefore, when the tribune understood his 
 privilege, he stopped farther proceedings, and 
 was something apprehensive for himself, that 
 he had in part violated them already, by order- 
 ing him to be bound ;* but, being still desirous 
 to know what was laid to his charge, he con- 
 vened the chief priests, and the members of 
 the Sanhedrim on the next day ; and brought 
 him again before them. 
 
 The apostle, fixing his eyes upon the high- 
 priest and council, as one who was neither a- 
 shamed nor afraid to appear at their tribunal, 
 began (Acts xxiii.) with a declaration, that 
 he had lived to that day in the exercise of a 
 good conscience ; but Ananias, the high- 
 priest, forgetting his character as a judge, 
 commanded those who stood near to strike 
 him on the face. The apostle severely rebuk- 
 ed his partiality, in perverting the cause of 
 justice, and warned him of the righteous judg- 
 ment of God, the supreme Judge, who would 
 surely punish his hypocrisy f . His reply to 
 those who reproved him for speaking in such 
 terms to the high-priest, seems to intimate, 
 that the injurious treatment he had received 
 had raised an undue warmth in his spirit, 
 though it may be supposed that he denounced 
 his future doom under a superior and pro- 
 phetic impulse ; but knowing that the coun- 
 cil was composed of Pharisees and Sadducees, 
 who were at variance amongst themselves a- 
 bout several weighty points, particularly the 
 doctrine of a resurrection, he declared himself 
 a Pharisee, and that the opposition he met 
 with from the Sadducees, was owing to his be- 
 lief and hope in that doctrine. The Phari- 
 sees immediately suspended their present re- 
 sentment, to embrace the occasion offered of 
 opposing their old antagonists, and, upon this 
 issue, espoused his cause, declaring him inno- 
 cent; and said, that if a spirit or angel (the 
 existence of both which the Sadduceesdenied) 
 
 * A Roman citizen might be bound with a chain, but 
 not tied with thongs, or beaten with rods : “ Faeinus est 
 vincere eivem Romanum, scelus verberari.” Cicero. 
 
 f Thou whited wall ! — A clay wall, glossed over with 
 white, is an apt emblem of a man who carries on a ma- 
 licious design under the pretence and forms of justice. 
 Hateful is the character and dreadfully dangerous the 
 condition of such. 
 
 ASCENSION. 
 
 had spoken to him, they ought not to fight a- 
 gainst God by refusing to hear him. Upon 
 this a great dissention took place, and Lysias, 
 fearing that Paul would be torn in pieces be- 
 tween the contending parties, put an end to 
 the conference, and ordered the soldiers to 
 take him by force, and secure him in the castle. 
 It is indeed often well for believers, that the 
 people of the world, though agreed in one 
 point, namely, to oppose the gospel, are divid- 
 ed and subdivided in other respects ; so that, 
 for the sake of a favourite passion, or to cross 
 an opposite interest, they will sometimes pro- 
 tect those whom they would otherwise willing- 
 ly destroy. 
 
 The next night he received full amends for 
 all he had suffered, and was confirmed against 
 the utmost efforts of his enemies malice ; for 
 the Lord Jesus, whom he served, vouchsafed 
 to appear to him in a vision, commanded him 
 to be of good cheer, owned his gracious accep- 
 tance of his late testimony in Jerusalem, and 
 promised that noue should hinder him the 
 honour of bearing witness to his truth at Rome 
 likewise. The world has been sometimes sur- 
 prised at the confidence which the faithful 
 servants of Christ have shewn in the midst 
 of dangers, and in the face of death ; but 
 if their supports were known, the wonder 
 would cease. If the Lord speaks, his word 
 is effectual ; and when he says, Be of good 
 courage, and fear not ! his people, out of 
 weakness, are made strong. 
 
 Little were the incredulous Jews aware of 
 what a power and vigilance were engaged in 
 his preservation ; and, therefore, impatient of 
 delays, they resolved to destroy him imme- 
 diately. To manifest their resolution, and to 
 quicken their diligence, more than forty of 
 them bound themselves, under the penalty of 
 the great curse, or anathema, not to eat or 
 drink till they had killed him. They ac- 
 quainted the priests and rulers with their en- 
 gagement, and proposed that they should 
 request Lysias to order him once more to ap- 
 pear before them in council, and that then 
 those who had combined in this oath would 
 be ready to assassinate him. But no counsel 
 or device can stand against the Lord ! This 
 black design was, by some means, providen- 
 tially made known to a young man, who 
 was Paul’s sister’s son, who gave notice of it 
 first to him, and then, by his desire, to Ly- 
 sias, who, finding the Jews implacably bent 
 against Paul’s life, determined to place him 
 farther out of their reach, and accordingly 
 sent him away, that same night, under a strong 
 guard, who conducted him to Caesarea, and 
 delivered him to Felix the Roman governor, 
 together with a letter from Lysias, importing 
 his care to preserve the prisoner, because he 
 understood him to be a Roman citizen, and 
 that he had commanded his accusers to fol- 
 low. Thus the conspiracy which his enemies 
 2 P 
 
BOOK II. 
 
 482 PROGRESS OF 
 
 had formed to destroy him, proved the occa- 
 sion of his deliverance out of their hands. 
 
 In about five days afterwards, Ananias the 
 high-priest, with the elders of the council, ap- 
 peared before Felix against Paul, Acts xxiv. 
 The charge was opened by Tertullus, a venal 
 orator, or advocate, whom they had retained 
 for this purpose . who began with a commen- 
 dation of the governor, in terms which might 
 have suited the illustrious actions and wise 
 measures of princes studious of the public 
 good, but were ill applied to Felix (who was 
 infamous for his cruelty and oppression), and 
 in the name of the Jews who hated him. But 
 enmity to the gospel will make men stoop to 
 the meanest flattery and servility, if by that 
 means they have hope of gaining their point ! 
 The sum of the accusation was, that Paul was 
 an enemy to church and state, a disturber of 
 the established religion, and a mover of sedi- 
 tion against the government; to which was 
 added, as a popular proof of the charge, that 
 he was a ringleader of the sect or heresy of 
 the Nazarenes, so called from Jesus of Naza- 
 reth, who was crucified by a former governor 
 for asserting himself to be a king. Thus 
 much seems implied in the term Nazarene, as 
 the Jews used it. The apostle began his de- 
 fence with a protestation of his innocence, as 
 to any design of moving sedition or tumult, 
 which he said his enemies were unable to 
 prove by a single fact : he proceeded to in- 
 form the governor of the true motives of their 
 enmity against him, and acknowledged that 
 he worshipped God in a way which they 
 stigmatized with the name of heresy or divi- 
 sion ; for the proper* meaning of heresy is 
 no more than sect or party. By farther de- 
 claring, that he worshipped the God of his 
 fathers, and believed all things written in the 
 law and the prophets, he proved from the ob- 
 ject and the manner of his worship, that he 
 was not guilty of any blameable innovations ; 
 he professed the hope of a resurrection, which 
 his enemies could not but allow, and that it 
 was his constant studyf (Acts xxiv. 16.) and 
 endeavour to maintain a conscience void of 
 
 * As the apostle only cautions Titus to reject or avoid 
 a hecetic, Tit. iii. 10. but has not defined him expressly, 
 many writers and teachers, have had a fair field to 
 exercise their skill or their passions upon the subject; 
 yet the question is far from determined to this day. 
 .Some would treat all those as heretics, who differ from 
 them either in judgment or practice; others explain the 
 WQrd quite away, as though the admonition to avoid a 
 heretic, was wholly unnecessary. Perhaps the advice 
 to Titus, ia nearly, if not exactly, equivalent to Rom. 
 xvi. 17. The spirit of truth produces unity ; the spirit 
 of division is heresy. And the man who fiercely stickles 
 for opinions of his own, who acts contrary to the peace- 
 able, forbearing, humble spirit of the gospel, who affects 
 to form a party, and to be thought considerable in it, is 
 so far a heretic. 
 
 f The Greek word (ot,<rxtu) here used, denotes the 
 study, diligence, and proficiency of a person who is 
 desirous to excel and be eminent in any particular art ; 
 as a painter, for instance, he searches out the best mas- 
 ters and the best pieces, he studies aud copies the beau- 
 ties of other works, and is continually retouching and 
 improving upon his own ; his acquaintance, reflections, 
 and recreations, are all accommodated to his main pur- 
 
 THE GOSPEL 
 
 offence ; and, added, that it was not he, but 
 the Jews themselves, who had raised the tu- 
 mult, by assaulting him, when he was peace- 
 ably attending in the temple, according to the 
 prescribed rules. He observed, that his first 
 accusers were not present, as they ought to 
 have been ; and challenged any who were 
 within hearing to prove their allegations in any 
 one instance. 
 
 Felix, having perhaps a favourable opinion 
 of the Christian profession, which had been 
 settled some time at Caesarea, and being like- 
 wise desirous of further information, deferred 
 the full discussion of the affair till the arrival 
 of Lysias, and committed Paul, in the mean 
 time, to the care of a centurion, as a prisoner 
 at large, allowing him to go abroad in the city, 
 and giving his friends liberty to visit him at 
 home. And thus he was providentially deli- 
 vered from the blood-thirsty Jews, and found 
 an assylum in the Roman power, which they 
 had endeavoured to engage for his destruc- 
 tion. 
 
 A. D. 59.] He was sent for not long after, 
 by Felix, and discoursed before him and his 
 wife Drusilla concerning the faith of Christ. 
 Curiosity was the governor’s motive ; but the 
 apostle, who knew his character, was faithful 
 to him, and would not speak of the faith of 
 Christ only, to one who could not understand 
 it, but made a home application by enlarging 
 on righteousness, temperance, and the impor- 
 tant consequences of a future judgment. 
 These were fit topics to press upon an unjust 
 and rapacious governor, who lived in adul- 
 tery, Drusilla (his reputed wife), having for- 
 saken a lawful husband to live with him. She 
 was by birth a Jewess, daughter of the Herod 
 whose death we have already mentioned ; and 
 having renounced her religion and her hus- 
 band, for Felix, was, by the judgment of 
 God, given up to hardness of heart ; so that 
 it does not appear that the apostle’s discourse 
 made ary impression upon her. It was 
 otherwise with Felix, who, though a wicked 
 man, had sinned against less light ; he trem- 
 bled at what he heard, and, not able to con- 
 ceal his concern, he cut short the interview, 
 with a promise to send for him again, at a 
 convenient season. So great sometimes is 
 the power of truth, when faithfully enforced ! 
 With this only advantage on his side, Paul 
 the prisoner triumphs over a haughty gover- 
 nor, and makes him tremble. Great likewise 
 is the power of sin ! Felix trembled at the 
 review of the past, and the prospect of the 
 future; but he could not stop ; he found some 
 avocation for his present relief, and put off 
 his most important concerns to a future op- 
 portunity, which it is probable never came. 
 
 pose; and though liis pencil is sometimes at rest, his 
 imagination is seldom idle. Similar to this is the exer- 
 cise of a good conscience formed upon the model of the 
 scriptures, and improved by diligence, meditation, ex* 
 ruination, and experience. 
 
CHAP. I. 
 
 AFTER THE 
 
 He saw anti heard Paul afterwards ; but the 
 same man had no more the same influence ; 
 the accompanying force of the Spirit was 
 withheld ; and then he had no farther view 
 in conversing with him, but the hope of re- 
 ceiving money for his enlargement. When 
 the apostle had continued in this situation 
 about two years, Felix was recalled from his 
 government. He had governed the Jews with 
 severity and injustice, and had reason to fear 
 they would accuse him to the emperor ; 
 therefore, to ingratiate himself with them, he 
 left Paul in his confinement, thinking that 
 the detention of the person they hated might 
 make them more readily excuse what was 
 past ; or at least, he durst not provoke them 
 farther by releasing him. 
 
 a. D. 60.] When Festus, who succeeded 
 Felix in the government, went up to Jeru- 
 salem (Acts xxv.), the high- priest and elders 
 applied to him, and requested that Paul might 
 be sent thither to be tried before the council ; 
 and they appointed proper instruments to as- 
 sault and murder him in the journey. It 
 seems they expected this favour would be ea- 
 sily granted, as it is usual for governors, at 
 their first coming among a people, to do some 
 popular act; but Festus refused, and com- 
 manded them to follow him to Caesarea, where 
 he himself would judge in the cause. The 
 Jews accordingly exerted themselves in one 
 more effort, and when Festus was returned to 
 Caesarea, presented themselves before him on 
 an appointed day ; and Paul being brought 
 into the court, they accused him heavily, as 
 they had done before, and to as little effect, 
 not being acble to prove any thing against him, 
 or to invalidate his protestation that he had 
 committed no offence, either against the law, 
 or the temple, or the Roman government. 
 Festus, who had refused to send him to Je- 
 rusalem before, was now willing to oblige 
 them, perceiving the controversy was of a re- 
 igious kind, and what he had little knowledge 
 of; he therefore asked Paul if he was willing 
 to be tried, in his presence, before the council 
 at Jerusalem. The apostle, who knew what 
 treatment he might expect from the Jews, 
 answered, That he was then at Caesar’s judg- 
 ment-seat, where he ought to be tried, and 
 that, if found guilty, he was not unwilling 
 to suffer ; but that, against the proposal of 
 being delivered up to those who thirsted for 
 his blood, he appealed to Caesar. This was 
 one privilege of a Roman citizen, that, when 
 he thought himself aggrieved in an inferior 
 court, he might, by entering such an appeal, 
 put a stop to proceedings, and refer the cause 
 • to the immediate determination of the em- 
 peror. From the example of St. Paul, who 
 counted not his life dear, but was willing, not 
 only to be bound, but to die for the Lord Je- 
 sus, we learn that it is very allowable for a 
 Christian to avail himself of the laws and pri- 
 vileges of his country, when unjustly perse- 
 
 ASCENSION. 483 
 
 cuted for righteousness sake ; and perhaps, 
 in some cases, it would be blameable to omit 
 it. Civil liberty is a depositum with which 
 we are entrusted for posterity, and, by all law- 
 ful means, should be carefully preserved. 
 Festus, after having consulted with his coun- 
 cil and lawyers upon this unexpected turn, 
 admitted the appeal, and determined he should 
 be sent to Rome. Paul had long had a de- 
 sire to visit the believers in that city, and had 
 formed some plans concerning it. But it is 
 not in man that walketh to direct his steps. 
 His way was now opened in a manner he 
 had not thought of, but in such a manner as 
 made it more evident that his bonds proved 
 to the furtherance of the gospel. 
 
 Soon after this, Agrippa, son of the late 
 Herod, who had large territories, and the title 
 of king, under the Romans, came with his 
 sister Bernice, to congratulate Festus upon 
 his accession to his government : he was a 
 man of a fair character, a professed Jew, but 
 possessed of moderation and prudence. Dur- 
 ing their stay, Festus informed them of what 
 had lately happened concerning Paul. The 
 whole that he understood of the affair was, 
 that he had not been guilty of any crime, but 
 that his accusers had certain questions against 
 him, of their own superstitions, and concern- 
 ing one Jesus, who was dead, and whom Paul 
 affirmed to be alive. To him the life and the 
 death of Jesus were points of equal indiffer- 
 ence; not so to those who believe he died 
 for them, and who expect that, because lie 
 lives, they shall live also. This imperfect ac- 
 count made Agrippa desirous to hear Paul 
 himself ; and accordingly, the next day, A- 
 grippa, Bernice, and Festus, being seated in 
 court,* attended by their officers and train, 
 and a number of the principal people, Paul 
 was once more brought forth to speak in pub- 
 lic for himself, Acts xxvi. On this occa- 
 sion he addressed himself particularly to A- 
 grippa ; and, having expressed his satisfaction 
 that he was permitted to speak before one 
 who was so well acquainted with the laws and 
 customs of the Jews, he related the cause of 
 his present confinement : he professed his 
 
 faith and hope in the scriptures; and then, as 
 he had done before, he gave him an account 
 of the extraordinary means by which he had 
 been changed-}- from a persecutor to a follow- 
 er of Jesus, in his journey to Damascus. His 
 defence, therefore (as has been formerly ob- 
 served), was rather experimental than argu . 
 
 * The apology St. Paul made for himself was not his 
 trial He had already stopped all proceedings at law by 
 his appeal to Cai-sar ; nor was Festus then as a judge 
 upon his tribunal. 
 
 f Speaking of his past conduct towards the disciples, 
 he calls it marine- s, — being exceedingly, or (as we ex- 
 press it), raging mad against them. A man in this state 
 will attack any person he meets ; he waits for no provo 
 cation, listens to no entreaty, regards no consequences. 
 Thus the apostle judged of himself when a persecutor ot 
 the church ; and the spirit of persecution in every age 
 has been the same. May God restore those to their 
 right minds who are governed by it J 
 
BOOK II 
 
 PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL 
 
 484 
 
 mentative, and made very different impres- 
 sions upon his hearers. Festus, who seems 
 to have had a good opinion of his sincerity 
 and intention, yet, supposing no man in his 
 sober senses could believe such a strange story, 
 interrupted him in his narration, and, with an 
 air rather of pity than indignation, said, “ Paul, 
 thou art beside thyself ; much learning hath 
 made thee mad.”* A similar judgment is 
 passed by too many upon all who profess an 
 acquaintance with the life of faith in an un- 
 seen Jesus ; but ordinarily, now, the effect is 
 not ascribed to the excess of learning, but to 
 the want of it, as, on the other hand, a man 
 who maintains the wildest absurdities, puts 
 his judgment and understanding to little ha- 
 zard in the world’s esteem, if his chimeras are 
 set off with a competent apparatus of litera- 
 ture. Agrippa, however, was differently af- 
 fected, especially when Paul made a bold ap- 
 peal to himself, concerning the notoriety of 
 the facts which had lately happened, and the 
 truth of the prophecies with which they were 
 connected. Here the power of truth tri- 
 umphed again, and Agrippa was so struck, 
 that, without regarding the numerous assem- 
 bly, or the displeasure such a declaration might 
 give both to the Jews and Romans, particu- 
 larly to Festus, who had expressed his senti- 
 ment just before, he gave way to the emotions 
 of his mind, and said aloud, “ Almost thou 
 persuadest me to be a Christian.” Yet this 
 was but an involuntary conviction ; it did ho- 
 nour to the apostle, but was of no benefit to 
 himself. And the concession, which, at first 
 view, seems to proceed from an ingenuous 
 spirit, when closely examined, amounts but 
 to this, that though Agrippa was indeed con- 
 vinced of the truth, his heart was so attached 
 to the present evil world, that he had neither 
 courage nor will to follow it; as when we say 
 of a picture, It looks almost alive, we do not 
 mean strictly that there is any more life in 
 the painting than in the canvas on which it 
 is drawn, but only that the resemblance is 
 strong : so the almost Christian, however spe- 
 cious in his professions, is still destitute of 
 that living principle which alone can enable 
 him to make them good, and is, in reality, 
 an utter stranger to true Christianity. In the 
 graceful return the apostle made to the king's 
 acknowledgment he hinted at this defect, wish- 
 ing that both Agrippa, and all who heard him, 
 were not only almost, but altogether, as he 
 was himself, with an exception to the chains 
 he wore for the cause of the gospel. This 
 answer discovers, in one view, the confidence 
 he had in his cause, the happy frame of his 
 mind, the engaging turn of his address, and 
 
 * His answer to Festus is expressed with much accu- 
 racy and precision. “ I am not mad, most noble Fes- 
 tus ; but speak forth (ctro^Bry/of^Ki) the words of truth 
 and soberness.” Madness discovers itself either in the 
 apprehension of a false object, or in the false apprehen- 
 sion of a true one. The things he spoke of were true 
 in themselves, and his ideas of them just and propor- 
 tionate. 
 
 his unbounded benevolence : he could wish 
 nothing better than what he himself felt, to 
 his dearest friends, and he wished nothing 
 worse to his greatest enemies ; nay, he wished 
 that his enemies might, if possible, experience 
 all his comforts, without any of his trials 
 When Festus and Agrippa were withdrawn, 
 they agreed, in their opinion, that he had 
 done nothing deserving of death, or even of 
 imprisonment, and that he might have been 
 released, if he had not himself prevented it 
 by appealing to Caesar. 
 
 In consequence of the determination to send 
 him to Rome (Acts xxvii), he was committed to 
 the custody of a centurion named Julius, with 
 whom he embarked in a vessel that was on a 
 trading voyage to several parts of the Lesser 
 Asia. Aristarchus, and some other of his 
 friends, went with him, and particularly the 
 evangelist Luke, who seems to have been the 
 inseparable companion of his travels from 
 the first time he was at Troas. They touched 
 the following day at Sidon, where the centu- 
 rion gave him liberty to refresh himself and 
 visit his friends. At their next port, Myra 
 in Lycia, a vessel offering which was bound 
 directly for Italy, they went on board her. 
 In the beginning of this passage they were re- 
 tarded by contrary winds. At length they 
 reached the island of Crete (now called Can- 
 dia) ; and having put into a port, called the 
 Fair-havens, Paul would have persuaded 
 them to have staid there, intimating that, as 
 the winter was now advancing, they would 
 meet with many inconveniences and dangers 
 if they ventured to proceed any further. 
 Long voyages were seldom attempted dur- 
 ing the winter in those days, or, for many 
 ages after, till the knowledge of the compass 
 made way for those great improvements in 
 navigation which now embolden the marinei 
 to sail indifferently at any season of the year. 
 But it is probable the apostle’s precaution 
 was not merely founded upon the obvious 
 disadvantages of the season, but rather upon 
 an extraordinary pre-intimation of what was 
 soon to happen. But his remonstrance was 
 over-ruled, the centurion preferring thejudg- 
 ment of the master of the ship, who thought 
 it best, if possible, to reach another haven at 
 the west end of the island, which was thought 
 to be more commodious and safe than the 
 place Paul proposed. A favourable wind 
 springing from the south, determined their 
 resolve, and they set sail with a good confi- 
 dence of soon reaching their desired port. 
 
 There is little doubt but Paul’s case and 
 character had by this time engaged the notice 
 of many of his fellow-passengers in the ship. 
 Upon a superficial inquiry, they would learn, 
 that he was the follower of one Jesus, who 
 had been crucified ; that he was esteemed a 
 setter-forth of strange gods, and charged with 
 having disturbed the public peace wherever he 
 came. He probably took frequent occasions 
 
CHAP, i, AFTER THE 
 
 to speak of his Lord and Master to those 
 about him; and as he had several compa- 
 nions, the manner of their social worship could 
 hardly pass unobserved; but no emergency 
 had as yet occurred to manifest the solidity 
 and force of his principles to full advantage, 
 and to make it evident to all with whom he 
 sailed, that his God was far unlike the idols of 
 the Heathens ; and that the religion which 
 prompted him to do and suffer so much for 
 the sake of Jesus, was founded, not in the 
 imaginations and inventions of men, but in 
 reality and truth. In prosperous circum- 
 stances, most people are easily satisfied with 
 their own principles, and are ready to take it 
 for granted, that even the notions received 
 from no better source than tradition or cus- 
 tom, cannot be wrong, or at least will not 
 be dangerous : but it is in a season of com- 
 mon distress that the truth and efficacy of vi- 
 tal religion appear with the most incontestible 
 authority. The God who alone can deliver 
 when all hope of safety is taken away, and 
 the religion which can inspire a man with con- 
 fidence and peace, when there is nothing but 
 dismay and confusion around him, will then 
 extort some acknowledgement, even from 
 those who had before thought of them with 
 indifference. From these considerations, we 
 may collect one general reason why the Lord, 
 who, by his divine providence, adjusts the 
 time and circumstances of every event, and 
 without whose permission not a sparrow can 
 fall to the ground, permits his faithful peo- 
 ple to be so often exercised with severe 
 trials : it is, to manifest that their hopes 
 
 are w'ell -grounded ; that they have not ta- 
 ken up with words and notions, but have a 
 real and sure support, and can hope and re- 
 joice in God under those pressures which de- 
 prive others of all their patience, and all their 
 courage ; and, on the other hand, to evince 
 that his power and faithfulness are surely en- 
 gaged on their behalf ; that he puts an ho- 
 nour upon their prayers, is near to help them 
 in the time of trouble, and can deliver them out 
 of their greatest extremities. We are not, then, 
 to wonder that this favoured servant of the 
 IiOrd, after having endured so many suffer- 
 ings and hardships upon the land, was ex- 
 posed, in the course of this voyage, to equal 
 dangers and difficulties upon the sea ; for they 
 had not long quitted their last port, before 
 their hopes of gaining a better were blasted : 
 they were overtaken by a sudden and violent 
 storm. The name given it by the historian, 
 Euroclydon, expresses its direction to have 
 been from the eastern quarter, and its energy 
 upon the waves. The tempest irresistibly 
 overpowered the mariners, and rendered their 
 art impracticable and vain : they were com- 
 pelled to abandon the ship to the direction of 
 the wind, and were hurried away, they knew 
 not where. Mention is made of the difficulty 
 they had to secure the ship’s boat, as the only 
 
 ASCENSION. 485 
 
 probable means of escaping, if they should be 
 wrecked, which yet, in the event, was wholly 
 useless to them ; likewise of their endeavours 
 to strengthen the ship by girding her with 
 ropes, and of their throwing a considerable 
 part of the lading and tackling into the sea. 
 In this distressed situation, expecting every 
 hour to be either swallowed up by the waves, 
 or dashed to pieces against unknown rocks 
 or shores, they continued fourteen days. — 
 When they were almost worn out with hard- 
 ship and anxiety, and there was no human 
 probability of deliverance, the Lord manifest- 
 ed the care he had of his servants. The sea- 
 men had not seen sun or stars for many days; 
 but his eye had been upon Paul and his com- 
 panions every moment. No one on board 
 could even conjecture into what part of the 
 sea the ship was driven ; but the Lord knew, 
 and his angels knew : and now one was com- 
 manded to appear, to comfort the apostle, and 
 to give him a word of comfort for all on 
 board. Upon this he addressed the people in 
 the ship, exhorting them to take some food, 
 and to be of good courage ; for that the God 
 to whom he belonged, and whom he served, 
 had given him assurance, by an angel, not 
 only of his own safety, but that the lives of 
 all on board should be preserved for his sake; 
 that the ship would be cast upon a certain 
 island ; but he fully relied on the promise, 
 that not one of them should be lost. He had 
 been told, that he must stand before Caesar 
 which was a sufficient earnest of his preserva- 
 tion ; for who, or what, can disappoint the 
 purpose of God ! Amidst all these threaten- 
 ing appearances, Paul was, in reality, as safe 
 in the storm as Caesar could be thought upon 
 the throne. And thus all his servants are in- 
 violably preserved by his watchful providence; 
 so that neither elements nor enemies can hurt 
 them, till the work he has appointed them is 
 accomplished. 
 
 At length the seamen perceived indications 
 that they were drawing near to land : and 
 when they were driven into a convenient depth 
 of water, they cast anchor, and waited for the 
 approach of day. In this interval the people 
 were encouraged by Paul’s advice and exam 
 pie, to eat a hearty meal, by which their 
 strength and spirits were recruited to sustain 
 the fatigue they were yet to undergo. In the 
 morning they saw an island ; but knew it not. 
 The mariners, regarding their own safety only, 
 were about to make their escape in the boat ; 
 but Paul, informing the soldiers that they 
 could not be saved unless the seamen remain- 
 ed in the ship, they paid so much regard to 
 his judgment as immediatly to cut the ropes 
 by which the boat was fastened, and give her 
 up to the sea. 
 
 Their only remaining resource was, to force 
 the ship upon the shore, in a place where 
 landing would be most practicable ; and of 
 this the mariners were the most proper judges* 
 
BOOK II. 
 
 PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL 
 
 436 
 
 If this island, as is generally supposed, was that 
 which we now call Malta, we know that it is 
 almost environed with rocks. They having 
 therefore discovered an open bay, with a beach 
 of sand or pebbles *, endeavoured to run the 
 ship there ; but had the management of this 
 business been left to the soldiers and passen- 
 gers, who were unexperienced in sea-affairs, 
 they might probably have let her drive at ran- 
 dom against the rocks where an escape would, 
 humanly speaking, have been impossible. In 
 this view, we may observe, that the apostle’s 
 firm confidence in the promise he had received 
 was connected with a prudent attention to the 
 means in their power, from which the pro- 
 mise received was so far from dispensing them, 
 that it was their chief encouragement to be 
 diligent in employing them. This incident 
 may he applied to points of more general im- 
 portance : and, if carefully attended to, might 
 have determined or prevented many unneces- 
 sary and perplexing disputes concerning the 
 divine decrees, and their influence on the con- 
 tingencies of human life. What God has ap- 
 pointed shall surely come to pass; but in such 
 a manner, that all the means and secondary 
 causes, by which he has determined to fulfil 
 his designs, shall have their proper place and 
 subserviency. Accordingly, they made the 
 best of their way to the shore : but before 
 they quite reached it, the ship was stopped by 
 a point or bank •}■, where her fore-part stuck 
 fast, and remained immoveable ; but her stern 
 or hinder part, was presently broken by the 
 violence of the surges. In the general confu- 
 sion, the soldiers, unmindful how much they 
 were indebted to Paul, proposed that all the 
 prisoners should be killed without distinction, 
 lest they should be accountable if any of them 
 escaped ; but the cer.turion, who interested 
 himself in his preservation, rejected the mo- 
 tion, and commanded every one to do what 
 they could for their own safety. Many who 
 could swim cast themselves into the sea ; the 
 rest availed themselves of planks and broken 
 pieces of the ship ; and the merciful provi- 
 dence of the Lord gave their endeavours suc- 
 cess ; so that the whole company, consisting 
 of two hundred and seven ty-six persons, came 
 safe to land. 
 
 The inhabitants ( Acts xxviii. ), though called 
 barbarians, received and accommodated them 
 with great humanity, and manifested a tender- 
 ness too rarely found upon such occasions a- 
 mongst those who bear the name of Christians : 
 * “ They discovered a certain creek with a shore.” 
 But there was a shore all round the island. AiyixXog 
 does not express the sea-coast in general, or a rocky 
 craggy shore, but the skirts of an open bay, convenient 
 for lanching, landing, or drawing a net for fish. See 
 Matth. xiii. 2. 48., John xxi. 4. A mariner who under- 
 stood Greek would perhaps render the sentence thus: 
 ** They observed a certain bay, with a beach.” And this 
 they chose as the most likely place to get safe to land. 
 
 f Totcv hdaXottraou is rendered in our version, a place 
 where two seas met ; but there is nothing answerable to 
 the word met. Probably it means what the mariners 
 call a spit, or point of sand running off from the shore 
 and which had a sufficient depth of water on either side. 
 
 they brought them under cover, and kindled 
 fires to warm and dry them. The apostle, who 
 cheerfully suited himself to all circumstances, 
 assisted in supplying the fire with fuel ; but 
 having gathered a parcel of sticks, a viper, 
 which was unperceived in the midst of them, 
 fastened itself upon his hand. He had just 
 escaped from storm and shipwreck, and was 
 exposed to as great a danger of another kind. 
 Such is the nature of our present state ; and 
 it is a proof of our pride and ignorance, that 
 we are seldom greatly apprehensive for our- 
 selves, but when some formidable appearance 
 is before our eyes. A tempest, pestilence, or 
 earthquake, alarms us, and not without rea- 
 son ; but alas ! we are not such mighty crea- 
 tures, as to have nothing to fear but from 
 such powerful agents : A tyle, a fly, a hair, 
 or a grain of sand, are sufficient instruments, 
 in the hand of God, to remove a king from 
 the throne to the grave, or to cut oft' the con- 
 queror at the head of his victorious armies. 
 On the other hand, those who serve the Lord, 
 and trust in him, are equally safe under all 
 events ; neither storms, nor flood, nor flames, 
 nor the many unthought-of evils which lurk 
 around in the smoothest scenes of life, have 
 permission to hurt them till their race is 
 finished, and then it little signifies by what 
 means they are removed into their Master’s joy. 
 The apostle, in the strength of divine faith, 
 shook oft' the venomous creature into the fire, 
 and remained unmoved and unhurt. The 
 islanders, who saw what had passed, judged 
 at first (from those faint apprehensions of a 
 superior power inflicting punishment on the 
 wicked, which seem to remain in the darkest 
 and most ignorant nations), that he was cer- 
 tainly a murderer, who, though he had escaped 
 the seas, was pursued by vengeance, and mark- 
 ed out for destruction ; but when, after ex- 
 pecting for some time to see him drop down 
 dead, they found that he had received no harm, 
 they retracted their censure, and conceived 
 him to be a god, or something more than man. 
 This event probably prepared them to hear 
 him with attention. 
 
 The apostle and his friends were courteous- 
 ly entertained three days by Publius, the chief 
 person of the island, who resided near the 
 place of their landing : He requited the kind- 
 ness of his host, by restoring to health his 
 father, who had been some time ill of a fever 
 and dysentery. In the same manner he laid his 
 hands on many sick persons, who were healed 
 in answer to his prayers. These acceptable 
 services procured him much favour from the 
 inhabitants; and when, after three months stay 
 he was about to depart, they furnished him 
 liberally with necessary provisions for his 
 voyage. 
 
 A. D. 61.] They sailed from thence in a ship 
 of Alexandria that had wintered in the island ; 
 and stopping three days at Syracuse in Sicily, 
 soon after arrived at Rhegium, and from 
 
CHAP. I. 
 
 thence in two days, at Puteoli, near Naples, 
 where they disembarked, and continued a week, 
 at the request of the Christians of the place. 
 From Puteoli to Rome their journey lay about 
 one hundred miles by land. 
 
 The disciples at Rome having heard of 
 Paul’s approach, several of them met him at 
 a place called Appii Forum, and another party 
 at the Three Taverns ; the former place being 
 about fifty, and the other thirty miles from 
 the city. At the sight of these believers, 
 whom he had loved unseen, we are told he 
 thanked God, and took courage. Even the 
 apostle Paul, though habitually flaming with 
 zeal and love, was not always in the same 
 frame. We learn from liis own account of 
 himself, that he had sometimes sharp exer- 
 cises of mind ; and perhaps this was such a 
 time when his thoughts were much engaged 
 on what awaited him upon his arrival at Rome, 
 and his appearance before the cruel and capri- 
 cious Nero. The Lord has so constituted his 
 body, the church, that the different members 
 are needful and helpful to each other, and 
 the stronger are often indebted to the weaker. 
 St. Paul himself was revived and animated at 
 this juncture by the sight of those who were 
 in every respect inferior to him ; it rejoiced 
 him to see that Christ his Lord was worship- 
 ped at Rome also ; and being in the presence 
 of those with whom he could open his mind, 
 and freely confer upon the glorious truths 
 that filled his heart, he forgot at once the 
 fatigue he had lately suffered, and the future 
 difficulties he had reason to expect. 
 
 Upon their arrival at Rome, the centurion 
 delivered up the prisoners to the proper offi- 
 cer ; but Paul had the favour allowed him to 
 live in a house which he hired, under the 
 guard of one soldier. Here he immediately 
 discovered his usual activity of spirit in his 
 Master’s cause ; and, without losing time, 
 sent on the third day for the principal per- 
 sons of the Jews (according to his general 
 custom of making the first declarations of the 
 gospel to them), and acquainted them with 
 the cause of his prosecution and appeal ; he 
 assured them, that he had no intention, in 
 vindicating himself, to lay any thing to the 
 charge of his own people ; adding, that, not 
 for any singularities of his own, or for any 
 offence against the law of Moses, but for the 
 hope of Israel, he was bound with the chain* 
 he then wore. They answered, that they had 
 received no information concerning him from 
 Judea ; but that they understood the sect to 
 which he professed an attachment was every 
 where spoken against ; they therefore desired 
 to hear his sentiments, and appointed a day 
 for the purpose, when many of them came to 
 
 * Among the Romans, the prisoner was always chained 
 to the soldier or soldiers who guarded him. St. Paul 
 speaks of his chain both to friends and enemies, with 
 an indifference that shews how well content he was to 
 wear it for his Master’s sake. See Ephes. vi. 20. 2 
 Tim. i. 16. 
 
 487 
 
 him, and he spent the whole d^y, from morn- 
 ing till evening, in proving, confirming, and 
 explaining, the nature and necessity of the 
 gospel and kingdom of Christ, from the books 
 of Moses and the prophets. His discourse 
 had good effect upon some, but others believed 
 not, and they departed with considerable dis- 
 agreement among themselves ; the apostle tak- 
 ing leave of them with that solemn warning, 
 which our Lord had often used in the course 
 of his ministry from the prophecy of Isaiah 
 (chap. i. 9, 10), denouncing incurable and 
 judicial blindness and hardness of heart upon 
 those who wilfully rejected the proposal of 
 the truth. 
 
 He remained a prisoner in his own hired 
 house for the space of two years, having an 
 unrestrained liberty to receive all who came 
 to him, and to preach the glad tidings of sal- 
 vation by Christ; which we learn from his 
 epistles (Philip, i. 12) he did with so much 
 success, that his imprisonment evidently con- 
 tributed to the furtherance of the gospel, en- 
 larged the number of believers, and animated 
 the zeal and confidence of those who had 
 already received faith and grace. 
 
 A. D. 63.] The history of St. Luke ends 
 here, which I have followed more closely than 
 I at first designed, partly because the facts he 
 has recorded suggests many reflections which 
 have more or less a reference to our main 
 design, and partly from a reluctance to leave 
 the only sure and incontestible history by 
 which our researches into the establishment 
 and state of the primitive church can be 
 guided ; for though some monuments of the 
 early ages of Christianity, which are still ex- 
 tant, have a great share of merit, and will 
 afford us materials to make good our plan, 
 yet they must be selected with caution, for it 
 would be a w r ant of ingenuousness not to 
 acknowledge, that there are great mixtures 
 and blemishes to be found in the writings of 
 those who lived nearest to the apostles times ; 
 and in the most ancient historical remains 
 several things have a place, which shew, that 
 a spirit of credulity and superstition had very 
 early and extensive influence ; the evident 
 traces of which have given too fair an occa- 
 sion to some persons of more learning than 
 candour, to attempt to bring the whole of 
 those records into disrepute. But where the 
 characteristic genius and native tendency of 
 the gospel are rightly understood, and care- 
 fully attended to, a mind, not under the power 
 of bias and prejudice, will be furnished with 
 sufficient data , whereby to distinguish what 
 is genuine and worthy of credit from the 
 spurious and uncertain additions which have 
 been incautiously received. 
 
 I shall be brief in deducing our history from 
 this period to the close of the first century. 
 St. Paul, after more than two years confine- 
 ment at Rome, having not yet finished hi$ 
 appointed measure of service, was providen- 
 
 AFTER THE ASCENSION. 
 
488 
 
 daily preserved from the designs of all his 
 enemies, and set at liberty. We are told by 
 some, that in pursuance of the design he had 
 long before expressed, he went into Spain, 
 and from thence to Gaul, now called France; 
 nor have endeavours been wanting to prove, 
 that he preached the gospel even in the British 
 isles. That he, at some time, accomplished 
 his desire of visiting Spain, is not improbable ; 
 but we have no certain evidence that he did 
 so : much less is there any ground for sup- 
 posing that he was either in France or Bri- 
 tain. From his own writings, however, we 
 have good reason to believe, that, upon his dis- 
 mission from Rome, he revisited the churches 
 of Syria, and some other parts of Asia ; for, 
 in his epistle to the Hebrews, he mentions his 
 purpose of seeing them, in company with his 
 beloved Timothy ; and writing to Philemon, 
 who lived at Colosse, he requests him to pre- 
 pare him a lodging, for that he hoped to be 
 with him shortly. And it was probably in 
 this progress that he preached in Crete, and 
 committed the churches he gathered there to 
 the care of Titus ; for we have no account in 
 the Acts, of his having visited that island 
 before, except the little time he touched there 
 in his passage to Rome, which seems not to 
 have been sufficient for so great a work. 
 How he was employed afterwards we know 
 not ; but it is generally agreed, that, towards 
 the latter part of Nero’s reign, he returned to 
 Rome, and there received the crown of mar- 
 tyrdom. 
 
 In the accounts preserved of the rest of the 
 apostles, we likewise meet with great uncer- 
 tainty ; nor can any thing be determined to 
 satisfaction, concerning either the seat of their 
 labours, or the time or manner of their deaths. 
 I shall therefore wave a detail of what is 
 not supported by sufficient proof. I only ob- 
 serve concerning St. Peter, that the assertion 
 of his having been bishop of Rome, on which 
 (and not on the true rock) the whole system 
 of the Papacy is built, is not only inconsistent 
 with what is recorded of him in the Acts, and 
 the silence of St. Paul concerning him, in the 
 epistles he wrote from thence, but is so far 
 without foundation in ecclesiastical history, 
 that it still remains a point of dubious con- 
 troversy, whether he ever saw Rome in his 
 life : if he did, it was probably towards the 
 close of it ; and the most received opinion is, 
 that he suffered martyrdom there at the same 
 time with St. Paul ; that Peter was crucified, 
 and that Paul had the favour of being 
 beheaded, in consideration that he was a Ro- 
 man citizen. 
 
 The Christians, though generally despised, 
 and often insulted for their profession, had 
 not hitherto been subject to a direct and ca- 
 pital persecution ; but Nero, who, intoxicated 
 with power, had, in a few years, arrived at a 
 pitch of wickedness and cruelty till then un • 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 heard of, at length directed his rage against 
 the servants of Christ. 
 
 A. D. 64.] In his tenth year the city of 
 Rome was set on fire, and a very considerable 
 part of it consumed. This calamity was ge- 
 nerally imputed to him as the author, and it 
 seems not without justice. Mischief, and the 
 misery of others, were the study of his life ; 
 and he is reported to have expressed great 
 pleasure at the spectacle, and to have sung 
 the burning of Troy while Rome was in 
 flames. Though he afterwards did many po- 
 pular things, and spared no expense in re- 
 lieving the people and rebuilding the city, he 
 could not clear himself from the suspicion of 
 the fact, any otherwise than by charging it 
 upon the Christians. The heathen historian 
 Tacitus, in his account of this event, enables 
 us so well to judge of the character which the 
 Christians bore in his time, that I shall sub- 
 join a translation of it for the information of 
 the unlearned. 
 
 “ But neither the emperor’s donations, nor 
 the atonements offered to the gods, could re- 
 move the scandal of this report ; but it was 
 still believed that the city had been burnt by 
 his instigation. Nero, therefore, to put a stop 
 to the rumour, charged the fact, and inflicted 
 the severest punishment for it upon the Chris- 
 tians, as they were commonly called, a peo- 
 ple detestable for their crimes. The author 
 of this sect was Christ ; who, in the reign of 
 Tiberius, was put to death by Pontius Pilate. 
 The destructive superstition, which was by 
 this means suppressed for the present, soon 
 broke out again, and not only overspread Ju- 
 dea, where it first arose, but reached even to 
 Rome, where all abominations, from every 
 quarter, are sure to meet and to find accept- 
 ance. Some who confessed themselves Chris- 
 tians were first apprehended, and a vast mul- 
 titude afterwards, upon their impeachment, 
 who were condemned, not so much for burn- 
 ing the city, as for being the objects of uni- 
 versal hatred. Their sufferings and torments 
 were heightened by mockery and derision. 
 Some were inclosed in the skins of wild beasts, 
 that they might be torn in pieces by dogs ; 
 others were crucified ; and others, being co- 
 vered with inflammable matter, were lighted 
 up as torches at the close of day. These spec- 
 tacles were exhibited in Nero’s gardens, where 
 he held a kind of Circensian shew, either mix- 
 ing with the populace in the habit of a cha- 
 rioteer, or himself contending in the race. 
 Hence it came to pass, that, criminal and 
 undeserving of mercy as they were, yet they 
 were pitied, as being destroyed merely to 
 gratify his savage and cruel disposition, and 
 not with any view to the public good.” 
 
 From this quotation it appears that the 
 Christians were considered by the heathens as 
 a sect that had been almost crushed by the 
 death of their Master, but suddenly recovered 
 
 PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL 
 
on a I’. I. AFTER THE 
 
 strength, and spread far and near soon after- 
 wards ; that they were so extremely odious, 
 on account of the supposed absurdity and 
 wickedness of their principles, as to be thought 
 capable of committing the worst crimes, when 
 no sufficient proof could be found of their 
 having committed any ; that they were treated 
 as the professed enemies of mankind, and 
 therefore, upon the first occasion that offered, 
 were promiscuously destroyed, with the most 
 unrelenting cruelty ; that they did not suffer 
 as common malefactors, who, when under the 
 actual punishment of their crimes, are usually 
 beheld with some commiseration, but that 
 insult and derision were added to the most 
 exquisite inventions of torture ; and, lastly, 
 that, if these violent proceedings were blamed 
 by any, it proceeded rather from the hatred 
 they bore to Nero, than from a suspicion that 
 the Christians met with any thing more than 
 their just desert. These things are carefully 
 to be observed, if we would form a right 
 judgment of the primitive church. It is pos- 
 sible many persons suppose that St. Paul’s 
 epistles to the Romans, Corinthians, and Ephe- 
 sians were (like the pastoral letters of bishops 
 in our own times) addressed to the bulk of 
 the inhabitants in those places ; but the case 
 was far otherwise. The Romans, to whom 
 St. Paul wrote, were inconsiderable for their 
 number, most of them contemptible in the 
 sight of the world on account of their poverty 
 and low rank in life, and (as the above ex- 
 tract from Tacitus proves) the objects of pub- 
 lic detestation, for their attachment to the 
 name and doctrines of Jesus. 
 
 Whether this persecution was confined to 
 Rome, or carried on by public authority 
 through all the provinces where Christians were 
 to be found, is not absolutely certain, though 
 the latter seems most probable ; for it is hardly 
 to be supposed that Nero would rage against 
 them in the capital, and suffer them to live in 
 peace everywhere else. Tertullian expressly 
 asserts that Nero enjoined their destruction 
 by public edicts in the several provinces ; and 
 his testimony seems worthy of credit, as he 
 mentions it in his Apology, which, though 
 written more than a century afterwards, was 
 not at so great a distance of time but he 
 might easily have been contradicted, if he had 
 advanced an untruth. Besides, the example 
 of Nero, without his express injunctions, 
 seems to have been sufficient to awaken per- 
 secution against a people so generally hated 
 as the Christians were. Multitudes upon this 
 occasion had the honour to seal their profes- 
 sion with their blood ; but the cause for which 
 they suffered triumphed over all opposition, 
 and the martyrs places in the church were 
 supplied by an accession of fresh converts. 
 
 This storm, though sharp, was not of very 
 long continuance ; it terminated with the life 
 of Nero, who was compelled, though with ex- 
 treme reluctance, to destroy himself with his 
 
 ASCENSION. 489 
 
 own hands, that he might escape the most ig- 
 nominious punishment, he having been, by a 
 decree of the senate, justly and solemnly 
 branded with the character which malice and 
 ignorance would have fixed upon the Chris- 
 tian name, and condemned to be whipped to 
 death as an enemy of the human race. 
 
 A. D. 68, 69.] After him, Galba, Otho, 
 and Vitellius were successively acknowledged 
 emperors ; but their reigns were short, and 
 their deaths violent. The Jewish w ar, which 
 ended in the final catastrophe and dispersion 
 of that nation, was at this time carried on un- 
 der the command of Vespasian, who, while 
 engaged in that service, was saluted emperor 
 by his army. 
 
 a. D. 70.] Upon this, leaving the conduct 
 of the war to his son Titus, he returned to 
 Italy, and, soon after the death of Vitellius, 
 w'as peaceably established in the government. 
 Titus having a secret commission from God 
 (whom he knew not), to execute his fierce 
 displeasure against the Jew’s, upon whom 
 wrath was now come to the uttermost, aftei 
 destroying the whole country of Judea with 
 fire and sword, laid siege to Jerusalem ; and, 
 having taken it at the end of five months, 
 with an incredible slaughter of the Jew’s, and 
 the destruction of the temple, he burnt the 
 city and pulled down the very walls. More 
 than a million of people, who had trusted in 
 lying words, and boasted themselves of an 
 empty profession, perished in this war ; and 
 those w r ho survived were reduced to slavery, 
 sold and dispersed into all parts, at the will 
 of the conquerors. Thus ended the Jew’ish 
 economy ; and the law of Moses having re- 
 ceived the accomplishment of all its types, 
 ceremonies, and precepts, in the person, life, 
 and death of Jesus the Messiah, was irrevo- 
 cably abrogated as to its observance, which 
 was rendered utterly impracticable, by the de- 
 struction of the temple, and the cessation of 
 the priesthood. 
 
 A. D. 79.] Under Vespasian, and Titus, 
 who succeeded him, the Christian church en- 
 joyed considerable peace and liberty, though 
 upon many occasions they suffered from the 
 ill-will of their adversaries. Few’, however, 
 were put to death publicly and professedly 
 for their religion, till Domitian, who came to 
 the empire after his brother Titus [a. D. 81], 
 and who too much resembled Nero in his tem- 
 per and conduct, imitated him likewise in his 
 employing his power against the followers of 
 Christ, [a. I). 94.] Several are mentioned 
 in history, who suffered in his time j but as 
 little of moment, or that can be fully de- 
 pended on, is recorded concerning them, I 
 wave a recital of bare names. It is generally 
 believed that St. John was banished to the isle 
 of Patmos by this emperor, where he w’rote 
 his Epistles to the churches of Asia, and the 
 Revelation of future events which he had re- 
 ceived from the Lord. Some there are v.ho 
 
BOOK II' 
 
 490 PROGRESS OF 
 
 place these events much earlier, under the [ 
 reign of Claudius ; but the former opinion 
 seems most probable, and best supported by 
 the testimony of the ancients. But the story 
 of his having been cast into a cauldron of 
 boiling oil, in the presence (as some add) of 
 the Roman senate, does not seem supported 
 by any tolerable evidence. It is believed that 
 he gained his liberty from banishment, and re- 
 turned to Ephesus or the neighbouring parts ; 
 that he afterwards wrote his Gospel a little 
 before his death, which is supposed to have 
 happened about the last year of the century. 
 If so, he was probably about a hundred years 
 of age, and survived the rest of the apostles 
 a considerable space. 
 
 Domitian, having made the earth groan 
 under his cruelties and excesses was assassi- 
 nated in the sixteenth year of his reign. 
 [a. D. 96. J Nerva suceeded (a man of much 
 fairer character), who repealed the sanguinary 
 edicts of his predecessor ; and it does not ap- 
 pear that the Christians were generally perse- 
 cuted during his short government. Before 
 his death (for he did not live two years), he 
 adopted Trajan for his successor, who came 
 to the empire [a. D. 98.] with a general ap- 
 probation, and is still reputed one of the best 
 and wisest princes that Rome was favoured 
 with. From his conduct and that of some of 
 the following emperors, it appears, that the 
 gospel of Christ was not only hated by such 
 persons as Nero and Domitian, who seemed 
 professed enemies to every thing that was 
 good and praise-worthy, but that men who 
 desired to be thought the patrons of virtue, 
 and to act upon the most benevolent princi- 
 ples, had objections equally strong against it ; 
 for if Trajan did not issue edicts expressly 
 against the Christians, there was a very sharp 
 persecution carried on against them in his 
 reign ; and when Pliny (in an epistle still ex- 
 tant) represented to him the greatness of their 
 sufferings, and the multitude and innocence 
 of the sufferers, the emperor interposed no 
 farther by his answer, than to forbid informa- 
 tions against them, upon suspicion, to be en- 
 couraged, but directed, that such as were 
 proved to be Christians, and refused to join in 
 the Heathen sacrifices, should suffer death : and 
 when he visited Asia, Ignatius, who was bishop 
 of Antioch, being brought before him, he con- 
 demned him, with his own mouth, to be sent 
 to Rome to be devoured by wild beasts. But 
 we shall resume the account of what happened 
 under his reign hereafter, his second or third 
 year [a. d. 100] coinciding, according to the 
 generally-received computation, with the end 
 of the first century, which I have fixed as the 
 limit of our researches in the present volume. * 
 
 But before I conclude the chapter, it may be 
 useful to inquire, what might be the motives 
 which influenced the Heathens so eagerly to 
 
 THE GOSPEL 
 
 embrace every occasion of shewing their dis- 
 pleasure against the professors of Christianity. 
 
 The original and proper cause of the injuri- 
 ous treatment the first Christians met with from 
 the heathens, and particularly from the Ro- 
 man government which usually tolerated every 
 kind of religious worship that did not inter- 
 fere with the public tranquillity and the obe- 
 dience due to the state, was one that is of an 
 abiding and universal influence, namely, that 
 enmity of the carnal heart, which cannot be 
 brought to submit to the wisdom and will of 
 God. This has been the secret source of all 
 the persecution which has been the lot of the 
 true disciples of Christ in every age. The 
 sublime doctrines of the gospel were offensive 
 to the pretended wisdom of men, and the spi- 
 rituality of its precepts no less thwarted their 
 passions. Men, if only left to themselves, 
 cannot but oppose a system, which, at the 
 same time, that it reduces all their boasted 
 distinctions of character to a perfect level, in 
 point of acceptance with God, enjoins a life 
 and conversation absolutely inconsistent with 
 the customs and pursuits which universally 
 prevail, and brands many of the most allowed 
 and authorised practices with the hard names 
 of wickedness and folly. But they are no 
 left to themselves, but are in a degree they are 
 little aware of, under the influence of Satan, 
 who, for the power he maintains and exerts 
 over them, is styled in scripture, the God of 
 this World. Since their own evil dispositions 
 are thus instigated by the great enemy of God 
 and goodness, it is entirely owing to the 
 powerful restraints of the providence of the 
 Most High, that his servants can, at any time, 
 or in any place, enjoy an interval of rest ; and 
 though he has always made good his promise 
 in favour of his church, that the gates of hell 
 shall not prevail against it : though they who 
 oppose it, successively perish, and leave their 
 schemes unfinished, while the interest against 
 which they rage, triumphs over all their at- 
 tacks, and subsists, revives, and flourishes, 
 amidst the changes which sweep away almost 
 the remembrance of the most prosperous hu- 
 man establishments ; yet he is pleased, for 
 wise reasons, to permit them to try what they 
 can do. Hereby the faith and patience of his 
 people are strengthened and displayed, his care 
 over them illustrated, and those who are sin- 
 cerely devoted to him are evidently distin- 
 guished fi'om hypocrites and pretenders, who 
 join in an outward attachment to his gospel in 
 times of prosperity, but are presently wearied 
 and disgusted when storms and troubles arise. 
 
 Amongst the more particular reasons why 
 Christianity was obnoxious to the Heathens, 
 not only to persons of vile character, as Nero, 
 but to such as Trajan and Marcus Aurelius, 
 who are, even to this day, highly extolled for 
 their probity and discernment, we may men- 
 tion these that follow : and more than one of 
 them may be easily accommodated to similar 
 
 * See Introduction, note. 
 
CHAP. I. 
 
 AFTER THE ASCENSION 
 
 events, which stand upon the records of history 
 clown to our own times ; and their effect will 
 probably be felt by many who are yet unborn. 
 
 1. The doctrine of the cross was, and per- 
 haps always will be, the capital offence. The 
 Christians professed to place all their hopes 
 on the actions and sufferings of one, who 
 died, to all appearance, like a common male- 
 factor. This, considered in one view, was 
 thought such a kind and degree of infatua- 
 tion, as provoked the most sovereign and uni- 
 versal contempt; and, in another view, it 
 raised a grave concern for the interests of 
 morality and virtue, in those whose pride was 
 flattered by their own empty declamations on 
 those sounding topics. Every thing that was 
 evil, they thought, might be expected from 
 men who openly declared, that they hoped 
 for eternal happiness, not for their own works, 
 which in this connection they depreciated and 
 renounced, but on account of the righteous- 
 ness and mediation of another. If it was 
 possible that Christians could maintain that 
 course of conduct which the gospel requires, 
 and, at the same time, conceal the principles 
 and motives on which they act, they might 
 perhaps come off more easily with the world ; 
 for the justice, temperance, goodness, and 
 truth, which become their high calling, are 
 suited to conciliate peace with all men. But 
 their principles must not, cannot, be con- 
 cealed. Those w'ho know and love Jesus, and 
 are sensible of their immense obligations to 
 him, will glory in him, and in him only ; they 
 will avow, that it is not by their own power 
 or holiness that they escape the pollutions 
 of the world, but that they derive all their 
 strength from faith in his blood, and from 
 the supports of his grace. They dare not 
 conceal this, nor do they desire it, though 
 they are sensible that the world, whether it 
 bears the name of Heathen or Christian, will 
 hate and despise them for it. 
 
 2. The Romans, though attached to their 
 old system of idolatry, were not averse to the 
 admission of new divinities, upon the ground 
 of what a modern writer calls a spirit of in- 
 tercommunity ; that is, every one had a liberty 
 to adopt what worship he pleased, provided 
 due honour was given to the ancient esta- 
 blishments. The votaries of the Egyptian, 
 Roman, and Syrian deities, while they paid 
 some peculiar regard to their own favourites, 
 indulged each other in a mutual acknowledg- 
 ment of the rest : but the religion of Jesus 
 was absolutely incompatible with them all, 
 would admit of no competition ; and his fol- 
 lowers could not avoid declaring, upon all 
 occasions, that they were no gods that were 
 made with hands. On this account they were 
 considered as a most uncharitable, proud, and 
 narrow-hearted sect, as the Jews, for the same 
 reason, had been before them. And thus it 
 will always be. Nothing will more effectu- 
 ally secure a man in the peaceful possession 
 
 491 
 
 of his own errors, than his pleading for the 
 indifference of error in general, and allowing 
 those who most widely differ from him to be 
 all right in their own way ; and this lukewarm 
 comprehension, which is a principal part of 
 that pretended candour and charity for wnich 
 our own times are so remarkable, preserves a 
 sort of intercourse or confederacy amongst 
 multitudes, who are hardly agreed in any one 
 thing but their joint opposition to the spirit 
 and design of the gospel. But they who love 
 
 the truth cannot but declare against every de- 
 viation from it ; they are obliged to decline 
 the proposed intercommunity, and to vindi- 
 cate the commands and institutions of God 
 from the inventions and traditions of men : 
 they not only build for themselves upon the 
 foundation which God has laid in Zion, but 
 they are free to profess their belief, that other 
 foundation can no man lay ; that there is no 
 other name given under heaven by which a 
 sinner can be saved ; and that none can have an 
 interest in this name but by that faith which 
 purifies the heart, works by love, and over- 
 comes the world ; therefore they always have 
 been, and always will be, hated, as unchari- 
 table and censorious, and are sure to be 
 treated accordingly, so far as opportunity and 
 circumstances will permit those, who think 
 themselves aggrieved, to discover their resent- 
 ment. 
 
 3. The wisest and most respectable charac- 
 ters among the Heathen rulers, either for 
 reasons of state, or from their Own supersti- 
 tion, were generally the most solicitous to 
 preserve the old religion from innovations. 
 The history of mankind furnishes us with fre- 
 quent proofs, that persons, in other respects 
 of the greatest penetration and genius, have 
 often be^n as blindly devoted to the absurdi- 
 ties of a false religion as the weakest among 
 the vulgar ; or, if they have seen the folly ot 
 many things that have the sanctions of anti- 
 quity and custom ; yet the maxims of a false 
 policy, and that supposed connection and al- 
 liance between the established religion and the 
 welfare of the state, which has been instilled 
 into them from their infancy, induce them to 
 think it their interest, if not their duty, to 
 keep up the same exterior, and to leave things 
 as they found them. Trajan seems to have 
 been influenced by these considerations ; he 
 was zealous for the Heathen system, in which 
 he had been educated, and regarded it, as the 
 Romans were accustomed to do, as the basis, 
 or at least the chief security, of the govern- 
 ment. The Christians, therefore, were to be 
 punished, not only for their obstinacy in 
 maintaining their own opinions, but as being 
 eventually enemies to the state ; for though 
 their conduct was peaceable, and they paid 
 a cheerful obedience to laws and governors, 
 while they did not interfere with that obedi- 
 ence they owed to Christ, their supreme Lord, 
 yet their doctrines, which struck at the very 
 
492 PROGRESS OF 
 
 root of idolatry, made them accounted dan- 
 gerous to society, and deserving to be exter- 
 minated from it. 
 
 4. These suspicions were strengthened by 
 the great success and spread the gospel ob- 
 tained in this first century : within the com- 
 pass of a few years, it had extended to almost 
 every part of the Roman empire. In this 
 view it appeared formidable, and called for a 
 speedy and vigorous suppression before it 
 should become quite insuperable, by the ac- 
 cession of fresh strength and numbers. But 
 the event did not answer their expectation : 
 believers grew and multiplied, in defiance of 
 all the cruelties exercised upon them ; the 
 numbers and constancy of the sufferers, and 
 the gentle spirit of meekness, forgiveness, and 
 love, which they discovered, often made last- 
 ing impressions upon the people, sometimes 
 upon their tormentors and judges ; and, by 
 the blessing of God upon their doctrine, thus 
 powerfully recommended by their conduct, 
 and sealed by their blood, new converts were 
 continually added to the church. 
 
 5. When it was thus determined to extirpate, 
 if possible, these odious and dangerons people, 
 pretexts and occasions were always ready : 
 slanderous reports concerning their tenets and 
 assemblies were industriously promoted, and 
 willingly believed. Some of these took their 
 rise from misapprehension ; some were pro- 
 bably invented by those who apostatized from 
 the church, who, to justify themselves, as well 
 as to evince their sincerity, pretended to make 
 discoveries of horrid evils that prevailed a- 
 mongst them, under the disguise of religion. 
 Many, who would not have invented such 
 stories themselves, were, however, well pleased 
 to circulate what they had heard, and took it 
 for granted, that every thing was true, which 
 confirmed the opinion they had before enter- 
 tained of this pestilential and despicable sect. 
 But neither violence nor calumny could pre- 
 vail against the cause and people of God and 
 his Christ. They were supported by an al- 
 mighty arm : and though many had the honour 
 to lay down their lives in this glorious cause, 
 many more were preserved, by his provi- 
 dence, in the most dangerous circumstances. 
 
 The gospel of Christ, though contradictory 
 to the received opinions, laws, customs, and 
 pursuits, of every place where it appeared, 
 though unsupported either by arts or arms, 
 though opposed by power and policy on every 
 side, in a space of about sixty-six years from 
 our Lord’s ascension, according to the pro- 
 mise he gave his disciples, had spread suc- 
 cessively from Jerusalem, through Judea and 
 Samaria, even to the ends of the earth. Chris- 
 tians were to be found in every province 
 where the Roman power ruled, and in most 
 of their principal cities ; and tho.ugh not 
 many noble, mighty, or wise, were called, 
 yet some there were ; and the power of the 
 grace of Jesus was displayed in every rank 
 
 THE GOSPEL book lU 
 
 of life. Courtiers, senators, and commanders, 
 notwithstanding the difficulty of their situa- 
 tion, were not ashamed of his cross ; and some 
 of the learned obtained that peace and happi- 
 ness, by embracing his gospel, which they 
 had sought to no purpose in the vain intrica- 
 cies of a false philosophy. Nor was the suc- 
 cess of the gospel confined within the limits of 
 the Roman empire, but extended eastward to 
 Parthia and Babylon, where the Roman eagles 
 were not acknowledged. We are not sure, 
 however, that there were many collected so- 
 cieties of Christians in every province, or that 
 those societies were in„general very numerous. 
 Those parts of Asia and Greece which had 
 been the scene of St. Paul’s labours, seem to 
 have had the greatest number of settled 
 churches, in proportion to their extent ; and 
 their largest assemblies were probably in their 
 principal cities, such as Antioch, Alexandria, 
 and Rome. But we have reason to believe, 
 from our Lord’s own declarations, that real 
 Christians, in the most flourishing times of the 
 church, have been very few, in comparison 
 with the many who choose the broad and 
 beaten road which leads to destruction (Matth. 
 vii. 13, 14.): but these few are under his 
 conduct and blessing, as the salt of the earth, 
 and are therefore scattered far and wide, ac- 
 cording to the disposal of his wise providence, 
 who appoints the time of their birth, and the 
 bounds of their habitation. 
 
 If by the epithet primitive we mean that 
 period during which the professed churches of 
 Christ preserved their faith and practice re- 
 markably pure, and uninfluenced by the spirit 
 and maxims of the world, we cannot extend 
 it far beyond the first century. We are sure 
 that a mournful declension prevailed very 
 early, and quickly spread, like a contagion, 
 far and wide; and, indeed, the seeds of those 
 evils which afterwards produced such a plen- 
 tiful harvest of scandals and mischiefs, were 
 already sown, and began to spring up, while 
 the apostles were yet living. And we shall 
 shew hereafter, that the first and purest age 
 of the church was not free from such ble- 
 mishes as have been observable in all succeed- 
 ing revivals of true religion. These things 
 are to be guarded against with the utmost at- 
 tention ; but they will more or less appear 
 while human nature continues in its present 
 state of infirmity. While the professors of 
 Christianity were few in comparison of their 
 opponents, while they were chiefly poor and 
 obscure persons, and had sharp persecutions 
 to grapple with, so long they preserved the 
 integrity and purity of their profession in 
 general ; and the disorders which appeared 
 among them were faithfully and successfully 
 opposed and corrected; afflictions and suf- 
 ferings kept them firmly united in a love ro 
 the truth, and to each other : but when they 
 were favoured with intervals of peace, and 
 the increase of numbers and riches seemed to 
 
CHAP. I. 
 
 AFTER THE ASCENSION. 493 
 
 give them a more fixed establishment in the 
 world, they were soon corrupted ; and that 
 beautiful simplicity which is the characteristic 
 of genuine Christianity, was obscured by will- 
 worship and vain reasonings. Amongst the 
 multitudes who abandoned idolatry, and em- 
 braced the Christian faith, there were several 
 who had borne the specious name of philoso- 
 phers. Some of these, on the one hand, la- 
 boured to retain as many of their favourite 
 sentiments as t:,ey could by any means recon- 
 cile to the views they had formed of the gos- 
 pel; and, on the other hand, they endeavoured, 
 if possible, to accommodate the Christian 
 scheme to the taste and prejudices of the 
 times, in hopes thereby to make it more gene- 
 rally acceptable. Thus the doctrines of the 
 scriptures were adulterated by those within 
 the church, and misrepresented to those with- 
 out. Perhaps the first alterations of this 
 kind were not attempted with a bad inten- 
 tion, or extended to the most important points ; 
 but the precedent was dangerous ; for the 
 progress of error, like that of sin, is from 
 small beginnings to awful and unthought-of 
 consequences. Gospel truth, like a bank 
 opposed to a torrent, must be preserved en- 
 tire, to be useful ; if a breach is once made, 
 though it may seem at first to be small, none 
 but he who says to the sea, Hitherto shalt 
 thou come, but no farther, can set bounds to 
 the threatening inundation that will quickly 
 follow. In effect, a very considerable devia- 
 tion from the plan of the apostles had taken 
 place in the churches before the decease of 
 some who had personally conversed with them. 
 
 We have no ecclesiastical book of this age 
 extant worthy of notice, except that called, 
 the first of the two epistles to the Corinthians, 
 which are ascribed to Clement bishop of 
 Rome, who is supposed to be the Clement 
 mentioned by St. Paul, in his epistle to the 
 Romans. This epistle is not unsuitable to 
 the character of the time when it was written, 
 and contains many useful things ; yet it is 
 not, as we have it, free from fault, and at the 
 best deserves no higher commendation, than 
 as a pious well-meant performance : it stands 
 first, both in point of time and merit, in the 
 list of those writings which bear the name of 
 the apostolical fathers ; for the rest of them, 
 if the genuine productions of the persons 
 whose names they bear, were composed in 
 the second century : for as to the epistle 
 ascribed to Barnabas, St. Paul’s companion, 
 those who are strangers to the arguments by 
 which many learned men have demonstrated 
 it to be spurious, may be convinced, only by 
 reading it, if they are in any measure ac- 
 quainted with the true spirit of the apostle’s 
 writings. We are indeed assured, that both 
 the epistles of Clement, this which bears the 
 name of Barnabas, several said to have been 
 written by Ignatius, the authenticity of which 
 has likewise been disputed, one by Polycarp, 
 
 and the book called the Shepherd of Hennas, 
 which is filled with visionary fables, were all 
 in high esteem in the first ages of the church 
 were read in their public assemblies, and 
 considered as little inferior to the canonical 
 writings ; which may be pleaded as one proof 
 of what I have advanced concerning that de- 
 clension of spiritual taste and discernment 
 which soon prevailed : for I think I may 
 venture to say, there are few, if any of the 
 protestant churches, but have furnished au- 
 thors whose writings (I mean the writings of 
 some one author) have far surpassed all the 
 apostolical fathers taken together ; and that 
 not only in point of method and accuracy, 
 but in scriptural knowledge, solid judgment, 
 and a just application of evangelical doctrine 
 to the purposes of edification and obedience. 
 
 But though the first Christians were men 
 subject to passions and infirmities, like our 
 selves, and were far from deserving, or desir- 
 ing that distinguishing admiration, and impli 
 cit submission, to all their sentiments, which 
 were paid them by the ignorance and super 
 stition of after times; yet they were eminen 
 for faith, .love, self-denial, and a just contempt 
 of the world; multitudes of them cheerfully 
 witnessed to the truth with their blood, and, by 
 their steadfastness and patience, under trials, 
 and their harmony among themselves often 
 extorted honourable testimonies, even from 
 their opposers. Could they have transmitted 
 their spirit, together with their name, to suc- 
 ceeding generations, the face of ecclesiastical 
 history would have been very different from 
 what it now bears ; but, by degrees, the love 
 of novelty, and the thirst of power, a relaxed 
 attention to the precepts of Christ, and an un- 
 due regard to the names, authority, and pre- 
 tensions of men, introduced those confusions, 
 contentions, and enormities, which at length 
 issued in an almost universal apostacy from 
 that faith and course of practice which alone 
 are worthy the name of Christianity. The pro- 
 secution of this subject, more especially with a 
 view to the history of the favoured few who 
 were preserved » from the general contagion, 
 and of the treatment they met with, who had 
 the courage to censure or withstand the abuses 
 of the times they lived in, will be attempted 
 in the following volumes of this work *, it 
 God, in whose hands our times are, is pleased 
 to afford opportunity, and if the specimen 
 presented to the public, in this volume should 
 so far meet the approbation of competent 
 judges, as to encourage the author to proceed. 
 
 Some particulars which may conduce to 
 render the state of the church in the first 
 century more evident to the reader, as well 
 as to give light into the true state of reli- 
 gion amongst ourselves, and which could not 
 be well introduced in the course of our nar- 
 ration, without making too frequent and too 
 
 * See Introduction, note. 
 
BOOK IL 
 
 494. ST. PAUL AN EXEMPLAR 
 
 long digressions, I have, for that reason, 
 t reated of separately in the chapters that follow 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 AN ESSAY ON THE CHARACTER OF ST. PAUL, 
 
 CONSIDERED AS AN EXEMPLAR OR PATTERN 
 
 OF A MINISTER OF JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 The success with which the first promulga- 
 tion of the gospel was attended, is to be ulti- 
 mately ascribed to the blessing and operation 
 of the Holy Spirit; and the great means 
 which the Spirit of God is pleased to accom- 
 pany with an efficacious power upon the souls 
 of men, is the subject-matter of the gospel it- 
 self. He concurs with no other doctrine but 
 that of the scripture. The most laboured 
 endeavours to produce a moral change of 
 heart and conduct, will always prove ineffec- 
 tual, unless accommodated to the principles 
 of revelation respecting the ruin of human 
 nature by sin, and the only possible method 
 of its recovery by Jesus Christ. 
 
 And as the Holy Spirit bears witness to no 
 other doctrine, so he ordinarily restrains his 
 blessing to those ministers who have them- 
 selves experienced the power of the truths 
 which they deliver to others. A man may 
 be systematically right, and strenuous in the 
 delivery and defence of orthodox notions ; yet 
 if he is not in some degree possessed of the 
 dispositions and motives which become a mi- 
 nister of the New Testament, he will seldom 
 be honoured with much success or acceptance : 
 the want of that disinterested and dependent 
 frame of mind which the gospel inculcates on 
 all who profess it, will render his labours in- 
 significant ; for the Holy Spirit, on whose in- 
 fluence success entirely depends, will seldom 
 co-operate with any but those who are sin- 
 cerely governed by his precepts. 
 
 A great stress therefore is laid in the New 
 Testament, upon the principles, tempers, and 
 conduct, which ought to distinguish the men 
 who have the honour to be intrusted with the 
 important charge of preaching the gospel of 
 Christ. To delineate their proper character, 
 and to form their manners suitable to their 
 high calling, is the principal, scope of the epistles 
 to Timothy and Titus : and when we consider 
 what we read there, in connection with many 
 passages to the same purpose, which occur 
 occasionally in the inspired writings, we may 
 well adopt the apostle’s words, “ Who is 
 sufficient for these things?” A Christian, even 
 in private life, is exposed to innumerable snares 
 and dangers, from his situation in an evil 
 world, the power and subtlety of his spiritual 
 enemies, and the influence of the body of sin 
 in himself, which, though weakened and de- 
 spoiled of dominion, is not yet destroyed. A 
 minister of the gospel, besides these trials in 
 rommon with other Christians, has many pe- 
 
 culiar to himself: His services are more diffi- 
 cult, his temptations more various, his con- 
 duct more noticed ; many eyes are upon him, 
 — some enviously watching for his halting, 
 and some perhaps too readily proposing him 
 as a pattern, and content to adopt whatever 
 has the sanction of his example : if encour- 
 aged and acceptable, he is in danger of being 
 greatly hurt by popularity and the favour of 
 friends ; if opposed and ill-treated (and this 
 he must expect in some instances if he is faith- 
 ful), he is liable either to be surprised into 
 anger and impatience, or to sink into dejection 
 and fear. It is therefore a great encourage- 
 ment to find from scripture (and not from 
 scripture only), how the grace of God has e- 
 nabled others, in equal circumstances of dan- 
 ger and temptation, to rise superior to all im- 
 pediments, and to maintain such a course ol 
 conduct, that they stand proposed as proper 
 patterns for our imitation, and call upon us to 
 be followers of them, as they were of Christ. 
 
 Amongst these the character of St. Paul 
 shines with a superior lustre ; he stands dis- 
 tinguished by the eminence of his knowledge, 
 grace, labours, and success, as a noble and ani- 
 mating exemplar of a minister of Jesus Christ. 
 And if it should be thought a digression from 
 the design of an Ecclesiastical History, to 
 allot a few pages to the consideration of his 
 principles, and the uniform tenor of his life, 
 yet I hope the digression will not be unprofit- 
 able in itself, or judged unsuitable to my 
 general plan; for I proposed not to confine 
 myself to a dry detail of facts, but to point 
 out Jhe genuine tendency of the gospel where 
 it is truly received, and the spirit by which it 
 is opposed, and to shew the impossibility of 
 reviving practical godliness by any other means 
 than those which were so signally successful in 
 the first age of the church. 
 
 Were 1 to exhibit any recent character with 
 these views, the exceptions of partiality and 
 prejudice would not be so easily obviated ; 
 the merits of such a character, however com- 
 mendable upon the whole, would be objected 
 to, and the incidental infirmities and indis- 
 cretions of the person (for the best are not 
 wholly free from blemish) would be studi- 
 ously collected and exaggerated as a suffi- 
 cient contrast to all that could be said in his 
 praise. But modesty forbids the same open 
 disingenuous treatment of one who was an 
 apostle of Christ: besides, he lived, and died 
 long ago : and as some learned men have 
 found, or pretended to find, a way to recon- 
 cile his writings with the prevailing taste of 
 the times, he is commended in general terms, 
 and claimed as a patron by all parties of the 
 religious world ; therefore I am warranted to 
 take it for granted, that none who profess the 
 name of Christians will be angry with me for 
 attempting to place his spirit and conduct in 
 as full a light as I can, or for proposing him 
 as a proper criterion, whereby to judge of the 
 
CHAP. II. 
 
 OF A MINISTER OF CHRIST. 
 
 merits and pretensions of all who account 
 themselves ministers of Christ. 
 
 Many things worthy our notice and imita- 
 tion have occurred concerning this apostle, 
 whilst we were tracing that part of his history 
 which St. Luke has given us in the Acts ; 
 but I would now attempt a more exact deli- 
 neation of character, as it is farther exempli- 
 fied in his own epistles, or may be illustrated 
 from a review of what has been occasionally 
 mentioned before. 
 
 We may observe much of the wisdom of 
 God in disposing the circumstances in which 
 his people are placed previous to their con- 
 version : they only begin to know him when 
 he is pleased to reveal himself to them by his 
 grace ; but he knew them long before : he 
 determines the hour of their birth, their situa- 
 tion in life, and their earliest connections : 
 he watches over their childhood and youth, 
 and preserves them from innumerable evils 
 and dangers into which their follies, while in 
 a state of ignorance and sin, might plunge 
 them ; and he permits their inclinations to 
 take such a course, that, when he is pleased to 
 call them to the knowledge of his truth, many 
 consequences of their past conduct, and the 
 reflections they make upon them, may con- 
 cur, upon the whole, rn a subserviency to fit 
 them for the services into which he designs to 
 lead them afterwards. Thus he leads the 
 blind by a way that they knew not, and often 
 for the manifestation of his wisdom, power, 
 and grace, in bringing good out of evil, he, 
 for a season, gives them up so far to the ef- 
 fects of their own depravity, that, in the judg- 
 ment of men, none seem more unlikely to be 
 the subjects of his grace, than some of those 
 whom he has purposed not only to save from 
 ruin, but to make instrumental to the salva- 
 tion of others. I doubt not but some of my 
 readers, who are acquainted with their own 
 hearts, will easily apply this observation to 
 themselves ; but there are instances in which 
 the contrast is so striking and strong, that it 
 will be made for them by those who know 
 them. It is, however, peculiarly exemplified 
 in the case of St. Paul : he was set apart 
 from the womb, as he himself tells us (Gal. 
 i. 15), to be a chosen instrument of preach- 
 ing among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches 
 of Christ. The frame of his heart, and the 
 manner of his life, the profession he had 
 made, and the services in which he was en- 
 gaged before his conversion, were evidently 
 suited to render him an unsuspected, as well 
 as a zealous witness to the truth and power 
 of the gospel, after he had embraced it. The 
 Lord’s purpose was to shew the insufficiency 
 of all legal appointments and human attain- 
 ments, the power of his grace in subduing 
 the strongest prejudices, and the riches of his 
 mercy in pardoning the most violent attempts 
 against his gospel. We know not how this 
 purpose could have been more effectually an- 
 
 495 
 
 swered, in a single instance, than by making 
 choice of our apostle, who had been possessed 
 of every advantage that can be imagined ex- 
 clusive of the gospel, and, in consequence of 
 these advantages, had made the most pertina- 
 cious efforts to suppress it : he was born a 
 Jew, bred up under Gamaliel, a chief of the 
 Pharisees (Phil, iii.), the sect which pro- 
 fessed the most peculiar attachment to the 
 law of Moses : his conduct before he became 
 a Christian was undoubtedly moral, if we un- 
 derstand morality in that lean and confined 
 sense which it too frequently bears among 
 ourselves, as signifying no more than an ex- 
 emption from gross vices, together with a 
 round of outward duties performed in a mer- 
 cenary, servile spirit, to soothe conscience, 
 and purchase the favour of God. While he 
 was thus busied in observing the letter of the 
 law, he tells us, he was alive, — that is, he 
 pleased himself in his own attainments, doubt- 
 ed not of his ability to please God, and that 
 his state was safe and good. Upon these 
 principles (which act uniformly upon all who 
 are governed by them) his heart was filled 
 with enmity against the doctrines and people 
 of Jesus, and his blinded conscience taught 
 him that it was his duty to oppose them. He 
 was a willing witness at the death of Stephen 
 (Acts xxii. 20), and, from a spectator, soon 
 became a distinguished actor in the like tra- 
 gedies. Such is the unavoidable gradation, 
 in a state of nature, from bad to worse. The 
 excess and effects of his rage are described 
 by St. Luke in very lively colours ; and he 
 often acknowledges it in his epistles ; for, 
 though the Lord forgave him, he knew not 
 how to forgive himself for having persecuted 
 and wasted the church of God (Gal i. 13, 
 1 Cor. xv. 9) : he made havock of the dis- 
 ciples like a lion or a wolf amongst a flock 
 of sheep, — pressing into their houses, sparing 
 none, not even women. Thus he was filled 
 with the hateful spirit of persecution, which 
 is undistinguishing and unrelenting. The 
 mischiefs he could do in Jerusalem not being 
 sufficient to gratify his insatiable cruelty and 
 thirst of blood, he obtained (as has been for- 
 merly observed) a commission from the high- 
 pviest to harrass the disciples at Damascus. 
 In this journey, when he was near the city, 
 he was suddenly struck to the ground by the 
 voice and appearance of the Lord Jesus. 
 From that hour a memorable change took 
 place in his heart and views ; and, having 
 been baptized by Ananias, and received a 
 free pardon of all his wickedness, with a com- 
 mission to the apostolic office, he began to 
 preach that faith which before he had so in- 
 dustriously laboured to destroy. In this new 
 light we are now to consider him; and whaC 
 ever may be reasonably expected from a sense 
 of such a display of grace and mercy in his 
 behalf, we shall find manifested in the subse- 
 quent course of his life. Happy are those 
 
ST. PAUL AN EXEMPLAR 
 
 496 
 
 who come the nearest to such an exemplary 
 pattern. 
 
 I. The characteristic excellence of St. Paul, 
 which was as the spring or source of every 
 other grace, was the ardency of the supreme 
 love he bore to his Lord and Saviour: it 
 would not be easy to find many periods 
 throughout his epistles which do not evidence 
 the fulness of his heart in this respect : he 
 seems delighted even with the sound of the 
 name of Jesus, so that, regardless of the cold 
 rules of studied composition, /we find him re- 
 peating it ten times in the compass of ten suc- 
 cessive verses, 1 Cor. 1 — 10. He was so struck 
 with the just claim the Saviour had to every 
 neart, that he accounted a want of love to 
 him the highest pitch of ingratitude and 
 wickedness, and deserving the utmost seve- 
 rity of wrath and ruin, 1 Cor. xvi. 22. When 
 he was conscious that, for his unwearied ap- 
 plication to the service of the gospel, in de- 
 fiance of the many dangers and deaths which 
 awaited him in every place, he appeared to 
 many as one beside himself, and transported 
 beyond the bounds of sober reason, he thought 
 it a sufficient apology to say, “ The love of 
 Christ constrains us” (2 Cor. v. 14); we are 
 content to be fools for his sake, to be despised, 
 so he may be honoured, to be nothing in our- 
 selves, that he may be all in all : he had such 
 a sense of the glorious, invaluable excellence 
 of the person of Christ, of his adorable con- 
 descension in taking the nature and curse 
 of sinners upon himself, and his complete 
 suitableness and sufficiency, as the wisdom, 
 righteousness, sanctification, and redemption 
 of his people, that he often seems at a loss 
 for words answerable to the emotions of his 
 heart ; and when he has exhausted the powers 
 of language, and astonished his readers with 
 his inimitable energy, he intimates a convic- 
 tion of his inability to do justice to a sub- 
 ject, the height, and dqpth, and length, and 
 breadth of which are too great for our feeble 
 capacities to grasp. But besides these general 
 views, he was particularly affected with the 
 exceeding abundant love and grace of Christ 
 to himself, when he reflected on the circum- 
 stances in which the Lord had found him, 
 and the great things he had done for him. 
 That he who had before been a persecutor, 
 a blasphemer, and injurious, should be for- 
 given, accepted as a child of God, intrusted 
 with the ministry of the gospel, and appointed 
 to everlasting salvation, was indeed an in- 
 stance of wonderful grace. So it appeared 
 to himself ; and at the thought of it he often 
 seems to forget his present subject, and breaks 
 forth into inimitable digressions to the praise 
 of him who had loved him, and given him- 
 self for him. Happily convinced of the ten- 
 dency and efficacy of this principle in him- 
 self, he proposes it to others, instead of a 
 thousand arguments, whenever he would in- 
 culcate the most unreserved obedience to the 
 
 BOOK II 
 
 whole will of God, or stir up believers to a 
 holy diligence in adorning the doctrine of 
 their God and Saviour in all things ; and bis 
 exhortations to the conscientious discharge of 
 the various duties of relative life are gene- 
 rally enforced by this grand motive. In a 
 word, at all times, and in all places, the ha- 
 bitual and favourite subject that employed 
 his thoughts, his tongue, and his pen, was 
 the love of Christ. 
 
 Supported and animated by this love, he 
 exerted himself to the utmost In promoting 
 the knowledge of him whom he loved, and 
 bearing testimony to his power and grace : 
 nothing could dishearten, or terrify, or bribe 
 him from his duty ; and this must, and will be 
 universally the leading principle of a faithful 
 minister. Should a man possess the tongue 
 of men and angels, the finest genius, and the 
 most adinired accomplishments, if he is not 
 constrained, and directed by the love of Christ, 
 he will either do nothing, or nothing to the 
 purpose : he will be unable to support either 
 the frowns or the smiles of the world ; his 
 studies and endeavours will certainly be in- 
 fluenced by low and selfish views : interest, 
 or a desire of applause, may stimulate him to 
 shine as a scholar, a critic, or a philosopher ; 
 but till the love of Christ rules in his heart, 
 he will neither have inclination nor power to 
 exert himself for the glory of God, or the 
 good of souls. 
 
 II. The inseparable effect, and one of the 
 surest evidences of love to Christ, is a love to 
 his people. Of this likewise our apostle ex- 
 hibits an instructive and affecting example ; 
 the warmth and cordiality of his love to those 
 who loved his Lord and Master, appear in 
 every page of his writings ; he so rejoiced in 
 their prosperity, that, to hear of it at any 
 time, made him in a manner forget his own 
 sorrows,* when encompassed with troubles 
 on every side ; and though, in many instances, 
 he did not meet that grateful return he had 
 reason to expect, yet he could not be discou- 
 raged ; but when he had occasion to expostu- 
 late with some upon this account, he adds, I 
 will still gladly spend and be spent for you, 
 though the more I love you, the less I am 
 loved, 2 Cor. xii. 5. Of such a generous 
 temper as this, the world, would they observe 
 it, must acknowledge (as the magicians in 
 Egypt), this is the finger of God ; for nothing 
 but his grace can produce a conduct so con- 
 trary to the natural inclination of man, as to 
 persevere and increase in kindness and affec- 
 tion to those who persevere in requiting it 
 
 *2 Cor. vii. 7. 13; see likewise Phil. ii. 28. which 
 finely intimates his tenderness and aff'ee icn. He was 
 oppressed with sorrow upon sorrow ; yet he felt more 
 t'or the Philippians than for himself. He mourned over 
 Epaphroditus, when sick for their sakes; and sent him 
 away for their comfort when recovered : and, this he did 
 as tfie most effectual means to lessen his own burden, 
 by sympathizing in that joy his friends would have in 
 the interview, though he could not directly partake with 
 them. 
 
CHAP. II. 
 
 OF A MINISTER OF CHRIST. 
 
 497 
 
 with coldness and ingratitude. His epistles 
 to the Thessalonians abound in such expres- 
 sions and strains of tenderness as would doubt- 
 less be generally admired (especially by those 
 who can read them in the original), were they 
 not overlooked, through the unhappy disre- 
 gard which too many shew to that best of 
 books in which they are contained. When 
 he is appealing to themselves concerning the 
 sincerity of his conduct, and how far he had 
 been from abusing his authority, he says, We 
 were gentle among you, even as a nurse (or 
 mother) clierisheth her children ; who, by 
 her tender and assiduous offices, supplies 
 their inability to take care of themselves, 1 
 Thess. ii. 7, 8. It would be well if all who 
 have aimed to derive a plenitude of power 
 from the example of the apostle, were equally 
 desirous to imitate him in the use of it. He 
 then adds, So, being affectionately desirous of 
 you, we were willing to have imparted unto 
 you, not the gospel of God only, but also our 
 own souls, because ye were dear unto us. 
 No comment can do justice to the spirit of 
 this sentiment, or to the force of the expres- 
 sion in the Greek. In another passage, which 
 is rendered in our version, We being taken 
 from you,’ the original term * has an empha- 
 sis which no single word in our language can 
 answer ; it imports such a state of separation 
 as is made between a parent and a child by 
 the death of either, when the child is left a 
 helpless and exposed orphan, or the parent is 
 bereaved of the staff and comfort of his age ; 
 it beautifully intimates the endearing affec- 
 tion which subsisted between the apostle and 
 the persons he was writing to ; and demon- 
 strates the greatest tenderness, simplicity, and 
 condescension. But his regard went beyond 
 words, and was evidenced by the whole course 
 of his actions. Nor was it confined to those 
 who had enjoyed the benefits of his personal 
 ministry : his heart was charged with the care 
 and welfare of all the churches ; and those 
 who had not seen his face in the flesh, had an 
 unceasing share in his solicitude and prayers 
 (Col. ii. 1.): nay, so strong was his love to 
 the churches, that it balanced his habitual 
 desire to be with Christ ; he could not deter- 
 mine which was most eligible, to suffer with 
 the members upon earth (so that he might be 
 serviceable to them), or to reign with the 
 Head in heaven, Phil. i. 23, 24. In the 
 passage referred to, we see the happy centri- 
 petal and centrifugal forces which carried him 
 on through the circle of duty, he constantly 
 tended and gravitated to his centre of rest : 
 but successive opportunities of usefulness and 
 service drew him off, and made him willing to 
 wait yet longer. 
 
 In this part of his character we are not to 
 consider him exclusively as an apostle. All 
 who have truly known the gospel to be the 
 
 ArotQxyirQivTif, 1 Thess. ii. 17« 
 
 power of God unto salvation, are partakers of 
 the same spirit, according to the measure of 
 their faith. That person is unworthy the 
 name of a Christian, who does not feel a con- 
 cern and affection for his brethren who are in 
 the world. It must be allowed, that preju- 
 dices and misapprehensions too often prevent 
 the Lord’s people from knowing each other ; 
 but, so far as they believe a person to be a 
 child of God through faith, they cannot but 
 love him. This is the immutable criterion which 
 our Lord himself has given, whereby his real 
 disciples are to be known and acknowledged, 
 John xiii. 35. He has not directed us to 
 judge by their discourses, their knowledge, 
 or even their zeal, but by the evidence they 
 give of mutual love ; and we may as easily 
 conceive of a sun without light, or a cause 
 without an effect, as of a person duly affected 
 with a sense of the glory of God, and the love 
 of Christ, and not proportionably filled with 
 a spirit of love to all who are like minded. 
 But especially this disposition is essential to a 
 minister of the gospel ; and the apostle assures 
 us, that all imaginable qualifications are of no 
 avail without it; though we could possess the 
 powers of a prophet, or an angel, or the zeal 
 of a martyr, if we are destitute of this love, 
 we are, in the sight of God, but as sounding 
 brass,* or a tinkling cymbal. 
 
 III. St. Paul’s inflexible attachment to the 
 great doctrines of the gospel is another part of 
 his character which deserves our attention : 
 he knew their worth, experienced their power 
 in his own soul, and saw, that though they 
 were unacceptable to the wisdom of the world, 
 they bore the impress of the manifold wisdom 
 of God. He takes notice that, in those early 
 days, there were many who corrupted the 
 word of God.f The word properly signifies 
 to adulterate, to imitate the practice of dis- 
 honest vintners, wh^ mix and sophisticate 
 their liqours, so that, though the colour is 
 preserved and the taste perhaps nearly coun- 
 terfeited, the quality and properties are quite 
 altered and depraved. But he says, We are 
 not as they : he preached the gospel in its pu- 
 rity and simplicity, the sincere genuine milkf 
 of the word, neither weakened by water, nor 
 disguised by any artful sweetening to render 
 it more palatable: he added nothing of his 
 own, nor employed any art or gloss to palliate 
 the truth, that it might be more acceptable to 
 ! men of carnal minds ; as he was not ashamed 
 of it, neither was he afraid lest it should fall 
 without success to the ground, if not support- 
 ed and assisted by inventions of his own ; he 
 knew whose word it was, and therefore cheer- 
 
 * Sounding brass, without meaning, and without life. 
 Such are the most specious gifts and performances, if 
 unaccompanied by a spirit of love : they mav perhaps 
 be useful to others, as the sound of a bell gives notice, 
 and brings people together, but fhe possessor himself is 
 a lifeless instrument ; he designs no good, and will re- 
 ceive no reward. 
 
 t KacTJjXevemf, 2 Cor. ii. 17. 
 ii. 2. 
 
 * 2 Q 
 
 t Alo'Kov ycc\x, 1 Pet. 
 
BOOK II 
 
 ST. PAUL AN EXEMPLAR 
 
 498 
 
 fully ventured the issue with him who alone 
 could procure it a welcome reception ; and 
 as he disdained the thought of deviating a 
 tittle himself from the plain and full declara- 
 tion of the truth, neither could he bear, no 
 not for an hour, with those who presumed to 
 do so, Gal. ii. 5. I doubt not but the warmth 
 of his zeal, in this respect, has disgusted many 
 in the present day, wherein a seeming can- 
 dour and forbearance is pleaded for and ex- 
 tended to almost every sentiment, except the 
 truths in which St. Paul gloried. There is 
 little doubt but many, if they had the courage 
 and honesty to speak out, would add St. Paul 
 himself to the list of those whom they despise 
 as uncharitable and hot-brained bigots; for 
 who has offended more than he against the 
 rules of that indifference to error, which is at 
 present miscalled charity. The Galatians, in 
 a short time after he left them, had ventured 
 to admit some alteration in the doctrine they 
 had received from him ; it was chiefly in one 
 point : they had been persuaded into an un- 
 due regard for the law of Moses. This, some 
 may think, was little more than a circumstan- 
 tial : that it could not have any great or direct 
 influence upon their moral practice ; and that 
 they might be very good men, and good Chris- 
 tians, though, in this one thing, they could 
 not see exactly with their teacher’s eyes. But 
 how different was the apostle’s judgment ! If 
 the Galatians had returned to the practice of 
 idolatry, or broken out into the most scanda- 
 lous immoralities, he could hardly have ex- 
 pressed his surprise and grief in stronger 
 terms ; he changes his usual manner of ad- 
 dress, and speaks to them as a senseless peo- 
 ple (Gal. iii. l), under the power of some 
 unaccountable fascination ; he tells them, 
 that, by admitting such an addition (Gal. i. 
 6 — 9), small and inconsiderable as they might 
 think it, they had, in ef^ct, received another 
 gospel, which was, however, so enervated and 
 despoiled of efficacy, that it was, more pro- 
 perly speaking, become no gospel at all, ut- 
 terly unworthy the least pretence to the 
 name. Further, he denounces an anathema 
 (the highest curse) upon any person who 
 should dare to preach any such pretended 
 gospel, even though, if such a thing were pos- 
 sible, it should be himself, or an angel from 
 heaven ; and this denunciation he immediately 
 repeats, lest it should be thought that he 
 spoke rather from warmth of temper than 
 from a just sense of the importance of the 
 case. What would some of my readers think 
 of a man who should, at this time, express 
 himself in terms like these ? But let it be 
 remembered, that our apostle, who was so 
 ready with an anathema upon this occasion, 
 and who, in another place (1 Cor xvi. 22.), 
 passes the same severe judgment upon any 
 man who does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 was far from speaking thus from emotions of 
 
 anger and ill-will ; the disposition of his own 
 mind, the tender concern with which he view'ed 
 the worst of sinners may be judged of from 
 his willingness to be made an anathema him- 
 self (Rom. ix. 3), after the manner of Christ, 
 if, by all he could suffer, he might be a means 
 of saving the Jews, who were his worst ene- 
 mies, and from whom he had constantly re- 
 ceived the most unjust and cruel treatment ; 
 but, when the cause of the gospel and the 
 honour of Christ were in question, he could 
 not, he durst not, consult with the feelings of 
 flesh and blood : but as the minister and mes- 
 senger of the Lord, he solemnly declared 
 what must, and will be, the awful conse- 
 quence of neglecting or corrupting the word 
 of life. 
 
 Every faithful minister of the gospel is pos- 
 sessed of a degree of the same attention to the 
 purity of the truth and faith once delivered 
 to the saints ; they must not deviate from 
 their instructions, nor can they behold with 
 indifference the specious attempts of others 
 to mislead the unwary ; they know what 
 censures they must expect upon this account. 
 It is sufficient for them that they can appeal 
 to the searcher of hearts, that though, as the 
 servants of Christ, they dare not aim to please 
 men by speaking smooth things, yet they act 
 from principles of benevolence and love, and 
 would rejoice in the salvation of their greatest 
 opposers. The world perhaps would judge 
 more favourably of them if they knew all ; if 
 they were witnesses to the prayers and tears 
 which they peur out for them in secret, and 
 the emotions of mind they feel when they 
 are constrained to declare the more awful 
 parts of their message ; but as ministers, and 
 in their public work, they cannot avoid point- 
 ing out the danger of those who venture their 
 souls and eternal hopes upon any other doc- 
 trine than that which St. Paul preached. 
 
 IV. But though St. Paul was so tenacious 
 of the great foundation-truths of the gospel, 
 and would not admit or connive at any doc- 
 trine that interfered with them, he exercised, 
 upon all occasions, a great tenderness to weak 
 consciences, in matters that were not essential 
 to the faith, and when the scruples Were owing 
 rather to a want of clear light than to obsti- 
 nacy. This was evident in his conduct with 
 regard to the great controversy that soon took 
 place between the Jewish and Gentile con- 
 verts, about the distinction of meats, and 
 drinks, and other rituals enjoined by the law 
 of Moses; the obligation (Rom. xiv.) of 
 which, many who had been educated in the 
 practice of those observances, did not imme- 
 diately see was superseded by the gospel of 
 Christ : He knew and asserted his own liber- 
 ty; yet, in condescension to the weakness of 
 others, he often abridged himself of it, and 
 declared that, rather than grieve or cause 
 offence to a weak brother, he would eat no 
 
CHAP. II. 
 
 meat while the world stood. His practice j 
 herein will probably be of general application, ! 
 mutatis mutandis , so long as the present state 
 of human infirmity subsists. A defect in 
 knowledge, the prejudices of education and I 
 custom, the remains of a legal spirit, the in- 
 fluence of great names, and other causes of a 
 like nature, will probably always operate, so 
 far as to keep up lesser differences in judg- 
 ment and practice amongst those who agree 
 in the great and fundamental truths. The 
 enemy gains too much advantage from these 
 things, not to improve such differences into 
 divisions. Self is too prevalent in the best 
 men, and the tendency of self is, to exact 
 submission, to hurry to extremes, to exag- 
 gerate trifles into points of great conse- 
 quence, and to render us averse to the heal- 
 ing expedients of peace. From these sources, 
 discords and evils innumerable have been mul- 
 tiplied and perpetuated among the various 
 denominations under which the Lord’s peo- 
 ple have been ranged, which have greatly 
 hindered the welfare and progress of the com- 
 mon cause, and exposed each contending party 
 to the scorn of their real enemies. But were 
 the spirit and conduct of our apostle more 
 adopted, many debates would entirely cease ; 
 and in those things where a difference of judg- 
 ment would still subsist, the exercise of pa- 
 tience, gentleness, and mutual forbearance, 
 would perhaps afford fairer occasion for the 
 display of the Christian character, than if we 
 were all exactly of a mind ; then the strong 
 would bear the infirmities of the weak, the 
 one would not censure, nor the other despise ; 
 nor would those whose minds have been en- 
 larged by a variety of experience and observa- 
 tion, think it at all strange, much less would 
 they be angry, if others who have not had the 
 same advantages cannot immediately enter into 
 all their sentiments. St. Paul, in knowledge, 
 abilities, and usefulness, was eminently su- 
 perior to all those among whom he chiefly con- 
 versed, and, as an apostle, he had a stronger 
 right than any man since the apostle’s day 
 could have to exact an implicit deference and 
 submission ; but he had drunk deeply of the 
 spirit of his Master, and we are concerned to 
 follow him, as he followed Christ, in the ex- 
 ercise of tenderness to the weakest of the flock. 
 
 It is not my present business to define what 
 are properly essentials in the Christian religion, 
 and to separate them clearly from the less im- 
 portant points, which, for that reason, and in 
 contradistinction to the other, are called cir- 
 cumstantials. This would lead me too far, 
 though perhaps it would not be so difficult as 
 a person might at first expect, who should be 
 told of all that has been written (with little 
 satisfaction) upon the subject. I forseea fu- 
 ture period in our history, when a disquisition 
 of this kind will be almost necessary ; and if 
 I am spared to reach so far, I shall probably 
 embrace the occasion. In the mean time I 
 
 499 
 
 | would just hint an observation or two upon 
 this head, which the intelligent reader (if he 
 
 | thinks them just) may apply as he sees pro- 
 
 I per * 
 
 1. Circumstantials and essentials in reli 
 gion (if we speak with propriety) are derived 
 from the same source, and resolved into the 
 same authority. To consider the commands 
 of God as essentials, and the inventions and 
 traditions of men superadded thereto as cir- 
 cumstantials, would be a very improper, and 
 indeed a very false division of the subject. 
 Nothing but what is prescribed by the word 
 of God, or may be fairly deduced from it, is 
 worthy the name even of a circumstantial in 
 true religion. Human appointments, if not 
 repugnant to scripture and the light of con- 
 science, may be submitted to for the sake of 
 peace, or when the general purposes of edifi . 
 cation cannot be attained without them j but 
 they seem not to deserve a place even among 
 the circumstantials of a religion which is of 
 divine institution. All the laboured argu- 
 ments, whether for or against the colour of 
 a garment, the shape of a building, and a 
 multitude of other things equally insignifi- 
 cant, seem to have occasioned a needless lo^s 
 of time and temper, chiefly by a mistake of 
 the question on both sides. 
 
 2. Essentials in Christianity are those things 
 without which no man can be a Christian in 
 the sight of God, and by the decision of his 
 word ; and, on the other hand, those things 
 only are essential which whoever possesses, is 
 by scripture-declaration, in a state of favour 
 with God through Christ. These might be 
 branched out into many particulars ; but they 
 are fully and surely comprised in two, Faith 
 and Holiness. These are essential to the be- 
 ing of a Christian, are only to be found in a 
 Christian, are infallible tokens that the pos- 
 sessor is accepted in fhe Beloved, and who- 
 ever dies without them must assuredly perish : 
 These are essentials, because they are abso- 
 lutely necessary ; for it is written, “ He that 
 believeth not shall be damned” (Mark xvi. 
 16.), and “ Without holiness no man shall see 
 the Lord” (Heb. xii. 14.) : and they are es- 
 sential likewise, because they demonstrate an 
 interest in the promise of everlasting life. 
 Thus our Lord declares, “ He that heareth 
 my words, and believeth on him that sent me, 
 hath everlasting life, and shall not come into 
 condemnation, but is passed from death unto 
 life” (John v. 24.) ; and the apostle, writing 
 to the believing Romans, tells them, “ Now, 
 being made free from sin, and become the ser- 
 vants of God, you have your fruit unto holi- 
 ness, and the end everlasting life,” Rom. vi, 
 22. These then are the essentials of religion : 
 and though they are produced by the same 
 power of the Holy Spirit, and derived from a 
 knowledge of the same truths, and therefore 
 cannot be separated, they may properly be dis- 
 tinguished for the conviction of those who 
 
 OF A MINISTER OF CHRIST. 
 
*)00 ST. PAUL AN 
 
 pretend to one without the other. The most 
 specious appearances of holiness, which are 
 not accompanied with faith in Christ, may be 
 safely rejected as counterfeits. On the other 
 hand, a profession of faitli which is not evi- 
 denced by the fruits of holiness, by gracious 
 tempers, and a tenor of life becoming the gos- 
 pel, is dead, delusory, and destructive. 
 
 If the question is removed another step, 
 and it should be asked, Which, or how many, 
 of the doctrines of scripture are necessary to 
 produce the faith and holiness supposed re- 
 quisite ? it may suffice to say, That, in the 
 nature of things, no person can be expected 
 to believe in Christ, till convinced of his need 
 of him, and of his ability, as a Saviour, fully 
 to answer his expectations : and as a ’su- 
 preme love to God, and a hatred of all sin, 
 are evidently included in the idea of holiness, 
 it supposes a disposition of mind, which every 
 man’s experience proves to be beyond the 
 power of fallen nature ; and therefore a com- 
 petent knowledge and cordial acceptance of 
 what the scriptures teach concerning the na- 
 ture and desert of sin, the person and media- 
 tory acts of Christ, the causes, ends, and ef- 
 fects of his mediation, together with the ne- 
 cessity of that change of heart which is ex- 
 pressed by a being born again, appear to be 
 essentially necessary to that faith and holiness 
 which are described in the gospel. 
 
 3. The circumstantials of religion include 
 all those particulars of revelation, which a 
 person possessed of the above-mentioned es- 
 sentials may as yet be unacquainted with, or 
 unable to judge of with certainty. A care- 
 ful application to the scriptures, a diligent 
 waiting upon God in prayer, and an improve, 
 ment of the means of grace, will (by the di- 
 vine blessing, which is promised to those who 
 seek in this manner) increase our light, com- 
 prehension, and certaifity, w'ith regard to 
 these points, which, though not essentially 
 necessary to the being of a Christian, are ex- 
 ceedingly conducive to his well-being, to his 
 growth and establishment in the truth. 
 
 This subject may be perhaps illustrated 
 from the animal frame, in which what we call 
 the vital parts may be considered as essential 
 to life, because there can be no life without 
 them. We may easily conceive, that a man 
 may live without an arm or leg, or several 
 members and organs, which, though highly va- 
 luable for use and comfort, are not necessa- 
 rily connected with life ; but if we conceive 
 of him as deprived of his head, heart, or 
 lungs, we can no longer consider him as liv- 
 ing ; yet it is desirable to have a body not 
 only animated, but organized. So likewise 
 in religion, those who are truly partakers of 
 it will not too curiously inquire, how much 
 knowledge, or what degree of practice is barely 
 consistent with a possibility of life, but they 
 will earnestly desire to be acquainted with the 
 whole will of God, and that every part of it 
 
 BOOK II 
 
 may have a suitable influence upon their prac- 
 tice : But, in the mean time, a consolation is 
 provided, in the promises of God, made to 
 those who have received the seeds of faith and 
 true holiness, against the fears, doubts, and 
 involuntary mistakes, which, from remaining 
 ignorance, they are yet subject to : He will 
 supply what is wanting, pardon what is amiss, 
 and lead them on from strength to strength ; 
 they are to walk by the light already afforded, 
 to wait on him for an increase, to be diffident 
 of themselves, and gentle to others, and things 
 which as yet they know' not, God will, in his 
 due time, reveal to them. But to return from 
 this digression : 
 
 V. Every part of St. Paul’s history and ' 
 writings demonstrates a disinterested spirit, 
 and that his uncommon labours were directed 
 to no other ends than the glory of God and 
 the good of men. No man had probably so 
 great an influence over his hearers, or could 
 have a juster claim, from the nature and num- 
 ber of his services, to a suitable provision for 
 himself ; but he could say with truth, We 
 seek not yours, but you. To cut off all oc- 
 casions of misapprehension on this head, he 
 usually submitted to work with his own hands, 
 rather than be chargeable to his friends.* It 
 is true, he does not propose himself to us a 
 pattern in this respect ; for he tells us ( 1 Cor. 
 ix. 14.), that the labourer is worthy of his 
 hire; and that the Lord had ordained, that 
 those w'ho preach the gospel should live by the 
 gospel ; and when he saw it expedient, he 
 did not refuse to be himself assisted by others. 
 He shewed, by accepting such assistance from 
 some, that he understood his liberty, and did 
 not act from a spirit of pride or singularity 
 when he declined it; and, by his more gene- 
 ral practice, he evidenced that he was supe- 
 rior to all selfish and mercenary motives ; and, 
 upon the whole, he was content to appear 
 and live as a poor man ; and though he had 
 learned, in the school of Christ, how to abound 
 as w r ell as to suffer w'ant, the latter seems to 
 have been more frequently his lot (Phil. iv. 
 12.): he saw too many false teachers, who, 
 under the sanction of a sacred character, made 
 merchandize of souls ; and he not only se- 
 verely censured them, but, by this self-denial, 
 which they were unable to imitate, he mani- 
 fested the vanity of their pretences in setting 
 themselves forth as the apostles of Christ. 
 This seems to have been his chief design in 
 it, and the reason of his repeating, with so 
 much earnestness, his determination to take 
 nothing from the Corinthians, who were too 
 
 * I Cor. ix. 18. That I may make the gospel of Christ 
 without charge. — A Sao-avev ^v.treo, that 1 may set it be- 
 fore you gratis, or a free gospel. The messengers of 
 good news are usually gratified with a reward ; but the 
 apostle, though he brought the most welcome and im- 
 portant tidings that ever rejoiced the hearts of men, 
 would not encumber or disgrace the news, by receiving 
 any thing for it. The truth is, he took as much plea- 
 sure in delivering his message as they could in hearing 
 it, and found his reward in his employment. 
 
 EXEMPLAR 
 
CHAP. II. 
 
 OF A MINISTER 01< CHRIST. 
 
 much inclined to listen to some of these teach- 
 ers, to his disadvantage. But whatever pa- 
 rade they might make of gifts or zeal, or 
 however they might presume to equal them- 
 selves to him in other respects, he knew they 
 would not attempt to share with him in the 
 glory of preaching the gospel freely, which 
 was diametrically inconsistent with their whole 
 design. The circumstances with us are so 
 far different, that, in proposing St. Paul as a 
 pattern of disinterestedness, we do not lay a 
 stress upon his preaching the gospel without 
 expense to his hearers ; yet, in his noble con- 
 tempt of worldly advantage, and making every 
 thing stoop to the great ends of his mission, 
 he stands as a precedent to all Christian mini- 
 sters in succeeding times. In those passages 
 of his epistles to Timothy and Titus, where 
 the negative part of a minister’s character, 
 whether bishop or deacon, is given, this is 
 constantly one branch of it, that he must not 
 be influenced by a love of gain ; and as con- 
 stantly the word is compounded with the epi- 
 thet filthy: “Not given to filthy lucre;” 
 to intimate, that nothing can be more disho- 
 nest or dishonourable than to make a traffic 
 of this service. Nor is this the judgment of 
 scripture only, but the general voice of man- 
 kind. Nothing is a greater bar to a mini- 
 ster’s usefulness, or renders his person and 
 labours more contemptible, than a known at- 
 tachment to money, a gripping fist, and a 
 hard heart. They who enter into the priest’s 
 office for a piece of bread, who are less con- 
 cerned for the flock than the fleece, who em- 
 ploy all their arts and influence to exchange 
 a less emolument for a greater, or to super- 
 add one to another, may have the reward they 
 seek ; but of all the methods of acquiring 
 wealth, which do not directly expose a man 
 to the lash of human laws, this is the most to 
 be lamented and avoided. If the scriptures 
 are true, if St. Paul was a servant of Christ, 
 and if the authority of his precepts and ex- 
 ample is still binding, a day will come when 
 mercenary preachers will wish they had beg- 
 ged their bread from door to door, or been 
 chained to the oar of a galley for life, rather 
 than have presumed to intrude into the church 
 upon such base and unworthy views. It is to 
 be feared, that too many read the awful de- 
 nunciations upon this head in the prophets Je- 
 remiah (chap, xxiii.) and Ezekiel (chap. xiii. 
 and xxxiv.), with indifference, as supposing 
 they only relate to the Jews who lived at that 
 time ; but they are equally applicable to all 
 who prostitute the word and worship of God 
 to the purposes of ambition and avarice. 
 
 VI. From the foregoing particulars we may 
 collect the idea of true Christian zeal, as ex- 
 emplified in our apostle. Hardly any word in 
 our language is more misunderstood, or abused 
 than zeal. * It is used in the New Testament 
 
 * All religious parties profess a great regard to the 
 piecopt, Jude 3. “ Contend earnestly for the faith.” 
 
 501 
 
 indifferently in a good or bad sense ; and it is 
 considered as a vice or virtue, according to its 
 object and principle. It sometimes denotes en- 
 vy,* indignation, or disdain, an obstinate and 
 ignorant opposition to the truth, a misguided 
 warmth in unnecessary things, and a conten- 
 tious, disputatious temper. A zeal replete with 
 these characters has too frequently been the 
 bane and opprobrium of the Christian church ; 
 but it is good to be zealously affected in a good 
 thing; and then it is sinful to be otherwise. 
 Our passions were not given us in vain. When 
 the judgment is well informed, and the un- 
 derstanding duly enlightened by the word of 
 God, the more warmth the better ; but this 
 earnestness in an ignorant or prejudiced per- 
 son is dangerous, and hurtful to himself and 
 others ; it is like haste in a man in the dark, 
 who knows not where he is going, nor what 
 mischiefs he may suffer or occasion. False 
 zeal spends its strength in defence of names 
 and forms, the externals of religion, or the in- 
 ventions of men ; it enforces its edicts by com- 
 pulsion and severity; it would willingly call 
 for fire from heaven, but, unable to do this, 
 it kindles the flame of persecution, and, if not 
 providentially restrained, wages war with the 
 peace, comfort, and liberty of all who disdain 
 to wear its chains, and breathes threatening, 
 slaughter and destruction with an unrelenting 
 spirit. Its mildest weapons (which it never 
 employs alone, except where it is checked by 
 a superior power) are calumny, contempt and 
 hatred ; and the objects it seeks to worry are 
 generally the quiet in the land, and those who 
 worship God in spirit and in truth : in a 
 word, it resembles the craft by which it works, 
 and is earthly, sensual, devilish. But the 
 true Christian zeal is a heavenly, gentle flame : 
 it shines and warms, but knows not to destroy : 
 it is the spirit of Christ, infused, with a sense 
 of his love, into the heart ; it is a generous 
 philanthropy and benevolence, •which, like the 
 light of the sun, diffuses itself to every object, 
 and longs to be the instrument of good, if 
 possible, to the whole race of mankind. A 
 sense of the worth of souls, the importance 
 of unseen things, and the awful condition of 
 unawakened sinners, makes it indeed earnest 
 and importunate, but this it shews not by bit- 
 terness and constraint, but by an unwearied 
 perseverance in attempting to overcome-}- evil 
 with good : it returns blessings for curses, 
 
 And if noisy anger, bold assertions, harsh censures, and 
 bitter persecuting zeal can singly or jointly answer the 
 apostle’s design, there is hardly a party but may glory in 
 their obedience. But if the weapons of our warfare are 
 not carnal ; — if the wrath of man worketh not the right- 
 eousness of God ; — if the true Christian contention can 
 only be maintained by scripture arguments, meekness, 
 patience, prayer, and an exemplary conversation; — if 
 this is the true state of the case, where is the church or 
 party (may 1 not say, where is the person ?) that has not 
 still much to learn and to practise on this point ? 
 
 * Compare Acts v. 17; Rom. xiii. 13, x. 2; PhiL 
 iii. 6; Gal. i. 14; Acts xvi. 20; James iii. 16'; in all 
 which places the word is the same that is rendered zeal 
 in 2 Cor. ix. 2; Col. iv. 13; John ii. 1?. 
 
 f See Romans xxii. 20, 21. This practice the apo* 
 
BOOK II. 
 
 ST. PAUL AN EXEMPLAR 
 
 502 
 
 prayers for ill treatment ; and, though often 
 reviled and affronted, cannot be discouraged 
 from renewed efforts to make others partakers 
 of the happiness itself possesses : it knows 
 how to express a becoming indignation against 
 the errors and follies of men ; but towards 
 their persons it is all gentleness and compas- 
 sion :* it weeps (and would, if possible, weep 
 tears of blood) over those who will not be per- 
 suaded ; but, while it plainly represents the 
 consequences of their obstinacy, it trembles 
 at its own declarations, •}• and feels for them 
 who cannot feel for themselves, it is often 
 grieved, but cannot be provoked. The zea. 
 lous Christian is strictly observant of his own 
 failings, candid and tender to the faults of 
 others : he knows what allowances are due to 
 the frailty of human nature, and the tempta- 
 tions of the present state, and willingly makes 
 all the allowances possible ; and though he 
 dare not call evil good, cannot but judge ac- 
 cording to the rule of the scripture, yet he 
 will conceal the infirmities of men as much 
 as he can, will not speak of them without 
 just cause, much less will he aggravate the 
 case, or boast himself over them. Such was 
 the zeal of our apostle. Bold and intrepid in 
 the cause of God and truth, unwearied in ser- 
 vice, inflexible in danger, when duty called, 
 he was not to be restrained, either by the 
 threats of enemies, the solicitations of friends, 
 or the prospect of any hardships to which he 
 might be exposed : he cheerfully endured hun- 
 ger and thirst, watching and weariness, po- 
 verty and contempt, and counted not his life 
 dear, so that he might fulfil the great pur- 
 poses of the ministry which he had received of 
 the Lord. But at the same time, in all his 
 intercourse with men, he was gentle, mild, 
 and compassionate ; he studied the peace, and 
 accommodated himself to the weakness of all 
 about him : when he might command, he used 
 
 tie recommends by the metaphor of heaping coals of 
 fire on an enemy’s head. As metals that endure a mo- 
 derate warmth without alteration are melted down and 
 quite dissolved by an intense heat, so the hard heart, 
 even of an enemy, may be sometimes softened by a se- 
 ries, and indefatigable heaping up of favours and' obli- 
 gations. This is a noble piece of chemistry, but al- 
 most as much out of repute and practice as the search 
 after the philosopher’s stone. 
 
 * When St. Paul, speaking of the Judaizing false 
 teachers, and their adherents, says, “ I would they were 
 even cut off which trouble you, he seems to allude to 
 the circumcision they so strenuously enforced, Gal. v. 
 12; compare Phil. ii'i. 2. His wish concerning these 
 sectaries has been often perverted, to give sanction to 
 the rage of persecutors ; but he does not mean to cut 
 them off with fire and sword, or to cut them off from 
 fire and water, but to have them excluded from com- 
 munion and converse with true believers. 
 
 f How awful to declare, to denounce the terrors of 
 the Lord ! those terrors which are represented to us by 
 fire unquenchable, with the additional idea of eternity, 
 Matth. iii. 15 ; Mark ix. 45.— As such descriptions shock 
 and alarm a guilty conscience, there are two different 
 methods by which the removal of this alarm is attempt- 
 ed : some seek and find peace and security from the 
 blood of Jesu«; and some, who are not pleased with 
 this method, satisfy themselves and their friends with 
 criticisms upon the terms, and tell us that the phrase 
 «« for ever and ever,” signifies a limited space, and that 
 “ fire that cannot be quenched,” denotes fire that goes 
 out of itself. 
 
 entreaties ; when he met with hard and inju- 
 rious treatment, he bore it patiently, and, if 
 opportunity offered, requited it with kindness. 
 Thus as he had drunk of the spirit, so he 
 walked in the steps of his Lord and Master. 
 
 All who bear the name of ministers of 
 Christ would do well to examine how fai 
 their tempers and conduct are conformable to 
 St. Paul’s. Are there not too many who 
 widely differ from him ? Where he was im- 
 moveable as an iron pillar, they are flexible 
 and yielding as a reed waving in the wind, 
 suiting their doctrines and practice to the de- 
 praved state of the world, and prostituting 
 their talents and calling to the unworthy pur- 
 suit of ambition and applause. On the other 
 hand, in things less essential, or not com- 
 manded, they invade the rights of private 
 judgment, and attempt to bind heavy yokes* 
 and impositions upon those whom Christ has 
 made free ; and while they readily tolerate, if 
 not countenance, scepticism, and immorality, 
 they exert all their strength and subtlety to 
 disquiet or suppress those who differ from 
 them in the slightest circumstance, if they 
 profess to differ for conscience sake. But 
 Jesus has no such ministers : their claim is 
 utterly vain ; none but those who are igno- 
 rant of the plainest truths can allow them 
 this character : their tempers, their behaviour, 
 the tenor of their professed instructions, and 
 the total want of efficacy and influence in their 
 ministrations, plainly demonstrate that he nei- 
 ther sent them nor owns them. 
 
 VII. Having considered the subject-mat- 
 ter, and the leading views of theapastle’s mi- 
 nistry, it may not be improper to take some 
 notice of his manner as a preacher. This he 
 reminds the Corinthians of. They were re- 
 puted a polite and ingenuous people. St. 
 Paul was aware of their character, and ex- 
 presses himself as if he had been deliberating 
 before he saw them in what way he should 
 address them with the fairest probability of 
 success. He tells them (1 Cor. ii. 2 — 4), 
 that he determined to know nothing among 
 them but Jesus Christ, and him crucified, 
 including in this one comprehensive expres- 
 sion, the whole scheme of gospel-doctrine. 
 And as to the manner in which he delivered 
 this doctrine, he says, “ My speech and my 
 preaching was not with enticing words of 
 man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the 
 Spirit, and with power.” We are sure that 
 he did not renounce justness of reasoning, 
 or propriety of expression ; in these respects 
 he exceeded their most admired orators, as 
 
 * Matth. xxiii. 4. “ They bind heavy burdens and 
 
 grievous to be borne,” a weight of traditions and ob- 
 servances, “ and lay them upon men’s shoulders ; but 
 they themselves will not move them with one of their 
 fingers.” There is a double opposition in this passage, 
 between to be borne and to move, and between the 
 shoulders and a finger. It has been often found since, 
 that those who are most impatient of restraint them- 
 selves are most earnest in pressing yoke* and bands ujion 
 others. 
 
CHAP. II. 
 
 OF A MINISTER OF CHRIST. .503 
 
 may appear to any who have skill and can- 
 dour to compare his epistles and discourses, 
 
 T in the original, with the best performances of 
 the Greek writers ; but he renounced the en- 
 
 • ticing or plausible words of man’s wisdom. 
 In the term man’s wisdom, I apprehend, may 
 be included whatever the natural faculties of 
 man are capable of discovering or receiving, 
 independent of the peculiar teaching of the 
 Spirit of God, which is promised and re- 
 strained to those who, sensible of their own 
 foolishness, are brought to believe in Jesus 
 Christ, the wisdom of God ; and the enticing 
 
 ' words of man’s wisdom may include all those 
 ways and arts which the wise men of the 
 world have used or approved, as most effec- 
 tual to express, adorn,* or defend their own 
 wise sentiments and discoveries. These, and 
 the methods of setting them off to advantage, 
 have been divided into many branches, and 
 dignified with sounding names; but all the 
 efforts of man’s wisdom, considered as en- 
 gaged in the subjects of religion and morals, 
 may be summed up in three particulars : 1 . 
 A vain inquiry into things which lie wholly 
 beyond the capacity of man in his present 
 state, and which can only be discovered by 
 
 * supernatural revelation ; 2. A vain attempt 
 to account for every thing according to the 
 light and principles of depraved reason ; 3. 
 A studious exactness in language, either an 
 easy flow of words to please and amuse the 
 ear, or a torrent of strong and figurative ex- 
 
 < pressions to engage the passions, according as 
 a different taste or fashion happens to prevail. 
 It would be too dry a task to illustrate these 
 points by adducing specimens of each from 
 the works of the ancient and modern philo- 
 sophers ; but if we had not other employment 
 
 ( in hand, it would be easy to shew that man’s 
 wisdom, in the first sense, is uncertainty, in 
 the second prejudice, in the third, imposition 
 and artifice. It is sufficient for my present 
 purpose that the apostle renounced them all. 
 Instead of vainf conjectures, he spoke from 
 certain experience ; he could say, I received 
 of the Lord that which I also delivered to you. 
 Instead of accommodating his doctrine to the 
 
 * In 1 Cor. xiv. 9. St. Paul recommends “ words 
 easy to be understood.” His reasoning in that chapter 
 is levelled, not only against the absurdity of speaking in 
 an unknown tongue, but against the use of any terms, 
 or the treating upon any subjects which are not adapted 
 to the level of the auditory. Many discourses that are 
 expressed in English phrases, are as useless to the bulk 
 of the people as if they were delivered in Greek ; for 
 what have the people to do with scholastic or metaphy- 
 sical niceties, or curious researches into antiquity, or 
 elegant dissertations upon the fitness of things ? They 
 cannot understand them ; and if they could, they would 
 find them nothing to their purpose. 
 
 + Though the apostle disclaimed the light sophistry 
 which obtained in the schools, the tenor of his preach- 
 ing was founded upon the clearest principles, and con- 
 tained a chain of the justest consequences. He did not 
 only assert, but prove and demonstrate the truth of his 
 doctrines, by ancient prophecies, by recent facts, and by 
 a present ineontestible efficacy. Yet it is called “ the 
 [ demonstration of the Spirt,” to intimate that the strong- 
 ; est and best adapted evidence is insufficient to the pur- 
 \ poses of salvation unless accompanied with a divine 
 \ power 
 
 taste and judgment of his hearers, he spoke 
 with authority, in the name of God whom he 
 served: instead of losing time in measuring 
 words and syllables, that he might obtain the 
 character of a fine speaker, he spoke, from 
 the feeling and fulness of his heart, the words 
 of simplicity and truth. The success of his 
 preaching did not at all depend upon the soft- 
 ness and harmony of his periods, and there- 
 fore he disdained an attention to those petty 
 ornaments of speech, which were quite neces. 
 sary to help out the poverty of man’s wisdom ; 
 he sought something else, which those who 
 preach themselves rather than Christ Jesus 
 the Lord, have little reason to expect;* I 
 mean the power and demonstration of the 
 Spirit : he knew that this alone could give 
 him success ; and ministers may learn from 
 him what to avoid, and what to seek for, if 
 they would be useful to their hearers. Men 
 can but declare the truths of the gospel ; it is 
 the Spirit of God who alone can reveal them : 
 nothing less than a divine power can present 
 them to the mind in their just importance, 
 and throw light into the soul, by which they 
 may be perceived : nothing less than this 
 power can subdue the will, and open the heart 
 to receive the truth in the love of it : without 
 this concurring agency, even St. Paul would 
 have preached in vain. From what has been 
 said, we may remark two obvious reasons, 
 amongst others, why we have so much unsuc- 
 cessful preaching in our days, either the gos- 
 pel-truths are given up, or the gospel-simpli- 
 city departed from. Where either of these is 
 the case, the Lord refuses his power and bles- 
 sing. 
 
 VIII. Another observable part of St. Paul’s 
 character, is his unaffected humility. In the 
 midst of his eminent and extensive services, 
 he retained a deep sense of the part he once 
 acted against the Lord. He speaks of hinv 
 self, on this account, in the most abasing lan 
 guage, as the chief of sinners, and strongly 
 expresses his unworthiness of the grace and 
 apostleship he had received, by comparing 
 himself to an untimely birth ;f and though 
 his insight into the mysteries of the gospel, 
 the communion he maintained with God, by 
 
 * A man who has languages and sciences in his head, 
 but does not know or relish the gospel of Christ, is an 
 ignorant, indeed a stupid person, unaffected with the 
 grandest view of wisdom, power, and goodness that ever 
 was or can be displayed ; and whoever truly knows and 
 embraces this mystery of godliness is a wise man, a 
 person of an excellent understanding, though he may 
 not be much acquainted with those uncertain, unsatis- 
 fying systems which men have agreed to honour with 
 the name of knowledge. See Ps. cxi. 10. 
 
 f 1 Cor. xv. 8. “ As one born out of due time.” 
 
 The original word is that is, an abortion. He 
 
 speaks of himself under this despicable image (the true 
 sense of which is not easily perceived by an English 
 reader), to shew the deep and humbling sense he re- 
 tained of the part he once acted against the church of 
 Christ; he considered himself as unworthy and con- 
 temptible to the last degree, as one of whom no good 
 hope could be justly formed at that time, much less 
 that he should be honoured with a sight of the Lord 
 Jesus from heaven, and with a call to the apostolic 
 office. 
 
604 ST. PAUL AN EXEMPLAlt book ir. 
 
 faith in his Son, and the beauty of holiness 
 which shone in his conversation, were all 
 beyond the common measure ; yet having, in 
 the same proportion, a clearer sense of his 
 obligations, and of the extent and purity of 
 the divine precepts, he thought nothing of his 
 present attainments, in comparison of those 
 greater degrees of grace he was still pressing 
 after.* While, in the eyes of others, he ap- 
 peared not only exemplary, but unequalled, 
 he esteemed himself less than the least of all 
 saints (Ephes. iii. 9.) ; and his patience and 
 condescension towards others, and his acquies- 
 cence under all the trying dispensations of 
 providence with which he was exercised, were 
 a proof that this was not an affected manner 
 of expression, but the genuine dictate of his 
 heart. To speak of one’s self in abasing 
 terms is easy ; and such language is often a 
 thin vail, through which the motions of pride 
 may be easily discerned : but though the lan- 
 guage of humility may be counterfeited, its 
 real fruits and actings are inimitable. Here 
 again he is a pattern for Christians. An 
 humble frame of mind is the strength and 
 ornament of every other grace, and the pro- 
 per soil wherein they grow. A proud Chris- 
 tian, that is, one who has a high conceit of 
 his own abilities and attainments, is no less a 
 contradiction than a sober drunkard, or a 
 generous miser. All other seeming excel- 
 lencies are of no real value, unless accom- 
 panied with this ; and though a person should 
 appear to have little more than a conscious- 
 ness of his own insufficiency, and a teachable 
 dependent spirit, and is waiting upon the 
 Lord, in his appointed way, for instruction 
 and a blessing, he will infallibly thrive, as a 
 tree planted by the water-side ; for God, who 
 resisteth the proud, has promised to give 
 grace to the humble, James iv. 6. But, in 
 an especial manner, humility is necessary and 
 beautiful in a minister ; the greatest abilities, 
 and most unwearied diligence, will not ensure 
 success without it ; a secret (if allowed) ap- 
 prehension of his own importance, will de- 
 prive him of that assistance without which he 
 can do nothing; his arm will be dried up, 
 and his right eye will be darkened (Zech. xi. 
 17.); for the Lord of hosts hath purposed 
 to stain the pride of all human glory, and 
 will honour none but those who abase them- 
 selves, and are willing to give all the praise 
 to hirh alone. If any man hath ground to 
 set a value upon his knowledge, gifts, and 
 services, St. Paul might justly claim the pre- 
 eminence : but though he was an apostle, 
 and an inspired writer ; though he had planted 
 churches through a considerable part of the 
 known world ; though he was received as an 
 
 * Phil. iii. 13, “Forgetting the things that are be- 
 hind.” As a traveller upon urgent business posts from 
 place to place, forgets the distance and inconveniences 
 behind him, and has all his thoughts taken up with the 
 dace he would be at, and the remainder of the road that 
 eads to it. 
 
 angel by many to whom he preached, and, 
 by a peculiar favour, had been caught up 
 into the third heaven ; yet he was, by grace, 
 preserved from being exalted above measure, 
 or from assuming an undue superiority over 
 his brethren. The authority with which he 
 was entrusted he employed solely to their 
 advantage, and accounted himself the least 
 of all, and the servant of all. How very op- 
 posite has been the conduct of many since his 
 time, who have aimed to appropriate the name 
 of ministers of Christ, exclusively to them- 
 selves. 
 
 Such was our apostle ; and the same spirit 
 (though in an inferior degree) will be found in 
 all the faithful ministers of the Lord Jesus : 
 they love his name ; it is the pleasing theme 
 of their ministry ; and to render it glorious in 
 the eyes of sinners is the great study of their 
 lives ; for his sake they love all who love him, 
 and are their willing servants to promote the 
 comfort and edification of their souls : They 
 love his gospel, faithfully proclaim it without 
 disguise or alteration, and shun not to de- 
 clare the whole counsel of God, so far as they 
 are themselves acquainted with it : they con- 
 tend earnestly for the faith once delivered to 
 the saints, and are desirous to preserve and 
 maintain the truth in its power and purity. 
 The knowledge of their own weakness and 
 fallibility makes them tender to the weakness 
 of others ; and though they dare not lay, or 
 allow, any other foundation than that which 
 God has laid in Zion, yet, knowing that the 
 kingdom of God does not consist in meats 
 and drinks, but in righteousness, peace, and 
 joy in the Holy Ghost, they guard against 
 the influence of a party-spirit ; and, if their 
 labours are confined to Christians of one de- 
 nomination, their love and prayers are not 
 limited within such narrow bounds, but ex- 
 tend to all who love and serve their Master : 
 they have entered upon the ministry, not for 
 low and sordid ends, for popular applause or 
 filthy lucre, but from a constraining sense of 
 the love of Jesus, and a just regard to the 
 worth and danger of immortal souls : their 
 zeal is conducted and modelled by the ex- 
 ample and precepts of their Lord ; their de- 
 sire is not to destroy, but to save, and they 
 wish their greatest enemies a participation in 
 their choicest blessings. In the subject mat- 
 ter and manner of their preaching, they shew 
 that they seek not to be men-pleasers, but to 
 commend the truth to every man’s conscience 
 in the sight of God ; and when they have 
 done their utmost, and when God has blessed 
 their labours, and given them acceptance and 
 success beyond their hopes, they are conscious 
 of the defects and evils attending their best 
 endeavours, of the weal* influence the truths 
 they preach to others have upon their own 
 hearts, that their sufficiency of every kind is 
 of God, and not of themselves ; and therefore 
 they sit down ashamed, as unprofitable ser- 
 
CHAP. III. 
 
 505 
 
 IRREGULARITIES AND OFFENCES, &C. 
 
 vants, and can rejoice or glory in nothing, 
 but in him who came into the world to save 
 the chief of sinners. 
 
 It might be expected that a spirit and con- 
 duct, thus uniformly benevolent and disinte- 
 rested, and witnessed to, in a greater or less 
 degree, by the good effect of their ministry 
 and example amongst their hearers, would se- 
 cure them the good-will of mankind, and entitle 
 them to peace, if not to respect : But, on the 
 contrary, these are the very people who are 
 represented as deceivers of souls, and disturb- 
 ers of society : they are not permitted to live 
 in some places ; and it is owing to a concur- 
 rence of favourable circumstances, if they are 
 permitted to speak in any: The eyes of many 
 are upon them, watching for their halting ; 
 their infirmities are aggravated, their expres- 
 sions wrested, their endeavours counteracted, 
 and their persons despised. The design of 
 our history is, to shew, in the course of every 
 period of the church, that those who have ap- 
 proached nearest to the character I have at- 
 tempted to delineate from St. Paul,* have 
 always met with such treatment ; and from 
 his declaration, that all who will live godly in 
 Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution (2 Tim. 
 iii. 12.), we may expect it will always be so, 
 
 ■ while human nature and the state of the world 
 remain as they are. However, it may be a 
 consolation to those who suffer for righteous- 
 ness sake, to reflect, that the apostles were 
 treated thus before them, particularly St. Paul, 
 who, as he laboured, so he suffered more a- 
 bundantly than the rest; his person was treat- 
 ed with contempt and despite, his character 
 traduced, his doctrine misrepresented ; and 
 though his natural and acquired abilities were 
 great, and he spoke with power and the de- 
 monstration of the Spirit, yet he was esteemed 
 the filth and off-scouring of all things, a bab- 
 bler, and a madman, f Acts, xvii. 18. 
 
 * Our Lord’s declaration, “ Behold, I send you forth 
 as lambs in the midst of wolves,” is applicable to all his 
 servants. The sight of a lamb is sufficient to provoke 
 the rage and appetite of a wolf : Thus the spirit of the 
 gospel awakens the rage and opposition of the world ; 
 they have an antipathy to it, and owe it a grudge where- 
 ever they see it. 
 
 * 2 Cor. v. 13. See likewise Mark, iii. 21. “ And 
 
 when his friends heard it, they went out to lay hold of 
 him, for they said. He is beside himself That is to 
 say, his attention to the office he has undertaken has 
 transported him beyond the bounds of reason, and made 
 him forget his station, his friends, and his safety; there- 
 fore, out of pure affection and prudence, they would 
 have confined him: Nor is it any wonder that our 
 Lord’s friends and relatives should thus think and speak 
 of him, since we are assured that even his brethren (lid 
 not believe on him, John, vii. 3. And there seems to 
 have been no possible medium. All who were conver- 
 sant with him, must either receive him as the Messiah, 
 or pity, if not despise, him as a madman. This was the 
 mildest judgment they could form ; the Pharisees in- 
 deed went farther, and pronounced him an impostor 
 and a devil. Such was the treatment our Lord and 
 Master found. Let not, then, his disciples and servants 
 be surprised or grieved that they are misrepresented and 
 misunderstood, on account of their attachment to hivn ; 
 but let them comfort themselves with his gracious words, 
 John, xv 18'— -21. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 OF THE IRREGULARITIES AND OFFENCES WHICH 
 APPEARED IN THE APOSTOLIC CHURCHES. 
 
 There are few things in which the various 
 divisions of professing Christians are so gene- 
 rally agreed, as in speaking highly and honour- 
 ably of primitive Christianity. In many per- 
 sons this is no more than an ignorant admira- 
 tion, not capable of distinguishing what is 
 truly praise-worthy, but disposed to applaud 
 every thing in the gross that has the sanction 
 of antiquity to recommend it. The primitive 
 Christians have been looked upon, by some, as 
 if they were not men of the same nature and 
 infirmities with ourselves, but nearly infalli- 
 ble and perfect. This is often taken for 
 granted in general ; and when particulars are 
 insisted on, it is observable, that they are sel- 
 dom taken from the records of the New Testa- 
 ment, and the churches which flourished in 
 the apostles times ; but rather from those 
 who lived in and after the second century, 
 when a considerable deviation in doctrine, spi- 
 rit, and conduct, from those which were indeed 
 the primitive churches, had already taken 
 place, and there were evident appearances of 
 that curiosity, ambition, and will-worship, 
 which increased by a swift progress, till at 
 length professed Christianity degenerated into 
 little more than an empty name. 
 
 If Christians of the early ages are supposed to 
 have been more exemplary than in after periods, 
 chiefly because they lived nearer to the times 
 of our Lord and his apostles, it will follow of 
 course, that the earlier the better. We may 
 then expect to find most of the Christian spirit 
 among those who were converted and edified 
 by the apostles personal ministry : and though 
 we cannot allow the assumption (for the power 
 of godliness depends not upon dates, periods, 
 or instruments, but upon the influences of the 
 Holy Spirit), yet we are content to join issue 
 upon the conclusion, and are willing that all 
 claims to a revival of religion, and a real refor- 
 mation of manners, shall be admitted or reject- 
 ed, as they accord or disagree with the accounts 
 we have of the churches planted by the apos- 
 tles, and during the time that these authorised 
 ministers of Christ presided over them. We 
 can find no other period in which we can, to 
 so much advantage, propose the visible church- 
 es of Christ as a pattern and specimen of 
 what his grace and gospel may be expected to 
 produce in the present state of human nature ; 
 for the apostles were furnished, in an extraor- 
 dinary manner, with zeal, wisdom, and autho- 
 rity for their work, and God was remarkably 
 present with them, by the power of his Spirit. 
 Besides, as all the information we have con- 
 cerning this period is derived from the inspired 
 writings, we have that certainty of facts to 
 
BOOK IT. 
 
 IRREGULARITIES AND OFFENCES 
 
 506 
 
 ground our observations upon which no Other 
 history can afford. 
 
 We have a pleasing description of the first 
 of these churches, which was formed at Jeru- 
 salem soon after our Lord’s ascension. On 
 the day of Pentecost, many who had person- 
 ally consented to the death of Jesus, received 
 power to believe in his name, and publicly 
 joined themselves to his disciples ; a sense of 
 his love and grace to each united the whole 
 body so closely together, that, though they 
 were a multitude of several thousands, it is 
 said (Actsiv. 32.), they were of one heart 
 and of one soul: neither said any of them, 
 that aught of the things which he possessed 
 was his own, but they had all things common ; 
 and they continued stedfastly in the apostles 
 doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of 
 bread, and in prayers. These were happy 
 times indeed ! No interfering interests or 
 jarring sentiments, no subtle or factious spi- 
 rits, no remissness in the means of grace, no 
 instances of a conduct in any respect unbe- 
 coming the gospel, w'ere to be found among 
 them ; it seemed as if the powerful sense of 
 divine truths, which they had received, had 
 overborne, if not extirpated, every evil dispo- 
 sition in so large an assembly ; yet, even this 
 (the difference of numbers excepted) is no 
 peculiar case. The like has been observable 
 again and again, w r hen God has been pleased 
 to honour ministers, far inferior to the apos- 
 tles, with a sudden and signal influence, in 
 places w'here the power of the gospel had been 
 little known before. In such circumstances, 
 the truth has been often impressed and re- 
 ceived with astonishing effects ; many, who 
 before were dead in trespasses and sins, hav- 
 ing been, like those of old, pierced to the 
 heart, and then filled with comfort, from a 
 believing knowledge of him on w’hom their 
 sins were laid, find themselves, as it were, in 
 a new world ; old things are past away ; the 
 objects of time and sense appear hardly worth 
 their notice : the love of Christ constrains 
 them, and they burn in love to all who will 
 join them in praising the Saviour. Here indeed 
 is a striking change wrought : yet the infirmi- 
 ties inseparable from human nature, though 
 for the present overpowered, will, as occa- 
 sions arise, discover themselves again, so far 
 as to prove tw r o things universally: 1. That 
 the best of men are still liable to mistakes 
 and weaknesses, for which they will have 
 cause to mourn to the end of their lives. 2. 
 That in the best times there will be some in- 
 truders, who for a season may make a profes- 
 sion, and yet in the end appear to have neither 
 part nor lot in the matter. Thus it was in 
 the church of Jerusalem : the pleasing state 
 of things mentioned above did not continue 
 very long ; an Ananias and a Sapphira were 
 soon found amongst them, who sought the 
 praise of men, and made their profession a 
 
 cloak for covetousness and hypocrisy (Acts 
 v.); grudgings and murmurings arose in a 
 little time between the Jews and the Helle- 
 nists (Acts vi.) ; and it w'as not long before 
 they were thrown into strong debates, and in 
 danger of divisions, upon account of the ques- 
 tion first started at Antioch, Whether the law 
 of Moses was still in force to believers or not ? 
 Acts xv. 
 
 In these latter times, when it has been at- 
 tempted to vindicate and illustrate a revival 
 of religion, by appealing to the waitings of St. 
 Paul, and the delineation he has given us of 
 the faith and practice of a Christian, the attempt 
 has often excited disdain : it has been thought 
 a sufficient answer, to enumerate and exag- 
 gerate the faults, mistakes, and inconsistencies 
 (or w hat the world is pleased to account such) 
 that are charged upon the persons concerned 
 in such an appeal, as necessarily proving, that 
 where these blemishes are found, there can be 
 no resemblance to the first Christians. If the 
 frequency did not lessen the wonder, it might 
 seem very unaccountable that any person who 
 has read the New Testament should venture 
 upon this method in a Protestant country, 
 where the people have the scriptures in their 
 handstand are at liberty to judge for them- 
 selves. But as there are not a few, even a- 
 mong Protestants, who seem to expect their 
 assertions will pass for proofs, I propose, in 
 this chapter, to point out several things, which, 
 though undoubtedly wrong, had a considerable 
 prevalence among the first Christians, leaving 
 the application to the judicious reader. I ac- 
 knowledge my firm persuasion, that a certain 
 system of doctrine, revived of late years, is 
 the doctrine of the Reformation, and of the 
 New Testament; which, though not suited 
 to the general and prevailing taste, is attend- 
 ed, more or less, with the blessing and power 
 of God, in turning sinners from darkness to 
 light : I confess, that both ministers and peo- 
 ple who espouse this despised cause, have suf- 
 ficient ground for humiliation : we have seen, 
 we still see, many things amongst us which 
 we cannot approve ; we fear that too many 
 are a real discredit to the cause they profess ; 
 and we are conscious, that the best of us fall 
 mournfully short of what might be expected 
 from the sublime principles which, by the 
 grace of God, we have been taught from his 
 w'ord : we desire to be open to conviction, 
 not to contend for errors, or even to vindi- 
 cate any thing that can be proved contrary to 
 the scripture; but if some things not justi- 
 fiable, which we must own have accompanied 
 what w r e verily believe to be a work of the 
 Spirit of God, are (as some would represent 
 them) sufficient to discredit this work, to im- 
 peach the truth of the doctrines, or the sin- 
 cerity of the instruments in the gross ; then 
 we are sure it will follow upon the same prin- 
 ciples, that the Jews and Heathens had just 
 
CHAP III. 
 
 IN THE APOSTOLIC CHURCHES. 507 
 
 ground and warrant to reject the doctrine of 
 the apostles, and to treat their persons with 
 contempt. 
 
 A competent knowlege and consideration 
 of the present state of man, in himself, and 
 of the circumstances in which he is placed, 
 are necessary to preserve us from being offend- 
 ed with the gospel of Christ, on account of the 
 imperfections that may be found in the con- 
 duct of those who have sincerely received it ; 
 due allowances must be made for the remains 
 of ignorance and prejudice, the power of habit, 
 temper, and constitution, in different persons. 
 The various combinations of these, and other 
 particulars, make each individual character, 
 though agreeing in one common nature, and 
 influenced by the same general principles, in 
 some respects an original. The power and 
 subtlety of Satan, and his address in suiting 
 his temptations to the peculiar inclinations and 
 situation of every person, must be taken into 
 the account : and likewise the immense varie- 
 ty of occasions arising from without, such as, 
 the provocations and arts of enemies, the in- 
 fluence of mistaken friends, the necessary en- 
 gagements, connections, and relations of com- 
 mon life, the artifices of seducers, and the 
 scandals of false professors. These things, 
 and others which might be named, concur to 
 make the path of duty exceeding difficult, es- 
 pecially to young beginners, who, so soon 
 as they become sincerely desirous to serve 
 the Lord, find themselves immediately in the 
 midst of scenes, in which they can only be 
 fitted to act their parts aright by a gradual and 
 painful experience. They, whose intentions are 
 right, usually set out with warm hearts and san- 
 guine expectations, little aware of the difficul- 
 ties that are before them : they have indeed a 
 sure rule to act by in the scriptures, and they 
 have a sure promise, that the Spirit of God, wiil 
 be their guide and teacher ; but at first they 
 have but little acquaintance with the scriptures, 
 and until they are humbled, by being left 
 to commit many mortifying mistakes, they are 
 too prone to lean to their own understand- 
 ings ; every day brings them into some new 
 difficulty, wherein they can get little direction 
 from what they have passed through before, 
 and often emergencies are so pressing as hard- 
 ly to leave room for deliberation : in short, it 
 seems to be the Lord’s pleasure, not '■o much 
 to preserve them from mistakes and indiscre- 
 tions at first, as to take occasion to humble 
 them upon this account, and to shew them 
 now to correct them when made. Thus they 
 are more confirmed in a sense of their own 
 weakness and of his goodness, and are trained 
 up, by time, observation, and repeated trials, 
 to a more perfect exercise of every branch of 
 Christian wisdom by degrees their judgments 
 are formed to greater maturity ; they are more 
 jealous of themselves, more acquainted with 
 Satan’s devices, more capable of distinguish- 
 ing the spirit and conduct of mankind, and 
 
 especially more simply dependent upon God 
 for his teaching and direction ; and thus they 
 grow into a participation of the spirit of the 
 gospel, and are enabled to act and speak as be- 
 comes the servants of Christ. When his 
 gospel is faithfully preached and cordially re- 
 ceived, there always will be some who are able, 
 by the grace of God, to put to silence the 
 ignorance of foolish men, and to demean them- 
 selves so, that if any will speak evil of them, 
 the shame is retorted upon themselves ; but 
 among the numbers who are forming in the 
 same school, there will likewise be some (for 
 the reasons I have suggested) whose conduct 
 will, in some respects, be liable to censure, 
 though their hearts are sincere ; and there 
 will frequently be others, who (like the hear- 
 ers compared by our Lord to seed sown upon 
 rocky ground) will thrust themselves amongst 
 professors, be called by the same name, and 
 accounted by the world the same people, who 
 at length discover themselves to be mere hy- 
 pocrites: these indeed will furnish occasion 
 enough for exception ; and they who are glad 
 to have it so, will readily suppose or pretend 
 that they are all alike. It remains to shew, 
 that in this sense there is no new thing under 
 the sun. It was so from the beginning. 
 
 The apostle Paul bears an honourable testi- 
 mony to the sincerity, zeal, and grace of the 
 believers amongst whom he had preached, and 
 to whom he had written ; he commends their 
 work of faith and labour of love ; he styles 
 them his joy, his glory, and his crown, and 
 expresses his confidence, that the Lord, who 
 had begun a good work in them, would as- 
 suredly complete it : but though he knew 
 there were many persons among them who 
 were well established in the truth, and judi- 
 cious in their conduct, his admonitions upon 
 several occasions shew there were others, whose 
 judgments were weak and their behaviour un 
 warrantable. 
 
 He speaks of the Corinthians (2 Cor. i. 5), 
 as a people enriched in the knowledge of 
 Christ, and honoured with the eminency of 
 gifts ; yet he takes notice of many things 
 blameable in them ; insomuch that if the peo- 
 ple who now censure appearances of a reli- 
 gious kind, because they are not wholly free 
 from imperfection, could have had opportu- 
 nity to judge of the Christians at Corinth in 
 the ^ame spirit, it is probable they would have 
 despised and condemned those whom the apos- 
 tle loved, as much as they can possibly do any 
 set of people now. 
 
 They had first received the gospel from St. 
 Paul, but it had been confirmed to them after- 
 wards by other ministers. The servants of 
 Christ all preach the same truths ; but the 
 Holy Spirit, who furnishes them all for the 
 work he appoints them to, distributes to each 
 one severally, according to his own will ; he 
 communicates a diversity of gifts, not all to 
 one person, but each has a talent given him 
 
aOS IRREGULARITIES 
 
 to profit withal ; one is favoured with a pecu- 
 liar insight into the mysteries of the gospel • 
 another has a power and pathos of expres- 
 sion ; and another is happy in a facility of 
 applying to distressed and wounded con- 
 sciences. It is the duty and privilege of 
 Christians to avail themselves of these differ- 
 ent talents ; to profit by each, to be thankful 
 for all. and to esteem every faithful minister 
 very highly for his work’s sake. But the Co- 
 rinthians were unduly influenced by personal 
 attachments, as their several inclinations led 
 them ; they formed imprudent comparisons 
 and preferences, were divided into parties, 
 and drawn into contentions upon this ac- 
 count ; one saying, I am of Paul ; another, 
 I am of Apollos, or, I of Cephas (1 Cor. i. 
 1 2 ; and iii. 4) : they thought it a mark of 
 zeal tc be strenuous for their respective fa- 
 vourites; but St. Paul assured them, that it 
 was a sign they were weak and low in the 
 Christian life, and a means to keep them so. 
 Disputes and prepossessions of this kind draw 
 the mind away from its proper nourishment, 
 and afford occasion for the various workings 
 of our selfish passions. Wherever the Lord 
 is pleased to raise up, in or near the same 
 place, ministers who are of eminence in their 
 different gifts, the effects of this spirit will 
 be more or less observable ; and it is eagerly 
 observed by the world, and amplified to the 
 utmost, as a weighty objection : the ministers 
 are represented to be artful, designing men ; 
 who, under the sacred names of Christ, and 
 the gospel, are aiming chiefly or solely to 
 form a party of dependants upon themselves ; 
 and the people are accounted silly sheep, 
 carried away captive by the influence of their 
 popular leaders, insomuch that they cannot, 
 or dare not, receive the doctrines they profess 
 to love from any but their own favourites. 
 The disposition is certainly wrong; but let it 
 be censured with candour, not as the pecu- 
 liarity of this or that party, but as a fault 
 which human nature is always prone to in 
 similar circumstances : it shew r ed a want of 
 solid judgment in the Corinthians, but w r as 
 no impeachment of their sincerity : much less 
 did it prove that Paul, Apollos, or Cephas 
 were mercenary, ambitious men, who prosti- 
 tuted their talents and influence to gain dis- 
 ciples to themselves, rather than to Christ. 
 The same premises will admit of no stronger 
 conclusion now than in the apostles days. 
 
 The proper design and tendency of the re- 
 ligion of Jesus is, to wean the affections from 
 the world, to mortify the dictates of self-love, 
 and to teach us (by his example) to be gentle, 
 forbearing, benevolent, and disinterested. 
 This the world is aware of ; and though they 
 declare their dislike to the principles which 
 alone can produce such a spirit, they always 
 expect it from the people who profess them ; 
 and therefore when, amongst the numbers of 
 these, they can find a few instances of persons 
 
 AND OFFENCES book II 
 
 too much actuated by selfish, worldly or angry 
 tempers, it is eagerly objected : These are ex- 
 cellent people, if you would judge of them by 
 the length and frequency of their devotions, 
 and by what they have to say of their per- 
 suasion of God’s love to them ; but touch 
 them in their property, and they shew them- 
 selves as unwilling to forego, and as anxious 
 to grasp, the good things of this world, as if 
 they had no better claim to heaven than our- 
 selves. It is much to be lamented, that such 
 occasions of reproach are afforded to those 
 who seek them. But what would they have 
 said of the Corinthians, whom the apostle re 
 proves in the following terms : “ Now there 
 fore there is utterly a fault among you, be- 
 cause you go to law one with another ; why 
 do you not rather take wrong ? why do you 
 not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded ? 
 Nay, you do wrong and defraud, and that 
 your brethren,” 1 Cor. vi. 7, 8. And, in 
 the preceding chapter, he speaks of an enor- 
 mity among them, hardly to be heard of 
 among the Heathens, which, though the 
 fault of one person, brought dishonour upon 
 them all, because they had not explicitly dis- 
 owned it, and proceeded against the offender. 
 This is not to be wondered at ; for we have 
 often seen, in our own time, that though evil 
 practices have been censured in the strongest 
 terms of disallowance, and the offenders pub- 
 licly and notoriously disclaimed, yet many 
 will still be so destitute of candour and equity 
 as to insist on it, they are all alike. 
 
 The irregularities in the public worship at 
 Corinth were such, as if practised amongst 
 ourselves, would excite a greater clamour than 
 any thing of that nature which has been hither • 
 to complained of. It appears that, far from 
 conducting their assemblies with decency and 
 order, they were sometimes in the greatest 
 confusion : different persons had a psalm, a 
 doctrine, a tongue, a revelation, an interpre- 
 tation, many speaking together, and some- 
 times in different languages ; so that the apos- 
 tle thought it very probable, that, if an un- 
 believer came in amongst them, he would 
 of course say, they were mad, 1 Cor. xiv. 23. 
 And this want of decorum extended to their 
 celebration of the Lord’s supper ; where, says 
 the apostle, Every one taketh before another ; 
 and one is hungry, and another is drunken, I 
 Cor. xi. 21. I apprehend that these in- 
 stances of disorder cannot be paralleled by 
 the most irregular proceedings in our time, 
 amongst any people that hold the principles 
 which I am at present engaged to vindicate. 
 
 Many of the Corinthians, as well as the 
 Galatians,* had discovered great unsteadiness 
 
 * Yet he says of the Galatians, that when he first wont 
 among them, they received him as an angel of God, 
 and, if possible, would have plucked out their own 
 eyes to have given them to him. Gal. iv. 15. Great is 
 the power of the gospel ; it subdues and possesses the 
 heart, and conciliates a tenderness and relation between 
 ministers and people, nearer and dearer than the ties of 
 
CHAP. III. 
 
 IN THE APOSTOLIC CHURCHES. 
 
 towards St. Paul, and had been seduced by 
 false teachers and pretended apostles. Inex- 
 perienced minds are very liable to such decep- 
 tions : meaning well themselves, they are too 
 apt to listen to the fair words and fine speeches 
 of those who lie in wait to deceive. The 
 l love of Christ, and the love of holiness, are 
 j the leading properties of a gracious heart, and 
 I such a one, till experience has made him 
 wise, conceives a good opinion of all who pro- 
 ! fess a regard for Jesus, or for sanctification : 
 he is not aware, at first, that there are those 
 in the world who attempt to divide what God 
 has joined together. When the blood and 
 righteousness of Christ are recommended, not 
 as the source, but as a substitute for vital 
 experimental religion ; or when some other 
 spirit is preached than that whose office it is 
 to testify of Jesus ; in either case the food of 
 the soul is poisoned, and the evil begins to 
 operate before it is perceived. Faithful mi- 
 nisters are accounted too low or too high, too 
 | strict or too remiss, according to the scheme 
 
 • newly adopted; they are first disregarded, 
 and at length considered as enemies, because 
 they persist in the truth, and refuse to suit 
 themselves to the new taste of their hearers. 
 Thus error, once admitted, makes an alarming 
 progress : and no power but that of God can 
 stop it. Hence proceed divisions, subdivi- 
 sions, distinctions, refinements, bitterness, 
 strife,* envyings, and by degrees enthusiasm, 
 in the worst sense of the word : an evil to be 
 dreaded and guarded against no less earnestly 
 than the beginning of a fire or a pestilence. 
 Such trying circumstances will demonstrate 
 who are indeed upon the right foundation ; 
 for others, having once begun, depart from 
 the truth, grow worse and worse, deceiving 
 and being deceived ; and many who are built 
 upon the rock, and therefore cannot be totally 
 or finally drawn away, yet suffer unspeakable 
 loss ; the wood, hay, and stubble ( 1 Cor. iii. 
 10 — 15), the unadvised additions they have 
 made to the scriptural truths they once re- 
 ceived, are burnt up in the time of tempta- 
 tion ; they tose much of their comfort and 
 stability, and have in a manner all to begin 
 again. The world, that knows not the weak- 
 ness of man, or the power and devices of 
 Satan, laughs at those things, and expects to 
 
 flesh and blood. But alas ! how great likewise is the 
 inconstancy of mortals ! the apostle experienced it to his 
 1 grief ; and where he had the greatest prospect, he was 
 ; most disappointed : those who once would have plucked 
 out their own eyes for his service, afterwards accounted 
 
 • him their enemy, for telling them the truth. We need 
 t not therefore wonder if there are instances of this kind 
 
 at present. 
 
 * That bitterness and strife were too frequent in the 
 primitive churches, appears from James iii. 14. ; Gal, 
 v. 15. ; and other texts. Our Lord’s admonition, Matth. 
 I vii. 3 — 5. has always been too little regarded ; and few 
 I are yet sufficiently convinced of the folly and absurdity 
 l of pointing out, and in an angry spirit condemning, the 
 . mistakes and faults of others, while we indulge greater 
 in ourselves. Reformation (like modern charity) should 
 begin at home . 
 
 509 
 
 see them issue in a universal confusion, like 
 that of Babel. In the same light, it is most 
 probable, the Heathens beheld and derided 
 the primitive Christians : for they likewise had 
 their shaking and sifting times ; many amongst 
 them, who seemed to begin in the spirit, 
 were stopped short in their course by the arts 
 of false teachers, to their great hindrance, and 
 some to their final overthrow. 
 
 St. Paul addresses no one church in terms 
 of greater tenderness and approbation than the 
 Thessalonians ; he commends their work of 
 faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope 
 in our Lord Jesus ; and mentions them as a 
 pattern to the other churches in Macedonia 
 and Greece. Yet even among these he under- ) 
 stood there were some who walked disorderly, 
 and were busybodies, not working at all ; he 
 strongly disapproved their conduct, declaring, 
 that if any would not work, neither should 
 he eat, 2 Thess. iii. 10, 11. When persons 
 are newly awakened to a concern for theii 
 souls, and deeply impressed with the impor- 
 tance of eternity, it is no wonder (considering 
 the animal frame) if their attention is so en- 
 gaged and engrossed for a season, that they 
 cannot attend to the affairs of common life 
 with their usual alacrity and freedom : * if 
 their concern is of a right kind, they are gra- 
 dually brought to peace and hope in believ- 
 ing ; they recover their spirits, and their civil 
 callings being now sanctified by a desire to 
 glorify God in them, their diligence is not 
 less, but frequently greater than before ; for 
 now they act not to please men, or to please 
 themselves, but what they do, they do heartily 
 as to the Lord. However, amongst a number 
 of people, natural temper, indiscretion, or in- 
 ad vert^ice, may cause some to deviate from 
 the gfeneral rule; and though we cannot ' 
 justify any who are remiss in the discharge of 
 the relative duties of society, we may justify 
 the doctrines and principles they acknow- 
 ledge, from the charge of leading them into 
 this mistake, unless it can be proved that St. 
 Paul’s preaching was justly chargeable with 
 the same fault. 
 
 But these are small things compared to 
 what he says in another place. He complains 
 to the Philippians in this affecting language 
 (Phil. iii. 18, 19): “ Many walk (not some 
 only, but many), of whom I have told you 
 
 * See James iv. 9. The word rendered heavi- 
 
 ness, answers nearest to dejection} the derivation import- 
 ing a downcast countenance ; and it expresses that kind 
 of sorrow which sinks the spirits, and fixes the eye upon 
 the earth. Something of this is usually discemable 
 when a real conviction of sin takes place in the heart. 
 
 The inspired apostle recommends this temper and de- 
 meanour as most suitable to the ease of sinners who are 
 destitute of faith and love, and cannot therefore rejoice 
 upon good grounds ; and yet when any person begins to 
 be impressed in this manner, and to see the propriety 
 of the apostle’s advice, it frequently happens, that all 
 who know him, both friends and enemies, will agree to 
 pronounce him disordered in his senses. So different, 
 so opposite, are the Spirit of God, and the spirit of ‘he 
 
BOOK II. 
 
 510 IRREGULARITIES AND OFFENCES, &C. 
 
 often, and now tell you even weeping, that 
 they are enemies to the cross of Christ,* 
 whose end is destruction, whose God is their 
 belly, who mind earthly things.” St. Paul 
 had occasion to express himself thus, and that 
 again and again, even in the golden days of 
 primitive Christianity. Could their worst ene- 
 mies have given them a worse character ? Can 
 even malice itself desire to fix a harsher im- 
 putation upon any denomination of people 
 now subsisting? Yet these are the words of 
 truth and soberness, the words of an inspired 
 apostle, the words not of resentment but 
 of grief : he spoke of it weeping ; he would 
 willingly have hoped better things; but he 
 knew what tempers and practices were incon- 
 sistent with a sincere acceptance of the gospel ; 
 and, unless he would shut his eyes, and stop 
 his ears, he could not but be sensible that many 
 who were reputed Christians dishonoured the 
 name of Christianity, and caused the ways of 
 truth to be evil spoken of. Now, what is the 
 consequence ? Shall the apostle bear the blame 
 of the evils and abominations he lamented ?f 
 for, if he had not preached, these evils would 
 not have appeared under the Christian name. 
 Shall the wickedness of his pretended fol- 
 lowers be charged as the necessary effect of 
 that pure and heavenly doctrine whch he had 
 delivered ? By no means. The grace of 
 God, which he preached, taught and enabled 
 those who received it in their hearts to deny 
 all ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live 
 soberly, righteously, and godly in the present 
 world. If inquiry was made concerning the 
 tendency of his doctrine, he could apppeal to 
 the tempers and lives of multitudes (1 Cor. 
 iii. 2, 3), who had been thereby delivered from 
 the love and power of sin, and filled with the 
 fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus 
 Christ, to the glory and praise of God. But 
 it was likewise true that they were still en- 
 cumbered with a depraved nature : they were 
 in a world full of temptations and snares ; 
 and as their numbers were very great, some 
 instances had occurred of persons sincerely 
 well disposed, who had too visibly declined 
 from the rule by which they professed and 
 desired to walk. Against their mistakes and 
 faults he watchfully directed his exhortations 
 and admonitions, as occasions offered ; and 
 they were generally attended with a good ef- 
 fect, to convince, humble, and restore the 
 
 * What disigreeable things the apostle was apprehen- 
 sive of meeting, when he should revisit Corinth, we 
 may learn from 2 Cor. xii. 20, 21. 
 
 f The apostle knew that some did, or would presume 
 to infer a liberty to sin from the doctrine which he 
 preached (Rom. vi. 1), yet he would not suppress or dis- 
 guise the truths of God to prevent such a poor disinge- 
 nuous perversion : he knew likewise that no one who 
 had tasted that the Lord is gracious, can either form 
 such a conclusion himself, or listen to it if proposed by 
 others 5 therefore he thought it unnecessary to refute it at 
 large. Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound ? 
 God forbid ! This is a sufficient answer. Thus absurd 
 blasphemy exposes and confutes itself : the terms are 
 inconsistent, impossible, and contradictory in the high- 
 est degree. 
 
 offenders (2 Cor. vit. 9), and to increase their 
 circumspection for the time to come. It was 
 true likewise that there were some gathered 
 by the preacing of the gospel into the num- 
 ber of professors, who were not effectually 
 called and changed by the Spirit of God. 
 These, though for a time they had a name to 
 live, were no better than dead ; and one rea- 
 son why the Lord permitted the offences and 
 divisions we have mentioned to take place was 
 that, by the means of such heresies, those that 
 were approved might be made manifest, and 
 the chaff separated from the wheat ; for though 
 the ignorant world would call even those per- 
 sons Christians, whose conduct proved them 
 enemies to the cross of Christ, yet time, the test 
 of truth, unanswerably evinced the difference. 
 Thus St. John, who lived some years after 
 the rest of the apostles, and saw many turn 
 their backs upon the teachers and doctrines 
 they had once owned, has observed to this 
 purpose : — “ They went out from us, but they 
 were not of us : for if they had been of us, 
 they would no doubt have continued with us : 
 but they went out, that they might be made 
 manifest that they were not all of us,” 1 John 
 ii. 19. In a word, there were too many pre- 
 tenders ; some things amiss where the heart | 
 and views were right in the main, and imper- 
 fections in the best : the scorners and cavil- j 
 lers, who hated the light of the gospel, and 
 were always in search of something to con- 
 firm their prejudices against it, met with much 
 answerable to their wishes, even in the first 
 and best churches ; but to men of candour, 
 who were ingenuous seekers of the truth, the 
 spirituality, humility, and brotherly love that 
 prevailed among the Christians, and the power- 
 ful effects of their public ordinances, demon- 
 strated that the truth was on their side, ana 
 that God was assuredly with them. 
 
 We offer the same apology, the same train 
 of reasoning in behalf of what is now so ge- 
 nerally deemed the foolishness of preaching. 
 The doctrines we defend, which some (who 
 cannot do it ignorantly) have the effrontery 
 to misrepresent as novel opinions, are, we 
 doubt not, the doctrines of Christ and his 
 apostles ; and in substance the doctrines 
 taught from the word of God by Wickliffe, 
 Luther, and the venerable reformers of our 
 own church. We preach Christ crucified, 
 Christ the end of the law for righteousness, 
 and the power of God for sanctification 
 to every one that believeth ; we preach sal- 
 vation by grace through faith in his blood ; 
 and we are sure that they who receive this 
 doctrine unfeignedly will, by their lives and 
 conversations, demonstrate it to be a doctrine 
 according to godliness : they are not indeed 
 delivered from infirmities, they are liable to 
 mistakes and indiscretions, and see more amiss 
 in themselves than their worst enemies can 
 charge them with ; but sin is their burden ; 
 they sigh to be delivered from it, and they 
 
CHAP. IV. 
 
 OF THE HERESIES, &C. 511 
 
 expect a complete redemption. We cannot 
 indeed say so much for all who outwardly 
 avow a belief of this doctrine : there are pre- 
 tenders who, while they profess to believe in 
 God, in works they deny him. But it has 
 been so from the beginning. The miscar- 
 riages of such persons are charged indiscri- 
 , minately upon the societies among whom they 
 are mixed, and upon the truths which they 
 seem to approve ; but there is a righteous 
 God, who in due time will vindicate his own 
 gospel, and his own people from all aspersions. 
 St. Paul observed such things in his day, 
 and he spoke of them likewise, but he spoke 
 of them weeping. The true state of the mind 
 may be determined from the temper with 
 which the miscarriages of professors are ob- 
 served.- The profane expatiate on them with 
 delight, the self-righteous with disdain ; but 
 they who know themselves, and love the Lord, 
 cannot speak of them without the sincerest 
 emotions of grief : they are concerned for the 
 honour of the gospel, which is defamed un- 
 der this pretence ; they are grieved for the un- 
 happy and dangerous state of those by whom 
 such offences come, and they fear for them- 
 selves, lest the enemy should gain an advan- 
 tage over them likewise, for they know they 
 i have no strength nor goodness of their own ; 
 therefore, avoiding unnecessary reflections on 
 others, they endeavour to maintain a watch- 
 : ful jealousy over themselves, and to fix their 
 ] hearts and hopes upon Christ Jesus their Lord, 
 who, they are persuaded, is able to keep them 
 from falling, to save them to the uttermost, and 
 at length to present them faultless before the 
 presence of his glory, with exceeding joy. 
 
 CHAP. IV 
 
 OF THE HERESIES PROPAGATED BY FALSE 
 TEACHERS IN THE APOSTLES DAYS. 
 
 The parables in the 13th chapter of St. 
 Matthew are prophetical of the reception and 
 event of the gospel in succeeding ages. In 
 this view our Lord himself has explained 
 them. Wherever it is preached, the hearers 
 may be classed according to the distribution 
 in the parable of the sower : some hear with- 
 out understanding or reflection ; in some it 
 excites a hasty emotion in the natural affec- 
 tions, and produces an observable and sudden 
 change in their conduct, resembling the ef- 
 fects of a real conversion to God; but the 
 truth not being rooted in the heart, nor the 
 soul united to Christ by a living faith, these 
 hopeful appearances are sooner or later blasted, 
 and come to nothing : others are really con- 
 vinced in their judgment of the truth and im- 
 portance of what they hear, but their hearts 
 cleave to the dust, and the love of this world, 
 
 the care of what they have, the desire of what 
 they have not, the calls of business, or the 
 solicitations of pleasure, choke the word which 
 they seem to receive, so that it brings forth 
 no fruit to perfection : a part, however (usual- 
 ly the smallest part), who are compared to the 
 good ground, are disposed and enabled, by 
 divine grace, to receive it thankfully, as life 
 from the dead. And though they meet with 
 many difficulties, and, like the corn upon the 
 ground, pass through a succession of trying 
 and changing seasons, yet, having the love, 
 promise, and power of God engaged on their 
 behalf, in defiance of frosts, and blasts, and 
 storms, they are brought to maturity, and, 
 when fully ripe, are safely gathered into his 
 garner, Matth. iii. 12. This is an epitome 
 of the ecclesiasistical history of every nation, 
 and of every parish, to which this word of 
 salvation is sent. 
 
 But the parable of the tares (Matth. xiii. 
 12.) teaches us farther to expect, that besides 
 the general influence which Satan, as the God 
 of this world, will exert to blind the eyes of 
 mankind, lest the light of the glorious gospel 
 should shine upon them (2 Cor. iv. 4.), he 
 will take occasion, from the knowledge of the 
 truth, to insinuate a variety of errors. His 
 first attempts in this way are often so specious 
 unsuspected, that they are compared to a man’s 
 sowing seed by stealth, and in the night, but, 
 as the corn grew, a large crop of tares spring- 
 ing up with it, demonstrated that an enemy 
 had been there. This, in fact, has been uni ■ 
 versally the case, in every country and age 
 where the gospel has been received ; and we 
 may remark, that the sowing the good seed 
 was the occasion of the tares being cast into 
 the same ground. When a people are in- 
 volved in gross darkness and ignorance, sleep- 
 ing in a false peace, and buried in the plea- 
 sures and pursuits of the world, they have nei- 
 ther leisure, nor inclination, to invent or 
 attend to novelties in religion; each one is 
 satisfied with that form (if even the form of 
 godliness is retained) which he has received 
 from his parents, and neither pretends nor de- 
 sires to be wiser than those who went before 
 him : but when the truth has shone forth and 
 been received, and seems to bid fair for farther 
 success, Satan employs all his power and sub- 
 tilty, either to suppress or counterfeit it or 
 both. Much has been done in the former 
 way ; he has prevailed so far as to enkindle 
 the fiercest animosities against the nearest re- 
 latives, and persuaded men that they might 
 do acceptable service to God, by punishing 
 his faithful servants with torture, fire, and 
 sword (John xvi. 2.) : and no less industri- 
 ous and successful has he been in practising 
 upon the passions and prejudices of mankind 
 to admit and propagate, instead of the gospel 
 of Christ, and under that name, an endless 
 diversity of opinions, utterly incompatible with 
 it. Of these some are ingenious and artful, 
 
BOOK II. 
 
 512 OF THE HERESIES PROPAGATED 
 
 adapted to gratify the pride of those who are 
 wise in their own conceits ; others more gross 
 and extravagant, suited to inflame the imagi- 
 nations, or to gratify the appetites of such per- 
 sons as have not a turn for speculation and 
 refinement. 
 
 As these appearances have always accom- 
 panied the gospel, so they have always been a 
 stumbling-block and offence to the world, and 
 have furnished those who hated the light with 
 a pretext for rejecting it : and the doctrines of 
 truth have been charged as the source and 
 cause of those errors which have only sprung 
 from their abuse and perversion. When Po- 
 pery, for a series of ages, detained mankind 
 in darkness and bondage, and deprived them of 
 the knowlege of the holy scriptures, the tide of 
 error ran uniformly in one great channel; when 
 dead w'orks were substituted in the place of 
 living faith ; and the worship and trust which 
 is only due to Jesus the great Mediator, was 
 blasphemously directed to subordinate inter- 
 cessors, to angels and to saints, whether real 
 or pretended ; when forgiveness of sin was ex- 
 pected, not by the blood of Christ, but by pen- 
 ances, pilgrimages, masses, and human absolu- 
 tions, by the repetition of many prayers, or the 
 payment of sums of money ; while things con- 
 tinued thus, the world was generally in that 
 state of stupidity and blind security which is 
 miscalled religious peace and uniformity ; and 
 the controversies of the times were chiefly 
 confined to those points which immediately 
 affected the power, wealth, or pre-eminence 
 of the several religious orders by w hom the 
 people were implicitly led. Some differences 
 of opinion were indeed known ; but the charge 
 of heresy and dangerous innovations was sel- 
 dom so much as pretended against any, but the 
 few who refused to wear the mark of the beast 
 upon their right hands and foreheads, and who, 
 by the mercy of God, retained and professed 
 the main truths of Christianity in some degree 
 of power and purity. But when it pleased 
 God to revive the knowledge of the gospel, 
 by the ministry of Luther and his associates, 
 and many were turned from darkness to light, 
 the enemy of mankind presently changed his 
 methods, and, by his influence, the sowing of 
 the good seed was followed by tares in abun- 
 dance. In the course of a few years, the glory 
 of the Reformation was darkened, and its pro- 
 gress obstructed, by the enthusiasm and infa- 
 tuation of men, who, under a pretence of im- 
 proving upon Luther’s plan, propagated the 
 wildest, most extravagant and blasphemous 
 opinions, and perpetrated, under the mask of 
 religion, such acts of cruelty, villany, and licen- 
 tiousness, as have been seldom heard of in the 
 world. The papists beheld these excesses with 
 pleasure : many of them could not but know 
 that Luther, and the heads of the Reforma- 
 tion, did all that could be expected from them, 
 to shew' the folly and iniquity of such pro- 
 ceedings ; but, against the light of truth and 
 
 fact, they laboured tp persuade the world, that 
 these w'ere the necessary consequences of 
 Luther’s doctrine ; and that no better issue 
 could be justly hoped forw'hen men presumed 
 to depart from the authorised standards of 
 popes and councils, and to read and examine 
 the scriptures for themselves. 
 
 This religious madness was, however, of no 
 long duration : the people who held tenets in- 
 consistent with the peace of society, were de- 
 servedly treated as rebels and incendiaries by 
 the governing powers ; the ringleaders were 
 punished, and the multitudes dispersed ; their 
 most obnoxious errors were gradually aban- 
 doned, and are now in a manner forgot. 
 After the peace of Passau, the Reformation 
 acquired an establishment in Germany, and 
 other places ; and since that time, error has 
 assumed a milder form, and has been support . 
 ed by softer methods, and more respectable 
 names. 
 
 In our own country, the same spirit of en- 
 thusiasm and disorder has appeared at different 
 times, though it has been restrained by the 
 providence of God, from proceeding to the 
 same extremities, and has been most noto- 
 rious, when, or soon after, the power of gos- 
 pel-truth has been more eminently revived ; 
 for, as I have already observed, when reli- 
 gion is upon the decline, and only so much 
 of a profession retained as is consistent with 
 the love of the present world, and a confor- 
 mity to the maxims and practices of the many, 
 w'e seldom hear of any errors prevailing, but 
 such as will find a favourable toleration, and 
 may be avowed without exciting very strong 
 and general expressions of contempt and ill- 
 will against those who maintain them. But 
 whenever* real religion, as a life of faith in the 
 Son of God, is set forth upon the principles 
 of scripture, and, by the operation of the Holy 
 Spirit, witnesses are raised up, who by their 
 conduct demonstrate that they are crucified 
 with Christ, to the law, to sin, and to the 
 world, then is the time for Satan to discredit 
 this work, by imposing a variety of false 
 views and appearances upon the minds of the 
 ignorant and unwary ; and he is seldom at a 
 loss for fit instruments to promote his designs. 
 Since the late revival of the Reformation 
 doctrines amongst us, we have perhaps fewer 
 things of this kind to apologize for, than have 
 been observable on any similar occasion ; and 
 the best apology we can offer for what has 
 been really blameable, is, to shew that it was 
 even thus in the apostles days ; and that, if 
 any arguments taken from these blemishes 
 are conclusive against what some chuse to call 
 the novel doctrines now, they would, with 
 equal reason, conclude against the validity of 
 the New Testament. 
 
 And not to confine myself to such things as 
 the world is most prone to except against, I 
 shall endeavour to shew, that the seeds of all 
 errors and heresies, the fashionable as well as 
 
CHAP. IV. 
 
 IN THE APOSTLES DAYS. 
 
 those which ate more generally despised, Were 
 sown in the first age, and appeared so early 
 as to give occasion for the apostles censures 
 against them. I do not mean by this to paral- 
 lel every name and every singularity that a 
 subtle head or a warm imagination may have 
 started ; but to assign, in general, the princi- 
 ples to Which all these delusions may be re- 
 duced, the sources to which these inebriating 
 and dangerous streams may be traced : for, 
 indeed, the operations of the human mind 
 seem to be much more simple and limited 
 than We are ordinarily aware. As there can 
 be no new truths, though every truth appears 
 hew to us which We have not known before, 
 so it is probable, that there can be now no 
 new errors ; at least it is certain, that a com- 
 petent knowledge of antiquity, or even a care- 
 ful perusal of the apostles writings, will fur- 
 nish sufficient evidence, that some modern 
 authors and teachers are by no means the in- 
 ventors of the ingenious schemes they have 
 presented to the public. Truth, like the sun, 
 maintains a constant course ; every thing 
 would stagnate and die if we were deprived 
 of it for a single day ; but errors are like 
 comets ; which, though too eccentric to be 
 subject exactly to our computations, yet have 
 their periods of approach and recess, and some 
 of them have appeared and been admired, have 
 been withdrawn and forgot, over and over 
 again. 
 
 Error, in the simplest form, is a misappre- 
 hension of the truth. Some part of the gos- 
 pel must be known before any erroneous con- 
 ceptions of it can take place. Thus we read 
 (Acts viii. 9 — 22), that Simon Magus was 
 struck with Philip’s preaching, and the ef- 
 fects which attended it : he was so far im- 
 pressed, that it is said he believed : that is, 
 he made a profession of faith ; he was con- 
 vinced there was something extraordinary in the 
 doctrine, but he understood it not : and the 
 event shewed he had no part nor lot in the 
 matter. He is thought by the ancients to 
 have been the founder of that capital sect, 
 which is known in general by the name of 
 Gnostics, and which, like a gangrene, spread 
 far and wide, in various branches and subdi- 
 visions, each successive head refining upon 
 the system of the preceding. In Sir Peter 
 King’s History of the Apostles Creed, and 
 Mosheim’s Ecclesiastical History, the Eng- 
 lish reader may see the substance of the fig- 
 ments which these unhappy men, wise in their 
 own conceit, vented under the name of the 
 Christian religion. 
 
 The doctrine of jesus Christ, and of him 
 crucified, which St. Paul preached, and in 
 which he gloried, is the pillar and ground of 
 truth, the rock upon which the church is 
 built, and against which the gates of hell shall 
 never prevail, 1 Cor. ii. 2; Gal. vi. 14; 1 
 Tim. iii. 15; Matth. xvi. 18. Mistakes in 
 
 613 
 
 this point are fundamental, dangerous, and, 
 if persisted in, destructive ; for as such a 
 knowledge of God as is connected with his 
 favour and communion is eternal life, so none 
 can come to the Father but by the Son (John 
 xvii. 3 ; and xiv. 6), nor can any know him, 
 but those to whom the Son will reveal him, 
 Matth. xi. 27. On this account Satan’s great 
 endeavour (and on his success herein the 
 strength of his kingdom depends) is to darken 
 and pervert the minds of men, lest they should 
 acknowledge and understand what the scrip- 
 tures declare of his person, character, and 
 offices, as well knowing, that if these are set 
 aside, whatever else is left of religion will be 
 utterly unavailing. Jesus Christ is revealed 
 in the scriptures, and was preached by his 
 first disciples, as God manifest in the flesh, a 
 divine person in the human nature, who, by 
 submitting to ignominy, pain, and death, 
 made a full and proper atonement for sin, 
 and wrought out an everlasting righteousness 
 in favour of all who should believe in his 
 name ; and he is set forth in that nature in 
 which he suffered, as the object of our sua 
 preme love, trust, and adoration. Other im- 
 portant doctrines, largely insisted on in the 
 word of God, su-h as the demerit of sin, the 
 obnoxiousness of sitiners to punishment, and 
 the misery and incapacity of man in his fallen 
 state, are closely connected with this, and 
 cannot be satisfactorily explained without it. 
 The necessary method of our recovery exhi- 
 bits the most striking view of the ruin in 
 which sin has involved us, and is the only 
 adequate standard whereby to estimate the 
 unspeakable love of God manifested in our 
 redemption. On the other hand, a know- 
 ledge of the true state of mankind, in conse- 
 quence of the fall, is necessary to obviate the 
 prejudices of our minds against a procedure; 
 which, though in itself the triumph of divine 
 wisdom, is in many respects contradictory to 
 our natural, and therefore false; notions of 
 the fitness of things. St. Paul declares, that 
 the natural man receiveth not the things of 
 the Spirit of God, neither can he discern them 
 (1 Cor. ii. 14.); and in another place, that 
 no man can say (that is, sincerely, and upon 
 solid conviction) that Jesus is the Lord, but 
 by the Holy Ghost, 1 Cor. xii. 3 . To wor- 
 ship him who had been hanged on a cross, 
 and to expect eternal happiness from his 
 death, Was to the Jews a stumbling-block ; it 
 offended their notions of the unity of the 
 godhead, and opposed their high esteem of 
 their own righteousness j and to the Greeks, 
 or Heathens, it appeared the greatest folly 
 and absurdity imaginable. For these rea- 
 sons the gospel was rejected by multitudes as 
 soon as proposed, and those who preached it 
 were accounted babblers and madmen, not 
 because they were at a loss for propriety of 
 expression, or discovered any thing ridiculous 
 2 R 
 
BOOK II. 
 
 OF THE HERESIES PROPAGATED 
 
 514 
 
 in their conduct, but because they enforced 
 tenets which were adjudged inconsistent with 
 the common sense of mankind. 
 
 But, notwithstanding these prejudices, the 
 energy of their preaching, and the miraculous 
 powers with which it was accompanied, made 
 an impression upon many persons, so far as 
 to induce them to profess the name of Jesus, 
 though they were not spiritually enlightened 
 into the mysteries of his religion, nor their 
 hearts thoroughly subdued to the obedience 
 of the faith. There are other points within 
 the compass of the gospel-ministry more a- 
 dapted to affect the minds of men in their 
 natural state. Few are so hardened, but they 
 have a conscience of sin, some fears with re- 
 spect to its consequences, and a pre-intima- 
 tion of immortality. Such are capable of be- 
 ing greatly affected and moved by a pathetic 
 declaration of the terrors of the Lord, the so- 
 lemnities of a future judgment, the joys of 
 heaven, or the torments of hell. We cannot 
 doubt that these topics, when insisted on with 
 that strength of argument and warmth of spi- 
 rit, of which the apostles were capable, would 
 engage the attention of many who were not 
 partakers of that divine light, by which alone 
 the whole scheme of truth, in its harmony 
 and beauty, can be perceived. The seed sown 
 upon the rock sprang up immediately, the 
 quickness of its growth, and the suddenness 
 of its decay, proceeding from the same cause, 
 a want of depth in the soil. Not a few of 
 these hasty believers presently renounced the 
 faith altogether, and others, who went not so 
 far as to disown the name, endeavoured to 
 accommodate the doctrine to their preposses- 
 sions, and to explain or reject what they could 
 not understand, in such a manner as to form 
 a system upon the whole agreeable to their 
 own wills. Men of corrupt and prejudiced 
 minds thus tampered with the truth ; and their 
 inventions, when made known, were adopted 
 by others of the same cast of thought : as 
 they were differently inclined, they directed 
 their inquiries to different points, and each 
 found partizans and adherents in their re- 
 spective ways. Thus errors, and, in conse- 
 quence, sects and divisions, were multiplied ; 
 for w hen men depart from the unerring guid- 
 ance of God’s word, there is no end of their 
 imaginations ; one singularity produces an- 
 other, and every new leader is stimulated to 
 carry his discoveries farther than those who 
 have gone before him. Farther, as human na- 
 ture is universally the same, we may judge from 
 what we have seen, that there always have 
 been persons inclined to join in a religious 
 profession, from the unworthy motives of 
 worldly interest, and a desire to stand fair 
 with their fellow-creatures. Temptations to 
 this were not so strong indeed at first, nor so 
 general, as they have often been since ; yet 
 the force of friendship, relation (and when 
 Christianity had been of some years stand- 
 
 ing), education, custom, and human autho- 
 rity, is very considerable : nor is even perse- 
 cution a sufficient bar against hypocrites and 
 intruders. They who suffer for the gospel, 
 though desDised by the world, are highly es- 
 teemed and considered by their own side; it 
 procures them an attention which they w'ould 
 not have otherwise obtained ; it may give them 
 an importance in their own eyes, furnish them 
 with something to talk of, and make them 
 talked of by others. There are people who, 
 for the sake of these advantages, will, for a 
 season, venture upon many hardships, though, 
 when the trial comes very close, they will not 
 endure to the end. In a word, there is no 
 reason to doubt but that, amongst the num- 
 bers w'ho professed the gospel at first, there 
 would be found the same variety of tempers, 
 circumstances, views, and motives, as have 
 ordinarily appeared amongst a great number 
 of people, suddenly formed in any other pe- 
 riod of time ; and the apostles writings prove 
 that it was really so. From these general 
 principles, we may easily account for the early 
 introduction and increase of errors and here- 
 sies, and that they should be in a manner the 
 same as they have sprung up with, or followed 
 succeeding revivals of the trnth. Nor is it 
 just cause of surprise, if sincere Christians 
 have been, in some instances, entangled in 
 the prevailing errors of the times : designing 
 no harm themselves, they suspect none, and 
 are therefore liable to be imposed on by those 
 who lie in wait to deceive, Ephes. iv. 14. 
 
 When Christianity first appeared, the Hea- 
 then wisdom, known by the name of Philo- 
 sophy, was in the highest repute : it had two 
 principal branches, the Grecian and the East- 
 ern. The former admitted (at least did not 
 condemn) a multiplicity and subordination of 
 deities ; amongst whom, as agents and media- 
 tors between their supreme Jupiter and mor- 
 tals, the care and concerns of mankind were 
 subdivided, to each of which homage and sa- 
 crifices were due : their mythology, or the 
 pretended history of their divinities, was pue- 
 rile and absurd, and many of their religious 
 rites inconsistent with the practice of public 
 decorum and good morals. Some of the phi- 
 losophers endeavoured to guard against the 
 worst abuses, and to form a system of religion 
 and morality, in which they seem to have 
 proceeded as far as could be expected from 
 men who were totally ignorant of the true 
 God, and of their own state : some truths 
 they were acquainted with, truths in theory, 
 but utterly impracticable upon any principles 
 but those of revelation. Amongst a vast 
 number of opinions concerning the chief good 
 of man, a few held, that man’s honour and 
 happiness must consist in conformity to, and 
 communion with, God ; but how to attain 
 these desirable ends, they were entirely igno- 
 rant. 
 
 The eastern philosophy was solemn and tnys- 
 
CHAP. IV. 
 
 IN THE APOSTLES DAYS. 
 
 terious, and not less fabulous than the other ; 
 but the fables were of a graver cast. It seemed 
 to mourn under the sense of moral evil, and 
 laboured in vain to account for its entrance : 
 its precepts were gloomy and severe ; and a 
 perfect course of bodily mortification was re- 
 commended as the great expedient to purify 
 the soul from all its defilements, and to re- 
 unite it, by degrees, to its great Author. 
 
 St. Paul, in several passages (Col. ii. 8; 
 
 1 Tim. vi. 20.), cautions the Christians a- 
 gainst corrupting the simplicity of their faith, 
 by admitting the reasoning and inventions of 
 vain men. In some places (1 Tim. i. 4; 
 
 2 Tim. iii. 9.) he seems to speak more di- 
 rectly of the Gnostics, whose heresies were 
 little more than the fables of the eastern phi- 
 losophy, in a new dress, with an acknowledg- 
 ment of Jesus Christ as an extraordinary per- 
 son, yet so as utterly to exclude and deny all 
 the important truths revealed in the scriptures 
 concerning him. They dignified their scheme 
 with the name of Gnosis, or Science ; but it 
 was falsely so called, and stood in direct oppo- 
 sition to the gospel. On other occasions ( liom. 
 i. 21 — 23 ; 1 Cor. i. 20 — 23,) he appears to 
 have had the Grecian philosophy chiefly in 
 view. But, notwithstanding his admonitions, 
 it was not long before the errors of philoso- 
 phy had an ill influence upon the professors 
 of the Christian faith ; and even several of the 
 fathers darkened the glory of the truth, by 
 endeavouring to accommodate it to the taste 
 and genius of that Heathen wisdom which 
 they had before admired, and still thought 
 might be useful to embellish and recommend 
 the gospel. 
 
 But to confine myself to the apostles times, 
 it is plain, from the epistles of St. Paul, John, 
 Jude, and Peter (Tit. i. 10; 1 John, iv. 1 ; 
 2 Pet. ii. 18, 19; Jude, 4.) that many false 
 prophets and teachers had, in their days, crept 
 in, who propagated damnable heresies, even 
 denying the Lord who bought them, turning 
 the grace of God into licentiousness, speak- 
 ing great swelling words of vanity, boasting 
 themselves of freedom, while they were in 
 bondage to their own lusts. And in the epistle 
 to the church of Ephesus ( Rev. ii. 6), our Lord 
 himself mentions a sect, who bore the name 
 of Nicolaitans, and expresses his disapproba- 
 tion of them in these awful terms: “ Whom 
 I also hate !” The peculiar tenets of the 
 people condemned in these passages of scrip- 
 ture are not expressly mentioned ; but from 
 these sources were most probably derived the 
 sects which, in the second century, were known 
 by the names of their several leaders, Cerin- 
 thus, Saturninus, Cerdo, Marcion, Basilides, 
 Valentinus, and others : who all, building up- 
 on the common foundation of the eastern 
 philosophy, or Gnosis, superadded their own 
 peculiarities, and were differently, though e- 
 qually, remote from the truth. The one 
 thing in which they all agreed was, in per- 
 
 515 
 
 verting and opposing the scripture-doctrine 
 concerning the person of Christ. On this 
 point their opinions were as discordant, as 
 absurd : some denied that Christ was come 
 in the flesh ; they pretended that Christ was 
 sent from heaven by the supreme God, and 
 united himself to Jesus, the son of Joseph 
 and Mary, at his baptism ; and that, when 
 the Jews apprehended the man Jesus, and 
 nailed him to the cross, Christ returned to 
 heaven, and left him to suffer by himself. 
 Others ascribed a heavenly derivation to his 
 body, affirming that it passed through the 
 Virgin Mary, without any participation of her 
 substance ; while others asserted, that he had 
 no substantial flesh ; but that his body was a 
 mere phantom, or apparition, which was nei- 
 ther really born, nor did or could truly suf- 
 fer. Again, there were others who held the 
 reality of his human nature, yet maintained, 
 that Christ did not suffer at all, but that Si- 
 mon of Cyrene, the bearer of his cross, being 
 taken by the Jews for him, was crucified in 
 his stead, while he stood by, and laughed at 
 their mistake. A brief recital of these extra- 
 vagancies is sufficient for my present pur- 
 pose : for a more particular account, I refer the 
 reader to Sir Peter King’s History of the Creed, 
 already mentioned. Many passages in the 
 apostles writings are directed against these 
 dangerous errors ; for they strike at the root 
 of the faith and hope of the gospel, and are 
 subversive of the whole tenor both of the Old 
 and New Testament. It was believed by the 
 ancients, that St. John wrote his gospel with 
 some view to these heresies ; and it is cer 
 tain that, in his first epistle, where, putting 
 the disciples upon their guard against the 
 many false prophets who were gone out into 
 the world, he observes, that the common point, 
 in which all their divers opinions agreed, was 
 a denial that Jesus Christ was come in the 
 flesh, 1 John, ii. 22, and iv. 3. He reminds 
 them, that as they had heard Antichrist must 
 come, even so now there were many Anti- 
 christs ; and that the name was applicable to 
 all who denied that Jesus is the Christ. He 
 admits that these false teachers went out from 
 amongst themselves, that is, they had borne 
 the Christian name ; but he refers to the doc- 
 trines they taught, as a sufficient proof that 
 they had never been of the number of true 
 Christians ; for if they had been of us, no 
 doubt they would have continued with us, 
 1 John, ii. 19. If opinions, equally wild and 
 extravagant, were at this time maintained and 
 propagated by persons who, for a season, had 
 been warm for truth and reformation, we are 
 not afraid that they would prejudice our cause 
 wdth any who will allow due weight to the 
 reasoning of St. John ; for if they had been 
 really of us once, they would have still con- 
 tinued with us. 
 
 But the truth is, the teachers in ou-r time, 
 whose leading tenets most nearly symbolize 
 
BOOK II. 
 
 OF THE HERESIES PROPAGATED 
 
 016 
 
 with these ancient heresies, are not charged, or 
 even suspected of having had any attachment 
 to the doctrines which I am concerned to vin- 
 dicate ; nor is an apology expected from them, 
 for they gave but little offence. Since the 
 fabulous disguise, under which the Gnostics 
 of old veiled their opinions, has been laid a- 
 side, their opposition to the deity and atone- 
 ment of Christ has been adopted by so many 
 who are applauded for ingenuity, fine reason- 
 ing, and great learning, that it bids fair to be 
 the fashionable divinity of the age; and though 
 the sufferings of Jesus are not denied, yet 
 their proper causes and ends are openly ex- 
 ploded ; and the attempt has often proved an 
 easy path to acceptance, wealth, and dignity. 
 
 The attachment of the Jewish converts to 
 the law of Moses was another source of error, 
 which occasioned daily disputes in the church- 
 es, and gave rise, in the issue, to dangerous 
 heresies, subversive of the true faith. Even 
 those of them who had sincerely received the 
 gospel, could not easily be persuaded, that a 
 law given to Moses by God himself, with so 
 much solemnity, from Mount Sinai, was to 
 be entirely abrogated ; and that their obliga- 
 tion to it was, ipso facto , vacated the moment 
 they believed in Jesus, who, by his obedience 
 unto death, had accomplished all its types 
 and ceremonies, and wrought out for his peo- 
 ple an everlasting righteousness commensu- 
 rate to its utmost requirements- The apostles, 
 who, after the pattern of their Lord, were 
 gentle and tender to the weak of the flock, 
 bore with their infirmities (Rom. xiv. 2. 6.), 
 and allowed them to retain a distinction of 
 meats, and days, and other observances, pro- 
 vided they did not consider these things in 
 such a point of view as to interfere with God’s 
 appointed method of justication by faith in 
 his Son. But the matter was carried much 
 farther; for no sooner was there a church 
 formed at Antioch, than they were troubled 
 with perverse teachers (Acts xv. 1.) who told 
 them, that except they were circumcised, and 
 kept the law of Moses, they could not be 
 saved. The Galatians were greatly hurt by 
 teachers of this sort (Gal. v. 4.); and as the 
 Jews were dispersed through all the provin- 
 ces, the peace of the church was more or 
 less affected by their attempts to enforce the 
 observance of the law, in almost every place, 
 till after the epistle to the Hebrews was receiv- 
 ed, and obedience to the Levitical law ren- 
 dered impracticable by the destruction of Je- 
 rusalem and the temple, Col. ii 16. Tit. i. 10. 
 Phil. iii. 2. 1 Tim. i. 7. From that period, 
 it is probable, the distinction of Jew and Gen- 
 tile believers ceased, and both parties were 
 firmly incorporated into one body : but a 
 great number of the zealots for the law sepa- 
 rated themselves, and were known in the fol- 
 lowing age by the name of Ebionites, adopt- 
 ing foi their rule a mixture of law and gos- 
 pel, so very different from the gospel St. Paul 
 
 preached, that they openly expressed an ab- 
 horrence both of his person and writings. 
 
 We have an account likewise of some pre- 
 tended teachers, w r ho opposed the important 
 doctrine of the resurrection. Some express- 
 ly maintained, that there was no resurrection, 
 whom St. Paul confutes at large, in the 1 5th 
 chap, of his first epistle to the Corinthians. 
 Others affirmed that the resurrection was past 
 already, 2 Tim. 1 8. Perhaps they pretended 
 that a moral change was designed by the me- 
 taphorical expression of a ressurection. The 
 philosophers had used the word in this sense : 
 and this would be sufficient to gain it admit- 
 tance with some, who would willingly recon- 
 cile their profession to the wisdom of the world. 
 In either way the very foundations of hope 
 were removed. If this point is denied, the 
 whole system of Christian doctrine falls to 
 the ground ; and that dreadful train of conse- 
 quences must be admitted, which the apostle 
 enumerates in 1 Cor. xv. 14. 18. “ If there 
 
 be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ 
 not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your 
 faith also vain, ye are yet in your sins ; then 
 they also who are fallen asleep in Christ are 
 perished.” Since the fertile resurrection of 
 ancient mistakes, which is the sin and scandal 
 of the present age, we have been gravely told, 
 that the word signifies no more than the soul’s 
 awaking from the long sleep into which they 
 suppose the period we call death will plunge 
 it ; and that the body has no share in the re- 
 vival, but dies without hope : but we may 
 thank God for the scriptures, which brings 
 comfort where philosophy gives up the cause 
 as desperate. Faith in Christ is so closely 
 connected with the doctrine of a resurrection, 
 that it is common with those who oppose the 
 former to use all their address to explain the 
 latter quite away ; and whether they say, it is 
 past already, or, chat it will never come, their 
 motives, their design, and their manner of rea- 
 soning, are the same. 
 
 That there were persons who abused the 
 doctrines of grace, as an encouragement to 
 continue in the practice of sin, may be infer- 
 red from the epistle of St. James, and several 
 passages of the other apostles. Such, in our 
 modern phrase, are styled Antinomians ; a 
 name, it must be confessed, of very indetermi- 
 nate application ; it is an epithet, which many 
 would fix, indiscriminately, upon allwho preach 
 a free salvation by faith in the blood of Je- 
 sus. If it is all of grace, and we can do no- 
 thing of ourselves ; if it is not of him that 
 willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God 
 that sheweth mercy ; then we may live as we 
 please, endeavours are useless, and obedience 
 unnecessary, Rom. xi. 6. and ix. 16. 2 Cor. 
 iii. 5. These are the inferences which the 
 unenlightened heart charges as unavoidable 
 consequences from the gospel-doctrine ; and 
 from hence we obtain a corroborating proof, 
 that we do not mistake St. Paul’s sense, or 
 
CHAP. IV. 
 
 IN THE APOSTLES DAYS. 
 
 517 
 
 preach a gospel different from his, because 
 he foresaw that the same objections would 
 seem to lie against himself ( Rom. iii. 7. and 
 rx. 19.) ; and he guards and protests against 
 such a perversion, “ Shall we continue in sin, 
 that grace may abound ? God forbid,” Rom. 
 vi. 1. It seems to have been upon this account 
 that he was slandered, and by some affirmed 
 to have taught, “ Let us do evil, that good 
 may come” (Rom. iii. 8.) ; that is, in modern 
 language (and such things are not spoken in 
 corners amongst us), If any man would be 
 a proper subject of what they call grace, let 
 him become still more vile, and plunge into 
 the most atrocious wickedness ; for the great- 
 er the sinner, the better qualified for mercy. 
 We are content to be reproached, as St. Paul 
 was in his time, for the truth’s sake ; and we 
 would be chiefly concerned for the unhappy 
 scoffers, who, unless God is pleased to give 
 them repentance unto life, will one day wish 
 they had been idiots, or lunatics, rather than 
 have vented their malicious wit against the 
 grace and gospel of the Lord Christ. But it 
 must be allowed, we have seen Antinomians 
 in the worst sense of the word, men who have 
 pleaded for sin, and while they have laid 
 claim to faith, have renounced and blasphem- 
 ed that holiness, without which, no man shall 
 see the Lord. We cannot wonder, that even 
 candid and well-meaning persons have been 
 greatly prejudiced and discouraged in their 
 inquiries after truth, by the presumption and 
 wickedness of such pretended Christians. Eut 
 no period of the church, in which the gospel- 
 doctrine was known and preached, has been 
 free from offences of this sort. It was so in 
 the apostles days. There were then many 
 unruly and vain talkers, and deceivers, who 
 subverted whole houses, teaching things which 
 they ought not (Tit. i. 10. 11.); who pro- 
 fessed that they knew God, but in works de- 
 nied him, being abominable, and disobedient, 
 and to every good work reprobate (Tit. i. 
 16.) ; who pretended to faith, but were des- 
 titute of those fruits which true faith always 
 produces, James ii. 14. These are described 
 (Jude 12, 13), as clouds without water, car- 
 ried about of winds ; trees whose fruit wither- 
 eth, twice dead, plucked up by the root ; rag- 
 ing waves of the sea, foaming out their own 
 shame ; wandering stars, to whom is reserved 
 the blackness of darkness for ever ; sporting 
 
 beguiling unstable souls, 2 Pet. ii. 13. 
 14. In opposition to such deceivers, it is 
 written, If we say that we have fellowship 
 with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and 
 do not the truth, 1 John i. 6. He that 
 saith, I know him and keepeth not his com- 
 mandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in 
 him, 1 John ii. 4. For every man that hath 
 this hope in him, purifieth himself even as he 
 is pure, 1 John iii. 3. The foundation of 
 God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord 
 
 knoweth them that are his ; and, Let every 
 one that nameth the name of Christ depart from 
 iniquity, 2 Tim. ii. 19. 
 
 St. Paul, writing to the Thessalonians con 
 cerning the man of sin (2 Thess. ii. 3 — 10), 
 who was to be fully revealed in the following 
 ages, reminds them, that the mystery of ini- 
 quity, though at that time restrained from a 
 full manifestation, did already work ; teach 
 ing us, that the seeds of that grand apostacy / 
 which at length overspread the whole pro 
 fessing church, were sown, and springing up, 
 at the time of his writing. And he mentions 
 several particulars in his epistle to the Colo- 
 sians (chap. ii. 18 — 23) ; such as a volun- 
 tary, or self- devised humility, in worshipping 
 angels as mediators or intercessors ; a dogma- 
 tic inhibition of things which God had left 
 free ; and a specious scheme of will-worship 
 and mortification, which, under pretence of 
 self-denial, did really gratify pride, vanity, 
 and self-righteousness. The progress of our 
 history will shew what a harvest of dreadful 
 and wide-spreading evils were produced from 
 these principles, until at length the gospel of 
 Christ was wholly obscured, and the lives and 
 consciences of men were given up to the 
 power of Antichrist, who, as God, insolently 
 sat down in the temple of God, and exalted 
 himself above all laws, human and divine. 
 It is sufficient to my purpose at present, to 
 take notice, that the beginnings of that spiri- 
 tual infatuation, which so long detained the 
 world in chains, and darkness, and slavery, 
 under the tyranny of the church of Rome, 
 were observable in St. Paul’s time, and there- 
 fore deserve a place in the list of those pesti- 
 lent heresies by which the enemy of souls at- 
 tempted to defile the faith, and disturb the 
 peace, of the primitive church. 
 
 Many other things are alluded to, which, 
 for want of authentic records of the first cen- 
 tury, we cannot with certainty explain. Be- 
 sides the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, already 
 mentioned, we read of the blasphemy of them 
 who said they were Jews but were not, but of 
 the synagogue of Satan (Rev. iii. 9) ; of them 
 who held the doctrine of Balaam, and of the 
 woman Jezebel, who called herself a pro- 
 phetess, Rev. ii. 14, 20. These were cer- 
 tainly heretics : for our Lord severely rebukes 
 the churches for not opposing them to the ut- 
 most ; and, as he gives different names, they 
 probably differed from each other, though 
 their ultimate tendency was the same, to per- 
 vert the faith of the hearers, and to introduce 
 licentiousness of practice. The gospel-truth 
 is a doctrine according to godliness, and has 
 a sanctifying influence ; for the grace of God 
 teaches all w ho are partakers of it, to forsake 
 all ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live 
 soberly, righteously, and godly, in the pre- 
 sent world, Titus ii. 11, 12. But errors and 
 heresies, in whatever degree they prevail, have 
 poisonous effects upon those who admit them ; 
 
518 
 
 some are calculated to set aside the whole | 
 frame of obedience which we owe to our God 
 and Saviour, and the most refined and plau- 
 sible will deliver the soul into the power of 
 some easy, besetting, and beloved sin, and 
 furnish arms and arguments to maintain it. 
 And this explains what would otherwise seem 
 a very strange phenomenon. When the truth 
 is proposed with the greatest clearness, and 
 the greatest advantages, its votaries, at all 
 vimes, and in all places, have been but few ; 
 but whoever will stand up on the side of error, 
 however wild and absurd his opinions and 
 conduct may be, will hardly fail of obtaining 
 adherents. It is because error will tolerate 
 those lusts and follies which truth will not 
 endure ; and in the present state of human 
 depravity, more people will be found willing 
 to give up their understandings, than to part 
 with their sins. 
 
 We may likewise collect from several texts 
 in the epistles, that there were those of old 
 who denied what the scriptures teach concern- 
 ing the depravity of human nature, the real 
 guilt of sin (1 John i. 8, 10) ; the influences 
 of the Holy Spirit (Jude 19), and the terrors 
 of a future judgment (2 Pet. iii. 9), though 
 we cannot be sure that these doctrines were 
 opposed so openly and so strenuously as they 
 are in our own days. But I have enumerated 
 enough to answer my purpose by way of 
 apology for the evangelical doctrine, the mo- 
 dern opposersof the last mentioned points not 
 being under any suspicion or charge of what 
 is called enthusiasm ; and all w'ho are de- 
 spised or persecuted for resting the hope of 
 their salvation solely on the mediation of Jesus 
 and his obedience unto death, even the death 
 of the cross, are known to acknowledge them 
 as essential truths ; indeed, they stand inse- 
 parably connected with what they believe of 
 his person, offices, power, and grace. A con- 
 science impressed with the majesty, holiness, 
 and justice of the great God, and that trembles 
 at the denunciations of his law against every 
 transgression, dares not hope for peace with- 
 out the discovery of an adequate atonement 
 for sin, nor venture its eternal concerns upon 
 the interposition of a creature. To such a 
 one, all that is revealed of the love and suffer- 
 ings of Jesus, would afford no solid ground 
 of consolation, if the infinite dignity of his 
 divine nature, and his voluntary substitution 
 in the place, and on the behalf of sinners, 
 were not revealed with equal clearness ; and a 
 conviction of that total insufficiency for every 
 good work (2 Cor. iii. 5), and the prevalence 
 of indwelling sin (Rom. vii. 18 — 34), which 
 the scriptures so expressly declare to be the 
 condition of every child of Adam, would 
 plunge an awakened mind into hopeless de- 
 spair, if it was not relieved by the gracious 
 promise of the infallible Spirit (John xiv. 26, 
 and xvi. 7, 13), whose office is to teach, guide, 
 comfort, and seal the children of God unto the 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 | day of complete redemption (Ephes. iv. 30) ; 
 but having such a great high priest (Heb. vii. 
 1, and ix. 24, and x. 19), who, by his own 
 blood, has entered into the holy place, to appear 
 in the presence of God for us, and having, in 
 the promise of the Holy Spirit (Rom. viii. 
 16, 26, 27), a source of succour and comfort 
 answerable to all our ignorance, weakness, 
 necessities, and temptations, we are enabled, 
 in the midst of fightings and fears (2 Cor. vii. 
 5), to maintain a humble confidence that we 
 shall not be ashamed before him at his coming, 
 but have boldness in the day of judgment, 
 the great and terrible day of the Lord, 1 John 
 ii. 28, and iv. 17. On the other hand, it is no 
 wonder that those, who do not acknowledge 
 the deity of the Saviour (not finding any 
 other basis whereon to rest the validity of an 
 atonement for sin), should embrace every 
 shadow of an argument against its necessity, 
 and be willing to think as highly as possible 
 of their own righteousness and abilities ; or, 
 that being thus persuaded that they can please 
 God, without the influence of his Spirit, 
 themselves, they should treat all claims to 
 this assistance in others as enthusiasm and 
 folly. Nor can we be surpiised, that many 
 who reject the scripture-testimony concerning 
 Christ *nd the Holy Spirit, should use all 
 their address to prove, that the soul sinks into 
 sleep and inactivity at death, that the resur- 
 rection of the flesh is improbable, and that it 
 is injurious to the goodness of God, to sup- 
 pose he will inflict eternal punishment for sins 
 committed within the compass of a short life. 
 Such reasonings may be expected from men, 
 who presume upon the sufficiency of their 
 own wisdom, who neither expect nor desire 
 divine teaching, and who find a little relief in 
 these sentiments, against the fears and fore- 
 bodings which will sometimes force them- 
 selves upon their minds. 
 
 It appears, however, from the indisputable 
 evidence of the New* Testament, that, in the 
 first age of the church, the enemy sowed the 
 tares of error and heresy in great abundance, 
 and that the figments published in that period 
 by men who professed some regard to the 
 name of Christ, have not been surpassed, ei- 
 ther as to absurdity or wickedness, by any at- 
 tempts of the same kind, in any age or coun- 
 try since. It is true the vigilance and au- 
 thority of the apostles restrained these ex- 
 cesses from rising to that height to w'hich they 
 afterwards attained ; but if the people who 
 now object to the variety of names, sects, and 
 sentiments, which have gradually prevailed 
 amongst us within these thirty years past, had 
 lived in the primitive church, they would have 
 had at least equal cause for making the like 
 objections. If, upon these accounts, they now 
 think themselves at liberty to reject all parties 
 alike, without examination, as empty pretend- 
 ers to the truth, purity, and power of religion, 
 there is little doubt but they would have done 
 
 OF THE HERESIES PROPAGATED 
 
CHAP IV. 
 
 IN THE APOSTLES DAYS. 
 
 the same then. The apostles were personally 
 present with the first churches : their writings 
 were appointed to be the rule of succeeding 
 times, and, through the mercy of God are in 
 our hands. Whoever is sincerely desirous to 
 know the will of God, by attending to these 
 lively oracles will be enabled to discern the 
 path of truth and peace, through the midst of 
 that maze of opinions wherein so many are 
 bewildered and lost ; but whoever is too wise 
 or too indolent to search the scriptures humbly 
 and diligently for himself, would have paid 
 as little regard to the authority of the apos- 
 tles, if he could have conversed with them : 
 nay, the advantage is on our side ; for, as the 
 scriptures are held in professed veneration, 
 we run no immediate risk of character or in- 
 terest by consulting them ; or they may be 
 perused in retirement, unobserved by our near- 
 est friends : whereas the apostles, though highly 
 spoken of amongst us, were accounted while 
 they lived the filth and off-scouring of all 
 things ; they were despised for their poverty 
 and the meanness of their appearance, and de- 
 tested as bigots and enthusiasts ; so that it re- 
 quired some degree of faith and grace not to 
 be ashamed of them. 
 
 Let not the reader be offended, if I close 
 this book, as I did the former, with entreating 
 him to reflect on che importance of having 
 right views of the gospel of Christ and of 
 the spirit of Christianity. These are topics of 
 universal concern. A believer in Jesus, how- 
 ever obscure, unnoticed, or oppressed in the 
 present life, is happy : he is a child of God, 
 the charge of angels, and heir of glory (Rom. 
 viii. 14, 17) ; he has meat to eat that the world 
 knows not of ; and from the knowledge of 
 his union and relation to his Redeemer (Phil. 
 
 iv. 7.) he derives a peace which passes under- 
 standing, and a power suited to every service 
 and circumstance of life : though weak in him- 
 self, he is strong in the grace that is in Christ 
 Jesus the Lord, (2 Cor. xii. 9; 2 Tim. ii. 1), 
 upon whom he relies, as his wisdom, righte- 
 ousness, sanctification, and expects from him, 
 in due time, a complete redemption from every 
 evil ( 1 Cor. i. 30) : his faith is not merely 
 speculative, like the cold assent which we give 
 to a mathematical truth, nor is it the blind 
 impulse of a warm imagination, but it is the 
 effect of an apprehension of the wisdom, power, 
 and love displayed in the redemption of sin- 
 ners by Jesus Christ; it is a constraining 
 principle (Gal. v. 6; Acts xv. 9; 1 John 
 
 v. 4 ; Heb. xi. 1 ; 2 Cor. iii. 1 8), that works 
 by love, purifies the heart, and overcomes the 
 world ; it gives the foretaste and evidence of 
 things invisible to mortal eyes, and, trans- 
 forming the soul into the resemblance of what 
 it beholds, fills the heart with benevolence, gen- 
 
 519 
 
 tleness, and patience, and directs every action 
 to the sublimest ends, the glory of God and 
 the good of mankind. 
 
 But whatever is styled religion, that is not 
 thus pure, thus peaceable, thus operative, or 
 at least that does not lead the soul to desire 
 the graces of the Spirit, and to seek them in 
 God’s appointed way, by faith in his Son, is 
 unworthy of the name. If you have not the 
 Spirit of Christ, you are none of his (Rom. 
 viii. 9) ; whatever else you may have, you 
 have no interest in the promised blessings of 
 the gospel ; whatever else you can do, you can- 
 not please God, Heb. xi. 6. If you do not 
 count all things loss, and of no value (Phil, 
 iii. 8), in comparison of the excellency of the 
 knowledge of Christ Jesus the Lord, you cer- 
 tainly do not understand the word gospel in 
 St. Paul’s sense ; if you did, you would be of 
 his mind : and are you not in danger of incur- 
 ring that anathema which, under the influence 
 of the Spirit of God, he denounces (1 Cor. 
 
 xvi. 22) against all who love not the Lord 
 Jesus ? Search the scriptures, if you really 
 think that in them you have eternal life, John 
 v. 39. If, indeed, you could prove them to 
 be cunningly-devised fables, you might ne- 
 glect them without danger (2 Pet. i. 16); 
 but, if the scriptures are true, there is a day 
 coming when God shall judge the world, Acts 
 
 xvii. 31. I need not appeal to scripture to 
 convince you that, whatever your situation in 
 life is, you must leave it, and experience a 
 moment when the pleasures or honours of this 
 world will afford you no comfort ; but, if the 
 scriptures are true, you must then appear be- 
 fore the judgment-seat of Christ ; you must 
 stand either at the right hand or the left, 2 
 Cor. v. 10. Important alternative ! For to 
 those on the left hand the King will say, 
 “ Depart from me, ye cursed,” Matth. xxv. 
 41. If hitherto, while you have professed 
 his name, you have had your heart filled with 
 enmity against his doctrine and his people; 
 if you have accounted his wisdom foolishness, 
 and reproached the operations of his Spirit as 
 enthusiasm and madness, — it is to be hoped 
 you have done it through ignorance ; you 
 knew not what you did (1 Tim. i. 15; Luke 
 xxiii. 34) : there is, then, forgiveness with 
 him ; as yet he is upon a throne of grace. 
 May the Spirit of God lead you to him be- 
 fore he takes his seat upon the throne of 
 judgment ! otherwise you are lost for ever. 
 My heart’s desire and prayer to God, for my 
 readers, will be, that not one of them may 
 fall under that awful sentence, Behold, ye de- 
 spisers, and wonder, and perish ; for I work 
 a work in your days, which you shall in no 
 wise believe, though a man declare it unte 
 you Acts xiii. 41. 
 

OLNEY HYMNS, 
 
 IN 
 
 THREE BOOKS. 
 
 Cantabitis, At cades, inquit, 
 
 Montibus haec vestris, soli cantare periti 
 
 Arcades. O mihi turn quam moiliter ossa quiescant, 
 
 Ve^tra meos olira si fistula dicat amores ! 
 
 Virgil, Eel. x. 31. 
 
 And they sung as it were a new song before the throne ; and no man could learn 
 
 tjiat song, but the* redeemed from the earth. Rev. xiv. S. 
 
 As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing. 2 Cor. vi. IQ. 
 

 
 
 
 
 J- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 « 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 • 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 X 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ’ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Copies of a few of these Hymns have already appeared in periodical publi- 
 cations, and in some recent collections. I have observed one or two of them 
 attributed to persons who certainly had no concern in them, but as tran- 
 scribers. All that have been at different times parted with in manuscript are 
 included in the present volume ; and (if the information were of any great 
 importance) the public may be assured, that the whole number were com- 
 posed by two persons only. The original design would not admit of any 
 other association. A desire of promoting the faith and comfort of sincere 
 Christians, though the principal, was not the only motive to this undertaking. 
 It was likewise intended as a monument to perpetuate the remembrance of 
 an intimate and endeared friendship. With this pleasing view, I entered upon 
 my part, which would have been smaller than it is, and the book would have 
 appeared much sooner, and in a very different form, if the wise, though 
 mysterious providence of God, had not seen fit to cross my wishes. We had 
 not proceeded far upon our proposed plan, before my dear friend was pre- 
 vented, by a long and affecting indisposition, from affording me any farther 
 assistance. My grief and disappointment were great ; I hung my harp upon 
 the willows, and for some time thought myself determined to proceed no far- 
 ther without him. Yet my mind was afterwards led to resume the service. 
 My progress in it, amidst a variety of other engagements, has been slow ; yet, 
 in a course of years, the Hymns amounted to a considerable number ; and 
 my deference to the judgment and desires of others, has at length overcome 
 the reluctance I long felt to see them in print, while I had so few of my 
 friend’s Hymns to insert in the collection. Though it is possible a good judge 
 of composition might be able to distinguish those which are his, I have thought 
 it proper to preclude a misapplication, by subjoining the letter C* to each of 
 them. For the rest I must be responsible. 
 
 There is a style and manner suited to the composition of Hymns, which 
 may be more successfully, or at least more easily, attained by a versifier than 
 by a poet. They should be Hymns, not Odes, if designed for public worship, 
 and for the use of plain people. Perspicuity simplicity, and ease, should be 
 chiefly attended to ; and the imagery and colouring of poetry, if admitted at 
 all, should be indulged very sparingly, and with great judgment. The late 
 Dr. Watts, many of whose Hymns are admirable patterns in this species of 
 writing, might, as a poet, have a right to say, That it cost him some labour 
 to restrain his fire, and to accommodate himself to the capacities of common 
 readers. But it would not become me to make such a declaration. It be- 
 hoved me to do my best. But though I would not offend readers of taste 
 by a wilful coarseness and negligence, I do not write professedly for them. If 
 the Lord, whom I serve, has been pleased to favour me with that mediocrity 
 of talent, which may qualify me for usefulness to the weak and the poor of 
 his flock, without quite disgusting persons of superior discernment, I have 
 reason to be satisfied. 
 
 As the workings of the heart of man, and of the Spirit of God, are in gene- 
 ral the same in all who are the subjects of grace, I hope most of these Hymns, 
 being the fruit and expression of my own experience, will coincide with the 
 views of real Christians of all denominations. But I cannot expect that every 
 sentiment I have advanced will be universally approved. However, I am not 
 conscious of having written a single line, with an intention either to flatter or 
 
 Cowp«r. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 524 
 
 to offend any party or person upon earth. 1 have simply declared my own 
 views and feelings, as I might have done if I had composed Hymns in some of 
 the newly-discovered islands in the South Sea, where no person had any know- 
 ledge of the name of Jesus but myself. I am a friend of peace ; and being 
 deeply convinced, that no one can profitably understand the great truths and 
 doctrines of the gospel, any farther than he is taught of God, I have not a 
 wish to obtrude my own tenets upon others, in a way of controversy : yet I 
 do not think myself bound to conceal them. Many gracious persons (for many 
 such I am persuaded there are), who differ from me, more or less, in those 
 points which are called Calvinistic, appear desirous that the Calvinists should, 
 for their sakes, studiously avoid every expression which they cannot approve. 
 Yet few of them, I believe, impose a like restraint upon themselves, but think 
 the importance of what they deem to be truth, justifies them in speaking their 
 sentiments plainly and strongly. May I not plead for an equal liberty ? The 
 views I have received of the doctrines of grace are essential to my peace ; I 
 could not live comfortably a day or an hour without them. I likewise be- 
 lieve, yea, so far as my poor attainments warrant me to speak, I know them to 
 be friendly to holiness, and to have a direct influence in producing and main- 
 taining a gospel-conversation ; and therefore I must not be ashamed of them. 
 
 The Hymns are distributed into three Books. In the first, I have classed 
 those which are formed upon select passages of scripture, and placed them 
 in the order of the books of the Old and New Testament. The second con- 
 tains occasional Hymns, suited to particular seasons, or suggested by particu- 
 lar events or subjects. The third book is miscellaneous, comprising a variety 
 of subjects relative to a life of faith in the Son of God, which have no express 
 reference either to a single text of scripture, or to any determinate season or 
 incident. These are farther subdivided into distinct heads. This arrangement 
 is not so accurate, but that several of the Hymns might have been differently 
 disposed. Some attention to method may be found convenient, though a 
 logical exactness was hardly practicable. As some subjects in the several 
 books are nearly coincident, I have, under the divisions in the third Book, 
 pointed out those which are similar in the two former. And I have likewise, 
 here and there, in the first and second, made a reference to Hymns of a like 
 import in the third. 
 
 This Publication, which, with my humble prayer to the Lord for his bles- 
 sing upon it, I offer to the service and acceptance of all who love the Lord 
 Jesus Christ in sincerity, of every name and in every place, into whose hands 
 it may come, I more particularly dedicate to my dear friends in the parish and 
 neighbourhood of Olney, for whose use the Hymns were originally composed ; 
 as a testimony of the sincere love I bear them, and as a token of my gratitude 
 to the Lord, and to them, for the comfort and satisfaction with which the 
 discharge of my ministry among them has been attended. 
 
 The hour is approaching, and, at my time of life, cannot be very distant, 
 when my heart, my pen, and my tongue, will no longer be able to move in 
 their service. But I trust, while my heart continues to beat, it will feel a 
 warm desire for the prosperity of their souls ; and while my hand can write, 
 and my tongue speak, it will be the business and the pleasure of my life, to 
 aim at promoting their growth and establishment in the grace of our God 
 and Saviour. To this precious grace I commend them, and earnestly entreat 
 them, and all who love his name, to strive mightily with their prayers to God 
 for me, that I may be preserved faithful to the end, and enabled at last to 
 finish my course with joy. 
 
 Olney , Bucks , Feb. 1 5th 1779. 
 
 JOHN NEWTON 
 
4 
 
 OLNEY HYMNS, 
 
 &c. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 ON SELECT PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 GENESIS. 
 
 HYMN I 
 
 ADAM. CHAP. in. 
 
 1 On man, in his own image made, 
 
 How much did God bestow ! 
 
 The whole creation homage paid, 
 
 And own’d him Lord below. 
 
 2 He dwelt in Eden’s garden, stor’d 
 
 With sweets for every sense ; 
 
 And there, with his descending Lord, 
 
 He walk’d in confidence. 
 
 8 But oh ! by sin how quickly chang’d ! 
 His honour forfeited. 
 
 His heart from God and truth estrang’d, 
 His conscience fill’d with dread ! 
 
 4 Now from his Maker’s voice he flees, 
 
 Whicn was before his joy, 
 
 And thinks to hide, amidst the trees. 
 From an all-seeing eye. 
 
 5 Compell’d to answer to his name, 
 
 With stubbornness and pride, 
 
 He cast on God himself the blame, 
 
 Nor once for mercy cried. 
 
 6 But grace, unask’d, his heart subdu’d, 
 
 And all his guilt forgave ; 
 
 By faith the promis’d Seed he view’d, 
 And felt his power to save. 
 
 7 Thus we ourselves would justify, 
 
 Though we the law transgress j 
 Like him, unable to deny, 
 
 Unwilling to confess. 
 
 8 But when, by faith, the sinner sees 
 
 A pardon, bought with blood, 
 
 Then he forsakes his foolish pleas, 
 
 And gladly turns to God. 
 
 HYMN II. 
 
 CAIN AND ABEL. CHAP. IV. 3 — 8. 
 
 i 1 When Adam fell, he quickly lost 
 
 God’s image, which he once possess’d s 
 See all our nature since could boast, 
 
 In Cain, his first-born son, express’d ! 
 
 2 The sacrifice the Lord ordain’d, 
 
 In type of the Redeemer’s blood, 
 Self-righteous reas’ning Cain disdain’d, 
 And thought his own first-fruits as good. 
 
 3 Yet rage and envy fill’d his mind, 
 
 When, with a sullen downcast look, 
 
 He saw his brother favour find, 
 
 Who God’s appointed method took. 
 
 4 By Cain’s own hand good Abel died, 
 Because the Lord approv’d his faith ; 
 And when his blood for vengeance cried. 
 He vainly thought to hide his death. 
 
OLNEY HYMNS. 
 
 BOOK I 
 
 526 
 
 0 Such wa6 the wicked murd’rer Cain ; 
 
 And such by nature still are we, 
 
 Until by grace we’re born again, 
 Malicious, blind, and proud as he. 
 
 6 Like him, the way of grace we slight, 
 
 And in our own devices trust ; 
 
 Call evil good, and darkness light, 
 
 And hate and persecute the just. 
 
 7 The saints in ev’ry age and place, 
 
 Have found his history fulfill’d ; 
 
 The numbers all our thoughts surpass, 
 
 Of Abels whom the Cains have kill’d.* 
 
 8 Thus Jesus fell — but, oh ! his blood 
 For better things than Abel’s cries ; f 
 Obtains his murd’rers peace with God, 
 
 A na gains them mansions in the skies. 
 
 HYMN III. 
 
 W ALKING WITH GOD. CHAP. V. 24. 
 
 1 Oh ! for a closer walk w ith God, 
 
 A calm and heavenly frame ; 
 
 A light to shine upon the road 
 That leads me to the Lamb ! 
 
 2 Where is the blessedness I knew, 
 
 When first I saw the Lord ? 
 
 Where is the soul-refreshing view 
 Of Jesus and his word ? 
 
 3 What peaceful hours I once enjoyed ! 
 
 How sweet their mem’rj still ! 
 
 But they have left an aching void, 
 
 The world can never fill. 
 
 4 Return, O holy Dove, return, 
 
 Sweet messenger of rest ; 
 
 I hate the sins that made thee mourn, 
 And drove thee from my breast : 
 
 5 The dearest idol I have known, 
 
 Whate’er that idol be, 
 
 Help me to tear it from thy throne, 
 
 And worship only thee. 
 
 6 So shall my walk be close with God, 
 
 Calm and serene my frame ; 
 
 So purer light shall mark the road, 
 
 That leads me to the Lamb. 
 
 (’. 
 
 HYMN IV. 
 
 ANOTHER. 
 
 1 By faith in Christ I walk with God, 
 
 With heaven, my journey’s end, in view ; 
 Supported by his staff and rod, J 
 
 My road is safe and pleasant too. 
 
 2 I travel through a desert wide, 
 
 Where many round me blindly stray ; 
 
 But he vouchsafes to be my guide, § 
 
 And will not let me miss my w r ay. 
 
 * Rom. viii. 36. f Hcb. xii. 24. 
 
 t Psal. xxiii. i. y Psal. cvii. 
 
 Though snares and dangers throng my path 
 And earth and hell my course withstand, 
 
 I triumph over all by faith,* 
 
 Guarded by his almighty hand. 
 
 The wilderness affords no food, 
 
 But God for my support prepares ; 
 Provides me every needful good, 
 
 And frees my soul from wants and cares. 
 
 With him sweet converse I maintain, 
 Great as he is, I dare be free ; 
 
 Tell him all my grief and pain, 
 
 And he reveals his love to me. 
 
 Some cordial from his word he brings, 
 Whene’er my feeble spirit faints ; 
 
 At once my soul revives and sings, 
 
 And yields no more to sad complaints. 
 
 I pity all that worldlings talk 
 Of pleasures that will quickly end : 
 
 Be this my choice, O Lord, to walk 
 With thee, my guide, my guard, my friend 
 
 HYMN V. 
 
 LOT IN SODOM. CHAP. XIII. 10. 
 
 How hurtful was the choice of Lot, 
 
 Who took up his abode 
 
 (Because it was a fruitful spot) 
 
 With them who fear’d not God ! 
 
 A pris’ner he was quickly made, 
 Bereav’d of all his store ; 
 
 And, but for Abram’s timely aid, 
 
 He had return’d no more. 
 
 Yet still he seem’d resolv’d to stay, 
 
 As if it were his rest ; 
 
 Although their sins from day to dayf 
 His righteous soul distress’d. 
 
 A while he stayed, with anxious mind. 
 Expos’d to scorn and strife ; 
 
 At last he left his all behind, 
 
 And fled to save his life. 
 
 In vain his sons-in-law he warn’d, 
 
 They thought he told but dreams ; 
 
 Ilis daughters, too, of them had learn’d, 
 And perish’d in the flames. 
 
 His wife escap’d a little way, 
 
 But died for looking back : 
 
 Does not her case to pilgrims say, 
 
 “ Beware of growing slack ! ” 
 
 Yea, Lot himself could ling’ring stand, 
 Though vengeance was in view ; 
 
 ’Twas mercy pluck’d him by the hand. 
 Or he had perish’d too. 
 
 The doom of Sodom will be ours, 
 
 If to the earth we cleave : 
 
 Lord, quicken all our drowsy powers, 
 To flee to thee, and live. 
 
 * Psal. xxvii. 1,2 + 2 Pet. il. 8. 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 8 
 
 i 
 
tlYMN VIII. 
 
 527 
 
 GENESIS. 
 
 HYMN VI. 
 
 JEHOVAH-JIREH; OR, THE LOltD WILL PRO- 
 VIDE. CHAP. XXII. 14. 
 
 1 The saints should never be dismayed. 
 
 Nor sink in hopeless fear : 
 
 For when they least expect his aid. 
 
 The Saviour will appear. 
 
 2 This Abram found — he rais’d the knife, 
 
 God saw, and said, “ Forbear : 
 
 Yon ram shall yield his meaner life; 
 Behold the victim there!” 
 
 3 Once David seem’d Saul’s certain prey ; 
 
 But hark ! the foe’s at hand ;* 
 
 Saul turns his arms another way, 
 
 To save the invaded land. 
 
 4 When Jonah sunk beneath the wave, 
 
 He thought to rise no more; f 
 But God prepar’d a fish to save, 
 
 And bear him to the shore. 
 
 5 Bless’d proofs of power and grace divine, 
 
 That meet us in his word ! 
 
 May ev’ry deep-felt care of mine 
 Be trusted with the Lord. 
 
 € Wait for his seasonable aid, 
 
 And though it tarry, wait ; 
 
 The promise may be long delayed, 
 
 But cannot come too late. 
 
 ' C. 
 
 HYMN VII. 
 
 ANOTHER. 
 
 1 Though troubles assail, 
 
 And dangers affright, 
 
 Though friends should all fail. 
 And foes all unite ; 
 
 Yet one thing secures us. 
 Whatever betide, 
 
 The scripture assures us, 
 
 The Lord will provide. 
 
 2 The birds without barn 
 Or storehouse are fed ; 
 
 From them let us learn 
 To trust for our bread : 
 
 His saints, what is fitting, 
 Shall ne’er be denied, 
 
 So long as ’tis written. 
 
 The Lord will provide. 
 
 3 We may, like the ships. 
 
 By tempests be tossed. 
 
 On perilous deeps, 
 
 But cannot be lost : 
 
 Though Satan enrages 
 The wind and the tide, 
 
 The promise engages, 
 
 The Lord will provide. 
 
 * : bam. xxii,. . 
 
 4 His call we obey, 
 
 Like Abram of old, 
 
 Not knowing our way. 
 
 But faith makes us bold ; 
 
 For though we are strangers. 
 We have a good guide, 
 
 And trust in all dangers, 
 The Lord will provide. 
 
 5 When Satan appears 
 To stop up our path, 
 
 And fill us with fears, 
 
 We triumph by faith ; 
 
 He cannot take from us, 
 Though oft he has tried, 
 This beart-cheering-promise. 
 The Lord will provide. 
 
 6 He tells us we’re weak. 
 
 Our hope is in vain, 
 
 The good that we seek 
 We ne’er shall obtain ; 
 
 But when such suggestions 
 Our spirits have plied, 
 
 This answers all questions, 
 The Lord will provide. 
 
 7 No strength of our own, 
 
 Or goodness we claim ; 
 
 Yet since we have known 
 The Saviour’s great name. 
 
 In this our strong tower 
 For safety we hide, 
 
 The Lord is our power, 
 
 The Lord will provide. 
 
 8 When life sinks apace, 
 
 And death is in view, 
 
 This word of his grace 
 Shall comfort us through ; 
 No fearing or doubting, 
 With Christ on our side, 
 
 We hope to die shouting, 
 The Lord will provide. 
 
 HYMN VIII. 
 
 ESAU. CHAP. xxv. 34. Heb. xii. 1G. 
 
 1 Poor Esau repented too late. 
 
 That once he his birth -right despis’d, 
 And sold for a morsel of meat, 
 
 What could not too highly be priz’d : 
 How great was his anguish when told, 
 The blessing he sought to obtain, 
 
 Was gone with the birth-right he sold. 
 And none could recall it again ! 
 
 2 He stands as a warning to all, 
 Wherever the gospel shall come ; 
 
 O hasten and yield to the call. 
 
 While yet for repentance there’s room . 
 Your season will quickly be past ; 
 Then hear and obey it to-day, 
 
 Lest, when you seek mercy at last, 
 
 The Saviour should frown you away 
 
BOOK I 
 
 528 OLNEY 
 
 3 What is it the world can propose ? 
 
 A morsel of meat at the best ! 
 
 For this are you willing to lose 
 A share in the joys of the blest ? 
 
 Its pleasures will speedily end, 
 
 Its favour and praise are but breath ; 
 And what can its profits befriend 
 Your soul in the moment of death ? 
 
 4 If Jesus, for these, you despise, 
 
 And sin to the Saviour prefer ; 
 
 In vain your entreaties and cries, 
 
 When summon’d to stand at his bar : 
 How will you his presence abide ? 
 
 What anguish will torture your heart ? 
 The saints all enthron’d by his side* 
 
 And you be compell’d to depart* 
 
 5 Too often, dear Saviour, have I 
 Preferr’d some poor trifle to thee ; 
 
 How is it thou dost not deny 
 
 The blessing and birth-right to me ? 
 
 No better than Esau I am, 
 
 Though pardon and heaven be mine j 
 To me belongs nothing but shame ; 
 
 The praise and the glory be thine. 
 
 HYMN IX. 
 
 Jacob’s ladder, chap, xxviii. 12. 
 
 1 If the Lord our leader be, 
 
 We may follow without fear j 
 East or west, by land or sea, 
 
 Home, with him, is ev’rv where. 
 
 When from Esau Jacob fled. 
 
 Though his pillow was of stone, 
 
 And the ground his humble bed, 
 
 Yet he was not left alone. 
 
 2 Kings are often waking kept, 
 
 Rack’d with cares on beds of state ; 
 Never king like Jacob slept, 
 
 For he lay at heaven’s gate ; 
 
 Lo ! he saw a ladder r-ear’d, 
 
 Reaching to the heavnely throne ; 
 
 At the top the Lord appear’d. 
 
 Spake, and claim’d him for his own. 
 
 8 “ Fear not, Jacob, thou art mine, 
 
 And my presence with thee goes : 
 
 On thy heart my love shall shine, 
 
 And my arm subdue thy foes : 
 
 From my promise comfort take, 
 
 For my help in trouble call j 
 Never will I thee forsake, 
 
 Till I have accomplish’d all.” 
 
 4 Well does Jacob’s ladder suit. 
 
 To the gospel-throne of grace: 
 
 We are at the ladder’s foot. 
 
 Ev’ry hour, in ev’ry place 
 By assuming flesh and b.ooc, 
 
 Jesus heaven and earth unites 
 We by faith ascend to God,* 1 
 God to dwell with us delignts. 
 
 HYMNS. 
 
 5 They who know the Saviour’s name, 
 Are for all events prepar’d ; 
 
 What can changes do to them, 
 
 Who have such a guide and guard ? 
 Should they traverse earth around, 
 To the ladder still they pome ; 
 
 Ev’ry spot is holy ground, 
 
 God is there — and he’s their home. 
 
 HYMN X. 
 
 MY NAME IS JACOB. CHAP. XXxii. 2?. 
 
 1 Nay, I cannot let thee go, 
 
 Till a blessing thou bestow ; 
 
 Do not turn away thy face, 
 
 Mine’s an urgent pressing case. 
 
 2 Dost thou ask me who I am ? 
 
 Ah, my Lord, thou know’st my name 3 
 Yet the question gives a plea, 
 
 To support my suit with thee. 
 
 3 Thou didst once a wretch behold, 
 
 In febellion blindly bold, 
 
 Scorn thy grace, thy power defy j 
 That poor rebel, Lord, was I. 
 
 4 Once a sinner near despair, 
 
 Sought thy mercy-seat by prayer 3 
 Mercy heard and set him free j 
 Lord that mercy came to me. 
 
 5 Many years have pass’d since then, 
 Many changes I have seen, 
 
 Yet have been upheld till now j 
 Who could hold me up but thou ? 
 
 6 Thou hast help’d ifi ev’ry need; 
 
 This emboldens me to plead : 
 
 After so much mercy past, 
 
 Canst thou let me sink at last ? 
 
 7 No— I must maintain my hold, 
 
 ’Tis thy goodness makes me bold ; 
 
 I can no denial take, 
 
 When I plead for Jesus’ sake. 
 
 HYMN XI. 
 
 PLENTY IN THE TIME OF DEARTH. CHAP, ill 
 
 56. . 
 
 1 My soul once had its plenteous years, 
 
 And throve, with peace and comfort fill’d 
 Like the fat kine and ripen’d ears, 
 
 Which Pharaoh in his dream beheld. 
 
 2 With pleasing frames and grace receiv’d, 
 With means and ordinances fed, 
 
 i How happy for a while I liv’d, 
 
 And little fear’d the want of bread. 
 
 3 But famine came, and left no sigu 
 Of all the plenty I had seen ; 
 
 Like the dry ears and half-statv’d kine, 
 
 I then look’d wither’d, faint, and lean 
 
 * i Cot. vi. 1**, 
 
HYMN XIV. 
 
 EXODUS, 
 
 To Joseph the Egyptians went ; 
 
 To Jesus I made known my case ; 
 
 He, when my little stock was spent, 
 Open’d his magazine of grace. 
 
 5 For he the time of death foresaw, 
 
 And made provision long before: 
 
 That famish’d souls, like me, might draw 
 Supplies from his unbounded store. 
 
 6 Now on his bounty I depend. 
 
 And live from fear of dearth secure; 
 Maintain’d by such a mighty friend, 
 
 I cannot want till he is poor. 
 
 7 O sinners, hear his gracious call ! 
 
 His mercy’s door stands open wide ; 
 
 He has enough to feed you all, 
 
 And none who come shall be denied. 
 
 HYMN XII. 
 
 JOSEPH MADE KNOWN TO HIS BRETHREN. CHAP, 
 xlv. 3. 4. 
 
 1 When Joseph his brethren beheld 
 Afflicted, and trembling with fear, 
 
 His heart with compassion was fill’d, 
 
 From weeping he could not forbear. 
 
 A while his behaviour was rough, 
 
 To bring their past sin to their mind ; 
 
 But when they were humbled enough, 
 
 He hasted to shew himself kind. 
 
 2 How little they thought it was he, 
 
 Whom they had ill-treated and sold ! 
 
 How great their confusion must be, 
 
 As soon as his name he had told ! 
 
 “ I’m Joseph your brother,” he said, 
 
 “ And still to my heart you are dear ; 
 
 You sold me, and thought I w r as dead, 
 
 But God, for your sakes, sent me here.” 
 
 S Though greatly distressed before, 
 
 When charg’d with purloining the cup, 
 They now were confounded much more, 
 Not one of them durst to look up. 
 
 “ Can Joseph, whom we w r ould have slain, 
 Forgive us the evil we did ? 
 
 And will he our households maintain ? 
 
 O, this is a brother indeed !” 
 
 4 Thus dragg’d by my conscience, I came, 
 And laden with guilt, to the Lord, 
 Surrounded with terror and shame, 
 
 Unable to utter a word. 
 
 At first he look’d stern and severe, 
 
 What anguish then pierced my heart ! 
 Expecting each moment to hear 
 The sentence “ Thou cursed, depart !’ 
 
 5 But, oh ! what surprise when he spoke, 
 While tenderness beam’d in his face ; 
 
 My heart then to pieces was broke, 
 O’erwhelmed and confounded by grace : 
 
 “ Poor sinner, I know thee full well, 
 
 By thee I was sold and was slain ; 
 
 But I died to redeem thee from hell, 
 
 And raise thee in glory to reign. 
 
 529 
 
 6 I’m Jesus, whom thou hast blasphem’d, 
 And crucified often afresh ; 
 
 But let me henceforth be esteem’d 
 Thy brother, thy bone, and thy flesh : 
 
 My pardon I freely bestow, 
 
 Thy wants I will fully supply ; 
 
 I’ll guide thee and guard thee below, 
 
 And soon will remove thee on high. 
 
 7 Go, publish to sinners around, 
 
 That they may be willing to come. 
 
 The mercy which now you have found, 
 And tell them that yet there is room ” 
 
 O sinners ! the message obey, 
 
 No more vain excuses pretend; 
 
 But come without further delay, 
 
 To Jesus our brother and friend. 
 
 EXODUS. 
 
 HYMN XIII. 
 
 THE BITTER WATERS. CHAP. XV. 23. 25. 
 
 1 Bitter, indeed, the waters are, 
 
 Which in this desert flow ; 
 
 Though to the eye they promise fair, 
 They taste of sin and woe. 
 
 2 Of pleasing draughts I once could dream, 
 
 But now, awake, I find 
 That sin has poison’d ev’ry stream. 
 
 And left a curse behind. 
 
 3 But there’s a wonder-working wood. 
 
 I've heard believers say, 
 
 Can make these bitter waters good, 
 
 And take the curse away. 
 
 4 The virtues of this healing tree 
 
 Are known and priz’d by few ; 
 
 Reveal this secret, Lord, to me, 
 
 That I may prize it too. 
 
 3 The cross on which the Saviour died, 
 And conquer’d for his saints ; 
 
 This is the tree, by faith applied, 
 
 Which sweetens all complaints. 
 
 6 Thousands have found the bless’d effect. 
 
 No longer mourn their lot : 
 
 While on his sorrows they reflect, 
 
 Their own are all forgot. 
 
 7 When they, by faith, behold the cross, 
 
 Though many griefs they meet; 
 
 They draw again from ev’ry loss, 
 
 And find the bitter sweet. 
 
 HYMN XIV. 
 
 JEHOVAH-ROPIII ; OR, THE LORD MY HEALER. 
 
 CHAP. XV. 26. * 
 
 1 Heal us, Emmanuel, here we are, 
 Waiting to feel thy touch ; 
 
 Deep wounded souls to thee repair, 
 
 I And, Saviour, we are such. 
 
 2 S 
 
OLNEY HYMNS. 
 
 BOOK I 
 
 530 
 
 2 Our faith is feeble, we confess, 
 
 We faintly trust thy word ; 
 
 But wilt thou pity us the less ? 
 
 Be that far from thee, Lord ! 
 
 3 Remember him who once applied 
 
 With trembling for relief ; 
 
 “ Lord, I believe,” with tears he cried, * 
 “ O help my unbelief!” 
 
 4 She too, who touch’d thee in the press, 
 
 And healing virtue stole, 
 
 Was answered, “ Daughter, go in peace, 
 Thy faith hath made thee whole.” f 
 
 5 Conceal’d amid the gath’ring throng, 
 
 She would have shunn’d thy view ; 
 And if her faith was firm and strong. 
 Had strong misgivings too. 
 
 6 Like her, with hopes and fears, we come. 
 
 To touch thee if we may j 
 Oh ! send us not despairing home, 
 
 Send none unheal’d away i 
 
 C. 
 
 HYMN XV. 
 
 MANNA. CHAP. Xvi. 18. 
 
 1 Manna to Israel well supplied 
 
 The want of other bread ; 
 
 While God is able to provide, 
 
 His people shall be fed. 
 
 2 Thus, though the corn and wine should fail, 
 
 And creature-streams be dry, 
 
 The prayer of faith will still prevail, 
 
 For blessings from on high. 
 
 3 Of his kind care how sweet a proof! 
 
 It suited ev’ry taste ; 
 
 Who gather’d most, had just enough, 
 Enough who gather’d least. 
 
 4 ’Tis thus our gracious Lord divides 
 
 Our comforts and our cares ; 
 
 His own unerring hand provides, 
 
 And gives us each our shares. 
 
 5 He knows how much the weak can bear, 
 
 And helps them when they cry ; 
 
 The strongest have no strength to spare, 
 For such he’ll strongly try. 
 
 6 Daily they saw the manna come, 
 
 And cover all the ground ; 
 
 But what they tried to keep at home, 
 Corrupted soon was found. 
 
 7 Vain their attempt to store it up, 
 
 This was to tempt the Lord ; 
 
 Israel must live by faith and hope, 
 
 And not upon a hoard. 
 
 « Mark 'w. 24 4 Mark r U. 
 
 HYMN XVI. 
 
 MANNA HOARDED. CHAP. Xvi. 20. 
 
 1 The manna, favour’d Israel’s meat. 
 
 Was gather’d day by day; 
 
 When all the host was serv’d, the heat 
 Melted the rest away. 
 
 2 In vain to hoard it up they tried, 
 
 Against to-morrow came ; 
 
 It then bred worms and putrified, 
 
 And prov’d their sin and shame. 
 
 3 ’Twas daily bread, and would not keep, 
 
 But must be still renew’d ; 
 
 Faith should not want a hoard or heap. 
 But trust the Lord for food. 
 
 4 The truths by which the soul is fed. 
 
 Must thus be had afresh ; 
 
 For notions resting in the head 
 Will only feed the flesh. 
 
 5 However true, they have no life 
 
 Or unction to impart ; 
 
 They breed the worms of pride and strife 
 But cannot cheer the heart. 
 
 6 Nor can the best experience past 
 
 The life of faith maintain ; 
 
 The brighest hope will faint at last. 
 Unless supplied again. 
 
 7 Dear Lord, while we in prayer are found. 
 
 Do thou the manna give ; 
 
 Oh ! let it fall on all around, 
 
 That we may eat and live ! 
 
 HYMN XVII. 
 
 JKHOVAH-NISSI ; OR, THE lord my banner 
 CHAP. xvii. 15. 
 
 1 By whom was David taught 
 
 To aim the dreadful blow, 
 
 When he Goliah fought, 
 
 And laid the Gittite low ? 
 
 No sword nor spear the stripling took. 
 
 But chose a pebble from the brook. 
 
 2 ’Twas Israel’s God and King 
 
 Who sent him to the fight ; 
 
 Who gave him strength to sling, 
 
 And skill to aim aright. 
 
 Ye feeble saints, your strength endures, 
 Because young David’s God is yours. 
 
 3 Who order’d Gideon forth 
 
 To storm the invaders camp,* 
 
 With arms of little worth, 
 
 A pitcher and a lamp? 
 
 The trumpets made his coming known, 
 
 And all the host w’as overthrown. 
 
 • Judges vii. 20. 
 
llYMN XX. 
 
 4 Oh ! I have seen the day, 
 
 When with a single word, 
 
 God helping me to say, 
 
 My trust is in the Lord, 
 
 My soul has quell’d a thousand foes, 
 Fearless of all that could oppose. 
 
 5 But unbelief, self-will, 
 
 Self-righteousness, and pride, 
 How often do they steal 
 My weapon from my side ? 
 
 Yet David’s Lord, and Gideon’s friend, 
 Will help his servant to the end. 
 
 C. 
 
 HYMN XVIIL 
 
 THE GOLDEN CALF. CHAP. XXxii. 4, 3J. 
 
 1 WHEN Israel heard the fiery law 
 
 From Sinai’s top proclaim’d, 
 
 Their hearts seem’d full of holy awe, 
 Their stubborn spirits tam’d. 
 
 2 Yet, as forgetting all they knew, 
 
 Ere forty days were past, 
 
 With blazing Sinai still in view, 
 
 A molten calf they cast. 
 
 3 Yea, Aaron, God’s anointed priest, 
 
 Who on the mount had been, 
 
 He durst prepare the idol beast, 
 
 And lead them on to sin. 
 
 4 Lord, what is man, and what are we, 
 
 To recompense thee thus ! 
 
 In their offence our own we see, 
 
 Their story points at us, 
 
 5 From Sinai’s top we heard thee speak, 
 
 And from mount Calv’ry too ; 
 
 And yet to idols oft we seek, 
 
 While thou art in our view. 
 
 6 Some golden calf, or golden dream, 
 
 Some fancied creature good, 
 Presumes to share the heart with him, 
 Who bought the whole with blood. 
 
 7 Lord, save us from our golden calves, 
 
 Our sin with grief we own ; 
 
 We would no more be thine by halves, 
 But live to thee alone. 
 
 LEVITICUS. 
 
 HYMN XIX. 
 
 THE TRUE AARON. CHAP. viii. 7 — 9. 
 
 1 See Aaron, God’s anointed priest, 
 Within the vail appear, 
 
 In robes of mystic meaning drest, 
 Presenting Israel’s prayer. 
 
 531 
 
 2 The plate of gold which crowns his brows 
 
 His holiness describes ; 
 
 His breast displays, in shining rows. 
 
 The names of all the tribes. 
 
 3 With the atoning blood he stands 
 
 Before the mercy-seat ; 
 
 And clouds of incense from his hands 
 Arise with odour sweet. 
 
 4 Urim and Thummim near his heart 
 
 In rich engravings worn, 
 
 The sacred light of truth impart, 
 
 To teach and to adorn. 
 
 5 Through him the eye of faith descries 
 
 A greater Priest than he : 
 
 Thus Jesus pleads above the skies, 
 
 For you, my friends, and me. 
 
 6 He bears the names of all his saints 
 
 Deep on his heart engrav’d ; 
 
 Attentive to the state and wants 
 Of all his love has sav’d. 
 
 7 In him a holiness complete, 
 
 Light and perfections shine, 
 
 And wisdom, grace, and glory meet ; 
 
 A Saviour all divine ! 
 
 8 The blood, which as a priest he bears 
 
 For sinners, is his own; 
 
 The incense of his prayers and tears 
 Perfume the holy throne. 
 
 9 In him my weary soul has rest, 
 
 Though I am weak and vile, 
 
 I read my name upon his breast, 
 
 And see the Father smile. 
 
 NUMBERS. 
 
 HYMN XX. 
 
 Balaam’s wish. * chap, xxiii. 10. 
 
 1 How bless’d the righteous are, 
 
 When they resign their breath ; 
 
 No wonder Balaam wish’d to shaie 
 In such a happy death. 
 
 2 “ Oh ! let me die,” said he, 
 
 “ The death the righteous do ; 
 
 When life is ended, let me be 
 Found with the faithful few.” 
 
 3 The force of truth, how great ! 
 
 When enemies confess, 
 
 None but the righteous, whom they hate, 
 A solid hope possess. 
 
 4 But Balaam’s wish was vain, 
 
 His heart was insincere ; 
 
 He thirsted for unrighteous gain, 
 
 And sought a portion here. 
 
 Book 111. Hymn lxxi. 
 
 NUMBERS. 
 
OLNEY HYMNS, 
 
 BOOK I 
 
 532 
 
 5 He seem’d the Lord to know, 
 
 And to offend him loth ; 
 
 But Mammon prov’d his overthrow ; 
 For none can serve them both. 
 
 6 May you, my friends, and I, 
 
 Warning from hence receive ; 
 
 If like the righteous we would die, 
 To choose the life they live. 
 
 JOSHUA. 
 
 HYMN XXI. 
 
 GIBEON. CHAP. X. 6. 
 
 1 When Joshua, by God’s command, 
 Invaded Canaan’s guilty land, 
 
 Gibeon, unlike the nations found, 
 Submission made, and mercy found. 
 
 2 Their stubborn neighbours, who, enrag’d, 
 United war against them wag’d, 
 
 By Joshua soon were overthrown, 
 
 For Gibeon’s cause was now his own. 
 
 S He from whose arm they ruin fear’d, 
 Their leader and ally appear’d ; 
 
 An emblem of the Saviour’s grace. 
 
 To those who humbly seek his face. 
 
 4 The men of Gibeon wore disguise, 
 
 And gain’d their peace by framing lies ; 
 For Joshua had no power to spare, 
 
 If he had known from whence they were. 
 
 5 But Jesus invitation sends. 
 
 Treating with rebels as his friends ; 
 
 And holds the promise forth in view, 
 
 To all who for his mercy sue. 
 
 6 Too long his goodness I disdain’d, 
 
 Yet went at last, and peace obtain’d ; 
 
 But soon the noise of war I heard, 
 
 And former friends in arms appear’d. 
 
 7 Weak in myself, for help I cried, 
 
 Lord, I am press’d on every side ; 
 
 The cause is thine, they fight with me, 
 But every blow is aim’d at thee. 
 
 8 With speed to my relief he came, 
 
 And put my enemies to shame : 
 
 Thus sav’d by grace, I live to sing 
 The love and triumphs of my King. 
 
 JUDGES. 
 
 HYMN XXII. 
 
 JEHOVAH-SHALOM ; OR, THE LORD IS PEACE. 
 CHAP. vi. 24. 
 
 1 Jesus, whose blood so freely stream’d, 
 
 To satisfy the law’s demand, 
 
 By thee from guilt and wrath redeem’d, 
 Before the Father’s face I stand. 
 
 2 To reconcile offending man, 
 
 Make Justice drop her angry rod ; 
 
 What creature could have form’d the plan. 
 Or who fulfil it, but a God ? 
 
 3 No drop remains of all the curse. 
 
 For wretches who deserv’d the whole ; 
 
 No arrows dipt in wrath to pierce 
 The guilty, but returning soul. 
 
 4 Peace by such means so dearly bought, 
 What rebel could have hop’d to see ? 
 Peace, by his injur’d Sovereign wrought, 
 His Sovereign fastened to the tree. 
 
 5 Now, Lord, thy feeble worm prepare ! 
 
 For strife with earth and hell begins ; 
 Confirm and gird me for the war, 
 
 They hate the soul that hates his sins. 
 
 6 Let them in horrid league agree ! 
 
 They may assault, they may distress ; 
 
 But cannot quench thy love to me, 
 
 Nor rob me of the Lord, my peace. 
 
 C. 
 
 HYMN XXIII. 
 
 Gideon’s fleece, chap. vi. 37 — 40. 
 
 1 The signs which God to Gideon gave, 
 
 His holy sovereignty made known, 
 
 That he alone has power to save, 
 
 And claims the glory as his own. 
 
 2 The dew which first the fleece had fill’d. 
 When all the earth was dry around, 
 
 Was from it afterwards with-held, 
 
 And only fell upon the ground. 
 
 3 To Israel thus the heavenly dew 
 
 Of saving truth was long restrain'd ; 
 
 Of which the Gentiles nothing knew, 
 
 But dry and desolate remain’d. 
 
 4 But now the Gentiles have receiv’d 
 The balmy dew of gospel-peace ; 
 
 And Israel, who his Spirit griev’d, 
 
 Is left a dry and empty fleece. 
 
 5 This dew still falls at his command, 
 
 To keep his chosen plants alive ; 
 
 They shall, though in a thirsty land, 
 
 “ Like willows by the waters thrive.” * 
 
 * Isa. xliv. 4 . 
 
HYMN XXVI. 
 
 I SAMUEL. 
 
 533 
 
 6 But chiefly when his people meet, 
 
 To hear his word and seek his face, 
 
 The gentle dew, with influence sweet, 
 Descends, and nourishes their grace. 
 
 7 But, ah ! what numbers still are dead, 
 Though under means of grace they lie ! 
 The dew still falling round their head, 
 And yet their heart untouch’d and dry. 
 
 8 Dear Saviour ! hear us when we call, 
 To wrestling prayer an answer give ; 
 Pour down thy dew upon us all, 
 
 That all may feel, and all may live. 
 
 HYMN XXIV. 
 samson’s lion. chap. xiv. 8. 
 
 1 The lion that on Samson roar’d, 
 
 And thirsted for his blood, 
 
 With honey afterwards was stor’d, 
 
 And furnish’d him with food. 
 
 2 Believers, as they pass along, 
 
 With many lions meet, 
 
 But gather sweetness from the strong, 
 And from the eater meat. 
 
 3 The lions rage and roar in vain, 
 
 For Jesus is their shield ; 
 
 Their losses prove a certain gain, 
 
 Their troubles comfort yield. 
 
 4 The world and Satan join their strength, 
 
 To fill their souls with fears ; 
 
 But crops of joy they reap at length, 
 From what they sow in tears. 
 
 5 Afflictions make them love the word, 
 
 Stir up their hearts to prayer. 
 
 And many precious fruits afford 
 Of their Redeemer’s care. 
 
 6 The lions roar, but cannot kill ; 
 
 Then fear them not, my friends, 
 
 They bring us, though against their will, 
 The honey Jesus sends. 
 
 I SAMUEL. 
 
 HYMN XXV. 
 
 HANNAH ; OR, THE THRONE OF GRACE. 
 CHAP. i. 18. 
 
 1 When Hannah, press’d with grief. 
 Pour’d forth her soul in prayer, 
 She quickly found relief, 
 
 And left her burden there : 
 
 Like her, in ev’ry trying case. 
 
 Let us approach the throne of grace. 
 
 2 When she began to pray, 
 
 Her heart was pain’d and sad; 
 But ere she went away, 
 
 Was comforted and glad : 
 
 In trouble what a resting-place 
 
 Have they who know the throne of grace ; 
 
 3 Though men and devils rage, 
 
 And threaten to devour. 
 
 The saints, from age to age, 
 
 Are safe from all their power; 
 Fresh strength they gain to run their race. 
 By waiting at the throne of grace. 
 
 4 Eli her case mistook ; 
 
 How was her spirit mov’d 
 By his unkind rebuke ! 
 
 But God her cause approv’d. 
 
 We need not fear a creature’s face, 
 
 While welcome at a throne of grace. 
 
 5 She was not fill’d with wine, 
 
 As Eli rashly thought; 
 
 But with a faith divine, 
 
 And found the help she sought : 
 Though men despise and call us base, 
 
 Still let us ply the throne of grace. 
 
 6 Men have not power or skill 
 
 With troubled souls to bear ; 
 Though they express good-will, 
 Poor comforters they are : 
 
 But swelling sorrows sink apace, 
 
 When we approach the throne of grace. 
 
 7 Numbers before have tried, 
 
 And found the promise true ; 
 Nor yet one been denied, 
 
 Then why should I or you ? 
 
 Let us by faith their footsteps trace, 
 
 And hasten to the throne of grace. 
 
 8 As fogs obscure the light, 
 
 And taint the morning air, 
 
 But soon are put to flight. 
 
 If the bright sun appear : 
 
 Thus Jesus will our troubles chase. 
 
 By shining from the throne of grace. * 
 
 HYMN XXVI. 
 
 DAGON before the ARK. CHAP. V. 4, 5. 
 
 1 When first to make my heart his own, 
 The Lord reveal’d his mighty grace ; 
 
 Self reigned like Dagon on the throne. 
 But could not long maintain its place. 
 
 2 It fell, and own’d the power divine, 
 (Grace can with ease the victory gain) 
 But soon this wretched heart of mine 
 Contriv’d to set it up again. 
 
 3 Again the Lord his name proclaimed, 
 And brought the hateful idol low ; 
 
 Then self, like Dagon, broken, maimed. 
 Seemed to receive a mortal blow. 
 
 * Book II. Hymn lxi.. 
 
BOOK I. 
 
 OLNEY HYMNS 
 
 534 
 
 4 Yet self is not of life bereft. 
 
 Nor ceases to oppose his will ; 
 Though but a maimed stump be left 
 ’Tis Dagon, ’tis an idol still. 
 
 5 Lord, must I always guilty prove, 
 And idols in my heart have room ?* 
 Oh ! let the fire of heavenly love 
 The very stump of self consume! 
 
 HYMN XXVII. 
 
 The kine unguided went 
 By the directest road. 
 
 When the Philistines homeward sent 
 The ark of Israel’s God. 
 
 2 Lowing they passed along 
 
 And left their calves shut up ; 
 
 They felt an instinct for their young, 
 But would not turn or stop. 
 
 3 Shall brutes, devoid of thought. 
 
 Their Maker’s will obey ; 
 
 And we who by his grace are taught, 
 More stubborn prove than they ? 
 
 t He shed his precious blood, 
 
 To make us his alone ; 
 
 If wash’d in that atoning flood. 
 
 We are no more our own. 
 
 5 If he his will reveal, 
 
 Let us obey his call ; 
 
 And think, whate’er the flesh may feel. 
 His love deserves our all. 
 
 6 We should maintain in view 
 
 His glory, as our end ; 
 
 Too much we cannot bear or do, 
 
 For such a matchless friend. 
 
 7 His saints should stand prepared 
 
 In duty’s path to run ; 
 
 Nor count their greatest trials hard. 
 
 So that his will be done. 
 
 8 With Jesus for our guide, 
 
 The path is safe, though rough ; 
 
 The promise says, “ I will provide,” 
 And faith replies, “ Enough.” 
 
 HYMN XXVIII. 
 
 saul’s armour, chap. xvii. 38 — 40. 
 
 1 When first my soul enlisted 
 
 My Saviour’s foes to fight. 
 Mistaken friends insisted 
 I was not arm’d aright. 
 
 So Saul advised David, 
 
 He certainly would fail, 
 
 Nor could his life be saved. 
 Without a coat of mail. 
 
 2 But David, though he yielded 
 
 To put the armour on, 
 
 Soon found he could not ■wield it, 
 And ventur’d forth with none. 
 With only sling and pebble, 
 
 He fought the fight of faith ; 
 The weapons seem’d but feeble, 
 Yet prov’d Goliah’s death. 
 
 3 Had I by him been guided, 
 
 And quickly thrown away 
 The armour men provided, 
 
 I might have gain’d the day ; 
 But arm’d as they advis’d me, 
 
 My expectations fail’d ; 
 
 My enemy surpris’d me. 
 
 And had almost prevail’d. 
 
 4 Furnish’d with books and notions. 
 
 And arguments and pride, 
 
 I practis’d all my motions. 
 
 And Satan’s pow’r defied ; 
 
 But soon perceiv’d with trouble. 
 That these would do no good ; 
 Iron to him is stubble, * 
 
 And brass like rotten wood. 
 
 5 I triumph’d at a distance, 
 
 While he was out of sight ; 
 
 But faint was my resistance. 
 
 When forc’d to join in fight : 
 He broke my sword in shivers, 
 And pierc’d my boasted shield j 
 Laugh’d at my vain endeavours. 
 And drove me from the field. 
 
 6 Satan will not be braved 
 
 By such a worm as I ; 
 
 Then let me learn, with David, 
 
 To trust in the Most High ; 
 
 To plead the name of Jesus, 
 
 And use the sling of prayer; 
 Thus arm’d, when Satan sees us. 
 He’ll tremble and despair. 
 
 II. SAMUEL. 
 
 HYMN XXIX. 
 
 DAVID’S FALL. CHAP. xi. 27. 
 
 1 How David, when by sin deceiv’d. 
 
 From bad to worse went on ! 
 
 For when the Holy Spirit’s griev’d. 
 Our strength and guard are gone. 
 
 2 His eye on Bathsheba once fix’d. 
 
 With poison fill’d his soul ; 
 
 He ventur’d on adult’ry next, 
 
 And murder crown’d the whole. 
 
 THE MILCH-KINE DRAWING THE ARK: — FAITH’S 
 SURRENDER OF ALL. CHAP. vi. 12. 
 
 Hosea xiv. 8. 
 
 * Job. xli. 27- 
 
HYMN XXXII. 
 
 535 
 
 I. KINGS. 
 
 3 So from a spark of fire at first, 
 
 That has not been descried, 
 
 A dreadful flame has often burst, 
 
 And ravag’d far and wide. 
 
 4 When sin deceives, it hardens too. 
 
 For though he vainly sought 
 To hide his crimes from public view, 
 
 Of God he little thought. 
 
 5 He neither would nor could repent, 
 
 No true compunction felt; 
 
 Till God in mercy Nathan sent, 
 
 His stubborn heart to melt. 
 
 6 The parable held forth a fact, 
 
 Design’d his case to show ; 
 
 But though the picture was exact 
 Himself he did not know. 
 
 7 “ Thou art the man,” the prophet said. 
 
 That word his slumber broke ; 
 
 And when he own’d his sin, and prayed, 
 The Lord forgiveness spoke. 
 
 8 Let those who think they stand beware 
 
 For David stood before ; 
 
 Nor let the fallen soul despair, 
 
 For mercy can restore. 
 
 HYMN XXX. 
 
 IS THIS THY KINDNESS TO THY FRIEND ? CHAP, 
 xvi. 17. 
 
 1 Poor, weak, and worthless, though I am, 
 
 I have a rich almighty Friend ; 
 
 Jesus, the Saviour, is his name; 
 
 He freely loves, and without end. 
 
 2 He ransom’d me from hell with blood, 
 And by his power my foes control ’d; 
 
 He found me, wand’ring far from God, 
 And brought me to his chosen fold. 
 
 3 He cheers my heart, my want supplies, 
 And says that I shall shortly be 
 Enthron’d with him above the skies. 
 
 Oh ! what a friend is Christ to me 
 
 4 But, ah ! my inmost spirit mourns, 
 
 And well my eyes with tears may swim, 
 
 To think of my perverse returns ; 
 
 I’ve been a faithless friend to him. 
 
 5 Often my gracious Friend I grieve. 
 Neglect, distrust, and disobey. 
 
 And often Satan’s lies believe. 
 
 Sooner than all my Friend can say. 
 
 6 He bids me always freely come, 
 
 And promises whate’er I ask ; 
 
 But I am straiten’d, cold, and dumb, 
 
 And count my privilege a task. 
 
 7 Before the world, that hates his cause. 
 
 My treach’rous heart has throbb’d with 
 shame ; 
 
 Loth to forego the world’s applause, 
 
 I hardly dare avow his name. 
 
 8 Sure, were not I most vile and base, 
 
 I could not thus my Friend requite ! 
 
 And were not he the God of grace. 
 
 He’d frown, and spurn me from his sight. 
 
 I. KINGS. 
 
 HYMN XXXI. 
 
 ASK WHAT I SHALL GIVE THEE. CHAP. Hi. 5 
 
 1 Come, my soul, thy suit prepare, 
 
 Jesus loves to answer prayer ; 
 
 He himself has bid thee pray. 
 
 Therefore will not say thee nay. 
 
 2 Thou art coming to a King, * 
 
 Large petitions with thee bring ; 
 
 For his grace and power are such, 
 
 None can ever ask too much. 
 
 3 With my burden I begin, 
 
 Lord, remove this load of sin * 
 
 Let thy blood, for sinners spilt, 
 
 Set my conscience free from guilt 
 
 4 Lord, I come to thee for rest, 
 
 Take possession of my breast ; 
 
 There thy blood-bought right maintain, 
 And without a rival reign. 
 
 5 As the image in the glass 
 Answers the beholder’s face ; 
 
 Thus unto my heart appear, 
 
 Print thine own resemblance there. 
 
 6 While I am a pilgrim here, 
 
 Let thy love my spirit cheer ; 
 
 As my Guide, my Guard, my Friend, 
 Lead me to my journey’s end. 
 
 7 Shew me what I have to do, 
 
 Ev’ry hour my strength renew ; 
 
 Let me live a life of faith, 
 
 Let me die thy people’s death. 
 
 HYMN XXXII. 
 
 ANOTHER. 
 
 1 If Solomon for wisdom prayed. 
 
 The Lord before had made him wise, 
 Else he another choice had made, 
 
 And ask’d for what the worldlings prize. 
 
 2 Thus he invites his people still ; 
 
 He first instructs them how to choose. 
 Then bids them ask whate’er they will. 
 Assur’d that he will not refuse. 
 
 3 Our wishes would our ruin prove, 
 
 Could we our wretched choice obtain, 
 Before we feel the Saviour’s love 
 Kindle our love to him again. 
 
 * Psal. lxxxi. 10. 
 
538 OLNEY 
 
 4 But when our hearts perceive his worth, 
 Desires, till then unknown, take place ; 
 
 Our spirits cleave no more to earth, 
 
 But pant for holiness and grace. 
 
 5 And dost thou say, “ Ask what thou wilt?” 
 Lord, I would seize the golden hour ; 
 
 I pray to be releas'd from guilt, 
 
 And freed from sin and Satan’s power. 
 
 6 More of thy presence, Lord, impart, 
 
 More of thine image let me bear; 
 
 Erect thy throne within my heart, 
 
 And reign without a rival there. 
 
 7 Give me to read my pardon seal’d, 
 
 And from thy joy to draw my strength ; 
 To have thy boundless love reveal’d, 
 
 In all its height, and breadth, and length. 
 
 8 Grant these requests, I ask no more, 
 
 But to thy care the rest resign ; 
 
 Sick, or in health, or rich, or poor, 
 
 All shall be well if thou art mine. 
 
 HYMN XXXIII. 
 
 ANOTHER. 
 
 Behold the throne of grace ! 
 
 The promise calls me near ; 
 There Jesus shews a smiling face. 
 And waits to answer prayer. 
 
 2 That rich atoning blood, 
 
 Which sprinkled round I see, 
 
 Provides for those who come to God, 
 An all-prevailing plea. 
 
 3 My soul, ask what thou wilt, 
 Thou canst not be too bold ; 
 
 Since his own blood for thee he spilt, 
 What else can he with-hold ? 
 
 4 Beyond thy utmost wants, 
 
 His love and power can bless : 
 
 To praying souls he always grants 
 More than they can express. 
 
 5 Since ’tis the Lord’s command, 
 My mouth I open wide ; 
 
 Lord, open thou thy bounteous hand, 
 That I may be supplied. 
 
 6 Thine image, Lord, bestow, 
 
 Thy presence and thy love ; 
 
 I ask to serve thee here below, 
 
 And reign with thee above. 
 
 7 Teach me to live by faith. 
 Conform my will to thine ; 
 
 Let me victorious be in death, 
 
 And then in glory shine. 
 
 8 If thou these blessings give, 
 
 And wilt my portion be, 
 
 Cheerful the world’s poor toys I leave 
 To them who know not thee. 
 
 HYMNS. BOOK I. 
 
 HYMN XXXIV. 
 
 THE QUEEN OE SHEBA. CHAP. X. 1. 9* 
 
 1 From Sheba a distant report, 
 
 Of Solomon’s glory and fame, 
 
 Invited the queen to his court, 
 
 But all was outdone when she came ; 
 
 She cried, with a pleasing surprise. 
 
 When first she before him appear’d, 
 lC How much what I see with my eyes, 
 Surpasses the rumour I heard !” 
 
 2 When once to Jerusalem come, 
 
 The treasure and train she had brought, 
 The wealth she possessed at home, 
 
 No longer had place in her thought; 
 
 His house, his attendants, his throne, 
 
 All struck her with wonder and awe : 
 
 The glory of Solomon shone 
 In every object she saw. 
 
 3 But Solomon most she admir’d, 
 
 Whose spirit conducted the whole ; 
 
 His wisdom, which God had inspir’d. 
 
 His bounty and greatness of soul ; 
 
 Of all the hard questions she put, 
 
 A ready solution he shewed ; 
 
 Exceeded her wish and her suit. 
 
 And more than she ask’d him bestowed. 
 
 4 Thus I, when the gospel proclaim’d 
 The Saviour’s great name in my ears. 
 
 The wisdom for which he is fam’d, 
 
 The love which to sinners he bears ; 
 
 I long’d, and I was not denied, 
 
 That I in his presence might bow ; 
 
 I saw, and transported I cried, 
 
 “ A greater than Solomon thou !” 
 
 5 My conscience no comfort could find, 
 
 By doub.s and hard questions opposed ; 
 But he restor’d peace to my mind, 
 
 And answer’d each doubt I proposed, 
 Beholding me poor and distress’d, 
 
 His bounty supplied all my wants : 
 
 My prayer could have never express’d 
 So much as this Solomon grants. 
 
 6 I heard, and was slow to believe. 
 
 But now with my eyes I behold, 
 
 Much more than my heart could conceive. 
 Or language could ever have told 
 How happy thy servants must be, 
 
 Who always before thee appear ! 
 Vouchsafe, Lord, this blessing to me, 
 
 I find it is good to be here. 
 
 HYMN XXXV. 
 
 ELIJAH FED BY RAVENS. * CHAP. Xvii. 6 . 
 
 1 Elijah’s example declares. 
 
 Whatever distress may betide. 
 
 The saints may commit all their cares 
 To him who will surely provide : 
 
 * Book III. Hymn xlvii. 
 
HYMN XXXVII. 
 
 "When rain long with-held from the earth, 
 Occasioned a famine of bread. 
 
 The prophet, secur’d from the dearth, 
 
 By ravens was constantly fed. 
 
 2 More likely to rob than to feed, 
 
 Were ravens who live upon prey : 
 
 But when the Lord’s people have need, 
 
 His goodness will find out a way . 
 
 This instance to those may seem strange, 
 Who know not how faith can prevail ; 
 
 But sooner all nature shall change, 
 
 Than one of God’s promises fail. 
 
 3 Nor is it a singular case, 
 
 The wonder is often renew’d ; 
 
 And many can say to his praise. 
 
 He sends them by ravens their food : 
 
 Thus worldlings, though ravens indeed, 
 Though greedy and selfish their mind, 
 
 If God has a servant to feed, 
 
 Against their own wills can be kind. 
 
 4 Thus Satan, that raven unclean, 
 
 Who croaks in the ears of the saints, 
 Compell’d by a power unseen, 
 
 Administers oft to their wants; 
 
 God teaches them how to find food, 
 
 From all the temptations they feel : 
 
 This raven who thirsts for my blood, 
 
 Has help’d me to many a meal. 
 
 5 How safe and how happy are they, 
 
 Who on the good shepherd rely ! 
 
 He gives them out strength for their day, 
 Their wants he will surely supply ; 
 
 He ravens and lions can tame, 
 
 All creatures obey his command : 
 
 Then let me rejoice in his name. 
 
 And leave all my cares in his hand. 
 
 HYMN XXXVI. 
 
 THE MEAL AND CRUISE OF OIL. CHAP. XVli. 16. 
 
 1 By the poor widow’s oil and meal 
 
 Elijah was sustain’d ; 
 
 Though small the stock, it lasted well, 
 
 For God the store maintain’d. 
 
 2 It seem’d as if from day to day, 
 
 They were to eat and die ; 
 
 But still, though in a secret way. 
 
 He sent a fresh supply. 
 
 3 Thus to his poor he still will give 
 
 Just for the present hour : 
 
 But for to-morrow they must live 
 Upon his word and power. 
 
 4 No barn or store-house they possess, 
 
 On which they can depend ; 
 
 Yet have no cause to fear distress, 
 
 For Jesus is their friend. 
 
 5 Then let no doubt your mind assail : 
 
 Remember God has said, 
 w The cruise and barrel shall not fail. 
 
 My people shall be fed.” * 
 
 53 7 
 
 6 And thus, though faint, it often seems. 
 
 He keeps their grace alive ; 
 
 Supplied by his refreshing streams, 
 
 Their dying hopes revive. 
 
 7 Though in ourselves we have no stock, 
 
 The Lord is nigh to save : 
 
 His door flies open when we knock, 
 
 And ’tis but ask and have. 
 
 II KINGS. 
 
 HYMN XXXVII. 
 
 JERICHO J OR, THE WATERS HEALED. CHAP 
 ii. 19—22. 
 
 1 Though Jericho pleasantly stood, 
 
 And look’d like a promising soil ; 
 
 The harvest produc’d little food, 
 
 To answer the husbandman’s toil. 
 
 The water some property had, 
 
 Which poisonous proved to the ground ; 
 The springs were corrupted and bad. 
 
 The streams spread a barrenness round. 
 
 2 But soon by the cruise and the salt, 
 Prepar’d by Elisha’s command, 
 
 The water was cured of its fault, 
 
 And plenty enriched the land : 
 
 An emblem sure this of the grace. 
 
 On fruitless dead sinners bestow’d ; 
 
 For man is in Jericho’s case, 
 
 Till cured by the mercy of God. 
 
 3 How noble a creature he seems ! 
 
 What knowledge, invention, and skill ! 
 How large and extensive his schemes ! 
 How much can he do if he will ! 
 
 His zeal to be learned and wise 
 Will yield to no limits or bars ; 
 
 He measures the earth and the skies, 
 
 And numbers and marshals the stars. 
 
 4 Yet still he is barren of good ; 
 
 In vain are his talents and art ; 
 
 For sin has infected his blood, 
 
 And poison’d the springs of his heart : 
 Though cockatrice eggs he can hatch * 
 
 Or, spider-like, cobwebs can weave ; 
 
 ’Tis madness to labour and watch 
 For what will destroy or deceive. 
 
 5 But grace, like the salt in the cruise, 
 
 When cast in the spring of the soul, 
 
 A wonderful change will produce, 
 Diffusing new life through the whole ; 
 
 The wilderness blooms like a rose, 
 
 The heart which was vile and abhorr’d. 
 Now fruitful and beautiful grows, 
 
 The garden and joy of the Lord. 
 
 II. KINGS. 
 
 * Isa. lix. 5. 
 
538 
 
 OLNEY 
 
 HYMN XXXVIII. 
 
 NAAMAN. CHAP. V. 14. 
 
 1 Before Elisha’s gate 
 
 The Syrian leper stood ; 
 
 But could not brook to wait, 
 
 He deem’d himself too good : 
 
 He thought the prophet would attend. 
 
 And not to him a message send. 
 
 2 Have I this journey come, 
 
 And will he not be seen ? 
 
 I were as well at home. 
 
 Would washing make me clean ; 
 
 Why must I wash in Jordan’s flood ? 
 Damascus’ rivers are as good. 
 
 3 Thus, by his foolish pride, 
 
 He almost missed a cure j 
 Howe’er at length he tried. 
 
 And found the method sure : 
 
 Soon as his pride was brought to yield, 
 
 The leprosy was quickly heal’d. 
 
 4 Leprous and proud as he, 
 
 To Jesus thus I came. 
 
 From sin to set me free, 
 
 When first I heard his fame ; 
 
 Surely, thought I, my pompous train 
 Of vows and tears will notice gain. 
 
 * My heart devis’d the way 
 
 Which I suppos’d he’d take, 
 
 And when I found delay, 
 
 Was ready to go back ; 
 
 Had he some painful task enjoined, 
 
 I to performance seem’d inclined. 
 
 6 When by his word he spake, 
 
 “ That fountain opened see ; 
 
 ’Twas opened for thy sake, 
 
 Go wash, and thou art free 
 Oh ! how did my proud heart gainsay ; 
 
 I fear’d to trust this simple way. 
 
 7 At length I trial made, 
 
 When I had much endur’d ; 
 
 The message I obeyed, 
 
 I wash’d, and I was cured : 
 
 Sinners, this healing fountain try, 
 
 Which cleans’d a wretch so vile as I. 
 
 HYMN XXXIX. 
 
 THE BORROWED AXE. CHAP. vi. 5, 6. 
 
 1 The prophets sons, in times of old, 
 
 Though to appearance poor, 
 
 Were rich, without possessing gold, 
 And honoured, though obscure. 
 
 2 In peace their daily bread they ate, 
 
 By honest labour earned ; 
 
 While daily at Elisha’s feet, 
 
 They grace and wisdom learned. 
 
 HYMNS. book i. 
 
 3 The prophet’s presence cheer’d their toil, 
 
 They watch’d the words he spoke : 
 Whether they turn’d the furrowed soil, 
 
 Or fell’d the spreading oak. 
 
 4 Once as they listened to his theme, 
 
 Their conference was stopped ; 
 
 For one beneath the yielding stream, 
 
 A borrowed axe had dropped. 
 
 5 “ Alas ! it was not mine (he said), 
 
 How shall I make it good ?” 
 
 Elisha heard, and when he prayed, 
 
 The iron swam like wood. 
 
 6 If God, in such a small affair, 
 
 A miracle perform ; 
 
 It shews his condescending care 
 Of poor unworthy worms. 
 
 7 Though kings and nations, in his view, 
 
 Are but as motes and dust ; 
 
 His eye and ear are fixed on you, 
 
 Who in his mercy trust. 
 
 8 Not one concern of ours is small. 
 
 If we belong to him ; 
 
 To teach us this, the Lord of all 
 Once made the iron swim. 
 
 HYMN XL. 
 
 MORE WITH US THAN WITH THEM. CHAP. vi. 1 6 
 
 1 Alas ! Elisha’s servant cried, 
 
 When he the Syrian army spied ; 
 
 But he was soon released from care. 
 
 In answer to the prophet’s prayer. 
 
 2 Straightway he saw, with other eyes, 
 
 A greater army from the skies, 
 
 A fiery guard around the hill : — 
 
 Thus are the saints preserved still. 
 
 3 When Satan and his host appear, 
 
 Like him of old, I faint and fear ; 
 
 Like him, by faith, with joy I see, 
 
 A greater host engaged for me. 
 
 4 The saints espouse my cause by prayer, 
 The angels make my soul their care ; 
 
 Mine is the promise sealed with blood, 
 
 And Jesus lives to make it good. 
 
 I CHRONICLES. 
 
 HYMN XLI. 
 
 faith’s REVIEW AND EXPECTATION’. 
 chap. xvii. 16, 17. 
 
 1 Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound 
 That sav’d a wretch like me ! 
 
 I once was lost, but now am found, 
 Was blind, but now I see. 
 
HYMN XLI V. 
 
 JOB 
 
 539 
 
 2 ’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, 
 
 And grace my fears reliev’d ; 
 
 How precious did that grace appear, 
 
 The hour I first believ’d. 
 
 3 Through many dangers, toils, and snares, 
 
 I have already come; 
 
 'Tis grace has brought me safe thus far, 
 And grace will lead me home. 
 
 4 The Lord has promis’d good to me, 
 
 His word my hope secures ; 
 
 He will my shield and portion be, 
 
 As long as life endures. 
 
 5 Yea, when this heart and flesh shall fail, 
 
 And mortal life shall cease; 
 
 I shall possess, within the vail, 
 
 A life of joy and peace. 
 
 6 The earth shall soon dissolve like snow, 
 
 The sun forbear to shine ; 
 
 But God, who call’d me here below. 
 
 Will be for ever mine. 
 
 NEHEMIAH. 
 
 HYMN XLII. 
 
 THE JOY OF THE LORD IS YOUR STRENGTH. 
 CHAP. viii. 10. 
 
 1 Joy is a fruit that will not grow 
 
 In nature’s barren soil ; 
 
 All we can boast, till Christ we know, 
 
 Is vanity and toil. 
 
 2 But where the Lord has planted grace, 
 
 And made his glories known ; 
 
 There fruits of heavenly joy and peace 
 Are found, and there alone. 
 
 3 A bleeding Saviour, seen by faith, 
 
 A sense of pard’ning love, 
 
 A hope that triumphs over death, 
 
 Give joys like those above. 
 
 4 To take a glimpse within the vail, 
 
 To know that God is mine, 
 
 Are springs of joy that never fail, 
 Unspeakable ! divine ! 
 
 5 These are the joys which satisfy, 
 
 And sanctify the mind ; 
 
 Which make the spirit mount on high, 
 And leave the world behind. 
 
 6 No more, believers, mourn your lot, 
 
 But if you are the Lord’s, 
 
 Resign to them that know him not 
 Such joys as earth affords. 
 
 JOB. 
 
 HYMN XLI 1 1. 
 
 OH THAT I WERE AS IN MONTHS PAST. 
 CHAP. xxix. 2. 
 
 1 Sweet was the time when first I felt 
 
 The Saviour’s pard’ning blood 
 Applied to cleanse my soul from guilt, 
 And bring me home to God. 
 
 2 Soon as the morn the light reveal’d, 
 
 His praises tuned my tongue ; 
 
 And when the ev’ning shades prevail’d, 
 His love was all my song. 
 
 3 In vain the tempter spread his wiles, 
 
 The world no more could charm ; 
 
 I lived upon my Saviour’s smiles, 
 
 And lean’d upon his arm. 
 
 4 In prayer my soul drew near the Lord, 
 
 And saw his glory shine ; 
 
 And when I read his holy word, 
 
 I call’d each promise mine. 
 
 5 Then to his saints I often spoke 
 
 Of what his love had done ; 
 
 But now my heart is almost broke. 
 
 For all my joys are gone. 
 
 6 Now, when the ev’ning shade prevails, 
 
 My soul in darkness mourns ; 
 
 And when the morn the light reveals. 
 No light to me returns. 
 
 7 My prayers are now a chatt’ring noise, 
 
 For Jesus hides his face ; 
 
 I read, — the promise meets my eyes, 
 But will not reach my case. 
 
 8 Now Satan threatens to prevail, 
 
 And make my soul his prey ; 
 
 Yet, Lord, thy mercies cannot fail, 
 
 O come without delay J 
 
 HYMN XLIV. 
 
 THE CHANGE.* ibid. 
 
 1 Saviour, shine, and cheer my soul, 
 
 Bid my dying hopes revive ; 
 
 Make my wounded spirit whole, 
 
 Far away the tempter drive : 
 
 Speak the word, and set me free, 
 
 Let me live alone to thee. 
 
 2 Shall I sigh and pray in vain, 
 
 Wilt thou still refuse to hear ; 
 
 Wilt thou not return again, 
 
 Must I yield to black despair? 
 
 Thou hast taught my heart to pray, 
 
 Canst thou turn thy face away ? 
 
 * Book II. Hymn xxxiv. and Book III. Hymn xxxvt 
 
BOOK I. 
 
 OLNEY HYMNS. 
 
 540 
 
 3 Once I thought my mountain strong, 
 
 Firmly fix’d, no move to move ; 
 
 Then thy grace was all my song, 
 
 Then my soul was fill’d with love : 
 Those were happy golden days, 
 
 Sweetly spent in prayer and praise. 
 
 4 When my friends have said, “ Beware, 
 
 Soon or late you’ll find a change,’ 
 
 I could see no cause for fear, 
 
 Vain their caution seem’d, and strange : 
 Not a cloud obscur’d my sky, 
 
 Could I think a tempest nigh ? 
 
 5 Little, then, myself I knew, 
 
 Little thought of Satan’s power ; 
 
 Now I find their words were true, 
 
 Now I feel the stormy hour ! 
 
 Sin has put my joys to flight, 
 
 Sin has chang’d my day to night. 
 
 6 Satan asks, and mocks my woe, 
 
 “ Boaster, where is now your God ; 
 Silence, Lord, this cruel foe, 
 
 Let him know I’m bought with blood : 
 Tell him, since I know thy name, 
 
 Though I change, thou art the same. 
 
 PSALMS. 
 
 HYMN XLV. 
 
 PLEADING FOR MERCY. PSALM vi. 
 
 1 In mercy, not in wrath, rebuke 
 
 Thy feeble worm, my God ! 
 
 My spirit dreads thine angry look, 
 And trembles at thy rod. 
 
 2 Have mercy, Lord, for I am weak, 
 
 Regard my heavy groans ; 
 
 O, let thy voice of comfort speak , 
 And heal my broken bones. 
 
 S By day, my busy beating head 
 Is fill’d with anxious fears ; 
 
 By night upon my restless bed, 
 
 I weep a flood of tears. 
 
 4 Thus I sit desolate and mourn, 
 
 Min'' eyes grow dull with grief ; 
 How long, my Lord, ere thou return, 
 And bring my soul relief ? 
 
 5 O, come and shew thy power to save, 
 
 And spare my fainting breath ; 
 
 For who can praise thee in the grave, 
 Or sing thy name in death ? 
 
 6 Satan, my cruel envious foe, 
 Insults me in my pain : 
 
 He smiles to see me brought so low, 
 And tells me hope is vain. 
 
 7 But hence, thou enemy, depart . 
 
 Nor tempt me to despair ; 
 
 My Saviour comes to cheer my heart, 
 The Lord has heard my praye 
 
 HYMN XL VI 
 
 NONE UPON EARTH I DESIRE BESIDES THEE. 
 PSAL. lxxiii. 25. 
 
 1 How tedious and tastless the hours, 
 
 When Jesus no longer I see ; 
 
 Sweet prospects, sweet birds, and sweet 
 flowers, 
 
 Have lost all their sweetness with me ; 
 The midsummer sun shines but dim, 
 
 The fields strive in vain to look gay ; 
 But when I am happy in him, 
 
 December’s as pleasant as May. 
 
 2 His name yields the richest perfume, 
 
 And sweeter than music his voice; 
 
 His presence disperses my gloom, 
 
 And makes all within me rejoice : 
 
 I should, were he always thus nigh, 
 
 Have nothing to wish or to fear ; 
 
 No mortal so happy as I, 
 
 My summer would last all the year. 
 
 3 Content with beholding his face, 
 
 My all to his pleasure resign’d, 
 
 No changes of season or place, 
 
 Would make any change in my mind 
 While bless’d with a sense of his love, 
 
 A palace a toy would appear ; 
 
 And prisons would palaces prove, 
 
 If Jesus would dwell with me there. 
 
 4 Dear Lord, if indeed I am thine, 
 
 If thou art my sun and my song ; 
 
 Say why do I languish and pine, 
 
 And why are my winters so long ? 
 
 O drive these dark clouds from my sky, 
 Thy soul-cheering presence restore ; 
 
 Or take me unto thee on high, 
 
 Where winter and clouds are no more. 
 
 HYMN XLVII. 
 
 THE BELIEVER’S SAFETY. PSAL. xci. 
 
 1 Incarnate God ! the soul that knows 
 
 Thy name’s mysterious power, 
 
 Shall dwell in undisturb’d repose } 
 
 Nor fear the trying hour. 
 
 2 Thy wisdom, faithfulness, and love, 
 
 To feeble helpless worms, 
 
 A buckler and a refuge prove 
 From enemies and storms. 
 
 3 In vain the fowler spreads his net, 
 
 To draw them from thy care ; 
 
 Thy timely call instructs their feet 
 To shun their artful snare. 
 
 4 When, like a baneful pestilence, 
 
 Sin mows its thousands down 
 On ev’ry side, without defence, 
 i Thy grace secures thine own. 
 
HYMN LI. 
 
 5 No midnight terrors haunt their bed, 
 
 No arrow wounds by day ; 
 
 Unhurt on serpents they shall tread. 
 If found in duty’s way. 
 
 6 Angels, unseen, attend the saints, 
 
 And bear them in their arms, 
 
 To cheer their spirit when it faints, 
 And guard their life from harms. 
 
 7 The angels Lord himself is nigh 
 
 To them that love his name ; 
 Ready to save them when they cry, 
 And put their foes to shame. 
 
 8 Crosses and changes are their lot, 
 
 Long as they sojourn here ; 
 
 But since their Saviour changes not, 
 What have the saints to fear ? 
 
 HYMN XLVIII. 
 
 ANOTHER. 
 
 1 That man no guard or weapons needs, 
 Wliose heart the blood of Jesus knows; 
 But safe may pass, if duty leads, 
 
 Through burning sands or mountain-snows. 
 
 2 Releas’d from guilt, he feels no fear ; 
 Redemption is his shield and tower ; 
 
 He sees his Saviour always near. 
 
 To help in ev’ry trying hour. 
 
 3 Though I am weak, and Satan strong, 
 
 And often to assault me tries ; 
 
 When Jesus is my shield and song, 
 Abash’d, the wolf before me flies. 
 
 4 His love possessing I am blest, 
 
 Secure whatever change may come; 
 Whether I go to east or west, 
 
 With him I still shall be at home. 
 
 J If plac’d beneath the northern pole, 
 Though winter reigns with rigour there, 
 His gracious beams would cheer my soul, 
 And make a spring throughout the year : 
 
 Or if the desert’s sun-burnt soil, 
 
 My lonely dwelling e’er should prove ; 
 
 His presence would support my toil. 
 Whose smile is life, whose voice is love. 
 
 HYMN XLIX. 
 
 HE LED THEM BY ARIGHT WAY. PSAL. Cvii. 7. 
 
 1 When Israel was from Egypt freed. 
 
 The Lord, who brought them out, 
 Help’d them in ev’ry time of need, 
 
 But led them round about. * 
 
 2 To enter Canaan soon they hop’d, 
 
 But quickly chang’d their mind, 
 
 When the Red Sea their passage stopp’d, 
 And Pharoah march’d behind. 
 
 541 
 
 3 The desert fill’d them with alarms, 
 
 For water and for food ; 
 
 And Amalek, by force of arms, 
 
 T«> check their progress stood. 
 
 4 They often murmur’d by the way. 
 
 Because they judg’d by sight ; 
 
 But were at length constrain’d to say. 
 
 The Lord had led them right. 
 
 5 In the Red Sea, that stopp’d them first, 
 
 Their enemies were drown’d ; 
 
 The rocks gave water for their thirst, 
 
 And manna spread the ground. 
 
 6 By fire and cloud their way was shown, 
 
 Across the pathless sands ; 
 
 And Amalek was overthrown 
 By Moses’ lifted hands. 
 
 7 The way was right their hearts to prove. 
 
 To make God’s glory known ; 
 
 And shew his wisdom, power, and love, 
 Engag’d to save his own. 
 
 8 Just so, the true believer’s path, 
 
 Through many dangers lies ; 
 
 Though dark to sense, ’tis right to faith, 
 And leads us to the skies. 
 
 HYMN L. 
 
 WHAT SHALL I RENDER? * PSAL. CXvi. 12. i 3 
 
 1 For mercies, countless as the sands, 
 
 Which daily I receive 
 From Jesus my Redeemer’s hands. 
 
 My soul, what canst thou give ? 
 
 2 Alas ! from such a heart as mine, 
 
 What can I bring him forth ? 
 
 My best is stain’d and dyed with sin, 
 
 My all is nothing worth. 
 
 3 Yet this acknowledgment I’ll make 
 
 For all he has bestowed, 
 
 Salvation’s sacred cup I’ll take, 
 
 And call upon my God. 
 
 4 The best returns for one like me, 
 
 So wretched and so poor, 
 
 Is from his gifts to draw a plea, 
 
 And ask him still for more. 
 
 5 I cannot serve him as I ought. 
 
 No works have I to boast ; 
 
 Yet would I glory in the thought. 
 
 That I shall owe him most. 
 
 HYMN LI. 
 
 DWELLING IN MESECH. PSAL. CXX. 5—7. 
 
 1 What a mournful life is mine. 
 
 Fill’d with crosses, pains, and cares ! 
 Ev’ry work defiled with sin, 
 
 Ev’ry step beset with snares ! 
 
 * Book III. Hvmn lxvii. 
 
 rSALMS. 
 
 * Exod. xiii. 17- 
 
BOOK J 
 
 542 OLNEY 
 
 2 If alone I pensive sit, 
 
 I myself can hardly bear ; 
 
 If I pass along the street, 
 
 Sin and riot triumph there. 
 
 3 Jesus ! how my heart is pain’d, 
 
 How it mourns for souls deceiv’d ! 
 
 When I hear thy name profan’d, 
 
 When I see thy Spirit griev’d. 
 
 4 When thy children’s griefs I view, 
 
 Their distress becomes my own ; 
 
 All I hear, or see, or do, 
 
 Makes me tremble, weep, and groan. 
 
 5 Mourning thus I long had been, 
 
 When I heard my Saviour’s voice : 
 
 “ Thou hast cause to mourn for sin, 
 
 But in me thou may’st rejoice.” 
 
 6 This kind word dispell’d my grief, 
 
 Put to silence my complaints : 
 
 Though of sinners I am chief, 
 
 He has rank’d me with his saints. 
 
 7 Though constrain’d to dwell a while 
 Where the wicked strive and brawl, 
 
 Let them frown, so he but smile, 
 
 Heaven will make amends for all. 
 
 8 There, believers, we shall rest, 
 
 Free from sorrow, sin, and fears ; 
 
 Nothing shall our peace molest, 
 
 Through eternal rounds of years. 
 
 o Let us then the fight endure, 
 
 See our Captain looking down ; 
 
 He will make the conquest sure. 
 
 And bestow the promis’d crown. 
 
 PROVERBS. 
 
 HYMN LII. 
 
 WISDOM. CHAP. viii. 22 — 31. 
 
 1 Ere God had built the mountains, 
 Or rais’d the fruitful hills ; 
 
 Before he fill’d the fountains 
 That feed the running rills j 
 
 In me, from everlasting, 
 
 The wonderful I AM, 
 
 Found pleasures never wasting, 
 
 And Wisdom is my name. 
 
 2 When, like a tent to dwell in, 
 
 He spread the skies abroad, 
 
 And" swath’d about the swelling 
 Of ocean’s mighty flood ; 
 
 He wrought by weight and measure, 
 And I was with him then ; 
 
 Myself the Father’s pleasure, 
 
 And mine the sons of men. 
 
 HYMNS. 
 
 3 Thus Wisdom’s words discover 
 Thy glory and thy grace, 
 
 Thou everlasting lover 
 Of our unworthy race ! 
 
 Thy gracious eye surveyed us, 
 
 Ere stars were seen above ; 
 
 In wisdom thou hast made us, 
 
 And died for us in love. 
 
 4 And couldst thou be delighted 
 With creatures such as we ! 
 
 Who, when we saw thee, sb'ghted, 
 And nail’d thee to a tree ? 
 Unfathomable wonder, 
 
 And mystery divine ! 
 
 The voice that speaks in thunder, 
 Says, “ Sinner, I am thine •’* 
 
 C. 
 
 HYMN LIII. 
 
 A FRIEND THAT STICKETH CLOSER THAN A 
 BROTHER. CHAP, xviii. 24. 
 
 1 One there is, above all others, 
 
 Well deserves the name of Friend ; 
 
 His is love beyond a brother’s, 
 
 Costly, free, and .knows no end : 
 
 They who once his kindness prove. 
 Find it everlasting love. 
 
 2 Which of all our friends to save us, 
 
 Could or would have shed their blood ! 
 But our Jesus died to have us 
 Reconcil’d to him in God : 
 
 This was boundless love indeed ! 
 
 Jesus is a friend in need. 
 
 3 Men, when rais’d to lofty stations, 
 
 Often know their friends no more ; 
 
 Slight and scorn their poor relations, 
 Though they valued them before ; 
 
 But our Saviour always owns 
 Those whom he redeem’d with groans. 
 
 4 When he liv’d on earth abased, 
 
 Friend of sinners was his name ; 
 
 Now above all glory raised, 
 
 He rejoices in the same : 
 
 Still he calls them brethren, friends, 
 And to all their wants attends. 
 
 5 Could we bear from one another 
 What he daily bears from us ; 
 
 Yet this glorious Friend and Brother 
 Loves us though we treat him thus : 
 Though for good we render ill, 
 
 He accounts us brethren still. 
 
 6 O for grace our hearts to soften ! 
 
 Teach us, Lord, at length to love ; 
 
 We, alas 1 forget too often, 
 
 What a (Viend we have above : 
 
 But when home our souls are brought. 
 We will love thee as we ought. 
 
HYMN LVII. SOLOMON S SONG. 543 
 
 ECCLESIASTES. 
 
 HYMN LIV. 
 
 VANITY OF LIFE. * CHAP. i. 2. 
 
 ] The evils that beset our path, 
 
 Who can prevent or cure ? 
 
 We stand upon the brink of death, 
 
 When most we seem secure. 
 
 2 If we to-day sweet peace possess, 
 
 It soon may be withdrawn ; 
 
 Some change may plunge us in distress 
 Before to-morrow’s dawn. 
 
 3 Disease and pain invade our health, 
 
 And find an easy prey ; 
 
 And oft, when least expected, wealth 
 Takes wings and flies away. 
 
 4 A fever or a blow can shake 
 
 Our wisdom’s boasted rule* 
 
 And of the brightest genius make 
 A madman or a fool. 
 
 5 The gourds from which we look for fruit, 
 
 Produce us only pain ; 
 
 A worm unseen attacks the root, 
 
 And all our hopes are vain. 
 
 6 I pity those who seek no more 
 
 Than such a world can give : 
 
 Wretched they are, and blind, and poor, 
 And dying while they live. 
 
 7 Since sin has fill’d the earth with woe, 
 
 And creatures fade and die ; 
 
 Lord, wean our hearts from things below, 
 And fix our hopes on high. 
 
 HYMN LV. 
 
 VANITY OF THE WORLD. ibid. 
 
 1 God gives his mercies to be spent ; 
 
 Your hoard will do your soul no good ; 
 Gold is a blessing only lent, 
 
 Repaid by giving others food. 
 
 2 The world’s esteem is but a bribe ; 
 
 To buy their peace you sell your own ; 
 
 The slave of a vain-glorious tribe, 
 
 Who hate you while they make you known. 
 
 3 The joy that vain amusements give, 
 
 Oh ! sad conclusion that it brings ! 
 
 The honey of a crowded hive, 
 
 Defended by a thousand stings. 
 
 4 ’Tis thus the world rewards the fools 
 That live upon her treacherous smiles ; 
 
 She leads them blindfold by her rules, 
 
 And ruins all whom she beguiles. 
 
 ♦ Book II. Hymn vi. 
 
 5 God knows the thousands who go down 
 From pleasure into endless woe ; 
 
 And with a long despairing groan, 
 Blaspheme their Maker as they go. 
 
 6 O fearful thought ! be timely wise ; 
 Delight but in a Saviour’s charms ; 
 
 And God shall take you to the skies, 
 Embrac’d in everlasting arms. 
 
 a 
 
 HYMN LVI. 
 
 VANITY OF THE CREATURE SANCTIFIED. ibid. 
 
 1 Honey though the bee prepares, 
 
 An envenom’d sting it wears ; 
 
 Piercing thorns a guard compose 
 Round the fragrant blooming rose. 
 
 2 Where we think to find a sweet, 
 
 Oft a painful sting we meet ; 
 
 When the rose invites our eye, 
 
 We forget the thorn is nigh. 
 
 3 Why are thus our hopes beguil’d ? 
 
 Why are all our pleasures spoil’d ? 
 
 Why do agony and woe 
 
 From our choicest comforts grow ? 
 
 4 Sin has been the cause of all ! 
 
 ’Twas not thus before the fall; 
 
 What but pain, and thorn, and sting, 
 
 From the root of sin can spring? 
 
 5 Now with every good we find 
 Vanity and grief entwined ; 
 
 What we feel, or what we fear, 
 
 All our joys embitter here. 
 
 6 Yet, through the Redeemer’s love, 
 
 These afflictions blessings prove ; 
 
 He the wounding stings and thorns 
 Into healing med’cines turns. 
 
 7 From the earth our hearts they wean, 
 Teach us on his arm to lean. 
 
 Urge us to a throne of grace, 
 
 Make us seek a resting-place. 
 
 8 In the mansions of our King, 
 
 Sweets abound without a sting ; 
 
 Thornless there the roses blow, 
 
 And the joys unmingled flow. 
 
 SOLOMON’S SONG. 
 
 HYMN LVII. 
 
 THE NAME OF JESUS. CHAP. i. 3. 
 
 1 How sweet the name of Jesus sounds 
 In a believer’s ear ! 
 
 It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds, 
 And drives away his fear 
 
BOOK I 
 
 544 OLNEY HYMNS. 
 
 2 It makes the wounded spirit whole, 
 
 And calms the troubled breast ; 
 
 ’Tis manna to the hungry soul, 
 
 And to the weary rest. 
 
 3 Dear name ! the rock on which I build, 
 
 My shield and hiding-place ; 
 
 My never-failing treasury, fill’d 
 With boundless stores of grace. 
 
 4 By thee my prayers acceptance gain, 
 
 Although with sin defil’d j 
 Satan accuses me in vain, 
 
 And I am own’d a child. 
 
 5 Jesus ! my Shepherd, Husband, Friend, 
 
 My Prophet, Priest, and King ! 
 
 My Lord, my Life, my Way, my End ! 
 Accept the praise I bring. 
 
 6 Weak is the effort of my heart, 
 
 And cold my warmest thought ; 
 
 But when I see thee as thou art, 
 
 I’ll praise thee as I ought. 
 
 7 Till then I would thy love proclaim 
 
 With ev’ry fleeting breath ; 
 
 And may the music of thy name 
 Refresh my soul in death ! 
 
 ISAIAH. 
 
 HYMN LVIIl. 
 
 O LORD, I WILL PRAISE THEE ! CHAP. xii. 
 
 1 I WILL praise thee ev’ry day, 
 
 Now thine anger’s turn’d away ! 
 Comfortable thoughts arise 
 From the bleeding sacrifice. 
 
 2 Here, in the fair gospel-field, 
 
 Wells of free salvation yield 
 Streams of life a plenteous store, 
 
 And my soul shall thirst no more. 
 
 3 Jesus is become at length 
 
 My salvation and my strength ; 
 
 And his praises shall prolong, 
 
 While I live, my pleasant song. 
 
 4 Praise ye, then, his glorious name, 
 Publish his exalted fame ! 
 
 Still his worth your praise exceeds, 
 Excellent are all his deeds. 
 
 5 Raise again the joyful sound, 
 
 Let the nations roll it round ! 
 
 Zion, shout, for this is he : 
 
 God, the Saviour, dwells in thee. 
 
 C. 
 
 HYMN LIX. 
 
 THE REFUGE, RIVER, AND ROCK OF THE 
 CHURCH. CHAP, xxxii. 2. 
 
 1 PIe who on earth as man was known, 
 
 And bore our sins and pains, 
 
 Now seated on the eternal throne. 
 
 The God of glory reigns. 
 
 2 His hands the wheels of nature guide, 
 
 With an unerring skill ; 
 
 And countless worlds, extended wide, 
 Obey his sovereign will. 
 
 3 While harps unnumber’d sound his praise, 
 
 I n yonder world above ; 
 
 His saints on earth admire his ways, 
 
 And glory in his love. 
 
 4 His righteousness to faith reveal’d, 
 
 Wrought out for guilty worms, 
 
 Affords a hiding-place and shield 
 From enemies and storms. 
 
 5 This land, through which his pilgrims go 
 
 Is desolate and dry ; 
 
 But streams of grace from him o’erflow 
 Their thirst to satisfy. 
 
 6 When troubles, like a burning sun, 
 
 Beat heavy on their head, 
 
 To this almighty Rock they run, 
 
 And find a pleasing shade. 
 
 7 How glorious he, how happy they 
 
 In such a glorious Friend ! 
 
 Whose love secures them all the way, 
 
 And crowns them at the end. 
 
 HYMN LX. 
 
 ZION, OR THE CITY OF GOD.* CHAP, xxxiii. 
 
 20 , 21 . 
 
 1 Glorious things of thee are spoken, f 
 Zion, city of our God ! 
 
 He, whose word cannot be broken, 
 Form’d thee for his own abode : f 
 On the Rock of ages founded, § 
 
 What can shake thy sure repose ? 
 
 With salvation’s walls surrounded, j| 
 
 Thou may’st smile at all thy foes. 
 
 2 See ! the streams of living waters, 
 Springing from eternal love,^ 
 
 Well supply thy sons and daughters, 
 
 And all fear of want remove. 
 
 Who can faint when such a river, 
 
 Ever flows their thirst to assuage ? 
 
 Grace, which, like the Lord, the giver, 
 Never fails from age to age. 
 
 * Book II. Hymn xxiv. 
 t Psal. exxxii 14 
 || Isaiah, xxvi. 1. 
 
 f Psal. lxxxvii. 3. 
 § Matth. xvi. 18 . 
 \ Psal. xlvi. 4. 
 
HYMN LXII. 
 
 ISAIAH. 
 
 545 
 
 3 Round each habitation hov’ring, 
 
 See the cloud and fire appear ! * 
 
 For a glory and a covering, 
 
 Shewing that the Lord is near ; 
 
 Thus deriving from their banner, 
 
 Light by night, and shade by day : 
 
 Safe they feed upon the manna 
 Which he gives them when they pray. 
 
 4 Bless’d inhabitants of Zion, 
 
 Wash’d in the Redeemer’s blood ! 
 Jesus, whom their souls rely on, 
 
 Makes them kings and priests to. God.f 
 ’Tis his love his people raises 
 
 Over self to reign as kings, 
 
 And as priests, his solemn praises 
 Each for a thank-off’ring brings. 
 
 5 Saviour, if of Zion’s city 
 
 I through grace a member am, 
 
 Let the world deride or pity, 
 
 I will glory in thy name : 
 
 Fading is the worldling’s pleasure, 
 
 All his boasted pomp and show ; 
 
 Solid joys and lasting treasure, 
 
 None but Zion’s children know. 
 
 HYMN LXI. 
 
 LOOK UNTO A1E, AND BE YE SAVED. CHAP, 
 
 xlv. 22. 
 
 1 As THE serpent raised by Moses f 
 Healed the burning serpents bite ; 
 
 Jesus thus himself discloses 
 
 To the wounded sinner’s sight s 
 Hear his gracious invitation, 
 
 “ I have life and peace to give, 
 
 I have wrought out full salvation ; 
 
 Sinner, look to me, and live. 
 
 2 Pore upon your sins no longer, 
 
 Well I know their mighty guilt ; 
 
 But my love than death is stronger, 
 
 I my blood have freely spilt : 
 
 Though your heart has long been harden’d, 
 Look on me, — it soft shall grow ; 
 
 Past transgressions shall be pardon’d. 
 
 And I’ll w'ash you white as snow. 
 
 3 I have seen what you were doing, 
 
 Though you little thought of me ; 
 
 You were madly bent on ruin, 
 
 But I said, — It shall not be: 
 
 You had been for ever wretched, 
 
 Had not I espous’d your part ; 
 
 Now behold my arms outstretched 
 To receive you to my heart. 
 
 4 Well may shame, and joy, and wonder, 
 
 All your inward passions move ; 
 
 I could crush thee with my thunder, # 
 
 But I speak to thee in love : 
 
 * Isaiah, iv. 5, 6. f Rev. i. 6. 
 
 i Numbers, xxi. 9» 
 
 See ! your sins are all forgiven, 
 
 I have paid the countless sum j 
 Now my death has open’d heaven. 
 Thither you shall shortly come.” 
 
 5 Dearest Saviour, we adore thee 
 For thy precious life and death ; 
 
 Melt each stubborn heart before thee, 
 Give us all the eye of faith : 
 
 From the law’s condemning sentence, 
 To thy mercy we appeal ; 
 
 Thou alone canst give repentance, 
 Thou alone our souls canst heal. 
 
 HYMN LXII 
 
 THE GOOD PHYSICIAN. 
 
 1 How lost was my condition, 
 
 Till Jesus made me whole ! 
 
 There is but one Physician 
 Can cure a sin-sick soul. 
 
 Next door to death he found me, 
 And snatch’d me from the grave ; 
 To tell to all around me, 
 
 His wond’rous power to save. 
 
 2 The worst of all diseases 
 
 Is light compar’d with sin ; 
 
 On every part it seizes, 
 
 But rages most within : 
 
 ’Tis palsy, plague, and fever, 
 
 And madness, — all combin’d ; 
 And none but a believer, 
 
 The least relief can find. 
 
 S From men great skill professing 
 I thought a cure to gain ; 
 
 But this proved more distressing, 
 And added to my pain. 
 
 Some said that nothing ail’d me. 
 Some gave me up for lost : 
 
 Thus every refuge fail’d me, 
 
 And all my hopes were cross’d. 
 
 4 At length this great Physician, 
 How matchless is his grace. 
 Accepted my petition, 
 
 And undertook my case : 
 
 First gave me sight to view him, 
 For sin my eyes had seal d, 
 
 Then bid me look unto him^ 
 
 I look'd, and I was heal’d. 
 
 5 A dying, risen, Jesus, 
 
 Seen by the eye of faith,. 
 
 At once from danger frees us, 
 And saves the soul from death. 
 Come, then, to this Physician, 
 
 His help he 11 freely give ; 
 
 He makes no hard condition, 
 
 ’Tis only — -look and live. 
 
 . T 
 
546 
 
 OLNEY HYMNS. 
 
 BOOK 
 
 HYMN LXIII. 
 
 ro THE AFFLICTED, TOSSED WITH TEMPESTS, 
 AND NOT COMFORTED. CHAP. liv. 5 — 11. 
 
 1 Pensive, doubting, fearful heart, 
 
 Hear what Christ the Saviour says ; 
 
 Every word should joy impart, 
 
 Change thy mourning into •praise : 
 
 Yes, he speaks, and speaks to thee. 
 
 May he help thee to believe ! 
 
 Then thou presently wilt see 
 Thou hast little cause to grieve. 
 
 2 “ Fear thou not, nor be asham’d, 
 
 All thy sorrows soon shall end : 
 
 I who heaven and earth have fram'd, 
 
 Am thy husband and thy friend : 
 
 I the High and Holy One, 
 
 Israel’s God, by all ador’d, 
 
 As thy Saviour will be known, 
 
 Thy Redeemer and thy Lord. 
 
 3 For a moment I withdrew, 
 
 And thy heart was fill’d with pain ; 
 
 But my mercies I’ll renew, 
 
 Thou shalt soon rejoice again : 
 
 Though I seem to hide my face, 
 
 Very soon my wrath shall cease ; 
 
 ’Tis but for a moment’s space. 
 
 Ending in eternal peace. 
 
 When my peaceful bow appears,* 
 
 Painted on the wat’ry cloud, 
 
 ’Tis to dissipate thy fears, 
 
 Lest the earth should be o’erflow’d : 
 
 'Tis an emblem too of grace, 
 
 Of my cov’nant-love a sign ; 
 
 Though the mountains leave their place, 
 Thou shalt be for ever mine. 
 
 S Though afflicted, tempest-tossed, 
 Comfortless a while thou art, 
 
 Do not think thou canst be lost, 
 
 Thou art graven on my heart ; 
 
 All thy wastes I will repair, 
 
 Thou shalt be rebuilt anew ; 
 
 And in thee it shall appear 
 What a God of love can do.” 
 
 HYMN LXI V 
 
 THE CONTRITE HEART. CHAP. Ivii. 15. 
 
 1 The Lord will happiness divine 
 
 On contrite hearts bestow; 
 
 Then tell me, gracious God, is mine 
 A contrite heart or no ? 
 
 2 I hear, but seem to hear in vain, 
 
 Insensible as steel ; 
 
 If ought is felt, ’tis only pain, 
 
 To find I cannot feel. 
 
 * Gen. ix. 15. 14. 
 
 3 I sometimes think myself inclined 
 
 To love thee if I could, 
 
 But often feel another mind, 
 
 Averse to all that’s good. 
 
 4 My best desires are faint and few, 
 
 I fain would strive for more ; 
 
 But when I cry, “ My strength renew,” 
 Seem weaker than before. 
 
 5 Thy saints are comforted, I know, 
 
 And love thy house of prayer ; 
 
 I therefore go where others go, 
 
 But find no comfort there. 
 
 6 O make this heart rejoice or ache 1 
 
 Decide this doubt for me ; 
 
 And if it be not broken, break, 
 
 And heal it, if it be. 
 
 C. 
 
 HYMN LXV. 
 
 THE FUTURE PEACE AND GLORY OF THE 
 CHURCH. CHAP. lx. 15 — 20. 
 
 1 Hear what God the Lord hath spoken, 
 
 O my people, faint and few, 
 
 Comfortless, afflicted, broken, 
 
 Fair abodes I build for you ; 
 
 Themes of heart-felt tribulation 
 Shall no more perplex your ways ; 
 
 Y'ou shall name your walls Salvation, 
 And your gates shall all be Praise. 
 
 2 There, like streams that feed the garden, 
 Pleasures without end shall flow ; 
 
 For the Lord, your faith rewarding, 
 
 All his bounty shall bestow : 
 
 Still in undisturbed possession, 
 
 Peace and righteousness shall reign ; 
 Never shall you feel oppression, 
 
 Hear the voice of war again. 
 
 3 Y T e no more your suns descending, 
 Waning moons no more shall see ; 
 
 But, your griefs for ever ending, 
 
 Find eternal noon in me : 
 
 God shall rise, and shining o’er you, 
 Change to day the gloom of night ; 
 
 He the Lord shall be your glory, 
 
 God your everlasting light. 
 
 C. 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 HYMN LXVI. 
 
 TRUST OF THE WICKED AND THE RIGHTEOUS 
 COMPARED. CHAP. Xvii. 5 — 8. 
 
 1 As parched in the barren sands, 
 
 "Beneath a burning sky, 
 
 The worthless bramble with’ring stands. 
 And only grows to die : 
 
HYMN LXIX. 
 
 LAMENTATIONS. 
 
 547 
 
 2 Such is the sinner’s awful case, 
 
 Who makes the world his trust, 
 
 And dares his confidence to place 
 In vanity and dust. 
 
 3 A secret curse destroys his root, 
 
 And dries his moisture up ; 
 
 He lives a while but bears no fruit, 
 
 Then dies without a hope. 
 
 4 But happy he whose hopes depend 
 
 Upon the Lord alone ; 
 
 The soul that trusts in such a friend 
 Can ne’er be overthrown. 
 
 5 Though gourds should wither, cisterns break, 
 
 And creature-comforts die, 
 
 No change his solid hope can shake, 
 
 Or stop his sure supply. 
 
 6 So thrives and blooms the tree whose roots 
 
 By constant streams are fed ; 
 
 Arrayed in green, and rich in fruits, 
 
 It rears its branching head. 
 
 7 It thrives though rain should be denied, 
 
 And drought around prevail ; 
 
 ’Tis planted by a river’s side, 
 
 Whose waters cannot fail. 
 
 HYMN LX VII. 
 
 JEHOVAH-TSIDKENU ; OR, THE LORD OUR 
 RIGHTEOUSNESS. CHAP, xxiii. 6. 
 
 1 My God, how perfect are thy ways ! 
 
 But mine polluted are ; 
 
 Sin twines itself about my praise, 
 
 And slides into my prayer. 
 
 2 When I would speak what thou hast done 
 
 To save me from my sin, 
 
 I cannot make thy mercies known, 
 
 But self-applause creeps in. 
 
 3 Divine desire, that holy flame 
 
 Thy grace creates in me, 
 
 Alas ! impatience is its name, 
 
 When it returns to thee. 
 
 4 This heart a fountain of vile thoughts, 
 
 How does it overflow ! 
 
 While self upon the surface floats, 
 
 Still bubbling from below. 
 
 5 Let others in the gaudy dress, 
 
 Of fancied merit shine, 
 
 The Lord shall be my righteousness, 
 
 The Lord for ever mine. 
 
 C. 
 
 HYMN LXVIII. 
 
 EPHRAIM REPENTING. CHAP. XXXi. 18 — 20. 
 
 1 My God, till I receiv’d thy stroke, 
 
 How like a beast was I ! 
 
 So unaccustom’d to the yoke, 
 
 So backward to comply. 
 
 With grief my just reproach I bear, 
 Shame fills me at the thought ; 
 
 How frequent my rebellions were! 
 What wickedness I wrought ! 
 
 Thy merciful restraint 1 scorn’d. 
 
 And left the pleasant road ; 
 
 Yet turn me, and I shall be turn’d, 
 Thou art the Lord my God. 
 
 Is Ephraim banish’d from my thoughts, 
 Or vile in my esteem ? 
 
 No, saith the Lord, with all his faults, 
 
 I still remember him. 
 
 Is he a dear and pleasant child ? 
 
 Yes, dear and pleasant still; 
 
 Though sin his foolish heart beguil’d, 
 And he withstood my will. 
 
 My sharp rebuke has laid him low, 
 
 He seeks my face again ; 
 
 My pity kindles at his woe, 
 
 He shall not seek in vain. 
 
 c. 
 
 LAMENTATIONS. 
 
 HYMN LXIX. 
 
 THE LORD IS MY PORTION. CHAP. iii. 24 
 
 From pole to pole let others roam, 
 
 And search in vain for bliss ; 
 
 My soul is satisfied at home, 
 
 The Lord my portion is. 
 
 Jesus, who on his glorious throne 
 Rules heaven, and earth, and sea. 
 
 Is pleas’d to claim me for his own, 
 
 And give himself to me. 
 
 His person fixes all my love, 
 
 His blood removes my fear ; 
 
 And while he pleads for me above, 
 
 His arm preserves me here. 
 
 His word of promise is my food. 
 
 His Spirit is my guide : 
 
 Thus daily is my strength renew’d, 
 
 And all my wants supplied. * 
 
 For him I count as gain each loss, 
 Disgrace, for him, renown ; 
 
 Well may I glory in my cross, 
 
 While he prepares my crown ! 
 
 Let worldlings then indulge their boast, 
 How much they gain or spend : 
 
 Their joys must soon give up the ghost, 
 But mine shall know no end. 
 
 * Book III, Hymn lix. 
 
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548 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 OLNEY HYMNS. 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 HYMN LXX. 
 
 HUMBLED AND SILENCED BY MERCY. 
 CHAP. xvi. 63. 
 
 Once perishing in blood I lay, 
 
 Creatures no help could give ; 
 
 But Jesus pass’d me in the way, 
 
 He saw, and bid me live. 
 
 2 Though Satan still his rule maintain’d. 
 And all his arts employed ; 
 
 That mighty word his rage restrain’d, 
 
 I could not be destroyed. 
 
 S At length the time of love arriv’d, 
 
 When I my Lord should know ; 
 
 Then Satan, of his power depriv’d, 
 
 Was forc’d to let me go. 
 
 4 O can I e’er that day forget. 
 
 When Jesus kindly spoke ! 
 
 “ Poor soul ! my blood has paid thy debt, 
 And now I break thy yoke. 
 
 5 Henceforth I take thee for my own, 
 
 And give myself to thee ; 
 
 Forsake the idols thou hast known, 
 
 And yield thyself to me.” 
 
 6 Ah, worthless heart ! it promis’d fair, 
 
 And said it would be thine ; 
 
 I little thought it e’er would dare 
 Again with idols join. 
 
 7 Lord, dost thou such backslidings heal, 
 
 And pardon all that’s past ? 
 
 Sure, if I am not made of steel, 
 
 Thou hast prevail’d at last. 
 
 8 My tongue which rashly spoke before, 
 
 This mercy will restrain ; 
 
 Surely I now shall boast no more, 
 
 Nor censure, nor complain. 
 
 HYMN LXXI. 
 
 THE COVENANT. CHAP, xxxvi. 2 5 — 28. 
 
 The Lord proclaims his grace abroad ! 
 Behold I change your hearts of stone ; 
 Each shall renounce his idol-god, 
 
 And serve, henceforth, the Lord alone. 
 
 2 My grace, a flowing stream, proceeds 
 To wash your filthiness away ; 
 
 Ye shall abhor your former deeds, 
 
 And learn my statutes to obey. 
 
 S My truth the great design ensures, 
 
 I give myself away to you ; 
 
 You shall be mine, I will be your’s, 
 Your God unalterably true. 
 
 4 Yet not unsought, or unimplor d, 
 
 The plenteous grace shall I confer ; * 
 
 No — your whole heart shall seek the Lord, 
 I’ll put a praying spirit there. 
 
 5 From the first breath of life divine, 
 
 Down to the last expiring hour, 
 
 The gracious work shall all be mine, 
 Begun and ended in my power. 
 
 C. 
 
 HYMN LXXI I. 
 
 JEHOVAH-SHAMMAH ; OR, THE lord is there. 
 CHAP, xlviii. 35. 
 
 1 “ As birds their infant brood protect, •}■ 
 
 And spread their wings to shelter them,” 
 Thus saith the Lord to his elect, 
 
 “ Thus will I guard Jerusalem.” 
 
 2 And what then is Jerusalem, 
 
 This darling object of his care ? 
 
 Where is its worth in God’s esteem ? 
 
 Who built it? who inhabits there ! 
 
 3 Jehovah founded it in blood, 
 
 The blood of his incarnate Son ; 
 
 There dwell the saints, once foes to God, 
 The sinners whom he calls his own. 
 
 4 There, though besieg’d on every side, 
 
 Yet much belov’d and guarded well, 
 
 From age to age they have defied 
 The utmost force of earth and hell. 
 
 5 Let earth repent, and hell despair, 
 
 This city has a sure defence ; 
 
 Her name is call’d, The Lord is there, 
 And who has power to drive him thence ? 
 
 C. 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 HYMN LXXIII. 
 
 THE POWER AND TRIUMPH OF FAITH. 
 CHAP. iii. 6. 
 
 1 Supported by the word, 
 
 Though in himself a worm, 
 
 The servant of the Lord 
 Can w'ondrous acts perform : 
 
 Without dismay he boldly treads 
 Where’er the path of duty leads. 
 
 2 The haughty king in vain. 
 
 With fury on his brow, 
 
 Believers would constrain 
 To golden gods t<? bovv ; 
 
 The furnace could not make them fear. 
 Because they knew the Lord w'as neai 
 
 1 * Ver. 37. 
 
 + Isaiah xxi, 5. 
 
HYMN LXXVI. 
 
 ZECHARIAH. 
 
 549 
 
 3 As vain was the decree 
 
 Which charg’d them not to pray ; 
 Daniel still bow’d his knee, 
 
 And worshipp’d thrice a-day : 
 
 Trusting in God, he fear'd not men, 
 Though threaten’d with the lion’s dsn. 
 
 4 Secure they might refuse 
 Compliance with such laws ; 
 
 For what had they to lose, 
 
 When God espous’d their cause ? 
 
 He made the hungry lions crouch, 
 
 Nor durst the fire his children touch. 
 
 5 The Lord is still the same, 
 
 A mighty shield and tower, 
 
 And they who trust his name 
 Are guarded by his power ; 
 
 He can the rage of lions tame. 
 
 And bear them harmless through the flame. 
 
 6 Yet we too often shrink 
 When trials are in view ; 
 
 Expecting we must sink, 
 
 And never can get through : 
 
 But could we once believe indeed, 
 
 From all these fears we should be freed. 
 
 HYMN LXXIV. 
 
 BELSHAZZAR. CHAP. V. 5, 6. 
 
 1 Poor sinners ! little do they think 
 
 With whom they have to do ! 
 
 But stand securely on the brink 
 Of everlasting woe. 
 
 2 Belshazzar thus, profanely bold, 
 
 The Lord of hosts defied ; 
 
 But vengeance soon his boasts control’d, 
 And humbled all his pride. 
 
 3 He saw a hand upon the wall, 
 
 (And trembled on his throne) 
 
 Which wrote his sudden dreadful fall 
 In characters unknown. 
 
 4 Why should he tremble at the view 
 
 Of what he could not read ? 
 Foreboding conscience quickly knew 
 His ruin was decreed. 
 
 5 See him o’erwhelm’d with deep distress ! 
 
 His eyes with anguish roll ; 
 
 His looks and loosen’d joints express 
 The terrors of his soul. 
 
 6 His pomp and music, guests and wine, 
 
 No more delight afford ; 
 
 O sinner ! ere this case be thine, 
 
 Begin to seek the Lord. 
 
 7 The law, like this hand-writing stands, 
 
 And speaks the wrath of God;* 
 
 But Jesus answers its demands, 
 
 And cancels it with blood. 
 
 « Col. ii. H. 
 
 JONAH. 
 
 HYMN LXXV. 
 
 THE GOURD. CHAP. iv. 7. 
 
 1 As once for Jonah, so the Lord, 
 
 To soothe and cheer my mournful hours, 
 Prepar’d for me a pleasing gourd : 
 
 Cool was its shade, and sweet its flowers. 
 
 2 To prize his gift was surely right ; 
 
 But through the folly of my heart, 
 
 It hid the giver from my sight. 
 
 And soon my joy was turn’d to smart. 
 
 3 While I admir’d its beauteous form, 
 
 Its pleasant shade and grateful fruit, 
 
 The Lord displeas’d sent forth a worm 
 Unseen to prey upon the root. 
 
 4 I trembled when I saw it fade. 
 
 But guilt restrain’d the murm’ring word ; 
 My folly I confess’d, arid prayed, 
 
 Forgive my sin, and spare my gourd. 
 
 5 His wondrous love can ne’er be told : 
 
 He heard me, and reliev’d my pain ; 
 
 His word the threatening worm control’d, 
 And bid my gourd revive again. 
 
 6 Now, Lord, my gourd is mine no more, 
 ’Tis thine, who only could’st it raise ; 
 The idol of my heart before, 
 
 Henceforth shall flourish to thy praise. 
 
 ZECHARIAH. 
 
 HYMN LXXVI. 
 
 PRAYER FOR THE LORD’S PROMISED PRESENCE 
 CHAP. ii. 10. 
 
 1 Son of God, thy people shield ! 
 
 Must we still thine absence mourn ? 
 
 Let thy promise be fulfilled, 
 
 Thou hast said, “ I will return.” 
 
 2 Gracious Leader, now appear ! 
 
 Shine upon us with thy light ! 
 
 Like the spring, when thou art near, 
 
 Days and suns are doubly bright. 
 
 3 As a mother counts the days 
 Till her absent son she see, 
 
 Longs and watches, weeps and prays. 
 
 So our spirits long for thee. 
 
 4 Come, and let us feel thee nigh, 
 
 Then thy sheep shall feed in peace, 
 
 Plenty bless us from on high. 
 
 Evil from amongst us cease. 
 
BOOK 
 
 650 OLNEY 
 
 5 With thy love, and voice, and aid, 
 
 Thou canst every care assuage j 
 Then we shall not be afraid 
 Though the world and Satan rage. 
 
 6 Thus each day for thee we’ll spend, 
 
 While our callings we pursue, 
 
 And the thoughts of such a friend, 
 
 Shall each night our joy renew. 
 
 7 Let thy light be ne’er withdrawn ; 
 
 Golden days afford us long : 
 
 Thus we pray at early dawn, 
 
 This shall be our evening song. 
 
 HYMN LXXVII. 
 
 A BRAN D PLUCKED OUT OF THE FIRE. 
 CHAP. iiL 1 5. 
 
 1 With Satan, my accuser, near, 
 
 My spirit trembled when I saw 
 The Lord in majesty appear, 
 
 And heard the language of his law. 
 
 2 In vain I wish’d and strove to hide 
 The tatter’d filthy rags I wore, 
 
 While my fierce foe insulting cried, 
 
 “ See what you trusted in before !” 
 
 3 Struck dumb, and left without a plea, 
 
 I heard my gracious Saviour say, 
 
 “ Know, Satan, I this sinner free, 
 
 I died to take his sins away. 
 
 This is a brand which I, in love, 
 
 To save from wrath and sin design : 
 
 In vain thy accusations prove, 
 
 I answer all, and claim him mine.” 
 
 5 At his rebuke the tempter fled ; 
 
 Then he removed my filthy dress ; 
 
 “ Poor sinner, take this robe,” he said, 
 
 “ It is thy Saviour’s righteousness. 
 
 6 And see a crown of life prepared : 
 
 That I might thus thy head adorn, 
 
 I thought no shame or sufFring hard, 
 But wore for thee a crown of thorn. ’ 
 
 7 O how I heard these gracious words ! 
 They broke and heal’d my heart at once, 
 Constrain’d me to become the Lord’s, 
 And all my idol-gods renounce. 
 
 8 Now, Satan, thou hast lost thy aim, 
 Against this brand thy threats are vain ; 
 Jesus has pluck’d it from the flame, 
 
 And who shall put it in again ? 
 
 HYMNS. 
 
 HYMN LXXVIIL 
 
 ON ONE STONE SHALL BE SEVEN EYES. 
 CHAP iii. 9. 
 
 1 Jesus Christ, the Lord’s anointed, 
 
 Who his blood for sinners spilt, 
 
 Is the stone by God appointed, 
 
 And the church is on him built : 
 
 He delivers all who trust him from their guilt. 
 
 2 Many eyes at once are fixed 
 On a person so divine : 
 
 Love, with awful justice mixed, 
 
 In his great redemption shine : 
 
 Mighty Jesus, give me leave to call thee mine 
 
 3 By the Father’s eye approved, 
 
 I,o, a voice is heard from heaven,* 
 
 “ Sinners, this is my beloved, 
 
 For your ransom freely given, 
 
 All offences for his sake shall be forgiven.” 
 
 4 Angels with their eyes pursued him,f 
 When he left his glorious throne ; 
 
 With astonishment they viewed him 
 
 Put the form of servant on : [known. 
 
 Angels worshipp’d him who was on earth un- 
 
 5 Satan and his host amazed, 
 
 Saw this stone in Zion laid ; 
 
 Jesus, though to death abased, 
 
 Bruis’d the subtle serpent’s head,^ [shed. 
 When, to save us, on the crosss his blood he 
 
 6 When a guilty sinner sees him, 
 
 While he looks his soul is heal’d : 
 
 Soon this sight from anguish frees him, 
 And imparts a pardon seal’d :§ 
 
 May this Saviour be to all our hearts reveal'd 
 
 7 With desire and admiration, 
 
 All his blood-bought flock behold : 
 
 Him who wrought out their salvation, 
 
 And inclos’d them in his fold ;|| 
 
 Yet their warmest love and praises are too cold. 
 
 8 By the eye of carnal reason, 
 
 Many view him with disdain ; ^ 
 
 How will they abide the season, 
 
 When he’ll come with all his train ? [vain. 
 To escape him then they’ll wish, but wish in 
 
 9 How their hearts will melt and tremble 
 When they hear his awful voice ;** 
 
 But his saints he’ll then assemble. 
 
 As his portion and his choice, 
 
 And receive them to his everlasting joys. 
 
 * Matth. iii .17- t 1 Tim. iii. 16. 
 t John xii. 31. § John iii. 15. 
 
 || 1 Pet. ii. 7* H Psal. cxviii. 22. 
 
 ** Rev. i. 7, 
 
HYMN LXXXI. 
 
 HYMN LXXIX. 
 
 MATTHEW. 
 5 
 
 PRAISE FOR THE FOUNTAIN OPENED. 
 
 1 There is a fountain fill'd with blood 
 
 Drawn from Emmanuel’s veins ; 
 
 And sinners plung’d beneath that flood, 
 Lose all their guilty stains. 
 
 2 The dying thief rejoic’d to see 
 
 That fountain in his day ; 
 
 And there have I, as vile as he, 
 
 Wash’d all my sins away. 
 
 3 Dear dying Lamb, thy precious blood 
 
 Shall never lose its power, 
 
 Till all the ransom’d church of God 
 Be sav’d to sin no more. 
 
 4 E’er since, by faith, I saw the stream 
 
 Thy flowing wounds supply, 
 
 Redeeming love has been my theme. 
 
 And shall be till I die. 
 
 5 Then in a nobler, sweeter song, 
 
 I’ll sing thy power to save ; 
 
 When this poor lisping stamm’ring tongue 
 Lies silent in the grave. 
 
 6 Lord, I believe thou hast prepar’d 
 
 (Unworthy though I be) 
 
 For me a blood-bought free reward, 
 
 A golden harp for me ! 
 
 1 ’Tis strung, and tuned, for endless years, 
 And form’d by power divine ; 
 
 To sound in God the Father’s ears 
 No other name but thine. 
 
 C. 
 
 MALACHI. 
 
 HYMN LXXX. 
 
 THEY SHALL BE MINE, SAITH THE LORD. CHAP. 
 
 iii. 16—18. 
 
 1 When sinners utter boasting words, 
 
 And glory in their shame ; 
 
 The Lord, well pleas’d, an ear affords 
 To those who fear his name. 
 
 2 They often meet to seek his face, 
 
 And what, they do, or say, 
 
 Is noted in his book of grace 
 Against another day, 
 
 3 For they by faith a day descry, 
 
 And joyfully expect, 
 
 When he, descending from the sky, 
 
 His jewels will collect : 
 
 4 Unnotic’d now, because unknown, 
 
 A poor and suffering few ; 
 
 He comes to claim them for his own, 
 
 And bring them forth to view 
 
 551 
 
 With transport then their Saviour’s care 
 And favour they shall prove ; 
 
 As tender parents guard and spare 
 The children of their love. 
 
 6 Assembled worlds will then discern 
 The saints alone are blest ; 
 
 When wrath shall like an oven burn, 
 
 And vengeance strike the rest. 
 
 MATTHEW. 
 
 HYMN LXXXI. 
 
 THE BEGGAR. CHAP. vii. 7 — 8. 
 
 1 Encourag’d by thy word 
 Of promise to the poor. 
 
 Behold, a beggar, Lord, 
 
 Waits at thy mercy’s door ! 
 
 No hand, no heart, O Lord, but thine, 
 Can help or pity wants like mine. 
 
 2 The beggar’s usual plea, 
 
 Relief from men to gain, 
 
 If offer’d unto thee, 
 
 I know thou would’st disdain ; 
 
 And pleas which move thy gracious ear. 
 Are such as men would scorn to hear. 
 
 3 I have no right to say, 
 
 That though I now am poor, 
 
 Yet once there was a day 
 When I possessed more ; 
 
 Thou know’st that, from my very birth, 
 I’ve been the poorest wretch on earth. 
 
 4 Nor can I dare profess, 
 
 As beggars often do, 
 
 Though great is my distress, 
 
 My wants have been but few ; 
 
 If thou should’st leave my soul to starve, 
 It would be what I well deserve. 
 
 5 ’Twere folly to pretend 
 I never begg’d before ; 
 
 Or if thou now befriend, 
 
 I’ll trouble thee no more t 
 
 Thou often hast reliev’d my pain, 
 
 And often I must come again. 
 
 6 Though crumbs are much too good 
 For such a dog as I, 
 
 No less than children’s food 
 My soul can satisfy : 
 
 0 do not frown and bid me go, 
 
 1 must have all thou canst bestow. 
 
 7 Nor can I willing be 
 Thy bounty to conceal 
 From others who, like me, 
 
 Their wants and hunger feel : 
 
 I’ll teli them of thy mercy’s store, 
 
 And try to send a thousand more. 
 
OLNEY HYMNS, 
 
 BOOK I 
 
 8 Thy thoughts, thou only wise ! 
 
 Our thoughts and ways transcend, 
 Far as the arched skies 
 Above the earth extend : * 
 
 Such pleas as mine men would not hear, 
 But God receives a beggar’s prayer. 
 
 HYMN LXXXII. 
 
 THE LEPER. CHAP. viii. 2. 3. 
 
 1 OfT as the leper’s case I read. 
 
 My own describ’d I feel ; 
 
 Sin is a leprosy indeed, 
 
 Which none but Christ can heal. 
 
 2 A while I would have pass’d for well, 
 
 And strove my spots to hide : 
 
 Till it broke out incurable, 
 
 Too plain to be denied. 
 
 3 Then from the saints I thought to flee, 
 
 And dreaded to be seen : 
 
 I thought they all would point at me, 
 
 And cry, “ Unclean, unclean !” 
 
 4 What anguish did my soul endure 
 
 Till hope and patience ceas’d ! 
 
 The more I strove myself to cure, 
 
 The more the plague increas’d. 
 
 5 While thus I lay distress’d, I saw 
 
 The Saviour passing by ; 
 
 To him, though fill’d with shame and awe, 
 I rais’d my mournful cry. 
 
 6 Lord, thou canst heal me if thou wilt, 
 
 For thou canst all things do ; 
 
 O cleanse my leprous soul from guilt, 
 
 My filthy heart renew ! 
 
 7 He heard, and, with a gracious look, 
 
 Pronounc’d the healing word ; 
 
 “ I will, — be clean and while he spoke, 
 I felt my health restor’d. 
 
 8 Come, lepers, seize the present hour, 
 
 The Saviour’s grace to prove j 
 He can relieve, for he is power ; 
 
 He will, for he is love. 
 
 HYMN LXXXIII. 
 
 A SICK SOUL. CHAP. ii. 12. 
 
 1 Physician of my sin-sick soul, 
 
 To thee I bring my case ; 
 
 My raging malady control, 
 
 A nd heal me by thy grace. 
 
 2 Pity the anguish I endure, 
 
 See how I mourn and pine ; 
 For never can I hope a cure 
 From any hand but thine. 
 
 I would disclose my whole complaint, 
 But where shall I begin ? 
 
 No words of mine can fully paint 
 That worst distemper, sin. 
 
 It lies not in a single part, 
 
 But through my frame is spread, 
 
 A burning fever in my heart, 
 
 A palsy in my head. 
 
 It makes me deaf, and dumb, and blind, 
 And impotent and lame ; 
 
 And overclouds, and fills my mind 
 With folly, fear, and shame. 
 
 A thousand evil thoughts intrude, 
 Tumultuous, in my breast ; 
 
 Which indispose me for my food> 
 
 And rob me of my rest. 
 
 Lord, I am sick, regard my cry, 
 
 And set my spirit free ; 
 
 Say, canst thou let a sinner die, 
 
 Who longs to live to thee ? 
 
 HYMN LXXXIV. 
 
 SATAN RETURNING. CHAP. xii. 43 — -45. 
 
 When Jesus claims the sinner’s heart, 
 Where Satan ruled before ; 
 
 The evil spirit must depart, 
 
 And dares return no more. 
 
 But when he goes without constraint. 
 
 And wanders from his home, 
 
 Although withdrawn, ‘tis but a feint. 
 
 He means again to come. 
 
 Some outward change perhaps is seen, 
 
 If Satan quit the place ; 
 
 But though the house seem swept and *»lean 
 Tis destitute of grace. 
 
 Except the Saviour dwell and reign 
 Within the sinner’s mind, 
 
 Satan, when he returns again, 
 
 Will easy entrance find. 
 
 With rage, and malice seven-fold, 
 
 He then resumes his sway, 
 
 No more by checks to be control’d, 
 
 No more to go away. 
 
 The sinner’s former state was bad, 
 
 But worse the latter far : 
 
 He lives possessed, blind, and mad, 
 
 And dies in dark despair. 
 
 Lord save me from this dreadful end, 
 
 And from this heart of mine ! 
 
 O drive and keep away the fiend. 
 
 Who fears no voice but thine ! 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 * Isaiah lv. 8. 9. 
 
HYMN I,XXXVIII. 
 
 MATTHEW. 
 
 HYMN LXXXV. 
 
 THE SOWER. CHAP. xiil. 3. 
 
 1 Ye sons of earth, prepare the plough, 
 
 Break up your fallow-ground : 
 
 The sower is gone forth to sow. 
 
 And scatter blessings round. 
 
 2 The seed that finds a stony soil 
 
 Shoots forth a hasty blade, 
 
 But ill repays the sower’s toil, 
 
 Soon wither’d, scorch’d, and dead. 
 
 3 The thorny ground is sure to baulk 
 
 All hopes of harvest there : 
 
 We find a tall and sickly stalk, 
 
 But not the fruitful ear. 
 
 4 The beaten path and high-way side 
 
 Receive the trust in vain ; 
 
 The watchful birds the spoil divide, 
 
 And pick up all the grain. 
 
 5 But where the Lord of grace and power 
 
 Has bless’d the happy field, 
 
 How plenteous is the golden store 
 The deep-wrought furrows yield. 
 
 6 Father of mercies, we have need 
 
 Of thy preparing grace : 
 
 Let the same hand that gives the seed 
 Provide a fruitful place. 
 
 C. 
 
 HYMN LXXXVI. 
 
 the wheat and tares, chap. xiii. 37 — 42. 
 
 1 Though in the outward church below 
 The wheat and tares together grow, 
 
 Jesus ere long will weed the crop, 
 
 And pluck the tares in anger up. 
 
 2 Will it relieve their horrors there. 
 
 To recollect their stations here ? 
 
 How much they heard, how much they k new, 
 How long amongst the wheat they grew ? 
 
 S O this will aggravate their case, 
 
 They perish’d under means of grace : 
 
 To them the word of life and faith 
 Became an instrument of death. 
 
 4 We seem alike when thus we meet, 
 Strangers might thiqjc we all are wheat ; 
 But to the Lord’s all-searching eyes, 
 
 Each heart appears without disguise. 
 
 5 The tares are spar’d for various ends ; 
 Some for the sake of praying friends ; 
 Others the Lord, against their will, 
 Employs his counsels to fulfil. 
 
 b But though they grow so tall and strong, 
 His plan will not require them long ; 
 
 In harvest, when he saves his own 
 The tares shall into hell be thrown. 
 
 HYMN LXXXVII. 
 
 PETER WALKING UPON THE WATER. 
 
 CHAP. xiv. 28 — 31. 
 
 A WORD from Jesus calms the sea, 
 
 The stormy wind controls, 
 
 And gives repose and liberty 
 To tempest-tossed souls. 
 
 To Peter on the waves he came, 
 
 And gave him instant peace : 
 
 Thus he to me reveal’d his name, 
 
 And bid my sorrows cease. 
 
 Then, fill’d with wonder, joy, and love, 
 Peter’s request was mine : 
 
 Lord, call me down, I long to prove 
 That I am wholly thine. 
 
 Unmov’d at all I have to meet 
 On life’s tempestuous sea, 
 
 Hard shall be easy, bitter sweet, 
 
 So I may follow thee. 
 
 He heard and smil’d, and bid me try 
 I eagerly obeyed ; 
 
 But when from him I turn’d my eye. 
 How was my soul dismayed. 
 
 The storm increas’d on ev’ry side, 
 
 I felt my spirit shrink, 
 
 And soon, with Peter, loud I cried, 
 
 “ Lord, save me or I sink 
 
 Kindly he caught me by the hand, 
 
 And said, “ Why dost thou fear ? 
 
 Since thou art come to my command, 
 And I am always near. 
 
 Upon my promise rest thy hope, 
 
 And keep my love in view : 
 
 I stand engag’d to hold thee up, 
 
 And guide thee safely through.’ 
 
 HYMN LXXXVIII. 
 
 WOMAN OF CANAAN. CHAP. XV. 22 28 
 
 Prayer an answer will obtain. 
 
 Though the Lord awhile delay: 
 
 None shall seek his face in vain, 
 
 None be empty sent away. 
 
 When the woman came from Tyre, 
 
 And for help to Jesus sought, 
 
 Though he granted her desire. 
 
 Yet at first he answer’d not. 
 
 Could she guess at his intent, 
 
 When he to his followers said, 
 
 “ I to Israel’s sheep am sent, 
 
 Dogs must not have children’s bread.” 
 
 She was not of Israel’s seed, 
 
 But of Canaan’s wretched race, 
 
 Thought herself a dog indeed : 
 
 Was not this a hopeless case ? 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 8 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
554 
 
 OLNEY HYMNS 
 
 BOOK 1 
 
 5 Yet although from Canaan sprung, 
 Though a dog herself she styl’d, 
 
 She had Israel’s faith and tongue, 
 And was own’d for Abrah’m’s child. 
 
 6 From his words she draws a plea : 
 
 “ Though unworthy children’s bread, 
 ’Tis enough for one like me 
 If with crumbs I may be fed.” 
 
 7 Jesus then his heart reveal’d : 
 
 “ Woman, canst thou thus believe ? 
 
 I to thy petition yield ; 
 
 All that thou canst wish, receive.” 
 
 8 ’Tis a pattern set for us, 
 
 How we ought to wait and pray : 
 None who plead and wrestle thus, 
 Shall be empty sent away. 
 
 HYMN LXXXIX. 
 
 WHAT THINK YE OF CHRIST? CHAP. xxii. 42. 
 
 1 What think ye of Christ? is the test 
 To try both your state and your scheme, 
 You cannot be right in the rest, 
 
 Unless you think rightly of him. 
 
 As Jesus appears in your view, 
 
 As he is beloved or not ; 
 
 So God is disposed to you, 
 
 And mercy or wrath is your lot. 
 
 2 Some take him a creature to be, 
 
 A man, or an angel at most ; 
 
 Sure, these have not feelings like me, 
 
 Nor know themselves wretched and lost : 
 So guilty, so helpless am I, 
 
 I durst not confide in his blood, 
 
 Nor on his protection rely, 
 
 Unless I were sure he is God. 
 
 S Some call him a Saviour, in word, 
 
 But mix their own work:, with his plan, 
 And hope he his help will afford, 
 
 When they have done all that they can. 
 
 If doings prove rather too light 
 (A little, they own, they may fail), 
 
 They purpose to make up full weight, 
 
 By casting his name in the scale. 
 
 4 Some style him the Pearl of great price, 
 And say he’s the fountain of joys ; 
 
 Yet feed upon folly and vice, 
 
 And cleave to the world and its toys : 
 
 Like Judas, the Saviour they kiss, 
 
 And, while they salute him, betray ; 
 
 Ah ! what will profession like this 
 Avail in the terrible day ? 
 
 5 If ask’d, what of Jesus I think ? 
 
 Though still my best thoughts are but poor, 
 I say, He’s my meat and my drink, 
 
 My life, and my strength, and my store ; 
 My shepherd, my husband, my friend, 
 
 My Saviour from sin and from thrall ; 
 
 My hope from beginning to end, 
 
 My portion, my Lord, and my all. 
 
 HYMN XC. 
 
 THE FOOLISH VIRGINS.* CHAP. XXV. 1 
 
 1 When, descending from the sky, 
 
 The Bridegroom shall appear 
 And the solemn midnight cry 
 Shall call professors near, 
 
 How the sound our hearts will damp ! 
 How will shame o’erspread each face !. 
 If we only have a lamp. 
 
 Without the oil of grace. 
 
 2 Foolish virgins then will wake, 
 
 And seek for a supply ; 
 
 But in vain the pains they take, 
 
 To borrow or to buy. 
 
 Then with those they now despise, 
 Earnestly they wish to share ; 
 
 But the best among the wise 
 Will have no oil to spare. 
 
 3 Wise they are, and truly blest, 
 
 Who then shall ready be ! 
 
 But despair will seize the rest, 
 
 And dreadful misery: 
 
 Once they’ll cry, we scorn to doubt. 
 Though in lies our trust we put ; 
 
 Now our lamp of hope is out, 
 
 The door of mercy shut. 
 
 4 If they then presume to 
 
 “ Lord, open to us now ; 
 
 We on earth have heard and prayed, 
 And with thy saints did bow : ” 
 
 He will answer from his throne, 
 
 “ Though you with my people mix’d. 
 Yet to me ye ne’er were known j 
 Depart, your doom is fix’d.” 
 
 5 O that none who worship here 
 
 May hear that word, “ Depart !” 
 Lord, impress a godly fear 
 On each professor’s heart : 
 
 Help us, Lord, to search the camp, 
 Let us not ourselves beguile ; 
 Trusting to a dying, lamp, 
 
 Without a stock of oil. 
 
 HYMN XCI. 
 
 PETER SINNING AND REPENTING. CHAP 
 xxvi. 73. 
 
 1 When Peter boasted, soon he fell, 
 
 Yet was by grace restor’d; 
 
 His case should be regarded well 
 By all who fear the Lord. 
 
 2 A voice it has, and helping hand 
 
 Backsliders to recall ; 
 
 And cautions those who think they stand. 
 Lest suddenly they fall. 
 
 * Book III. Hymn lxxii. 
 
HYMN XCIII. 
 
 MARK. 
 
 555 
 
 3 He said, “ Whatever others do, 
 
 With Jesus I’ll abide 
 Yet soon, amidst a murd’rous crew, 
 
 His suffering Lord denied. 
 
 4 He who had been so bold before, 
 
 Now trembled like a leaf ; 
 
 Not only lied, but curs’d and swore, 
 
 To gain the more belief. 
 
 5 When he blasphem’d, he heard the cock, 
 
 And Jesus look’d in love ; 
 
 At once, as if by lightning struck, 
 
 His tongue forebore to move. 
 
 6 Deliver’d thus from Satan’s snare, 
 
 He starts, as from a sleep ; 
 
 His Saviour’s look he could not bear, 
 But hasted forth to weep. 
 
 7 But sure the faithful cock had crow’d 
 
 A hundred times in vain, 
 
 Had not the Lord that look bestow’d 
 The meaning to explain. 
 
 8 As I, like Peter, vows have made, 
 
 Yet acted Peter’s part ; 
 
 So conscience, like the cock, upbraids 
 My base, ungrateful heart. 
 
 9 Lord Jesus, hear a sinner’s cry, 
 
 My broken peace renew ; 
 
 And grant one pitying look, that I 
 May weep with Peter too. 
 
 MARK. 
 
 HYMN XCII. 
 
 THE LEGION DISPOSSESSED. CHAP. V. 1 8, 1 9. 
 
 1 Legion was my name by nature, 
 
 Satan rag’d within my breast ; 
 
 Never misery was greater, 
 
 Never sinner more possess’d : 
 
 Mischievous to all around me, 
 
 To myself the greatest foe; 
 
 Thus I was when Jesus found me, 
 
 Fill’d with madness, sin, and woe. 
 
 2 Yet in this forlorn condition, 
 
 When he came to set me free, 
 
 I replied to my Physician, 
 
 “ What have I to do with thee ?” 
 
 But he would not be prevented, 
 
 Rescu’d me against my will ; 
 
 Had he staid till I consented, 
 
 I had been a captive still. 
 
 3 “ Satan, though thou fain wouldst have it, 
 Know this soul is none of thine ; 
 
 I have shed my blood to save it. 
 
 Now I challenge it for mine : * 
 
 * Book III. Hymn liv 
 
 Though it long has thee resembled. 
 Henceforth it shall me obey.” 
 
 Thus he spoke, while Satan trembled, 
 Gnash’d his teeth, and fled away. 
 
 4 Thus my frantic soul he healed, 
 
 Bid my sins and sorrow cease ; 
 
 “ Take,” said he, my pardon sealed, 
 
 I have sav’d thee, go in peace 
 Rather take me, Lord, to heaven, 
 
 Now thy love and grace I know ; 
 
 Since thou hast my sins forgiven. 
 
 Why should I remain below ! 
 
 5 “ Love,” he said, “ will sweeten labours. 
 Thou hast something yet to do ; 
 
 Go and tell your friends and neighbours 
 What my love has done for you : 
 
 Live to manifest my glory, 
 
 Wait for heaven a little space ; 
 
 Sinners, when they hear thy story, 
 
 Will repent, and seek my face.” 
 
 HYMN XCIII 
 
 THE RULER’S DAUGHTER RAISED. CHAP. V. 
 39—42. 
 
 1 Could the creatures help or ease us, 
 Seldom should we think of prayer ; 
 
 Few, if any, come to Jesus, 
 
 Till reduc’d to self-despair : 
 
 Long we either slight or doubt him ; 
 
 But when all the means we try 
 Prove we cannot do without him, 
 
 Then at last to him we cry. 
 
 2 Thus the ruler, when his daughter 
 Suffer’d much, though Christ was nigh, 
 Still deferr’d it, till he thought her 
 
 At the very point to die : 
 
 Though he mourn’d for her condition, 
 He did not entreat the Lord, 
 
 Till he found that no physician 
 But himself could help afford. 
 
 3 Jesus did not once upbraid him, 
 
 That he had no sooner come ; 
 
 But a gracious answer made him, 
 
 And went straightway with him home 
 Yet his faith was put to trial, 
 
 When his servants came, and said, 
 
 “ Though he gave thee no denial, 
 
 ’Tis too late, the child is dead.” 
 
 4 Jesus, to prevent his grieving, 
 
 Kindly spoke, and eas’d his pain ; 
 
 “ Be not fearful, but believing, 
 
 Thou shalt see her live again.” 
 
 When he found the people weeping, 
 
 “ Cease,” he said ; “ no longer mourn ; 
 For she is not dead, but sleeping:” 
 
 Then they laughed him to scorn. 
 
 5 O thou meek and lowly Saviout 
 How determin’d is thy love 1 
 Not this rude unkind behaviour 
 Could thy gracious purpose move ; 
 
556 OLNEY 
 
 Soon as he the room had enter’d, 
 
 Spoke, and took her by the hand ; 
 
 Death at once his prey surrender’d, 
 
 And she liv’d at his command. 
 
 6 Fear not, then, distress’d believer, 
 
 Venture on his mighty name ; 
 
 He is able to deliver, 
 
 And his love is still the same : 
 
 Can his pity or his power 
 Suffer thee to pray in vain ? 
 
 Wait but his appointed hour, 
 
 And thy suit thou shalt obtain. 
 
 HYMN XCIV. 
 
 BUT ONE LOAF.* CHAP. viii. 14. 
 
 1 When the disciples cross’d the lake 
 
 With but one loaf on board, 
 
 How strangely did their hearts mistake 
 The caution of their Lord ! 
 
 2 “ The leaven of the Pharisees 
 
 Beware,” the Saviour said : 
 
 They thought, it is because he sees 
 We have forgotten bread. 
 
 3 It seems they had forgotten too, 
 
 What their own eyes had view’d ; 
 How with what scarce suffic’d for lew, 
 He fed a multitude. 
 
 4 If five small loaves, by his command, 
 
 Could many thousands serve ; 
 
 Might they not trust his gracious hand, 
 That they should never starve ? 
 
 5 They oft his power and love had known, 
 
 And doubtless were to blame; 
 
 But we have reason good to own, 
 
 That we are just the same. 
 
 6 How often has he brought relief, 
 
 And every want supplied ! 
 
 Yet soon, again, our unbelief 
 Says, “ Can the Lord provide ?” 
 
 7 Be thankful for one loaf to-day, 
 
 Though that be all your store ; 
 To-morrow, if you trust and pray, 
 
 Shall timely bring you more. 
 
 HYMN XCV. 
 
 BARTIMEUS. CHAP. X. 47, 48. 
 
 1 “ Mercy, O thou Son of David !” 
 
 Thus blind Bartimeus prayed ; 
 
 “ Others by this word are saved, 
 
 Now to me afford thine aid.” 
 
 Many for his crying chid him, 
 
 But he call’d the louder still ; 
 
 Till the gracious Saviour bid him, 
 
 “ Come, and ask me what you will.” 
 •Book III. Hymn lvii. 
 
 HYMNS. BOOK I. 
 
 2 Money was not what he wanted, 
 
 Though by begging us’d to live ; 
 
 But he ask’d, and Jesus granted, 
 
 Alms which none but he could give ; 
 
 “ Lord remove this grievous blindness, 
 
 Let my eyes behold the day 
 
 Strait he saw, and, won by kindness, 
 Follow’d Jesus in the w r ay. 
 
 3 Oh ! methinks I hear him praising, 
 Publishing to all around, 
 
 “ Friends, is not my case amazing ? 
 
 What a Saviour I have found : 
 
 O that all the blind but knew him, 
 
 And would be advis’d by me ! 
 
 Surely would they hasten to him, 
 
 He would cause them all to see.” 
 
 HYMN XCVI. 
 
 THE HOUSE OF PRAYER. CHAP. xi. 17. 
 
 1 Thy mansion is the Christian’s heart, 
 
 0 Lord, thy dwelling-place secure ! 
 
 Bid the unruly throng depart, 
 
 And leave the consecrated door 
 
 2 Devoted as it is to thee, 
 
 A thievish swarm frequents the place ; 
 They steal away my joys from me, 
 
 And rob my Saviour of his praise. 
 
 3 There, too, a sharp designing trade, 
 
 Sin, Satan, and the world maintain ; 
 
 Nor cease to press me, and persuade 
 To part with ease, and purchase pain. 
 
 4 I know them, and I hate their din, 
 
 Am. weary of the bustling crowd ; 
 
 But while their voice is heard within, 
 
 1 cannot serve thee as I would. 
 
 5 Oh! for the joy thy presence gives, 
 
 What peace shall reign when thou art here ; 
 Thy presence makes this den of thieves 
 
 A calm delightful house of prayer. 
 
 6 And if thou make thy temple shine, 
 
 Yet, self-abas’d, will I adore; 
 
 The gold and silver are not mine, 
 
 I give thee what was thine before. 
 
 c. 
 
 HYMN XCVII. 
 
 THE BLASTED FIG-TREE. CHAP. xi. 20. 
 
 1 One awful word which Jesus spoke 
 Against the tree which bore no fruit, 
 More piercing than the lightning’s stroke. 
 Blasted and dried it to the root. 
 
 2 But could a tree the Lord offend 
 To make him shew his anger thus ? 
 
 He surely had a farther end, 
 
 To be a w r arning w'ord to u#. 
 
HYMN XCIX. 
 
 S The fig-tree by its leaves was known ; 
 
 But having not a fig to shew, 
 
 It brought a heavy sentence down, 
 
 “ Let none hereafter on thee grow ” 
 
 4 Too many, who the gospel hear, 
 
 Whom Satan blinds, and sin deceives, 
 
 We to this fig-tree may compare, 
 
 They yield no fruit, but only leaves. 
 
 5 Knowledge, and zeal, and gifts, and talk, 
 Unless combin’d with faith and love, 
 
 And witness’d by a gospel-walk, 
 
 Will not a true profession prove. 
 
 6 Without the fruit the Lord expects, 
 Knowledge will make our state the worse; 
 The barren trees he still rejects, 
 
 And soon will blast them with his curse. 
 
 7 O Lord, unite our hearts in prayer ! 
 
 On each of us thy Spirit send, 
 
 That we the fruits of grace may bear, 
 
 And find acceptance in the end. 
 
 LUKE. 
 
 HYMN XCVII1. 
 
 THE TWO DEBTORS. CHAP. viii. 47. 
 
 1 Once a woman silent stood, 
 
 While Jesus sat at meat ; 
 
 From her eyes she pour’d a flood, 
 
 To wash his sacred feet ; 
 
 Shame and wonder, joy and love, 
 
 All at once possess’d her mind, 
 That she e’er so vile could prove, 
 
 Yet now forgiveness find. 
 
 2 “ How came this vile woman here ? 
 
 Will Jesus notice such? 
 
 Sure, if he a prophet were, 
 
 He would disdain her touch !” 
 Simon thus, with scornful heart, 
 Slighted one whom Jesus lov’d ; 
 But her Saviour took her part, 
 
 And thus his pride reprov’d ; 
 
 3 “ If two men in debt were bound, 
 
 One less, the other more. 
 
 Fifty, or five hundred pound, 
 
 And both alike were poor : 
 
 Should the lender both forgive, 
 
 When he saw them both distress’d, 
 Which of them would you believe 
 .Engag’d to love him best ?” 
 
 4 “ Surely he who most did owe,” 
 
 The Pharisee replied : 
 
 Then our Lord, “ By judging so, 
 Thou dost for her decide ; 
 
 Simon, if, like her, you knew 
 
 How much you forgiveness need ; 
 You like her had acted too, 
 
 And welcom’d me indeed. 
 
 LUKE. 557 
 
 5 “ When the load of sin is felt, 
 
 And much foregiveness known, 
 
 Then the heart of course will melt, 
 
 Though hard before as stone : 
 
 Blame not then her love and tears, 
 
 Greatly she in debt has been ; 
 
 But I have remov’d her fears, 
 
 And pardon’d all her sin.” 
 
 6 When I read this woman’s case, 
 
 Her love and humble zeal, 
 
 I confess, with shame of face, 
 
 My heart is made of steel. 
 
 Much has been forgiven to me, 
 
 Jesus paid my heavy score ; 
 
 What a creature must I be, 
 
 That I can love no more ! 
 
 IIYMN XCJ.X. 
 
 THE GOOD SAMARITAN. CHAP. X. 33 — 35. 
 
 1 How kind the good Samaritan 
 
 To him who fell among the thieves ! 
 
 Thus Jesus pities fallen man, 
 
 And heals the wounds the soul receives. 
 
 2 Oh ! I remember well the day. 
 
 When sorely wounded, nearly slain, 
 
 Like that poor man I bleeding lay, 
 
 And groan’d for help, but groan’d in vain. 
 
 3 Men saw me in this helpless case, 
 
 And pass’d without compassion by ; 
 
 Each neighbour turn’d away his face. 
 Unmoved by my mournful cry. 
 
 4 But he whose name had been my scorn, 
 (As Jews Samaritans despise) 
 
 Came, when he saw me thus forlorn, 
 
 With love and pity in his eyes. 
 
 5 Gently he rais’d me from the ground, 
 Press’d me to lean upon his arm, 
 
 And into every gaping wound, 
 
 He pour’d his own all-healing balm. 
 
 6 Into his church my steps he led, 
 
 The house prepar’d for sinners lost, 
 
 Gave charge I should be cloth’d and fed, 
 And took upon him all the cost. 
 
 7 Thus sav’d from death, from want secur’d, 
 I wait till he again shall come, 
 
 (When I shall be completely cur’d) 
 
 And take me to his heavenly home. 
 
 ! 8 There, through eternal boundless days. 
 When nature’s wheel no longer rolls, 
 
 How shall I love, adore, and praise, 
 
 This good Samaritan to souls ! 
 
.558 
 
 OLNEY HYMNS. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 HYMN C. 
 
 MARTHA AND MARY. CHAP. X. 38 — 42. 
 
 1 Martha her love and joy express’d, 
 
 By care to entertain her guest ; 
 
 While Mary sat to hear her Lord, 
 
 And could not bear to lose a word. 
 
 2 The principle, in both the same, 
 Produc’d in each a different aim ; 
 
 The one to feast the Lord was led, 
 
 The other waited to be fed. 
 
 3 But Mary chose the better part, 
 
 Her Saviour’s words refresh’d her heart ; 
 While busy Martha angry grew, 
 
 And lost her time and temper too. 
 
 4 With warmth she to her sister spoke, 
 
 But brought upon herself rebuke : 
 
 “ One thing is needful, and but one, 
 Why do thy thoughts on many run ?” 
 
 5 How oft are we, like Martha, vex’d, 
 Encumber’d, hurried, and perplex’d ? 
 While trifles so engross our thought, 
 
 The one thing needful is forgot. 
 
 G Lord, teach us this one thing to choose, 
 Which they who gain can never lose ; 
 Sufficient in itself alone, 
 
 And needful, were the world our own. 
 
 7 Let grov’lling hearts the world admire, 
 Thy love is all that I require : 
 
 Gladly I may the rest resign, 
 
 If the one needful thing be mine ! 
 
 HYMN Cl. 
 
 THE HEART TAKEN. CHAP. XI. 21, 22. 
 
 1 The castle of the human heart, 
 
 Strong in its native sin, 
 
 Is guarded well in every part, 
 
 By him who dwells within. 
 
 2 For Satan there in arms resides, 
 
 And calls the place his own : 
 
 With care against assaults provides, 
 And rules as on a throne. 
 
 S Each traitor thought, on him as chief, 
 In blind obedience waits ; 
 
 And pride, self-will, and unbelief, 
 
 Are posted at the gates. 
 
 4 Thus Satan for a season reigns, 
 
 And keeps his goods in peace ; 
 
 The soul is pleas’d to wear his chains, 
 Nor wishes a release. 
 
 5 But Jesus, stronger far than he, 
 
 In his appointed hour, 
 
 Appears to set his people free 
 From the usurper’s power. 
 
 6 “ This heart I bought with blood,” he says, 
 
 “ And now it shall be mine:” 
 
 His voice the strong one arm’d dismays, 
 He knows he must resign. 
 
 7 In spite of unbelief and pride, 
 
 And self and Satan’s art, 
 
 The gates of brass fly open wide, 
 
 And Jesus wins the heart. 
 
 8 The rebel soul that once withstood 
 
 The Saviour’s kindest call, 
 
 Rejoices now, by grace subdued, 
 
 To serve him with her all. 
 
 HYMN CII. 
 
 THE WC-aLDLING. CHAP. xii. 16 — 21. 
 
 1 “ My barns are full, my stores increase, 
 
 And now, for many years, 
 
 Soul, eat and drink, and take thine ease, 
 Secure from wants and fears.” 
 
 2 Thus while a worldling boasted once, 
 
 As many now presume, 
 
 He heard the Lord himself pronounce 
 His sudden, awful doom. 
 
 3 “ This night, vain fool, thy soul must pass 
 
 Into a world unknown ; 
 
 And who shall then the stores possess, 
 Which thou hast call’d thine own ?” 
 
 4 Thus blinded mortals fondly scheme 
 
 For happiness below ; 
 
 Till death disturbs the pleasing dream, 
 
 And they awake to woe. 
 
 5 Ah ! who can speak the vast dismay 
 
 That fills the sinner’s mind, 
 
 When, torn by death’s strong hand away. 
 He leaves his all behind ! 
 
 6 Wretches, who cleave to earthly things, 
 
 But are not rich to God, 
 
 Their dying hour is full of stings. 
 
 And hell their dark abode. 
 
 7 Dear Saviour, make us timely wise, 
 
 Thy gospel to attend, 
 
 That we may live above the skies, 
 
 When this poor life shall end. 
 
 HYMN CIII. 
 
 THE BARREN FIG-TREE. CHAP. xiii. 6 — 9. 
 
 1 The church a garden is, 
 
 In which believers stand, 
 
 Like ornamental trees 
 Planted by God’s own hand ; 
 
 His Spirit waters all their roots, 
 
 And ev’ry branch abounds with fruits. 
 
HYMN CV. 
 
 2 But other trees there are, 
 
 In this inclosure grow, 
 
 Which, though they promise fair, 
 
 Have only leaves to show ; 
 
 No fruits of grace are on them found, 
 
 They stand but cumb’rers of the ground, 
 
 3 The under gard’ner grieves, 
 
 In vain his strength he spends, 
 
 For heaps of useless leaves 
 Afford him small amends : 
 
 He hears the Lord his will make known, 
 
 To cut the barren fig-trees down. 
 
 4 How difficult his post, 
 
 What pangs his bowels move, 
 
 To find his wishes cross’d, 
 
 His labours useless prove ! 
 
 His last relief, his earnest prayer, 
 
 “ Lord, spare them yet another year : 
 
 5 Spare them, and let me try, 
 
 What farther means may do ; 
 
 I’ll fresh manure apply, 
 
 My digging I’ll renew ; 
 
 Who knows but yet they fruit may yield ! 
 
 If not — ’tis just they must be fell’d.” 
 
 6 If under means of grace 
 No gracious fruits appear, 
 
 It is a dreadful case; 
 
 Though God may long forbear, 
 
 At length he’ll strike the threaten’d blow,* 
 And lay the barren fig-tree low. 
 
 HYMN CIV. 
 
 THE PRODIGAL SON. CHAP. XV. 11 — 24. 
 
 1 Afflictions, though they seem severe, 
 
 In mercy oft are sent ; 
 
 They stopp’d the prodigal’s career, 
 
 And forc’d him to repent. 
 
 2 Although he no relentings felt, 
 
 Till he had # spent his store ; 
 
 His stubborn heart began to melt 
 When famine pinch’d him sore. 
 
 3 “ What have I gain’d by sin (he said), 
 
 But hunger, shame, and fear ? 
 
 My father’s house abounds with bread. 
 While I am starving here. 
 
 4 I’ll go and tell him all I’ve done, 
 
 And fall before his face ; 
 
 Unworthy to be call’d his son, 
 
 I’ll seek a servant’s place.” 
 
 5 His father saw him coming back, 
 
 He saw, and ran, and smiled ; 
 
 And threw his arms around the neck 
 Of his rebellious child. 
 
 fj “ Father, I’ye sinn’d — but, O forgive !” 
 “ I’ve heard enough,” he said ; 
 
 “ Rejoice, my house, my son’s alive, 
 
 For whom I mourn’d as dead : 
 
 * Book II. Hymn xxvi. 
 
 LUKE. 550 
 
 7 Now let the fatted calf be slain, 
 
 And spread the news around ; 
 
 My son was dead, but lives again, 
 
 Was lost but now is found.” 
 
 8 ’Tis thus the Lord his love reveals, 
 
 To call poor sinners home ; 
 
 More than a father’s love he feels, 
 
 And welcomes all that come. 
 
 HYMN CV. 
 
 THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS. CHAP. xvi. 
 
 19—25. 
 
 1 A worldling spent each day 
 In luxury and state, 
 
 While a believer lay 
 A beggar at his gate : 
 
 Think not the Lord’s appointment strange, 
 Death made a great and lasting change. 
 
 2 Death brought the saint release 
 From want, disease, and scorn ; 
 
 And to the land of peace, 
 
 His soul, by angels borne, 
 
 In Abrahin’s bosom safely placed, 
 
 Enjoys an everlasting feast. 
 
 3 The rich man also died, 
 
 And in a moment fell 
 From all his pomp and pride 
 Into the flames of hell ; 
 
 The beggar’s bliss from far beheld, 
 
 His soul with double anguish fill’d. 
 
 4 “ O Abrah’m, send,” he cries, 
 
 ( But his request was vain) 
 
 “ The beggar from the skies, 
 
 To mitigate my pain ! 
 
 One drop of water I entreat, 
 
 To soothe my tongue’s tormenting heat.’ 
 
 5 Let all who worldly pelf 
 And worldly spirits have, 
 
 Observe, each for himself, 
 
 The answer Abrah’m gave : 
 
 “ Remember thou wast fill’d with good, 
 While the poor beggar pin’d for food. 
 
 6 Neglected at thy door, 
 
 With tears he begg’d his bread : 
 
 But now he weeps no more, 
 
 His griefs and pains are fled ; 
 
 His joys eternally will flow, 
 
 While thine expire in endless woe.’* 
 
 7 Lord, make us truly wise, 
 
 To choose thy people’s lot, 
 
 And earthly joys despise, 
 
 Which soon will be forgot: 
 
 The greatest evil we can fear, 
 
 Is to possess our portion here * 
 
560 
 
 BOOK 
 
 OLNEY 
 
 HYMN CVI. 
 
 THE IMPORTUNATE WIDOW.* CHAP. XVlii. 1—7. 
 
 1 Our Lord, who knows full well 
 
 The heart of every saint, 
 
 Invites us by a parable, 
 
 To pray and never faint. 
 
 2 He bows his gracious ear, 
 
 We never plead in vain ; 
 
 Yet we must wait till he appear, 
 
 And pray, and pray again. 
 
 S Though unbelief suggest, 
 
 Why should we longer wait ? 
 
 He bids us never give him rest, 
 
 But be importunate. 
 
 4 ’Twas thus a widow poor, 
 
 Without support or friend, 
 
 Beset the unjust judge’s door, 
 
 And gain’d at last her end. 
 
 5 For her he little car’d, 
 
 As little for the laws ; 
 
 Nor God nor man did he regard, 
 
 Yet he espous’d her cause. 
 
 6 She urg’d him day and night, 
 
 Would no denial take ; 
 
 At length he said, “ I’ll do her right, 
 
 For my own quiet’s sake.” 
 
 7 And shall not Jesus hear 
 
 His chosen when they cry ? 
 
 Yes, though he may a while forbear, 
 
 He’ll help them from on high. 
 
 8 ’Tis nature, truth, and love, 
 
 Engage him on their side ; 
 
 When they are griev’d, his bowels move, 
 And can they be denied ? 
 
 9 Then let us earnest be, 
 
 And never faint in prayer j 
 He loves our importunity. 
 
 And makes our cause his care. 
 
 HYMN CVII. 
 
 ZACCHEUS. CHAP. xix. 1 6. 
 
 1 Zaccheus climb’d the tree. 
 
 And thought himself unknown ; 
 But how surpris’d was he, 
 
 When Jesus call’d him down ! 
 
 The Lord beheld him, though conceal’d, 
 And by a word his power reveal’d. 
 
 2 Wonder and joy at once 
 Were painted in his face : 
 
 “ Does he my name pronounce, 
 And does he know my case ? 
 
 Will Jesus deign with me to dine? 
 
 Lord, I, with all 1 have, am thine.” 
 
 * Book II. Hymn lx. 
 
 HYMNS. 
 
 3 Thus where the gospel’s preach’d, 
 And sinners come to hear, 
 
 The hearts of some are reach’d 
 Before they are aware : 
 
 The word directly speaks to them, 
 
 And seems to point them out by name. 
 
 4 ’Tis curiosity 
 
 Oft brings them in the way, 
 
 Only the man to see. 
 
 And hear what he can say ; 
 
 But how the sinner starts to find, 
 
 The preacher knows his inmost mind. 
 
 5 His long forgotten faults 
 Are brought again in view, 
 
 And all his secret thoughts 
 Reveal’d in public too ; 
 
 Though compass’d with a crowd about, 
 The searching word has found him out. 
 
 6 While thus distressing pain 
 And sorrow fills his heart: 
 
 He hears a voice again, 
 
 That bids his fears depart. 
 
 Then, like Zaccheus, he is blest, 
 
 And Jesus deigns to be his guest. 
 
 HYMN CVIII. 
 
 THE BELIEVER'S DANGER, SAFETY, AND DUTY 
 chap. xxii. 31, 32. 
 
 ] “ Simon, beware!” the Saviour said, 
 
 “ Satan, your subtle foe. 
 
 Already has his measures laid, 
 
 Your soul to overthrow. 
 
 2 He wants to sift you all as wheat. 
 
 And thinks his victory sure ; 
 
 But I his malice will defeat, 
 
 My prayer shall faith secure.” 
 
 3 Believers, tremble and rejpice, 
 
 Your help and danger view ; 
 
 This warning has to you a voice, 
 
 This promise speaks to you. 
 
 4 Satan beholds, with jealous eye, 
 
 Your privilege and joy; 
 
 He’s always watchful, always nigh. 
 
 To tear and to destroy. 
 
 5 But Jesus lives to intercede, 
 
 That faith may still prevail ; 
 
 He will support in time of need, 
 
 And Satan’s art shall fail. 
 
 6 Yet let us not the warning slight, 
 
 But watchful still be found ; 
 
 Though faith cannot be slain in fight, 
 
 It may receive a wound. 
 
 7 While Satan watches, dare we sleep? 
 
 We must our guard maintain ; 
 
 But, Lord, do thou the city keep. 
 
 Or else we watch in vain.* 
 
 * PsaL cxxvii. I. 
 
HYMN cxii. 
 
 joiin. 
 
 561 
 
 HYMN CIX. 
 
 i 
 
 FATHER, FORGIVE THEM. CIIAF. Xxiii. 34. ^ 
 
 1 “ Father, forgive,” the Saviour said, 
 
 “ They know not what they do :** 
 
 His heart was mov’d when thus he prayed 
 For me, my friends, and you. 
 
 2 He saw that, as the Jews abus’d 
 
 And crucified his flesh, 
 
 So he by us would be refus’d, 
 
 And crucified afresh. 
 
 3 Through love of sin, we long were prone 
 
 To act as Satan bid ; 
 
 But now, with grief and shame we own 
 We knew not what we did. 
 
 4 We knew not the desert of sin, 
 
 Nor whom we thus defied ; 
 
 Nor where our guilty souls had been, 
 
 If Jesus had not died. 
 
 5 We knew not what a law we broken 
 
 How holy, just, and pure ! 
 
 Nor what a God we durst provoke, 
 
 But thought ourselves secure. 
 
 6 But Jesus all our guilt foresaw, 
 
 And shed his precious blood, 
 
 To satisfy the holy law, 
 
 And make our peace with God. 
 
 7 My sin, dear Saviour, made thee bleed, 
 
 Yet didst thou pray for me ! 
 
 I knew not what I did, indeed, 
 
 When ignorant of thee. 
 
 HYMN CX. 
 
 the two malefactors, chap, xxiii. 39 — 43. 
 
 1 Sovereign grace has power alone 
 To subdue a heart of stone ; 
 
 And the moment grace is felt, 
 
 Then the hardest heart will melt. 
 
 2 When the Lord was crucified, 
 
 Two transgressors with him died; 
 
 One, with vile blaspheming tongue. 
 
 Scoff'd at Jesus as he hung. 
 
 3 Thus he spent his wicked breath, 
 
 In the very jaws of death ; 
 
 Perish’d, as too many do, 
 
 With the Saviour in his view. 
 
 4 But the other, touch’d with grace, 
 
 Saw the danger of his case ; 
 
 Faith receiv’d to own the Lord, 
 
 Whom the scribes and priests abhorr’d. 
 
 B “ Lord,” he prayed, “ remember me, 
 
 When in glory thou shalt be.” 
 
 “ Soon with me,” the Lord replies, 
 u Thou shalt rest in paradise.” i 
 
 O' This was wondrous grace indeed, 
 Grace vouchsaf’d in time of need ; 
 Sinners, trust in Jesus’ name, 
 
 You shall find him still the same. 
 
 But beware of unbelief, 
 
 Think upon the harden’d thief ; 
 
 If the gospel you disdain, 
 
 Christ, to you, will die in vain. 
 
 JOHN. 
 
 HYMN CXI. 
 
 THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA. CHAP. iv. 28. 
 
 1 Jesus, to what didst thou submit, 
 
 To save thy dear-bought flock from hell 
 Like a poor traveller, see him sit, 
 
 Athirst and weary, by the well. 
 
 2 The woman who for water came, 
 
 (What great events on small depend !) 
 Then learnt the glory of his name, 
 
 The well of life, the sinner’s friend. 
 
 3 Taught from her birth to hate the Jews, 
 And fill’d with party-pride, at first 
 Her zeal induc’d her to refuse 
 
 Water to quench the Saviour’s thirst. 
 
 4 But soon she knew the gift of God ; 
 
 And Jesus, whom she scorn’d before, 
 Unask’d, that drink on her bestowed. 
 Which whoso tastes shall thirst no more. 
 
 5 His words her prejudice remov’d, 
 
 Her sin she felt, relief she found ; 
 
 She saw and heard, believ’d and lov’d, 
 And ran to tell her neighbours round. 
 
 6 O come, this wondrous man behold, 
 
 The promis’d Saviour ! this is he 
 Whom ancient prophecies foretold, 
 
 Born, from our guilt to set us free. 
 
 7 Like her, in ignorance content, 
 
 I worshipp’d long I knew not what ; 
 Like her, on other things intent, 
 
 I found him when I sought him not. 
 
 8 He told me all that e’er I did, 
 
 And told me all was pardon’d too ; 
 
 And now’, like her, as he has bid, 
 
 I live to point him out to you. 
 
 HYMN CXII. 
 
 THE POOL OF BETHESDA.* CHAP. V. 2 — 4, 
 
 1 Beside the gospel-pool 
 Appointed for the poor, 
 
 From year to year my helpless soul 
 Has waited for a cure 
 
 * Book Ilf. Hymn vii. 
 
 * U 
 
OLNKV HYMNS. 
 
 BOOR l 
 
 562 
 
 2 How often have I seen 
 The healing waters move, 
 
 And others, round me, stepping in. 
 
 Their efficacy prove I 
 
 3 But my complaints remain ; 
 
 I feel the very same, 
 
 As full of guilt, and fear, and pain, 
 
 As when at first I came. 
 
 4 O would the Lord appear, 
 
 My malady to heal ; 
 
 He knows how long I’ve languish’d here 
 And what distress I feel. 
 
 5 How often have I thought, 
 
 Why should I longer lie ? 
 
 Surely the mercy I have sought 
 Is not for such as I. 
 
 6 But whither can I go ? 
 
 There is no other pool 
 
 Where streams of sovereign virtue flow, 
 To make a sinner whole. 
 
 7 Here then, from day to day, 
 
 I’ll wait, and hope, and try : 
 
 Can Jesus hear a sinner pray, 
 
 Yet suffer him to die ? 
 
 8 No : he is full of grace; 
 
 He never will permit 
 
 A soul that fain would see his face, 
 
 To perish at his feet. 
 
 HYMN CXI 1 1 
 
 ANOTHER. 
 
 1 Here at Beihesda’s pool, the poor, 
 
 The wither’d, halt, and blind, 
 
 With waiting hearts expect a cure, 
 
 And free admittance find. 
 
 2 Here streams of wondrous virtue flow. 
 
 To heal a sin-sick soul ; 
 
 To wash the filthy white as snow 
 And make the wounded whole. 
 
 3 The dumb break forth in songs of praise, 
 
 The blind their sight receive, 
 
 The cripple run in wisdom’s ways, 
 
 The dead revive and live. 
 
 4 Restrain’d to no one case or time, 
 
 These waters always move ; 
 
 Sinners in ev’ry age and clime 
 Their vital influence prove. 
 
 5 Yet numbers daily near them lie, 
 
 Who meet with no relief ; 
 
 With life in view, they pine and die, 
 
 In hopeless unbelief. 
 
 6 ’Tis strange they should refuse to bathe, 
 
 And yet frequent the pool ; 
 
 But none can even wish for faith 
 While love of sin bears rulo 
 
 7 Satan their consciences has seal’d, 
 
 And stupified their thought, 
 
 For, were they willing to be heal’d. 
 The cure would soon be wrought. 
 
 8 Do thou, dear Saviour, interpose, 
 
 Their stubborn will constrain ; 
 
 Or else to them the water flows 
 And grace is preach’d in vain. 
 
 HYMN CXIV. 
 
 THE DISCIPLES AT SEA.* CHAP. vi. 16 21. 
 
 1 Constrain’d by their Lord to embark, 
 And venture without him to sea. 
 
 The season tempestuous and dark. 
 
 How griev’d the disciples must be ! 
 
 But though he remain’d on the shore, 
 
 He spent the night for them in prayer ; 
 They still were as safe as before, 
 
 And equally under his care. 
 
 2 They strove, though in vain, for a while, 
 The force of the waves to withstand ; 
 
 But when they were wearied with toil. 
 They saw their dear Saviour at hand. 
 They gladly received him on board, 
 
 His presence their spirits reviv’d, 
 
 The sea became calm at his word. 
 
 And soon at their port they arriv’d. 
 
 3 We, like the disciples, are toss’d 
 By storms on a perilous deep, 
 
 But cannot be possibly lost, 
 
 For Jesus has charge of the ship. 
 
 Though billows and winds are enrag’d, 
 And threaten to make us their sport. 
 
 This pilot his word has engag’d 
 To bring us in safety to port. 
 
 4 If sometimes we struggle alone, 
 
 And he is withdrawn from our view, 
 
 It makes us more willing to own 
 We nothing without him can do : 
 
 Then Satan our hopes would assail, 
 
 But Jesus is still within call ; 
 
 And when our poor efforts quite fail. 
 
 He comes in good time, and does all. 
 
 5 Yet, Lord, we are ready to shrink, 
 
 Unless we thy presence perceive ; 
 
 O save us, we cry, or we sink, 
 
 We would, but we cannot believe. 
 
 The night has been long and severe, 
 
 The winds and the seas are still high ; 
 Dear Saviour, this moment appear, 
 
 And say to our souls, “ It is I !”* 
 
 * Book II. Hymn lxxxvii. 
 f Book III. Hymn xviii. 
 
HYMN CXVIII. 
 
 JOHN. 
 
 563 
 
 IIYMN CXV 
 
 WILL YE ALSO GO AWAY? CHAr. VI. 67 — 69. 
 
 1 When any turn from Zion’s way, 
 
 ( Alas ! what numbers do !) 
 
 Methinks I hear my Saviour say, 
 
 “ Wilt thou forsake me too ?” 
 
 ! 2 Ah ! Lord, with such a heart as mine, 
 Unless thou hold me fast, 
 
 I feel I must, I shall decline, 
 
 And prove like them at last. 
 
 3 Yet thou alone hast power, I know, 
 
 To save a wretch like me : 
 
 To whom, or whither could I go, 
 
 If I should turn from thee ? 
 
 4 Beyond a doubt I rest assur’d. 
 
 Thou art the Christ of God, 
 
 Who hast eternal life secur’d 
 By promise and by blood. 
 
 5 The help of men and angels join’d 
 
 Could never reach my case, 
 
 Nor can I hope relief to find 
 But in thy boundless grace. 
 
 5 No voice but thine can give me rest, 
 
 And bid my fears depart, 
 
 No love but thine can make me blest, 
 
 And satisfy my heart. 
 
 7 What anguish has that question stirr’d 
 If I will also go ? 
 
 Yet, Lord, relying on thy word, 
 
 I humbly answer, No. 
 
 HYMN CXVI. 
 
 THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE. 
 
 CHAP. xi. 25. 
 
 1 “ I AM,” saith Christ, “ your glorious Head, 
 
 (May we attention give !) 
 
 The resurrection of the dead, 
 
 The life of all that live. 
 
 2 By faith in me the soul receives 
 
 New life, though dead before ; 
 
 And he that in my name believes, 
 
 Shall live, to die no more. 
 
 3 The sinner, sleeping in his grave, 
 
 Shall at my voice awake ; 
 
 And when I once begin to save, 
 
 My work I ne’er forsake.” 
 
 4 Fulfil thy promise, gracious Lord, 
 
 On us assembled here ; 
 
 Put forth thy Spirit with the word, 
 
 And cause the dead to hear. 
 
 5 Preserve the power of faith alive 
 
 In those who love thy name ; 
 
 For sin and Satan daily strive 
 To quench the sacred flame. 
 
 6 Thy power and mercy first prevail’d, 
 
 From death to set us free ; 
 
 And often since our life had fail’d. 
 If not renew’d by thee. 
 
 7 To thee we look, to thee we bow, 
 
 To thee for help we call ; 
 
 Our life and resurrection thou, 
 
 Our hope, our joy, our all. 
 
 HYMN CXVII. 
 
 WEEPING MARY. CHAP. XX. 11 — 16. 
 
 1 Mary to her Saviour's tomb 
 Hasted at the early dawn ; 
 
 Spice she brought, and sweet perfume , 
 But the Lord she lov’d was gone. 
 
 For a while she weeping stood. 
 
 Struck with sorrow and surprise, 
 Shedding tears, a plenteous flood, 
 
 For her heart supplied her eyes. 
 
 2 Jesus, who is always near. 
 
 Though too often unperceiv’d, 
 
 Came, his drooping child to cheer, 
 Kindly asking why she griev’d ? 
 Though at first she knew him not, 
 When he call’d her by her name, 
 
 Then her griefs were all forgot, 
 
 For she found he was the same. 
 
 3 Grief and sighing quickly fled, 
 
 When she heard his welcome voice , 
 Just before she thought him dead, 
 
 Now he bids her heart rejoice. 
 
 What a change his word can make, 
 Turning darkness into day ! 
 
 You who weep for Jesus’ sake. 
 
 He will wipe your tears away 
 
 4 He who came to comfort her. 
 
 When she thought her all was lost. 
 
 Will for your relief appear, 
 
 Though you now are tempest-toss’d. 
 
 On his word your burden cast} 
 
 On his love your thoughts employ ; 
 Weeping for a while may last, 
 
 But the morning brings the joy. 
 
 HYMN CXVIII. 
 
 LOVES!’ THOU ME ? CHAP. xxi. 16. 
 
 1 Hark, my soul ! it is the Lord, 
 
 ’Tis thy Saviour, hear his word j 
 Jesus speaks, and speaks to thee, 
 
 “ Say, poor sinner, lov’st thou me? 
 
 2 I deliver’d thee when bound, 
 
 And, when wounded, heal’d thy wound 
 Sought thee ^yand’ring, set thee right, 
 Turn’d thy darkness into light. 
 
OLNEY HYMNS, 
 
 1. 
 
 564 
 
 3 Can a woman’s tender care 
 Cease towards the child she bare ? 
 Yes, she may forgetful be, 
 
 Yet will I remember thee. 
 
 4 Mine is an unchanging love, 
 Higher than the heights above, 
 Deeper than the depths beneath, 
 Free and faithful, strong as death. 
 
 5 Thou sbalt see my glory soon, 
 When the work of grace is done, 
 Partner of my throne shalt be, 
 Say, poor sinner, lov’st thou me ?’ 
 
 6 Lord, it is my chief complaint. 
 That my love is weak and faint ; 
 Yet I love thee and adore: 
 
 O for grace to love thee more ! 
 
 HYMN CXIX 
 
 ANOTHER. 
 
 ! ’Tis a point I long to know. 
 
 Oft it causes anxious thought, 
 
 Do 1 love the Lord or no ? 
 
 Am I his, or am I not ? 
 
 2 If I love, why am I thus ? 
 
 Why this dull and lifeless frame 
 Hardly, sure, can they be worsen 
 Who have never heard his name 
 
 3 Could my heart so hard remain 
 Prayer a task and burden prove 
 Ev’ry trifle give me pain, 
 
 If I knew a Saviour’s love ? 
 
 4 When I turn my eyes within, 
 
 All is dark, and vain, and wild ; 
 Fill’d with unbelief and sin, 
 
 Can I deem myself a child ? 
 
 5 If I pray, or hear, or read, 
 
 Sin is mix’d with all I do ; 
 
 You that love the Lord indeed, 
 Tell me, is it thus with you? 
 
 6 Yet I mourn my stubborn will, 
 Find my sin a grief and thrall : 
 Should I grieve for what I feel, 
 If I did not love at all? 
 
 7 Could I joy his saints to meet, 
 Chuse the ways I once abhorr'd, 
 Find at times the promise sweet, 
 If I did not love the Lord ? 
 
 S Lord, decide the doubtful case : 
 Thou, who art thy people’s sun, 
 Shine upon thy work of grace, 
 
 If it be indeed begun. 
 
 9 Let me love thee more and more, 
 If I love at all, 1 pray; 
 
 If I have not lov’d before, 
 
 Help me to begin to-day. 
 
 ACTS. 
 
 HY A:N CXX. 
 
 THE DEATH OF STEPHEN. CHAP. vii. 54 — GO 
 
 1 As some tall rock amidst the waves, 
 
 The fury of the tempest braves, 
 
 While the fierce billows, tossing high, 
 Break at its foot, and, murm’ring, die : 
 
 2 Thus they who in the Lord confide, 
 Though foes assault on ev’ry side, 
 
 Cannot be mov’d or overthrown, 
 
 For Jesus makes their cause his own. 
 
 3 So faithful Stephen, undismayed. 
 
 The malice of the Jews surveyed; 
 
 The holy joy which fill’d his breast 
 A lustre on his face impress’d. 
 
 4 “ Behold !” he said, “ the world of light 
 Is open’d to my strengthen'd sight ; 
 
 My glorious Lord appears in view, 
 
 That Jesus whom ye lately slew.’ 
 
 5 With such a friend and witness near, 
 
 No form of death could make him fear ; 
 Calm, amidst showers of stones, he kneels, 
 And only for his murd’rers feels. 
 
 6 May we, by faith, perceive thee thus. 
 
 Dear Saviour, ever near to us ! 
 
 This sight our peace through life shall keej* 
 And death be fear'd no more than sleep. 
 
 IIYMN CXX1. 
 
 THE REBEL'S SURRENDER TO GRACE. 
 LORD, WHAT WILT THOU HAVE ME TO DO ? 
 CHAP. ix. 6. 
 
 LORD, thou hast won, at length I yield ; 
 My heart, by mighty grace compell d 
 Surrenders all to thee ; 
 
 Against thy terrors long I strove, 
 
 But who can stand against thy love ? 
 Love conquers even me. 
 
 All that a wretch could do I tried, 
 
 Thy patience scorn’d, thy power defied. 
 And trampled on thy laws ; 
 
 Scarcely thy martyrs at the stake 
 Could stand more steadfast for thy sake, 
 Than I in Satan’s cause. 
 
 But since thou hast thy love reveal’d 
 And shown my soul a pardon seal'd, 
 
 I can resist no more ; 
 
 Couldst thou for such a sinner bleed ? 
 Canst thou for such a rebel plead ? 
 
 I wonder and adore ! 
 
HYMN CXXIV. 
 
 AC 
 
 4 If thou had’st bid thy thunders roll, 
 
 And lightnings flash, to blast my soul, 
 
 I still had stubborn been : 
 
 But mercy has my heart subdu’d, 
 
 A bleeding Saviour I have view’d, 
 
 And now I hate my sin. 
 
 5 Now, Lord, I would be thine alone, 
 
 Come, take possession of thine own, 
 
 For thou hast set me free ; 
 
 Releas’d from Satan’s hard command, 
 
 See all my powers waiting stand, 
 
 To be employed by thee. 
 
 6 My will conform’d to thine would move ; 
 On thee my hope, desire, and love, 
 
 In fix’d attention join ; 
 
 My hands, my eyes, my ears, my tongue, 
 Have Satan’s servants been too long, 
 
 But now they shall be thine. 
 
 7 And can I be the very same, 
 
 Who lately durst blaspheme thy name, 
 
 And on thy gospel tread ? 
 
 Surely each one who hears my case, 
 
 Will praise thee, and confess thy grace 
 Invincible indeed ! 
 
 HYMN CXXII. 
 
 PFTER RELEASED FROM PRISON. CHAP. xii. 
 5—8. 
 
 I Fervent persevering prayers 
 Are faith’s assur’d resource; 
 
 Brazen gates and iron bars 
 In vain withstand their force. 
 
 Peter, when in prison cast, 
 
 Though by soldiers kept with care, 
 Though the doors were bolted fast, 
 
 Was soon releas’d by prayer. 
 
 5 While he slept, an angel came, 
 
 And spread a light around, 
 
 Touch’d, and call’d him by his name, 
 
 And rais’d him from the ground. 
 
 All his chains and fetters burst, 
 
 Ev’rv door wide open flew : 
 
 Peter thought he dream’d at first, 
 
 But found the vision true. 
 
 8 Thus the Lord can make a way 
 
 To bring his saints relief; 
 
 Theirs it is to wait and pray, 
 
 In spite of unbelief. 
 
 He can break through walls of stone, 
 
 Sink the mountain to a plain ; 
 
 They to whom his name is known, 
 
 Can never pray in vain. 
 
 i Thus, in chains of guilt and sin, 
 
 Poor sinners sleeping lie ; 
 
 No alarm is felt within, 
 
 Although condemn'd to die ; 
 
 Till, descending from above, 
 
 (Mercy smiling in his eyes) 
 
 Jesus, with a voice of love. 
 
 Awakes, and bids them rise. 
 
 TS. 
 
 5 Glad the summons they obey, 
 
 And liberty desire ; 
 
 Straight their fetters melt away, 
 
 Like wax before the fire : 
 
 By the word of him who died, 
 
 Guilty prisoners to release, 
 
 Every door flies open wide. 
 
 And they depart in peace. 
 
 IIYMN CXXIII. 
 
 THE TREMBLING GAOLER. CHAP. xvi. 29 — 81 
 
 1 A eeliever free from care, 
 
 May in chains or dungeons sing, 
 
 If the Lord be with him there, 
 
 And be happier than a king : 
 
 Paul and Silas thus confin’d, 
 
 Though their backs were torn by whips, 
 Yet, possessing peace of mind. 
 
 Sung his praise with joyful lips. 
 
 2 Suddenly the prison shook, 
 
 Open flew the iron doors ; 
 
 And the gaoler, terror-struck, 
 
 Now his captives help implores : 
 Trembling at their feet he fell, 
 
 “ Tell me, Sirs, what must I do, 
 
 To be saved from guilt and hell ? 
 
 None can tell me this but you.” 
 
 3 “ Look to Jesus,” they replied ; 
 
 “ If on him thou canst believe, 
 
 By the death which he hath died. 
 
 Thou salvation shalt receive.” 
 
 While the living word he heard, 
 
 Faith sprang up within his heart ; 
 
 And, releas’d from all he fear’d, 
 
 In their joy his soul had part. 
 
 4 Sinners, Christ is still the same, 
 
 0 that you could likewise fear. 1 
 Then the mention of his name 
 Would be music to your ear: 
 
 Jesus rescues Satan's slaves, 
 
 His dear wounds still plead, “ Forgive I* 
 Jesus to the utmost saves ; 
 
 Sinners, look to him and live. 
 
 HYMN CXXIV. 
 
 THE EXORCISTS. CHAP. xix. 13 — 16. 
 
 1 When the apostle wonders wrought, 
 
 And heal’d the sick in Jesus’ name, 
 
 The sons of Sceva vainly thought 
 That they had power to do the same. 
 
 2 On one possess’d they tried their art, 
 
 And, naming Jesus preached by Paul, 
 They charg’d the spirit to depart. 
 Expecting he’d obey their call. 
 
 3 The spirit answered with a mock, 
 
 “ Jesus I know, and Paul I know ; 
 
 1 must have gone if Paul had spoke ; 
 
 But who are ye that bid me go? 
 
OLNEY HYMNS, 
 
 BOOK 
 
 see 
 
 4 With fury then the man he fill’d, 
 
 Who on the poor pretenders flew ; 
 Naked and wounded, almost kill’d, 
 
 They fled in all the people’s view. 
 
 5 Jesus ! that name pronounc’d by faith, 
 Is full of wonder-working power ; 
 
 It conquers Satan, sin, and death, 
 
 And cheers in trouble’s darkest hour. 
 
 6 But they who are not born again, 
 
 Know nothing of it but the sound ; 
 They do not take his name in vain, 
 When most their zeal and pains abound. 
 
 7 Satan their vain attempts derides, 
 Whether they talk, or pray, or preach ; 
 Long as the love of sin abides, 
 
 His power is safe beyond their reach. 
 
 8 But you, believers, may rejoice, 
 
 Satan well knows your mighty Friend ; 
 He trembles at your Saviour’s voice, 
 And owns he cannot gain his end. 
 
 HYMN CXXV. 
 
 Paul’s voyage., chap, xxvii. 
 
 1 If Paul in Caesar’s court must stand, 
 
 He need not fear the sea ; 
 
 Secur’d from harm on every hand 
 By the divine decree. 
 
 2 Although the ship in which he sail’d 
 
 By dreadful storms was toss’d ; 
 
 The promise over all prevail’d, 
 
 And not a life was lost. 
 
 ? Jesus, the God whom Paul ador’d, 
 
 Who saves in time of need, 
 
 Was then confess’d, by all on beard, 
 
 A present help indeed ! 
 
 4 Though neither sun nor stars were seen, 
 
 Paul knew the Lord was near ! 
 
 And faith preserv’d his soul serene, 
 
 When others shook for fear. 
 
 5 Believers thus are toss’d about, 
 
 On life’s tempestuous main ; 
 
 But grace assures, beyond a doubt 
 They shall their port attain. 
 
 6 They must, they shall appear one day, 
 
 Before their Saviour’s throne ; 
 
 The storms they meet with by the way, 
 But make his power known. 
 
 7 Their passage lies across the brink 
 
 Of many a threatening wave ; 
 
 Tiie w'orld expects to see them sink, 
 
 But Jesus lives to save. 
 
 8 Lord, though we are but feeble worms, 
 
 Yet since thy word is past, 
 
 We’ll venture through a thousand storms, 
 To see thy face at last. 
 
 ROMANS. 
 
 HYMN CXXVI. 
 
 THE GOOD THAT I WOULD, I DO NOT. 
 
 CHAP. vii. 19. 
 
 1 I would, but cannot sing, 
 
 Guilt has untun’d my voice 
 
 The serpent’s sin-envenom’d sting 
 Has poison’d all my joys. 
 
 2 I know' the Lord is nigh, 
 
 And would, but cannot pray; 
 
 For Satan meets me when I try, 
 
 And frights my soul away. 
 
 3 I would, but can’t repent, 
 
 Though I endeavour oft ; 
 
 This stony heart can ne’er relent, 
 
 Till Jesus make it soft. 
 
 4 I would, but cannot love, 
 
 Though wooed by love divine ; 
 
 No arguments have power to move 
 A soul so base as mine. 
 
 5 I would, but cannot rest. 
 
 In God’s most holy will ; 
 
 I know what he appoints is best, 
 
 Yet murmur at it still. 
 
 6 Oh could I but believe ! 
 
 Then all would easy be : 
 
 I would, but cannot, — Lord, relieve ; 
 My help must come from thee ! 
 
 7 But if indeed I w ould, 
 
 Though I can nothing do ; 
 
 Yet the desire is something good, 
 
 For which my praise is due. 
 
 8 By nature prone to ill, 
 
 Till thine appointed hour, 
 
 I was as destitute of will, 
 
 As now I am of power, 
 
 9 Wilt thou not crown at length 
 The work thou hast begun ? 
 
 And with a will, afford me strength, 
 In all thy ways to run ? 
 
 HYMN CXXVII. 
 
 SALVATION DRAWING NEARER. CHAP. xiii. 
 
 1 Darkness overspreads us here, 
 
 But the night wears fast away ; 
 
 Jacob’s Star w’ill soon appear. 
 
 Leading on eternal day ! 
 
 " Now ’tis time to rouse from sleep, 
 
 Trim our lamps, and stand prepar’d 
 For our Lord strict watch to keep. 
 
 Lest he find us off our guard. 
 
HYMN CXXX. 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 567 
 
 2 Let his people courage take, 
 
 Bear with a submissive mind 
 All they suffer for his sake, 
 
 Rich amends they soon will find: 
 
 He will wipe away their tears, 
 
 Near himself appoint their lot ; 
 
 All their sorrows, pains, and fears, 
 Quickly then will be forgot. 
 
 S Though already sav’d by grace, 
 
 From the hour we first believ’d ; 
 
 Yet while sin and war have place, 
 
 We have but a part receiv’d ; 
 
 Still we for salvation wait, 
 
 Every hour it nearer comes ! 
 
 Death will break the prison gate, 
 
 And admit us to our homes. 
 
 4 Sinners, what can you expect ? 
 
 You who now the Saviour dare, 
 
 Break his laws, his grace reject, 
 
 You must stand before his bar ! 
 Tremble, lest he say, Depart ! 
 
 Oh the horrors of that sound ! 
 
 Lord, make every careless heart 
 Seek thee while thou may’st be found. 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 HYMN CXXVIII. 
 
 THAT ROCK WAS CHRIST. CHAP. X. 4. 
 
 When Israel’s tribes were parch’d with 
 thirst, 
 
 Forth from the rock the waters hurst, 
 
 And all their future journey through 
 Yielded them drink, and gospel too ! 
 
 2 In Moses rod a type they saw 
 Of his severe and fiery law ; 
 
 The smitten rock prefigur’d him 
 
 From whose pierc’d side all blessings stream. 
 
 S But, ah, the types were all too faint, 
 
 His sorrows or his worth to paint ; 
 
 Slight was the stroke of Moses’ rod, 
 
 But he endur’d the wrath of God. 
 
 4 Their outward rock could feel no pain, 
 
 But ours was wounded, torn, and slain ; 
 The rock gave but a watery flood, 
 
 But Jesus pour’d forth streams of blood. 
 
 5 The earth is like their wilderness, 
 
 A land of drought and sore distress ; 
 Without one stream from pole to pole, 
 
 To satisfy a thirsty soul. 
 
 t> But let the Saviour’s praise resound ; 
 
 In him refreshing streams are found ; 
 Which pardon, strength, and comfort give 
 And thirsty sinners drink and live. 
 
 H CORINTHIANS. 
 
 HYMN CXXIX. 
 
 MY GRACE IS SUFFICIENT FOR THEE. 
 
 CHAP. xii. 9. 
 
 1 Oppress’d with unbelief and sin, 
 
 Fightings without, and fears within ; 
 
 While earth and hell, with force combin’d, 
 Assault and terrify my mind : 
 
 2 What strength have I against such foes, 
 Such hosts and legions to oppose ? 
 
 Alas ! I tremble, faint, and fall ; 
 
 Lord, save me, or I give up all. 
 
 S Thus sorely press’d, I sought the Lord, 
 
 To give me some sweet cheering word ; 
 Again I sought, and yet again ; 
 
 I waited long but not in vain. 
 
 4 Oh ! 'twas a cheering w'ord indeed ! 
 Exactly suited to my need ; 
 
 “ Sufficient for thee is my grace ; 
 
 Thy weakness my great powder displays.” 
 
 5 Now I despond and mourn no more, 
 
 I welcome all I fear’d before ; [blest. 
 
 Though w'eak, I’m strong, though troubled. 
 For Christ’s own pow r er shall on me rest. 
 
 6 My grace would soon exhausted be, 
 
 But his is boundless as the sea ; 
 
 Then let me boast, with holy Paul, 
 
 That I am nothing, Christ is all. 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 HYMN CXXX. 
 
 THE INWARD WARFARE.. CHAP. V. 17. 
 
 1 Strange and mysterious is my life, 
 
 What opposites I feel within ! 
 
 A stable peace, a constant strife ; 
 
 The rule of grace, the power of sin : 
 
 Too often I am captive led, 
 
 Yet daily triumph in my Head. 
 
 2 I prize the privilege of prayer, 
 
 But oh ! what backwardness to pray ! 
 Though on the Lord I cast my care, 
 
 I feel its burden every day ; 
 
 I seek his will in all I do, 
 
 Yet find my own is working too. 
 
 3 I call the promises my own, 
 
 And prize them more than mines of gold , 
 Yet though their sweetness I have known. 
 They leave me unimpress’d and cold : 
 
 One hour upon the truth I feed, 
 
 The next I knew not what I read 
 
OLNEY HYMNS, 
 
 BOOK L 
 
 568 
 
 4 I love the holy day of rest, 
 
 When Jesus meets his gather’d saints : 
 Sweet day, of all the week the best ! 
 For its return my spirit pants ; 
 
 Yet often, through my unbelief, 
 
 It proves a day of guilt and grief. 
 
 5 While on my Saviour I rely, 
 
 I know my foes shall lose their aim, 
 And therefore dare their power defy, 
 Assur’d of conquest through his name ; 
 But soon my confidence is slain, 
 
 And all my fears return again. 
 
 6 Thus diff’rent powers within me strive, 
 And grace and sin by turns prevail ; 
 
 I grieve, rejoice, decline, revive, 
 
 And victory hangs in doubtful scale : 
 But Jesus has his promise past, 
 
 That grace shall overcome at last. 
 
 PHILIPPIAN S. 
 
 HYMN CXXXI. 
 
 CONTENTMENT. # CHAP. iv. II. 
 
 1 Fierce passions discompose the mind, 
 
 As tempests vex the sea ; 
 
 But calm content and peace we find, 
 When, Lord, we turn to thee. 
 
 2 In vain by reason and by rule 
 
 We try to bend the will ; 
 
 For none but in the Saviour’s school 
 Can learn the heavenly skill. 
 
 3 Since at his feet my soul has sat 
 
 His gracious words to hear, 
 
 Contented with my present state, 
 
 I cast on him my care. 
 
 4 “ Art thou a sinner, soul ?” he said, 
 
 “ Then how canst thou complain? 
 How light thy troubles here, if weigh d 
 With everlasting pain ! 
 
 5 If thou of murm’ring wouldst be cur’d 
 
 Compare thy griefs with mine ; 
 
 Think what my love for thee endur’d 
 And thou wilt not repine. 
 
 6 *Tis I appoint thy daily lot, 
 
 And I do all things well ; 
 
 Thou soon shalt leave this wretched spot, 
 And rise with me to dwell. 
 
 7 In life my grace shall strength supply, 
 
 Proportion’d to thy day 
 At death thou still shalt find me nigh 
 To wipe thy tears away.” 
 
 8 Thus I, who once my wretched days 
 In vain repinings spent, 
 
 Taught in my Saviour’s school of grace, 
 Have learn’d to be content. 
 
 C. 
 
 HEBREWS. 
 
 HYMN CXXXII. 
 
 OLD TESTAMENT GOSPEL. CHAP. iv. 2. 
 
 1 Israel, in ancient days, 
 
 Not only had a view 
 Of Sinai in a blaze, 
 
 But learn’d the gospel too : 
 
 The types and figures were a glass, 
 
 In which they saw the Saviour’s face; 
 
 2 The paschal sacrifice, 
 
 And blood-besprinkled door,* 
 
 Seen w'ith enlighten’d eyes, 
 
 And once applied with power, 
 
 Would teach the need' of other blood, 
 
 To reconcile an angry God. 
 
 3 The lamb, the dove, set forth 
 His perfect innocence, f 
 Whose blood of matchless worth, 
 Should be the soul’s defence ; 
 
 For he who can for sin atone, 
 
 Must have no failings of his own. 
 
 4 The scape-goat on his headj 
 The people’s trespass bore, 
 
 And to the desert led. 
 
 Was to be seen no more : 
 
 In him our Surety seem’d to say, 
 
 “ Behold, I bear your sins away.” 
 
 5 Dipt in his fellow^’s blood, 
 
 The living bird w r ent free;§ 
 
 The type, well understood, 
 
 Express’d the sinner’s plea, 
 
 Describ’d a guilty soul enlarg’d, 
 
 And by a Saviour’s death discharg’d. 
 
 6 Jesus, I love to trace 
 Throughout the sacred page, 
 
 The footsteps of thy grace, 
 
 The same in ev’ry age. 
 
 O grant that I may faithful be 
 To clearer light vouchsaf’d to me! 
 
 C. 
 
 * Exodus xii. 13. f Lev. xii. 6. 
 
 I Lev. xvi. 21. $ Lev xiv. 31—33. 
 
 •* Book III. Hymn lv. 
 
RYMN CXXXV. 
 
 MB BREWS. 
 
 HYMN CXXXIII. 
 
 THE WORD QUICK AND POWERFUL. 
 
 CHAP. iv. 12, 18. 
 
 1 The word of Christ, our Lord, 
 
 With whom we have to do, 
 
 Is sharper than a two-edg’d sword, 
 
 To pierce the sinner through : 
 
 2 Swift as the lightning’s blaze, 
 
 When awful thunders roll, 
 
 It fills the conscience with amaze. 
 
 And penetrates the soul. 
 
 3 No heart can be conceal’d 
 From his all-piercing eyes ; 
 
 Each thought and purpose stands reveal’d, 
 Naked, without disguise. 
 
 4 He sees his people’s fears, 
 
 He notes their mournful cry, 
 
 He counts their sighs and falling tears, 
 And helps them from on high. 
 
 b Though feeble is their good, 
 
 It has its kind regard ; 
 
 Yea, all they would do if they could,* 
 Shall find a sure reward. 
 
 6 He sees the wicked too, 
 
 And will repay them soon, 
 
 For all the evil deeds they do, 
 
 And all they w&uld have done.f 
 
 7 Since all our secret ways 
 
 Are mark’d and known by thee 
 
 Afford us, Lord, thy light of grace, 
 
 That we ourselves may see. 
 
 HYMN CXXXIV. 
 
 LOOKING UNTO JESUS. CHAP. xii. 2. 
 
 1 By various maxims, forms, and rules, 
 That pass for wisdom in the schools, 
 
 I strove my passion to restrain, 
 
 But all my efforts prov’d in vain. 
 
 2 But since the Saviour I have known, 
 My rules are all reduc’d to one, 
 
 To keep my Lord, by faith, in view ; 
 This strength supplies, and motives too. 
 
 3 I see him lead a suff’ring life, 
 
 Patient amidst reproach ^nd strife ; 
 
 And from his pattern courage take. 
 
 To bear and suffer for his sake. 
 
 4 Upon the cross I see him bleed, 
 
 And by the sight from guilt am freed ; 
 This sight destroys the life of sin, 
 
 And quickens heavenly life within. 
 
 5f> 9 
 
 To look to Jesus as he rose, 
 
 Confirms my faith, disarms my foes ; 
 
 Satan I shame and overcome, 
 
 By pointing to my Saviour’s tomb. 
 
 Exalted on his glorious throne, 
 
 I see him make my cause his own ; 
 
 Then all my anxious cares subside, 
 
 For Jesus lives, and will provide. 
 
 I see him look with pity down, 
 
 And hold in view the conq’ror’s crown: 
 
 If press’d with griefs and cares before, 
 
 My soul revives, nor asks for more. 
 
 By faith I see the hour at hand, 
 
 When in his presence I shall stand ; 
 
 Then it will be my endless bliss, 
 
 To see him where, and as he is. 
 
 HYMN CXXXV. 
 
 LOVE-TOKENS. CHAP. xii. 5 — 11. 
 
 Afflictions do not come alone, 
 
 A voice attends the rod ; 
 
 By both he to his saints is known, 
 
 A Father and a God ! 
 
 “ Let not my children slight the stroke 
 I for chastisement send, 
 
 Nor faint beneath my kind rebuke, 
 
 For still I am their friend. 
 
 The wicked I perhaps may leave 
 A while, and not reprove ; 
 
 But all the children I receive, 
 
 I scourge, because I love. 
 
 If, therefore, you are left without 
 This needful discipline, 
 
 You might with cause admit a doubt. 
 
 If you, indeed, were mine. 
 
 Shall earthly parents then expect 
 Their children to submit ? 
 
 And will not you, w'hen I correct, 
 
 Be hum-bled at my feet ? 
 
 To please themselves they oft chastise. 
 
 And put their sons to pain ; 
 
 But you are precious in my eyes, 
 
 And shall not smart in vain. 
 
 I see your hearts at present fill’d 
 With grief and deep distress ; 
 
 But soon these bitter seeds shall yield 
 The fruits of righteousness.” 
 
 Break through the clouds, dear Lord, and 
 Let us perceive thee nigh ! [shine, 
 
 And to each mourning child of thine 
 These gracious words apply. 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 8 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 1 
 
 7 : 
 
 8 ] 
 
 * I v- viii. I S. 
 
 + Mat'll, v. 2*i. 
 
570 
 
 OLNEY HYMNS, 
 
 BOOK 1 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 HYMN CXXXVL 
 
 EPHESUS. CHAP. ii. 1 — 7. 
 
 1 Thus saith the Lord to Ephesus, 
 
 And thus he speaks to some of us: — 
 
 “ Amidst my churches, lo, I stand, 
 
 And hold the pastors in my hand : 
 
 2 Thy works to me are fully known, 
 
 Thy patience and thy toil I own ; 
 
 Thy views of gospel-truth are clear. 
 
 Nor canst thou other doctrine bear. 
 
 3 Yet I must blame while I approve ; 
 
 Where is thy first, thy fervent love ? 
 
 Dost thou forget my love to thee ? 
 
 That thine is grown so faint to me ! 
 
 4 Recall to mind the happy days, 
 
 When thou wast fill’d with joy and praise ; 
 Repent, thy former works renew. 
 
 Then I’ll restore thy comforts too. 
 
 5 Return at once, when I reprove, 
 
 Lest I thy candlestick remove ; 
 
 And thou, too late, thy loss lament, 
 
 I warn before I strike, — Repent.’’ 
 
 6 Hearken to what the Spirit saith, 
 
 To him that overcomes by faith, 
 
 “ The fruit of life’s unfading tree, 
 
 In paradise his food shall be.” 
 
 HYMN CXXXVII 
 
 SMYRNA. CHAP. ii. 11. 
 
 1 The message first to Smyrna sent, 
 
 A message full of grace, 
 
 To all the Saviour’s flock is meant, 
 
 In ev’ry age and place. 
 
 2 Thus to his church, his chosen bride, 
 
 Saith the great First and Last, 
 
 Who ever lives, though once he died, 
 
 “ Hold thy profession fast. 
 
 3 Thy works and sorrow well I know, 
 
 Perform’d and borne for me ; 
 
 Poor though thou art, despis’d and low, 
 Yet who is rich like thee ? 
 
 4 I know thy foes, and what they say, 
 
 How long they have blasphem’d ; 
 
 The synagogue of Satan they, 
 
 Though they would Jews be deem’d. 
 
 5 Though Satan for a season rage, 
 
 And prisons be your lot, 
 
 I am your friend, and I engage 
 You shall not be forgot. 
 
 6 Be faithful unto death, nor fear 
 
 A few short days of strife ; 
 
 Behold ! the prize you soon shall wear, 
 A crown of endless life !” 
 
 7 Hear what the Holy Spirit saith 
 
 Of all who overcome ; 
 
 “ They shall escape the second death, 
 The sinner’s awful doom !” 
 
 HYMN CXXXVII. 
 
 SARDIS. CHAP. iii. 1 — 6. 
 
 1 “ Write to Sardis,” saith the Lord, 
 
 And write what he declares, 
 
 He whose Spirit, and whose Word, 
 Uphold the seven stars : 
 
 “ All thy works and ways I search, 
 Find thy zeal and love decayed ; 
 
 Thou art call’d a living church, 
 
 But thou art cold and dead. 
 
 2 Watch, remember, seek, and strive, 
 
 Exert thy former pains ; 
 
 Let thy timely care revive 
 
 And strengthen what remains ; 
 Cleanse thine heart, thy works amend. 
 Former times to mind recall, 
 
 Lest my sudden stroke descend, 
 
 And smite thee once for all. 
 
 3 Yet I number now in thee 
 
 A few that are upright ; 
 
 These my Father’s face shall see. 
 
 And walk with me in white : 
 
 When in judgment I appear, 
 
 They for mine shall be confess’d : 
 
 Let my faithful servants hear, 
 
 And woe be to the rest !” 
 
 C. 
 
 HYMN CXXXIX. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA. CHAP. iii. 7 — IS. 
 
 1 Thus saith the holy One and true, 
 
 To his beloved faithful few, 
 
 “ Of heaven and hell I hold the keys, 
 
 To shut, or open, as I please. 
 
 3 I know thy works, and I approve ; 
 
 Though small thy strength, sincere thy lovet 
 Go on, my word and name to own, 
 
 For none shall rob thee of thy crown. 
 
 3 Before thee see my mercy’s door 
 Stands open wide, to shut no more ; 
 
 Fear not temptation’s fiery day. 
 
 For I will be thy strength and stay. 
 
 4 Thou hast my promise, hold it fast, 
 
 The trying hour will soon be past ; 
 
 Rejoice, for, lo! I quickly come, 
 
 To take thee to my heavenly home. 
 
hymn cxli. 
 
 571 
 
 REVE 
 
 5 A pillar there, no more to move, 
 Inscrib’d with all my names of love ; 
 
 A monument of mighty grace, 
 
 Thou shalt for ever have a place.” 
 
 6 Such is the conqueror’s reward, 
 
 Prepar’d and promis’d by the Lord ! 
 
 Let him that hath the ear of faith, 
 Attend to what the Spirit saith. 
 
 HYMN CXL. 
 
 LAODICEA. CHAP. iii. 14 — 20. 
 
 1 Hear what the Lord, the great Amen, 
 The true and faithful witness says ! 
 
 He form’d the vast creation’s plan, 
 
 And searches all our hearts and ways. 
 
 2 To some he speaks, as once of old, 
 
 “ I know thee, thy profession’s vain : 
 Since thou art neither hot nor cold, 
 
 I’ll spit thee from me with disdain. 
 
 3 Thou boasted, “ I am wise and rich, 
 Increas’d in goods, and nothing need j” 
 And dost not know thou art a wretch, 
 Naked, and poor, and blind, and dead. 
 
 4 Yet while I thus rebuke, I love, 
 
 My message is in mercy sent ; 
 
 That thou may st my compassion prove, 
 I can forgive if thou repent. 
 
 5 Wouldst thou be truly rich and wise ! 
 Come, buy my gold in fire well tried, 
 My ointment to anoint thine eyes, 
 
 My robe thy nakedness to hide. 
 
 6 See at thy door I stand and knock ! 
 Poor sinner, shall I wait in vain ? 
 Quickly thy stubborn heart unlock, 
 That I may enter with my train. 
 
 ION. 
 
 Thou canst not entertain a king, 
 Unworthy thou of such a guest, 
 
 But I my own provisions bring, 
 
 To make thy soul a heavenly feast.” 
 
 HYMN CXLI. 
 
 THE LITTLE BOOK *. C^AP. X. 
 
 When the belov’d desciple took 
 The angel’s little open book, 
 
 Which, by the Lord’s command, he ate, 
 
 It tasted bitter after sweet. 
 
 Thus when the gospel is embrac’d, 
 
 At first *tis sweeter to the taste 
 Than honey, or the honey-comb, 
 
 But there’s a bitterness to come. 
 
 What sweetness does the promise yield, 
 When by the Spirit’s power seal’d ! 
 
 The longing soul is fill’d with good, 
 
 Nor feels a wish for other food. 
 
 By these inviting tastes allur'd 
 We pass to what must be endur’d ; 
 
 For soon we find it is decreed, 
 
 That bitter must to sweet succeed. 
 
 When sin revives, and shews its power, 
 When Satan threatens to devour, 
 
 When God afflicts, and men revile, 
 
 We draw our steps with pain and toil. 
 
 When thus deserted, tempest-toss’d, 
 
 The sense of former sweetness lost, 
 
 We tremble lest we were deceiv’d, 
 
 In thinking that we once believ’d. 
 
 The Lord first makes the sweetness known, 
 To win and fix us for his own ; 
 
 And though we now some bitter meet. 
 
 We hope for everlasting sweet. 
 
 • Book III. Hymn xxvii. 
 
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 2 
 
 8 
 
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 5 
 
 6 
 
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OLNEY HYMNS, 
 
 &C. 
 
 sa s: 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 ON OCCASIONAL SUBJECTS* 
 
 I. SEASONS. 
 
 NEW-YEAR HYMNS. 
 
 HYMN I. 
 
 TIME HOW SWIFT 
 
 1 While with ceaseless course the sun 
 Hasted through the former year, 
 Many souls their race have run, 
 Never more to meet us here : 
 
 Fix’d in an eternal state, 
 
 They have done with all below ; 
 
 We a little longer wait, 
 
 But how little none can know. 
 
 2 As the winged arrow flies, 
 
 Speedily the mark to find ; 
 
 As the lightning from the skies 
 Darts, and leaves no trace behind : 
 Swiftly thus our fleeting days 
 Bear us down life’s rapid stream ; 
 Upwards, Lord, our spirits raise, 
 
 All below is but a dream. 
 
 S Thanks for mercies past receive, 
 Pardon of our sins renew ; 
 
 Teach us henceforth how to live, 
 With eternity in view : 
 
 Bless thy word to young and old, 
 Fill us with a Saviour’s love ; 
 
 And when life’s short tale is told, 
 May we dwell with thee above. 
 
 HYMN II. 
 
 TIME HOW SHORT. 
 
 1 Time, with an unwearied hand, 
 Pushes round the seasons past : 
 
 And in life’s frail glass the sand 
 Sinks apace, not long to last ; 
 
 Many as well as you or I, 
 
 Who last year assembled thus, 
 
 In their silent graves now lie ; 
 
 Graves will open soon for us. 
 
 2 Daily sin, and care, and strife, 
 
 While the Lord prolongs our breatli, 
 Make it but a dying life, 
 
 Or a kind of living death : 
 
 Wretched they, and most forlorn. 
 Who no better portion know ; 
 
 Better ne’er to have been born 
 Than to have our all below. 
 
 3 When constrain’d to go alone. 
 Leaving all you love behind, 
 Ent’ring on a world unknown, 
 
 What will then support your mind ? 
 When the Lord his summons sends,* 
 Earthly comforts lose their power j 
 Honour, riches, kindred, friends, 
 Cannot cheer a dying hour. 
 
 • Isaiah x. 5 
 
HYMN V. 
 
 575 
 
 SEASON 3. 
 
 4 Happy souls, who fear the Lord ; 
 Time is not too swift for you ; 
 When your Saviour gives the word, 
 Glad you’ll bid the world adieu : 
 Then he’ll wipe away your tears, 
 Near himself appoint your place ; 
 Swifter fly, ye rolling years, 
 
 Lord, we long to see thy face. 
 
 HYMN III. 
 
 UNCERTAINTY OF LIFE. 
 
 1 See, another year is gone ! 
 
 Quickly have the seasons pass’d ! 
 
 This we enter now upon 
 
 May to many prove their last : 
 
 Mercy hitherto has spar’d, 
 
 But have mercies been improv’d ? 
 
 Let us ask, Am I prepar’d, 
 
 Should I be this year remov’d ? 
 
 2 Some we now no longer see, 
 
 Who their mortal race have run, 
 Seem’d as fair for life as we, 
 
 When the former year begun : 
 
 Some, but who God only knows, 
 Who are here assembled r.ow, 
 
 Ere the present year shall close, 
 
 To the stroke of death must bow. 
 
 8 Life a field of battle is, 
 
 Thousands fall within our view, 
 
 And the next death-bolt that flies, 
 May be sent to me or you. 
 
 While we preach and while we hear. 
 Help us, Lord, each one to think, 
 Vast eternity is near, 
 
 I am standing on the brink. 
 
 4 If, from guilt and sin set free, 
 
 By the knowledge of thy grace, 
 Welcome, then, the call will be, 
 
 To depart and see thy face. 
 
 To thy saints, while here below, 
 With new years, new mercies come ; 
 But the happiest year they know. 
 
 Is their last, which leads them home. 
 
 HYMN IV. 
 
 a new-year’s thought and prayer. 
 
 1 Time by moments steals away, 
 
 First the hour, and then the day ; 
 Small the daily loss appears, 
 
 Yet it soon amounts to years : 
 
 Thus another year is flown, 
 
 Now it is no more our own, 
 
 If it brought or promis’d good, 
 
 Than the years before the flood. 
 
 2 But (may none of us forget) 
 
 It has left us much in debt ; 
 
 Favours from the Lord receiv’d, 
 
 Sins that have his Spirit griev'd. 
 Mark’d by an unerring hand. 
 
 In his book recorded stand : 
 
 Who can tell the vast amount 
 Plac’d to each of our account ? 
 
 3 Happy the believing soul, 
 
 Christ for you has paid the whole : 
 While you own the debt is large, 
 
 You may plead a full discharge ; 
 
 But, poor careless sinner, say. 
 
 What can you to justice pay ? 
 Tremble, lest when life is past, 
 
 Into prison you be cast. 
 
 4 Will you still increase the score? 
 
 Still be careless as before ? 
 
 O forbid it, gracious Lord! 
 
 Touch their spirits by thy word ! 
 
 Now in mercy to them show 
 What a mighty debt they owe ! 
 
 All their unbelief subdue. 
 
 Let them find forgiveness too. 
 
 5 Spar’d to see another year, 
 
 Let thy blessing meet us here ; 
 
 Come, thy dying work revive, 
 
 Bid thy drooping garden thrive. 
 
 Sun of righteousness, arise ! 
 
 Warm our hearts, and bless our eyes ; 
 Let our prayer thy bowels move. 
 Make this year a time of love. 
 
 HYMN V. 
 
 DEATH AND WAR. 1778. 
 
 1 Hark, how time’s wide sounding bell 
 Strikes on each attentive ear ! 
 
 Toiling loud the solemn knell 
 
 Of the late departed year ; 
 
 Years, like mortals, wear away, 
 
 Have their birth and dying day, 
 Youthful spring, and wintry age. 
 
 Then to others quit the stage. 
 
 2 Sad experience may relate 
 What a year the last lias been ! 
 
 Crops of sorrow have been great, 
 
 From the fruitful seeds of sin ; 
 
 Oh ! what numbers gay and blythe, 
 
 Fell by death’s unsparing scythe ! 
 
 While they thought the world their own, 
 Suddenly he mow’d them down. 
 
 8 See, how war, with dreadful stride, 
 Marches at the Lord’s command, 
 Spreading desolation wide, 
 
 Through a once much favour’d land ; 
 War, with heart and arms of steel, 
 
 Preys on thousands at a meal ; 
 
 Daily drinking human gore, 
 
 I Still he thirsts and calls for mote. 
 
OLNEY HYMNS. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 4 If the God whom we provoke, 
 
 Hither should his way direct, 
 
 What a sin-avenging stroke 
 May a land like this expect ! 
 
 They who now securely sleep, 
 Quickly then would wake and weep ; 
 And too late would learn to fear, 
 When they saw the danger near. 
 
 5 You are safe who know his love, 
 
 He will all his truth perform ; 
 
 To your souls a refuge prove, 
 
 From the rage of every storm : 
 
 But we tremble for the youth ; 
 
 Teach them, Lord, thy saving truth ; 
 Join them to thy faithful few, 
 
 Be to them a refuge too. 
 
 HYMN VI. 
 
 eahthly prospects deceitful. 
 
 1 Oft in vain the voice of truth 
 Solemnly and loudly warns ; 
 Thoughtless, unexperienc’d youth, 
 Though it hears, the warning scorns. 
 Youth in fancy’s glass surveys 
 
 Life prolong’d to distant years, 
 
 While the vast imagin’d space 
 Fill’d with sweets and joys appears. 
 
 2 Awful disappointment soon 
 Overclouds the prospect gay ; 
 
 Some their sun goes down at noon, 
 Torn by death’s strong hand away : 
 Where are then their pleasing schemes ? 
 Where the joys they hope to find ? 
 
 Gone for ever, like their dreams, 
 Leaving not a trace behind. 
 
 3 Others, who are spar’d a while, 
 
 Live to weep o’er fancy’s cheat ; 
 
 Find distress, and pain, and toil, 
 
 Bitter things instead of sweet : 
 
 Sin has spread a curse around, 
 
 Poison’d all things here below ; 
 
 On this base polluted ground, 
 
 Peace and joy can never grow. 
 
 4 Grace alone can cure our ills, 
 
 Sweeten life with all its cares ; 
 
 Regulate our stubborn wills, 
 
 Save us from surrounding snares. 
 Though you oft have heard in vain, 
 Former years in folly spent, 
 
 Grace invites you yet again. 
 
 Once more calls you to repent. 
 
 5 Call’d again, at length, beware, 
 
 Hear the Saviour’s voice, and live ; 
 
 Lest he in his wrath should swear, 
 
 He no more will warning give. 
 
 Pray that you may hear and feel, 
 
 Ere the day of grace be past ; 
 
 Lest your hearts grow hard as steel, 
 
 Or this year should prove your last. 
 
 HYMNS 
 
 BEFORE ANNUAL SERMONS TO YOUNG PEOPLE 
 ON NEW-YEAR EVENINGS. 
 
 HYMN VII. 
 
 PRAYER FOR A BLESSING. 
 
 1 Now, gracious Lord, thine arm reveal, 
 
 And make thy glory known ; 
 
 Now let us all thy presence feel, 
 
 And soften hearts of stone ! 
 
 2 Help us to venture near thy throne. 
 
 And plead a Saviour’s name ; 
 
 For all that we can call our own, 
 
 Is vanity and shame. 
 
 3 From all the guilt of former sin 
 
 May mercy set us free ; 
 
 And let the year we now begin, 
 
 Begin and end with thee. 
 
 4 Send down thy Spirit from above, 
 
 That saints may love thee more, 
 
 And sinners now may learn to love, 
 
 Who never lov’d before. 
 
 5 And when before thee we appear 
 
 In our eternal home, 
 
 May growing numbers worship here, 
 
 And praise thee in our room. 
 
 HYMN VIII. 
 
 ANOTHER. 
 
 1 Bestow, dear Lord, upon our youth, 
 
 The gift of saving grace ; 
 
 And let the seed of sacred truth 
 Fall in a fruitful place. 
 
 2 Grace is a plant, where’er it grows, 
 
 Of pure and heavenly root ; 
 
 But fairest in the youngest shews, 
 
 And yields the sweetest fruit. 
 
 3 Ye careless ones, O hear betimes 
 
 The voice of sovereign love ! 
 
 Your youth is stain’d with many crimes. 
 But mercy reigns above. 
 
 ! 4 True, you are young, but there’s a stone 
 Within the youngest breast, 
 
 Or half the crimes which you have done^ 
 Would rob you of your rest. 
 
 5 For you the public prayer is made, 
 
 Oh ! join the public prayer 1 
 For you the sacred tear is shed, 
 
 O shed yourselves a tear ! 
 
HYMN XII. 
 
 SEASONS 
 
 575 
 
 fi We pray tliat you may early prove 
 The Spirit’s power to teach ; 
 
 You cannot be too young to love 
 That Jesus whom we preach. 
 
 C. 
 
 HYMN IX. 
 
 ANOTHER. 
 
 1 Now may fervent prayer arise, 
 
 Wing’d with faith and pierce the skies; 
 Fervent prayer shall bring us down 
 Gracious answers from the throne. 
 
 2 Bless, O Lord, the op’ning year, 
 
 To each soul assembled here ; 
 
 Clothe thy word with power divine. 
 
 Make us willing to be thine. 
 
 3 Shepherd of thy blood-bought sheep 1 
 Teach the stony heart to weep : 
 
 Let the blind have eyes to see, 
 
 See themselves and look on thee ! 
 
 4 Let the minds of all our youth 
 Feel the force of sacred truth ; 
 
 While the gospel-call they hear, 
 
 May they learn to love and fear. 
 
 5 Shew them what their ways have been. 
 Shew them tire desert of sin ; 
 
 Then thy dying love reveal, 
 
 This shall melt a heart of steel. 
 
 6 Where thou hast thy work begun, 
 
 Give new strength the race to run ; 
 Scatter, darkness, doubts, and fears, 
 
 Wipe away the mourner’s tears. 
 
 7 Bless us all, both old and young ; 
 
 Call forth praise from every tongue; 
 
 Let the whole assembly prove 
 
 All thy power, and all thy love. 
 
 HYMN X. 
 
 CASTING THE GOSPEL-NET. 
 
 1 When Peter, through the tedious night,* 
 Had often cast his net in vain, 
 
 Soon as the Lord appear’d in sight, 
 
 He gladly let it down again. 
 
 2 Once more the gospel-net we cast, 
 
 Do thou, O Lord, the effort own ; 
 
 We learn from dissappointments past, 
 
 To rest our hope on thee alone. 
 
 3 Upheld by thy supporting hand, 
 
 We enter on another year ; 
 
 And now- we meet at thy command, 
 
 To seek thy gracious presence here. 
 
 4 May this be a much-favour’d hour 
 To souls in Satan’s bondage led ; 
 
 O clothe thy word with sovereign power 
 To break the rocks, and raise the dead ! 
 
 * Luke v. 4. 
 
 5 Have mercy on our nvm’rous youth. 
 
 Who, young in years, are old in sin : 
 
 And by thy Spirit, and thy truth, 
 
 Shew them the state their souls* are in. 
 
 6 Then by a Saviour’s dying love, 
 
 To every wounded heart reveal d, 
 Temptations, fears, and guilt remove. 
 
 And be their sun, and strength, and shield. 
 
 7 To mourners speak a cheering word, 
 
 On seeking souls vouchsafe to shine ; 
 
 Let poor backsliders be restor’d, 
 
 And all thy saints in praises join. 
 
 8 O hear our prayer, and give us hope, 
 
 That when thy voice shall call us home, 
 Thou still wilt raise a people up, 
 
 To love and praise thee in our room. 
 
 HYMN XI. 
 
 PLEADING for and with youth. 
 
 1 Sin has undone our wretched race. 
 
 But Jesus has restor’d, 
 
 And brought the sinner face to face 
 With his forgiving Lord. 
 
 2 This we repeat, from year to year, 
 
 And press upon our youth ; 
 
 Lord, give them an attentive ear, 
 
 Lord, save them by thy truth. 
 
 S Blessings upon the rising race J 
 Make this a happy hour, 
 
 According to thy richest grace, 
 
 And thine almighty power. 
 
 4 We feel for your unhappy state, 
 
 (May you regard it too) 
 
 And would a while ourselves forget, 
 
 To pour out prayer for you. 
 
 5 We see, though you perceive it not, 
 
 The approaching, awful doom ; 
 
 O tremble at the solemn thought, 
 
 And flee the wrath to come. 
 
 6 Dear Saviour, let this new-born year 
 
 Spread an alarm abroad ; 
 
 And cry, in every careless ear, 
 
 “ Prepare to meet thy God !” 
 
 c 
 
 HYMN XII. 
 
 PRAYER FOR CHILDREN. 
 
 1 Gracious Lord, our children see, 
 
 By thy mercy we are free ; 
 
 But shall these, alas ! remain, 
 
 Subjects still of Satan’s reign ; 
 
 Israel’s young ones, when of old 
 Pharoah threaten’d to with -hold ; 
 
 Then thy messenger said, “ No, 
 
 Let the children also go.” * 
 
 * Exod. x. 9. 
 
OLNEY HYMNS 
 
 BOOK II 
 
 576 
 
 2 When the angel of £he Lord, 
 Drawing forth his dreadful sword, 
 Slew', with an avenging hand, 
 
 All the first-born of the land ; * 
 
 Then thy people’s doors he pass’d, 
 Where the bloody sign was placed : 
 Hear us now, upon our knees, 
 
 Plead the blood of Christ for these ! 
 
 3 Lord, we tremble, for we know 
 How the fierce malicious foe, 
 Wheeling round his watchful flight. 
 Keeps them ever in his sight : 
 
 Spread thy pinions, King of kings ! 
 Hide them safe beneath thy wings ; 
 Lest the rav’ncus bird of prey 
 Stoop, and bear the brood away. 
 
 c. 
 
 HYMN XIII. 
 
 THE SHUNAMITE. f 
 
 1 The Shunamite, oppress’d with grief, 
 
 When she had lost the son she lov’d 
 Went to Elisha for relief, 
 
 Nor vain her application prov’d. 
 
 2 He sent his servant on before, 
 
 To lay a staff’ upon his head ; 
 
 This he could do, but do no more; 
 
 He left him, as he found him, — dead. 
 
 3 But when the Lord’s almighty power 
 Wrought with the prophet’s prayer and faith, 
 The mother saw a joyful hour, 
 
 She saw her child restor’d from death. 
 
 4 Thus, like the weeping Shunamite, 
 
 For many dead in sin we grieve ; 
 
 Now, Lord, display thine arm of might. 
 Cause them to hear thy voice and live. 
 
 5 Thy preachers bear the staff in vain, 
 Though at thine own command we go ; 
 Lord, we have tried and tried again, 
 
 We find them dead, and leave them so. 
 
 6 Come then thyself — to ev'ry heart 
 The glory of thy name make known ; 
 
 The means are our appointed part, 
 
 The power and grace are thine alone. 
 
 HYMN XIV. 
 
 Elijah’s prayer, j 
 
 1 Does it not grief and wonder move, 
 
 To think of Israel's shameful fall ? 
 
 Who needed miracles to prove 
 Whether the Lord was God or Baal ! 
 
 2 Methinks I see Elijah stand, 
 
 His features glow with love and zeal : 
 
 In faith and prayer he lifts his hand, 
 
 And makes to heaven his great appeal 
 * Exotl. xii. 13. + 2 Kings iv. 31. ;t 1 Kings xviii. 
 
 “ O God, if I thy servant am, 
 
 If ’tis thy message fills my heart. 
 
 Now glorify thy holy name, 
 
 And shew this people who thou art !” 
 
 He spake, and, lo ! a sudden flame 
 Consum’d the wood, the dust, the stone ; 
 The people struck, at once proclaim, 
 
 “ The Lord is God, the Lord alone:” 
 
 Like him, we mourn, an awful day, 
 When more for Baal than God appear ; 
 Like him, believers, let us pray, 
 
 And may the God of Israel hear ! 
 
 Lord, if thy servant speak thy truth. 
 
 If he indeed is sent by thee, 
 
 Confirm the word to all our youth, 
 
 And let them thy salvation see. 
 
 Now may thy Spirit’s holy fire 
 Pierce every heart that hears thy word, 
 Consume each hurtful vain desire, 
 
 And make them know thou art the Lord. 
 
 HYMN XV. 
 
 PREACHING TO THE DRY BONES. * 
 
 Preachers may, from Ezekiel’s case, 
 Draw hope in this declining day ; 
 
 A proof, like this, of sovereign grace, 
 Should chace our unbelief away 
 
 When sent to preach to mould ring bones. 
 Who could have thought he would succeed 
 But well he knew the Lord from stones 
 Could raise up Abrah’m’s chosen seed. 
 
 Can these be made a num’rous host, 
 
 And such dry bones new life receive? 
 
 The prophet answer’d, “ Lord, thou know’st 
 They shall, if thou commandment give.’ 
 
 Like him, around I cast my eye, 
 
 And, oh ! what heaps of bones appear ; 
 Like bim, by Jesus sent. I’ll try, 
 
 For he can cause the dead to hear. 
 
 Hear, ye dry bones, the Saviour’s word ! 
 He, who, when dying, gasp’d, “ Forgive,’ 
 That gracious sinner-loving Lord 
 Says, “ Look to me, dry bones, and live.’ 
 
 Thou heavenly wind, awake and blow, 
 
 In answer to the prayer of faith ; 
 
 Now thine almighty influence show, 
 
 And fill dry bones with living breath. 
 
 O make them hear, and feel, and shake, 
 And at thy call obedient move ; 
 
 The bonds of death and Satan break. 
 
 And bone to bone unite in love. 
 
 * Ezek. xxxv fi. 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
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 2 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
HYMN XIX. 
 
 SEASONS. 
 
 577 
 
 HYMN XVI 
 
 THE ROD OF MOSES. 
 
 1 When Moses wav’d his mystic rod, 
 
 What wonders follow’d while he spoke ! 
 Firm as a wall the waters stood,* 
 
 Or gush’d in rivers from the rock ! f 
 
 2 At his command the thunders roll’d, 
 Lightning and hail his voice obeyed, f 
 And Pharaoh trembled to behold 
 His land in desolation laid. 
 
 3 But what could Moses’ rod have done, 
 Had he not been divinely sent ? 
 
 The power was from the Lord alone, 
 
 And Moses but the instrument. 
 
 4 O Lord, regard thy people’s prayers ! 
 Assist a worm to preach aright ; 
 
 And since thy gospel-rod he bears, 
 
 Display thy wonders in our sight. 
 
 5 Proclaim the thunders of thy law, 
 
 Like lightning let thine arrows fly, 
 
 That careless sinners, struck with awe, 
 
 For refuge may to Jesus cry ! 
 
 6 Make streams of godly sorrow flow 
 From rocky hearts, unus’d to feel ; 
 
 And let the poor in spirit know, 
 
 That thou art near, their griefs to heal. 
 
 7 But chiefly, we would now look up 
 To ask a blessing for our youth, 
 
 The rising generation’s hope, 
 
 That they may know and love thy truth. 
 
 8 Arise, O Lord, afford a sign, 
 
 Now shall our prayers success obtain ; 
 Since both the means and power are thine, 
 How can the rod be rais’d in vain ! 
 
 HYMN XVII. 
 
 GOD SPEAKING FROM MOUNT ZION. 
 
 1 The God who once to Israel spoke 
 From Sinai's top, in fire and smoke, 
 
 In gentler strains of gospel-grace 
 Invites us now to seek his face. 
 
 2 He wears no terrors on his brow, 
 
 He speaks in love from Zion now ; 
 
 It is the voice of Jesus’ blood, 
 
 Calling poor wand’rers home to God. 
 
 3 The holy Moses quak’d and fear’d, 
 When Sinai’s thund’ring law he heard ; 
 But reigning grace, with accents mild, 
 Speaks to the sinner as a child. 
 
 4 Hark ! how from Calvary it sounds, 
 From the Redeemer’s bleeding wounds ! 
 “ Pardon and grace I freely give, 
 
 Poor sinner, look to me, and live.” 
 
 • Exod. xiv, 22. + Numb, xx 11. t Ex«d. ix 
 
 5 What other arguments can move 
 
 The heart that slights a Saviour’s love ! 
 Yet, till almighty power constrain, 
 
 This matchless love is preach’d in vain. 
 
 6 O Saviour, let thy power be felt, 
 
 And cause each stony heart to melt ! 
 Deeply impress upon our youth, 
 
 The light and force of gospel-truth. 
 
 7 With this new year may they begin 
 To live to thee, and die to sin ; 
 
 To enter by the narrow way, 
 
 Which leads to everlasting day. 
 
 8 How will they else thy presence bear, 
 When, as a Judge, thou shalt appear ! 
 When slighted love to wrath shall turn, 
 And the whole earth like Sinai burn ! 
 
 HYMN XVIII. 
 
 A PRAYER FOR POWER ON THE MEANS OF GRACE 
 
 1 O THOU, at whose almighty word 
 
 The glorious light from darkness sprung, 
 Thy quick’ning influence afford, 
 
 And clothe with power the preacher’s tongue. 
 
 2 Though ’tis thy truth he hopes to speak, 
 He cannot give the hearing ear ; 
 
 ’Tis thine the stubborn heart to break, 
 
 And make the careless sinner fear. 
 
 3 As when of old the water flow’d 
 Forth from the rock at thy command,* 
 Moses in vain had wav’d his rod. 
 
 Without thy wonder-working hand 
 
 4 As when the walls of Jericho, f 
 Down to the earth at once were cast, 
 
 It was thy power that brought them low 
 And not the trumpet’s feeble blast. 
 
 5 Thus we would in the means be found. 
 And thus on thee alone depend. 
 
 To make the gospel’s joyful sound 
 Effectual to the promis’d end. 
 
 6 Now, while we hear thy word of grace. 
 
 Let self and pride before it fall ; 
 
 And rocky hearts dissolve apace, 
 
 In streams of sorrow at thy call. 
 
 7 On all our youth assembled here, 
 
 The unction of thy Spirit pour; 
 
 Nor let them lose another year, 
 
 Lest thou shouldst strive and call no more. 
 
 
 HYMN XIX. 
 
 Elijah’s mantle. 2 kinu» ii. 1 1 — 1 4. 
 
 I 
 
 Elisha, struck with grief and awe, 
 
 Cried, “ Ah ! where now is Israel’s stay? 
 When he his honour’d master saw 
 Borne by a fiery car away. 
 
 * Numb. xx. 11. 
 
 2 X 
 
 t Joshua vi. 90. 
 
OLNEY HYMNS, 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 578 
 
 2 But while he look’d a last adieu, 
 
 His mantle, as it fell, he caught : 
 
 The Spirit rested on him too, 
 
 And equal miracles he wrought, 
 
 3 “ Where is Elijah’s God ?” he cried, 
 
 And with the mantle smote the flood ; 
 His word control’d the swelling tide, 
 
 The obedient waters upright stood. 
 
 4 The wonder-working gospel, thus 
 From hand to hand has been conveyed; 
 We have the mantle still with us, 
 
 But where, O where, the Spirit’s aid ? 
 
 5 When Peter first his mantle wav’d, * 
 
 How soon it melted hearts of steel ! 
 Sinners by thousands then were sav’d, 
 But now how few its virtues feel ? 
 
 6 Where is Elijah’s God, the Lord, 
 
 Thine Israel’s hope, and joy, and boast ? 
 Reveal thine arm, confirm thy word, 
 Give us another Pentecost ! 
 
 7 Assist thy messenger to speak, 
 
 And while he aims to lisp thy truth, 
 
 The bonds of sin and Satan break, 
 
 And pour thy blessing on our youth. 
 
 8 For them we now approach thy throne, 
 Teach them to know and love thy name ; 
 Then shall thy thankful people own 
 Elijah’s God is still the same. 
 
 HYMNS 
 
 AFTER SERMONS TO YOUNG PEOPLE ON NEVV- 
 YEAR EVENINGS, SUITED TO THE SUBJECTS. 
 
 HYMN XX. 
 
 david’s charge to solomon. 1 chron. 
 xxviii. 9. 
 
 1 O david’s Son, and David’s Lord ! 
 
 From age to age thou art the same ; 
 
 Thy gracious presence now afford, 
 
 And teach our youth to know thy name. 
 
 2 Thy people, Lord, though oft distress’d 
 Upheld by thee, thus far are come ; 
 
 And now we long to see thy rest, 
 
 And wait thy word to call us home. 
 
 3 Like David, when this life shall end, 
 
 We trust in thee, sure peace to find ; 
 Like him, to thee we now commend 
 The children we must leave behind. 
 
 4 Ere long we hope to be where care, 
 
 And sin, and sorrow, never come ; 
 
 But, oh ! accept our humble prayer, 
 That these may praise thee in our room. 
 
 * Acts 
 
 5 Shew them how vile they are by sin, 
 
 And wash them in thy cleansing blood ; 
 
 Oh ! make them willing to be thine, 
 Andi)e to them a covenant-God. 
 
 6 Long may thy light and truth remain. 
 
 To bless this place when we are gone ; 
 And numbers here be born again, 
 
 To dwell for ever near thy throne. 
 
 HYMN XXL 
 
 THE LORD’S CALL TO HIS CHILDREN. 2 COR. 
 vi. 17. 18. 
 
 1 Let us adore the grace that seeks 
 
 To draw our hearts above ! 
 
 Attend, ’tis God the Saviour speaks, 
 
 And every word is love. 
 
 2 Though, fill’d with awe, before his throne 
 
 Each angel veils his face ; 
 
 He claims a people for his own 
 Amongst our sinful race. 
 
 3 Careless, a while, they live in sin, 
 
 Enslav’d to Satan’s power ; 
 
 But they obey the call divine. 
 
 In his appointed hour. 
 
 4 “ Come forth (he says), no more pursue 
 
 The paths that lead to death : 
 
 Look up, a bleeding Saviour view ; 
 
 Look, and be sav’d by faith. 
 
 5 My sons and daughters you shall be, 
 
 Through the atoning blood ; 
 
 And you shall claim, and find in me, 
 
 A Father and a God.” 
 
 6 Lord, speak these words to ev’ry heart. 
 
 By thine all-powerful voice ; 
 
 That we may now from sin depart, 
 
 And make thy love our choicer 
 
 7 If now we learn to seek thy face 
 
 By Christ the living way, 
 
 We’ll praise thee for this hour of grace 
 Through an eternal day. 
 
 HYMN XXII. 
 
 the prayer of jabez. 1 chron. iv. 9 — 10 
 
 1 Jesus, who bought us with his blood, 
 
 And makes our souls his care, 
 
 Was known of old as Israel’s God, 
 
 And answer’d Jabez’ prayer. 
 
 2 Jabez ! a child of grief! the name 
 
 Befits poor sinners well ; 
 
 For Jesus bore the cross and shame, 
 
 To save our souls from hell. 
 
 I 3 Teach us, O Lord, like him to plead 
 For mercies from above ; 
 
 O come, and bless our souls indeed, 
 
 1 With light, and joy, and love. 
 
HYMN XXV. 
 
 579 
 
 SEASONS. 
 
 4 The gospel’s promis’d land is wide 
 
 We fain would enter in; 
 
 But we are press’d on ev’ry side 
 With unbelief and sin. 
 
 5 Arise, O Lord, enlarge our coast, 
 
 Let us possess the whole, 
 
 That Satan may no longer boast. 
 
 He can thy work control. 
 
 6 Oh ! may thy hand be with us still, 
 
 Our guide and guardian be, 
 
 To keep us safe from ev’ry ill, 
 
 Till death shall set us free. 
 
 7 Help us on thee to cast our care, 
 
 And on thy word to rest, 
 
 That Israel’s God, who heareth prayer, 
 Will grant us our request. 
 
 HYMN XXIII. 
 
 WAITING AT WISDOM’S GATES. PROV. viii. 34, 35. 
 
 1 Ensnar’d too long my heart has been 
 
 In Folly's hurtful ways; 
 
 Oh ! may I now, at length, begin 
 To hear what Wisdom says! 
 
 2 ’Tis Jesus, from the mercy-seat, 
 
 Invites me to his rest ; 
 
 He calls poor sinners to his feet, 
 
 To make them truly bless’d. 
 
 3 Approach, my soul, to Wisdom’s gates, 
 
 While it is call’d to-day ; 
 
 No one who watches there, and waits, 
 
 Shall e’er be turn’d away. 
 
 4 He will not let me seek in vain, 
 
 For all who trust his word 
 Shall everlasting life obtain, 
 
 And favour from the Lord. 
 
 5 Lo-rd, I have hated thee too long, 
 
 And dar’d thee to thy face ; 
 
 I’ve done my soul exceeding wrong 
 In slighting all thy grace. 
 
 6 Now I would break my league with death, 
 
 And live to thee alone ; 
 
 Oh ! let thy Spirit’s seal of faith 
 Secure me for thine own. 
 
 7 Let all the saints assembled here, 
 
 Yea, let all heaven rejoice, 
 
 That I begin with this new year 
 To make the Lord my choice. 
 
 HYMN XXIV 
 
 ASKING THE WAY TO ZION. JER. 1. 5. 
 
 1 Zion, the city of our God, 
 
 How glorious is the place 1 
 The Saviour there has his abode, 
 
 And sinners see his face 1 * 
 
 2 Firm against every adverse shock, 
 
 Its mighty bulwarks prove ; 
 
 ’Tis built upon the living Rock, 
 
 And wall’d around with love. 
 
 3 There all the fruits of glory grow, 
 
 And joys that never die ; 
 
 And streams of grace and knowledge flow. 
 The soul to satisfy. 
 
 4 Come, set your faces Zion-ward, 
 
 The sacred road inquire; 
 
 And let a union to the Lord 
 Be henceforth your desire. 
 
 5 The gospel shines to give you light, 
 
 No longer, then, delay ; 
 
 The Spirit waits to guide you right, 
 
 And Jesus is the way. 
 
 6 O Lord, regard thy people's prayer, 
 
 Thy promise now' fulfil ; 
 
 And young and old by grace prepare 
 To dwell on Zion’s hill. 
 
 HYMN XXV. 
 
 WE WERE PHARAOH’S BONDMEN. DEUT 
 vi. 20 — 23. 
 
 1 Beneath the tyrant Satan’s yoke. 
 
 Our souls were long oppress’d : 
 
 Till grace our galling fetters broke, 
 
 And gave the w r eary rest. 
 
 2 Jesus, in that important hour, 
 
 His mighty arm made known : 
 
 He ransom’d us by price and power, 
 
 And claim’d us for his own. 
 
 3 Now, freed from bondage, sin, and death, 
 
 We walk in wisdom’s ways; 
 
 And wish to spend our ev’ry breath 
 In wonder, love, and praise. 
 
 4 Ere long, we hope with him tc dwell 
 
 In yonder world above ; 
 
 And now w r e only live to tell 
 The riches of his love. 
 
 5 O might we, ere we hence remove, 
 
 Prevail upon our youth 
 To seek, that they may likewise prove 
 His mercy and his truth. 
 
 6 Like Simeon, we shall gladly go,* 
 
 When Jesus calls us home ; 
 
 If they are left a seed below, 
 
 To serve him in our room. 
 
 7 Lord, hear our prayer, indulge our hope 
 
 On these thy Spirit pour, 
 
 That they may take our story up, 
 
 When we can speak no more. 
 
 * Luke ii. 29. 
 
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 OLNEY HYMNS. 
 
 BOOK II 
 
 HYMN XXV r. 
 
 TRAVELLING IN BIRTH FOR SOULS. CAL. iv. 19. 
 
 1 What contradictions meet 
 In ministers employ ! 
 
 It is a bitter sv’eet, 
 
 A sorrow full of joy : 
 
 No other post affords a place, 
 
 For equal honour or disgrace ! 
 
 2 Who can describe the pain 
 Which faithful preachers feel, 
 Constrain’d to speak in vain, 
 
 To hearts as hard as steel ! 
 
 Or who can tell the pleasures felt, 
 
 When stubborn hearts begin to melt ! 
 
 3 The Saviour’s dying love, 
 
 The soul’s amazing worth, 
 
 Their utmost efforts move, 
 
 And draw their bowels forth : 
 
 They pray, and strive, their rest departs, 
 Till Christ be form’d in sinners hearts. 
 
 4 If some small hope appear, 
 
 They still are not content ; 
 
 But, with a jealous fear, 
 
 They watch for the event : 
 
 Too oft they find their hopes deceiv’d, 
 Then how their inmost souls are griev’d ! 
 
 5 But when their pains succeed 
 And from the tender blade 
 The ripening ears proceed, 
 
 Their toils are overpaid : 
 
 No harvest-joy can equal theirs, 
 
 To find the fruit of all their cares. 
 
 6 On what has now been sown, 
 
 Thy blessing, Lord, bestow ; 
 
 The power is thine alone, 
 
 To make it spring and grow : 
 
 Do thou the gracious harvest raise, 
 
 And thou alone shalt have the praise. 
 
 HYMN XXVII. 
 
 WK ARE AMBASSADORS FOR CHRIST. 
 2 COR. v. 20. 
 
 1 I HY message by the preacher seal, 
 
 And let thy power be known, 
 
 That every sinner here may feel 
 The word is not his own. 
 
 2 Amongst the foremost of the throng, 
 
 Who dare thee to thy face, 
 
 He in rebellion stood too long, 
 
 And fought against thy grace. 
 
 S But grace prevail’d, he mercy found, 
 And now by thee is sent, 
 
 To tell his fellow rebels round, 
 
 And call them to repent. 
 
 4 In Jesus God is reconcil’d, 
 
 The worst may be forgiv’n ; 
 
 Come and he’ll own you as a child, 
 
 And make you heirs of heaven. 
 
 5 O may the word of gospel-truth 
 
 Your chief desires engage ! 
 
 And Jesus be your guide in youth, 
 
 Your joy in hoary age. 
 
 6 Perhaps the year that’s now begun 
 
 May prove to some their last : 
 
 The sands of life may soon be run, 
 
 The day of grace be past. 
 
 7 Think, if you slight this embassy, 
 
 And will not warning take 
 When Jesus in the clouds you see, 
 
 What answer will you make ? 
 
 HYMN XXVIII. 
 
 PAUL’S FAREWELL CHARGE. ACTS XX. 26, 27 
 
 1 When Paul was parted from his friends, 
 
 I t was a weeping day, 
 
 But Jesus made them all amends, 
 
 And wip’d their tears away, 
 
 2 Ere long they met again with joy, 
 
 (Secure no more to part), 
 
 Where praises every tongue employ, 
 
 And pleasure fills each heart. 
 
 3 Thus all the preachers of his grace 
 
 Their children soon shall meet; 
 Together see their Saviour’s face, 
 
 And worship at his feet. 
 
 4 But they who heard the word in vain, 
 
 Though oft and plainly warn’d, 
 
 Will tremble when they meet again 
 The ministers they scorn’d. 
 
 5 On your own heads your blood will fall, 
 
 If any perish here; 
 
 The preachers who have told you all, 
 
 Shall stand approv’d and clear. 
 
 6 Yet, Lord, to save themselves alone 
 
 Is not their utmost view ; 
 
 Oh ! hear their prayer, thy message own, 
 And save their hearers too. 
 
 HYMN XXIX. 
 
 HOW SHALL I PUT THEE AMONG. THE CHILDREN 
 JER. iii. 19. 
 
 1 Alas ! by nature how deprav’d, 
 
 How prone to ev’ry ill ! 
 
 Our lives to Satan how enslav’d, 
 
 How obstinate our will J 
 
 2 And can such sinners be restor’d, 
 
 Such rebels reconcil’d ? 
 
 Can grace itself the means afford, 
 
 To make a foe a child ? 
 
HYMN' XXXII. 
 
 SEASONS, 
 
 8 Yes, grace has found the wondrous means, { 
 Which shall effectual prove, 
 
 To cleanse us from our countless sins, 
 
 And teach our hearts to love. 
 
 4 Jesus for sinners undertakes, 
 
 And died that we may live ; 
 
 His blood a full atonement makes, 
 
 And cries aloud, “ Forgive.” 
 
 5 Yet one thing more must grace provide, 
 
 To bring us home to God, 
 
 Or we shall slight the Lord who died, 
 
 And trample on his blood. 
 
 6 The Holy Spirit must reveal 
 
 The Saviour’s work and worth ; 
 
 Then the hard heart begins to feel 
 A new and heavenly birth. 
 
 7 Thus bought with blood, and born again, 
 
 Redeem’d and sav’d by grace, 
 
 Rebels in God’s own house obtain 
 A son’s and daughter’s place. 
 
 HYMN XXX. 
 
 WINTER.* 
 
 1 See how rude Winter’s icy hand 
 
 Has strip’d the trees, and seaT’d the ground ! 
 But Spring shall soon his rage withstand, 
 And spread new beauties all around. 
 
 2 My soul a sharper winter mourns, 
 
 Barren and fruitless I remain ; 
 
 When wiU the gentle spring return, 
 
 Ana bid my graces grow again ? 
 
 S Jesus, my glorious Sun, arise ! 
 
 ’Tis thine the frozen heart to move ; 
 
 Oh ! hush these storms, and clear my skies, 
 And let me feel thy vital love! 
 
 4 Dear Lord, regard my feeble cry, 
 
 I faint and droop till thou appear ; 
 
 Wilt thou permit thy plant to die ? 
 
 Must it be winter all the year ? 
 
 5 Be still my soul, and wait his hour, 
 
 With humble prayer and patient faith ; 
 
 Till he reveals his gracious power, 
 
 Repose on what his promise saith. 
 
 6 He, by whose all-commanding word-J* 
 Seasons their changing course maintain, 
 
 In every change a pledge affords, 
 
 That none shall seek his face in vain. 
 
 HYMN XXXI. 
 
 WAITING FOR SPRING. 
 
 1 Though cloudy skies and northern blasts 
 Retard the gentle spring a while, 
 
 The sun will conqueror prove at last, 
 
 And nature wear a vernal smile. 
 
 * Book III. Hynu. xxxi. + (Jen. viii. 22. 
 
 The promise, which from age to age, 
 
 Has brought the changing seasons round, 
 Again shall calm the winter’s rage, 
 Perfume the air, and paint the ground. 
 
 The virtue of that first command, 
 
 I know still does and will prevail. 
 
 That while the earth itself shall stand, 
 
 The spring and summer shall not fail. 
 
 Such changes are for us decreed : 
 
 Believers have their winters too ; 
 
 But spring shall certainly succeed, 
 
 And all their former life renew. 
 
 Winter and spring have each their use, 
 And each, in turn, his people know ; 
 
 One kills the weeds their hearts produce, 
 The other makes their graces grow. 
 
 Though like dead trees a while they sepm, 
 Yet, having life within their root, 
 
 The welcome spring’s reviving beam 
 Draws forth their blossoms, leaves, and fruit. 
 
 But if the tree indeed be dead, 
 
 It feels no change, though spring return j 
 Its leafless, naked, barren head, 
 
 Proclaims it only fit to burn. 
 
 Dear Lord, afford our souls a spring, 
 
 Thou know’st our winter has been long j 
 Shine forth, and warm our hearts to sing, 
 And thy rich grace shall be our song. 
 
 HYMN XXXII. 
 
 SPRING. 
 
 Bleak winter is subdu’d at length, 
 
 And forc’d to yield the day ; 
 
 The sun has wasted all his strength, 
 
 And driven him away. 
 
 And now long wish’d for spring is come, 
 How alter’d is the scene ! 
 
 The trees and shrubs are dress’d in bloom, 
 The earth arrayed in green. 
 
 Where’er we tread, beneath our feet, 
 
 The clust’ring flowers spring ; 
 
 The artless birds, in concert sweet, 
 
 Invite our hearts to sing. 
 
 But, ah ! in vain I strive to join, 
 
 Oppress’d with sin and doubt ; 
 
 I feel ’tis winter still within, 
 
 Though all is spring without. 
 
 Oh ! would my Saviour from on high 
 Break through these clouds and shine 
 
 No creature then more bless’d than I, 
 
 No song more loud than mine. 
 
 Till then no softly- warbling thrush, 
 
 Nor cowslip’s sweet perfume, 
 
 Nor beauties of each painted bush, 
 
 Can dissipate my gloom. 
 
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 BOOK II 
 
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 7 To Adam, soon as he trangress’d, 
 
 Thus Eden bloom'd in vain ; 
 
 Not paradise could give him rest, 
 
 Or soothe his heart-felt pain. 
 
 8 Yet here an emblem I perceive 
 
 Of what the Lord can do ; 
 
 Dear Saviour, help me to believe. 
 That I may flourish too. 
 
 9 Thy word can soon my hopes revive, 
 
 Can overcome my foes, 
 
 And make my languid graces thrive, 
 And blossom like the rose. 
 
 HYMN XXXIIL 
 
 ANOTHER. 
 
 1 Pleasing spring again is here ! 
 
 Trees and fields in bloom appear ! 
 
 Hark ! the birds, with artless lays, 
 Warble their Creator’s praise ! 
 
 Where, in winter, all was snow, 
 
 Now the flowers in clusters grow : 
 
 And the corn in green array, 
 
 Promises a harvest-day. 
 
 2 What a change has taken place ! 
 Emblem of the spring of grace ; 
 
 How the soul, in winter, mourns. 
 
 Till the Lord, the Sun, returns ; 
 
 Till the Spirit’s gentle rain 
 Bids the heart revive again ; 
 
 Then the stone is turn’d to flesh, 
 
 And each grace springs forth afresh. 
 
 S Lord, afford a spring to me 1 
 Let me feel like what I see; 
 
 Ah ! my winter has been long, 
 
 Chill'd my hopes, and stopp’d my song ! 
 Winter threaten’d to destroy 
 Faith, and love, and every joy; 
 
 If thy life was in the root, 
 
 Still I could not yield thee fruit. 
 
 4 Speak, and by thy gracious voice 
 Make my drooping soul rejoice ; 
 
 O, beloved Saviour ! haste, 
 
 Tell me all the storms are past; 
 
 On thy garden deign to smile, 
 
 Raise the plants, enrich the soil ; 
 
 Soon thy presence will restore 
 Life to what seem’d dead before. 
 
 5 Lord, I long to be at home, 
 
 Where these changes never come ! 
 
 Where the saints no wintet /ear, 
 
 Where ’tis spring throughout the year, 
 How unlike this state below ! 
 
 There the flowers unwithering blow ; 
 There no chilling blasts annoy ; 
 
 All is love, and bloom, and joy 
 
 HYMN XXXIV. 
 
 SUMMER STORMS. * 
 
 1 Though the morn may be serene, 
 Not a threat’ning cloud be seen, 
 
 Who can undertake to say, 
 
 ’Twill be pleasant all the day ? 
 Tempests suddenly may rise, 
 Darkness overspread the skies. 
 Lightnings flash, and thunders roar, 
 E’er a short-liv’d day be o’er. 
 
 2 Often thus the child of grace 
 Enters on his Christian race; 
 
 Guilt and fear are overborne, 
 
 ’Tis with him a summer’s morn : 
 While his new-felt joys abound, 
 
 All things seem to smile around ; 
 And he hopes it will be fair, 
 
 All the day, and all the year. 
 
 3 Should we warn him of a change, 
 
 He would think the caution strange ; 
 Pie no change or trouble fears, 
 
 Till the gath’ring storm appears ; -}• 
 Till dark clouds his sun conceal. 
 
 Till temptation’s power he feel 
 Then he trembles and looks pale. 
 
 All his hopes and courage fail. 
 
 | 4 But the wonder-working Lord 
 Soothes the tempest by his word ; 
 Stills the thunder, stops the rain. 
 
 And his sun breaks forth again : 
 
 Soon the cloud again returns, 
 
 Now he joys, and now he mourns ; 
 Oft his sky is overcast. 
 
 Ere the day of life be past. 
 
 5 Tried believers too can say, 
 
 In the course of one short day, 
 Though the morning has been fair 
 Prov’d a golden hour of prayer. 
 
 Sin and Satan, long eromigh t, 
 
 Have their comforts put to flight : 
 
 Ah ! what heart-felt peace and joy 
 Unexpected storms destroy. 
 
 6 Dearest Saviour ! call us soon 
 To thine high eternal noon ; 
 
 Never there shall tempest rise. 
 
 To conceal thee from our eyes ; 
 
 Satan shall no more deceive. 
 
 We no more thy Spirit grieve; 
 
 But through cloudless, endless days, 
 Sound, to golden harps, thy praise. 
 
 * Book III. Hymn lxviit. 
 t Book I. Hymn xliv. 
 
HYMN XXVII. 
 
 SEASONS. 
 
 HYMN XXXV. 
 
 HAY-TIME. 
 
 1 The grass and flowers which clothe the field, 
 
 And look so green and gay, 
 
 Touch’d by the scythe, defenceless yield. 
 And fall, and fade away. 
 
 2 Fit emblem of our mortal state ! 
 
 Thus, in the scripture-glass, 
 
 The young, the strong, the wise, the great, 
 May s-ee themselves but grass.* 
 
 3 Ah ! trust not to your fleeting breath, 
 
 Nor call your time your own ; 
 
 Around you see the scythe of death 
 Is mowing thousands down. 
 
 4 And you, who hitherto are spar’d, 
 
 Must shortly yield your lives ; 
 
 Your wisdom is, to be prepar’d 
 Before the stroke arrives. 
 
 5 The grass, when dead, revives no more ; 
 
 You die to live again ; 
 
 But oh ! if death should prove the door, 
 
 To everlasting pain ! 
 
 6 Lord, help us to obey thy call, 
 
 That, from our sins set free. 
 
 When, like the grass, our bodies fall, 
 
 Our souls may spring to thee. 
 
 HYMN XXXVI. 
 
 HARVEST. 
 
 1 See the corn again in ear ! 
 
 How the fields and vallies smile ! 
 Harvest now is drawing near, 
 
 To repay the farmer’s toil : 
 
 Gracious Lord secure the crop, 
 Satisfy the poor with food ; 
 
 In thy mercy is our hope, 
 
 We have sinn’d but thou art good. 
 
 j, While I view the plenteous grain 
 As it ripens on the stalk, 
 
 May I not instruction gain, 
 
 Helpful to my daily walk ? 
 
 All this plenty of the field 
 Was produc’d from foreign seeds, 
 For the earth itself would yield 
 Only crops of useless weeds. 
 
 3 Though, when newly sown, it lay 
 Hid a while beneath the ground, 
 (Some might think it thrown away,) 
 Yet a large increase is found: 
 Though conceal’d, it was not lost, 
 Though it died, it lives again ; 
 Eastern storms and nipping frosts 
 Have oppos’d its growth in vain. 
 
 5S3 
 
 4 Let the praise be all the Lord’s, 
 
 As the benefit is ours : 
 
 He in season still affords 
 Kindly heat and gentle showers : 
 
 By his care the produce thrives, 
 
 Waving o’er the furrow’d lands, 
 
 And, when harvest-time arrives. 
 
 Ready for the reaper stands. 
 
 5 Thus in barren hearts he sows, 
 
 Precious seeds of heavenly joy j* 
 
 Sin and hell in vain oppose, 
 
 None can grace’s crop destroy : 
 
 Threaten’d oft, yet still it blooms, 
 
 After many changes past, 
 
 Death, the reaper, when he comes, 
 
 Finds it fully ripe at last. 
 
 CHRISTMAS. 
 
 HYMN XXXVII. 
 
 PRAISE FOR THE INCARNATION. 
 
 1 Sweeter sounds than music knows, 
 
 Charm me in Emmanuel’s name ; 
 
 All her hopes my spirit owes 
 
 To his birth, and cross, and shame. 
 
 2 When he came the angels sung, 
 
 “ Glory be to God on high !” 
 
 Lord, unloose my stamm’ring tongue, 
 Who should louder sing than I ? 
 
 3 Did the Lord a man become 
 
 That he might the law fulfil, 
 
 Bleed and suffer in my room. 
 
 And canst thou, my tongue, be still ? 
 
 4 No, I must my praises bring, 
 
 Though they worthless are and weak ; 
 For, should I refuse to sing, 
 
 Sure the very stones would speak. 
 
 5 O my Saviour, Shield, and Sun, 
 
 Shepherd, Brother, Husband, Friend, 
 Ev’ry precious name in one, 
 
 I will love thee without end. 
 
 HYMN XXXVIII. 
 
 JEHOVAH-JESUS. 
 
 1 My song shall bless the Lord of all, 
 My praise shall climb to his abode ; 
 Thee, Saviour, by that name I call. 
 The great, supreme, the mighty God. 
 
 2 Without beginning or decline, 
 
 Object of faith and not of sense ; 
 Eternal ages saw him shine, 
 
 He shines eternal ages hence 
 
 * Hosea xiv. 7 ; Mark iv. 26—29 
 
 * Isaiah xl. 7- 
 
684 OLNEY 
 
 3 As much, when in the manger laid, 
 Almighty ruler of the sky, 
 
 As when the six days work he made 
 Fill’d all the morning-stars with joy. 
 
 4 Of all the crowns Jehovah bears, 
 
 Salvation is his dearest claim, 
 
 That gracious sound well-pleas’d he hears, 
 And owns Emmanuel for his name. 
 
 5 A cheerful confidence I feel, 
 
 My well-plac’d hopes with joy I see ; 
 
 My bosom glows with heavenly zeal, 
 
 To worship him who died for me. 
 
 6 As man, he pities my complaint. 
 
 His power and truth are all divine ; 
 
 He will not fail, he cannot faint, 
 Salvation’s sure, and must be mine. 
 
 C. 
 
 HYMN XXXIX. 
 
 MAN HONOURED ABOVE ANGELS. 
 
 1 Now let us join with hearts and tongues, 
 And emulate the ange’s songs ; 
 
 Yea, sinners may address their King 
 In songs that angels cannot sing. 
 
 2 They praise the Lamb who once was slain ; 
 But we can add a higher strain,* 
 
 Not only say “ He suffer’d thus,” 
 
 But that “ He suffer’d all for us.” 
 
 3 When angels by transgression fell, 
 
 Justice consign’d them all to hell ; 
 
 But mercy form’d a wonderous plan, 
 
 To save and honour fallen man. 
 
 4 Jesus, who pass’d the angels by,f 
 Assum’d our flesh to bleed and die ; 
 
 And still he makes it his abode, 
 
 As man, he fills the throne of God. 
 
 5 Our next of kin, our brother now, 
 
 Is he to whom the angels bow ; 
 
 They join with us to praise his name, 
 
 But we the nearest interest claim. 
 
 6 But ah ! how feint our praises rise ! 
 
 Sure, *tis the wonder of the skies, 
 
 That we, who share his richest love, 
 
 So cold and unconcern’d should prove. 
 
 7 O glorious hour, it comes with speed, 
 When we, from sin and darkness freed, 
 Shall see the God who died for man, 
 
 And praise him more than angels can.* 
 
 * Rev. v. f Heb. il. 16. 
 
 * Book III. Hymn lxxxvjji. 
 
 HYMNS, BOOK II. 
 
 HYMN XL. 
 
 SATURDAY EVENING. 
 
 1 Safely through another week, 
 
 God has brought us on our way ; 
 
 Let us now a blessing seek 
 
 On the approaching Sabbath day. 
 
 Day of all the week the best. 
 Emblem of eternal rest ! 
 
 2 Mercies multiplied each hour 
 Through the week our praise demand ; 
 Guarded by almighty power, 
 
 Fed and guided by his hand, 
 
 Though ungrateful we have been, 
 Only made returns of sin. 
 
 3 While we pray for pard’ning grace. 
 Through the dear Redeemer’s name, 
 Shew thy reconciled face, 
 
 Shine away our sin and shame; 
 
 From our worldly care set free, 
 May we rest this night with thee ! 
 
 4 When the morn shall bid us rise, 
 
 May we feel thy presence near ! 
 
 May thy glory meet our eyes 
 When we in thy house appear ! 
 
 There afford us, Lord, a taste 
 Of our everlasting feast. 
 
 5 May thy gospel’s joyful sound 
 Conquer sinners, comfort saints; 
 
 Make the fruits of grace abound, 
 Bring relief for all complaints : 
 
 Thus may all our Sabbaths prove 
 Till we join the church above ! 
 
 THE CLOSE OF THE YEAR. 
 
 HYMN XLI. 
 
 EBENEZER. * 
 
 1 The Lord, our salvation and light, 
 
 The guide and the strength of our days. 
 Has brought us together to-night, 
 
 A new Ebenezer to raise : 
 
 The year we have now passed through, 
 His goodness with blessings has crown’d ; 
 Each morning his mercies were new ; 
 Then let our thanksgivings abound. 
 
 2 Encompass’d with dangers and snares, 
 Temptations, and fears, and complaints. 
 His ear he inclin’d to our prayers, 
 
 His hand open’d wide to our wants ; 
 
 • 1 Sam. vii 
 
IIYMN XLI1I. 
 
 585 
 
 ORDINANCES. 
 
 We never besought him in vain ; 
 
 When burden’d with sorrow or sin, 
 
 He help’d us again and again, 
 
 Or where before now had we been ? 
 
 3 His gospel, throughout the long year, 
 From Sabbath to Sabbath he gave ; 
 How oft has he met with us here 
 And shown himself mighty to save ? 
 His candlestick has been remov’d 
 From churches once privileg’d thus ; 
 But though we unworthy have prov’d, 
 It still is continued to us. 
 
 4 For so many mercies receiv’d, 
 
 Alas ! what returns have we made ? 
 His Spirit we often have griev’d. 
 
 And evil for good have repaid : 
 
 How well it becomes us to cry, 
 
 “ O, who is a God like to thee 
 Who passeth iniquities by, 
 
 And plungest them deep in the sea !” 
 
 5 To Jesus, who sits on the throne, 
 
 Our best hallelujahs we bring; 
 
 To thee it is owing alone 
 
 That we are permitted to sing : 
 
 Assist us, we pray, to lament 
 The sins of the year that is past, 
 
 And grant that the next may be spent 
 Far more to thy praise than the last. 
 
 HYMN XLIl. 
 
 ANOTHER. 
 
 , Let hearts and tongues unite. 
 
 And loud thanksgivings raise ; 
 
 *Tis duty, mingled with delight 
 To sing the Saviour's praise. 
 
 2 To him we owe our breath, 
 
 He took us from the womb, 
 
 Which else had shut us up in death, 
 And prov’d an early tomb. 
 
 3 When on the breast we hung 
 Our help was in the Lord ; 
 
 ’Twas he first taught our infant tongue 
 To form the lisping word. 
 
 4 When in our blood we lay, 
 
 He would not let us die, 
 
 Because his love had fixed a day 
 To bring salvation nigh. 
 
 5 In childhood and in youth, 
 
 His eye was on us still ; 
 
 Though strangers to his love and truth, 
 And prone to cross his will. 
 
 6 And since his name we knew, 
 
 How gracious has he been ; 
 
 What dangers has he led us through, 
 What mercies have we seen J 
 
 7 Now through another year, 
 
 Supported by his care : 
 
 We raise our Ebenezer here, 
 
 “ The Lord has help’d thus far.’* 
 
 8 Our lot in future years 
 Unable to foresee, 
 
 He kindly, to prevent our fears, 
 
 Says, “ Leave it all to me.’ 
 
 9 Yea, Lord, we wish to cast 
 Our cares upon thy breast ; 
 
 Help us to praise thee for the past, 
 
 And trust thee for the rest. 
 
 II. ORDINANCES. 
 
 HYMN XLIII. 
 
 ON OPENING A PLACE FOR SOCIAL PRAYER. 
 
 1 O LORD, our languid souls inspire 
 
 For here we trust thou art : 
 
 Send down a coal of heavenly fire, 
 
 To warm each waiting heart. 
 
 2 Dear Shepherd of thy people, hear, 
 
 Thy presence now display ; 
 
 As thou hast given a place for prayer, 
 
 So give ua hearts to pray. 
 
 3 Shew us some tokens of thy love, 
 
 Our fainting hope to raise ; 
 
 And pour thy blessings from above, 
 That we may render praise. 
 
 4 Within these walls let holy peace, 
 
 And love and concord dwell ; 
 
 Here give the troubled conscience ease. 
 The wounded spirit heal. 
 
 5 The feeling heart, the melting eye, 
 
 The humbled mind bestow ; 
 
 And shine upon us from on high, 
 
 To make our graces grow 
 
586 OLNEY 
 
 6 May we in faith receive thy word, 
 
 In faith present our prayers ; 
 
 And, in the presence of our Lord, 
 Unbosom all our cares. 
 
 7 And may the gospel's joyful sound, 
 
 Enforc’d by mighty grace, 
 
 Awaken many sinners round, 
 
 To come and fill the place. 
 
 HYMN XLIV. 
 
 ANOTHER. 
 
 1 Jesus, where’er thy people meet, 
 
 There they behold thy mercy-seat ; 
 Where’er they seek thee, thou art found, 
 And every place is hallow’d ground. 
 
 2 For thou, within no walls confin’d, 
 Inhabitest the humble mind ; 
 
 Such ever bring thee where they come, 
 
 And going, take thee to their home. 
 
 3 Dear Shepherd of thy chosen few, 
 
 Thy former mercies here renew ; 
 
 Here to our waiting hearts proclaim 
 The sweetness of thy saving name. 
 
 4 Here may we prove the power of prayer 
 To strengthen faith, and sweeten care; 
 
 To teach our faint desires to rise, 
 
 And bring all heaven before our eyes. 
 
 0 Behold, at thy commanding word, 
 
 We stretch the curtain and the cord ;* 
 Come thou, and fill this wider space, 
 
 And bless us with a large increase. 
 
 6 Lord, we are few, but thou art near ; 
 
 Nor short thine arm, nor deaf thine ear : 
 
 O rend the heavens, come quickly down, 
 And make a thousand hearts thine own ! 
 
 C. 
 
 HYMN XLV. 
 
 THE LORD’S DAY. 
 
 1 How welcome to the saints, when press’d 
 With six days noise, and care, and toil, 
 
 Is the returning day of rest. 
 
 Which hides them from the world a while ! 
 
 2 Now, from the throng withdrawn away, 
 They seem to breathe a different air ; 
 Compos’d and soften’d by tbe day, 
 
 All things another aspect wear 
 
 3 How happy if their lot is cast, 
 
 Where statedly the gospel sounds . 
 
 The word is honey to their taste, [wounds. 
 Renews their strength, and heals their 
 
 4 Though pinch’d with poverty at home, 
 With sharp afflictions daily fed, 
 
 It makes amends, if they can come 
 To God’s own house for heavenly bread. 
 
 * Isa. liv. 2. 
 
 HYMNS. BOOK II. 
 
 5 With joy they hasten to the place 
 Where they their Saviour oft have met ; 
 And while they feast upon his grace, 
 
 Their burdens and their griefs forget. 
 
 6 This favour’d lot, my friends, is ours ; 
 
 May we the privilege improve, 
 
 And find these consecrated hours 
 Sweet earnests of the joys above ! 
 
 7 We thank thee for thy day, O Lord ; 
 
 Here we thy promis’d presence seek ; 
 
 Open thine hand, with blessings stor’d, 
 And give us manna for the week. 
 
 HYMN XLVI. 
 
 GOSPEL-PRIVILEGES. 
 
 1 O happy they who know the Lord, 
 
 With whom he deigns to dwell ! 
 
 He feeds and cheers them by his word, 
 His arm supports them well. 
 
 2 To them, in each distressing hour, 
 
 His throne of grace is near : 
 
 And when they plead his love and power 
 He stands engag’d to hear. 
 
 3 Fie help’d his saints in ancient days, 
 
 Who trusted in his name ; 
 
 And we can witness to his praise, 
 
 His love is still the same. 
 
 4 Wand’ring in sin, our souls he found, 
 
 And bid us seek his face ; 
 
 Gave us to hear the gospel- sound, 
 
 And taste the gospel-grace. 
 
 5 Oft in his house his glory shines, 
 
 Before our wond’ring eyes ; 
 
 We wish not then for golden mines, 
 
 Or aught beneath the skies. 
 
 6 His presence sweetens all our cares, 
 
 And makes our burdens light ; 
 
 A word from him dispels our fears, 
 
 And gilds the gloom of night. 
 
 7 Lord, we expect to suffer here, 
 
 Nor would we dare repine ; 
 
 But give us still to find thee near, 
 
 And own us still for thine. 
 
 8 Let us enjoy and highly prize 
 
 These tokens of thy love, 
 
 Till thou shalt bid our spirits rise, 
 
 To worship thee above. 
 
 HYMN XLVII. 
 
 ANOTHER. 
 
 1 Happy are they to whom the Lord 
 His gracious name makes known ; 
 And by his Spirit, and his word, 
 Adopts them for his own. 
 
HYMN L. 
 
 ORDINANCES. 
 
 587 
 
 2 He calls them to his mercy-seat, 
 
 And hears their humble prayer ; 
 
 And when within his house they meet, 
 They find his presence near. 
 
 3 The force of their united cries 
 
 No power can long withstand ; 
 
 For Jesus helps them from the skies, 
 
 By his almighty hand. 
 
 4 Then mountains sink at once to plains, 
 
 And light from darkness springs ; 
 
 Each seeming loss improves their gains, 
 Each trouble comfort brings. 
 
 5 Though men despise them, or revile, 
 
 They count the trial small ; 
 
 Whoever frowns, if Jesus smile, 
 
 It makes amends for all. 
 
 6 Though meanly clad, and coarsely fed, 
 
 And, like their Saviour, poor, 
 
 They would not change their gospel-bread 
 For all the worldling’s store. 
 
 7 When cheer’d with faith’s sublimer joys, 
 
 They mount on eagles’ wings, 
 
 They can disdain, as children’s toys, 
 
 The pride and pomp of kings. 
 
 8 Dear Lord, assist our souls to pay 
 
 The debt of praise we owe, 
 
 That we enjoy a gospel day. 
 
 And heaven begun below. 
 
 HYMN XLVIII. 
 
 PRAISE FOR THE CONTINUANCE OF THE GOSPEL * 
 
 1 Once, while we aim’d at Zion’s songs, 
 
 A sudden mourning check’d our tongues 1 
 Then we were call’d to sow in tears. 
 
 The seeds of joy for future years. 
 
 2 Oft as that memorable hour 
 
 The changing year brings round again, 
 
 We meet to praise the love and power 
 Which heard our cries and eased our pain. 
 
 3 Come, ye who trembled for the ark, 
 
 Unite in praise for answer’d prayer ! 
 
 Did not the Lord our sorrows mark ? 
 
 Did not our sighing reach his ear ? 
 
 4 Then smaller griefs were laid aside, 
 
 And all our cares summ’d up in. one : 
 
 “ Let us but have thy word,” we cried, 
 
 “ In other things thy will be done.” 
 
 5 Since he has granted our request, 
 
 And we still hear the gospel-voice, 
 Although by many trials prest, 
 
 In this we can and will rejoice. 
 
 6 Though to our lot temptations fall. 
 
 Though pain, and want, and cares annoy, 
 The precious gospel sweetens all, 
 
 And yields us med’cine, food, and joy. 
 
 * Wherever a separation is threatened between a mi- 
 nister and people who dearly love each other, this Hymn 
 may be as seasonable as it was once in Olney. 
 
 HYMN XLIX. 
 
 A FAMINE OF THE WORD. 
 
 Gladness was spread through Israel’s host 
 When first they manna viewed; 
 
 They labour’d who should gather most, 
 And thought it pleasant food. 
 
 But when they had it long enjoyed, 
 
 From day to day the same, 
 
 Their hearts were by the plenty cloyed, 
 Although from heaven it came. 
 
 Thus gospel -bread at first is priz’d, 
 
 And makes a people glad ; 
 
 But afterwards too much despis’d 
 When easy to be had. 
 
 But should the Lord, displeas’d, with-hold 
 The bread his mercy sends, 
 
 To have our houses fill’d with gold 
 Would make but poor amends. 
 
 How tedious would the week appear, 
 
 How dull the Sabbath prove, 
 
 Could we no longer meet to hear 
 The precious truths we love ! 
 
 How would believing parents bear, 
 
 To leave their heedless youth 
 
 Expos’d to every fatal snare, 
 
 Without the light of truth ! 
 
 The gospel, and a praying few, 
 
 Our bulwark long have prov'd ; 
 
 But Olney sure the day will rue 
 When these shall be remov’d. 
 
 Then sin, in this once-favour’a town, 
 
 Will triumph unrestrain’d ; 
 
 And wrath and vengeance hasten down, 
 No more by prayer detain’d. 
 
 Preserve us from this judgment. Lord, 
 
 For Jesus’ sake we plead ; 
 
 A famine of the gospel-w'ord 
 Would be a stroke indeed ! 
 
 HYMN L. 
 
 PRAYER FOR MINISTERS. 
 
 Chief Shepherd of thy chosen sheep, 
 From death and sin set free ! 
 
 May ev’ry under-shepherd keep 
 His eye intent on thee ! 
 
 With plenteous grace their hearts prepare 
 To execute thy will ; 
 
 Compassion, patience, love, and care, 
 And fathfulness, and skill. 
 
 Inflame their minds with holy zeal, 
 
 Their flocks to feed and teach ; 
 
 And let them live, and let them feel 
 The sacred truths they preach. 
 
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588 
 
 4 Oh ! never let the sheep complain 
 
 That toys, which fools amuse, 
 Ambition, pleasure, praise, or gain, 
 Debase the shepherd’s views. 
 
 5 He that for these forbears to feed 
 
 The souls whom Jesus loves, 
 
 Whate’er he may profess or plead. 
 
 An idol shepherd proves.* 
 
 6 The sword of God shall break his arm, 
 
 A blast shall blind his eye ; 
 
 His word shall have no power to warm. 
 His gifts shall all grow dry. 
 
 7 O Lord, avert this heavy woe, 
 
 Let all thy shepherds say ! 
 
 And grace, and strength, on each bestow, 
 To labour while ’tis day. 
 
 HYMN LI. 
 
 PRAYER FOR A REVIVAL. 
 
 1 Saviour, visit thy plantation, 
 
 Grant us, Lord, a gracious rain ! 
 
 All will come to desolation, 
 
 Unless thou return again : 
 
 Keep no longer at a distance, 
 
 Shine upon us from on high ; 
 
 Lest, for want of thine assistance, 
 
 Ev’ry plant should droop and die. 
 
 2 Surely once thy garden flourish’d, 
 
 Ev’ry part look’d gay and green : 
 
 Then thy word our spirits nourish’d. 
 
 Happy seasons we have seen. 
 
 But a drought has since succeeded, 
 
 And a sad decline we see ; 
 
 Lord, thy help is greatly needed ; 
 
 Help can only come from thee. 
 
 3 Where are those we counted leaders, 
 
 Fill’d with zeal, and love, and truth ? 
 Old professors, tall as cedars, 
 
 Bright examples to our youth ! 
 
 Some, in whom we once delighted, 
 
 We shall meet no more below ; 
 
 Some, alas ! we fear are blighted, 
 
 Scarce a single leaf they show. 
 
 4 Younger plants — the sight how pleasant — 
 
 Cover’d thick with blossoms stood ; 
 
 But they cause us grief at present, 
 
 Frosts have nipn’d them in the bud ! 
 Dearest Saviour, hasten thither, 
 
 Thou canst make them bloom again ; 
 
 Oh ! permit them not to wither, 
 
 Let not all our hopes be vain ! 
 
 5 Let our mutual love be fervent, 
 
 Makes us prevalent in prayers : 
 
 Let each one esteem’d thy servant 
 Shun the world’s bewitching snares : 
 
 * Zech xi. 17 
 
 BOOK II 
 
 Break the tempter’s ratal power 
 Turn the stony heart to flesh; 
 
 And begin from this good hour, 
 
 To revive thy work afresh. 
 
 HYMN LII. 
 
 HOPING FOR A REVIVAL. 
 
 1 MY harp untun’d and laid aside, 
 
 (To cheerful hours the harp belongs) 
 
 My cruel foes insulting cried, 
 
 “ Come, sing us one of Zion’s songs.” 
 
 2 Alas ! when sinners, blindly bold, 
 
 At Zion scoff, and Zion’s King ; 
 
 When zeal declines, and love grows cold. 
 Is this a day for me to sing ? 
 
 3 Time was, whene’er the saints I met, 
 With joy and praise my bosom glow’d ; 
 But now, like Eli, sad I sit, 
 
 And tremble for the ark of God. 
 
 4 While thus to grief my soul gave way, 
 
 To see the work of God decline ; 
 Methought I heard my Saviour say, 
 
 “ Dismiss thy fears, the ark is mine. 
 
 5 Though for a time I hide my face, 
 
 Rely upon my love and power ; 
 
 Still wrestle at a throne of grace, 
 
 And wait for a reviving hour. 
 
 6 Take down thy long-neglected harp, 
 
 I’ve seen thy tears, and heard thy prayer. 
 The winter-season has been sharp, 
 
 But spring shall all its wastes repair.” 
 
 7 Lord, I obey ; my hopes revive ; 
 
 Come, join with me, ye saints, and sing 
 Our foes in vain against us strive, 
 
 For God will help and healing bring. 
 
 SACRAMENTAL HYMNS. 
 
 HYMN LIII. 
 
 WELCOME TO THE TABLE. 
 
 1 This is the feast of heavenly wine. 
 
 And God invites to sup ; 
 
 The juices of the living vine 
 Were press’d, to fill the cup. 
 
 2 Oh ! bless the Saviour, ye that eat, 
 
 With royal dainties fed ; 
 
 Not heaven affords a costlier treat. 
 For Jesus is the bread. 
 
 3 The vile, the lost, he calls to them. 
 
 Ye trembling souls, appear ! 
 
 The righteous in their own esteem 
 Have no acceptance here. 
 
 OLNEY HYMNS. 
 
HYMN LVII. 
 
 ORDINANCES. 
 
 589 
 
 4 Approach, ye poor, nor dare refuse 
 
 The banquet spread for you ; 
 
 Dear Saviour, this is welcome news, 
 
 Then I may venture too. 
 
 5 If guilt and sin afford a plea, 
 
 And may obtain a place, 
 
 Surely the Lord will welcome me, 
 
 And I shall see his face. 
 
 C. 
 
 HYMN LIV. 
 
 CHRIST CRUCIFIED. 
 
 1 When on the cross my Lord I see, 
 Bleeding to death for wretched me, 
 
 Satan ami sin no more can move, 
 
 For I am all transform’d to love. 
 
 2 His thorns and nails pierce thro’ my heart, 
 In every groan I bear a part ; 
 
 I view his wounds with streaming eyes; 
 But, see ! he bows his head, and dies ! 
 
 3 Come, sinners, view the Lamb of God, 
 Wounded, and dead, and bath’d in blood ! 
 Behold his side, and venture near, 
 
 The well of endless life is here. 
 
 4 Here I forget my cares and pains ; 
 
 I drink, yet still my thirst remains; 
 
 Only the fountain-head above 
 Can satisfy the thirst of love. 
 
 5 O that I thus could always feel ! 
 
 Lord, more and more thy love reveal ! 
 Then my glad tongue shall loud proclaim 
 The grace and glory of thy name. 
 
 5 Thy name dispels my guilt and fear, 
 Revives my heart and charms my ear : 
 Affords a balm for ev’ry wound, 
 
 And Satan trembles at the sound. 
 
 HYMN LV. 
 
 JESUS HASTING TO SUFFER. 
 
 1 The Saviour, what a noble flame 
 
 Was kindled in his breast, 
 
 When, hasting to Jerusalem, 
 
 He march’d before the rest ! 
 
 2 Good-will to men, and zeal for God, 
 
 His ev’ry thought engross ; 
 
 He longs to be baptiz’d with blood,* 
 He pants to reach the cross. 
 
 3 With all his sufferings full in view, 
 
 And woes to us unknown, 
 
 Forth to the task his spirit flew, 
 ’Twas love that urg’d him on. 
 
 4 Lord, we return thee what we can ; 
 
 Our hearts shall sound abroad, 
 Salvation to the dying man. 
 
 And to the rising God ! 
 
 • Luke xii. 50. 
 
 And while thy bleeding glories here, 
 Engage our wond’ring eyes, 
 
 We learn our lighter cross to bear, 
 And hasten to the skies. 
 
 C. 
 
 HYMN LVI. 
 
 IT IS GOOD TO BE HERE. 
 
 Let me dwell on Golgotha, 
 
 Weep and love my life away : 
 
 While I see him on the tree, 
 
 Weep, and bleed, and die for me. 
 
 That dear blood, for sinners spilt, 
 Shews my sin in all its guilt : 
 
 Ah ! my soul, he bore thy load ; 
 Thou hast slain the Lamb of God. 
 
 Hark ! his dying word, “ Forgive, 
 Father, let the sinner live ; 
 
 Sinner, wipe thy tears away, 
 
 I thy ransom freely pay.” 
 
 While I hear this grace reveal’d, 
 And obtain a pardon seal’d. 
 
 All my soft affections move, 
 Weaken’d by the force of love. 
 
 Farewell, world ! thy gold is dross, 
 Now I see the bleeding cross ; 
 
 Jesus died to set me free 
 From the law, and sin, and thee ! 
 
 He has dearly bought my soul ; 
 Lord, accept, and claim the whole ! 
 To thy will I all resign, 
 
 Now no more my own, but thine. 
 
 HYMN LVII. 
 
 LOOKING AT THE CROSS. 
 
 In evil long I took delight, 
 
 Unaw’d by shame or fear. 
 
 Till a new object struck my sight. 
 
 And stopp’d my wild career. 
 
 I saw one hanging on a tree, 
 
 In agonies and blood. 
 
 Who fix’d his languid eyes on me 
 As near his cross I stood. 
 
 Sure never till my latest breath 
 Can I forget that look ; 
 
 It seem’d to charge me with his death, 
 Though not a word he spoke. 
 
 My conscience felt, and own’d the guilt, 
 And plung’d me in despair ; 
 
 I saw my sins his blood had spilt. 
 
 And help’d to nail him there, 
 
 Alas ! I knew not what I did ; 
 
 But now my tears are vain ; 
 
 Where shall my trembling soul be Ilia . 
 For I the Lord have slain. 
 
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BOOK II. 
 
 590 OLNEY 
 
 6 Another look he gave, which said, 
 
 “ I freely all forgive ; 
 
 This blood is for thy ransom paid, 
 
 I die, that thou may’st live.” 
 
 7 Thus, while his death my sin displays, 
 
 In all its blackest hue, 
 
 (Such is the mystery of grace), 
 
 It seals my pardon too. 
 
 8 With pleasing grief, and mournful joy, 
 
 My spirit now is fill’d, 
 
 That I should such a life destroy 
 Yet live by him I kill’d. 
 
 HYMN LVIII. 
 
 SUPPLIES IN THE WILDERNESS. 
 
 1 When Israel, by divine command, 
 
 The pathless desert trod, 
 
 They found, though ’twas a barren land, 
 
 A sure resource in God. 
 
 2 A cloudy pillar mark’d their road, 
 
 And screen’d them from the heat ; 
 
 From the hard rocks the water flow’d, 
 
 And manna was their meat. 
 
 3 Like them, we have a rest in view, 
 
 Secure from adverse powers ; 
 
 Like them, we pass a desert too ; 
 
 But Israel’s God is ours. 
 
 4 Yes, in this barren wilderness. 
 
 He is to us the same, 
 
 By his appointed means of grace, 
 
 As once he was to them. 
 
 5 His word a light before us spreads, 
 
 By which our path we see ; 
 
 His love a banner o’er our heads, 
 
 From harm preserves us free. 
 
 6 Jesus, the bread of life, is given 
 
 To be our daily food : 
 
 We drink a wond’rous stream from heaven, 
 ’Tis water, wine, and blood. 
 
 7 Lord, ’tis enough, I ask no more, 
 
 These blessings are divine ; 
 
 I envy not the worldling’s store, 
 
 If Christ and heaven are mine. 
 
 HYMN LIX. 
 
 COMMUNION WITH THE SAINTS IN GLORY. 
 
 1 Refreshed by the bread and wine, 
 
 The pledges of our Saviour’s love : 
 
 Now let our hearts and voices join 
 In songs of praise with those above. 
 
 2 Do they sing, “Worthy is the Lamb?” 
 Although we cannot reach their strains, 
 Yet we, through grace, can sing the same, 
 For us he died, for us he reigns. 
 
 YMNS. 
 
 If they behold him face to face. 
 
 While we a glimpse can only see; 
 x et equal debtors to his grace, 
 
 As safe and as belov’d are we. 
 
 They had, like us, a suffering time, 
 
 Our cares, and fears, and griefs they knew ; 
 But they have conquer’d all through him, 
 And we ere long shall conquer too. 
 
 Though all the songs of saints in light 
 Are far beneath his matchless worth, 
 
 His grace is such, he will not slight 
 The poor attempts of worms on earth 
 
 ON PRAYER. 
 
 HYMN LX. 
 
 EXHORTATION TO PRAYER. 
 
 What various hindrances we meet 
 In coming to a mercy-seat! 
 
 Yet who that knows the worth of prayer. 
 But wishes to be often there. 
 
 Prayer makes the darken’d cloud withdraw 
 Prayer climbs the ladder Jacob saw, 
 
 Gives exercise to faith and love, 
 
 Brings ev’ry blessing from above. 
 
 Restraining prayer, we cease to fight ; 
 Prayer makes the Christian’s armour bright ; 
 And Satan trembles when he sees 
 The weakest saint upon his knees. 
 
 While Moses stood with arms spread wide, 
 Success was found on Israel’s side ;* 
 
 But when through weariness they fail’d, 
 That moment Amalek prevail’d. 
 
 Have you no words? ah ! think again, 
 Words flow apace when you complain, 
 
 And fill your fellow-creature’s ear, 
 
 With the sad tale of all your care. 
 
 Were half the breath thus vainly spent, 
 
 To heaven in supplication sent, 
 
 Your cheerful song would oft’ner be, 
 
 “ Hear what the Lord has done for me.” 
 
 C. 
 
 HYMN LX I. 
 
 POWER OF PRAYER. 
 
 In themselves, as weak as worms, 
 How can poor believers stand, 
 
 When temptations, foes, and storms, 
 Press them close on ev’ry hand ? 
 
 * Exod. xvii. 11. 
 
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HYMN LXIII. 
 
 2 Weak, indeed, they feel they are, 
 
 But they know the throne of grace ; 
 And the God who answers prayer, 
 Helps them when they seek his face. 
 
 3 Though the Lord a while delay, 
 Succour they at length obtain ; 
 
 He who taught their hearts to pray, 
 Will not let them cry in vain. 
 
 4 Wrestling prayer can wonders do, 
 Bring relief in deepest straits ; 
 
 Prayer can force a passage through 
 Iron bars and brazen gates. 
 
 5 Hezekiah on his knees 
 Proud Assyria’s host subdued ; 
 
 And when smitten with disease, 
 
 Had his life by prayer renewed. 
 
 6 Peter, though confin’d and chain’d, 
 Prayer prevail’d and brought him out : 
 When Elijah prayed, it rain’d, 
 
 After three long years of drought 
 
 7 We can likewise witness bear. 
 
 That the Lord is still the same ; 
 Though we fear’d he would not hear, 
 Suddenly deliverance came. 
 
 8 For the wonders he has wrought, 
 
 Let us now our praises give ; 
 
 And by sweet experience taught, 
 
 Call upon him while we live. 
 
 ON THE SCRIPTURES. 
 
 HYMN LXII. 
 
 THE LIGHT AND GLORY OF THE WORD. 
 
 1 The Spirit breathes upon the word. 
 
 And brings the truth to sight ; 
 Precepts and promises afford 
 A sanctifying light. 
 
 2 A glory gilds the sacred page. 
 
 Majestic like the sun ; 
 
 It gives a light to every age, 
 
 It gives, but borrows none. 
 
 3 The hand that gave it still supplies 
 
 The gracious light and heat ; 
 
 His truths upon the nations rise, 
 
 They rise, but never set. 
 
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 4 Let everlasting thanks be thine, 
 
 For such a bright display, 
 
 As makes a world of darkness shine 
 With beams of heavenly day, 
 
 5 My soul rejoices to pursue 
 
 The steps of him I love ; 
 
 Till glory breaks upon my view 
 In brighter worlds above. 
 
 C. 
 
 HYMN LXIII. 
 
 THE word more precious than gold. 
 
 1 Precious Bible ! what a treasure 
 Does the word of God afford ! 
 
 All I want for life or pleasure, 
 
 Food and med’cine, shield and sword : 
 Let the world account me poor, 
 Having this I need no more. 
 
 2 Food to which the world’s a stranger, 
 Here my hungry soul enjoys ; 
 
 Of excess there is no danger, 
 
 Though it fills, it never cloys : 
 
 On a dying Christ I feed, 
 
 He is meat and drink indeed ! 
 
 3 When my faith is faint and sickly, 
 
 Or when Satan wounds my mind. 
 Cordials to revive me quickly, 
 
 Healing med’cines here I find : 
 
 To the promises I flee, 
 
 Each affords a remedy. 
 
 4 In the hour of dark temptation, 
 
 Satan cannot make me yield j 
 For the word of consolation 
 
 Is to me a mighty shield : 
 
 While the scripture truths are sure, 
 From his malice I’m secure. 
 
 5 Vain his threats to overcome me, 
 
 When I take the Spirit’s sword ; 
 
 Then, with ease, I drive him from me, 
 Satan trembles at the word : 
 
 ’Tis a sword for conquest made, 
 
 Keen the edge, and strong the blade. 
 
 6 Shall I envy, then, the miser, 
 
 Doating on his golden store ? 
 
 Sure I am, or should be, wiser ; 
 
 I am rich ’tis he is poor : 
 
 Jesus gives me in his word, 
 
 Food and med’cine, shield and sword 
 
 ORDINANCES. 
 
592 
 
 OLNEY HYMNS. 
 
 BOOK II 
 
 III. PROVIDENCES. 
 
 HYMN LXIV. 
 
 OK THE COMMENCEMENT OF HOSTILITIES IN 
 AMERICA. 
 
 1 The gath’ring clouds, with aspect dark 
 
 A rising storm presage ; 
 
 Oh ! to be hid within the ark, 
 
 And shelter’d from its rage. 
 
 2 See the commission’d angel frown ! * 
 
 That vial in his hand, 
 
 Fill'd with fierce wrath, is pouring down 
 Upon our guilty land ! 
 
 3 Ye saints, unite in wrestling prayer, 
 
 If yet there may be hope ; 
 
 Who knows but mercy yet may spare, 
 
 And bid the angel stop ? f 
 
 4 Already is the plague begun, } 
 
 And fired with hostile rage, 
 
 Brethren, by blood and interest one, 
 
 With brethren now engage. 
 
 5 Peace spreads her wings, prepar’d for flight, 
 
 And war, with flaming sword, 
 
 And hasty strides, draws nigh to fight 
 The battles of the Lord. 
 
 6 The first alarm, alas ! how few, 
 
 While distant, seem to hear ! 
 
 But they will hear, and tremble too, 
 
 When God shall send it near. 
 
 7 So thunder o’er the distant hills 
 
 Gives but a murm’ring sound ; 
 
 But as the tempest spreads, it fills, 
 
 And shakes the welkin § round. 
 
 8 May we at least, with one consent, 
 
 Fall low before the throne ; 
 
 With tears the nation’s sins lament, 
 
 The church’s and our own. 
 
 9 The humble souls who mourn and pray, 
 
 The Lord approves and knows ; 
 
 His mark secures them in the day 
 When vengeance strikes his foes. 
 
 FAST-DAY HYMNS. 
 
 HYMN LXV. 
 
 CONFESSION AND PRAYER. Dec. 13, 1776. 
 
 1 Oh ! may the power which melts the rock, 
 Be felt by all assembled here ! 
 
 Or else our service will but mock 
 The God whom we profess to fear ! 
 
 • Rev. xvi. 1. f 1 Sam. xxiv. 16. X Numb. xvi. 46. 
 t Firmament or atmosphere. 
 
 2 Lord, while thy judgments shake the land. 
 Thy people’s eyes are fixed on thee ! 
 
 We own thy just uplifted hand. 
 
 Which thousands cannot, will not see. 
 
 3 How long hast thou bestow'd thy care 
 On this indulg’d ungrateful spot ; 
 
 While other nations, far and near, 
 
 Have envied and admir’d our lot. 
 
 4 Here peace and liberty have dwelt, 
 
 'l he glorious gospel brightly shone ; 
 
 And oft our enemies have felt 
 
 That God has made our cause his own. 
 
 5 But, ah ! both heaven and earth have heard 
 Our vile requittal of his love ! 
 
 We, whom like children he has rear’d, 
 Rebels against his goodness prove.* 
 
 6 His grace despis’d, his power defied 
 And legions of the blackest crimes, 
 Profaneness, riot, lust, and pride, 
 
 Are signs that mark the present times. 
 
 7 The Lord, displeas’d, has rais’d his rod ; 
 Ah, where are now the faithful few. 
 
 Who tremble for the ark of God, 
 
 And know what Israel ought to do ? f 
 
 8 Lord, hear thy people ev’rywhere, 
 
 Who meet to mourn, confess, and pray ; 
 The nation and thy churches spare, 
 
 And let thy wrath be turn’d away. 
 
 HYMN LX VI. 
 
 MOSES AND AMALEK. \ Feb. 27, 1778. 
 
 1 While Joshua led the armed bands 
 
 Of Israel forth to war ; 
 
 Moses apart, with lifted hands. 
 
 Engag’d in humble prayer. 
 
 2 The armed bands had quickly fail’d, 
 
 And perish'd in the fight, 
 
 If Moses’ prayer had not prevail’d 
 To put the foes to flight. 
 
 3 When Moses’ hands through weakness 
 
 The warriors fainted too ; [dropp’d, 
 Israel’s success at once was stopp’d, 
 
 And Am’lek bolder grew. 
 
 4 A people, always prone to boast. 
 
 Were taught by this suspense, 
 
 That not a num’rous armed host, 
 
 But God, was their defence. 
 
 Isaiah i. 2. f 1 Chron. xii. 62. X Exod. xvii. 9. 
 
HYMN LX1X. 
 
 5 We now of fleets and armies vaunt, 
 
 And ships and men prepare ; 
 
 But men like Moses most we want 
 To save the state by prayer. 
 
 6 Yet, Lord, we hope thou hast prepar’d 
 
 A hidden few to-day 
 (The nation’s secret strength and guard) 
 To weep, and mourn, and pray. 
 
 7 O hear their prayers, and grant us aid ! 
 
 Bid war and discord cease ; 
 
 Heal the sad breach which sin has made, 
 And bless us all with peace. 
 
 HYMN LX VI I. 
 
 THE HIDING-PLACE. Feb. 10, 1779. 
 
 1 See the gloomy gath’ring cloud 
 Hanging o’er a sinful land ! 
 
 Sure the Lord proclaims aloud 
 Times of trouble are at hand. 
 
 Happy they who love his name ; 
 
 They shall always find him near ; 
 Though the earth were wrapt in flame, 
 They have no just cause for fear. 
 
 2 Hark, his voice in accents mild, 
 
 (O how comforting and sweet!) 
 
 Speaks to every humble child, 
 
 Pointing out a sure retreat ! 
 
 “ Come, and in my chambers hide,* 
 To my saints of old well known ; 
 
 There you safely may abide, 
 
 Till the storm be overblown. 
 
 3 You have only to repose 
 
 On my wisdom, love, and care ; 
 
 When my wrath consumes my foes, 
 Mercy shall my children spare : 
 
 While they perish in the flood, 
 
 You that bear my holy mark,-J- 
 Sprinkled with atoning blood, 
 
 Shall be safe within the ark.” 
 
 4 Sinners, see the ark prepar’d ! 
 
 Haste to enter while there’s room ; 
 Though the Lord his arm has bar’d 
 Mercy still retards your doom : 
 
 Seek him while there yet is hope, 
 
 Ere the day of grace be past, 
 
 Lest in wrath he give you up, 
 
 And this call should prove your last. 
 
 HYMN LXVIII. 
 
 ON THE EARTHQUAKE. Sept. S, 1775. 
 
 I Although on massy pillars built, 
 
 The earth has lately shook ; 
 
 It trembles under Britain’s guilt. 
 
 Before its Maker’s look. 
 
 * Isaiah xxvi. 20. t Ezek. ix. 4. 
 
 593 
 
 Swift as the shock amazement spreads, 
 
 And sinners tremble too ; 
 
 What flight can screen their guilty heads. 
 If earth itself pursue ? 
 
 3 But mercy spar’d us while it warn’d, 
 
 The shock is felt no more; 
 
 And mercy now, alas ! is scorn’d 
 By sinners, as before. 
 
 4 But if these warnings prove in vain, 
 
 Say, sinner, canst thou tell, 
 
 How soon the earth may quake again, 
 
 And open wide to hell ? 
 
 5 Repent before the Judge draws nigh, 
 
 Or else when he comes down, 
 
 Thou wilt in vain for earthquakes cry 
 To hide thee from his frown.* 
 
 6 But happy they who love the Lord, 
 
 And his salvation know ; 
 
 The hope that’s founded on his word. 
 
 No change can overthrow. 
 
 7 Should the deep-rooted hills be hurl’d, 
 
 And plung’d beneath the seas, 
 
 And strong convulsions shake the world, 
 Your hearts may rest in peace. 
 
 8 Jesus, your Shepherd, Lord, and Chief, 
 
 Shall shelter you from ill ; 
 
 And not a worm or shaking leaf 
 Can move, but at his will. 
 
 HYMN LXIX. 
 
 ON THE FIRE AT OLNEY. Sept. 22, 1777 
 
 1 Wearied by day with toils and cares, 
 How welcome is the peaceful night 1 
 Sweet sleep our wasted strength repairs, 
 And fits us for returning light. 
 
 2 Yet when our eyes in sleep are clos’d, 
 Our rest may break ere well begun; 
 
 To dangers ev’ry hour expos’d, 
 
 We neither can forsee nor shun. 
 
 3 ’Tis of the Lord that we can sleep 
 A single night without alarms ; 
 
 His eye alone our lives can keep 
 Secure amidst a thousand harms. 
 
 4 For months and years of safety past, 
 Ungrateful we, alas ! have been ; 
 Though patient long, he spoke at last, 
 And bid the fire rebuke our sin. 
 
 5 The shout of — Fire ! a dreadful cry, 
 Impress’d each heart with deep dismay, 
 While the fierce blaze and redd’ning sky 
 Made midnight wear the face of day. 
 
 6 The throng and terror who can speak ? 
 The various sounds that fill’d the air — 
 The infant’s wail, the mother’s shriek, 
 The voice of blasphemy and prayer. 
 
 * Rev. vi. 16. 
 
 2 Y 
 
 PROVIDENCES. 
 
 2 
 
OLNEY IIYMNS. 
 
 BOOK II 
 
 594 
 
 7 But prayer prevail’d and sav’d the town : 
 The few who lov’d the Saviour’s name 
 Were heard, and mercy hasted down 
 To change the wind and stop the flame. 
 
 8 O may that night be ne’er forgot ! 
 
 Lord, still increase thy praying few ! 
 Were Olney left without a Lot, 
 
 Ruin like Sodom’s would ensue. 
 
 HYMN LXX. 
 
 A WELCOME TO CHRISTIAN FRIENDS. 
 
 1 Kindred in Christ, for his dear sake, 
 
 A hearty welcome here receive ; 
 
 May we together now partake 
 
 The joys which only he can give ! 
 
 2 To you and us by grace ’tis given 
 
 To know the Saviour’s precious name, 
 And shortly we shall meet in heaven, 
 Our hope, our way, our end the same. 
 
 3 May he, by whose kind care we meet, 
 Send his good Spirit from above, 
 
 Make our communications sweet, 
 
 And cause our hearts to burn with love ! 
 
 4 Forgotten be each worldly theme, 
 
 When Christians see each other thus; 
 
 We only wish to speak of him 
 
 Who liv’d, and died, and reigns for us. 
 
 5 We’ll talk of all he did and said, 
 
 And suffer’d for us here below ; 
 
 The path he mark’d for us to tread. 
 
 And what he’s doing for us now. 
 
 6 Thus, as the moments pass away, 
 
 We’ll love, and wonder, and adore, 
 
 And hasten on the glorious day, 
 
 When we shall meet to part no more. 
 
 HYMN LXXr. 
 
 AT PARTING. 
 
 1 As the sun’s enliv’ning eye 
 Shines on ev’ry place the same ; 
 
 So the Lord is always nigh 
 
 To the souls that love his name. 
 
 2 When they move at duty’s call, 
 
 He is with them by the way : 
 
 He is ever with them all, 
 
 Those who go and those who stay. 
 
 S From his holy mercy-seat 
 
 Nothing can their souls confine ; 
 Still in spirit they may meet, 
 
 And in sweet communion join. 
 
 4 For a season call’d to part, 
 
 Let us then ourselves commend 
 To the gracious eye and heart 
 Of our ever-present Friend. 
 
 Jesus, hear our humble prayer ! 
 Tender Shepherd of thy sheep .' 
 
 Let thy mercy and thy care 
 All our souls in safety keep. 
 
 In thy strength may we be strong, 
 Sweeten ev’ry cross and pain ; 
 
 Give us, if we live, ere long, 
 
 Here to meet in peace again. 
 
 Then, if thou thy help afford, 
 Ebenezers shall be rear’d, 
 
 And our souls shall praise the Lord, 
 Who our poor petitions heard. 
 
 FUNERAL HYMNS. 
 
 HYMN LXXII. 
 
 ON THE DEATH OF A BELIEVER. 
 
 In vain my fancy strives to paint 
 The moment after death, 
 
 The glories that surround the saints 
 When yielding up their breath. 
 
 One gentle sigh their fetters breaks ; 
 We scarce can say, “ They’re gone !” 
 
 Before the willing spirit takes 
 Her mansion near the throne. 
 
 Faith strives, but all its efforts fail, 
 
 To trace her in her flight ; 
 
 No eyes can pierce within the vail, 
 Which hides that world of light. 
 
 Thus much (and this is all) we know, 
 They are completely blest, 
 
 Have done with sin, and care, and woe 
 And with their Saviour rest. 
 
 On harps of gold they praise his name, 
 His face they always view ; 
 
 Then let us followers be of them 
 That we may praise him too. 
 
 Their faith and patience, love and zeaJ 
 Should make their mem’ry dear ; 
 
 And, Lord, do thou the prayers fulfil 
 They offer’d for us here ! 
 
 While they have gain’d, we losers are, 
 We miss them day by day ; 
 
 But thou canst ev’ry breach repair, 
 And wipe our tears away. 
 
 We pray, as in Elisha’s case, 
 
 When great Elijah went, 
 
 May double portions of thy grace, 
 
 To us who stay be sent. 
 
 5 , 
 
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 7 
 
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HYMN LXXVI. 
 
 PROVIDENCES. 
 
 59 
 
 HYMN LXXIII. 
 
 ON THE DEATH OF A MINISTER. 
 
 1 His master taken from his head, 
 
 Elisha saw him go, 
 
 And, in desponding accents said, 
 
 “ Ah ! what must Israel do ?” 
 
 2 But he forgot the Lord who lifts 
 
 The beggar to the throne, 
 
 Nor knew that all Elijah’s gifts 
 
 Would soon be made his own. 
 
 3 What ! when a Paul has run his course, 
 
 Or when Apollos dies, 
 
 Is Israel left without resource ? 
 
 And have we no supplies ? 
 
 4 Yes ! while the dear Redeemer lives, 
 
 We have a boundless store, 
 
 And shall be fed with what he gives, 
 
 Who lives for evermore. 
 
 C. 
 
 HYMN LXX1V. 
 
 THE TOLLING BELL. 
 
 1 Oft as the bell, with solemn toll, 
 
 Speaks the departure of a soul, 
 
 Let each one ask himself “ Am I 
 Prepar’d should I be call’d to die ?’ 
 
 2 Only this frail and fleeting breath 
 Preserves me from the jaws of death : 
 Soon as it fails, at once I’m gone, 
 
 And plung’d into a world unknown. 
 
 3 Then leaving all I lov’d below, 
 
 To God’s tribunal I must go ; 
 
 Must hear the Judge pronounce my fate, 
 And fix my everlasting state. 
 
 4 But could I bear to hear him say, 
 
 “ Depart, accursed, far away ! 
 
 With Satan in the lowest hell, 
 
 Thou art for ever doom’d to dwell.” 
 
 5 Lord Jesus ! help me now to flee. 
 
 And seek my hope alone in thee ; 
 
 Apply thy blood, thy Spirit give, 
 
 Subdue my sin, and let me live. 
 
 6 Then, when the solemn bell I hear, 
 
 If sav’d from guilt, I need not fear ; 
 
 Nor would the thought distressing be, 
 Perhaps it next may toll for me. 
 
 7 Rather my spirit would rejoice, 
 
 And long, and wish to hear thy voice, 
 Glad when it bids me earth' resign, 
 Secure of heaven, if thou art mine. 
 
 HYMN LXXV 
 
 HOPE BEYOND THE GRAVE. 
 
 My soul, this curious house of clay, 
 
 Thy present frail abode, 
 
 Must quickly fall to worms a prey, 
 
 And thou return to God. 
 
 Canst thou, by faith, survey with joy 
 The change before it come ? 
 
 And say, “ Let death this house destroy 
 I have a heavenly home ! 
 
 The Saviour, whom I then shall see 
 With new-admiring eyes, 
 
 Already has prepar’d for me 
 A mansion in the skies.” * 
 
 I feel this mud-wall’d cottage shake, 
 And long to see it fall; 
 
 That I my willing flight may take 
 To him who is my all. 
 
 Burden’d and groaning then no more, 
 My rescu’d soul shall sing, 
 
 As up the shining path I soar, 
 
 “ Death thou hast lost thy sting.’ 
 
 Dear Saviour help us now to seek 
 And know thy grace’s power, 
 
 That we may all this language speak. 
 Before the dying hour. 
 
 HYMN LXXVI. 
 
 THERE THE WEARY ARE AT REST. 
 
 Courage, my soul ! behold the prize 
 The Saviour’s love provides, — 
 Eternal life beyond the skies 
 For all whom here he guides. 
 
 The wicked cease from troubling there, 
 The weary are at rest 
 Sorrow, and sin, and pain, and care, 
 
 No more approach the blest. 
 
 A wicked world, and wicked heart, 
 With Satan now are join’d ; 
 
 Each acts a too successful part 
 In liarrassing my mind. 
 
 In conflict with this threefold troop, 
 How weary, Lord, am I ! 
 
 Did not thy promise bear me up, 
 
 My soul must faint and die. 
 
 But fighting in my Saviour’s strength, 
 Though mighty are my foes, 
 
 I shall a conq’ror be at length 
 O’er all that can oppose. 
 
 Then why, my soul, complain or fear ? 
 
 The crown of glory see ! 
 
 The more I toil and suffer here, 
 
 The sweeter rest will be. 
 
 * 2 Cor. v. 1. f Job iii. 17. 
 
 1 
 
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59G 
 
 OLNEY HYMNS. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 HYMN LXXVII. 
 
 THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. > 
 
 1 Day of judgment, day of wonders ! 
 
 Hark ! the trumpet’s awful sound, 
 
 Louder than a thousand thunders. 
 
 Shakes the vast creation round ! [confound ! 
 
 How the summons will the sinner’s heart 
 
 2 See the Judge our nature wearing, 
 
 Cloth’d in majesty divine ! 
 
 You who long for his appearing, 
 
 Then shall say, This God is mine ! [thine ! 
 Gracious Saviour, own me in that day for 
 
 3 At his call the dead awaken, 
 
 Rise to life from earth and sea : 
 
 All the powers of nature shaken, 
 
 By his looks prepare to flee ; [thee ! 
 
 Careless sinner ! what will then become of 
 
 4 Horrors past imagination 
 
 Will surprise your trembling heart, 
 
 When you hear your condemnation, 
 
 “ Hence, accursed wretch, depart ! 
 
 Thou with Satan and his angels have thy part !” 
 
 5 Satan, who now tries to please you, 
 
 Lest you timely warning take, 
 
 When that word is past, will seize you, 
 Plunge you in the burning lake : 
 
 Think, poor sinner, thy eternal all’s at stake. 
 
 6 But to those who have confessed, 
 
 Lov’d and serv’d the Lord below, 
 
 He will say, “ Come near, ye blessed. 
 
 See the kingdom I bestow : 
 
 You for ever shall my love and glory know.” 
 
 7 Under sorrows and reproaches. 
 
 May this thought your courage raise ! 
 Swiftly God’s great day approaches, 
 
 Sighs shall then be chang’d to praise: 
 
 We shall triumph when the world is in a blaze. 
 
 HYMN LXXVIII. 
 
 THE DAY OF THE LORD. * 
 
 1 God, with one piercing glance, looks thro’ 
 Creation’s wide extended frame ; 
 
 The past and future in his view, 
 
 And days and ages are the same.f 
 
 2 Sinners who dare provoke his face. 
 
 Who on his patience long presume. 
 
 And trifle out his day of grace, 
 
 Will find be has a day of doom. 
 
 * Book III. Hymn iv. + 2 Pet. iii. 8—10. 
 
 3 As pangs the lab’ring woman feels, 
 
 Or as the thief, in midnight sleep ; 
 
 So comes that day, for which the wheels 
 Of time their ceaseless motion keep ! 
 
 j 4 Hark ! from the sky the trump proclaims 
 Jesus the Judge approaching nigh ! 
 
 See, the creation wrapt in flames, 
 
 First kindled by his vengeful eye ! 
 
 5 When thus the mountains melt like wax ; 
 When earth, and air, and sea, shall burn ; 
 When all the frame of nature breaks, 
 Poor sinner, whether wilt thou turn ? 
 
 6 The puny works which feeble men 
 Now boast, or covet, or admire ; 
 
 Their pomp and arts, and treasures, then 
 Shall perish in one common fire. 
 
 7 Lord, fix our hearts and hopes above ! 
 Since all below to ruin tends; 
 
 Here may we trust, obey, and love, 
 
 And there be found amongst thy friends. 
 
 HYMN LXXIX. 
 
 THE GREAT TRIBUNAL. * 
 
 1 John, in vision, saw the day 
 When the Judge will hasten down t 
 Heaven and earth shall flee away 
 From the terror of his frown; 
 
 Dead and living, small and great, 
 Raised from the earth and sea. 
 
 At his bar shall hear their fate, — 
 What will then become of me? 
 
 2 Can I bear his awful looks ? 
 
 Shall I stand in judgment then, 
 
 When I see the open’d books, 
 
 Written by the Almighty’s pen ? 
 
 If he to remembrance bring, 
 
 And expose to public view, 
 
 Ev’ry work and secret thing, 
 
 Ah ! my soul, what canst thou do ? 
 
 3 When the list shall be produc’d 
 Of the talents I enjoyed ; 
 
 Means and mercies, how abus’d ! 
 
 Time and strength, how misemployed * 
 Conscience then, compell’d to read, 
 Must allow the charge is true ; 
 
 Say, my soul, what canst thou plead ? 
 In that hour, what wilt thou do ? 
 
 4 But the book of life I see, 
 
 May my name be written there ! 
 
 Then from guilt and danger free. 
 
 Glad I’ll meet him in the air : 
 
 That’s the book I hope to plead, 
 
 ’Tis the gospel open’d wide; 
 
 Lord, I am a wretch indeed ! 
 
 I have sinn’d, but thou hast died, f 
 
 * Rev. xx. 11. 12. + Rom. viiL 54 
 
HYMN LXXXII. 
 
 CREATION. 
 
 597 
 
 5 Now my soul knows what to do ; 
 Thus I shall with boldness stand, 
 Number’d with the faithful few, 
 Own’d and sav’d at thy right-hand : 
 
 If thou help a feeble worm 
 To believe thy promise now, 
 Justice will at last confirm 
 What thy mercy wrought below. 
 
 IV. CREATION. 
 
 HYMN LXXX. 
 
 THE OLD AND NEW CREATION. 
 
 1 That w r as a wonder-working word 
 Which could the vast creation raise ! 
 Angels, attendant on their Lord,* 
 
 Admir’d the plan, and sung his praise. 
 
 2 From what a dark and shapeless mass, 
 
 All nature sprung at his command ! 
 
 Let there be light, and light there was, 
 
 And sun, and stars, and sea, and land. 
 
 3 With equal speed the earth and seas 
 Their mighty Maker’s voice obeyed ; 
 
 He spake, and straight the plants and trees, 
 And birds, and beasts, and men were made. 
 
 4 But man, the lord and crown of all, 
 
 By sin his honour soon defac’d ; 
 
 His heart (how alter’d since the fall !) 
 
 Is dark, deform’d, and void, and waste. 
 
 5 Tfie new creation of the soul 
 
 Does now no less his power display, f 
 Than when he form’d the mighty whole, 
 And kindled darkness into day. 
 
 6 Though, self-destroyed, O Lord, we are, 
 Yet let us feel what thou canst do ; 
 
 Thy word the ruin can repair. 
 
 And all our hearts create anew 
 
 HYMN LXXXI. 
 
 THE BOOK OF CREATION. 
 
 1 The book of nature open lies, 
 
 With much instruction stor’d ; 
 
 But till the Lord anoints our eyes, 
 We cannot read a word. 
 
 2 Philosophers have por’d in vain, 
 
 And guess’d from age to age : 
 
 For reason’s eye could ne’er attain 
 To understand a page. 
 
 * Job xxxviii. 7* f 2 Cor. iv. 6. 
 
 3 Though to each star they give a name, 
 
 Its size and motions teach ; 
 
 The truths which all the stars proclaim, 
 Their wisdom cannot reach. 
 
 4 With skill to measure earth and sea. 
 
 And weigh the subtile air; 
 
 They cannot, Lord, discover thee, 
 Though present ev’rywhere. 
 
 5 The knowledge of the saints excels 
 
 The wisdom of the schools ; 
 
 To them his secrets God reveals, 
 Though men account them fools. 
 
 6 To them the sun and stars on high, 
 
 The flowers that paint the field, * 
 And all the artless birds that fly. 
 
 Divine instruction yield. 
 
 7 The creatures on their senses press, 
 
 As witnesses to prove 
 Their Saviour’s power and faithfulness, 
 His providence and love. 
 
 8 Thus may we study nature’s book, 
 
 To make us wise indeed ! 
 
 And pity those who only look 
 At what they cannot read.f 
 
 HYMN LXXXII. 
 
 THE RAINBOW. 
 
 1 When the sun, with cheerful beams, 
 Smiles upon a low’ring sky. 
 
 Soon its aspect soften’d seems, 
 
 And a rainbow meets the eye : 
 
 While the sky remains serene, 
 This bright arch is never seen. 
 
 2 Thus the Lord’s supporting power 
 Brightest to his saints appears, 
 
 When affliction’s threat ning hour 
 Fills the sky with clouds and fears. 
 
 He can wonders then perform, 
 Paint a rainbow on the storm, f 
 
 • Matth. vi. 26—28. f Rom. i. 20 
 J $ Gen. ix. 14. 
 
598 OLNEY 
 
 3 All their graces doubly shine, 
 
 When their troubles press them sore ; 
 
 And the promises divine 
 
 Give them joys unknown before : 
 
 As the colours of the bow' 
 
 To the cloud their brightness owe. 
 
 4 Favour’d John a rainbow saw,* 
 
 Circling round the throne above ; 
 
 Hence the saints a pledge may draw 
 Of unchanging cov’nant love : 
 
 Clouds a while may intervene, 
 
 But the bow will still be seen. 
 
 HYMN LXXXIII 
 
 THUNDER. 
 
 1 When a black o’erspreading cloud 
 
 Has darken’d all the air, 
 
 And peals of thunder, roaring loud, 
 Proclaim the tempest near; 
 
 2 Then guilt and fear, the fruits of sin, 
 
 The sinner oft pursue : 
 
 A louder storm is heard within, 
 
 And conscience thunders too. 
 
 3 The law a fiery language speaks, 
 
 His danger he perceives ; 
 
 Like Satan, who his ruin seeks, 
 
 He trembles and believes. 
 
 4 But when the sky serene appears, 
 
 And thunders roll no more, 
 
 He soon forgets his vows and fears, 
 Just as he did before. 
 
 5 But whither shall the sinner flee, 
 
 When nature’s mighty frame, 
 
 The pond’rous earth, and air, and sea,f 
 Shall all dissolve in flame ? 
 
 6 Amazing day ! it comes apace : 
 
 The Judge is hasting down : 
 
 Will sinners bear to see his face, 
 
 Or stand before his frown ? 
 
 7 Lord, let thy mercy find a way 
 
 To touch each stubborn heart ; 
 
 That they may never hear thee say, 
 “Ye cursed ones, depart.” 
 
 8 Believers, you may well rejoice ! 
 
 The thunder’s loudest strains 
 Should be to you a welcome voice, 
 That tells you, “ Jesus reigns. ” 
 
 HYMN LXXXIV. 
 
 LIGHTNING IN THE NIGHT. 
 
 1 A GLANCE from heaven with sweet effect 
 Sometimes my pensive spirit cheers ; 
 
 But ere I can my thoughts collect, 
 
 As suddenly it disappears. 
 
 * Rev. iv. 3 . f 2 Pet. iii. 10. 
 
 HYMNS. BOOK II. 
 
 2 So lightning in the gloom of night 
 Affords a momentary day ; 
 
 Disclosing objects full in sight, 
 
 Which, soon as seen, are snatch’d away. 
 
 3 Ah ! what avail these pleasing scenes ? 
 They do but aggravate my pain ; 
 
 While darkness quickly intervenes, 
 
 And swallows up my joys again. 
 
 4 But shall I murmur at relief ? 
 
 Though short, it was a precious view, 
 
 Sent to control my unbelief, 
 
 And prove that what I read is true. 
 
 5 The lightning’s flash did not create 
 The op’ning prospect it reveal’d ; 
 
 But only-shew’d the real state 
 
 Of what the darkness had conceal’d. 
 
 6 Just so, we by a glimpse discern 
 The glorious things within the vail ; 
 
 That, when in darkness, we may learn 
 To live by faith, till light prevail. 
 
 7 The Lord’s great day will soon advance, 
 Dispersing all the shades of night ; 
 
 Then we no more shall need a glance, 
 
 But see by an eternal light. 
 
 HYMN LXXXV. 
 
 ON THE ECLIPSE OF THE MOON, JULY 30, 1776. 
 
 1 The moon in silver glory shone, 
 
 And not a cloud in sight, 
 
 When suddenly a shade begun 
 To intercept her light. 
 
 2 How fast across her orb it spread, 
 
 How fast her light withdrew ! 
 
 A circle, ting’d with languid red, 
 
 Was all appear’d in view. 
 
 3 While many, with unmeaning eye, 
 
 Gaze on thy works in vain, 
 
 Assist me, Lord, that I may try 
 Instruction to obtain. 
 
 4 Fain would my thankful heart and lips 
 
 Unite in praise to thee, 
 
 And meditate on thy ecliose 
 In sad Gethsemane. 
 
 5 Thy people’s guilt, a heavy load, 
 
 (When standing in their room) 
 Depriv’d thee of the light of God, 
 
 And fill’d thy soul with gloom. 
 
 6 How punctually eclipses move, 
 
 Obedient to thy will ! 
 
 Thus shall thy faithfulness and love 
 Thy promises fulfil. 
 
 * Dark like the moon without the sun, 
 
 < I mourn thine absence, Lord ! 
 
 For light or comfort I have none, 
 
 But what thy beams afford. 
 
FIYMN LXXXIX. 
 
 CREATION. 
 
 599 
 
 8 But lo ! the hour draws near apace, 
 When changes shall be o’er, 
 
 Then I shall see thee face to face, 
 And be eclips’d no more. 
 
 HYMN LXXXVI. 
 
 MOON-LIGHT. 
 
 1 The moon has but a borrow’d light, 
 
 A faint and feeble ray ; 
 
 She owes her beauty to the night, 
 
 And hides herself by day. 
 
 2 No cheering warmth her beam conveys, 
 
 Though pleasing to behold ; 
 
 We might upon her brightness gaze 
 Till we were starv’d with cold. 
 
 3 Just such is all the light to man 
 
 Which reason can impart ; 
 
 It cannot shew one object plain, 
 
 Nor warm the frozen heart. 
 
 4 Thus moon-light views of truths divine 
 
 To many fatal prove, 
 
 For what avail in gifts to shine,* 
 Without a spark of love ? 
 
 5 The gospel, like the sun at noon, 
 
 Affords a glorious light ; 
 
 Then fallen reason’s boasted moon 
 Appears no longer bright. 
 
 6 And grace not light alone bestows, 
 
 But adds a quick’ning power ; 
 
 The desert blossoms like the rose,+ 
 
 And sin prevails no more. 
 
 HYMN LXXXVII. 
 
 THE SEA. | 
 
 1 If, for a time, the air be calm. 
 
 Serene and smooth the sea appears, 
 And shews no danger to alarm 
 
 The unexperienc’d landsman’s fears s. 
 
 2 But if the tempest once arise, 
 
 The faithless water swells and raves ; 
 Its billows, foaming to the skies, 
 Disclose a thousand threat’ning graves. 
 
 S My untried heart thus seem’d to me 
 (So little of myself I knew) 
 
 Smooth as the calm unruffled sea, 
 
 But, ah ! it prov’d as treach’rous too ! 
 
 4 The peace of which I had a taste, 
 When Jesus first his love reveal’d, 
 
 I fondly hop’d, would always last, 
 Because my foes were then conceal’d. 
 
 * 1 Cor. xiii. I. Isa. xxx>\ I 
 
 * Book I. Hymn cxv. 
 
 But when I felt the tempter’s power, 
 Rouse my corruptions from their sleep, 
 
 I trembled at the stormy hour, 
 
 And saw the horrors of the deep. 
 
 Now on presumption’s billows borne, 
 
 My spirit seem’d the Lord to dare ; 
 
 Now, quick as thought, a sudden turn 
 Plung’d me in gulfs of black despair. 
 
 Lord, save me, or I sink, I prayed, 
 
 He heard, and bid the tempest cease ; 
 
 The angry waves his word obeyed. 
 
 And all my fears were hush’d to peace. 
 
 The peace is his, and not my own, 
 
 My heart (no better than before) 
 
 Is still to dreadful changes prone, 
 
 Then let me never trust it more. 
 
 HYMN LXXXVIII. 
 
 THE FLOOD. 
 
 Though small the drops of falling rain, 
 
 If one be singly view’d ; 
 
 Collected they o’erspread the plain, 
 
 And form a mighty flood. 
 
 The house it meets with in its course 
 Should not be built on clay, 
 
 Lest, with a wild resistless force, 
 
 It sweep the whole away. 
 
 Though for a while it seem’d secure, 
 
 It will not bear the shock, 
 
 Unless it has foundations sure, 
 
 And stands upon a rock. 
 
 Thus sinners think their evil deeds, 
 
 Like drops of rain, are small ; 
 
 But it the power of thought exceeds, 
 
 To count the sum of all. 
 
 One sin can raise, though small it seems, 
 A flood to drown the soul ; 
 
 What then, when countless million streams 
 Shall join to swell the whole ? 
 
 Yet, while they think the weather fair, 
 
 If warn’d, they smile or frown ; 
 
 But they will tremble and despair, 
 
 When the fierce flood comes down. 
 
 Oh ! then, on Jesus ground your hope. 
 That stone in Zion laid ;* 
 
 Lest your poor building quickly dro^, 
 With ruin on your head. 
 
 HYMN LXXXIX. 
 
 THE thaw. 
 
 The ice and snow we lately saw^ 
 Which cover’d all the ground, 
 Are melted soon before the thaw, 
 And can no more be found. 
 
 * Matth. vii. 1 5 1 Peter ii. 0- 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 8 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 I 
 
 | 
 
BOOK II. 
 
 OLNEY HYMNS. 
 
 2 Could all the art of man suffice 
 
 To move away the snow, 
 
 To clear the rivers from the ice, 
 
 Or make the waters flow ? 
 
 3 No, ’tis the work of God alone ; 
 
 An emblem of the power 
 By which he melts the heart of stone 
 In his appointed hour. 
 
 4 All outward means, till he appears, 
 
 Will ineffectual prove : 
 
 Though much the sinner sees and hears, 
 He cannot learn to love. 
 
 5 But let the stoutest sinner feel 
 
 The soft’ning warmth of grace, 
 Though hard as ice, or rocks, or steel, 
 His heart dissolves apace. 
 
 6 Seeing the blood which Jesus spilt, 
 
 To save his soul from woe. 
 
 His hatred, unbelief, and guilt, 
 
 All melt away like snow. 
 
 7 Jesus, we in thy name entreat, 
 
 Reveal thy gracious arm ; 
 
 And grant thy Spirit’s kindly heat, 
 
 Our frozen hearts to warm. 
 
 HYMN XC. 
 
 THE LOADSTONE. 
 
 1 As needles point towards the pole, 
 
 When touch’d by the magnetic stone ; 
 
 So faith in Jesus gives the soul 
 
 A tendency before unknown. 
 
 2 Till then, by blinded passions led, 
 
 In search of fancied good we range ; 
 
 The paths of disappointment tread, 
 
 To nothing fix’d, but love of change. 
 
 3 But when the Holy Ghost imparts 
 A knowledge of the Saviour’s love, 
 
 Our wand’ring, weary, restless hearts, 
 Are fix’d at once, no more to move. 
 
 4 Now a new principle takes place, 
 
 Which guides and animates the will ; 
 This love, another name for grace, 
 Constrains to good, and bars from ill. 
 
 5 By love’s pure light we soon perceive 
 Our noblest bliss and proper end ; 
 
 And gladly ev’ry idol leave, 
 
 To love and serve our Lord and F;iend. 
 
 6 Thus borne along by faith and hope, 
 
 We feel the Saviour’s words are true ; 
 
 “ And I, if I be lifted up, 
 
 Will w the sinner upward too.”* 
 
 * John xii. 32. 
 
 HYMN XCI 
 
 THE SPIDER AND THE BEE. 
 
 1 On the same flower we often see 
 The loathsome spider and the bee ; 
 
 But what they get by working there. 
 
 Is different as their natures are. 
 
 2 The bee a sweet reward obtains, 
 
 And honey well repays his pains ; 
 
 Home to the hive he bears the store, 
 
 And then returns in quest of more. 
 
 3 But no sweet flowers that grace the field 
 Can honey to the spider yield ; 
 
 A cobweb all that he can spin, 
 
 And poison all he stores within. 
 
 4 Thus in that sacred field, the word, 
 
 With flowers of God’s own planting stor’d 
 Like bees his children feed and thrive, 
 And bring home honey to the hive. 
 
 5 There, spider-like, the wicked come, 
 
 And seem to taste the sweet perfume : 
 
 But the vile venom of their hearts 
 To poison all their food converts. 
 
 6 From the same truths believers prize, 
 They weave vain refuges of lies ; 
 
 And from the promise licence draw, 
 
 To trifle with the holy law. 
 
 7 Lord, shall thy word of life and love 
 The means of death to numbers prove ! 
 Unless thy grace our hearts renew,* 
 
 We sink to hell, with heaven in view. 
 
 HYMN XCII. 
 
 THE BEE SAVED FROM THE SPIDER. 
 
 1 The subtle spider often weaves 
 
 His unsuspected snares 
 Among the balmy flowers and leaves, 
 
 To which the bee repairs. 
 
 2 When in his web he sees one hang, 
 
 With a malicious joy, 
 
 He darts upon it with his fang, 
 
 To poison and destroy. 
 
 3 How welcome then some pitying friend, 
 
 To save the threaten’d bee : 
 
 The spider’s treach’rous web to rend, 
 And set the captive free ! 
 
 4 My soul has been in such a case : 
 
 When first I knew the Lord, 
 
 I hasted to the means of grace, 
 
 Where sweets I knew were stor’d. 
 
 5 Little I thought of danger near, 
 
 That soon my joys would ebb : 
 
 But, ah ! I met a spider there, 
 
 Who caught me in his web. 
 
 * Book III. Hymn Ixxi. 
 
HYMN XCV. 
 
 601 
 
 CREATION. 
 
 b Then Satan rais’d his pois’nous sting, 
 And aim’d his blows at me ; 
 
 While I, poor helpless trembling thing, 
 Could neither fight nor flee. 
 
 I But, oh ! the Saviour’s pitying eye 
 Relieved me from despair ; 
 
 He saw me at the point to die. 
 
 And broke the fatal snare. 
 
 8 My case his heedless saints should warn, 
 Or cheer them if afraid ; 
 
 May you from me your danger learn, 
 And where to look for aid. 
 
 HYMN XCIII. 
 
 THE TAMED LION. 
 
 1 A lion, though by nature wild, 
 
 The art of man can tame ; 
 
 He stands before his keeper mild, 
 
 And gentle as a lamb. 
 
 2 He watches, with submissive eye. 
 
 The hand that gives him food, 
 
 As if he meant to testify 
 A sense of gratitude. 
 
 S But man himself, who thus subdues 
 The fiercest beasts of prey, 
 
 And nature more unfeeling shews, 
 
 And far more fierce than they. 
 
 4 Though by the Lord preserv’d and fed, 
 
 He proves rebellious still : 
 
 And while he eats his Maker’s bread, 
 Resists his holy will. 
 
 5 Alike in vain of grace that saves, 
 
 Or threat’ ning law he hears ; 
 
 The savage scorns, blasphemes, and raves, 
 But neither loves nor fears. 
 
 6 O Saviour ! how thy wond’rous power 
 
 By angels is proclaim’d ! 
 
 When in their own appointed hour, 
 
 They see this lion tam’d. 
 
 7 The love thy bleeding cross displays, 
 
 The hardest heart subdues ; 
 
 Here furious lions, while they gaze, 
 
 Their rage and fierceness lose. * 
 
 8 Yet we are but renew’d in part, 
 
 The lion still remains ; 
 
 Lord, drive him wholly from my heart, 
 
 Or keep him fast in chains. 
 
 HYMN XCIV. 
 
 SHEEP. 
 
 1 The Saviour calls his people sheep, 
 And bids them on his love rely ; 
 For he alone their souls can keep, 
 And he alone their wants supply 
 * Isaiah xi. 6. 
 
 2 The bull can fight, the hare can flee. 
 
 The ant in summer food prepare ; 
 
 But helpless sheep, and such are we, 
 Depend upon the Shepherd’s care. 
 
 3 Jehovah is our Shepherd’s name, * 
 
 Then what have we, though weak, to fear 
 Our sin and folly we proclaim, 
 
 If we despond while he is near. 
 
 4 When Satan threatens to devour, 
 
 When troubles press on every side, 
 
 Think of our Shepherd’s care and power, 
 He can defend, he will provide. 
 
 5 See the rich pastures of his grace, 
 
 Where, in full streams, salvation flows ! 
 There he appoints our resting place, 
 
 And we may feed, secure from foes. 
 
 6 There, ’midst the flock, the Shepherd dwells. 
 The sheep around in safety lie ; 
 
 The wolf in vain with malice swells, 
 
 For he protects them with his cye.f 
 
 7 Dear Lord, if I am one of tlune, 
 
 From anxious thoughts I would be free, 
 To trust, and love, and praise, is mine, 
 The care of all belongs to thee. 
 
 HYMN XCV. 
 
 THE garden. 
 
 1 A garden contemplation suits, 
 
 And may instruction yield. 
 
 Sweeter than all the flowers and fruits 
 With which the spot is fill’d. 
 
 2 Eden was Adam’s dwelling-place, 
 
 While bless’d with innocence ; 
 
 But sin o’erwhelm’d him with disgrace. 
 And drove the rebel thence. 
 
 3 Oft as the garden- walk we tread 
 
 We should bemoan his fall : 
 
 The trespass of our legal head 
 In ruin plung’d us all. 
 
 4 The garden of Gethsemane 
 
 The second Adam saw, 
 
 Oppress’d with woe, to set us free 
 From the avenging law. 
 
 5 How stupid we, who can forget, 
 
 With gardens in our sight, 
 
 His agonies and bloody sweat 
 In that tremendous night. 
 
 6 His church as a fair garden stands, 
 
 Which walls of love inclose, 
 
 Each tree is planted by his hands, f 
 And by his blessing grows. 
 
 7 Believing hearts are gardens too. 
 
 For grace has sown its seeds, 
 
 Where once, by nature, nothing grew 
 But thorns and worthless weeds. 
 
 * PsaL xxiii. 1. 
 
 f Micah v. 4. 
 
 X Isa. lxi. 5 
 
BOOK II. 
 
 602 
 
 8 Such themes, to those who Jesus love, 
 May constant joys afford, 
 
 And make a barren desert prove 
 The garden of the Lord. 
 
 HYMN XCVI. 
 
 FOR A GARDEN-SEAT OR SUMMER-HOUSE. 
 
 ► A SHELTER from the rain or wind,* 
 
 A shade from scorching heat, 
 k resting-place you here may find 
 To ease your weary feet. 
 
 . Enter, but with a serious thought 
 Consider who is near : 
 
 This is a consecrated spot, 
 
 The Lord is present here. 
 
 3 A question of the utmost weight, 
 
 While reading, meets your eye ; 
 
 May conscience witness to your state, 
 And give a true reply ! 
 
 4 Is Jesus to your heart reveal’d. 
 
 As full of truth and grace ? 
 
 And is his name your hope and shield, 
 Your rest and hiding-place? 
 
 5 If so, for all events prepar’d, 
 
 Whatever storms may rise, 
 
 He whom you love will safely guard, 
 And guide you to the skies. 
 
 6 No burning sun, or storm, or rain. 
 
 Will there your peace annoy ; 
 
 No sin, temptation, grief or pain, 
 Intrude to damp your joy. 
 
 7 But if his name you have not known, 
 
 O seek him while you may ! 
 
 Lest you should meet his awful frown 
 In that approaching day. 
 
 8 When the avenging Judge you see, 
 
 With terrors on his brow, 
 
 Where can you hide, or whither flee, 
 
 If you reject him now ? 
 
 HYMN XCVII. 
 
 THE CREATURES IN THE LORD’S HANDS. 
 
 1 The water stood like walls of brass, 
 
 To let the sons of Israel pass,f 
 And from the rock in rivers burst, 
 
 At Moses’ prayer,| to quench their thirst. 
 
 2 The fire, restrain’d by God’s commands, 
 Could only burn his people’s bands :§ 
 Too faint, when he was with them there, 
 To singe their garments or their hair. 
 
 * Isa. xxxii. 2. f Exod. xiv. 22. 
 
 J Numb. xx. 11. $ Dan in- 27 . 
 
 At Daniel’s feet the lions lay,* 
 
 Like harmless lambs, nor touch’d their prey ; 
 And ravens, which on carrion fed, 
 Procur’d Elijah flesh and bread. f 
 
 4 Thus creatures only can fulfil 
 Their great Creator’s holy will ; 
 
 And when his servants need their aid 
 His purposes must be obeyed. 
 
 ! 5 So if his blessing he refuse, 
 
 Their power to help they quickly lose *, 
 Sure as on creatures we depend. 
 
 Our hopes in disappointment end. 
 
 6 Then let us trust the Lord alone, 
 
 And creature-confidence disown ; 
 
 Nor, if they threaten, need we fear ; 
 
 They cannot hurt if he be near. 
 
 7 If instruments of pain they prove, 
 
 Still they are guided by his love. 
 
 As lancets by the surgeon’s skill, 
 
 Which wound to cure and not to kill. 
 
 HYMN XCVIII 
 
 ON DREAMING. 
 
 1 When slumber seals our weary eyes, 
 
 The busy fancy wakeful keeps ; 
 
 The scenes which then before us rise, 
 Prove something in us never sleeps. 
 
 2 As in another world we seem, 
 
 A new creation of our own ; 
 
 All appears real, though a dream, 
 
 And all familiar, though unknown. 
 
 3 Sometimes the mind beholds again 
 The past day’s bus’ness in review, 
 
 Resumes the pleasure or the pain, 
 
 And sometimes all we meet is new. 
 
 4 What schemes we form ! what pains we take 
 We fight, we run, we fly, we fall ; 
 
 But all is ended when we wake, 
 
 We scarcely then a trace recal. 
 
 5 But though our dreams are often wild, 
 Like clouds before the driving storm, 
 
 Yet some important may be styl’d, 
 
 Sent to admonish or inform. 
 
 6 What mighty agents have access, 
 
 What friends from heaven or foes from hell, 
 Our minds to comfort or distress. 
 
 When we are sleeping, who can tell ? 
 
 7 One thing at least, and ’tis enough, 
 
 We learn from this surprising fact, 
 
 Our dreams aflbrd sufficient proof, 
 
 The soul without the flesh can act. 
 
 8 This life, which mortals so esteem, 
 
 That many chuse it for their all. 
 
 They will confess, was but a dream, | 
 When wakened by death’s awful call. 
 
 Dan, vi. 23. t 1 Kings xvii. 6. t Isa. xxix. 8 
 
 OLNEY HYMNS. 
 
 3 
 
HYMN C. 
 
 CREATION. 
 
 603 
 
 HYMN XCIX. 
 
 THE WORLD. 
 
 1 SEE, the world for youth prepares, 
 Harlot-like, her gaudy snares ! 
 Pleasures round her seem to wait, 
 
 But ’tis all a painted cheat. 
 
 2 Rash and unsuspecting youth 
 Thinks to find thee always smooth., 
 Always kind, till better taught, 
 
 By experience dearly bought. 
 
 S So the calm, but faithless sea, 
 
 (Lively emblem, world, of thee,) 
 Tempts the shepherd from the shore, 
 Foreign regions to explore. 
 
 4 While no wrinkled wave is seen, 
 While the sky remains serene. 
 
 Fill’d with hopes and golden schemes, 
 Of a storm he little dreams. 
 
 5 But ere long the tempest raves, 
 
 Then he trembles at the waves ; 
 Wishes then he had been wise, 
 
 But too late he sinks and dies. 
 
 6 Hapless thus are they, vain world, 
 Soon on rocks of ruin hurl’d, 
 
 Who admiring thee, untried, 
 
 Court thy pleasure, wealth, or pride. 
 
 7 Such a shipwreck had been mine, 
 
 Had not Jesus (name divine !) 
 
 Sav’d me with a mighty hand, 
 
 And restor’d my soul to land. 
 
 8 Now, with gratitude I raise 
 Ebenezers to his praise - t 
 
 Now my rash pursuits are o’er, 
 
 I can trust thee, world, no more. 
 
 HYMN C. 
 
 THE ENCHANTMENT DISSOLVED. 
 
 1 Blinded in youth by Satan’s arts, 
 
 The world to our unpractis’d hearts, 
 
 A flatt’ring prospect shows ; 
 
 Our fancy forms a thousand schemes 
 Our gay delights and golden dreams, 
 And undisturb’d repose. 
 
 2 So in the desert’s dreary waste, 
 
 By magic power produc’d in haste, 
 
 (As ancient fables say) 
 
 Castles, and groves, and music sweet, 
 The senses of the trav’ller meet, 
 
 And stop him in his way, 
 
 3 But while he listens with surprise, 
 
 The charm dissolves, the vision dies, 
 
 ’Twas but enchanted ground : 
 
 Thus, if the Lord our spirit touch, 
 
 The world, which promis’d us so much, 
 A wilderness is found. 
 
 4 At first we start, and feel distress’d, 
 Convinc’d we never can have rest 
 
 In such a wretched place ; 
 
 But he whose mercy breaks the charm, 
 Reveals his own almighty arm, 
 
 And bids us seek his face. 
 
 5 Then we begin to live indeed, 
 
 When from our sin and bondage freed 
 
 By this beloved Friend ; 
 
 We foil nv him from day to day, 
 Assur’d of grace through all the way 
 And glory at the end. 
 
OLNEY HYMNS, 
 
 &c. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 ON THE RISE, PROGRESS, CHANGES, AND COMFORTS OF THE 
 SPIRITUAL LIFE. 
 
 I. SOLEMN ADDRESSES TO SINNERS. 
 
 HYMN I. 
 
 EXPOSTULATION. 
 
 1 No words can declare, 
 
 No fancy can paint. 
 
 What rage and despair. 
 
 What hopeless complaint, 
 
 Fill Satan’s dark dwelling, 
 
 The prison beneath 
 
 What weeping, and yelling, 
 
 And gnashing of teeth ! 
 
 2 Yet sinners will chuse 
 This dreadful abode ; 
 
 Each madly pursues 
 The dangerous road ; 
 
 Though God give them warning, 
 They onward will go, 
 
 They answer with scorning, 
 
 And rush upon woe. 
 
 S How sad to behold 
 The rich and the poor, 
 
 The young and the old, 
 
 All blindly secure ! 
 
 All posting to ruin, 
 
 Refusing to stop ! 
 
 Ah ! think what you’re doing, 
 While yet there is hope. 
 
 4 How weak is your hand, 
 
 To fight with the Lord ! 
 
 How can you withstand 
 The edge of his sword ? 
 
 What hope of escaping 
 For those who oppose, 
 When hell is wide gaping 
 To swallow his foes ! 
 
 5 How oft have you dar’d 
 The Lord to his face ! 
 
 Yet still you are spar’d 
 To hear of his grace ; 
 
 Oh ! pray for repentance 
 And life-giving faith, 
 Before the just sentence 
 Consign you to death. 
 
 6 It is not too late 
 To Jesus to flee. 
 
 His mercy is great, 
 
 His pardon is free; 
 
 His blood has such virtue 
 For all that believe, 
 
 That nothing can hurt you, 
 If him you receive. 
 
 HYMN II. 
 
 A L ARAL 
 
 1 Stop, poor sinner ! stop, and think, 
 Before you farther go ! 
 
 Will you sport upon the brink 
 Of everlasting woe ? 
 
HYMN IV. 
 
 605 
 
 SINNERS. 
 
 When he by faith is present, 
 The sinner’s troubles cease ; 
 His ways are truly pleasant, 
 And all his paths are peace.* 
 
 4 Our time in sin we wasted, 
 
 And fed upon the wind ; 
 Until his love we tasted, 
 
 No comfort could we find : 
 But now we stand to witness 
 His power and grace to you 
 May you perceive its fitness, 
 And call upon him too ! 
 
 5 Our pleasure and our duty. 
 
 Though opposite before, 
 Since we have seen his beauty, 
 Are join’d to part no more : 
 It is our highest pleasure, 
 
 No less than duty’s call, 
 
 To love him beyond measure. 
 And serve him with our all. 
 
 TO 
 
 Once again, I charge you, stop ! 
 
 For, unless you warning take, 
 
 Ere you are aware, you drop 
 Into the burning lake ! 
 
 2 Say, have you an arm like God, 
 
 That you his will oppose ? 
 
 Fear you not that iron rod 
 
 With which he breaks his foes ? 
 
 Can you stand in that dread day, 
 
 When he judgment shall proclaim, 
 
 And the earth shall melt away, 
 
 Like wax before the flame ? 
 
 S Pale-fac’d death will quickly come, 
 
 To drag you to his bar ; 
 
 Then to hear your awful doom 
 Will fill you with despair : 
 
 All your sins will round you crowd, 
 Sins of a blood-crimson dye; 
 
 Each for vengeance crying loud, 
 
 And what can you reply ? 
 
 4 Though your heart be made of steel. 
 
 Your forehead lin’d with brass, 
 
 God at length will make you feel. 
 
 He will not let you pass : 
 
 Sinners then in vain will call, 
 
 (Though they now despise his grace) 
 Rocks and mountains on us fall,* 
 
 And hide us from his face. 
 
 5 But as yet there is a hope 
 
 You may his mercy know, 
 
 Though his arm is lifted up. 
 
 He still forbears the blow : 
 
 ’Twas for sinners Jesus died, 
 
 Sinners he invites to come ; 
 
 None who come shall be denied, 
 
 He says, “ There still is room.” j* 
 
 HYMN III. 
 
 WE WERE ONCE AS YOU ARE. 
 
 1 Shall men pretend to pleasure, 
 
 Who never knew the Lord, 
 
 Can all the worldling’s treasure 
 True peace of mind afford ? 
 
 They shall obtain this jewel 
 In what their hearts desire, 
 
 When they by adding fuel 
 Can quench the flame of fire. 
 
 2 Till you can bid the ocean, 
 
 When furious tempests roar, j 
 Forget its wonted motion, 
 
 And rage and swell no more; 
 
 In vain your expectation 
 To find content in sin, 
 
 Or freedom from vexation, 
 
 While passions reign within. 
 
 3 Come turn your thoughts to Jesus, 
 
 If you would good possess ; 
 
 ’Tis he alone that frees us 
 
 From guilt and from distress : 
 
 * Rev. vi. 16. f Lukexiv. 22. J Isa. lvii. 20 21 
 
 HYMN IV. 
 
 PREPARE TO MEET GOE. 
 
 1 Sinner, art thou still secure ? 
 
 Wilt thou still refuse to pray ? 
 
 Can thy heart or hands endure 
 In the Lord’s avenging day ? 
 
 See, his mighty arm is bar’d ! 
 
 Awful terrors clothe his brow ! 
 
 For his judgment stand prepar’d, 
 Thou must either break or bow. 
 
 2 At his presence nature shakes, 
 
 Earth affrighted hastes to flee, 
 
 Solid mountains melt like wax ; 
 What will then become of thee ? 
 Who his advent may abide ? 
 
 You that glory in your shame, 
 
 Will you find a place to hide 
 When the world is wrapt in flame ? 
 
 3 Then the rich, the great, the wise, 
 Trembling, guilty, self-condemn’d. 
 Must behold the wrathful eyes 
 
 Of the Judge they once blasphem’d , 
 Where are now their haughty looks ? 
 Oh their horror and despair ! 
 
 When they see the open’d books, 
 And their dreadful sentence hear! 
 
 4 Lord, prepare us by thy grace ! 
 
 Soon we must resign our breath ; 
 And our souls be call’d to pass 
 Through the iron gate of death : 
 
 Let us now our day improve, 
 
 Listen to the gospel- voice ; 
 
 Seek the things that are above, 
 
 Scorn the world’s pretended joys. 
 
 * Prov. iii. 1|. 
 
5 Oh ! when flesh and heart shall fail, 
 Let thy love our spirits cheer ; 
 Strengthen’d thus, we shall prevail 
 Over Satan, sin, and fear : 
 
 Trusting in thy precious name, 
 
 May we thus our journey end ; 
 Then our foes shall lose their aim, 
 And the Judge will be our friend. 
 
 HYMN V. 
 
 INVITATION. 
 
 1 Sinners, hear the Saviour’s call, 
 
 He now is passing by ; 
 
 He has seen thy grievous thrall, 
 And heard thy 4 mournful cry. 
 
 He has pardons to impart, 
 
 Grace to save thee from thy fears ; 
 See the love that fills his heart, 
 And wipe away thy tears. 
 
 l . Why art thou afraid to come, 
 
 And tell him all thy case ? 
 
 He will not pronounce thy doom, 
 Nor frown thee from his face : 
 Wilt thou fear Emmanuel ? 
 
 Wilt thou dread the Lamb of God, 
 Who, to save thy soul from hell, 
 Has shed his precious blood ? 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 Think how on the cross he hung, 
 
 Pierc’d with a thousand wounds ! 
 
 Hark, from each, as with a tongue, 
 
 The voice of pardon sounds ! 
 
 See, from all his bursting veins, 
 
 Blood of wondrous virtue flow ! 
 
 Shed to wash away thy stains, 
 
 And ransom thee from woe. 
 
 4 Though his majesty be great, 
 
 His mercy is no less ; 
 
 Though he thy transgressions hate, 
 
 He feels for thy distress : 
 
 By himself the Lord hath sworn, 
 
 He delights not in thy death,* 
 
 But invites thee to return, 
 
 That thou may’st live by faith. 
 
 5 Raise thy downcast eyes, and see 
 
 What throngs his throne surround ! 
 These, though sinners once like thee, 
 
 Have full salvation found : 
 
 Yield not then to unbelief ! 
 
 While he says, “ There yet is room,” 
 Though of sinners thou art chief, 
 
 Since Jesus calls thee, come. 
 
 SIMILAR HYMNS. 
 
 Book I. Hymn 75, 91 
 
 Book II. Hymn 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 35, 77, 78, 83 
 
 OLNEY HYMNS. 
 
 II. SEEKING, PLEADING, AND HOPING. 
 
 HYMN VI. 
 
 THE BURDENED SINNER. 
 
 1 Ah ! what can I do. 
 
 Or where be secure ! 
 
 If justice pursue, 
 
 What heart can endure ? 
 
 The heart breaks asunder, 
 Though hard as a stone, 
 When God speaks in thunder, 
 And makes himself known. 
 
 2 With terror I read 
 My sins heavy score. 
 
 The numbers exceed 
 The sands on the shore ; 
 
 Guilt makes me unable 
 To stand or to flee ; 
 
 So Cain murder’d Abel, 
 
 And trembled like me. 
 
 3 Each sin, like his blood, 
 With a terrible cry, 
 
 Calls loudly on God 
 To strike from on high : 
 Nor can my repentance, 
 Extorted by fear, 
 
 Reverse the just sentence, 
 ’Tis just, though severe. 
 
 4 The case is too plain, 
 
 I have my own choice ; 
 Again, and again, 
 
 I slighted his voice, 
 
 His warnings neglected, 
 His patience abus’d, 
 
 His gospel i ejected, 
 
 His mercy refus’d. 
 
 5 And must I then go, 
 
 For ever to dwell 
 
 In torments and woe^ 
 With devils in hell ? 
 
 • Ezek. xxxili. 11. 
 
HYMN IX, 
 
 607 
 
 SEEKING, &C. 
 
 Oh ! where is the Saviour 
 I scorn’d in times past ? 
 
 His word in my favour 
 Would save me at last. 
 
 6 Lord Jesus on thee 
 I venture to call. 
 
 Oh look upon me, 
 
 The vilest of all ! 
 
 For whom didst thou languish, 
 And bleed on the tree ? 
 
 O pity my anguish, 
 
 And say, “ ’Twas for thee.’ 
 
 7 A case such as mine 
 Will honour thy power ; 
 
 All hell will repine, 
 
 All heaven will adore ; 
 
 If in condemnation 
 Strict justice takes place, 
 
 It shines in salvation, 
 
 More glorious through grace. 
 
 HYMN VII. 
 
 BEHOLD, I AM VILE ! 
 
 0 LORD, how vile am I, 
 
 Unholy and unclean ! 
 
 How can I dare to venture nigh 
 With such a load of sin ? 
 
 2 Is this polluted heart 
 A dwelling fit for thee ? 
 Swarming, alas ! in ev’ry part, 
 
 What evils do I see ! 
 
 If I attempt to pray, 
 
 And lisp thy holy name, 
 
 My thoughts are hurried soon away, 
 
 1 know not where I am. 
 
 If in thy word I look, 
 
 Such darkness fills my mind, 
 
 I only read a sealed book, 
 
 But no relief can find. 
 
 5 Thy gospel oft I hear, 
 
 But hear it still in vain ; 
 
 Without desire, or love, or fear, 
 
 I like a stone remain. 
 
 6 Myself can hardly bear 
 
 This wretched heart of mine ; 
 How hateful, then, must it appear 
 To those pure eyes of thine ? 
 
 7 And must I then indeed 
 
 Sink in despair and die ? [bleed 
 Fain would I hope that thou didst 
 For such a wretch as I. 
 
 8 That blood which thou hast spilt, 
 That grace which is thine own. 
 
 Can cleanse the vilest sinner’s guilt, 
 And soften hearts of stone. 
 
 9 Low at thy feet I bow, 
 
 O pity and forgive ! 
 
 Here will I lie, and wait till thou 
 Shalt bid me rise and live. 
 
 HYMN VIII. 
 
 THE SHINING LIGHT. 
 
 1 My former hopes are fled, 
 
 My terror now begins ; 
 
 I feel, alas ! that I am dead 
 In trespasses and sins. 
 
 2 Ah ! whither shall I fly ? 
 
 I hear the thunder roar ; 
 
 The law proclaims destruction nigh, 
 And vengeance at the door. 
 
 3 When I review my ways, 
 
 I dread impending doom ; 
 
 But sure a friendly whisper says, 
 
 “ Flee from the wrath to come.” 
 
 4 I see, or think I see, 
 
 A glimm’ring from afar ; 
 
 A beam of day that shines for me. 
 To save me from despair. 
 
 5 Forerunner of the sun,* 
 
 It marks the pilgrim’s way ; 
 
 I’ll gaze upon it while I run, 
 
 And watch the rising day. 
 
 C. 
 
 HYMN IX. 
 
 ENCOURAGEMENT. 
 
 1 My soul is beset 
 With grief and dismay, 
 
 I owe a vast debt, 
 
 And nothing can pay : 
 
 I must go to prison. 
 Unless that dear Lord, 
 Who died and is risen. 
 His pity afford. 
 
 2 The death that he died. 
 The blood that he spilt, 
 To sinners applied, 
 Discharge from all guilt : 
 This great intercessor 
 Can give, if he please, 
 The vilest transgressor 
 Immediate release. 
 
 3 When nail’d to the tree, 
 He answer’d the prayer 
 Of one who, like me, 
 Was nigh to despair 
 
 * Psal. cxxx. 6 
 
 t Luke xxiii. 43. 
 
608 
 
 OLNEY HYMNS 
 
 BOOK III 
 
 He did not upbraid him 
 With all he had done, 
 
 But instantly made him 
 A saint and a son. 
 
 4 The jailor, I read, 
 
 A pardon receiv’d : * 
 
 And how was he freed ? 
 He only believ’d : 
 
 His case mine resembled, 
 Like me he was foul, 
 
 Like me too he trembled. 
 But faith made him whole. 
 
 5 Though Saul in his youth, 
 To madness enrag’d, 
 Against the Lord’s truth 
 And people engag’d ; 
 
 Yet Jesus, the Saviour, 
 Whom long he revil’d, f 
 Receiv’d him to favour, 
 And made him a child. 
 
 6 A foe to all good, 
 
 In wickedness skill’d, 
 Manasseh with blood 
 Jerusalem fill’d 
 In evil long harden’d, 
 
 The Lord he defied ; 
 
 Yet he too was pardon’d 
 When mercy he cried. 
 
 7 Of sinners the chief, 
 
 And viler than all, 
 
 The jailor or thief, 
 Manasseh or Saul ; 
 
 Since they were forgiven, 
 Why should I despair. 
 While Christ is in heaven, 
 And still answers prayer. 
 
 HYMN X. 
 
 THE WAITING SOUL. 
 
 1 Breathe from the gentle south, O Lord, 
 
 And cheer me from the north ; 
 
 Blow on the treasures of thy word, 
 
 And call the spices forth ! 
 
 2 I wish, thou know’st to be resign’d, 
 
 And wait with patient hope ; 
 
 But hope delayed fatigues the mind, 
 
 And drinks the spirits up. 
 
 S Help me to reach the distant goal, 
 Confirm my feeble knee. 
 
 Pity the sickness of a soul 
 That faints for love of thee. 
 
 4 Cold as I feel this heart of mine, 
 
 Yet since I feel it so 
 It yields some hope of life divine, 
 
 Within, however low. 
 
 * Acts xvi. 13. f 1 Tim. i. 16. 
 
 J 2 Chron. xxxiii. 12, 13. 
 
 5 I seem forsaken and alone, 
 
 I hear the lion roar, 
 
 And ev’ry door is shut but one 
 And that is mercy’s door. 
 
 6 There, till the dear Deliv’rer come, 
 
 I’ll wait with humble prayer ; 
 And when he calls his exile home. 
 The Lord shall find him there 
 
 HYMN XI 
 
 THE EFFORT 
 
 1 Cheer up, my soul, there is a mercy-seat 
 Sprinkled with blood, where Jesus answers 
 
 prayer.; 
 
 There humbly cast thyself beneath his feet, 
 For never needy sinner perish’d there. 
 
 2 Lord, I am come ! thy promise is my plea, 
 Without thy word 1 durst not venture nigh ; 
 But thou hast call’d theburden’d soul to thee, 
 A weary, burden’d soul, O Lord, am I ! 
 
 3 Bow’d down beneath a heavy load of sin, 
 By Satan’s fierce temptations sorely prest, 
 Beset without, and full of fears within, 
 Trembling and faint, I come to thee for rest. 
 
 4 Be thou my refuge, Lord, my hiding-place, 
 I know no force can tear me from thy side ; 
 Unmov’d I then may all accusers face, 
 
 And answer ev’ry charge with “ Jesus died.’ 
 
 5 Yes, thou didst weep, and bleed, and groan, 
 
 and die, 
 
 Well hast thou known what fierce tempta- 
 tions mean ; 
 
 Such was thy love; and now, enthron’d on 
 high. 
 
 The same compassions in thy bosom reign. 
 
 6 Lord, give me faith ; — he hears : what grace 
 
 is this ! 
 
 Dry up thy tears, my soul, and cease to 
 grieve ; 
 
 He shews me what he did, and who he is, 
 
 I must, I will, I can, I do believe. 
 
 HYMN XII. 
 
 ANOTHER. 
 
 1 Approach, ray soul, the mercy-seat 
 
 Where Jesus answers prayer, 
 There humbly fall before his feet, 
 For none can perish there. 
 
 2 Thy promise is my only plea, 
 
 With this I venture nigh ; 
 
 Thou callest burden’d souls to thee, 
 And, such, O Lord, am I 
 
HYMN XIV. SEEKING, &C. 
 
 3 Bow’d down beneath a load of sin, 
 By Satan sorely press’d, 
 
 By wars without, and fears within, 
 I come to thee for rest. 
 
 6 Such Jesus is, and such his grace, 
 
 0 may he shine on you ! * 
 
 And tell him, when you see his face, 
 
 1 long to see him too. 
 
 609 
 
 4 Be thou my shield and hiding-place ! 
 That, shelter’d near thy side, 
 
 I may my fierce accuser face, 
 
 And tell him, “ Thou hast died.’ 
 
 C. 
 
 HYMN XIV. 
 
 5 O wond’rous love ! to bleed and die, 
 
 To bear the cross and shame, 
 
 That guilty sinners, such as I, 
 
 Might plead thy gracious name. 
 
 6 “ Poor tempest-tossed soul, be still, 
 
 My promis’d grace receive 
 ’Tis Jesus speaks, — I must, I will, 
 
 I can, I do believe. 
 
 REST FOR WEARY SOULS. 
 
 1 Does the gospel-word proclaim 
 Rest for those who weary be ? j> 
 Then, my soul, put in thy claim, 
 Sure that promise speaks to thee ; 
 Marks of grace I cannot shew, 
 All polluted is my best ; 
 
 Yet I weary am, I know. 
 
 And the weary long for rest. 
 
 HYMN XIII. 
 
 SEEKING THE BELOVED. 
 
 1 To those who know the Lord, I speak, 
 
 Is my beloved near ? 
 
 The bridegroom of my soul I seek, 
 
 O when will he appear ! 
 
 2 Though once a man of grief and shame, 
 
 Yet now he fills a throne, 
 
 And bears the greatest, sweetest name, 
 That earth or heaven have known. 
 
 S Grace flies before, and love attends 
 His steps where’er he goes ; 
 
 Though none can see him but his friends, 
 And they were once his foes. 
 
 4 He speaks — obedient to his call 
 
 Our warm affections move ; 
 
 Did he but shine alike on all, 
 
 Then all alike would love. 
 
 5 Then love in every heart would reign. 
 
 And war would cease to roar ; 
 
 And cruel and blood-thirsty men 
 Would thirst for blood no more. 
 
 2 Burden’d with a load of sin, 
 Harrass’d with tormenting doubt, 
 Hourly conflicts from within. 
 
 Hourly crosses from without : 
 
 All my little strength is gone, 
 
 Sink I must without supply ; 
 
 | Sure upon the earth is none 
 Can more weary be than I. 
 
 3 In the ark the weary dove f 
 Found a welcome resting-place ; 
 Thus my, spirit longs to prove 
 Rest in Christ, the ark of grace. 
 Tempest-toss’ d I long have been, 
 And the flood increases fast ; 
 
 Open, Lord, and take me in. 
 
 Till the storm he overpast. 
 
 4 Safely lodg’d within thy breast, 
 What a wondrous change I find ! 
 Now I know thy promis’d rest 
 Can compose a troubled mind : 
 
 You that weary are, like me. 
 
 Harken to the gospel-call ; 
 
 To the ark for refuge flee, 
 
 Jesus will receive you all ! 
 
 SIMILAR HYMNS. 
 
 Book I. Hymn 45, 69, 82, 83, 84. 96. 
 Book II. Hymn 29. 
 
 III. CONFLICT. 
 
 HYMN XV. 
 
 LIGHT SHINING OUT OF DARKNESS. 
 1 God moves in a mysterious way, 
 
 His wonders to perform ; 
 
 He plants his footsteps in the sea. 
 And rides upon the storm. 
 
 2 Deep in unfathomable mines 
 Of never-failing skill, 
 
 He treasures up his bright designs, 
 And works his sovereign will. 
 
 * Cant. v. 8. f Matth. 3tL £& 
 
 J Gen. viil. 9. 
 
 2 Z 
 
BOOK III 
 
 (310 
 
 OLNEY HYMNS. 
 
 3 Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take, 
 The clouds ye so much dread, 
 
 Are big with mercy, and shall break 
 In blessings on your head. 
 
 4 Judge not the Lord by feeble sense. 
 But trust him for his grace; 
 Behind a frowning providence, 
 
 He hides a smiling face. 
 
 His purposes will ripen fast, 
 
 . Unfolding every hour ; 
 
 The bud may have a bitter taste, 
 But sweet will be the flower. 
 
 Blind unbelief is sure to err,* 
 And scan his work in vain ; 
 God is his own interpreter, 
 And he will make it plain. 
 
 d 
 
 3 Long unafflicted, undismayed, 
 
 In pleasure’s path secure I strayed ; 
 
 Thou mad’st me feel thy chast’ning rod, * 
 And straight I turn’d unto my God. 
 
 4 What though it pierc’d my fainting heart, 
 I bless thine hand that caus’d the smart ; 
 It taught my tears a while to flow, 
 
 But sav’d me from eternal woe. 
 
 5 Oh ! hadst thou left me unchastis'd, 
 
 Thy precepts I had still despis’d ; 
 
 And still the snare in secret laid, 
 
 Had my unwary feet betrayed. 
 
 6 I love thee, therefore, O my God ! 
 
 And breathe towards thy dear abode, 
 Where in thy presence fully blest, 
 
 Thy chosen saints for ever rest. 
 
 C. 
 
 HYMN XVI. 
 
 WELCOME CKOSS. 
 
 1 ’Tis my happiness below 
 Not to live without the cross, 
 
 But the Saviour’s power to know, 
 Sanctifying every loss : 
 
 Trials must and will befall ; 
 
 But with humble faith see 
 Love inscribed upon them ail, 
 
 This is happiness to me. 
 
 2 God, in Israel, sows the seeds 
 Of affliction, pain, and toil ; 
 
 These spring up, and choke the weeds 
 Which would else o’erspread the soil : 
 Trials make the promise sweet, 
 
 Trials give new life to prayer ; 
 
 Trials bring me to his feet, 
 
 Lay me low, and keep me there. 
 
 S Hid I meet no trials here, 
 
 No chastisement by the way ; 
 
 Might I not with reason fear, 
 
 I should prove a cast-away, 
 
 Bastards may escape the rod, f 
 Sunk in earthly, vain delight; 
 
 But the true-born child of God 
 Must not, would not, if he might. 
 
 C. 
 
 HYMN XVII. 
 
 AFFLICTIONS SANCTIFIED BY THE WORD. 
 
 1 O HOW I love thy holy word, 
 
 Thy gracious covenant, O Lord ! 
 
 It guides me in the peaceful way, 
 
 I think upon it all the day. 
 
 2 What are the mines of shining wealth, 
 
 The strength of youth, the bloom of health ! 
 What are all joys compar’d with those 
 Thine everlasting word bestows. 
 
 * John xiii. 1 . + Heb. xii. 8. 
 
 HYMN XVIII. 
 
 TEMPTATION. 
 
 1 The billows swell, the winds are high, 
 Clouds overcast my wintry sky ; 
 
 Out of the depths to thee I call. 
 
 My fears are great, my strength is small. 
 
 2 O Lord ! the pilot’s part perform. 
 
 And guide and guard me thro’ the storm ; 
 Defend me from each threat’ning ill. 
 Control the waves, say, “ Peace, be still.’ 
 
 3 Amidst the roaring of the sea, 
 
 My soul still hangs her hope on thee ; 
 
 Thy constant love, thy faithful care 
 Is all that saves me from despair. 
 
 4 Dangers of every shape and name 
 Attend the followers of the Lamb, 
 
 Who leave the world’s deceitful shore, 
 And leave it to return no more. 
 
 5 Though tempest-toss’d, and half a wreck, 
 My Saviour through the floods I seek ; 
 Let neither winds nor stormy main 
 Force back my shatter’d bark again. 
 
 C. 
 
 HYMN XIX. 
 
 LOOKING UPWARDS IN A STORM. 
 
 1 God of my life, to thee I call. 
 
 Afflicted at thy feet I fall ; f 
 When the great water-floods prevail, 
 Leave not my trembling heart to fail ! 
 
 2 Friend of the friendless and the faint 1 
 Where should I lodge my deep complaint 
 Where but with thee, whose open door 
 Invites the helpless and the poor. 
 
 3 Did ever mourner plead with thee, 
 
 And thou refuse that mourner’s plea? 
 Does not the w-ord still fix’d remain, 
 
 That none shall seek thy face in vain ? 
 
 * Psal. cxix. 71- t Psal !*»*• 
 
HYMN XXII. CON F 
 
 4 That were a grief I could not bear, 
 
 Didst thou not hear and answer prayer ; 
 But a prayer-hearing, answ’ring God, 
 Supports me under every load. 
 
 5 Fair is the lot that’s cast for me ; 
 
 I have an advocate with thee ; 
 
 They whom the world carresses most, 
 
 Have no such privilege to boast. 
 
 6 Poor, though I am, despis’d, forgot,* 
 
 Yet God, my God, forgets me not ; 
 
 And he is safe, and must succeed, 
 
 For whom the Lord vouchsafes to plead. 
 
 C. 
 
 HYMN XX. 
 
 THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH. 
 
 1 My soul is sad and much dismayed ; 
 
 See, Lord, what legions of my foes. 
 
 With fierce Apollyon at their head, 
 
 My heavenly pilgrimage oppose ! 
 
 2 See, from the ever-burning lake, 
 
 How like a smoky cloud they rise ! 
 
 With horrid blasts my soul they shake, 
 
 With storms of blasphemies and lies. 
 
 S Their fiery arrows reach the mark,f 
 My throbbing heart with anguish tear; 
 Each lights upon a kindred spark, 
 
 And finds abundant fuel there. 
 
 4 I hate the thought that wrongs the Lord ; 
 Oh ! I would drive it from my breast, 
 
 With my own sharp two-edged sword, 
 
 Far as the east is from the west. 
 
 5 Come, then and chase the cruel host, 
 
 Heal the deep wounds I have receiv’d ! 
 
 Nor let the powers of darkness boast, 
 
 That I am foil’d, and thou art griev’d. 
 
 C. 
 
 HYMN XXL 
 
 THE STORM HUSHED. 
 
 1 ’Tis past — the dreadful stormy night 
 
 Is gone, with all its fears ! 
 
 And now I see returning light, 
 
 The Lord, my Sun, appears. 
 
 2 The tempter, who but lately said, 
 
 I soon should be his prey, 
 
 Has heard my Saviour’s voice, and fled 
 With shame and grief away. 
 
 S Ah ! Lord, since thou didst hide thy face, 
 What has my soul endur’d ? 
 
 But now ’tis past, — I feel thy grace, 
 
 And all my wounds are cur’d ! 
 
 4 O wondrous change ! but just before, 
 Despair beset me round, 
 
 I heard the lion’s horrid roar. 
 
 And trembled at the sound. 
 
 LICT* 611 
 
 5 Before corruption, guilt, and fear, 
 
 My comforts blasted fell ; 
 
 And unbelief discover'd near 
 The dreadful depths of hell. 
 
 6 But Jesus pitied my distress, 
 
 He heard my feeble cry, 
 
 Reveal’d his blood and righteousness 
 And brought salvation nigh. 
 
 7 Beneath the banner of his love 
 
 I now secure remain ; 
 
 The tempter frets, but dares not move, 
 
 To break my peace again. 
 
 8 Lord, since thou thus hast broke my bands. 
 
 And set the captive free, 
 
 I would devote my tongue, my hands, 
 
 My heart, my all, to thee. 
 
 HYMN XX1L 
 
 HELP IN TIME OF NEED. 
 
 1 Unless the Lord had been my stay, 
 With trembling joy my soul may say, 
 
 My cruel foe had gain’d his end : 
 
 But he appear’d for my relief, 
 
 And Satan sees with shame and grief, 
 That I have an almighty Friend. 
 
 2 Oh ! ’twas a dark and trying hour, 
 When, harass’d by the tempter’s power 
 
 I felt my strongest hopes decline ! 
 
 You only who have known his arts, 
 
 You only who have felt his darts, 
 
 Can pity such a case as mine. 
 
 3 Loud in my ears a charge he read, 
 
 (My conscience witness’d all he said), 
 
 My long black list of outward sin ; 
 Then bringing forth my heart to view. 
 Too well what’s hidden there he knew, 
 He shew’d me ten times worse within, 
 
 4 ’Twas all too true, my soul replied, 
 
 But I remember Jesus died, 
 
 And now he fills a throne of grace : 
 I’ll go as I have done before. 
 
 His mercy I may still implore, 
 
 I have his promise, “ Seek my face.’ 
 
 5 But, as when sudden fogs arise, 
 
 The trees and hills, the sun and skies, 
 Are all at once conceal’d from view : 
 So clouds of horror, black as night, 
 
 By Satan rais’d, hid from my sight 
 The throne of grace and promise too. 
 
 6 Then, while beset with guilt and fear, 
 He tried to urge me to despair, 
 
 He tried, and he almost prevail’d ; 
 
 But Jesus by a heavenly ray, 
 
 Drove clouds, and guilt, and fear away. 
 And all the tempter’s malice fail’d. 
 
 Psal. xl. 17. 
 
 1 Fph. vi, 16 
 
 j 
 
612 
 
 OLNEY HYMNS, 
 
 BOOK III 
 
 HYMN XXIII. 
 
 FEACE AFTER A STORM. 
 
 ] When darkness long has veil’d my mind, 
 And smiling day once more appears, 
 Then, my Redeemer, then I find 
 The folly of my doubts and fears. 
 
 2 Straight I upbraid my wand’ring heart, 
 And blush that I should ever be 
 Thus prone to act so base a part, 
 
 Or harbour one hard thought of thee ! 
 
 3 Oh ! let me then at length be taught, 
 What I am still so slow to learn, 
 
 That God is love, and changes not, 
 
 Nor knows the shadow of a turn. 
 
 4 Sweet truth, and easy to repeat ! 
 
 But when my faith is sharply tried, 
 
 I find myself a learner yet, 
 
 Unskilful, weak, and apt to slide. 
 
 5 But, O my Lord, one look from thee 
 Subdues the disobedient will, 
 
 Drives doubt and discontent away. 
 
 And thy rebellious worm is still. 
 
 6 Thou art as ready to forgive, 
 
 As I am ready to repine ; 
 
 Thou, therefore, all the praise receive, 
 
 Be shame and self-abhorrence mine. 
 
 C. 
 
 HYMN XXIV. 
 
 MOURNING AND LONGING. 
 
 1 The Saviour hides his face ! 
 
 My spirit thirsts to prove 
 
 Renew’d supplies of pard’ning grace, 
 And never-fading love. 
 
 2 The favour’d souls who know 
 What glories shine in him, 
 
 Pant for his presence, as the roe 
 Pants for the living stream. 
 
 3 What trifles tease me now ! 
 
 They swarm like summer- flies, 
 
 They cleave to every thing I do, 
 
 And swim before my eyes. 
 
 4 How dull the Sabbath-day, 
 Without the Sabbath’s Lord ! 
 
 How toilsome then to sing and pray, 
 And wait upon the word ! 
 
 5 Of all the truths I hear. 
 
 How few delight my taste ! 
 
 I glean a berry here and there, 
 
 But mourn the vintage past. 
 
 6 Yet let me (as I ought) 
 
 Still hope to be supplied ; 
 
 No pleasure else is worth a thought, 
 Nor shall I be denied. 
 
 7 Though I am but a worm, 
 
 Unworthy of his care. 
 
 The Lord will my desire perform, 
 
 And grant me all my prayer. 
 
 c. 
 
 HYMN XXV. 
 
 REJOICE THE SOUL OF THY SERVANT. 
 
 1 When my prayers are a burden and task, 
 No wonder I little receive ; 
 
 0 Lord ! make me willing to ask, 
 
 Since thou art so ready to give : 
 
 Although I am bought with thy blood, 
 And all thy salvation is mine, 
 
 At a distance from thee my chief good, 
 
 1 wander, and languish, and pine. 
 
 2 Of thy goodness of old when I read, 
 
 To those who were sinners like me, 
 
 Why may I not wi estle and plead, 
 
 With them a partaker to be? 
 
 Thine arm is not short’ned since then, 
 And those who believe in thy name, 
 
 Ever find thou art Yea and Amen, 
 Through all generations the same. 
 
 3 While my spirit within me is press’d 
 With sorrow, temptation, and fear, 
 
 Like John, I would flee to thy breast,* 
 And pour my complaints in thine ear : 
 How happy and favour’d was he, 
 
 Who could on thy bosom repose ! 
 
 Might this favour be granted to me, 
 
 I’d smile at the rage of my foes. 
 
 4 I have heard of thy wonderful name. 
 
 How great and exalted thou art ; 
 
 But ah ! I confess to my shame, 
 
 It faintly impresses my heart : 
 
 The beams of thy glory display, 
 
 As Peter once saw thee appear ; 
 
 That, transported like him, I may say, 
 
 “ It is good for my soul to be here.”f 
 
 5 What a sorrow and weight didst thou feel. 
 When nail’d, for my sake, to the tree ! 
 
 My heart sure is harder than steel. 
 
 To feel no more sorrow for thee ; 
 
 Oh ! let me with Thomas descry 
 The wounds in thy hands and thy side, 
 And have feelings like his, when I cry, 
 
 “ My God and my Saviour has died !”J 
 
 6 But if thou hast appointed me still 
 To wrestle, and suffer, and fight; 
 
 O make me resign to thy will. 
 
 For all thin-e appointments are right • 
 
 This mercy, at least, I entreat, 
 
 That, knowing how vile I have been, 
 
 I, with Mary, may wait at thy feet,§ 
 
 And weep o’er the pardon of sin. 
 
 * John xiii. 25. + Matth. xvit. 6. 
 
 t John xx. 28. § Luke vii. 5 &. 
 
HYMN XXIX. 
 
 CONFLICT. 
 
 HYMN XXVI. 
 
 SELF-ACQUAINTANCE. 
 
 1 Dear Lord ! accept a sinful heart, 
 
 Which of itself complains, 
 
 And mourns, with much and frequent smart, 
 The evil it contains. 
 
 2 There fiery seeds of anger lurk, 
 
 Which often hurt my frame ; 
 
 And wait but for the tempter’s work, 
 
 To fan them to a flame. 
 
 3 Legality holds out a bribe 
 
 To purchase life from thee ; 
 
 And discontent would fain perscribe 
 How thou shalt deal with me, 
 
 4 While unbelief withstands thy grace, 
 
 And puts the mercy by, 
 
 Presumption, with a brow of brass, 
 
 Says, u Give me, or I die.” 
 
 5 How eager are my thoughts to roam 
 
 In quest of what they love ; 
 
 But, ah ! when duty calls them home, 
 How heavily they move ! 
 
 6 O cleanse me in a Saviour’s blood ! 
 
 Transform me by thy power ; 
 
 And make me thy belov’d abode, 
 
 And let me rove no more. 
 
 C. 
 
 HYMN XXVII. 
 
 BITTER AND SWEET. 
 
 1 Kindle, Saviour, in my heart 
 
 A flame of love divine : 
 
 Hear, for mine I trust thou art, 
 
 And sure I would be thine: 
 
 If my soul has felt thy grace, 
 
 If to me thy name is known, 
 
 Why should trifles fill the place 
 Due to thyself alone ? 
 
 2 ’Tis a strange mysterious life 
 
 I live from day to day ; 
 
 Light and darkness, peace and strife, 
 Bear an alternate sway : 
 
 When I think the battle won, 
 
 I have to fight it o’er again ; 
 
 When I say I’m overthrown, 
 
 Relief I soon obtain. 
 
 3 Often at the mercy seat. 
 
 While calling on thy name, 
 Swarms of evil thoughts I meet, 
 Which fill my soul with shame : 
 Agitated in my mind. 
 
 Like a feather in the air, 
 
 Can I thus a blessing find? 
 
 My soul, can this be prayer ? 
 
 613 
 
 4 But when Christ, my Lord and Friend, 
 
 Is pleas’d to shew his power ; 
 
 All at once my troubles end, 
 
 And I’ve a golden hour : 
 
 Then I see his smiling face, 
 
 Feel the pledge of joys to come ; 
 
 Often, Lord, repeat this grace. 
 
 Till thou shalt call me home 
 
 HYMN XXVIII. t 
 
 PRAYER FOR PATIENCE. 
 
 1 Lord, who hast suffer’d all for me, 
 
 My peace and pardon to procure, 
 
 The lighter cross I bear for thee 
 Help me witli patience to endure. 
 
 2 The storm of loud repining hush ; 
 
 I would in humble silence mourn ; [bush. 
 Why should the unburnt, though burning 
 Be angry, as the crackling thorn? 
 
 3 Man should not faint at thy rebuke, 
 
 Like Joshua falling on his face,* 
 
 When the curs’d thing that Achan took 
 Brought Israel into just disgrace. 
 
 4 Perhaps some golden wedge suppress’d, 
 Some secret sin offends my God ; 
 
 Perhaps that Babylonish vest, 
 Self-righteousness, provokes the rod. 
 
 5 Ah ! were I buffeted all day, 
 
 Mock’d, crown’d with thorns, and spit upon, 
 I yet should have no right to say, 
 
 My great distress is mine alone. 
 
 6 Let me not angrily declare, 
 
 No pain was ever sharp like mine, 
 
 Nor murmur at the cross I bear, 
 
 But rather weep, rememb’ring thine. 
 
 C. 
 
 HYMN XXIX. 
 
 SUBMISSION. 
 
 1 O Lord, my best desire fulfil, 
 
 And help me to resign 
 Life, health, and comfort to thy will, 
 And make thy pleasure mine. 
 
 2 Why should I shrink at thy command, 
 
 Whose love forbids my fears. 
 
 Or tremble at the gracious hand 
 7'bat wipes away my tears ? 
 
 3 No, let me rather freely yield 
 
 What most I prize to thee ; 
 
 Who never hast a good with-held, 
 
 (*• wilt with-hold from me. 
 
 * Joshua vii. 10, 11. 
 
BOOK III 
 
 614 OLNEY 
 
 4 Thy favour all my journey through 
 
 Thou art engag’d to grant ; 
 
 What else I want, or think I do, 
 
 ’Tis better still to want. 
 
 5 Wisdom and mercy guide my way. 
 
 Shall I resist them both ? 
 
 A poor blind creature of a day, 
 
 And crush’d before the moth ! 
 
 6 But, ah ! my inward spirit cries, 
 
 Still bind me to thy sway ; 
 
 Else the next cloud that vails my skies 
 Drives all these thoughts away. 
 
 C 
 
 HYMN XXX. 
 
 WHY SHOULD I COMPLAIN ? 
 
 1 When my Saviour, my Shepherd is near, 
 IIow quickly my sorrows depart ! 
 
 New beauties around me appear. 
 
 New spirits enliven my heart : 
 
 His presence gives peace to my soul, 
 
 And Satan assaults me in vain ; 
 
 While my Shepherd his power controuls, 
 
 I think I no more shall complain. 
 
 2 But, alas ! what a change do I find, [sight! 
 When my Shepherd withdraws from my 
 My fears all return to my mind, 
 
 My day is soon chang’d into night : 
 
 Then Satan his efforts renews 
 To vex and ensnare me again ; 
 
 All my pleasing enjoyments I lose, 
 
 And can only lament and complain. 
 
 3 By these changes I often pass through, 
 
 I gm taught my own weakness to know ; 
 
 I am taught what my Shepherd can do. 
 And how much to his mercy I owe : 
 
 It is he that supports me through all ; 
 When I faint, he revives me again ; 
 
 He attends to my prayer when I call. 
 
 And bids me no longer complain. 
 
 4 Wherefore then should I murmur and grieve. 
 Since my Shepherd is always the same. 
 
 And has promis’d he never will leave* 
 
 The soul that confides in his name ? 
 
 To relieve me from all that I fear, 
 
 He was buffeted, tempted, and slain ; 
 j od at length he will surely appear, 
 Tnough he leaves me a while to complain. 
 
 5 While I dwell in an enemy’s land, 
 
 Can I hope to be always in peace ! 
 
 ’Tis enough that my Shepherd’s at hand, 
 And that shortly this warfare will cease ; 
 For ere long he will bid me removef 
 From this region of sorrow and pain, 
 
 To abide in his presence above, 
 
 And then I no more shall complain. 
 
 * Jer. i. 19. + Rev. ii. 10 
 
 HYMNS. 
 
 HYMN XXXI. 
 
 RETURN, O LORD, HOW LONG ! 
 
 1 Return to bless my waiting eyes, 
 
 And cheer my mourning heart, O Lord f 
 Without thee, all beneath the skies 
 No real pleasure can afford. 
 
 2 When thy lov’d presence meets my sight, 
 It softens care and sweetens toil ; 
 
 The sun shines forth with double light. 
 The whole creation wears a smile. 
 
 3 Upon thine arm of love I rest, 
 
 Thy gracious voice forbids my fear ; 
 
 No storms disturb my peaceful breast. 
 
 No foes assault when thou art near. 
 
 4 But ah ! since thou hast been away. 
 Nothing but trouble have I known ; 
 
 And Satan marks me for his prey 
 Because he sees me left alone. 
 
 5 My sun is hid, my comforts lost, 
 
 My graces droop, my sins revive j 
 Distress’d, dismayed, and tempest-toss’d. 
 My soul is only just alive. 
 
 6 Lord, hear my cry, and come again ! 
 
 Put all mine enemies to shame, 
 
 And let them see ’tis not in vain 
 That I have trusted in thy name. 
 
 HYMN XXXII 
 
 CAST DOWN, BUT NOT DESTROYED. 
 
 1 Though sore beset with guilt and fear, 
 
 I cannot, dare not quite despair ; 
 
 If I must perish, would the Lord 
 Have taught my heart to love his word ? 
 Would he have given me eyes to see* 
 
 My danger and my remedy, 
 
 Reveal’d his name, and bid me pray, 
 
 Had he resolv’d to say me nay ? 
 
 2 No — though cast down, I am not slain ; 
 
 I fall, but I shall rise again jf 
 
 The present, Satan, is thy hour. 
 
 But Jesus shall control thy power ; 
 
 IBs love will plead for my relief. 
 
 He hears my groans, he feels my grief j 
 Nor will he suffer thee to boast 
 A soul that thought his help was lost. 
 
 3 ’Tis true, I have unfaithful been, 
 
 And griev’d his Spirit by my sin j 
 Yet still his mercy he’ll reveal, 
 
 And all my wounds and follies heal : 
 Abounding sin I must confess,]: 
 
 But more abounding is his grace ; 
 
 He once vouchsaFd for me to bleed, 
 
 Ana now he lives my cause to plead. 
 
 * Judges xiii. 25. f Micah vii. 8. J Rom. v. 20. 
 
HYMN XXXV. CONFLICT. 61 
 
 4 I’ll cast myself before his feet, 
 
 I see hiru on his mercy-seat, 
 
 (’Tis sprinkled with atoning blood) ; 
 There sinners find access to God : 
 
 Ye burden’d souls, approach with me, 
 And make the Saviour’s name your plea; 
 Jesus will pardon all who come, 
 
 And strike your fierce accuser dumb. 
 
 HYMN XXXIII. 
 
 THE BENIGHTED TRAVELLER. 
 
 1 Forest beasts, that live by prey, 
 Seldom shew themselves by day ; 
 But when day-light is withdrawn, * 
 Then they rove and roar till dawn. 
 
 2 Who can tell the traveler’s fears, 
 When their horrid yells he hears ? 
 Terror almost stops his breath, 
 While each step he looks for death. 
 
 3 Thus, when Jesus is in view, 
 Cheerful I my way pursue ; 
 Walking by my Saviour’s light, 
 Nothing can my soul affright. 
 
 4 But when he forbears to shine, 
 
 Soon the traveler’s case is mine ; 
 Lost, benighted, struck with dread, 
 What a painful path I tread ! 
 
 5 Then my soul with terror hears, 
 Worse than lions, wolves, or bears, 
 Roaring loud in ev’ry part, 
 Through the forest of my heart. 
 
 6 Wrath, impatience, envy, pride, 
 Satan and his host beside, 
 
 Press around me to devour ; 
 
 How can I escape their power? 
 
 7 Gracious Lord, afford me light, 
 
 Put these beasts of prey to flight ; 
 Let thy power and love be shewn ;f 
 Save me, for I am thine own. 
 
 HYMN XXXIV 
 
 THE PRISONER. 
 
 1 When the poor pris’ner through a grate 
 
 Sees others walk at large. 
 
 How does he mourn his lonely state, 
 And long for a discharge ! 
 
 2 Thus I, confin’d in unbelief, 
 
 My loss of freedom mourn, 
 
 And spend my hours in fruitless grief, 
 Until my Lord return. 
 
 • Psal. civ. 20. f Psal. cxix. 94. 
 
 3 The beam of day, which pierces through 
 
 the gloom in which I dwell, 
 
 Only discloses to my view 
 The horrors of my cell. 
 
 4 Ah ! how my pensive spirit faints, 
 
 To think of former days ! 
 
 When I could triumph with the saints, 
 And join their songs of praise ! 
 
 5 But now my joys are all cut off, 
 
 In prison I am cast, 
 
 And Satan, with a cruel scoff,* 
 
 Says, “ Where’s your God at last ?*’ 
 
 6 Dear Saviour, for thy mercy’s sake, 
 
 My strong, my only plea, 
 
 These gates and bars in pieces break, f 
 And set the pris’ner free ! 
 
 7 Surely my soul shall sing to thee, 
 
 For liberty restor’d ; 
 
 And all thy saints admire to see 
 The mercies of the Lord. 
 
 HYMN XXXV. 
 
 PERPLEXITY RELIEVED. 
 
 1 Uncertain how the way to find 
 
 Which to salvation led, 
 
 I listen’d long, with anxious mind, 
 
 To' hear what others said. 
 
 2 When some of joys and comforts told, 
 
 I fear’d that I was wrong ; 
 
 For I was stupid, dead, and cold, 
 
 Had neither joy nor song. 
 
 3 The Lord my lab’ring heart reliev’d, 
 
 And made my burden light ; 
 
 Then for a moment I believ’d, 
 
 Supposing all was right. 
 
 4 Of fierce temptations others talk’d, 
 
 Of anguish and dismay, 
 
 Through what distresses they had walk’d 
 Before they found the way. 
 
 5 Ah ! then I thought my hopes were vain, 
 
 For I had liv’d at ease; 
 
 I wish’d for all my fears again 
 To make me more like these. 
 
 6 I had my wish ; the Lord disclos’d 
 
 The evils of my heart. 
 
 And left my naked soul expos’d 
 To Satan’s fiery dart. 
 
 7 Alas ! “ I now must give it up,” 
 
 I cried in deep dsspair : 
 
 How could I dream of drawing hope 
 From what I cannot *>ear ? 
 
 8 Again my Saviour brought me aid. 
 
 And when he set me free, 
 
 “ Trust simply on my word,” he said, 
 
 “ And leave the rest to me.” 
 
 * Psal. cxv. 2. f Psal. cxlii. 7. 
 
616 OLNEY HYMNS. BOOK III. 
 
 HYMN XXXVI. 
 
 PRAYER ANSWERED BY CROSSES. 
 
 1 T ask’d the Lord, that I might grow 
 In faith, and love, and ev’ry grace; 
 Might more of his salvation know. 
 
 And seek more earnestly his face. 
 
 2 ’Twas he who taught me thus to pray, 
 And he, I trust, has answer’d prayer : 
 But it has been in such a way, 
 
 As almost drove me to despair. 
 
 3 I hop’d that in some favour’d hour, 
 
 At once he’d answer my request, 
 
 And by his love’s constraining power 
 Subdue my sins, and give me rest. 
 
 4 Instead of this, he made me feel 
 The hidden evils of my heart ; 
 
 And let the angry powers of hell 
 Assault my soul in ev’ry part. 
 
 5 Yea more, with his own hand he seem’d 
 Intent to aggravate my woe ; 
 
 Cross’d all the fair designs I schem’d, 
 Blasted my gourds, and laid me low. 
 
 6 Lord, why is this ? I trembling cried, 
 Wilt thou pursue thy worm to death ? 
 
 “ ’Tis in this way,” the Lord replied, 
 
 “ I answer prayer for grace and faith. 
 
 ’ These inw T ard trials I employ, 
 
 From self and pride to set thee free ; 
 And break thy schemes of earthly joy, 
 That thou may’st seek thy all in me.” 
 
 HYMN XXXVII, 
 
 1 WILL TRUST, AND NOT BE AFRAID. 
 
 1 Begone, unbelief! 
 
 My Saviour is near, 
 
 And for my relief 
 Will surely appear : 
 
 By prayer let me wrestle, 
 
 And he will perform ; 
 
 With Christ in the vessel, 
 
 I smile at the storm. 
 
 2 Though dark be my way, 
 
 Since he is my guide, 
 
 ’Tis mine to obey, 
 
 ; Tis his to provide ; 
 
 Though cisterns be broken, 
 
 And creatures all fail, 
 
 The word he has spoken 
 Shall surely prevail. 
 
 S His love in time past 
 Forbids me to think 
 He’ll leave me at last 
 In trouble to sink ; 
 
 Each sweet Ebenezer 
 I have in review, 
 
 Confirms his good pleasure 
 To help me quite through. 
 
 4 Determin’d to save, 
 
 He watch’d o’er my path, 
 When, Satan’s blind slave, 
 
 I sported with death ; 
 
 And can he have taught me 
 To trust in his name, 
 
 And thus far have brought me. 
 To put me to shame ? 
 
 5 Why should I complain 
 Of want or distress, 
 Temptation or pain ? 
 
 He told me no less : 
 
 The heirs of salvation, 
 
 I know from his word. 
 Through much tribulation 
 Must follow their Lord. * 
 
 6 How bitter that cup, 
 
 No heart can conceive, 
 
 Which he drank quite up. 
 
 That sinners might live ! 
 
 His way was much rougher 
 And darker than mine; 
 
 Did Jesus thus suffer, 
 
 And shall I repine ? 
 
 7 Since all that I meet 
 Shall work for my good, 
 
 The bitter is sweet. 
 
 The med’cine is food ; 
 
 Though painful at present, 
 ’Twill cease before long, 
 
 And then, O how pleasant 
 The conqueror’s song ! f 
 
 HYMN XXXVIII. 
 
 QUESTIONS TO UNBELIEF. 
 
 1 If to Jesus for relief 
 
 My soul has fled by prayer. 
 
 Why should I give way to grief, 
 
 Or heart-consuming care? 
 
 Are not all things in his hands ? 
 
 Has he not his promise pass’d ? 
 
 Will he then regardless stand. 
 
 And let me sink at last ? 
 
 2 While I know his providence 
 
 Disposes each event, 
 
 Shall I judge by feeble sense, 
 
 And yield to discontent ! 
 
 If he worms and sparrows feed, 
 
 Clothe the grass in rich array, j 
 Can he see a child in need, 
 
 And turn his eye away 1 
 
 * Acts xiv. 22. f Rom. viii. 37. } Matth. vi. 26. 
 
HYMN XLT, 
 
 CONFLICT, 
 
 3 When his name was quite unknown, 
 
 And sin my life employed, 
 
 Then he watch’d me as his own, 
 
 Or I had been destroyed ; 
 
 Now his mercy seat I know, 
 
 Now by grace am reconcil’d ; 
 Would he spare me while a foe,* 
 
 To leave me when a child ? 
 
 4 If he all my wants supplied, 
 
 When I disdain’d to pray, 
 
 Now his Spirit is my guide, 
 
 How can he say me nay ? 
 
 If he would not give me up, 
 
 When my soul against him fought, 
 Will he disappoint the hope 
 Which he himself has wrought. 
 
 5 If he shed his precious blood 
 
 To bring me to his fold. 
 
 Can I think that meaner goodf 
 He ever will with-hold J 
 Satan, vain is thy device ! 
 
 Here my hope rests well assur’d, 
 
 In that great redemption-price, 
 
 I see the whole secur’d. 
 
 HYMN XXXIX. 
 
 GREAT EFFECTS BY WEAK MEANS. 
 
 1 Unbelief the soul dismays. 
 
 What objections will it raise 
 But true faith securely leans 
 On the promise, in the means. 
 
 2 If to faith it once be known, 
 
 God has said, “ It shall be done, 
 
 And in this appointed way 
 Faith has then no more to say. 
 
 3 Moses’ rod, by faith up-rear’d,| 
 
 Through the sea a path prepar’d ; 
 
 Jericho’s devoted wall§ 
 
 At the trumpets sound must fall. 
 
 4 With a pitcher and a lamp,|| 
 
 Gideon overthrew a camp ; 
 
 And a stone, well aim’d by faith,^ 
 
 Prov’d the arm’d Philistine’s death. 
 
 5 Thus the Lord is pleas’d to try 
 Those who on his help rely ; 
 
 By the means he makes it known, 
 
 That the power is all his own. 
 
 6 Yet the means are not in vain. 
 
 If the end we would obtain ; 
 
 Though the breath of prayer be weak, 
 None shall find but they who seek. 
 
 7 God alone the heart can reach, 
 
 Yet the ministers must preach ; 
 
 ’Tis their part the seed to sow, 
 
 And ’tis his to make it grow. 
 
 * Rom. v. 10 f Rom. viii. 32. $ Exod. xiv. 21. 
 
 § Josh. vi. 2". H Judges vii. 22. 1 Sam. xvii. 42. 
 
 HYMN XL. 
 
 WHY ART THOU CAST DOWN ? 
 
 Be still, my heart ! these anxious cares 
 To thee are burdens, thorns, and snares 
 They cast dishonour on thy Lord, 
 
 And contradict his gracious word. 
 
 Brought safely by his hand thus far, 
 Why wilt thou now give place to fear ? 
 How canst thou want if he provide, 
 
 Or lose thy way with such a guide ? 
 
 When first before his mercy-seat, 
 
 Thou didst to him thy all commit ; 
 
 He gave thee warrant, from that hour, 
 To trust his wisdom, love, and power. 
 
 Did ever trouble yet befall, 
 
 And he refuse to hear thy call ? 
 
 And has he not his promise past. 
 
 That thou shalt overcome at last ? 
 
 Like David, thou may’st comfort draw. 
 Sav’d from the bear’s and lion’s paw ; 
 Goliath’s rage I may defy, 
 
 For God, my Saviour, still is nigh. 
 
 He who has helped me hitherto, 
 
 Will help me all my journey through. 
 And give me daily cause to raise 
 New Ebenezers to his praise. 
 
 Though rough and thorny be the road, 
 It leads me home, apace, to God ; 
 
 Then count thy present trials small, 
 
 For heaven will make amends for all. 
 
 HYMN XLI. 
 
 THE WAY OF ACCESS. 
 
 One glance of thine, eternal Lord ! 
 
 Pierces all nature through ; 
 
 Nor heaven, nor earth, nor hell afford 
 A shelter from thy view. 
 
 The mighty whole, each smaller part. 
 At once before thee lies ; 
 
 And every thought of every heart 
 Is open to thine eyes. 
 
 Though greatly from myself conceal’d, 
 Thou see’st my inward frame ; 
 
 To thee I always stand reveal’d. 
 Exactly as I am. 
 
 Since, therefore, I can hardly bear 
 What in myself I see ; 
 
 How vile and black must I appear, 
 Most holy God, to thee ? 
 
 But since my Saviour stands between, 
 In garments dyed in blood, 
 
 ’Tis he, instead of me, is seen. 
 
 When I approach to God. 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
BOOK III. 
 
 618 OLNEY 
 
 6“ Thus, though a sinner, I am safe ; 
 
 He pleads before the throne, 
 
 His life and death in my behalf, 
 
 And calls my sins his own. 
 
 7 What wondrous love, what mysteries, 
 
 In this appointment shine ! 
 
 My breaches of the law are his,* 
 
 And his. obedience mine. 
 
 HYMN XLII. 
 
 THE PILGRIM’s SONG. 
 
 1 From Egypt lately freed 
 By the Redemer’s grace, 
 
 A rough and thorny path we tread, 
 In hopes to see his face. 
 
 2 The flesh dislikes the way, 
 
 But faith approves it well ; 
 
 This only leads to endless day, 
 
 All others lead to hell. 
 
 HYMNS. 
 
 3 The promis’d land of peace 
 Faith keeps in constant view ; 
 
 How diff’rent from the wilderness 
 We now are passing through. 
 
 4 Here often from our eyes 
 Clouds hide the light divine ; 
 
 There we shall have unclouded skies, 
 
 Our Sun will always shine. 
 
 5 Here griefs, and cares, and pains, 
 
 And fears, distress us sore ; 
 
 But there eternal pleasure reigns, 
 
 And we shall weep no more. 
 
 6 Lord, pardon our complaints, 
 
 We follow at thy call ; 
 
 The joy prepar’d for suff’ring saints 
 Will make amends for all. 
 
 SIMILAR HYMNS. 
 
 Book I. Hymn 10, 13, 21, 22, 24, 27, 40 
 
 43, 44, 51, 56, 63, 76, 88, 107, 115, 126 
 
 130, 131, 136, 142. 
 
 Book II. Hymn 30, 31, 84, 87, 92. 
 
 IV. COMFORT. 
 
 HYMN XLIII. 
 
 FAITH A NEW AND COMPREHENSIVE SENSE. 
 
 Sight, hearing, feeling, taste, and smell, 
 Are gifts we highly prize ; 
 
 But faith does singly each excel, 
 
 And all the five comprize. 
 
 2 More piercing than the eagle’s sight, 
 
 It views the world unknow'n, 
 
 Surveys the glorious realms of light, 
 
 And Jesus on the throne. 
 
 3 It hears the mighty voice of God, 
 
 And ponders what he saith ; 
 
 II is word and works, his gifts and rod, 
 Have each a voice to faith. 
 
 4 It feels the touch of heavenly power, f 
 
 And from that boundless source, 
 Derives fresh vigour every hour 
 To run its daily course. 
 
 5 The truth and goodness of the Lord 
 
 Are suited to its taste ; { 
 
 Mean is the worldling’s pamper’d board, 
 To faith’s perpetual feast. 
 
 6 It smells the dear Redeemer’s name 
 
 Like ointment poured forth ; § 
 
 Faith only knows, or can proclaim, 
 
 Jts savour or its worth. 
 
 * 2 Cor. v. 21. + Luke viii. 46. 
 
 t Pgal. cxix. 103. S Solomon’s Son# i 3 
 
 7 Till saving faith possess the mind, 
 
 In vain of sense we boast ; 
 
 We are but senseless, tasteless, blind, 
 
 And deaf, and dead, and lost. 
 
 HYMN XLIV. 
 
 THE happy change. 
 
 1 How bless’d thy creature is, O Lord, 
 
 When, w’ith a single eye, 
 
 He views the lustre of thy word, 
 
 The day-spring from on high ! 
 
 2 Through all the storms that veil the skies, 
 
 And frown on earthly things, 
 
 The Sun of righteousness he eyes, 
 
 With healing on his wings. 
 
 3 Struck by that light, the human heart,* 
 
 A barren soil no more. 
 
 Sends the sweet smell of grace abroad, 
 Where serpents lurk’d before. 
 
 4 The soul, a dreary province once 
 
 Of Satan’s dark domain, 
 
 Feels a new empire form’d within. 
 
 And owns a heavenly reign. 
 
 5 The glorious orb, whose golden beams 
 
 The fruitful year control, 
 
 Since first, obedient to thy word, 
 
 He started from the gaol, 
 
 * Isa. xxxv. 7 
 
HYMN XLVIII. 
 
 6 Has cheer’d the nations with the joys 
 His orient rays impart ; 
 
 But, Jesus, *tis thy light alone 
 Can shine upon the heart. 
 
 C. 
 
 HYMN XLV. 
 
 RETIREMENT. 
 
 1 Far from the world, O Lord, I flee, 
 
 From strife and tumult far; 
 
 From scenes where Satan wages still 
 His most successful war. 
 
 2 The calm retreat, the silent shade, 
 
 With prayer and praise agree, 
 
 And seem by thy sweet bounty made, 
 For those who follow thee. 
 
 3 There if thy Spirit touch the soul, 
 
 And grace her mean abode, 
 
 Oh ! with what peace, and joy, and love, 
 She communes with her God. 
 
 4 There, like the nigtingale, she pours 
 
 Her solitary lays, 
 
 Nor asks a witness of her song, 
 
 Nor thirsts for human praise. 
 
 5 Author and guardian of my life, 
 
 Sweet source of light divine, 
 
 And (all harmonious names in one) 
 
 My Saviour, thou art mine. 
 
 6 What thanks I owe thee, and what love, 
 
 A boundless, endless store, 
 
 Shall echo through the realms above. 
 When time shall be no more. 
 
 C. 
 
 HYMN XLV I. 
 
 JESUS MY ALL. 
 
 1 Why should I fear the darkest hour, 
 
 Or tremble at the tempter’s power ? 
 
 Jesus vouchsafes to be my tower. 
 
 2 Though hot the fight, why quit the field? 
 Why must I either flee or yield. 
 
 Since Jesus is my mighty shield ? 
 
 3 When creature-comforts fade and die, 
 Worldlings may weep, but why should I 3 
 Jesus still lives, and still is nigh. 
 
 4 Though all the flocks and herds were dead, 
 My soul a famine need not dread, 
 
 For Jesus is my living bread. 
 
 5 I know not what may soon betide, 
 
 Or how my wants shall be supplied ; 
 
 But Jesus knows and will provide. 
 
 6 Though sin would fill me with distress, 
 
 The throne of grace I dare address, 
 
 For Jesus is my righteousness. 
 
 619 
 
 Though faint my prayers, and cold my love. 
 My stedfast hope shall not remove, 
 
 While Jesus intercedes above. 
 
 Against me earth and hell combine, 
 
 But on my side is power divine ; 
 
 Jesus is all, and he is mine. 
 
 HYMN XLVII. 
 
 THE HIDDEN LIFE. 
 
 1 To tell the Saviour all my wants, 
 
 How pleasing is the task ! 
 
 Nor less to praise him when he grants 
 Beyond what I can ask. 
 
 2 My lab’ring spirit vainly seeks 
 
 To tell but half the joy ; 
 
 With how much tenderness he speaks, 
 And helps me to reply. 
 
 3 Nor were it wise, nor should I choose, 
 
 Such secrets to declare ; 
 
 Like precious wines, their taste they lose, 
 Expos’d to open air. 
 
 4 But this, with boldness, I proclaim. 
 
 Nor care if thousands hear, 
 
 Sweet is the ointment of his name, 
 
 Not life is half so dear. 
 
 5 And can you frown, my former friends, 
 
 Who knew what once I was, 
 
 And blame the song that thus commends 
 The Man who bore the cross ? 
 
 6 Trust me, I draw the likeness true, 
 
 And not as fancy paints : 
 
 Such honour may he give to you, 
 
 For such have all his saints. 
 
 C 
 
 HYMN XLVIII. 
 
 JOY AND PEACE IN BELIEVING. 
 
 1 Sometimes a light surprises 
 
 The Christian while he sings ; 
 
 It is the Lord who rises 
 With healing in his wings; 
 
 When comforts are declining. 
 
 He grants the soul again, 
 
 A season of clear shining, 
 
 To cheer it after rain. 
 
 2 In holy contemplation, 
 
 We sweetly then pursue 
 The theme of God’s salvation, 
 
 And find it ever new : 
 
 Set free from present sorrow, 
 
 We cheerfully can say, 
 
 E’n let the unknown to-morrow* 
 Bring with it what it may 
 
 COMFORT. 
 
 7 
 
 8 
 
 * Matth. vi 5JL 
 
620 
 
 3 It can bring with it nothing, 
 
 But he will bear us through ; 
 Who gives the lilies clothing, 
 
 Will clothe his people too: 
 Beneath the spreading heavens, 
 
 No creature but is fed ; 
 
 And he who feeds the ravens, 
 
 Will give his children bread. 
 
 4 Though vine nor fig-tree neither 
 
 Their wonted fruit shall bear, * 
 Though all the field should wither, 
 Nor flocks nor herds be there ; 
 Yet God the same abiding, 
 
 His praise shall tune my voice ; 
 For while in him confiding, 
 
 I cannot but rejoice. 
 
 HYMN XLIX. 
 
 TRUE PLEASURES. 
 
 1 Lord, my soul with pleasure springs, 
 
 When Jesus’ name I hear, 
 
 And when God the Spirit brings 
 The word of promise near : 
 Beauties, too, in holiness. 
 
 Still delighted I perceive ; 
 
 Nor have words that can express 
 The joys thy precepts give. 
 
 2 Cl oth’d in sanctity and grace, 
 
 How sweet it is to see 
 Those who love thee as they pass, 
 
 Or when they wait on thee ! 
 Pleasant too, to sit and tell. 
 
 What we owe to love divine, 
 
 Till our bosoms grateful swell, 
 
 And eyes begin to shine. 
 
 8 Those the comforts I possess, 
 
 Which God shall still increase ; 
 
 All his ways are pleasantness, -j> 
 
 And all his paths are peace. 
 Nothing Jesus did or spoke, 
 Henceforth let me ever slight ; 
 
 For I love his easy yoke,]: 
 
 And find his burden light. 
 
 C. 
 
 HYMN L. 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN. 
 
 1 Honour and happiness unite, 
 
 To make the Christian’s name a praise : 
 How fair the scene, how clear the light, 
 That fills the remnant of his days ! 
 
 2 A kingly character he bears, 
 
 No change his priestly office knows ; 
 Unfading is the crown he wears, 
 
 His joys can never reach a close. 
 
 * Hab iii. 17, 18. + Prov. iii. 17. f Matth. xL 30. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 3 Adorn’d with glory from on high, 
 
 Salvation shines upon his face ; 
 
 His robe is of the ethereal dye, 
 
 His steps are dignity and grace. 
 
 4 Inferior honours be disdains, 
 
 Nor stoops to take applause from earth, 
 The King of kings himself maintains 
 The expenses of his heavenly birth. 
 
 5 The noblest creature seen below, 
 
 Ordain’d to fill a throne above; 
 
 God gives him all he can bestow, 
 
 His kingdom of eternal love ! 
 
 6 My soul is ravish’d at the thought ! 
 Methinks from earth I see him rise ! 
 Angels congratulate his lot, 
 
 And shout him welcome to the skies ! 
 
 C. 
 
 HYMN LI. 
 
 LIVELY HOPE AND GRACIOUS FEAR. 
 
 1 I was a grov’lling creature once, 
 
 And basely cleav’d to earth ; 
 
 I wanted spirit to renounce 
 The clod that gave me birth. 
 
 2 But God has breath’d upon a worm. 
 
 And sent me, from above. 
 
 Wings, such as clothe an angel’s form, 
 The wings of joy and love. 
 
 3 With these to Pisgah’s top I fly, 
 
 And there delighted stand, 
 
 To view beyond a shining sky 
 The spacious promis’d land. 
 
 4 The Lord of all the vast domain 
 
 Has promis’d it to me ; 
 
 The length and breadth of all the plain, 
 As far as faith can see. 
 
 5 How glorious is my privilege ! 
 
 To thee for help 1 call ; 
 
 I stand upon a mountain’s edge, 
 
 O save me, lest I fall ! 
 
 6 Though much exalted in the Lord, 
 
 My strength is not my own ; 
 
 Then let me tremble at his word, 
 
 And none shall cast me down. 
 
 C. 
 
 HYMN LII. 
 
 CONFIDENCE. 
 
 1 Yes ! since God himself has said it, 
 On the promise I rely ; 
 
 His good word demands my credit, 
 What can unbelief reply ? 
 
 He is strong, and can fulfil, 
 
 He is truth, and therefore will. 
 
 OLNEY HYMNS. 
 
HYMN LV. 
 
 COMFORT. 
 
 621 
 
 2 As to all the doubts and questions 
 Which my spirit often grieve, 
 
 These are Satan’s sly suggestions, 
 
 And I need no answer give ; 
 
 He would fain destroy my hope, 
 
 But the promise bears it up. 
 
 3 Sure the Lord thus far has brought me, 
 By his watchful tender care; 
 
 Sure ’tis he himself has taught me 
 How to seek his face by prayer : 
 
 After so much mercy past, 
 
 Will he give me up at last ? 
 
 4 True, I’ve been a foolish creature, 
 
 And have sinn’d against his grace, 
 
 But forgiveness is his nature, 
 
 Though he justly hides his face : 
 
 Ere he called me, well he knew* 
 What a heart like mine would do. 
 
 5 In my Saviour’s intercession 
 Therefore I will still confide ! 
 
 Lord, accept my free confession, 
 
 I have sinn’d, but thou hast died : f 
 This is all I have to plead, 
 
 This is all the plea I need. 
 
 HYMN LI II. 
 
 PEACE RESTORED. 
 
 1 Oh ! speak that gracious word again, 
 
 And cheer my drooping heart ! 
 
 No voice but thine can soothe my pain, 
 Or bid my fears depart. 
 
 2 And canst thou still vouchsafe to own 
 
 A wretch so vile as I ? 
 
 And may I still approach thy thrdne, 
 
 And Abba, Father, cry ? 
 
 3 O, then, let saints and angels join, 
 
 And help me to proclaim 
 The grace that heal’d a breach like mine, 
 And put my foes to shame ! 
 
 4 How oft did Satan’s cruel boast 
 
 My troubled soul affright ! 
 
 He told me I was surely lost, 
 
 And, God had left me quite. \ 
 
 5 Guilt made me fear, lest all were true 
 
 The lying tempter said ; 
 
 But now the Lord appears in view, 
 
 My enemy is fled. 
 
 6 My Saviour, by his powerful word, 
 
 Has turn’d my night to day ; 
 
 And his salvation’s joy’s restored, 
 
 Which I had sinn’d away. 
 
 7 Dear Lord, I wonder and adore ! 
 
 Thy grace is all divine ! 
 
 O keep me, that I sin no more 
 Against such love as thine ! 
 
 * Isa. xlviii. 8. t Rom. viii. 34. 
 
 % Psal. ixxi. 11. 
 
 HYMN LIV. 
 
 HEAR WHAT HE HAS DONE FOR MY SOUL. 
 
 1 Sav’d by blood, I live to tell 
 What the love of Christ hath done ; 
 
 He redeem’d my soul from hell, 
 
 Of a rebel made a son : 
 
 Oh ! I tremble still, to think 
 How secure I liv’d in sin ; 
 
 Sporting on destruction’s brink, 
 
 Yet preserv’d from falling in. 
 
 2 In his own appointed hour, 
 
 To my heart the Saviour spoke ; 
 
 Touch’d me by his Spirit’s power, 
 
 And my dang’rous slumber broke. 
 
 Then I saw and own’d my guilt, 
 
 Soon my gracious Lord replied : 
 
 “ Fear not, I my blood have spilt, 
 
 ’Twas for such as thee I died.” 
 
 3 Shame and wonder, joy and love. 
 
 All at once possess’d my heart ; 
 
 Can I hope thy grace to prove 
 After acting such a part ? 
 
 “ Thou hast greatly sinn’d,” he said, 
 
 “ But I freely all forgive ; 
 
 I myself thy debt have paid, 
 
 Now I bid thee rise and live.” 
 
 4 Come, my fellow-sinners, try, 
 
 Jesus’ heart is full of love ! 
 
 O that you, as well as I, 
 
 May his wondrous mercy prove. 
 
 He has sent me to declare, 
 
 All is ready, all is free : 
 
 Why should any soul despair, 
 
 When he sav’d a wretch like me ? 
 
 HYMN LV. 
 
 FREEDOM FROM CARE. 
 
 1 While I liv’d without the Lord, 
 (If I might be said to live,) 
 Nothing could relief afford, 
 Nothing satisfaction give. 
 
 2 Empty hopes and groundless fear 
 Mov’d by turns my anxious mind ; 
 Like a feather in the air, 
 
 Made the sport of every wind. 
 
 3 Now, I see, whate’er betide, 
 
 All is well if Christ be mine ; 
 
 He has promis’d to provide, 
 
 I have only to resign. 
 
 4 When a sense of sin and thrall 
 Forc’d me to the sinner’s Friend, 
 He engaged to manage all, 
 
 j By the way and to the end. 
 
BOOK III 
 
 622 OLNEY 
 
 5 “ Cast,” he said, •'* on me thy care,* 
 
 ’Tis enough that I am nigh ; 
 
 I will all thy burdens bear, 
 
 I will all thy wants supply. 
 
 6 Simply follow as I lead, 
 
 Do not reason, but believe ; 
 
 Call on me in time of need, 
 
 Thou shalt surely help receive.” 
 
 7 Lord, I would, I do submit, 
 
 Gladly yield my all to thee ; 
 
 What thy wisdom sees most fit, 
 
 Must be surely best for me. 
 
 8 Only, when the way is rough. 
 
 And the coward flesh would start, 
 
 Let thy promise and thy love 
 Cheer and animate my heart. 
 
 HYMN LVI. 
 
 HUMILIATION AND PRAISE. 
 
 (Imitated from the German. 
 
 1 When the wounded spirit hears 
 
 The voice of Jesus’ blood, 
 
 How the message stops the tears 
 Which else in vain had flowed •. 
 Pardon, grace, and peace proclaim’d, 
 And the sinner call’d a child ; 
 
 Then the stubborn heart is tam’d, 
 Renew’d and reconcil’d. 
 
 2 Oh ! ’twas grace indeed to spare 
 
 And save a wretch like me ! 
 
 Men or angels could not bear 
 What I have offer’d thee : 
 
 Were thy bolts at their command, 
 Hell ere now had been my place ; 
 Thou alone could’st silent stand, 
 And wait to shew thy grace. 
 
 3 If, in one created mind, 
 
 The tenderness and love 
 Of thy saints on earth were join’d, 
 With all the hosts above ; 
 
 Still that love were weak and poor, 
 If compar’d, my Lord, with thine; 
 Far too scanty to endure 
 A heart so vile as mine. 
 
 f Wondrous mercy I have found, 
 
 But, ah ! how faint my praise ! 
 Must I be a cumber-ground, 
 Unfruitful all my days ? 
 
 Do I in thy garden grow, 
 
 Yet produce thee only leaves ! 
 
 Lord, forbid it should be so ! 
 
 The thought my spirit grieves. 
 
 s Heavy charges Satan brings, 
 
 To fill me with distress ; 
 
 Let me hide beneath thy wings, 
 
 And plead thy righteousness. 
 
 * Psal. lv. 22. 1 Pet. v. 7. 
 
 HYMNS. 
 
 Lord, to thee for help I call, 
 
 ’Tis thy promise bids me come : 
 Tell him thou hast paid for all, 
 And that shall strike him dumb. 
 
 HYMN LVII. 
 
 FOR THE POOR. 
 
 1 When Hagar found the bottle spent,* 
 
 And wept o’er Ishmael, 
 
 A message from the Lord was sent 
 To guide her to a well. 
 
 2 Should not Elijah’s cake and cruise f 
 
 Convince us at this day, 
 
 A gracious God will not refuse 
 Provisions by the way ? 
 
 3 His saints and servants shall be fed, 
 
 The promise is secure ; 
 
 “ Bread shall be given them,” as he said, 
 “ Their water shall be sure.”f 
 
 4 Repasts far richer they shall prove. 
 
 Than all earth’s dainties are ; 
 
 ’Tis sweet to taste a Saviour’s love, 
 Though in the meanest fare. 
 
 5 To Jesus, then, your trouble bring, 
 
 Nor murmur at your lot ; 
 
 While you are poor, and he is King, 
 
 You shall not be forgot. 
 
 C. 
 
 HYMN LVIIL 
 
 HOME IN VIEW. 
 
 1 As when the weary trav’ller gains 
 The height of some o’erlooking hill, 
 
 His heart revives, if cross the plains 
 He eyes his home, though distant still. 
 
 2 While he surveys the much-lov’d spot, 
 He slights the pace that lies between ; 
 His past fatigues are now forgot, 
 Because his journey’s end is seen. 
 
 3 Thus, when the Christian pilgrim view's, 
 By faith, his mansion in the skies, 
 
 The sight his fainting strength renews, 
 And wings his speed to reach the prize : 
 
 4 The thought of home his spirit cheers, 
 No more he grieves for troubles past ; 
 Nor any future trial fears, § 
 
 So he may safe arrive at last. 
 
 5 ’Tis there, he says, I am to dwell 
 With Jesus, in the realms of day , 
 
 Then I shall bid my cares farewell, 
 
 And he will wipe my tears away. 
 
 * Gen. xxi. 19 1 1 Kings xvii. 14 
 
 isa. xxxiii. 16. $ Acts xs 24. 
 
HYMN LX I. 
 
 DEDICATION AND SURRENDER. 
 
 623 
 
 6 Jesus, on thee our hope depends, 
 
 To lead us on to thine abode: 
 Assur’d our home will make amends 
 For all our toil while on the road. 
 
 SIMILAR HYMN'S. 
 
 Book I. Hymn 4, 7, 9, 11, 25, 35, 36, 39, 
 ! 41, 46, 47, 48, 70, 95, 128, 132. 
 
 | Book II. Hymn 45, 46, 47. 
 
 V. DEDICATION AND SURRENDER. 
 
 HYMN LIX. 
 
 OLD THINGS ARE PASSED AWAY. 
 
 1 Let worldly minds the world pursue, 
 
 1 1 has no charms for me ; 
 
 Once I admir’d its trifles too, 
 
 But grace has set me free. 
 
 2 Its pleasures now no longer please, 
 
 No more content afford ; 
 
 Far from my heart be joys like these, 
 Now I have seen the Lord. 
 
 3 As by the light of op’ning day 
 
 The stars are all conceal’d ; 
 
 So earthly pleasures fade away, 
 
 When Jesus is reveal’d. 
 
 4 Creatures no more divide my choice, 
 
 I bid them all depart ; 
 
 His name, and love? and gracious voice, 
 Have fix’d my roving heart. 
 
 5 Now, Lord, I would be thine alone, 
 
 And wholly live to thee ; 
 
 But may I hope that thou wilt own 
 A worthless worm like me ? 
 
 6 Yes! though of sinners I’m the worst, 
 
 I cannot doubt thy will ; 
 
 For if thou hadst not lov’d me first, 
 
 I had refus’d thee still.* 
 
 HYMN LX. 
 
 THE POWER OF GRACE. 
 
 1 Happy the birth where grace presides, 
 
 To form the future life ; 
 
 In wisdom’s paths the soul she guides, 
 Remote from noise and strife. 
 
 2 Since I have known the Saviour’s name, 
 
 And what for me he bore, 
 
 No more I toil for empty fame, 
 
 I thirst for gold no more. 
 
 * Jer. xxxi 3. 
 
 Plac’d by his hand in this retreat, 
 
 1 make his love my theme ; 
 
 And see that all the world calls great, 
 
 Is but a waking dream. 
 
 Since he has rank’d my worthless name 
 Amongst his favour’d few, 
 
 Let the mad world who scoff at them, 
 Revile and hate me too. 
 
 O thou, whose voice the dead can raise, 
 And soften hearts of stone, 
 
 And teach the dumb to sing thy praise ! 
 This work is all thine own. 
 
 Thy wond’ring saints rejoice to see 
 A wretch like me restor’d ; 
 
 And point, and say, “ How chang’d is h$ 
 Who once defied the Lord !” 
 
 Grace bid me live, and taught my tongue 
 To aim at notes divine ; 
 
 And grace accepts my feeble song ; 
 
 The glory, Lord, be thine ! 
 
 HYMN LXI. 
 
 MY SOUL THIRSTETH FOR GOD. 
 
 1 I THIRST, but not as once I did, 
 
 The vain delights of earth to share ; 
 
 Thy wounds, Emmanuel, all forbid 
 That I should seek my pleasures there. 
 
 2 It was the sight of thy dear cross, 
 
 First wean’d my soul from earthly things 
 And taught me to esteem as dross 
 The mirth of fools and pomp of kings. 
 
 3 I want that grace that springs from thee, 
 That quickens all things where it flows. 
 And makes a wretched thorn like me, 
 Bloom as the myrtle, or the rose. 
 
 4 Dear fountain of delight unknown ! 
 
 No longer sink below the brim ; 
 
 But overflow, and pour me down 
 A living and life-giving stream ! 
 
 13 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
624 
 
 .5 For sure, of all the plants that share 
 The notice of thy Father’s eye, 
 
 None proves less grateful to his care, 
 Or yields him meaner fruit than I. 
 
 C. 
 
 HYMN LXII. 
 
 LOVE CONSTRAINING TO OBEDIENCE. 
 
 1 No strength of nature can suffice 
 
 To serve the Lord aright j 
 And what she has, she misapplies, 
 
 For want of clearer light. 
 
 2 How long beneath the law I lay 
 
 In bondage and distress ! 
 
 I toil’d the precept to obey, 
 
 But toil’d without success. 
 
 3 Then, to abstain from outward sin 
 
 Was more than I could do j 
 Now, I feel its power within, 
 
 I feel I hate it too. 
 
 4 Then all my servile works were done 
 
 A righteousness to raise ; 
 
 Now, freely chosen in the Son, 
 
 I freely choose his ways. 
 
 5 What shall I do, was then the word, 
 
 That I may worthier grow ? 
 
 What shall I render to the Lord ? 
 
 Is my inquiry now. 
 
 6 To see the law by Christ fulfill’d. 
 
 And hear his pard’ning voice, 
 Changes a slave into a child, 4 
 And duty into choice. 
 
 c 
 
 HYMN LXIII. 
 
 THE HEART HEALED AND CHANGED BY MERCY. 
 
 1 Sin enslav’d me many years, 
 
 And led me bound and blind ; 
 
 Till at length a thousand fears 
 Came swarming o’er my mind 
 Where, I said in deep distress, 
 
 Will these sinful pleasures end ? 
 
 How shall I secure my peace, 
 
 And make the Lord my friend ? 
 
 2 Friends and ministers said much 
 
 The gospel to enforce ; 
 
 But my blindness still was such, 
 
 I chose a legal course : 
 
 Much I fasted, watch’d, and strove, 
 
 Scarce would shew my face abroad 
 Fear’d, almost, to speak or move, 
 
 A stranger still to God. 
 
 BOOK III 
 
 Thus, afraid to trust his grace, 
 
 Long time did I rebel ; 
 
 Till, despairing of my case, 
 
 Down at his feet I fell : 
 
 Then my stubborn heart he broke, 
 
 And subdued me to his sway, 
 
 By a simple word he spoke, 
 
 “ Thy sins are done away.” 
 
 C. 
 
 HYMN LXIV, 
 
 HATRED OF SIN. 
 
 1 Holy Lord God ! I love thy truth, 
 
 Nor dare thy least commandment slight, 
 Yet pierc’d by sin, the serpent's tooth, 
 
 ^ I mourn the anguish of the bite. 
 
 2 But though the poison lurks within, 
 
 Hope bids me still with patience wait, 
 
 Till death shall set me free from sin, 
 
 Free from the only thing I hate. 
 
 3 Had I a throne above the rest, 
 
 Where angels and archangels dwell, 
 
 One sin, unslain, within my breast, 
 
 Would make that heaven as dark as hell. 
 
 4 The pris’ner, sent to breathe fresh air, 
 
 And bless’d with liberty again, 
 
 Would mourn, were he condemn’d to wear 
 One link of all his former chain. 
 
 5 But, oh ! no foe invades the bliss, 
 
 When glory crowns the Christian’s head ; 
 One view of Jesus as he is. 
 
 Will strike all sin for ever dead. 
 
 c. 
 
 HYMN LXV. 
 
 THE CHILD.* 
 
 1 Quiet, Lord, my fro ward heart, 
 Make me teachable and mild, 
 Upright, simple, free from art, 
 
 Make me as a weaned child : 
 
 From distrust and envy free, 
 Pleas’d with all that pleases thee. 
 
 2 What thou shalt to-day provide, 
 
 Let me as a child receive ; 
 
 What to-morrow may betide. 
 
 Calmly to thy wisdom leave : 
 
 ’Tis enough that thou wilt care, 
 Why should I the burden bear ? 
 
 3 As a little child relies 
 
 On a care beyond his own ; 
 
 Knows lie’s neither strong nor wise ; 
 Fears to stir a step alone : 
 
 Let me thus with thee abide, 
 
 As my Father, guard, and guide. 
 
 * Psal. cxxxi. 2. 
 
 OLNEY HYMNS. 
 
 3 
 
 * ‘Rom. iii. 31. 
 
 Matth. xviii. 3, 4. 
 
HYMN LXV1I. DEDICATION 
 
 4 Tims preserv’d from Satan’s wiles, 
 
 Safe from dangers, free from fears, 
 
 May I live upon thy smiles, 
 
 Till the promis’d hour appears, 
 
 When the sons of God shall prove 
 All their Father’s boundless love. 
 
 HYMN LX VI. 
 
 TRUE HAPPINESS. 
 
 1 Fix my heart and eyes on thine ! 
 What are other objects worth ? 
 
 But to see thy glory shine 
 
 Is a heaven begun on earth : 
 
 Trifles can no longer move ; 
 
 Oh ! I tread on all beside, 
 
 When I feel my Saviour’s love, 
 
 And remember how he died ! 
 
 2 Now my search is at an end, 
 
 Now my wishes rove no more ! 
 
 Thus my moments I would spend, 
 Love, and w’onder, and adore : 
 
 Jesus, source of excellence ! 
 
 All thy glorious love reveal ! 
 Kingdoms shall not bribe me hence, 
 While this happiness I feel. 
 
 3 Take my heart, ’tis all thine own, 
 To thy will my spirit frame ; 
 
 Thou shalt reign, and thou alone, 
 Over all I have or am : 
 
 If a foolish thought shall dare 
 To rebel against thy word, 
 
 Slay it, Lord, and do not spare, 
 
 Let it feel thy Spirit’s sword ! 
 
 4 Making thus the Lord my choice, 
 
 I have nothing more to choose, 
 
 But to listen to thy voice, 
 
 And my will in thine to lose : 
 
 Thus, whatever may betide, 
 
 I shall safe and happy be, 
 
 Still content and satisfied. 
 
 Having all in having thee. 
 
 625 
 
 HYMN LXVII 
 
 THE HAPPY DEBTOR. 
 
 1 Ten thousand talents once I owed, 
 
 And nothing had to pay, 
 
 But Jesus freed me from the load, 
 
 And wash’d my debt away. 
 
 2 Yet since the Lord forgave my sin, 
 
 And blotted out my score. 
 
 Much more indebted I have been 
 Than e’er I was before. 
 
 3 My guilt is cancell’d quite, I know. 
 
 And satisfaction made ; 
 
 But the vast debt of love I owe 
 Can never be repaid. 
 
 4 The love I owe for sin forgiven, 
 
 For power to believe, 
 
 For present peace and promis’d heaven, 
 No angel can conceive. 
 
 5 That love of thine, thou sinner’s Friend 
 
 Witness thy bleeding heart ! 
 
 My little all can ne’er extend 
 To pay a thousandth part. 
 
 6 Nay more, the poor returns I make, 
 
 I first from thee obtain $* 
 
 And ’tis of grace, that thou wilt take 
 Such poor returns again. 
 
 7 ’Tis well, it shall my glory be 
 
 (Let who will boast their store) 
 
 In time and to eternity. 
 
 To owe thee more and more. 
 
 SIMILAR HYMNS. 
 
 Book I. Hymn 27, 50, 70, 93, 1 22. 
 Book II. Hymn 23, 90. 
 
 AND SURRENDER. 
 
 VI. CAUTIONS. 
 
 HYMN LXV1II. 
 
 THE NEW CONVERT. 
 
 1 The new-born child of gospel -grace. 
 Like some fair tree when summer’s nigh, 
 Beneath Emmanuel’s shining face, 
 
 Lifts up his blooming branch on high 
 
 2 No fears he feels, he sees no foes. 
 
 No conflict yet his faith employs, 
 
 Nor has he learnt to whom he owes 
 The strength and peace his soul enjoys 
 
 1 Chron. xxix. 14. 
 
 3 A 
 
62G OLNEY 
 
 3 But sin soon darts its cruel sting, 
 
 And comforts sinking day by day, 
 
 What seem’d his own, a self-fed spring, 
 Proves but a brook that glides away. 
 
 4 When Gideon arm’d his num’rous host, 
 The Lord soon made his numbers less; 
 And said, lest Israel vainly boast,* 
 
 “ My arm procur’d me thus success.” 
 
 5 Thus will he bring our spirits down, 
 
 And draw our ebbing comforts low. 
 
 That, sav’d by grace, but not our own, 
 
 We may not claim the praise we owe. 
 
 C 
 
 HYMN LX IX. 
 
 TRUE AND FALSE COMFORTS. 
 
 1 O God, whose favourable eye 
 
 The sin-sick soul revives. 
 
 Holy and heavenly is the joy 
 Thy shining presence gives : 
 
 2 Not such as hypocrites suppose, 
 
 Who with a graceless heart, 
 
 Taste not of thee, but drink a dose, 
 Prepar’d by Satan’s art. 
 
 3 Intoxicating joys are theirs, 
 
 Who, while they boast their light, 
 And seem to soar above the stars, 
 
 Are plunging into night. 
 
 4 Lull’d in a soft and fatal sleep, 
 
 They sin, and yet rejoice ; 
 
 Were they indeed the Saviour’s sheep, 
 Would they not hear his voice ? 
 
 5 Be mine the comforts that reclaim 
 
 The soul from Satan’s power, 
 
 That make me blush for what I am, 
 And hate my sin the more. 
 
 6 ’Tis joy enough, my All in All, 
 
 At thy dear feet to lie ; 
 
 Thou wilt not let me lower fall, 
 
 And none can higher fly. 
 
 C. 
 
 HYMN LXX. 
 
 TRUE AND FALSE ZEAL. 
 
 1 Zeal is that pure and heavenly flame 
 
 The fire of love supplies; 
 
 While that which often bears the name 
 Is self in a disguise. 
 
 2 True zeal is m«ciful and mild, 
 
 Can pity and forbear ; 
 
 The false is headstrong, fierce, and wild, 
 And breathes revenge and war. 
 
 YMNS. BOOK III. 
 
 While zeal for truth the Christian warms, 
 He knows the worth of peace; 
 
 But self contends for names and forms, 
 
 Its party to increase. 
 
 Zeal has attain’d its highest aim. 
 
 Its end is satisfied, 
 
 If sinners love the Saviour’s name, 
 
 Nor seeks it aught beside. 
 
 But self, however well employed, 
 
 Has its own ends in view, 
 
 And says, as boasting Jehu cried,* 
 
 “ Come, see what I can do.” 
 
 Self may its poor reward obtain, 
 
 And be applauded here. 
 
 But zeal the best applause will gain 
 When Jesus shall appear. 
 
 Dear Lord, the idol self dethrone, 
 
 And from our hearts remove, 
 
 And let no zeal by us be shown 
 But that which springs from love. 
 
 HYMN LXXI. 
 
 A LIVING AND A DEAD FAITH. 
 
 The Lord receives his highest praise 
 From humble minds and hearts sincere, 
 While all the loud professor says 
 Offends the righteous Judge’s ear. 
 
 To walk as children of the day. 
 
 To mark the precepts holy light, 
 
 To wage the warfare, watch and pray, 
 Shew who are pleasing in his sight. 
 
 Not words alone it cost the Lord, 
 
 To purchase pardon for his own; 
 
 Nor will a soul, by grace restor’d, 
 
 Return the Saviour words alone. 
 
 With golden bells, the priestly vest,f 
 And rich pomegranates border’d round, 
 The need of holiness express’d, 
 
 And call’d for fruit as well as sound. 
 
 Easy, indeed, it w r ere to reach 
 A mansion in the courts above, 
 
 If swelling words and fluent speech 
 Might serve instead of faith and love. 
 
 But none shall gain the blissful place, 
 
 Or God’s unclouded glory see, 
 
 Who talks of free and sovereign grace, 
 Unless that grace has made him free. 
 
 C. 
 
 HYMN LX XI I. 
 
 ABUSE OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 Too many, Lord, abuse thy grace, 
 
 In this licentious day ; 
 
 And while they boast they see thy face, 
 They turn their ow n away. 
 
 * 2 King? i. 16. 
 
 H 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 * 
 
 7 
 
 I 
 
 | 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 * Judges vtf. 
 
 ■f Exod. xxviii 33 
 
HYMN LXXVI. 
 
 CAUTIONS. 
 
 GT7 
 
 2 Thy book displays a gracious light, 
 
 That can the blind restore ; 
 
 But these are dazzled by the sight, 
 
 And blinded still the more. 
 
 3 The pardon such presume upon 
 
 They do not beg, but steal ; 
 
 And when they plead it at thy throne, 
 
 Oh ! where’s the Spirit’s seal? 
 
 4 Was it for this, ye lawless tribe, 
 
 The dear Redeemer bled ? 
 
 Is this the grace the saints imbibe 
 From Christ the living Head ? 
 
 5 Ah ! Lord, we know thy chosen few 
 
 Are fed with heavenly fare ; 
 
 But these, the wretched husks they chew, 
 Proclaim them what they are. 
 
 6 The liberty our hearts implore, 
 
 Is not to live in sin. 
 
 But still to wait at Wisdom’s door, 
 
 Till Mercy calls us in. 
 
 C. 
 
 HYMN LXXIII. 
 
 THE NARROW WAY. 
 
 1 What thousands never knew the road ! 
 What thousands hate it when ’tis known ! 
 None but the chosen tribes of God 
 
 Will seek or chuse it for their own. 
 
 2 A thousand ways in ruin end, 
 
 One only leads to joys on high ; 
 
 By that my willing steps ascend, 
 
 Pleas’d with a journey to the sky. 
 
 3 No more I ask, or hope to find 
 Delight or happiness below ; 
 
 Sorrow may as well possess the mind 
 That feeds where thorns and thistles grow. 
 
 4 The joy that fades is not for me, 
 
 I seek immortal joys above : 
 
 There glory without end shall be 
 The bright reward of faith and love. 
 
 5 Cleave to the world, ye sordid worms ! 
 Contented lick your native dust ; 
 
 But God shall fight, with all his storms, 
 Against the idol of your trust. 
 
 C 
 
 HYMN LX XIV. 
 
 DEPENDENCE. 
 
 1 To keep the lamp alive, 
 
 With oil we fill the bowl ; 
 
 ’Tis water makes the willow thrive, 
 And grace that feeds the soul. 
 
 2 The Lord’s unsparing hand 
 Supplies the living stream, 
 
 It is not at our own command, 
 
 But still deriv’d from him. 
 
 3 Beware of Peter’s word,* 
 
 Nor confidently say, 
 
 “ I never will deny thee, Lord,’ 
 
 But grant I never may. 
 
 4 Man’s wisdom is to seek 
 His strength in God alone; 
 
 And ev’n an angel would be weak, 
 Who trusted in his own. 
 
 5 Retreat beneath his wings, 
 
 And in his grace confide ; 
 
 This more exalts the King of kings, -f- 
 Than all your works beside. 
 
 6 In Jesus is our store, 
 
 Grace issues from his throne ; 
 
 Whoever says, “ I want no more,” 
 Confesses he has none. 
 
 C. 
 
 HYMN LXXV. 
 
 NOT OF WORKS. 
 
 1 Grace, triumphant in the throne, 
 Scorns a rival, reigns alone ! 
 
 Come, and bow beneath her sway, 
 Cast your idol-works away. 
 
 Works of man, when made his plea, 
 Never shall accepted be ; 
 
 Fruits of pride (vain-glorious worm !) 
 Are the best he can perform. 
 
 2 Self, the god his soul adores, 
 Influences all his powers ; 
 
 Jesus is a slighted name, 
 Self-advancement all his aim, 
 
 But when God the Judge shall come, 
 To pronounce the final doom, 
 
 Then for rocks and hills to hide 
 All his works and all his pride ! 
 
 3 Still the boasting heart replies, 
 
 What ! the worthy and the wise. 
 Friends to temperance and peace, 
 Have not these a righteousness ? 
 Banish ev’ry vain pretence 
 Built on human excellence ; 
 
 Perish ev’ry thing in man, 
 
 But the grace that never can. 
 
 C. 
 
 HYMN LXXVI. 
 sin’s deceit. 
 
 1 Sin, when view’d by scripture-light, 
 
 Is a horrid, hateful sight ; 
 
 But when seen in Satan’s glass, 
 
 Then it wears a pleasing face. 
 
 2 When the gospel-trumpet sounds. 
 When I think how grace abounds, 
 When I feel sweet peace within, 
 
 I Then I’d rather die than sin. 
 
 f John vi. 'J-?. 
 
 I 
 
 • Matth. xxvi. 53. 
 
OLNEY HYMNS. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 628 
 
 3 When the cross I view by faith, 
 
 Sin is madness, poison, death ; 
 Tempt me not, ’tis all in vain. 
 
 Sure I ne’er can yield again. 
 
 4 Satan, for a while debarr’d, 
 
 When he finds me off my guard. 
 Puts his glass before my eyes. 
 Quickly other thoughts arise. 
 
 5 What before excited fears, 
 
 Rather pleasing now appears ; 
 
 If a sin, it seems so small. 
 
 Or, perhaps, no sin at all. 
 
 6 Often thus, through sin’s deceit, 
 Grief, and shame, and loss I meet ; 
 Like a fish, my soul mistook. 
 
 Saw the bait, but not the hook. 
 
 7 O my Lord ! what shall I say ? 
 How can I presume to pray ? 
 
 Not a word have I to plead, 
 
 Sins like mine are black indeed ! 
 
 8 Made by past experience wise, 
 
 Let me learn thy word to prize ; 
 Taught by what I’ve felt before, 
 Let me Satan’s glass abhor. 
 
 IlYMN I.X XVII. 
 
 ARE THERE FEW THAT SHALL BE SAVED ? 
 
 1 Destruction’s dang’rous road, 
 
 What multitudes pursue ! 
 
 While that which leads the soul to God, 
 Is known or sought by few. 
 
 2 Believers enter in 
 
 By Christ, the living gate : 
 
 But they who will not leave their sin, 
 Complain it is too strait. 
 
 3 If self must be denied, 
 
 And sin forsaken quite, 
 
 They rather chuse the way that’s wide, 
 And strive to think it right. 
 
 4 Encompass’d by a throng, 
 
 On numbers they depend ; 
 
 So many surely can’t be wrong, 
 
 And miss a happy end. 
 
 5 But numbers are no mark 
 That men will right be found, 
 
 A few were sav’d in Noah’s ark, * 
 
 For many millions drown’d. 
 
 Obey the gospel-call. 
 
 And enter while you may ! 
 
 The flock of Christ is always small, f 
 And none are safe but they. 
 
 7 Lord, open sinners eyes. 
 
 Their awful state to see ; 
 
 And make them ere the storm arise, 
 
 To thee foi safety flee. 
 
 * 1 Pet. iii. 20. f Luke xli. 52. 
 
 HYMN LXXV1II. 
 
 THE SLUGGARD. 
 
 The wishes that the sluggard frames,* 
 Of course must fruitless prove ; 
 
 With folded arms he stands and dreams, 
 But has no heart to move. 
 
 His field from others may be known, 
 The fence is broken through ; 
 
 The ground with weeds is overgrown, 
 And no good crop in view. 
 
 No hardship he, nor toil, can bear, 
 
 No difficulty meet ; 
 
 He wastes his hours at home, for fear 
 Of lions in the street. 
 
 What wonder, then, if sloth and sleep 
 Distress and famine bring ! 
 
 Could he in harvest hope to reap, 
 
 Who would not sow in spring ? 
 
 ’Tis often thus in soul-concerns: 
 
 We gospel-sluggards see, 
 
 Who, if a wish would serve their turns, 
 Might true believers be. 
 
 But when the preacher bids them watch, 
 And seek, and strive, and pray,f 
 
 At ev’ry poor excuse they catch, 
 
 A lion in the way ! 
 
 To use the means of grace, how loth ! 
 W T e call them still in vain ; 
 
 They yield to their beloved sloth, 
 
 And fold their arms again. 
 
 Dear Saviour, let thy power appear, 
 
 The outward call to aid ; 
 
 These drowsy souls can only hear 
 The voice that wakes the dead. 
 
 HYMN LXXIX. 
 
 NOT IN WORD, BUT IN POWER. 
 
 How soon the Saviour’s gracious call. 
 Disarm’d the rage of bloody Saul 
 Jesus, the knowledge of thy name, 
 Changes the lion to a lamb ! 
 
 Zaccheus, when he knew the Lord,§ 
 What he had gain’d by wrong, restor’d j 
 And of the wealth he priz’d before, 
 
 He gave the half to feed the poor. 
 
 The woman who so vile had been, || 
 When brought to weep o’er pardon’d sin. 
 Was from her evil ways estrang’d, 
 
 And shew’d that grace her heart chang’d. 
 
 + Prov. vi. 10. ; xx. 4. ; xxii. 13. ; xxiv. 30. 
 f 1 Cor. ix. 24. ; Luke xiii. 24. 1 Acts ix. 6. 
 
 § Luke xix. 8. || Luke vii. 47 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 8 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
HYMN LXXXII. 
 
 4 And can we think the power of grace 
 Is lost, by change of time and place ? 
 Then it was mighty, all allow, 
 
 And is it but a notion now ? 
 
 5 Can they whom pride and fashion sway, 
 Who Mammon and the world obey, 
 
 In envy or contention live, 
 
 Presume that they indeed believe ? 
 
 6 True faith unites to Christ the root, 
 
 By him producing holy fruit ; 
 
 629 
 
 And they who no such fruit can show. 
 
 Still on the stock of nature grow. 
 
 Lord, let thy word effectual prove, 
 
 To work in us obedient love ! 
 
 And may each one who hears it, dread 
 A name to live, and yet be dead. * 
 
 SIMILAR HYMNS. 
 
 Book I. Hymn 8, 20, 85, 87, 91, 104, 125, 
 139, 141. 
 
 Book II. Hymn 34, 49, 86, 91, 99. 
 
 PRAISE. 
 
 VII. PRAISE. 
 
 HYMN LXXX. 
 
 PRAISE FOR FAITH. 
 
 1 Of all the gifts thine hand bestows, 
 
 Thou giver of all good ! 
 
 Not heaven itself a richer knows. 
 
 Than my Redeemer’s blood. 
 
 2 Faith, too, the blood-receiving grace, 
 
 From the same hand we gain ; 
 
 Else, sweetly as it suits our case, 
 
 That gift had been in vain. 
 
 S Till thou thy teaching power apply, 
 
 Our hearts refuse to see, 
 
 And weak, as a distemper’d eye, 
 
 Shut out the view of thee. 
 
 4 Blind to the merits of thy Son, 
 
 What misery we endure ! 
 
 Yet fly that hand, from which alone 
 We could expect a cure. 
 
 5 We praise thee, and would praise thee more, 
 
 To thee our all we owe ; 
 
 The precious Saviour and the power 
 That makes him precious too. 
 
 c. 
 
 HYMN LXXXI. 
 
 GRACE AND PROVIDENCE. 
 
 1 Almighty King ! whose wondrous hand 
 Supports the weight of sea and land, 
 Whose grace is such a boundless store. 
 No heart shall break that sighs for more. 
 
 2 Thy providence supplies my food, 
 
 And ’tis thy blessing makes it good ; 
 
 My soul is nourish’d by thy word, 
 
 Let soul and body praise the Lord. 
 
 3 My streams of outward comfort came 
 From him, who built this earthly frame ; 
 Whate’er I want his bounty gives. 
 
 By whom my soul for ever lives. 
 
 4 Either his hand preserves from pain, 
 
 Or, if I feel it, heals again ; 
 
 From Satan’s malice shields my breast, 
 Or over-rules it for the best. 
 
 5 Forgive the song that falls so hw 
 Beneath the gratitude I owe ! 
 
 It means thy praise, however pool. 
 
 An angel’s song can do no more. 
 
 C. 
 
 HYMN LXXXII. 
 praise for redeeming love. 
 
 1 Let us love, and sing and wonder, 
 
 Let us praise the Saviour’s name ! 
 
 He has hush’d the law’s loud thunder, 
 He has quench’d Mount Sinai’s flame : 
 He has wash’d us with his blood, 
 
 He has brought us nigh to God. 
 
 2 Let us love — the Lord who bought us, 
 Pitied us when enemies, 
 
 Call’d us by his grace, and taught us, 
 Gave us ears, and gave us eyes : 
 
 He has wash’d us with his blood, 
 
 He presents our souls to God. 
 
 3 Let us sing, — though fierce temptations 
 Threaten hard to bear us down ; 
 
 For the Lord, our strong salvation, 
 Holds in view the conq’ror’s crown : * 
 He who wash’d us with his blood 
 Soon will bring us home to God, 
 
 * Rev. iii. 1. 
 
OLNEY HYMNS, 
 
 BOOK III 
 
 4 Let us wonder, — grace and justice 
 Join, and point to mercy’s store ! 
 
 When through grace in Christ our trust is, 
 Justice smiles, and asks no more : 
 
 He who wash’d us with his blood, 
 
 Has secur’d our way to God. 
 
 5 Let us praise, — and join the chorus 
 Of the saints enthron’d on high ; 
 
 Here they trusted him before us, 
 
 Now their praises fill the sky : * 
 
 “ Thou hast wash’d us with thy blood ; 
 Thou art worthy, Lamb of God !” 
 
 6 Hark, the name of Jesus sounded 
 Loud from golden harps above ! 
 
 Lord, we blush, and are confounded, 
 Faint our praises, cold our love ! 
 
 Wash our souls and songs with blood, 
 For by thee we come to God. 
 
 HYMN LXXXIII. 
 
 I WILL PRAISE THE LORD AT ALL TIMES. 
 
 • 
 
 1 Winter has a joy for me, 
 
 While the Saviour’s charms I read, 
 Lowly, meek, from blemish free. 
 
 In the snow- drop’s pensive head. 
 
 2 Spring returns, and brings along 
 Life-invigorating suns ; 
 
 Hark ! the turtle’s plaintive song. 
 Seems to speak his dying groans ! 
 
 S Summer has a thousand charms, 
 
 All expressive of his worth ; 
 
 ’Tis his sun that lights and warms, 
 
 His the air that cools the earth. 
 
 4 What ! has autumn left to say 
 Nothing of a Saviour’s grace ? 
 
 Yes, the beams of milder day 
 Tell me of his smiling face. 
 
 5 Light appears with early dawn ; 
 
 While the sun makes haste to rise, 
 
 See his bleeding beauties drawn 
 On the blushes of the skies. 
 
 6 Evening, with a silent pace, 
 
 Slowly moving in the west, 
 
 Shews an emblem of his grace, 
 
 Points to an eternal rest. 
 
 C. 
 
 HYMN LXXXIV. 
 
 PERSEVERANCE. 
 
 1 Rejoice, believer, in the Lord, 
 
 Who makes your cause his own ; 
 The hope that’s built upon his word 
 Can ne’er be overthrown. 
 
 Though many foes beset your road, 
 
 And feeble is your arm ; 
 
 Your life is hid with Christ in God,* 
 Beyond the reach of harm. 
 
 Weak as you are, you shall not faint, 
 
 Or, fainting, shall not die , 
 
 Jesus, the strength of ev’ry saint r f 
 Will aid you from on high. 
 
 Though sometimes unperceiv’d by sense, 
 Faith sees him always near, 
 
 A guide, a glory, a defence ; 
 
 Then w'hat have you to fear ? 
 
 As surely as he overcame, 
 
 And triumph’d once for you, 
 
 So surely you that love his name, 
 
 Shall triumph in him too. 
 
 HYMN LX XXV. 
 
 SALVATION. 
 
 Salvation ! what a glorious plan, 
 
 How suited to our need ! 
 
 The grace that raises fallen man 
 Is wonderful indeed ! 
 
 ’Twas wisdom form’d the vast design, 
 
 To ransom us when lost ; 
 
 And love’s unfathomable mine 
 Provided all the cost. 
 
 Strict Justice, with approving look, 
 
 The holy covenant seal’d ; 
 
 And Truth and Power undertook 
 The whole should be fulfill’d. 
 
 Truth, Wisdom, Justice, Power, and Love 
 In all their glory shone, 
 
 When Jesus left the courts above, 
 
 And died to save his own. 
 
 Truth, Wisdom, Justice, Power, and Love, 
 Are equally displayed ; 
 
 Now Jesus reigns enthron’d above. 
 
 Our Advocate and Head. 
 
 Now sin appears deserving death, 
 
 Most hateful and abhorr’d ; 
 
 And yet the sinner lives by faith, 
 
 And dares approach the Lord. 
 
 HYMN LXXXVI. 
 
 REIGNING GRACE. 
 
 Now, may the Lord reveal his face, 
 
 And teach our stamm’ring tongues 
 To make his sovereign, reigning grace, { 
 The subject of our songs ! 
 
 No sweeter subject can invite 
 A sinner’s heart to sing, 
 
 Or more display the glorious right 
 Of our exalted King. 
 
 f Isa. xl. 29. 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 l 
 
 Rev* U 
 
 Col. in. 5. 
 
 t Rom. v. 21. 
 
HYMN LXXXVIJI. PRAISE. 631 
 
 •* This subject fills the starry plains 
 With wonder, joy, and love ; 
 
 And furnishes the noblest strains 
 For all the harps above : 
 
 While the redeem’d in praise combine 
 To grace upon the throne,* 
 
 Angels in solemn chorus join, 
 
 And make the theme their own. 
 
 3 Grace reigns to pardon crimson sins, 
 
 To melt the hardest hearts ; 
 
 And from the work it once begins, | 
 
 It never more departs. 
 
 The world and Satan strive in vain 
 Against the chosen fewj j: 
 
 Secur’d by grace’s conqu’ring reign, 
 
 They all shall conquer too. 
 
 4 Grace tills the soil, and sows the seeds, 
 
 Provides the sun and rain ; 
 
 Till from the tender blade proceeds 
 The ripen’d harvest-grain. 
 
 ’Tvvas grace that call’d our souls at first ; 
 
 By grace thus far we’re come ; 
 
 And grace wdll help us through the worst. 
 And lead us safely home. 
 
 5 Lord, when this changing life is past, 
 
 If we may see thy face, 
 
 How shall we praise and love at last, 
 
 And sing the reign of grace ! || 
 
 Yet let us aim, while here below, 
 
 Thy mercy to display ; 
 
 And own, at least, the debt we owe, 
 Although we cannot pay. 
 
 HYMN LXXXVII. 
 
 PRAISE TO THE REDEEMER. 
 
 Prepare a thankful song 
 To the Redeemer’s name ! 
 
 His praises should employ each tongue, 
 And ev’ry heart inflame ! 
 
 2 He laid his glory by. 
 
 And dreadful pains endur’d, 
 
 That rebels, such as you and I, 
 
 From wrath might be secur’d. 
 
 3 Upon the cross he died, 
 
 Our debt of sin to pay ; 
 
 The blood and water from his side 
 Wash guilt and filth away. 
 
 a And now he pleading stands, 
 
 For us, before the throne. 
 
 And answers all the law’s demands 
 With what himself hath done. 
 
 5 He sees us, willing slaves, 
 
 To sin, and Satan’s power; 
 
 But, with an outstretch’d arm, he saves, 
 In his appointed hour. 
 
 ♦Rev. v. 9, 12. f Phil. i. fi. 
 
 J Rom viii. 35—39. || Psal. cxv. I. 
 
 6 The Holy Ghost he sends, 
 
 Our stubborn souls to move, 
 
 To make his enemies his friends, 
 And conquer them by love. 
 
 7 The love of sin departs, 
 
 The life of grace takes place, 
 
 Soon as his voice invites our hearts 
 To rise and seek his face. 
 
 8 l]he world and Satan rage, 
 
 But he their power controls ; 
 
 His wisdom, love, and truth, engage 
 Protection for our souls. 
 
 9 Though press’d, we will not yield, 
 But shall prevail at length : 
 
 For Jesus is our sun and shield, 
 
 Our righteousness and strength. 
 
 10 Assur’d that Christ, our King, 
 Will put our foes to flight, 
 
 We on the field of battle sing, 
 
 And triumph while we fight. 
 
 HYMN LXXXVIII. 
 
 MAN, BY NATURE, GRACE, AND GLORY. 
 
 1 Lord, what is man ! extremes how wide 
 In this mysterious nature join ! 
 
 The flesh, to worms and dust allieo 
 The soul, immortal and divine ! 
 
 2 Divine at first, a holy flame, 
 
 Kindled by the Almighty’s breath ; 
 
 Till, stain’d by sin, it soon became 
 The seat of darkness, strife, and death, 
 
 3 But Jesus, oh ! amazing grace ! 
 
 Assum’d our nature as his own, 
 
 Obeyed and suffer’d in our place, 
 
 Then took it with him to his throne. 
 
 4 Now, what is man, when grace reveals 
 The virtue of a Saviour’s blood ! 
 
 Again a life divine he feels. 
 
 Despises earth, and walks with God. 
 
 5 And what, in yonder realms above, 
 
 Is ransom’d man ordain’d to be ! 
 
 With honour, holiness, and love, 
 
 No seraph more adorn’d than he. 
 
 6 Nearest the throne, and first in song, 
 
 Man shall his hallelujahs raise ; 
 
 While wond’ring angels round him throng, 
 And swell the chorus of his praise. 
 
 SIMILAR HYMNS. 
 
 Bot k I. Hymn 57, 58, 59, 79, 80. 
 Bock II. Hymn 37, 38, 39, 41 42. 
 
032 
 
 OLNEY HYMNS. 
 
 ROOK III 
 
 VIII. SHORT HYMNS. 
 
 BEFORE SERMON. 
 
 HYMN LXXXIX. 
 
 Confirm the hope thy word allows, 
 Behold us waiting to be fed ; 
 
 Bless the provision of thy house, 
 
 And satisfy thy poor with bread : 
 Drawn by thine invitation, Lord, 
 Athirst and hungry we are come ; 
 Now, from the fulness of thy word, 
 Feast us, and send us thankful home. 
 
 HYMN XC. 
 
 1 Now, Lord, inspire the preacher’s heart. 
 
 And teach his tongue to speak ; 
 
 Food to the hungry soul impart, 
 
 And cordials to the weak, 
 
 2 Furnish us all with light and powers 
 
 To walk in Wisdom’s ways ; 
 
 So shall the benefit be ours, 
 
 And thou shalt have the praise. 
 
 HYMN XCI. 
 
 1 Thy promise, Lord, and thy command, 
 
 Have brought us here to-day ; 
 
 And now, we humbly waiting stand, 
 To hear what thou wilt say. * 
 
 2 Meet us, we pray, with words of peace, 
 
 And fill our hearts with love ; 
 
 That from our follies we may cease, 
 And henceforth faithful prove. 
 
 HYMN XCII. 
 
 1 Hungry, and faint, and poor, 
 Behold us, Lord, again 
 
 Assembled at thy mercy’s door, 
 Thy bounty to obtain. 
 
 2 Thy word invites us nigh, 
 
 Or we must starve indeed ; 
 
 For we no money have to buy, 
 No righteousness to plead. 
 
 * Psal. lxxxv. 8. 
 
 3 The food our spirits want 
 Thy hand alone can give; 
 
 Oh ! hear the prayer of faith, and grant 
 That we may eat and live. 
 
 HYMN XCIII. 
 psal. cvi. 4, 5. 
 
 1 Remember us, we pray thee, Lord, 
 With those who love thy gracious narr. 
 And to our souls that good afford. 
 
 Thy promise has prepar’d for the 
 
 2 To us thy great salvation show 
 Give us a taste of love divine, 
 
 That we thy people’s joy may know 
 And in their holy triumph join. 
 
 HYMN XCIV. 
 
 1 Not to Sinai’s dreadful blaze, * 
 
 But to Zion’s throne of grace, 
 
 By a way mark’d out with blood. 
 Sinners now approach to God 
 
 2 Not to hear the fiery law, 
 
 But with humble joy to draw 
 Water, by that well supplied, | 
 
 Jesus open’d when he died. 
 
 3 Lord, there are no streams but thine 
 Can assuage a thirst like mine : 
 
 ’Tis a thirst thyself didst give. 
 
 Let me, therefore, drink and live. 
 
 HYMN XCV. 
 
 1 Often thy public means of grace, 
 
 Thy thirsty people’s wat’ring place, 
 
 The archers have beset 
 Attack’d them in thy house of prayer, 
 To prison dragg’d, or to the bar, 
 
 YVhen thus together met. 
 
 2 But we from such assaults are freed, 
 Can pray, and sing, and hear, and read, 
 
 ■ * Heb. xii. 18.22. f Isa. xii. 3. t Judges v 1. 
 
HYMN C1II. 
 
 SHORT HYMNS. 
 
 633 
 
 And meet, and part, in peace : 
 May we our privileges prize, 
 
 In their improvement make us wise, 
 And bless us with increase. 
 
 3 Unless thy presence thou afford, 
 Unless thy blessing clothe the word, 
 In vain our liberty ! 
 
 What would it profit to maintain 
 A name for life, should we remain 
 Formal and dead to thee ? 
 
 AFTER SERMON 
 
 HYMN XCVI. 
 
 Deut. xxxiii. 26, 2& 
 
 1 With Israel's God who can compare ? 
 
 Or who like Israel happy are ? 
 
 O people, saved by the Lord, 
 
 He is thy shield and great reward ! 
 
 2 Upheld by everlasting arms, 
 
 Thou art secur’d from foes and harms : 
 In vain their plots, and false their boasts, 
 Our refuge is the Lord of hosts. 
 
 HYMN XCVII. 
 
 Habakkuk iii. 17, 18. 
 
 Jesus is mine ! I’m now prepar’d 
 To meet with what I thought most hard : 
 Yes, let the winds of trouble blow, 
 
 And comforts melt away like snow; 
 
 No blasted trees or failing crops, 
 
 Can hinder my eternal hopes ; 
 
 Tho’ creatures change, the Lord’s the same; 
 Then let me triumph in his name. 
 
 HYMN XCVIII 
 
 We seek a rest beyond the skies, 
 
 In everlasting day ; 
 
 Through floods and flames the passage lies, 
 But Jesus guards the way : 
 
 The swelling flood, and raging flame, 
 
 Hear and obey his word ; 
 
 Then let us triumph in his name, 
 
 Our Saviour is the Lord. 
 
 HYMN XCIX. 
 
 Deut. xxxii. 9, 10. 
 
 1 The saints Emmanuel’s portion are, 
 Redeem’d by price, reclaim’d by power ; 
 His special choice, and tender care, 
 
 Owns them and guards them ev’ry hour 
 
 2 He finds them in a barren land, 
 
 Beset with sins, and fears, and woes ; 
 He leads and guides them by his hand, 
 And bears them safo from all their foes. 
 
 HYMN C. 
 
 Heb. xiii. 20 — 21. 
 
 1 Now may he who from the dead 
 Brought the Shepherd of the sheep, 
 Jesus Christ, our King and Head, 
 All our souls in safety keep ! 
 
 2 May he teach us to fulfil 
 What is pleasing in his sight ; 
 Perfect us in all his will, 
 
 And preserve us day and night ! 
 
 3 To that dear Redeemer’s praise, 
 Who the covenant seal’d with blood, 
 Let our hearts and voices raise 
 Loud thanksgivings to our God. 
 
 HYMN CL 
 2 Cor. xiii. 14. 
 
 May the grace of Christ our Saviour 
 And the Father’s boundless love, 
 With the Holy Spirit’s favour, 
 
 Rest upon us from above ! 
 
 Thus may we abide in union 
 With each other and the Lord; 
 
 And possess, in sweet communion, 
 Joys which earth cannot afford. 
 
 HYMN CII. 
 
 The peace which God alone reveals. 
 And by his word of grace imparts, 
 Which only the believer feels,* 
 
 Direct and keep, and cheer your hearts i 
 And may the Holy Three in one, 
 
 The Father, Word, and Comforter, 
 Pour an abundant blessing down 
 On ev’ry soul assembled here ! 
 
 HYMN CIII. 
 
 1 To thee our wants are known, 
 
 From thee are all our powers ; 
 Accept what is thine own. 
 
 And pardon what is ours : 
 
 Our praises. Lord, and prayers receive, 
 And to thy word a blessing give. 
 
 * Phil. iv. 7- 
 
OLNEY HYMNS. 
 
 BOOK III 
 
 634 
 
 2 O grant that each of us 
 Now met before thee here, 
 
 May meet together thus, 
 
 When thou and thine appear ! 
 
 And follow thee to heaven our home. 
 Ev’n so, Amen ! Lord Jesus, come !* 
 
 GLORIA PATRI. 
 
 HYMN CIV. 
 
 1 The Father we adore, 
 
 And everlasting Son, 
 
 The Spirit of his love and power, 
 
 The glorious Three in One. 
 
 2 At the creation’s birth 
 
 This song was sung on high, 
 
 Shall sound, through ev’ry age, on earth, 
 And through eternity. 
 
 HYMN CV. 
 
 1 Father of angels and of men, 
 
 Saviour, who hast us bought, 
 
 Spirit, by whom we’re born again, 
 
 And sanctified and taught ! 
 
 * Itev. v 20. 
 
 2 Thy glory, holy Three in One, 
 
 Thy people’s song shall be ; 
 
 Long as the wheels of time shall run, 
 And to eternity. 
 
 HYMN CVI. 
 
 1 Glory to God the Father’s name, 
 
 To Jesus, who for sinners died ; 
 
 The Holy Spirit claims the same, 
 
 By whom our souls are sanctified. 
 
 2 Thy praise was sung, when time began, 
 By angels, through the starry spheres ; 
 And shall, as now, be sung by man, 
 Through vast eternity’s long years. 
 
 HYMN CV1I. 
 
 Ye saints on earth, ascribe, with heaven’s high 
 host, 
 
 Glory and honour to the One in Three : 
 
 To God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, 
 
 As was, itnd is, and evermore shall be. 
 
POEMS 
 
 THE KITE; 
 
 OR 
 
 PRIDE MUST HAVE A FALL. 
 
 My waking dreams are best conceal’d. 
 Much folly, little good, they yield ; 
 
 But now and then, I gain, when sleeping, 
 A friendly hint that’* worth the keeping. 
 Lately I dreamt of one who cried, 
 
 “ Beware of self, beware of pride ; 
 
 When you are prone to build a Babel, 
 Recal to mird this little fable.” 
 
 Once on a time a paper kite 
 Was mounted to a wond’rous height, 
 Where, giddy with its elevation, 
 
 It thus express’d self-admiration ; 
 
 “ See how yon crowds of gazing people 
 Admire my flight above the steeple : 
 
 How would they wonder if they knew 
 All that a kite like me can do ! 
 
 Were I but free, I’d take a flight, 
 
 And pierce the clouds beyond their sight ; 
 But, ah ! like a poor pris’ner bound, 
 
 My string confines me near the ground : 
 I’d brave the eagle’s towering wing, 
 
 Might I but fly without a string.” 
 
 It tugg’d and pull’d, while thus it spoke, 
 To break the string : — at last it broke. 
 Depriv’d at once of all its stay, 
 
 In vain it tried to soar away ; 
 
 Unable its own weight to bear, 
 
 It flutter’d downward through the air; 
 Unable its own course to guide, 
 
 The winds soon plung’d it in the tide. 
 
 Ah ! foolish kite, thou hadst no wing, 
 How couldst thou fly without a string ? 
 
 Hy heart replied, “ O Lord, I see 
 How much this kite resembles me ! 
 Forgetful that by thee I stand, 
 
 Impatient of thy ruling hand ; 
 
 How oft I’ve wish’d to break the lines 
 Thy wisdom for my lot assigns ? 
 
 How oft indulg’d a vain desire, 
 
 For something more or something higher } 
 And, but for grace and love divine, 
 
 A fall thus dreadful had been mine.” 
 
 A THOUGHT ON 
 
 In ev’ry object here I see 
 Something, O Lord, that leads to thee : 
 Firm as the rocks thy promise stands, 
 
 Thy mercies countless as the sands, 
 
 Thy love a sea immensely wide, 
 
 Thy grace an ever-flowing tide. 
 
 THE SEA-SHORE. 
 
 In ev’ry object here I see 
 Something, my heart, that points at thee ; 
 Hard as the rocks that bound the strand, 
 Unfruitful as the barren sand, 
 
 Deep and deceitful as the ocean. 
 
 And, like the tide, in constant motion 
 
636 
 
 POEMS, 
 
 THE SPIDER AND THE TOAD. 
 
 Some author (no great matter who. 
 Provided what he says be true) 
 
 Relates he saw, with hostile rage, 
 
 A spider and a toad engage ; 
 
 For though with poison both are stor’d, 
 Each by the other is abhorr’d : 
 
 It seems as if their common venom 
 Provok’d an enmity between ’em. 
 Implacable, malicious, cruel. 
 
 Like modern hero in a duel, 
 
 The spider darted on his foe. 
 
 Infixing death at ev’ry blow. 
 
 The toad, by ready instinct taught. 
 
 An antidote, when wounded, sought. 
 From the herb plantane, growing near, 
 Well-known to toads, its virtues rare 
 The spider’s poison to repel ; 
 
 It cropp’d the leaf and soon was well. 
 This remedy it often tried, 
 
 And all the spider’s rage defied. 
 
 The person who the contest viewed, 
 While yet the battle doubtful stood, 
 Remov’d the healing plant away. 
 
 And thus the spider gain’d the day ; 
 For when the toad returned once more, 
 Wounded, as it had done before, 
 
 To seek relief, and found it not. 
 
 It swell’d and died upon the spot. 
 
 In ev’ry circumstance but one 
 (Could that hold too, I were undone !) 
 No glass can represent my face 
 More justly than this tale my case. 
 
 The toad’s an emblem of my heart. 
 And Satan acts the spider’s part. 
 
 Envenom’d by his poison, I 
 Am often at the point to die ; 
 
 But he who hung upon the tree, J 
 From guilt and woe to set me free, > 
 
 Is like the plantane leaf to me. j 
 To him my wounded soul repairs, 
 
 He knows my pain and hears my prayers 
 From him I virtue draw by faith. 
 
 Which saves me from the jaws of death : 
 From him fresh life and strength I gain, 
 And Satan spends his rage in vain. 
 
 No secret arts or open force 
 Can rob me of this sure resource : 
 
 Though banish'd to some distant land, 
 
 My med’cine w-ould be still at hand ; 
 Though foolish men its worth deny, 
 Experience gives them all the lie ; 
 Though Deists and Socinians join, 
 
 Jesus still lives, and still is mine. 
 
 ’Tis here the happy difference lies, 
 
 My Saviour reigns above the skies, 
 
 Yet to my soul is always near, 
 
 For he is God and everywhere. 
 
 His blood a sovereign balm is found 
 For ev’ry grief and ev’ry wound ; 
 
 And sooner all the hills shall flee 
 And hide themselves beneath the sea. 
 
 Or ocean, starting from its bed, 
 
 Rush o’er the cloud- topt mountains hea<^ 
 The sun, exhausted of its light, 
 
 Become the source of endless night. 
 
 And ruin spread from pole to pole, 
 
 Than Jesus fail the tempted soul. 
 
MESSIAH; 
 
 oa 
 
 FIFTY EXPOSITORY DISCOURSES 
 
 ON THE SERIES OF 
 
 SCRIPTURAL PASSAGES 
 
 WHICH FORM THE SUBJECT OF HANDEL’S CELEBRATED 
 
 ORATORIO 
 
 OF THAT NAME, 
 
 PREACHED IN THE YEARS 1784 AND 1785, 
 
 IN THE 
 
 PARISH CHURCH OF ST. MARY WOOLNOTH, 
 
 LOMBARD STREET, 
 
 LONDON, 
 
 Ah ! 
 
 Tantamne rem, tarn negligenter, agere ! Ter. 
 
 Oh, that they were wise, that they understood this ! — 
 
 Deut. xxxii. 29. 
 
TO THE 
 
 PARISHIONERS OF ST. MARY WOOLNOTH, 
 
 AND 
 
 ST. MARY WOOLCHURCH HAW, 
 
 LONDON, 
 
 THESE SERMONS 
 
 ON THE 
 
 MESSIAH 
 
 ARE AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED BY THE 
 
 AUTHOR, 
 
 TO REMAIN AS A TESTIMONY OF HIS RESPECT 
 FOR THEIR PERSONS, 
 
 AND HIS SOLICITUDE FOR THEIR WELFARE, 
 WHEN HIS PRESENT RELATION 
 TO THEM, AS THEIR MINISTER, 
 
 SHALL BE DISSOLVED 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The following Sermons, as to the substance (for most of them are consi- 
 derably abridged), were preached to a public and numerous assembly ; and 
 therefore an accurate and logical discussion of the several subjects was not 
 aimed at. They are rather popular discourses, in which the Author, though 
 he wished not to treat the politer part of his auditory with disrespect, thought 
 it likewise his duty so to adapt his manner to the occasion, as to be in- 
 telligible to persons of weak capacities and in the lower ranks of life. He 
 conceives himself to be a debtor to every class of his hearers, and that he 
 ought to endeavour to please all men, with a view to their edification ; but, 
 farther than this, not to be greatly affected, either by their approbation or by 
 their censure. 
 
 Many of the subjects are so nearly coincident, that repetitions could not 
 be always avoided, without the appearance of affectation. Besides, as it may 
 be expected that, in a large congregation, there are always some persons 
 present for the first time, — with respect to these, an observation may be new, 
 though perhaps the more stated hearers may recollect its having been men- 
 tioned before. For a similar reason, such repetitions are not improper in 
 print. Many persons read part of a book, who may not have opportunity 
 or inclination to read the whole. Should any one, by opening these Sermons 
 at a venture, meet with a passage which, by a divine blessing, may either 
 awaken a careless, or heal a wounded spirit, that passage will be exactly in 
 the right page, even though the purport of it should be expressed in se- 
 veral other places. Farther, since we do not always so much stand in need 
 of new information, as to have what we already know more effectually im- 
 pressed upon the mind, there are truths which can scarcely be inculcated 
 too often, at least until the design for which they were mentioned once be 
 effectually answered. Thus, when the strokes of a hammer are often re- 
 peated, not one of them can be deemed superfluous ; the last, which drives 
 the nail to the head, being no less necessary than any of those which pre- 
 ceded it. 
 
 From those readers, whose habits of thinking on religious subjects are 
 formed by a close attachment to particular systems of divinity, the Author 
 requests a candid construction of what he advances, if he ventures in some 
 instances to deviate a little from the more beaten track. If he is sometimes 
 constrained to differ from the judgment of wise and good men, who have de- 
 served well of the church of God, he would do it with modesty : far from de- 
 preciating their labours, he would be thankful for the benefit which he hopes 
 lie has received from them. It is a great satisfaction to him, that in all doc- 
 trinal points of primary importance, his views are confirmed by the suffrage 
 of writers and ministers eminent for genuine piety and sound learning, who 
 assisted him in his early inquiries after truth, and at whose feet he is still 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 G40 
 
 willing to sit. Yet, remembering that he is authorised and commanded to 
 call no man Master, so as to yield an implicit and unqualified submission to 
 human teachers, while he gladly borrows every help he can from others, he 
 ventures likewise to think for himself. His leading sentiments concerning the 
 grand peculiarities of the gospel were formed many years since, when he was 
 in a state of almost entire seclusion from society, — when he had scarcely 
 any religious book but the Bible within his reach, and had no knowledge, 
 either of the various names, parties, and opinions by which Christians were 
 distinguished and divided, or the controversies which subsisted among them 
 He is not conscious that any very material difference has taken place in his 
 sentiments since he first became acquainted with the religious world ; but, 
 after a long course of experience and observation, he seems to possess them 
 in a different manner. The difficulties which for a season perplexed him on 
 some points, are either removed or considerably abated. On the other hand, 
 he now perceives difficulties that constrain him to lay his hand upon his 
 mouth, in subjects which once appeared to him obvious and plain. Thus, 
 if he mistakes not himself, he is less troubled with scepticism, and at the 
 same time less disposed to be dogmatical, than he formerly was. He feels 
 himself unable to draw the line with precision between those essential points 
 which ought to be earnestly contended for (in a spirit of meekness), as for 
 the faith once delivered to the saints, and certain secondary positions, con- 
 cerning which good men may safely differ, and wherein, perhaps, we cannot 
 reasonably expect them to be unanimous during the present state of imper- 
 fection. But if the exact boundary cannot be marked with certainty, he 
 thinks it both desirable and possible to avoid the extremes into which men of 
 warm tempers have often been led. 
 
 Not that the Author can be an advocate for that indifference to truth, 
 which, under the specious semblance of moderation and candour, offers a com- 
 prehension, from which none are excluded but those who profess and aim to 
 worship God in the spirit, to rejoice in Christ Jesus, and to renounce all 
 confidence in the flesh. Moderation is a Christian grace ; it differs much 
 from that tame, unfeeling neutrality between truth and error which is so pre- 
 valent in the present day. As the different rays of light, which, when sepa- 
 rated by a prism, exhibit the various colours of the rainbow, form, in their 
 combination, a perfect and resplendent white, in which every colour is incor- 
 porated, so, if the graces of the Holy Spirit were complete in us, the result 
 of their combined effect would be a truly candid, moderate, and liberal spi- 
 rit towards our brethren. The Christian, especially he who is advanced and 
 established in the life of faith, has a fervent zeal for God, for the honour of 
 his name, his law, and his gospel. The honest warmth which he feels when 
 such a law is broken, such a gospel is despised, and when the great and glo- 
 rious name of the Lord his God is profaned, would, by the occasion of his in- 
 firmities, often degenerate into anger or contempt towards those who oppose 
 themselves, if he was under the influence of zeal only. But his zeal is 
 blended with benevolence and humility ; it is softened by a consciousness of 
 his own frailty and fallibility. He is aware that his knowledge is very li- 
 mited in itself, and very faint in its efficacy ; that his attainments are weak 
 and few compared with his deficiencies ; that his gratitude is very dispropor- 
 tionate to his obligations, and his obedience unspeakably short of conformity 
 to his prescribed rule ; that he has nothing but what he has received, and has 
 received nothing but what, in a greater or less degree, he has misapplied and 
 misimproved. He is therefore a debtor to the mercy of God, and lives upon 
 his multiplied forgiveness ; and he makes the gracious conduct of the Lord 
 towards himself a pattern for his own conduct towards his fellow-creatures 
 
PREFACE. 641 
 
 He cannot boast, nor is he forward to censure. He considers himself, lest 
 he also be tempted (Gal. vi. 1) ; and thus he learns tenderness and compassion 
 to others, and to bear patiently with those mistakes, prejudices, and prepos- 
 sessions in them, which once belonged to his own character, and from which, 
 as yet, he is but imperfectly freed. But then, the same considerations which 
 inspire him with meekness and gentleness towards those who oppose the truth, 
 strengthen his regard for the truth itself, and his conviction of its importance. 
 For the sake of peace, which he loves and cultivates, he accommodates him- 
 self, as far as he lawfully can, to the weakness and misapprehensions of those 
 who mean well, though he is thereby exposed to the censure of bigots of all 
 parties, who deem him flexible and wavering, like a reed shaken with the 
 wind. But there are other points nearly connected with the honour of God, 
 and essential to the life of faith, which are the foundations of his hope and the 
 sources of his joy. For his firm attachment to these, he is content to be 
 treated as a bigot himself ; for here he is immoveable as an iron pillar, nor 
 can either the fear or the favour of man prevail on him to give place, no not 
 for an hour, Gal. ii. 5. Here his judgment is fixed, and he expresses it in 
 simple and unequivocal language, so as not to leave either friends or enemies 
 in suspense concerning the side which he has chosen, or the cause which is 
 nearest to his heart. 
 
 The minister who possesses a candour thus enlightened and thus qualified, 
 will neither degrade himself to be the instrument, nor aspire to be the head 
 of a party. He will not servilely tread in the paths prescribed him by men, 
 however respectable. He will not multiply contentions, in defence either of 
 the shibboleths of others, or of any nostrum of his own, under a pretence that 
 he is pleading for the cause of God and truth. His attention will not be re- 
 strained to the credit or interest of any detached denomination of Christians, 
 but extended to all who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. On the 
 other hand, knowing that the gospel is the wisdom and power of God, and 
 the only possible mean by which fallen man can obtain either peace or recti- 
 tude, he most cordially embraces and avows it. Far from being ashamed of 
 it, he esteems it his glory. He preaches Christ Jesus the Lord, and him cru- 
 cified. He dares not sophisticate (2 Cor. iv. 2), disguise, or soften the great 
 doctrines of the grace of God, to render them more palatable to the depraved 
 taste of the times. He disdains the thought ; and he will no more encounter 
 the prejudices and corrupt maxims and practices of the world with any wea- 
 pon but the truth as it is in Jesus (Eph. iv. 21), than he would venture to fight 
 an enraged enemy with a wooden sword. 
 
 Such is the disposition which the Author wishes for himself, and which he 
 would endeavour to cultivate in others. He hopes that nothing of a contrary 
 tendency will be found in the volumes* now presented to the public. Mes- 
 siah, the great subject of the Oratorio, is the leading and principal subject of 
 every sermon. His person, grace, and glory ; his matchless love to sinners , 
 his humiliation, sufferings, and death ; his ability and willingness to save to 
 the uttermost ; his kingdom, and the present and future happiness of his wil- 
 ling people are severally considered, according to the order suggested by the 
 series of texts. Nearly connected with these topics are the doctrines of 
 the fall and depravity of man, the agency of the Holy Spirit, and the nature 
 and necessity of regeneration, and of that holiness without which no man shall 
 see the Lord. On these subjects the Author is not afraid of contradiction 
 from those who are taught of God. 
 
 With respect to some other points which incidentally occur, he has endea- 
 
 * These Sermons were originally printed in two volumes. 
 
 3 R 
 
G12 PREFACE. 
 
 vourcd so to treat them as to avoid administering fuel to the flame of angry 
 controversy. He is persuaded himself, and shall be happy to persuade his 
 readers, that the remaining differences of opinion among those who truly 
 understand and cordially believe the declarations of scripture on the preced- 
 ing articles, are neither so wide nor so important as they have been some- 
 times represented. Many of these differences are nearly verbal, and would 
 cease, if due allowance was made for the imperfection of human language, 
 and the effects of an accustomed phraseology, which often lead people to 
 affix different ideas to the same expressions, or to express the same ideas in 
 different words. And if, in some things, we cannot exactly agree since we 
 confess that we are all weak and fallible, mutual patience and forbearance 
 would be equally becoming the acknowledgments we make and the gospel 
 which we profess. We should thereby act in character, as the followers of 
 him who was compassionate to the infirmities and mistakes of his disciples, 
 and taught them not every thing at once, but gradually, as they were able to 
 bear. 
 
 The Author ought not to be very solicitous upon his own account, what 
 reception his performance may meet with. The fashion of this world is 
 passing away. The voice, both of applause and of censure, will soon be 
 stifled in the dust It is therefore but a small thing to be judged of man’s 
 judgment, 1 Cor. iv. 3. But conscious of the vast importance of the subject 
 which he thus puts into the reader’s hands, he cannot take leave of him 
 without earnestly entreating his serious attention. The one principle which 
 he assumes for granted, and which he is certain cannot be disproved, is, That 
 the Bible is a revelation from God. By this standard he is willing that what- 
 ever he has advanced may be tried. If the Bible be true, we must all give 
 an account, each one of himself, to the great and final Judge. That, when 
 we shall appear before his awful tribunal, we may be found at his right 
 hand, accepted in the Beloved, is the Author’s fervent prayer, both for his 
 readers and for himself. 
 
 *Menc 
 
 Lcn.lon, 1 5th Ayiil, 1706 . 
 
MESSIAH, &e, 
 
 SEItMON I. 
 
 TIIE CONSOLATION. 
 
 Comfort ye* comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem , and 
 cry unto \er, that her warfare is accomplished , that her iniquity is pardoned : for she hath 
 received at the Lord's hand double for all her sins . — Isaiah, xl. 1, 2. 
 
 The particulars of the great mystery of god- 
 liness, as enumerated by the apostle Paul, 
 constitute the grand and inexhaustible theme 
 of the gospel ministry : “ God manifest in the 
 flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, 
 preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the 
 world, received up into glory,” 1 Tim. iii. 16. 
 It is my wish and purpose to know nothing 
 among you but this subject; to preach no- 
 thing to you but what has a real connection 
 witli the doctrine of Jesus Christ, and him 
 crucified, and with the causes and effects of 
 his obedience unto death, even the death of 
 the cross. But a regard to the satisfaction 
 and advantage of my stated hearers, has often 
 made me desirous of adopting some plan, 
 which might lead me to exhibit the principal 
 outlines of the Saviour’s character and media- 
 tion in a regular series of discourses, so as to 
 form, if not a picture, at least a slight sketch, 
 of those features of his glory and of his grace 
 which endear him to the hearts of his people. 
 Such a plan has lately, and rather unexpect- 
 edly, occurred to me. Conversation in al- 
 most every company, for some time past, has 
 much turned upon the commemoration of 
 Handel ; the grand musical entertainments, 
 and particularly his Oratorio of the Messiah, 
 which have been repeatedly performed on that 
 occasion in Westminster Abbey. If it could 
 be reasonably hoped, that the performers and 
 the company assembled to hear the music, or 
 
 the greater part, or even a considerable part 
 of them, were capable of entering into the 
 spirit of the subject, I will readily allow that 
 the Messiah, executed in so masterly a man- 
 ner, by persons whose hearts, as well as their 
 voices and instruments, were tuned to the 
 Redeemer’s praise ; accompanied with the 
 grateful emotions of an audience duly affected 
 with a sense of their obligations to his love ; 
 might afford one of the highest and noblest 
 gratifications of which we are capable in the 
 present life. But they who l©ve the Re- 
 deemer, and therefore delight to join in his 
 praise, if they did not find it convenient, or 
 think it expedient, to hear the Messiah at 
 Westminster, may comfort themselves with 
 the thought, that, in a little time, they shall 
 be still more abundantly gratified. Ere long 
 death shall rend the vail which hides eternal 
 things from their view, and introduce them 
 to that unceasing song and universal chorus, 
 which are even now performing before the 
 throne of God and the Lamb. Till then, I 
 apprehend, that true Christians, without the 
 assistance of either vocal or instrumental mu- 
 sic, may find greater pleasure in a humble 
 contemplation on the words of the Messiah, 
 than they can derive from the utmost efforts 
 of musical genius. This, therefore, is the plan 
 I spoke of. I mean to lead your meditations 
 to the language of the Oratorio, and to con- 
 sider in their order (if the Lord, on whom 
 
THE CONSOLATION. 
 
 SER. I. 
 
 644 
 
 our breath depends, shall be pleased to afford 
 life, ability, and opportunity) the several sub- 
 lime and interesting passages of scripture 
 which are the basis of that admired compo- 
 sition. 
 
 If he shall condescend to smile upon the 
 attempt, pleasure and profit will go hand in 
 hand. There is no harmony to a heaven- 
 born soul like that which is the result of the j 
 combination and coincidence of all the divine I 
 attributes and perfections, manifested in the i 
 work of redemption ; mercy and truth meeting ! 
 together, inflexible righteousness correspond- 
 ing with the peace of offenders, God glorious, 
 and sinners saved. There is no melody upon 
 earth to be compared with the voice of the 
 blood of Jesus, speaking peace to a guilty 
 conscience, or with the voice of the Holy Spi- 
 rit, applying the promises to the heart, and 
 sweetly inspiring a temper of confidence and 
 adoption. These are joys which the world can 
 neither give nor take away, which never pall 
 upon the mind by continuance or repetition ; 
 the sense of them is always new, the recol- 
 lection of them is always pleasant. Nor do 
 they only satisfy, but sanctify the soul. They 
 strengthen faith, animate hope, add fervency 
 to love, and both dispose and enable the Chris- 
 tian to run in all the paths of holy obedience 
 with an enlarged heart. 
 
 The Messiah of Handel consists of three 
 parts. The first contains prophecies of his 
 advent, and the happy consequences, together 
 with the angel’s message to the shepherds, in- 
 forming them of his birth, as related by St. 
 Luke. The second part describes his pas- 
 sion, death, resurrection, and ascension ; his 
 taking possession of his kingdom of glory, the 
 commencement of his kingdom of grace upon 
 earth, and the certain disappointment and 
 ruin of all who persist in opposition to his 
 will. The third part expresses the blessed 
 fruits and consummation of his undertaking, 
 in the deliverance of his people from sin, sor- 
 row, and death, and in making them finally 
 victorious over all their enemies. The tri- 
 umphant song of the redeemed, to the praise 
 of the Lamb, who bought them with his own 
 blood, closes the whole. The arrangement or 
 series of these passages is so judiciously dis- 
 posed, so well connected, and so fully com- 
 prehends all the principal truths of the gos- 
 pel, that I shall not attempt either to alter or 
 to enlarge it. The exordium or introduction, 
 which I have read to you from the prophecy 
 of Isaiah, is very happily chosen. 
 
 If, as some eminent commentators sup- 
 pose, the prophet had any reference, in this 
 passage, to the return of Israel from Babylon 
 into their own land, his principal object was 
 undoubtedly of much greater importance. In- 
 deed, their deliverance from captivity, and 
 their state afterwards as a nation, do not ap- 
 pear to correspond with the magnificent images 
 employed in the following verses ; for though 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
 | 
 
 they rebuilt their city and temple, they met 
 with many insults and much opposition, and 
 continued to be a tributary and dependent 
 people. I shall therefore waive the consider- 
 ation of this sense. 
 
 The eye of the prophet’s mind seems to be 
 chiefly fixed upon one august personage, who 
 was approaching to enlighten and bless a mi- 
 serable world ; and before he describes the 
 circumstances of his appearance, he is directed 
 to comfort the mourners in Zion, with an as- 
 surance, that this great event would fully 
 compensate them for all their sorrows. The 
 state of Jerusalem, the representative name of 
 the people of God, was very low in Isaiah’s 
 time. The people, who, in the days of Solomon, 
 were attached to the service of God, honoured 
 with signal tokens of his presence and favour, 
 and raised to the highest pitch of temporal 
 prosperity, were now degenerated ; the gold 
 was become dim, and the fine gold changed. 
 Iniquity abounded, judgments were impend- 
 ing, yet insensibility and security prevailed, 
 and the words of many were stout against the 
 Lord. But there were a few who feared the 
 Lord, whose eyes affected their hearts, and 
 who mourned for the evils which they could 
 not prevent. These, and these only, were, in 
 strictness of speech, the people of the Lord, 
 and to these the message of comfort is ad- 
 dressed. Speak to Jerusalem comfortably, 
 speak to her heart (as the Hebrew word is), 
 to her very case, and tell her that there is a 
 balm for all her wounds, a cordial for all her 
 griefs, in this one consideration, Messiah is 
 at hand. In the prophetic style, things fu- 
 ture are described as present, and that which 
 the mouth of the Lord hath spoken of as sure 
 to take place, is considered as already done. 
 Thus the prophet, “rapt into future times,” 
 contemplates the manifestation of Messiah, the 
 accomplishment of his great undertaking, and 
 all the happy consequences of his obedience 
 unto death for men, as though he stood upon 
 the spot, and with John, the harbinger of our 
 Lord (whose appearance he immediately de- 
 scribes,), was pointing with his finger to the 
 Laml) of God, that taketh away the sin of the 
 world. 
 
 This comfortable message consists of two 
 parts. First, the removal of evil, — “ Her war- 
 fare is accomplished, her iniquity is pardoned.” 
 Secondly, a promise of good, more than equi- 
 valent to all her afflictions, — “She hath re- 
 ceived at the Lord’s hand double for all her 
 sins.” 
 
 I. Two ideas are included in the original 
 term, translated “warfare:” 
 
 1. A state of service, connected with hard- 
 ship, like that of the military life. Numb, 
 i. 3. 
 
 2. An appointed time, as it is rendered in 
 Job, vii. 1, and xiv. 14. 
 
 These ideas equally apply to the Mosaic 
 I dispensation. The spirit of that institution 
 
,SER. I. 
 
 THE CONSOLATION. 645 
 
 was comparatively a spirit of bondage, dis- 
 tance, and fear ; and the state of the church, 
 while under the law, is resembled by the 
 apostle to that of a minor, who, though he be 
 an heir, is under tutors and governors, and 
 differeth but little from a servant, until the 
 time appointed of the Father, Gal. iv. 1 — 4. 
 The ceremonial law, with respect to its inef- 
 ficacy, is styled weak, and with respect to 
 the long train of its multiplied, expensive, 
 difficult, and repeated appointments, a yoke 
 and burden. But it was only for a prescribed 
 time The gospel was designed to supersede 
 it, and to introduce a state of life, power, 
 liberty, and confidence. The blackness and 
 darkness, the fire and tempest, and other cir- 
 cumstances of terror attendant on the pro- 
 mulgation of the law at Mount Sinai (Heb. 
 xii. 18 — 22.), which not only struck the peo- 
 ple with dismay, but caused even Moses him 
 self to say, “ I exceedingly fear and quake,” 
 were expressive of its design ; which was not 
 to lead the people of Israel to expect peace 
 and hope from their best obedience to that 
 covenant, but rather to convince them of the 
 necessity of a better covenant, established up- 
 on better promises, and to direct their hopes 
 to Messiah, who was prefigured by all their 
 sacrifices, and who, in the fulness of time, 
 was to make a complete atonement for sin, 
 by the sacrifice of himself. Then their legal 
 figurative constitution would cease, the sha- 
 dows give place to the substance, and the true 
 worshippers of God would be instructed, en- 
 abled, and encouraged, to worship him in 
 spirit and in truth ; no more as servants, but 
 in the temper of adoption, as the children of 
 God, by faith in the Son of his love. 
 
 There is a considerable analogy to this dif- 
 ference between the law and the gospel, as 
 contradistinguished from each other, in the 
 previous distress of a sinner, when he is made 
 sensible of his guilt and danger as a trans- 
 gressor of the law of God, and the subsequent 
 peace which he obtains by believing the gos- 
 pel. The good seed of the word of grace can 
 only take root and flourish in a soil duly pre- 
 pared. And this preparation of the heart 
 (Prov. xvi. 1), without which, all that is read 
 or heard concerning Messiah produces no per- 
 manent good effect, is wholly from the Lord. 
 The first good work of the Holy Spirit upon 
 the heart of fallen man, is to convince of sin, 
 John xvi. 9. He gives some due impressions 
 of the majesty and holiness of the God with 
 whom we have to do, of our dependence upon 
 him, of our obligations to him as our Creator, 
 Lawgiver, and Benefactor ; then we begin to 
 form our estimate of duty, of sin, and its de- 
 sert, not from the prevalent maxims and judg- 
 ment of mankind around us, but from the un- 
 erring standard of scripture. Thence new 
 and painful apprehensions arise — the lofty 
 looks of man are humbled, his haughtiness 
 is brought low, his mouth stopped, or only 
 
 opened to confess his guiit and vileness, and 
 to cry for mercy. He now feels himself un- 
 der the law ; it condemns him, and he cannot 
 reply; it commands him, and he cannot obey. 
 He has neither righteousness nor strength, 
 and must sink into despair, were it not that lie 
 is now qualified to hearken to the gospel with 
 other ears, and to read the scriptures with 
 other eyes (if I may so speak), than he once 
 did. lie now knows he is sick, and there- 
 fore knows his need of a physician. This 
 state of anxiety, conflict, and fear, which 
 keeps comfort from his heart, and perhaps 
 slumber from his eyes, is often of long conti- 
 nuance. There is no common standard where- 
 by to determine either the degree or the du- 
 ration. Both differ in different persons ; and 
 as the body and the mind have a strong and 
 reciprocal influence upon each other, it is pro- 
 bable the difference observable in such cases 
 may in part depend upon constitutional 
 causes. However, the time is a prescribed 
 time, and though not subject to any rules or 
 reasonings of ours, is limited and regulated 
 by the wisdom of God. He wounds and he 
 heals, in his own appointed moment. None 
 that continue waiting upon him, and seeking 
 salvation, in the means which he has directed, 
 shall be finally disappointed. Sooner or later 
 he gives them, according to his promise, beauty 
 for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and 
 the garment of praise for the spirit of heavi- 
 ness, Isa. lxi. 3. This warfare is accom- 
 plished, when they rightly understand and 
 cordially believe the following clause. 
 
 Her iniquity is pardoned. — Though the 
 sacrifices under the law had an immediate and 
 direct effect to restore the offender, for whom 
 they were offered, to the privileges pertaining 
 to the people of Israel, considered as a nation 
 or commonwealth, they could not, of them- 
 selves, cleanse the conscience from guilt. It is 
 a dictate of right reason, no less than of reve- 
 lation, that it is not possible that the blood of 
 bulls and of goats should take away sin, Heb. 
 x. 4. For this purpose, the blood of Christ 
 had a retrospective efficacy, and was the only 
 ground of consolation for a convinced sinner 
 from the beginning of the world. He was 
 proposed to our first parents as the seed of 
 the woman, who should bruise the serpent’s 
 head, Gen. iii. 15. In this seed Abraham 
 believed, and was justified, and all of every age 
 who were justified, were partakers of Abra - 
 ham’s faith. Therefore the apostle teaches 
 us, that when God set him forth as a propi- 
 tiation, through faith in his blood, he de- 
 clared his righteousness in the remission of 
 sins that were past, Rom. iii, 25. For though 
 we may suppose God would have declared his 
 mercy in forgiving sin upon any terms, no 
 consideration but the death of his Son could 
 have exhibited his righteousness. ; that is, his 
 holiness, justice, and truth, in the pardon of 
 sin. True penitents and believers were par- 
 
646 
 
 doned and saved under the law, but not by 
 the law. Their faith looked through all the 
 legal institutions to him who was represented 
 and typified by them. But the types which 
 revealed him, in a sense concealed him like- 
 wise ; so that, though Abraham saw his day, 
 and rejoiced, and a succession of the servants 
 of God foresaw his glory and his sufferings, 
 and spake of him ; yet, in general, the church 
 of the Old Testament rather desired and 
 longed for, than actually possessed, that ful- 
 ness of light and knowledge concerning the 
 person, offices, love, and victory of Mes- 
 siah, which is the privilege of those who en- 
 joy and believe the gospel, Heb. xi. 39, 40. 
 Yet great discoveries of these things w r ere 
 vouchsafed to some of the prophets, particu- 
 larly to Isaiah, who, on account of the clear- 
 ness of his views of the Redeemer and his 
 kingdom, has been sometimes styled the fifth 
 evangelist. The most evangelical part of his 
 prophecy, or at least that part in which he 
 prosecutes the subject with the least interrup- 
 tion, begins with this chapter and with this 
 verse. And he proposes it for the comfort of 
 the mourners in Zion in his day. We know 
 that the Son of God, of whom Moses and 
 the prophets spake, is actually come (1 John 
 v. 20) ; that the atonement for sin is made, 
 the ransom for sinners paid and accepted. 
 Now the shadows are past, the vail removed, 
 the night is ended, the dawn, the day, is ar- 
 rived, yea the Sun of righteousness is arisen, 
 with healing in his wings, Mai. iv. 2. God 
 is reconciled in his Son, and the ministers of 
 the gospel are now authorised to preach com- 
 fort to all who mourn under a sense of sin ; 
 to tell them, all manner of sin is forgiven, for 
 the Redeemer’s sake, and that the iniquity of 
 those who believe in him is freely and abun- 
 dantly pardoned. 
 
 II. Though the last clause of the verse does 
 not belong to the passage, as selected for the 
 Oratorio, it is so closely connected with the 
 subject, that I am not willing to omit it. “ She 
 has received at the Lord’s hand double for all 
 her sin.” The meaning here cannot be, that 
 her afflictions had already been more and 
 greater, than her sins had deserved. The just 
 desert of sin cannot be received in the present 
 life, for the wages of sin is death and the curse 
 of the law, or, in the apostle’s words, ever- 
 lasting destruction from the presence of the 
 Lord and the glory of his power, 2 Thess. i. 9. 
 Therefore a living man can have no reason to 
 complain under the heaviest sufferings. If we 
 acknowledge ourselves to be sinners, we have 
 likewise cause to acknowledge, that he hath 
 not dealt w-ith us according to our iniquities. 
 Nor can the words be so applied to Messiah, 
 as to intimate, that even his sufferings w r ere 
 more than necessary, or greater than the exi- 
 gence of the case required. The efficacy of 
 his atonement is indeed greater than the actual 
 application, and sufficient to save the whole 
 
 SER. I. 
 
 race of mankind if they truly believed in the 
 Son of God. We read, that he groaned and 
 bled upon the cross, till he could say, It is fi- 
 nished, but no longer. It becomes us to re- 
 fer to infinite wisdom the reasons why his suf- 
 ferings were prolonged for such a precise time; 
 but I think we may take it for granted, that 
 they did not endure an hour or a minute 
 longer than was strictly necessary. The ex- 
 pression seems to be elliptical, and I appre- 
 hend the true sense is, that Jerusalem should 
 receive blessings, double, much greater than 
 all the afflictions which sin had brought upon 
 her; and in general to us, to every believing 
 sinner, that the blessings of the gospel are an 
 unspeakably great compensation, and over- 
 balance, for all afflictions of every kind with 
 which we have been, or can be exercised. 
 Afflictions are the fruit of sin, and because our 
 sins have been many, our afflictions may be 
 many. “ But where sin has abounded, grace 
 has much more abounded,” Rom. v. 20. 
 
 Before our Lord healed the paralytic man 
 who was brought to him, he said, “ Be of good 
 cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee,” Mark ii. 5. 
 His outward malady rendered him an object 
 of compassion to those who brought him : 
 but he appears to have been sensible of an in- 
 ward malady, which only Jesus could discern, 
 or pity, or relieve. I doubt not but his con- 
 science was burdened with guilt. An assu- 
 rance therefore that his sins were forgiven, 
 was sufficient to make him be of good cheer, 
 whether his palsy were removed or not. To 
 this purpose the psalmist speaks absolutely 
 and without exception. “ Blessed is the man, 
 (however circumstanced), whose transgression 
 is forgiven, whose iniquity is covered,” Psal. 
 xxxii. 1. Though he be poor, afflicted, dis- 
 eased, neglected or despised, if the Lord im- 
 puteth not his iniquity to him, he is a blessed 
 man. There is no situation in human life so 
 deplorable, but a sense of the pardoning love 
 of God can support and comfort the sufferer 
 under it, compose his spirit, yea, make him ex- 
 ceedingly joyful in all his tribulations. For 
 he who feels the power of the blood of Jesus 
 cleansing his conscience from guilt, and giving 
 him access by faith to the throne of grace, with 
 liberty to say, Abba, Father ; he knows that 
 all his trials are under the direction of wisdom 
 and love, are all working together for his good, 
 and that the heaviest of them are light, and the 
 longest momentary, in comparison of that far 
 more exceeding and eternal weight of glory 
 which is reserved for him in a better world, 
 2 Cor. iv. 16, 17. Even at present in the 
 midst of his sufferings, having communion 
 with God, and a gracious submission to his 
 will, he possesses a peace that passeth under- 
 standing, and which the world can neither 
 give nor take aw'ay. 
 
 I shall close this preliminary discourse with 
 a few observations by w r ay of improvement. 
 
 1. How justly may wo adopt the prophet’* 
 
 THE CONSOLATION. 
 
SER. I. 
 
 THE CONSOLATION. 
 
 words, “Who is a God like unto thee 1 ” Micah, 
 vii, 18. Behold and admire his goodness! 
 Infinitely happy and glorious in himself, he 
 has provided for the comfort of those who 
 were rebels against his government, and trans- 
 gressors of his holy law. What was degene- 
 rate Israel, and what are we, that he should 
 thus prevent us with his mercy, remember us 
 in our low estate, and redeem us from misery, 
 in such a way, and at such a price ! Salvation 
 is wholly of grace (Ephes. ii. 5 ) ; not only 
 undeserved, but undesired by us, till he is 
 pleased to awaken us to a sense of our need 
 of it. And then we find every thing prepared 
 that our wants require, or our wishes can con- 
 ceive ; yea, that he has done exceedingly be- 
 yond what we could either ask or think. Sal- 
 vation is wholly of the Lord (Psal. iii. 8), and 
 bears those signatures of infinite wisdom, 
 power, and goodness, which distinguish all his 
 works from the puny imitations of men. It 
 is every way worthy of himself; a great, a free, 
 a full, a sure salvation. It is great, — whether 
 we consider the objects, miserable and hell- 
 deserving sinners ; the end, the restoration of 
 such alienated creatures to his image and fa- 
 vour, to immortal life and happiness ; or the 
 means, the incarnation, humiliation, sufferings 
 and death of his beloved Son. It is free, — 
 without exception of persons or cases, with- 
 out any conditions or qualifications, but such 
 as he himself performs in them, and bestows 
 upon them. It is full, — including every desi- 
 rable blessing ; pardon, peace, adoption, pro- 
 tection and guidance through this world, and 
 in the world to come eternal life and happi- 
 ness, in the unclouded, uninterrupted enjoy- 
 ment of the favour and love of God, with the 
 perfect and perpetual exclusion of every evil. 
 
 2. When the Lord God, who knows the 
 human heart, would speak comfort to it, he 
 proposes one object, and only one, as the ne- 
 cessary and all-sufficient source of consola- 
 tion. This is Messiah. Jesus in his person 
 and offices, known and received by faith, af- 
 fords a balm for every wound, a cordial for 
 every care. If we admit that they who live 
 in the spirit of the world, can make a poor 
 shift to amuse themselves, and be tolerably 
 satisfied in a state of prosperity, while every 
 thing goes on according to their wish ; while 
 we make this concession (which however is 
 more than we need allow them, for we know 
 that no state of life is free from anxiety, dis- 
 appointment, weariness, and disgust), yet we 
 must consider them as objects of compassion. 
 It is a proof of the weakness and disorder of 
 their minds, that they are capable of being 
 satisfied with such trifles. Thus if a lunatic 
 conceives his cell to be a palace, that his chains 
 are ornaments of gold, if he calls a wreath of 
 his straw a crown, puts it on his head, and af- 
 fects the language of majesty — we do not sup- 
 pose the poor creature to be happy, because 
 he tells us that he is so ; but we rather consider 
 
 647 
 
 his complacence in his situation, as an effect 
 and proof of his malady. We pity him, and, 
 if we were able, would gladly restore him to 
 his senses, though we know a cure would im- 
 mediately put an end to his pleasing delusions. 
 But, I say, supposing or admitting the world 
 could make its votaries happy in a state of 
 prosperity, it will, it must, leave them with- 
 out resource in the day of trouble. And they 
 are to be pitied indeed, who, when their gourds 
 are withered, when the desire of their eyes is 
 taken from them with a stroke, or the evil 
 which they most feared touches them, or when 
 death looks them closely in the face, have no 
 acquaintance with God, no access to the 
 throne of grace, but being without Christ, are 
 without a solid hope of good hereafter, though 
 they are forced to feel the vanity and incon- 
 stancy of every thing here. But they who 
 know Messiah, who believe in him, and par- 
 take of his spirit, cannot be comfortless. They 
 recollect what he suffered for them, they know 
 that every circumstance and event of life is 
 under his direction, and designed to work for 
 their good : that though they sow in tears, 
 they shall soon reap in joy : and therefore 
 they possess their souls in patience, and are 
 cheerful, yea comfortable, under those trying 
 dispensations of providence, which when they 
 affect the lovers of pleasure, too often either 
 excite in them a spirit of presumptuous mur- 
 muring against the will of God ; or sink them 
 into despondency, and all the melancholy 
 train of evils attendant on those who languish 
 and pine away under that depression of spi- 
 rits, emphatically styled a broken heart. 
 
 3. To be capable of the comfort my text 
 proposes, the mind must be in a suitable dis- 
 position. A free pardon is a comfort to a 
 malefactor, but it implies guilt ; and therefore 
 they who have no apprehension that they have 
 broken the laws, would be rather offended 
 than comforted, by an offer of pardon. This 
 is one principal cause of that neglect, yea con- 
 tempt, which the gospel of the grace of God 
 meets with from the world. If we could sup- 
 pose that a company of people who were all 
 trembling under an apprehension of his dis- 
 pleasure, constrained to confess the justice of 
 the sentence, but not as yet informed of any 
 way to escape, were to hear this message for 
 the first time, and to be fully assured of its 
 truth and authority, they would receive it as 
 life from the dead. But it is to be feared, 
 that for want of knowing themselves, and 
 their real state in the sight of him with whom 
 they have to do, many persons, who have re- 
 ceived pleasure from the music of the Mes- 
 siah, have neither found, nor expected, nor 
 desired to find, any comfort from the words. 
 
618 
 
 SEit. II. 
 
 THE HARBINGER. 
 
 SERMON II. 
 
 THE HARBINfiER. 
 
 The voice of him that crielh in the wilderness , 
 Prepare ye the way of the Lord , make *. aight 
 in the desert a high-way for our God. Every 
 valley shall be exalted, and every mountain 
 and hill shall be made low ; and the crooked 
 shall be made straight, and the rough places 
 plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be 
 revealed, and all flesh shall see it together : 
 for the mouth of the Lord hath spo/cen it. 
 Isaiah, xl. 3. — 5. 
 
 The general style of the prophecies is poeti- 
 cal. The inimitable simplicity which charac- 
 terizes every part of divine revelation, is di- 
 versified according to the nature of the sub- 
 ject ; and the magnificence and variety of im- 
 agery which constitute the life and spirit of 
 poetry, evidently distinguish the style of the 
 Psalms, or Isaiah, and the other poetical 
 books, from that of the historical, even in the 
 common versions. The various rules and 
 properties of Hebrew poetry are not, at this 
 distance of time, certainly known. But the 
 present Bishop of London* , in his elegant and 
 instructive lectures on the subject, and in the 
 discourse prefixed to his translation of Isaiah, 
 has fully demonstrated one property. It usu- 
 ally consists either of parallel, or contrasted 
 sentences. The parallel expressions (except- 
 ing in the book of Proverbs) are most preva- 
 lent. In these the same thought, far sub- 
 stance, expressed in the first member, is re- 
 peated, with some difference of phrase, in the 
 following ; which, if it enlarges or confirms 
 the import of what went before, seldom varies 
 the idea. Almost any passage I first cast my 
 eye upon, will sufficiently explain my mean- 
 ing. For instance, in the fifty-ninth chapter 
 of Isaiah : 
 
 Ver. 1. Behold the Lord’s hand is not shor- 
 tened, that it cannot save ; 
 
 Neither is his ear heavy, that it cannot 
 hear. 
 
 9. Therefore is judgment far from us, 
 
 Neither doth justice overtake us ; 
 
 We wait for light, but behold obscurity ; 
 
 For brightness, but we walk in darkness. 
 So in chap. lv. 2. 
 
 Wherefore do ye spend money for that 
 which is not bread ? 
 
 And your labour for that which satisfieth 
 not ? 
 
 Harken diligently unto me, and eat ye that 
 which is good, 
 
 And let your soul delight itself in fatness. 
 
 | So likewise in the second Psaln : 
 
 Ver. 4. He that sitteth in the heavens shall 
 laugh ; 
 
 The Lord shall have them in derision. 
 
 5. Then shall he speak unto them in his 
 wrath, 
 
 And vex them in his sore displeasure. 
 
 These specimens may suffice for my present 
 purpose. The knowledge of this peculiarity 
 of the poetical idiom, may often save us the 
 trouble of enquiring minutely into the mean- 
 ing of every single word, when one plain aud 
 comprehensive sense arises from a view of the 
 whole passage taken together. This observa- 
 tion applies to the first of the verses in ry 
 text. Though it be true that John the Bap- 
 tist lived for a season retired and unnoticed 
 in a wilderness, and began to preach in the 
 wilderness of Judea, the expression, The voice 
 of him that crieth in the ivilderness, does not 
 merely foretel that circumstance. The verse 
 consists of two parallels. The prophet, “rapt 
 into future times,” hears a voice proclaiming 
 the approach of Messiah, and this is the ma- 
 jestic language : 
 
 In the wilderness prepare ye the way of the 
 Lord, 
 
 Make straight in the desert a highway for 
 our God. 
 
 The wilderness and the desert are the same 
 here, as likewise in chap. xxxv. 1, where the 
 happy, the sudden, the unexpected effects of 
 his appearance are described : — 
 
 The wilderness and the solitary place shall 
 be glad for them ; 
 
 And the desert shall rejoice, and blossom 
 as the rose. 
 
 Now, to see, by the eye of faith, the glory 
 of the Redeemer in his appearance ; to see 
 power divine preparing the way before him; 
 to enter into the gracious and wonderful de- 
 sign of his salvation ; to acknowledge, admire, 
 and adore him as the Lord, and humbly to 
 claim him as our God, must afford a pleasure 
 very different from that which the most excel- 
 lent music, however well adapted to the words, 
 can possibly give. The latter may be relished 
 by a worldly mind ; the former is appropriate, 
 and can only be enjoyed by those who are 
 taught of God. 
 
 When the eastern monarchs travelled, har- 
 bingers went before to give notice that the 
 King was upon the road, and likewise proper 
 persons to prepare his way and to remove ob- 
 stacles. Some of them (if we may depend 
 upon history), in the affectation of displaying 
 their pomp and power, effected extraordinary 
 things upon such occasions. For man, though 
 vain, would appear wise ; though a sinful 
 worm, he would fain be accounted great. We 
 read of their having actually filled up valleys, 
 
 # Dr. Lowlh. 
 
SER. If. 
 
 and levelled hills, to make a commodious road, 
 for themselves or their armies, through places 
 otherwise impassable. The prophet thus il- 
 lustrates great things by small, and accomo- 
 dates the language and usages of men to di- 
 vine truth. Messiah is about to visit a wil- 
 derness world, and those parts of it which he 
 blesses with his presence, shall become the 
 garden of the Lord. Till then it is all deso- 
 late, rocky, and wild. But his way shall be 
 prepared. Mountainous difficulties shall sink 
 down before him into plains. In defiance of 
 all obstacles, his glory shall be revealed in the 
 wilderness, and all flesh shall see it, for the 
 mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. 
 
 The leading ideas respecting Messiah’s ap- 
 pearance suggested by this sublime represen- 
 tation, are, 
 
 I. The state of the world at his coming, — 
 “ A wilderness.” 
 
 II. The preparation of his way, — “ Every 
 valley shall be exalted, and every mountain 
 and hill shall be made low.” 
 
 III. The manner and effects of his mani- 
 festation, — “ And the glory of the Lord shall 
 be revealed, and all flesh shall see it.” 
 
 I. The word “ wilderness,” I suppose, ge- 
 nerally excites the idea of an intricate, soli- 
 tary, uncultivated, dangerous place. Such is 
 the description Jeremiah gives of that wilder- 
 ness through which the Lord led Israel, when 
 he had delivered them from Egypt : “ A land 
 of deserts and of pits, a land of drought and 
 of the shadow of death, a land that no man 
 passeth through, and where no man dwelt,” 
 Jer. ii. 6. The world, in which we sojourn 
 for a season, does not appear to us in this un- 
 pleasing view at first. The spirit, and the 
 things of it, are congenial to our depraved in- 
 clinations ; and especially in early life, our 
 unexperienced hearts form high expectations 
 from it; and we rather hope to find it a para- 
 dise than a wilderness. But when the con- 
 vincing power cf the Holy Spirit opens the 
 eyes of the understanding, we awake as from 
 a dream ; the enchantment by which we were 
 deluded is broken, and we then begin to judge 
 rightly of the world : that it is a wearisome 
 wilderness indeed, and that our only impor- 
 tant concern with it is to get happily out of 
 it. In a spiritual view, a wilderness is a sig- 
 nificant emblem of the state of mankind, both 
 Jews and Heathens, at that period which the 
 apostle calls the fulness of time, when God 
 sent forth his son, Gal. iv. 4. 
 
 Israel, once the beloved people of God, was 
 at that time so extremely degenerated, that, 
 a few individuals excepted, the vineyard of 
 the Lord, so highly cultivated, so signally 
 protected, yielded only wild grapes, Isa. v. A. 
 Though they were not addicted to imitate the 
 idolatry of the Heathens, as their forefathers 
 had been, they were no less alienated from 
 the true God ; and their wickedness was the 
 more aggravated, for being practised under a 
 
 649 
 
 professed attachment to the forms of his law. 
 They drew nigh to God with their lips, but 
 their hearts were far from him, Mark vii. 6. 
 Their very worship profaned the temple in 
 which they gloried, and the holy house of 
 prayer, through their abominations, was be- 
 come a den of thieves. They owned the di- 
 vine authority of the scriptures, and read 
 them with seeming attention, but rendered 
 them of none effect, through the greater at- 
 tention they paid to the corrupt traditions of 
 their elders. They boasted in their relation 
 to Abraham as their father, but proved them- 
 selves to be indeed the children of those who 
 had persecuted and murdered the prophets, 
 Matt, xxiii. 30, 31. The Scribes and Phari- 
 sees, who sat in the chair of Moses, and were 
 the public teachers of the people, under an 
 exterior garh of sanctity, of prayer, and fast- 
 ing, were guilty of oppression, fraud, and'un 
 cleanness ; and while they trusted in them- 
 selves that they were righteous, and despised 
 others, their real character was a combination 
 of pride and hypocrisy. Therefore he who 
 knew their hearts, and saw through all their 
 disguises, compared them to painted sepul- 
 chres, fair to outward appearance, but within 
 full of filth and impurity, Math, xxiii. 27. 
 From the spirit of these blind guides, we may 
 judge of the spirit of the blind people who 
 held them in admiration, and were willingly 
 directed and led by them. Thus was the 
 faithful city become a harlot : it was once full 
 of judgment, righteousness lodged in it, but 
 now murderers, Isa. i. 21. Such a wilder- 
 ness was Judea when Messiah condescended 
 to visit it. 
 
 Among the Heathens, ignorance, idolatry, 
 sensuality, and cruelty universally prevailed. 
 Their pretended wise men had indeed talked of 
 wisdom and morality from age to age, but their 
 speculations were no more than swelling words 
 of vanity, cold, trifling, uncertain, and with- 
 out any valuable influence either upon them- 
 selves or upon others. They had philosophers, 
 poets, orators, musicians, and artists, eminent 
 in their way ; but the nations reputed the 
 most civilized were overwhelmed with abomi- 
 nable wickedness equally with the rest. The 
 shocking effect of their idolatry upon their 
 moral principles and conduct, notwithstand- 
 ing their attainments in arts and science, is 
 described by the apostle in the close of the 
 first chapter of his epistle to the Romans. 
 With great propriety, therefore, the state of 
 the world, both Jew and Gentile, considered 
 in a moral view, is compared by the prophet 
 to a wilderness — a barren and dreary waste. 
 The pursuits and practices of the world were 
 diametrically opposite to the spirit and design or 
 tli at kingdom which Messiah was about to set 
 up, and therefore, as the event proved, directly 
 disposed to withstand his progress. But, 
 
 II. Before his appearance a way was pre 
 pared for him in the wilderness. 
 
 THE HARBINGER. 
 
SER. JI 
 
 THE HARBINGER. 
 
 650 
 
 The providence of God, by a gradual train 
 of dispensations, disposed the political state of 
 mankind in a subserviency to this great event. 
 All the commotions and revolutions which 
 take place in the kingdoms of the earth are 
 so many detached parts of a complicated but 
 wisely-determined plan, of which the esta- 
 blishment of Messiah’s kingdom is the final 
 cause. The kings and politicians of the world 
 are not aware of this. God is not in their 
 thoughts. But while they pursue their own 
 ends, and make havoc of the peace of man- 
 kind, to gratify their own interests and am- 
 bition, and look no higher, they are igno- 
 rantly, and without intention, acting as in- 
 struments of the will of God. The wrath of 
 man is over-ruled to his praise and his pur- 
 pose (Psal. lxxvi. 10), and succeeds so far 
 as it is instrumental to the accomplishment 
 of his designs, and no farther. While they 
 move in this line, their schemes, however in- 
 judiciously laid, and whatever disproportion 
 there may seem between the means they are 
 possessed of and the vast objects they aim at, 
 prosper beyond their own expectations ; but 
 the remainder of their wrath he will restrain. 
 Their best projected and best supported en- 
 terprises issue in shame and disappointment, 
 if they are not necessary parts of that chain 
 of causes and events which the Lord of all 
 has appointed. Thus Sennacherib, when sent 
 by the God whom he knew not to execute his 
 displeasure against the kingdom of Judah, 
 had, for a time, a rapid and uninterrupted se- 
 ries of conquests (Isa. xxxvii. 26 — 29); but 
 his attempt upon Jerusalem was beyond the 
 limits of his commission, and therefore failed. 
 
 Among the principal instruments who were 
 appointed to prepare a way in the wilderness 
 for Messiah, and to facilitate the future spread 
 of his kingdom, we may take notice of Alex- 
 ander ; and this designation secured his suc- 
 cess, though the extravagancies, excesses, and 
 rashness which marked his character, were 
 sufficient to have rendered his undertakings 
 abortive, had he not been in the hand of the 
 Lord of hosts, as an axe or a saw in the hand 
 of the w orkman. By his conquests the know- 
 
 ledge of the Greek language was diffused 
 among many nations ; and the Hebrew scrip- 
 tures being soon afterwards translated into 
 that language an expectation of some great 
 deliverer was raised far and wide, before Mes- 
 siah appeared. When this service was fulfill- 
 ed, the haughty presumptuous worm who had 
 been employed in it, was no longer necessary, 
 and therefore was soon laid aside : and all his 
 proud designs, for the establishment of his 
 own family and dominion, perished with him. 
 His empire was divided towards the four 
 winds of heaven, and this division likewise 
 contributed to bring forward the purpose of 
 God, Dan. viii. 8. For each of the four 
 kingdoms established by his successors being 
 thus separated, became a more easy prey to 
 
 the Roman power. This pow'er, which had 
 been gradually increasing and extending in 
 the course of several hundred years, w'as at 
 its height about the time of our Lord’s birth. 
 The greatest part of the habitable earth which 
 was at that time distinctly known was united 
 under one empire, composed of various king- 
 doms and governments, which, though once 
 independent and considerable, were then no 
 more than Roman provinces; and as all the 
 provinces had an immediate connexion with 
 Rome, a way was thus prepared, and an in- 
 tercourse opened on every side, for the pro- 
 mulgation of the gospel. 
 
 Among the Jews, the professing people of 
 God, a way was prepared for Messiah by the 
 ministry of his harbinger, John the Baptist, 
 who came in the spirit and power of Elijah 
 (as had been foretold of him by the prophets, 
 particularly by the last of the prophets, Ma- 
 lachi), preaching the baptism of repentance 
 for the remission of sins, and proclaiming 
 that the Saviour and his kingdom were at hand. 
 He w'ho sent him accompanied his mission 
 with a divine power. A multitude of per 
 sons, of various descriptions, were impressed 
 by his message, insomuch that John himself 
 seems to have been astonished at the numbers 
 and characters of those who came to his bap- 
 tism. 
 
 When the ministry of John had thus pre- 
 viously disposed the minds of many for the 
 reception of Messiah, and engaged the atten- 
 tion of the people at large, Messiah himself 
 entered upon his public office, on the same 
 scene and among the same people. As he 
 increased, John willingly decreased. So the 
 morning star ceases to be seen as the sun ad- 
 vances above the horizon. This distinguished 
 servant of God having finished his work, w-as 
 removed to a better world. Not in the tri- 
 umphant manner in which Elijah was trans- 
 lated, but as he came to announce a new dis- 
 pensation, under which believers were to ex- 
 pect opposition and ill-treatment, to walk by 
 faith, and frequently to be called to seal their 
 testimony with their blood, he was permitted 
 to fall a sacrifice to the revenge of a w r anton 
 woman ; and though we are assured that none 
 of the race of Adam was greater in the esti- 
 mation of God than he, his death w'as asked 
 and procured as the reward of an idle dance. 
 Math. xi. 11 ; xiv. 8 — 11. 
 
 III. The latter part of my text describes 
 the manner and immediate effects of Mes- 
 siah’s appearance during his personal mi- 
 nistry, with an intimation of its future and 
 more extensive consequences. 
 
 The valleys shall be exalted. — A valley is 
 an emblem of a low condition. Such w r as the 
 condition of most of our Lord’s followers; 
 but his notice and favour exalted them highly. 
 He came to preach the gospel to the poor, to 
 fill the hungry with good things, to save the 
 chief of sinners, to open a door of hope and 
 
SER. II. 
 
 salvation to persons of the vilest and most 
 despicable characters in human estimation. 
 Such, for instance, was the woman mentioned 
 by the evangelist Luke, chap. vii. 37, 38. 
 The Pharisee thought our Lord dishonoured 
 himself by permitting such a one to touch 
 him, nor had she a word to say in her own 
 behalf. But the compassionate Saviour highly 
 exalted her, when he vouchsafed to plead her 
 cause, to express his gracious acceptance of 
 her tears and love, and to assure her that her 
 sins, though many, were all forgiven. Very 
 low likewise was the state of the malefactor 
 on the cross ; he had committed great crimes, 
 was suffering grievous torments, and in the 
 very jaws of death, Luke xxiii. 42. But 
 grace visited his heart ; he was plucked as a 
 brand out of the fire, and exalted to para- 
 dise and glory. The world accounts the 
 proud happy, and honours the covetous if 
 they be prosperous. But true honour cometh 
 from God. They who are partakers of the 
 faith and hope of the gospel, and have inte- 
 rest in the precious promises, are indeed the 
 rich, the happy, the excellent of the earth, 
 however they may be unnoticed or despised 
 by their fellow-creatures. The honour of 
 places likewise is to be considered in this 
 light. Bethlehem, though but of little note 
 among the thousands of Judah, was rendered 
 more illustrious by the birth of Messiah than 
 Babylon or Rome. The Galileans were held 
 in contempt by the inhabitants of Jerusalem, 
 as a mean and provincial people ; but the 
 places in Galilee which our Lord frequently 
 visited, or where he sometimes resided, are 
 spoken of as exalted unto heaven, by the ho- 
 nour and privilege of his presence, though 
 some of them were no more than fishing- 
 towns. And so at this day, if we have spi- 
 ritual discernment, we shall judge that a lit- 
 tle village, where the gospel is known, prized, 
 and adorned by a suitable conversation, has a 
 dignity and importance far preferable to all 
 the parade of a wealthy metropolis, if desti- 
 tute of the like privileges. 
 
 On the contrary, every mountain and hill 
 shall be brought low. — Messiah came to pour 
 contempt on all human glory. He detected 
 the wickedness and confounded the pride of 
 the Scribes, and Pharisees, and rulers, and 
 made it appear that what is highly esteemed 
 among men, the ro v-^tiXov, or summit of 
 their boasted excellency, is worthless, yea, 
 abomination in the sight of God, Luke xvi. 
 15. And by living himself in a state of po- 
 verty, and associating chiefly with poor peo- 
 ple, he placed the vanity of the distinctions 
 and affluence which mankind generally ad- 
 mire and envy, in the most striking and hu- 
 miliating light. Such likewise was and will 
 be the effect of his gospel. When faithfully 
 preached, it is found mighty, through God, to 
 the pulling down of strong-holds, high thoughts, 
 and every species of self-exaltation. When 
 
 651 
 
 the convincing word touches the heart, it has 
 an effect like the hand-writing which Bel- 
 shazzar saw upon the wall, Dan. v. 6. In 
 that day the lofty looks of man are humbled, 
 and his haughtiness bowed down (Isa. ii. 11); 
 he dares no longer plead the goodness of his 
 heart, or trust to the work of his hands. A 
 sense of forgiveness and acceptance through 
 the Beloved, received by faith in his atone- 
 ment, lays him still lower : he now renounces 
 as loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of 
 Christ Jesus the Lord, all that he once es- 
 teemed as gain, and is glad that he has no- 
 thing to trust or glory in but the cross, Phil, 
 iii. 7, 8. Farther, every mountain that op- 
 poses the kingdom of Messiah, in due time 
 must sink into a plain, Zech. iv. 7. Though 
 the nations rage, and the rulers take counsel 
 together, he who sitteth in the heavens will 
 support and maintain his own work, and all 
 their power and policy shall fall before it. 
 
 The crooked shall be made straight, and the 
 rough places plain. — He came to rectify the 
 perverse disposition of the hearts of men, to 
 soften and subdue their obstinate spirits, and 
 to form to himself a willing people in the day 
 of his power. The Jewish teachers, by their 
 traditions and will-worship had given an ap- 
 parent obliquity to the straight and perfect 
 rule of the law of God, and deformed the 
 beauties of holiness, binding heavy burdens, 
 and grievous to be borne, upon the conscience; 
 but he vindicated the law from their corrupt 
 glosses, and made the path of obedience plain, 
 practicable, and pleasant. 
 
 Thus, the glory of the Lord was revealed. — 
 Not to every eye : many, prejudiced by his 
 outward appearance, and by the low mistaken 
 views the Jews indulged of the office and 
 kingdom of Messiah, whom they expected, 
 £ould see no form or excellence in him that 
 they should desire him ; but his disciples could 
 say, “ We beheld his glory,” John i. 14. He 
 spake with authority. His word was power. 
 He controlled the elements, he raised the 
 dead. He knew, and revealed, and judged 
 the thoughts of men’s hearts. He forgave 
 sin, and thus exercised the rights and dis 
 played the perfections of divine sovereignty i» 
 his own person. But the prophecy looks 
 forward to future times. After his ascension 
 he filled his apostles and disciples with light 
 and power, and sent them forth in all direc- 
 tions to proclaim his love and grace to a sin- 
 ful world. Then the glory of the Lord was 
 revealed, and spread from one kingdom to 
 another people. We still wait for the full ac- 
 complishment of this promise, and expect a 
 time when the whole earth shall be filled with 
 his glory : For the mouth of the Lord hath 
 spoken it. It is to the power of his word 
 that we owe the continuance of day and 
 night, and the regular return of the seasons 
 of the year. But these appointments are 
 only for a limited term ; the hour is com- 
 
 THE HARBINGER. 
 
SER. III. 
 
 THE SHAKING OF THE 
 
 652 
 
 ing, when the frame of nature shall be dis- 
 solved. Heaven and earth shall pass away ; 
 but not a jot or tittle of what he hath declared 
 concerning his kingdom of grace shall fail, till 
 the whole be fulfilled. 
 
 Those of you who have heard the Messiah 
 will do well to recollect, whether you were 
 affected by such thoughts as these while this 
 passage was performed ; or whether you were 
 only captivated by the music, and paid no more 
 regard to the words than if they had no mean- 
 ing. They are, however, the great truths of 
 God. May they engage your serious atten- 
 tion, now they are thus set before y~u ! 
 
 SERMON III. 
 
 THE SHAKING OF THE HEAVENS AND THE 
 EARTH. 
 
 Thus saith Ike Lord of Hosts, Yet once, it is a 
 little while , and I wili shake the heavens, and 
 the earth, and the sea, and the dry land : 
 And I will shake all nations, and the Desire 
 of all nations shall come ; and I will Jill this 
 house with glory, saith the Lord of Hosts. 
 Haggai. ii. 6, 7. 
 
 God shook the earth when he proclaimed his 
 law to Israel from Sinai. The description, 
 though very simple, presents to our thoughts 
 a scene unspeakably majestic, grand, and aw- 
 ful. The mountain was in flames at the top, 
 and trembled to its basis, Exod. xix. 16 — 19. 
 Dark clouds, thunderings and lightnings filled 
 the air. The hearts of the people, of the 
 whole people, trembled likewise; and even 
 Moses himself said, “ 1 exceedingly fear and 
 quake.” Then, as the apostle, referring to 
 this passage, observes, the voice of the Lord 
 shook the earth, Heb. xii. 26. But the pro- 
 phet here speaks of another, a greater, a more 
 important, and extensive concussion. Yet 
 once, it is a little while, and I will shake not 
 the earth only, but also the heavens. 
 
 If we really believe that the scriptures are 
 true, that the prophecies were delivered by 
 holy men, who spake as they were moved by 
 the Holy Spirit, and that they shall all be 
 certainly fulfilled, — how studious should we 
 be to attain a right understanding of pas- 
 sages and events, in which we are so nearly 
 interested, that our hearts may be duly af- 
 fected by them ! But, alas ! experience and 
 observation strongly confirm the remark of 
 the poet, 
 
 Men are but children of a larger growth. 
 
 If you put a telescope into the hands of a 
 child, he will probably admire the outside, es- 
 pecially if it be finely ornamented. But the 
 use of it, in giving a more distinct view of 
 distant objects, is what the child has no con- 
 ception of. The music of the Messiah is but 
 
 an ornament of the words, which have a very 
 weighty sense. This sense no music can ex- 
 plain, and when rightly understood, will have 
 such an effect as no music can produce. That 
 the music of the Messiah has a great effect in 
 its own kind, I can easily believe. The an- 
 cients, to describe the power of the music of 
 Orpheus, pretend, that when he played upon 
 his harp, the wild beasts thronged around him 
 to listen, and seemed to forget their natural 
 fierceness. Such expressions are figurative, 
 and designed to intimate, that, by his address 
 and instructions, he civilized men of fierce 
 and savage dispositions. But if we were to 
 allow the account to be true in the literal 
 sense, I should still suppose that the wild 
 beasts were affected by his music only while 
 they heard it, and that it did not actually 
 change their natures, and render lions and ti- 
 gers gentle as lambs, from that time forward. 
 Thus I can allow, that they who heard the 
 Messiah might be greatly impressed during 
 the performance ; but when it was ended, I 
 suppose they would retain the very same dis- 
 positions they had before it began. And 
 many, I fear, were no more affected by this 
 sublime declaration of the Lord’s design to 
 shake the heavens and the earth, than they 
 would have been, if the same music had been 
 set to the words of a common ballad. 
 
 The Jews, when they returned from capti- 
 vity, and undertook to rebuild the temple of 
 the Lord, met with many discouragements. 
 They were disturbed by the opposition and 
 arts of their enemies, who at one time so far 
 prevailed, as to compel them, for a season, to 
 intermit the work. And when the founda- 
 tion of the temple was laid, the joy of those 
 who hoped soon to see the solemn worship of 
 God restored, was damped by the grief of 
 others, who remembered the magnificence of 
 the first temple, and wept to think how far 
 the second temple would come short of it. 
 Hag. ii. 3. In these circumstances, the pro- 
 phets Haggai and Zecliariah were sent to ani- 
 mate the people by a promise, that, inferioi 
 as the second temple might appear, compared 
 with that which Solomon built, the glory of 
 the latter house should be greater than the 
 glory of the former, Ezra, iii. 12, 13. Had 
 this depended upon a profusion of silver and 
 gold, the Lord could have provided it : for 
 “ the silver is mine, and the gold is mine, 
 saith the Lord of hosts.” But the glory spo- 
 ken of was of a different kind. The presence 
 of Messiah in the second temple would render 
 it far more honourable and glorious, though 
 less pompous, than the temple of Solomon ; 
 and would be attended with greater conse- 
 quences than even the manifestation of the 
 God of Israel on Mount Sinai. Then he only 
 shook the earth ; but under the second temple 
 he would shake the heavens and the earth, the 
 sea and the dry land, to introduce the king- 
 dom of Messiah. 
 
SER. Ill HEAVENS AND THE EARTH. 653 
 
 We may consider from the words, 
 
 I. A character of Messiah, — “ The Desire 
 of all nations.” 
 
 II. The effects of his appearance, — “ Shak- 
 ing the heavens and the earth.” 
 
 HI. His “ filling the house with glory.” 
 This clause of ver. 7. is not in the passage set 
 to music ; but as it is an eminent part of the 
 prophecy, I shall not exclude it. 
 
 I. Messiah is here styled, “ The Desire of 
 all nations.” The propriety of this title may 
 be illustrated by two considerations. 
 
 1. Before he came into the world to save 
 sinners, an expectation prevailed in many na- 
 tions, that a great deliverer and friend of 
 mankind was at hand. This was, perhaps, 
 partly the effect of some ancient traditions, 
 founded on the promises of God respecting 
 the seed of the woman, the traces of which, 
 though much corrupted by, the addition of 
 fables, were not worn out — but might be 
 chiefly owing to several dispersions of the 
 people of Israel, and imperfect notices, de- 
 rived from the scriptures in their hands. The 
 sense of many prophecies cencerning Mes- 
 siah, though misapplied, is remarkably ex- 
 pressed in a short poem of Virgil,* written a 
 few years before our Saviour’s birth. This 
 eclogue, of which we have a beautiful imita- 
 tion in our own language by Mr. Pope, af- 
 fords a sufficient proof that the Heathens had 
 an idea of some illustrious personage, who 
 would shortly appear, and restore peace, pros- 
 perity, and all the blessings of their imaginary 
 golden age to mankind. The miseries and 
 evils with which the world was filled, made 
 the interposition of such a deliverer highly 
 desirable. There were even a few among 
 the Heathens, such as Socrates and his im- 
 mediate disciples, who seem to have felt the 
 necessity of a divine teacher ; and to be sen- 
 sible that man, in a state of nature, was too 
 depraved, and too ignorant, to be either able 
 or disposed to worship God acceptably with- 
 out one. There is reason to believe, that the 
 revelation which we enjoy, though despised 
 by too many who affect to be called philoso- 
 phers in modern times, would have been highly 
 prized by the wisest and best of the philosophers 
 of antiquity. Socrates thought men were not 
 capable of knowing and expressing their own 
 wants, nor of asking what was good for them- 
 selves, unless it should please God to send 
 them an instructor from heaven, to teach them 
 how to pray. And therefore, 
 
 2. The need that all nations had of such a 
 Saviour, is sufficient to establish his right to 
 this title, admitting they had no knowledge 
 or expectation of him. If we could suppose 
 a nation involved for ages in the darkness of 
 night, though they had no previous notion of 
 light, yet light might be said to be their de- 
 sire, because the light, whenever they should 
 
 * Virg. Eel iv. 
 
 enjoy it, would put an end to their calamity, 
 would answer their wants, and, in that sense 
 accomplish their wishes; for if they could not 
 directly wish for light, they would naturally 
 wish for relief. The Heathens were mise- 
 rably bewildered. They had a thirst for hap- 
 piness, w'hich could not be satisfied by any, 
 or all the expedients and pursuits within their 
 reach. They had fears and forebodings of 
 conscience, for which they knew no remedy. 
 They were so sensible, both of their guilt and 
 their weakness, that, being ignorant of the cha- 
 racter of the true God, and of that forgiveness 
 which is with him, in times of extremity they 
 frequently offered the most expensive sacri- 
 fices to the objects of their idolatrous super- 
 stition, even the blood and lives of their child- 
 ren, Micah, vi. 6. When Messiah appeared, 
 as he was the glory of Israel, so he was a 
 light to the Gentiles, as we shall have oppor- 
 tunity of observing more at large hereafter. 
 He, therefore, who came purposely to bless 
 the nations, by turning them from darkness 
 to light, and from the worship of dumb idols 
 to serve the living and true God, may justly 
 be called their desire, though in the time of 
 their ignorance, they could form no suitable 
 conception of him 
 
 II. “ I will shake the heavens and the 
 earth.” — This part of the prophecy has been, 
 in a measure, literally' fulfilled. At his birth, 
 a new star appeared. At his death, the sun, 
 withdrew his shining, the earth quaked, the 
 rocks rent, and the dead arose. During his 
 life, he often suspended and over-ruled the 
 stated laws of nature, and exercised supreme 
 power over the visible and invisible worlds. 
 He shook the kingdom of darkness, spoiled 
 principalities and powers, triumphing over 
 them by his cross. He shook the kingdoms 
 of the earth ; the idols trembled and disap- 
 peared before his gospel, till at length the 
 Roman empire renounced Heathenism, and 
 embraced the Christian name. 
 
 But the language of prophecy is highly fi- 
 gurative. Mountains and trees, land and wa- 
 ter, sun and moon, heaven and earth, often 
 signify nations, people, and governments ; 
 and particularly, heaven and earth are used to 
 denote the religious and political establish- 
 ment of Israel ; or, as we say, their constitu- 
 tion in church and state. This, without doubt, 
 is the primary sense here. The appearance 
 of Messiah shall be connected with the total 
 dissolution of the Jewish economy. The whole 
 of their Levitical institution was fulfilled, su- 
 perseded, and abrogated by Messiah, which 
 was solemnly signified by the rending of the 
 vail of the temple from the top to the bottom 
 at his death. And a few years afterwards the 
 temple itself was destroyed, by which event, 
 the worship of God according to the law, of 
 which the temple-service was an essential part, 
 was rendered utterly impracticable. Their 
 <dvil state likewise was dissolved ; they were 
 
SER. III. 
 
 654 THE SHAKING OF THE HEAVENS, &C. 
 
 extirpated from the promised land, and dis- 
 persed far and wide among the nations of the 
 earth. Though, in one sense, they are pre- 
 served, by the wonderful providence of God, 
 as a distinct people, unaffected by the changes 
 and customs around them ; in another sense, 
 they are not a people, having neither settle- 
 ment nor government, but living as strangers 
 end foreigners in every country where their 
 lot has been cast, IIos. iii. 4. Nothing like 
 this can be found in the history of mankind. 
 It is an obvious, striking, and perpetual proof of 
 the truth of the scriptures. What was foretold 
 concerning them by Moses and the succeed- 
 ing prophets, is accomplished to a demonstra- 
 tion before our eyes. How unlikely was it 
 once that it should be thus! yet thus it must 
 be, because the mouth of the Lord hath spo- 
 ken it. And all that he has spoken is equally 
 sure. He will yet again shake the heavens 
 and the earth, dissolve the frame of nature, 
 and execute his threatened judgments upon 
 all those who do not receive and obey his 
 gospel. 
 
 III. “ He shall fill this house with glory.” 
 He did so, when he condescended to visit it 
 in person. The blind and the lame came 
 thither to him, and he healed them, Matth. 
 xxi. 13 — 16. Children felt his power, and 
 
 sung hosannah to the son of David, a title 
 appropriate to Messiah ; and when the Pha- 
 risees rebuked them, he said, “ If these 
 should hold their peace, the stones would cry 
 out,” Luke xix. 40. As the Lord in his 
 own house, he purged the temple, and drove 
 out those who profaned it, and not one of his 
 enemies durst offer the least resistance to his 
 will. And when he left it the last time, with 
 sovereign authority, he denounced that awful 
 sentence, which was soon afterwards executed 
 by the Romans, both upon the temple and the 
 nation, Matth. xxiii. 37. His glory filled the 
 temple when he was an infant, so that Simeon 
 and Anna then acknowledged his character, 
 and spake of him to those who were waiting 
 for the consolation of Israel, Luke, ii. 25, 
 38. Especially his glory was manifested, when 
 he proclaimed himself the fountain of life, 
 and invited every thirsty weary sinner to come 
 to him, to drink and live for ever, John, 
 vii. 37. 
 
 The temple of Jerusalem h is been long 
 since destroyed. But he has still a house, a 
 house not made with hands. This is his 
 church, comprising all the members of his 
 mystical body. He dwells in each of them 
 individually; he dwells in and among them 
 collectively. Where two or three are met 
 in his name, where his ordinances are ad- 
 ministered and prized, where his gospel is 
 faithfully preached and cordially received, 
 there he is present in the midst of them •. 
 There his glory is seen, his voice heard, his 
 power felt, his goodness tasted, and the savour 
 of his name is diffused as a precious oint- 
 
 ment, which refreshes the heart of his people, 
 renews their strength, and comforts them un- 
 der all their sorrows and cares. The glory 
 and magnificence of the temple-worship, even 
 in the days of Solomon, was faint compared 
 with the glory displayed to the hearts of be- 
 lievers who worship him in spirit and in truth, 
 under the New-Testament dispensation. But 
 it can only be perceived by an enlightened 
 and spiritual mind. To outward appearance 
 all may be low and humiliating. The malice 
 of their enemies has often constrained his peo- 
 ple to assemble in woods and on mountains, 
 in places under ground, or in the dead of the 
 night, to secrete themselves from informers. 
 But vaulted roofs and costly garments, the 
 solemn parade of processions, music and cho- 
 risters, and the presence of nobles and digni- 
 taries, are not necessary to constitute the glory 
 of gospel-worship. It is enough that he, in 
 whose name they meet, condescends to visit 
 them with the power and influence of his Spi- 
 rit, to animate and hear their prayers, to feed 
 them with the good word of his grace, and to 
 fill them with joy and peace in believing. If 
 they have these blessings, they desire no more, 
 they are compensated for all their difficulties 
 and hardships ; and, however unnoticed and 
 despised by the world, they can say, “ This 
 is none other than the house of God, this is 
 the gate of heaven,” Gen. xxviii. 7. For 
 they approach by faith to the city of the liv- 
 ing God, the Jerusalem which is above, to 
 the worship which is carried on day without 
 night, by the innumerable company of angels, 
 and the spirits of just men made perfect, 
 Heb. xii. 22. 
 
 But every member of this mystical temple, 
 being by nature afar off from God, experi- 
 ences a previous change, which may be not 
 unfitly described by the terms of my text. 
 Before the Lord takes possession of his peo- 
 ple, and in order to it, he shakes the heavens 
 and the earth. Their former views of God 
 and of themselves are altered by a light which 
 penetrates the soul. All that they have been 
 building in religion till then is shaken and 
 overturned. Their vain hopes are shaken to 
 the foundation. This concussion makes way 
 for the perception of his glory as a Saviour. 
 In this day of his power they are made wil- 
 ling to throw open the gates of their hearts, 
 that the King of glory may enter. 
 
 But as I do not stand here to amuse you 
 with a declamation on a subject in which you 
 are not immediately interested, and as my of- 
 fice as a preacher both warrants and requires 
 me to address myself not only to your under- 
 standings but likewise to your consciences, I 
 must be allowed, before I conclude, to pro- 
 pose this question to your consideration, Is 
 Messiah, the desire of all nations, the object 
 of your chief desire ? How much depends 
 upon the answer ? Do you wish to know 
 your present state in the sight of God ? If 
 
SER. IV. 
 
 G55 
 
 THE LORD COMING TO HIS TEMPLE. 
 
 you are faithful to yourselves you may be sa- 
 tisfied, provided you will abide by the deci- 
 sion of scripture. God is well pleased in his 
 Son ; if you are well-pleased with him, if he 
 is precious to you, and the desire of your soul 
 is supremely directed to him, then you as- 
 suredly possess the beginning, the foretaste, 
 and th° earnest of eternal life. If you so en- 
 ter into the descriptions given in the Bible of 
 his person, love, office, and glory, as to place 
 your whole dependence upon him, to devote 
 yourselves simply co him, and to place your 
 happiness in his favour, then you are happy 
 indeed ! happy even at present, though not 
 exempted from a share in the afflictions inci- 
 dent to this mortal state. For your sins are 
 pardoned, your persons are accepted in the 
 Beloved : to you belong the promises of guid- 
 ance, protection, and supply through life, vic- 
 tory over death, and then a crown of glory 
 which fadeth not away. To say all in a few 
 words, God is your Father, and heaven is 
 your home. 
 
 But on the other hand, if you trust in your- 
 selves that you are righteous and good, at least 
 comparatively so ; if your attachment to the 
 business or the pleasures of the world en- 
 grosses your thoughts and application, so that 
 you have no leisure to attend to the record 
 which God has given of his Son, or no relish 
 for the subject, you have been hitherto guilty 
 of treating the most glorious display of the 
 wisdom and goodness of God with contempt. 
 Many persons thus employed and thus dis- 
 posed, bear respectable characters in civil life, 
 from which I do not wish to detract . But 
 however amiable you may be in the judgment 
 of your fellow-creatures, vou are a sinner in 
 the sight of God, and will be treated by him 
 as an enemy to his government and glory, if 
 you finally persist in a rejection of his gospel. 
 The great point which will determine your 
 state for eternity, will be this, What think you 
 of Christ ? For it is written, “ If any man love 
 not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathe- 
 ma Maranatlia,” 1 Cor. xvi. 22. He must 
 and will fall under the curse and condemna- 
 tion of the law, and be punished with ever- 
 lasting destruction from the presence of the 
 Lord, and from the glory of his power. To- 
 day, therefore, while it is called to-day (for to- 
 morrow is not ours), may you hear his voice, 
 and flee for refuge to the hope set before you ! 
 
 SERMON IV. 
 
 THE LORD COMING TO HIS TEMPLE. 
 
 The Lord , whom ye seek , shall suddenly come 
 to his temple, even the Messenger of the co- 
 venant in whom ye delight : behold, he shall 
 come, saith the Lord of Hosts. But who may 
 abide the day of his coming ? and who shall 
 stand when he appeareth ? for he is like a 
 refiner' s f re. and like fuller s soap. — And he 
 shall purify the sons of Levi — that they may 
 offer unto the Lord an offering in righteous- 
 ness. Malachi, iii. 1 — 3. 
 
 “ Whereunto shall we liken the people of this 
 generation, and to what are they like ?” Luke 
 vii. 31. I represent to myself a number of 
 persons of various characters, involved in one 
 common charge of high treason. They are 
 already in a state of confinement, but not yet 
 brought to their trial. The facts, however, 
 are so plain, and the evidence against them so 
 strong and pointed, that there is not the least 
 doubt of their guilt being fully proved, and 
 that nothing but a pardon can preserve them 
 from punishment. In this situation, it should 
 seem their wisdom to avail themselves of every 
 expedient in their power for obtaining mercy 
 But they are entirely regardless of their dan 
 ger, and wholly taken up with contriving me- 
 thods of amusing themselves, that they may 
 pass away the term of their imprisonment with 
 as much cheerfulness as possible. Among 
 other resources they call in the assistance of 
 music. And amidst a great variety of sub- 
 jects in this way, they are particularly pleased 
 with one. They choose to make the solemni- 
 ties of their impending trial, the character of 
 their judge, the methods of his procedure, and 
 the awful sentence to which they are exposed, 
 the ground-work of a musical entertainment 
 And, as if they were quite unconcerned in the 
 event, their attention is chiefly fixed upon the 
 skill of the composer, in adapting the style of 
 his music to the very solemn language and 
 subject with which they are trifling. The 
 King, however, out of his great clemency and 
 compassion towards those who have no pity 
 for themselves, prevents them with his good- 
 ness. Undesired by them, he sends them a 
 gracious message. He assures them that he 
 is unwilling they should suffer : he requires, 
 yea, he entreats them to submit. He points 
 out a way in which their confession and sub- 
 mission shall be certainly accepted; and in 
 this way, which he condescends to prescribe, 
 he offers them a free and a full pardon. But 
 instead of taking a single step towards a com- 
 pliance with his goodness, they set his mes- 
 sage likewise to music ; and this, together 
 with a description of their present state, and 
 of the fearful doom awaiting them if they con- 
 tinue obstinate, is sung for their diversion. 
 
656 THE LORD COMING TO HIS TEMPLE. ser. IV 
 
 accompanied with the Bound of cornet, flute, 
 harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all 
 kinds of instruments, Dan. iii. 5. Surely, if 
 such a case as I have supposed could be found 
 in real life, though I might admire the musi- 
 cal taste of these people, I should commise- 
 rate their insensibility ! 
 
 But is not this case more than a supposi- 
 tion ? Is it not, in the most serious sense, ac- 
 tually realized amongst ourselves ? I should 
 insult your understandings if I judged a long 
 application necessary. I know my supposi- 
 tion must have already led your thoughts to 
 the subject of the Messiah, and to the spirit 
 and temper of at least the greater part of the 
 performers, and of the audiences. The holy 
 scripture concludes all mankind under sin, 
 Rom. iii. 9. It charges them all with trea- 
 son and rebellion against the great sovereign 
 Lawgiver and Benefactor, and declares the 
 misery to which, as sinners, we are obnoxious. 
 But God is long-suffering, and waits to be 
 gracious. The stroke of death, which would 
 instantly place us before his awful tribunal, 
 is still suspended. In the meantime he af- 
 fords us his gospel, by which he assures us 
 there is forgiveness with him. He informs 
 us of a Saviour, and that, of his great love 
 to sinners, he has given his only Son to be 
 an atonement and mediator in favour of all 
 who shall sue for mercy in his name. The 
 character of this Saviour, his unspeakable 
 love, his dreadful sufferings, the agonies he 
 endured in Gethsemane, and upon the cross, 
 are made known to us. And as his past hu- 
 miliation, so his present glory, and his invi- 
 tation to come to him for pardon and eternal 
 life, are largely declared. These are the prin- 
 cipal points expressed in the passages of the 
 Messiah. Mr. Handel, who set them to mu- 
 sic, has been commemorated and praised, many 
 years after his death, in a place professedly 
 devoted to the praise and worship of God ; 
 yea (if I am not misinformed), the stated 
 worship of God in that place was suspended 
 for a considerable time, that it might be duly 
 prepared for the commemoration of Mr. Han- 
 del. But, alas ! how few are disposed to 
 praise and commemorate Messiah himself! 
 The same great truths, divested of the music, 
 when delivered from the pulpit, are heard by 
 many admirers of the oratorio with indiffer- 
 ence, too often with contempt. 
 
 Having thus, as I conceived myself bound 
 in duty, plainly and publicly delivered my 
 sentiments, of the great impropriety of mak- 
 ing the fundamental truths of Christianity the 
 subject of a public amusement, I leave what 
 I have said to your serious reflections, hoping 
 it will not be forgotten ; for I do not mean to 
 trouble you often with a repetition of it. Let 
 us now consider the passage before us. If 
 you read it with attention, and consider the 
 great ideas it suggests, and the emphatical 
 language with which they are clothed, you 
 
 will not, perhaps, think the manner of my 
 introducing it wholly improper. 
 
 Malachi confirms and unites the prophecies 
 of Isaiah and Haggai, which were the subject 
 of our two last discourses. John is the mes- 
 senger, spoken of in the beginning of the first 
 verse, sent to prepare the way of the Lord. 
 Then the Lord himself shall come suddenly 
 to his temple, that is, immediately after the 
 appearance of his forerunner, and with regard 
 to the people in general, unexpectedly. 
 
 The question, “ Who may abide the day of 
 his coming ?” intimates the greatness and 
 solemnity of the event. If we take his com- 
 ing in an extensive sense to denote the whole 
 of his sojourning upon earth, from his incar- 
 nation to his ascension, it is unspeakably the 
 greatest of all events recorded in the annals 
 of mankind; and though he lived in the form 
 of a servant, and died the death of a malefac- 
 tor, the vast consequences which depend upon 
 his appearance under these humiliating cir- 
 cumstances, rendered it a manner of coming 
 every way worthy of himself. It afforded a 
 more awful discovery of the majesty, glory, 
 and holiness of God, than was displayed upon 
 Mount Sinai, and proved a closer and more 
 searching appeal to the hearts and consciences 
 of men. To enter more into the spirit and 
 meaning of the question here proposed, we 
 shall briefly take notice of the following 
 points, which the words offer to our serious 
 meditation. May the Holy Spirit whose office 
 it is to glorify the Saviour, enlighten our 
 hearts to understand them, with application 
 to ourselves ! 
 
 I. The names which are here ascribed to 
 Messiah. 
 
 II. The suddenness of his coming. 
 
 III. The searching power of it in general, 
 expressed by “a refiner’s fire,” and by “ful- 
 ler’s soap.” 
 
 IV. Its purifying power on the sons of 
 Levi, the priesthood in particular. 
 
 I. The names ascribed to Messiah. 
 
 The Lord. — It is a general rule with our 
 translators to express LORD in capita] let- 
 ters, where it answers to Jehovah in the He- 
 brew, and there only. The word here is not 
 Jehovah, but Adonai. It is however a name 
 of God, though not incommunicable like the 
 other, being frequently applied to kings and 
 superiors. It properly implies authority and 
 rule, as we say, A Lord and Master. In this 
 connection it is undoubtedly a divine name. 
 The Lord is said to come to his temple, to 
 his own temple. It was a house consecrated 
 to the God of Israel. The first temple he hon- 
 oured with tokens of his presence; the second 
 he visited in person ; on which account it ex- 
 ceeded the first in glory. Messiah, there- 
 fore, who appeared in our nature, and Mas 
 known amongst men as a man, and who is now 
 M'orshipped both in heaven and upon earth, is 
 , the God of Israel. He came to his own. Thi 
 
SER. IV. 
 
 THE LORD COMING TO HIS TEMPLE. 
 
 doctrine of God manifest in the flesh, is the 
 pillar and ground of truth : the only founda - 
 tion on which a sinner, who knows the just 
 desert of his sin, can build a solid hope of 
 salvation, is, that Jesus Christ is the true God 
 and eternal life, 1 John v. 20. Unless this 
 be admitted, the whole tenor both of the Old 
 and New Testament, is unintelligible. To 
 say that this doctrine approves itself to human 
 reason in its present fallen depraved state, 
 would be to contradict the apostle, who as- 
 serts, that no man can say that Jesus Christ 
 is Lord, but by the Holy Ghost, 1 Cor xii. 3. 
 But it is highly reasonable to those who see 
 that they must perish, without such an atone- 
 ment as shall declare the righteousness of 
 God, no less than his mercy, in the forgive- 
 ness of sin ; who feel the necessity of holiness 
 in order to happiness; and are acquainted 
 with the nature and variety of the snares, 
 temptations, and enemies to which they are 
 exposed. Such persons cannot venture their 
 eternal concerns upon the dignity, or care, or 
 power, or patience of a mere creature, how- 
 ever exalted and excellent ; they must be as- 
 sured that their Saviour is almighty, or they 
 dare not trust in him ; nor would they dare 
 to honour the Son as they honour the Father, 
 to love him with all their heart, and soul, and 
 strength, to devote themselves absolutely to 
 his service, and to expect their supreme hap- 
 piness from his favour and approbation, if 
 they did not know that he is over all, God 
 blessed for ever. 
 
 With respect to the inferior character he 
 sustains in our nature, and for our sakes, as 
 the Father’s servant, he is styled, The Mes- 
 senger of the covenant. He is the gift, pro- 
 mise, head, and substance of the everlasting 
 covenant. And he came himself to establish 
 the covenant, and to declare and bestow the 
 blessings it contained. God, who had before 
 spoken at divers times and in sundry manners 
 by his prophets, spoke in the fulness of time 
 by his Son (Heb. i. l) ; testifying to him by 
 a voice from heaven, This is my beloved Son, 
 hear him ; in him I am w r ell pleased. Mat. 
 ifi. 17. To the same purpose our Lord 
 spake of himself. He prefaced his gracious 
 invitation to all, without exception, who are 
 weary and heavy laden, to come to him for 
 rest (Mat. xi. 27), with a declaration of his 
 commission and authority, saying, “ All things 
 are delivered unto me of my Father, and no 
 jne (ot/h/s) knoweth the Son but the Father, 
 neither knoweth any one the Father, save the 
 Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.” 
 The law was given by Moses (John i. 17); 
 the moral law, to discover the extent and 
 abounding of sin ; the ceremonial law, to 
 point out, by typical sacrifices and ablutions, 
 the way in which forgiveness was to be sought 
 and obtained ; — but grace, to relieve us from 
 the condemnation of the one, and truth an- 
 
 657 
 
 swerable to the types and shadows of the 
 other, came by Jesus Christ. 
 
 It is farther said, “ The Lord whom ye seek, 
 and the Messenger in whom ye delight.” — 
 Messiah was the hope and desire of the true 
 Israel of God, from the earliest times ; and 
 when he was born into the world, there was a 
 prepared people waiting and longing for him, 
 as their consolation. The people at large 
 likewise professed to expect great things from 
 the coming of Messiah. But their expecta- 
 tions were low and earthly. They supposed 
 that he would deliver them from the Roman 
 yoke, and give them victory and power over 
 the heathen nations. The more grievous 
 bondage of sin under which they were en- 
 slaved, they were not sensible of, nor had they 
 a disposition suited to the privileges and ho- 
 nours of the kingdom which he designed to 
 establish ; and therefore, their understandings 
 being darkened by prejudice and preposses- 
 sion, they could not discern his character. 
 The prophecies which were read in their syn- 
 agogues every sabbath, marked out the time 
 and circumstances of Messiah’s appearance, 
 the places which he should principally visit, 
 the doctrine he should teach, and the works 
 which he should perform : but though all 
 these particulars exactly applied to Jesus, they 
 obstinately rejected him, and proceeded to 
 fulfil what was farther foretold of his suffer- 
 ings and death, with such a minute punctu- 
 ality, as if they had designedly taken the pro- 
 phecies for the rule of their conduct. Thus, 
 by giving neither more nor less than thirty 
 pieces of silver to his betrayer, by buying the 
 potter’s field, and no other, with the money 
 afterwards ; by casting lots for one of his gar- 
 ments, and making a distribution of the rest ; 
 by piercing his side contrary to the custom in 
 such punishments, and by omitting to break 
 his legs, which, from their treatment of the 
 malefactors who suffered with him, seems to 
 have been usual — in these and several othei 
 instances, they acted, though unwittingly, as 
 if it had been their design and study to ac- 
 complish the scriptures to their own confusion 
 and condemnation. 
 
 II. This w'as the reason why his coming to 
 his temple was to them sudden. Though long 
 foretold and long expected, and though the 
 precise time of his advent, and the accom- 
 panying signs, were accurately defined and 
 described, yet when the season arrived, he 
 came suddenly, unlooked for, and unknown. 
 He came upon them in an hour that they 
 thought not of, and in a manner of which they 
 were not aware. When he stood in the midst 
 of them, they knew not that it was he. How 
 dreadfully does sin harden and infatuate the 
 hearts of men ! The Jew's, in our Saviour’s 
 time, furnish us with a striking instance, that 
 it is possible for people fatally to miscarry 
 with the greatest advantages and means for 
 3 C .. 
 
SER. IV. 
 
 65 8 THE LORD COMING 
 
 information in their possession. They ac- 
 counted themselves the people of God, made 
 their boast of his law, and their relation to 
 Abraham. But they hated Messiah, and 
 crucitied him, who was the object of Abra- 
 ham’s faith. The opposition of their leaders 
 and teachers was the most malicious, for many 
 of them acted against the light of their minds, 
 and were often convicted in their consciences, 
 though they refused to be convinced. But 
 an ignorant attachment to these blind guides 
 was ruinous to their blind followers, who, 
 though they sometimes, from a view of his 
 mighty works were struck with astonishment 
 and constrained to say, “ Is not this the son of 
 David ?” were at length influenced by their 
 priests to prefer a murderer to him, and, with 
 a clamorous importunity, to compel Pilate to 
 put him to death. The like misapprehensions 
 produce the like effects among professed Chris- 
 tians at this day. We likewise have the scrip- 
 tures : but how many who admit their autho- 
 rity in words, live willingly ignorant of their 
 contents, and act in direct contradiction to 
 their tenor ! The power of the Saviour is 
 likewise displayed among us, his preached 
 gospel is daily made effectual to the great pur- 
 poses for which it is vouchsafed ; yet multi- 
 tudes reject it with no less pertinacity than the 
 Jews rejected him in person. At length death 
 surprises them, and they sink into darkness 
 beyond recall. To them the Lord may be 
 said to come suddenly, for they think not of 
 him till they actually find themselves at his 
 tribunal. And this not only when they are 
 cut off by a sudden stroke, but often when 
 their dissolution is most gradual, and every 
 one about them can perceive its approach by 
 their countenances ; they themselves, though 
 wasting with disease, and worn out with pain, 
 still flatter themselves with hopes of amend- 
 ment and recovery to their last gasp ; and a 
 lingering death is to them no less sudden than 
 if they were killed by a flash of lightning. 
 
 III. It is asked, “ Who may abide the day 
 of his coming? The effect is compared to a 
 refiner’s fire, and to fuller’s soap. The re- 
 finer’s fire penetrates the metal, and thereby 
 searches, discovers, and consumes the dross. 
 The fuller’s soap also, though it does not 
 destroy the texture of the cloth, cleanses it, 
 by removing, and as it were consuming the 
 spots and defilement which are found in it. 
 The idea conveyed by these illustrations is the 
 same. The day of his coming is a day of 
 trial, a trial which issues in the purification of 
 the work of God in his church, and in the de- 
 tection and destruction of every thing in it 
 which is contrary to his will. 
 
 The coming of Messiah may be taken in 
 several senses. 
 
 To the Jews, according to the promise of 
 God repeated from age to age, he came in 
 person. The Word was made flesh, and 
 dwelt among them, John i. 1 2. The term in 
 
 TO HIS TEMPLE. 
 
 the original alludes to the visible symbol of 
 the divine presence, which resided in the ta- 
 bernacle and temple. Thus for a season he 
 resided among them, in a temple not made 
 with hands, but formed, by the immediate 
 agency of the Holy Spirit, in the womb of a 
 virgin. This was a happy time to those who 
 received and acknowledged him. But the 
 bulk of the nation could not abide the trial 
 which his appearance exposed them to, they 
 were proved by it to be but reprobate and 
 counterfeit silver. The thoughts of many 
 hearts were revealed, Luke ii. 35. Many 
 specious characters were detected. The pre- 
 tended sanctity and outward strictness of the 
 Scribes and Pharisees, was evidenced to be 
 mere hypocrisy. He exposed them in their 
 true colours, and upon many occasions put 
 them to shame and to silence. And where his 
 word did not cleanse like soap, it burnt like 
 fire, and the persons and places that rejected 
 him were rendered inexcusable. Their great 
 privilege of seeing his wonderful works, and 
 hearing his gracious words, being abused, ag- 
 gravated their guilt and condemnation, and 
 made their doom heavier than that of Sodom 
 and Gomorrah. To them the day of the 
 Lord, which in their own sense they professed 
 to desire was darkness, and not light, Amos, 
 v. 18. If he had not come and spoken to 
 them himself, they had not had sin, John 
 xv. 22. That is, comparatively, he found 
 them great sinners, and they would have been 
 such if he had not visited them. But after 
 he had spoken to them, and spoken in vain, 
 they had no cloak for their sin. From that 
 time they were deprived of every shadow of 
 plea, excuse, or extenuation. And all their 
 former wickedness was light, compared with 
 the enormous crime they were guilty of in re- 
 jecting and crucifying the Son of God. By 
 refusing him, they rendered their case help- 
 less and hopeless, because there is no other 
 name but his, given among men, whereby 
 they may be saved. But he cleansed those 
 who received him, he removed their guilt, 
 their fears, their ignorance. He gave them a 
 clean heart and a new spirit. Yet to these 
 also he was as a refiner’s fire, and as fuller’s 
 soap. They likewise had prejudices and sel- 
 fish tempers, which were not at once removed. 
 He called them to a state of suffering and 
 self-denial, to forsake all, and to take up their 
 cross daily for his sake. 
 
 In another sense, his coming is not restrain- 
 ed to a particular time. Wherever his gos- 
 pel is preached, the Lord is come. It is by 
 the gospel he rides forth prosperously, con- 
 quering and to conquer, Psal. xlv. 4. Thus 
 he has promised to be present with his mi- 
 nisters, and wherever two or three are met 
 in his name, to the end of the world. Thus 
 he is come to us. And the effects are the 
 same as when he was personally upon earth. 
 His gospel still discovers the thoughts of 
 
SEIl. IV. 
 
 THE LORD COMING TO HIS TEMPLE. 
 
 many hearts. Many persons who till then 
 were reputed religious, by the contempt they 
 cast upon this wonderful expedient of infinite 
 wisdom and love to save sinners, manifest 
 their ignorance and hatred of the law and ho- 
 liness of God, and that the religion they pre- 
 tend to is an empty lifeless form, destitute of 
 love and power. To them, though in itself a 
 savour of life, it proves a savour of death. It 
 provokes their enmity, increases their obdu- 
 racy, and leaves them without excuse. But 
 it is life indeed to those who receive it. They 
 are raised by it from a death of sin, unto a 
 life of righteousness and peace. Their tem- 
 pers, desires, pursuits, and hopes are changed 
 and elevated. Old things pass away, and all 
 things become new to them, according as it is 
 written, “ If any man be in Christ Jesus, he 
 is a new creature,” 2 Cor. v. 17. 
 
 He comes to individuals by the power of 
 his Spirit. This makes the word of his gos - 
 pel effectual. For the kingdom of God is 
 not in word only, but in power. When he 
 thus visits the hearts of sinners, his word is 
 like fire and soap ; “ quick and powerful, 
 sharper than a two-edged sword,” Heb. iv. 
 12. Then they feel and tremble, and cry out 
 with the prophet, “ Wo is me, I am undone!” 
 But in this way their dross is consumed, their 
 defilement removed. When he thus wounds, 
 he likewise heals. He gives them faith ; by 
 faith they look unto him, and are enlightened 
 and saved. 
 
 We surely expect that he will come again. 
 Not as he once came, in a state of humilia- 
 tion. The Babe of Bethlehem, the Man of 
 sorrows, who hung, and bled, and died upon 
 the cross for our sins, will return in glory. 
 “ Behold, he cometh in the clouds, and every 
 eye shall see him,” Rev. i. 7. Concerning 
 this day, emphatically called the day of the 
 Lord, we may well say, “ Who may abide 
 it ?” To those who have not beeu the sub- 
 jects of his refining operations here, he will 
 then be a consuming fire. That great day 
 (for which all other days were made), “ when 
 the Lord shall descend with the voice of the 
 archangel and the trump of God, will burn 
 like an oven, and all the proud, and all that 
 do wickedly, shall be as stubble, and the day 
 that cometh shall burn them up,” Mai. iv. 1. 
 Where, then, shall the impenitent ungodly 
 sinner appear ? But it will be a joyful day 
 to them that love his appearing. He will 
 arise upon them, as the Sun of righteousness, 
 with healing in his wings ; he will wipe away 
 their tears, vindicate their characters, acknow- 
 ledge them before an assembled world, and 
 say unto them, “ Come, ye blessed of my 
 Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for 
 you,” Matth. xxv. 34. 
 
 IV. It is particularly said, “ He will pu- 
 rify the sons of Levi, — that they may offer 
 unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.” 
 The sons of Levi, the priests, the officiat- 
 
 659 
 
 ing ministers of God, were gone out of the 
 way, and had corrupted the covenant of the 
 Lord, and thereby had caused many to stum 
 ble, Mai. ii. 8, 9. They dishonoured their 
 office, and became themselves vile and con- 
 temptible. Thus they went on from bad to 
 worse, till the men of that generation filled 
 up the measure of the iniquity of their fore- 
 fathers, by the rejection of Messiah. He also 
 rejected them. The blasted barren fig-tree 
 (Matth. xxi. 19.), which withered to the very 
 root at his word, was an emblem of their con- 
 dition. In a little time, wrath came upon 
 them to the uttermost ; they saw the temple 
 in which they had trusted, and which they 
 had profaned, destroyed by fire, and the greater 
 part of them perished. But a remnant of 
 them was purified. We read, that after his 
 ascension, a great company of the priests were 
 obedient to the faith, Acts vi. 7. And his 
 apostles and disciples were sent forth with a 
 new spirit, and a new character, to offer and 
 to serve in righteousness. The purport of this 
 passage has been repeatedly exemplified un- 
 der the Christian dispensation. A declension 
 from the simplicity and purity of worship, 
 principles, and morals, was visible very early 
 in the church . The progress of it was rapid, 
 especially from the time of Constantine. When 
 persecution ceased, and a tide of wealth and 
 worldly honours flowed in upon those who, 
 by their profession, were bound to be patterns 
 of humility and self-denial to others ; from 
 that period, till the Reformation, ecclesiasti- 
 cal history affords us little more than a detail 
 of such instances of pride, intrigue, oppres- 
 sion, and cruelty, under the pretext of reli- 
 gion, as had not been known among the hea- 
 thens. And the nations which were relieved 
 from the chains and darkness of Popery at 
 the Reformation, did not long preserve much 
 more than a name and a form to distinguish 
 them. In most countries, the state became 
 the idol of the church, and the church the 
 creature of the state. How it is with us in 
 this nation, I need not say. Facts speak for 
 themselves. It is a mournful fact, that the 
 ministry is become contemptible; nor is it 
 difficult to assign the cause. But we are fa- 
 voured with the gospel, and are eye-witnesses 
 of its purifying power. It still produces the 
 effects which marked its progress when it was 
 preached by the apostles. It enlightens the 
 dark mind, softens the hard heart, heals the 
 wounded spirit ; and many persons who be- 
 fore were burdensome to society, are rendered 
 by it ornamental and useful. When every 
 other argument and motive has failed of suc- 
 cess, the consideration of the mercies of God 
 in Christ, revealed by the gospel, constrains 
 the believing sinner to present himself a liv- 
 ing, willing, holy sacrifice unto God. Thus, 
 being purified by the blood of Jesus, he of- 
 fers to the Lord a sacrifice in righteousness. 
 Such principles and aims are essential to a 
 
6G0 
 
 Christian minister. He knows the terrors of 
 the Lord, and has tasted of his goodness. 
 He is constrained by love, the love of Christ, 
 and the love of souls. He preaches, as the 
 apostle did, Jesus Christ, and him crucified ; 
 a subject which, though despised and re- 
 proached by the formal Jew and the sceptical 
 Greek, is evidenced by its efficacy to be the 
 wisdom and power of God. Such ministers 
 may be, and frequently are, depreciated and 
 disregarded ; but they cannot be contempt- 
 ible, until integrity, benevolence, and useful- 
 ness, are the proper objects of contempt. 
 
 SERMON V. 
 
 TMMANUEL. 
 
 Behold a virgin shall conceive , and bear a son, 
 and shall call his name Immanuel , God with 
 us. Isaiah, vii. 14. 
 
 There is a signature of wisdom and power 
 impressed upon the works of God, which evi- 
 dently distinguishes them from the feeble imi- 
 tations of men. Not only the splendour of 
 the sun, but the glimmering light of the glow- 
 worm, proclaims his glory. The structure and 
 growth of a blade of grass are the effects of 
 the same power which produced the fabric of 
 the heavens and the earth. In his word like- 
 wise he is inimitable. He has a style and 
 manner peculiarly his own. What he is pleased 
 to declare of himself by the prophet, may be 
 prefixed as a proper motto to the whole reve- 
 lation of his will in the Bible. “ My thoughts 
 are not your thoughts, neither are your ways 
 my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens 
 are higher than the earth, so are my ways 
 higher than your ways, and my thoughts than 
 your thoughts,” Isa. lv. 8, 9. This superi- 
 ority of his thoughts to ours, causes a pro- 
 portionable difference in his manner of opera- 
 tion. His ways are above our conceptions, 
 and often contrary to them. He sometimes 
 produces great effects by means which, to us, 
 appear unsuitable and weak. Thus he gave 
 Gideon a complete victory, not by providing 
 him an army equal to that of the enemy, but 
 by three hundred men furnished with earthen 
 pitchers and lamps, Judges vii. 19, 20. At 
 other times the greatness of his preparations 
 intimates that there are difficulties in the case, 
 insuperable to any power but his own, where 
 our narrow apprehensions, until enlightened 
 and enlarged by his teaching, can scarcely 
 perceive any difficulty. It is eminently so 
 with respect to the restoration of fallen man 
 to his favour. We have but slight thoughts 
 of his holiness, and therefore are but slightly 
 affected by the evil of sin. . But though he be 
 rich in mercy, no wisdom but his own could 
 have proposed an expedient whereby the ex- 
 
 SER. V 
 
 ercise of his mercy towards sinners might be 
 made to correspond with his justice and truth, 
 and with the honour of his moral government. 
 His gospel reveals this expedient, and points 
 out a way in which mercy and truth meet to- 
 gether ; and his inflexible righteousness is dis- 
 played in perfect harmony with the peace of 
 sinners who submit to his appointment ; and 
 thus God appears not only gracious but just, 
 in receiving them to favour. This is the 
 greatest of all his works, and exhibits the 
 most glorious discovery of his character and 
 perfections. The means are answerable to 
 the grandeur of the design, and are summa- 
 rily expressed in my text. 
 
 I shall not take up your time with attempt- 
 ing to clear the difficulties which have been 
 observed in the context. It may suffice for 
 my purpose to affirm, that this passage ex- 
 pressly and exclusively refers to the Messiah, 
 for which my warrant is the authority of the 
 evangelists Matthew and Luke (Matth. i. 23 ; 
 Luke i. 31, 32), who directly apply it to him, 
 and assure us that it was accomplished in him. 
 If sinners are to be saved, without injury to 
 the honour of his law and government (and 
 otherwise they must perish), two things are 
 necessary, 
 
 I. That a virgin shall conceive, and bring 
 forth a son. 
 
 II. That this son of the virgin shall have 
 a just right to be called Immanuel, God with 
 us. 
 
 I. A virgin shall conceive, and bring forth 
 a son. The Mediator, the surety for sinful 
 men, must himself be a man. Because those 
 whom he came to redeem were partakers of 
 flesh and blood, he therefore took part of the 
 same. Had not Messiah engaged for us and 
 appeared in our nature, a case would have oc- 
 curred which I think we may warrantably deem 
 incongruous to the divine wisdom. I mean, 
 that while fire and hail, snow and vapour, and 
 the stormy wind, fulfil the will of God, while 
 the brutes are faithful to the instincts implant- 
 ed in them by their Maker, a whole species of 
 intelligent beings would have fallen short of 
 the original law and design of their creation, 
 and indeed have acted in direct and continual 
 opposition to it. For the duty of man to love, 
 serve, and trust God with all his heart and 
 mind, and to love his neighbour as himself, is 
 founded in the very nature and constitution 
 of things, and necessarily results from his re- 
 lation to God, and his absolute dependence on 
 him as a creature. Such a disposition must 
 undoubtedly have been as natural to man be- 
 fore his fall, as it is for a bird to fly, or a fish 
 to swim. The prohibitory form of the law 
 delivered to Israel from Mount Sinai, is a 
 sufficient intimation that it was designed for 
 sinners. Surely our first parents, while in a 
 state of innocence, could not stand in need 
 of warnings and threatening to restrain them 
 from worshipping idols, or profaning the name 
 
 IMMANUEL. 
 
SER. V. 
 
 of the great God whom they loved. Nor 
 would it have been necessary to forbid mur- 
 der, adultery, or injustice, if his posterity had 
 continued under the law of their creation, the 
 law of love. But the first act of disobedience 
 degraded and disabled man, detached him from 
 his proper centre, if I may so speak, and inca- 
 pacitated him both for his duty and his happi- 
 ness. After his fall, it became impossible for 
 either Adam or his posterity to obey the law of 
 God. But Messiah fulfilled it exactly, as a man, 
 and the principles of it are renewed, by the 
 power of his grace, in all who believe on him. 
 And though their best endeavours fall short, 
 his obedience to it is accepted on their behalf, 
 and he will at length perfectly restore them 
 to their primitive order and honour. When 
 they shall see him as he is, they will be like 
 him, and all their powers and faculties will 
 be perfectly conformed to his image. 
 
 Again, Messiah must not only be a man, 
 but a partaker of our very nature. It had 
 been equally easy to the power of God to have 
 formed the body of the second Adam, as he 
 formed the first, out of the dust of the earth. 
 But though, in this way, he would have been 
 a true and perfect man, he would not have 
 been more nearly related to us than to the an- 
 gels. Therefore, when God sent forth his 
 Son to be made under the law, to redeem 
 us from the curse of the law, that we might 
 receive the adoption of children (Gal iv. 4, 5), 
 and be re-admitted into his happy family, he 
 was made of a woman. Thus he became 
 our Goel, our near kinsman, with whom the 
 right of redemption lay. 
 
 But farther, if he had derived his human 
 nature altogether in the ordinary way, from 
 sinful parents, we see not how he could have 
 avoided a participation in that defilement and 
 and depravity which the fall of Adam had en- 
 tailed upon all his posterity. But his body, 
 that holy thing, conceived and born of a vir- 
 gin, was the immediate production of God. 
 Therefore he was perfectly pure and spotless, 
 and qualified to be such a high priest as be- 
 came us, holy, harmless, undefiled, and se- 
 parate from sinners (Heb. vii. 26) ; who need- 
 ed not, as the typical high-priests of Israel, 
 to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sin, and 
 then for the sins of the people, Heb. vii. 27. 
 These difficulties were obviated by a virgin’s 
 conceiving and bearing a son. His obedi- 
 ence was without defect, his nature without 
 blemish, and, having no sin of his own, when 
 he voluntarily offered himself to make an a- 
 tonement for the sins of his people, his sacri- 
 fice was, so far, answerable to the strict and 
 extensive demands of the law and justice of 
 God. 
 
 Let us make a solemn pause, and call upon 
 our souls to admire and adore the wisdom and 
 power of God in this appointment. Thus the 
 Lord created a new thing upon the earth ! 
 
 II. But surely our admiration and grati- 
 
 661 
 
 tude will be raised still higher, if we rightly 
 understand the latter part of my text. This 
 son of the virgin shall be called Immanuel, 
 God with us. Though the human nature of 
 Christ was absolutely perfect, his obedience 
 commensurate to the utmost extent of the law, 
 and his substitution and sufferings for sinners 
 voluntary, yet, had he been no more than a 
 man, he w'ould not have been equal to the 
 great undertaking of saving sinners. A due 
 consideration of the majesty, holiness, autho- 
 rity, and goodness of God will make sin ap- 
 pear to be, as the apostle expresses it, exceed- 
 ingly sinful, Rom. vii. 13. Whoever has a 
 right sense of the nature and effects of that 
 rebellion against the Most High, which the 
 scripture intends by the term sin, will not 
 need many arguments to convince him that 
 the Mediator between God and man must be 
 possessed of such dignity and power as can- 
 not be attributed to a creature without de- 
 stroying the idea of a created and dependent 
 being, by ascribing to him those perfections 
 which are incommunicably divine. 
 
 If Messiah had been a sinless and perfect 
 man, and no more, he might have yielded a 
 complete obedience to the will of God, but it 
 could have been only for himself. The most 
 excellent and exalted creature cannot exceed 
 the law of his creation. As a creature, he is 
 bound to serve God with his all, and his obli- 
 gations will always be equal to his ability. 
 But an obedience acceptable and available for 
 others, for thousands and millions, for all who 
 are willing to plead it, must be connected with 
 a nature which is not thus necessarily bound. 
 A sinner, truly convinced of his obnoxious- 
 ness to the displeasure of God, must sink into 
 despair, notwithstanding the intimation of a 
 saviour, if he were not assured by the scrip 
 ture that it was a divine person in the human 
 nature who engaged for us. It is this alone 
 affords a solid ground for hope, to know that 
 he who was before all, by whom all things 
 were made, and by whom they consist, assumed 
 the nature of man ; that the great Lawgiver 
 himself submitted to be under his own law. 
 This wonderful condescension gave an im- 
 mense value and dignity to all that he did, to 
 all that he suffered : thu-s he not only satis- 
 fied but honoured the law. So that we may, 
 without hesitation, affirm, that the law of God 
 was more honoured by Messiah, in his obe- 
 dience to it, during the few years of his re- 
 sidence upon earth, and terminated by his last 
 and highest act of obedience in submitting to 
 the death of the cross, than it could have been 
 by the unsinning obedience of all mankind to 
 the end of time. 
 
 But Messiah was not only to obey the law 
 for us, but he w'as likewise to expiate, to sus- 
 tain and to exhaust the curse due to sin. 
 Gal. iii. 13. In this attempt no mere crea- 
 ture could have endured. Nor could the suf- 
 ferings of a creature have been proposed tc 
 
 IMMANUEL. 
 
SER. V. 
 
 IMMANUEL. 
 
 662 
 
 the universe, to angels, and men, as a con- 
 sideration sufficient to vindicate the righteous- 
 ness and truth of God in the remission of sin, 
 after he had determined and solemnly declared 
 that the wages of sin is death. The apostle 
 assures us that it is impossible for the blood 
 of bulls and of goats to take away sin, Heb. 
 x. 4. They who differ from the apostle in 
 their judgment, who think it very possible for 
 God, if he pleased, to forgive the sinner who 
 should offer a bull or a goat, or even without 
 any offering, by the sovereign exercise of his 
 mercy, may be reminded that the question is 
 not simply what God can do, but what it be- 
 comes him to do, agreeable to his perfections, 
 and to his character as governor of the world. 
 Of this his infinite wisdom is the only com- 
 petent judge j and we learn from his word, 
 that it is impossible any blood, but that of his 
 own Son, can cleanse us from guilt, or save 
 us from misery. The blood of a bull or a 
 goat, of a man or an angel (if angels could 
 bleed), are all equally insufficient to the great 
 purpose of declaring his righteousness, of 
 manifesting to all intelligent creatures his 
 inflexible displeasure against sin, in the very 
 act of affording mercy to sinners. But since 
 the atoning blood is the blood of Immanuel, 
 of him who is God with us ; the sinner who 
 makes it his plea, builds his hope upon a rock 
 which cannot be removed ; and obtaining for- 
 giveness in this way, he likewise obtains by it 
 such a knowledge of the heinousness of sin, as 
 disposes him from that hour to fear, hate, and 
 forsake it 
 
 But though forgiveness be an essential 
 part of salvation, it is not the whole. We 
 cannot be happy, except the power of sin be 
 likewise destroyed. A well-grounded hope 
 in the mercy of God, is connected with a 
 thirst for sanctification, and a conformity to 
 his image. But neither this hope nor this 
 desire is natural to us. Our case requires 
 the help of an almighty arm, of the power 
 which can cause the blind to see, the deaf 
 to hear, the dead to arise ; which can take 
 away the heart of stone, and create a heart of 
 flesh. So likewise the difficulties attendant 
 on our Christian profession, arising from the 
 spirit of the world around us, the snares to 
 which we are exposed in every situation, our 
 weakness, the deceitfulness of our hearts, the 
 subtilty, vigilance, and power of our spi- 
 ritual enemies, are so many and great, that 
 unless he, on whom we depend for salvation, 
 be able to save to the uttermost, we can have 
 no security, either for our progress, or our 
 perseverance, in the grace of God. Unless 
 the Saviour of sinners be omnipresent, omni- 
 scient, unchangeable, “the same yesterday, to- 
 day, and for ever,” that is, unless he be God, 
 how can he answer the prayers, satisfy the 
 wants, and relieve the distresses of all who 
 trust in him in every age, and of all who in 
 every place equally need his support at the 
 
 same moment? Or how can he engage to 
 give rest to every weary soul, to secure them 
 from perishing, and to bestow upon them 
 eternal life? David comfortably concluded, 
 that because the Lord was his shepherd, he 
 should not want, and had no reason to fear 
 (Psal. xxiii. 1. 4.), not even when passing 
 through the valley of the shadow of death. 
 To us Jesus is made known as the great shep- 
 herd of the sheep ; but how can we place the 
 like confidence in him, unless we likewise are 
 assured that our shepherd is the Lord ? 
 
 I shall not attempt to vindicate this doc- 
 trine largely from the exceptions of those who 
 call themselves men of reason. It is a point 
 of revelation, and it is expressly revealed. It 
 demands our assent upon the authority of 
 God, who requires us to receive this record 
 which he has given us of his Son. Thus fai 
 it approves itself to our reason, that however 
 difficult it may be to our conceptions, yet thus 
 it must be, upon a supposition that sinners 
 can be saved without prejudice to the honour 
 of the divine government. If we affirm, that 
 he who was born in a stable, and suffered as 
 a malefactor upon Mount Calvary, is the 
 true God and eternal life, many will think it 
 a hard saying. But it is the doctrine of 
 scripture, the very pillar and ground of truth ; 
 the only foundation of hope for an awakened 
 conscience, the only standard by which we 
 can properly estimate the evil of sin, the 
 worth of the soul, and the love of God. We 
 do not, however, say, that the human nature 
 of Christ, considered in itself, possesses the 
 attributes of Deity, or is the proper object of 
 worship ; nor do we suppose that God could 
 suffer, bleed, or die. But we say with the 
 apostle, “ that God was in Christ reconciling 
 the world unto himself,” 2 Cor. v. 1 9. We 
 believe that the human nature was so inti- 
 mately and indissolubly united to the divine, 
 that the properties and actings of each nature 
 are justly ascribed to the one person of Christ. 
 God-man, Immanuel, God with us. Thus 
 we read that the final judgment of the world 
 is committed to a man, and that God hath 
 purchased his church with his own blood, 
 Acts xvii. 31 ; xx. 28. 
 
 Behold then the character of Messiah in 
 this prophecy ! a man ! a God ! a divine per- 
 son in the human nature ! God manifested 
 in the flesh ! Immanuel, God with us ! 
 
 As fallen creatures, we had lost the true 
 knowledge of God, and were unable to form 
 such conceptions of his greatness and good- 
 ness, as are necessary to inspire us with reve- 
 rence, to engage our confidence, or produce 
 obedience to his will. His glory shines in the 
 heavens and fills the earth ; we are surround- 
 ed by the tokens of his power and presence ; 
 yet, till we are instructed by his word, and en- 
 lightened by his Holy Spirit, he is to us an 
 unknown God. The prevalence of idolatry 
 was early, and (with an exception to the 
 
5ER. V. 
 
 people of Israel) soon became universal. Men 
 who boasted of their reason, worshipped the 
 sun and moon, yea, the works of their own 
 hands, instead of the Creator. And even where 
 revelation is vouchsafed, the bulk of mankind 
 live without God in the world. But he is 
 known, trusted, and served, by those who 
 know Messiah. To them his glory is dis- 
 played in the person of Jesus Christ, 2 Cor. 
 iv. 6 . His agency is perceived in the crea- 
 tion, his providence is acknowledged, and his 
 presence felt as God with us. 
 
 As fallen creatures, God is against us, and 
 we are against him. The alienation of our 
 hearts is the great cause of our ignorance of 
 him. We are willingly ignorant. The thoughts 
 of him are unwelcome to us, and we do not 
 Tike to retain him in our knowledge. Guilt 
 is the parent of atheism. A secret forebod- 
 ing, that if there be a God, we are obnoxious 
 to his displeasure ; and that if he takes cog- 
 nizance of our conduct, we have nothing to 
 hope, but every thing to fear from him, con- 
 strains many persons to try to persuade them- 
 selves that there is no God ; and many more 
 to think, or at least to wish, that if there be a 
 God, he does not concern himself with human 
 affairs. What a proof is this of the enmity of 
 the heart of man against him ; that so many 
 persons who would tremble at the thought of 
 being in a ship, driven by the winds and 
 waves, without compass or pilot, should yet 
 think it desirable, if it were possible, to be 
 assured, that in a world like this, so full of 
 uncertainty, trouble, and change, all tilings 
 were left at random, without the interference 
 of a supreme governor ! But this enmity, 
 these dark apprehensions, are removed, when 
 the gospel is received by faith. For it brings 
 us the welcome news, that there is forgiveness 
 with him ; that God is reconciled in his Son 
 to all who seek his mercy. In this sense, 
 likewise, Messiah is Immanuel, God with us, 
 on our side, no longer the avenger of sin, but 
 the author of salvation. 
 
 Immanuel is God with us, God in our 
 nature still. He suffered as a man, and as a 
 man he now reigns on the throne of glory ; 
 exercising all power and authority, and re- 
 ceiving all spiritual worship both in heaven 
 and upon earth. He is the head of all prin- 
 cipalities and powers, thrones and dominions. 
 Thus man is not only saved, but unspeakably 
 honoured and ennobled. He is brought into 
 the nearest relation to him, who is over all 
 blessed for ever. The angels adore him ; 
 only redeemed sinners can say, “ He loved 
 us, and gave himself for us ; he has washed 
 us from our sins in his own blood” (Gal. 
 ii. 20; Rev. i, 5) ; he is our Saviour, our shep- 
 herd, our Immanuel, God with us. 
 
 I shall conclude with a few obvious reflec- 
 tions which offer from this important subject. 
 
 1. What a cold assent is paid to the doc- 
 trine of the Godhead of Christ by many who 
 
 663 
 
 profess and receive it as a truth ! They have 
 received from education, from books or mi- 
 nisters, what is called an orthodox scheme of 
 religious sentiments, and with this they are 
 contented. They have not been accustomed 
 to doubt of it, and therefore take it for grant- 
 ed that they really believe it. But as I have 
 already hinted, it is so contrary to our natu- 
 ral apprehensions, that no man can, from his 
 heart, say that Jesus Christ is. Lord, unless he 
 be taught of God. And a cordial belief of 
 this point will and must produce great and 
 abiding effects. They who know the Sa- 
 viour’s name, will so trust in him, as to re- 
 nounce every other ground of confidence. 
 They will love him supremely, and forsake 
 every thing that stands in competition with 
 his favour. They will glory in his cross, 
 they will espouse his cause, and devote them- 
 selves to his service. They will make conti • 
 nual application to him, that they may receive 
 out of his fulness grace according to their 
 need. They will obey his precepts, and walk 
 in his Spirit. Happy were it, indeed, if all 
 who join in repeating the Creed, and who bow 
 their knee at the mention of his name, were 
 thus minded. But the lives, tempers, and 
 pursuits of thousands, give too sure an evi- 
 dence, that when they express their assent 
 with their lips, they neither know what they 
 say, nor whereof they affirm. Their acknow- 
 ledgment of his character, has no more salu- 
 tary influence, than that of the evil spirits 
 when he was upon earth, who said and per- 
 haps with a much fuller conviction, “ We 
 know thee who thou art, the holy one of God,” 
 Mark i. 24. 
 
 2. What a strong foundation does this doc- 
 trine afford for the faith and hope of those 
 who indeed know Messiah, and have put their 
 trust in him ! This truth is the rock upon 
 which the church is built, and the gates of 
 hell shall not prevail against it. “ If God be 
 for us, who shall be against us ?” The diffi- 
 culties of our warfare are great, the enemies 
 of our peace are many. The world may 
 frown, and Satan will rage, but Jesus has 
 overcome the world, and is greater than all 
 our foes. He will guide his people with his 
 unerring wisdom, support them with his al- 
 mighty arm, supply them out of the inex- 
 haustible riches of his grace, revive them when 
 fainting, heal them when wounded, plead for 
 them above as their great high priest, manage 
 for them upon earth as their great shepherd, 
 and at last make them more than conquerors, 
 and give them a crown of life. 
 
 3. On the contrary, how dreadful must be 
 the state of those who finally reject him, and 
 say in their hearts, “ We will not have this 
 man to rule over us!” He is now proposed 
 as a Saviour, he invites sinners to come to him, 
 that they may have life, and assures us, “that 
 him that cometh he will in nowise cast out,” 
 John vi. 37. Happy are they who hear and 
 
 IMMANUEL. 
 
SER. VI 
 
 664 SALVATION 
 
 obey his voice to-day, while it is called to-day. 
 To-morrow is uncertain. Death may be at 
 the door, and at death our state will be deter- 
 mined for eternity. They who refuse him 
 now, in the character of a Saviour, must then 
 appear at his tribunal, and stand before him 
 as their Judge ; and must answer, in their own 
 persons, for all their transgressions of the holy 
 law, and for their contempt of the gospel of 
 the grace of God. 
 
 SERMON VI. 
 
 SALVATION PUBLISHED FROM THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 0 Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up 
 into the high mountains : 0 Jerusalem, that 
 bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with 
 strength, lift it up, be not afraid : say unto 
 the cities of Judah, Behold your God ! 
 
 Isaiah, xl. 9. 
 
 It would be improper to propose an altera- 
 tion, though a slight one, in the reading of a 
 text, without bearing my testimony to the 
 great value of our English version, which I 
 believe, in point of simplicity, strength, and 
 fidelity is not likely to be excelled by a new 
 translation of the whole scriptures. But there 
 are undoubtedly particular passages where a 
 small change in the expression might render 
 the sense clearer, and be equally answerable 
 to the original Hebrew or Greek. The ad- 
 dress of this verse as it stands in the Messiah 
 is, “ O thou that tellest good tidings,” &c. as 
 the Bishop of London has lately translated it. 
 Zion and Jerusalem are considered by the 
 prophet, not as bringing, but as receiving good 
 tidings ; and the publisher of these good tid- 
 ings is written with a feminine construction. 
 The sense may be thus expressed, “ Let her 
 that bringeth good tidings to Jerusalem and 
 Zion, get up into the high mountains and lift 
 up her voice.” But the apostrophe is more 
 animated. That it was the custom in Israel 
 for the women to publish and celebrate good 
 news with songs and instruments is well known. 
 We have an early instance in the book of Ex- 
 odus. When the Lord had delivered them 
 from the power of Pharaoh, and they saw 
 their enemies, who had so lately threatened 
 them, dead upon the sea -shore, Miriam, the 
 sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand, 
 and all the women went out after her with tim- 
 brels and with dances ; and Miriam answer- 
 ed them, “ Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath 
 triumphed gloriously : the horse and his rider 
 hath he thrown into the sea,” Exod. xv. 20, 
 21. So afterwards, when David returned 
 from the slaughter of the Philistines, the wo- 
 men came out to meet him and Saul, with 
 tabrets and instruments of music ; and they 
 answered one another as they played, “ Saul 
 
 PUBLISHED 
 
 hath slain his thousands, and David his ten 
 thousands,” 1 Sam. xviii. 6, 7. Thus like 
 wise Deborah, in her sublime song, repre- 
 sents the mother of Sisera (Judges v. 28, 29) 
 and her women singing alternately, from a 
 confident, though vain expectation, that Si- 
 sera would return a conqueror. In my text, 
 the prophet, in prospect of Messiah’s appear- 
 ance, speaks of it as an event suited to excite 
 a general joy. The gospel (as the word im- 
 ports) is good news, glad tidings indeed ! the 
 best news that ever reached the ears, or cheered 
 the heart of man. The women are therefore 
 called upon to proclaim his approach, on the 
 tops of the hills and mountains, from whence 
 they may be seen and heard to the greatest 
 advantage, for the spreading of the tidings 
 throughout the whole country. Zion is as a 
 besieged city, but let her know that relief is 
 at hand; say unto her, “ Behold your God !” 
 The Lord God will come with a strong hand, 
 or against the strong one, and his people shall 
 know him as their shepherd, full of care, 
 kindness, and power. 
 
 The promise of Immanuel, God with us, is 
 now to be spread like the morning from the 
 tops of the mountains. The day is breaking, 
 and this passage prepares for the following, 
 “ Arise, shine, for thy light is come !” The 
 welcome news is to be dispersed from Jerusa- 
 lem to Samaria, from Jew to Gentile, from one 
 kingdom to another people, till all the nations 
 and ends of the earth shall see the salvation 
 of God, Psal. xcviii. 3. 
 
 The cause of this exultation arises from the 
 character of Messiah, compared with the de- 
 sign of his appearance, and this is answerable 
 to the condition in which he finds mankind. 
 
 The deplorable state of fallen man by na- 
 ture is largely described both in the Old Tes- 
 tament and in the New. It may suffice to 
 take notice of three principal features which 
 characterise our whole species, and apply to 
 every individual of the race of Adam, until 
 the grace of God, which bringeth salvation, 
 affords relief. These are guilt, alienation of 
 heart, and misery. 
 
 1. Guilt. — All have sinned. We are the 
 creatures of God. He made us, and he pre- 
 serves us. Our life, faculties, and comforts 
 are all from him. He is therefore our great 
 Lord, our supreme benefactor. Of course we 
 belong to him. His we are, and not our 
 own. It follows, that dependence, gratitude, 
 submission, and obedience are incumbent on us, 
 as they must be upon all intelligent creatures, 
 from the very nature of things. The relation 
 which subsists between an infinitely wise and 
 good Creator and his creatures, if capable of 
 knowing him, necessarily implies this subjec- 
 tion ; and the obligation is indissoluble. But 
 we have evidently broken this law of our crea- 
 tion. We have violated the order of God’s 
 government. We have implicitly, if not for- 
 mally^ renounced -our allegiance, disowned 
 
SER. VI. 
 
 FROM THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 his right over us, and set up for ourselves. 
 A dependent creature affecting independence ; 
 a worm presuming upon its own power, mak- 
 ing itself its own end ; a rebel against the di- 
 vine government, boasting of morality and 
 goodness, and trusting to his own conduct to 
 recommend him to the favour of his Maker ; 
 a being formed for immortality, proposing his 
 whole happiness in things which he feels to be 
 unsatisfying, knows to be uncertain, and from 
 which he is conscious he must, in a few years 
 at most, be finally removed : these are sole- 
 cisms which strongly prove the depravity, de- 
 generacy, and demerit of man. It is possible 
 that, had we been wholly left to ourselves, we 
 should never have been aware, while in this 
 world, of the just and inevitable consequences 
 of our rebellion. Having lost all right thoughts 
 of God, and conceiving of him, as if he were 
 altogether like ourselves, we might have felt 
 neither fear nor remorse. But there is a re- 
 velation, by which we are informed of his de- 
 termined purpose to avenge disobedience, and 
 to vindicate the honour of his government; 
 and we are assured that he is not an indif- 
 ferent spectator of our opposition to his esta- 
 blished order. His justice and truth are en- 
 gaged to punish transgressors, and our ob- 
 noxiousness to punishment is what we mean 
 by guilt. If the scripture be true there is no 
 way of escape, unless he himself be pleased to 
 appoint one. This he has done, and the de- 
 claration of this appointment is a part of the 
 good tidings contained in my text. Proclaim 
 it from the tops of the mountains that there is 
 forgiveness with him. Say unto Jerusalem, Be- 
 hold Messiah ! Behold your God ! He comes 
 to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, 
 Heb. ix. 26. He can do it, for he is God ; 
 and he will do it, for he has taken on him our 
 nature for this very purpose, 2 Cor. v. 21. 
 Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away 
 the sin of the world ! 
 
 2. Alienation of mind. — Not only is it true 
 that we have sinned against the Lord, but a 
 principle of aversion from him is deeply rooted 
 in our hearts. Therefore one part of our na- 
 tural character is, haters of God, Rom. i. 30. 
 This is thought a hard saying. Many who 
 will admit that their conduct is blameable, and 
 that they are not altogether what they ought 
 to be, will by no means plead guilty to this 
 charge. If they fall short of their duty, and 
 in some instances transgress his command- 
 ments, they say it is their infirmity, they are 
 sorry, and hope to do better some time or 
 other. However, they are willing to think 
 that their hearts are tolerably good, they mean 
 well, and are shocked at the idea of hating 
 God. They rather presume that they love 
 him, though they are not so careful to please 
 him as they should be. I do not assert that 
 we hate God under that character which our 
 vain imaginations form of him. If we can 
 persuade ourselves, in direct contradiction to, 
 
 665 
 
 the testimony of scripture, that he is not strict 
 to mark what is amiss ; that he will dispense 
 with the strictness of his law ; that he will 
 surely have mercy upon us, because we are 
 not openly abandoned and profligate in our 
 conduct ; that he will accept of lip-worship, 
 in which the heart has no concern, reward us 
 for actions in which we had no intention of 
 pleasing him, permit us to love and serve the 
 world with all our mind, and soul, and strength, 
 while we live, and make us happy in another 
 world, when we can live in this no longer. 
 If we form such an image of God, it is too 
 much like our own to provoke our enmity, 
 for it is destitute of holiness, justice, and truth. 
 But the carnal mind is and must be enmity 
 against God (Rom. viii. 7), according to the 
 character he has given of himself in his word. 
 We have an inbred dislike to all his moral at- 
 tributes, to the rule of his government, and to 
 the methods of his grace. We cannot, that is, 
 we will not propose either his glory as our 
 chief end, or his favour as our chief good. 
 The proof is plain. The ends which we ac- 
 tually pursue, and the supposed good which 
 we deliberately prefer, are utterly inconsistent 
 with the plan which he has prescribed for us. 
 His ways, though truly pleasant in themselves, 
 appear unpleasing to us, and we think we can 
 plan better for ourselves. We do not like to 
 retain God in our thoughts (Rom. i. 28), 
 which is a sure sign of enmity. Nay, this 
 enmity is so strong in us naturally that we 
 cannot bear others should think more highly 
 of God than we do, or be more attached to 
 him than we are. This was the ground of 
 the first murder. Abel loved God, and God 
 was pleased to testify his approbation of Abel, 
 and therefore Cain killed him, 1 John iii. 12. 
 This has been the great cause of the opposi- 
 tion and ill-treatment which the servants of 
 God have met with from the men of the world 
 in all succeeding ages; a cause which still 
 subsists, and will continue to operate upon 
 posterity yet unborn. Can we shew a stronger 
 mark of dislike to a person than by hating all 
 who profess a regard to him, and when that 
 is the only cause of our resentment ? Such 
 is the prevailing enmity against God. For 
 how often do we see, that, when his grace en- 
 ables a sinner to forsake the spirit and prac- 
 tice of the world, his former friends are im- 
 mediately offended, and perhaps those of his 
 own household become his inveterate ene- 
 mies ? 
 
 But, O thou that bringest good tidings, 
 lift up thy voice ! Say to poor sinners, Be- 
 hold your God ! He comes to take this en- 
 mity away ! The cross of Christ subdues it, 
 when every other expedient has been found 
 ineffectual. The heart, too hard to be soften- 
 ed by a profusion of temporal benefits, and 
 too stout to be subdued by afflictions, is melt- 
 ed by the dying love of a Saviour, and by that 
 discovery of the divine perfections which is 
 
666 
 
 exhibited in redemption. We have a strik- j 
 ing instance of this effect, in the case of Saul of I 
 Tarsus, Acts ix. 1 — 20. His misguided con- 
 science, under the influence of prejudice, per- 
 suaded him, that he ought to do many things 
 against Jesus of Nazareth. Instigated with 
 rage, and not satisfied with the injuries he 
 had offered to his disciples at Jerusalem, but 
 still breathing out threatnings and slaughter, 
 he journeyed towards Damascus, designing to 
 harass and persecute them wherever he found 
 them. In this temper of mind, he was sud- 
 denly arrested on his way, by a light, and a 
 voice from heaven. He fell to the ground. 
 But Jesus, whom he had ignorantly perse- 
 cuted, instructed him in the knowledge of his 
 person and love, pardoned his sin, a-nd com- 
 missioned him to preach the faith he had la- 
 boured to destroy. How sudden, how evi- 
 dent, how abiding was the change which then 
 took place in his heart and in his conduct ! 
 From that moment he accounted “all things 
 loss and dung, for the excellency of the know- 
 ledge of Christ Jesus his Lord,” PhiL iii. 8. 
 Unwearied by labour and hardship, undis- 
 mayed by opposition and danger, he spent the 
 remainder of his life in the cause of his Mas- 
 ter ; and like Caesar, accounting nothing done 
 while any thing remained to do, his active and 
 intrepid spirit was continually meditating new 
 services, Acts xix. 21. And, though he 
 knew that bonds and afflictions awaited him 
 in every place, he was always upon the wing 
 to publish to his fellow-sinners the grace and 
 glory of him whom he had so long opposed, 
 only because be knew him not. And although 
 the circumstances attending the apostle’s case 
 were extraordinary, the case itself, as to the 
 substance, is not singular. I trust many per- 
 sons in this assembly have been the subjects 
 of a like change. The doctrine which Paul 
 preached, has enlightened your understand- 
 ings, has inspired you with hopes and desires 
 to which you were once strangers, and given 
 a new direction to the conduct and aims of 
 your life. You were once afar off from God, 
 but you are now brought nigh by the blood 
 of Christ. You once lived to yourselves, but 
 now you feel that you are no longer your 
 own, and have devoted yourselves to him who 
 died to save you from the present evil world, 
 and from the wrath to come. 
 
 3. Misery. — If we are guilty in the sight 
 of God, and alienated from him in our hearts, 
 we must be miserable. Guilt entails a burden, 
 and a foreboding of evil upon the conscience. 
 And our alienation from the fountain of living 
 waters (Jer. ii. 13) compels us (for we are 
 insufficient to our own happiness) to seek our 
 resources from broken cisterns, and pits which 
 will hold no water. Farther, sin has filled 
 the world with woe. The whole creation tra- 
 vails and groans ; and natural evil is insepa- 
 rable from moral, as the shadow from the 
 body. Though tne earth be filled with tokens 
 
 SER. vr. 
 
 of the goodness, patience, and forbearance of 
 God, it likewise abounds with marks of his 
 displeasure. I think we have sufficient reason 
 to attribute earthquakes, hurricanes, famine, 
 and pestilence, to sin as their original and 
 proper cause. We can hardly conceive, that 
 if mankind had continued in that happy state 
 of love and obedience to God, in which our 
 first parents were created, they would have 
 been exposed to such calamities. When God 
 at the beginning, surveyed every thing that 
 he had made, “behold it was very good,” 
 Gen. i. 31. All was beauty and harmony, 
 till sin introduced disorder and a curse. But 
 far worse than what we suffer immediately 
 from the providence of God, are the evils 
 which we bring upon ourselves and upon 
 each other. The dreadful consequences of 
 war, rapine, discord, hatred, ambition, ava- 
 rice, and intemperance, furnish part of every 
 page in the mournful history of human life, 
 and are felt in every nation, city, village, and 
 family. Want, cares, and diseases, prey 
 upon individuals. Disappointment, dissatis- 
 faction, vanity, and vexation of spirit, are ex- 
 perienced by persons of every rank, and in 
 every stage of human life. How much more 
 desirable would it be, were it not for the hope 
 of the gospel, to share with the brute creation, 
 than to bear the name of man in his fallen 
 state ! The brutes have few wants ; their pro- 
 pensities and the means of gratifying them, 
 are suited to their natures, adapted to their 
 powers, and conducive to the preservation of 
 the species. They neither regret the past, 
 nor tremble under apprehensions of the fu- 
 ture. It is far otherwise with man. His 
 boasted pleasures end with a sting, and often 
 he cannot bear his own reflections on them. 
 He suffers almost as much from imaginary 
 fears, as from real afflictions. The more he pos- 
 sesses, the more are the sources of his anxieties 
 multiplied and enlarged. And after having 
 been long wearied with a train of mortifica- 
 tions, pains, and inquietudes, he must at last, 
 however unwilling, yield to that stroke of 
 death, the thought of which, when strongly 
 realized to his mind, was always sufficient to 
 embitter the happiest hours of his life. 
 
 But publish the glad tidings from the 
 mountains, and let the joyful sound diffuse 
 over the plain. — Your God cometh ! Mes- 
 siah establishes a new, a spiritual kingdom 
 upon the earth, and his happy subjects are 
 freed from the misery in which they were in- 
 volved. They commit all their concerns to 
 him, and he manages for them. Their fears 
 are removed, their irregular desires corrected, 
 and all that is really good for them, is secured 
 to them by his love, promise, and care. Afflic- 
 tions still await them, but they are sanctified. 
 To them the nature of affliction is changed. 
 They are appointments graciously designed 
 for their advantage. Their crosses, no less 
 than their comforts, are tokens of God’s fa- 
 
 SALVATION PUBLISHED, &C. 
 
SER. VII. 
 
 THE MORNING LIGHT. 
 
 6G7 
 
 vour (Heb. xii. 6, 7); they have them only 
 because their present situation requires disci- 
 pline, and they could not be so well without 
 them. They are assured of support under 
 them (2 Cor. xii. 9), and a final deliverance 
 out of them all : for there is a happy hour 
 approaching, when all their troubles shall 
 cease, and they shall enter upon a state of 
 eternal, uninterrupted, inconceivable joy, (Isa. 
 lx. 20 ; Rev. xxi. 4. 
 
 For these purposes the Son of God was re- 
 vealed. The prophets saw his day afar off, 
 and proclaimed his approach. — Thy God 
 cometh ! Though truly a man, he is truly 
 God. Neither man nor angel could remove 
 our guilt, communicate to us a spiritual life, 
 relieve us from misery, aud give us stable 
 peace in a changing world, hope and triumph 
 in death, and eternal life beyond it. But his 
 wisdom and power are infinite, and his pur- 
 pose unchangeable. He would not have in- 
 vited the weary and heavy laden to come to 
 him, if he was not able and determined to 
 give them rest. None that seek him are dis- 
 appointed, or sent empty away : a sufficient 
 proof that his compassion, his bounty, his ful- 
 ness are properly divine. Therefore the 
 apostle, speaking of the riches of his grace, 
 uses the epithet, “unsearchable,” Ephes. iii. 8. 
 His treasury of life and salvation is inexhaus- 
 tible, like a boundless, shoreless, bottomless 
 ocean; like the sun, which having cheered 
 the successive generations of mankind with 
 his beams, still shines with undiminished 
 lustre, is still the fountain of light, and has 
 always a sufficiency to fill innumerable mil- 
 lions of eyes in the same instant. 
 
 Does the language of my text cause joy to 
 spring up in your hearts ? or is it nothing to 
 you ? If you heard the Messiah you were, 
 perhaps, affected by the music of the passage; 
 how much are you to be pitied, if you were 
 hitherto unaffected by the sentiment ! Yet 
 once more, hear, — Thy God cometh ! He did 
 come in the fulness of time, according to the 
 prophecy, and the word of prophecy assures 
 us that he will come again. “ Behold he 
 cometh in the clouds : and every eye shall see 
 him, and they also that pierced him, Rev. 
 i. 7. — Prepare to meet thy God, Amos, iv. 12. 
 
 SERMON VII 
 
 THE MORNING LIGHT. 
 
 Arise, slime, for ihy light is come, and the glory 
 of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold , 
 darkness shall cover the earth, and gross 
 darkness the people ; but the Lord shall arise 
 upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon 
 thee : and the Gentiles shall come to thy 
 light and kings to the brightness of thy ris- 
 ing. Isaiah, lx. 1 — 5. 
 
 One strong internal proof that the Bible is a 
 divine revelation, may be drawn from the 
 subject-matter, and particularly that it is the 
 book, and the only book, which teaches us to 
 think highly and honourably of God. I say, 
 the only book, for there is no right knowledge 
 of God where the Bible is not known. What 
 is the Jupiter of Homer, compared with the 
 God of Israel, as he is represented to us by his 
 servants the prophets? And if the heathen 
 philosophers, in some detached passages, have 
 sentiments not altogether unworthy of him, 
 history honestly tells us how they obtained 
 them. They travelled, and they are generally 
 said to have travelled into Phoenicia or Egypt, 
 to the confines of that people who alone thought 
 rightly of God, because to them only he had 
 made himself known by a revelation. If such 
 a description as we have in the fortieth chap- 
 ter of Isaiah, from the twelfth verse to the 
 end, had been known only of late years, re- 
 covered, we will suppose, out of the ruins of 
 Herculaneum, there is little doubt but it 
 would have engaged the attention and admi- 
 ration of the learned world. For the most ad- 
 mired writings of antiquity, upon a candid 
 comparison, are unspeakably inferior to it. 
 The inimitable sublimity of the prophets is 
 natural, just, and unforced, and flows from 
 the grandeur of their subjects, because they 
 were influenced by him who alone can speak 
 worthily of himself. 
 
 A song so V3st, a theme so high, 
 
 Calls for the voice that tuned the sky. 
 
 With them, the whole compass of the creation 
 is but as dust upon the balance, in respect of 
 the great Creator. His purpose is fate, his 
 voice is power. He speaks and it is done. 
 Tlius he called the universe into being; and 
 thus, as the great Lord and proprietor of all, 
 he still maintains and governs it, directing the 
 frame of nature, and every particular event 
 and contlngence, to the promoting of his own 
 glory, the last and highest end of all his 
 works. 
 
 The principal of these is, the exhibition of his 
 perfections in the person of his Son. The pro- 
 phecies we have already considered announce 
 thiseventj with a gradual increase of clearness 
 and precision, as the period of accomplishment 
 
THE MORNING LIGHT. 
 
 SER. VII. 
 
 668 
 
 >s supposed to draw nigh. We lately heard the 
 command to proclaim his approach from the 
 hills and the tops of the mountains. Here the 
 prophet begins to contemplate the effects of his 
 actual appearance. The earth is considered 
 as involved in a state of gross darkness, but 
 the sun, the Sun of righteousness is about to 
 arise, and to fill it by his beams, with light, 
 life, and glory. These effects, indeed, will 
 not extend to all, for many will love darkness 
 rather than light. But he will not shine in 
 vain. There will be a people prepared to re- 
 ceive him, and to rejoice in his light. They 
 shall arise as from sleep, as from the grave, 
 and his light reflected upon them shall cause 
 them to shine likewise. Darkness shall still 
 cover those who reject him ; yea, their dark- 
 ness will be increased. But the glory of the 
 Lord shall be seen upon all who believe, and 
 their numbers, from age to age, shall be en- 
 larged. Nations shall come to him, and kings 
 shall be subservient to the spreading of his 
 kingdom. Such is the scope of the passage 
 before us. I shall briefly consider a few of 
 the leading particulars contained in it. 
 
 I. As the sun is the source of light to the 
 natural world, so is Messiah to the moral and 
 spiritual world. Light, and its opposite, dark- 
 ness, are figuratively used in scripture. The 
 latter is applied to a state of ignorance, sin, 
 and misery, as in the following texts. “ He 
 that walketh in darkness, knoweth not whi- 
 ther he goeth,” John xii. 35. “ If we say 
 
 that we have fellowship with him, and walk in 
 darkness, we lie, and do not the truth,” 1 John 
 i. 6. “ Cast ye the unprofitable servant into 
 
 outer darkness : there shall be weeping and 
 gnashing of teeth,” Matth. xxv. 30. The 
 former,' therefore, signifies true knowledge, 
 holiness, and happiness. “ Ye were some- 
 time darkness, but now are ye light in the 
 Lord : walk as children of the light,” Eph. v. 
 8. “ When I sit in darkness, the Lord shall 
 
 be a light unto me,” Micah vii. 8. “ Light 
 
 is sown for the righteous, and joy for the up- 
 right in heart,” Psal. xcvii. 11. I select but 
 one instance of each kind ; an attentive reader 
 of the scriptures will meet with many expres- 
 sions of a like import. But there is likewise 
 an intermediate state; light advancing from 
 the early dawn to the perfect day. This twi- 
 light, no less than day-light is from the sun. 
 Such was the state of the Old Testament 
 church. Messiah was the source of their 
 knowledge, hope, and joy ; but he was (if I 
 may so speak) below the Horizon as to them. 
 Though believers under that dispensation w'ere 
 a people saved of the Lord, they were trained 
 up ’under types and shadows, were influenced 
 by a spirit of comparative bondage and dis- 
 tance, like children under age, and rather 
 longed for than actually possessed the gracious 
 liberty which the children of God enjoy un- 
 der the gospel. But the sun arose, and the 
 shadows vanished, when the Son of God in- j 
 
 carnate dwelt and conversed with men, ho- 
 noured his temple with his personal presence, 
 andsuperseded all the Levitical sacrifices, by the 
 one offering of himself upon the cross. “ The 
 law was given by Moses, but grace and truth 
 came by Jesus Christ.” But more especially 
 we date the beginning of his visible kingdom 
 from the day of Pentecost, which followed his 
 ascension. Then he signally bestowed the 
 gifts which, as mediator, he had received for 
 men, and, by the power of his Holy Spirit, 
 authorized and qualified his servants to go 
 forth and preach salvation in his name. Then 
 the partition-wall between Jew and Gentile was 
 taken away, and his righteousness was openly 
 shown in the sight of the Heathen. Abra- 
 ham, Moses, Elijah, and other servants of 
 God, had been highly favoured and highly 
 honoured ; but we are assured by our Lord 
 himself, that none born of woman had been 
 greater than John his forerunner — -and yet he 
 added, “ the least in the kingdom of heaven,” 
 that is, in the New-Testament or gospel- 
 church, “ is greater than he,” Math. xi. 11. 
 The apostles were happy in the peculiar pri- 
 vilege of attending on his person, yet he told 
 them, “ it is expedient for you that I go 
 away,” John xvi. 7. There were still greater 
 privileges depending upon the influence of the 
 promised Comforter, who was to abide with 
 the church for ever. By the power of his 
 Holy Spirit, the Lord is now present with all 
 his ministers and people in every place, whe- 
 ther retired in secret from the view of men, 
 or assembled together in his name (Matth. 
 vi. 6, xviii. 20, xxviii. 20) ; and though the 
 great events upon which their hopes are found- 
 ed, his life, passion, death, resurrection, and 
 ascension took place long ago, he so realizes 
 the declaration of them in his word to their 
 hearts, that they are no less assured of what 
 they read than the apostles, who saw him with 
 their own eyes. Thus the gospel-state is a 
 dispensation of light. The Sun is risen with 
 life and healing in his beams, and they who 
 have the eyes of their understanding opened, 
 enjoy a bright and marvellous day. They see, 
 admire, adore, rejoice, and love. 
 
 II. The subjects of Messiah’s kingdom, the 
 living members of his church, are so irradi- 
 ated by him that they shine likewise, as the 
 moon shines, but with a borrowed light de- 
 rived from the sun. Beholding, in this glass, 
 the glory of the Lord, they are changed into 
 the same image from glory to glory (2 Cor. 
 iii. 18), according to the measure and growth 
 of their faith. Two points may be observed 
 under this head. 
 
 1 . The fact that they do thus shine. Though 
 they were once darkness, they are now light, 
 Ephesians, v. 8. A dark, ignorant, wicked, 
 selfish Christian is a contradiction in terms. 
 There may be such, there are too many such, 
 amongst those who make a profession of the 
 name of Christ; but they who truly know 
 
SEll. VII. 
 
 THE MORNING LIGHT 
 
 him walk in the light, as he is in the light. 
 They have knowledge, a good understand- 
 ing, Psal. cxi. JO. Perhaps the greater part 
 of real Christians have little acquaintance with 
 the literature and science of the world : their 
 moral capacities may be weak, and not im- 
 proved by education ; they may be in the 
 esteem of men, as they are in their own, 
 but babes ; yet they know more than the 
 wisest philosophers who are destitute of the 
 grace of God. They know themselves, they 
 know the Lord, they know the evil of sin, 
 and the way of salvation ; what their proper 
 happiness consists in, and how it is to be ob- 
 tained. They have learned to endure afflic- 
 tion, to forgive injuries, and to overcome evil 
 with good. They have attained a just sense 
 of the vanity of the world and the importance 
 of eternity. They are instructed to be con- 
 tented and useful in their stations, to dis- 
 charge their duties in relative life with pro- 
 priety, and to meet death with comfort. In 
 all these particulars, many who have dazzling 
 talents, and are celebrated for abilities and 
 endowments, are miserably at a loss. True 
 believers are conformed to the spirit and tem- 
 per of their Saviour, and therefore are dif- 
 ferent and distinguished from the world around 
 them. And they have, at least, the begin- 
 nings of true peace and solid happiness, in 
 communion with him whom they serve. 
 
 2. The cause. — They shine wholly by his 
 light. If their own words may be taken, the 
 proof of this is easy. They are free to confess 
 that they are wise only by his wisdom, strong 
 by his power working in them, and that with- 
 out him they have not sufficiency to think a 
 good thought, 2 Cor. iii. 5. Experience has 
 taught them that they cannot stand unless he 
 upholds them, nor watch unless he watcheth 
 with them, nor be safe or happy a single day 
 without fresh communications from him. But 
 this their experience and acknowledgment is 
 the express and current doctrine of scripture. 
 There is a real, though mystical union be- 
 tween Christ and his people. He is the vine 
 (John xv. l), they the branches: he is their 
 head, they the members of his body. They 
 dwell in him by faith, he dwells in them by 
 his Spirit. He is their root and their life ; 
 all their springs are in him, and it is out of 
 his fulness that they receive, John i. 16. 
 Therefore the apostle says, “ I live, yet not 
 I, but Christ liveth in me” (Gal. ii. 20); “ I 
 can do all things through Christ strengthen- 
 ing me,” 2 Cor. xii. 9. And our Lord him- 
 self, who comforted Paul with that promise, 
 “ My grace is sufficient for thee,” apprised all 
 his followers of their entire dependence upon 
 him, by saying, “ Without me ye can do no- 
 thing,” John xv. 5. The language of the 
 Old Testament is to the same purport. “ They 
 looked unto him and were enlightened,” Psal. 
 xxxiv. 5. “ In the Lord Jehovah I have 
 
 righteousness and strength,” Isaiah xlv. 24. 
 
 069 
 
 “ He giveth power to the faint, and to them 
 that have no might he increaseth strength,” 
 Isaiah xl. 29. Thus things are constituted 
 and conducted, that no flesh should glory in 
 his presence, but that he who glorieth may 
 glory in the Lord, 1 Cor. i, 29 — 31. 
 
 III. They who wilfully refuse and turn 
 from this light, do thereby involve themselves 
 in double darkness, and become more infatu- 
 ated and wicked than those to whom the light 
 has not been proposed. Their evils, likewise, 
 are more aggravated than they would have been 
 if the light had not visited them. Thus our 
 Lord Messiah speaks of the Jews, “ If I had 
 not come and spoken unto them, they had 
 not had sin ; but now they have no cloak 
 for their sin,” John xv. 22. And again, 
 “ For judgment I am come into this world, 
 that they which see not might see, and they 
 which see might be made blind,” John ix. 39. 
 He came to make the ignorant wise unto sal- 
 vation ; but they who, from a proud conceit 
 of their own wisdom and sufficiency, disdain 
 his instruction, being left to themselves, give 
 abundant evidence that the light they boast 
 of is but gross and palpable darkness. The 
 grossest errors, the greatest obduracy of heart, 
 the most extreme profaneness of spirit, and 
 the most abominable wickedness in practice, 
 may be expected, and will certainly be found 
 where the gospel is despised. 
 
 It is evident, that the morality which is so 
 highly admired by the Christian world, and 
 set in opposition to the gospel of Christ, is 
 much leaner and more scanty than the mora- 
 lity of the Heathens. I speak of the idea 
 only ; for neither have the Heathens of old, 
 nor of the present day, acted up to their own 
 rules. But I do not hesitate to affirm, that 
 none of our modern moralists who have dis- 
 owned the gospel revelation, have given us a 
 system of morality equal to that of Tully the 
 Pagan. Many of the Heathens acknow- 
 ledged the desirableness and necessity of re- 
 velation ; though infidels, born in a Christian 
 land, think it a high mark of their wisdom to 
 despise it ; and avowed atheists, that is, men 
 who deny either the being or the providence 
 of God, or the obligations mankind are under 
 to obey him, are seldom to be met with but 
 in countries where the Bible is known. The 
 heart must have obstinately and repeatedly re- 
 sisted light and conviction, before it can ordi- 
 narily proceed to these dreadful lengths. But 
 while the blind stumble in the noon of day, 
 Messiah’s people shall walk in confidence and 
 peace (Psal. lxxxix. 15, 16.), and shine as 
 lights in the midst of a crooked and perverse 
 generation, Phil. ii. 15. 
 
 IV. The third verse of this chapter fore- 
 tells, and therefore secures, the conversion of 
 the Gentiles or Heathens. The times and 
 the seasons are in the disposal of God, but the 
 scriptures must be fulfilled. Much was done 
 in the first age of Christianity. A single in 
 
SER. VII. 
 
 THE MORNING LIGHT. 
 
 670 
 
 strumcnt, the apostle Paul, as he himself in- 
 forms us, preached the faith, which he for- 
 merly laboured to destroy, “from Jerusalem 
 round about to Ulyricum” (Rom. xt. 19.), 
 *and probably much farther afterwards. And 
 the Lord, who appointed him to this service, 
 accompanied his message with his own power ; 
 so that he had signal success, in turning men 
 from darkness to light, and from the worship 
 of dumb idols, to serve the living and true 
 God ; and in planting the gospel, and gather- 
 ing churches in every province. The gospel 
 found an early reception at Rome, which fa- 
 cilitated its spread into the different parts of 
 the Roman empire. And we have reason to 
 believe it was introduced into our island in a 
 few years after our Lord’s ascension. And 
 though what was called the conversion of hea- 
 then nations in some following ages, went 
 little farther than to prevail on them to as- 
 sume the name of Christians, and left them 
 considered as nations, as destitute of the spi- 
 rit and blessings of Christianity as it found 
 them ; yet I cannot doubt, that wdierever the 
 New Testament, and the sufferings of Mes- 
 siah, were known, some individuals at least 
 experienced a real and saving change. And 
 we are warranted to hope for still greater 
 things ; for a time when the gross darkness, 
 which as yet covers a great part of the world, 
 shall be dispelled ; and the Redeemer’s king- 
 dom, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, as a 
 stone cut out without hands, shall become a 
 great mountain, and fill the whole earth, Dan. 
 ii. 35. But this pleasing subject will come 
 more directly under our consideration hereafter. 
 
 V. The call in my text may be taken in a 
 general sense, like that of the apostle, “ Awake, 
 thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, 
 and Christ shall give thee light,” Eph. v. 14. 
 Natural light requires eyes to perceive it. It 
 would be absurd to point out the beauties of 
 an extensive prospect to a blind man. To 
 him the face of nature presents only a univer- 
 sal blank. But the light of the gospel not 
 only discovers the most important objects to 
 those who can see, but has a marvellous effi- 
 cacy to open the eyes of the blind. It is the 
 appointed instrument of divine power for this 
 purpose. In vain would be the labour and 
 expectation of the husbandman, if God did 
 not afford the rain, and the snow, to water the 
 earth, and the enlivening influences of the 
 sun, to draw forth the tender blade, and to 
 ripen the corn. Equally unsuccessful would 
 the preaching of the gospel prove to sinful 
 men, though in itself it be eminently the 
 truth and wisdom of God, exactly suited to 
 their state, and of the highest importance to 
 their welfare, if he had not promised that his 
 word, where simply and faithfully delivered 
 in dependence upon his blessing, shall not be 
 spoken in vain, but shall certainly accomplish 
 the end for which he has sent it, Is. lv. 10, 11. 
 This promise, together with the experience of 
 
 its truth in our own case, and our knowledge 
 of its uniform effects in every age and coun- 
 try where the doctrine of the cross has been 
 preached, encourages ministers to persevere in 
 publishing the glad tidings, in defiance of all 
 the opposition and disappointments we meet 
 with. We lament, but cannot wonder, that 
 the gospel is so generally neglected. As a 
 dispensation of grace, it offends the pride of 
 man, as a dispensation of holiness, it contra- 
 dicts his desires and passions. His spirit is 
 degraded, his heart is pre-engaged, he loves 
 the present world, and has no more taste or 
 inclination for a life of communion with God 
 here, and such a heaven as the scriptures pro- 
 pose hereafter, than the beasts of the field. 
 But the Lord has said, “I will work, and 
 who shall let it?” Is. xliii. 13. When he 
 is pleased to clothe the word preached with 
 the influences of his Holy Spirit, and to ap- 
 ply it to the conscience, it is quick, powerful, 
 penetrating, and irresistible as lightning ; it 
 conveys a voice, which the deaf, yea, the dead, 
 must hear : it forces a light upon the mind 
 which cannot be evaded. Then things are 
 seen as they are. The nature and desert of 
 sin is apprehended, and then the gospel is 
 found to be the only balm for a distressed and 
 wounded conscience. Therefore, having the 
 Lord’s command and promise, we are not to 
 be discouraged by the carelessness or obsti- 
 nacy of those who know not what they do. 
 We are aware of the difficulty, yea, the im- 
 possibility of succeeding in our endeavour to 
 save the souls of our hearers, if we had only 
 to depend upon our own arguments or ear- 
 nestness. We are not to reason, but to obey. 
 Our business is to deliver our message, and 
 in our happier moments to water it with our 
 prayers and tears. When we have done this 
 we can do no more. The event must be left 
 with him in whose name we speak. We must 
 not suppress nor disguise what we are com- 
 manded to declare; nor wilfully make any 
 additions of our own, to accommodate it to 
 the taste or prejudice of our hearers, 2 Cor. 
 iv. 2. Let those preach smooth things who 
 will venture to answer at the great tribunal, 
 for the souls that have miscarried under their 
 ministry ; we dare not. Let those be asham- 
 ed of the gospel of Christ (Rom. i. 16.), who 
 feel no obligations to him for his dying love ; 
 we cannot, and by the grace of God, we will 
 not ; we will glory in it. God forbid that we 
 should glory in any thing else ! (Gal. vi. 14.) 
 Like Ezekiel, we are commanded to preach 
 and prophesy to dry bones, and he who sends 
 us can cause the dry bones to live. “ O ye 
 dry bones, hear the word of the Lord ! Ezek. 
 xxxvii. 4. The word of his salvation is sent 
 to you. The Lord is risen indeed ! Arise, 
 shine, for your light is come ! In his name 
 we proclaim pardon and peace to all who will 
 seek him. But seek him to-day, while it is 
 called to-day ; to morrow is not yours. Seek 
 
SER. viri. 
 
 THE SUN RISING. &C. 67 J 
 
 him now, while he may be found. Harden 
 not your hearts. Tremble, lest a promise 
 being left us of entering into his rest, any of 
 you should finally come short of it, Heb. iv. 1. 
 
 SERMON VIII. 
 
 THE SUN RISING UPON A DARK WORLD. 
 
 The people that walked in darkness have seen a 
 great light ; they that dwell in the land of the 
 shadow of death , upon them hath the light 
 shined. Isaiah, ix. 2. 
 
 Contrasts are suited to illustrate and 
 strengthen the impression of each other. The 
 happiness of those, who, by faith in Messiah, 
 are brought into a state of peace, liberty, and 
 comfort, is greatly enhanced and heightened 
 by the consideration of that previous state of 
 misery in which they once lived, and of the 
 greater misery to which they were justly ex- 
 posed. They are not only made meet to be par- 
 takers of the inheritance of the saints in light 
 (Col. i. 12, 13), but they have been delivered 
 from the powers of darkness. Thus, while they 
 have communion with God as a father, they 
 contemplate their privilege with a greater plea- 
 sure, than they probably could do if they had 
 never known a difference. They remember 
 a time when they were afar off, without hope, 
 and without God in the world ; and they re- 
 member how carelessly they then trifled upon 
 the brink of destruction. In this deplorable 
 and dangerous situation they were found of 
 the Lord, when they sought him not, Isa. 
 Ixv. 1. He convinced, humbled, and par- 
 doned them, and brought them near to him- 
 self, into a state of adoption and communion 
 by the blood of Jesus. The admiration, gra- 
 titude, and love, which they feel for this un- 
 deserved grace, gives them a more lively sense 
 of the blessings they enjoy. Yea, the thought 
 of what they have been redeemed from (of 
 which they will then have a much clearer per- 
 ception than at present) will add to their joys 
 in heaven, and inspire such a song of praise 
 as will be peculiar to themselves, and in which 
 the holy angels, who never felt the stings of 
 guilt, nor tasted the sweetness of pardoning 
 mercy, will not be able to join them. They 
 are accordingly represented, in the prophetical 
 vision, as standing nearest to the throne, and 
 uniting in the noblest strains of praise to him 
 who sitteth upon it (Rev. v. 9 — 21), while 
 the surrounding angels can only take part in 
 the chorus, and admire and adore, when they 
 behold the brightest displays of the glory of 
 the wonder-working God, manifested in his 
 love to worthless, helpless sinners. 
 
 These opposite ideas are joined in my text. 
 The people who are spoken of as rejoicing in 
 a great light, were, till this light arose and 
 
 shone upon them, in darkness ; walking, sit- 
 ting, living in darkness, and in the land of the 
 shadow of death. That this passage refers to 
 Messiah, we have a direct proof. The evan- 
 gelist refers it expressly to him, and points 
 out the time and manner of its literal accom- 
 plishment, Matth. iv. 15, 16. I shall first 
 consider the literal seqse and completion of 
 the prophecy, and then shew how fitly it ap- 
 plies to the state of mankind at large, and to 
 the happy effects of the gospel of salvation ; 
 which, by the blessing of God, has been the 
 instrument of bringing multitudes of many 
 nations, peoples, and languages, out of a state 
 of gross darkness, into marvellous light, 1 Pet. 
 ii. 9. 
 
 I. Hebrew words (like many in our own 
 language) have often more than one significa- 
 tion. But only one sense can be expressed 
 in a version. And therefore interpreters and 
 translators frequently differ. Which of the 
 different words, used to express the meaning 
 of the same original term, is most happily 
 chosen, may be sometimes decided by the con- 
 text. The two words, in the first verse of 
 this chapter, rendered lightly afflicted and 
 grievously afflicted, signify likewise, the one 
 to think lightly of, to account vile ; and the 
 other, to honour, to render honourable, and 
 glorious. Both these words occur in one 
 verse, and are used in these senses, in the 
 Lord’s message to Eli, “ Them that honour 
 me I will honour, and they that despise me 
 shall be lightly esteemed,” 1 Sam. ii. 30. Had 
 the same words been thus rendered in the 
 passage before us, the sense of both verses 
 would, I think, have been more plain, con- 
 nected, and consistent to the following pur- 
 port, agreeable to the translation given by 
 Vitringa, and the present bishop of London. 
 “ Nevertheless there shall not be dimness [or 
 darkness] as in the time of her vexation or 
 distress. He formerly debased [made ligh‘ 
 or vile] the land of Zebulon and Naphtali 
 but in the latter time he hath made it glori 
 ous, even [the land] by the way of the sea 
 beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. [For] 
 the people that walked in darkness have seen 
 a great light,” &c. — Such was the afflicted 
 and low state of Galilee previous to the com- 
 ing of Messiah ; such was the exaltation and 
 honour it derived from his appearance. 
 
 1. The land allotted to the tribes of Issa- 
 char, Zebulon, and Naphtali, was chiefly in- 
 cluded in the province, which, upon a subse- 
 quent division of the country, obtained the 
 name of Galilee. The northern part of it, 
 the inheritance of Naphtali, was the boundary 
 or frontier towards Syria, and had been fre- 
 quently vexed and afflicted, when the sins of 
 Israel brought the armies of their enemies 
 upon them, as frontier countries usually suffei 
 most in times of invasion and war. Particu 
 larly this part of the land, called Galilee of 
 the Gentiles, was the first, and most ilnmedi 
 
SER. VIII. 
 
 THE SUN RISING 
 
 672 
 
 ately exposed to the ravages of Tiglath-Pileser 
 and Sennacherib. And as the people there 
 were likewise more mixed with foreigners, 
 and at the greatest distance from the capital, 
 Jerusalem, on these accounts Galilee was 
 lightly esteemed by the Jews themselves. 
 They thought that no prophet could arise in 
 Galilee, John vii. 52. It even prejudiced 
 Nathaniel against the first report he received 
 of Jesus as Messiah, that he lived, and was 
 generally supposed (by those who were con- 
 tent to be governed by popular rumour, with- 
 out enquiring attentively for themselves) to 
 have been born in Galilee. He asked with 
 an appearance of surprise, “ Can any good 
 thing come out of Nazareth V* John i. 46. 
 They were accounted a rude, unpolished, pro- 
 vincial people. And therefore, when Peter 
 would have denied any acquaintance with his 
 Lord, he was discovered to be a Galilean 
 (Mark xiv. 70), by his dialect and manner of 
 speech. 
 
 2. This despised and least valued part of 
 the land of Israel was the principal scene of 
 Messiah’s life and ministry, insomuch that, 
 as I have observed, he was supposed to have 
 been born there, a mistake which his enemies 
 industriously supported and made the most 
 of ; for those who could persuade themselves 
 that it was so in fact, would think themselves 
 justified in rejecting his claim, it being one 
 undeniable mark of Messiah, given by the pro- 
 phet Micah, that he was to be born in Beth- 
 lehem of Judah, Micah v. 2, He was, how- 
 ever, brought up at Nazareth, and lived for a 
 time in Capernaum, towns in Galilee, but both 
 of so little repute, that, had they not been 
 connected with his history, it is not probable 
 that their names would have been transmitted 
 to posterity. 
 
 3. But by his residence there, Galilee was 
 honoured and ennobled. He himself de- 
 clared, that on this account, Chorazin, Beth- 
 saida, and Capernaum (though probably none 
 of them were more than inconsiderable fishing- 
 towns) were exalted even to heaven, Matth. xi. 
 21 — 23. Those were highly privileged places 
 which our Lord condescended to visit in per- 
 son ; so likewise are those . places where he is 
 pleased to send his gospel. I have observed 
 formerly, and I make no apology for repeat- 
 ing a truth so very important and so little at- 
 tended to, that the glorious gospel of the bles- 
 sed God, when faithfully preached, and thank- 
 fully received and improved, renders an obscure 
 village more honourable, and of more real con- 
 sequence, than the metropolis of a great em- 
 pire, where this light shineth not. For what 
 are the dark places of the earth, however ce- 
 lebrated for numbers and opulence, for the 
 monuments of ambition and arts, but habita- 
 tions of cruelty, infatuation, and misery ! 
 
 4. Though Galilee was favoured with the 
 scriptures, and with synagogue-worship, and 
 the inhabitants were a people who professed to. 
 
 know the God of Israel, it was a land of dark- 
 ness at the time of Messiah’s appearance. 
 Though they were not idolaters, ignorance 
 prevailed among them. The law and the pro- 
 phets were read in their synagogues, but we 
 may believe to little good purpose, while they 
 were under the direction of perverse teachers, 
 who substituted the traditions of men for the 
 commands of God. The single circumstance 
 of keeping herds of swine, as the Gadarenes 
 did, seems a proof that the law of Moses was 
 but little regarded by them. They, as well as 
 the people of Judea, were under the guidance 
 of the Scribes and Pharisees in their religious 
 concerns, who were, if I may use a modern 
 phrase, the clergy of that time ; and these, we 
 are assured by him who knew their hearts, 
 were generally corrupted, blind leaders of the 
 blind. Yet they were held in ignorant admi- 
 ration, and implicitly submitted to. From 
 the character of the public ministers of reli- 
 gion, we may, without great danger of mis- 
 take, infer the character of the people who are 
 pleased and satisfied with their ministrations. 
 As the disciple cannot, ordinarily, be expect- 
 ed to be superior to his master ( Luke vi. 40), 
 the religion of the scribes may be taken as 
 a standard of that of the Galileans, who were 
 instructed by them yet these were the peo- 
 ple among whom Messiah chiefly conversed ; 
 so that his enemies styled him a Galilean and 
 a Nazarene, as a mark of reproach and con- 
 tempt. Many of his apostles, perhaps the 
 most of them, were Galileans likewise. He 
 seeth not as man seeth, 1 Sam. xvi. 7. The 
 most of his immediate followers while upon 
 earth were such as men despised, on account 
 of their situation, rank, or callings; publi- 
 cans and sinners, fishermen and Galileans. 
 This was, among other reasons, for the en- 
 couragement of the poor, the destitute, the 
 despised, the miserable, and the guilty, in suc- 
 ceeding ages, who should desire to put their 
 trust in his name and to implore his mercy. 
 To those who received him he was the light, 
 the true light; he relieved them from the 
 ignorance, wickedness, and distress in which 
 he found them. They, on their parts, bore 
 testimony to him. They saw and acknow- 
 ledged his glory. They felt his power, and 
 devoted themselves to his service. Thus much 
 for the literal sense. 
 
 II. But this prophecy is not to be restrain- 
 ed to the first and more immediate season of 
 its accomplishment. The Lord speaks thus 
 of Messiah in another place : “ It is a light 
 thing that thou shouldest be my servant, to 
 raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the 
 preserved of Israel : I will also give thee for 
 a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be 
 my salvation to the ends of the earth,” Isaiah, 
 xlix. 6. And there are many declarations of 
 a like import. He is still the light, of the 
 world (John viii. 12), though no longer vi- 
 sible and conversant with men. By the in- 
 
SKR. vtll. UPON A DARK WORLD. 673 
 
 flimnce and power of his Spirit, Ire is still 
 present wherever his gospel is known. This 
 his word of grace and truth he sends where 
 he pleases, and with a discrimination not un- 
 like that which he observed when he was upon 
 earth. The gospel is preached to the poor. 
 Courts and palaces are seldom favoured with 
 it. While he passes by many great cities, 
 many habitations of the wise and wealthy, he 
 is known in villages and cottages. His con- 
 descension and favour to those who are un- 
 noticed by the world, cannot be too highly 
 extolled. That the others are excluded from 
 the same benefits is more properly to be a- 
 scribed to their obstinacy than to his will. 
 They exclude themselves. He stands at the 
 door and knocks, Rev. iii. 20. His word is 
 within their reach ; his ministers are within 
 their call. They might easily enjoy every 
 mean and help which the gospel provides for 
 sinners if they pleased, but they do not please. 
 They are either engaged in a round of sen- 
 sual pleasure, or engrossed by studies and 
 pursuits which possess their hearts and fill up 
 their thoughts and time, so that they have 
 neither leisure nor inclination to attend to 
 the things which pertain to their peace. In- 
 stead of inviting his gospel to them, they too 
 frequently employ their power and influence 
 to discountenance, and, if possible, to sup- 
 press it. They have their choice. The great 
 and the gay will not receive his message ; it 
 is therefore sent to the poor and to the wretch- 
 ed, and they will hear it. Yet as he visited 
 Jerusalem in person, and taught there, so 
 London likewise is favoured with the light of 
 his gospel. But alas ! how few believe the 
 report ! They who do, experience the change 
 described in my text. Their darkness is 
 changed into marvellous light. 
 
 Mankind, till enlightened by the word and 
 Spirit of grace, are truly in a state of dark- 
 ness. Thick darkness is a vail which con- 
 ceals from us, not only distant, but the near- 
 est objects. A man in the dark cannot per- 
 ceive either friend or enemy ; he may be in 
 great danger, yet think himself in safety ; or, 
 if he thinks himself in danger, be unable to 
 take any step for his preservation, from a want 
 of light. Thus, though God be our maker 
 and preserver, though in him we live, move, 
 and have our being, though we are surrounded 
 with his presence, and proofs of his wisdom 
 and goodness are before us wherever we turn 
 our eyes, yet we live without him in the world. 
 Equally ignorant are we of ourselves, of the 
 proper happiness of our nature, or how it is 
 to be attained. We know neither the cause, 
 nor the cure, nor the consequences of our 
 proneness to cleave to the dust, and of placing 
 our affection on inadequate and unsatisfying 
 objects. 
 
 And if we suppose a person awakened to a 
 conviction of the evil of sin, and to under- 
 stand that nothing less than the favour of 
 
 God can make a rational and immortal crea- 
 ture happy, still, without the gospel, he would 
 be in darkness and the shadow of death. His 
 case may be compared to that of a person 
 shipwrecked upon some desert, inhospitable 
 coast, suffering great horrors and anxiety, 
 from his exposedness to perish, by hunger, 
 by enemies, or wild beasts — who, if he saw r , 
 at no very great distance, an island, and was, 
 by some means, informed* and assured, that 
 that island was the seat of safety, plenty, and 
 pleasure ; and that, if he was once there, his 
 dangers would all cease, and his utmost wishes 
 be satisfied ; still, if there were neither bridge, 
 nor boat, nor any means by which he might 
 arrive thither, to know that happiness was so 
 near him, yet inaccessible to him, would but 
 aggravate his misery, and make his despair 
 more emphatically pungent. Miserable in- 
 deed must we be, if we clearly perceived that 
 only he, whose creatures we are, can make us 
 happy; and that, as sinners, we have forfeited 
 his favour, and are utterly incapable of re- 
 gaining it, if we were left under these views, 
 without any hope of relief. Such must have 
 been our situation sooner or later, if God, 
 who is rich in mercy, had not himself pro- 
 vided the means of reconciliation. For though 
 a hope of pardon is easily taken up by those 
 who are ignorant of the holiness of God, and 
 the malignity of sin, yet nothing but a decla- 
 ration from himself, that there is forgiveness 
 with him, can give peace to a truly awakened 
 conscience. But Jesus dispels this darkness, 
 ar\d brings life and immortality to light by 
 the gospel. For, 
 
 1 . The office and agency of the Holy Spi- 
 rit, so absolutely necessary to make us duly 
 sensible, either of our danger, or of the pos- 
 sibility of escaping it, is entirely the effect of 
 his mediation. The soul of man, originally 
 formed to be the temple of the living God, 
 when defiled by sin, was justly forsaken by its 
 great inhabitant ; and, since the fall, answers 
 the prophetical description given of Babylon: 
 “It is become the habitation of devils, the 
 hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every 
 unclean and hateful bird,” Rev. xviii. 2. If 
 we ask, as with good reason we may. How 
 can the wise and holy God, who is of purer 
 eyes than to behold iniquity, and with w hom 
 evil cannot dwell, return to his sanctuary, 
 thus polluted and profaned ? an answer is af- 
 forded in that gracious promise, “ I will 
 sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall 
 be clean : from all your filthiness, and from 
 all your idols, will I cleanse you : and I will 
 take away the stony heart, and I will give 
 you an heart of flesh, and,” in order to this, 
 “ I will put my Spirit within you,” Ezek. 
 xxxvi. 25, 26. But the source of this mercy 
 is his sovereign love and purpose, to give the 
 seed of the woman, his only Son, to be the 
 mediator of sinners. By his atonement, to 
 be manifested in due time, but which had a 
 3 D 
 
b74 CHARACTERS AND K 
 
 virtual influence from the beginning, the 
 Holy Spirit returned to dwell with men. 
 
 2. His obedience unto death, when revealed 
 by the Holy Spirit to the enlightened con- 
 science, affords a clear and satisfactory dis- 
 covery of reconciliation with God : it shews, 
 that, on his part, every hindrance to the free 
 exercise of mercy is thereby removed, the ho- 
 nour of his law vindicated, and the demands of 
 his justice answered. On our parts, by open- 
 ing a door of hope, it removes that enmity 
 and obduracy of heart, which are nourished 
 by consciousness of guilt, and a secret fore- 
 boding of deserved punishment. Rut when 
 the dignity of the Redeemer’s person, the 
 causes, nature, and design of his sufferings 
 are understood, emotions of admiration, love, 
 and gratitude, till then unknown, are felt, 
 and obstinate sinners are made a willing peo- 
 ple in this day of divine power. 
 
 3. The doctrine of the cross pours a light 
 upon every subject and circumstance in which 
 we are concerned. It enlarges the mind, and 
 forms the judgment and taste, agreeable to 
 the standard of truth, and the real nature of 
 things. It rectifies those prejudices and pre- 
 possessions which dispose us to mistake good 
 for evil, and evil for good (Isa. v. 20), to 
 pursue trifles with earnestness, and to trifle 
 with things of the greatest importance. In 
 Jesus Christ crucified, all the treasures of 
 wisdom and knowledge are at once both hid- 
 den and exhibited. This object the holy an- 
 gels, whose knowledge of the wonders in 
 creation, without doubt, greatly surpasses om 
 conceptions, incessantly contemplate with de- 
 light, as affording the brightest displays of 
 the manifold wisdom of God, Eph. iii. 10. 
 It is especially the fountain of wisdom to sin- 
 ners. They look unto him, and are enlight- 
 ened. The slight and partial thoughts they 
 once entertained of the great God, the mista- 
 ken judgment they formed of themselves, of 
 their state and their conduct, are corrected 
 by their knowledge of the cross : from thence 
 they derive a solid hope, a humble spirit, just 
 views of their duty and obligations, and mo- 
 tives and prospects which animate them in a 
 course of cheerful, persevering obecience to 
 the will of God. 
 
 4. In this way, God, as revealed in Christ, 
 is apprehended and chosen, as the chief and 
 proper good of the soul. Thus the poor are 
 enriched with the pearl of great price, and 
 the weary obtain rest. The mind, no longer 
 burdened with anxiety, nor mortified with a 
 succession of disappointments, which attended 
 the vain pursuit of happiness in earthly things, 
 possesses present peace, and rejoices in the 
 expectation of future glory. It is released 
 from the slavery of hewing out broken cis- 
 terns, and introduced to the fountain of living 
 waters. Or, to close with the beautiful image 
 in my text, The people who once walked in 
 darkfless, and the region of the shadow of 
 
 AMES OF MESSIAH. ^ER. IX. 
 
 death, are translated into the kingdom of life 
 and salvation, Col. i. 13. 
 
 How greatly are they to be .pitied who re . 
 ject the light of the gospel ! It is true, they 
 cannot see it ; but it is equally true, they wall 
 not. But may I not hope that this is a day 
 of divine power, in which some of you shall 
 be made a willing people ? Do not reason 
 against your own life, but repent, and believe 
 the gospel. The light shines around you, 
 whether you perceive it or not; and it has an 
 efficacy to open the eyes of the blind. Where 
 the gospel is preached, the Lord is present. 
 If you call upon him, he will hear, and you 
 shall receive your sight. If the grace and the 
 glory of the Saviour have hitherto made no 
 impression upon your heart, you are spiri- 
 tually blind. Could you be sensible of your 
 disorder, the remedy is at hand. If now, at 
 last, you are willing to seek him, he will be 
 found of you. But if you deliberately prefei 
 darkness, your state is awfully dangerous ; 
 and if you persist in your obstinacy, your 
 ruin is unavoidable. God is gracious and 
 long-suffering, but he will not be mocked, 
 Gal. vi. 7. Humble yourselves at once, and 
 implore his mercy, or else prepare to meet 
 him in judgment. But be assured he will 
 not meet you as a man. You must either 
 bend or break. The Lord forbid that he 
 should say to any of you, in the great day of 
 his appearance, “ Depart from me, ye cursed, 
 into everlasting fire!” 
 
 SERMON IX. 
 
 CHARACTERS AND NAMES OF MESSIAH. 
 
 For unto us a child, is boi % n, unto us a son is 
 given ; and the government shall he ujx>u his 
 shoulder : and his name shall be called , 
 
 Wonderful, Counsellor, the Might y God, 
 the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. 
 Isaiah, ix. 6. 
 
 Such was the triumphant exultation of the 
 Old Testament church ! Their noblest hopes 
 were founded upon the promise of Messiah ; 
 their sublimest songs were derived from the 
 prospect of his advent. By faith, which is 
 the substance of things hoped for, they consi- 
 dered the gracious declarations of the faithful 
 unchangeable God as already accomplished 
 though the actual performance respected a 
 period, as yet future and distant ; especially 
 as believers, under that dispensation, already 
 felt the influence of the redemption which 
 Messiah was to consummate in the fulness of 
 time. It was the knowledge of his engage- 
 ment on the behalf of sinners that gave life anc 
 significancy to all the institutions of the cere- 
 monial law, which otherwise, though of di- 
 vine appointment, . would have been a heavy 
 
SF.R. IX. 
 
 CHARACTERS AND NAMES OF MESSIAH. 
 
 and burdensome yoke, Acts xv. 10. Isaiah,! 
 therefore, prepares this joyful song for the | 
 true servants of God, who lived in his time; j 
 and though it was a day of trial and rebuke, 
 they were provided with a sufficient compen- 
 sation for all their sufferings, in being war- 
 ranted to say, “ Unto us a child is born, un- 
 to us a son is given ; and the government 
 shall be upon his shoulder,” &c. 
 
 This ancient song is still new. It has been, 
 and will be taken up from age to age, by the 
 New Testament church, with superior ad- 
 vantage. I trust many of you understand it 
 well, and rejoice in it daily. Men naturally 
 look for something wherein to rejoice and 
 glory. Little reason have the wise to glory 
 in their supposed wisdom (Jer. ix. 23.), or 
 the strong in their fading strength, or the rich 
 in their transitory wealth ; but this is a just 
 and unfailing ground of glory to true Chris- 
 tians, that “ Unto us a child is born, unto us 
 a son is given,” &c. 
 
 When a sinner is enlightened by the Holy 
 Spirit, to understand the character and offices 
 of Messiah, his ability and willingness to save 
 those who are ready to perish, and the hap- 
 piness of all who are brought into subjec- 
 tion to his gracious government, and when he 
 begins to feel the cheering effects of faith in 
 his name, then this song becomes his own, 
 and exactly suits the emotions and gratitude 
 of his heart. But many persons will despise 
 and pity him as a weak enthusiast. And yet, 
 perhaps, they do not think so unfavourably of 
 the rapture of Archimedes, of whom it is re- 
 lated, that having suddenly discovered the so- 
 lution of a difficult problem while he was 
 bathing, he was so transported with joy, that 
 he forgot his situation, sprung instantly from 
 the bath, and ran through the city, crying, 
 “ I have found it, I have found it !” He is 
 not usually charged with madness on this ac- 
 count, though the expression of his joy was 
 certainly over-proportioned to the cause. The 
 truth is, the world will allow of a vehemence 
 approaching to ecstacy, on almost any oc- 
 casion, but on that alone, which, above all 
 others, will justify it. A person who would 
 be thought destitute of taste, if he was unaf- 
 fected by the music to which this passage is 
 set, would, at the same time, hazard his repu- 
 tation for good sense, with some judges, if he 
 owned himself affected by the plain meaning of 
 the words. Incompetent judges surely ! who 
 are pleased to approve of warmth and emo- 
 tion of spirit, provided the object be trivial, 
 and only condemn it in concerns of the great- 
 est importance ! But I trust the character 
 of my auditory is very different, and that the 
 most of you desire to enter into the spirit of 
 this passage, and to have a more lively sense 
 of your own interests in it. May the Lord 
 grant your desire, and accompany our me- 
 ditations upon it with his power and bless- 
 ing ! 
 
 675 
 
 j Every clause in this passage might furnish 
 subject for a long discourse ; but my plan 
 j will only permit me briefly to touch upon the 
 several particulars, which will lead to a reca- 
 pitulation or summary of wlmt has been al- 
 ready considered more largely concerning the 
 person, offices, and glory of Messiah. We 
 have, 
 
 L His incarnation. — “ Unto us a child is 
 born in our nature, born of a woman : 
 “ Unto us a son is given not merely a man-- 
 child, but, emphatically, a son, the Son of 
 God. This was the most precious gift, the 
 highest proof and testimony of divine love. 
 The distinction and union of these widely 
 distant natures, which constitute the person 
 of Christ, the God-man, the Mediator, is, in 
 the judgment and language of the apostle, 
 the great mystery of godliness (1 Tim. iii. 16), 
 the pillar and ground of truth. I shall not 
 repeat what I have already offered on this 
 point in the fifth sermon. It is the central 
 truth of revelation, which, like the sun, dif- 
 fuses a light upon the whole system, no part of 
 wdiich can be rightly understood without it. 
 Thus the Lord of all humbled himself, to ap- 
 pear in the form of a servant for the sake of 
 sinners. 
 
 II. His exaltation. — “ The government 
 shall be upon his shoulder.” In our nature 
 he suffered, and in the same nature he reigns. 
 When he had overcome the sharpness, the 
 sting of death, he took possession of the king- 
 dom of glory as his own, and opened it to all 
 who believe in him. Now' we can say, He 
 who governs in heaven and on earth, and 
 whom all things obey, is the child who was 
 born, the son who was given for us. Some 
 subsequent passages will lead us hereafter to 
 contemplate more directly the glory of the 
 Redeemer’s administration in the kingdoms of 
 providence and grace. At present, there- 
 fore, I shall only observe, that the exaltation 
 of the Redeemer infers the dignity and security 
 of the people who are united to him by faith. 
 They have, in one respect, an appropriate ho- 
 nour, in which the angels cannot share. Their 
 best friend, related to them in the same na- 
 ture, is seated upon the throne of glory. Since 
 he is for them, who can be against them ? 
 What may they not expect, w'hen he, who has 
 so loved them as to redeem them with his own 
 blood, has all power committed unto him, 
 both in heaven and on earth ! For, 
 
 III. The names and characters here ascrib- 
 ed to him, are not only expressive of what he 
 is in himself, but of what he has engaged to 
 be to them. 
 
 1. His name shall be called Wonderful.— 
 In another place the word is rendered Secret, 
 Judges xiii. 18. It is true of him in both 
 senses. He is Wonderful in his person, obe- 
 dience, and sufferings; in his grace, govern- 
 ment, and glory. So far as we understand 
 his name, the revelation by which, as by a 
 
SER. IX, 
 
 CHARACTERS AND NAMES OF MESSIAH. 
 
 676 
 
 name, he is made known, we may, we must, 
 believe, admire, and adore. But how limited 
 and defective is our knowledge ! His name is 
 Secret. Who can by searching find him out ? 
 Job xi. 7. His greatness is incomprehensible, 
 his wisdom untraceable, his fullness inexhaust- 
 ible, his power infinite. No one knoweth the 
 Son but the Father. But they have a true, 
 though not an adequate knowledge of him, 
 w ho trust, love, and serve him ; and in their 
 view he is Wonderful ! The apostle expresses 
 the sentiment of their hearts, when he says, 
 
 “ Yea, doubtless, I count all things but loss 
 and dung for the excellency of the knowledge 
 of Christ Jesus my Lord.” 
 
 -2. Another of his names is Counsellor. — 
 The great councils of redemption, in which 
 every concern respecting the glory of God 
 and the salvation of sinners was adjusted, w ere 
 established with him, and in him, before the 
 foundation of the world. And he is our Coun- 
 sellor or Advocate with the Father, w ho pleads 
 our cause, and manages all our affairs in per- 
 fect righteousness, and with infallible success ; 
 so that no suit can possibly miscarry which 
 he is pleased to undertake. To him likewise 
 we must apply (and we shall not apply in 
 vain) for wisdom and direction, in all that be- 
 longs to our duty, and the honour of our pro- 
 fession in the present life. In all our diffi- 
 culties, dangers, and cares, we must look to 
 him for guidance, and support. This is to be 
 wise unto salvation. His secret is with them 
 that consult him ; so that though the world 
 may deem them w r eak and ignorant as babes 
 (and he teaches them to think thus of them- 
 selves), they have a cheering and practical 
 knowledge of many important subjects, which 
 are entirely hidden from those who are wise 
 and prudent in their own eyes. 
 
 3. He is the Mighty God. — Though in the 
 office of mediator, he acts in the character of 
 a servant, his perfections and attributes are 
 truly divine. Only the mighty God could 
 make a provision capable of answering the 
 demands of the holy law, which we had trans- 
 gressed. Only the mighty God could be a 
 suitable Shepherd to lead millions of weak 
 helpless creatures to glory, through the many 
 difficulties, dangers, and enemies, they are 
 exposed to in their passage. Add to this, the 
 honour, dependence, and obedience, which 
 this great Shepherd claims from his sheep, are 
 absolute and supreme; and they would be 
 guilty of idolatry, if they did not know that 
 he is the mighty God. Though real Chris- 
 tians, who are enlightened and taught by the 
 Holy Spirit, may, and do differ in their views 
 and explanations of some revealed truths, I 
 conceive they must be all agreed in this point. 
 It is not only necessary to be known as the 
 only solid foundation of a sinner’s hope, but 
 it immediately respects the object of divine 
 worship. For if the Redeemer is not possess - ! 
 «d of the incommunicable perfections of Deity, | 
 
 the New Testament, in its most obvious and 
 literal signification, would be chargeable, not 
 only with countenancing, but with expressly 
 teaching and enjoining idolatry. 
 
 4. Farther, he shall be called the Everlast- 
 ing Father. — He is not ashamed to call them 
 brethren (Heb. ii. 11), having condescended 
 to assume their human nature. But they are 
 also his children. They are born into his fa- 
 mily by the efficacy of his own word and Spi- 
 rit. From him they derive their spiritual life, 
 being united to him by faith, and receiving 
 from first to last out of his fulness. And he 
 is an everlasting Father. Our fathers accord- 
 ing to the flesh are subject to death. But his 
 relation to them subsists unchangeably and 
 therefore they cannot be destitute : and he is 
 thus equally to them all. They live upon the 
 earth, and are removed from it, in a long suc- 
 cession of ages ; but he is the Father of the 
 everlasting age, the same yesterday, to-day, 
 and for ever. All generations shall call him 
 blessed. To him, therefore, the apostle teaches 
 us to apply that sublime passage of the Psal- 
 mist: “ Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid 
 the foundation of the earth, and the heavens 
 are the work of thy hands. They shall per- 
 ish, but thou remainesi; and they all shall 
 wax old as doth a garment ; and as a vesture 
 shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be 
 changed ; but thou art the same, and thy years 
 shall not fail,” Psal. cii. 25 — 27. Heb. i, 10 
 — 12 . 
 
 5. Lastly, he shall be called the Prince of 
 Peace, — w'hose sovereign prerogative it is, to 
 speak peace to his people (Psal. lxxxv. 8); 
 and there is no peace, deserving the name, 
 but that which he bestows. The scripture ex- 
 pressly declares, that there is no peace to the 
 wicked, Is. lvii. 21. By whatever name we 
 call that thoughtless security and insensibility, 
 in which mankind generally live, while igno- 
 rant of God and of themselves, w'e cannot al- 
 low it to be peace. It is the effect of blind- 
 ness and hardness of heart; it will neither 
 bear reflection nor examination. Can they 
 be said to possess peace, however fatally re- 
 gardless they may be of futurity, who are at 
 present under the dominion of restless, insati- 
 able, and inconsistent passions and appetites ? 
 But the kingdom of Messiah is a kingdom of 
 peace, and in him, his happy subjects enjoy a 
 peace which passeth all understanding (Phil, 
 iv. 7), such as the world can neither give nor 
 take away. He has made peace by the blood 
 of his cross (Col. i. 20), for all that come unto 
 God by him. Until they are in trouble and 
 distress, until they feel the bitterness and fear 
 the consequences of their sins, and see the im- 
 possibility of helping themselves, they w ill not 
 apply to him ; but whenever they do seek 
 him, thus weary and heavy-laden, he hears 
 their prayer. Their minds, for a season, are 
 like the sea in a storm, they are distressed 
 
 | with guilt, fears, and temptations ; but when 
 
SEll. IX. 
 
 he reveals his mighty name and boundless 
 grace to their hearts, and says, Peace be still 
 (Mark iv. 39), then there is a great calm. Be- 
 ing justified by faith, they have peace with God 
 through our Lord Jesus Christ. He gives 
 them peace likewise in a changing troublesome 
 world, by inviting and enabling them to cast 
 all their cares upon him, and to trust all their 
 concerns in his hands, upon the assurance his 
 word gives them, that he careth for them, and 
 will manage and over-rule every thing for 
 their good. In proportion as their faith real- 
 izes his promises, they feel a composure and 
 satisfaction. Knowing that the hairs of their 
 head are numbered, that their afflictions, no 
 less than their comforts, are tokens of his love, 
 that he will give them strength according to 
 their day, that he will be their guide and their 
 guard even unto death ; they are not greatly 
 moved by any events, or disturbed by appre- 
 hensions, because their hearts are fixed (Psal. 
 cxii. 7), trusting in the Lord. Farther, he 
 teaches them (what can only be learnt of him) 
 how to seek and maintain peace among men. 
 His love subdues the power of self, and forms 
 them to a spirit of philanthropy and benevo- 
 lence, which has often such an effect, that 
 they who dislike them for their attachment to 
 him and to his precepts, and would willingly 
 speak evil of them, are ashamed, and put to 
 silence, by their perseverance in well-doing. 
 Thus their peace increases as a river, which 
 runs with a deeper and a broader stream as it 
 approaches the ocean. For their peace is then 
 strongest and most unshaken, when they draw 
 near to death, and are upon the point of re- 
 signing their souls into his hands. This is 
 the time, when, if not before, the false peace 
 of the worldling, will give way to terror and 
 dismay. But “mark the perfect man, and 
 behold the upright, for the end of that man 
 is peace,” Psal. xxxvii. 37. It must be al- 
 lowed, that many of his people, through the 
 power of temptation and remaining unbelief, 
 have, at some seasons, uncomfortable fears 
 concerning a dying hour ; but when the time 
 of their dismission actually arrives, we seldom 
 see them afraid of the summons. There is a 
 strength necessary to support the soul at the 
 approach of death, which is usually with-held 
 till the time of need. But then it is vouch- 
 safed. They who have frequently access to 
 the beds of dying believers, can bear testimo- 
 ny, as eye-witnesses, to the faithfulness of 
 their Lord. How often have we seen them 
 triumphing in the prospect of immortality ! 
 as happy, in defiance of pain and sickness, as 
 we can well conceive it possible to be while 
 in the body, and as sure of heaven, as if they 
 were already before the throne. 
 
 Such is the character of Messiah ! This is 
 the God whom we adore ; our almighty, un- 
 changeable Friend ! His greatness and good- 
 ness, his glory and his grace, when once known, 
 fix the heart, no more to rove, and fill it with 
 
 G77 
 
 admiration, gratitude, and desire. From hence 
 spring a cheerful, unreserved obedience to his 
 commands, and a deliberate voluntary submis- 
 sion to his holy will. For his people do not 
 serve him or yield to him by constraint ; at 
 least it is only the pleasing constraint of love, 
 which makes their duty their delight, and 
 their burden and grief is that they can serve 
 him no better. 
 
 May we be all thus minded ! I dare not 
 hope it is so with us all at present. But this 
 is the day of his grace. For this cause he 
 came into the world, that he might draw many 
 hearts to himself, John xii. 32. And for this 
 purpose he favours us with his gospel, by 
 which he still says, “ Look unto me, and be 
 ye saved,” Isaiah, xlv. 22. “ Come unto me, 
 
 and I will give you rest,” Matth. xi. 28. To 
 be found among his faithful followers, in the 
 great day when he shall come to judge the 
 world, is the one thing which, above all others, 
 deserves our solicitude. 
 
 Hear then his voice to-day. Perhaps you 
 are apprised of the necessity of a change of 
 heart and life, at some future period, in order 
 to die safely. Such a change is equally neces- 
 sary if you wish to live comfortably. While 
 you are unfit to die, you can have no true en- 
 joyment of life. It were easy to prove at 
 large that procrastination is highly dangerous. 
 Admitting that, according to your present 
 feelings, you really think yourself determined 
 to seek the Lord at some future time, do you 
 consider how many uncertainties you presume 
 upon? Are you sure that you shall not be 
 suddenly cut off by an unexpected and un- 
 thought-of stroke, or visited by a fever which 
 may quickly bring you into a state of delirium 
 or stupefaction, and render your projected re- 
 pentance impracticable ? Yea, it will in any 
 circumstances be impracticable, unless God is 
 pleased to influence your mind by his good 
 Spirit. If you grieve this Spirit now, by re- 
 sisting his operations, what reason have you 
 to expect that he will then return ? Do we 
 not see many instances of what the poet, 
 with great propriety, calls, “ A slow sudden 
 death ?” How many people, while pining 
 away under the power of some incurable dio- 
 ease, amuse themselves with the hope of re- 
 covery to the last gasp ; and though their ac- 
 quaintance read death in their countenance for 
 weeks or months, in defiance of such repeated 
 and long-continued warnings, they die as sud- 
 denly, with respect to their own apprehensions, 
 as if killed by lightning. Tremble, lest such 
 be your last end, if you trifle with God, who 
 now calls you by his gospel, to seek him to- 
 day, while it is called to-day. 
 
 But I would lead you to consider your de- 
 lay not only as dangerous but as unreason- 
 able. Why are you afraid of being happy 
 too soon ? What strange and hard thoughts 
 have you of God, if you suppose you can find 
 more pleasure in living according to your own 
 
 CHARACTERS AND NAMES OF MESSIAH. 
 
(578 Till*' ANGEL’S MESSAGE AND SONG* skr. t. 
 
 wills than in - obedience to his commands! 
 Can the world give you such peace and satis- 
 faction as I have attempted to describe? Do 
 you think a real persuasion that God is your 
 friend, and that heaven will be your home, 
 will spoil the relish of your earthly enjoy- 
 ments, or make your lives uncomfortable ? 
 What hard thing does the Lord require of 
 you, that you are so unwilling to comply ? 
 If we set aside, for a moment, the considera- 
 tion of a future state and a final judgment, 
 yet even in a temporal view you would be 
 great gainers, if your spirit and your conduct 
 were regulated by the gospel. What heart- 
 breaking troubles, what losses, contests, pains 
 of body, and remorse of conscience, would 
 some of you have avoided, if you had believed 
 and obeyed the word of God ! What distresses 
 may your headstrong passions soon plunge 
 you into, if you presume to go on in your 
 sins ! For that the way of transgressors is 
 hard, is not only declared in scripture, but 
 proved by the history and observation of every 
 day. Forsake the foolish, therefore, and live. 
 And while the door of mercy is still open be- 
 fore you, pray to him who is able to bless you 
 indeed, by delivering you from the guilt and 
 from the power of your iniquities; lest, if 
 being often reproved (Prov. xxix. 1), and still 
 hardening your hearts, you should suddenly 
 be destroyed, and that without remedy. 
 
 SERMON X. 
 
 THE ANGEL’S MESSAGE AND SONG. 
 
 There were in the same country shepherds a- 
 b/ding in the field, keeping watch over their 
 flock by night. And lo, the angel of the 
 Lord came upon them, and the glory of the 
 Lord shone round about them : and they 
 were sore afraid. And the angel of the Lord 
 said unto them , Fear not ; for , behold , I 
 bring unto you good tidings of great joy , 
 which shall be to all people. For unto you 
 is born this day , in the city of David , a Sa- 
 viour, which is Christ the Lord. And this 
 shall be a sign unto you ; Ye shall find the 
 babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in 
 a manger. And suddenly there was with 
 the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, 
 praising God, and saying. Glory to God in 
 the highest, on earth peace, good will towards 
 men. Luke, ii. 8 — 14. 
 
 The gratification of the great, the wealthy, 
 and the gay was chiefly consulted in the late 
 exhibitions in Westminster- Abbey. Butrnot- 
 
 withstanding the expense of the preparations, 
 and the splendid appearance of the auditory, 
 I may take it for granted that the shepherds 
 who were honoured with the first information 
 of the birth of Messiah, enjoyed, at free cost, 
 u much more sublime and delightful etertain- 
 
 ment. How poor and trivial is the most stu- 
 died magnificence and brilliancy of an earthly 
 court compared with that effulgence of glory 
 which surrounded the shepherds ! The per- 
 formers of this Oratorio, if I may be allowed 
 the expression, were a multitude of the hea- 
 venly host. And though I do not suppose 
 that the angel delivered his message in the 
 cadence which w*e call recitative, I have no 
 doubt but the chorus was a song, sweetly me- 
 lodious as from blest voices; a song which 
 the redeemed and the angels of the Lord are 
 still singing before the throne ; a new song 
 (Rev. v. 9), a song which will be always new 
 We are made acquainted with the subject, yea, 
 with the very words of this song. May oil. 
 hearts be suitably affected by the consideration 
 of them to-day ! The melody and harmony 
 of heaven are far above our conceptions. The 
 music of that happy land has no dependence 
 upon the vibrations of the air, or the admi- 
 rable structure of the human ear. But we 
 have reason to believe there is, in the world 
 of light and love, something analogous to 
 what we call music, though different in kind, 
 and vastly superior in effect to any strains 
 that can be produced by the most exquisite 
 voices or instruments upon earth ; as we rea- 
 dily judge the glory of an angel to be un- 
 speakably more excellent, both in kind and in 
 degree, than any thing that is deemed glorious 
 among mortals. 
 
 To consider this passage at large would re- 
 quire many discourses. I shall confine my- 
 self at present to a few brief reflections on the 
 circumstances of this heavenly vision, the mes- 
 sage of the angel, and the concluding chorus 
 or song. 
 
 I. The circumstances. 
 
 1. Lo, an angel came upon them, &c. — 
 Suddenly, when they had no expectation of 
 such a visit, without any thing that might pre- 
 viously engage their attention, all at once, like 
 a flash of lightning, a glory shone around 
 them, and an angel appeared. We do not 
 wonder that they were impressed with fear. 
 We live near, perhaps in the midst of, an in- 
 visible world, full of great and wonderful 
 realities, w’hich yet, by too many persons, are 
 considered and treated as nonentities, because 
 they are not perceived by our bodily senses. 
 But the scripture assures us of the fact ; and 
 to reject this testimony, because it is not con- 
 firmed by our senses, is no less irrational and 
 unphilo-.ophical than impious. A man bom 
 blind can have no more conception of light 
 and colours than we have of what passes in 
 the world of spirits. And a nation of blind 
 men, if there were such a nation, would pro- 
 bably treat a seeing person as a visionary mad- 
 man, if he spoke to them of w'hat he saw. 
 But he w'ould be sure of his own perceptions, 
 though he could not satisfy the inquiries and 
 cavils of the blind. Our senses are accom- 
 modated to our present state ; but there may 
 
SElt. X. 
 
 THE ANGEL’S MESSAGE AND SONG. 
 
 be a multitude of objects, as real in them- 
 selves, and as near to us, as any that we be- 
 hold with our eyes, of which we, for want of 
 suitable faculties, can have no idea. To de- 
 ny this, and to make our senses the criteria of 
 the existence of things which are not within 
 their reach, is exactly such an absurdity as a 
 blind man would be guilty of, who should 
 deny the possibility of a rainbow, because he 
 never heard it or felt it. However, faith is 
 the evidence of things not seen. And they 
 who believe the word of God cannot doubt of 
 the existence of an invisible state and invi- 
 sible agents. The barrier between the in- 
 habitants of that state and us is too strong 
 to be passed, for the will of the great Creator 
 seems to be the barrier. Otherwise it is pro- 
 bable they could easily surprise us, since, 
 upon special occasions, they have been per- 
 mitted to discover themselves. We have a 
 natural dread of such visitants, even though 
 they should appear to us, as they did to the 
 shepherds, as messengers of peace and mercy 
 from God. Yet we must shortly mingle 
 with them. Death will introduce us into the 
 world of spirits, and what we shall then meet 
 with, what beings will be ready to accost us 
 upon our first entrance into that unknown, 
 unchangeable state, who can say? It deserves 
 our serious thought. We are now encom. 
 passed by the objects of sense, but we must be 
 soon separated from them all. We live in a 
 crowd, but we must die alone. Happy are 
 they, who, like Stephen, shall be able to com- 
 mend their departing spirits into the hands 
 of Jesus ! He is Lord of all worlds, and has 
 the keys of hades, of the invisible state. 
 
 2. The angel spoke — The gospel was preach- 
 ed by an angel to Zacharias, to the virgin 
 mother of Messiah, now to the shepherds ; 
 and, perhaps, to none but these. The angel, 
 who appeared to Cornelius, said nothing to 
 him of Jesus, but only directed him to send 
 for Peter, Acts x. 4, 5. The glorious gospel 
 of the blessed God, with respect to its digni- 
 ty, depth, and importance, may seem a fitter 
 theme for the tongue of an angel than of a 
 man ; but, angels never sinned, and though 
 they might proclaim its excellency, they could 
 not, from experience, speak of its efficacy. 
 In this respect sinful worms are better qua- 
 lified to preach to others, concerning him by 
 whom they have themselves been healed and 
 saved. Their weakness, likewise, is better 
 suited to shew that the influence and success 
 of the gospel is wholly owing to the power of 
 God. It has therefore pleased God to put 
 this treasure into earthen vessels, and to com- 
 mit the ministry of his word, not to angels, 
 but to men. They whom he is pleased to 
 employ in this office, however weak and un- 
 worthy in themselves, derive an honour and 
 importance from the message entrusted to 
 them, and are so far worthy of the same at- 
 tention, as if an angel from heaven spoke. 
 
 679 
 
 They are sinful men, and have reason to think 
 humbly of themselves : nor should they, as 
 the servants of a suffering, crucified Master, 
 either wonder or complain if they meet with 
 unkindness from those whom they wish to 
 serve; but they may magnify their office, 
 (Rom. xi. 13.) and it is at the peril of their 
 hearers to despise it. What the world ac- 
 counts in us the foolishness of preaching, is 
 made to those who simply receive it, the wis- 
 dom and power of God. To others, even an- 
 gels would preach in vain. They who hear 
 not Moses and the prophets, who submit not 
 to the ordinary methods and means of grace 
 which God has appointed, would not be per 
 suaded, though one should rise from the dead 
 
 3. The angel was sent with the most inter- 
 esting news that could be made known to 
 mankind ; not to Caesar, or to Herod, or to 
 the High Priest, but to obscure and lowly 
 shepherds. The Lord seeth not as man seeth ; 
 the petty distinctions that obtain among men 
 are not regarded by him. He is equally near 
 to them that fear him in every situation of 
 life, as the sun shines, as freely and fully, up- 
 on a cottage as upon a palace. These shep- 
 herds were doubtless, of the number of the 
 happy few, who, in that time of degeneracy, 
 were waiting and longing for the consolation 
 of Israel. The heads of the Jewish people 
 found their consolation in their rank and 
 wealth, and in the respect paid them by the 
 vulgar. These things usually add to the idea 
 of self-importance, and feed those tempers 
 which are most displeasing to the Lord, and 
 which indispose the mind to the reception of 
 the gospel, or to any due inquiry concerning 
 it. And thus, in fact from age to age, it has 
 generally been hidden from the wise and the 
 great, and revealed unto babes. The magi, 
 or wise men who lived in the east, where the 
 knowledge of astronomy obtained, but where 
 the scripture was not knowm, were guided to 
 Messiah by the appearance of a new star or 
 meteor. The shepherds, who were acquaint- 
 ed with the prophecies concerning Messiah, 
 were informed of their accomplishment by an 
 angel. Thus the Lord was pleased to suit 
 the different manner of making known his 
 will, to the previous situation of the persons. 
 
 II. The message of the angel, though 
 concise, was comprehensive and full. It con- 
 tained the Fact, “ Unto you is born this day” 
 — the Place, “ In the city of David,” that is, 
 in Bethlehem, so called, because David like- 
 wise had been born there (Luke ii. 4.) — the 
 Office of Messiah, “ A Saviour” — his Name, 
 Honour, and Character, “ Christ,” or the 
 Anointed; “the Lord,” the head and king 
 of Israel, and of the church, the Lord of all. 
 I do but recite these particulars now, as they 
 will repeatedly offer to our consideration in 
 the series of subjects before me. The de- 
 scription of the state in which they would find 
 him, was such, as could only be reconciled to 
 
SER. X, 
 
 THE ANGEL’S MESSAGE AND SONG. 
 
 b80 
 
 his titles and honours, by that simple faith, 
 which, without vain reasoning, acquiesces in 
 the declarations of God. For how unlikely 
 would it seem to a merely human judgment, 
 that the Saviour of sinners, the promised Mes- 
 siah, the Lord of all, should be a babe wrap- 
 ped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a man- 
 ger. Yet thus it was. Though rich in him- 
 self, he became poor for our sakes, 2 Cor. 
 viii. 9. On this account, as the scriptures 
 had foretold, he was despised and rejected of 
 men. Though he came to his own, as a Lord 
 or Master to his own house ; yet, coming in 
 this manner, his own professed servants, who 
 pretended that they were longing and waiting 
 for him, slighted and opposed him ; preferred 
 a notorious malefactor to him, and put him to 
 death as an impostor and blasphemer. But 
 the shepherds reasoned not through unbelief, 
 and therefore they were not staggered : they 
 obeyed the message, they went, they saw, they 
 believed. 
 
 The seeming repugnance between the great- 
 ness of Messiah’s claims, and the state of hu- 
 miliation in which he appeared when upon 
 earth, was the great stumbling-block then, and 
 continues to be so at this day. Because he 
 stooped so low, and made himself of no repu- 
 tation, too many still refuse to acknowledge 
 his divine character. But they who are wil- 
 ling to be taught by the word and Spirit of 
 God, see a beauty and propriety in his sub- 
 mitting to be born in a stable, and to live as a 
 poor man, destitute of house or property. 
 Hereby he poured contempt upon worldly 
 pomp and vanity, sanctified the state of poverty 
 to his followers, and set them an encouraging 
 example to endure it with cheerfulness. They, 
 like the shepherds and his first disciples, are 
 delivered from their natural prejudices, and 
 are enabled to behold his glory, through the 
 vail of his outward humiliation, as the glory 
 of the only begotten of the Father. And his 
 condescension in becoming poor for their 
 sakes, that they through his poverty might be 
 made rich, affects their hearts with admiration 
 and gratitude. 
 
 But though too many, who are governed by 
 the spirit and maxims of this world, are far 
 from admiring his love, in assuming our na- 
 ture under those circumstances, which, from 
 his infancy to his death, exposed him to the 
 contempt of his enemies, it is otherwise 
 thought of in yonder world of light. For we 
 read, that when the angel had declared to the 
 shepherds the glad tidings, a multitude of the 
 heavenly host expressed their joy by a song, 
 which is the next subject that offers to our 
 consideration. 
 
 III. Their highest praise was excited by a 
 view of the effects which this unexampled 
 love would produce. 
 
 1. “ Glory to God in the highest.” In the 
 highest heaven, in the highest degree, for this 
 highest instance of his mercy. At the crea- 
 
 tion these morning-stars sung for joy, Job 
 xxxviii. 7. But redemption was a greater 
 work than they had yet seen, and a work by 
 which his goodness, wisdom, and power, would 
 be still more abundantly magnified. The 
 glory of God, the exhibition of his adorable 
 perfections, to the view of intelligent crea- 
 tures, is the last and highest end of all his 
 works. Nor would it be worthy of the infi- 
 nite eternal God, in comparison with whose 
 immensity, the aggregate of all created good 
 is no more than a point compared with the 
 universe, or a single ray of light compared 
 with the sun, to propose any thing short of hi' 
 own glory, as the ultimate, final cause of his 
 designs. And in proportion as any finite in- 
 telligences are conformed to the will of their 
 Creator, and impressed with a sense of his 
 pre-eminence, their highest end and aim will 
 be the same with his. If, therefore, we com- 
 pare the glory of God and the good of his 
 creatures together, we may refer to them what 
 our Lord was pleased to declare of the two 
 great commandments. The former is incom- 
 parably the first and greatest of his ends ; the 
 second, in its proper place and subordination, 
 is like unto it, and inseparably connected with 
 it, or rather derived from it. The former is, 
 if I may so speak, the essential difference of 
 the divine operations ; the latter, so far as 
 consistent with it, is the result of a glorious 
 and efficacious property of his consummate 
 excellence. In the redemption of fallen man, 
 both are displayed to the highest advantage. 
 “ Glory to God in the highest, and on eartli 
 peace, good-will towards men.” 
 
 The glory of his goodness : — this shines 
 bright in the capacities and happiness he has 
 communicated to angels ; but it shines with 
 greater brightness in the mercy afforded to 
 mankind ; whether we consider the objects, 
 who are sinners, rebels, and enemies ; or his 
 purpose in their favour, not only to restore 
 the life they had forfeited, but to bestow it 
 more abundantly (John x. 10), with respect 
 to title, security and honour ; or lastly, and 
 principally, the mean by which their deliver- 
 ance from everlasting misery, and their pos- 
 session of everlasting happiness, is procured ; 
 and which could only be procured by the hu- 
 miliation and death of the Son of his love. 
 
 The glory of his wisdom, in adjusting the 
 demands of his holiness, justice and truth, 
 with the purposes of his mercy in provid- 
 ing such a method for the exercise of his 
 mercy, as renders his displeasure against sin 
 more conspicuous by pardoning, than by pu- 
 nishing it ; — in abasing the sinner’s pride, by 
 the very considerations which inspire his hope 
 and confidence ; so that while he confesses 
 himself unworthy of the very air that he 
 breathes, he is encouraged and warranted to 
 claim a participation in all the blessings of 
 grace and glory: — and finally, in proposing 
 motives, which, when rightly understood, are 
 
SER. X. 
 
 always found sufficient to influence the heart, 
 even though it has been habitually hardened 
 in sin, long deaf to the voice of reason, con- 
 science, and interest, and equally unaffected 
 by the judgments or the mercies of God, till 
 enlightened to perceive the excellency of the 
 gospel. 
 
 The glory of his power, in making all the 
 acts of free agents, through a long succession 
 of ages, subservient to this great purpose, not 
 excepting those who most laboured to obstruct 
 it;— in changing the disposition of the sinner, 
 however obstinate ; — and in carrying on his 
 work of grace, when once begun, in such 
 feeble inconsistent creatures as men are, in 
 defiance of all difficulties and opposition aris- 
 ing from within or without. 
 
 These are subjects which the angels desire 
 to look into (1 Pet. i. 12), which fill the 
 most exalted intelligences with admiration. 
 The glory of God was manifested, was cele- 
 brated in the highest heavens, when Messiah 
 was born of a woman. 
 
 2. The great design and effect of his ap- 
 pearance with regard to mankind, is peace. 
 “ On earth peace. * Man, as a fallen crea- 
 ture, is in a state of war and rebellion against 
 his Maker. He has renounced his allegiance 
 and dependence, is become his own end. He 
 is now against God, disobedient to his laws, 
 and disaffected to his government. And his 
 conscience, if not stupified and cauterized by 
 frequent resistance of conviction, suggests 
 that God is against him. He feels he is not 
 happy here, he fears he shall be miserable 
 hereafter. This apprehension strengthens his 
 aversion from God. And, indeed, without an 
 express assurance from the Lord himself, 
 whom he has offended, that there is forgiven- 
 ess with him, he would not only fear, but 
 sink into despair, if he rightly understood the 
 horrid enormity of a state of alienation from 
 the blessed God. But infinite wisdom and 
 mercy have provided, and propounded a 
 method, by which the honour of the divine 
 perfections and government are secured, and 
 pardon and peace vouchsafed to rebels. God 
 was in Christ reconciling the world unto him- 
 self. The knowledge of this mercy, when re- 
 vealed to the sinner’s heart, subdues his en- 
 mity, constrains him to throw down bis arms, 
 and to make an unreserved submission and 
 surrender of himself; forms him to a temper 
 of love and confidence, and disposes him to 
 habitual and cheerful obedience. Now mercy 
 and truth are met together, righteousness and 
 peace have kissed each other (Psal. lxxxv. 
 10) ; and God is glorified in the highest, for 
 peace proclaimed upon the earth. 
 
 The expression of “ good will towards 
 men,” seems to rise upon the former. Not 
 only peace, but acceptance and adoption in 
 the Beloved. Sinners who believe in the Son 
 of God, are not merely delivered from the 
 condemnation they have deserved, but are 
 
 681 
 
 united to their Saviour ; considered as one 
 with him, his children, the members of his 
 body, and made partakers of his life, and his 
 glory. God is their portion, and heaven is 
 their home. The Lord’s satisfaction in this, 
 as the greatest of all his works, is expressed 
 by the prophet in such astonishing terms of 
 condescension, as surpass our utmost concep- 
 tions ; and we can only say, Lord, what is 
 man that thou art thus mindful of him ! We 
 believe, admire, and adore. “ The Lord thy 
 God in the midst of thee is mighty : He will 
 save, he will rejoice over thee with joy, he will 
 rest in his love, he will rejoice over thee with 
 singing,” Z'eph. iii. 17. 
 
 Assuredly this song of the heavenly host is 
 not the language of our hearts by nature. 
 We once sought our pleasure and happiness 
 in a very different way. We were indifferent 
 to the glory of God, and strangers to his 
 peace. And some of us are still blind to the 
 excellencies of the gospel, and deaf to its gra- 
 cious invitations. But we must not expect to 
 sing with the great company of the redeemed 
 hereafter, before the throne of glory, unless 
 we learn, and love their song while we are 
 here. Rev. xiv. 3. They who attain to the 
 inheritance of the saints in light, are first 
 made meet for it in the present life, and in 
 this way. They believe the testimony of the 
 scripture respecting their own guilt, unworthi- 
 ness, and helplessness ; then they receive the 
 record which God has given of his Son. They 
 renounce all confidence in the flesh (Phil. iii. 
 3) ; they rejoice in Christ Jesus, and from bis 
 fulness they derive grace to worship God in 
 the Spirit. A sense of their obligations to 
 the Saviour, disposes them to praise him now 
 as they can ; and they rejoice in hope of see- 
 ing him ere long as he is, and that then they 
 shall praise him as they ought. For heaven 
 itself, as described in the word of God, could 
 not be a state of happiness to us, unless we 
 are like-minded with the apostle, to account 
 all things loss and dung for the excellency of 
 the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord. 
 
 SERMON XI. 
 
 Messiah’s entrance into Jerusalem 
 
 Rejoice greatly, 0 daughter of Zion ; shout, 0 
 daughter of Jerusalem : behold thy King 
 
 cometh into thee : he is just, and having sal- 
 vation ; lowly , and riding upon an ass, and 
 upon a colt the foal of an ass. — And he shall 
 speak peace unto the Heathen . — Zech ix. 9, 
 10 . 
 
 The narrowness and littleness of the mind of 
 fallen man are sufficiently conspicuous in the 
 idea he forms of magnificence and grandeur. 
 The pageantry and parade of a Roman 
 triumph, or of an eastern monarch, as describ- 
 
 THE ANGEL’S MESSAGE AND SONG. 
 
SElt. XI. 
 
 682 Messiah’s : 
 
 ed in history, exhibit him to us in what he ' 
 himself accounts his best estate. If you sup- 
 pose him seated in an imperial carriage, ar- 
 rayed in splendid apparel, wearing a crown or 
 tiara ornamented with jewels, preceded and 
 followed by a long train of guards and attend- 
 ants, surrounded by the unmeaning acclama- 
 tions of ignorant multitudes, you see the poor 
 worm at the summit of his happiness. He 
 has no conception of any thing greater than 
 this. And the spectators are generally of the 
 same mind. They admire, and they envy, his 
 lot ; and there is hardly a person in the crowds 
 around him, but would be very glad to take 
 his place, were it practicable. Yet this great 
 little creature would surely be mortified, if, 
 in the height of his self-complacence, he 
 could consider, that he had the very same re- 
 gard for a pre-eminence in finery, the same 
 desire to be admired and envied, and felt the 
 same kind of satisfaction in distinction above 
 his fellows, when he was a child of ten years 
 old. He is in effect a child still, only he has 
 changed his play-things, and now acts upon a 
 larger scale, but with the same trifling and 
 contracted views. 
 
 How different was Messiah’s entry into Je- 
 rusalem foretold in this prophecy, the accom- 
 plishment of which we read in the evangel- 
 ists 1 And how differently was he affected by 
 the objects around him ! He poured contempt 
 upon the phantom of human glory. This 
 King of kings and Lord of lords was meek 
 and lowly, riding upon an ass’s colt, Luke 
 xix. 35 — 38. And though a secret divine 
 
 influence constrained the multitude to ac- 
 knowledge his character, and, with some ac- 
 commodation to the customs of the times, to 
 strew their garments in the way, as they pro- 
 claimed the King who came in the name of 
 Jehovah ; yet he appeared unmoved by their 
 applause. Had the history of Jesus, like 
 those which we have of Socrates or Cyrus, 
 been merely the work of a human writer, am- 
 bitious to adorn a favourite character with the 
 most splendid qualities of a philosopher or a 
 hero, we should never have known how his 
 mind was engaged in this situation. The 
 Saviour must be divine, his historian must be 
 inspired, the fact must be true; for man 
 could not have invented such a circumstance, 
 that this meek and lowly Saviour took no 
 notice of the zeal and homage of his friends, 
 because his heart was filled with compassion 
 for his enemies, who were thirsting for his 
 blood. For it was then, amidst the acclama- 
 tion of his disciples, that he beheld the city 
 and wept over it, while he foretold the evils 
 which the rejection of him would bring upon 
 it. “ Oh that thou hadst known, even thou, 
 at least in this thy day, the things belonging 
 to thy peace ! But now they are hidden from 
 thine eyes.” 
 
 An angel proclaimed his birth to the shep- 
 herds; and wise men from the east paid such. 
 
 ENTRANCE 
 
 attention to the new-born Saviour, that the 
 jealousy of Herod was excited, and attempts 
 made to destroy him. But this wonderful in- 
 fant was brought up in a state of obscurity, in 
 a place of no repute, and known by no higher 
 description than that of the carpenter’s son. 
 In the course of his ministry he appeared and 
 was treated as a poor man, he had no certain 
 dwelling-place, he submitted to receive sup- 
 plies for his support from the contributions 
 of a few of his followers, for the most of 
 them were poor like himself. And though he 
 wrought many wonderful works for the relief 
 of the necessitous and miserable, he admitted 
 no alteration in his own external state, but 
 was content to be poor and despised, for our 
 sakes, to the end of his life. I think the only 
 occasion on which he permitted a public ac- 
 knowledgment of his person and character, 
 was when he fulfilled this prophecy. And 
 still he was the same meek and lowly Saviour. 
 As his kingdom was not of this world, neither 
 were there any marks of human grandeur in 
 his procession. He approached Jerusalem, 
 attended, indeed, by a concourse of people, 
 but riding upon an ass, and weeping for his 
 enemies. 
 
 The passage of the Messiah which follows 
 the chorus of the heavenly host, is taken from 
 these verses. It does not include the whole 
 of them. In one clause there is a small alter- 
 ation in the expression, but it does not affect 
 the sense. Instead of, “ He is just, having 
 salvation,” it is, ** He is a righteous Sa- 
 viour.” 
 
 We may notice, 
 
 I. The prophet’s address,—** O daughter 
 of Zion and Jerusalem.” 
 
 II. The exhortation to joy, — “ Rejoice and 
 shout.” 
 
 III. The cause assigned for this joy, — 
 “ Thy King cometh.” 
 
 IV. The characters of the King, — ** A 
 righteous Saviour.” 
 
 V. His great design, — “ To speak peace 
 to jhe heathen.” 
 
 I. The address, — ** O daughter of Zion 
 and Jerusalem.” Zion and Jerusalem are in 
 differently used as emblems of the church, or 
 professing people of God. When they occur 
 together, as here, contradistinguished from 
 each other, Zion, the city of David, the seat 
 of government, and of the temple-worship, 
 may denote the principal persons of the eccle- 
 siastical and civil state ; and Jerusalem may 
 be expressive of the people at large, the daugh- 
 ters of a place signifying, according to the 
 Hebrew idiom, the inhabitants. They boast- 
 ed that they were the Lord’s peculiar people ; 
 they had the prophecies and promises con- 
 cerning Messiah in their hands, and were pro- 
 fessedly expecting and waiting for his appear- 
 ance. They are, therefore, called upon to re- 
 joice in it. But when he actually came, 
 though he came to his own, to his own na 
 
sen. XI. 
 
 tion, city and temple ; his own people, to 
 whoic affection and allegiance he had the 
 justest claim, received him not, John i. 11. 
 There were a few, however, who truly waited 
 for him as the hope and consolation of Israel, 
 at the time of his birth ; and many more were 
 afterwards convinced by his gracious words 
 and works, that he only had the words of 
 eternal life, and became his followers. By 
 their acknowledged principles, they were all 
 bound to acknowledge that prophet whom 
 Moses had foretold God would raise up 
 among them like unto himself (Deut. xviii. 
 15 — 19; Acts vii. 37), that is, to be, as he 
 had been, a lawgiver, to institute a new dis 
 pensation of the true religion ; and their re- 
 fusal involved them, as a nation, in the pu- 
 nishment, which Moses had likewise denounc- 
 ed against those who should refuse to heark- 
 en to him. Tlius their peculiar advantage in 
 possessing a divine revelation, while the rest 
 of mankind were left ignorant of the will of 
 God, proved an aggravation of their guilt, 
 and rendered their obstinacy more inexcusa- 
 ble, and their condemnation more severe. I 
 am bound to take every opportunity of notic- 
 ing the striking parallel in this respect, be- 
 tween the Jewish nation in our Saviour’s 
 time, and the nations, who, since that period, 
 have admitted the New Testament as a revel- 
 ation from God. By assuming the Christian 
 name, and so far calling the Saviour Lord, 
 while they reject the spirit and design of the 
 gospel, and treat the ministers of it with ne- 
 glect or contempt, they tread in the steps, and 
 share in the guilt, of those who pretended to 
 expect Messiah, and yet crucified him when 
 he appeared among them. In person he could 
 be crucified but once ; but the scripture speaks 
 of those who crucify the Son of God afresh, 
 and put him to open shame. How far this is 
 the case of the persons who can bear to hear 
 of his passion and his kingdom when made 
 the subject of a musical entertainment, but 
 upon no other occasion, deserves their serious 
 consideration. 
 
 II. The exhortation can only be complied 
 with by those who are sensible of their need 
 of a Saviour, and his authority and ability to 
 save. To these the prophet brings a joyful 
 message, and they will rejoice and shout. 
 The joy of harvest (Isa. ix. 3), and of the 
 victors in war when dividing the spoil of the 
 vanquished, is celebrated with shouting. But 
 sinners who by the knowledge of Messiah, are 
 delivered from going down into the pit, from 
 the dominion of the powers of darkness, and 
 are translated into the kingdom of God, expe- 
 rience a joy far superior, in kind and degree, 
 to any satisfaction that temporal things can 
 afford. It is a joy unspeakable, and full of 
 glory, 1 Pet. i. 8. Jesus, when known and 
 received by faith, is, in the highest sense, light 
 to those who sit in darkness, health to the 
 sick, food to the hungry, and rest to the 
 
 683 
 
 weary soul. Thus many rejoiced in his good- 
 ness when he was upon earth; and he still 
 has a people, and will have to the end of time, 
 who do and shall rejoice in him upon these 
 accounts, though every spring of temporal joy 
 should be dried up. They who know his 
 name, and put their trust in him, are warrant- 
 ed to appropriate those strong expressions of 
 another prophet : “ Although the fig-tree shall 
 not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vine, 
 the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields 
 shall yield no meat, the flock shall be cut off 
 from the fold, and there shall be no herd in 
 the stalls ; yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I 
 will joy in the God of my salvation,” Hab. 
 iii. 17, 18. 
 
 III. The ground and cause of this joy is 
 assigned, — “ Thy King cometh.” Messiah 
 is a king. This title he avowed to Pilate 
 (Mark xv. 2), by whose order it was affixed 
 over him upon his cross. That this was not 
 a slight and arbitrary circumstance, but pro- 
 vidential and important, we may, I think, in- 
 fer from the care taken by the evangelists to 
 preserve the remembrance of it, for it is re- 
 corded by them all. He is, indeed, King of 
 kings, King and Lord of nations, King of 
 worlds ; but he is here spoken of as King of 
 Zion. The kingdom he came to establish 
 upon earth is not of this world, nor like the 
 kingdoms of the world. The maxims, lan- 
 guage, interests, and aims of it, are peculiar 
 to itself. His power and providence rule 
 over all ; but he is only known, admired, and 
 willingly obeyed by the subjects of his spirit- 
 ual kingdom, who, though they are in the 
 world, are not of it, but strangers and pil- 
 grims upon the earth. Their TeXinupct, or 
 true citizenship, is in heaven, Phil. ii. 20. 
 These are his peculiar people. And though 
 they partake with others in the changes and 
 trials incident to this mortal life, and have 
 their several departments and duties assigned 
 them according to his will, as members of so- 
 ciety, and it does not yet appear what they 
 shall be (1 John iii. 2); they are even now 
 the children and servants of the Lord, and he 
 manifests himself to them as he does not to 
 others. Happy are these his subjects who 
 dwell under his shadow. He rules them, not 
 with that rod of iron by which he bruises and 
 breaks the power of his enemies, but with his 
 golden sceptre of love. He reigns by his 
 own right, and by their full and free consent, 
 in their hearts. He reigns upon a throne of 
 grace, to which they have at all times access j 
 and from whence they receive, in answer to 
 their prayers, mercy and peace, the pardon of 
 all their sins, grace to help in every time of 
 need, and a renewed supply answerable to all 
 their wants, cares, services, and conflicts. So 
 that, though they are surrounded with snares, 
 and fiercely opposed by many enemies, they 
 cannot be overpowered, for the Lord himself 
 is their king and their Saviour. We have. 
 
 INTO JERUSALEM. 
 
SER. XI. 
 
 684 Messiah’s 
 
 IV. Two characters of this King, — “ He is 
 just, having salvation,” or, as it is in the pas- 
 sage of the Messiah, “ He is a righteous Sa- 
 viour.” 
 
 1. He is righteous. — His kingdom is found- 
 ed in righteousness. It is the effect and re- 
 ward of his obedience unto death, by which 
 he made an end of sin, and brought in an 
 everlasting righteousness. As his people re- 
 ceive and expect all from his hand, so like- 
 wise for his sake. Such is his command, and 
 such is his promise. “ If ye shall ask any 
 thing in my name, I will do it,” John xiv. 14. 
 In pleading their cause, and managing their 
 concerns, he is their righteous advocate. And 
 therefore, because his intercession is founded 
 upon a righteous stipulation, which he has 
 completely fulfilled, he does not say, “ Father,” 
 
 I ask, but “ I will, that those whom thou hast 
 given me, be with me where I am, that they 
 may behold my glory,” John xvii. 24. 
 
 2. He is a Saviour. — Having salvation in 
 himself ; yea, he is their salvation, Isa. xii. 2. 
 His wisdom, power, compassion, and deter- 
 mined purpose, are all engaged to save them 
 fully, freely, and for ever ; to save them from 
 guilt, from Satan, and from sin, through all 
 the dangers and trials of this life ; to save 
 them to the uttermost, till he fixes them final- 
 ly out of the reach of all evil, and puts them 
 in possession of all the Happiness of which 
 their natures are capable, in a conformity to 
 his own image, and the enjoyment of un- 
 clouded, uninterrupted communion with God. 
 
 V. His great design was not confined to 
 Israel after the flesh ; “ he shall speak peace 
 to the Heathen” also. His kingdom com- 
 prises, besides the believing posterity of Abra- 
 ham, Isaac, and Jacob, a great multitude 
 gathered from amidst all nations, people, and 
 languages, from the east and the west, from 
 the north and the south, Luke xiii. 28, 29. 
 Though the Heathen were universally alien- 
 ated from God, by evil works and an evil con- 
 science, he has undertaken to reconcile them, 
 and to bring those near who were once afar 
 off’. By their knowledge of him, their prisons 
 shall be opened, their chains broken (Isa. xlv. 
 14), their condemnation reversed, and they 
 shall be renewed, and accepted in the Belov- 
 ed, as the true children of Abraham. He 
 shall likewise conciliate peace between Jew 
 and Gentile, make of both one people (Eph. 
 ii. 13 — 16), pulling down the walls of se- 
 paration and prejudice, that with one heart 
 and mind they may love, serve, and praise 
 him. For where faith in him obtains, all dis- 
 tinctions are lost and superseded. There is 
 then, neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision 
 nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond 
 nor free, but Christ is all, and in all, Col. iii. 
 11 . 
 
 Much has been already done by the gospel. 
 Multitudes have been turned from darkness 
 to light, and from the worship of dumb idols to 
 
 ENTRANCE &C. 
 
 serve the living and true God. And we expect 
 a time When this promise will be more exten 
 sively and literally fulfilled ; when the king- 
 dom shall be the Lord’s to the end of the 
 earth ; when the fulness of the Gentiles shall 
 come in, all Israel shall be saved, and the na- 
 tions shall learn war no more. 
 
 From these characters of the Saviour, we 
 may collect the character of his people. For 
 they beholding his glory, are changed (ac- 
 cording to the measure of their faith) into the 
 same image. The incommunicable perfec- 
 tions of God, such as his sovereignty, and all- 
 sufficiency, can only produce in his people 
 correspondent impressions of reverence, sub- 
 mission, and dependence; an attempt to be 
 like him in these respects would be highly im- 
 pious, and was indeed the original source of 
 our apostacy from him. Man, by indulging 
 a desire of being like God, rebelled against 
 him, aspired at independence, and preferred 
 the gratification of his own will to the righte- 
 ous and equitable commands of his Maker. 
 The unavoidable consequence of this madness 
 is misery. It is not possible that he should 
 be happy, till he be reduced to his proper 
 state of subordination. But that light of the 
 glory of God in the person of Jesus Christ, 
 which is revealed to the renewed heart by the 
 gospel, has a transforming effect upon those 
 who receive it; they are made partakers of a 
 divine nature, and resemble him, whose they 
 are, and whom they serve, in righteousness, 
 goodness, and truth, Eph. v. 9. 
 
 They are righteous as he is righteous. I 
 speak not of their relative state, as they are 
 accepted and accounted righteous in the Be- 
 loved, but of their real character. They learn 
 of him to love righteousness and hate iniquity, 
 Psal. xlv. 7. Their principles are right, 
 drawn from the revealed truths of God. They 
 comport themselves as becomes weak and un- 
 worthy sinners, and ascribe the glory of their 
 salvation to the Lord alone ; and therefore 
 the general tenor of their conduct is governed 
 by the righteous rules of his precepts ; of 
 which they have the most endearing and ani- 
 mating exemplification in the conduct of their 
 Saviour; from him they learn to frame their 
 tempers, desires, and hopes, and thus give evi- 
 dence that they are, in deed and in truth, a 
 saved people. His love, in proportion as it 
 is realized in their hearts by faith, teaches 
 them likewise to love one another, and to ex- 
 ercise benevolence to all men. When they 
 understand the true nature of his spiritual 
 kingdom, which consisteth not in external 
 distinctions and forms, but in righteousness, 
 peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost (Rom. xiv. 
 
 1 7) ; and that it is his great design to form to 
 himself a people from amongst the nations of 
 the earth, who shall be one body, enlivened 
 by one and the same spirit, they acquire a 
 large and comprehensive mind. They rise 
 above the influence of names, parties, and di- 
 
SER. XII. 
 
 EFFECTS OF MESSIAH S APPEARANCE. 
 
 visions ; are freed from the narrow views 
 and interests of self; and put on, as the elect 
 of God, bowels of mercies, kindness, humi- 
 lity, meekness, long-suffering, forbearance and 
 forgiveness (Col. iii. 12), in conformity to 
 the pattern and will of their great exemplar. 
 Thus he speaks peace to them, and hushes all 
 their angry tumultuous passions into a calm. 
 
 Such is the spirit and tendency of the gos- 
 pel. Let us try ourselves by this touchstone, 
 measure ourselves by this rule, and weigh 
 ourselves in these balances of the sanctuary. 
 They that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh, 
 have put off the old man, and are renewed in 
 the spirit of their minds. If he be indeed 
 your King, your consciences will bear you 
 witness that you revere, imitate and obey him. 
 If he be your Saviour, you certainly must be 
 sensible yourselves, and others must observe 
 that you are different from what you once were. 
 
 And if any of you should be convinced, 
 that hitherto you have been a Christian only 
 in name and in form, but destitute of that 
 which constitutes the life and power of real 
 godliness, this will be a good beginning. For 
 though it be high time that you should in 
 good earnest attend to these things, blessed be 
 God it is not yet too late. He is a righteous 
 and a gracious Saviour ; seek him as such, 
 and he will speak peace to you also. His 
 sure promise is recorded for your encourage- 
 ment, “ Him that cometh unto me I will in 
 nowise cast out, John i. 37. 
 
 SERMON XII. 
 
 EFFECTS OF MESSIAH’S APPEARANCE. 
 
 Thai the eyes of the blind shall be opened , and 
 the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped 
 Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and 
 the tongue of the dumb sing. Is. xxxv. 5, 6. 
 
 How beautiful and magnificent is the imagery 
 by which the prophet, in this chapter, repre- 
 sents the effects of Messiah’s appearance ! 
 The scene, proposed to our view, is a barren 
 and desolate wilderness. But when he, who 
 in the beginning said “ Let there be light, 
 and there was light,” condescends to visit this 
 wilderness, the face of nature is suddenly 
 changed by his presence. Fountains and 
 streams of water burst forth in the burning 
 desert, the soil becomes fruitful, clothed with 
 verdure, and adorned with flowers. The 
 towering cedars, which were the glory of Le- 
 banon, and the richest pastures, which were 
 the excellency of Carmel, present themselves 
 to the eye, where, a little before, all was un- 
 comfortable and dreary. How is it, that so 
 few of those who value themselves upon their 
 taste, and who profess to be admirers of pas- 
 toral poetry in particular, are struck with the 
 
 685 
 
 elegance and beauty of this description ? Alas, 
 we can only ascribe their indifference to the 
 depravity of the human heart. They would, 
 surely, have admired this picture, could they 
 have met with it in any of their favourite au- 
 thors ; but descriptive paintings in this style, 
 so exquisitely combining grandeur with sim- 
 plicity, are only to be found in the Bible, a 
 book which their unhappy prejudices and 
 passions too often lead them to depreciate and 
 neglect. But they who have a scriptural and 
 spiritual taste, not only admire this passage 
 as a description of a pleasing change in out- 
 ward nature, but consider it as a just and ex- 
 pressive representation of a more important, 
 a moral change, of which they have themselves 
 been, in a measure, the happy subjects. The 
 barren wilderness reminds them of the state 
 of mankind by the fall, and of their own 
 hearts, before Messiah, the Sun of righteous- 
 ness, arose upon them with healing, with light, 
 power, and comfort, in his beams. In that 
 memorable hour, old things passed away, and 
 all things became new. The Lord, by shin- 
 ing into their hearts, and shewing them his 
 glory in the person of Christ, has created for 
 them a new heaven and a new earth. The 
 works of God around them in his creation 
 and providence assume a different appearance. 
 Before, they lived without him in the world ; 
 but now, they sec his hand wherever they 
 look, they hear his voice in every event ; for 
 now the principles of his grace are planted in 
 their souls, and they are no longer barren nor 
 unfruitful, but are filled with the fruits of 
 righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ to 
 his praise, Phil. i. li. 
 
 The verses which I have read exhibit the 
 effects of Messiah’s power and goodness, by 
 another image equally pleasing. Not only 
 the wilderness, but the inhabitants of the wil- 
 derness partake of the virtue of the great Re- 
 deemer. He finds them in circumstances of 
 distress, which he only can relieve. But 
 when he comes the blind receive their sight, 
 the deaf hear, the lame walk, and the dumb 
 have voices given them to resound his praise. 
 These mighty works, in their literal sense, 
 marked his character, and confirmed his claims 
 when he was upon earth ; and to these he 
 himself appealed in proof of his being the 
 promised Saviour whom the prophets had 
 foretold, and that no other was to be expect- 
 ed, Matth. xi. 3 — 6. 
 
 But the words have a still more sublime 
 and important sense. As the great Physician, 
 he cured all manner of bodily diseases and in- 
 firmities. But this was not the principal de- 
 sign for which he came into the world. The 
 maladies to which sin has subjected the body, 
 are but emblems of the more dreadful evils 
 which it has brought upon the soul. He 
 came to open the eyes of the mind ; to make 
 the obstinate will attentive and obedient to 
 the voice of God ; to invigorate our benumbed 
 
SER. XII 
 
 EFFECTS OF MESSIAH’S APPEARANCE. 
 
 G86 
 
 and paralytic faculties, that we may be active 
 and cheerful in his service ; and to open our 
 lips, that our mouths may shew forth his 
 praise. 1 have a good hope that I may war- 
 rantably say, “ This day is this scripture ful- 
 filled in your ears,” Luke iv. 21. Some of 
 you who were once darkness, are now light in 
 the Lord 
 
 These different effects are produced by one 
 simple, but powerful operation. While La- 
 zarus lay in the grave, all his natural powers 
 were inactive. But when the voice of the 
 Son of God restored him to life (John xi. 43), 
 he was, of course, immediately enabled to see, 
 to hear, to move, and to speak. Thus, while 
 we were spiritually dead, we were necessarily 
 blind, deaf, dumb, and motionless, with re- 
 spect to all the objects and faculties of that 
 life of God in the soul, which is the perfec- 
 tion and honour of our nature. When we 
 are made partakers of this life, by a new and 
 heavenly birth, then our spiritual senses are 
 brought into exercise, then the eyes of the 
 blind are opened, to see the beauty and glory 
 of divine truths : we hear the voice of God, 
 we feel a liberty to walk and act in his ser- 
 vice, and our tongues are taught to praise 
 him. Here are four chief effects of a work 
 of grace upon the heart, which distinguish 
 believers from the rest of mankind. 
 
 And these effects are all to be ascribed to 
 Messiah. For they are all wrought by the 
 agency of his Holy Spirit. The gifts and 
 graces of the Holy Spirit, which are abso- 
 lutely necessary, as well for the perpetuating 
 of his gospel from age to age, as for making 
 it efficacious and successful, are bestowed up- 
 on sinners wholly upon the account of his 
 mediation. It was, when he ascended on 
 high and led captivity captive, that he pro- 
 cured these blessings for rebellious men, that 
 the Lord God might dwell among them, Psal. 
 lxviii. 18. And it was only for his sake, and 
 on the account of what he has to accomplish 
 in the fulness of time, as intimated in the 
 promise of the seed of the woman appointed 
 to bruise the serpent’s head, that there were 
 any gracious communications afforded to 
 fallen man, from the first entrance of sin into 
 the world. But now the Redeemer’s great 
 work is fulfilled, his salvation is more openly 
 revealed and applied by the publication of 
 the gospel, with the Holy Ghost, sent down 
 from Heaven, and sinners hear the voice of 
 God and live. Then all the changes prefi- 
 gured and predicted in my text take place, 
 and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field. 
 
 1. They were once blind, but now they see. 
 The religion of true believers is not the effect 
 c>f imagination and blind impulse, but is de- 
 rived from a solid knowledge, which will bear 
 the strictest scrutiny, and is the reasonable 
 service of an enlightened understanding. They 
 see God ; their apprehensions of him are, in 
 some measure, answerable to his greatness 
 
 and his goodness, and inspire them with reve- 
 rence and love. Their conceptions of other 
 things in which they are most nearly interest- 
 ed, are agreeable to the truth. Sin appears 
 to them hateful in itself, as well as mischie 
 vous in its consequences ; and holiness, not 
 only necessary by the ordination of God, but 
 desirable for its own sake, as essentially be- 
 longing to the true dignity and happiness of 
 man. They know themselves ; they see and 
 feel that they are such creatures as the Bible 
 describes them to be, weak, depraved, and vile. 
 Of course, they see the folly of attempting to 
 recommend themselves to God, and can no 
 longer place any dependence on what they 
 once accounted their wisdom, power, or 
 righteousness ; and therefore they see the ab- 
 solute necessity of a Saviour. They see, like - 
 wise, and approve the method of salvation pro- 
 posed by the gospel, as worthy of the wisdom 
 and justice of God, and every way adapted to 
 the exigencies of their sins, wants, and fears. 
 They see and admire the excellence, dignity, 
 and sufficiency of him, on whom their help is 
 laid. His power, and authority engage their 
 confidence, his love captivates and fixes their 
 hearts. They see the vanity of the present 
 state, and the vast importance of eternity. In 
 these respects they have all of them a good 
 understanding, however inferior in natural ca- 
 pacity or acquired knowledge to the wise men 
 of the world. 
 
 2. Their knowledge, so far as they have at- 
 tained, is not merely speculative, cold, and in- 
 distinct, like the light of the moon. The Sun 
 of righteousness has shined into their hearts. 
 The light they enjoy is vital, cheering, and ef- 
 fective. Because they thus see, they hear 
 likewise. They were once deaf to the voice 
 of God, whether he spoke by his word or his 
 providence, whether in the language of mercy 
 or judgment. But now their deaf ears are un- 
 stopped. They are now attentive, submissive, 
 and willing to receive his instructions, and to 
 obey his commands. With them, one “ Thus 
 saith the Lord,” has the force of a thousand 
 arguments. They desire no farther proof of 
 a doctrine, no other warrant for their prac- 
 tice, no other reason for any dispensation, 
 than Thus the Lord has said, This he re- 
 quires, and, This is his appointment. Thus 
 their wills are brought into subjection ; and 
 they so understand, as to believe and obey. 
 
 3. Farther, with their sight and hearing 
 they receive power and activity. Once they 
 were tied and bound in the chain of their sins, 
 or like a man benumbed with a dead palsy, 
 unable to move. If they sometimes seemed 
 to express desires that might be called good 
 with respect to their object, they were faint 
 and ineffectual. But now their fetters are 
 broken, the health and strength of their souls 
 is restored, arid God has wrought in them not 
 only to will but also to do according to his 
 good pleasure, Phil. ii. 13. It is not more 
 
SER. XII. 
 
 EFFECTS OF MESSIAH’S APPEARANCE. 
 
 wonderful that a cripple should suddenly re- 
 cover the use of his limbs, than that a person 
 who has long been fettered in sinful habits 
 should be enabled to move and act with ala- 
 crity in the service of God. But in the day 
 of divine power sinners are made both willing 
 and able. How burdensome was that which 
 they once accounted their religion ! how little 
 comfort did it yield them ! how little did it 
 assist them against their passions or against 
 their fears ! But all things are become new, 
 since they have attained to a life of faith in 
 the Son of God. Their religious service is 
 now pleasant, and their warfare against sin 
 and the world victorious. Their obligations, 
 motives, resources, encouragements, and pro- 
 spects inspire them with a holy vigour to run, 
 with patience and perseverance, the race that 
 is set before them. 
 
 4. Having their sight and hearing thus re- 
 stored, and their hearts enlarged to walk at li- 
 berty in the ways of wisdom, they are no 
 longer dumb, silent, and su len, but, out of 
 the abundance of their hearts, their mouths 
 speak the language of gratitude, praise, and 
 joy. For though most people have the fa- 
 culty of speech, and can use, or rather abuse 
 their tongues fluently ; though we are suffi- 
 ciently expert from our childhood, in the dia- 
 lects of falsehood, profaneness, and folly ; 
 yet, by nature, we are dumb with respect to 
 the language that becomes us, as the creatures 
 of God, and as those who have sinned against 
 him, and yet are invited to seek his mercy. 
 But when grace teaches the heart, then the 
 heart teaches the mouth, Prov. xvi. 23. When 
 we believe, then we speak, yea, we sing and 
 greatly rejoice ; as it is written, “ In that day 
 I will praise thee ; though thou wast angry, 
 thine anger is turned away,” Isa. xii. 1. And 
 again, “ The voice of joy and thanksgiving is 
 in the tabernacles of the righteous,” Psal. 
 cxviii. 15. “ Let the redeemed of the Lord 
 
 say, That he is good, and his mercy endureth 
 for ever, Psal. cvii. 1, 2. 
 
 It is of great importance to examine our- 
 selves by this test, and not to be satisfied with 
 our knowledge of the gospel, any farther than 
 our consciences bear us witness, that it has 
 produced a real moral change in our tempers, 
 conduct, and pursuits. For there is a know- 
 ledge which is falsely so called. It puffeth 
 up, but edifieth not. Our Lord’s declaration 
 deserves our most serious attention : “ For 
 judgment I am come into this world, that 
 they which see not may see, and that they 
 which see, might be made blind,” John ix. 39. 
 It is very possible, yea, very easy, by the help 
 of books, sermons, and converse, to acquire an 
 orderly and systematic knowledge of divine 
 truths ; it may be learnt thus, like any other 
 branch of human science, and the head be well 
 stored with orthodox sentiments ; and there 
 may be an ability to prove and defend them, 
 in a way of argumentation, while the heart is 
 
 687 
 
 utterly a stranger to their salutary influence. 
 Such characters are too common. None make 
 a greater paiade and boast of seeing than 
 these persons. None are more fatally blind- 
 ed. They smile with disdain when they speak 
 of a self-righteousness founded upon prayers, 
 alms-deeds, and sacraments, but are not aware 
 that they themselves live in the very spirit of 
 the Pharisees (Luke xviii. 2), so clearly de- 
 scribed and so expressly condemned in the 
 New Testament. Their supposed knowledge 
 of the doctrines which they misunderstand and 
 abuse, is the righteousness on which they build 
 their hopes ; and trusting to this, they despise 
 all those who are stricter in practice than them- 
 selves, as ignorant and legal, and discover al- 
 most as great dislike to close and faithful 
 preaching as they could do to poison. Though 
 the doctrines of the gospel, when rightly re- 
 ceived, are productive of godliness, it is to be 
 feared there are people who espouse and plead 
 for them to quiet their consciences, by fur- 
 nishing them with excuses for the sins they 
 are unwilling to forsake. It is not surprising 
 that they who are displeased with the yoke 
 of our Lord’s precepts should seem friendly 
 to the idea of salvation without the w’orks of 
 the law. The notion of the final perseverance 
 of believers may afford a pillow for those to 
 rest on, who, being at present destitute of all 
 feeling of spiritual life, labour to persuade 
 themselves that they are Christians, because 
 they had some serious thoughts, and made 
 some profession of the truth, many years ago. 
 So likewise, in wdiat the scriptures teach of the 
 total inability of fallen man, they think they 
 have a plea to justify their negligence and 
 sloth, and therefore are not disposed to con- 
 tradict the testimony. The invitation and 
 command to wait, and watch, and strive in 
 the ways and means of the Lord’s appoint- 
 ment, they evade, as they think, wdth impu- 
 nity, by confessing the charge, and saying, 
 I am a poor creature indeed, I can do nothing 
 of myself aright, and therefore to what pur- 
 pose should I attempt to do any thing? A 
 minister may preach upon these points, in ge- 
 neral terms, and obtain their good word. But 
 if he speaks plainly and faithfully to con- 
 science ; if he bears testimony not only against 
 dead w'orks, but against a dead faith, — against 
 spiritual pride, evil tempers, evil speaking, 
 love of the world, and sinful compliances; 
 if he insists that the branches of the true vine 
 should bear grapes, and not the same fruit as 
 the bramble ; hearers of this stamp w ill think 
 they do God service by censuring all he can 
 say as low and legal trash. How awful ! 
 that people should be blinded by the very 
 truths w hich they profess to believe ! Yet I 
 fear such cases are too frequent. God grant 
 a delusion of this kind may never be found 
 amongst us ! For if the salt itself should lose 
 its savour, wherewith shall it be salted? Matth. 
 v. 13. JVIay we come simply to the light. 
 
688 THE GREAT 
 
 with a desire of seeing more of ourselves, and 
 more of our Saviour, that we may be more 
 humble and spiritual, more afraid of sin, more 
 watchful and successful in striving against it, 
 and, in our whole conversation, more conform- 
 able to our glorious Head ! 
 
 But to return: — From what has been of- 
 fered upon this subject we may observe, 
 
 1. That true Christianity is friendly to so- 
 ciety, and to the common interests of man- 
 kind. It is the source of peace, tenderness, 
 benevolence, and every humane temper. It 
 is calculated to soothe the fierce disposition, 
 to enlarge the selfish spirit, and to transform 
 the lion into the lamb. What then must we 
 think of those pretended friends to liberty and 
 free inquiry, whose unhappy zeal is employed 
 to rob us of the only light and balm of life ! 
 who, by their misrepresentations and cavils, 
 endeavour to persuade others, though they 
 cannot effectually persuade themselves, that 
 the gospel, a scheme so wise in its constitu- 
 tion, so salutary in its design, so powerful in 
 its effects, is no better than an imposition, the 
 contrivance of superstitious or artful men ! 
 Why should they attempt to take away the 
 foundation of our hope and the spring of our 
 comfort (if they were able), when they know 
 they have nothing to substitute in their place ! 
 Let us think of them with that compassion 
 which their state calls for, and pray for them, 
 if peradventure God will give them repent- 
 ance to the acknowledgment of the truth, 
 2 Tim. ii. 25. 
 
 2. The change thus wrought is great, mar- 
 vellous, and, if not so frequent, might be 
 styled miraculous. It is more than educa- 
 tion, example, persuasion, or resolution can 
 perform. It is the work of God alone to 
 open the blind eyes, to change the heart of 
 stone into flesh, and to raise the dead. 
 
 This thought should exclude boasting. The 
 happy subjects of this change were no better 
 by nature or practice than others. They have 
 nothing but what they have received. The 
 glory and praise is due to the Lord alone. 
 It should likewise soften their censure of those 
 who are still in a state of alienation from God, 
 or at least prevent the emotions of anger and 
 resentment towards them. They know not 
 what they do. Their danger should excite 
 our pity and our friendly endeavours to reco- 
 ver them from the error of their way. And, 
 especially, we should be careful so to regulate 
 our behaviour, that, if they obey not the word, 
 they may without the word be convinced and 
 won (1 Pet. iii. 1) by the force of our ex- 
 ample. If the Lord be pleased to do that for 
 them which he has done for us, their dislike 
 of us, and their opposition to us, will be 
 quickly at an end ; and though they set out 
 after us, they may possibly make a swifter 
 progress in the Christian life than we have I 
 done. Thus, though Saul of Tarsus ap- 
 proached Damascus as an enemy and a per- j 
 
 SHEPHERD. 
 
 ser. xiir. 
 
 secutor, when the scales fell from his eyes, he 
 not only immediately joined the disciples, but 
 in a little time became a pattern to them. 
 
 That the change is the work of God, should 
 likewise be considered by those who, from a 
 sense of the greatness of their sins, and the 
 strength of their sinful habits, are ready to 
 sink into despair. Whatever apparent diffi- 
 culty there may be in your case, it is easy to 
 divine power. All things are possible with 
 God (Mark x. 27), and all things, likewise, 
 are possible to him that believeth, Mark ix. 23. 
 The promises invite you to apply to him who 
 is the author and finisher of faith and who 
 has said for your encouragement, “ Him that 
 cometh unto me, I will in nowise cast out.” 
 
 SERMON XIII. 
 
 THE GREAT SHEPHERD. 
 
 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd ; he shall 
 gainer the lambs until his arm, and carry them 
 in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that 
 are with young. Isaiah, xl. 11. 
 
 It is not easy for those whose habits of life 
 are insensibly formed by the customs of mo- 
 dern times, to conceive any adequate idea of 
 the pastoral life, as It obtained in the eastern 
 countries, before that simplicity of manners, 
 which characterized the early ages, was cor- 
 rupted by the artificial and false refinements 
 of luxury. Wealth, in those days, consisted 
 principally in flocks and herds, and Abraham, 
 Isaac, Jacob, and others, who were, to speak 
 in modern language, persons of high distinc- 
 tion, were likewise shepherds. The book of 
 Genesis, which is an authentic and infallible 
 history of the most ancient times, exhibits a 
 manner of living so different from our own, 
 that, perhaps, few persons are qualified to en- 
 ter fully into the spirit of the description. 
 The poets seem to have derived their idea of 
 the golden age from some imperfect tradition 
 of this primitive state ; and, if we compare it 
 with the state of things around us, methinks 
 we have reason to say, “ How is the gold be- 
 come dim, and the fine gold changed i” Lam. 
 iv. 1. The opulence of Jacob may be con- 
 jectured from the present he sent to his bro- 
 ther Esau, Gen. xxxii. 14, 15. Yet Jacob 
 attended his flocks himself, in the drought by 
 day, and in the frost by night. Gen. xxxi. 40. 
 The vigilance, the providence, the tenderness, 
 necessary to the due discharge of the shep- 
 herd’s office, have been frequently applied in 
 describing the nature and ends of government: 
 and it has been esteemed a high encomium of 
 a good king, to style him the shepherd of his 
 people. This character Messiah, the Saviour, 
 condescends to bear ; and happy are they, 
 who, with a pleasing consciousness, can say. 
 
SER. XIII. 
 
 THE GREAT SHEPHERD. 
 
 689 
 
 ,{ We are his people and the sheep of his pas- 
 ture,” Psal. e. 3. 
 
 The passage will lead me to speak of the 
 shepherd, the flock, and his care and tender- 
 ness over them 
 
 I. Our Lord expressly styles himself the 
 Shepherd, the good Shepherd of the Sheep (John 
 x. 11, 14), and the apostle Peter styles him 
 the chief Shepherd, 1 Peter v. 4. His faith- 
 ful ministers have the honour to be under- 
 shepherds ; he appoints, and qualifies them 
 ♦.o feed his flock. They are the messengers 
 of his will, but they can do nothing without 
 him ; they can only communicate what they 
 receive, and cannot watch over the flock, unless 
 they are themselves watched over by him, 
 Psal. cxxvii. 1. For, with respect to efficacy, 
 he is the chief, and indeed, the sole Shepherd. 
 The eyes of all are upon him, and his eye is 
 upon, and over all his flock. The Old-Tes- 
 tament church had a shepherd, and their shep- 
 herd was Jehovah, Psal. xxiii. 1. Unless 
 therefore the Shepherd and Bishop of our 
 souls likewise be Jehovah, we fall unspeak- 
 ably short of the privilege of ancient Israel, if 
 their Shepherd was almighty, and if ours could 
 be but a creature. Surely we could not then 
 say, what yet the apostle affirms, that we have 
 a better covenant, established upon better pro- 
 mises (Heb. viii. 6 ) ; since Messiah himself 
 is expressly declared to be th# surety and the 
 mediator of this covenant. But would it not 
 be better upon this supposition, with David, 
 who could say, “ Jehovah is my Shepherd,” 
 than w r ith us, who are entrusted to the care 
 of a delegated and inferior keeper, if Jesus be 
 not Jehovah ? Besides, who but Jehovah can 
 relieve the necessities of multitudes in all 
 places, in the same moment, and be equally 
 near and attentive to them in every age ? The 
 sinner, who is enlightened to know himself, 
 his wants, enemies, and dangers, will not dare to 
 confide in any thing short of an almighty arm ; 
 he needs a shepherd, who is full of wisdom, 
 full of care, full of power ; able, like the sun, 
 to shine upon millions at once, and possessed 
 of those incommunicable attributes of Deity, 
 omniscience and omnipresence. Such is our 
 great Shepherd ; and he is eminently the good 
 Shepherd also, for he laid down his life for 
 the sheep, and has redeemed them to God by 
 his own blood. 
 
 II. A shepherd is a relative name ; it has 
 reference to a fock. t This great and good 
 Shepherd has a flock, whom he loved from 
 everlasting, and whom, having loved, he will 
 love to the end, John xiii. 1. 
 
 I 
 
 Forraosi pecoris custos, formosior ip6e ! 
 
 He humbled himself for their sakes, sub- 
 mitted to partake of their nature and their 
 sorrows, took upon him the form of a servant, 
 and was made in the likeness of sinful flesh. 
 He died for his sheep, the just for the unjust 
 (1 Pet. iii. 18), to redeem them from the 
 
 curse of the law, from the guilt and dominion 
 of sin, from the power of Satan, and to bring 
 them to Go*l. They, by nature, are all gone 
 astray, every one to his own way (Isa. liii. 
 6) ; but having thus bought them with his 
 blood, in his own appointed time, he seeks, 
 finds, and restores his sheep. By the power 
 of his word and Spirit, he makes himself 
 known to their hearts, causes them to hear 
 and understand his voice, and guides them 
 into his fold. Then they become his sheep 
 in the sense of my text. They are under his 
 immediate protection and government. 
 
 Considered as individuals, they are fitly 
 described by the name of sheep. A sheep is 
 a w'eak, defenceless, improvident creature ; 
 prone to wander, and if once astray, is seldom 
 known to return of its own accord. A sheep 
 has neither strength to fight with the wolf, 
 nor speed to escape from him ; nor has it the 
 foresight of the ant, to provide its own suste- 
 nance. Such is our character, and our situa- 
 tion Unable to take care of ourselves, prone 
 to wander from our resting place, exposed to 
 enemies which we can neither withstand nor 
 avoid, without resource in ourselves, and 
 taught, by daily experience, the insufficiency 
 of every thing around us: yet, if this Shep- 
 herd be our Shepherd, weak and helpless as 
 we are, w'e may be of good courage. If we 
 can say with David, “ The Lord is my Shep . 
 herd,” we may make the same inferences 
 which he did, “ Therefore I shall not want;” 
 therefore I need not fear. 
 
 Collectively they are a flock. They are 
 not, indeed, in one place. They are scatter- 
 ed abroad, dispersed through different ages 
 and countries, separated by seas and moun- 
 tains, and, too often, by misapprehensions and 
 prejudices, by names and forms ; and only a 
 very small part of the flock are known to each 
 other. But they are all equally known to 
 him, and equally under his eye. In his view 
 they are one flock, one body ; they are ani- 
 mated by one and the same spirit ; their views, 
 hopes, and aims are the same ; and, yet a little 
 while, they shall be all brought together, a 
 number without number, to rejoice and to 
 join in worship, before his throne of glory. 
 For they have an inheritance reserved for 
 them in heaven (1 Pet. i. 4, 5), and they 
 shall be safely kept, while they are sojourners 
 upon earth, for the Shepherd of Israel is their 
 keeper. 
 
 III. He shall feed his flock like a shep- 
 herd. The word is not restrained to feeding. 
 It includes all the branches of the shepherd’s 
 office. He shall act the part of a shepherd to 
 his flock. We have a beautiful miniature 
 description of what he has engaged to do, 
 and what he actually does, for his people, as 
 their Shepherd, in the twenty-third Psalm. 
 And the subject is more largely illustrated in 
 the thirty-fourth chapter of Ezekiel’s pro- 
 phecy. His sheep, from age to age, have 
 3 E 
 
690 
 
 been witnesses to the truth of his promises. 
 He has a flock at present who rejoice in his 
 care, and greater multitudes, as yet unborn, 
 shall successively arise in their appointed sea- 
 sons, and call him blessed, Psal. lxxii. 17. 
 For he is the same yesterday, to-day, and for 
 ever. 
 
 He feeds them. — He leads them into green 
 and pleasant pastures. These pastures are, 
 his word and ordinances, by which he com. 
 municates to them of his own fulness; for in 
 strict propriety of speech, he himself is their 
 food. They eat his flesh and drink his blood, 
 John vi. 54. This was once thought a hard 
 saying (John vi. 58) by some of his professed 
 followers, and is still thought so by too many. 
 But it is his own saying, and therefore I am 
 not concerned either to confirm or to vindi- 
 cate it. The knowledge they receive by faith, 
 of his incarnation and sufferings unto death, 
 of the names he bears, and of the offices and 
 relations in which he is pleased to act for 
 them, is the life and food of their souls. The 
 expression of feeding them, is agreeable to the 
 analogy he has been pleased to establish be- 
 tween the natural and the spiritual life. As 
 the strength of the body is maintained and re- 
 newed by eating and drinking ; so they who, 
 in this sense, feed upon him in their hearts by 
 faith with thanksgiving, even they live (John 
 vi. 57) by him ; for his flesh is meat indeed, 
 and his blood is drink indeed. 
 
 He guides them. — First by his example. 
 He has trodden the path of duty and trial be- 
 fore them ; and they perceive and follow his 
 footsteps. Again, by his word and Spirit he 
 teaches them the way in which they should 
 go ; and both inclines and enables them to 
 walk in it. Is. xxx. 21. He guides them, 
 likewise, by his providence ; he appoints the 
 bounds of their habitations, the line and call- 
 ing in which they are to serve him, and orders 
 and adjusts the circumstances of their lives 
 according to his infinite wisdom, so as finally 
 to accomplish his gracious designs in their fa- 
 vour. 
 
 He guards them. — It is written concerning 
 him, “ He shall stand and feed in the strength 
 of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the 
 Lord his God,” Micah v. 4. If we con- 
 ceive of a flock of sheep feeding in the midst 
 of wolves, who are restrained from breaking 
 in upon them, not by any visible inclosure, 
 but merely by the power of the shepherd’s 
 eye, which keeps them in awe and at a dis- 
 tance, it will give us some idea of the situa- 
 tion of his people. He provides them food 
 in the midst of many and mighty enemies 
 (Psal. xxiii. 5), who envy them their privilege, 
 but cannot prevent it. If he should with- 
 draw his attention from the flock for a single 
 minute, they would be worried. But he has 
 promised to keep them night and day (Is. 
 xxvii. 3), and every moment ; therefore their 
 enemies plot and rage in vain. Their visible 
 
 SER. XIII 
 
 foes are numerous ; but if we could look into 
 the invisible world, and take a view of the 
 subtilty, malice, machinations, and assiduity 
 of the powers of darkness, who are incessantly 
 watching for opportunities of annoying them, 
 we should have a most striking conviction, 
 that a flock so defenceless and feeble in them- 
 selves, and against which such a combination 
 is formed, can only be kept by the power of 
 God. 
 
 He heals them. — A good shepherd will ex- 
 amine the state of his flock. But there is no 
 attention worthy of being compared with his. 
 Not the slightest circumstance in their con- 
 cerns escapes his notice. When they are 
 ready to faint, borne down with heavy exercises 
 of mind, wearied with temptations, dry and 
 disconsolate in their spirits, he seasonably re- 
 vives them. Nor are they in heaviness with- 
 out a need-be for it. All his dispensations 
 towards them are medicinal, designed to cor- 
 rect, or to restrain, or to cure, the maladies of 
 their souls. And they are adjusted, by his 
 wisdom and tenderness, to what they can bear, 
 and to what their case requires. It is he like- 
 wise, who heals their bodily sickness, and 
 gives them help in all their temporal troubles. 
 He is represented to us, as counting their 
 sighs (Psal. lvi. 8), putting their tears into 
 his bottle, recording their sorrows in his book 
 of remembrance ; and even as being himself 
 touched with a feeling of their infirmities 
 (Heb. iv. 15), as the head feels for the mem- 
 bers of the body. 
 
 He restores them. — The power and subtilty 
 of their enemies are employed to force or en- 
 tice them from his rule, and too often prevail 
 for a season. The sheep turn aside into for- 
 bidden paths; and whenever they do, they 
 would wander farther and farther, till they 
 were quite lost again, if he were not their 
 Shepherd. If he permits them to deviate, he 
 has a time to convince them, that it was an 
 evil and a bitter thing to forsake the Lord 
 their Shepherd (Jer. ii. 19), and to humble 
 them, and to bring them back. Thus they 
 become more sensible of their own weakness, 
 and of their obligations to his gracious care ; 
 for he will not suffer their enemies to triumph 
 over them. He will not lose one of his true 
 flock ; not one convinced sinner, who has, ic 
 deed and in truth, surrendered and entrusted 
 his all to him. They must, and they shall 
 smart and mourn for their folly ; but he will, 
 in due season, break their snares, and lead 
 them again into the paths of peace, for hit 
 own name’s sake. 
 
 The flock are not all sheep. There are 
 among them lambs. These are especially 
 mentioned, and for these he expresses a pecu- 
 liar tenderness. He will gather them in his 
 arm, and carry them in his bosom. Though 
 they are weaklings, they shall not be left be- 
 hind. This is a beautiful and pathetic image. 
 If a poor lamb is weary, and unable to keep 
 
 THE GREAT SHEPHERD. 
 
SEE. XIII. THE GREAT 
 
 up with the flock, it shall be carried. This 
 clause affords encouragement, 
 
 1. To young people. — Early serious im- 
 pressions are often made upon the hearts of 
 children, which we are to cherish, by direct- 
 ing their thoughts to the compassion of the 
 good Shepherd, who has said, “ Suffer little 
 children to come unto me, and forbid them 
 not, for of such is the kingdom of God,” 
 Mark x. 14. This high and holy one, who 
 humbles himself to notice the worship of the 
 heavenly host, hears the prayers of worms 
 upon the earth ; and his ear is open to the 
 prayers of a child, no less so, than to the 
 prayer of a king. 
 
 2. To young converts.— These, at what- 
 ever age, are children in the Lord’s family, 
 lambs in his flock. They are, as yet, weak, 
 unsettled, and unexperienced. Almost every 
 day brings them into a uew and untried situa- 
 tion. They often meet with opposition and 
 discouragement, where they have promised 
 themselves help and countenance. Perhaps 
 their nearest friends are displeased with them. 
 They are liable, likewise, while they are en- 
 quiring the way to Zion, to be perplexed by 
 the various opinions and angry contentions 
 prevailing among the different religious per- 
 sons or parties to whom they may address 
 themselves. They are frequently discouraged 
 by the falls and miscarriages of professors, 
 some of whom, it is possible, they may have 
 admired, and looked up to, as patterns for 
 their own imitation. Add to these things, 
 what they suffer from new and unexpected 
 discoveries of the evil and deceitfulness* of 
 their hearts ; the mistakes they commit, in 
 judgment and practice, for want of a more 
 solid and extensive knowledge of the scrip- 
 tures ; and the advantage the great enemy of 
 their souls derives from these their various 
 difficulties to assault their peace and obstruct 
 their progress. What would become of them 
 in such circumstances, if their faithful Shep- 
 herd had not promised to lead, and uphold 
 them, with the arm of his power ? 
 
 There is, likewise, particular mention made 
 of “ those who are with young.” These he 
 will gently lead. If we take the word accord- 
 ing to our version, it may signify a state of 
 conviction or trouble. Many are the afflic- 
 tions of the righteous (Psal. xxxiv. 19), by 
 which they are often wearied and heavy 
 laden. Rut when their spirits are overwhelm- 
 ed within them, he knoweth their path. Jacob 
 would not permit his cattle that were with 
 young to be over-driven for one day, lest 
 they should die, Gen. xxxiii. 13. Much less 
 will this good Shepherd suffer the burdened 
 among his flock to be hurried and tempted 
 beyond what they are able, or what he will 
 enable them to bear. 
 
 But the word signifies, those that have 
 young, rather than those that are with young. 
 Two sorts of persons in the Lord’s flock, who 
 
 SHEPHERD. 691 
 
 come under this description, feel an especial 
 need of his compassion, tenderness, and pa- 
 tience. 
 
 1. He only knows the feelings of the hearts 
 of parents ; what solicitude and anxiety they 
 have for their young ones, the sucklings, if I 
 may so speak, of the flock, which mingle with 
 all their endeavours, to manage rightly the 
 important charge committed to them, and to 
 bring their children up in the nurture and ad- 
 monition of the Lord. 
 
 2. Ministers, likewise, have painful exer- 
 cises of mind. The apostle Paul speaks of 
 travailling in birth again, till Christ be formed 
 in our hearers, Gal. iv. 19. When we know 
 of any newly awakened, and beginning to seek 
 his salvation, how solicitous is our care to 
 bring them forward, to comfort them, to warn 
 them against the devices of their hearts, and 
 of their enemies ! And how piercing our 
 grief and disappointment, if they miscarry * 
 How much is felt in sympathy for the trials 
 of the flock ! What wisdom, faithfulness, 
 courage, meekness, and unction from on high, 
 are necessary to the due discharge of what we 
 owe to the flocks of which we have the over- 
 sight ! Who is sufficient for these things ! 
 And when we have done our best, our all, 
 what defects and defilements have we to 
 mourn over ! But this is our great consola- 
 tion, that he, who knows us, and leads us, 
 considers our frame, and remembers that we 
 are but dust. 
 
 In this delineation of the character and con- 
 duct of the great Shepherd of the sheep ( Heb. 
 xiii. 20), we have an affecting exemplar and 
 pattern, for the imitation of those who act in 
 the honourable office of under-shepherds, and 
 are called, by their profession and engagement, 
 to feed his sheep and lambs. Whether there 
 be any ministers in our assembly, or not, you 
 will at least permit me to speak a word to my 
 own heart ; which may, I hope, at the same 
 time, impress your minds with a sense of our 
 great need of your prayers. Brethren, pray 
 for us ! ( 1 Thes. v. 25) and pray to the Lord 
 of the harvest, that he may send forth more 
 faithful labourers into his harvest, Matth. ix. 
 38. For it is his work alone. It is not ne- 
 cessary, that a minister of the gospel should 
 be in the first line of those who are admired 
 for their abilities or literature ; much less that 
 he should be distinguished by such titles, ho- 
 nours, and emoluments as this world can give. 
 But it is necessary, and of the last importance 
 to his character and usefulness here, and to 
 his acceptance in the great day of the Lord, 
 that he should have a shepherd’s eye and a 
 shepherd’s heart. He must serve the flock, 
 not for filthy lucre, or by constraint (that con- 
 straint, which the apostle attributes to the love 
 of Christ, only excepted), but willingly, and 
 with a view to their edification, 1 Pet. v. 
 2, 3. And he must, indeed, serve them, 
 not acting as a lord over God’s heritage, but 
 
REST FOR THE WEARY 
 
 SER. XIV. 
 
 692 
 
 as an example to the flock ; not preaching 
 himself (2 Cor. iv. 5), perverting his sacred 
 office to the purposes of ambition or vain glory, 
 or the acquisition of wealth ; but preaching 
 Christ Jesus the Lord, and employing all his 
 powers to turn sinners from the error of their 
 ways. He who winneth souls is wise, Prov. 
 xi. 30. If it be wisdom to propose the 
 noblest end, the faithful minister is wise ; the 
 end at which he aims, in subordination to the 
 will and glory of God, is the salvation of souls; 
 and the recovery of one immortal soul to the 
 favour and image of God, is, and will at 
 length be found, a greater and more impor- 
 tant event, than the deliverance of a whole 
 kingdom from slavery or temporal ruin. If 
 it be wisdom, to pursue a right end by the 
 fittest means, he is wise ; he knows the gos- 
 pel of Christ to be the power of God, the ap- 
 pointed, the effectual, the only sufficient mean 
 for his accomplishing his great purpose ; there- 
 fore, however unfashionable it may be, he is 
 not ashamed of it, he preaches it, and he glo- 
 ries in it. If it be an effect of wisdom, not to 
 be deterred from the prosecution of a great 
 and noble design, by the censure and dislike 
 of weak and incompetent judges, the faithful 
 minister is truly wise. He loves his fellow 
 creatures, and would willingly please them 
 for their good, but he cannot fear them, be- 
 cause he fears and serves the Lord. He 
 looks forward, with desire, to the day of that 
 solemn and general visitation, when the Shep- 
 herd and Bishop of souls shall himself appear, 
 
 1 Pet. ii. 25 ; v. 4. And if he may then 
 stand among those who are pardoned and ac- 
 cepted in the Beloved, and receive the crown 
 of life, which his Lord has promised to them 
 that love him (2 Tim. iv. 8), — this thought 
 fully reconciles him to the trials of his situa- 
 tion ; and however depreciated, misrepresent- 
 ed, opposed, or ill-treated here, he can say, 
 “ None of these things move me, neither count 
 I my life dear to myself, so that I may finish 
 my course with joy, and the ministry which I 
 have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the 
 gospel of the grace of God,” Acts xx. 24. 
 
 There is a counter-part to this character 
 described in strong and glowing language by 
 the prophets. There are idol-shepherds, who 
 feed not the flock, but themselves (Ezek. 
 xxxiv. 2); who neither attempt to heal the 
 sick, to strengthen the feeble, to bind up that 
 which is broken, nor to recover that which has 
 been driven away; shepherds (Isa. lvi. 10, 
 11), who cannot understand, greedy, lovers of 
 gain — and who, by a change of metaphor, are 
 compared to slumbering watchmen, and dumb 
 dogs that cannot bark. The New Testament 
 teaches us to expect that such persons, under 
 the name of ministers, will be found likewise in 
 the visible church of Christ : men of corrupt 
 minds (1 Tim. vi. 5; Rom. xvi. 18), desti- 
 tute of the truth, who serve not the Lord 
 Iesu 9 , but their own belly ; men who are of 
 
 the world (1 John iv. 5), and speak of the 
 world ; and therefore the world heareth and 
 favoureth them. But, alas ! — neither the 
 wretched slave who toils at the galley-oar, nor 
 he that is doomed to labour in a deep mine, 
 where the light of the sun never reaches him, 
 nor the lunatic who howls in a chain, are such 
 emphatical objects of our compassion, as the 
 unhappy man who prostitutes the name and 
 function of a minister of Christ to the gratifi- 
 cation of his pride and avarice ; and whose 
 object is not the welfare of the flock, but the 
 possession of the fleece (Ezek. xxxiii. 7, 8); 
 who intrudes into the post of a watchman, 
 but gives no alarm of the impending danger. 
 If the scriptures be true ; if the gospel be not 
 indeed, as Pope Leo X. profanely styled it, 
 a lucrative fable ; the more he accumulates 
 riches, the more he rises in dignity, the more 
 his influence extends, the more he is to be 
 commiserated. He may have the reward he 
 seeks : He may be admired and flattered; he 
 may for a season, be permitted to withstand 
 and discountenance the efforts of the Lord’s 
 faithful servants ; he may shine in the accom- 
 plishments of a scholar or a courtier : But 
 nothing less than repentance, and faith in the 
 Redeemer, whose name and cause he has dis- 
 honoured, can finally screen him from the 
 full effect of that terrible denunciation — “Wo 
 to the idol-shepherd that forsaketh (or ne- 
 glecteth) the flock : The sword shall be upon 
 his arm, and upon his right eye : His arm 
 shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall 
 be utterly darkened, Zech. xi. 17. 
 
 SERMON XIV. 
 
 REST FOR THE WEARY. 
 
 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy 
 laden, and I tvill give you rest. Matth. xi 28. 
 
 Which shall we admire most, the majesty, 
 or the grace, conspicuous in this invitation ? 
 How soon would the greatest earthly monarch 
 be impoverished, and his treasures utterly ex- 
 hausted, if all that are poor and miserable had 
 encouragement to apply freely to him, with a 
 promise of relief fully answerable to their 
 wants and wishes ! But the riches of Christ 
 are unsearchable and inexhaustible. If mil- 
 lions of millions of distressed sinners seek to 
 him for relief, he has a sufficiency for them 
 all. His mercy is infinite to pardon all their 
 sins; his grace is infinite to answer and ex- 
 ceed their utmost desires; his power is infi- 
 nite, to help them in all their difficulties. A 
 number without number have been thus wait- 
 ing upon him, from age to age ; and not 
 one of them has been sent away disappointed 
 and empty. And the streams of his bounty 
 are still flowing, and still full. Thus the sun.. 
 
SER. XIV. 
 
 REST FOR ' 
 
 his brightest material image, has been the 
 source of light to the earth, and to all its in- 
 habitants, from the creation ; and will be 
 equally so to all succeeding generations, till 
 time shall be no more. There is, indeed, an 
 appointed hour when the sun shall cease to 
 shine, and the course of nature shall fail. But 
 the true Sun, the Sun of righteousness, has 
 no variableness or shadow of turning (Mai. 
 iv. 2; James i. 17); and they who depend 
 upon him while in this world, shall rejoice in 
 his light for ever. Can we hesitate to accept 
 of these words, as affording a full proof of the 
 divine character, the proper Godhead of our 
 Lord and Saviour ; supposing only, that he 
 meant what he said, and that he is able to 
 make his promise good ? Can a creature, how- 
 ever excellent and glorious, use this language? 
 Can a creature discharge the debts, soothe the 
 distresses, and satisfy the desires of every in- 
 dividual who looks to him ? Who, but the Lord 
 God (Psal. cxlvi. 8; Isa. lxi. 2), can raise up 
 all that are bowed down, and comfort all that 
 mourn ! 
 
 Again, as is his majesty, so is his mercy. 
 In acts of grace amongst men there are always 
 some limitations. If a king proclaims a pardon 
 to a rebellious nation, there are still exceptions. 
 Some ringleaders are excluded. Either their 
 crimes were too great to be forgiven, or 
 their obstinacy or influence are supposed 
 to be too great, to render their safety consist- 
 ent with the safety of the state. But the Sa- 
 viour excludes none but those who wilfully 
 exclude themselves. As no case is too hard 
 for liis power, so no person who applies to 
 him is shut out from his compassion. Him 
 that cometh to him, whatever his former cha- 
 racter or conduct may have been, he will in 
 nowise cast out, John vi. 37. This glori- 
 ous exercise of sovereign mercy is no less a 
 divine attribute, than the power by which he 
 created the heavens and the earth. It is the 
 consideration of his mercy in pardoning sin, 
 and in saving sinners, which causes that ad- 
 miring exclamation of the prophet, “ Who is 
 a God like unto thee ! Micah. vii. 1 8. 
 
 This passage (including the two following 
 verses) closes the first part of the Oratorio. 
 In tracing the series of the scriptures thus 
 far, we have considered several signal prophe- 
 cies which foretold his appearance ; we have 
 seen their accomplishment in his birth and 
 have (I hope) joined with the heavenly host, 
 in ascribing glory to God in the highest, for 
 this unspeakable gift and effect of his love. 
 We have learnt from the prophets, his charac- 
 ters, as the great Restorer, and the great Shep- 
 herd. The evangelist proposes him to our 
 meditation here, in a gracious and inviting 
 attitude, as opening his high commission, pro- 
 claiming his own sovereign authority and 
 power, and declaring his compassionate pur- 
 pose, and readiness to give refreshment and 
 rest to the weary and heavy laden. 
 
 [TIE WEARY. 693 
 
 The two principal points in the text are, 
 the invitation and the promise. 
 
 I. The invitation is expressed in very ge- 
 neral terms : “ Come unto me, all ye that la- 
 bour and are heavy laden.” There is no qua- 
 lifying or restraining clause, to discourage any 
 person who is willing to accept it. Whoever 
 hath an ear to hear, let him hear. “ Let him 
 that is athirst come, and whosever will, let him 
 take of the water of life freely,” Rev. xxii. 17. 
 I cannot doubt but these words authorize me 
 to address myself to every person in this as. 
 sembly. I speak first to you who are spend- 
 ing your money for that which satisfieth not 
 (Isa. lv. 2) ; who are wearied in seeking hap. 
 piness where it is not to be found, and in dig- 
 ging pits, and hewing out cisterns for your- 
 selves, which can hold no water (Jer. ii. 13), 
 and have hitherto been regardless of the foun- 
 tain of living waters, which is always near 
 you. While you are pursuing the wealth or 
 honours of this world, or wasting your time 
 and strength in the indulgence of sensual ap- 
 petites, and look no higher, are you indeed 
 happy and satisfied ? Do you find the paths in 
 which you are led, or rather hurried and driven 
 on, to be the paths of pleasantness and peace ? 
 Prov. iii. 7. With what face can you charge 
 the professors of religion with hypocrisy, if 
 you pretend to satisfaction in these ways ? 
 We have trodden them far enough ourselves, 
 to be assured that there are feelings in your 
 heart which contradict your assertion. You 
 know that you are not happy, and we know 
 it likewise. Are you quite strangers to a 
 secret wish that you had never been born ? 
 or that you could change condition with 
 some of the brute creation? Are you not 
 heavy laden, burdened with guilt, and fears, 
 and forebodings, harassed with crosses, dis- 
 appointments, and mortifications ? Are you 
 not often, at least sometimes, like children in 
 the dark, afraid of being alone, unable to sup- 
 port the reflections which are forced upon you 
 in a solitary hour, when you have nothing to 
 amuse you ? And while you seem so alert and 
 upon the wing after every kind of dissipation 
 within your reach, is not a chief motive that 
 impels you, a desire, if possible, of hiding your- 
 selves from yourselves, and of calling off your 
 attention from those thoughts which, like vul- 
 tures, are ready to seize you, and prey upon 
 you, the moment they find you unemployed ? 
 And how often do your poor expedients fail 
 you, especially in a time of trouble, or on a 
 sick-bed ? What comfort does the world af- 
 ford you then ? What relief do you then de- 
 rive from the companions of your vain and 
 gay hours ? Most probably, at such a sea- 
 son, they stand aloof from you ; the house of 
 mourning, or the chamber of sickness, is no 
 less unpleasing to them than to yourself. They 
 do not chuse the pain of being reminded, by 
 a sight of your distress, how soon the case 
 may be their own Or, if they visit vou, y.ju 
 
SER. XIV 
 
 REST FOR THE WEARY. 
 
 694 
 
 find them miserable comforters. But I have 
 to speak to you of one who is able to comfort 
 you in all seasons, and under all circumstances, 
 whose favour is better than life. And will 
 you still refuse to hear his voice ? What hard 
 tiling does the Lord require of you ? Only to 
 come to him for that peace and rest to which 
 you have hitherto been strangers. But though 
 you are invited, I know that of yourselves you 
 will not come; you will not, and therefore 
 you cannot. Be assured, however, the invi- 
 tation does not mock you, and, if you finally 
 refuse it, the fault will lie at your own doors. 
 But may I not hope you will refuse no long- 
 er ? The preaching of the gospel is his ap- 
 pointment, and has a great effect, when ac- 
 companied with the energy of his Holy Spirit, 
 to make a willing people in the day of his 
 power. 
 
 There are others, however, to whom this 
 invitation speaks more directly. The con- 
 vinced sinner is heavy laden with the guilt of 
 sin, and wearied with ineffectual strivings a- 
 gainst it. He is weary of the yoke and bur- 
 den of the law, when he can neither answer 
 its commands with cheerful and acceptable 
 obedience, nor see any way of escaping the 
 penalty which is due to transgressors. He 
 sighs earnestly and anxiously for pardon and 
 liberty. If he has an interval of comparative 
 peace and hope, it is more derived from some 
 occasional fervour and liveliness in the frame 
 of his spirit, than from the exercise of faith ; 
 and therefore, as that fervour abates (and it 
 will not always remain at the same height), 
 his fears return. If in such a favoured mo- 
 ment he feels little solicitation or trouble from 
 the evil propensities of his heart, he is willing 
 to hope they are subdued, and that they will 
 trouble him no more ; but his triumph is 
 short, the next return of temptation revives 
 all his difficulties, and he is again brought 
 into bondage. For nothing but the know- 
 ledge of the Saviour, and the supplies of his 
 Spirit, can give stable peace to the mind, or 
 victory over sin. A repetition of these dis- 
 appointments and changes fixes a heavy bur- 
 den and distress upon the mind. But here is 
 help provided exactly suitable to the case. 
 Comply with this invitation, come to him and 
 he will surely give you rest. 
 
 But what is it to come to Christ ? It is to 
 believe in him, to apply to him, to make his 
 invitation and promise our ground and war. 
 rant for putting our trust in him. On an- 
 other occasion, he said, “ He that cometh to 
 me shall never hunger, and he that believeth 
 in me shall never thirst,” John vi. 35. The 
 expressions are of the same import. When 
 he was upon earth, many who came to him, 
 and even followed him for a season, received 
 no saving benefit from him. Some came to 
 him from motives of malice and ill-will, to 
 ensnare or insult him. Some followed him 
 for loaves and fishes ; and of others, 
 
 were frequently near him, he complained, “ Ye 
 will not come unto me, that ye may have life,” 
 John v. 40. But they who were distressed, 
 and came to him for relief, were not disap- 
 pointed. To come to him, therefore, implies 
 a knowledge of his power and an application 
 for his help. To us he is not visible, but he 
 is always near us ; and as he appointed his 
 disciples to meet him in Galilee (Matthew, 
 xxviii. 16) previous to his ascension, so he 
 has promised to be found of those who seek 
 him, and wait for him, in certain means of 
 his own institution. He is seated upon a 
 throne of grace ; he is to be sought in his 
 w'ord, and where his people assemble in his 
 name, for he has said, There will I be in the 
 midst of them, Matth. xviii. 20. They there- 
 fore who read his word, frequent his ordi- 
 nances, and pray unto him, with a desire that 
 they may know him, and be remembered with 
 the favour which he beareth to his own peo- 
 ple (Psal. cvi. 4), answer the design of my 
 text. They come to him, and he assures 
 them, that whoever they are, he will in no- 
 wise cast them out. If they thus come to 
 him, they will of course come out from the 
 world and be separate, 2 Cor. vi. 17. If 
 they apply to him for refuge, they will re- 
 nounce all other refuge and dependence, and 
 trust in him alone, according to the words of 
 the prophet, “ Ashur shall not save us, we 
 will not ride upon horses, neither will we say 
 any more to the works of our hands. Ye are 
 our gods, for in thee the fatherless (the help- 
 less and comfortless) findeth mercy,” Hosea 
 xiv. 3. 
 
 II. The promise is, “ I will give you rest.” 
 The word signifies both rest and refreshment. 
 He gives a relief and cessation from former 
 labour and bondage, and superadds a peace, 
 a joy, a comfort which revives the weary spi- 
 rit, and proves itself to be that very satisfac- 
 tion wdrich the soul had been ignorantly and 
 in vain seeking amongst the creatures and the 
 objects of sense. 
 
 This rest includes a freedom from the fore- 
 bodings and distressing accusations of a guilty 
 conscience ; from the long and fruitless strug- 
 gle between the will and the judgment ; from 
 the condemning power of the law ; from the 
 tyranny of irregular and inconsistent appe- 
 1 tites ; and from the dominion of pride and 
 self, which make us unhappy in ourselves, 
 and hated and despised by others : A freedom 
 likewise from the cares and anxieties which, 
 j in such an uncertain world as this, disquiet 
 ; the minds of those who have no solid scriptu- 
 ral dependence upon God, and especially a 
 | freedom from the dread of death, and of the 
 things which are beyond it. In these and 
 other respects, the believer in Jesus enters 
 into a present rest. He is under the guid- 
 ance of infinite wisdom and the protection of 
 almighty power ; he is permitted to cast all 
 rho his cares upon the Lord (1 Pet. v. 7), and is 
 
SKR. XV. 
 
 Messiah’s easy yoke. fi9& 
 
 assured that t!ie Lord caretli for him. So far 
 as he possesses by faith the spirit and liberty 
 of his high calling, he is in perfect peace. 
 The prophet Jeremiah has given a beautiful 
 description and illustration of this rest of a 
 believer (Jer. xvii. 5 — 8) ; which is rendered 
 more striking by being contrasted with the 
 miserable state of those who live without God 
 in the world. “ Thus saith the Lord, Cursed 
 is the man that trusteth in man, and maketh 
 flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from 
 the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in 
 the desert, and shall not see when good com- 
 eth, but shall inhabit the parched places of the 
 wilderness, in a salt land not inhabited. But 
 blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, 
 and w'hose hope the Lord is ; for he shall be 
 as a tree planted by the waters, and that 
 spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall 
 not see when the heat cometh ; but her leaf 
 shall be green, and shall not be careful in the 
 year of drought, neither shall cease from yield - 
 ing fruit.” 
 
 But besides rest there is refreshment. There 
 are pleasures and consolations in that inter- 
 course and communion with God to which 
 we are invited by the gospel, which, both in 
 kind and degree, are unspeakably superior to 
 all that the world can bestow, and such as the 
 world cannot deprive us of; for they have no 
 necessary dependence upon outward situation 
 or circumstances; they are compatible with po- 
 verty, sickness, and sufferings. They are of- 
 ten most sensibly sweet and lively when the 
 streams of creature-comfort are at the lowest 
 ebb. Many have been able to say with the 
 apostle, “ As the sufferings of Christ (those 
 which we endure for his sake, or submit to 
 from his hand) abound in us, so our con- 
 solation in Christ also aboundeth,” 1 Cor. i. 5. 
 The all-sufficient God can increase these com- 
 munications of comfort from himself to a de- 
 gree beyond our ordinary conceptions, so as 
 not only to support his people under the most 
 exquisite pains, but even to suspend and over- 
 power all sense of pain, when the torment 
 would otherwise be extreme. And he has 
 sometimes been pleased to honour the fidelity 
 of his servants, and to manifest his own faith- 
 fulness to them by such an interposition. One 
 well- attested instance our own martyrology 
 affords, that of Mr. Bainham, who suffered in 
 the reign of Queen Mary. When he was in 
 the fire, he addressed himself to his persecu- 
 tors to this effect : “ You call for miracles in 
 proof of our doctrine, now behold one ; I feel 
 no more pain from these flames than if I was 
 laid upon a bed of roses.” But in ordinary 
 cases, and in all cases, they who taste how 
 good the Lord is to them that seek him, how 
 he cheers them with the light of his counte- 
 nance, and what supports he affords them in 
 the hour of need, can without regret part with 
 the poor perishing pleasures of sin, and en- 
 counter all the difficulties they meet with in 
 
 the path of duty. Whatever their profession 
 of his name, and their attachment to his cause 
 may have cost them, they will acknowledge 
 that it has made them ample amends. 
 
 Come, therefore, unto him, venture upon 
 his gracious w'ord, and you shall find rest for 
 your souls. Can the world outbid this gra- 
 cious offer ? Can the world promise to give 
 you rest when you are burdened with trouble? 
 when your cisterns fail, and your gourds wi- 
 ther ? or when you are terrified with the ap- 
 proach of death, when your pulse intermits, 
 when you are about to take a final farewell of 
 all you ever saw with your eyes,, and an awful, 
 unknown, untried, unchangeable eternity is 
 opening upon your view ? Such a moment 
 most certainly awaits you ; and when it ar- 
 rives, if you die in your senses, and are not 
 judicially given up to hardness and blindness 
 of heart, you will assuredly tremble, if you 
 never trembled before. Oh ! be persuaded ! 
 May the Lord himself persuade you to be 
 timely wise, to seek him now whUe he may 
 be found, to call upon him while he is yet 
 near, lest that dreadful threatening should be 
 your portion : “ Because I have called, and 
 ye refused, I have stretched out- my hand and 
 no man regarded ; I also will laugh at your 
 calamity, I will mock when your fear cometh,” 
 Prov. i. 24, 26. 
 
 SERMON XV. 
 
 Messiah’s easy yoke. 
 
 Take my ijake upon you, and learn of me, for 
 I am meek and lowly in heart ; and ye shall 
 find rest to your souls. For my yoke is easy, 
 and my burden is light . Matth xi. 29.50. 
 
 Though the influence of education and ex- 
 ample may dispose us to acknowledge the 
 gospel to be a revelation from God, it can only 
 be rightly understood, or duly prized, by those 
 persons who feel themselves in the circum- 
 stances of distress which it is designed to re- 
 lieve. No Israelite would think of fleeing to 
 a city of refuge, till, by having unwittingly 
 slain a man, he was exposed to the rcsentmen* 
 of the next of kin, the legal avenger of blood • 
 but then, a sense of his danger would induce 
 him readily to avail himself of the appointed 
 method of safety. The skill of a physician 
 may be acknowledged, in general terms, by 
 many ; but he is applied to only by the sick, 
 Matt. ix. 12. Thus our Saviour’s gracious 
 invitation to come to him for rest, will be 
 little regarded,, till we really feel ourselves 
 weary and heavy laden. This is a principal 
 reason why. the gospel is heard with so much 
 indifference. For though sin be a grievous 
 illness, and a hard bondage, yet one effect of 
 it is, a strange stupidity and infatuation, 
 
SEIi. XV. 
 
 MESSIAH’S EASY YOKE. 
 
 69f> 
 
 which renders us (like a person in a delirium) 
 insensible of our true state. It is a happy 
 time when the Holy Spirit, by his convincing 
 power, removes that stupor, which, while it 
 prevents us from fully perceiving our misery, 
 renders us likewise indifferent to the only 
 mean of deliverance. Such a conviction of 
 the guilt and desert of sin, is the first hopeful 
 symptom in a sinner’s case ; but it is neces- 
 sarily painful and distressing. It is not plea- 
 sant to be weary and heavy-laden ; but it 
 awakens our attention to him who says, Come 
 unto me, and I will give you rest, and makes 
 us willing to take his yoke upon us. 
 
 Oxen are yoked to labour. From hence 
 the yoke is a figurative expression to denote 
 servitude. Our Lord seems to use it here, 
 both to intimate our natural prejudices against 
 his service, and to obviate them. Though he 
 submitted to sufferings, reproach, and death 
 for our sakes ; though he invites us, not be- 
 cause he has need of us, but because we have 
 need of him, and cannot be happy without 
 him ; yet our ungrateful hearts think unkindly 
 of him. We conceive of him as a hard mas- 
 ter ; and suppose, that if we engage ourselves 
 to him, we must bid farewell to pleasure, and 
 live under a continual restraint. His rule is 
 deemed too strict, his laws too severe ; and 
 we imagine, that we could be more happy 
 iipon our own plans, than by acceding to his. 
 Such unjust, unfriendly, and dishonourable 
 thoughts of him, whose heart is full of tender- 
 ness, whose bowels melt with love, are strong 
 proofs of our baseness, blindness, and depravi- 
 ty ; yet still he continues his invitation, 
 “ Come unto me.” — As if he had said, “ Be 
 not afraid of me. Only make the experiment, 
 and you shall find, that what you have ac- 
 counted my yoke is true liberty ; and that in 
 my service, which you have avoided as bur- 
 densome, there is no burden at all ; for my ! 
 ways are ways of pleasantness, and all my 
 paths are peace.” I have a good hope, that 
 many of my hearers can testify, from their 
 own happy experience, that (according to the 
 beautiful expression in our liturgy) his ser- 
 vice is perfect freedom. 
 
 If we are really Christians, Jesus is our 
 Master, our Lord, and we are his servants. 
 It is in vain to call him Lord, Lord (Luke 
 vi. 46), unless we keep his commandments. 
 They who know him will love him ; and they 
 who love him will desire to please him, not 
 by a course of- service of their own devising, 
 but by accepting his revealed will as the stand- 
 ard and rule, to every part of which they en- 
 deavour to conform in their tempers and in 
 their conduct. He is likewise our Master in 
 another sense, that is, he is our great Teacher; 
 if we submit to him as such, we are his dis- 
 ciples or scholars. We cannot serve him ac- 
 ceptably, unless we are taught by him. The 
 philosophers of old had their disciples, who 
 imbibed their sentiments, and were therefore 
 
 I called after their names, as the Pythagoreans 
 and Platonists, from Pythagoras and Plato. 
 The general name of Christians, which was 
 first assumed by the believers at Antioch 
 (possibly by divine direction) intimates that 
 they are the professed disciples of Christ, Acts 
 xi. 26. If we wish to be truly wise, to be 
 wise unto salvation, we must apply to him. 
 For in this sense, the disciple or scholar can- 
 not be above his Master, Luke vi. 40. We 
 can learn of men no more than they can teach 
 us. But he says, “ Learn of me and he 
 cautions us against calling any one Master 
 upon earth. He does, indeed, instruct his 
 people by ministers and instruments ; but un- 
 less he is pleased to superadd his influence, 
 what we seem to learn from them only, will 
 profit us but little. Nor are the best of them 
 so thoroughly furnished, nor so free from mis- 
 take, as to deserve our implicit confidence. 
 But they whom he condescends to teach, shall 
 learn, what no instruction, merely human, can 
 impart. Let us consider the peculiar, the un- 
 speakable ad\antages of being his scholars. 
 
 1. In the first place, this great Teacher can 
 give the capacity requisite to the reception of 
 his sublime instructions. There is no pro- 
 spect of excelling in human arts and sciences, 
 without a previous natural ability, suited to 
 the subject. For instance, if a person has not 
 an ear and taste for music, he will make but 
 small proficiency under the best masters. It 
 will be the same with respect to the mathema- 
 tics, or any branch of science. A skilful 
 master may improve and inform the scholar, 
 if he be rightly disposed to learn, but he can- 
 not communicate the disposition. But Jesus 
 can open and enliven the dullest mind ; he 
 teaches the blind to see, and the deaf to hear. 
 By nature we are untractable, and incapable 
 of relishing divine truth, however advanta- 
 
 ! geously proposed to us by men like ourselves. 
 But happy are his scholars ! he enables them 
 to surmount all difficulties. He takes away 
 the heart of stone, subdues the most obstinate 
 prejudices, enlightens the dark understanding, 
 and inspires a genius and a taste for the sub- 
 lime and interesting lessons he proposes to 
 them. In this respect, as in every other, there 
 is none who teacheth like him, Job xxxvi. 26. 
 
 2. He teacheth the most important things. 
 The subjects of human science are compara- 
 tively trivial and insignificant. We may be 
 safely ignorant of them all. And we may 
 acquire the knowledge of them all, without 
 being wiser or better, with respect to the con- 
 cernments of our true happiness. Experience 
 and observation abundantly confirm the re- 
 mark of Solomon, That he w-ho increaseth 
 knowledge increaseth sorrow. The eye is not 
 satisfied with seeing, nor the ear with hearing, 
 Eccles. i. 8, 18. Unless the heart be season- 
 ed and sanctified by grace, the sum-total of 
 all other acquisitions is but vanity and vexa- 
 tion of spirit, Eccles. ii. 17. Human learn- 
 
SF.R. XV. 
 
 ing will neither support tlie mind under trou- i 
 ble, nor weaken its attachment to worldly 
 things, nor controul its impetuous passions, 
 nor overcome the fear of death. The confes- 
 sion of the learned Grotius, towards the 
 close of a life spent in literary pursuits, is 
 much more generally known than properly 
 attended to. He had deservedly a great name 
 and reputation as a scholar ; but his own re- 
 flection upon the result of his labours express- 
 es what he learnt, not from his books and or- 
 dinary course of studies, but from the Teacher 
 I am commending to you. He lived to leave 
 this testimony for the admonition of the learn- 
 ed, or to this effect : Ah, vitarn prorsus perdidi 
 nihil agendo laboriose / “ Alas ! I have wasted 
 my whole life in taking much pains to no 
 purpose.” But Jesus makes his scholars wise 
 unto eternal life, and reveals that knowledge 
 to babes, to persons of weak and confined abi- 
 lities, of which the wisdom of the world can 
 form no idea. 
 
 3. Other teachers, as I have already hinted, 
 can only inform the head ; but his instructions 
 influence the heart. Moral philosophers, as 
 they are called, abound in fine words and 
 plausible speeches, concerning the beauty of 
 virtue, the fitness of things, temperance, be- 
 nevolence, and equity ; and their scholars 
 learn to talk after them. But their fine and' 
 admired sentiments are mere empty notions, 
 destitute of life and efficacy, and frequently 
 ,eave them as much under the tyranny of 
 pride, passion, sensuality, envy, and malice, 
 as any of the vulgar whom they despise for 
 their ignorance. It is well known, to the dis- 
 grace of the morality which the world ap- 
 plauds, that some of their most admired sen- 
 timental writers and teachers have deserved to 
 be numbered among the most abandoned and 
 despicable of mankind. They have been slaves 
 to the basest and most degrading appetites, 
 and the tenor of their lives has been a marked 
 contradiction to their fine-spun theories. But 
 Jesus Christ effectually teaches his disciples to 
 forsake and abhor whatever is contrary to rec- 
 titude or purity ; and inspires them with love, 
 power, and a sound mind. And if they do 
 not talk of great things, they are enabled to 
 perform them. Their lives are exemplary and 
 useful, their deaths comfortable, and their 
 memory is precious. 
 
 4. The disciples of Jesus are, or may be, 
 always learning. His providence and wisdom 
 have so disposed things, in subserviency to the 
 purposes of his grace, that the whole world 
 around them is as a great school, and the 
 events of every day, with which they are con- 
 nected, have a tendency and suitableness, if 
 rightly improved, to promote their instruction. 
 Heavenly lessons are taught and illustrated by 
 earthly objects ; nor are we capable of under- 
 standing them at present, unless the mode of 
 instruction be thus accommodated to our situ- 
 ation and weakness. The scripture (John iii. 
 
 697 
 
 12) points out to us a wonderful and beauti- 
 ful analogy between the outward visible world 
 of nature, and that spiritual state which is 
 called the kingdom of God ; the former is 
 like a book written in cypher, to which the 
 scripture is the key, which when we obtain, 
 we have the other opened to us. Thus, where- 
 ever they look, some object presents itself, 
 which is adapted, either to lead their thoughts 
 directly to Jesus, or to explain or confirm 
 some passage in his word. So likewise, the 
 incidents of human life; the characters we 
 know, the conversation we hear, the vicissi- 
 tudes which take place in families, cities, and 
 nations, in a word, the occurrences which fur- 
 nish the history of every day, afford a perpe- 
 tual commentary on what the scriptures teach 
 concerning the heart of man and the state oi 
 the world, as subject to vanity, and lying in 
 wickedness; and thereby the great truths 
 which it behoves us to understand and remem- 
 ber, are more repeatedly and forcibly exhibited 
 before our eyes, and brought home to our bo- 
 soms. It is the peculiar advantage of the dis- 
 ciples of Christ, that their lessons are always 
 before them, and their Master always with 
 them. 
 
 5. Men who are otherwise competently 
 qualified for teaching in the branches of 
 science they profess, often discourage and in- 
 timidate their scholars, by the impatience, aus- 
 terity, and distance of their manner. They 
 fail in that condescension and gentleness 
 which are necessary to engage the attention 
 and affection of the timid and the volatile, or 
 gradually to soften and to shame the perverse. 
 Even Moses, though eminent for his forbear- 
 ance towards the obstinate people committed 
 to his care, and though he loved them, and 
 longed for their welfare, was, at times, almost 
 wearied by them. Numb. xi. 11, 12. But 
 Jesus, who knows before-hand the weakness, 
 the dulness, and the refractoriness of those 
 whom he deigns to teach, to prevent their 
 fears is pleased to say, “ Learn of me, for I 
 am meek and lowly.” With what meekness 
 did he converse among his disciples, while he 
 was with them upon earth ? He allowed them 
 at all times a gracious freedom of access. He 
 bore with their mistakes, reproved and cor- 
 rected them with the greatest mildness, and 
 taught them as they were able to bear, with a 
 kind accommodation to their prejudices ; lead- 
 ing them on step by step, and waiting for the 
 proper season of unfolding to them those more 
 difficult points, which, for a time, appeared to 
 them to be hard sayings. And though he 
 be now exalted upon his glorious throne and 
 clothed with majesty, still his heart is made 
 of tenderness, and his compassions still a- 
 bound. We are still directed to think of 
 him, not as one who cannot be touched with 
 a feeling of our infirmities, but as exercising 
 the same patience and sympathy towards his 
 disciples now, which so signally marked hia 
 
 MESSIAH S EASY YOKE. 
 
SER. XV 
 
 Messiah’s easy yoke. 
 
 698 
 
 character during his state of humiliation. The 
 compliment of the orator to a Roman emper- 
 or, though excessive and absurd when address- 
 ed to a sinful worm, that they who durst 
 speak to him were ignorant of his greatness, 
 and they who durst not were equally ignorant 
 of his goodness, is a just and literal truth, if 
 applied to our meek and gracious Saviour. 
 If we duly consider his greatness alone, it 
 seems almost presumption in such creatures as 
 we are, to dare to take his holy name upon 
 our polluted lips ; but then, if we have a pro- 
 portionable sense of his unbounded goodness 
 and grace, every difficulty is overruled, and 
 we feel a liberty of drawing near to him, 
 though with reverence, yet with the confidence 
 of children when they speak to an affectionate 
 parent. 
 
 A person may be meek, though in an ele- 
 vated situation of life ; but Jesus w r as like- 
 wise lowly. There was nothing in his exter- 
 nal appearance to intimidate the poor and the 
 miserable from coming to him. He was low r - 
 ly or humble. Custom, w'hich fixes the force 
 and acceptation of words, will not readily al- 
 low us to speak of humility as applicable to 
 the great God. Yet it is said, He humbleth 
 himself to behold the things that are in heaven 
 and in earth, Psal. cxiii. 6. Humility, in 
 strictness of speech, is an attribute of magna- 
 nimity ; an indifference to the little distinc- 
 tions by which w^eak and vulgar minds are af- 
 fected. In the view of the high and holy 
 One who inhabiteth eternity (Is. lvii. 15), all 
 distinctions that can obtain among creatures 
 vanish ; and he humbles himself no less to 
 notice the worship of an angel, than the fall 
 of a sparrow to the ground. But w r e more 
 usually express this idea by the term condes- 
 cension. Such was the mind that was in 
 Christ, Phil. ii. 5. It belonged to his digni- 
 ty, as Lord of all, to look with an equal eye 
 upon all his creatures. None could recom- 
 mend themselves to him by their rank, wealth, 
 or abilities, the gifts of his own bounty ; 
 none were excluded from his regard, by the 
 want of those things w'hich are in estimation 
 among men. And to stain the pride of hu- 
 man glory, he was pleased to assume an hum- 
 ble state. Though he was rich, he made him- 
 self poor (2 Cor. viii. 9), for the sake of 
 those whom he came into the world to save. 
 In this respect he teaches us by his example. 
 He took upon him the form of a servant 
 (Phil. ii. 7), a poor and obscure man, to abase 
 our pride, to cure us of selfishness, and to re- 
 concile us to the cross. 
 
 The happy effect of his instructions upon 
 those who receive them, is, rest to their souls. 
 This has been spoken to before ; but as it is 
 repeated in the text, I shall not entirely pass 
 it over here. He gives rest to our souls, — 
 by restoring us to our proper state of depend- 
 ence upon God; a state of reconciliation and 
 peace, and deliverance from guilt and fear ; a 
 
 state of subjection ; ft5r till our wills are duly 
 subjected to the will of God, we can have no 
 rest — by shewing us the vanity of the world, 
 and thereby putting an end to our wearisome 
 desires and pursuits after things uncertain, 
 frequently unattainable, always unsatisfying — 
 by a communication of sublimer pleasures and 
 hopes than the present state of things can pos- 
 sibly afford — and lastly, by furnishing us with 
 those aids, motives, and encouragements, 
 which make our duty desirable, practicable,, 
 and pleasant. 
 
 How truly then may it be said, that his 
 yoke is easy, and his burden light ! such a 
 burden as wings are to a bird, raising the 
 soul above the low and grovelling attachments 
 to which it was once confined. They only 
 can rightly judge of the value of this rest, 
 who are capable of contrasting it with the 
 distractions and miseries, the remorse and 
 forebodings, of those who live without God 
 in the world. 
 
 But we are all, by profession, his scholars. 
 Ought we not seriously to enquire, w hat we 
 have actually learned from him ? Surely the 
 proud, the haughty, the voluptuous, and the 
 worldly, though they have heard of his name, 
 and may have attended on his institutions, 
 have not hitherto sat at his feet, or drank of 
 his Spirit. It requires no long train of exa- 
 mination to determine, wffiether you have en- 
 tered into his rest, or not ; or, if you have not 
 yet attained it, whether you are seeking it in 
 the ways of his appointment. It is a rest for 
 the soul, it is a spiritual blessing, and there- 
 fore does not necessarily depend upon exter- 
 nal circumstances. Without this rest, you 
 must be restless and comfortless in a palace. 
 If you have it, you may be, at least compara- 
 tively, happy in a dungeon. To-day, if not 
 before to-day, while it is called to-day, hear 
 his voice ; and while he says to you by his 
 word, “ Come unto me, and learn of me,” 
 let your hearts answ'er. “ Behold, w r e come 
 unto thee, for thou art the Lord our God,” 
 Jer. iii. 22. 
 
 SERMON XVI. 
 
 THE LAMB OF GOD, THE GREAT ATONEMENT. 
 
 Behold, the Lamb of God, which tnkcth uioay 
 the sin of the world / John i. 29. 
 
 Great and marvellous are the works of the 
 Lord God Almighty ! W T e live in the midst of 
 them, and the little impression they make 
 upon us sufficiently proves our depravity. He 
 is great in the very smallest ; and there is not 
 a plant, flower, or insect, but bears the signa- 
 ture of infinite wisdom and power. How 
 sensibly then should we be affected by the 
 consideration of the whole, if sin had not 
 
SEIl. XVh 
 
 THE LAMB 
 
 blinded our understandings, and hardened our 
 hearts ! In the beginning, when all was dark, 
 unformed, and waste, his powerful word pro- 
 duced light, life, beauty, and order. He 
 commanded the sun to shine, and the planets 
 to roll. The immensity of creation is far be- 
 yond the reach of our conceptions. The in- 
 numerable stars, the worlds, which, however 
 large in themselves, are, from their remote- 
 ness, bu t barely visible, to us are of little more 
 immediate and known use, than to enlarge 
 our idea of the greatness of their Author. 
 Small, indeed, is the knowledge we have of 
 our own system ; but we know enough to 
 render our indifference inexcusable. The 
 glory of the sun must strike every eye ; and 
 in this enlightened age, there are few persons 
 but have some ideas of the magnitude of the 
 planets, and the rapidity and regularity of 
 their motions. Farther, the rich variety which 
 adorns this lower creation, the dependence 
 and relation of tho several parts and their ge- 
 neral subserviency to the accommodation of 
 man, the principal inhabitant, together with 
 the preservation of individuals, and the conti- 
 nuance of every species of animals, are sub- 
 jects not above the reach of common capa- 
 cities, and which afford almost endless and 
 infinite scope for reflection and admiration. 
 But the bulk of mankind regard them not. 
 The vicissitudes of day and night, and of the 
 revolving seasons, are to them matters of 
 course, as if they followed each other without 
 either cause or design. And though the phi- 
 losophers, who professedly attach themselves 
 to the study of the works of nature, are over- 
 whelmed by the traces of a wisdom and ar- 
 rangement which they are unable to compre- 
 hend ; yet few of them are led to reverential 
 thoughts of God, by their boasted knowledge 
 of his creatures. Thus men live without God 
 in the world, though they live, and move, and 
 have their being in him, and are incessantly 
 surrounded by the most striking proofs of his 
 presence and energy. Perhaps an earthquake, 
 or a hurricane, by awakening their fears, may 
 force upon their minds a conviction of his 
 power over them and excite an occasional mo- 
 mentary application to him ; but when they 
 think the danger over, they relapse into their 
 former stupidity. 
 
 What can engage the attention, or soften 
 the obduracy of such creatures ? Behold one 
 wonder more, greater than all the former ; 
 the last, the highest effect of divine good- 
 ness! God has so loved rebellious, ungrateful 
 sinners, as to appoint them a Saviour in the 
 person of his only Son. The prophets fore- 
 saw his manifestation in the flesh, and fore- 
 told the happy consequences — that his presence 
 would change the wilderness into a fruitful 
 field, that he was coming to give sight to the 
 blind, and life to the dead ; to set the captive 
 at liberty ; to unloose the heavy burden ; and 
 to bless the weary with rest. But this change 
 
 OF GOD, &C. 609 
 
 was not to be wrought merely by a word of 
 power, as when he said, “ Let there be light, 
 and there was light,” Gen. i. 3. It was great 
 to speak the world from nothing ; but far 
 greater, to redeem sinners from misery. The 
 salvation, of which he is the Author, though 
 free to us, must cost him dear. Before the 
 mercy of God can be actually dispensed to 
 such offenders, the rights of his justice, the 
 demands of his law, and the honour of his 
 government must be provided for. The early 
 institution and long continued use of sacri- 
 fices, had clearly pointed out the necessity of 
 an atonement ; but the real and proper atone- 
 ment could only be made by Messiah. The 
 blood of slaughtered animals could not take 
 away sin, nor display the righteousness of 
 God in pardoning it. This was the appointed 
 covenanted work of Messiah, and he alone 
 could perform it. With this view he had said, 
 “ Lo, I come,” Psal. xl. 7. And it was in this 
 view, when John saw him, that he pointed 
 him out to his disciples, saying, “ Behold the 
 Lamb of God 
 
 Three points offer to our consideration : 
 
 I. The title here given to Messiah, — The 
 Lamb of God. 
 
 II. The efficacy of his sacrifice, — He taketh 
 away sin. 
 
 III. The extent of it, — The sin of the 
 world. 
 
 I. He is the Lamb of God. — The paschal 
 lamb, and the lambs which were daily offered, 
 morning and evening, according to the law of 
 Moses, were of God’s appointment ; but this 
 Lamb was likewise of his providing. The 
 others were but types. Though many, they 
 were all insufficient (Heb. x. 10) to cleanse 
 the consciences of the offerers from guilt; and 
 they were all superseded, when Messiah, by 
 the one offering of himself, once for all, made 
 an end of sin, and brought in an everlasting 
 righteousness, in favour of all who believe in 
 his name. 
 
 This title, therefore, the Lamb of God, re- 
 fers to his voluntary substitution for sinners, 
 that by his sufferings and death they who de- 
 served to die might obtain eternal life 
 through him, and for his sake. Mankind 
 were universally chargeable with transgression 
 of the law of God, and were in a state of alie- 
 nation from him. A penalty in case of dis- 
 obedience was annexed to the law they had 
 broken ; to which they, as offenders, were 
 therefore obnoxious. Though it would be 
 presumptuous in such worms as we are, to 
 determine, upon principles of our >wn, whe- 
 ther the sovereign Judge of the universe could, 
 consistently with his own glory, remit this 
 penalty without satisfaction, or not ; yet, since 
 he has favoured us with a revelation of his 
 will upon the point, we may speak more con- 
 fidently, and affirm, that it was not consistent 
 with his truth and holiness, and the honour 
 of his moral government, to do it, because 
 
700 
 
 THE LAMB OF GOD, 
 
 SER. XVI. 
 
 this is his own declaration. We may now be 
 assured, that the forgiveness of one sinner, 
 and, indeed, of one sin, by an act of mere 
 mercy, and without any interposing conside- 
 ration, was incompatible with the inflexibility 
 of the law', and the truth and justice of the 
 Lawgiver. But mercy designed the forgive- 
 ness of innumerable sinners, each of them 
 chargeable with innumerable sins; and the 
 declaration, that God is thus merciful, was to 
 be recorded, and publicly known through a 
 long succession of ages, and to extend to sins 
 not yet committed. An act of grace so ge- 
 neral and unreserved, might lead men (not to 
 speak of superior intelligences) to disparaging 
 thoughts of the holiness of God, and might 
 even encourage them to sin with hope of im- 
 punity, if not connected with some provision, 
 ■which might shew' that the exercise of his 
 mercy w r as in full harmony with the honour 
 of all his perfections. How God could be 
 just, and yet justify those (Rom. iii. 26) 
 whom his own righteous constitution con- 
 demned, was a difficulty too great for finite 
 understandings to solve. But, herein is God 
 glorious. His wisdom propounded, and his 
 love afforded, the adequate, the only possible 
 expedient. He revealed to our first parents 
 his purpose, w'hich in the fulness of time he 
 accomplished, of sending forth his Son, made 
 of a woman, made under the law, to redeem 
 sinners from the curse of the law (Gal. iv. 4), 
 by sustaining it for them. Considering the 
 dignity of his person and the perfection of his 
 obedience, his sufferings and death for sins 
 not his own, displayed the heinousness of sin, 
 and the severe displeasure of God against it, 
 in a much stronger light than the execution 
 of the sentence upon the offenders could pos- 
 sibly do. It displays likewise the justice of 
 this sentence, since neither the dignity nor 
 the holiness of the surety could exempt him 
 from suffering; and that, though he was the 
 beloved of God, he w'as not spared. This is 
 what I understand by atonement and satisfac- 
 tion for sin. 
 
 II. The efficacy of this atonement is com- 
 plete. The Lamb of God, thus slain, taketh 
 away sin, both with respect to its guilt and its 
 defilement. The Israelites, by looking to the 
 brazen serpent (Numb. xxi. 9), were saved 
 from death, and healed of their w’ounds. The 
 Lamb of God is an object, proposed, not to 
 our bodily sight, but to the eye of the mind, 
 which indeed in fallen man is naturally blind; 
 but the gospel -message, enlivened by the 
 powerful agency of the Holy Spirit, is ap- 
 pointed to open it. He w'ho thus seeth the 
 Son, and believeth on him (John vi. 40), is de- 
 livered from guilt and condemnation, is jus- 
 tified from all sin. He is warranted to plead 
 the sufferings of the Lamb of God in bar of 
 his own ; the whole of the Saviour’s obedience 
 unto death, as the ground and title of his ac- 
 ceptance unto life. Guilt or obnoxiousness 
 
 to punishment being removed, the soul has an 
 open way of access to God, and is prepared to 
 receive blessings from him. For as the sun, 
 the fountain of light, fills the eye that was 
 before blind, the instant it receives sight ; so 
 God, who is the fountain of goodness, en- 
 lightens all his intelligent creatures according 
 to their capacity, unless they are by sin blind- 
 ed, and rendered incapable of communion 
 with him. The Saviour is now received and 
 enthroned in the heart, and from his fulness 
 the life of grace is- derived and maintained. 
 Thus not only the guilt, but the love of sin, 
 and its dominion, are taken away, subdued by 
 grace, and cordially renounced by the believ- 
 ing pardoned sinner. The blood, which frees 
 him from distress, preserves a remembrance 
 of the great danger and misery from which 
 he has been delivered warm upon his heart, 
 inspires him with gratitude to his Deliverer, 
 and furnishes him with an abiding and con- 
 straining motive for cheerful and universal 
 obedience. 
 
 III. The designed extent of this gratuitous 
 removal of sin, by the oblation of the Lamb 
 of God, is expressed in a large and indefinite 
 manner : He taketh away the sin of the world. 
 Many of my hearers need not to be told, what 
 fierce and voluminous disputes have been main- 
 tained concerning the extent of the death of 
 Christ. I am afraid the advantages of such 
 controversies have not been answerable to the 
 zeal of the disputants. For myself, I wish to 
 be known by no name but that of a Christian, 
 and implicitly to adopt no system but the 
 Bible. I usually endeavour to preach to the 
 heart and the conscience, and to wave, as 
 much as I can, all controversial points. But 
 as the subject now lies directly before me, I 
 shall embrace the occasion, and simply and 
 honestly open to you the sentiments of my 
 heart concerning it. 
 
 If because the death of Christ is here said 
 to take away the sin of the world, or (as this 
 evangelist expresses it in another place), the 
 whole world (1 John ii. 2), it be inferred, 
 that he actually designed and intended the 
 salvation of all men, such an inference would 
 be contradicted by fact. For it is certain that 
 all men will not be saved, Matth. vii. 13, 14. 
 It is to be feared, that the greater part of those 
 to whom the word of his salvation is sent 
 perish in their sins. If therefore he cannot 
 be disappointed of his purpose, since many do 
 perish, it could not be his fixed design that 
 all men should be finally and absolutely 
 saved. 
 
 The exceeding great number, once dead in 
 trespasses and sins, who shall be found on his 
 right hand at the great day of his appearance, 
 :are frequently spoken of in appropriate and 
 | peculiar language. They are stiled his sheep 
 (John x. 11, 16), for whom he laid down his 
 life; his elect (Mark xiii. 27), his own (John 
 •xiii. l) ; those to whom it is given to believe 
 
SER. XVi. 
 
 in his name (Phil. i. 29), and concerning 
 whom it was the Father’s good pleasure to 
 predestinate them to the adoption of children, 
 Eph. v. 5. By nature they are children of 
 wrath, even as others (Eph. ii. 3), and no 
 more disposed in themselves to receive the 
 truth than those who obstinately and finally 
 reject it. Whenever they become willing, 
 they are made so in a day of divine power 
 (Psal. cx. 3), and wherein they differ, it is 
 grace that makes them to differ, 1 Cor. iv. 7. 
 Passages in the scripture to this purpose are 
 innumerable; and though much ingenuity 
 has been employed to soften them, and to 
 make them speak the language of an hypo- 
 thesis, they are so plain in themselves that he 
 who runs may read. It, is not the language 
 of conjecture, but of inspiration, that they 
 whom the Lord God did foreknow he also did 
 predestinate to be conformed to the image of 
 his Son, Rom. viii. 29. And though some 
 serious persons perplex themselves with need- 
 less and painfid reasonings, with respect to 
 the sovereignty of God in his conduct towards 
 mankind, they all, if truly spiritual and en- 
 lightened, stand upon this very ground, in 
 their own expei-ience. Many, who seem to 
 differ from us in the way of argumentation, 
 perfectly accord with us, when they simply 
 speak of what God has done for their souls. 
 They know and acknowledge as readily as we, 
 that they were first found of him when they 
 sought him not; and that otherwise they 
 neither should nor could have sought him at 
 all ; nor can they give any better reason than 
 this why they are saved out of the world, 
 That it pleased the Lord to make them his 
 people, 1 Sam. xii. 22. 
 
 But, on the other hand, I cannot think the 
 sense of t*he expression is sufficiently explain- 
 ed, by saying, That the world, and the whole 
 world is spoken of, to teach us that the sacri- 
 fice of the Lamb of God was not confined, 
 like the Levitical offerings, to the nation of 
 Israel only ; but that it is available for the 
 sins of a determinate number of persons, called 
 the Elect, who are scattered among many 
 nations, and found under a great variety of 
 states and circumstances in human life. This 
 is undoubtedly the truth, so far as it goes; 
 but not, I apprehend, fully agreeable to the 
 scriptural manner of representation. That 
 there is an election of grace, we are plainly 
 taught ; yet it is not said, that Jesus Christ 
 came into the world to save the elect, but 
 that he came to save sinners, to seek and to 
 save them that are lost, 1 Tim. i. 15 ; Luke 
 xix. 10. Upon this ground, I conceive that 
 ministers have a warrant to preach the gospel 
 to every human creature, and to address the 
 conscience of every man in the sight of God ; 
 and that every person who hears this gospel 
 has thereby a warrant, an encouragement, yea, 
 a command, to apply to Jesus Christ for sal- 
 vation. And that they who refuse, thereby 
 
 70t 
 
 exclude themselves, and perish, not because 
 they never had, nor possibly could have any 
 interest in his atonement, but simply because 
 they will not come unto him that they may 
 have life. I know something of the cavils 
 and curious reasonings which obtain upon 
 this subject, and I know I may be pressed 
 with difficulties, which I cannot resolve to the 
 full satisfaction of enquiring and speculative 
 spirits. I am not disheartened by meeting 
 with some things beyond the grasp of my 
 scanty powers, in a book which I believe to 
 be inspired by him, whose ways and thoughts 
 are higher than ours, as the heavens are 
 higher than the earth, Isa. lv. 8. 9. But I be- 
 lieve, that vain reasonings, self-will, an attach- 
 ment to names and parties, and a disposition 
 to draw our sentiments from human systems, 
 rather than to form them by a close aud hum- 
 ble study of the Bible, with prayer for divine 
 teaching, are the chief sources of our perplex- 
 ities and disputes. 
 
 The extent of the atonement is frequently 
 represented, as if a calculation had been made, 
 how much suffering was necessary for the 
 surety to endure, in order exactly to expiate 
 the aggregate number of all the sins of all the 
 elect ; that so much he suffered precisely, and 
 no more ; and that when this requisition 
 was completely answered, he said, It is finished, 
 bowed his head, and gave up the ghost, John 
 xix. 30. But this nicety of computation 
 does not seem analogous to that unbounded 
 magnificence and grandeur which overwhelm 
 the attentive mind in the contemplation of 
 the divine conduct in the natural world. 
 When God waters the earth, he waters it 
 abundantly, Tsai. lxv. 10. He does not re- 
 strain the rain to cultivated or improvable 
 spots, but with a profusion of bounty worthy 
 of himself his clouds pour down water with 
 equal abundance upon the barren mountain, 
 the lonely desert, and the pathless ocean. 
 Why may we not say with the scriptures, that 
 Christ died to declare the righteousness of 
 God (Rom. iii. 25, 26), to manifest that he 
 is just in justifying the ungodly who believe 
 in Jesus? And for any thing we know to 
 the contrary, the very same display of the 
 evil and demerit of sin, by the Redeemer’s 
 agonies and death, might have been equally 
 necessary, though the number of the elect 
 were much smaller than it will appear to be 
 when they shall all meet before the throne of 
 glory. If God had formed this earth for the 
 residence of one man only ; had it been his 
 pleasure to afford him the same kind and de- 
 gree of light which we enjoy, the same glori- 
 ous sun, which is now sufficient to enlighten 
 and comfort the millions of mankind, would 
 have been necessary for the accommodation 
 of that one person. So, perhaps, had it been 
 his pleasure to save but one sinner, in a way 
 that should give the highest possible discovery 
 of his justice and of his mercy, this could 
 
 THE GREAT ATONEMENT. 
 
702 THE LAMB 
 
 have been done by no other method than that 
 which he has chosen tor the salvation of the 
 innumerable multitudes who will in the great 
 day unite in the song of praise to the Lamb 
 who loved them, and washed them from their 
 sins in his own blood. As the sun has a suf- 
 ficiency of light for eyes (if there were so 
 many capable of beholding it) equal in num- 
 ber to the leaves upon the trees, and the blades 
 of grass that grow upon the earth ; so in Jesus, 
 the Sun of righteousness, there is plenteous 
 redemption, he is rich in mercy to all that call 
 upon him (Psal. cxxx. 7 ; Rom. x. 12) ; and 
 he invites sinners, without exception, to whom 
 the word of his salvation is sent, even to the 
 ends of the earth, to look unto him, that they 
 may be saved, Isa. xiv. 22. 
 
 Under the gospel-dispensation, and by it, 
 God commands all men, everywhere, to repent, 
 Acts xvii. 30. All men, therefore, everywhere, 
 are encouraged to hope for forgiveness, accor- 
 ding to the constitution prescribed by the gos- 
 pel ; otherwise repentance would be both im- 
 practicable and unavailing. And therefore the 
 command to repent implies a warrant to believe 
 in the name of Jesus as taking away the sin of 
 the world. Let it not be said, that to call upon 
 men to believe, which is an act beyond their na- 
 tural power, is to mock them. There are pre- 
 scribed means for the obtaining of faith, which 
 it is not beyond their natural power to comply 
 with, if they are not wilfully obstinate. We 
 have the word of God for our authority. God 
 cannot be mocked (Gal. vi. 7), neither doth 
 he mock his creatures. Our Lord did not 
 mock the young ruler, when he told him that 
 if he would sell his possessions upon earth, 
 and follow him, he should have treasure in 
 heaven, Luke xviii. 22. Had this ruler no 
 power to sell his possessions ? I doubt not 
 but that he himself thought he had power to 
 sell them if he pleased. But while he loved 
 his money better than he loved Christ, and 
 preferred earthly treasures to heavenly, he had 
 no will to part with them. And a want of 
 will in a moral agent is a want of power in the 
 strongest sense. Let none presume to offer 
 such excuses to their Maker as they would 
 not accept in their own concerns. If you say 
 of a man, he is such a liar that he cannot 
 speak a word of truth ; so profane that he 
 cannot speak without an oath ; so dishonest 
 that he cannot omit one opportunity of cheat- 
 ing or stealing ; do you speak of this disabi- 
 lity to good, as an extenuation, and because you 
 think it renders him free from blame ? Surely 
 you think the more he is disinclined to good, 
 and habituated to evil, the worse he is. A 
 man that can speak lies and perjury, that can 
 deceive and rob, but is such an enemy to truth 
 and goodness that he can do nothing that is 
 kind or upright, must be a shocking charac- 
 ter indeed! Judge not more favourably of 
 yourself if you can love the world and sensual 
 pleasure, but cannot love God ; if you can 
 
 OF GOD, &C. SER. XVI. 
 
 fear a worm like yourself, but live without the 
 fear of God ; if you can boldly trample upon 
 his laws, but will not, and therefore cannot 
 humble yourself before him, and seek his 
 mercy, in the way of his appointment. 
 
 We cannot ascribe too much to the grace 
 of God ; but we should be careful, that under a 
 semblance of exalting his grace, we do not 
 furnish the slothful and unfaithful (Matth. 
 xxv. 16) with excuses for their wilfulness 
 and wickedness. God is gracious; but let 
 man be justly responsible for his own evil, 
 and not presume to state his case so, as would, 
 by just consequence, represent the holy God 
 as being the cause of the sin, which he hates 
 and forbids. 
 
 The whole may be summed up in two 
 points, which I commend to your serious at- 
 tention ; which it must be the business of my 
 life to enforce; and which, I trust, I shall 
 not repent of having enforced, either at the 
 hour of death, or in the day of judgment, 
 when I must give an account of my preach- 
 ing, and you of what you have heard in this 
 place : 
 
 1. That salvation is, indeed, wholly of grace 
 The gift of a Saviour, the first dawn of light 
 into the heart, all the supports and supplies 
 needful for carrying on the work from the 
 foundation to the top-stone, all is of free grace. 
 
 2. That now the Lamb of God is preached 
 to you, as taking away the sin of the world, if 
 you reject him (which may the Lord forbid!), 
 I say, if you reject him, your blood will be up- 
 on your own head. You are warned, you are 
 invited. Dare not to say, Why doth he yet 
 find fault, for who hath resisted his will ? 
 Rom. ix. 19. If he will save me, I shall be 
 saved ; if not, what can I do ? God is merci- 
 ful, but he is also holy and just ; he is al- 
 mighty, but his infinite power is combined 
 w r ith wisdom, and regulated by the great de- 
 signs of his government. He can do innu- 
 merable things which he will not do. What 
 he will do (so far as we are concerned) his 
 word informs us, and not one jot or tittle 
 thereof shall fail, Matth. v. 18. 
 
 SERMON XVII. 
 
 MESSIAH DESPISED AND REJECTED OF MEN. 
 
 He is despised and rejected of men , a man of 
 sorrows , and acquainted with grief. Isaiah, 
 liii. 5. 
 
 The heathen moralists, ignorant of the cha- 
 racter and perfections of God, the true digni- 
 ty and immortality of the soul, and the root 
 and extent of human depravity, had no better 
 foundation for what they called virtue than 
 pride ; no higher aim in their regulations, 
 than the interests of society and the conduct 
 
SER. XVII- 
 
 MESSIAH DESPISED, &C. 703 
 
 of civil life. They expressed, indeed, occa- 
 sionally, some sentiments of a superior kind; 
 but these, however just and valuable upon the 
 principles of revelation, were delusive and im- 
 practicable upon their own. And Brutus, 
 one of the most admired characters of anti- 
 quity, confessed, just before he put an end to 
 his own life, that having long been enamour- 
 ed of virtue as a real good, he found it, at 
 last, to be but an empty name. But though 
 they had so little satisfaction, or success, in 
 the pursuit of virtue, they were so pleased with 
 the idea they formed of it, as generally to sup- 
 pose, that if virtue should become visible, it 
 would necessarily engage the esteem and ad- 
 miration of mankind. 
 
 There was, however, one remarkable excep- 
 tion to this opinion. The wisdom of Socra- 
 tes seems to have been, in many respects, dif- 
 ferent from that of the bulk of their philoso- 
 phers. Socrates having expressed his idea of 
 a perfect character, a truly virtuous man, ven- 
 tured to predict the reception such a person, 
 if such a one could ever be found, would 
 meet with from the world. And he thought, 
 that his practice would be so dissimilar to that 
 of other men, his testimony against their wick- 
 edness so strong, and his endeavours to reform 
 them so importunate and unwelcome, that in- 
 stead of being universally admired, he would 
 be disliked and hated ; that mankind were too 
 degenerate and too obstinate, to bear either 
 the example or the reproof of such a person, 
 and would most probably revile and persecute 
 him, and put him to death as an enemy to 
 their peace. 
 
 In this instance, the judgment of Socrates 
 accords with the language of the Old, and 
 with the history of the New Testament. 
 Messiah was this perfect character. As such 
 Isaiah describes him. He likewise foresaw 
 how he would be treated, and foretold that he 
 would be numbered with transgressors, despi- 
 sed and rejected, by the very people who were 
 eye-witnesses of his upright and benevolent 
 conduct. And thus, in fact, it proved. When 
 Jesus was upon earth, true virtue and good- 
 ness were visibly displayed, and thereby the 
 wickedness of man became signally conspicu- 
 ous. For they among whom he was conver- 
 sant, preferred a robber and a murderer to 
 him, John, xviii. 40. They preserved Barab- 
 bas, who had been justly doomed to die for 
 enormous crimes, and they nailed Jesus, in his 
 stead, to the cross. 
 
 When Messiah appeared, the Jews profess- 
 ed to blame the wickedness of their fore- 
 fathers, who had opposed and slain the pro- 
 phets. If they regretted the ill-treatment 
 the servants of God had formerly received, 
 might it not be hoped that they would reve- 
 rence his Son ? (Matt. xxi. 47.) concerning 
 whom, under his character of Messiah, their 
 expectations were raised by the scriptures, 
 
 which were read in their synagogues every 
 sabbath-day. 
 
 But he was despised and rejected of men. 
 Angels sung praises at his birth, but men de- 
 spised him. He took not upon him the na- 
 ture of angels, but of man ; yet men rejected 
 him. Sinful, helpless men rejected and de- 
 spised the only Saviour. He came to his own, 
 but his own received him not. How lament- 
 able and fatal was their obstinacy ! Pretended 
 Messiahs were eagerly regarded and followed 
 by them (John v. 43.), but the true Messiah 
 was despised and rejected of men ! 
 
 Let us consider the clauses of the text se- 
 parately, in the order in which we read them. 
 
 I. He was despised and rejected of men. — 
 It would be a great mistake to imagine that 
 the Jews were the only people capable of this 
 ingratitude and obstinacy. If any person here 
 thinks, surely I would not have despised him, 
 had I seen his wonderful works, and heard 
 him speak as never man spake : possibly that 
 thought may prove you to be of the very same 
 spirit with those who, while they thirsted for 
 his blood, ignorantly presumed, that if they 
 had lived in the days of their forefathers, they 
 would not have joined with them in persecut- 
 ing the prophets, Matth. xxiii. 31. The pre- 
 judices which operated so strongly against, our 
 Lord’s mission and ministry, were not pecu- 
 liar to the people of one age or country, but 
 such as are deeply rooted in the nature of 
 fallen man. The same principles which in- 
 fluenced the Jews to oppose and despise his 
 person, still influence multitudes to slight and 
 oppose the doctrine which he taught, and 
 which he commanded his disciples to preach 
 and perpetuate to the end of the world. In 
 proof of this, it will be sufficient to assign 
 some of the principal causes of the contempt 
 and hatred which he met with from the men 
 of that generation. 
 
 1. They despised him for what they ac- 
 counted the meanness of his appearance. 
 Though rich in himself, he became poor foi 
 our sakes, and his poverty made him con- 
 temptible in their eyes. They expected Mes- 
 siah would appear with external pomp and 
 power. But when they saw him, they scorn- 
 ed him, saying, “ Is not this the carpenter’s 
 son ?” Matth. xiii. 55. He who had not mo- 
 ney to pay the tribute demanded of him (Matth. 
 xvii. 27.), nor a house wherein to lay his 
 head, was of small esteem with those who w ere 
 covetous, proud of worldly distinctions, and 
 fond of the praise and admiration of men. 
 
 2. Their contempt was heightened, when 
 this poor man publicly asserted his proper cha- 
 racter and claim, demanded their attention and 
 homage, and styled himself in a peculiar sense 
 the Son of God, the resurrection and the life, 
 John v. 18; xi. 25. For this seeming inconsist- 
 ence between the appearance he made and the 
 honours he assumed, they treated him as a de 
 
SER. XVII. 
 
 MESSIAH DESPISED 
 
 704 
 
 moniac and a madman, John x. 2(X Their 
 language strongly expressed their sentiments 
 of him, when they asked him with disdain, 
 
 “ Art thou greater than our father Abraham ? 
 Whom makest thou thyself?” John viii. 53. 
 
 3. They objected to him the low state and 
 former characters of his followers. Some of 
 them were of low rank in life. The most of 
 those who constantly attended him were poor 
 fishermen. Others had been of bad repute, 
 publicans, and open sinners. For this they 
 reproached him, and thought they were fully 
 justified in their contempt, while they could 
 say, “ Have any of the rulers or Pharisees be- 
 lieved on him ?” John vii. 48. 
 
 4. They were farther exasperated against 
 him, by the authority and severity with which 
 he taught. It is true, he was gentle and meek 
 to all who felt their need of his help, or sin- 
 cerely desired his instruction. He received 
 them without exception, and treated them with 
 the greatest tenderness. But he vindicated 
 the honour of the law of God, from the cor- 
 rupt doctrine and tradition of their professed 
 teachers. He exposed and unmasked the hy - 
 pocrisy of their most admired characters, and 
 compared the men who were in the highest 
 reputation for wisdom and sanctity, to whited i 
 sepulchres, warning the people against them 
 as blind guides and deceivers. 
 
 5. These blind guides strengthened the pre- 
 judices of their blind followers against him, 
 by misrepresentation. They attempted to a- 
 vail themselves of the scripture, when they 
 thought it would answer their purpose. They 
 eagerly made the most of a prevailing mistake, 
 that Jesus was born in Galilee, because he 
 was brought up in Nazareth from his infancy. 
 This they urged as a proof that he could not 
 be Messiah, who the prophets had declared 
 was to be born at Bethlehem in Judea. When 
 he healed diseases on the sabbath-day, they 
 represented the effects of his compassion as a 
 breach of that strict observance of the Sabbath 
 which was enjoined by the law of Moses, and 
 that therefore he could not be of God, John 
 ix. 16. And when they were not able to deny 
 the reality of his wonderful works, they as- 
 cribed them to the ageney of Satan, Matth. 
 xii. 24. We, at this distance of time, can 
 easily perceive the folly and madness of their 
 attempts. But the Scribes and Pharisees were 
 the public authorized doctors and teachers of 
 the people, and were supported by the eccle- 
 siastical and civil power ; or, as we should now 
 express it, by church and state. The people 
 were not apt to suspect their leaders, whom 
 they thought wiser and better than themselves ; 
 or, if sometimes they hesitated, were impress- 
 ed by the majesty of his words, cr the evidence 
 of his miraculous works, and constrained to say, 
 “ Is not this the son of David ?” (Mat. xii. 23) 
 they were soon intimidated and silenced by ca- 
 nons and laws ; for it was carefully enacted, in 
 order to keep them in subjection, that whoever 
 
 acknowledged him should be put out of the 
 synagogues (John ix. 22 ; xii. 48) ; that is, 
 according to our modern language, excommu- 
 nicated. This among the Jews, as it has often 
 since been among Christians, was a punish- 
 ment which drew after it terrible consequen- 
 ces. A man must be in good earnest, or ra- 
 ther taught and supported by the grace of 
 God, who could resist such arguments as these. 
 
 These things are easily applicable to the 
 church-history of succeeding times. The gos- 
 pel of Christ has often been, and is to this day, 
 rejected and despised upon similar grounds. 
 Its simplicity and plainness, and the manner 
 of its proposal, adapted to the use and capa- 
 city of the vulgar, offend those who are wise 
 in their own conceit, and proud of their under- 
 standing and taste. At the same time they 
 are equally disgusted by the sublimity of its 
 doctrines, which will not submit to the test of 
 their vain reasonings, and can only be receiv- 
 ed by humble faith. The faithfulness and 
 freedom which its ministers are enjoined to 
 use, give great offence likewise. And because 
 they cannot comply with the humours of those 
 who wish them to prophesy smooth things and 
 deceits, they are accounted censorious, un- 
 i charitable, and disturbers of the public peace. 
 Again, the dislike and opposition it frequent- 
 ly meets with from persons of great titles and 
 high stations, deter multitudes from pursuing 
 those inquiries, which some conviction of the 
 truth would prompt them to, were they no" 
 discouraged by the fear of consequences 
 How often has a dread of the displeasure o 
 doctors, bishops, universities, councils, anti- 
 popes, or an ignorant, slavish deference to 
 their judgment or decisions, prevented people 
 from following that light which had begun to 
 force itself upon their consciences ? How few 
 among those of reputation for wisdom and 
 learning, how few of the great and opulent, 
 have encouraged or espoused the doctrine of 
 the cross ? It is, therefore, more properly a 
 subject for lamentation than for wonder, that 
 this way is despised, and almost everywhere 
 spoken against, Acts xxviii. 22. Farther, as 
 the bulk of those who embrace it are of low 
 condition, so many of them are as free to con- 
 fess to the praise of the grace of God, as 
 others can be to urge it to their reproach, that 
 till they knew and received this despised gos- 
 pel, their characters and practices were vile. 
 Lastly, what unhappy subtilty has been em- 
 ployed, in a way of reason and argument, 
 with an appeal to detached and perverted pas- 
 sages of scripture, to misrepresent the work 
 of the Holy Spirit, as folly, hypocrisy, or en- 
 thusiasm, and even to charge the gospel itself 
 with giving encouragement to a licentious 
 conduct! In short, the spirit of the world, 
 the arts and influence of designing men, are 
 so powerful, that what our Lord said in Judea 
 holds equally true in Christendom, “ Blessed 
 is he who is not offended in me !” Matth. xi. 6. 
 
SER. XVII. 
 
 AND REJECTED OF MEN. 
 
 I have reserved to a distinct paragraph the 
 mention of one cause why the gospel is fre- 
 quently despised and reproached. Because, 
 though it be no less unjust and unreason- 
 able than those which I have recited, it is 
 more immediately incumbent upon all who 
 name the name of Christ, to prevent it as 
 much as possible ; I mean, the scandal which 
 arises from the miscarriages of those who pro- 
 fess it. Offences of this kind must come, but 
 woe to them by whom they come, Matth. xviii. 
 7. There were pretended Christians, even in 
 the apostles times, who were enemies to the 
 cross of Christ (Phil. iii. 18), and by their 
 evil conduct, caused the ways of truth to be 
 evil spoken of ; and therefore, we cannot be 
 surprised that there are such persons now. 
 But you that love the Li^rd, hate evil, Psal. 
 xcvii. 10. There are many who watch for 
 your halting, and are ready to say, There ! 
 there so we would have it. It would be in 
 vain for ministers to declare that the doctrines 
 of grace are doctrines according to godliness, 
 unless our testimony is supported by the tem- 
 pers and conduct of our people : the world will 
 probably judge, rather by what they see in 
 you, than by what they hear from us. Nor 
 will it suffice that they cannot say you are an 
 adulterer, a drunkard, a miser, or a cheat. 
 If you espouse our doctrine, they will expect 
 you to be humble, meek, patient, and benevo- 
 lent ; to find integrity in all your dealings, 
 and a punctual discharge of your duty in every 
 branch of relative life. What must the world 
 think of our principles, if they who avow them 
 are fretful, envious, censorious, discontented, 
 slothful, or unfaithful ; or if they are niggard- 
 ly and hard-hearted, or voluptuous and dis- 
 solute, or implacable and revengeful ! they 
 who thus lay stumbling-blocks before the blind, 
 and confirm the prejudices of the ignorant, 
 will have much to answer for. 
 
 II. It is further said, he was a man of sor- 
 rows, and acquainted with grief. — He was 
 surrounded with sorrows on every side, and 
 grief was his intimate, inseparable companion. 
 Surely this consideration, if any, will animate 
 us to endure the cross, and to despise the 
 shame we may be exposed to for his sake. 
 The illustration of this subject will offer more 
 fully in the sequel. It shall suffice, at pre- 
 sent, to assign three causes for his continual 
 sorrows. 
 
 1 . The outward course of life, to which he 
 submitted, for the sake of sinners, exposed 
 him to want, w eariness, contempt, and opposi- 
 tion. And though his resignation and pa- 
 tience were perfect, yet he was truly a man, 
 and partaker of our nature, with all its affec- 
 tions and sensibilities which do not imply sin. 
 His feelings, therefore, were human, similar 
 to our own in similar circumstances, and they 
 were often painfully exercised. Once and 
 again we read that he was hungry and had 
 no food; he was thirsty (Matth. iv. 9; xxi. 
 
 705 
 
 18; John iv. 2), and was nearly refused a 
 little water to drink, when wearied with his 
 journeying in the heat of the day. His cha- 
 racter was aspersed, his person despised, his 
 words insidiously wrested, and his actions mis- 
 represented. He was misunderstood even by 
 his friends, betrayed by one disciple, denied 
 by another, and forsaken by the rest, John vii. 
 5. It is hardly possible for his followers to 
 meet w'ith any outward trial, which may not 
 remind them of some part of the history of 
 their Lord and Master, who left them an ex- 
 ample of suffering, that they should cheerfully 
 follow his steps, 1 Pet. ii. 21. 
 
 2. His perfect knowledge and foresight of 
 those sufferings which we emphatically call 
 his Passion. How often does he speak of 
 them, and describe the circumstances as if 
 they were actually present? Futurity, i3, in 
 mercy, concealed from us. It would often 
 bereave us of all present comfort, if we knew 
 what the next year, or, perhaps, what the next 
 day would bring forth. If some of you could 
 have foreseen, many years ago, what you have 
 since been brought through, you would pro- 
 bably have sunk under the apprehension ; or 
 the stoutest of us might sink now, if we were 
 certainly to know what may be yet before us. 
 But Jesus, long before he made atonement for 
 our sins, had counted the cost. And though 
 
 I his love determined him to save us, the pro- 
 spect, which was continually present to his 
 view, of the approaching unutterable agonies 
 of his soul, of all that he must endure from 
 God, from the powers of darkness, and from 
 wicked men, when he should be made a curse 
 for us, to redeem us from the curse of the 
 law (Gal. iii. 13.); I say, this tremendous 
 prospect was, doubtless, a perpetual source of 
 sorrow. 
 
 3. The frame of his spirit. Whoever has 
 a measure of the mind that was in Christ, 
 must be proportionally burdened and grieved, 
 like righteous Lot in Sodom (2 Pet. ii. 8), 
 with the wickedness around him, if he lives in 
 society. Who that has any regard for the 
 honour of God, or the souls of men, can hear 
 and see what passes every hour; how the au- 
 thority of God is affronted, his goodness abus- 
 ed, and his mercy despised, without emotions 
 of grief and compassion? If we are spiri- 
 tually-minded, we must be thus affected ; and 
 we should be more so, if we were more spiri- 
 tual. But the holiness of Messiah, and, con- 
 sequently, his hatred of sin, was absolutely 
 perfect. His view of the guilt and misery of 
 sinners, was likewise comprehensive and clear. 
 How must he be therefore grieved by the 
 wickedness and insensibility of those with 
 whom he daily conversed ! especially as he 
 not only observed the outward conduct of men, 
 but had an intimate knowledge of the evil 
 heart, which is hidden from us. In this sense 
 his sufferings and sorrows began with his early 
 years, and continued throughout the whole of 
 
 3 F 
 
706 VOLUNTARY 
 
 his life. He undoubtedly could say, with an 
 emphasis peculiar to himself, “ I beheld the 
 transgressors, and was grieved ; rivers of wa- 
 ters run down my eyes, because men keep not 
 thy law.’ - Psal. cxix. 156, 158. 
 
 We call ourselves the followers and servants 
 of him, wdio was despised of men, and encom- 
 passed with sorrows. And shall we then seek 
 great things for ourselves (Jer. xlv. 5), as if 
 we belonged to the present world, and ex- 
 pected no portion beyond it ? Or shall we be 
 tremblingly alive to the opinion of our fellow- 
 creatures, and think it a great hardship, if it 
 be our lot to suffer shame for his sake, who 
 endured the cross, and despised the shame for 
 us ? Rather may we account such disgrace 
 our glory, and every loss and suffering, that 
 we may endure for him, a gain ; w'hile on the 
 other hand we learn, with the apostle Paul, to 
 esteem every gain and honour this world can 
 afford, to be but loss and dung in comparison 
 of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ 
 Jesus our Lord, Phil. iii. 8. 
 
 SERMON XVIII. 
 
 VOLUNTARY SUFFERING. 
 
 I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks 
 to them that plucked off the hair ; I hid not 
 my face from shame and spitting. Isaiah, 
 1 . 6 . 
 
 That which often passes amongst men for re- 
 solution, and the proof of a noble, courageous 
 spirit, is, in reality, the effect and mark of a 
 weak and little mind. At least, it is chiefly 
 owing to the presence of certain circumstan- 
 ces, which have a greater influence upon the 
 conduct than any inherent principle. Thus, 
 many persons who appear to set death and 
 danger at defiance in the hour of battle, while 
 they are animated by the examples of those 
 around them, and instigated by a fear of the 
 punishment or shame they would incur if they 
 deserted their post ; upon a change of situa- 
 tion, as, for instance, on a bed of sickness, dis- 
 cover no traces of the heroism for which they 
 were before applauded, but tremble at the 
 leisurely approach of death, though they were 
 thought to despise it under a different form. 
 It was not true fortitude, it was rather a con- 
 temptible pusillanimity, that determined the 
 celebrated Cato to destroy himself. He was 
 afraid of Caesar ; his dread of him, after his 
 victories, was so great, that he durst not look 
 him in the face ; and therefore he killed him- 
 self to avoid him. To the same meanness of 
 sentiment we may confidently ascribe the pre- 
 tended gallantry of modern duellists. They 
 fight, not because they are not afraid of death, 
 but because they are impelled by another fear, 
 which makes a greater impression upon a 
 
 SUFFERING. ser. XVIII. 
 
 feeble, irresolute mind. They live upon the 
 opinion of their fellow-creatures, and feel 
 themselves too weak to bear the contempt they 
 should meet with from the circle of their ac- 
 quaintance, if they should decline acting upon 
 the false principles of honour which pride and 
 folly have established. They have not reso- 
 lution sufficient to act the part which consci- 
 ence and reason would dictate, and therefore 
 hazard life, and every thing that is dear to 
 them as men, rather than dare to withstand 
 the prevalence of an absurd and brutal cus- 
 tom. 
 
 A patient enduring of affliction, and espe- 
 cially of disgrace and contempt, to which the 
 characters the world most admire are confes- 
 sedly unequal, is a much surer proof of true 
 fortitude, than any of those actions which the 
 love of praise, the fear of man, or even a mer- 
 cenary attachment to lucre, are capable of 
 producing. True magnanimity is evidenced 
 by the real importance of the end it proposes, 
 and by the steadiness with which it pursues 
 the proper means of attaining that end ; un- 
 disturbed and unwearied by difficulty, dan- 
 ger, or pain, and equally indifferent to the 
 censure or scorn of incompetent judges. This 
 greatness of mind is essential and peculiar to 
 the character of the Christian, I mean the chris 
 tian who deserves the name. His ends are 
 great and sublime, to glorify God, to obtain 
 nearer communion with him, and to advance 
 in conformity to his holy will. To attain 
 these ends, he employs the means prescribed 
 by the Lord, he waits at Wisdom’s gates 
 (Prov. viii. 34), and walks in the paths of de- 
 pendence and obedience. He therefore can- 
 not conform to the prevailing maxims and pur- 
 suits of the many, and is liable to be hated 
 and scorned for his singularity. But he nei- 
 ther courts the smiles of men, nor shrinks at 
 the thought of their displeasure. He loves 
 his fellow-creatures, and is ready to do them 
 every kind office in his power; but he cannot 
 fear them, because he fears the Lord God. 
 
 But this life the Christian lives by faith in 
 the Son of God, Gal. ii. 20. Jesus is the 
 source of his wisdom and strength. He like- 
 wise is his exemplar. He is crucified to the 
 world by the cross of Christ ; and a principal 
 reason of his indifference to the opinion of the 
 world, is the consideration of the manner in 
 which his Lord was treated by it. He is the 
 fo lower of him w-ho said, I gave my back 
 to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that 
 plucked off the hair : I hid not my face from 
 shame and spitting.” 
 
 We may observe, from the w r ords, that the 
 humiliation of Messiah was voluntary, and 
 that it was extreme. 
 
 • I. With respect to his engagement, as the 
 Mediator between God and sinners, a great 
 work was given him to do, and he became 
 responsible ; and therefore, in tins sense, 
 bound, and under obligation. But his compl:- 
 
SER. XVIII. VOLUNTARY 
 
 ance was likewise voluntary; for he gave him- | 
 self up freely to suffer, the just for the unjust. 
 Could he have relinquished our cause, and left 
 us to the deserved consequence of our sins, in 
 the trying hour when his enemies seized upon 
 him, legions of angels (Matth. xxvi. 53), had 
 they been wanted, would have appeared for 
 his rescue. But if he was determined to save 
 others, then his own sufferings were unavoid- 
 able. Men, in the prosecution of their de- 
 signs, often meet with unexpected difficulties 
 in their way, which, though they encounter 
 with some cheerfulness, in hope of surmount- 
 ing them, and carrying their point at last, are 
 considered as impediments ; but the sufferings 
 of Messiah were essentially necessary to the 
 accomplishment of his great designs, precisely 
 ^determined, and present to his view before- 
 hand, so that (as I lately observed) there was 
 not a single circumstance that happened to 
 him unawares. He knew that no blood but 
 his own could make atonement for sin, that 
 nothing less than his humiliation could expiate 
 our pride ; that if he did not thus suffer, sin- 
 ners must inevitably perish ; and therefore 
 (such was his love !) he cheerfully and volun- 
 tarily gave his back to the smiters, and his 
 cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. Two 
 designs of vast importance filled his mind ; 
 the completion of them was that joy set before 
 him, for the sake of which he made himself 
 of no reputation, endured the cross, and de- 
 spised the shame. These were, the glory of 
 God, and the salvation of sinners. 
 
 1. The highest end of his mediation was to 
 display the glory of the divine character in the 
 strongest light, to afford to all intelligent crea- 
 tures (Lph. iii. 10), the brightest manifesta- 
 tion they are capable of receiving, of the ma- 
 nifold wisdom of God, his holiness, justice, 
 truth, and love, the stability and excellence of 
 his moral government, all mutually illustrat- 
 ing each other, as combined and shining forth 
 in his person, and in his mediatorial work. 
 Much of the glory of God may be seen, by an 
 enlightened eye, in creation, much in his pro- 
 vidential rule and care over his creatures ; but 
 the brightness of his glory (John i. 18), the 
 express and full discovery of his perfections, 
 can only be known by Jesus Christ, and the 
 revelation which God has given of himself to 
 the world by him. And, accordingly, we are 
 assured, that the angels, whose knowledge of 
 the natural world is doubtless vastly superior 
 to ours, desire to look into these things ; and 
 that the manifold wisdom of God is supere- 
 minently made known to principalities and 
 powers, in heaven, by the dispensation of his 
 grace to the church redeemed from the earth. 
 
 2. Subordinate to this great design, closely 
 connected with it, and the principal effect for 
 which it will be admired and magnified to 
 eternity, is the complete and everlasting sal- 
 vation of that multitude of miserable sinners, 
 who, according to the purpose of God, and by 
 
 SUFFERING. 707 
 
 I the working of his mighty power, shall believe 
 in this Saviour ; and who, renouncing every 
 other hope, shall put their trust in him, upon 
 the warrant of the promise and command of 
 God, and yield themselves to be his will- 
 ing and devoted people. Many are their tri- 
 bulations in the 1 present life, but they shall be 
 delivered out of them all ; they shall over- 
 come, they shall be more than conquerors, by 
 the blood of the Lamb, and the word of his 
 testimony (Rev. xii. 1 1 ) ; and then they shall 
 shine, like the sun, in the kingdom of heaven. 
 The consummation of their happiness, is a 
 branch of the joy which was set before him. 
 For their sakes, that they might be happy, that 
 he may be admired in them, and by them, to 
 the glory of God, who is all in all, he volun- 
 tarily substituted himself to sufferings and 
 death. He endured the cross, and he despis- 
 ed the shame. Fie gave his back to the 
 smiters, his cheeks to them that plucked off 
 the hair, he hid not his face from shame and 
 spitting. 
 
 II. But are we reading a prophecy, or the 
 history of his extreme humiliation ? It is a 
 prophecy ; how literally and exactly it was 
 fulfilled, we learn from his history by the 
 evangelists. With what cruelty, with what 
 contempt was he treated, first by the servants 
 in the hall of the High Priest, afterwards by 
 the Roman soldiers ! Let us consider him, 
 who endured the contradiction of sinners a- 
 gainst himself, Heb. xii. 3. These words of 
 the apostle suggest some preliminary observa- 
 tions, to prepare our minds for receiving a 
 due impression from the several particulars 
 here mentioned. 
 
 When the apostle would dispose believers by 
 an argument or motive (which, if we fully un- 
 derstood it, would render all other arguments 
 unnecessary) to endure sufferings and crosses 
 patiently, he says “ Consider him” — he uses 
 a word which is properly a mathematical term, 
 denoting the ratio or proportion, between dif- 
 ferent numbers or figures ; q. d . “ Compare 
 yourselves with him, and his sufferings with 
 your own. Consider who he is, no less than 
 what he endured.” 
 
 In the apprehensions of men, insults are ag- 
 gravated in proportion to the disparity be- 
 tween the person who receives, and who offers 
 them. A blow from an equal is an offence, 
 but would be still more deeply resented from 
 an inferior. But if a subject, a servant, a 
 slave, should presume to strike a king, it 
 would justly be deemed an enormous crime. 
 But Jesus, the King of kings, and Lord of 
 lords, whom all the angels of God worship, 
 made himself so entirely of no reputation, that 
 the basest of the people, the servants, the com- 
 mon soldiers, were not afraid to make him the 
 object of their derision, and to express their 
 hatred in the most sarcastic and contemptuous 
 manner. It is said, that he endured the con- 
 tradiction of sinners. So, perhaps, do we • 
 
708 VOLUNTARY 
 
 but we are sinners likewise, and deserve much 
 more than we suffer, if not immediately from 
 the instruments of our grief, yet from the 
 Lord, who has a right to employ what instru- 
 ments he pleases to afflict us for our sins. 
 This thought quieted the spirit of David, when 
 his own son rose up against his life, and his 
 own servant cursed him to his face, 2 Sam. 
 xvi. 11. But Jesus was holy, harmless, and 
 undefiled, he had done nothing amiss; yet 
 the usage he met with was such as has seldom 
 been offered to the vilest malefactor. Their 
 cruel and scornful contradiction was likewise 
 expressly and directly against himself ; where- 
 as his people only suffer from unreasonable 
 and wicked men, for his sake, and for their 
 professed attachment to him. In the most 
 violent persecutions, they who could be pre- 
 vailed on to renounce his name and his cause 
 usually escaped punishment, and were fre- 
 quently favoured and rewarded. And this is 
 still the ground of the world's displeasure; 
 fierce and bitter as their opposition may seem, 
 the way to reconciliation is always open ; they 
 are not angry with us farther than we avow a 
 dependence upon him, and shew ourselves de- 
 termined to obey him rather than men. If 
 we could forsake him, their resentment would 
 be disarmed, for they mean no more than to 
 intimidate us from his service. I do not think 
 that they who make peace with the world up- 
 on these terms, are esteemed by them for their 
 compliance, but they are seldom disturbed any 
 longer. It is plain, therefore, that if we suf- 
 fer as Christians, it is for his sake. He like- 
 wise suffered for our sakes ; but how wide 
 is the difference between him and us? We, 
 when the trial is sharp, are in danger of 
 flinching from the cause of our best Friend 
 and benefactor, to whom our obligations are so 
 innumerable, and so immense; whereas he 
 gave himself up to endure such things for us, 
 when we were strangers and enemies ! He was 
 not only treated with cruelty, but with every 
 mark of the utmost detestation and scorn, 
 which wanton, unfeeling, unrestrained barba- 
 rity could suggest. 
 
 1 . They began to spit upon him in the High 
 Priest’s hall. The Roman soldiers likewise 
 did spit upon him, when they had contemp- 
 tuously arrayed him in a scarlet robe, and 
 bowed the knee before him, in mockery of his 
 title of King. Great as an insult of this kind 
 would be deemed amongst us, it was consider- 
 ed as still greater, according to the customs 
 prevalent in eastern countries. There, to 
 spit, even in the presence of a person, though 
 it were only upon the ground, conveyed the 
 idea of disdain and abhorrence. But the low- 
 est of the people spit in the face of the Son of 
 God. No comparison can fully illustrate this 
 indignity. There is some proportion between 
 the greatest earthly monarch and the most ab- 
 ject slave. They did not spit upon Alexander, 
 or Caesar, but upon the Lord of glory 
 
 SUFFERING. ser. xvirr. 
 
 2. They buffeted and beat him on the face, 
 and when he meekly offered his cheek to their 
 blows, they plucked off the hair. The beard 
 was in those times accounted honourable : and 
 when David’s servants were shaved by the 
 command of Hanun (2 Sam. x. 5), they were 
 ashamed to be seen. But Jesus was not sha- 
 ven. With savage violence they tore off the 
 hair of his beard ; while he, like a sheep be- 
 fore the shearers, was dumb, and quietly yield- 
 ed himself to their outrages. 
 
 3. His back they tore with scourges, as 
 was foretold by the psalmist : “ The plowers 
 plowed upon my back, they made long their 
 furrows,” Psal. cxxix. 3. The Jewish council 
 condemned him to death for blasphemy, be- 
 cause he said he was the son of God. Stoning 
 was the punishment prescribed by the law of 
 Moses, in such cases, Lev. xiv. 16. But this 
 death was not sufficiently lingering and tor- 
 menting to gratify their malice. To glut their 
 insatiable cruelty, they were therefore will- 
 ing to own their subjection to the Roman 
 power to be so absolute, that it was not law- 
 ful for them to put any one to death (John 
 xvii. 31), according to their own judicial law ; 
 and thus wilfully, though unwittingly, they 
 fulfilled the prophecies. They preferred the 
 punishment which the Romans appropriated 
 to slaves who were guilty of flagitious crimes, 
 and therefore insisted that he should be cruci- 
 fied. According to the Roman custom, those 
 who were crucified were previously scourged. 
 Thus, when they had mocked him, and made 
 him their sport, by putting a crown of thorns 
 on his head, and a reed in his hand for a scep- 
 tre, in derision of his kingly office, he was 
 stripped and scourged. It was not unfrequent 
 for the sufferers to expire under the severity 
 and torture of scourging. And we may be 
 certain that Jesus experienced no lenity from 
 their merciless hands. The plowers plowed 
 his back. But more and greater tortures were 
 before him. He was engaged to make a full 
 atonement for sin by his sufferings; and as 
 he had power over his own life, he would not 
 dismiss his spirit, till he could say, “ It is fin- 
 ished.” 
 
 And now, to use the words of Pilate, “ Be- 
 hold the man!” John xix. 5. Oh! for a 
 realizing impression of this his extreme humi- 
 liation and suffering, that we may be duly af- 
 fected with a sense of his love to sinners, and 
 of the evil of our sins, which rendered it ne- 
 cessary that the surety should thus suffer ! 
 Behold the Lamb of God, mocked, blind- 
 folded, spit upon, and scourged ! Let us add 
 to all this the consideration of his praying for 
 his tormentors (Luke xxiii. 34), and we have 
 an example of perfect magnanimity. 
 
 Shall we then refuse to suffer shame for his 
 sake, and be intimidated by the frowns or 
 contempt of men, from avowing our attach- 
 ment to him ! Ah ! Lord, we are, indeed, 
 capable of this baseness and ingratitude. But 
 
SER. XIX. 
 
 MESSIAH SUFFERING, &C. 709 
 
 if thou art pleased to strengthen us with the 
 power of thy Spirit, we will account such dis- 
 grace our glory. Then we will not hang 
 down our heads and despond, but will rather 
 rejoice and be exceeding glad, if the world 
 revile us, and persecute us, and speak all 
 manner of evil against us, provided it be 
 falsely (Matth. v. 11), and provided it be for 
 thy sake ! 
 
 Shall we continue in sin (Rom. vi. 1.) after 
 we know what it cost him to expiate our sins ? 
 God forbid ! When Mark Antony addressed 
 the citizens of Rome, to animate them to re- 
 venge the death of Cassar, he enlarged upon 
 Caesar’s character, his great actions, his love 
 to the Roman people, and the evidence he 
 had given of it, in the donations and bequests 
 he had appointed them by his will, the parti- 
 culars of which he specified. When he had 
 thus engaged their admiration and gratitude, 
 and they discovered emotions of regret and 
 sensibility, that Caesar, the greatest character 
 in Rome, who had fought and triumphed for 
 them, and had remembered them in his will, 
 should be slain, Antony threw aside a cloth, 
 and shewed them his dead body covered with 
 wounds and blood. This sight rendered it 
 needless to say more. The whole assembly 
 united as one man, to search out, and to de- 
 stroy his murderers. The application is obvi- 
 ous. — May our hearts, from this hour, be fill- 
 ed with a determined, invariable resentment 
 against sin, the procuring cause of the humi- 
 liation and death of our best Friend and bene- 
 factor ! 
 
 SERMON XIX. 
 
 MESSIAH SUFFERING AND WOUNDED FOR US. 
 
 Surely he hath borne our grief and carried our 
 sorrows. — He was wounded for our trans- 
 gressions, he was bruised for our iniquities ; 
 the chastisement of our peace was upon him , 
 and with his stripes we are healed. Isaiah, 
 liii. 4, 5. 
 
 When our Lord was transfigured, Moses 
 and Elijah appeared in glory and conversed 
 with him. Had we been informed of the inter- 
 view only, we should probably have desired to 
 know the subject of their conversation, as we 
 might reasonably suppose it turned upon very 
 interesting and important topics. The scrip- 
 ture makes little provision for the indulgence 
 of our curiosity, but omits nothing that is ne- 
 cessary for our instruction ; and we learn thus 
 much from it, that they discoursed, not upon 
 the trifling things which the world accounts 
 great, such as the rise and fall of empires ; 
 but they spake of the sufferings of Jesus, and 
 of the decease which he should accomplish at 
 Jerusalem, Luke ix. 31. They spake of his 
 
 Exodus (as the Greek word is), his departure 
 out of this life, the issue and completion of his 
 engagement for sinners ; that is, his crucifixion 
 and death. This is the grand theme of hea- 
 ven and heaven-born souls. We lately con- 
 sidered the cruel insults Messiah submitted 
 to, from the servants in the High Priest’s hall, 
 and from the Roman soldiers. The passage I 
 have now read leads our meditations to the 
 foot of the cross. May the Holy Spirit reil- 
 ize the scene to our hearts ! The cross of 
 Christ displays the divine perfections with pe- 
 culiar glory. Here the name of God is re- 
 vealed, as a just God and a Saviour. Here 
 the believer contemplates in one view, the un- 
 speakable evil of sin, and the unsearchable 
 riches of mercy. This gives him the most af- 
 fecting sense of the misery which he has de- 
 served, while at the same time he receives the 
 fullest assurance that there is forgiveness with 
 God, and discovers a sure foundation whereon 
 he may build his hope of eternal life, without 
 fear of disappointment. From the moment 
 the apostle Paul was enlightened to under- 
 stand this mystery of redeeming love, he ac- 
 counted his former gain but loss j his former 
 supposed wisdom no better than folly ; and 
 became determined to know nothing (1 Cor. 
 ii. 2; Gal. vi. 14), to depend upon nothing, 
 to glory in nothing, but Jesus Christ, and him 
 crucified. 
 
 A representation of the Redeemer’s suffer- 
 ings, capable of exciting tears and moving the 
 passions, may be made by the powers of ora- 
 tory ; and similar emotions have often been 
 produced by a romance or a tragedy, though 
 the subject is known beforehand to be entirely 
 a fiction. But light in the understanding is 
 necessary to convince and influence the heart. 
 Unless the mind be deeply penetrated with 
 the causes which rendered Messiah’s death 
 necessary, the most pathetic description of the 
 fact will leave the will and affections unchang 
 ed. I hope many of my auditory can assign 
 these causes. You have felt yourselves per- 
 sonally concerned in an event which took place 
 long before your birth ; and if you are asked, 
 Why was Jesus mocked, buffeted, and spit 
 upon? and why were his enemies permitted 
 to nail him to the cross ? You can answer, 
 “ Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried 
 our sorrows,” — and you can likewise say, 
 “ By his stripes we are healed.” 
 
 The words lead us to consider the cause and 
 the effect. 
 
 I. The cause of the Redeemer's sufferings, 
 implied in the word our. He bore the griefs 
 and sorrows which were our desert. Such is 
 the language, the confession, the grateful ac- 
 knowledgment of all who believe in his name. 
 They who are delivered by grace from the 
 spirit and power of this evil world, and who 
 live by his death, and likewise they who see 
 they must perish unless saved by him, are au- 
 thorized to consider him as mindful of them. 
 
710 MESSIAH SUFFERING SER. XIX. 
 
 and making provision for them in the day of 
 his trouble. They who were actually healed 
 by looking at the brazen serpent, according to 
 God’s appointment, had a sufficient proof in 
 themselves, that it was erected and placed in 
 view of the camp (Num. xxi. 9.) on their 
 account. He bore our griefs. — It does not 
 follow that sinners must have been crucified, 
 if the Saviour had not been crucified on their 
 behalf. But as this was a painful and terrible 
 punishment, it may teach us, that without his 
 interposition we were justly liable to extremity 
 of misery in the present life. That we who 
 have offended God should enjoy health, peace, 
 or satisfaction for a single hour; that we do 
 not draw every breath in the most excruciat- 
 ing pain ; that we derive any comfort from 
 creatitres ; that we are not a burden and a 
 terror to ourselves, and mutually to each other ; 
 that our state while upon earth, is in any re- 
 spect, better than an image of hell, — must 
 wholly be ascribed to him. A sinner, as such, 
 is under the curse of the law ; and this curse 
 includes every species of misery that can affect 
 us, either in mind, body, or estate. But he 
 was appointed from the beginning, to sustain 
 and exhaust the curse for us. And therefore 
 the earth though so long inhabited by wretches 
 in a state of bold rebellion against their Maker, 
 is filled with the fruits and evidences of his 
 long-suffering patience and mercy. There- 
 fore he still affords us rain and fruitful sea 
 sons (Acts xiv. 1 7), indulges us with a variety 
 of temporal blessings, and gives us power to 
 take comfort in them. This consideration 
 greatly enhances the value of temporal good 
 things to his people. They receive them as 
 from his hand, as tokens of his love and 
 pledges of his favour, sanctified to their use 
 by his blood and promise. Cheered by such 
 thoughts as these, his poor people often enjoy 
 their plain fare with a pleasure, of which the 
 ixpensive and dissipated sensualist has no 
 conception. And how does it add to the re- 
 lish of all earthly comforts, to think, while we 
 are using them, that 
 
 There’s not a gift his hand bestows, 
 
 But cost his heart a groan ! 
 
 So, likewise, the remembrance of what he bore 
 for them alleviates the pressure of all their 
 sufferings, and affords them a ground whereon 
 they may rejoice, yea glory, in tribulation 
 also, Rom. v. 3. 
 
 But his crucifixion, and the whole of his 
 sufferings from wicked men, cannot give us a 
 just idea of w'hat he endured for us. Griev- 
 ous as they were, considered in themselves, 
 they were light, if compared with the agonies 
 of his soul. .These extorted the blood from 
 Is body (Luke xxiii. 44.) before the hand of 
 man touched him. And when he uttered his 
 most dolorous cry upon the cross, it was not 
 for the anguish of his bodily wounds, but his 
 soul felt for a season a separation from the 
 
 presence and comforts of God. Therefore he 
 said, “ Why hast thou forsaken me ?” Matth. 
 xxvii. 46. It is true his holy nature was not 
 capable of some part of the impenitent sinner’s 
 portion. Remorse of conscience, the stings 
 of the never-dying w'orm, and the horrors and 
 rage of despair, could not touch him, who 
 had no personal sin, and whose love and faith 
 were always perfect : But a sword pierced his 
 soul : and it pleased the Father not only to 
 permit him to be bruised by the cruelty of his 
 enemies, but to bruise him himself, Is. liii. 
 10 . 
 
 The ground of all this was laid in his vol- 
 untary substitution of himself from before the 
 foundation of the world, to obey and suffer in 
 behalf of his people- This point will offer 
 more directly from the passage we are next to 
 consider. At present let us briefly notice the 
 expressions before us. 
 
 1. He w'as wounded. — This w'ord which 
 signifies pierced or stabbed, refers to his cruci- 
 fixion. This punishment being unknown to 
 the Jews, till they were brought under the 
 Roman power, they had, therefore, no express 
 name for, in their language. Yet it is plain- 
 ly described by the psalmist, w'ho, speaking, 
 by the spirit of prophecy, in the person of 
 Messiah, says, “ They pierced my hands and my 
 feet,” Psal. xxii. 16. And it was typified un- 
 der the law of Moses (Deut. xxi. 23 ; Gal. iii. 
 13; 1 Cor. v. 7; John iii. 14), by the curse 
 annexed to hanging upon a tree, which was the 
 nearest death to this ; by the paschal lamb, 
 which w r as roasted ; and by the brazen ser- 
 pent. It was a fit death for a sinner, pain- 
 ful and ignominious. How circumstantial 
 were the prophecies, how' apposite the types, 
 how exactly was all fulfilled, and how won- 
 derful was it that the Jew's should be led to 
 depart from their own customs and purposes, . 
 in order to their accomplishment, though they 
 intended nothing less ! But it w'as the deter- 
 mined counsel and appointment of God (Acts, 
 ii. 23), w r ho over-rules all the designs of men, 
 and all that to us appears contingent, to the 
 purposes of his own will and glory. 
 
 2. He was bruised. — If we distinguish 
 wounded from bruised, the latter may be re- 
 ferred to the sorrows of his soul, for it is ex- 
 pressly said, “ It pleased the Lord to bruise 
 him:” that distress broke his heart, filled him 
 with dismay, caused him to be sore amazed 
 and very heavy, and to say to his disciples, 
 ‘ £ My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto 
 death,” Matth. xxvi. 38. No words can be 
 more selected and empliatical, than those 
 which the evangelists use in describing his 
 consternation in the garden of Gethsemane 
 How can this his dejection and terror be ac- 
 counted for by those who deny that his suffer- 
 ings and death were a proper atonement of 
 sin ; and who suppose, that when he had 
 given to men a perfect rule of life, and com- 
 mended it to them by his own example, he 
 
SER. XIX. AND WOUNDED FOR US. 
 
 711 
 
 died, merely to confirm the truth of his doc- 
 trine, and to encourage his followers to faith- 
 fulness under sufferings! Many of his follow- 
 ers, who were thus witnesses for the truth, and 
 patterns of faithfulness to us, have met death 
 in its most terrible forms with composure, yea, 
 with pleasure, yea, with transports of joy. 
 But is the disciple above his Lord ? If Chris- 
 tians have triumphed in such circumstances, 
 why did Christ tremble ? Not surely because 
 their courage and constancy were greater than 
 his. The causes were entirely different. 
 The martyrs were given up to them who 
 only could kill the body ; but Jesus suffered 
 immediately from the hand of God. One 
 stroke of his mighty hand can bruise the spi- 
 rit of man more sensibly than the united 
 power of all creatures. Jesus died. They 
 that believe in him, are said to sleep in him, 
 
 1 Thess. iv. 14. To them death comes dis- 
 armed of its sting, wearing a friendly aspect, 
 and bringing a welcome message of dismis- 
 sion from every evil. But the death of Jesus 
 was death indeed, death in all its horrors, the 
 death which sinners had deserved to suffer as 
 transgressors of the law. 
 
 3. The chastisement or the punishment of 
 our peace was upon him, that chastisement or 
 punishment on the account of which sinners 
 obtain peace with God. — It properly signifies 
 here, a punishment for instruction or example. 
 Punishments are inflicted, either for the cor- 
 rection of an offender, or for the prevention 
 of evil, or for example to others. The two 
 former reasons could not apply to our Lord. 
 He had committed no evil, he was perfect 
 before, and in suffering. But standing in the 
 place of sinners, and engaged to expiate their 
 offences, he was made a public example of 
 the misery and distress which sin demerited. 
 Thus justice was vindicated in the exercise of 
 mercy, and sinners believing in his name are 
 exempted from punishment, for his sake, in a 
 way which affords not the least encourage- 
 ment or extenuation to sin. And thus our 
 peace is procured. 
 
 II. The effect of his sufferings for sins not 
 his own. He bore our griefs, and carried our 
 sorrows ; he was wounded and bruised for us, 
 the chastisement of our peace was upon him, 
 that by his stripes we may be healed. The 
 Hebrew word here, and the Greek word 
 which the apostle Peter uses in his quotation 
 of this passage ( 1 Pet. iii. 24), which we ren- 
 der stripes , is properly the mark which stripes 
 or wounds leave upon the body, or as we say, 
 scars. The scars in his hands, feet, and side, 
 and perhaps other marks of his many wounds, 
 remained after his resurrection. And John j 
 saw him in vision, before the throne, as a lamb 
 that had been slain. All these expressions i 
 and representations, I apprehend, are designed ! 
 to intimate to us, that though the death of , 
 Messiah is an event long since past, yet the j 
 effects and benefits are ever new, and to the | 
 
 eye of faith are ever present. How admirable 
 is this expedient, that the wounds of one, yea, 
 of millions, should be healed, by beholding 
 the wounds of another ! Yet this is the lan- 
 guage of the gospel, Look and live. “ Look 
 unto me, and be ye saved.” Three great 
 wounds are ours, guilt, sin, and sorrow ; but 
 by contemplating his weals or scars with an 
 enlightened eye, and by rightly understand- 
 ing who was thus wounded, and why, all these 
 wounds are healed. 
 
 You who live by this medicine speak well 
 of it. Tell to others, as you have an oppor- 
 tunity, w'hat a Saviour you have found. It 
 is usual for those who have been relieved, in 
 dangerous and complicated diseases, by a skil- 
 ful physician, to commend him to others who 
 are labouring under the like maladies. We 
 often see public acknowledgements to this 
 purpose. If all the persons who have felt the 
 efficacy of a dying Saviour’s wounds appre- 
 hended by faith, were to publish their cases, 
 how greatly would his power and grace be 
 displayed ! They are all upon record, and will 
 all be known in the great day of his appear- 
 ing. Some of them are occasionally pub- 
 lished, and may be read in our own tongue. 
 And though they are not all related with 
 equal judgment, nor attended w ith circum 
 stances equally striking, yet there is a suffi- 
 ciency, in this w r ay, to leave the world with- 
 out excuse. Not to mention modern accounts 
 of this kind (though many might be mention- 
 ed which are indisputably true, and superior 
 to the cavils of gainsayers), the Confessions 
 of Augustin may be appealed to, as a proof 
 that the gospel is not a system of notions only, 
 but has a mighty pow'er to enlighten the be- 
 wildered mind, to subdue the obstinate will, 
 to weaken the force of long confirmed habits 
 of evil, to relieve from distressing fears, and 
 to effect a real, universal, permanent, and be- 
 neficial change of sentiment and conduct, 
 such as no similar instance can be found, in 
 the history of mankind, to have been produced 
 by any other principles. But if you are a 
 true Christian, in the circle of your connec- 
 tions you will sometimes have a fair opportu- 
 nity of giving a reason of the hope that is in 
 you. Pray for grace and wisdom to improve 
 such seasons; and if you speak the truth in sim- 
 plicity and love, you know not but the Lord 
 may give his blessing to your testimony, and 
 honour you as an instrument of good. And 
 to convert one sinner from the error of his 
 way, is an event of greater importance, than 
 the deliverance of a whole kingdom from 
 temporal evil. 
 
 Yet remember, if you espouse this cause, a 
 certain consistency of character will be ex- 
 pected from you, w'ithout which you had 
 better be silent, than speak in its defence, or 
 profess yourself a sharer in the privileges of 
 the gospel. There are too many persons who 
 treat tb»* great truths we profess as mere opi- 
 
SER. XX. 
 
 SIN CHARGED UPON THE SURETY. 
 
 7i2 
 
 nions, points of speculation, which form the 
 shibboleth of a party : there are others, who 
 think an attachment to them the sure sign of 
 an enthusiastic deluded imagination : and 
 
 there are others, again, who misrepresent them 
 as unfavourable to morality, and affording a 
 cloak and an encouragement to licentiousness. 
 Beware, lest, by an improper conduct, you 
 lay stumbling-blocks in the way of the blind, 
 strengthen the prejudices of the ignorant, and 
 give weight to the calumnies of the malicious. 
 The people of the world are quick-sighted to 
 the faults of religious professors ; and though 
 they affect to despise their principles, they are 
 tolerable judges what that conversation is 
 which only these principles can produce, and 
 always expect it from those who avow them. 
 They will make allowances for others, and 
 admit human infirmity as a plea for their 
 faults, but they will not extend their candour 
 to you. If your ^seal for the truth, and your 
 regular attendance upon the ministers who 
 preach it, are not accompanied with a spirit of 
 humility, integrity, and benevolence ; if you 
 are passionate, peevish, discontented, censo- 
 rious, or proud ; if they observe that you are 
 greedy of gain, penurious, close-fisted, or 
 hard-hearted ; or even if you comply with 
 their customs and spirit, mingle with them in 
 their amusements, and do not maintain a 
 noble singularity by avoiding every appear- 
 ance of evil ; they will not only despise you in 
 their hearts, but they will take the occasion of 
 despising and speaking evil of the truth itself 
 on your account. But if you are all of a 
 piece, and are truly solicitous to adorn your 
 profession, by walking agreeably to the rules 
 of the gospel, and filling up your relations in 
 life to the glory of God, and the good of your 
 fellow-creatures; by thus well-doing, you will 
 put to silence the ignorance of foolish men 
 (1 Pet. ii. 15), and in a great measure stop 
 their mouths, if you cannot change their hearts. 
 And though they may affect to rail at you, or 
 to ridicule you, they will be constrained to 
 feel a secret reverence for you in their con- 
 sciences. 
 
 But are there any hearts of stone amongst 
 us, who are still unaffected by the love and 
 sufferings of the Son of God ; who are still 
 crucifying him afresh, and living in sin, 
 though they hear and know what it cost him 
 to make an atonement for sin ? Yet now hear 
 -—now look — Behold the Lamb of God ! The 
 Lord in mercy open the eyes of your mind. 
 I address you once more. I once more con- 
 jure you, by his agony and bloody sweat, by 
 his passion, cross and death, to seek to him 
 that your souls may live. Can you be proof 
 against these arguments ? Nay, then, should 
 you live and die thus obstinate, you must 
 perish indeed ! 
 
 SERMON XX. 
 
 SIN CHARGED UPON THE SURETY. 
 
 All we like sheep have gone astray ; we have 
 turned every one to his own way, and the 
 Lord hath laid upon him the iniquity of us 
 all. Isaiah, liii. 6. 
 
 Comparisons, in the scripture, are frequently 
 to be understood with great limitation : per- 
 haps, out of many circumstances, one only is 
 justly applicable to the case. Thus, when our 
 Lord says, “ Behold I come as a thief” (Rev. 
 xvi. 15) — common sense will fix the resem- 
 blance to a single point, that he will come sud- 
 denly, and unexpected. So when wandering 
 sinners are compared to wandering sheep, we 
 have a striking image of the danger of their 
 state, and of their inability to recover them- 
 selves. Sheep wandering without a shepherd, 
 are exposed, a defenceless and easy prey, to 
 wild beasts and enemies, and liable to perish 
 for want of pasture; for they are not able 
 either to provide for themselves, or to find the 
 way back to the place from whence they stray- 
 ed. Whatever they suffer, they continue to 
 wander, and if not sought out, will be lost. 
 Thus far the allusion holds. But sheep in 
 such a situation are not the subjects of blame. 
 They would be highly blameable, if we could 
 suppose them rational creatures ; if they had 
 been under the eye of a careful and provident 
 shepherd, had been capable of knowing him, 
 had wilfully and obstinately renounced his 
 protection and guidance, and voluntarily 
 chosen to plunge themselves into danger, 
 rather than to remain with him any longer. 
 Thus it is with man. His wandering is re- 
 bellious. God made him upright, but he has 
 sought out to himself many inventions, Eccl. 
 vii. 29. God has appointed for mankind a 
 safe and pleasant path, by walking in which, 
 they shall find rest to their souls ; but they 
 say, We will not walk therein, Jer. vi. 16. 
 They were capable of knowing the conse- 
 quences of going astray, were repeatedly warn - 
 ed of them, were fenced in by wise and good 
 laws, which they presumptuously broke 
 through. And when they had wandered from 
 him, they were again and again invited to re- 
 turn to him, but they refused. They mocked 
 his messages and his messengers, and preferred 
 the misery they had brought upon themselves, 
 to the happiness of being under his direction 
 and care. Surely he emphatically deserves the 
 name of the Good Shepherd, who freely laid 
 down his life to restore sheep of this charac- 
 ter ! 
 
 My text therefore expresses the sentiment 
 of those, and of those only, who are acquaint- 
 ed with the misery of our fallen state, feel 
 their own concern in it, and approve of the 
 
SER. XX. 
 
 method which God has provided for their de- 
 liverance and recovery. It contains a con- 
 fession of their own guilt, and an acknow- 
 ledgment of his mercy. 
 
 I. A confession of guilt and wretched- 
 ness. — Sin has deprived us both of the knowl- 
 edge and presence of God. In consequence 
 of this, we wander, every one to his own way. 
 All are under the power of sin, and all equally 
 strangers to the paths of peace and safety. 
 The paths which sinners chuse for themselves 
 are diverse from each other, as inclination or 
 circumstances vary ; but however different in 
 appearance, if persisted in, they terminate at 
 last in the same point. They all lead to de- 
 struction. We may observe on this head, 
 
 1. It is a sufficient proof of our depravity, 
 that we prefer our own ways to the Lord’s ; 
 nor can he inflict a heavier judgment upon us 
 in this life, than to give us up entirely to the 
 way of our own hearts. He made us to be 
 happy ; but as he made us for himself, and 
 gave us a capacity, and a vastness of desire, 
 which only he himself can satisfy the very con- 
 stitution and frame of our nature, render hap- 
 piness impossible to us, unless in a way of 
 dependence upon him, and obedience to his 
 laws. The lamb that grazes in the meadow, 
 and the fish that swims in the stream, are each 
 in their proper element. If you suppose 
 them to change places, they must both perish. 
 But the brute creation have no propensity to 
 such changes as would destroy them. The 
 instincts implanted in them by their great 
 Creator are conducive to their welfare ; and 
 to these instincts they are uniformly faithful. 
 If you can conceive of beasts impatient to 
 leave the shore, and improve their situation by 
 rushing into the ocean ; and the fishes equally 
 earnest to forsake the waters in quest of new 
 and greater advantages upon the dry land ; it 
 may illustrate the folly of fallen man, who, 
 turned aside by a deceived heart, refuses life, 
 and seeks death in the error of his ways. For 
 the will of God (if I may so speak) is our 
 proper element ; and if we depart from it, our 
 sin unavoidably involves our punishment. We 
 naturally indulge hard thoughts of God, and 
 think the rule he has enjoined us too strict 
 and severe, intended to restrain us from real 
 good, and propose to ourselves some unknown 
 advantages by transgressing it. Thus Satan 
 persuaded Eve, and we derive from her : and 
 though we know that she only gained misery 
 by the experiment, we rashly repeat it for our- 
 selves. The scripture assures us that the 
 ways of God are pleasant, but we will not be 
 persuaded. Experience proves that the way 
 of transgressors is hard, but we resist the con- 
 viction, and hurry on in a round of continual 
 disappointment. Are the proud, the covetous, 
 the voluptuous, or the ambitious, happy P I 
 appeal to conscience. 
 
 2. There is only one right way, but ; 
 thousand ways of being wrong. If you 
 
 713 
 
 are not following him, who has said, “ I am 
 the way, the truth, and the life” (John xiv. 6 ), 
 you are wandering, you are far from God ; 
 
 1 for none can come to the Father but by him : 
 and far from peace, for there can be no true 
 peace in the mind unless he bestows and main- 
 tains it. The profane and the self-righteous, 
 the open sinner and the hypocrite, the lover of 
 pleasure and the lover of gold, the formal Pa- 
 pist and the formal Protestant, though they 
 seem to travel different roads, though they 
 pity or censure each other, will meet at last 
 (unless the grace of God prevent.) in the same 
 state of final and hopeless misery. It is griev- 
 ous to a spiritual and benevolent mind, to see 
 those who are all wrong disputing among 
 themselves which of them is right. Each one 
 is ready to think himself wise, if the folly in 
 which he allows himself be not precisely of 
 the same kind with that which he condemns 
 in his neighbour. But the scripture is the in- 
 variable rule, to which it is your duty and in- 
 terest to be conformed now ; for it is given by 
 the inspiration and authority of God, and is 
 the standard by which you must be judged at 
 last. Whatever character you bear amongst 
 men, if you have not faith and holiness, you 
 certainly are not in the way of life. For it is 
 
 written, “ He that believeth not, shall be 
 damned” (Mark xvi. 16); and again, it is 
 written, “ Without holiness, no man shall see 
 the Lord,” Heb. xii. 14. 
 
 3. As wandering sheep are liable to in- 
 numerable dangers which they can neither 
 foresee nor prevent, such is our condition, un- 
 til, by the power of the v Holy Spirit, we are 
 stopped, and turned, and brought into the fold 
 of the good Shepherd. Oh ! the misery of 
 man while living without God in the world ! 
 He is exposed every hour to the stroke of 
 death, which would at once separate him from 
 all that he loves, and plunge him into the pit, 
 from whence there is no redemption. And at 
 present he is perpetually harassed with cares 
 and fears, with wants and woes, without guid- 
 ance or refuge ; and yet so blinded as to think 
 himself safe, and that his crd<>ked wandering 
 ways will lead him to happiness ! 
 
 II. An acknowledgment of mercy. — Where 
 sin abounded, grace has much more abound- 
 ed. Man sinned, and Messiah suffered. The 
 Lord hath laid, or caused to meet upon him, 
 the iniquity of us all, that is, the punishment 
 due to them. The evils we had deserved were 
 in pursuit of us, but Jesus interposed, and 
 they all seized upon him, and he endured 
 them, that we might be spared. Do we ask 
 upon what grounds ? It was on the ground 
 of his voluntary substitution for sinners, as 
 their covenant head and representative. 
 
 So much correspondent to this appoint- 
 ment obtains amongst men, as may shew that 
 the idea accords with our notion of justice. 
 If a man be unable to pay a debt, and the 
 J creditor should exact the payment from a 
 
 SIN CHARGED UPON THE SURETY. 
 
714 SIN CHARGED UPON THE SURETY. ser. xx. 
 
 third person who was no way concerned, it. 
 would, with reason, be deemed a very op- 
 pressive action. But if it be known that this 
 person became freely bound and responsible 
 for the debtor, he is allowed to be justly li- 
 able. But in the present case I make no ap- 
 peal to human customs. It is a divine ap. 
 pointment, and therefore is and must be right. 
 It was a great design, the triumph of infinite 
 wisdom, the highest effect of the love of God. 
 It is revealed, not to be submitted to our dis- 
 cussion, or that we may sit in judgment upon 
 the propriety of the measure, but it demands 
 our highest admiration and praise, and, like 
 the sun, brings with it that light by which the 
 whole system of our knowledge is illumin- 
 ated. For till we know this great truth, and 
 are able to see its influence upon every thing 
 we are related to, whatever attainments we 
 may boast, we are in fact encompassed with 
 thick darkness, with darkness which may be 
 felt. For the accomplishment of this design, 
 the Son of God was so manifested in the na- 
 ture of man, that he, and they who believe in 
 him, participate in a real, though mystical u- 
 nion, and are considered as one: he their living 
 head, they his body, consisting of many mem- 
 bers; each of them represented by him, accept- 
 ed in him, and deriving from his fulness their 
 life, their light, their strength, and their joy. 
 
 1. He was thus appointed and constituted 
 before the world began, according to the holy 
 counsel and covenant settled from everlasting 
 (Prov. viii. 31 ; Tit. i. 2) for the redemption 
 of sinners. For the fall of man, which ren- 
 dered his interposition necessary, was not an 
 unexpected contingency, but was foreseen and 
 provided for before man was created upon the 
 earth, yea before the foundations of the earth 
 were laid. 
 
 2. After man had sinned, this glorious 
 Head and Surety made known the certainty 
 and benefit of his mediation, and engagement 
 on the behalf of sinners, according to the good 
 pleasure of his wisdom, and as the case re- 
 quired ; otherwise, upon the entrance of sin, 
 the full execution of the sentence of the law 
 denounced against the offenders, might per- 
 haps have immediately followed : but he re- 
 vealed himself. He shewed mercy to Adam, 
 covenanted with Noah, walked with Abraham, 
 conversed with Moses, dwelt with his church 
 in the wilderness, and was known by the name 
 of the Holy One of Israel, Isa. liv. 5. Da- 
 vid ascribes (Psal. xxiii. 1.) to the Shepherd 
 of Israel the name of Jehovah, and Isaiah de- 
 clares that the Lord of Hosts is the Husband 
 of the church. These characters of Shep- 
 herd, and Bridegroom, and Husband, are 
 appropriated to Messiah in the New Testa- 
 ment. He therefore is Jehovah, the Lord of 
 Hosts, whom Abraham, David, and Isaiah 
 worshipped, or his appearance upon earth 
 would be evidently to the disadvantage of 
 those who believe in him. If he were not 
 
 God, he would be a creature, for there is no 
 medium, and consequently our Shepherd would 
 be infinitely inferior to that Almighty Shep- 
 herd who was the refuge, the trust, and the 
 salvation of his people, before Messiah was 
 manifested in the flesh. 
 
 3. In the fulness of time he veiled his 
 glory. He who was in the form of God, and 
 thought it not robbery to be equal with God, 
 took upon him the form of a servant, and was 
 made of a woman, made under the law, Phil, 
 ii. 6, 7 ; Gal. iv. 4. Then the union between 
 him and the people whom he came into the 
 world to save was completed ; because the 
 children were partakers of flesh and blood, 
 he likewise took part of the same, Heb. ii. 1 4. 
 The Word, who in the beginning was God, 
 and was with God, was made flesh, John i. I. 
 And in our nature, though he knew no sin, 
 he was treated as a sinner for us, to declare 
 the righteousness of God, in his forbearance 
 and goodness to all who had been saved in 
 former ages, and in the forgiveness and sal- 
 vation of all who should trust in him to the 
 end of time. He suffered once, once for all 
 the just for the unjust, to bring us to God. 
 And now God is revealed, not only as merci- 
 ful, but as just, in justifying him which be- 
 lievet-h in Jesus. God is well pleased in him, 
 and for his sake, with all who accept him. 
 Their sins are expiated by his sufferings ( Rom. 
 iv. 6; Jer. xxiii. 6); and his perfect right- 
 eousness, the whole of his obedience unto 
 death, is the consideration or ground on which 
 they are accounted righteous. 
 
 By virtue of this union likewise he is their 
 life. They receive out of his fulness, as the 
 branches (John xv. 1) derive their life and 
 fruitfulness from the tree whereon they grow ; 
 therefore the apostle said, “ I live, yet not I, 
 but Christ liveth in me,” Gal. ii. 20. This 
 is the great mystery of Christianity, which 
 words alone cannot explain : it is a divine 
 appointment, hidden from those who are wise 
 and prudent in their own sight, but revealed 
 to all who, with the simplicity of children, 
 are desirous of being taught of God, and wait 
 patiently upon him, in the use of his pre- 
 scribed means, for the light and influence of 
 his Holy Spirit. 
 
 From this subject, the substitution of Mes- 
 siah for sinners, we may learn, 
 
 1. How to estimate the evil of sin. That 
 sin is a great evil is evident by its effects. It 
 deprived Adam of the life and presence of 
 God, and brought death and all natural evil 
 into the world. It caused the destruction of 
 the old world by water. It is the source of 
 all the misery with which the earth is now fill- 
 ed; it will kindle the last great conflagration, 
 yea it has already kindled that fire which shall 
 never be quenched. But in no view does the 
 sinfulness of sin appear so striking as in this 
 wonderful effect — the suffering and death of 
 Messiah : That notwithstanding the dignity 
 
SER. XXI. 
 
 uf his person, and the perfection of his obe- 
 dience to the law, and that though he prayed 
 in his agonies, that if it were possible the cup 
 might pass from him (Luke xxiii. 42) ; yet, 
 if sinners were to be saved, it was indispen- 
 sibly necessary that he should drink it. This 
 shews the evil of sin in the strongest light ; 
 and in this light it is viewed by all who de- 
 rive life from his death, and healing from bis 
 wounds. We may be afraid of the conse- 
 quence of ‘sin from other considerations, but 
 it is only by looking to him who was pierced 
 (Zech. xii. 10.) for our transgressions, that 
 we can learn to hate it. 
 
 2. The complete justification of those who 
 Delieve in him. They are delivered from all 
 condemnation, Rom. viii. 1. Every charge 
 against them is over-ruled by this plea, that 
 Christ has died, and is risen on their behalf, 
 and ever liveth to make intercession for them. 
 And though they are still in a state of disci- 
 pline, for the mortification of sin yet remain- 
 ing in them, and though, for the trial, exercise, 
 and growth of their faith, it is still needful 
 that they pass through many tribulations ; yet 
 none of these are strictly and properly penal. 
 They are not the tokens of God’s displeasure, 
 but fatherly chastisements and tokens of his 
 love, designed to promote the work of grace 
 in their hearts, and to make them partakers of 
 his holiness, Heb. xii. 6 — 11. Though ne- 
 
 cessary at present, they will not be necessary 
 long, and therefore the hour is at hand when 
 all tears shall be wiped away from their eyes, 
 and they shall weep no more. His true ser- 
 vants, in the midst of the storms by which 
 they are tossed on the tempestuous sea of this 
 life, are no less safe,- and, notwithstanding 
 their imperfections, are no less beloved, than 
 those who have already escaped out of the 
 reach of every evil, and are now before the 
 throne. 
 
 3. The reason why believers are not weari - 
 ed, nor overpowered, by all the difficulties of 
 their service, nor by all the arts and efforts of 
 their enemies. They are one with Christ. He 
 who has all power in heaven and in earth is en- 
 gaged for their support. When they faint, he 
 revives them ; when they are wounded, he heals 
 them ; when their foot slippeth, he upholdeth 
 them. He has said, “ because I live, ye shall 
 live also.” Therefore, who can prevail against 
 them, when their life is hidden with Christ in 
 God ? And farther, the knowledge of their 
 Saviour's love, and of the holy, awful, yet ami- 
 able and endearing character of God displayed 
 in his mediation, is the source of their love, 
 gratitude, and cheerful obedience. It is this 
 makes hard things easy, and bitter things sweet. 
 The love of Christ constraineth them, 2 Cor. v. 
 14. They look to him and are enlightened. 
 And when they consider who he is, in what way, 
 and at what a pricehe redeemed them, and what 
 he has prepared for them ; when they attend to 
 his gracious word, “ Fear none of those things 
 
 715 
 
 which thou shalt suffer : be thou faithful unto 
 death, and I will give thee a crown of life” 
 Rev. ii, 10.); — they out of weakness, are 
 made strong; they are inspired with fresh 
 courage; they take up their cross with cheer- 
 fulness, and can adopt the language of the 
 apostle, “ None of these things move me, nei- 
 ther count I my life dear, so that I may finish 
 my course with joy,” Acts xx. 24. 
 
 SERMON XXI. 
 
 MESSIAH DERIDED UPON THE CROSS. 
 
 All they that see me, laugh me to scorn ; they 
 shoot out the lip , they shake the head, saying 
 He trusted in the Lord , that he wuld deliver 
 him : let him deliver him, seeing he delighted 
 in him. Psalm xxii. 7, 8. 
 
 Fallen man, though alienated from the life 
 of God, and degraded, with respect to many 
 of his propensities and pursuits, to a level with 
 the beasts that perish, is not wholly destitute 
 of kind and compassionate feelings towards 
 his fellow-creatures. While self-interest does 
 not interfere, and the bitter passions of envy, 
 hatred, malice, and revenge, are not roused 
 into exercise, he has a degree of instinctive 
 sympathy with them in their sufferings, and a 
 disposition to assist them, if he can do it with- 
 out much detriment to himself. The source 
 of these social feelings we express by the term 
 humanity ; which seems to imply a conscious- 
 ness that they properly belong to our nature, 
 and that we ought, at least, to be always, and 
 universally affected in this manner, when oc- 
 casions offer. But while the heart is under 
 the government of self, our humanity is very 
 partial and limited ; and it is to be ascribed 
 to the goodness of God, rather than to any 
 real goodness in man, that it is not wholly ex- 
 tinguished. Were this the case, and were the 
 native evils of the heart left to exert them- 
 selves in their full strength and without con- 
 troul, earth would be the very image of hell, 
 and there could be no such thing as society. 
 But to prevent things from running into ut- 
 ter confusion, God mercifully preserves in 
 mankind some social dispositions. They are, 
 however, so weak in themselves, so powerfully 
 counteracted by the stronger principles of our 
 depravity, and so frequently suppressed by ob- 
 stinate habits of wickedness, that in the pre- 
 sent state of things, we may almost as justly 
 define man (whatever impropriety there may 
 seem in the expression), by saying, “ He is 
 an inhuman creature,” as by ascribing to him 
 the benevolent properties of humanity. 
 
 The rage, cruelty, and savage insensibility, 
 with which sin and Satan have poisoned our 
 nature, never appear in so strong a light, as 
 when they assume a religious form ; when ig- 
 norance, bigotry, and blind zeal, oppose the 
 
 MESSIAH DERIDED UPON THE CROSS. 
 
716 MESSIAH DERIDED 
 
 will and grace of God, under a pretence of 
 doing him service. By this infatuation, every 
 hateful passion is sanctified, and every feel- 
 ing of humanity stifled. Thus, though the 
 sufferings of the most atrocious malefactors 
 usually excite pity in the spectators, and often 
 draw tears from their eyes, yet the agonies of 
 God’s persecuted servants, under the most 
 exquisite tortures which malice could invent, 
 have frequently raised no other emotions than 
 those of derision and scorn. My text leads 
 us to consider the highest instance of this 
 kind. The twenty-second psalm undoubtedly 
 refers to Messiah. It begins with the very 
 words which he uttered upon the cross ; nor 
 could David speak of himself, when he said, 
 
 ** They pierced my hands and my feet.” He 
 was God’s servant in the most eminent sense; 
 and the service he performed, was an uninter- 
 rupted course of benevolence to the souls and 
 bodies of men. He spent his life in going 
 about doing good (Acts i. 38); nor could 
 his enemies fix a single stain upon his con- 
 duct. Yet they thirsted for his blood ; and, 
 because he came into the world to save sin- 
 ners, they accomplished their cruel designs. 
 We have already seen how he was treated by 
 the servants and by the soldiers, when con- 
 demned by the Jewish council, and by the 
 Roman governor. This prophecy was ful- 
 filled when he hung upon the cross. There 
 have been persons in our own days, whose 
 crimes have excited such detestation, that the 
 populace would probably have torn them in 
 pieces, before, and even after their trial, if 
 they could have had them in their power. 
 Yet when these very obnoxious persons have 
 been executed according to their sentence, if, 
 perhaps, there was not one spectator who 
 wished them to escape, yet neither was one 
 found so lost to sensibility, as to insult them 
 in their dying moments. But when Jesus 
 suffers, all that see him, laugh him to scorn ; 
 they shoot out the lip, they shake the head ; 
 they insult his character, and his hope. The 
 evangelists furnish us with an affecting com- 
 ment upon this passage. They inform us by 
 whom he was thus scorned and derided ; they 
 mention some circumstances, which strongly 
 mark the peculiar and excessive contempt 
 with which he was treated ; and they take no- 
 tice of the especial scope and object of their 
 insults, namely, the gracious purpose he had 
 often expressed towards sinners, and the 
 strong confidence he had avowed in God his 
 Father. 
 
 I. The persons who scorned and derided 
 him were various, and of different characters. 
 
 1. The chief priests, elders, and rulers of 
 the people. When these, who were held in 
 ignorant admiration by the multitude, set the 
 example, we do not wonder that it was gene- 
 rally followed. They had been his most a- 
 vowed and determined enemies, they had long 
 conspired to take away his life, and in the 
 
 UPON THE CROSS. ser. xxi. 
 
 appointed hour their plots were permitted to 
 succeed. They now rejoiced in their success. 
 By their office as teachers and expounders of 
 the law, they ought to have pointed him out 
 to the people as the object of their reverence 
 and hope; but having rejected him themselves, 
 they employed all their authority and influ- 
 ence to make him the object of general con- 
 tempt. And lest the extremity of his tor- 
 ments should awaken sentiments of commise- 
 ration in the multitude, they were the first, 
 and the loudest, in reviling him, as he hung 
 upon the cross. 
 
 2. The populace derided him. They bad 
 been instigated by the priests to demand his 
 death of Pilate, when he was desirous of dis- 
 missing him, and rather to insist that Barab- 
 bas should be spared, Matth. xxvii. 20. The 
 populace, though no less ignorant, w-ere less 
 malicious than their leaders. At different 
 times, when they heard his public discourses, 
 and saw r his wonderful works, they had beer 
 staggered, and constrained to say, “ Is not this 
 the Son of David ?” and not many days be- 
 fore, the popular cry had been strongly in his 
 favour (Matth. xxi. 10, 11) ; though quickly 
 after, it was, “ Crucify him, crucify him,” 
 Luke xxiii. 21. As the sea, though some- 
 times smooth, is always disposed to obey the 
 impulse of the wind, so the common people, 
 though easily roused to oppose the truth, 
 would perhaps be quiet, if they were left to 
 themselves ; but there are seldom wanting 
 artful and designing men, who, by a pretend- 
 ed regard for religion, and by misrepresenta- 
 tions, work upon their passions and prejudices, 
 and stir them up to a compliance with their 
 purposes. The priests by degrees wrought 
 the populace up, first to reject Messiah, and 
 then to join their leaders in mocking and de- 
 riding him. 
 
 3. The Roman soldiers, who had contemp- 
 tuously clothed him with a scarlet robe, and 
 bowed the knee before him in derision, con- 
 tinued to mock him when hanging upon the 
 cross. The Romans, to whom many monar- 
 chies were become subject and tributary, af- 
 fected to despise the name of king ; and they 
 held the Jewish nation in peculiar contempt. 
 The title, therefore, of king of the Jews, af- 
 fixed to his cross, afforded them a subject for 
 the keenest sarcasm. 
 
 4. Yea, such is the hardness of the human 
 heart, that one of the malefactors (Luke xxiii. 
 39), who was crucified by his side, unaffected 
 with his own guilt, and insensible of the just 
 judgment of God, and of the account he w^as 
 soon to render at his awful tribunal, seemed 
 to seek some relief in the midst of his agonies, 
 by joining with the priests and people, in rail- 
 ing on the innocent Jesus, who was suffering 
 before his eyes. Thus he w as the object of 
 universal derision. They who were at the 
 greatest distance in character and sentiment, 
 who differed from, despised, and hated each 
 
SER. XXI. 
 
 MESSIAH DERIDED 
 
 other, on other accounts, united as one man, 
 in expressing every possible mark of hatred 
 and scorn against him, who had done nothing 
 amiss. 
 
 II. They shewed their scorn in the most 
 pointed and cruel manner. Not only they 
 who had clamoured for his death derided him, 
 but others who were only passing by upon 
 their ordinary occasions, could not pass on till 
 they had stopped a while to insult him, wagg- 
 ing their heads, and reminding him of what 
 he had formerly said, and charging him with 
 the supposed folly and arrogance of his claims. 
 They jested upon his wants ; when he said, 
 
 “ I thirst,” they gave him vinegar to drink, 
 mingled with gall. They jested upon his 
 words ; when he uttered his dolorous com- 
 plaint, “ Eli, Eli, lama sahachthani, My God, 
 my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” some 
 of them, with a malicious turn (which possi- 
 bly was applauded for wit by others), from 
 the sound of the beginning of the sentence, 
 took occasion to suggest, that by saying, Eli, 
 Eli, he called for Elias the prophet to come 
 to his assistance. Alas ! of what dreadful 
 malignity and obduracy is the heart of man 
 capable ? How may we conceive the heavenly 
 hosts to have been affected with this scene, 
 when they beheld their Lord the object of 
 their worship and supreme love, thus treated 
 by sinners ? But it behoved him thus to suf- 
 fer (Luke xxiv. 26), for he had undertaken 
 to expiate the sins of many of his murderers, 
 and to offer such satisfaction to the justice 
 and law of God, as might render it consistent 
 with his holiness and truth, to pardon the 
 vilest offenders, who should trust in his name, 
 in all future ages. Therefore there was no 
 voice, arrest, or interposition from the heaven- 
 ly world — thus he must be tormented, thus 
 he must be scorned, and suspended as a spec- 
 tacle to angels and to men, till he had paid 
 the full price of redemption, and could say, 
 “ It is finished.” Then, and not till then, he 
 bowed his head, and breathed out his spirit 
 into his Father’s hands. There were, how- 
 ever, attestations to his dignity, in this his 
 lowest state. He shewed, by his gracious 
 answer to the penitent malefactor, that he had 
 still authority upon earth to forgive sin, and 
 to save to the uttermost ; and the sun with- 
 drew his light, and the rocks rent, though 
 daring sinners derided and mocked. 
 
 III. The bulk of the people bore their part 
 in this tragedy through precipitation and ig- 
 norance. In his prayer for their forgiveness 
 (a prayer which was signally answered after 
 his ascension) he mentioned the only extenu- 
 ation their wickedness could possibly admit, 
 They knew not what they did. It was other- 
 wise with those who were principally concern- 
 ed in procuring his death. Long before, 
 when they could not deny the reality of his 
 miracles, they ascribed them to the agency of j 
 
 LPON THE CROSS. 717 
 
 Beelzebub. By this malicious, wilful oppo- 
 sition to the strongest evidence of fact, against 
 the conviction of their own minds, and by 
 their violent, determined rejection of his 
 mission, they committed the unpardonable 
 sin. They spoke and sinned against the 
 Holy Spirit. This sin no one can have com- 
 mitted, while he is fearful lest he has com- 
 mitted it ; for it essentially consists in a de- 
 liberate and wilful refusal of the only means 
 of salvation. It is the sign of final absolute 
 impenitence. They who had thus ascribed 
 his miracles to Beelzebub, expressed the same 
 height of enlightened malice against him in 
 his dying agonies, and there was a poignancy 
 in their insults, of which the ignorant multi- 
 tude were not capable. 
 
 1. They reproached his great design, for 
 which he came into the world, “ He saved 
 others, himself he cannot save,” Matt, xxvii. 
 42. How different is the force of the same 
 words, according to the intention of the speak- 
 er ! When they said “ His blood be upon us, 
 and upon our children” (ver. 25), they spoke 
 the very language of the hearts of those who 
 love him, and who derive all their hopes and 
 all their happiness from the application of his 
 blood to their consciences. But, to them- 
 selves, it proved the most dreadful impreca- 
 tion. So, it will be the grateful acknowledg- 
 ment of his people in time, and to eternity, 
 that when he was resolved to save them, the 
 difficulties in the way were so great, that nei- 
 ther his prayers, nor his tears, nor his un- 
 spotted innocence, could prevail to save him- 
 self. But, for this his love to sinners, his 
 enemies reviled him. Nor would they have 
 offered to believe if he would come down 
 from the cross, had they supposed there was 
 the least probability of such an event, for 
 they had often rejected evidence equal to what 
 they now demanded. 
 
 2. They reproached him for his trust and 
 confidence in God. He had said that God 
 was ( fiiov) his own Father (John v. 18); and 
 they understood him to use the expression in 
 so high a sense, as thereby to make himself 
 equal with God. Had they misunderstood 
 him, had he not really intended what they 
 laid to his charge, surely he would have ex- 
 plained himself. This was the very ground 
 of their proceeding against him before the 
 council, and the formal reason of the sen- 
 tence of death they pronounced against him. 
 How often did he appeal to the testimony of 
 the scriptures, and of John, whom they durst 
 not but acknowledge to have been a prophet, 
 and to his own mighty works, in support of 
 his claim ? But having fastened him upon 
 the cross, they triumphed, and unwittingly 
 expressed their exultation, in the very words 
 which David had foretold should be used to 
 Messiah. So exactly were the scriptures fill- 
 filled, by those who used their utmost endea- 
 
MESSIAH UNPITIED. 
 
 SEli. XXII. 
 
 7 IS 
 
 vours to evade them, and to prevent their ac- 
 complishment. \ 
 
 But what is all this to us ? It is very much 
 to us. Christ could suffer but once, yet we 
 read of those who crucify him afresh. His 
 gospel represents his personal ministry, de- 
 clares his character, reveals his love, pro- 
 duces the same effects in those who receive it, 
 and they who oppose it are considered as op- 
 posing him, and are influenced by the same 
 spirit which instigated the unbelieving Jews. 
 It is to be hoped that many reject and scorn 
 it, as the multitude did of old, through igno- 
 rance, and that the intercession of him who 
 prayed for those that knew not what they did, 
 will prevail for their conversion. Whenever 
 their eyes are opened, they will be pricked to 
 the heart (Acts ii. 37), and will then gladly 
 inquire of those whom they now despise, 
 What they must do to be saved ? But it is 
 to be feared, there are in Christian countries 
 many persons who too nearly resemble the 
 spirit and conduct of the Jewish rulers, whose 
 opposition proceeds from rooted enmity to the 
 truth, persisted in against light that has some- 
 times forced upon their minds, and who, 
 though convinced, will not be persuaded. 
 They who despise, calumniate, and scorn the 
 believers of the gospel, -would certainly offer 
 the like treatment to the Author of it, if he 
 was within their reach. They are ill-treated 
 for his sake, and he considers it as an affront 
 to himself. Thus he said to Saul of Tarsus, 
 when breathing out threatenings against his 
 disciples, “ Why persecutest thou me ?” They 
 who reject his ministers, reject him, Luke x. 
 16. They who speak disdainfully of his dy- 
 ing himself to save others ; they who reproach 
 or ridicule the humble confidence of his peo- 
 ple ; who censure and revile their hopes and 
 comforts derived from his good word, as en- 
 thusiasm or hypocrisy ; who have no compas- 
 sion for their distresses, but rather wound 
 them as with a sword in their bones, saying 
 unto them, Where is now your God? (Psal. 
 cxv. 2.) are certainly treading, if not altoge- 
 ther with equal vehemence, in the footsteps of 
 the Jewdsh rulers. — May the Lord in mercy 
 shew them the danger of their path, and give 
 them a timely apprehension of the destruction 
 to which it leads ! That they may humble 
 themselves to his will, implore his pardon, 
 espouse his cause, and experience the com- 
 forts and privileges of that gospel which they 
 have hitherto reviled and scorned. 
 
 SERMON XXII. 
 
 MESSIAH UNPITIED, AND WITHOUT COMFORTER. 
 
 Reproach [rebuke] hath broken my heart, and 
 I am full of heaviness ; and I looked for 
 some to take pity, but there was none, and 
 for comforters, but I found none. 
 
 Psalm, lxix. 20. 
 
 The greatness of suffering cannot be certainly 
 estimated by the single consideration of the 
 immediate apparent cause ; the impression it 
 actually makes upon the mind of the sufferer 
 must likewise be taken into the account. That 
 which is a heavy trial to one person, may to 
 another be much lighter, and perhaps no trial 
 at all ; and a state of outward prosperity, in 
 which the eye of a bystander can see nothing 
 wanting to happiness, may be, and I doubt 
 not often is, a state of torment to the pos- 
 sessor. On the other hand, we know that 
 the consolations with which it has sometimes 
 pleased God to cheer his suffering servants, 
 have enabled them to rejoice in the greatest 
 extremities. They have triumphed upon the 
 rack, and while their flesh was consuming by 
 the fire. The Lord has had many followers, 
 who, for his sake, have endured scourgings, 
 and tortures, and terrible deaths, not only 
 without reluctance or dismay, but without a 
 groan. But he himself was terrified, amazed, 
 and filled with anguish, when he suffered for 
 us. Shall we say, The disciples, in such 
 cases, have been superior to their Master, 
 when yet they acknowledged that they de- 
 rived all their strength and resolution from 
 him? This difference cannot be well ac- 
 counted for by those who deny that his suf- 
 ferings were a proper atonement for sin, and 
 who can see no other reason for his death, 
 than that by dying he was to seal the truth of 
 his doctrine, and to propose himself to us as 
 an example of constancy and patience. But 
 the great aggravation of Messiah’s sufferings 
 was the suspension of those divine supports 
 which enable his people to endure the sever- 
 est afflictions to which he calls them. Perhaps 
 some persons who acknowledge our Lord’s 
 true character, may, upon that ground, think 
 his agonies less insupportable, since he was 
 not a mere man, but God in the human na- 
 ture. It was indeed the dignity of his per- 
 son that gave influence and efficacy to all 
 that he did and suffered for sinners. It is 
 likewise true that the weight laid upon him 
 was more than any mere creature could sus- 
 tain. I would speak with reverence and re- 
 serve upon a point which is too high for our 
 weak minds fully to comprehend ; but in 
 whatever way the nature of man, which he 
 assumed, was upheld by his eternal power 
 land Godhead, we may venture to affirm that 
 
SER. XXII. 
 
 he derived no sensible comfort from it. For 
 we have his own testimony, that in this sense 
 God had forsaken him. The divine nature 
 could neither bleed nor suffer. He was truly 
 and properly a man ; and as a man he suf- 
 fered, and he suffered alone. Many of his 
 servants have rejoiced while they were tor- 
 mented, because God overbalanced all they 
 felt with the light of his countenance ; but 
 the Saviour himself, deprived of this light, 
 experienced, to the uttermost, all that sin de- 
 served, that was not inconsistent with the per- 
 fection of his character. My text expresses, 
 so far as human words and ideas can reach, 
 his exquisite distress, when he bore our sins 
 in his own body, upon the tree. Reproach 
 broke his heart, and when he looked for pity 
 and comfort, he found none. 
 
 I. Reproach hath broken my heart. — We 
 must not confine our thoughts here to the re- 
 proach of his enemies. The passage in the 
 Messiah expresses it agreeably to the version 
 of the Psalms used in our liturgy, Thy rebuke. 
 Though he knew no sin, he was made sin for 
 us. He was accounted and treated as a sin- 
 ner. Now a sinner is deservedly the greatest 
 object of contempt in the universe, and in- 
 deed the only object of deserved contempt. 
 Thus he incurred the reproach of the law and 
 justice of God. The Holy Father, viewing 
 the Son of his love in this light, as charged 
 with the sins of his people, forsook him. 
 God infinitely hates sin, and will have no fel - 
 lowship with it ; and of this he gave the most 
 awful proof, by forsaking his beloved Son, 
 when he took upon him to answer for the sins 
 of men. Then the sword of the Almighty 
 awoke against him, and he spared him not, 
 Zech. xiii. 7. 
 
 This rebuke broke his heart. Let broken- 
 hearted sinners look by faith upon a broken- 
 hearted Saviour. The phrase denotes woe 
 and dejection inconceivable, with a failure of 
 all resource. Any thing may be borne while 
 the spirit, the heart remains firm, but if the 
 heart itself be broken, who can endure. “ A 
 wounded spirit who can bear?” Proverbs, 
 xviii. 14. 
 
 It is not therefore, surprising, that he says, 
 “ I am full of heaviness.” In the evangelists 
 we read, that “ he began to be sore amazed 
 and very heavy” (Mat. xxvi. 37, 38; Mark 
 xiv. 33) ; and he said to his disciples, “ My 
 soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death.” 
 The most emphatical woi'ds are used to de- 
 scribe his sensation of the bitter conflict of 
 his soul in the garden of Gethsemane, when 
 as yet the hand of man had not touched him. 
 He began (1 x6a.^ii(r6a.i) to be amazed or asto- 
 nished. It properly signifies, to be struck 
 with terror and surprise by some supernatural 
 power, such as Belshazzar felt when he sud- 
 denly saw the handwriting against him upon 
 the wall (Dan. v. 6) ; and (a^npovuv) to be 
 very heavy, sated with grief, full, so as to be 
 
 719 
 
 incapable of more. Some critics explain the 
 word, as importing such an oppression of mind 
 as quite unfits a person for converse or so- 
 ciety. [Compare Job xxx. 29.] He said 
 “ My soul is (< exceeding sorrowful,” 
 — surrounded, encompassed with sorrows. It 
 is added, he was in (uyuvia) an agony (Luke 
 xxii. 44), — a consternation of mind, such as 
 arises from the prospect of some impending, 
 unavoidable evil, like the suspense of marin- 
 ers upon the point of shipwreck, who tremble 
 equally at the view of the raging waves be- 
 hind them, and the rocky shore before their 
 eyes, on which they expect in a few moments 
 to be dashed. The evils he was to bear and 
 to expiate were now collecting to a point, and 
 formed a dark tremendous storm, just ready 
 to break upon his devoted head, and the pro- 
 spect filled his soul with unutterable horror, 
 so that his sweat was, as it were, great drops 
 of blood falling down to the ground. Many 
 have sweat under extremity of pain or terror, 
 but his agonies, and the effect of them, were 
 peculiar to himself : His sweat was blood. 
 
 This is not a subject for declamation. It 
 rather becomes us to adore in humble silence 
 the manifestation of the goodness and severity 
 of God (Rom. xi. 22) in the Redeemer’s 
 sufferings, than to indulge conjecture and the 
 flights of imagination. What is expressly re- 
 vealed we may assert, contemplate, and ad- 
 mire. His soul was made an offering for sin, 
 Isa. liii. 10. We know but little of the ex- 
 treme malignity of sin, because w r e have but 
 faint views of the majesty, holiness, and good- 
 ness of God, against whom it is committed. 
 Yet a single sin, if clothed with all its aggra- 
 vations, and the guilt of it brought home with 
 power to the heart, is sufficient to make the 
 sinner a terror to himself. Adam had sinned 
 but once when he lost all comfort and confi- 
 dence in God, and sought to hide himself. 
 We have but slight thoughts of the extent 
 of sin. Not only positive disobedience, but 
 want of conformity to the law of God, is sin- 
 ful. Every rising thought which does not 
 comport with that reverence, dependence, and 
 love which is due to God from creatures con- 
 stituted, furnished, and indebted as we are, 
 is sinful. The sins of one person in thought, 
 word, and deed, sins of omission and com- 
 mission, are innumerable. What then is con- 
 tained in the collective idea, in what the scrip- 
 ture calls the sin of the world ? What then 
 must be the atonement, the consideration ©n 
 the account of which the great God is no less 
 righteous than merciful, in forgiving the sins, 
 which hi-s inviolable truth, and the honour of 
 his government, engage him to punish. And 
 they are punished, though forgiven. They 
 were charged upon Jesus ; they exposed him 
 to a rebuke which broke. his heart. They 
 filled him with heaviness. When, therefore, 
 we are assured that the justice of God is sa- 
 tisfied, with respect to every sinner of the race 
 
 AND WITHOUT COMFORTER. 
 
720 MESSIAH UNPITIED, &C. SER. xxil. 
 
 of mankind, who, in obedience to the divine 
 command, makes the sufferings of the Saviour 
 his plea for pardon, and trusts in him for sal- 
 vation, and that upon this one ground they 
 are freed from all condemnation, and accepted 
 as children ; when we are told that the glory 
 of the divine perfections is displayed in the 
 highest, by this method of saving millions 
 who deserved to perish, we safely infer the 
 greatness of the cause from the greatness of 
 the effect. The sufferings of Christ, which 
 free a multitude of sinners from the guilt of 
 innumerable sins, must have been inconceiv- 
 ably great indeed ! 
 
 II. Under this accumulated distress, though 
 his will was perfectly submissive to the will 
 of God, and his determination fixed to en- 
 dure all that the case required ; yet as he was 
 truly a man, he felt like a man. His forti- 
 tude was very different from a stoical hard- 
 ness of spirit. All the affections of pure hu- 
 manity, whatever does not imply sin, such as 
 impatience under suffering, and an undue, 
 premature desire of deliverance, operated in 
 him, as they might do in one of us. It was 
 no impeachment of his innocence, or of his 
 willingness, that he wished, if it were possible, 
 for some relief or alleviation of his misery. 
 He looked, as we do when we are in heavi- 
 ness, for some to have pity on him, and to 
 comfort him, but there was none. Though 
 the pity of our friends is often ineffectual, 
 and can afford us no real assistance, yet it 
 gives a little relief to have those about us to 
 whom we can open our minds, who wdll sym- 
 pathize with us, and compassionately attend 
 to our complaints, if they can do no more. 
 And to be neglected and forsaken in extre- 
 mity, especially by those who have professed 
 great friendship, or are under great obliga- 
 tions to us, will be felt as an aggravation of 
 the most distressing case that can be ima- 
 gined. But thus it was with Messiah. He 
 had to complain, not only of the cruelty of 
 his enemies, but of the insensibility and in- 
 constancy of those who had professed the most 
 cordial attachment to him. The impression 
 thus made upon him as a man w r as such, that 
 it is distinctly specified in the prophetical 
 enumeration of the ingredients which com- 
 posed the bitter cup of his sufferings. 
 
 He was not only apprehended by cruel men, 
 but betrayed into their hands by one whom he 
 had admitted into the number of his select 
 apostles, who had been employed in his ser- 
 vice, favoured with access to him in his more 
 retired hours, and was present, with the rest, 
 when he kept his last passover, and took his 
 solemn and affectionate leave of them before 
 he entered upon his passion. It was not an 
 avowed enemy, but one of the twelve who dip- 
 ped with him in the dish, that was guilty of 
 this enormous ingratitude and treachery. How 
 keen are our resentments, if those to whom 
 we have shewn great kindness are discovered 
 
 to have studied our ruin while they wore the 
 mask of friendship ? Though Messiah was in- 
 capable of any sinful perturbation of mind, he 
 was very capable of being painfully affected 
 by the conduct of Judas : he had reason to 
 look for pity from him, but he found none. 
 
 When he entered the garden of Gethsemanc, 
 he commanded, may I not say, he intreated, 
 his disciples to tarry there and watch with him. 
 And to engage their utmost attention, he spoke 
 plainly to them of his distress, saying, “ My 
 soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death.” 
 Yet when he returned unto them, the first, 
 the second, yea, the third time, he found them 
 sleeping. How tender, yet how forcible was 
 his expostulation ! “ Could ye not watch one 
 hour ?” Matth. xxvii. 40. What ! could they 
 know that their Lord was in an agony, wrest- 
 ling with strong cries and tears, and yet sleep ! 
 as regardless of his sorrows as of their owr 
 approaching danger ! Were our dearest friends 
 to shew themselves equally insensible when we 
 were in extreme anguish, would not their in- 
 difference wound our spirits ? He also was a 
 man; and we may conceive it some addition 
 to his grief, that when he looked to them for 
 pity and comfort, he found none. 
 
 When he was apprehended, notwithstanding 
 their former protestation of zeal and love, 
 they all forsook him and fled, Matt. xxvi. 56. 
 They sought their own safety, and left him in 
 the hands of his enemies. The apostle Paul 
 was thus deserted, and his expressions inti 
 mate that he felt it. “ At my first answer, 
 no man stood by me, all men forsook me,’ 
 2 Tim. iv. 16. He had imbibed likewise the 
 spirit of his master, and prayed that it might 
 not be laid to their charge. And though the 
 Lord Jesus pitied and excused the weakness 
 of his disciples, and permitted them to take 
 care of themselves, it was in them an instance 
 how little he could depend upon those who 
 were under the strongest obligations to him. 
 
 But Peter followed his Lord to the hall of 
 the High Priest, and there saw him, with his 
 own eyes, insulted, arraigned, and unjustly 
 condemned. Might he not expect that Peter, 
 the most active and earnest of all his follow- 
 ers, would have pitied him, at least at such a 
 time. Alas ! instead of pitying him, Peter 
 denied him; he denied, with oaths and im- 
 precations, that he had any knowledge of him, 
 whom he had seen transfigured upon the 
 mount, and agonizing in the garden. We 
 read, that the Lord turned and looked upon 
 Peter, Luke xxiv. 61. Who can conceive 
 the energy of that look ? It was full of mean- 
 ing, and Peter well understood it. Surely, 
 though a look of tenderness and compassion, 
 it conveyed the expostulation of an injured 
 benefactor, no less forcibly, than if all who 
 were present had heard him say, “ Peter, is 
 this the pity 1 am to expect from thee ?” 
 
 When he was nailed to the cross, he was 
 surrounded only by enemies. These, as we 
 
SER. XXIII. 
 
 have seen, far from pitying, or attempting to 
 comfort him, derided and mocked him. How 
 have some of us felt for our friends in their 
 dying hours, though we have seen every pos- 
 sible attention paid to them, and every thing 
 provided and done for them that could admi- 
 nister to their relief and comfort ! But they 
 who have the faith which realizes unseen 
 things, have beheld their best Friend expiring 
 in tortures, and insulted by his murderers in 
 his last moments. 
 
 But had all his disciples been near him, 
 and had all his enemies been his friends, still, 
 in his situation, he would have been alone. 
 The loss of the light of God’s countenance 
 will, to the soul that has enjoyed it, create a 
 universal solitude, and render every earthly 
 good tasteless, in proportion as that soul is 
 united to him in love ; and still more, if there 
 be superadded a sense of his displeasure. 
 They who have never tasted that the Lord is 
 good, not having known the difference, can 
 have no conception of this subject. Their 
 minds are at present occupied with earthly 
 things ; and while they are thus engaged with 
 trifles, they cannot believe, though they are 
 repeatedly told it, that to an immortal spirit, 
 a separation from the favour of God involves 
 in it the very essence of misery. But should 
 death surprise them in their sins, tear them 
 from all that they have seen and loved, and 
 plunge them into an unknown, unchangeable 
 world, then (alas ! too late ! ) they will be sen- 
 sible of their immense, irreparable loss, in be- 
 ing cut off from the fountain of life and com- 
 fort. A suspension of this divine presence, 
 with an awful sense and feeling of what those 
 for whom he made himself responsible deserv- 
 ed, was the most dreadful part of the Re- 
 deemer’s sufferings. He was perfectly united 
 to the will and love of his heavenly Father, 
 and, by the perfect holiness of his nature, in- 
 capable of tasting satisfaction in any thing 
 else, if his presence were withdrawn. But 
 when he endured the curse of the law for us, 
 be looked to God for pity and comfort, but 
 he found none. 
 
 In this glass we are to contemplate the de- 
 merit of sin But there are some sufferings 
 due to the impenitent sinner, of which Mes- 
 siah was not capable. I mean the conscious- 
 ness of personal guilt, the gnawings of a re 
 morseful conscience, and the rage of despair. 
 If we add the idea of eternity to the whole, 
 we may form some faint judgment of what 
 they are delivered from who believe in him, 
 and what misery awaits those who presume to 
 reject him. Awful thought ! to reject the 
 only Saviour. If they refuse his mediation, 
 they must answer in their own persons. Then 
 they will find no pity, no comforter ! For 
 who, or what, can comfort, when the Lord 
 God Omnipotent arises to punish ? What will 
 your pleasures, your wealth, or friends, do for 
 you, when the hand of the Lord shall touch 
 
 721 
 
 you to the quick ? What smile can you ex- 
 pect will support you against the terror of his 
 frown ? 
 
 Should any of you hear the Messiah per- 
 formed again, then and there, if not before, 
 may God impress upon your heart the sense 
 of this passage. Then you will understand, 
 that the sufferings of the Son of God are by 
 no means a proper subject for the amusement 
 of a vacant hour. 
 
 SERMON XXIII. 
 
 NO SORROW LIKE MESSIAH’S SORROW. 
 
 Is it nothin" to you, all ye that pass by ? Be- 
 hold, and see, if there be any sorrow like unto 
 my sorrow ! Lamentations, i. 12. 
 
 Although the scriptures of the Old Testa- 
 ment, the law of Moses, the psalms, and the 
 prophecies (Luke xxiv. 44), bear a harmoni- 
 ous testimony to Messiah, it is not necessary 
 to suppose, that every single passage has an 
 immediate and direct relation to him. A 
 method of exposition has frequently obtained, 
 of a fanciful and allegorical cast, under the 
 pretext of spiritualizing the word of God. 
 Ingenious men, and sometimes men not very 
 ingenious, have endeavoured to discover types 
 and mysteries in the plainest historical parts, 
 where we have no sufficient evidence that the 
 Holy Spirit intended to teach them. And 
 upon vei'y slight grounds a proof has been at- 
 tempted of the great doctrines of the gospel, 
 which may be proved, much more safely and 
 solidly, from the passages of scripture in which 
 they are plainly and expressly revealed. But 
 by taking this course, instead of throwing real 
 light upon the places they have in this man- 
 ner attempted to explain, they have perplexed 
 their hearers and readers, and led them to 
 question, whether there be any fixed and de- 
 terminate sense of scripture that may be fully 
 depended upon. It is true, when we have the 
 authority of an inspired expositor to lead us, 
 we may follow him without fear; but this 
 will not warrant us to strike out a path for 
 ourselves, and trust to our conjectures, where 
 we have not such an infallible guide. The 
 epistle to the Hebrews is a key to explain to 
 us many passages in a higher sense than per- 
 haps we should have otherwise understood 
 them. But it is best for us to keep within 
 safe bounds, and to propose our own senti- 
 ments, when not supported by New Testa- 
 ment authority, with great modesty, lest we 
 should incur the censure of being wise above 
 what is written. I may, without scruple, af- 
 firm, that the history of Sarah and Hagar is 
 an allegory referring to the two covenants, 
 because the apostle Paul (Gal. iv. 24) has 
 affirmed it before me ; but if I attempted to 
 3 G 
 
 NO SORROW LIKE MESSIAH’S SORROW. 
 
SER. XXIII 
 
 NO SORROW LIKE MESSIAH’S SORROW. 
 
 722 
 
 spiritualize the history of Leah and Rachel 
 likewise, you would not be bound to believe 
 me without proof. I may preach the gospel 
 of Christ from a text which mentions the 
 manna or the brazen serpent (John iii. 14; 
 vi. 31, 35), because our Lord has expound- 
 ed these things as typical of himself ; but I 
 must not be confident that every resemblance 
 which I think I can trace is the true sense 
 of the place ; because I may imagine many 
 resemblances and types which the scripture 
 does not authorize. 
 
 There is, however, a useful way of preach- 
 ing, by accommodation, that is, when the lite- 
 ral sense is first clearly stated, to apply the 
 passage, not d'irectly to prove a doctrine as if 
 really contained in it, but only to illustrate 
 the doctrine expressly taught in other parts of 
 the scripture. Thus, for instance, if the ques- 
 tion of Jonadab to Amnon (2 Sam. xiii. 4) 
 were chosen for the subject of a discourse, 
 “ Why art thou, being a king’s son, lean from 
 day to day ?” the history of the context di- 
 rectly proves the malignity of sinful inordi- 
 nate desire, and the misery of those who are 
 under its dominion ; that it poisons every si- 
 tuation in life, and renders the sinner inca- 
 pable of satisfaction, though he were a king’s 
 son. The form of the question might then 
 lead to observe, That believers are king’s 
 sons, to show what are the great privileges of 
 their adoption ; and to enquire how it comes 
 to pass, that many persons so highly privileged 
 are lean, that is uncomfortable, weak and 
 languishing in their profession ? These points 
 might not improperly be introduced by way 
 of accommodation, though they are not di- 
 rectly deducible from the literal sense of the 
 question. 
 
 The text I have just read to you has led 
 me into this digression. I find it in the series 
 of the passages in the Messiah ; but I am not 
 sure, that in the literal sense it immediately 
 refers to him. It is a pathetic exclamation, 
 by which the prophet Jeremiah expresses his 
 grief, or rather the grief of Jerusalem, when 
 the sins of the people had given success to the 
 Chaldean army, and the temple and the city 
 were destroyed. Jerusalem is poetically con- 
 sidered as a woman, lately reigning a queen 
 among the nations, but now a captive, dis- 
 honoured, spoiled, and sitting upon the 
 ground. She intreats the commiseration of 
 those who pass by, and asks, if there be any 
 sorrow like unto her sorrow ? Such a question 
 has often been in the heart and in the mouth 
 of the afflicted, especially in an hour of impa- 
 tience. We are all, in our turns, disposed to 
 think our own trials peculiarly heavy, and our 
 own cases singular. But to them who ask 
 this question, we may answer, Yes — there has 
 been a sorrow greater than yours, greater 
 than the sorrow of Jeremiah, or of Jerusalem. 
 They who have heard of the sorrows of Jesus, 
 will surely, upon the hearing of this question, 
 
 be reminded of him, whether it was the inten- 
 tion of the prophet to personate him or not. 
 If we conceive of him hanging upon the 
 cross, and speaking in this language to us, 
 “ Was ever any sorrow like my sorrow ?” 
 must not we reply with admiration and gra- 
 titude, “ No, Lord, never was love, never was 
 grief, like thine.” 
 
 The expostulation and the question are 
 equally applicable to the sufferings of Mes- 
 siah. The former indeed is not inserted in 
 the Oratorio, but I am not willing to leave it 
 out. The highest wonder ever exhibited to 
 the world, to angels, and men, is the Son ot 
 God suffering and dying for sinners. Next 
 to this, hardly any thing is more astonishing 
 to an enlightened mind — than the gross and 
 stupid insensibility with which the sufferings 
 of the Saviour are treated, and the indiffe- 
 rence with which this wonderful event is re- 
 garded by creatures who are so nearly con- 
 cerned in it. If they believe in him, they 
 will be healed by his wounds, and live by his 
 death. If they finally reject him, they must 
 perish ; and their guilt and misery will be 
 greatly aggravated by what they have heard 
 of him ! But sin has so blinded our under- 
 standings and hardened our hearts, that we 
 have naturally no feeling either for him or for 
 ourselves. 
 
 I. Is the expostulation suited to any per- 
 son here ? Can I, with propriety, say to some 
 who are now present, Has this subject been 
 hitherto nothing to you ? Then, surely, you 
 have not heard of it before; and, therefore, 
 now you do hear of it, you will, you must be 
 affected. If you were to read in the common 
 newspapers, that a benevolent and excellent 
 person had fallen into the hands of murderers, 
 who had put him to death in the most cruel 
 manner, would it not be something to you ? 
 Could you avoid impressions of surprise, in- 
 dignation, and grief? Surely, if this transac- 
 tion were news to you, it would engross your 
 thoughts. But alas ! you have rather heard 
 of it too often, till it has become to you as a 
 worn-out tale. I am willing to take it for 
 granted that you allow the fact. You believe 
 that Jesus Christ suffered under Pontius 
 Pilate, was condemned by the Jews, and cru- 
 cified by the Romans. And is it possible this 
 should be nothing to you ? Is it too insigni- 
 ficant to engage or deserve your attention ? 
 And yet, perhaps, you have wept at a repre- 
 sentation or a narrative which you knew was 
 wholly founded in fiction. How strange ! 
 What ! the sorrows of Jesus nothing to you ! 
 when you admit that he suffered for sinners, 
 and will probably admit that you are a sin- 
 ner. No longer then boast of your sensibi- 
 lity ! your heart must be a heart of stone. 
 Yet thus it is with too many ; your tempers, 
 your conduct, give evidence that hitherto the 
 death of Jesus has been nothing to you. You 
 would not have acted otherwise, at least you 
 
sf.r. xxni. NO SORROW LIKE MESSIAH’S SORROW. 
 
 would not have acted worse, if you had never 
 heard of his name. Were his sufferings any 
 thing to you, is it possible, that you would 
 live in the practice of those sins, for which no 
 atonement could suffice but his blood? Were 
 you duly affected by the thought of his cru- 
 cifixion, is it possible that you could crucify 
 him afresh, and put him to open shame, by 
 bearing the name of a Christian, and yet liv- 
 ing in a course unsuitable to the spirit and 
 precepts of his gospel ? But if you are in- 
 different to his grief, is it nothing to you on 
 your own account ? What ! is it nothing to 
 you whether you are saved or perish ; whether 
 you are found at his right, or his left hand, 
 in the great day of his appearance ; or whe- 
 ther he shall then say to you, “ Come, ye 
 blessed, inherit the kingdom prepared for 
 you or, “ Depart, ye cursed, into everlast- 
 ing fire? Matth. xxvi. 34. 41. There is no 
 medium, no alternative. If you refuse this, 
 there remaineth no other sacrifice for sin. 
 This lamentable indifference to the Redeem- 
 er’s sorrows, is a full proof of the baseness 
 and wickedness of the human heart ; and it is 
 felt as such, when the Holy Spirit convinces 
 of sin. Natural conscience may excite a 
 painful conviction of the sinfulness of many 
 actions. But this stupid unbelief of the heart 
 is, if I may so speak, the sin of sins, it is the 
 root and source of every evil, and yet so con- 
 genial to our very frame as we are depraved 
 creatures, that God alone can make the sin- 
 ner feel it (John xvi. 9) ; and when he does 
 feel it, the sense of it wounds and grieves him 
 more than all his other sins. 
 
 II. With respect to the question, if we 
 rightly understand what has been observed 
 from the scripture-history, in the six preced- 
 ing sermons, concerning the particulars of his 
 passion ; we may answer without hesitation, 
 Never was suffering, or sorrow, like that which 
 Messiah endured in the day of the Lord’s 
 fierce anger. It is possible that history, which 
 is little more than a detail of the cruelty and 
 wickedness of mankind, may furnish us with 
 instances of many persons who have suffered 
 excruciating torments, and have even been 
 mocked and insulted in their agonies : But, 
 
 1. Was there ever a character of his dig- 
 nity and excellence treated in such a man- 
 ner ? Job considered his former state as a 
 great aggravation of his sufferings. He en- 
 larges upon the respect which had been shown 
 him in his prosperity. “ When I went out to 
 the gate, through the city, the young men 
 saw me and hid themselves, the aged arose 
 and stood up. When the ear heard me, then 
 it blessed me ; and when the eye saw me, it 
 gave witness to me,” Job xxix. 8, 11. But 
 afterwards, speaking of fools, of base men, of 
 the vilest of the earth, he adds, “ Now am I 
 their song, yea, their by-word. They abhor 
 me, and spare not to spit in my face. They 
 mar my path, they set forward my calamity, 
 
 723 
 
 they come upon me as a wide breaking in of 
 waters,” chap. xxx. 8 — 14. But Jesus was the 
 Lord of glory. He whom all the angels of 
 God worshipped, was buffeted and spit upon 
 by the lowest rabble. If a great king was de- 
 graded from his throne, and exposed to the de- 
 rision of slaves, this would be a small thing 
 compared with the humiliation of him, who, 
 in his own right, was King of kings, and 
 Lord of lords. 
 
 2. Was there ever so innocent a sufferer? 
 When Aaron lost his two sons, he held his 
 peace, Lev. x. 3. A little before he had been 
 guilty of making the golden calf. The re- 
 membrance of this offence composed his mind 
 under his great trial. He saw that he de- 
 served a still heavier punishment, and was si- 
 lent. In like manner, David, when his re- 
 bellious son Absalom conspired against his 
 life, was patient ; he remembered the adul- 
 tery and murder he had committed ; and, 
 though he mourned under his afflictions, he 
 durst not complain, 2 Sam. xvi. 11. The 
 malefactor upon the cross submitted to his 
 sentence, because he was a malefactor, saying, 
 “ And we indeed justly,” Luke xxiv. 41. It 
 is thus with all who know themselves. Under 
 their severest afflictions, they admit the pro- 
 priety of the prophet’s question, “ Why should 
 a living man complain ?” Lam. iii. 39. And 
 they acknowledge, that it is of the Lord’s 
 great mercy they are not utterly consumed. 
 But Jesus was holy, harmless, and undefiled; 
 he had fulfilled the whole law, and had done 
 nothing amiss ; yet he yielded himself as a 
 lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before 
 her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his 
 mouth, Is. liii. 7. 
 
 3. Did ever any other sufferer experience 
 in an equal degree the day of God’s fierce 
 anger ? In the greatest of our sufferings, in 
 those which bear the strongest marks of the 
 Lord’s displeasure, there is always some mi- 
 tigation, some mixture of mercy. At the 
 worst, we have still reason to acknowledge, 
 that he hath not dealt with us after our sins, 
 nor according to the full desert of our iniqui- 
 ties, Psal. ciii. 10. If we are in pain, we do 
 not feel every kind of pain at once, yet we 
 can give no sufficient reason why we should 
 not. If we are exercised with poverty and 
 losses, yet something worth the keeping, and 
 more than we can justly claim, is still left to 
 us, at least our lives are spared, though for- 
 feited by sin. If we are in distress of soul, 
 tossed with tempest and not comforted, we are 
 not quite out of the reach of hope. Even if 
 sickness, pain, loss, and despair, should all 
 overtake us in the same moment, all is still 
 less than we deserve. Our proper desert is 
 hell, an exclusion from God, and confinement 
 with Satan and his angels, where the worm 
 dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. Every 
 thing short of this is a mercy. But Jesus, 
 though he had no sin of his own, bore the 
 
724 Messiah’s innocence vindicated. ser. xxiv 
 
 sins of many. His sufferings were indeed 
 temporary, limited in their duration, but other- 
 wise extreme. Witness the effects, his hea . 
 viness unto death, his consternation, his bloody 
 sweat, his eclipse upon the cross, when de- 
 prived of that presence, which was his only, 
 and his exceeding joy. On these accounts, 
 no sorrow was like unto his sorrow ! 
 
 The unknown sorrows of the Redeemer are 
 a continual source of support and consolation 
 to his believing people. In his sufferings 
 they contemplate his atonement, his love, and 
 his example, and they are animated by the 
 bright and glorious issue. For he passed 
 from death to life, from suffering to glory. 
 
 (1.) His atonement, apprehended by faith, 
 delivers them from guilt and condemnation, 
 gives them peace with God, and access to 
 him with liberty as children, Rom. v. 1, 2. 
 Being thus delivered from their heavy bur- 
 den, and from the power of Satan, and hav- 
 ing a way open for receiving supplies of 
 strength, according to their day, they are 
 prepared to take up their cross, and to follow 
 him. 
 
 (2.) His love, in submitting to such sor- 
 rows for their sakes, attaches their hearts to 
 him. Great is the power of love ! It makes 
 hard things easy, and bitter sweet. Some of 
 us can tell, or rather we cannot easily tell 
 how much we would cheerfully do, or bear, 
 or forbear, for the sake of the person whom 
 we dearly love. But this noblest principle of 
 the soul never can exert itself with its full 
 strength, till it is supremely fixed upon its 
 proper object. The love of Christ has a con- 
 straining force indeed ! 2 Cor. v. 14. It is 
 stronger than death. It overcomes the world. 
 And we thus love him because he first loved 
 us ; because he loved us and gave himself for 
 us, 1 John iv. 19; Gal. ii. 20. 
 
 (3.) His example. The thought that he 
 suffered for them, arms them with the like 
 mind. They look to him and are enlighten- 
 ed. By his cross they are crucified to the 
 world, and the world to them. They no 
 longer court its favour, nor are afraid of its 
 frown. They know what they must expect, 
 if they will be his servants, by the treatment 
 he met with ; and they are content. He who 
 endured the contradiction of sinners against 
 himself for them, is worthy that they should 
 suffer likewise for him. It is their desire, 
 neither to provoke the opposition of men nor 
 to dread it. They commit themselves to him, 
 and are sure that he will not expose them to 
 such sufferings as he endured for them. So, 
 likewise, under all the trials and afflictions 
 which they endure more immediately from 
 the hand of the Lord, a lively thought of his 
 sorrows reconciles them to their own. Thus 
 by his stripes they are healed, and are com-v 
 forted by having fellowship with him in his 
 sufferings. 
 
 (4.) Lastly, if more were necessary (and, 
 
 sometimes, through ‘remaining infirmity and 
 surrounding temptation, every consideration 
 is no more than necessary), they know that 
 their Lord passed through sufferings to glory. 
 And they know (for they have his own gra- 
 cious promise) that if they suffer with him, 
 they shall also reign with him, John xii. 26 ; 
 Rom. viii. 18. They are sure that the suf- 
 ferings of the present life are not worthy to 
 be compared with the joy which will then be 
 revealed ; and that w’hen Christ, who is their 
 life, shall appear, they also shall appear with 
 him in glory (Col. iii. 4) ; and therefore they 
 are comforted in all their tribulation, and can 
 say, “ None of these things move me, nei- 
 ther count I my life dear unto myself, so 
 that I may finish my course with joy,” Acts 
 xx. 24. 
 
 SERMON XXIV. 
 
 Messiah’s innocence vindicated. 
 
 He was taken from prison and from judgment ; 
 and who shall declare his generation ? For 
 he was cut off out of the land of the living : 
 for the transgression of my people was he 
 stricken. Isaiah, liii 8. 
 
 Let not plain Christians be stumbled, because 
 there are difficulties in the prophetical parts 
 of the scripture, and because translators and 
 expositors sometimes explain them with some 
 difference as to the sense. Whatever directly 
 relates to our faith, practice, and comfort, 
 may be plainly collected from innumerable 
 passages, in which all the versions, and all 
 sober expositors, are agreed. That there are 
 some differences, will not appear strange, if 
 w r e consider the antiquity of the Hebrew lan- 
 guage, and that the Old Testament is tne only 
 book extant that was written during the time 
 that it v'as the common language of the peo- 
 ple. For this reason we meet with many 
 words which occur but once ; and others, 
 which do not occur frequently, are evidently 
 used in more than one sense. If we suppose 
 that a time should come w'hen the English 
 language should be no longer spoken, and no 
 more than a single volume in it be preserved, 
 we may well conceive that posterity might 
 differ as to the sense of many expressions, 
 notwithstanding the assistances they might 
 obtain by comparing the English with the 
 French, Dutch, and other languages, which 
 w r ere in use at the same period. Such as- 
 sistance we derive from the Chaldee, Syriac, 
 Greek, and other ancient versions of the Old 
 Testament, sufficient to confirm us in the true 
 sense of the whole, and to throw light upon 
 many passages otherwise dark and dubious ; 
 and yet there will remain a number of places, 
 the sense of which the best critics have not 
 
SER. XXIV. 
 
 Messiah’s innocence vindicated. 
 
 been able to fix with certainty. Farther, the 
 prophecies are usually expressed in the style 
 of poetry, which, in all languages, is remote 
 from the common forms of speaking. The 
 grand evidence, to a humble mind, that the 
 holy scripture was originally given by inspi- 
 ration of God, and that the version of it 
 which by his good providence we are favour- 
 ed with is authentic, is the effect it has upon 
 the heart and conscience when enlightened 
 by the Holy Spirit. And without this inter- 
 nal, experimental evidence, the learned are 
 no less at a loss than the vulgar. 
 
 An acquaintance with the Hebrew will 
 perhaps suggest a meaning in this verse (the 
 latter part only of which is taken into the 
 Messiah) which may not readily occur to an 
 English reader. But the purport of it is 
 plainly expressed in many other passages. 
 The text is not merely a repetition of what 
 was spoken before concerning the Redeemer’s 
 sufferings ; rather the declaration of what was 
 to follow them begins here. It is the open- 
 ing of a bright and glorious subject. He was 
 taken, he was taken up, like Enoch and Eli- 
 jah, from prison, and from judgment, and who 
 can declare his generation ? or (as the word 
 properly signifies) his age ? Who can declare 
 his state, the establishment and duration of 
 his dignity, influence, and government ? For 
 though he was cut off, made an excision and 
 a curse, from amongst men, it was not upon 
 his own account, but for the transgression of 
 my people, that he was smitten. 
 
 God was manifested in the flesh (1 Tim. 
 iii. 16), and in the flesh he suffered as a ma- 
 lefactor. Undoubtedly the divine nature is in. 
 capable of* suffering ; but the human nature, 
 which did suffer, was assumed by him who is 
 over all, God, blessed for ever, Rom. ix. 5. 
 But he was justified in the Spirit, and suffi- 
 cient care was taken, that in his lowest humi- 
 liation, though he was condemned and re- 
 viled, his character should be vindicated. I 
 shall therefore consider at present the testi- 
 monies given to his innocence. Though he 
 was cut off from the land of the living, it 
 was only as a substitute for others. He was 
 stricken for the transgressions of his people. 
 
 1. The first attention, and which of itself 
 is fully sufficient to establish this point, is 
 that of Judas. He was one of the twelve 
 apostles who attended our Lord’s person, and 
 who were admitted to a nearer and more fre- 
 quent intercourse with him than the rest of 
 his disciples. Though our Lord knew that 
 his heart was corrupt, and that he would prove 
 a traitor, he does not appear to have treated 
 him with peculiar reserve, or to have kept 
 him more at a distance than the other apos- 
 tles ; for when he told them, “ One of you 
 shall betray me,” they had no particular sus- 
 picion of Judas. He therefore was well ac- 
 quainted with the more retired hours of his 
 Master’s life. He had been often with him 
 
 725 
 
 in Gethsemane before he went thither to be- 
 tray him to his enemies. When he had acted 
 this treacherous part, if he, who had been fre- 
 quently present when Jesus conversed most 
 freely in private with his select followers, had 
 known any thing amiss in his conduct, we 
 may be sure he would gladly have disclosed 
 it, for his own justification. Christian socie- 
 ties have usually been reviled and slandered 
 by those who have apostatized from them ; 
 their mistakes, if they were justly chargeable 
 with any, have been eagerly published and 
 aggravated, and many things often laid to 
 their charge which they knew not. But Ju- 
 das, on the contrary, was compelled by his 
 conscience, to return his ill-gotten gain to 
 the chief priests and elders, and to confess, 
 “ I have sinned, in that I have betrayed the 
 innocent blood,” Matt, xxvii. 4. Consider- 
 ing the time of making this declaration, when 
 he saw that he was already condemned, and 
 the persons to whom he made it, even to 
 those who had condemned him, it cannot be 
 denied that he was an unsuspected and com- 
 petent witness to his innocence. And the an- 
 swer of the chief priests implied, that, though 
 their malice could be satisfied with nothing 
 less than the death of this innocent person, 
 they were unable to contradict the traitor’s 
 testimony. 
 
 2. Though Pilate likewise condemned Mes- 
 siah to death, to gratify the importunity of 
 the Jews, he repeatedly declared his firm per- 
 suasion of his innocence ; and he did it with 
 great solemriity. “ He took water and wash- 
 ed his hands (publicly) before the multitude, 
 saying, 1 am innocent of the blood of this just 
 person,” Matt, xxvii. 24. He laboured for 
 his release, though the fear of man prevailed 
 upon him at last, as it has upon many, to act 
 in defiance of the light and conviction of his 
 conscience. And from him we learn, that 
 Herod (Luke xxiii. 15), notwithstanding he 
 mocked him and set him at nought, consider- 
 ed the accusations of his enemies to be entirely 
 groundless. And farther, when the Jews pro- 
 posed such an alteration of the title affixed to 
 his cross, as might imply, that the claims our 
 Lord had made were unjust and criminal, Pi- 
 late utterly refused to comply with their demand. 
 
 3. The thief upon the cross, with his dying 
 breath said, “ This man hath done nothing 
 amiss.” If his competency as a witness should 
 be disputed, because it is probable he had 
 known but little of him, I admit the objection. 
 Be it so, that this malefactor had little per- 
 sonal knowledge of our Lord. Then his opi- 
 nion of his innocence must have been found- 
 ed upon public report ; and, therefore, it seems, 
 he spoke not for himself only ; but his words 
 may be taken as a proof, that the people at 
 large, though they suffered themselves to be 
 influenced by the chief priests, to demand his 
 death, and to prefer Barabbas, a robber and a 
 murderer, to him, were generally conscious 
 
?26 
 
 that he had done nothing amiss. Many of 
 those who now said, “ Crucify him, Crucify 
 him,” had, not long before, welcomed him with 
 acclamations of praise, saying, “ Hosannah to 
 the son of David.” This inconsistence and 
 inconstancy is not altogether surprising to 
 those who are well acquainted with the weak- 
 ness and wickedness of human nature in its 
 present state ; and who consider the effects 
 which the misrepresentations and artifice of 
 persons of great name, and in high office, have 
 often produced in the minds of the ignorant 
 and superstitious. Thus at Lvstra, through 
 the persuasion of the Jews, the apostle Paul 
 was stoned and left for dead (Acts xiv. 12, 
 19), by the very people, who, a little before, 
 could with difficulty be restrained from pay- 
 ing him divine honours. 
 
 4 . Though the salvation of men, and the 
 honour of the law of God required, that when 
 Messiah undertook to make an atonement for 
 our sins, he should be thus given up to the 
 rage and cruelty of his enemies, suff er all the 
 infamy due to the worst and vilest transgres- 
 sors, and be deserted by God and man ; yet 
 his heavenly Father bore a signal and solemn 
 testimony to his character. The frame of 
 nature sympathized with her suffering Lord. 
 The heavens were clothed with sackcloth ; the 
 sun withdrew his shining ; the sanctuary was 
 laid open, by the rending of the vail of the 
 temple from the top to the bottom ; the earth 
 trembled greatly ; the rocks were rent ; the 
 graves opened, and the dead arose. These 
 events, in connection with what had passed 
 before, extorted an acknowledgment of his in- 
 nocence from the Roman centurion who was 
 appointed to attend his execution. 
 
 Thus, it appears, that Judas, who betrayed 
 him; the Jewish council, which could not 
 find sufficient ground, even though they em- 
 ployed false and suborned witnesses to pass 
 sentence upon him ; Herod, who derided him ; 
 Pilate, who condemned him ; the malefactor 
 who suffered with him ; and the commander 
 of the soldiers who crucified him, all combin- 
 ed in a declaration of his innocence : God 
 himself confirming their word, by signs and 
 wonders in heaven and upon earth. 
 
 It may seem quite unnecessary to prove the 
 innocency of him, who, in his human nature, 
 was absolutely perfect, and in whom the pre- 
 sence and fulness of God dwelt ; and it is in- 
 deed unnecessary to those who believe in his 
 name. It is, however, a pleasing contempla- 
 tion to them, and has an important influence 
 upon their faith and hope. In this they tri- 
 umph, that he who knew no sin himself, was 
 made sin, was treated as a sinner for them, 
 that they might be made the righteousness of 
 God in him. The High Priest of our pro- 
 fession needed not, as those who typified his 
 office of old, to offer up sacrifice, first for his 
 own sins, and then for the sins of the people; 
 for he was perfectlv holy, harmless, and unde- 
 
 SER. XXIV. 
 filed. And had he not been a lamb without 
 spot or blemish, he could not have been ac- 
 cepted on our behalf. It was the perfection 
 of his voluntary obedience to the law of our 
 nature, under which he submitted to be made, 
 which, conjoined with the excellency of his 
 character as the Son of God, made him meet, 
 able, and worthy, to expiate our transgressions. 
 By the one offering of himself, once offered, 
 he has made an end of sin, brought in an ever- 
 lasting righteousness, and having appeared 
 with his own blood within the vail, in the pre- 
 sence of God for us, and ever living to make 
 intercession for all who come unto God by 
 him, he is proposed in the gospel as the author 
 of eternal salvation to all who obey him. In 
 him, all the seed of Israel shall be justified, 
 and shall glory. Is. xli. 17, 25. In him the 
 true Israel, the partakers of the faith of Abra- 
 ham, shall be saved, saved to the uttermost, 
 saved with an everlasting salvation ; they shall 
 not be ashamed, nor confounded, world with- 
 out end. 
 
 But who that knows these things can suffi- 
 ciently commiserate the fatal effects of that 
 unbelief which blinds and hardens the hearts 
 of multitudes ! especially that more learned 
 and informed, and therefore more inexcusable 
 unbelief, which characterizes the modern pa- 
 trons of scepticism. They read and admire 
 ancient history. There is no old story so fri- 
 volous or improbable, but it is sufficient to en- 
 gage their attention, and to exercise their acu- 
 men, if it be found in Herodotus or Livy. 
 They spare no pains, they perplex themselves, 
 and weary their readers with their attempts to 
 decypher an ancient inscription, or to fix the 
 date, or reconcile the circumstances of a sup- 
 posed event, which, after all, perhaps never 
 had place but in the imagination of the writer. 
 Their implicit deference to such uncertain 
 authorities as these, often verges upon the 
 border of extreme credulity. The Bible is 
 an ancient history likewise ; and if it was only 
 received upon the footing of the rest, as mere- 
 ly a human composition, the facts which it 
 relates, and the manner in which they are re- 
 lated, the admirable simplicity of narration in 
 some parts, the unrivalled sublimity of de- 
 scription in others ; the justness and discri- 
 mination of characters ; the views it unfolds 
 of the workings of the human heart, and 'the 
 springs of action, so exactly conformable to 
 experience and observation, might surely re- 
 commend it to their notice. And possibly, if 
 it did claim no higher authority than a human 
 composition, men whe have any just preten- 
 sions to taste, would admire it no less than 
 they now undervalue it. But because it does 
 not flatter their pride, nor give indulgence to 
 their corrupt propensities, they are afraid to 
 study it, lest the internal marks of its divine 
 original should force unwelcome convictions 
 upon their minds. Therefore they remain 
 . willingly ignorant of its contents, or th<* 
 
 Messiah’s innocence vindicated. 
 
ser. xxv. MESSIAH RISING 
 
 knowledge they discover of it is so very super- 
 ficial, that a well instructed child of ten years 
 of age may smile at the mistakes of critics and 
 philosophers. That such a book is extant, is 
 undeniable. How can they account for its 
 production ? A view of what they actually 
 have done, will warrant us to assert, that the 
 wisest men of antiquity, neither would have 
 written such a book if they could, nor were 
 they able, had they been ever so willing. And 
 yet we have as good evidence, that the New 
 Testament was written by plain and unlearn- 
 ed men, as we have for any fact recorded in 
 history. How could such men invent such a 
 book? and how should they without seeming 
 directly to design it, but incidently as it were, 
 represent, that persons of such various charac- 
 ters, who concurred in putting Jesus to death, 
 should all equally concur in establishing the 
 testimony of his innocence. 
 
 True Christians, when they suffer unjustly, 
 may learn, from the example of their Lord, to 
 suffer patiently. The apostle presses this ar- 
 gument upon servants (1 Pet. ii. 18, SO) — 
 who in those days were chiefly bond servants, 
 or slaves. He, therefore, evidently supposes, 
 that the knowledge of the gospel was suffi- 
 cient to qualify people in the lowest situations 
 of human life, with a fortitude and magnani- 
 mity of spirit of which philosophy could 
 scarcely reach the conception. In effect, to 
 be much taken up with the interests of self, 
 to live upon the breath of others, to be full of 
 resentment for every injury, and watchful to 
 retaliate it; these are the properties and 
 tokens of a little and narrow mind. It re- 
 quires no energy, no sacrifice, no resolution, 
 to acquire such a disposition ; for it is natural 
 to us, and powerful and habitual in the weak- 
 est and least respectable characters. But to 
 act uniformly as the servants of God, satisfied 
 with his approbation, under the regulation of 
 his will, and for his sake cheerfully to bear 
 whatever hardships a compliance with duty 
 may expose us to, enduring grief, suffering 
 wrongfully, and acting in the spirit of bene- 
 volence and meekness, not only to the good, 
 but also to the froward ; this indicates a true 
 nobleness of souL And to this we are called 
 by our profession : for thus Christ suffered. 
 He did no sin, neither was guile found in his 
 mouth ; yet he was reviled, but he reviled not 
 again. He suffered, though innocent ; but 
 he threatened not. He was crucified by wick- 
 ed men : but he prayed for them while they 
 were nailing him to the cross. This was an 
 eminent branch of the mind that was in Christ ; 
 and it ought to be a distinguishing feature in 
 the character of his people. For, is the dis- 
 ciple above his Lord ? or should the conduct 
 of the disciple contradict that of his Lord ? Un- 
 doubtedly, so far as we are partakers in the doc- 
 trine of his sufferings, and have real fellowship 
 with him in his death, we shall resemble him. 
 If we say we abide in him, we ought to walk, 
 
 FROM THE DEAD. 727 
 
 even as he walked, 1 John ii. 6. But they, 
 who, calling themselves Christians, are full of 
 the spirit of self-justification, contention, and 
 complaint, while they profess to believe in 
 him, deny him by their works. The apostles 
 Peter and John, deeply affected by their obli- 
 gations to him, and by the exquisite pattern 
 of meekness and tenderness which he had set 
 before them, departed from the presence of 
 the council, not swelling with anger, nor 
 hanging down their heads with grief, but re- 
 joicing that they were counted worthy to suf- 
 fer shame for his sake, Acts v. 41. And he 
 deserves no less from us than he did from 
 them. It was for us, no less than for them, 
 that he endured reproach, and was content to 
 die as a malefactor, though he was innocent. 
 
 SERMON XXV. 
 
 MESSIAH RISING FROM THE DEAD. 
 
 For thou will not leave my soul in hell ; neither 
 wilt thou suffer thy Holy One to see corrup- 
 tion. Psalm xvi. 10. 
 
 That the gospel is a divine revelation, may 
 be summarily proved from the character of its 
 Author. If an infidel was so far divested of 
 prejudice and prepossession, as to read the 
 history of Jesus Christ recorded by the evan- 
 gelists, with attention, and in order to form 
 his judgment of it, simply and candidly, as 
 evidence should appear, I think he must ob- 
 serve many particulars in his spirit and con- 
 duct, so very different from the prevailing sen- 
 timents of mankind, as to convince him, that 
 man, in his present state, could not possibly 
 have conceived the idea of such a character. 
 Poets and historians have often employed 
 their powers in delineating what appeared to 
 them the great and the excellent in human 
 conduct. But how different are the pictures 
 of their admired heroes, sages, and legislators, 
 from the portrait of the Saviour, as it is drawn 
 with the utmost simplicity by plain unlettered 
 men, who, without art or affectation, only de- 
 scribe what they profess to have seen and 
 heard. I fix at present upon a single consi- 
 deration, which perhaps cannot be expressed 
 more properly or forcibly, than in the words 
 of an ingenious writer* now' living. “ He is 
 the only founder of a religion, in the history 
 of mankind, which is totally unconnected with 
 all human policy and government, and there- 
 fore totally unconducive to any worldly pur- 
 pose whatever. All others, Mahomet, Numa, 
 and even Moses himself, blended their religi- 
 ous institutions with their civil, and by them 
 obtained dominion over their respective peo- 
 
 * Jenyn’s Internal Evidence of the Christian Religion, 
 p. 53, 54. Edit. 3. 
 
SER. XXV. 
 
 MESSIAH RISING FROM THE DEAD. 
 
 728 
 
 pie. But Christ neither aimed at, nor would 
 accept of any such power. He rejected (John 
 xviii. 36). every object which all other men 
 pursue, and made choice of those which others 
 fly from and are afraid of. He refused power, 
 riches, honours, and pleasure ; and courted 
 poverty, ignominy, tortures, and death. Many 
 have been the enthusiasts and impostors, who 
 have endeavoured to impose on the world pre- 
 tended revelations ; and some of them, from 
 pride, obstinacy, or principle, have gone so far 
 as to lay down their lives rather than retract : 
 but I defy history to shew one, who ever made 
 his own sufferings and death (John xii. 24, 
 32, 33.) a necessary part of his original plan, 
 and essential to his mission. This Christ ac- 
 tually did ; he foresaw’, foretold, declared 
 their necessity, and voluntarily endured them. 
 
 The death of our Lord was indeed essential 
 to his plan ; as such, it was constantly in his 
 view, and he often spoke of it. Probably it 
 was the whole of his enemies plan ; and when 
 they saw him dead, buried, and the sepulchre 
 sealed, they triumphed in their success, and 
 expected to hear of him no more. But the 
 scriptures, which were read in their synagogues 
 every sabbath-day, foretold his resurrection 
 from the dead. The text before us, if there 
 were no other, is a sufficient proof of this, to 
 those who acknowledge the authority of the 
 New Testament, since it is expressly applied 
 to him by the apostles Peter and Paul. 
 
 The word in the Hebrew text rendered, in 
 our version, soul, is used in different senses. 
 According to the connection in which it stands, 
 it signifies breath, life, soul, or spirit, and 
 sometimes the dead body. The correspond- 
 ing Greek word, where the apostle quotes 
 this verse (Acts ii. 27), has likewise various 
 significations. And the original words an- 
 swering to hell, signify both the invisible 
 world, or the state of the dead, and sometimes 
 the grave. Notwithstanding this seeming di- 
 versity, we are at no loss here for the precise 
 sense. Scripture is the best interpreter of it- 
 self. It is evidently the apostle’s design to 
 prove that the psalmist foresaw, and foretold, 
 the resurrection of that body which was taken 
 down dead from the cioss, and laid in Joseph’s 
 tomb. With this body our Lord arose on 
 the third day, according to the scriptures. 
 
 Though Messiah w as, for our sakes, treated 
 as a malefactor, all w-ho were immediately con- 
 cerned in his death were constrained (as we 
 have seen) to declare his innocence. But he 
 was worthy of a more solemn and autho- 
 ritative justification. Accordingly, “ He was 
 declared to be the Son of God, with power, by 
 his resurrection from the dead,” Rom. i. 4. 
 
 The apostle expounds “ thine Holy One” 
 by the word Jlesh, Acts ii. 29. The human 
 nature, the body formed by the immediate 
 power of God, and born of a virgin, was holy. 
 — It was a “holy thing” (Luke i. 35); per- 
 fect and pure, and therefore naturally not j 
 
 mortal, though subject to death for us. In 
 this nature the son of God w-as charged with 
 sins not his own; he became willingly respon- 
 sible for many, Matth. xx. 28. Whatever 
 was necessary on the behalf of sinners, to ren- 
 der their forgiveness consistent with the hon- 
 our of the law’, justice, truth, and government 
 of God, was exacted of him, and he performed, 
 and paid to the utmost. He made a full a- 
 tonement for sin ; and though he had pow’er 
 over his life, he hung hour after hour in a- 
 gonies upon the cross, till he said, “ It is fi- 
 nished.” Then he resigned his spirit into the 
 hands of his heavenly Father. He was after- 
 wards buried. But having finished his whole 
 undertaking, destroyed death, and him that 
 had the power of it, and opened the way to 
 the kingdom of heaven, in favour of all who 
 should believe in him, it was not possible that 
 he should be detained in the grave, Acts ii. 
 24. He had power likewise to resume the 
 life he had laid down for his sheep ; and he 
 arose the third day, to exercise all power and 
 authority in heaven and in earth. 
 
 His resurrection therefore is the grand 
 principal fact upon which the truth and im- 
 portance of Christianity rests. For though 
 Christ died, if he had not risen again, your 
 faith and our preaching would be in vain. 
 We should be yet in our sins, I Cor. xv. 17. 
 And though it was not necessary that his re- 
 surrection should have been so publicly known, 
 at the time, as bis crucifixion, the evidence 
 for it is strong and decisive. No one point 
 of ancient history is capable of such clear ac- 
 cumulated proof. The apostles frequently 
 saw him, conversed with him, ate and drank 
 with him, and were assured that it was he by 
 many infallible proofs. They could not be 
 deceived themselves, nor could they have any 
 temptation to deceive others. They declared 
 his resurrection to the very people who put 
 him to death ; and they confirmed it by many 
 indisputable miracles, which they performed 
 in his name. They persevered in this testi- 
 mony, in defiance of the malice of the Jew’s 
 and the scorn of the Heathens. And by this 
 doctrine of a crucified risen Saviour, though 
 unsupported by the patronage of human pow r - 
 er, yea, though opposed by it in every place, 
 they effected that change in the moral w'orld, 
 w’herever they went, which the philosophers 
 had not been able to prodace, by all their in- 
 structions, in a single instance ; turning men, 
 whom they found under the strongest preju- 
 dices of education and habit, from darkness 
 to light, and from the worship of dumb idols, 
 to serve the living and the true God, 1 Thes. 
 i. 9. 
 
 But there are proofs of this point which de- 
 pend not upon arguments or history, which 
 require neither learning, genius, nor study to 
 comprehend ; but are equally adapted to per- 
 sons of all capacities, and in all circumstances. 
 
 I These are the effects which this doctrine pro- 
 
SER. XXV. 
 
 duces on the hearts of those who truly receive 
 it upon the authority of scripture, under the 
 influence of the Holy Spirit, whose office it is 
 to open the eyes of the mind, to take of the 
 things of Jesus (what the scripture reveals of 
 his person, offices, and glory), and to present 
 them, with infallible light and evidence, to 
 those who humbly yield themselves to his 
 teaching. These are made partakers of the 
 power of his resurrection, Phil. iii. 10. It 
 delivers them from guilt and fear, animates 
 them with confidence towards God, weans 
 them from the love and spirit of this evil 
 world, inspires them with great and glorious 
 hopes, and delivers them from the fear of 
 death. They are risen with Christ, by faith, 
 and seek the things which are above (Col. iii. 
 1), where they know their Lord and Saviour 
 is seated in glory. 
 
 I do but touch upon these particulars at 
 present, because the subject will come under 
 our consideration again, from a subsequent 
 passage in the Oratorio. Yet I would not 
 wholly omit leading your reflections to them, 
 though what I briefly offer now, may make 
 what I shall then offer (if my life is prolonged 
 to proceed so far) appear under the disadvan- 
 tage of a repetition of the same thoughts. In- 
 deed, I know not how to place the proof of 
 this capital doctrine in a light entirely new. 
 The most satisfactory proofs are the most ob- 
 vious ; and it would be folly to substitute 
 weaker in their place for the sake of novelty. 
 But if I should live to resume the subject, 
 some of you who are now present may not 
 live to hear me. So far as concerns the fact, 
 I may hope that the most, or all of you, are 
 believers, and that you are already persuaded 
 in your minds that the Lord is risen indeed ! 
 Luke xxiv. 34. I am not preaching to Jews 
 or Mahometans, but to professed Christians. 
 But permit me to ask, What influence this 
 truth has upon your hopes, your tempers and 
 your conduct ? The powers of darkness know 
 that Christ is risen. They believe, they feel, 
 they tremble. I hope none of you will be 
 content with such a faith as may be found in 
 the fallen angels. As surely as he is risen, 
 he will at length return to judge the world. 
 “ Behold he cometh in the clouds, and every 
 eye shall see him !” They who are prepared 
 to meet him, who are waiting for him, and 
 who long for his appearance, have reason to 
 rejoice that he once died, and rose again. 
 
 Many are the advantages which true Chris- 
 tians derive from a spiritual and enlightened 
 knowledge of this doctrine. I will mention 
 a few. 
 
 1. As Messiah was delivered, that is deliv- 
 ered up, as a hostage to the demands of jus- 
 tice for our offences ; so they know that he 
 was raised again for our justification, Rom. v. 
 25. By virtue of that union which subsists 
 between Messiah, as the head of his body the 
 church, and all his members; that is, all in 
 
 729 
 
 the successive ages of the world, who believe 
 in him by a faith of divine operation ; he is 
 their legal representative ; he and they are 
 considered as one. His sufferings, his whole 
 humiliation and obedience unto death, is so 
 imputed to them, that they thereby are ex- 
 empted from condemnation ; and though not 
 from all sufferings, yet from all that is pro- 
 perly penal, or strictly a punishment. What 
 they suffer is only in a way of discipline or 
 chastisement; and to them a token, not of 
 wrath, but of love. On the other hand, as 
 he by his resurrection was vindicated, justifi- 
 ed from the reproaches of his enemies, declar- 
 ed to be the Son of God, with power, and 
 raised to glory ; they have fellowship with him 
 herein. God exalted him to glory, and gave 
 him a name above every name, that their faith 
 and hope might be in God, 1 Pet. i. 21. They 
 are not only pardoned, but accepted in the Be- 
 loved. And after this state of discipline is 
 ended, they shall be treated as if they had ne- 
 ver sinned. For if their sins are sought for 
 in that day, they shall not be found. If any 
 charge should be brought against them, it 
 shall be over-ruled — by this comprehensive 
 unanswerable plea— -Christ that died, yea, ra- 
 ther that is risen again, appears in the presence 
 of God, acknowledges them as his own, and 
 makes intercession for them, Rom. viii. 33, 
 34. Among men, a criminal may obtain a par- 
 don, may escape the sentence he has deserved, 
 and yet be left in a destitute and miserable 
 condition. But justification is God’s man- 
 ner of pardoning sinners, according to the 
 sovereignty arid riches of his grace, in the Son 
 of his love. Those whom he pardons, he also 
 justifies ; and whom he justifies, he also glori- 
 fies. And even now in this life, though it doth 
 not yet appear what they shall be, though their 
 present privileges are far short of what they hope 
 for, and though eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, 
 nor hath it entered into the heart of man to con- 
 ceive what God hath prepared for them (1 
 Cor. ii. 9), yet even now are they the children 
 of God, 1 John iii. 2. And in the midst of 
 their trials and infirmities, though conscious 
 of much defect, and many defilements, in their 
 best hours and services ; and though they have 
 not forgotten their iniquities and provocations, 
 when they lived without God in the world ; 
 yet, according to the measure of their faith, 
 exercised upon their Saviour, who was raised 
 for their justification, they can rejoice in the 
 knowledge of their acceptance, and rely upon 
 him for their perseverance ; and they dare ap- 
 proach the great, holy, and heart-searching 
 God, as to a Father, and pour out their hearts 
 before him, with greater freedom than they 
 can use to their dearest earthly friends. And 
 while they feel and confess themselves unwor- 
 thy of the smallest of his mercies, they are not 
 afraid to ask for the greatest blessings his 
 bounty can bestow, even to be set as a seal 
 upon his heart, and upon his arm, to be filled 
 
 MESSIAH RISING FROM THE DEAD. 
 
730 
 
 with all his communicable fulness, and to 
 claim him as their everlasting portion. 
 
 2. The resurrection of Christ from the dead 
 is a pledge and specimen of that almighty 
 power which is engaged on their behalf, to 
 overcome all the obstacles, difficulties, and 
 enemies they are liable to meet with in their 
 pilgrimage, which threaten to disappoint their 
 hopes, and to prevent them from obtaining 
 their heavenly inheritance. The first com- 
 munication of a principle of faith and spiri- 
 tual life to their hearts, whereby they are de- 
 livered from the dominion of sin, and from 
 the spirit and love of the world, is attributed 
 to the exceeding greatness of that mighty 
 power (Eph. i. 19 — 21) which raised the dead 
 body of the Lord from the grave, and set him 
 at his own right hand, far above all principa- 
 lity and might, and every name that is named. 
 And often the church, collectively, in its mi- 
 ^ litant state, and the individuals which com- 
 pose it, in their personal concerns, have been 
 brought, to outward appearance, exceeding 
 low. Their enemies have seemed upon the 
 point of triumphing, and saying, Down with 
 them, even to the ground. Such was the 
 boast of the Jewish rulers, when they had 
 slain the Shepherd and dispersed his flock. 
 But it was a short-lived boast. He arose, he 
 ascended, he took possession of his kingdom 
 for himself and for them. He poured out 
 his Holy Spirit upon them, and they went 
 forth preaching his word, which spread like 
 the light of advancing day, from Judea to 
 Samaria, and to the distant parts of the earth. 
 The united force of the powers of hell and 
 earth endeavoured to suppress it, but in vain. 
 Many nations and kingdoms laboured to ex- 
 tirpate the very name of Christianity from a- 
 mong men, but they successively perished in 
 the attempt; and the cause against which 
 they raged is still preserved. It is founded 
 upon a rock, and the gates of hell cannot 
 prevail against it, Matth. xvi. 1 8. Nor can 
 any weapon prosper that is formed against 
 the weakest and meanest of those who sin- 
 cerely espouse this cause. He, to whom they 
 have devoted and entrusted themselves, has 
 promised that none shall pluck them out of 
 his hands, John x. 28. And while he re- 
 mains faithful to his word, and able to fulfil 
 it, they shall be safe. Yet they are often 
 pressed above measure, beyond strength, in- 
 somuch that they perhaps despair even of life. 
 But when they are at the lowest, the Lord is 
 their helper ; and they are taught by the exi- 
 gencies they pass through, to trust, not in 
 themselves, but in God who raiseth the dead, 
 2 Cor. i. 9. It is, indeed, the Lord’s usual 
 method of training up his people to an habi- 
 tual dependence upon himself. When he has 
 raised their expectations by his promises, he 
 permits as it were, a temporary death to over- 
 cloud their prospect; and that which he has 
 said he will surely do for them, appears for a.. 
 
 SER. XXV. 
 
 season, to the judgment of sense, impracti- 
 cable and hopeless. We might illustrate this 
 point at large from the history of Abraham, 
 of Israel in Egypt, of David, and of the re- 
 building of the second temple ; and I doubt 
 not but it might be illustrated from the his- 
 tory of many in this assembly. If you have 
 been walking with God for any considerable 
 time, you have met with turns and changes 
 which have almost put you to a stand. You 
 have been, and perhaps now are, in such cir- 
 cumstances, that you feel you have no re- 
 source in yourself, and you are sure that the 
 help of man cannot relieve you ; but while 
 your help is in the name of the Lord who 
 made heaven and earth (Psal. exxiv. 8), and 
 while you are warranted to trust in him, who 
 raiseth the dead, you have no just reason to 
 despond. It was a dark season with the dis- 
 ciples, when their Lord, whom they loved, 
 and in whom they trusted, that it had been he 
 who should have redeemed Israel (Luke xxiv. 
 20, 21), was condemned, and put to death. 
 But the appointed third day relieved their 
 fears, and turned their mourning into joy. 
 
 3. His resurrection is the pledge and pat- 
 tern of ours. As certainly as Christ, the first- 
 fruits is risen, so certainly shall they that are 
 Christ’s arise at his coming. And each of 
 his people shall arise aliusque et idem,.* Their 
 bodies, though properly their own, shall be 
 changed, and fashioned like unto his glorious 
 body, Phil. iii. 21. This corruptible must 
 put on incorruption ; and the body, which is 
 sown in dishonour and weakness, be raised in 
 power and glory. Flesh and blood, in its 
 present state, cannot inherit the kingdom of 
 God. The body, in this life, is a clog and 
 a burden to those who place their chief hap- 
 piness in the service of God, and in commu- 
 nion with him. It is a vile body, defiled by 
 sin, and it defiles their best desires and no- 
 blest efforts. Even the grace of the Holy 
 Spirit, by which they live, though perfectly 
 pure in itself, is debased, when communi- 
 cated to them, and exercised under the dis- 
 advantages of a sinful nature, as the best 
 wine will receive a taint if poured into a foul 
 vessel. The body, in another view, is a pri- 
 son, in which the soul, confined and pent up, 
 is limited in its operations, and impeded in 
 its perceptions of divine things. Though we 
 are probably surrounded by the glorious rea- 
 lities of the spiritual world, only short and 
 transient glances of them are discoverable by 
 us; we see but by reflection, and darkly 
 (1 Cor. xiii. 12) ; we know but in part, and 
 should know nothing of them, but for the 
 good report of the word of God. Farther, 
 the body, as it is the seat of innumerable in- 
 firmities, and the medium which connects us 
 with the calamities incident to this mortal 
 state, is often a great hindrance to our most 
 
 MESSIAH RISING FROM THE DEAD. 
 
 Another and yet the sam*. 
 
SER. xxvi. THE ASCENSION OF 
 
 desirable enjoyments. Pain and sickness call 
 off the attention, and indispose our faculties, 
 when we wish to be most engaged in prayer, 
 detain us from the ordinances, or prevent the 
 pleasure we hope for in waiting upon the 
 Lord in them. But our new, spiritual, and 
 glorified bodies will be free from all defile- 
 ment or defect. They will be completely 
 qualified to answer the best wishes, and most 
 enlarged activity of the soul. Then, but not 
 till then, we hope to be all eye, all ear, al- 
 ways upon the wing in his service, and per- 
 fectly conformed to his image, in light, holi- 
 ness, and love ; for then we shall see him as 
 he is, without any interposing veil or cloud, 
 
 1 John iii. 2. 
 
 SERMON XXVI. 
 
 THE ASCENSION OF MESSIAH TO GLORY 
 
 Lift up your heads , 0 ye gates , and be ye lift 
 up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of 
 glory shall come in. Who is this King of 
 glory ? The Lord strong and mighty, the 
 Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, 
 0 ye gates, even lift up, ye everlasting doors, 
 and the King of glory shall come in. Who is 
 this King of glory ? The Lord of Hosts, he 
 is the King of glory. Psalm xxiv. 7 — 10. 
 
 The institutions of the Levitical law were a 
 shadow or sketch of good things to come. 
 They exhibited a faint and general outline of 
 the mediation and glory of Messiah. They 
 may be compared to the delicate engravings 
 on a seal, the beauty and proportions of which 
 eannot be plainly discerned without the assist- 
 ance of a glass. The gospel answers to such 
 a glass. Beheld through this medium, the 
 miniature delineations of the law, which to 
 the eye of unassisted, unhumbled reason, ap- 
 pear confused and insignificant, display a pre- 
 cision of arrangement in the parts, and an im- 
 portance of design in the whole, worthy of the 
 wisdom of their great Author. 
 
 From the similarity of the subject of this 
 psalm and the sixty-eighth, it is at least pro- 
 bable that they were both composed upon the 
 same occasion, the removal of the ark of the 
 Lord from its last stationary residence to its 
 fixed abode in Zion, when the king, the priests, 
 the singers, and the harpers, all assisted in the 
 procession, attended by a great concourse of 
 the people. The language of the latter part 
 of the psalm is evidently alternate. And we 
 may conceive, that when the ark approached 
 the tabernacle, the priests and Levites who 
 accompanied it, demanded admittance for it in 
 these words, “ Lift up your heads, O ye gates,” 
 &c. and were answered by those who were wait- 
 ing within to receive it, “ Who is the King 
 of glory ?” To which question the proper re- 
 
 MESSIAIl TO GLORY. 731 
 
 ply is made, “ The Lord of Hosts, he is the 
 King of glory.” 
 
 This, if taken according to the letter of the 
 history, was a grand and solemn transaction. 
 But it was at the same time a type of an event 
 unspeakably more glorious. They who know 
 that the scriptures of the Old Testament tes- 
 tify of Christ, that it is he of whom Moses in 
 the Law, David in the Psalms, and all the 
 succeeding prophets, did write, will, I think, 
 agree in considering this passage as referring 
 to his ascension, in the nature in which he 
 suffered, into the true holy place in the hea- 
 vens, as the representative and high-priest of 
 his people ; when, after having by his own 
 self purged our sins, he sat down at the right 
 hand of the Majesty on high. Then having 
 spoiled principalities and powers, he triumph- 
 ed over them openly, though not in the view 
 of mortal eyes. He lifted up his hands, and 
 blessed his apostles, and while in this attitude 
 he was parted from them, Luke xxiv. 51. 
 He ascended gently and gradually, and they, 
 admiring and adoring, beheld him with fixed 
 attention, till a cloud concealed him from their 
 sight, Acts i. 9. The pomp and triumph of 
 his ascension were displayed in the invisible 
 world. But this description, accommodated 
 to our apprehensions, is given to assist the 
 faith of his people, that their hearts may be 
 comforted, their meditations enlarged, and 
 that in the exercise of grateful love, they may 
 follow him in their thoughts, ascend with him 
 into the heavenly places, and rejoice in his 
 glory. 
 
 We conceive of him, therefore, from this 
 sublime passage, as ascending to his Father 
 and our Father, to his God and our God, ac- 
 companied with a train of worshipping angels, 
 who demand admittance for Messiah, the Sa- 
 viour and friend of sinners, as the King of 
 glory. The question is asked, Who is he that 
 claims this honour ? An answer is given, as- 
 serting his character, his victories, and the jus- 
 tice of his claims — “ The Lord of Hosts, the 
 Lord strong in battle, he is the King of glo- 
 ry-” 
 
 The principal points which offer to our con- 
 sideration are, 
 
 I. His tit'e, — The Lord of hosts. 
 
 II. His victories, implied in the expression, 
 — The Lord strong and mighty in battle. 
 
 III. His mediatorial title, — The King of 
 glory. 
 
 IV. His authoritative entrance into the 
 holy place. 
 
 I. Messiah, who humbled himself to the 
 death of the cross, is the Lord of hosts. He 
 is so, if the scripture be true ; I attempt no 
 other proof. This is a point not referred to 
 the discussion of our fallen reason, but pro- 
 posed by the authority of God in his word, 
 as the foundation of our faith and hope. He 
 is the husband of the church, and the husband 
 of the church is the Lord of hosts, Isa. liv. 5. 
 
732 THE ASCENSION OF 
 
 It was the Lord of hosts, whom Isaiah saw, 
 seated upon a throne, high and lifted up, and 
 his train filling the temple, Isa. vi. 1. The 
 vision filled him with astonishment, and he 
 cried out, “ Woe is me, I am undone ; —for 
 mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of 
 hosts.” But the apostle John assures us, 
 that when Isaiah said these things, he saw his 
 glory, and spake of him, John xii. 41. This 
 is the title of God in the Old Testament ; or, 
 as some chuse to speak, of the Supreme Being. 
 And it is ascribed to Messiah in many places. 
 Therefore, if he were not the Lord of hosts, 
 the scripture would be chargeable with autho- 
 rizing, yea with enjoining idolatry. But he 
 is the true God, and eternal life (1 John v. 
 20) ; and they who give him the honour due 
 to his name, have every thing to hope and no- 
 thing to fear. 
 
 II. He is the Lord strong and mighty in 
 battle. It was in his human nature he en- 
 gaged in battle with his enemies and ours. 
 But the battle was the Lord's. Therefore, 
 though he trod the wine-press alone, and of 
 the people there was none with him (Isaiah 
 lxiii. 3), his own arm brought him salvation. 
 He is conqueror of sin, Satan, and death. We 
 were under the power of these ; therefore, for 
 our sakes, he engaged in conflict with their 
 united force. He fought, he bled, he died ; 
 but in dying, he conquered. The strength of 
 sin is the law' ; this strength, he subdued, by 
 obeying the precepts of the law, and sustain- 
 ing the penalty due to our transgressions. He 
 destroyed death, and disarmed it of its sting. 
 He destroyed him that hath the power of 
 death, Satan. He shook, he overturned the 
 foundations of his kingdom, broke open his 
 prison-doors, released his prisoners, delivered 
 the prey out of the hand of the mighty, and 
 having spoiled principalities and powers, he 
 made a show of them openly, triumphing over 
 them in it, that is, in his cross, Col. ii. 15. 
 The apostle alludes to the manner of a 
 Roman triumph, in which the conqueror was 
 drawn in a chariot of state, attended by his 
 officers and soldiers ; the principal prisoners 
 followed in chains, and all the treasures and 
 trophies gained from the vanquished enemy 
 were displayed to adorn the procession. Thus 
 Messiah subdued the strength and policy of 
 the powers of darkness, in the hour of his 
 lowest humiliation, when he hung and ex- 
 pired upon ti.e cross, and triumphed over 
 them, gloriously leading captivity captive, 
 when he ascended on high, Psal. lxviii. 18. 
 Satan, though still an enemy to his church 
 and cause, is despoiled of his dominion ; his 
 power is only permissive, and in his fiercest as- 
 saults he is limited by bounds which he cannot 
 pass, by a chain which he cannot break ; and 
 all his attempts are controuled and over-ruled, 
 to the furtherance of the cause which he would 
 suppress, and to the good of the persons w hom 
 
 MESSIAH TO GLORY. SKR. xxVi 
 
 he would worry and destroy. Thev are made 
 acquainted w’ith his devices, fun.islied with 
 armour sufficient to repel him, and they fight 
 under encouragement of a sure promise, that 
 the God of peace will shortly and finally bruise 
 Satan under their feet. As Messiah, their 
 King, has conquered for them, so they, in 
 due time, shall be made more than conquer- 
 ors, by faith in his blood, and in the word of 
 his testimony. 
 
 III. The title of King of glory, I under- 
 stand as peculiarly applicable to him in the 
 character of Mediator. The glory of his di- 
 vine nature is essential to him. But in con- 
 sequence of his obedience unto death, he ob- 
 tained, in the human nature, a name that is 
 above every name, Phil. ii. 9. He suffered 
 as a man, yea, as a malefactor ; there w r as no 
 appearance of glory in that form of a servant 
 which he assumed for our sakes. Though 
 without sin, he was made in the likeness of 
 sinful flesh, subject to poverty, disgrace, and 
 death ; but the same man who was crucified, 
 dead, and buried, received glory and autho- 
 rity at his resurrection, and was highly exalted 
 to the administration of all dominion and go- 
 vernment. Perhaps the word glory is not 
 easily defined. We conceive it as expressing 
 brightness and splendour. The glory of Solo- 
 mon w'as the combined effect of his wisdom, 
 power, and riches ; which distinguished him 
 in his character, conduct, and appearance, from 
 other men. The glory of thesun is his effulgence 
 and influence. The word glory , when applied 
 to the blessed God, seems to denote that ma- 
 nifestation of himself, by which his intelligent 
 creatures are capable of knowing him ; for in 
 himself he is infinite, inaccessible, and incom- 
 prehensible, and dwelleth in that light which 
 no man, which no creature, can approach unto, 
 1 Tim. vi. 16. Of this manifestation there 
 are various degrees. H is glory shines in the 
 creation. Not only do the heavens declare it 
 by their immensity (Ps. xix. 1), and furnish 
 us with an idea of his unspeakable greatness, 
 who has sent forth ten thousand worlds, to 
 tell us that he resides above them all ; but the 
 smallest of his works, the grass and flowers of 
 the field, and the insects which creep upon the 
 ground (Ps. civ. 24, 25), bear an impression 
 of his wisdom and goodness, an inimitable cri- 
 terion of his wonder-working hand, which so 
 far displays his glory. To an attentive and 
 discerning mind, his glory shines in his pro- 
 vidence ; in his preserving the world w’hich 
 he has made ; in supplying the various wants 
 of his creatures, and particularly in his moral 
 government of mankind. Here, besides his 
 wisdom, power, and general goodness, w r e dis- 
 cover some traces of his character as the right- 
 eous Judge of the earth. But to our limited 
 capacities and views this glory is obscured by 
 many difficulties. Though righteousness and 
 judgment are the habitation of his throne, yet 
 
SER. XXVI. 
 
 THE ASCENSION OF 
 
 clouds and darkness are round about him, 
 Ps. xcvii. 2. By his holy word, his revealed 
 will, we are favoured with a still brighter dis- 
 play of his glory, in the perfections of holi- 
 ness, justice, truth, and mercy, which fallen 
 man is unable clearly to discover in his works 
 of creation and providence. But chiefly his 
 Son is the brightness of his glory, and the ex- 
 press image of his person, Heb. i. 3. No one 
 hath seen God at any time, but the only -begot- 
 ten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father 
 (John i. 18), intimately acquainted with his 
 counsels, he hath declared him. This was 
 the great design of his advent, to make God 
 known to man : for as it is life eternal to know 
 the only true God ; so he is only to be known 
 in and by Jesus Christ, whom he hath sent 
 (John xvii. 3), and who is the way and the 
 door, and there is no entrance to the know- 
 ledge of God but by him. In the person and 
 work of Messiah, the light of the knowledge 
 of the glory of God, the brightness and har- 
 mony of all his attributes, is transcendently 
 revealed. In this sense, he is the Lord, the 
 King of glory. When we are enlightened by 
 the Holy Spirit, to conceive of him according 
 to the testimony given of him in the scripture, 
 we see the glory of God. Other discoveries 
 of it are but scattered rays and emanations of 
 light ; but in Jesus the glory of God resides 
 in its source and fulness, as light in the sun. 
 He is therefore the King of glory. 
 
 IV. As the acknowledged King of glory, 
 in the nature of man, he ascended ; the ever- 
 lasting gates unfolded wide, and he entered 
 into the holy place, not made with hands, 
 there to appear in the presence of God for his 
 people : 
 
 1. As their representative. The glory is 
 properly his own, the benefit redounds to his 
 people. Sin had excluded them from the king- 
 dom ; but he claimed and took possession in 
 their name, Heb. vi. 20. Hence he is styled 
 their forerunner, because by virtue of their re- 
 lation to him, and their interest in him, they 
 shall surely follow him. This is the encou- 
 ragement of believers. Fie is the head of his 
 body the church • and though the church, 
 while in this world, is in a suffering perilous 
 state ; yet as the body of a man is not in dan- 
 ger of drowning while his head is out of the 
 water, so our forerunner and head being in. 
 heaven on their behalf, he will assuredly draw 
 all his living members to himself. He has 
 said, “ Because I live, ye shall live also,” John 
 xiv. 19. And he has stipulated for them, that 
 they shall, each in his appointed time, be with 
 him where he is, to behold his glory, John 
 xvii. 24. 
 
 2. As their High-priest and Intercessor. 
 He presents their persons and their prayers 
 acceptable to God. He bears the iniquity of 
 their holy things. With this encouragement, 
 weak and unworthy as they are in themselves, 
 and though their best services are polluted, 
 
 MESSIAH TO GLORY. 733 
 
 they find a liberty of access; and because he 
 ever liveth, thus to make intercession for all 
 who come unto God by him (Heb. vii. 25), 
 they know that he is able to save them to the 
 uttermost. 
 
 3. Though the heavens must receive and 
 contain his holy human nature till the resti- 
 tution of all things, he is not unmindful of 
 them in their present circumstances. He is 
 seated upon the throne of universal dominion, 
 and he exercises his authority and rule with 
 an especial view to their welfare. While he 
 pleads for them on high, by the power of his 
 Spirit, he is present with them below. He 
 comforts their hearts, enlivens their assemblies, 
 and manages their concerns. He is their Shep- 
 herd, who gives them food, controuls their 
 enemies, revives their fainting spirits, and re- 
 stores their wanderings, Psal. xxiii. His ear 
 is open to their prayers, his eye is upon them 
 in every situation, and his arm stretched forth 
 for their relief. Therefore, though persecut- 
 ed, they are not forsaken ; though cast down, 
 they are not destroyed. And he has promised 
 that he will not leave them, until he has 
 done all that for them which his word has 
 taught them to hope for ; until he has made 
 them victorious over all their enemies, and put 
 the conqueror’s song in their mouths, and a 
 crown of life upon their heads. 
 
 This High and Holy One, this King of glo- 
 ry, who is seated on the throne of heaven, 
 dwelleth also in the humble and lowly spirit. 
 He thus solemnly claims the throne of the 
 heart of each of his people, which in a state 
 of nature is usurped by self and Satan ; and 
 he is thus willingly acknowledged and ad- 
 mitted in the day of his power. Behold ! he 
 stands at the door, and knocks (Rev. iii. 
 20) ; and because he is as yet unknown, he 
 is for a while rejected. The bolts and bars of 
 prejudice and unbelief withstand his entrance. 
 But when he comes on a purpose of 
 grace, he will take no denial. For a season 
 he waits to be gracious. But he has an ap- 
 pointed hour, when he reveals his great 
 name, and makes the soul sensible who he is ! 
 Then the gates cf brass and bars of iron are 
 broken before him. His greatness and his 
 goodness, what he is in himself, and what he 
 has done and suffered for sinners, are motives 
 which cannot be resisted when they are truly 
 understood. Satan, who, as the strong one 
 armed, long laboured to hinder him from his 
 rightful possession, is himself dispossessed. 
 The soul laments its former obstinacy, throws 
 down its arms, throws wide open its doors, 
 and bids the King of glory welcome. Then 
 old things pass away, and all things become 
 new. Such was the change the poor man ex- 
 perienced, out of whom Jesus cast a legion of 
 evil spirits. At first, if he could, he would 
 have prevented his kind purpose ; he was 
 afraid of his deliverer, and said, “ I beseech 
 thee torment me not.” Mark v. 7. How 
 
SER. XXVII. 
 
 734 MESSIAH THE 
 
 wretched was his state then, miserable in him- 
 self, and a terror to others ! But what a won- 
 derful and happy alteration, when he sat quiet- 
 ly at his Saviour’s feet, clothed and in his right 
 mind ! 
 
 I close the subject with the apostle’s infer- 
 ence, “ Seeing then that we have so great a 
 high-priest, who is passed into the heavens, 
 Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our pro- 
 fession.” Heb. iv. 14. Let not those who 
 know him be ashamed of their attachment to 
 him. You will not repent in a dying hour, 
 that you once thought too highly of him, or 
 expected too much from him, or devoted your- 
 selves with too much earnestness to his service. 
 Nor yield to unbelief and fear. Though your 
 enemies are many and mighty, and your trials 
 great, greater is he that is w ith you. If the 
 Lord, the Lord of hosts, the Lord strong and 
 mighty in battle, be for you, who can be against 
 you, so as effectually to harm you ? Continue 
 instant in prayer, persevere in well-doing. 
 Our ascended Lord will one day return ; and 
 then they who have loved and served, and 
 trusted him here, shall appear with him in 
 glory, Col. iii. 4. 
 
 Others, if they can, must prepare to meet 
 him. But alas ! how shall they stand before 
 him ? Or whither shall they flee from him 
 whose presence filleth the heavens and the 
 earth ? Jer. xxiii. 24. Have they an arm like 
 God ? or can they thunder with a voice like 
 his ? As yet he is proclaimed by the gospel, a 
 Saviour, seated upon a throne of grace, stretch- 
 ing forth the golden sceptre of his love, and 
 inviting sinners to be reconciled. Now is the 
 accepted time. Hereafter he will be seen up- 
 on a throne of judgment, to take vengeance 
 of his enemies. 
 
 SERMON XXVII. 
 
 MESSIAH THE SON OF GOD. 
 
 For unto which of the angels said he at any 
 time , Thou art my Son. this day have I be- 
 gotten thee ? Hebrews, i 5. 
 
 Though every part of a revelation from God 
 must of course be equally true, there may be 
 a considerable difference even among truths 
 proposed by the same authority, with respect 
 to their immediate importance. There are 
 fundamental truths, the knowledge of which 
 is essentially necessary to our peace and holi- 
 ness : and there are others of a secondary 
 nature, which, though very useful in their 
 proper connection, and though the right ap- 
 prehension of them is greatly conducive to the 
 comfort and establishment of a believer, are 
 not so necessary, but that he may be a true 
 believer before he clearly understands them. 
 
 SON OF GOD. 
 
 Thus our Lord pronounced Peter blessed 
 (Matt. xvi. 17), for his acknowledgment of a 
 truth, which had been revealed to him, not by 
 flesh and blood, but from above, though he 
 was at that time very deficient in doctrinal 
 knowledge. It is not easy to draw' the line 
 here, and precisely to distinguish between fun- 
 damental and secondary truths ; yet some at- 
 tention to this distinction is expedient ; and 
 the want of such attention has greatly contri- 
 buted to foment and embitter controversies in 
 the Church of Christ ; while fallible men, 
 from a mistaken zeal for the faith once deliv- 
 ered to the saints, have laboured to enforce 
 all their religious sentiments with an equal and 
 indiscriminate vehemence. It is evident, that 
 the truths essential to the very being of a 
 Christian must be known and experienced by 
 all, of every nation, people, and language, 
 who are taught of God (Is. liv. 13) ; for they, 
 and they only, are Christians indeed, wdio are 
 thus taught. And therefore it seems to fol- 
 low, that no doctrine, however true in itself, 
 which humble and spiritual persons, who study 
 the scriptures with prayer, and really depend 
 upon divine teaching, are not agreed in, can 
 be strictly fundamental. And perhaps the 
 chief part of the apparent diversity of their 
 sentiments does not so often respect the truth 
 itself, as the different acceptation they put 
 upon the words and phrases by which they en- 
 deavour to express their meaning to each 
 other. 
 
 However, if there be any doctrine funda- 
 mental, and necessary to be rightly under- 
 stood, what the scriptures teach concerning 
 the person of Messiah the Redeemer, must be 
 eminently so. Mistakes upon this point must 
 necessarily be dangerous. It cannot be a 
 question of mere speculation, whether the Sa- 
 viour be God or a creature ; he must either 
 be the one or the other ; and the whole frame 
 of our religion is unavoidably dependent upon 
 the judgment we form of him. If he be a 
 man only, or if he be an angel, though of the 
 highest order, and possessed of excellencies 
 peculiar to himself ; still, upon the supposi- 
 tion that he is but a creature, he must be in- 
 finitely inferior to his Maker, in comparison 
 of whose immensity the difference between an 
 angel and a w r orm is annihilated. Then all 
 they who pay divine worship to Jesus, who 
 love him above all, trust him with all their 
 concerns for time and eternity, and address 
 him in the language of Thomas, “ My Lord, 
 and my God” (John xx. 28), are involved in 
 the gross and heinous crime of idolatry, by as- 
 cribing to him that glory which the great God 
 has declared he will not give to another, Is. 
 xlii. 8. On the contrary, if he be God over 
 all blessed for ever, Jehovah, the Lord of 
 hosts, then they w'ho refuse him the honour 
 due unto his name, worship they know not 
 what, John iv. 22. For there is but one God; 
 and, according to this plan, they who know 
 
SER. XXVII. 
 
 MESSIAH THE SON OF GOD. 
 
 him not in Christ, know him not at all, but 
 are without God in the world, Ephes. ii. 12. 
 The judgment we form of the Saviour de- 
 monstrates likewise how far we know our- 
 selves. For it may be fairly presumed, that 
 they who think a creature capable of making 
 atonement for their sins, or of sustaining the 
 office of Shepherd and bishop of their souls, 
 have too slight thoughts, both of the evil of 
 sin, and of the weakness and wickedness of 
 the human heart. 
 
 We ascribe it therefore to the wisdom and 
 goodness of God, that a doctrine so import- 
 ant ; the very pillar and ground of truth, is 
 not asserted once or in a few places of scrip- 
 ture only. It does not depend upon texts 
 which require a nice skill in criticism, or a 
 collation of ancient manuscripts, to settle 
 their sense ; but, like the blood in the animal 
 economy, it pervades and enlivens the whole 
 system of revelation. The books of Moses, 
 the Psalms, and the Prophets, all testify of 
 Him, who was styled the Son of God in so 
 peculiar a sense, that the apostle, in this pas- 
 sage, considers it as a sufficient proof that he 
 is by nature superior to all creatures. The 
 form of the question implies the strongest as- 
 sertion of this superiority ; as if he had said, 
 Conceive of the highest and most exalted of the 
 angels, it would be absurd to suppose that 
 God would say to him, “ Thou art my Son, 
 this day have I begotten thee.” 
 
 The verse contains three terms which re- 
 quire explanation, My Son — Begotten — This 
 day. But who is sufficient for these things ? 
 If I attempt to explain them, I wish to speak 
 with a caution and modesty becoming the 
 sense I ought to have of my own weakness, 
 and to keep upon safe ground ; lest, instead 
 of elucidating so sublime a subject, I should 
 darken counsel by words without knowledge. 
 And I know of no safe ground to go upon in 
 these inquiries, but the sure testimony of 
 scripture. It would be to the last degree im- 
 proper to indulge flights of imagination, or a 
 spirit of curiosity or conjecture upon this oc- 
 casion. These are the deep things of God, 
 in which, if we have not the guidance of his 
 word and Spirit, we shall certainly bewilder 
 ourselves. Nor would I speak in a positive 
 dogmatizing strain ; at the same time I trust 
 the scripture will afford light sufficient to pre- 
 serve us from a cold and comfortless uncer- 
 tainty. 
 
 The gracious design of God in affording us 
 bis holy scripture, is to make us wise unto 
 salvation, 2 Tim. iii. 15. His manner of 
 teaching is therefore accommodated to our 1 
 circumstances. He instructs us in heavenly 
 things by earthly. And to engage our confi- 
 dence, to excite our gratitude, to animate us 
 to our duty by the most affecting motives ; 
 and that the reverence we owe to his great 
 and glorious Majesty, as our Creator and Le- 
 gislator, may be combined with love and 
 
 n?,5 
 
 cheerful dependence, be is pleased to reveal 
 himself by those names which express the 
 nearest relation and endearment amongst our- 
 selves. Thus he condescends to style himself 
 the Father, the Husband, and the Friend of 
 his people. But though in this way we are 
 assisted in forming our conceptions of his 
 love, compassion, and faithfulness, it is ob- 
 vious that these names, when applied to him, 
 must be understood in a sense agreeable to 
 the perfections of his nature, and in many re- 
 spects different from the meaning they bear 
 amongst men. And thus, when we are in- 
 formed that God has a Son, an only Son, an 
 only begotten Son, it is our part to receive his 
 testimony, to admire and adore ; and for an 
 explanation adapted to our profit and com- 
 fort, we are to consult, not our own precon- 
 ceived ideas, but the further declarations of 
 his word, comparing spiritual things with spi- 
 ritual, attending with the simplicity of chil- 
 dren to his instructions, and avoiding, as much 
 as possible, those vain reasonings, upon points 
 above our comprehension, which, though flat- 
 tering to the pride of our hearts, are sure to 
 indispose us for the reception of divine truth. 
 A distinction in the divine nature, inconceiv- 
 able by us, but plainly revealed in terms, must 
 be admitted, upon the testimony and authori- 
 ty of him, who alone can instruct us in what 
 we are concerned to know of his adorable es- 
 sence. “ There are three that bear record in 
 heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy 
 Ghost, and these three are one,” 1 John v. 7. 
 To each of these three the perfections of Deity 
 are attributed and ascribed in various parts of 
 scripture. Each of them therefore is God ; 
 and yet we are sure, both from scripture and 
 reason, there is, there can be but one God. 
 Thus far we can go safely ; and that we can 
 go no farther, that our thoughts are lost and 
 overwhelmed, if we attempt to represent to 
 ourselves how or in what manner three are 
 one, and one are three, may be easily account- 
 ed for, if any just reason can be given, why a 
 worm cannot comprehend infinity. Let us 
 first, if we can, account for the nature, essence, 
 and properties of the things with which, as to 
 their effects, we are familiarly acquainted. 
 Let us explain the growth of a blade of grass, 
 or the virtues of the loadstone. Till we are 
 able to do this, it becomes us to lay our hands 
 upon our mouths, and our mouths in the dust. 
 Far from attempting to explain the doctrine 
 of the Trinity to my hearers, I rather wish to 
 leave an impression upon your minds, that it 
 is to us (and perhaps to the highest created 
 intelligences) incomprehensible. But if it be 
 contained in the scripture (which I must 
 leave to your own consciences to determine in 
 the sight of God), it is thereby sufficiently 
 proved, and humble faith requires no other 
 proof. 
 
 Allow me to confirm my own sentiments, 
 by an observation of a celebrated French 
 
736 
 
 writer* to the following purport: — “ The 
 whole difference, with respect to this subject, 
 between the common people and the learned 
 doctors, is — that while they are both equally 
 ignorant, the ignorance of the people is mo- 
 dest and ingenuous, and they do not blush for 
 being unable to see what God has thought fit 
 to conceal. Whereas the ignorance of their 
 teachers is proud and affected : they have re- 
 course to scholastic distinctions, and abstract 
 reasonings, that they may not be thought upon 
 a level with the vulgar.” 
 
 The form of baptism prescribed by our Lord 
 for the use of his church, is thus expressed, 
 “ Baptizing them in the name of the Father, 
 and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,” 
 Matth. xxviii. 1 9. It is evident, by compar- 
 ing this sentence with that which I before re- 
 cited from the Epistle of John, that the Word 
 and the Son are synonymous terms, expres- 
 sive of the same character. They are both the 
 titles of Messiah. Of him John spoke, when 
 he said, “ The Word was made flesh, and 
 dwelt among us ;” and of him God the Father 
 said, “ Thou art my Son, this day have I be- 
 gotten thee.” Had God spoken thus to an 
 angel, it would have been in effect saying. 
 Thou art the Word, which in the beginning 
 was with God, and was God, by whom all things 
 were made. But to which of all the angels 
 would the great God use language like this? 
 
 Our Lord, in his conference with Nicode- 
 mus, was pleased to say, “ God so loved the 
 world, that he gave his only begotten Son,” 
 &c. John iii. 16. It was undoubtedly his 
 design, by this expression, to give to Nicode- 
 mus, and to us, the highest idea possible of 
 the love of God to sinners. He so loved the 
 world, beyond description or comparison, that 
 he gave his only begotten Son. Surely then 
 the gift spoken of must not be limited to sig. 
 nify the human nature only. This was not 
 all that he gave. The human nature was the 
 medium of the acts and sufferings of Messiah : 
 but he who assumed it was the Word, who 
 was before all, and by whom all tilings were 
 made. It is true the human nature was given, 
 supernaturally formed by divine power, and 
 born of a virgin. But he who was in thebe- 
 ginning God with God, was given to appear, 
 obey, and suffer, in the nature of man for us, 
 and for our salvation. And to him are as- 
 cribed the perfections and attributes of Deity ; 
 for which the highest angels are no more ca- 
 pable than the worms which creep upon the 
 earth. 
 
 I cannot, therefore, suppose, that the title 
 of Son of God is merely a title of office, or be- 
 longing only to the nature which he assumed ; 
 but that Messiah is the Son of God, as he is 
 God and man in one person. If the forming 
 a perfect and spotless man, like Adam when 
 he was first created, could have affected our 
 
 SEK. XXVII 
 salvation, it would have been a great and un- 
 deserved mercy to have vouchsafed the gift; 
 but I think it would not have required such 
 very strong language as the scripture uses in 
 describing the gift of the Son of God. The 
 God-man, the whole person of Christ, was 
 sent, came forth from the Father. The man- 
 hood was the offering ; but the Word of God, 
 possessed of the perfections of Deity, was the 
 altar necessary to sanctify the gift, and to give 
 a value and efficacy to the atonement. 
 
 The term begotten, expresses with us the 
 ground of relation between father and son, 
 and upon which an only son is the heir of a fa- 
 ther. I feel and confess myself at a loss here. 
 I might take up your time, and perhaps con- 
 ceal my own ignorance, by borrowing from 
 the writings of wiser and better men than my- 
 self, a detail of what have been generally re- 
 puted the more prevailing orthodox sentiments 
 on this subject. But 1 dare not go beyond 
 my own ideas. I shall not, therefore, attempt 
 to explain the phrase, eternal generation, be- 
 cause I must acknowledge that I do not clear- 
 ly understand it myself. Long before time 
 began, the purpose of constituting the Media- 
 tor between God and sinners was established 
 in the divine counsels. With reference to this, 
 he himself speaks, in the character of the Wis- 
 dom of God : “ The Lord possessed me in 
 the beginning of his way, before his works of 
 old. I was set up from everlasting, from the 
 beginning, or ever the earth was. Then I 
 was by him, as one brought up with him, re 
 joicing always before him ; rejoicing in the 
 habitable parts of the earth, and my delights 
 were with the sons of men,” Prov. viii. 22, 
 31. If the Word of God had not engaged, ac- 
 cording to an everlasting and sure covenant, 
 to assume our nature, and to accomplish our 
 salvation, before the earth was formed, he 
 would not have appeared afterwards ; for we 
 cannot with reason conceive of any new de- 
 terminations arising in the mind of the infi- 
 nite God, to whom what we call the past and 
 the future are equally present. In this sense 
 (if the expression be proper to convey such a 
 sense), I can conceive that he was the begot- 
 ten Son of God from eternity ; that is, set up 
 and appointed from eternity for the office, na- 
 ture, and work, by which, in the fulness of 
 time, he was manifested to men. But if the 
 terms, begotten, or eternal generation, be used 
 to denote the manner of his eternal existence 
 in Deity, I must be silent. I believe him to 
 be the eternal Son ; I believe him to be the 
 eternal God ; and I wish not to exercise my 
 thoughts and inquiries more than is needful, 
 in things which are too high for me. 
 
 The scripture, in different places, evident- 
 ly applies the purport of this phrase, “ I have 
 begotten thee,” to transactions which took place 
 in time, This day, and particularly to two 
 principal events. 
 
 1. His incarnation. — Thus the angel to 
 
 MESSIAH THE SON OF GOD. 
 
 * Abbadie. 
 
SER. XXVIII. 
 
 737 
 
 MESSIAH WORSHIPPED BY ANGELS. 
 
 Mary, “ The Holy Ghost shall come upon 
 thee, and the- power of the Highest shall over- 
 shadow thee ; therefore also that holy thing 
 which shall be born of thee, shall be called the 
 Son of God,” Luke, i. 35. So the apostle, 
 “ In the fulness of time God sent forth his Son 
 made of a woman,” Gal. iv. 4. And in the 
 passage we are next to consider, “ When he 
 bringeth his first begotten into the world, he 
 saith, And let all the angels of God worship 
 him.” 
 
 2. His resurrection. — To this purpose our 
 text is quoted from the second Psalm. “ The 
 promise which was made unto the fathers, 
 God hath fulfilled the same to the children, 
 in that he hath raised up Jesus again ; as it is 
 also written in the second Psalm, Thou art 
 my Son, this day have I begotten thee,” Acts 
 xiii. 32, 33. And in another place he teaches 
 us, that he who was of the seed of David, ac- 
 cording to the flesh, was declared to be the Son 
 of God with power, according to the Spirit of 
 holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, 
 Rom. i. 4. 
 
 After all, I would remind you, that the 
 best knowledge of the doctrine of the person 
 of Christ, that which affords life and comfort 
 to the soul, is to be obtained, not so much by 
 inquiry and study on our part, as by a graci- 
 ous manifestation on his part. Prayer, atten- 
 tion to the great Teacher, a humble perusal 
 of the scripture, and a course of simple obedi- 
 ence to his known will, are the methods which 
 he has prescribed for our growth in grace, and 
 in the knowledge of himself. Thus even babes 
 are made wise ; while they who are wise and 
 prudent in their own sight, the more they en- 
 deavour to investigate and ascertain the sense 
 of scripture, are frequently involved more and 
 more in perplexity. He has given a promise 
 and direction, for the encouragement of those 
 who sincerely seek him. “ He that hath my 
 commandments and keepeth them, he it is that 
 loveth me ; and he that loveth me shall be 
 loved of my Father, and I will love him, and 
 will manifest myself unto him.” John xiv. 
 21 . 
 
 This is he with whom we have to do. In 
 and by this Son of his love, we have access by 
 faith unto God. Unworthy and helpless in 
 ourselves, from hence we derive our plea ; 
 here we find a refuge ; and on this we rest, and 
 build our hope, that God hath given us eter- 
 nal life, and this life is in his Son ; who is so 
 much better than the angels, as he hath by in- 
 heritance obtained a more excellent name than 
 they, Heb. i. 4. 
 
 SERMON XXVIII. 
 
 MESSIAH WORSHIPPED BY ANGELS. 
 
 Let all the angels of God worship him. 
 
 Hebrews, i 6. 
 
 Many of the Lord’s true servants have been 
 in a situation so nearly similar to that of Eli- 
 jah (1 Kings xix. 10), that like him they have 
 been tempted to think they were left to serve 
 him alone. But God had then a faithful 
 people, and he has so in every age. The 
 preaching of the gospel may be compared to 
 a standard erected, to which they repair, and 
 thereby become known to each other, and 
 more exposed to the notice and observation of 
 the world. But we hope there are always 
 many, who are enlightened by his word and 
 Holy Spirit, and training up in the life of 
 faith and holiness, known and dear to God, 
 though they have little advantage from public 
 ordinances, and perhaps no opportunity of 
 conversing with those who are like-minded 
 with themselves. But even though the num- 
 ber of those who visibly profess the gospel of 
 the grace of God were much smaller than it 
 is, we need not be disheartened. If our sight 
 could pierce into the invisible world, we should 
 be satisfied that there are more with us than 
 against us, 2 Kings vi. 16. And such a pow- 
 er is attributed to faith. It is the evidence of 
 things not seen (Heb. xi. l), because it re- 
 ceives the testimony of scripture, and rests up- 
 on it, as a certainty, and a demonstration ; re- 
 quiring no other proof, either of doctrines or 
 facts, than that they are contained in the sure 
 word of God. True Christians therefore are 
 comforted by the assurance they have that 
 their Saviour, the Lord of their hearts, is not 
 so neglected and despised, nor his character so 
 misunderstood and misrepresented in yonder 
 land of light, as in this dark and degenerate 
 world. Though too many here, like Festus, 
 treat it as a matter of great indifference, whe- 
 ther Jesus be dead or alive (Acts xxv. 19); 
 and ask them with a taunt, What is your Be- 
 loved more than another beloved? they are 
 not ashamed, for they know whom they have 
 believed ; and if men will not join with them 
 in admiring and praising him, they are sure 
 that they have the concurrence of far superior 
 beings. By faith they behold him seated up- 
 on a throne of glory, adored by all holy and 
 happy intelligent creatures, whether angels, 
 principalities, powers, or dominions. And 
 when he was upon earth, in a state of humili- 
 ation, though despised and rejected of men, 
 he was seen and acknowledged by angels. 
 Their warrant and ours is the same. He is 
 proposed to us as the object of our supreme 
 love and dependence ; and as we are enjoined 
 to kiss the Son and to pay him homage, so 
 3 H 
 
SER. XXVIII. 
 
 MESSIAH WORSHIPPED BY ANGELS. 
 
 738 
 
 when God brought him into the world, he said, 
 “ Let all the angels of God worship him.” 
 
 Though the bringing Messiah, the first or 
 only begotten, into the world, may, as I have 
 observed already, be applied to his incarnation, 
 or to his resurrection, I apprehend it rather 
 designs the whole of his exhibition in the flesh. 
 At his ascension, having finished the work ap- 
 pointed for him to do, he was solemnly invest- 
 ed with authority and glory, and sat down at 
 the right hand of the Majesty on high. But 
 in his lowest, no less than in his exalted state, 
 the dignity of his divine person is the same, 
 yesterday, to-day, and for ever. He was al- 
 ways the proper object of worship. It was 
 agreeable to right, and to the nature of things, 
 and a command worthy of God, that all the 
 angels of God should worship him. 
 
 The holy angels that excel in strength (Ps. 
 ciii. 20), always do his commandments, hear- 
 kening to the voice of his word. We might 
 be certain, therefore, that this highest and most 
 comprehensive command a creature is capable 
 of receiving from his Creator, is fulfilled by 
 them, even if we had no express information 
 of the fact. But we have repeated assurances 
 to this purpose. Thus Isaiah, when he saw 
 his glory and spake of him, “ saw the seraphim 
 standing ; each one had six wings ; with twain 
 he covered his face, and with twain he cover- 
 ed his feet, and with twain he did fly. And 
 one cried unto another, saying, Holy, holy, 
 holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is 
 full of his glory,” Is. vi. I see not how the 
 force of the argument arising from this pas- 
 sage, to prove that Messiah is the proper ob- 
 ject of the most solemn adoration which crea- 
 tures can offer to the Most High, can be 
 evaded ; unless any were hardy enough to as- 
 sert, either that the prophet was himself im- 
 posed upon, or has imposed upon us, by a 
 false vision ; or else that the apostle John 
 (chap. xii. 41 ) was mistaken when he applied 
 this representation to Jesus Christ. But the 
 apostle likewise had a vision to the same ef- 
 fect, in which, while his people redeemed from 
 the earth by his blood cast their crowns at his 
 feet, the angels were also represented as join- 
 ing in the chorus of their praises, saying with 
 a loud voice, “ Worthy is the lamb that was 
 slain, to receive power, and riches, and wis- 
 dom, and strength, and honour, and glory, 
 and blessing,” Rev. v. 12. In brief, he is the 
 Lord of angels. The heavenly host waited 
 upon him, and sung his praises at his birth. 
 Angels ministered unto him in the wilderness, 
 Luke ii. 13, 14. And they are so entirely 
 his servants, that, at his command, they are 
 sent forth to minister unto, and to attend 
 upon his believing people. Are they not all 
 ministering ( Xurou^ytxa., worshipping) spirits, 
 adoring the divine Majesty, yet sent forth 
 to minister (tig 'htetxoiietv, for service) to the 
 heirs of salvation? Heb. i. 14 He is like- 
 wise the head of angels, though they are not 
 
 in the same near relation to him as the sinners 
 whom he has redeemed with his blood ; for 
 he took not on him their nature. There was 
 no redemption appointed for the angels who 
 kept not their first habitation. But the con- 
 firmation of those who continue in holiness 
 and happiness, is in and through him, “ For 
 all things both which are in heaven, and which 
 are on earth, are gathered together in one 
 (. dvaxiCpaXaiuffecerffai , reduced under one head 
 into one body) in him,” Ephes. i. 10. And 
 they are therefore styled, in contradistinction 
 from the others, the Elect angels, 1 Tim. v. 
 21. He is their life, and strength, and joy, 
 as he is ours, though they cannot sing the 
 whole song of his people. It is appropriate 
 to the saved from amongst men to say, This 
 God shines glorious in our nature ! he loved 
 us, and gave himself for us ! 
 
 Here, then, as I have intimated, is a pat- 
 tern and encouragement for us. The angels, 
 the whole host of heaven, worship him. He 
 is Lord of all. We in this distant world 
 have heard the report of his glory, have felt 
 our need of such a Saviour, and are, in some 
 degree, witnesses and proofs of his ability and 
 willingness to save. He lived, he died, he 
 rose, he reigns for us. Therefore, humbly 
 depending upon his promised grace, without 
 which we can do nothing, we are resolved, 
 that whatever others do, we must, we will 
 worship him, with the utmost power of our 
 souls. It is our determination and our choice, 
 not only to praise and honour him with our lips, 
 but to devote ourselves to his service, to yield 
 ourselves to his disposal, to entrust our all to 
 his care, and to place our whole happiness in 
 his favour. I hope, in speaking thus, I speak 
 the language of many of your hearts. 
 
 Some reflections easily offer from this sub- 
 ject, with which I shall close it. 
 
 1. They who love him, may rejoice in the 
 thoughts of his glory. They have deeply 
 sympathized with him, when reading the his- 
 tory of his humiliation and passion. It has 
 not been a light concern to them that he en- 
 dured agonies, that he was rejected, reviled, 
 scourged, and slain. He who suffered these 
 things was their best friend, their beloved 
 Lord, and he suffered for their sakes. In the 
 glass of his word and by the light «of his Holy 
 Spirit, he has been set forth as crucified be- 
 fore their eyes, and they have been crucified 
 with him, and have had fellowship with him 
 in his death. From hence they derive their 
 indignation against sin, and their indifference 
 to the world which treated him thus. But 
 now he is no more a man of sorrows; his 
 head, which was once crowned with thorns, is 
 now crowned with glory ; his face, which was 
 defiled with spittle, shines like the sun ; his 
 hands, which were manacled, wield the scep- 
 tre of universal government ; and, instead of 
 being surrounded by insulting men, he is 
 now encircled by adoring angels. Therefore 
 
SER. XXVIII. 
 
 MESSIAH WORSHIPPED BY ANGELS 
 
 they rejoice with joy unspeakable, expecting 
 soon to see him as he is, and to be with him 
 for ever, according to the gracious promises 
 he has made them, and the tenor of his pre- 
 vailing intercession for them. 
 
 2. What an honour does his exaltation and 
 glory reflect upon his faithful followers ? The 
 world that rejected him pays little regard to 
 them ; they are slighted, or scorned, or pi- 
 tied, and, in proportion as they manifest his 
 spirit, experience a degree of the treatment 
 which he met with ; they are accounted vi- 
 sionaries and hypocrites, many of them are 
 great sufferers, and few of them, compara- 
 tively, are distinguished among men by abi- 
 lities, influence, or wealth ; they are pilgrims 
 and strangers upon earth ; yet this God is 
 their God. He who is worshipped by angels 
 is not ashamed to call them brethren, Heb. ii. 
 11. They are nearly related to him who sit- 
 teth upon the throne ; and he is pleased to 
 account them his portion and his jewels. It 
 doth not yet appear what they shall be ; but 
 the day is coming when their mourning shall 
 be ended, their characters vindicated, and they 
 shall shine like the sun in the kingdom of 
 their Lord. They shall stand before him with 
 confidence, and not be ashamed when he ap- 
 pears. Then shall the difference between the 
 righteous and the wicked be clearly discerned. 
 In that day the righteous shall say, “ Lo, this 
 is our God, we have waited for him, and he 
 will save us : this is the Lord, we have waited 
 for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his sal- 
 vation” (Ioa. xxv. 9) : while the others, how- 
 ever once admired or feared by mortals, the 
 kings of the earth, and the great men, and 
 the rich men, and the chief captains, and the 
 mighty men, no less than those of inferior 
 rank, shall tremble, shall wish in vain to con- 
 ceal themselves, and shall say to the moun- 
 tains and rocks, “ Fall on us, and hide us 
 from the face of him that sitteth upon the 
 throne, for the great day of his wrath is 
 come,” Rev. xvi. 15, 16. In that hour, the 
 striking description in the book of Wisdom 
 (which, though apocryphal, is in this passage 
 quite consonant with the declarations of au- 
 thentic scripture) will assuredly be realized. 
 “ Then shall the righteous man stand in great 
 boldness before the face of such as have af- 
 flicted him, and made no account of his la- 
 bours. When they see it, they shall be trou- 
 bled with terrible fear, and shall be amazed 
 at the strangeness of his salvation, so far be- 
 yond all that they looked for ; and they re- 
 penting, and groaning for anguish of spirit, 
 shall say within themselves, This was he whom 
 we had sometimes in derision, and a proverb 
 of reproach. We fools counted his life mad- 
 ness, and his end to be without honour. How 
 is he numbered among the children of God, 
 and his lot is among the saints!” Wisd. v. 
 1—5. 
 
 3. We may well admire the condescension 
 
 739 
 
 of this great King, who humbleth himself 
 even to notice the worship of heaven, that he 
 should look upon the worship of sinful men 
 with acceptance, and permit such worms as we 
 are to take his holy name upon our polluted 
 lips. If we know ourselves, we must be con- 
 scious of such defects and defilement attend- 
 ing our best services, as are sufficient to affect 
 us with shame and humiliation. What wan 
 derings of imagination, what risings of evil 
 thoughts, what unavoidable though unallowed 
 workings of self-complacence, mingle with 
 our prayers and praises, and disturb us in 
 our secret retirements, in the public assem- 
 bly, and even at the table of the Lord ! I 
 hope we know enough of this, to be sensible 
 that we need forgiveness, not only for our po- 
 sitive transgressions of his will, but for our 
 sincerest, warmest, and most enlarged attempts 
 to render him the glory due to his name ! Yet 
 we are incompetent and partial judges of our- 
 selves ; we know but little of the evil of our 
 own hearts, and have but a slight sense of the 
 malignity of that evil which is within our ob- 
 servation. But the Lord searches the heart 
 and the reins ; to him all things are naked, 
 without covering, open, without concealment, 
 Heb. iv. 13. He understandeth our thoughts 
 afar of, and beholdeth us exactly as we are. 
 Our dislike of sin is proportionable to our at- 
 tainments in holiness, which are exceedingly 
 short of the standard. But he is infinitely 
 holy, and therefore evil is unspeakably hateful 
 to him. How vile and abominable therefore 
 must our sins appear in his view ! Indeed, 
 if he were strict to mark what is amiss, we 
 could not stand a moment before him, nor 
 would it be agreeable to his majesty and pu- 
 rity to accept any services or prayers at our 
 hands, if we presumed to offer them in our 
 own name. But now there is an atonement 
 provided, and a way of access to a throne of 
 grace, sprinkled with the blood which speak- 
 eth better things than the blood of Abel. Now 
 that we have an Advocate, Intercessor, and 
 High- Priest to bear the iniquity of our holy 
 things, we are accepted in the Beloved. Now 
 the great and holy God vouchsafes to admit 
 such sinners into communion with himself. 
 He invites us to draw near with boldness ; 
 and because of ourselves we know not how to 
 pray as we ought (Rom. viii. 26), he favours 
 us with the influence of his Holy Spirit. It 
 is a great instance of the power of faith, that, 
 remembering what we have been, and feeling 
 what we are, and having some right apprehen- 
 sion of him with whom we have to do, we are 
 enabled to approach him with confidence, and 
 to open our hearts to him with greater liberty 
 than we can use to our dearest earthly friends. 
 His people know r by many infallible proofs, 
 that his presence is with them in their secret 
 retirements, and in their public assemblies, ac- 
 cording to his promise. He hears and an- 
 swers their prayers, he revives their spirits. 
 
MESSIAH WORSHIPPED BY ANGELS. SER. xxvm. 
 
 740 
 
 lie renews their strength ; he gives them rea- 
 son to say, that a day in his courts is better 
 than a thousand of the world’s days. Such 
 are their expectations, and such, in the exer- 
 cise of faith, is their experience. They wor- 
 ship him whom the angels worship ; and they 
 know, that, unworthy and defective as they 
 are, their worship is no less acceptable to him, 
 than that of the angels in glory, by virtue of 
 their relation to him, who is Lord both of an- 
 gels and men. 
 
 4. Hence we may infer the necessity of 
 that change of heart, which the scripture ex- 
 presses by a new birth, a new life, a new crea- 
 tion, and other representations, which denote 
 it can be effected only by divine power. Till 
 we are the subjects of this operation, we are 
 incapable of enjoying, or even of seeing the 
 kingdom of God, John iii. 3. Though to 
 outward appearance the congregation before 
 me seem all to be serious and attentive, as if 
 engaged in the same design, and animated 
 with the same desire and hope, he to whom 
 our hearts are known, doubtless observes a 
 great difference. Some of you, through cus- 
 tom, or a regard to your connections, brings 
 jou hither, yet must be sensible that this is 
 not your chosen ground, and that these are 
 not the subjects which give you pleasure. We 
 preach Christ Jesus and him crucified — 
 Christ Jesus the Lord. The Lord sees, 
 though I cannot, the indisposition of your 
 hearts towards him. You are soon weary and 
 uneasy ; and you wish to throw the blame of 
 your uneasiness upon the preacher. You re- 
 gard his method, his manner, his expressions, 
 with no friendly intention, in hopes of notic- 
 ing something that may seem to justify your 
 dislike ; and a sermon, not very long in itself, 
 is to you very tedious. We wish well to your 
 souls, we study to find out acceptable words ; 
 for though we dare not trifle with or flatter 
 you, we are unwilling to give you just offence. 
 But if you will be faithful to yourselves, you 
 may perceive that it is not so much the length 
 or the manner, as the subject of our sermons 
 that disgusts you. You would, perhaps, hear 
 with more attention and patience, did we 
 speak less of him whom the angels worship. 
 There are assemblies more suited to your 
 taste, and there are public speakers to whom 
 you can probably afford a willing ear, for a 
 much longer time than we detain you ; be- 
 cause there you are at home. You are of the 
 world, and you love the world. The amuse- 
 ments, the business, the converse, and the cus- 
 toms of the world, suit your inclination. But 
 here you are not, if I may so speak, in your 
 proper element : and yet it may be, there are 
 persons in the same seat with you, who think 
 themselves happy to hear what you hear with 
 indifference or disgust. If you knew your 
 state as a sinner, your need of a Saviour, and 
 the excellency and glory of the Saviour whom 
 we preach to you, you likewise would be 
 
 pleased ; and a preacher of very moderate 
 powers would fix your attention, and gain 
 your esteem, if he preached this gospel. But 
 what ideas do you form of a future state ? 
 Surely you cannot suppose, that in the eternal 
 world you will meet with any of the poor ex- 
 pedients you have recourse to now, for filling 
 up your time, which otherwise would hang 
 heavy upon your hands. To attempt a detail 
 of the round of vanities which constitute a 
 worldly life, would be unsuitable to the dig- 
 nity of the pulpit. Let it suffice, that death 
 will remove you from them all. If they are 
 now necessary to what you account your hap- 
 piness, must you not of course be miserable 
 without them ? If you believe you shall exist 
 hereafter, do you not desire heaven ? But such 
 a heaven as the word of God describes could 
 not afford you happiness, unless your mind be 
 previously changed and disposed to relish it. 
 Neither the employment nor the company of 
 heaven would be pleasing to you. It is a 
 state where all the inhabitants unite in admir- 
 ing and adoring him who died upon the cross. 
 If this subject is displeasing to you here, it 
 would be much more so there. Heaven itself 
 would be a hell to an unhumbled, an unholy 
 soul. Consider this seriously, while there is 
 time to seek his face ; and tremble at the 
 thoughts of being cut off by death in your 
 present state, insensible as you are of who he 
 is, and what he has done for sinners. May 
 he enlighten your understanding, and enable 
 you to see the things pertaining to your true 
 peace, before they are for ever hidden from 
 your eyes \ 
 
 SERMON XXIX. 
 
 GIFTS RECEIVED FOR THE REBELLIOUS. 
 
 Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led cap- 
 tivity captive •• thou hast received gifts for 
 men ; yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord 
 God might dwell among them. Psax. lxviii. 
 18. 
 
 When Joseph exchanged a prison for the 
 chief honour and government of Egypt (Gen. 
 xlv. 4, 5), the advantage of his exaltation was 
 felt by those who little deserved it. His 
 brethren hated, and had conspired to kill him. 
 And though he was preserved from death, 
 they were permitted to sell him for a bond- 
 servant. He owed his servitude, imprison- 
 ment, and sufferings to them ; and they were 
 afterwards indebted to him for their lives, sub- 
 sistence, honour, and comfort ; God in a won- 
 derful manner over-ruling their evil conduct 
 for future good to themselves. Thus Je6us 
 was despised, rejected, and sold ; and he was 
 actually slain. But he arose and ascended. 
 The man of sorrows took possession of the 
 
SER. XXIX. 
 
 GIFTS RECEIVED FOR THE REBELLIOUS. 
 
 throne of glory ; and not for himself only. 
 His honour is the source of happiness to those 
 who were once his enemies, and rebellious 
 against him. For the sake of such he lived 
 and died. For their sakes he lives and reigns. 
 He fought, conquered, and triumphed over 
 their enemies. As their representative, he 
 received gifts to bestow upon them : such 
 gifts as their necessities required, derived from 
 the relation he was pleased to stand in to 
 them, and from the value and dignity of his 
 engagements on their behalf : such gifts as he 
 alone could communicate, and which alone 
 could restore them to the favour of God, and 
 revive his image in their hearts ; so as 1 to 
 make it suitable to his holiness and truth, for 
 the Lord God to return to his polluted 
 temples, and to dwell in them and among 
 them. 
 
 I observed in a former discourse, that this 
 psalm and the twenty-fourth were probably 
 composed and first published on the memor- 
 able occasion, when David, having obtained 
 the victory over his numerous enemies, and 
 settled his kingdom in peace, removed the ark, 
 which till then had no fixed residence, into 
 Zion. The apostle’s application of this pas- 
 sage (Eph. iv. 8), authorizes us to consider 
 that transaction as typical of our Lord’s as- 
 cension. Jesus is the true ark. The holy 
 law of God was in his heart ; his obedience 
 unto death was fully commensurate to the de- 
 mands of the law (Rom. iii. 25); as the 
 mercy-seat, or propitiation, which covered the 
 ark, was exactly equal to its dimensions. He 
 who had thus obeyed on earth, ascended on 
 high, the everlasting gates unfolded, and he 
 entered into the holy place not made with 
 hands, there to appear in the presence of God 
 for us, Heb. ix. 24. In this state he is high- 
 ly exalted upon the throne of glory, and ad- 
 ministers all power in heaven and in earth. 
 From hence is the honour, safety, and happi- 
 ness of those who believe in him. They have 
 nothing to plead for themselves. But un- 
 worthy as they are, he is not ashamed to own 
 them ; and he assures them, that all he did, 
 and that all he has received, so far as they are 
 capable of sharing in it, is for them. The 
 clauses, as they lie in the text, suggest a con- 
 venient method for our meditations, and will 
 lead me briefly to consider four points ; 
 
 His ascension — his victories — the gifts he re- 
 ceived for men — and the great end for which 
 he bestows them. 
 
 I. His ascension — “Thou hast ascended on 
 high.” — God formed man originally for him- 
 self, and gave him an answerable capacity, so 
 that no inferior good can satisfy and fill his 
 mind. Man was likewise, by the constitution 
 and will of his Maker, immortal, provided he 
 pei severed in obedience. But sin degrad- 
 ed and ruined him, shut the gates of paradise 
 and the gates of heaven against him. Man 
 destroyed himself ; but wisdom and mercy in- 
 
 74 1 
 
 terposed for his recovery. A promise was 
 given of the seed of the woman, who should 
 bruise the serpent’s head, defeat his policy, 
 destroy his power, and repair the mischiefs he 
 had introduced by sin. Messiah fulfilled this 
 promise. And when he had finished all that 
 was appointed for him on earth, as the second 
 Adam, the head and representative of his peo- 
 ple, he ascended on high, and opened the king- 
 dom of heaven to all believers. As an illus- 
 trious proof to the universe, that God is re- 
 conciled ; that there is forgiveness with him 
 for sinners who implore his mercy ; one in 
 our nature, and on our behalf, has taken pos- 
 session of the kingdom. The series of texts 
 in this part of the Oratorio recals this subject 
 frequently to our thoughts ; nor can we think 
 of it too often. It is the foundation of our 
 hopes, the source of our sublimest joys, and 
 the sufficient, the only sufficient answer to all 
 the suggestions by which guilt, fear, unbelief, 
 and Satan, fight against our peace. Surround- 
 ed as we are with enemies and difficulties, we 
 plead against every accusation and threaten- 
 ing, that our Head is in heaven ; we have an 
 advocate with the Father, a High- Priest upon 
 the throne, who, because he ever liveth to 
 make intercession, is able to save to the utter- 
 most. This is all our plea, nor do we desire 
 any other. His ascension on high, is a sure 
 pledge that his servants shall follow him, 
 John xii. 26. And even at present, by faith 
 they ascend and are seated with him in the 
 heavenly places, Eph. ii. 6. They behold in- 
 visibles with the eye of their mind ; they re- 
 alize the glorious scene, from which they are 
 separated by the veil of flesh and blood. They 
 know that, even now, day and night, day 
 without night, myriads of golden harps and 
 happy voices resound his praise. The Babe 
 of Bethlehem, the Man who once hung dead 
 and forsaken upon the cross, is now the Lord 
 of glory. In the thought of his glory they 
 greatly rejoice, because they love him, and be- 
 cause they expect shortly to be with him. 
 
 II. His victories — “ Thou hast led capti- 
 vity captive.” The expression is emphatical. 
 He has conquered and triumphed over all the 
 powers which held us in captivity, so that cap- 
 tivity itself is taken captive. The spirit and 
 force of it is destroyed ; and his people, when 
 released by him, and walking in his ways, 
 have no more to apprehend from those whose 
 .captives they were, than a conqueror has to 
 fear from a prisoner in chains. The energy 
 of the phrase is not unlike that of the apostle, 
 which we are hereafter to consider, “ death is 
 swallowed up in victory.” Man by nature is 
 a captive, in a state of confinement and bond- 
 age, from which he cannot escape by any ad- 
 dress or effort of his own. 
 
 He is a captive to sin : a sinful state is a 
 state of bondage ; and this, notwithstanding 
 the sinner is a willing captive, speaks swell- 
 ing words of vanity, and boasts of liberty* 
 
SER. XXIX. 
 
 GIFTS RECEIVED FOR THE REBELLIOUS. 
 
 742 
 
 while he is the servant, the slave of corrup- 
 tion. He is not always, and in every sense, 
 a willing captive. Conscience sometimes re- 
 monstrates, fills him with fears and forebod- 
 ings, which make him struggle to be free. 
 And there are many sins, which, besides being 
 offences against the law of God, are directly 
 contrary to the sinner’s present interest and 
 welfare ; and would be so upon his own plan, 
 and if he was wholly his own master, and had 
 no account to render of his conduct. Per- 
 sons enslaved to habits of lewdness or drunk- 
 enness, need not be told from the pulpit, that 
 the courses they pursue are injurious to their 
 health, their business, or substance, their repu- 
 tation, and their peace. They know it and feel 
 it, without a monitor. There are seasons, when 
 the ill consequences they bring upon them- 
 selves, make them sick of the drudgery, and ex- 
 cite some efforts towards a reform. But in vain. 
 The next return of temptation bears down all 
 their resolutions like a torrent, and, after ev- 
 ery attempt to amend, they usually become 
 worse than before. For none can escape, un- 
 less the Son makes them free. His grace can 
 overcome the most obstinate habits of licen- 
 tiousness, and implant the contrary habits of 
 purity and temperance. But they who are 
 not delivered by him must die in their chains. 
 
 III. The gifts he received for men — “ Thou 
 hast received gifts, even for the rebellious.” 
 To bestow gifts upon the miserable is bounty ; 
 but to bestow them upon rebels, is grace. 
 The greatness of the gifts contrasted with the 
 characters of those who receive them, displays 
 the exceeding riches of the Redeemer’s grace. 
 He came to save, not the unhappy only, but 
 the ungodly. He gives pardon, peace, and 
 eternal life, to his enemies ; whose minds are 
 so entirely alienated from him, that until he 
 makes them willing in the day of his power, 
 their minds are determined against accepting 
 any favour froth him. They live long in con- 
 tempt of the law and authority of God ; and 
 though justly obnoxious to his displeasure, 
 while left to themselves, they despise and re- 
 ject the proposals of his mercy. If they some- 
 times acknowledge themselves to be sinners, 
 they still presume that they are able to pro- 
 cure his favour by their own performances. 
 They strangely imagine they have a sufficient 
 ground of hope, so long as it appears to them- 
 selves that they are not altogether so bad as 
 others. And when, by the gospel, the Lord 
 treats them as sinners already justly condemn- 
 ed by the tenor of his holy laws, and informs 
 them of the exigency of their case ; that no- 
 thing less than the resources of his infinite 
 wisdom, and the most expensive exertion of 
 ois unspeakable love, can possibly save them 
 from destruction; the pride of their hearts 
 rises against his declarations. His wisdom, 
 in their view, is folly ; and his love provokes 
 their enmity and scorn. He says of Messiah, 
 “ This is my beloved Son in w horn I am well 
 
 pleased, hear ye him but the language of 
 their heart is, “ We will not have him to reign 
 over us,” Luke xix. 14. They revile and 
 oppose the messengers of his grace, account 
 them enemies, charge them as troublers of 
 their peace, and as those w r ho turn the world 
 upside down : and, when not restrained by 
 the providence of God, inflict upon them, be- 
 sides, reproaches, stripes, imprisonment, tor- 
 tures, and death. If their dearest friends, and 
 those who are connected with them by the 
 nearest ties of relation, submit to the testimo- 
 ny of God, and yield themselves to the appoint- 
 ed Saviour, they are treated as apostates from 
 the general opinion. This defection from the 
 common cause, is often sufficient to cancel 
 the strongest obligations, to dissolve the clos- 
 est intimacy, to raise a person foes in his own 
 household, and to excite envy, hatred and ma- 
 lice, in those who once professed esteem and 
 love. Can the spirit of rebellion rise higher, 
 than when they who have insulted the autho- 
 rity, defied the power, and resisted the govern- 
 ment and will of the great God, proceed at 
 length to trample upon his tenders of recon- 
 ciliation, and to affront him in that concern 
 which of all others is dearest to him, the glory 
 of his grace in the person of his Son ? Yet 
 this is no exaggerated representation. Such 
 ic the disposition of the heart of man towards 
 God ; such were some of us ; and such, I 
 fear, some of us are to this hour. I do not 
 say, that this enmity of the carnal mind acts, 
 in every person who is not subject to the 
 grace of God, with equal rage and violence. 
 In a land of light, liberty, and civilization, 
 like ours, a variety of circumstances may con- 
 cur to set bounds to its exercise ; education, a 
 natural gentleness of temper, and even inte- 
 rest, may keep it within limits of decorum, 
 especially towards some individuals ; but I 
 affirm, or rather the scriptures declare, that 
 enmity against God, a disaffection to his gos- 
 pel, no less than to his law, and a dislike to 
 those who profess and obey the truth, are 
 principles deeply rooted in our nature, as 
 fallen ; and, however they may seem dormant 
 in some persons for a season, would operate 
 vigorously, if circumstances were so to alter 
 as to afford a fair occasion. For, as of old, 
 he that was born after the flesh persecuted 
 him that w T as born after the Spirit (Gal. iv. 
 29), even so it is now. And it is still as true 
 as in the apostle’s days, that all who will live 
 godly in Christ Jesus (2 Tim. iii. 12), shall, 
 in one degree or form or other, suffer perse- 
 cution from those who will not. 
 
 Thus men are characterized in the word of 
 God : Rebels and enemies, having a neck of 
 iron, to denote their obstinacy; a brow of brass 
 (Isa. xlviii. 4), to express their insolence and 
 presumption; and a heart of stone (Ezekiel, 
 xxxvi. 26), insensible to the softest methods of 
 persuasion, incapable of receiving tender, kind, 
 and generous impressions, though they ar* 
 
SEH. XXIX. GIFTS RECEIVED F< 
 
 wooed and besought by the consideration of 
 the mercies of God, of the dying agonies of 
 Messiah, unless that mighty power be dis- 
 played in their favour, which brought forth 
 streams of water from the rock in the wilder- 
 ness. 
 
 Messiah died, arose, and ascended on high, 
 that he might receive gifts for rebels of this 
 spirit and disposition. The one grand gift I 
 shall specify, is, indeed, comprehensive of 
 every other good, — the gift of the Holy Spi- 
 rit. He said to his sorrowing disciples, “ It 
 is expedient for you that I go away ; for if I 
 go not away, the Comforter will not come un- 
 to you ; but if I depart, I will send him unto 
 you,” John xvi. 7. Soon after his ascen- 
 sion, this promise was fulfilled. The disciples 
 were filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts ii. 4, 
 37), and the people who had slain the Lord 
 were pricked to the heart, repented of their 
 sin, received faith in him whom they had 
 pierced, and experienced joy and peace in be- 
 lieving. 
 
 That the gospel is preached upon earth by 
 a succession of ministers called and furnished 
 for that service, and that the gospel when 
 preached is not rejected by all, as it is by 
 many, is wholly to be ascribed to the agency 
 of the Holy Spirit, whose office and covenant- 
 engagement it is, to convince the world of sin, 
 of righteousness, and of judgment (John xvi. 
 9, 1 1 ), and to glorify Messiah. He opens the 
 eyes of the understanding, subdues the stub- 
 born will, softens, or rather removes the heart 
 of stone, and gives a feeling tender heart, a 
 heart of flesh. Then the rebels relent and sue 
 for mercy ; then they obtain faith, repentance, 
 remission, a full and free salvation, and all 
 the gifts which Messiah has received for 
 them. 
 
 IV. His ultimate design in favour of re- 
 bellious men, the great final cause of his me- 
 diation, and particularly of his bestowing on 
 them the gift of the Holy Spirit, is, “ that the 
 Lord God may dwell among them.” Man 
 was created in the image of God, who formed 
 him for himself. But he sinned and was for- 
 saken. God withdrew his light and love from 
 him, and man sunk into darkness and misery. 
 Sin and Satan took possession of the heart, 
 which was originally designed to be the tem- 
 ple of the living God. But the Lord had a 
 merciful purpose, to return in a way worthy 
 of his perfections. Without him, the souls of 
 men, and the whole human race, as to their 
 proper happiness, are like what the earth 
 would be without the sun, dark, cold, fruit- 
 less, and comfortless. But the knowledge of 
 Messiah, like the sun, enlightens the world 
 and the heart. 
 
 When in the day of his power, by the re- 
 velation of his light and love, he destroys the 
 dominion of sin, and dispossesses Satan, he 
 reclaims his own, and takes possession for 
 himself. The heart, sprinkled with the blood , 
 
 >R THE REBELLIOUS. 743 
 
 of Jesus, and anointed with the holy unction, 
 becomes a consecrated temple of the Holy 
 Ghost. This persuasion, though now by ma- 
 ny, who have not renounced the name of 
 Christian, deemed the essence of enthusiasm, 
 was once thought essential to Christianity ; so 
 that the apostle speaks of it as an obvious in- 
 controvertible fact, with which no true Chris- 
 tian could be unacquainted. “ Know ye not 
 that your body is the temple of the Holy 
 Ghost?” 2 Cor. vi. 19. Again, he speaks of 
 Christ dwelling in the heart, Eph. iii. 17. 
 “ Christ in you the hope of glory,” Colos. 
 i. 27. And in another place, “ Ye are the 
 temple of the living God, as God hath said, 
 I will dwell in them, and walk in them” (2 
 Cor. vi. 16), agreeably to his promise by the 
 prophets. He liveth in them, as the principle 
 of their life, wisdom, and power ; therefore 
 the apostle says, “ I live, yet not I, but Christ 
 liveth in me,” Gal. ii. 20. There is a mutual 
 indwelling between the Lord and his people ; 
 they in him as the branch in the vine, and he 
 in them as the sap in the branch ; he in them 
 as in his temples, they in him as in their strong 
 tower of defence. And from hence we infer 
 the duration of their life of grace, that it shall 
 continue and spring up into everlasting life, 
 since it is properly not their own but his, and 
 since he has said, “ Because I live, ye shall 
 live also.” 
 
 He dwells likewise among his people in 
 their collective capacity. His whole church, 
 comprising all the members of his mystical 
 body, built upon the foundation of the apos- 
 tles and prophets, form a building fitly framed 
 together, a palace, a holy temple for the Lord, 
 the great King. He dwelleth likewise in e- 
 very particular society who walk by his rule, 
 and adorn the profession of his truth by a con - 
 versation becoming the gospel. He is a wall 
 of fire round about them, and a glory in the 
 midst of them, Zech. ii. 5, 10. When they meet 
 together in his name, he is there. He walks 
 in the midst of the golden candlesticks. It is 
 his presence that gives life and efficacy to all 
 his ordinances, and communicates a power tc 
 his word, by which the minds of his worship- 
 ping people are enlightened, strengthened, 
 healed, and comforted. Here he manifests 
 himself to them, as he does not unto the world, 
 and they can adopt the words of the psalmist 
 “ A day in thy courts is better than a thou- 
 sand.” To his presence they owe their peace 
 and increase, their union and protection. And 
 if he withdraws, Ichabod may be written upon 
 their solemn assemblies ( 1 Sam. iv. 21); for 
 even his own appointments can afford them 
 neither profit nor pleasure, unless they are 
 animated by his glory. Their graces lan- 
 guish, their harmony is interrupted, strifes 
 and dissensions take place, evil roots of bit- 
 terness spring up to trouble and defile them 
 (Hebrews, xii. 15) ; men arise from among 
 themselves, speaking perverse things, and 
 
8ER. XXX. 
 
 THE PUBLICATION OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 744 
 
 fierce wolves break in, not sparing the flock 
 (Acts xx. 29, 30), if the good Shepherd 
 suspends his influence and presence. 
 
 I trust he dwells and walks in the midst of 
 us. He is here as an observer, and as a graci- 
 ous benefactor. He sees who draw near him 
 with their lips, while their hearts are far from 
 him ; and he likewise takes notice of them 
 that fear and love him, and who esteem the 
 light of his countenance to be better than life. 
 The high and lofty One who inhabiteth eter- 
 nity, who dwelleth in the high and holy place, 
 dwelleth likewise with those that are of a con- 
 trite and humble spirit, to revive and bless 
 them, Isa. lvii. 15. 
 
 SERMON XXX. 
 
 THE PUBLICATION OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 The Lord, gave the viord , great was the com- 
 pany of those that published it (or of the 
 preachers ). PsALinlxviii.il. 
 
 Perhaps no one psalm has given greater ex- 
 ercise to the skill and the patience of com- 
 mentators and critics than the sixty-eighth. 
 I suppose the difficulties do not properly be- 
 long to the psalm, but arise from our igno- 
 rance of various circumstances to which the 
 psalmist alludes, which probably were at that 
 time generally known and understood. The 
 first verse is the same with the stated form of 
 benediction which was used whenever the ark 
 of the Lord set forward while Israel sojourned 
 in the wilderness (Numb. x. 35) ; which con- 
 firms the prevailing opinion, that the psalm 
 was primarily designed as an act of thanks- 
 giving, to accompany the removal of the ark 
 to Zion, by David. The seventh and eighth 
 verses are repeated, with little variation, from 
 the song of Deborah, Judges v. 4, 5. The 
 leading scope of the whole appears to be, first, 
 a recapitulation of God’s gracious dealing 
 with Israel, and of the great things he had 
 done for them, from the time he delivered 
 them from their bondage in Egypt, and then 
 a transition, in the spirit of prophecy, to the 
 far greater things he would do for his people, 
 under and by the gospel dispensation, in con- 
 sequence of Messiah’s exaltation to receive 
 gifts for rebellious men. This verse, though 
 the particular occasion is not specified, pro- 
 bably refers to some season of deliverance or 
 victory, when the women, according to the 
 custom of the nation, assembled to praise the 
 Lord, with timbrels, songs, and dances, Exod. 
 xv. The songs and responses of Miriam and 
 her companions, and of the women who wel- 
 comed Saul and David after the defeat of the 
 Philistine (1 Sam. xviii. 6, 7), I have for- 
 merly mentioned as instances. The word 
 which is rendered Those who published or 
 
 preached, being expressed with a feminine ter 
 mination, leads the mind to this sense. But 
 we are not necessarily confined to it; for the 
 word rendered preacher in the book of Eccle- 
 siastes, is likewise in the feminine form, though 
 we are sure the person intended by it was So- 
 lomon. 
 
 However, this passage is properly intro- 
 duced in the Messiah, and in its proper place, 
 immediately after the view given of our Sa- 
 viour’s triumphant ascension, as it leads us to 
 consider the first visible effect of that great 
 event ; for soon afterwards, w r hen the day of 
 Pentecost was fully come, the Lord gave the 
 word, Acts ii. 1 — 4. The Holy Spirit, the 
 precious gift, which Jesus had received for 
 rebellious men, descended with visible em- 
 blems, and a powerful energy, and inspired 
 and qualified his disciples for the great work 
 of establishing and spreading his spiritual 
 kingdom. From that hour, great was the 
 number of the preachers, and great was the 
 success and efficacy of their mission. So that 
 in a few years the gospel spread like the light, 
 from Jerusalem, through all Judea and Sa- 
 maria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth. 
 And he who said, “ Lo, I am with you al- 
 ways, even to the end of the world” (Matt, 
 xxviii. 20), has, by the same Spirit, perpe- 
 tuated his word, and a succession of preach- 
 ers, to our time, and has promised to perpe- 
 tuate and work by the same means, till time 
 shall be no more. 
 
 My text, therefore, if not a direct prophecy 
 of the publication of the gospel, is at least a 
 fit motto to a discourse on this very important 
 subject. We may consider it in two senses, 
 which, though something different, are equally 
 agreeable to the words before us, and to the 
 general tenor of the scripture. 
 
 I. That the message is the Lord’s. — He 
 gave the word, and prescribed to his servants 
 the subject matter of their preaching. 
 
 II. That the messengers employed are call- 
 ed and sent forth by him. — The Lord gave 
 the word or command ; in consequence of 
 which word, the number of preachers was 
 great, as when in the beginning he said, “ Let 
 there be light, and there was light.” 
 
 I. The Lord gave the word which the mul- 
 titude of preachers went forth to publish. His 
 merciful design was great, — to deliver sinners 
 from bondage, misery and death ; and to bless 
 them with liberty, life, and peace. But they 
 are by nature rebellious and obstinate, and 
 must be made willing. He only can subdue 
 their prejudices, and soften their spirits ; and 
 he has promised to display his power in their 
 favour by a certain mean of his own appoint- 
 ment, and we cannot expect that he will do it 
 in any other way. This mean is the gospel, 
 w hich for its admirable suitableness and effi- 
 cacy, is commended to us as his wisdom and 
 his power, 1 Cor. i. 23, 24. He has given it 
 . for this purpose, and his blessing makes it 
 
SER. XXX. 
 
 THE PUBLICATION OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 successful. He has said concerning it, “ As 
 the rain cometh down and the snow from hea- 
 ven, and watereth the earth, and maketh it 
 bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to 
 the sower, and bread to the eater ; so shall my 
 word be, that goeth forth out of my mouth ; 
 it shall not return unto me void, but it shall 
 accomplish that w'hich I please ; it shall pros- 
 per in the thing whereto I sent it,” Is. lv. 10, 
 11. It has been confirmed by the experience 
 of ages, that no mean but this can produce 
 the desirable effect. It is confirmed by ob- 
 servation in the present day. If the wisdom 
 of man, if learning, if oratory, if animated 
 descriptions of the beauty of virtue, and pa- 
 thetic persuasions to the practice of it, could 
 reform, we should be a reformed people. But 
 alas ! this is only to oppose a mound of sand 
 to the violence of a flood. Notwithstanding 
 many ingenious sermons and treatises upon 
 this plan are admired and praised, wickedness 
 prevails and triumphs. They have little in- 
 fluence upon the conduct of civil life ; and I 
 may boldly say, no influence to inspire the 
 heart with the love and peace of God, and to 
 bring it into a habit of subjection to his will 
 and command. Nothing will do this but the 
 gospel, the word which the Lord has given. 
 This alone shews the. evil of sin in its true 
 light, affords a solid ground for the hope of 
 mercy, and furnishes those motives which 
 alone are sufficient to break the force of the 
 temptations and difficulties with which we 
 have to conflict. When this word is simply 
 and cordially received, an immediate and won- 
 derful change takes place. The sinner aban- 
 dons his false hopes and vain pursuits, is freed 
 from his former slavery to the love of the 
 world and the fear of man, and becomes the 
 willing servant of him who redeemed him with 
 his own ?)lood. 
 
 But we are sometimes asked, what we un- 
 derstand by the gospel ? The use of the term 
 in a restrained sense, so as to imply there are 
 but few comparatively who preach it, is deem- 
 ed invidious and assuming; and it is suppos- 
 ed by many, that a sermon, if delivered from 
 a pulpit, and if the text be taken from the 
 Bible, must of course be the gospel. It is 
 undeniable, howevej, that there are a variety 
 of different and opposite sentiments delivered 
 from pulpits ; and surely the gospel cannot be 
 opposite, contrary, yea contradictory to itself! 
 It is a mournful consideration, that multi- 
 tudes of people are no! qualified to judge of 
 this point. Not properly for want of ability, 
 for many of them are persons of good sense 
 and discernment, and can judge and talk well 
 upon other subjects ; but foi want of atten- 
 tion. Their application is engrossed by the 
 demands of business or pleasure, and they 
 have neither leisure nor taste for a careful per- 
 usal of the scriptures, nor for the examina- 
 tion of religious sentiments. If the language 
 and elocution of the preacher be good, and if 
 
 745 
 
 there be no close and painful address to the 
 conscience, they are satisfied. The apostle 
 Paul undoubtedly preached the gospel ; and 
 he tells us himself that he preached Christ 
 crucified ; he preached Christ, as appointed of 
 God, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification 
 and redemption, 1 Cor. i. 30. He preached 
 the cross of Christ (Gal. vi. 14), he gloried 
 in it, and he determined to glory in nothing 
 else. The gospel treats all mankind as al- 
 ready in a state of condemnation ; it declares 
 their utter inability to save or help themselves ; 
 and it gives assurance of pardon and salvation 
 to all who believe in the Son of God. That 
 they may be encouraged and enabled to be- 
 lieve, it describes the dignity of his person, 
 the necessity and greatness of his sufferings, 
 the completeness of his atonement, the preval- 
 ence of his intercession— -his love, authority, 
 power, and faithfulness. These truths reveal- 
 ed and applied to a guilty conscience, by the 
 power of the Holy Spirit, produce faith. The 
 sinner perceives the sufficiency and excellency 
 of such a Saviour, commits himself to his 
 compassion and care, and renounces every 
 other hope and service. He looks to the Sa- 
 viour by the eye of his mind, with desire and 
 admiration, and derives life from his death, 
 healing from his wounds, as the Israelites, 
 when wounded, were healed by looking upon 
 the brazen serpent. And not only is the con- 
 science relieved by this knowledge of Christ 
 crucified— the understanding is likewise en- 
 lightened, the judgment is formed, the affec- 
 tions regulated and directed by it. Then old 
 things pass away, all becomes new. The love 
 of sin departs, and the future life is devoted 
 to him, who therefore died and revived, that 
 he might be Lord both of the dead and the 
 living, Rom. xiv. 9. 
 
 There is likewise a certain energy or power 
 w'hich accompanies the gospel when it is truly 
 preached, which sufficiently characterizes and 
 distinguishes it from all other religious schemes 
 and systems. Our Lord, during his personal 
 ministry, frequently gave proofs that he knew 
 the heart of man. When Zaccheus thought 
 himself unknown and unseen, he called him 
 by his name, Luke xix. 5. He reminded Na- 
 thanael of what had passed in secret under the 
 fig-tree (John i. 48) : and by a few words, 
 brought to the remembrance of the woman of 
 Samaria all that she had done in her life, John 
 iv. 29. A similar effect accompanies the 
 preaching of his gospel to this day. The gos- 
 pel is preached, when they who are present 
 find the secrets of their hearts are made mani- 
 fest ; w'hen the preacher, w'ho perhaps never 
 saw them before, reminds them of what they 
 have done, or said, or thought, possibly of 
 things transacted long ago, and almost for- 
 gotten by themselves ; and likewise describes 
 the very feelings of their hearts while he is 
 speaking to them. It is usually in this w'ay 
 that conviction of sin first takes place ; and 
 
746 
 
 in this way, that a convinced burdened sinner 
 meets with seasonable support and direction, 
 so exactly suited to his case, that he almost 
 thinks the preacher is speaking to none but 
 himself. No preachers but those who speak 
 in conformity to the word which the Lord 
 gave, have this power over the heart and con- 
 science. 
 
 II. It is owing to the word, the appoint- 
 ment, and power of God, that any persons are 
 induced or enabled to preach this gospel. Men 
 may, indeed, assume the office of a preacher 
 upon other grounds ; there are too many who 
 do. But though they speak in the name of 
 the Lord, and as his ministers, if he has not 
 sent them, they cannot declare his message in 
 such a manner as to make full proof of their 
 ministry, 2 Tim. iv. 5. They may profit 
 themselves, according to their low views, and 
 may obtain such honours and emoluments as 
 the world can give; but they have not the 
 honour which cometh from God only. They 
 are not wise to win souls, Prov. xi. 30. They 
 have no testimony in the consciences of their 
 hearers. They may deliver truths occasion- 
 ally, which are valuable and useful in their 
 proper places ; but for want of knowing how 
 to connect them with what the apostle styles, 
 The truth as it is in Jesus (Eph. iv. 21), 
 they are unable either to break the hard heart, 
 or to heal the wounded spirit. . The thought- 
 less are not alarmed, nor the ignorant instruc- 
 ted. The wicked go on in their evil ways — 
 
 The hungry sheep look up but are not fed. 
 
 Nay, we see, in fact, though a few persons 
 may still be found, who place their religion in 
 a dull, unmeaning attendance upon the form 
 of public worship, upon any form in which it 
 was their lot to be educated; yet, in many 
 places, the bulk of the people, by their con- 
 tempt of the Lord’s day, and by their custom- 
 ary manner of absenting themselves from their 
 appointed teachers, give sufficient proof that 
 they have neither found, nor expect to find, 
 so much benefit or pleasure, as to make them 
 think it worth their while to attend them. 
 
 It will appear to competent judges, that 
 faithful preachers are called and prepared for 
 their office by the Lord, the head of the 
 church, and not by human institutions, from 
 the following considerations : 
 
 1 . That the gospel cannot be rightly under- 
 stood but by divine teaching. The natural 
 man, however distinguished by abilities or li- 
 terature, cannot receive the things of the Spirit 
 of God (1 Cor. ii. 14); nay, he cannot even 
 discern them. He may, indeed, know some- 
 thing of the gospel system, considered as a 
 matter of science ; he may know how to de- 
 fend the outworks of Christianity, and be 
 master of the external evidences for its truth ; 
 and he may espouse orthodox opinions, and 
 be a successful champion in the field of con- 
 troversy. But the inward power and life, 
 
 SER. XXX. 
 
 that which constitutes the essential difference 
 of true religion, is no less remote from his 
 apprehension, than the idea of light is from a 
 person born blind. This he can only learn by 
 experience. The first lesson received and learnt 
 by those who are taught of God, is a con- 
 viction of guilt, ignorance, and misery — and 
 then they begin to learn the importance, neces- 
 sity, and design of the gospel. The man who 
 is thus instructed, if the Lord be pleased to 
 call him to the office of teaching others, will 
 in due time proceed to deliver to the people 
 what he has himself learnt ; not with hesita- 
 tion, uncertainty, or indifference, not what he 
 has acquired by hearsay or from books, but 
 he has the witness in himself, 1 John v. 10. 
 His heart teacheth his mouth, Prov. xvi. 23. 
 He believes, therefore he speaks. He simply 
 and freely declares that which he himself has 
 known, and seen, and tasted of the word of 
 life. And speaking from the fulness of his 
 heart, with an earnestness inspired by the 
 greatness and importance of his subject, he 
 speaks to the heart and feelings of his hearers, 
 and impresses a manifestation of the truth 
 upon their minds. 
 
 2. That the desire of preaching this gospel, 
 when known, if it be a right desire, must like- 
 wise be given. If a man should attempt the 
 service, without counting the cost, or consider- 
 ing the consequences, he will most probably 
 be disgusted and wearied. And if he serious- 
 ly and properly considers before-hand what he 
 is about to engage in, and has a due sense of 
 his own weakness, he will tremble at the 
 prospect, and direct his thoughts to some 
 other employment, unless his call and sup- 
 port be from on high. What courage, wisdom, 
 meekness, and zeal, appear requisite, in the 
 view of such an inquirer, to qualify a man 
 for preaching, and continuing to preach, a 
 doctrine so unpleasing to the world, as the 
 doctrine of the cross has in all ages proved ! 
 What opposition, and snares, and difficulties, 
 what fightings from without, what fears with- 
 in, may be expected ! Surely he will be ready 
 to shrink back, and to say, Who is sufficient 
 for these things ? But the Lord by the con- 
 straining sense of his love, and by giving a 
 deep impression of the worth of souls, and by 
 exciting in the mind a dependence upon his 
 all-sufficiency, can and does encourage those 
 whom he calls and chuses, to serve him in the 
 gospel. In themselves they are quite unequal 
 to what is before them, but they obey his 
 voice ; they trust in his promises for guidance 
 and protection, and are not disappointed. We 
 are therefore directed to pray, that the Lord 
 of the harvest would send, or rather (accord- 
 ing to the force of the Greek word) thrust 
 forth labourers into his harvest, Matt. ix. 38. 
 
 3. That only he who sends forth his minis- 
 ters can enable them to persevere. It is a 
 service of continual exertion and expense, and 
 requires a continual supply. The opposition 
 
 THE PUBLICATION OF THF. GOSPEL. 
 
SEK. XXXI. 
 
 747 
 
 THE GOSPEL-MESSAGFj 
 
 of tiie world, and the power of temptation, 
 acting upon the weakness and depravity of the 
 heart, would quickly prevail against the best 
 ministers, if they were left to carry on the 
 warfare at their own charges. They are at 
 times, yea frequently, in situations and cir- 
 cumstances which teach them feelingly the 
 meaning of the apostle’s words, “We were 
 pressed out of measure, above strength, inso- 
 much that we despaired even, of life,” 2 Cor. i. 
 
 8. Besides the trials incidental to the Chris- 
 tian profession, which they are exposed to in 
 common with others, they have many which 
 are peculiar to their calling as preachers of 
 the gospel. Their chief pre-eminence over 
 Christians in private life is a painful one; they 
 have the honour of bearing a double share of 
 the heat and burden of the day, and of stand- 
 ing in the foremost ranks of the battle, to pro- 
 voke and receive the fiercest assaults of the 
 enemy. Their only resource and hope is in 
 the faithfulness and compassion of their Lord, 
 under whose banner and eye they fight, and 
 who has said, “ Lo ! I am with you always, 
 even to the end of the world.” 
 
 4. That the Lord only can give success to 
 their endeavours. Paul may plant, and Apol- 
 los may water, but there is no increase unless 
 he affords a blessing, 1 Cor. iii. 6. It is at 
 least a presumptive proof, that he has called 
 a man to preach, if he owns his labours, since 
 he has not promised to own any but those 
 whom he sends. 
 
 We must however allow, and observe, that 
 .o preach salvation to others, and even to be 
 instrumental in saving souls, will not abso- 
 lutely prove that the preacher is in a state of 
 salvation himself ; we hope it is generally so ; 
 but there are exceptions and instances, which 
 should awaken our circumspection, and keep 
 us constantly looking to the Lord in a spirit 
 of humility and dependence. There was a 
 Judas among the apostles ; and we are assur- 
 ed that at the last day, some, yea many, will 
 plead having done great things in the name of 
 Christ, whom he will notwithstanding disown, 
 as workers of iniquity, Matth. vii. 22, 23. 
 
 Even the apostle Paul was impressed by this 
 thought, and he has recorded the improve- 
 ment he made of it for our instruction : “ I 
 keep under my body, and bring it into sub- 
 jection, lest that by any means, after I have 
 preached to others, I myself should be a cast- 
 away, 1 Cor. ix. 27. 
 
 GLAD TIDINGS. 
 
 SERMON XXXI. 
 
 THE GOSPEL-MESSAGE, GLAD TIDINGS. 
 
 ( As it is written ), Hoiv beautiful are the feel j f 
 them that preach the gospel of peace , and 
 bring glad tidings of good things ! Romans, 
 x. 15. 
 
 The account which the apostle Paul gives of 
 his first reception among the Galatians (Gal. 
 iv. 15), exemplifies the truth of this passage. 
 He found them in a state of ignorance and 
 misery ; alienated from God, and enslaved to 
 the blind and comfortless superstitions of ido- 
 latry. His preaching, accompanied with the 
 power of the Holy Spirit, had a great and 
 marvellous effect. His principal subject was 
 the death of Jesus, who had lately suffered as 
 a malefactor at Jerusalem. Though the trans- 
 action w'as past, and the scene at a considera- 
 ble distance, yet by the manner of his repre- 
 sentation, the fact was realized to their minds ; 
 and they could have been no more affected, 
 had they been actually upon the spot at the 
 time. Jesus Christ was exhibited to them as 
 crucified before their eyes, Gal. iii. 1. By 
 the same divine energy they were instructed 
 in the knowledge of his character, who he was, 
 and why he suffered ; and likewise understood 
 their own need of such a Saviour. Thus they 
 hearkened to him, not with the indifference of 
 the Athenians, but with application of all that 
 he said to themselves. They heard, they be- 
 lieved, and they rejoiced. The apostle re- 
 minds them, that they had not received a cold 
 speculative doctrine, but such a one as impart- 
 ed a blessedness to them. This, indeed, many 
 of them afterwards lost, when they were un- 
 happily seduced by false teachers. But for 
 a time the knowledge of a Saviour so exactly 
 suited to their circumstances made them hap- 
 py ; and while they were so, they felt very 
 strong emotions of gratitude and esteem for 
 the messenger who brought them these glad 
 tidings, though he was by many accounted 
 and treated as the off-scouring and filth of all 
 things, the Galatians received him as an angel 
 of God, and attended to him, as if the Lord, 
 who sent hi-m, had spoken to them in person. 
 And although he had till then been an entire 
 stranger to them, his message opened a w r ay 
 to their hearts, and they gave him every testi- 
 mony of the most cordial friendship ; inso- 
 much that, had it been possible, they would 
 have plucked out their own eyes, and have 
 given them to him. 
 
 Thus, likewise, when Philip preached the 
 gospel in Samaria, the consequence was grea 
 joy in that city, Acts viii. 8. But when the 
 gospel is thus gladly received, there must be 
 . a suitable disposition of mind. It is sent to 
 Ithe poor. It is designed to heal the broken 
 
748 THE GOSPEL-MESSAGE, GLAD TIDINGS. sER. xxxi 
 
 hearted, to deliver the captives, and to give 
 sight to the blind, Luke iv. 18. And there- 
 fore they who are well satisfied with them- 
 selves, who say, We see, and who boast of their 
 freedom, cannot possibly judge either of the 
 truth or of the importance of the gospel doc- 
 trine. As the Lord waters the earth with a 
 profusion worthy of his magnificence and 
 bounty, and does not confine his rain to cul- 
 tivated soils ; so the good seed of his word 
 often falls upon the highway, upon the rocks, 
 and among thorns (Luke viii. 13 — 15); but 
 it is only productive upon the good ground of 
 an honest and good heart. Not that any hu- 
 man heart is truly good by nature, but some 
 are prepared for the reception of the truth. 
 And this preparation is the first effect of the 
 w'ord, when it brings forth fruit unto life eter- 
 nal. It undeceives those who were for a time 
 deluded w r ith vain hopes, and convinces them 
 that they are poor, and blind, and w retched, 
 and helpless. Then they gladly accept the 
 gospel of peace, and the message is to them as 
 life from the dead. 
 
 The passage in the prophet Isaiah, from 
 which my text is quoted, is very animated and 
 descriptive. “ How beautiful upon the moun- 
 tains are the feet of him that bringeth good 
 tidings !” Isa. lii. 7. Imagine a distressed 
 people, at the w'ill and disposal of a conqueror, 
 who was justly offended with them, and under 
 an anxious trembling uncertainty how he 
 would treat them : If an authorized messen- 
 ger should inform them, that, instead of the 
 punishment they deserved, the king vouch- 
 safed them a free pardon, was ready to receive 
 them with favour, and to bestow honours and 
 possessions upon all who applied to him, with- 
 out excepting the most guilty, even the ring- 
 leaders in rebellion : how welcome would this 
 messenger be to them ! This, indeed, is be- 
 yond the manner of men. No earthly mon- 
 arch has either magnanimity to make, or pow- 
 er to make good, so gracious and unlimited a 
 proclamation to a whole nation of rebels. But 
 this is the manner of the great God. Such an 
 act of grace is the gospel. An act of grace to 
 sinners, yet founded in righteousness, and dis- 
 playing the glory of his justice equally with 
 the riches of mercy. For it is founded on the 
 mediation of the Son of his love, and procur- 
 ed by his blood. The messengers of this grace 
 are thus welcomed and honoured by those who 
 believe their report, and are esteemed very 
 highly in love for their work’s sake, 1 Thess. 
 v. 13. We may observe, 
 
 I. The message of the gospel is glad tidings 
 of peace and good things. 
 
 II. The messengers, or preachers, find am- 
 ple reward in their success and acceptance. 
 
 I. According to the Hebrew idiom (which 
 frequently obtains in the New Testament), all 
 good things are comprised in the term peace. 
 They are eminently comprised in the peace of 
 the gospel ; for it is the peace of God which 
 
 passeth understanding. It brings a blessed 
 assurance, that Messiah has made peace by 
 the blood of his cross. They who believe this 
 good report, derive from it peace of consci- 
 ence ; and are enabled to say, Though thou 
 wert justly angry, thine anger is turned away, 
 Isa. xii. 1. It dispels their fears and fore- 
 bodings, and inspires them with liberty to 
 come to God as children ; consequently, on 
 their parts, alienation and enmity cease. They 
 no longer conceive of him as an avenging judge 
 or a hard master. They no longer dispute 
 his authority, nor repine at his appointments. 
 They become a willing people. They yield 
 themselves to him. They cultivate peace in 
 all their connections. The forgiveness and 
 bounty they have received, teaches them like- 
 wise to forgive, and be kind as they have op- 
 portunity. They possess such good things as 
 the world can neither give nor take away : 
 Communion wdth God, grace, wisdom, and 
 power. They serve him with their all, and 
 are supported by his good Spirit in every try- 
 ing circumstance ; and they have a good hope, 
 which enables them to rejoice in tribulation, 
 and to smile in death. 
 
 If the wickedness and obstinacy of man- 
 kind were not so strongly described and exem- 
 plified in the Bible, and if we could forget 
 that this obstinate perverseness was once our 
 own character, we should find it difficult tc 
 conceive, after we understand the nature and 
 design of the gospel, upon what grounds a 
 scheme so wisely and completely adapted to 
 relieve men from misery, to promote their 
 present comfort, and to secure their future 
 happiness, should, instead of being received 
 with thankfulness, generally excite contempt 
 and opposition. Can the world afford a peace 
 which shall abide and cheer the heart under 
 all the changing circumstances incident to us 
 in this mortal state ? Can it propose any good, 
 any honours, profit, or pleasures, worthy of 
 being compared with the honour which cometh 
 from God only, the light of his countenance, 
 and the riches of glory ? Can the influence of 
 the world preserve us from trouble, or sup- 
 port us under it, or deliver us out of it ? Has 
 it any charms capable of soothing the anguish 
 of a wounded conscience ? Can it obviate the 
 stroke, or overcome the fear of death ? Or 
 can it inspire the soul with confidence and 
 joy, in the contemplation of that approaching 
 day, when we must all appear before the tri- 
 bunal of the supreme Judge ? That the world, 
 if we possessed the whole of it, cannot do 
 these things for us, is acknowledged by many, 
 and felt by all. The gospel proposes a cor- 
 dial for every care, a balm for every wound ; 
 and none who make the experiment of its effi- 
 cacy are disappointed. In other cases, they 
 who have received great obligations may speak 
 highly of their benefactor ; and they who be- 
 yond hope, have been recovered from a dan- 
 gerous malady, may commend the skill and 
 
SER. XXXI* 
 
 THE GOSPEL-MESSAGE, GLAD TIDINGS. 
 
 care of their physician, to those who are la- 
 bouring under the same disease, without giv- 
 ing offence. But if they who have obtained 
 life and peace by believing in Jesus, proclaim 
 his goodness, and point him out to their fel- 
 low-sinners as the only Physician and Saviour 
 of souls, their testimony is charged with 
 folly, and their endeavours rejected with 
 scorn, as officious and impertinent. Men, 
 while left to themselves, will not come to him 
 that they may have life. The God of this 
 world so works upon their prejudices, pride, 
 and passions, that though the light of truth 
 shines around them like the light of the sun, 
 the eyes of their mind are blinded, and they 
 are pleased with their darkness, and unwilling 
 to see, 2 Cor. iv. 4. Hence of the few, com- 
 paratively, who are favoured with a clear and 
 faithful dispensation of the gospel, the greater 
 part, it is to be feared, reject the counsel of 
 God against themselves ; and his ministers in 
 all ages, have had cause to adopt the prophet’s 
 complaint, “ Lord, who hath believed our re- 
 port?” Is. liii. 1. It would be thus univer- 
 sally, if the Lord, who gave the word, and 
 who sends forth the preachers, had not en- 
 gaged his promise, that they shall not labour 
 wholly in vain, nor spend their strength for 
 nought. He prepares a people to serve him, 
 and to show forth his praise. And while 
 some mock, others refuse to hear (Acts xvii. 
 32), and others, with an indolent indifference, 
 are content to hear again and again, there are 
 others whose hearts are opened to receive, the 
 truth in the love of it. They hear and believe 
 to everlasting life. 
 
 II. The instruments of this happy change 
 find their reward in their work. It being 
 owned to the salvation of a few, they are com- 
 pensated for all the opposition they meet with 
 from the many; and this on a twofold ac- 
 count : 
 
 First, and principally, for the love they bear 
 to their Lord, and to souls for his sake. 
 
 To see his name made precious to the hearts 
 of sinners ; to see those who were blind ad- 
 miring his excellency ; to see those who were 
 so far off from God brought so nigh ; to see 
 those who were wretched rejoicing in his good- 
 ness ; to hear those whose lips were filled with 
 folly, falsehood, or blasphemy, proclaiming his 
 praise; such salutary effects of their ministry 
 fill them likewise with praise and joy: and 
 when their hearers express the power and spi- 
 rit of the gospel in their tempers and conduct, 
 they can say, “ Now we live, if you stand fast 
 in the Lord,” 1 Thess. iii. 8. 
 
 A secondary satisfaction, which of itself is 
 sufficient to make them full amends for all the 
 scorn of an unkind world, is the share they 
 have in the affections of the people who are 
 thus benefited by their ministry. This is the 
 popularity which alone is desirable. It would 
 be a small thing to be able merely to hold a 
 multitude by the ears • but to be approved and I 
 
 749 
 
 loved by those to whom the Lord has made 
 them useful, is a high honour, and a source of 
 sublime pleasure. When Peter and John 
 (Acts iii. 11) had healed the lame man, I 
 doubt not but they were more affected by the 
 simple honest testimony of his gratitude, than 
 by the unmeaning wonder of all the surround- 
 ing multitude. If a true servant of the Lord, 
 by any advantage of abilities or elocution, 
 should attach a large congregation to a per- 
 sonal regard for himself, should be admired 
 and beloved by them, and yet discover no at- 
 tachment in them to the Saviour w'hom he 
 preaches, their partiality to him would give 
 him but little pleasure. He would be more 
 ready to weep over them, than to rejoice in 
 the preference they gave him. For he seeks 
 not their applause, but their edification ; and 
 he aims not to promote his own glory, but the 
 glory of him who sent him, John vi. 18. He 
 is indeed, glad to see them attending upon 
 the means wffiich God has promised to bless. 
 But the faithfulness and closeness of his ad- 
 dresses to their consciences, by which many 
 are sooner or later disgusted and driven away, 
 is a proof that he does not want them merely 
 to make up a number about him. They who 
 make the office of a preacher an occasion 
 whereby to promote their own interest or re- 
 putation, may, perhaps, obtain the reward they 
 seek ; but it is such a reward as can only sa- 
 tisfy a weak and mercenary mind ; and from 
 him, whose name they prostitute, they car. 
 only expect the reward assigned to hypocrites 
 and unbelievers. 
 
 But true Christians will, and do, set a high 
 value upon the ministers who, with simplicity 
 and godly sincerity, preach the gospel of 
 peace, in such a manner as to evidence that 
 they are influenced by a regard to the glory of 
 God, and to the good of souls ; and they give 
 proof of their affection in more ways than by 
 speaking well of them. 
 
 1. By the satisfaction with which they ac- 
 cept a faithful ministry, as a balance to the 
 trials they meet with in common life. There 
 are many poor and many afflicted people, 
 who have little comfort in the things of this 
 life, and in their own houses. Some are 
 pinched by penury, and some who live in opu- 
 lence, yet dwell, as the psalmist expresses it 
 (Psal. lvii. 4), in the fire and among lions. 
 They suffer not less than the others, though in 
 a different way, from the unkindness and op- 
 position of their nearest connections. Butin 
 the house of God, they are satisfied and com- 
 forted. And, according to the words of the 
 prophet, though the Lord is pleased to give 
 them the bread of adversity, and the water of 
 affliction (Is. xxx. 20), yet since their teachers 
 are not removed into corners, but they have 
 free access to the preaching of his word, and 
 can attend upon a minister who careth for 
 their souls, and meets them, when they are 
 weary, with a word in season, they bear their 
 
SER. XXXI 
 
 THE GOSPEL-MESSAGE, GLAD TIDINGS. 
 
 750 
 
 appointed cross with cheerfulness. Though 
 they have much bitterness of heart at home, 
 known only to themselves, they have a plea- 
 sure which a stranger intermeddleth not with, 
 when they go up to the house of the Lord. 
 But if the instrument, who is the messenger 
 of God to them for good, be removed, and 
 they are deprived of these opportunities, the 
 regard they bore him is manifested by their 
 sorrow for losing him ; which often affects them 
 more sensibly than all their other griefs. 
 
 2. By taking kindly and in good part his 
 most searching discourses in public, or even 
 his reproofs and admonitions in private, if 
 needful. For they know that he watches over 
 their souls, as one w'ho must give an account, 
 Heb. xiii. 17. And because they love him, 
 they do all in their power to make the service 
 a pleasure and not a grief to him. They do 
 not wish him to speak smooth things to them, 
 or to entertain them with the discussion of 
 points in which they have little concern, but 
 to hear that which is suitable to their own case 
 and circumstances. And if the preacher dis- 
 covers to them, that through inadvertence, 
 they have allowed themselves in any wrong 
 practice, or have lived in the omission of any 
 duty, instead of being offended with his plain 
 dealing, they love him the better for it. 
 
 3. By their tenderness and sympathy with 
 him in all his exercises ; and by their care, ac- 
 cording to their ability, to make his situation 
 comfortable, and to avoid every thing that 
 might give him just occasion for complaint or 
 grief. The trials of a faithful minister are 
 neither few nor small. His work is great; 
 he is sure to meet with enemies and discou- 
 ragements. He travails in birth for souls 
 (Gal. iv. 19) ; he is pained by the opposition 
 of the wicked, the inconstancy of the wavering, 
 and the inconsistency of many who make pro- 
 fession of the truth. He feels many anxi- 
 eties for those who are enquiring the way to 
 the kingdom, lest they should be turned aside 
 and hindered ; and too often the hopes he had 
 indulged, of some who discovered a concern 
 for religion, are disappointed. His inward 
 conflicts are many. He often walks in much 
 weakness, fear, and trembling, 1 Cor. ii. 3. 
 When he considers what he is, what he ought 
 to be, and what he has to do, he is often 
 distressed, afraid, and ashamed, and unable to 
 speak. His path is spread with snares, his 
 heart wounded with temptations. But his 
 judicious hearers have some knowledge of 
 w hat he endures for their sakes and in their 
 service ; they love him, pity him, and pray for 
 him, and their kind attention comforts him 
 under all his tribulations. 
 
 Sometimes their regard is rather improper- 
 ly expressed ; as when they not only value his 
 ministry, but hold him so highly a favourite, 
 that they can hardly hear another. A prefer- 
 ence is certainly due to the person who is 
 made especially useful ; but no faithful preach- 
 
 er should be slighted. Though gifts and abi- 
 lities are not equal in all, yet they are all the 
 Lord’s messengers, and entitled to regard. 
 
 Again, it is an improper regard, if they 
 yield themselves implicitly to him, to be go- 
 verned by his will. So far as we speak agree- 
 ably to die scripture, which is the rule and 
 standard of faith and practice both to you 
 and to us, we are authorized to require your 
 attention and obedience; but you are not 
 bound to receive what we propose merely 
 upon our own authority. There are those who 
 account ignorance the mother of devotion, and 
 expect an implicit compliance w ith their in 
 junctions, by virtue of their office and per- 
 sonal influence. But a true minister will ac- 
 count it his honour and pleasure to preach to 
 an enlightened people who love and study the 
 Bible, and, like the Bereans, search the scrip- 
 tures (Acts xvii. 11), te see if things are so 
 as represented. We have no dominion over 
 your faith, but wish to be helpers of your joy, 
 2 Cor. i. 24. Nor do we pretend to dominion 
 over your purses, though we are to remind 
 you of the apostle’s charge, “ To do good, 
 and to communicate, forget not,” Hebrews, 
 xiii. 16. 
 
 How much are they to be pitied, who ac- 
 count that word of grace a burden, which to 
 those who receive it with thankfulness, proves 
 the balm and cordial of life ! Take heed how 
 you hear. If the gospel is not made to you 
 a savour of life, it will be a savour of death. 
 It will aggravate your guilt and condemna- 
 tion, and leave you utterly hopeless and in- 
 excusable. If you continue impenitent and 
 obstinate, tbe hour is coming when you wiK 
 wish you had never heard of the name of Je- 
 sus. It had been better for you never to have 
 been born, or to have lived and died among 
 the savage Indians, or to have been an idiot 
 or a lunatic to the end of your days, than to 
 have lived where the doctrine of salvation 
 was published in your hearing, if you finally 
 reject the counsel of God against yourselves ! 
 
 SERMON XXXII. 
 
 THE PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 Their sound went into all the earth , and 
 
 their words unto the ends of the world. Ro- 
 mans, x. 18. 
 
 The heavens declare the glory of God, Psal. 
 xix. 1. The grandeur of the arch over our 
 heads, the number and lustre of the stars, the 
 beauty of the light, the splendour of the sun, 
 the regular succession of day and night, and 
 of the seasons of the year, are such proofs of 
 infinite wisdom and power, that the scripture 
 attributes to them a voice, a universal lan- 
 guage, intelligible to all mankind, accommo 
 
SER. XXXII. THE PROGRESS < 
 
 dated to every capacity. There is no speech 
 nor language, where their voice is not heard. 
 The combined effect of the visible works of 
 the great Architect, presses a declaration upon 
 the ear of reason — “ The hand that made us 
 is divine.” We must, however, understand 
 it of the ear of right reason. The loudest 
 voice is unnoticed by the deaf. Thus it 
 ought to be, and thus it would be, if man 
 were indeed a rational creature, as he proud- 
 ly boasts himself. That the fact in general 
 is otherwise ; that the bulk of mankind are 
 no more affected by the works of God than 
 the beasts of the field ; that the philosophers 
 who profess to study them, so faintly discern, 
 so frequently deny the great First Cause of all, 
 is a proof that sin has darkened and depraved 
 the noblest powers of the soul, and degraded 
 man into* the state of an inattentive idiot. 
 However, the evidence, if it does not excite 
 his admiration and praise, is abundantly suf- 
 ficient to convict him of stupidity and ingra- 
 titude, and to leave him without excuse, Rom. 
 i. 20. 
 
 This passage, taken from that sublime ode 
 of David, the nineteenth psalm, is applied by 
 the apostle to illustrate the character and the 
 progress of the still more wonderful display 
 of the divine perfections, which God has made 
 known by the glorious gospel. A variety of 
 truths shine (like stars in the firmament) in 
 the system of revelation. But principally Je- 
 sus, the Sun of truth and righteousness, the 
 source of spiritual light and life, answers to 
 the description there given of the material 
 sun. “ His going forth is from the end of 
 heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it, 
 and there is nothing hid from his heat,” Psal. 
 xix. 6. 
 
 But the fulfilment of the promises respect- 
 ing Messiah’s kingdom is progressive. So 
 far as this prophecy has been accomplished, 
 the arm of the Lord has been revealed. It 
 is his doing and may justly be marvellous in 
 our eyes. The truth of the prophecy will be 
 proved by its final completion, which, though 
 not likely to take place in our time, we may 
 be assured that it cannot fail, for the Lord 
 hath spoken it. And besides, we have a suf- 
 ficient pledge and security for the whole, in 
 what he has already done. It was not neces- 
 sary for the fulfilling of this prophecy, nor 
 consistent with the tenor of many other pro- 
 phecies, that the spread of the gospel should 
 be instantaneous and universal on its first pub- 
 lication. Messiah is to rule in the midst of 
 his enemies till the appointed season, when 
 all enemies shall be subdued under his feet. 
 The gospel, the rod of his power, is so ad- 
 mirably adapted to the necessities of mankind, 
 that the obstructions it has met with must be 
 ascribed to their wickedness and obstinacy. 
 Not that they could resist the will of God. 
 Had he intended to give it universal success 
 from the beginning, the event would have 
 
 )F THE GOSPEL. 761 
 
 been answerable. But it was his pleasure to 
 conduct the dispensation of it, so as, on the 
 one hand, to display his sovereignty, wisdom, 
 and power, and on the other, to afford a full 
 proof of the depravity and alienation of the 
 heart of man. This point is so much misun- 
 derstood and misrepresented, that though it 
 is attended with great difficulties, especially if 
 we give way to vain reasonings upon it, I 
 shall venture, in the present discourse, to of- 
 fer a few thoughts towards clearing the sub- 
 ject, and vindicating (if the very attempt be 
 not presumptuous) the ways of God to man. 
 
 When the Sun of righteousness, after a 
 long night of darkness, arose upon the world, 
 there appeared a strong probability that the 
 prophecies concerning the extent of his vital 
 influence, from east to west, from pole to pole, 
 would soon be completely realized. In a very 
 short space he was known and adored by mul- 
 titudes, through the greatest part of the Ro - 
 man empire, and beyond its limits. But, 
 perhaps, for about seventeen hundred years 
 since that period, the boundaries of his king- 
 dom, though they have been altered, have not 
 been much enlarged. If he has since in some 
 measure enlightened the more western parts 
 of the globe, the eastern regions, which once 
 rejoiced in his light, are now overwhelmed 
 with gross Mahommedan darkness. And it 
 we were capable of investigating the state of 
 the world at this day, we should probably find, 
 that five out of six of the human race now 
 living, never so much as heard of the name of 
 Jesus as a Saviour. There is reason to fear 
 likewise, that in the nations who professedly 
 call him Lord, and are not unwilling to be 
 themselves called Christians, a greater pro- 
 portion than five out of six, are no less stran- 
 gers to his power and grace, than the Mahom- 
 medans who reject him, or the Heathens who 
 never heard of him. 
 
 There is not perhaps a darker chapter in the 
 book of divine providence, nor a meditation 
 which calls for a more absolute subjection and 
 submission to the holy will and unsearchable 
 wisdom of God, than this. The first spread 
 of the gospel proved it to be a divine expe. 
 dient, fully capable of producing all the great 
 purposes which the prophets had foretold, and 
 which the state of the world required. It re- 
 conciled men to God, to themselves, and to 
 each other. It subdued their passions, regu- 
 lated their affections, freed them from the 
 guilt and bondage of sin, from the love of the 
 world, and from the fear of death. Wherever 
 the doctrine of the cross was preached, it pro- 
 duced that salutary change of conduct which 
 philosophy had long attempted in vain ; and 
 raised men to that life of communion with 
 God, of which philosophers had no conception. 
 Such was the bright morning of the gospel- 
 d^y. But in time, yea, in a little time, dark 
 clouds obscured its light; its progress was 
 impeded, and in a manner stopped. On one 
 
SER. XXXII. 
 
 752 THE PROGRESS 
 
 hand, the profession and name of the gospel 
 gave occasion to mischiefs and abominations 
 which had been unknown among the Hea- 
 thens ; so that the part of the world which re- 
 ceived the name of Christendom, was little 
 distinguished from the rest, in a religious 
 view, but by a fierce and rancorous supersti- 
 tion, which tyrannized over the consciences, li- 
 berties, and the lives of men. On the other 
 hand, as I have observed, the very name of 
 Christianity was restrained to a small portion 
 of the earth ; many nations have not heard of 
 it to this day ; and many who once professed 
 it have renounced it long ago. 
 
 Thus the fact stands. We cannot deny it. 
 But how shall we account for it ? Infidels and 
 petty reasoners think they here find an invin- 
 cible objection against the truth. They say, 
 “ If the gospel you speak of be so salutary 
 and necessary, if it be indeed the greatest ef- 
 fect of the divine goodness, why has not God, 
 who is the common Father of mankind, af- 
 forded it to all the nations of the earth ? and 
 why is it restrained to so few ?” But I think 
 we may retort the question, and let them who 
 propose it give such an answer (if they can) 
 as shall not amount to a confession of the ob- 
 stinacy and ungrateful folly of mankind. 
 When the world saw the happy tendency and 
 effects of this gospel in the age of the apostles, 
 why did they not universally receive it ? We 
 know that when the use of the mariner’s com- 
 pass, the art of printing, and many other in- 
 ventions that might be named, were discover- 
 ed in one country, they were presently adopt- 
 ed by the surrounding civilized nations. Even 
 the recent attempts to venture through the air 
 with a balloon, hazardous as they certainly 
 are, and insignificant with respect to real use- 
 fulness, are likely in a little time not only to 
 engage the notice, but to excite the imitation 
 of Europe. Why then was the gospel, the 
 most beneficial and important discovery the 
 world has been favoured with, the only one 
 that has been treated with general contempt ? 
 Certainly our Lord has assigned the true rea- 
 son, “ Light is come into the world, but men 
 love darkness rather than light, because their 
 deeds are evil,” John iii. 19. They hate the 
 light, they will not come to it, nor will they 
 permit it to come to them if they can possibly 
 prevent it. This glorious gospel of the bles- 
 sed God has been and still is shunned and 
 dreaded, and every human precaution and ex- 
 ertion has been employed to withstand and 
 suppress it, as though, like the pestilence, it 
 was baneful to the welfare of society. May 
 we not say, speaking after the manner of men, 
 that the Lord has done enough to confirm his 
 own express and solemn declaration, that he 
 ha') no pleasure in the death of the wicked, 
 but that the wicked may turn from his way 
 and live ! Ezek. xxxiii. 11. He has raised up 
 a succession of faithful servants, from age to 
 age, to publish these glad tidings. The re- , 
 
 OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 ception they have met with, not only from the 
 Heathens, but from nominal Christians, is well 
 known to those who are acquainted with ec- 
 clesiastical history, which contains little more 
 than a detail of the arts and cruelties by which 
 the civil and ecclesiastical powers of almost 
 every kingdom, where the gospel has been 
 known, have endeavoured to suppress it. 
 
 The nation of Great Britain, in particular, 
 has but little right to ask, Why the gospel of 
 Christ has been spread no farther among the 
 Heathen ? The providence of God has fa- 
 voured us with peculiar advantages for this 
 service. Our arms and commerce have open- 
 ed us a way to the most distant parts of the 
 globe ; and of late years, the enterprising spi- 
 rit of our navigators has added almost a new 
 world to the discoveries of former times. How 
 far have our plans been formed with, a subser- 
 viency to the great design of evangelizing the 
 Heathen ? How much have we done to pro- 
 mote it in Asia, where our influence and op- 
 portunities have been the greatest ? What 
 impression of the name and spirit of Christia- 
 nity has our conduct given to the inhabitants 
 of India ? But I forbear — Facts are too well 
 known to need recital ; too glaring to need a 
 comment. It is true, we have an incorporat- 
 ed society for propagating the gospel in fo- 
 reign parts, and we hear of missionaries ; but 
 of the good effects of their missions, as at pre 
 sent conducted we neither hear, nor expect to 
 hear. While America was ours, the efforts of 
 a few individuals from the northern provinces 
 in the last and present century, were not with- 
 out success. But I fear this is all the ho- 
 nour we can claim. Some good has been 
 done by the Danish mission to Tranquebar ; 
 but I believe our influence in it has been ra- 
 ther nominal than effective. The extent and 
 effects of the labours of the Unitas Ftatrum *, 
 compared with their circumstances and re- 
 sources, must not be omitted on this occasion. 
 They doubtless excite admiration, and thank- 
 fulness to God, in every serious mind ac- 
 quainted with the subject. But excepting in 
 these instances, I believe the Heathens have 
 derived but little knowledge of the gospel from 
 their connections with Christendom for some 
 ages past. And I think none of the commer- 
 cial nations in Europe have had the propaga- 
 tion of Christianity less at heart than the 
 English. What obligations the natives of 
 Africa are under to us, for instruction or ex- 
 ample, may be estimated, in part, by a curso- 
 ry survey of the state of our West-India Is- 
 lands ! 
 
 That the gospel is so little known in the 
 world, and so little received where it is known, 
 cannot be so properly ascribed to the will of 
 God, as to the wickedness and wilfulness of 
 men. Undoubtedly he to whom all things 
 are possible, who has absolute power over the 
 
 * More generally known amongst us by the name of the 
 
 Brethren, or Moravians. 
 
SER. XXXII. 
 hearts of hi-s creatures, could make a way for 
 the universal reception of it. And we trust 
 that in his own time he will do so. But pow- 
 er is not his only attribute. It would be rash 
 and absurd to suppose that the great God will 
 do every thing that he can do. We are sure 
 that he will do what is worthy of himself ; 
 but of this his own infinite wisdom is the only 
 competent judge. What is becoming of his 
 perfections and holy government, we can know 
 no farther than he is pleased to inform us. 
 But it certainly becomes us to lay our hands 
 upon our mouths, and our mouths in the dust, 
 when we contemplate his conduct ; or, if we 
 do speak, to adopt the apostle’s language, 
 “ Oh the depths of the riches, both of the wis- 
 dom and knowledge of God ! How unsearch- 
 able are his judgments, and his ways past 
 finding out ! For of him, and through him, 
 and to him are all things. To whom be glo- 
 ry for ever,” Rom. xi. 36. 
 
 However, my text is fulfilling, and shall be 
 fulfilled. This joyful sound has already been 
 spread far abroad, in defiance of all attempts 
 to restrain it. Multitudes from age to age 
 have heard it, and found it to be the power of 
 God unto salvation. And it would be easy 
 to prove, if it belonged to my subject, that 
 the superior advantages of civilization which 
 Christendom enjoys are remotely owing to 
 the knowledge of revelation. To this must 
 be chiefly ascribed the different state of this 
 island from what it was when visited by Ju- 
 lius Caesar. Yea, our modern philosophers 
 would make but a poor figure, were they de- 
 spoiled of all the plumes they have borrowed 
 from the book they affect to despise. Farther, 
 the purpose of God to save sinners by faith in 
 his beloved Son, is the primary ground of that 
 patience and long-suffering which he still ex- 
 ercises towards such a world as this. And 
 some imperfect traces of this design trans- 
 mitted by tradition, are probably to be found 
 though wofully disfigured among every na- 
 tion and people under heaven which have at 
 least preserved, in a degree, the notices of 
 right and wrong, and some faint warnings of 
 conscience, in the most savage state of human 
 nature. But, were it not for reasons con- 
 nected with the designs of his mercy, we can 
 scarcely conceive that the holy God would 
 have perpetuated the race of mankind in a 
 state of rebellion and enmity against his go- 
 vernment. Or if he had permitted them to 
 multiply, and left them wholly and absolutely 
 to themselves, without interposing some re- 
 straints upon their depravity, I believe the in- 
 habitants of the earth would have been no bet- 
 ter than incarnate fiends. 
 
 The prophecies, both of the Old and New 
 Testament, encourage us to hope for a time, 
 when the light of gospel-truth will break forth 
 with meridian brightness, the glory of the 
 Lord be revealed, and all flesh shall see his 
 salvation. As a pledge of this, and of the 
 
 753 
 
 truth of the whole scripture, we have what 
 may be called a standing miracle continually 
 before our eyes ; I mean the state of the Jews, 
 who, though dispersed far and wide among 
 many nations, are everywhere preserved a dis- 
 tinct and separate people. The history of the 
 world affords no other instance ofithe like kind. 
 The great monarchies, by which they were 
 successively conquered and scattered, have suc- 
 cessively perished. Only the names of them 
 remain. But the people whom they despised, 
 and endeavoured to exterminate, subsist to 
 this day ; and though sifted like corn over the 
 earth, and apparently forsaken of God, are 
 still preserved by his wonderful providence, 
 unaffected by the changes and customs around 
 them ; still tenacious of the law of Moses, 
 though the observance of it is rendered im- 
 practicable. Many days, many ages they 
 have lived, as the prophets foretold they should, 
 without a temple, without sacrifice or priest, 
 Hos. iii. 4, 5. As yet, many heathen nations 
 are permitted to walk in their own ways. But 
 at length the fulness of the Gentiles shall come 
 in, and all Israel shall be saved, Rom. xi. 25, 
 26. The revolutions and commotions in king- 
 doms and nations, which astonish and perplex 
 politicians, are all bringing forward this great 
 event. The plan of the human drama, to us, 
 who only see a single scene, is dark and in- 
 tricate ; but the catastrophe is approaching ; 
 and in the close of the whole, the manifold 
 wisdom of God will be admired and adored, 
 and all holy and happy intelligences will ac- 
 knowledge with transport, He has done all 
 things well. 
 
 But the point I am chiefly to press upon 
 my hearers, is, that this word of salvation is 
 sent to you, Acts xiii. 26. How the great 
 Judge will deal with the Heathens, who were 
 never favoured with it, he has not seen fit dis- 
 tinctly to inform us. But thus far he has as- 
 sured us, that it will be more tolerable for 
 Tyre and Sidon, yea for Sodom and Gomor- 
 rah, than for those who have the privilege of 
 knowing the gospel, if they reject it, Matth. 
 xi. 20 — 24. To them much is given, and of 
 them much will be required. Do not think 
 ministers assuming if they magnify their office. 
 We have no reason to think highly of our- 
 selves. Nor would you be blameable for dis- 
 regarding us if we spoke in our own names. 
 But if we preach the truth of the gospel in 
 simplicity and sincerity, then we speak in the 
 name of the Lord, and demand your attention. 
 Do you ask for our authority and commission ? 
 Ask your own consciences. If, like Felix, 
 when you mean only to indulge your curio- 
 sity by hearing us, you are constrained to 
 tremble (Acts xxiv. 25) ; if we force upon 
 your mind the remembrance of what you have 
 said or done ; if our message makes you un- 
 easy and dissatisfied with yourselves ; if you 
 cannot avoid feeling at some times the truth 
 of our principles, and the necessity of the 
 3 I 
 
 THE PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
OPPOSITION TO MESSIAH UNREASONABLE. SER. XXXIII 
 
 change we would press upon you ; if, though 
 you have been repeatedly displeased and of- 
 fended with what you hear, and, perhaps, have 
 gone away purposing or threatening that you 
 would hear it no more, you still appear amongst 
 us — then you have a sufficient proof, that the 
 ministers are sent and authorized to speak to 
 you, and we take your consciences to witness 
 that we preach the truth. 
 
 SERMON XXXIII. 
 
 OPPOSITION TO MESSIAH UNREASONABLE. 
 
 Why do the Heathen rage, and the people ima- 
 gine a vain thing ? The kings of the earth 
 set themselves, and the rulers take counsel to- 
 gether, against the Lord, and against his 
 Anointed ; saying, Let us break their bands 
 asunder, and cast away their cords from us. 
 Psalm ii. 1 — 3. 
 
 It is generally admitted, that the institutes of 
 Christianity, as contained in the New Testa- 
 ment, do at least exhibit a beautiful and sa- 
 lutary system of morals ; and that a sincere 
 compliance with the precepts of our Lord and 
 his apostles would have a good effect upon 
 society. Few infidels have ventured to con- 
 tradict the common sense of mankind so far 
 as to deny this. Nor can it be denied, that 
 the author of this institution, if we judge by 
 the history and character given of him by the 
 evangelists, exemplified, in the highest per- 
 fection, by his own conduct, the precepts 
 which lie enjoined to his followers. While he 
 lived as a man amongst men, the tenor of his 
 behaviour was such as became the friend of 
 mankind. Though he submitted to a low 
 estate, and often suffered hunger, thirst, and 
 weariness, we do not read of his having wrought 
 a single miracle merely for his own relief. 
 But the wants and calamities of others con- 
 tinually excited his compassion and engaged 
 his assistance. He gave sight to the blind, 
 health to the sick, and sometimes wiped away 
 the tears of mourners, by restoring their dead 
 to life. He endured hunger himself, but once 
 and again provided food for multitudes, lest 
 they, having nothing to eat, should have faint- 
 ed by the way. Nor did he confine his acts of 
 benevolence to his followers, but was easy of 
 access, and granted the request of all indis- 
 criminately who applied to him. He went 
 about doing good (Acts x. 38), and often 
 put himself in the way of those who would 
 not otherwise have known him. And though 
 he was opposed, calumniated, and laughed to 
 scorn, he continued unwearied and determined 
 in the same cause, bestowing benefits on all 
 around him, as occasions offered, and return, 
 ing good for evil. May we not with reason 
 ask, Why then did Jews and Heathens, priests 
 
 and people, scribes and Sadducees, rage so 
 furiously against him, who did nothing amiss, 
 who did all things well ? Why did persons of 
 the most opposite interests, parties, and senti- 
 ments, who could agree in nothing else, so 
 cordially agree in opposing Messiah ? 
 
 The gospel breathes the spirit of its great 
 Author, and has a direct tendency to make 
 men happy and useful. Wherever it was pub- 
 lished, in the first age, among the Heathens, 
 many of them turned from the worship of 
 dumb idols to serve the living and true God. 
 It taught and enabled them to renounce un- 
 godliness and wordly lusts, and to live soberly, 
 righteously, and godly (Titus ii. 12) ; and it 
 still produces the same effects. The world 
 now bears the name of Christian ; but under 
 this new and honourable name it retains the 
 same spirit as formerly. Many who are called 
 Christians, are no less under the power of evi. 
 tempers and evil habits, than the Heathens to 
 whom the apostles preached. But where the 
 gospel of the grace of God reaches the heart, 
 a real and observable change is produced. 
 The profane person learns to fear an oath, 
 the libertine is reclaimed, the drunkard be 
 comes sober, and the miser kind. W T herevei 
 the truth of the gospel is known and received, 
 instances may be found of persons who were 
 a terror and a burden to their families, being 
 delivered from the stings of a guilty conscience, 
 from the dominion of headstrong passions, 
 from the slavery of habitual wickedness, and 
 made peaceful, useful, and exemplary mem- 
 bers of society, by what the apostle calls the 
 preaching of the cross. And we challenge 
 history to shew that an abiding, consistent re- 
 formation was ever effected by any other doc 
 trine, in a single province, or city, or village, 
 or even in a single family. 
 
 What then shall we say of that zeal which 
 kindled the fire of persecution against our 
 Lord and his apostles, and his followers, 
 through a succession of ages ? What is the 
 common principle, the bond of union, which 
 at this day connects people who differ so 
 widely in other respects, and points their dis- 
 pleasure from all sides against this one object ? 
 In a former discourse,* I briefly mentioned 
 the principal grounds of that dislike which 
 the Jews manifested to Messiah’s personal 
 ministry, and I observed, that they are deep- 
 ly rooted in the nature of fallen man, and 
 therefore not peculiar to any one age or na - 
 tion. The gospel always did, and always 
 will produce the same happy change in those 
 who receive it, and provoke the same oppo- 
 sition and resentment in those who do not. 
 The actings will be different as circumstances 
 vary, but the principle is universally the same. 
 In this island, which the good providence of 
 God has distinguished by many signal and pe- 
 culiar favours, the spirit of our constitution 
 
 Sermon xviL 
 
SER. Xxxiii. OPPOSITION TO MESSIAH UNREASONABLE. 
 
 and government is friendly to liberty of con- 
 science and the rights of private judgment ; 
 so that our religious profession does not ex- 
 pose us to the penalties of fire and sword, 
 stripes or tortures, imprisonment or banish- 
 ment. Such trials have been the lot of our 
 forefathers, when the servants of God, under 
 the names of Gospellers or Puritans, were 
 treated as heretics of the worst sort. We are 
 hound to acknowledge with thankfulness the 
 blessings of religious and civil liberty which 
 we enjoy. But the world at large around us 
 is not more favourably disposed to the grace 
 and rule of Messiah’s kingdom, than it was 
 in the days of Heathen and Popish darkness. 
 The tongue at least is unrestrained, and out 
 of the abundance of the heart the mouth will 
 speak. The gospel offends the pride of men, 
 by considering them all on a level, as sinners 
 in the sight of God ; and by proposing only 
 one method of salvation, without admitting 
 any difference of plea or character. It of- 
 fends them likewise by its strictness. Like 
 Herod, they might perhaps consent to do 
 many things (Mark vi. 20), if they were left 
 at liberty to please themselves in others, in 
 which, though expressly contrary to the will 
 of God, they will not submit to be controlled ; 
 and therefore they are much displeased with 
 the gospel, which, by affording no allowance 
 or connivance to the least known sin, but pre- 
 scribing a rule of universal holiness, crosses 
 their inclinations and favourite interests. 
 When Paul preached at Ephesus, Deme- 
 trius and his companions perceived that their 
 craft was in danger. This was the real cause 
 of their anger, but they were ashamed to avow 
 it; and therefore their ostensible reason for 
 opposing him was of a religious kind (Acts 
 xix. 28), and they professed a great concern 
 for the honour of Diana. Few perhaps would 
 have given themselves much trouble to pro- 
 mote or preserve the gain of the craftsmen ; 
 but a pretended regard for the worship which 
 had been long established, was a popular to- 
 pic, which wrought powerfully upon the su- 
 perstition of the ignorant multitude, and thou- 
 sands were presently induced to join with 
 them in the cry, u Great is Diana of the 
 Ephesians.” 
 
 The like arts are still practised with the 
 like success. The same secret motives are 
 disguised by the same plausible pretences. 
 The deceitfulness and wickedness of the heart 
 appears in no one instance more plainly than 
 in the cavils which are repeated and multiplied 
 against the grace of the gospel. When we 
 preach a free salvation by faith in Jesus, and 
 propose his obedience unto death as the sure 
 and only ground of acceptance with God; 
 when we say, in the words of the apostle, to 
 the vilest of sinners who feel the burden, and 
 fear the consequences of their sins, “ Believe 
 in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be 
 aaved” (Acts xvi. 31), an alarm is raised, 
 
 755 
 
 and a concern pretended for the interests of 
 morality. The doctrine of salvation by faith 
 only, is charged with opening a door, a flood- 
 gate for licentiousness, and it is supposed, 
 that if this doctrine be true, people may live 
 as they please, and still comfort themselves 
 with the expectation of heaven at last. Con- 
 sidering our natural propensity to trust in 
 ourselves that we are righteous, I do not won- 
 der that persons who are comparatively sober 
 and decent should speak thus, while they are 
 ignorant of the strictness of the holy law of 
 God, and of the depravity of their own hearts. 
 But I sometimes wonder that they are not a 
 little disconcerted by the characters of many 
 (so different from what they suppose their 
 own to be) who join with them in the objec- 
 tions they make. For in this point, with the 
 sober and decent, the licentious and profligate 
 readily concur; and whoremongers, adul- 
 terers, drunkards, and profane swearers, al- 
 most equal them in gravely expressing their 
 apprehensions that the doctrine of salvation 
 by grace will prove very unfavourable to the 
 practice of good works. How very remark- 
 able is this, that the virtuous and the vile, the 
 most respectable and the most infamous peo- 
 ple, should so frequently agree in sentiment, 
 and unite in opposing the gospel, professedly 
 from the same motive. But thus it was at 
 the commencement of Messiah’s kingdom : 
 kings, rulers, priests, and people, all con- 
 spired and raged against him. Herod and 
 Pilate, the Jewish elders and the Roman sol- 
 diers, the Pharisees and the Sadducees thus 
 differed, and thus agreed. They hated each 
 other till he appeared ; but their greater com- 
 mon hatred to him made them act in concert, 
 and they suspended their mutual animosity, 
 that they might combine to destroy him. 
 
 I may seem to have digressed from the im- 
 mediate scope of my text, but I judge it pro- 
 per to bring the subject home to ourselves. 
 If I confined myself to prove that the enemies 
 of our Lord, when he was upon earth, were 
 very unreasonable and unjust in treating him 
 as they did, I should have an easy task, and I 
 suppose, the ready assent of all my hearers. 
 But there may be persons present, who, though 
 they little suspect themselves, are equally mis- 
 led by prejudices ; and under a semblance of 
 zeal for a form of godliness, oppose the truth 
 and power of it, upon the same principles and 
 in the same spirit as the Jews and Heathens 
 did of old. The Jews who condemned Mes- 
 siah to death, blamed their forefathers for per- 
 secuting the prophets who foretold his appear- 
 ance (Matth. xxiii. 30, 31); but their own 
 conduct towards him was a proof, that had 
 they lived in the days of the prophets, they 
 would have acted as their fathers had done. 
 So the resentment that many, who bear the 
 Christian name in this day, discover against 
 the doctrines of the gospel, and against the 
 people who profess them, is a proof that they 
 
POSITION TO MESSIAH UNREASONABLE. SER. xxxiil 
 
 756 OP 
 
 would have concurred with those who cruci- 
 fied the Lord of glory, had they lived in Je- 
 rusalem at that time. 
 
 In this prophecy, David, under the influ- 
 ence of the Holy Spirit, speaks of the future 
 as actually present. He saw the resistance 
 that would be made to the person and king- 
 dom of Messiah by the powers of the world ; 
 that they would employ their force and policy 
 to withstand and suppress the decree and ap- 
 pointment of God. The question, Why? im- 
 plies that their opposition would be both 
 groundless and ineffectual. 
 
 1. It was entirely groundless and unreason- 
 able. Messiah was indeed a King, and he 
 came to set up a kingdom that should endure 
 for ever. But his kingdom is not of this 
 world ; and, if rightly understood, would give 
 no umbrage to human governments. It does 
 not interfere with the rights of princes. His 
 subjects are indeed primarily bound by the 
 laws of their immediate King, and they must 
 obey God rather than man (Acts. v. 29), if 
 man will presume to enjoin such laws as con- 
 tradict his known will. But with this excep- 
 tion, it is a part of the duty they owe to their 
 Lord, to obey those whom he has placed, by 
 his providence in authority over them. The 
 kingdom of Messiah has little to do with what 
 w r e call politics. His people are taught to 
 render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s 
 (Matth. xxii. 21), and to yield a peaceful sub- 
 jection to the powers that be, under whatever 
 form of government their lot may be cast. 
 They are strangers and pilgrims upon earth 
 (1 Pet. ii. 11), their citizenship, treasures, and 
 conversation, are in heaven ; and they have 
 no more direct concern wi:h the intrigues and 
 parties of politicians, than a traveller has in 
 the feuds and disturbances which may happen 
 in a foreign country through which he is pas- 
 sing. They are to obey God, they are to 
 obey kings and governors in subordination to 
 God ; they are to render to all their dues ; tri- 
 bute to whom tribute, custom to whom cus- 
 tom, honour to whom honour, Rom. xiii. 1 — y. 
 But where they cannot comply w'ith the laws 
 of government without breaking the laws of 
 God, then they are not to obey, but to suffer 
 patiently, committing their cause to him whom 
 they serve; well knowing that he is able to 
 protect or relieve them, so far as his wisdom 
 judges it fit, and to make them abundant a- 
 mends for all they can suffer for his sake. I 
 am not a direct advocate for the doctrines of 
 passive obedience and non-resistance in the 
 largest sense. I set a great value upon the 
 blessings of civil and religious liberty, I reve- 
 rence the constitutional rights of nations, par- 
 ticularly of our own. But they are all de- 
 pendant upon the will of our Lord ; and I 
 know not by what means they can be preserv- 
 ed to a people, when their sins have made 
 them ripe for judgment. But let the dead 
 bury their dead, Matth. viii. 22. God will 
 
 never want instruments, when it is his plea- 
 sure to relieve the oppressed, or to abase the 
 proud. For these purposes, he over-rules the 
 councils and affairs of men, pours contempt 
 upon the designs of princes, and takes the 
 wise in their own craftiness. The subjects of 
 his spiritual kingdom have only to commit 
 their cause to him, to wait upon him, to ob- 
 serve and to admire his management. Then 
 best interest is always safe. And even the 
 troubles they meet with, are appointed foi 
 their good. But if they so far conform to 
 the world, afs to take an active and decided 
 part in the disputes and contentions around 
 them, they usually dishonour their Christian 
 character, and obstruct their own peace and 
 comfort. There may be possibly some excep- 
 tions. God may sometimes place a servant of 
 his, by the leading of his providence, in a post 
 of high political importance, as he did Joseph 
 and Daniel, but I believe such instances are 
 few ; and if any venture of their own accord 
 beyond the proper line of their calling as 
 Christians, the event is usually grief and loss 
 to them. They are described in his w r ord, as 
 those who are quiet in the land (Psai. xxxv 
 20), and such should be their deportment. 
 
 We are sure it was thus, in the first and 
 golden days of Christianity. The Roman go- 
 vernment w’as then absolute, arbitrary, and 
 oppressive. Tiberius, Caligula, Nero, and 
 others who presided over it, and bore the name 
 of Roman emperors, were beyond measure 
 vile and abominable : one of them was, by a 
 decree of the Roman senate, sentenced to 
 death as a public enemy to mankind, but the 
 Christians neither disputed their right, nor 
 disobeyed their authority. Kings and rulers, 
 therefore, have nothing to fear from the gos- 
 pel of Christ. The maxims of sound policy 
 would engage all their influence in facilitating 
 its progress, for true Christians will assuredly 
 be good subjects. Impatience of subordina- 
 tion, contempt of lawful authority, tumults, 
 riots, and conspiracies, are evils which would 
 have no place if the gospel was generally re- 
 ceived. But princes have been usually ex - 
 posed to the flattery of designing men, who, 
 by their arts and misrepresentations, have se- 
 duced them to act contrary to their true in- 
 terests. Their mistaken efforts to suppress 
 that cause, which, if maintained, would have 
 been the best security of their thrones, have 
 often stained the annals of their reign with 
 innocent blood, and filled their dominions 
 with misery. History furnishes many in- 
 stances of kings, who might otherwise have 
 lived beloved and died lamented, that have in- 
 volved themselves and their families in the ca- 
 lamities with w'hich they unjustly punished 
 those w'ho deserved their protection. For, 
 
 2. Opposition to Messiah and his kingdom 
 is no less vain and ineffectual, than unreason- 
 able and groundless. Nor is it vain only, but 
 ruinous to those who engage in it. What did 
 
SEIi. XXXIV. 
 
 OPPOSITION TO MESSIAH IN VAIN. 
 
 the Jews build when they rejected the founda- 
 tion-stone which God had laid in Zion? They 
 acted, as they thought, with precaution and 
 foresight. They said, “ If we let him thus 
 alone, all men will believe on him; and the 
 Romans shall come and take away both our 
 place and our nation,” John xi. 48. Foolish 
 politicians ! Did they preserve their city by 
 crucifying the Son of God ? The very evil they 
 feared came upon them. Or rather, being 
 abandoned of God to their own councils, they 
 brought it upon themselves. In a few years 
 the Romans, with whom they appeared so de- 
 sirous to keep upon good terms, destroyed 
 their city with an unheard-of destruction, and 
 exterminated them from the land. This was 
 an emblem of the inevitable, total, irreparable 
 ruin, which awaits all those who persist in re- 
 jecting the rule of Messiah. The nation, die 
 individual, that will not serve him, must sure- 
 ly perish. 
 
 Ah ! if sinners did but know what the 
 bonds and cords are, which they are so deter- 
 mined to break ; if they knew that his service 
 is perfect freedom : if they were aware what 
 more dreadful bonds and chains they are ri- 
 vetting upon themselves, by refusing his easy 
 yoke, they would throw down their arms and 
 submit. They think, if they yield to the gos- 
 pel, they must bid adieu to pleasure. But 
 what will become of their pleasure, when, the 
 day of his forbearance being expired, he will 
 speak to them in his wrath, and fill them with 
 hopeless horror and dismay ? 
 
 Bless the Lord, ye favoured few, whose 
 eyes are opened, whose hearts are softened, 
 and who are become the willing people of this 
 Saviour. Yet a little while, and he will ap- 
 pear again, and then you also shall appear 
 with him in glory ! 
 
 SERMON XXXIV. 
 
 OPPOSITION TO MESSIAH IN VAIN. 
 
 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh ; the 
 Lord shall have them in derision. Psalm 
 ii. 4. 
 
 The extent and efficacy of the depravity of 
 mankind, cannot be fully estimated by the 
 conduct of Heathens destitute of divine reve- 
 lation. We may say of the gospel, in one 
 6ense, what the apostle says of the law, “ It 
 entered that sin might abound,” Rom. v. 20. 
 It afforded occasion for displaying the aliena- 
 tion of the heart of man from the blessed God 
 in the strongest light. The sensuality, op- 
 pression, and idolatry which have prevailed in 
 all ages, sufficiently prove the wickedness of 
 men to be very great. But the opposition 
 which they who have rebelled against the go- 
 
 757 
 
 1 vermnent of their Creator, make to the propo- 
 | sals of his grace, is a proof still more striking. 
 
 J If sin has so hardened their hearts, and blind- 
 ed their eyes, that of themselves they neither 
 can nor will implore his mercy ; yet it might 
 be thought that if the great God, whom they 
 have so heinously offended, should be pleased, 
 of his own goodness, to make the first over- 
 tures of reconciliation, and to invite them to 
 receive pardon, they would gladly attend to 
 his gracious declaration ; especially when they 
 are informed, that to preserve them from per- 
 ishing, he gave up his only Son to sufferings 
 and death. But when they not only defy his 
 pow r er, but insult his goodness ; when they re- 
 ject and blaspheme the Saviour whom he com. 
 mends to them ; when they are but the more 
 exasperated by his tenders of mercy; when 
 they scorn his message, and persecute his mes- 
 sengers by whom he intreats them to be recon- 
 ciled ; this mad and ungrateful carriage shews 
 such a rooted enmity against God in fallen 
 men, as even the fallen angels are not capable 
 of discovering. For Messiah took not on him 
 the nature of angels, nor did he make propos- 
 als of mercy to them. But he did take upon 
 him our nature. He visited us in person, for 
 us he lived a sufferer, and died that we might 
 live. The prophets foresaw and foretold the 
 reception he would meet with, and their pre- 
 dictions were fulfilled. The Jews who pro- 
 fessed to expect him, and the Heathens who 
 had not heard of him, united their utmost ef- 
 forts to withstand and defeat the purposes of 
 his unexampled love. What must the holy 
 angels think of the baseness, presumption, 
 and obstinacy of such creatures ! 
 
 But rebellion against God is not only wick- 
 edness, but folly and infatuation in the ex- 
 treme. “ Who ever hardened himself against 
 the Lord and prospered ?” Job, x. 4. He 
 whom they opposed, and against whom they 
 thought they had prevailed when they saw him 
 dead upon the cross, soon resumed his glory 
 and his throne. The text therefore principal- 
 ly respects the opposition made to his gospel 
 and to his kingdom after his ascension, which 
 is still carrying on, but which always was, and 
 always will be in vain. The words I have 
 read offer two points for the consolation of 
 those who love him, and for the timely consi- 
 deration of those who have hitherto disregard- 
 ed him. 
 
 I. That he sitteth in the heavens. 
 
 II. The notice he taketh of his enemies ; he 
 smiles at their rage, and treats both their pow . 
 er and their policy with contempt. 
 
 I. He whom God has anointed (therefore 
 called Messiah), he against whom kings and 
 rulers, nations and the people rage, sitteth in 
 the heavens. He has finished his great work, 
 and entered into his rest; having by himself 
 purged our sins, he is immoveably seated on 
 his throne, at the right hand of the majesty on 
 high, Heb. i. 3. He is the Head, King, and 
 
SER. XXXIV. 
 
 OPPOSITION TO MESSIAH IN VAIN. 
 
 758 
 
 Lord of principalities, dominions, and powers, 
 possessed of all authority, unchangeably fixed 
 over all, God blessed for evermore, Rom. ix. 
 5. In tins character he is the Representative, 
 High-Priest, Ad\ocate, and Shepherd of all 
 who put their trust in him. He is ever mind- 
 ful of them. While he is preparing a place 
 for them near himself, by the power of his 
 Spirit, he maintains an intercourse with them, 
 and manifests himself to them as he does not 
 to the world. By his providence, which rul- 
 eth over all, he manages their concerns upon 
 earth, supplies their wants, and gives them 
 present and effectual help and support in their 
 time of trouble. To him their eyes and hearts 
 are directed, they look to him and are enlight- 
 ened (Psal. xxxiv. 5), strengthened, and com- 
 forted. And under his protection they are 
 safe. He having taken charge of them, and 
 engaged to save them to the uttermost, no 
 weapon formed against them can prosper. 
 Now they may draw nigh to God with bold- 
 ness, for they have one who ever liveth to 
 make intercession for them. Now they may 
 lay aside all anxious, uneasy cares, for they 
 have a mighty Friend who careth for them. 
 Now they may say, each one for himself, “ I 
 will trust and not be afraid, for the Lord Je- 
 hovah is my strength, and my song, and my 
 salvation,” Is. xii. 2. Whether you have in- 
 deed fled to him for refuge as the hope set be- 
 fore you, committed your soul to him, and ac- 
 cepted him in all his offices, as your Prophet, 
 Priest, and King, is a point of experience ; if 
 you have, he knows it, for he enabled you to 
 do it ; and he will not disappoint the hope 
 and expectation which he himself has wrought 
 in you. If you have, methinks you must 
 know it likewise. Have you not done it more 
 than once ? Do you not daily repeat this sur- 
 render of yourself to him ? It is certainly 
 possible to assent to the truths of the gospel, 
 considered merely as doctrines or propositions, 
 yea to plead and dispute for them with much 
 seeming earnestness, and yet to be entirely a 
 stranger to their power. But I trust that they 
 to whom I now speak will understand me 
 Our Lord reminded Nathanael of what had 
 passed under the fig-tree (John i. 48), when 
 he thought himself alone. Do not I remind 
 you of seasons, when no eye but the eye of 
 Him who seeth in secret was upon you ? Did 
 not you then and there, once and again, ac- 
 cept him as your Saviour, upon the warrant 
 of his own word, devote yourselves to his ser- 
 vice, resign yourselves to his disposal, and en- 
 trust yourselves to his care ? Then fear not. 
 He that sitteth in the heavens is on your side. 
 If the premises be well grounded, the infer- 
 ence is sure. And though many may rise up 
 against you, they shall not prevail ; for he will 
 teach your hands to war, and your fingers to 
 fight, will cover your head in the day of bat- 
 tle, and in the end make you more than con- 
 querors. For the battle is not yours, but the 
 
 Lord’s. Your enemies are his, and his cause 
 is yours. They who associate against him 
 shall be dashed in pieces, as the billows break 
 and die upon a rocky shore. 
 
 II. The feebleness and insignificance of 
 their rage against Messiah, is intimated by the 
 manner in which he notices their proceedings ; 
 he holds them in derision, he laughs them to 
 scorn. He has them perfectly under his con- 
 troul, holds them in a chain when they think 
 themselves most at liberty, appoints the bounds 
 beyond which they cannot pass, and can in a 
 moment check them, and make them feel his 
 hook and bridle, when in the height of their 
 career. 
 
 It is the Lord’s pleasure not only to favour 
 and to support his people, but to do it in such 
 a way that it may appear to be wholly his own 
 work, and that the praise belongs to him alone. 
 And therefore he permits their enemies for a 
 season to try if they can prevent his designs. 
 For a season, things take such a course that 
 their attempts seem to prosper ; they threaten, 
 they boast, and confidently expect to carry 
 their point. But the contest always issues in 
 their shame and confusion. He not only dis- 
 concerts their schemes, but makes them instru- 
 mental to the promoting of his own designs. 
 Thus when he sent Moses to deliver Israel 
 from Egypt, Pharaoh, instead of complying 
 with his command, increased their burdens, 
 added to the rigour of their bondage, and, 
 though rebuked by a succession of severe 
 judgments, he hardened himself the more, and 
 was determined to detain them if he could. 
 But he could not detain them a day or an 
 hour beyond the appointed time which God 
 had long before made known to Abraham, 
 Exod. xii. 41, 42. Then they were deliver- 
 ed, and Pharaoh and his host overthrown in 
 the Red Sea. Hereby the name of the God 
 of Israel was more known, noticed and mag- 
 nified, than it would have been, if Pharaoh 
 had dismissed the people without reluctance 
 or delay. 
 
 In like manner, when Messiah left the earth, 
 his followers were considered as sheep without 
 a shepherd. The world conspired to suppress 
 his cause, and to root out the remembrance of 
 his people. But the methods they employed 
 counteracted their own designs. They who 
 were dispersed by the persecution that follow- 
 ed the death of Stephen, preached the word 
 wherever they went, the gospel spread from 
 place to place, and the number of disciples daily 
 increased. So that the Jewish rulers soon found 
 themselves unequal to the task, and foreboded 
 their own disappointment, doubting whereunto 
 these things would grow, Acts v. 24. In some 
 cases the Lord signally interposed, and shew- 
 ed how entirely the lives and the hearts of his 
 adversaries were in his hands. The haughty 
 Herod was suddenly smitten by an invisible 
 hand, with a loathsome and mortal disease. 
 Acts xii. 23. He fell, devoured by worms , 
 
SER. XXXJV. 
 
 OPPOSITION TO MESSIAH IN VAIN. 
 
 but the success of the gospel, which he had 
 presumed to withstand, greatly increased and 
 spread. The furious zeal of Saul of Tarsus 
 (Acts ix), against the truth, was silenced in a 
 different manner. Jesus, whom he ignorantly 
 persecuted, appeared to him in the way to 
 Damascus, when he was breathing out threa- 
 tenings and slaughter against the disciples, 
 disarmed his rage, made him a monument of 
 his mercy, and an earnest and successful 
 preacher of the faith which he had laboured 
 to destroy. 
 
 From the Jews, the business was transfer- 
 red to the Heathens, whose opposition was no 
 less unavailing. Though they sometimes af- 
 fected to boast that they had suppressed the 
 Christian name, the gospel was propagated in 
 defiance of their attempts to prevent it. The 
 worst and the best of the Roman emperors 
 were alike industrious, and alike unsuccess- 
 ful, in their endeavours to stifle the work of 
 God. At length, in the reign of Constan- 
 tine, the Christian religion obtained the sanc- 
 tion and protection of imperial authority. 
 
 But it soon appeared that the religion of 
 the New Testament gained little advantage by 
 tills revolution. Though the worship of hea- 
 then idols gradually declined, and sunk into 
 disrepute, the bulk of the people of all ranks 
 were only changed in name. The world still 
 lay in wickedness (1 John v. 19), and true 
 Christianity was still exposed to persecution. 
 When the name of Christian ceased to be in- 
 vidious and despicable, new names were soon 
 invented to stigmatize the real servants of 
 God ; and ecclesiastical power gradually in- 
 creased, till the mystery of iniquity reigned 
 for ages in the temple of God. The persecu - 
 tions of Popery equalled and exceeded those 
 of Paganism. And they who aspired to be 
 Christians indeed, were constrained, like the 
 worthies of old, to wander on mountains and 
 in deserts, to hide themselves in dens and 
 caves of the earth, Heb. xi. 38. Yet, under 
 all disadvantages, there was still a remnant, 
 according to the election of grace, who could 
 not be compelled to wear the mark of the beast. 
 And while persecutors, who could only kill 
 the body, seemed to weaken the church mili- 
 tant, they increased the number and the songs 
 of the church triumphant. 
 
 To appearance the church of Christ was 
 often brought low. It was very low at the 
 time of the Reformation. But then it sud- 
 denly was revived, and broke forth like the 
 sun from behind a dark cloud ; and the light 
 of the gospel was diffused far and wide, al- 
 most as at the beginning, in the apostles days. 
 But Protestants were quickly actuated by the 
 same spirit as their Popish and Pagan prede- 
 cessors had been. The form of Christianity 
 was professed and protected, and the power of ' 
 it denied and opposed. And to this day it J 
 remains a truth verified by experience, that all 
 who will live godly in Christ Jesus, must, in j 
 
 759 
 
 one way or other, suffer persecution, 1 Tim. 
 
 iii. 12. 
 
 Of late years the sanguinary spirit, which, 
 under pretence of doing God service, destroy- 
 ed his people by fire and tortures, is much 
 subsided. We live in a time when great pre- 
 tences are made to candour and moderation. 
 We have reason to be thankful for our religi- 
 ous liberty, to the good providence of God. 
 But so far as men are concerned, we are not 
 indebted for it, to a just sense and acknow- 
 ledgment of the right of private judgment, 
 but to the prevalence of sceptical indifference 
 and infidelity. The religion of the gospel 
 was, perhaps, never more despised and hated 
 than at present. We seem to be returning 
 apace to the state of the primitive ages, when 
 there were but two sorts of persons, Christians 
 and infidels. But notwithstanding all the 
 arts and assaults of men, whether open ene- 
 mies or pretended friends the Bible is still ex- 
 tant, the gospel is still preached, yea, is still 
 spreading. The Lord has always had a pea- 
 pie, though they have been often hidden from 
 the general notice and observation of men. 
 He that sitteth in the heavens laughs his op- 
 posers to scorn, and maintains his owm cause 
 in defiance of them all. 
 
 Surely if this work was not of God, the un- 
 ited efforts of kings, councils, popes, philoso- 
 phers, the great, the wise, the decent, and the 
 profligate, must have overthrow-n it long ago. 
 If a miracle be demanded in proof of Christi- 
 anity, behold one ! Though the world has been 
 raging and plotting against it, from its first 
 appearance ; though it has been fiercely as- 
 saulted by those without, and shamefully be- 
 trayed by many within, it still subsists, it still 
 flourishes. And subsist it shall, for it is main- 
 tained by him, who has the hearts of all men 
 in his hands, and can controul or change 
 them as he pleases. He can, and he will, 
 support and strengthen his people under all 
 their sufferings. He can disappoint his ad- 
 versaries by unexpected events, divide them 
 among themselves, and so manage them by his 
 providence, as to make them protect and pro- 
 mote the very cause which they hate. And 
 whenever he pleases, he can, as it were, from 
 the stones (Matth. iii. 9), raise up instru- 
 ments to carry on his work, and to shew forth 
 his praise. Therefore, 
 
 1. Let not his people tremble for the ark. 
 Our eyes indeed should affect our hearts. It 
 becomes us to be jealous for the Lord of 
 hosts, to be concerned for the contempt and 
 dishonour that is cast upon his government 
 and grace, to be grieved for the abounding a- 
 bominations of the day, and to pity and pray 
 for obstinate sinners who know not what they 
 do. But we need not fear the failure of his 
 . promise. His truth and honour are engaged 
 [ for the success of his gospel, and they must 
 | stand or fall together. It is a cause dearer to 
 j him than it can be t > us. The manifestation 
 
760 OPPOSITION TO MESSIAH RUINOUS. SER. xxxy. 
 
 of his glory in the salvation of sinners, by the 
 doctrine of the cross, is the one great concern, 
 for which the succession of day and night, and 
 of the seasons of the year, is continued, and 
 the visible frame of nature is preserved. He 
 will work, and none shall let it. The king- j 
 doms of the earth shall become the kingdoms | 
 of the Lord and of his Christ. The fulness j 
 of the Gentiles shall come in, and the dispers- j 
 ed of Israel shall return to the Lord their God, 
 and be saved. These great events, to those 
 who judge by an eye of sense, and according 
 to the present state of things, may appear 
 improbable or impossible. But the Lord of 
 hosts hath purposed, and who shall disan- 
 nul it ? His hand is stretched out, and who 
 shall turn it back ? Is. xiv. 27. 
 
 2. Think it neither strange nor hard, if any 
 of you are called to suffer for the sake of the 
 truth. Think it not strange ; for thus it has 
 been from the beginning. Think it not hard ; 
 for our sufferings are small, if compared with j 
 the lot of many who have lived before us. We i 
 are not called to resist unto blood. Many 
 prophets and righteous men have desired to 
 see such days of liberty as we are favoured 
 with, but have not seen them. 
 
 3. Consider seriously, Who is on the Lord’s ! 
 side ? His is the strongest side, and must 
 prevail. If you have yielded yourselves to j 
 him, and taken upon you his yoke, your best ! 
 interests are safe, your final happiness is se- J 
 cured. Nothing can separate you from his 
 love. You shall be kept by his power through 
 faith, and no weapon formed against you shall j 
 prosper. But if you are against him, tremble, 
 for the day of his wrath will come ; “ it will 
 burn like an oven, and all the proud, and all 
 that do wickedly, shall be as stubble, and the 
 day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the 
 Lord of hosts, and shall leave them neither 
 root nor branch,” Mai. iv. 1. Turn there- 
 fore in time from your evil ways, submit ' 
 yourselves unto him, and implore his mercy 
 while he waiteth to be gracious, that iniquity 
 may not be your ruin. 
 
 SERMON XXXV 
 
 OPPOSITION TO MESSIAH RUINOUS. 
 
 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron , thou 
 shall dash them in pieces like a potter's ves 
 set. 1 valm ii. 9. 
 
 There is a species of the sublime in writing, 
 which seems peculiar to the scripture, and of 
 which, properly, no subjects but those of di- 
 vine revelation are capable. With us things 
 inconsiderable in themselves are elevated by 
 splendid images, which give them an apparent 
 importance beyond what they can justly claim. 
 Thus the poet, when describing a battle a- 
 
 mong bees, by a judicious selection of epithets 
 and figures, excites in the minds of his readers 
 the idea of two mighty armies contending for 
 empire. But the works and ways of God are 
 too great in themselves to admit of any height- 
 ening representation. We conceive more 
 forcibly of small things by illustrations bor- 
 rowed from those which are greater j but the 
 scripture frequently illustrates great things, 
 by contrasting them with those which in our 
 estimation are trivial and feeble. One in- 
 stance, out of many which might be mention- 
 ed, is that truly sublime passage of the pro- 
 phet : “ And all the host of heaven shall be 
 dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled to- 
 gether as a scroll ; and all their host shall fall 
 down as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and 
 as a falling fig from the fig-tree,” Isa. xxxiv. 4. 
 The apostle, when favoured with a heavenly 
 vision, introduces the same thought, almost in 
 the same words : ** And the stars of heaven 
 fell unto the earth, even as a fig-tree casteth 
 her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a 
 mighty wind : and the heavens departed as a 
 scroll when it is rolled together,” Rev. vi. 13, 
 14. Such forms of expression are becoming 
 the Majesty of the great God, before whom 
 the difference between the great and the small 
 in our judgment is annihilated. In his view, 
 the earth, with all its inhabitants, are but as a 
 drop which falls unnoticed from the bucket, 
 or as the dust which cleaves to the balance, 
 (Is. xl. 15), without affecting its equilibrium. 
 At the same time, the simplicity of these il- 
 lustrations, so well suited to confound the 
 pride of the wise, is striking and obvious to 
 the lowest capacities. If Homer or Virgil 
 had been to describe the exertion and effect of 
 the’ power of God, in subduing and punishing 
 his enemies, they would probably have labour- 
 ed for a simile sufficiently grand. But I 
 much question if they would have thought of 
 the image in my text, though none can be 
 more expressive of utter irreparable ruin, or 
 of the ease with which it is accomplished : 
 He shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s 
 vessel. 
 
 The series of the passages we have lately 
 considered is very regular and beautiful. Mes- 
 siah ascended on high, and received gifts for 
 men. The first and immediate consequence 
 of his exaltation in our nature, is the publica- 
 tion of the gospel. Then follows the happy 
 and beneficial influence of the gospel on those 
 who thankfully receive it. How beautiful 
 are the feet of them that preach these glad 
 tidings ! The next passage secures and de- 
 scribes its extensive progress — the sound went 
 forth into all the earih. The opposition a- 
 wakened by it is then described, First, as un- 
 reasonable — Why do the Heathen rage ? 
 Secondly, as ineffectual — the Lord laughs at 
 his opposers; he sits upon his immoveable 
 throne, and derides their attempts. Thirdly, 
 the final issue of their mad resistance, their 
 
SLR. XXXV. 
 
 OPPOSITION TO MESSIAH RUINOUS. 
 
 confusion and ruin, is the subject of the verse 
 I have read, which prepares for the close of 
 the second part of the Oratorio. His enemies 
 shall perish, his kingdom shall be established 
 and consummated. And then all holy intel- 
 ligent beings shall join in a song of triumph, 
 
 “ Hallelujah, for the Lord God Omnipotent 
 reigneth.” 
 
 The two expressions, of breaking with a 
 rod of iron, and dashing in pieces, suggest 
 nearly the same idea : But as elsewhere he is 
 said to rule his enemies with a rod of iron 
 (Rev. xix. 15), I shall avail myself of this va- 
 riation, in order to give you a more complete 
 view of the dreadful state of those who oppose 
 Messiah and his kingdom. He rules them at 
 present with a rod of iron, and hereafter he 
 will dash them in pieces like a potter’s ves- 
 sel. Let us therefore consider 
 
 I. How the Lord Messiah rules over im- 
 penitent and obstinate sinners in the present 
 life. They attempt (in vain) to withdraw 
 from his subjection ; they oppose his holy 
 will ; they refuse to submit to his golden scep- 
 tre : He will therefore rule them with a rod 
 of iron. For though they boast of their li- 
 berty, and presume to say, Who is Lord over 
 us? (Psal. xii. 4) yet in the thing wherein 
 they speak proudly, he is above them (Exod. 
 xviii. 1 1 ) ; They cannot hide themselves from 
 his notice, nor avoid the intimations of his 
 displeasure. 
 
 1. One branch of his iron rule over them, 
 consists in that certain and inseparable con- 
 nection which he has established between sin 
 and misery. The fruit of righteousness is 
 peace, James iii. 18. They who live in the 
 fear of the Lord, and yield a willing obedi- 
 ence to his word, not only possess peace of 
 conscience, and a hope which can look with 
 comfort beyond the grave, but are thereby 
 preserved from innumerable evils, into which 
 they who attempt to cast off his yoke una- 
 voidably plunge themselves. On the contrary, 
 the way of transgressors is hard, Prov. xiii. 
 15. It is hard in itself, if we set aside for a 
 moment the consideration of the dreadful end 
 to which it leads. Could you see what passes 
 within the breast of a man who disdains to be 
 governed by the rule of God’s word, you 
 would see his heart torn to pieces by the cla- 
 morous, insatiable demands of the various, 
 violent, inconsistent appetites and passions, 
 which, like so many w’iid beasts, are continual- 
 ly preying upon him. Not one of them can be 
 fully gratified, much less all, for many of them 
 are diametrically opposite to each other. The 
 boilings of anger, the gnawings of envy, the j 
 thirst of covetousness, the anxieties attendant 
 on pride and ambition, must make the mind 
 that is subject to them miserable. There is 
 no peace to the wicked ; there can be none. 
 Farther, their evil tempers and irregular de- 
 sires produce outward and visible effects, which 
 publicly and manifestly prove, that the service 
 
 761 
 
 of sin is a hard drudgery, and that whatever 
 pleasure it may seem to promise, its pay is mi- 
 sery and pain. “ Who hath woe, contentions, 
 and wounds without cause ?” (Proverbs, xxiii. 
 29.) The drunkard. Lewdness and drunk- 
 enness are high roads, if I may so speak, lead- 
 ing to infamy, disease, penury, and death. 
 Such persons do not live out half the days 
 which their constitutions might have afforded, 
 if they had not sold themselves to do wicked- 
 ly. Again, look into their houses. Where 
 the Lord does not dwell, peace will not inha- 
 bit. How frequently may we observe, in their 
 family-connections, discord and enmity be- 
 tween man and wife, unkind parents, disobe- 
 dient children, tyrannical masters, and trea- 
 cherous servants ? Thus they live, hateful in 
 themselves, and hating one another, Tit. iii. 2. 
 If they have what the world accounts pros- 
 perity, their hard master Satan, so works upon 
 their evil dispositions, that they can derive no 
 real comfort from it. Every day, almost 
 every hour, puts some new bitterness into 
 their cup. And in trouble they have no re- 
 source : having no access to God, no promise 
 to support them, no relief from him against 
 their anxieties and fears, they either sink down 
 in sullen, comfortless despondency, or in a 
 spirit of wild rebellion, blaspheme him be- 
 cause of their plagues, Rev. xvi. 21. In so- 
 ciety they are dreaded and avoided by the 
 sober and serious, and can only associate with 
 such as themselves. There indeed, they will 
 pretend to be happy ; they carouse, and make 
 a noise, and assist each other to banish reflec- 
 tion ; yet frequently the drink, or the devil, 
 breaks their intimacies, and stirs them up to 
 quarrels, broils, and mischief. Such is a life 
 of sin. The Lord rules them with a rod of 
 iron. They renounce his fear, and he refuses 
 them his blessing. Nothing more is neces- 
 sary to render them miserable than to leave 
 them to themselves. 
 
 2. He rules them with a rod of iron, by 
 his power over conscience. They may boast 
 and laugh, but we know the gall and bitter- 
 ness of their state ; for we, likewise, were in 
 it, until the Lord delivered us. Let them say 
 what they will, we are sure that there are sea- 
 sons, when, like him whom they serve, they 
 believe and tremble, James ii. 19. They can- 
 not always be in company, they cannot al- 
 ways be intoxicated ; though this is the very 
 reason why many intoxicate themselves so 
 often, because they cannot bear their' own 
 thoughts when sober. They are then a bur- 
 den and a terror to themselves. They feel 
 | the iron rod. How awful are the thoughts 
 which sometimes awaken them, or keep them 
 awake, in the silent hours of the night ! What 
 terrors seize them in sickness, or when they 
 are compelled to think of death ! What a 
 death-warrant do they often receive in their 
 souls, under the preaching of that word of 
 God which fills his people with joy and peace • 
 
SEIt. XXXV 
 
 OPPOSITION TO MESSIAH RUINOUS. 
 
 762 
 
 Many will not hear it. But why not ? They 
 will not, because they dare not. I am per- 
 suaded there are more than a few of the brave 
 spirits of the present day, who would willingly 
 change conditions with a dog, and be glad to 
 part with their reason, if they could at the 
 same time get rid of the horrors which hunt 
 their consciences. Is there one such person 
 here ? Let me entreat you to stop and con- 
 sider, before it be too late. There is yet for- 
 giveness with God. Your case, though dan- 
 gerous is not desperate, if you do not make it 
 so yourself. I would direct your thoughts to 
 Jesus. Look to him, and implore his mercy. 
 His blood can cleanse from all sin. He is 
 able to save to the uttermost. 
 
 It is possible some may affect to contradict 
 the representation I have made, and be ready 
 to say, “ I find nothing of all this. I take a 
 pleasure in my way. I have a healthy body, 
 money at my command, and I can sleep sound- 
 ly. I feel none of the qualms of conscience 
 you speak of ; and though the saints and good 
 folks care as little for me as I do for them, 
 yet I am very well and happy with such ac- 
 quaintance as I like best. As to an hereafter, 
 I do not think of it ; but I am determined to 
 live now.” In answer to sentiments of this 
 kind, which I am afraid are too common, I 
 observe, 
 
 3. That the amazing hardness and blind- 
 ness of heart to which some sinners are given 
 up, is another, and the most terrible effect of 
 that iron rod with which the Lord rules his 
 enemies. Pharoah could say as positively as 
 you, “ Who is the Lord, that I should obey 
 him ?” Exod. v. 2. But because, being of- 
 ten rebuked, he persisted in his obstinacy, 
 the contest terminated in his destruction. If 
 you are obstinate like him now, I believe you 
 were not alw r ays so. You must have laboured 
 hard, you must have resisted the light of truth, 
 and have stifled many a conviction, before 
 you could arrive to this pitch of obduracy. 
 You have fought against the Holy Spirit; 
 and woe unto you, if he be gone, gone for 
 ever, and will strive with you no more. To 
 be thus given up of God to a reprobate mind, 
 is the heaviest judgment that a sinner can be 
 visited with on this side of hell. I am at a 
 loss what to say to a person thus disposed, and 
 I hope there are none such present. But I 
 would warn those, who, though they have sin- 
 ned with a high hand, are not yet altogother 
 past feeling, lest you fall into such a state of 
 confirmed disobedience and unbelief. Take 
 heed lest you be hardened through the deceit- 
 fulness of sin, Heb. iii. 13. If under the 
 light of the gospel you can go on in a course 
 of wilful, wanton, deliberate wickedness, you 
 are upon the very edge of the unpardonable 
 sin, of that state from which it is impossible 
 to renew you to repentance. If the Bible be, 
 as you vainly wish it may prove, a cunningly- 
 devised fable, you may trample upon it with 
 
 impunity, and laugh on securely to the end 
 of life. But if it be true, remember you have 
 been this day warned of the consequences oi 
 despising it. If you will perish, I am clear 
 of your blood. 
 
 II. I proceed to consider the final issue ot 
 this unequal contest between the worms of 
 the earth and their Maker. He will dash 
 them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. Such a 
 vessel may be curiously wrought, and appear 
 beautiful to the eye, but it is frail, easily 
 broken, and, when once broken to pieces, it 
 is irreparable. It is therefore a fit emblem of 
 mortal man in his best estate. We are fear- 
 fully and wonderfully made, Psal. cxxxix. 14. 
 The texture of the human frame is admirable. 
 The natural capacities of the mind of man, 
 the powers of his understanding, will, and af- 
 fections, the rapidity of imagination, the com- 
 prehension of memory, especially in some in- 
 stances, are so many proofs, that considered as 
 a creature of God, he is a noble creature ; and 
 though he is debased and degraded by sin, 
 there are traces of his original excellence re- 
 maining, sufficient to denominate him in the 
 words of the poet, “majestic though in ruins.” 
 But if you suppose him rich, powerful, wise, 
 in the common sense of the words, he is brit- 
 tle as a potter’s vessel, and while possessed of 
 every possible advantage, he is but like the 
 grass or the flower of the field, which, in its 
 most flourishing state, falls in a moment at the 
 stroke of the scythe, and withers, and dies. 
 A fever, a fall, a tile, a grain of sand, or 
 the air that finds its way through a crevice, 
 may be an overmatch for the strongest man, 
 and bring him down hastily to the grave. By 
 a small change in the brain, or some part of 
 the nervous system, he who now prides him- 
 self in his intellectual abilities may soon be- 
 come a lunatic or an idiot. Disease may 
 quickly render the beauty loathsome, and the 
 robust weak as infancy. There are earthen 
 or china vessels, which might possibly endure 
 for many ages, if carefully preserved from 
 violence. But the seeds of decay and death 
 are sown in our very frame. We are crushed 
 before the moth, and moulder away untouched 
 under the weight of time. How surely and 
 inevitably, then, must they whom the Lord 
 strikes with his iron rod, be shattered with the 
 blow ! 
 
 Communities and collective bodies of men, 
 are in his hand, no less frail than individuals. 
 The first-born throughout Egypt, and the vast 
 army of Sennacherib, perished in a night. 
 The Romans were the iron rod in his hand, 
 wherewith he dashed the Jewish nation to 
 pieces. Their fragments are scattered far and 
 wide to this day, and who can gather them 
 up ? The Roman empire was likewise dashed 
 to pieces in its turn ; and such has been the 
 end successively of many powers, and of many 
 persons who have presumed to oppose his de- 
 signs. For a while they were permitted to 
 
SER. XXXVI. 
 
 THE LORD RE1GNETH. 
 
 763 
 
 rage, and plot, and strive ; but at length they 
 stumbled and fell, and their memory is perish- 
 ed. 
 
 But it is proper to bring the consideration 
 nearer home. I have been informed, that the 
 music to which this passage is set, is so well 
 adapted to the idea that it expresses, as in a 
 manner to startle those who hear it. They 
 who live in sinful habits, regardless of the 
 gospel, would be startled, indeed, if they were 
 duly sensible how directly the words apply to 
 their own situation, and that the psalmist de- 
 scribes the manner in which God will treat 
 them, if they continue impenitent. If we 
 could see all that passes upon dying beds, we 
 should often see the false peace and vain hopes 
 of sinners dashed to pieces when eternity is 
 opening upon their view. We shall certainly 
 see the solemnity of the great day : “ For we 
 must all appear” not only as spectators, but 
 as parties nearly interested in the proceedings, 
 “ before the judgment-seat of Christ.” “ Be- 
 nold, he cometh in the clouds, and every eye 
 shall see him, and they also who pierced him!” 
 He will descend with a shout, with the voice 
 of the archangel, and with the trump of God, 
 and before him shall be gathered all nations. 
 Where then shall the sinner and the ungodly 
 appear ? What will then become of those who 
 despise, and those who abuse the gospel of the 
 grace of God ? The libertine, the infidel, the 
 apostate, the hypocrite, the profane scoffer, 
 and the false professor, how will they stand, 
 or whither will they flee, when the great Judge 
 shall sit upon his awful throne, and the books 
 shall be opened, and every secret thing shall 
 be disclosed ! Alas for them that are full, and 
 that laugh now, for then they shall pine and 
 mourn, Luke vi. 25. Then their cavils will 
 be silenced, their guilt, with all its aggrava- 
 tions, be charged home upon them, and no 
 plea, no advocate be found. Can their hearts 
 endure, or their hands be strong, when he 
 shall speak to them in his wrath, and say, 
 “ Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlast- 
 ing fire, prepared for the devil and his an- 
 gels ?” 
 
 But let them who love his name rejoice. 
 You have fled for refuge to the hope set be- 
 fore you. To you his appearance will be de- 
 lightful, and his voice welcome. You shall 
 not be ashamed. This awful God is yours. 
 
 '’He will then own and accept you before as- 
 sembled worlds, and will say, “ Come, ye 
 blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom 
 prepared for you.” Then the days of your 
 mourning shall be ended, and your sun shall 
 go down no more, Matt. xxv. 34. Is. lx. 20. 
 
 SERMON XXXVL 
 
 THE LORD REIGNETH. 
 
 Hallelujah, for the Lord God omnipotent reign - 
 eth / Rev. xix. 6. 
 
 The book of the Revelation, being chiefly 
 prophetical, will not perhaps be fully under- 
 stood, till the final accomplishment of the 
 events shall draw near, and throw a stronger 
 light upon the whole series. But while the 
 learned commentators have been hitherto di- 
 vided and perplexed in their attempts to illus- 
 trate many parts of it, there are other parts 
 well adapted for the instruction and refresh- 
 ment of plain Christians ; particularly those 
 passages in which the scenery and images 
 seemed designed to give us some representa- 
 tion of the happiness and worship of the hea- 
 venly state. Thus a plain unlettered believer, 
 when reading ■with attention the fourth and 
 fifth chapters, though he cannot give a reason 
 why the elders are four-and-twenty, the living 
 creatures four, and the number of their wings 
 neither more nor less than six ; yet, from the 
 whole description of the Lamb upon the 
 throne, the songs of the redeemed, and the 
 chorus of the angels, he receives such an im- 
 pression of glory, as awakens his gratitude, 
 desire, and joy, and excites him likewise to 
 take up the same song of praise, to him who 
 has loved him, and washed him from his sins 
 in his own blood. He is content to leave the 
 discussion of hard questions to learned men, 
 while he feeds by faith upon those simple 
 truths which can only be relished by a spirit- 
 ual taste ; and which, where there is such a 
 taste, make their way to the heart, without the 
 assistance of critical disquisition. 
 
 The subject of the preceding chapter, is the 
 destruction of mystical Babylon, the head of 
 the opposition against the kingdom of the 
 Lord Christ. But Babylon sinks like a mill- 
 stone in the mighty ocean, and is no more 
 found. So must all his enemies perish. The 
 catastrophe of Babylon, like that of Pharaoh 
 at the Red Sea, is beheld by the saints and 
 servants of the Lord with admiration, and fur- 
 nishes them with a theme for a song of triumph 
 to his praise. This may be properly styled 
 sacred music indeed. It is commanded, in- 
 spired, and regulated, by the Lord himself. 
 The performers are all interested in the sub- 
 ject, they who fear God, and are devoted to 
 his service and glory. And though persons 
 of this character are comparatively few upon 
 earth, hidden, and in a manner lost, among 
 the crowd of mankind, they will be, when 
 brought together at last, a very large com- 
 pany. Their united voices are here compared 
 to the voice of many waters, and of mighty 
 thunders, and this is the solemn close, the 
 
THE LORD REIGNETH. 
 
 SER. XXXVI. 
 
 764 
 
 chorus of their song, “ Hallelujah, for the 
 Lord God omnipotent reigneth.” 
 
 The impression which the performance of 
 this passage in the Oratorio usually makes 
 upon the audience is well known. But how- 
 ever great the power of music may be, should 
 we even allow the flights of poetry to be truth, 
 that it can soften rocks, and bend the knotty 
 oak, one thing we are sure it cannot do ; it 
 cannot soften and change the hard heart, it 
 cannot bend the obdurate will of man. If 
 all the people who successively hear the Mes- 
 siah, who are struck and astonished, for the 
 moment, by this chorus in particular, were to 
 bring away with them an abiding sense of the 
 importance of the sentiment it contains, the 
 nation would soon wear a new face. But do 
 the professed lovers of sacred music, in this 
 enlightened age, generally live, as if they 
 really believed that the Lord God omnipotent 
 reigneth ? Rather do not the greater part of 
 them live, as they might do if they were sure 
 of the contrary ? as if they were satisfied to a 
 demonstration, that either there is no God, or 
 that his providence is not concerned in human 
 affairs ? I appeal to conscience ; I appeal to 
 fact. 
 
 I apprehend that this passage, taken in the 
 strictest sense, refers to a period not yet ar- 
 rived. Babylon is not yet fallen. The ser- 
 vants of God in the present day, will most 
 probably fulfil their appointed time upon earth, 
 like those who have lived before them, in a 
 state of conflict. They must endure the cross, 
 and sustain opposition for his sake. The 
 people who shall live when the kingdoms of 
 the world become the kingdoms of our Lord 
 and his Christ, when the nations shall learn 
 war no more, are yet unborn. But even now 
 we may rejoice that the Lord God omnipotent 
 reigneth, and that Jesus is King of kings, and 
 Lord of lords. 1 must consider my text as 
 referring to him. Many of the Heathens be- 
 lieved that God reigned. The Christian doc- 
 trine is, that the Lord God omnipotent exer- 
 ciseth his dominion and government in the 
 person of Christ. “ The Father loveth the 
 Son, and hath committed all things into his 
 hands,” John iii. 35. And thus our Lord, 
 after his resurrection, assured his disciples, 
 “ All power is committed unto me in heaven 
 and inearth,” Matth. xxviii. 18. He has al- 
 ready taken to himself his great power and 
 reigneth. His right of reigning over all is 
 essential to his divine nature ; but the admi- 
 nistration of government in the nature of man, 
 is the effect and reward of his obedience unto 
 death. But in the union of both natures, he 
 is one person, Christ Jesus the Lord. All 
 the riches and fulness of the Godhead, all the 
 peculiar honours of the Mediator, centre in 
 him. They may be distinguished, but they 
 are inseparable. 
 
 Happy are they who can, upon solid and 
 scriptural grounds, exult in the thought that. 
 
 the Lord reigneth, and can make his govern- 
 ment the subject of their hallelujahs and 
 praises ! Happy they, who see, acknowledge, 
 and admire, his management in the kingdom 
 of providence, and are the willing subjects of 
 his kingdom of grace. Let us take a brief 
 survey of his reigning glory in these king- 
 doms. 
 
 I. Great and marvellous is this Lord God 
 omnipotent in his kingdom of universal pro- 
 vidence ! His mighty arm sustains the vast 
 fabric of the universe. He upholds the stars in 
 their courses. If we attentively consider their 
 multitude, their magnitudes, their distances 
 from us and from each other, and the amazing 
 swiftness, variety, and regularity of their mo- 
 tions, our minds are overwhelmed, our thoughts 
 confounded, by the vastness and the wonders 
 of the scene. But he spoke them into being, 
 and they are preserved in their stations and 
 revolutions by his power and agency. If we fix 
 our thoughts upon the earth, though in compa- 
 rison of the immensity of his creation it is but as 
 a point or a grain of sand, it is the object of 
 his incessant care. All its various inhabit - 
 ants derive their existence and their support 
 from him. He provides for the young ravens 
 when unable to fly, and for the young lions that 
 traverse the woods. The instinct of animals, 
 whereby they are unerringly instructed in what- 
 ever concerns the welfare and preservation of 
 their species, so vastly exceeding the boasted 
 wisdom of man, that he can neither imitate nor 
 comprehend it, is communicated by him. He 
 teaches the birds t« build their nests, the spi- 
 der to weave his web, and instructs the com- 
 munities of bees, and insignificant emmets, to 
 form their admirable policies and government 
 among themselves. If we speak of intelligent 
 beings, he does what he pleases in the armies 
 of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the 
 earth. He directs and over-rules the counsels 
 and purposes of men, so that though they act 
 freely, the event of all their different interfer- 
 ing schemes, is only the accomplishment of 
 his purposes. "When they are employed as 
 his instruments, from small beginnings, and 
 in defiance of difficulties apparently insupera- 
 ble, they succeed beyond their own expecta- 
 tions. When unhappily engaged against his 
 designs, in vain they rage and plot. He takes 
 the wise in their own craftiness, pours con- 
 tempt upon their power and policy, and all 
 their great preparations melt like a mist, or 
 like 3now before the sun, and leave no trace be- 
 hind. Still more wonderful, to the eye of faith, 
 is his controul over Satan and the powers of 
 darkness. Whatever, for wise reasons, though 
 unknown to us, he may permit them to do, 
 they cannot with all their subtlety or strength, 
 detain one soul in their bondage longer than 
 till his appointed time of release ; nor recov- 
 er one soul back to their dominion, of which 
 he is pleased to undertake the care. On the 
 contrary, lie breaks the heads of these levia- 
 
SER. XXXVI. 
 
 THE LORD 
 
 than* in pieces, turns their counsels against 
 themselves, and makes them instrumental in 
 purifying his people, and extending his church, 
 by the means they employ for the destruction 
 of both. Thus they who dwell under his 
 shadow are safe ; for all things are in his 
 power, and he always careth for them, and 
 keepeth them, as the pupil of his eye ; and 
 therefore, though they are exercised with trials, 
 and suffer many things for their good, his eye 
 being always upon them, and his ear open to 
 their prayer, they are supported, supplied, re- 
 lieved, delivered, and at last made more than 
 conquerors. 
 
 II. lie has a peculiar kingdom, which he 
 has established distinct from the kingdoms of 
 this world, though diffused and extended a- 
 mong them, and which, in due time, like 
 leaven, will pervade and assimilate them all to 
 himself. This is the kingdom of the gospel, 
 his church. It is founded upon a rock, and 
 though the gates of hell continually war a- 
 gainst it, they cannot prevail. For he is a 
 wall of fire round about it, and the glory in the 
 midst of it, Zech. ii. 5. 
 
 Here he reigns upon a throne of grace. lie 
 possesses and exercises unlimited authority as 
 a sovereign, to save whom he pleases, to par- 
 don all manner of sins and offences, and to 
 admit rebels and enemies when they submit 
 themselves and bow to his golden sceptre, in- 
 to the number of his children and his friends. 
 Seldom do the kings of the earth publish an 
 act of grace in favour of those who have been 
 guilty of rebellion, without clogging it with 
 exceptions. Either they feel a resentment a- 
 gainst some of the delinquents, which they 
 have not magnanimity sufficient to conquer, 
 or they dare not trust them. But his mercy 
 is infinite ; and he knows how to change their 
 hearts when he pardons their sins. 
 
 Perhaps it may not be a digression wholly 
 unuseful and impertinent, if I take this oc- 
 casion to point out the several senses in which 
 the word Church may be understood, agreea- 
 ble to the scripture. 
 
 1. It denotes in the aggregate, the mystical 
 church, the whole body of that spiritual king- 
 dom, of which the Redeemer is the living and 
 life-giving head, Col. i. 18. A succession of 
 these has appeared upon earth in every age, 
 from the days of righteous Abel, whom Cain 
 slew ; and we have reason to believe, that the 
 far greater part of them are yet unborn. They 
 will all be assembled together before the 
 throne, in the great day of his final appear- 
 ance, and inherit the kingdom of glory pre- 
 pared for them. This is the church which 
 God hath bought with his own blood, Acts xx. 
 28. Happy are they who belong to this so- 
 ciety of the redeemed, whose names are writ- 
 ten in heaven. 
 
 2. The visible church contains all those who 
 bear and acknowledge the name of Christians, 
 and who admit and enjoy the gospel-revela- 
 
 REIGNETII. 765 
 
 tion. The church, in this sense, includes 
 many nations. But it is a small thing to be- 
 long only to the visible church, for it is com- 
 pared to a corn-floor (Matth. iii. 12), on 
 which chaff is mingled with the wheat ; to a 
 field in which tares grow promiscuously with 
 the good seed ; to a fisher’s net inclosing a 
 great multitude of fishes both good and bad, 
 Matth. xiii. 24, 47. But a time of discrimi- 
 nation will come. The chaff and the tares, 
 and whatever is evil, will be consumed. Alas ! 
 what will it avail at last to say, “ Lord, we 
 have eaten and drank in thy presence,” at thy 
 table with thy true disciples, “ and thou hast 
 taught in our streets” (Luke xiii. 26, 27), 
 and we have heard in our own language of 
 thy wonderful works, if you can say no more? 
 My heart is pained with the apprehension, lest 
 some of you who have joined in the same pub- 
 lic worship with true believers, have sat in the 
 same seat, and lived in the same families, 
 should at last see them, with whom you have 
 been very nearly connected in this world, re- 
 ceived into the kingdom of heaven, and you 
 yourselves be shut out. 
 
 3. The catholic church in any one period, is 
 that part of the visible church which is united 
 to the Lord by a living faith. It comprises all 
 who agree in the profession of the fundamen- 
 tal truths of the gospel, and whose conversa- 
 tion is regulated by its precepts, or in the 
 apostle’s words, “ All who love the Lord Je- 
 sus Christ in sincerity,” Eph. vi. 24. This 
 catholic church, through the policy of Satan, 
 and the deceitfulness of the heart, is too much 
 divided against itself. Prejudice, bigotry, and 
 remaining ignorance, greatly prevent that de- 
 sirable union amongst true Christians, which 
 woidd promote their peace, comfort, and in- 
 crease, and would contribute more than a 
 thousand arguments to put their adversaries 
 to shame and to silence. That shameful con- 
 tention for denominations, parties, and favour- 
 ite preachers, for which the apostle reproved 
 the Corinthians (1 Cor. iii. 4), is still greatly 
 to be lamented. But though they are too 
 backward in acknowledging and assisting each 
 other, the Lord is merciful to their weakness, 
 and bears with them all. And as they grow 
 in grace, and drink more into his Spirit, their 
 hearts are enlarged, and they approach nearer 
 to his pattern of long-suffering, patience, and 
 tenderness. 
 
 4. The word church is applied to particular 
 societies of Christians, who are connected by a 
 participation in the same ordinances of the 
 gospel, and who maintain a scriptural separa- 
 tion from the sinful spirit and customs of the 
 world. And though there may be pretenders 
 among them, as there were among the aposto- 
 lic churches, they are denominated by the bet- 
 ter part. They belong to the catholic church 
 by their profession of the truth, of course they 
 are a part of the visible church ; and those of 
 them who are in deed and truth what they 
 
*766 THE LORD 
 
 profess to be, are living members of the mys- 
 tical church, to which all the promises are 
 made. By whatever name they are known or 
 distinguished among men, they are branches 
 of the true vine, they have their fruit unto 
 holiness, and their end, everlasting life. But 
 to return, 
 
 In this his church, or spiritual kingdom, he 
 rules by wise and gracious laws and ordinan- 
 ces. He releases his subjects from all autho- 
 rity, in point of conscience, but his own, and 
 enjoins them to call no one master but him- 
 self, Matth. xxiii. 8 — 10. If they stand fast 
 
 in the liberty wherewith he has made them 
 free (Gal. v. 1), they will not give themselves 
 up implicitly to the dictates of any man, nor 
 follow him farther than he follows their Lord. 
 And consequently, if they are influenced by 
 his royal law of doing to others as they would 
 that others should do unto them, they will not 
 attempt to exert an undue authority, or wish 
 to be called masters themselves, so as to as- 
 sume a dogmatical carriage, or to expect a 
 universal and absolute submission. But it 
 must be owned that in our present state of in- 
 firmity, this privilege is not sufficiently priz- 
 ed, nor this command duly complied with, 
 there being scarcely a man who does not either 
 arrogate too much to himself, or allow too 
 much to others. A fault in the one or the 
 other of these respects, may be assigned as a 
 principal cause of most of the evils which de- 
 form the appearance, or injure the peace of 
 the church. But the design of his gospel is 
 to set his people at liberty from the yoke of 
 men, from the fetters of custom and tradition, 
 of superstition and will-worship ; that they 
 may enjoy in his service, a state of perfect 
 freedom. 
 
 For it is the principal glory of his kingdom, 
 that he reigns in the hearts of his people. 
 There he writes his precepts, impresses his 
 image, and erects his throne ; ruling them, not 
 merely by an outward law, but by an inward 
 secret influence, breathing his own life and 
 Spirit into them, so that their obedience be- 
 comes, as it were, natural, pleasurable, and its 
 own reward. By the discoveries he affords 
 them of his love, he wins their affections, cap- 
 tivates their wills, and enlightens their under- 
 standings. They derive from him the spirit 
 of power, of love, and of a sound mind 
 (2 Tim. i. 7), and run with alacrity in the way 
 of his commandments. 
 
 It is impossible therefore to make this song 
 our own, and cordially to rejoice that the 
 Lord God omnipotent reigneth, unless we are 
 the willing subjects of his government; unless 
 ve are really pleased with his appointed way 
 of salvation, approve of his precepts, and, 
 from a view of his wisdom and goodness, can 
 cheerfully submit and resign ourselves to the 
 disposal of his providence. In all these re- 
 spects we are by nature at variance with him. 
 We are too proud to be indebted to his grace, 
 
 REIGNETH. ser. XXXVI. 
 
 too wise in our own conceits to desire his in. 
 struction, too obstinately attached to the love 
 and practice of sin, to be capable of relishing 
 the beauty and spirituality of his command- 
 ments. And our love of the world, and the 
 things of it, is too strong and grasping, to 
 permit us to be satisfied with the lot, and with 
 the dispensations he appoints for us. We 
 wish, if possible, and as far as possible we at- 
 tempt, to be our own carvers. We are un- 
 thankful when he bestows, impatient if he 
 withholds, and if he sees fit to resume the gifts 
 of which we are unworthy, we repine and re- 
 bel against his will. This enmity must be 
 subdued, before we can be pleased with his 
 government. In other words, we must be 
 changed, we must be made new creatures. 
 To produce this change, this new creation, 
 the gospel is the only expedient ; and when 
 revealed and applied to the heart by the power 
 of the Holy Spirit, the miracle is wrought. 
 The sinner who is first convinced of his guilt 
 and misery, and then reconciled to God by 
 faith in the great atonement, willingly yields 
 to his administration. He owns and feels the 
 propriety of his proceedings, is ready to ac- 
 knowledge, in his sharpest afflictions, that the 
 Lord is gracious, and has not dealt with him 
 according to the desert of his iniquities. He 
 considers himself as no longer liis own, but 
 bought with a price, and brought under the 
 strongest obligations, to live no longer to him- 
 self, but to him who loved him, and gave him- 
 self for him. And what was before his dread 
 and dislike, becomes now the joy of his heart, 
 the thought, that the Lord reigneth, and that 
 all his concerns are in the hands of him who 
 doeth all things well. 
 
 Are there any among us, who say in their 
 hearts, We will not have this Saviour to rule 
 over us ? The thought is no less vain than 
 wicked. He must, he will reign, till he has 
 subdued all enemies under his feet. You 
 must either bend or break before him. 
 
 SERMON XXXVII. 
 
 THE EXTENT OF MESSIAH’S SPIRITUAL KING- 
 DOM. 
 
 The kingdoms of this world are become the 
 kingdoms of our Lord , and of his Christ , and 
 he shall reign for ever and ever. Rev. xi. 
 15 . 
 
 The kingdom of our Lord in the heart, and 
 in the world, is frequently compared to a build- 
 ing or house, of which he himself is both the 
 foundation and the architect, Isa. xxviii. 16; 
 liv. 1 1, 12. A building advances by degrees 
 (1 Corinth, iii. 9. Ephes. ii. 20 — 22), and 
 while it is in an unfinished state, a stranger 
 cannot, by viewing its present appearance, 
 
6ER. XXXVII. 
 
 form an accurate judgment of the design, 
 and what the whole will be when completed. 
 For a time, the walls are of unequal height, 
 it is disfigured by rubbish, which at the pro- 
 per season will be taken away ; and by scaf- 
 folding, which, though useful for carrying 
 on the building, does not properly belong to 
 it, but will likewise be removed when the pre- 
 sent temporary service is answered. But the 
 architect himself proceeds according to a de- 
 terminate plan, and his idea of the whole work 
 is perfect from the beginning. It is thus the 
 Lord views his people in the present life. He 
 has begun a good work in them, but as yet 
 every part of it is imperfect and unfinished ; 
 and there are not only defects to be supplied, 
 but deformities and incumbrances that must 
 be removed. Many of the dispensations and 
 exercises which contribute to form their reli- 
 gious character, do not properly belong to 
 that work which is to abide, though they have 
 a subserviency to promote it. When that 
 which is perfect is come, the rest shall be done 
 away. 
 
 And thus, although the growth and extent 
 of his kingdom is the great scope and object of 
 his providence, to which all the revolutions 
 that take place in the kingdoms of this world 
 shall be finally subservient ; yet the steps by 
 which he is carrying forward his design, are, 
 for the most part, remote from the common 
 apprehensions of mankind, and therefore sel- 
 dom engage their attention. His kingdom, 
 founded upon the Rock of ages, is building, 
 advancing, and the gates of hell shall not be 
 able to withstand its progress. Only detach- 
 ed and inconsiderable parts of the plan are as 
 yet visible, and the beauties are everywhere 
 obscured by attendant blemishes; but his 
 counsel shall stand, and he will do all his 
 pleasure. Princes and statesmen seldom think 
 of him, are seldom aware, that in prosecuting 
 their own schemes, they are eventually fulfill- 
 ing his purposes, and preparing the way to 
 promote the cause which they despise, and 
 often endeavour to suppress. But thus it is. 
 Sometimes he employs them, more directly, as 
 his instruments ; and when they are thus en- 
 gaged in his work, their success is secured. 
 So Cyrus, whom Isaiah mentioned by name 
 (Is. xlv. 1 — 5), long before his birth, as the 
 appointed deliverer of Israel from their cap- 
 tivity, prospered in his enterprises, being guid- 
 ed and girded by him whom he knew not, and 
 established his own power upon the ruins of 
 the Assyrian monarchy. The Roman empire 
 likewise increased and prospered from small 
 beginnings, that a way might be opened, in 
 the proper season, for the destruction of the 
 Jewish economy, and for facilitating the 
 preaching of the gospel. And postei'ity will 
 see, that the principal events of the present 
 age, in Asia and America, have all a tendency 
 to bring forward the accomplishment of my 
 text ; and are leading to one grand point, the 
 
 767 
 
 spreading and establishment of the church and 
 kingdom of our Lord. His plan is unalter- 
 ably fixed. He has said it, and it shall be 
 done. Things will not always remain in their 
 present disordered state ; and though this de- 
 sirable period may be yet at a distance, and 
 appearances very dark and unpromising, the 
 word of the Lord shall prevail over all dis- 
 couragements and opposition. 
 
 Prophecies which are not yet fulfilled will 
 necessarily be obscure. Many learned men 
 have laboured to explain the prophecies in this 
 book, to ascertain the facts which are foretold, 
 and to fix the dates when they may be expect- 
 ed to take place. But they are so divided in 
 their judgments, and with regard to several of 
 the most eminent who thus differ, the support 
 their opinions derive from the character and 
 abilities of the proposers is so nearly equal, that 
 those who consult them are more likely to be 
 embarrassed than satisfied. For myself, I 
 think it becomes me to confess my ignorance, 
 and my inability, either to reconcile the con - 
 jectures of others, or to determine which is the 
 more probable, or to propose better of my 
 own. I do not, therefore, undertake to give 
 the precise sense of this passage, as it stands 
 connected with the rest of the chapter. Nor 
 should I, perhaps, have attempted to preach 
 from it, but upon this occasion. It is intro- 
 duced, with great propriety, in the Messiah, 
 as a close to the second part, which begins 
 with a view of the Lamb of God taking away 
 the sins of the world, by the power of his 
 priestly office ; and concludes with an ac- 
 count of his glorious success as the King of 
 kings and Lord of lords. 
 
 My business is only to lead you to some 
 pleasing and profitable reflections upon this 
 subject, now it comes in my way. There are 
 many prophecies in the Old Testament, that 
 speak in magnificent strains of a kingdom, 
 which God would, in his appointed time es- 
 tablish upon the earth ; the sense of which 
 is greatly weakened and narrowed, if restrain- 
 ed, as some commentators would restrain it, 
 to the restoration of Israel to their own land, 
 from their captivity in Babylon. Yet it must 
 be allowed, that the highly figurative lan- 
 guage in which many of these prophecies are 
 expressed, a great part of which cannot be 
 understood literally, renders the interpretation 
 difficult. 
 
 What we read in the twentieth chapter of 
 this book, of a period in which the saints shall 
 reign with Christ during a thousand years, has 
 given occasion to almost a thousand conjec- 
 tures, concerning a millennian state. Some 
 persons suppose, that the present frame of na- 
 ture shall be dissolved and changed, and ex- 
 pect a proper resurrection of the dead ; after 
 which, the Lord will personally reign with his 
 people npon the earth, when purified by fire, 
 and restored to its primitive perfection and 
 beauty. If so, earth will be heaven ; for the 
 
 THE EXTENT, &C. 
 
SER. XXXVII 
 
 THE EXTENT OF MESSIAH^ 
 
 768 
 
 state of happiness believers are taught to hope 
 for, depends not upon local circumstances, but 
 chiefly consists in the enjoyment of his unveil- 
 ed immediate presence, and in beholding his 
 glory. Others seem to conceive of the mil- 
 lennium, nearly in the same manner as the 
 Jews formed their expectations of Messiah’s 
 kingdom. They think that temporal honours, 
 dominion, prosperity, and wealth, will then be 
 the portion of believers; the very portion 
 which they are now called upon to renounce 
 and despise. But, as I have hinted, large al- 
 lowances must be made for the metaphorical 
 language of prophecy. We read, that the 
 streets of the New Jerusalem are paved with 
 gold, and that the twelve gates are twelve 
 pearls (Rev. xxi. 15, 21); but no person of 
 sound judgment can suppose, that this de- 
 scription is to be understood strictly, accord- 
 ing to the letter. The personal presence of 
 Messiah with his people is not necessary to 
 such degrees of happiness, as are compatible 
 with the present state of mortality and imper- 
 fection. It is sufficient, if he vouchsafes to 
 dwell with them by his Spirit. Much less are 
 temporal dominion and wealth necessary to 
 the prosperity and honour of his spiritual 
 kingdom. But what then are we encouraged 
 to expect, beyond what has been hitherto 
 known, with regard to this point? Let us 
 consult the scriptures, which alone can guide 
 and determine our inquiry. I will select 
 some express passages, a few out of many 
 which might be adduced, but sufficient, I hope, 
 by the rules of sober interpretation, to lead us 
 to a satisfactory answer. 
 
 The glory and happiness of Messiah’s king- 
 dom, is described by the prophets in terms 
 which cannot be justly applied to any period 
 of the church already past. They sometimes 
 represent it by a variety of beautiful pastoral 
 images, and sometimes in plainer language. 
 Thus Isaiah : “ And it shall come to pass in 
 the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s 
 house shall be established on the top of the 
 mountains, and shall be exalted above the 
 hills ; and all nations shall flow unto it. And 
 many people shall go and say, Come ye, and 
 let us go up to the mountain of the Lord to 
 the house of the God of Jacob, and he will 
 teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his 
 paths ; for out of Zion shall go forth the law, 
 and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And 
 he shall judge among the nations, and shall 
 rebuke many people ; and they shall beat then- 
 swords into ploughshares, and their spears in- 
 to pruning hooks : Nation shall not lift up 
 sword against nation, neither shall they learn 
 war anymore,” Isa. ii. 2 — 4. Again, “The 
 wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the 
 leopard shall lie down with the kid ; and the 
 calf, and the young lion, and the fading to- 
 gether, and a little child shall lead them. 
 And the cow and the bear shall feed, their 
 young ones shall he down together ; and the 
 
 lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the 
 sucking child shall play on the hole of the 
 asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand 
 in the cockatrice den. They shall not hurt 
 nor destroy in all my holy mountain ; for the 
 earth shall be full of the knowledge of the 
 Lord, as the waters cover the sea,” Isaiah, xi. 
 6 — 9. I might likewise transcribe the whole 
 of the sixtieth chapter, but shall only offer 
 you the latter part of it. “ Violence shall no 
 more be heard in thy land, wasting nor de- 
 struction within thy borders ; but thou shalt 
 call thy walls Salvation and thy gates Praise 
 The sun shall be no more thy light by day, 
 neither for brightness shall the moon give 
 light unto thee : but the Lord shall be unto 
 thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy 
 glory. Thy sun shall no more go down, nei- 
 ther shall thy moon withdraw itself ; for the 
 Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the 
 days of thy mourning shall be ended. Thy 
 people also shall be all righteous, they shall 
 inherit the land for ever, the branch of my 
 planting, the work of my hands, that I may 
 be glorified. A little one shall become a 
 thousand, and a small one a strong nation : 
 I the Lord will hasten it in his time,” Isaiah, 
 lx. 18 — 22. To the same purpose the pro- 
 phet Ezekiel : “ And I will set up one shep- 
 herd over them, and he shall feed them, even 
 my servant David ; he shall feed them, and 
 he shall be their shepherd. And I the Lord 
 will be their God, and my servant David a 
 prince among them ; I the Lord have spoken 
 it. And I will make with them a covenant 
 of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to 
 cease out of the land ; and they shall dwell 
 safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the 
 woods. And I will make them and the 
 places round about my hill a blessing,” Eze- 
 kiel, xxxiv. 23 — 26. And again, “ Then 
 will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and you 
 shall be clean ; from all your filthiness and 
 from all your idols will I cleanse you. A 
 new heart also will I give you, and a new spi- 
 rit will I put within you, and I will take 
 away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I 
 will give you a heart of flesh. And I will 
 put my Spirit within you, and cause you to 
 walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my 
 judgments, and do them. And the deso- 
 late land shall be tilled, whereas it lay deso- 
 late in the sight of all that passed by. And 
 they shall say, This land that was desolate is 
 become like the garden of Eden ; and the 
 waste, and desolate, and ruined cities, are 
 become fenced and inhabited,” Ezek. xxxvi. 
 25 — 27, 34, 35. The prophet Zechariah 
 speaks to the same effect : “ Sing and re- 
 joice, O daughter of Zion ; for lo, I come, 
 and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith 
 the Lord. And many nations shall be joined 
 to the Lord in that day, and shall be my peo- 
 ple ; and I will dwell in the midst of thee ; 
 and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts 
 
SER. XXXVII. 
 
 SPIRITUAL 
 
 hath sent me unto thee. And the Lord shall 
 be king over all the earth ; in that day shall 
 there be one Lord, and his name one,” Zech. 
 ii. 10, 11; xiv. 9. 
 
 Though the promises and prophecies of 
 this import are addressed to the church un- 
 der the names of Israel, Jacob, Zion or Je- 
 rusalem, we are certain they were not ful- 
 filled to the nation of Israel while their civil 
 government subsisted. Their national pros- 
 perity and glory were greatly diminished be- 
 fore any of these prophecies were revealed. 
 They were an inconstant and a suffering peo- 
 ple, during the reigns of the kings of Judah 
 and Israel, till at length their city and tem- 
 ple were destroyed by the Chaldeans. And 
 though they returned from their captivity, 
 and their city and temple were rebuilt, they 
 continued tributary and dependent, and were 
 successively subject to the Persian, Macedo- 
 nian, and Roman power. Their obstinate re- 
 jection and crucifixion of Messiah, filled up 
 the measure of their iniquities, and brought 
 wrath upon them to the uttermost. They 
 were soon afterwards exterminated from their 
 land, their constitution, both of church and 
 state, utterly subverted ; and they remain, to 
 this day, in a dispersed state, which renders 
 their observance of the law impracticable. 
 
 It seems equally plain, that these prophe- 
 cies have not yet been fulfilled to the Christian 
 church. The greater part of the earth, to this 
 day, is unacquainted with the name of Jesus. 
 And the general face of Christendom, whether 
 in Popish or in Protestant countries, exhibits 
 little more of the spirit and character of the 
 gospel, than is to be found among the Hea- 
 thens. If Christianity be compatible with 
 pride or baseness, with avarice or profusion, 
 with malice and envy, with scepticism in prin- 
 ciple and licentiousness of conduct, then Chris- 
 tians abound •. but if humility, integrity, bene- 
 volence, and a spiritual mind, are essential to 
 a Christian ; if we judge by the criterion which 
 our Lord himself appointed, and account only 
 those his disciples who live in the exercise of 
 mutual love, it is to be feared that they are 
 but few, even in the places which are most 
 favoured with the light of the gospel. But 
 can the scriptures be broken ? Can the pro- 
 mises of the Lord fail ? By no means. Hea- 
 ven and earth shall pass away, but not one jot 
 or tittle of his word shall fail of accomplish- 
 ment. 
 
 It is not necessary to suppose that every in- 
 dividual of mankind shall be savingly con- 
 verted to the Lord in this future day of his 
 power; but I apprehend the current language 
 of the prophecies warrants us to hope, that 
 the prayers and desires of the church shall, in 
 some future period, be signally answered, in 
 the following respects. 
 
 1. That the gospel shall visit the nations 
 which are at present involved in darkness. 
 The Heathen are given to Messiah for his in- 
 
 IUNGDOM. 769 
 
 heritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth 
 for his possession. At present (as I have 
 formerly observed, Ser. xxxii. ) if the whole 
 of Christendom were inhabited by real Chris- 
 tians, they would bear but a small proportion 
 to the rest of mankind. Large countries in 
 Europe, Asia, and Africa, where the gospel 
 was once known, have been for many ages 
 involved in Mahommedan darkness. The 
 scattered remnants of the Greek church in 
 Turkey are so miserably depraved and igno- 
 rant, that they scarcely deserve to be mention- 
 ed as an exception. The rest of Asia knows 
 little of Christianity, unless they have learnt it 
 in the eastern parts from the cruelty and ty- 
 ranny of men who bear the name of Christians. 
 The like may be said of America, excepting 
 the northern provinces of our late dominion 
 there. For the zeal of the Spaniards and 
 Portuguese has produced few other effects 
 than rapine, slavery, and deluges of human 
 blood. The interior parts, both of Africa and 
 America, are unknown. The countries and 
 islands lately discovered in the southern he- 
 misphere, are left, as they were found, in 
 gross ignorance. The exertions of our navi- 
 gators to supply them with sheep and cows, 
 and useful implements, from Europe, were 
 humane and laudable. But it does not ap- 
 pear that the least attempt was made to im- 
 part to them the knowledge of our holy reli- 
 gion. The only missionary they have from 
 us (if he be yet living), is the much-spoken-of 
 Omiah. This man was brought to England, 
 almost from the Antipodes ; he spent some 
 time amongst us, and was then sent back to 
 tell his countrymen what he had seen and 
 heard. But if he gave a faithful account of 
 our customs, morals, and religion, so far as 
 they fell within the circle of his own observa- 
 tions, the relation would certainly be little tc 
 our honour, and I am afraid much to their 
 hurt. In brief, a large part of Europe, al- 
 most the whole of the other three continents, 
 with the islands in the Eastern and Southern 
 Oceans, are destitute of the true gospel. But 
 there is a time approaching, called the ful- 
 ness of the Gentiles, when the Redeemer’s 
 glory shall dawn and shine upon all nations. 
 And though we cannot see when or how this 
 happy change shall be affected, yet, in the 
 Lord’s hour, mountains shall sink into plains. 
 Nor is it more improbable to us now, than it 
 would have seemed to an inhabitant of Rome 
 in the time of Julius Cassar, that the island of 
 Great Britain should one day be distinguished 
 by all those privileges which the Providence 
 of God has since bestowed upon it. 
 
 2. That this gospel shall prevail, not in 
 word only, but in power. Even where the 
 name of Christ is professed, but little of the 
 power of it is at present known. The super- 
 stition and false worship generally prevalent 
 within the pale of the Roman and Greek 
 churches, may be mentioned without offence 
 S K 
 
SER. XXXVII. 
 
 770 THE EXTENT, &C. 
 
 to Protestants. But the bulk of the Protest- 
 ant countries are equally overspread with 
 scepticism and wickedness. Few comparative- 
 ly, among Protestants, are friendly to that gos- 
 pel which the apostles preached; and much 
 fewer are they who are influenced by it. Per- 
 haps no nation is favoured with greater advan- 
 tages for knowing the truth than our nation, 
 nor any city more favoured than this city. I 
 doubt not but there are persons now living, 
 who would have been thought eminent Chris- 
 tians, if they had lived in the first and happi- 
 est age of the church ; and I trust their num- 
 ber is greater than we are aware of. The 
 Lord has a hidden people, little known to the 
 world or to each other. But if we judge by 
 the standard of truth, we must acknowledge 
 that the power of religious profession is very 
 low. How little does it appear in the lives, 
 tempers, and pursuits of the most who hear 
 the gospel ? but the time will come when 
 Christians shall again be known by their inte- 
 grity, spiritual-mindedness, and benevolence, 
 and by all the fruits of righteousness, which 
 are, by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise 
 of God. The fall of mystical Babylon, and 
 of Antichrist, in its various forms, and the 
 calling of the Jews, are events which are po- 
 sitively foretold, and which, when they come 
 to pass, will have great effects. Zion as yet, 
 is only building, but it shall be built. 
 
 3. That the animosities and disputes which 
 prevail among Christians shall cease. The 
 observation of a late ingenious writer, which, 
 it is to be feared, he was confirmed in by his 
 own experience, is too much founded in 
 truth : — “ We have just religion enough to 
 make us hate one another.” The spirit of 
 party, prejudice, bigotry, and interest, a zeal 
 for systems, forms, modes, and denominations, 
 furnish men with plausible pretences for in- 
 dulging their unsanctified passions, and de- 
 ceive them into an opinion, that while they 
 are gratifying their pride and self-will, they 
 are only labouring to promote the cause of 
 God and truth. Hence often the feuds which 
 obtain among religious people are pursued 
 with greater violence, and to greater lengths, 
 and are productive of more mischievous con- 
 sequences, than the quarrels of drunkards. 
 The lovers of peace, who refuse to take a part 
 in these contentions, but rather weep over 
 them in secret, are censured and despised as 
 neutrals and eowards, by the angry comba- 
 tants on all sides, while the world despises 
 and laughs at them all. It was not so in the 
 beginning, nor will it be so always. The 
 hour is coming, when believers shall be united 
 in love, shall agree in all that is essential to a 
 life of faith and holiness, and shall live in the 
 exercise of forbearance and tenderness towards 
 each other, if, in some points of smaller im- 
 portance, they cannot think exactly alike ; 
 which possibly may be the case in the best 
 times, in the present imperfect state of human 
 
 nature. Ephraim shall then no more envy 
 Judah, nor Judah vex Ephraim, Is. xi. 13. 
 
 4. That it w ill be a time of general peace. 
 At present, the kingdoms, which, by their 
 profession, should be subjects of the Prince of 
 Peace, are perpetually disturbing, invading, 
 and destroying each other. They live in ha - 
 bits of mutual fear and jealousy, and main- 
 tain great armies on all sides ; that each na- 
 tion may be prepared, if occasion offers, to 
 strike the first blow. War is followed as a 
 trade, and cultivated as a science ; and they 
 who, with the greatest diligence and success, 
 spread devastation and ruin far and wide, and 
 deluge the earth with human blood, acquire 
 the title of heroes and conquerors. Can there 
 be a stronger confirmation of what we read in 
 scripture concerning the depravity of man ? 
 Can we conceive an employment more suited 
 to gratify the malignity of Satan and the pow- 
 ers of darkness, if they were permitted to ap- 
 pear and act amongst us in human shapes ? 
 Could such enormities possibly obtain, if the 
 mild and merciful spirit of the gospel general- 
 ly prevailed ? but it shall prevail at last, and 
 then the nations shall learn war no more, Is. 
 iL 4. 
 
 How transporting the thought ! that a time 
 shall yet arrive, when the love of God and 
 man, of truth and righteousness, shall obtain 
 through the earth. The evils (and these are 
 the greatest evils of human life) which men 
 bring upon themselves, and upon each other, 
 by their wickedness, shall cease ; and we may 
 believe that the evils in the natural world will 
 be greatly abated. Sin will no longer call 
 down the tokens of God’s displeasure, by such 
 public calamities as hurricanes, earthquakes, 
 pestilence and famine. And if some natural 
 evils, as pain and sickness, should remain, 
 submission to the will of God, and the com- 
 passion and tenderness of men towards the af- 
 flicted, will render them tolerable. 
 
 If this prospect be desirable to us, surely it 
 will be the object of our prayers. The Lord 
 will do great things, but he will be inquired 
 of by his people for the performance. 
 
 But to many persons the extension of do- 
 minion and commerce appears much more de- 
 sirable. The glory and extent of the British 
 government has been eagerly pursued, and the 
 late diminution of our national grandeur and 
 influence has been much laid to heart ; while 
 the glory of the Redeemer’s kingdom, and the 
 conversion of the Heathens, are considered by 
 the politicians and merchants of the earth, as 
 trivial concerns, unworthy of their notice, or 
 rather as obstacles to the views of ambition 
 and avarice. But it is said of Messiah, and 
 of his church, The nation and kingdom that 
 will not serve thee shall perish, Is. lx. 12. 
 The word of God may be slighted, but it can- 
 not be annulled ; and it is more a subject for 
 lamentation than wonder, that our national 
 prosperity should decline, when we are indif 
 
SER. xxxvili. KING OF KINGS, AN 
 
 ferent, yea, adverse to that cause which the 
 great Governor of the world has engaged to 
 promote and establish. 
 
 SERMON XXXVIII. 
 
 KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. 
 
 'And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh, 
 
 a name written J, Kino of Kings, and 
 
 Lord of Lords. Rev. xix. 16. 
 
 The description of the administration and 
 glory of the Redeemer’s kingdom, in defiance 
 of all opposition, concludes the second part of 
 the Messiah. Three different passages from 
 this book are selected to form a grand chorus, 
 of which his title in this verse is the close ; a 
 title which has been sometimes vainly usurped 
 by proud worms of the earth. Eastern mo- 
 narchs, in particular, have affected to style 
 themselves King of kings, and Lord of lords. 
 In the scriptural language, men, whether high 
 or low, rich or poor, one with another, are 
 compared to worms and potsherds of the earth ; 
 but they are by nature so strongly affected by 
 pride, that they cannot invent titles of honour 
 answerable to the idea they have of their own 
 importance, without intrenching upon the di- 
 vine prerogative. Thus sovereignty, majesty, 
 holiness, and grace, and other attributes which 
 properly belong to God alone, are parcelled 
 out among the great. But let the great and 
 the mighty know that wherein they speak 
 proudly, Messiah is above them. The whole 
 verse (of which the latter clause only is in the 
 Oratorio) offers two points to our medita- 
 tions. 
 
 I. How he is represented as wearing his 
 title. It is written, or inscribed, upon his 
 vesture dipped in blood, and upon his thigh ; 
 either upon that part of his vesture which 
 covers his thigh, or upon the upper part of 
 his vesture, and upon his thigh likewise. 
 
 II. The title itself, — King of kings, and 
 Lord of lords. Whatever power the kings 
 and lords among mankind possess, is derived 
 from him, and absolutely subject to his con- 
 troul. 
 
 I. The manner in which he wears his name 
 or title. It is written upon his vesture, and 
 upon his thigh. 
 
 1. This name being written upon his ves- 
 ture, denotes the manifestation and the ground 
 of his authority. It is written upon his out- 
 ward garment, to be read, known, and ac- 
 knowledged by all beholders. And it is up- 
 on his bloody garment, upon the vesture 
 stained with his own blood, and the blood of 
 his enemies ; which intimates to us, that his 
 government is founded upon the success of 
 his great undertaking. In the passage from 
 whence this verse is selected, there are three . 
 
 D LORD OF LORDS. 771 
 
 names attributed to Messiah. lie has a name 
 which no dne knows but himself (ver. 12), 
 agreeable to what he declared when upon earth . 
 “No man (ouhtt, no one, neither man nor angel) 
 knoweth the Son, but the Father j” this refers 
 to his eternal power and Godhead. A second 
 name, The Word of God (ver. 13), denotes 
 the mystery of the divine personality. The 
 name in my text imports his glory, as the Me- 
 diator between God and man, in our nature, 
 which, when, he resumed it from the grave, 
 became the seat of all power and authority ; 
 which power we are now taught to consider, 
 not merely as the power of God, to whom it 
 essentially belongs, but as the power of God 
 exercised in and by that Man who died upon 
 the cross for our sins. In consequence of his 
 obedience unto death, he received a name 
 which is above every name, Phil. ii. 9. This 
 inscription his own people read by the eye of 
 faith in the present life, and it inspires them 
 with confidence and joy, under the many 
 tribulations they pass through in the course of 
 their profession. Hereafter it shall be openly 
 known, and read by all men. Every eye 
 shall see it, and every heart must either bow or 
 break before him. 
 
 2. It is written upon his thigh. The thigh 
 is the emblem of power, and is the part of the 
 body on which the sword is girded, Ps. xlv. 3. 
 By this emblem we are taught, that he will 
 assuredly maintain and exercise the right 
 which he has acquired. As he has a just 
 claim to the title, he will act accordingly. 
 Many titles among men are merely titular. 
 So the King of Great Britain is styled like- 
 wise King of France, though he has neither 
 authority nor possession in that kingdom. But 
 this name which Messiah bears is full of life, 
 truth, and influence. He is styled King of 
 kings, and Lord of lords, because he really is 
 so ; because he actually rules and reigns over 
 them, and does according to his own pleasure 
 in the armies of heaven, and among the inha- 
 bitants of the earth, with an absolute and un- 
 controulable sway, so that none can stay his 
 hand, or say unto. Jhim, What doest thou ? 
 Dan. iv. 35. 
 
 II. The title itself is King of kings, and 
 Lord of lords. He is the Prince of the kings 
 of the earth, Rev. i. 5. Too many of them 
 imagine a vain thing. They take counsel to- 
 gether, and set themselves against him (Ps. 
 ii. 4), saying, Let us break his bands asunder. 
 But he sitteth in the heavens, and has them 
 in derision. He has his hook in their nose, 
 and his bridle in their lips, and the result of 
 all their contrivances is neither more nor less 
 than the accomplishment of his will. 
 
 1. The rage they discover, and the resist- 
 ance they make, cannot weaken this truth, 
 but rather render it more evident. If it be 
 asked. Why does he permit them to resist? 
 we may give an answer in point from the case 
 of Pharaoh. He resisted and he perished. 
 
772 KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS, ser. xxxvill 
 
 He was often warned and rebuked, but he 
 still hardened his neck, and continued stub- 
 born under repeated judgments, till at length 
 he was destroyed without remedy. Thus the 
 God of Israel was more magnified, and the 
 people of Israel were more honoured, in the 
 view of the surrounding nations, when they 
 were brought from Egypt with a high hand 
 and with a stretched-out arm, and when Pha- 
 raoh and his armies were overthrown in the 
 Red Sea, than the nature of the case would 
 have admitted, if Pharaoh had made no op- 
 position to their departure. Yet the obstina- 
 cy of Pharaoh was properly his own. It is 
 true, we are assured that God hardened his 
 heart ; but we are not thereby warranted to 
 suppose that God is the author of the sin, 
 which he hates and forbids. It is written a- 
 gain, that God cannot be tempted with evil, 
 neither tempteth he any man (James i. 13), 
 and the scripture is to be interpreted consist- 
 ently with itself. It would be absurd to as- 
 cribe darkness or ice to the agency of the sun, 
 though both inevitably follow, if the light and 
 heat of the sun be withdrawn to a certhin de- 
 gree. A degree of heat is necessary to keep 
 water in that state of fluidity which we com- 
 monly suppose essential to its nature ; but it 
 is rather essential to the nature of water to 
 harden into ice, if it be deprived of the heat 
 which is necessary to preserve it in a fluid 
 state ; and the hardest metals will melt and 
 flow like water, if heat be proportionably in- 
 creased. Thus it is with the heart of fallen 
 man. In whatever degree it is soft and im- 
 pressive, capable of feeling and tenderness, 
 we must attribute it to the secret influence of 
 the Father and Fountain of light ; and if he 
 is pleased to withdraw his influence, nothing 
 more is needful to its complete induration. 
 
 2. The kings of the earth are continually dis- 
 turbing the world with their schemes of ambi- 
 tion. They expect to carry every thing before 
 them, and have seldom any higher end in view 
 than the gratification of their own passions. 
 But in all they do they are but servants of this 
 great King and Lord, and fulfil his purposes, 
 as the instruments he employs to inflict pre- 
 scribed punishment upon transgressors against 
 him, or to open a way for the spread of his 
 gospel. Thus, under the Old-Testament dis- 
 pensation (for he was King from everlasting), 
 the successes of Sennacherib and Nebuchad- 
 nezzar, and the exaltation of Cyrus, were en- 
 tirely owing to their being employed by him, 
 as an axe or a saw in the hand of the work- 
 man, Isa. x. 15. And they acted under a li- 
 mited commission, beyond w’hich they could 
 not go. They had one thing in view, He 
 had another ; and when his design was ac- 
 complished we hear of them no more. Time 
 would not suffice, were I to adduce the many 
 striking instances of the like kind which offer 
 to observation from the perusal of modern his- 
 tory It is well known, with respect to that 
 
 great event, the Reformation from Popery in 
 the sixteenth century, and especially in our 
 own land, that many of the principal persons 
 who contributed to its establishment hated it 
 in their hearts. But their ambition, appetites, 
 and worldly policy engaged them in such 
 measures, as the King of kings over-ruled to 
 produce consequences which they neither in- 
 tended nor could foresee, and which, when 
 they did apprehend, they would have pre- 
 vented if they could, but it w'as too late. Fu- 
 ture writers, I doubt not, will make the like 
 reflection upon the American war, in the ori- 
 gin and progress of which there was such an 
 evident disproportion between the apparent 
 causes and the effects produced by them, be- 
 tween the first designs and expectations of 
 the principal actors on both sides and the fi- 
 nal event, that I think they who do not per- 
 ceive a superintending Providence conducting 
 the whole affair, as a preparation to still great- 
 er and more important revolutions, must be 
 quite at a loss to account for what has already 
 happened, upon any principles of human po- 
 licy or foresight. 
 
 3. That he is King of kings, and Governor 
 among the nations, is farther evident from the 
 preservation of his people, for the world is 
 against them, and they have no protector but 
 him. The wrath of man, like the waves of 
 the sea, has bounds prescribed to it which it 
 cannot pass. So far as he is pleased to over- 
 rule it to his own praise, he will permit it to 
 operate, but the remainder, that is not subser- 
 vient to the accomplishment of his purpose, 
 he will restrain Psal. lxxvi. 10. But he 
 works so secretly, though powerfully, by the 
 agency of second causes, that only they who 
 are enlightened by his word and Spirit can 
 perceive his interference. He permitted Ahi- 
 thophel to give that counsel to Absalom, which 
 though wicked, was, in the political sense of 
 the word, prudent ; that is, it was the pro- 
 bable method of putting David into the power 
 of his rebellious son. David had prayed that 
 the Lord would turn Ahithophel’s counsel into 
 foolishness, 2 Sam. xv. 31. Had the Lord 
 instantly deprived Ahithophel of his reason, 
 this prayer would have been more visibly, but 
 not more effectually answered, than by the 
 counter-advice of Hushai, which though rash 
 and extravagant, being suited to gratify the 
 vanity and folly of Absalom (2 Sam. xvii. 14), 
 rendered the other abortive. Sometimes the 
 enemies of his church divide and wrangle a- 
 mong themselves, and then one party, to mor- 
 tify and oppose the other, will protect those 
 whom otherwise they wish to destroy. Thus 
 Paul escaped from the malice of the Jewish 
 council, by the sudden disagreement which 
 arose between the Pharisees and Sadducees, 
 (Acts xxiii. 7), though they came together e- 
 qually determined to destroy him. At other 
 times, kings and statesmen act so inconsist- 
 ently with their professed aims, and take steps 
 
ser. xxxvill. KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. 773 
 
 so directly calculated to prevent what they wish 
 to obtain, or to bring upon themselves what they 
 mean to avoid, that we can only say they are 
 infatuated. A very small compliance seemed 
 likely to have secured the affection of the 
 twelve tribes to Rehoboam. We are ready to 
 wonder that he could not be prevailed on to 
 speak mildly to the people for one day, with 
 a view' of engaging them to be his servants 
 for ever. But when we read that the cause 
 was from the Lord (1 Kings xii. 15), and 
 that, in this way, his purpose of separating 
 the kingdoms of Israel and Judah was ef- 
 fected, the wonder ceases. Very observable, 
 likewise, was the coincidence of circumstan- 
 ces which preserved the Jews in Persia from 
 the destructive designs of their adversary Ha- 
 man. If the king had slept that night, as 
 usual, or if his attendants had read to him in 
 any book but the Chronicle of the empire, or 
 in any part of that Chronicle but the very 
 passage in which the service of Mordecai had 
 been recorded, humanly speaking, Hainan 
 would have carried his point, Esther vi. 1. 
 In this manner, by a concurrence of circum- 
 stances, each of them, if considered singly, 
 apparently trivial, and all of them contingent 
 with respect to any human foresight or pre- 
 vention, the Lord often pours contempt upon 
 the wise and the mighty, and defeats their 
 deepest laid and best-concerted schemes, in 
 the moment when they promise themselves 
 success. 
 
 Many salutary and comfortable inferences 
 may be drawn from the consideration of this 
 subject. Some of them I may perhaps have 
 formerly mentioned, but they will well bear a 
 repetition. We have need to be reminded of 
 what we already know. 
 
 1. It should inspire us with confidence. If 
 the Lord of hosts, the Lord of lords, be for 
 us, what weapon or counsel can prosper a- 
 gainst us? However dark and threatening 
 appearances may be, we need not tremble for 
 the ark of God. The concernments of his 
 church are in safe hands. The cause so dear 
 to us, is still more dear to him. He has 
 power to support it when it is opposed, and 
 grace to revive it when it is drooping. It 
 has often been brought low, but never has 
 been, never shall be forsaken. When he will 
 work, none can hinder. Nor need you fear for 
 yourselves, if you have committed yourselves 
 and your all to him. The very hairs of your 
 head are numbered, Matth. x. 30. There is a 
 hedge of protection around you (Job i. 10), 
 which none can break through without his 
 permission ; nor w ill he permit you to be 
 touched, except when he designs to make a 
 temporary and seeming evil conducive to your 
 real and permanent advantage. 
 
 2. It should affect us with an admiring and 
 thankful sense of his condescension. “ Lord, 
 what is man, that thou shouldest be so mind- 
 ful of him ?” He humbles himself to behold 
 
 the things that are in heaven, Psal. cxiii. 6. 
 But he stoops still lower. He affords his at- 
 tention and favour to sinful men. His eye is 
 always upon his people, his ear open to their 
 prayers. Not a sigh or falling tear escapes 
 his notice. He pities them as a father pities 
 his children ; he proportions their trials to 
 their strength, or their strength to their trials, 
 and so adjusts his dispensations to their state, 
 that they never suffer unnecessarily, nor in 
 vain. 
 
 3. How great is the dignity and privilege 
 of true believers ! Is the man congratulated 
 or envied whom the king delighteth to honour ? 
 Believers are more frequently despised than 
 envied in this world. But they may congratu- 
 late one another. The King of kings is their 
 friend. They have honours and pleasures 
 which the world knows nothing of. Their titles 
 are high, they are the sons and the daughters 
 of the Lord Almighty, 2 Cor. v. 18. Their 
 possessions are great, for all things are theirs, 
 1 Cor. iii. 21. They are assured of w'hat is 
 best for them in this life, and of life eternal 
 hereafter. They are now nearly related to 
 the King of kings, and shall ere long be ac- 
 knowledged and owned by him before assem- 
 bled worlds. They who now account the 
 proud happy, will be astonished and con- 
 founded. when they shall see the righteous, 
 whom they once undervalued, shine forth like 
 the sun in the kingdom of God. 
 
 4. We may lastly infer the extreme folly 
 and danger of those who persist in their re- 
 bellion and opposition against this King of 
 kings, and Lord of lords. Though he exer- 
 cises much patience and long-suffering to- 
 wards them for a season, the hour is approach- 
 ing when his wrath will burn like fire. It is 
 written, and must be fulfilled, “ the wicked 
 shall be turned into hell, and all the nations 
 that forget God,” Psal. ix. 17. Oh the so- 
 lemnities of that great day, when the frame 
 of nature shall be dissolved, when the Judge 
 shall appear, the books be opened, and all 
 mankind shall be summoned to his tribunal ! 
 Will not you tremble and bow before him, ye 
 careless ones, while he is seated upon a throne 
 of grace, and while the door of grace stands 
 open ? Once more I call, I warn, I charge 
 you, to repent and believe the gospel. If to- 
 day you wdll hear his voice it is not yet too 
 late. But who can answer for to-morrow ? 
 Perhaps this night your soul may be required 
 of you, Luke xii. 20. Are you prepared for 
 the summons ? If not, seize the present op- 
 portunity. Attend to the one thing needful. 
 Seek his face, that your soul may live. If 
 not, remember that you are warned ; your 
 blood will be upon your own head. W'e have 
 delivered our message, and if you finally re- 
 ject it you must answer for yourselves to him 
 whose message it is. 
 
771 
 
 SER. XXXIX. 
 
 job’s faith and expectation. 
 
 SERMON XXXIX. 
 
 job’s faith and expectation. 
 
 I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he 
 shall stand in the latter day upon the earth. 
 And though after my skin, worms destroy 
 this body , yet in my flesh shall I see God. 
 Job, xix 25, 26. 
 
 Christianity, that is, the religion of which 
 Messiah is the author and object, the founda- 
 tion, life, and glory, though not altogether as 
 old as the creation, is nearly so. It is coeval 
 with the first promise and intimation of mercy 
 given to fallen man. When Adam by trans- 
 gression had violated the order and law of his 
 creation, his religion, that is, the right dispo- 
 sition of his heart towards God, was at an end. 
 Sin deprived him at once of faith and hope, 
 of love and joy. He no longer desired, he no 
 longer could bear the presence of his offended 
 Maker. He vainly sought to avoid it ; and 
 when compelled to answer, though he could 
 not deny his guilt, instead of making an inge- 
 nuous confession, he attempted to fix the 
 blame upon the woman, or rather indeed upon 
 the Lord himself, who had provided her for 
 him. But mercy, undeserved and undesired, 
 relieved him from a state in which he was al- 
 ready become obdurate and desperate. A 
 promise was given him of the seed of the wo- 
 man (Gen. iii. 15), which virtually contained, 
 as the seed contains the future plant, the sub- 
 stance of all the subsequent promises which 
 were fulfilled by the incarnation of the Son of 
 God, and by all that he did, or suffered, or 
 obtained for sinners, in the character of Me- 
 diator. For a sinner can have no comfortable 
 intercourse with the holy God, but through a 
 Mediator. Therefore the apostle observes of 
 the patriarchs and servants of God, under the 
 Old Testament, “ These all died in faith,” 
 Heb. xi. 13. We can say nothing higher 
 than this, of the apostles and martyrs, under 
 the New Testament. They died, not trust- 
 ing in themselves that they were righteous, 
 not rejoicing in the works of their own hands ; 
 but they died, like the thief upon the cross, in 
 faith, resting all their hope upon him, who, 
 by his obedience unto death, is the end of the 
 law for righteousness unto every one that be- 
 lieveth, Rom. x. 4. We have greater advant- 
 ages, in point of light and liberty, than those 
 of old. The prophecies concerning Messiah, 
 which, at the time of delivery, were obscure, 
 are to us infallibly interpreted by their accom- 
 plishment. And we know that the great 
 atonement, typically pointed out by their sa- 
 crifices, has been actually made ; that the 
 Lamb of God has, by the one offering of him- 
 self, put away sin. But as to |the ground and 
 substance, their faith and hope.' were the same 
 
 with ours. Abraham rejoiced to see the day 
 of Christ (John viii. 56) ; and aged Jacob, 
 soon after he had said, “ I have waited for 
 thy salvation, O Lord,” died with the same 
 composure and willingness as Simeon did, who 
 saw it with his own eyes. Job, who was per- 
 haps contemporary with Jacob, who at least is, 
 with great probability, thought to have lived 
 before Moses, gives us in this passage a strong 
 and clear testimony of his faith. And it forms 
 a beautiful and well chosen introduction to 
 the third part of the Messiah, the principal 
 subject of which is, the present privileges and 
 future prospects of those who believe in the 
 Saviour’s name. 
 
 The learned are far from being agreed, 
 either in the translation, or in the explanation, 
 of this text. The words worms and body being 
 printed in Italics in our version, will apprize 
 the attentive English reader, that there are no 
 words answerable to them in the Hebrew. If 
 you omit these words, something will be evi- 
 dently wanting to make a complete sense. 
 This want different writers have supplied, ac- 
 cording to their different judgments, and from 
 hence chiefly has arisen the variety of versions 
 and interpretations. But it would be very 
 improper for me, in this place, to take up your 
 time, and to draw off your attention from the 
 great concerns which should fill our minds 
 when we meet in the house of God, by giving 
 you a detail of controversies and criticisms, 
 which after all are much more uncertain than 
 important. We need not dispute, whether 
 Job, in this passage, professes his assurance of 
 the incarnation of Messiah, or of his resurrec- 
 tion, or of his final appearance to judge the 
 world ; or whether he is only declaring his 
 own personal faith and hope in him. These 
 several senses are not so discordant, that if we 
 determine for one, we must exclude the rest. 
 I shall content myself with the words as I find 
 them. And I hope, that if we should miss 
 some of the precise ideas which Job might 
 have when he spoke, we shall not greatly mis- 
 take his general meaning, nor wander far wide 
 from the scope of the text. 
 
 Four things are observable : 
 
 I. The title of Redeemer. 
 
 II. The appropriating word My , 
 
 III. His standing upon the earth. 
 
 IV. Job’s expectation of seeing him in his 
 flesh. 
 
 I. The title. There is no name of Mes- 
 siah more significant, comprehensive, or en- 
 dearing, than the name Redeemer. The name 
 of Saviour expresses what he does for sinners. 
 He saves them from guilt and wrath, from 
 sin, from the present evil world, from the 
 powers of darkness, and from all their ene- 
 mies. He saves them with an everlasting sal- 
 vation. But the word Redeemer, intimates 
 likewise the manner in which he saves them. 
 For it is not merely by the word of his power, 
 as lie saved his disciples when in jeopardy 
 
6ER. XXXIX. 
 
 JOB S FAITH AND EXPECTATION. 
 
 upon the lake, by saying to the winds and the 
 seas, “ Peace, be still : and there was a great 
 calm” (Mark iv. 39) ; but by price, by pay- 
 ing a ransom for them, and pouring out the 
 blood of his heart, as an atonement for their 
 sins. The Hebrew word for Redeemer, 
 Gnel, primarily signifies, a near kinsman, or 
 the next of kin ; he with whom the right 
 of redemption lay (Numbers xxxv. 19, 21. 
 Ruth iv. 1 — 3), and who, by virtue of his 
 nearness of relation, was the legal avenger 
 of blood. Thus Messiah took upon him 
 our nature, and by assuming our flesh and 
 blood, became nearly related to us, that he 
 might redeem our forfeited inheritance, re- 
 store us to liberty, and avenge our cause 
 against Satan, the enemy and murderer of our 
 souls. But thus he made himself also respon- 
 sible for us, to pay our debts, and to answer 
 the demands of the justice and law of God on 
 our behalf. He fulfilled his engagement. 
 He suffered, and he died on this account. 
 But our Redeemer, who was once dead, is 
 now alive, and liveth for evermore, and has 
 the keys of death, and of hades, Rev. i. 18. 
 This is he of whom Job saith, I know that he 
 liveth (was then living), though he was not 
 to stand upon the earth, until the latter day. 
 He is the living One, having life in himself, 
 the same yesterday, to-day, and forever, Heb. 
 xiii. 8. Such was his own language to the 
 Jews, “ Before Abraham was, I am,” John 
 viii. 58. Therefore the Redeemer is mighty, 
 and his redemption is sure. He is able to 
 save to the uttermost. His power is unlimit- 
 ed, and his official authority, as Mediator, is 
 founded in a covenant, ratified by his own 
 blood, and by the oath of the unchangeable 
 God, Ps. cx. 4. 
 
 II. But Job uses the language of appro- 
 priation. He says, My Redeemer. And all 
 that we know, or hear, or speak of him, will 
 avail us but little, unless we are really and 
 personally interested in him as our Redeemer. 
 A cold speculative knowledge of the gospel, 
 such as a lawyer has of a will or a deed, which 
 he reads with no farther design than to under- 
 stand the tenor and import of the writing, will 
 neither save nor comfort the soul. The be- 
 liever reads it, as the will is read by the heir, 
 who finds his own name in it, and is warrant- 
 ed by it to call the estate and all the particul- 
 ars specified his own. He appropriates the 
 privileges to himself, and says, the promises 
 are mine ; the pardon, the peace, the heaven, 
 of which I read, are all mine. This is the 
 will and testament of the Redeemer, of my 
 Redeemer. The great Testator remembered 
 me in his will, which is confirmed, and rend- 
 ered valid by his death (Heb. ix. 16), and 
 therefore I humbly claim, and assuredly ex- 
 pect, the benefit of all that he has bequeathed. 
 But how shall we obtain this comfortable per- 
 suasion, and preserve it against all the cavils 
 of our enemies, who will endeavour to liti- 
 
 775 
 
 gate our right ? I seem to have before me a 
 proper occasion of discussing a point, very 
 important, and by too many misunderstood ; 
 I mean, the nature of that assurance of hope, 
 which the scripture speaks of as attainable, 
 which has been happily experienced by many 
 believers, and which all are exhorted and en- 
 couraged to seek after, in the methods of God’s 
 appointment. But my plan will only permit 
 me to offer a few brief hints upon the sub- 
 ject. 
 
 1. Many respectable writers and preachers 
 have considered this assurance as essential to 
 true faith. But we have the scripture in our 
 hands, and are not bound to abide by the de- 
 cisions of any man, farther than as they agree 
 with this standard. The most eminent pro- 
 perties, or effects ascribed to faith, are, that it 
 works by love (Gal. v. 6), purifies the heart 
 (Acts xv. 9), and overcomes the world, 1 John 
 v. 4. I think it cannot easily be denied, by 
 those who are competent judges in the case, 
 that there are persons to be found, who give 
 these evidences that they are believers, and 
 yet are far from the possession of an abiding 
 assurance. They hope they love the Lord, 
 but there is such a disproportion between the 
 sensible exercise of their love, and the convic- 
 tion they have of their obligations to him, that 
 they are often afraid they do not love him su- 
 premely ; and if not, they know that in the 
 scriptural sense they do not love him at all. 
 They can say from their hearts that they de- 
 sire to love him, but they dare not go farther. 
 But there is a weak and a strong faith ; they 
 differ not in kind, but only in degree. Faith 
 is compared to a grain of mustard-seed (Matt, 
 xvii. 20), which, under the cultivation of the 
 heavenly Husbandman, who first sows the 
 seed in the heart, growls up to assurance. But 
 in its infant and weak state it is true and ac- 
 ceptable faith. Far from breaking the bruis- 
 ed reed (Is. xlii. 3), he will strengthen it. 
 He will not quench the smoaking flax, but 
 will in due time fan it into a flame. 
 
 2. I will go a step farther. Were I to de- 
 fine the assurance we are speaking of, I should 
 perhaps say, it is, in our present state, the 
 combined effect of faith and ignorance. That 
 assurance which does not spring from true 
 faith in the Son of God, wrought by the oper- 
 ation of the Holy Spirit, is no better than pre- 
 sumption. But I believe what we call assur- 
 ance, even when it is right, is not entireiy 
 owing to the strength of our faith, but in a 
 great measure to our having such faint and 
 slight views of some truths, which, if we 
 had a more powerful impression of them, 
 unless our faith was likewise proportionablv 
 strengthened at the same time, might possi- 
 bly make the strongest assurance totter and 
 tremble. I will explain myself. Admitting 
 that I had a right to tell you, that I am so tar 
 assured of my interest in the gospel-salvation, 
 as to have no perplexing doubt either of my 
 
SER. XXXIX 
 
 job’s faith and expectation. 
 
 776 
 
 acceptance or of my perseverance, you would 
 much over-rate me, if you should suppose this 
 was a proof that my faith is very strong. 
 Alas ! I have but a very slight perception of 
 the evil of sin, of the deceitfulness of my own 
 heart, of the force and subtlety of my spiritual 
 enemies, of the strictness and spirituality of 
 the holy law, or of the awful majesty and ho- 
 liness of the great God with whom I have to 
 do. If, in the moment while I am speaking 
 to you, he should be pleased to impress these 
 solemn realities upon my mind, with a con- 
 viction and evidence tenfold greater than I 
 have ever known hitherto (which I conceive 
 would still be vastly short of the truth), un- 
 less my faith was also strengthened by a ten- 
 fold clearer and more powerful discovery of 
 the grace and glory of the Saviour, you would 
 probably see my countenance change and my 
 speech faulter. The Lord, in compassion to 
 our weakness, shews us these things by little 
 and little, as we are able to bear them ; and if, 
 as we advance in the knowledge of ourselves 
 and of our dangers, our knowledge of the un- 
 searchable riches of Christ advances equally, 
 we may rejoice in hope, we may even possess 
 an assured hope. But let not him who hath 
 put on his harness, boast as though he had 
 put it off, 1 Kings xx. 11. We are yet in an 
 enemy’s land, and know not what changes we 
 may meet with, before our warfare is finished. 
 
 3. How far our assurance is solid, may be 
 estimated by the effects. It will surely make 
 us humble, spiritual, peaceful, and patient. I 
 pity those who talk confidently of their hope, 
 as if they were out of the reach of doubts and 
 fears, while their tempers are unsanctified, and 
 their hearts are visibly attached to the love of 
 the present world. I fear they know but 
 little of what they say. I am better pleased 
 when persons of this character complain of 
 loubts and darkness. It proves at least that 
 they are not destitute of feeling, nor, as yet, 
 lulled into a spirit of careless security. And 
 there are professors, whom, instead of endeav- 
 ouring to comfort in their present state, I 
 would rather wish to make still more suspici- 
 ous of themselves than they are ; till they are 
 convinced of the impossibility of enjoying true 
 peace, while their hearts are divided between 
 God and the world. For though sanctifica- 
 tion is not the ground of a good hope, it is 
 the certain concomitant of it. If it be true, 
 that without holiness no man shall see the 
 Lord (Heb. xii. 14), it must likewise be true, 
 that without holiness no man can have a scrip- 
 tural and well-founded hope of seeing him. 
 
 4. But to give a direct answer to the inqui- 
 ry, How shall I know that he is my Redeem- 
 er ? I may use the prophet’s words, “ Then 
 shall ye know, if you follow on to know the 
 Lord,” Hos. vi. 3. Our names are not actu- 
 ally inserted in the Bible, but our characters 
 are described there. He is the Redeemer of 
 all who put their trust in him. You will not 
 
 trust in him, unless you feel your need of 
 him ; you cannot, unless you know him, as he 
 is revealed in the word; you do not unless 
 you love him, and are devoted to his cause 
 and service. If you know yourself to be a 
 sinner deserving to perish, if you see that there 
 is no help or hope for you but in Jesus, and 
 venture yourself upon his gracious invitation, 
 believing that he is able to save to the utter- 
 most ; and if you really include holiness and 
 a deliverance from sin, in the idea of the sal- 
 vation which you long for, then he is yout 
 Redeemer. If, among us, an act of grace 
 was published, inviting all criminals to sur- 
 render themselves, with a promise of mercy to 
 those who did ; though no one was mentioned 
 by name in the act, yet every one who com- 
 plied with it, and pleaded it, would be entitl- 
 ed to the benefit. Such an act of grace is the 
 gospel. The Lord says, “ This is my beloved 
 Son, hear him,” Matth. iii. 17. If you ap- 
 prove him, he is yours. If you are still per- 
 plexed with doubts, they are owing to the weak- 
 ness of your faith. But there are means ap- 
 pointed for the growth of faith. Wait patiently 
 upon the Lord in the use of those means, and 
 you shall find he has not bid you seek his face 
 in vain. Have no fellowship with the unfruit- 
 ful works of darkness. Live not in the o- 
 mission of known duty. Do not perplex 
 yourself with vain reasonings, but believe and 
 obey, and the Lord shall be with you. There 
 are some peculiar cases. Allowances must be 
 made for the effects of constitution and tem- 
 perament. Some sincere persons are beset 
 and followed, through life, with distressing 
 temptations. But in general, simplicity and 
 obedience lead to assurance. And they who 
 hearken to the Lord, and walk in the way of 
 his commandments, go on from strength to 
 strength (Isa. xlviii. 18); their peace and 
 hope increase, like a river, which from small 
 beginnings, runs broader and deeper, till it 
 falls into the ocean. But to return to Job — 
 III. Another article of his creed concern, 
 ing the Redeemer, is, He shall stand in the 
 latter day upon the earth. The latter or last 
 days, in the prophetical style, usually denote 
 the Messiah’s day, the times of the gospel. 
 To this time Job looked forward. He be- 
 held the promises afar off. Thus Messiah 
 was the consolation of his people of old, as he 
 who was to come. And it should be our con 
 solation, to know that he is come. His stand- 
 ing upon the earth may include the whole of 
 his appearance in the flesh ; his life, passion, 
 and resurrection. The manner of expression 
 intimates something important and wonderful. 
 Had Job, in the spirit of prophecy, spoken of 
 any individual of Adam’s race, of Isaiah, or 
 Paul, there would have been nothing extraor- 
 dinary predicted by saying he shall stand up- 
 on the earth, for all men do so in their suc- 
 cessive generations. But that the Redeemer, 
 the Lord of glory, the Maker of all things, 
 
job’s faith and expectation. 
 
 should condescend to visit his creatures, to 
 dwell with men for a season, to stand and 
 walk upon the earth with them, clothed in a 
 body like their own, is an event which never 
 could have been expected, if it had not been 
 revealed from heaven. It was the object of 
 Job’s faith, and well deserving the solemn 
 preface with which he introduces his firm per- 
 suasion of it, “ Oh ! that my words were gra- 
 ven with an iron pen in the rock for ever!” 
 When Solomon had finished the temple of the 
 Lord of Hosts, instead of admiring the mag- 
 nificence of the building, he was struck with 
 the condescension of the Lord, who would 
 vouchsafe to notice it, and honour it with a 
 symbol of his presence, “ Will God indeed 
 dwell with men upon the earth ? Behold the 
 heaven of heavens cannot contain him, how 
 much less this house which I have built!” 
 1 Kings viii. 27. But what was the visible 
 glory which appeared in that temple, if com • 
 pared with the glory of the only begotten Son 
 of God, when he tabernacled in our flesh ! 
 The human nature of Christ is that true 
 temple, not made with hands, in which God 
 is manifested upon a throne of grace, that 
 sinners may approach him without dismay, 
 and receive, out of his fulness, grace for grace. 
 To him all the prophets gave witness, on him 
 the desire and hope of his people, in all ages, 
 have been fixed. He was to stand upon the 
 earth, as Mediator between God and man. 
 And in the same office, now he is upon the 
 throne of glory, he is, and w 7 ill be, admired, 
 adored, and trusted in, by all his believing 
 people, to the end of time. 
 
 IV. From the Redeemer’s appearance upon 
 earth, Job infers the restoration and resurrec- 
 tion of his own body. His trials had been 
 great — bereaved of his children and substance, 
 afflicted with grievous boils, harassed with 
 temptations, reproached by his friends : out of 
 all these troubles the Lord his Redeemer de- 
 livered him, and his latter days were more 
 prosperous than his beginning. But he knew 
 that he must go the way of all the earth, that 
 his body must lie in the grave, and return to 
 dust. But he expected a future time after 
 his dissolution, when in the flesh, for himself, 
 and with his own eyes, he should see God. 
 The expressions are strong and repeated. He 
 does not speak the language of hesitation and 
 doubt, but of confidence and certainty. It 
 likewise appears that he placed his ultimate 
 happiness in seeing God. His words are not 
 very different from those of the apostle, “ When 
 he shall appear, w 7 e shall be like him, for we 
 shall see him as he is,” 1 John iii. 2. To be- 
 hold the glory of God, as our Redeemer, to 
 be in a state of favour and communion with 
 him, and, according to the utmost capacity of 
 our nature, to be conformed to him in holi- 
 ness and love, is that felicity which God has 
 promised, and to which all his servants as- 
 pire. Some foretastes of it they enjoy in the 
 
 777 
 
 present life, which cheer them under their 
 trials, and raise them above the grovelling 
 pursuits of those who have their portion only 
 in this world. But their chief possession is 
 in hope. They look forward to a brighter 
 period, when they shall awaken from the sleep 
 of death, to behold his face in righteousness, 
 Ps. xvii. IS. Then, and not till then, they 
 shall be completely satisfied. The expecta- 
 tion of Job, therefore, affords a sufficient 
 proof that the doctrines of an immortal state, 
 and of a resurrection unto life, were included 
 in the revelations which God afforded to his 
 people in the earliest times, and, consequently, 
 that the religion of the Old Testament and of 
 the New is substantially the same. 
 
 The great inquiry this subject should im- 
 press upon us, is, are we thus minded ? What 
 think you, my dear friends, of Christ ? Have 
 you accepted him as your Redeemer; and 
 have you a good hope that you shall see him 
 to your comfort, when he shall return to judge 
 the world? If so, you may rejoice. Changes 
 you must expect. You must die, and your 
 flesh must be food for worms. But he has 
 promised to “ change our vile bodies, that they 
 may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, 
 according to the mighty power whereby he is 
 able to subdue all things unto himself, Phil, 
 iii. 21. 
 
 SERMON XL. 
 
 THE LOBD IS RISEN INDEED. 
 
 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and be- 
 come the -first-fruits of them that slept . — 
 1 Cor. xv. 20. 
 
 As, in the animal economy, the action of the 
 heart and of the lungs, though very different, 
 are equally necessary for the maintenance of 
 life, and we cannot say that either of them is 
 more essentially requisite than the other ; so 
 in the system of divine revelation, there are 
 some truths, the knowledge and belief of which 
 singly considered, are fundamentals with re- 
 spect to the salvation of a sinner. And 
 though they are distinct in themselves, w-e 
 cannot determine which of them is of most 
 importance to us; for unless we know, ap- 
 prove, and receive them all, we can have no 
 experience of a life of faith in the Son of God 
 Such, for instance, is the scriptural doctrine 
 concerning the depravity of human nature. 
 This is a first principle ; for unless we under- 
 stand what our state is in the sight of God, the 
 enormity of our transgressions, and our inca- 
 pacity for true happiness, until our hearts are 
 changed by the power of his grace, we cannot 
 rightly understand a single chapter in the Bi- 
 ble. Such, likewise, is the doctrine of the 
 atonement. For, if we could know 7 how to- 
 
778 
 
 ally we are lost, without knowing the gracious 
 method which God has appointed for our re- 
 covery, we must unavoidably sink into de- 
 spair. Again, if we were sensible of our state 
 as sinners, and even if w r e trusted in Christ 
 for salvation, yet the apOstle observes in this 
 chapter, that unless he be indeed risen from 
 the dead, our faith in him would be in vain, 
 and we should still be in our sins. The re- 
 surrection of Christ, therefore, is a doctrine 
 absolutely essential to our hope and comfort ; 
 and it is likewise a sure pledge, that they who 
 believe in him shall be raised from the dead 
 also, by virtue of their union with him, and 
 according to his pattern. For “ now is Christ 
 risen from the dead, and is become the first- 
 fruits of them that slept.” Let us at present 
 consider his resurrection. — The sure conse- 
 quence of it, that his people shall be raised 
 from the dead, will offer to our meditations 
 from the following verses. 
 
 The resurrection of Christ, being, as a fact, 
 the great pillar upon which the weight and 
 importance of Christianity rest, it has pleased 
 the Lord to put the indubitable proof of it 
 within our power. There is no one point of 
 ancient uninspired history so certainly and un- 
 questionably authenticated. It may seem un- 
 necessary to prove it, and to many of you it 
 is entirely so. Yet I think it proper to take 
 some notice of it ; not so much on account of 
 the weak and trifling cavils of infidels, as for 
 the sake of persons who may be assaulted with 
 temptations. For many plain people, who are 
 not much acquainted with the subtilties of 
 sceptics, are sometimes pestered with difficul- 
 ties and objections in their own minds, per- 
 haps more shrewd and powerful than such as 
 are commonly found in books, or retailed in 
 coffee-houses. For unbelief is deeply rooted 
 in every heart ; and Satan, our great enemy, 
 can, and if permitted, will, work powerfully 
 upon this evil disposition. He endeavours to 
 beat us off from the belief of every truth of I 
 scripture, and of this among the rest. And 
 many persons who have been so well convinced 
 that our Lord rose from the dead, as to ven- 
 ture their souls and their all upon it, have 
 found themselves at a loss how to answer 
 the enemy in an hour of sharp and pressing 
 temptation. 
 
 Let us suppose, then, that we had lately re- 
 ceived the news of some extraordinary and al- 
 most incredible event, and let us consider what 
 evidence we should require to satisfy us that 
 the report was true, and apply the same kind 
 of reasoning to the point in hand. That there 
 was, a great while ago, a person named Jesus, 
 who gathered disciples, and died upon a cross, 
 is universally acknowledged. Both Jews and 
 Heathens, who lived at the time, and after- 
 wards, not only admitted it, but urged it as a 
 ‘reproach against his followers. Many testi- 
 monies of this kind are still extant. 
 
 The turning point between his enemies and 
 
 SER. XL 
 
 his friends, is his resurrection. This has been 
 denied. We acknowledge that he did not ap- 
 pear publicly after he arose, as he did before 
 his death, but only to a competent number of 
 his followers, to whom he shewed himself, and 
 satisfied them, by many infallible proofs, that 
 he was alive, and that he was the same person 
 whom they had seen crucified. They reported 
 what they saw, and we believe their report. 
 We are therefore to inquire, Who they were? 
 and on what grounds we receive and rely upon 
 their testimony ? 
 
 If they were mistaken themselves, or if they 
 were engaged and agreed in a crafty design of 
 imposing upon mankind, we, who depend up- 
 on their relation, may be involved in their mis- 
 take, or deceived by their artifice. But if 
 neither of these suppositions can possibly be 
 true, if they were competent and impartial 
 witnesses; then we are not only justified in 
 giving credit to their testimony, but it must 
 be unreasonable, and (in a case of this import- 
 ance) presumptuous, and dangerous to reject 
 it. 
 
 I. That they were competent judges of 
 what they asserted, is evident, 
 
 1. From their numbers. — The eye-witnesses 
 of this fact were many. “ He was seen of 
 Cephas, then of the twelve ; after that he was 
 seen of five hundred brethren at once : after 
 that he was seen of James, then of all the 
 apostles ; and last of all, he was seen of me 
 also,” 1 Cor. xv. 5 — 8. Thus Paul wrote 
 when multitudes who lived at the time were 
 still living, and would readily have contradict- 
 ed him, if he had declared an untruth. Five 
 hundred concurring witnesses are sufficient to 
 establish the credit of a fact, which they all 
 saw with their own eyes, if their word may be 
 depended upon. We can be certain of things 
 which we never saw no otherwise than by the 
 testimony of others. And certainty may be 
 attained in this way. For though some per- 
 sons would appropriate the word demonstra- 
 tion to mathematical evidence, yet moral evi- 
 dence may be in many cases equally conclu- 
 sive, and compel assent with equal force. I 
 am so fully satisfied by the report of others, 
 that there are such cities as Paris or Rome, 
 though I never saw them, that I am no more 
 able seriously to question their existence, than 
 I am to doubt the truth of a proposition in 
 Euclid which I have seen demonstrated. 
 
 2. From the nature of the fact, in which it 
 was not possible that so many persons could 
 be mistaken or deceived. Some of them saw 
 him, not once only, but frequently. His ap. 
 pearance to others was attended with peculiar 
 striking circumstances and effects. His disci- 
 ples seem not to have expected his resurrec- 
 tion, though he had often foretold it previous 
 to his sufferings. Nor did they hastily credit 
 the women who first saw him in their way 
 from the sepulchre. Thomas refused to be- 
 lieve the report of all his brethren, to whom 
 
 THE LORD IS RISEN INDEED. 
 
SER. XL. 
 
 THE LORI> IS RISEN INDEED. 
 
 our Lord had shewn himself. He would see 
 for himself ; he required more than ocular 
 proof, for he said, “ Except I put my finger 
 into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand 
 into his side, I will not believe,” John xx. 25. 
 It is no wonder, that when these proofs were 
 offered him, he fully yielded to conviction, 
 and with gratitude and joy addressed his risen 
 Saviour in the language of adoration and love, 
 “ My Lord, and my God !” But his former 
 conduct shewed that he was not credulous, nor 
 disposed to receive the report as a truth, how- 
 ever desirable, without sufficient evidence. 
 
 II. As they were competent judges, so they 
 were upright and faithful witnesses. There 
 is no more room to suspect that they had a 
 design to deceive others, than that they were 
 mistaken or deceived themselves. For, 
 
 1. If we judge of them by their writings, 
 we must at least allow them to have been well- 
 meaning men. They profess to aim at pro- 
 moting the knowledge and honour of the true 
 God, and thereby to promote the morality and 
 happiness of mankind. Their conduct was 
 uniformly consistent with their profession, and 
 their doctrines and precepts were evidently 
 suited to answer their design. The penmen 
 of the New Testament were confessedly men 
 in private life, most of them destitute of liter- 
 ature, and engaged in low occupations, till 
 they became the disciples of Jesus. Is it 
 probable that men, w'ho speak so honourably 
 of God, who inculcate upon their fellow-crea- 
 tures such an entire devotedness to his will 
 and service, should be impostors themselves ? 
 Is it at all credible, that a few men, in an ob- 
 scure situation, should form a consistent and 
 well concerted plan, sufficient to withstand 
 and overcome the prejudices, habits, and cus- 
 toms, both of Jews and Heathens ; to insti- 
 tute a new religion, and, without the assist- 
 ance of interest or arms, tP spread it rapidly 
 and successfully in a few years throughout the 
 greatest part of the Roman empire ? Or is it 
 possible that such men could, at their first ef- 
 fort, exhibit a scheme of theology and morali- 
 ty, so vastly superior to the united endeavours 
 of the philosophers of all ages ? A learned 
 man in France attempted to prove (for what 
 will not learned men attempt ?) that most of 
 the Latin poems which are attributed to those 
 whom we call the classic writers, and particu- 
 larly the iEneid of Virgil, were not the pro- 
 duction of the authors whose names they bear, 
 but gross forgeries, fabricated by monks in the 
 dark ages of ignorance, and successfully ob- 
 truded upon the world as genuine, till he 
 arose to detect the imposture. He gained 
 but few proselytes to his absurd paradox. 
 Yet, to suppose that men who could only ex- 
 press their own dull sentiments in barbarous 
 Latin, were capable of writing with the fire 
 and elegance of Virgil, when they undertook 
 to impose upon the world ; or to affirm that 
 the Principia of Sir Isaac Newton was in 
 
 779 
 
 reality written by an ignorant plowman, and 
 only sent abroad under the sanction of a cele- 
 brated name, cannot be more repugnant to 
 true taste, sound judgment, and common 
 sense, than to imagine, that the Evangelists 
 and Apostles were, from their own resources, 
 capable of writing such a book as the New 
 Testament ; the whole of which must stand 
 or fall with the doctrine of our Lord’s resur- 
 rection. 
 
 2. But farther, they could not possibly pro- 
 pose any advantage to themselves in their en- 
 deavours to propagate the Christian religion, if 
 they had not been assured that the crucified 
 Jesus, whom they preached, was risen from 
 the dead, and had taken possession of his 
 kingdom. Knowing whom they had believ- 
 ed, filled with a constraining sense of his love, 
 and depending upon his promise and power 
 to support them in the service to which he had 
 called them, they were neither ashamed nor 
 afraid to proclaim his gospel, and to invite and 
 enjoin sinners everywhere to put their trust 
 in him ; otherwise they had nothing to expect 
 but such treatment as they actually met with, 
 for professing their belief of his resurrection, 
 and especially for the pains they took to pub- 
 lish it, first among the people who had put 
 him to death, and afterwards among the Hea - 
 thens. It required no great sagacity to fore- 
 see that this doctrine would be an offence to 
 the Jews, and foolishness to the Greeks, 1 Cor. 
 i. 23. They were in fact despised, hated, op- 
 posed, and persecuted, wherever they went ; 
 and those who espoused their cause were im 
 mediately exposed to a participation in their 
 sufferings. Nor was there the least probabili- 
 ty that the event could be otherwise. Im- 
 postures there have been many ; but we can- 
 not conceive that any set of men would deli- 
 berately, and by consent, contrive an impos- 
 ture, which, in the nature of the thing, could 
 procure nothing to them, or to their followers, 
 but contempt, stripes, imprisonment, and 
 death. 
 
 3. Even if we could for a moment suppose 
 them capable of so wild and wicked an under- 
 taking, as, under pretence of the service of 
 God, to provoke and dare the hatred of man- 
 kind, by asserting and propagating an offen- 
 sive falsehood, it would be impossible upon 
 that ground to account for the success which 
 they met with. If this counsel and cause had 
 not been of God, it must have come to nought, 
 Acts v. 38. But by preaching Jesus and his 
 resurrection, in defiance of all the arts and 
 rage of their enemies, they mightily prevailed 
 over the established customs and inveterate 
 prejudices of mankind, and brought multi- 
 tudes into the belief of their doctrine against 
 all disadvantages. The Lord confirmed their 
 word with signs following. The miracles 
 which were wrought in the name of Jesus 
 were numerous, notorious, and undeniable; 
 and the moral effects of their preaching, though 
 
SER. XL. 
 
 THE LORD IS RISEN INDEED. 
 
 780 
 
 too frequent and universal to be styled mira- 
 culous, were such as can only be with reason 
 ascribed to a divine power. The pillars of 
 Paganism, the superstitions of idol worship, 
 though in every country connected and incor- 
 porated with the frame of civil government, 
 and guarded for ages, not more by popular 
 veneration than for reasons of state, were very 
 soon shaken, and in no great space of time 
 subverted. Within about two hundred years 
 after Tacitus had described the Christians as 
 the objects of universal contempt and hatred, 
 Christianity became the established religion of 
 the empire. And in a letter of Pliny to Tra- 
 jan on the subject, we have indisputable evi- 
 dence, that even in the time of Tacitus, hated, 
 vilified, and persecuted, as the Christians were, 
 their religion so greatly prevailed, that in 
 many places the idol temples were almost de- 
 serted. 
 
 4. But the proof of the resurrection of 
 Christ, which is the most important and satis- 
 factory of any, does not depend upon argu- 
 ments and historical evidence, with which mul- 
 titudes of true Christians are unacquainted, 
 but is, in its own nature, equally convincing 
 in all ages, and equally level to all capacities. 
 They who have found the gospel to be the 
 power of God to the salvation of their souls, 
 have the witness in themselves ; and are very 
 sure that the doctrine, which enlightened their 
 understandings, awakened their conscience, 
 delivered them from the guilt and dominion of 
 sin, brought them into a state of peace and 
 communion with God, and inspired them with 
 a bright and glorious hope of eternal life, must 
 be true. They know that the Lord is risen in- 
 deed, because they are made partakers of the 
 power of his resurrection, and have experienced 
 a change in themselves, which could only be 
 wrought by the influence of that Holy Spirit 
 which Jesus is exalted to bestow. And many 
 believers, though not qualified to dispute with 
 philosophers and sceptics upon their own 
 learned ground, can put them to shame and 
 to silence, by the integrity and purity of their 
 conduct, by their patience and cheerfulness 
 under afflictions ; and would especially silence 
 them, if they were eye-witnesses of the com- 
 posure and elevation of spirit with which true 
 believers in a risen Saviour welcome the ap- 
 proach of death. 
 
 This is the evidence which I would princi- 
 pally recommend io my hearers to seek after. 
 If the resurrection of Christ be a truth and a 
 fact, much depends upon the right belief of it. 
 I say a right belief ; for though I have offer- 
 ed you a brief view of the external evidence 
 in proof of this point, I am aware that I am 
 not preaching to Jews or Mahommedans. If 
 I should ask you, Believest thou the resurrec- 
 tion ? Might I not answer myself, as the a- 
 postle did on another occasion, “ I know that 
 thou believest ?” Acts xxvi. 27. But so 
 powerful is the effect of our depra '.ty, that it 
 
 is possible, yea very common, for people most 
 certainly to believe the truth of a proposition, 
 so as not to be able to entertain a doubt of it, 
 and yet to act as if they could demonstrate it 
 to be false. Let me ask you, for instance 
 Do you believe that you shall die? I know 
 that you believe it. But do you indeed live, 
 as if you were really assured of the certainty 
 of death, and (which is equally undeniable) 
 the uncertainty of life? So in the present case 
 — If Christ be risen from the dead, according 
 to the scriptures, then all that the scripture 
 declares of the necessity and design of his suf- 
 ferings, of his present glory, and of his future 
 advent, must be true likewise. What a train 
 of weighty consequences depend upon his re- 
 surrection ! If he rose from the dead, then he 
 is the Lord of the dead and of the living — 
 then he has the keys of death and hades — 
 then he will return to judge the world, and 
 you must see him for yourself, and appear at 
 his tribunal — then, it is he with whom you 
 have to do — and then, finally, unless you 
 really love, trust, and serve him, unless he is 
 the beloved and the Lord of your heart, your 
 present state is awfully dangerous and miser- 
 able. 
 
 But let those who love his name be joyful 
 in him : your Lord who was dead, is alive, and 
 because he liveth, you shall live also. If ye 
 be risen with him, seek the things which are 
 above, where he sitteth on the right hand of 
 God. And, when he, who is our life, shall 
 appear, then shall ye also appear with him in 
 glory. 
 
 SERMON XLI. 
 
 DEATH BY ADAM, LIFE BY CHRIST. 
 
 For since by man came death , by man came 
 also the resurrection of the dead. For as in 
 Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be 
 made alive. 1 Cor. xv. 21, 22. 
 
 From Mr. Handel’s acknowledged abilities as 
 a composer, and particularly from what I have 
 heard of his great taste and success in adapt- 
 ing the style of his music to the subject, I 
 judge that this passage afforded him a fair oc- 
 casion of displaying his genius and powers. 
 Two ideas, vastly important in themselves, 
 are here represented in the strongest light, 
 by being placed in contrast to each other. 
 Surely the most solemn, the most pathetic 
 strains must be employed, if they accord with 
 the awful words, “ By man came death,” — 
 “ In Adam all die.” Nor can even the high- 
 est efforts of the heavenly harpers, more than 
 answer to the joy, the triumph, and the praise 
 which the other part of my text would excite 
 in our hearts, if we are interested in it, pro- 
 vided we were capable of comprehending the 
 
SER. XLI. 
 
 DEATH B1 aDAM, 
 
 full force and meaning of the expressions, 
 “ By man came also the resurrection,” — “ In 
 Christ shall all be made alive.” 
 
 By one man came death. “ By one man 
 sin entered into the world, and death by sin,” 
 Rom. v. 12. Sin opened the door to death. 
 The creation, at the beginning, was full of 
 order and beauty. “ God saw every thing 
 that he had made, and behold it was very 
 good,” Gen. i. 31. Adam, happy in the i- 
 mage and favour of his maker, breathed the 
 air of immortality in paradise. While moral 
 evil was unknown, natural evils, such as sick- 
 ness, pain, and death had no place. How 
 different has the state of things been since! 
 Would you account for the change ? Charge 
 it upon man. He sinned against his Creator, 
 Lawgiver, and Benefactor, and thus, by him, 
 came death. The fact is sure, and therefore 
 our reasonings upon it, in order to account 
 for it, farther than we are enlightened and 
 taught by scripture, are unnecessary and vain. 
 God is infinitely wise, and therefore this change 
 was foreseen by him. He doubtless could 
 have prevented it, for to omnipotence every 
 thing that does not imply a contradiction is 
 possible, is easy. But he permitted it, and 
 therefore it must have been agreeable to his 
 wisdom, holiness, and goodness to permit it. 
 He can over-rule it to the purposes of his 
 own glory, and to ends worthy of himself, 
 and he has assured us that he will do so. 
 Thus far I can go, nor do I wish to go far- 
 ther. And to endeavour to vindicate the ways 
 of God to man, to fallen man, upon the grounds 
 of what he proudly calls his reason, would be 
 an impracticable, and, in my view, a presump- 
 tuous attempt. In proportion as his grace en- 
 lightens our minds, convinces us of our igno- 
 rance, and humbles our pride, we shall be sa- 
 tisfied, that in whatever he appoints or per- 
 mits, he acts in a manner becoming his own 
 perfections. Nor can we be satisfied in any 
 other way. We see, we feel that evil is in 
 the world. Death reigns. It has pleased 
 God to afford us a revelation, to visit us with 
 the light of his gospel. If, instead of rea- 
 soning, we believe and obey, a way is set be • 
 fore us, by which we may finally overcome 
 every evil, and obtain a happiness and honour, 
 superior to what belonged to man in his origi- 
 nal state. They who refuse his gospel must 
 be left to their cavils and perplexities, until the 
 day in which the great Judge and Governor 
 of all shall arise to plead his own cause, and 
 to vindicate his proceedings from their arro- 
 gant exceptions. Then every mouth will be 
 stopped, Job xxxv. 5. Let us look to the 
 heavens, which are higher than we, and attend 
 to what we may learn from sure principles, 
 that the earth with all its inhabitants, is but 
 as dust upon the balance, if compared with 
 the immensity of God’s creation. Unless we 
 could know the whole, and the relation which 
 this very small part bears to the rest of his 
 
 LIFE BY CHRIST. 781 
 
 government, we must be utterly incompetent 
 to judge how it becomes the great God to act. 
 We are infected with the sin, and we are sub- 
 jeet to the death, with all its concomitant evils, 
 which came into the world by the first man. 
 But we are likewise invited to a participation 
 of all the blessings which the second Man has 
 procured, by his atonement for sin, and by 
 his victory over death. “ For as by man 
 came death, so by man came also the resur- 
 rection from the dead.” 
 
 Let us take a survey, first of the malady, 
 and then of the remedy. 
 
 I. The malady, the effect and wages of sin, 
 is death. Many ideas are included in this 
 word, taken in the scriptural sense. 
 
 1. The sentence annexed to the transgres- 
 sion of that commandment which was given as 
 an especial test of Adam’s obedience, and 
 which affects all his posterity, is thus ex- 
 pressed, “ In the day that thou eatest — thou 
 shah surely die,” Gen. ii. 17. But man was 
 not, ordinarily, to die by a stroke of apoplexy, 
 or by a flash of lightning. The sentence in- 
 cludes all the natural evils, all the variety of 
 woe which sin has brought into the world. 
 The rebellious tempers and appetites which so 
 often cut short the life of man, together with 
 the sufferings and troubles, which, sooner or 
 later, bring him down with sorrow to the grave, 
 being the consequences of sin, may be properly 
 considered as belonging to that death in which 
 they terminate. Even the earth and the ele- 
 ments partook in the effects of man’s disobe- 
 dience. Thorns and thistles were not the pro- 
 duce of the ground till after he had sinned, 
 Gen. iii. 18. Nor can I suppose that hur- 
 ricanes, floods, and earthquakes were known 
 in a state of innocence. But had the whole 
 earth been a paradise, man having sinned 
 must have been miserable. It is not in si- 
 tuation to make that heart happy, which is 
 the seat of inordinate passions, rage, envy, 
 malice, lust, and avarice. And were the earth 
 a paradise now, it would be stained with blood, 
 and filled with violence, cruelty, and misery, 
 while it is inhabited by sinners. Many per- 
 sons at present, who dwell in stately houses, 
 and have every thing around them that is 
 suited to gratify and please their senses, know 
 by painful experience, how little happiness 
 these external advantages afford, while their 
 minds are tortured with disappointments and 
 anxiety. Thus the outward afflictions which 
 everywhere surround and assail the sinner, and 
 the malignant passions, which, like vultures, 
 continually gnaw his heart, all combine to 
 accelerate the execution of the sentence of 
 death. 
 
 2. Death, in a very important sense, en- 
 tered immediately with sin. Besides the ra- 
 tional life which still distinguishes man from 
 the brute creation, he originally possessed a 
 spiritual and divine life, for he was created in 
 the image of God, in righteousness and true 
 
SER. XLI. 
 
 78*2 DEATH BY ADAM 
 
 holiness. He was capable of communion 
 with God, of rejoicing in his favour, and of 
 proposing his will and glory as the great end 
 of his actions. In a word, the presence and 
 life of God dwelt in him as in a temple. As 
 the soul is the life of the body, which becomes 
 a carcase, a prey to worms and putrefaction, 
 w r hen the soul has forsaken it, so God is the 
 life of the soul. Sin defaced his temple, and 
 he forsook it. In this sense, when Adam had 
 transgressed the law, he died instantly, in that 
 very day, in that very moment. He lost his 
 spiritual life, he lost all desire for communion 
 with God, he no longer retained any love for 
 his benefactor. He dreaded his presence, he 
 sought to hide himself from him, and when 
 obliged to appear and answer, stood self con- 
 demned before him, till revived and restored 
 by the promise of grace. And thus his pos- 
 terity derive from him what may be called a 
 living death. They are dead while they live, 
 dead in trespasses and sins (Eph. ii. l), till 
 they are again quickened by his Holy Spirit. 
 This is not a subject of common-place decla- 
 mation ; it is to be proved by the tenor of 
 scripture, the nature of redemption, and the 
 very reason of things. Unless we allow that 
 man in his present state is thus fallen, de- 
 praved, and dead, we must be reduced to the 
 absurdity of supposing that God made him 
 such a creature as he now is ; that when he 
 formed him for himself, and endued him with 
 a capacity and desires which nothing short of 
 his own infinite goodness can satisfy, he should 
 at the same time create him with a disposition 
 to hate his Maker, to seek his satisfaction in 
 sensuality upon a level with the brutes, and 
 to confine his views and pursuits within the 
 limits of this precarious life, while he feels, in 
 defiance of himself, an instinctive thirst for 
 immortality. Man considered in this view 
 would be a solecism in the creation ; and they 
 who do not acquiesce in the cause which the 
 scripture assigns for the inconsistencies and 
 contradictions which are found in his charac- 
 ter, will never be able to assign any other 
 cause, which will bear the trial of sober and 
 rational examination. What the poet says of 
 Beelzebub, “ majestic though in ruins,” may 
 be truly affirmed of man. His faculties and 
 powers are proofs of his original greatness ; 
 his awful misapplication of them equally prove 
 that he is a fallen and ruined creature. He 
 has lost his true life, he is dead in sin ; and 
 unless renewed and revived by the grace of 
 God, can only, in a future state, be fit for the 
 company of the fallen angels. 
 
 3. Death, as the wages of sin, extends still 
 farther. There is the second death, the final 
 and eternal misery of soul and body in hell. 
 This we know is the dreadful lot of the impe- 
 nitent. We need no other proof that this was 
 included in the sentence ; for certainly, the 
 righteous Judge would not inflict a greater 
 punishment than he had denounced. Indeed, 
 
 , LIFE BY CHRIST. 
 
 it follows of course in the very nature of things, 
 if we admit the soul to be immortal, a resurrec- 
 tion both of the just and the unjust, and that 
 there remains no other sacrifice for sin, in fa- 
 vour of those who reject the gospel. For to be 
 disowmed of God in the great day, to be sepa- 
 rated from his favourable presence, and con- 
 scious of his endless displeasure ; to be aban- 
 doned to the unrestrained rage of sinful dis- 
 positions and hopeless despair ; to be inces- 
 santly tormented by the stings of a remorseful 
 conscience, must be, upon the principles of 
 scripture, the unavoidable consequences of 
 being cut off by death, in an unhumbled, un- 
 pardoned, unsanctified state. 
 
 II. But, blessed be God, the gospel reveals 
 a relief and remedy fully adapted to the com- 
 plicated misery in which sin has involved us. 
 “ As by man came death, by man came also 
 the resurrection from the dead.” Messiah has 
 made an end of sin, and destroyed the power 
 of death. They who believe in him, though 
 they were dead shall live. John xi. 25. For 
 he is the resurrection of the dead, and the life 
 of the living. 
 
 1. He raises the soul from the death of sin 
 unto a life of righteousness. By his blood he 
 procures a right and liberty, and by his Spirit 
 he communicates a power, that those who were 
 afar off, may draw nigh to God. Thus, even 
 at present, believers are said to be risen with 
 him, Col. iii. 1. Their spiritual life is re- 
 newed, and their happiness is already com 
 menced, though it be as yet subject to abate- 
 ments. 
 
 (1.) Though when they are made partakers 
 of his grace, and thereby delivered from the 
 condemning power of the law, sin has no 
 longer dominion over them, as formerly ; yet 
 it still wars and strives within them, and their 
 life is a state of continual warfare. They now 
 approve the law of God, as holy, just, and good, 
 and delight in it after the inward man (Rom. 
 vii. 12 — 19), yet they are renewed but in part. 
 They feel a law in their members warring a- 
 gainst the law of their minds. They cannot 
 do the things that they would, nor as they 
 would ; for when they would do good, evil is 
 present with them. They are conscious of a 
 defect and a defilement attending their best 
 services. Their attainments are unspeakably 
 short of the desires which love to the Re- 
 deemer has raised in their hearts. They are 
 ashamed, and sometimes almost discouraged. 
 They adopt the apostle’s language, “ Oh, 
 wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me 
 from the body of this death ? But with him 
 they can likewise say, “ I thank God through 
 Jesus Christ our Lord.” They know he is 
 on their side, and expect that he will at last 
 make them more than conquerors : yet while 
 the conflict lasts, they have much to suffer, 
 and much to lament. 
 
 (2.) They are subject, like other people, to 
 the various calamities and distresses incident 
 
SER. XLI. 
 
 DEATH BY ADAM, 
 
 to this state of mortality ; and they have, more 
 or less, troubles peculiar to themselves, arising 
 from the nature of their profession and con- 
 duct (if they are faithful to their Lord) while 
 they live in a world that lieth in wickedness. 
 But the curse and sting is taken out of their 
 afflictions, and they are so moderated and 
 sanctified by the wisdom and grace of him 
 whom they serve, that in the event they work 
 for their good. But though they yield the 
 peaceable fruit of righteousness (Heb. xii. 
 
 1 1 ) in themselves, and at the time, they are 
 not joyous, but grievous. 
 
 (3.) They are still subject to the stroke of 
 death, the separation of soul and body. 
 But this death has lost its sting as to them. 
 And therefore they are said not to die, but to 
 sleep in Jesus. Death is not their enemy, 
 but their friend. To them, instead of being 
 an evil, it proves a deliverance from all evil, 
 and an entrance into everlasting life. 
 
 2. That new life to which they are raised is 
 surely connected with life eternal; the life of 
 grace, with the life of glory. For Christ 
 liveth in them, and being united to him by 
 faith, they shall live while he liveth. They 
 only shut their eyes upon the pains and sor- 
 rows of this world, to open them immediately 
 in his presence, and so they shall be for ever 
 with the Lord. How wonderful and happy 
 is the transition ! From disease and anguish, 
 from weeping friends, and often from a state 
 of indigence and obscurity, in which they have 
 no friends to compassionate them, they remove 
 to a state of glory, honour and immortality, 
 to a mansion in the realms of light, to a seat 
 near the throne of God. In the language of 
 mortals, this ineffable honour and happiness 
 is shadowed out to us, by the emblems of a 
 white robe, a golden harp, a palm-branch (the 
 token of victory), and a crown, not of oak or 
 laurel, of gold or diamonds, but a crown of 
 life. Such honour have all the saints. How- 
 ever afflicted or neglected, despised or oppress- 
 ed, while upon earth, soon as their willing 
 spirits take their flight from hence, they shine 
 like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. 
 Thus Lazarus lay for a time, diseased, neces- 
 sitous, and slighted, at the rich man’s gate. 
 Yet he was not without attendants. A guard 
 of angels waited around him, and when he 
 died conveyed his spirit into Abraham’s bosom, 
 Luke xvi. 22. The Jews thought very highly 
 of Abraham, the father of their nation, the fa- 
 ther of the faithful. Our Lord therefore 
 teaches us by this representation, that the 
 beggar Lazarus was not only happy after 
 death, but highly exalted by him who seeth 
 not as man seeth ; for he was placed in Abra- 
 ham’s bosom, a situation which, according to 
 the custom of the Jews, was a mark of pecu- 
 liar favour, intimacy, and distinction. Thus 
 the beloved disciple was seated in the bosom 
 of our Lord, when he celebrated his last pass- 
 over with his disciples, John xiii. 22 — 25. 
 
 LIKE BY CHRIST. 783 
 
 3. Their dead bodies shall be raised at the 
 great day, not in their former state of weak, 
 ness and corruption, but that which was sown 
 in weakness shall be raised in power, and the 
 mortal shall put on immortality. He shall 
 change our vile body, that it may be fashioned 
 according to the likeness of his own glorious 
 body. So that his own resurrection is both 
 the pledge and the pattern of theirs. I have 
 only farther to observe upon this subject at 
 present, that as Adam is the root and head of all 
 mankind, from whence they all derive a sinful 
 and mortal nature ; so Jesus, the second A- 
 dam, is the root of a people who are united to 
 him, planted and engrafted in him by faith. 
 To these the resurrection, considered as a 
 blessing, is to be restrained. There will be a 
 resurrection of the wicked likewise (John v. 
 29), but to condemnation, shame and ever- 
 lasting contempt, Dan. xii. 2. But the con- 
 nection is close and indissoluble between 
 Christ the first-fruits, and them that are 
 Christ’s at his coming. 
 
 May we be happily prepared for this great 
 event, that when he shall appear we may have 
 confidence in him, and not be ashamed before 
 him, 1 John ii. 28. Happy they who shall 
 then be able to welcome him in the language 
 of the prophet, “ Lo, this is our God, we have 
 waited for him, and he will save us ; this is 
 the Lord, we have waited for him, we will be 
 glad, and rejoice in his salvation, Isa. xxv. 9. 
 But how awful the contrast of those (many 
 of them once the great, mighty, and honour- 
 able of the earth) who shall behold him with 
 horror, and in the anguish of their souls shall 
 call (in vain) to the rocks and mountains to 
 fall on them and hide them from his presence, 
 saying, “ The great day of his wrath is come, 
 and w’ho shall be able to stand ?” Rev. vi. 16, 
 17. 
 
 SERMON XLII. 
 
 THE GENERAL RESURRECTION. 
 
 Behold, I shew yon a mystery. We shall not 
 all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a 
 moment in the twinkling of an eye , at the 
 last trump , for the trumpet shall sound, and 
 the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we 
 shall be changed. For this corruptible must 
 put on incorruption , and this mortal must 
 put on immortality. 1 Cor. xv. 51, 52. 
 
 An object in itself great, and which we know' 
 to be so, will appear small to us if we view it| 
 from a distance. The stars, for example, in 
 our view, are but as little specks or points of 
 light ; and the tip of a finger, if held very near 
 to the eye, is sufficient to hide from us the 
 whole body of the sun. Distance of time has 
 an effect upon us, in its kind, similar to dis- 
 
784 
 
 tance of space. It diminishes in our mind j 
 the idea of what we are assured is, in its own 
 nature, of great magnitude and importance. 
 If any of us were informed that w r e should 
 certainly die before this day closes, what a 
 sudden and powerful change w'ould take place 
 in our thoughts ? That we all must die, is a 
 
 THE GENERAL RESURRECTION. SER. XLl 
 
 III. The suddenness of the event, — “ In a 
 
 moment, in the twinkling of an eye.” 
 
 IV. The grand preceding signal, — “ The 
 trumpet shall sound.” 
 
 I. The apostle apprizes the Corinthians that 
 he is about to shew them a mystery. As the 
 word mystery has been treated with no small 
 
 truth, of which we are no less certain, than contempt, I shall embrace this occasion of of- 
 
 that we are now alive. But because it is 
 possible that we may not die to-day, or to- 
 morrow, or this year, or for several years to 
 come, we are often little more affected by the 
 thoughts of death, than if we expected to live 
 
 fering you a short explanation of it, as it is 
 used in the scriptures. We are allowed to 
 say, that there are mysteries in nature, and 
 perhaps we may be allowed to speak of mys- 
 teries in providence ; but though an apostle 
 
 here for ever. In like manner, if you receive j assures us, that great is the mystery of godli- 
 the scripture as a divine revelation, I need I ness (1 Tim. iii. 16), many persons will 
 offer you no other proof, that there is a day, scarcely bear the application of the word to 
 a great day, approaching, which will put an | religion. And, a late ingenious writer, who 
 end to the present state of things, and intro- 
 duce a state unchangeable and eternal. Then 
 the Lord will descend with a shout, with the 
 voice of an archangel, and with the trump of 
 God. The earth and all its works will be 
 burnt up. The great Judge will appear, the 
 tribunal be fixed, the books opened, and all 
 the human race must give an account of them- 
 selves to God, and, according to his righteous 
 award, be happy or miserable in a degree be- 
 yond expression or conception, and that for 
 ever. 
 
 If we were infallibly assured, that this tre- 
 mendous scene would open upon us to-mor- 
 row ; or if, while I am speaking, we should be 
 startled with the signs of our Lord’s coming 
 in the air, what confusion and alarm would 
 o\erspread the congregation? Yet, if the 
 scripture be true, the hour is approaching, 
 when we must all be spectators of this solemn 
 event, and parties nearly interested in it. But 
 because it is at a distance, we can hear of it, 
 speak of it, and profess to expect it, w’ith a 
 coolness almost equal to indifference. May 
 the Lord give us that faith which is the evi- 
 dence of things not seen, that while I aim to 
 lead your meditations to the subject of my 
 text, we may be duly impressed by it: and 
 that we may carry from hence such a consi- 
 deration of our latter end, as may incline our 
 hearts to that which is our true wisdom ! 
 
 Many curious inquiries and speculations 
 might be started from this passage, but which, 
 because I judge them to be more curious than 
 useful, it is my intention to wave. I shall 
 confine myself to what is plainly expressed, 
 because I wish rather to profit than to amuse 
 my hearers. The principal subject before us 
 is the resurrection of the dead, in the most 
 pleasing view of it ; for my text speaks only 
 of those who shall change the mortal and cor- 
 ruptible, for incorruption and immortality. 
 
 I. The introduction, — “ Behold I show 
 you a mystery.” 
 
 IJ. What we are taught to expect, — “ We 
 shall not all sleep, but we shall all be chang- 
 ed.” 
 
 has many admirers in the present day, has ven- 
 tured to affirm in print, that where mystery 
 begins, religion ends. If the frequency of the 
 case did not, in some degree, abate our won- 
 der, this might seem almost a mystery, that 
 any persons who profess to believe the scrip- 
 ture, should so openly and flatly contradict 
 what the scripture expressly and repeatedly 
 declares : Or that while, as men of reason and 
 philosophy, they are forced to acknowledge a 
 mystery in every part of creation, and must 
 confess it beyond their ability to explain the 
 growth of a blade of grass ; they should in op- 
 position to all the rules of analogy, conclude, 
 that the gospel, the most important concern of 
 man, and which is commended to us as the 
 most eminent display of the wisdom and pow- 
 er of God, is the only subject so level to our 
 apprehensions, as to be obvious, at first sight, 
 to the most careless and superficial observers. 
 That great numbers of people are very far 
 from being accurate and diligent in their reli- 
 gious inquiries, is too evident to be denied. 
 How often do we meet with persons of sense 
 w'ho talk with propriety on philosophical, po- 
 litical, or commercial subjects, and yet, when 
 they speak of religion, discover such gross ig- 
 norance, as would be shameful in a child of 
 ten years old, and amounts to a full proof that 
 they have not thought it w'orth their while to 
 acquire even a slight knowledge of its first 
 principles. Can w r e even conceive the possi- 
 bility of a divine revelation that should have 
 nothing in it mysterious to persons of this 
 character ? 
 
 A mystery, according to the notation of the 
 Greek word, signifies a secret. And all the 
 peculiar truths of the gospel may justly be 
 styled mysteries or secrets, for two reasons. 
 
 1. Because the discovery of them is beyond 
 the reach of fallen man, and they neither 
 would nor could have been known without a 
 revelation from God. This is eminently true 
 of the resurrection. The light of nature, 
 which we often hear so highly commended, 
 may afford some faint glimmerings of a future 
 state, but gives no intimation of a resurrec- 
 
SER. XL II. THE GENERAL RESURRECTION. 785 
 
 tion. The men of wisdom at Athens, the 
 Stoic and Epicurean philosophers, who differ- 
 ed widely in most parts of their respective 
 schemes, united in deriding this sentiment, 
 and contemptuously styled the apostle Paul a 
 babler (Acts xvii. 18) for preaching it. But 
 this secret is to us made known. And we are 
 assured, not only that the Lord will receive to 
 himself the departing spirits of his people, 
 but that he will give commandment concern- 
 ing their dust, and, in due time, raise their 
 vile bodies to a conformity with his own glo- 
 rious body. 
 
 2. Because, though they are revealed ex- 
 pressly in the scripture, such is the grossness 
 of our conceptions, and the strength of our 
 prejudices, that the truths of revelation are 
 still unintelligible to us, without a farther re- 
 velation of their true sense to the mind, by 
 the influence of his Holy Spirit. Otherwise, 
 how can the secret of the Lord be restrained 
 to those who fear him (Psal. xxv. 14), when 
 the book which contains it is open to all, and 
 the literal and grammatical meaning of the 
 words is in the possession of many who fear 
 him not? 
 
 Books in the arts and sciences may be said 
 to be full of mysteries to those who hare not 
 a suitable capacity and taste for them ; or who 
 do not apply themselves to study them with 
 diligence, and patiently submit to learn gra- 
 dually one thing after another. If you put a 
 treatise on mathematics, or a system of music, 
 into the hands of a plowman or labourer, you 
 will not be surprised to find that he cannot 
 understand a single page. Shall the works 
 of a Sir Isaac Newton, or of a Handel, be 
 thus inexplicable to one person, while another 
 peruses them with admiration and delight? 
 Shall these require a certain turn of mind, and 
 a close attention ? and can it be reasonably 
 supposed, that the Bible is the only book that 
 requires no peculiar disposition, or degree of 
 application, to be understood, though it is de- 
 signed to make us acquainted with the deep 
 things of God? 1 Cor. ii. 10. In one re- 
 spect, indeed, there is an encouraging differ- 
 ence. Divine truths lie thus far equally open 
 to all, that though none can learn them unless 
 they are taught of God, yet all who are sen- 
 sible of their own weakness may expect his 
 teaching, if they humbly seek it by prayer. 
 Many people are, perhaps, incapable of being 
 mathematicians. They have not a genius for 
 the science. But there is none who teacheth 
 like God. He can give not only light, but 
 sight ; not only lessons, but the capacity ne- 
 cessary for their reception. And while his 
 mysteries are hidden from the wise and pru- 
 dent, who are too proud to wait upon him for 
 instruction, he reveals them unto babes. 
 
 It may perhaps be thought, that a belief of 
 the doctrine of the resurrection does not re- 
 quire the same teaching of the Holy Spirit 
 that is necessary to the right knowledge of 
 
 some other doctrines of the gospel. But such 
 a belief as may affect, cheer, and animate the 
 heart must be given, us from above, for we 
 cannot reason ourselves into it. Nay, this di- 
 vine teaching is necessary to secure'the mind 
 from the vain reasonings, perplexities, and 
 imaginations, which will bewilder our thoughts 
 upon the subject, unless we learn to yield in 
 simplicity of faith, to what the scripture has 
 plainly revealed, and can be content to know 
 no farther before the proper time. 
 
 II. What we are here taught to expect is 
 thus expressed — “ We shall not all sleep, but 
 we shall all be changed.” We are not to sup- 
 pose that the whole human race will die, and 
 fail from the earth, before the resurrection. 
 Some will be living at the time, and among 
 them some of the Lord’s people. Of the liv- 
 ing, it cannot properly be said that they will 
 be raised from the dead : but they will expe- 
 rience a change, which will put them exactly 
 in the same state with the others. Their mor- 
 tality shall be swallowed up in life. Thus we 
 conceive it to have been with Enoch and Eli- 
 jah. They did not die like other men ; but 
 their mortal natures were frail and sinful, like 
 ours, and incapable of sustaining the glories 
 of heaven without a preparation. Flesh and 
 blood in its present state cannot inherit the 
 kingdom of God, neither can corruption in- 
 herit incorruption ; but the dead shall arise, 
 and the living shall be changed. Here is a 
 wide field for speculation, but I mean not to 
 enter it. Curiosity would be glad to know 
 how our bodies, when changed, shall still be 
 the same. Let us first determine how that 
 body, which was once an infant, is the very 
 same when it becomes a full grown man, or a 
 man in extreme old age. Let us explain the 
 transmutation of a caterpillar or silk -worm, 
 which from a reptile becomes a butterfly. 
 What a wonderful change is this both in ap- 
 pearance and in powers ? Who would suppose 
 it to be the same creature ? Yet who can de- 
 ny it ? It is safest and most comfortable for 
 us, to refer to the wisdom and power of God 
 the accomplishment of his own word. 
 
 III. These great events will take place un- 
 expectedly and suddenly — “ In a moment, 
 in the twinkling of an eye.” We have rea- 
 son to believe, that a part at least of mankind 
 will be employed as they are now, and as they 
 were in the days of Noah and Lot (Luke xvii. 
 26 — 30), eating and drinking, buying and 
 selling, building, and planting ; having noth- 
 ing less in their thoughts than the calamity 
 and destruction which shall overwhelm them 
 without warning. For while they are pro- 
 mising themselves peace, the day of the Lord 
 shall come upon them like a thief in the night, 
 unlooked for, and, like the pangs of a labour- 
 ing woman, unavoidable. “ In that day the 
 lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the 
 haughtiness of man shall be bowed down, and 
 the Lord alone shall be exalted,” Is. ii. 6. 
 
 3 L 
 
786 
 
 So large a part of divine prophecy remains yet 
 to be fulfilled, that I apprehend it is not pro- 
 bable that any of us shall be alive when this 
 great and terrible day of the Lord shall be re- 
 vealed. But are not some of us exposed to a 
 similar dreadful surprise ! If you die in your 
 sins, the consequences will be no less deplor- 
 able to you, than if you saw the whole frame 
 of nature perishing with you. Alas, what 
 will you do, whither will you flee for help, or 
 where will you leave your glory, if, while you 
 are engrossed by the cares or pleasures of this 
 world, death should arrest you, and summon 
 you to judgment ? The rich man in the gos- 
 pel is not charged with any crimes of peculiar 
 enormity. It is not said that he ground the 
 faces of the poor, or that he, by fraud or op- 
 pression, kept back the hire of the labourers 
 who had reaped his harvest ; be only rejoiced 
 in his wealth, and in having much goods laid 
 up for many years, and that therefore he might 
 securely eat, drink, and be merry. But God 
 said unto him, “ Thou fool, this night shall 
 thy soul be required of thee,” Luke xii. 20. 
 Awful disappointment ! Thus will it be, soon- 
 er or later, with all whose hearts and portions 
 are in this world, but are not rich towards 
 God ! Consider this, you that are like minded 
 with him. Tremble at the thought of being 
 found in the number of those who have all 
 their consolation here, and who, when they 
 die, must leave their all behind them. Now 
 is the acceptable time, the day of salvation. 
 Now, if you will seek the Lord, he will be 
 found of you. Now, if you pray for grace 
 and faith, he will answer you. But when 
 once the Master of the house shall arise, and 
 with his own sovereign authoritative hand shall 
 shut the door of his mercy, it will then be in 
 vain, and too late, to say, “ Lord, Lord, open 
 unto us,” Luke xiii. 25. 
 
 IV. The great scene will be introduced by 
 a signal — “ At the last trump ; for the trum- 
 pet shall sound.” Thus the approach of a 
 king or a judge is usually announced ; and 
 the scripture frequently borrows images from 
 our little affairs and customs, and, in condes- 
 cension to our weakness, illustrates things in 
 themselves too great for our conceptions, by 
 comparing them with those which are more fa- 
 miliar to us. 
 
 It will indeed be comparing great things 
 with small, if I attempt to illustrate this sub- 
 lime idea by local customs which obtain in 
 this kingdom. At a time of assize, when the 
 judges, to whom the administration and guar- 
 dianship of our laws are entrusted, are mak- 
 ing their entrance, expectation is awake, and 
 a kind of reverence and awe is felt, even by 
 those who are not immediately concerned in 
 their inquest. The dignity of their office, the 
 purpose for which they come, the concourse of 
 people, the order of the procession, and the 
 sound of the trumpet, all concur in raising an 
 emotion in the hearts of the spectators. Hap- 
 
 SER. XLII. 
 py are they then upon whom the inflexible 
 law has no demand ! But who can describe 
 the terror with which the sound of the trum- 
 pet is heard by the unhappy criminal ; and the 
 throbbings of his heart, if he be already con- 
 victed in his own conscience, and knows or 
 fears that there is sufficient evidence at hand 
 to fix the fact upon him, and to prove his 
 guilt? For soon the judge will take his seat, 
 the books will be opened, the cause tried, and 
 the criminal sentenced. Many circumstances 
 of this kind are alluded to in the scripture, to 
 assist us in forming some conception of what 
 will take place, when all the race of Adam, 
 small and great, shall stand before the sover- 
 eign Judge, the one Lawgiver, who is able 
 to save and to destroy. But the concourse, 
 the solemnity, the scrutiny, the event, in the 
 most weighty causes that can come before a 
 human judicature, are mere shadows, and tri- 
 vial as the sports of children, if compared with 
 the business of this tremendous tribunal. 
 “ The Lord himself will descend with the 
 voice of the archangel, and the trump of God.” 
 What a trumpet will that be, whose sound 
 shall dissolve the frame of nature, and awaken 
 the dead ? When the Lord is seated upon his 
 great white throne (Rev. xx. ll), the heavens 
 and the earth shall flee from his presence ; but 
 the whole race of mankind shall be assembled 
 before him, each one to give an account of 
 himself, to him, from whose penetrating know- 
 ledge no secret can be hidden, and from whose 
 unerring inflexible sentence there can be no 
 appeal. “ Where then shall the wicked and 
 the ungodly appear ?” 
 
 But it will be a joyful day to believers : 
 they shall be separated as the wheat from the 
 tares, and arranged at his right hand. When 
 the Lord shall come, attended by his holy 
 angels, his redeemed people will reassume 
 their bodies, refined and freed from all that 
 was corruptible ; and those of them who shall 
 be then living will be changed, and caught up 
 to meet him in the air. He will then own 
 them, approve and crown them, before assem- 
 bled worlds. Every charge that can be brought 
 against them will be over-ruled, and their plea, 
 that they trusted in him for salvation, be ad- 
 mitted and ratified. They will be accepted 
 and justified. They will shine like the sun in 
 his full train, and attend, as assessors with 
 him, when he shall pass final judgment upon 
 his and their enemies. Then he will be ad- 
 mired in and by them that believe. Their 
 tears will be for ever wiped away, when he 
 shall say to them, “ Come, ye blessed of my 
 Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you 
 from the foundation of the world,” Mattb. 
 xxv. 34. 
 
 Beloved, if these things are so, what man- 
 ner of persons ought we to be in all holy con- 
 versation and godliness? 2 Pet. iii. 11. 
 Should we not give all diligence to make our 
 calling and election sure, that we may be 
 
 THE GENERAL RESURRECTION. 
 
SER. XLIII. DEATH SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY. 
 
 found of him in peace ? He who will then be 
 seated upon the throne of judgment, is to us 
 made known as seated upon a throne of grace. 
 It is time, it is high time, and blessed be God 
 it is not yet too late, to seek his mercy. Still 
 the gospel invites us to hear his voice, and to 
 humble ourselves before him. Once more 
 you are invited, some of you perhaps for the 
 last time : how know you but sickness or 
 death may be at the very door? Consider, Are 
 you prepared ? Examine the foundation of 
 your hope, — and do it quickly, impartially, and 
 earnestly, lest you should be cut off in an hour 
 when you are not aware, and perish with a 
 lie in your right hand. 
 
 SERMON XLIIT. 
 
 DEATH SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY. 
 
 Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is 
 written , Death is swallowed up in victory . 
 
 1 Cor xv 54. 
 
 Death, simply considered, is no more than a 
 private idea, signifying a cessation of life, or 
 that what was once living lives no longer. 
 But it has been the general, perhaps the uni- 
 versal custom of mankind to personify it. 
 Imagination gives death a formidable appear- 
 ance, arms it with a dart, sting, or scythe, 
 and represents it as an active, inexorable, and 
 invincible reality. In this view Death is a 
 great devourer ; with his iron tongue he calls 
 for thousands at a meal. He has already 
 swallowed up all the preceding generations of 
 men ; all who are now living are marked as 
 his inevitable prey ; he is still unsatisfied, and 
 will go on devouring till the Lord shall come. 
 Then this destroyer shall be destroyed ; he 
 shall swallow no more, but be swallowed up 
 himself in victory. Thus the scripture ac- 
 commodates itself to the language and appre- 
 hensions of mortals. Farther, the metaphori- 
 cal usage of the word swallow still enlarges 
 and aggrandizes the idea. Thus the earth is 
 said to have opened her mouth and swallowed 
 up Korah and his accomplices. Numb. xvi. 
 32. And thus a pebble, a mill-stone, or a 
 mountain, if cast into the ocean, would be 
 swallowed up, irrecoverably lost and gone, as 
 though they had never been, Rev. xviii. 21. 
 Such shall be the triumphant victory of Mes- 
 siah in the great day of the consummation of 
 all things. Death in its cause and in its ef- 
 fects, shall be utterly destroyed. Man was 
 created upright, and lived in a paradise, till, 
 by sin, he brought death into the world. From 
 that time death has reigned by sin, and evils 
 abound. But Messiah came to make an end j 
 of sin, to destroy death, and him that hath the 
 power of it, to repair every disorder, and to j 
 
 787 
 
 remove every misery ; and he will so fully, so 
 gloriously accomplish his great undertaking 
 in the final issue, that every thing contrary to 
 holiness and happiness shall be swallowed up 
 and buried beyond the possibility of a return, 
 as a stone that is sunk in the depths of the sea. 
 Thus where sin hath abounded grace will much 
 more abound. 
 
 This victory, however, being the Redeem- 
 er’s work and the fruit of his mediation, the 
 scripture teaches us to restrain the benefits of 
 it to the subjects of his church and kingdom. 
 In Adam all die. A depraved nature, guilt, 
 sorrow, and death, extend to all his posterity. 
 The All, who in Christ shall be made alive, 
 are those who, by faith in him, are delivered 
 from the sting of death, which is sin, and are 
 made partakers of a new nature. There is 
 a second death, which, though it shall not 
 hurt the believers in Jesus (Rev. ii. 1 1 ), will 
 finally swallow up the impenitent and ungodly. 
 We live in an age when there is, if I may so 
 speak, a resurrection of many old and exploded 
 errors, which though they have been often re- 
 futed and forgotten, are admired and embraced 
 by some persons as new and wonderful disco- 
 veries. Of this stamp, is the conceit of a uni- 
 versal restitution to a state of happiness of all 
 intelligent creatures, whether angels or men, 
 who have rebelled against the will and govern- 
 ment of God. This sentiment contradicts the 
 current doctrine of scripture, which asserts the 
 everlasting misery of the finally impenitent, 
 in as strong terms, in the very same terms, as 
 the eternal happiness of the righteous, and 
 sometimes in the very same verse, Mat. xxv. 46. 
 Nor can it possibly be true, if our Lord spake 
 the truth concerning Judas, when he said, 
 “ It had been good for that man if he had 
 never been born,” Matth. xxvi. 24. If I 
 could consider this notion as harmless though 
 useless, and no worse than many mistakes 
 which men of upright minds have made, 
 through inattention and weakness of judg- 
 ment, I should not have mentioned it. But 
 I judge it to be little less pernicious and poi- 
 sonous, than false. It directly tends to abate 
 that sense of the evil of sin, of the inflexible 
 justice of God, and the truth of his threaten- 
 ings, which is but too weak in the best of 
 men. Let us abide by the plain declarations 
 of his word, w'hich assures us, that there re- 
 maineth no other sacrifice for sin (Heb. x. 
 26, 27), no future relief against it, for those 
 who now refuse the gospel ; and that they who 
 cordially receive it shall be saved with an ever- 
 lasting salvation, and shall one day sing, 
 “ Death is swallowed up in victory.” 
 
 I would farther observe, that many prophe- 
 cies have a gradual and increasing accomplish- 
 ment, and may be applied to several periods ; 
 though their full completion will only be at 
 ! the resurrection and last judgment. This pas- 
 sage, as it stands in the prophecy of Isaiah 
 J (chap. xxv. 8), from whence the apostle quotes 
 
SER. XLI1I 
 
 788 DEATH SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY. 
 
 it, appears to have a reference to the compa- 
 ratively brighter light and glory of the gospel- 
 state beyond what was enjoyed by the church 
 under the Levitical dispensation; and espe- 
 cially to the privileges of those happy days, 
 when the fulness of the Gentiles, and the 
 remnant of Israel shall be brought in, and the 
 kingdoms of this world shall become the king- 
 doms of the Lord and of his Christ. I would 
 not exclude these subordinate senses ; I have 
 already considered them. But my text calls 
 our attention to the end of all things. Then, 
 in the most emphatical sense, Death will be 
 swallowed up of victory. 
 
 Let us endeavour to realize the great scene 
 before us, to contemplate the redeemed of the 
 Lord when they shall return with him to ani- 
 mate their glorious bodies. Let us ask the 
 question which the elder proposed to John, 
 “ Who are these clothed with white robes, and 
 whence came they ?” Rev. vii. 13. They came 
 out of great tribulation, they were once under 
 the power of death, but now death, as to them, 
 is swallowed up in victory. In every sense 
 in which death ruled over them they are now 
 completely delivered. 
 
 I. They were once dead in law. They had 
 revolted from their Maker. They had vio- 
 lated the holy order of his government, and 
 stood exposed to his righteous displeasure, and 
 to the heavy penalty annexed to the trans- 
 gression of his commandments. But mercy 
 interposed. God so loved them, that he gave 
 his only begotten Son to make an atonement 
 for their sins, and to be their wisdom, right- 
 eousness, sanctification, and redemption, 1 
 Cor. i. 30. They received grace to believe in 
 this Saviour, and now they are delivered from 
 condemnation. They are accepted in the Be- 
 loved. They are considered as one with him, 
 and interested in all that he did, and in all 
 that he suffered. Now they are the children 
 of God, and heirs of his kingdom. Though 
 they were afar off, they are brought nigh, and 
 admitted to a nearer relation than the holy 
 angels, to him who sitteth upon the throne. 
 For he took upon him, and still he pleased to 
 wear, not the nature of angels, but the human 
 nature. Their former guilt is cancelled, blot- 
 ted out, and swallowed up. All their sins are 
 covered. Sunk in his precious blood as in a 
 deep sea, so that even if sought for, they can 
 no more be found. That they have sinned, 
 will always be a truth ; and probably they will 
 never lose a consciousness of what they were 
 by nature and practice while in this world. 
 But this, so far from abating their joy, will 
 heighten their gratitude and praise to him who 
 loved them, and washed them from their sins 
 in his own blood, Rev. i. 5. Their happiness 
 principally consists in a perception of his love 
 to them, and in their returns of grateful love 
 to him. And they love him much, because for 
 his sake, much has been forgiven them, Luke 
 vii. 47. 
 
 II. Once they were dead in sin. They 
 were destitute of the knowledge and love of 
 God. They were foolish, deceived, and dis- 
 obedient, enslaved to divers lusts (Titus iii. 
 3), to inordinate, sensual, unsatisfying plea- 
 sures. They lived in malice and envy ; they 
 were hateful, and they hated one another. In 
 a word, they were dead while they lived, 1 
 Tim. v. 6. But by the power of grace they 
 were awakened and raised from this death, 
 and made partakers of a new, a spiritual, and 
 divine life. Yet the principle of sin and death 
 still remained in them, and their life upon 
 earth, though a life of faith in the Son of 
 God, was a state of continual warfare. They 
 had many a conflict, and were often greatly 
 distressed. They sowed in tears, to the end 
 of their pilgrimage, but now they reap in joy, 
 Psal. cxxvi. 5. This death is also swallow- 
 ed up in victory. They are now entirely and 
 for ever freed from every clog, defect, and de- 
 filement. By beholding their Lord as he is, 
 in all his glory and love, without any inter- 
 posing veil or cloud, they are made like him, 
 and to the utmost measure of their capacity 
 conformed to his image. Now they are ab- 
 solutely spotless and impechable ; for though 
 mutability seems no less essential to a creature 
 than dependence, yet they cannot change, be- 
 cause their Lord is unchangeable, for their 
 life is hidden with Christ in God, Col. iii. 3. 
 They cannot fall from their holiness or happi- 
 ness, because he has engaged to uphold and 
 maintain them by his almighty power. 
 
 III. One branch of the death due to sin is 
 the tyranny and power of Satan. For a time 
 he ruled in their hearts, as in his own strong- 
 hold; and while they were blinded by his in- 
 fluence they were little affected with their 
 bondage. Hard as his service was, they did 
 not often complain of it. They were led by 
 him according to his will for the most part 
 without resistance, or, if they attempted to re- 
 sist, they found it was in vain. But in his 
 own hour their Lord, who had bought them, 
 dispossessed their strong enemy, and claimed 
 their hearts for himself. Yet after they were 
 thus set free from his ruling power, this ad- 
 versary was always plotting and fighting a- 
 gainst them. How much have some of them 
 suffered from his subtle wiles and his fiery 
 darts ! from his rage as a roaring lion, from 
 his cunning as a serpent lying in their path, 
 and from his attempts to deceive them under 
 the semblance of an angel of light ! 2 Cor. xi. 
 14. But now they are placed out of his reach. 
 Death and Satan are swallowed up. The vic- 
 tory is complete. The wicked one shall never 
 have access to touch or disturb them any more. 
 Now he is shut up in his own place, and the 
 door sealed, no more to open. While he was 
 permitted to vex and worry them, he acted 
 under a limited commission which he could 
 not exceed ; all was directed and over-ruled 
 by the wisdom and love of their Lord for thei» 
 
SER. XLIII. 
 
 DEATH SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY. 
 
 advantage. Such exercises were necessary, 
 then, to discover to them more of the weak- 
 ness and vileness of their own hearts, to make 
 them more sensible of their dependence upon 
 their Saviour, and to afford them affecting 
 proofs of his power and care engaged in their 
 behalf. But they are necessary no longer. 
 Their warfare is finished. They are now 
 where the wicked cease from troubling, and 
 where the weary are at rest, Job iii. 17. 
 
 IV. While they were in the world, they had 
 a share, many of them a very large share, of 
 the woes and sufferings incident to this mor- 
 tal state : which, as they are the fruits and ef- 
 fects of sin, and greatly contribute to shorten 
 the life of man, and hasten his return to dust, 
 are, as I formerly observed, properly included 
 in the comprehensive meaning of the original 
 sentence, death. They belong to its train, 
 and are harbingers of its approach. None of 
 the race of Adam are exempted from these ; 
 but especially the servants of God have no 
 exemption. Their gracious Lord, who frees 
 them from condemnation, and gives them 
 peace in himself, assures them that in this 
 world they shall have tribulation, John xvi. 
 33. This is so inseparable from their calling, 
 that it is mentioned as one special mark of 
 their adoption and sonship, Heb. xii. 6-— 8. 
 If the prosperity of the wicked sometimes 
 continues for a season without interruption, 
 their day is coming (Ps. xxxvii. 13) ; but the 
 righteous may expect chastisement and disci- 
 pline daily. Thus their graces are refined, 
 strengthened, and displayed, to the praise of 
 their heavenly Father. There is no promise 
 in the Bible that secures the most eminent 
 and exemplary believer from participating in 
 the heaviest calamities in common with oth- 
 ers, and they have many trials peculiar to 
 themselves. Thus, while upon earth, they 
 endure hardship for his sake. Because he 
 chose them out of the world, and they would 
 no longer comply with its sinful maxims and 
 customs, the world hated them, John xv. 19. 
 Many of them were the mark of public scorn 
 and malice, accounted the offscouring of all 
 things ; they were driven to deserts, and 
 mountains, and caves ; they suffered stripes, 
 imprisonment, and death. Others had trials 
 of pains, sickness, and poverty, of sharp 
 bereaving dispensations. Their gourds with- 
 ered, and the desire of their eyes was taken 
 away with a stroke. They had fightings with- 
 out, and fears within. So that if their pres- 
 sures and troubles were considered, without tak- 
 ing into the account their inward supports and 
 the consolation they derived from their hopes 
 beyond the grave, they might be deemed of 
 all men the most miserable, 1 Cor. xv. 19. 
 But^they were supported under these exercises, 
 brought safely through them, and now their 
 sorrows are swallowed up in victory. Now 
 the days of their mourning are ended, Is. lx. 
 17. They now confess, that their longest af- 
 
 789 
 
 dictions were momentary, and their heaviest 
 burdens were light, in comparison of that far 
 more exceeding and eternal weight of glory 
 (2 Cor. iv. 17) which they have entered up- 
 on. Sorrow and sighing have taken their 
 everlasting flight, and joy and gladness have 
 come forth to meet them, and to dwell with 
 them for ever, Is. li. 11. 
 
 V. In their collective capacity, the seeds of 
 sin often produced bitter fruits. Through 
 remaining ignorance and prejudice, they often 
 mistook and misunderstood one another. They 
 lost much good which they might otherwise 
 have enjoyed, and brought upon themselves 
 many evils. Through their intemperate heats 
 and unsanctified zeal, which divided them 
 into little parties and separate interests, the 
 children of the same family, the members of 
 the same body, were too often at variance, or 
 at least cold and distant in their regards to ■ 
 each other. Yea, Satan could foment discord 
 and jealousies among those who lived in the 
 same house, or met at the same table of the 
 Lord. But now grace has triumphed over 
 every evil ; sin and death are swallowed up 
 in victory. Now all is harmony love, and 
 joy. They have one heart and one song, 
 which will never more be blemished by the 
 harshness of a single discordant note. 
 
 May this prospect animate our hopes, and 
 awaken, in those who have hitherto been afai 
 off, a desire of sharing in the happiness of the 
 redeemed ! Awful will be the contrast to those 
 who have had their portion in this world ! Is 
 it needful to address any in this auditory, in 
 the language which our Lord used to his im 
 penitent hearers ? “ Wo unto you that are 
 
 rich ; for you have received your consolation. 
 Wo unto you that are full ; for ye shall hun 
 ger. Wo unto you that laugh now; for ye 
 shall mourn and weep !” Luke vi. 24, 25. 
 When the rich man, who had lived in honour 
 and affluence here, was torn from all that he 
 loved, and lifted up his eyes in torment, the 
 remembrance of his former state, that he once 
 had his good things (Luke xvi. 25), but that 
 they were gone, for ever gone, could only be 
 a keen aggravation of his misery. Dreadful 
 will be the condition of all who die in their 
 sins ; but the case of those who are now fre- 
 quently envied by the ignorant, in the view of 
 a mind enlightened by the truth, must appear 
 doubly and peculiarly pitiable. They have 
 the most to lose, they have the most to ac- 
 count for. Alas, how terrible, how sudden 
 the change ! From a state of honour and in- 
 fluence amongst men, to fall in a moment un- 
 der the contempt and displeasure of the holy 
 God — to pass, from a crowd of dependents 
 and flatterers, to the company of Satan and his 
 angels; from grandeur and opulence, to a 
 state of utter darkness and horror, where the 
 worm dieth not, and the fire cannot be quench- 
 ed, Mark. ix. 44, 46, 48. These are sensible 
 images, it is true ; the things of the unseen 
 
TRIUMPH OVER DEATH AND THE GRAVE. ser. xliv 
 
 790 
 
 world cannot be described to us as they are 
 in themselves; but we may be certain that 
 the description falls unspeakably short of the 
 reality. The malicious insults of the powers 
 of darkness, the mutual recriminations of those 
 who, having been connected in sin here, will 
 be some way connected in misery hereafter 
 (Matth. xiii. 30), — remorse, rage, despair, a 
 total and final exclusion from God the foun- 
 tain of happiness, with an abiding sense of 
 his indignation : — this complicated misery can- 
 not be expressed in the language of mortals 
 — like the joy of the blessed, it is more than 
 eye hath seen, or ear hath heard, or can pos- 
 sibly enter into the heart of man to conceive, 
 1 Cor. ii. 9. Add the ideas of unchangeable 
 and eternal to the rest, that it will be a misery 
 admitting of no intermission, abatement, or 
 end ; and then seriously consider, what can it 
 profit a man should he gain the whole world, 
 if at last he should thus lose his soul ? Matth. 
 xvi. 26. No longer make a mock at sin : it 
 is not a small evil ; it is a great evil in itself, 
 and, unless pardoned and forsaken, will be 
 productive of tremendous consequences. No 
 longer make light of the gospel : it points out 
 to you the only possible method of escaping 
 the damnation of hell. To refuse it, is to 
 rush upon remediless destruction. No longer 
 trust in uncertain riches : if you possess them, 
 I need not tell you they do not make you 
 happy at present, much less will they comfort 
 you in the hour of death, or profit you in the 
 day of wrath, Prov. xi. 4. Waste not your 
 time and talents (which must be accounted 
 for) in the pursuit of sensual pleasure ; in the 
 end it will bite like a serpent. For all these 
 things God will assuredly bring you into 
 judgment, unless in this day of grace you 
 humble yourselves to implore that mercy 
 which is still proposed to you, if you will seek 
 it sincerely and with your whole heart ; and 
 which I once more entreat, charge, and adjure 
 you to seek, by the great name of Messiah, 
 the Saviour, by his agonies and bloody sweat, 
 by his cross and passion, by his precious death, 
 and by the consideration of his future glori- 
 ous appearance, to subdue all things to him- 
 self. 
 
 SERMON XLIV. 
 
 TRIUMPH OVER DEATH AND THE GRAVE. 
 
 0 death, where is thy sting ? 0 grave , where is 
 thy victory ? The sting of death is sin ; and 
 the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be 
 to God, which givetli us the victory, through 
 our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Cor. xv. 55 — 57. 
 
 The Christian soldier may, with the greatest 
 propriety, be said to war a good warfare, 
 
 1 Tim. i. 18. He is engaged in a good cause; 
 he fights under the eye of the Captain of his 
 salvation. Though he be weak in himself, 
 and though his enemies are many and mighty, 
 he may do that which in other soldiers would 
 be presumption, and has often been the cause 
 of a defeat ; he may triumph while he is in 
 the heat of battle, and assure himself of vic- 
 tory before the conflict is actually decided ; 
 for the Lord, his great Commander, fights for 
 him, goes before him, and treads his enemies 
 under his feet. Such a persuasion, when so- 
 lidly grounded upon the promises and engage- 
 ment of a faithful unchangeable God, is suffi- 
 cient, it should seem, to make a coward bold. 
 T rue Christians are not cowards ; yet, when 
 they compare themselves with their adversa- 
 ries, they see much reason for fear and sus- 
 picion on their own parts ; but when they 
 look to their Saviour, they are enlightened, 
 strengthened, and comforted. They consider 
 who he is, what he has done ; that the battle 
 is not so much theirs as his ; that he is their 
 strength and their shield, and that his honour 
 is concerned in the event of the war. Thus 
 out of weakness they are made strong ; and 
 however pressed and opposed, they can say, 
 “ Nay, in all these things we are more than 
 conquerors, through him that loved us!” 
 Rom. viii. 37. The whole power of the op- 
 position against them is summed up in the 
 words Sin and Death : but these enemies are 
 already weakened and disarmed. It is sin 
 that furnished death with his sting ; a sting 
 sharpened and strengthened by the law. But 
 Jesus, by his obedience unto death, has made 
 an end of sin, and has so fulfilled and satisfied 
 the law on their behalf, that death is deprived 
 of its sting, and can no longer hurt them. 
 They may therefore meet it with confidence, 
 and say, “ Thanks be to God who giveth us the 
 victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 
 
 We have here two unspeakably different 
 views to take of the same subject, — Death 
 armed with its formidable sting ; and Death 
 rendered harmless, and its aspect softened, by 
 the removal of the sting. 
 
 I. The first is a very awful subject : I en- 
 treat your attention. I am not now about to 
 speak upon a point of speculation. It is a 
 personal, a home concern to us all For we 
 must all die. But should any of you feel not 
 only the stroke, but the sting of death when 
 you leave this world, it were better for you 
 that you had never been born. 
 
 The love of life, and consequently a reluc- 
 tance to that dissolution of the intimate union 
 between soul and body, which we call death, 
 seems natural to man. But, if there was no 
 hereafter, no state of judgment and retribu- 
 tion to be expected ; if there was no consci- 
 ousness of guilt, no foreboding of conse- 
 quences upon the mind ; if we only consider- 
 ed death as inevitable, and had no apprehen- 
 sions beyond it ; death would be divested of 
 
ser. XL IV. TRIUMPH OVER DEATH AND THE GRAVE. 
 
 its principal terrors. We see that when con- j 
 science is stupified, or when the mind is 
 poisoned with infidelity, many people, not- 
 withstanding the natural love of life, are so 
 disgusted with its disappointments, that a fit 
 of impatience, or the dread of contempt, often 
 prevails on them to rush upon death by an act 
 of their own will ; or to hazard it in a duel, 
 rather than be suspected of wanting what they 
 account spirit. But death has a sting, though 
 they perceive it not till they feel it, till they 
 are stung by it past recovery. 
 
 But usually, and where the heart is not 
 quite hardened, men are unwilling and afraid 
 to die. They have some apprehension of the 
 sting. Death can sting at a distance. How 
 often and how greatly does the fear of death 
 poison and embitter all the comforts of life, 
 even in the time of health ! Perhaps some of 
 you well know this to be true. But in health 
 people can in some measure run away from 
 themselves, if I may so speak. They fly to 
 business, company, and amusements, to hide 
 themselves from their own reflections. Their 
 fears are transient, occasional and partial ; ! 
 they would tremble indeed, if they knew all ; 
 or if they were stedfastly and deliberately to 
 contemplate what they do know. How sin is 
 the sting of death, is best discovered when 
 conscience is alarmed in a time of sickness ; 
 when the things of the world can no longer 
 amuse, and death is approaching with hasty 
 strides. These scenes are mostly kept secret; 
 and very often they are not understood by 
 those who are spectators of thfcm. Perhaps 
 the unhappy terrified sinner is considered as 
 delirious, because the sting of death in his 
 conscience extorts from him such confessions 
 and complaints as he never made before. 
 What was once slighted as a fable, k now 
 seen and felt as a reality. Such cases, I am 
 afraid, are more frequent than we are in ge- 
 neral aware of. But they are suppressed, as- 
 cribed to the violence of the fever, and for- 
 gotten as soon as possible. Yet they do 
 sometimes transpire. I believe there is no 
 reason to doubt the truth of what we have 
 heard, of one, who in the horrors of despair 
 vainly offered his physicians many thousand 
 pounds, to prolong his life but a single day. 
 The relation is in print, of another, who point- 
 ing to the fire in his chamber, said, If he were 
 only to lie twenty thousand years in such a 
 fire, he should esteem it a mercy compared 
 with what he felt, and with what he saw await- 
 ing him. It is not always thus. Many per- 
 sons die insensible as they lived, and can per- 
 haps, trifle and jest in their last moments. 
 But the scripture assures us, that when they 
 who die in their sins breathe their last in this 
 world, they open their eyes in the other world 
 in torments. For the sting of death, the desert 
 of sin, unless timely removed by faith in 
 Jesus, will fill the soul with anguish for ever. 
 
 791 
 
 | It derives a strength, an efficacy, and a con- 
 tinuance from the law. 
 
 This law, which gives strength to sin and 
 sharpens the sting of death, is the law of our 
 creation, as connected with the penalty which 
 God has annexed to the breach of it. Our 
 relation to God, as we are his creatures, re- 
 quires us, according to the very nature of 
 things, supremely to love, serve, trust, and 
 obey him, who made us, and in whom we 
 live, and breathe, and have our being, Acts 
 xvii. 28. And our revolting from him, and 
 living to ourselves in opposition to his will, is 
 such an affront to his wisdom, power, autho 
 rity, and goodness, as must necessarily involve 
 misery in the very idea of it, if his perfections, 
 the capacity of our souls, and our absolute de- 
 pendence upon him, be attended to. And 
 they must be attended to sooner or later. 
 Though he keep long silence, and the sinner 
 presumes upon his patience, and thinks him 
 such a one as himself, he will at length re- 
 prove him (Ps, 1. 21), and set his sins in or- 
 der before him, in contrast with the demands 
 
 ' of his law. The nature, authority, extent, 
 and sanction of this law, all combine to give 
 efficacy to the sting of death. 
 
 1 . The law, to which our tempers and con- 
 duct ought to be conformed, is not an arbi- 
 trary appointment ; but necessarily results 
 from our state as creatures, and the capacities 
 and powers we have received from our Crea- 
 tor. It is therefore holy, wise, and good ; in- 
 dispensable, and unchangeable. To love God 
 with all our heart and strength, to depend 
 upon him, to conform to every intimation of 
 his will, was the duty of man from the first 
 moment of his existence ; was the law of his 
 nature, written originally in his heart. The 
 republication of it, as it stands in the Bible, 
 by precepts and prohibitions, would not have 
 been necessary had he continued in that state 
 of rectitude in which he was created. It be- 
 came necessary after his fall, to restrain him 
 from evil and to convince him of sin ; but could 
 not properly increase his primitive obligation 
 to obedience. 
 
 2. We are bound to the observance of this 
 law by the highest authority. It is the law of 
 God our maker, preserver, and benefactor, 
 who has every conceivable right to govern us. 
 His eye is always upon us, and we are sur- 
 rounded by his power, so that we can neither 
 avoid his notice nor escape his hand. Men 
 are usually tenacious of their authority ; they 
 seldom allow their dependants to dispute or 
 disobey their commands with impunity. It 
 is expected that a son should honour his father, 
 and a servant his master, Mai. i. 6. And 
 when men have power to execute the dictates 
 of their pride, they frequently punish disobe- 
 dience with death. But how will these haugh- 
 ty worms, who trample upon their fellow- 
 worms, and think they have a right to tlie 
 
SER. XLIV. 
 
 TRIUMPH OVER DEATH AND THE GRAVE. 
 
 792 
 
 most implicit obedience from their inferiors ; 
 how will they tremble when they shall appear 
 before God, who is no respecter of persons, to 
 answer for their contempt of the authority of 
 the Sovereign Lawgiver, who, alone, is able 
 to save or to destroy ? That we ought to obey 
 God rather than man (Acts v. 29), will, per- 
 haps, be allowed as a speculative truth ; but 
 whoever will uniformly make it the rule of his 
 practice, must expect upon many occasions to 
 be deemed a fool or a madman by the world 
 around him. But sovereignty, majesty, au- 
 thority, and power belong to God. He is the 
 Governor of the universe, and his throne is es- 
 tablished in righteousness. He is long-suffer- 
 ing, and waits to be gracious, but he will not 
 forego his right. Sin is the sting of death in- 
 deed, when the authority of him against whom 
 it was committed is perceived by the consci- 
 ence. 
 
 3. The extent of the law adds to the strength 
 by which sin acts as the sting of death. Hu- 
 man laws can only take cognisance of words 
 and actions. But the law of God reaches to 
 the thoughts and inward recesses of the heart. 
 It condemns what is most specious and most 
 approved amongst men, if not proceeding 
 from a right intention, and directed to the 
 right end, which can be no other than the 
 will and glory of him who made us. It con- 
 demns the sinner not only for the evil which 
 he has actually committed, but for every sin- 
 ful purpose formed in his heart, and which 
 was only rendered abortive for want of oppor- 
 tunity, Matth. v. 28. It likewise takes exact 
 notice of every aggravation of sin, arising 
 from circumstances, from the abuse of supe- 
 rior light and advantages, and from the long 
 train of consequences, increasing in propor- 
 tion to the influence which the rank, wealth, 
 or extensive connections of the offender give 
 to his example. 
 
 4. The sanction of the law, which thus 
 strengthens the malignity of sin, is the very 
 point, if I may so express myself, of the sting 
 of death. This is the displeasure of the Al - 
 mighty. His holy, inflexible love of order 
 will exclude those who violate it from his fa- 
 vour. They must be miserable, unless they 
 are reconciled and renewed by the grace of 
 the gospel. They must be separated from 
 him, and they cannot be happy without him. 
 They are not so even in this world, which 
 they love. How miserable then must they be, 
 when, torn from all their attachments, plea- 
 sures, and possessions, having no longer any 
 thing to divert them from a fixed attention to 
 their true state, they shall be made keenly 
 sensible of what is implied in that sentence, 
 “ Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting 
 fire.” We cannot now conceive what it will 
 be to lose the only good which can satisfy a 
 soul ; to be shut out from God, whose favour 
 is life, and in whose presence there is fulness 
 of joy, and to be shut up where neither peace . 
 
 nor hope can enter. The images of fire un- 
 quenchable and a never-dying worm, are but 
 faint emblems of that despair and remorse whicl 
 will sting the sinful soul in a future state. 
 This is the second death : this is eternal death ; 
 for the wicked, and all they who forget God, 
 when thrust into hell, will for ever desire to 
 die, and death will for ever flee from them, 
 Rev. ix. 6. 
 
 II. Let us turn our thoughts to a more 
 pleasing theme, and attempt to take a view of 
 death as softened into a privilege by him who 
 has brought life and immortality to light. 
 Jesus died. His death was penal ; he died 
 for sin, though not for his own, and therefore 
 suffered the penalty due to sin, the curse of 
 the broken law. The torment and shame of 
 his crucifixion were preceded and accompan- 
 ied by unknown agonies and conflicts, which 
 caused him to sweat blood, and to utter strong 
 cries and groans. Death stung him to the 
 heart ; but (as it is said of the enraged bee) 
 he lost his sting. The law having been ho- 
 noured, and sin expiated, by the obedience 
 and sufferings of the Son of God for us, and 
 in our nature, death has no longer power to 
 sting those who believe in him. They do not 
 properly die, they fall asleep in Jesus, Acts 
 vii. 60; 1 Thessalonians iv. 15. To them 
 this last enemy acts a friendly part. He is 
 sent to put an end to all their sorrows, and 
 to introduce them into a state of endless life 
 and joy. 
 
 1. Dying believers can sing this song be- 
 fore their departure out of the world. We 
 expect it, when we are called to attend them 
 in their last hours ; and if their illness leaves 
 them in possession of their faculties and 
 speech, we are seldom disappointed. Yet 1 
 believe a full knowledge of this subject can- 
 not be collected from what we observe oi 
 others, or hear from them, when they are neai 
 death. We must be in similar circumstances 
 ourselves, before we can see as they see, or 
 possess the ideas which they endeavour to de- 
 scribe, and which seem too great for the lan- 
 guage of mortals to convey. 
 
 We know, by the evidence of undeniable 
 testimony, that many faithful servants of God, 
 when called to suffer for his sake, have not 
 only been supported, but comforted, and en- 
 abled to rejoice, under the severest tortures, 
 and even in the midst of the flames. We sup- 
 pose, I think with reason, that such commu- 
 nications of light and power as raise a person, 
 in such situations, above the ordinary feelings 
 of humanity, must, either in kind or degree, 
 be superior to what is usually enjoyed by 
 Christians in the smoother walks of prosperity 
 and outward peace. God, who is all-suffi- 
 cient, and always near, has promised to give 
 his people strength according to their day, and 
 in the time of trouble they are not disappoint- 
 ed. A measure of the like extraordinary dis- 
 : coveries and supports is often vouchsafed to 
 
SER. XL IV. TRIUMPH OVER DEATH AND THE GRAVE. 793 
 
 dying believers, and thus the gloom which 
 might otherwise hang over their dying hours, 
 is dispelled ; and while they contemplate the 
 approach of death, a new world opens upon 
 them. Even while they are yet upon earth, 
 they stand upon the threshold of heaven. It 
 seems, in many cases, as if the weakness of 
 the bodily frame gave occasion to the awaken- 
 ing of some faculty, till then dormant in the 
 soul, by which invisibles are not only believ- 
 ed, but seen, and unutterables are heard and 
 understood. 
 
 The soul’s dark cottage, tattered and decayed. 
 
 Lets in new light through chinks. 
 
 Instances are frequent of those who are 
 thus blessed when they die in the Lord ; and 
 it does not appear that old age, or great know- 
 ledge, or long experience, gives any consider- 
 able advantage in a dying hour ; for when the 
 heart is truly humbled for sin, and the hope 
 solidly fixed upon the Saviour, persons of weak 
 capacities and small attainments, yea, novices, 
 and children, are enabled to meet death with 
 equal fortitude and triumph. And often the 
 present comforts they feel, and their lively ex- 
 pectations of approaching glory, inspire them 
 with a dignity of sentiment and expression far 
 beyond what could be expected from them ; 
 and perhaps their deportment upon the whole 
 is no less animating and encouraging, than 
 that of the most established and best informed 
 believers. Thus, out of the mouths of babes 
 and sucklings the Lord ordains strength, and 
 perfects his praise, Ps. viii. 2. In a few hours, 
 under the influence of his immediate teaching, 
 they often learn more of the certainty and im- 
 portance of divine things than can be derived 
 from the ordinary methods of instruction in 
 the course of many years. In the midst of 
 agonies and outward distress, we hear them 
 with admiration declare that they are truly 
 happy, and that they never knew pleasure in 
 their happiest days of health equal to what 
 they enjoy when flesh and heart are fainting. 
 For death has lost its sting as to them, and 
 while they are able to speak, they continue as- 
 cribing praise to him, who has given them the 
 victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ. E- 
 very word in this doxology is emphatical. 
 
 1st. Thanks be to God. — This blessedness 
 is all his work. The means are of his gracious 
 appointment. The application is by his gra- 
 cious power. He gave his Son for them, he 
 sent his gospel to them. It was the agency 
 of his Spirit that made them a willing people. 
 The word of promise, which is the ground of 
 their hope, was of his gratuitous providing, 
 and it was he who constrained and enabled 
 them to trust in it, Ps. cxix. 49. 
 
 2d. Who giveth us the victory. — This is 
 victory indeed ; for it is over the last enemy ; 
 and after the last enemy is vanquished, there 
 can be no more conflicts. In this sense, be- 
 lievers are more than conquerors. In other 
 
 wars, they who have conquered once and a- 
 gain, may have been finally defeated, or they 
 may have died (like our long-lamented gene- 
 ral Wolfe) upon the field of battle, and have 
 left the fruits of their victory to be enjoyed by 
 others. But the Christian soldier, though he 
 may occasionally be a loser in a skirmish, he 
 is sure to conquer in the last great deciding 
 battle ; and when to an eye of sense, he seems 
 to fall, he is instantly translated to receive the 
 plaudit of his Commander, and the crown of 
 life which he has prepared for them that love 
 him. 
 
 3d, This victory is through our Lord Jesus 
 Christ. — They gained it not by their own 
 sword, neither was it their own arm that sav- 
 ed them, Ps. xliv. 3. He died to deliver 
 them, who would otherwise, through fear of 
 death, have been always subject to bondage. 
 And it is he who teaches their hands to war, 
 and their fingers to fight, and covers their 
 heads in the day of battle. Therefore they 
 gladly say, “ Not unto us, O Lord, not unto 
 us, but unto thy name, be the glory and the 
 praise,” Ps. cxv. 1. And this consideration 
 enhances their pleasure ; for because they love 
 him above all, they rejoice not only in the vic- 
 tory they obtain, but in the thought that they 
 are indebted to him for it. For were it pos- 
 sible there could be several methods of salva- 
 tion, and they were left to their own choice, 
 they would, most gladly and deliberately, 
 chuse that method which should bring them 
 under the greatest obligations to him. 
 
 2. This triumphant song will be sung to the 
 highest advantage, when the whole body of the 
 redeemed shall be collected together to sing it 
 with one heart and voice at the great resurrec- 
 tion-day. Lot was undoubtedly thankful, 
 when he was snatched from the impending de- 
 struction of Sodom. Yet his lingering (Gen. 
 xix. 16) shewed, that he had but an imperfect 
 sense of the greatness of the mercy afforded 
 him. His feelings were probably stronger 
 afterwards, when he stood in safety upon the 
 mountain, and actually saw the smoke rising, 
 like the smoke of a furnace, from the place 
 where he had lately dwelt. At present we 
 have but very faint ideas of the misery from 
 which we are delivered, of the happiness re- 
 served in heaven for us ; or of the sufferings 
 of the Redeemer ; but if we attain to the hea- 
 venly Zion, and see from thence the smoke of 
 that bottomless pit, which might justly have 
 been our everlasting abode, we shall then more 
 fully understand what we are delivered from, 
 the means of our deliverance, and the riches 
 of the inheritance of the saints in light. And 
 then we shall sing in more exalted strains than 
 we can at present even conceive of, “ Thanks 
 be to God, who hath given us the victory 
 through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 
 
794 DIVINE SUPPORT AND PROTECTION. ser. xlv 
 
 SERMON XLV. 
 
 DIVINE SUPPORT AND PROTECTION. 
 
 ( What shall we say then to these things ?) If 
 
 God be for us, who can be against us ? 
 
 Roai. viii 31. 
 
 The passions of joy or grief, of admiration 
 or gratitude, are moderate, when we are able 
 to find words which fully describe their emo- 
 tions. When they rise very high, language is 
 too faint to express them ; and the person is 
 either lost in silence, or feels something which, 
 after his most laboured efforts, is too big for 
 utterance. We may often observe the apostle 
 Paul under this difficulty, when attempting to 
 excite in others such sensations as filled his 
 own heart, while contemplating the glories and 
 blessings of the gospel. Little verbal critics, 
 who are not animated by his fervour, are in- 
 capable of entering into the spirit of his writ- 
 ings. They coldly examine them by the 
 strictness of grammatical rules, and think 
 themselves warranted to charge him with sole- 
 cisms, and improprieties of speech. For it 
 must be allowed, that he sometimes departs 
 from the usual forms of expression ; invents 
 new words, or at least compounds words for 
 his own use, and heaps one hyperbole upon 
 another. But there is a beautiful energy in 
 his manner far superior to the frigid exactness 
 of grammarians, though the taste of a mere 
 grammarian is unable to admire or relish it. 
 When he is stating the advantage of being 
 with Christ, as beyond any thing that can be 
 enjoyed in the present life, he is not content with 
 saying, as his expression is rendered in our ver- 
 sion, “It is far better,” Phil. i. 23. In the 
 Greek, another word of comparison is added, 
 which, if our language would bear the literal 
 translation, would be, “ Far more better,” or 
 “Much more better.” And when he would 
 describe the low opinion he had of himself, 
 great as his attainments were in our view, he 
 thinks it not sufficient to style himself “ The 
 least of all saints,” but “ less than the least,” 
 Epli. iii. 8. Such phrases do not imply that 
 he was ignorant of the rules of good writing, 
 but they strongly intimate the fulness of bis 
 heart. In the course of the chapter before us, 
 having taken a rapid survey of the work of 
 grace, carried on by successive steps in the 
 hearts of believers, till at length consummated 
 in g'ory, in this verse, instead of studying for 
 words answerable to his views, he seems to 
 come to a full stop, as sensible that the strong- 
 est expressions he could use would be too faint. 
 He makes an abrupt transition from describ- 
 ing to admiring. He has said much, but not 
 enough; and therefore sums up all with, “What 
 shall we say to these things ?” Surely they 
 who can read, with the utmost coolness and 
 indifference, what he could not write without 
 
 rapture and astonishment, do not take his 
 words in his sense. If the apostle’s phraseo- 
 logy is now become obsolete, and sounds un- 
 couth in the ears of too many who would be 
 thought Christians, is there not too much rea- 
 son to fear that they are Christians only in 
 name ? 
 
 Though this short lively question is omitted 
 in the musical composition, I am not willing 
 to leave it out. It stands well, as a sequel to 
 what we have lately considered. The sting of 
 death is taken away. Death itself is swallow- 
 ed up in victory. Sinners, who were once 
 burdened with guilt and exposed to condem- 
 nation, obtain a right to sing, “ Thanks be to 
 God, who giveth us the victory, through our 
 Lord Jesus Christ” — “ What shall we say to 
 these things ?” 
 
 It stands well likewise, as introducing the 
 following question, — “ If God be for us if his 
 promises, his power, his wisdom, and his love, 
 be all engaged on our behalf, “ who can be 
 against us?” W T hat shall we, or can we, or 
 need we say more than this ? what cause can 
 we have for fear, or our enemies for triumph, 
 if God be for us ? 
 
 We may consider, 
 
 I. What is implied in the supposition. 
 
 II. The meaning of the inference. 
 
 I. The form of the question is hypothetical. 
 If the assumption be right, that God is for us; 
 the conclusion, that none can be effectually 
 against us, is infallibly sure. Many serious 
 persons will allow, that if God be indeed for 
 them, all must, and will be well in the end. 
 But they hesitate at the if and are ready to 
 ask, How shall I know that God is for me ? 
 
 1 would offer you a few considerations towards 
 the determining of this point, in the first 
 place. 
 
 Sin has made an awful breach and separa- 
 tion between God and mankind. They are 
 alienated in their minds from him, and he is 
 justly displeased with them. The intercourse 
 and communion with God, which constitute 
 the honour and happiness of the human na- 
 ture, were no longer either afforded or desired 
 when man rebelled against his Maker, except 
 to the few who understood and embraced his 
 gracious purpose of reconciliation, the first in- 
 timation of which was revealed in the promise 
 of the seed of the woman, who should bruise 
 the serpent’s head, Gen. iii. 13. The clear 
 and full discovery of this reconciliation is 
 made known to us by the gospel. “ God was 
 in Christ reconciling the world unto himself,” 
 
 2 Cor. v. 19. God is already reconciled in 
 his sense, that having provided and accepted a 
 satisfaction to his law and justice, he can now, 
 in a way worthy of himself, receive and par- 
 don the returning sinner. And he accompa- 
 nies the word of his grace with the power of 
 his Holy Spirit, to make sinners willing to be 
 reconciled to him. If we be for God, he is 
 assuredly for us. If we seek him, he ba-i 
 
SER. XL V. 
 
 DIVINE SUPPORT AND PROTECTION. 795 
 
 been beforehand with us : for, in the first in- 
 stance, he is always found of those who seek 
 him not, Is. lxv. 1. If we love him, it is be- 
 cause he first loved us. True believers walk 
 with God. But two cannot walk together, 
 with confidence and comfort, unless they be 
 agreed, Amos iii. 3. This agreement is chief- 
 ly with respect to three particulars proposed 
 by the Lord God in his word, and to which 
 the believing sinner cheerfully and thankfully 
 accedes. 
 
 1. In the ground of the agreement ; this is 
 Messiah, the Mediator between God and man. 
 When he entered upon his office, a voice from 
 heaven commended him to sinners, “ This is 
 my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,’’ 
 Matth. iii. 17. And they who are enlightened 
 to behold the glory of God in his person and 
 engagement, accept him as the beloved Saviour 
 in whom and with whom they are well pleased. 
 Without this acceptance of the Mediator there 
 can be no agreement. Jesus is the only door, 
 the only way of a sinner’s access to the know- 
 ledge and favour of God. This is the pre- 
 cious and sure foundation which he has laid 
 in Zion (1 Pet. ii. 6); and to presume to 
 build our hope upon any other, is to build upon 
 a quicksand. In this point reason, in its pre- 
 sent distempered state, would lead us, if fol- 
 lowed, directly contrary to the simplicity of 
 faith. Reason suggests, that if we have acted 
 wrong we must repent and amend, and what 
 ian we do more ? But the law against which 
 we have sinned makes no provision for re- 
 pentance. Nor is such a repentance as in- 
 cludes a change of heart (and nothing short of 
 this deserves the name) in our own power. Re- 
 pentance unto life (Acts xi. 18) is the gift of 
 God ; and Jesus, who is exalted to be a prince 
 and a Saviour (Acts v. 31), bestows it upon 
 those who acknowledge him, and implore it of 
 him. But God will only treat with us as 
 those who are condemned already, who have 
 nothing but sin, and deserve nothing but mi- 
 sery. When we feel this to be our proper 
 state, we are referred to Jesus, in whom God 
 is well pleased, and for whose sake sins are 
 pardoned, and sinners accepted and justified, 
 without condition and without exception. And 
 then likewise we begin to see the necessity, 
 propriety, and sufficiency of this appointment. 
 Herein all who are taught of God are of one 
 mind. However they may differ in some re- 
 spects, they agree in cordially receiving Christ 
 Jesus the Lord (Col. ii. 6), as he is made of 
 God for us wisdom, righteousness, and sal- 
 vation. 
 
 2. They agree with God in the great de- 
 sign of the gospel, which is to purify unto 
 himself a peculiar people, who, being deli- 
 vered from their fears and their enemies, shall 
 serve him with an unreserved and persevering 
 obedience, Luke i. 74, 75. A deliverance 
 from the power of sin and Satan, a devoted- 
 neBS to God, and a conformity to the mind 
 
 and pattern of his dear Son, are included by 
 every true believer in the idea of salvation. 
 He knows that he can be happy in no other 
 way. This is a turning point. There are 
 convictions of sin excited by a dread of pu- 
 nishment, w'hich, though distressing to the 
 conscience, leave the heart and affections un- 
 changed. They who are thus impressed, if 
 no farther, would be satisfied with an assur- 
 ance of pardon. But the grace of God which 
 bringeth salvation (Tit. ii. 11, 12), teaches us 
 to renounce, to abhor all ungodliness in the 
 present world ; to give ourselves unto him who 
 gave himself for us, that he might redeem us 
 from all iniquity ; and to walk worthy of God, 
 who calls us to his kingdom and glory, 1 Thess. 
 ii. 12. This is the will of God, even our 
 sanctification. And this is the desire of his 
 people, that they may be sanctified wholly; 
 that their whole persons, spirit, soul, and body, 
 may be preserved blameless ; that they may be 
 filled with the fruits of righteousness, which 
 are by Jesus Christ ; that they may walk as 
 the sons of God without rebuke, and shine as 
 lights in the world, Phil. ii. 15. Though 
 their attainments are imperfect, in their judg- 
 ment and desires, they are fully agreed with 
 God as to their aim and design. 
 
 3. They are agreed with him likewise as to 
 the ultimate great end, the final cause of their 
 redemption, which is the praise of the glory of 
 his grace, Eph. i. 6. That the loftiness, high 
 looks, and proud pretences of men may be a- 
 based, and the Lord alone may be exalted, and 
 that he who glorieth may glory only in the 
 Lord, 1 Corinthians, i. 31. Salvation is of 
 the Lord in every sense ; the plan, the price, 
 the power, the application, the consumma- 
 tion. He is the Alpha and the Omega, 
 the author and the object of it. The praise 
 therefore is wholly due to him, and he claims 
 it. To this claim his people fully consent. 
 It is the desire of their souls, that his name, 
 which alone is excellent, may alone be ex- 
 tolled ; and with one heart and voice they say, 
 Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto 
 thee be all the glory and all the praise, Psal. 
 cxv. 1. 
 
 If we truly understand and approve these 
 things, then we are certainly engaged for God, 
 and of course he is for us. For he alone could 
 either enable us to see them in their true light, 
 or incline our hearts to embrace them. Who 
 then can be against us ? 
 
 II. We are not to understand the question, 
 “ Who can be against us?” as designed to en- 
 courage us to expect that they who have the 
 Lord on their side will meet with no opposi- 
 tion, but that all opposition against them will 
 be in vain. 
 
 1. They whom God is for, will on that very 
 account have many opposers. 
 
 (1.) The men of the world. — This our Lord 
 expressly teaches us to expect. “ If ye were 
 of the world, the world would love its own. 
 
796 DIVINE SUPPORT 
 
 But because you are not of the world, but I 
 have chosen you out of the world, therefore the 
 world hateth you,” John xv. 19. And his 
 apostle, “ Marvel not, mv brethren, if the world 
 hate you,” 1 John iii. 14. Till we declare for 
 him, the world will bear with us, but no long- 
 er, as the Gibeonites were in a state of honour 
 and friendship with the neighbouring cities till 
 they submitted to Joshua (Josh. x. 1 — 4) ; 
 but when they obtained peace from him, they 
 were immediately involved in war with their 
 former friends. While Saul persecuted the 
 church, the world smiled upon him, and he 
 seemed to be, as we say, in the way of prefer- 
 ment. But when he yielded himself to the 
 service of Christ, and his defection from the 
 common cause became generally known, bonds 
 and afflictions awaited him in every place ; and 
 they who before had employed and caressed 
 him sought his life. I do not mean to sound 
 a trumpet of defiance. I believe that young 
 converts, by their warm but injudicious zeal, 
 often, more than is necessary, provoke the spi- 
 rit of the world, and thereby increase their own 
 difficulties. The gospel, when rightly under- 
 stood, inspires a spirit of benevolence, and di- 
 rects to a conduct which is suited to conciliate 
 good-will and esteem. And when the apos- 
 tle exhorts us, If it be possible, and as much 
 as in us lies, to live peaceably with all men 
 (Rom. xii. 18), he gives us hope that much 
 may be done to soften prejudices, to put to si- 
 lence the ignorance of foolish men, and to 
 make them at least ashamed, by a patient per- 
 severance in well-doing. A consistent Chris- 
 tian, whose integrity, humility, and philan- 
 thropy mark his character and adorn his pro- 
 fession, will in time command respect ; but 
 his attachment to unfashionable truths, and 
 his separation from the maxims and pursuits 
 of the many, will render him, in their eyes, 
 singular and precise, weak and enthusiastic. 
 If they say, “ He is a good sort of man, but 
 has some strange peculiarities,” it is the most 
 favourable judgment he can hope for; and 
 from some persons, and at some times, he 
 will meet with tokens of a settled dislike. For 
 though a religious character may be formed, 
 which even the world will approve, yet all 
 who will live godly in Christ Jesus must suf- 
 fer persecution, 2 Tim. iii. 12. They walk 
 in the midst of observers, who watch for their 
 halting, who lay snares for their feet, and will 
 endeavour to bribe or intimidate them to for- 
 sake the path of duty. It is difficult to stem 
 the torrent, or to avoid the infection of the 
 world, and to live superior to the fear of man, 
 as becomes us, if we know whose we are, and 
 whom we serve. But though difficult, it is 
 practicable and attainable, and actually at- 
 tained by believers ; for this is the victory that 
 overcometh the world, even our faith, 1 John 
 v. 4. 
 
 (2.) The powers of darkness. — Satan will 
 not ordinarily trouble while he bears rule. , 
 
 AND PROTECTION. SER. xlv. 
 
 He is indeed an enemy to his own servants, 
 and seeks their destruction, both soul and bo- 
 dy, by pushing them on in sin, which if per- 
 sisted in will prove their ruin ; but while they 
 make no resistance, he gives them no dis- 
 turbance. It is otherwise with those whom 
 the Lord has freed from his bondage. He 
 will pursue them like a lion seeking his prey 
 (1 Pet. v. 8), and lie in wait for them like a 
 serpent in the path. This is one cause of the 
 world’s hatred ; for the scripture styles him 
 the god of this world (2 Cor. iv. 4), and he 
 sets all that he can influence, tongues, and 
 pens, and swords, against those who are on 
 the Lord’s side. Therefore the people of God 
 may be known by two marks. Satan by him- 
 self and by his instruments fights against 
 them, and they also fight against him. The 
 former without the latter is not conclusive. 
 A mere outward profession of religion may 
 excite opposition, and mere pretenders may 
 take pleasure in it for a time, if it does not 
 come too close. It may feed their vanity, and 
 give them a sort of consequence, by having 
 sufferings to talk of. But I would entreat 
 my hearers seriously to examine, Is your heart 
 really set against sin, which is the strength of 
 Satan’s kingdom ? Are you against his will 
 and interest in the world ? Have you re- 
 nounced his service ? If so, fear not. God 
 is for you, and none can harm you. For, 
 
 2. No opposition can prevail against us, if 
 God be for us. It is impossible to deny, or 
 even to doubt this truth, upon the principles 
 of reason; for who, or what, can injure those 
 who are under the protection of Omnipo- 
 tence ? And yet it is not always easy to 
 maintain the persuasion of it in the mind, and 
 to abide in the exercise of faith, when, to an 
 eye of sense, all things seem against us. But 
 though we believe not, he continueth faithful, 
 and will not forsake those whom he once en- 
 ables to put their trust in him. Job was a 
 faithful and approved servant of God, yet for 
 a season his trials were great, and his confi- 
 dence was sometimes shaken. But he was 
 supported, and at length delivered. Ther<» are 
 many instances recorded in scripture to con- 
 firm our faith, and to teach us, that God ma- 
 nifests himself to be for his people, and in dif- 
 ferent ways renders them superior to all their 
 difficulties and enemies. 
 
 At one time he prevents the threatened dan- 
 ger. They only see it or expect it, for he is 
 better to them than their apprehensions and 
 fears. Thus, when Sennacherib was furious 
 against Jerusalem, and supposed he could 
 easily prevail, he was not suffered to come 
 near it, Isa. xxxvii. 29, 33. When bethought 
 to destroy it, he felt a hook and a bridle which 
 he could not resist, and was compelled to re- 
 tire disappointed and ashamed. 
 
 At another time the enemies go a step far- 
 ther. His people are brought into trouble, 
 
 , but God is with them, and they escape un* 
 
SER. XLVI. 
 
 hurt. So Daniel, though he was east into the 
 den of lions (Dan. vi. 23), received no more 
 harm from them than if he had been among 
 a flock of sheep. He permitted three of his 
 servants to be thrown into a furnace of fire, 
 but he restrained the violence of the flames, 
 so that not even a hair of their heads was 
 singed, Dan. iii. 27. 
 
 The most that opposers can do is to kill the 
 body, Luke xii. 4. If God permits his peo- 
 ple to be thus treated, still they are not for- 
 saken. Their death is precious in his sight, 
 Psal. cxvi. 15. They who die in the Lord are 
 blessed. They are highly honoured who are 
 called and enabled to die for him. If he is 
 pleased to comfort them with his presence, 
 and then to take them home to himself, they 
 can desire no more. Stephen, though appa- 
 rently given up to the power of his adver- 
 saries, and cruelly stoned to death, was no 
 less happy than those who die in composure 
 upon their beds, with their friends around 
 them. Nor was he less composed ; for the 
 heavens were opened to him, and he saw his 
 Saviour in glory, approving his fidelity, and 
 ready to receive his spirit, Acts vii. 56 — 60. 
 
 In brief, whatever men or devils may at- 
 tempt against us, there are three things which, 
 if we are true believers, they cannot do. They 
 may be helpful to wean us from the world ; 
 they may add earnestness to our prayers ; they 
 may press us to greater watchfulness and de- 
 pendence; they may afford fair occasions of e- 
 videncing our sincerity, the goodness of our 
 cause, and the power of that God who is for 
 us. — Such are the benefits that the Lord teach- 
 es his people to derive from their sufferings, 
 for he will not let them suffer or be oppressed 
 in vain. But no enemy can deprive us of the 
 love with which God favours us, or the grace 
 which he has given us, or the glory which he 
 has prepared for us. Now what shall we say 
 to these things? 
 
 Alas ! there are too many who say, at least 
 in their hearts (for their conduct bewrays their 
 secret thoughts), we care but little about them. 
 If they were to speak out, they might adopt 
 the language of the rebellious Jews to the pro- 
 phet, “ As to the words which thou hast spoken 
 to us in the name of the Lord, we will not 
 hearken unto thee. But we will certainly do 
 whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own 
 mouth,” Jer. xliv. 16, 17. And there are o- 
 thers who plainly say, Let us then continue in 
 sin that grace may abound. They do not so 
 expressly reject the gospel as to take encourage- 
 ment from it to go on in their wickedness. 
 The case of the former is very dangerous, that 
 of the latter is still worse. But grace, though 
 long slighted, though often abused, is once 
 more proclaimed in your hearing. The Lord 
 forbid that you should perish with the sound 
 of salvation in your ears. 
 
 At present, and while you persist in your 
 impenitence and unbelief, I may reverse the 
 
 797 
 
 words of my text. O consider, I beseech you, 
 before it be too late, if God be against you, 
 who can be for you ? Will your companions 
 Comfort you in a dying hour? Will your 
 riches profit you in the day of wrath ? Will 
 the recollection of your sinful pleasures give 
 you confidence to stand before this great and 
 glorious Lord God, when you shall be sum- 
 moned to appear at his tribunal ? May you be 
 timely wise, and flee for refuge to the hope set 
 before you ! ' 
 
 SERMON XLVI. 
 
 ACCUSERS CHALLENGED. 
 
 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's 
 
 elect ? It is God that justijielh. Rom. viii. 
 
 33. 
 
 Though the collating of manuscripts and va- 
 rious readings, has undoubtedly been of ust 
 in rectifying some mistakes which, through 
 the inadvertency of transcribers, had crept in- 
 to different copies of the New Testament ; yet 
 such supposed corrections of the text ought to 
 be admitted with caution, and not unless sup- 
 ported by strong reasons and good authorities. 
 The whole scripture is given by inspiration of 
 God ; and they who thankfully receive it as 
 his book, will not trifle with it by substituting 
 bold conjectural alterations, which, though 
 they may deem to be amendments, may pos- 
 sibly disguise or alter the genuine sense of the 
 passage. Some fancied emendations might be 
 pointed out, suggested by very learned men, 
 which do not seem to afford so strong a proof 
 of the sound judgment of the proposers, as of 
 their vanity and rashness. Let the learned be 
 as ingenious as they please in correcting and 
 amending the text of Horace or Virgil, for it 
 is of little importance to us whether their cri- 
 ticisms be well founded or not, but let them 
 treat the pages of divine revelation with reve- 
 rence. 
 
 But the pointing of the New Testament, 
 though it has a considerable influence upon 
 the sense, is of inferior authority. It is a hu- 
 man invention, very helpful, and for the most 
 part, I suppose, well executed. But in some 
 places it may admit of real amendment. The 
 most ancient manuscripts are without points, 
 and some of them are even without a distinc- 
 tion of the words. With the pointing, there- 
 fore, we may take more liberty than with the 
 text; though even this liberty should be used 
 soberly. A change in the pointing of this 
 verse and the following, will not alter the re- 
 ceived sense, but, as some critics judge, will 
 make it more striking and emphatical. If 
 two clauses should be read with an interroga- 
 tion instead of a period, the apostle’s trium- 
 
 ACCUSERS CHALLENGED. 
 
798 ACCUSERS CHALLENGED. ser. XL VI. 
 
 phant challenge may be expressed in the fol- 
 lowing brief paraphrase. 
 
 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of 
 God's elect ? Shall God himself? So far from 
 it, it is he who justifieth. Who is he that con- 
 demneth ? Shall Christ ? Nay, he loves them, 
 and accepts them. Shall he who died for them , 
 yea , rather who is risen again, who is even at 
 the right hand of God, on their behalf, who also 
 niaketh intercession for them ? There is not 
 the least ground to fear, that he who has pro- 
 mised to justify them will lay any thing to 
 their charge ; or that he will condemn them, 
 who died to deliver them from condemnation, 
 nor can any charge of their enemies prevail to 
 the condemnation of those whom God is 
 pleased to justify, and for whom Christ died, 
 and now intercedes before the throne. 
 
 The death, the resurrection, and ascension 
 of Messiah, we have already considered. I 
 shall speak only to two points from this verse. 
 
 I. The title here given to believers, — God’s 
 elect. 
 
 II. Their great privilege, they are justifi- 
 ed, — It is God who justifieth them. 
 
 I. The persons who will be finally justified 
 by God are here styled his elect. Very near 
 and strong is the connection between peace 
 and truth. Yet a mistaken zeal for truth has 
 produced many controversies, which have hurt 
 the peace of the people of God among them- 
 selves; and at the same time have exposed 
 them to the scorn and derision of the world. 
 On the other hand, a pretended or improper 
 regard for peace has often been prejudicial to 
 the truth. But that peace which is procured 
 at the expense of truth, is too dearly purchas- 
 ed. Every branch of doctrine, belonging to 
 the faith once delivered to the saints, is not 
 equally plain to every believer. Some of these 
 doctrines the apostle compares to milk, the 
 proper and necessary food for babes (Heb. v. 
 13, 14) ; others to strong meat, adapted to a 
 more advanced state in the spiritual life, when 
 experience is more enlarged, and the judg- 
 ment more established. The Lord, the great 
 teacher, leads his children on gradually, from 
 the plainer to the more difficult truths, as they 
 are able to bear them. But human teachers 
 are often too hasty: they do not attend suffi- 
 ciently to the weakness of young converts, but 
 expect them to learn and receive every thing 
 at once ; they are not even content with offer- 
 ing strong meat prematurely to babes, but force 
 upon them the bones of subtilties, distinctions, 
 and disputations. But though a judicious 
 minister will endeavour to accommodate him- 
 self to the state of his hearers, no gospel-truth 
 is to be tamely and voluntarily suppressed 
 from a fear of displeasing men. In fact, 
 however, the controversies w’hich have obtain- 
 ed among real Christians, have not so much 
 affected the truth as it lies in scripture, as the 
 different explanations, which fallible men of 
 warm passions, and too full of their own sense. 
 
 have given of it. They who professedly hold 
 and avow the doctrine of an election of grace, 
 are now called Calvinists; and the name is 
 used by some persons as a term of reproach. 
 They would insinuate that Calvin invented the 
 doctrine ; or at least, that he borrowed it from 
 Austin, who, according to them, was the first 
 of the Fathers that held it. It is enough for 
 me that I find it in the New Testament. But 
 many things advanced upon the subject by 
 later writers, I confess, I do not find there. 
 If any persons advance harsh assertions not 
 warranted by the word of God, I am not 
 bound to defend them. But as the doctrine 
 itself is plainly taught, both by our Lord and 
 his apostles, and is of great importance, when 
 rightly understood, to promote the humilia- 
 tion, gratitude, and comfort of believers, I 
 think it my duty to state it as plainly as I 
 can. I shall offer my view of it, in a series 
 of propositions so evidently founded (as I con- 
 ceive) on acknowledged principles of scrip- 
 ture, that they cannot be easily controverted 
 by any persons who have a real reverence for 
 the word of God, and any due acquaintance 
 with their own hearts. 
 
 1. All mankind are sinners (Rom. iii. 23) 
 by nature and practice. Their lives are stain- 
 ed with transgressions, their hearts are deprav- 
 ed, their minds blinded, and alienated from 
 God. So that they are not sensible either of 
 their guilt or their misery ; nor so much as 
 desirous of returning to God, till he prevents 
 them with his mercy, and begins to draw their 
 hearts towards himself. Were I to prove 
 this at large, 1 might transcribe one half ot 
 the Bible. Nay, it is fully proved by expe- 
 rience and observation. The Heathens felt and 
 confessed it. My present subject does not re- 
 quire me to account for it, or to reason upon 
 it. That it is so, I appeal to fact. 
 
 2. The inestimable gift of a Saviour, to a- 
 tone for sin and to mediate between God and 
 man (John iii. 16) ; that there might be a 
 way opened for the communication of mercy 
 to sinners, without prejudice to the honour of 
 the perfections and government of God — 
 this gift was the effect of his own rich grace 
 and love (Rom. v. 6, 8), no less unthought 
 of, and undesired, than undeserved by fallen 
 man. 
 
 3. Wherever this love of God to man is 
 made known by the gospel, there is encour- 
 agement, and a command given to all men 
 everywhere to repent. Acts xvii. 30, 31. The 
 manifestation of the eternal Word in the hu- 
 man nature, and his death upon the cross, are 
 spoken of as the highest display of the wisdom 
 and goodness of God. Designed to give us, 
 in one and the same transaction, the most af- 
 fecting sense of the evil of sin, and the strong- 
 est assurance imaginable, that there is forgive- 
 ness with God, Rom. iii. 24, 25. 
 
 4. Men, w hile blinded by pride and preju- 
 dice, enslaved to sinful passions, and under 
 
SER. XL VI. 
 the influence of this present evil world, neither 
 can nor will receive the truth in the love of 
 it, 2 Cor. iv. 4; John v. 40; vi. 44. They 
 are prepossessed and pre-engaged. This, at 
 least, is evidently the case with many people 
 in this favoured nation, who, when the gospel 
 is proposed to them in the most unexception- 
 able manner, not only disregard, but treat it 
 with a pointed contempt and indignation, 
 Luke iv. 28, 29; Acts xvii. 18. Such was 
 its reception at the beginning, and we are not 
 to wonder, therefore, that it is so at this day. 
 
 5. As all mankind spring from one stock, 
 there are not two different sorts of men by na- 
 ture ; consequently they who receive the gos- 
 pel are no better in themselves (Eph. ii. 3), 
 than they are who reject it. The apostle writ- 
 ing to the believers at Corinth, having enume- 
 rated a catalogue, in which he comprises some 
 of the most flagitious and infamous charac- 
 ters (1 Cor. vi. 9 — 11), and allowed to be so 
 by the common consent of mankind, adds, 
 “ such were some of you.” Surely it cannot 
 be said, that they who had degraded them- 
 selves below the brutes, by their abominable 
 practices, were better disposed than others to 
 receive that gospel, which is not more distin- 
 guished by the sublimity of its doctrine, than 
 by the purity and holiness of conversation 
 which it enjoins ! 
 
 6. It seems, therefore, at least highly pro - 
 bable, that all men universally, if left to them- 
 selves, would act as the majority do to whom 
 the word of salvation is sent ; that is, they 
 would reject and despise it. And it is unde- 
 niable, that some, who in the day of God’s 
 power have cordially received the gospel, did 
 for a season oppose it with no less pertinacity 
 than any of those who have continued to hate 
 and resist it to the end of life. Saul of Tar- 
 sus was an eminent instance, Acts ix. 1. He 
 did not merely slight the doctrine of a cruci- 
 fied Saviour ; but, according to his mistaken 
 views, thought himself bound in conscience to 
 suppress those who embraced it. He breathed 
 out threatening, and slaughter, and, as he ex- 
 presses it himself was exceedingly mad against 
 them (Acts xxvi. 11), and made havoc of 
 them. His mind was filled with this bitter 
 and insatiable rage, at the moment when the 
 Lord Jesus appeared to him in his way to Da- 
 mascus. Is it possible that a man thus dis- 
 posed should suddenly become a preacher of 
 the faith which he had long laboured to des- 
 troy, if his heart and views had not been 
 changed by a supernatural agency ? Or that 
 the like prejudices in other persons can be re- 
 moved in any other manner ? 
 
 7. If all men had heard the gospel in vain, 
 then Christ would have died in vain. But 
 this is prevented by the covenanted office and 
 influence of the Holy Spirit (John xvi. 8), 
 who accompanies the word with his energy 
 and makes it the power of God to the salva^ 
 tion of those who believe. He prepares the 
 
 799 
 
 minds of sinners, and, as in the cose of Ly- 
 dia (Acts xvi. 14), opens their hearts to un- 
 derstand and receive the truth, in the love 
 of it. 
 
 8. But who will presume to say, that when 
 God was pleased to make a proposal of mercy 
 to a race of rebels, he was likewise bound to 
 overcome the obstinacy of men in every case, 
 and to compel them to accept it by an act of 
 his invincible power. If he does thus inter- 
 pose in favour of some, it is an act of free 
 mercy to which they have no claim. For if 
 we had a claim, the benefit would be an act of 
 justice, rather than of mercy. May not the 
 great Sovereign of the world do what he will 
 with his own? Matth. xx. 15. And nothing 
 is more peculiarly and eminently his own than 
 his mercy. Yes, we are assured, that he will 
 have mercy on whom he will have mercy 
 (Rom. ix. 18); and whom he will, he may 
 justly leave to be hardened in their impeni- 
 tence and unbelief. We have all deserved to 
 be so left ; but he, as the potter over the clay, 
 has power and right to make a difference, 
 as it seemeth good in his sight. And who 
 will say unto him, What doest thou ? Job 
 ix. 12. 
 
 9. When sinners are effectually called by 
 the gospel, then they are visibly chosen out of 
 the world (John xv. 19), in the spirit and 
 tempers of which they before lived, disobe- 
 dient and deceived, even as others. Old 
 things pass away, and all things become new, 
 2 Cor. ▼. 17. Their hopes and fears, their 
 companions and pleasures, their pursuits and 
 aims, are all changed. The change in these 
 respects is so evident, that they are soon notic- 
 ed and marked, pitied or derided, by those 
 from whom they are now separated. And 1 
 think they who really experience this change 
 will willingly ascribe it to the grace of God. 
 
 10. But if they are thus chosen in time, it 
 follows of course that they w-ere chosen from 
 everlasting. Both these expressions, when 
 applied to this subject, amount to the same 
 thing; and the seeming difference between 
 them is chiefly owing to our weakness and ig- 
 norance. To the infinite and eternal God our 
 little distinctions of past, present, and future, 
 are nothing. We think unworthily of the un- 
 changeable Jehovah, and liken him too much 
 to ourselves, if we suppose that he can form a 
 new purpose. If it be his pleasure to convert 
 a sinner to-day, he had the same gracious de- 
 sign in favour of that sinner yesterday, at the 
 day of his birth, a thousand years before he 
 was born, and a thousand ages (to speak ac- 
 cording to our poor conceptions) before the 
 world began. For that mode of duration 
 which we call time, has no respect to him who 
 inhabiteth eternity, Is. lvii. 15. 
 
 With regard to those who reject the declar- 
 ation of the mercy of God, who though called 
 and invited by the gospel, and often touched 
 by the power of his Holy Spirit, will not come 
 
 ACCUSERS CHALLENGED. 
 
SER. XLVI. 
 
 t>00 ACCUSERS CHALLENGED. 
 
 to the Saviour for life, but persist in their de- 
 termination to go on in their sins, their ruin 
 is not only unavoidaole, but just in the high- 
 est degree. And though, like the wicked ser- 
 vant in the parable (Matth. xxv. 24), they 
 cavil against the Lord, their mouths will be 
 stopped (Rom. iii. 19), when he shall at length 
 appear to plead with them face to face. Then 
 their cobweb excuses will fail them, and the 
 proper ground of their condemnation will be, 
 that when he sent them light, they turned 
 from it, and chose darkness rather than light, 
 because their deeds were evil, John iii. 19. 
 
 IT. The great privilege of the elect, com- 
 prehensive of every blessing is, that they are 
 justified, finally and authoritatively justified 
 from all that can possibly be laid to their 
 charge ; for it is God himself who justifieth 
 them. 
 
 The justification of a sinner before God, by 
 faith in the obedience and atonement of Christ, 
 is considered by many persons, in these days 
 of refinement, in no better light than as a 
 branch of scholastic theology, which is now 
 exploded as uncouth and obsolete. At the 
 Reformation, it was the turning point between 
 the Protestants and Papists. Luther deemed 
 it the criterion of a flourishing or a falling 
 church ; that is, he judged the church would 
 always be in a thriving or a declining state, in 
 proportion as the importance of this doctrine 
 was attended to. How important it appeared 
 to our English reformers, many of whom 
 sealed their testimony to it with their blood, 
 may be known by the writings of Cranmer, 
 Latimer, Philpot, and others ; and by the Ar- 
 ticles of the Church of England, which are 
 still of so much authority by law, that no per- 
 son can be admitted into Holy Orders amongst 
 us, till he has declared and subscribed his as- 
 sent to them. But I hope never to preach a 
 doctrine to my hearers which needs the names 
 and authority of men, however respectable, 
 for its support. Search the scriptures (John 
 v. 39), and judge by them of the importance 
 of this doctrine. Judge of it by the text now 
 before us. The apostle speaks of it as suffi- 
 cient to silence every charge, to free from all 
 condemnation, and inseparably connected with 
 eternal life ; for those whom God justifies he 
 will also glorify, Rom. viii. 30. Though 
 volumes have been written upon the subject, 
 I think it may be explained in few words. 
 Every one must give an account of himself to 
 God ; and the judgment will proceed accord- 
 ing to the tenor of his holy word. By the 
 law no flesh can be justified, for all have sin- 
 ned (Rom. iii. 19, 20) : but they who believe 
 the gospel will be justified from all things 
 (Acts xiii. 39), for which the law would other- 
 wise condemn them ; and as they who believe 
 not are condemned already (John iii. 18), so 
 believers are already justified by faith, and 
 have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus 
 Christ (Rom. v. l), in the present life. They 
 
 plead guilty to the charge of the law ; but 
 they can likewise plead, that they renounce all 
 hope and righteousness in themselves, and 
 upon the warrant of the word of promise, put 
 their whole trust in Jesus, as the end of the 
 law r for righteousness to every one that be- 
 lieveth (Rom. x. 4) : and this plea is accept- 
 ed. “ To him that worketh not, but believ- 
 eth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his 
 faith is counted for righteousness” (Rom. iv. 
 5), and his sins are no more remembered a- 
 gainst him, Heb. viii. 12. 
 
 This justification, in its own nature, is au- 
 thoritative, complete, and final. It is an act 
 of God’s mercy, which, because founded upon 
 the mediation of Jesus, may, with no less 
 truth, be styled an act of his justice, whereby 
 the believing sinner is delivered from the curse 
 of the law, from the guilt and power of sin, 
 and is translated into the kingdom of his dear 
 Son, Col. i. 13. It includes the pardon of 
 all sin, and admission to the state of a child ot 
 God. It is a passing from death unto life, 
 John v. 24. By faith of the operation of God, 
 the sinner, once afar off, is brought nigh, is 
 accepted in the Beloved, and becomes one 
 with him, as the branch is united to the vine, 
 and the members with the head, John xv. 15. 
 The sanctification of a believer is imperfec. 
 and gradual ; but his justification, in this 
 sense, from the moment when he begins to 
 live a life of faith in the Son of God, is per- 
 fect, and incapable of increase. The prin- 
 ciple of life in a new-born infant, and the pri- 
 vileges dependent upon his birth (if he be the 
 heir of a great family), are the same from the 
 first hour, as at any future time. He is 
 stronger as he grows up to the stature of a 
 man, but is not more alive ; he grows up like, 
 wise more into the knowledge and enjoymenf 
 of his privileges, but his right to them admits 
 of no augmentation; for he derives it, not 
 from his years, or his stature, or his powers, 
 but from the relation in which he stands as a 
 child to his father. Thus it is with those who 
 are born from above ; they are immediately 
 the children and heirs of God, though for a 
 time, like minors while under age, they may 
 seem to differ but little from servants (Gal. 
 iv. 1, 2); and it doth not yet appear what 
 they shall be. 
 
 But though justification in the sight of God 
 be connected with the reality of faith, the com- 
 fortable perception of it in our own conscien- 
 ces is proportionable to the degree of faith. 
 In young converts, therefore, it is usuallj 
 weak. They are well satisfied that Jesus is 
 the only Saviour, and they have no doubt of his 
 ability and sufficiency in that character, in fa- 
 vour of those who put their trust in him ; but 
 they are suspicious and jealous of themselves ; 
 they are apprehensive of something singular 
 in their own case, which may justly exclude 
 them from his mercy, or they fear that they 
 do not believe aright. But the weakest be* 
 
SER. XLVII. 
 
 THE INTERCESSION OF CHRIST. 
 
 liever is a child of God ; and true faith, 
 though at first like a grain of mustard-seed, is 
 interested in all the promises of the gospel. 
 If it be true, it will grow (Mark iv. 26), it 
 will attain to a more simple dependence upon 
 its great object, and will work its way, through 
 a thousand doubts and fears (which, for a sea- 
 son, are not without their use), till at length 
 the weak Christian becomes strong in faith, 
 strong in the Lord, and is enabled to say, “ I 
 know whom I have believed,” 2 Tim. i. 12. 
 Who shall lay any thing to my charge ? W T ho 
 shall condemn ? It is God who justifieth. It 
 is Christ who died for me and rose again. 
 
 But especially at the great day, the Lord 
 the Judge shall ratify their justification pub- 
 licly before assembled worlds. Then every 
 tongue that riseth in judgment against them 
 (Is. liv. 17), shall be put to silence. Then 
 Satan will be utterly confounded, and many 
 who despised them on earth will be astonish- 
 ed, and say — “ These are they whose lives we 
 accounted madness, and their end to be with- 
 out honour. How are they numbered among 
 the children of God !” Wisdom, v. 4, 5. 
 
 The right knowledge of this doctrine is a 
 source of abiding joy ; it likewise animates 
 love, zeal, gratitude, and all the noblest 
 powers of the soul, and produces a habit of 
 cheerful and successful obedience to the whole 
 will of God. But it may be, and too often 
 is, misunderstood and abused. If you re- 
 ceive it by divine teaching, it will fill you with 
 those fruits of righteousness which are by Je- 
 sus Christ to the glory and praise of God, 
 Phil. i. 11. But if you learn it only from 
 men and books, if you are content with the 
 notion of it in your head, instead of the power- 
 ful experience of it in your heart, it will have 
 a contrary effect. Such a lifeless form, even 
 of the truth itself, will probably make you 
 heady and high-minded, censorious of others, 
 trifling in your spirit, and unsettled in your 
 conduct. Oh ! be afraid of resembling the 
 foolish virgins (Matth. xxv. 1 — 12), of hav- 
 ing the lamp of your profession expire in 
 darkness for want of the oil of grace ; lest, 
 when the bridegroom cometh, you should find 
 the door shut against you. 
 
 SERMON XLVII. 
 
 THE INTERCESSION OF CHRIST. 
 
 Who is he that condemneth ? It is Christ that 
 died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is 
 even at the right hand of God. ivho also mate 
 elk intercession for us. Romans, vi.i. 34. 
 
 The redemption of the soul is precious. Fools 
 make a mock of sin, Prov. xvi. 9. But they 
 will not think lightly of it who duly consider 
 the majesty, authority, and goodness of him 
 
 801 
 
 against whom it is committed : and who are 
 taught by what God actually has done, what 
 sin rendered necessary to be done, before a 
 sinner could have a well-grounded hope of 
 forgiveness. For wisdom does nothing in 
 vain. The death of the Son of God would 
 have been in vain (Gal. ii. 21 ), if the great 
 design in favour of sinful men could have 
 been effected by inferior means. But as he, 
 in the office of Mediator, was the hope ot 
 mankind from the beginning ; so the great 
 work he has accomplished, and the characters 
 he sustains, when made known to the con- 
 science, are, in fact, sufficient to relieve in 
 every case, to answer every charge, and to sa- 
 tisfy the believer in Jesus that there is now no 
 condemnation to fear. There are many (as 
 we have observed) ready to accuse, but it is 
 in vain ; the charge may be true, but it is 
 overruled. Who shall dare to condemn, if 
 things be as the apostle states them in this 
 passage ? Whoever would impeach the hope 
 of a true believer, must prove (if he can), that 
 Christ did not die; or that he did not rise 
 from the dead ; or that he was not admitted 
 into the presence of God on our behalf; or 
 that he is unmindful of his promise, to make 
 intercession for all who come unto God by 
 him. For if these points are indubitable and 
 sure, it is impossible that the soul which has 
 trusted in Jesus, and put its cause into his 
 hands, can miscarry. 
 
 The death and resurrection of our Lord, 
 his appearance in our nature, clothed with 
 glory, seated on the right hand of the Majesty 
 on high, as the High- Priest of our profession, 
 can scarcely be considered too often. These 
 old truths are always new to those who love 
 him, and are the food by which their souls 
 live. Yet I shall not at present repeat what 
 I have offered upon them from former pas- 
 sages, but shall chiefly confine myself to the 
 subject of his intercession, which has not, un- 
 til now, expressly occurred to our medita- 
 tions. 
 
 The word the apostle uses here, and in 
 Heb. vii. 25, — “ Seeing he ever liveth to 
 make intercession,” occurs likewise in Acts 
 xxv. 24, where Festus speaks of the process 
 managed by the Jews against Paul ; and al- 
 so in Rom. xi. 2, of Elijah’s making inter- 
 cession to God against Israel. From these 
 passages compared together, we may observe 
 that the word is to be taken in a large sense. 
 He pleads our cause, he manages our con- 
 cerns, he answers our enemies. Who then 
 shall condemn those for whom the Lord Jesus 
 thus employs his power and his love ? He is 
 our advocate (1 John ii. 1 ), he takes upon him 
 our whole concern. He pleads as a Priest 
 and manages as a King, for those who come' 
 unto God by him. 
 
 I. He pleads as a Priest. — His office of in- 
 tercession has a plain reference to his great 
 instituted type, the high priest under the Le- 
 3 M 
 
802 
 
 vitical dispensation ; who, according to the 
 appointment of God, entered within the vail, 
 to present the blood of the sacrifice before the 
 mercy-seat, Lev. xvi. We have a clear and 
 infallible explanation of the design of this in- 
 stitution. “ Now when these things were thus 
 ordained, the priests went always into the 
 first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of 
 God. But into the second went the high 
 priest alone once every year, not without 
 blood, which he offered for himself and for 
 the errors of the people. The Holy Ghost 
 this signifying, that the way into the holiest of 
 all was not yet made manifest, while as the first 
 tabernacle was yet standing. Which was a 
 figure for the time then present, in which 
 were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that 
 could not make him that did the service per- 
 fect, as pertaining to the conscience ; which 
 stood only in meats and drinks, and divers 
 washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on 
 them until the time of reformation. But 
 Christ being come an High Priest of good 
 things to come, by a greater and more perfect 
 tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, 
 not of this building ; neither by the blood of 
 goats and calves, but by his own blood, he 
 entered in once into the holy place, having ob- 
 tained eternal redemption for us,” Heb. ix. 
 6 — 12. Thus Jesus is passed into the heavens, 
 entered into the holy of holies with his own 
 blood. His presence there, in our nature, 
 with the marks of his sufferings for us, as the 
 Lamb that has been slain, is an unceasing 
 virtual intercession on our behalf. I meddle 
 not with curious questions on this subject, as 
 to the manner in which his intercession is 
 carried on : It is sufficient to know that he is 
 there and there for us, as our representative. 
 This consideration is of continual use, to ani- 
 mate and encourage sinners in their approach 
 to God. There are three cases particularly, 
 in which the heart that knows its own bitter- 
 ness must sink, were it not for the relieving 
 thought, that there is an advocate with the 
 Father, a High Priest, who, by his interces- 
 sion, is able to save to the uttermost. 
 
 1. When the mind is burdened with guilt. 
 Great is the distress of an awakened con- 
 science. The sinner now is sensible of wants 
 which God alone can supply, and of miseries 
 from which he cannot be extricated but by an 
 almighty arm. But when he thinks of the 
 majesty and holiness of God, he is troubled 
 and adopts the language of the prophet, “ Wo 
 is me, I am undone !” Isa. vi. 5. He dares 
 not draw near to God, nor does he dare to 
 keep any longer at a distance from him. But 
 when such a one is enabled to look to Jesus 
 as the intercessor, what light and comfort does 
 he receive ? For the gospel speaks inviting 
 language. Let not the weary and heavy-laden 
 sinner fear to approach. Your peace is already 
 made in the court above, and your advocate is 
 waiting to introduce you. Lift up your heart 
 
 SER. XL VII 
 to him, and think you hear him in effect say- 
 ing, “ Father, there is another sinner who has 
 heard of my name, and desires to trust in me. 
 Father, I will, that he also may be delivered 
 from going down into the pit, and interested 
 in the ransom which I have provided.” 
 
 2. When we are deeply conscious of our de- 
 fects in duty. If we compare our best per- 
 formances w’ith the demands of the law, the 
 majesty of God, and the unspeakable obliga- 
 tions we are under ; if we consider our innu- 
 merable sins of omission, and that the little 
 we can do is polluted and defiled by the mix- 
 ture of evil thoughts, and the working of sel- 
 fish principles, aims, and motives, which 
 though we disapprove, we are unable to sup- 
 press, we have great reason to confess, “ To 
 us belong shame and confusion of face,” Dan. 
 ix. 7. But we are relieved by the thought, 
 that Jesus, the High Priest, bears the iniquity 
 of our holy things, perfumes our prayers with 
 the incense of his mediation, and washes our 
 tears in his own blood. This inspires a con- 
 fidence, that though we are unworthy of the 
 least of his mercies, we may humbly hope for 
 a share in the greatest blessings he bestows, 
 because we are heard and accepted, not on the 
 account of our own prayers and services, but 
 in the beloved Son of God, who maketh inter- 
 cession for us. Thus the wisdom and love of 
 God have provided a wonderful expedient, 
 which, so far as it is rightly understood, and 
 cordially embraced, while it lays the sinner 
 low as the dust in point of humiliation and 
 self-abasement, fills him at the same time with 
 a hope full of glory, which, with respect to its 
 foundation, cannot be shaken ; and with re- 
 spect to its object, can be satisfied with nothing 
 less than all the fulness of God. There are 
 favoured seasons in which the believer, having 
 a lively impression of the authority and love 
 of the Intercessor can address the great Jeho- 
 vah as his Father, with no less confidence than 
 if he was holy and spotless as the angels be- 
 fore the throne, at the very moment that he 
 has abundant cause to say, “ Behold I am 
 vile ! I abhor myself, and repent in dust and 
 ashes !” Job xl. 4; xlii. 6. 
 
 3. This powerful and prevalent intercession 
 abundantly compensates for the poverty and 
 narrowness of our prayers. Experience con- 
 firms what the scripture declares of our insuf- 
 ficiency to order our own cause before the 
 Lord, to specify our various wants, and to fill 
 our mouths with such arguments, as may en- 
 gage the attention, and enliven the affections 
 of our hearts. “ We know not how to pray as 
 we ought,” Rom. viii. 26. And though the 
 Holy Spirit teaches believers to form peti- 
 tions, w'hich, in the main, are agreeable to the 
 will of God, yet we often mistake and ask a- 
 miss ; w e often forget w-hat we ought to ask, 
 and we are too often cold, negligent, weary, 
 distracted, and formal in prayer. How prone 
 are we to enter by prayer into the Lord’s pre- 
 
 THE INTERCESSION OF CHRIST. 
 
SER. XL VII. 
 
 THE INTERCESSION OF CHRIST. 
 
 sence, as the thoughtless horse rushes into the 
 battle ! (Jer. viii. 6.) to speak to God as if we 
 were only speaking into the air, and to have 
 our thoughts dissipated and wandering to the 
 ends of the earth, while his holy name is up- 
 on our polluted lips ! It is well for us, that 
 God is both able and gracious to do more 
 than we can ask or think ; but that he actu- 
 ally does so, for such unworthy creatures, is 
 owing to our Intercessor. He knows all our 
 wants, and pleads and provides accordingly. 
 He is not negligent, though we too frequently 
 are. He prayed for Peter’s safety (Luke 
 xxii. 31, 32), before Peter himself was aware 
 of his danger. Have we not sometimes been 
 as it were surprised and shamed by the Lord’s 
 goodness, when he has condescended to be- 
 stow special and needful mercies upon us, be- 
 fore we thought of asking for them ? These are 
 affecting proofs of our Intercessor’s attention 
 and care, and that he is always mindful of us. 
 But, 
 
 II. Jesus the High Priest is upon a throne. 
 —He is a King, King of saints, and King of 
 nations. He is not only a righteous advocate, 
 but he possesses all authority and power. And 
 it belongs to his office as King, effectually to 
 manage for those in whose behalf he inter- 
 cedes. I have already observed that the ori- 
 ginal word includes this sense. 
 
 1 He is the source and fountain of their 
 supplies. All their springs are in him. The 
 fulness of wisdom, grace, and consolation, out 
 of which they are invited to receive, resides in 
 him. And therefore he says, “ If ye ask any 
 thing in my name, I will do it,” John xiv. 14. 
 Not merely, I will present your petitions, but 
 I will fulfill them myself. For all things are 
 committed into his hands, and it is he with 
 whom we have to do, Heb. iv. 13. He there- 
 fore enjoins us, if we believe or trust in God, 
 to believe also in him, John xiv. 1. His in- 
 vitations, “ If any map thirst, let him come 
 unto me and drink” (John vii. 37) ; — “ Who- 
 soever will, let him take of the water of life 
 freely” (Rev. xxii. 17); equally express his 
 sovereignty and his munificence. On him the 
 eyes of all who know him wait from age to 
 age, and are not disappointed. He opens his 
 hand, and satisfies them with good, Psal. cxlv. 
 17. Nor is the store of his bounty diminished 
 by all that he has distributed, for it is unsearch- 
 able and inexhaustible, like the light of the 
 sun, which gladdens the eyes of millions at 
 once, has done so from the beginning, and 
 will continue to do so to the end of time. 
 
 2. He appoints and adjusts their various 
 dispensations, with an unerring suitableness to 
 their several states, capacities, and circum- 
 stances. If a skilful gardener had the com- 
 mand of the weather, he would not treat all 
 his plants, nor the same plant at all times, ex- 
 actly alike. Continual rain, or continual sun- 
 shine, would be equally unfavourable to their 
 growth and fruitfulness. In his kingdom of 
 
 803 
 
 providence, he so proportions the rain and the 
 sunshine to each other, that the corn is usually 
 brought forward from the seed to the blade, 
 the ear, and the full ripe ear. And I believe 
 it would be always so, were it not for the pre- 
 valence of sin, which sometimes makes the 
 heavens over our head brass, the earth under 
 our feet iron (Deut. xxviii. 23), and turns a 
 fruitful land into barrenness. So, in his king- 
 dom of grace, he trains his people up by va- 
 rious exercises. He delights in their prospe- 
 rity, and does not willingly grieve them. But 
 afflictions in their present state are necessary, 
 and his blessing makes them salutary. But 
 this is their great privilege, that their com- 
 forts and their crosses are equally from his 
 hand, are equally tokens of his love, and alike 
 directed to work together for their good. He 
 appoints the bounds of their habitations, num- 
 bers the hairs of their heads, and is their guide 
 and guard, their sun and shield, even unto 
 death. Here they meet with many changes, 
 but none that are unnoticed by him, none that 
 can separate them from his love, and they all 
 concur in leading them on to a state of un- 
 changeable and endless joy, 2 Cor. iv. 17. 
 
 3. He is the Captain of their salvation, Heb. 
 
 ii. 10. They are his soldiers, and fight under 
 his eye ; yet the battle is not theirs but his. 
 Israel of old were to muster their forces, to 
 range themselves for the fight, to use every 
 precaution and endeavour, as though success 
 depended entirely upon themselves. Yet the) 
 obtained not the victory by their own sword, 
 but it was the Lord who fought for them, and 
 trod down their enemies before them ; and they 
 had little more to do than to pursue the van- 
 quished, and to divide the spoil. And thus it 
 is in the warfare which true Christians main- 
 tain, net against flesh and blood only, bu 
 against principalities and pow-ers (Eph. vi. 
 12), against the spirit of the world, and a- 
 gainst Satan and his legions. They fight in 
 his cause, but he upholds them and conquers 
 for them. Their enemies are too many and 
 too mighty for them to grapple with in their 
 own strength; but he rebukes them, and pleads 
 the cause of his people. His gracious inter- 
 position in their favour is beautifully set forth, 
 together with its effects, in the vision which 
 the prophet saw, when he was sent to encou- 
 rage the rulers and people of the Jews against 
 the difficulties they met with when rebuilding 
 the temple. He saw Joshua the high priest, 
 who, in that character, represented the col- 
 lective body of the people, standing before the 
 Lord, clothed in filthy garments, and Satan 
 standing at his right hand to resist him, Zech. 
 
 iii. 1 — 4. Such is our attire as sinners, all 
 
 our righteousnesses are as filthy rags ; and 
 such are the attempts of our enemy, to deter 
 us from approaching to him who alone can 
 relieve us, or to distress us when we appear 
 before him. But when Joshua could not 
 speak for himself, the Lord spake for him 
 
SER. XL VII* 
 
 THE INTERCESSION OF CHRIST. 
 
 804 
 
 claimed him for his own, as a brand plucked 
 out of the fire, silenced his adversary, clothed 
 him with change of raiment, and set a fair 
 mitre upon his head. Thus David acknow- 
 ledged the Lord’s goodness in providing him 
 a table in the midst of his enemies (Psal. 
 xxiii. 5), who saw with envy his privileges, 
 but were not able to prevent his enjoyment of 
 them. Many a time the Lord thus comforts 
 and feeds his people, while waiting on him in 
 secret, or attending bis public ordinances; 
 and were our eyes opened, like the eyes of 
 Elisha’s servant, to behold what is very near, 
 though unseen, we should feel the force of the 
 psalmist’s observation. The powers of dark- 
 ness surround us, their malice against us is 
 heightened by the favour of our good Shep- 
 herd toward us ; they rage, but in vain ; for 
 though they could presently deprive us of 
 peace, and fill us with anguish, if we were left 
 exposed to their assaults, they are under a re- 
 straint, and can do nothing without his per- 
 mission. When he is pleased to give quiet- 
 ness, who then can make trouble? Job xxxiv. 
 29. He preserves and provides for his sheep 
 in the midst of wolves. 
 
 We may close this part of our subject with 
 two or three reflections, which, though as to 
 the substance of them I may have offered you 
 before, are always seasonable and suitable, 
 when we are speaking of the power and grace 
 of Messiah. 
 
 1. How precious is this Saviour! How 
 justly is he entitled to the chief place in the 
 hearts of those who know him ! In the work 
 of salvation, from the first step to the last, he 
 is all in all. If he had not died and risen 
 again, we must have died for ever. If he had 
 not ascended into heaven, there to appear in 
 the presence of God for us, we must have 
 been thrust down into the lowest hell. If he 
 did not plead for us, we would not, we durst 
 not offer a word in our own behalf. If he 
 was not on our part, engaged to keep us night 
 and day, our enemies would soon be too hard 
 for us. May we therefore give him the glory 
 due to his name, and cleave to him, and trust* 
 in him alone. 
 
 2. How safe are the people of whom he 
 undertakes the care! While his eye is upon 
 them, his ear open to their prayer, and his 
 arm of power stretched out for their protec- 
 tion ; while he remembers that word of pro- 
 mise upon which he himself has caused them 
 to hope; while he retains that faithfulness 
 which encouraged them to commit their souls 
 to him, it is impossible that any weapon or 
 stratagem formed against them can prevail. 
 There are many, it is true, who will rise up 
 against them ; but God is for them, and with 
 them, a very present help in trouble, Ps. xlvi. 
 1. They are full of wants and fears, and in 
 themselves liable to many charges; but since 
 Jesus is their head, their security, their inter- 
 cessor, no needful gjod shall be with-held 
 
 from them, no charge admitted against them, 
 none shall condemn them, for it is God him- 
 self who justifies the believer in Jesus. 
 
 3. If these things be so, how much are they 
 to be pitied, who hear of them without being 
 affected or influenced by them ? Will you al- 
 ways be content with hearing ? “ Oh, taste 
 and see that the Lord is good !” Ps. xxxiv. 8. 
 Should you at last be separated from those 
 with whom you now join in public worship ; 
 should you see them admitted into the king- 
 dom of God, and you yourselves be thrust 
 out; your present advantages would then 
 prove an aggravation of your guilt and misery. 
 As yet, there is room. Strive to enter while 
 the gate of mercy remains open. Think of 
 the solemnities of that great day. Many will 
 then be condemned, though they who believe 
 in the Son of God will be justified. Consider 
 who will condemn them, God himself, Ps 1. 6. 
 From his inquisition there can be no re- 
 treat; from his sentence there can be no ap- 
 peal. And consider what the condemnation 
 will be: a final exclusion from his favour; a 
 never-ceasing sense of his awful displeasure ; 
 a state of eternal horror and despair, without 
 mitigation, without the smallest ray of hope ! 
 Can you deliberately give up all claim to hap- 
 piness, and determine to rush upon the thick 
 bosses of God’s buckler (Job xv. 26), to defy 
 his power, and to dare his threatenings, rather 
 than forego the transitory and delusive plea- 
 sures of sin ? And can you do this with the 
 gospel sounding in your ears ? May the Lord 
 prevent it ! However, observe you are once 
 more warned, once more invited. If now at 
 last, after so many delays, so much perverse- 
 ness on your part, you will honestly and ear- 
 nestly seek him, he will be found of you. 
 But if you persist in your obstinacy, your 
 condemnation will be inevitable and sure. 
 
 SERMON XLVIII. 
 
 THE SONG OF THE REDEEMED. 
 
 — Thou — hast redeemed us to God, by thy 
 blood (out of every kindred , and tongue , and 
 people and nation ). Rev. v. 9. 
 
 The extent, variety, and order of the creation, 
 proclaim the glory of God. He is likewise 
 maximus in minimis. The smallest of his 
 works that we are capable of examining, such 
 for instance as the eye or the wing of a little 
 insect, the creature of a day, are stamped with 
 an inimitable impression of his wisdom and 
 power. Thus in his written word there is a 
 greatness, considering it as a whole, and a 
 beauty and accuracy in the smaller parts, ana- 
 logous to what we observe in the visible crea- 
 I tion, and answerable to what an enlightened 
 I and humble mind may expect in a book which 
 
s ICR. xi. VIII. THE SONG OF T 
 
 boars the character of a divine revelation. A 
 single verse, a single clause, when viewed (if 
 I may so speak) in the microscope of close 
 meditation, is often found to contain a fulness, 
 a world of wonders. And though a connec- 
 ted and comprehensive acquaintance with the 
 whole scripture be desirable and useful, and 
 is no less the privilege than the duty of those 
 who have capacity and time at their own dis- 
 posal to acquire it ; yet there is a gracious ac- 
 commodation to the weakness of some per- 
 sons, and the circumstances of others. So 
 that in many parts of scripture, whatever is 
 immediately necessary to confirm our faith, to 
 animate or regulate our practice, is condensed 
 into a small compass, and comprised in a few 
 verses ; yea, sometimes a single sentence, when 
 unfolded and examined, will be found to con- 
 tain ail the great principles of duty and com- 
 fort. Such is the sentence which I have now 
 read to you. In the Messiah it is inserted in 
 the grand chorus taken from the 12th and 
 13th verses of this chapter. And as it may 
 lead us to a compendious recapitulation of the 
 whole subject, and by the Lord’s blessing, 
 may prepare us to join in the following as- 
 cription of praise to him that sitteth upon the 
 throne, and to the Lamb ; I propose to con- 
 sider it in its proper connection, as a part of 
 the leading song of the redeemed before the 
 throne, in which the angels cannot share, 
 though from their love to redeemed sinners, 
 and from their views of the manifold wisdom 
 and glory of God in visiting such sinners with 
 such a salvation, they cheerfully take a part 
 in the general chorus. 
 
 The redemption spoken of, is suited to the 
 various cases of sinners of every nation, people, 
 and language. And many sinners of divers 
 descriptions, and from distant situations, scat- 
 tered abroad into all lands, through a long 
 succession of ages, will, by the efficacy of this 
 redemption, be gathered together into one, 
 John xi. 52. They will constitute one fami- 
 ly, united in one great Head, Eph. iii. 14, 15. 
 When they shall fully attain the end of their 
 hope, and encircle the throne, day without 
 night, rejoicing, their remembrance of what 
 they once were, their sense of the happiness 
 they are raised to, and of the great considera- 
 tion to which they owe their deliverance and 
 their exaltation, will excite a perpetual joyful 
 acknowledgment to this purport. They were 
 once lost, but could contribute nothing to 
 their own recovery. Therefore they ascribe 
 all the glory to their Saviour. They strike 
 their golden harps, and sing in strains, loud as 
 from numbers without number, sweet as from 
 blest voices, “ Thou art worthy — for thou 
 wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by 
 thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, 
 and people, and nation.” 
 
 But though this song, and this joy, will 
 only be consummated in heaven, the com- 
 mencement takes place upon earth. Believ* 
 
 HE REDEEMED. 805 
 
 ers, during their present state of warfare, are 
 taught to sing it ; in feebler strains indeed, 
 but the subject of their joy, and the object of 
 their praise, are the same which inspire the 
 harps and songs in the world of light. May I 
 not say, that this life is the time of their rehears- 
 al ? They are now learning their song, and 
 advancing in meetness to join in the chorus 
 on high, which, as death successively removes 
 them, is continually increasing by the acces- 
 sion of fresh voices. All that they know, or 
 desire to know, all that they possess or hope 
 for, is included in this ascription. 
 
 I take the last clause of the verse into the 
 subject. The words suggest three principal 
 points to our consideration : 
 
 I. The benefit, — Redemption to God. 
 
 II. The redemption price, — By thy blood. 
 
 III. The extent of the benefit, — To a peo- 
 ple out of every kindred, and tongue, and na- 
 tion. 
 
 I. Thou hast redeemed us to God. — Re- 
 demption or ransom is applicable to a state of 
 imprisonment for debt, and to a state of bond- 
 age or slavery. From these ideas taken to- 
 gether, we may form some estimate of the mi- 
 sery of our fallen state ; a theme, which, if I 
 cannot insist upon at large in every discourse, 
 I would never wholly omit. For we can 
 neither understand the grace, nor enjoy the 
 comfort of the gospel, but in proportion as we 
 have a heart-felt and abiding conviction of our 
 wretched condition as sinners without it. 
 They who think themselves whole know not 
 their need of a physician (Matth. ix. 12), but 
 to the sick he is welcome. 
 
 If a man, shut up in prison for a heavy 
 debt, which he is utterly incapable of discharg- 
 ing, should obtain his liberty, in consideration 
 of payment made for him by another, he might 
 be properly said to be redeemed from im- 
 prisonment. This supposition will apply to 
 our subject. The law and justice of God 
 have demands upon us which we cannot an- 
 swer. We are therefore shut up, under the 
 law, in unbelief, helpless, and hopeless, till we 
 know and can plead the engagement of a sure- 
 ty for us. For a time, like Peter, we are 
 sleeping in our prison (Acts xii. 6 — 10), re- 
 gardless of danger. The first sensible effect 
 of the grace of God, is to awaken us from 
 this insensibility. Then we begin to feel the 
 horrors of our dungeon, and the strength of 
 our chains, and to tremble under the appre- 
 hension of an impending doom. But grace 
 proceeds to reveal the Saviour and friend of 
 sinners, and to encourage our application to 
 him. In a good hour the chains fall off, the 
 bars of iron and brass are broken asunder, and 
 the prison-doors fly open. The prisoner un- 
 derstands that all his great debt is forgiven, 
 blesses his deliverer, obtains his liberty, and 
 departs in peace. 
 
 We are likewise in bondage the servants, 
 the slaves of a harder task-master than Pha 
 
8ER. XLVIII. 
 
 THE SONG OF THE REDEEMED. 
 
 bU(5 
 
 roah was to Israel. Satan, though not by 
 right, yet by a righteous permission, tyranniz- 
 es over us, till Jesus makes us free, John viii. 
 34, 36. The way of transgressors is hard, 
 Prov. xiii. 15- Though the solicitations and 
 commands of that enemy who worketh in the 
 children of disobedience (Eph. ii. 2), are in 
 some respects suited to our depraved inclina- 
 tions, yet the consequences are grievous. A 
 burdened conscience, a wasted constitution, a 
 ruined fortune and character, swiftly and 
 closely follow the habits of intemperance and 
 lewdness ; and they who seem to walk in a 
 smoother path, are deceived, mortified, and 
 disappointed daily. If persons who live open- 
 ly and habitually in a course that is contrary 
 to the rule of God’s word, speak swelling 
 words of vanity (2 Pet. ii. 18, 19), and boast 
 of their liberty, believe them not. We are 
 sure they carry that in their bosom which 
 hourly contradicts their assertions. Yea, some- 
 times their slavery is so galling, that they at- 
 tempt to escape, but in vain. They are soon 
 retaken, and their bonds made stronger. The 
 issue of their short-lived reformations, which 
 they defer as long as possible, and at last set 
 about with reluctance, usually is, that their 
 latter end proves worse than their beginning. 
 At most, they only exchange one sinful habit 
 for another, sensuality for avarice, or prodiga- 
 lity for pride. The strong one armed will 
 maintain his dominion, till the stronger than 
 he interposes and says. Loose him, and let him 
 go, for I have found a ransom. Then, by 
 virtue of the redemption-price, the prey is 
 taken from the mighty, and the captive is de- 
 livered, Is. xlix. 24, 25. Then the enslaved 
 sinner, like the man, out of whom the legion 
 was cast, sits at the feet of Jesus, in peace, 
 and in his right mind, Mark v. 15. He be- 
 comes the Lord’s freed-man. 
 
 For he is not only delivered from guilt and 
 thrall, he is redeemed to God. He is now- 
 restored to his original state, as an obedient 
 and dependent creature, devoted to his Crea- 
 tor, conformed to his wiU and image, and ad- 
 mitted to communion with him in love. These 
 are blessings which alone can satisfy the soul, 
 and without which it is impossible for man to 
 be happy. While he is ignorant of his proper 
 good, and seeks it in creatures, he is and must 
 be wretched. Madness is in his heart, a de- 
 ceived, disordered imagination turns him aside, 
 and he feeds upon ashes, and upon the wind, 
 Is. xlv. 20. But by grace he is renewed to 
 a sound judgment, his mind receives a right 
 direction, and he is turned from darkness to 
 light, from the power of Satan to God, Acts 
 xvi. 18. 
 
 II. What unspeakably, and beyond concep- 
 tion enhances the value of this deliverance, is 
 the consideration of the means by which it is 
 effected. For it is not merely a deliverance, 
 but a redemption. It is not an act of mere 
 mercy, but of mercy harmonizing with justice. 
 
 It is not an act of power only, but of unex- 
 ampled and expensive love. — “ Thou hast re- 
 deemed us by thy blood !” 
 
 The sentence denounced by the law against 
 transgressors, was death. And therefore when 
 Messiah became our surety, to satisfy the law 
 for us, he must die. The expression of his 
 blood, is often used figuratively for his death, 
 perhaps to remind us how he died. His was 
 a bloody death. When he was in his agony 
 in Gethsemane, his sweat was as great drops 
 of blood, falling dow-n to the ground, Luke 
 xxii. 44. His blood flowed when he gave 
 his back to the smiters, under the painful 
 strokes of the scourging he endured previous 
 to his crucifixion. It flowed from his head, 
 when the soldiers, having mocked his charac- 
 ter of King by crowning him with thorns, by 
 their rude blows forced the thorns into his 
 temples. His blood streamed from the 
 wounds made by the spikes, which pierced 
 his hands and his feet, when they fastened him 
 to the cross. When he hung upqn the cross, 
 his body was full of wounds, and covered w-ith 
 blood. And, after his death, another large 
 w-ound was made in his side, from which 
 issued blood and water. Such was the re- 
 demption-price he paid for sinners, his blood, 
 the blood of his heart. Without shedding of 
 blood there could be no remission. Nor could 
 any blood answ-er the great design, but his. 
 Not any, not all the bloody sacrifices appoint- 
 ed by the law of Moses could take away sin, 
 as it respects the conscience, nor afford a plea, 
 with which a sinner could venture to come be- 
 fore the most high God, Micah vi. 6. But the 
 blood of Messiah, in whom were united the 
 perfections of the divine nature and the real 
 properties of humanity, and which the apostle 
 therefore styles the blood of God (Acts xx. 
 28), this precious blood cleanses from all sin. 
 It is exhibited as a propitiation of perpetual 
 efficacy, by which God declares his righteous- 
 ness, no less than his mercy, in forgiving in- 
 iquities (Rom. iii. 25, 26), and shews him- 
 self just to the demands of his holiness, and 
 the honour of his government, when he ac- 
 cepts and justifies the sinner who believes in 
 Jesus. 
 
 If these things were understood and attend- 
 ed to, would it be thought wonderful that this 
 Saviour is very precious to those who believe 
 in him, and who obtain redemption by his 
 blood ? How can it possibly be otherwise ? 
 Grace like this, when known, must captivate 
 and fix the heart ! Not only to save, but to 
 die, and to die for his enemies ! Such costly 
 love, productive of such glorious conse- 
 quences, and to such unworthy creatures ! 
 Surely the apostle’s mind w-as filled and fired 
 with these considerations, when authenticating 
 an epistle with his own hand, he subjoined 
 this emphatical close, “ If any man love not 
 the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema 
 Maranatha !” 1 Cor. xvi. 22. Do vou think. 
 
SER. XL VIII. 
 
 THE SONG OF THE REDEEMED. 
 
 my brethren, that the apostle took pleasure in 
 denouncing so severe a sentence against all 
 those who did not see (as we say) with 
 his eyes ? Had he so little affection for sin- 
 ners, that he could thus consign them to de- 
 struction by multitudes, for differing from 
 him in what some persons only deem an opi- 
 nion ? Rather consider him, not as breathing 
 out his own wishes, but as speaking in the 
 name and on the behalf of God. He knew 
 it must be, and he declared it would be so. 
 It was no pleasure to him to see them deter- 
 mined to perish. On the contrary, he had 
 great grief and sorrow of heart for them, even 
 for the Jews, who had treated him with the 
 greatest cruelty. Even for their sakes, he 
 could have been content to be made an ana- 
 thema himself (Rom. ix. 3), that they might 
 be saved. But upon the whole, he acqui- 
 esced in the will of God, and acknowledged 
 it to be just, right, and equal, that if any man 
 would not love the Lord Jesus Christ, after 
 all that he had done and suffered for sinners, 
 he should be accursed. By this comparison 
 of the apostle’s severe language with his com- 
 passionate temper, I am led to digress a little 
 farther. It suggests an apology for ministers 
 of the gospel in general. When we declare 
 the terrors of the Lord, when we assure you 
 that there is but one solid foundation for 
 hope, and that, unless you love the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, you must perish, some of our hearers 
 account us bigotted, uncharitable, and bitter. 
 But if you could see what passes in secret, 
 how faithful ministers mourn over those who 
 reject their message, how their disobedience 
 cuts them to the heart, and abates the com- 
 fort they would otherwise find in your ser- 
 vice; if you could believe us when we say (I 
 trust truly) that we are ready to impart unto 
 you, not the gospel of God only, but our own 
 souls also, because you are dear to us ( 1 Thes. 
 ii. 8), and we long for your salvation ; then 
 you would think more favourably of us. But 
 after all we cannot, we dare not, soften our 
 message to please men. What we find in 
 the word of God, we must declare. It would 
 be at the peril of our souls, to speak smooth 
 things, to prophesy deceits (Is. xxx. 10) to 
 you ; and, so far as we preach the truth, it 
 will be at the peril of your souls, if we are 
 disregarded. 
 
 III. The benefits of this redemption extend 
 to a numerous people, who are said to be re- 
 deemed out of every kindred, tongue, and na- 
 tion. I have, upon a former occasion,* of- 
 fered you my sentiments concerning the ex- 
 tent of the virtue of that blood which taketh 
 away the sin of the world. But the clause 
 now before us invites me to make a few addi- 
 tional observations upon a subject which, I 
 conceive, it much concerns us rightly to un- 
 derstand. 
 
 The redeemed of the Lord are those who 
 
 807 
 
 actually experience the power of his redemp- 
 tion, who are delivered from the dominion of 
 sin and Satan, and brought into a state of li - 
 berty, peace, and holiness. That the people 
 of every kindred, nation, and tongue, are not 
 redeemed in this sense universally, is as cer- 
 tain as evidence of facts, and express declara- 
 tions of scripture, can make it. “ Without 
 holiness no man shall see the Lord.” Multi- 
 tudes, thus disqualified, will be found trem- 
 bling, on the left hand of the Judge, at the 
 great day. But a remnant will be saved, ac- 
 cording to the election of grace. For they who 
 differ, who are redeemed to the service of God, 
 while others live and die in the love and ser- 
 vice of sin, do not make themselves to differ, 
 1 Cor. iv. 7. It becomes the potsherds of the 
 earth to ascribe to their Maker the glory of 
 his sovereignty, and to«acknowledge, that, if 
 they have a good hope, it is because it pleased 
 the Lord to make them his people who were 
 once not his people, Hos. ii. 23. Yet a way 
 of conceiving of the doctrines of the divine so- 
 vereignty, and of a personal election unto life, 
 has often obtained, which seems to have a ten- 
 dency to render the mind narrow, selfish, and 
 partial, and to straiten the exercise of that 
 philanthropy which the genius and spirit of 
 the gospel powerfully inculcate. The best of 
 us, perhaps, are more prone than we are aware 
 of to assimilate the great God to ourselves, 
 and to frame our ideas of him too much ac- 
 cording to our own image. So that often 
 much of a man’s natural disposition may be 
 observed in the views he forms of the divine 
 perfections and conduct ; as, on the other 
 hand, his conceptions of the character of God 
 strengthen and confirm him in his own tem- 
 pers and habits. There are persons, who be- 
 ing persuaded in their own minds (we would 
 hope upon sure grounds) that they themselves 
 are of the elect, appear to be little concerned 
 what may become of others. Their notions 
 of God’s sovereignty, and his right to do w hat 
 he will with his own, though often insufficient 
 to preserve them from repining and impa- 
 tience under the common events of human 
 life, raise them above all doubts and difficul- 
 ties on a subject which the apostle speaks of 
 as unsearchable and untraceable ; where he ac- 
 knowledges depths which he was unable to fa- 
 thom (Rom. xi. 33), all appears to them quite 
 plain and easy ; where he admires and adores, 
 they arrogantly dispute, and determine ea ca- 
 thedra, and harshly censure all who are not so 
 eagle-sighted as themselves. Methinks they 
 who know the worth of a soul, from its vast 
 capacity for happiness and misery, and its im- 
 mortal duration, cannot justly be blamed for 
 allowing no limits to their benevolent wishes 
 for the salvation of mankind, but the will of 
 God, as it is plainly made known to us in his 
 word. To this we are to submit, not as of 
 necessity only, but cheerfully, assured that his 
 will is wise, holy, and good ; that the Judge of 
 all the world will do right ; and to wait for the 
 
 * Sermon xvj. 
 
SER. XL VIII. 
 
 THE SONG OF THE REDEEMED. 
 
 8U8 
 
 day when he ’will condescend to clear up every 
 difficulty, and give us that satisfaction which, 
 in our present state of ignorance and weakness, 
 we are incapable of receiving. Shall mortal 
 man be more just, or can he be more merciful, 
 than God ? It is a false compassion, founded 
 in a blameable disregard of what is due to the 
 glory of his great name, that prompts us to form 
 a wish that his unerringly wise appointments 
 could be otherwise than they are. Yet it is a 
 comfort to think that his mercy, in which he 
 delights, in w'hich he is peculiarly said to be 
 rich, and which is higher than the heavens, 
 will, in its exercise, far exceed the bounds 
 which some fallible mortals would perempto- 
 rily assign to it. We must not indulge con- 
 jecture and hypothesis farther than the scrip- 
 ture will warrant ; but while we humbly de- 
 pend upon this infallible light, we need not be 
 afraid to follow it, though it should, in some 
 particulars, lead us a little beyond the out- 
 lines of some long received, and in the main 
 very valuable human systems of divinity. 
 
 I have repeatedly expressed my belief, that 
 many prophecies respecting the spread and 
 glory of the kingdom of Messiah upon earth 
 have not yet received their full accomplish- 
 ment, and that a time is coming when many 
 (perhaps the greater part of mankind) of all 
 nations, and people, and languages, shall know 
 the joyful sound of the gospel, and walk in 
 the light of the Redeemer’s countenance. At 
 present, I would confine myself to consider 
 what ground the scripture affords us to hope 
 that there are many of every nation, people, 
 and tongue, even now, singing this song be- 
 fore his throne. 
 
 The revelations vouchsafed to the beloved 
 disciple in Patmos exhibit a succession of great 
 events, extending (I suppose) from the apos- 
 tles days to the end of time. But while only 
 the learned can so much as attempt to ascer- 
 tain from history the dates and facts to which 
 the prophecies already fulfilled refer, or to of- 
 fer probable conjectures concerning the events 
 as yet future (in which the most judicious 
 commentators are far from being agreed), 
 there are passages interspersed which seem 
 designed to administer consolation to plain 
 believers, by representations suited to raise 
 their thoughts to the state of the church tri- 
 umphant. Though they are unable to explain 
 the particulars of what they read, there is a 
 glory resulting from the whole, which ani- 
 mates their hope and awakens their joy. Of 
 this kind I think is that vision (Rev. vii. 9, ad 
 Hnem), in which the apostle saw- the servants 
 of God, who were sealed in their foreheads, 
 in number a hundred and forty-four thou- 
 sand ; and besides these a great multitude 
 which no man could number, of all nations, 
 and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood 
 before the throne, and before the Lamb, cloth- 
 ed with white robes, and palms in their hands, 
 and ciied with a loud voice, saying, “ Salva- 
 
 tion to our God, which sitteth upon the throne, 
 and to the Lamb,” &c. I confess myself un- 
 able to expound this sublime passage, and to 
 give the full or even the principal sense of it 
 with certainty. But that it has some refer- 
 ence to what is now passing within the vail, 
 which hides the unseen world from our view, 
 I cannot doubt. I propose my thoughts upon 
 it with caution and diffidence. I dare not 
 speak with that certainty which I feel myself 
 warranted to use, when I set before you from 
 scripture the great truths which are essential 
 to a life of faith in the Son of God ; yet I 
 hope to advance nothing that is contrary to 
 scripture, or to any deductions fairly and just- 
 ly drawn from it. 
 
 Having premised this acknowledgment of 
 my incompetence to decide positively, I ven- 
 ture to say, that by the hundred and forty-four 
 thousand sealed in their foreheads (a definite 
 for an indefinite number, which is frequent in 
 scripture-language), I understand those, who, 
 living to mature age, and where the gospel is 
 afforded, are enabled to make a public and 
 visible profession of religion, and are marked 
 as it were in their foreheads, and know to 
 whom they belong, by their open and habitual 
 separation from the spirit and customs of the 
 world which lieth in wickedness. And the 
 exceeding great multitude, contradistinguished 
 from these, I conceive to be those who are 
 elsewhere styled the Lord’s hidden ones : and 
 that these are a great multitude indeed, gath- 
 ered by him, who knows them that are his, 
 out of all nations, and kindreds, and people, 
 and tongues. I may distribute them into the 
 following clashes. 
 
 1. Infants. — I think it at least highly pro- 
 bable, that when our Lord says, “ Suffer little 
 children to come unto me, and forbid them 
 not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven” 
 (Math. xix. 14), he does not only intimate 
 the necessity of our becoming like little chil- 
 dren in simplicity, as a qualification without 
 which (as he expressly declares in other places) 
 we cannot enter into his kingdom, but informs 
 us of a fact, that the number of infants, who are 
 effectually redeemed to God by his blood, so 
 greatly exceeds the aggregate number of adult 
 believers, that, comparatively speaking, his 
 kingdom may be said to consist of little children. 
 The apostle speaks of them as not having “ sin- 
 ned after the similitude of Adam’s transgres- 
 sion” ( Rom. v. 14), that is, with the consent of 
 their understanding and will. And when he 
 says, “ Wemust all appear before the judgment, 
 seat of Christ,” he adds, “ that every man may 
 give an account of what he has done in the 
 body, whether it be good or bad,” 2 Cor. v. 
 10. But children who die in their infancy 
 have not done any thing in the body, either 
 good or bad. It is true, they are by nature 
 evil, and must, if saved, be the subjects of a 
 supernatural change. And though we cannot 
 conceive how this change is to be wrought* 
 
SER. XLVIII. 
 
 THE SONG OF THE REDEEMED. 
 
 yet I suppose few are so rash as to imagine it 
 impossible that any infants can be saved. The 
 same power that produces this change in some, 
 can produce it in all ; and therefore I am wil- 
 ling to believe, till the scripture forbids me, 
 that infants, of all nations and kindreds, with- 
 out exception, who die before they are capable 
 of sinning after the similitude of Adam’s trans- 
 gression, who have done nothing in the body 
 of which they can give an account, are includ- 
 ed in the election of grace. They are born 
 for a better world than this; they just enter 
 this state of tribulation ; they quickly pass 
 through it; their robes are washed white in 
 the blood of the Lamb, and they are admit 
 ted, for his sake, before the throne. Should 
 I be asked to draw the line, to assign the age 
 at which children begin to be accountable for 
 actual sin, it would give me no pain to con- 
 fess my ignorance. — The Lord knoweth. 
 
 2. A people hidden among the most de- 
 generate communities, civil or ecclesiastical, 
 that bear the name of Christian ; where igno- 
 rance and superstition, or errors, which, though 
 more refined, are no less contrary to the gos- 
 pel, have a prevailing dominion and influence. 
 What can be more deplorable, in the view of 
 an enlightened and benevolent mind, than the 
 general state of the Roman and Greek 
 churches ! where the traditions, inventions, 
 and doctrines of men, a train of pompous and 
 burdensome ceremonies, a dependence upon 
 masses, penance, and pilgrimages, upon le- 
 gends and fictitious saints, form the principal 
 features of the public religion. Many nations 
 are involved in this gross darkness, but they 
 are not wholly destitute of the scripture ; 
 some portions of it are interwoven with their 
 authorized forms of worship ; and we cannot 
 with reason doubt but a succession of indivi- 
 duals among them have been acquainted with 
 the life and power of true godliness, notwith- 
 standing the disadvantages and prejudices of 
 their education. There are likewise amongst 
 Protestants schemes of doctrine, supported by 
 learning and by numbers, which are not more 
 conformable to the standard of the New' Tes- 
 tament than the grossest errors of Popery; 
 and yet here and there persons may be met 
 with, who, by the agency of the Holy Spirit, 
 enabling them to understand the scriptures, 
 are made wiser than their teachers ; and who, 
 though still fettered by some mistakes and 
 prejudices, give evidence in the main, that 
 their hopes are fixed upon the only atone- 
 ment, that they are redeemed to God, and 
 are partakers of that faith which worketh by 
 love, purifies the heart, and overcometh the 
 world. 
 
 3. I will go one step farther. The infer- 
 ences that have been made by some persons 
 from the apostle Peter’s words, that “ God is 
 no respecter of persons, but in every nation, 
 he that feareth him, and worketh righteous 
 
 809 
 
 ness, Is accepted with him” (Acts x. 34, 35), 
 are, undoubtedly, rash and unscriptural. They 
 would conclude from thence, that it is of little 
 importance what people believe, provided they 
 are sincere in their way ; that the idolatrous 
 Heathens, even the most savage of them, 
 whose devotion is cruelty, who pollute their 
 worship with human blood, and live in the 
 practice of vices disgraceful to humanity, are 
 in a very safe state, because they act, as it is 
 supposed, according to their light. “ But if 
 the light which is in them be darkness, how- 
 great is that darkness!” Such a lax candour 
 as this tends to make the gospel unnecessary ; 
 if they who have it not are therefore excusable, 
 though they neither love nor fear God, and 
 live in open violation of the law of their na- 
 ture. The declaration, that “ Without holi- 
 ness no man shall see the Lord” (Heb. xii. 
 14), holds universally, and without a single 
 exception. But if we suppose a Heathen, 
 destitute of the means of grace, by w-hich con- 
 version is usually wrought, to be brought to a 
 sense of his misery, of the emptiness and va- 
 nity of worldly things, to a conviction that he 
 cannot be happy without the favour of the 
 great Lord of the world, to a feeling of guilt, 
 and a desire of mercy ; and that though he 
 has no explicit knowledge of a Saviour, he di- 
 rects the cry of his heart to the unknown Su - 
 preme to this purport, “ JSns entium, miserere 
 inei, Father and source of beings, have mercy 
 upon me !” — who will prove that such views 
 and desires can arise in the heart of a sinner, 
 without the energy of that Spirit which Jesus 
 is exalted to bestow ? Who will take upon him 
 to say, that Lis blood has not sufficient effica- 
 cy to redeem to God a sinner who is thus dis- 
 posed, though he has never heard of his name? 
 Or who has a warrant to affirm, that the sup- 
 position I have made is, in the nature of things, 
 impossible to be realized ? But I stop — I do 
 not often amuse you with conjecture. And 
 though for want of express warrant from scrip- 
 ture, I dare not give the sentiments I have 
 now offered a stronger name than probable, oi 
 conjectural, I hope I do not propose them for 
 your amusement. They will prove to your 
 advantage and my own, if they are helpful to 
 guard us against a narrow, harsh, and dogma- 
 tical spirit; and if, without abating our re- 
 verend submission to the revealed will of God, 
 they have a tendency to confirm our views of 
 his goodness, and the power and compassions 
 of the great Redeemer. 
 
810 
 
 SER. XLIX 
 
 THE CHORUS 
 
 SERMON XLIX. 
 
 THE CHORUS OF ANGELS. 
 
 Worthy is the Lamb that was slain , to receive 
 power , and riches , and wisdom , and strength , 
 ond honour , mid glory, and blessing ! Rev. 
 v. 12. 
 
 It was a good report which the queen of She- 
 ba heard, in her own land, of the wisdom and 
 glory of Solomon. It lessened her attach- 
 ment to home, and prompted her to undertake 
 a long journey to visit this greater king, of 
 whom she had heard so much. She went, 
 and she w r as not disappointed. Great as the 
 expectations w'ere which she had formed from 
 the relation made her by others, they fell short 
 of what she saw and heard herself, when she 
 was admitted into his presence. Good, like- 
 wise, is the report of the gospel. It has a 
 powerful effect upon those w'ho receive it by 
 faith. It is abundantly sufficient to convince 
 them of the comparative insignificance of all 
 that they most admired and esteemed in this 
 world. From that hour they become strangers 
 and pilgrims upon earth. They set out, in 
 the way which God has prescribed, in hopes 
 of seeing him who is greater than Solomon ; 
 and the report they have heard of him is their 
 subject, their song, and their joy, while they 
 are on their journey, and their great support, 
 under the difficulties they meet with on the 
 road. What then will it be to see him as he 
 is? As yet, the one half is not told them. Or 
 at least they are not yet capable of conceiving 
 the half, or the thousandth part, of what they 
 read in the scripture, concerning his wisdom, 
 his glory, and his grace. We weaken, rather 
 than enlarge, the sense of 6uch a passage as 
 this, by our feeble comments. We must die 
 before we can understand it. To the bulk of 
 mankind, “ Wait the great teacher death,” is 
 cold, is dangerous advice. If they are not 
 taught by the gospel while they live, the teach- 
 ing of death will be too late. Dreadful will 
 be the condition of those who cannot be con- 
 vinced of their mistakes, till repentance and 
 amendment will be impracticable. But death 
 will be a great teacher, indeed, to a believer ; 
 he will then know more by a glance, and in a 
 moment, of the happiness he is now expect- 
 ing, than by all he could collect from the in- 
 quiry and experience of a long course of years, 
 in this world. 
 
 '1 he scenery of this chapter, if attentively 
 considered, is sufficient to snatch our thoughts 
 from the little concernments of time, and to 
 give us some anticipation of the employments 
 and enjoyments of heaven. Come, all ye that 
 are wearied and burdened with afflictions and 
 temptations, look up, and for a while, at least, 
 forget your sorrows ! The Lamb is upon his 
 
 OF ANGELS. 
 
 i throne, surrounded by a multitude of his re- 
 deemed people, who once were afflicted and 
 burdened like yourselves ; but now all tears 
 are wiped from their eyes. They have a song 
 peculiarly their own, and are represented as 
 taking the first and leading part in worship 
 and praise. The angels cannot sing their 
 song, they were not redeemed to God by his 
 blood ; but they are interested in the subject. 
 Their highest views of the manifold wisdom 
 of God are derived from the wonders of re- 
 demption. Therefore they join in the chorus, 
 “ Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to re- 
 ceive power, and riches, and wisdom, and 
 strength, and honour, and glory, and bless- 
 ing.” If you have a humble hope of bearing 
 a part in this immortal song, will you hang 
 down your heads like a bulrush, because you 
 have the honour of following your Lord 
 through many tribulations to his kingdom ? 
 
 The number of the angels is expressed in- 
 definitely, ten thousand times ten thousand, 
 and thousands of thousands ; myriads, and 
 millions; to intimate to us, that, Avith respect 
 to our capacities and conceptions, they are 
 innumerable. Their number is known to him 
 who telleth the number of the stars and calleth 
 them all by their names (Ps. cxlvii. 4), and to 
 him only. The scripture intimates a diver- 
 sity of ranks and orders among them, Thrones, 
 dominions, principalities, and powers ; but as 
 to particulars, there is little said that might 
 gratify our curiosity. It is enough for us to 
 know, that the highest of them, and that all 
 of them, worship him who is clothed in our 
 nature. My text expressly informs us, that 
 the object of their worship is the Lamb that 
 was slain. Not that the humanity of Christ, 
 which is but a creature, is simply and formally, 
 the object of their worship ; but they worship 
 him who has assumed the human nature into 
 personal union with himself ; God manifest in 
 the flesh, God in Christ. Though the world 
 censure or despise us for honouring the Son 
 as we honour the Father (John v. 23), we 
 have here a good precedent, as we have in 
 many places of scripture, the warrant of an 
 express command. Whether men are pleased 
 or not, we will, we must, worship the Lamb 
 that was slain. To animate our devotion, let 
 us thankfully consider, Why he was slain, and 
 How he was slain. 
 
 I. Why he was slain. — The redeemed say, 
 For us. “ He loved us, and washed us from 
 our sins in his own blood,” Rev. i. 5. They 
 were sinners and enemies ; they were slaves to 
 sin and Satan; yet he loved them, and died 
 to redeem them. It is by virtue of his blood 
 and death that they are now before the throne. 
 Nothing less than his death could have made 
 them duly sensible of their misery, nothing 
 less could have relieved them from it. He 
 was lifted up upon the cross, that by the pow- 
 erful magnetism of his dying love, he might, 
 in the hour of his grace, draw their hearts to 
 
SER. XL IX. 
 
 THE CHORUS 
 
 nimself, John xii. 32. This was the design, 
 tins was the effect of his sufferings. A cruci- 
 fied Saviour, though a stumbling-block to the 
 self-righteous, and foolishness to vain reasoners, 
 was to them the power and the wisdom of God 
 for salvation. They looked unto him, and 
 were enlightened ; they trusted in him, and 
 were not ashamed. By faith in his name, 
 they obtained peace with God, they renounced 
 the ways of sin, they warred the good warfare, 
 they overcame the world, and were at length 
 made more than conquerors. For his sake 
 they endured the cross, and despised the 
 shame. They met with bad treatment from 
 the world, but it was from the world that cru- 
 cified him. While they were here their cha- 
 racters were obscured by their own imperfec- 
 tions, and by the misrepresentations and re- 
 proaches of their enemies. But now their re- 
 proach is removed, and they shine, each one 
 like the sun, in the kingdom of their Father, 
 Matth. xiii. 43. What an immense constel- 
 lation of suns! This their full salvation was 
 the joy set before him, for the sake of which 
 he became obedient unto death, even the death 
 of the cross. And now they see him as he is, 
 they ascribe all their victories and honours to 
 him, and unite in one song of endless praise 
 to the Lamb that was slain. 
 
 II. Their praises are heightened, when they 
 consider, How he was slain. He did not die 
 a natural death. He was slain. Nor did he 
 fall like a hero, by an honourable wound in 
 the field of battle. The impression which the 
 death of the late General Wolfe made upon 
 the public, is not yet quite forgotten. He 
 conquered for us, but it cost him his life. But 
 he died honourably, and was lamented by his 
 country. Not so the Lamb of God. He 
 died the death of a slave, of a malefactor. 
 Cruelty, malice, and contempt, combined to 
 give his sufferings every possible aggravation. 
 And after he was slain, very few laid it to 
 heart. The world went on as it did before, 
 as though nothing extraordinary had happen- 
 ed. But on this dark ground the perfections 
 of God were displayed in their fullest lustre ; 
 and they are the perfections of the great Re- 
 deemer, and therefore distinctly ascribed to 
 him by the angels in the words which follow — 
 
 “ Power, and wisdom, and riches, and strength, 
 and honour, and glory, and blessing.” 
 
 Though each of these words have a distinct 
 sense, a nicety in defining them, and stating 
 their precise meaning is of less importance 
 than to feel the combined efficacy of them all, 
 to impress our hearts with sentiments of reve- 
 rence, confidence and love. The fulness of 
 expression may teach us, that every kind of 
 excellence is the indubitable right and posses- 
 sion of the Lamb that was slain. He is wor- 
 thy to have them all attributed to him in the 
 most absolute sense, and consequently worthy 
 of our adoration, dependence, and praise. 
 
 1 Power. — It is spoken once, yea twice we 
 
 OF ANGELS. 811 
 
 have heard the same, that power belongeth 
 unto God, Ps. Ixii. 11. It belongeth to him 
 eminently and exclusively. All the power of 
 creatures is derived from him. Such is the 
 power of the Lamb. He styles himself o 
 navrojtgxMjg, the Omnipotent, the Upholder 
 and Possessor of all things, Rev. i. 8, 11. He 
 exerciseth this power in the human nature, 
 Matth. xxviii. 18. He doeth what he pleas- 
 eth in the armies of heaven, and among the 
 inhabitants of the earth (Dan. iv. 35); and 
 none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What 
 doest thou ? He has, therefore, all sufficiency, 
 and uncontroulable authority, for the dis- 
 charge of his office, as the Mediator and head 
 of his church. The divine perfections, being 
 infinite, are not distinct in themselves, though 
 the scripture, in condescension to our weak- 
 ness, authorizes us to speak of them as dis- 
 tinguishable. God is one. And the power 
 which can preserve and govern the world, in- 
 volves in the idea of it every other excellence, 
 which are separately mentioned in this pas- 
 sage. 
 
 2. Wisdom. — He is the only wise God, and 
 our Saviour, Jude 25. His knowledge is per- 
 fect, his plan is perfect. In himself he is essen- 
 tially the wisdom of God (Prov. vrii. 22), and 
 he is our wisdom, 1 Cor. i. 30. It is life eternal 
 to know the only true God (John xvii. 3), and 
 therefore it is life eternal to know Jesus 
 Christ whom he hath sent. For he is the on- 
 ly way, and the only door to this knowledge; 
 no one can come unto God, or attain to any 
 just conceptions of him, but in and by the Son 
 of his love, who so perfectly represents God 
 to us, is so completely the brightness of his 
 glory, and the express image cf his person, 
 that whoso hath seen him, hath seen the Fa- 
 ther, John xiv. 9. By him is opened to us 
 the unsearchable wisdom of the divine coun- 
 sels, particularly in the great work of redemp 
 tion. “ No one hath seen God at any time ; 
 the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of 
 the Father, he hath revealed him,” John i. 
 18; John xv. 15. It is by wisdom commu- 
 nicated from him, that his people are made 
 wise unto salvation. Though there are few 
 scholars and philosophers among them, and 
 many of them are despised for their ignorance 
 and weakness, yet in truth they have all a 
 good understanding, for they know the Lord 
 and his will ; they know wherein their proper 
 happiness consists, and how it is to be obtain- 
 ed. They are instructed how to walk and to 
 please God, how to bear afflictions with pa- 
 tience, and to meet death with composure. 
 This wisdom is far superior to that of the 
 schools. But he bestows and maintains it. 
 The eyes of their mind are opened, and they 
 see by his light; but they have no light of 
 their own, or in themselves. They wait upon 
 him for direction in every difficulty, for the 
 solution of every hard question which per- 
 plexes their spirits ; and he makes the crooked 
 
THE CHORUS OF ANGELS. 
 
 SER. XLIX. 
 
 812 
 
 straight, teaches them to avoid the snares that i 
 are laid for them, or extricates them when en- 
 tangled. Therefore in time, and to eternity, 
 they will admire and adore his wisdom. 
 
 3. Riches. — All the stores of mercy, grace, 
 and comfort, are in him, as light in the sun, 
 or water in the ocean. The apostle, speak- 
 ing of the unsearchable riches of Christ (Eph. 
 iii. 8), gives us the idea of a mine, the height, i 
 length, depth, and breadth of which cannot be ! 
 investigated, nor the immense wealth it con- 
 tains exhausted. Of this fulness the poor are j 
 invited to receive freely, and multitudes from j 
 age to age have been enriched, and the treasure 
 is still undiminished. None are sent away j 
 empty ; and when all have been supplied, it j 
 will be full as at first. 
 
 4. Strength. — That energy and efficacy of 
 his power, by which he accomplishes his holy | 
 purposes. Who can conceive of this ? How ' 
 just is the psalmist’s reasoning, “ He that J 
 formed the eye, shall not he see ? He that 
 planted the ear, shall not he hear ?” Ps. xciv. 
 9. So we may say, How strong is he from 
 whom all created strength is derived, and be- 
 fore whom the strength of all creatures, if col- 
 lected into one effort, would be as chaff be- 
 fore the whirlwind ! The Lord of all power 
 and might speaks, and it is done ; he com- 
 mandeth, and it standeth fast. Though the i 
 waves of the stormy sea toss themselves, they , 
 cannot prevail (Ps. xciii. 3, 4); he checks 
 them in the height of their rage, setting ; 
 bounds to their violence which they cannot 
 pass, saying, “ Hitherto shalt thou come and 
 no farther, and here shall thy proud billows 
 be stayed,” Job xxxviii. 10, 11. With equal 
 sovereignty, certainty, and ease, he rules over 
 moral agents. He formed the heart of man, 
 and he can fill it with terror or with comfort 
 in a moment, in any assignable circumstances. 
 He can make it happy in a dungeon (Acts 
 xvi. 25), or impress it. with dismay and de- 
 spair upon a throne, Dan. v. 5, 6. All hearts 
 are thus incessantly under his influence. And 
 the hedge of his promise and protection sur. 
 rounds those who trust in him, as with moun- 
 tains, and walls of brass and fire, impenetrable 
 to the assaults of the powers of darkness, un- 
 less so far as he, for wise and holy ends, is 
 pleased to give permission. With the arm of 
 his strength he upholdeth them that are fall- 
 ing, and raiseth up them that are bowed down 
 (Ps. cxlv. 14), and is, in one and the same in- 
 stant, a present and immediate help in trouble 
 to all who call upon him, Ps. xlvi. 1. There- 
 fore they that abide under his shadow are 
 safe ; they pass unhurt through floods and 
 flames, because their Redeemer is strong. 
 And when, in defiance of all their enemies, he 
 has brought them together in his heavenly 
 kingdom, they will, with one consent, ascribe 
 unto the Lord glory and strength. 
 
 5. Honour. — He is the fountain of it. All 
 the honour of his creatures, and of his people, 
 
 is from him ; as the sun beautifies and gilds 
 the objects he shines upon, which, without 
 him, are opaque and obscure. Because his 
 people are precious in his sight, they are hon- 
 ourable. He clothes them with the garments 
 of salvation, covers them with a robe of right- 
 eousness as a bridegroom decketh himself 
 with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself 
 with jewels, Is. lxi. 10. But who can speak 
 of his own inherent honour, as God-man and 
 Mediator! W'e must wait till we see him, 
 without a cloud or vail, receiving the homage 
 and adoration of angels and men. For as 
 yet the one half cannot be told us. Then, 
 however, it will be universally known, that he 
 who possesses the fulness of wisdom and 
 power, riches and strength is worthy to re- 
 ceive all honour. Ah ! how different will he 
 then appear, from that humble form he once 
 assumed, when, for our sakes, he was a man 
 of sorrows, despised, rejected, and nailed to 
 the ignominious cross ! 
 
 6. Glory. — The manifestation of God, that 
 by which he is known and magnified, in the 
 view of finite intelligences : the result, the 
 combined effulgence of his holiness, grace, 
 wisdom, truth, and love : this is his glory, 
 and this glory is revealed and displayed in 
 Christ. He is glorious in his works of crea- 
 tion and providence, but these do not fully ex- 
 hibit his character. But in the Lamb upon 
 the throne his glory shines, full-orbed. And 
 all in heaven, and all in earth, who behold it, 
 take up the song of Moses and the Lamb, 
 “ Who is like unto thee, O Lord ? Who is 
 like unto thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in 
 praises, doing wonders ! — Great and mar- 
 vellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty ! 
 just and true are thy ways, thou King of 
 saints!” Exod. xv. 11 ; Rev. xv. 3. 
 
 7. Blessing. — He is the author of all bless- 
 ings, of all the happiness and good which his 
 people receive, and he is the deserved object 
 of their universal praise. The different senses 
 in which we use the word blessing, taken to- 
 gether, may express that intercourse or com- 
 munion which is between the head and the 
 mystical members of his body. He blesses 
 them effectually with the light of his counte- 
 nance, with liberty, grace, and peace. He 
 blesses them daily. His mercies are renewed 
 to them every morning. He will bless them 
 eternally. Blessed are the people who have 
 this Lord for their God. They can make 
 him no suitable returns, yet in their way they 
 bless him. They admire, adore, and praise 
 him. They call upon all the powers of theii 
 souls to bless him. They proclaim his good- 
 ness, and that he is worthy to receive the as- 
 cription of power, and riches, and wisdom, 
 and strength, and honour, and glory, and 
 blessing. In proportion to their attainments 
 in this delightful exercise of worship, love, 
 and gratitude, they enjoy a heaven upon earth ; 
 and to stand before him continually, to behold 
 
SER. XLIX. 
 
 THE CHORUS OF ANGELS, 
 
 his glory, to live under the unclouded beams 
 of his favour, and to be able to bless and 
 praise him as they ought, without weariness, 
 abatement, interruption, or end, is what they 
 mean when they speak of the heaven they 
 hope for hereafter. Such is the blessedness 
 of those who have already died in the Lord. 
 They see his face, they drink of the rivers of 
 pleasure which are at his right hand, they 
 cast down their crowns before him, and say, 
 thou art worthy — Let us not be slothful 
 (Heb. vi. 12), but followers of them who, 
 through faith and patience, have finished their 
 course, and are entered into the joy of their 
 Lord. 
 
 Of all this glory and honour the scripture 
 declares the Lamb that was slain to be worthy. 
 Wisdom, riches, and strength, are his. His 
 power is infinite, his authority supreme. He 
 is the author and giver of all good. He has 
 life in himself, and he is the life of all that 
 live ; the Lord and Head of the church and 
 of the universe. Can language express, or 
 can heart conceive, a higher ascription and ac- 
 knowledgment than this ? Can all this be due 
 to a creature? to one of a derived and de- 
 pendent character ? Then surely the scripture 
 would have a direct tendency to promote ido- 
 latry. Far be the thought from us! The 
 scripture teaches us the knowledge of the true 
 God, and the worship due to him. There- 
 fore Messiah, the Lamb that was slain, is the 
 true God, the proper and immediate object of 
 the worship of angels and of men. 
 
 Let us therefore take up a lamentation for 
 those who slight the glorious Redeemer, and 
 refuse him the honour due to his name. Their 
 mistake should excite, not our anger or scorn, 
 but our pity and prayers. Are there any such 
 amongst us? Alas, my fellow-sinners, you 
 know not what you do ! Alas ! you know him 
 not, nor do you know yourselves. I am well 
 aware that a thousand arguments of mine will 
 not persuade you ; but I can simply tell you 
 what would soon make you at least desirous 
 of adopting our sentiments upon this subject. 
 If he who has that power over the heart which 
 I have been speaking of, was pleased to give 
 you this moment a sense of the holiness and 
 authority of God, and of your conduct towards 
 him as his creatures, your stongest objections 
 to the high honours we attribute to the Sa- 
 viour would this moment fall to the ground, 
 and you would be immediately convinced, 
 that either Jesus Christ is the true God and 
 eternal life, or that you must perish. You 
 would no longer expect mercy, but in a way 
 perfectly consonant with the righteousness and 
 truth of God, declared in his word, and with 
 the honour and purity of his moral govern- 
 ment. This would lead you to perceive the 
 necessity of an atonement, and the insufficiency 
 of any atonement but that which the Lamb of 
 God has made by the sacrifice of himself (Heb. 
 ix. 26), and that the efficacy even of his me- 
 
 813 
 
 diation depends upon his divine character. 
 The scriptural doctrines of the depravity of 
 man, the malignity of sin, the eternal power 
 and Godhead of the Saviour, the necessity and 
 efficacy of his mediation, and the inevitable, 
 extreme, and endless misery of those who fi- 
 nally reject him, are so closely connected, that 
 if the first be rightly understood, it will open 
 the mind to the reception of the rest. But 
 till the first be known and felt, the import- 
 ance and certainty of the others will be sus- 
 pected, if not openly denied. 
 
 Though the doctrines I have enumerated 
 are, in these sceptical days, too generally dis- 
 puted and contradicted, I am fully confident 
 that it is impossible to demonstrate them to 
 be false. Upon the lowest supposition, there- 
 fore, they possibly may be true ; and the 
 consequences depending upon them, if they 
 should be found true at last, are so vastly mo- 
 mentous, that even the perad venture, the pos- 
 sibility of their truth, renders them deserving 
 of your most serious consideration. Trifle 
 with yourselves no longer. If they be truths, 
 they are the truths of God. Upon the same 
 authority stands the truth of that gracious pro- 
 mise, that he will give his Holy Spirit to them 
 that ask him. Let me entreat you to make 
 the experiment. This is the proper point to 
 begin with. Instead of indulging reasonings 
 and speculations, humble yourselves before the 
 Lord, and pray for the light and influence 
 which he has said he will afford to them who 
 are willing to be taught. Read the scripture 
 with deliberation, and do not labour to fortify 
 yourselves against conviction. Break off from 
 those practices, which your own consciences 
 admonish you cannot be pleasing to him who 
 is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity. Then 
 shall you know if you will sincerely follow on 
 to know the Lord, Hos. vi. 3. But if not, 
 if you will, in a spirit of levity, presume to 
 decide upon points which you will not allow 
 yourselves seriously to examine, should you at 
 last perish in your obstinacy and unbelief, 
 your ruin will be of yourselves. You have 
 been faithfully warned, and we shall be clear 
 of your blood. 
 
 SERMON L. 
 
 THE UNIVERSAL CHORUS. 
 
 {And every creature which is in heaven , and on 
 the earth , and under the earth , and such as 
 are in the sea , and all that are in them, 
 heard 7, saying). Blessing, and honour, and 
 glory, and power, be unto him that silteth 
 upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever 
 and ever ! Rev. v. 13. 
 
 Men have generally agreed to dignify theii 
 presumptuous and arrogant disquisitions on 
 the works and ways of God with the name of 
 
814 
 
 THE UNIVERSAL CHORUS. ser. L. 
 
 wisdom, though the principles upon which 
 they proceed, and the conclusions which they 
 draw from them, are for the most part evident 
 proofs of their depravity and folly. Instead 
 of admiring the effects of his wisdom and 
 power in the creation, they have rashly en- 
 deavoured to investigate the manner of its 
 production. A variety of hypotheses have 
 been invented to account for the formation of 
 the world, and to state the laws by which the 
 frame of nature is governed ; and these dif- 
 ferent and inconsistent accounts have been de- 
 fended with a magisterial tone of certainty, 
 and an air of demonstration, by their respec- 
 tive authors, as though they had been bystand- 
 ers and spectators when God spoke all things 
 into being, and produced order out of confu- 
 sion by the word of his power. They have, 
 however, been much more successful in shew- 
 ing the absurdity of the schemes proposed by 
 others, than in reconciling their own to the 
 sober dictates of plain common sense. 
 
 But if, by indulging their speculations on the 
 creation of the world, the causes of the deluge, 
 and similar subjects, their employment has 
 been no better than weaving spiders webs, the 
 result of their reasoning on morals has been 
 much worse. Here they have with much in- 
 dustry hatched cockatrice-eggs (Is. lix. 5) ; 
 and their labours have been not only fallaci- 
 ous, but mischievous. Their metaphysical re- 
 searches, while they refuse the guidance of re- 
 velation, if pursued to their just consequences, 
 will always lead into the labyrinths of scep- 
 ticism, weaken the sense of moral obligation, 
 rob the mind of the most powerful motives of 
 right conduct, and of the only consolations 
 which can afford it solid support in an hour of 
 trouble. One insuperable difficulty which 
 they will undertake to solve, though it does 
 not properly lie in their way, is concerning 
 the origin of evil. That evil is in the world, 
 is felt and confessed universally. The gospel 
 points out an effectual method of deliverance 
 from it ; but alas, the simple and infallible re- 
 medy is neglected, and men weary themselves 
 with vain inquiries, 
 
 And find no end, in wandering mazes lost 
 
 The more they reason, the more they involve 
 themselves in uncertainty and error, till at 
 last they make lies their refuge, and adopt, 
 with implicit credulity, as so many undoubted 
 axioms, opinions, which are equally dishon- 
 ourable to God, and contradictory to truth 
 and experience, 2 Thess. ii. 11. Thus much 
 is certain, that by the occasion of evil, the 
 character of God is manifested with superior 
 glory to the view of angels and men, who are 
 in a stare of holiness and allegiance, and a 
 higher accent is thereby given to their praises ; 
 for now his justice and his mercy, which could 
 not have been otherwise known, are revealed 
 in the strongest light ; and the redemption of 
 
 sinners affords the brightest display of his wis- 
 dom and love. 
 
 The redeemed are represented as taking the 
 first part in this sublime song, verses 8 — 10. 
 The angels join in the chorus, verses 11, 12, 
 which now becomes universal. All the an- 
 gels, all the saints upon the earth, in the state 
 of the dead, or hades , whether their bodies are 
 buried under the earth, or in the sea, with one 
 heart, aim, and voice, unite in worship and 
 praise. In the preceding verse, Blessing, and 
 honour, and glory, and power, are ascribed 
 unto the Lamb ; but here the ascription is 
 unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and 
 unto the Lamb. I shall not add to what I 
 have already observed to you from the words 
 of the doxology. A few remarks, which offer 
 from this verse taken in connection with the 
 former, will bring me to a conclusion of the 
 whole subject. And oh ! for a coal of fire 
 from the heavenly altar to warm your hearts 
 and mine, that our love, joy, and gratitude 
 may be awakened into lively exercise, and 
 that the close of our meditations on the Mes- 
 siah may leave us deeply impressed with de- 
 sires and well-grounded hopes of meeting ere 
 long before the throne, to join with the angels 
 and the redeemed in singing the praise of God 
 and the Lamb ! 
 
 I. The Lord Jesus is not only the Head of 
 the church redeemed from among men, but 
 of the whole intelligent creation that is in 
 willing subjection to God. It belonged to 
 his great design to gather together in one 
 (to reduce under one head, as the Greek ex- 
 pression is), even in himself, all things tha. 
 are in heaven and upon earth, Eph. i. 10. He 
 is the Lord and the life both of angels and of 
 men. Mutability and dependence are essen- 
 tial to the state of creatures, however exalted ; 
 and the angels in glory owe their preservation 
 and confirmation in holiness and happiness to 
 him. Hence they are styled the elect angels 
 (1 Tim. v. 21), in distinction from those who 
 left their first habitation, and sunk into sin 
 and misery. Angels therefore constitute a 
 branch of that great family which is named of 
 him in heaven and earth. And having made 
 peace by the blood of his cross, he has effected 
 a reconciliation, not only between God and 
 sinners, but also between angels and men. 
 How those inhabitants of light are disposed 
 to sinful men, considered as sinful, we may 
 learn from many passages of scripture. They 
 are devoted to God, filled with zeal for his 
 honour, and wait but for his command to ex- 
 ecute vengence upon his enemies. When 
 Herod, infatuated by his pride, and by the 
 flattery of the multitude, received their idola- 
 trous compliment with complacence, an angel 
 of the Lord smote him, because he gave not 
 God the glory, Acts xii. 23. The pestilence 
 which destroyed the people towards the end 
 of David’s reign, was under the direction of 
 an angel (2 Sam. xxiv. 16, 17), and David 
 
SER. L. 
 
 THE UNIVERSAL CHORUS. 
 
 saw him with his arm stretched out against 
 Jerusalem. And in this prophecy angels are 
 spoken of as employed in pouring forth the 
 vials of wrath upon the earth. And still they 
 are ready, we may believe, to avenge their 
 Maker’s cause upon the wicked when they are 
 commissioned. And if the history of modern 
 times was written by an inspired pen and 
 events, as in the scriptures, were assigned to 
 their proper causes, perhaps the death of many 
 a haughty worm would be recorded in words 
 to this effect — “ And an angel of the Lord 
 smote him, because he gave not God the 
 glory.” Rut, viewing sinners as the subjects 
 of redemption, the angels copy from their 
 Lord. They regard them with benevolence, 
 and rejoice over every one that repenteth, Heb. 
 i. 14. They willingly attend on them, and 
 assist them, in ways beyond our conception. 
 They esteem believers in Jesus as their fellow- 
 servants, Rev. xxii. 9. We have reason to 
 think, that they are present in our worship- 
 ping assemblies ; and perhaps, always so pre- 
 sent, that they could discover themselves to us 
 in a moment, were it consistent with the rules 
 of the divine government established in this 
 lower world, suited to the state of those who 
 are to walk by faith, not by sight. Thus far 
 however differing in other respects, the angels 
 and the redeemed are united and related in 
 one common head, and have fellowship in 
 worship and service. When sinners are en- 
 abled by grace to renounce this world, they 
 are admitted to an honourable alliance with a 
 better. 
 
 II. From hence we may form some judg- 
 ment of the true nature and high honour of 
 that spiritual worship, which is the privilege 
 and glory of the church of God under the 
 gospel-dispensation. When we meet in the 
 name of Jesus, as his people, and with a due 
 observance of his institutions, we come to the 
 innumerable company of angels, and to the 
 general assembly and church of the first born 
 (Heb. xii. 22, 23), the first born ones (for the 
 expression is plural). We draw nigh by faith, 
 to the very gate of heaven, to the holiest of 
 all. Men unacquainted with spirituality, are 
 soon weary even of the form of worship, un- 
 ess their minds are amused by a splendid ce- 
 remonial. The first rise and subsequent in- 
 crease of that pomp and pageantry, which in 
 some countries has quite obscured the simpli- 
 city and beauty of gospel-worship, is to be as- 
 cribed to this indisposition of the human mind. 
 Our thoughts while we are in a natural state, 
 are too weak and wavering, and too gross to 
 be pleased with a worship, in which there is 
 nothing suited to affect the imagination by 
 sensible objects. And therefore, when men 
 think themselves wise, and profess to despise 
 the pageantry which captivates the vulgar, 
 their wisdom affords them no real advantage, 
 if they have nothing better to substitute in the 
 room of what they reject as insignificant. The 
 
 816 
 
 very appearance of devotion will languish, 
 they will grow remiss, and neglect the sabbath 
 and public assemblies, for want of something 
 to keep up their attention. We have abun- 
 dant proof of this in our own land, and at 
 this time. Protestants pride themselves in 
 not being Papists, but, when the Protestant 
 religion is understood to mean no more than 
 a renunciation of the superstitious ceremonies 
 of the church of Rome, it is, with respect to 
 individuals, little, if at all, better than Popery 
 itself. Among us enlightened Protestants, no 
 expedient but preaching the gospel of Christ 
 will be found sufficient to retain people in a 
 stated observance of the Lord’s day. But 
 true believers, who understand and love the 
 gospel, do indeed draw nigh to God ; and 
 they account a day in his courts better than a 
 thousand (Ps. lxxxiv. 10), because they can 
 take a part in the songs of heaven, and in 
 spirit and in truth, worship him that sitteth 
 upon the throne, and the Lamb who redeem- 
 ed them to God by his blood. They know 
 by happy experience, that his promise, to be 
 in the midst of those who assemble in his 
 name, is truth. Their worship is not a mere 
 bodily service, a lifeless form, a round of ob- 
 servances, which neither warm the heart, nor 
 influence the conduct ; but they are instructed, 
 comforted, and strengthened, by waiting upon 
 God. Their spiritual senses are exercised ; 
 they behold his glory in the glass of the gos- 
 pel, they hear his voice, they feel an impres- 
 sion of his power and presence, they taste his 
 goodness, and the virtue of that name, which 
 is as ointment poured forth, perfujnes their 
 tempers and conversation. 
 
 III. Though the Lamb is worthy of all 
 blessing, and honour, and glory, and power; 
 there is a distinct ascription of praise to Him 
 that sitteth upon the throne. 
 
 The scripture, which alone can teach us to 
 form right conceptions of God, and to worship 
 him acceptably, guides us in a medium, be- 
 tween opposite errors and mistakes. Too 
 many persons, ignorant of their own state as 
 sinners, and of the awful majesty and holiness 
 of the Most High, presume to think of him, 
 to speak of him, and in their way, to speak to 
 him, without being aware of the necessity of a 
 Mediator. But they who are without Christ, 
 who is the only door and way to the Father 
 are without God, atheists in the world, Eph. 
 ii. 12. There is a mistake likewise on the 
 other hand, when, though the Deity of the 
 Saviour be acknowledged, yet what we are 
 taught of the ineffable distinction in the God- 
 head, is not duly attended to. It is written, 
 “ In the beginning, — the Word was God, 
 John i. 1. It is likewise written, “ The Word 
 was with God.” This latter expression un- 
 doubtedly has a meaning, which though per- 
 fectly consistent, is not coincident with the 
 former. The truth contained in it is propos- 
 ed, not to our curiosity as a subject of specu 
 
SER. L 
 
 THE UNIVERSAL CHORUS. 
 
 816 c 
 
 lation, but to our faith. I do not attempt to 
 explain it. But, what God expressly declares, 
 we are bound, upon the principles of right 
 reason, to believe. For he is Truth, and can- 
 not deceive us. . “ There are three that bear 
 record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and 
 the Holy Ghost,” 1 John v. 7. These three 
 are frequently spoken of in the scripture — to 
 each of them a distinct part in the economy of 
 salvation is ascribed ; to each of them the per- 
 fections and honours of Deity are attributed. 
 Yet there are not three Gods, but one. Con- 
 sequently these three are one God. This 
 doctrine may be above our comprehension, but 
 cannot be contrary to our reason, if it be con- 
 tained in a revelation from God. If it be 
 simply received upon the authority of the re- 
 vealer, it approves itself to be true, for it is 
 found to be a key to the whole scripture, 
 which renders the general sense and scope 
 everywhere consistent and plain. They who 
 proudly reject it, and yet admit the Bible to 
 be a divine revelation, are involved in difficul- 
 ties from which all their sagacity and learning 
 cannot free them. In vain they labour by 
 singular interpretations, by the minutiae of 
 criticism, and by an appeal to various readings 
 and ancient versions, which, in a few passages, 
 differ from the copies more generally received 
 — in vain they endeavour by these refinements, 
 to relieve themselves, when pressed by the ob- 
 vious and natural sense of a thousand texts, 
 which confirm the faith and hope of plain 
 Christians. The gospel is designed for the 
 poor. But the poor and unlearned would be 
 at a great disadvantage, if the scripture could 
 not be rightly understood without the assistance 
 of such learning and such criticism as we often 
 see pressed into the service. But the Holy 
 Spirit graciously leads those who pray for his 
 teaching, into such views of this high subject 
 as are sufficient to comfort their hearts, and to 
 animate their obedience. The faith of those 
 who are taught of God, is exercised in their 
 approaches to him, under two different modi- 
 fications. Both are scriptural, and therefore 
 both are safe, and witnessed to by his gracious 
 acceptance and blessing. 
 
 1. They come to God by Christ. They 
 have access through him, Eph. ii. 18. Un- 
 worthy to speak for themselves, they bow their 
 knees in his name, Phil. ii. 10. Christians 
 are sufficiently distinguished and described by 
 saying, They come to God by him, Heb. vii. 
 25. They come to God, they cannot live 
 without him in the world, as they once did. 
 They are now conscious of wants and desires, 
 which only God can satisfy ; but they are con- 
 scious likewise that they are sinners, and there- 
 fore they durst not approach him, if they had 
 not the invitation of his promise, and an as- 
 surance of an Advocate with the Father, 1 John 
 ii. 2. 
 
 2. They come to God in Christ. He is 
 
 the great Temple, in whom all fulness dwells 
 (Col. i. 19; ii. 9): and they are not afraid 
 of idolatry, when they worship and honour 
 the Son even as the Father. This distinct 
 application to God, in the person of the Son 
 of his love, perhaps becomes more frequent 
 and familiar as they advance in the knowledge 
 of their Lord and Saviour, 2 Peter iii. ] 8. 
 They who seek to him for deliverance from 
 sin and misery, at first, I believe, chiefly consi- 
 der him as the Advocate and High Priest, 
 who, by the virtue of his atonement, and the 
 prevalence of his intercession, is able to save 
 to the uttermost. But when the apostle dis- 
 tributes Christians, according to their growth 
 in grace, into the state of babes, young men, 
 and fathers (1 Johnii. 4), he speaks of a more 
 distinct and appropriate knowledge of him 
 who is from the beginning, as the peculiar pri- 
 vilege and distinguishing attainment of the fa- 
 thers. He speaks of him who is from the be- 
 ginning so often, that we can be at no loss to 
 determine whom he intends by the expression. 
 He applies it to him who was in the beginning 
 with God (John i. l), and whom he arid the 
 other apostles had heard, had seen with their 
 eyes, and touched w’ith their hands, 1 John i 
 1—3. An eminent divine * points out some 
 special seasons in the Christian life, in which 
 he thinks the peculiar pressures of the soul 
 may obtain the most sensible and immediate 
 relief, by direct application to the Saviour. 
 But there are some believers who find them- 
 selves almost continually in one or other of 
 the situations which he marks as occasional. 
 However this may be, I am ready to take it 
 for granted, that they who really and cordially 
 believe the Deity of Christ, do at least at some 
 seasons, and upon some occasions, expressly 
 direct their prayers to him. If precedents be 
 required to warrant this practice, the New 
 Testament will furnish them in abundance. 
 I shall select but a few. The apostle Paul 
 bowed his knees to the God and Father of our 
 Lord Jesus ; but he often prayed to the Lord 
 Jesus. He prayed to him in the temple ( Acts 
 xxii. 17 — 21), and when he obtained that an- 
 swer, “ My grace is sufficient for thee,” 2 Cor. 
 xii. 9. To him the prayer of the apostles and 
 disciples was addressed previous to the lot, 
 which was to determine a successor to Judas, 
 Acts i. 24. And to him Stephen committed 
 his departing spirit (Acts vii. 59), an act of 
 trust and worship of the highest kind, and at 
 the most solemn season. In short, it is a 
 strange inconsistence, if any, who acknow- 
 ledge his Deity, question the propriety of 
 praying to him. What is it, more or less, 
 than to question the propriety of praying to 
 God? 
 
 IV. This solemn worship and praise is re- 
 ferred ultimately to him who sitteth upon the 
 
 * Dr Owen, in his Christologia. 
 
SER. L. 
 
 THE UNIVERSAL CHORUS. 
 
 throne — to the great and glorious God, thus 
 known and manifested in, and by, and with 
 the Lamb that was slain. 
 
 The mediatorial kingdom of Christ will have 
 a period. He will reign as Mediator, till he 
 has subdued all enemies under his feet, and 
 perfected his whole work. Then his kingdom 
 in this sense will cease ; he will deliver it up 
 to the Father, that God may be all in all, 
 1 Cor. xv. 28. This passage is difficult, that 
 is, the subject is too great for our faculties in 
 their present state of imperfection fully to 
 comprehend ; for the difficulties we meet with 
 in scripture are more properly to be ascribed 
 to our ignorance. The Son, as man, is even 
 now subject to the Father ; and God is un- 
 doubtedly all in all, at present, and from ever- 
 lasting to everlasting. But his kingdom here 
 is to be taken figuratively for the subjects of 
 his kingdom, his people, whom he received as 
 a trust and a treasure. These he will deliver 
 up, and the form of his administration and 
 government over them will be changed. They 
 will then have no more sins to confess ; there 
 will be no more dangers requiring the care 
 and tenderness of a Shepherd, no enemies to 
 be controlled, and the ordinances and means 
 of grace, accommodated to their wants and 
 weakness, while in this world, will be no long- 
 er necessary. But Messiah, the Lamb that 
 was slain, will ever be the head and Lord of 
 the creation, the medium of communication of 
 the light and love of God to his people, and 
 God in him, the object of their eternal ado- 
 ration and praise. 
 
 Then the grand, ultimate, final cause of all 
 the manifestations of God will be completely 
 obtained. The glory of the great Creator and 
 Lawgiver, the splendour of all his perfections, 
 will for ever shine, without a vail or cloud, 
 and with a brightness which could not have 
 been known by creatures, had not the entrance 
 of evil given occasion for a display of his wis- 
 dom and love, in over-ruling it to the praise 
 of his glorious grace. 
 
 Thus, according to the measure of my abi- 
 lity and experience, I have endeavoured to 
 point out to you the meaning and importance 
 of the well-chosen series of scriptural passages 
 which are set to music in the Oratorio of the 
 Messish. Great is the Lord Messiah, and 
 greatly to be praised ! I have attempted to 
 set before you a sketch of what the scrip- 
 ture teaches us concerning his person, under- 
 takings, and success, — the misery of those 
 whom he came to save, the happiness to which 
 he raises them, and the wonderful plan and 
 progress of redeeming love. But who is suf- 
 ficient for these things ? Alas ! how small a 
 portion of his ways are we able to trace ! But 
 I would be thankful, that the desire of at- 
 tempting this great subject was put into my 
 heart, and that having obtained help of God, 
 I have been preserved and enabled to finish 
 
 817 
 
 j my design. Imperfect as my execution of it 
 has been, I cannot doubt that the various to- 
 pics I have been led to insist on are the great 
 truths of God. For what is properly my 
 own, the defects and weaknesses which mix 
 with my best services, I entreat his forgiveness, 
 and request your candour. But I do not he- 
 sitate to say, that the substance of what I have 
 advanced deserves and demands your most se- 
 rious attention. 
 
 It is probable, that those of my hearers who 
 admire this Oratorio, and are often present 
 when it is performed, may think me harsh and 
 singular in my opinion, that of all our musi- 
 cal compositions this is the most improper for 
 a public entertainment. But while it con- 
 tinues to be equally acceptable, whether per- 
 formed in a church or in the theatre, and 
 while the greater part of the performers and 
 of the audience are the same at both places, I 
 can rate it no higher than as one of the many 
 fashionable amusements which mark the cha- 
 racter of this age of dissipation. Though the 
 subject be serious and solemn in the highest 
 sense, yea, for that very reason, and though 
 the music is, in a striking manner, adapted to 
 the subject, yet, if the far greater part of the 
 people who frequent the Oratorio, are evi- 
 dently unaffected by the Redeemer’s love, and 
 uninfluenced by his commands, I am afraid it 
 is no better than a profanation of the name 
 and truths of God, a crucifying the Son of 
 God afresh. You must judge for yourselves. 
 If you think differently from me, you will act 
 accordingly. — Yet permit me to hope and to 
 pray, that the next time you hear the Messiah, 
 God may bring something that you have heard 
 in the course of these sermons, nearly con- 
 nected with the peace and welfare of your 
 souls, effectually to your remembrance. 
 
 I would humbly hope, that some persons, 
 who were strangers to the power and grace of 
 Messiah, when I entered upon this service, 
 are now desirous of seeking him with their 
 whole hearts. Yes, I trust I have not la- 
 boured wholly in vain. The gospel is the rod 
 of his strength ( Psal. cx. 2), which, when ac- 
 companied by the power of his Spirit, pro- 
 duces greater effects than the wonder-work- 
 ing rod of Moses. It causes the blind to see, 
 the deaf to hear, and the dead to live. A 
 faithful minister will account a single instance 
 of success a rich recompence for the labour of 
 a life. May this joy be mine ! May the Lord 
 encourage you to go on seeking him ! Then 
 he will surely be found of you. An open 
 door is set before you (Rev. iii. 8), and if you 
 are truly willing to enter, none shall be able 
 to shut it. 
 
 But may I not fear, that I am still speak- 
 ing to others, who, to this hour, have no cor- 
 dial admiring thoughts of the great Saviour ? 
 Alas ! should you die in your present frame 
 of mind ! let me, once more, entreat you to 
 consider what your situation and employment 
 3 N 
 
818 THE UNIVERSAL CHORUS. SER. L. 
 
 will be, when all his redeemed people, and all 
 nis holy angels, shall join in worshipping and 
 praising him, in the great day of his appear- 
 ance. 
 
 Unless you repent, lay down your arms, 
 and submit to his golden sceptre, your doom 
 is already pronounced. Awful are the words 
 of the Lord, by the prophet, and very appli- 
 cable to your case, if (which may his mercy 
 prevent ! ) you should die in your sins. “ There- 
 fore, thus saith the Lord God, behold my ser- 
 vants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry : be- 
 hold, my servants shall drink, but ye shall be 
 thirsty : behold my servants shall rejoice, but 
 
 ye shall be ashamed : behold, my servants 
 shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for 
 sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation 
 of spirit,” Isa. lxv. 13, 14. If the scribes and 
 Pharisees were fdied with envy and grief when 
 the children in the temple sung Hosanna to 
 the Son of David (Matth. xxi. 15), what must 
 be their anguish and remorse, their rage and 
 despair, when the whole creation shall join in 
 his praise ? If your thoughts of him now are 
 like theirs, tremble at your danger ; for un- 
 less you repent, your lot must be with them 
 hereafter. 
 
OCCASIONAL SERMONS. 
 
OCCASIONAL 
 
 SERMONS 
 
 THE SUBJECT AND TEMPER OF THE GOSPEL-MINISTRY; 
 
 A 
 
 SERMON 
 
 PREACHED IN THE 
 
 PARISH CHURCH OF ST. MARY WOOLNOTH, 
 
 ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER, 19 , 1779 . 
 
 WHEN THE AUTHOR ENTERED ON HIS FIRST PUBLIC SERVICE IN THAT CHURCH. 
 
 •Speaking the truth in love. — Ephesians, iv. 15. 
 
 The words in the original have a more com- 
 prehensive sense than in our version, AXniu m- 
 rsi iv ayctirt j. They extend no less to conduct 
 than to speech, and comprise, in one short 
 sentence, that combination of integrity and be- 
 nevolence, which constitute the character of 
 a true Christian. But, as our morning service 
 has been already much prolonged, I mean 
 not to enlarge at present upon this important 
 subject. I propose my text rather as a kind 
 of motto, to introduce a brief account of the 
 feelings, desires, and purposes of my heart, on 
 this my first appearance before you. The in- 
 habitants of these parishes, to whom I more 
 immediately address myself, have a right to be 
 informed, now the providence of God has 
 placed me in this city, and in this church, of 
 the views with which I have undertaken the 
 important trust lately committed to me, and 
 of the manner and spirit in which it is my 
 desire to discharge it. If these inquiries be 
 upon any of your minds, accept my answer in 
 the words I have read : I came, and, by the 
 grace of God, I hope to abide amongst you, 
 “ speaking the truth in love.” 
 
 I should be utterly unworthy your atten- 
 tion, I should deserve your contempt and de- 
 testation, if, under the solemn character of a 
 minister of Jesus Christ, and with a professed 
 regard for his service and the good of souls, I 
 
 should presume to speak any thing amongst 
 you, but what I verily believe in my con- 
 science to be the truth. The apostles were am- 
 bassadors for Christ (2 Cor. v. 24), and we, 
 however inferior in other respects, are so far 
 concerned in this part of their character, as to 
 be equally bound to conform to the instruc- 
 tions of our Lord and Master. The Bible is 
 the grand repository of the truths which it 
 will be the business and the pleasure of my 
 life to set before you. It is the complete 
 system of divine truth, to which nothing can 
 be added, and from which nothing can be 
 taken (Rev. xxii. 18, 19), with impunity. 
 Every attempt to disguise, or soften any 
 branch of this truth, in order to accommodate 
 it to the prevailing taste around us, either to 
 avoid the displeasure, or to court the favour 
 of our fellow-mortals, must be an affront to 
 the majesty of God, and an act of treachery 
 to men. My conscience bears me witness, 
 that I mean to speak the truth among you 
 May the grace of God enable me always to 
 do it. The principal branches of the truth as 
 it is in Jesus, according to St Paul’s expres- 
 sion, are summarily contained in the Articles, 
 which I have just now read and given my 
 solemn assent to in your hearing. These I 
 acknowledge and adopt as a standard of sound 
 doctrine, not merely because they are the Ar 
 
822 THE SUBJECT 
 
 tides of our Church, but because, upon ma- 
 ture and repeated examination, I am persuad- 
 ed they are agreeable to the scriptures. I am 
 to enlarge on the declarations of the scripture 
 and of the Articles concerning the depravity 
 of fallen man, the evil of sin, the method of 
 salvation by grace through faith in our Lord 
 Jesus Christ. I am to bear testimony to the 
 dignity and excellency of the Redeemer’s per- 
 son and characters, the suitableness of his 
 offices, the efficacy of his blood, and obedience 
 to death ori the behalf of sinners, and his glory 
 as Head of the Church, and Lord of heaven 
 and earth. I am to set before you the char- 
 acters, obligations, and privileges of those who 
 believe in his name; and to prove that the 
 doctrines of the grace of God are doctrines 
 according to godliness, which, though they 
 may be abused by men of corrupt minds, have 
 in themselves, when rightly understood, a di- 
 rect and powerful tendency to enforce univer- 
 sal obedience to the commands of God, and 
 to promote the peace and welfare of civil so- 
 ciety. I am likewise to warn all who hear 
 me, of the sin and danger of rejecting the 
 great salvation revealed by the gospel. These 
 will be the subjects of my ministry ; and, if 
 what I shall offer upon these heads be agree- 
 able, not only to the Articles which I have 
 subscribed, but to the scriptures, which we all 
 profess to believe, it must of course be ad- 
 mitted that I shall speak the truth. 
 
 But the cause of truth itself may be dis- 
 credited by improper management ; and there- 
 fore the scripture, which furnishes us with 
 subject-matter for our ministry, and teaches 
 us what we are to say, is equally explicit as 
 to the temper and spirit in which we are to 
 speak. Though I had the knowledge of all 
 mysteries ( 1 Cor. xiii. 1 ), and the tongue of 
 an angel to declare them, I could hope for 
 little acceptance or usefulness, unless I was 
 to speak in love. The gospel is a declaration 
 of the astonishing love of God to mankind ; 
 it exhibits the perfect exemplar of love in the 
 character of him, who, when upon earth in 
 the form of a servant, went about doing good 
 (Acts x. 38), and exerted the most unbound- 
 ed benevolence to all around him. The ser- 
 vant of the Lord, of that meek and merciful 
 Saviour, who wept over his avowed enemies, 
 and prayed for his actual murderers while 
 nailing him to the cross, learns at his Saviour’s 
 feet to bear a cordial love to all mankind. Man, 
 considered as the creature of God, is the 
 noblest and most important of his works in 
 the visible creation, formed by him who ori- 
 ginally made him for himself, with such a 
 vastness of desire, such a capacity for happi- 
 ness, as nothing less than an infinite good can 
 satisfy ; formed to exist in an eternal un- 
 changeable state. And even fallen man, 
 though depraved and perverted, guilty, and, 
 in his present state, obnoxious to eternal mi- 
 sery, is yet capable of being restored to the fa- 
 
 AND TEMPER 
 
 vour of God, and renewed into his image, of 
 serving him here, and being happy with him 
 for ever. Whoever therefore has tasted of the 
 love of Christ, and has known by his own ex- 
 perience the need and the worth of redemp- 
 tion, is enabled, yea he is constrained to love 
 his fellow-creatures. He loves them at first 
 sight : and, if the providence of God commits 
 a dispensation of the gospel and a care of 
 souls to him, he will feel the warmest emo- 
 tions of friendship and tenderness, while he 
 beseeches them by the tender mercies of God 
 (Rom. xii. l), and even while he warns them 
 by his terrors, 2 Cor. v. 11. Surely I durst 
 not address you from this place, if I could 
 not with sincerity, at least, if not with equal 
 warmth, adopt the apostle’s words, and say, 
 “ Being affectionately desirous of you, we are 
 willing to impart unto you, not the gospel of 
 God only, but our own souls also (were it 
 possible), because ye were dear unto us,* 
 
 1 Thess. ii. 8. 
 
 This love which my heart bears, I offer as a 
 plea for that earnestness and importunity 
 which I must use. I came not to amuse you 
 with subjects of opinion or uncertainty, or 
 even with truths of a cold, speculative, unin- 
 teresting nature, which you might receive 
 without benefit, or reject without detriment ; 
 but to speak the truths of God, truths of the 
 utmost importance to the welfare of your souls 
 in time and in eternity. If I love you, there- 
 fore, I cannot be content with delivering my 
 message ; my spirit must, and will be deeply 
 engaged for its success. I cannot be content 
 with the emoluments annexed to my office — 
 I seek not yours, but you (2 Cor. xii. 14); 
 that you may know the love of Christ, which 
 passeth knowledge (Ephes. iii. 19); that you 
 may be delivered from the power of this evil 
 world (Gal. i. 4), and that I and you may at 
 length stand accepted before the throne of 
 God ; in a word, that by a blessing from on 
 high, accompanying my poor labours, I may 
 both save myseif, and them that hear me, 
 1 Tim. iv. 16. These are the aims and ends 
 which I hope always to have in view, and 
 therefore love will prompt me to be faithful 
 and earnest. 
 
 Too often the due reception of the truth is 
 greatly impeded by the cares, the businesses, 
 or the amusements of the world. We find 
 many of our hearers, alas ! too happy, or too 
 much engrossed, to afford us that attention we 
 have a right to claim, considering the weight 
 of our message, and the authority under which 
 we speak. But God, in mercy to the souls of 
 men, frequently suits the appointments of his 
 providence, in subserviency to the purposes 
 of his grace. He prepares for them what 
 they do not desire for themselves, seasons for 
 leisure, retirement, and reflection. This is 
 one gracious design of the various afflictions 
 of human life. When he visits with sickness 
 or pain, crosses and disappointments — when 
 
OF THE GOSPEL MINISTRY. 823 
 
 our cisterns are broken, and our gourds wither 
 — when the desire of our eyes is taken away 
 with a stroke (Ezck. xxiv. 16), or we meet with 
 a thorn or sting, where our fond hearts were ex- 
 pecting only pleasure — then perhaps the truths 
 which were heard with too much indifference 
 in the hour of prosperity, may be more re- 
 garded. My love will prompt me to be al- 
 ways near you, waiting for such seasons, and 
 ready upon the first intimation (for I mean 
 not to intrude myself), to offer my sympathy, 
 my prayers, my best advice. Though I shall 
 have but little time for visits of mere ceremo- 
 ny ; to visit you as a minister, and to assist 
 you to the utmost of my power in making a 
 right improvement of the providences of God, 
 is a service which I shall always owe you 
 from a principle of duty, and which I hope 
 always to be glad to render from a principle of 
 love. 
 
 If the grace of God, without which I can 
 do nothing, should thus enable me to speak 
 the truth in love, may I not hope for your fa- 
 vourable attention ? Would it not imply an 
 unjust reflection upon your candour, to sup- 
 pose that any of you will be angry with one 
 who only wishes to speak the truth in love ? 
 Certainly I can as yet have no particular rea- 
 son to expect an unkind return from any in- 
 dividual among you, because I am a stranger 
 to you all. But the scripture teaches, wdiat 
 experience and observation abundantly con- 
 firm, that the doctrines of divine truth are so 
 mysterious in themselves, and so opposite and 
 nortifying to the opinion mortals are prone to 
 entertain of their own wisdom and goodness, 
 that persons of very amiable characters in com- 
 mon life, are too often amongst the warmest 
 opposers of the ministers who dare faithfully 
 and plainly persevere in speaking the truth. 
 Should I have this trial to meet with from any 
 of you, still I hope to speak the truth in love, 
 and to remember that I am a follower of him 
 
 who only returned kindness for hard usage. 
 I hope to consider, that if any oppose, it is be- 
 cause they know not what they do ; and to 
 bear in mind, that I myself was once a scorn- 
 er and despiser of the gospel which I now 
 preach ; that I stand here as a pattern of the 
 long-suffering of God ; and that having ob- 
 tained mercy myself, I have encouragement, 
 from my own case, to hope that the strongest 
 prejudices may be softened by the power of 
 his grace. 
 
 Let me close with one observation. The 
 transactions of this day, and the consequence 
 of it will not be soon forgotten. They will 
 be registered in the annals of eternity. As 
 surely as we are now’ met together, so surely 
 we must all appear before the judgment-seat 
 of Christ, 2 Cor. v. 10. Then I must give 
 an account of my ministry, and you of the 
 manner in which you received it. If I speak 
 the truth — it is at the peril of my hearers to 
 treat it with contempt, or even with neglect. 
 But I would hope better things, even that the 
 Lord, the Holy Spirit, will prepare our hearts 
 to receive with meekness that engrafted word, 
 which is able to save our souls, James i. 1 1. 
 
 I only add my earnest request for a fre- 
 quent and fervent remembrance in your pray- 
 ers, that the Father of mercies, the God of all 
 wisdom, may so influence my spirit, that no 
 part of my conduct may be unsuitable to what 
 I have at this time professed. That speaking 
 the truth in love, and commending it by a 
 conversation becoming the gospel (Phil. i. 17,', 
 my labours and my life may be acceptable and 
 ^serviceable among you. I trust that I, on my 
 part, shall not cease to pray, that his blessing 
 may rest upon you, upon your persons, your 
 families, and upon all your concerns, and 
 more especially for the welfare and comfort 
 of your souls— that he may gume you by his 
 counsel through this life, and afterwards re 
 ceive you to his glory, Psalm lxxiii. 24. 
 
THE GUILT AND DANGER OF SUCH A NATION AS THIS 
 
 A 
 
 SERMON 
 
 PREACHED IN THE 
 
 PARISH CHURCH OF ST. MARY WOOLNOTH, 
 
 ON WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21 , 1781 . 
 
 THE DAY APPOINTED FOR 
 A 
 
 GENERAL FAST. 
 
 Shall I not visit for these things , saith the Lord ? And shall not my soul be avenged on such a 
 nation as this ? Jeremiah, v. 29. 
 
 Three times (Jer. v. 9 ; ix. 9), the Lord God 
 repeats by his prophet this alarming ques- 
 tion. Their ingratitude and obstinacy were 
 so notorious, their sins so enormous and ag- 
 gravated, the sentence denounced against them, 
 however severe, was so undeniably just, that 
 partial as they were to themselves, God is 
 pleased to appeal to their own consciences, 
 and to make them judges in their own cause ; 
 inviting or rather challenging them to offer any 
 plea, why his forbearance and patience, which 
 they had so long despised, should be still af- 
 forded them. 
 
 But the form of the question will not per- 
 mit us to confine the application to Israel or 
 Judah. The words are not, “ On this nation” 
 particularly, but “ On such a nation as this.” 
 The I -ord, the Governor of the earth, has pro- 
 vided in the history of one nation, a lesson of 
 instruction and warning to every nation under 
 the sun ; and the nearer the state and spirit 
 of any people resemble the state and character 
 of Judah, when Jeremiah prophesied among 
 them, the more reason they have to tremble 
 under the apprehension of the same or similar 
 judgments. 
 
 God brought Israel out of' Egypt with an 
 outstretched arm, divided the Red Sea before 
 them, led them into the wilderness by a cloud 
 and pillar of fire, fed them with manna, and 
 gave them water from the rock. He planted 
 thorn in a good land, and though they often 
 
 sinned and were often punished, they were 
 distinguished by many tokens of his presence 
 and effects of his goodness, above any other 
 nation. In the time of Solomon they posses- 
 sed the height of human prosperity, but they 
 soon rebelled and involved themselves in in- 
 creasing troubles. And, though the efforts 
 and examples of Hezekiah and Josiah produc- 
 ed a temporary reformation, and procured a 
 temporary respite, they went on, upon the 
 whole, from bad to worse, till the measure of 
 their iniquity being filled up, and the season 
 of God’s long-suffering at an end, he directed 
 the march of Nebuchadnezzar against them, 
 who, because he was the appointed instrument 
 of divine vengeance, could not fail of success. 
 The temple and city of Jerusalem were burnt, 
 the land desolated, the greater part of the in- 
 habitants destroyed, and the survivors led cap- 
 tives into a far distant land. 
 
 We likewise are a highly favoured people, 
 and have long enjoyed privileges which excite 
 the admiration and envy of surrounding na- 
 tions; and we are a sinful, ungrateful people : 
 so that when we compare the blessings and 
 mercies we have received from the Lord, with 
 our conduct towards him, it is to be feared we 
 are no less concerned with the question in my 
 text than Israel was of old. This is the point 
 I propose to illustrate, as suitable to the de- 
 sign for which we are at this time professedly 
 assembled. 
 
THE GUILT AND 
 
 Though the occasion will require me to take 
 some notice of our public affairs, I mean not 
 to amuse you with what is usually called a 
 political discourse. The Bible is my system 
 of politics. There I read, that the Lord 
 reigns (Psal. xcvii. l) ; that he doeth what he 
 pleaseth in the armies of heaven, and among 
 the inhabitants of the earth (Dan. iv. 35); 
 that no wisdom, understanding, counsel, or 
 power, can prevail without his blessing (Prov. 
 xi. 30); that as righteousness exalteth a na- 
 tion, so sin is the reproach, and will even to- 
 tally be the ruin of any people, Prov. xiv. 34. 
 From these and other maxims of a like import, 
 I am learning to be still, and to know that he 
 is God. My part, as a minister of the gospel 
 of peace, is not to inflame, but, if possible, to 
 soothe and sweeten the spirits of my hearers ; 
 to withdraw their attention from the instru- 
 mental and apparent causes of the calamities 
 we feel or fear, and to fix it upon sin, as the 
 original and proper cause of every other evil. 
 As a peaceful and a loyal subject, I profess 
 and inculcate obedience to the laws of my 
 country, to which I conceive myself bound by 
 the authority of God’s command, and by gra- 
 titude for the civil and religious liberty I pos- 
 sess. For the rest, political disquisitions, ex- 
 cept immediately connected with scriptural 
 principles, appear to me improper for the pul- 
 pit at all times, and more especially unseason- 
 able and indecent on a day of public humilia- 
 tion. I hope we are now met, not to accuse 
 others, but to confess our own sins — not to 
 justify ourselves, but to plead for mercy. 
 
 May it please God, therefore, by the influ- 
 ence of his Holy Spirit, to impress the con- 
 sciences of all present, and to make us atten- 
 tive to our own immediate concerns, while I 
 endeavour, 
 
 I. Briefly to delineate the state of the na- 
 tion ; or to shew you what a nation this is. 
 
 II. To consider in what manner the right- 
 eous Judge and Governor of the earth might 
 justly avenge himself of such a nation as this. 
 
 III. To enquire, whether there be any 
 hope that such a nation as this, can yet escape 
 the impending ruin with which it is threaten - 
 ed ? and if there be, in what way this mercy 
 is to be sought and expected ? 
 
 I. In order to estimate the state of the na- 
 tion, we must attend to two views, which, 
 when contrasted, illustrate each other, and in 
 their combination constitute our national cha- 
 racter, and discriminate it, not only from that 
 of every nation around us, but from all the 
 Kingdoms recorded in the history of past ages, 
 — I mean our national privileges, and our na- 
 tional sins. 
 
 With regard to the first head, — the peculiar 
 privileges which, by the favour of Divine Pro- 
 vidence, we have enjoyed as a people, I must 
 be brief. A full detail of them would require 
 a volume. Though the island of Great Bri- 
 tain exhibits but a small spot upon a majp of j 
 
 DANGER, &C. 825 
 
 the globe, it makes a splendid appearance in 
 the history of mankind, and has for a long 
 space of time been signally under the protec- 
 tion of God, and the seat of peace, liberty, 
 and truth. When Christendom had groaned 
 for ages under the night of Papal superstition, 
 the first light of Reformation dawned amongst 
 us by the preaching and writings of Wickliff. 
 From that time we have possessed the know- 
 ledge of the gospel, and God has had a suc- 
 cession of witnesses in our land ; they hav.e 
 been at different periods exposed to suffering, 
 and many of them were called to seal their 
 testimony with their blood, but they could 
 neither be intimidated nor extirpated. In 
 Luther’s time, when the pillars of Popery 
 were more publicly and generally shaken, we 
 were among the first who were animated and 
 enabled to shake off the yoke of Rome ; and 
 God has often since remarkably interposed to 
 preserve us from being brought into that bon- 
 dage a second time. The spirit of persecu- 
 tion, under various forms, has again and again 
 attempted to resume its power, but has been 
 as often restrained and defeated. Civil com- 
 motions likewise stand upon record in our an- 
 nals, and our forefathers have felt miseries ot 
 which we can form but a very imperfect idea. 
 But they suffered and struggled for us. The 
 event of every contest and revolution contri- 
 buted gradually to establish that happy basis 
 of government which we call The British Con- 
 stitution i and together with these advances 
 in favour of liberty, an increase of commerce, 
 wealth, and dominion, has been afforded us. 
 From that distinguished aera, the Revolution, 
 and more especially since the accession of the 
 present Royal Family, we have enjoyed such 
 an uninterrupted series of peace and prosperi- 
 ty, as cannot be paralleled in the history of any 
 nation we have heard of, not excepting even 
 that of Israel. I call our peace uninterrupt- 
 ed ; for the efforts of rebellion in the reigns 
 of our two last kings, were so speedily crush- 
 ed, and were productive of so few calamities, 
 except to the unhappy aggressors, that they 
 are chiefly to be noticed as instances of the 
 goodness of the Lord, who, notwithstanding 
 we were then a sinful people, was pleased to 
 fight our battles, and put our enemies to 
 shame. I call it uninterrupted, for though 
 we have been engaged as principals in several 
 foreign wars, and the storm fell with dreadful 
 weight upon other countries, we at home knew 
 little of the war, but from the public prints, 
 which usually, after the first or second year 
 were filled with accounts of the successes and 
 victories which the Lord of hosts (alas, by how 
 few was he acknowledged ! ) gave to our fleets 
 and armies. — When the last war terminat- 
 ed, we were at the height of national honour and 
 power. Our arms were victorious, and our 
 flags triumphant wherever our operations had 
 been directed in the most distant and opposite 
 | parts of the globe. What an accession of cm- 
 
THE GUILT AND DANGER 
 
 826 
 
 pi re and riches did we then acquire, while we 
 were sitting (if I may so speak) under our 
 vines and fig-trees undisturbed ; and while a 
 considerable part of Germany, rather involv- 
 ed, than properly interested in our disputes, 
 was almost desolated by fire and sword ! And 
 notwithstanding our increasing provocations, 
 every succeeding year has afforded signal 
 proofs, that though tlje Lord is displeased 
 with us, he has not yet forsaken us. If in 
 some instances he has justly disappointed our 
 expectations, he has in others appeared no less 
 remarkably in our favour, defeating the de- 
 signs of our enemies, protecting our com- 
 merce, and affording us in general more plen- 
 tiful harvests at home, since the war has ren - 
 dered supplies from abroad more precarious 
 and difficult. Add to our internal peace, 
 wealth and plenty, the inviolable immunity 
 both of persons and property, in which we are 
 preserved by the spirit and administration of 
 our laws ; and that unrestrained liberty which 
 people of all sentiments and denominations 
 possess and exercise, of worshipping God in 
 the way they think most agreeable to his will. 
 Must not a due consideration of these things 
 constrain us to say, He hath not dealt so with 
 any nation ? 
 
 What could the Lord have done more for 
 his vineyard ? Is. v. 4. How could he have laid 
 a people under stronger obligations to his ser- 
 vice? What returns might he not expect from 
 such a nation as this ? But alas ! we have re- 
 quited him evil for good ! Such a nation as this 
 is very imperfectly described by an enumeration 
 of privileges. I have a more painful task now 
 to attend to; I should enumerate (were it 
 possible) our national sins. It is but a sketch 
 I can offer upon this immense and awful sub- 
 ject. But enough is obvious, and at hand, to 
 make us tremble, if we regard the scripture, 
 and do in our hearts believe that there is a 
 God that governs the earth (Psal. lviii. 11), 
 I wish you to keep in mind, as I proceed, the 
 slight view I have given of the favours God 
 has bestowed upon us. The recollection of 
 his mercies is necessary to give a proper sense 
 of the colouring and aggravation of our sins. 
 It is often pleaded, that, sinful as we are, we 
 are not more depraved in morals and practice 
 than the inhabitants of France or Italy, or the 
 other nations of Europe. I much question 
 the truth of this plea. I am afraid that, in 
 some instances at least, we are more corrupt 
 and profligate than any nation now existing. 
 But admitting that France or Italy equal, or 
 even exceed us in open and positive wicked- 
 ness, if they fall short of us in advantages for 
 knowing the will of God, if they are not equal- 
 ly enriched by the bounties of his providence, 
 if he has not so signally appeared on their be- 
 half as he has on ours, their sins, however 
 enormous or numerous, are not attended with 
 equal aggravations ; we must fix upon a na- 
 tion (if such could be found) that is upon a 
 
 par with us in the blessings of gospel-light, of 
 civil and religious liberty, before we can pro- 
 perly form a comparison, or have any just rea- 
 son for supposing that our sins are not greater 
 than theirs. 
 
 The magnitude of our national debt is a 
 frequent topic of conversation. We have in- 
 deed but an indistinct idea of a number not 
 very far short of two hundred millions, yet we 
 can form some conception of it. But our na- 
 tional debt of sin is beyond all the rules and 
 powers of arithmetical computation. The ho- 
 liness, authority, and goodness of God (which 
 are infinite) afford the only proper measures 
 by which to judge of the horrid evil of the sins 
 committed against him. 
 
 The sin of a nation is properly the aggre- 
 gate or sum-total of all the sins committed by 
 every individual residing in that nation. But 
 those may be emphatically called national sins 
 which, by their notoriety, frequency, or cir- 
 cumstances, contribute to mark the character 
 or spirit of one nation, as distinct from an- 
 other. It is to be hoped that some species of 
 sins amongst us have not yet become national. 
 They are rather exotics, not perfectly fami- 
 liarized to the soil, or prevalent in every part 
 of the land. I shall confine myself to a few 
 of the particulars which are more directly cha- 
 racteristic of this nation, and at this time. 
 
 1. The maxims and usage generally preva- 
 lent among a people, if contrary to the rule of 
 God’s word, are national sins. If customary, 
 they are national; if inconsistent, with the 
 precepts of scripture, they must be sinful. A 
 woe is denounced (Isa. v. 20) against those 
 who call evil good, and good evil ; but this 
 dreadful abuse of language, sentiment, and 
 conduct, can only be avoided by making the 
 inspired writings the standard of our judg- 
 ment. In a land that bears the name of Chris- 
 tian, adultery is deemed gallantry ; murder, in 
 some cases, is a point of honour; avarice is 
 prudence ; profuseness wears the mask of ge- 
 nerosity ; and dissipation is considered as inno- 
 cent amusement. On the other hand, meek- 
 ness is accounted meanness of spirit, and grace 
 is branded with the opprobrious names of me- 
 lancholy and enthusiasm. Habituated from 
 our infancy to the effects of these preposses- 
 sions, and more or less under their influence, 
 very few of us are duly sensible how utterly 
 repugnant the spirit and temper of the world 
 around us is to the genius and spirit of the 
 Christianity we profess. It would, I think, 
 appear in a much more striking light to an 
 intelligent and unbiassed observer, who upon 
 hearing that Great Britain was favoured with 
 the knowledge of the true religion, should vi- 
 sit us from some very remote country with a 
 view of sharing in our advantage. If I could 
 make the tour of the kingdom with such a 
 stranger, and shew him what is transacting in 
 the busy and in the gay world, in city, court, 
 and country ; if I could describe to him the 
 
OF SUCH A NATION AS THIS. 
 
 persons he would see at our theatres and pub- 
 lic places, at Newmarket, at contested elec- 
 tions, and explain the motives and aims which 
 bring them together ; if I could introduce 
 nim into the families of the great, the reputed 
 wise, and the wealthy, — from these data, to- 
 gether with the ignorance and licentiousness 
 of the populace, which must unavoidably en- 
 gage his notice wherever he went, I apprehend 
 he would not be long at a loss to form a to- 
 lerable judgment of our national character. 
 And if after this survey, he were attentively 
 to read the New Testament, I think he must 
 allow, that, admitting it was a revelation from 
 God, our national character was neither more 
 nor less than the union and combination of 
 our national sins. He could not but per- 
 ceive, that infidelity, pride, sensuality, greedi- 
 ness of gain, strangely coupled with thought- 
 less profusion, contempt of God, and a daring 
 opposition to his will, constitute the leading 
 features of our portrait as a nation. 
 
 2. If there be sins, which, though not ex- 
 pressly enjoined, are authorized, and to peo- 
 ple who regard man more than God, rendered 
 in a manner necessary by the sanction of the le. 
 gislature, these, and especially in a free coun- 
 try, may be deemed national sins. Here I 
 feel myself embarrassed. As a private mem- 
 ber of society, full of respect and reverence 
 for the authority to which, by the providence 
 and will of God, I owe a willing and thank- 
 ful subjection, I could wish to be entirely si- 
 lent. But I likewise bear another character. 
 As a minister of the gospel, I stand here be- 
 fore a higher Master. In his service I am 
 commanded to be bold and faithful, and I 
 dare not in conscience, especially at such a 
 time and on such an occasion as this, wholly 
 suppress my sentiments. But I wish to speak 
 with all the tenderness and delicacy the sub- 
 ject will admit. 
 
 In this land of liberty, the measures of go- 
 vernment and of parliament are canvassed with 
 great freedom, often indeed with a very offen- 
 sive intemperance and indecency. It is, how- 
 ever, one important privilege of our happy 
 constitution, that British subjects have a right 
 of presenting respectful petitions either to the 
 throne or to the senate, when such measures 
 are in contemplation as are apprehended may 
 prove detrimental to the interests of the na- 
 tion or of individuals : a right which, upon 
 the ground of real or pretended grievances, 
 has been abundantly exercised of late years. 
 But it is long since the honour of God and 
 the interests of true religion have been the ob- 
 jects of an address or petition from any cor- 
 porate body in the kingdom. This indiffer- 
 ence of all parties to the cause of God, when 
 all are so attentive and feeling in cases where 
 they think their own temporal concerns af- 
 fected, warrants one to consider the acts of the 
 legislature, while no alteration is desired by 
 those on whom thev are binding, as the acts of 
 
 82 ? 
 
 the whole nation. Even the edicts of an ar- 
 bitrary prince, whose will supplies the place of 
 law, might involve a nation in guilt, if he 
 enjoined what was contrary to the commands 
 of God, and they through fear obeyed him. 
 Much more then may laws, made by the re- 
 presentatives of a free people, be considered as 
 acts of the cummunity, if they excite no con- 
 stitutional endeavour for relief. 
 
 I am far from supposing that any of our 
 laws now in force were formed with an inten- 
 tion of promoting sin. But some of them, 
 through the prevailing depravation of morals 
 amongst us, do it eventually. For instance, 
 the Test and Corporation acts, which require 
 every person who has a post under govern- 
 ment, or a commission in the army or navy, 
 to qualify himself for his office by receiving 
 the sacrament of the Lord’s supper, would oc- 
 casion no sin, if men were generally influenced 
 by the fear of God, or even by a principle of 
 integrity. They would then rather decline 
 places of honour or profit, than accept them 
 upon such terms, if they were conscious that 
 their sentiments or conduct were repugnant to 
 the design of that institution. But as the case 
 stands at present, while gain is preferred to 
 godliness, and the love of distinction or lucre 
 is stronger than the dictates of conscience, we 
 frequently see professed infidels and notorious 
 libertines approach the Lord’s table as a mat- 
 ter of course, and prostituting the most so- 
 lemn ordinance of Christianity to their ambi- 
 tion or interest. The great number and va- 
 riety of appointments civil and military, which 
 cannot be legally possessed without this qua- 
 lification, render the enormity almost as com- 
 mon as it is heinous. If the Lord be a God 
 of knowledge, he cannot be deceived. If he 
 be a God of truth and holiness, he will not be 
 mocked. I am afraid we have been long 
 guilty of a contemptuous profanation of the 
 body and blood of Christ. 
 
 The multiplicity of oaths, which are inter- 
 woven into almost every branch of public 
 business, involves thousands in the habitual 
 guilt of perjury, which perhaps may eminent- 
 ly be styled our national sin. Many of them 
 it is true, do not necessarily lead to sin, be- 
 cause honest and conscientious men may, and 
 do strictly observe them ; but it is to be feared, 
 the greater number deliberately and customa- 
 rily violate these solemn obligations, and take 
 them as often as imposed without hesitation, 
 and without any design of complying with 
 them. Not a few of these oaths are either so 
 worded or so circumstanced, that it is morally 
 impossible to fulfil them ; and if a person was 
 even to attempt it, he would be thought a 
 busy-body or a fool. Yet they must be ten- 
 dered, and must be taken as a matter of form, 
 when nothing more is expected or purposed on 
 either side. The number of church-wardens 
 and constables who are yearly sworn, is very 
 great ; and as these offices are chiefly held by 
 
THE GUILT AND DANGER 
 
 828 
 
 rotation, in the course of a few years, they 
 take in a considerable part of the middling 
 people in the kingdom. How many or how 
 few of them act up to the letter and the spi- 
 rit of the oaths they have taken, will be known 
 in the day when the secrets of all hearts shall 
 be revealed. But it is now evident, that, while 
 some, like sheep, tread without thought in 
 the path of custom, content to forswear them- 
 selves because others have done so before 
 them ; and while some are hardy enough to 
 trifle with God and man for profit, the laws 
 which enjoin and multiply oaths do thereby 
 furnish and multiply temptations to the sin of 
 perjury. To this source we may ascribe much 
 of that profligacy and contempt of religion, 
 which we now are called to mourn over. The 
 frequency of oaths, the irreverent manner in 
 which they are administered, and the impuni- 
 ty with which they are broken, have greatly 
 contributed to weaken the sense of every mo- 
 ral obligation, and to spread a dissolute and 
 daring spirit through the land. 
 
 Where the laws have expressly interposed to 
 enforce the commands of God, if they are 
 suffered by general consent to lie dormant, 
 and are not carried into execution, the enor- 
 mities which flow from such connivance, come 
 under the denomination of national sins. The 
 profanation of the Lord’s day, drunkenness, 
 profane swearing, are contrary, not only to the 
 precepts of scripture, but to the laws of the land; 
 and yet they could hardly be more prevalent 
 though there were no statutes in force against 
 them. As these evils are not apparently detri- 
 mental to the revenue or to commerce, they are 
 seldom taken notice of, except when connected 
 with some act of trespass or injury to indivi- 
 duals. Very few magistrates are concerned 
 to enforce the observation of these laws ; and 
 if private persons sometimes attempt it by in- 
 formation, they meet but little success, they 
 obtain but little thanks. The arts of pleading, 
 the minutias and niceties of forms are em- 
 ployed to entangle and discourage them, and 
 to screen offenders. Their endeavours are 
 usually treated as officious and impertinent, 
 and they are stigmatized with the invidious 
 name of informers. In their own cause they 
 are allowed to be active ; but a man must 
 have a good share of resolution, or rather of 
 divine grace, who can withstand the reproach 
 and scorn he will bring upon himself, if he 
 dare to be active in the cause of God. 
 
 My subject, alas ! is almost boundless ! 
 But our time prescribes limits to my discourse. 
 
 I must, however, hint my apprehension, that 
 acts of oppression and violence, in some parts 
 (at least) of our widely-extended settlements, 
 have contributed to enhance and aggravate 
 our national sin. If the welfare and the lives 
 of thousands have been sacrificed to the inte- 
 rest of the few ; if the ravages of cruelty and 
 avarice, though notorious and undeniable, j 
 hav« met with no public censure or punish- 
 
 ment, may we not expect that God himself 
 will avenge the oppressed, and plead their 
 cause, not only against their actual oppres- 
 sors, but against the community that refused 
 to hear their cries and redress their wrongs ? 
 
 I am pained likewise to observe how little 
 the calamities of war and the shedding of 
 blood are laid to heart. War, when most ne- 
 cessary and unavoidable, is a dreadful evil ; 
 one of the most severe scourges with which 
 the great God visits a sinful world. But, be- 
 cause we, through his mercy, know no more 
 of it at home than by what we hear of the 
 sufferings of others ; to their sufferings, if we 
 account them enemies, the hearts of many are 
 unfeeling as a stone. They contemplate with 
 composure and apparent satisfaction, not only 
 the horrors of a field of battle, but the devas- 
 tations, flames, rapes, and murders, which too 
 often mark the progress of conquest, or tht 
 retreat of disappointed rage. May the Lord 
 God keep such miseries far from us ! May we 
 never have to say, As we have heard, so we 
 have seen. But there is a temper and spirit 
 too prevalent among us, which calls for humi- 
 liation : A thirst of revenge, an eagerness for 
 war, as affording opportunity for pillage and 
 plunder, and an indifference to the distresses 
 of our fellow-creatures, more answerable to 
 the idea we form of the savages in America, 
 than to that of a civilized and Christian people. 
 
 If we consider the nation with a more par- 
 ticular respect to the profession of religion 
 amongst us, the prospect is equally dark 
 Though the Articles and Liturgy, which are 
 still retained as a public standard, express the 
 doctrines and spirit of the Reformation, the 
 truths upon which they are founded are sunk 
 into disrepute. They are heard from few pul- 
 pits, they are to be met with in few books of 
 modern divinity. The ministers who have 
 courage to preach agreeably to their required 
 subscriptions are discountenanced and slight- 
 ed, if not openly opposed. In a word, the 
 gospel of Christ, the truth as it is in Jesus, is 
 little known amongst us, and where it is pub- 
 lished, is rejected by a great majority of every 
 rank. Yet, by the mercy of God, it has been 
 considerably revived and spread amongst us 
 of late years, and (I hope) is still spreading. 
 There is a remnant amongst us who sigh and 
 mourn for the abominations of the times, and 
 have a humble and awful sense of the judg- 
 ments of God declared against sin. They see 
 black clouds gathering apace around us, and 
 their hearts tremble at the apprehension of 
 what he may justly inflict upon such a nation 
 as this. But even among the people of dif- 
 ferent denominations who profess the truth, 
 there is much to be lamented. Alas ! what 
 sinful conformity to the world ! what cold- 
 ness and indifference where we ought to be 
 warm, and what unchristian heat and fierce- 
 ' ness in enforcing or exploding lesser differen- 
 ! ces in sentiment or in modes of worship . 
 
OF SUCH A NATION AS THIS. 
 
 May wc not fear, lest, for the abatement of 
 Christian love, the violence of party spirit, and 
 the abuse of religious liberty, the Lord should 
 visit his professing people with a rod, even 
 though he were still to exercise patience to- 
 wards the nation at large ? 
 
 Let us then, having premised this brief, but 
 awful delineation of our present state, proceed 
 to consider, 
 
 II. What we have just reason to expect, if 
 the Lord should speak to us in his displea- 
 sure, and avenge himself of such a nation as 
 this ! Two obvious topics offer themselves to 
 assist our inquiries. 
 
 1. What we learn from scripture, and from 
 general history, of God’s usual methods in 
 the government of the world. He avenged 
 himself on the old world, by a deluge ; on 
 Sodom and Gomorrah, by fire from heaven. 
 Where are now the mighty empires which 
 once extended over a great part of the earth ? 
 The Assyrian, Persian, Macedonian, and Ro- 
 man governments, arose and perished in suc- 
 cession. What were Cyrus, Alexander, and 
 other conquerors, whose victories decided the 
 fate of nations, but instruments of divine 
 vengeance ? The sins of the people against 
 whom they went, and a secret commission 
 from the Lord of hosts, directed their march 
 and ensured their success. He has appointed 
 a day when he will judge the world in right- 
 eousness, but the award of that final tribunal 
 will be personal, to each one according to his 
 works. Communities, as such, in their col- 
 lective capacity, are visited and judged in the 
 present life. And in this respect, the scrip- 
 ture considers nations as individuals : each 
 having an infancy, growth, maturity, and de- 
 clension. Every succeeding generation ac- 
 cumulates the stock of national sin, and there 
 is a measure of iniquity which determines the 
 period of kingdoms. Till this measure is 
 filled up, the patience of God waits for them, 
 but then patience gives way to vengeance. 
 
 Such has been his uniform procedure from 
 the earliest times, of which either sacred or 
 profane history affords us any information : 
 and undoubtedly a day will come when the 
 prosperity of this nation will cease. May it 
 be at a yet very distant period ! But there are 
 alarming symptoms of decay already visible 
 upon us. When God is exceedingly displeas- 
 ed with a people, it is not necessary, in order 
 to their punishment, that he should bury them 
 alive by an earthquake, or destroy them by 
 lightning. If he only leave them to them- 
 selves, withdraw his blessing from their coun- 
 sels, and hie restraint from their passions, their 
 ruin follows of course ; according to the ne- 
 cessary order and connection of causes and 
 effects. The destruction of Jerusalem affords 
 a striking proof and illustration of this re- 
 mark. Our Saviour foretold, that the cala- 
 mities of that siege would be greater and more 
 aggravated than had ever been known from 
 
 829 
 
 the creation ; and infidels must confess, that 
 the relation of Josephus, who was an eye- 
 witness of that catastrophe, exhibits such 
 scenes of distress as cannot be paralleled in 
 any other history. Yet the Roman armies, 
 which were led on by an invisible hand to 
 accomplish the prediction, were not headed by 
 a Nero, or a Caligula, whose savage disposi- 
 tion and thirst of blood might have prompted 
 them to unrelenting slaughter ; but by Titus, 
 who, for his singular moderation and clemen- 
 cy, obtained the title of Delioice humani gene- 
 ris, the friend and delight of mankind. He 
 desired not their destruction, he entreated 
 them to have pity on themselves ; but in vain : 
 they were judicially infatuated, and devoted 
 to ruin. If God gives up a people to the way 
 of their own hearts, they will, they must perish. 
 When a general corruption of morals takes place, 
 when private interest extinguishes all sense of 
 public virtue, when a profligate and venal spi- 
 rit has infected every rank and order of the 
 state, when presumptuous security and dissi- 
 pation increase in proportion as danger ap- 
 proaches ; when, after repeated disappoint- 
 ments, contempt of God and vain confidence 
 in imagined resources of their own grow 
 bolder and stronger, — then there is reason to 
 fear, that the sentence is already gone forth, 
 and that the execution of it is at hand. 
 
 2. The progress of our public affairs foi 
 some years past, too evidently confirms these 
 general principles, brings the application home 
 to ourselves, and loudly warns us what we are 
 yet to expect, if we persist in hardening our- 
 selves against the Lord. How rapid the 
 change we have seen ! From what small be- 
 ginnings to what extensive consequences ! The 
 cloud which now overspreads the heavens with 
 blackness, was not long since no larger than a 
 man’s hand. I suppose none who were active- 
 ly concerned in our public commotions dur- 
 ing their early stage, had the least apprehen- 
 sion that things would have proceeded to such 
 calamitous and diffusive extremities. But sin 
 abounded, and the Lord was displeased. Thus 
 we may easily account for every mistake and 
 miscarriage; for the first rise, and the long 
 continuance of the war. The connection be- 
 tween us and the Americans was too nearly 
 founded in relation, too closely cemented by mu- 
 tual interest, to be so suddenly broken, if their 
 sins and ours had not concurred in operation to 
 bring distress both upon them and us. After 
 a great expense of treasure and blood, instead 
 of the re-union we hoped for, we have been 
 successively involved in war with France, 
 Spain, and Holland. And it is possible that 
 every power in Europe, either is, or soon will 
 be, openly or secretly against us. Nor can I 
 omit, upon this occasion, the unprecedented 
 violence of the late dreadful hurricanes in the 
 West Indies. Though infidels and petty rea- 
 soners will doubtless labour to persuade them- 
 selves that they proceeded merely from natu- 
 
THE GUILT AND DANGER 
 
 830 
 
 ral causes, Christians, I trust, will acknow- 
 ledge the voice of God speaking, and speak- 
 ing to us out of the whirlwind. It is true, he 
 spoke by them to our enemies likewise, for 
 they likewise are sinners. May both they 
 and we be humbled before him, and learn, 
 that as sin instigates and arms us to destroy 
 each other, so when he is pleased to take the 
 work into his own hands, he can strike such a 
 blow, as shall for the time suspend our feeble 
 hostilities, and by involving us in a common 
 calamity, make us, notwithstanding our en- 
 mity, the objects of mutual commiseration. 
 “ The Lord’s hand is lifted up,” Isa. xxvi. 
 11. This part of an ancient prophecy is 
 fulfilled in our view : the next clause, “ They 
 will not see,” is, alas ! fulfilled likewise, 
 by the amazing insensibility and infatuation 
 which still prevails among us. It follows, 
 “ But they shall sere.” What still greater 
 evils may overtake us, before this clause 
 also is accomplished to the glory of God, 
 and our due humiliation, who can say ? 
 Alas ! who that loves his country, but must 
 tremble at the prospects of the judgments yet 
 impending over us, if he should still proceed 
 to plead his own cause, till he is fully aven- 
 ged on such a nation as this ! To relieve 
 
 my thoughts, I gladly hasten to enquire, 
 
 III. Whether there be any hope that such 
 a nation as this may yet escape deserved ruin ; 
 and if there be, in what way this mercy is to 
 be sought, and expected? I confess I have 
 little hopes of it, but upon one or other of 
 the following suppositions. 
 
 1. If the Lord be graciously pleased to suc- 
 ceed the professed design of this day’s service, 
 and to put forth that power which accompanied 
 his message by Jonah to Nineveh, so that a 
 general spirit of repentance and humiliation 
 may spread throughout the land— If he bow 
 the hearts of both rulers and people, to con- 
 fess and forsake those sins which have awaken- 
 ed his displeasure — If the laws which concern 
 his honour, will, and worship, be speedily and 
 impartially enforced; and profaneness and 
 immorality discountenanced and suppressed — 
 If, instead of trusting in fleets and armies, we 
 acknowledge the Lord of hosts, and look up 
 to him for a blessing — If men fearing God 
 and hating covetousness (Exodus xviii. 21), 
 are raised up to assist in our councils, and to 
 stand forth in their country’s cause ; men who 
 will rely on his guidance and protection, and 
 disdain the little arts and intrigues on which 
 alone short-sighted politicians depend for the 
 success of their measures : Should I live to 
 see such a happy internal change, I should 
 hope, that notwithstanding our great provo- 
 cations, the Lord, whose mercies are infinite, 
 would be yet entreated for us ; that he would 
 turn from the fierceness of his anger, main- 
 tain our tranquillity at home, and, by his wis- 
 dom and his influence over the hearts of men, 
 
 put an honourable and satisfactory end fo the 
 unhappy war in which we are engaged. 
 
 2. However the bulk of the nation may 
 determine, if the remnant who know his name, 
 and have tasted of his love, should be deeply 
 impressed with a concern for his glory, and 
 forsaking their little animosities and party- 
 interests, should unite in application to the 
 throne of grace, and be found in those duties 
 and practices which their profession of the 
 gospel, and the state of things around them 
 require, there is yet hope. For the prayers 
 of God’s people have a powerful efficacy. 
 The holy and benevolent importunity of A- 
 braham would have prevailed in favour even 
 of Sodom, if ten righteous persons had been 
 found in it, Gen. xviii. When Sennacherib 
 invaded Judea, had over-run the greatest 
 part of the country, and thought Jerusalem 
 would be an easy conquest, Hezekiah, though 
 he took such precautions as prudence sug- 
 gested, did not defeat him by arms (Isa. 
 xxxvii.), but by prayer. In the prayers of 
 true believers is our best visible resource. 
 These are the chariots and horsemen of Is- 
 rael. United prayer, humiliation of heart, 
 a mourning for sin in secret, and a faithful 
 testimony against it in public, will more es- 
 sentially contribute to the safety and welfare 
 of the nation, than all our military prepara- 
 tions without them. We boast of our navy, 
 and it has often proved by the blessing of God 
 our bulwark, but how easily can he who walk- 
 eth upon the wings of the wind, dash the best 
 appointed fleet to pieces against the rocks, or 
 sink it like lead in the mighty waters ! We 
 boast of our troops; but he can easily cut 
 them off with sickness, give them up to a spi- 
 rit of discord, or impress them with a sudden 
 terror, so that the stoutest heart shall tremble, 
 and the mighty warriors turn pale and drop 
 their weapons ! A thousand unforeseen e- 
 vents and contingencies are always at his dis- 
 posal, to blast and disappoint the best con- 
 certed enterprises; for that the race is not 
 necessarily sure to the swift, nor the battle 
 to the strong, is not only asserted in the 
 scripture, but confirmed by the experience 
 and observation of all ages, Psalm xxxiii. 
 16, 17; Ecclesiastes ix. 11. But his peo- 
 ple are precious in his sight, and their pray- 
 ers he will hear. Unknown and unnoticed as 
 they are in the world, he highly values them. 
 He has redeemed them by his blood. He in- 
 habits them by his Spirit. He has prepared 
 heaven for them, and the earth itself is conti- 
 nued for their sakes, and shall be destroyed 
 when they are all removed from it. They are 
 the light, the salt, the strength, and the safety 
 of the nations among which they are dispersed, 
 Matth. v. 13, 14. Except the Lord of hosts 
 had left a small remnant of these among us, 
 we should long ago have been as Sodom, ana 
 made like unto Gomorrah, Isa. i. 9. To his 
 
OF SUCH A NATION AS THIS. 
 
 attention to their prajers and concerns, I 
 doubt not the preservation of this city at the 
 time of the late horrible riots may be ascribed. 
 
 I wish I could now recal to your minds the 
 emotions which some of you then felt, when 
 your countenances bore a strong impression 
 of your inward anxiety. Those terrors came 
 upon you unexpectedly, and though they are 
 forgotten by too many, scenes equally dis- 
 tressing may present themselves before you 
 are aware. O may he in mercy animate this 
 remnant, now to stand in the breach as one 
 man, and to wrestle for a sinful land ! Then 
 we may at least arise to the hope of the Ni- 
 ne vites, Who can tell but the Lord may turn 
 from his fierce anger, that we perish not ? 
 Jonah, iii. 9. 
 
 Let me now close with an address, 
 
 1. To such of you in this assembly as fear 
 the Lord. A part of you are poor and af- 
 flicted people, and by your obscure situation 
 in life, are precluded from a very distinct 
 knowledge of the causes, the present effects, 
 and possible consequences of the war. You 
 live in a happy ignorance of what passes in the 
 world, and take no part in the disputes which, 
 in many places, ensnare and embitter the spi- 
 rits even of professors of the gospel. Your 
 principles inspire you with sentiments of duty 
 to government, with the love of peace, and 
 with a just sense of the value of your privi- 
 leges, civil and religious. But though you 
 are poor, and can serve your country in no 
 other way, you may serve it effectually by 
 your prayers. You have access to the throne 
 of grace. Intercede therefore for a land that 
 lieth in wickedness, be concerned for the ho- 
 nour of his name, for the blindness and mi- 
 sery around you. It may be the Lord will be 
 entreated of you, and for your sakes, and for 
 the sake of such as you, command the destroy- 
 ing angel to stay his hand. 
 
 Those of you who have better opportunity of 
 knowing the state of our public affairs, have like- 
 wise a more extensive sphere of service. You 
 will, I hope, improve your influence in your 
 families and connections, and by your advice 
 and example, endeavour to awaken ail with 
 whom you converse to join in promoting the 
 design of this day’s service. I call upon all 
 who have ears to hear, and eyes to see the 
 voice and the hand of the Lord, the rich and 
 the poor, the young and the aged, to be faith- 
 ful, circumspect, and zealous in your several 
 stations. 
 
 Should wrath be decreed, and there be no 
 remedy, at least you shall prevail for your- 
 selves. You shall know that the Lord whom 
 you serve is a strong-hold in the day of trou- 
 ble, and is mindful of them who put their 
 trust in him. You can hardly be too much 
 alarmed for the nation, but for yourselves you 
 have no just cause of fear. We are commis- 
 sioned to say to the righteous, It shall be 
 well whh him, Isa iii. 10. The Saviour, to 
 
 831 
 
 whom you have fled for refuge has all power 
 in heaven and earth. He will keep you as 
 the apple of his eye, and hide you under the 
 shadow of his wings. He can screen you 
 from evil, though thousands and ten thou- 
 sands should suffer and fall around you. Or 
 if he appoints you a share in suffering, he will 
 be with you to support and comfort you, and 
 to sanctify all your troubles. His word to you 
 is, When you hear of wars and rumours of wars, 
 see that ye be not troubled, Matthew xxiv. 6. 
 Fear not them who, at the most, can but kill 
 the body. The light of his countenance is suf. 
 ficient to cheer you in the darkest hour, and 
 your best interest, your everlasting inheritance 
 is safe beyond the reach of enemies, in a king- 
 dom (how unlike the kingoms of the earth !) 
 which cannot be shaken, Hebrews xii. 28. 
 Your life is hid with Christ in God ; and when 
 Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then 
 shall you also appear with him in glory, Col. 
 iii. 3, 4. Thither neither sin nor sorrow shall 
 be able to follow you. Then your sun shall 
 go down no more, and the days of your mourn- 
 ing shall be ended. In patience therefore pos- 
 sess your souls. Be not moved by appear- 
 ances, but remember all your concerns are in 
 the hands of him who loved you, and gave 
 himself for you. Let those who know him 
 not tremble when he ariseth to judgment, and 
 to shake terribly the earth ; but do you sanc- 
 tify the Lord God in your hearts, make him 
 your fear and your dread, and he shall be tc 
 you for a sanctuary (Isaiah, viii. 13, 14) ; 
 and in a little time he will come to receive 
 you to himself, and to wipe all tears from 
 your eyes. 
 
 2. But what can I say to the rest of the 
 congregation : Though we are all met in the 
 same place, and outwardly engaged in the 
 same service, so that, to the eye of man, we 
 may appear as one people, animated with one 
 and the same desires, the eye of the Searcher 
 of hearts sees and notices a real and important 
 distinction amongst us. He draws with in- 
 fallible certainty the line of separation. He 
 knows who are truly on his side, whose hearts 
 are tender (2 Chron. xxxiv. 27), who are 
 afraid of his judgments, and are mourning 
 for their own sins, and the sins of the nation : 
 and he knows and sees that too many here have 
 neither his fear nor his love abiding in them. 
 You may comply with an outward form, and 
 abstain from a meal, but you neither abstain 
 from sin, nor desire to do so. To-day you 
 look serious, and by your presence seem to 
 assent to the confessions which have been 
 made, and the prayers which have been offered 
 in your hearing. To-morrow, I fear, will 
 shew that all your semblance of seriousness 
 was but hypocrisy : and that, though you drew 
 nigh to God with your lips (Mark viii. 6), 
 your hearts were far from him. But be not 
 deceived, God will not be mocked. You have 
 contributed largely to swell the measure of 
 
832 THE GUILT AND DANGER, &C. 
 
 our national sin ; herein you have been hearty 
 and persevering. Do not think that the lip- 
 service of a single day will make any altera- 
 tion either in your state or in your guilt. Ra- 
 ther that pretended humiliation, by which you 
 act towards God as if you thought ha was al- 
 together such a one as yourselves (Ps. 1. 21), 
 is an aggravation of your wickedness, and no 
 better than affronting him to his face. Yet I 
 am glad of an opportunity of speaking to you. 
 Oh, that I could prevail on you to seek him 
 in earnest, while he is to be found ! You can- 
 not serve, or love, or trust him, unless you be 
 born again. But Jesus is exalted to produce 
 this change in the heart of a sinner, by the 
 power of his Holy Spirit, and to give faith, 
 repentance, and remission of sins. Could I 
 convince you of this, the rest would be easy. 
 Then, feeling your wants and misery, you 
 would ask mercy of him, and asking you 
 would surely receive ; for he has said, Him 
 that cometh unto me, I will in nowise cast 
 out, John vi. 37. O Lord, do thou convince 
 them by thine own power ! Open the blind 
 
 eyes, unstop the deaf ears, and turn the stony 
 heart into flesh. 
 
 Till this be done you are neither fit to live, 
 nor fit to die. What will you do in a day 
 of public calamity, should you live to see it, 
 if you should be despoiled of your earthly 
 comforts, and have no share in the consolation 
 of the gospel ? But should the Lord answer 
 prayer and prolong our national prosperity, 
 still you must be ruined unless you are saved 
 by grace. For what will you do in the hour 
 of death? This is inevitable, and may, for 
 ought you know, be very near. If I could 
 assure you of peace and wealth for the term 
 of a long life, still without the peace of 
 God, and an interest in the unsearchable 
 riches of Christ, you must be miserable at the 
 last, and lie down in sorrow. 
 
 But O that we may rather with one consent 
 search and try our ways, and turn to the Lord 
 from whom we have so greatly revolted. To us, 
 indeed, belong shame and confusion of face, but 
 to the Lord our God belong mercies and for- 
 giveness, though we have rebelled against him. 
 
A 
 
 SERMON 
 
 PREACHED IN THE 
 
 PARISH CHURCH OF ST. PAUL’S, DEPTFORD, 
 ON SUNDAY, MAY 7 , 1786 . 
 
 ON THE LAMENTED OCCASION OF THE DEATH OF 
 
 R ICHARD CONYERS, L.L.D. 
 
 LATE RECTOR OF THAT PARISH. 
 
 So, being affectionately desirous of you , we were willing to have imparted unto you , not the goS‘ 
 pel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us. 1 Thess ii. 8. 
 
 An active undaunted zeal in the service of 
 God, and a peculiar tenderness of affection 
 towards his people, were happily and eminent- 
 ly combined in the character of St. Paul. 
 The latter appears in none of his writings to 
 greater advantage than in this Epistle, and 
 particularly in this chapter. He had been 
 made very useful to the Thessalonians, and 
 was greatly beloved by them. Many of them 
 had received the gospel which he preached, 
 not in word only, but in power ; and were 
 effectually turned, by grace, from dead idols, 
 to serve the living and the true God, 1 Thess. i. 
 5 — 9. They likewise were very dear to him ; 
 and being now at a distance from them, he 
 writes to confirm their faith and hope, to ani- 
 mate and direct their conduct. And he takes 
 many occasions of reminding them, of the pe- 
 culiar regard he had borne them from the first, 
 and how near they still were to his heart; that 
 his love for them, which had sweetened all his 
 labours and sufferings when he was among 
 them, made him still solicitous for their wel- 
 fare, and enabled him to rejoice on their ac- 
 count, while he was suffering bonds and im- 
 prisonment at Rome. 
 
 The verse I have read is one passage, out 
 of many in the New Testament, where our 
 translation does not fully come up to the spi- 
 rit and beauty of the original. Not that it is 
 unfaithful or faulty; it is chiefly owing to 
 the difference of the languages. I believe 
 
 we have no single word in the English tongue, 
 to express the energy of the Greek term 
 opvKu, which he uses in the beginning of the 
 verse ; and therefore our translators have em- 
 ployed two, “ Being affectionately desirous of 
 you.” It denotes a desire connected with the 
 finest and most tender feelings of the heart ; 
 not like the degrading selfish desire of the 
 miser for gold ; but such an emotion (accord- 
 ing to his own beautiful illustration in the pre- 
 ceding verse) as that with which the nurse, 
 the mother while a nurse, contemplates her own 
 child. Being thus disposed towards you, “ we 
 were willing ” — but the Greek f is 
 more emphatical. We esteemed it our plea- 
 sure, our joy, the very height of our wishes, 
 “ to impart unto you the gospel of God,” to 
 put you into our own place, to communicate 
 to you, by the gospel, all that comfort and 
 strength, and joyful hope, which we have re- 
 ceived from it ourselves. Yea, further, to 
 have imparted to you our own souls also ; 
 that is, to devote our whole strength, time, 
 and study, to this very end, to spend and be 
 spent for you, and to be ready to seal our tes. 
 timony with our blood, if this were needful to 
 your establishment, “because ye are dear” 
 (dyet-rtjrat), exceedingly dear unto us. The 
 same word is used (for the language of mor- 
 tals will not afford a stronger), Matth. iii. 1 7. 
 “ This is my beloved Son.” 
 
 When I thought of preaching to you thi« 
 3 O 
 
ON THE DEATH OF DR. CONYERS. 
 
 834 
 
 day, and of mingling my tears with yours, the 
 occasion suggested the choice I have made of 
 a text ; and the countenances of many of you 
 convince me that I have not made an impro- 
 per choice. Another congregation might have 
 been led, from what I have already said, to 
 sympathize with the Thessalonians, in what 
 they must have felt when they were deprived 
 of such a minister and friend ; but your minds 
 are engaged by a sense of your own loss You 
 have reason. You acknowledge and feel, 
 that if I wished (as I certainly did) to select 
 a text which might, while you heard it, strong- 
 ly impress your minds with the idea of my 
 dear friend, your late pastor, and recal to your 
 remembrance, his principles, actions, motives, 
 and aims, how he spoke, and how he lived a. 
 mong you, I could hardly have found a pas- 
 sage in the whole scripture more directly suit- 
 ed to my purpose. I believe no minister in 
 the present age, nor perhaps in any past 
 age, since the apostle’s days, could have a 
 better warrant than Dr. Conyers, to adopt 
 these words of St. Paul as expressive of his 
 own spirit and character. He had a very 
 tender affection for you : it was his earnest 
 desire, and his great delight, to impart unto 
 you the gospel of God, because you were dear 
 to him : and it may be said of him with pecu- 
 liar propriety, that in this service of love, he 
 imparted to you his own soul, or life also. 
 You have not forgotten, surely you never 
 can forget, the very solemn and affecting 
 manner in which his ministry among you 
 closed. Whether, while he was reading the 
 apostle’s farewell discourse to the elders of 
 the church of Ephesus (Acts xx. 18 — 35), 
 which occurred in the second lesson for the 
 day, he had a presage that you would see his 
 face no more, we know not. Had he been 
 certain of it, he could not have taken your 
 consciences more earnestly to witness, that he 
 was clear of your blood, and that he had not 
 shunned to declare unto you the whole coun- 
 sel of God. However, the event proved, 
 that you then saw and heard him for the last 
 time. His strength and life were prolonged 
 to finish his discourse, and to pronounce over 
 you his parting blessing, which he had scarcely 
 finished, before he was called home to his 
 Master’s joy. “ Blessed is that servant, whom 
 his Lord, when he cometh, shall find so do- 
 ing,” Luke xii. 43. 
 
 In considering the grounds of the apostle’s 
 love to the Thessalonians, and the proofs 
 which he gave of it, the subject will frequently 
 lead me to bear a testimony to the grace of 
 God, vouchsafed to your late minister, of 
 whom we may truly say, he was a follower of 
 St Paul, as Paul also was of Christ, 1 Cor. xi. 1. 
 
 I. The first ground, the original cause of 
 the apostle’s love to the brethren, was the love 
 of Christ His unwearied endeavours, in the 
 midst of the hardships and dangers which 
 
 awaited him in every place, to promote the 
 happiness of mankind, made him appear to 
 many who were unacquainted with the mo- 
 tives of his conduct, as though he were beside 
 himself. The apology he offered was, the love 
 of Christ constraineth us, 2 Cor. v. 14. Till 
 he knew the Lord, he acted very differently. 
 While he was under the power of prejudice 
 and ignorance, he verily thought that he ought 
 to do many things against the name of Jesus 
 of Nazareth (Acts ix. 1 ; xxvi. 9), and therefore 
 breathed out threatenings and slaughter against 
 his people. But Jesus whom he persecuted ap- 
 peared to him in his way to Damascus, con-- 
 vinced him of his sin, vouchsafed him pardon, 
 and commissioned him to preach the faith 
 which he had laboured to destroy, Gal. i. 23. 
 From that time he esteemed himself a chief 
 sinner (1 Tim.i. 15, 16), and becausemuch had 
 been forgiven him, he loved much. He de- 
 voted his whole future life to proclaim the 
 glory and grace of his Saviour, and to propose 
 himself as a pattern of his long-suffering and 
 mercy to all around him, that they likewise 
 might believe and be saved. He was con- 
 scious of his Saviour’s just right to reign in 
 every heart. And they who, by receiving the 
 gospel which he preached, entered into his 
 views, and loved the Lord whom he loved, in- 
 stantly became dear to him for his Lord’s 
 sake, whether they were Jews or Gentiles, rich 
 or poor, bond or free. It is probable, that all 
 who are convinced and enlightened by the 
 Holy Spirit, having a clearer knowledge of 
 the nature, number, and aggravation of their 
 own sins, than they can possibly have of those 
 of any other person, account themselves among 
 the chief of sinners, though many of them 
 may have been preserved from gross enormi- 
 ties. I never heard that your minister was 
 influenced, like Saul of Tarsus, by a bitter 
 persecuting spirit ; and I believe his behaviour 
 was moral and exemplary from his youth. 
 When he entered upon his ministry at his be- 
 loved Helmsley, in Yorkshire, he found the 
 place ignorant and dissolute to a proverb. At 
 this early period of life, he feared God, and he 
 hated wickedness. With much zeal and dili- 
 gence he attempted the reformation of his pa- 
 rish, which was of great extent, and divided 
 into several hamlets. He preached frequently 
 in them all. He encouraged his parishioners 
 to come to his house. He distributed them 
 into little companies, that he might instruct 
 them with more convenience : he met them 
 in rotation by appointment. In this man- 
 ner, long before he fully understood that 
 gospel of God which of late years he so 
 successfully imparted to you, I have been as- 
 sured that he often preached or exhorted pub- 
 licly, or more privately, twenty times in a 
 week. These labours were not in vain : a 
 great, visible, and almost universal reformation 
 took place. About the time I am speaking 
 
ON THE DEATH OF DR. CONYERS. 
 
 of, a clergyman in his neighbourhood made 
 very honourable mention of Dr. Conyers, in a 
 letter to the Society for Promoting Christian 
 Knowledge (which I have seen in print), as 
 perhaps the most exemplary, indefatigable, and 
 successful parochial minister in the kingdom ; 
 yet in the midst of applause and apparent suc- 
 cess, he was far from being satisfied with him- 
 self. Fie did what he could ; he did more 
 than most others ; but he felt there was some- 
 thing still wanting, though for a time he knew 
 not what ; but he was desirous to know *. he 
 studied the scriptures, and he prayed to the 
 Father of lights. They who thus seek shall 
 surely find. Important consequences often 
 follow from a sudden involuntary turn of 
 thought. One day an expression of St Paul’s, 
 “ the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Ephes. 
 iii. 8), engaged his attention. He had often 
 read the passage, but never noticed the word 
 unsearchable before. The gospel, in his view 
 of it, had appeared plain, and within his com- 
 prehension ; but the apostle spoke of it as 
 containing something that was unsearchable. 
 A conclusion therefore forced itself upon him, 
 that the idea he had hitherto affixed to the 
 word gospel, could not be the same with that 
 of the apostle. From this beginning he was 
 soon led to perceive, that his whole scheme 
 was essentially defective, that his people, how- 
 ever outwardly reformed, were not converted. 
 — He now felt himself a sinner, and felt his 
 need of faith in a Saviour, in a manner he had 
 never done before. Thus he was brought 
 with the apostle, to account his former gain 
 but loss : the unsearchable riches of Christ 
 opened to his mind, he received power to be- 
 lieve, his perplexities were removed, and he 
 rejoiced with joy unspeakable and full of glo- 
 ry. He presently told his people, with that 
 amiable simplicity which so strongly marked 
 his character, that though he had endeavoured 
 to shew them the way of salvation, he had 
 misled them ; that what both he and they had 
 been building was not upon the right founda- 
 tion. He from that time preached Jesus 
 Christ, and him crucified (1 Cor. ii. 2. i. 30), 
 as the only ground of hope for sinners, and 
 the only source from whence they could derive 
 wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and re- 
 demption. The Lord so blessed his word, 
 that the greater part of the people who. were 
 most attached to him soon adopted his views, 
 and many more were successively added to 
 them. This change in his sentiments and 
 manner of preaching, though it added efficacy 
 to his moral instructions, and endeared him 
 to his people at home, lost him much of that 
 high estimation in which he had been held 
 abroad. But he knew the gospel of God too 
 well to be ashamed of it : whatever disgrace 
 he suffered in such a cause, he could bear with 
 patience. He loved his people and was be- 
 loved by them ; and their advance in comfort 
 and holiness made him ample compensation 
 
 835 
 
 for the unkindness of those who knew not 
 what they did. And thus, when the provi- 
 dence of God removed him hither, the con- 
 straining love of Christ, which had long been 
 the great principle of his conduct, disposed 
 him to love you before he saw you ; and he 
 came among you with an earnest desire to im- 
 part unto you the gospel of God, and his own 
 soul also, because from the moment that he 
 accepted the charge over you, he was affec- 
 tionately desirous of you. 
 
 The regard of the apostle to the Thessalo- 
 nians was undoubtedly heightened in proportion 
 as the Lord was pleased to give him seals to his 
 ministry among- them. And the like cause had 
 the like effect here. The mutual affection 
 that subsists between a faithful minister and 
 those to whom the Lord makes him useful, is 
 of a peculiar kind, and not easily described 
 I trust he looked upon many of you with joy 
 as his crown and glory in the day of Chris' 
 (1 Thess. ii. 19); and you, I doubt not, 
 looked on him with respect and gratitude, as 
 the instrument of God in saving your souls, 
 in calling you out of darkness into marvellous 
 light. What were some of you doing, and 
 whither were you going, when God sent you, 
 by him, the word of salvation ? And what a 
 happy change have you since experienced? 
 You were then dead in trespasses and sins, 
 without Christ, and therefore without hope, 
 and without God in the world, Ephes. ii. 1, 
 12, 13. But now you, who were some time 
 afar off, are made nigh by the blood of Christ. 
 Now being freed from the slavery of sin, you 
 have your fruit unto holiness, and the end 
 everlasting life, Rom. vi. 22. You have now 
 access to God, communion with him, an in- 
 terest in his promises, and a good hope through 
 grace that though your minister be taken from 
 you, he who by him began a good work in 
 you, will perform it until the day of Jesus 
 Christ, Phil. i. 6. Let this thought mode- 
 rate your grief. You will see the face of your 
 minister no more here ; but you will meet 
 him again, ere long before the throne of God 
 and the Lamb. Then all tears will be ft)r 
 ever wiped away. 
 
 Again, during the apostle’s continuance with 
 the Thessalonians, he and they had enjoyed 
 precious seasons of worship together, and of 
 mutual communion with God, in the ordt-- 
 nances of his appointment. Wherever two or 
 three are met in the Lord’s name (Matth. xviii. 
 20), he is mindful of his promise, and does 
 manifest himself unto them as he does not un- 
 to the world (John xiv. 22); and these tastes of 
 his loving-kindness wonderfully soften, spiri* 
 tualize, and enlarge their affections, and knit 
 them closer and closer together in love. And 
 though that power and unction from on high, 
 which makes the ordinances of the gospel 
 truly delightful, and an hour so employed 
 preferable to a thousand of the world’s hours 
 (Psal. lxxxiv. 10), does not altogether depend 
 
ON THE DEATH OF DR. CONYERS. 
 
 836 
 
 upon the gifts, or even upon the grace of the 
 minister, vet it is doubtless a singular and high 
 privilege, to be under the care of a wise and 
 tender shepherd, of one who in the school of 
 experience has acquired the tongue of the 
 learned (Isa. 1. 4), who knows how to adapt 
 himself to the occasions of the people, to give 
 every one their proper portion, to obviate their 
 doubts, relieve their fears, point out their dan- 
 gers, and to speak a word in season to them 
 that are weary. Be thankful that you were 
 long favoured with such an able minister of 
 the New Testament. As a public preacher, he 
 may perhaps have left some equals behind him. 
 But he had at Deptford, as formerly at Helms- 
 ley, stated seasons, when he expounded the 
 scriptures to a smaller auditory in bis house, 
 or within his own premises. He supposed 
 that on these occasions few persons were pre- 
 sent but those who either possessed the peace 
 of the gospel, or were sincerely seeking it. 
 The simplicity and meekness of wisdom with 
 which, as a father among his children, he ex- 
 horted, comforted, and instructed these his 
 more select hearers, seemed peculiar to him- 
 self. In this branch of his ministerial office 
 I always thought him unequalled and inimi- 
 table. How often have many of you had rea- 
 son to say, at such seasons, “ Did not our 
 hearts burn within us, while he talked with 
 us, and while he opened to us the scriptures ?” 
 Luke xxiv. 32. And the great attention with 
 which he was heard, and the proofs he saw 
 that his labours were not in vain, rendered him 
 still more affectionately desirous towards you. 
 
 For, lastly, as one great reason why the a- 
 postle loved the Thessalonians was, that they 
 were not only hearers, but doers of the word, 
 and he could speak of them with pleasure, 
 and propose them to others as examples of 
 the efficacy and tendency of the gospel which 
 he preached (1 Thess. i. 8, 9) ; so I trust, yea 
 I know, that some of you were exceedingly 
 dear to your late minister on this account also. 
 He could say of you and to you, “ Now we 
 live, if ye stand fast in the Lord,” 1 Thess. 
 iii. 8. He had no greater joy than to see his 
 children walk in the truth (3 John 4), and de- 
 monstrate by their conduct, that the gospel 
 which they professed was a doctrine according 
 to godliness. Those of you who gave him this 
 pleasure, may, now he is gone, praise God for 
 the grace which enabled you to administer to 
 the comfort of one who so tenderly watched 
 over your souls. He was proportionably af- 
 fected with pungent grief, when any whom he 
 loved acted unsuitably to their profession, 
 though they, perhaps, seldom knew what their 
 unfaithfulness cost him. In his preaching he 
 bore a strenuous and faithful testimony a- 
 gainst every evil, not only against gross sins, 
 but against every deviation, whether in tem- 
 per or practice, from the spirit and rule of the 
 gospel. But there was something in his na- 
 
 tural disposition which made it difficult for 
 him to expostulate plainly and strongly in pri- 
 vate. — In private, he could not easily reprove. 
 But he could mourn, he could wear out the 
 day without pleasure, and the night without 
 rest, in bemoaning those who had neither com- 
 passion for him nor for themselves. I can af- 
 firm this of him, from instances which have 
 come to my own knowledge. Perhaps some 
 person present may think, Surely the preacher 
 has heard of me, and means ro point me out 
 to the notice of the congregation. No ; it is 
 your own conscience points you out, I know 
 you not. But is it so, indeed, that you broke 
 your minister’s rest, and added to his troubles 
 by your miscarriages ? You do well to weep : 
 may God give you repentance not to be re- 
 pented of! 2 Cor. vii. 10. Will not his la- 
 mented and sudden death recal to your re- 
 membrance how earnestly he warned you, and 
 pleaded with you, while he was living, and 
 rouse you from that dangerous security into 
 which you have been seduced by the deceit- 
 fulness of sin ? 
 
 II. I have, in a great measure, anticipated 
 what I purposed to mention under a second 
 head— the proofs which he gave, that the af- 
 fection he professed for his people was cordial 
 and sincere. But the subject is not exhaust- 
 ed : St. Paul evidenced his love to the Thes- 
 salonians by imparting to them the gospel of 
 God, and by his unwearied zeal and diligence 
 in their service, in defiance of the difficulties 
 and obstacles which always attended his la- 
 bours. By the strong expression, that he was 
 ready to impart unto them his own soul also, 
 he intimates both the energy of his address, 
 and his fixed determination to venture every 
 consequence in their service. 
 
 In another place, the apostle, speaking of 
 the doctrine which he preached, says, “ accor- 
 ding to my gospel,” Rom. ii. 16. It was not 
 a point of speculation with him -. he possessed 
 it. He had experienced the power of it ; it 
 was the spring of his conduct, the source of 
 his comfort, and was therefore properly his 
 own. Here he styles it the “ gospel of God,” 
 perhaps to distinguish it from a pretended 
 gospel, such as the Galatians received from 
 false teachers, which he calls “ another gospel” 
 (Gal. i. 6, 7), and which was indeed not the 
 gospel. The true gospel is of God. It is 
 the glorious gospel of the blessed God, 1 Tim. 
 i. II. From whence we infer its certainty, 
 authority, and importance. It is worthy of 
 all acceptation : it is able to make us w-ise 
 unto salvation, if cordially embraced (2 Tim. 
 iii. 15) ; and to neglect it, is to refuse life, to 
 choose death, to resolve to be miserable, and 
 to affront the wisdom and goodness of God. 
 When Paul preached this gospel at Thessa- 
 lonica, it awakened the spirit of envy, oppo- 
 sition, and clamour, in many who believed 
 not ; but they who received it, experienced it 
 
ON THE DEATH Of DR. CONYERS. 
 
 to bo the power of God, to the salvation of 
 their souls. 
 
 This gospel your late minister preached a- 
 mong you, and, I trust, effectually imparted 
 to many of you, as an instrument of the Holy 
 Spirit. He owed all his success, and you de- 
 rive all the light and comfort you obtained un- 
 der his instruction, to the doctrine which he de- 
 livered. It cannot with reason be expected, 
 that God will afford the seal of his blessing to 
 any scheme of doctrine but his own truth. A 
 preacher may be of a good character in civil 
 life, and diligent in his office, and he may have 
 some success in suppressing outward wicked- 
 ness, though he does not preach the gospel of 
 God, but he will not reach the heart of his 
 people, wean them from their secret sins, and 
 win them to the love and practice of universal 
 holiness, unless he preaches St. Paul’s gos- 
 pel. I hope this congregation has been better 
 taught, than to receive every thing indiscri- 
 minately for truth because it is spoken from a 
 pulpit. You have the scriptures in your hands, 
 and by this standard you are warranted, yea, 
 commanded, to try the spirits (1 John iv. l), 
 because many false prophets and pretended 
 teachers are abroad in the world . however, I 
 will take the liberty to remind you of some 
 plain and sure marks by which you will be 
 able to distinguish a faithful minister of the 
 true gospel. 
 
 He will preach Christ Jesus the Lord, and 
 propose him as the only foundation of a sin- 
 ner’s hope, the only object of faith, the way, 
 the truth, and the life. He will endeavour to 
 convince you of your need of mercy, and then 
 direct your thoughts to the atonement which 
 Christ made for sin, by his bloody death upon 
 the cross. He will give you no encourage- 
 ment to think you can do any thing well 
 pleasing to God till you yourselves are first 
 made acceptable in the beloved ; nor until his 
 love is the motive of your obedience, and your 
 dependence is fixed upon the promised com- 
 munications of strength and grace from his 
 fulness. 
 
 By a manifestation of the truth, he will 
 commend himself to your consciences in the 
 sight of God, 2 Cor. iv. 2. He will not a- 
 muse you with the discussion of some curious 
 point, in which you have little immediate in- 
 terest, or some cold general common-place 
 subject. Many sermons, ingenious in their 
 kind, may be compared to a letter put into the 
 post-office without a direction. It is address- 
 ed to no body, it is owned by no body ; and 
 if a hundred people were to read it, not one of 
 them would think himself concerned in the 
 contents. But the word of the gospel, when 
 faithfully dispensed, searches the heart (Heb. 
 iv. 12), and tries the reins. You will wonder 
 that the preacher, who perhaps is a stranger 
 to you, can so exactly suit himself to your 
 case. He will sometimes bring to your re 
 inembrance what you have done or said, or. 
 
 837 
 
 even what you have only thought, and which, 
 possibly, you had forgotten. So that if you 
 are going on in your sins, or are vailed under 
 a cloak of hypocrisy, you will be ready to 
 start, and think he is about to expose you 
 publicly. Or if you are a mourner in Zion, 
 distressed with fear and temptation, beset with 
 trouble, and know not which way to turn, 
 that tongue of the learned, which he has ac- 
 quired in the school of experience, will fre- 
 quently lead him, while speaking from his own 
 feelings, to meet you with a word in season, 
 so exactly suited to your case, that if you had 
 told him the state of your mind, and every 
 particular of your situation beforehand, he 
 could not have described them better. Such 
 is the correspondence between the word of 
 God and the heart of man ; and such is the 
 similarity of the workings of the human heart 
 in similar circumstances, that the preacher 
 who is enlightened by the scripture, and by 
 the Holy Spirit, while he does little more than 
 relate the exercises of his own mind, appears 
 to many of his hearers to express their hopes 
 and fears, their joys and sorrows, better than 
 they could have expressed them to him. Thus 
 it is that the secrets of the heart are made ma- 
 nifest (1 Cor. xiv. 25), by the preaching of the 
 gospel. All other preaching, compared with 
 this, is lifeless, distant, and unaffecting, little 
 more than declamation ; but the words of a 
 scribe (Matth. xiii. 52), well instructed in the 
 mysteries of the kingdom of God, come home 
 to our own business and bosoms, and con- 
 strain many to say, with the woman of Sama- 
 ria, “ Come and see a man which told me all 
 things that ever I did,” John iv. 29. 
 
 A* true servant of God in the gospel may 
 likewise be known, at least in the place where 
 he resides, or statedly labours, by a certain 
 mixed kind of character, which he will receive 
 from public report. The general tenor of his 
 conduct will be such, that the feeble attempts 
 of slander to vilify him, will be gradually sup- 
 pressed, and they who would speak evil of 
 him, be put to shame and to silence, by his 
 good conversation in Christ, 1 Pet. iii. 16. 
 But though his behaviour be unimpeachable 
 and exemplary, his principles will be misun- 
 derstood and misrepresented ; and by differ- 
 ent persons (sometimes by the same persons), 
 very different and inconsistent things will be 
 laid to his charge. He will often be deemed 
 rigid, precise, uncharitable, enjoining a strict- 
 ness in life and manners to the extreme; so 
 that, to adopt his views, and to follow his 
 rules, a person must bid farewell to comfort, 
 and almost renounce society ; while in the 
 same day, and almost in the same breath, he 
 will be represented as preaching doctrines 
 which, if generally received, would be unfav- 
 ourable to good morals, and promote licen- 
 tiousness. For the natural heart has a dis- 
 like equally to the grace and to the holiness 
 , of the gospel. Salvation by faith in the blood 
 
ON THE DEATH OF DR. CONYERS. 
 
 838 
 
 of Jesus is thought too easy, and affording 
 too much encouragement to the unworthy ; 
 and the simple grateful obedience which cha- 
 racterizes those who seek salvation in this way, 
 and in no other, is thought too strict and scru- 
 pulous, and carrying of things a great deal too 
 far. They who are of the world, who speak to 
 the world, and whom the world is willing to 
 hear, give no offence, and therefore no clamour 
 is excited against them ; but a faithful minister 
 will not be exposed to the woe (Luke vi. 26), 
 denounced against those of whom all men speak 
 favourably. His infirmities and mistakes (for 
 he is not perfect) will be eagerly noticed and 
 exaggerated ; and if no just fault can be 
 found, he must at least expect to be spoken of 
 as an enthusiast, or branded by some name to 
 which ignorance and prejudice have affixed a 
 contumelious sense. 
 
 Such a one was your late minister. Like 
 the apostle, he laboured to impart to his hear- 
 ers the gospel of God : like him, he was un- 
 moved by the opposition of those who knew 
 not what they did, and ready to endure all 
 things for the elect’s sake, that they might be 
 saved, 2 Tim. ii. 10. He loved you, and was 
 willing to impart to you his own soul also. 
 His spirit was willing; he did much, and 
 wished he could have done more. 
 
 It was indeed a surprise to many who were 
 not intimately acquainted with him, that he 
 did no more. And it may be thought by 
 some persons, that as, by his countenance, he 
 seemed to enjoy a tolerable share of health, 
 his public services were hardly answerable to 
 the zeal of a man who was ready to pour out 
 his very life for the good of souls. He preach- 
 ed but once a-week in his parish church ; and 
 no arguments, persuasions, or entreaties, could 
 prevail on him to enter any pulpit but his 
 own. Even when he has been expressly no- 
 minated by his diocesan to preach in another 
 church, he has declined the service, and disap- 
 pointed crowded auditories who wished to 
 hear him. The benefits of his singular abili- 
 ties were therefore confined to his own con- 
 gregations. And it was with the greatest dif- 
 ficulty, and but seldom, that his most intimate 
 friends could engage him to lead in family- 
 worship, where he has been occasionally pre- 
 sent. I have frequently mentioned to him 
 my concern that the sphere of his usefulness 
 should be so much limited ; and he lamented 
 it himself, but his hindrance was constitutional 
 and invincible. He had a continued hurry 
 and flutter upon his spirits, the effects of which 
 were unaccountable to those who knew not 
 the cause. Taken in different views, he might 
 be considered as very happy or very uncom- 
 fortable at the same instant. In the most im - 
 portant sense, he was a happy man. He had 
 peace with God through our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, enjoyed much of the light of his coun - 
 tenance, and had no perplexing doubts re- 
 specting eithei his acceptance in the Beloved, 
 
 or his perseverance in grace. Yet, through 
 the agitation of his spirits, he spent his days, 
 and almost every hour, in trepidation and a- 
 larm. The slightest incidents were sufficient 
 to fill him with fears, which, though he knew 
 to be groundless, he could not overcome. But 
 upon no occasions did he suffer more from 
 these painful feelings, than when he had pub- 
 lic preaching in prospect. When he met his 
 people at home, he usually found pleasure and 
 liberty, unless he observed some new faces. 
 But the sight of a stranger, especially if he 
 knew or suspected him to be a minister, would 
 sometimes distress him greatly, and almost 
 disable him from speaking. It may seem 
 very extraordinary, that a man of the first abi- 
 lities as a preacher, highly respected, and 
 honoured with eminent usefulness, should be 
 intimidated by the presence of those who were 
 much his inferiors. But such was his burden, 
 which neither reflection nor resolution could 
 remove. What he often suffered before he 
 ascended this pulpit, and when he looked 
 round upon a large congregation, and knew 
 not how many such persons as he was a- 
 fraid of might be among them, gave hirn a 
 right to say, in a singular sense, that in im- 
 parting the gospel of God to you, he imparted 
 his own soul also. Perhaps there have been 
 martyrs, who approached the rack or the stake 
 with less distressing sensations, than he has 
 frequently felt when about to enter upon his 
 otherwise delightful work. Yet, because you 
 were the people of his immediate charge, and 
 dear to him, he seldom declined your service 
 on the forenoon of the Lord’s day, if he was 
 well. But this, I believe, was the reason, 
 that at other times, instead of preaching in 
 the church, he confined himself to a place 
 where few, comparatively, could attend him. 
 I do not know, that while he lived at Dept- 
 ford, he ever preached publicly in this neigh- 
 bourhood, excepting once, when he accepted 
 an appointment to preach at the archdeacon’s 
 Visitation at Dartford. But he kept his in- 
 tention a secret in his own breast ; and did 
 not mention it to his nearest friends ; lest a 
 multitude should be drawn to hear him. And 
 he told me himself, that from the hour he 
 stood engaged, which was several weeks before 
 the time, he could scarcely think of any thing 
 else ; and that when the day arrived, his 
 spirits were so greatly agitated, that for some 
 minutes after he was in the pulpit, he was de- 
 prived of his eye-sight. But the Lord whom 
 he served, supported him ; and he was, upon 
 the whole, carried comfortably through the 
 service. 
 
 If we speak of death as the moment of se- 
 paration between soul and body, he was not 
 afraid of it; for he knew whom he believed ; 
 and that to depart and be with his Lord, was 
 (<ro> \u /umWov xgiicrtrc*) unspeakably preferable 
 to any thing that could be enjoyed in the pre- 
 sent life, Phil. i. 23. But though not afraid 
 
ON THE DEATH OF DR. CONYERS, 
 
 of death, he was often afraid of dying. His 
 apprehensions of the possible forerunners and 
 concomitants of a dying hour, frequently made 
 a painful impression upon his spirits. Upon 
 this account, they who loved him, have reason 
 to be reconciled to the suddenness of his re- 
 moval. His was an honourable dismission 
 indeed ! The messenger that called him home, 
 found him actually and actively employed in 
 his Master’s service, with his loins girded up, 
 and his lamp burning, Luke xii. 35. It was 
 likewise a gracious condescension to his infir- 
 mity, and saved him from an experience of 
 any of those conflicts, which he could seldom 
 think of without anxiety and a degree of an- 
 guish. 
 
 Upon the whole, I may say of Dr. Conyers, 
 without just fear of contradiction, he was a 
 burning and a shining light, John v. 35. 
 Many of you rejoiced in his light; and now, 
 the man who cared for your souls, who was the 
 minister of God to you for good, is taken from 
 you, your sorrow is proportionable. Yet, if 
 you truly entered into his views, you are not 
 destitute. The Saviour whom he preached, 
 and in whom ye have believed, is still with 
 you. The stream at which you have often 
 drank, and found refreshment, is dried up ; 
 but the fountain of living waters, from whence 
 it was derived, is always full, and always flow- 
 ing. Whoever dies, Jesus lives ; the residue 
 of the Spirit is with him, and he is at no loss 
 for means to communicate his blessings to 
 those who wait upon him : yea, under his 
 management, even Losses prove gains, and ap- 
 parent hindrances work to the help and fur- 
 therance of faith. Be thankful that you were 
 so long favoured with such a minister ; and re- 
 joice that though you can see him no more in 
 this world, you shall meet him again in the 
 
 839 
 
 world of light. In the meantime (need I say) 
 respect and honour his memory ; and the 
 most effectual manner by which you can shew 
 your regard to him, will be, by walking as he 
 walked, and maintaining a conversation be- 
 coming the gospel (Phil. i. 27), which he so 
 affectionately and faithfully imparted to you. 
 
 But there are, I fear, amongst you, those 
 who acounted the joyful sound of the gospel, 
 which he proclaimed, a burden, have been 
 wearied by his earnest endeavours to pluck 
 you as brands from the burning, and have 
 often wished to be freed from his importunity. 
 Now you have your wishes. Your faithful 
 monitor is removed. He will alarm your 
 consciences, he will offend your pride no 
 more. But if, after slighting his labours of love 
 while he lived, you remain likewise unaffected 
 by his death, you are much more to be pitied 
 than those who lament his removal. Alas < 
 when numbers in different and distant places, 
 who never saw you, are concerned for you, 
 will you not yet be concerned for yourselves ? 
 Tremble, lest you should have cause to say, 
 “ the harvest is past, the summer is ended, 
 but we are not saved !” Jer. viii. 20. You 
 have had your opportunity, a day of grace, in 
 which the things pertaining to your peace 
 have been set before you. The Lord forbid 
 that the following words should be applicable 
 to you : “ but now they are hidden from your 
 eyes !” Luke xix. 42. The Saviour, whom 
 you have too long slighted, is now once more 
 preached to you. He is still upon a throne 
 of grace, able and willing to save to the utter- 
 most all who come unto God by him. But 
 hereafter he will appear on a throne of judg- 
 ment, taking vengeance on them that know 
 not God, and obey not his gospel, 2 Thess» 
 i. 8 
 
THE BEST WISDOM; 
 
 A 
 
 SERMON 
 
 PREACHED IN THE 
 
 PARISH CHURCH OF ST MARY WOOLNOTH, 
 
 ON WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21 , 1787 , 
 
 THE DAY OF THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING RELIGIOUS KNOWLEDGE 
 
 AMONG THE POOR. 
 
 ■He that winneth souls is wise. Proverbs, xi. 30. 
 
 Only he, who redeemed the soul by his blood, 
 is able effectually to win it to himself. The 
 work is his, and they who know him will ren- 
 der the praise to him alone. But in this re- 
 spect, as in many others, there is an analogy 
 between the natural and the moral world. In 
 both, he displays his power and executes his 
 purposes by an instituted course of means and 
 instruments. In both, he often so conceals 
 his operations under the vail of second causes, 
 that to a common and inattentive eye, he 
 seems to do nothing, when in reality he does 
 all. The manna with which he fed Israel in 
 the wilderness, though more immediately and 
 visibly, was not more certainly the effect and 
 proof of his providence and goodness, than 
 the bread by which we live. It is he who 
 giveth the earth virtue to produce corn (Psalm 
 civ. 14); the discretion of the husbandman 
 who prepareth the ground and soweth the 
 seed is from him (Is. xxviii. 24 — 29): and 
 the influence of the sun and the rain, so ne- 
 cessary to ripen the grain, and to clothe the 
 fields with plenty in the season of harvest 
 (Matth. v. 43), is the influence of him who 
 worketh all in all. In this process, the bles- 
 sing which secures the desired event, is wholly 
 from the Lord, though the labour of man and 
 the use of means are indispensable, because his 
 appointment has made them so. 
 
 Thus in the great concern of winning souls, 
 though God whose thoughts and ways are as 
 far above ours, as the heavens are higher than 
 the earth, may, sometimes, as in the instance 
 «.f the apostle Paul (Acts ix. 6), affect and 
 wi* tin heart by an immediate and instanta- 
 
 neous exertion of his power ; yet this is not 
 his ordinary method. Though fallen, we are 
 still rational creatures, and he is pleased to 
 treat us as such. He proposes considera- 
 tions and motives in his holy word, which 
 though ineffectual, considered merely as 
 means, and without the concurrence of his 
 agency, yet have, in their own nature, a moral 
 tendency and suitableness to awaken our at- 
 . tention, and to convince us of our sin and mi- 
 sery, and to recal us to our original state of 
 dependence upon his goodness, and obedience 
 to his will. For the proof of this, I may ap- 
 peal to the consciences of many persons : the 
 force of truth has compelled them to tremble, 
 like Felix, and perhaps, like Herod, to do 
 many things ; and though their depravity has 
 been too obstinate to yield to conviction, they 
 have understood and felt enough, to leave 
 them without excuse. 
 
 The Lord God usually employs those whom 
 he has already won and subdued by his grace, 
 as instruments of winning others ; and there 
 are none of his people, however weak their 
 capacities, or however low their situations in 
 life, but may hope for a share in this honour, 
 if they are faithful to the light he has given 
 them, and live according to the rule of his 
 word. — But he has instituted the office of the 
 gospel-ministry with a more especial view to 
 this important service. 
 
 The proposition in the text is simple and 
 plain ; and the principal division of my sub- 
 ject is suggested by the appearance of our 
 present assembly. I never had an opportuni- 
 ty before of preaching to so many of mv 
 
THE BEST WISDOM 
 
 brethren in the ministry, and perhaps I never 
 may again. And at my time of life, it be- 
 comes me, whenever I stand in the pulpit, to 
 consider seriously, that it is, at least, possible, 
 it may be the last time, and that you, to whom 
 I am now about to speak, may see my face no 
 more. Were I even sure of this, how could 
 I more properly close my public services, than 
 by aiming with my latest breath, to impress 
 upon you, my friends and brethren, this 
 weighty aphorism, “ He that winneth souls is 
 wise?” May it be written upon my own 
 heart while I live ! may it be written upon 
 all our hearts ! Let the scholar, the philoso- 
 pher, the politician, settle their several claims 
 to wisdom among themselves ; but may this 
 wisdom be ours. The man that winneth souls 
 is truly and emphatically wise. 
 
 I shall, in the first place, point out the prin- 
 cipal acknowledged characteristics of wisdom, 
 and shew, that they are all exemplified in the 
 spirit and conduct of the minister who is duly 
 qualified for the service of winning souls. I 
 do not say that all faithful ministers are influ- 
 enced by this wisdom in the same degree ; but 
 unless it has an habitual and prevailing influ- 
 ence on the plans and practice of a public 
 teacher, we need not wonder if he be neither 
 faithful nor useful. My chief design is to 
 elucidate and confirm this first point ; but to- 
 wards the close of my discourse, I shall, se- 
 condly, address myself to private Christians, 
 and remind you of your common interest with 
 us in this concern, and the advantages and 
 opportunities you have of shewing yourselves 
 wise, by contributing your endeavours to pro- 
 mote the great design of winning souls. 
 
 I. The minister who winneth souls is wise. 
 
 1. Wisdom is discovered in the choice of a 
 fit and valuable end. If a man has great ta- 
 lents and abilities, we do not account him 
 wise, unless he employs them properly; a life 
 whiled away in low and trivial pursuits, im- 
 plies a want of wisdom. But he who aims at 
 winning souls, proposes an end which well 
 deserves his application, and will, so far as he 
 succeeds, richly compensate him for all that 
 he can do or suffer in so good a cause. The 
 grand object of his life, in subordination to 
 the will and glory of God, is the recovery of 
 souls. We often use the word win , in a sense 
 which the Hebrew term suggests ; as to win 
 a battle or a fortress. The soul, in its fallen 
 state, separated and alienated from God, is, by 
 his righteous permission, under the power of 
 Satan, who rules in it as a strong one armed 
 in his own house or castle, Luke xi. 21 ; Eph. 
 ii. 2. Were the effects of this bondage con- 
 fined to the present life an attempt to free the 
 soul from that misery, mischief, and madness, 
 with which the world is filled, would be hon- 
 ourable and important. But God, who formed 
 the soul originally for himself, has given it 
 such a vast capacity, that nothing short of I 
 himself can satisfy its desires ; and it is like- 1 
 
 841 
 
 wise, by his constitution, immortal. This ca- 
 pacity of being exquisitely happy or miserable, 
 and that for ever, renders the soul so valuable 
 in the judgment of its Creator, that he gave 
 the Son of his love to redeem it from sin and 
 misery, by his obedience unto death, even the 
 death of the cross. By this adorable method 
 of adjusting the demands of his justice and 
 the honour of his government, to the purposes 
 of his mercy, his wisdom and glory are more 
 eminently discovered to his intelligent crea- 
 tures, than by all his other works. If the 
 only wise God commends to us his gracious 
 design of recovering souls from the dominion 
 of Satan, and of winning them to himself, as 
 the highest instance of his wisdom and good- 
 ness : then, certainly, he who proposes it as 
 the great end of his life, that by serving God 
 in the ministry, he may be an instrument o 
 winning souls, is truly wise, so far as con 
 cerns his leading aim and object. 
 
 2. Wisdom directs us likewise to a conside- 
 ration and choice of means proper to the at- 
 tainment of a proposed end. To attempt 
 what is impracticable, however desirable it 
 might be thought, upon a supposition that it 
 could be accomplished, is a mark, not of wis- 
 dom, but of folly. A man, without being 
 chargeable with rashness, may undertake to 
 move a stone of several tons weight, and even 
 to raise it, if needful, to the top of a tower , 
 or to force open the strongest gate of a castle ; 
 but then the application of mechanical powers 
 would be necessary. If he were unacquainted 
 with these, or disdained to employ them ; if, 
 without estimating or considering the resist- 
 ance to be overcome, and relying solely on 
 his personal strength, he should attempt to 
 move the enormous stone with his hands, or 
 to burst the gates of brass and bars of iron 
 asunder with his feet, his utmost efforts must 
 issue in weariness and disappointment, and no 
 one would think him wise. The experience 
 of ages has demonstrated all endeavours to win 
 souls, to free them from prejudice, to reclaim 
 them from the love and practice of sin, by the 
 mere force of human arguments and moral 
 suasion, to be equally chimerical and unsuc- 
 cessful. The heathen moralists laboured 
 much in this way, but they laboured in vain. 
 Some of them felt and acknowledged that 
 human nature was depraved ; but not know- 
 ing the root, nor the extent, nor the proper re- 
 medy of the disorders they wished to cure, 
 their best sentiments, however specious in 
 theory, made little more impression upon the 
 hearts of their admirers, or even upon their 
 own, than the falling snow makes upon a 
 rock. If the ancient sages could do but 
 little, the modern philosophers, as they chuse 
 to be called, have done, if possible, still less. 
 What a poet observed of die former, is, at 
 least equally, applicable to the latter : Virtu s 
 laudatur et alget. Virtue is defined, described, 
 recommended, and praised, but wickedness 
 
THE BEST WISDOM. 
 
 842 
 
 and folly rapidly increase under their instruc- 
 tions ; and while in their pompous declama- 
 tions they propose liberty to others ( 1 Pet. ii. 
 19), they are themselves the servants, the 
 slaves of corruption. The gospel of Christ, 
 the glorious gospel of the blessed God (1 Tim. 
 i. ll), is the only effectual mean for reform- 
 ing mankind. To the man who possesses, 
 and knows the use of this grand, this wonder- 
 ful machine, if 1 may be allowed the compari- 
 son, what is otherwise impracticable becomes 
 easy. The gospel removes difficulties insupera- 
 ble to human power. It causes the blind to see, 
 the deaf to hear (Isa. xxxv. 8; Matth. xi. 5) ; 
 it softens the heart of stone, and raises the dead 
 in trespasses and sin to a life of righteousness. 
 No force, but that of the gospel, is sufficient 
 to remove the mountainous load of guilt from 
 an awakened conscience, to calm the violence 
 of tumultuous passions, to raise an earthly 
 soul from grovelling in the mire of sensuality 
 or avarice, to a spiritual and divine life, a life 
 of communion with God. No system but 
 the gospel can communicate motives, encour- 
 agements, and prospects, sufficient to with- 
 stand and counteract all the snares and tempta- 
 tions with which the spirit of this world, by 
 its frowns or its smiles, will endeavour, either 
 to intimidate or to bribe us from the path of 
 duty. But the gospel, rightly understood 
 and cordially embraced, will inspire the sloth- 
 ful with energy, and the fearful with courage. 
 It will make the miser generous, melt the 
 churl into kindness, tame the raging tiger in 
 the breast, and in a word, expand the narrow 
 selfish heart, and fill it with a spirit of love to 
 God, cheerful unreserved obedience to his will 
 and benevolence to mankind. 
 
 I shall not trespass upon your time, by de- 
 lineating at large my idea of the gospel. Yet 
 it may be proper to mention three points, 
 which, in my judgment, are essential to it. 
 
 The first respects the character of Jesus the 
 Saviour : That he is very God, and very man, 
 God manifest in the flesh : that in the begin- 
 ning was the Word, and the Word was with 
 God, and the Word was God : that this di- 
 vine Word assumed our nature into a personal 
 union with himself, lived and died in behalf 
 of sinners, and now reigns upon the throne of 
 glory, over all, God blessed for ever ( 1 Tim. 
 iii. 16; John i. 1, 14): that he is the pro- 
 per object of our worship, supreme love, trust, 
 and adoration : that it is he on whom the eyes 
 and expectation of sinners, sensible of their 
 wants and miseries, are fixed, and out of 
 whose fulness they all receive life, strength, 
 comfort, and grace, to help in time of need, 
 Ps. xxxiv. 5; John i. 16. This doctrine is 
 the pillar and ground of truth, 1 Tim. iii. 15. 
 They who have a right sense of the guilt and 
 power of sin, of the holiness and majesty of 
 God, and of the hosts of enemies combined 
 against their peace, must sink into despair, 
 unless supported by the knowledge of an Al- 
 
 mighty Omnipresent Saviour, who is always 
 near, a very present help in trouble, and who 
 can discern the thoughts of the heart (Rev. ii. 
 23) ; for often their most trying and danger- 
 ous exigencies are beyond the reach of a 
 creature’s eye. Whatever they thought of 
 him before, when they know themselves, they 
 cannot entrust their souls to the power, or 
 care, or compassion of a creature ; and there- 
 fore rejoice that they are warranted and en- 
 couraged to commend themselves to him, as 
 to a faithful creator, 1 Pet. iv. 1 9. 
 
 The second grand peculiarity of the gospel 
 is the doctrine of an atonement : That Christ 
 in his state of humiliation, by his obedience 
 unto death, even the death of the cross, made 
 a full, proper, and perfect satisfaction for sin 
 (Phil. ii. 8); that is, his sufferings unto death, 
 the torments which he endured in his body, 
 and the agonies of his soul, inconceivable to 
 us but by their effects (his bloody sweat in 
 the garden, and his astonishing complaint 
 upon the cross, that God had forsaken him), 
 exhibited a striking and solemn proof to the 
 world, to the universe, no less to angels than 
 to men, that God, in affording mercy to sin- 
 ners, still shews his inflexible displeasure a- 
 gainst sin, and makes no relaxation in the 
 awful demands of his holiness, justice, and 
 truth. A substitution capable of manifesting 
 the justice of God in the highest exercise of 
 his mercy, that he might appear just in justi- 
 fying the ungodly (Rom. iv. 5), was of such 
 vast importance to the honour of God’s char- 
 acter and government, that if it could have 
 been effected by any inferior means, Christ 
 died in vain, Galat. ii. 21 . The interposition 
 of a mere creature, even if voluntary, (but 
 what creature would dare to draw upon him- 
 self the displeasure of God due to the sins of 
 men ?) could not have displayed the full-orbed 
 glory of all the divine perfections, as it now 
 shines forth in the person of Jesus Christ, 2 
 Cor. iv. 6. None in heaven or in earth were 
 able or worthy to interpose. Therefore the 
 Son said, “ Lo I come !” He himself, his 
 ownself, bore our sins in his own body upon 
 the tree (1 Pet. ii. 24) : he who knew no sin, 
 was made sin for us, that we might be made 
 the righteousness of God in him, 2 Cor. v. 
 21. 
 
 There is a third point, which is peculiar to 
 the religion of the Bible, and which discrimi- 
 nates it from all religious systems of human 
 institution. There are few of these but con- 
 tain some important truths. In general, they 
 inculcate a degree of attention to the practice 
 of social virtues. But no other system ever 
 proposed to all persons, and as a general truth, 
 the necessity and certainty of supernatural in- 
 fluence and agency; an agency which, from 
 the greatness of its effect, and the universality 
 of its proposal (being promised to all without 
 exception who desire it), must be divine. The 
 bodies of believers are the temples of the Holy 
 
THE BEST 
 
 Ghost (I Cor. vi. 19), that God dwelleth in 
 them by his Spirit, that they have received the 
 Spirit of God, that they are led by the Spirit, 
 walk in the Spirit, and have communion with 
 the Holy Spirit (Rom. viii. 4; Galat. v. 18, 
 25; 1 Cor. xiii. 14); these truths are either 
 expressed or strongly implied in almost every 
 page of the New Testament. 
 
 The gospel then is a message from God. 
 It stains the pride of human glory, and with- 
 out regarding the petty distinctions which 
 obtain amongst men with respect to character 
 or rank, it treats them all as sinners in the 
 sight of God, and under the pow'er of depra- 
 vity strengthened by habit. As such, it points 
 them to a Saviour; it invites and enjoins 
 them to apply to him, to submit to him, and 
 to put their whole trust in him ; to renounce 
 all pleas of their own, and to plead his name 
 and his atonement for their pardon and ac- 
 ceptance ; and promises to all who thus plead, 
 that the Holy Spirit of God will visit them, 
 dwell in them, and abide with them, to en- 
 able them by his gracious influence, both to 
 will and to do according to his good pleasure. 
 
 I omit other particulars, nor shall I at pre- 
 sent attempt to prove these, farther than by 
 an appeal to observation and experience. I 
 trust, my brethren, we all desire to win souls. 
 It is a good desire, it is a noble, a glorious 
 ambition. I hope we are likewise apprised of 
 .lie nature of the undertaking, and are too wise 
 .o attempt it, or to expect success, by any power 
 or exertion of our own, unless we faithfully 
 and humbly make use of the instrument which 
 God has appointed for the purpose. This in- 
 strument is the gospel-message, the principal 
 parts of which I have stated to you. This is 
 the rod of God’s strength, which, like the won- 
 der-working rod of Moses, when held up in 
 his name, though wielded by a feeble arm, 
 can perform miracles. And I will venture to 
 affirm, without hesitation, and without excep- 
 tion, that no man, whatever his abilities and 
 qualifications may be in other respects, though 
 he had the zeal of a martyr and the powers of 
 an angel, will be able to force the strong-holds 
 of Satan, to cast down the lofty imaginations 
 of men, and win souls to holiness and happi- 
 ness, without it. But if he be called and 
 taught of God to preach this gospel, he will 
 do great things ; he will be honoured and suc- 
 cessful: he will win souls; he will be num- 
 bered among the wise. 
 
 Let us appeal to facts. The apostle Paul 
 was eminently successful in winning souls. 
 He planted churches in many different and 
 distant parts of the Roman empire. Wliere- 
 ever he went, power from on high accompa- 
 nied his word, and made it effectual, accord- 
 ing to the commission he had received from 
 the Lord, to open the eyes of the blinded 
 Heathens, to turn them from darkness to light, 
 and from the power of Satan unto God, Acts 
 xxvi. 18. Can we propose a better example 
 
 WISDOM. 843 
 
 for our imitation ? Would we know the subject- 
 matter of that preaching which produced such 
 extensive and salutary effects ? He gives us 
 full information. He preached Christ cruci- 
 fied ; Christ the wisdom and power of God 
 ( 1 Cor. i. 23, 24) ; the unsearchable riches of 
 Christ (Ephes. iff. 8) ; Christ the Man who 
 shall judge the quick and dead (Acts xvii. 31 ; 
 xxvi. 28) ; Christ as God, who purchased the 
 church with his own blood. As a wise mas- 
 ter-builder, he laid this foundation, and de- 
 clared, that other foundation can no man lay, 
 1 Cor. iff. 10, 11. He preached the atone- 
 ment, that Christ made peace by the blood of 
 his cross, died for us while sinners, and that 
 we are justified by his blood, Col. i. 20. He 
 preached the agency of the TIoly Spirit as ab- 
 solutely necessary and powerfully efficacious, 
 and ascribes that operation by which Christ in 
 his true character is revealed to the heart, to 
 the same power which commanded light to 
 shine out of darkness, in the beginning, 2 Cor. 
 iv. 6. These truths were the weapons of his 
 warfare, 2 Cor. x. 4. He went forth con- 
 quering and to conquer, not by the enticing 
 words of man’s wisdom, but in the spirit of 
 demonstration and power. 
 
 I need not tell this auditory what were the 
 doctrines which shook the pillars and founda- 
 tions of Popery at the Reformation, and dif- 
 fused a knowledge and practice becoming the 
 profession of Christianity, among many na- 
 tions which had been long involved in the 
 darkness of ignorance, superstition, and wick- 
 edness. In our own land, it was not very long 
 before the principles of the Reformation were 
 severely discountenanced. Particularly in the 
 reign of Charles II., they were opposed by 
 methods which the good providence of God at 
 length effectually restrained, by favouring us 
 with a succession of Princes of the House of 
 Hanover. If the lives and conduct of those 
 who endured fines, stripes, imprisonment, and 
 death for conscience sake, be compared with 
 the spirit and temper of those who inflicted or 
 approved them, I think a candid and attentive 
 inquirer will be at no loss to determine on 
 which side the advantage lay, in point of real 
 religion and sound morality. 
 
 The spirit of our present excellent constitu- 
 tion and government allows us a degree of re- 
 ligious liberty unknown to our forefathers, for 
 which we cannot be sufficiently thankful ; and 
 the doctrines of the Reformation and of the 
 apostles are still preached. Nor have we rea- 
 son to fear that sanguinary laws, and the iron 
 hand of arbitrary power, will be employed to 
 silence us. Yet the doctrines themselves are 
 far from being generally acceptable. The 
 spirit of opposition is awake, and active as 
 formerly, though the method of its attack is 
 varied. But great is the truth, and will pre- 
 vail. It has triumphed over violence and 
 rage; it is equally superior to the arts of sub 
 tlety and refinement. We are not afraid to 
 
THE BEST WISDOM. 
 
 S44 
 
 repeat the apostle’s challenge : “ Who is he 
 that overcometh the world, but he that believ- 
 eth that Jesus is the Son of God ?” 1 John 
 v. 5. Which is the scheme of religion in the 
 present day, which produces the most consci- 
 entious reverence to the holy name of the Lord 
 our God, the most habitual and devout ob- 
 servance of his holy day, and of family-wor- 
 ship ? What kind of preaching evidences itself 
 to be a doctrine according to godliness, by the 
 most numerous and notorious instances of per- 
 sons reclaimed by it from habits of gross li- 
 centiousness, and effectually taught to fear the 
 Lord and depart from evil ? What are those 
 principles, which, by experience, are found 
 most suitable and most powerful to support 
 the soul under the pressure of great afflictions, 
 or upon the near approach of death ? I know 
 there are people under afflictions, who, like 
 Pharaoh, harden themselves yet more ; who 
 value themselves upon a proud stoical resolu- 
 tion, and deem it a weakness to complain. 
 But Christian fortitude is a very different thing. 
 It is the temper of a humble pardoned sinner, 
 who has entrusted himself and his all to the 
 Saviour, and, believing that he condescends to 
 direct all his concerns, submits to his appoint- 
 ments, not by constraint, but willingly, sen- 
 sible that the wisdom and love of him in 
 whom he confides will chuse better for him 
 than he could possibly chuse for himself. I 
 know, or have read, that the American Indi- 
 ans, w’hen put to death by their enemies, in the 
 midst of the most excruciating tortures that 
 cruelty can invent, will sing their w'ar-songs, 
 and insult their tormentors, without uttering 
 a groan or shedding a tear ; and I have like- 
 wise read of philosophers, who, to confirm 
 their admirers in a persuasion that infidelity 
 had freed them from all fear of death or its 
 consequences, have jested in their dying hours. 
 What a contrast to these is the relation we 
 have of the death of Stephen, who, with the 
 utmost composure, committed his departing 
 spirit into the hands of his Saviour, whom he 
 saw r ready to receive him, and employed his 
 latest breath in prayer for his murderers ! 
 Acts vii. 55 ■ — 60. When a believer in Jesus 
 is about to die, he does not express the fiend- 
 like phrenzy of a savage, or the ill-timed le- 
 vity of a buffoon ; he is serious and recollect- 
 ed. Conscious of his unworthiness, but know- 
 ing w'hom he has believed, he rejoices with a 
 joy unspeakable and full of glory, 1 Pet. i. 8. 
 There is often a dignity and energy in the lan- 
 guage of plain people in dying circumstances, 
 far superior to what might be expected from 
 their former habits of life : they seem to have 
 new ideas and new faculties ; heaven opened 
 to them, and opened in them, w hile yet in the 
 body. Ignorant and profane persons, who are 
 sometimes spectators of such scenes, have been 
 astonished at effects which, though they could 
 not account for, have for the moment secretly 
 extorted from them the wish of Balaam,. 
 
 “ Let me die the death of the righteous, and 
 let my last end be like his,” Numb, xxiii. 
 10. By these effects on the lives and deaths 
 of those who cordially receive it, the gospel 
 which we preach, the doctrine of the cross, 
 approves itself to be the power of God unto 
 salvation, the sure and only mean of winning 
 souls to his favour and image. 
 
 If I have taken up too much of your time 
 with this second particular, let the importance 
 of if, and the state of religion amongst us, 
 plead my excuse. Thus far w'e have advanc- 
 ed — If it be w’isdom to aim at a great design, 
 and to adopt the most fit and proper means for 
 the accomplishment, the man my text speaks 
 of is wise. His end is great, to win souls. 
 The mean he employs is the gospel, W'hich 
 God has revealed and instituted for this very 
 purpose, and with which his power and bles- 
 sing are surely connected by promise. 
 
 3. Yet the know ledge of a worthy end, and 
 of the means by w'hich it may be attained, is 
 not sufficient to denominate a man wise. If 
 he be truly wise, and his object of great im- 
 portance, he will not suffer himself to be easi- 
 ly diverted from it, but wdll rather hold and 
 manage every inferior concernment in a due 
 subservience and subordination to his main 
 point. Sir Isaac Newton, when a child, might 
 possibly have amused himself, as many other 
 children have done, by blowing up bubbles in 
 soapy w-ater w'ith a pipe. But it w-as not a 
 childish amusement in the hands of this su- 
 blime genius, when he applied it, among other 
 experiments, to discover and establish that 
 theory of light and colours, by which, in his 
 admirable System of Optics, he enlightened 
 the world. But if w r e speak strictly, the most 
 important employments and discoveries of 
 which mankind are capable, if directed no 
 higher than to the concerns of the present life, 
 are tri\ial and worthless as the sports of chil- 
 dren, or the wretched amusements of lunatics, 
 to an immortal, who is soon, very soon, to 
 pass unto the unseen world, to appear before 
 the judgment-seat of God, and to be fixed, 
 according to his righteous award, in a state of 
 endless happiness or misery. The desire of 
 pleasing God, and of doing all to his glory, 
 w'hich should be the ultimate end of a rational 
 creature, and will be, if he feels his depend- 
 ence and his obligations, this, like the fabled 
 philosopher’s stone, turns every thing into 
 gold, sanctifies the most common actions of 
 life which belong to the situation in which 
 Divine Providence has placed us, and gives 
 them a sublimity and dignity. Consecrated 
 by this intention, they become acts of devotion. 
 They have a very low idea of religion w-ho 
 confine it to what we usually mean by devo- 
 tional exercises. The truly religious man does 
 indeed bow his knees in secret before the Most 
 High God, he carefully consults his holy word, 
 lie waits upon him in his public ordinances. 
 In these ways he derives fresh supplies from 
 
THE BEST 
 
 the fountain of wisdom and grace, and his 
 strength is renewed. But he does not leave 
 his religion in the closet or the church ; it 
 abideth in him, is the governing spring of his 
 whole conduct, and according to the degree 
 of his attainment in faith and love, and allow- 
 ing for the unavoidable abstractions inciden- 
 tal to our frames (which are too weak and li- 
 mited to be able to fix our attention closely 
 upon many things at once), whether he be 
 upon the throne or the bench, upon the parade 
 or the exchange ; whether he be called to serve 
 God in a public capacity, or in private life, 
 whether he be in a state of affluence, or earns 
 his honest bread by sweeping the streets — in 
 every station and situation, he is a servant of 
 God, from morning to night ; and these very 
 different services are all equally acceptable to 
 him, who seeth not as man seeth, and estimates 
 them, not by their comparative importance in 
 o,ur view, but according to the principle of 
 love by which they are performed, and the 
 sublime end to which they are directed. 
 
 But we, my brethren, who are ministers of 
 the gospel, have this great advantage (if in- 
 deed we improve it), that our particular call- 
 ing as members of society, coincides with our 
 general calling as Christians. The person who 
 serves God in a secular calling, may, as 1 
 have observed, be equally acceptable to God, 
 because equally devoted to his will ; but his 
 advantages and opportunities for winning souls 
 are not equal to ours. It is our professed and 
 appropriate business; and we are freed from the 
 incumbrances of worldly business, that we may 
 give our whole attention to this very thing, 
 Acts vi. 4 ; 1 Tim. iv. 15, 16. If we are wise, 
 we shall watch and pray against being imped- 
 ed by any studies and pursuits which have not 
 an evident tendency to promote our success in 
 winning souls. You have probably heard 
 what is related of the address of whale -fishers, 
 when the whale, irritated by the wounds he 
 has received, attacks their boats. It is said 
 they have a tub in readiness to throw into the 
 sea, and that while the whale furiously en- 
 counters the tub, the boat has time to escape. 
 Whether this be fact or not, methinks it may 
 suggest a useful lesson to us : Many things, 
 not criminal in themselves, will prove so to 
 us, if we suffer them, by engrossing too much 
 of our time and thoughts, to divert us from 
 our principal object. It may not be wrong, 
 it may be commendable, for a minister to pos- 
 sess some general knowledge of philosophy, 
 history, criticism, and other branches of litera- 
 ture, or of the controversies which have dis- 
 turbed the peace of the Church. But peri- 
 mus in licilis. An over-attachment to these 
 studies, though less scandalous, may prove 
 little less hurtful to our ministry than the 
 love of pleasure, or the love of money. He 
 who is duly sensible of the importance and 
 difficulty of winning souls, will find but little 
 leisure for sorting shells or butterflies, for 
 
 WISDOM. H45 
 
 studying grammatical niceties, for poring 
 over manuscripts scarcely legible, for decy- 
 phering ancient inscriptions, or entangling 
 himself in the dry uninteresting thickets of 
 controversy. He will be careful lest avoca- 
 tions of this kind should prove like the tubs 
 I have mentioned, amusements to divert his 
 attention from the state of souls around him, 
 who are in danger of perishing in ignorance 
 and sin. We are set as watchmen to sound 
 the alarm, to warn the wicked of their evil 
 ways, to direct inquirers into the paths of 
 peace, to point out the snares and temptations 
 to which they are exposed, to exhort and 
 charge those who profess the truth, that they 
 walk worthy of God who has called them to 
 his kingdom and glory ; in a word, to use 
 our best endeavours publicly, and from house 
 to house (Acts xx. 10; 2 Tim. iv. 2), in 
 season and out of season, to build up our 
 hearers in their most holy faith. We are to 
 give an account of the talents, opportunities, 
 arid souls entrusted to us, and we should 
 tremble at the thought of being hen obliged 
 to confess, “ while thy servant was busy here 
 and there, the man w as gone,” 1 Kings xx. 40. 
 If such an eminent servant of God as arch- 
 bishop Usher, though possessed of the faith 
 and hope of the gospel, found cause, when re- 
 viewing his past life on his dying bed, to cry 
 out repeatedly and earnestly, “ Lord, forgive 
 my sins of omission !” how jealous ought we 
 to be of ourselves ! It behoves us to use the 
 language of Nehemiah, to many proposals and 
 pursuits which our inclinations may plead for, 
 “ I am doing a great work, so that I cannot 
 come down. Why should the work cease, 
 while I leave it and come down to you ?” 
 Neh. vi. 3. Seldom is any man remarkably 
 successful and eminent in arts or sciences, in 
 the acquisition of wealth or power, who does 
 not resolutely deny himself in other respects, 
 and make every secondary point give place, 
 so far as it stands in competition with his 
 leading and favourite object. Such a deter- 
 mined resolution, to follow the avowed design 
 of our calling as the one thing, in comparison 
 with which every thing else is to be under- 
 valued and neglected, if likely to hinder us, 
 is essential to that wisdom which alone can 
 qualify us for winning souls. 
 
 4. This wisdom implies fortitude also. If 
 w T e engage in this work without counting the 
 cost, and without being apprised of the diffi- 
 culties and snares to which it may expose us; 
 or if we cannot, in some measure, say with 
 the apostle, None of these things move me 
 (Acts xx. 23), we shall probably be soon dis- 
 couraged. What should w’e think of a states- 
 man, who, having formed a wise and noble 
 plan for the benefit of a kingdom, and having 
 the means necessary to accomplish it within 
 his power, should be deterred from carrying 
 it into execution, though it was approved by 
 all competent judges, merely because he could 
 
846 THE BEST 
 
 not bear to be misunderstood, or misrepresent- 
 ed, by the very lowest of the people, or by the 
 children who play in the street? His want of 
 spirit, upon such a supposition, would doubt- 
 less be esteemed a want of wisdom. But this 
 is a faint representation of our folly, if, be 
 lieving ourselves to be the servants of God, 
 being convinced, as we say, of the worth and 
 danger of souls, and knowing that the gospel 
 of God, committed to our trust (1 Thess. ii. 
 4), is the only possible mean of their recovery ; 
 a regard to the fear or favour of men should 
 prevail on us to suppress or soften our mes- 
 sage, and to accommodate ourselves to their 
 taste, instead of conforming to our instruc- 
 tions, lest we should displease them. Would 
 an earthly king bear with an ambassador who 
 was guilty of such timid treachery ? We can- 
 not, my brethren, think too humbly of our- 
 selves, but we may magnify our office, and we 
 ought. In this sense at least, we are ambas- 
 sadors for Christ (2 Cor. v. 20), that the mes- 
 sage we are to deliver, is not ours, but his by 
 whom we are sent. We are not answerable 
 for the success, but we are under the strong- 
 est obligation to be faithful. And he whose we 
 are> and whom we serve, is well able to support 
 us. Let us not fear the reproach of men, 
 nor be afraid of their revilings, Isa. li. 7. In 
 the sight of our Lord God, all the nations of 
 the earth collected are less than nothing, and 
 vanity inconsiderable as the drop which falls 
 unperceived from the bucket, or the dust (Isa. 
 xl. 15) which cleaves to the scales without af- 
 fecting the balance. The apostles were wise to 
 win souls. They tried the spirit of the world 
 before us, and were despised and insulted 
 by it. They were accounted the offscouring 
 and filth of all things, and suffered much 
 shame for their Lord’s sake (1 Cor. iv. 18; 
 Acts v. 41 ) ; but they esteemed shame, in such 
 a cause, their highest honour. Jesus endured 
 the cross, and despised the shame for them and 
 for us. He was buffeted, spit on, treated as 
 a madman, a demoniac, and laughed to scorn. 
 Let us go forth bearing his reproach, in meek- 
 ness of wisdom ; instructing those who oppose, 
 not rendering railing for railing, but pitying 
 and praying for them : but let us be firm and 
 unmoved, and not hesitate to speak the truth 
 in love, whether they will hear, or whether 
 they will forbear. We shall not speak wholly 
 in vain ; and to be instrumental in saving one 
 soul from death, is an honour sufficient to 
 compensate for all the slights and contempt 
 we can meet with from an unkind world. It 
 is, indeed, our duty to study to find out ac- 
 ceptable words, to endeavour to please men 
 for their edification, and to be careful not to 
 add to the unavoidable offence of the gospel, 
 by debasing our zeal with the unhallowed fire 
 of an angry spirit : but we degrade our cha- 
 racter, if we appear too solicitous to conciliate 
 the good opinion of men, or to depend upon 
 their favour. The Lord, who employs us, 
 
 WISDOM. 
 
 will take care of us ; and to live in a spirit of 
 unreserved dependence upon him, will raise 
 us to a noble independence with respect to 
 creatures. All hearts are in his hands. He 
 will protect our persons and characters, supply 
 our wants, controul our enemies, and raise us 
 friends, so far as he sees it needful, without 
 any solicitude on our parts, if we can but put 
 our trust in him. Such are the principles of 
 Christian fortitude. He who is wise to win 
 souls, loves his fellow-creatures, but he cannot 
 fear them, because he fears the Lord. He 
 will neither provoke nor dread their frowns, 
 nor will he meanly court their smiles. He 
 knows that if they receive his message, 
 they will love him for the truth’s sake, and he 
 neither expects nor desires their favour upon 
 other terms. By the cross of Christ he is 
 crucified to the world (Gal. iv. 14), and the 
 world to him. He has chosen his side. He 
 will serve the Lord (Joshua xxiv. 25), and he 
 will use his utmost influence to prevail on 
 others to serve him likewise ; so far as he suc- 
 ceeds, he feels a joy superior to the joy of har- 
 vest, or of those who divide the spoil, Isa. ix. 
 3. When he cannot succeed, he is grieved, 
 but not disconcerted ; and, for the most part 
 his calm but stedfast perseverance in well-do- 
 ing, will gradually establish his character, stop 
 the mouth of calumny, and extort a reverence 
 to his person, even from those who cannot 
 bear his doctrine. 
 
 5. I shall mention but one particular more, 
 which, though experience shews to be not so 
 absolutely necessary as those which I have al- 
 ready specified, because, in fact, it has been 
 too little regarded by many who have been 
 wise to win souls, yet is certainly a branch 
 of that wisdom, which, as ministers, we ought 
 incessantly to ask of God — I mean a due at- 
 tention to the importance of union among 
 those who are engaged in the same cause. A 
 great stress has indeed been often laid upon 
 uniformity of sentiment and modes of wor- 
 ship ; but this, in the present state of human 
 nature, can no more be effected either by force 
 or persuasion, than men can be forced or per- 
 suaded to a uniformity of stature or complex- 
 ion ; and if it were practicable, it might prove 
 of little value. The form of religion may be 
 strenuously contended for by those who are 
 strangers to the power of it; but the best 
 form w r e can conceive, if destitute of power, is 
 lifeless, like the body without the soul. The 
 true unity of spirit is derived from the things 
 in which those who are taught and born of 
 God agree, and should not be affected by 
 those in wffiich they differ. The church ot 
 Christ, collectively considered, is an army ; 
 they serve under one Prince, have one com- 
 mon interest, and are opposed by the same 
 enemies. This army is kept up, and the places 
 of those who are daily removed to the church 
 triumphant, supplied entirely by those who are 
 rescued and won from the power of the ene- 
 
THE BES1 
 
 my, which is chiefly effected by the gospel- 
 ministry. This consideration should remind 
 ministers, that it is highly improper (I might 
 use a stronger expression) to waste much of 
 their time and talents, which ought to be em- 
 ployed against the common foe, in opposing 
 those, who, though they cannot exactly agree 
 with them in every smaller point, are perfect- 
 ly agreed, and ready to concur with them, in 
 promoting their principal design. A wise 
 statesman, who has a point much at heart 
 which he cannot carry without assistance, will 
 gladly accept of help from persons of all par- 
 ties on whom he can prevail to join with him, 
 and will not, at such a crisis, preclude himself 
 from this advantage, by an unseasonable dis- 
 cussion of more minute concerns, in which he 
 knows they must, and will be against him. 
 When I see ministers of acknowledged piety, 
 and respectable abilities, very busy in defend- 
 ing or confuting the smaller differences, which 
 already too much separate those who ought to 
 be of one heart and one mind, though, while 
 they are all fallible, they cannot be exactly of 
 one judgment; though I give them credit for 
 their good intention, I cannot but lament the 
 misapplication of their zeal, which, if directed 
 into another channel, would probably make 
 them much more successful in winning souls. 
 Let us sound an alarm in the enemy’s camp, 
 but not in our own ! I have somewhere met 
 with a passage of ancient history, the sub- 
 stance of which, though my recollection of it 
 is but imperfect, I will relate, because I think 
 it very applicable to this part of my subject. 
 It is an account of two large bodies of forces 
 which fell in with each other in a dark night. 
 A battle immediately ensued. The attack 
 and resistance were supported with equal spi- 
 rit. The contest was fierce and bloody. Great 
 was the slaughter on both sides, and on both 
 sides they were on the point of claiming the 
 victory ; when the day broke, and as the light 
 advanced, they soon perceived to their aston- 
 ishment and grief, that owing to the darkness 
 of the night, they had been fighting, not with 
 enemies, as they had supposed, but with friends 
 and allies ; they had been doing their enemies 
 work, and weakening the cause they wished to 
 support. The expectation of each party to 
 conquer the other, was founded upon the los- 
 ses the opponent had sustained ; and this was 
 what proportionably aggravated their lamenta- 
 tion and distress, when they had sufficient 
 light to shew them the mischief they had done. 
 Ah ! my friends, if shame be compatible with 
 the heavenly state, as perhaps in a sense it 
 may (for believers, when most happy here, 
 are most sensibly ashamed of themselves), 
 shall we not, even then, be ashamed to think 
 how often, in this dark world, we mistook our 
 friends for foes, and that, while we thought 
 we were fighting for the cause of God and 
 truth, we were wounding and worrying the 
 people whom he loved, and perhaps indulging 
 
 r WISDOM. 847 
 
 our own narrow, selfish, party prejudices, un- 
 der the semblance of zeal for his glory. 
 
 II. I hope what I have hitherto offered, 
 though more directly addressed to ministers, 
 may not be altogether uninteresting or unuse- 
 ful to the rest of my auditory ; but you who 
 are not in the ministry, if you have tasted that 
 the Lord is gracious, have a desire, in com- 
 mon with us, to win souls. And there is not 
 only ample room and scope for your endeav- 
 ours, in concert with ours, but without con- 
 currence on your parts, we can expect but 
 little success. You, likewise, if animated by 
 the wisdom which is from above, even those 
 of you who are in the most confined situa- 
 tions, may be greatly instrumental in winning 
 souls. 
 
 1. By your example. — If you walk agree- 
 ably to your profession, blameless and harm- 
 less as the children of God, shining as lights 
 in the world, Phil. ii. 15. When we preach 
 a free salvation by the blood of Jesus, they, 
 who know no better, misrepresent our doc- 
 trine, as being unfavourable to the practice of 
 morality, supposing that by the stress we lay 
 upon faith in his atonement, as the only solid 
 ground of hope for acceptance with God, we 
 encourage men to expect to be saved at last, 
 whether they obey his commandments or not. 
 We endeavour to convince them of their mis- 
 take, and to prove, that as without faith it is 
 impossible to please God (Heb. xi. 6), so it 
 is no less impossible for any person to possess 
 true faith, without earnestly endeavouring to 
 please and obey him in all things, from prin- 
 ciples of love and gratitude. The proof of 
 this is easy to those who understand the scrip- 
 tures, and acknowledge their divine authority. 
 But many, yea, most people, are more likely 
 to be convinced by what they observe of you, 
 than by wdiat they hear from us. We assure 
 them that our gospel teaches those who receive 
 it, to renounce all ungodliness and worldly 
 lusts, to live soberly, righteously, and godly 
 (Tit. ii. 12); to be temperate in prosperity, 
 patient under affliction ; to fill up their several 
 relations in lift with integrity and diligence ; 
 to be cheerfully submissive to the will of God 
 under all changes ; to be meek, gentle, and 
 benevolent, forbearing and forgiving ; in a 
 word, to do, in all cases, to others, as we 
 would they should do unto us, Matth. vii. 1 2. 
 Happy for us, if when we look round upon 
 our hearers, we can with confidence say, “ Ye 
 are our epistles, known and read of all men,” 
 2 Cor. iii. 2. If any ask us concerning the 
 tendency of our doctrines, shall we send them 
 to you, that they may notice, not only your 
 serious and constant attendance upon public 
 worship, but the good order of your families, 
 your behaviour as husbands or wives, parents 
 or children, masters or servants, your punctu- 
 ality in business, and to all your engagements 
 and promises, and the tenderness you discovei 
 to the characters and concerns of your neigh 
 
848 THE BEST 
 
 hours? Shall we send them to you, when you 
 are in trouble, when you are visited with s'ck- 
 ness and strong pain, or when the desire of 
 your eyes is taken away with a stroke (Ezek. 
 xxiv. 16), that they may see with their own 
 eyes and be satisfied that you have neither fol- 
 lowed cunningly devised fables, nor contented 
 yourselves with mere lifeless notions of the 
 truth ; but that your religion is real and pow- 
 erful, and not only inspires you with a good 
 hope respecting a future state, but is the 
 source of your comfort, and the spring of 
 your conduct in the present life ? may we 
 venture, my friends, to make this appeal ? 
 then undoubtedly you are wise to win souls. 
 A profession like yours cannot be without an 
 influence within your own circle. Do any 
 persons, who know your whole deportment, 
 affect to scorn or pity you ? if they treat you 
 as hypocrites, they are hypocrites themselves, 
 they are contradicted by their own conscien- 
 ces. I will not say they love you, but be as- 
 sured they secretly reverence you. It is only 
 the trifling half-professor, who hears the gos- 
 pel and talks about it, but dishonours it by 
 his practice, whom the world really despise. 
 And who can blame them for despising such 
 characters ? But, alas for those who, by thus 
 causing the ways of truth to be evil spoken 
 of, lay stumbling-blocks before the blind, Lev. 
 xix. 14. 
 
 The effects of a consistent conversation be- 
 coming the gospel in those who profess it, 
 were remarkably exemplified in the first Chris- 
 tian church at Jerusalem. They were appa- 
 rently like sheep without a shepherd, sheep in 
 the midst of wolves. They were surrounded 
 by the very people who had lately murdered 
 their Lord. But the holiness, love, joy, 
 peace, union and simplicity, which animated 
 their conduct, impressed an awe upon the be- 
 holders, so that no poor pretender durst pre- 
 sume to join them (Acts v. 13) ; and though 
 divested of all outward advantages and sup- 
 port, the people were constrained to magnify 
 them. Were this spirit more general amongst 
 us, I believe it would be more effectual to 
 stop the mouths of gainsayers, and to silence 
 the cavils of infidels, than all our books and 
 sermons. And the twelve apostles, were they 
 now living amongst us, would probably preach 
 to little purpose, unless a measure of this spi- 
 rit were discoverable in their professed ad- 
 mirers. 
 
 2. By your prayers. — You are not called to 
 preach the gospel, but in this way, you may 
 greatly assist those who are. Brethren, pray 
 for us. Our work is great ; the difficulties 
 we have to surmount, the snares and tempta- 
 tions which surround us, and our infirmities, 
 are many. Who is sufficient for these things? 
 The apostle Paul, distinguished as he was by 
 the eminence of his grace, experience, and 
 services, set a high value upon the prayers of 
 God’s people. Hear how he pleads with them, 
 
 WISDOM. 
 
 with an earnestness, like that of a needy beg- 
 gar requesting alms : “ I beseech you, brethren, 
 for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the 
 love of the Spirit, that you strive together in 
 your prayers to God for me,” Rom. xv. 30. 
 And pray, “ That the word of the Lord may 
 have free course, may run and be glorified,” 
 2 Thess. iii. 1. The Lord has promised to 
 do great things for his people, but he has said, 
 that he will be inquired of by them, to do it 
 for them, Ezek. xxxvi. 37. Prize, and im- 
 prove, your great privilege of access to the 
 throne of grace, by which every believer in 
 Jesus, like Israel of old, has power with God 
 and with man. In answer to effectual fervent 
 prayer, the army of Sennacherib was destroyed 
 in a night (Is. xxxvii. 21, 36), and Peter was 
 delivered from a strong prison, and from the 
 malice of Herod, Acts xii. 5, 1 2. The efficacy 
 of prayer is still the same. If the Lord were 
 pleased to pour out a spirit of prayer and sup- 
 plication upon his people, we should find our 
 public ordinances more lively and more fruit- 
 ful.' We should then hope to be more success- 
 ful in winning souls, and you might justly 
 claim a principal share in the comfort and 
 honour of seeing that good work prosper, to 
 the success of which, your prayers would 
 largely contribute. Next to the immediate 
 assistance and consolations of the Holy Spi- 
 rit, nothing encourages a faithful minister so 
 much, as when he thinks he can perceive that, 
 while he is speaking, his hearers are drawing 
 down a blessing upon his words, by their 
 prayers : it adds wings to his zeal, gives him 
 a double impression upon his own heart, ot 
 the weight and importance of the truths he 
 delivers ; and enables him to dispense them 
 with a double impression, of demonstration and 
 power, upon the hearts of others. 
 
 3. By affording your countenance and as- 
 sistance, according to the ability the Lord has 
 given you, to promote every prudent and well- 
 directed scheme which is set on foot for the 
 more effectual spreading of that knowledge 
 which is necessary in order to wan souls, from 
 the dominion of sin, to the service of God. 
 Among these there are few, if any, which I 
 can more wairantably commend to your at- 
 tention, than the laudable and benevolent ob- 
 ject of the Society for promoting Religious 
 Knowledge among the Poor, — an institution, 
 which it has pleased God signally to prosper, 
 both by the large increase of their fund from 
 year to year, and the many instances of the 
 known happy effects which have followed the 
 perusal of the books they have distributed. 
 Many more instances, as yet unknown to us, 
 we trust will be manifested in the great day, 
 when the Lord shall appear in glory. Though 
 the beginning of this Society was small, the} 
 have since the year 1750, when it was first 
 formed, distributed more than four hundred 
 thousand books, upwards of one hundred and 
 five thousand of which were Bibles and New 
 
THE BEST WISDOM. 
 
 Testaments ; the rest were small and plain 
 books, well adapted to the capacities and cir- 
 cumstances of those who have, mostly, but a 
 confined education, and who have not much 
 time for reading. The number of books be- 
 stowed annually has been on the increase from 
 year to year. In the course of the last year, 
 according to the printed account, the number 
 of all the different books was fifteen thousand 
 five hundred and eighty. How much these 
 donations may have multiplied the means of 
 religious knowledge among people otherwise 
 destitute, in these kingdoms, in our Planta- 
 tions, and in America, who can say, who can 
 even conjecture ? And we hope, by the be- 
 nefactions of this year, the Society will be 
 able to do more the following year than in 
 any former. 
 
 People who are in danger of perishing for 
 lack of knowledge, are still very numerous. 
 The much which has been done, is little com- 
 pared with what the Society might yet do, 
 were their resources equal to their wishes. I 
 trust my request, that you will strengthen 
 their hands at this time, will not be in vain ; 
 and that the brief account I have given you 
 of their design and progress, will render far- 
 ther solicitation needless. To bespeak the 
 benevolence of my stated congregation, when 
 a collection is proposed, I seldom do more 
 than inform them of the occasion, and that it 
 has my good wishes. After the repeated 
 proofs I have had of their generosity, I need 
 do no more. Nor will I suppose that it is 
 necessary to use any farther arguments to pre- 
 vail with you. 
 
 There may be some persons present, who 
 will kindly assist us in procuring the means of 
 religious knowledge for others, who are, hi- 
 therto, unacquainted with the power and the 
 comforts of religion themselves. May the 
 good Lord now awaken their desires to obtain 
 the one thing needful, the pearl of great price ! 
 That knowledge which is necessary for the 
 poor is equally so for you, whatever your si- 
 tuation in life may be. Will you pity others, 
 and not feel a concern for your own case ? 
 You may deserve thanks from us for your 
 ready assistance in this good work, and yet 
 your heart may be in a state of alienation from 
 God ; you may have amiable qualifications, 
 which entitle you to the esteem of your fel- 
 low-creatures, as you are members of society, 
 and be at the same time destitute of the faith 
 an.l hope of the gospel. Permit me, before 
 
 849 
 
 we part, to offer one consideration to your se- 
 rious thoughts. We read that eight persons 
 only were saved in the ark (1 Pet. iii. 20), 
 and only four of these, Noah and his three 
 sons, were men. Considering the large dimen- 
 sions of the ark, I think we may take it for 
 granted, that Noah and his sons did not build 
 it without assistance; and there were no men 
 to assist them in escaping from the flood, but 
 such as afterwards perished in it. What an 
 awful case ! To afford their help to build an 
 ark for the preservation of others, and then to 
 remain out of the ark themselves, until the 
 flood came and swept them all away. There 
 is a day of wrath approaching. It will burn 
 like an oven ; it will ravage like a flood. The 
 gospel points out a refuge. The believer in 
 Jesus Christ, like Noah in the ark, is in per- 
 fect safety ; he is already delivered from con- 
 demnation. and shall stand before the Lord in 
 humble confidence, when he shall come to judge 
 the world. Your concurrence in this charita- 
 ble design of distributing Bibles among the 
 poor, that they may be timely warned to flee 
 from the wrath to come is commendable: — 
 thus you assist in preparing an ark for them ; 
 the very book or books which your money will 
 purchase, may be blessed to the saving of souls, 
 and consequently you may be the instrument. 
 Can you bear the thought of being instru 
 mental to the salvation of others, and to lose 
 your own soul, and be yourself a cast-away at 
 last, after all the means and opportunities you 
 have been favoured with, after all the warn- 
 ings and calls you have had, after all the good 
 you may have done as a member of society ? 
 Alas ! is it possible that you can believe there is 
 a flood coming, and that an ark is prepared, and 
 not flee, instantly flee, for refuge, to the hope 
 set before you ? O may the Lord make you 
 truly wise, and effectually win your soul to 
 himself ! 
 
 Brethren, the wisdom spoken of in my text, 
 is very different from the wisdom of this world, 
 which knows not God. But the scripture can- 
 not be broken ; let us therefore abide by the 
 sure decision of that word which cannot de- 
 ceive or disappoint us. They are truly wise, 
 who -are wise to win souls ; and though they 
 may be now obscured by misrepresentations 
 aud reproaches, they shall shine, ere long, as 
 the brightness of the firmament, and they that 
 turn many to righteousness, as the stars for 
 ever and ever, Dan. xii. 13. 
 
THE GREAT ADVENT; 
 
 A 
 
 SERMON 
 
 PREACHED IN THE 
 
 PARISH CHURCH OF ST MARY WOOLNOTH, 
 ON THURSDAY, APRIL 23 , 1789 , 
 
 THE DAY OF GENERAL THANKSGIVING FOR THE KING’S HAPFY RECOVERY. 
 
 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel , 
 and with the trump of God : and the dead in Christ shall rise frst : then we which are alive 
 and remain, shall he caught up together with them in the clouds , to meet the Lord in the air : 
 and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 1 Thess. iv. 16, 17. 
 
 Our beloved King is now on his way, amidst 
 the acclamations of an affectionate people, to 
 St. Paul’s Cathedral : there he will, this day, 
 make his public acknowledgment to God, who 
 heard his prayer in the time of his trouble. 
 It will be a joyful sight to thousands ; and, 
 perhaps, there is not a person in this assem- 
 bly who has not felt a desire to be one of the 
 spectators. But I am glad to meet you here. 
 Many of you, I doubt not, earnestly and re- 
 peatedly prayed for the recovery of our gra- 
 cious Sovereign ; and you judge, with me, 
 that the most proper expression of our grati- 
 tude and joy, is to unite in rendering praise to 
 God upon the very spot where we have often 
 presented our united prayers. And I -infer, 
 from the largeness of the congregation, that 
 few who statedly worship with us are now ab- 
 sent, those excepted, who, residing in or near 
 the line of procession, could not attend with 
 propriety, nor perhaps with safety. 
 
 If he in whose name we are met shall be 
 pleased (as his word encourages us to hope) 
 to favour us with the influence of his Holy 
 Spirit, and to enable us, in the exercise of that 
 faith which gives subsistence and evidence to 
 things as yet future and unseen, to realize the 
 subject of my text to our minds, we shall have 
 no reason to regpet our coming together upon 
 this occasion. 
 
 The immediate design of the apostle, in these 
 words, is to comfort believers under a trial, 
 
 which some of you, perhaps, feel at this 
 hour, and to which any of us may be called 
 sooner than we are aware, the removal of our 
 Christian friends or relatives, with whom we 
 have often taken sweet counsel, to a better 
 world. Such a stroke, whenever it takes place, 
 will awaken painful sensations, which he who 
 knows our frame does not condemn. The ten- 
 dency of the gospel is to moderate and re- 
 gulate, but not to stifle or eradicate the feel- 
 ings of humanity. We may sorrow, but pro- 
 vision is made that we should not sorrow like 
 those who have no hope ; “ Blessed are the 
 dead who die in the Lord,” Rev. xiv. 13. It 
 is but a temporary separation ; we shall see 
 them again to unspeakable advantage. “ For 
 if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, 
 even so they also that sleep in Jesus shall God 
 bring with him.” The change of expression 
 here is observable, Jesus died. Death, to him, 
 was death indeed, death in all its horrors ; 
 but he died for his people, to disarm death of 
 its sting, to throw a light upon the dark pas- 
 sage to the grave, and to open the kingdom of 
 heaven to all believers. For now they that 
 believe in him shall never die, John xi. 26. 
 He so dispels their fears, and enlivens their 
 hopes, that to them death is no more than a 
 sleep ; they sleep in Jesus and are blessed- 
 And when he who is their life shall appear, 
 as he certainly will, and every eye shall see 
 him, they also shall appear with him in glory 
 
THE GREA' 
 
 Col. in. 4. “ For the Lord himself shall de- 
 
 scend from heaven, with the voice of the arch- 
 angel and the trump of God : and the dead 
 in Christ shall rise first.*’ 
 
 But I think I am warranted to consider the 
 text in a more general view, and to accommo- 
 date it to the happy event which demands our 
 especial thankfulness and praise on this day. 
 Let our thoughts rise from the King’s splen- 
 did, though solemn procession to St. Paul’s, 
 to contemplate that great advent of the King 
 of kings, the idea of which filled and fired the 
 apostle’s thoughts. Rev. i. 7. Behold ! he 
 cometh in the clouds ! He cometh in his own 
 glory, in the glory of his Father, with all his 
 angels, and with all his saints! Matth. xxv. 
 31 ; 1 Thess. iii. 12. 
 
 If I attempt to illustrate the procession (so 
 to speak) of that great day, for which all other 
 days were made, by the most striking circum- 
 stances of the present day, it will, indeed, be 
 comparing great things with small. In some 
 respects comparison will utterly fail, and I 
 must have recourse to contrast. For what 
 proportion can there be between finite and in- 
 finite, between the most important concerns 
 of time, and those of eternity ? 
 
 Let us, however, aim to fix our feeble con- 
 ceptions upon the Personage whose approach 
 is here announced ; upon the manner of his 
 coming; upon his train of attendants, and 
 upon the final event of his appearance, with 
 which the scene will close. 
 
 The Lord himself shall descend. — At an- 
 other time, if both houses of parliament, the 
 judges, the foreign ministers, the principal part 
 of the nobility, and persons of distinction in 
 the nation, were to assemble in St. Paul’s, 
 their presence would form a grand and affect- 
 ing spectacle. But upon this occasion, though 
 they should be all there, if the King was not 
 seen among them, it is probable they would be 
 all in a manner overlooked, and disappoint- 
 ment and anxiety would mark the counte- 
 nance of every beholder. But it is more than 
 probable, it is absolutely certain, that if all the 
 glories of the invisible world were to open upon 
 the view of those who feel their obligations to 
 the great Redeemer, they could not be com- 
 pletely happy, unless they were permitted to 
 behold his glory. He has stipulated on their 
 behalf, “ Father, I will that they whom thou 
 hast given me, should be with me where I am” 
 (John xvii. 24) ; and by his grace, he quali- 
 fies them for their high privilege, so that even 
 now they can say, “ Whom have I in heaven 
 but thee ? and there is none on earth that I 
 desire besides thee,” Psalm lxxiii. 25. Jesus 
 is the light, the life, the sun of the soul that 
 knows him, according to the revelation given 
 in the scriptures of his person, offices, and 
 grace. And, as the most magnificent palace 
 would be but a dungeon, if it had no aper- 
 tures to admit the light, so the whole creation 
 would be dark and dreary to his people, were J 
 
 T ADVENT. b51 
 
 it possible that they could be excluded from 
 his presence. 
 
 In this life, they can know but little of the 
 particulars of that happiness which God has 
 prepared for them that love him ; but in ge- 
 neral they know, and this suffices them, that 
 they shall see him as he is (1 John iii. 2), and 
 shall be like him, and with him. They love 
 him unseen ; and, while he is yet absent from 
 them, the expectation, founded upon his own 
 gracious promise, that he will shortly descend 
 himself, to receive them, and to avow them 
 for his own, before the assembled world, is 
 the food and joy of their hearts, which soothes 
 their sorrows, and animates them under every 
 difficulty they are exposed to, at present, for 
 his sake. 
 
 Oh ! the solemnity, the terrors, and the 
 glories of that approaching day ! Then, they 
 who have slighted his mercy, and abused his 
 patience and forbearance, will tremble. Then, 
 many whom the world has admired or envied ; 
 many of “ the kings of the earth, and the 
 great men, and the chief captains and the 
 mighty men, shall call (alas ! in vain) to the 
 rocks and mountains to fall on them, and 
 hide them from his presence,” Rev. vi. 15, 
 16. But they who love him, and long for 
 his appearance, will say, “ Lo ! this is our God 
 we have waited for him ; we will be glad and 
 rejoice in his salvation,” Isa. xxv-. 9. May 
 we, my brethren, have grace “ to use all dili- 
 gence, that we may be found of him, in peace, 
 without spot, and blameless,” 2 Pet. iii. 14. 
 
 Should we be asked, Why does every face 
 express an air of satisfaction to-day ? Why 
 is the feeling of our own personal trials in a 
 degree suspended ? Why does the public ap- 
 pearance of the King diffuse so general a joy 
 among his loyal subjects? We can give a 
 ready answer; We love our King. Few of 
 us, indeed, are personally known to him. The 
 blessing of being under a good King, can 
 only be known to the bulk of a nation, by the 
 influence of his administration upon the pub- 
 lic welfare. This influence we have felt. 
 It is true, we were too little sensible of it, too 
 little thankful for it, until an alarming dis- 
 pensation awakened our fears, lest we should 
 lose the privileges we had not sufficiently 
 prized ; but then each man would remind 
 himself, how highly favoured we had been, as 
 a people, for many years, under his govern- 
 ment; then, we understood our great obliga- 
 tions to the King, as the minister of God to 
 us for good. We were sitting peaceably un- 
 der our own vines and fig-trees, highly distin- 
 guished among the nations, by our civil and 
 religious liberty, our prosperity at home, and 
 our reputation abroad. The news of the 
 King’s illness, therefore, not only awakened 
 our apprehensions, but revived our gratitude ; 
 and from the same principle, we now rejoice 
 in his recovery. 
 
 J Again, because we loved him, we sympa- 
 
THE GREAT ADVENT. 
 
 852 
 
 thized with him. We were afflicted by his 
 affliction. We not only considered him as a 
 King, but we felt for him as a man, a hus- 
 band, and a father. Such an instance of the de- 
 pendent, precarious state of human life ; such 
 a proof, that no rank or situation is exempted 
 from a share in the calamities which sin has 
 brought into the world, impressed us with 
 compassion, blended with awe. And notour 
 compassion only, but our prayers were en . 
 gaged for the King, the Queen, and Royal 
 Family. I am persuaded many persons could 
 scarcely have prayed more earnestly had it 
 oeen their own private and domestic concern. 
 Our prayers have been heard, and signally 
 answered, therefore we rejoice and give thanks 
 to-day. We wish not to detract from the skill 
 of physicians, they have been employed, and 
 owned as instruments of the merciful will of 
 God ; but we ascribe the praise for a recovery, 
 so little hoped for, and so critically seasonable, 
 to him who raiseth the dead, who speaks and 
 it is done. 
 
 And we rejoice in expectation. Indeed in 
 this view we may, and should, “ rejoice with 
 trembling,” Ps. ii. 11. How much may de- 
 pend upon this single, this precious life, we 
 know not; neither do we know what might 
 have been the consequences, if the rumour, at 
 which we once shuddered, and which, for 
 some hours, was generally believed, that God 
 had taken him from us, had proved true. 
 
 Let us praise God, who has preserved us 
 from knowing them. But the manner in 
 which we have been relieved encourages us 
 both to pray and to hope, that our King is an 
 object of God’s especial care, and that he will 
 live (long may he live !) to communicate still 
 greater benefits to the nation, as the patron 
 of true religion, the guardian of our constitu- 
 tion, and an exemplar of piety and virtue to 
 his subjects : That God may give him to 
 reign in the hearts of an enlightened, free, 
 and affectionate people, and not to permit any 
 device or weapon formed against him, to 
 prosper. 
 
 For similar reasons, but vastly superior in 
 importance, even as the heavens are higher 
 than the earth, we rejoice in the assurance and 
 prospect, that the Lord himself will descend. 
 He is the good Shepherd, who laid down his 
 life for the sheep (John x. 11); and, there- 
 fore, they who know his name, and trust in 
 him for salvation, are bound to him by the 
 strongest ties of attachment and gratitude. 
 They admire his condescension and his love. 
 To his mediation and care they are indebted 
 for their life and hopes. They remember 
 what they were doing, and how carelessly they 
 were sporting in the path that leadeth to de- 
 struction, when he first stopped them, turned 
 them, and led them into his fold. He is, 
 even now, their sun and shield, their wisdom 
 and strength ; on him they cast their cares 
 from him they receive their supplies-, there-, 
 
 fore they love him, though unseen (2 Pet. i. 
 8) ; and rejoice in the hope of his appearance. 
 
 They know that he who will descend to re- 
 ceive them, was once a man of sorrows, and a 
 companion of grief. And though this too 
 little affected them in the time of their igno- 
 rance, it has been otherwise since they have 
 derived life from his death, and healing from 
 his wounds. They have sympathized with 
 him in the agonies which he endured in Geth- 
 semane, and upon Mount Golgotha. They 
 remember that his face was defiled with spit- 
 ting, his head crowned with thorns, his back 
 torn by scourges, his hands and feet pierced 
 with spikes; that he made his soul an offering 
 for their sins, and was crucified for their sakes. 
 Thus he loved them, and gave himself for 
 them, Gal. ii. 10. Thus he delivered them 
 from approaching wrath ; and this love has 
 won their hearts. And they are waiting for 
 his return from heaven (1 Thess. i. 8) ; that 
 when they shall see him as he is, with all his 
 angels, and with all his saints, they may join 
 in nobler strains than they can at present 
 reach, in songs of praise to him who redeemed 
 them to God by his own blood. 
 
 But though they have much to praise him 
 for in this life, they have much more to ex- 
 pect when he shall descend. Their privileges 
 are great while here. They are already deli- 
 vered from guilt and condemnation, they have 
 access by him to a throne of grace, they have 
 fellowship with him by faith, and joys which 
 a stranger intermeddles not with — but it does 
 not yet appear what they shall be, 1 John iii. 
 2. They are still in a state of warfare and 
 trial ; they are exposed to many troubles, to 
 reproach, opposition, and temptation ; they 
 are still straitened and hindered, in their best 
 attempts and desires, by an indwelling princi- 
 ple of evil. They are sowing in tears (Ps. 
 cxxvi. 5), but when their Lord shall descend, 
 they expect to reap with joy. He is coming 
 to wipe away all their tears, and then they are' 
 assured they shall w r eep no more. The days 
 of their mourning shall cease for ever. He 
 has prepared for them a kingdom, “ incor- 
 ruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away,” 
 
 1 Pet. i. 4. In that kingdom they shall shine 
 forth, each like the sun in the firmament 
 (Matth. xiii. 43), an immense constellation of 
 suns ! 
 
 The manner in which the Lord will descend 
 can be but faintly illustrated by any circum- 
 stances borrowed from the pomp of this day. 
 When the King enters St Paul’s, his arrival 
 will be announced, by the voice of the multi- 
 tude, the discharge of cannon, and the deep- 
 mouthed organ. But what are these, when 
 compared with the voice of the Archangel, the 
 shout of all who love his appearance, and that 
 trump of God, which will shake the creation, 
 and raise the dead ? Perhaps by the word 
 Archangel, in this connection, we may under- 
 stand the Lord of angels, the King himself. 
 
THE GREAT ADVENT. 
 
 ,Jl He shall call to the heaven from above, and 
 to the earth, that lie may judge his people,” 
 Ps. 1. 4. The hour cometh, when the dead 
 shall hear the voice of the Son of God,” John 
 v. 25. The shout seems a military term. By 
 a shout soldiers encourage each other in the 
 onset to battle; and there is a triumphant 
 shout of victory when the enemy is utterly 
 defeated. Such will be the shout when the 
 liord shall descend — His soldiers, who fight- 
 ing in his cause, have often endured hardship, 
 and have sometimes lost a skirmish, shall on 
 the great day of decision, in the final event of 
 the war, stand forth more than conquerors, 
 through him that loved them, *Rom. viii. 37. 
 Their shout shall proclaim his praise: For 
 they got not the victory by their own sword, 
 neither did their own arm save them, Ps. xliv. 
 3. The Lord leads them on, teaches them to 
 fight, clothes them with complete armour, and 
 supplies them with strength : He himself sub- 
 dues their foes — and when he shall descend 
 with glory, he will terminate the contest. His 
 people will then utter a universal shout, and 
 shall hear the noise of war no more. 
 
 When the Lord descended upon Mount Si- 
 nai, the trumpet of God was heard exceeding 
 loud (Exod. xix. 16 — 19); it waxed louder 
 and louder, the people trembled, and Moses 
 spoke. The apostle records his words. Even 
 Moses, the favoured servant of God, said, “ I 
 exceedingly fear and quake, Heb. xii. 21. But 
 the sound of the last trump, when the Lord 
 shall descend again, will be much louder, and 
 the effects much more important and exten- 
 sive. It will be heard, not only in the neigh- 
 bourhood of one mountain, but from east to 
 west, from pole to pole ; not only by the liv- 
 ing, but by the dead ; by all who ever lived. 
 
 Then, at his great command, they that 
 dwell in the dust shall awake, Is. xxvi. 19. 
 The earth and the sea shall deliver up their 
 dead. There will be a resurrection both of 
 the just and the unjust. Some shall arise 
 “ to everlasting life, and some to shame and 
 everlasting contempt,” Dan. xii. 2. 
 
 The joy, this day, for the recovery and ap- 
 pearance of our King, is general, I hope uni- 
 versal. I hope there are few persons in the 
 kingdom who do not cordially share in it. 
 However, if contrary sensations do exist, they 
 are suppressed and concealed. But the Great 
 King has borne with many avowed enemies, 
 and with many traitors disguised under the 
 profession of his name from age to age. He 
 will not bear with them always. He knows 
 them all, and not one of them can escape his 
 notice. To them the language of the trump 
 will be, Arise, and come to judgment ! My 
 heart is pained to think, that possibly, some of 
 this description may be now present in our as- 
 sembly. Yet I am glad you are here, that I 
 may warn you to flee from the wrath to come. 
 What a dreadful day will it be, when you, if 
 unhumbled, unpardoned, unsanctified, as you; 
 
 853 
 
 now are, shall be compelled to stand before 
 his tribunal ! For we are assured, that when he 
 returns to bless his willing people, he will 
 summon his enemies, who would not that he 
 should reign over them, Luke xix. 27. He 
 will place them at his left hand, and denounce 
 that awful sentence upon them, “ Depart, ye 
 cursed, into everlasting fire,” Matth. xxv. 41. 
 As yet he is upon a mercy-seat. Oh ! seek 
 him, while he may be found ; call upon him 
 while he is near ! Isa. lv. 6. There is for- 
 giveness with him. Humble yourselves be- 
 fore him, and entreat for mercy. Entreat him 
 to shew you who he is, and what he has done 
 for sinners ; that you may believe and be sav- 
 ed. Otherwise you must stand before his 
 judgment-seat. Then his wrath will burn 
 like fire. 
 
 But it is of the dead in Christ, I am chiefly 
 to speak. These shall rise first, and together 
 with those his servants who shall be living at 
 his coming, shall be caught up to meet him in 
 the air. There are expressions in scripture 
 which intimate, that the servants of the Lord 
 Christ, shall have the honour of being, in 
 some manner beyond our feeble apprehension, 
 assessors with their Lord in the day of judg 
 ment, Luke xxii. 30 ; 1 Cor. vi. 3. They 
 will witness and approve his proceedings. In 
 this state of infirmity, it becomes them, and is 
 their duty, to pity and pray for the wicked ; 
 and to use all their influence to persuade them 
 to pity themselves, to forsake their evil ways, 
 that they may live. But in the great and 
 terrible day, when the wicked shall be turned 
 into hell, the righteous will be so perfectly im- 
 pressed with the justice and holiness of the 
 sentence of condemnation, that they will not 
 hesitate to say, “ Amen— So let all thine ene- 
 mies perish, O Lord!” Judges v. 31. 
 
 But the apostle, using the language of pro- 
 phecy, which speaks of the future as though 
 it were actually present, says farther, “ Then 
 we that are alive, and remain, shall be caught 
 up to meet the Lord in the air.” Not, as I 
 apprehend, that he expected to be living when 
 the Lord shall descend ; by the word we, he 
 expresses his joint relation with the many 
 members, which constitute the one body, of 
 which the Lord Christ is the head. Of these, 
 there will be some living when he shall ap- 
 pear. And of these he says elsewhere, “We 
 shall not all sleep, but we shall all be chang- 
 ed ; in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, 
 at the last trump,” 1 Cor. xv. 52. — They will 
 not suffer that separation of soul and body 
 which we call death. But as mortal flesh and 
 blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, he 
 will change their vile bodies, according to the 
 pattern of his glorious body (Phil. iff. 21), 
 and they, like Enoch and Elijah of old, shall 
 ascend, together with those who are raised 
 from the dead, to meet him in the air. 
 
 These will constitute his train. • The re- 
 j deemed from the earth ; they who lived and 
 
THE GREAT ADVENT. 
 
 854 
 
 died in the faith of his name, through a course 
 of successive generations ; and they who shall 
 be alive at his coming, shall be all collected 
 together, and prepared to welcome him. 
 
 Of the numbers who will rejoice to see the 
 King to day, many, though loyal subjects, 
 will only behold him at a distance ; and the 
 far greater part of his people will not behold 
 him at all. Few but the nobility and princi- 
 pal persons can gain admission into the church ; 
 though the crowds in the street will partici- 
 pate in the general satisfaction. Could we 
 suppose, that instead of the common people, 
 the streets were filled, and the windows lined 
 by the great, that all the sovereigns, poten- 
 tates, and illustrious personages in Europe, 
 were assembled to be spectators of the joyful 
 event which now calls for our thanksgivings ; 
 splendid as the concourse might appear in the 
 eyes of men, they would be unspeakably in- 
 ferior, in rank and dignity, to those who shall 
 meet the Lord. Not one of his people will 
 be absent ; and however poor and unnoticed 
 many of them once were, they will then, every 
 one, be greater than the kings of the earth. 
 They will all claim the title, and the claim 
 will be allowed, of sons and daughters of the 
 Lord Almighty, 2 Cor. vi. 18. They will 
 all possess that honour which cometh of God 
 only, John v. 44. The glorious company of 
 apostles, the goodly fellowship of prophets, the 
 noble army of martyrs, will march in the pro- 
 cession ; and besides these, an exceeding great 
 multitude which no man can number, whose 
 exaltation and happiness are but imperfectly 
 represented to us by images borrowed from 
 the things which are deemed most valuable 
 and honourable amongst men. They are said 
 (Rev. iv. 10; vii. 9.), to be clothed with 
 white robes, to have crowns upon their heads, 
 to be furnished with harps, and to bear palms 
 (the emblem of victory) in their hands. 
 
 “ Fear not, little flock, it is your Father’s 
 good pleasure to give you the kingdom,” 
 Luke xii. 32. May grace preserve you from 
 being ashamed of your Lord now, and you 
 will not be ashamed of him, nor will he be 
 ashamed of you, when he shall come to judge 
 the world, Matth. x. 32 ; Mark viii. 38. 
 
 When all mankind shall be ranged before 
 this great Judge, he will own and vindicate 
 his people in the presense of assembled worlds, 
 and pass an irrevocable sentence of exclusion 
 and condemnation upon his enemies; and 
 then, he will say to those on his right hand, 
 “ Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the 
 kingdom prepared for you” (Matth. xxv. 34), 
 then, he will present them before the presence 
 of his glory, with exceeding joy (Jude 24) ; 
 then time shall be no more ( Rev. x. 6) ; they 
 will no longer measure their existence by the 
 ^evolutions of the sun and the moon ; they 
 will enter upon an eternal state. With this 
 event the apostle closes the description in my 
 text. Here he stops ; the rest is too great for 
 
 language to express, or thought to conceive. 
 He can only say, “ and so we shall for ever 
 be with the Lord.” Who can expound this 
 sentence ? We must leave this world, and be 
 admitted into the inheritance of the saints in 
 light, before we can fully understand the im- 
 port of these few words. 
 
 We shall be with the Lord. — There is no 
 doubt, that if the power of our King was equal 
 to the benevolence of his heart, he would witt- 
 ingly make all who shall see him to-day, yea, 
 all his subjects, in every part of his dominions, 
 completely happy. But can he take them all 
 with him to court ? Can he treat them all as 
 his own children ? Can he invest them all with 
 dignities and possessions equal to the largest 
 desires of their hearts ? Could we, for a mo- 
 ment, conceive it possible for an earthly king 
 to do thus, still it would afford but a very 
 faint illustration of our subject. The highest 
 effects of his favour would be precarious and 
 transient, confined to the term of a short life, 
 and in their nature, incapable of answering 
 the instinctive appetite of the soul of man, 
 formed for immortality, and endued with a 
 capacity for good, which nothing less than be- 
 ing with the Lord can satisfy. 
 
 When Peter saw his Saviour transfigured 
 upon the mount, a glance of his glory instant- 
 ly fixed and filled his mind. He forgot all 
 inferior attachments, and said. “ It is good to 
 be here,” Matth. xvii. 4. He would have 
 been glad to build tabernacles upon the mount, 
 and to return to the world no more. He 
 knew not indeed what he said ; there was 
 much for him yet to do and to suffer for his 
 Master : but he well knew why he said it ; 
 and all who are partakers of the grace of God 
 are like minded with Peter. And though at 
 present they walk by faith, and not by sight 
 (2 Cor. v. 7), they are sometimes favoured 
 with seasons of refreshment, with golden hours, 
 when according to his gracious promise, he 
 manifests himself unto them, as he does not 
 unto the world (John xiv. 22), and causes his 
 goodness to pass before them ; then, for the 
 time, they are raised above both the cares and 
 the comforts of this world, and could be glad 
 to remain with him. But, like Peter, they 
 must return to fill up the duties of their situ- 
 ation in life, till his appointed hour of dismis- 
 sion. However, these foretastes convince 
 them, that they cannot be properly happy till 
 they are with him in his kingdom, where noth- 
 ing will conceal him for a moment from their 
 view. 
 
 Their nearest approaches to him now, are 
 likewise subject to abatements. Something 
 from within or from without still occur to inter- 
 rupt, and too often to suspend their joys. Their 
 communion with him is indistinct, through 
 the medium of ordinances, and a veil of flesh 
 and blood. This veil hinders them, not only 
 as it is polluted, but as it is weak, and subjec-t 
 to many infirmities. We cannot see him, as 
 
THE GREAT ADVENT, 
 
 yet, and live, Exod. xxxiii. 20. If he did not 
 accommodate the discoveries of himself to the 
 frailty of our nature, we should be overpower- 
 ed. The beloved disciple had often convers- 
 ed familiarly with his Lord, and reclined on 
 his bosom, during his state of humiliation •. 
 but when he appeared in the isle of Patmos, 
 though his majesty was attempered with mild- 
 ness and love, and his design was to honour 
 and comfort him, he says, “ When I saw him, 
 I fell at his feet as dead,” Rev. i. 17. 
 
 Further, pain, indisposition, and trouble, 
 often distract their attention, or detain them 
 from the opportunities in which he has pro- 
 mised to meet his people. They are glad when 
 it is said unto them, “ Let us go up to the 
 house of the Lord” (Ps. cxxii. 1); but they 
 are frequently shut up, and cannot come forth 
 (Ps. Ixxxviii. 8); and though he supports them 
 under all their afflictions, yet it is no small 
 trial to be confined from his ordinances. But 
 when they shall meet their Lord in the air, 
 they will be freed from every defect, defile- 
 ment, and impediment. They will see him as 
 he is, without any interposing veil or cloud. 
 They will be out of the reach of sin, tempta- 
 tion, pain, and grief. They are blessed now, 
 though often called to mourn, because they 
 will then be comforted, Matth. v. 8. 
 
 Again, we shall be for ever with the Lord. 
 — O that word for ever ! even to be with the 
 Lord, and to possess a happiness commensur- 
 ate to the utmost grasp of our capacity ; if it 
 were only for a month, or a year, or an age, 
 or a thousand ages — the thought that this hap- 
 piness must at length have an end, however 
 distant the termination might be, would cast 
 a damp upon the whole enjoyment. But to 
 know that the happiness is eternal, that they 
 who are once with the Lord shall be with him 
 for ever ; this is, if I may so speak, the Hea- 
 ven of Heaven itself. Such honour awaits all 
 the saints : for thus hath the Amen, the faith- 
 ful and true Witness, already declared : “ Him 
 that overcometh, will I make a pillar in the 
 house of my God, and he shall go no more 
 out,” Rev. iii. 12. “Thy sun shall no more 
 go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw it- 
 felf : for the Lord shall be thine everlasting 
 light, and the days of thy mourning shall be 
 ended,” Isa. lx. 20. 
 
 I hope I have not digressed from the design 
 of this day, by attempting to lead your thoughts 
 to the day of the Lord. I have availed my- 
 self of every occasion, which my views of the 
 text have suggested, to impress upon your 
 hearts and my own, a sense of the very great 
 mercy which God, in answer to prayer, has 
 bestowed upon us, by restoring health to the 
 King, and enabling him to pay his public ac- 
 knowledgment to the Most High, and to re- 
 visit his affectionate people. But never are 
 
 855 
 
 our temporal mercies so sweet, so valuable, 
 nor so likely to be permanent, as when they 
 are thankfully contemplated in immediate con- 
 nection with the hand of him by whom kings 
 reign, and who doth what pleaseth him, in the 
 armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants 
 of the earth, Dan. iv. 25. Nay, to us, who 
 are soon to pass into an eternal state, the most 
 important concerns of nations and kingdoms 
 are in reality trivial as the sports of children, 
 unless we can acknowledge, trace, approve, 
 and admire, the great and ultimate designs of 
 God, to which all the revolutions that take 
 place in human affairs are subordinate and 
 subservient. His wise and holy providence 
 ruleth over all ; and every movement has 
 either a more remote or a more direct tenden- 
 cy to bring forward the glories of that day, 
 when the Lord himself shall descend to re- 
 ceive his own people, and to execute venge- 
 ance upon his adversaries. 
 
 Knowing to whom I am preaching, I have 
 not thought it necessary to offer proof, that 
 the God who has restored health to the King, 
 and happiness to the kingdom, is he to whom 
 my text refers : he of whom we say, in our 
 public Liturgy, “We believe that thou shalt 
 come to be our judge.” It is the Lord Jesu? 
 Christ, the eternal Word, the Son of God, the 
 Saviour of sinners. We rest in his own de- 
 claration, unmoved by all the cavils of those 
 who, alas ! know him not, that all things are 
 delivered unto him, all power committed to 
 him, in heaven and in earth, Matth. xi. 27 ; 
 xxviii. 18. How else could we trust to him 
 for the expiation of our sins, and the salvation 
 of our souls ; guilty and helpless as we are in 
 ourselves, and conscious of the snares, diffi- 
 culties, dangers, and enemies to which we are 
 exposed ? The Lord reigneth, Ps. xcix. I. 
 He is King of saints, King of the nations. 
 King and Lord of the universe. The govern- 
 ment is upon his shoulders, Isa. ix. 6. This 
 God is the God we adore, and we now aim to 
 imitate the songs of those with whom we short- 
 ly hope to join ; “ Worthy is the Lamb that 
 was slain, to receive power, and riches, and 
 wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, 
 and blessing,” Rev. v. 12. 
 
 While I exhort you to rejoice, and join with 
 you in rejoicing, for the late instance of his 
 goodness to the King, to the nation, and to 
 ourselves, I feel the highest pleasure in the 
 thought, that I see many around me, (O 
 that I could hope the same of you all ! ) to 
 whom I may warrantably say, rejoice on these 
 accounts, but rather, especially, and above all, 
 “ Rejoice that your names are written in hea- 
 ven” (Luke x. 20), and that the Lord whom 
 you love, who now guides you by his counsel, 
 will shortly descend to receive you to his glory, 
 Ps. lxxiii. 24. 
 
A HYMN OF THANKSGIVING FOR THE KING’S HAPPY 
 RECOVERY. 
 
 Man can seldom prize the blessings 
 Which our gracious God bestows, 
 
 In the moment of possessing, 
 
 Or return the praise he owes : 
 
 But with other eyes, he views them, 
 
 In affliction’s threat’ ning days ; 
 
 When he fears, lest he should lose them, 
 Then he trembles, weeps and prays. 
 
 II. 
 
 Comets, or eclipses wake him, 
 
 For a moment fix his eye, 
 
 Huricanes, or earthquakes shake him, 
 And extort an anxious cry ; 
 
 While the sun, with gentle motion, 
 Spreading blessings through the year, 
 Causes no devout emotion, 
 
 Neither gratitude nor fear. 
 
 III. 
 
 God in mercy to this nation, 
 
 Has afforded us a King, 
 
 Whose benign administration, 
 
 Cheer’d us like the sun in spring. 
 
 Truth and liberty were nourished, 
 
 By his mild auspicious rays : 
 
 Thus in peace, the kingdom flourish’d-. 
 But our hearts forgot to praise. 
 
 IV. 
 
 When a dark eclipse succeeded, 
 
 Fear a thousand ills surmis’d ; 
 
 Then we felt how much we needed 
 What we had too little priz’d : 
 
 Then we prayed, and since have proved 
 Fervent prayer is not in vain : 
 
 Prayer the dark eclipse removed, 
 
 And our sun shines bright again. 
 
 V. 
 
 Lord ! to thee, the great Physician, 
 
 We our hearts and voices raise ! 
 
 Thou didst answer our petition, 
 
 Now accept our humble praise ! 
 
 Bless our King, Almighty Saviour ! 
 May he long the sceptre wield, 
 
 For our good and with thy favour, 
 Thou his Wisdom, Strength, and Shield 
 
 o 
 
THE IMMINENT DANGER AND ONLY SURE RESOURCE 
 OF THIS NATION; 
 
 A 
 
 SERMON 
 
 PREACHED IN THE 
 
 PARISH CHURCH OF ST. MARY WOOLNOTH, 
 ON FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28 , 1794 . 
 
 THE DAY APPOINTED FOR 
 A 
 
 GENERAL FAST. 
 
 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger , that we perisf: 
 
 not ? Jonah iii. 9. 
 
 How great is the power of God over the 
 hearts of men ! Nineveh was the capital of a 
 powerful empire. The inhabitants were hea- 
 thens, The many prophets who, during a 
 long series of years, had spoken in the name 
 of the Lord to his professed people of Judah 
 and Israel, had spoken almost in vain. The 
 messengers were often mocked, and their mes- 
 sage despised. The inhabitants of Nineveh, 
 it is probable, had never seen a true prophet 
 till Jonah was sent to them. If they had rea- 
 soned on his prediction, they might have 
 thought it very improbable, that a great city, 
 the head of a great kingdom, and in a time of 
 peace, could be in danger of an overthrow 
 within forty days. But it is said, in verse 5, 
 «* they belived God.” The awful denuncia- 
 tion made a general, a universal impression. 
 The king arose from his throne, laid aside his 
 robes, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat 
 in ashes. A sudden cessation, of business 
 and of pleasure, took place; he proclaimed a 
 strict fast, the rigour of which was extended 
 even to the cattle. His subjects readily com- 
 plied, and unanimously concurred in crying 
 for mercy, though they had no encourage- 
 ment but a peradventure : “ Who can tell if 
 God will turn and repent, and turn away 
 from his fierce anger, that we perish not?” 
 
 It appears from this, and other passages of 
 scripture, that the most express declarations of 
 God’s displeasure against sinners, still afford 
 
 ground and room for repentance. Thus in 
 the prophecy of Ezekiel (chap, xxxiii. 14, 15), 
 “ When I say unto the wicked, Thou sbalt 
 surely die ; if he turn from his sin, and do 
 that which is lawful and right, he shall surely 
 live, he shall not die;” and again, in the pro- 
 phecy of Jeremiah (chap, xviii. 7, 8), “At 
 what instant I shall speak concerning a na- 
 tion, and concerning a kingdom to destroy it ; 
 if that nation against whom I have pronounc- 
 ed, turn from their evil, I will repent of the 
 evil that I thought to do unto them.*’ The 
 Lord God speaks to us by his word, in plain 
 and popular language. He condescends to 
 our feeble apprehensions. God cannot re- 
 pent, he is of one mind, who can turn him ? 
 Numb, xxiii. 19; Job xxiii. 13. Yet when 
 afflictive providences lead men to a sense 
 of their sins, to an acknowledgment of their 
 demerits, and excite a spirit of humilia. 
 tion, repentance, and prayer, he often merci- 
 fully changes his dispensations, and averts 
 from them the impending evil. Such was the 
 effect of Jonah’s message to the Ninevites. 
 The people humbled themselves, and repented 
 of their wickedness ; and God suspended the 
 execution of the sentence which he had pro- 
 nounced against them. 
 
 My brethren, may we not fear, that the men 
 of Nineveh will rise up in judgment against 
 us (Matth. xii. 41), and condemn us, if we 
 do not imitate their example, and humble ou. 
 
THE IMMINENT DANGER 
 
 858 
 
 selves before God ? They repented at the 
 preaching of Jonah, and immediately, on their 
 first hearing him : and they sought for mercy 
 upon a peradventure, when they could say no 
 more, than Who can tell, whether there may 
 be the least room to hope for it, after what the 
 prophet has so solemnly declared ? 
 
 God does not speak to us by the audible 
 voice of an inspired prophet, nor is it necessa- 
 ry. We know, or may know from his writ- 
 ten word, that it shall be well with the right- 
 eous, and ill with the wicked, Is. iii. 10, 11. 
 The appearance of an angel from heaven could 
 add nothing to the certainty of the declara- 
 tions he has already put into our hands. He 
 has likewise raised up, and perpetuated a suc- 
 cession of his ministers, to enforce the warn- 
 ings he has given us in the scripture ; to re- 
 mind us of our sins, and the sure and dread- 
 ful consequences, if we persist in them. Nor 
 are we left at an uncertainty as to the event, 
 if we humbly confess them, and implore for- 
 giveness, in the way which he has prescribed. 
 The gospel, the glorious gospel of the blessed 
 God, is preached unto us. Jesus Christ as 
 crucified is set forth amongst us, Gal. iii. 1. 
 His blood cleanseth from all sin (1 John i. 
 7) ; and they who believe in him are freed 
 from condemnation, and completely justi- 
 fied, Rom. viii. 1 ; Acts xiii. 39. They have 
 also free access to a throne of grace, and like 
 Israel they have power by prayer to prevail 
 with God and with man, Gen. xxxii. 28. 
 And shall it be said of any of us, that the 
 Lord gave us space to repent, and invited us 
 to repentance, ’and we repented not? Rev. ii. 
 21. May his mercy forbid it ! 
 
 He now speaks to us by his providence. 
 His judgments are abroad in the earth ; and 
 it behoves us to learn righteousness. His 
 hand is lifted up, and if any are so careless, or 
 obstinate, that they will not see, yet sooner or 
 later, they must, they shall see, Isa. xxvi. 9, 1 1. 
 The great God has a controversy with the 
 potsherds of the earth. The point to be de- 
 cided between him, and many abroad, and, I 
 fear, too many at home is, whether he be the 
 governor of the earth or not ? His own peo- 
 ple, to whom his name and glory are dear, 
 will hold all inferior concernments in subordi- 
 nation to this. If there be no other alterna- 
 tive, misery and havoc must spread, men must 
 perish by millions, yea, the frame of nature 
 must be dissolved, rather than God be disho- 
 noured and defied with impunity. But he 
 will surely plead and gain his own cause ; and 
 either in a way of judgment or of mercy all 
 men shall know, that he is the Lord. I be- 
 lieve there is no expression in the Old Testa- 
 ment so frequently repeated as this, Ye, or 
 They shall know that I am the Lord. “ Hath 
 he said it, and shall he not make it good ?” 
 Ezekiel passim. 
 
 The rivers of human blood, and all the ca- 
 lamities and horror which overspread a great 
 
 part of the continent, the distant report of 
 which is sufficient to make our ears tingle, are 
 all to be ascribed to this cause. God is not 
 acknowledged, yea, in some places, he has 
 been formally disowned and renounced. 
 Therefore men are left to themselves, their 
 furious passions are unchained, and they are 
 given up, without restraint, to the way of their 
 own hearts.. A more dreadful judgment than 
 this cannot be inflicted on this side of hell. 
 
 And though we are still favoured with peace 
 at home, the dreadful storm is at no great dis- 
 tance ; it seems moving our way, and we have 
 reason to fear it may burst upon us. But I 
 would be thankful for the appointment of this 
 day ; for I should think the prospect dark in- 
 deed, if I did not rely on the Lord’s gracious 
 attention to the united prayers of those who 
 fear and trust him, and who know it is equally 
 easy to him either to save or to destroy, by 
 many or by few, 1 Sam. xiv. 6. Our fleets 
 and armies may be well appointed and well 
 commanded; but without his blessing upon 
 our councils and enterprises, they will be un- 
 able to defend us. He can take wisdom from 
 the wise and courage from the bold, in the 
 moment when they are most needful. He can 
 disable our forces by sickness or dissension. 
 And by his mighty wind, he can dash our 
 ships to pieces against the rocks, against each 
 other, or sink them as lead in the mighty wa- 
 ters. Who is he that saith and it cometh to 
 pass, if the Lord commandeth not? Lam. 
 iii. 37. 
 
 Our Lord and Saviour, when speaking of 
 the eighteen upon whom the tower of Siloam 
 fell and slew them, said to the Jews, “ Think 
 ye that these men were sinners, above all that 
 dwelt in Jerusalem, because they suffered such 
 things ? I tell you, Nay : but except you re- 
 pent, ye shall all likewise perish,” Luke xiii. 4. 
 May the application of these words sink deeply 
 into our hearts ! It will not become us to say, 
 either to God or man, that we have indeed 
 sinned, but there are greater sinners than our- 
 selves. It is true the French Convention, 
 and many others who are infatuated by the 
 same spirit, have exceeded the ordinary stand- 
 ard of human impiety and cruelty. But I 
 hope there are multitudes in that nation, who 
 though they are overawed by the oppressors, 
 and dare not speak their sentiments, yet are 
 i mourning in secrecy and silence for the abo- 
 minations which they cannot prevent. But 
 ' the French have not sinned against such ad- 
 j vantages as we possess. They were long the 
 ! slaves of arbitrary power, and the dupes of 
 ■ superstition, and of late they have been the 
 dupes of madmen, assuming the name of phi- 
 losophers. We on the contrary, were born 
 and educated in a land distinguished from all 
 the nations of the earth by the eminent degree 
 in which we enjoy civil and religious liberty, 
 and the light of gospel truth. These privi- 
 leges exceedingly aggravate our sins ; and no 
 
AND ONLY SURD RESOURCE OF THIS NATION. 
 
 just comparison, in this respect, can be formed 
 between us and other nations, until we can 
 find a people who have been equally favoured, 
 and for an equal space of time, by the provi- 
 dence of God, and have likewise equalled us 
 in disobedience and ingratitude. 
 
 The most dreadful enormities committed in 
 France, are no more than specimens of what 
 human depravity is capable, when circum- 
 stances admit of its full exertion, and when 
 the usual boundaries and restrictions necessary 
 to the peace and welfare of civil society are 
 judicially removed. The influence of daring 
 infidelity and profligate example, aided by the 
 peculiar state of their public affairs, have bro- 
 ken, in many instances, the strongest ties of 
 social and relative life, and extinguished the 
 common feelings of humanity. 
 
 Yet the unhappy French, though our inve- 
 terate enemies, are not the proper objects of 
 our hatred or our scorn, but rather of our pity. 
 They know not what they do. Let us pray for 
 them. Who can tell but God, to whom all 
 things are possible, and whose mercies are high- 
 er than the heavens, may give them also repent- 
 ance ? And let us pray for ourselves, that we 
 may be instructed and warned by their history ; 
 for by nature, we are no better than they. 
 
 I. But it is time to attend more immedi- 
 ately to our own concerns. The professed 
 purpose of our meeting to-day, is to humble 
 ourselves before Almighty God, and to send 
 up our prayers and supplications to the Divine 
 Majesty, for obtaining pardon of our sins, and 
 for averting those heavy judgments which our 
 manifold provocations have most justly de- 
 served, and imploring his blessing and assist- 
 ance on the arms of his Majesty by sea and 
 land, and for restoring and perpetuating peace, 
 safety, and prosperity to himself and to his 
 kingdoms.* I hope these expressions accord 
 with the language and desire of our hearts. 
 
 And now — O for a glance of what Isaiah 
 saw, and has described, in chap, vi ! O that 
 we, by the power of that faith which is the 
 evidence of things unseen, could behold the 
 glory of the Lord filling this house ; that we 
 could realize the presence, and the attitude of 
 their attendant angels ! They cover their faces 
 and their feet with their wings, as overpowered 
 by the beams of his majesty, and conscious, if 
 not of defilement like us, yet of unavoidable 
 inability as creatures, to render him the whole 
 of that praise and homage which are justly due 
 to him. O that by faith, we could enter into 
 the spirit of their ascription, Holy, holy, holy 
 is the Lord of Hosts, the whole earth is filled 
 with his glory ! If we were all thus affected, 
 as the prophet was, surely each one for him- 
 self would adopt the prophet’s language. Or 
 if a comfortable hope in the gospel prevented 
 us from crying out, Wo is me I am undone ! 
 —we should at least say (the Hebrew word 
 
 * Title-page of the appointed form of prayer. 
 
 859 
 
 might be so rendered), I am silenced, I am 
 struck dumb ! I am overwhelmed with confu- 
 sion and shame ; for I am a man of unclean 
 lips myself, and I dwell in the midst of a peo- 
 ple of unclean lips, for mine eyes have seen 
 the King, the Lord of hosts. 
 
 If we have a degree of this impression, we 
 shall not be at leisure to perplex ourselves 
 concerning men or measures, the second causes, 
 or immediate instruments of our calamities. 
 The evil of sin contrasted with the holiness 
 and glory of God, will engross our thoughts. 
 And we shall ascribe all the troubles we either 
 feel or fear to our own sins, and the sins of 
 those among whom we dwell. 
 
 1. Let us first look at home. I am a man 
 of unclean lips. I am a sinner. This con- 
 fession suits us all, and is readily made by all 
 who know themselves. A person approach- 
 ing London from the neighbouring hills, 
 usually sees it obscured by a cloud of smoke. 
 This cloud is the aggregate of the smoke, 
 to which every house furnishes its respective 
 quota. It is no unfit emblem of the sin and 
 the misery which abound in this great metro- 
 polis. The Lord said of the Amorites, at a 
 certain period, There iniquity is not yet full : 
 (Gen. xv. 16), I hope the measure of our 
 iniquity is not yet full; but it is filling every 
 day, and we are all daily contributing to fill 
 it. True believers, though by grace delivered 
 from the reigning power of sin (Rom. vi. 14), 
 are still sinners. In many things we offend 
 all, in thought, word, and deed. We are now 
 called upon to humble ourselves before God, 
 for the sins of our ignorance, and for the more 
 aggravated sins v’e have committed against 
 light, and experience — for those personal sins, 
 the record of which is only known to God and 
 our own consciences — for the defects and de- 
 filements of our best services — for our great 
 and manifold failures in the discharge of our 
 relative duties, as parents, children, husbands, 
 wives, masters, or servants, and as members 
 of the community. Our dulness in the ways 
 of God, our alertness in the pursuit of our 
 own will and way ; our indifference to what 
 concerns his glory, compared with the quick- 
 ness of our apprehensions when our own tem- 
 poral interests are affected, — are so many 
 proofs of our ingratitude and depravity. The 
 sins of the Lord’s own people are so many, 
 and so heightened by the consideration of his 
 known goodness, that if he was to enter into 
 judgment with them only, they could offer no 
 other plea than that which he has mercifully 
 provided for them ; “ If, thou, Lord, shouldst 
 mark iniquity, O Lord, who could stand ? 
 but there is forgiveness with thee, that thou 
 mayst be feared,” Ps. cxxx. 3, 4. 
 
 2. It is easy to declaim against the wicked- 
 ness of the times. But only they who are 
 duly affected with the multitude and mag- 
 nitude of their own sins, can be competent 
 
 I judges of what the prophet meant, or feU. 
 
THE IMMINENT DANGER 
 
 860 
 
 when he said, I dwell in the midst of a people 
 of unclean lips. We ought to be no less con- 
 cerned (though in a different manner) for the 
 sins of those among whom we dwell, than for 
 our own. We shall be so, if with the eyes of 
 our mind, we behold the King, the Lord of 
 hosts ; because his glory, which should be the 
 dearest object to our hearts, is dishonoured by 
 them. 
 
 I think this nation may be considered as the 
 Israel of the New Testament, both with re- 
 spect of his goodness to us, and our perverse 
 returns to him. — He has been pleased to se- 
 lect us, as a peculiar people, and to shew 
 amongst us, such instances of his protection, 
 his favour, his grace, and his patience, as can- 
 not be paralleled in the annals of any other 
 nation. 
 
 We have no certain account when the name 
 of Jesus the Saviour was first known in this 
 island ; it was probably at an early period of 
 the Christian aera. But we do know, that 
 after the long dark night of superstition and 
 ignorance which covered Christendom for 
 many ages, the dawn of returning gospel- 
 light was first seen amongst us. From the 
 time of Wickliff, the morning- star of the Re- 
 formation, the true gospel has been known, 
 preached, received, and perpetuated to this 
 day. There have been times when they who 
 loved this gospel have suffered for it. They 
 were preserved faithful, in defiance of stripes, 
 fines, imprisonment, and death itself. But 
 those times are past. We enjoy not only light, 
 but liberty, and the rights of conscience and 
 private judgment, in a degree till of late un- 
 known. 
 
 We have likewise been long favoured with 
 peace, though often principals in wars, which 
 have been very calamitous, both to our ene- 
 mies, and to the nations which have taken 
 part in our affairs. Our intestine broils at 
 different times have contributed to form and 
 establish our present happy constitution. We 
 breathe the air of civil liberty. Our insular 
 situation, and naval force, by the blessing of 
 God, have preserved us from foreign invasions; 
 and when such have been attempted, the 
 winds and seas have often fought our battles. 
 Our wide -spreading and flourishing com- 
 merce,. has raised us to a pitch of opulence, 
 which excites the admiration and envy of 
 other nations. — Great Britain and Ireland 
 appear but as small spots upon a globe or 
 map ; but our interests and influence extend, 
 in every direction, to the uttermost parts 
 of the earth. 
 
 Will not the Lord’s words to Israel apply 
 with equal propriety to us ? What could have 
 been done to my vineyard, that I have not 
 done ? Wherefore, when 1 looked for grapes, 
 brought it forth wild grapes P Isa. v. 4. 
 
 How is the blessed gospel improved among 
 us ? This would be a heavy day to me, if I 
 did not believe, and know, that there are those 
 
 among our various denominations, who prize 
 and adorn it. If these could be all assembled 
 in one place, I hope they would be found a 
 very considerable number : and for their 
 
 sakes, and in answer to their prayers, I hum- 
 bly trust that mercy will still be afforded to 
 us. But compared with the multitudes who 
 reject, despise, or dishonour it, I fear they 
 are very few. Too many hate it with a bit- 
 ter hatred, and exert all their influence to op- 
 pose and suppress it. The great doctrines of 
 the Reformation are treated with contempt ; 
 and both they who preach, and they who es- 
 pouse them, are considered as visionaries or 
 hypocrites, knaves or fools. The gospel of 
 God is shunned as a pestilence, or complained 
 of as a burden, almost wherever it is known. 
 
 Wisdom is indeed justified of all her chil- 
 dren, Luke vii. 35. The gospel is the pow- 
 er of God to the salvation of them that be- 
 lieve, Rom. i. 16. It recalls them from er- 
 ror, from wickedness, and from misery, guides 
 their feet into the ways of peace, and teaches 
 them to live soberly, righteously, and godly in 
 the world, Titus ii. 12. But in the number 
 of those who profess to receive it, there are 
 too many who confirm and . increase the pre- 
 judices of those who speak against what they 
 know not. — Alas ! what extravagant opinions, 
 what fierce dissensions, what loose conversa- 
 tions, what open offences, may be found a- 
 mongst many who would be thought profes- 
 sors of that gospel which only breathes the 
 spirit of holiness, love, and peace ! 
 
 What then must be the state of those who 
 avowedly live without God in the world ? I 
 need not enlarge upon this painful subject, 
 which forces itself upon the mind, if we only 
 walk the streets, or look into the newspapers. 
 It is not necessary to inform my hearers that 
 infidelity, licentiousness, perjury, profaneness, 
 the neglect and contempt of God’s sabbaths 
 and worship abound. The laws of God, and 
 the laws of the land, so far as their object is 
 to enforce the observance of his commands, 
 are openly and customarily violated in every 
 rank of life. In a day when, the Lord of 
 hosts calls to weeping and mourning, thought- 
 less security, dissipation and riot, are the 
 characteristics of our national spirit, Is. xxii. 
 12, 13. The loss of public spirit, and that 
 impatience of subordination, so generally ob- 
 servable, so widely diffused, which are the 
 consequences of our sins against God, are, in 
 themselves, moral causes sufficient to ruin the 
 nation, unless his mercy interposes in our be- 
 half. 
 
 I should be inexcusable, considering the 
 share I have formerly had in that unhappy bu- 
 siness, if, upon this occasion, I should omit to 
 mention the African slave-trade. I do not 
 rank this amongst our national sins ; because 
 I hope and believe, a very great majority of 
 the nation, earnestly long for its suppression. 
 But, hitherto, petty and partial interests pr« 
 
AND ONLY SURE RESOURCE OF THIS NATION. 
 
 vail against the voice of justice, humanity, and 
 truth. This enormity, however, is not suffi- 
 ciently laid to heart. If you are justly shock- 
 ed by what you hear of the cruelties practised 
 in France, you would perhaps be shocked 
 much more, if you could fully conceive of the 
 evils and miseries inseparable from this traffic, 
 which I apprehend, not from hearsay, but 
 from my own observation, are equal in atroci- 
 ty, and perhaps superior in number, in the 
 course of a single year, to any or all the worst 
 actions which have been known in France 
 since the commencement of their revolution. 
 There is a cry of blood against us ; a cry ac- 
 cumulated by the accession of fresh victims, 
 of thousands, of scores of thousands, I had al- 
 most said of hundreds of thousands, from year 
 to year. 
 
 It is but a brief and faint outline I have at- 
 tempted to give of the present state of this na- 
 tion, in the sight of Almighty God, and of the 
 sins for which we are this day assembled to 
 humble ourselves before him. 
 
 II. Have we not therefore cause to say, 
 with the Ninevites, Who can tell P — Is it not 
 a peradventure ? Is there more than a possi- 
 bility, that we may yet obtain mercy ? 
 
 If our sins are no less numerous, no less of 
 a scarlet dye, than those of other nations, and 
 exceedingly aggravated beyond theirs, by be- 
 ing committed against clearer light, and the 
 distinguished advantages we have long enjoy- 
 ed : if we have not only transgressed the laws 
 of God in common with others, but daringly 
 trampled upon the gracious tenders of his for- 
 giveness, which he has long continued to pro- 
 pose to us, with a frequency and energy al- 
 most peculiar to ourselves : if all the day long 
 he has stretched out his hands to a disobedi- 
 ent and gainsaying people (Rom. x. 21), and, 
 hitherto, almost in vain : if neither the to- 
 kens of his displeasure, nor the declarations of 
 his love, have made a suitable impression upon 
 our minds, — who can tell if he will yet be en- 
 treated ? May we not fear, lest he should say, 
 My Spirit shall strive with them no more : 
 They are joined to their idols, let them alone: 
 Hosea, iv. 17. When you spread forth your 
 hands, I will hide my face from you ; when 
 you make many prayers, I will not hear? 
 Isa. i. 15. 
 
 Where are now the mighty empires, which 
 were once thought rooted and established as 
 the everlasting mountains ? They have disap- 
 peared like the mists upon the mountain-tops. 
 Nothing of them remains but their names. 
 They perished, and their memorials have al- 
 most perished with them, Ps. ix. 6. The pa- 
 tience of God bore with them for a time, and 
 until the purposes for which he raised them 
 up were answered ; but when the measure of 
 their iniquity was full, they passed away, and 
 were dispersed, like foam upon the waters. 
 What security have we from such a catas- 
 trophe ? Or what could we answer, if God 
 
 8G1 
 
 should put that question to us, “ Shall not I 
 visit for these things ? Shall not my soul be 
 avenged on such a nation as this ?” Jer. v. 9. 
 
 Where are now the churches which once 
 flourished in Greece, and in the Lesser Asia? 
 When the apostle Paul wrote to the former, 
 and when our Lord indited his epistles to the 
 latter, most of them were in a prosperous 
 state. If there ever was a time when the 
 commendations given to them were applicable 
 to professors of the gospel in our land, I fear 
 we can hardly claim them at present. Can it 
 be justly said of us, that our faith and love 
 are everywhere spoken of, and that we are 
 examples to all that believe ? That our works, 
 and service, and faith, and patience, are known, 
 and the last to be more than the first ? Rom. 
 i. 8; 1 Thess. i. 7; Rev. ii. 19. Or rather, 
 may it not be said of too many, that while 
 they profess to believe in God, in works they 
 deny him ? Titus i. 16. — That they are nei- 
 ther hot nor cold — That they have a name to 
 live, and are dead — That they have at least 
 forgotten their first love? Rev. iii. i, 15; ii. 
 4. When these defects and declensions be- 
 gan to prevail in the first churches, the Lord 
 admonished and warned them ; but instead of 
 watching and repenting, they gradually became 
 more and more remiss. At length their glory 
 departed, and their candlesticks were removed 
 out of their places. Many regions which once 
 rejoiced in the light of the gospel, have been 
 long overspread with Mahomedan darkness; 
 and the inhabitants are wretched, ignorant 
 slaves. 
 
 Let us not trust in outward privileges, nor 
 rest in a form of godliness destitute of the 
 power. It will be in vain to say, The temple 
 of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are we 
 (Jer. vii. 4), if the Lord of the temple should 
 depart from us. When the Israelites were a- 
 fraid of the Philistines, they carried the ark 
 of the Lord with them to battle. But God 
 disappointed their vain confidence. He de- 
 livered the ark of his glory into the hands of 
 their enemies (1 Sam. iv. 5, 11); to teach 
 them, and to teach us, that formal hypocriti- 
 cal worshippers have no good ground to hope 
 for his protection. 
 
 Alas ! then, who can tell ? — Appearances 
 are very dark at present. Besides what we 
 may expect or fear from the rage and madness 
 of our foreign enemies, we have much to ap- 
 prehend at home. A spirit of discord has 
 gone forth. Jeshurun has waxed fat, and 
 kicked, Deut. xxxiii. 15. Many Britons seem 
 weary of liberty, peace, and order. Our hap- 
 py constitution, our mild government, our 
 many privileges, admired by other nations, 
 are despised and depreciated amongst our- 
 selves : and that not only by the thoughtless 
 and licentious, by those who, having little to 
 lose, may promise themselves a possibility of 
 gain, in a time of disturbance and confusion • 
 but they are abetted and instigated by persons 
 
THE IMMINENT DANGER 
 
 862 
 
 of sense, character, and even of religion. I 
 should be quite at a loss to account for this, 
 if I did not consider it as a token of the Lord’s 
 displeasure. When he withdraws his bless- 
 sing, no union can long subsist. 
 
 “ Because thou servedst not the Lord thy 
 God, with joyfulness, and with gladness of 
 heart, for the abundance of all things ; there- 
 fore shalt thou serve thine enemies, whom the 
 Lord shall send against thee, in hunger, and 
 in thirst, and in nakedness, and in the want 
 of all things,” Deut. xxviii. 47, 48. These 
 words of Moses to rebellious Israel emphati- 
 cally describe the former and the present state 
 of many of the French nation, who have been 
 despoiled, insulted, and glad if they could es- 
 cape (great numbers could not so escape) with 
 the loss of their all, and at the peril of their 
 lives, to a more hospitable shore. May their 
 sufferings remind us of our deserts ! Who can 
 tell if the Lord may yet be merciful unto us, 
 and exempt us from similar calamities ! 
 
 III. But though we have much cause to 
 mourn for our sins, and humbly to deprecate 
 deserved judgments, let us not despond. The 
 Lord our God is a merciful God ! Who can 
 tell but he may repent, and turn from the 
 fierceness of his anger, that we perish not ? If 
 the professed business of this day be not con- 
 fined to a day, but if, by his blessing it may 
 produce repentance not to be repented of, then 
 I am warranted to tell you, from his word, 
 that there is yet hope. You that tremble for 
 the ark, for the cause of God, whose eyes af- 
 fect your hearts, who grieve for sin, and for 
 the miseries which sin has multiplied upon the 
 earth, take courage. Let the hearts of the 
 wicked shake, like the leaves of the trees when 
 agitated by a storm (Isa. vii. 2) j but be not 
 you like them. The Lord God is your refuge 
 and strength, your resting place, and your 
 hiding place ; under the shadow of his wings 
 you shall be safe, Ps. xlvi. 1 ; xc. I ; cxix. 
 1 14. 
 
 1. He who loved you, and died for your 
 sins, is the Lord of glory. All power in hea- 
 ven and in earth is committed unto him, 
 Matth. xxviii. 18. The Lord reigneth, let 
 the earth be never so unquiet, Ps. xcix. 1. 
 All creatures are instruments of his will. 
 The wrath of man, so far as it is permitted to 
 act, shall praise him, shall be made subservi- 
 ent to the accomplishment of his great de- 
 signs; and the remainder of that wrath, all 
 their projected violence, which does not coin- 
 cide with his wise and comprehensive plan, he 
 will restrain, Ps. lxxvi. 10. In vain they 
 rage, and fret, and threaten. They act under 
 a secret commission, and can do no more than 
 he permits them. If they attempt it, he has a 
 hook and a bridle in their mouths, 2 Kings 
 xix. 28. When the enemies would come in 
 like a flood, he can lift up a standard against 
 them, Is. lix. 19. As he has set bounds and 
 bars to the tempestuous sea, beyond which it 
 
 cannot pass, saying, Hitherto shalt thou come 
 and no farther, and here shall thy proud wave* 
 be stayed (Job xxxviii. 10, 11) ; so, with equal 
 ease, he can still the madness of the people, 
 Ps. lxv. 7. 
 
 You do w r ell to mourn for the sins and mi- 
 series of those who know him not. But if 
 you make him your fear and your dread, he 
 will be a sanctuary to you, and keep your 
 hearts in peaee, though the earth be removed, 
 and the mountains cast into the midst of the 
 sea, Is. viii. 13, 14. Ps. xlvi. 2. 
 
 2. Your part and mine, is to watch and 
 pray. — Let us pray for ourselves, that we may 
 be found waiting, with our loins girded up, 
 and our lamps burning (Mark xiii. 35; xiv. 
 38), that we may be prepared to meet his will 
 in every event. Let us pray for the peace of 
 Jerusalem, for his church, which is dear to 
 him, as the pupil of his eye, for the spread of 
 his gospel, and the extension of his kingdom, 
 till his great name be known and adored from 
 the rising to the setting of the sun, and the 
 whole earth shall be filled with his glory, Mai. 
 i. 11. Many splendid prophecies are yet un- 
 fulfilled : and he is now bringing forward their 
 accomplishment. Light would undoubtedly 
 arise out of this darkness. Let us earnestly 
 pray for a blessing from on high, upon our 
 beloved King and his family, upon the coun- 
 sels of government and parliament, and upon 
 all subordinate authority in church and state 
 — that we may lead quiet and peaceable lives 
 in all godliness and honesty, that religion and 
 good order may be established, and iniquity 
 be put to shame and silence. Thus we may 
 hope to be secured, by the sure, though secret 
 mark of divine protection, Ezek. ix. 4. The 
 Lord will be our shield, though many should 
 suffer or fall around us. The very hairs of 
 our heads are numbered, Matth. x. 30. Or 
 if, for the manifestation of our faith, and the 
 power of his grace, he should permit us to 
 share in common calamities, we may rely upon 
 him to afford us strength according to our 
 day, Deut. xxxiii. 25. He is always near to 
 his people, a very present help in the time of 
 trouble ; and he can make the season of their 
 greatest tribulations, the season of their sweet- 
 est consolations, 2 Cor. i. 5. 
 
 3. And let us pray in faith. Let us remem- 
 ber what great things the Lord has done in an- 
 swer to prayer. When sin had given Senna- 
 cherib rapid success in his invasion of Ju- 
 dah, he did not know that he was no more 
 than an axe or a saw in the hand of God, Isa. 
 x: 15 ; xxxvii. 14 — 36. He ascribed hi£ vic- 
 tories to his own prowess, and thought him- 
 self equally sure of Jerusalem. But Heze- 
 kiah defeated him upon his knees. He spread 
 his blasphemous letter before the Lord in the 
 temple, and prayed, and the Assyrian army 
 melted away like snow. When Peter was shut 
 up, and chained in prison, the chains fell from 
 his hands, the locks and bolts gave way, afid 
 
AND ONLY SURE RESOURCE OF THIS NATION. 863 
 
 the iron gate opened, while the church was 
 united in earnest prayer for his deliverance, 
 Acts xii. 5 — 13. 
 
 And as we have heard, so have we seen. 
 God has signally answered the prayers of his 
 people, in our own time. Much prayer, both 
 public and private, was offered for our beloved 
 King, during his late illness ; and how won- 
 derful, how sudden, how seasonable was his 
 recovery ! Surely this was the finger of God ! 
 When he thus removed our apprehensions, we 
 were like them that dream. Psalm cxxvi. 1. 
 
 I believe prayer was no less efficacious, to- 
 wards the end of the year 1792. I know 
 many people treated the idea of danger at that 
 time as chimerical, because the Lord was 
 pleased to avert it. But I hope we have not 
 quite forgotten the language we heard, and 
 the persons we daily met with in the street, 
 the many daring cabals which were held in 
 this city, and the threatenings which were 
 written in large characters upon the walls of 
 our houses, at almost every corner. But the 
 hearts of men were turned like the tide in the 
 critical moment. Then I think the interpo- 
 sition of the Lord w r as evident ! Then we had 
 a repeated proof that he hears and answers 
 prayer ! 
 
 The present likewise is a very important 
 crisis. All that is dear to us as men, as Bri- 
 tons, as Christians, is threatened. Our ene- 
 mies are inveterate and enraged. Our sins 
 testify against us. But if we humble our- 
 selves before God, forsake our sins, and unite 
 in supplications for mercy, who can tell but 
 he may be entreated to give us that help w hich 
 it would be in vain to expect from man ? yea, 
 we have encouragement to hope that he will 
 be for us (Rom. viii. 31), and then none can 
 prevail against us. But without his blessing 
 our most powerful efforts, and best concerted 
 undertakings cannot succeed. 
 
 You, who have access to the throne of grace, 
 whose hearts are concerned for the glory of 
 God, and who lament not only the temporal 
 calamities attendant upon war, but the many 
 thousands of souls who are yearly precipitated 
 by it into an eternal, unchangeable state, — 
 
 you, I trust, will shew yourselves true friends 
 to your country, by bearing your testimony, 
 and exerting your influence against sin, the 
 procuring cause of all our sorrows, and, by 
 standing in the breach, and pleading with God 
 for mercy, in behalf of yourselves, and of the 
 nation. If ten persons, thus disposed, had 
 been found even in Sodom, it would have e- 
 scaped destruction, Gen. xviii. 32. 
 
 IV. There may be some persons in this as- 
 sembly, who are little concerned for their own 
 sins, and are of course incapable of taking a 
 proper part in the service of the day. Yet I 
 am glad that you are here ; I pity you, I warn 
 you. If you should live to see a time of pub- 
 lic distress, what will you do ? To whom will 
 you look, or whither will you flee for help ? 
 All that is dear to you may be torn from you, 
 or you from it. — Or, if it please God to pro- 
 long our tranquillity, ycu are liable to many 
 heavy calamities in private life. And if you 
 should be exempted from these, death is ine- 
 vitable, and may be near. My heart wishes 
 you the possession of those principles which 
 would support you in all the changes of life, 
 and make your dying pillow comfortable. Are 
 you unwilling to be happy? or can you be 
 happy too soon ? Many persons are now look- 
 ing upon you, who once were as you are now. 
 And I doubt not, they are praying that you 
 may be as they now are. Try to pray for 
 yourself ; our God is assuredly in the midst 
 of us. His gracious ear is attentive to every 
 supplicant. Seek him while he is to be found. 
 Jesus died for sinners, and he has said, Him 
 that cometh to me I will in nowise cast out, 
 John vi. 37. He is likewise the author of 
 that faith, by which alone you can come right- 
 ly to him. If you ask it of him, he will give 
 it you ; if you seek it in the means of his 
 appointment, you shall assuredly find, Matth. 
 vii. 7. If you refuse this, there remaineth no 
 other sacrifice for sin, Heb. x. 22, 27. If yoq 
 are not saved by faith in his blood, you are 
 lost for ever. O kiss the Son, lest he be an- 
 gry, and you perish from the way, if his wrath 
 be kindled, yea but a little. Blessed are all 
 they that put their trust in him, Psal. ii. 12. 
 
MOTIVES TO HUMILIATION AND PRAISE; 
 
 A 
 
 SERMON 
 
 PREACHED IN THE 
 
 PARISH CHURCH OF ST. MARY, WOOLNOTH, 
 ON TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19 , 1797 . 
 
 THE DAY OF GENERAL THANKSGIVING TO ALMIGHTY GOD FOR OUR LATE NAVAL VICTORIES. 
 
 How shall I give thee up, Ephraim ? Hoiu shall I deliver thee, Israel ? How shall I make thee 
 as Admah ? How shall I set thee as Zeboim ? My heart is turned 'within me, my rej>en tings 
 are kindled together. I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not ret urn to de- 
 stroy Ephraim ; for I am God, and not man, the Holy One in the midst of thee. 
 
 Hosea, xi. 8, 9. 
 
 The most High God, in the revelation of his 
 will to men, adapts his language to the weak- 
 ness of our conceptions. Heavenly truths 
 are represented by images taken from earthly 
 things, John, iii. 12. The metaphors of eyes 
 and hands are used in the scriptures to raise 
 our thoughts to some due apprehension of his 
 infinite knowledge, his omnipresence, and his 
 almighty power, 1 Pet. iii. 12 ; Ps. lxxxix. 13. 
 He is likewise spoken of, as deliberating, re- 
 penting, rejoicing, and grieving ; yet we are 
 sure that passions like those of which we are 
 conscious in ourselves, cannot in strict proprie- 
 ty be ascribed to the holy and blessed God. 
 No attentive and serious mind can be misled by 
 this figurative analogy. We learn from the 
 same scriptures of truth, that God is sove- 
 reign ; that with him there is no variableness, 
 nor shadow of turning, (James i. 17), that 
 his counsel shall stand, and he will do all his 
 pleasure (Is. xlvi. 10) ; and that all his works 
 are perfectly known to him, from the begin- 
 ning of the world, Acts xv. 18. The more fa- 
 miliar modes of expression are designed to 
 teach us, not what be is in himself, but how 
 it becomes us sinful creatures to be affected 
 towards him. 
 
 Thus, though the purpose of God concern- 
 ing Israel was fixed and unalterable, yet, to 
 impress us with a sense of his inflexible dis- 
 pleasure against sin, and at the same time to 
 leave open the door of hope and encourage- 
 
 ment for penitent sinners, we read of a debate, 
 as it were, between his justice and his mercy. 
 Justice demanded that Israel should be given 
 up, delivered up to vengeance, to such a de- 
 struction as that by which God overthrew the 
 cities in the plain of Jericho, Sodom and Go- 
 morrah, Admah and Zeboim, Deut. xxix. 23. 
 But Mercy interposed, pleaded for a respite, 
 and prevailed. O Ephraim, O Israel, justice, 
 calls aloud for vengeance, but how shall I, 
 how can I give thee up? No, I cannot, I 
 will not, my heart is turned within me, my 
 repentings are kindled. 
 
 Two reasons are assigned, in his pathetic ex- 
 postulation, why he would still exercise long- 
 suffering towards those who so justly deserved 
 to perish : 1. I am God, and not man. The pa- 
 tience of man, or of any mere creature, would 
 have been overcome long ago by the perverse- 
 ness of Israel ; but he who made them, and 
 he only, was able to bear with them still. 
 2. I am the Holy One in the midst of thee. 
 In that dark and degenerate day, when the 
 bulk of the nation was in a state of revolt and 
 rebellion, there were a hidden remnant who 
 feared and worshipped the Lord, and who 
 mourned for the abominations which they 
 could not prevent, Ezek. ix. 4, 6. Of these 
 the Lord was mindful, and for the sake of 
 these, deserved judgments were suspended 
 from falling upon the rest. 
 
 The people of Israel were for a time in » 
 
MOTIVES TO HUMILIATION AND PRAISE. 
 
 state of hard bondage, and were severely op- 
 pressed in Egypt. The Lord brought them 
 out from thence with a mighty hand, and a 
 stretched out arm. He afterwards drowned 
 Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea ; but he 
 led Israel safely through the deep as upon dry 
 land. In the barren wilderness he fed them 
 with manna, and brought them water out of 
 the rock. In the pathless wilderness he guided 
 them, by a cloud in the day, and by a fire in 
 the night. He fought their battles, subdued 
 their enemies, and put them in possession of 
 the land he had promised to their forefathers. 
 They were a people whom the Most High se- 
 lected for himself, as his peculiar treasure, 
 Ps. cxxxv. 4. He was their God and their 
 King. They were the only people who were 
 at that time favoured with the knowledge of 
 the true God, and how to worship him accep- 
 tably. He gave them his laws and ordinances. 
 He resided among them, and honoured them 
 with a visible token of his presence in the ta- 
 bernacle, and afterwards in the temple. They 
 were likewise under an especial care of his 
 providence. The fruitfulness of their land 
 did not depend upon the climate, but the 
 early and the latter rain returned regularly at 
 the stated seasons, by his appointment ; and 
 when, in obedience to his commands, all their 
 males from the most distant parts went up 
 three times in a year to Jerusalem, and left 
 their borders destitute of human defence, God 
 so impressed the surrounding nations with 
 awe, that, though hostile in their dispositions, 
 they never availed themselves of that seem- 
 ingly favourable opportunity for invading 
 them, Exod. xxxiv. 24. Under the reign of 
 Solomon, they enjoyed peace, plenty, prospe- 
 rity, and wealth, in a degree till then un- 
 known among the nations of the earth. 
 
 What returns did Israel make to the Lord 
 for all these benefits ? The history of their 
 conduct is little more than the recital of a 
 long series of ungrateful murmurings, disobe- 
 dience, and rebellion. They resisted his. will, 
 broke his commandments, mingled with the 
 heathen, and learned their ways. They re- 
 peatedly forsook the Lord God of their fa- 
 thers, worshipped dumb idols, and practised 
 all the abominations of the nations which the 
 Lord had cast out before them. Their sins 
 often brought calamities upon them. The 
 Lord gave them up unto the hands of their 
 enemies ; they suffered by the sword, by pes- 
 tilence and by famine. When he slew them, 
 then they sought him ; and when they sought 
 him, he was entreated of them, Ps. lxxviii. 
 34. He delivered them out of their afflic- 
 tions ; but they soon forgot his goodness, and 
 returned to their evil ways. He sent many 
 of his servants in succession, to admonish and 
 warn them ; but they despised his words, they 
 mocked his messengers, and misused his pro- 
 phets, 2 Chron. xxxvi. 16. 
 
 Can we wonder, if justice demanded the ut- 
 
 865 
 
 ter extirpation and ruin of a people so highly 
 favoured, so well instructed, so often chas- 
 tised and delivered, and yet so incorrigibly 
 ungrateful, daring and obstinate ! Is it not 
 rather wonderful to hear the Lord expressing 
 a reluctance to execute the sentence so justly 
 deserved, and saying of such a people, How 
 shall I give thee up ? 
 
 But can we read the history of Israel, with- 
 out remarking how strongly it resembles our 
 own ? Have we not been equally distinguish- 
 ed from the nations around us, by spiritual 
 and temporal blessings, and by our gross mis- 
 improvement of them? We are assembled this 
 day to join in public thanksgivings for public 
 mercies, but we have great cause for public 
 humiliation likewise. We have much reason 
 to rejoice in the goodness of the Lord ; but 
 we have reason to temper our joy with trem- 
 bling (Ps. ii. 11), when we compare the' state 
 of things around us, with that of Ephraim 
 and Judah in the days of the prophet Hosea. 
 
 While too many persons lose their time and 
 temper in political and party disputes, and re- 
 fer all the calamities we either feel or fear to 
 instruments and second causes, let us acknow- 
 ledge that the Lord God omnipotent reigneth ! 
 Rev. xi-x. 6. Let us consider sin as the pro- 
 curing cause of all our troubles. Let us re- 
 cognize his hand in them, and confess that, in 
 all the distress he has brought upon us, he 
 has not dealt with us as our iniquities de- 
 serve. May our hearts be suitably affected, 
 while I attempt a brief sketch of the abound- 
 ing evils and abominations prevalent amongst 
 us, which might justly provoke the Lord to 
 sweep this land, so long the land of peace and 
 liberty, with the besom of destruction l and 
 then we shall be prepared to praise him for 
 those merciful and signal interpositions of his 
 providence, which afford us some ground to 
 hope, that, notwithstanding all our provoca- 
 tions, he will not yet give us up. 
 
 I. Offences of the same kind may be height- 
 ened and aggravated by circumstances. Thus 
 an insult offered to a benefactor, a parent, or 
 a king, is deemed more grievous than if the 
 person offended was in all respects an equal. 
 In this sense, I fear the sins of Great Britain 
 are of a deeper dye than those of any nation 
 in Europe ; because they are committed a- 
 gainst greater advantages and privileges than 
 any other people have enjoyed. May not the 
 Lord appeal to ourselves, as to Israel of old, 
 What could have been done more to my vine- 
 yard, that I have not done ? Is. v. 4. After 
 the black night of Popish darkness, in which 
 Christendom had been for ages involved, 
 Wickliff, the morning-star and harbinger of 
 the Reformation, arose in our borders. From 
 his time, we have been favoured with a suc- 
 cession of preachers of the gospel, and of . wit- 
 nesses to its truth and power. Not a few of 
 these sealed their profession with their blood ; 
 and a much greater number suffered in the 
 3 Q 
 
MOTIVES TO HUMILIATION AND PRAISE. 
 
 *366 
 
 same cause, by fines, stripes, banishment, and 
 imprisonment. But since the Revolution, and 
 especially since the accession of King George 
 I. to the throne, the spirit of persecution has 
 been greatly repressed and chained up. We 
 are not now called to resist unto blood. Nor 
 is there any Protestant country where religi- 
 ous liberty is so universally enjoyed, and with 
 so little restraint, as in the dominions of Great 
 Britain. 
 
 O fortunati nimium, sua si bona norint ! 
 
 Our constitution, the basis and bulwark of 
 our civil liberty, is the admiration or envy of 
 our surrounding neighbours. It cost our fore- 
 fathers many struggles to bring forward and 
 establish this national blessing; but we have 
 enjoyed it so long, and so quietly that we 
 seem almost to forget its value, how it was ob • 
 tained, or how only it can be preserved ? Wo be 
 to us, if God should succeed the desires and en- 
 deavours of those who are disposed to exchange 
 it for licentiousness ! Add to this our public 
 prosperity. — While we have been principals in 
 many wars, which have spread devastation and 
 misery far and wide abroad, we have had un- 
 interrupted peace at home ; and know so little 
 of the calamities of war, that were it not for 
 the increase of taxes, it is probable we should 
 not be soon weary of hearing of battles, and 
 the slaughter of thousands, provided victory 
 declared on our side. Our arms and our 
 commerce have, almost like the ocean, encom- 
 passed the habitable globe, and we are become 
 the grand mart and emporium of the earth. 
 
 But what have been our returns to the 
 Lord for all his goodness ! May he not say of 
 us, as of Israel, I have nourished and brought 
 up children, and they have rebelled against 
 me ' Is. i. 2. I attempt not to explain the 
 unfulfilled prophecies in the Apocalypse, but 
 the first, second, and third chapters of the 
 prophecy of Isaiah are so obviously applicable 
 to the present state of these kingdoms, that 
 we need look no further to perceive both our 
 sin and our danger. May the Lord soften 
 our hearts for our own sins, the sins of pro- 
 fessors of the gospel, and those national sins 
 which strongly mark our character as a people ! 
 
 1. The true Christian sees much cause of hu- 
 miliation in himself. Though he cannot but 
 take sorrowful notice of what passes around 
 him, he is more ready to scrutinize and blame 
 his own misconduct, than that of other men. 
 He confesses that his best is defective and 
 defiled. Though he exercises himself to main- 
 tain a conscience void of offence, and dares 
 appeal to the Lord for the sincerity of his 
 aims, he owns that in every thing he comes 
 short. His obligations to the Redeemer are 
 immense, and his sensations of gratitude, and 
 exertions in service, are vastly disproportion- 
 ate to them : Yet having accepted the atone- 
 ment, and resting his hope of salvation upon 
 Jesus, though his imperfections humble him, 
 
 they do not discourage him. But he ac- 
 knowledges, that if justice were strict to mark 
 what is amiss, his own sins are so many and 
 so great, that he could have no right to com- 
 plain, though he had a large share of the 
 heaviest calamities incident to this mortal 
 life. They who are thus minded are the 
 chariots and horsemen of the land in which 
 they live. They sigh and mourn for their 
 own sins, and the evils which they cannot 
 prevent. They have little thanks from the 
 blind, careless, ungodly many around them. 
 They are rather scorned and despised for 
 their singularity, and unfashionable precise- 
 ness ; but if this nation be spared from de- 
 struction, it will be for their sakes, and for 
 the attention with which God regards their 
 prayers. If we had no such persons amongst 
 us, our fleets and armies would prove but a 
 poor and precarious defence. But I trust 
 their number is not small. They are dispers- 
 ed up and down throughout the kingdom, 
 and are the salt of the earth, which preserves 
 us from total putrefaction. 
 
 2. By professors, we mean, those who as- 
 sent to the leading doctrines of the gospel, 
 and usually attend where it is preached. I 
 know this distinction is deemed invidious. 
 We are sometimes asked — Why do you ap- 
 propriate the term gospel to yourselves ? Do 
 not all ministers preach the gospel ? Most 
 certainly not. The doctrines from many pul- 
 pits are contrary, yea contradictory. They 
 cannot be all right. Yea the doctrines from 
 too many pulpits in our established church 
 contradict the Articles and the Liturgy, which 
 the preachers have solemnly subscribed. The 
 Articles and Liturgy bear express testimony 
 to the universal and total depravity of human 
 nature, the Deity and atonement of the Sa- 
 viour, the necessity of regeneration, a new 
 birth, and a new life of sanctification, and of 
 the abiding influences of the Holy Spirit of 
 God, to awaken sinners, to produce faith, and 
 to instruct, comfort, and establish those who 
 believe. These points are essential to the 
 scheme of the gospel, as it is set before us by 
 the evangelists and apostles. They who es- 
 pouse them are called professors — a title which 
 includes all those whom I have already men- 
 tioned, but is extended to many more, or at 
 least is assumed by them. Happy indeed 
 would it be, if all who seem to agree in prin- 
 ciples, were united in love among themselves, 
 and exhibited in the sight of men, in their tem- 
 pers, practice, and pursuits, a conversation be- 
 coming the gospel they profess. But in the 
 days of the apostles there were those who, 
 while they professed to believe in God, denied 
 him by their works, who were enemies to the 
 cross of Christ, and caused the good way to 
 be evil spoken of, Phil. iii. 1 3 ; Titus i. 1 6. 
 We lament, more than wonder, that it should 
 be so now : for human nature is the same in 
 all ages ; and even among those of whom we 
 
MOTIVES TO HUMILIATION AND PRAISE. 
 
 hope better — contentions, divisions, the heat 
 of party-zeal, the coldness of brotherly love, 
 and a blameable conformity to the spirit and 
 customs of the world, are but too visible. 
 The sins of professors alone, if duly consider- 
 ed, might make us apprehensive that judg- 
 ment is even at the doors. 
 
 3. There are likewise sins so generally pre- 
 valent, so familiar and habitual in every rank 
 of life, that they may properly he called na- 
 tional ; because, either by their nature or their 
 frequency, they mark and distinguish our pub- 
 lic morals. To enumerate these, would be a 
 painful and arduous task : but my subject re- 
 quires me to notice some of the most promi- 
 nent and notorious. 
 
 (1.) Infidelity. — Though the sophistry and 
 machinations of the philosophers in France, 
 and of those who style themselves the Illumi- 
 nati in Germany, have more or less infected 
 the whole of Christendom with their sceptical 
 and dangerous sentiments, so that we hold 
 them in common with many other nations, 
 and though we have not like the unhappy 
 French, openly and avowedly renounced the 
 government of God ; yet I fear that the worst 
 kind of infidelity (which is still rapidly spread- 
 ing through the land) is already become one 
 of our national sins. Formerly, most of our 
 freethinkers assumed the more modest name 
 of deists ; and though they rejected the scrip- 
 tures, they professed a regard to what they 
 called natural religion ; they wrote likewise 
 chiefly for men like themselves of a specula- 
 tive and inquisitive turn, and did not appear 
 much concerned to proselyte the common 
 people : they seemed to allow that the prin- 
 ciples of Christianity, though not necessary to 
 persons of their sagacity, might be useful to 
 preserve the peace and order of society, and 
 to keep the vulgar within some bounds of 
 good government and subordination. I have 
 myself known those who, upon this ground, 
 regularly, or at least frequently, attended pu- 
 blic worship ; not that they desired or expect- 
 ed any benefit from it, but to set a good ex- 
 ample to their wives, children, and servants, 
 whom they thought either not competent to 
 understand their more sublime discoveries, or 
 not. fit to be entrusted with them. These 
 champions likewise went forth singly to the 
 combat ; but now there is a strong compacted 
 confederacy against all religion, both name 
 and thing. Neither the mortal nor the im- 
 mortal deists are much thought of at present. 
 Philosophers have pushed their inquiries far 
 beyond the narrow views of the deists, and 
 proclaim themselves to be atheists. They 
 tell us, that either there is no God, or that he 
 does not take cognizance of human affairs. 
 To relieve the consciences of men from those 
 foreboding fears of a future judgment which 
 are not easily separable from guilt, they bold- 
 ly affirm death to be an eternal sleep. Though 
 these and similar dreadful tenets, have not 
 
 867 
 
 obtained the publicity and authority with us 
 which they have in France, they have spread 
 like a contagion through the kingdom. Mul- 
 titudes in every degree of life, from the noble 
 to the peasant have adopted them. 
 
 Not that I ascribe the progress of infidelity 
 chiefly to Thomas Paine, or to writers of a 
 superior class in the same line ; but they have 
 brought it more into view. Long before the 
 modern philosophers were born, the fool had 
 said in his heart, there is no God, Ps. xiv. 1. 
 Infidelity is congenial to human nature. In- 
 fidel writings, like the touch of Ithuriel’s 
 spear, have disclosed what for a time, was 
 hidden or disguised : The spirits of many were 
 prepared. They were infidels before, though 
 for want of attention they scarcely knew it, 
 or for want of boldness were afraid to own it. 
 The effects are evident. With many people 
 of fashion, infidelity is fashionable. Their 
 dependents and servants imbibe their senti- 
 ments, and, so far as their ability reaches, 
 imitate their practice. Every class of society 
 downwards, tradesmen, porters, labourers, 
 and hostlers, are no less pleased with thinking 
 and acting without controul, than their supe- 
 riors. Thus the bonds of society are weaken- 
 ed ; vice, idleness, impatience, murmuring, 
 and insubordination are seen, wherever we 
 turn our eyes. When will these things end? 
 When men agree to cast off the fear of God, 
 they will seldom long accord in any thing 
 else. P4an in his natural state is a wild crea- 
 ture ; but while his conscience is not quite 
 hardened, while he acknowledges a God, and 
 expects a future state and a day of judgment, 
 though he commits many evils, he is restrain- 
 ed from cpmmitting many more, and greater, 
 to which his corrupt propensities would other- 
 wise incline him, and from which he would 
 not be deterred by mere human laws and pen- 
 alties. Such a sinner may be compared to a 
 lion in the Tower : but an infidel is a lion in 
 the street. 
 
 (2.) The great neglect of the obligations of 
 religion, amongst those who have not expli- 
 citly cast off all regard to it, is a national sin. 
 If a stranger from some remote part of the 
 world, who understood our language, was to 
 see and hear all that passes at a contested el- 
 ection, at our cockpits, gaming houses, race- 
 grounds, boxing-matches, and many other 
 promiscuous assemblies, what judgment could 
 he form of our religion ? Or could he readi- 
 ly believe that we had any? And yet we 
 could not tell him that they were all infidels. 
 Many who live in the habitual neglect or 
 breach of the precepts of scripture, would still 
 be thought Christians, though they have little, 
 but the avowal of the name, to distinguish 
 them from the most determined infidels. And 
 it is to be feared, that such Christians consti- 
 tute a very great majority of the people of 
 England. 
 
 (3.) The contempt of the gospel of Christ. 
 
MOTIVES TO HUMILIATION AND PRAISE. 
 
 868 
 
 will, I fear, be found a national sin, with the 
 exception of the comparatively few who cor- 
 dially embrace it. I have already explained 
 in what sense I understand the word Gosjiel. 
 When the doctrines of our established church, 
 which in the main are conformable to the con- 
 fessions and standards of all the protestant 
 churches in Europe, are faithfully preached, 
 and especially when first introduced into a 
 parish, they usually cause a general alarm, 
 they excite a general opposition. The gospel 
 is shunned and dreaded like a pestilence, and 
 the strongest exertions are made to prevent 
 ts entrance, or to expel it, if possible. The 
 ministers who preach it faithfully are stigma- 
 tized and misrepresented. We learn from 
 Suetonius, Tacitus, and Pliny, that the name 
 Christian was once so extremely odious, that 
 whoever dared to own it was suspected as ca- 
 pable or guilty of the worst crimes, though 
 no proof could be brought of his having com- 
 mitted any. The word Methodist has a de- 
 gree of the like effect in our day. It is not 
 now, as when first imposed, the name of a 
 particular sect or body of people, but is ap- 
 plied to all who preach and approve the doc- 
 trines of the gospel, if they are not Dissenters. 
 And it operates with a kind of magical force; 
 the very sound of the word is sufficient to 
 fill the minds of many people with prejudices 
 against the truth. Neither learning, piety, 
 an exemplary conduct, nor a regular compli- 
 ance with the rules of the rubric, can always, 
 or often, secure a minister from contempt, if 
 the giddy world think proper to call him a 
 Methodist. The people prefer those who 
 will prophesy smooth things (Is. xxx. 10) ; 
 and in most places they have their wish. 
 Candour itself cannot deny, that there are in 
 many parishes of this kingdom official shep- 
 herds, who have neither will nor skill to teach 
 or watch over their flocks ; and multitudes of 
 people who for want of proper instruction, 
 have little more knowledge of Christianity 
 than the Indians in America. Some of us 
 have reason to be thankful to God and to our 
 superiors in church and state, that we are not 
 discountenanced or molested in the exercise 
 of our ministry. But our path is not the or- 
 dinary road to approbation or preferment. 
 There are not many evangelical clergymen 
 who have benefices, and these have been 
 chiefly bestowed by private patronage. * 
 
 (4.) Because of swearing, the land mourn- 
 eth, Jer. xxiii. 10. This generally prevail- 
 ing enormity has two branches — First, Cus- 
 tomary profane swearing, blasphemy, and exe- 
 cration, in common discourse. We can sel- 
 dom walk the length of a street, without hav- 
 
 * Upon the death of the late Mr Romaine, Rector 
 of St. Andrew, Wardrobe, and St. Ann’s, Blackfriars, the 
 inhabitants united in a petition to the Lord Chancellor, 
 in favour of his Curate whom they wished to succeed him 
 in the living : and the Lord Chancellor was pleased to 
 grant their request. I mention this exception with 
 pleasure; because I think it is much to the honour both 
 of his Lordship, aiid of the parishioners. 
 
 ing our ears pained, and our hearts wounded, 
 by the bitter imprecations which thoughtless 
 creatures utter against themselves, or each o- 
 ther. It might be expected that this horrid 
 wickedness would be confined to the lowest 
 and most abandoned of the common people. 
 But it is far otherwise. Gentlemen and noble- 
 men make a point of distinguishing themselves 
 from the vulgar by their houses, their dress, 
 their tables, and their equipage; but many 
 of them in their language take a strange plea- 
 sure in degrading themselves to a level with 
 the vilest of the species ; so that, were it not 
 for their exterior, we might be led to think 
 that they had spent their whole lives among 
 stable. grooms and postilions; and thus by 
 their own proficiency and example they har- 
 den and confirm in their wickedness those 
 whom they imitate. 
 
 The insult offered to the majesty and holi- 
 ness of God by common swearing, contributes 
 greatly to take off a sense of the heinous sin 
 of perjuyy, or false swearing ; an appeal to 
 the God of truth in confirmation of a lie. 
 This is the other branch of that swearing for 
 which the land ought to mourn, and sooner 
 or later, must mourn. Peijury is emphati- 
 cally one of our national sins. “ The mul- 
 tiplicity of oaths, which are interwoven into 
 almost every branch of public business, in- 
 volves thousands in the habitual guilt of per- 
 jury. Many of them, it is true, do not neces- 
 sarily lead to sin, because honest and consci- 
 entious men may and do strictly observe them ; 
 but it is to be feared, a greater number deli- 
 berately and customarily violate these solemn 
 obligations, and take them as often as im- 
 posed, without hesitation, and without any 
 desire of complying with them. Not a few 
 of these oaths are either so worded or so cir- 
 cumstanced, that it is morally impossible to 
 fulfil them ; and if a person was even to at- 
 tempt it, he would be thought a busy-body or 
 a fool ; yet they must be tendered, and must 
 be taken as a matter of form, when nothing 
 more is expected or purposed on either side. 
 The number of church- wardens and constables 
 who are annually sworn is very great, and as 
 these offices are chiefly held by rotation, in 
 the course of a few years they take in a con- 
 siderable part of the middling people in the 
 kingdom. How many or how few of them 
 act up to the letter and the spirit of the oaths 
 they have taken, will be known in the day 
 when the secrets of all hearts shall be re- 
 vealed. But it is now evident, that while 
 many, like sheep, tread without thought in 
 the path of custom, content to forswear them- 
 selves because others have done so before 
 them ; and some are hardy enough to trifle 
 with God and man for profit : the laws which 
 enjoin and multiply oaths, do thereby furnish 
 and multiply temptations to the sin of per- 
 jury. The frequency of oaths, the irreverent 
 manner in which they are often administered. 
 
MOTIVES TO HUMILIATION AND PRAISE. 
 
 and the impunity with which they are broken, 
 have greatly contributed to weaken the sense 
 of every moral obligation, and to spread a 
 dissolute and daring spirit throughout the 
 land.”* 
 
 (5.) Oppression is a national sin, if the 
 grievance be publicly known, and no consti- 
 tutional measures adopted for prevention or 
 relief. Charges of * this nature have been 
 brought against the exercise of our power, 
 both in the east and in the west. I pretend 
 not to say how far they are founded in truth, 
 or exaggerated. I confine myself to a single 
 instance, of which my own experience war- 
 rants me to speak. I have more than once 
 confessed with shame in this pulpit, the con- 
 cern I had too long in the African slave- 
 trade. This trade, marked as it is with the 
 epithet infamous by a vote of the House of 
 Commons, is still carried on, and under the 
 sanction of the legislature. Though the re- 
 peated attempts to procure the abolition of 
 this trade have not succeeded, they have doubt- 
 less contributed to meliorate the condition of 
 the blacks who are in a state of slavery in our 
 West-India islands. The mode of their trans- 
 portation thither from the African coast seems 
 to be less tormenting and fatal than formerly. 
 How far this trade may have been affected by 
 the present war I know not. When I was 
 engaged in it, we generally supposed, for an 
 accurate calculation was not practicable, that 
 there were not less than a hundred thousand 
 persons, men, women, and children, brought 
 off the coast, by the European vessels of all 
 nations, and that an equal number lost their 
 lives annually, by the wars and other calami- 
 ties occasioned by the traffic, either on shore, 
 without reaching the ship, or on shipboard be- 
 fore they reached the places of sale. It was 
 also supposed that more than one half, per- 
 haps three fifths of the trade was in the hands 
 of the English. If the trade is at present car- 
 ried on to the same extent, and nearly in the 
 same manner, while we are delaying from year 
 to year to put a stop to our part of it, the 
 blood of many thousands of our helpless, 
 much-injured fellow-creatures, is crying a- 
 gainst us. The pitiable state of the survivors 
 who are torn from their nearest relatives, con- 
 nections, and their native land, must be taken 
 into the account. — Enough of this horrid 
 scene. I fear the African trade is a national 
 sin, for the enormities which accompany it are 
 now generally known ; and though perhaps 
 the greater part of the nation would be 
 pleased if it were suppressed, yet as it does 
 not immediately affect their own interest, they 
 are passive. The shop-tax, a few years since, 
 touched them in a more sensible and tender 
 part, and therefore petitions and remonstran- 
 ces were presented and repeated, till the tax 
 was repealed. Can we wonder that the cala- 
 
 * See Sermon on The «uilt and danger of such a na- 
 tion as this, p. 827. 
 
 8G9 
 
 mities of the present war begin to be felt at 
 home, when we ourselves wilfully and deli- 
 berately inflict much greater calamities upon 
 the native Africans, who never offended us ? 
 That is an awful word, “ Woe unto thee that 
 spoilest, and thou wast not spoiled ; when 
 thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoil- 
 ed,” Isa. xxxiii. 1. 
 
 (6.) A proud boasting spirit, and a vain 
 confidence in our strength and resources, is 
 a prominent part of our national character. 
 Though infidelity, irreligion, contempt both 
 of the law and gospel of God, profaneness, 
 perjury, and oppression, expose us to his ven 
 geance, — though the judgments of God are 
 abroad in the earth, and have fallen heavily 
 on a great part of Europe, — and though his 
 hand is evidently lifted up against us, yet few 
 will see and acknowledge it, Isa. xxvi. 11. 
 Instead of such a general spirit of humiliation 
 as was awakened in Nineveh *by the preaching 
 of Jonah, so well becoming our sins and our 
 situation, we still boast in our fleets and ar- 
 mies. Especially the Wooden Walls of Old 
 England are spoken of as impregnable, and 
 we still suppose ourselves to be sovereign 
 lords of the sea. Some late providential dis- 
 pensations were well suited to shew us, not 
 only the sin but the folly of this spirit ; but 
 the impression, if any, was transient ; it soon 
 wore off. The praise justly due to our ad- 
 mirals, officers, and seamen, was readily of- 
 fered ; but unless the King had called us, as 
 on this day, to unite with him in ascribing 
 our success to the Lord of Hosts, who alone 
 giveth the victory, even the verbal offering of 
 praise to God would have been confined to a 
 few. And still we boast. This arrogant spi- 
 rit, and especially at such a time as this, is no 
 small aggravation of all Our other sins. 
 
 I could proceed to further .particulars, but 
 my spirits are depressed, and I hope the hearts 
 of my hearers are duly affected by what I have 
 already said. Is there any relief? Have we 
 any ground to hope that the Lord will yet say 
 of such a nation as this, “ How shall I give 
 thee up ?” I turn with pleasure to this more 
 comfortable branch of my subject. 
 
 II. Yes, though we have many causes for 
 trembling, we are not without causes for a 
 humble joy, and thankfulness. 
 
 1. I hope the occasion of our present as- 
 sembling is a token for good. We are met 
 in consequence of a royal proclamation, to 
 join in spirit with our King, who, perhaps 
 while I am speaking, may be entering St. 
 Paul’s Cathedral, attended by the royal fa- 
 mily, both houses of parliament, and many of 
 the nobility and principal persons of the court. 
 He goes to make the most public and solemn 
 acknowledgment of his dependence on the pro- 
 vidence and power of Almighty God, and to 
 ascribe to him to whom it most justly belongs, 
 praise and thanksgiving for the many interpo- 
 sitions he has favoured us with as a people, in 
 
MOTIVES TO HUMILIATION AND PRAISE. 
 
 870 
 
 this 9eason of danger and distress ; particu- 
 larly, for the three signal, critical, and deci- 
 sive victories which he gave us in succession, 
 over the French, Spanish, and Dutch fleets. 
 We remember with what universal joy the 
 King’s former appearance at St. Paul's, after 
 his recovery from his illness, was entertained 
 by his loyal subjects ; and though the intro- 
 duction of French principles and French po- 
 litics, since that period, has not been without 
 mischievous effects, we trust that the joy upon 
 this occasion will at least be general. * 
 
 Though I cannot suppose that every person 
 in the procession, or among the many thou- 
 sands spectators, felt the same sentiments of 
 gratitude to God, which induced the King to 
 appoint a day of thanksgiving — yet I consider 
 it as a public and national act; and in this 
 view, contrasted with the atheistical rage and 
 blasphemies of the French Directory and coun- 
 cils, who insult and defy, not these kingdoms 
 only, but the God whom we worship, I in- 
 dulge a hope, that, unworthy as we are of his 
 mercy, the Lord will put a hook and a bridle 
 in the mouths of these modern Rabshakehs, 
 and will not give us up as a prey to their mer- 
 ciless rapacity and revenge. 
 
 5. When the French formed the design of 
 invading Ireland, they thought themselves sure 
 of success. They probably would have found 
 encouragement in one part of that kingdom, 
 if they could have reached it ; and therefore 
 they spoke like Pharaoh, who said, I will pur- 
 sue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil, — 
 and they were disconcerted almost in the same 
 manner. The Lord blew with his wind, and 
 scattered them. Some of their stoutest ships, 
 and many of their men, sunk as lead in the 
 mighty waters, Exod. xv. 9, 10. And the 
 Lord God did it himself. We had a strong 
 fleet to watch and oppose them. But they were 
 not permitted to come near, or even to see 
 one of their ships. Nor had our boasted na- 
 val force the opportunity of firing a single 
 gun in our defence. 
 
 3. The suppression of the mutiny, which 
 like an infectious disorder pervaded all our 
 fleets, was so sudden, so unexpected, and at 
 the time when it was risen to such an alarm- 
 ing height that all resistance seemed vain, that 
 it can only be ascribed to the mercy and pow- 
 er of God. Then, if ever, was the time, 
 when the proud and the boasters trembled. — 
 And while we were thus exposed and defence- 
 less in every quarter, the providence of God 
 laid an embargo upon the fleets of our ene- 
 mies, so that they could not attempt any thing 
 against us. It is further to be observed, that 
 
 * I was not mistaken In my expectation. The order 
 and regularity with which the procession was conducted, 
 the peaceful behaviour of the immense multitude of 
 spectators, the serenity and mildness of the weather, so 
 unusual with us in the depth of winter, the almost total 
 exemption from what are commonly called accidents, 
 and the quietness with which the evening closed, I con- 
 sider collectively, as warranting a hope that the Lord was 
 pleased to smile upon the day, and upon the design. 
 
 the mutiny at the Nore, which was the most 
 formidable, as the ships had the full command 
 of the river, so that nothing could pass or re- 
 pass to or from London ; this threatening dis- 
 aster, which painted terror and dismay in the 
 countenance of almost every person we met 
 in the streets, in the event led to that re-esta- 
 blishment of our marine discipline, without 
 which the strength of our invincible navy 
 would have been but like a rope of sand. 
 Well may we say, What has God wrought ! 
 
 4. In the close of the year 1795, we felt a 
 scarcity, and feared a famine. Opportunity 
 was presented and greedily seized by monopo- 
 lizers to raise the corn to such an enormous 
 price, that had it not been for great and libe- 
 ral exertions, the poor in many places, per- 
 haps in every place, must have been absolute- 
 ly destitute of bread. What must the conse- 
 quences have been if God had visited us with 
 a scanty or a wet harvest the following year ? 
 For our resource from foreign supplies was 
 cut off* in many parts, and rendered very pre- 
 carious in the rest by the war. But he is a 
 hearer of prayer. In 1796, the earth brought 
 forth by handfuls, Gen. xli. 47. Such an a- 
 bundant harvest, and such a remarkable fine 
 season for gathering in the precious fruits of 
 the earth, have been seldom known. 
 
 5. Our sins have involved us in a calami- 
 tous war ; and though our sufferings are not 
 to be compared with those of the countries on 
 the continent where the war has raged, it has 
 brought upon us much real distress. Many 
 widows and orphans are bemoaning the effects. 
 The decline of some manufactures, the in- 
 creased taxes, the advanced price of most of 
 the necessaries of life, are severely felt by the 
 industrious poor, and by many families in the 
 middling and lower classes of society. It is 
 well known that there is a number of persons 
 who unhappily employ their abilities and in- 
 fluence, to aggravate the sense of these diffi- 
 culties, to inflame the minds of the sufferers, 
 to work upon their passions, to alienate them 
 from the government, and to make them long, 
 if possible, for such liberty and equality as has 
 already reduced France to the most pitiable 
 state of anarchy and misery. That such at- 
 tempts have not succeeded, that we are still 
 preserved, not only from foreign invasion but 
 from internal commotions, I ascribe to the 
 power of the great God over the hearts of the 
 children of men ; and I consider it as a far- 
 ther ground of hope that he will not give us 
 up. 
 
 III. Why would he not give up degenerate 
 Israel, when strict justice demanded their de- 
 struction ? Two reasons are assigned in my 
 text for his forbearance, which are well suited 
 to encourage the prayers and hopes of those 
 amongst ourselves who love and fear him. 
 
 1. I am God, and not man. — If we had 
 offended men, or angels, as we have offended 
 our Creator and Redeemer, and they had per- 
 
MOTIVES TO HUMILIATION AND PRAISE. 
 
 mission and power to punish us, our case 
 would be utterly desperate. Only he who 
 made us, is able to bear with us. All the at- 
 tributes (as we speak) of the infinite God, 
 must of course be equally infinite. As is his 
 majesty, so is his mercy, Ecclesiasticus ii. 18. 
 What is the puny power of man, compared 
 with that almighty power which formed and 
 upholds the immense universe ? The dispro- 
 portion is greater than that between a single 
 drop of water and the boundless ocean. Thus 
 his thoughts are higher than ours, as the hea- 
 vens are higher than the earth. Who can set 
 bounds to the exercise of his patience ? When 
 sentence was denounced against Nineveh, 
 they humbled themselves before him, and he 
 suspended the execution. There is at least a 
 peradventure in our favour, “ Who can tell if 
 God will turn away from his fierce anger, 
 that we perish not?” He has said, “At 
 what time I shall speak concerning a nation, 
 or a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, or 
 to destroy ; if that nation turn from their 
 evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought 
 to do unto them,” Jer. xviii. 7, 8. We *o 
 not suppose that all the inhabitants of Nine 
 veh were savingly converted ; but they hum- 
 bled themselves with one consent, they cried 
 for mercy, and they were spared. We do not 
 expect a national conversion, and I fear we 
 have little prospect of a national humiliation. 
 But, 
 
 2. I am the Holy One in the midst of thee.— 
 Next to the consideration of his infinite mer- 
 cy, this is our strongest ground for consola- 
 tion. The Holy One is still in the midst of 
 us ? Degenerate and wicked as we are, God 
 has a people, a remnant amongst us. I have 
 spoken of these already. Their number is 
 small if compared with the bulk of the nation ; 
 but if they could be collected together, they 
 would form a considerable body (I trust it is 
 an increasing body), who, though distinguish- 
 ed by different names, and dispersed far and 
 wide into different parts of the land, are unit- 
 ed, by a faith of divine operation, to one head, 
 and in one common interest and design. — 
 They belong to that kingdom which is not of 
 this world, and which (unlike all other king- 
 doms) cannot be shaken. But their princi- 
 ples lead them to seek the welfare of the com- 
 munities in which they live. These are, un- 
 der God, decus et tutamen, the glory and the 
 defence of Great Britain. They are lights 
 shining in a dark place. They are believers, 
 and their faith worketh by love. But as they 
 follow the example of their Lord and Master, 
 the world knows not them, because it knows 
 not him. Here and there, individuals, by 
 an unblameable consistent conduct, in a course 
 of years, if they cannot change the hearts of 
 gainsayers, are enabled to stop their mouths, 
 and put their ignorance to silence by well-do- 
 ing, 1 Pet. ii. 15. But many persons de- 
 spise them in the gross, and affect to deem 
 
 871 
 
 them (perhaps in defiance to the checks of 
 their own consciences), either hypocrites or vi- 
 sionaries, credulous fools, or designing knaves. 
 But their record is on high. They have access 
 to God, and communion with him, by the Son 
 of his love. They have the spirit of pray- 
 er, and their prayers are heard. The ship 
 in which Paul sailed to Italy, was preserv 
 ed from sinking, though apparently in the ut- 
 most danger, because the apostle was on board 
 her. Not only was this servant of God as safe 
 in a storm at sea as if he had been on shore, 
 but for his sake the Lord preserved the live* 
 of all who were in the vessel. The state - 
 ship of this nation is now in jeopardy, she is 
 brought into deep waters, tossed with tem- 
 pests, and her rowers (Ezek. xxvii. 26) are 
 almost at their wits end ; but there is a preci- 
 ous depositum on board. A people dear to 
 the Lord are embarked in the same bottom 
 with the rest, and we hope their prayers will 
 prevail for the safety of tlie whole. The 
 French, who know little of Christianity but 
 as they have seen it through the corrupt me- 
 dium of popery, having triumphed over and 
 melted down the golden and silver images of 
 their tutelary saints, promise themselves an 
 easy victory over us. They know not that 
 the Holy One of Israel is in the midst of us, 
 and that there are a people here who are un- 
 der his special protection. They know not 
 that, like Sennacherib, their success is wholly 
 owing to their being instruments of his will, 
 like saws or hammers in the hand of the work- 
 man ; and that when they have accomplished 
 his purpose, he can and he will say to them, 
 Hitherto thou shalt come, and no farther. 
 They have succeeded beyond their own expec- 
 tations, far and wide upon the continent : but 
 all their attempts and designs against our fa- 
 voured land have hitherto been rendered abor- 
 tive. We hope they will prove so. 
 
 At all events, it shall be well with the right- 
 eous, Is. iii. 12. Rejoice, believers, in the 
 Lord. You may be assured upon the war- 
 rant of his faithful promise, either that he 
 will \ reserve you from the evils which our 
 sins gi » e us such cause to apprehend ; or if he 
 should appoint you to share in a common ca- 
 lamity, he will make your strength equal to 
 your day, and will prepare your shoes of iron 
 and brass (Deut. xxxiii. 26), when any part 
 of the road, on which you travel through this 
 wilderness towards your heavenly home, shall 
 prove very difficult and rugged. Pray for 
 grace to sit loose to the world, and you will 
 have nothing to fear. The first Christians re- 
 joiced in the spoiling of their goods ; and so 
 shall you, if the Lord calls you to the trial. 
 You have the same Saviour to support you, 
 and you likewise have treasures (Heb. x. 34), 
 far better and more enduring, out of the reach 
 of violence. The Lord teaches us to consi- 
 der even the loss of life as comparatively of 
 small importance, when he says, Fear not 
 
MOTIVES TO HUMILIATION AND PRAISE. 
 
 872 
 
 them that can kill the body, but can do no 
 more. They cannot do that without his per- 
 mission. The very hairs of your head are 
 numbered, Luke xii. 4 ; Matth. x. 39. And 
 most of those who have suffered death for him 
 who died upon the cross for them, have 
 thought the honour of dying in his cause more 
 to be valued than a thousand lives. 
 
 My feelings are painful for you who live 
 without God in the world. I do not wonder 
 if your hearts tremble like the leaves of a tree 
 when agitated by a mighty wind, Is. vii. 2. 
 You know not what may come upon you, but 
 you forebode the worst — And should it prove 
 so, you have no resource, no hiding place, no 
 Almighty Friend to whom you may with con- 
 fidence apply for help in time of trouble. 
 Death, at least, is inevitable ; and will you 
 dare to die (yet die you must) if your hearts 
 be unhumbled, and your sins unpardoned? 
 We preach to you a gracious, powerful Sa- 
 viour, who invites you to seek him, and has 
 said, “ Him that cometh to me, I will in no- 
 wise cast out.” Seek him then to-day whilst 
 
 it is called to-day. Now is the accepted time, 
 now is the day of salvation. To-morrow is 
 not your own. 
 
 But let believers rejoice and be glad. The 
 Lord reigns, your Lord reigns, Ps. xcvii. 1. 
 He who loved you, and gave himself for you, 
 possesses and exercises all power in heaven 
 and earth, Matth. xxviii. 18. Though clouds 
 and darkness are about his throne, and his 
 paths are untraceable by us, we are sure that 
 he is carrying on his great designs, for the 
 glory of his great name, and for the exten- 
 sion and establishment of his church in a 
 way worthy of himself — worthy of infinite 
 wisdom and goodness. Make his name your 
 strong tower (Prov. xviii. 10) of refuge. 
 Hold out faith and patience. Yet a little 
 while, and we hope to meet, “ where the wick- 
 ed cease from troubling, and where the weary 
 are at rest,” Job iii. 17. And to hear those 
 welcome words, “ Come, ye blessed of my 
 Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you 
 from the foundation of the world,” Matth. 
 xxv. Si. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
APOLOGIA; 
 
 OR 
 
 FOUR LETTERS 
 
 TO 
 
 A MINISTER OF AN INDEPENDENT CHURCH* 
 
 BY 
 
 A MINISTER OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 
 
 ■ ■ Quid me alta silentia cogis 
 
 Rumpere ? Virg. 
 
 Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may 
 edify another. For in Jesus Christ, neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncir- 
 eumcision, but faith which worketh by love. Rom. xiv. 1 9 . Gal . v. 6. 
 
A PO LOG I A, 
 
 See, 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 My Dear Friend and Brother, 
 
 You have more than once gently called upon 
 me for the reasons which induced me to exer- 
 cise my ministry as a Clergyman of the 
 Church of England, rather than among the 
 Dissenters, where my first religious connec- 
 tions were formed, and with many of whom I 
 still maintain a cordial friendship. Hitherto 
 I have usually waved the subject, and con- 
 tented myself with assuring you in general 
 terms, that as the preference I gave to the Es- 
 tablishment was the result of serious, and, I 
 trust, impartial inquiry ; so I had never seen 
 reason to repent of it, no not for a minute, 
 since the day of my ordination. I now pur- 
 pose to give you a more particular answer. 
 And as you are not the only person who has 
 expressed a friendly surprise at my choice, I 
 shall communicate my reasons from the press, 
 that all my friends who have been at a loss to 
 account for my conduct, may have such satis- 
 faction as it is in my power to give them. I 
 shall, however, keep you particularly in my 
 eye while I write, that a just sense of the can- 
 dour and affection with which you have al- 
 ways treated me, may regulate my pen, and 
 preserve me (if possible) from that harsh and 
 angry spirit, into which writers upon contro- 
 versial points are too often betrayed. 
 
 I confess, that as in this business my con- 
 science is clear in the sight of him to whom 
 alone I am properly accountable; 1 could 
 wish still to continue silent, and submit to be 
 a little misunderstood by some persons whose 
 good opinion I prize, *rather than trouble the 
 public with what more immediately relates to 
 myself. But something upon this subject 
 seems expedient in the present day ; not so 
 much by way of apology for one or a few in- 
 dividuals, as with a view of obviating preju- 
 dices, and preventing, or at least abating, the 
 unhappy effects of a party-spirit. 
 
 There was a time when the Non-conformists 
 groaned under the iron rod of oppression, and 
 were exposed to fines, penalties, and imprison- 
 ment, as well as to cruel mockings, and the 
 lawless rage of a rabble, for worshipping God 
 according to the light of their consciences. 
 
 Yet I apprehend their non-conformity was 
 rather the occasional and ostensible, than the 
 real cause of the hard treatment they met 
 with. The greater part of the Non-conformist 
 ministers of that day were the light and glory 
 of the land. — They were men full of faith 
 and of the Holy Ghost, penetrated with a 
 deep sense of the Redeemer’s glory and love, 
 and of the worth of souls. Their ministra- 
 tions were accompanied with unction and pow- 
 er, and they were instrumental in turning many 
 sinners from the evil of their ways. It is no 
 wonder that the world hated such men ; that 
 snares w r ere spread for their feet, their liberty 
 abridged, and that many said, Away with 
 them, they are not worthy to live ! It is pro- 
 bable that if these servants of the Most High 
 could have enjoyed that freedom for their per- 
 sons and assemblies, which, in answer to their 
 prayers, is now possessed by those who bear 
 the same name, they would have been well 
 satisfied that the Established Church should 
 have remained in peaceful possession of its 
 own order and ritual. And several among 
 them, not the lowest in repute for wisdom and 
 piety, continued long to worship occasionally 
 in the Parish Churches, after they had been 
 ejected from them as preachers. But things 
 were studiously carried against them with a 
 high hand. The exaction of re-ordination, 
 and the little time allowed for subscribing the 
 book of Common Prayer, which many of the 
 ministers had not been able to procure when 
 the law called for their assent to it, were two 
 circumstances which greatly contributed to 
 swell the Bartholomew-list. It was well known 
 to some of the leaders in that unhappy busi- 
 ness, that there were among the Non-conform- 
 ists wise and moderate men, who were not 
 disposed to quit their parochial cures, unless 
 they were constrained by the harshest and most 
 violent measures; such therefore were the 
 measures they adopted. 
 
 It is our mercy to live in more quiet times. 
 We are on all sides freed from restraints in 
 religious concerns; and every person is at li- 
 berty to profess, preach, worship, or print as 
 he thinks proper. But it is still to be lament 
 
878 
 
 ed, that they who are united upon the same 
 foundations, and agree in the same important 
 leading principles, should lay so much stress 
 upon their circumstantial differences in senti- 
 ment, as to prevent the exercise of mutual love 
 and forbearance, and that, instead of labour- 
 ing in concert within their respective depart- 
 ments to promote the common cause, they 
 should be at leisure to vex and worry each 
 other with needless disputation and unchari- 
 table censure. I hope, amongst us, the High- 
 Church principles which formerly produced 
 unjustifiable and oppressive effects, are now 
 generally exploded. But may we not lay a 
 claim in our turn, to that moderation, candour, 
 and tenderness, from our dissenting brethren, 
 which we cheerfully exercise towards them ? 
 But as we (I think) are no longer the aggres- 
 sors, so they seem no longer content to stand 
 upon the defensive. We wish to join them 
 with heart and hand in supporting and spread- 
 ing the great truths of the gospel ; and such 
 as you, my friend, approve our aims, and re- 
 joice with us, if God is pleased to give us suc- 
 cess. But there are those among you, whose 
 persons and general conduct we respect, from 
 whom we do not find equal returns of good-will, 
 because we cannot join with them in the sup- 
 port of a palladium which bears the name of 
 the Dissenting Interest. I know not whether 
 this phrase was in use a hundred years ago ; 
 but were I to meet with it as referring to that 
 period, I should understand by it little more 
 or less than the interest of the Redeemer’s 
 kingdom. At present, when I consider the 
 various names, views, and sentiments, which 
 obtain among those who form this aggregate, 
 styled the Dissenting Interest, I am at a loss 
 what sense to put upon the term. May I not 
 say without offence, that it is, at least, a very 
 heterogeneous body ? May I not hope, with- 
 out presumption, that though you and I are 
 not agreed on the subject of Church Govern- 
 ment, yet I am related to you by a much 
 nearer and stronger tie than that which binds 
 you to the Dissenting Interest? I confess that 
 so far as it is the interest of those who depre- 
 ciate the person and blood of the Saviour, and 
 deny the agency and influence of the Holy 
 Spirit, or the total depravity of fallen man, so 
 far I cannot (in a religious view) be a friend 
 to it. On the other hand, so far as it regards 
 those who love, avow, and preach the doctrines, 
 experience, and practice, which both you and 
 I include in our idea of the Gospel, so far I 
 can truly say, though not a Dissenter myself, 
 the Dissenting Interest is dear to my heart, 
 and has a share in my daily prayers. And in 
 this I am persuaded I speak the sentiments of 
 many both ministers and laymen, in the Esta- 
 blishment. We are sorry, therefore fat least 
 I am sorry), though not angry, when books 
 are written, or declarations* (perhaps in the 
 
 * Some of tl)e.=e letters were written in the year 1777. 
 
 LET. I. 
 
 most solemn occasions of worship) unseason- 
 ably made, which seem not so much designed 
 to confirm Dissenters in their own principles, 
 as to place those who cannot accede to them 
 in an unfavourable light ; the ministers espe- 
 cially, who, according to some representations, 
 must be supposed to be almost destitute of 
 common sense, or else of common honesty. 
 
 When I write a letter, especially to a friend, 
 I think myself released from that attention to 
 method which I might observe if I were com- 
 posing a treatise. As my heart dictates, my 
 pen moves. I therefore hope you will bear 
 with me if I do not come directly to what I 
 proposed ; which was, to give you some account 
 of the motives of my own conduct. It may not 
 be improper to premise a few preliminary ob- 
 servations. I shall not weary you by attempt- 
 ing to justify every thing that obtains in our 
 way, nor call your attention to all the minutiae 
 which might furnish subject for debate to 
 those who know not how to employ their time 
 better. It would be mere trifling to dispute 
 for or against a surplice or a band, a gown or 
 a cloak, or to inquire whether it be the size, 
 or the shape, which renders some of these ha- 
 biliments more or less suitable for a minister, 
 than the others. But perhaps a few stric- 
 tures upon establishments and liturgies may 
 not be wholly impertinent to my design. 
 
 That national religious establishments un- 
 der the New Testament dispensation are nei- 
 ther of express divine appointment, nor form- 
 ed in all points upon a scriptural plan, I rea- 
 dily admit. Whether upon this account they 
 cannot be submitted to without violating the 
 obedience we owe to the Lord Jesus as head 
 and lawgiver of his church, I shall consider 
 hereafter. At present permit me only to hope 
 (for my own sake), that such submission is 
 not absolutely sinful ; and in thdt view to of- 
 fer a word in favour of their expedience. 1 
 plead not for this or that establishment, or the 
 administration of one preferably to another ; 
 but chiefly for that circumstance which I sup- 
 pose is common to them ail : I mean, the par- 
 celing out a country, the government of which 
 is professedly Christian, and certain districts, 
 analogous to what we call parishes, and fix . 
 ing in each of those districts, a person with a 
 ministerial character, who by his office is en- 
 gaged to promote the good of souls within the 
 limits of his own boundary. I think the 
 number of parishes in England and Wales is 
 computed to be not much fewer than ten 
 thousand. The number of dissenting churches 
 and congregations in England and Wales (if 
 those whom I have consulted as the most 
 competent judges are not mistaken), will not 
 be found greatly to exceed one thousand. In 
 how many, or in how few of these the old Pu- 
 ritan Gospel (if I may so call it) is'preacbed 
 or prized, I deem you a better judge than my- 
 self. It is certain, that the number of Dis- 
 senting ministers who are very willing it 
 
 APOLOGIA. 
 
LEf. I. 
 
 APOLOGIA. 
 
 879 
 
 should be publicly known that they differ 
 widely from the sentiments of their fore- 
 fathers, is not small. However, we will take 
 them all into the estimate. Now, let us for 
 a moment suppose the establishment with all 
 its provisions removed and annihilated. In 
 this case, some of the Dissenting ministers 
 might indeed change their situations, and fix 
 in places where they might hope for more ex- 
 tensive influence ; but as none of them could 
 be in two places at once, about nine-tenths of 
 the kingdom would be deprived, at a stroke, 
 of the very form of public religion, and re- 
 duced in a short time (for any relief the Dissent- 
 ing interest could afford) to a state little better 
 than heathenism. That there is any regard paid 
 to the Lord’s day through the greater part of 
 the land, that the holy scriptures are publicly 
 read to thousands who probably would other- 
 wise know no more of the Bible than they do 
 of the Koran, are good effects of the national 
 establishment, which I think can hardly be 
 denied, even by those who are most displeas- 
 ed with it. For this reason, if I could not 
 conform to the establishment myself, I think 
 I should speak respectfully of it, and bless 
 God for it. Some established form of religi- 
 ous profession, with a full and free toleration 
 for all who think they can serve God more 
 acceptably upon a different plan, appears to 
 me the most desirable and promising consti- 
 tution, for preserving the rights of conscience, 
 and for promoting the welfare of souls. I be- 
 lieve, therefore, that the church of England, 
 as by law established (for it claims no higher 
 title), though it be not a perfect institution, 
 and notwithstanding its real or supposed de- 
 fects, and the faults of individuals within its 
 community, has been upon the whole, and will 
 be, a blessing to the nation ; and that its pre- 
 servation is an effect of the wise and gracious 
 providence of the great Head of the Church 
 universal. 
 
 From the expediency of parochial order, I 
 would farther deduce the expediency of a rub- 
 ric and liturgy. For I cannot conceive an 
 established church, without including, in my 
 idea, some determinate rule or line respecting 
 doctrine and worship, by which it is discrimi- 
 nated from other churches which are not so 
 established. As to our liturgy, I am far from 
 thinking it incapable of amendment ; though, 
 when I consider the temper and spirit of the 
 present times, I dare not wish that the im- 
 provement of it should be attempted, lest the 
 intended remedy might prove worse than the 
 disease. As I am not called to defend it, I 
 shall only say, what I believe will be allowed 
 by many candid persons on your side, that the 
 general strain of it is scriptural, evangelical, 
 and experimental. It recognizes with preci- 
 sion the one great object of worship, in his 
 personal distinctions, and glorious attributes : 
 the honours and offices of the Redeemer, the 
 power and agency of the Holy Spirit, the evil 
 
 of sin, the depravity of man, and all the dis 
 tinguishing doctrines of the gospel. As to 
 the composition, I question if any thing in 
 the English language (our version of the 
 Bible excepted), is worthy of being compared 
 with it, for simplicity, perspicuity, energy, 
 and comprehensive fulness of expression. 
 But I suppose the objection does not lie so 
 much against our liturgy in particular, as in 
 general against the use of liturgies of any 
 kind. And for aught I know, if the compil- 
 ers of our liturgy could have expected, that 
 all the parishes in the kingdom, and from age 
 to age, would be supplied with ministers com- 
 petently acquainted with the mysteries of the 
 gospel, and possessed of the spirit of grace 
 and supplication, they might have left them 
 under less restraint in conducting public wor- 
 ship. I believe many of the Dissenters take 
 it for granted, that a considerable part of our 
 clergy are not only unable to pray in public 
 to the edification of their hearers without a 
 form, but are unfit for the ministerial office 
 in every view. Should this be true, it is a 
 truth which I hope would excite lamentation 
 rather than ridicule or invective, in all who 
 profess a regard to the glory of God, or love 
 to the souls of men. But upon this suppo- 
 sition I should think an evangelical liturgy a 
 great blessing ; as it must secure the people, 
 (that is the bulk of the nation) from being 
 exposed to the same uncertainty and disap- 
 pointment from the reading-desk, as they are 
 liable to from the pulpit. For they who can- 
 not, or do not preach the gospel, are not like 
 to pray agreeably to the spirit of the gospel, 
 if that part of the public service was likewise 
 left to their own management. Or shall we 
 say, it is an advantage to some dissenting con- 
 gregations, that their ministers, not being con. 
 fined to a form of sound words, there is little 
 more of Christ or of grace to be found in 
 their prayers than in their sermons ? Is it not 
 too hastily taken for granted by many, that 
 God cannot be worshipped in spirit and in 
 truth by those who use a form of prayer ? or 
 that he will not afford them who so approach 
 him any testimony of his acceptance ? If the 
 words of a form suit and express the desires 
 and feelings of my mind, the prayer is as 
 much my own, as if I had conceived it upon 
 the spot. On the other hand, if I have the 
 greatest readiness and fluency in diversifying 
 expressions, so that my prayer should always 
 appear unstudied and new, yet if my spirit, or 
 the spirits of those who join with me, be not 
 engaged in it, though I may admire my own 
 performance, and be applauded by others, it 
 is no better than a mere lifeless form, in the 
 sight of him who searcheth the heart. Not 
 to say, that many who profess to pray extem- 
 pore, that is, without either a printed or a 
 written form, go so much in a beaten path, 
 that they who hear them, frequently can tell 
 with tolerable certainty, how they will begin, 
 
APOLOGIA 
 
 LET. r. 
 
 880 
 
 when they are about the middle, and when 
 they are drawing towards the close of their 
 prayer. 
 
 It is said, that a prescribed form precludes 
 the exercise of a gift in prayer, which is true ; 
 but then, as I hinted before, it in some good 
 measure supplies the want of such a gift ; and 
 blessed be the Lord, there are many living 
 witnesses who can declare to his praise, that a 
 form does not restrain, much less preclude the 
 exercise of grace. They know and are sure 
 that their Lord and master owns and comforts 
 them in what their brethren hastily condemn 
 them for. It is well for us' that he seeth not 
 as man seeth, and is no more a respecter of 
 parties than of persons. 
 
 It cannot be denied, that the Lord himself 
 appointed forms of prayer and praise to be 
 used in the Old Testament church. When 
 the ark Set forward, and when it rested, Moses 
 addressed the Lord, not according to the va- 
 ried emotions of his own spirit, but statedly 
 in the same determinate expressions, Numb, 
 x. 35, 36. So likewise in the solemn bene- 
 diction which the high priest was to pro- 
 nounce upon the people, Numb. vi. 23, 27. 
 Again, at the presenting of the first fruits, 
 though the heart of the offerer might be filled 
 with gratitude, he was not to express it in his 
 own way, but the Lord himself prescribed the 
 form of his acknowledgement, confession, and 
 prayer, Deut. xxvi. 12 — 15. But it may be 
 
 said, these were enjoined under the Levitical 
 institution, which is now abrogated, and that 
 we live under a dispensation of greater light 
 and liberty. I wish however, with all our 
 light and liberty, we could more fully come 
 up to the spirit of some of the devotional parts 
 of the Old Testament, which were recorded 
 for our instruction, and most certainly are not 
 abrogated. The book of Psalms especially, 
 contains a rich variety of patterns for prayer, 
 if we may not call them forms, adapted to all 
 the various exercises of the life of faith. And 
 if, when I read or repeat such Psalms as the 
 63d, 84th, or 86th, I could feel, in the man- 
 ner I wish, the force of every expression, I 
 should think I prayed to good purpose, though 
 I were not to intermingle a single word of my 
 own. So likewise with respect to that sum- 
 mary which our Lord condescended to teach 
 his disciples ; though I believe it had a pecu- 
 liar reference to the state in which they were 
 before his passion, and while he was still with 
 them ; yet agreeable to the fulness of his wis- 
 dom, it is so comprehensive, that I apprehend 
 every part of a believer’s intercourse with God 
 in prayer, may be reduced, without forcing, 
 to one or the other of the heads of this prayer. 
 And I should esteem it a golden hour indeed, 
 one of the happiest seasons I ever enjoyed in 
 prayer, if I could repeat it with a just impres- 
 sion of the meaning of every clause. But 
 alas ! such are the eifects of our unhappy dif- 
 ferences, or rather of a wrongness of spirit in 
 
 maintaining them, and so prone are we to 
 think we cannot be too unlike those whom we 
 are not pleased with, that even the words 
 which our Lord himself has taught us, are de- 
 preciated and disused by many, I fear, upon 
 no better ground than because they are retain- 
 ed in the usage of the Church of England. 
 Though, besides giving us a pattern to pray 
 after that manner, he has at least permitted us 
 to use it as a form, directing us, when we pray 
 to say, “ Our Father, which art in heaven, 
 &c. If scriptural warrant be required, I 
 think we have one more clear and express for 
 the use of this prayer, than can be found for 
 some things upon which no small stress is laid 
 by our Dissenting brethren. 
 
 Some persons might possibly allege, that if 
 the use of scriptural forms of prayer were ad- 
 mitted, it would plead nothing in favour of 
 such forms as are of human composition. But 
 as I believe the more judicious part of the 
 Dissenters would not make this distinction, a 
 few words may suffice for an answer. Most 
 of us, when we preach, profess to preach the 
 word of God, and I think we are sufficiently 
 authorized to use the expression, so far as our 
 sermons are explanatory of scriptural truths, 
 and agreeable to them. For though the sys- 
 tem of truth contained in the holy scriptures 
 has a peculiar authority, as the fountain from 
 whence we are to derive our public discourses, 
 and the standard by which they are to be tried ; 
 yet truth, as to its nature, does not admit of 
 degrees, but all propositions, if they be true, 
 must be equally true, and every conclusion 
 which is rightly inferred from scriptural pre- 
 mises, must be, in whatever words it is ex- 
 pressed (if they are precise and clear), as true 
 as the premises from which it is drawn. If I 
 give a just definition or explication of a doc- 
 trine of the Bible in my own words, the truth 
 or importance of that doctrine is not affected 
 or weakened by the vehicle in which I convey 
 it ; nor would a hearer have a right to with- 
 hold his attention or assent, from a pretence, 
 that though the proposition itself was true, he 
 was not concerned in it, because I had not ex- 
 pressed it in scriptural phrases. It is only 
 upon this ground that the propriety and au- 
 thority of preaching can be maintained ; and 
 the like reasoning may be applied to prayer. 
 A prayer is scriptural, if conformable to the 
 promises, patterns, and truths of scripture, 
 though it should not contain one phrase taken 
 I totidem verbis from the Bible. 
 
 May I not here appeal to the practice of the 
 i Dissenters themselves ? I suppose Dr. Watts’ 
 Hymns, and his imitation of David’s Psalms, 
 especially the latter, are used, by a large ma- 
 jority of Dissenting congregations, in their 
 public worship. Many of these pieces are de- 
 votional, that is, they are in the strain of prayer, 
 or praise. They are therefore forms of prayer 
 or praise ; and when the first line is given 
 out, it is probable that several persons in the 
 
APOLOGIA. 
 
 LET. II. 
 
 assembly know beforehand every word they | 
 are to sing. In some congregations the psalm 
 or hymn is delivered line by line, and in most, 
 tile bulk of the people are provided v'itli books. 
 Now it appears to me, that when a worshipper 
 who attends to what is going forward, and is 
 not content with a mere lip-service, joins in 
 singing verses, which express the desires and 
 petitions of his heart to the Lord, he prays ; 
 and if he uses verses with which he was be- 
 fore acquainted, life prays by a form ; he does 
 the very thing for which we are condemned ; 
 unless it can be proved that the fault and evil 
 which is essential to a form in prose, is en- 
 tirely removed if the substance of the obnoxi- 
 ous form be expressed in metre or rhyme. 
 
 Crito freely will rehearse 
 
 Forms of prayer and praise in verse : 
 
 Why should Crito then suppose 
 Forms are sinful when in prose ? 
 
 Must my form be deemed a crime 
 Merely for the want of rhyme ? 
 
 I have heard of a minister who used to 
 compose hymns in the pulpit. It was his cus- 
 tom to give out one line, and by the time the 
 congregation had sung the first, he had a se- 
 cond ready for them, and so on, so long as he 
 thought proper to sing. These were not forms, 
 they were composed pro re nata. Before he 
 had finished a second stanza, the former (as to 
 the verse and cadence) was in a manner for- 
 gotten ; and the same hymn was never heard 
 twice. I know not what these unpremeditated 
 pieces were in point of composition ; but were 
 I persuaded of the unlawfulness of forms of 
 prayer, and, at the same time, approved of 
 the practice of singing in public worship ; I 
 should extremely covet the talent of extem- 
 pore hymn-making, as one of the most neces- 
 sary gifts a minister could possess in order to 
 maintain a consistency in his whole service. 
 
 I here close what I intended by way of in • 
 ti*oduction. In my subsequent letters, I pur- 
 pose to acquaint you more directly with the 
 reasons which determined my own choice, and 
 which still satisfy me, that in receiving Epis- 
 copal ordination, and exercising my ministry 
 in the established church, I have not acted 
 wrong. At present, I shall relieve your at- 
 tention, by subscribing myself 
 
 Your affectionate Friend and Brother. 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 MY DEAR FRIEND AND BROTHER, 
 
 As such I address you ; as such, notwithstand- 
 ing our different views of church-government, 
 you acknowledge me. You have confirmed 
 your love to me by many repeated proofs , 
 and it is the desire of my heart that nothing 
 may take place on either side to weaken the 
 exercise of that friendship, which having the 
 faith and hope of the gospel for its basis, is 
 calculated to subsist and flourish in a better 
 
 881 
 
 | world. With this thought upon my mind, it 
 is impossible that I should write a single line 
 with an intention of grieving or offending 
 you ; and I am persuaded, the same conside- 
 ration on your part will dispose you to a can- 
 did perusal of what I offer. I had rather be 
 silent than plead even for truth in an angry 
 contentious spirit. For every year of my life 
 strengthens my conviction of the importance 
 of that divine aphorism, “ The wrath of man 
 worketh not the righteousness of God.” 
 
 Flow far what I have suggested in favour 
 of establishments and liturgies may appear 
 conclusive to you, I know not. I depend 
 much upon your candour ; but I make al- 
 lowances for the unavoidable influence of edu- 
 cation, connection, and habit, both in you and 
 in myself. We generally ascribe the dissent 
 of those who differ from us, in part at least, 
 to prejudices of this kind; but as it is very 
 natural to think favourably of ourselves, we 
 almost take it for granted that we have either 
 escaped or outgrown every bias. Though 
 some of the principles we maintain have been 
 instilled into us from our childhood, and we 
 have been confirmed in what we say is right, 
 by the instruction, advice, and example o 
 friends, exactly as others have been confirmed 
 in what we call wrong ; yet that positiveness 
 which in them is the effect of ignorant preju- 
 dice is in us a very different thing ; a just at- 
 tachment to truth, and the result of impartial 
 examination and full conviction. For my 
 own part, I dare not say that I am free from 
 all bias and prepossession, but I desire anu 
 endeavour to guard against their influence. 
 
 But though I have ventured to defend the 
 propriety of a national establishment, and up- 
 on that ground, the expediency of a liturgy, 
 
 I need not tell you that I had no hand in 
 forming cither the one or the other. By the 
 allotment of Divine Providence, I was born 
 in a nation where these things had taken place 
 long before I came into the world. There- 
 fore, when the Lord gave me a desire to 
 preach his gospel, and it became necessary to 
 determine under what character I should ex- 
 ercise my ministry; the question before me 
 was not. What form of church-government I 
 might propose as the most scriptural, if all 
 parties amongst us were willing to refer them- 
 selves to my decision ? But my inquiry was 
 rather directed to this point, What would be 
 my path of duty, rebus sic stantibus , living, as 
 I did, in the island of Great Britain, and in 
 that part of it named England ? At first, in- 
 deed, I saw but little room for deliberation. 
 For, about six years after I was awakened to 
 some concern for my soul, my situation in life 
 had secluded me equally from every religious 
 party. During this period, in which I walk 
 ed alone, the Lord was pleased to shew me the 
 way to the throne of grace, and to lead me to 
 study and prize his holy word. By his bless- 
 ing, I made some advances* in knowledge. 
 
APOLOGIA. 
 
 LET. II 
 
 882 
 
 though slowly, under such discouragements 
 and disadvantages, as they, who from the be- 
 ginning of their inquiries, are favoured with 
 public ordinances, and the help of Christian 
 conference, can have no proper conception of. 
 At length I became acquainted with some of 
 bis people, and had frequent opportunities of 
 hearing the gospel. My first connections of 
 this sort w'ere chiefly with Dissenters, and 
 brought me, as it were, into a new world. 
 For, till then, I had hardly an idea of the 
 different names and modes by which profes- 
 sing Christians were distinguished and subdi- 
 vided, nor of the animosity with which their 
 various disputes were carried on. But as I 
 received benefit and pleasure from my inter- 
 course with my new friends, it is no wonder 
 that while my heart was warm, and my expe- 
 rience and judgment unformed, I should enter 
 with readiness into all their views. Thus, to- 
 gether with the real advantages I obtained a- 
 mong them, I imbibed at the same time a 
 strong prejudice against the established church, 
 and hastily concluded, that though I might 
 occasionally communicate with it as a private 
 person, it would be impossible to officiate in it 
 as a minister without violating my conscience. 
 Accordingly, my first overtures were to the 
 Dissenters ; and had not the Providence of 
 God remarkably interposed to prevent it, I 
 should probably have been a brother with you 
 in every sense. But my designs were over- 
 ruled. A variety of doors by which I sought 
 entrance (for I did not give up upon the first 
 disappointment) were successively shut against 
 me. These repeated delays afforded me more 
 time to think and judge for myself ; and the 
 more I considered the point, the more my 
 scruples against conformity gave way. Rea- 
 sons increased upon me, which not only satis- 
 fied me that I might conform without sin, 
 but that the preference (as to my own con- 
 cern) was plainly on that side. Accordingly, 
 in the Lord’s due time, after several years 
 waiting to know his will, I sought and obtain- 
 ed Episcopal ordination. And I seriously 
 assure you, that though I took this step with 
 a firm persuasion that it was right, I did not 
 at that time see so many reasons to justify my 
 choice, nor perhaps any one reason in so 
 strong a light, as I have since. Far from 
 having regretted this interesting part of my 
 conduct for a single hour, I have been more 
 satisfied with it from year to year. You will 
 please, therefore, to accept what I am about 
 to offer, not merely as an account of the mo- 
 tives which influenced me twenty years ago, 
 but rather as the considerations which at this 
 minute call upon me to be heartily thankful to 
 the Lord, for leading me by a way which I 
 knew not, to labour in that part of his vine- 
 yard, which experience has proved to be most 
 suitable for maintaining my personal peace 
 and comfort, and (I verily believe likewise) 
 for promoting my usefulness as a minister. 
 
 Some of our Dissenting brethren, who I 
 hope are willing to think as well of the aw r a - 
 kened clergy as they can, kindly allow us to 
 be well-meaning people ; they believe w f e de- 
 sire to be useful, and think it not impossible 
 but that in some instances we may be so : but 
 they pity us either for not having more light 
 or for not having courage to follow that light, 
 which they suppose must force itself upon us, 
 if we did not wilfully shut it out. From 
 what they hear of us they are staggered. 
 They are loth to deny that the Lord is with 
 us at all : but then, if the Lord be with us in- 
 deed, why are we thus? It is almost unac- 
 countable to them upon this supposition how 
 we can remain where we are. They are ex- 
 pecting from day to day, that if we are en- 
 lightened, as we profess, and honest men, as 
 they wish to find us, we shall surely come 
 out from Babylon, renounce our slavery and 
 will-worship, and openly attach ourselves to 
 the Dissenting Interest. Could we do this, 
 and persuade our people to follow us, they 
 would probably no longer doubt whether the 
 Lord had wrought by our ministry, or not. 
 
 I could wish you not to think of me wdiile 
 you read the paragraph I am now beginning. 
 You know many of our ministers, and you 
 know that there are amongst them men of 
 sound sense, solid judgment, and extensive 
 reading : Men whom the Lord has been 
 
 pleased to favour with an eminency in gifts 
 and spiritual knowledge ; in a word, able mi- 
 nisters of the New Testament : Men, who 
 though in the sight of the Lord they lie low 
 in the dust, conscious of inherent defilement, 
 and that their best services need forgiveness ; 
 yet with regard to their fellow r -creatures, can 
 in the integrity of their hearts appeal to all 
 around them, that their conversation is not 
 unbecoming the gospel which they preach. 
 Some of these men, at least, have carefully 
 studied the subject matter of debate between 
 us and the Dissenters, have read the books, 
 and consider the arguments, which are sup- 
 posed sufficient to convert and reform us ; but 
 after all their endeavours to obtain informa- 
 tion, though they agree with the evangelical 
 Dissenters in their views of the gospel (whicli 
 yet they received not from them, but from the 
 holy scriptures) they are still constrained to 
 differ on the question of church form and or- 
 der. Now why should this be imputed to 
 their ignorance and blindness? Does it re- 
 quire a sharper eye to perceive the precise de- 
 lineation of a gospel-church in the New Tes- 
 tament, if it be really there, than to appre- 
 hend and embrace what the scripture teaches 
 concerning the person and characters of the 
 Redeemer, the w r ay of a sinner’s acceptance, 
 or the nature of the life of faith ? These 
 things, we are assured by the apostle, the na- 
 tural man, however qualified, cannot discern. 
 Surely the external form of a gospel-church 
 cannot be equally mysterious with these doc- 
 
LEI. II 
 
 trines ; especially as it is professedly seen 
 with the glance of an eye, by some persons 
 who declare themselves enemies to mysteries 
 of any kind. Or why should their not acced- 
 ing to you be imputed to interested motives ? 
 There are with us men whose integrity and 
 ingenuousness are in every other respect un- 
 impeachable ; and it is hard, that without suf- 
 ficient evidence, they should be charged with 
 prevarication in a business which concerns the 
 honour of their Saviour, and the uprightness 
 of their consciences in his sight. Besides, 
 what can be the powerful motives for such 
 hypocrisy ? Do they by remaining in the es- 
 tablishment avoid the offence of the cross, and 
 find a shelter from that opprobrium and op- 
 position which must be their lot if they had 
 the fortitude to unite with the Dissenters ? 
 Here at least, however, we may be mistaken. 
 I apprehend the Lord has assigned to us the 
 post of honour ; and that in the treatment we 
 meet with from an unbelieving world, our lot 
 rather resembles that of the Dissenters of the 
 last century than of the present. It is true, 
 we are no more exposed to fines and imprison- 
 ment than you are ; but if it be an honour to 
 suffer shame for his name’s sake, I think we 
 have the pre-eminence. As to money-mat- 
 ters, I could name several of our clergy who 
 are not so plentifully provided for in the esta- 
 blishment, but that if they were to leave us, 
 and to go over to your side, it is very probable 
 the manner in which converts of such charac- 
 ters and abilities would be received amongst 
 you, might prove considerably to their emolu- 
 ment. Nor can it upon better grounds be 
 ascribed to obstinate prejudice and incurable 
 bigotry, that your arguments do not prevail. 
 For it is well known, that many of our minis- 
 ters shew a cordial and liberal spirit to the 
 Dissenters, receive them gladly into their 
 houses, attend occasionally upon their preach- 
 ing, recommend and encourage applications 
 for the support of their ministers, or places 
 of worship, and are ready to concur with them 
 in every plan for usefulness. And I believe 
 this disposition would be more general, had 
 not experience shewn that the candour of some 
 clergymen in these respects, has been too often 
 improperly requited by ungenerous attempts 
 to prejudice and perplex our people, and to 
 weaken our hands. 
 
 Yet one or another, or all these charges 
 must be insinuated against us, rather than fal- 
 lible men will suppose themselves any thing 
 less than infallible, even in points of a cir- 
 cumstantial nature ; and though others whom 
 they have no reason to think inferior to them- 
 selves either in judgment or integrity, are 
 compelled to differ from them. 
 
 If not so frequent, would not this be strange ? 
 
 That ’tis so frequent— this is stranger stili ! 
 
 Be assured, dear Sir, that in thus apologiz- 
 ing for my brethren, I write not only without 
 
 SSfl 
 
 their desire, but without their knowledge. I 
 think I have now finished all my preambles, 
 and I proceed immediately to acquaint you 
 with my reasons for conforming to the Esta- 
 blished Church, and continuing in it. 
 
 My first, and principal reason is, The re- 
 gard I owe to the honour and authority of the 
 Lord Jesus Christ as Head and Lawgiver of his 
 Church. I do not mean that this considera- 
 tion obliges me absolutely to prefer the form 
 of the church of England to any other form, 
 but only that it will not permit me to join 
 with those who make dissenting from it ne- 
 cessary in point of conscience. 
 
 I cannot suppose that any true Christian in 
 our land of light and liberty, will hesitate a mo- 
 ment to acknowledge that Christ is the one in- 
 fallible, authoritative legislator and governor of 
 his church ; that he is the Lord, and the only 
 Lord of conscience, and that nothing inconsist- 
 ent with his revealed will should be practised, 
 nothing that he has enjoined be omitted, by those 
 who profess allegiance to him. But however 
 generally acknowledged these principles are, I 
 believe the misconstruction and misapplication 
 of them have contributed more to divide the 
 people of Gcd, and to alienate their affections 
 from each other, than any other cause that 
 can be assigned. It seems reasonable to ex- 
 pect that they whose hopes are built upon the 
 same foundation, who are led by the same 
 spirit, who are opposed by the same enemies, 
 and interested in the same promises, would 
 look upon each other wdth mutual compla- 
 cence, would love as brethren, would bear 
 each other’s burdens, and so fulfil their Mas - 
 ter’s law, and copy his example. But alas * 
 a mistaken zeal for his honour fills them on 
 all sides with animosity against their fellow' 
 disciples, splits them into a thousand parties, 
 gives rise to fierce and endless contentions, 
 and makes them so earnest for and against 
 their respective peculiarities, that the love, 
 which is the discriminating characteristic of 
 his religion, is scarcely to be found amongst 
 them in sucli a degree of exercise, as to satisfy 
 even candid observers whether they bear his 
 mark or not. 
 
 The visible church of Christ comprises all 
 who call themselves by his name, and who 
 profess to receive his gospel as a divine reve- 
 lation. It is a floor oh which the grain and 
 the chaff are promiscuously mingled ; a field in 
 which the wheat and the tares grow together ; 
 a net inclosing a multitude of fishes both good 
 and bad. But the visible church of Christ 
 taken in this large extent, is not the proper 
 subject of his government, as he is the King 
 of saints. For his kingdom is a spiritual 
 kingdom, which none can understand, and 
 his rule is a spiritual rule, which none can re- 
 ceive or obey, until born from above, and 
 made new creatures by the power of the Holy 
 Spirit. If these regenerated persons, who it 
 is to be feared, are seldom the largest num- 
 
 apologia. 
 
884 . 
 
 her in any denomination, be considered as de- 
 tached from the visible church, the remainder 
 is a mere caput mortuum, differenced from 
 the world, which lies in wickedness, in noth- 
 ing but a name, and in the privilege of hav- 
 ing the oracles of God committed to it. But 
 nominal Christians, though they have, 01 may 
 have in their hands the scriptures, which are 
 able to make sinners wise unto salvation, are 
 no less distant and alienated from the life of 
 God (until he is pleased to reveal his power 
 in their hearts) than Mahomedans or Heath- 
 ens. And with respect to these, the honour 
 of the Lord Jesus Christ is but little concern- 
 ed with the different ways in which they may 
 think proper to constitute themselves into na- 
 tional or particular churches, and please them- 
 selves with a lifeless form of worship, while 
 their hearts are in a state of enmity to his 
 grace. Admitting that a plan of a gospel- 
 church was described with the same precision 
 in the New Testament, as the institutions of 
 the Levitical worship in the Old, and punctu- 
 ally complied with to the minutest circum- 
 stance, though the worshippers might applaud 
 and admire their own exactness, and censure 
 and despise all who differed a hair’s breadth 
 from them, yet if they did not serve God in 
 spirit and in truth, their boasted church-order 
 would avail them nothing. All that related 
 to the worship of God under the law, was 
 confessedly of divine appointment ; and the 
 people in the time of the prophets were not so 
 much charged with neglecting the prescribed 
 forms, as with resting in them. When this 
 evil became general, and they thought to com- 
 pensate for their want of spirituality, by their 
 feasts, fasts, and sacrifices, the Lord expres- 
 ses himself as displeased with his own insti- 
 tutions, Isa. i. 11 — 15. lxvi. 3, 4. Jer. vii. 
 8 — 14, 22, 23. They could plead his pre- 
 scription for their observances ; but in vain 
 they trusted to the temple, and said, “ The 
 temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord 
 are we,” when the Lord of the temple was 
 departed from them. And certainly he will 
 be no more pleased with a form without the 
 heart now, than he was then, 
 
 I must therefore confine my inquiry to the 
 church of Christ in a more limited and proper 
 sense, as expressive of his mystical body, com- 
 posed of all who by faith are united to him as 
 their foundation and root, of all to whom he 
 is the head of vital influence, who have fel- 
 lowship with him in his death, and are par- 
 takers of the power of his resurrection. These 
 are infallibly known only to himself. They 
 are scattered far and wide, separated from 
 each other by seas and mountains ; they are 
 a people of many nations and languages. But 
 wherever their lot is cast, they hear his voice, 
 are under his gracious eye, and the life which 
 they live in the flesh is by faith in his name. 
 They have not all equal degrees of light or 
 measures of grace, nor are they all favoured 
 
 LET. 11. 
 
 with equal advantages for knowing or enjoy- 
 ing the full extent of the liberty of the gospel. 
 But they are all accepted in the Beloved, and 
 approved of God. They are spiritual wor- 
 shippers, joint partakers of grace, and will 
 hereafter appear together at their Saviour’s 
 right hand in glory. 
 
 At present they are in an imperfect state. 
 Though created anew in Christ Jesus, they 
 are not freed from a principle of indwelling 
 sin. Their knowledge is clouded by much 
 remaining ignorance, and their zeal, though 
 right in its aim, is often warped and misguid- 
 ed by the corrupt influence of self. For they 
 still have many corruptions, and they live in 
 a world which furnishes frequent occasions of 
 exciting them; and Satan, their subtle and 
 powerful enemy, is always upon his watch to 
 mislead and ensnare them. They are born, 
 educated, and called under a great variety of 
 circumstances. Habits of life, local customs, 
 early connections, and even bodily constitu- 
 tion, have more or less influence in forming 
 their characters, and in giving a tincture and 
 turn to their manner of thinking. So that 
 though, in whatever is essential to their peace 
 and holiness, they are all led by the same 
 Spirit, and mind the same things ; in others 
 of a secondary nature, their sentiments may, 
 and often do differ, as much as the features 
 of their faces. A uniformity of judgment 
 among them is not to be expected while the 
 wisest are defective in knowledge, the best are 
 defiled with sin, and while the weaknesses of 
 human nature which are common to them all, 
 are so differently affected by a thousand im- 
 pressions which are from their various situa- 
 tions. They might however, maintain a uni- 
 ty of spirit, and live in the exercise of mutual 
 love ; were it not that every party, and almost 
 every individual, unhappily conceives that 
 they are bound in conscience to prescribe their 
 own line of conduct as a standard to which 
 all their brethren ought to conform. They 
 are comparatively but few who consider this 
 requisition to be as unnecessary, unreason- 
 able, and impracticable, as it would be to 
 insist, or expect that every man’s shoes should 
 be exactly of one size. 
 
 Thus, though all agree in asserting the au- 
 thority and right of the Lord Jesus, as King 
 and Head of his Church, the various appre- 
 hensions they frame of the rule to which he 
 requires them to conform, and their pertina- 
 cious attachment to their own expositions of 
 it, separate them almost as much from each 
 other, as if they were not united to him by a 
 principle of living faith. Their little differ- 
 ences form them into so many separate inte- 
 rests ; and the heat with which they defend 
 their own plans, and oppose all who cannot 
 agree with them in a tittle, makes them for- 
 get that they are children in the same family, 
 and servants of the same master. And while 
 they vex and worry each other with disputa- 
 
 APOLOGIA. 
 
EF.T. III. 
 
 APOLOGIA. 
 
 tions and censures, the world wonders and 
 laughs at them all. The spirit of love is re- 
 strained, offences are multiplied, and Satan is 
 gratified by beholding the extensive effects of 
 his pernicious and long practised maxim, Di- 
 vide et imperil. 
 
 I am far from supposing that all the vari- 
 ous modes of church-government under which 
 spiritual worshippers are cast, are equally a- 
 greeable to the spirit and genius of the gospel, 
 or equally suited to the purposes of edifica- 
 tion. Perhaps there is no considerable body 
 of people who profess themselves Christians, 
 however erroneous in their plans of doctrine 
 or worship, among whom the Saviour has not 
 some hidden ones, known to himself, though 
 lost to human observation in the crowd of pre- 
 tenders which surround them. The power of 
 nis grace can break through all disadvantages, 
 and make a few individuals wiser than their 
 teachers, by revealing his truth to their heart, 
 sooner or later, so far as is necessary to sal- 
 vation. But it must be owned, that some 
 communities which bear the name of Christian 
 have departed so very far from the simplicity 
 of the gospel, that if we reason a priori, we 
 are ready to conclude it as almost impossible 
 for a converted person to continue a single 
 day in such a communion. But hypotheses 
 cannot be maintained against plain facts. 
 Thus the Church of Rome, not merely by a- 
 dopting an unmeaning burdensome train of 
 ceremonies, but by her doctrines of Papal in- 
 fallibility, invocation of saints and angels, 
 purgatory, absolution, the mass, and others of 
 the like stamp, is become so exceedingly adul- 
 terated, that possibly some persons who may 
 read these letters, will form an unfavourable 
 opinion of me, for declaring that I have not 
 the least doubt but the Lord Jesus has had, 
 from age to age, a succession of chosen and 
 faithful witnesses within the pale of that cor- 
 rupt church. Yet I should hope that they, 
 who, having themselves tasted that the Lord is 
 gracious, know the language of a heart under 
 the influence of his Spirit, would, in defiance 
 of Protestant prejudices, be of my mind, if 
 they had opportunity of perusing the writings 
 of some Papists. If such persons as Fene- 
 lon, Pascal, Quesnal, and Nicole (to men- 
 tion no more), were not true Christians, where 
 shall we find any that deserve the name ? 
 In the writings of these great men, notwith- 
 standing incidental errors, I meet with such 
 strains of experimental godliness, such deep 
 knowledge of the workings of the Spirit 
 of God, and of the heart of man, and such 
 masterly explications of many important pas- 
 sages of scripture, as might do honour to the 
 most enlightened Protestant. And yet these 
 men lived and died in the Popish communion ; 
 and, to their latest hours (for any tiling that 
 appears to the contrary), thought they could 
 not separate from it without sin. And, 
 though I have not equal means of informa- 
 
 885 
 
 tion, I can as little doubt that the Lord has a 
 people likewise in the Greek Church, which, 
 as to its external frame, seems to be little less 
 unscriptural than the Church of Rome itself. 
 
 However, 1 desire to be thankful that I am 
 not a Papist. I am at least one step nearer 
 to the true and acceptable worship of God. 
 For I believe the most rigid of our Dissent- 
 ing brethren will allow, that the Church of 
 England, if almost, yet is not altogether so 
 depraved and corrupt in its constitution as the 
 church of Rome. 1 am now in my track, and 
 shall trouble you with fewer digressions in the 
 sequel. My next point will be to examine 
 the different claims of Protestant churches 
 to the honour they all assume, that their re- 
 spective institutions are most conformable to 
 the rules the apostles have laid down on the 
 subject of church-government, and express 
 the greatest regard to the authority of the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, the undoubted Head and 
 Lawgiver of his Church. And to avoid as 
 much as I can, encumbering what I write in 
 an epistolary way to a friend, with the stiff 
 ness of argumentation, I shall content myself 
 with giving you a simple account of what oc- 
 curred to me upon this head, when I made 
 the inquiry for my own direction. But it is 
 time to conclude this letter by assuring you 
 that I am, 
 
 Your affectionate Friend. 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 MV HEAR FRIEND AND BROTHER, 
 
 If the authority of men truly respectable for 
 learning, judgment, and grace, were sufficient 
 to determine the question. Which of the va- 
 rious forms of church-government now ob- 
 taining among Christians is most agreeable to 
 the letter and spirit of the New Testament ? 
 a modest inquirer, who wishes for the sanc- 
 tion of those whom he esteems wiser and bet- 
 ter than himself, w'ould probably, without he- 
 sitation, join himself to that party to which 
 he might be first led to apply for direction. 
 For whatever difference there may be in the 
 merit of their several claims for pre-eminence, 
 the claim itself is made with an equal degree of 
 confidence by them all. At a time when I 
 w as very sensible of my own incompetency to 
 decide this point for myself, I received (as I 
 hope) much benefit from the writings of Bi- 
 shop Hall, Reynolds, Davenant, Mr. Hooker, 
 and other divines of the Church of England. 
 I perceived they were persons of strong sense, 
 extensive literature, sound in tli*e faith ; and 
 from such accounts of their lives as I could 
 collect, I judged they had been zealous and 
 diligent in their callings, and burning and 
 shining lights in the world. I could not per- 
 ceive that any of them were dissatisfied with 
 the Established Church in which they lived 
 
APOLOGIA. 
 
 LET. Ill 
 
 886 
 
 and died ; and some of them I found were 
 very strenuous in its defence, not only plead- 
 ing that it was lawful to maintain oommunion 
 with it, but offering many arguments to prove 
 that it was even sinful to separate from it, 
 and that it was the only resemblance of the 
 primitive apostolical church. I own to you 
 that I thought some of their assertions upon 
 this head were too strong, and some of their 
 arguments not fully conclusive. Yet I was 
 a little staggered, and it gave me pain to be 
 forced to differ in any point from men whom 
 I believed to have been full of faith and of 
 the Holy Ghost. However, some general 
 idea I possessed of the liberty of the gospel, 
 a conviction that the Lord had a people and 
 a work in other countries where the form of 
 the Church of England could not take place, 
 and the previous attachment I had to the Dis- 
 senters, with whom, as I have said, I was first 
 acquainted, prevented me from becoming what 
 is called a High-Church man. But as for 
 these reasons I could not give the Church of 
 England an exclusive preference, or think 
 myself authorized to brand those who dis- 
 sented from it with the hard names of schis- 
 matics and fanatics, so on the other hand, I 
 could not go into the opposite extreme, or 
 suppose that a church in which the Lord em- 
 ployed and owned such valuable men, and had 
 a numerous spiritual people, was no better 
 than a Babylon, from whence all who loved 
 his name and salvation, were in duty and con- 
 science bound to withdraw. 
 
 Many books likewise came in my way writ- 
 ten by divines of the Church of Scotland. 
 In the writings of Durham, Fleming, Haly- 
 burton, and others, I found proofs that they 
 were not inferior in light, holiness, and a 
 sound spiritual judgment, to the most eminent 
 luminaries of our own Church. In what con- 
 cerned the life and power of religion, I could 
 perceive no considerable difference between 
 them. As they were all taught by the same 
 Spirit, so they were all teachers of the same 
 truths. But in their sentiments upon church- 
 government they differed very widely. Where- 
 in they agreed, I could fully agree with them. 
 Wherein they differed, I was left in the un- 
 certainty of a traveller, who, inquiring his 
 way of two persons, is told by one to turn to 
 the right, and by the other directly opposite 
 to the left. My English guides would per- 
 suade me that the form of the church from 
 the apostles days was Episcopal. My Scotch 
 guides were rather more positive that our pre- 
 lacy was almost equally with the papacy, a 
 branch and a mark of Antichrist. If I com- 
 pared the sufficiency of each to decide for me, 
 I knew not which to prefer. On both sides 
 were men of wisdom and grace, and who I 
 believed would not wilfully mislead me ; on 
 both sides they confessed themselves in gene- 
 ral to be, like myself, fallible, and liable to 
 mistake. Only in this one point both sides ap- 
 
 peared confident, that they could not be mis- 
 taken, and yet their opinions were not only 
 diverse, but contradictory. 
 
 The suspense in which I was held by these 
 incompatible claimants, sent me more readily 
 and attentively to renew my inquiries amongst 
 my former friends of your denomination. By 
 these I was instructed, that I need not trou- 
 ble myself with weighing and comparing the 
 arguments which the English and Scotch 
 Churches had to offer in favour of their re- 
 spective constitutions, for they were both e- 
 qually destitute of any foundation in truth or 
 scripture : That I had only to read the New 
 Testament for myself, and it must appeal 
 very plain, that the Lord Christ had not left 
 a concern of this importance undetermined, 
 but had directed his apostles to leave in theii 
 writings a pattern, according to which it was his 
 pleasure all his churches in future ages should 
 be formed : That the first churches were Con- 
 gregational or Independent, and that every 
 other plan was unscriptural, and a presump- 
 tuous deviation from the declared will of the 
 Lord. As I had been a debtor to some of 
 their writers likewise, and was personally ac- 
 quainted with several of their ministers, their 
 representation had so much weight with me as 
 to increase my embarrassment. 
 
 My difficulties grew tipon me, when I found, 
 by consulting different Independent writers 
 who had professedly treated this subject, that 
 though they were of one mind in asserting 
 that a plain and satisfactory pattern for this 
 Congregational order might be easily collected 
 and stated from a perusal of the New Testa- 
 ment ; yet when they came to delineate and de- 
 scribe it according to their own idea, they were 
 far from being agreed among themselves as to 
 the nature and number of the officers, powers, 
 and acts which are requisite to the constitu- 
 tion and administration of a regularly orga- 
 nized gospel-church. I formerly employed 
 much time and attention in this disquisition • 
 but not having for many years past reviewed 
 a controversy which I think rather dry and 
 uninteresting, I cannot from memory enter 
 into a detail of particulars. Nor is it need- 
 ful. Of the fact, I think I may be confident, 
 that there is not such an agreement amongst 
 them as might be expected, if the plan from 
 which they all profess to copy was clearly and 
 expressly revealed in the New Testament as 
 obligatory upon all Christians. Here I was at a 
 loss again ; for, if I could have admitted their 
 principle, That every circumstance of worship 
 and government in a church ought to have the 
 warrant of a precept or a precedent from the 
 scripture, still I needed help to digest and put 
 together the several regulations which were dis- 
 persed in so many different parts of the Gospels 
 and Epistles; for I found myself unable to 
 frame the detached materials into one orderly 
 structure by my own skill. But when they who 
 professed to have the light which I wanted 
 
LET. III. APOI 
 
 were themselves divided upon the point, I 
 was precluded from the hope of any certain 
 assistance ; for as to probabilities and conjec- 
 tures, I might as well depend upon my own, 
 as upon those of another. 
 
 Nor was this the whole of my difficulty. 
 
 I was honestly advised to read and examine 
 for myself. I did so ; and it appeared to me, 
 by comparing what I read with what I saw, 
 mat the Independents could not, at least did 
 not, keep closely to their own principles. I 
 thought I met with usages in the churches 
 planted by the apostles which did not obtain 
 in any of the Congregational churches I was 
 acquainted with ; and, on the other hand, I 
 noticed some usages among these of which I 
 could find no traces in the inspired account 
 we have of the primitive churches. Permit 
 me, by way of specimen, to mention one in- 
 stance in each kind. If it was necessary I 
 could mention several, but I wish not to be 
 tedious. 
 
 The apostle Paul addresses the Corinthians 
 as a church of Christ ; and we have from him 
 a larger and more particular account of the 
 practices of their church than of any other. In 
 chap. xiv. of his first epistle, after censuring 
 and correcting some improprieties which had 
 obtained in their public assemblies, he gives 
 them this direction : “ Let the prophets speak 
 two or three, and let the other judge. If any 
 thing be revealed to another that sitteth by, 
 tet the first hold his peace. For ye may all 
 prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and 
 all may be comforted.” The general practice 
 of the Congregational churches in our time, 
 seems not to comply with this apostolic in- 
 junction. I think, my friend, in your as- 
 semblies, especially in your solemn stated wor- 
 ship on the Lord’s day, there is seldom more 
 than one speaker. The same minister who 
 preaches, usually begins and ends the service. 
 Should it be pleaded that the apostle speaks 
 of prophesying, and evidently supposes that 
 the church of Corinth was favoured with ex- 
 traordinary gifts and revelations which are 
 now ceased, and that therefore the rule can- 
 not in that respect extend to us, I have two 
 answers to make. 
 
 In the first place, though we do not expect 
 extraordinary revelations, we have encourage- 
 ment to hope for the presence of our Saviour, 
 and the gracious influences of his Spirit, when 
 we meet in his name, sufficient to enable us 
 to speak to his praise, and to the edification 
 and comfort of our brethren, if not in foreign 
 tongues, at least in our own. And it is pro- 
 bable that you have more than once been a 
 hearer in a public assembly, when your heart 
 has been so warmed and impressed with the 
 truths of the gospel, that you would not have 
 been unwilling to have ascended the pulpit 
 yourself, either to confirm or correct what 
 you had been hearing, or to indulge the li- 
 berty you found in your mind upon some 
 
 L.OGIA. 887 
 
 other important subject. Perhaps something 
 was then revealed to you, which might have 
 been very suitable to the occasion, and to the 
 state of the congregation. Why did you not 
 then declare it ? Why did you neglect to stir 
 up the gift of God that was in you ? Would 
 it have been contrary to the custom of your 
 churches? But would you not, upon your 
 principles, have been justified by the custom 
 of a New-Testament church, and the injunc- 
 tion of an apostle ? 
 
 But, secondly, and chiefly, I answer, if it be 
 admitted, that because the primitive churches 
 had extraordinary gifts, there are some things 
 in their practice which are not proper for our 
 imitation *, who have not the same gifts ; then 
 I quite give up the hope of being able to de- 
 termine the exact and invariable form of a 
 church, by such lights as the Acts of the A- 
 postles and their Epistles afford me ; unless 
 some man or set of men be qualified and com- 
 missioned to draw the line for me, and to shew 
 me distinctly how far, and in what instances, 
 the state of the first Christians is limited from 
 being a pattern to us, by the extraordinary 
 dispensations of that age ; and how far, and 
 in what cases, their pattern is binding upon 
 us still, notwithstanding those dispensations 
 have long since ceased. To be directed to 
 study these churches as a model, and to be 
 told at the same time, that some parts of their 
 practice were not designed for tHe imitation of 
 future ages, without distinctly specifying which 
 were, and which were not, is rather the way 
 to perplex and bewilder an inquirer, than to 
 help him to information. Upon this ground, 
 though I might refuse to trust the assumed 
 infallibility of the Pope, I must feel the need 
 of an infallible visible guide to reside some 
 where in the church ; for without such assist- 
 ance I could not take a single step with cer- 
 tainty, but must be liable to stumble at the 
 very threshold of my inquiry. 
 
 I think it is the usual practice in your 
 churches, to require from all persons who wish 
 to be admitted into your communion, an ac- 
 count, either verbal or written, of what is call- 
 ed their experience ; in which, not only a de- 
 claration of their faith in the Lord Jesus, and 
 their purpose, by grace, to devote themselves 
 to him, is expected, but likewise a recital of 
 the steps by which they were led to a know- 
 ledge and profession of the gospel. I select 
 this as one instance in which I conceive you 
 have neither precept nor precedent in the 
 scripture for your warrant. A profession of 
 faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, of acceptance 
 of him, and submission to him in his offices 
 and characters, supported by the evidence of 
 a gospel-conversation, should, I apprehend, 
 be deemed sufficient to entitle a person to 
 church-membership ; and especially by those 
 who so loudly insist upon the evil of superad, 
 
 * .See Neale’s Historv of the Puritans, Vol. j. p. 579. 
 2d edit. 1752. 
 
888 APOLi 
 
 ding any regulations to those which are al- 
 ready provided by our Lord and his apostles. 
 The authority which makes it a pre-requisite 
 for admission, that a person shall relate how 
 and when he was awakened, what exercises of 
 mind he has passed through, and other parti- 
 culars of a like nature, appears to me to be 
 as merely human, as the authority which pre- 
 scribes the canons of an established church. 
 If the practice be defensible, it must be on 
 the plea of expediency. It is not my present 
 business to inquire how far it may be expedi- 
 ent for young converts, for young persons, es- 
 pecially for young women, to be compelled to 
 speak before a public assembly ; or if that be 
 dispensed with for the sake of other interfer- 
 ing expediencies, how far it is expedient to 
 trust to a wTitten experience : otherwise I 
 could say a good deal upon this head. But 
 it is sufficient for my purpose, if no shadow' 
 of this practice can be found in the New Tes- 
 tament. On the contrary, I read, that when 
 Saul, after he escaped from Damascus, essay- 
 ed to join himself to the disciples, it was Bar- 
 nabas, and not Saul * himself, who informed 
 them both of his conversion, and of the extra- 
 ordinary manner in which it w r as effected, sub- 
 mining a testimony of his conduct from the 
 time that he professed a change. But if ex- 
 pediency may warrant a measure in your 
 churches not expressly commanded, why not 
 likewise in ours? Be it either right or wrong 
 in one case, it must be so in both. And 
 therefore my remark on this particular will at 
 least have the force of argumentum ad homi- 
 nem. 
 
 I am afraid I shall weary you by only giv- 
 ing a brief account of the long and intricate 
 road which I travelled, to discover, if I could, 
 the best constituted church. But I must en- 
 treat your patience a little longer, till I bring 
 you to the end of my journey. It may be ne- 
 cessary to inform some of my readers, though 
 not you, that a considerable part of the con- 
 gregational churches differ from the rest, with 
 respect to the mode and subjects of baptism. 
 At the time when my thoughts were most en- 
 gaged about church-order, I lived in intimate 
 habits of friendship with several Baptists, 
 who were very willing to assist me in settling 
 my judgment. These, though they would 
 have been pleased to see me yield to the ar- 
 guments of their Paedobaptist brethren, would 
 not be satisfied that I should stop where they 
 stopped. They urged scripture precepts and 
 precedents to lead me farther : and said, that 
 none of the Congregational churches but their 
 own w'ere agreeable to the mind of Christ. 
 They told me, that though I should acknow- 
 ledge and embrace the Congregational order, 
 which undoubtedly w r as the only one counte- 
 nanced by scripture, still I could not be right 
 till I had renounced what I called the bap- 
 
 * See Dr Guysc on Acts ix 27. 
 
 GcyiA. LET. ul ‘ 
 
 tism I had received in my infancy, and sub- 
 mitted (as they termed it) to baptism by im- 
 mersion, to which I was bound not only by 
 the practice of the primitive church, but by the 
 example of our Lord himself, who, when he was 
 baptized, said for our instruction, “ Thus it be- 
 cometh us to fulfil all righteousness.” 
 
 I own, Sir, that if I had seen it my duty to 
 accede to the church-order of the Indepen- 
 dents, I know not but their principles would 
 have led me from them again, to join with the 
 Baptists. How they, who, maintaining infant- 
 baptism, press scripture precedent so strongly 
 upon me, answer the Baptists, who in this 
 point press it as strongly upon themselves, is 
 not my concern. I did not stand upon the 
 same ground, and therefore the arguments 
 of the Baptists did not much affect me. I 
 thought the example of our Lord pleaded as 
 much for circumcision as for baptism. I ques- 
 tioned whether I, a poor sinner, had any call 
 to imitate him in those things which it became 
 him as our Surety to perform, in order to ful- 
 fil all righteousness. It appeared to me that 
 John’s baptism and the Christian baptism were 
 different ; and though the Baptists assured 
 me that they were the same, I was not con- 
 vinced. I thought they were plainly distin- 
 guished in Acts xix. 2 — 5. And I was griev- 
 ed by the attempts of some wise and good men 
 to wrest a sense from that passage, so contrary 
 to its plain and obvious meaning, merely to 
 support a favourite scheme. And as the form 
 of Christian baptism is laid down in express 
 words, Matth. xxviii. 19, I must continue 
 to think it different from the baptism of John, 
 till I can have sufficient proof that John bap- 
 tized our Saviour in the name of the Father, 
 and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 I found likewise that the Baptists, though 
 unanimous against us, and even against those 
 who in every point but one agree with them, 
 were divided among themselves. Some of 
 them, while they practise what they think a 
 duty, do not so peremptorily prescribe it to o- 
 thers, as to make it an indispensible term of 
 communion ; but they will receive a person as 
 a church -member whom they judge to be 
 sound in the faith, and of a good conversation, 
 though they consider him in strictness of 
 speech as unbaptized. But others are much 
 hurt by this concession, and bear testimony a- 
 gainst it as unscriptural and wrong. Their 
 views,are so strict that if they certainly knew 
 that a person who wished to communicate 
 with them was the most eminent Christian in 
 the land, unless he was likewise baptized in 
 their manner, they could not, they durst not 
 admit him to the Lord’s table, to eat of that 
 bread and to drink of that cup which is by his 
 command and appointment, the privilege and 
 portion of all believers. This difference of 
 judgment between them has been thought so 
 important, that the reasons for and against, 
 and their mutual censures of each other, have 
 
LET. IV. 
 
 APOLOGIA. 
 
 been laid before the public, by good men on 
 each side of the question. 
 
 Now, my dear friend, upon this state of the 
 case, what could I do ? I had reviewed and 
 compared the sentiments of a number of re- 
 spectable writers and ministers of different 
 names. In essentials I agreed with them all, 
 and in circumstantials I differed no more 
 from any of them, than they differed among 
 themselves. They all confessed they were 
 fallible, yet they all decided with an air of in- 
 fallibility ; for they all in their turns expect- 
 ed me to unite with them, if I had any regard 
 to the authority and honour of the Lord Jesus 
 as Head of the church. But the very consi- 
 deration they proposed restrained me from 
 uniting with any of them. For I cannot 
 think that I should honour the headship and 
 kingly office of Christ, by acknowledging him 
 as the Head of a party and subdivision of his 
 people to the exclusion of the rest. Every 
 party uses fair sounding words of liberty; but 
 when an explanation is made, it amounts to 
 little more than this — »that they will give me 
 liberty to think as they think, and to act as 
 they act ; which to me, who claim the same 
 right of thinking for myself and of acting ac- 
 cording to the dictates of my own conscience, 
 is no liberty at all. I therefore came to such 
 conclusions as these — that I would love them 
 all — that I would hold a friendly intercourse 
 with them all, so far as they should providen- 
 tially come in my way ; but that I would stand 
 fast in the liberty with which Christ had made 
 me free, and call none of them master— -in 
 fine, that if others sought to honour him by 
 laying a great stress on matters of doubtful 
 disputation, my way of honouring him should 
 be by endeavouring to shew that his kingdom 
 is not of this world, nor consists in meats and 
 drinks, in pleading for forms and parties, but 
 in righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy 
 Ghost ; and that neither circumcision is any 
 thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creatura. 
 and the faith which worketh by love. There 
 was a time when I could have joined with the 
 Dissenters, if the providence of God had o- 
 pened my way to them ; but farther experi- 
 ence and observation have so far altered my 
 judgment, that had I my choice to make a- 
 gain, it seems to me, that I could no more 
 officiate as a minister among any people who 
 "’insist upon other terms of communion than 
 those which our Lord has appointed, faith and 
 holiness, than I could subscribe to the dogmas 
 of the Council of Trent. My regard to his 
 honour will not allow me to exclude any 
 whom I believe he has been pleased to receive. 
 Thus much for the first reason of my confor- 
 mity. Yet in justice to the non-conformists 
 I must add, that if I wished to avail myself of 
 the sanction of great names, I could mention 
 some among them, who, if they were now 
 living, I am persuaded would not blame me 
 lor conforming, though they could not in 
 
 889 
 
 conscience do it themselves. Particularly I 
 judge thus (from many of his writings) of the 
 truly great Mr Howe, whose praise is in all 
 the churches. 
 
 I am sincerely yours, &c, 
 
 LETTER IV 
 
 My dear friend and brother, 
 
 I have given you the chief reason why I am 
 not a Dissenter ; and it appears to me a suf- 
 ficient one, though I could assign no other. I 
 have, however, two or three more to offer you, 
 but I hope to comprise them all within the 
 compass of this letter. For indeed I begin 
 to be weary of a subject which is not quite 
 suitable to my taste and inclination. But it 
 seems not unseasonable, and I hope may not 
 be unuseful to shew you that the preference I 
 have given to the Church of England, is not 
 the effect either of inconsideration or preju- 
 dice. 
 
 My second reason for not being a Dissen- 
 ter is, Because I highly value the right of pri- 
 vate judgment, and my liberty as a man and as 
 a Christian. Here again I think we are a- 
 greed in principle. You rejoice in the name 
 of a Protestant Dissenter, as setting you free 
 from the shackles and impositions of men ; 
 and probably think of me and my brethren in 
 the Establishment, with a degree of friendly 
 pity ; taking it for granted, that the engage- 
 ments we are under hold us in a painful state 
 of subjection and bondage, from which you 
 charitably wish to see us released. 
 
 We are obliged to persons of your candid 
 disposition for your sympathy and good wish- 
 es ; and we repay you in kind. As we can- 
 not think exactly alike, this seems the best 
 method we efin take. Harsh censures and 
 angry disputations would be unbecoming our 
 profession, and hurtful to our spirits ; but it 
 can do us no harm to pity and pray for each 
 other. Perhaps you are ready to say, “ You 
 would surely pity me if you knew all my in- 
 ward and outward trials ; but you need not 
 pity me for being a Dissenter, because I ac- 
 count it my great privilege.” I may say the 
 same, with the alteration of one word. If 
 you knew the evils which I feel within, and 
 the snares and difficulties which beset me 
 from without, you would pity me indeed. 
 But that I exercise my ministry in the Church 
 of England, appears to me, as things stand, 
 to be rather a subject for congratulation than 
 compassion. I cannot become a Dissenter 
 till I am weary of my liberty. If you please 
 we will compare notes upon this head. 
 
 Let me first speak of the restraints we are 
 under. I am bound, by my subscription, to 
 the forms and rubric of the Common Prayer ; 
 but my subscription was really ex animo. I 
 approve the service, and therefore it is no bur 
 
890 
 
 den to me to use it. I do not consider it as 
 faultless, nor can I subscribe to any book of 
 human composition in the same absolute man- 
 ner as I would to the Bible. But by assent- 
 ing to our church-ritual I give up less of my 
 own private judgment for the sake of peace, 
 than I should by espousing the rules and 
 practices of any Dissenting churches I am ac- 
 quainted with. Again, having accepted a de- 
 signation to the cure of souls, my public mi- 
 nistry is thereby confined to parish churches, 
 and I cannot, consistently with what I con- 
 ceive to be the import of my voluntary en- 
 gagements, preach at random, and in all 
 places without reserve. But this is no re- 
 straint upon my conscience. While I have 
 the examples of our Lord and his apostles in 
 my view, I cannot doubt the lawfulness of 
 preaching on mountains or plains, in market- 
 places, or on the sea-shore. But things in 
 themselves lawful are not always, nor to all 
 persons, expedient. I approve of parochial 
 order. I interfere not with the conduct of 
 others ; but believe it is, upon the whole, best 
 for me to confine myself to the duties of my 
 own charge, and to such opportunities of 
 preaching in parochial pulpits as may occa- 
 sionally offer. Between the one and the 
 other I have sufficient employment. And 
 though the Bishop who ordained me laid me 
 under no restrictions, I would not have ap- 
 plied to him for ordination, if I had not been 
 previously determined to submit to his autho- 
 rity and to the rules of the church. I thought, 
 and still think it my duty to preserve a con- 
 sistency of character ; for I was not ordained 
 to be an apostle or evangelist, to spread the 
 gospel throughout a kingdom, but to take 
 care of the particular flock committed to my 
 charge. But I need not enlarge upon this 
 point, as I think the Dissenters do not in ge- 
 neral by their practice countenance what we 
 call irregularity, but are almost as seldom 
 seen preaching in the fields, or by the way- 
 sides, % as the most regular of our clergy ; 
 though they cannot plead our reasons for not 
 doing it, and are certainly not restrained either 
 by the precepts or precedents of the New Tes- 
 tament. 
 
 Nor am I under any disagreeable constraint 
 from my superiors in the church. The Arch- 
 deacon in his district, and the Bishop in his 
 diocese, hold their respective visitations ; the 
 former annually, the latter once in three years. 
 At these visitations the clergy (especially in 
 the country) are expected to attend. On 
 these occasions we answer to our names, hear 
 a sermon or a charge, and usually dine to- 
 gether. There is nothing painful to me in 
 paying these tokens of respect to my acknow- 
 ledged superiors, and receiving marks of ci- 
 vility from them. At all other times, while 
 we keep within the limits which I have al- 
 ready told you, I subscribed and consented to 
 ex animo, we scarcely know, at least we do 
 
 LET. IV 
 
 not feel, that we have any superiors. So far 
 as I am concerned, 1 have reason to acknow- 
 ledge that the administration of our church- 
 government is gentle and liberal. I have 
 from the first preached my sentiments with 
 the greatest freedom. I always acted in the 
 parishes which I have served according to my 
 own judgment : and I have done some things 
 which have not the sanction of general cus- 
 tom, but I never met with the smallest check, 
 interference, or mark of displeasure from any 
 of my superiors in the church, to this hour. 
 Such are my restraints, and such is my liber- 
 ty. I am bound by no regulations but what 
 I myself approve ; and within these bound- 
 aries I do as I please, no man forbidding or 
 controuling me. 
 
 Indeed I have often thought that I have as 
 good a right to the name of Independent as 
 yourself. Neither you nor I would assume 
 it to the prejudice of our dependence upon 
 our Lord and Saviour ; and, with respect to 
 the influence of men, perhaps we have the ad- 
 vantage of you. I think we are more de- 
 pendent of our brethren, and more indepen- 
 dent of our people. 
 
 Though according to your plan every parti- 
 cular church is called independent, as possess- 
 ing and exercising every kind of church- 
 power within itself, and not subject to the 
 controul of any other Christian society ; yet, 
 considering you as a body, or (according to 
 the modern phrase) an interest, there is a kind 
 of union and association among your minis- 
 ters, which has a greater effect than some 
 people are aware of, and which I apprehend 
 may in some instances be rather unfriendly to 
 the liberty you so highly prize. Some of 
 your ministers, from their situation or connec- 
 tion, have more influence than others. They 
 have opportunities of assisting poorer minis- 
 ters, and are, I suppose, in many cases, the 
 judges whether they shall be assisted or not, 
 and how far. They who best know human 
 nature, are best qualified to judge how far the 
 professed independence of your churches may 
 be abated by this influence of connection ; and 
 whether the weight of a board of ministers 
 may not be occasionally felt by those who pi- 
 ty us for being subordinate to a bench of Bi- 
 shops. I own, I have upon some occasions 
 been led to compare your ministers to a com- 
 pany of soldiers in their exercise, where every 
 one must move in a prescribed line, keep the 
 same pace, and make the like motions with 
 the rest, on pain of being treated as refrac- 
 tory. Ministers in the establishment know 
 nothing of these restraints. We are connect- 
 ed in love, but not upon system. We pro- 
 fess the same leading principles and aims, but 
 each one acts singly and individually for him- 
 self. 
 
 I think we are likewise more independent 
 of our people. The constitution of your 
 churches, which you suppose the only oiw 
 
 APOLOGIA. 
 
LET. IV. 
 
 APOLOGIA 
 
 agreeable to the scripture, appears to me 
 faulty, in giving a greater power to the peo- 
 ple than the scripture authorizes. There is 
 doubtless a sense in which ministers are not 
 only the servants of the Lord, but, for his 
 sake, the servants of the churches ; but it is a 
 service which implies rule, and is entitled to 
 respect. Thus the apostle says, “ Obey them 
 that have the rule over you.” Their office is 
 that of a steward, who is neither to lord it 
 over the household, nor to be entirely under 
 subjection to it, but to superintend and pro- 
 vide for the family. Scriptural regulations 
 are wisely and graciously adapted to our state 
 of infirmity ; but I think the power which the 
 people with you claim, and attempt to exer- 
 cise, is not so. Many of them, though truly 
 gracious persons, may, notwithstanding, from 
 their situation in life, their want of education, 
 and the narrowness of their views, be very in- 
 capable of government ; yet when a number of 
 such are associated according to your plan, 
 under the honourable title of a Church of 
 Christ, they acquire a great importance. Al- 
 most every individual conceives himself qua- 
 lified to judge and to guide the minister ; to 
 sift and scrutinize his expressions, and to tell 
 him how and what he ought to preach. But 
 the poorer part of your flocks are not always 
 the most troublesome. The rich can contri- 
 bute most to the minister’s support, who is 
 often entirely dependent upon his people for 
 a maintenance ; their riches likewise give them 
 some additional weight and influence in the 
 church ; and the officers, whom you call the 
 Deacons, are usually chosen from among the 
 more wealthy. But it is not always found 
 that the most wealthy church-members are the 
 most eminent, either for grace or wisdom. 
 We may be rather sure, that riches, if the pos 
 sessors are not proportionably humble and 
 spiritual, have a direct tendency to nourish 
 the worms of self-conceit and self-will. Such 
 persons expect to be consulted, and that their 
 judgment shall be followed. The preaching 
 must be suited to their taste and sentiment ; 
 and if any thing is either enforced or censur- 
 ed which bears hard upon their conduct, they 
 think themselves ill treated. Although a faith- 
 ful minister, in his better hours, disdains the 
 thought of complying with the caprice of his 
 hearers, or conniving at their faults, yet hu- 
 man nature is weak, and it must be allowed, 
 that in such circumstances, he stands in a 
 state of temptation. And if he has grace to 
 maintain his integrity, yet it is painful and 
 difficult to be obliged frequently to displease 
 those on whom we depend, and who in some 
 other respects may be our best friends and be- 
 nefactors. I can truly say, that my heart has 
 been grieved for the opposition, neglect, and 
 unkindness, which some valuable men among 
 you have to my knowledge met with, from 
 those who ought to have esteemed them very 
 highly for their work’s sake. The effects of 
 
 891 
 
 this supreme power lodged in the people, and 
 of the unsanctified spirit in which it has been 
 exercised, have been often visible in the divi- 
 sions and subdivisions which have crumbled 
 large societies into separate handfuls, if I 
 may so speak. And to this I am afraid, 
 rather than to the spread of a work of grace, 
 may be ascribed in many instances, the great 
 increase of the number of your churches of 
 late years. Now, in the Establishment, we 
 know but little of these difficulties : we are 
 not so much at the mercy of our hearers for 
 our subsistence; and though we probably 
 preach to some who are wiser and better, as 
 well as richer than ourselves, we have no hear- 
 ers who assume a right to direct us, or whom 
 we should stand in fear of, if they did. For 
 my own part, I wish to have a spirit willing 
 to profit by a hint, even from a child, and to 
 pay attention to the advice of any person who 
 speaks to me in love, and in a right temper. 
 But humble loving Christians are more dispos- 
 ed to find fault with themselves than with 
 their minister, and to receive instruction than 
 to offer it. But should a conformist to the 
 world, or a zealot for a party, expect me to 
 accommodate my preaching to his practice, or 
 to his Shibboleth, I could give him an answer 
 without being afraid of consequences. 
 
 I may add, that I apprehend we have more 
 liberty with respect to our pulpits. At least 
 I remember to have heard sermons from some 
 of your pulpits, the strain of which has been 
 so very different from the professed sentiments 
 of the proper pastor of the church, that I have 
 thought to myself, How came this minister to 
 preach in this place? Upon inquiry I have 
 found at one time, that the gentleman belong- 
 ed to the connection ; at another, that he was 
 asked to preach at the desire of a principal 
 person in the church or congregation, who it 
 seems approved him, though I was persuaded 
 the pastor did not. 
 
 I esteem it likewise a branch of my Chris- 
 tian liberty, that I can hear whom I please, 
 and form what acquaintance I please, among 
 the various denominations of Christians, with- 
 out being called to account for it. I hope 
 the Dissenters are likewise growing more into 
 this liberty. However, as I know some a- 
 mong your people who would willingly hear 
 us occasionally, were they not afraid of their 
 ministers ; so I know some of your ministers 
 who would be willing to hear us, but do not, 
 because they are afraid of their people. 
 
 Thus much (though more might be said) 
 by way of comparing our advantages in point 
 of liberty. I am well pleased with my lot ; 
 if you are equally pleased with yours, I am 
 glad of it. I write only on the defensive, I 
 neither expect nor wish to alter your views. 
 Enjoy your liberty ; only allow me to enjoy 
 and be thankful for mine. 
 
 I have now acquainted you with my two 
 principal reasons for not being a Dissenter. 
 
892 
 
 The first concerned my conscience. For 
 though my regard to the authority of the great 
 Lord and Lawgiver of the church did not di- 
 rectly oblige me to unite with the Establish- 
 ment, it discouraged me from uniting with 
 any of the parties, who pretended an exclusive 
 right from him to enforce their own particu- 
 lar church-forms. When conscience did not 
 interfere, my second reason, though rather of 
 a prudential kind, was of considerable weight 
 with me. I loved liberty, and therefore gave 
 a preference to the Church of England, be- 
 lieving I might in that situation exercise my 
 ministry with the most freedom. I have 
 made the experiment, and have no reason to 
 repent of it. These points being cleared, my 
 way was open to attend to another considera- 
 tion which had a farther influence in deter- 
 mining my mind. This, 1 am about to offer 
 to you as a third reason for my being where 
 I am — The probability of greater usefulness. 
 This probability, as to myself, and to others 
 who can conform with a good conscience, 
 seemed to lie on the side of the Establishment 
 upon several accounts. 
 
 1. Great multitudes in this Christian na- 
 tion (so called) are grossly ignorant of the 
 first principles of religion, inattentive to the 
 worth and welfare of their souls, and lamenta- 
 bly destitute of the proper means of instruc- 
 tion. I hoped for opportunities in the Esta- 
 blishment of preaching to many who could 
 not hear the Dissenters. The children of 
 God, known to himself, are scattered abroad, 
 far and wide. And as faith more usm illy 
 comes by hearing, I admire his condescension 
 and goodness in permitting his ministers to 
 think differently on some external points, that 
 they may with an upright heart serve him in 
 the different departments of his vineyard. 
 They ■who are Dissenters upon principle, 
 would act against their judgments and con- 
 sciences, were they to conform for the sake of 
 usefulness. I am well content that they 
 should remain as they are. But it has proved 
 a mercy to thousands, that all who are called 
 and qualified to preach the gospel, are not 
 like-minded in this respect. 
 
 2. The spirit of bigotry and prejudice is 
 too prevalent on all sides. As there are Dis- 
 senters who would think it sinful to be seen 
 within the walls of a church, so there are other 
 persons who place a principal part of their re- 
 ligion in an ignorant attachment to our forms, 
 and could not easily be prevailed upon to en- 
 ter within the doors of a meeting-house. But 
 their prepossession in favour of our churches 
 gives the minister who can conscientiously 
 meet them there a great advantage ad homi • 
 nem, by confirming the truths of the gospel 
 (which when first declared are generally dis- 
 liked and opposed) from the tenor of our Li- 
 turgy and Articles, to which they profess some 
 regard. A large part of our auditories, espe- 
 cially in places where the gospel is considered 
 
 LET IV 
 
 as a novelty, consists of persons of this de- 
 scription. But the Lord has been pleased in 
 very many instances to honour our service 
 amongst them with his blessing. By the 
 power of his Spirit the truth is made manifest 
 to their hearts, they are turned from darkness 
 to light, and from the bondage of sin, to serve 
 the living God. Then their former prejudi- 
 ces subside ; insomuch that many, who once 
 despised and hated the Dissenters, have been 
 afterwards persuaded to join with them. The 
 Dissenting interest would probably have been 
 much weaker than it is at present, if it had 
 not been strengthened by the accession of ma- 
 ny church-members, and more than a few of 
 your teachers and pastors, who had no incli- 
 nation to hear your ministers, until they were 
 first awakened under ours. The words of 
 our Lord may in this sense be applied to ma- 
 ny of your churches : “ Other men laboured, 
 and ye have entered into the fruits of their 
 labours.” The aim of my ministry, I trust, is 
 not to promote the interests of a party, but to 
 win souls to Christ. We have, however, the 
 comfort, to find, that a number are not only 
 called, but edified and established by the 
 blessing of God on our preaching ; and that 
 many of the most judicious and spiritual of 
 our people, are proof against the insinuations 
 which prevail on some to forsake the Church 
 of England in hopes of enjoying a purer and 
 more acceptable worship among the Dissent- 
 ers. As to those who do leave us, if they are 
 truly benefited, if they really grow in grace, 
 and in the knowledge of our Lord, in humi- 
 lity, meekness, benevolence, and deadness to 
 the world, more among you, than they would 
 have done amongst us, I can sincerely rejoice. 
 But I think your brethren have no just rea- 
 son to be either displeased or sorry, that God 
 has raised up ministers to preach to thousands 
 to whom they would never have had access. 
 
 3. I saw likewise, that the Lord had been 
 pleased of late years to return by the power of 
 his Spirit to the Church of England, which I 
 believe many Dissenters thought he had so ut- 
 terly forsaken that he would return no more. 
 This leads me to a tender point, and I wish 
 to touch upon it with great tenderness. We 
 have none of us any thing to boast of. Our 
 warmest exertions in the service of such a 
 Master are far too cold ; and our greatest suc- 
 cess falls very short of what we ought to pray 
 for. We preach no other gospel than you do. 
 We love and respect many of your ministers 
 for their knowledge, piety, and exemplary con- 
 versation. But I believe you will allow, that 
 the general state of your churches at present, 
 is not so lively and flourishing as it was in the 
 days of the old non-conformists. I believe 
 the best of your people were long ago sensible 
 of a decline, that they sincerely lamented it, 
 and earnestly prayed for a revival. Their 
 prayers were at length answered, but not in 
 i the way they expected. A great and spread- 
 
 APOLOGIA. 
 
LET. IV. 
 
 ing revival of religion took place, but the in- 
 struments were not Dissenters. At the time 
 when I was ordained there was a considerable 
 number of regular parochial ministers who 
 preached the doctrines of the Reformation. 
 The number has been greatly increased since, 
 and is still increasing. I could not but judge, 
 that the Lord’s presence with his word in a- 
 w'akening sinners, and in applying it with 
 power to the heart, was more evident and 
 striking on this side, than on yours. Not be- 
 cause we are better than you ; but because the 
 work with us is rather new, whereas amongst 
 you it is of an older date. The history of the 
 Church of God and of human nature in past 
 ages, teaches us to expect that revivals of re- 
 ligion will seldom stand long at their primi- 
 tive height, but will gradually subside and de- 
 generate, till things return in a course of time 
 nearly to their former state ; though a name, 
 perhaps first imposed as a stigma by the world, 
 and a form, which owed all its value to the 
 spirit that once enlivened it, may still remain. 
 I wish I could affirm that none who were o- 
 therwise competent judges of a revival, have 
 been prevented by their prepossessions from 
 rejoicing in what God has wrought amongst 
 us. But I fear it has been otherwise, and 
 that a spirit of prejudice and party discovered 
 itself upon the occasion, which proved hurt- 
 ful to some good men. When I think of the 
 abilities and characters of some Dissenting* 
 ministers, I cannot but ascribe the little visi- 
 ble success they meet with, in some measure 
 to their unwillingness to acknowledge a work 
 of God in which they themselves were not 
 employed. Their exceptions were not wholly 
 groundless : A lively zeal for the glory of 
 God, and the good of souls, in persons whose 
 judgments were not fully ripened by observa- 
 tion and experience, did not secure them from 
 incidental mistakes and blemishes. These 
 were easily seen and eagerly noticed. A de- 
 sire of being free from the least suspicion of 
 giving countenance to the unguarded, though 
 well meant sallies of active spirits, seems to 
 have led some of your ministers into a contra- 
 ry extreme; and their public discourses, 
 though solid and judicious compositions, lost 
 that animation in delivery, which is in some 
 degree necessary to engage attention, and to 
 keep up an auditory. Thus, while preachers 
 much inferior to them for learning and gene- 
 ral knowledge in divinity have had crowded 
 assemblies, the pleasure with which I have 
 heard some of your most eminent ministers, 
 has been often abated by observing that the 
 number of the hearers has been much small- 
 er than the number of pews in the place. I 
 must therefore confess that one consideration 
 which deterred me from joining the Dissen- 
 ters was, a fear lest the love of peace, and a 
 temper rather compliant, might insensibly be- 
 tray me into an over cautious spirit, damp my 
 zeal, or divert it into a wrong channel, and 
 
 893 
 
 thereby pre ent the success at which I aimed. 
 I rather chose to unite with those people whom 
 I thought the most likely to maintain and en- 
 courage what little fervour I possessed ; and 
 where I saw the most evident tokens of a pow- 
 er from on high accompanying the public mi- 
 nistrations. And as I had my reasons like- 
 wise for not being an Itinerant, a regular and 
 stated charge in the Established church en- 
 gaged my preference. 
 
 My fourth reason (the last I think it neces- 
 sary to mention) being rather a point of ex- 
 perience, must depend chiefly upon my own 
 testimony, and therefore I need not enlarge 
 much upon it. Superadded, however, to those 
 which I have already stated, it greatly contri- 
 buted to give full satisfaction to my mind : 
 I mean, the proofs I had, that the Lord by 
 the openings and leadings of his providence, 
 pointed out to me the situation in which I 
 was to serve him. The first explicit notice 
 I gave of my desire to enter the ministry, was 
 to an intimate friend in your denomination, 
 nearly six years before I was ordained. In 
 the course of this interval I made, and I re- 
 ceived a variety of applications and proposals ; 
 but every thing failed, and every door by 
 which I sought admission remained shut a- 
 gainst me. I have already observed, that this 
 state of suspense gave me leisure to examine 
 the subject of church-government more close- 
 ly, and that the result of my disquisitions was 
 the gradual, and at length the complete remo- 
 val of the difficulties and exceptions I had at 
 first hastily imbibed against the Establish- 
 ment. At length the Lord’s time came ; then 
 obstacles apparently unsurmountable sudden- 
 ly and unexpectedly disappeared. Then I 
 learnt the reason of former disappointments. 
 My way had been mercifully hedged up with 
 thorns, to prevent me taking a wrong course, 
 and to keep me waiting until the place and 
 service of his own appointment were prepared 
 and ready for me. The coincidence of many 
 circumstances which I cannot explain to ano- 
 ther, gave me a very comfortable sense of the 
 Lord’s guidance. I received ordination in 
 the Church of England with a <r\t)go<pogix, 
 with wind and tide (if 1 may so speak) in my 
 favour, with the most pleasing disposition of 
 outward events, and the most assured persua- 
 sion in my own mind, that I was following 
 the call, and doing the will of God ; of which 
 I had at that time little more doubt than if an 
 angel had been sent from heaven to tell me 
 so. Nor have I hesitated upon the point a 
 single hour from that day to this. 
 
 I think you will not be sorry to find I am 
 drawing towards a close. Indeed I should be 
 ashamed to have written so much merely on 
 my own account. I began this ideal corre- 
 spondence with you about seven years ago. 
 More then the one half of it was then written 
 in a few weeks ; but I felt a reluctance to 
 proceed, because it seemed to be so much my 
 
 APOLOGIA. 
 
894 
 
 own affair; but I have frequently thought 
 since, that something upon the subject, writ- 
 ten in a moderate and friendly spirit (which 
 it has been my prayer and endeavour to pre- 
 serve), might, by the Lord’s blessing, be a 
 mean of promoting candour and benevolence 
 among those, who, whatever else they differ 
 in, have one Lord, one faith, one hope. A 
 desire of being instrumental in so good a 
 work, has at length prevailed on me, to revise 
 what I had begun, to add what I thought 
 farther necessary for completing my design, 
 and to send it abroad. I cannot give you par- 
 ticular reasons why I have not done it sooner, 
 or why I do it now. Our times, plans, and 
 purposes are under a superior guidance and 
 direction, which it is our duty and our privi- 
 lege always to acknowledge, though we can- 
 not always distinctly discern it. I shall be 
 happy if the event shall prove that I have been 
 led to chuse the fittest time, and to offer a 
 word in season. They who love and preach 
 the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, whatever 
 name they bear among men, and whatever 
 body of people they are united to, are engag- 
 ed in one common cause; they are opposed 
 by the same enemies ; their severest conflicts 
 and their sweetest comforts are derived from j 
 
 LET. IV 
 
 the same sources ; and they will ere long meet 
 in the same kingdom of glory, and join in 
 the same songs of eternal praise, to him who 
 sitteth upon the throne, and to him who re- 
 deemed us to God by his blood. How desi- 
 rable then is it, that while we live here, we 
 should be at peace amongst ourselves, and 
 live in the spirit of that love (the only infal- 
 lible mark of our being truly the servants of 
 Christ), which seeketh not its Own, is not eas- 
 ily provoked, thinketh no evil, but beareth, 
 hopeth, and believeth all things ! 
 
 As what I write to you is to appear in 
 print, I think it proper to add, for my own 
 sake, that my whole intention will be fulfill- 
 ed by the publication. I do not mean to en- 
 ter into controversy ; and therefore if these 
 letters, contrary to my wish, should raise me 
 an opponent, and give occasion to an answer, 
 I shall not think myself bound to reply, un- 
 less I could be convicted of such a wilful mis- 
 representation, as would render it my duty to 
 ask pardon of God, and of the Public. 
 
 I commend you and yours to the blessing 
 of our Lord, and remain 
 
 Your affectionate Friend. 
 
 I 
 
 APOLOGIA. 
 
 March 1 , 1784 . 
 
A 
 
 PLAN 
 
 OF 
 
 ACADEMICAL PREPARATION FOR THE MINISTRY, 
 
 IN A 
 
 LETTER TO A FRIEND. 
 
 Quin et piorum mentibus mysteria, 
 
 Contempta pravis, impie sapientibus 
 Occulta, Dominus luce proferet sua, 
 
 Et sacrosancti foederis scientiam 
 
 Docebit. - - Buch. Ps. xxv. 
 
 The wisdom that is from above, is first pure, then peaceable. 
 
 James iii. 17. 
 
A 
 
 PLAN 
 
 OF 
 
 ACADEMICAL PREPARATION FOR THE MINISTRY. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 I am not the son of a prophet, nor was I bred 
 up among the prophets. I am quite a stran- 
 ger to what passes within the walls of colleges 
 and academies. I was as one born out of due 
 time, and led, under the secret guidance of 
 the Lord, by very unusual steps, to preach the 
 faith which I once laboured to destroy. Since 
 you know all this, how could you think of 
 applying to me for the plan of an academical 
 institution? Yet I confess the design you 
 mentioned to me, in which some of your 
 friends have thoughts of engaging, is so im- 
 portant in my view, that I am willing to come 
 as near to your wishes as I can. I must not 
 pretend to dictate a plan for the business 
 which is now in contemplation. But if you 
 will allow me to indulge a sort of reverie, and 
 suppose myself a person of some consequence 
 in Utopia, where I could have the modelling 
 of every thing to my own mind ; and that I 
 was about to form an academy there, for the 
 sole purpose of educating young men for the 
 ministry of the gospel — in this way I am wil- 
 ling to offer you my thoughts upon the sub- 
 ject with great simplicity and freedom. And 
 if any of the regulations of my imaginary aca- 
 demy should be judged applicable to your de- 
 sign, you and your friends will be heartily 
 welcome to them. 
 
 I should then, suppositis supponendis , in 
 the first place, lay down two or three import- 
 ant maxims, which I would hope never to lose 
 sight of in the conduct of the affair : expect- 
 ing that, if I should begin without them, I 
 must stumble at the very threshold ; and that 
 whenever I should neglect them afterwards, 
 all my care and labour, and expense would be 
 from that time thrown away. 
 
 My first maxim is, That none but he who 
 made the world can make a minister of the 
 gospel. If a young man has capacity, culture 
 and application may make him a scholar, a phi- 
 losopher, or an orator. But a true minister 
 must have certain principles, motives, feel- 
 ings, and aims, which no industry or endea- 
 
 vours of men can either acquire or communi- 
 cate. They must be given from above, or 
 they cannot be received. 
 
 I adopt as a second maxim, That the holy 
 scriptures are both comprehensively and ex- 
 clusively the grand treasury of all that know- 
 ledge which is requisite and sufficient, to 
 make the minister, the man of God, thorough- 
 ly furnished for every branch of his office. 
 If indeed no other studies were of subordinate 
 importance, in order to a right understanding 
 of the scriptures, and especially to those who 
 are not only to know for themselves, but are 
 appointed to teach others also ; then academi- 
 cal instruction would be needless, and I might 
 supply my young men with every thing at 
 at once, by putting the Bible into their hands, 
 and directing them to read it continually with 
 attention and prayer. But my meaning is, 
 that though there is such a concatenation in 
 knowledge, that every branch of science may, 
 by a judicious application, be rendered sub- 
 servient to a minister’s great design ; yet no 
 attainments in philology, philosophy, or in 
 any or all the particulars which constitute the 
 aggregate of what we call Learning, can in 
 the least contribute to form a minister of the 
 gospel, any farther than he is taught of God 
 to refer them to, and to regulate them by the 
 scriptures as a standard. On the contrary, the 
 more a man is furnished with this kind of ap- 
 paratus, unless the leading truths of scripture 
 reign and flourish in his heart, he will be but 
 the more qualified to perplex himself, and to 
 mislead his hearers. 
 
 My third maxim is an inference from the 
 two former: That the true gospel-minister 
 
 who possesses these secondary advantages, 
 though he may know the same things, and ac- 
 quire his knowledge by the like methods, as 
 other scholars do, yet he must know and pos- 
 sess them in a manner peculiar to himself. 
 His criticisms, if he be a critic, will discover 
 something which the greatest skill in gramma- 
 tical niceties cannot of itself reach. If he be 
 an orator, he will not speak in the artificial 
 3 S 
 
A PLAN OF ACADEMICAL PREPARATION 
 
 898 
 
 self-applauding language of man’s wisdom, 
 but in simplicity and with authority ; like one 
 who feels the ground he stands upon, and 
 knows to whom he belongs, and whom he 
 serves. If he mentions a passage of history, 
 it will not be to shew his reading, but to il- 
 lustrate or prove his point ; and it will be evi- 
 dent from his manner of speaking, that though 
 he may have taken the facts from Tacitus or 
 Robertson, his knowledge of the springs of 
 human action, and of the superintendency of 
 a divine providence, is derived from the word 
 of God. And so of other instances. 
 
 In a word, if a young man was to consult 
 me how he might be wise and learned in the 
 usual sense of the words, I might advise him 
 to repair to Oxford or Cambridge, or to 
 twenty other places which I could name. But 
 if I thought him really desirous of becoming 
 wise to win souls, I would invite him to my 
 new College in Utopia. 
 
 From these general observations I proceed 
 more directly to my subject. You are then 
 to suppose that I have taken my determina- 
 tion, and counted the cost, and am now sit- 
 ting down to contrive my plan. As a little 
 attention to method may not be amiss, I shall 
 endeavour to range my thoughts under four 
 principal heads, concerning, 
 
 1. The Place. 
 
 2. The Tutor. 
 
 3. The Pupils. 
 
 4. The Course of Education. 
 
 I. And first (as preachers sometimes say), 
 of the first. If the metropolis of Utopia 
 should be any thing like ours, there are ob- 
 vious reasons to forbid my fixing upon a spot 
 very near it. I think not nearer than a mo- 
 derate day’s journey. Nor would I wish it 
 much farther distant. Occasional visits to a 
 great city, where there are many considerable 
 ministers and Christians, should not be render- 
 ed impracticable ; as they might furnish my 
 young men with opportunities of forming con- 
 nections and making observations that might 
 contribute to their usefulness in future life. 
 But procul ab urbe will be my maxim. I 
 should not only fear lest they should be con- 
 taminated by the vices which too generally 
 prevail where men live in a throng : if they 
 escaped these, I should still have apprehen- 
 sions, lest the notice that might be taken of 
 them, and the respect shewn them by well- 
 meaning friends, should imperceptibly seduce 
 them into a spirit of self-importance, give 
 them a turn for dress and company, and spoil 
 that simplicity and dependence, without which 
 I could have little hope of their success. I 
 would wish it may be their grand aim to 
 please the Lord, and under him and for his 
 sake to please their tutor. They have as 
 yet no business with other people. Their tu- 
 tor must be to them instar omnium. Him 
 they must love, reverence, and obey, and ac - 
 curately watch his looks, and everv intimation 
 
 of his will. But to secure this point, or even 
 to have a reasonable prospect of attaining it, 
 methinks it seems necessary to say, procul , 
 procul ab urbe , juvenes ! But the difference 
 between a rural and a town situation is so 
 striking at first view, that I suppose it quite 
 needless to say more upon this head. I there- 
 fore proceed, 
 
 II. To the choice of my Tutor. — Who- 
 ever he may be, when I have found him, and 
 fixed him, I will take the liberty to tell him, 
 that he is called to the most honourable and 
 important office that man, in the present state 
 of things, is capable of. The skilful and 
 faithful tutor is not only useful to his pupils 
 considered as individuals, but he is remotely 
 the instrument of all the blessings and bene- 
 fits which the Lord is pleased to communi- 
 cate by their ministry, in the course of their 
 stated and occasional labours to the end of 
 life. On the other hand, the errors and pre- 
 judices of an incompetent tutor, adopted and 
 perpetuated by his disciples, may produce a 
 long progression of evil eonsequences, which 
 may continue to operate and multiply when 
 he and they are dead and forgotten. For if 
 the streams which are to spread far and wide 
 throughout a land are poisoned in the very 
 source, who can foresee how far the mischief 
 may be diffused. Unless, therefore, I can 
 procure a proper tutor, I must give up my 
 design. It is better the youth should remain 
 untaught, than that they should be taught to 
 do wrong. 
 
 And I seem not easily satisfied on this 
 head. My idea of the person to whom I 
 could cheerfully entrust the care of my acade- 
 my, is not of an ordinary size. He seems to 
 be one, 
 
 Qualem nequeo monstrare, ac sentio tantum. 
 
 However, since we are upon Utopian 
 ground, where we may imagine as largely as 
 we please, I will attempt to delineate him. 
 And were I to recommend a tutor to your 
 friends, it should be the man who I thought 
 came the nearest to the character I am about 
 to describe. 
 
 For his first essential indispensable qualifi- 
 cation, I require a mind deeply penetrated 
 with a sense of the grace, glory, and efficacy 
 of the gospel. However learned and able in 
 other respects, he shall not have a single pupil 
 from me, unless I have reason to believe, that 
 his heart is attached to the person of the Re- 
 deemer as God-man : that as a sinner his 
 
 whole dependence is upon the Redeemer’s 
 work of love, his obedience unto death, his in- 
 tercession and mediatorial fulness. His sen- 
 timents must be clear and explicit respecting 
 the depravity of human nature, and the ne- 
 cessity and reality of the agency of the Holy 
 Spirit, to quicken, enlighten, sanctify, and 
 sca 1 those who, under his influence, are led to 
 
FOR THE MINISTRY. 
 
 Jesus for salvation. With respect to the dif- 
 ferent schemes or systems of Divinity which 
 obtain amongst those who are united in the 
 acknowledgment of the above fundamental 
 truths, I should look for my tutor amongst 
 those who are called Calvinists ; but he must 
 not be of a curious metaphysical disputatious 
 turn, a mere system-monger or party-zealot. 
 I seek for one who, having been himself 
 taught the deep things of God by the Holy 
 Spirit, in a gradual experimental manner; 
 while he is charmed with the beautiful har- 
 mony and coincidence of all the doctrines of 
 grace, is at the same time aware of the mys- 
 terious depths of the divine counsels, and the 
 impossibility of their being fully comprehend- 
 ed by our feeble understandings. Such a man 
 will be patient and temperate in explaining 
 the peculiarities of the gospel to his pupils, 
 and will wisely adapt himself to their several 
 states, attainments, and capacities. After the 
 example of the Great Teacher, he will con- 
 sider what they can bear, and aim to lead 
 them forward step by step, in such a manner, 
 that the sentiments he instils into them may 
 be their own, and not taken up merely upon 
 the authority of his ipse dixit. He will pro- 
 pose the scripture to them as a consistent 
 whole ; and guard them against the extremes 
 into which controversial writers have forced 
 themselves and each other, in support of a 
 favourite hypothesis, so as, under pretence of 
 honouring some parts of the word of God, to 
 overlook, if not to contradict, what is taught 
 with equal clearness in other parts. 
 
 I wish my pupils to be well versed in use- 
 ful learning, and therefore my tutor must be 
 a learned man. He must not only be able to 
 teach them whatever is needful for them to 
 learn, but should be possessed of such a fund, 
 as that the most forward and most promising 
 among them may feel he has a decided supe- 
 riority over them in every part of their studies. 
 Besides an accurate skill in the school clas- 
 sics, he should be well acquainted with books 
 at large, and possessed of a general know- 
 ledge of the state of literature and religion, 
 and the memorable events of history in the 
 successive ages of mankind. Particularly, he 
 should be well versed in Ecclesiastical learn- 
 ing : for though it be true, that the bulk of it 
 is little worth knowing for its own sake, yet a 
 man of genius and wisdom will draw from the 
 whole mass a variety of observations suited to 
 assist young minds in forming a right judg- 
 ment of human nature, of true religion, of its 
 counterfeits, and of the abuses to which the 
 name of religion is capable of being pervert- 
 ed. And he will likewise be able to select 
 for their use, such authors and subjects as de- 
 serve their notice, from the surrounding rub- 
 bish in which they are almost buried. 
 
 My tutor should likewise be competently 
 acquainted with the lighter accomplishments, 
 which are usually understood by the term 
 
 899 
 
 Belles Lettres, and a proper judge of them 
 with respect both to their intrinsic and their 
 relative value. Their intrinsic value to crea- 
 tures who are posting to eternity is not great ; 
 and a wise man if he has not been tinctured 
 with them in early life, will seldom think it 
 worth his while to attend much to them after- 
 wards. Yet in such an age as ours, it is some 
 disadvantage to a man in public life, if he is 
 quite a stranger to them. To a tutor they are 
 in a manner necessary. It is farther desirable 
 that he should have a lively imagination, un- 
 der the direction of a sound judgment and a 
 correct and cultivated taste. Otherwise, how 
 can he assist and form the taste and judgment 
 of his pupils, or direct or criticise their com- 
 positions ? 
 
 Natural Philosophy is not only a noble 
 science, but one which offers the most inter- 
 esting and profitable relaxations from the 
 weight of severer studies. If the tutor be 
 not possessed of this, he will lose a thousand 
 opportunities of pointing out to his pupils the 
 signatures of wisdom, power, and goodness, 
 which the wonder-working God has impres- 
 sed upon every part of the visible creation. 
 But at the same time, he should know where 
 to stop, and what bounds to set to their in- 
 quiries. It is not necessary that either he or 
 they should be numbered amongst the first 
 astronomers or virtuosi of the age. A life 
 devoted to the service of God and souls, will 
 not afford leisure for this diminutive kind of 
 pre-eminence. A general knowledge will suf- 
 fice even in the tutor. And when he lectures 
 upon these subjects, he will caution them a- 
 gainst spending too much time and thought 
 upon those branches of philosophy which have 
 but a very remote tendency to qualify them 
 for preaching the gospel. They are sent into 
 the world and into the academy, not to collect 
 shells, and fossils, and butterflies, or to surprise 
 each other with feats of electricity, but to win 
 souls for Christ. 
 
 Perhaps I have said enough of my tutor’s 
 knowledge, and may now consider him with 
 regard to his spirit, his methods of communi- 
 cating what he knows to his pupils, and his 
 manner of living with them as a father with, 
 his children. 
 
 He must be didacticos , apt to teach. A 
 man may know much, yet not have a facility 
 of imparting his ideas. It is a talent and a 
 gift of God, and therefore will always be 
 found in some good degree in the person who 
 is called of God to the tutor’s office. 
 
 He will consider himself as a teacher, not 
 only in the lecture-room, but in all places, 
 and at all times, whether sitting in the house, 
 or walking by the way, if any of his pupils 
 are with him. And he will love to have them 
 always about him, so far as their studies and 
 his own necessary avocations will admit. 
 
 Two things he will aim to secure from 
 them, reverence and affection. Without main 
 
A PLAN OF ACADEMICAL PREPARATION 
 
 900 
 
 taining a steady authority, he can do nothing ; 
 and unless they love him, every thing will go 
 on heavily. But if the pupils are properly 
 chosen, such a man as I have described will 
 be both loved and feared. His spiritual and 
 exemplary deportment, his wisdom and abili- 
 ties, will command their respect. His con- 
 descension and gentleness, his tenderness for 
 their personal concerns, his assiduity in pro- 
 moting their comfort, and doing them every 
 friendly office in his power, will engage their 
 love. These happy effects will be farther pro- 
 moted by their frequent mutual intercourse in 
 prayer, by his expository lectures, and by his 
 public ministry, if he be a preacher. Hav- 
 ing his eye unto the Lord, and his heart in 
 his work, a blessing from on high shall de- 
 scend upon him and upon his house. 
 
 As human nature is the same in all places, 
 it is probable that the Christians in Utopia 
 may be divided among themselves with respect 
 to rituals and modes of worship, in some such 
 manner as we see and feel amongst us. Now 
 here, as in every thing else, I would have my 
 tutor a sort of phcenix, a man of a generous 
 enlarged spirit, a real friend of that liberty 
 wherewith Jesus has made his people free 
 from the shackles and impositions of men. 
 One who uniformly judges and acts upon 
 that grand principle of the New Testament, 
 which is likewise a plain and obvious maxim 
 of common sense ; I mean, that the Lord of 
 all, the Head of the church, is the alone Lord 
 and Judge of conscience. I suppose my tu- ! 
 tor has already taken his side, that he is either 
 in the Establishment (if there be one in Uto- 
 pia) or of course a Dissenter from it. And, 
 really as to my scheme, I am indifferent which 
 side he has taken ; we shall not have a mi- 
 nute’s debate about it, provided he acts con- 
 sistently with the principles which I have as- 
 signed him. But as I myself, living in Eng- 
 land, am of the Established Church, that you 
 may not suspect me of partiality, I will sup- 
 pose, and am ready to take it for granted, 
 that he will be found to be a Utopian Dissen- 
 ter. 
 
 On this supposition, my imagination takes 
 a flight, hastens into the midst of things, and 
 anticipates as present what is yet future. Me- 
 thinks I see the tutor indulging his scholars 
 (as at proper seasons he often will) with an 
 hour of free conversation ; and from some 
 question proposed to him concerning the com- 
 parative excellence or authority of different 
 forms of church-government, taking occasion 
 to operl his mind to them, something in the 
 following manner: 
 
 “ My dear children, you may have observ- 
 ed, that, when in the course of our lectures, I 
 have been led to touch upon this subject, it 
 has not been my custom to speak in a dogma- 
 tical style. I have sometimes intimated to 
 you, that though every part of the Levitical 
 worship was of positive divine institution, yet 
 
 when the people rested and trusted in their 
 external forms, the Lord speaks as abhorring 
 his own appointments. I have told you, up- 
 on the apostle’s authority, that the kingdom 
 of God consists not in meats and drinks, in 
 names and forms, but in righteousness peace, 
 and joy in the Holy Ghost. Amidst the 
 many divisions and subdivisions which obtain 
 in the visible Church, there are in reality but 
 two sorts of people, the children of God, and 
 the children of the world. The former sort, 
 though partakers in one life and in one hope, 
 yet living in successive ages, in various coun- 
 tries, under very different modes of govern- 
 ment, education, and customs, it seems mo- 
 rally impossible that they should all agree, as 
 by instinct, in one common mode of social 
 worship. It is indeed said, that there is a 
 plan prescribed in the New Testament to 
 which all ought to conform as nearly as possi- 
 ble. All parties say this in favour of their 
 own plans ; and men eminent for wisdom and 
 holiness are to be found among the advocates 
 for each. But is it not strange, that if the 
 Lord has appointed such a standard, the wis- 
 est and best of his people should differ so 
 widely in their views of it, and deviate so far 
 from each other when they attempt to reduce 
 it to practice ? Let others dispute, but as for 
 you my children, and me, let us rather adore 
 the wisdom and goodness of our Lord. He 
 who knew the heart of man, the almost in- 
 vincible powder of local prejudices, and w r hat 
 innumerable circumstances in different periods 
 and places would render it impracticable for 
 his people to tread exactly in the same line, 
 has provided accordingly. The rules and 
 lights he has afforded us respecting the out- 
 ward administration of his Church, are re- 
 corded with such a latitude, that his true wor- 
 shippers may conscientiously hope they are 
 acceptable to him, though the plans w r hich 
 they believe to be consistent with his revealed 
 will, are far from corresponding with each 
 other. It is sufficient that the apostolical ca- 
 nons, Let all things be done decently and in 
 order, to edification and in charity, are uni- 
 versally binding ; and were these on all sides 
 attended to, smaller differences would be very 
 supportable. 
 
 “ I have often pointed out to you the won- 
 derful analogy w hich the Lord has established 
 in many instances, between his w'orks in the 
 outward creation, and in his kingdom of grace. 
 Perhaps the variety observable in the former 
 may be one instance of this kind. When 
 you see every vegetable arrayed in green ex- 
 actly of the same shade, or all tulips varie- 
 gated in the same manner, as if painted from 
 one common pattern, then, and not before, 
 expect to find true believers agreed in their 
 views and practice respecting the modes of 
 religion. 
 
 “ Study therefore the scriptures, my chil- 
 dren, w r ith humble prayer, that the Lord nia) 
 
FOR THE MINISTRY. 
 
 gWe you such views of these concerns, as 
 may fit you for the stations and services to 
 which his providence may lead you. See 
 with your own eyes, and judge for yourselves. 
 This is your right. One is your master, even 
 Christ, and you need not, you ought not to 
 call any man master upon earth. But be 
 content with this. Do not arrogate to your- 
 selves the power of judging for others. Be 
 willing that they should see with their own 
 eyes likewise. The Papists, upon the ground 
 of the assumed infallibility of their church, 
 are at least consistent with themselves in con- 
 demning all who differ from them. Protest- 
 ants confess themselves fallible, yet speak the 
 same peremptory language. 
 
 “ As to myself, if I had thought it prefer- 
 able upon the whole to be a minister in our 
 Established Church, I might probably have 
 been one ; but I trust I am where the Lord 
 would have me to be, and I am satisfied. My 
 desire for you is to see you able ministers of 
 the New Testament. As to the part of the 
 vineyard in which you are to labour, wait 
 simply upon the Lord, and he in good time 
 will point it out to you. If scripture and 
 conscience lead you to prefer the Dissenting 
 line, I shall say, It is well — provided you 
 embrace it with a liberal spirit, and have a 
 better warrant for your choice than merely the 
 example of your tutor. Should you deter- 
 mine otherwise, I shall still say, It is well — 
 provided I see you disinterested, humble, and 
 faithful. Your being educated under my 
 roof is a circumstance not likely to 'facilitate 
 your admission into the Establishment; but 
 if the Lord in his providence should open to 
 any of you a door on that side, and incline 
 you to enter, I shall not dissuade you from it, 
 as though 1 thought it sinful. 1 shall only 
 wish you to attend to that advice which can- 
 not mislead you : — “ Trust in the Lord with all 
 thine heart, and lean not to thine own under- 
 standing ; in all thy ways acknowledge him, 
 and he shall direct thv path.” 
 
 Thus far my tutor. — Or, since I am in a 
 supposing humour, if you will give me leave 
 to make one supposition more, that it is pos- 
 sible there may be Methodists and Itinerants 
 in Utopia, as we have in England ; he would 
 then perhaps continue his discourse a little 
 longer as follows: 
 
 “ Though the pastoral care of a single con- 
 gregation is the service which the Lord has 
 allotted me, and I have not seen it my duty 
 to engage in any thing which might lead me 
 long or far from the people to whom I am re- 
 lated, I am no enemy to itinerant preaching. 
 My Lord and Saviour himself, his apostles 
 and first servants were all Itinerants; and I 
 believe that houses and ships, hills and plains, 
 the side of a river, ol the sea-shore, are all fit 
 places for preaching the gospel, and sufficient- 
 ly authorized as such by the highest prece- 
 dents. I cannot therefore censure, much less | 
 
 901 
 
 condemn, a practice which the scripture war- 
 rants, and to which I doubt not the Lord has 
 given abundant testimony in our own times, 
 by making the word thus dispensed effectual 
 to the conversion and consolation of many 
 souls. I believe indeed that some persons 
 not duly acquainted with their own hearts, 
 nor with what is requisite to constitute a 
 preacher, have too hastily supposed themselves 
 called to preach the gospel; when the event 
 has proved that the Lord had neither called 
 them to his service nor furnished them for it. 
 And I think, if it should generally be allowed 
 that young men are proper judges in their own 
 cause, and have a right to commence preachers 
 when or where or how they please, without the 
 advice or approbation of ministers more ex- 
 perienced than themselves, many inconvenien- 
 cies may and must follow’. I could wish every 
 young man to be so impressed with the force 
 of the apostle’s question, “ Who is sufficient for 
 these things?” that he should rather need in- 
 vitation and encouragement to preach, than be 
 disposed to run hastily into the work, as the 
 horse rusheth into the battle. But I must 
 not expect every thing will be managed ac- 
 cording to my wish. I have mourned over 
 the miscarriages of some Itinerant preachers, 
 but I have been much comforted by the good 
 conduct and success of others. It is neither 
 my business nor my intention to persuade you 
 to this course : but if, when you are properly 
 instructed and qualified for the ministry, I 
 should see any of you disposed to go forth in 
 the Itinerant way, should I be satisfied of your 
 principles and motives, and have reason to 
 hope your zeal was tempered with humility, I 
 know not that I durst refuse my consent. 
 For, as I have often told you, the honour of 
 my Lord and Saviour, and the welfare of pre- 
 cious souls, are far dearer to me than the de- 
 tached interests of any party ; and if Christ be 
 faithfully and successfully preached, in what- 
 ever way, and by whatever instruments he is 
 pleased to work, “ I do rejoice, yea, and w r ill 
 rejoice.” 
 
 I think what I have said of the tutor, and 
 what he has just now said for himself, may 
 suffice to give you an idea of the person I 
 would chuse, and that it is now time to con- 
 sider, 
 
 III. The choice of Pupils. — I would have 
 them all resident with the tutor, and therefore 
 their number at one time can be but small ; 
 especially as I should wish him to undertake v 
 every branch of their education. He might 
 have an assistant to teach the rudiments of the 
 languages, a service that wmuld otherwise take 
 up much of the time which he could better 
 employ, but he must do all the rest himself. 
 
 I suppose therefore that ten, or at the most 
 twelve pupils will be a sufficient number to be 
 under his care at once. The man I have de- 
 scribed would not be mercenary, but the la- 
 I bourer is w’orthy of his reward. As I shall 
 
A PLAN OF ACADEMICAL PREPARATION 
 
 902 
 
 find him work enough to take up his whole 
 time, his pay ought to be competent and libe- 
 ral ; and, as I have supposed myself rich 
 enough to execute my plan in what manner I 
 please, I hope I shall not starve my tutor, ‘nor 
 put his economical talents on the stretch to 
 contrive how to squeeze and save a pittance 
 out of the sum allotted for their board. I 
 would fix the boarding upon equitable and 
 moderate terms distinct from his salary, which 
 should be handsome, and always the same, 
 whether he had one pupil with him, or ten, or 
 twelve. It would be my part to keep the 
 number up, but if I neglect it, he should be 
 no loser ; nor ought he to be dependent upon 
 my caprice or negligence, but he should stand 
 upon an easy and settled footing, so as to be 
 free, not only from want, but from anxious 
 care, that he might be able to attend his busi- 
 ness without distraction. 
 
 And now my house is ready, where shall I 
 find young men to fill it ? I must look around 
 me, and request my friends to look out for 
 me. When I have found two I will send 
 them, and the rest as they offer. Perhaps it 
 would be one of the chief difficulties attend- 
 ing my scheme, to collect ten or twelve youths 
 worthy of such a tutor. 
 
 They must be serious. I mean they must 
 have an awakened, experimental sense of the 
 truth and goodness of the gospel. This is a 
 point not easily ascertained, especially in young 
 persons. There is often a something that re- 
 sembles it, which, upon trial, does not prove 
 satisfactory. However, my part will be to 
 look to the Lord for guidance, and then judge 
 as well as I can. But I hope no persuasion 
 or recommendation, no desire of pleasing or 
 obliging a friend, would prevail on me to ad- 
 mit one who I did not verily believe was a 
 subject of the grace of God. Who would un- 
 dertake to teach a parrot algebra ? Yet this 
 would be as practicable as to make those able 
 and faithful preachers, whom the Lord has not 
 first made Christians. 
 
 The.y must likewise have capacity. It is 
 not necessary that their abilities should be of 
 the first rate (perhaps but few of such are 
 called) ; but some tolerable measure of natu- 
 ral abilities, capable of being opened and im- 
 proved by education, seems almost necessary 
 in the person who aims to be a minister of the 
 gospel. At least it will be necessary upon 
 my plan ; for as my tutor cannot take many, 
 I must give the preference to such as may 
 both do him credit by their proficiency un- 
 der his care, and be qualified to profit others 
 when they leave him. 
 
 Ex quovis ligno Mercurius non fit. 
 
 If the heart be changed and sanctified by 
 grace, a person of the weakest natural under- 
 standing will acquire, under divine teaching, 
 all that is necessary to enable him to fill up 
 hu station in urivate life with propriety, to 
 
 overcome the world, and to make his own call- 
 ing and election sure. But a preacher must 
 have gifts as well as grace, to be able to di- 
 vide the word of truth as a workman that 
 needeth not to be ashamed. And therefore, 
 though the Lord was once pleased by a dumb 
 ass to rebuke the foolishness of a prophet, 1 
 am not forward to acknowledge those as am- 
 bassadors sent by him (however well-meaning 
 they may be) who seem either to have no mes- 
 sage to deliver, or no ability to deliver it. 
 
 I would likewise be satisfied, as much as 
 possible, concerning the views and motives 
 which make them desirous of devoting them- 
 selves to the ministry. Some desires of this 
 kind are very frequently found in young con- 
 verts. When a sense of eternal things is new 
 and lively upon their minds, and they look 
 round upon a world lying in wickedness, they 
 are much affected. The obligations they feel 
 to the Redeemer, a grief that he should be so 
 little known, so little loved, and a compassion 
 for their fellow sinners, whom they see liable 
 to perish for lack of knowledge, make them 
 often long to be employed, and sometimes con- 
 strain them to run before they are sent. But 
 if they are not really designed by the Lord 
 for this service, either their desires towards it 
 gradually subside, and they yield themselves 
 to his appointment in other paths of life ; or, 
 if they unadvisedly venture upon it, they are 
 seldom either comfortable or useful. They 
 soon feel themselves unequal to the work ; or, 
 if self-conceit prevents them from feeling it, 
 their hearers at least are very sensible of it. 
 They often mistake error for truth. They re- 
 tail scraps and shreds of sentiments which they 
 pick up from others, and, for want of judg- 
 ment, misapply them. Thus hypocrites are 
 encouraged, and those whom the Lord would 
 have comforted are made sad. They think 
 that preaching with power consists in vocife- 
 ration and distorted attitudes ; and that to utter 
 every thing that comes upon their minds, 
 without end or side (as we say), without any 
 regard to text, context, occasion, or connec- 
 tion, is to preach extempore. Too often Sa- 
 tan gains open advantage over them : they are 
 puffed up with pride, taken in snares, and per- 
 haps fall into such woeful miscarriages as at 
 length ruin their characters, and stop their 
 mouths. It is therefore of great importance 
 to be workers together with the Lord in this 
 business ; to chuse those whom he chuses, to 
 bring forward those whom he is preparing, 
 and, if possible, none but these. We cannot 
 indeed know the heart ; but we may be wary 
 and circumspect in judging by such lights as 
 we can procure, and we ought to be so. Per- 
 haps, after all, we may be mistaken in some 
 instances ; but, if we have done our best, we 
 have done well, and shall not be blameable for 
 such consequences as we could not possibly 
 foresee or prevent. If a candidate for the a- 
 cademy appears to be of a self-diffident and 
 
FOR THE MINISTRY. 
 
 humble spirit, to have some acquaintance with 
 his own heart, a tolerable capacity, a turn for 
 application, and an unblameable character, as 
 to his personal conduct, I shall be disposed to 
 admit him. But I would leave the final de- 
 cision of his fitness to the tutor. For which 
 purpose, it may be proper that he should be 
 under the tutor’s eye, for a limited time, as a 
 probationer. 
 
 IV. The next point I am to consider is, the 
 Course of Study they should pursue. — Though 
 I am rather inclined to give this up absolute- 
 ly and without reserve to the tutor, who, if 
 he answers my description, must be the most 
 proper person to institute a plan for himself, 
 and would have no need of my assistance. 
 But if his humility and his good opinion of 
 me should lead him to desire my advice, he 
 shall have it. I do not mean as to little cir- 
 cumstantials, but I would submit to him in a 
 general and miscellaneous way such hints as 
 may occur to me upon the subject. And I 
 submit them to you beforehand. 
 
 A few things may be previously noticed, 
 which, though they do not properly belong to 
 their academical studies, are well worthy of 
 attention. 
 
 A minister is a soldier of Jesus Christ, and, 
 as such, is to expect and endure hardship. It 
 is well to have this in our eye in the educa- 
 tion of young men. They are not called to 
 be gentlemen, but soldiers ; not to live deli- 
 cately, but to prepare for hardship. They 
 should therefore be advised and accustomed to 
 prefer a plain and frugal manner of life, and 
 to avoid multiplying those wants which luxury 
 and folly would prompt us to multiply almost 
 ad infinitum. A propensity to indulgence 
 either in the quantity or quality of food, is a 
 meanness unworthy of a man, still more un- 
 suitable to the character of a Christian, and scan- 
 dalous in a minister. I am no advocate for a 
 monkish austerity, or a scrupulous, superstitious 
 self-denial, which will almost starve the body 
 to feed the pride of the heart. It is however 
 very desirable to possess in early life, a habit 
 of temperance, a mastery over appetite, and a 
 resolute guard against every thing that has a 
 tendency to blunt the activity of the spirits. 
 And youth is the proper season for gaining 
 this mastery, which if the golden opportunity 
 be then lost, is seldom thoroughly acquired 
 afterwards. 
 
 A propriety in dress should also be consult- 
 ed. Neatness is commendable ; but a student 
 of divinity should keep at a distance from the 
 air and appearance of a fop. A finical dispo- 
 sition in this article not only occasions a waste 
 of time and expense, but is a token of a trifl- 
 ing turn of mind, and exposes the fine self- 
 admiring youth, to the contempt or pity of the 
 wise and good. 
 
 Farther, a habit of rising early should be 
 resolutely formed. It redeems much time, 
 and chiefly of those hours which are most fa- 
 
 903 
 
 vourable to study or devotion. It likewise 
 cuts off the temptation to sitting up late, a 
 hurtful and preposterous custom, which many 
 students unwarily give unto, and which they 
 cannot so easily break, when the bad effects of 
 it upon their health convince them too late of 
 their imprudence. 
 
 Let them be guarded against the snares at- 
 tending a large acquaintance, and unnecessary 
 visiting. The tutor will doubtless maintain 
 authority and good discipline in his house, 
 and not suffer any of his pupils to be absent 
 from family- worship, nor abroad after a fixed 
 hour, without his express permission, which 
 should not be given but for solid and just rea- 
 sons. And he cannot be too careful, both by 
 advice and vigilance, to prevent them from 
 forming any female connections while under 
 his roof, however honourable the views or de- 
 serving the person may be. Love and court- 
 ship are by no means favourable to study, nor 
 indeed to devotion, at. a time when their pre- 
 sent engagements, and the uncertainty of their 
 prospects in future life, render a settlement by 
 marriage improper, if not impracticable. 
 
 Much study is a weariness to the flesh, and 
 the body and the mind are so nearly connect- 
 ed, that what affects the one will have an in- 
 fluence upon the other. Relaxation and ex 
 ercise are therefore necessary at proper sea- 
 sons, for those who wish to preserve cheerful- 
 ness and strength for service, and not to be- 
 come old and disabled, through lowness of 
 spirits, infirmities, and pains, before old age 
 actually overtakes them. Riding is a man- 
 ly, unexceptionable exercise, where it can be 
 conveniently practised. But walking is, I 
 suppose, equally healthful, and requires nei- 
 ther expense nor preparation. That the stu- 
 dents may have an object in view when they 
 go from home, the tutor will probably point 
 out to them some of the Lord’s poor, who 
 live at convenient distances, whom they may 
 visit, and comfort with their sympathy, ad- 
 vice, and prayers, as well as administer to the 
 relief of their necessities, according to their 
 ability. Thus while they are consulting their 
 own health, they may at the same time imi- 
 tate Him, who went about doing good. And 
 in such visits they may rpeet with many hints 
 from poor believers, concerning the Lord’s 
 wisdom and faithfulness in his dealings with 
 them, and of the power of true religion, to 
 confirm what they read upon these subjects, 
 and probably some hints which their books 
 will not supply them with. Farther, if, when 
 they are abroad together, they will attempt 
 such conversation as warmed the hearts of the 
 disciples when walking to Emmaus, and if, 
 when alone, they adopt the pattern of Isaac, 
 who went out into the fields to meditate, then 
 all the time they can thus employ may be set 
 down to the account of their studies, for few 
 of their hours can be more profitably improv- 
 ed. 
 
A PLAN OF ACADEMICAL PREPARATION 
 
 904 
 
 But what, and how; are they to study ? 
 The answer to this question depends upon 
 another : What is the object of their studies ? 
 It is to make them not merely scholars, but 
 ministers, thoroughly furnished for their of- 
 fice. The particulars I aim at in placing 
 them with my tutor are such as follow : 
 
 1. An orderly, connected, and comprehen- 
 sive knowledge of the common places and to- 
 pics of divinity, considered as a whole; a sys- 
 tem of truth, of which the holy scripture is 
 the sole fountain, treasury, and standard. 
 
 2. A competent acquaintance with sacred 
 literature, by which I mean such writings, 
 ancient and modern, as are helpful to explain 
 or elucidate difficulties in scripture, arising 
 from the phraseology, from allusion to cus- 
 toms and events not generally known, and 
 from similar causes, and which therefore can- 
 not be well understood without such assist- 
 ance. 
 
 3. Such a general knowledge of philoso- 
 phy, history, and other branches of polite li 
 terature, as may increase the stock of their 
 ideas, afford them just conceptions of the state 
 of things around them, furnish them with a 
 fund for variety, enlargement, and illustration, 
 that they may be able to enliven and diversify 
 their discourses, which, without such a fund, 
 will be soon apt to run in a beaten track, and 
 to contain little more than a repetition of the 
 same leading thoughts, without originality or 
 spirit. 
 
 4. An ability to methodize, combine, dis- 
 tinguish, and distribute the ideas thus collect- 
 ed by study, so as readily to know what is 
 properly adapted to the several subjects to be 
 treated of, and to the several parts of the same 
 subject. When the pupils are thus far accom- 
 plished, then I shall hope, 
 
 5. That they will in good time be able to 
 preach extempore. I do not mean without 
 forethought or plan, but without a book, and 
 without the excessive labour of committing 
 their discourses to memory. This ability of 
 speaking to an auditory in a pertinent and 
 collected manner, with freedom and decorum, 
 with fidelity and tenderness, looking at them 
 instead of looking at a paper, gives a preacher 
 a considerable advantage, and has a peculiar 
 tendency to command and engage the atten- 
 tion. It likewise saves much time, which 
 might be usefully employed in visiting his 
 people. It is undoubtedly a gift of God, but 
 like many other gifts, to be sought, not only 
 by prayer, but in the use of means. The 
 first essays will ordinarily be weak and imper- 
 fect ; but the facility increases, till at length 
 a habit is formed, by diligence and persever- 
 ance. I should not think my academy com- 
 plete, unless my tutor was attentive to form 
 his pupils to the character of public speakers. 
 
 General rules admit of exceptions. I have 
 myself known persons, who, with plain sense, 
 true humility, and a spirit devoted to the 
 
 Lord, and dependent upon him, have, with 
 little or no assistance from men, proved solid, 
 exemplary, and useful ministers. Such in- 
 stances convince me, that however expedient 
 learning may be, it is not indispensably neces- 
 sary for a minister, especially for one who is 
 to labour in a retired situation, and amongst 
 plain unlettered hearers. I would not there- 
 fore preclude my tutor from all opportunity 
 of being useful to persons of this descrip- 
 tion, who would be glad of such helps from 
 him as they might receive in their mother- 
 tongue, when the time of life, or particular 
 circumstances might render the study of lan- 
 guages and science inconvenient. And, in 
 general, as the capacities, dispositions, and 
 prospects of a number of pupils would of 
 course be different, I should leave it to his 
 discretion to conduct them to the same grand 
 ends of service, by such difference of method 
 as he should judge most suitable to each ; so 
 as not to discourage or over-burden the truly 
 deserving, nor to permit (if it can be prevent- 
 ed) the more studious and successful, to set 
 too high a value upon their superior accom- 
 plishments. For after all it must be owned, 
 and ought to be remembered, that grace and 
 divine wisdom are of unspeakably greater im- 
 portance, than scholastic attainments without 
 them. We are sure, that though a man had 
 the knowledge of all mysteries, the gifts of 
 tongues and miracles, and the powers of an 
 angel, if he has not likewise humility, spiritu- 
 ality, and love, he is in the sight of God but 
 as sounding brass or a noisy cymbal. He 
 may answer the purpose of a church-bell to 
 call a congregation together, but has little 
 prospect of doing them good when they are 
 assembled. 
 
 But to return to my professed students, and, 
 
 First, As to the study of Theology. — How 
 far it may be expedient to adopt some system or 
 body of Divinity as a text or ground whereon 
 to proceed, I am not quite determined ; and 
 which of these learned summaries is the best, 
 I shall not attempt to decide till I have read 
 them all. My tutor will have more of this 
 knowledge ; I shall therefore refer the choice, 
 if it be necessary to choose one, to him. 
 Calvin, Turretine, Witsius, and Ridgely, are 
 those with which I have formerly been most 
 acquainted. But indeed, of these, at present, 
 I can remember little more than that I have 
 read them, or the greatest part of them. I 
 recollect just enough to say, that though I ap- 
 prove and admire them all, I have at the same 
 time my particular objections to them all, as 
 to this use of them. The Bible is my body 
 of Divinity ; and were I a tutor myself, I be- 
 lieve I should prefer the epistles of St. Paul 
 as a summary, to any human systems I have 
 seen, especially his epistles to the Romans, 
 Galatians, the Hebrews, and Timothy. There 
 are few uninspired w r ritings, however excel- 
 lent in the main, but bear some marks of the 
 
FOR THE MINISTRY. 
 
 infirmities, attachments, and prepossessions, 
 which in a greater or less degree are insepar- 
 able from the present state of human nature. 
 
 I would have my pupils draw their knowledge 
 as immediately from the fountain-head as pos- 
 sible. I care not how extensive and various 
 their reading of good authors may be under 
 their tutor’s eye : the more so the better. He 
 will improve the differences they will find a- 
 mong learned and spiritual men, into an argu- 
 ment to engage them to study the scripture 
 more closely, and to bring every debated sen- 
 timent to be tried and finally determined by 
 that unerring standard. He will teach them 
 to collect the detached portions of truth where- 
 ever they meet with them ; to borrow from all, 
 but to give themselves up implicitly to the dic- 
 tates of none. For I know no author who is 
 worthy the honour of being followed abso- 
 lutely and without reserve. 
 
 I am told (for I know nothing of acade- 
 mies but from hearsay) that it is customary 
 for pupils to write after the tutor, who reads 
 his lecture. If I should adopt this custom I 
 would not confine myself to it. Such written 
 lectures, if well executed, must be good pat- 
 terns to form the students to closeness in me- 
 thod and style. But I should likewise wish 
 the tutor to give them unpremeditated lec- 
 tures. Great masters of music (it is said) 
 frequently feel an impetus in extempore play- 
 ing, which enables them to execute off hand 
 such strains as they wish to repeat, but can- 
 not; their ta3te assuring them, that they are 
 superior in kind to what they can ordinarily 
 attain when they study and compose by rule. 
 Thus a tutor who thoroughly understands his 
 subject, and speaks from the fulness of his 
 heart, will, now and then at least, feel a hap- 
 py moment, when he will seem to possess new 
 powers. His thoughts and expressions at 
 such a time will have a peculiar precision and 
 force, and will possibly illuminate and affect 
 his hearers more than his regular and written 
 lectures. When he has done speaking, let 
 the pupils retire and commit to writing what 
 they can recollect of such discourses, keeping 
 to his method, but using their own expres- 
 sions. These exercises would engage their at- 
 tention, employ their invention and ingenuity, 
 accustom them to consider the same subjects 
 in different lights, and contribute to make the 
 knowledge they derive from him, more their 
 own, than by being always confined to tran- 
 scribe line by line what was read to them. 
 
 I would not have the pupils put upon the 
 needless and hurtful attempt of proving first 
 principles. May not a man read lectures up- 
 on optics without previously proving the ex- 
 istence of the sun ? My tutor will not coldly 
 lay before his students the arguments pro and 
 con, and then leave them to decide as evidence to' 
 them appears, whether there be a God, or wheth- 
 er the scriptures be of divine inspiration or not. 
 So likewise with respect to the different senti- 
 
 905 
 
 ments on the primary points of scripture, as 
 whether the Saviodr be man or angel, or God 
 manifest in the flesh ; or, concerning the dif- 
 ferent acceptations of the words Depravity, 
 Guilt, Faith, Grace, Atonement, and the like 
 — he will speak with a becoming confidence 
 and certainty on which side the truth lies. 
 He will indeed furnish them with solid con- 
 futations of error from scripture and expe- 
 rience, but he will take care to let them know 
 that these things are already settled ; and 
 proposed to them, not as candidates for their 
 good opinion, but as truths which demand 
 and deserve their attention. My tutor will 
 not dogmatize, and expect them to adopt his 
 opinions without any better reason than be- 
 cause they are his. He will endeavour to 
 throw every light he is master of upon the 
 subject, but at the same time he will speak as 
 a teacher, not as an enquirer ; as one who 
 speaks that which he has known, and testifies 
 that which he has seen. — He will not attempt 
 to fill their head with a detail of all the cavils 
 which pride and sophistry have started against 
 the truths of God ; nor so flatter his pupils, 
 as to suppose them competent judges when 
 they have weighed and compared the several 
 argumentations. But he will rather warn 
 them of their natural bias to the erroneous 
 side, and guard them against the arts of those, 
 who with fair words and fine speeches beguile 
 the unprincipled and unwary. A tutor is a 
 guide, and if worthy of his office, must be able 
 to say, without hesitation : “ This is the way, 
 walk ye in it.” Should he be seduced, by the 
 specious sounds of candour and freedom of 
 inquiry, to take the opposite method, and 
 think it his duty to puzzle his scholars with 
 all the waking dreams, objections, and evasions 
 by which men reputed wise have opposed the 
 simplicity of the faith once delivered to the 
 saints, I should fear they would be more likely 
 to turn out sceptics than ministers of the 
 gospel. 
 
 Nor should he, with my consent, lay down 
 a scheme of what is commonly called Natural 
 Religion, as a substratum whereon to build a 
 Religion of Divine Revelation. It is needful 
 that he should give his pupils a just idea of 
 the religion of fallen nature; but he will re- 
 mind them that the few valuable sentiments 
 occasionally found in the writings of the hea- 
 then philosophers and moralists were not their 
 own. They are all represented as having tra- 
 velled for their knowledge, and all in the 
 same route, into Phoenicia or Egypt, into the 
 neighbourhood of the only people who at that 
 time were favoured with the oracles of God : 
 and may therefore be justly supposed to have 
 derived the detached particles of truth they ac- 
 quired, from that people, either by immediate 
 converse with them, or from their inspired 
 books ; especially from the time they were 
 translated into the Greek language. He will 
 point out to them the strong probability that 
 
A PLAN OF ACADEMICAL PREPARATION 
 
 90C 
 
 Epictetus and the later philosophers were 
 equally or more indebted to the Christians 
 and the New Testament. With respect to 
 the sceptical moralists and reasoners of mo- 
 dern times, the proof will be still clearer and 
 stronger, that their best notions are borrowed 
 from the religion they attempt to depreciate. 
 My tutor, in order to satisfy them how far 
 the powers of unassisted fallen nature can 
 proceed in the investigation of religious and 
 moral truths, will set before them the pro- 
 gress which has actually been made in this 
 way by the negroes in Africa or the Ameri- 
 can Indians. With such a picture of natural 
 religion in their view, I should hope they 
 would be led most cordially to praise God 
 for the inestimable gift of his Holy Word, 
 without the help of which the boasted light 
 of nature is darkness that may be felt. 
 
 In my academy I would have no formal 
 disputations upon points of divinity. If it be 
 necessary to sharpen or exercise their wits by 
 disputing, to which under proper regulations 
 I should not object, there are topics in abun- 
 dance at hand. Let them dispute, if they please, 
 for or against the motion of the earth. Let 
 them determine whether Caesar or Pompey was 
 the better man ; or, in what respects Cato, who 
 chose to die rather than venture to look Caesar 
 in the face, discovered more fortitude or true 
 greatness of mind, than the slave who elopes 
 from his master for fear of the lash. Let them 
 contend whether learning has upon the whole 
 been productive of most good, or of most mis- 
 chief, to mankind. My tutor can supply them 
 with a thousand questions of this kind. But 
 to set a young man to put his ingenuity to 
 the stretch, either to maintain a gross error, 
 or to oppose a known and important truth, is in 
 my view not only dangerous, but little less 
 than a species of profaneness. What must 
 the holy angels, who with humble admiration 
 contemplate the wisdom and glory of God 
 displayed in the gospel, what must they think 
 of the arrogance of sinful worms, who pre- 
 sume so far to trifle with the doctrines and 
 mysteries he has revealed, as to degrade them 
 into subjects for school exercise and logical 
 prize-fighting ? Can it be possible to maintain 
 a spirit of reverence and dependence amidst 
 the noise of such malapert discussions ? And 
 if the youth to whom the wrong side of the 
 question is committed, should by superior ad- 
 dress nonplus and silence his antagonist ; my 
 heart would be in pain for him, lest he should 
 from that moment be prejudiced against the 
 truth which he had insulted with success ; 
 and think it really indefensible, because the 
 other was not able to defend it. 
 
 Having been so long on the first article, I 
 must endeavour to be more brief on those 
 which follow. 
 
 Secondly, By sacred literature I chiefly mean 
 Philology, Criticism, and Antiquities, so far 
 as they are employed in the illustration of| 
 
 scripture. In these studies, if there be a pro- 
 per application in the pupils, little more will 
 be needful on the tutor’s part, than to put 
 suitable books into their hands, to superintend 
 their progress, and to obviate difficulties they 
 may meet with. I would wish them not only 
 to read the scriptures in the Hebrew and 
 Greek originals, but to be tolerable masters of 
 the construction in both languages. This at- 
 tainment is certainly not necessary to a mi . 
 nister ; but they who apply themselves to the 
 study of divinity in early life, will have time 
 enough to acquire it, and the acquisition will 
 be well worth their labour. If not necessary, 
 it will be found very expedient and useful, 
 and when the difficulties of the first entrance 
 and rudiments are surmounted, will be very 
 pleasant. The tutor will then enliven their 
 study and facilitate their advance, by reading 
 a chapter with them in each Testament daily 
 or frequently, intermingling critical or expo- 
 sitory strictures as he goes along And he 
 will probably furnish those students who 
 have taste, with Dr Lowth’s Prcelection.es de 
 Poesi Hebrcea, which will enable them to 
 judge of the style and idiom of the Hebrew 
 Bible, and particularly of the style and beau- 
 ties of the Hebrew poetry. Blackwall’s Sa- 
 cred Classics may be added for the Greek. 
 
 Since the learned have of late years conde- 
 scended to lay open the way to the Hebrew 
 and Greek Scriptures, by publishing Lexi- 
 cons, Grammars, and other helps in the En- 
 glish tongue, the knowledge of the Latin is 
 less needful to a Bible student than it was 
 formerly. But as there are many valuable 
 books in Latin and not yet translated, I must 
 wish our pupils so far acquainted with the La- 
 tin language as to be able to read good au- 
 thors in it. But as they are not to preach in 
 Latin, an accurate skill is hardly worth their 
 attempting, unless they have had a classical 
 school education before they come to the a- 
 cademy. The mind is incapable of too many 
 acquisitions : life is short, and more impor- 
 tant business awaits them, in subserviency to 
 which every thing else must be conducted. 
 
 Books of criticism and on scripture-anti- 
 quities are at hand in plenty. It will be im- 
 possible to read them all. The selection be- 
 longs not to me, but to the tutor. The Syn- 
 opsis Criticorum , Godwin and Jennings, will 
 perhaps be of the number he will chuse. A 
 good Ecclesiastical History seems to be still a 
 desideratum. A mass of materials, so far as 
 it goes, is already prepared in the Magdeburg 
 Centuriators, which affords a striking monu- 
 ment of the compiler’s patience ; but it would 
 likewise require some patience in the reader 
 wh -■> should undertake to go through it. Mos- 
 hein is perhaps the best book we have upon 
 ’the subject, if the reader knows so much of 
 himself and of the work of grace, as to pre- 
 vent him from being misled by him, when 
 ] treating on subjects which he does not appear 
 
FOR THE MINISTRY. 
 
 to have rightly understood. But as to facts, 
 I believe he is in general worthy of credit. 
 Bingham’s Antiquities may deserve inspection, 
 if it be only to shew how soon and how gene- 
 rally the beautiful simplicity of the gospel was 
 corrupted by those who professed it. Dupin 
 and Dr Cave’s Historia Literaria Scriptorum 
 Ecclesiasticorum are still more valuable ; but 
 the characters of the writers, and their strong 
 prepossessions in favour of antiquity, should 
 be known and allowed for. 
 
 Thirdly, Much time cannot be allowed in our 
 academy for the pursuit of polite literature. 
 But an entrance may be made, and a relish 
 for it acquired, under the direction and re- 
 straint of the tutor, which may provide the 
 students with a profitable amusement for lei- 
 sure hours in future life ; for in this knowledge 
 they may advance from year to year. A pe- 
 rusal of such books as Rollin on the Belles 
 Lettres, Bossuet’s Universal History, Derham 
 and Ray on the Creation, and a few of our 
 best poets, may suffice while they are students. 
 Other books will occasionally come in their 
 way; for the tutor should have a well-chosen 
 library for the accommodation of his pupils ; 
 but he will guard them against spending too 
 much time in this line of reading. For though 
 it has its subordinate advantages, it may, if 
 too much indulged, divert them from the main 
 point. And they should be taught to refer 
 every thing they read to the principles of 
 scripture, to the knowledge of the heart of 
 man, and the works, the ways, the wisdom, 
 and providence of God, otherwise reading will 
 only tend to make them wise in their own 
 conceit. I make short work with this article, 
 and hasten to consider, 
 
 Fourthly, What may be helpful (by the di- 
 vine blessing) to enable the pupils to communi- 
 cate the fruits of their knowledge to advantage 
 in the public ministry, that they may appear 
 workmen that need not be ashamed. For 
 this, as I have formerly intimated, their chief 
 and immediate dependence must be on the 
 Lord. He alone can give them a mouth and 
 wisdom for his service ; and without the unc- 
 tion from on high, the study of divinity and 
 every thing relative to it, will be but like 
 learning the art of navigation on shore, which 
 is very different from the knowledge necessary 
 to the mariner, who is actually called to tra- 
 verse the ocean. But dependence upon the 
 Lord should be no discouragement to the use 
 of means. 
 
 I would have my students good logicians. 
 The logic of the schools is in a great measure 
 a cramp, forced, and formal affair, and may 
 possibly have made almost as many pedants 
 and sophists as good reasoners. But Dr Watts 
 has furnished us with a system of logic in a 
 more intelligible and amiable form, and di- 
 vested it of the solemn impertinencies with 
 which it was encumbered. As the rules of 
 grammar are themselves drawn from the lan- 
 
 907 
 
 guage they are designed to regulate, so good 
 logic is no more than the result of observa- 
 tions upon the powers of the human mind : 
 and thus we see, that many people of plain 
 sense are passable logicians, though they never 
 saw a book upon the subject, and perhaps do 
 not understand the meaning of the term. But 
 they may be much assisted in the habits of 
 thinking, judging, and reasoning, and in dis- 
 posing their thoughts in an advantageous me- 
 thod, by rules judiciously formed and arrang- 
 ed. In this view I judge Dr Watts’s logic, 
 with his subsequent treatise on the Improve- 
 ment of the Mind, to be very valuable. And, 
 together with the more scientific part of the 
 subject, he will provide my pupils with a great 
 variety of hints for their conduct, and for dis- 
 tinguishing the principles and conduct of o- 
 thers. These books should be frequently read, 
 and closely studied, and will afford the tutor 
 an extensive scope for their instruction. Un- 
 less a man can conceive and define his subject 
 clearly, distinguish and enumerate the several 
 parts, and knows how to cast them into a con- 
 venient order and dependence, he cannot be a 
 masterly preacher. And though a good un- 
 derstanding may supersede the necessity of 
 logical rules, it will likewise derive advantage 
 from them. 
 
 I have not so much to say in favour of ano- 
 ther branch of artificial assistance, though 
 much stress has been sometimes laid upon it. 
 We must not, however quite omit it : for an 
 academic will be expected to know, that the 
 learned have thought proper^to give Greek 
 names to certain forms and figures of speech, 
 in the use of which the common people, with- 
 out being aware of their skill in rhetoric, are 
 little less expert than the learned themselves. 
 When he can repeat these hard names, with 
 their etymologies and significations, rhetoric 
 can do but little more for him. The rules it 
 professes to teach are in general needless to 
 those who have genius, and useless to those 
 who have none, if a youth has not a turn for 
 eloquence, stuffing his head with the names of 
 tropes and figures will not give it him. To 
 know the names of the tools in an artificer’s 
 shop is one thing, but to have skill to use them 
 as a workman is something very different. 
 Here the tutor will use his discretion ; for if 
 any of his pupils are not likely to be orators, he 
 will take care that, if he can prevent it, they 
 shall not be pedants, or value themselves on 
 retailing a list of technical terms, of which 
 they know neither the use nor the application. 
 At the best, too much attention to artificial 
 rules will make but an artificial orator, and 
 rather qualify the student to set off himself 
 than his subject. The grand characteristic of 
 the gospel-orator is simplicity. Many years 
 have passed since I read Fenelon’s treatise 
 on Pulpit Eloquence; but I hope my tutor will 
 put it into the hands of his pupils. It remains 
 to inquire, 
 
A PLAN OF ACADEMICAL PREPARATION 
 
 908 
 
 Fifthly, How the pupils are to be assisted 
 and directed, that they may be able to preach 
 ex tempore : An ability which I suppose to be 
 ordinarily attainable by all who are called of 
 God to preach the gospel, if they will diligent- 
 ly apply themselves to attain it, in the use of 
 proper means. I do not expect they will suc- 
 ceed in this way to my wish, without prayer, 
 study, effort, and practice. For as I have al- 
 ready hinted, I mean something more by it 
 than speaking at random. 
 
 A well-known observation of Lord Bacon 
 is much to my present purpose. It is to this 
 effect : That reading makes a full man, writ- 
 ing an exact man, and speaking a ready man. 
 The approved extempore preacher must have 
 a fund of knowledge collected from various 
 reading ; and it would not be improper to 
 read some books, with the immediate design 
 of comparing his style and manner with ap- 
 proved models. It might be wished, that the 
 best divines were always the best writers ; but 
 the style of many of them is quaint, involved, 
 and obscure. Some books that are well writ- 
 ten have little else to recommend them, yet 
 may be useful for this purpose; and the 
 periodical writings of Addison and Johnson 
 abound with judicious observations on men 
 and manners, besides being specimens of easy 
 and elegant composition. Among writers in 
 divinity I would recommend Dr Watts and 
 Dr Witherspoon as good models. By perusing 
 uch authors with attention, I hope the pupils 
 will acquire a taste for good writing, and be 
 judges of a good style. Perspicuity, close- 
 ness, energy and ease, are the chief properties 
 of such a style. On the contrary, a style that 
 is either obscure, redundant, heavy, or affected, 
 cannot be a good one. But I cannot advise 
 them to copy the late Mr Hervey. His dress, 
 though it fits him, and he does not look amiss 
 in it, is rather too gaudy and ornamented for 
 a divine. He had a fine imagination, an ele- 
 gant taste, and shews much precision and judg- 
 ment in his choice of words : but though his 
 luxuriant manner of writing has many of the 
 excellencies both of good poetry and good 
 prose, it is in reality neither the one nor the 
 other. An injudicious imitation of him has 
 spoiled some persons for writers, who, if they 
 could have been content with the plain and 
 natural mode of expression, might have suc- 
 ceeded tolerably well. 
 
 The pupil likewise must write as well as 
 read, and he should write frequently. Let 
 him fill one common-place book after another, 
 with extracts fVom good authors ; this method, 
 while it tends to fix the passages or their im- 
 port in his mind, will also lead him to make 
 such observations respecting the order, and 
 construction, and force of words, as will not 
 so readily occur to his notice by reading only. 
 Then let him try his own hand, and accustom 
 himself to write his thoughts, sometimes in 
 notes and observations on the books lie reads, 
 
 sometimes in the form of essays or sermons. 
 He will do well likewise to cultivate a corres- 
 pondence with a few select friends ; for epis- 
 tolary writing seems nearest to that easiness of 
 manner which a public speaker should aim at. 
 
 I w'ould not have his first attempts to speak 
 publicly be in the preaching way, Or even upon 
 spiritual subjects. It might probably abate 
 the reverence due to divine truth, to employ 
 it in efforts of ingenuity. Suppose the tutor 
 should read to them a passage of history, and 
 require them to repeat the relation to him the 
 next day, in their own manner. He would 
 then remark to them if they had omitted any 
 essential part, or used improper expressions. 
 Or they might be put upon making speeches 
 or declamations on such occasions or incidents 
 as he should propose. By degrees such of 
 them as are judged to be truly spiritual and 
 humble, might begin to speak upon a text of 
 scripture, in the presence of the tutor and pu- 
 pils; and I should hope this might, in due 
 time, become a part of the morning or even- 
 ing devotions in the family. But let them be 
 especially cautioned not to trifle with holy 
 things, nor profane the great subjects of scrip- 
 ture, by making them mere exhibitions and 
 trials of skill. 
 
 Thus by combining much reading and writ- 
 ing with their attempts to speak, and all under 
 the direction of a judicious tutor, I shall have 
 a cheerful hope that the pupils will gradually 
 attain a readiness and propriety of speech ; 
 and when actually sent out to preach, will ap- 
 prove themselves scribes well instructed in the 
 mysteries of the kingdom, qualified to bring 
 forth from the treasury of their knowledge 
 and experience, things new and old for the 
 edification of their hearers. 
 
 And now I may draw towards a close. 
 There are some branches of science, or what 
 is so called, on which I lay but little stress. 
 I have no great opinion of metaphysical stu- 
 dies. For pneumatology and ethics I would 
 confine my pupils to the Bible. The research 
 es of wise men in this way, which have not 
 been governed by the word of God, have pro- 
 duced little but uncertainty, futility, or false- 
 hood. My tutor will, I hope, think it suffi- 
 cient to shew the pupils how successfully these 
 wise and learned reasoners reciprocally refute 
 each other’s hypotheses. And if he informs 
 them more in detail of the extravagancies 
 which have been started concerning the nature 
 and foundation of moral virtue ; or of the 
 dreams of philosophers, some of whom would 
 exclude matter; and others would exclude 
 mind out of the universe ; he will inform 
 them likewise, that he does not thereby mean 
 properly to add to their stock of knowledge, 
 (for we should in reality have been full as 
 wise if these subtilties had never been heard 
 of), but only to guard them against being led 
 into the mazes of error and folly, by depend- 
 ing too much on the reveries of philosophers 
 
FOR THE 
 
 After this delineation of my plan, it will be 
 needless to inform you, that I do not propose 
 my academy to be a spiritual hot-bed, in which 
 the pupils shall be raised, and ripened into 
 teachers, almost immediately upon their ad- 
 mission. I have allowed for a few excepted 
 cases; but in general it is my design, that 
 their education shall be comprehensive and 
 exact. I would have them learn before they 
 undertake to teach ; and their sufficiency to 
 be evidenced by a better testimonial than their 
 own good opinion of themselves. A scribe 
 well instructed, a workman that needeth not 
 to be ashamed, an able minister of the New 
 Testament, are scriptural expressions, intimat- 
 ing what ought to be the qualifications of 
 those who undertake the office of a preacher 
 or pastor The apostle expressly forbids a 
 novice to be employed in these services. And 
 though in the present day this caution is very 
 much disregarded by persons who undoubted- 
 ly mean well ; yet I believe the neglect of 
 scriptural rules (which are not arbitrary, but 
 founded in a perfect knowledge of human na- 
 ture) will always produce great inconvenien- 
 ces. I shall think a young man of tolerable 
 abilities makes a very good improvement of 
 his time, if the tutor finds him fit for actual 
 service, after three or four years close atten- 
 tion to his studies. 
 
 But what have I done ? — in compliance 
 with your request, I have been led to give 
 such an undisguised view of my sentiments 
 on this interesting subject, that though I feel 
 myself a cordial friend to all sides and parties 
 
 MINISTRY. 909 
 
 who hold the Head, and agree in the grand 
 principles of our common faith ; I fear, lest 
 some of every party will be displeased with 
 me. I rely on your friendship and your 
 knowledge of me to bear witness for me, that 
 I would not willingly offend or grieve a single 
 person. And you can likewise testify, that 
 I did not set myself to work — that I was 
 much surprised when you proposed it to me ; 
 and that you have reason to believe my re- 
 gard for you, and for the design you inform- 
 ed me of, were the only motives of my ven- 
 turing upon the task you assigned me. 
 
 I have by no means exhausted the subject, 
 though I hope I have not omitted any thing 
 that very materially relates to it. If I was 
 really in Utopia, and to carry my plan into 
 execution, other regulations would probably 
 occur, which have at present escaped me. 
 
 res, aetas, usus, 
 
 Semper aliquid apportent novi. 
 
 What I have written I submit to the can- 
 dour of you and your friends : adding my 
 prayers, that the great Head of the church, 
 the fountain of grace, and author of salvation, 
 may direct your deliberations, and bless you 
 with wisdom, unanimity, and success, in what- 
 ever you may attempt for the honour of his 
 name, and the good of souls. 
 
 I am, dear Sir, 
 
 Your sincere Friend and Servant, 
 OMICRON. 
 
 May 14, 1782. 
 

A 
 
 MONUMENT 
 
 TO THE PRAISE OF 
 
 THE LORD’S GOODNESS, 
 
 AND TO THE MEMORY OF 
 
 MISS ELIZA CUNNINGHAM, 
 
 THE LAST SURVIVING CHILD OF MR JAMES CUNINGHAM OF PITTARTHIE, 
 
 FIFESHIRE. 
 
 % 
 
 Jesus amor meus est ; si rideat, omnia rident. 
 O Death, where is thy sting? 1 COR. xv 55. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 When the following narrative was drawn up, the writer was aware that his 
 feelings rendered him incompetent to judge, how much of a relation, every 
 part of which was interesting to himself, might be fit to offer to the Public. 
 Many little circumstances which the indulgence of a friend could bear with, 
 might to strangers, appear trivial and impertinent. He therefore wrote only 
 for his friends ; and printed no more copies than he thought would be suffici- 
 ent to distribute within the circle of his personal acquaintance. But as the 
 paper has been much enquired after, and many of his friends have expressed 
 their wish, that it might be more extensively circulated, he has at length 
 yielded to their judgment. 
 
 It is to be lamented, that in this enlightened age, so signalized by the pre- 
 valence of a spirit of investigation, Religion should, by many, be thought the 
 only subject unworthy of a serious inquiry ; and that, while in every branch 
 of science they studiously endeavour to trace every fact to its proper and ade- 
 quate cause, and are cautious of admitting any theory which cannot stand 
 the test of experiment, they treat the use of the term experimental, when ap- 
 plied to Religion, with contempt. Yet there are many things connected with 
 this subject, in which, whether we are willing or unwilling, we are, and must 
 be, nearly interested. Death, for instance, is inevitable. And if there be an 
 hereafter, (and it is impossible to prove that there is not) the consequences of 
 death must be important. Many persons die, as they live, thoughtless and 
 careless what consequences may await them. Others, whose characters and 
 conduct do not appear to have been worse than those of the former, cannot 
 die so. They have dark and painful forebodings, and leave this world with 
 reluctance and terror. And there are others, who, though conscious that they 
 are sinners, and sure that they are about to enter upon an unchangeable and 
 endless state of existence, possess peace, composure, and joy. These de- 
 clare that they owe this happy state of mind to their dependence upon Jesus 
 the Saviour, on whose blood and mediation they have built their hopes And 
 who can possibly disprove their words ! Such an instance is now in the Rea- 
 der’s hands. The fact is indubitable. A child under the age of fifteen did 
 thus rejoice in the midst of pains and agonies, to the admiration of all who be- 
 held her. She was willing to leave all her friends whom she dearly loved, and 
 by whom she was tenderly beloved ; for she knew in whom she believed, and 
 that when she should be absent from the body, she would be present with the 
 Lord. With this assurance, she triumphed in the prospect of glory, and smil- 
 ed upon the approach of death. 
 
 It may be presumed, that whoever seriously considers this case, will not be 
 able to satisfy himself, by ascribing such remarkable effects, in so young a 
 subject, to the power of habit, example, or system. If he does not account 
 for them upon the principles of the gospel, he will be unable to assign any 
 proportionable cause. And it is to be feared, that if he is not affected by a 
 testimony so simple and so striking, neither would he be persuaded though 
 one should rise from the dead. 
 
 Hoxton, Nov. 17 , 1785 . 
 
A 
 
 MONUMENT, &c. 
 
 As I write not for the eye of the public, but 
 chiefly to put a testimony of the Lord’s good- 
 ness into the hands of my dear friends who 
 have kindly afforded us their sympathy and 
 prayers on the late occasion ; I do not mean 
 either to restrain the emotions of my heart, or 
 to apologize for them. I shall write simply 
 and freely, as I might speak to a person, to 
 whose intimacy and tenderness I can fully en- 
 trust myself, and who I know will bear with 
 all my weaknesses. 
 
 In May 1782, my sister Cuningham was at 
 Edinburgh, chiefly on the account of her el- 
 dest daughter, then in the fourteenth year of 
 her age, who was very ill of a consumption. 
 She had already buried an only son, at the 
 age of twelve ; and while all a mother’s care 
 and feelings were engaged by the rapid de- 
 cline of a second amiable child, she was un- 
 expectedly and suddenly bereaved of an af- 
 fectionate and excellent husband. Her trials 
 were great, but the Lord had prepared her 
 for them. She was a believer. Her faith 
 was strong, her graces active, and her conduct 
 exemplary. She walked with God, and he 
 supported her. And though she was a tender 
 and sympathizing friend, she had a happy 
 firmness of temper, so that her character as a 
 Christian, and the propriety of her behaviour 
 in every branch of relative life, appeared with 
 peculiar advantage in the season of affliction. 
 She returned to Anstruther a widow, with her 
 sick child, who languished till October, and 
 then died. 
 
 Though my sister had many valuable and 
 pleasing connections in Scotland, yet her 
 strongest tie being broken, she readily accept- 
 ed my invitation to come and live with us. 
 She was not only dear to me as Mrs New- 
 ton’s sister, but we had lived long in the ha- 
 bits of intimate friendship. I knew her worth, 
 and she was partial to me. She had yet one 
 child remaining, her dear Eliza. We already 
 had a dear orphan niece, whom we had, about 
 seven years before, adopted for our own 
 daughter. My active fond imagination anti- 
 cipated the time of her arrival, and drew a 
 pleasing picture of the addition the company 
 of such a sister, such a friend, would make to 
 
 the happiness of our family. The children 
 likewise — there was no great disparity between 
 them either in years or stature. From what 
 I had heard of Eliza, I was prepared to love 
 her before I saw her j though she came after- 
 wards into my hands like a heap of untold 
 gold, which, when counted over, proves to be 
 a larger sum than was expected. My fancy 
 paired and united these children ; I hoped 
 that the friendship between us and my sister 
 would be perpetuated in them. I seemed to 
 see them like twin sisters, of one heart and 
 mind, habited nearly alike, always together, 
 always with us. — Such was my plan — but the 
 Lord’s plan was very different, and therefore 
 mine failed. It is happy for us, poor short- 
 sighted creatures, unable as we are to foresee 
 the consequences of our own wishes, that if 
 we know and trust him, he often is pleased to 
 put a merciful negative upon our purposes ; 
 and condescends to chuse better for us than 
 we can for ourselves. What might have been 
 the issue of my plan, could it have taken 
 place, I know not ; but I can now praise and 
 adore him for the gracious issue of his. I 
 praise his name, that I can cheerfully comply 
 with his word, which says, “ Be still, and 
 know that I am God.” I not only can bow 
 (as it becomes a creature and a sinner to do) 
 to his sovereignty ; but I admire his wisdom 
 and goodness, and can say from my heart, 
 “ He has done all things well.” 
 
 My sister had settled her affairs previous to 
 her removal, and nothing remained but to 
 take leave of her friends, of whom she had 
 many, not only in Anstruther, but in different 
 parts of the county. In February 1783, I 
 received a letter from her, which, before I 
 opened it, I expected was to inform me that 
 she was upon the road in her way to London. 
 But the information was, that in a little jour- 
 ney she had made to bid a friend farewell, she 
 had caught a violent cold, which brought on 
 a fever and a cough, with other symptoms, 
 which, though she described them as gently 
 as possible, that we might not be alarmed, 
 obliged me to give up instantly the pleasing 
 hope of seeing her. Succeeding letters con- 
 firmed my apprehensions, her malady increas* 
 
 \ 
 
914 A MONUMENT, &c- 
 
 ed, and she was soon confined to her bed. 
 Eliza was at school at Musselburgh. Till 
 then she had enjoyed a perfect state of health ; 
 but while her dear mother was rapidly declin- 
 ing, she likewise caught a great cold, and her 
 lifte likewise was soon thought to be in dan- 
 ger. On this occasion, that fortitude and re- 
 solution which so strongly marked my sister’s 
 character, was remarkably displayed. She 
 knew that her own race was almost finished ; 
 she earnestly desired that Eliza might live or 
 die with us. And the physicians advised a 
 speedy removal into the south. Accordingly, 
 to save time, and to save Eliza from the im- 
 pressions which the sight of a dying parent 
 might probably make upon her spirits, and 
 possibly apprehensive that the interview might 
 make too great an impression upon her own ; 
 she sent this her only beloved child from 
 Edinburgh directly to London, without let- 
 ting her come home to take a last leave of her. 
 She contented herself with committing and 
 bequeathing her child to our care and love in 
 a letter, which I believe was the last she was 
 able to write. 
 
 Thus powerfully recommended by the pa- 
 thetic charge of a dying mother, the dearest 
 friend we had upon earth, and by that plea for 
 compassion which her illness might have 
 strongly urged even upon strangers, we re- 
 ceived our dear Eliza as a trust, and as a 
 treasure on the 15th of March. My sister 
 lived long enough to have the comfort of 
 knowing, not only that she was safely arrived, 
 but was perfectly pleased with her new situa- 
 tion. She was now freed from all earthly 
 cares. She suffered much in the remaining 
 part of her illness, but she knew whom she 
 believed ; she possessed a peace past under- 
 standing, and a hope full of glory. She en- 
 tered into the joy of her Lord on the 10th of 
 May 1 783, respected and regretted by all who 
 knew her. 
 
 I soon perceived that the Lord had sent me 
 a treasure indeed. Eliza’s person was agree- 
 able. There was an ease and elegance in her 
 whole address, and a gracefulness in her 
 movements, till long illness and great weak- 
 ness bowed her down. Her disposition was 
 lively, her genius quick and inventive, and if 
 she had enjoyed health, she probably would 
 have excelled in every thing she attempted 
 that required ingenuity. Her understanding, 
 particularly her judgment, and her sense of 
 propriety was far above her years. There 
 was something in her appearance which usu- 
 ally procured her favour at first sight. She 
 was honoured by the notice of several persons 
 of distinction, which, though I thankfully at- 
 tribute in part to their kindness to me, I be- 
 lieve was a good deal owing to something 
 rather uncommon in her. But her principal 
 endearing qualities, which could be only fully 
 known to us who lived with her, were the 
 sweetness of her temper, and a heart formed 
 
 for the exercise of affection, gratitude, and 
 friendship. Whether, when at school, she 
 might have heard sorrowful tales from chil- 
 dren, who having lost their parents, met with 
 a great difference, in point of tenderness, when 
 they came under the direction of uncles and 
 aunts, and might think that all uncles and 
 aunts were alike, I know not ; but I have un- 
 derstood since from herself, that she did not 
 come to us with any highly raised expecta- 
 tions of the treatment she was to meet with. 
 But as she found (the Lord in mercy to her 
 and to us having opened our hearts to receive 
 her) that it was hardly possible for her own 
 parents to have treated her more tenderly, and 
 that it was from that time the business and 
 the pleasure of our lives, to study how to 
 oblige her, and how to alleviate the afflictions 
 which we were unable to remove ; so we like- 
 wise quickly found, that the seeds of our 
 kindness could hardly be sown in a more pro- 
 mising and fruitful soil. I know not that 
 either her aunt or I ever saw a cloud upon 
 her countenance during the time she was with 
 us. It is true we did not, we could not un- 
 necessarily cross her ; but if we thought it ex- 
 pedient to over-rule any proposal she made, 
 she acquiesced with a sweet smile ; and we 
 were certain that we should never hear of that 
 proposal again. Her delicacy however was 
 quicker than our observation ; and she would 
 sometimes say, when we could not perceive 
 the least reason for it, “ I am afraid I an- 
 swered you peevishly ; indeed I did not in- 
 tend it j if I did, I ask your pardon ; I should 
 be very ungrateful, if I thought any pleasure 
 equal to that of endeavouring to please you.” 
 It is no wonder that we dearly loved such a 
 child ! 
 
 Wonderful is the frame of the human heart. 
 — The Lord claims and deserves it all ; yet 
 there is still room for all the charities of rela- 
 tive life, and scope for their full play ; and 
 they are capable of yielding the sincerest plea- 
 sures this world can afford, if held in subordi- 
 nation to what is supremely due to him. The 
 marriage relation, when cemented by a divine 
 blessing, is truly a union of hearts, and the 
 love resulting from it will admit of no com- 
 petition in the same kind. Children have the 
 next claim ; and whether there be one, or two, 
 or many, each one seems to be the object of 
 the whole of the parent’s love. Perhaps my 
 friends who have children, may think that I 
 who never had any, can only talk by guess 
 upon this subject. I presume not to dispute 
 the point with them. But when it pleased 
 the Lord to put my dear Betsey under my 
 care, I seemed to acquire a new set of feel- 
 ings, if not exactly those of a parent, yet, as 
 I conceive, not altogether unlike them. And 
 I long thought it was not possible for me to 
 love any child as I did her. But when Eliza 
 came, she, without being her rival, quickly 
 participated with her in the same affection. 
 
A MONUMENT, &c 915 
 
 I found I had room enough for them both, 
 without prejudice to either. I loved the one 
 very dearly, and the other no less than before^ 
 if it were possible still more, when I saw that 
 she entered into my views, received and be- 
 haved to her cousin with great affection, and 
 ascribed many little indulgencies and atten- 
 tions, which were shewn her, to their proper 
 ground, the consideration of her ill state of 
 health, and not to any preference that could 
 operate to her disadvantage. For the Lord 
 was pleased to answer my prayers in this re- 
 spect so graciously, that I could not perceive 
 that any jealousy or suspicion took place be- 
 tween them, on either side, from first to last 
 
 The hectic fever, cough, and sweats, which 
 Eliza brought with her from Scotland, were 
 subdued in the course of the summer, and 
 there appeared no reason to apprehend 
 that she would be taken off very suddenly. 
 But still there was a worm preying upon the 
 root of this pretty gourd. She had seldom 
 any severe pain till within the last fortnight 
 of her life, and usually slept well, but when 
 awake she was always ill. I believe she 
 knew not a single hour of perfect ease ; and 
 they who intimately knew her state, could 
 not but wonder to see her so placid, cheerful, at- 
 tentive when in company, as she generally was. 
 Many a time when the tears have silently sto- 
 len down her cheeks, if she saw that her aunt 
 or I observed her, she would wipe them away, 
 come to us with a smile and a kiss, and say, 
 “ Do not be uneasy, I am not very ill, I can 
 bear it, I shall be better presently,” or to that 
 effect. 
 
 Her case was thought beyond the reach of 
 medicine, and for a time no medicine was 
 used. She had air and exercise, as the weather 
 and circumstances would permit. For the rest, 
 she amused herself as well as she could, with 
 her guitar or harpsichord, with her needle, 
 and with reading. She had a part likewise, 
 when able, in such visits as we paid or re- 
 ceived. And our visits were generally regu- 
 lated by a regard to what she could bear. 
 Her aunt especially, seldom went abroad, but 
 at such times, and to such places, as we 
 thought agreeable and convenient to her. 
 For we could perceive that she loved home 
 best, and best of all when we were at home 
 with her. 
 
 In April 1784, we put her under the care 
 of my dear friend Dr Benamor. To the bles- 
 sing of the Lord on his skill and endeavours, 
 1 ascribe the pleasure of having her continued 
 with us so long ; nor can I sufficiently ex- 
 press my gratitude for his assiduous unweari- 
 ed attention, nor for his great tenderness. 
 She is now gone, and can no more repeat 
 what she has often spoken, of the great com- 
 fort it was to her to have so affectionate and 
 sympathizing a physician ; but whilel live, I 
 hope it will always be my pleasure to acknow- 
 ledge our great obligations to him on her ac- 
 
 count. I should be ungrateful, likewise, were 
 I to omit mentioning the kindness of Dr Al- 
 len of Dulwich, who attended her daily dur- 
 ing her last stay at Southampton. He was 
 so obliging, likewise, as to visit her, and to 
 meet Dr Benamor upon her case, after her 
 return to London. Their joint prescriptions 
 were carefully followed. But what can the 
 most efficacious medicines, or the best physi- 
 cians, avail to prolong life, when the hour 
 approaches, in which the prayer of the great 
 Intercessor must be accomplished, “ Father, 
 I will that they whom thou hast given me. 
 may be with me where I am, to behold my 
 glory.” This was the proper cause of my 
 dear Eliza’s death. The Lord sent this child 
 to me to be brought up for him ; he owned 
 my poor endeavours ; and when her education 
 was completed, and she was ripened for hea- 
 ven, he took her home to himself. He has 
 richly paid me my wages, in the employment 
 itself, and in the happy issue. 
 
 Dr Benamor advising a trial of the salt 
 water, we passed the month of August 1 784 
 with her, partly at Mr Walter Taylor’s at 
 Southampton, and partly at Charles Etty’s, 
 Esq. of Priestlands near Lymington. While 
 she was with these kind and generous friends, 
 she had every accommodation and assistance 
 that could be thought of or wished for. And 
 the bathing was evidently useful, so far as to 
 give some additional strength to her very weak 
 and relaxed frame, which assisted her in go- 
 ing more comfortably through the last winter. 
 We were therefore encouraged and advised to 
 repeat our visit to Southampton this autumn. 
 But the success was not the same. Her feet 
 and legs had already begun to swell, and the 
 evening before she set out she caught cold, 
 which brought on a return of the fever and 
 cough : and though Dr Allen was successful 
 in removing these symptoms in about a fort- 
 night, and she bathed a few times, she could 
 not persevere. However the advantages of 
 situation, air, and exercise, being much great- 
 er than she could have in London, and as we 
 were with friends whom she, as well as we, 
 dearly loved, she continued at Southampton 
 six weeks. But she was unable to proceed 
 to Mr Etty’s, who was very desirous of re- 
 peating his former kindness. The Lord 
 strengthened her to perform her journey home 
 without inconvenience. She returned the 1 6th 
 of September ; then she entered our door for 
 the last time, for she went out no more, till 
 she was carried out to be put into the hearse. 
 
 I have thus got together, in one view, a 
 brief account of what relates to her illness, till 
 within the last three weeks of her pilgrimage. 
 I now come to what is much more important 
 and interesting. Her excellent parents had 
 conscientiously endeavoured to bring her up 
 in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, 
 and the principles of religion had been instill- 
 ed into her from her infancy. Their labours 
 
916 A MONUMENT, &c. 
 
 were thus far attended with success, that no 
 child could be more obedient or obliging, or 
 more remote from evil habits, or evil tempers ; 
 but I could not perceive, when she first came 
 to us, that she had any heart-affecting sense 
 of divine things. But being under my roof, 
 she of course, when her health would permit, 
 attended on my ministry, and was usually 
 present when I prayed and expounded the 
 scriptures, morning and evening, in the fami- 
 ly. Friends and ministers were likewise fre- 
 quently with us, whose character and conver- 
 sation were well suited to engage her notice, 
 and to help her to form a right idea of the 
 Christian principles and temper. Knowing 
 that she was of a thinking turn, I left her to 
 make her own reflections upon what she saw 
 and heard, committing her to the Lord, from 
 whom I had received her, and entreating him 
 to be her effectual teacher. When I did at- 
 tempt to talk with her upon the concerns of 
 her soul, she could give me no answer but 
 with tears. But I soon had great encourage- 
 ment to hope that the Lord had both enlight- 
 ened her understanding, and had drawn the 
 desires of her heart to himself. Great was 
 her delight in the ordinances, exemplary her 
 attention under the preaching. To be debar- 
 red from going to hear at our stated times, 
 was a trial, which, though she patiently bore, 
 seemed to affect her more than any other ; 
 and she did not greatly care what she endured 
 in the rest of the week, provided she was well 
 enough to attend the public worship. The 
 judicious observations she occasionally made 
 upon what had passed in conversation, upon 
 incidents, books, and sermons, indicated a 
 sound scriptural judgment, and a spiritual 
 taste. — And my hope was confirmed by her 
 whole deportment, which was becoming the 
 gospel of Christ. So that had she died sud- 
 denly, on any day within about a year and a 
 half past, I should have had no doubt that 
 she had passed from death unto life. But I 
 could seldom prevail with her to speak of 
 herself ; if she did, it was with the greatest 
 diffidence and caution. 
 
 Soon after her return from Southampton, 
 she became acquainted with acute pain, to 
 which she had till then been much a stranger. 
 Her gentle spirit, which had borne up under 
 a long and languishing illness, was not so 
 capable of supporting pain. It did not occa- 
 sion any improper temper or language, but it 
 wore her away apace. Friday, the 30th of 
 September, she was down stairs for the last 
 time, and then she was brought down and car- 
 ried up in arms. 
 
 It now became very desirable to hear from 
 herself a more explicit account of the hope 
 that was in her ; especially as upon some 
 symptoms of an approaching mortification, she 
 appeared to be a little alarmed, and of course 
 not thoroughly reconciled to the thoughts of 
 death. Her aunt waited for the first conve- 
 
 nient opportunity of intimating to her the 
 probability that the time of her departure was 
 at hand. The next morning (Saturday the 1st 
 of October) presented one. She found her- 
 self remarkably better, her pains were almost 
 gone, her spirits revived, and the favourable 
 change was visible in her countenance. Her 
 aunt began to break the subject to her by say- 
 ing, “ My dear, were you not extremely ill 
 last night!” She said, “ Indeed I was.” 
 “ Had you not been relieved I think you 
 could not have continued long.” “ I believe 
 I could not.” “ My dear, 1 have been very 
 anxiously concerned for your life.” “ But I 
 hope, my dear aunt, you are not so now.” 
 She then opened her mind and spoke freely. 
 I cannot repeat the whole : the substance was to 
 this effect. “ My views of things have been 
 for some time very different from what they 
 were when I came to you. I have seen and 
 felt the vanity of childhood and youth." Her 
 aunt said, “ I believe you have long made 
 conscience of secret prayer.” She answered, 
 “ Yes, I have long and earnestly sought the 
 Lord with reference to the change which is 
 now approaching. I have not yet that full 
 assurance which is so desirable, but I have a 
 hope, I trust a good hope, and I believe the 
 Lord will give me whatever he sees necessary 
 for me, before he takes me from hence. I 
 have prayed to him to fit me for himself, and 
 then, whether sooner or later, it signifies but 
 little.” Here was a comfortable point gain- 
 ed. We were satisfied that she had given up 
 all expectations of living, and could speak of 
 her departure without being distressed. 
 
 It will not be expected that a child at her 
 age should speak systematically. Nor had 
 she learnt her religion from a systchi or form 
 of words, however sound. The Lord himself 
 was her teacher. But from what little she 
 had at different times said to me, I was well 
 satisfied that she had received a true convic- 
 tion of the evil of sin, and of of her own state 
 by nature as a sinner. When she spoke of 
 the Lord, she meant the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 the Great Shepherd, who gathers such lambs 
 in his arm, and carries them in his bosom. 
 She believed him to be God and man in one 
 person, and that hope, of which she shall never 
 be ashamed, was founded on his atonement, 
 grace, and power. As I do not intend to put 
 words into her mouth, which she never spoke, 
 I mention this, lest any person should be dis- 
 appointed at not finding a certain phraseolo- 
 gy, which they may have been accustomed 
 to. 
 
 Her apparent revival was of short duration. 
 In the evening of the same day, she began to 
 complain of a sore throat, which became 
 worse, and before Sunday noon threatened an 
 absolute suffocation. — When Dr Benamor, 
 who the day before had almost entertained 
 hopes of her recovery, found her so suddenly 
 and greatly altered, he could not, at the mo- 
 
A MONUMENT. &c. 917 
 
 ment, prevent some signs of his concern from 
 appearing in his countenance. She quickly 
 perceived it, and desired he would plainly 
 tell her his sentiments. When he had re- 
 covered himself he said, “ You are not so 
 well as when I saw you on Saturday.” She 
 answered, “ that she trusted all would be 
 well soon.” He replied, “ that whether she 
 lived or died, it would be well, and to the 
 glory of God.” He told me that he had 
 much pleasing conversation with her that 
 morning, some particulars of which he had 
 committed to writing, but he lost the paper. 
 — From that time she may be said to have 
 been dying, as we expected her departure 
 from one hour to another. 
 
 On Monday the 3d she was almost free 
 from any complaint in her throat, but there 
 was again an appearance of a mortification in 
 her legs, which was again repelled by the 
 means which Dr Benamor prescribed. I re- 
 collect but little of the incidents of this day. 
 In general she was in great pain, sometimes 
 in agonies, unable to remain many minutes in 
 the same position. But her mind was peace- 
 ful ; she possessed a spirit of recollection and 
 prayer; and her chief attention to earthly 
 things seemed confined to the concern she saw 
 in those who were around her. That she 
 might not increase their feelings for her, she 
 strove to conceal the sense of her own suffer- 
 ings. It pleased the Lord wonderfully to 
 support my dear Mrs Newton, and she had a 
 tolerable night’s rest, though I did not expect 
 the child would live till morning. On Tues- 
 day the 4th, about nine in the morning, we 
 all thought her dying, and waited near two 
 hours by her bed-side for her last breath. She 
 was much convulsed and in great agonies. I 
 said, “ My dear, you are going to heaven, 
 and I hope, by the grace of God, we in due 
 time shall follow you.” She could not speak, 
 but let us know that she attended to what I 
 said by a gentle nod of her head, and a sweet 
 smile. I repeated to her many passages of 
 scripture, and verses of hymns, to each of 
 which she made the same kind of answer. 
 Though silent, her looks were more expressive 
 than words. Towards eleven o’clock, a great 
 quantity of coagulated phlegm, which she had 
 not the strength to bring up, made her rattle 
 violently in the throat, which we considered 
 as a sign that death was at hand : and as she 
 seemed unwilling to take something that was 
 offered her, we were loth to disturb her in her 
 last moments (as we supposed) by pressing 
 her. I think she must have died in a quarter 
 of an hour, had not Dr Benamor just then 
 come into the room. He felt her pulse, and 
 observed that she was not near death by her 
 pulse, and desired something might be given 
 her. She was perfectly sensible, though still 
 unable to speak, but expressed her unwilling- 
 ness to take any thing, by very strong efforts. 
 However she yielded to entreaty, and a tea- 
 
 spoonful or two of some liquid soon cleared 
 the passage, and she revived. Her pain how- 
 ever was extreme, and her disappointment 
 great. I never saw her so near impatient as 
 upon this occasion : as soon as she could 
 speak she cried, “ Oh cruel, cruel, to recal 
 me, when I was so happy and so near gone ! 
 I wish you had not come; I long to go home.” 
 But in a few minutes she grew composed, as- 
 sented to what the Doctor said, of her d’_ty 
 to wait the Lord’s time ; and from that hour, 
 though her desires to depart and to be with 
 her Saviour, were stronger and stronger, she 
 cheerfully took whatever was offered her, and 
 frequently asked for something of her own 
 accord. How often, if we were to have our 
 choice, should we counteract our own prayers ! 
 I had entreated the Lord to prolong her life, 
 till she could leave an indisputable testimony 
 behind her, for our comfort. Yet when I 
 saw her agony, and heard her say, “ Oh ! how- 
 cruel to stop me !” I was for a moment almost 
 of her mind, and could hardly help wishing 
 that the Doctor had delayed his visit a little 
 longer. But if she had died then, we should 
 have been deprived of what we saw and heard 
 the two following days, the remembrance of 
 which is now much more precious to me than 
 silver or gold. 
 
 When the Doctor came on Wednesday, she 
 entreated him to tell her how long he thought 
 she might live ; he said, “ Are you in earnest, 
 my dear?” She answered, “Indeed I am.” 
 At that time there were great appearances that 
 a mortification was actually begun. He there- 
 fore told her, he thought it possible she might 
 hold out till eight in the evening, but did not 
 expect she could survive midnight at farthest. 
 On hearing him say so, low as she was, her 
 eyes seemed to sparkle with their former viva- 
 city, and fixing them on him with an air of in- 
 effable satisfaction, she said, “ Oh, that is good 
 news indeed !” And she repeated it as such 
 to a person who came soon after into the room, 
 and said with lively emotions of joy, “ The 
 Doctor tells me I shall stay here but a few 
 hours more.” In the afternoon she noticed 
 and counted the clock, I believe, every time it 
 struck, and when it struck seven, she said, 
 “ Another hour, and then.” But it pleased 
 the Lord to spare her to us another day. 
 
 She suffered much in the course of Wednes- 
 day night, but was quite resigned and patient. 
 Our kind servants, who, from their love to her 
 and to us, watched her night and day with a 
 solicitude and tenderness which wealth is too 
 poor to purchase, were the only witnesses of 
 the affectionate and grateful manner in which 
 she repeatedly thanked them for their service 
 and attention to her. Though such an ac- 
 knowledgement was no more than their due, 
 yet coming from herself, and at such a time 
 they highly valued it. She added her earnest 
 prayers that the Lord would reward them. 
 To her prayers my heart says. Amen. May 
 
918 A MONUMENT, &c 
 
 they be comforted of the Lord in their dying 
 hours, as she was, and meet with equal kind- 
 ness from those about them ! 
 
 I was surprised on Thursday morning to 
 find her not only alive, but in some respects 
 better. The tokens of mortification again dis- 
 appeared. This was her last day, and it was 
 a memorable day to us. When Dr Benamor 
 asked her how she was ? She answered, “ Tru- 
 ly happy, and if this he dying, it is a pleasant 
 thing to die.” [The very expression which a 
 dear friend of mine used upon her death-bed 
 a few years ago.] She said to me about ten 
 o’clock, “ My dear uncle, I would not change 
 conditions with any person upon earth ; Oh 
 how gracious is the Lord to me ! Oh what a 
 change is before me !” She was several times 
 asked, if she could wish to live, provided -he 
 Lord should restore her to perfect health ; 
 her answer was, “ Not for all the world,” and 
 sometimes, “ Not for a thousand worlds.”* 
 “ Do not weep for me, my dear aunt, but rather 
 rejoice and praise on my account. I shall now 
 have the advantage of dear Miss Patty Bar- 
 ham (for whom she had a very tender affec- 
 tion, and who has been long in a languishing 
 state), for I shall go before her.” We asked 
 her if she would chuse a text for her own fu- 
 neral sermon ? She readily mentioned, “ Whom 
 the Lord loveth he chasteneth. That, said 
 she, has been my experience, my afflictions 
 have been many, but not one too many ; nor 
 has the greatest of them been too great, I 
 praise him for them all.” But after a pause 
 she said, “ Stay, I think there is another text 
 which may do better ; let it be, Blessed are 
 the dead that die in the Lord. That is my 
 experience now.” She likewise chose a hymn 
 to be sung after the sermon. Olney Hymns, 
 book II. hymn 72. 
 
 But I must check myself, and set down but 
 a small part of the gracious words which the 
 Lord enabled her to speak in the course of the 
 day, though she was frequently interrupted by 
 pains and agonies. She had something to say 
 either in the way of admonition or consola- 
 tion, as she thought most suitable, to every 
 one whom she saw. To her most constant at- 
 tendant she said, “ Be sure you continue to 
 call upon the Lord, and if you think he does 
 not hear you now, he will at last, as he has 
 heard me.” She spoke a great deal to an in- 
 timate friend, who was with her every day, 
 which I hope she will long remember, as the 
 testimony of her dying Eliza. Amongst other 
 things, she said, “ See how comfortable the 
 Lord can make a dying bed ! Do you think 
 that you shall have such an assurance when 
 you come to die?” Being answered, “I hope 
 so, my dear,” she replied, “ But do you ear- 
 nestly and with all your heart pray to the 
 Lord for it ? If you seek him, you shall sure- 
 
 * The last time she was asked this question, she said 
 (as I have been since informed), “ I desire to have no 
 choice.’* 
 
 ly find him.” She then prayed affectionately 
 and fervently for her friend, afterwards for 
 her cousin, and then for another of our fami- 
 ly who was present. Her prayer was not 
 long, but her every word was weighty, and her 
 manner very affecting — the purport was, that 
 they might all be taught and comforted by the 
 Lord. About five in the afternoon she de- 
 sired me to pray with her once more. Sure- 
 ly I then prayed from my heart. When I 
 had finished, she said, Amen. I said, “ My 
 dear child, have I expressed your meaning?” 
 she answered, “ Oh yes !” and then added, 
 “ I am ready to say, Why are his chariot- 
 wheels so long in coming ! But I hope he 
 will enable me to wait his hour with patience.” 
 These were the last words I heard her speak. 
 
 Mrs Newton’s heart was much, perhaps too 
 much, attached to this dear child ; which is 
 not to be wondered at, considering what a 
 child she was, and how long and how much 
 she had suffered. But the Lord graciously 
 supported her in this trying season. Indeed 
 there was much more cause for joy than for 
 grief ; yet the pain of separation will be felt. 
 Eliza well knew her feelings, and a concern 
 for her was, I believe, the last anxiety that re- 
 mained with her. She said to those about 
 her, “ Try to persuade my aunt to leave the 
 room ; I think I shall soon go to sleep, I 
 shall not remain with you till the morning.” 
 Her aunt, however, was the last person who 
 heard her speak, and was sitting by her bed 
 when she went away. A little past six, hearing 
 that a relation who dearly loved her, and was 
 beloved by her, and who had come daily from 
 Westminster to see her, was below stairs, she 
 said, “ Raise me up, that I may speak to him 
 once more.” Her aunt said, “My dear, you are 
 nearly exhausted, I think you had better not 
 attempt it.” She smiled, and said, “ It is very 
 well, I will not.” She was then withm half an 
 hour of her translation to glory, but the love of 
 our dear Lord had so filled her with benevo- 
 lence, that she was ready to exert herself to her 
 last breath, in hopes of saying something that 
 might be useful to others after she was gone. 
 
 Towards seven o’clock, I was walking in 
 the garden, and earnestly engaged in prayei 
 for her, when a servant came to me and said, 
 “ She is gone.” O Lord, bow great is thy 
 power ! how great is thy goodness ! A few 
 days before, had it been practicable and law- 
 ful, what would I not have given to procure 
 her recovery ? Yet seldom in my life have I 
 known a more heart-felt joy, than when these 
 words, She is gone, sounded in my ears. I ran 
 up stairs, and our whole little family were 
 soon around her bed. — Though her aunt and 
 another person were sitting with their eyes 
 fixed upon her, she was gone perhaps a few 
 minutes before she was missed. She lay up- 
 on her left side, with her cheek gently reclin- 
 ing upon her hand, as if in a sweet sleep. And 
 I thought there was a smile upon her counte- 
 

 A MONUMENT, &c. 
 
 nance. Never surely did death appear in a 
 more beautiful, inviting form ! We fell upon 
 our knees, and I returned (I think I may say) 
 my most unfeigned thanks to our God and 
 Saviour, for his abundant goodness to her, 
 crowned in this last instance, by giving her so 
 gentle a dismission. Yes, I am satisfied. I 
 am comforted. And if one of the many in- 
 voluntary tears I have shed, could have recall- 
 ed her to life, to health, to an assemblage of 
 all that this world could contribute to her 
 happiness, I would have laboured hard to sup- 
 press it. Now my largest desires for her are 
 accomplished. The days of her mourning are 
 ended. She is landed on that peaceful shore, 
 where the storms of trouble never blow. She 
 is for ever out of the reach of sorrow, sin, 
 temptation, and snares. Now she i8 before 
 the throne ! she sees Him whom not having 
 seen she loved ; she drinks of the rivers of 
 pleasure which are at his right hand, and shall 
 thirst no more. 
 
 She was born at St Margaret’s, Rochester, 
 Feb. 6, 1771. Her parents settled at An- 
 struther, in Fife, in 1773. She returned to 
 
 us March 15, 1783. She breathed 
 
 her spirit into her Redeemer’s hands a little 
 before seven in the evening, on Oct. 6, 1785, 
 aged fourteen years and eight months. 
 
 I shall be glad if this little narrative may 
 prove an encouragement to my friends who 
 have children. — May we not conceive the 
 Lord saying to us, as Pharaoh’s daughter said 
 to the mother of Moses, “ Take this child, and 
 bring it up for me, and I will pay thee thy 
 wages ?** How solemn the trust ! How im- 
 portant and difficult the discharge of it ! but 
 how rich the reward if our endeavours are 
 crowned with success ! And we have every 
 thing to hope from his power and goodness, if, 
 in dependence upon his blessing, we can fully 
 and diligently aim at fulfilling his will. 
 
 919 
 
 Happy they who will say at the last day, “ Be- 
 hold here am I, and the children which thou 
 hast given me.” 
 
 The children of my friends will likewise see 
 my narrative. May it convince them that it 
 is practicable, and good, to seek the Lord be- 
 times ! My dear Eliza’s state of languor pre- 
 vented her from associating with young peo- 
 ple of her own age, so frequently and freely 
 as she might otherwise have done. But these 
 papers will come into the hands of some such, 
 whom she knew, and whom she loved. To 
 them, I particularly commend and dedicate 
 this relation. O my dear young friends, had 
 you seen with what dignity of spirit she fill- 
 ed up the last scene of her life, you must have 
 been affected by it ! Let not the liveliness of 
 your spirits, and the gaity of the prospect a- 
 round you, prevent you from considering, 
 that to you likewise, days will certainly come 
 (unless you are suddenly snatched out of life) 
 when you will say and feel, that the world, 
 and all in it, can afford you no pleasure. 
 But there is a Saviour, and a mighty One, al- 
 ways near, alway gracious to those who seek 
 him. May you, like her, be enabled to chuse 
 him, as the Guide of your youth, and the 
 Lord of your hearts. Then like her, you will 
 find support and comfort under affliction, wis- 
 dom to direct your conduct, a good hope in 
 death, and by death a happy translation to 
 everlasting life. 
 
 I have only to add my prayers, that a bless- 
 ing from on high may descend upon the per- 
 sons and families of all my friends, and upon 
 all into whose hands this paper may providen- 
 tially come. 
 
 JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 Charles' s-Square, Hoxton, 
 
 Oct. 13, 1785. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY STEVENSON & CO. 
 THISTLE STREET, EDINBURGH. 
 
. 
 
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 x 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
than tw> 
 
 f.er sixty-eighj 
 , ' jook knows the. 
 ts _ jwton the religioi. 
 •;i r s rhymes are stil 
 r : nembered — especk 
 
 inese : 
 
 Ay- 
 
 /ton quitted Olne^ 
 ot. Mary Woolnoth, in 
 . but two gospel ministers * 
 e ■ r ^ies of their own” in the Estal ; - 
 f great metropolis — one was 
 o other Mr. Romaine. Natr 
 . : ught with Newt -n 'came • 
 
 •vded his church. The chui^.. 
 d a plan for thinning the co 
 . j ! getting occasional substitutes for the , 
 tor, who, however, did not acquiesce 
 y<t‘ ; That Newton was not so wholly de.4 
 eit as his Diary would suggest, apperr 
 jj annexed verses, which he wrote to C n 
 \ ! the publication of Madan’s once nok&r 
 entitled ‘ Thelyphthora ; or, a Trnoft 
 
 ’ T t means the comfort or the bant 
 i . _• L- -\j happiest state is to be pleased w . 
 
 j lext degree is found in having m. - v 
 
 r ewton proposed to publish t" 
 
 ■ letters, which were selected 
 i correspondence with affluent a 
 .d wavering professors, he appli 
 , r for a title. “ Can you,” says he, 4 
 • . me a nice Greek word as prett 
 and as scholastically put together 
 R r phthora, and [of] as much more favour?* „ 
 ! 1 ort as you please, to stand at the top of-«' 
 i e-page, «nd to serve as a handle for an I 
 ! irer.” Cowper replied with “ Cardvp 7 , 
 i utterance of the heart. It now app<£'.'"' 
 
 1 : iy of these letters were originally ad 
 .e Earl of Dartmouth and to several 
 while others were written to ladies, - 
 o nd single. There exist besides more i 
 1 "red letters addressed by Newton t 
 ■ at} -to whom he seems to have b 
 * l Sis6 and a Christian monitor. f 
 •^arvsdC"' and hope, and ripe in"' 
 
 ^le Ruin’: — 
 
 1 , What different senses in that 
 
 «. V 
 
 dg ». j’ st at length look.c,’ 
 ■sror -^ked and se?" 
 
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